Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011 / pp. 1-11 ISSN 0974 - 200X
-1-
Religion and Making of a Region: A study of
The Baidyanath Cult
Amar Nath Jha
Associate Professor, Department of History
S. S. N. College, University of Delhi, Delhi
Introduction
th
The 7 century A. D. seems to be very
important for the making of ‘Indian History’
along with the emergence of various sociocultural traits in its various ‘Regions’. The
‘Harshacharita’ of Banabhatta, the first
historical book in Sanskrit language was
th
written in prose in 7 Century A.D. This book
gives an insight into the administration and
reign of king Harshavardhan who ruled from
606-647 A.D. The historical details given in
Harshacharita are similar to those of Hieun
Tsang, a Chinese traveler who gives important
information about Indian History. It was but
natural that the ‘Region of Santal Paragnas’
did not remain unaffected during this period. It
also witnessed several developments during
this period.
The region of the Santal Paragnas had
acquired a distinct identity of its own, at least
t h 1
from 7 century A.D. onwards. The
Baidyanath cult facilitated for this distinct
Abstract
th
The region of the Santal Paragnas had acquired a distinct identity of its own, at least from 7 century A.D.
onwards. The Baidyanath cult facilitated for this distinct regional identity of Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings. The Santal Paragnas along with some of the areas of modern Bihar and West Bengal; such as
the Banka and the Jamui Districts of Bihar in the north and north west and Burdawan and Birbhoom Districts
of West Bengal in the south and south east comprise a large and separate geo-cultural entity. Some of the
characteristics of this region can be identified by any serious student of History. Topography, demography,
Languages, mode of agriculture, landscape, pattern of house building, food habits, attire and several other
things form this vast country into one distinct region. Most of the people of this region are tri-lingual. Apart
from the local dialect, almost all the population of this area understands and speaks Bangla and Hindi. Shiva
and Shakti are worshipped in the entire area. Baidyanath remains in the centre of the entire world view of this
region. Not only the famous temples of Baidyanath and Basukinath but several other Shiva temples and
Shakti-Pithas are the centers of cultural activities of this region. Here Shiva and Shakti combine together and
become one, as far as the philosophical background of the Hindu religion in this region is concerned. All are
Shakta as well as Shaiva at a time, in this country. Even Vaishnavites also worship Shiva and Shakti. Hence,
Shiva-Shakti cult becomes the essence of the Baidyanath Cult and Baidyanath in his Ardhanarishwar form
not only is worshiped but remains as the supreme deity of this region. All other deities are connected to him in
different ways.
Keywords: Baidyanath Cult, Shakti-Pithas, Great-Tradition, Little-Tradition, Regional Culture.
regional identity of Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings which demonstrates the
assimilation of both, the “great tradition” and
the “little tradition”, which gives this area its due
identity. The “great tradition” – Vedic and
Pauranik tradition - along with the impact of
Mithila and Bengal, is the dominant tradition of
this region. The “Little tradition” - along with
several local cults has also acquired very
important place in the day to day rituals of this
region. This gave birth to a distinct sociocultural tradition. Consequently, Baidyanath
Dham emerged as a nucleus of the Baidyanath
Cult. The study of the Baidyanath Cult provides
us the clue to understand the evolution of a
distinct ‘Regional Culture’ in Santal Paragnas
in historical perspective.
Materials and Methods
Since this region has not yet been studied
by any professional historian, therefore, a little
data is available for the purpose. Nevertheless,
some works of great scholars like R. K.
Chaudhary, J. C. Jha, B. P. Sinha, C. P. N. -2- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Sinha, D. K. Chakrabarty and Surendra Jha
provide relevant and important references,
though in a stray manner, related to this region.
Therefore, this writer has primarily relied upon
the field studies conducted by him during last
few years. Findings of the field studies have
been substantiated by oral traditions of the
region. Thus, historical conclusions have been
derived through the prism of CulturalAnthropology. Hence, it may be claimed that
the role played by ‘Religion’ (The Baidyanath
Cult in this case) has been studied here to
understand the process of the making of a
‘Region’ (The Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings as a case in hand) for the first
time by any scholar so far. However, this theory
needs to be tested with further studies.
Results and Discussions
The region of Santal Paragnas, now a
commissionary division of the modern state of
Jharkhand, is “lying between 23° 48’ and 25°
18’ N. and 86° 28’ and 87° 5’ L. with an area of
2
5,470 square miles” . It is bounded on the north
by modern Bhagalpur and Katihar districts of
Bihar, on the east by Malda, Murshidabad and
Birbhum districts of West Bengal, on the south
by Burdwan and Dhanbad districts of West
Bengal and Jharkhand and on the west by
Giridih, Hazaribag, Jamui and Banka districts
of Jharkhand and Bihar. The old Bihar district
has been subdivided into six separate districts -
Dumka, Deoghar, Godda, Sahebganj, Jamtara
and Pakur.
It has three clear physiographic components.
The west or southwest section is dominated by
a rolling topography interspersed with hills.
The Calcutta-Patna section of the Indian
Railways passes through this area.
“Communication-wise this section was not
important till the advent of the railways” opines
3
D. K. Chakrabarti , but he is not correct. The
4
issue has already been dealt elsewhere, it can
be said that this very section provides the most
important information regarding the process of
state formation taking place in the early
medieval period of modern Santal Paragnas.
