Rajbanshi people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Koch people.

Rajbanshi
Regions with significant populations
 India

 Bangladesh

   Nepal
West Bengal3,386,617 [1]
Nepal115,252(2011) [2]
Languages
Assamese, Kamtapuri
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Koch, Rabhas, Garos, Boros, Mech

The Rajbanshi, Rajbongshi,[3]Koch-Rajbongshi or Rajbanshi Kshatriya[4] is an ethnic group that reside in parts of Lower Assam, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, Terai region of eastern Nepal, Bhutan and Rangpur, Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions of northern Bangladesh.[5] They are related to the ethnic Koch people found in Meghalaya but are distinguished from them as well as from the Hindu caste called Koch in Upper Assam that receives converts from different tribes.[6] Rajbanshi (of royal lineage) alludes to its connection with the Koch dynasty.[7] The group is descended from the Koch/ Mech tribes[8][9][10] who underwent Sankritisation to reach the present form and in the process abandoned their original Tibeto-burman tongue to be replaced by the Indo-Aryan languages.[11] There exist Rajbanshi people in South Bengal districts of Midnapur, 24 Paraganas, Hoogly and Nadia who might not belong to the same ethnic stock.[12][13]

Etymology[]

The Rajbanshi (literal meaning: of the royal lineage) community gave itself this name after 1891 following a movement to distance itself from an ethnic identity and acquire the higher social status of Kshatriya Hindu varna instead.[14][15] The kshatriya identity was established by linking the community to the Koch dynasty.[7] The Rajbanshis were officially recorded as Koch till the 1901 census,[16] a name that appears as early as the 13th century.[17] The name Rajbanshi is a 19th century neologism.[18]

History[]

Origins[]

In Takabat-i-Nasiri, which contain records of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji expedition into Kamrud (Kamrup) in 1205 A.D, mention that the people inhabiting between the country of Lakhanawati (Gauda) and Tibet were the Kunch (Koch), Mej/Meg (Mech) and Tiharu (Taru), whose language differ from that of the Hindus and the Turks.[19]

Late 19th century and early 20th century[]

In 1891, a section of Koch who were at tribal or semi-tribal form in present North Bengal and Western Assam in an effort to promote themselves up the caste hierarchy tried to dissociate themselves from their ethnic identity by describing themselves as Rajbanshi (of the royal lineage) or Vratya Kshatriya.[20] This attempt of social upliftment was a reaction against the ill treatment and humiliation faced by the community from the caste Hindus who referred to the Koch as mleccha or barbarians.[21] The term Rajbanshi was used to connect the group with Koch royalty who adopted the name – Rajbanshi Kshatriya under Biswa Singha, the founder king of Koch dynasty and a tribal who was hinduised and promoted to kshatriya varna in the early 1500s.[22]

To justify this status, the group created legends that they originally belonged to the kshatriya varna but left their homeland in the fear of annihilation by the brahmin sage Parashurama and took refuge in Paundradesh (currently in Northern bengal and Rangpur division of Bangladesh) [23] and later took on the identity of mleccha. The story so created was to provide legitimacy to claim their fictitious kshatriya status and provide an ideological base for the Rajbanshi Kshatriya movement.[24]

The Rajbanshi Kshatriya movement took pace in 1910 under the leadership of Panchanan Barma, the Koch got the legal Kshatriya status of Rajbanshi after getting recognition from different Brahmin pandits of Mithila, Rangpur, Kamrup and Koch Bihar,[25] thus separating them from their original ethnic stock.[25] The district magistrate gave permission to use surnames like Roy, Ray, Barman, Burma, Sinha etc. to replace the traditional one like Sarkar, Das[26] and the Kshatriya status was granted in the final report of 1911 census.[25] The movement manifested itself in sankritising tendencies with an assertion of Aryan origin and striving for higher social status by imitating higher caste customs and rituals.[27]

With this thousands of Koch took ritual bath and adopted the practices of the twice born (Dvija), like the wearing of the sacred thread (Upanayana), adoption of gotra name, shortening in period of 'asauch' from 30 days to 12.[28] Few people from other marginalized communities also converted to Rajbanshi Kshatriya in the converting process.[29][30][31][32][33]

