Kulin Brahmin
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Kulin Brahmins are the Bengali Brahmins belonging to Hindu religion. They trace their ancestry to five families of Kannauj who migrated to Bengal.
History[]
In the 11th century AD, after the decline of the Pala dynasty, a Hindu king, Adi Sura brought in five Brahmins and their five attendants from Kanauj, his purpose being to provide education for the Brahmins already in the area whom he thought to be ignorant, and revive traditional orthodox Brahminical Hinduism.[1] These Vedic Brahmins were supposed to have nine gunas (favoured attributes), among which was insistence on same rank marriages.[2] Multiple accounts of this legend exist, and historians generally consider this to be nothing more than myth or folklore lacking historical authenticity.[1] The tradition continues by saying that these incomers settled and each became the founder of a clan.[3]
The five Brahmin clans, which later became known as Mukherjees, Chatterjees, Banerjees, Gangulys and Bhattacharjees, were each designated as Kulina ("superior") in order to differentiate them from the more established local Brahmins.[3]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b Sengupta, Nitish K. (2001). History of the Bengali-Speaking People. UBS Publishers' Distributors. p. 25. ISBN 81-7476-355-4.
- ^ "Reflections on Kulin Polygamy, p2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ a b Hopkins, Thomas J. (1989). "The Social and Religious Background for Transmission of Gaudiya Vaisnavism to the West". In Bromley, David G.; Shinn, Larry D. (eds.). Krishna consciousness in the West. Bucknell University Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-8387-5144-2. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
Further reading[]
- Sengupta, Nitish (2001). History of the Bengali-speaking People. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 8174763554.
- Brahmin communities of West Bengal