CHAINPUR ESTATE : Former Union Minister Late Tarkeshwari Sinha Death Anniversary

Chainpur Babu - Telpa wale Babaji

Following is the portrait (from earlier part of 20th century) of a Chainpur Babu who started the Planters Association in Telpa, Chhapra.(Saran). His house is still there at Telpa and is referred to as Chainpur Kothi (Telpa Kothi)

He was the eldest son of Babu Surya Deo Narayan Singh of Chainpur Estate and popularly referred to as Telpa wale Babaji. He is the brother of Babu Trivikram Deo Narayan Singh of Chainpur.

Chainpur Estate - Babu Trivikram Deo Narayan Singh's Mahadev (Lord Shiva)

चैनपुर के बाबूसाहब त्रिविक्रम देव नारायण सिंह जैसे भगवान श्री कृष्ण का पूजा करते थे वैसे ही वो भगवन शिव के भी बड़े पुजारी थे।  यहाँ पे उनका चांदी का शिव लिंग फ़ूलों से सजा हुआ -

 

 

वैसे भी जहाँ नारायण का पूजा होता है , वहां शिव जी का भी पूजा होना तय है। 

 

Chainpur Estate - Family Temple of Babu Vishwanath Prasad Narayan Singh

Following is the family Temple of Babu saheb Vishwanath Prasad Narayan Singh - Zamindar of Chainpur. The Panch Mandir was renovated by his grandsons - Shree Mahendra Jee (s/o Gauri Babu and Shree Sanjeev Jee.(s/o Uma Babu) .

 

भूमिहार ज़मींदारों की यह बहुत बड़ी खूबी थी कि उन्होने भगवान को हरदम उच्च दर्जा दिया और भगवन भी उन्हें सही मार्ग दर्शन करते रहे। और जो भगवान नारायण और भगवान शिव को याद रखेगा , उसे जग याद रखेगा। यही सत्य है और यही धर्म भी। और जो विष्णु अथवा शिव या शक्ति का नहीं हुआ , वो बेकार निकलता है जो कभी भी किसी का नहीं हो सकता। 

 

 Such Temples are not only the Pride of Chainpur but For Bihar too and one can make out how the BHUMIHAR ZAMINDARS were at the forefront of enhancing one's cultural heritage. There was no restriction to any living creature in entering these temples.

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

Chainpur Estate - Family Temple of Babu Chandra Mohan Pd. Narayan Singh

Following is another temple of a Bhumihar Zamindar of Chainpur Estate - This belongs to the family of Babu saheb Chandra Mohan Pd. Narayan Singh. Alongside the temple is a huge water tank (North direction) owned by the deity of the temples.

The temple has 5 domes and is really magnificent.

 

CHAINPUR ~ The Place , The Temples , The Dieties and much more

 

As one comes into Chainpur, one of the most important things we would notice are the different temples , the dieties' which itself has so much to say about the history of the place and off course the different Bhumihar Zamindar Families who while being dominant never forgot their family dieties or their temples.                                                           

 

So, one of the most memorable temples is that of the RAJA of Maksudpur and a Chainpur Babu - RAJA CHANDRESHWAR PRASAD NARAYAN SINGH which is situated in the main bazaar of Chainpur. Even, the local Police Station is within the four walls of the temple. And outside the temple you have all the shops on Raja Saheb's land. In the below photograph, the Chainpur Police Station is on the left side of the entrance to the sanctum of the temple.

 

 

 

Following are some of the dieties in the above Temple -

 

 

 

 

 



 And remember that Eksariyas who are from Parashar Gotra should follow this-  पराशर गोत्र वाले के लिए  भगवान शंकर का  आराधना करना उनका सबसे बड़ा फ़र्ज़ है। क्योंकि मकसूदपुर एव चैनपुर के यह राजा साहेब ने महादेव का शिव लिंग बनाया अतः यह युग युगान्तर के लिए अमर हो गए। हर हर महादेव।

और जहाँ शिवत्व नहीं वहाँ दया नहीं बल्कि वहाँ शून्य होता है , वहाँ ईर्ष्या , अन्याय ही होता है। और शिवत्व के होने से वहाँ न्याय होता है , संवेदना होता है , धर्म  और संस्कार का पालन होता है।     

SHEOHAR RAJ ~ Raja Deo Nandan Singh

It gives me great pleasure to share the attached photograph of the KING OF SHEOHAR - Raja Deo Nandan Singh. And there were many King's in erstwhile BRITISH INDIA but this King was for the people. He handled the people with great care and took good care of them during the famines that engulfed CHAMPARAN and MUZZAFARPUR. He built schools but never put his name on it. He got respect for his work and high position.

