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Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in
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 ...
. Baidyas, a
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 ...
(''
jāti ''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...
'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside
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 ...
and Kayasthas. 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 were drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from these three upper 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 ...
.


Etymology

The terms ''Baidya'' means a physician in 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 ...
and
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 ...
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 plausible the Baidyas had some link with Vaidyas of S. India; inscriptions of the Senas mentions migrations from Karnat and other places. The Talamanchi plates of
Vikramaditya I Vikramaditya I (655–680 CE) was the third son and followed his father, Pulakeshi II on to the Chalukya throne. He restored order in the fractured kingdom and made the Pallavas retreat from the capital Vatapi. Vikramaditya inherited the trad ...
(c. 660 CE) were drafted by one Vajravarman, described as an illustrious Vaidya. Three South Indian inscriptions of the Pandyas (c. late 8th century) note the Vaidya-''kula'' (trans. "Vaidya clan" /"Vaidya family") to be Brahmins, famed for expertise in music and Sastras; one of them served in the dual roles of War-General and Prime Minister.


Upapuraṇas

The Upapuranas played a significant role in the history of Bengal: they propagated and established Brahminic ideals in the hitherto-impure fringes of Aryavarta and accommodated elements of the vernacular culture to gain acceptance among masses. In the process, they became evidence of sociocultural negotiations that transpired in late-medieval Bengal. Bṛhaddharma Puraṇa (Brh. P.; c. 13th century) was the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal and it became the standard text for popular negotiations of caste status. It mentioned the Baidyas as a occupational caste, equivalent to the Ambasthas, deriving from a famous mythical episode where Brahmins had them ordained to be the highest of Shudras and conferred a monopoly to practice Ayurveda. In contrast, the
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 ar ...
(Bv. P.) —notable for a very late Bengali recension (c. 14/15th c.)— treats the Baidyas as separate to Ambasthas but notes both to be ''Satsudras''. According to Ryosuke Furui, the Varṇasaṃkara myth and the subsequent ordaining of ''Saṃkaras'' in Brh. P. reflected and reinforced the existing social hierarchy of ancient Bengal — that is, even in pre-Brahminized Bengal, the Baidyas had an eminent position and practiced medicine — while allowing the Brahmin authors to conform an alien society to orthodoxic standards, and establish themselves at the top. Ramaprasad Chanda had supported such a reading as early as 1916. Annapurna Chattopadhyaya largely agrees and cites differences in list of mixed castes produced in Brahminical literature of different areas; he notes the sharp increase in tabulated castes at Bv. P. as correlational to increasing social complexity. Nripendra Kumar Dutt held these Upapuranas as tools for Brahmin law-makers to deprive Vaidyas of its mixed-caste privileges such as a
sacred thread ''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...
.


Kulajis

Kulajis — a form of literature endemic to Bengal — were essentially genealogical registers but actually, texts in flux, reflecting contemporary society; they primarily served to establish social hierarchy ''vis à vis'' others. Out of the two extant pre-modern Baidya genealogies, ''Chandraprabha'' (CP; c. late 17th century) constructs a descent from the semi-legendary Ambasthas whereas the slightly older ''Sadvaidyakulapnjika'' (SV) did not. Further, both of them hold Adi Sura and Ballāla Sena to be among their ancestor; this is agreed upon by some Brahmin ''kulanjis'' but rejected by Kayastha ones.


History


Gupta Bengal (c. 400 C.E. - 550 C.E.)

Sedentary agrarian societies had formed in western regions of Bengal by c. 1000 BCE.. The growth of states were roughly simultaneous with the rise of the Guptas and by then, cultural contacts with N. India was gradually flourishing. Written records predating the Guptas do not survive. Copper Plate Inscriptions from the Gupta Era point to a complex society with different professional classes having little socioeconomic homogeneity. Many of these classes had their own hierarchies corresponding to differential geospatial levels or economic conditions but there exists no evidence of inter-class hierarchy; rather, there were frequent collaborations at the local levels in bureaucratic affairs. It does not appear that ''varna'' played any role in the society — the ''Brahmins'' were the only group to be referred to by their caste-identity and were revered but still classed as one among the peasant landholder class. One Gunaighar Inscription, dated to
Vainyagupta Vainyagupta ( sa, वैन्यगुप्त) was one of the lesser known kings of the Gupta dynasty. He is known from the fragmentary clay sealing discovered at Nalanda and the Gunaighar copper plate inscription dated Gupta era 188 (507 ...
(507 C.E.), demarcated agricultural tracts that were to be collectively owned by Baidyas. In tune with the understanding of Bengal under the Guptas, the reference was, in all likelihood, to the profession of physicians who probably drew people from various '' varnas'' including Brahmins.


Medieval Bengal (c. 600 C.E. - c. 1400 C.E.)

With the rise of sovereign kingships centered around Vanga, Radha, and Pundravardhana, the relatively well-off sections among the landholder class gained eminence and got split into several sub-classes depending on economic power. Inscriptions referred to people from these classes ''alongside'' the villages they owned and above other professional classes — thus, economic affluence, rather than ''varna'', appears to have been the operating norm in these societies. North-eastern Bengal which saw aggressive encroachment upon tribal tracts via royal settlement of Brahmins witnessed a less egalitarian society; yet, notwithstanding rulers claiming to a Brahmin pedigree etc, the social groups in inscriptions did not have anything to do with ''varna''. With increasing urbanization in Pala territories, stratification became engrained into the social structure and Brahmins —probably with state patronage— ascended to the top, overshadowing the landed magnates. Pala grants frequently enlist a detailed social hierarchy from the ''Brahmins'' to the ''Chandalas,'' encompassing many professional classes. In contrast, largely-agrarian societies in the east, ruled by the Chandras, exhibited no such radical developments though rudimentary notions of ranks were under development. The Paschimbhag copperplate inscription of Sri Chandra allotted the Baidyas with the largest share of land ''per se'' —even exceeding the Brahmins— pointing to the yet-insignificant roles played by varna. Beginning the 11th century, kinship based organization was increasingly evident across all classes — sects of Brahmins claimed greater authority deriving from the illustriousness of their ancestors and networked among themselves, literate classes entered into practicing endogamy etc. Inscriptions increasingly point to the hereditary nature of a range of professions from merchants to engravers to scribes. In the words of Furui, proto-''jatis'' were forming across these spans which would be legitimized into a Brahminic social order by the Upapuranas etc. The Bhatera Copper Plates mention the ''aksapaṭalika'' of King Isandeva (c. 1050) to be of Baidya ''lineage'', on whose advice a parcel of land was granted to the family of a dead prince.
Kumkum Chatterjee Kumkum Chatterjee (née Banerjee; 12 June 1958, in Kolkata – 13 December 2012, in State College, Pennsylvania) was an Indian American historian, best known for her works ''Europe Observed: Multiple Gazes in Early Modern Encounters'' (2008) and ' ...
feels that the Baidyas had probably crystallized into a ''jati'' long before the Sultanate rule, sometime around these times.


Sultanate and Mughal Bengal

In Sultanate, Mughal, and Nawabi Bengal, Baidyas often branched out into fields other than medicine and composed a significant percentage of the elites. They were reputed for their proficiency in Sanskrit, which they needed to read treatises of medicine. By the end of sixteenth century, Baidyas were occupying a position of preeminence in the Bengali social hierarchy alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas; marriages between Baidyas and Kayasthas were commonplace. Around the late fifteenth century, Baidyas became intricately associated with the Caitanya Cult alongside Brahmins.
Murari Gupta Murari Gupta ( fl. 16th century) was born in a Baidya family in Sylhet. He was a physician and noted Bengali Vaishnava poet. He became a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and moved to Nabadwip. In 1513, he composed in Sanskrit the ''Shri Krishna C ...
, a childhood friend of Caitanya, was a famed physician of Navadwip and went on to compose ''Krsna Caitanya Caritamrta'', his oldest extant biography in Sanskrit. Narahari Sarkara, another Baidya devotees, composed ''Krsna Bhajanamrta'', a theological commentary. Sivananda Sena, an immensely wealthy Baidya, organize the annual trip of Caitanya devotees to Puri, and his son wrote several devotional Sanskrit works. As the Caitanya cult shunned doctrines of equality after his death, the associated Baidyas began enjoying a quasi-Brahminic status as Gaudiya Vasihnava ''gurus''. Multiple Baidya authors partook in the Mangalkavya tradition, the foremost being Bijaya Gupta (late 15th c.). Besides, two Chandi Mangalkavyas were penned by Jaynnarayana Sen (c. 1750) and Muktarama Sen (1774), two Manasa Mangalkavyas by Sasthibara Datta (late 17th c.) and one by Dbarik Das. Bharatamallika (fl. 1650), a physician and an instructor of a ''tol'', wrote numerous commentaries on Sanskrit texts like
Amarakosha The Amarakosha (Devanagari: अमरकोशः , IAST: ''Amarakośaḥ'' , ISO: ''Amarakōśaḥ'') is the popular name for ''Namalinganushasanam'' (Devanagari: नामलिङ्गानुशासनम् , IAST: ''Nāmaliṅgānuś ...
, and produced miscellaneous works on grammar and lexicography.


Caste status and contestations

The Vallal Charita of Ānanda Bhaṭṭa classed the Baidyas among ''Satsudra''s, of whom Kayasthas were held to be the highest. The
Chandimangal The Chandimangal () is an important subgenre of mangalkavya, the most significant genre of medieval Bengali literature. The texts belonging to this subgenre eulogize ''Chandi'' or ''Abhaya'', primarily a folk goddess, but subsequently identified ...
of Mukundaram Chakrabarti (c. mid 16th century CE) placed the Baidyas below Vaisyas but above Kayasthas, again indicating a Sudra status. Works by
Raghunandana Raghunandana (c. 16th century CE) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar from the Bengal region. His writings include 28 Smriti digests on Hindu law and a commentary on '' Dayabhaga''. Life Raghunandana was born at Nabadwip, to Harihara Bhattacharya. ...
(c. mid 16th century) also hold Baidyas to be Sudras. In 1653 C.E., Ramakanta Das wrote the oldest available Baidya kulanji — ''Sadvaidyakulapnjika''. A few years later, Bharatamallika would write ''Chandraprabha'' (1675 C.E.), and ''Ratnaprabha'', a summary of the former text. Bharata claimed a mixed-caste/Vaishya status for the Baidyas whereas Das skipped such discussions. In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Baidya
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī ( bn, কৃষ্ণদাস কবিরাজ, Kṛṣṇôdas Kôviraj; born 1496; date of death unknown) was the author of the Caitanyacaritāmṛta, a biography on the life of the mystic and saint ...
, one Candrasekhara is variably referred to as a Baidya and a Sudra.


Colonial Bengal

During the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, acrimonious debates about the caste status of Baidyas prolifered. Around 1750, Raja Ballabh wished to have Brahmins officiate at his rituals; he sought Vaishya status and claimed a right of wearing sacred thread for the Baidyas of his own samaj. On facing opposition from other Baidya ''zamindar''s, who thought this to be an attempt at gaining trans-samaj acceptance as a Baidya leader, and Brahmin scholars of Vikrampur, who resented against the loss of monopoly, Ballabh invited 131 Brahmins from Benaras, Kanauj, Navadwip, and other regions with expertise in Nyaya Shastra. All of them adjudicated in his favour, with ceremonial costs running to 5 Lakhs. Soon, Baidyas sought for equality with the Brahmins and claimed themselves to be "Gauna (secondary) Brahmins", leveraging the recently conferred right to ''
upanayana ''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...
''. At the same time, they invested efforts to prevent lower rank caste from infiltrating into their ranks and emphasize on their social purity; in the
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic of 1840s in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, Baidyas would refuse to inoculate the masses and relegate such menial tasks to lower-ranked barbers and garland makers. Beginning in 1822, Brahmin and Baidya scholars produced a series of polemical pamphlets against one another and in 1831, the Baidya Samaj (Baidya Society) was formed by Khudiram Bisharad, a teacher at the Native Medical Institution, to defend class interests. Gangadhar Ray, a member of this society, produced voluminous literature to put forward partisan claims on Baidyas descending from Brahmins. Binodlal Sen later published Bharatamallika's genealogies in print. A rivalry with the Kayasthas, who would be considered to be inferior thenceforth, became an integral part of this discourse; matrimonial alliances were discouraged, fomenting the rise of a rigid, endogamous caste group. In 1893, Jnanendramohan Sengupta wrote ''Baidyajatir Baisista'' in an attempt to prove the Ambasthas had scriptural sanction of being ordained into
sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...
, like Brahmins; Sengupta would remain a prolific author for the Baidya cause throughout the first quarter of the twentieth century. In 1901, colonial ethnographer Herbert Hope Risley noted the Baidyas to be above Sudras but below Brahmins. Baidya social historians like Umesh Chandra Gupta and
Dinesh Chandra Sen Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen ( bn, দীনেশ চন্দ্র সেন) (3 November 1866 – 20 November 1939)Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.208 was a ...
supported Risley's observation of non-Shudra status with measured skepticism and went on to produce illustrious histories of the community, deriving from ''kulanjis''. In the early twentieth century, Gananath Sen, the first dean of the Faculty of Ayurveda at
Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
, opened a "Baidya Brahman Samiti" in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
; now, the Baidyas were not merely equal to Brahmins but identical. It was also suggested all Baidyas change their surnames to Sharma, a Brahmin patronymic. In 1915 and 1916, Kuladakinkara Ray published ''Vaidyakulapanjika'' to advocate that Baidyas were not just the same as Brahmins but the highest of them. In 1922, Basantakumar Sen wrote '' Baidya Jatir Itihas'' on the same themes. Pascale Haag notes these efforts to gain mobility would not have partly succeeded without acceptance by Brahmin society, whose responses remain to be studied. These attempts at attaining mobility were heavily enmeshed with the modernization of Ayurveda, that transpired across the nineneeth century. Binodlal Sen had declared the genealogical works to be free for anyone who purchased medications above a certain value and Baidya medicine distributors were frequently found to sell revisionist caste histories. Says Mukharji, that elements of colonial modernity—Western notions of physiology and medical instruments—were "braided" with Ayurveda to fashion Baidyas as the modern Brahmins. Notwithstanding these contestations of scriptural rank, the material dominance of Baidyas continued unabated into colonial rule when they proactively took to Western forms of education and held a disproportionate share of government jobs, elite professions, and landholding. Male as well as female literacy rate of Baidyas were remarkably higher than in the case of all other castes of Bengal, as recorded in the 1881 census—which was the first to record caste-wise literacy data—and ever since. Baidya women, specifically, had two and three times the literacy( in vernacular and English respectively) of Bengal's overall male population as per the 1931 census. Baidyas were unquestionably established as among the "upper castes" by the mid-nineteenth century; they would go on to compose the ''Bhadralok Samaj''—the highest "secular rank" in contemporary Bengal—along with Brahmins and Kayasthas, and serve as the eyes and ears of the British Government. The Bhadraloks would be instrumental in demanding democratic reforms during the early twentieth century; a majority of "revolutionary terrorists" from Bengal who partook in the
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
came from this class.


Modern Bengal

In modern Bengal, Baidyas' place in caste-hierarchy follows Brahmins — they wear the sacred thread, have access to scriptures, and use common surnames but cannot conduct priestly services. Their ritual rank — whether Sudras or not — is debated and claims to Brahmin status persist. However, their socioeconomic status rivals that of Brahmins. As of 1960, inter-marriages between the Brahmins, Baidyas and Kayasthas were common and increasing. Baidyas wield considerable socio-economic power in contemporary Bengal as part of Bhadraloks; though in absence of rigorous data, the precise extent is difficult to determine. Parimal Ghosh notes this Bhadralok hegemony to have effectively disenfranchised the rest of Bengal from staking a claim to social capital.


