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{{Short description|Dalit community of Bengal}} | {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} | ||
'''Poundra''' is a [[ | {{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 | 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 | 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 | 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> | |||
== | == Notes == | ||
{{Notelist}} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 16:40, 13 September 2025
Poundra, earlier known as Pod, is a Bengali Hindu community originating from the region of Bengal.[1] Traditionally located outside the four-tier ritual varna system, the Poundras have been historically subject to acute discrimination — including untouchability — and remain a marginal group in modern Bengal.[1][2] As of 2011, their population was around two and a half million;[3] they are classed as a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
Medieval Bengal[edit | edit source]
No mention of the Pods is found in the Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa (c. 13th century[lower-alpha 1]), which is the earliest known document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.[4][lower-alpha 2] 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.[5] Mentions are scarce in medieval vernacular literature.
Colonial Bengal[edit | edit source]
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.[1] A majority were peasants though some had become traders, and even zamindars.[1]
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 Kshatriyas, thereby removing the stigma of untouchability.[1] In what might be construed as a self-respect movement, it was also demanded of all Pods to follow Kshatriya rituals.[1] In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".[1][disputed ] Further mobilisation happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and the first university graduate from the community.[1]
Contemporary Bengal[edit | edit source]
The Poundras remain vulnerable to casteist discrimination in 21st century Bengal.[6]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the Gupta and the Pala periods but these do not refer to Pods.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Barman, Rup Kumar (2014-01-01). "From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956". Voice of Dalit. 7 (1): 121–138. doi:10.1177/0974354520140108. ISSN 0974-3545. S2CID 148661602.
- ↑ Ray, Antara (2022). "Caste and public policy: The case of West Bengal". In Choragudi, Rahul; Pellissery, Sony; Jayaram, N. (eds.). Caste Matters in Public Policy: Issues and Perspectives. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780367612672.
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.
- ↑ "West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001" (PDF). Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ↑ Furui, Ryosuke (2013). "Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa". In Ghosh, Suchandra; Bandyopadhyay, Sudipa Ray; Majumdar, Sushmita Basu; Pal, Sayantani (eds.). Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar. Kolkata: R. N. Bhattacharya.
- ↑ Rocher, Ludo (1986). "Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 106 (2): 254. doi:10.2307/601589. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 601589.
- ↑ Barman, Rup Kumar (2020-02-17). "Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal". Contemporary Voice of Dalit. 12 (2): 165–180. doi:10.1177/2455328x19898451. ISSN 2455-328X. S2CID 214164973.