The Bengali Brahmins are Hindu
Brahmins
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
who traditionally reside in the
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
region of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, currently comprising the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
and the country of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
The Bengali Brahmins, along with
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, b ...
s and
Kayasthas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes of Bengal.
In the colonial era, the
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
Accordi ...
s of Bengal were primarily, but not exclusively, drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
.
History
Multiple land-grants to Brahmins, from since the
Gupta Era
The Gupta era is a historical calendar era that begins from c. 318–319 CE. It was used by the Gupta emperors, as well as their vassals and their successors in present-day northern India and Nepal. It is identical to the Vallabhi era (or Valabh ...
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
The Nidhanpur copperplate inscription of the 7th-century Kamarupa king Bhaskaravarman gives a detailed account of land grants given to Brahmins. It records land grants to more than two hundred vaidika brahmanas belonging to 56 gotras. The copp ...
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 believed that much later, in the 11th century CE, after the decline of the
Pala dynasty, a Hindu king, Adisura brought in five Brahmins from
Kanauj
Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the cl ...
, his purpose being to provide education for the Brahmins already in the area whom he thought to be ignorant, and revive traditional orthodox Brahminical Hinduism. As per tradition, these five immigrant Brahmins and their descendants went on to become the
Kulin Brahmins
Kulin Brahmins are the Bengali Brahmins belonging to Hindu religion. They trace their ancestry to five families of Kannauj who migrated to Bengal.
History
In the 11th century AD, after the decline of the Pala dynasty, a Hindu king, Adi Sura brou ...
.
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.
Identical stories of migration of
Orissan Brahmins exist under the legendary king of
Yayati Kesari. 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
Kulinism (Bengali: কৌলিন্য) or ''Kulin Pratha'' is a custom that was introduced by Raja Ballala Sena of Bengal. Kulin groups could be found among the three castes of Brahmin, Vaidya
Vaidya (Sanskrit: ), or vaid is a Sanskrit word ...
'.
Post Partition of India
When the British left India in 1947,
carving out separate nations, many Brahmins, whose original homes were in the newly created
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, migrated en masse to be within the borders of the newly defined
Republic of India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and continued to migrate for several decades thereafter to escape Islamist persecution.
Notable people
*
Raja Ganesha
Raja Ganesha ( bn, রাজা গণেশ) was a Hindu Brahmin zamindar ruler of Bengal, who took advantage of the weakness of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty and seized power in Bengal. Contemporary historians of the medieval period consider ...
, founder of the
Ganesha dynasty
The House of Ganesha ( bn, বনী গণেশ, Banī Gaṇesh, fa, ) was the second royal house of the late medieval Sultanate of Bengal. It is named after its founder Raja Ganesha, a wealthy Hindu nobleman, who succeeded the former Ilyas ...
of Bengal
*
Raja Krishnachandra Roy, Raja of
Nadia Raj
Nadia Raj were a dynasty of Zamindars and the rulers of territories that are now part of the Nadia district region of West Bengal, India. Their seat was at the city of Krishnanagar, Nadia. The estate of Nadia Raj was estimated to cover an area o ...
*
Rudranarayan
Rudranarayan Raymukhuty ( bn, মহারাজা রুদ্রনারায়ণ রায়মুখুটি) was the Maharaja of Bhurishrestha in Bengal. He started rivalry with the Lohani Pathan sultans of Bengal Sultanate.
Earl ...
, Maharaja of
Bhurishrestha
Bhurshut ( bn, ভুরশুট, Bhurśut) or Bhurishreshtha ( bn, ভূরিশ্রেষ্ঠ, Bhūriśreṣṭha) was a medieval Hindu kingdom spread across what is now Howrah and Hooghly districts in the Indian state of West Bengal ...
*
Bhavashankari
Bhavashankari ( bn, মহারানী ভবশঙ্করী, Bhavaśaṅkarī) was a ruler of Bhurishreshtha kingdom of Bengal, who resisted the Lohani Pathan sultans of South Bengal and established hindu sovereignty in her kingdom.
...
