socio-political movements in north...

Politico-Cultural Movementsin North Bengal

Girija Shankar Ray

Changes in the geographical map and transfer of politicalpower in the vast region between the Brahmaputra and theGanges have taken place from time to time. It is found fromthe Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranic literaturesthat this area overtime was known as Prag-jyotish, Poundra,Kamrupa, etc. The reason for the name of Prag-jyotish wasthat astrology was first started in this area. The presentBangladesh and the entire area of North Bengal were withinthis region. Subsequently, a part of it was named as Poundraand the rest as Kamrup. River Korotoya flowing by thewest of Jalpaiguri district was the border of these tworegions. Spread along the western bank of Korotoya wasPoundra-vardhana. Korotoya was not merely a river; it wasa sacred river for the Hindus. One can find the mention ofthis river in the snan-mantra (mantra relating to the sacredbath/ablution) of “Tithi Tatwa” by Raghu NandanBhattacharyya, the greatest logician of Bengal.

Poundra-vardhana was also a vast country and likeKamrup, mention of this country is found in Ramayana,

Dr. Girija Shankar Ray: Retired Principal of Vivekananda College,Alipurduar, Dist. Jalpaiguri.

Socio-Political Movementsin North Bengal

(A Sub-Himalayan Tract) Edited by

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184 Socio-Political Movements in North Bengal

Mahabharata and other ancient Sanskrit literatures. It has beenmentioned in Mahabharata that Poundra was born alongwith the four sons viz: Anga, Banga etc. of Sudeshna, thequeen of king Bali, legally begotten by Rishi Dhirghatama.Five kingdoms in the eastern India were named after thenames of the sons of King Bali. Historians think thatMahasthangarh near Bogra is actually the relic of the ancientcity of Poundra-vardhana. In fact, the administrativedivisions of Rajshahi, Presidency, Dacca, Chittagong etc. ofBengal were once part of this region. The region known asVarendra Mandal or Varendri was also under PoundraVardhana. Some people think that this area used to producesufficient amount of sugar cane and the word ‘Puda’ (pulp)has come from the word Poundra. The kingdom establishedon the river bank of Brahmaputra towards the end of 13thcentury was known as Kamtapur; another Kamtapur in thesouthern part of present Cooch Behar was established in the14th century during the reign of Niladwaja Kamteswar andlast of all, Cooch Behar state of Biswa Singh establishedtowards the end of 15th century. The last representative ofthis dynasty was Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan. It isduring his rule that Cooch Behar lost its existence as a State.

Cooch Behar was merged with Indian Union on 1st ofJanuary 1950 by the special initiative of Sardar Ballav BhaiPatel, the iron-man of India and first Deputy Prime Ministerand Home Minister of newly created independent India.This endeavour started since 1949. Later on with theintroduction of Indian Constitution, Cooch Behar wasconsidered as a centrally administered state till 1950.Ultimately, at the utmost eagerness of Dr. Bidhan ChandraRoy and with active help of Umesh Chandra Mondal, therenowned National Congress leader of Dinhata within thestate of Cooch Behar, the once sovereign state became a

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district of West Bengal province from the 1st of January1950. In between, some parts of North Bengal were underthe administration of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet for some time.

Time takes its own complex course. Once North Bengalwas within the vast empire of Cooch Behar which nowbecame a district of West Bengal province like other 5 districtsof North Bengal. Recently there has been an unnecessarycontroversy regarding the term “Uttar Banga”. Someintellectuals have raised objections to accept the name as anancient one, although this name has been accepted long back.Historically, the name Uttar Banga was first located in theCopper plate by the name ‘Kamauli copper Plate’ , whichwas the copper plate of land - grant gifted by Kumar Pal(1120 – 1139) , the son of King Ram Pal of the Pal dynasty of11th century to his Prime Minister General and belovedfriend Baidyadeva in 1115.

Akshay Kumar Maitreya, the founder Director ofVarendra Research Samiti has quoted some parts of thiscopper plaque in his book “Gouda Lekha Mala”. RamaprasadChanda in “Gouda Raja Mala”, Rakhal Das Bandyopadhyaya,in ‘Bangalar Itihas’, Prabhas Chandra Sen in ‘Banglar Itihas’and Dr. Nihar Ranjan Roy in ‘Bangalir Itihas’ have referredto “Anuttar Banga” for South Bengal. The meaning of theword “Anuttar” is ‘An-Uttar i.e. which is not Uttar (North).The term ‘Anuttar Banga’ could naturally be applicable onlywhen there did exist some region somewhere under the name‘Uttar Banga’ (North Bengal). Another intellectual also hasopined that the name ‘North Bengal’ was given by the BritishRaj; this is however, not correct.

Socio-political Legacy of Panchanan BarmaPanchanan Barma was born on 14th April of 1866 in the

village Khalisamari of Mathabhanga Sub-division of Cooch

Politico-Cultural Movements in North Bengal


Behar which was once a vast empire within the region knownas North Bengal. Maharaja Nripendra Narayan was the kingat that time. Panchanan obtained Law degree in 1899 afterhis Post graduate degree in Philosophy from the CalcuttaUniversity and leaving the princely state of Cooch Behar ,he joined the legal profession in Rangpur under the Britishrule. A good number of biographers have mentioned thatCalica Das Dutt was the Dewan of the Cooch Behar Kingdomin the rank of the then Prime Minister. It was because of hisopposition that Panchanan, in spite of being the first Lawdegree-holder with a Post graduate degree, from amongstthe Rajbanshi Khatriyas and other sons of the soil, who havebeen residing for decades in North eastern part of India,could not get employment of appropriate dignity befittinghis qualification in his own land. Rangpur was a land ofZaminders belonging to Rajbanshi Khatriya community. Sohe must have tried to maintain contact primarily with thelocal Zaminders. This follows from the fact that he tried togive wider space to the movement which was alreadyorganized by Harmohan Khajanchi, the Zaminder ofShyampur of Rangpur through “Bratya Kshatriya Jatir UnnatiBidhayani Sabha” for establishing the Rajbanshis as Kshatriya.However, although overall development of the communityby establishing the Khatriya Samiti was his principal objective,this was not his only contribution worth noting.

