HISTORY OF BENGALIS

An INTROSPECTION

By Dr. K. K. DEBNATH

Back ground: There was no concept of history in India, until the arrival of Europeans. Earlier only stories were known and generally it used to begin with Once upon a time or Long ago. Europeans had given a major thrust on this area and the history of India began towards development to flourish. Europeans had started with modern concept of Schools and Colleges and children were allowed from all castes and community. The teachers were all Europeans at initial period. As a result educated Indians were all impressed and influenced by Europeans teachings and their thoughts were also influenced accordingly. Indian elites were at infancy stage and as a result the Europeans who were already advanced were able to dictate over Indian elites/pundits. In fact they had hijacked the Indian Civilization. The effects have been so great that even today we recognize an Indian and honored him, when he is recognized and appreciated by Western Countries. It is a fact we have to accept, whether we like it or not. It is a bitter truth in all disciplines, be it literature, or science or sports, movies etc. We do not know when we Indians will overcome this problem. It is seen that some people tried to overcome this problem but they get very little attention in our country. It is hoped that more and more people will come forward to think independently and will try to establish their thought in Indian way so that real history of India will come out soon. This work is a small effort to put forth this idea into that direction. Author has taken the references and help from various historical books of repute as well as from religious holy books. The author is basically a mathematician, hence only analytical study have been done on our popular history . The analyses have been presented here. To begin with, author has considered about the history of Bengal and tried to analyze the geographical area, its Language, Religion, and Culture etc. It is left to readers to form their opinions and also hopes their critical comments will be received by author for any correction, if required.

INTRODUCTION
It is stated in the various texts Book on history of Bengal that the original inhabitants of Bengal were all low caste people. They are Kol, Sabar, Hari, Dom, Pulind, Chandal etc. Present day they all belong to schedule caste category as per the Laws of Hinduism. The people belong to other communities or so called higher caste people are the descendent of Noble Aryans, who have migrated between 5th to 4th centuries BC to Bengal from Magadha (present Bihar state). The Gotras of a person is identification that the person is a descendent of the Aryan Sage, on whose name the Gotras are defined. The language Bengali is a derivative of Aryan Language Samaskrita. From the beginning of our childhood, we were told and studied that Bengalis were of Aryan origin and we were taught to believe the above theory. We were also taught to believe that our ancestors' i.e. Aryans were a great noble race, who migrated to India from central Asia. Some are of the opinion that they actually migrated from Caucasian region around Danyub River via Northwest frontier country like, Iran and Afghanistan. Their initial settlement in India was around Sindhu river valley. This migration and settlements took place around 1500 BC. These Aryans were not believers of idol worship and used to invoke various Gods through various yagnas. Their religion was known as Vedic religion and the society was controlled by the scriptures of Vedas. Physically they were very fair, tall and of good features. Their males were very handsome and female were extremely beautiful. Their Language was Deva-Bhasha Samaskrita and the Script was Deva-Nagari script. The high caste Bengalis are a different race from the aboriginal inhabitants of Bengal the intermediate caste peoples are of mixed race of Aryan male and NonAryan or aboriginal Bengali female. These were some of the important things we were taught to believe from our child hood days. The history of a society or a community of people at a certain place is identified by the general features of the people, their language, religion, culture and its social and political system. This can not be identified in isolation by language only or by religion only or by its culture independently. Therefore, the history of Bengalis will remain incomplete, if certain conclusion is made based on certain issue independently. Hence, all the issues as stated above (viz. Location of the place, feature of the people Language, culture, religion, social system, political system, food habits etc) are necessary to be studied and analyzed together to arrive at a certain inference. If the outcomes of an analysis on all the issues are found to be different, no definite conclusion can be made. In case, some issues converge and some diverges, the conclusion becomes contradictory. But if the result of analysis of all the

issue converges to a certain point logically, then the outcome becomes conclusive. Keeping these points in mind, an integrated study has been made on the history of Bengal from the ancient period to Islamic period. An attempt has been made to find out who are Bengalis? Are they outsiders and descendents of certain Aryan Rishis? What is their faith and religion? Are Bengalis followers of Aryan religion? Is the Bengali civilization and culture are same or different than that of Aryans? Is Bengali Language is a derivative of Aryan Language? Which area of India is known as Bengal? All these issues have been described and analysed in this article. The study has been made based on various historical information and records as described by prominent historians, researchers and other intellectuals. In this article, author has not brought out any new findings. The author has only tried to compile the opinions and findings of modern historians and researchers. Based on these findings an analytical study has been made and co-relation has been established among all the various issues pertaining to Bengali civilization. To analyse the history of Bengalis, following major issues have been considered:a) Geographical location or Area of Bengal with respect to India. b) Political History of Bengal. c) Development of Religions of Bengalis in Bengal. d) Development of Bengali Language. e) Bengali rituals and culture. f) Development of Social system in Bengal. The analysis covered a period from ancient time to the time of Invasion by outsiders having Islamic faith at around 12th century AD. While doing so, the histories of neighbouring areas and to some extent history of India have also been analysed, whenever required for a comparative study. Without this, the analyses would have been incomplete, as all are interlinked in the context of overall Indian civilization. While carrying out this study, the following books have been referred. 1. History of Ancient India by Prof. R.S Tripathy 2. History of Ancient India Vol-I and Vol-II by Prof Sunil Chatterjee. 3. History Of Kerela by Prof E. K. Pillai 4. Bangalir Itihas by Dr. Nihar Ranjan Roy, 5. Bangalar Itihas by Dr. Rakhal Dass Banerjee 6. Banga Bhasha O Sahitya by Dr. Sahityacharya Dinesh ch.Sen

7. Bangla Sahityer Kahini by Shree Haren Ghose, Sudhamsu Vikash Dev Sarma and Prof. Bandopadhya. 8. Cooch Biharer Itihas by Mr. Hemanta Kumar Roy Barman 9. Caryagiti Paricaya by Dr. Satyabrata De 10. Are the Bengalis a Non-Martial race by Mr. S. P. Roy Choudhury 11. Tribes and Castes of Bengal by Mr H.H Risley 12. Indus civilisation by Dr. Atul Sur 13. Discovery of India by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru 14. The Indian Temple Art and Architecture by Mr P.R.Srinivasan 15. Sanatana Samaskriti by Mr S.Subramanya Ayer, 16. World famous civilisation by Mrs. Geeta Lal Sahai 17. Saiva mata by Dr. Yadu Vamsi 18. Dancing with Siva by Satguru Sivaya Subramaniyaswami 19. Jain Dharma ka Itihas Evam uski Prachinata by Acharya Shree Muni idyananda Ji Maharaj and Pandit Balabhadra ji Jain 20. Choubish Teerthamkar by Pt. Balabhadra ji jain 21. Rig-Veda Samhita by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma. 22. Yajur-Veda Samhita by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma. 23. Sama-Veda Samhita by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma. 24. Artharva-Veda Samhita by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma. 25. Eight Upanishads (Vol-I and Vol-II) with commentary of Sankaracharya translated by Swami Gambhirananda 26. 108 Upanishads (Gnyan Khanda, Sadhana Khanda and Bramha Vidhya Khanda) by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma 27. 20 Smirithias (Vol-1 and Vol-II) by Vedamurthy Pandit Sree Rama Sarma Acharya and Bhagavati Devi Sarma. 28. Sreemad Bhagvata Geeta by Bhagawan Sankaracharya Translated by Swami Gambhirananda 29. The light at the Center by Swami Agehananda Bharati

30. Tantra Aur Sant by Dr. Ramamurthy Tripathy 31. Nath Sampradaya Aur Sahitya by Dr. Ved Prakash Juneja 32. Nath Sampradaya by Prof. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi 33. Gorokhnath our Unki Paramparaka Sahitya. Dr. Divakar Pandey 34. Gorokhnath and Kanphata Yogis by Mr G.W. Briggs 35. Hindu Gods and Goddesses by Swami Harshananda (Sri Ramakrishna Matha) 36. Raj Guru Yogivamsha by Mr. Suresh Chandranath Majumdar

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF BENGAL

In the Vedic literature of Brahmanas and Aryankas of 800 to 600 BC, two countries viz. Anga and Vanga at the eastern part of India were mentioned. Anga was found to be at the east of Magadha and its capital was Champa (Near present Bhagalpur). However, there was no particular place found as Vanga, even in Buddhists and Jaina literature. Buddhists literature mentioned about sixteen great powers or solasha Manajanapadas, which were in existence prior to birth of Gautama Buddha, during seventh century BC and early sixth Century BC. This gives an indication that the place mentioned as Vanga in Satapatha Brahmana may not be the place as Vanga of today. The present Location of Bengal appeared in the History for the first time during the Islamic period around 13th century AD only. Earlier to this the present area of Bengal was divided and different parts of it were known by different names. The present area of Bengal was comprised of Pundravardhana, Gauda, Karna subarna, Rardh, Samatata, and Dandabhukti of Ancient India. The word Vanga which was used in post Vedic literature of Brahmanas and Aryanyakas was probably appeared due to use of dual words, like, Jat-Pat, Len-Den, Jadu-Madhu, and Anga-Vanga etc. The other possibility is that, it might be referred to Mithila and Dwar-Vanga. The name Mithila was not mentioned in the Vedic test. It appeared during Upanishad period for the first time. However Jaina literature mentioned that There was a place called Mithila in Banga desha where Lord Ramas wife Sita Devi was born. The name Dwar Vanga implies that the place is situated in Vanga and was used by outsiders as an entry point or gateway to Vanga desha . In the similar manner, the places Alipurduar, Boxaduar, Chamurchi duar etc. were named, which were the gateways or entry point for entering to the kingdom of Bhutan. The same way Haradwar is named for the gateway to the kingdom of Hara (or Lord Siva). The mountain range named as Sivalik range, It is stated by historians that during the period of 6th century BC, neither Magadha nor Anga was influenced by Vedic culture and their inhabitants were regarded as strangers in Vedic Literatures. Kosola was the eastern limit of Vedic culture. Magadha and Anga were still regarded with aversion. The people of these places were described as Vratyas, outside the pale of Brahminism or Vedic civilization. This also contradicts the popular belief that Aryan from Magadha migrated to Vanga or Bengal during 6th to 5th century BC, as Aryans were not found to be settled during the said period at Magadha. Therefore, in all probability, the place Vangadesha, as mentioned in ancient Brahmanic literatures was not the present Bengal but present Dwar Vanga and the Adjoining areas on its eastern side. The similar way the people of South of Hindu

Kush Mountain were termed as Hindus and the main river was named as River Sindhu / River Hindus / River Indus, the Valley was referred as Hindus Valley and the civilization was identified as Hindu Civilization. However, in reality the Eastern and South Eastern part of Sindhu Valley gradually became known as Hindustan. Therefore, the people of Ganges Valley or Bramhaputhra Valley and the Deccan were also called as Hindustan/Indian, even though there is no state or place or locality is named as Hindustan. Dr. N. R. Roy in his book Bangalir Itihas" has mentioned that the area DwarVanga was probably the North West frontier of Bengal, Dr. R. D. Banerjee in his book "Banglar Itihas" has stated that the lower part of present Bengal was covered by huge dense forest and the people of East Asian countries used to refer this area as Vang-Lang, which was gradually changed to Vangal or Bangal in course of time. The area from Dwar-vanga to Vangal is a great plain valley formed by the two great rivers Bramhaputra and Ganga of India. The people living in this valley are having similar culture and habits; this great valley is surrounded by Great Himalayas on the North, Bay of Bengal at south, Arakani Hills, Lalmai Hills. Garo Hills on the eastern side, Orissa Hills, Chotonagpur hills extending up to Raj-Mahal Hills at the western side and the people living in this valley may be referred as Bengali and the civilisation may be referred as Bengali civilization In fact the king of Magadha ruled over this valley and people of this valley became the kings of Magadha as well and there was no Bihar during those period until the arrival of Islamic Rulers from RigVedic places. Therefore, in general it may be said that the area or valley formed by the conjunction of two great rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra surrounded by Himalayas on the North, Bay of Bengal at south, Arakani, Lalmai., Garo hills at the east and Raj Mahal hills at the west, extending up to Orissa through Chotonagpur hills etc. is known as Bengal. The civilization of this valley may be referred as Bengali civilization.

POLITICAL HISTORY OF BENGAL

1. As per the Sumerian folklore, their ancestors were migrated to sumeru from far-eastern country. Some researchers opined that the far-east country was non-other than Assam and Bengal. 2. It was described by valerious-flukes in his book "Argantika" that Bengali Heroes of Ganga- ridoi fought with followers of Kolchions and Jewons at a place near Black Sea (Krishna sagar). According to him this incident took place around 1500 BC. 3. The book "Peripius" by an Egyptian author mentioned that Bengalis were familiar with Mediterian countries and they had established themselves in those places successfully. 4. Vargil had stated in the book "Gorgikus", that the heroism and bravery of Bengalis of Gangaridoi deserved to be mentioned in golden words. 5. The Greek and Roman writers mentioned in their literature regarding Bengal of 4th century BC. They never mentioned about Aryan settlements in Bengal neither they mentioned about Kol Pulind etc tribes. They were in fact of praise of the people of Bengal, Particularly regarding their strength and business ability. From the earliest history of Bengal, it is observed that at about 550 BC. A Bengali Prince Bijaya Simha, son of King Simhavahu of present Hoogly Dist of Bengal, invaded present Sri-Lanka and settled there. The Name of the island conquered by him was named after his name as "Simhala". This incident is being treated as the starting point of Simhala history. The university publication of Dacca, Which was edited by Dr. R.C Majumdar gave a details of this invasion and reproduced below. "While the epic stories recall the military powers of Bengal rulers of fierce energy, the pali chronicles of Cylon preserve memories of another field of their activities. A prince name Simhabahu, who inherited the kingdom of Vanga. Renounced his claim in favour of a relation and built a new city in the Kingdom of lata which came to be known as Sihapura. The eldest son of Simhavahu was Vijaya with the followers he sailed in a ship to sopara, a place north of present Mumbai. But violence of his attendance alienated the people of the locality. The prince had to embark again and eventually landed in Lanka in the region called Tambapani. The date assigned by the Ceylonese tradition to the arrival of Vijaya and his lionmen (Simhalas) in the island is the year of Parinirvana, according to the reckoning of Cylon (544 BC). On the other hand we were taught to believe that Aryans came to Bengal from Magadha during 5th or 4th century BC. Magadha was a country adjacent to Bengal on the western side.

Let us look what was happening in Magadha from 6th century BC onwards. As per the scholars and researchers, Magadha came into prominence at the time of Brihadratha. His son Jarasandha was probably the most powerful king of this dynasty. This dynasty came to an end at about 6th century BC. During the time of Lord Buddha, i.e. at the end of 6th century BC, Magadha (present Bihar) was found to be ruled by King Bimbisara. He was married to Kosola Devi, a sister of Pasanedi. Pasanedi was the king of Kosola and Kasi. Bimbisara also was married to Cellana, a Licchabi Princess (Vratya Khastriya) and also to madra (present Punjab) Princess by name Kshema. King Bimbisara annexed Anga after defeating Brahmadatta of Anga. Anga was at the east of Magadha with its capital at Campa (Near present Bagalpur town). These above historical facts indicate the power of Bimbisara in Indian political arena. However, there is no mention of him about conquering of Bengal Vangadesha. Bimbisara was succeeded by his son Ajatasatru; The Licchavi Princess Cellana was his mother. The period of Ajatasatru was defined by historians from 493 BC to 462 BC. He annexed Anga completely and opened business with south India through the river Ganga. Campa, the Capital of Anga was a major part for this business. However, there is again no mention of him for conquering or annexing of Bengal. It is opined by historians and researches that the empire of Ajatasatru was extended from Varanasi at the west to the border of Bengal in the east. It is also stated that before him, no other king had an empire so large like him, this clearly indicates that Bengal was not annexed to any kingdom of the western India and was independent even during the period of Ajatasatru. On the other hand, indications are there that, Bengal was already having linkage to south India through sea and to Campa through the river Ganga and Bengal was an independent country at the east. Ajatasatru was succeeded by his son Udayin (Udai Bhadra) at around 459 BC. He was credited as a founder of the city of Pataliputra (Modern Patna). His descendents were weak as well as unpopular. Taking this opportunity, a minister by name Sisunaga became the King of Pataliputra by overthrowing the descendant of Ajatasatru. Sisunaga made Girivraja as his residential place and placed his son as the Governor of Kasi. He destroyed the power of Prodyatas and captured Kosambi (the capital of later Kuras, near Allahabad). Prodyotas dynasty of Malava thus disappeared from history and Sisunaga became the ruler of whole Madhyadesh (Central India), Malava and other Kingdoms of North. However, there was no mention about his annexation of Bengal into his Kingdom. Further to this, Sishunaga appears to be of Non-Aryan origin. The name itself indicates towards animistic origin. Around middle of 4th Century BC, Sisunaga dynasty was over thrown by Mahapadama, the founder of Nanda dynasty. As per the Brahmin literature he was described to be born out of a Sudra woman. Jain and Greek literature mentioned him as a son of a Barber. This indicates that he was not

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from Aryan community as per the general perception of Brahmi script. Mahapadma was stated to have defeated the Aryans like Iksvakus, Kurus, Panchalas, and Surasenas etc. Kalinga was also defeated by him. However, no mention is available about him towards his invasion or annexation of Bengal. Mahapadma was followed by his eight sons. The last in the line of Mahapadma was Dhanananda, who was a contemporary of Alexander. It is stated by Historians that Alexander was invited and instigated by Chandra-Gupta Maurya to invade Magadha to overthrow Nanda King. Greek writers mentioned that Kings of Prasei (Magadha) and Gangaridai (Bengal) jointly formed a huge army for the defeat of Alexander. However Alexander did not take any adventure to invade Magadha. According to Peripius the capital Gangaridoi was Ganga (it is Gaur?) and that of Prasisui was Pataliputra. Buddhist and Greek writers mentioned that Pundravardhana of Bagura district was a prosperous town; Bengal was a very strong and powerful country around 2nd century BC. This probably indicates that Magadha and Bengal were having a friendly relationship. However it is mentioned that Bengal (Gangaridoi) was under the administrative control of Dhanananda. At a later stage Magadha under Nandas became weak due to internal problems and Chandragupta Maurya with the help of wily Brahmin Chanakya dethroned Nandas in the year 321 BC and founded Maurya dynasty. This might be the reason that the origin of Nanda Dynasty was not put in high esteem. Further it indicates they were of Non_Aryans origin. Chandragupta Maurya belonged to Sakya clan, which was not an Aryan community. The surname Maurya also indicates towards a Non Aryan animistic origin. Greek writers also expressed a similar view. He was credited as the first Indian, for uniting entire north India, under his control and for extending his Kingdom beyond Indian frontier. He annexed Arian (Herat), Kandahar and Kabul valley to his Kingdom. Historians opined that Bengal was a part of Mauryan Empire. Some evidences of Chandragupta period was found at Mahasthangarh (Bagura dist, Bangladesh) for the storage of food Grains, which could be used during famines. Chandragupta Maurya was succeeded by his son Bindusara and probably expired at about 272 BC (300 BC-200BC). He was succeeded by his son Ashoka. Ashoka's war against Kalingas is well known to almost everybody. Almost 1 Lakh people died in this war and approximately 1.5 lakhs people were made prisoners by Ashoka and Kalinga became a part of Ashokas Empire. It is believed that Bengal was already a part of Mauryan Empire and hence there was no need to invade Bengal. Evidences were found of Ashoka's monument at Southeast Bengal, Samatata, Pundravardhana (North Bengal) and at Karna Subarna (Bardhaman and Murshidabad dist).

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Maps of India during Maurya and Gupta Periods

India Map-Maurya Period

Chandragupta goes on to create the Maurya Empire that for the first time unites India and brings on its Golden age.

Maurya-Asoka

Asoka - Gupta

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Earlier to Ashoka, Campa was a prominent port, but during Ashoka's period Tarmalipti became a major important port. It is stated by historians that during the struggle for the throne of Pataliputra, when war broke out among the children of Bindusara, one of his son or brother of Ashoka took shelter in disguise of Buddhist monk in Bengal. This indicates that already Buddhism was quite popular in Bengal even before Asokas period. Ashoka used Brahmi script in central and eastern part of India. At the northwest and Northern part of India, a script called Khorosthi was used. Khorosthi writing was made from right to left like Urdu. Bengali's were familiar with the Brahmi script during 2nd century BC itself, which was different than DevaNagari script. Researches revealed that Brahmi script was developed from original pre-Aryan script, and was the oldest script of India .It was probably modified and further refined and in course of time became known as Brahmi script. Maurya dynasty was overthrown by Pushya mitra at 187 BC. He was the founder of Sunga dynasty of Magadha. This Dynasty continued to rule up to 75BC. During their period, Parthian Greeks (Yavans) invaded India on many occasions. There are different opinions about the origins of Sungas. Some say that they were descendent of Mauryas; others say that they belonged to Brahmanic community. As per Panini, Sungas were of Bharadwaja Gotra.However, if we believe this, then Panini's Period comes down from 300 BC to 187 BC Modern Historians opined that most probably; using their power and influence, Sungas successfully purchased the Bharadwaja title and became known as Brahmin, to elevate their status in the society. It is opined by researcher and historians that the rich and powerful people used to purchase Gotra, title etc. to become a part of elite group.During 18th century this practice was also noticed in Bengal Bihar and Orissa. Therefore, it may be concluded that Sungas were basically NonAryan and in all probability got converted and became known as Brahmin of Bharadwaja Gotra. Otherwise probably, the Brahmins of Vedic religion converted them from NonAryan faith to Aryan faith for their own interest and later on added the name of Panini. From him the people of Vedic faith were benefited a lot, as Pushyamitra was described as a champion of Brahmanism and a killer of Buddhists. He made a declaration of an award of hundred gold dinners on the head of every Buddhist monk. This may be an exaggeration; however, the truth might be that he worked against Buddhism as a patron of Brahmanism. Sungas were over thrown by Kanvas and seized the power at Magadha around 72 BC. The total duration of this dynasty was 45 years only. They could not establish themselves in any field. During the period of Sungas and Kanvas, nothing was known about Bengal. Probably these Kings were busy in their internal problems and invasion from west as well as from south. Being such a case, probably Bengal became independent.

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It is stated that there was no unity in India, after the fail of Maurya dynasty and there was no strong and powerful King to rule from Himalaya to Bengal and North Karnataka. After the fall of Maurya dynasty, Magadha was frequently changing hands and finally it became a part of Kushana Empire until the raise of Gupta dynasty of Magadha. At this time Magadha was termed as a country of Vratyas and it became a centre of Buddhists, Jains, and Ajivakas etc. The Guptas were termed as Vratya Khastriya (similar to Licchavis of Nepal) indicates they were not from Aryan stock. According to some Historians, the Guptas originally hailed from a place near Malda town of West Bengal. Founder of this Dynasty was named as Sri Gupta. The period assigned to his rule was from 275AD to 300 AD. The name and chronological sequence of various Gupta Kings are given below. SI No. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) Sri Gupta Ghatotkacha Chandra Gupta-I Samudra Gupta Rama Gupta Chandra Gupta-II Kumar Gupta-I/Mahendraditya Skanda Gupta/Kumaraditya Puru Gupta Narasimha Gupta/Baladitya Kumara Gupta-II Budha Gupta Bhanu Gupta/Bainya Gupta Tathagatha Gupta Baladitya-II Krishna Gupta Deva Gupta Harsha Gupta Name Period in AD 275-300 300-320 320-335 350-375 375-375 375-415 415-455 455-467 473-474 476-494 495-510

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19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26)

Jivita Gupta Kumara Gupta-III Damodara Gupta Mahasena Gupta Aditya Sena Deva Gupta Vishnu Gupta Jivita Gupta-II

Jivita Gupta was the last King of Gupta Dynasty found in Magadha. Chandra Gupta-I was married to Licchabi Princes. Guptas repeatedly used the name of Licchavis in their records. Historians are of the opinion that probably Licchavis were very prominent and Guptas wanted to increase the level of their prestige in the society by linking them with Licchavis. Both Licchavis and Guptas were termed as Vratya Khastriyas in Brahminic literature. This indicates Guptas and Licchavis were both of Non-Aryan race and Guptas were continuously trying for their elevation in the society, which finally they succeeded by joining the Brahminic groups and by encouraging Brahmanic rules in the society. As a result of this, the period of Guptas was termed as a golden period of India in Brahminic literatures. Some of the Historians opines that there was no invasion of Samudragupta towards eastern India, hence Bengal except Samatata was perhaps under the rule of ChandraGupta-I. This logic appears to be quite illogical and Bengal was probably independent during this period. It may be noted here that Chandragupta-I was trying to establish himself and for this purpose, he was found to be busy in western and southwestern Kingdom of Magadha. ChandraGupta-I was succeeded by his son Samudragupta. He fought at western front and many of the Kings of Ikhshavakus, Kurus, Madras etc., were defeated by him. On the eastern side, the states that paid taxes and accepted the rule of Samudragupta were as follows: I. Samatata, capital was Karmenta or Bada-Kamata, near Kumilla II. Davaka, Bogura, Dinajpur and Rajsahi III. Kamarupa, Goalpara, Cooch Behar up to Gauhati. IV. Nepal. These above facts clearly indicate Magadha as well as Bengal was a Non-Aryan country, otherwise separately the defeat of Aryan tribes would not have been mentioned. 15

Samudragupta was succeeded by ChandraGupta-II. He is said to have defeated a combination of force of Bengal under a leader Chandra. This reminds the fighting strength of twelve Bhuias of Bengal against a mighty Mughal at a later date. However, from the above, it is definite that during the period of transition from SamudraGupta to ChandraGupta-II, Bengal was independent. During the period of ChandraGupta-I and SamudraGupta, the eastern part of Samatata was being ruled by Lok Natha, a fifth descendent of Nath dynasty. The founder of this dynasty was Shree Nath. They ruled independently but accepted the sovereignty of Guptas. They had donated huge land to one Pradosh Sarma for establishment and construction of temple. This declaration was recorded on a copper plate and available at Tripura. At the time of Bhanugupta, the rulers of Pundravardhana (North Bengal) were Brahma Dutta and his son Jaya Gupta. They were ruling independently except the fact that they used to pay taxes to Guptas and used to work as vassals of them during war. Bhanu Gupta or Bainya Gupta annexed Samatata to their kingdom. The names of the rulers of Samatata were Bijaya Sen and Rudra Datta. Bengal was thus brought under Guptas and continued to be a part of Gupta Empire up to 551 AD, until the downfall of Guptas. Though Gupta Empire was disintegrated by this time, several petty Gupta princesses continued to rule here and there up to 12th and 13th century AD. Further down to the history of Bengal, two strong Kingdoms were found to be established. The first one was at Samatata (East Bengal) and the other one was Gauda (present Malda). This is first time that the name "Gauda" had appeared in the history of Bengal. The prominent states were Bardhaman and Sabarnabithi. Some of the prominent Kings were Gopachandra, Dharmaditya and Samachar deva others were Prithvi-vir and Sudhanyaditya. Historians opined that Gopachandra was the founder of independent Kingdom of Samatata around 507 AD (i.e. at the time of Bhanugupta/ Bainya Guptas). Gopachandra ruled for 18 years and succeeded by Dharmaditya. He was further succeeded by Samachar deva and ruled for 14 years. Sasamka established himself at the throne of Gauda around 593 AD. His capital was Karna-Subarna (Kan-sona near Rangamati of Murshidabad district). He annexed Magadha and brought it under Gauda rule. His Kingdom was extended up to Chilka-lake towards south. It is interesting to note that the Bengali calendar (Bangabda) also started from 593 AD. It was a Monday which corresponds to the day, dedicated to Lord Siva and King Sasamka was a devout Saiva. The day corresponds to 12th April 593 AD. He Killed Hun King Rajya-vardhana King of Thaneswar (west Punjab at Pakistan), and the elder brother of Harsha Vardhana.Sasanka also occupied Kannauj (beyond present Kanpur of UP) for some time. He was the first historical

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Bengali king who made Bengal as a major political power and player at National level. Harsha Vardhana tried his level best to defeat Sasamka and to annex Bengal into his Kingdom. He also took the help of Kamrupa King Bhaskar verma. In spite of all his effort he failed to defeat Sasamka. After the death of Sasamka, Harsha-Vardhana succeeded in his effort. Part of Bengal was annexed by Harsha to his Kingdom and a part was occupied by his friend Bhaskar verma of Kamrupa. After some time, Jayanaga established a strong Kingdom at Gauda. His surname "Naga" indicates that he was a Non-Aryan by race. By religion he was a Vaishnava. The next one-century of Bengal was found to be in Darkness. During this period Tibetans occupied Kamrupa and Assam. They destroyed the Dynasty of Bhaskar-verma. During that period, the Bay of Bengal was termed as Tibetan Sea. This Tibetan rule was ended at 702 AD. Next, Bengal was under attack by Saivas and probably they occupied Pundravardhana around 725 AD. Kannauj King Yosovarmana also occupied Gauda and Bengal for some period. During this period King Lalitaditya of Kashmir defeated Yosovarmana at the beginning of 8th century AD. Bengal Army of elephants probably joined with the army of Yosovarmana in the battle with Lalitaditya. The Gauda king was forced to join Lalitaditya to accompany him to Kashmir, where he was killed by Lalitaditya. On hearing the death of Bengal King, the Bengali Army marched to Kashmir and destroyed the household deity of the Kashmir King as revenge. They fought to the last person with Kashmir Army at Srinagar. The Father-in-law of Licchavi King Jaideva-II, by name Harsha also defeated Gaudas subsequently. Thereafter Bengal probably was divided into many small Kingdoms. Kharga dynasty was one of them. Historians opine that they had migrated from Nepal and ruled in Bengal at the end of 7th century AD. Another prominent dynasty was Nath Dynasty; other family was Rat or Raut. The prominent Rauts were Jeevandharan Raut and Sree Dharan Raut. All these Kings were believers of either Buddhism or Nathism. During the period of turmoil, a local by name 'Gopal' was made the king of Gauda to bring good Administration in Bengal. This was the beginning of Famous Pala dynasty of Bengal who ruled for a period of almost next 400 years. Palas are said to be from Samatata area. The period of various Kings of Pala dynasty are given below: Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. Name of the Pala King Gopala Dharma Pala Deva Pala period in AD 750-775 775-812 812-850

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4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

Mahendra Pala Narayana Pala Raja Pala Gopala-II Bigrahapala Mahi pala-1 Naya Pala Bigraha Pala-II Mahi Pala-11 Sura Pala Ram Pala Kumara Pala Madan Pala Govinda Pala

850-865 875-932 932-967 967-987 987-992 992-1042 1042-1058 1058-1085 1085-1086 1086-1092 1092-1141 1141-1143 1143-1177 1177-1180

Pala Empire (Dharma Pala)

Above is the map of Pala empire during the period of Dharma Pala

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Below is the map of Pala Empire during the period of Deva Pala

Deva pala empire

Prominent Pala Kings: 1. Gopala: He was the founder of the Pala dynasty of Bengal. He succeeded in establishing his authority over entire Bengal. He was a devout Buddhist and Patronized Buddhism in Bengal. Odantapuri Vihar was constructed during his period. 2. Dharmapala: He was probably the most prominent king of Pala Dynasty. He extended his Kingdom, which was inherited by him from his father. He established his authority beyond the area of Bengal Bihar and up to Kannauj also. At least for some time, He encouraged intellectuals. His ministers were Darbhapani and his son Kedar Mishra, who were Brahmins. During his period, Nalanda Vihar became a prime Buddhist cultural center and educational institute of international repute. He was also a Devout Buddhist like his father, however he was a true secular as could be observed that his ministers were found to be Brahmins. 3. Devapala: He established his authority over Kamrupa He invaded Orissa (Utkala). He humbled the pride of Huna Aryans of Central Asian countries. The Gurjara invasion towards east was successfully controlled by him and they were defeated by Devapala. He ruled from Bengal up to Rewa. Rewa is in Madhya Pradesh, near to Allahabad, is a district now. 4. Narayanapala: He was the son of Mahendra pala. His mother was a Chedi Princess Lajja of Ilaihaya Dynasty. During his period Kamarupa kings Ilarjar and later on his son accepted the Sovereignty of Palas.

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5. Mahipala: During his period, the lost prestiges of Palas were regained. He regained the lost kingdom of his fore fathers. It was during his period that the famous Chola invasion of Rajendra Chola-I took place. Rajendra Chola succeeded initially and defeated Dharma pala of Danda bhakti (Balasore and Midnapur dist.), Ranasur of southern Rarh including Howrah and Hoogly dist and Govinda Chandra of Vanga Desha. The army of Cholas then turned towards north, where he was successfully checked by Mahipala and the Chola army could not cross the river Ganga. An agreement took place between Cholas and Palas. Palas agreed to dispatch the holy water of the Ganges to south and Rajendra Cholas daughter was married to Govinda Chandra. This Govinda Chandra was a cousin of Palas. During his period Bengalis regained its lost pride. Many towns and lakes were made named after his name in his honour. His popularity could be measured by the fact that a lot of folk songs were made in his name. The later Palas could not maintain the Kingdom established by their ancestors and thus began the decay of Pala dynasty. The Palas were finally dethroned by Senas around 12th century A.D. As per historians, originally the Senas were from area of Nandi Hills. (Near present Bangalore of Karnataka) They migrated to Kolar then to Andhra and from Andhra they came to Bengal along with the army of Rajendra Chola-I. They did not go back to Andhra and instead settled down at the lower part of Bengal. The Senas were Staunch believers of Vedic Brahminism .The dynasty began with Samanta Sen. His son Hemanta sen defeated other small Jamindar Kings of the surrounding areas. Bijaya Sen son of Hemanta Sen extended the areas by defeating other adjoining Jamindar Kings of the surrounding areas and finally occupied East Bengal and some part of North Bengal. He was succeeded by his son Ballala Sen .He was married to Chalukyan Princess Rama Devi. He was the most prominent king of Sena dynasty. During his period Bengal once again became the prominent power and played a major role in the political game of North India. He was succeeded by Lakhsman Sen at around 1202 A.D. During his stay at Nadia it was attacked by the first Aryan but of Islamic faith by name Mohammed bin Bahktiar. The Sena king was not prepared for the sudden invasion of Bakhtiar and fled to East Bengal. Thus he was left only to rule the eastern part of South Bengal; where he and his descendant ruled for another fifty years, until it passed away into the hands of Aryan Muslims of Rig-Vedic places.

Analysis:
This is all about is available regarding Political history of Bengal. From these historical facts, we could not trace out any Aryan invasion to Bengal or their mass settlement by defeating the local and original inhabitants of Bengal or Magadha. Some historian opines that Vijaya Simha, a Bengal Prince, who settled in Sri Lanka during 6th century BC, would have been an Aryan, due to his name. However if the

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above logic is taken as granted then Manipuri people can be termed as Aryans. The title of most of the people of Manipur is found to be Singh. Their names are found to be like other Indian names. For example the name of the Chief Minister of Manipur during 2000-2001 is Mr. Radha Vinod Koijam. The name Radha Vinod is not originated from any Mongolian word. The names of the Cooch kings of Kamarupa were also found to be as Nara Narayan, Nripendra Narayan, and Jagaddipendra Narayan etc... However their races were not originated from any Aryan race. They were all belongs to Non Aryan race found to be closed to Mongolian race. The Nepalese also bears names which are not of Mongolian origin, even though, the Nepalese are of Mongolian race and not belong to any Aryan stock. Hence, it is not possible to accept that the race of Vijaya Simha was Aryans. Hence this logic can not be acceptable. As per Atharva Veda, a strong and powerful King by name "Prithu" was the ruler of the East; he was described as a Vratya (Non-Aryan) King. He was also a ruler of North India including the places which were ruled by Aryan Kings. Raja Janaka of upanisadic fame of Mithila was also not Aryan. It is stated by the Historians that during the period of 6th century BC, Magadha and Anga was not yet influenced by Aryan culture and the inhabitants of these places were regarded as strangers as per Vedic literatures of Brahmanas and Aryanyakas. Kosola was the eastern boundary of Aryan civilization and culture. Magadha and Anga were still regarded with aversion and the people were described as Vratyas, outside the pale of Brahmanism. On the other hand starting from 550 BC onwards, the time from where more or less the historical records are available, it is observed that the Non-Aryan kings ruled over these places and on many occasions the Rig-Vedic Aryan tribes were defeated by them and those places became a part of their Empire. In fact, all the Kings of Magadha and Bengal were termed as Vratya Kshatryas in Brahmanic Literature. Even Lord Buddha was termed as Vratya Khastriya and belonged to Nepal. He was termed as Sakya Muni and never as a Rishi. Rishi was a title for Vedic intellectuals and spiritual leaders. Lord Mahabir Jaina was also termed as a Vratya Khastriya and usually called as Jaina-Muni. Bimbisara was termed as Vratya. The Mauryas were also a Non-Aryan tribe. They had expanded their empire beyond the Frontiers of India. Samudra Gupta and his son Chandra-Gupta-II who were also non-Aryans defeated the Rig-Vedic Aryan tribes eg. Arjunayanas Yaudheyas and Madrakas and conquered North India. Sasamka, the King of Gauda successfully checkmated the invasion of Thaneshwar (West Punjab of Pakistan) King Rajyavardhana successfully and killed him. He checked the combined forces of Harsha Vardhana of Thaneshwar and Bhaskar varmana of Kamrup. Further, during the Pala dynasty of Bengal, Gauda Empire was extended up to Kannauj and Rewa area of Vindhya. During the period of Sena dynasty, Magadha was under the rule of Gauda kingdom. Thus the above facts indicate that the Bengal was never invaded nor annexed to any Aryan Kingdom. On the other hand, the Non-Aryan Kings only found to control

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successfully Aryavarta. When the Non Aryan rulers defeated the Aryan Kings and annexed Aryan Kingdom, it is natural that Non Aryan Army also captured Aryan female and brought along with them, as the Aryan females were fair and beautiful than Non-Aryan females. It is evident from the fact that king Pasanedi was married to Madra (Present Panjab) Princess Kshema; Maurya kings Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara were married to Greek Princess. Pala kings were married to Chedi Princess, Chola princess and Sena Kings were married to Chalukyan Princess. These are the only prominent cases, recorded in our history. Similar to these, which others had done could not find places in historical records, must have been taken place. However, the reverse may not be true. As a natural phenomenon, the marriage or union of a fair tall and Handsome Aryan male with a black skinned short NonAryan female is impossible to believe. Even today a marriage between a fair male and a black female is very rare. Therefore, Bengali is a mixed race of fair- handsome tall Aryan males and black skinned sort Non-Aryans female is ruled out. Mr. R.D Banerjee the famous personality of Bengal also recorded that "There is no mention of any Aryan Invasion or settlement at Magadha and Bengal in any ancient literature of India" He also stated that "Bengalis can be said to be of mixed blood of Dravidians and Mongols irrespective of their castes". Further to note that Parthian Greek's and Bacterian Greeks during their peak days declared themselves as rulers of Aryasthan and Hindustan. This clearly indicates that India was never termed as Aryasthan. Aryasthan is the place beyond the mountain of HinduKush. Even today the name of the National Airlines of Afghanistan is called as Aryana Airlines and from this name "Aryan" the countries Iran, Arab, Iraq, Europe etc were derived. We will see further details on Bengalis in religion, caste, culture and Language sections.

Religious Developments in Bengal/Banga Desha

According to modern historians and researchers primarily two religions were in existance in India. These are commonly known as Vedic religious system and Non Vedic (Vratya) religious system.
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Vedic Religion: Vedic people were followers of Vedic system, and their holy
books were Rig Veda, Suma Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The followers of this religion were believers of multiple Gods and the main God was Lord Indra. Other deities were Lord Surya, Lord Chandra, Lord Mitra, and Lord Varuna etc. All their Gods are of male characters. They used to invoke their Gods through Holy fire known as HOMA or YAGNA. The Yagna was the main rituals of Vedic believers and during this ritual, animals used to be sacrificed and followed by a great feast. Almost all the slokas/verses of Vedas were dedicated to their Gods and praying for obtaining cows, women and wealth indicating their materialistic approach to their life. Historians believe that the 1st mandala and the 10th mandala of Rig Veda were compiled at a much later stage. During the post Vedic period from 1200 BC to 700 BC, some other Gods like Rudra and Vishnu became more prominent and the prime Gods of earlier period were put at back side. At a later stage Rudra become synonymous with Shiva and slowly Prajapati appeared as God during this period. They used to address their enlightened ones as RISHI.

Non Vedic Religion: Those who were not believer of Vedic religion have
been classified as Non-Vedic or Vratyas. The prominent religions among them are Jaina religion, Buddhist religion, Ajeevaka religion, Saiva religion, Vaisnava religion etc. The main characteristic of Non Vedic people are that they used to believe in austerity or vrata. They were believer of simple life and were believers of spirit and destiny. They address their enlightened teachers/preachers as MUNI. The word MUNI was derived from MOUNI, means person who keep silence.

Religious Developments of Bengalis: According to modern historians

and researchers the earliest religion of Bengalis was Jainism. It is in this Bengal where 23 Theerthamkaras, out of a total 24 Theerthamkaras left their temporal world. Lord Mahaveer, the last Teerthamkar spent 18 years of his spiritual life in this land and preached Jainism. In his honor a place was named as Bardhaman which is now a district of West Bengal. Two Theerthamkaras Viz. 19th Lord Malli Nath and the 21st took birth at Mithila.20th Teerthamkar Muni Subrata Nath was born at Rajgriha of present Bihar. The last Bhagawan Mahaveer was born at Vaisali (Present Mazaffarpur of Bihar). Theerthamkaras viz. Atit Nath, Sambaba Nath, Abhinandana Nath, Sumit Nath, Padmaprabha Nath, and Bhagawan Parsha Nath left their temporal world at a hill named as Parsha Nath Hill near present city of Ranchi. 2nd Teerthamkar Muni Vasupujya Nath left his physical body at Champa (Capital of Anga near present Jamalpur of Bihar).and the last 24th Teerthamkar Bhagawan Mahaveer left his body at

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Apapa puri of Magadha. As per historians and Prof. R. D. Banerjee, Jain religion was originated at eastern India. The founder or the 1st Teerthamkar of Jainism was Lord Adi Nath. He was also addressed as Brishav Nath or Rishav Nath. In modern Hinduism Adi Nath or Brishav Nath or Rishav Nath is known as Lord Shiva. Probably at a later stage Lord Shiva was mapped on Adi Nath and Lord Shiva started his own philosophy and people who followed him were identified as Saivas. Probably during this period or subsequent period, Upanishadic philosophies were developed. According to historians Upanisads were written around 700 BC to 600BC. The place where these philosophical discourses (as described in Upanishads) took place was Mithila at the court of King Janaka, again in Banga Desha. One important change was observed by researchers about Vedic religion that during this Upanishad period, the main Vedic rituals of sacrificing of animals was totally discarded and chosen the path of ahimsha and huge yagna was replaced by meditation or austerity /Vrata. The concept of atma/spirit was defined and for the first time appeared in Bhihadaranyaka Upanishad. There was no concept of atma/spirit in Vedic religion and was introduced at a very later stage. On the other hand the concept of Atma/Spirit was already available in Jainism much earlier in this Banga Desha of eastern part of India. Further to this, meditation, control of body and mind together in a synergic way to wards salvation, energizing the individual soul to the highest level is the principle of Jainism. The word jeena or conquering of body and mind is the essence of life and from this only JAINA was derived and the religion was name as JAIN. This highest level of soul was defined as the Universal soul in Upanishads, which is nothing but the state of Shiva or Bramha. From this only the fundamental principle of Upanishads was derived as TAT TWAM ASHI or AHAM BRAMHASMI and the syllable OUM were derived. And in course of time become the fundamental source of all Indian philosophies. All these were flourished in the very region of eastern /north eastern India and the spiritual concept was spread to north and rest of India. According to Swamy Adidevananda of Ramakrishna Math, to wards the end of Vedic age (end of 5th Century BC), there appeared Upanishad. This also shows that Upanisads are not as old as we used to think. If we look at Jainism, Lord Mahaveer was born during 600 BC and 200 yrs earlier to him was Lord Parsha Nath took birth, and further 300 yrs earlier to Lord Parsha Nath, 22nd Teerthamkar Lord Aristha Nami Nath was born. Historically Lord Nami Nath was a cousin of Lord Krishna of Mahabharata and this indicates how old the Jainism is.

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Besides this, it is interesting to observe that during this Upanishadic period, most of the spiritual leaders were kings or princes and all of them belonged to Royal families. Janaka was the king of Mithila, Bardhaman Mahaveer was the prince of Vaisali, Gautama Buddha was the prince of Kapila vastu, Parsha Nath was the prince of Kasi, and Nami Nath was the prince of Mithila and so on. However they lived on austerity or on vratas by ignoring and leaving the material gain and temporal comfort and pleasure. All of them are seen in almost naked state. On the other hand all the Vedic intellectuals/Rishis worked for material gain and pleasure as evident from verses written by them addressing to their Lords (ref; Rig Veda Samhita). The famous ladies like Maitreyi, Gargi participated in various religious discourses during Upanishadic era were from this eastern part of India. We can not find such examples in Vedas. Thus it is clear that during this period, the Vedic religion took a total change and absorbs almost all the important features of non Vedic philosophy in it and as a result of this Jainism might have been perished from this part of India. A similar situation could be observed during the period of Bhagawan Sankaracharya, when he single handedly converted Buddhist people and Jain people to Vedic people by adopting all the good features of those faiths into Vedic system and as a result Buddhism perished from India. The primitive form of Jainism and Saivaism was followed by Buddhism and Ajeevakas and Saivaism in Banga Desha. These religions never recognized the authority of Vedas. Buddhist, Jain, Saiva and other non Vedic religions are known as Vratya religion as these religions are based on austerity and vratas. Ajeevakas and Saivas at a later period were further divided as Pasupatas, Naths, Kalamukhas, Aghories, Kapalikas etc and these systems do not recognize the authority of Vedas. Ajeevakas were the believer of destiny, whereas Pasupatas, Nathas, Kalamukhas and others were various divisions of Saivas. The Banga calendar (Bangabda) was inagurated by King Shasanka during 593 AD. The day it was inaugurated was Monday the day of Lord Shiva, the 12th April of 593 AD. It is well known fact that he was a devout Saiva, and during his period north India was ruled by Hun King Harsha Vardhan. King Harsha was a Buddhist and as a result Shasanka was against Buddhism. However after the death of King Shasanka, Banga Desha was occupied by invaders and Buddhism spread over Banga desha. During the period of Pala kings (750 AD 1180), Banga Desha was under the influence of Buddhism and during this period Tantra, Mantra and Yantra were developed by Buddhism and in course of time Buddhism was also modernized and god divided into many divisions like Hina yana, Maha yana, Bajra yana, Kalachakra yana, and Sahaj
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yana etc. Historians opine that Tantra, Mantra and Yantra were originally developed by Buddhist followed by Jains and finally hijacked by Vedic system. Tantra means cultivation of Tan or body, and Mantra means cultivation of Man or mind and finally Yantra originated from Yoni, about the cultivation of body and mind through Yoni Vidya. Buddhism collapsed due to its misusages of Tantra, Mantra and Yantra. Lord Sankaracharya however could not convert entire Banga Desha people in to Vedic fold. This was done by Sena kings of Bengal. During the ancient period there was no state of Bihar. The area beyond Anga and eastern part of Gandak a river was known as Banga Desha. During the invasions of Afghani people under the leadership of Md. Bin Bakhtier and others who were having Islamic faith used to call this area as Bihar due to huge population of Buddhist Mathas or Bihars. In course of time this area become famous as Bihar and ultimately got the name Bihar. Similar situation was prevailing in North Bengal and that place became known as Cooch Bihar. Cooch name came from the name of Cooch community and Bihar from Buddhist Bihars. However this system of naming failed at mainland of Banga Desha due to its high cultural and civilization background. During the period of Palas, Buddhism and Saivaism were at peak at Banga Desha. Both were under the influence of Tantra, Mantra and Yantra. During this period there was not much difference between Buddhists and non Buddhists as all were under the influence of Tantra, Mantra and Yantra. From Yantra system Famous Siddha Lord Matsendra Nath introduced Koula system, and on further development of the Koula system, on further development on Tantric field, the Koulas gradually developed Shakti Sadhana. In this Shakti system the fundamental objective remains same but the process is changed and the importance of female in sadhana was introduced. Finally due to some inherent faults in the system, the Kula system of Sadhana was further modified and help of women in Kula system was discarded and in place of it worship of women as Mother Godess started. The first one is known as Bamachari system while the second one was known as right handed system under main Kula system of Tantra. Thus Koula system was modified and ultimately Kula system was introduced. To days Kumari Puja is a modified and refined version of the same. This introduction of Yantra system of Buddhists and Saivas finally leads all the Bengalis towards Sakta system and this ultimately leads us towards Sakti Puja system, like Goddesses Durga, Kali etc. from Buddhist came Goddess Chinna masta, Raksha kali etc. In this system a disciple needs to be highly enlightened or intellectual and influential person in the society. Hence, only few
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people were able to practice this type of meditation. The people who were under Koula- Kula shadhana system initially were named as Natha-Koula-System due to its origin and in course of time it became known as Kula system and the practitioners were termed as KULIN. During the period of Sena kings it was regularized and legalized once these people embraced and accepted the authority of Vedas over non Vedic religion. They were also given high position in the court of king and suitably rewarded and they were named as KULIN. Those who opposed to acknowledge the supremacy of the Vedas were made outcaste, tortured and extradited or banished from his state. After the period of Sena dynasty, Bengal was ruled by Afgani kings of Islamic faith. They used to call people as Hindus who were not following Islamic system and gradually the revised religion got its name as Hinduism. Along with Invaders various Sufis and saints also came to Banga Desha and the people who were having no place in the Hindu/Brahminic society found Islam as place of solace and they embraced enmass Islamic faith. In fact it is wrong to say that Hindu people were converted to Islam, the fact is that people having no place in Hinduism embraced Islamic faith. Also, Tantra, Mantra and Yantra were further modified and finally Bhakti was introduced in the religion, the followers were known as Vaishnavas. During the period of Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, it got a major boost and gradually the Hindu society was divided in to two major groups as Saivaits and Vaishnavites. The influence of Vedas remains at backyard, but in the society the division of labour system was introduced as a caste system. The present Hindu systems are the continuation of the same with reformation wherever felt necessary. Some prominent personalities of Banga Desha of ancient period: 1) Siddha Kapil: He was one of the greatest and most distinguished Siddha of India for all times. The philosophy introduced by him is famous as Saamkhya Darshan. It is the oldest philosophy based on purush and prakriti. It is classified as one of the six premier Indian philosophies. It does not recognize Vedas. Muni Kapil established his seat at Gangasagara. Every year annual festival is held at this place in his honour.The temple dedicated to Kapil Muni is still maintained by non Vedic people. In his honour the city of Kapilavastu was named. The earlier name of Hardwar or Haridwar was Kapilasthan or Kapilashram. A stream fountain at Bodhgaya is also found to be named after him as Kapildhara .This is a very holy place particularly for Sadhus and Yogis. He was well respected in Holy book Bhagvata Gita as greatest among all sages.

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2) Bhagawan Buddha (563 BC-483 BC): He belonged to Sakya community bordering present India and Nepal. He was the originator of Buddhism. This religion was flourished throughout India as well as abroad. The last fortress of Buddhism was present Bihar and Bengal. Even Lord Sankaracharya could not make it to perish it from present Bengal. The philosophy preached by Buddha does not recognize the authority of Vedas. Buddhism was the principal architect for the development of vernacular languages. The Language used by Buddhists are called Prakrit which means natural. On the other hand Vedic people were using Sanskrit, which means refined. It was not easy to eradicate Buddhism from India, until he was given the position of Lord Vishnu and was declared as an AVATAR of Vishnu.

3) Jaina Munis: As already described, there are 24 Jain Teerthamkar found in Jain religion and the Last was Bardhaman Mahaveer (600BC-527BC). He had spent 18 yrs of his spiritual life in Banga Desha. In his honour a place (Bardhaman) was named after him and now it is a district. The Jain religion does not recognize the supremacy and authority of Vedas. 4) Gouda Pada: He was the grand Guru of Bhagawan Sankaracharya, the great Advaitavadi and reformer of Vedic system. Gouda Pada was the first person to write explanatory note on Upanisads, known as GOUDAPADA KARIKA. Lord Sankaracharya included this karika in his books on Upanishads. He belonged to GOUDA, the ancient capital of Banga and the place of learning of Vedas. The surname Pada indicates that he belonged either to Buddhist community or Nath community of Bengal. This further it indicates that there were highly learned people, who were very proficient in Vedic philosophies. It is quite interesting to mention here that, there were five Vedic centers in ancient India. These are Saraswat (Taxila) in Punjab, Kanouj (between Allahabad and Kanpur) in present UP, Mithila in ancient Banga Desha, Goud/Gour in ancient Banga Desha and Puri in Utkala. Thus out of five centers two were in Banga Desha and one bordering Banga , and 4th one was at middle India and the 5th one at present west Punjab in Pakistan. This
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contradicts the theory that there were not Vedic intellectuals in Banga Desha prior to Sena Dynasty of Banga. Beside this, it again contradicts that Vedic religion was an imported religion in line with Christianity and Islam.

5) Matsendra Nath: He is one of the most prominent Bengali, who had changed the religious history of Bengal as well as India and Nepal. He was Saiva and founder of Sakta system in Bengal and India. He was the founder of KOULA and KULA system of Tantra, Mantra and Yantra in Bengal and from this at a later stage Koulinya or Kulin system was formed. He had written books on this subject and is known as KOULA GNAN NIRNAYA. He was also known as Adi Kavi of Bengali literature. He was a great Hatha yogi and invented many yoga mudra which were named after him in his honor .According to historians, he belonged to Mahesh Khali of present Bangla Desh. Even though he was a Saiva Siddha, he was highly respected in Buddhism. His famous mantra Om Manipadme Hum was adopted by Mahayani Buddhism. He was the person who brought Buddhism closer to Saivaism and under his influence, the famous Buddhist personality Atish Dipnakar become his disciple and embraced Saivaism. He was equally respected among Kashmiri Saivaits. Sree Abhinavagupta Acharya, the famous Kashmiri Pandit expressed his deep respect and honor towards him as per Kashmiri literature. In Buddhism, he is worshipped as Avaloketishwara, as one of the incarnation of Buddha. He and his famous disciple Lord Gorokhsha Nath are worshipped even to day in Nepal. His wooden statue was being worshipped at a place and the place was named as Kasthamandu due to the Kastha Murthy (Wooden idol) and in course of time, Kastha Mandu became as Kath Mandu, and capital of Nepal. Even to day he and Lord Gorokhsha Nath are being worshipped at the Pashupati Nath temple of Nepal.

He along with his disciples Lord Gorokhsha Nath and Bhartrihari / Bhartrhari Nath (Elder brother of King Vikramaditya of Ujjain) are worshipped at the famous temple of Mahakal at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. He is worshipped at Amarkantka (source of origin of the river Narmada) and the temple is named as Matsendra Nath temple. In Gujarat and Maharastra a lot of places still bear his name. Famous saint poet of Maharastra like Sant Gnaneshwar and Sant Tukaram are few among the parampara established by
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him. In Karnataka where he preached and temple was built by his disciple princess Mangala Devi of Kerala, was named as Mangala Devi temple and the village was named after her as Mangalore, to day it is a major city of Karnataka. The Adichunchungiri math was established by his parampara, but now it is with Gowda community. His faith was found to be well accepted all over India including present Pakistan and Afghanistan and lot of places are found to be named after him in his honor. He was credited as the founder of Famous Saktipeetha of Kamakhya of Assam. This Saktipeetha was discovered by Maharaja Vishwa Sihma (1496AD-1533AD) of Cooch Bihar and a temple was constructed by him. Maharaja Naranarayana (1533AD-1587AD) further renovated it. Maharaja Nripendra narayana brought a Bengali Brahmin family in 1865 AD from Nadia district of Bengal and the temple was placed under the total administrative and religious control of this family. They are still in occupation of Kamakhya Temple. This family is known as Parvatia Gosain. 6) Lord Gorokhsha Nath: He was the most prominent disciple of Lord Matsendra Nath. He is also called as Manasputra of Matsendra Nath. The way Bhagawan Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda were related, the same way Lord Matsendra Nath and Lord Gorokhsha Nath were related. He is credited as the founder of the great Sakti temple of Kali of Kalighat at Kolkata. At Kolkata one of his disciples Chourangi Nath built an ashram and made a road from there to Kalighat temple for devotees. The place was named as Chourangi and the road was named as Chourangi road. The city of Gorokhpur was named in his honor. His holy seats are available in all parts of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. The Gorkha race of Nepal was named after him in his honor. His foot print was emblemed on the crown of King of Nepal, as a sign of respect towards him for his blessings to the kingdom. He is worshipped in the village of Bengal during the Milk ceremony of Cow, when a calf is born. It is opened by Historians that Gorokh Nath is the greatest religious leader and social reformer after Bhagawan Sankaracharya. He made a great impact in socio-religious movement and was the most prominent and influential leader of pre-medieval India. He traveled throughout length and breadth of the country to spread the philosophy of Siddha-siddhanta and fought for a unified society. He and Lord Matsendra Nath brought Buddhism closer to Sivasaktaism. According to historians Prior to Bhaki movement, Lord Gorokhsha Nath was the undisputed socio-religious leader of India.
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Sahityacharya Dinesh Chandra Sen states in his book on Banga Bhasha O Sahitya that, character of Gorokhsha Yogi was like a spotless white jasmine or parijat flower of sarad ritu. The manifestation of his strength and character was described in the book named as Goroksha Vijay, which is the oldest book in Bengali literature. This also shows the nature and maturity of Bengali literature of ancient India. The way Asoka pillar stands as a symbol of Buddhist era of India, the same way the philosophy of Siddha-siddhanta documented in Goroksha Vijay stands as a symbol of Nathism of Banga Desha, wherein the best of Vratya and Vedic religion were amulgated. The folk literatures of Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Himachali, Telegu, etc are occupied by Matsendra Nath and Gorokhsha Nath about their glorious work and achievements. Their philosophy however, not recognized the authority of Vedas. Prof. HP Dwivedi in his book on them said that it was in Bengal, where Lord Sankaracharya was defeated by a Bengali Sakta Tantrik Siddha of Nath Sampradaya. The parampara, they established known as Nathism was credited to establish the Sakta system and later on many sects were born out of it. The Sampradaya established by Lord Matsendra Nath and Lord Gorokhsha Nath was also credited for the developments of the vernacular languages of India, whether it is Bengali, or Hindi, or Marathi, etc. The history of developments of Indian vernacular languages and literatures begins with Nath Literature and Matsendra Nath was named as Adi Kavi of Bengali literature. 7) Chaitanya Maha Prabhu: He is known as the founder of Bhakti movement and establishment of Vaishnava Sampradaya of Bengal. He was credited to remove the last sign of influence of Buddhism from India. Historians say that Lord Sankaracharya kept Buddhism in a coffin and Chaitanya Dev put the last nail on it. His followers gave further thrust towards the developments of Bengali vernacular language. In the history of Bengali language we find Bhaki literature after Nath literature. His followers are now spread throughout India and world over and they have formed a religious platform known as ISKON, to preach Bhakti philosophy. 8) Bhagawan Sree Rama Krishna Paramahansa: Sree Rama Krishna is known as the greatest saint of modern India, the most famous Sakta worshipper of Bengal of modern period. He along with his wife Maa Sarada Devi and his most prominent disciple Swami Vivekananda are

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being respected and worshipped throughout the world. He combined Bhakti with Sakti. He was a Siddha in all respect and a great Tantrik philosopher. It was proved before great pundits of India by his Tantrik Guru Maa Bhairavi that he is a Bhagawan and declared Ramakrishna as Paramahamsa. He introduced Bhakti in Yoga and Tantra. This Bhakti was lagging in the philosophy of Matsendra Nath and Gorokhsha Nath, and was one of the critical factor for the downfall of Nathism. The teaching of Bhagawan Ramakrishna was very simple like nature. It says Service to anything is a service to lord Shiva or Siva gnyane jeeva seva. 9) Swami Vivekananda: He is known as the greatest Indian Monk of Modern India. The world renowned Saint Swami Vivekananda was a great disciple of Bhagawan Sree Ramakrishna. He had established the modern Hindu religion and philosophy before entire western civilization. His simple preaching was Jeeve prem koriche jei jon sei jon sebiche Ishwar. He declared that Vedas and Gayatri Mantra must be propagated among all, irrespective of caste, creed, sex or religion. It is said that he was abused by orthodox Brahmins of South India, while he was preaching the philosophy of Upanishads at the initial stage, saying that he was not a Brahmin by caste and not eligible to preach . However at a later date they came to know about him and ultimately became his disciple and they were proud to introduce themselves as disciple of Swami Vivekananda. This is how He used to command the respect throughout India and world. He had established Ramakrishna Math; an institution devoted to the study of Indian religions and dedicated the same to the service of mankind irrespective of caste, community and religion. The branches of Ramakrishna Mathas are now spread all over the world with its head quarter at Belur in Hoogli district of Bengal. All these great personalities of Banga Desha had adopted all the good qualities from various religions and faiths, which were necessary for the society during the period they preached their philosophy and thoughts; keeping their identity separately in a logical and rational way.

Prof. Sahidulla of Dhaka University expressed that, it is from this Bengal, where three greatest religious personalities were born in three different periods of time.
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They become immortal due to their credit for successful preaching of three different ideologies at three different periods to the people of India.Viz. a) In ancient period, Lord Matsendra Nath gave us Nath Yoga and Sakta Dharma or Kula Dharma and credited as the Adi Kavi of Bengali literature. b) During medieval period Bhagawan Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave us Vaishnava Dharma or Bhakti Yoga. c) During the modern period Bhagawan Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa gave us Seva Dharma or Shiv Gnyane Jeev Seva, i.e. serve the people in the name of Lord Shiva.

DEVELOPMENT OF BENGALI LANGUAGE

In this chapter an analysis has been carried out, towards the development of Bengali Language. Popularly it is said that Bengali Language was derived from the language Samaskrita, and Samaskrita was the language of Aryans. Traditionally it is believed that Samaskrita is the mother of all Indian Vernacular language except four South Indian languages like Telugu, Kannada Tamil and Malayalam. Historians have observed that politically, socially, religiously and culturally, the civilization at Bengal was in existence long before Aryan invasions (i.e. prior to 1500 BC) and the civilization of Bengal was much superior to than of Aryans. It has also been observed that the religions developed in this eastern part of India, actually spread out to Afghanistan, China and other Central Asian countries. Sahityacharya Prof. Dinesh Chandra Sen mentioned in his Book "Banga Bhasha and Sahitya" that Bengali script was in existence prior to Vedic period when DevNagari script was not in existence, as per 'Lalita Vishtara, a book written by Buddhist scholars around 1st century BC.

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Also, according to Lalita Vishtara", Lord Buddha learnt Anga, Banga, Brahmi and Magadhi Languages from his teacher Vishwamitra. According to some historians, the language Bengali began to develop from the time of Lord Buddha and taken some shape during the period of Mauryas. We should not forget the fact that during those periods there was no country by name as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal or Assam. These names were introduced at a much later stage. The states were named as Mathura (Surasena), Panchal, Koshal, Sravasti, Malla, Vaishali, Mithila, Dwar-Vanga, Vijji, Magadha, Pundra Vardhana, Karna-Subarna, Samatata, Kamrupa etc, during the ancient period. Some of the Historians opine that the place Dwar Vanga was the neighboring state of the then Mithila and Dwar-Vanga was the gateway to enter Vanga-Desha. If this is true, then Dwar-Vanga was definitely a part of Vanga Desha during those periods. It is similar to Boxa-Dwar. Chamurchi-Dwar etc, which are the gateways for entering the country of Bhutan. Thus, in all respect there is a possibility that DwarVanga probably was a part of Vanga and the town was being used as a gateway to enter into Vanga Desha. Jaina literature confirms that Mithila was a part of Vanga Desha. Further, evidences on similarities can be observed in Bengali scripts and Maithili scripts and these two languages are also found to be very similar and close to each other in all respect. On the other hand, the southeastern part of present Bengal was termed as Vang-Lang by East Asians countries. Thus, in Ancient India the area from DwarVanga on the northwestern side and Magadha and Balasore on the west and Arakan, Meghalaya on east might have similar cultures and language and may be termed as Bengal. On a similar terminology, the Aryans of central Asia, used to call the place beyond south of Hindukush mountain as Hindustan and the main river was termed by them as river Hindus or Indus. They were not familiar with the people of Ganges valley beyond Hindukush Mountain and Hindu valley, however in broad sense the people beyond south of Hindukush range were used to be called as Hindus and thus the name Hindustan came. Even though the area was named as Hindustan by Aryans, it was divided into various small Kingdoms. During the Mahabharata period itself we could see Kingdoms like Gandhar, Madra, Bairat, Sindhu, Kasipa, Hastinapura, Indraprastha, Mathura, Panchala, Kasi, Koshal etc, and these Kingdoms were more or less independent. The similar ways Bengal as defined above were also divided into many independent kingdoms like Dwar-Vanga, Pundra Vardhana, Karna-Subarna, Gouda, Magadha, Radha, Samatata, Dandabhukti etc. The language of Hindustan was named Hindi, the same way the language of this Bengal was named as Bengali. The way the Hindi language of Bihar is different than that of Lucknow or western UP, the same way the languages of various parts of Bengal are also different. Since the country or state of Bengal by name was not in existence in particular during ancient time, the languages used by the people were also not termed as Bengali language in general belief and hence sometimes confusion arises. Therefore we could see that both Bengalis and Maithilies claim the works of poet Vidyapati as their own.

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The same is true for Charya Padas also, people of present Bihar and Orissa claim this work of Charya Padas as their own work. This is also true for poet Jaideva the writer of famous "Gita Govinda". This was due to the fact that the areas of each state were not standardized, sometimes Bengal was ruled by kings of other places and some time others were ruled by Kings of Bengal. This was a common feature during those periods. The languages and literatures were not standardized, be it Hindi or Bengali or Marathi or Gujarati. These non-standard languages were termed as Prakrita or Apavramsha and were localized. The names of these Prakrita languages were also named after the place from where it was originated and thus we have Suraseni Prakrit, Maithili Prakrit, Magadhi Prakrit, Goudiya Prakrit etc. These places were the cultural hubs during tose period.The name Prakrita means natural; an original, hence these Prakrita languages were nothing but the natural languages which people used to speak among them for communication. The Standardization of Bengali language actually started from the time of turkey, Afghani etc rulers of Islamic faith at Bengal, which got matured during English rulers of Christian faith in Bengal. Thus, what has been termed as Pali or Apavramsha were in fact the local non-standard language, these are known as Magadhi Prakrita, Gaudiya Prakrita, Suraseni Prakrita etc. depending on the place of origin of development. This explanation has been felt necessary, as it is necessary to analyze the development of Samaskrita language and Deva-Nagari script and essential to know the relation between Bengali language and Samaskrita language. Historians have proved now that Aryan people of Vedic civilization were not familiar with script. As a result of this, it was not possible to record their civilisation in a documented form. Therefore, their victories, adventures, religion and culture were passed on from generation to generation through listening. This was the reason that intellectuals termed Veda as Sruti, i.e. remembrance through listening and chanting. The Smrities are the literatures, which they were able to recollect from their memory. Thus it is very clear that during the Aryan ruling and their settlement at NorthWestern part of India, they were not familiar with Deva-Nagari script. Since they were foreign invaders, they were definitely not familiar with the language of Indians of that period. When such was the case, how the communication was made? Further to this. Historians opine that these Aryan invaders were not from the same place. They were from various parts of Central Asia and Western Asia etc. At a later date Muslim Aryans, from Iran, Russia, Turkemenia etc and Christian Aryans like English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish etc from European countries invaded India. Hence, there was a need for a common Language, particularly for communication. This necessity probably became the cause for the invention of a standard language which was named as Samaskrita language. It is also observed that during the period of Mahabharatha around 1000 BC, the story of Pandava Ghatha (Later it was expanded and named as Mahabharatha) was not recorded when it was narrated to the descendents of Pandava by the descendents of Vyasa.

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This shows that the Deva-Nagari script was not developed even at 1000 BC. It has been opined by Historians that Deva-Nagari script was developed during later or post Vedic period at around 800 BC to 700 BC. It has been opined by Historians and Researchers that there are many hidden clues available in the Vedic or Brahmanic literatures that Non-Aryans were the inventors and developers of Samaskrita language and Deva-Nagari script. Some of these hidden clues are described below for ready reference: 1. The Title of "Adikavi" of Samaskrita was awarded to Valmiki. Valmiki belonged to hunter (Nishad/Baheliya) community. Later on Brahminic literature tried to present him as a Brahmin by connecting him as the son of some Aryan Rishi Kanva. The sage Kanva was credited as one of the composer of the RigVedic verses as per Rig-Veda. During the period of Kanva the Aryans were not aware of River Ganges and further Eastern areas and therefore the period of Kanva and the period of Valmiki could not be the same and thus treating Valmiki as the son of Kanva is not correct. 2. The credit for compilation of Vedas, Mahabharata and Puranas was accorded to Vyasa. He was the son of an unwed mother Satyavati. Satyavati was a non-Aryan and was the daughter of a fisherman. This fisher woman became the Queen of Hastinapur at a later stage. The Brahmin literatures again tried to connect Vyasa as the son of Vedic Aryan Rishi Parasara. Rishi Parasara was the son of Suktri and grand son of Bramharshi Vasishtha. The time Lexicon does not co-relate the time of sage Parasara to the period of Satyavati.

Further, if Vyasa was the son of sage Parasara and Satyavati, then Vyasa's complexion could not be very dark and feature should not be of demonical type. Vyasa was a very dark complexioned person and was born at Lake Dvaipayana, as a result of this he was named as "Krishna-Dvaipayana". These, indicate that Vyasa was a pure Non-Aryan intellectual person. However He was not credited as the writer of Vedas or Puranas or Mahabharata. He was named as the composer or compiler only. This indicates that the script was not developed at that time. This is further crystallized from the story that his descendant/ disciples narrated the story of Pandava Vijaya Ghatha to the descendent of Pandava. 3. The credit for recording of Mahabharata was given to Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Siva and Parvati, who belonged to Non-Aryan community. Lord Ganesha was a famous intellectual and a Siddhayogi. As a result he was honored as Siddhi-data Ganesha, not as a Rishi Ganesha as per Vedic tradition. Siddha was a Title for non-Vedic spiritualistic persons of very high calibre. Thus the invention and development of Samskrita both were credited to NonAryans and non Vedic personalities..