, Queen of Bhurishrestha
*
Rani Bhabani
Rani Bhabani ( bn, রাণী ভবাণী) (1716–1803), also known as ''Ardhabangeshwari''(অর্ধবঙ্গেশ্বরী) and ''Natorer Rani'' or the Queen of Natore, was a Hindu zamindar during the British colonial era in ...
Queen of Natore, kingdom of Rajshahi
*
Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (; born 21 February 1961) is an Indian-American economist who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Banerjee shared the 2019 Nobel Memorial Priz ...
(born 1961), winner of the 2019
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...
*
Surendranath Banerjee
Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nat ...
(1848-1925), founder of the
Indian National Association
The Indian Association was the first avowed nationalist organization founded in British India by Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose in 1876. The objectives of this Association were "promoting by every legitimate means the political, i ...
, first Indian to pass the Indian civil service examination
*
Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya
Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya (22 February 1836 – 12 April 1906) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit, and the principal of the Sanskrit College between 1876 and 1895. A friend and colleague of Ishwar Chandra Vid ...
(1836-1906),
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
scholar
*
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist. Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 201 ...
(1838-1894), Indian
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
novelist, poet and journalist
*
Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890-1977), linguist
*
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...
(born 1972), President of
BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...
and former captain of Indian National Cricket Team.
*
Bagha Jatin
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
(1879-1915), leader of the
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
party of revolutionary freedom fighters in Bengal
*
Ashok Kumar
Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family.
He ...
(1911-2001), Indian film actor
*
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music.
He ...
(1929-1987), Indian playback singer, actor, music director, lyricist, writer, director, producer and screenwriter
*
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, Screenwriter, script writer, composer, and sing ...
(1926-1980), Indian
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
actor
*
Ashutosh Mukherjee (1864-1924), educator and barrister
*
Pranab Mukherjee
Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
(1935-2020),
13th President of India and a veteran leader of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
*
Syama Prasad Mukherjee
Syama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Jawaharlal Nehru' ...
(1901-1953), politician, barrister
*
Hara Prasad Shastri
Hara Prasad Shastri ( bn, হরপ্রসাদ শাস্ত্রী) (6 December 1853 – 17 November 1931), also known as Hara Prasad Bhattacharya, was an Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature ...
(1853-1931), founder of the
Charyapada
The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese/Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
It was w ...
.
*
Dwarkanath Tagore
Dwarkanath Tagore ( bn, দ্বারকানাথ ঠাকুর, ''Darokanath Ţhakur''; 1794–1846) was one of the first Indian industrialists to form an enterprise with British partners. He was the son of Ramlochon Tagore, the founder ...
(1794–1846), one of the first Indian industrialists to form an enterprise with British partners
*
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
(1861-1941), poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature
*
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century ...
(1820-1891), educator and social reformer
*
M. N. Roy
Manabendra Nath Roy (born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, better known as M. N. Roy; 21 March 1887 – 25 January 1954) was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century. Roy ...
(1887-1954), Indian revolutionary, formed Communist party in India and Mexico
*
Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform ...
(1772-1833), social reformer
See also
*
Kulin Brahmin
Kulin Brahmins are the Bengali Brahmins belonging to Hindu religion. They trace their ancestry to five families of Kannauj who migrated to Bengal.
History
In the 11th century AD, after the decline of the Pala dynasty, a Hindu king, Adi Sura brou ...
Notes
References
*An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, by Damodar Dharmanand Kosāmbi, Popular Prakasan,35c Tadeo Road, Popular Press Building, Bombay-400034, First Edition: 1956, Revised Second Edition: 1975.
*Atul Sur, Banglar Samajik Itihas (Bengali), Calcutta, 1976
*NN Bhattacharyya, Bharatiya Jati Varna Pratha (Bengali), Calcutta, 1987
*RC Majumdar, Vangiya Kulashastra (Bengali), 2nd ed, Calcutta, 1989.
*Bhattacharya, Jogendra Nath (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects: An Exposition of the Origin of the Hindu Caste System and the Bearing of the Sects toward Each Other and toward Other Religious Systems. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink. p. iii.
*
*
*
{{Bengali Hindu people
Bengali Hindu castes
Social groups of West Bengal
Brahmin communities by language