Baidya
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
West Bengal, Tripura, Bangladesh | |
Languages | |
Bengali | |
Religion | |
Hinduism |
Baidya
Etymology
The terms Baidya means a physician in the
Origins
The origins of Baidyas remain surrounded by a wide variety of overlapping and sometimes contradictory myths, and are heavily contested. Aside from Upapuranas and two genealogies (Kulajis), premodern Bengali literature does not discuss details of the caste's origins,[7] nor do any old and authentic Smritis.[8] The community claims a descent from the semi-legendary Ambashthas, mostly believed to be of Kshatriya origin in Hindu scriptures,[a] but such connections are tenuous.[9][b]
It is plausible the Baidyas had some link with
Scriptural narratives
The Upapuranas played a significant role in the history of Bengal: they propagated and established Brahminic ideals in the hitherto-impure fringes of
Brihaddharma Purana (Brh. P.; c. 13th century[d]) was the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal[7][11][e] and it became the standard text for popular negotiations of caste status.[14] It mentioned the Baidyas as an occupational caste, equivalent to the Ambasthas, deriving from a well-known[f] mythical episode where Brahmins had them ordained to be the highest of Shudras and conferred a monopoly to practice Ayurveda.[11][16][17][g] In contrast, the Brahma Vaivarta Purana (Bv. P.) —notable for a very late Bengali recension (c. 14th/15th centuries)— treats the Baidyas as separate to Ambasthas[h] but notes both to be Satsudras.[9][16][19]
According to Ryosuke Furui, the Varnasamkara myth and the subsequent ordaining of Samkaras in Brh. P. reflected and reinforced the existing social hierarchy of ancient Bengal — that is, even in pre-Brahminized Bengal, the Baidyas had an eminent position and practiced medicine — while allowing the Brahmin authors to conform an alien society to orthodoxic standards, and establish themselves at the top.[16][i][j] According to Sircar, the Baidya community mentioned in the Bv. P. was a group of degraded Brahmins called Vaidya or Pandita, who resided in the Ganjam district of Odisha and may have served as a link between the Vaidyas of South India and the Baidyas of Bengal.[20]
Kulajis
Kulajis — a form of literature endemic to Bengal — were essentially immutable genealogical registers but actually, texts in flux, reflecting the needs and anxieties of contemporary society; they primarily served to establish social hierarchy vis à vis others.
History
Gupta Bengal (c. 400 C.E. - 550 C.E.)
Sedentary agrarian societies had formed in western regions of Bengal by c. 1000 BCE. The growth of states were roughly simultaneous with the rise of the Gupta Empire and by then, cultural contacts with North India were gradually flourishing.[m] Written records predating the Guptas do not survive.[21]
Copper Plate Inscriptions from the Gupta Era point to a complex society with different professional classes having little socioeconomic homogeneity. Many of these classes had their own hierarchies corresponding to differential geospatial levels or economic conditions but there exists no evidence of inter-class hierarchy; rather, there were frequent collaborations at the local levels in bureaucratic affairs. It does not appear that varna played any role in the society — the Brahmins were the only group to be referred to by their caste-identity and were revered but still classed as one among the peasant landholder class.[21]
One Gunaighar Inscription, dated to
Medieval Bengal (c. 600 C.E. - c. 1400 C.E.)
