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32-467: [REDACTED] Look up Devdas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Devadas may refer to: Devadas (1989 film) , an Indian Malayalam-language film, based on the novel Devdas Devadas (2018 film) , an Indian Telugu-language action comedy film See also [ edit ] Devdas (disambiguation) Devadasu (disambiguation) Devdas ,

64-505: A Bengali-language novel by Indian writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Devadas . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Devadas&oldid=1217056453 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

96-586: A confused state, Devdas flees to Calcutta. From there, he writes a letter to Parvati, saying that they should simply continue only as friends. Within days, however, he realises that he should have been bolder. He goes back to his village and tells Parvati that he is ready to do anything needed to save their love. By now, Parvati's marriage plans are in an advanced stage. She refuses to go back to Devdas and chides him for his cowardice and vacillation. She, however, requests Devdas to come and see her before he dies. He vows to do so. Devdas goes back to Calcutta and Parvati

128-438: A lawfully wedded wife could inherit the zamindari if the ruling zamindar named her as an heir. In Odisha, the local kings of the princely states appointed or sometimes rewarded individuals as village heads or gountias . Such titles are closely related to the zamindar titles. Sometimes the king's own family members were created gountias such as Veer Surendra Sai whose ancestors were the kings of Sambalpur state and whose family

160-743: Is applied in context of the marriage custom followed by Parvati's family. Devdas's father, Narayan Mukherjee, who also loves Parvati, does not want Devdas to get married so early in life and isn't keen on the alliance. Parvati's father, Nilkantha Chakravarti, feeling insulted at the rejection, finds an even richer husband for Parvati. When Parvati learns of her planned marriage, she stealthily meets Devdas at night, desperately believing that he will accept her hand in marriage. Devdas has never previously considered Parvati as his would-be wife. Surprised by Parvati's boldly visiting him alone at night, he also feels pained for her. Making up his mind, he tells his father he wants to marry Parvati. Devdas's father disagrees. In

192-460: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Devdas The character of Parvati was based on a real life second wife of zamindar Bhuvan Mohan Chowdhury, It was said that the writer had even visited that village. According to sources, the original village was called Hatipota. Devdas is a young man from a wealthy Bengali family in India in

224-522: Is married off to the widower, Bhuvan Choudhuri, who has three children. An elderly gentleman and zamindar of Hatipota he had found his house and home so empty and lustreless after his wife's death, that he decided to marry again. After marrying Parvati, he spent most of his day in Pujas and looking after the zamindari. In Calcutta, Devdas's carousing friend, Chunni Lal, introduces him to a tawaif (courtesan) named Chandramukhi . Devdas takes to heavy drinking at

256-476: Is no longer the small girl he knew. Parvati looks forward to their childhood love blossoming into a happy lifelong journey in marriage. According to prevailing social custom, Parvati's parents would have to approach Devdas's parents and propose marriage of Parvati to Devdas as Parvati longs for. Parvati's mother approaches Devdas's mother, Harimati, with a marriage proposal. Although Devdas's mother loves Parvati very much, she isn't so keen on forming an alliance with

288-760: Is the 16th-century confederation formed by twelve zamindars in the Bhati region ( Baro-Bhuyans ), which, according to the Jesuits and Ralph Fitch , earned a reputation for successively repelling Mughal invasions through naval battles. The zamindars were also patrons of the arts. The Tagore family produced India's first Nobel laureate in literature in 1913, Rabindranath Tagore , who was often based at his estate. The zamindars also promoted neoclassical and Indo-Saracenic architecture. When Babur conquered North India, there were many autonomous and semiautonomous rulers who were known locally as Rai, Raja, Rana, Rao, Rawat, etc. while in

320-565: The Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal ruler of a zamindari (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals , and later the British began using it as a native synonym for "estate". The term means landowner in Persian . They were typically hereditary and held the right to collect tax on behalf of imperial courts or for military purposes. During

