Chapter IV Economy and Society

103

In thts chapter we will try first to understand the economic situation of

PUQ.Qravardharia/Varendra in the past. In the previous chapters we indicated about the

economic potentiality of this land. Our discussions would necessarily concentrate on

two broad sectors: agriculture and crafts. Of the two, agriculture being the primary

one for all periods of history would be dealt first. Before entering into the past we

may take a note of some crops and practices in agriculture of today and recent past.

When we hinted about the favourable agronomic condition of ancient

Pundravardhana/Varendra we also mentioned that today's North Bengal with grim . . .

agricultural and industrial capacity exhibits a startling contrast with its historical past. .J Today it is the least populated sub-region of Bengal. However, there are still some

patches of habitation zones where both density of population and yield of food crops

are noticeable. Farmers continue to raise traditional crops in areas where moisture ,-. content of soil is high due to the contiguity of rivers or other water bodies. We

----mentioned ab_out the high yielding capacity of both regions of Mahasthan and ' - .. ··~. -

Bangarh even these days. Besides, there are still several blocks of low lands in other

parts of North Bengal, which produce good crops. Although farmers are now getting

used of artificial fertilizer and technology they did not leave traditional know-bows. A

picture of this intelligent combination can be had from the study of some members of

French team in the immediate vicinity of Mahasthangarh. 1 It throws light on the

prevalent agronomic pursuits underlying how the farmers are profiting from the

elevated topography bordered on two sides by two rivers, the Karatoya and Nagar.

The soil is very fertile while the rivers help retain moisture in it and the height keep it

safe from flooding. Farmers of ancient times must have got better natural environment

for raising crops than today as rivers carried enormous water earlier. The whole land

when became hospitable its numerous rivers, channels and water bodies provided

fertility and moisture to the adjacent tracks. The elevated tracks, which now turned

out dry lands, and which in the absence of irrigation facility cannot yield more than

1 FIR, 46-58.

104

one crop per year, perhaps were treated as prized ones for certain crops earlier like

sugarcane and cotton.

We cannot produce a present crop map of Bengal to show the relative position

of this sub-region. Here we will pick up some information from the description of F.

B. Hamilton. His visit in Dinajpur and Rangpur had fallen in time when a gradual

shift was noticeable in crop pattern to keep pace with the change of environment due

to decreasing riverine resource. His observation thus appears significant particularly

for North Bengal as a helping tool to visualize the past. Here we will refer to those

crops mentioned by him, which found mention in old sources. He recorded that

sugarcane was cultivated in considerable lands till the 18 111 century. His .description

shows how in early times the physical environment of North Bengal suited perfectly

for the growth of sugarcane about which we got a plenty of information in early

sources. Its cultivation needs 'a rich free soil, sufficiently elevated to be entirely

exempt from inundation, but not so high as to be deprived of moisture.:.'. He found

Dinajpur as having much such land. But owing to the decreasing water resource

'much land formerly cultivated for sugar-cane is now applied to other purp.oses~/ Of

the food crops we see paddy remains as the most important one. He observed rice

(Oriza Sativa) as the principal crop of Dinajpur and mentioned names of various

types. The finest ones are cultivated in the high fields of stiff clay, which can yield

normally a single crop a year in winter. The winter crop is highly valued as this is the

sole source for fodder of cattle.3 Of the oil seeds the commonest is the mustard seeds

locally called sorisha. 'It is the great winter crop' of Dinajpur district. We do not

know this district's vis-a-vis North Bengal's present position in mustard seed yield.

But West Bengal, according to the account of economic botany is one of the major

states in India.4 F. B. Hamilton mentioned sesame also as another oil seed, which was

'raised in the poor parts of the light soil' .5 In today's map India is held as one of the

leading producers of sesame (Sesamum Indicum) of the world, where West Bengal

stands as a major sesame supplying state.6 Of the other crops we may refer to the

cotton cultivation. He says that the quality of cotton raised in the end of wet season

2 Eastern India, Vol. 3, 855-857. 3 Ibid, Vol. 3, 815-27. 4 Rape and mustard crop (family: Brassicaceae) is mainly grown in China and Indian subcontinent.­S. L. Kochhar, Economic Botany in the Tropics. (Macmilan India Ltd.), New Delhi, first published I 981, secon ed. 1998, I 61-62. 5 Eastern India, Vol. 3, 830-3 I. 6 Ibid, I 74.

105

and in the southeast part of Dinajpur is finer than the one 'imported from west of

India.' This also needs high land of stiff as well as free soil. 7

The· Earliest Phase of Economy .~ ..

The beginning phase, for which we will depend on the excavation report of the

France-Bangladesh team, shows a confused picture. The levels 1-4 exposed in a

limited area brought very limited objects into light in terms of variety. It is thus not­

possible to go in detail about agricultural products, pattern or people. The artifacts,

especially ceramics in this case, and dwelling materials and technology may be

interpreted to get a rough idea about the material life of Mahasthan. We saw that the

archaeological evidence from the recent excavation in Mahasthangarh by the France­

Bangladesh team_P!?.Y~~ a pr > Maury' a settlement. We also argued that the same must ~-

be the case for Bangarh (see settlement history). In both Mahasthangarh and Bangarh

thls ph~se did not register masonry for dwelling houses. We mentioned that now the

proDiioilityof a 'tiny and obscure village' in Mahasthan by some in the French team

(inducting J. F. Salles) has been considered.8 We_told in the discussion of settlement

history that the houses in this phase are basically earth based and later wood was also

found as base material. We also told that evidence of mud houses in pre-city phase ----

cannot be accepted as indicator of poverty of the inhabitants. Presence of burnt bricks

for some cases from level 2 in Mahasthangarh may be taken as indicative of having

feligious buildings. Keeping in mind the common housing materials of rural Bengal

these building elements definitely show that the major section of the early inhabitants

was well off. Of the professions we may identify at least a few from the remains.

Discovery of large number o.f NBPW9 is a pointer to the presence of skilled potters. ------ ---- .

The large number is coupled with its larger share in the whole assemblage of

ceramics. It is argued that more number actually proves NBPW's more domestic use

7 Eastern India, Vol. 3, 853. 8 J. Y. Breuil & J. F. Salles, 'Excavation at Mahasthangarh: Evidence of Some Stratigraphical Data', 75-76. 9 However, till now we do not have the actual figure for the ceramics recovered by the joint excavation in Mahasthangarh. The updated study in the FIR states that 'a fairly large number of pottery sherds (several hundreds of thousands) were collected in the limited area of excavation' and the database for fine ware has yet not been prepared (p.273). Elsewhere it is stated that level l yielded less than hundred fragments while level 8 more than 8000 (p.28l ). In phase l (for ceramic study, in the updated study earliest phase is constituted by levels 1-5) fine ware shares more than 60%> of the total ceramic assemblage. The NBP (including RW) share is 80% in the fine ware, which includes Black Polished

106

as it accrued less manufacturing cost. lt means that NBPW was not a part of

consignment. But the NBP was restricted to tableware. 1° For cooking and other

purposes Mahasthan people used other wares. The price of fine ware must have been

higher than utilitarian ware. The large number, on the other hand, proves that potters

of Mahasthangarh got a good domestic market also if we accept that these were not

really meant for exportation. It is natural that along the potters there must have been

some cultivators of whatever capacity: big landholders, simple peasants or

agricultural labourers, who grew excess crops to cater the need of at least potters and

some others engaged in professions other than agriculture of this area. Some

individuals should be expected in house building. Brick making of whatever quantity

can be another area where we may find some other workers. Although this type of

work could be slack season work for a marginal farmer also. 'J

We are not sure about how many people actually were living in the early phase

according to the above mentioned opinion who could have been inhabited in a small

'tiny village'. We may remember that nine more sites with NBPW and other objects

had been identified by S. S. M. Rahman (settlement history). All these may reveal the

pre-city phase occupation aiso provided deep digging is conducted till the virgin soil.

In that case we may expect more than one settlement localities in Mahasthan area.

The joint excavations of France-Bangladesh team in Mahasthangarh 'confirm a dense

occupation from the end of the fourth /beginning of the 3rd century BC to the 2nd

century AD.' 11 It cannot be expected that a large exodus took place from the ~id

Ganga valley to occupy the land as soon as it became congenial for habitation. The

majority of the inhabitants must have been local. For Bangarh nothing can be said

precisely.

Agriculture

From the Maurya to the Gupta Period

The picture is becoming clearer from level 5 belonging to the 3rd century BC

in Mahasthangarh. A sudden surge in material life is evident from all remains. Here

we may refer to the information provided by the FIR ofthe discovery of some storage

Ware with red core also (p.282). The Bangladesh account has not cleared the point about the quantity or ceramics in the early phase. 1° FIR, 280. 11 This observation is made in connection with the study of coins.- FIR. 243.

107

jars containing rice from the level 6 dated to the end of the 3rd /beginning of 2nd -~-·~ --

century BC. 12 The ¥ahasthan inscription 13 clearly speaks of surplus crops stored in

the granary (under the supervision of local officials), which was situated within the

fortified area (esa kothagale-eshal) kosh~h'agaral!). From the description it appears .~ ..

that there were stored at least three kinds of grains like paddy (dhanya), sesame (tila)

and mustard seeds (sarshapa). Amongst all raising paddy must have held an

important place in agriculture, as it is the staple food of Bengal since the beginning. It

appears that all these three agronomic products, paddy, mustard seed and sesame,

were raised in Pundravardhana from very early times. Description of F. B. Hamilton

shows till the middle of the 181h century considerable land was allotted for these

crops. We mentioned above that Bangarh still is regarded as a granary of West

Dinajpur. Mahasthan region's high yield is also noticed. Both these localities, which

witnessed two large urban centres and vast habitation around must have collected rich

harvest in the agricultural lands. The Mahasthan inscription informs us that crops

were stored as a precautionary measure to fight the natural calamities like famine,

drought, etc. If the stored crops were meant for the farmers, (although they had to

replenish these when plenty will return) it suggests how the role of farmers had been

duly emphasized by the state in the operation of agriculture.

Growing Awareness of the Economic Value of Land

For the Gupta period we do not have any epigraphic evidence showing

agronomic products. But epigraphs of this age prove bringing more and more untilled

but cultivable lands (khila kshetra) under plough through religious gifts. The rural

Pundravardhana as well as Bengal for the first time surfaced in the epigraphs with .. some land holding communities. Two distinct groups, mahattaras and kutumbis, were

• found as associated in the adhikaranas of the vfthf level and in the

• ashtakuladhikarana or gramashtakulezdhikarana of the 'supra-village level' .14 Their . . . . ..

role in the local adhikararza left no room for doubt that the members in each category

were important landholders. Distinction in social status between the two and the

12 FIR, 106. 13 D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions, Vol. I, 82-83. 14 This particular expression is used by B. D. Chattopadhyaya. It implies that the ashtakuladhikarana stood above individual villages but functioned as 'a link between upper tiers of local political organization and villages interconnected in its network'. -8. D. Chattopadhyaya, Aspects of Rural Settlements and Rural Society, 36-39 and 43.

108

actual nature of the role of mahattara in the adhikarana will be dealt later in the

context of society. In general kutumhis were the average agriculturists. In addition . .

there were peasantry, the small farmers, who owned land and cultivated those by

.themselves and land-labourers (the kshetrakaras of Dhanaidaha record?'\ We see

that during the fi~ne of land transfer the inhabitants of the village or villages where the

gift land was situated were communicated about the transaction of land. Even

mahattaras and kutumbis were told to be present to observe (pratyavekshya­

Damodarpur plate 3, I. 10 16) the whole work of measurement and severance of the gift

land. It is a proof of growing importance of land in rural economy. We see from the

Gupta age epigraphs, which chronologically spanned for more than hundred years, a

meticulous process was followed for land transfer. For each transaction certain fixed

steps were taken. The practice of making copper plate charter for land transfer thus

introduced remained in vogue throughout the ancient period although in post Gupta

period many changes took place especially in terms of participation of notable social

groups. But the introduction of copper plate charter legitimizing the transfer by the

administration is an evidence of growing importance of agriculture vis-a-vis land.

Land Measures

For the first time we come across units of land measure (kulyavapa, 17

drof}avapa, 18 acjhav1Ipa, 19 etc). Not only that the donated land when finally handed

over to the donee it was demarcated by a fixed linear measure of a nala (reed or

bamboo) called ash!aka-navaka-nala.20 The Baigram plate21 states that the gift land

15 R. G. Basak, 'Dhanaidaha copper plate inscription ofthe time ofKumaragupta 1: The year 113', I. 9. 16 Idem,' The Five Damodarpur copperplate inscriptions of the Gupta period'. 17 According to D. C. Sircar I kulyavapa was equal to 45/50 acrse of land. -D. C. Sircar, Pal-Purba luger Bangshanucharita, I 0 I. Elsewhere he says that I kulyav"Gpa was equal to 38 to 48 bighas of land. It might also mean land of any amount between 125 and 160 bighas. -D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions, Vol. I, 287-89. B. M. Morrison, however, from an alternative calculation reached a different result. It approximately comes to I acre of land.- B. M. Morrison, Political Centres and Cultural Regions of Early Bengal, (Rawat Publications), Jaipur, 1980,87-89. 18 I kulyavapa is made by 8 dro1Jav1ipas of land.- D. C. Sircar, Indian Epigraphical Glossary, (Motilal Banarasidass), Delhi, 1966, 166. 19 4 adhaviipas make I dronavapa. -D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions, Vol. I, 361, f. n. 7. 20 E. F. Pargiter explained that the land measured by this nata would be a rectangle having eight lengths in one side and nine lengths in another side. -F. E. Pargiter, 'Three Copper-Plate Grants from East Bengal', The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 39, 1910, 115-216. B. M. Morrison tried to get a different implication of this expression. According to his opinion the reed should be eight hast a (hand) long making it approximately 160" or 13' long. 9lengths in each side is marked by this nata. The area thus delimited is 'same as the area of the modem Bengali bigha. -B. M. Morrison, Political Centres and Cultural Regions of Early Bengal, 87-88. 21 R. G. Basak, 'Baigram copperplate inscription of the Gupta year 128'.

109

was marked out by the chaff and charcoal (tushaizgaradina, 1.19). It is another attempt

to demarcate the land more precisely although with temporary materials. In the Code

of Law these means are repeatedly emphasized. Neighbours, whose plots were

adjacent to the donated one, were told to be personally present so that their interests,

in no way were to be harmed by the act of severance. It means that the owner of

adjacent lands should personally check that his portion remained intact. Cultivators

(ku{umbis and kshetrakaras) sometimes were even asked to severe the land

(Dhanaidaha plate, 1.9.). All these show awareness about the economic significance of

land in rural areas. Land was regarded not only as valuable but a concern already

arose that it is not limitless. Hence so much care is found for demarcating the donated

piece of land and personal presence of the neighbours during the time of actual

transaction. Land is a valuable asset so it starte? to be transacted through the medium

of gold dinara.

Various Types of Land

In addition, we see classification of land according to its potentiality ..

Cultivable but fallow lands were called khila ksetra; cultivated lands were only

kshetra; not cultivated land was aprahata; unyielding land was aprada;22 land

covered by shrubs is stamba.23 The homestead was known as vastu.24 There was

difference in price between the cultivated and fallow lands. In Damodarpur plates we

see the rate was fixed at 3 dinara per kulyavapa of fallow lands. The Baigram plate

shows there I kulyavapa of waste land was sold by 2 dinaras(ls. 11-12). There also no

difference is made in the rate of price between the homestead (vastu) and fallow (as

covered by shrubs, stamba). We see variations actually occurred in terms of locality.

The difference in price in the same time in two contiguous vishayas cannot be

interpreted otherwise. It appears that land in the Ko~ivarsha vishaya was sold in higher

22 The term apradlihas been explained by R. G. Basak to mean 'a land of which no previous gift (prada) was made'. This alternative meaning is given in the Cmpus Inscription lndicarum (hereafter Cll), Vol, 3, revised by D. R. Bhandarkar, and, edited by B. Chhabra and G. S. Gai, 1981, 290. Sometimes we get a long expression like apradaprahata-khi/a-kshetra (Damodarpur plate I, I. 7-8.) to ..../ mean fallow cultivable land but now it is unyielding (at the time of putting prayer for land purchase) as · it remained uncultivated. Hence aprahata is 'fallow land' and khi/a is the 'land never tilled'. -Ibid, 286 and f. n. 9. -23 D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions, Vol. I, 386, f. n. 9. 24 For detailed classifications one may seeS. R. Das, 'Types of Land in North-Eastern India (from 4'h century to 71

h century AD)', in B. D. Chattopadhyaya (cd.), Essays in Ancient Indian Economic HistOI)l, New Delhi. 1987.63-64.

110

prices than the rest of the Pundra country. In the Paharpur plate of about 4 7925 also we

see the price of I kulyavapa of land was only 2 dinaras. 26 Here also we see vastu and

khilakshetra arc sold at the same rate. The Faridpur plates27 show that price of

cultivable land was higher even than that in Kotivarsha. Here 1 kulyavapa was sold at

4 d~ - 28 maras.

Many a cases land was donated to vedajna B1'ahmm;as who must have

immigrated from the midland. Lands donated for religious purposes made way for

more agriculture. All these indicate growing usc of land and increasing number of

landholding individuals in villages. Gift to temples, on the other hand, perhaps

indicates that farming for such cases were done by a class of sharecroppers.29 To

answer whether there were other occupational groups like the potters, carpenters,

iron-smiths, and the service classes, like the barbers, our sources have nothing. But in }

an agricultural society they must form an e~sential component. And in society with

increasingly widening cultivable areas, as a natural consequence of growing practice

of grants of fallow lands, the presence of such groups must have becoming more and

more necessary.

· In the previous chapter we have shown density of settlements during the Gupta

period has been attested in areas where gift lands were located. Settlement remains

perfectly match the epigraphic evidence. It appears that till the Gupta age the tract in

NS direction right from the north ofDinajpur across the whole Bogra district down to

the Nator division of the Rajshahi district had been the most agronomically

rewarding.

25 K. N. Dikshit, 'Paharpur Copper-plate Grant of the [Gupta] Year 159'. 26 The donee put 3 dinliras for I Y2 kulyavlipas showing that the price of I kul)'avapa should be 2 dinaras. 27 F. E. Pargiter, 'Three Copper-Plate Grants from East Bengal', 193-216. lH B. D. Chattopadhyaya has concluded that the change in the intrinsic value in gold dinara could not have been the reason for the higher price. - B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', Joumal oflndian Hist01y, Vol. 55, Pt. Ill, (the Department of History, University of Kerala), Trivandrum, 41-60. 29 1-tsing found that Buddhist monasteries normally leased out their lands to share croppers. It was in compliance with the regulation made by the Buddha. This would free a monk from committing sin of killing living beings when provide him ample time for the persuasion of monastic life. J. A. Takakusu, (ed. & tr.), 1-tsing 's Record of the Buddhist Religion as preached in India and Malaya Archipelago (AD 6 7 I -695). Ox ford. 1896, 61-2. In normal cases perhaps temple holdings, Buddhist, Brahmanic or Jain alike, were cultivated usually by sharecroppers.

Ill

Post Gupta Age We face a severe dearth of information for Pundravardhana with the end of the . . .

Gupta rule till the rise of the Pal as. The epigraph of AD 544 from Damodarpur is the

last inscription proving imperial hold of Magadha on this sub-region. More than 200

years after W~ get another set of epigraphs belonging to the Pala period. Perhaps

Gau~araja Sasahka (roughly first half of the i 11 century) wielded sway in

Pundravardhana. But his epigraphs and coins put the western sub-region, the R~dha, v . . . as a main stage of happenings. By this time significant changes took place in the

administrative system in terms of land grants, which are the main source for us for the

agronomic history. From the economic point of view details of these changes cannot

be our concern. But the epigraphs imply that more gifts of khila lands were taking

place to the Brahmaf!as and different religious establishments in other parts of Bengal.

