There was an uncanny excitement in the air and everyone present including state officials and media were expecting to lay hand on the documented heritage of celebrated Darbhanga Raj which was kept safely in a London’s Chubb Company made strong box of Maharajadhiraj Rameshwar Singh Raj Regional Archive, located at the administrative block of present L.N. Mishra University building.
Expectedly, after 28 years and following five-hours of continuous efforts when the chest was opened on Thursday, it revealed some of the best ever known and rare manuscripts and unknown papers of the India’s biggest zamindari rule during British period.
Under the watchful eyes of officials from Bihar State Archives and district administration, the chest threw open twelve volumes of 18th century manuscript of Akbarnama, written in black ink by Alauddin, original document on family lineage of Darbhanga Maharaj and letters written between the period of 1880-1900.
The chest also contained contract papers signed in 1862 between Darbhanga Raj and Birtish rule pertaining to governance of zamindari. It was duly maintained in the papers that Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh was a minor at the time of the death of his father and thus Darbhanga Raj would be placed under the Court of Wards.
Besides, original copy of ccopccitation which was bestowed to Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh as Grand Commander of the Order of British Empire by Queen Victoria was also found in the chest.
At prima facie all the documents looked maintained and safe and it is also expected that some other manuscripts from during the period of Mughal emperor Akbar which were penned with golden ink could also be in the iron box. In the strong box, another historical document of royal proclamation of Mughal King Alamgir Second was found.
It is widely felt that Darbhanga Raj had strong ties with the British Rule but, it was not averse to help out freedom fighters also as what the letters written to Congress leaders during the movement suggested which were retrieved from the chest.
Dr. Vijay Kumar, director of the state archive, said that scanning was being done and all the historical documents seemed to be well-protected.
“We are counting and tallying the documents with other sources as well to record them for further examination,” said he.
Historically, the Darbhanga Raj was the best managed estate at the time of the abolition of zamindari. It was a brain child of Emperor Akbar who called in Pt. Mahesh Thakur in circa 1595 and delegated him to govern over 4495 villages under 18 circles. The purpose was to maintain the revenue collection from the area which was badly managed at that time.
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