The land of Ráŕh is very ancient. Just as its people are ancient, so their civilization and culture are ancient. There cannot be a very interesting history of the Shúdra Age. Its history is the history of how humanity marches onward towards the Kśatriya Age.⁽¹⁾ This Ráŕh, which was called Gauṋgá Ráŕh in the histories written in the middle ages, Gauṋgá Rid́i in some languages, and Láti in some other languages, can be roughly divided into two parts – north and south – parts which, in ancient times, were called Brahmadesh and Suhmadesh respectively. Later the northern part of Ráŕh came to be called Burdwan Bhukti and the southern part Dańd́a Bhukti (the Midnapur region). Following the end of the rule of powerful kings in Ráŕh, there emerged numerous small and medium-sized kingdoms or regions. Some of their rulers were sovereign kings, some were feudal lords; while others remained in a position of half-sovereignty, paying a nominal tax or giving occasional presents to the king of Gaoŕa. Others who had lost their power turned into zamindars [landlords].

One thing that was very noticeable was that most of the kingdoms or regions had names ending with bhum. Though there were a few exceptions, this bhum ending was a speciality of Ráŕh. A brief history of such places is as follows:

1) Birbhum: In the Austric language, biir means “forest”. This Birbhum consisted of Rajmahal and Pakurh Subdivisions of Santal Pargana District, Rampurhat Subdivision of Birbhum District, Kandi Subdivision and the Ráŕh portion (the areas to the west of the Bhagirathi River) of the district of Murshidabad. The rulers of Birbhum were Kayasthas whose surname was Sinha. They thwarted the inroads of Buddhism for a long time.

When Santal Pargana District was created in 1856, Pakurh Subdivision and Rajmahal Subdivision were annexed to that district. Later, even Kandi Subdivision was cut out of Birbhum and made a part of the district of Murshidabad.

2) Gopabhum: The Gopabhum kingdom consisted of Deoghar and Dumka Subdivisions of the district of Santal Pargana and Shiuri Sadar Subdivision of Birbhum. This entire kingdom was included in the Zilla [district] Birbhum during the Mughal period. The Sadgope kings, whose surname was Ghosh, ruled the land. Ichai Ghosh was the most notable of all the kings of the Ghosh dynasty. Most probably it was Ichai Ghosh who for the first time used Bengali in place of Sanskrit for the administrative work. It was Ichai Ghosh who brought a good number of Brahmans and Kayasthas to his kingdom, settled them on tax-free land, and planned to build a society of scholars. The Brahmans came from Burdwan and the Kayasthas from Kandi. A somewhat similar thing happened in Chut́iyá Nagpur (it is erroneous to call it Chota Nagpur). King Ratu of Ranchi brought a large number of Ráŕhii Brahmans from Burdwan and settled them there, in his own kingdom. In Ranchi District they are now known as Deoghariiya Brahmans [Brahmans of Deoghar origin – Deoghar was within Burdwan District at the time of their arrival]. It was these Deoghariiya Brahmans who established the Paoráńika cult in the Silli, Tamarh and Bagmundi regions. Afterwards, when Santhal Pargana was created, Dumka and Deoghar Subdivision were included in that newly-created district.

3) Samantabhum: Samantabhum consisted of Durgapur and Asansol Subdivisions of Burdwan and Jamtara Subdivision of Santal Pargana District. At one time the whole of Samantabhum had fallen within Ranigunj Subdivision of the district of Burdwan. Later, when Santal Pargana came into existence, Jamtara was joined with it. Asansol being a bigger town than Ranigunj, the headquarters of the subdivision was shifted to Asansol. Later, the importance of Durgapur having increased, Durgapur Subdivision was formed out of the eastern part of that subdivision, and Asansol Subdivision was formed out of the western part. The Ugrakśatriya [a kśatriya sub-caste] kings with Samanta as their surname ruled Samantabhum.