A new category of Brahmana landholders arose who came to be known as

agraharinas who started to play significant role in local administrative tiers m

western Bengal. It by implication may mean that the land they got as agraharas had

given them sufficient return in the form of good harvest. With it we see a gradual

increase in population. New habitation zones are coming into existence in the

agriculturally suitable vast terrains. Even Pul).~ravardhana now shows more settlement

localities. When the veil lifted in the Pala period with the occurrence of new sets of

land grants we see human habitations can be noticed in zones where earlier no trace or

very- scanty traces of human occupation had been found. We have shown in the '

settlement history about the habitation localities in the western part of

Pundravardhana. Archaeological remains are in harmony with the epigraphic .... _._ evidence. This part perhaps became habitable late but proved to be the most

prospective with time.

Literary sources also reflect Pul).~ravardhana as a well settled country. From

the description of Hiuen Tsang we came to know about the flourishing population and

abundance of crops in Put].~ravardhana. The Ramacharita portrays a land, the

i)'rosperity of which was ~ase~ on fertile land, which can grow a variety of paddy,

high quality sugarcane, clumps of bamboo, cardamom, areca nut, coconut, and many . ~ ... --

more. Here we see those trees in abundance, which arc known as important host trees

for silk cocoons. These are asana, lakucha, bakula, champaka, naga, etc.

That Puqqravardhana really grew excellent sugarcane is proved by the Devi- VI/ bhagavata, which we mentioned in textual chapter. Its importance was such that the

'

112

Pau~~ra Ikshu was regarded an essential item for the worship of devf. Later a type of

sugar was named after Pury9ra. When Buchanan Hamilton says about the cultivation

of sugarcane in vast expanse of high lands in Dinajpur till recent past of his visit it

appears as a corroborative evidence for the past. Besides, it befits the >to:'/e.k.~-M

changes of North Bengal effected after the great flood of 1787, which depriveci'the

land of the environment needed for raising sugarcane.

Excess rice production is supported by the reference to granaries since very

early period. Excavation of Bangarh revealed bases of granary I ike structures

belonging to the Pala period.30 Here we may mention that an epigraph of late Pala

period also gives evidence of granary in Deviko~a,31 supposed to be located in the

citadel of Bangarh. Later references to rice export upstream to other regions from

Dinajpur may supply an insight about the agronomic potentiality of this land. W. W.

Hunter speaks in the 19111 century about the winter rice of Dinajpur, which above we

mentioned as the best crop, which once consisted about the entire export to Uttar

Pradesh from this district. Again we came to know that 'great quantities of rice were

transported upstream' to Bihar also from the same district. Rice was supplied to lower

Bengal down the Ganga (Bhagirathi).32 Here we should mention about the_observation

of F. B. Hamilton regarding winter rice.33 He found doangsh or mixed soil of

Dinajpur as highly productive for varied crops. It occupied 46 percent of the whole

cultivable land free from inundation (excluding low river banks of mixed soil). Its

lower and middle parts grew very rich winter crop of rice.

Land Measures

Pala records incorporate some more land measures. These are actually lower

measures than the Gupta period's kulyavapa, dro'!-avapa and cu!havapa. The next

lower unit to adhavapa is unmana (udamana or udana), which appears to have been

an immediate bigger unit of kakini (kanT and probably IWka were used as

3° K. G. Goswami, 'Excavations at Bangarh ', 7. 31 The Rajibpur plate of Madanapala states that the gift land was attached to the granary (koshfhagara) ofDevikota.- S.C. Mukherji, 'The Three Recently Discovered Copper Plates ofthe Pala Period', 173-74. 32 The information is taken from D. K. Chakrabarti, Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain, 59-60. 33 Eastern India, Vol. 3, 587.

113

synonymous).34 The newly deciphered plate of Gopala II perhaps introduces even

lowerer units namely pada or padani and ardha-kakinT i.e. half kakinl. It also speaks

of another called pramaf!a.35 The editor and translator of this plate has not explained

these measures. Pada perhaps a measure counted by footstep of any standard length.

Along with the lower land measures we see some more types of lands repeatedly

mentioned in the Pala records. For maximum instances we see one or more villages or

a section of it or more (palli) were gifted to the donee. The demarcation of a village is

mentioned in a stereotype manner in most grants36-sa-siinZi-tr11:a yuti (sometimes

puti also)-gochara-paryanta i. e. up to the grass and pasture lands on the boundary of

the village. It implies that pasture land showed the end of a village or habitation

section.

Within the limit of a village remainetl patches of land covered by amra

(mango) <1;nd madhuka trees, jala-sthala (swamps?), gartta (low lands and pits) and

ushara (high lands, infertile, etc.).37 The description appears to mean that some lands

in villages yielded nothing and at the same time these were uncultivable also. But

these required separate mention to ensure donee's right over these located within the

boundary of the gift village.

Different Landholding Groups

Of the landholding groups we get mahamahattama (or mahiimahattara )38,

mahattara, kutumbi and kshetrakara. No hints are available about the interrelation

between these groups. We may take that those donees endowed with village/s did not

get to do anything with agriculture. The different types of dues to be accrued from the

gift villages ensured their livelihood.

34 The real measure of all units actually varied from place to place. In standard use I kiikaniwas made

I by -of a drona. The relation between unmana and adha is not certain. From the Naihati plate of 16 . . Vallalasena D. C. Sircar deduced that more than 40 unmanas made I acjha. He showed that I 'll~haviipa

I was equal to about 5 bighiis and I unmana was probably 9 bigha. It implies that I acjhavapa was ./

made by 45 unmanas- D. C. Sircar, 'Udamana in Bengal Epigraphs', IHQ, first published 1950, rep. 1955,309-13. 35 S.C. Mukherji, 'Two New Copper Plates of King Gopala', 63. 36 E. g. the Bangarh and Belwa plates of Mahipala I, Jajilpara grant of Gopala III, Amgachhi grant of Vigrahap~ala III, etc. 37 We may remember the description of landscape in the Ramacharita. It mentions pasture grounds, marshy areas, large and small tanks, ponds, and canals. 38 F. Kielhom, 'Khalimpur Plate of Dharmapaladeva', 253-58.

114

Scriculturc

Situation of Late Medieval and Recent Past

References to silk of Pundra country has been found in the pre-Christian

centuries. It is argued in different writings that this silk was not mulberry silk. 39 A

considerable study on the tradition of silk production in Bengal (concentrated

basically in North Bengal) was carried out resulting in the three monographs (during

1899-1907) by a same author, N. G. Muke1ji,40 who worked under the British

Government. These throw light on the silk trade in the beginning years of the English

East India Company in Bengal. The emphasis is put to prove that mulberry silk of

North Bengal came down from very early times. He found a group still called Pu~qra

(Punda), majority of them live in Maida and some in Rajshahi and Murshidabad )

districts still in his time (we do not know about today's position). Tiiey arc regarded

as hereditary caste for 'silk-worm rearing' .41 His study thus may help in linking the

earliest references to silk of Puq.qravardhana/Varendra. In the East India Company's

record of 1661-1685 we get 3 kinds of native reeled silk, putta, puttany and dolleria

(<Dhali, which meant white silk). The last called Dhali is made from Barapalu

cocoons. In the 1 ih century this particular type was in high demand from the

European companies. The English East India Company exported Barapalu mainly

from Cossimbazar where these were collected from different districts of Bengal.42 It is

indicated in another study43 that a prosperous trade of silk existed when the European

companies entered in Bengal in the 1 i 11 century. Their entry in Bengal resulted in a

'shift from spice to silk' for exportation. Citing the documents of 1661 preserved in

the British Museum (appears to be the same used in N. G. Mukerji's work as

Company's record of 1661-1685) we see that the market value of Bengal silk in Agra

was regulated by the ups and downs of silk price in Cossimbazar and also by the rise

and fall of exchange money from Cossimbazar to Pattana (Patna?) and Agra. It

.J 39 See A. Chattopadhyaya, 'Some Crafts of Ancient Bengal (Textile)', in B. D. Chattopadhaya, (ed.), Essays in Ancient Indian Economy, (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.), 1987, 133. See also I. Habib and F. Habib, Economic Map Of India. 182. 40 N. G. Mukerji, 1-iandhook of Sericulture, (Bengal Sccratariat Press), Calcutta, 1899; Idem, A Monograph on the Silk Fabrics of Bengal, (Bengal Secratariat Press), Calcutta, 1903; and, Idem. A Bird 's-Eye View on Indian Sericulture, (Bengal Secratariat Press), Calcutta, 1907. 41 Idem, A Monograph on the Silk Fabrics of Bengal, 13. 42 Ibid, 8-9. 4

.1 Rajat Datta, 'Markets, Bullion and Bengal's Commercial Economy: An Eighth Century Perspective', in Om Prakash and Denys Lombard, ( eds.), Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal, 1500-1800, (Manohar), Delhi, 1999, 330.

115

appears that the silk exported must have been the Barapalu silk as the information has

been taken from the same source. The Barapalu cocoons of Bengal qualitatively come

to the second position in the world's mulberry silk culture. We get eight types of

mulberry cocoons. The best is Bombyx Mori reared in Europe, China, Japan,

Kashmir, etc.; the next is Bombyx Textor or Barapalu of Bengal; Barapat of Assam

comes very close to Barapalu. Bombyx Meridionalis of Mysore and Kollegal are as

good as Barapalu cocoons.44 N.G. Mukerji recorded a dwindling state of Barapalu by

his time. The cultivators neglected its culture as Barapalu eggs take maximum time

(1 0 months) for hatching.45 Bengal Tasar also enjoyed reputation in the Mughal

period. It was known as tatband produced in the sarkar of Ghoraghat46 of North

Bengal. Tasar cocoons are also of varied types. The best is An theria Y amamai of

Japan. The Tasar from it is of greenish white colour. Next is China Tasar or Antheria

Pemyi. Assam Tasar known as Muga (Antheroea Assama) is as good as that of

China. The Antheria Mylitta of Bengal is of last quality.47 Muga (Assam) cocoons are

reared on sum (Machilus Odoritissima), sualu (Tetranthera Monopetala), mejankuri

(Tetranthera Polyantha) and (Golden or Yellow) champak (Michelia Champaka), the

Bengal Tasar is reared on asan or saj (Terminalia Tomentosa), sal (Shorea Robusta),

arjun (Terminalia Arjuna), sidha, dhau, baer (Ziziplus Mauritiana), country almond,

etc. Its principal host plant is arjun and secondary is sal.48 The least counted silk of

Bengal is Endi, Eri, or Eria (Attacus Ricini). Unlike the first two it is spun silk. Assam

produces better Eri than Bengal. Mixing up of brick coloured cocoons makes the

Bengal Eri silk less pleasing. Assam Eri is large and white. Eri does not eat mulberry

leaves. It feeds on Castor plant (locally called bhelna) leaves.49 It appears from the

above description that Eri was never included in the consignment for the market of

Cossimbazar where the English East India Company collected Bengal silk. Only

Barapalu found a good market and reputation for a certain period. Interestingly here

we see Barapalu as definitely a fine silk from mulberry cocoon. And Barapalu,

because of the negligence of the cultivators, perhaps vanished during the late years of

44 N. G. Mukerji, A Bird's-Eye View on Indian Sericulture, 5. 45 Idem, Handbook of Sericulture, 21. 46 I. Habib and F. Habib, Economic Map Of India,182. 47 N. G. Mukerji, Handbook ofSericulture, 152 and Idem, A Bird's-Eye View on Indian Sericulture, 5. 48 Idem, A Bird's-Eye View on Indian Sericulture, 5. For description of hosting plants one may see also G. Ganga and J. Sulochana Chetty, An Introduction to Sericulture, New Delhi, 1991, l-3. 49 N. G. Mukerji, Handbook of Sericulture, 153 and Idem, A Monograph on the Silk Fabrics of Bengal, 138-139 and 143.

116

the 19th or early years of 20th century. Tasar or Muga silk, common in Bengal today, is

clearly different from Barapalu.

We may mention that when Bernier referTed to Bengal's silk it might have

indicated that from North Benga1.50 It is found that still in the 18th century Rangpur,

Dinajpur, Purnea and Bhagalpur were recognized as the 'mulberry silk producing

districts of Bengal' .51 The Theophila cocoon is found wild on mulberry trees in the

HimJ-Iayas at the height of 500 to 4000 ft. 52 It is supposed that 'all varieties of

mulberry cocoons' to be found in different countries perhaps have their genesis in

Theophila, 'as the Theophila cocoons also are indifferently loose or firm, white or

yellow'. 53 From the above citations it appears that the people ofthis part of India were

acquainted with the mulberry silk from very early times.

It is found that the Naga . Hills, the Lusai Hills and Manipur are

environmentally suitable for silk cocoons. 54 Recent studies found a broader zone for

Muga cocoon culture in the not1h-eastern belt including Coochbehar. It is claimed that

present Coochbehar district produced Muga silk in the 16th century. It is told that the

cloth called Brndavani (because the Vaishnavas in north-eastern monasteries used to . . wear it) has no difference with the silk cloth of Tibet of medieval time. 55 It shows that

a vast land already acquainted with silk, which in the beginning, in the late pre

Christian era, perhaps was obtained from the cocoons fed on mulberry, the natural

plant of the eastern Himalayas or other trees of this belt. We see that some other

plants,which feed the cocoons like sal, champak, etc. grow in this area as its physical

environment is suitable for them.56 The information about cocoon silk is not sufficient

to infer clear knowledge about the hosting tree for the earliest silk of this tract. The

traditional relation between the Put;tqras and silk rearing and the evidence of making

Barapalu cocoon silk prior to the time of European c~mpany's a entry by implication

may mean that North Bengal yielded silk since the Put;t<,lras occupied it. In the

50 N. G. Mukerji has given excerpts from Bernier.- N. G. Mukerji, A Monograph on the Silk Fabrics of Bengal, 60-6L · 51 Ibid, 16. ; 52 Ibid, 8. 53 N. G. Mukerji, Handbook of Sericulture, !55. 54 G. Watt, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. 6, PT. !fl. (Cosmo Publications), Delhi, first published in 1889, 2"d rep. 1972. N. G. Mukerji 55 A column by Arabinda Bhattacharya in the Anandabazar Patrika, on 22. 02. 1996. 56 Sal has a great distribution area in the altitude of 10-IOOOm in the Himalayan belt.- K. C. Salmi, The Book of Indian Trees, (OUP, Bombay National History Society), 1998, 34. Golden or Yellow Champaka grows in the whole belt of eastern sub-Himalayas from Nepal to Arunachal Pradesh, Naga

117

settlement history we have seen that there was a probability of the Pur;9ra people's

inhabiting in the Purnea district, which is known for silk production in the late

medieval period. It appears that the tradition of fine silk spread from North Bengal to

other districts of Bengal. Let us now see what the earliest sources say about the textile

ofNorth Bengal, which, would be to some extent a repetition of the same in chapter I.

J Early Texts about the Textile Industry of Pundravardhana

The Pundra country as we saw above was known from the days of the r- ••

Arthasastra as producing fine textile products (2.11 ). The reference of these products

in the Arthasastra magnifies the importance as these are included as the best of

prevalent commodities within and outside the Maurya en?pire. The description implies

that all these had a good transaction in the :rviagadha empire. We got the names of

three places known for their dukula and patronfa type of textiles. Pul).~ra country's

dukula was of dark colour and its smoothness is compared with a gem. 57 Oth.er two

places mentioned in this text to produce dukitla are Variga (of white colour) and

Suvarnakudya (in Assam,58 which produced sun colour dukula). Dukula has been . . accepted as very fine cloth. After its description the Arthasastra says that by it is

explained the kshauma from Ka~i and the Puqqras. It may mean that dukula was also

known as kshauma in Kasi and in the land of the Pul)~ras. Kshauma is explained as

linen from jute as well as silk.59 Reference to dukula is found again in the

Harshacharita of the ih century.60 The expression, however, puts it perhaps as silk­

dukula-pa,tta 61 of fine quality. It was of white colour. The garment made was cut off

from a long roll of silk cloth. The next cloth in the Arthasastra is patror!zii, which

implies that the thread came from cocoons reared on leaves.62 The Artha~astra

mentioned the following trees as the sources of patror~Ja- naga (Masua Roxburghii

Hills, Myanmar and the Western Ghats at 500-1500 m. altitude. White Champaka grows in higher altitude between 1500-24000 m,. hence out of our purview. -Ibid, 18-19. 57 R. P. Kangle, Kau{il(ya Arthasastra, Vol. II, I 04. 58 Suvarnakudrya has been located in Kashmir also. It 'was subsequently changed to Kamasuvama, which includes Murshidabad and Rajmahal in Bengal'. -Ibid, I 04, f.n. I 02. 59 Sansad Bangia Abhidhan, Sahitya Sansad, Calcutta, rev, & enl. third Edition, rep. 1979. In a separate study we get some local terms for kshauma like khauma, khemi, khani or khaiya. This kind of cloth made from fibre is found worn by the poorer section of people in present times. There is, however, a better quality known as naiad khemi.-T. C. Dasgupta, Aspects of Bengali Society from Old Bengali Literature, (University of Calcutta), 1935, 279. 60 P. V. Kane, (ed.), The Harshacharita ofBcuwbhatta: Text ofUchchhvasas-VJ/1, 182. 61 Palla has been mentioned in a number. of e~rly works. It got basically two meanings in the Dictionary of M. M. Williams. It stood for fine cloth as well as woven silk. 62 Patror~Ja is a conjunct of patra (leaf)+ Ttr~1a (thread).

118

or Rottlera Tinctoria?), likucha (Artocarpus Lacucha), baku/a (Mimasops Elingi) and

ba{a (Ficus Indica).- 2.11. The commentator of the 1-Jarshacharita mentioned

/akucha and bata as the source of patrornZi.63 But today we meet a different list of . . trees which feed silk-worms, which we mentioned above. The interesting th~l_g~ that

the RZimacharita (chapter III) mentions all the first three trees as to be f()U.!_ld in

Varendri' (Pundrvardhana) but it never associates these with silk production. We may .. . -~

remember that the same text mentions a.fana and champaka trees (chapter III) also in

the description of vegetation. These are important feeding trees for Tasar cocoons in

modern time. But these also were not connected with silk of Bengal in the

Ramacharita.

The term pa,tza in dukilla-pa[~a in the 1-Jarshcharita reminds us the other two

type of silk putta or puttany mentioned in the Company's record. The word_pat

referring to silk is in use 'in some parts of Bengal and Assam'.64 Actually in standard

Bengali the tenn pa,t{a still is current for silk. The dukula-pa_tt~ in the Harshacharita

indicates fine reeled silk. The context in which it is mentioned confirms its quality.

Besides, it confirms that dukUla found way to northern India still in the ih century.

We should mention that during the ih century this is the sole 'reference to the textile­

products of a particular region of India' 65 by which a pair of garments were made.

The same cloth perhaps found way to Tamilakam also. We came to know that the

Tamil sources mentioned pattu which were brought from outside. It is told that

'such references do not indicate the direction or region from which it came to

Tamilakam'. The probable origin is sought in China from where it came to Ganga

valley and thence to the south. 66 We see, on the contrary, that the very term pattu

contains a clue to its origin. As certain types of Bengal silk were called putta or

puttany and as its reformed term patta (in dialects which is perhaps called pat) still in

use in Bengal it may be concluded that it came from Nmih Bengal. Assam also shares

a good reputation from early historical times as a producer of good silk. Its Muga silk

enjoys reputation from early times. And we see that Assam'a Muga is of better quality

than that of North Bengal. Hence Assam might have been a probable land for pattu

importation in Tamilikam. North Bengal's link appears to have been more probable

(•J A. Chattopadhyaya, 'Some Crafts of Ancient Bengal (Textile)', in B. D. Chattopadhaya, 132. 64 N. G. Mukerji, A Monograph on the Silk Fabrics of Bengal. 8-9. ('

5 I. Habib and F. Habib, Economic Map OJ India, 182. (•(• R. Champakalakshmi, Trade. ldeologv and Urbanization-South India 300 BC to AD 1300, (OUP), Delhi, 1996, 81.

