Namak Haram Deorhi (also known as the ''Traitor's Gate'', ''Jafarganj Deorhi'' or ''Jufarganj Palace'') was the palace of

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expan ...

. It is located just opposite to the

Jafarganj Cemetery Jafarganj Cemetery is located in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. Geography Location Jafraganj Cemetery is located at . The Namak Haram Deorhi, House of Jagat Seth, Nashipur Rajbari , Kathgola Palace and Tomb of Azimunissa Begum are all l ...

in the ''Lalbagh'' area of the town of

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

and near Mahimapur in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. Namak Haram Deorhi refers to both the place of

and the main gate which leads to the palace. This building was used as the residence of

, before he ascended the ''musnad'' of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

or when he was the Commander-in-Chief of the ''subha''.

Etymology

''Namak Haram'' is a

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

phrase which means "one who is treacherous" or "one who cannot be trusted" while ''Deorhi'' is a word in Hindi which means "gate". So the total sums up to "the gate to him who cannot be trusted". It has been named so because Mir Jafar and Mir Miran asked Muhammad-i-Beg to kill Nawab

Siraj ud-Daulah Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

just for the reason so that

could become the next

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

. Furthermore, his betrayal of his master during the Battle of Plassey eventually led to the total annexation of

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

by the East India Company. ''"Namak Haram Deorhi"'' is also known by its English transliterated name, the "Traitor's Gate".

Geography

Location

Namak Haram Deorhi is located at . The

House of Jagat Seth The Jagat Seth family was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from Murshidabad in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal. History The house was founded by Jain Hiranand Shah from Nagaur, Rajasthan, who came to Patna in ...

, Nashipur Rajbari ,

Kathgola Palace Kathgola Palace is a historical building belonging to the Dugar family at Kathgola in the Murshidabad-Jiaganj CD block of Murshidabad district. It now houses a museum. Etymology The place was earlier called Kath Golap Garden because '' Wood Ro ...

and

Tomb of Azimunissa Begum Tomb of Azimunissa Begum is located at Azimnagar (oid Murshidabad), in the Murshidabad district. According to the List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal the Tomb of Azimunissa Begum is an ASI Listed Monument. Geography Locat ...

are all located nearby. One can reach the temple town of Rani Bhavani at

Baranagar ("City of hogs") , settlement_type = City , image_seal = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = India West Bengal#India3#Asia , pushpin_label_ ...

, on the other side of the Bhagirathi, by country boat from Ajimganj. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in Murshidabad city. Most of the places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map. A few, without pages yet, remain unmarked. The map has a scale. It will help viewers to find out the distances.

Features

The palace was fortified with towers and turrets. It was also provided with a cannon to protect it from attacks. Now nothing of the palace remains except the ''Deorhi'' (gate) which led to the palace.

Significance

The last secret conference was held here, before the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

, between William Watts,

and his son Mir Miran. Watts was chief of the

Kasimbazar Cossimbazar is a sub-urban area of Berhampore City in the Berhampore CD block in the Berhampore subdivision in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal."Cossimbazar" in ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, ...

(or Cossimbazar) factory of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. He lived in

, and he was proficient in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, Hindustani and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

languages. Miran received Watts in one of the palace's

seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ott ...

. A seraglio is a sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines of a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Watts placed the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

's head and Jafar's hand on the head of Miran. Then Mir Jafar swore with great solemnity that he would faithfully perform whatever he was told to do (i.e. to betray Nawab

in the Battle of Plassey, which was to be held the next day, so that the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

could win the battle and he would be dethroned from the throne of the

). According to Seir Mutaqherin, Nawab

was murdered by Muhammad-Ali-Beg on the orders of Mir Miran in the campus of this ''Deorhi'', beside the public road under a

Neem tree ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus ''Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afri ...

on 2 July 1757 after he fled to save his life, after he was defeated in the Battle of Plassey. But, according to historian

Robert Orme The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, he was seen to be murdered inside the ''Mansurganj Palace'', on the west banks of the

Bhagirathi River The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu fa ...

, opposite to this ''Deorhi''. There in the ''Mansurganj Palace'' Mir Miran used to reside. After the murder Siraj's mangled body was taken over the river and kept at Jafarganj for the night. The next morning, his body was placed on an elephant and paraded through the streets of Murshidabad and also past

's mother, Amina Begum's house. He was then taken across the river to

Khushbagh Khushbagh (also spelled as Khoshbagh; literally "Garden of Happiness") is the garden-cemetery of the Nawabs of Bengal, situated on the west bank of the Bhagirathi river, about a mile from its east bank, in the Murshidabad-Jiaganj CD block in La ...

Mir Jafar's Palace picture gallery

File:Namak Haram Deori at Murshidabad.jpg, Namak Haram Deorhi File:Residence And Imambara Of Mir Jafar - Jafarganj Palace - Lalbagh - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 6249.JPG, Residence and Imambara File:Jafarganj Palace Remains With Gateway - Lalbagh - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 6253.JPG, Jafarganj Palace remains with gateway

References

External links

{{Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Palaces in West Bengal Buildings and structures in Murshidabad district