Some refer this KING as RAJA DEORAJ NANDAN SINGH or even RAJA DEOKI NANDAN SINGH.

RAJA DEO NANDAN SINGH was married and had 4 issues ~ 2 SONS and 2 DAUGHTERS.

1st SON :

RAJKUMAR BAIDYANATH NANDAN SINGH
   1st Marriage - Maghaiya Patti - CHAINPUR ESTATE (EKSARIYA)
                          Had 2 Sons - RAJKUMAR LACHMI NANDAN SINGH and
                                                RAJKUMAR KALIKA NANDAN SINGH

  2nd Marriage - AUSANGANJ (near BENARAS). No ISSUE.

2nd SON :

RAJKUMAR GIRJA NANDAN SINGH Married into TEKARI RAJ (9 ANNAS). No ISSUE.
   He married the sister of the MAHARAJA OF TIKARI - MAHARAJA GOPAL SARAN SINGH

   Please note that another sister of MAHARAJA GOPAL SARAN SINGH of TEKARI RAJ would be 
   married  into CHAINPUR ESTATE.

DAUGHTERS of RAJA DEO NANDAN SINGH -

One of the Daughters would go on to marry BABU TRIVIKRAM DEO NARAYAN SINGH of CHAINPUR ESTATE. There would be NO ISSUE.

The Other Daughter would marry into the ZAMINDARI ESTATE of BAGOURA. The Present family of BAGOURA ESTATE traces it's roots to this LADY and the d/o RAJA DEO NANDAN SINGH.

 

CHAINPUR and TEUS

Chainpur Estate always had matrimonial alliances with several big Zamindars of Bihar and UP.

One such notable alliance was with the Zamindar family of Teus.

One of the most famous zamindar personalities of Teus - Babu Krishna Baldeo Prasad Singh was married into a family from Chainpur and his younger brother Babu Lal Narayan Singh also married into the same family of Chainpur. Because of this matrimony, both the brothers were granted a Zamindari Revenue of Rs 8000 ( Rupees Eight Thousand per annum - early 1900's figure - today worth in crores) but with debt too. They successfully paid of the debt which they got from their in-laws.

Babu Krishna Baldeo N. Singh and his younger brothers namely - Babu Lal Narayan Singh , Babu Gopal Narayan Singh and Babu Radhe Shyam Singh were one of the high-profile families of Teus Babuani. They held several important political positions and served as MLCs for the province of Bihar.

Bhumihar Zamindars contribute to Bihar's Economic Development and Sustainability - at KONCHI , GAYA (BIHAR)

With LORD NARASIMHA'S Blessings, One of the self-less Bhumihars Zamindars of this era - Chote Babu (Mr S.D.N. Singh, Retd. Electrical Engineer by profession) of Chainpur Estate and son-in-law of Sheohar Raj) has developed fine ponds for Fisheries at his farmhouse at Konchi, Gaya. Once again this not only beautifies the environment but it also helps in maintaining the water table (70 ft. during Peak Summer, Post-Monsoon 10 ft). And it should help Biharis realize the potential of Agriculture in Bihar. Please note that the below pond is an investment done by Chote Babu himself with help from the local contractors hailing from Tekari, Gaya.

The water stored in the above ponds is all monsoon water and if it is not recharged it can be as it is for the next 6-7 months. Also, there is  a nearby Water Tank or "Ahar" , constructed by the Bhumihar Zamindars of Konchi, Gaya of about 150 odd acres which ensures water supply to the village for good kharif production. Such was the planning of the Zamindars that till date their systems have formed the life-line for people across different communities and classes.

