Socio-Political Movements in North...

North Bengal and Its People

Sukhbilas Barma

ABUL FAZAL has commented in Ain-i-Akbari, ‘North fromBengal is the province of Coach (Koch), the Chief of whichcommands 1000 horses and 100,000 feet (the usual orientalexaggeration). Kamrup, which is also called Kamtah(Kamota, the old capital) makes a part of this dominion’.Stray references to the land and people of modern NorthBengal, the core area of North Bengal are available in theRamayana, Harivansa, Brahmanandapurana, Vishnupurana,Raghuvamsa, Brihat-sanghita, Yoginitantra and the Greekwork ‘Periplus of the Erythronean Sea’, of the first centuryAD. The land was then known as Pragjyotishpur and thenKamrup and as the land of the Kirats. The name ofBhagadatta, the king of Kamrup has been mentioned in theMahabharata, described as a king of the Mlechchhas, takingpart in the battle of Kuruskshetra on the side of the Kauravaswith his army of Chinese and Kirata.

Early HistoryVaskarvarman is the best known king of Kamrup since

the seventh century A.D. He ruled over the whole of theBrahmputra valley in Assam and over considerable areas of

Socio-Political Movementsin North Bengal

(A Sub-Himalayan Tract) Edited by

Sukhbilas BarmaPublish by Global Vision Publishing HousePublish by Global Vision Publishing HousePublish by Global Vision Publishing HousePublish by Global Vision Publishing HousePublish by Global Vision Publishing House

Dr. Sukhbilas Barma: A retired I.A.S Officer, Dr. Barma heldimportant positions in the Government of west Bengal.

2 Socio-Political Movements in North Bengal

the north of Bengal. He was contemporary to Harsha-vardhana of Kanauj and Sasanka of Bengal. Prof. SunitiKumar Chattopadhyay thought that this seventh centuryking of Kamrup was a kirat or an Indo-Mongoloid. He wasa devotee of Siva and from this, the Pundits came to theconclusion that the Hinduisation and sanskritisation of theleading sections of the Indo-Mongoloid people had takenplace by the seventh century. According to Hieu-en-Tsang,the Chinese traveller to the kingdom of Vaskaravarman,Kamrup included the whole of Assam valley and extendedupto the Karatoya river in the West. In the ninth century thehistory of the area became a part of the history of Pala kingswithin whose domain were included Vanga and Varendra.

By the end of the tenth century, the Kambojasdispossessed the Palas of certain parts of their empire inVarendri of North Bengal. The Pundits think that theKambojas might have been originally an Indo-Mangoloidtribe speaking one of the Tibeto-Burman languages but theyhad become Saivite Hindus and have accepted Sanskrit astheir court language as is evident from the stone-pillarinscription of a Siva temple at Bangarh of Dinajpur. It thusappears that successive waves of Indo-Mangoloids hadbecome sanskritised and Hinduised. In the eighth decade ofthe eleventh century, the Palas were dispossessed of theirkingdom by the Kaivarta chief Divyok. Tabaquat-I-Nasiriby Minhaj-i-Siraj describing the expedition of MuhammadBakhtyar Khilji to Tibet, suggests that there wereindependent, semi-independent and tribal chieftains namedas Bhuinyas within Kamrup, in spite of the rule of theKamteswar king.

At the end of the thirteenth century, a feudatory chiefnamed Durlabhnarayan became supreme in Kamrup.According to Rudrasingha’s Burunji, Durlabhnarayan had

3

brought a number of Brahmans and Kayasthas from theGangetic places who had settled in Coochbehar district orBrahmaputra valley. In the lineage of those Kayasthas wasborn the famous Vaishnava poet and preacher Sankardevain 1449. Durlabhnarayana’s line could not continue long andthey were uprooted by the Dhwaja kings—Niladhwaja,Chakradhwaja and Nilambar with the capital of Kamtapurat Gosanimari.

Ghiyasudin Azam Shah (1389–1409), the Illyas Shahi kingof Gauda, invaded Kamrup but could not advance beyondthe Tista-Karatoya, being forcefully resisted by the joint forceof Kamtapur-Kamrup and Ahom king. Again, RukunuddinBarbak Shah (1459–1474) sent Shah Ismail Ghazi to waragainst the king of Kamtapur-Kamrup and Ismail faced thedefeat in a battle that took place near Santoshpur in Dinajpur.In 1498, Alauddin Hussain Shah (1493–1519) launched avigorous campaign against Nilambar, the king of Kamtapur-Kamrup being instigated by Nilambar’s Brahmin minister,whose licentious son had been brutally killed by the king.Taking recourse to a clever strategy, Hussain Shah couldgain entry into the inner citadel and captured Nilambar atlong last. Hussain Shah then proceeded to invade the AhomKingdom but could not succeed, though he achieved limitedtemporary gain.

Immediately after this, Haridas alias Haria Mandalbecame a powerful feudatory chief and his son Biswa Singhawaged wars against the neighbouring Bhuinyas and annexedtheir territories. He then crowned himself as the Kamteswarking of Kamtapur-Kamrup. He held his coronation inaccordance with proper Vaidic rites presided by the Brahminsand attended by Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudrasto formally acknowledge the sovereignty of the king.According to the Pundits, Biswa Singha formally declared



himself to be Hindu along with a large number of his civiland military officials. They are of the opinion that it isthrough Biswa Singha that the large scale sanskritisation ofthe Koches began which eventually led to their assumptionof the caste name Rajbanshi.

Out of the vast number of population groups residing inNorth Bengal, belonging to Austric, Tibeto-Chinese,Dravidian, Indo-European – all the four families, the singlelargest group is the Rajbanshis. Given below the figures ofthe Rajbanshi population of 2001 census which show themajor population groups of the districts of North Bengal:

TABLE 1

Districts Darjeeling Jalpaiguri Cooch Uttar Dakshin MaldaBehar Dinajpur Dinajpur

TotalPopulation 1609172 3401173 2479155 2441794 1503178 3290468

Major Community wise SC Population.

Bagdi 70 431 2836 879 1060 2305Jalia Kaibarta 1326 9541 45330 25389 9500 13411Koch 199 472 1251 1687 3454 5224Namasudra 41555 286708 165514 99237 39172 101444Palia / Pan 32887 69403 27637Rajbanshi 129904 811567 972803 405140 224988 144158

Major Community wise ST Population.

Bhutia 45014 13777 151 112 40 23Lepcha 31210 780 65 26 19 16Mech 2159 32912 167 04 54Munda 17189 83252 1309 4432 26496 4901Oraon 66978 360876 5916 12496 41797 13125Rabha 5 12221 2280 21 4 3Santhal 14709 33312 999 94304 153634 146723

5

The population figures of Rajbanshi (Census 2001)relating to the districts of North Bengal as percentage oftotal district population may be helpful for futherunderstanding. In the district of Darjeeling, SC peopleincluding Rajbanshis constituting more than 60 per centreside mostly in the plains i.e., Siliguri subdivision. It istherefore, evident that Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and SiliguriSub-division of Darjeeling district is the core area of Rajbanshiinhabitation (see table 2).

Our study concerns the Rajbanshis, the major group ofpeople, the sons of the soil of the northern part of Bengal,popularly known as North Bengal which has recently beenclaimed as Kamtapur by a section of the ethnic group. Apart of the tribal people of the region, namely, Rabha, Mech(Bodos) have also joined the Rajbanshis in their claim for aseparate State as the sons of the soil. They put forward thejustification for separate State by citing the past glory oftheir illustrious history, namely the history of Kamtapur inthe 15th century. Even they go further back to the gloriousdays of Vaskarvarman of Kamrup in the 7th century andBhagadatta of the Mahabharata days of Kamrup.

From the 15th century Kamtapur they come to the historyof the Koch-Rajbanshi dynasty of Cooch Behar started underthe leadership of Biswa Singha in 1515 or so and firmlyconsolidated by the great king Naranarayana ably supportedby his brother Chila Rai who happened to be one of thegreatest military generals of the world. The Koch-Rajbanshikings ruled the region till 1950 when the state of CoochBehar was merged with West Bengal with the abolition ofprincely States of Independent India.

History of the Khen DynastyThe history of the rulers of Kamrup from the 15th century

is well known. During this period, the kings of Khen dynasty



TA

BL

E 2

Dis

tric

tsM

ale

Fem

ale

%ag

e of

Raj

bans

hi

Dar

jilin

gPo

pula

tion

Tota

l16

0917

283

0644

7785

28

Dar

jilin

gA

ll Sc

hedu

led

Cas

tes

Tota

l25

8881

1328

5812

6023

D

arjil

ing

Raj

bans

hiTo

tal

1299

0466

903

6300

18.

07Si

ligur

i Sub

. Div

.Po

pula

tion

Tota

l81

8581

4291

2438

9457

Silig

uri S

ub. D

iv.

Sche

dule

d C

aste

Tota

l20

9792

1085

1810

1274

Silig

uri S

ub. D

iv.

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

Tota

l11

9120

5972

459

396

Jalp

aigu

riPo

pula

tion

Tota

l34

0117

317

5114

516

5002

8

Jalp

aigu

riA

ll Sc

hedu

led

Cas

tes

Tota

l12

4857

764

2828

6057

49

Jalp

aigu

riR

ajba

nshi

Tota

l81

1567

4180

6639

3501

23.8

6K

och

Biha

rPo

pula

tion

Tota

l24

7915

512

7209

412

0706

1

Koc

h Bi

har

All

Sche

dule

d C

aste

sTo

tal

1242

374

6364

4660

5928

K

och

Biha

rR

ajba

nshi

Tota

l97

2803

4975

5047

5253

39.2

4U

ttar

Din

ajpu

rPo

pula

tion

Tota

l24

4179

412

5973

711

8205

7

Utt

ar D

inaj

pur

All

Sche

dule

d C

aste

sTo

tal

6765

8234

8693

3278

89

Utt

ar D

inaj

pur

Raj

bans

hiTo

tal

4051

4020

8508

1966

3216

.59

Dak

shin

Din

ajpu

r *

Popu

lati

onTo

tal

1503

178

7703

3573

2843

D

aksh

in D

inaj

pur

*A

ll Sc

hedu

led

Cas

tes

Tota

l43

2660

2220

6321

0597

D

aksh

in D

inaj

pur

*R

ajba

nshi

Tota

l22

4988

1156

7210

9316

14.9

7M

alda

hPo

pula

tion

Tota

l32

9046

816

8940

616

0106

2

Mal

dah

All

Sche

dule

d C

aste

sTo

tal

5541

6528

4726

2694

39

Mal

dah

Raj

bans

hiTo

tal

1441

5873

921

7023

74.

38To

tal p

opul

atio

nof

Six

dis

tict

s

147

2494

0To

tal R

ajba

nshi

popu

lati

on o

f Six

dis

tict

s26

8856

0

18

.26

7

reigned in Kamta. The Khens claimed themselves as theKayasth but most of the scholars do not accept this claim. Itis said that the first king of this dynasty Niladhwaj was acowherd. Following the prophecy made by his Brahminmaster that he would become king, Niladhwaj, helped bythe Brahmin, overthrew the last degenerated descendant ofthe Pal family, ascended the throne, made the Brahmin hisminister and embraced the Hindu religion. He is reputed tohave imported many Brahmins from Mithila. His capital wasat Kamtapur on the left bank of Dharla. He was succeededby his son Chakardhwaj who was an insignificant king ofthis dynasty. After Chakradhwaj, Nilambar ascended thethrone, attained great power and extended his rule eastwardsto the Bar Nadi and westwards as far as the Karatoya. Hegave attention to the improvement of communication in hisState. He constructed a road from Kamtapur to Ghoraghat,a portion of which later formed part of the main roadbetween Cooch Behar, Rangpur and Bogra.

The story about the fall of Nilambar is interesting andwell known. The son of his Brahmin councilor had an illicitrelation with the queen and the king, hearing of this, causedhim to be killed. His father was invited to a banquet andserved with the flesh of his son. The councilor came to knowthis, left the country under the pretence of making apilgrimage but actually went to Hussain Shah, the ruler ofGaur and persuaded him to send a large army to attackKamtapur. Hussain Shah laid seizes to Kamtapur for quite anumber of years but ‘could not succeed to get possession.He then announced his intention to go back but begged forpermission to allow his wife to meet the queen beforereturning to Gaur. By means of this subterfuge some armedmen were sent to the city in litters and the city was capturedwith their aid. Nilambar was taken prisoner. Nilambar,



however, made his escape on the way but was never heardof again. This was in the year 1498.

After some years Hussain Shah made an attempt to annexthe Ahom country and this led to the destruction of theentire Mohammadan army and the loss of the whole of theconquered country. After the departure of theMohammedans there was, for a time, no king in the entireregion that was ruled by a number of petty independentchiefs. Amongst them, two brothers became quite famous.From this starts the so called Koch dynasty. The history ofthe Koch is available from various sources-Bansavali ofDarang Rajas, Assam Burunji, Kamrup’s Burunji, Gurucharitkatha, etc. According to these sources a Mech Sardar namedHariya Mandal married two sisters Hira and Jira, thedaughters of Hajo and had two sons by them-namely Bisu,the son of Hira and Sisu, the son of Jira. Bisu was a man ofextra-ordinary courage and enterprise. He defeated the chiefsof that area one after another and gradually extended hisrule as far as the Karatoya in the west and the Bar Nadi inthe east. He rose to power in around 1515 A.D.

History of the Koch-Rajbanshi DynastyIt will not be out of place to describe the history of the

Koch-Rajbanshi dynasty in brief. Biswa Singha, usuallyreferred to by the Pundits as the tribal leader, having defeatedother tribal sardars of western Assam brought them underhis suzerainty and established the Koch-Rajbanshi kingdom.Koch, according to the pundits, is the word applied to thegroup of people adopting Hinduism by deserting theiroriginal tribal identity. According to Acharya Suniti KumarChattopadhyay, quite a number of Bodo tribes of the northeastern region having been influenced by the BrahminicHindu culture had undergone sanskritisation and adoptedHinduism and changed their identity to Koch.

9

A process of sanskritisation and detribalization was goingon from the early history of Kamrup. But as fresh batches oftribal people from the hills were settling down increasinglyin the valleys of Assam, the process was continuing andwithin the given situation of the hills-plains continuum theearly semi-tribal semi- feudal formations progressivelyacquired marked anti-tribal features. A converted tribal ofthis group of Assam first became a sharania and then deve-loped into a Koch. Koch was accordingly an omnibus caste,which accommodated within itself tribal neophytes fromdifferent Tibeto-Burman linguistic groups. In the CulturalHistory of Assam, H.K. Barpujari gives the following account:

“Viswa Singha was a man of exceptional enterprise, courage,military and administrative ability. With the assistance of hisbrother Siva Singha, he crushed the Bara Bhuiyan and set up astrong, united and independent monarchy. When the Muslimswere supplanted by the combined pressure of the Ahoms fromthe east and the Koches from the west, Biswa Singha organiseda vast army and established his unquestioned authority over hisnewly built kingdom bounded by the Karatoya on the west andBarnadi on the east.”

In 1532-33 the Ahom forces attacked the kingdom ofBiswa Singha. But he very intelligently, made peace withthe Ahoms giving them some presents and agreeing to payan annual tribute of horses. In return, the Ahom generalhanded over to the Koch king the territories west of theSankosh and assured him of protection against enemies.Gradually Biswa Singha extended his territory to Bhutanwho agreed to pay him tribute. He left his kingdom in astrong and flourishing condition. During his time thekingdom came to be known as Koch Bihar (simply Behar inAssamese chronicles) instead of Kamrupa and Kamta. Heshifted his capital from Chiknagram to Koch Bihar.



Biswa Singha governed his kingdom with the help of hisbrother Sisu (Siva Singha) who was made the Yuvaraj andRaikat and twelve Qazis (Karjis) or Ministers, all of themdrawn from the twelve important Mech families. Followingthe Muslim system, he grouped his soldiers under the officerswith names as below: Thakurias having control (over 20men); Saikias (over 100); Hazaris or Hazarikas (over 1000);Umras (over 3000) and Nawabs (over 22 Umras). Quitepossibly he appointed officers titled Wazir, Lashkars, Bhuyas,Baruas etc. as wardens of the frontiers. At the time of BiswaSingha’s death, his two eldest sons Malladev and Sukladhwajwere in Benares where they had been sent for study under alearned Brahmin. Taking advantage of their absence, NarSingh, the third son proclaimed himself king. As soon as thenews reached them Malladev and Sukladhwaj rushed toKoch Bihar and raising an army defeated Nar Singh.

After Nar Singh, Malladev ascended the throne andassumed the name Naranarayan. His brother Sukladhwajwas appointed his Commander-in-Chief. Thus after the deathof Biswa Singha, his son Naranarayan ascended the throne.With the help of Chilarai, his brother who was one of thegreatest military generals in the world, Naranarayanextended his rule to Manipur, Jaintia, Tripura and Sylhet.He introduced ‘Narayani Sena’ and ‘Narayani Mudra’. Thusthe Koch kingdom came into history towards the beginningof the 16th century under the leadership of Biswa Singha.

Naranarayan soon came into conflict with the Ahoms.The exact reason for the quarrel is however, not known. In1546, a battle took place on the north bank of theBrahmaputra and the Koches armed with bows and arrows,under the able leadership of Sukladhwaj, defeated theAhoms. Less important battles took place in some otherplaces but the results were same. In the process of this,

11

Naranarayan got a 350 miles road constructed with the helpof his brother Gosain Kamal from Koch Bihar to Narayanpurnear North Lakhimpur. Suklenmung, the Ahom king struckhim on this front and cut off the road and thereby cut offtheir supplies. The result was disastrous defeat forNaranarayan. The hostility ceased for the time being. In 1562,again in a battle the Ahoms were worsted. Ahom Raja suedfor terms and peace was concluded at the dictated conditionsof Sukladhwaj (Chilarai i.e kite king). Naranarayan then wonover Kacharies, Manipur, Jaintia, Tippera and Sylhet. Beingencouraged by success everywhere he invaded the strongpower of the Badshah of Gour, but faced the defeat there.

The advent of Mahapurusha Sankar Deva into the Kochkingdom and his continuous stay for more than two decadesthere resulted in a literary and Cultural Revolution calledthe “Sankari Rennaissance”, famous for the propagation ofneo-Vaishnavism. Chilarai was a great warrior. He organizedthe armed forces into a number of divisions e.g. infantry,cavalry, elephantry and naval. To ensure high sense of loveand patriotism amongst the armed forces, he arrangedsettlement of free hold land with the soldiers according tothe ranks. Simultaneously with the modernization of themilitary machine he constructed well designed forts,embankments, ramparts etc. for the protection of the forces.He deployed an efficient network of spies to collect advancedinformation. He was an embodiment of generosity of loftyideals. He was a secularist too.

Apart from rebuilding the famous Kamakhya temple,he constructed a number of temples of gods and goddessesincluding some Vaishnava satras. He thus brought about akind of harmonious coexistence of the Shaktas, Shaivas andVaishnavas. In the kingdom of Naranarayan he was calledthe Chhota Raja. Naranarayan also used to love him like



anything. Being himself a great warrior and virtuous king,he could know the real worth of his great brother. Thus thecombination of two outstanding warriors and administratorsmade possible the consolidation of the kingdom in suchmanner. The history of the Koch kingdom after the death ofNaranarayan is characterized by rise and fall. The entirekingdom got divided with the quarrel between the brothers.Invasion by the external forces (Muslim and Bhutan) ledthem to ask for help and assistance from the East IndiaCompany which ultimately got the kingdom converted to atributary state of the Company.

