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| {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} | {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} | ||
| {{Short description|Dalit community of West Bengal, India}} | {{Short description|Dalit community of West Bengal, India}} | ||
| '''Poundra''' is a Hindu community originating from Pundrabardhana. | |||
| '''Poundra''', earlier known as '''Pod''', is a Hindu community originating from ].<ref name=":2" /> Traditionally located outside the four-tier ritual '']'' system, the Poundras have been historically subject to acute discrimination — including ] — and continue to remain a marginal group in modern Bengal.<ref name=":2" /> As of 2011, their population was around two and a half million.<ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{cite web|title=West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_westbengal.pdf|accessdate=1 December 2018|website=Censusindia.gov.in}}</ref> | |||
| == History == | == History == | ||
| In the middle of the 4th century AD, Maharaja Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha attacked Pundravadhana and the Maharaja of Pundravadhana was defeated in that battle. We all know that Mahapadma Nanda was a Kshatriya Nidhana Vrathi. That's why Mahapadma Nanda came to be known as '''"Sarva-Kshatrantaka".''' That is why at that time the people of the Kshatriya race went to different places to escape from the hands of Mahapadma Nanda, the king of Magadha. Eg: Ratnapeeth in Kamrup, Nepal, Orissa (Even today Sambalpur area of Orissa has Pundrakshatriya (Rajbanshi Kshatriya) population and the language is also Rajbanshi. | |||
| ⚫ | ==References:== | ||
| === Medieval Bengal === | |||
| {{Reflist}}]. ]{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} | |||
| No mention is found in the ] (c. 13th century{{efn|Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.}}), which remains the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Furui|first=Ryosuke|title=Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar|publisher=R. N. Bhattacharya|year=2013|editor-last=Ghosh|editor-first=Suchandra|location=Kolkata|chapter=Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa|editor-last2=Bandyopadhyay|editor-first2=Sudipa Ray|editor-last3=Majumdar|editor-first3=Sushmita Basu|editor-last4=Pal|editor-first4=Sayantani}}</ref>{{efn|Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the ] and the ] periods but Pods don't find a mention.}} The ], notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, notes "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rocher|first=Ludo|date=1986|title=Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/601589|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=106|issue=2|pages=254|doi=10.2307/601589|jstor=601589|issn=0003-0279}}</ref> Mentions remain scarce in medieval vernacular literature. | |||
| === Colonial Bengal === | |||
| In his 1891 survey of castes, ] documented the Pods to be a branch of the ]; they faced untouchability from Brahmins as well as Navasakhas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Barman |first=Rup Kumar |date=2014-01-01 |title=From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520140108 |journal=Voice of Dalit |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=121–138 |doi=10.1177/0974354520140108 |issn=0974-3545 |s2cid=148661602}}</ref> He noted a majority to be peasants though some had become traders, and even zamindars.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| In late nineteenth century, two influential members of the Pod community — Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar — produced numerous tracts of caste-history, in sync with their times. Arguing a descent from the "Poundras" — mentioned across a spectrum of Brahminical literature — they sought to establish the Pods as Kshatriyas, thereby removing the stigma of untouchability.<ref name=":2" /> In what might be construed as a self-respect movement, it was also demanded of all Pods to ].<ref name=":2" /> In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".<ref name=":2" />{{Disputed inline|date=October 2021}} Further mobilization happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and first graduate from this community.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| === Contemporary Bengal === | |||
| The Poundras remain vulnerable to casteist discrimination in 21st century Bengal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barman|first=Rup Kumar|date=2020-02-17|title=Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2455328x19898451|journal=Contemporary Voice of Dalit|volume=12|issue=2|pages=165–180|doi=10.1177/2455328x19898451|s2cid=214164973|issn=2455-328X}}</ref> | |||
| == Notes == | |||
| {{Notelist}} | |||
| ⚫ | ==References== | ||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 13:33, 3 February 2024
Dalit community of West Bengal, India
Poundra is a Hindu community originating from Pundrabardhana.
History
In the middle of the 4th century AD, Maharaja Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha attacked Pundravadhana and the Maharaja of Pundravadhana was defeated in that battle. We all know that Mahapadma Nanda was a Kshatriya Nidhana Vrathi. That's why Mahapadma Nanda came to be known as "Sarva-Kshatrantaka". That is why at that time the people of the Kshatriya race went to different places to escape from the hands of Mahapadma Nanda, the king of Magadha. Eg: Ratnapeeth in Kamrup, Nepal, Orissa (Even today Sambalpur area of Orissa has Pundrakshatriya (Rajbanshi Kshatriya) population and the language is also Rajbanshi.
References:
H. C. Raychaudhuri 1988. Upinder Singh 2016
Categories: