It was the seat of the hereditary Nawab of Bengal and the state's treasury, revenue office and judiciary.

It was home to wealthy banking and merchant families from different parts of the Indian subcontinent and wider Eurasia, including the Jagat Seth and Armenians.

The city was also a center of art and culture, including ivory sculptors, Hindustani classical music and the Murshidabad style of Mughal painting.

The city's decline began with the defeat of the last independent Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.

The Riyaz-us-Salatin credited the initial development of the town to a merchant named Makhsus Khan.

Amid the decline of the central government, the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar promoted Khan to the status of a princely Nawab.

As Nawab, Khan was given the opportunity to create a princely dynasty as part of the Mughal aristocracy.

Murshid Quli Khan shifted the capital of Bengal from Dhaka, which lost its strategic importance after the expulsion of the Arakanese and Portuguese from Chittagong.

The presence of the princely court, the Mughal Army, artisans and multiethnic merchants increased the wealth of Murshidabad.

The city witnessed the construction of administrative buildings, gardens, palaces, mosques, temples and mansions.

The city was full of brokers, workers, peons, naibs, wakils, and ordinary traders.

[9] Murshid Quli Khan transformed Murshidabad into a capital city with an efficient administrative machinery for his successors.

The third Nawab Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan patronized the construction of another palace and military base, a new gateway, the revenue office, a public audience hall (durbar), a private chamber, the treasury and a mosque in an extensive compound called Farrabagh (Garden of Joy) which included canals, fountains, flowers, and fruit trees.

They controlled money lending activities and served as financiers for administrators, merchants, traders, the Nawabs, the Zamindars, as well as the British, French, Armenians and Dutch.

The Nawabs of Bengal entered into agreements with numerous European trading companies allowing them to establish bases in the region.

The Danish East India Company also set up trading posts in the Bengal Subah.

The British installed Mir Jafar's family as a puppet dynasty and eventually reduced the Nawab to the status of a landlord (zamindar).

[citation needed] As of 2011 Indian Census, Murshidabad had a total population of 44,019, of which 22,177 were males and 21,842 were females.

The festival aims at preserving the past and integrating it with the present and to bring Murshidabad back in the tourism, cultural and heritage map of India.

The festival is complete with cultural performances, heritage walks, cruise along the Bagirati River and exotic food.

The Food served during the festival is purely vegetarian, with special emphasis on Sheherwali cuisine.