Maharaja Naranarayan was succeeded by Laksminarayanin 1587 after his death. The glory of the Koch dynasty startedfading from this period only. Assam, Tripura, Manipur wentout of their hands. Lakshminarayan was succeeded byMaharaja Birnarayan (1627-32). The period was notsignificant from any angle. After this Maharaja Prannarayanascended the throne and ruled the state for long 33 years(1632-1665). Taking advantage of the weakness of Shahjahan,Prannarayan attacked the Mughal power centre Ghoraghatand Goalpara and took possession of both. Immediately afterascending the throne, Aurangjeb made Mir Jumla theSubedar of Bengal. With a view to gaining the country ofPrannarayan, Mir Jumla attacked the Koch Kingdom anddefeated Prannarayan. He left the state in charge of a generaland proceeded towards Assam. Prannarayan, takingadvantage of this situation, regained the possession of CoochBehar. Prannarayan was succeeded by his second sonModanarayan (1665-1680). During his time, the powerfulNazir Deo Mahinarayan tried to dislodge him.

Taking advantage of internal squabbling in the state, theBhutans made several attempts to attack Cooch Behar in

13

collusion with Mahinarayan and his son Darpanarayan.Jagdev and Bhujdev, the Raikats of Baikunthapur(descendants of Sib Singha) came forward to help with theforce and established Basudev Narayan (1680-1682), the thirdson of Prannarayan in power. He was disturbed repeatedlyby Jajnanarayan, the descendant of Mahinarayan and theBhutias. He was succeeded by Mahendranarayan (1682-1693),the minor grandson of his elder brother. Jajnarayan againattacked the kingdom with the help of Bhutias. Ultimately atruce was made between them by which Jajnanarayan wasmade the general.

During this time, Kochraj had to fight with the Muslimswho took possession of Boda, Patgram and Purbabhagparganas. Mahendranarayan was succeeded by MaharajRupnarayan (1693-1714). He made truce with the Mughalsand got back Boda, Patgram and Purbabhag. He shifted thecapital from Atharokotha (which was the capital sinceLakshminarayan’s time) to Guriahati (Cooch Behar). Theexisting Madan Mohan temple of Cooch Behar town wasbuilt by him. After him, Maharaj Upendranarayan’s period(1714-1763) was again characterised by external invasion ofMuslim power and Bhutan. The northern part of the Kochkingdom was occupied by Bhutan. Next two years was theperiod of a minor king 5-year old Debendranarayan, whowas slain by his enemy while he was playing. Bhutanoccupied various parts of the State and the system of apermanent representative of Bhutan Raj in the court of CoochBehar Maharaja was introduced.

Dhairjendranarayan, the son of Dewan DeoKharganarayan succeeded him in 1765. He was takenprisoner by the Bhutan Raj over dinner invitation in Buxa.1770 to 1772 was the period of Rajendranarayan, though the



real power was with the representative of the Bhutan Raj‘Pen-Sutma’. After the death of Rajendranarayan, the puppetking, the Nazir Deo with the help of the courtiers andrelatives made Dharendranarayan, the minor son ofDhairjendranarayan, the king inspite of stiff objection fromthe Bhutan’s representative. Naturally there was a fightbetween the two forces. Pen-Sutma was defeated. On receiptof this information, the Bhutan Raj sent huge force and theKoch force was humiliated with defeat. The queen motherfled to Rangpur with the minor king and took shelter of theBritish administration and asked for help.

The East India Company and their Governor Hastingsagreed to extend military help on payment of annual tax tothe Company. Cooch Behar kingdom was made a protectedstate (Protectorate) of the British Power. The Koch kingdomthus lost its sovereign character in 1772. The period between1772 and 1775 was a period of war and truce. In 1772 theBhutan power was defeated by the combined force of EastIndia Company and Cooch Behar under the leadership ofMr. Purling. In 1774, the Bhutan Raj made a truce with theCompany under which the sub-Himalayan tract from Tistato Sankosh was severed from the Koch kingdom and givento Bhutan. Not only that, the Company raised the annualtax payable by Cooch Behar from Rs. 50000/- to Rs. 100000/- in 1774. From 1775 onwards, the kings who ruled in CoochBehar, a protectorate of the British power were:

1775-1783 - Dhairjendranarayan1783-1840 - Harendranarayan1840-1847 - Shibendranarayan1847-1863 - Narendranarayan1863-1911 - Nripendranarayan1912-1913 - Rajendranarayan

15

1913-1922 - Jitendranarayan1922-1936 * -Regency Council1936-1950 - Jagaddipendra Narayan

* (The queen mother Indira Devi was the President of the Council)

Amongst all these kings Harendranarayan andNripendranarayan made significant contributions to thesocio-economic cultural development of the area. The Kochdynasty played significant role in the growth anddevelopment of religion, language and culture in the middleage. They built numerous temples and helped the growthand propagation of Hindu religion in the entire region ofKamrup. They were very liberal in their religious attitude,which has been amply reflected by the peaceful coexistenceof Saivism, Vaisnavism and devotion to Sakti.

The scholars in support of their argument that the Kochand the Rajbanshi is the same caste refer to this history ofKoch dynasty. It is from this history they argue that theprogenitor of the Rajbanshis of Kamrup Kamta, that is,modern North Bengal and western Assam was Koch andhence Koch and Rajbanshi is the same caste. The subjects ofKoch kingdom are the descendants of Biswa Singha and SivSingha, the sons of Hira and Jira belonging to Koch familybegotten by the Mech sardar Hariya Mondal. Subsequently,the Koch became Hindu and adopted the name Rajbanshi.

All the tribals converted into Koch are supposed to havejoined hands to establish the Koch kingdom. However, allKoches of Goalpara and North Bengal, who claimed descendfrom the original ruling tribe that had first adoptedHinduism, preferred to call themselves Rajbanshis in duecourse rather than Koch and they still prefer that. The reasonfor their claim to be called Rajbanshi is that they aredescendants of Raja (king). They do not believe in the theory



propounded by the Pundits that Biswa Singha, the founderof the dynasty was a Koch. They are committed to the beliefthat Biswa Singha was a king and hence Kshatriya byprofession and caste.

The moot point is that the Koch-Rajbanshi kings weresupposed to have belonged to the Bodo stock of people,subsequently being sanskritised and Hindusied. TheRajbanshis of North Bengal are supposed to be thedescendants of these Koch-Rajbanshi rulers of the thenKamrup/Cooch Behar. They are the people residing in theentire region of the erstwhile Kamrup i.e., all the districts ofNorth Bengal, the districts of western Assam and thenorthern districts of Bangladesh. Rajbanshis are thereforethe single largest ethnic group of a vast area. As such theyconsider themselves a strong force in the region.

Socio-political and Economic DevelopmentIn course of the development—political, economic and

social, the Koch people with a view to achieving higher socialstatus and caste status claimed themselves as Rajbanshi,meaning thereby the descendants of Raja (king), who issupposed to be Kshatriya, a caste immediately below theBrahmins. They had to play this trick in the caste riddenBrahminical society in order to keep their political powerand authority as supreme, of course, being adequatelysupported by the Brahmins, who played vital role inadministering the people by their own kith. Being thoroughlyimpressed by the administrative principles of Brahminismwhich was found to be quite advantageous for theperpetuation of the king’s supremacy over the subjectwithout any question, Biswa Singha following the path ofDurlabhnarayan, brought good number of Brahmins fromKanauj, Mithila, Sylhet etc. for administering the subjects.

17

The same policy was followed by the greatest king ofthis dynasty Naranarayana and his brother Chilarai andsubsequently by the other kings. The Brahmins took fulladvantage of this situation and saw to it that the commonsubjects who otherwise happened to be the king’s own menwere not allowed to come to the close contact with the rulerand not given proper and adequate facilities for their overalldevelopment. The result is that the entire region and thepeople have remained quite poor, illiterate, oppressed andabsolutely neglected. Confronted with this kind of a situation,they had to take the challenge of facing various groups ofpeople coming from time to time to this region for theirlivelihood. These people (immigrants) were supposed to besuperior to the indigenous ones educationally, economicallyand socially. They had money power, social and religiouspower, duly authenticated by the king and amply supportedby the upper echelons of king’s administration.

The sole objective of the feudal lords was to perpetuatethe king’s authority and power keeping the common peoplein the darkness of illiteracy, ill health and poverty. With thisview, they hardly made any arrangement for the education,health and other socio-economic development of the commonpeople. Naturally the natives could not compete with theimmigrants who came with better education and knowledge,greater money power and above all, higher social and castestatus. There was, however, no social tension so long as thecommon people were happy and satisfied with the king’sauthority because of their lack of touch with the outsideworld, their immediate felt need being very limited. Theyhad hardly any problem so far as their caste status isconcerned, since the entire society consisted of mainly theRajbanshis. The possibility of any tension during the reignof the Maharajas was very little because of the fact that the



number of the immigrants was not many although thosefew had substantial influence on the administration ofthe estate.

The Rajbanshi Kshatriya MovementBut the situation changed in the late 19th century. This

part of the country did not remain completely unaffected bythe wave of independence movement and democraticprinciples. Rajbanshis, though a limited few, started feelingthe utter neglect of the common people by the feudal rulers.

The scholars, particularly the Bengalee scholars kept oncampaigning that the Rajbanshis are none but the Koch andthey are not Kshatriya. Not only that; some of them went afew steps further and called them ‘bahe’ in somewhatderogatory sense, taking clue from G. A. Grierson’s LinguisticSurvey of India, rather making a distorted view out ofGrierson. This created social tension in various places on anumber of occasions. The Rajbanshis not happy with thedecision and the trend, started the Kshatriya movementwhich is being pursued by the Rajbanshis even today.

The movement called the Rajbanshi Kshatriya movementby its leaders and participants emerged and spread amongthe Rajbanshi Hindus of the four districts of North Bengalin addition to the then Cooch Behar Princely state, Rangpurdistrict of present Bangladesh and the then Goalpara districtof Assam. The background to the movement was providedby the social, political and economic changes that took placeduring the British rule. The British rule brought about majordislocation in the socio-economic life of the rural populationresulting in narrowing down of opportunities and increasedpressure on available resources. The Rajbanshis constitutedthe most numerous group among the autochthons of theregion. When the British conquered the Rajbanshis, they were

19

believed to belong to a semi-tribal community, who for aconsiderable period were settled agriculturists, with regionaldiversities raising crops mainly using a plough drawn bybullocks. Their history included the history of Koches, Paliyasand perhaps Bodos. They were once a regionally dominantpolitical power and founded several powerful kingdoms.Their precise origin, status and folk history, however, stillremained obscure.

The existing history is largely based on the accounts leftby the colonial administrators and colonial ethnographers.The colonial pundits like Buchanon– Hamilton, Dalton, Risleygave diverse and confusing opinions about the Rajbanshiorigin, sometimes describing them as aboriginals of Kamrupbelonging to the non-Aryan, sometimes Dravidian orMongoloid groups. In support to the thesis of fusion ofdifferent races, Prof. Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay observedin 1951 and again in 1974,

‘The masses of North Bengal are largely of Bodo origin or mixedAustric-Dravidian/Mongoloid, where groups of peoples fromlower Bengal(Bhati-desh) and Bihar have penetrated amongthem. They can now mainly be described as Koch i.e. Hinduisedor Semi- Hinduised Bodo, who had abandoned their originalTibeto-Burman speech and have adopted the northern dialect ofBengali… they are proud to call themselves Rajbanshis and toclaim to be called Kshatriyas.’

Some anthropologists have questioned the idea ofDravidian-Mongoloid admixture and have stressed theMongoloid element. Charu Chandra Sanyal in his massivework ‘The Rajbanshis of North Bengal’ observed that the Kochesare non-Aryan in origin; some of them adopted Hinduismand became Rajbanshis. It appears from the study of theavailable materials that there is no certain view point aboutthe origin and identity of this group of people. Whether



Koch or Bodo, the group appears to have gone through theparallel process of Huinduisation and Islamisation. TheHinduised social group of the area mentioned above includedthe Pans, Paliyas and Deshis of Dinajpur and Koches of theabove districts and Purnia district of Bihar. The local Muslimsin this region are believed to be converts from Rajbanshis,Koches or their sub-divisions. All of them speak the dialectcalled Rajbanshi or Kamrupi.

Rajbanshi intelligentsia, political leaders and socialreformers, however, strongly disagreed with what has beenstated by the ethnographers about their ethnic identity andemphatically denied any affinity between Rajbanshis on theone hand and Koches, Paliyas and Bodo on the other. Asstated earlier, based on quotes from Hindu scriptures andepics, they set up their claim to be considered as Kshatriyas.Their arguments were that in the hoary past, they wereknown as Haihaiya Kshatriyas who being attacked byParasuram and Sagar of the Bhrigu dynasty fled to placesoutside the Aryan territories (according to some accounts,to Paundra desh in Bengal and Bihar and, according to otheraccounts, Kamrup), took shelter among the non-Aryans,remained incognito and in the course of time lost theirKahatriya characteristics and identity. The claim received afillip in later years, particularly in the early decades of thetwentieth century and came to be associated with a socialreform movement.

Under the British rule, all the opportunities of livelihoodin the region, services and professions even in Cooch Beharprincely State, where the king himself was a Rajbanshi, cameto be monopolized by upper caste Hindus and elitistMuslims. At the same time, new opportunities for socialmobility were opened up through commercialization ofagriculture, improvement of communication and spread of

21

education, though to a very limited extent. These contraryprocesses generated new social tensions and strivings whichpartly found expression through the Rajbanshi Kshatriyamovement. Certain other moves by the Colonial Government,particularly the Census operations which since 1891 tried toclassify each social Hindu group or caste on the basis ofsocial hierarchy recognized by Hindu public opinion, directlycontributed to the growth of the movement. The movementcentred round the claim at the time of the census of 1891that the Rajbanshi Hindus were Kshatriyas of Aryan origin,against the census authority’s instructions to the effect thatRajbanshi be treated as the same as Koch. Several RajbanshiZamindars and Jotedars, led by one Harmohan Khajanchitook initiative in voicing protest against this.

Under the banner of “Rangpur Bratya Kshatriya Jatir UnnatiBidhayani Sabha”, they urged F.M. Skyne, then DistrictMagistrate of Rangpur to recognize Rajbanshis as a separatecaste and enumerate them as Kshatriyas in the census. Mr.Skyne sought the opinion of the Rangpur Dharma Sabha, anassociation of Brahmin pundits. The Dharma Sabha, in itsturn, after consulting the Brahmins of important places likeNabadwip, Mithila, Kamrup, gave the opinion that theRajbanshis were of the Kshatriya origin, who have beendegraded to a Bratya state due to non-observance of vedicpractices, and that Rajbanshis and Koches were two differentcastes. On the basis of this opinion Mr. Skyne recommendedto the Census Superintendent to allow the Rajbanshis to beenumerated as Bratya Ksyatriyas and also issued a circular tothe effect that the Rajbanshis could write their caste as BratyaKshyatriyas in all official correspondences. This pacified theRajbanshis and the movement called the Rajbanshi Kshatriyamovement by its leaders and participants which emergedand spread among the Rajbanshi Hindus of the above



mentioned districts in addition to the then Rangpur districtof present Bangladesh and the then Goalpara district ofAssam, subsided.

The movement, however, gathered fresh momentumduring the census of 1901 when the Rajbanshis, to their utterdisappointment, found that they were returned under thegeneral head of Koch, a term very much abhorred by theRajbanshis. This generated considerable discontent and theyurged the concerned authority to accord them the status ofKshatriya caste. Their claim was, however, not acceeded tobecause of opposition from sections of high caste Hindus.

The Movement under the Leadership of Panchanan BarmaThe movement was therefore strengthened and spread

throughout North Bengal led by Panchanan Barma (Sarkar),who was born in Khalisamari, a remote village ofMathabanga P.S. under the district of Cooch Behar in 1272BS(1866). He was the first post-graduate with law degreeamongst the Rajbanshis by dint of sheer perseverance andhard labour. Unfortunately, Cooch Behar kingdom did notgive this son of the soil with rare quality a proper job befittinghis qualification. Being thoroughly disgusted and dissatisfied,he left Cooch Behar and went to Rangpur to join the legalprofession there in 1901.

The socio-economic backwardness of the RajbanshiHindus and the repeated refusal to accord Kshatriya statusto them hurt him. There were numerous instances ofdiscrimination being practised by caste Hindus aimed atRajbanshi people. Humiliating treatment from upper casteHindus was meted even to him. One day he took the toga(gown) of one Mr. Maitra, a Brahmin pleader of the bar bymistake while going for pleading a case. Back from the courtwhen he went to return the toga, Mr. Maitra insulted him

23

with the words, ‘I hate to use the toga used by a Rajbanshi’,and threw it away. Just after sometime, another incident ofinsult came to his knowledge. The Rajbanshi hostellers ofRangpur Normal School Boarding were insulted by the non-Rajbanshi students. They did not eat the rice from the hostelkitchen because the Rajbanshi hostellers entered the kitchen.The rice was then thrown away for the dogs/cows.

It was in this background that Panchanan Barma tookthe vow in mobilizing Rajbanshi Hindus for establishingtheir Kshatriya identity. The activities of the ‘Rangpur BratyaKshatriya Jatir Unnati Bidhayani Sabha’ led by HarmohanKhajanchi already came to his knowledge. He decided totake up the investigation and research on the actual socialstatus of the Rajbanshis. With his perseverance and versatileknowledge, he continued his research and studies,discussions, debates, consultations with the learned peopleof various fields— anthropology, sociology, archaeology,linguistics, sanskrit literature, religion, culture and havingfound sufficient supporting materials from the shastras andother sources, strengthened the claim that the Rajbanshiswere Kshatriyas, rather Bratya Kshatriyas i.e. degeneratedKshatriyas. Rajbanshi scholars and pundits compiledmaterials of history, folk tales, folk songs, proverbs andsayings to establish the claim of Kshatriya status.

At the same time, the need for social reform washighlighted. For his role in awakening the Rajbanshis,Panchanan Barma emerged as the most popular andrespected leader of the community. They decided tostrengthen the movement further prior to 1911 census. InMay,1910, several hundred Rajbanshis, mostly land holders,Jotedars and substantial peasants from different districts ofundivided North Bengal, Goalpara and Cooch Behar Stateassembled in a conference in Rangpur town. They formed



Kshatriya Samiti with Madhusudan Ray, a lawyer fromJalpaiguri as President and Panchanan Barma as Secretary.Following the settting up of the Samiti, ‘a most persistentagitation was carried on by the Rajbanshis’, in the words ofL.S.S. O’Malley, the Census Superintendant of Bengal.

The Samiti pressed that they be recorded separately fromthe Koch and be recognized as Kshatriyas by descend. Whilethe former demand was conceded, the demand forrecognition as Kshatriyas was turned down. This againcontributed to the strengthening of the movement and socialreforms. The wearing of sacred thread, reduction of the daysof mourning from 30 days to 13 days and change of surnamefrom Das to Barman, Singha, Ray, Sarkar etc were some ofthe measures emphasized. Several thousand Rajbanshiscongregated at Perolbari in Debiganj PS on the bank ofKaratoya and took sacred thread on Magh, 27, 1319 BS(February, 1913).

Large numbers of similar congregations were organizedin different places which continued in subsequent years too.Even today, 27th Magh is observed in different places as theUpanayan Sanskara Divas by the Rajbanshis of North Bengal.Guided by a small group of Rajbanshi lawyers and educatedpersons, the Samiti worked for the spread of educationamong members of the community. The Samiti whichincluded many Jotedars and rich peasants raised communityfunds for providing loans to Rajbanshi farmers, urged thelatter to improve their agricultural practices and to organizecooperative credit societies. The Samiti condemned the casteHindu practice of giving dowry by the parents of the bride.Strict adherence to the shastric rituals and rousing of socialawareness against the introduction of dowry in Rajbanshisociety were also stressed. Kshatriya, the journal of the Samitidealt with various socio-economic problems facing the

25

Rajbanshis and published several booklets on Hindu Shatras.The Samiti developed its links with the Bharatiya KshatriyaMahasabha, an association of Rajput Thakurs in northernand western India.

It appointed Pracharak or Ganya (distinguished) memberswho would devote all their time for the work of the Samitiand also Manya i.e. respectable members. According to theConstitution of the Kshatriya Samiti, every Kshatriya was amember. Ganya member was the membership on paymentof annual fee and Manya members were the members electedfrom amongst the Ganya members on the basis ofrespectability, position in society and attitude to social serviceetc. They had to pay a one time donation of Rs. 100. Themain activists of the Samiti were virtually the Ganyamembers. It appears from the agenda note of the 8th year’sconference of the Samiti in 1324 BS that the number of Ganyamembers was 70 in 1322 BS, 564 in 1323 BS and 752 in 1324BS, 881 in 1328 BS and 861 in 1329 BS.

The decentralised activities of the Kshatriya Samiti werecarried on through the Ganya members or Pracharaks, whowere the pivotal figures of the Mandali Samiti formed indifferent local places. Panchanan Barma explained the roleand importance of the Mandali Samiti and as such theKshatriya Samiti as given herewith—Wealth, strength,intellect and life of an individual Kshatriya is limited. Farfrom achieving the targeted success with such limitedcapability, it cannot fulfil even the individual desires.Kshatriya Samiti has been formed to achieve the all rounddevelopment of a Kshatriya, whosoever he or she be, byutilising the combined force emerging out of the limitedindividual capacity, strength and intellect of all in the society.But achievement cannot be ensured simply combining theforces. They have to be combined in an integrated form.(Barman UN, 1408 BS).



Kshatriya Samiti movement was basically a social reformmovement. About social reform, Panchanan Barma had thevision of a progressive sociologist: Social reform impliesforegoing that which have outlived the utility in the societyor have harmed the society; filling up the place with thatwhich ameliorate the prosperity of the society; revitalisingthe society with the introduction of customs beneficial andbeauteous to the society, casting away the harmful customsand rituals that have crept into. The society cannot besanskritised inspite of the reforms, unless new life is instilledin it (Barman KC, 2001).

The Samiti called upon the Rajbanshi youth to taketraining in physical exercise and learn the use of lathis,daggers etc. Responding to the call of the Samiti, severalhundred Rajbanshi youth from Jalpaiguri, Rangpur, Dinajpurand Goalpara joined the British Army during the 1st WorldWar and in recognition of the service rendered by PanchananBarma in the war in 1919, he was conferred the title “RaiSaheb” and MBE (Member of the British Empire).

Panchanan Barma however, did not stop there. He hadthe conviction that mere recognition as the Kshatriya willhardly help the community, unless the community peopleat large do acquire the attributes of Kshatriya. To him,Kshatriya is the combination of some class qualities – thegenotype qualities of a person, rather some excellent qualitiesand attributes of humanity. He didn’t believe in thephenotype qualities. As agriculturists, the Rajbanshis hadthe basic quality of modesty and softness, for which theyhave often been subjected to exploitation and injustice. Itwas therefore, necessary to arouse the qualities of physicaland mental strength, valour, consciousness in the communityfor its uplift. They have to be brave and enterprising too.Panchanan wanted to instil his modernity, mental and

27

physical strength, braveness, sincerity and commitmentamongst the common people of the community. Heexpounded this in his speech in the Kshatriya SamitiSammelan in the following manner,

‘Let me now say a few words on customs. Whether mourningrites should be for 12 days or 13 days, whether wearing of thesacred thread is justified or not, will be decided by the assemblyhere. Adopting the rites and customs befitting the Kshatriyawill be justified if you are recognized as the Kshatriya. But mereadoption of Kshatriya customs and rites will not bring our socialreforms. The rites and customs as stated are simply illustrationsof some inner attributes. We cannot be fit for the term ‘Kshatriya’unless we acquire those attributes. We have to cultivate thequalities befitting the Kshatriya by casting off the anti-Kshatriyacustoms and vices…. Attributes like valour, intrepidity, heroismwill have to be practised by casting off the meanness andweakness.’

He further warned, ‘Real Kshatriyahood cannot beacquired simply by adopting the outward customs ofKshatriya without cultivating the good attributes. Butacquiring the good attributes requires the power ofjudgement between right and wrong… it is therefore,education which is essential for mental and economic uplift.’He has given an idea about the basic qualities of Kshatriyain the third part of the poem ‘Kshatriyer Proti’ in the poem‘Dangdhari Mao’. Just a few lines will give an idea about it:

ÀturÊ KÊndon Kshatriya KÊne Àpne Àsi NÊgeHidde UÑhe HurkÊ ToofÊn #orile #okti JÊge………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………….PÊo-yer BhÊre PÊhÊr BhÊnge PhiriyÊ NÊ ChÊy BirDushÑÊk MÊri Àrtok Tari Tabe Se Hoy Re Thir.Hindu MusalmÊn BichÊr NÊi Re MÊnush Jontu Noy Bhin

Ulsi DhÊyÊ Àrter UddhÊr Ei Kshatriyer Chin.



A Kshatriya will rush to save the person in danger justat the hearing of any predicament, without making anydiscrimination between Hindu or Muslim, human being oranimal etc. Also he emphasized on the quality of self-relianceof an individual. His advice was, ‘Tor Ê¼Ê sagÊy koruk, tuikÊro Ê¼Ê koris nÊ’.—Let others look to you and not the reverse.

As stated above, his primary objective was to arouse thesense of self-determination and self-assertion in thecommunity in the Kshatriya Samiti and for that the essentialpre-requisite is the spread of education amongst thecommunity. Panchanan identified illiteracy as the mainresponsible factor for the misery of the Rajbanshi community.Emphatically he said,

‘We have now become neglected by all. The main reason is thelack of our education. Due to lack of education, we cannotdistinguish between good and evil…. In other words, we havelost our judgement and reason because of the lack of education.We have become subjects of ridicule… education is essential foracquisition and protection of wealth… for our overalldevelopment.’

He has stated in his article ‘Kamta Bihari Sahitya’, presentedin the Uttar Banga Sahitya Sammelan held in Sonipur, Assamin 1316 BS.

‘Nobody should think that education is necessary for job only.Education is required for knowledge and self-assertion. Educationis the basic foundation of development of a race; man achievesdivinity by dint of education and gets reduced to animality beingaddicted to various evil deeds for want of education.’

This attitude of Panchanan is reflected from the delibera-tions and minutes of the Kshatriya Samiti conferences. Specialemphasis on education has been given from the 1st yearconference itself. In the 4th year conference, the Samitiadopted resolutions for taking up detailed programmes for

29

the spread of general education, social education, moraleducation and health. In the 8th year conference at Dinajpurand 9th year conference at Domar, detailed discussions wereheld on the spread of education and vocational education.In a general call to the community he said, ‘Brothers andfriends! I am requesting you with folden hands and modestyto please give education to your children. Please do this,even if you have to spend all your property or you have tobeg for their education. Even then they should not be leftilliterate’. The 10th year conference in Gouripur was a Kshatra– Chhatra Sammelan presided over by Jagadindra DevRaikat, the famous zamindar of Jalpaiguri wherein someimportant resolutions regarding adoption of improvedagriculture, importance of trade and commerce, cultivationof cotton and charkha operation in Rajbanshi households,representation to the government for recruitment ofRajbanshi people, construction of national archive forpreservation of historical documents were passed by theKshatriya Samiti.

In the 14th year conference, it was specifically pointedout that education should be the goal for attaining theKshatriyahood. Emphasis was given on general education,women education, vocational education and social reforms.In the 9th year conference in Domar, the Samiti gave emphasison devotion to Hindu shastra, self-assertion, attributes forKshatriyahood etc. and adopted resolution for givingtopmost priority on the collection of folk tales, folk songsand improvement of Sankirtan, Sona Rayer Gaan, Gorokh NatherGaan, Saitorer Gaan, Suvachanir Katha, Bishaharir Gaan andChandi Gaan. It was also resolved that every meeting of theSamiti shoud begin with Kshatriya Sangeet.

It thus appears that the Kshatriya Samiti under theleadership of Panchanan Barma was concerned about every



aspect of social and economic development of the Rajbanshicommunity. The task was however, not an easy one. He hadto fight with two very strong forces of Cooch Behar – allpowerful high officials of the Cooch Behar state and allpowerful high caste Hindus of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri andRangpur districts. Also to mention that the movement hadto face some opposition from certain sections within thecommunity. The opposition was so stiff that the KshatriyaSamiti had to approach the Maharaja of Cooch Behar byadopting a resolution (appended below):

In view of the amelioration of the condition of the RajbansyaKshatriya community of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Bogra,Goalpara and Cooch Behar socially, morally, religiously andeducationally, this assembly of the Rajbansya Kshatriya of theabove Districts, most respectfully pray to his Highness theMaharaja Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar in Council, to extendsympathetic help towards the movement inaugurated by theKshatriya Samiti and most respectfully pray that his Highness’government be graciously pleased to issue general instruction toall its officers to take a friendly attitude towards the Samiti’sacts (vide agenda no. 18 of the 4th year conference in 1320 BS.) .

Calica Das Dutt, the Dewan of Cooch Behar was verymuch apprehensive of the Samiti activities and as suchantagonistic to the Samiti. He issued some prohibitory ordersagainst the holding of Kshatriya Samiti conglomerationsthrough Mr. Collins, the Supdt. of the State. Even PrinceVictor, who was very much sympathetic to the Samiti, couldnot get the prohibitory orders cancelled and expressed hisinability through a telegram to the Samiti: ‘Thanks telegram.His Highness cannot withdraw Mr. Collin’s order until it isfully proved that you are non-political and do not cause anyinconvenience whatever to the general public.’ The kingdomhad shown such an attitude towards the Samiti inspite ofthe fact that the Samiti was a purely social organisation till

31

then. The Kshatriya Samiti introduced the sanction offinancial help for the Rajbanshi youths, who passedmatriculation and above and this subject was included inthe agenda of every conference. The Samiti was concernedabout the employment of educated Rajbanshi youths, thoughvery limited number. In the 3rd year conference itself, theSamiti adopted a resolution urging the Maharaja of CoochBehar to give employment to the Rajbanshi youths. TheMaharaja however, does not appear to be very much movedby such resolution as it appears from the letter of Mr. A.W.Dentith, Supdt. of the Cooch Behar state addressed to BabuPanchanan Barma Sarkar, which reads as follows:

‘With reference to your letter no. 435 dated: 28th May,1912, Ihave the honour to intimate that I have submitted to his Highnessthe Maharaja Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar, the copy of the 6th

resolution, forwarded therewith, which was passed by theKshatriya Samiti on the occasion of its third anniversary. I am tosay, that his highness will always be ready to give employmentin his state to his subjects when vacancies occur, should they beduly qualified.’

Panchanan fought for the sacred thread for the Rajbanshiswith a view to instil amongst them the sense of self-emancipation, self-respect, and self-assertion and for thatmatter emancipation of the souls. But some Rajbanshi leadersleft the profession of farming and tilling the lands alongwith other agricultural practices on the plea that their sacredthread didn’t permit them to prosecute the agriculturalprofession. Panchanan expressed his despair on such attitude,‘Wearing the sacred thread became the cause of our downfallin place of upward rise (development)!’

The Samiti described itself as a non-political association,aiming at the intellectual, social, moral and religious progressof the community. On 15th November, 1917, Panchanan



Barma mentioned in his letter to the then Principal Secretaryof Bengal,

‘That the Association is non-political and aims at the intellectual,social, moral and religious progress of the community and finalemancipation of the souls by the finding of the great soul in allwe see, is the goal.’

On the whole, the Rajbanshi Ksatriya movementrepresented an endeavour to find social identity and statusfor the Rajbanshi Hindus and contained significant elementsof dissent and opposition to upper caste domination. Ithowever, exhibited sanskritising tendencies with an assertionof Aryan origin and striving for the higher social status ofKshatriya by borrowing higher caste customs and rituals.They emphatically rejected any suggestion to the effect thatthe Rajbanshis and the Koches had a common tribal andsemi-tribal past. The movement could be considered as aconservative one with claim to a higher status within theexisting caste hierarchy and there was no attack against thecaste system. The Samiti attempted to get shastrik sanctionand recognition from Brahmin pundits. By doing so, theRajbanshis tried to retain their identity as Hindu at thesecond position of the social ladder. Contribution of RaiSaheb Panchanan Barma to the Hindu Society has been wellrecognized by Dr. Charu Chandra Sanyal in the Monograph,The Rajbanshis of North Bengal.

“At a time when Rajbanshis of North Bengal were going out ofthe Hindu fold and embracing other faiths, Babu PanchananBurman of Rangpur raised the claim that the Northern Rajbanshiswere Kshatriyas and advanced the above arguments. His claimwas accepted by the pandits of Benaras. The Rajbanshis beganto take the Sacred Thread and declared themselves as Kshatriyas.His contention may or may not be accepted by all scholars but itis certain that he saved the Northern Rajbanshis from leavingthe Hindu fold and this was his greatest contribution to theRajbanshis, as a matter of fact to the Hindu society.”

33

Unfortunately, the Hindu society instead of expressingtheir gratitude to Panchanan Barma and the Rajbanshis forsuch great service to the society, tried to denigrate and malignthem. In fact, the Bengalees in general, and perhaps the nationitself should be grateful to Panchanan Barma and theKshatriya Samiti. Had they not been active to resist the massconversion of the Rajbanshis to the Islam, the districts ofCooch Behar and Jalpaiguri would have been the Muslimmajority ones and the results could have been disastrous. Itcould have been very difficult to nullify the claim of theMuslim leadership of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Assam toinclude the area to East Pakistan.

Often it is argued that the Kshatriya Samiti kept awayfrom the nationalist movement, sought opportunities formore jobs, education and political favours from thegovernment, looked forward to a period of benevolent ruleof the British and openly displayed its loyalty to the Raj.Strangely it didn’t have any programme for the poor peasantsand adhiars (bargadars), who constituted the bulk of theRajbanshi Hindu peasantry. The movement remainedconfined among the large landholders, Jotedars and betteroff peasants.

Kshatriya Samiti of the Rajbanshis had failed to exploredeeply the issues relating to land. Historically, KshatriyaSamiti opposed such movements like Tebhaga of the mid1940’s when the rural peasantry of Bengal raised the bannerof revolt against landlords demanding two-third share ofthe produce for the tiller, it has generally been alleged.

The movement had an implicit element of Hindurevivalism with at times an explicit anti-Muslim tone. Whennari-niryatan or outrage of modesty of Rajbanshi and otherHindu women by the Muslims became a recurrent issue, the



concept of Dangdhari or weapon wielding Hindu womenwas put forward to combat this. Rajbanshi Kshatriyas andseveral other backward but ‘non-untouchable’ caste groupsformed Bangiya Jana Sangha. This appears to have beenorganized for demarcating the Kshatriyas, claiming higherritual and social status, from the Bengal Depressed ClassesAssociation, which represented the Namasudras and otheruntouchable and depressed castes. This is how the poordepressed Indians became victims to the policy of the colonialgovernment to ‘keep the nation divided and weak.’

In the Memorandum to the Indian Franchise Commission(1932), Panchanan Barma on behalf of the Sangha, demandedthat the Rajbanshis and other backward castes should berepresented by ‘reserved seats... through Joint electorate’.Kshatriya Samiti also supported this demand under thePoona Act, although the Samiti originally stood for separateelectorate for the backward castes. To take advantage of jobreservation, special educational facilities and electoral politics,the Kshatriya Samiti asked for the status of Scheduled Caste.It is however, interesting that even some Muslims took partin the Samiti’s conferences. The eighteenth conference evenreferred to the need for developing unity of Hindus andMuslims of local origin against the bhatias. But Hindurevivalism predominated and precluded any commonprogramme and common organization for the RajbanshiHindus and Rajbanshi Muslims.

The movement hardly raised any agrarian issues at itsown initiative, although on two occasions the opportunitycame to the Samiti. In 1922, as a member of the Committeeof the Bengal Legislative Council to consider the amendmentof B.T. Act of 1885, Panchanan Barma expressed his keennessto further the interests of the tenure-holders or raiyats,although on the question of giving recognition to adhiars,

35

his position was almost against the adhiar. Again in 1928Nagendra Narayan Ray took a similar position in the debateof Bengal Legislative council. This attitude towards agrarianrelations kept the potential of the movement considerablylimited. There was some reservation within the communityabout the sub-caste status, but the Kshatriya Samiti convincedthem with the argument that scheduled implies ‘included ina schedule’ for electoral purposes and has no relation withthe social status of any caste. Kshatriyas thus obtained thestatus of Scheduled caste and this recognition was mentionedby F.W. Robertson in his address on 15th and 16th Conferencesof the Kshatriya Samiti held in Jalpaiguri in July, 1935.

The complexities and fragmentation of the socio-politicallife in the region were revealed by the course of the RajbanshiKshatriya movement. Though many Rajbanshi people wereassociated with Congress, participated in the nationalistmovement and went to jail, the Kshatriya Society generallykept away from it and persisted with loyalty to the Raj. Theeducated upper caste bhadralok leaders of the Congress didnot find it necessary to accord any significance to RajbanshiKshatriya movement which had been getting momentumunder the leadership of Panchanan Barma during 1920’s inRangpur and other places after it became a politicalorganisation.

The Movement under the Leadership of Madhusudan RoyIn Jalpaiguri, the movement, being continued under the

leadership of Madhusudan Roy was joined by youngereducated Rajbanshi people like Upendra Nath Barman. ShriBarman, a lawyer, had in his early youth, connection withAnushilan Samiti, a revolutionary terrorist association butcut off all relation with it under the influence of KshatriyaSamiti and refused to participate in non-cooperation



movement. Kshatriya Samiti participated in all the fourelections held in the Bengal Legislative Council in 1920, 1923,1926 and 1929 under the 1919 Act and achieved strikingelectoral success.