With the rise of sovereign kingships centered around Vanga, Radha, and Pundravardhana, the relatively well-off sections among the landholder class gained eminence and split into several sub-classes depending on economic power. Inscriptions referred to people from these classes alongside the villages they owned and above other professional classes — thus, economic affluence, rather than varna, appears to have been the operating norm in these societies. North-eastern Bengal which saw aggressive encroachment upon tribal tracts via royal settlement of Brahmins witnessed a less egalitarian society; yet, notwithstanding rulers claiming to a Brahmin pedigree etc, the social groups in inscriptions did not have anything to do with varna.[21]
With increasing urbanization in Pala territories, stratification became ingrained into the social structure and Brahmins —probably with state patronage— ascended to the top, overshadowing the landed magnates. Pala grants frequently enlist a detailed social hierarchy from the Brahmins to the Chandalas, encompassing many professional classes. In contrast, largely-agrarian societies in the east, ruled by the Chandras, exhibited no such radical developments though rudimentary notions of ranks were under development. The Paschimbhag copperplate inscription of Sri Chandra allotted the Baidyas with the largest share of land per se —even exceeding the Brahmins— pointing to the yet-insignificant roles played by varna.[21]
Beginning the 11th century, kinship based organization was increasingly evident across all classes — sects of Brahmins claimed greater authority deriving from the illustriousness of their ancestors and networked among themselves, literate classes entered into practicing endogamy etc. Inscriptions increasingly point to the hereditary nature of a range of professions from merchants to engravers to scribes. In the words of Furui, proto-jatis were forming across these spans which would be legitimized into a Brahminic social order by the Upapuranas etc.[21] The Bhatera Copper Plates[n] mention the aksapaṭalika of King Isandeva (c. 1050) to be of Baidya lineage, on whose advice a parcel of land was granted to the family of a dead prince.[14][o] Kumkum Chatterjee feels that the Baidyas had probably crystallized into a jati long before the Sultanate rule, sometime around these times.[24][7][p]
Sultanate and Mughal Bengal
In Sultanate, Mughal, and Nawabi Bengal, Baidyas often branched out into fields other than medicine and comprised a significant percentage of the elites.[24][25][26] They were reputed for their proficiency in Sanskrit, which they needed to read treatises of medicine.[24] By the end of sixteenth century, Baidyas were occupying a position of preeminence in the Bengali social hierarchy alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas; marriages between Baidyas and Kayasthas were commonplace.[24][7][12]
Around the late fifteenth century, Baidyas became intricately associated with the Caitanya Cult alongside Brahmins.[7] Murari Gupta, a childhood friend of Caitanya, was a famed physician of Navadwip and went on to compose Krsna Caitanya Caritamrta, his oldest extant biography in Sanskrit. Narahari Sarkara, another Baidya devotees, composed Krsna Bhajanamrta, a theological commentary.[27] Sivananda Sena, an immensely wealthy Baidya, organize the annual trip of Caitanya devotees to Puri, and his son wrote several devotional Sanskrit works.[27][28] As the Caitanya cult shunned doctrines of equality after his death, the associated Baidyas began enjoying a quasi-Brahminic status as Gaudiya Vasihnava gurus.[q]
Multiple Baidya authors partook in the Mangalkavya tradition, the foremost being Bijaya Gupta (late 15th c.).[29] Besides, two Chandi Mangalkavyas were penned by Jaynnarayana Sen (c. 1750) and Muktarama Sen (1774), two Manasa Mangalkavyas by Sasthibara Datta (late 17th c.) and one by Dbarik Das.[13] Bharatamallika (fl. 1650), a physician and an instructor of a tol, wrote numerous commentaries on Sanskrit texts like Amarakosha, and produced miscellaneous works on grammar and lexicography.[10]
Caste status and contestations
The Vallal Charita of
Colonial Bengal
During the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, acrimonious debates about the caste status of Baidyas proliferated.
Soon, Baidyas sought for equality with the Brahmins and claimed themselves to be "Gauna (secondary) Brahmins", leveraging the recently conferred right to
In 1893, Jnanendramohan Sengupta wrote Baidyajatir Baisista in an attempt to prove the Ambasthas had scriptural sanction of being ordained into sannyasa, like Brahmins; Sengupta remained a prolific author for the Baidya cause throughout the first quarter of the twentieth century.[38] In 1901, colonial ethnographer Herbert Hope Risley noted the Baidyas to be above Sudras but below Brahmins.[39] Baidya social historians like Umesh Chandra Gupta and Dinesh Chandra Sen supported Risley's observation of non-Shudra status with measured skepticism and went on to produce illustrious histories of the community, deriving from kulanjis.[z] In the early twentieth century, Gananath Sen, the first dean of the Faculty of Ayurveda at Banaras Hindu University, opened a "Baidya Brahman Samiti" in Calcutta; now, the Baidyas were not merely equal to Brahmins but identical.[7] It was also suggested all Baidyas change their surnames to Sharma, a Brahmin patronymic.[7] In 1915 and 1916, Kuladakinkara Ray published Vaidyakulapanjika to advocate that Baidyas were not just the same as Brahmins but the highest of them.[10][ab] In 1922, Basantakumar Sen wrote Baidya Jatir Itihas on the same themes.[38] Pascale Haag notes these efforts to gain mobility would not have partly succeeded without acceptance by Brahmin society.[10]
These attempts at attaining mobility were heavily enmeshed with the modernization of Ayurveda, that transpired across the nineneeth century.[7] Binodlal Sen had declared the genealogical works to be free for anyone who purchased medications above a certain value and Baidya medicine distributors were frequently found to sell revisionist caste histories.[7] Says Mukharji, that elements of colonial modernity—Western notions of physiology and medical instruments—were "braided" with Ayurveda to fashion Baidyas as the modern Brahmins.[41] Notwithstanding these contestations of scriptural rank, the material dominance of Baidyas continued unabated into colonial rule when they proactively took to Western forms of education and held a disproportionate share of government jobs, elite professions, and landholding.[7][ac] Male as well as female literacy rate of Baidyas were remarkably higher than in the case of all other castes of Bengal, as recorded in the 1881 census—which was the first to record caste-wise literacy data—and ever since. Baidya women, specifically, had two and three times the literacy( in vernacular and English respectively) of Bengal's overall male population as per the 1931 census.[43][44]
Baidyas were unquestionably established as among the "upper castes" by the mid-nineteenth century; they would go on to comprise the Bhadralok Samaj—the highest "secular rank" in contemporary Bengal—along with Brahmins and Kayasthas, and serve as the eyes and ears of the British Government.[1][45][46][47][ad] The Bhadraloks were instrumental in demanding democratic reforms during the early twentieth century; a majority of "revolutionary terrorists" from Bengal who partook in the Indian independence movement came from this class.[46][48]
Modern Bengal
In modern Bengal, Baidyas' place in caste-hierarchy follows Brahmins — they wear the sacred thread, and have access to scriptures, but cannot conduct priestly services.[49][50] Their ritual rank — whether Sudras or not — is debated[ae] and claims to Brahmin status persist.[51][52][53][54] However, their socioeconomic status rivals that of Brahmins.[55] As of 1960, inter-marriages between the Brahmins, Baidyas and Kayasthas were common and increasing.[56][57]
Baidyas wield considerable socio-economic power in contemporary Bengal as part of Bhadraloks; though in absence of rigorous data, the precise extent is difficult to determine.[45] Parimal Ghosh notes this Bhadralok hegemony to have effectively disenfranchised the rest of Bengal from staking a claim to social capital.[58]
Notable people
- Chittaranjan Das, Indian revolutionary and lawyer, popularly known as Deshbandhu,[59]
- Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali writer, educationist [60]
- Hiralal Sen, one of India's first film makers[61]
- Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Indian revolutionary[62]
- Jibanananda Das. poet, writer and novelist[63]
- Keshub Chandra Sen, philosopher, social reformer[64]
- Madhusudan Gupta, India's first human dissector[65]
- Mrinal Sen, Dadasaheb Phalke winner Indian film director[66]
- Nabinchandra Sen, Poet[67]
- Prafulla Chandra Sen, 3rd CM of West Bengal[68]
- Pritilata Waddedar, revolutionary nationalist[69]
- Calcutta Sanskrit College[70]
- Ramprasad Sen, Hindu Shakta poet and saint[71]
- R. C. Majumdar, historian[72]
- Chief Minister of West Bengal[68]
- Suchitra Sen, Bengali actress[73]
- Surya Sen, Indian revolutionary, popularly known as Master Da[74]
- Surendranath Dasgupta, Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy[75]
Notes
- ^ The Puranas as well as Mahabharata hold them to be Kshatriyas.[7] Smriti and Shastra texts regard them as a mixed caste—of a Brahmin father and a lower caste wife.[7] The Jatakas mention them as Vaishyas. Ambastha Sutta, a Buddhist text regards them as Brahmins.[7] Also, see the next section on Upapuranas.
