https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Panchanan_BarmaPanchanan Barma - Revision history2026-09-07T00:13:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panchanan_Barma&diff=107695&oldid=prev>Worldbruce: define expression2021-03-13T06:14:29Z<p>define expression</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian reformer}}<br />
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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}<br />
[[File:Panchanan Barma.tif|thumb|Statue of Panchanan Barma]]<br />
'''Panchanan Barma''' (1866–1935), also known as '''Thakur Panchanan''' and '''Ray Saheb''', was a [[Rajbongshi people|Rajbanshi]] leader and reformer from [[Cooch Behar]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} He established a ''[[Kshatriya]]'' ''[[Sabhā]]'' (caste association) to instill [[Brahmin]]ical values and practices in people of his own caste.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |date=2002 |orig-year=First published 1994 |title=Bengal divided: Hindu communalism and partition, 1932-1947 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=198–199 |isbn=978-0-521-52328-8 |quote=This strategy was well suited to Bengal, where many low castes were already trying to 'purify' or Brahminise their own practices. In the early twenties, for instance, the Rajbangshi leader Panchanan Barman had established a 'Kshattriya Sabha' in order to inculcate Brahmanical values and practices among his caste-fellows.}}</ref><br />
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Barma was born as Panchanan Sarkar, originally came from a [[jotedar]] family of [[Cooch Behar]]. He was born on 11 February 1866 at Khalisamari village, Mathabhanga Sub-division, in erstwhile [[Cooch Behar]] State, to Mr. Khoshal Sarkar (d. 1890) and Mrs. Champala Sarkar. He graduated from a [[Kolkata]] college, with an honours in [[Sanskrit]], in 1893. He later privately completed his M.A. in [[Mental and Moral Philosophy]] in 1896 from the [[University of Calcutta]], and later took his LL.B. degree from [[Surendranath Law College]], [[Kolkata]], in 1900. In the early years of his career, he started practicing law at [[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur]] court. In Rangpur he was shocked by the refusal of a high caste lawyer to use a ''toga'' (lawyer's gown), previously used by him.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ray|first=Subhajyoti|title=Transformations on the Bengal Frontier: Jalpaiguri, 1765-1948 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aI_FINnkorkC&q=Panchanan+Barman&pg=PA128 | isbn=978-0-7007-1408-7 | year=2002 | publisher=Routledge}}</ref> In the following years, he led a kshatriyazation movement among Rajbanshi community of [[Bengal]]. In order to be respected and accepted by the upper caste Bengalis Panchanan felt the Rajbanshis must get organized and educated, which he tried to achieve through the ''Kshatriya Samity''. Understandably, the ''[[Samity]]'' tried to prove that ''Rajbanshis'' were ''Kshatriyas'' with a royal lineage, suggesting a historical link with [[Biswa Singha]], the king of [[Cooch Behar]]. Based on Sanskrit literature and Brahmin pundits, they also claimed to be ''[[Kshatriya]]s'', hiding their true identity for centuries. In support of this claim the movement involved a ceremonial ''kshatriyaisation'' process - brahminical rituals were performed to convert thousands of Rajbanshis to ‘Kshatriya Rajbanshi’ in the villages of [[North Bengal]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Sarkar|first=I|chapter=The Kamatapur Movement: Towards a Separate State in North Bengal | editor=Govinda Chandra Rath|title=Tribal development in India: the contemporary debate |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxDKhOnWwOsC&q=%22Panchanan+Barma%22&pg=PA156 | isbn=978-0-7619-3423-3 | year=2006 | publisher=Sage}}</ref> In 1921, Panchanan was selected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly after winning the general election. Panchanan Sarkar died in [[Kolkata]] on 9 September 1935. The name of the [[Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University]] commemorates his legacy.<br />
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==References==<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* ''Thakur Panchanan Barmar Jivan Charit'' (in Bengali) by Upendra Nath Barman<br />
* ''Paschimbanga: Special Issue on Roy Saheb Panchanan Barma'', Vol. 38, No. 7, February 2005. Published by the Department of Information and Culture, Government of West Bengal.<br />
* ''Thakur Panchanan Smarak'' (in Bengali) by Kshitwish Chandra Burman (Kolkata: Behala Central Government Quarter, 2001)<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Adhikary |first=Chanchal |date=July 2013 |title=Upendra Nath Barman and Caste Politics Among the Rajbanshis of North Bengal |journal=Voice of Dalit |volume=6 |issue=2 |page=137|doi=10.1177/0974354520130203 |s2cid=157810204 }}<br />
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[[Category:Indian reformers]]<br />
[[Category:1866 births]]<br />
[[Category:1935 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Surendranath Law College alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]<br />
[[Category:Rajbongshi people]]</div>>Worldbruce