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Therefore, from the above, it may be inferred that the Samaskrita Language and development of Deva-Nagari Script were primarily developed by Non-Aryan intellectuals. Naturally, the question appears in mind of every body that, being such a case, why this language was branded as Aryan Language and script as Deva-Nagari script? The probable reason could be that the Aryan Kings who were ruling at the NorthWestern/Northern part of India; had patronized for the development of this language. Since they were patrons for this development it was patented or branded in the name of that community. Similar cases could be seen, even in modern times. The highest mountain of the world was discovered by Rakhal Das Bandopadhyaya but it was named after the Director General of GSI who had patronized this work. His name was Everest and hence the mountain was named as Mount Everest. Another classic case is the development of Urdu language. Urdu language is popularly known as the language of Muslim people. Even in remote South Indian villages. Native Muslim people are found to use Urdu language in their home, when they speak among themselves. The Muslim rulers patronized for the development of Urdu Language. Now Urdu becomes a national language of Islamic State of Pakistan. The question is, was this language brought to India by the Aryan Muslim rulers from Central Asian countries (the homeland of Aryan) or developed by Indians in India? The history is very well known as this process of development of Urdu Language is not that old and full historical details are available to us. According to Prof. Sherwani "the word Urdu is a kin to the word Ordu in Turkish meaning the Army". According to Syed Ahmed Khan, Urdu was born in the market places of Shahjahanabad (Delhi) after 1648 AD. Prof. Sherwani also mentioned that Urdu had its embryonic form in the shape of Dakhinis under the rules of Bahamanis. This was between 1347 and 1518 AD much earlier to 1648 AD. It can be observed that almost 80% words of Urdu are Hindustani and balance 20% are borrowed from Iranian/Arabian etc. Languages. The style of speaking is more or less in Hindustani style. The script and style of writing (from right to left) was borrowed from Arabian script and Arabian style of writing. This language became popular among Muslims (native as well as invaders) of India and patronized by Aryan Muslim rulers. Hence it was branded as a Muslim language. In the similar way, if we extrapolate in a backward direction towards Vedic period, we could observe a close similarity of development between Urdu and Samaskrita Language. The only difference is that when Aryans of Islamic faith invaded India, a language and script was already available with them, where as, when the Aryans of 1500 BC invaded India and became the ruler of North western part of India, they were not having any script or any knowledge of writing. This was the main reason 37

that the style of writing of Samaskrita is from left to right which is of pure Indian thought and origin. When the Aryan Muslims came to India, they came with Knowledge of writing with a style from right to left and hence adopted both the script and style of their home land. It is observed that during 6th century BC, the part of North West India was under the rule of Iranian Kings and during the 4th century BC it was ruled by Mauryas of East India. The Mauryas were using a script, called "Khorosthi" at North Western part of India and a script called "Brahmi at the Eastern parts of India. The style of writing of "Khorosthi was from right to left where as for "Brahmi" it was from left to right. Hence if Samskrita scripts language is of Aryan origin, it should have been from right to left not from left to right. 4. Another hidden clue but most is the name of the language itself. Let us look at the word "Samskrita". The word "Samas" implies to equality and "Krita" implies to done. That is the work probably was shared equally by Aryan invaders and NonAryan natives, Therefore justice is done by honouring both the groups by naming the language as "Samaskrita". The work was probably initiated and patronized by Aryans where as Research and development work was probably carried out by non-Aryans, as these non-Aryans were already experienced and familiar with the some script. This is probably the main reason that most of the words of Samaskrita are found to be of Non-Aryan origin. This may be observed from the various verses of Rig-Veda also. Some of them are quoted here for ready reference. 1. Indra killed Vritrasura; Vritra was the king of the area which was South West of Satudri and Vipasa River. 2. Indra killed Sushna and destroyed his cities and looted his wealth. 3. Indra killed Pipru, Kuyub, Pravik, Vyamsa, Kushwa, and Arbud. 4. Indra destroyed 100 cities of Sambar and handed over to Divodas. 5. He killed Garchi, Kheshpal, Anurnabha, Ahisucha, Ataka and Brihadratha. 6. He killed Navavastra, Bramha Kurush, Sruta, Briddha, Arna and Chitraratha. 7. He killed Twasta and his son Vishwarupa. 8. He killed Devaka, Sambar and Pudhyamedhi. 9. He destroyed cities like Mahabalistan, Naitandhav. Byarn, Namamuni. All these people, killed by Aryan leader Indra were Non-Aryans. This means that these names were in existence before the Aryan rulings in India. Hence the names which are now found in Samaskrita are actually pre-Aryan pre-Vedic and PreSamaskrita names. However, these names are now branded as popular Samaskrita names. Also, it was stated in Rig-Veda that Indra fought a battle with a Non-Aryan army of 10,000 men on the bank of river Amsumati (presently known as river Yamuna). The leader of this army of 10,000 was a non-Aryan by name Krishna. In this battle, most probably Indra was defeated and fled, like Mohammed Ghori

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or Mihir Gula of later period. If Indra was the winner, Krishna would have been killed by Indra and Indra would have been further glorified as a destroyer and killer of demon Krishna and his ten thousand army men in Rig-Veda as per the style of RigVeda. These incidents also points us towards the fact that the word "Krishna" was not an Aryan name but a non-Aryan name and originated from non-Aryan language. There are many words/names like this, which are available in Vedas. Majority words of Vernacular languages of India thus found their way in Samaskrita and it has been shown that majority of Samaskrita words are of nonAryan origin. Thus in other words it may be inferred that the majority words of vernaculars are in fact of non-Aryan origins. As mentioned earlier, the language/pronunciations vary from place to place; as a result words also used to get distorted in terms of pronunciation and hence in spelling too, until standardization took place. That might be the reason for Krishna to become Kanha and to Kanai; hasta became hattha and finally became hath. Exactly, the same way the name of the places of Aryan settlements also changed gradually as Aryan to Airan to Iran Airan to Airab to Arab Airab to Airaq to Iraq Airab to Airap to Europ to Europe The features of the people living at these above said places are found to be very similar to the features of Aryans as described in Vedas. On the other hand the features of Bengalis can not be said to be close with the features of the people of Rig-Vedic places. Further, there is no way to derive the name Hindustan or Bharat Varsha or Banga from the word Aryan. As per historical records, Babylonian kings of Iran used to call themselves as Aryans, on the other hand there is no historical record of such type in the History of Magadha or Bengal from the historical time (i.e. from 600 BC to 2000 AD) covering a period of more than 2500 years. In fact all kings of eastern India were termed as Vratyas. The words of Samaskrita were thus heavily dominated by pre-Aryan/ pre-Vedic words and later on new words in modified and refined form were also added to suite the style or pattern of Samaskrita Language. It is because of these heavily populated non-Aryan words in Samaskrita, it may not be unnatural to assume that it is the mother of all vernacular language, as it was the first standard recognised language of India. Historians also observe that the grammar of Samskrita language is almost perfect in comparison to any other Language of the world. It is a fact that nothing is found to be perfect in this Universe if it is natural. Even creation is impossible out of pure satta, it has to be mixed with Rajas and Tamas to

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affect it as stated by Swami Harshananda of Sree Ramakrishna Matha (Mylapore, Chennai) in his book "Hindu Gods and Goddesses". Some flaws and exception always exist in any natural phenomenon or processes. In case of river it flows on its own way, but an artificial river or canal flows in a controlled way as desired by human. It may be noted that as per Historians Samaskrita script was developed around 800 to 700 BC and the first Samaskrita grammar was written by Nirukta around 700 BC and the final grammar on Samaskrita language was written by Panini around the end of 4th century BC or early 3rd century BC. Keeping this in mind, it appears that in all probability the language Samaskrita was developed by some wise men of ancient time and the formula and processes were kept as secret like the formula of an atom bomb. Similar opinion is found in our Puranic stories also. It has been proved by modern researchers and Historians that a good civilization was in existence in eastern part of India and in Bengal. Archeologists discovered the sites of copper age civilisation in various parts of Bengal and Eastern parts of India. ( Namely, at Pandurajar Dhibi, Mahabalistan, Darjeeling etc.) A good civilization could not be in existence unless there was a good language for communication. However, that language was probably not termed as a Bengali language and it might be varying in pronunciation and accordingly in spelling from place to place in Bengal. This we may refer as a non-standard Bengali Language, Which was commonly termed as Pali or Prakrita or Apavramsha language of Bengal. As already stated earlier, the name "Prakrita" means natural or the language of the common people. On the other hand, "Samaskrita" means refined i.e. Samaskrita language was not a natural language but a refined version of natural language or artificial language. This also indicates that the Samaskrita words and language was found and developed from these Prakrita words and language by refinement and ornamentation. Modern Historians opines that there was no influence of outside towards the development of Bengali Literature up to 12 century AD. The literature up to 12 century AD was fully dominated by Bauddha and Natha-literatures. The outside influence on Bengali language was started only from 12th century AD during the time of invasion of rulers from the land of Rig-Veda of Islamic faith. The standardization of Bengali Language actually started from Islamic rules of Bengal when the entire Bengal consisting of Gauda, Karna-Subarna and Pundra Vardhana etc., were united and was brought under the control of Muslim rulers. This process of standardization was completed during the British period. This standard language is termed as the language of Bengal and now is in use in our literature. However the spoken language can be seen varying from place to place. Also it is interesting to note that the Maithyli language (language of Dwarvanga) is closer than that of Chattagram and Shillet to the standard Bengali language. Since Samaskrita was an artificial language, it could never become a language of common people as a natural language and remains under the control of few intellectual wise men. These intellectual wise people were using this language as a secret weapon and exploited to their own advantages. Exactly the same way the rich

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and powerful countries of today having nuclear weapon are exploiting other nonnuclear countries for their own advantages and benefits. Thus looking back at the various Historical/Religious/Linguistic points of view as described, it probably may not be illogical to infer that Samaskrita language was not the language of Aryans. It is a language developed scientifically by Non-Aryans wise intellectual men, probably under the patronization of some good Aryan rulers. Hence it may not be fair to say that Bengali Language has been originated from Samaskrita Language.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARYAN SOCIAL SYSTEM/ VEDIC SOCIAL SYSTEM OF CASTEISM IN BENGAL

Aryan Social System As we know the social system of Aryans were based on the division of labour. There were primarily four divisions, based on heredity as specified in Vedic

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literatures. These are: 1. Brahmin: This was the intellectual community and was placed at the highest rank in the society. They were the priest community and were entitled to study and learn Vedic rules/rituals and preach accordingly. These people were supposed to know Brahma and live on BrahmaThey were the social administrators and were in the ministerial and advisory posts for kings. They were the policy/rule makers and kings were to execute these rules over the society. 2. Kshatriya: This was defined as the martial/military community. Their role was to look after the defence of their state/country. These people were supposed to look after the Kshetra and protect it form others.Kshetra means Area of Land. Tthey were also to look after the political administrative affairs with the help and guidance of minister, as per the rules formed by Brahmins. They were ranked as number two. i.e. next to Brahmins in the society 3. Vaishya: This was the community of Traders of Business people. They were supposed to help Kings in financial affair. These people were supposed to look after Vishaya means wealth. This community was ranked as third or next to Khastriya community. 4. Sudras: This was a community of people of working class and known as Labour community. They were at the lowest category of the society. They were supposed to work for other three communities. Rig-Veda mentioned at 3rd Mandala, 59th Sukta at 8th Sloka about 5 different Varnas. Again same Rig-Veda mentioned at 10th Mandala, 90th Sukta (which is known as famous Purusha Suktam) about the origin of four castes namely Brahmin, Khastriya, Vaishya and Sudra. These four categories of people were in existence and were in practice during the ancient period at the areas of central Asian countries. Non-Aryan/Non-Vedic social system Non-Vedic/Non-Aryan or Vratya civilizations are Jainism, Buddhism, Saivaism Nathism, Ajeevakas etc. These Vratya civilizations do not recognize the division of Labour based on heredity or as a birth right of the people. This civilization believed on the ability of an individual, not as a father's son. The Hallmark of Vratya society was castelessness. Varnashrama system and its development It is a natural phenomenon that any administrative system, whether it is an industrial system, or a political system or any social system, the system of control normally looks similar to that of pyramidal structure. That is to say that at any organization there is a supreme head, followed by few assistants and each of these few assistants is further assisted by a few more and like this, the control or governance follows from top to down level. This is also the fundamental principle towards the development of famous ABC

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rules for effective Resource Management control system in any business organization. The ABC theory states that in any resource system, there are hardly few resources estimated around 10% of the total resources whose contribution is 70% of the total resources. These are called A-class resources and utmost care normally given to these few resources. This is due to the reason that almost 70% of the contribution depends on these few resources and also maximum benefit is earned from these mearge resources. There are other resources, which contribute the next 20% of the total contribution. The numbers of such resources are also found to be approximately 20% of the total number of resources. These are called B-class resources, as the contribution from these resources are quite moderate. The last category of items are defined as those items, whose contribution with respect to total contribution is very low, but number wise may be significant. The Nos. of resources in this category is thus comes to 70% but the value of contribution becomes only 10%. These large numbers of resources are called C-class resources. However, if resources fall under A-class does it mean that in subsequent years, the same items will remains under A-class category? The answer is may be or may not be. If the resource contribute in such a manner that its contribution to the organization in the year considered, remains at the top of 10% of resources in terms of its value contribution, it is classified as A-class and will continue to remain, as long as it continue to dominate the total contribution (value addition) otherwise it may fall under B or C category. In similar way, resources coming under B or C category may also come under Acategory depending upon the contribution to the total contribution (value addition to the organization). Thus, any resources can not remain at a fixed position permanently. It totally depends on its contribution to the organization/Institute/society/State/Country.

In case, there is no contribution from a resource, which was earlier classified under A-category, may become an obsolete resource in future and come out of the slot of ABC analysis of the society of items under ABC categories in course of time. These obsolete resources may be terminated under one more category called as D category of resources. Therefore based on Utilisation resources may be classified as under:

A-class: B-class: C-class: D-class:

These 10% of the resources, whose contribution is 70% in terms of total contribution with respect to value, are called as A-class resources. The next 20% of the resources, whose contribution is 20% in terms of total value based contribution, are called as B-class resources. The next 70% of the resources, whose contribution 10% in terms of total value based contribution, are defined as C-class resources. The resource which becomes contribution less in the organization are

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termed as D-class resources.

This is found to be true for all resources, be it human resource or material resource of any society /community etc. This is universally true in human society, whether the society or community is Aryans, Non-Aryans or Mongolian. In every community there exists a small minority of intellectuals, like creative thinkers, scientists etc., which constitute the think Tank or brain of the society. Statistically there strength is found to be around 5% with respect to the total population. This small group of people makes the policy and rules of the society, to keep the society intact towards the upliftment and development of the people and society as guide, philosopher, policy makers etc. Their contribution to the society is most in terms of value addition. These people may be referred as A-category people of the society. The next category of people can be termed as administrators, executives, managers etc. These people are very courageous and brave and responsible to execute the policy, administer the policy and protect the policy or rules as defined by the A-category of people. These people have to be very courageous and brave to overcome the hurdles to execute and govern the task, laid down by the policy makers, whether it is internal affairs or external affairs of the society. They are therefore subjected to maintain the integrity of the society or nation from external invaders and also from the internal trouble creators towards peace and harmony. These groups statistically found to be comprise of 10% of the total population of the society and enjoy the status only next to A-category people. These 10% people may be called as B-category people of the society. To execute the policy the society needs various resources. Therefore, there is a need for the people who are responsible towards the necessary supply of resources and facilities for the establishment. Towards the establishment of facilities there is need of money and its proper management. There are some people who normally control the financial affairs of the society and handles trade, commerce, and industry and also preserve material wealth towards the development and further progress of the society.Statistically, the strength of this group is estimated around 15% of the total population. This group of society may be referred as C-category of people. The rest 70% of the total population, who also contribute to the society through their labour, may be referred as D-category of people. They constitute the typical work force of the society. These four categories of people are the constituents of any society or organization or institution under normal and natural condition. These four categories now may be named as Brahmins for A-category, Kshatriyas for B-category, Vaishyas under C-category and Sudras under D-category. Each of these above groups can be further subdivided based on the theory as stated above and further Sub-categories or classes can be derived among each

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category separately. Initially, these group or categories were formed accordingly to the ability and interest of the individuals. Anyone who could compose hymns (poems), which attracted the attention of people and became popular and also commanded the admiration of people and Kings was honoured with the title "Brahmin". A man who rose to the distinction in the profession of arms was eulogized as "Kshatriya" and so on. The word Brahmana or Kshatriya had no bearing on caste consideration, i.e. it had no bearings on the birth of the individuals. Hence, a person born to a C-category parent also could become an A-category citizen and vice-versa according to the ability. This was the hallmark of Non-Aryan/Non-Vedic culture. Thus in a Non-Aryan Non-Vedic Society, a Sudra male could raise to level of a Brahmin and a Brahmin boy also could fall to the level of Sudra, due to their virtue. In course of time, dilution took place in this labour system; this was accelerated due to the tendency to protect the interest of individual and his descendents. In course of time the theory of monopoly was developed as it was found to be advantageous and beneficial to Acategory people. However, the policy could not be implemented without the help of the cruel executive or the king and his associates (i.e. the other executives, administrators, Governors Etc.) Therefore, the chief executive was elevated with the highest authority with supernatural power (may be defined as God) and a policy was made that the son of a king would be the natural successor of the king, which was of tremendous advantageous and beneficial to the King and by this, the dispute for the future king was eliminated. Thus, came the ruling that son of a chief executive would also become a chief executive and automatically followed by that the son of Brahmin would also became a Brahmin and so on. The chief executive officer was titled as king and declared as the representative of God or simply as God. By this method, king was isolated from the rest of the people of the society. Next in the line were executives, since without them the rules/policies could not be executed, and as a result they got the status next to Acategory. This process continued to the grass-root level of the society and thus the caste system was firmly established in the society. However, there were people or groups of people, who were against this theory of casteism or monopoly. The sprit and hallmark of the Non-Vedic society viz. Vratyas and Dravidians were castelessness. Therefore, the conflicts started between the people, who are for casteism and who were against casteism. Historically, Buddhists, Jains and Ajeevakas, nathas were found to be strong opponents of casteism. Among them Buddhism not only was opponent but they really fought against casteism. As a result they became the main enemy and target of Brahmanism, who were the staunch followers of casteism. However, it became impossible for those Brahmins to establish the caste system without wiping off the Buddhists. For this purpose, there was a need of support from king B-category and C-Category people.

