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52-509: The Rajbanshi , also Rajbongshi and Koch-Rajbongshi , are peoples from Lower Assam , North Bengal , eastern Bihar , Terai region of eastern Nepal , Rangpur division of North Bangladesh and Bhutan who have in the past sought an association with the Koch dynasty . Koch-Rajbanshi people speak Kamatapuri , an Indo-Aryan language , likely due to language shift , and in the past they might have spoken Tibeto-Burman languages . The community

104-640: A mleccha is any foreigner who stood outside the varna system and the ritual ambience.The Baudhayana sutras define a mleccha as someone who eats beef or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct. The Mleccha people were Śākas , Huns , Chinese , Greeks , Kambojas , Pahlavas , Bahlikas , Rishikas and Daradas . The Barbaras , Kiratas , Paradas , Saka-Greeks , Indo-Greeks , Pulindas , Scythians , Kushans , Kinnaras , Tusharas , Nishadas , Türks , Mongols , Romans , Balochs and Arabs were also mlecchas. The Sanskrit word mleccha does not have

156-614: A caste, since the various other communities living in North Bengal and Lower Assam also spoke the Rajbanshi language. This linguistic awareness was heightened in 1953, when the government decided to reorganise the states on linguistic basis. Many of these organisations, such as Siliguri Zonal Rajbanshi Kshatriya Samiti agitated for the merger of Purnia division of Bihar and Goalpara district of Assam into West Bengal since these regions were largely populated by Rajbanshi speakers. This

208-518: A movement to distance itself from an ethnic identity and acquire the higher social status of Kshatriya Hindu varna instead. They tried to establish the Kshatriya identity by linking the community to the Koch dynasty . The Rajbanshis were officially recorded as Koch till the 1901 census. The name Rajbanshi is a 19th century neologism . Worldwide, there are an estimated 11-12 million Rajbanshi people. According to 1971 Census figures, 80% of

260-604: A provincial variety of the Kshatriyas, the movement of Bhanga Kshatriya was undertaken by Harimohan Ray Khajanchi who established the "Rangpur Bratya Kshatriya Jatir Unnati Bidhayani Sabha" for the upward mobility of the community in the Hindu society. To justify this, the group collected reference from Hindu religious text such as the Kalika Purana , Yogini Tantra etc and created legends that they originally belonged to

312-401: A section of Koch who were at tribal or semi-tribal form in present North Bengal and Western Assam in an effort to promote themselves up the caste hierarchy tried to dissociate themselves from their ethnic identity by describing themselves as Rajbanshi ( of the royal lineage ). This attempt of social upliftment was a reaction against the ill treatment and humiliation faced by the community from

364-526: A standard Indo-European etymology and has no counterpart in Iranian languages. However, it has cognates in Middle Indo-Aryan languages: Pali milakkha , and Prakrit mliccha , from the latter of which originate Sindhi milis , Punjabi milech , Kashmiri brichun (weep or lament), Western Pahari melech (dirty), Odia mḷecha , Bengali myaloch (dirty) . The Sanskrit word occurs as

416-465: A verb mlecchati for the first time in the latic Vedic text Śathapatha‐Brāhmaṇa dated to around 700 BCE. It is taken to mean to speak indistinctly or barbarously. Brahmins are prohibited from speaking in this fashion. As mleccha does not have an Indo-European etymology, scholars infer that it must have been a self-designation of a non-Aryan people within India. Based on the geographic references to

468-513: A way for the ancient Indo-Aryans to classify those who did not subscribe to the traditional value system, though the characteristics of this system were ambiguous. In sum, though, the idea was that the mlecchas were peoples who did not conform to what was culturally acceptable. Early writings refer to these foreign peoples as half-civilized, unconverted people who rise or eat at improper times. They stated that monks and nuns should avoid certain areas of habitation because they were unsafe. Namely, that

520-626: Is categorised as OBC in Assam and Bihar, and SC in West Bengal. In Nepal they are considered part of the Plains Janjati. In Bangladesh the community is classified as Plains ethnic group under 'Barman'. They are the largest Scheduled Caste community of West Bengal. In 2020, Kamatapur Autonomous Council has been created for socio-economic development and political rights of Koch-Rajbongshi community residing in Assam. They are related to