The most important river in this section is the
Ajay which, like the lesser rivers of the region,
has a shallow bed and frequent meanders. In
the Godda area and the stretch between
Burdwan and Teliagarhi along the Ganges, the
topography is flat and alluvial. The BurdwanTeliagarhi stretch is historically the most
important communication line between the
middle Gangetic valley and the regions further
5
east. This is a corridor defined by the
Rajmahal hills on the west and the Ganges on
the east. The hills come very close to the river
bank at some places. The forts at Teliagarhi,
north of Sahibganj and Sakrigali, south of
Sahibganj are on this line. The rim of the hills
overlooking the river are honey combed with
stone quarries and “we like to imagine that the
situation was the same in antiquity, particularly
during the Pala and Sena periods when the
stone from the Rajmahal hills was widely used
6
to make innumerable sculptures”.
Historical development in the region of
Santal Paragnas - In the Later Gupta period
Adityasena was certainly the master of South
7
and East Bihar. His Apsad and Shahpur
inscriptions are found in Magadh and the
Mandar Hill Rock-inscription in the east of
Banka Sub-division of the Bhagalpur district
8
(ancient Anga). In this connection reference
may be made to Vaidyanath Temple Inscription
9
which was brought from the Mandar Hill. “It
appears that the Baidyanath Temple Inscription
actually preserves important historical information
10
about Adityasena” concludes Dr. B. P. Sinha.
Here it may be added this inscription also
preserves important information about the
historicity of the Baidyanath Temple. But
surprisingly Dr. Sinha is of the opinion that “The
inscription is certainly much later, belonging to
th 11
the 16 century A.D.” But it seems that Sinha's
findings could be questioned. In effect, there
are enough evidence to prove the antiquity of
this Temple and hence this region as well.
Bateshwar inscriptions near ancient
Vikramsila University speak about Baidyanath
12
Tirtha Kshetra. Thus, one can say that in the
7th century A.D., the Later Gupta Emperor
Adityasena ruled this region.
Rahul Sankrityan is of the opinion that
during this period this area was known as
13
‘Sumha’. By various sources it can be inferred
that the core area of it (Sumha) was located in
Santal Paragnas. Dr. Surendra Jha writes in
this regard “Geographical connotation of the
ancient site of Sumha country varied from time -3- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
to time. Major portion of the present Santal
Paragnas was in Anga and the region in which
the village Maluti is located was known as
14
Sumha”. But he further mentions that another
geographical term related to Sumha was
‘Radha’. According to Jain Acharanga Sutta,
Vajjabhumi and Subbhabhumi were component
part of ‘Ladha’ (Radha) and the equation
shows that only a portion of Radha was known
by the geographical term ‘Sumha’. Thus it is
clear that Sukshma Desha or Sumha region
contained eastern portions of Birbhum as well
15
as Santal Paragnas opines Dr. Jha. However,
the writer disagrees with Dr. Jha to some
extent and believe that Dr. Jha is not correct
when he disputes Bhattacharya, that “Prof.
Bhattacharya has wrongly identified it with
Dakshina Radha only.” In fact taking clue from
Rahul Sankrityayan and corroborating with the
inscriptions mentioned above, it is clear that
the area of Apar Mandar, Radha and Sumha
overlapped and hence Sumha and or Radha
denotes more or less entire area of modern
Santal Parganas along with its surroundings,
which witness the process of historical
developments during this period. During the
fabulous regime of Pala dynasty.
During the fabulous regime of Pala
dynasty this region was part of the Pala
Empire. D. C. Sircar also says “Vatesvara is
mentioned as Valesvara (i.e.Vadesvar) in an
inscription of the early Pala age found at
Vatesvarasthan near the colgoan (Kahalgaon)
16
railway station in Bhagalpur district”. Keeping
in view the closeness of Santal Paragnas with
this place (Santal Paragnas has been carved
out with portions of old Bhagalpur division and
Burdwan division as mentioned earlier), it can
be inferred that during the early Pala period the
region under study, Santal Paragnas, must
have been in flour ishing state and
Vatesvarnath area was within the cultural zone
of Santal Paragnas since this also mentions
17
Vaidyanath kshetra.
In the region of Santal Paragnas a good
number of stone idols and other old relics
belonging to the Pal-Sena period (circa 8th
18
century-12th century A. D.) have been found.
The temples at Burhait, Basukinath, Deoghar,
Katikund, Dumka, Maluti, Pathrol etc comprise
a good number of stone idols of the Pala-Sena
19
period. A beautiful Door-jamb belonging to
the Sena period was found near Rajmahal by
20
the railway authorities. Likewise, at Teligarhi,
a richly carved Stone Pillar (12th century A. D.)
21
is still under worship. Recently the Basta
Pahar in the Meharama block of Godda District
has been explored and traces of a number of
ruined brick built temples on its summit have
22
been found. Local people connect this site
with Ramayan age. Further excavation may
add something new to this place.
During the reign of Narayan Pal this area
again formed the core part of part empire as
is evident from the fact that “Acharya
Abhayakaragupta, a great teacher and scholar
of Tantra, became the abbot of Vajrasana,
Nalanda and Vikramashila. He wrote a
commentary in eight thousand verses on
Prajnaparamita. Many of his books were
translated into Tibetan by Buddhakirti.
23
Abhayakaragupta hailed from Deoghar,”
writes Radhakrishna Chaudhary.
During his Gangetic campaign Rajendra
Chola seems to have visited the Baidyanath
Temple, as per the collective memory of the
people of this region. The Baidyanath Temple
Inscription of Adityasena mentions about
Cholesvar, probably indicating Rajendra
Chola. Since in Tirumalai Rock Inscription of
Rajendra Chola, mention is made of
Ranashura, of Dakshin Radha, the ancestor of
Lakshmishura, the ruler of Apar Mandar
mentioned in the Ramacharita, separately
from Mahipal of Uttar Radha, usually identified
24
by the scholars with Mahi Pala I of Pal family ,
we can safely reach the conclusion that the
collective public memory of the land bears the
historical fact.
