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In Bengali brahmin and kayastha article it is there at the lead.so it should be in this article also.will cite the source later.
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{{for|the occupation|Vaidya}}
{{for|the occupation|Vaidya}}


'''Baidya'''<ref name="CasteCulture&Hegemony">{{cite book|last=Bandyopādhyāẏa|first=Śekhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlgcrSezHT4C&pg=PA24|title=Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal|publisher=SAGE|year=2004|isbn=978-0-76199-849-5|page=24,25, 240}}</ref> or '''Vaidya'''<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last=Dutt|first=Nripendra Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0AwAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA69|title=Origin and growth of caste in India, Volume 2|publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay|year=1968|page=69-70}}</ref> is a Hindu community located in [[Bengal]]. Baidyas, a [[Caste system in India|caste]] (''[[jāti]]'') of [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside [[Bengali Brahmins|Brahmins]] and [[Bengali Kayastha|Kayasthas]]. In the [[British India|colonial era]], the [[Bhadralok]]s were drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in [[West Bengal]].
'''Baidya'''<ref name="CasteCulture&Hegemony">{{cite book|last=Bandyopādhyāẏa|first=Śekhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlgcrSezHT4C&pg=PA24|title=Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal|publisher=SAGE|year=2004|isbn=978-0-76199-849-5|page=24,25, 240}}</ref> or '''Vaidya'''<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last=Dutt|first=Nripendra Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0AwAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA69|title=Origin and growth of caste in India, Volume 2|publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay|year=1968|page=69-70}}</ref> is a Hindu community located in [[Bengal]]. Baidyas, a [[Caste system in India|caste]] (''[[jāti]]'') of [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] physicians, . along with Brahmins and kayasthas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes that comprise the "upper layer of Hindu society.In the [[British India|colonial era]], the [[Bhadralok]]s were drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in [[West Bengal]].


== Origins ==
== Origins ==

Revision as of 09:05, 8 January 2022

For the occupation, see Vaidya.

Baidya[1] or Vaidya[2] is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste (jāti) of Ayurvedic physicians, . along with Brahmins and kayasthas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes that comprise the "upper layer of Hindu society.In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in West Bengal.

Origins

The origins of the Baidya is surrounded by wide variety of overlapping and contradictory myths. Bengali literature apart from two genealogies and Upapuraṇas do not discuss details of the caste's origins.[3] The details in these historic texts were referred to and revised in mediaeval literature on society and law. Inscriptions are sparse and does not provide much information.

The terms Baidya means a physician in the Bengali and Sanskrit languages; they were probably an occupational group of Ayurveds and drew people from various varnas including Brahmins.[4][5][6][7]

Bengal is the only place where they went on to form a caste group.[8] According to Kumkum Chatterjee, they had likely crystallized into a caste community (jati) long before the Sultanate rule.[9][3] According to R. C. Majumdar and R. C. Hazra, however, a karana family used to serve as the royal physicians in 11th and 12th century Bengal.[10]

Upapuraṇas

The Upapuranas played a significant role in the history of Bengal: they propagated and established Brahminic ideals in the hitherto-impure fringes of Aryavarta and accommodated elements of the vernacular culture to gain acceptance among masses.[11][a] No other Hindu scriptures mentions the Baidya as a caste group.[10][b]

Bṛhaddharma Puraṇa (Brh. P.; c. 13th century[c]) is the earliest document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.[3][12][d] It became the standard text for popular negotiations of caste status.[13] The Brahma Vaivarta Purana (Bv. P.) —notable for a very late Bengali recension (c. 14/15th c.)— names a hierarchy of castes but varies in details from Brh. P.[14][15][12]

Bṛhaddharma Puraṇa

Brh. P. does not mention Baidyas separately but as among the Ambasthas, deriving from a Venu-Prthu myth.[12][14][e]

Baidyas were offspring of forbidden unions of Brahmin fathers with Vaishya mothers during the reign of Venu, and were classified as Uttama Saṃkaras (highest of mixed classes).[17][14][15][f] After Venu was deposed by the Gods, Prthu was installed as a Vishnu reincarnate and upon a request to restore dharma, proposed to integrate the Saṃkar into four varnas.[14] Thus, the Ambasthas were brought under Sudras, purposed and synonymised to Baidyas (physicians) in light of existing capacities, and conferred a single right to Ayurveda with help from Ashvin.[14][15][g] Then, they were made to undergo a second birth as penance for bearing the Svarnakaras from Vaishya mothers - this rebirth is noted to be their identifying characteristic.[14][15]

Pending completion of these rituals, they were branded as among the Satsudras (higher Sudras), in total devotion to Brahmins and bearing a lack of material envy, and thus endowed with the right of inviting Srotriya Brahmins and accepting service from lower Sudras; one stanza even notes them to be Saṃkarottama (best of Saṃkaras).[14]

Brahma Vaivarta Puran

Bv. P. treats the Baidyas as separate to Ambasthas but notes both to be Satsudras.[7][12][h]

Ashvin, a Kshatriya, raped a Brahmin pilgrim and she, along with the illegitimate son, were driven out by her husband.[7][10] This son. who was brought up by Ashvin and trained in Ayurveda, went on to become the progenitor of Baidyas.[10] Here, the Baidyas went on to bear the Vyalagrahins of a Sudra woman; Svarnakaras were granted a different origin story.[18]

Interpretation

According to Ryosuke Furui, the Varṇasaṃkara myth and the subsequent ordaining of Saṃkaras in Brh. P. reflected and reinforced the existing social hierarchy of ancient Bengal; that is, the Ambasthas held an eminent position in pre-Brahminic Bengal and practiced medicine while allowing the Brahmin authors to understand an alien society and establish themselves at the top.[14][i][j] Ramaprasad Chanda supported such a reading as early as 1916.[19] Annapurna Chattopadhyaya largely agrees and cites differences in list of mixed castes produced in Brahminical literature of different areas; he notes the sharp increase in tabulated castes at Bv. P. as correlational to increasing social complexity.[citation needed]

Nripendra Kumar Dutt, who equated the Baidyas with Ambasthas, hypothesised these Upapuranas were tools for Brahmin law-makers to reify the Parshuram myth and deprive Vaidyas of its mixed-caste privileges such as a sacred thread.[4]

Kulanjis

Kulanjis, a form of literature endemic to Bengal, served multiple functions in society; there were genealogical registers and texts in flux that reflected contemporary society and served to establish hierarchy vis à vis others.[3][k]

One of the two extant pre-modern Baidya genealogies, Chandraprabha (CP; c. late 17th century) constructs a descent from the semi-legendary Ambasthas.[6] These claims of equivalence were not present in the slightly older Sadvaidyakulapnjika (SV).[12][l] It is doubtful if the Ambasthas—mostly held to be of a Kshatriya origin in Hindu scriptures[m]—had any connection with the Baidyas of Bengal (or even the Vaidyas of South India).[7][n] Both of the genealogies claim Adi Sura and Ballāla Sena as their own; this is agreed upon by some Brahmin genealogies but rejected by Kayastha ones.[10][9][21] The particulars of appropriation vary—CP said the Baidyas had gained Kulin[disambiguation needed] status for their sadachara (good conduct) while SV reiterated the popular myth of Ballāla Sena conferring Kulin status.[2][7]

Inscriptions

The Gunaighar inscriptions, which have been dated to Vainyagupta (507 C.E.), mention demarcated agricultural tracts that were owned by Baidyas (profession).[13][o] The Bhatera Copper Plates mention the ākṣapaṭalika of King Isandeva (c. 1050) to be of Baidya lineage, on whose advice a parcel of land was granted to the family of a dead prince.[13][p][q]

Outside Bengal, the earliest reference to Vaidya occurs in three South Indian inscriptions of Nedunjeliyan I, a Vaidya chief who served in the dual roles of War-General and Prime Minister and the Vaidya-kula (translatable to "Vaidya clan" or "Vaidya family") was famed for expertise in music and Sastras.[r] They were classed as Brahmins.[10] It is plausible these people had some link with the Baidyas of Bengal; inscriptions of the Senas mentions migrations from Karnat and other places.[7]

History

Overview

Bengal, which is located far away from North India, exhibits a convoluted caste hierarchy in which discrimination persists but the praxis of varna significantly deviates from Brahminical theory. The Baidyas, despite being classed as Satsudras across much of pre-modern literature from Bengal[s], have long been a part of the elite. Over hundreds of years, they went on to claim Brahmin status and climbed up the social hierarchy to reach a status that is just below that of the Brahmins. Projit Bihari Mukharji (2017) notes a detailed history of Baidyas' upward mobility is yet to be produced.[3]

Mediaeval Bengal

In mediaeval Bengal, Baidyas often branched out into fields other than medicine and composed a significant percentage of the elites in Sultanate, Mughal, and Nawabi Bengal.[9][22][23] They were reputed for their proficiency in Sanskrit, which they needed to read treatises of medicine.[9] By the end of sixteenth century, Baidyas probably occupied the second tier in the Bengali social hierarchy alongside Brahmins and Bengali Kayasthas; marriages between Baidyas and Kayasthas were commonplace.[9][3][24][6]

Around the late fifteenth century, Baidyas became intricately associated with the Caitanya Cult alongside Brahmins.[3] Murari Gupta, a childhood friend of Caitanya, was a famed physician of Navadwip and went on to compose Krsna Caitanya Caritamrta, his oldest extant biography in Sanskrit.[25] Narahari Sarkara, another among his closest devotees, composed Krsna Bhajanamrta, a theological commentary.[25] Sivananda Sena, an immensely wealthy Baidya, used to organize the annual trip of Caitanya devotees to Puri, and his son had written several devotional Sanskrit works.[25][26] As the cult shunned doctrines of equality after Caitanya's death, these associated Baidyas began enjoying a quasi-Brahminic status as Gaudiya Vasihnava gurus.[3][t]

Multiple Baidya authors partook in the Mangalkavya tradition, the foremost being Bijaya Gupta (late 15th c.).[27][u] In 1653 C.E., Ramakanta Dasa Kavikantahara wrote the oldest available Baidya kulanji — Sadvaidyakulapnjika.[7][20] Around the same time, Bharatamallika (c. 1650), a physician and an instructor of a tol, wrote numerous commentaries on Sanskrit texts like Amarakosha, and produced miscellaneous works on grammar and lexicography.[20][v] He would also write Chandraprabha (1675 C.E.), a commissioned kulanji of the Baidyas; and Ratnaprabha, a summary of the former text.[20][w]

Bharata had claimed a mixed-caste/Vaishya status for the Baidyas.[2][7] In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Baidya Krishnadasa Kaviraja, however, one Candrasekhara is variably referred to as a Baidya and a Sudra.[28][x] The Vallal Charita of Ānanda Bhaṭṭa[y] classed the Baidyas among Satsudras, of whom Kayasthas were held to be the highest. The Chandimangal of Mukundaram Chakrabarti (c. mid 16th century CE) places the Baidyas below Vaisyas, possibly indicating a Sudra status but above Kayasthas.[17][29][z][aa] Works by Raghunandana (c. mid 16th century) also hold Baidyas to be Sudras.[6]

Colonial Bengal

During the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, acrimonious debates about the caste status of Baidyas occurred.[3][20][30] Around 1750, Raja Rajballabh wished to have Brahmins officiate at his rituals; he sought Vaishya status for the Baidyas and claimed a right of wearing sacred thread.[6][31][32][33] On facing opposition from other Baidya zamindars who thought this to be an attempt at gaining trans-samaj acceptance as a Baidya leader and Brahmin scholars of Vikrampur, he invited 131 Brahmins from Benaras, Kanauj, Navadwip, and other regions with expertise in Nyaya Shastra.[31][32] All of them adjudicated in his favour.[31][32]

With more lower castes entering into the order of Vaishyas, however, Baidyas sought equality with the Brahmins and claimed themselves to be "Gauna (secondary) Brahmins", leveraging the recently conferred right to upanayana.[6][9][3][ab] Beginning in 1822, Brahmin and Baidya scholars produced a series of polemical pamphlets arguing against one another and in 1831, the Baidya Samaj was formed by Khudiram Bisharad, a teacher at the Native Medical Institution, to defend class interests.[3] Gangadhar Ray produced voluminous literature to put forward partisan claims Baidyas descended from Brahmins.[3] Binodlal Sen later published Bharatamallika's genealogies in print.[3][20] A rivalry with the Kayasthas, who had been considered inferior since these times, became an integral part of this discourse; matrimonial alliances were discouraged, fomenting the rise of a rigid, endogamous caste group.[6][7][ac]

In 1893, Jnanendramohan Sengupta wrote Baidyajatir Baisista in an attempt to prove the Ambasthas had scriptural sanction of being ordained into sannyasa; Sengupta would remain a prolific author for the Baidya cause during the first quarter of the twentieth century.[34] In 1901, colonial ethnographer Herbert Hope Risley noted the Baidyas to be above Sudras but below Brahmins.[35] Baidya social historians like Umesh Chandra Gupta and Dinesh Chandra Sen supported Risley's observation with a measured scepticism and forged a glorious Baidya past in their writing of a history of Bengal from kulanjis. Gupta rebuked the Kayasthas for fabricating evidence to malign the Vaidyas as a low caste.[36][ad]

In the early twentieth century, Gananath Sen, the first dean of the Faculty of Ayurveda at Banaras Hindu University, opened a "Baidya Brahman Samiti" in Kolkata; the Baidyas were not merely equal to Brahmins but identical.[3] It was also suggested all Baidyas change their surnames to Sharma, a Brahmin patronymic.[3] In 1915 and 1916, Kuladakinkara Ray published Vaidyakulapanjika to advocate Baidyas were not just the same as Brahmins but the highest of them.[20][af] In 1922, Basantakumar Sen wrote Baidya Jatir Itihas on the same themes.[34] Pascale Haag notes these efforts to gain mobility would have partly succeeded without acceptance by Brahmin society, whose responses are yet to be studied.[20]

Notwithstanding these contestations, the dominance of Baidyas continued unabated into colonial rule when they proactively took to Western forms of education and held a disproportionate share of government jobs, elite professions, and landholding.[3][ag] A letter that was written by William Jones in around 1785 noted Ramalocana Kanthavarna to be "a perfect grammarian and excellent moralist" who also ran a tol but being a Baidya, lacked the "priestly pride" of his Brahmin students.[38][ah] In the smallpox epidemic of 1840s in Dhaka, Baidyas refused to inoculate the masses and relegated such menial tasks to lower-ranked barbers and garland makers.[40]

These attempts at attaining mobility were enmeshed with another nineteenth-century Baidya project of modernising Ayurveda.[3] Binodlal Sen had declared the genealogical works to be free for anyone who purchased medications above a certain value and Baidya medicine distributors were frequently found to sell revisionist caste histories.[3] Elements of colonial modernity—Western notions of physiology and medical instruments—were "braided" with Ayurveda to aid in their mobility.[41]

Baidyas were unquestionably established as among the "upper castes" by the mid-nineteenth century; they were the major part of the Bhadralok Samaj ("gentleman", "well-mannered person") alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas, and reported to the British Government.[1][42][43][44][ai] The Bhadraloks were eventually instrumental in demanding democratic reforms during the early twentieth century; a majority of "revolutionary terrorists" from Bengal who partook in the Indian independence movement came from this class.[43][45][46]

Modern Bengal

A report produced by the Government of West Bengal for the 1951 census found Baidyas' claims of Brahmin origin to lay on "slender" grounds.[35] These claims continued into the twenty-first century.[47] As of 2021, Baidyas' place in social hierarchy follows Brahmins[aj]—Baidyas wear the sacred thread, have access to scriptures, and use the surname Sharma (among others) but cannot conduct priestly services.[48][49] As of 1960, inter-marriages between Brahmins, Baidyas, and Kayasthas were common and increasing.[50]

Baidyas continue to wield considerable socio-economic power in modern Bengal as part of Bhadraloks; in absence of rigorous data, the precise extent is difficult to determine.[42] Parimal Ghosh notes this hegemony to be so complete Bengali and Bhadralok eventually became synonymous, disenfranchising the rest of Bengal.[51]