4) Shikharbhum: The expanse of this Shikharbhum kingdom included the present-day district of Dhanbad and everything west up to Sametshikhar, or the Pareshnath Hills. The kingdom of Shikharbhum was named after Sametshikhar. The Shikharbhum kingdom of Ráŕh lay to the east and south, and the kingdom of Jharkhand to the north and west, of Sametshikhar. Later the kingdom got divided up into the regions of Jharia, Katras, etc. A branch known as Shikhar Samaj exists among the Rajuaras, the Bede Mahatos, the Bauris and the Ráŕhii Maithili Brahmans of Bengal.

5) Mallabhum: Vishnupur Subdivision of Bankura District was known as Mallabhum. Vir Hambir Malla was the founder of this kingdom, hence it was so named.

6) Senbhum: Senbhum consisted of the Sadar Subdivision of Bankura. Vaidya kings with the surname Sen ruled here, hence the name Senbhum. Among the Vaidyas of Ráŕh there is a distinct section called the Senbhum Samaj. Though there is some controversy about the matter, it seems likely that Bankura owes its name to Banku Ray, a king of Senbhum. During the time of the Vaidya kings, Senpaharhi also was an important place.

7) Manbhum: Manbhum was also known as Panchakot, Panchet or Pacheti. The present-day district of Purulia, the land to the south of the Damodar River in the district of Dhanbad (Chas, Chandankeyari and Bokaro), and Jeredi, Peterwar, Kasmar, Gola and Ramgar of Hazaribag District (now Giridih District) were included in this kingdom.

This kingdom owes its name to King Mansingha Dev. Its former capital was Manbazar. Later the kingdom of Kashipur was formed out of a large part of Manbhum. The zamindaries [estates] of Jaipur and Jhalda were also a part of it.

8) Barahabhum: This kingdom consisted of the southern part of the district of Purulia, that is, Barahabazar, Balarampur, Bandwan and Bagmundi; the Chandil, Patamda, Ichagar and Nimdi areas of the district of Singhbhum; and the Panch Parganiiya areas of Ranchi District, that is, the Silli, Sonahatu, Bundu and Tamar areas. Two Munda brothers, Adibaraha and Keshbaraha, founded this kingdom. Later, it disintegrated into the small zamindaries of Barahabhum, Bagmundi, Silli, Tamar, etc.

9) Singhabhum: This kingdom consisted of the central and western parts of the present-day district of Singhbhum. The kings of the Kole sub-tribe ruled this kingdom. In course of time, this kingdom broken into two segments – Singbhum in the west and Porahat in the east. Still later, the kingdom of Porahat split in two – Kharsoyan in the west and Seraikela in the east. During the British rule, Kharsoyan and Seraikela were two principalities. The Keraikela region was also included within this kingdom.

10) Dhabalbhum or Dhalbhum: This kingdom consisted of Dhalbhum Subdivision of Singhbhum District and Jhargram Subdivision of Midnapore District. The surname of the kings was Dhabaldeo, and the kingdom was named after them.

11) Shabarbhum: This kingdom was formed out of most of the areas of the district of Midnapore. The kings of the Shabar clan (of the Kheŕiyá Muńd́á) ruled it. Later this kingdom broke up into numerous small zamindaries.

12) Bhanjabhum: The ancient name of the kingdom of Mayurbhanja was Bhanjabhum. As each and every emblem of the royal family bore the figure of a peacock [mayúr], the kingdom was called Mayurbhanja. The kings of Mayurbhanja also had zamindaries in the Nayabasan area of Midnapore District. The British long ago annexed the Nayabasan area to British India.

13) Saptashati: The Saptashati region consisted of the eastern parts of the districts of Burdwan and Hooghly. The Saptashati (i.e., Satshaika) Brahman kings ruled here. Their rule came to an end during the Muslim period and then some parts of this kingdom went into the formation of Sharifabad Pargana (an area near the city of Burdwan).

14) Bhurishreshtha, or Bhursoot: Bhurishreshtha, or Bhursoot Pargana, consisted of the southern part of Burdwan District, the western part of Hooghly District, and Howrah District. Ráŕhii Brahman kings with the surname Ráy (or Bandyopádhyáy) ruled here. This kingdom also was reduced to zamindaries during the Muslim period.

