:Chaitanya Singha Dev

{{See also|Great Bengal famine of 1770}}

Around 1770-71, as the "Great Famine" swept through the region, the southwestern highlands of Bengal turned into a land of the dead. The greatest threat to the British East India Company was depopulation, which, despite the famine, led them to continuously pressure the now-weakened Raja of Bishnupur, Chaitanya Singha (referred to as Bishenpore by Hunter).{{Cite web |url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.54596.LATEST!7.forest%20tenures%20in%20west%20bengal.pdf |title=Forest Tenures in the Jungle Mahals of South West Bengal |access-date=8 August 2014 |archive-date=10 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810045940/https://www.uea.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.54596.LATEST!7.forest%20tenures%20in%20west%20bengal.pdf |url-status=dead }} In Bishnupur, hundreds of villages were completely abandoned, and even in larger towns, fewer than one-fourth of the houses remained occupied. Purnia and Bishnupur were the two districts in Bengal that suffered the most.{{cite journal |last1=Chaudhuri |first1=Nani Gopal |title=Some of the Results of the Great Bengal and Bihar Famine of 1770 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1949 |volume=12 |pages=239–244 |jstor=44140542 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140542 |issn=2249-1937}}

The Company's revenue receipts plummeted from over £1.5 million in 1768-69 to just £65,355 in 1770, despite the demand remaining high, leaving vast lands uncultivated even after a good harvest in 1771.By 1772, Warren Hastings estimated that one-third of the population had perished.{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=Peter James |title=Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828 |journal=Bengal |date=2 November 2006 |pages=150–161 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521253307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIZrfokYSY8C&q=vishnupur |publisher=Cambridge University Press |language=en|isbn=

9781139055659}}

During the reign of Chaitanya Singh, the Malla Rajas extensively granted rent-free lands to Goswamis, both individually and to the institutions they established, such as matts and akharas. These land grants supported religious and scholarly activities, fostering the growth of Vaishnavism in the region.{{cite journal |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Sudarshana |title=Tribal Identity & Socio-Cultural Changes During 17th Century in the Rarh Region of Bengal |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2015 |volume=76 |page=256 |jstor=44156590 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156590}}

The rulers actively promoted Sanskrit and Bengali literature, offering brahmottar (tax-free land grants) as rewards to distinguished Sanskrit scholars. This period saw the composition of numerous Vaishnava texts in Sanskrit, with some being translated into Bengali. Many of these manuscripts were preserved with wooden covers, known as pata, which were often adorned with intricate miniature paintings.

{{See also|Chuar Rebellion}}

Between 1799 and 1800, significant unrest arose due to the East India Company's auctioning of estates for revenue arrears. In Bishnupur, the family of Raja Chaitan Singh faced dispossession of their zamindari. The Bhumij community, hailing from Barabhum, Manbhum, and the surrounding jungle Mahals, rallied in the thousands to support the restoration of the family's landholdings.{{cite web |title=The Adivasi Resistance in Jungle Mahal: A Case Study of Chuar Rebellion |pages=11 |url=http://joais.in/Journal/JAIS-Aug%202021%20Article%201%20A.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407064555/http://joais.in/Journal/JAIS-Aug%202021%20Article%201%20A.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2023 }}

The unrest gained momentum when the Ghatwals, responsible for maintaining local order and security, became discontented with government policies. Their grievances further fueled the resistance, contributing to widespread agitation across the region. These events reflect the deep-seated opposition to colonial revenue practices and the efforts of local communities to defend traditional systems of landownership.{{cite book |last1=Das |first1=Binod Sankar |title=Changing Profile of the Frontier Bengal, 1751-1833 |date=1984 |publisher=Mittal Publications |pages=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGTxUHzhYXwC&q=Chaitanya+&pg=PA86 |language=en}}{{Fv|date=March 2025}}

{{Main|Radha Shyam Temple}}

File:Radhashyam Temple, Bishnupur 05.jpg

Radha Shyam Temple, built in 1758 by King Chaitanya Singha of Mallabhum,{{sfn|Biswas|1992|pp=20–21}}{{cite news |last1=Chakraborty |first1=Shantanu |title=Mallabhūma biṣṇupura |script-title=bn:মল্লভূম বিষ্ণুপুর |trans-title=Mallabhum Bishnupur |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/travel/weekend-trips/holiday-trip-to-temple-city-bishnupur-dgtl-1.742239 |access-date=13 March 2024 |work=www.anandabazar.com |publisher=ABP |date=18 January 2018 |language=bn}} is now preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India. Since 1998, it has been on UNESCO's Tentative List for World Heritage Sites.{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Temples at Bishnupur, West Bengal |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1087/ |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Biswas |first1=S. S. |title=Bishnupur |date=1992 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |location=New Delhi |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/bishnupur00bisw |access-date=11 March 2024 |chapter=The Temples}}

{{Mallabhum}}

Category:Kings of Mallabhum

Category:18th-century Indian monarchs

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