Poundra (caste) - Revision history

FerdinandGarden: slightly update formatting as per guidelines further and improved wording per sources

2025-09-13T11:10:00Z

slightly update formatting as per guidelines further and improved wording per sources

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:40, 13 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description\|Dalit community of Bengal}}		{{pp-semi-indef\|small=yes}}
	'''Poundra''' is a [[~~Dalit~~]] community from [[~~West~~ Bengal]].<ref>{{~~cite web~~\|~~url~~=~~http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid~~=~~106865~~\|title=~~Inclusion~~ in ~~Scheduled Castes List~~\|~~website~~=~~pib.nic.in~~\|~~access~~-~~date~~=~~7 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web~~\|~~url~~=~~http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/AsIntroduced/j.pdf~~\|~~title~~=~~THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2007~~\|~~website~~=~~164.100.47.4~~\|~~accessdate~~=~~1 December 2018}}</ref> They are called ''Purno''~~ in ~~North~~ Bengal, ''~~Pod~~'' and ~~''Padmaraja'' in South~~ Bengal, ~~and~~ ''~~Baleya~~'' in ~~Medinipur and Baleshwar. They find~~ the ~~name ''Pod'' offensive~~.~~<ref name=":0">{{cite journal~~\|~~last~~=~~Rup Kumar Barman~~\|~~date=1 January 2014\|title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956\|journal~~=~~Contemporary Voice of Dalit~~\|~~volume~~=7\|~~issue~~=~~1\|pages=121–138\|doi=10~~.~~1177/0974354520140108\|s2cid=148661602~~}}</ref> ~~Their~~ population was around two and a half million ~~in 2011. As per census of India 2001, their overall literacy rate was 72 % - male 83% and female 59%.~~ <ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{cite web\|title=West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001\|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_westbengal.pdf\|accessdate=1 December 2018\|website=Censusindia.gov.in}}</ref> ~~Their main subcastes~~ are ~~or used to be, the Chasi Poundra, the Mecho Poundra, the Tanti Poundra~~ and ~~the Dhamna Poundra~~.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book\|last=Risley, Herbert Hope, Sir, 1851-1911.\|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/609335795\|title=The tribes and castes of Bengal\|date=1892\|publisher=Printed at the Bengal secretariat Press\|oclc=609335795}}</~~ref~~> ~~The differentiation between seems to have its origin in the occupations.<ref>{{cite book\|url=https~~:~~//books.google.com/books?id=7Hkj2xOrEwkC&dq=~~Pod~~+Caste&pg=PA84\|title=Bengal District Gazetteers: 24-Parganas\|first1=Lewis Sydney Steward\|last1=O'Malley\|last2=I~~.~~C.S~~\|~~date=7 January 2018~~\|~~publisher=Concept Publishing Company\|access-date=7 January 2018\|via=Google Books\|isbn=9788172681937}}</ref><ref>{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBhWAAAAYAAJ&q=~~Pod+Caste\|title=People of India: West Bengal\|first1=Kumar Suresh\|last1=Singh\|first2=Tilak\|last2=Bagchi\|first3=Śekhara\|last3=Bandyopādhyāẏa\|first4=Ranjit Kumar\|last4=Bhattacharya\|date=7 January 2018\|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India\|access-date=7 January 2018\|via=Google Books\|isbn=9788170463009}}</ref> They are divided in a ~~number~~ of ''gotras''.<ref>{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qrmTdshzKQC&dq=Pod+Caste&pg=PA180\|title=The Unrest Axle: Ethno-social Movements in Eastern India\|first=Gautam Kumar\|last=Bera\|date=7 January 2018\|publisher=Mittal Publications\|access-date=7 January 2018\|via=Google Books\|isbn=9788183241458}}</ref>		{{Short description\|Dalit community of West Bengal, India}}
			'''Poundra''', earlier known as '''Pod''', is a [[Bengali Hindu]] community originating from the region of [[Bengal]].<ref name=":2" /> Traditionally located outside the four-tier ritual ''[[Varna (Hinduism)\|varna]]'' system, the Poundras have been historically subject to acute discrimination — including [[untouchability]] — and remain a marginal group in modern Bengal.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Ray \|first=Antara \|title=Caste Matters in Public Policy: Issues and Perspectives \|publisher=Routledge \|year=2022 \|isbn=9780367612672 \|editor-last=Choragudi \|editor-first=Rahul \|location=London \|chapter=Caste and public policy: The case of West Bengal \|quote=There has been no serious effort to eradicate any of these caste disabilities as there is no policy to address the issue related to caste dynamics. This situation continued in the politics and administration of Bengal for thirty-four years of the Left Front rule in the state that systematically erased caste from policy-making process, which was supported by the educated-Bengali-middle-class-''bhadralok''. Thus, the lower-caste identity has been rendered invisible in West Bengal. The Rajbansis and the Poundra, the two major ex-untouchable castes of Bengal, neither could mobilise themselves under one ideology locally nor could they align with the mainstream ''dalit'' ideology in the rest of the country. \|editor-last2=Pellissery \|editor-first2=Sony \|editor-last3=Jayaram \|editor-first3=N.}}</ref> As of 2011, their population was around two and a half million;<ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{cite web \|title=West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001 \|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_westbengal.pdf \|accessdate=1 December 2018 \|website=Censusindia.gov.in}}</ref> they are classed as a [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes\|Scheduled Caste]] in West Bengal.<ref name=":2" />
			[[File:Pod labourer.jpg\|thumb\|Pod labourer, from a 1799 collection of etchings]]

