Saraks ( bn, সরাক) (from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Śrāvaka Śrāvaka (Sanskrit) or Sāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used in Buddhism and Jainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for the Jain community itself (for example ...

) is a community in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

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 ...

, and

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. They have been followers of some aspects of

Jainism 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 bein ...

, such as vegetarianism, since ancient times, however, were isolated and separated from the main body of the

Jain community The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Shramana tradition. People who practice Jainism, an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent, are collectively referred to as Jains. Sangha Jainism has a fourfold ord ...

in western, northern, and southern India and have been Hindu Bengalis ever since. The governments of India and West Bengal both have classified some of the Saraks under Other Backward Classes since 1994 but many of them have been in the General category from the beginning itself.

History

The Saraks are an ancient community in

and

. British anthropologist

Edward Tuite Dalton Edward Tuite Dalton CSI (1815 - 1880) was a British soldier and anthropologist. He was posted in Assam, then became commissioner of Chota Nagpur Division. He was posted in Chotanagpur for two decades. Later he became major general of Bengal Lancer. ...

noted that according to the Bhumij tradition in

Singhbhum Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern li ...

district, the Saraks were early settlers in the region. According to Santosh Kumar Kundu, the Saraks arrived from the northwestern region of India, presently in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

. In the region between the rivers Barakar and Damodar, two democratic republics, Shikharbhum and Panchakot, flourished. Later they merged and came to be known as Shikharbhum, with the capital at Panchkot. According to Ramesh Chandra Majumder, the Jain scholar

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''. ...

, the second Louhacharya and the author of Kalpa Sutra may have come from the Sarak community. The region is called Vajjabhumi in ancient texts because diamonds were once mined in the region. The

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a ' ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the '' dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable pass ...

Mahavira Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6 ...

visited this region according to the

Kalpa Sūtra The ''Kalpa Sūtra'' ( sa, कल्पसूत्र) is a Jain text containing the biographies of the Jain Tirthankaras, notably Parshvanatha and Mahavira. Traditionally ascribed to Bhadrabahu, which would place it in the 4th century BCE, ...

Separation and rediscovery

Large Statue of Padmaprabha at Pakbirra 03

The Saraks lost contact with Jains in the rest of India after its conquest by Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Contact with the Digambara Bundelkhand Jains was reestablished when the Parwars Manju Chaudhary (1720–1785) was appointed the governor of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

by the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

. Saraks are concentrated in Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan district 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 ...

and

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area o ...

Dumka Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bh ...

and

Giridih district Giridih district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Giridih is the administrative headquarters of this district. As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Jharkhand (out of 24), after Ranchi and D ...

s and Singhbhum region of

. The Saraks belonging to most of

and

are

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 ...

speakers while those living in historical Singhbhum region speak Singhbhumi

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

. Educated Saraks speak fluent

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. In 2009, more than 165 Sarak Jains living in parts of

and

visited the ancient Jain pilgrimage center of

Shravanabelagola Shravanabelagola () is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is from Bengaluru. The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas (pilgrimage d ...

. A special function to welcome the Sarak Jains was organised at Shravanabelagola.

Pakbirra, Purulia Temples and Sculptures

Statue of couple at Pakbirra.jpg, Divine couple with child, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 51.jpg, Sahasrakuta, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 28.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 25.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Statues of Adinath - Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 45.jpg, Adinatha Idols Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 31.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra- Jain Shrine of Purulia district 29.JPG, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia File:KITLV 88203 - Unknown - Sculptures at Pakbira in British India - 1897.tif, Jain Sculptures at Pakbirra

References

{{Jainism topics Indian Jains Social groups of West Bengal Jain communities Vegetarian communities

History

Separation and rediscovery

See also

Pakbirra, Purulia Temples and Sculptures

References