Two inscriptions of Pala period found in
this area clearly establish the fact that the
region of Santal Paragnas was a part of the
Pala Empire. The Tapovan Inscription found
from Tapovan hill rocks, lying six km south-east
of Deoghar, speaks of ‘Shri Ramapal Devah’
and the second Inscription found from
Harlajori, a place five km in the north-east from
Deoghar mentions ‘Sri Nayayapal Devah’
25
leaves no doubt to this.
During the early sultanate period, this
region was under Bengal. Ikhtiyaruddin-4- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Muhammad Bin Bhakhtiyar Khalji had invaded
Assam and Bengal en route Tailiyagarhi. As
per a local legend, the Son of Laxman Sen, the
King of Cooch Bihar, fled from there and came
to Deoghar in the year 1201 A.D. The local
tradition claims that the king after fleeing from
his capital took shelter at Deoghar and made
this place his capital. Following the prince,
Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad Bin Bhakhtiyar
Khalji also came to Deoghar and he also made
26
Deoghar his Capital in the same year, 1201.
As per the local legend, there was a fort built by
him at the present site known as Jhaunsagarhi,
27
which was later burnt by Kala Pahar and is
called Jhaunsagarhi, since then. However,
there is no archeological evidence to support
this local legend as on today.
The Muslim invaders overrun entire area
during 13th–14th century A.D. Tailiyagarhi
was an entrance door for Muslim invaders.
They used to travel to & fro from Bengal to
Taliyagarhi because the main route from Bihar
to Bengal passed through Teliagarhi,
28
Sakarigali and Rajmahal of. this region.
Therefore, it was but natural that the region of
Santal Paragnas did not remain unaffected
from the movements of new political powers of
the land. However, it’s greater part-Sumha/
Urrat Radha/ Dakshin Radha/ Apar Mandar--
remained free from the destructions as we do
not have any evidence of invasion of
Bhakhtiyar Khilaji on the temple of Baidyanath,
which had acquired great fame since 7th
century A.D. Rather, if we believe Minhas, after
the invasion of Bhakhtiyar Khalji on Rai
Lakhamania (Monghyr), the Brahmins of that
area fled and took shelter at their holy places
named Shankhanath and Jagannath. Keeping
in view the religious importance of this place
this Shankhanath should be read as the
29
Baidyanath. In this context it is interesting to
note that he did not harm Baidyanath Temple,
while as he is said to have burnt the
Vikramshila University. Can we have the liberty
to say that the Baidyanath commanded
respect of Muslims also from the very
beginning, which is seen even today, as the
daily puja of Baidyanath is not completed
unless he is offered flowers from the Halim
family, descendents of Data Saheb Faquir, a
venerated sufi saint of the area, before the
30
doors of the temple are closed?
Migration of the Maithil Brahmins in the
Region of Santal Paragnas - We are told that
during the early medieval period Maithil
Brahmins migrated to Bengal in good
numbers. The story of Adisura, a legendry king
of Bengal is being credited for the migration of
Maithil Panditas to Bengal. But the historicity of
Adisura is not yet proven. Some identify
Adisura with Gurjar-Pratihar Bhoja. There are
others who hold that Vallalsena may be a
descendant of Adisura from the mother’s side
31
who flourished in 1060 A.D. “It is also
suggested that Adisura could well have been a
son or a grandson of Ranasura of Dakshina
Radha reffered to in Tirumalai Rock
32
Inscriptions of Rajendra Cola.” But D. C.
Sircar has different views about Adisura. He
holds Adisura legend totally unreliable.
According to him, Sura royal family in ancient
Bengal is known but no genuine ruler named
Adisura is found in Bengal sources. The only
Adisura known to the East Indian history is a
petty chief who is mentioned by Vacaspatimisra
33
in his Nyayakanika. In this context J. C. Jha
opines “Hence Adisura, his contemporary
must have flourished in the middle of the ninth
34
century A.D.” Swati Sen Gupta also opines
“He may have been a petty chief of North Bihar,
and a vassal of the Palas of Bengal and
35
Bihar.”
Further, if one try to reinterpret the story of
Adisura, he may reach to some valid
conclusion. As suggested by Swati Sen Gupta,
36
Adisura might be a small king of North Bihar.
Again as stated earlier, it is also suggested that
Adisura could well have been a son or a
grandson of Ranasura of Dakshina Radha
reffered to in Tirumalai Rock inscriptions of
37
Rajendra Cola. And, since Ranasura himself
might have been an ancestor of Laksmishura,
the ruler of Aparmandar, mentioned in the
38
Ramcharita, It can be safely concluded that
the said Adisura, a descendent of Ranasura,
was the ancestor of Laksmansura of Apar
Mandar. As shown earlier the area of Apar
Mandar/ Sumha/ Uttar Radha/ Dakshin Radha
are inter-changeable and overlapping and
correspond to the modern Santal Paragnas,
therefore, Maithil Brahmins must have started
to come to this area during the reign of Adisura
who was the king of the region of the modern -5- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Santal Paragnas during 10th-11th centuries.
Thus we can conclude that both D. C. Sircar
and R. C. Majumdar may not be correct when
they declare Adisura a mythical character. He
was a historical personality and ruler of the
region of Santal Paragnas. Readings of Swanti
Sen Gupta that Adisura was a king of east
Bihar Na not of North Bihar needs corrections
under abovementioned observations. Thus, by
all probable explanations it is safe to conclude
that the migration of the Maithil Brahmins in the
region of Santal Paraganas started taking
39
place since 10th-11th century AD.