572-787: Is evidence that Indians of the Vedic period actually had contact with people outside of the Indian subcontinent , namely the Persians . The Achaemenid Persian Empire , which ruled over the Indus River Valley during this time (522–486 BC) was not designated as mleccha, perhaps because they did not interfere with the Brahminical way of life. Later Vedic literature speaks of the western Anava tribes as mlecchas and occupying northern Punjab , Sindh and eastern Rajputana . The tribes of

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624-591: The Ahom Buranjis or the 18th-century Darrang Raja Vamsavali: the genealogical records of the Koch Bihar royal family, although there is mention of the Koch as a distinct social group. From the 17th century the Koch society came under increasing brahminical influence and by the end of the 18th century a greater part of the Koch became amenable to it. Starting from 1872 to 1891, in a series of social movements,

676-623: The Bodoland Territorial Region As per 2011 census, Lower Assam division has a population of 11,252,365 people. Languages spoken in Lower Assam Division (2011) According to 2011 census, the total number of Assamese speakers in the division were 59,61,583 , Bengali speakers were 34,76,953 , Boro speakers were 8,70,198 and Hindi speakers were 3,17,958. Although the Bengali speaking population

728-457: The Karatoya river and adopted the practices of the twice born (Dvija) , like the wearing of the sacred thread ( Upanayana ), adoption of gotra name, shortening in period of 'asauch' from 30 days to 12. They gave up practices that were forbidden in the Hindu religion like the drinking of liquor ( Teetotalism ) and rearing of pigs. From 1872 to 1911 in an effort to be a part of the higher caste,

780-833: The Mleccha deśa (Mleccha country) to the west, the term is identified with the Indus people, whose land is known from the Sumerian texts as Meluḫḫa . Asko Parpola has proposed a Dravidian derivation for "Meluḫḫa", as mel-akam ("high country", a possible etymological relationship and reference to Balochistan from where originated the Indus Valley Civilization. Franklin Southworth suggests that mleccha comes from mizi meaning 'speak', or 'one's speech' derived from Proto-Dravidian for language. Pali ,

832-605: The North Bengal population was once of the Rajbanshi community. As per as last late 2011 census, It has been estimated that it have came down to just mere 30%. The un-checked infiltration along the Indo-Bangladesh border and intrusion of Biharis caused a lot of demographic change over time. Population of Bengali Muslims , Bihari Muslims and Bangladeshi low-caste Namasudras have increased rapidly in areas like Jalpaiguri , Oodlabari , Gairkata and Jaigaon over

884-492: The Punjab region became a mleccha area conquered by Muslims, the staple food was given a lower place in the food-ranking. By the twelfth century CE, wheat was described in one lexicon as food of the mlecchas, and rice became the pure cereal. Onions and garlic was also regarded as the food of the mlecchas and therefore prohibited to the priestly intellectual class of Brahmins . Mlecchas drank alcohol , ate cow flesh , which

936-714: The Western Brahmaputa Valley . Shri Jayant Narlikar, IAS is the current Commissioner of Lower Assam division. Most parts of Lower assam districts till the 19th century were under the Kingdom of Bhutan . Lower Assam division contains 12 districts, namely Dhubri , South Salamara , Kokrajhar , Chirang , Bongaigaon , Goalpara , Barpeta , Bajali , Nalbari , Baksa , Kamrup and Kamrup metropolitan . Among these, 3 districts namely Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa lie within Bodoland . Districts within

988-507: The chukandiars , who could sub-let their land to dar-chukanidars , and jotedars , who acted as intermediaries between the chukandiars and the zamindars , landowners that got their land from the government in exchange for a fixed amount of revenue. Some Rajbongshis were zamindars or jotedars . According to a 2019 research, the Koch Rajbongshi community has an oral tradition of agriculture, dance, music, medical practices, song,

1040-460: The cow (belonging to Vasishtha ), of fierce eyes, accomplished in smiting looking like messengers of Death , and all conversant with the deceptive powers of the Asuras . Swami Parmeshwaranand states the mleccha tribe was born from the tail of the celestial cow Nandini, kept by Vashishta for sacrificial purposes when there was a fight between Vishvamitra and Vasistha . The Mahabharata gives

