A Research Note On Origin of Bengali Kulin Brahmins
A Research Note On Origin of Bengali Kulin Brahmins
A Research Note On Origin of Bengali Kulin Brahmins
Abstract:
This is a pure research article of academic interest. An attempt has been made to trace the
origin of “Kulin Brahmins” of Bengal, which has been evolved in Bengal around the end of
11th century. The author has considered various aspects as available in Vedic and Sramanic
culture prevailing in India from ancient period. An analytical procedure has been adopted
to find out the roots of Kulin Brahmins. Author is of the opinion that they are of
indigenous origin and various stories have been developed over a period of time, due to
various socio-political environments. In this study exceptions are ignored.
Author is grateful to historians, researchers, and contrutors in Google, without which it
would not have been possible to carry out research towards this article.
Introduction:
It is very interesting to note in the cultural history of Bengal is primarily dominated by
“Kulin Brahmins”, be it literary field, or scientific field or Medical or Engineering field or
in Judiciary area or in administrative area or in political area. In other words the history
of Bengal cannot be thought of without them, due to their immense contribution to the
Bengali society. The list of these great Bengali Kulin Brahmin contributors is endless.
However a small list is prepared and made available in annexure for ready reference at the
end of this article.
This interesting factor made the author to trace the root to the extent possible, of this race
as they claim that they are migratory Bengalis and not original native of Bengal.
However, it is extremely difficult as we need the data from religious history, cultural
history, political history and social history of Bengal and its adjoining area to arrive at
certain inference, provided all data are found to converge.
Indian history is found to be written, based primarily on Vedic literatures, Max Muller
theory and various books authored by Europeans. Books written by Europeans are again
based on their interviews with prominent people, hearsay and on Vedic literatures. While
doing so the Sramanic/Sarmanic literature has been ignored. This may be due to the reason
that during the development of Indian or Bengal history, the then civil society was
dominated by Vedic people.
Vedic people are those people, who are believers of Vedic sanskriti and follow the Vedic
social rules in their day to day life, and society is controlled and governed by Vedic
intellectuals, who are known as Brahmins. They ranked at the top of the society. Among
these Brahmins Kulin Brahmins occupy the highest position.
On the other hand there is no information available for people of other communities/castes.
Informations and records are available only for Brahmins and it may not be possible to
trace the origin of other community
However, modern historians and researchers have found out many interesting facts and
author has tried to collect all these data and analyze them.
Gauriya Brahmins:
Gauriya Brahmin people are found to be settled in U.P. , Delhi, Haryana, Panjab, Gujrat,
Maharashtra, and Konkon areas of India.
According to their family history they migrated from Gaur_Bangal of Bengal to
Hastinapur during Mahabharata period. King Janmejaya the son of King Parikhsheet,
wanted to perform “Sarpa Yagna” to kill all the snakes of the World to take revenge of the
death of his father by snake bite. Since there was no Vedic Brahmin available in
Hastinapur he invited 100 learned Brahmins from Gaur of Bengal to perform the Vedic
ritual of “Sarpa Yagna”. These Brahmins were treated so nicely that they decided to settle
at Hastinapur itself instead of returning to Gaur. They got married with locals of that place
and as a result they are rough in their look with respect to Bengali Brahmins.
Mahabharata war took place around 1000 BC according to historians. Therefore this
migration must have been taken place around 1000 BC.
Maithili Brahmins:
Sage Yagnavalkya, Gautama and other learned Brahmins of Upanishads were at the court
of King Janaka of Mithila. The accepted period of Upanishad by historians and
researchers is around 700 BC. Mithila was a part of ancient Bengal. According to Jain
literature 22nd jain Tirthamkara Lord Nemi Nath was born at Mithila of Bangadesh.
Historically, Lord Krishna was a cousin brother of Lord Nemi Nath.
Utkali Brahmins:
They say their ancestors migrated to Utkal from Gangeya valley long back. This indicates
that they are not original inhabitants of Utkal desh.
Besides the above, historians could not trace out a king by name Adisur of Bengal at any
point of time who invited Vedic Brahmins from Kanouj to Bengal.
Historians could not find any trace of migration of learned Vedic Brahmins from Bengal
during Mahabharata period.
The story is similar for other categories of Brahmins.
Therefore, it appears that there are a lot of contradictions and these occurred probably due
to the fact that only Brahmins were literate as they were only eligible to read and write.
Others were not allowed to do so due to religious strictures of Vedic religion. This has also
allowed Brahmins to record and documented the social rules and literatures in their own
way. As a result it becomes extremely difficult to trace the history of origin of this
community.
Therefore, it is necessary to look in to the details of AIT, political situation, social structure
and the religious development in Bengal.
Historical information:
1) Aryan Connection:
Historians of 18th century were found to be mesmerized by Great German Scholar Max
Muller. He was to be credited as the father of Indian history. He founded the theory of
Aryan invasion (AIT) to Indus valley and spread the story of mixed blood of Aryan race
and Indian race. Aryans were described as the best people of a great race in the World.
Indian scholars also accepted this theory without any question, probably with an
impression that, this would enhance their prestige in the society.
2) Ancient Political situation:
According to historians Kulin Brahmanism appeared in Bengal from the time of king
Ballal Sena and no historical evidence found on Kulin Brahmins prior to Sena period.
Prior to Senas Bengal was ruled by Palas who were primarily of Buddhist faith. But their
ministers were found to be Brahmins who were Maithily Brahmins in line with present day
classification. Prior to Palas it was king Sashanka who was a devout Saiva and he was
against Buddhists.
Further, prior to Palas and Sashanka, it was under the rule of Guptas. According to some
historians, Guptas originated from Gaur area (present Maldah district). Samudra Gupta
embraced Vaishnavaism and got declared as Khastriya under Vedic system. They were
against Buddhist and used carrot and stick policy to convert Buddhist into Vedic religion.
One side people were forced to embrace Vedic religion and on the other side Buddha was
declared as an avatar of Vishnu, to please Buddhists and to bring them under Vedic fold.
During this Gupta period the famous Buddha temple with the foot print of Buddha at Gaya
was renamed as Vishnu temple with foot print of Vishnu.
Prior to Guptas, Bengal was ruled by Mauryas. Their founder Chandragupta Maurya and
his son Bindusar were followers of Jainism; however Asoka, the son of Bindusar embraced
Buddhism.
3) Religious Development in Bengal:
According to Sahityacharya Dinesh Ch. Sen and others the earliest religion of Bengalis was
probably Jainism. Prior to Bardhaman Mahavir, Jain religion was known as Nath or
Arihant or Arihat religion.
Out of 24 Teerthamkaras 18 of them spent major portion of their lives in this very Bengal.
The district name “Bardhaman” was named after 24th Tirthamkara Bardhaman Mahavir.
Sahityacharya Dinesh ch. Sen stated that the earliest known religion of Bengalis was
probably Jainism. This can further be substanciated that famous Jain scholar and monk
“Bhadra bahu” was from present “Bagura” dist. of Bangladesh. He was rajguru of King
Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Mourya Dynasty. He made Chandragupta Maurya
to become a monk and lead him to Sravanbelegola of Karnataka to lead a Sarmanic life.
This also shows that there was no shortage of learned and intellectuals in Bengal at any
point of time.
The next major religion of Bengalis found to be Buddhism, followed by Saivaism and
Saktaism. Lord Shiva is also known as “Kaula” or “Akula”, while Sakti is known as
“Kula”. Prior to Sena rules in Bengal, Bengal and its adjoining areas were dominated by
Buddhist “Kula” tantraism and Saiva “Kula” tantraism. According to historians there was
hardly any difference among these two sections of Tantraism.
It may be of interest to mention here that there are 51 Sakti/Tantra Peethas and four Adi
Sakti Peethas found in undivided India.
The brief on these four Adi Sakti/Tantra Peethas are described below:
1. Puri Jagannatha, Puri at Orissa:
According to historians, it was originally a Buddhist shrine; this was converted to Vaishnava
shrine at a later period.
For Sakta Tantric Jagannatha is Bhairava and Bimala is Bhairavi. In the month of Asvina,
during the Durga Puja, animal sacrifice is made before goddess Bimala which is the only of
its kind in the otherwise bloodless rituals performed in the temple. The holy food offered to
Shri Jagannatha is sanctified only after it is presented to Bimala and then acquires the
character of Mahaprasad. The Goddess Bimala, a manifestation of the Mother Goddess and
considered as Shakti of Lord Jagannatha.