- ^ Nripendra K. Dutt, Pascale Haag as well as Poonam Bala concur that the terms were synonymous.[10] Jyotirmoyee Sarma hypothesizes both groups might have followed the same profession and eventually merged into one.[11] Dineshchandra Sircar and Annapurna Chattopadhyay express skepticism on the connection but consider Sarma's hypothesis to be plausible.[12] Projit Bihari Mukharji, however, rejects such an equivalence and notes "Ambastha" had meant different things in different contexts across the history of India; it was always a post-facto label claimed by different groups in their reinvention of themselves.[7] R. C. Majumdar rejected such an identification, too.[7][need quotation to verify]
- ^ Refer Chakrabarti, Kunal (2001). Religious Process: The Puranas and the Making of a Regional Tradition. Oxford University Press. for an overview. The conclusion is worth noting: "The Brahmanization of Bengal ... seems to have engulfed most of the indigenous local cultures by the time the last redactions to the Puranas were made, and succeeded in forging a common religious cultural tradition, flexible enough to accommodate sub-regional variations and indifference to the emerging consensus on the dominant cultural mode among some social groups, and strong enough to take dissent in its stride."
- ^ Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.
- ^ Older sources on social setup include inscriptions of the Gupta and the Pala periods but Baidyas are not mentioned.[11]
- ^ The myth is very popular across a large set of Indian scriptures. It probably has Indo-European origins.[15]
- Prthu was installed as a Vishnu reincarnate and he sought to integrate the Samkaras into the four primordial varnas to restore dharma.[16]Thus, the Ambasthas were brought under Sudras (as were all other castes), and purposed and synonymised to Baidyas (physicians) in light of "existing capacities" and with help from Ashvin.[16][19] Then, they were made to undergo a second birth as penance for birthing the Svarnakaras - this rebirth is noted to be their identifying characteristic.[16][19] Pending completion of these rituals, they were branded as among the Satsudras — in total devotion to Brahmins and bearing a lack of material envy — and thus endowed with the right of inviting Srotriya Brahmins and accepting service from lower Sudras; one stanza even notes them to be Saṃkarottama (best of Saṃkaras).[16]
- ^ The origin story goes: Ashvin, a Kshatriya, had raped a Brahmin pilgrim and she, along with the illegitimate son, were driven out by her husband. This son, who was brought up by Ashvin and trained in Ayurveda, went on to become the progenitor of Baidyas.[8]
- ^ Furui senses the express prohibitions on Ambastha/Baidyas to read the Puranas despite granting them the Ayurveda as indicative of a fear of encroachment upon Brahmin intellectual domain and a tacit acknowledgement of groups trained in alternate forms of knowledge; the deeming of Ambastha/Baidyas as Samkarottama were concessional transactions where Brahmins entered into co operational agreements with other groups but commanded nominal authority.[16]
- ^ In any case, whether the Brhaddharma Purana succeeded in materializing and sustaining the Brahminical visions of Bengali society is doubtful; the medieval law commentary Dāyabhāga shares few things in common with Bṛhaddharma Purana.[16]
- ^ Sadvaidyakulapnjika does not invoke any such connection.[12] Chandraprabha mentions Bharatamallika's father to be a Vaidya and an Ambastha; it also quotes from Hindu scriptures to prove why Ambasthas and Baidyas are equable.[10] Annapurna Chattopadhyaya noted the "genuineness and historical bearing" of these passages to be "questionable".[7] R. C. Majumdar, D. C. Ganguly, and R. C. Hazra reiterate concerns of genuineness but note that Bharatamallika must have reflected contemporary views.
- ^ The particulars of appropriation vary — CP held that the Baidyas gained Kulin status for their sadachara (good conduct) in due course of time while SV reiterated the popular tradition of Ballāla Sena conferring Kulin status.[2][9]
- ^ The region had remained outside the influences of Brahminism for long, being treated as the "land of impure" as late as c. 200 B.C.E.[21]
- ^ See Mitra, Rajendralal (August 1880). "Copper-Plate Inscriptions from Sylhet". Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. LIV: 141–151. for more details. No information exists about this dynasty (?) except what can be gleaned from these two plates; they were probably a lineage of the Devas.[14]
- ^ The Gaya Narasimha Temple Inscription was composed by one "Vaidya Bajrapani" during the reign of Nayapala, as was the Gaya Akshaybata Temple Inscription by "Vaidya Dharmapani" during the reign of Vigrahapala III. It is not wise to speculate on whether they were (B)Vaidyas — the Nalanda Stone Pillar inscription of Rajyapala explicitly notes one Vaidyanatha to be from the Vanik-kula (mercantile community).