In 1923, the Swarajists captured all the general seats butthey faced defeat in two seats contested by Kshatriya Samiticandidates Panchanan Barma and Nagendra Narayan Ray.Expressing its firm loyalty to the British government in itsvarious resolutions the Samiti concentrated on the demandsfor formation of a Rajbanshi Kshatriya battalion, nominationof adequate members of Rajbanshis to the District Board,Union Boards, Municipalities i.e. local governmentinstitutions, suitable measures for spread of education andincreased job opportunities for the Rajbanshi youths. In 1931Jalpaiguri Minicipality election, reportedly on the urgingfrom the representatives of the so called lower castes likeKarmakar, Teli, Rajbanshi, Beldar, the governmentnominated Upendranath Barman as a MunicipalCommissioner. At the intiative of Nawab Musharraff Hossainand Rai Bahadur Bipulendra Nath Banerjee, he was electedVice Chairman.

The first election under the Govt. of India Act, 1935 washeld in 1937. In the election, Upendra Nath Barman, theKshatriya Samiti candidate in Jalpaiguri – SiliguriConstituency, claimed himself as a peasant representative(Krishaker Pratinidhi) and stressed on the deplorableconditions of the peasants irrespective of their caste andcommunity affiliation. He got the support of some casteHindu also and won the election very comfortably. Oneshould take note that against the background of theconstitutional negotiation continuing since the appointmentof the Simon Commission, the Kshatriya movement becameinvolved in the issue of political and economic reforms and

37

improvement of the ritual and social status was given theback seat.

From the election results, it should be clear that Kshatriyamovement had considerable influence on the political life ofJalpaiguri and its neighbouring districts of Rangpur, Dinajpurand Cooch Behar although the movement and for that matterany movement did not gather momentum in the princelystate of Cooch Behar as because any kind of movement wasnot allowed there. As stated earlier, large sections ofRajbanshi people were outside nationalist movement,although many of them turned into the supporters and activeparticipants of nationalist movement. Although themovement was criticized by the Congress leaders, some ofthem were keen on having dialogue with the KshatriyaSamiti. Upendra Nath Barman was invited to speak aboutthe Samiti at the special session of the congress study circlein December, 1937. He enlightened them about the activitiesof the Kshatriya movement and the relation it had with therest of the polity.

The Government of India Act, 1935 provided for seatreservation for scheduled caste which met the major demandof the Kshatriya Samiti. Upendra Nath Barman and otherKshatriya MLAs initially supported the Muslim-Leaguedominated coalition government. Out of 36 sub-caste MLAs,31 including 6 Kshatriya members formed the IndependentScheduled Caste (a legislative group) with Upen Barman asleader and Jogendra Nath Mondal as Secretary. KshatriyaSamiti however, shifted its position under the impact of otherpolitical changes and in August, 1938, Upendra Nath Barmanand other scheduled caste MLAs voted in favour of no-confidence motions against the ministers. Sections ofRajbanshi followers of the Samiti switched their allegianceto the Congress.



Some interesting political developments took place inthe meantime. Many Krishak Samiti leaders, who wereworking for generating awareness amongst the farmers inJalpaiguri and Rangpur districts were arrested and jailed.During the harvesting season in late 1939 and early 1940,the Krishak Samiti movement assumed a new dimension. Itwas followed by the adhiar movement which centered uponthe relationship between the jotedars and the adhiars. Theimpoverished adhiars almost universally had to takeconsumption loan of paddy and seed loan from their giri orjotedar and they had to remain indebted permanently. Allthese created acute resentment on the minds of adhiars.

The movement spread to the Thakurgaon sub-divisionof Dinajpur district and Domar thana area of Rangpurdistrict. The Rajbanshi Hindu jotedars, mostly supporters ofthe Kshatriya Samiti called upon the Rajbanshi Hindupeasants and adhiars not to believe in upper caste bhatias.The Muslim jotedars also resorted to communal propaganda,although every effort of the land owning class failed todiffuse the movement. On 26th January, 1940, the peasantsunder the leadership of Laltu Barman, brought out aprocession and assembled in large numbers at Panchpeer.The peasants were in a militant mood. At the scuffle, peasantsled by Ujani Barmani, wife of Laltu Barman overturned theSDO’s car and snatched the daroga’s cap. Next day therewere large scale arrests and the police forcibly took awaythe paddy stacked at adhiar’s places to the jotedar’s kholans.

The adhiar movement in large parts of the three NorthBengal districts was the first peasant movement in Bengalthat organized and involved the adhiars against the jotedarsfirmly. Such movements in some other districts of Bengalprior to this were of sporadic and localized nature. Inaddition to its political dimension, the movement had several

39

social dimensions too. Peasant women coming from poorfamilies participated in these movements in large numbers.They took part in meetings and demonstrations and exhibitedconsiderable militancy as exemplified by Ujani Barmani. Asort of solidarity and fraternity developed between theRajbanshi Hindu and Muslim peasants, who unitedly foiledvarious divisive moves on the part of the vested interests.

The adhiar movement prompted the Rajbanshi Hindujotedars to flock to the Congress or to the Kshatriya Samitiand the Muslim jotedars to the League. The Congressleadership, not to speak of the Kshatriya Samiti or theLeague, however, took an indifferent and occasionally hostileattitude to the adhiar agitation. The situation was being mademore complicated by the rapid growth of the Muslim League.The district leadership of the Krishak Samiti and CommunistParty of India (CPI) though dominated by non-localimmigrant upper caste Hindus as that of the Congress,activized the Rajbanshi Hindu and Muslim peasant massesand ensured their participation to an extent. Suchmobilization of poor peasants was never thought of by theKshatriya Samiti and this was perhaps the most importantweak point of the great movement.

There was significant development with respect to thespread of communist activities in Jalpaiguri town and ruralareas of Debiganj, Pachagarh and Boda thanas during 1942to 1945. Despite the repression following the adhiar agitationof 1939-40, the communists of the district were able tomaintain an effective underground network with the helpof Rajbanshi Hindu and Muslim peasant activists likeRadhamohan Barman, Kishori Ray, Uday Ray and BacchaMunshi and peasant women workers like Punyeshwari Devi,affectionately called Buri-Ma (old mother).



In the early 1940s, the Independent Scheduled Caste partyleader Upendra Nath Barman became a minister-in-chargeof Forest and Excise Department in the second Fazlul HaqueMinistry. The most popular agitation in the post-war periodthroughout Bengal was again the Cooch Behar incident. On21st August, 1945, the students and teachers of Cooch BeharVictoria College were brutally assaulted by the State MilitaryForce. In protest against this, students all over Bengalobserved 29th and 31st August as Cooch Behar Days. Studentstook part in protests and strikes. The agitation was virtuallydirected against a feudal autocracy propped up by the British.

In September, 1946, the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabhagave the call for tebhaga i.e. two thirds share of the harvest infavour of the adhiars recommended by the Floud Commissionin 1940. Debiganj, Pachagarh and Boda aeas of Jalpaiguriand adjacent areas of Dinajpur and Rangpur district providedfillip to the call. The movement spread to other areas also.The jotedars could not oppose. Large number of volunteersarmed with lathis, sickles etc would gather together and cutpaddy stacking it in adhiar’s place. Rajbanshi peasants andadhiar women led by Sagari Barmani, Buri-Ma of Debiganjarea took part in meetings, processions, paddy harvestingand thrashing.

By the 3rd week of April, 1947, the partition of the countrywas accepted by both the League and the Congressleadership. Following this, regional and local conferencesdemanding partition of Bengal and formation of provincewith non-muslim majority areas came to be organizedthroughout Bengal. North Bengal Jatiya Mahasabha, aconference of more than 500 delegates from 8 districts ofRajshahi division was held on 17th and 18th May in Jalpaiguri.The Hindu planters and Marwari businessmen playedimportant role in the conference. Upendra Nath Barman

41

identifying himself fully with the Hindu nationalists saidthat “Bengal was confronted with a terrible catastrophe”and that the plan put forward by Sarat Bose and H.S.Suhrawardy for united independent Bengal was ‘a greatpolitical trap’ for the Hindus. The League leadership didnot sit idle and Nawab Musharraff Hossain, a big jotedarand owner of large number of tea gardens mounted acampaign for inclusion of whole of Jalpaiguri district inPakistan.

The political situation was further complicated by theprojection of the slogan of Rajsthan state or creation of aseparate Rajbanshi Kshatriya land under Cooch Behar State.The Jalpaiguri Kshatriya Samiti led by Girija Singha andMukunda Singha Sarkar both having link with NagendraNarayan Ray of Rangpur, a Rajbanshi minister in the Leagueministry was reported to have tried to popularize the slogan.In early May, Jogendra Mondal, a scheduled caste ministerin the interim government as a League nominee, touredNorth Bengal and at several places reportedly lent supportto the Rajsthan idea. In June by-election, in which Sarkarwas the Samiti candidate, the Kshatriya Samiti campaignappeared to have centered around this slogan. In the AlipurDuars area, some Rajbanshi Hindus and Muslims circulatedleaflets in support of the Rajsthan slogan. Some people thinkthat the Rajsthan move had the support from Koch BiharHitasadhani Sabha, an outfit of Hindu and Muslim jotedarsof Koch Bihar and ministers of Koch Bihar State perhapswith a wink from Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan BhupBahadur.

The influence of the Kshatriya Samiti was in the waneduring 1940’s partly because of the death of PanchananBarma in 1935 and partly by greater involvement of theRajbanshi elites in the nationalist movement under the



Congress leadership. In 1946 election, the Kshatriya Samitiset up two candidates—Upendra Nath Barman and GirijaSingha, but both of them were defeated by the Congresscandidates – Mohini Barman and Prasanna Dev Raikat. Butat the sudden death of P.D. Raikat in December, 1946,Upendra Nath Barman contested and won as a Congressnominee.

One vital political incident took place in mid 40’s. Inresponse to the persistent clamour for responsiblegovernment in the princely States throughout the country,an election was held in Cooch Behar State. Koch BiharHitasadhani Sabha, the party of deshi people (Rajbanshi Hindusand Muslims) and more specifically, deshi jotedars and eliteslike Khan Choudhury Amanatulla, Satish Chandra SinghaSarkar, Gajendra Narayan Basunia contested the election andwon all the seats. Khan Choudhury Amanatulla and SatishChandra Singha got included in the Council of Ministersalong with some non-deshi upper caste Hindu leadersnominated by the king. The aspirations of deshi people got abig fillip. King’s administration was so long run by theeducated high-caste people and there was no Rajbanshialthough the king belonged to the same caste as the subjects.Deshi jotedars and elite leaders contested the electionprimarily on the issue of awareness and rights of theRajbanshis against the so called bhatias, who because of theireducation and economic strength were taking upper handin all matters.

The movement for awareness and self assertion of theRajbanshis, as promoted during Panchanon Barma’s timestarted again under the banner of Hitasadhani Sabha, but witha sort of negative angle this time. Hitasadhani Sabha couldachieve great success in their motto by drawing the attentionof the subjects to the fact that the deshi people have been

43

able to capture the power of administration at last and theycan achieve the ultimate goal of administering by themselvesin course of time. Lyrics of popular song by AbbasuddinAhmed, folk maestro and activist of Hitasadhani Sabha maynot be irrelevant in this connection.

‘O BhÊi Mor Kuch BihÊri ReChaturdike Jale Suruj BÊti,TomÊr KyÊne Dekhong ÀndhÊr RÊti,

ParÊr BojhÊ TomrÊ Katdin Boiben BhÊi’

(O Kuch Bihari brothers! how long will you put up withthe domination of ‘other’ people. There is light all aroundand you are still in darkness; you must get out of it.)

Hitasadhani Sabha however, could not draw anyprogrammes for the welfare of the common subjects, norcould they legislate on any such laws because of their classcharacteristics. They did not get sufficient time also. Deshipeople of the neighbouring districts like Jalpaiguri, Dinajpur,Rangpur who were also bearing antagonistic attitude towardsthe bhatias because of obvious reasons started looking at theaffairs of Koch Bihar State with much admiration, but theycould not mobilize the deshi people in that direction becauseof the presence of the effect of political movements like hattola and tebhaga amongst the Rajbanshis in those districts;but this is another story, rather history which needs separatestudy.

The whole region became overpopulated with the influxof the immigrants from the then East Pakistan, nowBangladesh immediately after the independence. As statedearlier, the immigrants were better placed educationally andeconomically; and as such they, particularly the higher casteones, considered themselves better placed socially too. Theother interesting development which added to the



phenomenon, as stated earlier was that the social leadersgot the community included in the list of Scheduled Casteso that they can have the facilities for economic, social andeducational development. This had given rise to a peculiarsituation. On the one hand, they claim to be the descendantsof Kshatriya; on the other, they are in the Scheduled Castelist. Since all the castes included in the schedule are lowlyplaced, it has been difficult to carry forward the argumentof their social position as Kshatriya, the second in the castehierarchy. Their other caste neighbours, particularly thosebelonging to the higher castes have not been convinced abouttheir Kshatriya hood.

On the economic front with the spread of educationamongst these people and also with implementation of landreforms, the Rajbanshi people, specially the youths found itquite difficult to compete with the immigrants because ofthe lack of proper education and training for which theyhardly got any opportunity, and their grievances increasedday by day. This has given rise to a tendency in thiscommunity to organize a sort of middle-class nativistmovement in opposition to migrants. The local populationhas recently produced its own educated class that aspired tomove into jobs held by migrants—in civil service, as teachersin the local schools, as clerks, managers and technicians.

Since the employment market is not growing as fast asthe number of entrants, local middle-class aspirants havestarted viewing migrants as blocks to their mobility anddevelopment. Thus an atmosphere of struggle for access toand control over new resources has emerged. Some of thelocal people have sold their lands to the migrants becausethe price offered was high, only to discover that they cannotfind alternative employment. The new owners with morecapital and skills and with their lands newly irrigated, earns

45

a high income, while the former land-owners have becomelandless labour. More prosperous farmers, owners of businessfirms and factories, administrative personnel – all aremigrants and hence some of the local people have becomeresentful at their subordinate economic role. They havedeveloped a tendency to perceive migrants as economic andpolitical thereat and also a threat on their cultural system.

The dominance of migrants in the world of economic,social and political fields has led the local youths to emulatetheir dress, their style of living, even their language. Butthey have now grown with a feeling that the migrants haveforced them to lose their own cultural identity. Side by sidethey have learnt the new phenomenon of territorialexclusiveness—the theory of sons of the soil being appliedby the so-called indigenous people in the whole world.Following and holding this view, they assert that theindigenous people has a special claim to the region: a firstclaim on employment, schools, housing , positions in theadministrative services, and even control over the politicalsystem, and the new comers are entitled to these servicesand benefits only after they have been adequately distributedto the indigenous population. All these have given rise tothe politico-social movements in the form of Uttar Khandamovement, Kamtapuri movement etc. The demand for morebenefits for the local people culminating into the demandfor separate State is the manifestation of such demands inrecent years where several former princely areas orgeographical regions of states that have some historicalidentity have become the focal points for such claims.

Thus the single-most important movement which hadlong term and perhaps permanent impact on the socio-political situation in North Bengal is the Kshatriya movementof the Rajbanshi Hindus. Some scholars view it as a ‘distorted



but important’ manifestation of socio-economic tensions andconflicts. Whether the movement was a distorted one is tobe judged objectively taking into consideration the socio-economic and political environment prevailing in the areaat the material time. That it was the most importantmovement that affected greatly, if not directly the course ofNorth Bengal’s socio-economic and political developments,cannot perhaps be denied by anybody. The greatestachievement of the Kshatriya Samiti was to unite theRajbanshis of entire North Bengal (undivided), the thenGoalpara district of Assam and Purnia district of Bihar. Allof them came under the umbrella of Kshatriya Samiti, whoseactivities encouraged the other ethnic communities of thearea too for their self-assertion. Inter-community relationand unity was also the motto. While appreciating theachievement of Panchanan Barma in making the Rajbanshicommunity an integrated society, the Lothian Committeeobserved, ‘Rajbanshi is a well organised community. Theywant to run with the hare and hunt with hound.’ (BarmanUN, 1408 BS).

The subsequent movements followed and worked withthe issues on which the Kshatriya Samiti initiated itsmovement for the overall development of the Rajbanshicommunity. Kshatriya Samiti movement under theleadership of Panchanan Barma also had invaluablecontribution to the Hindu society, although this aspect ofthe movement has hardly been evaluated objectively by anyscholar so far.

In fact, no serious attempt has ever been made by thescholars, researchers and also by the political and socialleaders to evaluate the role and contribution of the KshatriyaSamiti not only to the greater Rajbanshi society but also tothe greater Hindu society of the country at large. Because of

47

the failure of the political parties to take into account suchremarkable role of the Kshatriya Samiti, they ignored itsactivities and that way, the social and political leaders—theindigenous elite. The political trends during the period inquestion revealed the inability of the nationalist leadershipto unite the diverse subordinate social groups. The smalltown-based immigrant bhadralok leadership lacked adequateintegration with the broad sections of Rajbanshi Hindus,Muslims and other communities. The Congress leadershipfailed to evolve any programme oriented towards thesubordinate groups-linguistic cultural groups and classes atthe base. The potential created by the radical Left politics inthe form of popular protests and movements like adhiar andtebhaga also could not develop into reality. The Left failed totranscend the ambiguities of the processes of social change.They did not have adequate perception of the complexitiesof the situation and as such could not work out anappropriate strategy and policies to meet the challenge. Theconsequences do not need to be told as all of us are beingcompelled today to make ourselves concerned with the issuesin some way or other.

REFERENCESAmanatullah, Khan Chaudhuri, Koch Biharer Itihas, Cooch Behar:

Cooch Behar State Press, 1936.Barma, Sukhbilas, Bhawaiya—Ethno-musicological Study, Delhi: Global

Vision Publishing House, 2004.Barman, Upendra Nath, Thakur Panchanan Barma-r-Jiban Charit (4th

Edition), Jalpaiguri, 1408 BS.Barman, Kshitish Chandra (ed)., Thakur Panchanan Smarak, Kolkata,

2001.Compilation of proceedings (Britta Bibarani) of 4th Year Annual

Conference, 8th Year Annual Conference, 9th Year AnnualConference, 10th Year Annual Conference, 14th Year AnnualConference of the Kshatriya Samiti, Rangpur.



Das Gupta, Ranajit, Economy, Society and Politics in Bengal: Jalpaiguri1869-1947, Oxford University Press, 1992.

Gait, E.A., A History of Assam, Gauhati, Assam: Lawyer’s Book Stall,7th edition, 1997.

Guha, Amalendu, Mediaval and Early Colonial Assam: Society, Polity,Economy, Centre for studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta: K.P.Bagchi and Co., Calcutta, 1991.

Nath, D., History of The Koch Kingdom, 1515-1615, Delhi: MittalPublications, 1989.

Paschim Banga, Panchanan Barma Number, February 2005, I and CADeptt. Govt. of West Bengal.

Rajkhowa, Jyotiprasad, Generalissimo Chilarai and his Times, Gauhati,Assam: Vikram Publishers, 2001.

Sanyal Charu Chandra, The Rajbanshis of North Bengal, Asiatic Society,Calcutta, 1965.

Weiner, Myron, Sons of the Soil, Dehli: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Date post:	10-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	dinhminh
View:	221 times
Download:	6 times

Socio-Political Movements in North...

Documents