119

because of the evidence of its export of silk to other regions as we mentioned above

and existence of certain types of silk known as putta or puttany as the English East

India Company's record of the I i 11 century shows. It appears that the advent of

European companies effected a sudden swelling in the silk trade of Bengal, which

earlier was confined basically to interregional trade within India. In the early historic

phase it might have earned good money till India enjoyed a favourable trade with

Byzantine Empire.67 Its decline, however, did not affect silk production of North

Bengal. Banabhatta's reference to dukula-patta shows its inter-regional trade was .. going well in the i 11 century. Later in medieval time we see Bengal supplied high

value textiles to Delhi also.68 We already referred to North Bengal's Tasar (tatband),

which was sent to Delhi.

The Arthafatra did not mention Pm1qra as a producer of fine cotton fabric.

From later accounts it appears that Puf!c,fravardhana produced some good quality

cotton textile also. Here we may mention that HudUd al~Alam (AD 982) 69 referred to

the territory of bharmapala (Dhaum) where cotton was produced in large quantity,

'which (grows) on trees yielding their produce during many years'. The good quality . of North Bengal's cotton textile is perhaps indicated in a foreign source of the 91

h

century. The Arab geographer Ibn Khurdadbhih in 851 wrote about the 'unparalleled

beauty and fineness' of the cotton textile made in the Pala kingdom.70 That North

Bengal really cultivated cotton in medieval period is proved by the account of F. B.

Hamilton. He says that the quality of cotton raised in the end of wet season and in the

southeast part of Dinajpur is finer than the one 'imported from west of India' .71 This

also needs high land of stiff as well as free soil. As Puqqravardhana has a tradition of

cotton growing and it formed an important segment of Pala kingdom we may suppose

that the foreign sources spoke of Puqc,frvardhana's textile. Arab merchants started to

visit Samata!a at about the same time or a little earlier. Some of them even perhaps

67 We learnt how the volume of silk exp~rt from Bengal decreased first by the decline of Roman empire and then enactment of Justinian law in the first halfofthe 61

h century. At last introduction of silk­worms from China solved a long standing problem in the Byzantine empire.-R. S. Sharma, Indian Feudalism: C. A. D. 300-1200, (Macmilan India Ltd.), Madras, second edition, rep. I 996, 54. 68 Rajat Datta, 'Market, Bullion and Bengal's Commercial Economy'. 330. 69 V. Minorsky (tr.), Hudud al-A/am, The Regions of the World, A Persian Geography, 372 A. H.-982 A. D., London, I937, 87. 70 See Richard M. Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204- I 760, (OUP), Delhi, 1994, II. 71 Eastern India, Voi. 3, 853.

120

started residing in this part. This new development in this area is coincided with the

rule of the Chandra kings (AD 825-1 035).

Vegetation

It is observed that Rangpur recently lost much of its climatic features of sub­

tropical country. Northern part of Dinajpur keeps a parallel with its neighbour

Rangpur in fc..:estry, vegetation and fauna. It lies adjacent to the tropics. 72 The

climatic difference in the north and south of North Bengal influenced its flora and

fauna. Once its northern part also had a vast forest stretching across Jalpaiguri up to

the Himalayas. The area once had been a natural habitat for elephants as we

mentioned in the textual chapter citing from district gazetteers and Eastern India. The

District Gazetteers of Rangpur and Dinajpur73 show the common vegetation 111

Rangpur and Dinajpur includes among others sal (Shorea Robusta); (Golden or

yellow) champak (Michelia Champaca or Magnolia); banyan (Ficus Indica); pipal

(Ficus Religiosa) baku! (Mimusops Elengi); varied types of bamboo, which is typical

of this part; 74 and varied types of reeds from which different useful goods are made.

We may remember here that Tasar cocoons are reared on sal and Muga on champak.

Rangpur also cultivates tezpata ( Cinnamomum Tamala, tamalapatra in Sanskrit) or

Indian cassia.

Tezpata or Malabathram

Here we may say some words about Rangpur tezpata. This particular produce

of the past is mentioned in the Greek sources as malabathram, which formed a part of

export to the west. Its leaves, is used to add aroma to food. Periplus of the Erythraean

Sea (AD 70-80) 75 states that these were brought to sell by men called Besatae of

72 Northern parts of both districts share some of the tropical trees found up to 1500 m. Some of the typical trees of this part are sal, red silk cotton (Bombyx Ceiba), kadam (Anthocephalus Sinensis), elephant apple (Dillenia Indica), gamari (Gmelina Arborea), Golden or yellow champak, etc. Both the districts lost much of their original vegetation due to climatic change. 73 J. A. Vas, Gazetteer of the Rangpur District, I I -15 and F. W. Strong, Eastern Bengal District Gazetteers, Gazetteer of the Dinajpur District, Allahabad, (The Pioneer Press), 1912, 8-13. 74 This is basically a tropical and sub-tropical tree. Of the most common genera are Bambusa, A rundinaria and Dendrocalamus. The last and Melocanna baccifera are spread over in north-eastern India.- K. C. Sahni, The Book of Indian Trees, 191-92; and, S. L. Kochhar, Economic Botany in the Tropics, 380-81. 75 For the translation of the Periplus see Wilfred H. Schoff, (tr.), The Periplus of the E!ythraean Sea, (Munshiram Manoharlal publishers pvt. Ltd.), 1995, 48-49.

12 I

squat figure and flat face. Ptolem/6 speaks of Kirata land (Kirradia) where the best

malabathram was produced. Perhaps Kiratas were referred to as Cirrhadoe in the

Periplus.-The Kiratas were referred to in the Mahabharata as included in the army of

Pragyotisha (in Assam).77 These people might have lived in areas of north-eastern

India like Upper Assam and Khasi Hills where the Cinnamomum Tama!a trees

producing tezpata grows naturally.78 Its extension up to Rangpur is possible for

environmental similarity as is pointed out above. Even tezpata is grown in Tripura and

upper Myanmar at the altitude of 800-1000 m.79 The people with flat nosed and squat

figure, who were in trade of these leaves, like the Kiratas, had been of Mongoloid

stock. These people started to move from China in about the second millennium BC

and they perhaps reached the east in about 1000 BC.80 This course we mentioned in J

our discussion of the river Karatoya where we mentioned Ltat the great Bodo people

extended up to the north and east Bengal and even north Bihar. W. H. Schoff says

about the Kirata tribe who lived in Morong, west of Sikkim. They belong to the Bhota

tribe with usual Mongoloid features. Many of them lived in Bengal at the time of

Aryan expansion. 81 People known as Paliya, a division of the Koch tribe, are largely

found in West Dinajpur and Coochbehar. The language of the Koches belongs to the

'Bodo group of Tibeto-Burmese family' although it is now influenced by the Bengali

and Assamese languages. 82 The total number of Paliya people in West Bengal

according to 1981 Census is 116,819.83 Their number in Bangladeshi part of North

Bengal is not known for present day. From the census of 1931 we get a picture of

undivided Bengal. Both the Koches and Paliyas claimed to be known as Rajbangshis

(people who belong to the royal lineage), i:e. having the same origin from which the

royal family of Coochbehar sprang. Their internal contradictory claims make it

difficult to get the actual figure. The Paliyas were included amongst the Rajbangshis

in 1911 and together the Paliyas, Koches and Rajbangshis gave the figure of

76 S. N. Majumdar Sastri, (ed.), Me Crindle 's Ancient India as described by Ptolemy. Calcutta, I 927, 217. 77 K. L. Bama, Early HistOJ)I of Assam. Shillong, I 933, I. 7x K. C. Salmi, The Book of Indian Trees, 140. 79 Ibid. . 80 See also S. K. Chatterjee, Kirata-Jana-Krti, The Indo-Mongoloids: their contributions to the histo1y and culture of India, (The Asiatic Society), Calcutta, I 974, 36. 81 Wilfred H. Schoff, (tr.), The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 253. 82 K. S. Singh, The Scheduled Castes, people of India, National Series, Vol. 11, (Anthropological Survey of India), (OUP), Delhi, 1993, I 022 -23 and Idem, The Scheduled Tribe, People of India, Vol. Ill, (Anthropological Survey of India), (OUP), Delhi, 1994,541-543. X) Ibid, I 022-23.

122

I ,930,852. On account of ethnic similarity all three groups are regarded of the same

origin. Their concentration is found in Coochbehar, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and

Rangpur. 84 By putting these references together it may be suggested that there is some

homogeneity in material activities of north-eastern India, was there any possibility to

share those by the people of same ethnic stock in the early historic times? Had these

people shared also in the trade of tezpata (malabathram) during the time of the

Periplus?

Crafts

Of the crafts the archaeological evidence presents beads and terracotta plaques

belonging chiefly to the period of 3rct century BC - AD 2nd century. NBPW continued

to be produced in this phase although with changed technological skill and new

shapes. After AD 2nd century these are also disappeared. Beads of varied materials

and shapes constitute a significant item of this phase. Gupta age shows a transitory

phase possessing residuals of previous stage of economy with some items, which

would flourish in the Pala period.

Fine and Common Wares

The best quality NBPW of Mahasthangarh according to the updated study by

D. Allios and V. Serdon was produced till level 5. We mentioned above that till level

5 fine ware shares more than 60% (f. n. 9) of the total ceramic assemblage. The share

of fine ware decreases to 20% in the level 7 with evidence of less control over firing.

In level 8 the share drops to 10%. Disappearance of fine ware corresponds to the

growing number of common ware with increasing diversity of firing techniques and

the preparation of pastes.85 Bangladesh study in the FIR includes 3218 sherds of

ceramics recovered from D8 Trench only. Out of which 2832 were studied. NBPW is

found from I to 1 I levels. The gradual replacement ofNBPW by common ware in the

upper levels is observed as a result of change in culture from pre-Maurya to Maurya

to post-Maurya and partially in technique.~6 We know the controversial issue about

~4 They spread over in considerable number in Maida, Bogra and Rajshahi districts of undivided Bengal. The Rajbangshis are struggling to obtain Kshatriya status and most of them already adopted mainstream's social norms. But still some practices are to be found amongst the 'more backward and illiterate members' which are 'inconsistent with Hindu belief ... ' A. E. Porter, Census of India, 1931, vol. V, Bengal & Sikkim, Part l, report, (central Publication Branch), Calcutta, 1933,473-75. XS Fl R, 273-293. Xi> FIR. 342-57

123

the use of NBPW in Mahasthangarh raised by S. Elaigne that these were locally

produced for everyday use, which discards the well established view about its being

luxury ware. At the same time it refutes its connection with inter-regional or

international trade (see Introduction). We may remember here that NBPW and RW

had been discovered by Rahman in sites some situating at 6.5 km distance from the

.. citadel of Mahasthangarh (see Table lA). Whatever be the nature of these fine wares

the vast quantity of both wares proves that pottery making was a good profession for

good number of families residing in Mahasthan area. The decline of NBPW

corresponded by the increase of common ware. Pottery remained an important craft

throughout. Potters are to be found as an essential part of rural Bengal.

Beads

Beads are the most important item of city phase. Of the two sites, Bangarh and

Mahasthangarh, the total number for beads is not available for the former. 87 These are

found from level 5 and almost non-existent in earlier levels. Levels 5-8 proved the

most numerous. Besides, a plenty of fragments were also found. From the studies

done by Rahman separately we get some more beads. Of the stone beads the agate is

numerous. 88 Ametheist beads are few in number. Rahman studied 336 beads of semi­

precious stones.89 Although no idea is left about the numerical strength in Bangarh the

bead culture of this place corresponds to Mahasthangarh. The report of Bangarh

excavation shows that beads are found increasingly more in number and finer in

quality in the deeper layers. But contrary to Mahasthangarh K. G. Goswami found

mostly chalcedony beads.90 Here we may mention that the difference between agate

and chalcedony is related with the prominence of layers. Besides, when chalcedony is

87 In the FIR the joint study of beads by M. F. Boussac and S. A lam we get 810 beads of different ma~erials. Of 810 beads semi-precious stones are 477 (59%) and glass 328 ( 40.5%), and the rest of other materials. -FIR, 427, f. n. I. 88 313 beads of agate are registered. Carnelian amounts to 82, which is followed by chalcedony, 126 in all. 89 The assemblage includes 62 from his personal collections, 200 preserved in the Department of Archaeology and 74 in the Bangladesh National Museum. The total number of banded agate is 97. While chert beads amount to 62, carnelian 35, onyx 18 and garnet only 9.- S. S.M. Rahman, 'The Semi-precious Stone Beads from Mahasthangarh: a preliminary study,' 37-52. Hence the total number of semi-precious beads is (810+336=) 1146. 90 Although he says first that 'Cornel ian, plays a very important part' in the assemblage of beads in Bangarh in another place in the same page he states that chalcedony is the majority in globular beads, which are the most numerous in Bangarh.- K. G. Goswami, 'Excavations at Bangarh', 14.

124

uniformly red is known as carnelian.91 Perhaps this subtle difference led K. G.

Goswami to identify agate as chalcedony. Actually agate is recorded as the common

stone in all early historical sites of North India. With all these 10 etched beads are

attested m Mahasthan while these are very popular 111 Wari-Bateshwar,

Chandraketugarh and Bangarh. In addition, several glass beads are also reported. 92

France-Bangladesh excavation and Rahman's own exploration in Mahasthan

region exposed a good ql!~i,,tity of cores and chips and flakes of crystal, agate, jasper

and marble. The trial digging in Wari-Batcshwar also revealed raw materials in good

number. Both places, therefore, are accepted as having bead manufacturing centres.

Chandraketugarh, according to D. K. Chakrabarti, had manufacturing centre at least

for agate and carnelian.93 Chhotanagpur is a rich area for mineral resources. Besides,

there are a number of places in different parts of India, which could have been the

sources of raw materials for semi-precious stone beads for Bengal. Probable sources

for different kinds of beads the following can be mentioned. Agate- Ratanpur in

Rajpipla in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Deccan Trapes. Garnet -Rajasthan.

Quartz-Mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. Marble-best quality came

from Rajasthan.94 It is argued that glass beads in Bengal were imported from outside.

The probable places are Arikamedu (Indo Pacific glass beads), Middle East/Roman

world (sandwitched glass beads), and Deccan/Roman world (gold-foil glass beads).95

Terracotta Plaques

Study of the terracotta plaques and other objects in Mahasthangarh is not yet

complete in all aspects. Studies on Bengal terracotta as a whole and on particular sites

like Chandraketugarh and Bangarh suggest that these were intimately connected with

91 'Common chalcedony ... has very thin layers of hydrated and cryptocrystalline silica. When such layers are prominent and concentric or wavy, the material is known as agate.'- A. K. Biswas, Minerals and Metals of Ancient !ndia, Vol. 2, (D. K. Print World (P) Ltd.), New Delhi, 98-99. 92 328 glass beads are discovered by the France-Bangladesh excavation. We will add 25 more collected and studied separately by Rahman. These raises the figure of glass beads to (328+25=) 353. 93 D. K. Chakrabarti, The Issue in East indian Archaeology, (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.), New Delhi, 1998,40. 94 References for all are from A. Ghosh, (ed.), An Encyclopedia of fndian Archaeology, Vol. I, (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.), Delhi, 1989, 216-221; Coggin-Brown and Dey, India's mineral Wealth, London, 1955; B. Allchin, 'The Agate and Carnelian Industry of Western India and Pakistan,' in Van L.Leeuw, (ed.), South Asian Archaeology, Leiden, 1975; M.S. Krishnan, Geology of India and Bunna, (Higginbothams (p)Ltd.), Madras, 1968; D. N. Wadi a, Geology of India, (Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co.), New Delhi, 1975 and Idem, Minerals of India, (National Book Trust), New Delhi, 1966. 95 K. K. Basa, 'Early Glass Beads in India', SAS. Vol. 8, 1992,91-104.

125

urban culture.96 The stratigraphic evidence of moulded plaques from the recent

excavation of Mahasthangarh97 proves that the most prolific stage corresponds to the

most prosperous material levels of the city. The noteworthy point is the technical

maturity displayed even in the earliest pieces from level 5. The terracotta work

definitely offered a good occupation for a certain section of society. The terracotta

plaques are the exquisite specimens of art of Bengal.

Weaving

Of the other occupation it appears that weaving cotton cloth held an important

place. We may mention here about the discovery of numerous terracotta spindle

whorls from Bangarh from the Suri.ga period stratum. 98 We above noted that the -......

Hudiid af-Alam and the account of Ibn Khurdadbhih say about fine cotton t~xtiles of

the Pala kingdom. We cited F. B. Hamilton above about raising cotton in

Pundravardhana. Weavers of this sub-region perhaps used the homegrown cotton for

weaving cloth.

Some Other Professions

Making Tiles, Bricks, Masonry

Some individuals must have grown skill in making building materials like tiles

and bricks. From the Sunga period tiles started to be used in roofing both in

Mahasthangarh and Bangarh. So is the case ofbricks. We will encounter growing use

of bricks for subsequent times.

Sculpting

The repertoire of archaeological remains shows significant decline in beads

and terracotta plaques during the imperial Gupta times while it includes a few stone

sculptures. The previous phase brings only a single piece of Karttikeya (AD.l/2nd

96 Here we may point out the observation regarding Chandraketugarh.- D. K. Chakrabarti, Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain, 273. And yet another by E. Haque in relation to Chandraketugarh terracotta. He found it somewhat incredible to include those found in Chandraketugarh within the fold of 'folk art'. The scenes employed in plaques clearly depict urban life. Beside, the quality of portability of these objects shows that these were produced to cater the demand of 'individual connoisseur or votary.'- E. Haque, Chandraketugarh: A Treasure house of Bengal Terracotta, 79. 97 The article dealing with the chronological context of the moulded terracotta plaques states about 135 pieces (from the Maurya to the Gupta) discovered from the eastern rampart. Levels 7-8 yielded the most. After 2"d century these plaques are mostly of residual nature till the upper layers. -M. F. Boussac & Sandrine Gill, 'Moulded Terraeotta Plaques from Mahasthan', JBA, Vol. 6, 2001, 65-72. 9x K. G. Goswami, 'Excavations at Bangarh', 37.

126

century) found from Skander Dhap in Mahasthan region and now preserved in the

AM. From AD 4th to 6th centuries we find some more. The beginning of the

prosperous phase of sculpture actually will start from the 7/8 111 century. We are not

sure whether the Gupta age images were brought from outside or locally sculpted.

Here we see a gradual emergence of a new practice vis-a-vis a profession. The Pala

age is the most prolific in image making. The sculptor produced some all time best

pieces in the art heritage of this world. This period revealed a very prosperous phase

in the material life by all excavations. 1t is implicit in the remains of buildings and

other objects found in different sites. Of the remains the images constitute a very

important aspect for the history of this period. Land donation never ceased its appeal

as merit earning act but now image installation was recognised as another means for

earning merit. As it was less costly than land donation it could attract much more

donees. In spite of its less cost facility the practice of image donation must have been

confined to a certain section of well being class. However, the new trend gradually

developed a new class of professionals, the sculptors. We are completely in the dark

about the identity of the hundreds of skilful sculptors, who are boasted unflinchingly

by all art critics, for creating some masterful images, for generations. Unlike the

engravers of epigraphs they did not develop a practice of leaving their names on their

creations. Recently a single artist's name is salvaged from thousands of images. G.

