Sabarna Roy Choudhury

Sabarna Ray Chaudhury (Bengali: সাবর্ণ রায় চৌধুরী) family were the Zamindar (superior landlords) of the Kolkata (earlier known as Calcutta) area, prior to the arrival of the British. On 10 November 1698, they transferred, by lease, their rights over the three villages – Sutanuti, Kalikata and Gobindapur - to the East India Company. The family is also known as Sabarna Choudhury (সাবর্ণ চৌধুরী ).

Family history

The origin is traced back in the 10th Century CE, when Adisura brought five Brahmins to Bengal. Vedagarba was one of them and is regarded as the first in the genealogy of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury Family.

Panchanan Gangopadhyay (Panchu Saktikhan) of the family acquired the Khan title from the Mughal Emperor Humayun in the sixteenth century, for his bravery as a cavalry in charge of Pathan soldiers. Around the middle of that century he constructed a palace at a place which came to be known as Haveli Sahar or Halisahar. It was from Halisahar that the family spread far and wide, including, to Uttarpara, Birati, Barisha and Kheput.