Midnapur’s famous sweet Babarsa might have got its name from Mughal Emperor Babur

Imagine a sweet linked to a famous Mughal Emperor and also a British officer! Yes, the famous Babarsa, a heritage sweet of Midnapur that is fast vanishing from sweet shops is considered to have more than two centuries of history. It is believed in the middle of 1740 -1750, the town of Khirpai was attacked several times by Maratha Bargis. Residents started leaving the area to escape from the attack. During this time, Edward Babarash, helped locals defeat the plunderers. A local trader named Babarasa, was grateful to Edward and presented him with this special sweet. According to other sources, this sweet was given to Emperor Babur in Delhi. Since then, its name has been Babarsa. 

The sweet is thus almost 250-year-old. The origin of these sweets before 1750 was in the ancient town of Midnapur called Khirpai. The sweet looks like an Amriti and is a mixture of warm ghee, flour and honey. Very few shops still make this old sweet as it is expensive and hardly got the popularity like Rosogolla and ChamCham. Sweet traders of Khirpai who are really proud of this heritage sweet believe government intervention is needed to keep the legacy of this historical sweet alive.