The migration of Maithil Brahmins in this
region started a new era for this land. The
process of acculturation and Sanskritisation
left deep impact on both the Maithila Brahmins
and the local traditions of this area which
ultimately gave rise to the distinct character of
a religious sect of this area to be known as ‘The
Baidyanath Cult’. The Baidyanath Cult and the
cultural horizon of the region is deeply
influenced by the migration of Maithil Brahmins
40
in this area to a great extent, as a whole.
Evolution of a Regional Culture in the
Region of Santal Paragnas - The Santal
Paragnas along with some of the areas of
modern Bihar and West Bengal; such as the
Banka and the Jamui Districts of Bihar in the
north and north west and Burdawan and
Birbhoom Districts of West Bengal in the south
and south east comprise a large and separate
geo-cultural entity. Some of the characteristics
of this region can be identified by any serious
student of History. Topography, demography,
languages, mode of agriculture, landscape,
pattern of house building, food habits, attire
and several other things form this vast country
into one distinct region. Most of the people of
this region are tri-lingual. Apart from the local
dialect, almost all the population of this area
understands and speaks Bangla and Hindi.
Shiva and Shakti are worshipped in this entire
area. Baidyanath remains in the centre of the
entire world view of this region. Not only the
famous temples of Baidyanath and Basukinath
but several other Shiva temples and ShaktiPithas are the centers of cultural activities of
this region. Here Shiva and Shakti combine
together and become one, as far as the
philosophical background of the Hindu religion
in this region is concerned. All are Shakta as
well as Shaiva at a time, in this country. Even
Vaishnavites also worship Shiva and Shakti.
Hence, Shiva-Shakti cult becomes the
essence of the Baidyanath Cult and
Baidyanath in his Ardhanarishwar form not
only is worshiped but remains as the supreme
deity of this region. All other deities are
connected to him in different ways.
In course of field studies the writer has
come across a number of deities worshiped at
different levels in this region, but all extract
powers from the Baidyanath only, in the
capacity of his subordinate. We have made
extensive study of the following deities in order
to understand the influence of the Biadyanath
cult, which ultimately gives this entire region a
distinct identity. Some of those deities are as
under:
DUBE BABA: The first and most
important local deity of this area is ‘Dube
Baba’. As the name itself suggests, ‘Dube’ is
one of the surnames of Kanyakubja Brahmins,
who have migrated to this land from the
Madhyadesha during the pala-Sena period.
‘Dube Baba’ is worshiped primarily in Deoghar
and Jamtara districts and also in some parts of
Giridih district of this region. In Deoghar district
two villages named Dakai and Bamangama
are the two most important places where this
deity is worshiped on a large scale, though
there is not a single village in these two districts
where we do not find the prevalence of Dube
Baba Pooja.
The emergence of ‘Dube Baba’ as a deity
is attributed to his enmity with a powerful
Khetori chief. Dube was killed by the chief in a
fight for a piece of land. Thereafter, incarnated
as ‘Dube Baba’, he started uprooting Khetoris
from the area by his divine use of snakes.
Unable to sustain the curse of snake-bite all
khetoris left that area and took shelter in the
vicinity of Basukinath Dham of Dumka district,
where Shiva is worshipped as lord Basukinath,
the lord or the king of snakes, and thus the
wrath of ‘Dube Baba’ on khetoris was
restrained. But ‘Dube Baba’ retained his
supreme position as a God of snakes in the
above mentioned two districts of the area. In
this entire area, where ‘Dube Baba’ is
worshipped, we do not find the habitat of any -6- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
khetori family even today.
Dube Baba is the supreme deity of snakes
in this area. Here snake-bite is cured only by
the grace of this deity. Even today, in this age of
globalization and computerization, after any
incident of a snake-bite, not only illiterate
villagers but the highly placed officers and
English educated intellectuals of this area also
take refuge to this deity, instead of going to a
doctor. It is believed that with the pleasure of
Dube Baba the snake will come back, again
bite the victim to take back its poison and the
victim will be cured. Therefore, snakes are not
killed in this region. This may undoubtedly be
the reflection of utter superstition but at the
same time this also speaks of the popularity of
the deity in this entire region. This deity
derives all his powers from Baidyanath as he is
regarded as the manifestation of a particular
aspect of Shiva, Nageshwar, the lord of
serpents too.
BABU OJHA : ‘Babu Ojha’ is primarily
worshiped in the village named Sakarigali,
situated at about 15 Km west of Deoghar city.
This deity is the main deity of this village and is
perceived to be a ‘Rakshak’ or saviour. He
cures the problems related to ghosts and black
magic. People from far distant places visit this
village to get cured of their problems and in
lieu, offer their worship to this deity. We all
know that Shiva is known as Bhootnath as well.
I believe this deity is the manifestation of that
aspect of Shiva. This deity is satisfied only after
being given he-goat sacrifice to him. The
importance of ‘Babu Ojha’ can be assessed by
the simple evidence that on the main door of
the Baidyanath temple, local pilgrims offer
water, flowers and other things to this deity,
before entering into the sanctorum (garbhagriha)
of the temple. As per our present state of
knowledge, ‘Babu Ojha’ is worshiped in
Sankarigali village only but exercises immense
influence in the entire area. The entire region
gives high respect to this deity.
