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Namasudra, also known as Namassej or Namassut, is an Indian avarna community originating from certain regions of Bengal, India. The community was earlier known as Chandala or Chandal, a term usually considered as a slur. They were traditionally engaged in cultivation and as boatmen. They lived outside the four-tier ritual varna system and thus were outcastes

History

Joya Chatterji mentions that in the 1870s, '' Chandals of Bakarganj and Faridpur boycotted caste Hindus '' when they refused to accept an invitation to dine from a Chandal headman; and henceforth they "battled continuously to improve their ritual position" in the society and later claimed the "more respectable title of 'Namasudra' and Brahmin status".These movements seeking upward mobility infused a sense of self-respect amidst the community and led them to demand elevated social status including a right of entry to kayastha-organised pujas and two-third share of the crop-produce. Overall, Sekhar Banerjee noted a distinct theme of sanskritisation in the dynamics of the caste.

According to Anil Seal, the Namasudras were a "large non-Aryan caste of eastern Bengal, mainly engaged in boating and cultivation". However, Niharranjan Ray, a historian, believed that they have a closer relation with north Indian Brahmins, saying "they are of the same line as the Brahmans of north India; indeed there is a closer relation between the north Indian Brahmans and the Bengali Namahsudras than between the north Indian Brahmans and the Bengali Brahmans, Kayasthas and Vaidyas."

Freedom Movement

In the late 1930s, especially after the Poona Pact, the Namasudras of Bengal Presidency, British India, increasingly adhered to a loyalist stance to the British Government, which was supposedly it's best chance to upgrade their socio-economic condition.This did not go down well with the bhadralok class of politicians.The bhadralok, to increase their own power in Bengal, sought to enlarge their political base by bringing the Namasudras into a united Hindu political community.

As the Namasudras and other untouchable castes increasingly self-asserted their independence from the upper castes which threatened to distort the Hindu-societal-structure, the Hindu solidarity realized that the alienating of lower-castes might hamper it's plans of offering an united opposition against the British and the Muslims.Consequently, measures were taken over the course of years to alleviate the concerns of the community and they were gradually inculcated into the political fabric of the nation. The Dalit of Bengal thus became involved in the Partition movement, and that they along with Rajbanshis were the two groups that majorly dominated dalit politics in the province.

According to Banerjee, the aim of the Hindu campaign was somewhat dubious in that, throughout the years, it tried to induce the lower castes record themselves as Hindus, which would inflate the numbers and thus, assist them in the redistribution of provinces during partition of the nation.Local peasant-rebellions between Namasudras and Muslim community across Dacca et al were given a religious color by the Hindu solidarity and increased communal tensions between religions.The Bengal Congress also contributed to the cause.

Gradually, whilst many leaders of the caste-movement increasingly associated with the Hindu narrative, there was no consensus among the masses.There was a strong discontent among Namasudras that they have been supposedly cheated by the enumerators of the 1941 census who choose to record them as Hindus instead of mere Namasudras.

Whilst these improved situations, discrimination was still abundant and the domination by upper castes continued even post-independence.

Finally, post independence, the districts mostly inhabited by Namasudras went to East Bengal and many were forced to migrate to West Bengal.

Community association

The Namassej Samaj Andolon is a socio-political organisation that claims to represent the community.

See also

• Harichand Thakur
• Pramatha Ranjan Thakur
• Matua Mahasangha

References

1. ^ Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. Sage Publications. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-76199-849-5.
2. Viswanath, Rupa (2014). The Pariah Problem: Caste, Religion, and the Social in Modern India. Columbia University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-23116-306-4.
3. Bose, N.K. (1994). The Structure Of Hindu Society (Revised ed.). Orient Longman Limited. pp. 161–162. ISBN 81-250-0855-1.
4. Rees, D. Ben, ed. (2002). Vehicles of Grace and Hope: Welsh Missionaries in India, 1800-1970. William Carey Library. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-87808-505-7.
5. IBP USA (2012). Bangladesh Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. International Business Publications USA. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-43877-389-6.
6. ^ Chatterji, Joya (2002). Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947. Cambridge University Press. pp. 191–194. ISBN 978-0-52152-328-8.
7. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
8. ^ Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
9. Seal, Anil (1971). The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-52109-652-2.
10. Ray, Niharranjan (1994). History of the Bengali People: Ancient Period. Wood, John W. (trans.). Orient Longman. p. 28. ISBN 0-86311-378-8.
11. Chatterji, Joya (2002-06-06). Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521523288.
12. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. pp. 70–71. ISBN 9780761998495.
13. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
14. ^ Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
15. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
16. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
17. Chatterji, Joya (2002-06-06). Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521523288.
18. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
19. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. p. 75. ISBN 9780761998495.
20. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780761998495.
21. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004-08-19). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications. p. 234. ISBN 9780761998495.
22. "Home page". Namassej (Namasudra) Samaj. Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Further reading

• Ray, Niharranjan (1994). History of the Bengali People: Ancient Period. Orient Longman. ISBN 978-0-86311-378-9.
• Bandyopadhyaẏa, Sekhara (1997). Caste, Protest and Identity in Colonial India: the Namasudras of Bengal, 1872-1947. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-0626-6.
• "Research Response: India". Refugee Review Tribunal, Australia. 30 August 2007.
• The stranglehold after 1947: By Vohra: , By M. Klass, pp. 43: : by Ross Mullick,JAS vol. 58. no. 1 (Feb 1999) pp. 104–125.: Marichjhapi:ABR : & :
• Ghatak, N. K.; Mukherjee, D. P. (1986). "Baruni : A Folk Festival of Thakurnagar Organised by the Namasudra Community for Onward Movement". Folklore. 27 (317). Calcutta: Indian Folklore Society: 241–247. ISSN 0015-5896.(subscription required)
• Das, S. N. Das, ed. (2003). The Bengalis. The People, Their History And Culture. Cosmo Publication. ISBN 978-81-7755-392-5.
• Sarkar, Sumit (2002). Beyond Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism, Hindu Fundamentalism, History. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253342034.
• Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (1998). "Changing Borders, Shifting Loyalties: Religion, Caste and the Partition of Bengal in 1947" (PDF). Asian Studies Institute Working Paper 2. Asian Studies Institute, Victoria University of Wellington. ISSN 1174-5991.

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Others	Bengali Hindu mythology and culture Bengali Hindu diaspora

• History of Bengal
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