352-568: The Mughals and paid a tribute/ nazarana to the Mughal Emperor. However, Irfan Habib in his book Agrarian system of Mughal India, divided the zamindars into two categories: the autonomous chiefs who enjoyed "sovereign power" in their territories and the ordinary zamindars who exercised superior rights in land and collected land revenue and were mostly appointed by the Mughals. These people were known as

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384-477: The 24-Parganas and in 1765 got control of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Later in 1857 the British Crown was established as the sovereign. During Mughal Era the zamindars were not proprietors. They used to engage in wars and used to plunder neighbouring kings. So they never looked after the improvements in their land. The East India Company under Lord Cornwallis , realising this, made Permanent Settlement in 1793 with

416-477: The Imperial Gazetteer of India, there were around 2000 ruling chiefs holding the royal title of Raja and Maharaja which included the rulers of princely states and several large chiefdoms. This numbers increases tenfold if zamindar/ jagirdar chiefs with other non royal but noble title are taken into count. Unlike the autonomous or frontier chiefs, the hereditary status of the zamindar class was circumscribed by

448-522: The Mughals, and the heir depended to a certain extent on the pleasure of the sovereign. Heirs were set by descent or a times even adoption by religious laws. Under the British Empire, the zamindars were to be subordinate to the Crown and not act as hereditary lords, but at times family politics was at the heart of naming an heir. At times, a cousin could be named an heir with closer family relatives present;

480-533: The big Zamindars were from the Hindu high-caste, usually Brahmin , Bhumihar , Kayastha and Rajput . During the colonial era, the Permanent Settlement consolidated what became known as the zamindari system . The British rewarded supportive zamindars by recognising them as princes. Many of the region's princely states were pre-colonial zamindar holdings elevated to a greater protocol. The British also reduced

512-532: The countries now held by me (1528 A.D.) from Bhira to Bihar , is fifty-two crores as will be known in detail. Eight or nine crores of this are from the parganas of rais and the rajas who have submitted in the past (to the Sultans of Delhi ), receive allowance and maintenance." According to Arif Qandhari, one of the contemporary historians of Akbar 's reign, there were around two to three hundred rajas or rais and zamindars who ruled their territory from strong forts under

544-583: The courtesan's place; she falls in love with him, and looks after him. His health deteriorates through excessive drinking and despair – a drawn-out form of suicide. In his mind, he frequently compares Parvati and Chandramukhi. Strangely he feels betrayed by Parvati, though it was she who had loved him first, and confessed her love for him. Chandramukhi knows and tells him how things had really happened. This makes Devdas, when sober, hate and loathe her very presence. He drinks more and more to forget his plight. Chandramukhi sees it all happen, suffering silently. She senses

576-460: The development of Bengal. They played pivotal part during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . The British continued the tradition of bestowing both royal and noble titles to zamindars who were loyal to the paramount. The title of Raja, Maharaja, Rai Saheb, Rai Bahadur, Rao, Nawab, Khan Bahadur were bestowed to princely state rulers and to many zamindars from time to time. According to an estimate in

608-453: The early 1900s, which largely prevented a happy ending to a true and tender love story. The novel has been made into films in many South Asian languages languages, including Bengali , Hindustani , Hindi , Telugu , Tamil , Urdu , Assamese and Malayalam . It is the most filmed non-epic story in India. Notable film versions of the novella include: Zamindar A zamindar in

640-578: The early 1900s. Parvati (Paro) is a young woman from a middle-class Bengali Brahmin family. The two families live in a village called Taalshonapur in Bengal, and Devdas and Parvati are childhood friends. Devdas goes away for a couple of years to live and study in Calcutta (now Kolkata). During vacations, he returns to his village. Suddenly, both realise that their easy comfort in each other's innocent comradeship has changed to something deeper. Devdas sees that Parvati

672-471: The emperor's suzerainty. Each of these rajas and zamindars commanded an army of their own generally consisting of their clansmen and the total numbers of their troops as Abul Fazl tells us, stood at forty-four lakhs comprising 384,558 cavalry, 4,277,057 infantry; 1863 elephants, 4260 guns and 4500 boats. During the Mughal Era, there was no clear difference between the princely states and zamindari estates. Even

