২০২৪- নোটস

আহসান মঞ্জিল ও খাজা আবদুল গনি সম্পর্কে

On the 13th May I accompanied the Collector on a visit of ceremony to Khajeh Abdool Ghani (Guni Mya), who lived in a fine house by the river, handsomely furnished in the EurojDean style. Additions were being made, and when finished the building looked really imposing, especially from the river ; but the works were then only in progress. Guni Mya was a great factor in Dacca society, member of the Municipal Committee, a liberal supporter of charities, profusely hospitable, and a great patron of sport. His elephants were always available for shooting or pig-sticking parties ; he kept an English jockey and a racing stable, and had just bought a lot of foxhounds originally imported for the Mymensingh pack. His son AhsanuUa, a stout good-tempered youngfellow, played the harmonium, dabbled in photography, and was like his father a good specimen of the Anglicised native.

[Lower Bengal-Clay, Page129]

ক্লে সাহেবের গুলতি বিবরণ 

Waller was a great hand at the ghulel, or Indian pellet-how, with which an expert shooter can l)reak bottles or knock over birds at a good distance. The bow is of bamboo, tapering to the ends ; the string (gut) is double, the two strings being kept apart by a spanner near the top. Nearly opposite but a little above the grip, a piece of webbing is woven between the strings to receive the jiellet, which is kept in position with forefinger and thumb. In letting fly, the left hand is bent slightly outwards from the wrist, so as to shoot clear of the bamboo and the shooter's thumb, which might otherwise get hurt, for well-made clay j)ellets, sun-baked, are nearly as hard as marbles, and fly with great force.

[Lower Bengal-Clay, Page-50]

চট্টগ্রামের 'বেগম'

Besides the bear and the monkey, Holt possessed another animal, rather large for a pet , in the shape of a rhinoceros , which had been found stuck in a quicksand somewhere in the south of the district by one of the Kheddah parties, and secured and brought in with the help of elephants. " Begum " lived in a stockaded enclosure on our hill containing a bath or rather mud-hole in which it was her delight to wallow. She was different from the Indian rhino which has a single horn, being a specimen of the Malayan or two-horned variety. After a time she got very tame and quiet, but never could endure the sight of an elephant, which perhaps reminded her of her capture. She was afterwards bought by Jamrach the great beast collector , sent to England, and eventually found a home in the Zoo at Regent's Park, where she was labelled the " Hairy-eared Rhinoceros ."

[Lower bengal - Clay, P-209]