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Baidya
Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste ('' jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from these three upper castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in West Bengal. Etymology The terms ''Baidya'' means a physician in the Bengali and Sanskrit languages. Bengal is the only place where they formed a caste or rather, a ''jati''. Origins The origins of Baidyas remain surrounded by a wide variety of overlapping and sometimes contradictory myths, and are heavily contested. Aside from Upapuraṇas and two genealogies(Kulajis), premodern Bengali literature does not discuss details of the caste's origins; no literature from outside the region discuss them either. The semi-legendary Ambastha connection of Baidyas who mostly held to be of a Kshatriya origin in Hindu scriptures is tenuous. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengali Kayastha
A Bengali Kayastha is a Bengali Hindu who is a member of the Kayastha community. The historical caste occupation of Kayasthas throughout India has been that of scribes, administrators, ministers and record-keepers; the Kayasthas in Bengal, along with Brahmins and Baidyas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes that comprise the "upper layer of Hindu society." During the British Raj, the Bhadraloks of Bengal were drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in West Bengal. History The social and religious patterns of Bengal had historically been distinctively different from those in the orthodox Hindu heartland of North India and this impacted on how the caste system developed there. Bengal, being located east of the traditional Aryavarta (Aryan) region between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, remained insulated from the full impact of Brahminical orthodoxy for many centuries, and the impact of Budd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengali Brahmins
The Bengali Brahmins are 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. 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. History Multiple land-grants to Brahmins, from since the Gupta Era have been observed. The Dhanaidaha copper-plate inscription, dated to 433 CE, is the earliest of them and records a grantee Brahmin named Varahasvamin. The 7th-century Nidhanpur copperplate inscription mentions that a marshy land tract adjacent to an existing settlement was given to more than 208 Vaidika Brahmins (Brahmins versed in the Vedas) belonging to 56 gotras and different Vedic schools. It is traditionally bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambashtha
Ambashtha or Ambastha is a caste or sub-caste or a community of Hindus in India. According to Hindu scriptures, the term Ambastha refers to the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Vaishya mother, whose traditional occupation was the practice of medicine. The term Ambastha also refers to a sub-caste of Kayasthas, now found mainly in South-Bihar, who may be connected with the old Ambashtha caste, as suggested by Crooke, and who were involved in the practice of medicine & surgery. The name ''Ambastha'' may also come from the Ameth region of Oudh or their patron deity Ambaji. Mythology and varna status Ridgeon mentions about the myth related to the origin of the four varnas in the Rigveda, and says that in order to explain "the great number of castes, a theory was developed that unions between men and women of different varnas produced offspring of various castes". Regarding the varna status of the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Vaishya mother, J. Muir (1868) cites the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhadralok
Bhadralok (, literally 'gentleman', or 'well-mannered person') is Bengali for the new class of 'gentlefolk' who arose during British rule in India in the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Caste and class makeup According to Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, the ''Bhadraloks'' primarily, though not exclusively, belonged to "the three traditional upper castes of Bengal", Brahmin, Baidya and Kayastha. Wealth, English education, and high status in terms of administrative service were the factors which led to the rise of this 'new aristocracy' and since a large number of the three upper castes had administrative skills and economic advantages, they formed the majority of Bhadralok in 19th century Bengal, but the ''Bhadralok'' "was never a closed status group", rather in practice it was an open social group. Majority of the Brahmins and Kayasthas being poor and illiterate were not regarded as ''Bhadralok''. By late 19th century many of middle ranking peasant and tradin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venu
The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the South Indian Carnatic music tradition. It is referred to as nadi and tunava in the Rigveda and other Vedic texts of Hinduism. In northern Indian music, a similar flute is called ''bansuri''. In the south, it is also called by various other names such as ''pullanguḻal'' (புல்லாங்குழல்) in Tamil (Tamil Nadu), ''oodakuḻal ''(ഓടകുഴൽ) or '' kurungu kuḻal '' (കുറുന് കുഴൽ) in Malayalam (Kerala) and ''ಕೊಳಲು (koḷalu)'' or ಮುರಳಿ (muraļi) in Kannada (Karnataka) . It is known as ''pillana grōvi'' (పిల్లన గ్రోవి) or ''vēṇuvu'' (వేణువు) in Telugu (Andhra Pradesh & Telangana). It is also called as Carnatic Flute. The ''venu'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prthu
Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, ''Pṛthu'', lit. "large, great, important, abundant") is a sovereign ( chakravarti), featured in the Puranas. According to Hinduism, he is an avatar (incarnation) of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Prithu, Prithi and Prithvi Vainya, literally, "Prithu — the son of Vena". Prithu is "celebrated as the first consecrated king, from whom the earth received her (Sanskrit) name, Prithvi." He is mainly associated with the legend of his chasing the earth goddess, Prithvi, who fled in the form of a cow and eventually agreed to yield her milk as the world's grain and vegetation. The epic Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, matsya puran and the Bhagavata Purana describe him as a part-avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu.Singh p.1713 Legends Birth The birth of Prithu is without female reproduction. Thus being a ''ayonija'' ("born without (the participation) of the yoni"), Prithu is untouched by desire and ego and can thus control his senses to ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudras
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class serving other three classes. The word caste comes from the Portuguese word casta. The word ''Shudra'' appears in the ''Rig Veda'' and it is found in other Hindu texts such as the ''Manusmriti'', ''Arthashastra'', '' Dharmashastras'' and '' Jyotishshastra''. In some cases, shudras participated in the coronation of kings, or were ministers and kings according to early Indian texts. History Vedas The term ''śūdra'' appears only once in the ''Rigveda''. This mention is found in the mythical story of creation embodied in the ''Purusha Sukta ("The Hymn of Man").'' It describes the formation of the four varnas from the body of a primeval man. It states that the brahmin emerged from his mouth, the kshatriya from his arms, the vaishya from his t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashvins
The Ashvins ( sa, अश्विन्, Aśvin, horse possessors), also known as Ashwini Kumara and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu twin gods associated with medicine, health, dawn and sciences. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described as youthful divine twin horsemen, travelling in a chariot drawn by horses that are never weary, and portrayed as guardian deities that safeguard and rescue people by aiding them in various situations. There are varying accounts, but Ashvins are generally mentioned as the sons of the sun god Surya and his wife Sanjna. In the epic ''Mahabharata,'' the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva were the children of the Ashvins. Etymology and epithets The Sanskrit name ' (अश्विन्) derives from the Indo-Iranian stem ''*Haćwa-'' (cf. Avestan ''aspā''), itself from the Indo-European word for the horse, ''*H1éḱwos'', from which also descends the Lithuanian name '' Ašvieniai''. Lubotsky, Alexander. "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon". ''Indo-European ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahma Vaivarta Purana
The ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; ) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (''Maha-purana'') of Hinduism. It is an important Vaishnavism text. This Purana majorly centers around the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna. Although a version may have existed in late 1st millennium CE, its extant version was likely composed in the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent. Later, it was likely revised somewhere in South India. Numerous versions of this Purana exist and are claimed to be the part of manuscripts of the ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' or the ''Brahmakaivarta Purana''. The text is notable for identifying Krishna as the supreme reality and asserting that all gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha are one and the same and in fact, all are the incarnations of Krishna. Goddesses like Radha, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Savitri are asserted to be equivalent and are mentioned as the incarnations of Prakruti i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengali Language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of the 22 scheduled languages of India. With approximately 300 million native speakers and another 37 million as second language speakers, Bengali is the fifth most-spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by total number of speakers in the world. Bengali is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language. Bengali is the official and national language of Bangladesh, with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. Within India, Bengali is the official language of the states of West Bengal, Tripura and the Barak Valley region of the state of Assam. It is also a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. It is the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Skandagupta. The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.Raghu Vamsa v 4.60–75 The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I. Many Hindu epics and literary sources, such as Mahabharata an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dāyabhāga
The ''Dāyabhāga'' is a Hindu law treatise written by Jīmūtavāhana which primarily focuses on inheritance procedure. The ''Dāyabhāga'' was the strongest authority in Modern British Indian courts in the Bengal region of India, although this has changed due to the passage of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 and subsequent revisions to the act. Based on Jīmūtavāhana's criticisms of the ''Mitākṣarā'', it is thought that his work is precluded by the '. This has led many scholars to conclude that the ' represents the orthodox doctrine of Hindu law, while the ''Dāyabhāga'' represents the reformed version. The central difference between the texts is based upon when one becomes the owner of property. The ''Dāyabhāga'' does not give the sons a right to their father's ancestral property until after his death, unlike ', which gives the sons the right to ancestral property upon their birth. The digest has been commented on more than a dozen times.Kane, P. V., ''History of Dharm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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