Bhattacharya traced out one sculptor, Amrta by name, who boasted himself as a good

artist (sus~lpi). He found two images where the name of Amrta is engraved. The third

one in VRM collection appears to have been the creation of the same Amrta. 99 There

must have been many more pieces of this great artist who boldly engraved his name

breaking away from the general norm. As the pieces show spatial homogeneity (two

came respectively from Rajshahi and Bogra) it appears that this Amrta was a native of

North Bengal more precisely of the area now covered by the Rajshahi-Bogra districts.

The bluish stone used by him is described as susnigdha indranT!amalJi i.e. it is as

smooth as the saphire. The same term is used for the Bhaturiya inscription of

Rajyapala ( cir. AD 91 I -35) in line 20. 100 This particular stone is known as Rajmahal

slate.

By the time of the Pala kings there arose certain centres where images were

sculpted. Many unfinished images arc attested in different places. E. g. we may cite

99 Sec the Appendix Ill for images with inscriptions nos. 15, 16 and I 7. 100 D. C. Sircar, 'Bhaturiya Inscription of Rajyapala'. 150-54.

127

that from Amati, D. Dinajpur five unfinished images arc recovered which arc now

lodged in the BCM. Another centre might have been in the vicinity of Dacca. 101

Engraving

A special group grew perfection in engraving. It remained confined to a small

number of skilled scribes as there were not many chances of such works. But there

was demand for efficient engravers. Pala records show that a village named Poshali

produced at least three engravers. The Belwa copperplate of Mahipala I was engraved

by Pushyaditya, son of Chandraditya, the Bangarh plate of the same king by

Mahldhara, son of Vikramaditya and the Amgachhi plate of Vigra"pala III by

Sa£ideva, son of Mahldhara. It shows that Sasideva and Mahidhara were from same

family the latter being the father of the former. On the other hand, Chandraditya and

Vikramaditya perhaps also related to each other. It appears that this village was within

Kotivarsha vishaya and not far from Panchnagan vishaya. However, we got another

name of village which might have been ~ncient Poshalf. D. C. Sircar102 mentions the

opinion of N. N. Basu that Poshali might have been the Poshaligarti in the Raqhfya

Brahmal}aS. It is present Poshela, 5 miles south-east of Mangalkot in the Burdwan

district.

Fishing

This period shows that fishing became an important occupation. Numerous

sites of early medieval time are registered with net sinkers (see table ID for such

sites). The Kaivartas in the beginning had been a fishing community. 103 A section

later took plough as occupation. We got a village called Osinna the inhabitants of

which were engaged in kaivartavrtti. 104 As there were separate terms for cultivators,

e.g. kufumbi, it appears that the village ofOsinna was settled only by fishermen. It is a

rare case for a village inhabited by a single community. Motifs of fish and fisherman

are found depicted on terracotta objects of this period. 105 The Charyapadas, products

of the siddhacharyas of Bengal from the 7 /81h centuries, are regarded as revealing for

101 P. K. Bhattacharya, Iconography of Sculptures, Akshay Kumar Maitreya Museum, (University of North Bengal), Darjeeling, 1983, I. 102 D. C. Sircar, 'Two Pala Plates from Belwa', 6. 103 Idem, Problems of Early Indian Society, (Sanskrit College), Calcutta, 1983, 73. 104 ldem, 'Two Pala Plates from Belwa', l-13. 105 We may remember examples of a terracotta plaque bearing a fishing scene from Bangarh, -K. G. Goswami, 'Excavations at Bangarh', 22 (It is now preserved in the AM, Almirah (Ph 115) bottom self, cat.no.21 0); three copper coins from Paharpur with fish motif, Gourisankar De, 'Fish Motif in Bengal Art',JBA, Vol.3, 1998, 103;etc.

128

the lowest section of the rural society. We meet people engaged in hunting, fishing,

cotton-spinning, basket weaving, etc. 106

Trade and Commerce

Evidence of the thriving activities 111 trade and commerce of the Maurya­

Sunga time gradually faded away. The French team found sharp decline in the

material life for levels 12 and 13 in Mahasthangarh corresponding to the Gupta age. 107

A change is found in the roofing system, having no trace of tiles. Probably 'light and

perishable materials' were in use for this purpose. This stage thus poses a significant

discrepancy to what was revealed by the epigraphs of this period in North Beng~l and

many more other sources in north India from the Gupta period. However, a cautious

observation also is found, which prompts to tell that the mere amount of objects

should not lead one to be critical of the prosperity of this phase. Besides, this phase

shows lasting duration than the previous one. On the basis of excavation in a

. d . I I f restncte area representmg ess than -- o the walled area one cannot measure the 750

real material level of the age. 108 Actually level 12 of the Bangladesh side exhibits 'a

substantial amount of architectural remains'. 109 In addition, outside the citadel we

confront some considerable buildings and other constructions. We may remember

here that earlier excavations of 1960-61 revealed remains of well built brick structures

pertaining to the Sunga and Gupta ages. 110 The Bairagir Bhita exposed remains of

temples of the Gupta and post Gupta age. 111 The Govinda Bhita112 exposes exist~ce

of numerous structures of large size in the west and east parts. It spread over a wide

chronological range from the Gupta to the Muslim periods. Constructions of the 61h

century are found within a massive walled area (belonging to 8111 /9111 century) in the

)

106 A. Majumdar, Chmyapadas, (Naya Prakash), Calcutta, 1967,77. 107 These two levels are placed within the period of end of AD 2nd- end of 6'" century. lOS FIR, 141-150. 109 FIR 201 110 N. Ahma.d, Mahasthan, 33. 111 A. K. M. Zakaria, Bangladesher Pratnasampad, 180-181 112 According to the Karatoyamahatmya the northern limit of the city of Mahasthangarh was marked off by a Vishnu temple. This site is supposed to contain that temple as Vishnu's another name is Govinda. Although the temple complex is generally accepted to have been that of the god Vishnu or Govinda no Image of this god has been discovered so far.

129

western part. And interestingly in a presumably later article 113 co-authored by J. F.

Salles the earlier opinion regarding the barren material life of this period had been

chaQged. 114 Here we get an impression that the nature of the objects and structure with

'strong symbolic connotation' exposed in the Gupta levels rendered the poor look of

this phase.

It is true that a change took place in trade and commerce. We did not find the

same objects associated with previous phase. This is especially true with beads and

NBPW. When we encounter another type of evidence throwing some light on the

early Gupta period the earlier phase is no longer reflected. We get 10 epigraphs from

our sub-region belonging to the Gupta period. All deal with land transactions. But

interestingly in four of these we meet the fresh~h'ls, sarthavahas and kulikas, all )

essentially belonging to trading class, to be associated with the vishaya ailhikarana

(administrative centre or office) of Kot.ivarsha. 115 Whatever capacity they were

enjoying in the adhikara'!a (they were not regular officials) there would be no doubt

that these trading communities flocked in the cities where they were counted as within

the uppermost section of society. This they earned by their wealth, which came from

commercial activities. Their inclusion in the adhikara'!a in representative capacity

while the procedure of land transfer was taking place is a pointer that still trade had

some prospects. When and how they became an integrated part of the urban milieu is

not known. Perhaps in them we may find the vestiges of earlier trading communities

of Maurya and Sm1ga age. The sarthavahas are known to have been carrying goods­

loaded carts to far off places. But we do not have any information about either the

goods they took or the places they went for trade. From the above discussions we may

presume that Puf).qravardhana continued trade with its traditional products like paddy,

sugarcane, textile, tezpata, etc. These might have been exported to other regions

within India even some to the south-east Asian countries. This age found for the first

time an exchange system through the medium of the gold and silver coins, the dinZira

and rupaka respectively. The trading contact of Pala period is not very clear to us.

113 This article by J. Y. Breuil & J. F. Salles, 'Excavations at Mahasthangarh,' has been published in the JBA of 200 I, i.e. in the same year when the FIR was published. But the revised views in this article we encounter on different issues and what we mentioned above tend to indicate that it was published after the FIR or underwent modification as it incorporated another author's view. 114 Ibid, 85-87. 115 Damodarpur copperplates of AD 444, 448, the undated one during the time of Budhagupta and of AD 554. were issued from the vishayadhikarana located in the city of Kotivarsha. The Paharpur inscription of AD 479 includes only one nagarasreshthi. Here the city might have the one in Mahasthangarh.

130

There is a high probability of trade in textile products during the time of the_Pal_~­

kings, which went as far as Chittagong as may be inferred from the contemporary

Arab accounts (see supra). There was regular contact with countries where Buddhism

became an important creed. Hence some sort of exchange network at extra regional

level cannot be excluded. Rice might have been another item for trade. There is a

possibility that commodities went down the rivers to the mouth from there these were

taken up to Chittagong port called samandar by the Arab geographers. In the cast

things were taken down stream Ganga. Below we will focus on the possible routes

through different periods.

Linkages and Routes

Northern Connections

Pundravardhana's integration with Magadha system paved the way for

systematisation of communication for smooth transit of home products and some

other countries to its north and cast. Of the northern countries with which

Pu11qravardhana could have some trading contacts the name of Tibet peeped in many

writings. Its possible earliest indication is found in the description of the Periplus

(AD. 70-80) that Chinese (Thinae 116) materials were brought to Damirica by way of

the river Ganga. Ptolemy's reference to Tibetan plateau is another pointer to a

northern route from North Bengal. But its feasibility has been questioned. 117

Notwithstanding the difficulties of outward impassability of this vast and rugged hilly

track there were certain natural line of communication, which should have been active

since the earliest times. We get plenty of information about the linkages with this land

which seems to be in operation from the early historical times. The Tabaqi1{-i­

Nasiri118 speaks of 35 passes between Tibet and Kamari1pa. It informs about the

J bringing of Tibetan (Tanghan) horses through the above mentioned passes to

LakshmaQavafi (Lakhnauti). These horses were brought in the market of Kara-battan

(Kar-pattan), where about I 500 horses were sold everyday. The exchange network in

this belt sometimes brought traders from far off. This system in some form can be

116 We meet some alternatives also. It is identified with Theinini perhaps in the Salween valley in Burma and with Changan, the capital ofTsin and the Western Han dynasties. -N. Lahiri, The Archaeology of Indian Trade Routes, 151. 117 !hid, 150-54. 11 x H. G. Raverty, (tr.), Tahakat-i-Nasiri, Vol. I, 567.

131

visible even from present day situation. Owing to very slow pace of change in tribal

life many of the old behavioural patterns and practices may be found today. Hence the

exchange system followed in certain pockets amongst the tribals in the hilly area still

today may be regarded as coming down through centuries. For everyday life hilly

people need correspondence with their fellows in plains. Their need sometimes is

small but unavnic!able. People in plains also look to them for certain products, which .,

could not be available in the neighbourhood. We come across reports of'fairs held in

recent past (perhaps some such are still held) where large transactions took place.

Traders brought goods sometimes crossing vast track even from north-western India.

Some such big fairs in the northern parts of Bihar and Bengal were very much active

even in the middle of last century. At least one such fair found mention in the map of

Major Sherwill, which was held in Nekmarad in the Ranishankail P. S. Here traders

from near and far met. Among the buyers we find big landlords and zamindars who

would buy horses from Bhutan and elephants from Terai. Cows from Purnea were

bought by the middlemen of Mymansingh and Srihatta districts of Bengal. Even

camels with loaded goods came from north-western India. Afghans brought dry fruits,

sadlery, daggers, swords, mirrors etc., hilly people came with woollen garments,

blanket, ponny, and other things, Nepalese brought daggers and medicinal herbs, etc.

W. W. Hunter119 informs that the fair went on for one week and one lack people every

year gathered here. Hilly people bought real and artificial coral and pearl beads from

the Dinajpur traders. N. Ray 120 informs that 25 miles right north after crossing the

Brahmaputra at Gauhati there is held a fair on the full moon day in the month of

Vaishakh (April-May). Here Tibetans bring horses, blankets, sheep, and some other

things. Still today pack horses, blankets, ornaments of impure gold, different types of

stones, etc., which are found in the markets of Gangtok and Kalimpong are mostly

from Tibet and Bhutan. One more report about such trade between Assam and Tibet is

worth citing. 'Tibet caravans conducted by 20 persons used to come down annually to

a mart of Chouna on the Assam border after two months journey from Lassa and

conveyed silver bullion to the amount of about one lakh rupees and a considerable

quantity of salt for sale to the Assam merchants at Geegunshur four miles away.' Here

it is told that 'skins, buffalo horns, pearls, and corals first imported from Bengal were

traded by the Assamese merchants. The Tibetan merchants brought woolens, gold

119 References are taken from A. K. M. Zakaria, Bangladesher Pratnasampad, 51-52. 120 N. Ray, Bagalirltilws, 95.

132

dust, salt, musk, horses, Chinese silk, etc.' 121 We found above that corals and pearls

were mentioned as being brought for sale in the mart of Nekmarad by Dinajpur

traders. In this report we find mention of corals and pearls with others which were

imported from Bengal. There is a high probability that in this case also Dinajpur

district of Bengal actually supplied these items through their merchants.

In a recent study sufficient light has been thrown on the Tibet-Brahmaputra

and Tibet- Arunachal Pradesh trade through ~rincipal and minor routes. The activity

of trade routes in north-eastern region has been highlighted till the British period

when steps were taken from time to time to close these. Here we get information

about various items of goods brought by the peoples of hilly tracts of Tibet,

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, etc. A very important information is found about iron,

which was 'manufactured in the hills and exported in the shape of hoes to the Assam

valley and in lumps of pig iron to the Surma valley ... ' It was used for making clamps

of boats. The quantity of such iron exported from hills in 1853 is 20,000 mounds. 122

The route proceeded through Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Chumbi Valley of Sikkim, and

the passes of the Himalayas to Tibet and finally to south China. Focus on this route is

thrown in the recent work of D. K. Chakrabarti. He narrated it following the

description of Campbell. Tibet can be reached through Chumbi Valley as well as

through Bhutan. However, the route via Chumbi Valley is much· frequented. The

principal route through Chumbi Valley can be reached from Darjeeling as well as

from Nepal. Most interesting point is that in this long route of a few hundred miles we

find the river Tista as forming a part. One has to cross first the Rangit and then to

follow the course of the Tista upstream for a certain distance. After Chumbi Valley

will come Phari where a mart is to be found. Here people coming from Sikkim, Nepal,

Bhutan and Tibet meet to exchange their products. Another place of transaction is a

town called Rinchingong, which is also a mart and which is situated 2 marches 123 east

of Chumbi. Here exchange network was confined amongst the people from Sikkim,

Bhutan and Tibet. But the most important is the information about borax and gold of

Tibet. Borax was available in Tibet throughout to the south of the river

Yaroo/Tsangpo. It came down to India through Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan and then to

121 A. Mackenzie, The North-East Frontier of India, rep. Delhi, 1981, 64. This is an excerpt from Hamilton who mentioned a report by Premberton. 122 B. B. Kumar, 'The Trade in North-East India: The Historical Perspective', 5-8. 123 The equation between marches and miles is not clear.

133

Europe. Gold was available 'in the sands of a feeder river of the Yaroo'. Not least

important is the information of another fair in Titaliya near Jalpaiguri. Here Campbell

found a group of Tibetans, formed by men, women, and children with 30 baggage

sheep and goats, advancing toward that fair. The merchandise they were carrying

included 'musk, chowrees, salt, blankets, turquoise and striped woollens'. Yaks and

sheep were used as packing animals for carrying salt from salt lakes of Tibet. D. K.

Chakrabarti provides another important list of metallic resources of this region

originally mentioned by J. C. White and V. Ball. Metals like 'iron, tin, Zinc, arsenic,

lead, gold and silver, copper' were largely available and used 'by preindustrial

smelters'. We may remember here that an iron-smelting centre has been ascertained in

or around Wari-Bateshwar. 124 Its source might have been in this locality. A belt of

copper lies 'around Buxa on the India-Bhutan border where V. Ball (1881) repot'~ed

extensive preindustrial smelting'. The technology they used for this purpose was very

simple.

For political interaction between Tibet and Bengal the beginning was traced in

the expedition of Srong-tsan-gampo. The period of Pala rule has been viewed as a

phase of intensification of the religious interaction. But economic interaction between

these places might have been a factor of still earlier. 125 Here one more point may be

considered. Here we may find a linkage in the Neolithic tools in Kalimpong in

Darjeeling district and Sikkim what we mentioned above. Affinity in the beliefs and

practices between South China and Kalimpong and Sikkim together126 actually

indicates probabilities of connections between Pundravardhana and south China

through northern routes via Tibet. What we want is to point to the fact that there were

certain natural routes, which were in use from the remote past, some of which were

perhaps regularised after imperial occupation of North Bengal.

Eastern Routes

Less controversial was the eastern route through Assam, North Burma, etc. to

China. The route is less difficult than those discussed above. We already mentioned

some important items of Assam (Suvan~aku~ya) in common with North Bengal

124 E. Haque, (ed.), Excavations at Wari-Bateshwar: A Preliminary Study, SEAS: No. 5, (ICSBA), Dhaka, 200 I, 33. 125 D. K. Chakrabarti, Archaeological Geography oft he Ganga Plain, 63-64. 126 A. Datta, Neolithic Culture of West Bengal, 62-65.

134

(PuQqra country), which must have found way in the famous urban centres of

Gangetic valley. The Arthafastra in the same chapter (2. II) mentions certain other

places (Jonga, Japa, Turupa, etc.) for certain goods like sandalwood 127, black aloe,

tailaparf}ika (a kind of incense), bhadrafriya (camphor?) and others. The places,

which grew these are located in a part of north-eastern India including Assam

(Suvarnakudya, which produced tailaparf}ika, besides patron;a- and dukit!a). m, The

Arthdastra in relation to textile products lastly takes the name of China. We came to

know that China produced silk (kau.~eya) and silk cloth (chinapa{tp). The point is that

Kau~ilya takes goods name in geographical sequence, putting all places one after

other, which arc located to the east and north-east of Magadha. The name of China,

which occurred at the end, appears to have entered in the Artha~astra as silk used to

come to the Gangetic Valley from this land also along with Assam and North Bengal.

Most of the goods of north-eastern India which are described in the Artha~astra were

confined to inter-regional trade except perhaps the textiles. Keeping in view of the

Indo-Roman trade some of the best textile products of this part may be considered as

forming a part of export. In this regard we may remember that all goods described as

Gangetic (like spikenard and malabathram of the Periplus) to be exported to the

Roman Empire were not really the products of the Ganga delta. If there is any relation

between Gangetic muslin (sindones) of the Periplus and dukula of Vanga (referred to

in the Arthdastra as producer of dukula along with Puqqra and Suvarqakuqya) we

may conclude that Assam and North Bengal's dukula could well have been included

within the Gangetic muslin. It thus appears that the route from Magadha across North

Bengal, Assam, etc. up to south China was more in use than the one through Tibet in

the early historic time. P. C. Bagchi first described it elaborately 129 and then by many.

The route went directly from Pataliputra, across Bhagalpur, Rajmahal, North Bengal

to Assam after which it was trifurcated. One went through Patkoi range to upper

Burma, the second ran through Manipur to Irrawaddy valley and the third through

127 Sandalwood (Santalum Album) is not the original plant of northeast. Today it is found from 'Nasik to Northern Circars southwards'. It is believed to have been indigenous to south-western India. Some thinks it is a native of peninsular india. - S. L. Kochhar, Economic Botany in the Tropics, 4 73 and K. C. Sahn i, The Book of Indian Trees, 144. m Chilrarekha Gupta has dealt separately about the trade and trading items of northeast in ancient period in Chitrarekha Gupta, 'Trade and Markets of North-Eastern India: The Ancient Period', in J.P. Singh and G. Sengupta (eels.), Archaeology of'North-Eastern India, (Vikash Publishing House), Delhi, 1991' 280-299. 129 P. C. Bagchi, India and China-a thousand years of Sino-Indian Cultured Contact, (China Press Ltd.), Calcutta, 1944, 5-6.

135

Arakan to Chindwin valley. All met at Bhamo on the border of Burma (we cited about

this route in chapter II). This route was perhaps in use since the days of Chang Kien

whose report of 130 BC referred to bamboo cane and cloth of South China in Ta-hsia

(Bactria). Acquaintance of the Artha;astra with China silk appears to support the so

early date of the use of this route. D. K. Chakrabarti once again pointed out the

mineral resources inJhis part from the accounts ofL. W. Shakespear (1914) based on

contemporary and recent past situation. We know that of the three routes the most

accessible is the Patkoi-Hukong-Bhamo route. Its attraction is doubly increased by its

having mineral resources in certain places. Amber and jade are available in mines

situated in the tract between Hukong Valley and Mogoung. The latter lies 'between

Bhamo and Myikhiyna in upper Burma'. Shakespear not only mentions the silver

mines ofNogmung but the process of melting. If it was so we may well postulate that

mineral resources must have accentuated exchange contacts of this area. In relation to

amber and jade Shakespear mentions that their trade was mainly confined to China.

Considering all these D. K. Chakrabarti broadens the horizon of Maurya empire and

presumes 'a Gangaplain-south China route as early as the third century BC'. We are

informed about some marts on the route through Bhutan, Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh

to Udalguri on the Assam-Bhutan border. There peoples from Bhutan, Tibet and even

from China exchange their commodities. From Tibet came rock salt and silver and

from Assam came rice, silk, iron and lac. He put forward the exchange tradition

between Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh on basis of information supplied by R. K.

Billorey (1986). The Memba traders of Arunachal Pradesh acted as intermediaries

between the Tibetans and their southern neighbours. They took to Tibet dyes, hides,

cane, chilly, Ende (Edi) silk, etc. collecting from several tribes (from south) and

brought Tibetan salt and wool. These two are the chief commodities from Tibet. 130

Barind area's connections in the east extended, as is postulated by D. K.

Chakrabarti, across Karatoya (Brahmaputra during this time flew through the

Bangladeshi district of I\,1ymensingh), to present Dhaka-Comilla-Chttagong region,

thus giving it access to Arakan and further to Irrawaddy Valley from where one route

went upto Prome in Myanmar. Going upward from Comilla one could reach Kachar

plain in Assam and thence to Manipur and Myanmar. In this context he views the

Wari Bateshwar site, at the mouth of Brahmaputra, as a chief port for Mahasthangarh.

130 We may remember that Tibetans perhaps continuing their woollen trade still now. In each winter they come down to different cities in the plains.

136

About this opening he says ' ... Mahasthangarh itself was a place that looked towards a

vast area of Asia on its north and cast: the plateau of Tibet, the fertile plains of the

Brahmaputra, the hills and valleys of north Burma extending up to south China, and

finally to the Arakan coast and the lrrwaddy valley itseir . 131 Pur:~ravardhana's

connection with the lower Bengal where ancient Gange (mentioned in the Perip/us)

country was located (the market town being at Chandraketugarh as has been opined

by K. G. Goswami and others) was secured by a rout~ through Jessore to Bhagirathi

(ancient). It thus got a link with the port of Ganga, which is not yet satisfactorily

identified. In this context D. K. Chakrabarti vehemently opposed the conclusion of B.

N. Mukherji that 'There was no direct contact of Roman sailors' with Bengal coast

and he emphatically expresses that 'On their way to China and southeast Asia ships

from t}1e Mediterranean must have known this coast quite well. ....... that the entire

coastal tract of ancient Vanga from the Bhagirathi mouth to the region west of

Meghna was known to the sailors from the Mediterranean' .132 We may at least say

that the integration with Magadha system opened waterways contact for

Mahasthangarh as well as Pur;d_ravardhana with her south-east (till Chittagong) and

south-west (Orissa coast) 133 neighbours along coastal line, if not directly connected

her with overseas trade.

Accessibility of Pu~~ravardhana to a Vast Trade Network

The geographical block from the east of the Bhagirathi and Mahananda to the

ancient channel of Brahmaputra through the present Mymensingh district in

Bangladesh lying below the terai and along the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra

perhaps stood as one geographical unit if we accept D. K. Chakrabarti's

proposition. 134 There may arise some differences but if one looks at the material

culture exposed in this block and the rest of north-eastern India a qualitative

difference at once can be noticed during the beginning of early historic times. The

latter certainly had an elaborate exchange system characteristically in alignment with )

the physical environment and resources of hilly tracts in terms of communication and

productive capacity. While the former must have taken a forward leap in material

131 D. K. Chakrabarti, Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain, 70-72. 132 Ibid, 155-56. 133 Ibid, 260-75. 134 He actually envisages Maurya control 'along the entire extent of the northern bank of the Brahmaputra and covered both the northern and southern banks of the river up to Tezpur'.- Ibid, 65.

137

culture although maintaining close exchange contact with this vast hilly tract. It

perfected in the production ofNBPW and nurturing certain pieces ofRW. Both were

found in the pre city phase in Mahasthangarh. The sherds of NBPW and RW were

unearthed in Wari-Bateshwar also but as virgin soil has not been reached we are not

definite about the date of these sherds. 135 One can presume that earlier phases in

deeper layers in Wari-Bateshwar will also reveal the same artefacts proving that it

also reached identical economic stage in pre-Maurya occupation levels,. On the basis

of Mahasthangarh and Bangarh artefacts we can say that before the Maurya

occupation this unit was in exchange relation with its western neighbour (from where

it got the NBPW know how) and got in some kind of contact with the Mediterranean

exchange system also (as the presence of RW shows).. It appears that

Pundravadhana's geographical location opened up a new possibility to the Magadhan

rulers. Endowed with immense natural potentiality in her riverine and agronomic

resources it appeared as a land of linkage through the regularisation of the existing

traditional routes 136 and thus making it an important and safe transit for goods from its

north and north-east as far as China. Its admission opened a new zone in the existing

network of economic activities spread over from Roman Empire to China through sea

come land route. Its inclusion opened a long land route from Assam via North Bengal.

Ultimately the route was connected with a long royal road up to north-western India.

There after it went to different countries. 137 Goods coming down to Pundravardhana

partly might have taken through downstream the Ganga to the port of Gange. Along

the eastern coast and inland route these were directed to the western coast for

135 Although D. K. Chakrabarti has not mentioned the discovery of RW as far as Wari-Bateshwar in his latest work of 200 I. It certainly could have strengthened his conviction about the direct Mediterranean contact of Barind tract. 136 Recently we came across a same approach in an article. It highlights the formation of a vast network of exchange system by joining up the separated routes lying in different parts of the territory from the J' western Europe via a number of Asian countries to China in the early centuries of Christian era. -Ian C. Glover, 'Recent Archaeological Evidence for Early Maritime Contacts between India and South-East Asia', in H. P. Ray & J. F. Salles (eds.), Tradition and Archaeology: Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean, rep. 1998, 129-31. 137 We may cite the following observations. Warn1ington mentions how from Kabul through Gandhara the Indus was reached and how from Taxi Ia another route went to Patna via Punjab. From here another route bifurcated and went to Ujjain.- E. H. Warmington, Commerce between the Roman Empire and India, (Munshirarn Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.), originally published in 1928, first Indian ed. 1995, 18-26. The same author says that Iran was linked with Magadha by an overland route (pp. 23, 3!.)W. W. Tarn discussed elaborately about Chang Kien's venture to Ta-shia (Bactria) and gives him the credit to open to China the world of west and regularize trade communication between China and Iran' along the subsequently famous Silk Route'.- W. W. Tarn, The Creeks in Bactria & India, Cambridge, 1938, 311. Megasthenes also noticed the royal road, which started from the north-west frontier and went along touching Taxila, Hastinapur, Kanauj and Prayaga ..

138

shipment for the Roman world. Puiiqravardhana's products specially rice and textile,

along with the goods from Vanga and Northern India could have formed a part of the

consignment for the south-east Asian countries too.

We may remember stories of a much late work like in the Kathasaritsagara

(I I th century) about the coming of Brahma~as and merchants from UjjJini, Benaras,

Ai1ga, etc. to Pu11d,ravardhana. Some went to south-east Asian direction from

PUt:d,ravardhana. Although this does not clearly exhibit commercial connection but it

shows that people from northern and western India sometimes first came to

Pur:9ravardhana en route to Tamralipta.

PUt:qravardhana's integration in the north Indian polity adde~ a new

dimension affecting her economy and culture in a profound way. Vast range of

archaeological objects what we confront from the 3rct century BC in Pury<}ravardhana

as well as Bengal is the result of this integration. It was the beginning of the

urbanization in certain parts almost simultaneously. The nerve centre of trade through

the royal road of upper and middle Ganga valley invited traders to traverse through

this land also. The most significant aspect of this integration was the massive

utilization of Pul}~ravardhana's potentiality in terms of its physical location and

environment. A number of sites surfaced in Bengal in its different parts with identical

artefacts, trade relations, building technique and materials and medium of exchange at

the same chronological phase. At its eastern point remained Wari-Bateshwar138 and

Western Chandraketugarh 139 and the port city ofTamralipta. 140

Medium of Exchange

After the France-Bangladesh team's excavation m Mahasthangarh and

investigation by Rahman in Bogra district we are to some extent in a better situation

13x The preliminary report of the trial digging in the village ofWari shows very significant discoveries. Of all we may mention the following objects like a sherd ofRW, a piece of knobbed ware, a good number ofNBPW, BSW and other common ceramics, a few semi-precious stone beads and raw materials, flakes of quartz and amethyst, melted pieces of iron, traces of fallen mud wall and traces of some sort of burning activities. It is observed that the major part of the two villages Wari and Bateshwar are under ancient settlement and a number of neighbouring villages still bear traces of settlements. These were located on laterite soil above the flooding level.- E. Haque, (ed.), Excavation at Wari-Bateshwar: a preliminary study, 16-25. l.l<J For archaeological work carried out till today in Chandraketugarh one may see E. Haque, Clwndraketugarh: A Treasure house ofBengal Terracotlas. 140 It is observed that the last two sites exhibit same material developments in the same chronological

J phase as is found in Mahasthangarh. E. g. see G. Sengupta, Archaeology of Coastal Bengal,'in H. P. Ray and J. F. Salles, (eds.), Tradition and Archaeology-Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean, Manohar, New Delhi, 1996, rep. 1998. 118-120.

139

concernmg the evidences of the cun·ency and medium of exchange of

PUI~qravardhana/Varendra in ancient period. It has been proved by the archaeology of

pre-city phase in North Bengal that there existed no coinages in any form. Inferences

are drawn on this aspect from later evidence. Chronologically the first of it comes

from the Mahasthan record. The tern1s gaJ?ufaka, kakanJka and kosa have been put

forward in different writings 141 to show that a local system of exchange through the

media of cowrie had been prevalent- before the entry of punch-marked silver and cast

copper coins presumably with Maurya occupation of North Bengal. The term

gm~ufaka may be traced in ganda (> gm11qa> gan:qaka), a unit of four in the local

system of counting in Bengal, present in some parts of it even today. In transactions l

ganda equals to the value of 4 cowries. Kakanika is restored from the partially

damaged term (kakani)yikehi 142 in the same record. This is mentioned first in the

Arthafastra, which is taken to mean coin of very small denomination. When the new

metallic currency entered in Bengal in the city phase the old system through the

medium of cowrie was adjusted in the ratio of 1 kakar:ika: 20 cowrie. It is also

postulated that both might have been the part of 'local system current in pre-Mauryan

Bengal and traditionally effective in local transactions as a theoretical standard of

value ... but approved by the new regime on account of its convenience' .143 The fact is

that so far even a single cowrie has not been attested from lower layers either in the

France-Bangladesh or earlier reports. Rahman reported earthen pots full of cowries

from three sites in Mahasthan area (Dev Kunda, Shibbari and Gorna Dhap144). Earlier

K. N. Dikshit informed about the recovery of cowrie hoard from Paharpur. 145 But

chronologically these are found from early medieval period. The city stage revealed a

sudden rise in the remains characteristic of the contemporary sites of this

subcontinent. A better economic stage is reached by the circulation of currency in

silver and copper. The France-Bangladesh excavations brought so far the largest

number of coins from the citadel area. The levels 6, 7, 8 and 10 are registered with

141 See B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 43. 142 B. M. Barua, 'The Old Brahmi Inscription ofMahasthan', IHQ, Vol. 10, 1934, 58. 143 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Benga1',43-44. 144 S. S. M. Rahman, Archaeologicallnvestigation in Bogra District, 213. See the list of sites also in Table ID. 145 K. N. Dikshit, 'Excavations at Paharpur', 33. From the description of Fa-hien about the use of cowrie in madhyadesha,one may derive its use in Bengal also. See B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 53.

140

cast copper and silver punch marked coins in recent excavation in Mahasthangarh. 146

The 1960-61 excavation recovered a good number of copper punch marked and cast

copper coins in Govinda Bhita from the level ascribed to 3rd century BC. 147 Besides,

the same year excavation inside the citadel also brought into light certain copper

punch marked and cast copper coins, which were supposed to have been in circulation

before the 2nd century BC. 148 In 1987 a hoard of silver punch marked coins had been

found in Baigachha, Rajshahi district. 149 From Rajshahi distJ·i~::t another hoard of

silver punch marked coins is reported. It was found in Fetgram. 150 Bangarh yielded

punch marked silver and cast copper coins from the depth of about 8Y2 ft. to 21 ft.

majority came from 'a level of 14 ft. to 21 ft.' below the surface. K. G. Goswami

believes that these were in use in the Sunga age. 151

Stray finL!s in gold (very few), silver and copper coins are reported in different

times, which belonged to Kushan.a period. 152 A. K. Maitra recorded some coins from

S. K. Saraswati Collection found in Birol, Rajshahi. All these are inscribed cast

copper coins. 153 We do not know why these were ignored in later works and writings

on Bengal coinage in early period. The finds, especially the latest one from the citadel

by France- Bangladesh venture helped to some extent in better understanding of the

implications of the remains discovered from Mahasthangarh and Bangarh belonging

to the same time. The occurrences go well with the conclusion that Pul)qravardhana

146 See FIR, 107(cast copper coins 'in sensitive numbers' from level6),113 ('some cast copper coins' from level 7), 121 (cast copper coins from level 8), and (a hoard of silver punch marked coins). 147 N. Ahmed, Mahasthan, 30. 148 Ibid, 34. We should mention here that later researches show that most of the copper coins described as punch marked are actually cast coins. -FIR, 238. 149 FIR, 238. 150 FIR, 241, f. n. 27. A. K. Maitra reported about this hoard. He divided these coins into 5 types. A.K. Maitra, The Ancient Monuments of Varendra, 17. 151 K. G. Goswami, 'Excavation at Bangarh', 31-32. The collective number of coins discovered from different places, however, cannot be found anywhere. A hoard with 93 silver punch-marked coins found in level 10, which are studied and published in FIR,237-57. Here we get some idea about the weight of 33 Baigachha silver punch marked coins . From 1960-61 excavations the Mahasthangarh Museum preserves only 27 unscribed copper cast coins. With these we should add 35 silver punch marked from Fetgram, Manda P. S. in Rajshahi district.- FIR, 238 and 241. The total number of Bangarh coins amounts to 14, 5 being silver punch marked.- K. G. Goswami, 'Exca~ation at Bangarh', 31-32. For other few coins see belo.w. 152 One gold coin of Kanishka I is reported from Mahasthangarh. - B. N. Mukherjee, Coins and Currency System in Gupta Bengal Cir. A. D. 320-550, New Delhi, (Harman Publishing House), 1992,24. 153 Exact number of the unscribed cast copper coins is not mentioned. These are divided into two types. The inscribed gold coin (legend effaced) belonged to Kanishka I and the inscribed (Oesho) copper coins belonged to Huvishka and Vasudeva respectively. The gold coin found from Mahasthan perhaps belonged to Vasudeva. It is preserved in the VRM. Mahasthan perhaps yielded a Kidara Kushana gold coin. It is now in Indian Museum, Kolkata. Another gold coin of Vasudeva from Maida is reported as with H. E. Stepleton.- A.K. Maitra, The Ancient Monuments of Varendra, 17-19.

141

was a part of broad exchange network through the identical currency prevalent in

different parts of this subcontinent for some centuries on either side of the Christian

era. Here, however, we should mention that the study of the silver punch marked

coins found in Mahasthangarh and Baigachha shows that the weight of the earliest

pieces (with exception for 2 coins) is much less than the karshapaf}a standard of 3.7

grams. These are grouped into series IV in the general classification for the punch­

marked silver coins. But the Fetgram hoard on the contrary perhaps conforms to

karshapana standard. This tends to adhere the former with a regional weight standard

grew up in later phase. 154 Stratigraphically also the Mahasthangarh hoard belongs to

the late city phase. 155 The Mahas~han hoard displays a systematic punching of

symbols in terms of their position on the flank. Here also we may see regional

influence. 156 Such regional development may be an indication of a more mature

economic stage for Pul}.gravardhana. The end of Maurya control gave way to the

local standard with local devices. Metal currency must have been in use in

commercial transactions of whatever volume still Puqqravardhana could keep with

other territories. However, the total number of such coins as we could enumerate from

different sources still is not so numerous as to infer a strong state of exchange system

for carrying voluminous transactions through currency at different levels.

The raw material for silver coins perhaps was locally available as the term

Gauqika used in the Artha~astra for a class of silver indicates (II, 13). As we do not

have any concrete evidence of the exact place of occurrence of silver in Gauda we

may remember here lands to the north and northeast of North Bengal, which we

mentioned above. Probing may be carried on to connect these places as probable

sources of silver (like Nogmung on the Patkoi route to Burma). 157 Copper could have

been brought from Singbhum and from Hazaribagh-Giridih and the eastern fringes of

the plateau in West Bengal.

Gupta inscriptions tend to show the use of gold coins more extensively. From

land grants we are confirmed that gold dinara and silver ritpaka were standard

154 FIR, 241. 155 The level I 0 where the hoard was found belongs roughly to the period I 00 BC-AD I 00. See the Table in FIR. 160. 156 FIR, 241. 157 Some suggestions are available in this regard. Source of silver can be sought in countries of south­cast Asia like Nan-Chao ofThailand and Bawdwin mines of the Shan state of Myanmar. These might have come into Pundranagara through hilly routes. -Pranab K. Chattopadhyaa, 'Harikela coins of Bengal :Archaeometallurgical Studies',JBA, Vol. 6, 2001, 127-37.

142

I d . I . I 1158 . I currencies m an transactions at east m government eve even 111 rura

PUI)qravardhana. As all the records of Gupta age deal with land transactions we

cannot know about other areas where the same currencies could have been in use.

Silver rupaka has been found mention in one case in the Baigram copperplate. It was

used as fraction of dznara, 16 rupaka being valued as I dzi1ara. The ratio has been

reached through the calculation of prices of different pieces of gift land in the

Baigram plate. However, the metal contents in the Gupta gold and silver coins attest

higher value of silver. 159 Only 2 silver coins are so far reported from North Bengal

(sec f. n. 150). Above we have mentioned the probable sources for silver. The rarity

of silver pieces may imply a significant fall in the use of hilly routes through which

earlier silver poured in Pu~qravardhana. Only a few Gupta gold coins had been

attested from North Bengai. 160

Pala kings 161 perhaps did not Issue coms although their inscriptions take

certain names of currency like dramma 162 and pura71a. The epigraphic evidence in a

solitary instance put forward hema to indicate gold bullion. 163 The context in which

the term hirm:ya occurred in the Pala and Sena plates indicates that probably 'it was

used then to denote something paid in cash'. 164 Pural}a has found mention only in a

single Pala plate. 165 It perhaps indicated the silver kiirshapan,a. But till now not a

single silver coin is recorded from Pala 'levels in Mahasthangarh, Bangarh and other

places 166 it is concluded that the term pura!Ja perhaps stood for kapardaka-puraf}a,

found in the Sena records. It is explained that purm:a when associated with kapardaka

158 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 45. 159 The ratio comes down to I: 4 or I: 4.6. -B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 45-46. I(JQ 2 gold coins of Chandragupta II are in YRM and I gold of Skandagupta is in AM. A silver coin of Skandagupta had been recovered from Kumarpur by S. K. Saraswati. One imitated coin of gold after the Gupta series is in the collection of Rai Mrityunjay Ray of Rangpur.- A. K. Maitra, The Ancient Monuments of Varendra, 19-21. S. S. M. Rahman, however, says about I silver coin of Mahendragupta and I gold coin of Chandragupta II from present Bogra district.- S. S. M. Rahman, Archaeological Investigation in Bogra District, 213. 161 B. D. Chattopadhyaya has elaborately dealt the exchange system of this period in his 'Currency in Early Bengal'. 162 One inscription of the time of Dharmapala says about spending 3000 dram mas for the excavation of a tank. But this citation has no direct relation with North Bengal. 163 In the Silimpur plate we are told about 100 hema.- R. G. Basak, 'Silimpur stone-slab inscription of the time of Jayapala-dcva,' 1.19. 1r'4 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 58. lr.s D. C. Sircar, 'Bhaturiya Inscription of Rajyapala. 153'. 1r'1' We came to know of a few srivigra pieces of silver and copper. The site of Paharpur yielded among others 5 round copper coins bearing the legend srivigraha. But their attribution to the Pala king Yigrahapala is not accepted by many numismatists.

143

should mean that it was counted by cowries. 167 One karshapmJa was equal to 1280

cowries. 168 Discovery of earthen pots full of cowree-shells from the early medieval

sites is really significant in this context. 169 These prove beyond doubt the usc of

cowrie in this period perhaps in both small and large transactions. The first epigraphic

record showing its use in Bengal comes from an inscription during the time of

Sasanka. 170 Paying of cowrie as ferry charge during river crossing has been mentioned .. -·

in the chmy7ipadas. 171 The Rmnacharita Ii~~ntions the payments of the servants in

cowries. 172 Use of Cowrie in small transaction continued till recent past in Bengal.

Infom1ation in later sources about bringing cowrie-shells from Maldives as

commodity to India has been referred to in different writings. Besides, coins already

in circulation introduced during the reign of previous rulers were also in use. 173

Again we may say that so far archaeological activities do not confirm this suggestion.

It appears more probable from the literary evidence, indigenous and foreign, that

cowrie actually had been in use consistently perhaps from the Gupta period onward.

North Bengal lost the link connecting to the sources of silver in Thailand and

Myanmar with the end of her first city phase. Later dynasties even the Palas could not

revive the link although same source had been supplying silver for a part of eastern

Bengal in Mainamati. This link by that time had been a part of an exchange network

having no relation with the Pala kingdom. It has been shown that silver from these

places again started to pour in North Bengal for the Sultanate coinage in the medieval

times. 174

167 One may go through the suggestions made by different schdlars regarding the interpretation of kapardaka-purana in D. R. Bhandarkar, 'Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics', Calcutta, 1921, 139 and 176 and S. K. Chakravortty, 'Kapardaka Purana',/HQ, Vol. 8, first pulished 1932, rep. 1985, 595-99. 168 D. C. Sircar, Studies in Indian Coins, (Motilal Banarasidass), Delhi, 16. 169 See f. ns. 145 and 146 in this chapter. 170 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 53. 171 A. Majumdar, Charyapadas, 22. 172 Referred to by B. D. Chattopadhyaya also in B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Currency in Early Bengal', 53. 173 D. C. Sircar, Land System and Feudalism in India, (University of Calcutta), 1966, 59. 174 Pranab K. Chattopadhyaa, 'Harikela coins of Bengal :Archaeometallurgical Studies', 131.

144

The Pundra People 175 and the Early Society of North Bengal '.

Before going into the details we will first try to see what the early sources say

about tl1 e Pw]gra people, after whose name the sub-region came to be known.

References to the PuQ9ra people in different texts had been much cited by several

scholars engaged with the study of society of early India. Information about the

Put?c!ra people is necessarily to be taken from the Brahmat~ical texts or ''Iiied ones.

The inhabitants of Pul)cjravardhana/Varendra in the epigraphs never wet~e described as

Pu~1~ras. Not only that, the epigraphs seem to pose a different picture about the social

structure. The early authoritative Brahmal)ical texts appear to have been of little

relevance to this sub-region so far the social stratification is revealed to us. Even a I

society with the two-fold var'Ja system (Brahmarya and Sudra), as was determined by

the lawmaker:; for the 11ands lying outside upper and lower Ganga valley, does not

seem to exist in the epigraphic sources. There is a two-sided history from two types of

sources. Below we will try to put the relevant information to perceive the perspective

of contradictory stand revealed by the textual evidence and epigraphs.

Textual References First we will trace the course of transformation in the approach of Vedic

authorities towards non-Vedic peoples. Next is to trace why the change took place.

The second will help us to understand that the peoples to the east of Ganga never

really were given Kshatriya rank. In the beginning we should confess that there are a

few references to the Pm;u;ira people in the earliest texts. We are in the dark as how to

categorize the Puqqras. 176 Were all ofthem members of a kingroup, a clan or a tribe?

Early sources do not throw light on the social organizations of any people.

This factor perhaps forced the historians to pick up an uncontroversial term like

'people'. The early references as is told are contained in the Vedic literature or in

texts closely connected with it. Hence, we have to see the Pundras through the eyes of .. others, and such others, as we will see, whose faith, language, customs and perhaps

175This portion is a critical elaboration of an already published paper by the same author. -R. Ghosh, 'Early History of the Pundra People', The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies, Vol. 36, Nos. I & 2, (Institute of Historical Studies), Calcutta, 1996, 1-12. 176 Even for the aryas, about whom we are in a much better situation as there is a vast vedic literature as source of information, we see the same problem. The term tribe is not found befitting for the social organizations the aryas had. As a result it got to be described as lineage society- Romila Thapar, From Lineage to State-Social Formations in the Mid-First Millennium BC. in the Ganga Valley, (OUP), Delhi, first published in 1984, 5th impression 1996.

145

physical attributes were altogether different. The antagonistic attitude about the

peoples, who were neighbours and perhaps the indigenous inhabitants, or, at least,

started inhabiting this land earlier than the Aryans, is explicit from the beginning. The

f!.-gveda (1200-1000 BC) categorized them as dasyus who were a-karman (rite-less),

a-devayu (indifferent to gods), a-yajvan (not sacrificing), etc. Even their languages

were not intelligible to the Vedic Aryans as the tenn mrdhravach applied to them

indicates. They were of dark complexion (krshf!atvach) and flatnosed (anas). 177 The

first three expressions show that the dasyus did not observe Vedic rituals and had no

belief in the Vedic pantheon. The last two have some bearings on the physical

attributes, which perhaps did not confom1 to those of the Vedic people. We, therefore,

see an ethno-cultural implication in the use of the term dasyu. 178 The term dasa 179 in

the same text has been used with same bearing. The term van;a is found to show a

distinction between the aryas and the dasyus (Hatvi dasyum praya var"!amavat). 180

We come across prayers where Indra and other gods were invoked to subdue the

dasyus and dasas. 181 Indra has been praised when he succeeded. 182 Several instances

also are there about the destruction of the dasyus by different gods. 183

The Pul]-~ras have not found mention in the lJ.-gveda. The Aitareya Brahmaf}a

(8/71h BC) for the first time refers to the Pundras when it describes that Visvamitra,

. • . I I

being angry with his senior fifty sons as they declined to accept Sunah.sepa (Devarata)

177 All these expressions and their meanings have been taken from A. M. Macdonell and A B. Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Vol. I, 1958, 346-349. 178 Differences on cultural line are also sought by others. E. g. see Romila Thapar, Ancient Indian Social Hist01y: Some Interpretations, New Delhi, 1978, f. n. 15, 229. The same purport she intends to imply again when she says while showing the differences between the dasa and dasyu in relation to the iiryas that the latter had 'variant religious beliefs and customs which the myas saw as the negation of their own'. Romila Thapar, From Lineage to State, 18. 179 H. H. Wilson, ~g-veda-Smphitii, Vol. 3, (Nag Publishers), Delhi, 1977, 14. R. S. Sharma tried to show that the terms dasyu and dasa perhaps did not refer to the same and identical people. In the same context he opines that the enemies of the Aryans which included the dasa category also 'were physiognomically different.' He illustrates that from the references to the enemies it is clear that cattle constituted the main issue of many battles but 'difference in race, religion and mode of speech also served to exacerbate relations' though it may be said that diisas had a 'better terms' with the Aryans or a section of it than the dasyu did have. R. S. Shanna, Siidras in Ancient India: A Social Hist01y of the Lower Order down to circa AD 600, Delhi, 1958, seconded. 1980, I 0-17. The differential attitude, he explains, perhaps resulted from the fact that 'the Dasas were an advance guard of mixed indo-Aryan peoples who came to India' about 1750 BC'. - Ibid, 27. We may remember that dasas were also regarded as 'agricultural communities of the late Harappan or post- Harappan cultures of the area'. -Romila Thapar, From Lineage to State, 18. Dasa- dasyu terms received divergent interpretations from scholars. Some found both in identical category some attempted to point out differences. 180 H. H. Wilson, Rg-veda-Swizhita, 111. 3. 5. 9. 181 •

Ibid. E. g. V. l. 4. 6. 182 !hid. 11.2. 2. 8 and 9. 183 Ibid. V. 1. 14. 4, IV. 2. 6. 9, 10 and 12.

!46

as his son, cursed them that they would have the lowest castes for their 184

descendants. Thus the degraded classes, 'the rabble for the most part, such as the I

Andhrakas, Pw~d.ras, Sabaras and Mutipas' 185 sprang. They were mostly composed

of dasyus. 186 It leaves a strong possibility that the Pw:qras also were considered as

dasyus, and, it leaves for no doubt that all these peoples had a derogatory status in the

eyes of the Vedic authors. Hence, since the days of the Rgveda the attitude about the

non-Ary::1_ns ·;·emained same. It is interesting that the peoples who were included

within the fold of dasyu might not have been homogenous in cultural and physical

aspects. Though the use of this unitary tenn for them implies that. It shows that to the

Vedic authors peoples of this subcontinent was divided mainly into two groups the

aryas and the dasyus. No doubt the Gi)JGS at that time were a tiny minority in

comparison to the dasyus. By the time, however, the idea of four varn,as came into

existence and duties of respective varlJaS had been formulated.

Among all the people who inhabited in the land of Bengal, the earliest

reference of any sort has been found for the Pu!f<;lra people in relation to the above

mentioned story in the Aitareya Briihma'!a. Chronologically, the next reference to the

PmJcJras has been found in the Baudhayana Dharmasutra (5/41h century BC) together

with another people of Bengal, the Varigas. It states that one who will traverse the

lands of the Pu!fc;iras, Vangas, etc. should purify himself by performing rites like the

d h - 187 pw;astoma an sarvaprs {a.

I t

Confirmation of Siidra status by the Sastras

The Brahmanical attitude to the non-Aryan peoples first shows a change in the I

smrti texts where the Pul}qra people are categorized as Sudras. The Manusmrti (AD

200) even gives an explanation of their gradual falling from the Kshatriya status to the I

lowest category fixed for the Siidras in the four-fold vanJa system. 188 An echo of it is

1x4 P. V. Kane, History of Dharmalastra, (BORJ), Poona, Vol. 2, Pt. II, 47. IRs Martin Haugh, Aitureya Brahmana, Vol. 2, (Bharatiya Publishing house), Delhi, rep, 1976, 469-470. The same legend has been cited in the Sankhayana Srautasiitra, Alfred Hillebrand!, (ed.), XV, 26, 195 (Sanskrit). 1x6 P. V. Kane, History ofDharma.tastra, Vol. 2, Pt. II, 47. 1x7 ilra({an Karsakaran PwJcfran Sauvlran Vmigan Kalingan! Pranunaniti cha Catva Pw!astomena _)'ajeta Sarvaprshtaya va II 30 II, for English translation Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 14, Part II. I. I. 14. .

lXX It states that as a result oftheir non-performance of sacred rites and non-consultation with the Brahmanas, the Paundrakas (the Pundras) along with other tribes (the Kodas, the Dravidas, the Kamboj~s. the Yavanas, etc.) who ~~re originally of Kshatriya class sank 'to the positioi1 of Sudras Sacred Books of" the East, Vol. 25 (Reprint), X. 43 and 44. In the next siitra numbering 45 it makes

147

to be found in the Mahabharata. The As'vamedhikaparva expounded how the I t

PuiJqras derogated to the category of v':shala (Sudra). 189 While the Santiparva

remembers perhaps an early tradition as it describes them as dasyujfvin. 190 The

SrTmadbhagavat states the same tradition that the Draviqas, Abhiras, Pau~qras I

(Pundras) together with the Sabaras, became vrshalas due to the non-performance of . . . duties by the Kshatriyas. 191

Pu11~ras in the Epic and Pauranic Literature

The Pu!!d.ra people have been mentioned m many other places of the

Mahabharata also with other peoples of India. Their names had been enumerated to

produce a list, as occasions required to put an assemblage of peoples for the scenes

like the }Jattlefield in Kurukshetra where numerous peoples and kings gathered under

two hostile banners and fought against each other for days. The Puqqras were said to

have been defeated thrice on three different occasions, first by Pal}qu, next by Kan;a

and last by Arjuna. Everywhere they appeared as one of many such peoples who lived

mainly beyond the land of the Kuru family, especially to its east. Pa~~u set out for

conquest thirty days after his marriage with Madri, defeated the Pul}d~as and Suhmas

after conquering Mithila, Videha and Kasi' (I, 105, 12). Afterwards the Pu!!~ras sided

with the Kauravas perhaps after Kama subjugated them with some other peoples

(VIII. 5. 19). Arjuna is also said to have uprooted them once again with other sea

peoples like the Vangas and the Keralas (XIV, 83, 30). They are said to have

incorporated in the army of Yudhishtpira. Their non-Aryan affinity has been

mentioned for several times. 192 There are some stories about the Puqqra king also. He

is referred to sometimes as Pauq<;inidhipa Vasudeva or Pauqqraka Vasudeva. The

clear that " All those tribes in this world, which are excluded from (the community of) those born from the mouths, the am1s, the thighs, and the feet (of Brahman) are called dasyus whether they speak the languages of the mlechchhas (barbarians ) or that of the Aryans." It shows that the term dasyu also acquired a different meaning if we compare it with that used in the Rgveda. The author there distinguished the dasyu people as mrdhravach by which it excluded any Aryan speaking people. Here dasyus are clearly differentiated from the Sudras. ) 189 For all the references of the Mahabharata, if not otherwise mentioned, see the Critical Edition of the BORI. Here the sloka runs as follows: Tesham savihitmiz karma tadbhayannanutishthatani I Praja vrshalata1i1 prapta b~hmnanamadars~nat II Ta ete dramidah Kiis'ah Pundrascha S~baraih saha I rlrshalatvain parigata ~y~tthanatkshatradharmata~, II., 29: 15-1. • • • . 19b S. Sorensen, An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata with Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy's Translations, (Motilal Banarasidass), Delhi, rep. 1963, Delhi, 547. 191 Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 8, reprint 1990, XIV. 20. 192 For all these and more references see S. Sorensen, An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata., 566, 567 and 547.

148

I

Sabhaparva states that during the time of digvijaya Bhii11a subjugated many kings of

the east, one of them was powerful Paundradhipa Vasudeva (Tatah Paundradhipah • 0 • • • •

vlram Vasudevam mahavaham I Kaus1

ikikachchhanilayan~l rajcinan1 cha mahaujasas

- II 27. 30.). He was present in the svayamvara ceremony of Draupadi.

Dhrshtadyumna took his name when enumerating the assembled kings from different

countries (Pauryrjraka VGsudevascha Bhagadatt(L~cha vTryavan

. " -Ka/ingastamralljJtascha pattanZidhipatistatha svayamvara - I. 177. I 2). On many

occasions we encounter a list of countries whose kings arc said to have been present

to attend a certain ceremony (like the one when several kings were waiting for

Yudhisht,hira who was to enter the palace built by Maya - 11. 4. 21 ). In such

occasions we came to know that the king of the Pul)qras was also there. K~shtp

described Pau~19raka Vasudeva as thy king ofVariga, Pur~qra and Kirata countries. We

are told that he had friendly relation with samrat Jarasandha. He was defeated by

Krshna in one encounter. Paundraka Vasudeva is stated to have boasted of as the real .. . ... Vasudeva. The ninth skanda of the SrTmadbhagavat states that Bharataraja conquered

the non-Brahmar:a king of the Puqdras (9.20.18.). In chapter I. 24. it says about the

Puqqra king as taking part in the Kurukshetra war with the Kauravas. Some later texts

like the Agnipura'?a say193 about a Pauqqraka who was the king of ICasi. He was the

son of Vasudeva and Sutanu, the daughter of Kasiraja. He after becoming the king

boasted of to be the real Vasudeva and thereby brought his destruction at the hands of

~isht;a. In the same Purat;a 194 we came across the myth about Bali, the ascetic. He

generated five sons, Pu114ra, Ariga, Vanga, Mukhyaka and Kaliriga by means of his

power.

We find a gradual change in attitude about the Pur:qras through the passage of

time. Vedic texts always emphasized the cultural pre-eminence of Madhyadda, the

middle Ganga valley, in such a manner that the contrasting co-existence with the 1 cultures outside its territorial limit may be apparent. We witness fervour on their part

to preserve the level of cultural life at its purest form by prohibiting mixation with the

non-Vedic peoples. However, later texts show gradual expansion of the limit of the

middle country to the east and south directions. It is supposed that the expansion of

the Brahmanical culture kept a corresponding effect in the expansion of

193 Agni Purarya, in J. L. Shastri (ed.), Ancient Indian and Mythological Series, Vol. 27, Pt I, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, 28 and f.n. 194 Ibid, Vol. 29, Pt III, 747.

149

Madhyade~a's limit. It is suggested that stages of expansion are indicated in the I

allegorical story of Videgha Mathava in the Satapatha Briihmaf!a. 195 It indirectly

points to the expansion of Brahmaqical culture beyond the river Gai].dfki (SadanirQ),

which flowed through Mithila (the capital of Videha i.e. Tirhut in north Bihar). The

whole land of Videha was B6thmaqized in that campaign. Peoples beyond it were

given a room in the Brahmaqical social structure one by one later. But there remained

a difference in question of status between the two lands to the west and east of this

limit.

Above we cited a reference to the Pui].qras and Varigas as is found in the

Baudhayana Dharmasutra. In the previous lloka it describes the Magadha and the

Anga peoples as belonging to sankfr11a yoni (mixed caste I, 1, 13.). It shows that by

that time both these peoples were given room in the Brahmanical social structure

although in an ambiguous manner while the Pundras and Varigas who lived beyond

the Ganga still were considered as avoidable. Afterwards the Manusnu:lti will include

them also with no ambiguity; it would accord a varna rank, although the lowest. ,•

These changes, so far found, leave the readers to encounter two opposite forces in

action. Brahma~ical texts while anxiously pronounce injunctions to prohibit people

from crossing the limit of the sacred land of Madhyade;a, they themselves violate the

same by the way of extending a varl}a status to them (though with discrimination).

Impact on Pundravardhana of the transition in the Material Life of Northern India .. The Hariva~~a states that poverty and hunger drove the people of midland to

step out for the river Kau~ikl (11190-11203). Perhaps this was not all. The reason was

closely connected with the political, economic and cultural developments of that time.

Changes in these areas are visible around the beginning of the first millennium BC. Its

climax is found in the emergence of territorial states, cities and anti-ritualistic

doctrines in the sixth century BC. Both literary and archaeological sources (largely as

corroborative to each other in this case) throw light on the changing scenario. A rough )

north/west-east direction in the progress of change over the northern landscape of this

195 Long ago Prof. Weber pointed out that the story of Videgha Mathava in this text is an indicator of the expansion of the Brahman) cal culture towards eastern India. In s/okas from I 0 to 17 it is stated that the Brahman.as earlier did not cross the river Sadiinii-ci (GaQqak) as it was not burnt by Agni Yaisvanara. But at present (i.e. during the composition of these s1okas) it was well cultivated as it was tasted by Agni. It thus indicates the introduction of Vedic sacrifices in this land. Sacred Books ofthe East, Vol. 12, Pt. I, 104-105 and f.n. I in p. 104.

150

subcontinent may be visible in the rise of great janapadas. We see Gandhara as the

westernmost and Champa as the easternmost states (including modern Bhagalpur and

Monghyr districts). It shows a gradual eastern extension also in the evolution of state

formation. Archaeological evidence 196 tallies with what we derived from the

literature. Steady rise of Magadha as a political force from the 6111 century BC onward

changed the situation rapidly. Magadha proved to be a favourable land for other

unorthodox asce!ics .. and philosophers too. The popularity and influence of Buddha in

a region fast rising as a power centre in the whole Gangetic plains should have

become a matter of concern to other religious propagators including Brahmana

thinkers and lawmakers.

Buddhist and other sources show that Brahman.as were present in this area ' where Buddha was busy in teaching and organizing his followers. Even in the Sakya

country we come across the Brahman.a - gahapatis who were perhaps politically

dominant groups of a nigama there. 197 Buddha even had two important BrahmaQa

disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana who joined the Order. This picture does not tally

with the spirit of the Brahmaqical scriptures, which tended to show contempt to the

Magadhas and Ari.gas. When the Brahman~s entered this land is difficult to answer. It

is stated thatjanapadas came into existence through the conquest and colonization by

the Aryan chiefs. The victorious chiefs then gave their tribal names to the newly

founded settlements. 198 The chiefs must have followed by the purohitas through

whom their sovereign power had been solemnized. But for the Magadha and Anga

janapildas it does not seem so as both of these lands were named after the peoples of

same nomenclatures whose non-Aryan affinity is clear from the early Vedic texts like

the Atharvaveda. 199 The same we find in case of the Pu':~ra, Vanga, Kaliriga, etc. all

belonging to non-Aryan stock. In such case Brahman.a migration in initial stage might

have taken place without the Kshatriya conqueror. They entered this land in order to

I% Kosam (Kau~ambi), the capital of Vatsa, yielded an imposing fortification of pre NBP time. The rampart of Raj ghat (where the; site of Viitanasl has been located), also belongs to the same age. Taxi Ia, on the other hand, yielded punch marked coins of 500 BC pointing to its advanced stage over others in the field of trade and commerce. Gandhara's reputation as a seat of learning, however, might have an even earlier date as has been suggested that its Persian occupation distanced it from 'the intellectual and cultural life of India'. -A. Ghosh, The City in Early Historical india, (Indian Institute of Advanced Study), Simla, 1973, ch. I and V. 197 N. Wagle, Societ)' at the Time of the Buddha, Bombay, 1966, sec. rev. editionl995, 22. 19x A.Ghosh, The Citv in Earlv Historical India, 32. 19

'1 Sacred Books of"the East, .Vol. 42, 2. 14. Another instance may be mentioned here. Kikata, where

people ofun-Aryan origin lived, has been identified with the land of South Bihar Macdonell &Keith, Vedic Index a/Names and Subjects, 158.

151

earn more or even m search of a livelihood during the time of difficulty. The

provision of apaddharma perhaps came to help to these Brahman§ls. It has been

pointed out that instances are there in the vedas of the poor brahmm:as who finding

no shelter in the any Aryan tribe left for wildemess.200 Any way, the existence of

Brahmanical culture before the rise of anti-ritualistic movements is understandable. If

the land in question hag not experienced ritualistic religion and the .Brahmanical

social order the question of protest against both could not have arisen.'

Magadha's great success in political field could not be ignored, its

heterogeneity in others, on the other hand, allowed a restricted admission in the var!}a

structure from the lawgivers. Baudhayana coined the vague term sahkznJa-yoni for

them. Later Manu reiterated it by calling them mixed caste (X, 25 and 26). It may be

mentioned • here that even the Brahmaqa of Magadha had been termed as

brahmabandhu (like the Kshatriya who were brahmakshatriya) in the Brahmaqical

texts indicating a lower status among the Brahmarps. 201 The other countries

mentioned by Baudhayana in this context together with Magadha and Anga show that

these formed a ring around the midland.202 The people who lived beyond that ring like

the Pm~.d_ras were left to be accorded even more lowly room in the social structure, in I

the category of Sudra. Thus classes in ruling capacity as well as in arms profession

and trading community together with the agriculturists had not been accorded strata

due to them. All members in complete disregard to their professions acquired a single , .

berth that is Sudra. Only Brahmana was an exception, in new lands he had to secure

livelihood along with his earthly privileges, which always will give him an edge over

others.

Some Views about the Two-fold Varl'}a System in South and Eastern India

We encounter a different view from B. Stein203 regarding south India where

the same two-tier social classification is found. The study is confined in the early

medieval period. It is argued that the Kshatriya tradition could not emerg(( as there

never developed 'kin-linked organization' due to the absence of widespread 'affinal'

200 D. D. Kosambi, The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline, rep, 1998, Delhi, 94. 201 H. C. Raychaudhuri, The Political History of Ancient India from the accession of Parikshit to the extinction of the Gupta dynasty, (OUP), Delhi, 1997, p.l 0 I and f. n. 5 and 6. 202 S. Chattopadhyay, Social Life in Ancient India (In the Background of the Yajnavalkyasmrti), Calcutta, 1965, p.25. · 203 B. Stein, Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India, (OUP), Delhi, 1994, 70-71.

152

network, and, 'locality warriors of South India' sprang from peasantry which perhaps

led to the absence of 'conquering elite' as a domineering class to aspire for that status.

But more important than these was the fact that the Brahma1~as there did not need the

warriors' collaboration for preserving their 'secular power', which they secured

through alliance with the local peasantry. This proposition has been critically judged.

The points of arguments when judged for Pw:qravardhana and other areas, where

Kshatriya rank was denied by the Brahman_ical authoritative works, do not appear

logically substantial. Textual references actually expose the transformation of status (

from dasyu to Sudra for the majority.

Suvira Jaiswal tried to contradict the arguments204 of B. Stein advancing her

own from eastern India where the same two-tier structure was prevalent. In case of I I

Bengal the device of clean-Sudra (sat-Sudra) dpeloped to make a difference between I .

the lowly ranked castes (asat-Sudra) and those in high ranking caste groups. This

device, as is argued, kept the Vaidyas and kayasthas, the two upper ranking caste I

groups, satisfied with their Sudra status. It brought a major change 'in the meaning

and significance of the term "sudra" enhancing its acceptability to the Kayasthas,

Vaidyas, etc. But we may remember that the Vaidyas of Bengal still are fighting to

get even more status than the Brahman.as. We see that their Vaisya rank has been

claimed in the Chandraprabhii of 1675 by Bharatamallika, the author himself a

Vaidya scholar. In ;he l81h century they started to use sacred thread. In the south also

they are urging for Brahma~a status. 205 Besides, it should not be ignored that the rise

of either the K"ayastha or the Vaidya as castes did not take place before the 91h

century.206 The epigraphic evidence of the Gupta period shows that the surnames

today used by the Kayasthas had been added as suffixes with the Brahmana

individuals figured in the record as donees. 207 This proves that many of the

204 Suvira Jaiswal, 'Studies in Early Indian Social History: trends and possibilities,' Indian Historical Review, Vol. 6, Nos.l-2, 1979-80, 34-44. 205 The Vaidyas of Bengal are the migrants from Tamilnadu and Keral who were known as Ambashtha­Vaidya. It is stated that they were degraded Br'?ihma'1as. D. C. Sircar, Pal-Sen luger Bangshanuchar~·ta, 163-69; Idem, Problems of Early Indian Society, (Sanskrit College), Calcutta, 1983, 61-62. 206 Ibid, and Idem, Shilalekha-Tamrashasanadir Prasanga, 24. 207 In the Kalaikuri-Sultanpur inscription of the 3 Brahman,as who received land gift 2 had datta name endings. They are described as bajasaneya-charanabhyantara brahmana. Datta is a very common surname of the Kayasthas of present Bengal. -o: C. Sircar, Kalaikuri Copperplate Inscription of the Gupta Year 120, 17-18. We see same instance in the Mallasarul plate ofVijayasena from present Burdwan district also. Here among the mahattara agraharinas we get five individuals with datta name­endings. -N. G. Majumdar, 'Mallasarul Copper plate ofVijayasena', £!,Vol. 23, (1935-36), 155-61. Once again in the context of Bhaturiya inscription of Rajyapala D. C. Sircar pointed out that in the

!53

individuals worked as Kayasthas i.e. scribes were by birth Brahman~s. Hence their

claim for Brahmaqa rank does not seem baseless. Besides, to counter the view in

contemporary context it may be pointed out that in spite of the presence of the elite

group of warriors the gal'}arashtra-kshatriyas in northern Bihar earned an undignified

prefix vratya from the Brahman,a lawmakers. This happened notwithstanding their

tireless declaration of possessing Kshatriya entity.208 The case of Magadha perhaps is

more elaborating. Despite its domineering political position it could not secure for the

Br="ahmaqas and Kshatriyas an equal status enjoyed by their counterpart in (

Madhyadesa.

An Assessment of the Above Discussion

Of the divergent views, emerged from the endeavour for a logical

understanding for the discrepancy of the ;astrakaras in conferring varl'}a ranks to the

peoples of our country, only a few are put here. As complexities grew in society,

especially from the sixth century BC onward, the Brahmal).a resorted to complicated

fqrmula like the van;a- saizkara theory to keep its hegemony in society. In actuality

we see birth could not restrict profession to any person whatever varr:a he belonged to

since the theory of varlJa germinated. Cultivation was the most common profession as

the peoples of Aryan stock started settling. The trend continued and intensified as

population increased. From the Gupta period (as sources became available) onwards

we see as big landholders not only the individuals from all var'!as but even the

temples of Buddhist and Jain faiths. In this trend, however, local differences are

found. It is thus suggested that 'we s~ould examine the actual cultivating categories in

different regional contexts'. 209

Nidhanpur plate ofBhaskaravarrria there are 7 names ended in kw.nfa and 2 names ended in dasa. All were Brahmanas. -D. C. Sircar, Bhaturiya Inscription of Rajyapala', !52 and f. n. I. 208 Sugge~tions are there that the peoples of these gaiJarash!ras might have been descendants of early Aryans who were pushed away from Madhyades'a by the Puru-Bharatas. -H. C. Raychaudhuri, The Political History of Ancient India. 128. After suppressing the aborigines they assumed the Kshatriya status. Malia, MithiHi, Sakya and Yaisali princes claimed to have belonged to lkshvaku family. The same lineage has been assigned to the Kosala kings by the Raniayal}a and the pura1!as. The Sakyas are known to have spoken an Aryan language too. Orthodox lawgivers, however, took their own course, in fixing the relation with these peoples. Republican clans, as is said above, possibly mostly constituted by the people of Aryan stock, but who showed outright defiance to the orthodox view were regarded as degraded (vriilya) Kshatriyas. -Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 25, X 22; also H. C. Raychaudhuri. The Political Hist01y of Ancient India. 114 and N. Wagle, Society at the Time of'the Buddha, 42. 209 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, The Making of Early Medieval India, (OUP) Delhi, 1994, 25.

154

The textual references may be taken as efforts by the custodians of Brahma~1a

theology to maintain their unquestioned authoritative position over others. The

authors of the normative texts in order to foist Brahmar~ical character throughout the

land devised stories. As such the country remained under its order from the beginning.

The main objective was to keep the interest of the Brahma~as unharmed. Hence we

arc told in the Manusmrti that earlier Pundras and others inhabiting in the south and . - . east were Kshatriyas (see ab,ov·e). They lost this rank as they did not show respect to

the Br:ahmm1as vis-a-vis their order. 210 In the 104th chapter of Adiparva of the

Mahabharata another story was dished out to show the gennination of these peoples.

It has been put in no other but Bhishma's mouth. It runs as, :shi Dlrghatama while

drifting along the Ganga with his children was taken up by king Bali. Desirous of

having son from this rshi he took him to his wife Sudeshr;i But the later, finding I

Dirghatama a blind, sent her Sudra nurse as a result she begot 11 sons. But Bali again

sent Sudesh~a to Dirghatami This time Sudeshqa begot 5 sons only by the touch of

that rshi. They were Aiiga, Va~ga, Ka1inga, Pundra and Suhma. Their kingdoms were . . . named after them. 2ll This is not a single instance. Such stories are found in all sorts of

~listric literature in th(J similar context. In the Mahabhlirata (Sp, 181,15.) we are told

that the Veda was formerly designed by Brahma for all the four var'!as; but the I '

Sudras lost it through cupidity and fell in ignorance. All such stories actually tried to (

show that once the Sudras' enjoyed higher social position. Perhaps such slistric

exposure helped in keeping them satisfied with their actual status in guise, the lowest

in var!J.a classification. It provided them a remote link with the Aryan ancestors

(which actually never existed). It would secure, on the other hand, their unflinching

allegiance to the Brahmar:ical order. On regional basis we will afterwards see same

means has been adopted in later smrti texts originated in Bengal to give explanation

for the degraded position of particular castes. 212 The plain from the river Sarasvatl to

Videha traversed by Videgha Mathava with his priest Agni Vaisv~mara was held as

safe for the people of noble birth (aryas). It was not concealed. The lawgivers upheld

the authoritative capacity of this land. Baudhayana states that 'the rule of conduct

2111 At the same time by implication it cleared to the Kshatriyas the effect of disobeying Brahmanas.­R.N. Nandi, Social Roots a/Religion in Ancient india, (K. P. Bagchi& Co.), Calcutta, 19R6, 6. 211 Same story is to be found in the Mat.1yapura1.w and Vayupura,_w.-0. R. Bhandarkar, 'Aryan !migration into Eastern India', ABORI, Vol. 12, Pt. II, Poona, 1931,114. 212 The Bralunavaivartapura1~a clarifies how certain castes of Bengal degraded as a result of committing some harms or simply not giving due respect to the Brahmanas. Panchanan Tarkaratna, ( ed.), Brahmavaivartapurana, Calcutta, B. S. 1314, 20-22.

155

which prevails in Aryavarta (synonymous to Madhyades'a) is authoritative.' (I, 1, 9).

Such claims bore fruits. We see people always looked to this land for authenticity.

Brahman.as and Kshatriyas who left that land and made their fortune outside were not

treated on equal terms with their counterparts who stuck to Madhyade~a. The

tradition of inviting Bt1lhmaqa from the midland is a good example of this trend.213

The Brahmal)a lawgivers and thinkers tried to keep the outward rigid social system

somewhat flexible so that the interest of their own class might be better served. Hence

there are two opposite forces in action. It happened from the urge of bringing, as far

as possible, all sorts of professionals in a hierarchical social frame as it would secure a

'large clientele' to them? 14

Reflections from the Ffpigraphs about social organization

After seeing the Brahman}cal textual stand about the social structure we will

now turn to the epigraphs of our period. The society or more precisely the social

communities as components of the local organization and administrative centers, the

nature of community participation in these in relation to land transaction and the

change over time during the early medieval Bengal have been critically examined by

B. D. Chattopadhyaya. 215 Above we have already cited from his work the more we

will do that now. We will have to look into the same field as we need to find out the

textual relevance in the society as is reflected by the epigraphs. We will have to go

further in certain issues. We meet in the epigraphs different categories of communities

as the process of land transaction went on to completion. We get government

officials, leading communities in urban and rural society, the donor and the donee.

The last two might have belonged to either of the first two categories. The important

aspect for our purpose is that the social status is measured for each category primarily

by its economic relations and sometimes by some social responsibilities. The system

I 213 Inscriptions show the migrated Biihmaqas from Sravasti, Muktavastu, Kolancha or Krod.a"ficha, etc. of present Uttar Pradesh received land donation and settled in Pundravardhana and other parts of Bengal. Their profound knowledge in ~7istras is loudly expressel Later these Brahma11as enjoying greater prestige than other Brahmaqas were recognized as kulin. The same happened in North Bihar also. -D. C. Sircar, Problems of Early Indian Society, (Sanskrit College), Calcutta, 1983, 55-61. Halayudha, a scholar of Sena kings court, speaks in his Brahmana Sarvasva of the ignorance of the local Brahmal"!as of the Brahmanjcal texts 'which were studied ~nly by the Utkalas and the Paschatyas'. R. C. Majumdar, History of Ancient Bengal, 430. 214 G. S. Ghurye, Caste and Race in India, (Popular Prakashan), Bombay, reprint, 1999, 92. 215 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, Aspects of Rural Settlements and Rural Society in Early Medieaval India', 20-69.

156

does not conform the BI:ahman_ical stereotype var':a formulation. 216 Only exception is

found for the B1:ahman~s but there also we may trace some distinctions. The

Brahmana when had a certain profession he is figured with his professional identity.

This aspect will be seen particularly in the Gupta epigraphs. The nature of Pala

administrative machinery prevents us in obtaining so details about the social

communities, although the Pala records place many more social categories. But these

were listed in a customary way. We do not see them in participating in any capacity in

the governmental executive works, as we used to find them during the Gupta period.

Hence the Gupta records although shorter in length in comparison to those of the

Palas the social communities figured in them appear to be interactive and thus more

revealing for certain points of our investigation. In both cases, however, we cannot go

into much depth because our epigraphs lack that range in terms of number as well as I

variety of information therein. The range of work accomplished by Cynthia Talbot for

the society of Kakafiya Andhra 217 cannot be achieved for the Gupta and Pala

Puqd_ravardhana. The number "of inscriptions for her study is simply amazing. Still

some aspects of social structure must be highlighted with the limited epigraphic

material we have in possession.

The Gupta Period

The Gupta epigraphs in all cases are about land transactions conducted by the

local administrative centres. Those of the Palas are also about the same purpose with a

few exceptions. The land grants of the Pala period unlike those of the Gupta period

involved the king with all his retinue leaving no interactive space for the social

communities as we told above. In the changing environment, however, certain new

elements crept in which may be interpreted for getting some glimpses of social

organization.

In the Gupta period epigraphs social status is not only revealed in the donors

identity. It is much more revealing in the description of the communities and

individuals involved in the execution of land transactions. In the rural area as only the

representative members from landholders associated the local administrative tiers we

216 The groups were presented, to borrow the expressions ofCynthia Talbot, on the basis of'earned' identity not on 'ascribed ranks' of the lawbooks. -Cynthia Talbot, Precolonial India in Praclice­Sociely, Religion and Identity in Medieval Andhra, (OUP), New Delhi, 200 I, 49. 217 Ibid, especially chapter II.

157

get the relative position of the Brahmaqa landholders in relation to other groups in the

cross section of society. But in the beginning we find a special category, where the

members were called mahattaras, who enjoyed the most significant position in rural

society. At the rural level sometimes the members in adhikarana are mentioned by

individual names (in Dhanaidaha of 433, Kalaikuri-Sultanpur of 440 and Jagadishpur

of 448 plates) during the time of land transactions. Among other villagers we see the ... ·

Bi1thmaP.~s are mentioned as a separate group, although some of the mahattaras and

kutumbis were undoubtedly Brahmanas as the expressions and name endings show. In . . the Kalaikuri-Sultanpur218 and Jagadishpur plates219 we get lists of names of all

individuals represented in the mahattara and kufumbi categories in the adhikara~a of ,

the S~rigavera vzthi from where both records were issued with 8 years gap. In each

case the number of mahattaras is considerably less than that of the kufumbis (7:76 for

the former and 4:28 for the latter). The discrepancy is considered as an indicator of

the higher status of the mahattaras amongst the rural landholders.220 Below we will

see that in one case we see the number of mahattaras was far larger than the kufumbis

and so the factor of number cannot be accepted as proof of high status of the

mahattaras. A further focus on the nature of participation in the local adhikara'la of

both these categories would help understand it vis-a-vis the rural society. The

question is that had the mahattaras really participated in the adhikarana in . representative capacity from their community? In the whole Gupta period, at least, we

did not find any mahattara as individual rural landholder, with whatever capacity,

outside the adhikarana. But the other component, the kutumbis, is seen as village . . householders who were not associated with the adhikara11;a. The Damodarpur

copperplate of 483 of the time of Budhagupta221 may be cited here. The appeal for

land transfer put by the gramika Niibhaka to the ash{akuladhikararz.a situated at the

village of Palasavrndaka. The expression shows that when the uparika maharaja

Brahmadatta was ruling Pu!!~ravardhana appointed by the emperor Budhagupta the

218 D. C. Sircar, 'Kalaikuri Copper-plate Inscription of the Gupta Year 120 (=AD. 439)', and N. B. Sanyal, 'Sultanpur copperplate inscription'. 219 luem, Epigraphic Discoveries in Easl Pakislan. 220 It is found that some 'Individuals who are seen as having been listed previously in the category of vithi-mahattaras figured eight years later, as only kutumbis ·. B. D. Chattopadhyaya. Aspects ofRural Society. 43. Our observation shows this happened only for one individual whose name is Umayasha. Even there is no certainty that this Umayasha was the same who was figured 8 years earlier in the Kalaikuri-Sultanpur inscription as a mahauara. 221 R. G. Basak,' The Five Damodarpur copperplate inscriptions of the Gupta period', plate no. 3.

!58

ash!akuladhikaran_a constituted by the visvasa, a special officer,222 the mahattaras, _,

etc., along with the grcunika and kutumbis also from Palasavrndaka

(Pa Iasav,:ndakatsavischa(va)sam mahattaradyash~akul adhikarar;am gramika

ku,tumbinascha) inform the Brahmm~as and ku~umbis of lower status (kshudraprak:ti)

of the village of Cha~H;iag{ama (Cha'}~agramake brahmanadyannakshudra prak;ti

ku{umbina~) about the grant of the appeal after enquiring their welfare. The land to

be transferred was located in Chm?~<Igrama. Like the ku.tumbis here no such separate .,

community of the mahattaras was present from the village of Cha!19ag1=ama. The

manner of the address here reminds us that by the kumaramatya Kulavrddhi of

Panchanaga11 vishaya in the Baigram copperplate of 448 of the time of Kumaragupta

1223 in the same context. There the kuniaramatya after enquiring about their health

communicated the message of grant of the prayer regarding land-transfer of the two

brothers kutumbi Bhoyila and kutumbi Bh'askara to the kutumbis, Brahmanas and - .. • to

others (samvyavaharin/24) of the two localities Triv:ta and SrTgohali of the village

Vayigrama. Here also we do not see mahattaras from these two places amongst the

addressees. Now we may tum to another example from a much earlier date. The

Dhanaidaha inscription of 433, earliest of all the Gupta inscriptions in Bengal, put

forward one gram'Gshfakuladhikarar;a (appears to be of the same nature as the

ashtakuladhikara'!a of the Damodarpur copperplate of 483) for the first time. We find

here a person (with the name-ending Vishnu) informed the gramiishtakullidhikarana . . . along with the kufumbis.. ... brahmmya and mahattaras about the prayer for land

transfer by an ayuktaka and the approval of the same with other details. The prativesl

(i.e. neighbouring householders whose lands were contiguous to the transferred land)

ku~umbis and perhaps the kshetrakaras (the peasantry?) are instructed to establish the

grant i.e. the severance of the plot to hand it over to the applicant. The points that

naturally come out from this record are, first, no mention is made to the mahattaras as

prative'sT and second, the mahattaras are not instructed to establish the grant as the

ku!umbis and others were. Another important point is that the number of mahattaras

( 15) is far greater than the combined number of the ku.tumbis (the damaged space may

include one or two more names) and brahma~as (only 2). On the basis of mahattara-

222 The reading and meaning of the word is dis!Juted. 221 R. G. Basak, 'Baigram copperplate inscription ofthe Gupta year 128'. 224 In samvyavaharins one may find out an indication to mahallaras. In that case also we have to accept the mahauaras as a class which executed some administrative duties in the adhikarana.

159

ku[umbi ratio thus no inference of status at least during this time can be ascertained.

On the other hand, although the number is high in this case still their high status may

be inferred by the fact that for the actual work of severance of the land the mahattaras

were not instructed. They were not mentioned as prativesl. It means that mahattaras

were not a community to be found in all villages like the ku!umbis. The term

ashtakula in gramashtakuladhikarana or ashtakuladhikarana in which they had been . . . . . a significant component may be relevant in this aspect. We came to know about an ,

a!tC?hakulaka in relation to the judicial procedure in the ancient Vajji kingdom. It is

said that this board formed by eight families decided the village disputes. 225 Whether

it carried out the same duty here in rural Bengal in the earliest time cannot be said

definitely. But from the organization and function of the ashtakuladhikarana it . . appears .that the mahattara .ryerhaps ~~njoyed a position in decision making in the

village affairs in normal times. The Damodarpur copperplate of 483 implies that the

whole work from accepting the application to granting the same to handing over the

land to the applicant was done by that ashtakuladhikarana of Pal'asavrndaka. The . ' . actual severance of land was done under the supervision of the mahattaras and others

of the adhikarana (mahattaradyadhikara':a-ku[umbibhiiJ pratyavekshya). No

government official except the record keeper Patradasa has been involved in the

whole procedure of land transaction. 226 Besides, no higher tier except the bhukti is

mentioned in the introductory portion suggesting that ashfakuladhikara"!a

hierarchically stood next leaving no room for a vishaya or a v7thf tier in between. The

uniform picture may be had from the Dhanaidaha record also issued half century

earlier. After giving the date and the name of the emperor Kumaragupta it went

directly to the description of the names of the local communities. The lacuna caused

by the damage may at best incorporate the name of the uparika, the bhukti head. It

also suggests the local nature 111 the adhikaraiJa organization 111 the

gramO.sh~akuladhikara"!a although a difference can be noticed as much as in the

manner of communication. Unlike the Damodarpur copperplate here the message was

communicated by one individual with the name ended in Vishr;u. Whether he was an

office holder is not clear. But otherwise the mahattaras are described in such a way as

225 C/1, Vol3, rev. ed., 1981,337, f. n. 5. 226 There were one gramika Nabhaka, the applicant, who is regarded as government appointee with popular support. Two more persons, Kapila and Sribhadra, are mentioned who collected the price of the land from Nabhaka (1. 8). But their official position is not clear.

160

the gramash~akuladhikara~w was constituted chiefly by them. The damaged portion

prevents us from obtaining details about the tier to which the application was

submitted or the authority by which the prayer was granted. But it appears that the

local adhikarmya (indigenous also) was involved to implement the grant by the

superior higher authority, which IS not clearly mentioned. 227 We see that in this

g/cmzash~akuladhikara~a there is no government official like the pustapa/a or any

other. It thus appears that this organization was originally a non-governmental body

used to look after the rural affairs headed primarily by the mahattaras. When the

Guptas introduced imperial administration they first involved this rural body to carry

out certain rural functions. Gradually they modified this to get it fit for the imperial

system. Thus by the time some officials strictly governmental, like the pustapala,

were inducted in it. The mahattaras in ashtakuladhikarana had been given some . . )

official responsibilities when the record keeper and other officials (an official called

visvasa) were employed. The Damodarpur copperplate of 482 implies so. There is no

mention of any administrative head as we find in the vithT and vishaya levels to

address the adhikarana and others to communicate the whole matter. The ashtakula . . still late·r perhaps underwent further transformation. In Vanga and in Yardhamana

bhukti of Bengal one organization called kula-vara was found as perfonning certain

work as a formal body at the higher tier like vishaya and even bhukti. However, there

was no mahattara involved in it. Perhaps it was constituted by officials called

kara~ika. It might have been a transformed form of the ashfakula.228

The position of the mahattaras underwent significant changes later. They

appeared with higher status all over Bengal. In Burdwan region (in Yardhamana

bhukti) in the late 6th century the mahattaras are found associated with the vishaya

adhikarana when some others were endowed with agrah?iras (the Brahma':a

mahattaras).229 The kufumbis were almost vanished (some Pala records mention this

community in its formal list). There appeared a category like the mahapradhCma also

in the Medinipur district (roughly in Radha area) in the 7th century.230 In

227 This conclusion is drawn by B. D. Chattopadhyaya also.- B. D.Chattopadhaya, Aspects of Rural Settlements, 44. 228 Ibid, 51. 229 Chronologically first it is found in the Mallasarul inscription belonging to present Burdwan district and corresponding to the early Vardhamana bhukti.-N. G. Majumdar, 'Mallasarul Copper plate of Vijayasena'. 230 Egra plate of Sasanka.-p. C. Sircar, 'Sasanker Rajatvakalin Egra Tamrasasan (The Egra copperplate of the time ofSasi"uika, in Bengali), Sahitya Parishad Patrika, No.4, year 87, 1-5.

161

Pundravardhana itself the mahattara even rose to the status of mahamahattaras in the

8111 century.231 It is already focused how the change left impact in community structure

and organization of settlements in villages where the gift land was located as well as

local administration in rural Bengal. 232

In the present day still in Uttar Dinajpur district a Mahato is to be found in

Rajbangshi villages. His opinion is sought in all important affairs of any member of

the village (persoml experience). In such cases a Mahato is the eldest member of a

kin group, members of which may live in a single village or in contiguous small

habitats. Mahato may keep a vestige of mahattara of early North Bengal. F. B.

Hamilton found 'Mahato' as a village chief in eastern Bihar.233 We may remember

that in the MahZivastu we get mahattara as a chief in the tribal assembly of the

Lichchhavis.234 The ku{umbis were the largest social group to be found in all villages.

But the individuals associated in the adhikara'!a must have been the significant ones.

In standard Bengali the term kutumba means relative from other villages or town.

Above we mentioned that the var'!a rank for the people of Puq.qravardhana

never occurred in the epigraphs. Even the Brahmaga when having certain occupation

or social status like mahattara is to be figured with his acquired rank. In the I

Dhanaidaha we see two Brahmal}a Siva£arma and Nagasarma are present in the

brahmafia category but the other four Kshemedatta, Vishq.udeva~arma, Vislu!ubhadra

' and Sribhadra are figured in the category of mahattara where we see at least 15

mahattaras in all. The same happened for other cases also. In the first two Damodar

plates we get one Sthanudatta in three membered sarthavG:ha category in the

vishayadhikaran_a of Kot.ivarsha. In the same plate the kulika category includes

Varadatta and Mahi'datta. The example can be multilied. The individuals with datta

name-endings are here accepted as Brahman.a as we found such Brahmar:as in the

Kalaikuri-Sultanpur and Mallasarul plates. It shows on one hand that Brahmanas were

engaged in different types of professions and in such cases were recognized by their

occupation not by their var'!a rank. Even in the ku~umbi category which represented )

the average agriculturists in the vithyadhikarana of Srrigavera we see the Brahmana . . . individuals like Magha~atma, Haris~rma, Gupta~armii, and many others (Kalaikuri-

231 Khalimpur plate of Dharmapa1a.-F. Kielhorn, 'Khalimpur Plate of Dharmapaladeva'. 232 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, Aspects of Rural Settlements, 45-54. 233 Eastemlndia, Vol. I, 316. 234 N. K. Bhattasali, Iconography oj"Buddhist and Brahmanica! Scufplllres in Dacca Museum, Dacca, 1929. 65.

162

Sultanpur plate). It appears that social position did not depend on any individual's

Brahmana status. Local norms grown independently of the Brahmal!a influence did

not loose relevance during the time of the Guptas.

Same picture may be had from other parts of Bengal. Jn the Mallasarul grant

we see the individual Brahmana is described first as a mahattara then occurred his

status as agraharTiJa. There also his Brahma~a rank was not mentioned. It is his name

and his becoming agraharD~a. which sp~ak··~f his Brahmana entity. At the same time

we see among the average agriculturists in villages where the donated land was

located the Brahmana neighbours as a group is mentioned separately along with the

ku(umbis. Jt shows that in villages the Brahmaryas already emerged as a group to be

mentioned separately from the average ku{wnbis. But in particular case a Brahmaqa if

in occupation other than agriculture or in a recognized category like mahattara it got

preference.

The Pala Period

With the growmg practice of land donation in the post-Gupta time the

presence of Brahmat:a in rural society became more significant. The grant now

directly emanated from the king. The actual donor had to put his prayer to the king via

a dittaka who always had been a high dignitary. B. D. Chattopadhyaya has given

example from the Midnapur plate where the Tavira karan,am described as vipra­

pradhana samgatam. 235 With time the BrahmaQa community itself would undergo

some changes, which is explicit in the existence of stratification in it.

Of the neighbouring inhabitants (prativasina), to whom the communication of

land grant went along with numerous officials, ministers, etc., the description often

starts with the Brahma!}as, mahamahattara, ku_tumbi who are notables (puroge). At

the end invariably comes the chat;cjiilas. The gift meant making room in the rural

society for the new Brahmana landholders with a new status agraharina. It can be . . explained from the following evidence. From the Silimpur village of Khetlal P. S. in

old Bogra district one inscription of the II 111 cent~ry 236 is discovered. It puts forward

two villages located in the same P. S. It records some religious works by a Brahma~a,

Prahasa. The description shows that all his religious works together cost him a good

amount of money. He even kept land of 7 dron_as separately in a place called Sirisha-

215 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, Aspects of Rural Settlements, 51. cJ6 R. G. Basak, 'Silimpur stone-slab inscription of the time of Jayapala-deva'.

163

puhja for the god he installed in a temple. But the important point is that it states I

about some Brahman~s, who came from a place called Tarkari in Sravast1 and settled

in Valagrama i. e. Baligram (in Khetlal P. S.). In this village lived many Brahmar~as.

Later some of them who were residing in its eastern part, the descendants of pm_1qita

families, learned in different branches of knowledge, wanted to live separately in a I

quiet place and migrated to the neighbouring village of Siyamva237 (tat-purvva-

kharzqa-bhava-pal'}qita-van1sajanaliz sthana,jz sva-karmma-nirata-dvija-sattmiinanii

;iintatmanani virala-vasiisamThayaiva S[yamvakakhyamiha from verses 5-6). The

Brahma~a Prahasa, the issuer of this copperplate, traced his ancestry from 7 I

generations back from the member who was born in Sryamva after the learned

BrahmaiJas settled in this village leaving Yalagnima. It means that the first migration

from Tarkari took place even earlier pc ·haps an6ther 7 or 8 generations back pushing

the event to some 3-4 centuries before from Prahasa who flourished in the II 111

century. The record gives us a number of information. First, it shows an instance of a

new settlement of some Brahman.as who came from a different place (we are not I

going into the controversy whether the place called Sravasti was within

Pu!].qravardhana or somewhere else). In this case there is a high probability of

endowing these Brahmaqas by an agrahara in \ralagrama. And it happened in so

early a date perhaps in the beginning of the Pala rule. When some of these Brahma1.1as I

once again migrated to the neighbouring village of Siyamva because of their high

learning it naturally comes out that their learning created a distance from their not­

learned Bfahmaqa neighbours who perhaps lost touch with learning over some

generations. And perhaps the learned migratory group of Brahman.as did so on the I

strength of having another agrahara in the new village, i. e. in Siyamva. This record

thus shows creation of stratification among the Brahma~as who originally lived

together in and came together from a place called Tarkari. Pral1asa, the issuer, was

highly esteemed for his profound knowledge in 1iistras. He earned fortune also

enabling him to build temples and some other religious works. It means that the two (

villages valagrama and Slyamva although were neighbours and settled by the

Brahman.as grew to enjoy differential social status. That Valagnima was a prosperous

village is proved by the extensive site in present Baligram in Khetlal P. S. (see Table

ID). The neighbouring village Silimpur also shows significant remains.

237 It may be identified with present day Silimpur, the find spot of this plate.

164

Even an early form of the stratification among Bt=Jhmat~as may be found from

a Gupta epigraph. In the Damodarpur record of 483 the Brahmm~as and ku{umbis of

Chandagrama were described as kshudraprakrti i.e. of inferior status by the . . . ' ash(akuladhikarm7a of Palasav~ndaka. This perhaps indicates the superior position of

- I those categories participated in the ashfakulaadhikarm.w of Palas<lVI_-ndaka. Whatever

be the reason the stratification in the social status is explicit.

Somewhere in between settlements emerged an entirely new habitat of the

Brahman~s; the land gifted gradually developed to a prominent village of elite

Brahmat~as in the 8/9th centuries onward. The Badal Pillar inscription238 poses one

such habitat. It is another unique evidence of an eulogistic epigraph of a Brahmara

family. We came to know about 4 Brahmana ministers belonging to 4 successive

generations and serving successively from Dharmapala to Na;rayanapala. The

eulogistic description of high position they enjoyed in the royal court, which they

earned by their valuable service and profound capacity as ministers, and the fact of

engraving their achievements itself in a high pillar in the heartland of Varendri when

the Pala kings were still reigning prove the domineering presence of this family. By

the time of four generations the family must have enlarged and the members of this

extended family might have created a separate habitat. The archaeological

environment of the area around the pillar at some distance, the living tradition and the

content of the text of the Badal Pillar when combined imply that later it developed

into a village. 239 The members of this village undoubtedly received a very high status

not only in the neighbouring villages but also perhaps in the whole sub-region of

Pundravardhana/Varendri.

It is true that Pala kings in their inscription never tried to show their descent

nor they claimed any van;,a status. While the epigraphs define clearly their religious

affinity. This only shows that ~astric norm still did not take root. The texts like the

Ramacharita of this age, on the other hand, spent pages for describing the lineage of

the Pala kings. This appears as an account of the court poet himself to glorify his

master for his personal benefit. Besides, the varf}a speculation was an essential part

of textual works. All categories of texts did it. The Pala land grants directly emanated

from the king. The large officialdom and the communities, the neighbours to the

donated land, were informed about the royal decision and instructed to maintain the

238 A. K. Maitreya, Gauralekhamala. Rajshahi, 1912, 77-85. 239 A. K. M. Zakaria, Bangladesher Pratnasampad, 236-37.

165

same. Later records maintained the same format with some omissions and inclusions.

The enumeration of the prativeSrs always starts with the Brahma~a first followed by

sometimes mahattara-ku{wnbis as leading categories (puroge). 240 Everywhere it ends

with the chandala, the outcaste of the lawbooks. With all these there is no doubt that a .. class of the Brahmaqas was acquiring a very significant place in society

approximating the normative status put by the ~astras. The high status, which the ....

Brahmm,1a secured in this age, lured others in the cross section of non-Brahma!Ja

communities to aspire the Brihma~a rank in the medieval age. In this point our

observation differs from that of Cynthia Talbot who found British hands in raising the

Brahman!! status to the ~astric height. In this respect the reference to the chaYfcfala is

significant. The social position of chaflrfiila as outcaste and outside the village but in

its periphery is the work of Brahmana lawgivers. Chandala was an essential member . . . of society because of his service so as a community cha~Jqdla's reference is to be

found but it must be at the end. Here at once we see the lawgiver's unavoidable

presence as a determinant factor in the respective position of communities. The

hierarchical social framework to be found in the Pala period, when one would expect

less Brahma~a influence because of Pala kings' Buddhist adherence, distinctively

shows how the authoritative ~astric order dominated the social order.

24° For example Bangarh plate of Mahipala I, Belwa plate of the same king and that ofYigrahapala Ill, etc.