Puri is a prime Hindu pilgrimage centre located in Orissa. It is famous for Rath Yatra held
in the month of Sravana. The place is well connected by Rails. Pilgrims may get down either
at Bhubaneswar or at Khurda road Jn. on Main Howrah Chennai railway line and go to
Puri by road or by Train.
Devi's four small toes from her right foot fell here and the idols are Devi as Kali and Shiva
as Nakulish or Nakuleswar. This famous pilgrimage centre is located in Calcutta in the
state of West Bengal. Kali is described as dark complexioned form of Sakti who has taste
for blood and death. She rules over the cremation sites and is worshipped by devotees on a
dark and moon less night. She is most popular deity of Bengal. Kali is the female version of
Kala or end of time.
Beside the above there are 9 nos. of Sakti Tantra Peethas in Bardhaman and Birbhum area
of Bengal only.
Analysis:
According to historians and researchers, Tantra was developed originally by Buddhist,
followed by jains, Saivas, Vaishnavites and at last by Vaidikis.
Due to the liberalization and intrinsic benefits for intellectual, this probably tempted
intellectuals of Non Vedic religion and they could not resist themselves, which finally drives
them to accept and embraced the Vedic path.
What is this intrinsic benefit? Researchers and Historians opines that it is only the caste
factor in the society, because during this transition period at the time of Sena period, there
was no difference between Saiva tantra and Buddhist tantra, as far as spirituality is
concerned. This can be observed from the history of Adi Sakti Peethas.
The main difference was in the society, the caste system made the descendents of a
Brahmin automatically to become a Brahmins and thus the interests of descendents are
found to be well protected. The same was found to be supported, encouraged and
propagated through Bhagavat Gita. This probably made Senas to establish the Vedic rules
of Brahminic Society without much trouble.
In such case why these Kulin Brahmins identify themselves as “Konoujee Brahmins” or
migratories from Konouj.
The reason may be traced out in the contemporary period. Historically Konouj and
Mithila were never dominated by Buddhism, even during the period of Harsha. After
Mahabharata war, Mithila was the prominent centre of Vedic learning but from the period
of Harshabardhana Konouj became most prominent centre of Vedic studies. Therefore one
probable reason was simply to adopt the name of Konouj or these intellectuals were
deputed to Konouj for Vedic studies and to adopt the same under socio-political condition
of the then Bengal. I other words they became the Alumini of various Vedic school of
studies and they were accorded various gotra names according to the various intellectuals
of Vedic period.
On return from Konouj they were relocated, else there was probably a fear of not receiving
due honor from the locals as the proverb says that “Gharka Murgi daal barabar” or
“Geyo Yohi Bhik pai naa”.
Thus all the historical and religious, and cultural parameters strongly indicates
Upadhyayas were in fact originally of Buddhist religion. They probably adopted Nathism
during the period of Matsendra Nath, the founder of “Kula” system of Mother Worship
and Lord Gorokhsha Nath the founder Maa Kali temple of Kalighat. During this period
they were honored by people as “Kulin” as Kulins were the people to establish all the
system and procedures to perform “Kula Worship”. It may of interesting to note that the
famous Bengali Buddhist Scholar “Atish Dipankar”, who also made the war pact between
Palas and Cholas; embraced Nathism at the instance of Lord Matsendra Nath and became
a disciple of him. Therefore it is beyond doubt that when a person like “Atish Dipankar”,
former chief of Great Nalanda University embraced Nathism, other intellectuals of high
caliber from Buddhism too joined him in embracing Nathism.
Finally these Kulins embraced Vedic religion at the time of Sena period due to various
advantages made in Vedic social system as stated earlier.
It is interesting to note that there are about 23 Sakti Peethas out of a total of 51 Sakti
Peethas found in this very Bangadesha and 9 Sakti Peethas are found in Bardhaman and
Birbhum districts only. It is to the credits of these Upadhyayas or Kulins, who have
established various Sakti Peethas or Kula Peethas in Bengal.
However the fact is that, while embracing the Vedic religion, they had not left any good
features of their religion, like worship of Sakti or Kula, performing various Bratas
throughout the year as well as food habits. These Kulins they indigenized the Vedic
religion accordingly.
Thus it may be inferred that all Bengali Brahmins including Kulins are of indigenous
origin. These have been proved on the basis of biological system also.
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Chatterjee:
ganguly:
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Mukherjee: