Bengali Brahmin

Extended-protected article
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bengali Brahmins
A Bengali Brahmin priest
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesBengali
Populated statesWest Bengal, India
Related groupsMaithil Brahmin, Utkala Brahmin, Kanyakubja Brahmin

Bengali Brahmins are the community of Hindu Brahmins, who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.

The Bengali Brahmins, along with Baidyas and Kayasthas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes of Bengal.[1] In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks of Bengal were primarily, but not exclusively, drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in West Bengal.[2][3][4]

History

For a long period, Bengal was not part of Vedic culture.

Huyen-tsang visited Bengal. His records suggest that certain Bengali Brahmins had become monarchs. The ruler of Samatata, whose reign covered the first part of the 7th century C.E., was a Brahmin.[6] Several Brahmins gradually came from central India beginning in the eighth century, and epigraphs of the time provide numerous examples of Brahmin families coming from various parts of India to settle in Bengal. According to Roy, the migrant Brahmins might mingle with the existing Brahmins of Bengal. The epigraphic evidence indicates that although the Palas were a great patron of Buddhism, they supported and endowed Brahmins too. The land grants made by Palas to Brahmins were carried out with orthodox Hindu rituals as described in the inscriptions of Palas. This evidence shows that even in the period of the Pala dynasty, Brahminic practices prevailed.[8][10] The Varman kings were the rulers of eastern Bengal from 1050 to 1150 C.E., while the Sena kings gained influence in Gauda. Eventually, the Senas became the rulers of all of Bengal. The Sena and Varman kings were followers of Brahmanism and were considered orthodox in their beliefs. Historians believe that these rulers introduced certain aspects of Brahmanism to Bengal, which had a more adaptable society compared to the southern and western parts of India where Brahmanism was more strict.[8]

It is traditionally believed that much later, in the 11th century CE, after the decline of the

Kulin Brahmins.[13] According to Sengupta, multiple accounts of this legend exist, and historians generally consider this to be nothing more than myth or folklore lacking historical authenticity.[14] Identical stories of migration of Orissan Brahmins exist under the legendary king of Yayati Kesari.[15] According to Sayantani Pal, D.C Sircar opines that, the desideration of Bengali Brahmins to gain more prestige by connecting themselves with the Brahmins from the west, 'could have contributed' to the establishment of the system of 'kulinism'.[16]

Referring to the linkages between class and caste in Bengal, Bandyopadhyay mentions that the Brahmins, along with the other two upper castes, refrained from physical labour but controlled land, and as such represented "the three traditional higher castes of Bengal".[1]

Clans

Apart from the common classification as Kulina, Srotriya and Vangaja, Bengali Brahmins are divided into the following clans or divisions:[17][18]

  • Radhi
  • Varendra
  • Vaidika
  • Saptasati
  • Madhyasreni
  • Sakadwipi

Kulin Brahmin

Kulin Brahmins trace their ancestry to five families of

Vedic Brahmins were supposed to have nine gunas (favoured attributes), among which was insistence on same-rank marriages.[20] Multiple accounts of this legend exist; historians generally consider it to be nothing more than myth or folklore, lacking historical authenticity.[14] The tradition continues by saying that these incomers settled and each became the founder of a clan.[21]

These Brahmins were designated as Kulina ("superior") in order to differentiate them from the more established local Brahmins.

Bhattacharjee.[22] According to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, there were fifty-six Kulin Brahmin surnames, out of which eight were popular, including Ghosal, Putitunda, Kanjilal and Kundagrami.[23]

Post Partition of India

When the British left India in 1947,

Republic of India, and continued to migrate for several decades thereafter to escape Islamist persecution.[24][25]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 81-7829-316-1
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-761-99849-5
    .
  3. JSTOR 44508277
    .
  4. ISBN 9789384082994
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-534713-5
    .
  6. ^ a b Niyogi, Puspa (1967). Brahmanic Settlements in Different Subdivisions of Ancient Bengal. Indian Studies: Past & Present. pp. 19, 37–38.
  7. ^ a b SIRCAR, D. C. (1959). STUDIES IN THE SOCIETY AND ADMINISTRATION OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA VOL. 1. FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, CALCUTTA. pp. 1–4, 18–19.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8364-0633-7
    .
  9. ^ a b Griffiths, Arlo (2018). "Four More Gupta-period Copperplate Grants from Bengal". Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology. New Series (9): 15–57.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-86311-378-9
    .
  11. ^ Ghosh, Suniti Kumar (2002). The Tragic Partition of Bengal. Indian Academy of Social Sciences. p. 14.
  12. ^ Shin, Jae-Eun (1 January 2018). Region Formed and Imagined: Reconsidering Temporal, Spatial and Social Context of Kāmarūpa, in Lipokmar Dzuvichu and Manjeet Baruah (eds), Modern Practices in North East India: History, Culture, Representation, London and New York: Routledge, 2018, pp. 23–55.
  13. ISBN 978-0-8387-5144-2
    . Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  14. ^
    ISBN 81-7476-355-4
    .
  15. ^ Witzel 1993, p. 267.
  16. ISBN 978-1-118-45507-4
    , retrieved 5 February 2022
  17. ISBN 81-8569-224-6
    .
  18. ^ Narottam, Kundu (1963). Caste and class in pre-Muslim Bengal (PDF) (Thesis). University of London.
  19. ISBN 9789325976689
    .
  20. ^ "Reflections on Kulin Polygamy, p2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8387-5144-2. Archived
    from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  22. ISBN 978-0-1928-9685-8
    .
  23. ISBN 9780197675908
    .
  24. ^ "Pakistan: The Ravaging of Golden Bengal". Time. 2 August 1971.
  25. ^ Das, S. (1990). Communal Violence in Twentieth Century Colonial Bengal: An Analytical Framework. Social Scientist, 18(6/7), 21. doi:10.2307/3517477
  26. ^ Bhattacharya, "Raybaghini o Bhurishrestha Rajkahini"
  27. ^ Bhattacharya, "Raybaghini o Bhurishrestha Rajkahini"
  28. ^ Dutt, Ajanta (6 July 2016). "Book review 'A Nation in Making': Banerjea's nation-A man and his history". The Asian Age. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  29. ^ Khan, Fatima (8 April 2019). "Bankim Chandra — the man who wrote Vande Mataram, capturing colonial India's imagination". The Print. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Kishore Kumar birthday: His favourite songs". India Today. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Protocol to keep President Pranab off Puja customs". Hindustan Times. 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  32. ISBN 978-1-136-10426-8
    .

References

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bengali_Brahmin&oldid=1254054482"