	== History ==		== History ==

	=== Medieval Bengal ===		=== Medieval Bengal ===
	No mention is found in the [[Brihaddharma Purana\|Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa]] (c. 13th century{{efn\|Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.}}), which ~~remains~~ the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book\|last=Furui\|first=Ryosuke\|title=Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar\|publisher=R. N. Bhattacharya\|year=2013\|editor-last=Ghosh\|editor-first=Suchandra\|location=Kolkata\|chapter=Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa\|editor-last2=Bandyopadhyay\|editor-first2=Sudipa Ray\|editor-last3=Majumdar\|editor-first3=Sushmita Basu\|editor-last4=Pal\|editor-first4=Sayantani}}</ref>{{efn\|Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the [[Gupta Empire\|Gupta]] and the [[Pala Empire\|Pala]] periods but Pods ~~don't find a mention~~.}} The [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]], notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, ~~notes~~ "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Rocher\|first=Ludo\|date=1986\|title=Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/601589\|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society\|volume=106\|issue=2\|pages=254\|doi=10.2307/601589\|jstor=601589\|issn=0003-0279}}</ref> Mentions ~~remain~~ scarce in medieval vernacular literature.		No mention of the Pods is found in the [[Brihaddharma Purana\|Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa]] (c. 13th century{{efn\|Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.}}), which is the earliest known document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book\|last=Furui\|first=Ryosuke\|title=Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar\|publisher=R. N. Bhattacharya\|year=2013\|editor-last=Ghosh\|editor-first=Suchandra\|location=Kolkata\|chapter=Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa\|editor-last2=Bandyopadhyay\|editor-first2=Sudipa Ray\|editor-last3=Majumdar\|editor-first3=Sushmita Basu\|editor-last4=Pal\|editor-first4=Sayantani}}</ref>{{efn\|Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the [[Gupta Empire\|Gupta]] and the [[Pala Empire\|Pala]] periods but these do not refer to Pods.}} The [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]], notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, records "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Rocher\|first=Ludo\|date=1986\|title=Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/601589\|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society\|volume=106\|issue=2\|pages=254\|doi=10.2307/601589\|jstor=601589\|issn=0003-0279\|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mentions are scarce in medieval vernacular literature.