Brahma Devata : This deity is very special
in the sense that only Maithil Brahmins worship
him. All Maithil Brahmin families have their own
‘Brahma Devatas’. This deity is supposed to be
one of the most pious and elevated forefathers
of the concerned family, who is incarnated as
‘Brahma Devata’ after unnatural death, to
protect his family members from the negative
influence of all evil forces. So, he is also a
‘Rakshak Devata’ of individual Maithil Brahmin
families in this region. The interesting thing to
note is that this deity is different from ‘Brahma
Pishach’ who is also worshipped in the similar
fashion in certain families of not only Maithil
Brahmins but other Brahmins too. While an
unnatural death of a non-Maithil Brahmin may
lead to his emergence as ‘Brahma Pishach’the
same cannot be said about ‘Brahma Devata’.
The basic difference between these two is that
while ‘Barhma Devata’ is a Rakshak Devata of
Maithil Brahmins only, as said earlier, ‘Brahma
Pishach’ is an evil spirit. Villagers are scared of
‘Brahma Pishach’ but ‘Brahma Devata’ is
highly respected and venerated. This deity too
derives his power from Baidyanath and
protects his progenies from evil forces.
Yaksha Baba: Almost 20 Km in the north
east side of Deoghar city, there is a deity
known as ‘Jakh Baba’ or ‘Yaksha Baba’ in
Jaynagara village. This deity also cures people
suffering from all black magic. As we know that
Yakshas and Kinnaras are regarded the
servants of Shiva, hence in that capacity this
deity too derives his power from Baidyanath.
Interestingly this is perhaps the only place
where this deity Yaksha is worshipped, though
we come across much folk lore narrating the
charismatic power of Jakha. He is regarded a
foolish but very powerful deity who can be
tamed by people by their seer wisdom. He is
not a harmful deity and generally regarded
very friendly and helpful to the villagers in this
entire region. People from all part of the Santal
Paragnas visit this place in large numbers in
order to be blessed by ‘Yaksha Baba’.
Kolha Gosain : This deity is basically
worshipped in the so called low caste people of
this area. The very name of this deity gives us
some clue about his origin. He might be the
chief deity of the primitive ‘Cole tribe’ of this
region. This tribe seems to be one of the
aboriginal inhabitants, like Paharias, of this
region. In the process of acculturation this
deity became an important deity of the region.
People of all caste and class are very fearful of
this deity and offer sacrifices to please him. He
is so ferocious that nobody dares to displease -7- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
him and is offered his share of sacrifice at all
auspicious occasions like birth, mundan,
upanayan and marriage ceremonies.
In a village named Lakhoria, situated
around 20 Km in the south west from Deoghar
city, this deity is worshipped. Though, as we
said, this deity belongs to the lower caste/tribal
origin, but worshipped by all castes including
Brahmins. Normally he is satisfied by goat
sacrifice, but he is very fond of hen & cocks.
Though Brahmins are allowed to offer only hegoats, other caste people can offer hen &
cocks also.
Baba Namdeva: This deity too is
worshipped mainly by the Charmakar
community of this region but the ceremony and
vrata known as ‘Chaupahara’ related to this
deity is observed by all class and caste
including the Brahmins. Mythologically Baba
Namdev is said to be the son of Parshuram by
some sections of the Charmakar community of
this area but this popular belief is not supported
by any scripture or Purana. Nevertheless, the
famous Bhakti Saint Namdev has some
similarities with this Baba Namdev of
Chaupahara story. This Baba Namdev is also
said to be the incarnation of Parshuram, as per
the popular belief of other sections of the
Charmakar community of this region. As per
the versions of this section, Baba Namdeva
was born in a low caste family as he had
committed the sin of killing his mother Renuka
in his last birth by the order of his father
Jamadagni. Though as a vow and penance
Baba Namdev had completed extreme
‘Tapasya’ and he had adopted the Bhakti Marg,
but Brahmins did not pay him any respect and
he was forced to remain as an untouchable
and was prohibited to enter the village temple.
Hence, he was compelled to offer pooja to the
village deity from the back of the temple. But as
he was a great soul, the village deity shifted the
door in the direction of Namdeva. Thus
Namdeva becomes the symbol of the magical
power of an untouchable earned by the
‘Tapasya’ or ‘Bhakti’ and ‘Chaupahara’ is
celebrated to mark his achievements.
The most important thing to note about
this ‘Chaupahara’ is that though this is
celebrated even by Brahmins but the ‘Bhajans’
and songs are sung by a group consisted of the
people from ‘Charmakar’ and or ‘Dom’
community only. They are also known as
‘Dholakiyas’. Interestingly this group sings the
songs composed by two great personalities of
this area named Charu Charmakar and Bhava
Pritanand Ojha respectively. For the first half of
the ceremony songs of Charu Charmakar are
sung. The tones of these songs are very bitter
and critical to Brahmanic order. In the second
half of the ceremony devotional songs and
Jhumars dedicated to Baidyanath and Parvati,
composed by Bhava Pritanand Ojha, one of
the chief priests of the Baidyanath Temple and
a representative of the orthodox brahmanic
order, are sung. Thus Charu Charmakar, a
rebel of brahamanic order and Bhava
Pritanand Ojha, an upholder of brahmanic
order, both are venerated by Brahmins as well
as Charmakars in ‘Chaupahara’. Hence
‘Chaupahara’ event becomes the symbol of
the assimilation and synthesis of the two
mutually contradictory and hostile world views.
This assimilation of cultural values and
synthesis of different world views provides this
entire region of Santal Paragnas a distinct
41
identity of its own.
There are also a number of various other
local deities worshiped in this region, but we
are not including details of all of them and have
studied these five major deities only, because
all the symptoms and characteristics
associated to the distinct culture of the region
of Santal Paragnas are imbibed in these five
major local deities. All other small local deities
appear to be proxy of these five.