- ^ However, R. C. Majumdar notes a karana family to have served as the royal physicians in 11th and 12th century Bengal.[8]
- ^ It must be borne in mind, however, the Baidya jati was not a homogeneous unit. The community was divided into numerous endogamous samajes (societies) that exhibited strict conformity in rituals and social behaviour. There were Shaivite Baidya samajes, with a marked antipathy for the Vaishnava cult. Often, these samajes were further divided into sthans (places) that had variable degree of autonomy.[7]
- ^ The text reiterates a different version of the Brh. P. myth, where Vaidyas are held to be the son of an Ambastha father and a Vaisya mother. Ambastha was born of a Maula father and a Vaisya mother. Maula was created of a Brahmin father and a Kshatriya mother.
- ^ Kunal Chakrabarti and Sudipta Kuvairaj note Ch. M. to demonstrate a confluence of Brahminical and local folk traditions; their views of caste society differed from traditional Brahmanic literature.[30]
- ^ Both Kavikantahara and Bharatamallika mentioned of several older genealogies, which are now-lost or (unlikely) yet to be retrieved.
- ^ This Candrasekhara was based in Banaras and might have been the court poet of Rao Surjan Singh.
- ^ Sena is held to have divided the Baidyas into numerous sub-castes, depending on their place of residence, leading to samaj-es.[9]
- ^ Mukharji notes movements to gain social mobility actively sought to safeguard their earned dominance by making sure lower-ranked castes remained as such. Vaidyas were no exception.
- ^ Kayasthas rejected the mobility claims of Baidyas to the extent of bribing Brahmins and instead chose to assert themselves as Kshatriyas.[9]
- ^ However, Baidyas continued to marry Kayasthas in East Bengal leading to a diminution in status.[9]
- ^ These efforts met with much resistance from positivist historians. Jadunath Sarkar, R. C. Majumdar, and other historians rejected the idea kulanjis were acceptable as evidences of history. Gupta also rebuked the Kayasthas for fabricating evidence to "malign" the Vaidyas as a low caste.[40]
- ^ It was highlighted Baidyas taught the Vedas unlike Brahmins, who were "apparently" only allowed to only recite them. Also, Baidyas exhibited sacrificatory values in the preparation of pakayajna and utterance of mantras during the making of a medical remedy.
- ^ The text proposed the word Vaidya was constructed either from Veda or Vidya, redefined the word Ambastha as meaning the father (of patients incl. Brahmins), quoted from the Dharmaśāstra cannon about caste groups exhibiting social mobility as a result of virtuous deeds,[aa] and highlighted from Veda and Smritis about products of mixed marriages being entitled to carry their paternal caste.[10]
- ^ According to David L. Curley, Baidyas were "serving in local revenue administrations, managing rent and revenue collections for zamindars, obtaining or providing short-term agrarian and mercantile credit, engaging in trade as agents or partners of the English and French East India Companies and acquiring zamindari estates".[42]
- ^ Jyotirmoyee Sarma notes Baidyas already had (bhadralok) but strove (to the fascination of external observers) for the highest of "ceremonial/scriptural rank" (brahmin).
- ^ In 1960, Chattopdhyay noted Baidyas were still treated as Sudras on all orthodox religious occasions.[9] However, Sarma in 1980 postulated that the rank of Baidyas in ritual occasions was established to be higher than that of the Sudra.[11]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-76199-849-5.
- ^ a b c Dutt, Nripendra Kumar (1968). Origin and growth of caste in India, Volume 2. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. pp. 69–70.
- ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3.
- ISBN 978-81-321-0407-0.
- ISBN 978-0-85728-935-3.
