The Jaina community being a mercantile and chiefly trading community have been long known for their mobility and cosmopolitanism through the centuries. The earliest record of the Dudhoria family takes us back to the year 1774 when Hajrimal Dudhoria and his two sons, Sabai Singh Dudhoria and Maujiram Dudhoria emigrated from Bikaner in Rajputana to settle in Azimganj during the second wave of Jaina migration to Bengal in the latter half of the eighteenth century that predominantly saw the migration of the Sheherwali Jainas from Rajput lands to Bengal. Initially engaged in country made cloth business, the family’s fortunes and prosperity took off with Babu Harek Chand Dudhoria who not only extended the mercantile reach of the family but also went on to establish a banking business in Calcutta, Sirajganj, Azimganj and Jangipur. As bankers and money lenders the family now commanded an impressive credit and trading network that was further facilitated by the changing nature of the colonial economy, commercialization of agriculture, changing land policies and the payment of regular taxes. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that the Dudhoria family soon gained many attributes which would make them influential figures in the Azimganj-Murshidabad area.

The impressive, newly and deftly restored building of Bari Kothi today boasts of a long heritage of wealth and grandeur of the Dudhoria Family. The architecture, representing an eclectic style of Western inspired as well as the typical ‘Marwari architecture’ of havelis mostly seen in Rajasthan stands out remarkably in the small hamlet of Azimganj. While, the owner of the building, proprietors of this heritage hotel, have brought to the fore for the visitors the rather spectacular narrative of how the building was given a new lease of life through the sustainable conservation and restoration processes what has been left out is an understanding of the stylistic elements that this house beholds. Delving into the stylistic understanding of what they call as the ‘Durbar hall’ that has now been transformed into a magnificent dining hall for the guests this essay will focus on a the tile program of the room that gives it a character and significance of its own.
At first glance, the Durbar hall’s ornate chandeliers, the long table decorated with finely crafted porcelains are bound to take one’s breath away. However, what stood out for me was the fabulous use of tiles in the interior decoration of the room that contributed to its splendour and richness. To me, a researcher of art history, the first thought naturally went to the painted havelis of Shekhawati, where frescoes of various themes and subjects like mythological genre scenes, local legends, animals and plants adorns the exterior and interior walls of the havelis. The ubiquitous use of the tiles in the Durbar hall was in all likelihood meant to substitute this aesthetic desire in the absence of fresco painting artists, called chiteras who were the artistic hands behind the wall paintings of Shekhawati; otherwise, it could have been that earlier on, at some point in the long history of this building there may have been wall paintings which has not stood the test of time and have hence been replaced by the more durable tiles, which are more easy to maintain and definitely more sturdy.

The tiles most extensively used in the Durbar hall can be identified as ‘MAJOLICA’ tiles. Majolica tiles are essentially glazed polychrome relief tiles with a decorative character and project the outlines of floral, faunal, geometric or other motifs and are glazed in multiple colours.