Bengal is situated on the boundary line between Jambudviipa and Suvarńadviipa [ancient names of India and Burma]. The civilization that grew along the banks of the Mayurákśii, Ajaya and Damodara, later blended with the civilization which developed in the areas of Paond́ravardhana Bhukti (North Bengal), Samatat́ [mid-Bengal], and D́abák [mostly now in Bangladesh]. A new civilization was born in Bengal – a blending of the Ráŕh civilization of Gondwana⁽¹⁾ and the Gangetic civilization. That is why the people of Bengal are not exactly the same as those of northern India. The modes of worship and the priesthood system are different from those of northern India. Bengali script and intonation are also different, as is the physical appearance of the Bengalees. From their facial lineaments, one can conclude that these people are of the Bengalee stock. These are the especial characteristics of a blended civilization.

Not only that, even the type of thought varies between the different communities. The blending of the dark-complexioned people of Ráŕh with the fair-complexioned Aryans led to the formation of the Bengalee race. But this is not the end of the story. The River Brahmaputra flowed from the interior of Tibet, where its name was Sang Po (Son of a God), into India. In other words, it came from within a Mongolian⁽²⁾ country. The people of Tibet are Mongolian of the Indo-Tibetan group. The Mongolians are divided into a few branches, one of them being the Indo-Tibetan group. The Brahmaputra, or Sang Po, River carries that Mongolian civilization and not the Gangetic civilization. That Mongolian civilization was criticized by the Aryans in the Karma Puráńa:

Sarve máḿsaratáh múŕháh mleccháh gobrahmaghátakáh,
Kuvacakáh pare múŕháh ete kút́ayonayáh,
Teśáḿ paeshácikii bháśá lokácáro na vidyate.

“They do not protect cows and Brahmans. They eat fish and meat. When they eat fish, what sort of Aryans are they? By these acts of theirs they have degraded themselves even more. Their style of pronunciation is full of defects.”⁽³⁾

The Mongolian civilization that flourished in the Brahmaputra Valley blended with the Ráŕhii civilization and the Gangetic civilization, resulting in a new blended civilization, the Gaoŕiiya or Bengal civilization. Tantra had its origin in such a blended civilization. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet at Goyalanda in Bengal [Bangladesh]. Thus we see that the Bengal civilization is a mixed civilization, a blending of the Gondwana civilization of Ráŕh, the Gangetic civilization of northern India, and the Mongolian civilization of Tibet and China [whose access was via the Brahmaputra Valley]. That is why it is said that this Bengal civilization flourished in the border areas between Jambudviipa and Suvarńadviipa.

In the Bengalee race the blood of these different civilizations is mixed. Because of the blending of Australoid and Dravidoid blood, the people of Bankura, Midnapore and Purulia are mostly dark-complexioned. A certain amount of Mongolian blood is also present. The Bengalee farmers, the Rájvaḿshiis and Chákmás, have come from the Brahmaputra Valley. They are flat-nosed. As a result of the permutation and combination of these various small groups, the various castes and sub-castes of West Bengal emerged – the Brahmans, the Kayasthas, the Vaedyas, and a host of sub-castes. But the source of all these castes and sub-castes is one and the same – the blended culture of the Ráŕh, Gangetic and Brahmaputra valleys. If we take Bengal as a distinct land, it has a speciality of its own. This is due to the influence of the river valleys.

Footnotes

(1) Gondwana was an ancient continent, now (due to geophysical changes) no longer intact. –Eds.

(2) Since in ancient times Mongolia was an empire, and symbolized all of north and northeast Asia, “Mongolian” here means the Oriental, or yellow, race. –Eds.

(3) Paragraph on medieval categorization of cultures omitted here. –Eds.