With a careful and minute analysis of the
mode of worship of these deities we also
observe several distinct characteristics of this
region. We find that while ‘Dube Baba’ comes
from a Kanyakubja Brahmin caste and
naturally he is supposed to be a vegetarian
deity as the Kanyakubjas are, but he accepts
both Anna as well as Pashu-Bali that is animal
sacrifices as offerings. He-goats are sacrificed
to him in a large numbers at different places.
Both the villages of Dakai and Bamangama
witness the scene of hundreds of goat
sacrifices every year. This can simply be
explained in terms of the influence of the “little
tradition” of the area on the “great tradition” -8- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
where aboriginal peoples’ non-vegetarian
mode of worship combined with Maithil
Brahmins goat sacrificial mode of worship is
attributed to this vegetarian Kanyakubja
Brahmin deity. Along with this the ecological
concerns of aboriginal people is still honored
by not killing snakes in this region. That is why
many rare species of snakes are still found in
this region. Therefore, the emergence of ‘Dube
Baba’ as an important deity of this region with
this distinct mode of ritual worship is a
reflection of the process of cultural assimilation
between the “Great tradition” and the “Little
tradition” of the region.
Similarly ‘Babu Ojha’, who comes from a
Maithil Brahmin caste, is able to acquire a
place on the door of Baidyanath temple is
again the reflection of the same process. We
all know that the Baidyanath is worshiped in
the region since time immemorial and the
historicity of the Baidyanath Cult goes back to
7th century A.D., while as Maithil Brahmins
migrated in this region much later, only around
10th-11th century A.D., as we have already
discussed earlier. Hence the prominent
position acquired by Babu Ojha on the door of
the Baidyanath Temple signifies the important
place acquired by the Maithil Brahmins in the
overall Baidyanath Cult horizon. Similarly the
acceptance of ‘Brahmadevata’ as an important
deity of the area also indicates the same thing
i.e. the important positions of Maithil Brahmins
in the process of the evolution of the regional
culture of this country.
The recognition and acceptance of ‘Kolha
Gosain’ and ‘Namdeva’ as important deities by
the upper caste Hindus including Brahmins,
very clearly establishes the fact that the
process of interactions between the local or
“little tradition” and the elite or “great tradition”
ultimately paved the way for the emergence of
a distinct regional culture of the region of
Santal Paragnas. We further notice this
procees when we find that two sub-castes
emerged within the Charmakar community of
this region which is known as ‘Goriya’ and
‘Dusiya’ Charmakars. The ‘Goriyas’ are those
having fair skin and who left eating flesh of
dead animals simply because their women folk
were allowed to enter the houses of Brahmins
as a ‘Dagarin’ and were even allowed to feed
their milk to the infants of Brahmin families.
The ‘Dusiya’ remained polluted or ‘Dushit’
because they continued with their traditional
work and food habits. That is why we find that
the ‘Gorias’ do not marry outside any
Charmakar families of this region and claim to
be as pious as those of the Brahmins.
Interestingly ‘Dagarins’ command respect and
love of the Brahmin communities of this region.
This is a very distinct characteristic of the
region of Santal Paraganas.
The topography of this region has made
the Santal Paragnas a safe heaven for the
rebels as they could hide themselves in the
dense forest and unconquerable hills of the
region. We come across many examples
during medieval period when rebel against the
mighty central power took shelter in this region.
During the British period also this country used
to be the refuse of revolutionaries. That is why
we find a tradition of rebellions in this land.
Leaving aside the remote past even if we try to
analyze its recent past we find a series of
revolts against the British rule in this country
starting from ‘paharia’ revolt up to the
‘Jharkhand movement’. Inhabitants of this
region have always been up in arms against
the exploiters and invaders. This distinct
characteristic was possible due to its
topography. The topography of this land gives
it a distinct regional identity.
The Region of Santal Paragnas: a
victim of Historiographical Colonialism - It
is a truth that the region of Santal Paragnas
has never been able to attract the attention of
historians, despite the fact that it contains very
rich pre-historical and historical traditions.
Generally this region is perceived as a part of
ancient and medieval Anga, which is not
correct. As has been said earlier, historically,
only some parts of Santal Paragnas
constituted a portion of the Anga and a greater
portion of this region remained outside the
boundary of the Anga. Similarly, southern and
eastern parts of modern Santal Paragnas
constituted parts of various early medieval
kingdoms of modern Bengal. Therefore, the
historicity of this region known as Santal
Paragnas in modern times, gives her a distinct
regional identity during the early medieval
periods of Indian history.-9- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Before venturing into the study of a
regional culture in the region of Santal
Paragnas we must not forget that most of the
modern historians focus only on the events
related to the Santals and other tribes and thus
tend to forget to throw light on the land, culture
and history of Santal Paragnas in toto. May be,
unconsciously, Santal Paragnas becomes the
synonym of tribal culture alone, while as the
fact remains that along with Santal and other
tribes the entire region has a long history and
culture like its other neighbours i.e. Bengal and
Bihar. Therefore, this general understanding
about Santal Paragnas needs to be improved
with factual details.
We all know that the geography plays a
significant role in the formation of the regional
identities of a place or area in the course of its
historical evolution. Gramsci also acknowledges
this point In his essay ‘Some Aspects of the
42
Southern Questions’. Historians, like B.
43
Subbarao also feel the same way. M. S.
44
Pandey also addresses the same issue. Thus
geographical differentiation does not underline
only the evolution of variant landscapes, etc.
but also marks the process of alternate social
and cultural formations. Therefore, we have to
understand the geographical composition and
the process of state formation, in order to
understand the religio-cultural developments,
of the area of our study. But unfortunately
regional histories do not find much attention of
dominant historiography in India which
sometimes prepares ground for socio-political
unrest in the country.
In the 55th session of the Indian History
Congress (1994), referred earlier, delivering
the Presidential address for the Ancient India
Section Dr. C. P. N. Sinha too expresses his
concern that “the hitherto dominant
explanatory models for the study of early India
very often ignore the specificities of the
45
different regions”. Consequently, the “imagined”
Indian Idioms receive such domineering
historical projections that they too subsume
even the distinct traits of the constitutive
regions. Such a tendency not only negates the
dynamic role of a set of peripheries by pushing
them into the backyards of historical
development, but ironically puts a region as
antithetical to the national ethos if the former
seeks to underline its own identity. It is needless
to say, therefore, that a historiographical tradition
which neglects regional history may culminate
into dangerous outcomes– by negating
regional identities, it in effect, generates a
regional perception that seeks to demand for
break way autonomy for itself. Hence, “it is
argued that to overwhelm to the extent of
negating regional identities under the rubric of
pan-Indian historiography is to tread a path
46
which is essentially counter productive”. The
historical identity of a region should certainly
be appreciated and an attempt should be
made to situate it in the “broader context of
47
historical developments in early India”. There
is a sensible need for sharing important
concerns with the suppressed voices and
imaginations within the metropolis. So the
need of investigating history at micro-level has
become much more relevant today, than was
in any other period of history, to understand the
basis of Indian cultural traditions. “National
history is nothing but a composite of the
histories of regions comprising the nation”
says again Dr. C. P. N. Sinha, in his book ‘The
48
Mithila under the Karnata’. In the Indian
context regional history has significance as
India has always been a sub-continent, a vast
geographical entity with a variety of cultures,
religions and languages. “Each fragment of
this vast land mass has fostered a unique
49
culture of its own”. Regional history in India is
a far more complex and absorbing subject than
in any other country of the world because often
a particular region has a distinct identity of its
50
own.
Conclusion
The present study does not permit to put
all findings related to the reconstruction of the
history of the region of Santal Paragnas (best
be renamed as Upper Mandar, a principality or
small kingdom of 7th century A.D., which
incorporated almost the same geo-political
boundary of today’s santal Paragnas and its
surroundings), the use of a specific geocultural term, ‘The Vaidyanatheshwar Kshetra’
as cited above, to denote this entire area
leaves no doubt that this is a specific ‘Region’
since the early medieval period. The region of
Santal Paragnas, forms a separate geo--10- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
cultural entity from the very beginning, at least
from the 7th century A.D. The importance of
Baidyanath lingam as one of the important 12
jyotirlingams and one of the famous Shakti
pithas called Chitabhoomi, mentioned in the
52
list of the Shakta Pithas named hardaPitha,
indicates about the historicity of this ‘Region’.
References
1. Jha Amar Nath, Locating the Early History
of Santal Paragnas, Paper presented in
Ancient India Section of the 70th session
of All India History Congress, University of
Delhi, Delhi
2. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XXII,
p 78
3. Chakrabarti D. K., Archaeology of Eastern
India, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi,
1993, p 98
4. Jha Amar Nath Jha, op. cit
5. Chakrabarti D. K. , op.cit
6. Ibid
7. Sinha B. P., Dynastic History of Magadh,
Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1977,
p 158
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Sinha B. P., op. cit., p159
11. Sinha B. P., op. cit., pp. 158-159
12. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, Hindi Vidyapeetha Deoghar,
2009, p 258
13. Sinha C. P. N., Presidential Address,
Section I, PIHC, 55th Session, Aligarh,
1994, p18
14. Jha Surendra, Synthesis of Budhist,
Shaiva and Shakta Tantras, Pratibha
Prakashan, New Delhi, 2009, p 15
15. Ibid
16. Sircar D. C., J.A.I.H. Vol. 1-2, 1972-73,
p 46
17. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., p 258
18. Sinha Ajay Kumar, The Santal Paragnas
through the Ages. (I could not find any
book of this writer on Santal Paragnas.
However I have a printed article with the
above title with me.)
