Nabadwip

Nabadwip (Bengali pronunciation: [nɔbodːip]), also spelt Navadwip, historically known as Nadia, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Located on the western bank of the Hooghly River at its confluence with Jalangi River, it is considered to have been founded in 1063 CE, and served as the old capital of the Sena dynasty. A center of learning and philosophy in medieval India, the city is still noted for its traditional Sanskrit schools.

The Navya Nyaya school of logic reached its peak with the efforts of some well known contemporary philosophers of Nabadwip. The great Vaishnava saint, social reformer and an important figure of the Bhakti movement, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) was born here. It was after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's birth that Nabadwip became an important center of pilgrimage for the Vaishnavas worldwide as well as for Hindus in general. Many who follow Gaudiya Vaishnavism visit Nabadwip to celebrate the birthday of Shri Mahaprabhu, which, as per lunar calculations, occurs on Phalguni Purnima (i.e. on the Full moon day of February–March). This day is commonly known as Gaura-purnima. Aside from this, Nabadwip is visited for various other festivals like Dol Jatra and Rash purnima.

The Bhagirathi river originally flowed down the west of Nabadwip in the past, forming a natural boundary between the districts of Purba Bardhaman and Nadia. With time it has shifted its course to where it is at present, cutting the city off from the rest of the Nadia district.

The name of the city is derived from the conjunction of the Bengali words /naba/ (new) and /dwipa/ (island) meaning New-island. In the down stream of the river Ganges, the alluvial deposits carried over during its course that starts at the Himalayas, were gradually deposited, forming a new island which is present day's Nabadwip. The name Nabadwip and Nadia has the same connotation of the same geographical location flanked at west and north by the Ganges at earlier times. Kabi Karnapur used Nabadwip as Nabīna dbīpaṁ (Bengali: নবীন দ্বীপং), mean New Island in his book Chaitanya Charitamritam

The claim that the name Nabadwip refers to an area comprising nine islets has no ground. There are many historical references in this respect. The misconception around the nomenclature of the name "Nabadwip" arose due to the publication of the book "Bhakti Ratnakar" of Narahari Chakraborty. Hence "Nabadwip" i.e. nine islands, namely Antardwip, Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip. However again, it is to mention that all these islands are loosely scattered over a vast geographical area that the Historians do not approve of the idea as being "Nabadwip".

Although significant examples of the history of Nabadwip have been found since the Sen dynasty, various historians have been referring to Nabadwip in the Pala period. English historian John Clark Marshman mentioned Nabadwip as the capital of Adishur.

It is known from the Deopara stone slab of Rajshahi district that Raja Samanta Sena, a resident of Karnataka, lived in the Ganges-Pulin in his last years when he was defeated by his tenants and zamindars. According to the eminent historian Harprasad Shastri, Samanta Sen lived on the shores of Bhagirathi, probably in Nabadwip in his last years. Prior to Gour, Nabadwip was the capital of Sena dynasty during the reigns of Ballal Sen and Lakshman Sen. They ruled Bengal from here in the period from 1159 to 1206. The Ballal Dhipi in the Bamanpukur area adjacent to Nabadwip, which is associated with the history of Sen dynasty, has been protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. During the reign of Lakshman Sen, in 1202 AD, Bakhtiyar Khalji invaded and plundered Nabadwip and defeated Lakshman Sen, a victory that led to Muslim rule in Bengal. At that time the prosperity of Nabadwip was particularly damaged. During the Muslim rule, various temples, golden monasteries and idols of Bengal and Nabadwip were destroyed.

The birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is an important chapter of the fifteenth century. With the advent of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vaishnava culture was well established in Nabadwip. However, even before the birth of Mahaprabhu, during the reign of Jalaluddin Fateh Shah (1481–87), royal fear appeared in Nabadwip. The ruling society and the Brahmin society obstructed the spread of Vaishnava culture in Nabadwip at that time. Many Brahmin scholars and common people had to leave Nabadwip at that time due to the oppression of the king. However, when Chand Kazi, the then ruler of Nabadwip, issued an order to the Vaishnava community to stop chanting, Mahaprabhu went to Kazi's house with his companions and convinced the Kazi to allow the chanting, which is the first instance of civil disobedience movement in the history of India. During Chaitanya and later, various Pandits-Sadhaks-Vidyalankars and Sanskrit Pandits were born in Nabadwip. During the period of Chaitanya, Basudev Sarvabhauma, Raghunath Shiromani, Raghunandan etc. and later Krishnananda Agamavagisha, Buno Ramnath etc., Nabadwip became the main center of Sanskrit practice and learning. At the time of Raja Rudra Roy, there were four thousand students and six hundred professors teaching in Nabadwip, leading to its nickname as the "Oxford of Bengal".