1092-554: The kshatriya varna but left their homeland in the fear of annihilation by the brahmin sage Parashurama and took refuge in Paundradesh (currently in Northern bengal and Rangpur division of Bangladesh) and later came to be known as Bhanga Kshatriyas. The story so created was to provide a convincing myth to assert their Kshatriya origin and perform as an ideological base for the movement but this failed to make any wider effect on

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1144-548: The Āryāvarta . Parasher noted that the only consistent areas dubbed as mleccha desa were those regions inhabited by primitive tribes who for long periods of time did not come under the sway of the Vedic , Buddhist or Jain influence. Though the area of the Aryas expanded with time, the notion that was held over all of the land was that of purity. As Vedic literature refers only to the places and territories that were familiar to

1196-407: The 5 administrative divisions of Assam in India. It was formed in 1874, consisting of the undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam , undivided Darrang and Nagaon districts of Central Assam and Khasi & Jaintia hills of Meghalaya , created for revenue purposes. The division is under the jurisdiction of a Commissioner , who is stationed at Guwahati . The division currently covers

1248-647: The Indo-Aryans, these lands eventually became part of the Āryāvarta. Parasher thus indicates that the Āryāvarta was designated as the region where the River Sarasvati disappears is the Patiala district in Punjab . The Pariyatra Mountains belong to the Vindhya Range , probably the hills of Malwa . The Kalakavana is identified with a tract somewhere near Prayag . Still, other interpretations of

1300-604: The Koch went through three distinct social identities in the census, Koch to Rajbanshi (1872), Rajbanshi to Bhanga Kshatriya (1891), Bhanga Kshatriya to Rajbanshi Kshatriya (1911). Today the Koch-Rajbongshis are found throughout North Bengal, particularly in the Dooars , as well as parts of Lower Assam , northern Bangladesh ( Rangpur Division ), the Terai of eastern Nepal and Bihar, and Bhutan. Some writers suggest that

1352-537: The Kshatriya Samithi lost its headquarters at Rangpur and attempted to reestablish itself at Dinhata . However, a variety of new organisations to represent the Rajbanshi were being created. In Assam, the Rajbanshis were classified in a special category of OBC called MOBC. In North Bengal, the various new Rajbanshi organisations began to see the Rajbanshi identity as ethnolinguistic in nature rather than

1404-774: The Kshatriya Samiti left for the Congress party, while much of the masses were drawn to the Communists. In 1946, several Rajbanshi candidates were elected on reserved seats from North Bengal, with only one Rajbanshi candidate from the Kshatriya Samiti and Communist Party being elected. This division of Rajbanshi leadership meant they were in little position to have a say in the Partition of Bengal , although Namasudra Community leader Jogendra Nath Mandal attempted to organise lower castes against Partition. After Partition,

1456-744: The Rajbanshi Kshatriya Samiti were elected to the Bengal Legislative Council from Rangpur , Dinajpur , Malda , and Jalpaiguri . These MLAs helped form the Independent Scheduled Caste Party. Upendra Nath Barman became a minister-in-charge of forests and excise in the Fazlul Haq government. However, the reservations provided to them also increased conflict within organisations representing Scheduled Castes, and many leaders of

1508-535: The Rajbanshi people constitute from different ethnic groups who underwent Sankritisation to reach the present form and in the process abandoned their original Tibeto-burman tongue to be replaced by the Indo-Aryan languages . There exist Rajbanshi people in South Bengal districts of Midnapur , 24 Paraganas , Hoogly and Nadia who might not belong to the same ethnic stock. In 1937, various members of

1560-453: The Rajbanshi people within the broader social group of Terai Janajati. At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 115,242 people (0.4% of the population of Nepal) were Rajbanshi. The frequency of Rajbanshi people by province was as follows: The frequency of Rajbanshi people was higher than national average (0.4%) in the following districts: Lower Assam Lower Assam division is one of