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704-598: The extant zamindari system of revenue collection in the north of the country. They recognised the zamindars as landowners and proprietors as opposed to Mughal government and in return required them to collect taxes. Although some zamindars were present in the south, they were not so in large numbers and the British administrators used the ryotwari (cultivator) method of collection, which involved selecting certain farmers as being land owners and requiring them to remit their taxes directly. The Zamindars of Bengal were influential in

736-411: The family next door. Besides, Parvati's family has a long-standing tradition of accepting dowry from the groom's family for marriage rather than sending dowry with the bride. The alternative family tradition of Parvati's family influences Devdas's mother's decision not to consider Parvati as Devdas' bride, especially as Parvati belongs to a trading ( becha-kena chottoghor ) lower family. The "trading" label

768-464: The land holdings of many pre-colonial princely states and chieftaincies, demoting their status to a zamindar from previously higher ranks of royalty. The system was abolished during land reforms in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1950, India in 1951 and West Pakistan in 1959. The zamindars often played an important role in the regional histories of the subcontinent. One of the most notable examples

800-551: The period of British colonial rule in India many wealthy and influential zamindars were bestowed with princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja / Rai , Babu , Malik , Chaudhary , Nawab , Khan and Sardar . During the Mughal Empire , as well as the British rule , zamindars were the land-owning nobility of the Indian subcontinent and formed the ruling class. Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs . Majority of

832-441: The real man behind the fallen, aimless Devdas he has become, and can't help but love him. Knowing death approaches him fast, Devdas goes to Hatipota to meet Parvati to fulfill his vow. He dies at her doorstep on a dark, cold night. On hearing of his death, Parvati runs towards the door, but her family members prevent her from stepping out of the house. The novella powerfully depicts the customs of society that prevailed in Bengal in

864-433: The ruling autonomous chiefs of princely states were called zamindars. Moreland was one of the first historians to draw our attention to the importance of zamindars in medieval India. He defines zamindars as "vassal chiefs". He points out that there were areas under direct control of Mughals where there were no zamindars and then there were territories of the vassal chiefs who had autonomy over their state, but were subjugated by

896-433: The various Persian chronicles, they were referred to as zamindars and marzabans . They were vassals who ruled, mostly hereditarily, over their respective territories. They commanded not only a considerable part of the economic resources of the empire but also military power. After the conquest of Hindustan, Babur informs us that one-sixth of its total revenues came from the territories of the chiefs. He writes: "The revenue of

928-609: The zamindars (intermediaries) and they collected revenue primarily from the Ryots ( peasants ). The zamindari system was more prevalent in the north of India because Mughal influence in the south was less apparent. Historian S. Nurul Hasan divided the zamindars into three categories: (i) The Autonomous Rai/ Rajas or Chiefs, (ii) the intermediary zamindars and (iii) the primary zamindars. The East India Company established themselves in India by first becoming zamindars of three villages of Calcutta, Sultani and Govindpur. Later they acquired

960-405: The zamindars and made them proprietors of their land in return for a fixed annual rent and left them independent for the internal affairs of their estates. This Permanent Settlement created the new zamindari system as we know it today. After 1857 the army of the majority of zamindars were abolished with exception of a small number of force for policing/digwari/kotwali in their respective estates. If

992-496: The zamindars were not able to pay the rent until sunset, parts of their estates were acquired and auctioned. This created a new class of zamindars in the society. As the rest of India came later under the control of the East India Company (EIC), different ways were implemented in different provinces to in regards to the ruling authorities in the region to get them to accede to Company authority. The British generally adopted

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1024-711: Was the gountia of Khinda village. The zamindari system was mostly abolished in independent India soon after its creation with the First Amendment of the Constitution of India which amended the right to property as shown in Articles 19 and 31. In East Pakistan, the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 had a similar effect of ending the system. Due to the zamindari system, small farmers could not become financially strong. Critics have likened

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