In the field of political idealism, he adopted the missionof Indian National Congress. He also joined the conferenceof Bengal Provincial Congress which was held in the districtof Mymensingh in 1905 as a leader of the delegation; but hewas compelled to dissociate with the Bengal branch of theNational Congress because of the antagonistic attitude ofthe so called caste-biased Congress leaders of the then Bengaland formed the new political organisation ‘Kshatriya Samiti’

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with the objective of social, moral and educational i.e. overallimprovement of the community. There are definite proofsto the fact that this remained an absolutely non-politicalorganization till 1917. The first election of Bengal Councilwas held in 1920 when the Government of India ReformsAct was given effect to by the joint proposal of Chelmsford,the Viceroy of India and Montaegu, the Secretary of State in1919. Kshatriya Samiti contested the election under theleadership of Panchanan Barma who won the election withthumping majority. Panchanan Barma and NagendraNarayan Roy,the candidates of Kshatriya Samiti won thenext election in 1923 also. It is worth mentioning here thatthe candidates of Swarajya Dal founded by Desh BandhuChitta Ranjan Das and helped by the National Congress hadfaced the defeat in this election.

Formation of ‘Kshatriya Samiti’ by Panchanan Barma withthe objective of all round development of Rajbanshi Kshatriyacommunity is a memorable event. As soon as he came to therealization that the intended social uplift was not possibleby keeping himself associated with the caste-biased leadersof the National Congress, he converted the Samiti into apolitical organization. The recommendations in theMemorandum sent by Panchanan Barma to the ChiefSecretary to the Government of West Bengal on 5th

November, 1917 in course of the collection of views of thelocal leaders regarding Indian administrative reforms revealhis actual attitude towards the interest of small groups andcommunities. It is therefore, easily understood whyPanchanan had to give the political colour to KshatriyaSamiti, which was so far a non-political organization.

Panchanan was born in a British tributary by the name‘Cooch Behar’ which had the glorious past of a vast empire.That he had distinct independent thinking about the



geographical position of Cooch Behar and also about theactual identity of its inhabitants, is proved by his decision ofsettling in Rangpur permanently, leaving Cooch Behar inthe beginning of the last century.This time period has beenidentified as a memorable period in the history of Indiaand Bengal.

Formation of the National Congress was planned by theretired civilian Alan Octavian Hume applying the theory of‘Safety valve’, primarily with the objective of ensuringsecurity to the British Empire in India. The party got dividedinto two groups-Extremists and Moderates. The undividedbig district of Goalpara of Assam, largely populated by theRajbanshis was severed from the Presidency Division ofBengal in 1884. Lord Curzon took initiative to divide Bengalagain in 1905. This led to revolutionary movement in Bengal.In no time, the same spread over the national level. In themean time, the Bengal Academy of Literature was establishedin Calcutta in 1893 replicating the formation of EuropeanAcademies. Immediately after its formation, it was giventhe Bengali name ‘Bangiya Sahitya Parishad’.

Panchanan Barma on Kamta Bihari LiteratureAs a branch of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad itself, its first

branch Rangpur Sahitya Parishad was established inRangpur. The person who had played the most remarkablerole in the establishment of the Rangpur branch was SahityaRatna Surendra Chandra Roychowdhury, the Zamindar ofSadya Puskarini of Shyampur Kundi Pargana of the districtof Rangpur. Other educated local zamindars also extendedtheir helping hands with encouragement. It was resolved inone of the meetings that the materials of archaeology,linguistics, old manuscripts, folklore of the then North Bengalwill be collected through the Parishad and at the same time

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research oriented essays will be presented in course ofdiscussion of such matters. Moreover, there will be a spokes-journal to highlight the noble activities of the Samiti. In theendeavour to publish a journal as the mouthpiece of RangpurBranch of Sahitya Parishad, Panchanan Barma was electedthe Editor.

It can be said that Panchanan got the opportunity ofcommencement of one of the greatest deeds of his life fromthis, and his literary genius got the vehicle for expressionwhich again facilitated the vivid exposition of his emotionsfor the mother-land Cooch Behar, the Cooch Beharis and hisphilosophy of life. If one follows the discussions in the articleswritten by him, minutes and agenda notes of the KshatriyaSamity conferences, one can easily understand that in theestablishment of all the political organisation by the namesHitasadhani, Uttarkhanda, Kamtapuri, UTJAS, KPP, KLOand Kamtapur Progressive Party in the region named NorthBengal, the leaders have been in some way or other inspiredby Panchanan in the post-Panchanan period. There is noinconsistency in such thinking.

Panchanan used to consider the Rajbanshis as a distinctethnic group. It should not be forgotten that the Maharajasof Cooch Behar were once the rulers of a separateindependent vast empire. So, in terms of dictionary meaningand also political science definition, the inhabitants of thisempire had a distinct region; and their number was notinsignificant. They had their own medium of expression forcommunicating their feelings, which is according toPanchanan Kamta Behari, Cooch Behari or Rajbanshilanguage. There have been ample debates and discussion onthe issue that Rajbanshi is a self sufficient strong language.A number of linguists, researchers, poet-litterateurs ofRajbanshi Kshatriya community have been seriously engaged



in establishing that Rajbanshi is a separate language, andnot a dialect of Bengali language.