Today the Koch-Rajbongshis are found throughout North Bengal, particularly in the Dooars, as well as parts of Lower Assam, northern Bangladesh (Rangpur Division), the Terai of eastern Nepal and Bihar, and Bhutan.[34]

Occupation[]

The Rajbongshis were traditionally agriculturalists, but due to their numerical dominance in North Bengal there were significant occupational differences among them. Most were agricultural labourers (halua) or sharecroppers (adhiar). These often worked for landed cultivators, called dar-chukanidars. Above them were the chukandiars and jotedars, and at the top were the zamindars. Some Rajbongshis were zamindars or jotedars.[35]

Lifestyle and culture[]

According to a 2019 research, the Koch Rajbongshi community has an oral tradition of agriculture, dance, music, medical practices, song, the building of house, culture, and language. Ideally the tribe transfer the know-how from one generation to another.[36]

The Koch Rajbongshi community had traditionally been a largely agricultural community, cultivating mainly rice, pulses, and maize. Rice is the staple food for the majority of the population. Even in the 21st century, a large portion of this community still adheres to a rural lifestyle, though urbanization is on a constant rise. The food consumed and the diet pattern is similar to all the Koches of Assam, West Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh, Meghalaya. Rice and Pulses are consumed on a regular basis along with vegetables and bhajis (fries- mainly potatoes). Typical is the Dhékir sāg and naphā sāg, two types of leafy vegetable preparation, mostly boiled with very little added oil, out of newly born shoots of fern leaves. In lower Assam, a vegetable preparation of bamboo shoots is also consumed. Consumption of stale rice or pantha bhāt is common within Koch Rajbongshi. Cooking is mainly done using mustard oil, though sunflower oil is sometimes used. As far as non-vegetarian foods are concerned, the Koch Rajbongshi population consumes a large amount of meat and eggs unlike other neighborhood populations from the Bengal region, who consume a large amount of fish. Goat meat and sheep (if available) is generally consumed, and consumption of fowl meat is discouraged as a result of Sanskritization, though these taboos have eroded over time. There were rituals involving sacrificing pigs in Ghordew puja, and ducks in Laxmi puja. Eggs of ducks and poultry are consumed. Ducks and Fish are also consumed but not in very large numbers. The rivers of northern Bengal does not sustain large varieties of fishes because of its non-perennial nature. However, in lower Assam areas, large rivers like the Brahmaputra sustain large varieties of fish which becomes an important part of the dietary habit of the Koch Rajbanshi living there.

Home design of a typical Koch Rajbanshi home is essential for the rectangular pattern, with an open space (egina/aingna) in the middle. This is done mostly for protection against both wild animals and strong winds. A Thakurghor of Manasha or Kali Thakur at the entrance is must in every Koch-Rajbongshi house. The north side holds the betel nut and fruit gardens, the west contains Bamboo gardens while the east and the south is generally left open to allow sunshine and air to penetrate into the household. Though such a pattern is more prominent among the landed gentry.

Traditional attires of Koch-Rajbongshis are mainly Patani, Agran, Angsha, Chadar, Lifan, Phota, and various other traditional costumes being weaved at their traditional handloom in their home. The traditional clothing for men is Angsha and Jama , while for women is Bukuni-Patani, Phota, Agran, Angsa, Lifan; Chadar a piece of cloth tied around the chest that extends up to the knee. Lifan or Phota are worn like a wrapper. The Koch Rajbongshi Tribe has still preserved their age-old ethnic attires and is being used on a regular basis as their common costumes, The Koch Rajbongshis prefer to wear their traditional attires in-spite of the fact that the modern costumes are widely available.[37][38]

Music forms are integral part of Koch-Rajbongshi culture. The main musical forms of Koch-Rajbongshi culture are Bhawaiyya, Chatka, Chorchunni, Palatia, Lahankari, Tukkhya, Bishohora Pala among many others. Various instruments are used for such performances, string instruments like Dotora, Sarindra and Bena, double-membrane instruments like Tasi, Dhak, Khol, Desi Dhol and Mridanga, gongs and bells like Kansi, Khartal and wind instruments like Sanai, Mukha bansi and Kupa bansi.[39]

Notable people[]


