Bengali Brahmins

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Bengali Brahmins are those Brahmins who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal, and Bangladesh. When the British left India in 1947, carving out a separate nation (see partition) of East Pakistan (which became Bangladesh in 1971), a number of families moved to be within the borders of the newly defined secular Indian Republic, and continued to migrate for several decades thereafter.

Historically, they have been the standard bearers of Madhyadeshiya (the historic-cultural region of the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab) Indo-Aryan culture in Bengal. Bengali Brahmins are generally well-educated, and a number of prominent figures of India belong to this community.

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[edit] History

A large scale migration of Brahmins from Kanyakubja region occurred during Pala and Sena periods. However historical evidence attests significant presence of Brahmins in Bengal since the Maurya period. The Jain Acharya Bhadrabahu, regarded to be the preceptor of Chandragupta Maurya is said to have been born in Brahmin family of Pundravardhana. A copperplate grant from the Gupta period found in the vicinity of Somapura mentions a Brahmin donating land to a Jain vihara at Vatagohali.

The three main divisions are

  • Radhi from Radh (region south-west of Ganga)
  • Varendra, from Varendra region (North-East)
  • Vedika

[edit] Traditional accounts

The traditional accounts of the origin are given in texts termed Kulagranthas, composed around the 17th century. They mention a ruler named Adishura who invited five Brahmins from Kanyakubja, so that he could conduct a yajna. These five Brahmins formed the Kulin Brahmin clan. Another account mentions a king Shyamal Varma who invited five Brahmins from Kanyakubja who became the progenitors of the Vedika Brahmins.

Historians have located a ruler named Adishura, ruling in north Bihar, but not in Bengal. Thus it is likely the Brahmins from Kanyakubja may have first arrived in Mithila, and then moved to Bengal. It is believed that the Brahmins of Bengal adapted kulinism from a similar hierarchical system used by the Brahmins of Mithila.

[edit] Kulinism in Bengal

Both Brahmins and Kayasthas in Bengal have followed a system that ranks the clans hierarchically. The Kulinas formed the higher ranking clans. The system degenerated during the 18-19th century and is no longer popular.

[edit] Impact of British occupation

The British occupation of Bengal radically transformed the Bengali culture. Bengal has now gone through two century of missionary efforts and a quarter century of a Marxist government. Eastern Bengal became an Muslim majority region in mid-19th century which resulted in the first partition of Bengal in 1905, and then final partion in 1947. Although the interaction with the British resulting in what is termed the Bengal Renaissance, it altered the hold of traditional Brahminical Hinduism in the region.

[edit] Naming Convension

Many Bengali Brahmin family names are written in two different ways. For example, Chattopadhyay (compound of village name "Chatta" and "upadhyaya" denoting "priest, teacher") is the Sanskritized form of the local Prakrit word "chaturjye", anglicized to Chatterjee. "Chaturjye" is composed of the fragments "chatur" (Bengali genitive form of the village name "Chatu") and "jye" (Prakrit contraction of "jiva" meaning "soul" or "holy person"); "Chaturjye" thus yields "holy person of Chatu". Similar analyses may be performed on Mukhurjye/Mukherjee/Mukhopadhyay and Banurjye/Banerjee/Bandyopadhyay. Bhattacharya which is made by two words Bhatt and Acharya which means teacher also Called as Bhattacharjee. Tagore is the anglicized form of Thakur, meaning "lord". Other Bengali Brahmin family names are anglicized in particular ways that have become the standard English spellings over time.

[edit] Pre-1947

[edit] Post-1947

  • Kishore kumar Ganguly , Great Singer, Actor
  • Ashok kumar Ganguly, Actor
  • Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Chief Minister of West Bengal since 2000.
  • Sourav Ganguly, former captain of Indian cricket team
  • Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder president, Bhartiya Jana Sangh

[edit] See Also

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