Having no lofty goal or ideal [during this period], the kings of Ráŕh used always to be engaged in quarrels among themselves. They ignored the greater interest of the people. Even after Gaoŕa had been conquered by the Pathans, Ráŕh had its freedom. Had the kings of Ráŕh remained unified, Ráŕh could have resisted foreign invasions and the history of Ráŕh also would have been different. When Alexander invaded India, Ráŕh was well-organized and united. For that reason Alexander desisted from proceeding towards the east. But later the situation changed. It was due to the folly of the local rulers of Ráŕh that Ráŕh had to wear the chains of slavery for a long time. They would get involved in hostilities over just a small piece of land. Thus the people had to undergo untold miseries, which they did not like at all. It was under a kind of pressure of the common people that the warring kings of Senbhum, Mallabhum and Dhabalbhum were forced to sign a treaty of peace.

At that time the custom in Ráŕh was that in case of a newly-formed alliance, all concerned would sit together to dine on rice, [black gram, and rice boiled in sweetened milk. In the place where they held this feast to mark their unity (ekatá), they built a temple named Ekateshvara. This temple is situated in the district of Bankura. As I have mentioned earlier, this temple was either a Shiva temple influenced by Jainism or a Jain temple influenced by Shaeva Dharma.

Ráŕh was subjected to continuous socio-economic exploitation, and moreover, the tyranny of their kings was equally bad. The nature of the people of Ráŕh is such that unless they are incited they do not protest. The ideals of Digambar Jainism are largely responsible for this. Later, the people of Ráŕh who refused to embrace the Paoráńika Dharma had to tolerate the pangs of social indignity, and as a result they fell victim to an inferiority complex. Still later, in a bid to come out of the vortex of inferiority complex, they accepted, in throngs, the Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma. Apart from the burden of this inferiority complex for seven hundred years, the way they had to accept Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma, or the way this Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma was presented to them, made them somewhat averse to struggle.

Here it should be borne in mind that Vaeśńava Dharma does not emphasize excessive ahiḿsá as much as Jainism does. And the doctrine of ahiḿsá in Vaeśńava Dharma was explained differently in different places. There are some excesses in the practice of ahiḿsá in the Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava doctrine of Ráŕh, though maybe they are not so great as in Jainism. For example [in Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńavism] one must say “prepare” vegetables and not “cut” them, rasá and not jhol [both meaning “soup”, the liquid part of a vegetable preparation, but the latter suggesting a non-vegetarian preparation], oŕ flower and not jabá flower [both names for a blood-red flower, the China rose, or hibiscus, but the latter name used when worshipping Kálii with this flower], sehái and not káli [both meaning “ink”, but the latter suggesting the goddess Kálii], etc. The excessive ahimsá in Digambara Jainism and a type of excessive ahimsá in the Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma prevalent in Ráŕh did a lot of damage to the spirit of valour of the people of Ráŕh. Notwithstanding their strength, capability, courage and diligence, they were not easily able to leap into a struggle. It is really a pity that Ráŕh, which had once been noted for its military skill, began to enter into a repulsive tortoise-like withdrawal. And it is probably for this reason that we notice that the role played by Bagri in the struggle for the independence of India was much greater than that played by Ráŕh. Moreover, the role played by Vauṋga-D́abák (Dhaka, Barisal, Mymensingh, Chittagong, etc.) was even greater than that of Bagri. It is to be noted that the further east one goes in Bengal, the greater was the influence of Buddhism and the less was that of Jainism. Places where the influence of Buddhism was greater, had a greater role in the struggle for independence. This was so, among other reasons, because Buddhism does not have the same excessive ahiḿsá that we see in Jainism. The people of the south-eastern parts of Ráŕh (Midnapur, Hooghly, Howrah, etc.), where the influence of Buddhism was great in comparison with that of Jainism, played an important role in the struggle for independence.

Footnotes

(1) A shúdra is a person with a mentality of physical enjoyment only, a member of the labourer social class. A kśatriya is a person whose mentality is to dominate over matter. In the social cycle, the Shúdra Age comes first, followed by the Kśatriya Age. For more information about the social cycle, see Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Human Society Part 2. –Trans.