The photos above are of the fisheries with trees surrounding the same. This forms the livelihood of the local "fishermen" of the Konchi area. Bhumihars were always meant to be creative and lead from the front in development of society. This is the tribute to folks who are not "I, ME and MYSELF". May BHOOMIDEVI keep SMILING on such BHUMIHAR ZAMINDARS who have always loved their land and worked hard to develop the same.

Prominent Families under Chainpur Estate - Part I

One of the most prominent Zamindar families within the Chainpur Estate were the families of Babu Gajadhar Prasad Narayan Singh and Babu Surya Deo Narayan Singh, who were cousins. (Early Nineteenth Century, some 200 years ago) Their ancestor shared common property and Zamindari rights at Chainpur and other villages across erstwhile SARAN District of Bihar.

Normally, in the zamindari system in Bihar and also across British India, a system of primogeniture was followed (where the eldest son inherited the major part of the estate or Raj and the other siblings were left with little in comparison). However, Chainpur or most of the Eksaria Clans did not follow the system of primogeniture or estate impartibility. A truly democratic setup where all siblings had equal share to the property. Same was the case with the Zamindari. As such, the Zamindari never could get transformed as a "RAJ".

Babu Gajadhar Prasad Narayan Singh, (mentioned above), married the grand daughter of Zamindar of Maksudpur - Raja Todar Narayan Singh (2nd Raja of Maksudpur) and a prominent land holder of Gaya District. When Raja Todar Narayan Singh died without a male heir, his daughter - Rukmini Kuer became the Rani (1853-1857) and she adopted Babu Gajadhar Prasad Narayan and her only daughter's - minor son - Rameshwar Prasad Narayan Singh.

Thus, a Chainpur Babu became a RAJA.

Rameshwar Prasad Narayan Singh was given the gaddi sometime in 1857 but his maternal grandmother - Rani Rukmini Kuer acted as Regent (1857-59) and subsequently his father - Babu Gjadhar Prasad Narayan Singh became Regent (1859-69) and Rameshwar Prasad Narayan Singh was crowned RAJA in 1891.

After his death in 1902 and lack of male heirs, his younger brother Chandreshwar Prasad Narayan Singh was crowned RAJA of MAKSUDPUR. He brought his share of Chainpur Estate property into MAKSUDPUR RAJ. He died in 1941 and as per his will the Maksudpur Raj passed onto the family goddess, Bhagwatiji.

Both RAJA Rameshwar Prasad Narayan Singh and RAJA Chandreshwar Prasad Narayan Singh had only daughters and none of their maternal grandsons retained property at Chainpur or other villages of SARAN. Their focus shifted to MAKSUDPUR RAJ.

Eksaria Bhumihar Zamindars - Origin

By the end of the sixteenth (16th) century, the EKSARIA BHUMIHARS got a foothold in the erstwhile district of SARAN, Bihar. The pivotal person was JAGARNATH DIXIT, who settled in the village of EKSAR, by early sixteenth century. They managed to expand and hold out large territories but they could never form a unified lineage and thus lead to the formation of a "RAJ". Jagarnath Dixit's descendants were able to expand their territories as the state did not resist and there was abundance of male heirs.
The two youngest sons of Jagarnath moved to other parganas while the eldest two remained behind. The Eldest, SARAN RAI - on whose name SARAN District (present Chapra, Siwan and Gopalganj Districts) was named- had 4 sons - Each of whom formed villages and zamindaris. The second oldest son of Jagarnath had no issue.
SARAN RAI's descendants settled at different places and formed different zamindaris. The first son created the MAJHA line of zamindars, the second - NATH RAI - settled at PARSA and subsequently his descendants moved to CHAINPUR ZAMINDARI. The third son produced the lineage which resulted in the RUSI and KHAIRA ZAMINDARIS. The youngest became the pioneer for the BAGOURA Zamindari. Famously, they were known as the CHOU-BHAIYAS. (FOUR BROTHERS)