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Thus it could be seen from the various historical facts that Caste system or Varnashrama system gained real strength only when Brahmins (A-category) and Khastriyas (B-category) joined hands together. Historians opine that from the time of Samudragupta to the time of Sankaracharya, there were persistent efforts of Brahmins to establish their own strength and glory by-liquidating Buddhism completely. It is said that Sankaracharya put the final blow on Buddhism. However, Buddhism could not be perished and were in existence even after the period of Sankaracharya but their power was reduced to almost nil at most of the parts of India. Finally Shree Chaitannya Mahaprabhu cremated the rest of the Buddhism at Varanasi, during 14th century A.D. Gradually Brahmanism grew by destroying Buddhism and Jainism and Ajeevakas with the help of Kings and Merchants and simultaneously by assimilating the tenets of these religions and cultures. Some of the notable historical events are described below, how the AIDS of casteism in the name of religion was spread in India: 1. The famous Saivas Appara and Tirugnana Sambandar with the connivance of the Queen and the Chief Minister managed to convert the Great King Mayura varman of Kanchipuram from Jainism to Saivaism, and on the day of conversion 8000 Jain monks were beheaded. Even today, this incident is celebrated at Madurai temple. Further to this, the image of Tirugnana Sambandar was installed in all temples for worship due to his great achievement 2. Nambi Andar Nambi at 10th century AD and Sekkizhar of 12th century AD considered the act of converting the king to Saivaism and slaughter of Jain monks as "heroic" deed of great victory of Saivaits. 3. Tirumangai Alwar became famous for the stealing of Gold idol of Buddha from a Buddhist temple at Nagapattinam and for building the famous Sriranganatha temple with these stolen properties. 4. There are many incidents where Buddhist/Jain temples were converted to Hindu temples. Few of them are quoted below : I. The present Hindu temple of Tiruchanam near Kuzhithurai was originally a Jain temple. This temple contains idols of Parshvanath, Mahavira and Padmavati Devi. II. The Nagaraja temple at Nagarcoil was also a Jain temple, which was converted to Hindu temple. III. The Kallil cave temple near Perumbavoor was originally a Jain temple. . IV. The Mudiumpalli temple was originally a Jain temple. The Jain goddess Padmavati was converted as Goddess Bhagavati. V. Kapoteswara temple at Chezarla in Andhra Pradesh was converted to Hindu temple around 5th/6th century AD. VI. The Tagara temple at Sholapur of Maharashtra was originally a Buddhist 46

temple. But converted to Hindu temple during 5th century AD. VII. According to Jaina literature the famous Thirupathi Temple of Lord Venkateshwara was originally a Jaina temple. It was dedicated to Jaina Thirthankara Neminatha. It is also believed that the present idol of Lord Venkateshwara was actually idol of Neminatha. This was converted into a Brahmin temple. According to historians, there is no existence of Thirupathi temple in ancient period, whereas Kalahasthi and Srisailam temple were famous in those period. This Tirupathi temple came into prominence during the period of Krishnadev raya of Vijaya Nagar Dynasty of Karnataka around 16th century AD. In a similar way at north India too, there are examples, where Buddhist temples were converted to Hindu temples and Buddha was converted as Vishnu or Buddha was made as an incarnation of Vishnu. The classic one of this is the conversion of famous Buddhist temple of Gaya and conversion of Buddha as Vishnu. At this temple every Hindu is required to offer Pindadanam at the lotus feet of Buddha in the name of Vishnu towards relieving of the soul of their ancestors to merge with the universal soul. The present temple of Kala-Bhairava or Mahakala near Bodhgaya was originally a Buddhist temple. The idle of Buddha in the form of a Bauddha Bhikhsu made of black stone had been converted as an idle of Mahakala. The world famous Pashupathinatha temple of Kathmandu was also originally a Buddhist temple which was converted at later stage into a Saiva temple. The Anantasayana posture of Lord Vishnu was actually that of Buddha and modified to the present form. This conversion probably took place during 500 AD during the period of Guptas. No record or any idol of Vishnu was found in Hindu literature prior to 500 AD. The famous Chinnamasta Goddess of Bengalis was originally a Buddhist Tantrik Goddess, which was converted as Hindu Goddess. At present she represents a form of Shakti Goddess Kali. Earlier to Buddhism, there is no evidence of sudarshan chakra of Vishnu or Krishna. Buddhism actually introduced the dharma chakra in this religion which during the period of King Ashoka, it was known as Ashoka chakra. Later on Brahminism borrowed it from Buddhism and made Buddhism to perish from India. The practice of running schools, libraries, hospitals, attached to temples and Mathas were ail originated from Buddhism and practiced by them. These were too copied by Brahmanism from Buddhism. Earlier to this Vedic learning was primarily found to be family oriented. Buddhism was the first religion to make public institutions like Mathas for education to common people. The establishment of Mathas by Lord Sankaracharya is the living example towards this The educated persons or poets who encouraged Varnashrama system were

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declared as Brahmins and other people were classified according to their social status. Thus Adikavi Valmiki, Vyasadeva etc got the status of Brahmins in Brahmanic Literatures. It is opined by historians, researchers that in a family, some member became Brahmin, while others fall under different categories of caste, during the restructuring of the society at the time of downfall of Buddhism, Jainism etc. It is also stated by Historians. Researchers, that during the reorganization of the society, poor Brahmins were classified as Sudras, whereas other rich and powerful people were declared as Brahmin, Khastriya, Vaishya according to their influence or purchasing capability in the society. However, the people, who opposed this Varnapratha system, became the enemy of the kings and other supporters of Varna system and ultimately fallen under category of Sudra and Untouchables. As per historians, there is a community in south India by name "Panas". Today these people belong to Harijan or Untouchable Community; However people of Panas' community were more respected than Brahmins during 400 AD. They became equal with Brahmins around 500 AD. Many educated Panas and Poets declared Brahmins during the reorganization of society towards casteism. The Panas who opposed casteism were placed out of Brahminical society and today referred as Harijans. However, the educated poets of Panas community who supported Varnashrama system were declared Brahmins. It is interesting to note that Malayali Brahmins are all Nambudri pada Brahmins. The use of Pada was found only in Buddhists, does it mean that these Nambudris were Buddhists at earlier period? In north India, the communities like Valmikis, Mouryas, Vyasas, Mallas, Kapilas, Nishads etc. in a similar manner (like Panas) became Sudras/Untouchables and now belongs to Harijan community. It may be noticed that the ruling dynasty that had supported this Brahminism policy of casteism and worked to establish caste based social system had been highly praised and their period was termed as golden period. Thus, the period of Gupta Dynasty of Magadha, Sena Dynasty of Bengal, Pandians and Kalasekara dynasties of South India were declared as golden periods in Brahmanic literatures. However, the fact is that the period of Mauryas of Magadha, Palas of Bengal, and Harsha of Kannauj were much more powerful and glorious than Guptas & Senas. During the re-organization of social system, the Buddhist and other Vratya literatures were completely burnt; their establishment and Mathas were destroyed. Their temples were converted to the temples of Brahminism. It is said that the educational and cultural center of Buddhism, the famous Nalanda University was burnt for more than a week. At a later date Muslim fundamentalists also did the similar things by destroying/converting Hindu temples into Mosques. In the south, King Asoka built Kanchi Puram University, which was a Buddhist educational centre and intellectuals of south used to study and teach there. This was captured by Lord Sankaracharya by defeating the intellectuals of Kanchi and got the credit to convert them and becomes the Killer of Buddhism from India. On the other hand, to bring the people under the fold of Brahmanism most of the 48

Vratya tradition & practices were accepted under the new socio-religious system. All the Gods and Goddess were mapped with Brahminical God and Goddess. Thus on the ruins of the Vratya system, the Brahminical system was born in the name of Hinduism. Keeping these in mind, the casteism in Bengal has been analyzed.

DEVELOPMENT OF VARNAPRATHA SYSTEM IN BENGAL

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It is a fact that Bengalis are very rational as well as very emotional. The rational mindset of Bengalis made them to be closer to non-Vedic or Vratya system. Because of this strong background, the casteism could not be traced in Bengal until 12th century AD, even though it was firmly established in Madhya Desha (i.e. in present Bihar & UP), at the time of Gupta Dynasty. This does not mean that there were no intellectuals in Bengal. Historians opine that the Grand Guru of Lord Sankaracharya belonged to Bengal. His name was Gaudapada. The name is found to be closer to Vratyas. Gaudapada was the first person, who had written a 'Karika' on Upanishad and it is known as 'Gauda Pada Karika. There are many instances found in historical records, regarding the existence of Brahmins prior to 12th century AD. These Brahmins might not be outsiders. If they were Aryan and came from outside Bengal, their original place could have been recorded, as they were supposed to be literate and by that time Samaskrita Scripts were well known to keep record.. In fact they were the native intellectuals of Bengal. They embraced Vedic religions and philosophy, which used to be called as Brahmanic religion. In Bengal this Varnashrama system could not be established in the society due to strong influence of Jainism, Buddhism, Saivaism, Ajeevakas and Nathism. As well as due to strong support of Pala kings. Pala kings were found to be secular. Their chief ministers were found to be followers of Brahmanism. Besides this, it is also the basic characteristics of Bengalis, which was equally contributed to remain secular. The rational mindset of Bengalis made them to be closer to Non-Vedic or Vratya civilization. It is now established by historians and researchers that casteism was not in practice in Bengal prior to Sena dynasty, even though casteism was firmly established in the adjoining areas viz. Magadha. Vaishali, Anga, Kasi etc. from the time of Gupta period. It also can be observed that Varnashrama System of Bengal does not conform to Vedic Varnashrama system. Besides this, the caste system in true sense is neither strong in Bengal nor it conforms the Vedic rules. Most of the Bengalis are found to be either Brahmin or Vaidyas or Kayasthas or Sudras, not as Brahmin, Khastriya, Vaishya and Sudra. It is very interesting to note that as per the historians, the vaidya community, who is ranked next to Brahmins in social status in Bengal, was not in existence prior to 12th century AD. As per historical records Jainism, Buddhism and Ajeevakas/Nathism were main religions of Bengal. This was the situation up to 11th and early 12th century AD. (Prior to Sena dynasty) The spiritual leaders of Buddhism and Nathism were referred as Siddhas. The Siddhas who were Specialists in medicine were called as Raseshwar Siddhas. On the other hand the spiritual leaders of Vedic society were referred as Rishis. The Jaina intellectuals and spirituals were termed as Munis. Interestingly, the origin of Vaidya community could be traced to Siddhas and not to Vedic Rishis. Hence, it can be safely inferred that at the time of Senas, present people of Vaidya community were converted/embraced Brahmanism and were probably the 50

second community of Vratyas to join Brahmanic stream in Bengal. This might be the reason for getting the position next to Brahmin as a reward. Once the Vratya society got divided, it became easy to divide the society further and establish effective control. It is observed by Historians and Researchers that the elite group as described earlier first impressed upon King praised him and finally separated him from the others. This group formed a type of shield around the king and controlled the king, and gradually extended to his relatives, then distant relatives and finally on other people. The King was declared as God or Representatives of God during the ancient period. This was one of the reasons that almost all the Gods Goddess of India are found to be dressed and decorated with all sorts of arms and ammunition. Thus the society was completely divided into various castes and sub castes and these preachers of Casteism had no problem in controlling the society. These phenomenons were occurred throughout India, whether it was north or south or west or east as explained earlier. The king, who was placed as God or representative of God found himself and his descendents at the best place of the society and they in turn supported the Brahmanic, Vedic social rules in the society, for their own interest. It can be noticed that the King/Dynasty who had supported the Brahmanic rules and help these elites to establish these caste system, had been praised and their period was termed as golden period in India as per the Brahmanic literatures. This is true for Gupta dynasty of Magadha, Sena Dynasty of Bengal, Chola dynasty, Pandian dynasty and Chera dynasty of south, Even though the period of Mauryans (Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Ashoka) of North India, Harsha of Thaneshwar and Kannauj, Sasamkas and Palas of Bengal were much more powerful and glorious than Guptas and Senas. In Bengal, the Sena Kings themselves were followers of Brahminic rules and hence there was very little problem to establish the Brahmanic rules of Casteism. Let us now look at the question of who were these Brahmins of Bengal? Are they really descendent of Aryans from central Asian countries in general or are they NonAryans, who embraced to Brahminism? The Puranic theory and Smriti rules of casteism are rejected by Historians and Researchers, as it was found to be biased, one sided and very illogical and there is no historical basis of this theory. It is a fact that today almost all Hindus of Bengal and of India are identified with some Gotra name. The Gotra name is the name of some Aryan/Vedic Rishi. The person bearing the name of the Rishi as his Gotra is supposed to be the descendent of that Rishi from Male hierarchy and hence marriage is prohibited among the people of same Gotra as per Brahminical System. Let us assume that this theory is proper and correct. In such cases, we have to agree that there was no male other than these Rishis and their descendents in this country except females and in particular at Bengal.

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Hence, the logic that males were Aryans and females were Non-Aryans is not agreeable. This is really ridiculous. It is a popular belief that Brahmins and Kayasthas were not Bengalis; five families of Brahmins and same numbers of families of Kayasthas were invited by one Bengal King Adi Sura at 12 century AD to come and settle at Bengal from Kannauj for preaching Vedic religion and Philosophy in Bengal. This is as per the family dictionary or Kula Panjuka. However, historians could not trace out so far any king by name Adi Sur in Bengal of above fame. They have rejected this strong story of family dictionary. It is well known fact and proved by researches that Bengalis were quite educated and learned long before 12th century AD. Many of them became the chiefs of Nalanda University. Many of them went to Tibet and China, Nepal to preach Buddhism. The Palas established various Institutions in Bengal and Bihar, where besides Bengalis, people used to come from other parts of India, China, Tibet, and Nepal to study Buddhism and other religions and subjects. Thus there should not be any shortage of educated and learned people in Bengal, and there was no reason available for which some King needs to bring outsiders to educate Bengalis. Besides these, there are also enough evidences available which indicates that educated people having faith in Vedic religion were in existence in Bengal even at 5th century AD. It is in this Bengal where Gaudapada, who was a Bengali and grand guru of Lord Shankaracharya, wrote first note on Upanishad. Some of the historians opine that many Brahmins were donated lands in various parts of Bengal at various points of time and they were outsiders or migrants to Bengal. Let us assume that they are outsiders. Since they are knowledgeable in various Vedas etc., they were supposed to be aware of Samaskrita writing and hence they were in a position to record about their original place of ancestors and their movements from the land of their origin to the land of Bengal. However, no Historians/Researchers were able to trace out their original place and also about their movements/migration to Bengal. However, even if it is assumed that they are outsiders, it is impossible to believe that these few outsider Brahmins could pollute the blood of Bengali community. It is definitely neither practicable nor realistic and hence this theory can not be accepted. During the British period in India, many Bengali intellectuals and learned people were found to be settled at various places at Allahabad, Lucknow, Banaras, Patna, Gaya etc. of present UP and Bihar. These Bengalis were the leaders in the academic fields and positioned themselves in the Universities and Colleges established at these places. Also Bengalis used to dominate in other professions of Administrations and other allied services in Assam, Bihar, Orissa, UP, MP Etc. However neither local blood could be polluted by these Bengali intellectuals nor was the Bengali blood found to be polluted by locals. Hence it may not be proper to conclude that the Brahmins, who were donated lands by Kings at Bengal, were outsiders. These Brahmins were most probably learned and wise Bengalis who were authorities in various kinds of Vedas and the corresponding rituals by embracing Vedic religion and its ideology.

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In fact Historians opines that lot of Bengalis were associated with Nalanda University, Vikramashila University, Odantapuri University etc., on this Eastern part of India. They were very learned people and many of them were in the profession of teaching in these Universities. Also some of them became the head of these Universities. These Universities were centers for not only for Buddhist philosophy but also for other religions and philosophies. The teachers were normally titled as "Upadhyaya and the teachers who were dealing in the subject of Astrology (Akash Vidya) various rituals of worship used to be honoured as "Acharjee" (Acharya). The teachers who were expert in various Shastras were used to be honoured as "Shastry" etc. According to the Brahmanic System Teacher or religious leaders were placed with Acharya title in the society, viz. Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Shankaracharya, Madhavacharya etc. On the other hand the religious leaders or teachers with titles Upadhyaya were placed at lower states. On the other hand in Buddhism Upadhyaya were placed at a much higher status than Acharya. To become an Upadhyaya a person must have had an experience of 10 years as a Buddhist monk in the Universities (viz. Nalanda, Vikramshila, Odantapuri etc) where as to become an Acharya the experience of 6 years was sufficient. These are similar to present day designations or titles like Lecturers, Readers, and Professors etc. In Bengal and Eastern part India it can be noticed that Upadhyayas are placed at the highest rank than Acharyas in social hierarchies. Bengali Upadhyayas are known as Kulin Brahmin or highest class of Brahmins, where as Acharyas are not enjoying that status. This indicates that the Bengal Brahmins do not follow the Aryan Vedic/Brahminic system, but follow the Buddhist system and that the ancestors of present day Bengal Brahmins were in fact honourable Buddhist monks/Teachers. At a later date they might have embraced Brahminism as there was an intrinsic advantage to safeguard their interest and also the interest of their children and descendents. Hence it might be possible that when these teachers embraced Vedic Brahmanic religion, they kept their title as stated above according to their profession even after the destruction of these Universities/Mathas. Their descendents also continued to use the same title for their identification that they are the descendent of some noble and intellectual persons. It is also quite interesting to note that, the initial Aryan invaders of Muslim religions were not very much against Brahmanism as they were against Buddhism. Historians opine that the main reason for this is that, the Buddhists of those periods were not believers of Gods. Hence they also forced these non-believers to embrace Islam, where as the other people who were believer of God escaped this onslaught from these invaders. This was further strengthened due to the influence of Sufism or Bhakti culture and total surrender to God. These were the primary reasons that majority population is found to be of Islamic faith in North West India and Eastern India.