Panchanan published articles on the collected materialsof folk literature of Rangpur and adjacent areas, includinghis well contemplated critical note on Govinda Mishra’s Gitain Rangpur Sahitya Parishad journal; as for example, “Katha-O –Chhilka” (Tales and Quiz). By ‘Katha’ is meant fairytales or folk tales, while ‘Chhilka’ means quiz and proverbs.‘Nata Manik Bandha Kanta’ amongst the fairy tales and ‘BahaSe Banddhab’, ‘Nadim Paramaniker Pantha’ and ‘JagannathiBilai’ are some of them amongst the folk tales. Not onlythrough the publication of those materials in Rangpur SahityaParishad journal but also in his speeches in the KshatriyaSamiti conferences he talked about the importance ofcollection and preservation of materials of folk culture. Itcan certainly be said that Panchanan Barma was the pioneerin the cultivation of folk culture and folk literature inundivided North Bengal. It was in his well thought articletitled ‘Gobinda Mishra’s Gita’ published in the RangpurSahitya Patrika that his views about Cooch Behar and thepeople of Cooch Behar have come out clearly for thefirst time.

After wearing the sacred thread in the first greatcongregation organized by the Kshatriya Samiti he adoptedthe title “Barma” befitting the Kshatriya community, in placeof his paternal title ‘Sarkar’. Prior to wearing the sacredthread on 27th Magha, 1319 BS (1913) in the congregationheld in Debiganj of undivided Jalpaiguri district, he usedhis paternal title ‘Sarkar’ as his surname. As such, in all hiswritings and essays published in the journal of BangiyaSahitya Parishad, his title ‘Sarkar’ is found to be used. In thetop class research oriented essays like ‘Govinda Mishra’sGita’ also, his title was ‘Sarkar’.

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Panchanan has mentioned that this article has beenwritten on the basis of three manuscripts (Punthis).This waspublished in 1907 in three continued issues. In the first issue,he has given short description of the name and has tried togo deep into the spiritual aspects of the issue. But hisemotional feelings about Cooch Behar and the people ofCooch Behar have come out in the third issue. Here he isnot merely a romantic person; he can be considered as thefather or progenitor of the political movements centeringround North Bengal. In fact, the messages left by Panchananmay be considered to have inspired most of the leaders ofthe movements mentioned above in the post-Panchanangeneration.

Towards the last paragraph of the essay, he has discussedthe distinguishing features of the doctrine of dualism andmonotheism of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Deva andMahapurusha Sankar Deva respectively and observed,“Nobody describes Sankar Deva as the incarnation of god.He is Mahapurush or Mahapurukh. His devotees areMahapurukhias. Some have described Chaitanya Deva asgod in the guise of devotee…. Chaitanya Deva has glorifiedthe ‘Bhakti’ (devotion) over ‘Jnan’ (knowledge). His devoteescould not resist ridiculing the monotheism issue andBrahmajnana. It can be said without doubt that SrimadGobinda Mishra was not a devotee of Chaitanya Deva, nordid he belong to his sect.” But the statement he made afterthis in the apparently innocent research-based article isactually our main concern. While dealing with the politicaland social systems prevailing at that time, he expressed hisdefinitive views:

“In the period under consideration or prior to that, Bengal orthe Bengalees had no influence at all over Kamtadesh. Kamrupor Kamtadesh and Bengal were different countries. Bengal was



a dependent country for hundreds of years but Kamta wasindependent. The kings of Kamta were very strong conquerors.Naranarayan and Mallanarayan-these two brothers capturedBhutan and Sikkim in the north. Nepal was defeated. Initially,the Aham Raj was compelled to pay taxes to Kamtaraj. Manipurwas also subjugated. In the south, they captured Syllhet andmade Tripura a tributary. They spread the Kingdom upto Gangawith the victory over Gauda in the west. The residents of Kamtawith the satisfaction of being well administered and safe underthe lusturous god like kings enjoyed the happiness of freedom.With absolute mental happiness, the heroic residents of Kamtaused to consider dependence as sin. They used to hate thedependent Bengalees. They considered themselves impure ofsin on account of contact with the Bengalees. The Hindu societiesof Bengal and Kamta were two separate societies. The society ofKamrup or Kamta was in no way dependent on the society ofBengal. Practically, the then Kamta was full of qualities likeheroism, valour, scholarship etc. The indigenous poetscomposed verses of Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagbata, MarkandeyaPuranas in indigenous language and disseminated them.The indigenous people used to read and listen to these withdelighted heart.”

Uttar Banga Sahitya Sammelan commenced from Ashadh13,1315 BS (June, 1908) with the objective of introduction ofstudies on literature of undivided North Bengal. The firstconference was held in Rangpur town. Akshaya KumarMaitreya, the Founder Director of Varendra Research Centrewas elected the President. Next conference was held in Bograon Magh 18,1315 BS (February 1, 1909). The two day longthird conference was held in Gouripur on Magh 9 and 10,1316BS. Panchanan wrote a top class article on Kamta Bihariliterature for this conference. That article contained thethoughts and forceful views of Panchanan. The primaryobjective of this article was the discussion and review of thepoems composed by the poets of Kamta-Cooch Behar duringthe reign of Biswa Singha and his successor kings. But the

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issue of prime importance is that he has nowhere describedthem as the poems of Bengali language. It has already beenmentioned that he has designated the language of Jugir ganor Moynamati-Gopichandrer gan as ‘modern Rajbanshi’ or‘Kamta Bihari’. He has, of course, used the word ‘ÇoochBehari language’ elsewhere. However, there may not beunanimity over the comment of Panchanan about the periodof composition of Jugir gan in that article on Kamta Bihariliterature. Panchanan Barma observed:

‘Jugir gan or Moynamatir gan is the expression of tantrikinfluence. Some people identified this tantrik influence as theBuddhist tantrik influence. The possibility of Buddhist tantrikinfluence is there. Having seen this tantrik influence, SrijuktaDinesh Chandra Sen has identified this song as composition ofBuddhist period in his well researched excellent book ‘BangaBhasa O Sahitya.’