See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "West Bengal - Data Highlights: The Scheduled Castes -Census of India 2001" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  2. ^ "www.indigenousvoice.com indigenous peoples rajbansi".
  3. ^ "In West Bengal and Bihar, they are known as "Rajbongshi and "Rajbanshi"," in Assam as "Koch," "Rajbongshi," and "Koch-Rajbongshi," and in Meghalaya mainly as "Koch." Though the community is known by diverse names in different states, their origin is the same, that is, "Koch." (Roy 2018)
  4. ^ Capt. Nalini Ranjan Ray. Koch Rajbanshi And Kamatapur The Truth. Unveiled ( 2007). p. 65. Retrieved 1 May 2019. Rajbanshi A cultivating and landowning community of North Bengal, they are also known as Desi, or Bahey and Rajbanshi Kshatriya.
  5. ^ "The Portal of North Bengal Development Department". wbnorthbengaldev.gov.in. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  6. ^ "The Koch of western Meghalaya also claim relationship with those empire-building Koch. On the other hand, Koch is known as a Hindu caste found all over the Brahmaputra Valley (Majumdar 1984: 147), and receives converts to Hinduism from different tribes (Gait 1933: 43)." (Kondakov 2013:4)
  7. ^ a b "(W)hile the asserted identity of the Koch/Rabha complex seemingly shifted a great deal during the colonial period—which is therefore very confusing for observers-some converts formed an assertive ethnic group, the Koch Rajbongshi (“of royal lineage”), that claimed to be linked to the Koch dynasty."(Ramirez 2014, p. 17)
  8. ^ Roy (2014):"Suniti Kumar Chatterji observed that Rajbanshis were Koch in origin and belonged to the larger Bodo group. They were Hinduised or semi-Hinduised and had discarded their Tibeto-Burman language, adopting northern Bengali sub-language as their tongue."
  9. ^ Das, Mukherjee & Bhattacharjee (1967), p. 433: "And various ethnological reports concur on the origin of the Rajbanshi from the Koch, the Mech and the Paliya tribes"
  10. ^ "The large tract of country called Mechpara in the Gowalparah District no doubt took its name from them, and the proprietor is a Mech; but he and most of his people repudiate this origin and call themselves Rajbangsis"(Mitra 1953:224)
  11. ^ Debnath, Monojit; Palanichamy, Malliya G.; Mitra, Bikash; Jin, Jie-Qiong; Chaudhuri, Tapas K.; Zhang, Ya-Ping (2011). "Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in the sub-Himalayan Terai and Duars populations of East India". Journal of Human Genetics. 56 (11): 765–771. doi:10.1038/jhg.2011.98. ISSN 1435-232X. PMID 21900945. S2CID 2735604.
  12. ^ "On the other hand, there are Rajbanshi in Midnapur, 24 Paraganas, Hoogly and Nadia district who may not be of the same stock and do not speak this language"(Adhikary 2009:138)
  13. ^ "Thompson states, "The Rajbanshis are the indigenous people of Northern Bengal and the third Largest Hindu Caste in the province. Their total number has been exaggerated by the fact that a member of fisherman caste in Mymensingh, Nadia and Murshidabad returned themselves as Rajbanshis."(Adhikary 2009:65)
  14. ^ "From 1891 a section of the Koches were trying to dissociate themselves from their original ethnic stock by describing themselves as Rajbansis or Vratya Kshatriya (Bhanga Kshatriya) their movement ended with getting Kshatriya status, being known as Rajbansis and also enlisting themselves in the list of Scheduled Caste"(Das 2004:559)
  15. ^ "In fact, the Koches in order to assert their royal lineage used to call themselves Rajbanshis. The term, Rajbanshi was also used as an effective nomenclature to subvert the processes of hierarchical subordination of the community largely by the caste Hindus during the colonial era." (Roy 2014)
  16. ^ "The Rajbansi Movement gained new momentum during 1901, because in the census the Rajbansis were not treated as distinct caste separated from the Koches and they had not been given Kshatriya status. The district magistrate denied their demand. The Rajbansis were placed with the Koches in 1901 census."(Das 2004:560)
  17. ^ "(A)n account of the two expeditions of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji to the kingdom of Kamarupa (ancient assam) in the first part of the 13th century, noted that during that time this region..Kamarupa was inhabited by Kunch(Koch), Mej/Meg (Mech), Tiharu (Taru) tribes of Turks countenance."(Nath 1989:3)
  18. ^ "But it is interesting to note that neither in the Persian records, nor in the foreign accounts, nor in any of the dynastic epigraphs of the time, the Koches are mentioned as Rajvamsis. Even the Darrang Raj Vamsavali, which is a genealogical account of the Koch royal family, and which was written in the last quarter of the 18th century, does not refer to this term. Instead all these sources call them as Koches and/or Meches."(Nath 1989, p. 5)
  19. ^ "From there, he [Bakhtiyar Khalji] was tempted to invade “Bhutan and Tibet” and went against Assam, called Kamrud (sic, with a “d”). The description of his disastrous campaign provides us with some information about the populations (Siraj 1881: 560-1): In the different parts of those mountains which lie between Tibbat and the country of Lakhanawati are three races of peoples, one called the Kūnch [N66], the second the Mej (Meg), and the third the Tihārū; and all have Turk countenances.They have a different idiom, too, between the languages of Hind and Turk [N77 ]."(Jacquesson 2008, p. 16)