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During the period of Aryan invaders of Islamic faith, present Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh were dominated by Buddhist religion where as Central India (Madhyadesh) was dominated by Brahmanic religion. Hence it might be possible that the learned and elite Buddhists of that period embraced Brahmanism to evade the conversion into Muslim, because socially and religiously and culturally Brahmanism was closest to the Buddhism than Islam. In fact, in those days the invaders of Islamic faith used to call this skin headed (tonsilled) Buddhist monk as Brahmin. According to historians many Bengalis used to go to Kashmir around 10th and 11th century for studying of Vedic literatures. The details of these Bengali students are available in Kashmiri literature. These Bengali students could not be from ordinary family and should belong to the elite groups of Bengalis. The Journey of these elite Bengali students to Kashmir and their behaviors and characteristics had not come to the notices of Kashmiris just like that. This was only possible, when the strength of the Bengali students became significant and their behaviors and customs were found to be significantly different than that of Kashmiris under the normal condition. Also there could not be sudden increase in strength of Bengali students at Kashmir. It increases gradually and takes a long time under normal circumstances. Besides it depends upon the benefit while on return after successful completion of their studies. There are many evidences that people with knowledge of Vedas and other related literatures were honored and were granted lands by Kings of Bengal. This benefits must had been attracted other influential and rich people of Bengal to send their ward to Kashmir to study Vedic literature. The number of students from Bengal probably thus increased in course of time and became noticeable to the Kashmiris. The similar situation of Bengalis going abroad for education could also be observed during European period and even now Indian going to USA etc. for higher education is continuing. Now it can be seen the inflow of Bengalis to Bangalore/Karnataka towards study of Engineering etc. are on increasing due to obvious advantages. These Bengalis were probably the earliest Brahmins of Bengal of 5th century AD onwards. The strength of Brahminism was further increased from the time of Lord Sankaracharya towards the revival of Brahmanism, where elite people embraced Brahmanism from other religions. Further to this, almost all the Historians/Researchers agreed that the rich and influential people could obtain their caste according to their choice. The craze to identify oneself as an Aryan has gone to such an extent that RajVamsi people of Cooch Behar had also claimed that they are the descendent of Aryans, and their language is derived from Sanskrit. In this regard the prominent personality of Raj-Vamsi community of Cooch Behar Late Pandit Panchanan Thakur invited prominent Brahmins from various parts of Bengal and India and made an elaborate yagna ceremony. In this ceremony the Brahmin Pandits acknowledged, accepted and declared that Cooch Raj-Vamshis are descendents of Aryans and accordingly, a story had been built up to support this claim.

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In this ceremony the Cooch Raj-Vamshis took the holy thread (Upabita) like Vedic Aryans. This grand ceremony took place on the bank of river TORSA in 1911 AD (1319 Bangabda, 27th of Magha month). Thus, it is very clear that by influencing the celebrities, it was not at all difficult to become a part of any Aryan/Vedic caste of choice. As per historical facts, the first Aryan invader to Bengal was found to be of Islamic faith. His name was Mohammed bin Bakhtiar, and came from the places of Rig-Veda. He defeated the first Brahmin King Lakhsman Sena and eventually became the ruler of Bengal. Thus began the conversion of people from Non-Islamic faith to Islamic faith. This Aryan people of Muslim-faith of 12th century AD were against Buddhists, who were non-believers of God. These Aryans Muslims used to call the Non-Muslims of India as kafir, infidel, and non-believers. The Aryans of RigVedic places of ancient period also used to call the Non-Aryans of India as Asuras, Dasas, Daityas, Rakshasas etc., in a similar fashion. The only difference is the change of words but their attitudes and behaviors towards Indians remain same. The Bengali Buddhists were their main targets. The followers of Buddhism or Buddhist people were also being humiliated by the followers and promoters of casteism and Buddhists were termed as "Buddhus"; means fools as they were fighting a lost war on casteism. These Buddhists were thus left out with few options, either to embrace Islam or get killed or join Brahmanic society. To avoid the killing, the last alternate option was to join the Brahmanic group. Thus the Bengali society was divided into two main groups as Muslims and Hindus under Brahminic culture. This was the main reason for a large volume of Muslim population in Bengal and in West Pakistan. Historians also opined that during the Islamic invasion, West Pakistan and Bengal were dominated by Buddhist and others parts like Central India was dominated by Brahminic culture, where Buddhist lost ground against Brahmanism. Under this condition, it became easy to establish the rules of Smrities to non-Muslim people and paved the way towards the establishment of Caste system.

Earlier to 800 AD, no record is available regarding the name 'Hindu' as the name of a religion. The name was given by Aryan Muslims. Gradually this name Hindu became popular as the name of major religion of India i.e. Vedic or Brahminic religion. During the beginning of invasion of Aryan Muslims to North and North western part of India, they used to call non-Muslims as Hindus and clean headed Buddhist Sramans as the Brahmins. This also indicates that elite Buddhist or educated Buddhist embraced Brahmanism and accordingly their caste was decided . As far as the fusion of blood/races between Aryans and Non-Aryans in Bengal is considered, it is found to be impossible the way we have been taught. It is seen from the political history of Bengal, that no Aryan king or Dynasty invaded Bengal, defeated Bengalis and became their master until 12th century AD. The fact is found to be just opposite. It was the Bihari and Bengali Kings who had defeated various Aryan tribes and

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ruled over those Rig-Vedic places. Hence, it would be natural that, during their return after victories, a good lot of Aryan women were brought along with them e.g. Chandragupta Maurya was married to Greek princess, Bindusara was also married to Greek princess, Pala king was married to Chedi princess and Chola princess. Further to these example, as a natural tendency, Aryans who were described as fair, tall and handsome would not like to marry Non-Aryans, who were described as black and short, uncultured, uncivilized and inferior. The chance of marrying of an African black female to a European white male is almost nil. On the other hand the chance of marrying of an African black male to a European white female is very high. Thus Bengalis are a mixture of Aryan male and Non-Aryan female is unrealistic and illogical. In spite of these above ground condition, if any fusion took place, it would not have been even 1% of the population and definitely could not pollute the Bengali blood. Had it been succeeded, the topography of features of Bengalis would be similar to the people of Rig-Vedic places. During the 20th century, the number of marriages between Bengalis and NonBengalis might not have been exceeded even 1% in spite of being so liberal and rational. Thus if this is the situation at the most liberal period, we can easily imagine and extrapolate the condition of marriage during ancient period. Besides this, the non Bengali population today in Bengal is quite high and at central Calcutta the population of non Bengalis is more than 50%, but what is the percentage of blood fusion? Finally, Let us look at the history of some other countries of the world, where these countries were invaded and occupied by outsiders, e.g.

England: It was occupied and ruled by Romans, The English towns/cities suffixed entered with 'Shire' (Yorkshire, Nottingham Shire etc) were Roman colonies and settlements. Later on England was occupied by Danes and other Scandinavian countries and finally by Vikings (Belgians & Germans) people. But the English people never identify themselves as descendent of these outsiders. Even today, the Royal blood of England contains higher percentage of German blood than English blood.

Spain: It was ruled and occupied by Arabian and African Moors, but they don't
identify themselves with Moors Italy, Asia-minor, Iran, Iraq, Arab etc. including Egypt were invaded and ruled for many centuries by Africans, Greeks, and Romans etc. Even Greek text themselves acknowledge that Greece had effectively been an Egyptian Colony, before the development of Greek Civilization. Iranian people also ruled part of Europe, present West Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria etc. Huns had invaded and ruled over Asia and part of Europe. However, the people of these countries never identified themselves as the descendent of those outsiders. Neither they acknowledge that their languages were derived from the languages of those rulers nor they believe that they are the

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descendent of those noble invaders. It is the only in this Bengal and India, where people preferred to be identified as the descendent of Aryans invaders through a non-Aryan native mother. We people feel proud to be called our selves as the descendent of the male people of Aryasthan (Afghanistan, Central Asia and West Pakistan) the land of Rig-Vedic Aryan Rishis and aboriginal female of Bengal. It is noted by Historians and Researchers that Aryan/Caucasian antiquity were fabricated and fathered by European scholars during 18th Century and the term "Indo-European" was first introduced in 1816 AD. On the other hand the followers of Rig-Vedic Aryans used to call the Bengalis as Vratya (Patita), pulind, Dom, Kol, Dasas, Dasyus and speakers of unknown birdslanguage. The Muslim Aryans used to call the Bengalis as Kefir, Non-Believers etc. They never recognized Bengalis as Aryans and equal to them. This racism of superiority is still continuing. This was the main reason for nonacceptance of Bangabandhu Mujeebur Rahaman as their leader to become the Prime Minister of combined Pakistan (West and East Pakistan). Modern Historians & Researchers opined that the Aryans were probably the most cruel and Barbaric race. They were not founder of any great cities but destroyer of cities/town. They were so destructive that they awarded the title of "Purandara" (invaders and conqueror of towns or breaker of forts also means burglar) to, their greatest leader Indra. Indra was credited for the destruction of more than 100 cities or forts of Non-Aryan Kingdom of King Sambar. In Rig-Veda more than 1000 verses were dedicated to Indra praising him for killing of various non-Aryans tribes and for destruction of their forts and towns. Modern researchers opine of that non-Aryan (Pre Aryan), civilization was stable and based on town and village, where as the Aryans were of Gypsy type and were not aware of peaceful settled life. The word Aryan probably came from the word Aranya (means forest or jungle). That is the Janglee or uncivilized people or the people living in Jungle. The Holy-fire of Yagna was probably a modification and improvement of bon-fire activities. The bon-fire used to be regular feature for Aryans, for relaxation after the days of fighting and looting and also to prevent any attack from animals of Aranya. This Bon-fire was probably used also for get-together to bring unity and strength of the Aryans for further invasion. The recitation of slokas/Verses or poems in praise of their ancestor was used to inspire and motivate the Aryan warriors with killer instinct. These Aryans, of Central Asia, even today are found to be of similar habits. The invasion which began around 1500 BC is still continuing today if we look carefully to North West frontier areas of India. There cultures also can be observed in those countries. The recent act of vandalism of destroying the famous Buddha statues of Baniham in Afghanistan is an example towards this, even though it was an artistic creation of their own ancestors.

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R. D. Banerjee stated that the Bengalis are a mixed race of Dravidian and Mongolian race irrespective of their caste. It has been proved by Researchers that the Bengali Brahmins are more close to a Bengali Sudra than that of Brahmins or Sudras of other places and those of North Western India. This also indicates the fact the Bengali Brahmins and Bengali Sudras are of same race and stock and is different than the other races. Thus it can be inferred from these various historical facts as described and from the co-relation of these historical facts, that the Bengali Brahmins are in fact NonAryan by blood and were original inhabitants of Bengal. The religions of Bengalis are dominated by Vratya philosophies. However, they adopted many good features from other religions and societies and assimilated into their religion and society to make it more ornamental and glamorous in their social life

BENGALI RITUALS
It is stated in our literature that Aryans came to Bengal, from Magadha (Bihar). All the people of high caste of Bengal are the descendent of those Bihari Aryans and others like Dom, Chandal, and Pulinds etc are the original inhabitants of Bengal. In course of time, Aryan cultures become the present Bengali culture. Let us look at some of the custom and rituals of Bengal and these have been described below:

God/Goddess: There are various Gods/Goddess, who are being worshipped in various forms of idols at various parts of Bengal. They are Kali, Karali, Chandi, Chinnamasta, Bhairav, Bhairavi, Ban-Bibi, Ban-Durga, Durga, Sitala, Sashthi, Manasa, Dharma-Thakur, Shiva, Shiva of Cremation grounds(Rudra), Charaka Puja, Dhwaja Puja, Holi etc. Besides the above, worship of various Plants/trees is also in existence at almost every house, for example the worship of Tulasi plant, Bata (Banyan) tree, seora tree etc. Offerings: Items like sugar cane, white cucumber, plantains, coconut, Beettle leaf,
and Beettlenut, chuna (lime) etc are used as offerings to God/Goddess during worship

Items required to perform Puja: These are Amra-Pallava (a bunch of five

mango leaves), Plantain tree leaves, Paddy and rice, Durba grass, Bunch of Paddy leaves along with matured Paddy, Pan (Bittle leafs), Bittle nut, Coconut, Kori(dry snails), decorated vessels, cow-dung and cow urine, Sindoor etc.

Marriage rituals: Pan-khili before marriage (a ceremony, normally performed

before marriage, when Bittle leaf packed with Bittle nut is offered to guests from the side of Bride groom with Haldi (Turmeric), Playing of dice and dry snails, throwing of Khoi (puffed paddy) etc.

Daily Usage: Paddy, tamarind, Coconut, Bittle nut and leaf, Dhoti, Sari, Sindoor,
Samkhya, and Iron-Bangle etc. are part of daily life of Bengalis.

Rituals: Various rituals are being followed during the year. These are worships or
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Pujas performed during first time tilling of the soil, during throwing/sowing of seeds, during harvest time by farmers. Besides these various ceremonies/rituals are being performed on special occasions like, installation of Air-blower system of Iron-smith, circular wheel worship of earthen potters, and worship of weaving instruments by weavers.

Vratas: There are some other types of rituals, normally called as Vratas and Pujas, like Ambubachi vrata, Itupuja vrata etc. These are some of the noticeable features of Non-Aryans and Non-Vedic people. The followers of these Vratas or rituals were probably termed as Vratyas by the Vedic Aryans. Idol worship: Among Aryan of Vedic civilization, there was no practice of Idol
worship. However, Bengalis are firm believer of idol worship. The idol worship was an invention of Buddhism, the construction of temple and temple architecture was also introduced by Buddhism. The earliest temples of India were all belongs to Buddhism and followed by Jainism not by Aryans or Vedic people. Tantra, Mantra and Yantra were invented by Buddhism and these were specifically developed and flourished in Bihar, Bengal and Assam. Out of 51 Shaktipeethas, more than 50% are located in Bihar, Bengal and Assam. It is very natural, that a superior race of Superior culture does not accept the inferior culture of inferior race. Hence, logically it may not be proper that High caste Bengalis are of Aryan race having a superior Vedic culture would have adopted an inferior culture, rituals and belief of inferior races of Doms, Chandals, and Pulinds etc. In fact Bengalis are very rational and emotional. They are probably the most liberals among all Indian communities. From the history of Bengalis, it is observed that they had adopted many good features from other religions and races, which are beneficial and advantageous for them. Some of them are described below:

Marriage:
a) From Vedic culture: Some Aryan/Vedic rituals were introduced for marriage ceremony. These are, handing over of bride to the hands of bridegroom (Kanyadan), by an elderly person of the family. Performance of Yagna and taking oath (making promise) in the presence of Agni (Holy Fire), Surya (Sun) and Chandra (Moon) as witness for the union and saptapadi (encircling of the holy fire seven times by bride and groom together). Since Chandra and Surya were required to be present as a witness, the marriage ceremony used to be performed during day time, when both are available in the sky. b) From Islamic culture: During the period of Islamic rule, kings and rich people of Islamic faith used to celebrate their marriage ceremony during night. During night their palaces, residences and houses used to be decorated by lights and fire works used to be played. Thus the marriage ceremony used to be very glamorous, and enjoyable. This had influenced the elite Bengalis and gradually they adopted the system of performing marriage during night. Since Sun is not available during night, but the presence of Sun is essential during marriage, this necessitates some amendments of certain rituals. Thus "Vasi-

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Vivaha" was introduced. This ritual is performed on the very next day morning of the wedding night, when Sun is available in the sky. The Bengali marriage remains incomplete unless this "Vasi-Vivaha" is completed. c) From European culture: Now a day, many of the Bengali families, in the name of Modernization, perform the marriage of their children through registration in the presence of a Govt. appointed Authorized Marriage Registrar. Some other features adopted and also discarded at various points of time from various cultures are given below: 1. Bengalis were not supposed to wear any stitched cloth during marriage ceremony, now this is not in practice. 2. Present day Bengalis wear shirt and pant in place of Dhoti and chadar. The dresses were adopted from Europeans 3. Many Bengalis have converted/embraced to Christianity and named their children with European names and follow their rituals. Now the priests of the Christian churches are managed by Indians, not by Europeans. 4. Bengalis converted to Islam named their children, which are of Arabic origin and follow the Islamic rituals of Arabians. Their priests are all converted Bengalis and called Maulavi. These priests are not Arabians. 5. Many Bengalis became expert on the other languages including European languages and many of them speak in those languages in their house also. 6. Present day our Bengali mothers and sisters wear Afghani/Punjabi dress of salwar-Kamiz, and some of them wear European dresses. 7. Same way our food habits also have been changed and adopted various types of dishes from various cultures and civilization. Thus it is seen that at various points of times, Bengalis adopted and also continuing to adopt various systems from various culture and civilization. These become now part and parcel of Bengali civilization and culture. However a culture when adopted, it was modified to suite Bengali system, whenever necessary. Historians and researchers opine that 95% of Bengali culture is originals of Bengalis, which is pre-Aryan and non-Aryan and rest 5% is taken from other civilizations including Vedic civilization. However, as far as Bengali blood or race is concerned, no civilization could pollute it, whether it is Hindu Aryan, Greeks, Iranians, Sakas, Turks, Kushans, Punjabis, and Kashmiris, Chinese or any European races. Thus, it may be inferred that Bengalis are not Aryans but pre-Aryan or Non-Aryan and may be termed as Vratyas only.

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Are Bengalis descendent of Aryans

Before going into details, let us try to find out who actually Aryans are and what their civilization was.

Who the Aryans are?

The credit to bring the race Aryan in to history of civilization of mankind goes to Prof. Max Meular. A German by blood and was appointed as professor to teach the English officers, who were to be posted to India, during Christian rule of Europeans in India. Until 18th century AD, Europeans were of the belief that the origin of entire European civilization was Greece. However, during 18th century it was proved by historians that Greece was originally a colony of Blacks. This gave a very big blow to their belief on the origin of their civilization. This discovery could not be digested by Europeans, as they never dreamt that Greece was a colony of Blacks. This forced them to find out a suitable theory to trace their origin to prove their superiority over others. Finally, Prof Maxmular came out with the theory that Central Asia was the inhabitant of Aryans. While migrating, from there one group came towards India, while other groups migrated to Europe, through Iran and Arabian countries and the pure Aryan settled at German and Nordic countries. During this migration they killed the entire population of the countries, through which the moved. Thus the entire populations of blacks in those countries were perished. When Prof. Maxmular was asked; who are original Aryans are? And his reply was we the Nordic Aryans. This theory also instigated the feelings of Hitler of Germany, which motivated him to establish the Aryan supremacy throughout the world.
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The present theory is that they were very cruel, and known as the destroyer of civilization. They are also termed as Barbarian (Barbar Aryans >> Butcher/Sloughter Aryans) in Punaic stories of India. It is well known that Egyptian civilization is the oldest civilization. The Egyptians used to call these new emigrants as Aryans. In course of time, some of them became the followers of Sun God like Egyptians, they became known as Sun Aryans and later on only as Su Arian and finally as Saurian. The others were used to be called as Assyrians. The place of settlements of Assyrians became known as Asia. In course of time the entire land mass east of their population also got the name Asia.