1612-640: The building of house, culture, and language. Ideally the tribe transfer the know-how from one generation to another. Music forms are integral part of Koch-Rajbongshi culture. The main musical forms of Koch-Rajbongshi culture are Bhawaiyya , Chatka, Chorchunni, Palatia, Lahankari, Tukkhya, Bishohora Pala among many others. Various instruments are used for such performances, string instruments like Dotora, Sarindra and Bena, double-membrane instruments like Tasi, Dhak, Khol, Desi Dhol and Mridanga, gongs and bells like Kansi, Khartal and wind instruments like Sanai, Mukha bansi and Kupa bansi. The 2011 Nepal census classifies

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1664-448: The caste Hindus who referred to the Koch as mleccha or barbarians. The term Rajbanshi was used to connect the group with Koch royalty who called themselves Shiva-banshi or Rajbanshi under Biswa Singha , the founder of the Koch dynasty and a tribal who was Hinduised and promoted to Kshatriya varna in the early 1500s. By 1891, the Koch who came to be known as Rajbanshi claimed a new status of Bhanga Kshatriya to proof themselves to be

1716-690: The community and were denied the Kshatriya status. In 1910, the Rajbanshi who were classified as the member of the same caste as the Koches claimed a new identity of Rajbanshi Kshatriya, this time under the leadership of Panchanan Barma who established the Kshatriya Samiti in Rangpur, it separated the Rajbanshis from their Koch identity and was also successful in getting the Kshatriya status after getting recognition from different Brahmin pandits of Mithila , Rangpur , Kamrup and Koch Bihar . Following this,

1768-502: The district magistrate gave permission to use surnames like Roy , Ray , Barman , Sinha , Adhikary etc. to replace the older traditional surnames like Sarkar , Ghosh , Das or Mandal and the Kshatriya status was granted in the final report of 1911 census. The movement manifested itself in sankritising tendencies with an assertion of Aryan origin and striving for higher social status by imitating higher caste customs and rituals. With this lakhs of Rajbanshi took ritual bath in

1820-514: The ethnic Koch people found in Meghalaya but are distinguished from them as well as from the Hindu caste called Koch in Upper Assam that receives converts from different tribes. Rajbanshi ( of royal lineage ) alludes to the community's claimed connection with the Koch dynasty . The Rajbanshi (literal meaning: of the royal lineage ) community gave itself this name after 1891 following

1872-533: The following information regarding them: The term is not attested in the Vedas , but occurs for the first time in the late Vedic text the Shatapatha Brahmana . The Baudhayana sutras define a mleccha as someone who eats beef or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct. Medieval Hindu literature, such as that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , also uses

1924-500: The harshness of alien tongue and to indicate incomprehension, thus coming up with mleccha . Early Indo-Aryans spoke Sanskrit, which evolved into the various local modern Sanskrit-derived languages. Sanskrit was believed to include all the sounds necessary for communication. Early Indo-Aryans would therefore dismiss other languages as foreign tongue mleccha bhasha . As the Sanskrit word itself suggests, mlecchas were those whose speech

1976-552: The ignorant populace might beat, harass or rob them under the impression that they were spies from hostile villages. Further, while some of these non-mlecchas, such as those of the Jain faith, had established contact with people of the forest tribes, they were automatically designated as mlecchas. This was the typical attitude of people from the plains who took pride in their norms of settled agricultural and urban lifestyles. Historians note that there were also systems in place to determine

2028-532: The importance of knowing the correct speech in order to perform sacrifice and ritual in the religion of the brahmanas . Parasher continued, "The best experts of the sacrificial art were undoubtedly the various families of the Brahmins who, placed in a hierarchy within the Indo-Aryan social system, became the upholders of pure and best speech". Historians note that early Indo-Aryans believed Sanskrit to be

2080-538: The last 50 years, hence causing demographic changes over time. In Bangladesh, the majority of Hindus in Rangpur division are from the community, although there are still some in Mymensingh division and Bogra district of Rajshahi division. In ancient times, the land which the Rajbanshi inhabit, called Kamarupa . Its inhabitants spoke Tibeto-Burman languages . There is no mention of 'Rajbanshi' in Persian records,

2132-402: The north were mlecchas either because they were located on the frontiers such as Gandhara , Kasmira , Kambojas , Khasas and therefore both their speech and culture had become contaminated and differed from that of Āryāvarta, or else, as in the case of southern India, they were once Aryas but having forsaken the Vedic rituals were regarded to mleccha status. The word mleccha emerged as

