Karmakar ( bn, কর্মকার) is a

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

spread throughout

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 ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and

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 Karmakars are traditionally

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s by trade.They are one of the fourteen castes belonging to 'Nabasakh' group. They are recognized as

Other Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

History

The Karmakars used to be blacksmiths by profession. Over time, the Karmakars have produced engineering masterpieces. In 1637, Janardan Karmakar (Blacksmith) of Sylhet built the great gun of

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

, the

Jahan Kosha Cannon Jahan Kosha Cannon (also known as the Great Gun, and Literal translation, literally means the ''Destroyer of the World'') is placed in the ''Topekhana'', 400 m to the south east of the Katra Mosque, in the town of Murshidabad, West Bengal, ...

'Destroyer of the World', which is 18' in length and weighs around 7 tons.District Census Handbook, West Bengal: Birbhum
India. Superintendent of Census Operations, West Bengal, Bisweswar Ray, Superintendent, Government Printing, the University of Michigan Another grand cannon named Dal Madal Kaman was built by Jagannath Karmakar in 1565 for the kingdom of

Mallabhum Mallabhum (The Country originally known as Mallabhoom or Mallabani bn, মল্লভূম or Bishnupur kingdom ) was the kingdom ruled by the Malla kings of Bishnupur, primarily in the present Bankura district in Indian state of West Beng ...

.In the late 18th century,

Panchanan Karmakar Panchanan Karmakar (Mallick) (died c. 1804) was an Indian Bengali inventor, born at Tribeni, Hooghly, Bengal Presidency, British India, hailed from Serampore. He assisted Charles Wilkins in creating the first the Bangla type. His wooden Bengal ...

pioneered the

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 ...

printing industry by inventing a movable type punch marked

scripts.

Notables

Radhu Karmakar Radhu Karmakar ( bn, রাধু কর্মকার; 1919 - 5 October 1993) was a noted Indian cinematographer and director in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to 1990s. He worked extensively with director-actor Raj Kapoor's film and his R. K. Stu ...

(1919-1993), cinematographer and film director * Prokash Karmakar (1933-2014), artist *

Romuald Karmakar Romuald Karmakar (born February 15, 1965) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born in Wiesbaden, Germany as the son of a Bengali father and a French mother. From 1977 to 1982 he lived in Athens. He has won several national ...

(b. 1965), French & German film director * Joydeep Karmakar (b. 1979), sports shooter * Prasanta Karmakar (b. 1980), swimmer *

Dipa Karmakar Dipa Karmakar (born 9 August 1993) is an Indian Gymnast from Tripura State. She is the first gymnast of India who competed in the Olympics. In her debut 2016 Summer Olympics, in the final she reached till 4th position. At the Rio Olympics, sh ...

(b. 1993), gymnast *

(d. 1804), inventor of the Bangla Font *

Tamalika Karmakar Tamalika Karmakar (born 2 July) is a Bangladeshi actress and model. Her notable film roles were in '' Ei Ghar Ei Songshar (1996)'', ''Kittonkhola (2000)'' and ''Ghetuputra Komola (2012)''. Tamalika won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Sup ...

(b. 1970), actress and national award winner *

Kalidas Karmakar Kalidas Karmakar (10 January 1946 – 18 October 2019) was a Bangladeshi artist. He specialized in viscosity printing. He was awarded Shilpakala Padak (2016) and the Ekushey Padak (2018) by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to fin ...

(b. 1946), noted artist and Ekushey Padak laureate

References

Bibliography

* {{Bengali Hindu people Bengali Hindu castes Indian castes Blacksmith castes

History

Notables

See also

References

Bibliography