	=== Colonial Bengal ===		=== Colonial Bengal ===
	In ~~late nineteenth century, two influential members of Pod community —Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar— produced multiple tracts~~ of ~~caste-history~~, ~~in sync with their times. Arguing a descent from~~ the ~~"Poundras" —mentioned across~~ a ~~spectrum~~ of ~~Hindu literature—~~ they ~~sought~~ to ~~establish~~ the ~~Pods~~ as ~~Kshatriyas~~.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal\|last=Barman\|first=Rup Kumar\|date=2014-01-01\|title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956\|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520140108\|journal=Voice of Dalit\|language=en\|volume=7\|issue=1\|pages=121–138\|doi=10.1177/0974354520140108\|s2cid=148661602\|~~issn~~=~~0974-3545~~}}</ref> ~~In what was a self-respect movement~~, ~~it was demanded that all Pods~~ [[~~Sanskritisation\|follow Kshatriya rituals~~]].<ref name=":2" />		In his 1891 survey of castes, [[Herbert Hope Risley]] documented the Pods to be a branch of the [[Chandala]]; they were subject to untouchability by the Brahmins as well as the Navasakhas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal \|last=Barman \|first=Rup Kumar \|date=2014-01-01 \|title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956 \|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520140108 \|journal=Voice of Dalit \|language=en \|volume=7 \|issue=1 \|pages=121–138 \|doi=10.1177/0974354520140108 \|issn=0974-3545 \|s2cid=148661602\|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A majority were peasants though some had become traders, and even [[zamindar]]s.<ref name=":2" />

	In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".<ref name=":2" />{{Disputed inline\|date=October 2021}} Further ~~mobilization~~ happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and first graduate from ~~this~~ community.<ref name=":2" />		In the late nineteenth century, two influential members of the Pod community — Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar — produced numerous tracts of caste history, as was a common feature of that time. Arguing a descent from the "Poundras" — mentioned across a spectrum of Brahminical literature — they sought to establish the Pods as [[Kshatriya]]s, thereby removing the stigma of untouchability.<ref name=":2" /> In what might be construed as a self-respect movement, it was also demanded of all Pods to [[Sanskritisation\|follow Kshatriya rituals]].<ref name=":2" /> In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".<ref name=":2" />{{Disputed inline\|date=October 2021}} Further mobilisation happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and the first university graduate from the community.<ref name=":2" />
			=== Contemporary Bengal ===
			The Poundras remain vulnerable to casteist discrimination in 21st century Bengal.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Barman\|first=Rup Kumar\|date=2020-02-17\|title=Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal\|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2455328x19898451\|journal=Contemporary Voice of Dalit\|volume=12\|issue=2\|pages=165–180\|doi=10.1177/2455328x19898451\|s2cid=214164973\|issn=2455-328X\|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

	== ~~Status~~ ==		== Notes ==
	Today the Poundra are still highly abused for their caste, although they are dominant in southern Bengal especially in South 24 Parganas. In urban areas they were dominant in Canning Town, Kolkata, at the beginning of the 1940s, one of the few Dalit-dominant areas of the city. Today they, along with other Scheduled Castes, form only 13% of the urban population. Thus they are vulnerable to casteism in higher education and in daily life in urban areas as well as rural areas.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Barman\|first=Rup Kumar\|date=2020-02-17\|title=Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal\|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2455328x19898451\|journal=Contemporary Voice of Dalit\|volume=12\|issue=2\|pages=165–180\|doi=10.1177/2455328x19898451\|s2cid=214164973\|issn=2455-328X}}~~</ref>~~		{{Notelist}}

