Jalia Kaibarta

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Kaibarta fisherman in East Bengal in 1860s

The Kaibarta (or Kaibartha), is a Hindu caste. The word Kaibarta means occupation through water (boating and fishing) traditionally, found in Assam, northern Orissa, eastern Bihar, West Bengal and Tripura. Kaibarthas are divided into two groups, Jaliya and Haliya. Jaliya Kaibartha's are categorized as a Scheduled Caste though the Mahishyas (Haliya Kaibarta) are not, through the Mahishya Samaj endeavored to instill pride in their agricultural roots, since they were the cultivators of the soil.[1]

Legendary origin

Writing in 1892, Herbert Hope Risley noted:

Concerning the etymology of the name Kaibartta there has been considerable difference of opinion. Some derive it from ka, water, and vartta, livelihood; but Lassen says* that the use of ka in this sense is extremely unusual in early Sanskrit, and that the true derivation is Kivarta, a corruption of Kimparta, meaning a person following a low or degrading occupation. This, he adds, would be in keeping with the pedigree assigned to the caste in Manu, where the Kaibarta, also known as Márgava or Dása, is said to have been begotten by a Nisháda father and an Ayogavi mother, and to subsist by his labour in boats. On the other hand, the Brahma-Yaívartta Purána gives the Kaibartta a Kshatriya father and a Vaisya mother, a far more distinguished parentage ; for the Ayogavi, being born from a Sudra father and a Vaisya mother, is classed as pratiloma, begotten against the hair, or in the inverse order of the precedence of the castes.[2]

History

Historians such as Jagabandhu Singh have referenced the Padma Purana and the Brahmavaibarta Purana to conclude that the Mahishyas and Kaivarttas (Kaibarttas) are the same caste. In general terms, a child born of a Kshatriya father and Vaishya mother is called a Kaivartta or Mahishya. If one takes the two terms to be synonymous, they are considered Kaivarttas. The Mahishyas formed a tight-knit social group; the movement to gain recognition as a caste separate from the Kaibarttas gained momentum in 1897, when the Mahishyas formed the Jati Nirdharani Samiti (Caste Assignment Forum). At the time, the Kaibarttas were divided into Jele Kaibarttas (fishermen), and Hele Kaibarttas (farmers).[3]

Matsya Kingdom

Matsya Kingdom was founded by fishermen community who later attained kingship. The Sanskrit word Matsya means fish. Satyavati, the wife of Kuru king Santanu was from this community. King Virata, a Matsya king, founded the kingdom of Virata. He was the father-in-law of Abhimanyu the son of Arjuna. The epic Mahabharata relates the founder of Matsya kingdom to the ruler of Chedi, viz Uparichara Vasu.

Fishing was the main occupation of the people who lived near river Sarasvati River. After the river dried up, they migrated to river Charmanwati now known as Chambal meaning fish in Dravidian languages. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, was son of Satyavati who belonged to this fishermen community and yet was a Vedic scholar.

References in Mahabharata

The first Matsya king was mentioned to be the son of a Chedi king named Uparichara Vasu. He was a Paurava, meaning a king beloning to the Puru dynasty (1,63). Apart from the five royal sons of this king, he had a son and a daughter born of a woman of fisherman community. The male child, in due cource established the Matsya Kingdom and founded the royal dynasty called Matsya Dynasti. The female child lived as a member of fishermen community. Her descendants established as fishermen on the banks of river Yamuna, in the kingdom of Kurus. The famous Kuru king Santanu's wife Satyavati was from this fishermen community. The author of Mahabharata, vis Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa and the Kuru kings viz Chitrangada and Vichitravirya were the sons of Satyavati. Pandavas and Kauravas where the grandsons of Vichitravirya.(1,63).

A king named Sahaja ruled the united Chedis and Matsyas. As per Bhima he became cause for the destruction of his own race (5,74).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Venkatesh Salagrama; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (30 December 2006). Trends in Poverty and Livelihoods in Coastal Fishing Communities of Orissa State, India. Food & Agriculture Org. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-92-5-105566-3. Retrieved 18 April 2012. 
  2. ↑ Sir Herbert Hope Risley (1892). The tribes and castes of Bengal: Ethnographic glossary. Printed at the Bengal secretariat press. pp. 376–. Retrieved 18 April 2012. 
  3. ↑ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (1997). Local Politics and Indian Nationalism: Midnapur (1919-1944). New Delhi: Manohar. pp. 62–67. 
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