- ISBN 978-0-521-09652-2, retrieved 2021-07-30
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-38182-4.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link - ^ a b c d e MAJUMDAR, R. C. (1971). HISTORY OF ANCIENT BENGAL. G. BHARADWAJ , CALCUTTA. pp. 420–421, 435–437.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chattopadhyaya, Annapurna (1960). The People And Culture Of Bengal: A Study In Origins. Vol. 2. Kolkata: Firma KLM. pp. 868–908.
- ^ ISBN 9788124606315.
- ^ a b c d e f Sarma, Jyotirmoyee (1987). Caste Dynamics Among the Bengali Hindus. Firma KLM. pp. 14, 20, 111.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sircar, D. C. (1959). Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient and Medieval India. Vol. 1. Firma KLM. pp. 19, 115.
- ^ a b Sengupta, Saswati (2021). "Invoking the Goddesses". Mutating Goddesses: Bengal's Laukika Hinduism and Gender Rights. Oxford University Press.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-138-49843-3.
- ^ O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger (1976). "THE SPLIT CHILD: Good and Evil Within Men". The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Hermeneutics: Studies in the History of Religions. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 321–369.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Furui, Ryosuke (2013). "Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa". In Ghosh, Suchandra; Bandyopadhyay, Sudipa Ray; Majumdar, Sushmita Basu; Pal, Sayantani (eds.). Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar. Kolkata: R. N. Bhattacharya.
- ^ Malakara, Kalipada (1979). Inter-communities Relations Through Castes, Rituals & Marriages.
It is noticeable that Brihaddharmapurana has treated the Baidya and Ambastha as separate sub - castes ( Upabarna ) having separate history
- ^ S2CID 163001574.
- ^ a b c d Nicholas, Ralph W. (1995). "The Effectiveness of the Hindu Sacrament (Samskara): Caste, Marriage, and Divorce in Bengali Culture". In Harlan, Lindsey; Courtright, Paul B. (eds.). From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture. Oxford University Press. pp. 145–152.
- ^ Sircar, D. C (1972–73). Journal of Ancient Indian History, Vol-6. Centre of Advanced Study in AIHC, C.U. pp. 173–175.
- ^ a b c d e f Furui, Ryosuke (2018). "Social Life: Issues of Varṇa-Jāti System". In Chowdhury, Abdul Momin; Chakravarti, Ranabir (eds.). History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives (up to c. 1200 CE). Vol. 2: Society, Economy & Culture. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ Nripendra Kumar Dutt (1965). Origin and Growth of Caste in India: Vol. II: Castes in Bengal. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay.
- ^ Sharma, Tej Ram (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. p. 115.
- ^ S2CID 143802267.
- ISBN 978-0-52002-569-1.
- ^ Mukherjee, S. N. (1970). "Caste, Class and Politics in Calcutta, 1815-1838". In Leach, Edmund; Mukherjee, S. N. (eds.). Elites in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–56.
- ^ a b Dimock, Edward C. "Personae". In Stewart, Tony K. (ed.). Caitanya Caritamrta of Krsnadasa Kaviraja: A Translation and Commentary. Harvard Oriental Series: 56. Cambridge.
- ISBN 9780198827108.
- ISBN 978-91-22-00408-0.
- ^ a b Yazijian, Edward M. (2007). From performance to literature: The "Candīman˙gala" of Kavikan˙kana Mukundarāma Cakravarti (Thesis). University of Chicago. pp. 25, 27, 233–234.
- ^ Dimock, Edward C. "Adi Lila". In Stewart, Tony K. (ed.). Caitanya Caritamrta of Krsnadasa Kaviraja: A Translation and Commentary. Harvard Oriental Series: 56. Cambridge. p. 239.
- JSTOR 27644269.
- ^ S2CID 144331664.
- ^ S2CID 225131874.
- ^ Curley, David L. (2008). Poetry and History: Bengali Maṅgal-kābya and Social Change in Precolonial Bengal. Collection of Open Access Books and Monographs. CEDAR, University of Washington. pp. 33–34.
- ISBN 9781139505185.
- S2CID 8709682.
- ^ a b Basu, Hena (2004). Castes in Bengal: Some Bengali Publications: 1840 - 1940. Kolkata: Basu Research and Documentation Service. pp. 1–3.
- ^ Mitra, A. (1953). "Vaidyas". The Tribes and Castes of West Bengal (Report). Census 1951. Land and Land Revenue Department, Government of West Bengal. p. 37.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Ritwik (2016). Homo Ahistoricus: Reading Disavowals of History in Colonial South Asian Writing (Thesis). Princeton University. p. 165, 184, 187.
- JSTOR 26530819.
- ISSN 0019-4646.
- ISBN 978-0-19-908934-5.
- ISBN 978-1-317-41477-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-315-68631-8. Archived from the originalon 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ S2CID 96476257.
- JSTOR 44508277.
- ISBN 978-1-4443-1008-5, retrieved 2021-07-29
- ISBN 978-981-10-5056-5, retrieved 2021-07-28
- ^ Ray, Saumyajit (2009). "Understanding Indian Multiculturalism". In Raj, Christopher S.; McAndrew, Marie (eds.). Multiculturalism: Public Policy and Problem Areas in Canada and India. Canada: Manak Publications. p. 90.
- ISBN 978-1-4384-1258-0.
there being no Kshatriya or Vaishya element in the indigenous population of Bengal. Ritually, the rank of the Baidya and the Kayasthas is the same as those of the Nabasakhs with whom they constitute the upper strata of the Bengali Sudras known as satsudra [sat meaning clean]. They are also referred to as jalacharaniya Sudras because of their right to offer drinking water to the clean Brahmans who can minister to them without defilement. However, in the secular context the Baidyas and Kayasthas, who were mostly landholders and professionals, occupy a much higher rank than the nabhasakshs, who are mostly traders, manufacturers, and agriculturists. It is due to this reason that Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas are usually combined together and referred to as uchchajati, i.e. higher castes
- ISBN 978-1-84331-823-1.
[In rural Bengal]On Occasions where profession was more relevant than ritual purity, Kayasthas, Baidyas and Nabhasakhs were considered together as Sudras whose water is acceptable to the Brahmins(jalacharaniya Shudras)
- ISBN 978-1-78308-519-4.
Thus to complicate the picture even more, the Baidyas and Kayasthas are often grouped together with the Brahmans to constitute the higher caste group or uccha jati. Some of the Baidyas and the Kayasthas are known to have started using the sacred thread as the sign of being second-born.
- ISBN 978-93-325-0655-8.
Vaidya A Shudra caste in Bengal. Also known as Baidya.
- ISBN 978-81-86937-66-2.
- ISBN 978-1-135-24061-5.
- ISBN 978-0-226-73137-7.
And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Western-ized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population
- ISBN 9789384082994.
- ISBN 978-1-4384-7431-1.
- ISBN 978-0-226-38182-4.
- ISBN 978-0-226-38313-2.
- ^ Padmini Sathianadhan Sengupta (1968). Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
- ^ "Jibanananda Das death anniversary: Remembering his life and legacy". 22 October 2021.
- ^ Southard, Barbara (1971). Neo-Hinduism and Militant Politics in Bengal, 1875-1910. University of Hawaii. p. 76.
- ISBN 978-1000435535.
- ^ "গণমানুষের চলচ্চিত্রকার মৃণাল সেন | The Daily Star Bangla" (in Bengali). 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
Mrinal Sen was born on 14 May 1923 in a Vaidyabrahman family in Jhiltuli mahalla of Faridpur city
- ISBN 978-0-19-908770-9.
- ^ a b Dutta-Ray, Sunanda K. "WB Polls: Mamata's triumph, a victory of class over caste".
- ^ jagonews24.com. "107th birth anniversary of Pritilata Waddedar today". jagonews24.com. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ISBN 978-0-8364-0202-5.
- ^ McDaniel, June (2004). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls. Oxford University Press
- ^ Bhāratī: Bulletin of the College of Indology. The College. 1985.
He was born in a Traditional and reputed Vaidya family(a caste of physicians)
- ^ "Suchitra sen Filmography | Biography of Suchitra sen". www.indianfilmhistory.com. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
- ^ "Surya Sen". abhipedia.abhimanu.com.
- ^ "Surendranath Dasgupta Biography". www.tititudorancea.com. Retrieved 2022-02-01.