The capital city of Shashanka, the great king of Gauḍa region (comprising most of Bengal) in the seventh century AD and perhaps that of Mahipala, one of the later Pala kings of Bengal, were in this district. The earliest evidences of the history of the district date back to the pre-historic days, perhaps as early as circa 1500 BCE. 18th century Edit The district got its present name in the early eighteenth century and its present shape in the later half of the eighteenth century. Murshidabad town, which lends its name to the district, derived its name from its founder, Murshid Quli Khan. Travellers marvelled at its glory through the ages. The city, lying just east of the Bhagirathi River, is an agricultural trade and silk-weaving centre. Originally called Makhsudabad, it was reputedly founded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century.[9] Kartalab Khan was appointed as Diwan of Bengal Subah in 1701 CE by Aurangzeb. He shifted his office from Dacca (present day Dhaka) to Maksudabad in 1702 CE. In 1703 CE, Aurangzeb honoured him with the title of Murshid Quli Khan and granted the permission to rename the town as Murshidabad in 1704 CE after his newly acquired title. The Nawab Murshid Quli Khan made Murshidabad the capital city of Sube Bangla, comprising Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The family of Jagat Seth maintained their position as state bankers at Murshidabad from generation to generation. The East India Company reigned from here for many years after the Battle of Plassey. Warren Hastings removed the supreme civil and criminal courts to Calcutta in 1772, but in 1775 the latter court was brought back to Murshidabad again. In 1790, under Lord Cornwallis, the entire revenue and judicial staffs were fixed at Calcutta. The town is still the residence of the nawab, who ranks as the first nobleman of the province with the style of Nawab Bbahadur of Murshidabad, instead of Nawab Nazim of Bengal. The Murshidabad palace, dating from 1837, is a magnificent building in Italian style. The city still bears memories of Nawabs with other palaces, mosques, tombs, and gardens, and retains such industries as carving in ivory, gold and silver embroidery, and silk-weaving. Modern era Edit The first wave of movements for freedom from the rule of company was led by the Ulema until the middle and late 19th century. In the 19th century the nature of the struggle changed, and all communities joined forces for Independence from British rule. Like other areas of Bengal Murshidabad also made its contribution to the freedom struggle of India. The Murshidabad District Committee of the Indian National Congress was formed in 1921. Brajabhushan Gupta was its first President. The students participated in movements like the Boycott of Foreign Goods and had links with the revolutionaries. In the Krishnanath College of Berhampore revolutionaries like Surya Sen and Niranjan Sen spent their college days. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Kazi Nazrul Islam spent some of their prison days. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendraprasad, C. R. Das and Netaji had also visited the district of Murshidabad during the freedom struggle days. The efforts of Nawab Wasif Ali Mirza in forming the Hindu Muslim Unity Association in 1937 were also noteworthy. In 1943 a conference of the Association in Kolkata was arranged, at the request of Fazlul Haque. In 1940, the Revolutionary Socialist Party was formed by Tridib Choudhury in the district. The presence of the Quit India movement was also felt here. India became independent on 15 August 1947, after being bifurcated into two nations, viz., India and Pakistan. Murshidabad, on the basis of the fact that Muslims were a majority, was part of (East) Pakistan for two days. Then it became part of India on the basis of the final award of the Radcliffe Commission.