	==References==		==References==

ImportMaster: robot: import pages using Special:Import

2022-05-08T20:18:33Z

robot: import pages using Special:Import

New page

{{Short description|Dalit community of Bengal}}
'''Poundra''' is a [[Dalit]] community from [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=106865|title=Inclusion in Scheduled Castes List|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/AsIntroduced/j.pdf|title=THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2007|website=164.100.47.4|accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref> They are called ''Purno'' in North Bengal, ''Pod'' and ''Padmaraja'' in South Bengal, and ''Baleya'' in Medinipur and Baleshwar. They find the name ''Pod'' offensive.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Rup Kumar Barman|date=1 January 2014|title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956|journal=Contemporary Voice of Dalit|volume=7|issue=1|pages=121–138|doi=10.1177/0974354520140108|s2cid=148661602}}</ref> Their population was around two and a half million in 2011. As per census of India 2001, their overall literacy rate was 72 % - male 83% and female 59%. <ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{cite web|title=West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_westbengal.pdf|accessdate=1 December 2018|website=Censusindia.gov.in}}</ref> Their main subcastes are or used to be, the Chasi Poundra, the Mecho Poundra, the Tanti Poundra and the Dhamna Poundra.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Risley, Herbert Hope, Sir, 1851-1911.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/609335795|title=The tribes and castes of Bengal|date=1892|publisher=Printed at the Bengal secretariat Press|oclc=609335795}}</ref> The differentiation between seems to have its origin in the occupations.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Hkj2xOrEwkC&dq=Pod+Caste&pg=PA84|title=Bengal District Gazetteers: 24-Parganas|first1=Lewis Sydney Steward|last1=O'Malley|last2=I.C.S|date=7 January 2018|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|access-date=7 January 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9788172681937}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBhWAAAAYAAJ&q=Pod+Caste|title=People of India: West Bengal|first1=Kumar Suresh|last1=Singh|first2=Tilak|last2=Bagchi|first3=Śekhara|last3=Bandyopādhyāẏa|first4=Ranjit Kumar|last4=Bhattacharya|date=7 January 2018|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|access-date=7 January 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9788170463009}}</ref> They are divided in a number of ''gotras''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qrmTdshzKQC&dq=Pod+Caste&pg=PA180|title=The Unrest Axle: Ethno-social Movements in Eastern India|first=Gautam Kumar|last=Bera|date=7 January 2018|publisher=Mittal Publications|access-date=7 January 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9788183241458}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Medieval Bengal ===
No mention is found in the [[Brihaddharma Purana|Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa]] (c. 13th century{{efn|Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.}}), which remains the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Furui|first=Ryosuke|title=Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar|publisher=R. N. Bhattacharya|year=2013|editor-last=Ghosh|editor-first=Suchandra|location=Kolkata|chapter=Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa|editor-last2=Bandyopadhyay|editor-first2=Sudipa Ray|editor-last3=Majumdar|editor-first3=Sushmita Basu|editor-last4=Pal|editor-first4=Sayantani}}</ref>{{efn|Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] and the [[Pala Empire|Pala]] periods but Pods don't find a mention.}} The [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]], notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, notes "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rocher|first=Ludo|date=1986|title=Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/601589|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=106|issue=2|pages=254|doi=10.2307/601589|jstor=601589|issn=0003-0279}}</ref> Mentions remain scarce in medieval vernacular literature.

=== Colonial Bengal ===
In late nineteenth century, two influential members of Pod community —Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar— produced multiple tracts of caste-history, in sync with their times. Arguing a descent from the "Poundras" —mentioned across a spectrum of Hindu literature— they sought to establish the Pods as Kshatriyas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Barman|first=Rup Kumar|date=2014-01-01|title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520140108|journal=Voice of Dalit|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|pages=121–138|doi=10.1177/0974354520140108|s2cid=148661602|issn=0974-3545}}</ref> In what was a self-respect movement, it was demanded that all Pods [[Sanskritisation|follow Kshatriya rituals]].<ref name=":2" />

In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".<ref name=":2" />{{Disputed inline|date=October 2021}} Further mobilization happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and first graduate from this community.<ref name=":2" />

== Status ==
Today the Poundra are still highly abused for their caste, although they are dominant in southern Bengal especially in South 24 Parganas. In urban areas they were dominant in Canning Town, Kolkata, at the beginning of the 1940s, one of the few Dalit-dominant areas of the city. Today they, along with other Scheduled Castes, form only 13% of the urban population. Thus they are vulnerable to casteism in higher education and in daily life in urban areas as well as rural areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barman|first=Rup Kumar|date=2020-02-17|title=Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2455328x19898451|journal=Contemporary Voice of Dalit|volume=12|issue=2|pages=165–180|doi=10.1177/2455328x19898451|s2cid=214164973|issn=2455-328X}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

[[Category:Scheduled Castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Odisha]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of West Bengal]]