Namasudra
| Namasudra/Namassej | |
|---|---|
| Religions | Sanatana Dharma |
| Languages | Bengali |
| Populated states | West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, U.P., North-East |
Namasudra (also Namassej or Namassut) is the name of an Indian community originally from certain regions of Bengal, India. They were traditionally engaged in cultivation and as boatmen.[1] They lived outside the four-tier ritual varna system and thus were out of castes.[2]
History
The Namasudra community of Bengal tried to take advantage of the interest in the bhadralok movement of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries in order to improve the way in which society perceived them.[3]
Gotras
There are differing opinions regarding the number of gotras (clans) which comprise the community. The Bengal Gazetteer and Darjeeling Gazetteer (both published during the British Raj period) listed three such groups, being: Kashyapa, Bhardwaja and Gautama.[citation needed] However, Herbert Risley, writing in 1891, noted four such groups: Kasyapa, Bharadwaja, Lomasa/Namasa and Sandilya.[4]
Community association
The Namassej Samaj Andolon claims to be a socio-political organisation that represents the community.[5]
References
- ^ Bose, N.K. (1994 revised ed.). The Structure Of Hindu Society. Orient Longman Limited. pp. 161–162. ISBN 81-250-0855-1.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ 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.
- ^ Chatterji, Joya (2002). Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947. Cambridge University Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN 9780521523288.
- ^ Risley, Herbert Hope (1891). The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Vol. II. Appendix I.
- ^ "Home page". Namassej (Namasudra) Samaj.
Further reading
- Ray, Niharranjan (1994). History of the Bengali People: Ancient Period. Orient Longman. ISBN 978-0-86311-378-9.
- Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (1997). Caste, protest and identity in colonial India: the Namasudras of Bengal, 1872-1947. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-0626-6.
- Census of India 2001, Manipur: [1]
- "Research Response: India". Refugee Review Tribunal, Australia. 30 August 2007.
- The stranglehold after 1947: By Vohra: [2], By M. Klass, pp. 43: [3]: by Ross Mullick,JAS vol. 58. no. 1 (Feb 1999) pp. 104–125.: Marichjhapi:ABR : & : [4]
- 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)
- Rabindranath Tagore, The Brahma Poet in Namasudra Conference: The Calcutta Municipal Gazette Tagore Memorial Special Supplement, Saturday, September 3, 1941, editor Amal Home, p. 90 : Home page > 2010 > Two Events in Tagore's Life Mainstream, Vol XLVIII, No 20, May 8, 2010
- Das, S. N. Das, ed. (2003). The Bengalis. The People, Their History And Culture. Cosmo Publication. ISBN 978-81-7755-392-5.
