The best of this city is Dhoni Rani's Chira
- এডিট ডেস্ক
- Dec 15, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: May 10, 2023
Dhoni Rani from Kaliakair, the small locality of that time, agreed to the second invitation of the British Queen, Victoria. Nevertheless, have to allow her to go to Gayakashi and Vrindavan for free on this condition.
The taste and aroma of that Chira won the mind of British Queen Victoria. This Dhoni Rani's Chira is found in the Barbaria village of Kaliakair Upazila of Gazipur district.
Dhoni Rani's days were difficult as her husband died, leaving two children behind. Hoping for help, she once went to the house of Baliadi Sreefaltali Zamindar Bari; the Zamindar gave some paddy as help. Returning home, she started to make Chira from that paddy. Dhoni Rani was so astonished when she scooped the rice and saw the quality of the chira. This chira was so beautiful and big, which was very tasty. Then she sowed some paddy seeds without crushing them all and also gave some paddy seeds to the neighbors. In this way, the chira's variety spread to the whole Barbaria village. The name of the paddy is Nayashal Paddy. According to Dhoni Rani's name, this rice Chira became "Dhanir Chira'.
On the birthday of Queen Victoria in 1886, the then Governor of Dhaka sent a few maunds(37.324kgs=1 maund) of Dhoni's Chira to London as a gift. After eating that chira, all the ceremony guests were full of praise. Later when Queen Victoria, invited Chira's maker to the state but Dhoni Rani did not visit her, as she was afraid. The reason for the fear is that when the muslin fabric of Dhaka became famous, the British cut off the fingers of the muslin artisans — so that they could no longer make muslin fabric.
The following year, Queen Victoria invited Dhoni Rani for the second time again. This time Dhoni Rani reluctantly accepted the invitation but attributed one condition. She wants a chance to go to Gaya Kashi and Vrindavan as a Pilgrimage free of cost. Queen Victoria accepted her proposal well, and in 1887 as a state representative to Britain, Dhoni Rani visited India with Gayakashi and Vrindavan.
Two people could work half a day in a Dheki and grind 10-12 kg Chira at past. However, nowadays, with the advent of modern machines, no one is left to make Chira from paddy manually. The price of Dhoni's Chira has increased, and the demand has increased too. However, production has stayed the same.
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