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2184-437: The older Prakrit used by Theravada Buddhism, uses the term milakkha . It also employs milakkhu , a borrowing from a Dramatic Prakrit . Some explanations of the name mleccha suggest that the word was derived from the Indo-Aryan perception of the speech of the indigenous peoples. Namely, mlech was a word that meant 'to speak indistinctly'. As such, some suggest that the Indo-Aryans used an onomatopoeic sound to imitate

2236-489: The superior language over all other forms of speech. As such, mleccha or barbarian speech was said to have meant any of the following: Historians have stated that the notion of foreigners in ancient India – those living outside of the Indian subcontinent – was often accompanied by the idea that one was a barbarian. Still, it seemed that groups who did not come from outside of these areas, as well as foreigners, were designated by

2288-456: The term mleccha , which carried with it a barbarian connotation. Thus another distinction that was made between the mlecchas and non-mlecchas was area of habitation. Though they were considered a marginal group, the area characterize as the mleccha-desa (the natural border that separated their lands from that of the Aryans) was never permanent. Instead, it was defined by the changing ideas about

2340-549: The term to refer to those of larger groups of other religions, especially Muslims . In medieval India , a foreign visitor Al Birūnī (died 1048) noted that foreigners were regarded as unclean or Mleccha and Hindus were forbidden any social or matrimonial contact with them. According to the Gwalior inscription of his descendant Mihira Bhoja , the Gurjara Pratihara King Nagabhata I repulsed

2392-522: The validity – or purity – of certain customs, which would ultimately be judged by the priest . As such there were intricate rules in place to define purity from impurity, laws of behavior, as well as rituals and customs, in an effort to educate the members of the Brahmanical system. Namely, these advisors took great pains to ensure that peoples of the Brahmanical system did not subscribe to any mleccha customs or rituals. The Sanskritisation of names

2444-482: The Āryāvarta refer to those areas where the black antelope roams, for these areas are fit for the performance of sacrifice . Early Vedic literature focused on defining the area of habitation of the Aryas for this land was considered pure; yet there is no actual reference to the mleccha country or behavior. Wherever the territory, though, the implications of naming such lands as the Āryāvarta is that any lands excluded from that area were considered impure. Further, there

2496-410: Was 30.9% as per the 2011 census language report, but Lower Assam Division is home to a large Muslim population of Bengali origin, most of whom now identify as Assamese speakers in the census. Muslims are around 49.5% of the total lower Assam population at the time of the 2011 Census. Mleccha The word Mleccha was commonly used for foreign non vedic people of whatever race or colour. As

2548-431: Was a common feature among both indigenous and foreign mlecchas who slowly tried to move away from their status of mleccha. Very often, in the case of ruling families, it took one to two generations to make a transition. One of the most direct forms of the expression of the Brahmanical ritual purity was the form and type of food which a Brahmin could eat. He was forbidden to accept cooked food from any unclean person. Thus when

2600-401: Was alien. Correct speech was a crucial component of being able to take part in the appropriate yajñas (religious rituals and sacrifices). Thus, without correct speech, one could not hope to practice correct religion, either. The notion of being Arya suggested a knowledge of Sanskrit in order to effectively perform ritual hymns; thus suggesting the importance of language. Parasher discusses

2652-459: Was continued into the 1960s with Rajbanshi activists frequently demanding for their speech to be recognised as separate from Bengali. The Rajbongshis were traditionally agriculturalists, but due to their numerical dominance in North Bengal there were significant occupational differences among them. Most were agricultural labourers ( halua ) or sharecroppers ( adhiar ). These often worked for landed cultivators, called dar-chukanidars . Above them were

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2704-481: Was strictly forbidden to a follower of Hindu orthopraxy, and followed spiritual practices which were foreign to the Indian subcontinent. In the Mahabharata , some Mleccha warriors are described as having heads completely shaved or half-shaved or covered with matted locks , as being impure in habits, and of crooked faces and noses They are dwellers of hills and denizens of mountain-caves. Mlecchas were born of

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