Notable people

*
Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...
, economist and philosopher; recipient of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and Bharat Ratna *
Chittaranjan Das Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swara ...
, Indian revolutionary and lawyer, popularly known as ''Deshbandhu'', *
Dinesh Chandra Sen Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen ( bn, দীনেশ চন্দ্র সেন) (3 November 1866 – 20 November 1939)Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.208 was a ...
, Bengali writer, educationist *
Hiralal Sen Hiralal Sen ( bn, হীরালাল সেন, ''Hiralal Shen''; 2 August 1868 – 26 October 1917) is generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. In 1903, he filmed the popular Alibaba and Forty Thieves, the first full-length In ...
, one of India's first film makers *
Jatindra Mohan Sengupta Jatindra Mohan Sengupta (22 February 1885 – 23 July 1933) was an Indian revolutionary against the British rule. He was arrested several times by the British police. In 1933, he died in a prison located in Ranchi, India. Sengupta studied at Ha ...
, Indian revolutionary * Jatindranath Sengupta, Bengali poet and writer *
Jibanananda Das Jibanananda Das () (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read poet after Rabindr ...
. poet, writer and novelist *
Keshub Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...
, philosopher, social reformer *
Madhusudan Gupta Pandit Madhusudan Gupta ( bn, মধুসূদন গুপ্ত) (1800 – 15 November 1856) was a Bengali Baidya translator and Ayurvedic practitioner who was also trained in Western medicine and is credited with having performed ...
, India's first human dissector *
Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...
,
Dadasaheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke () (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian cinema". His de ...
winner Indian film director *
Nabinchandra Sen Nabinchandra Sen ( bn, নবীনচন্দ্র সেন; 10 February 1847 – 23 January 1909) was a Bengali poet and writer, often considered one of the greatest poets prior to the arrival of Rabindranath Tagore. He commented on the batt ...
, Poet *
Prafulla Chandra Sen Prafulla Chandra Sen (10 April 1897 – 25 September 1990) was an Indian politician and freedom fighter. He was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1962 to 1967. Background Prafulla Chandra Sen was born in the village Senhati in the Khulna ...
, 3rd CM of West Bengal *
Pritilata Waddedar Pritilata Waddedar (5 May 1911 – 24 September 1932) was an Indian revolutionary nationalist from the Indian subcontinent who was influential in the Indian independence movement. After completing her education in Chittagong and Dhaka, she att ...
, revolutionary nationalist *
Ramkamal Sen Ramkamal Sen (1783–1844) was the Diwan of the Treasury, Treasurer of the Bank of Bengal and Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. Childhood Born at Garifa, Naihati town in North 24 pargana district. on the banks of the Hooghly River in ...
, former principal of
Calcutta Sanskrit College Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It focuses on liberal arts, offering both UG and PG degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Bengali, English, Sanskr ...
*
Ramprasad Sen ( bn, রামপ্রসাদ সেন; c. 1718 or c. 1723 – c. 1775) was a Hindu Shakta poet and saint of eighteenth century Bengal. His ''bhakti'' poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually a ...
, Hindu Shakta poet and saint * R. C. Majumdar, historian *
Siddhartha Shankar Ray Siddhartha Shankar Ray (20 October 1920 – 6 November 2010) was an Indian lawyer, diplomat and Indian National Congress politician from West Bengal. In his political career he held a number of offices, including Union Minister of Education (1 ...
, 5th Chief Minister of West Bengal * Suchitra Sen, Bengali actress * Surya Sen, Indian revolutionary, popularly known as ''Master Da'' * Surendranath Dasgupta, Indian scholar of
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 ...
and
Indian philosophy Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...


See also

*
Vaidya Vaidya (Sanskrit: ), or vaid is a Sanskrit word meaning "traditional practitioner of Ayurveda", an indigenous Indian system of alternative medicine. Senior practitioners or teachers were called ''Vaidyarāja'' ("physician-king") as a mark of respe ...


Notes


References

{{Bengali Hindu people Social groups of West Bengal Bengali Hindu castes