The same way Hindustan or India was defined. The original Hindustan is present Pakistan and part of Afghanistan. However, the entire land mass east of original Hindustan was also named as Hindustan. Exactly the same way, the ancient Bengal/Bangaesha was defined. The original Bengal started from Dwarbhanga/Mithila, the meaning of Dwar Banga is gate way of Bangadesha and thus entire plane land mass at the east of Mithila was named as Bengal. The ancient Jain Literature says there was a city by name Mithila of Bangadesha, where Lord Nemi Nath was born.

Let us look at the theory of Max Meular of language of Sanskrit. According to him, Sanskrit is the mother of all language of Indian Language. All the words of other languages are a derivative of Sanskrit words. Therefore, Krishna became Kanha and finally to Kanai. Chandra became Chanda and finally to Chand.

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Hasta became Hattha and finally to Haath. Now let us use the same method of Prof. Max Meular with the word Aryan. The word Aryana came from Aryan, Aryana was the ancient name of Afghanistan. Others are shown bellow: Aryan >> Airan >> Iran (present Iran) Aryan >> Airan >> Airav >> Arab Aryan >> Airan >> Airav >> Airaq>> Iraq Aryan >> Airav >> Airap >> Airop >> Airope >> Europe Sun Arian >> Su _ nArya >> Su arya >> Souria >> Syria Iranian Kings used to call themselves as Aryan.

These Aryans used to call the Mountain which divides there are of settlements with further eastern countries as Sindhu Kush Mountain, and the great river flows in the valley was named as Sindhu River. And the people were called as Sindhu. Their society was male dominated and the mightiness of the river Sindhu made it named as Male River. However, The Iranians of later date were pronouncing Sindhu as Hindu, so all names were pronounced as Hindu Kush Mountain, Hindu River, Hindustan, Hindu Bag etc. All these are now part of present Pakistan. From the above, it appears that Hindustan could not become Aryastan, due to its own reason.

Indian Historical Facts INVASIONS: As far as Indian history is concerned, the North West part of Hindustan (Punjab area) was a province of Iranian Kingdom
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from 558 BC. The north western part of India(Punjab and further western part) was a part of Iran and was ruled by various Iranian kings; e.g. Cyrus(Kurush, 558 BC to 530 BC; Cambyses I(Kaambujiya I), Cyrus II(Kurush II),Cambyses II(Kaambujiya II) from 530 BC to 522 BC; Darius I(Daaraayavaush) from 522 BC to 486 BC; Xerxes(Khshayaarshaa) from 486 BC to 465 BC, and at last under Darius III Kondomannos until the fall of Iranian empire due to invasion of Greek King Alexander. After Greek occupation by 326 BC they ruled up to 321 BC and thereafter these areas were ruled by Mouryas from 321 BC from Magadha. Later on, the area consisting of Ahganistan and Punjab were ruled by Sakas, Pallavas, Kushans/Shahiyas/Sahis, and Hunas. These people used to claim that they were the rulers of Ariana (Afghanistan) and Hindustan. All these people settled at Ariana and Hindustan. We find from our history that all these foreigners, like Iranians, Greeks/Yavanas, Sakas, Parthians/Pallavas, Scythians, Kushans/Sahis and Huns from Europe and various central Asian countries settled at Aryana and Hindustan. In due course they all embraced Buddhism and assimilated with the local/previous settlers. At a later date, Hindustan was invaded by the next generation people from central Asian countries and other Asian countries of Aryan settlements, but this time the religion of those Aryans became Islam. Thus the North West part of Hindustan was ruled by Aryans from 558 BC until the arrival of Aryans from Europe, having Christian faith. And the same continued up to 14th August, 1947.

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Migration:
The Jews had migrated to India during 1st century AD at Cochin, Kerala; so far they could not pollute the blood of Keralites. Their religion is Judaism, and neither they have embraced Islam nor of any Indian religion. They are living in India for more than 2000 yrs. The Persians/Iranians migrated to India during 5th century AD, and now they have been spread all over India. They are known as Parsi. Even today they are living in India as a separate community with their religion as Parsi. They have neither converted nor embraced Islam nor any Indian religion, even though they are living in India for more than 1500 years.

Vedic Cultural centers in India:

In Vedic society Bramhins occupy the highest position in the social structure from the Vedic era. The Bramhins are classified under five catagories according to their place of origins. These five catagories are Puri Bramhins, Goudia Bramhins, Maithyli Bramhins, Konoujia Bramhins and Saraswat Bramhins. The places are Puri, located at Orissa (Adjacent to Baengal and in eastern India); Gouda/Gouda, ancient capital of Bang Desha (eastern India); Maithily of ancient Bangladeshi(presently in Bihar, eastern India); Kanouj, between Allahabad and Kantur of UP (central India) and Saraswat , Punjab (undivided Punjab). No Vedic centre found to be in west neither in Ariana (Afghanistan).

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ANALYSIS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Analysis on Aryan Invaders

Why these Buddhism? foreign Aryan invaders/settlers embraced

Possibilities are as follows: 1) They might not have a superior civilization. 2) They had embraced Buddhism and encouraged the society to be governed in Bhuddhistic way (without caste) in place of Vedic religion. 3) They did not embraced Vedic religion, as Vedic religion needs Gotram and a caste to be defined. 4) At a later date during the fall of Buddhism, they were converted into Vedic religion. Towards this a big Yagna was made at Mount Abu and they were brought under Vedic religion. Their caste was named as Rajput, the five clans were established, and they are Pratihar, Chouhan, Solanki, Tomar, and Parmer. Thus a new caste Rajput was introduced in Vedic religion .This was done to fight against the next generation of invaders from central Asian/Iranian belts, who got converted in to Islam by that time. Buddhists were non-believers and they used to be called by Islamic invaders as Kafir means non believer. So all the non believers (Buddhists) were converted to Islam after their defeat at the hands of Islamic Invaders. 5) The Rajputs before conversion probably found Vedic religion is closer to Buddhist religion (by that time ritual wise e.g. Tantra, Mantra and Yantra were being practiced by Buddhist as well as by Vedic people). Thus they were probably converted to Vedic religion, to avoid the conversion into Islam and to fight unitedly against Invaders of Islamic faith. However, by that time all the Buddhists people of Present Pakistan and Afghanistan
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were converted into Muslims by aggressive Khalifas, Few Vedic people were left out, as Vedic people are also believers like Muslims. Thus for a period from 558 BC to 1947 AD, Ariana and part of north western Hindustan were ruled partly/fully by Aryans, if we believe Max Meular. The total number of years ruled by known Aryans is almost 2605 years. The interesting part is that during this known period of 2605 years; the Indian blood did not get polluted by Aryans of Max Meular. Prior to that, when history is unknown and in mistry, Max Meular very cleverly invented that Aryans came to India as an invader and settled in India after defeating them. Indian education/history was at very infancy stage during the Christian Aryan rules, and as result Indians were easily convinced by them whatever they said. It is very unfortunate that, we Indians/Hindus are still not able to overcome the wrong theory of Max Meular and others of Western Scholars. Further to this, there is a natural phenomenon and is very simple logic to prove that Indians are not of Aryan stock. We are experiencing on our day to day life that a handsome boy of elite family will not get married to girl of black complexion of non-elite family. However the reverse is traceable in plenty. A boy of nonelite family, when become influential/rich/powerful can get a girl in marriage from elite family. We can see this set of example throughout the World. If we look back to our Indian history, we find Chandragupta Mourya married the sister of Greek General Selukas, and his son later on married to the daughter of Selukas. It is a known thing that in ancient period, during a battle the first target of winner was looting of beautiful women folk of the defeated side. There are many historical facts are available in Indian history, when Indians expanded their kingdom towards north and north
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western side.

Analysis on Migrations of outsiders

Besides this when a group of people peacefully come and settled in another country with the consent of locals, the situation becomes different, as can be seen form following facts. The Jews had migrated to India during 1st century AD at Cochin, Kerala; so far they could not pollute the blood of Keralites. Their religion is Judaism, and neither they have embraced Islam nor of any Indian religion. They are living in India for more than 2000 yrs. The Persians/Iranians migrated to India during 5th century AD, and now they have been spread all over India. They are known as Parsi. Even today they are living in India as a separate community with their religion as Parsi. They have neither converted nor embraced Islam nor any Indian religion, even though they are living more than 1500 years. These settlers also did not pollute the blood of Indians. When such is the case, is it believable that an Aryan boy, who was very fair and handsome, would marry a dark complexioned Dravidian girl? Even today, the discrimination in South Africa between Blacks and Whites are noticeable. The same features are seen in United States of America, the most liberal country in the World. Further to this, if we look at Indian society, we find a word by name GOTRAM. All the people of higher caste will have some Gotra (linage). Gotra is identification, that the person is a descendent of that particular Rishi. Marriage is also prohibited in the same Gotra, as in such case bride and grooms are treated as brother and sister, because they both are the
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descendent of same person. There are various Gotras available; however pravara or origin is from seven Risis. They are honored as Saptarshi. If there were Aryan settlements in Hindustan by marriage, then there would be many more Aryans, they must be in more than thousands. Being such a case, where are the descendents of Aryan kings and other common Aryans? Next, these seven Rishis were great sages, and greatest intellectuals of their time. Hence, they would have concentrated on the development of policies for the society and other spiritual activities. Did they travel all over Hindustan to create their descendents instead of intellectual work and every family offered their womenfolk for this purpose? Is it believable? With due respect, definitely they were not. We respect them as our greatest intellectuals and who guided the people of Hindustan. Even today we are being guided through their great thoughts. It should be treated as a sin, if we even dream of it. Under such circumstances, how it is possible? Do the Gotra system was used for different purpose?

Analysis on the locations of the origins of (Aryans)

It is seen that out of five catagories of Bramhins (highest category among Indians), three categories were originated in eastern part of India and one at central part while the last one was from Punjab belt of present India. We should remember that the spiritual part Veda is called as Sruti and temporal part of Veda is called as Smriti. This is due to the fact that scripts were not invented and Bramhins used to memorize by chanting in a particular way (known as Chandas) through listening to their Gurus, as script was not invented in India. On the other hand Aryans were familiar with the script earlier to the compilation of Vedas. Therefore, if Bengalis are the off shoots of Aryans, Sruti would not be used to remember Vedas,

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We should not forget Valmiki of Ramayana is the Adi Kavi was from east India. Next is Mahabharata compiled by Veda Vaysa and written by Ganesha is in west of the place of Valmiki.

A classic example of Aryan phobia in India

Religion of the Royal family and commoners of Cooch : During the British period, while modern Indian education system was at very infancy stage, the Aryan theory was injected so much to Indian people, that Indian intellectuals actually started believing the British theory, and all higher caste people not only accepted their theory but they become their propaganda officials. It had affected our religious thoughts in such a manner, that all religious leaders accepted that Aryans were the originators of Vedas. However, to prove that Indians were superior to Europeans, many of the Indian thinkers propagated that India was the native land of Aryans and from here only they migrated to other countries. They started calling India as Aryavarta. This phobia made Indians to link themselves with Aryan race by hook or by crook. A classic case is the history of Cooch tribe of North eastern part of present India. The ancient Cooch country was consisting of present north Bengal, Northern part of present Bangladesh and western part of present Assam from Guahati. Their physical characteristics are close to Bengalis, Bhutanese and Nepalese. They look like Mongoloid origin. During this British period, one of Cooch literator Panchanan Pandit invited Bramhins from Varanasi and other places of India and performed a very big Yagna on the bank of river Torsa. At that Yagna the Brahmins declared that Coochs is of Aryan descendent and their castes were defined in accordance with Vedic Sastras. From that day the Coochs stated wearing of Yogna-Upabita, in line with Bramhins. Their gotra was defined as Kashyap Gotra. They were told to believe that they are the descendent of King Dasarath, father of Rama of Solar dynasty. They fled from their original inhabitant place to Cooch Bihar in order to escape from the wrath of Lord Parasuram. The fact is that, there was no casteism among Cooch prior to that event prior to the introduction of Vedic religion to them. The historical facts says that they were initially Buddhist people and the existence of huge numbers of Mathas/Vihars in that country, made the Aryans of Islamic faith to name the place as Cooch Vihar. Their next royal religion was Saivaism, during those periods they built a lot of Saiva/Ishwara temples. Their next religion was Saktaism, and became worshipper of Kali/Chandika/Durga etc. During this period, the built lot of Sakti/Kalika
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temples. The most famous among them was Kamakhya Temple of Guahati of present Assam. This temple was renovated and built by them and priests from Nadia district of West Bengal were brought to administer the temple. They are known as Parbatia Gowsain. Even today they are the priests of this temple. In next phase, they embraced Vaishnaism and became devotees of Lord Krishna. During this period they established Madan Mohon Temple complex at Cooch Bihar town. Every year the Raas leela of Lord Krishna is celebrated there for a month. A very peculiar thing can be observed which is unique to Cooch Bihar. A very large chakra/wheel in the shape of a temple would be made, and the opening of the grand festival used to be inaugurated by King by rotating that Chakra in a circular way. Now the district magistrate performs this ceremony in absence of the King. The interesting part is that, this chakra is being made by a Muslim family from the very beginning. Though the Cooch people are no more Buddhists, but they could not leave their glorious days of Buddhism and carrying their tradition in a different way. The poor peasants of the state embraced Islam from Buddhism; however the kings did not change the carpenter family of that Chakra. The practice is in continuance even today. The Last three generations were the followers of Bramha religion, founded by Maharaja Kesab Chandra Sen, Raja Ram Mohon Roy, Maharshi Devendra Nath Thakur (Father of Rabindra Nath Tagore), after the marriage of Suniti Devi daughter of Maharaja Kesab Chandra Sen and Grand mother of Rjamata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur of Rajasthan. The royal family built a Bramha temple also at Cooch Bihar. However their western way of living and in their long absence at Cooch Bihar could not make the religion as the religion of common people. The present Cooch peoples are part of modern Hinduism and have caste system among them. The similar thing is noticed among Assamese people also. A similar thing was done at Rajasthan and whole lot of Rajasthanis was brought under Bramhanism (Vedic) fold from Buddhism. This is the effect of Aryanization of Indians by intellectual Europeans.

In such case, will it be fair that Vedic religion was brought by Aryans from outside India through north western frontier of India and Bengalis are the descendent of those Aryans?

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OBSERVATION AND CONCLUSION

OBSERVATION: Based on the various historical evidences and analysis on various features of Bengal and its people know as Bengalis, the followings have been observed: 1. Geographically the large plain area formed by the two great rivers Ganges and Bramhaputra and their tributaries, extended at West to the hills of Orissa from Balasore Chotanagpur hills of Jharkhand and Bihar extending up to Rajmahal at South of Ganges and up to Dwarvanga and Himalayas on the North of Ganges. At Eastern side its plain area is bounded by Arakani hills, Lalmai hills, Garo hills on the south of Brahmaputra River and up to Himalayas from Kamakhya hills on the Northern side of Brahmaputra River. On the Northern side, its limit was up to Himalayas while on the Southern side, it was extended up to Bengal. The entire area was termed as Vanga or Bengal. 2. Language wise there is a very close proximity on the neighboring places, even though the local language varies from place to place. 3. Their religion, culture, habits etc., are very close and similar. The languages of present Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Bengal are very closely related. 4. The food habits are similar, their dresses are similar, and their mentality is similar. 5. Philosophically, they are more close to Non Vedic religion than Vedic religion. 6. The general cultures of the people of this area are more close to Vratya culture than Vedic culture.

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7. Physically their structures are close to Vratya people than the Aryan/Vedic people. 8. Bengali language is not a derivative of Samaskrita language. In fact, the language Samaskrita was originated from Vratya Language and this language was also developed by the Non Aryan Vratya people only. 9. Vratya religion was found to be older than the Vedic religion. 10. The first Aryan, who invaded Bengal, was Mohammad-bin-Bahktiar of Islamic faith from the place of Rig-Veda area around 12th century AD. 11. These Aryan people of Islamic faith during their rule in Bengal of approximately 500 years could not pollute the Bengali blood. Hence, Bengali blood populated by Aryan blood can be ruled out. 12. If Bengali Hindus of elite classes are assumed to be the descendant of few Aryan Rishis, then the Bengali Muslim also should be the descendents of Arabians, Iranians, Russians and Afghanis (particularly Muslim Maulavi, Mullas), also the Bengali Christians should be the descendents of European Christians (specifically, the Christian Missionaries and Priests). 13. The Bengalis are thus Bengalis by blood or race, by belief etc. However they have adopted various good features, which are of advantageous to them and also got relieved of, which are not advantageous of various points of time. 14. The concept of Aryan invasion and their settlement in India was fabricated and fathered by Europeans during 18th century AD for their own benefits. The term "Indo-European" are "Indo-Aryan" was first introduced by them in 1816 AD only.

CONCLUSION: It is observed from this analysis, that all the analyses on Bengalis are converging to one point, that Bengalis are Non-Aryan by blood or race. However, they have adopted and also are adopting various features from various civilizations. This is a natural process for any civilization to remain alive and rich. Thus, it may be concluded that Bengali civilization was older than Vedic civilization and was superior to the Vedic religion in many aspects. Now Vedic civilization is no more existing any where in the world, but Bengali civilization and its people are still flourishing which is different than Aryan or Vedic civilization.

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