  20. ^ "In 1901, many Koches in North Bengal were returned as Rajbanshis. Many of the Rajbanshis have taken sacred thread and were prepared to use force in support of their claim to be returned as Kshatriya. He also writes "No part of the Census in 1891, 1901, 1911 aroused so much excitement as the return of caste which caused a great deal heart burning and in some were returned as kshatriya quarters with threats of disturbance of the peace. The Rajbanshis claimed to be included as Kshatriya, Bratya kshatriya, Barua kshatriya"(Adhikary 2009:65)
  21. ^ "The immigrants with a strong awareness to caste started interacting with indigenous Rajbanshis [Koch] in differential terms. There are numerous instances of humiliation and objectionable identities of the Rajbanshis by the other caste immigrant. Few such instances of racialism interpretation and social suppression are Nagendra Nath Basu in the early twentieth century while writing his World Encyclopedia (Biswakosh) mentioned the Rajbanshis as barbarians or mlechha and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya in Bango Dar shan moots that the Koch identity."(Adhikary 2009, p. 163)
  22. ^ (Sheikh 2012, p. 250):"But it is surmised this was nothing but Sanscritization of the ruling family which spread the Brahminical ideas among the tribes to bring them under the pale of Hinduism. The king Biswa Singha with his tribal origin embraced Hinduism and claim Kshatriya status. He is also known as Bishu succeeded in establishing his authority, styling himself as Raja, he first claimed Rajbanshi Kshatriya status"
  23. ^ " The Rajbanshis [Koch] claimed that they were originally to the kshatriya varna and left their original homeland and took shelter in a region called Paundradesh corresponding to· the districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, and the adjacent areas in fear of annihilation of Parasurama, a Brahman sage. In order to hide their kshatriyas identity they gave up their sacred thread and started living with the local people and gradually came to be known as the Bhanga Kshatriyas or the fallen kshatriyas."(Adhikary 2009, pp. 167–168)
  24. ^ "Though there are certain differences in these three accounts, the common thread that binds all of them together is the effort to create a convincing myth to provide their Kshatriya origin."(Adhikary 2009, p. 168)
  25. ^ a b c Das 2004, p. 560.
  26. ^ Adhikary 2009, p. 169–170.
  27. ^ Das 2004, p. 561.
  28. ^ "At the initial stage, the Rajbanshis [Koch] caste leaders typically attempted to improve their social standing by altering their customs to resemble the ways of life of 'twice- born'. As a formal work of 'twice born' they started wearing sacred thread and adopted gotra (clan) name. They also reduced the period of mourning and ritual pollution (as ouch) from thirty to twelve days to corresponding with that of the kshatriya."(Adhikary 2009, p. 169)
  29. ^ Sarkar, I (2006). "The Kamatapur Movement: Towards a Separate State in North Bengal". In Govinda Chandra Rath (ed.). Tribal development in India: the contemporary debate. Sage. ISBN 978-0-7619-3423-3.
  30. ^ Das, Samir Kumar. "The Rajbanshis of North Bengal" (PDF). Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  31. ^ Barman, Kartick Chandra (2020). PANCHANAN BARMA: Father of the Rajbanshi Society. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-6203041705.
  32. ^ Barman, Kartick Chandra (2016). "Political Thoughts and Ideas of Panchanan Barma". ISSN 2395-7964. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  33. ^ Barman, Kartick Chandra (2016). "Political Philosophy of Panchanan Barma". Galaxy : International Multidisciplinary Research Journal. ISSN 2278-9529. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Today, the Koch Rajbanshi people are located in North Bengal, Assam (with a major concentration in west Assam), Garo hills of Meghalaya, Purnia, Kishanganj, and Katihar districts of Bihar, Jhapa and Biratnagar districts of Nepal, Rangpur, East Dinajpur districts and some parts of northwest Mymensingh, northern Rajshahi and Bogra districts of Bangladesh and lower parts of Bhutan (Nalini Ranjan Ray 2009)." (Roy 2014)
  35. ^ Barman, Rup Kumar. "A new Look on the transition of Caste identity into Cultural identity of the Rajbanshis of Northern Bengal and Lower Assam" (PDF). The Mirror: 56–70.
  36. ^ Singha, Surjit; Singha, Ranjit (2019). Sustainable Entrepreneurship in North East India (1 ed.). Bulgaria: Tsenov Academic Publishing House. pp. 161–187. ISBN 9789542317524. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  37. ^ Chaudhuri, Harendra Narayan (1903). The Cooch Behar State and its Land Revenue Settlements. Princely Cooch Behar State: The Cooch Behar State Press. p. 135.
  38. ^ "People and Culture | Bongaigaon District | Government Of Assam, India". bongaigaon.gov.in. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  39. ^ Sanyal, Charu Chandra (1965). The Rajbansis of North Bengal. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.