Notes

  1. ^ Refer Chakrabarti, Kunal (2001). Religious Process: The Puranas and the Making of a Regional Tradition. Oxford University Press. for an overview. The conclusion is worth noting: "The Brahmanization of Bengal ... seems to have engulfed most of the indigenous local cultures by the time the last redactions to the Puranas were made, and succeeded in forging a common religious cultural tradition, flexible enough to accommodate sub-regional variations and indifference to the emerging consensus on the dominant cultural mode among some social groups, and strong enough to take dissent in its stride."
  2. ^ Baidya authors of 19th and 20th century claimed Skanda Purana to have a description of the Baidya caste. They can't be located in currently available manuscripts.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Older sources on social setup include inscriptions of the Gupta and the Pala periods but Baidyas are not mentioned.[12]
  5. ^ The myth is very popular across a large set of Indian scriptures.[16] It probably has Indo-European origins.[16]
  6. ^ Venu had these mixed-castes further reproduce with other mixed-castes and four pure varnas. Those offspring were classed under Madhyama Saṃkaras and Adhama Saṃkaras. Besides, some tribes are classified as Mlecchas without invoking the myth.
  7. ^ All the Saṃkaras were classed under Sudras, true to the tradition of Bengal having only two varnas: Brahmins and Sudras.
  8. ^ Alongside were the 9 navasakas - all of them started out as Satsudras but three were demoted for various reasons. Then came, Patitas followed by Mlechhas.
  9. ^ Furui senses the express prohibitions on Ambastha/Baidyas to read the Puranas despite granting them the Ayurveda as indicative of a fear of encroachment upon Brahmin intellectual domain and a tacit acknowledgement of groups trained in alternate forms of knowledge; the deeming of Ambastha/Baidyas as Saṃkarottamawere concessional transactions where Brahmins entered into co operational agreements with other groups but commanded nominal authority.[14]
  10. ^ In any case, whether the Bṛhaddharma Puraṇa succeeded in materializing and sustaining the Brahminical visions of Bengali society is doubtful; the mediaeval law commentary Dāyabhāga shares few things in common with Bṛhaddharma Purana.[14]
  11. ^ For a detailed discussion on Kulanji literature see Chatterjee, Kumkum (2009). The Cultures of History in Early Modern India: Persianization and Mughal Culture in Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195698800.
  12. ^ Sadvaidyakulapnjika does not invoke any such connection.[6] Chandraprabha mentions Bharatamallika's father to be a Vaidya and an Ambastha; it also quotes from Hindu scriptures to prove why Ambasthas and Baidyas are equable.[20] Annapurna Chattopadhyaya noted the "genuineness and historical bearing" of these passages to be "questionable".[3] R. C. Majumdar, D. C. Ganguly, and R. C. Hazra reiterate concerns of genuineness but note that Bharatamallika must have reflected contemporary views.
  13. ^ The Puranas as well as Mahabharata hold them to be Kshatriyas.[3] Smriti and Shastra texts regard them as a mixed caste—of a Brahmin father and a lower caste wife.[3] The Jatakas mention them as Vaishyas. Ambastha Sutta, a Buddhist text regards them as Brahmins.[3] Also, see the next section on Upapuranas.
  14. ^ Nripendra K. Dutt, Pascale Haag as well as Poonam Bala concur that the terms were synonymous.[20] Jyotirmoyee Sarma hypothesizes both groups might have followed the same profession and eventually merged into one.[12] Dineshchandra Sircar and Annapurna Chattopadhyay express skepticism on the connection but consider Sarma's hypothesis to be plausible.[6] Projit Bihari Mukharji, however, rejects such an equivalence and notes "Ambastha" had meant different things in different contexts across the history of India; it was always a post-facto label claimed by different groups in their reinvention of themselves.[3] R. C. Majumdar rejected such an identification, too.[3]
  15. ^ The translation to Baidya is doubtful.
  16. ^ See Mitra, Rajendralal (August 1880). "Copper-Plate Inscriptions from Sylhet". Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. LIV: 141–151. for more details. No information exists about this dynasty (?) except what can be gleaned from these two plates; they were probably a lineage of the Devas.[13]
  17. ^ The Gaya Narasimha Temple Inscription was composed by one "Vaidya Bajrapani" during the reign of Nayapala, as was the Gaya Akshaybata Temple Inscription by "Vaidya Dharmapani" during the reign of Vigrahapala III. It is not wise to speculate on whether they were (B)Vaidyas — the Nalanda Stone Pillar inscription of Rajyapala explicitly notes one Vaidyanatha to be from the Vanik-kula (mercantile community).
  18. ^ The oldest inscription might have been the Talamanchi grant.
  19. ^ Saswati Sengupta writes, "The perspective is Brāhmaṇical but masquerades as a universal norm ostensibly outside of sectarian politics and historical maneuverings."
  20. ^ It must be borne in mind, however, the Baidya jati was not a homogeneous unit.[3] The community was divided into numerous endogamous samajes (societies) that exhibited strict conformity in rituals and social behaviour.[3] There were Shaivite Baidya samajes, with a marked antipathy for the Vaishnava cult.[3] Often, these samajes were further divided into sthans (places) that had variable degree of autonomy.[3]
  21. ^ Saswati Sengupta cites four other texts by Baidyas in a non-exhaustive list: two Chandi Mangalkavyas by Jaynārāyaṇa Sen (c. 1750) and Muktarāma Sen (Saradāmaṅgala, 1774), and two Manasa Mangalkavyas by Ṣaṣṭhībara Datta (late 17th c.) and Dbārikādāsa (prob. 18th c.)
  22. ^ See Meulenbeld, G. Jan (2000). "Seventeenth-Century authors and works". A History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. II A. Egbert Forsten. p. 278. ISBN 9069801248. for an overview of his works.
  23. ^ Both Kavikantahara and Bharatamallika mentioned of several older genealogies, which are now-lost or (unlikely) yet to be retrieved.
  24. ^ This Candrasekhara was based in Banaras and might have been the court poet of Rao Surjan Singh.
  25. ^ The text reiterates a different version of the Brh. P. myth, where Vaidyas are held to be the son of an Ambastha father and a Vaisya mother. Ambastha was born of a Maula father and a Vaisya mother. Maula was created of a Brahmin father and a Kshatriya mother.
  26. ^ The social hierarchy, as described in the Mangalkavyas by Baidya authors (if at all), is not described in any source.
  27. ^ Kunal Chakrabarti and Sudipta Kuvairaj note Ch. M. to demonstrate a confluence of Brahminical and local folk traditions; their views of caste society differed from traditional Brahmanic literature.[29]
  28. ^ Mukharji notes movements to gain social mobility actively sought to safeguard their earned dominance by making sure lower-ranked castes remained as such. Vaidyas were no exception.
  29. ^ Kayasthas rejected the mobility claims of Baidyas to the extent of bribing Brahmins and instead chose to assert themselves as Kshatriyas.[7]
  30. ^ These efforts met with much resistance from positivist historians. Jadunath Sarkar, R. C. Majumdar, and other historians rejected the idea kulanjis were acceptable as evidences of history.
  31. ^ It was highlighted Baidyas taught the Vedas unlike Brahmins, who were "apparently" only allowed to only recite them. Also, Baidyas exhibited sacrificatory values in the preparation of pakayajna and utterance of mantras during the making of a medical remedy.
  32. ^ The text proposed the word Vaidya was constructed either from Veda or Vidya, redefined the word Ambastha as meaning the father (of patients incl. Brahmins), quoted from the Dharmaśāstra cannon about caste groups exhibiting social mobility as a result of virtuous deeds[ae], and highlighted from Veda and Smritis about products of mixed marriages being entitled to carry their paternal caste.[20]
  33. ^ In the 1921 census, they were the most literate community in Bengal. According to David L. Curley, Baidyas were "serving in local revenue administrations, managing rent and revenue collections for zamindars, obtaining or providing short-term agrarian and mercantile credit, engaging in trade as agents or partners of the English and French East India Companies and acquiring zamindari estates".[37]
  34. ^ For an instance, Calcutta Sanskrit College barred Shudras from admission, initially allowing only Brahmins and Baidyas to enrol until Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar introduced admission for Kayasthas.[39]
  35. ^ Jyotirmoyee Sarma notes Baidyas already had the highest "secular rank" (bhadralok) but strove (to the fascination of external observers) for the highest of "ceremonial/scriptural rank" (brahmin).
  36. ^ In 1960, Chattopdhyay noted Baidyas were still treated as Sudras in all orthodox religious occasions.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (2004). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE. p. 24,25, 240. ISBN 978-0-76199-849-5.
  2. ^ a b c Dutt, Nripendra Kumar (1968). Origin and growth of caste in India, Volume 2. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 69-70.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Mukharji, Projit Bihari (2016-10-14). "A Baidya-Bourgeois World: The Sociology of Braided Sciences". Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Sciences. University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/9780226381824-003 (inactive 2021-11-15). ISBN 978-0-226-38182-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2021 (link)
  4. ^ a b Nripendra Kumar Dutt (1965). Origin and Growth of Caste in India: Vol. II: Castes in Bengal. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay.
  5. ^ Sharma, Tej Ram (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. p. 115.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sircar, D. C. (1959). Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient and Medieval India. Vol. 1. Firma KLM. pp. 108, 113–122.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chattopadhyaya, Annapurna (1960). The People And Culture Of Bengal: A Study In Origins. Vol. 2. Kolkata: Firma KLM. pp. 868–908.
  8. ^ Seal, Anil (1968), "Glossary", The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nineteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 374, ISBN 978-0-521-09652-2, retrieved 2021-07-30
  9. ^ a b c d e f Chatterjee, Kumkum (2010-10-01). "Scribal elites in Sultanate and Mughal Bengal". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 47 (4): 445–472. doi:10.1177/001946461004700402. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 143802267.
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  11. ^ Sengupta, Saswati (2021). "Invoking the Goddesses". Mutating Goddesses: Bengal's Laukika Hinduism and Gender Rights. Oxford University Press.
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