( lviii. ) and took possession of the Fort, as the result of which the Massacre of the Black Hole took place. But it is not with this regrettable episode of history that we have anything to do. Sitaram Mittra later on gave up his lumbardarship of Bagbazar, where he had already erected a house. excavated tanks, drained marshes and cleared the jungle, in favour of Raja Navakissen, the founder of the Sobhabazar family, when the latter was awarded the grant of Sutanuti. The Mittras thereafter turned their attention to the salt business, which at that time was the most flourishing of all trades in the country. In the salt business he and his successors amassed a great fortune which became the nucleus of the wealth and opulence of this premier family. The greatest lustre, however, was shed on it by Gokul Mittra, known then as now as Sadhu Gokul. And this was owing to the installation of God Madan Mohan,-the tutelary deity of the great Rajas of Bishnupur in the palatial building which stil houses Him. Gokul Babu extricated the Raja from financial difficulties and in return obtained the Image. Subsequently the Raja sought to recover the God but He appeared to him in a dream telling him that He was well satisfied with the attentions and services of Sadhu Gokul and would not care to return to His old quarters in the Bishnupur Fort. It was thus by the direct favour of God Almighty the Mittra family became more and more opulent. The vast estatesthey have endowed for the proper performance of the