References[]

  • Adhikary, Madhab Chandra (2010). "Socio-political movement in post colonial North Bengal: A case study of the Rajbanshis". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 1233–1242. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44147592.
  • Chatterji, S.K (1951). Kirata-Jana-Krti. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.
  • Das, Jitendra Nath (2004). "The backwardness of the Rajbansis and the Rajbansi kshatriya movement (1891-1936)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 65: 559–563. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44144770.
  • Gogoi, Jahnavi (2002). Agrarian System of Medieval Assam. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
  • Jacquesson, François (2008), "Discovering Boro-Garo: History of an analytical and descriptive linguistic category", European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, 32: 14–49
  • Kondakov, Alexander (2013). Hyslop, Gwendolyn; Morey, Stephen; Post, Mark W (eds.). "Koch dialects of Meghalaya and Assam: A sociolinguistic survey". North East Indian Linguistics. Cambridge University Press India. 5: 3–59. doi:10.1017/9789382993285.003. ISBN 9789382993285.
  • Nath, D. (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom, C. 1515-1615, Mittal Publications, pp. 5–6, ISBN 8170991099
  • Ramirez, Philippe (2014). People of the Margins - Across Ethnic Boundaries in North-East India.
  • Roy, Kapil Chandra (2018), "Demand for Scheduled Tribe Status by Koch-Rajbongshis", Economic and Political Weekly, 53 (44)
  • Roy, Hirokjeet (2014), "Politics of Janajatikaran: Koch Rajbanshis of Assam", Economic and Political Weekly, 49 (47)
  • Sheikh, Amiruzzaman (2012). "The 16th century Koch kingdom: Evolving patterns of sankritization". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 73: 249–254. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44156212.
  • Das, S.R; Mukherjee, D. P.; Bhattacharjee, P. N. (1967). "Survey of the Blood Groups and PTC Taste Among the Rajbanshi Caste of West Bengal (ABO, MNS, Rh, Duffy and Diego)". Acta Genetica et Statistica Medica. 17 (5): 433–445. doi:10.1159/000152094. JSTOR 45103942. PMID 6072621.
  • Adhikary, Madhab Chandra (2009). Ethno Cultural Identity Crisis of the Rajbanshis of North Eastern Part of india and Nepal and Bangladesh during the period of 1891 to 1979 (Ph.D.). University of North Bengal. hdl:10603/137486.
  • Mitra, A (1953). THE TRIBES AND CASTES OF WEST BENGAL. Alipore, West bengal: West Bengal Government Press.
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