He has indicated its period of composition as the tenthor eleventh century during the period of Buddhist influenceprior to the advent of Musalmans in India. This indicationof his is wholly fallacious. The language of the song is‘modern Rajbanshi’ or’ ‘Kamta Bihari’ and Muslim influenceis well reflected from the abundant use of Arabic and Persianwords. Following are the verses, based on which, Panchanandisputed the views of Dinesh Chandra Sen about the periodof composition of Jugir gan as fallacious :

“BhÊÑi HÊte Àil BÊngÊl LombÊ LombÊ DÊÕi Sei BÊngÊl ÀsiyÊ Mullukot Kaillo Kodi DeÕ BuÕi Àchil KhÊjnÊ Tin BuÕi Nilo RÊm Lokshmon DuiÑÊ GolÊ Duyarot BÊndhilo.”

The literary works which were composed in Cooch BeharState during the reign of Maharaja Biswa Singha and hissuccessors have mainly been discussed in the article ofPanchanan. That the Vaisnavism preached by Chaitanya



Deva had no influence over Kamta - Cooch Behar has alsobeen mentioined by him in course of the discussion:

“Sankar Dev, Madhab Dev, Madhab and after some time….Damodar Dev and his disciples- all of them preached theBhagabata Dharma. All of them were Kamta’s own people. Noinfluence of Nadia is found on the Vaisnavism of these people.That Gobinda Mishra’s Gita is not just a translation of theoriginal book and there has been assimilation of variousreligious doctrines in it, has also been mentioned byPanchanan. Govinda Mishra, the disciple of Damodarcomposed the verses of Gita by studying and assimilating fivefold commentaries- Sankari and Bhaskari views, Paisachnarrative of Honuman, commentary of Anandagiri andSubodhini commentary of Sreedhar Goswami”.

Panchanan has brought out in his discussion thedifferences between the view points of Damodar Dev andShankar Dev, in spite of the fact that Damodar was one ofthe principal disciples of Shankar Dev. A point is worthnoting here. He has made praiseworthy mention of theliteratures of Muslim saints too: “Huge amount of literaryworks were composed with Muslim influence. Ambiar Bani,Jangnama, Mahurram Parba of Heyat Mahammed, Satyapirgan, Gazir gan, Nabinama of Vaisnava Krishnahari Das, aresident of Uttar Mahipur of Rangpur are worth mentioning.There were attempts for resolving the quarrel between theHindus and the Muslims. This resulted into the compositionof many small and large volumes of books. All of them maynot be worth preservation; but there is no doubt that manyof them are admirable ones. Attempts were made for Hindu-Muslim amity. Such efforts are found in the book ‘BirbhadraSiksha’ composed by Krishna Das.” Panchanan has stated inthe last paragraph: ‘Thus was the review of the literature ofKamta’.

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In the article on ‘Kamta Bihari Sahitya’ Panchanan hasnot uttered even for once that the books under study werein Bengali language or composed in Bengal. So, if he hasexposed his distinct and independent thinking aboutKamrup-Coochbehar in the article ‘Gobinda Mishra’s Gita’,then it can be said that such mentality has achieved fulfilmentin ‘Kamta Bihari Sahitya’. In the beginning of the article hehas certainly mentioned about the initiative taken on behalfof Rangpur Sahitya Parishad in restoring the old manuscriptsof Kamta desh. ‘For the last few years, the obscure KamtaBihari literatures also are coming into light at the initiativeof Rangpur Sahitya Parishad. But whatever have been foundout, are probably an insignificant part of the entire literatureof Kamta. Unfortunately, although there are many valuablebooks even in this small part, all of these are simply adorningthe library of the Parishad. They are not published for wantof money.’ One should emphasize here again that nowherehas he desired to claim that these compositions belonged toBengal or Bengali language.

Panchanan Barma and Kshatriya Samiti1317 B.S is the most remarkable year in the life of

Panchanan Barma. In the third conference of Uttar BangaSahitya Sammelan held in Gouripur town on 9 and 10Magh,1316, Panchanan presented the article on ‘Kamta BihariLiterature’ which was published in the minutes of theSammelan in 1317 B.S. And on Baisakh 18, 1317 (May 1,1910) was established the Kshatriya Samiti. HaramohanKhajanchi, zamindar of Shyampur area of Rangpur districtand the architect of ‘Rangpur Bratya Kshatriya Jatir UnnatiBidhayani Sabha’ expired in the mean time. The Samiti wasborn mainly at the initiative and management of Panchanan,a resident of Coochbehar and a young lawyer, a newcomer



to Rangpur. Although regeneration of Rajbanshi Kshatriyacommunity was the main objective of organizing theKshatriya Samiti, it was not improbable that there were atleast two reasons associated with the event. First andforemost reason was non-availability of suitable job in hisbirth place, Coochbehar then under feudal rule. Whetherdue to the opposition put up by the caste Hindu officials inthe higher up or due to the aversion of the then MaharajaNripendra Narayan to get directly involved in the matter ofemployment of the highly educated son of the soilPanchanan, the fact remains that Panchanan did not get agood job in Coochbehar and as such he had to desert hisown place to earn honourable livelihood with his head high.Not only for Panchanan, it was difficult for any person withself respect to accept such situation. He has already had thetaste of caste-ist hate and negligence of caste Hindus for theRajbanshis even after he started practising law. Such casteblindness was found even amongst the students.

