Bangladesh location map-Rajshahi Division

Kaivartas of the Varendras circa 640-730 CE

Varendra ( bn, বরেন্দ্র), also known as Barind ( bn, বারিন্দ, link=no), was a region of

North Bengal North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. G ...

, now mostly in

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 mo ...

and a little portion in the Indian 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 fou ...

. It formed part of the

Pundravardhana Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom ( sa, Puṇḍravardhana), was an ancient kingdom during the Iron Age period in India with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions of Bangladesh as well as the West Di ...

or Pundra Kingdom region currently part of Rangpur and

Rajshahi Division Rajshahi Division ( bn, রাজশাহী বিভাগ) is one of the eight first-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population at the 2011 Census of 18,484,858. Rajshahi Division consists of 8 district ...

s of Bangladesh and included the districts of Bogra,

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the P ...

, Pabna and

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

of Bangladesh and West Dinajpur of India. According to Cunningham, the boundary of Varendra was the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the Mahananda on the west, the

Karatoya Karatoya River (also spelt Korotoa River) is a small stream in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh. Etymology The name of the river is formed of two Sanskrit words ''kar'' (hand) and ''toa'' (water). Course The Karatoya, known as Phuljhur rises i ...

on the east, the

Padma River The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

on the south and the land between

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in ...

and the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

on the north.

Literature and inscriptions

According to R. C. Majumdar, the term Varendra-mandala occurs in the ''

Ramacharitam The ''Ramacharitam'' is a Sanskrit epic poem written in ''Arya metre'' by Sandhyakar Nandi (c. 1084 - 1155 CE) during Pala Empire. This work simultaneously narrates the story of the Ramayana and the Pala king Ramapala. Manuscripts A palm-leaf ma ...

'', which places it between the Ganges and Karatoya rivers. He writes, "Its inclusion with Pundravardhana is proved by the Silimpur, Tarpandighi and Madhainagar inscriptions. The ''Tabaquat-i-nasiri'' mentions Barind as the wing of the territory of Lakhnawati on the eastern side of Ganges".

History

Historical evidence attests significant presence of Brahmins in Bengal during the

Maurya The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

period. The

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' ( Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a ...

Bhadrabahu Ācārya Bhadrabāhu (c. 367 - c. 298 BC) was, according to the ''Digambara'' sect of Jainism, the last '' Shruta Kevalin'' (all knowing by hearsay, that is indirectly) in Jainism . He was the last ''acharya'' of the undivided Jain ''sangha''. ...

, regarded to be the preceptor of

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an emp ...

, is said to have been born in Brahmin family of

(or , the region north of the

and west of Brahmaputra in Bengal, later known as Vārendra). Such evidences suggest or Vārendra and regions west of Bhagirathi (called Radha in ancient age) to be seats of Brahmins from ancient times; According to HC Raychoudhuri the Gupta dyansty originated from the Varendri region. According to the Khalimpur copper plate inscription, the first

Pala Pala may refer to: Places Chad *Pala, Chad, the capital of the region of Mayo-Kebbi Ouest Estonia *Pala, Kose Parish, village in Kose Parish, Harju County *Pala, Kuusalu Parish, village in Kuusalu Parish, Harju County * Pala, Järva County, vil ...

Emperor Gopala was the son of a warrior named Vapyata. The ''Ramacharitam'' attests that Varendra (North Bengal) was the fatherland (''Janakabhu'') of the Palas.

Ancient empires and rulers originated from Varendra region

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until ...

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 Gold ...

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

*Empire of Raja Ganesha *

Kalapahad Kalapahar ( bn, কালাপাহাড়; died 24 April 1583), also known by his daak naam Raju ( bn, রাজু), was a military general of the Sultanate of Bengal under the Karrani dynasty. He is credited for conquering Orissa, which ...

Baro-Bhuyan The Baro-Bhuyans (or ''Baro-Bhuyan Raj''; also ''Baro-Bhuians'' and Baro-Bhuiyans) refers to the confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The confederacies consisted of loose ...

(Bhati Rulers) * Diwan Mohanlal

Modern day prime ministers, president and chief ministers originated from Varendra region

Mohammad Ali Bogra Sahibzada Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury ( bn, সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ আলী চৌধুরী; Urdu: سید محمد علی چوہدری), more commonly known as Mohammad Ali Bogra ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আলী ...

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup ...

* Hussein Muhammad Ershad * Khaleda Zia

Notable Varendra Brahmins

* Raja Ganesha, a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

ruler of

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 ...

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 ...

, a

zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...

of Natore * Gautam Sanyal, Indian civil servant * Surajit Chandra Lahiri, former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court *

Nalinaksha Sanyal Nalinaksha Sanyal (1898 – 29 October 1987) was an Indian politician, economist and freedom fighter. Education He studied at Krishnath College, Baharampur, and Presidency College, Kolkata, and taught economics at Krishnath College. He earne ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n politician, economist and freedom fighter. * Narayan Sanyal, writer of modern

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

as well as a civil engineer. *

Pahari Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Bengali films, such as '' Harano Sur'', ''Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant'', and ''Shilpi''. ...

, Indian actor and singer *

Sachindra Nath Sanyal Sachindra Nath Sanyal (3 April 1890 — 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out ...

, an Indian revolutionary and a founder of the

Hindustan Republican Association Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), previously known as the Hindustan Republican Army and Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), was an Indian revolutionary organisation founded by Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Sachindra ...

Sanjeev Sanyal Sanjeev Sanyal is an Indian economist and popular historian. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, and has helped prepare six editions of the Economic Survey of India starting in 2017. Sanyal has ...

, Indian economist and author. * Jaya Bachchan (originally Bhaduri), Indian film actress, politician and a

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

* Amar Nath Bhaduri, Indian molecular enzymologist and chemical biologist * Abhijit Bhaduri, Indian author, columnist and management consultant *

Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian historian, writer, and Indologist. He is a specialist in Indian epics, Vedas, and Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of ...

, Indian historian, writer and

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') i ...

Sisir Bhaduri Shishir Kumar Bhaduri or Sisir Kumar Bhaduri (2 October 1889 – 30 June 1959) was an Indian stage actor and theatre founder, who commonly referred to as the pioneer of modern Bengali theatre, where he was an actor, director, playwright and eve ...

, Indian stage actor and theatre founder *

Shibdas Bhaduri Shibdas Bhaduri (1887–1932) was an Indian professional footballer who captained Mohun Bagan in the historic 1911 IFA Shield final, where they defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment with a score of 2–1 to become the first Indian team to win the ...

n professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

Anirban Lahiri Anirban Lahiri (born 29 June 1987) is an Indian professional golfer. He has played on the Asian Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Lahiri is recipient of the 2014 Arjuna Award. He is also recipient of "Sera Bangali" award (in 2015), g ...

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf p ...

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, an Indian singer, composer. *

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

, American author *

Mahua Moitra Mahua Moitra (born 12 October 1974) is an Indian politician and a Member of parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha from Krishnanagar, West Bengal. She contested and won the seat in the 2019 Indian general election as an All India Trinamool Congress ...

, Indian politician and a

Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Shantanu Moitra Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian score composer, musician and pianist who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films '' Parineeta'' (2005), ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (2005 ...

, Indian

score composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

* Rupankar Bagchi,

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 ...

singer-songwriter and playback singer. *

Jatindramohan Bagchi Jatindramohan Bagchi (27 November 1878 — 1 February 1948) ( bn, যতীন্দ্রমোহন বাগচি) was a Bengali poet and editor.

poet and editor. *

Subroto Bagchi Subroto Bagchi (born 31 May 1959) is an Indian entrepreneur and business leader. He is the co-founder of Mindtree, an Indian technology MNC. He has autobiographed his life story in his book ''Go Kiss the World''. Early life and education Bagch ...

, Indian entrepreneur and business leader * Tanishk Bagchi, Indian music producer, composer and singer. * Biman Bagchi, Indian National Science Chair Professor

Modern usage

Varendra Research Society Varendra Research Society (1910–1963) was established in Rajshahi in 1910 for the promotion of studies and research into the History of Bengal in general, and in particular of the Varendra area History Some of the leading and enlightened citi ...

* Varendra Research Museum * Varendra rebellion *

Varendra University Varendra University (VU) is a private university in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It obtained approval from the Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various othe ...

* Varendra tract

References

{{reflist Ancient divisions in Bengal