Pundravardhana

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This article is about the historical territory. For the Mahabharata kingdom see Pundra Kingdom

Pundravardhana (Bengali: পুন্ড্রবর্ধন Punḍrobôrdhon), was a territory located in North Bengal (mainly Bangladesh) in ancient times, of Pundra, a group of non-Aryan people.^[1][2][3]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Pundra people 3 Mythology 4 Empires 4.1 Ancient period 4.2 Decline 4.3 Spread of Islam 5 Extent 6 Links 7 References

[edit] Etymology

There are several theories regarding the word ‘Pundra’. According to one theory the word ‘Pundra’ owes its origin to a disease called ‘Pandu’. The land where most of the people were suffering from that disease was called Pundrakshetra (land of Pundra). Punda is a species of sugarcane. The land where that specie of sugarcane was extensively cultivated was called Pundadesa (land of Punda). According to later Vedic texts like Aitereya Aryanaka of 8th-7th century BC, the Pundra was a group of non-Aryan people who lived east of the river Sadanira. The Mahabharata also made a similar reference. In the first century AD, the land was mentioned as Pundravardhana for the first time in Asokadana.^[1]

[edit] Pundra people

The Pundra were people mentioned in the later Vedic texts. The Digvijay section of Mahabharata places them to the east of Monghyr and associates them with the prince who ruled on the banks of the Kosi.^[4]The epigraphs of the Gupta period and ancient Chinese writers place Pundravardhana, land of the Pundras, in North Bengal.^[3]

[edit] Mythology

Certain legends indicate the fusion of Aryan and non-Aryan blood in the royal families in ancient days. There is a story of Rishi Dīrghatamas who begot on the queen of the Asura king Bali five sons named Anga, Vanga, Suhma, Pundra and Kalinga. They founded the five states named after them. The lands of the despised Pundra and Vangas were not only seats of powerful kings but also flourishing centres of Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanical religion. It signifies the first stage of Aryanisation between fifth century BC and fourth century AD.^[5]

[edit] Empires

[edit] Ancient period

Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura, the ruins of which are located on the banks of the Karatoya in Bogra District of Bangladesh, was located in the territory of Pundravardhana.^[3]

While the Pundras and their habitat were looked down upon as impure in later Vedic literature because they fell beyond the pale of Vedic culture,^[2]an inscription written in Prakrit in the Brāhmī script of 3rd century BC, found at Mahasthangarh, ancient site of Pundranagara, indicates that the area imbibed, like adjoining Magadha, many elements of Aryan culture.^[6]Buddhism was introduced into North Bengal, if not other parts of Bengal, before Asoka. Two Votive inscriptions on the railings of the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi of about second century BC records the gifts of two inhabitants of Punavadhana which undoubtedly stands for Pundravardhana.^[7]The impact of Aryan-Brahmana culture was felt in Bengal much after the same spread across northern India. The various non-Aryan people then living in Bengal were powerful and thus the spread of Aryan-Brahman culture was strongly resisted and the assimilation took a long time.^[8]

The Mauryans were the first to establish a large empire spread across ancient India, with headquarters at Pataliputra (modern Patna), which was not very far from Pundranagara. Therefore, it is possible that the Mauryans conquered Pundravardhana. The end of the Maurya rule around 185 BC was followed by a period of small kingdoms and chaos till the advent of the Guptas in the 4th century AD. Copper plates of the Gupta period mentioned their eastern division as Pundravardhana bhukti (bhukti being a territorial division). The Gupta Empire faced decline in the 6th century AD and the area may have fallen to the Tibetan king Sambatson in 567-79. Subsequently, Bengal was carved into two empires, Samatata in the east and Gauda in the west.^[1]There is mention of Pundravardhana being part of Gauda in certain ancient records.^[9]It was part of Shashanka’s kingdom in the 7th century AD.^[10]

[edit] Decline

During his visit to the area in 639-45, the Chinese monk, Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), did not mention any king of Pundravardhana in his itinerary records.^[1]He travelled from Kajangala to Kamarupa through Pundravardhana.^[2]

Xuanzang, referred to Pundravardhana as follows:

There were twenty Buddhist Monasteries and above 3,000 Brethren, by whom the ‘Great and Little Vehicles’ were followed; the Deva-Temples were 100 in number, and the followers of various sects lived pell-mell, the Digambar Nirgranthas being very numerous.^[11]

There are certain references that go to indicate that Pundravardhana lost its eminence in the 7th-8th century. Archaeological excavations at Mahasthangarh indicate the use of the citadel during the Pala period till 12th century AD but no more as a power-centre.^[1]It was part of the empire of Chandra kings^[12] and Bhoj Verma^[13]The early Muslim rulers from 13th century onwards may have used the territory but by then it was no more important,^[1]its identity gradually faded and it became part of the surrounding area. Even the main city or capital of Pundrvardhana, Pundravardhananagar or Paundravardhanapur, lost its identity and came to be known as Mahasthan.

[edit] Spread of Islam

At Mahasthan is located the mazhar (holy tomb) of Shah Sultan Balkhi Mahisawar, a dervish (holy person devoted to Islam) of royal lineage who came to the Mahasthan area, with the objective of spreading Islam amongst non-Muslim people. He converted the people of the area to Islam and settled there.^[14][15]

[edit] Extent

Paundravardhana, comprised areas of present-day Rajshahi, Bogra, Pabna (in Bangladesh), and Dinajpur (both in India and Bangladesh). According to the Damodarpur copperplate inscription of the time of Budhagupta (c 476-94 AD) the northern limit of Pundravardhana was the Himalayas. The administrative and territorial jurisdiction of Pundravardhana expanded in the Pala period. In the Pala, Chandra and Sena periods Pundravardhana included areas beyond the geographical boundaries of North Bengal.^[2]Varendri or Varendri-mandala was a metropolitan district of Pundravardhana. This is supported by several inscriptions.^[3]Varendra or Varendri finds a mention primarily from the 10th century AD onwards, at a time when Pundravardhana was in decline.^[16]

Rakhaldas Bandopadhyay says, “Only North Bengal is not meant by Pundravardhana bhukti, what we now call East Bengal was also part of Pundravardhana or Pundravardhana bhukti. In a copper plate during the rule of Keshab Sendeb, son of Lakshman Sendeb, i.e. in the 12 century AD, Pundravardhana or Pundravardhana bhukti included areas up to Bikrampur.”^[17]In the south Pundravardhana extended to localities in the Sundarbans.^[18]

[edit] Links

The numerous waterways of the region were the main channels of transportation. However, there are references in ancient literature to some roads. Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara mentions a road from Pundravardhana to Pataliputra. Xuanzang travelled from Kajangala to Pundravardhana, thereafter crossed a wide river and proceeded to Kamarupa. There are indications about a road from Pundravardhana to Mithila, then passing through Pataliputra and Buddha Gaya on to Varanasi and Ayodhya, and finally proceeding to Sindh and Gujarat. It must have been a major trade route.^[19]

[edit] References