Many of the biographers have narrated that during theperiod when Panchanan was practising law in Rangpur,cooked food touched by Rajbanshi students had to be thrownaway because of the pressure of caste Hindu students inRangpur Normal School. Upendra Nath Barman, Ministerof undivided Bengal, Ex-Member, Parliament, DeputyChairman, now abolished Legislative Council of West Bengaland junior assistant and biographer of Panchanan Barma,also mentioned in his book ‘Uttar Banglar Sekal O AmarJiban Smriti’ the kind of apartheid practised even in theircollege hostel, when he was studying in B.A.class inCoochbehar Victoria College (now Acharya Brajendra NathSeal College). That the apartheid was in vigorous practiceeven afterwards has been evidenced by Dr. Charu ChandraSanyal in 1933 in his essay, ‘Address to the students’ in a

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little journal. While narrating the history of the establishmentof Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, he has written:

“There were paddy fields in this town. Some indigenous peoplewhom we call ‘bahe’ were owners of this land. The BritishGovernment made a club here with the intention of making atown about 50/60 years ago. So many things like office, court,post office, police station started here. Immediately came theDeputy Magistrate, Munsif, Pleader, Clerks, Muktear etc. Noneof them is of Jalpaiguri. They were from Pabna, Dacca, Burdwan,Barasat, Faridpur, Tripura, Noakhali, etc. Immediately aftercoming here they got hold of some land by purchase or lease.Being lured by money, many people crowded the town fromNorth Bengal, East Bengal and West Bengal. All through theirjoint efforts they evicted the ‘bahe’ people from the town andestablished themselves permanently. We have become rich withthis money; we have driven away indigenous people from thetown and have hated them as ‘bahe’. Now we have been ratherforced to prosecute our education sitting by their side.”

Probhat Kumar was contemporary to Panchanan. He usedthe term ‘bahe’ to mean a caste/community in his story‘Bajikar’ in the book ‘Gahanar Baksha’. When the story wasincluded in the syllabus of School Final Examination,1968by the School Board, there was tremendous uproar fromamongst the students, guardians and intellectuals and theBoard was compelled to withdraw the same. Earlier, ProbodhKumar Sanyal in his travel story ‘Aranyak’ and Dr. CharuChandra Sanyal in the above mentioned little journal misusedthe term with the casteist mentality. There was massive stirand protest organized against the issue in North Bengal.The famous novelist Samaresh Basu also did the sameblunder in 1976 in his novel ‘Mahakaler Ghora’ in theSharadiya number of ‘Desh’ and there was massive protestagainst it. The writer admitted his mistake and in the nextedition he used the term ‘Rajbanshi’ in place of ‘bahe’.



The newly constructed bridge on the river Manshai closeto Mathabhanga town was named after Panchanan, the fatherof the community. Jatin Chakraborty, the then Minister ofP.W.D. said in a statement, “This bridge has been namedPanchanan Setu after the name of Panchanan, a social workerof local ‘bahe’ community.” Against this there was a massiveprotest. Admitting his blunder, Jatin Chakraborty made astatement in the same newspaper, “I have never used theword ‘bahe’ to mean the Rajbanshi community in connectionwith Panchanan Setu. Panchanan Babu is a reputed socialworker and patriot, and so the bridge has been named afterhis name.’ A case was instituted on the charge of his firststatement in the newspaper in Alipurduar Munsif Court. Theplaintiff won the case both in the Sub -divisional and DistrictCourts. The case was however, dismissed by the Hon’bleJustice Padma Khastagir of Calcutta High Court based on theoath of Jatin Chakraborty that he did not make any suchstatement. Shri Dinesh Chandra Dakua, ex-Minister, Govt. ofWest Bengal in his essay ‘Rajbanshi Bhasa-o- Sanskriti Prasange’and Dr. Sukhbilas Barma in his book ‘Bhawaiya’ have dealtwith this ‘bahe’ issue in details on different occasions and atdifferent places. From all such happenings we can deducethat Mr. Maitra, the said Advocate of Rangpur must haverebuked Panchanan as ‘bahe’.

Panchanan would not have taken the initiative ofconverting the Kshatriya Samiti into a political organization,if the high caste social leaders had stopped their efforts todemean the community at that stage. But he had to face stiffopposition from the caste Hindus even in managing theaffairs of the Kshatriya Samiti. He has very clearly used theword ‘bhatia’ to mean the high castes. Moreover, there werenon-Rajbanshi officials of the King’s court who stood in theway of the activities of the Kshatriya Samiti

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Panchanan on the Glory of KamtapurVarendra Research Samiti was established at the initiative

of Akshay Kumar Maitreya at the time when the KshatriyaSamiti was formed by Panchanan. It is well admitted thatVarendra Research Samiti was a noble work of AkshayaMaitreya. The Samiti was set up ‘with the hope of compilingthe resources for the history of the Bangalees, with theintention of making arrangements for continuous researchand investigations in Varendra Mandal’. But this was set upwith the patronization of Sarat Kumar Roy, the Zamindar ofDighapatia. The then British Government also extendedsupport to this. Akshaya Kumar presided over the 7th AnnualConference of Rangpur Sahitya Parishad in 1912. When AtulGupta, an advocate of Rangpur, profusely praised theactivities of the Varendra Research Samiti, set up by AkshayaKumar, Panchanan took a different stand.

Panchanan, who had been expressing his independentviews about Kamta-Coochbehar in the Kshatriya Samitiassemblies and also through his writings in Rangpur SahityaParishad for so long got involved in the direct battle withthe caste intellectuals. Panchanan, the editor of RangpurSahitya Patrika rejected the statements and conclusions ofthe Bengalee intellectuals and scholars. He praised theactivities of Varendra Samiti at the beginning of his speechas usual, but specifically mentioned about ‘Gauda Rajmala’of Rama Prasad Chanda and ‘Gauda Lekha Mala’ of AkshayaKumar and said, ‘We express our gratitude to those whofound out the glories of Varendra. But the verbal gratitudeis meaningless. Many more pleasant glories than ‘GaudaMala’, the research material of Bengal can illuminate you.Let me give a brief account of the civilization of Kamta Bihar,not known to many, although it was known to India fromancient time to the period of its destroy by the Muslims,



long after the destroyal of Varendra. This Kamta Bihar, hasalways remained distinct from Bengal and excelled in allaspects. Rangpur Sahitya Parishad has been established onthe cradle of this Kamta. Once the entire Varendra acceptedthe dominance of Kamta and Kamta flag was hoisted on thedoorstep of Gauda.

Maharaja Mallanarayan of Kamta under the generalshipof Chilarai or Sukladhwaj maintained the Hindu civilizationunstained even at the time when Gauda had surrendered tothe Muslims. Baktiar the great hero had to die in the warwith Kamta. The relics of Kamtapur, the capital of Kamtaspreading over 14 miles are at a distance of 12 miles fromCoochbehar. This Kamtapur was the capital ofVaskaravarman. His kingdom was extended from Koshi riverto Java. The glorious instances of this kingdom have not yetdisappeared. There are molten iron-bars over an area of 2 to3 miles in Chilarai kot on the east of the capital ofCoochbehar.

The fire arms factory of the warrior Chilarai is there.There is no want of proofs of sculpture also. Kamta is notless glorious in the culture of religion and shastras also. It isfrom this place that Sankar Dev preached the Vaishnavismbefore Chaitanya. His religious faith was completely differentfrom that of Chaitanya Deva. The elements like lovedalliances of the Gopis have had no place in his religion.…That Varendra was the capital of the Pala dynasty cannot besaid with certainty. Many instances of their capital are foundin this Rangpur. I can mention the fort of Dharmapala as aninstance.

So, if you claim that anything in connection with thePala achievements is Varendri, then we will have to put upfight against it. Formation of Kamta Research Samiti and

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making it function along the line of Varendra Research Samitihas become an immediate necessity. Hope, Rangpur SahityaParishad will take initiative in this regard. People’smovements like Hitasadhani Sabha, Uttarkhand, KamtapurSangram Parishad, Uttar Khanda Dal, UTJAS, KPP,Kamtapur Progressive Party and lastly KLO in the postPanchanan undivided North Bengal therefore, grew out ofthe utmost necessity and immense emotional outburst ofthe Rajbanshi Kshatriya youths for restoring the kingdomand re-evaluating the glory of the community. Not that allof them have participated in the Parliamentary Democracy.But there is no scope for any doubt that they havewidespread mass-base in some of the places of North Bengal.There has been massive amount of thinking amongst thenew generation of people of North Bengal in the post-Panchanan period, not only in politics but also in thedevelopment of literature, culture and language. It candefinitely be said that the sources of all these are the activitiesof the Kshatriya Samiti established by Panchanan Barma.

Socio-cultural Legacy of Abbasuddin AhmedThere are differences of opinion about the period of

establishment of the Hitasadhani Sabha. Some people thinkthat it was established in 1944-45. Some other sourcehowever, mentions that Hitasadhani Sabha was establishedduring the life time of Panchanan. Abbasuddin, the famousfolk singer of North Bengal, the Bhawaiya maestro (1901-1959), did the recording of songs first in 1930. Kazi NazrulIslam came to Cooch Behar in the same year. Abbasuddinwas a college student then. He met Nazrul at Cooch Behar.Hitasadhani Sabha however appears to have started evenbefore that. This piece of information has been provided byAbbas Uddin Ahmed with reference to his conversation with



Faizuddin when Abbasuddin was a student of 3rd class (atpresent class VIII). Faiz said,

“We the few Hindu and Muslim Coochbeharis studying in theschool contacted one another and assembled on the berry fieldon the other side of the river Raidak. We have formed CoochBehar ‘Hitasadhani Sabha’ in Cooch Behar with the Cooch Beharistudents.”

Taking into consideration that there is no break of studiesor he did not start his education much late, Abbas Uddinshould have been in class VIII around 1924-25. Abbas wasborn in Balarampur village under Tufanganj Police Station.His father Jaffar Ali was a reputed lawyer. So, there is nodoubt that Hitasadhani Sabha came into being in mid- thirtiesof the twentieth century as reflected from Faizuddin- AbbasUddin conversations. Accepting this as the finality will bejustified unless proved otherwise by some other concreteand reasonable proofs. But the Hitasadhani activities wereprobably restricted to students only during its initial period.

The political activities of Hitasadhani Sabha wereorganized widely after the death of Panchanan Barma. Fromanother source also it can be conjectured that the Hitasadhaniactivities got wide coverage before the 40’s of twentiethcentury. Abbasuddin left Tufanganj in 1931 with a view toresiding permanently in Kolkata. Once he attended a publicmeeting of Hitasadhani, coming from Kolkata. SatishChandra Roy Singha Sarkar of Dinhata was recognized asthe main figure of the Hitasadhani Sabha. He was intimatelyand directly associated with Panchanan Barma and KshatriyaSamiti. He used to enjoy scholarship from Kshatriya Samitias student. But the shadow of Panchanan Barma is quitenoticeable on the aims and objectives of Hitasadhani Sabhawhich subscribed to more or less the same point of issue asthat resolutely cherished by Panchanan to the effect that

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Kamta-Cooch Behar residents are outside Bengali languageand Bengal.

Abbasuddin has explained the objectives of Hitasadhaniin his book, ‘Amar Shilpi Jibaner Katha’ in this language,‘Cooch Behar residents (Hindus and Muslims) areadministered more or less by the caste Hindus. They havereputation in all the professions: Pleader, Judge, Magistrate,Doctor, Professor, Teacher etc. Their children get the priorityif and when vacancies arise. Cooch Behar Hitasadhani Sabhawas established in the context of undisputed dominance ofthe outsiders and bhatias.” The ascending tune of theHitasadhani was thus expounded by Panchanan in two ofhis articles: ‘Gobinda Mishra’s Gita’ and ‘Kamta BihariSahitya’ in Rangpur Sahitya Parishad Patrika and also in thedeliberations of the Kshatriya Samiti on the one hand, andin same manner by Abbasuddin, a non-Rajbanshi and thefamous folk singer in his autobiography on the other handvery openly.

Legacy of the Rajbanshi Kshatriya SamitiAfter the partition, an organization by the name

‘Rajbanshi Kshatriya Samiti’ was formed in 1954 withUpendra Nath Burman as the elected President on this sideof the border with the objective of prosecuting the activitiesof the Kshatriya Samiti in accordance with the idealism ofPanchanan Barma. The Committee was formed withNarendranath Adhikary of Dinhata, Bhim Chandra Barman,Satish Singha, the then Minister, Umesh Mandal, MLA andfew others. The responsibility was assigned on Mani BhushanRoy, Headmaster and Rajendra Nath Roy of Jalpaiguri. Thename has also undergone change to “Kendriya RajbanshiKshatriya Samiti” in the mean time. In 1964, a strongcommittee was formed with Jajneshwar Roy, popularly



known as the Gandhi of the Duars as the President and ShriPrasenjit Barman, young lawyer of Cooch Behar as theSecretary.

In 1980, the responsibility of Secretary fell on HaripadaRoy, another lawyer of Jalpaiguri. After this the leadershipwent to Rabi Sarkar of Shiv Mandir near Siliguri, SurendraNath Barman of Patharghata and Keshab Chandra Roy ofMedical Mor. In the mean time, Panchanan Smarak Samiti,a non-political organization was formed in 1974 to glorifythe idealism of Panchanan. The main initiator wasManmohan Roy, a reputed social worker. Kendriya RajbanshiKshatriya Samiti was an absolutely non political organization.United Front was in power in West Bengal at that time.There was already a clamour from amongst the sons of thesoil to have a political organization of their own, as a resultof which Uttarkhanda Dal was formed in 1968 itself.Panchanan Mallick of Chura Bhander of Moynaguri PoliceStation was in the leadership. In 1978, came into being theUTJAS at the initiative of leaders like Prabhat Barman ofDinhata. Prior to this, Kamtapuri Rajya Sangram Parishadwas formed under the leadership of Ajit Narayan, an heir tothe Abhayapuri rulers of Assam.

The waves of this organization were felt in North Bengaltoo. This movement could not however, take deep root. In1990 Kamtapur People’s Party and in 1996, Greater KuchBehar People’s Association i.e. Greater Kuch BeharConstituent Assembly came into being. As it happened incourse of Uttarkhanda, Kamtapur People’s Party also gotdivided into two - one wing by the former name under theleadership of Nikhil Roy and the other by the nameKamtapauri Progressive Party under Atul Roy’s leadership.Greater Kuch Behar too got bifurcated- Greater Kuch BeharPeople’s Association under the leadership of Jyotish Roy

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and Greater Kuch Behar Democratic Party under theleadership of Banshi Badan Barman.

It is learnt that Kamtapur Liberation Organization whoseshort name is KLO was formed in the 90’s of the last century.Of them, those who are motivated by political idealism areconcerned with the demands like overall developments ofNorth Bengal, separate Kamtapur State, constitutionalrecognition of Kamtapuri language etc. But it is not thepolitical movements or demands only; it is consciousnessabout language, literature and culture amongst the artists,educationists and intellectuals that increased gradually forthe fulfilment of Panchanan’s dreams. This was steeredprincipally by Upendra Nath Burman in the post-Panchananperiod. Rich with the explanatory analysis of Rajbanshilanguage, his invaluable works like Rajbanshi Kshatriya JatirItihas, Rajbanshi Bhasar Probad, Pravachan and Henyali,Thakaur Panchanan Barma’s Jivan Charit helped upliftingthe Rajbanshi Society to a new horizon. In the contemporaryperiod, writers like Patiram Singha, Hemanta Kumar RoyBarma, Shibendra Narayan Mandol of Assam, DharmaNarayan Sarkar Bhakti Shastri of Bangladesh etc. dealt withthe glory of the Rajbanshi Community and the contributionof Panchanan Barma in the uplift of the Society.

The Cultural Stir in North BengalThere was an unprecedented excitement and

overspreading stir in the music world, when the folk dramasand other Bhawaiya songs of North Bengal were beingrecorded at the sincere most initiative of Harish ChandraPal of Cooch Behar with the patronization of the GramophoneCompany. Amongst the famous Bhawaiya singers whosesongs were recorded, notable ones were Surendra Nath RoyBasunia, Keshab Chandra Barman, Kedar Chakrabarti, Nayeb



Ali, Pyari Mohan Das, Pratima Barua Pande etc. Besidesthem Deshbandhu Chakrabarti of Dinhata, Narayan Roy ofCooch Behar, Lalit Kushani, the famous performer of KushanGan, Fulti Gidali, the famous singer of Bishahari shaitol,Kati Gan, Raj Kumar Barman, the famous performer ofPadmapuran Gan, Sachin Burman of Jalpaiguri, DhaneshwarRoy of Jateswar, Sunil Das of Dinhata, Guneswar Adhikaryof Bhatibari, Alipurduar, Uttam Kumar Das of ShamuktalaRoad, Alipurduar, Jogen Roy of Manickganj, Sushil Roy,Suniti Roy of Khagrabari, Heramba Kumar Roy of Haldibariand many other class artists exhibited their genius inpresenting the language and culture of this region intheir music. And some of them are still active in thisnoble work.

Comprehensive cultural works were started in the 70’sof the last century under the inspiration of the idealism ofPanchanan Barma. With a view to facilitating the collection,preservation and attractive presentation of the folk dramasof North Bengal, Uttar Banga Lok Natya Parishad wasestablished in Alipurduar in 1972. Narayan Bhattacharjee ,ex-MLA, Alipurduar and Dr.Girija Shankar Roy, Professorof Alipurduar College were the President and Secretaryrespectively. Guneshwar Adhikary and Uttam Kumar Daswere Joint Secretaries. In 1974 was formed the Lok SanskritiParishad. Prof. Haripada Chakraborti was President andDr.Girija Shankar Roy, the Secretary.

In 1975 the first competition of Folk Song and Folk Dramaof North Bengal was organized in Bhatibari underAlipurduar-II Block in collaboration with the StateGovernment. Shib Prosad Ghosh, BDO and Dr. GirijaShankar Roy were respectively the Chairman and theSecretary of the organising Committee. Bhawaiyacompetition was organized in three consecutive years - 1975,

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1976 and 1977 in Alipurduar at the initiative of Anjan Roy,the youth coordinator of Nehru Yuba Kendra. Variousconferences at different times were found to be held withthe objective of presenting the items of North Bengal’slanguage, literature and culture in befitting manner. Thus,some noteworthy conferences started in the 70’s.

Uttarbanga Sanskriti Parishad was set up in 1976 inJalpaiguri under the Presidentship of Dr. HaripadaChakravarty, the then Head of the Department of Bengaliand Dean of North Bengal University. The role of Dr.Chakravarty in North Bengal can be compared to that ofDerozio. He was the person who initiated the researchactivities in anthropology, linguistics, literature and cultureetc. He had the capability and generosity of helping notonly his own students but also others who were devoted tosuch research. He was the only capable professor who hadthe proficiency in motivating and conducting research inNorth Bengal University, which was absolutely dependentupon the University of Calcutta at that time. Upendra NathBarman, the grand father of North Bengal’s social literaryand cultural world was the Executive Vice-Chairman.

Uttar Banga Sanskriti Sammelan was held on 28th and29th May, which was presided over by Dr. AshutoshBhattacharya, the Head of Modern Indian languages ofCalcutta University. On 30th May and 1st June, there wasanother programme on North Bengal’s culture which wasto be graced by Dr. Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay. Hehowever, expressed his inability to attend the same becauseof ill health. Huge number of performers and specialist artistsparticipated in the programme. Bishahara, Kushan,Gambhira, Khan Gan, the popular folk dramas were stagedand famous artists of Bhawaiya from all the districts of NorthBengal participated.



Panchanan breathed his last in 1935. There is perhaps noscope for any romanticism to think what would have beenthe position of geographical or political map of Kamtapur-Cooch Behar i.e. undivided North Bengal, had Panchananbeen alive at the time, when India was going to be free fromthe colonial rule and the respected leaders of the countrywere busy forming the linguistic states. There should nothowever be any hesitation to declare that North Bengal ispitiably and extremely ill developed and also subjected toneglect and indifference today. In whatever way thepoliticians think, analyse and utter mouthful assurances, thesons of the soil of North Bengal do not keep confidence onthe politicians of West Bengal and South Bengal. It shouldnot be a matter of amazement if the youths of a greaterdeprived community of ancient North Bengal want to catchhold of the idealism and principles of Panchanan Barma,who used to be adored as the father of the community.

REFERENCESAgenda Notes of the First Convention on Uttar Banga Sahitya

Sammilan, Kshatriya Samiti.Ahmed, Abbas Uddin, Amar Shilpi Jibaner Katha , Kolkata: Srishti

Prokashani, 2001.Amanatullah, Khan Chaudhuri, Koch Biharer Itihas, part- I, Cooch

Behar: Cooch Behar State Press, 1936.Ananda Bazar Patrika, 23rd October, 1976.

Article of Ray, Girija Shankar in Paschim Banga (Special issue onRaisaheb Panchanan Barma), I and C. A. Department,Government of West Bengal, February, 2005.

Barma, Sukhbilas, Bhawaiya, Lok Sanskriti-O-Adibasi SanskritiKendra, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata, 1999.

Barman, Kshitish Chandra, Panchanan Smarak, Kolkata, 2001.

Barman, Upendra Nath, Thakur Panchanan Barmar Jibani, 4th edition,1408 B.S.

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Bhattacharyya, Ashutosh (Edited) Gopichandrer Gan, Kolkata:University of Kolkata, 1965.

Bhattasali, Nalini Kanta (Edited), Gopichandrer Sannyas, Dhaka-1332 B.S.

Brittabibarani of 1334 B.S., the 18th year of Kshatriya Samiti.

Brittabibarani (Report) Compilation of proceedings of the KshatriyaSamiti of 1324 B.S.

Britta Bibarani (Compilation of proceedings) of 1920 AnnualConvention of the Kshatriya Samiti.

Chanda, Ramaprasad, Gaur Rajamala, Kolkata: Naba Bharat Sanskaran,1975.

Chattopadhyay, Jaya, Bengal Divided, Hindu Communalism and Partition1932-1947, Cambridge South Asian Studies, Reprinted 2002.

Compilation of proceedings of the 4th Annual Convention of theKshatriya Samiti in 1320 B.S.

Kakati, Banikanta, Purani Kamrupar Dharmar Dhara, Gauhati, 1955.

Kakati, Banikanta, Assamese, Its Formation and Development, Gauhati,1972.

Majumdar, R.C. (Edited), The History of Bengal, Delhi, 2004

Pal, Harish Chandra (Edited), Uttar Banglar Palligeeti (BhawaiyaKhanda) Kalikata, 1380 B.S.

Roy, Girija Shankar (Edited), Satbhaiya-an edition of Rajbanshi poems,Siliguri: Shibmandir, 2003.

Roy, Dr. Nikhilesh (Edited), Degar, Volume No. 2 (2004) and lateVolume No. 4 (2006), Shibmandir, Silliguri.

Roy, Subir and Majumdar, Bimalendu (Edited), Charu Chandra SannyalSmarak Grantha, Jalpaiguri, 1992.

Singha, Kshetranath, Rai Saheb Panchanan, Rangpur, 1939.


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