The Changing World of Caste and Hierarchy in Bengal: Depiction from the Mangalkavyas c. 1700–1931

317 Pages·2022·3.262 MB·English

by  Sudarshana Bhaumik

The Changing World of Caste and
Hierarchy in Bengal
This book challenges the prevalent assumptions of caste, hierarchy and
social mobility in pre-colonial and colonial Bengal. It studies the writings
of colonial ethnographers, Orientalist scholars, Christian missionaries and
pre-colonial literary texts like the Mangalkavyas to show how the concept
of caste emerged and argues that the jati order in Bengal was far from being
a rigidly reified structure, but one which had room for spatial and social
mobility. The volume highlights the processes through which popular myths
and beliefs of the lower caste orders of Bengal were Sanskritized. It delineates
the linkages between sedantized peasant culture and the emergence of new
agricultural castes in colonial Bengal. Moreover, the author discusses a wide
spectrum of issues like marginality and hierarchy, the spread of Brahmanical
hegemony, the creation of deities and the process of Sanskritization, popular
Saivism, the cult of Manasa in Bengal and the revolt of 1857 and the caste
question.
R ich in archival sources, this book will be an essential read for scholars
and researchers of colonial history, Indian history, political sociology, caste
studies, exclusion studies, cultural studies, social history, cultural history and
South Asian studies, especially those interested in undivided Bengal.
S udarshana Bhaumik is Assistant Professor of History at Lloyd Law
College, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR. She has a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, India. She is a recipient of the prestigious Charles
Wallace India Trust Grant Fellowship (2018). She has delivered lectures at
various international conferences held at places like Queens College, Oxford
(March 2019), IIAS Leiden (July 2019) and Victoria University of Wellington
(November 2019). She has published articles in numerous journals and
edited volumes including IIAS Summer Hill, Historical Sources and Genres
and Encyclopaedia of Historiography: Africa, America, Asia (2019). She has
worked as Assistant Professor (History) in the Lovely Professional University,
Punjab and has also worked as Guest Faculty in the Department of History,
Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga, and as Guest Lecturer at Milli
Al-Ameen College for Girls (Affiliated to the University of Calcutta).

The Changing World
of Caste and Hierarchy
in Bengal
Depiction from the Mangalkavyas c.
1700–1931
Sudarshana Bhaumik
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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© 2023 Sudarshana Bhaumik
The right of Sudarshana Bhaumik to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bhaumik, Sudarshana, author.
Title: The changing world of caste and hierarchy in Bengal:
depiction from the Mangalkavyas c. 1700–1931/Sudarshana
Bhaumik.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Taylor & Francis,
2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022011463 (print) | LCCN 2022011464
(ebook) | ISBN9780367557553 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367704186 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003146186 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Caste—India—Bengal—History. |
Bengal (India)—History.
Classification: LCC DS422.C3 B43 2023 (print) | LCC DS422.C3
(ebook) |DDC 305.5/1220954—dc23/eng/20220309
LC record available at h ttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022011463
LC ebook record available at h ttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022011464
ISBN: 978-0-367-55755-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-70418-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14618-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003146186
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents

Acknowledgements vi
G lossary viii
Introduction 1
1 Locating the issues of marginality and hierarchy
in colonial Bengal: histories from the long past 30
2 The making of the goddess tradition in Bengal:
exploring the world of omnipotent lower caste
malevolent deities 70
3 Popular religion, myths, orality and subalternity
in Bengal 118
4 Land reclamation leading to new agriculture
and settlement 164
5 Risley and the constructed Bengali space: caste,
census and the relevance of jatis 209
Conclusion 265
B ibliography 273
I ndex 296
Acknowledgements
The theme of the monograph is a long-term research project. It is a part
of PhD dissertation submitted in the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi. I am greatly indebted to a large number of
people in writing this book. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude
to my supervisors Yagati Chinna Rao and Raj Sekhar Basu whose uncondi-
tional support and encouragement had major role in the successful comple-
tion of the book. Their valuable guidance and scholarly inputs had infused
in me a great deal of confidence to frame the basic outline of the book.
I am greatly indebted to Prof. Hitendra K. Patel who has opened the world
of academics and research to me. Due to his sole encouragement I moved
to JNU for pursuing PhD. His constant encouragement has enabled me to
complete this book. The idea of working under this theme first came to my
mind in 2012, when Chittabrata Palit (Sir) suggested to me to work on social
history of Bengal through the literary texts, especially the M angalkavyas. I
am really grateful to him for extending his support in carrying out my work
in this area.
Before that I had been familiar with this kind of literature while studying
the history of Bengali literature as part of the syllabus of vernacular lit-
erature in the twelfth standard. From that time onwards the Mangalkavyas
became an area of my interest, which had been nurtured by my mother. She
had explained to me the texts very well during my Class XII Board Exams,
and later on, when Prof. Palit introduced me to the theme, I did not think
twice to pursue my work in this area.
I am very much indebted to my family members particularly my parents.
In the course of writing my thesis, I have lost my mother who had always
been a great support to me to develop my inner self and understand my
potential as a true human being. Her absence might have made me more
involved in my research to make her dreams come true. I am privileged to
get the support and encouragement of my father whose whole hearted sup-
port has definitely helped me to carry my work sincerely and also achieving
newer goals in life. I would like to thank my brother, my sister-in-law and
my dear nephew Ahaan for their love and support.
Acknowledgements vii
I owe my gratitude to Richard Alford, Secretary of the Charles Wallace
India Trust Grant Fellowship in lending his support and offering me the
Charles Wallace fellowship for collecting materials from The British Library,
London. Also, I am grateful to the Indian Council for Historical Research
for providing research fellowship for my research.
I am indebted to David Curley and Sekhar Bandopadhayay, Prabitra
Sarkar, Jawhar Sircar, Arun Bandopadhayay, Badrinarayan Tiwari, Paul
Streumer for giving valuable inputs to my work.
I am grateful to Malabika Mala Bhattacharya, Priyadarshini Vijaisri, San-
jukta Dasgupta, Mohita Bhatia, Kaustav Banerjee, Amit De, Sujata Mukher-
jee, Tapati Sengupta, Mahashweta Das Sharma, Swati Biswas, Karabi Mitra
and Tapti De, for their encouragement and support I am also indebted to
Annaya Basu for her valuable support, love and encouragement.
I would like to pay my gratitude to the staff of the British Library, London;
National Archives of India, New Delhi; Directorate of State Archives,
Kolkata; West Bengal State Library, Kolkata; Nehru Memorial Museum
and Library, New Delhi; Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Central Library, JNU, New
Delhi; CHS Library, CPS Library, CSSS Library, JNU; Centre for Studies
in Social Sciences, Calcutta; National Library of India, Kolkata; Library of
The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata; Bangiya
Sahitya Parishat Library, Kolkata; Uttarpara Jaykrishna Public Library,
Hooghly, West Bengal; Carey Research Institute, Serampore College, Srer-
ampore, West Bengal; Jadunath Sarkar Bhavan Museum and Resource Cen-
tre, Kolkata and West Bengal Secretariat Library, Kolkata for giving access
to the valuable materials for the book.
T his work would not have been possible without the support and encour-
agement of a large number of friends, including Soma Sanyal, Chaity Baty-
bal, Annesha Ghosh, Seoti Das, Mohua Mishra, Ritobrata Ray, Vanita, K.
Deepanjan, Suresh, Pawan Singh, Parvin Jolly, Neha Singh, Nupur Babuly,
Sayantani Barman, Maitrayee Upadhayay, Raya Das, Soumen Biswas, Deb-
raj Chakraborty, Debarati Tarafder, Sreeyanjana Mukherjee and Sarbari Dey
Sarkar.
I am indebted to a good number of my students, particularly Neelashree
Dasgupta, for her scholarly inputs and encouragement.
Glossary
Abrahmanya non-Brahmin
Adhiars sharecroppers
Adi deva primeval deity
Adi Ganga original Ganges
Adivasis original inhabitants
A grahayana l and given to the Brahmins for religious purposes
A jal-chal castes which do not serve water to the Brahmins
A l embankments
A nnada one who gives rice
A nnadi infinite
A nnapurna one who never denies food
A ntyaja outcastes
A nuloma d ownward
A sat not good
A srafs elite Muslims
A vadhuta person who had reached a stage of spiritual development
A vatar m essenger of god
B arakachari o ffice of the Lord Siva
B aisaikh first month of the Bengali calendar (mid-April–mid-May)
B anedi Bari aristocratic household
B anik trader
B ara Bhuiya Mulk country of the 12 bhuiyas
Bauls mystic minstrels
Bayish fakirs 22 fakirs
Bhadralokh elite class
Bhanda fakir fake fakirs
Bhuiya landholder
Brahmottara rent-free land grants for maintenance of the Brahmins
Bodhisattva one who is destined for enlightenment
Candals low caste people engaged in menial jobs
Candi Mela fair of goddess Candi
Caryapadas collection of mystical poems
Glossary ix
Candi the patron deity of forests and animals
Candi Puja worship of goddess Candi, another incarnation of Durga
Charak hook swinging festival
Chars fertile alluvial formations
Chaturvarna fourfold division of society
Chhutar carpenter, stonecutter, house builder, mason, image modeller
Dakshin Ray Tiger God
Dasyu dacoit
Dharmasila the stone images of Dharmathakur
Dhelai Candi clod Candi
Devasadana house of god
Dow lands highlands above the flood level
Gajan Hindu festival associated with Siva
Gandhavanik spice and herb seller
Ganga river goddess
G hat pot of water
G oala milkman
G ram Candi village Candi
G ramadevatas village gods
G uhya Kali Kali who was not revealed
H alik p loughman
J al Achal one who could not serve the Brahmins
J anapadas tribal formation
J ari Mari sudden sickness
J at t ribe or caste
J hampan feast of the serpents
J olha weavers
J otdars r ich peasants
J otes c ultivable lands
K ali Mari black death
K ansari m anufacture of bell metal utensils
K armakar b lacksmith
K artabhajas those who worship their masters the “karta” orthe guru
K hanqah S ufi lodge
K rishak Devata peasant god
K rsak the farmer
K ulinism caste marriage rules set to have been introduced by Ballal Sen
L aukika indigenous
M adhyama i ntermediate mixed castes
M adhyadesha middle country
M ahaldar p aid overseers of agricultural labourers
M ahamandalika chieftain
M anasa snake goddess
M angalkavyas poems of well-being