Varendra

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Varendra region in Bangladesh
Coin of a king of the Kaibartas in Varendra, circa 640–730 CE.

Varendra (Bengali: বরেন্দ্র, romanized: Borendro),also known as Barind (Bengali: বারিন্দ), was a region of North Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh and a little portion in Indian state of West Bengal.[1][2]

It formed part of the Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom region currently part of Rangpur and Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh and included the districts of Bogra, Rajshahi, Pabna and Dinajpur of Bangladesh and West Dinajpur of India. Some migrated to Sylhet district of Bangladesh. According to Cunningham, the boundary of Varendra was the Ganges and the Mahananda on the west, the Karatoya on the east, the Padma River on the south and the land between Cooch Behar and the Terai on the north.[2]

Inscriptions[edit]

The term Varendra-mandala first occurs in talcher grant of gayadatungadeva and Ramcharitam. The latter locates it between Ganges and Karatoya. It's inclusion with Pundravardhana is proved by Silimpur, Tarpandighi and Madhainagar inscriptions. The Tabaquat-i-nasiri mentions Barind as the wing of the territory of Lakhnawati on the eastern side of Ganges.[1]

History[edit]

Historical evidence attests significant presence of Brahmins in Bengal during the Maurya period. The Jain Acharya Bhadrabahu, regarded to be the preceptor of Chandragupta Maurya, is said to have been born in Brahmin family of Pundravardhana (or Puṇḍra, the region north of the Ganges and west of Brahmaputra in Bengal, later known as Vārendra).[2] Such evidences suggest Puṇḍra or Vārendra and regions west of Bhagirathi (called Radha in ancient age) to be seats of Brahmins from ancient times;

According to HC Raychoudhuri the Gupta dyansty originated from the Varendri region.[3] According to the Khalimpur copper plate inscription, the first Pala Emperor Gopala was the son of a warrior named Vapyata. The Ramacharitam attests that Varendra (North Bengal) was the fatherland (Janakabhu) of the Palas.

Ancient Empires and Rulers originated from Varendra Regnal[edit]

Modern Day Prime Ministers, President and Chief Ministers originated from Varendra Region[edit]

Notable Varendra Brahmins[edit]

Modern usage[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 History of Ancient Bengal, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, 1971
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 AM Chowdhury (2012). "Varendra". In Islam, Sirajul; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1987). The Imperial Guptas and Their Times. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-222-2.