19. Ibid
20. Ibid
21. Ibid
22. Ibid
23. Chaudhary Radhakrishna, The University
of Vikramasila, Bihar Research Society,
Patna, 1975, p. 31, Cf. R. Sankrityayana,
Tibet Me Baudhadharma, p 42
24. Ghosh Amartya, PIHC: 53 Session, 1992-
93, pp 79-81
25. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., pp 262-263
26. We do not have any further evidence to
corroborate this, except the District
Census Hand Book (Santal Pagnas),
1961, Cf. S. Narayan, The Sacred
Complexes of Deoghar and Rajgir, New
Delhi, 1979, p 5
27. As per the versions of the local people of
Deoghar, Kala Pahar had attacked the
Baidyanath Temple in 1565, but could not
destroy it. Thus, he became revengeful
and set the said old fort/settlement of the
present Jhaunsa Garhi to fire and burnt it
completely
28. Chakrabarti D.K., op. cit.
29. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., p 277
30. I have been told about this practice by Mr.
Harafu, the surviving descendent of Data
Saheb Faquir and also by the Priests of
the temple
31. Chanda R., Gauda-Rajmala, p.p. 69-71,
cf. J. C. Jha, Migration and Achievements
of Maithila Panditas, Janaki Prakashan,
New Delhi, 1991
32. Ghosh Amartya, Op. cit
33. Jha J. C., op. cit., p 30-11- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
34. Jha J. C., op. cit
35. Jha J. C., p. 31
36. Ibid
37. Ghosh Amartya, PIHC: 53 Session, 1992-
93, pp.79-81. Also see J. N. Sarkar,
History of Bengal, Vol.II, Calcutta, 2003
(reprint), p 459
38. Sinha C. P. N., Sectional Presidential
Address (Ancient India), Proceedings,
IHC: 55th Session, 1994, p19
39. Jha Amar Nath Jha, Migration of Maithil
Brahmanas to Santal Paragnas,
Anusandhanika / Vol.VIII / No. II / July
2010, pp 184-189
40. Ibid
41. Das R.K., Principal, Kendriya Vidyalay,
Suratgarh, Rajasthan who is also a native
of the village Navadih (near Rohini)
Deoghar district of Jharkhand, provided
me this extremely important information
which was subsequently confirmed by
investigating other sources
42. Selection from political writings, 1921-26,
London, 1976, pp.458-462. Cf. C. P. N.
Sinha, Sectional Presidential Address, op.
cit
43. Subbarao B. , The personality of India: Pre
and Proto History of India and Pakistan,
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,
1958
44. Pandey M. S., The Historical Geography
and Topography of Bihar, Motilal
Banarasidas, Delhi, 1963
45. Sinha C. P. N., Presidential Address,
Section I, PIHC, 55th Session, Aligarh,
1994
46. Ibid
47. Ibid
48. Sinha C. P. N., Mithila Under the Karnatas,
Janaki Prakashan, Patna, 1979, preface
49. Ibid
50. Ibid
-1-
Religion and Making of a Region: A study of
The Baidyanath Cult
Amar Nath Jha
Associate Professor, Department of History
S. S. N. College, University of Delhi, Delhi
Introduction
th
The 7 century A. D. seems to be very
important for the making of ‘Indian History’
along with the emergence of various sociocultural traits in its various ‘Regions’. The
‘Harshacharita’ of Banabhatta, the first
historical book in Sanskrit language was
th
written in prose in 7 Century A.D. This book
gives an insight into the administration and
reign of king Harshavardhan who ruled from
606-647 A.D. The historical details given in
Harshacharita are similar to those of Hieun
Tsang, a Chinese traveler who gives important
information about Indian History. It was but
natural that the ‘Region of Santal Paragnas’
did not remain unaffected during this period. It
also witnessed several developments during
this period.
The region of the Santal Paragnas had
acquired a distinct identity of its own, at least
t h 1
from 7 century A.D. onwards. The
Baidyanath cult facilitated for this distinct
Abstract
th
The region of the Santal Paragnas had acquired a distinct identity of its own, at least from 7 century A.D.
onwards. The Baidyanath cult facilitated for this distinct regional identity of Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings. The Santal Paragnas along with some of the areas of modern Bihar and West Bengal; such as
the Banka and the Jamui Districts of Bihar in the north and north west and Burdawan and Birbhoom Districts
of West Bengal in the south and south east comprise a large and separate geo-cultural entity. Some of the
characteristics of this region can be identified by any serious student of History. Topography, demography,
Languages, mode of agriculture, landscape, pattern of house building, food habits, attire and several other
things form this vast country into one distinct region. Most of the people of this region are tri-lingual. Apart
from the local dialect, almost all the population of this area understands and speaks Bangla and Hindi. Shiva
and Shakti are worshipped in the entire area. Baidyanath remains in the centre of the entire world view of this
region. Not only the famous temples of Baidyanath and Basukinath but several other Shiva temples and
Shakti-Pithas are the centers of cultural activities of this region. Here Shiva and Shakti combine together and
become one, as far as the philosophical background of the Hindu religion in this region is concerned. All are
Shakta as well as Shaiva at a time, in this country. Even Vaishnavites also worship Shiva and Shakti. Hence,
Shiva-Shakti cult becomes the essence of the Baidyanath Cult and Baidyanath in his Ardhanarishwar form
not only is worshiped but remains as the supreme deity of this region. All other deities are connected to him in
different ways.
Keywords: Baidyanath Cult, Shakti-Pithas, Great-Tradition, Little-Tradition, Regional Culture.
regional identity of Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings which demonstrates the
assimilation of both, the “great tradition” and
the “little tradition”, which gives this area its due
identity. The “great tradition” – Vedic and
Pauranik tradition - along with the impact of
Mithila and Bengal, is the dominant tradition of
this region. The “Little tradition” - along with
several local cults has also acquired very
important place in the day to day rituals of this
region. This gave birth to a distinct sociocultural tradition. Consequently, Baidyanath
Dham emerged as a nucleus of the Baidyanath
Cult. The study of the Baidyanath Cult provides
us the clue to understand the evolution of a
distinct ‘Regional Culture’ in Santal Paragnas
in historical perspective.
Materials and Methods
Since this region has not yet been studied
by any professional historian, therefore, a little
data is available for the purpose. Nevertheless,
some works of great scholars like R. K.
Chaudhary, J. C. Jha, B. P. Sinha, C. P. N. -2- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Sinha, D. K. Chakrabarty and Surendra Jha
provide relevant and important references,
though in a stray manner, related to this region.
Therefore, this writer has primarily relied upon
the field studies conducted by him during last
few years. Findings of the field studies have
been substantiated by oral traditions of the
region. Thus, historical conclusions have been
derived through the prism of CulturalAnthropology. Hence, it may be claimed that
the role played by ‘Religion’ (The Baidyanath
Cult in this case) has been studied here to
understand the process of the making of a
‘Region’ (The Santal Paragnas and its
surroundings as a case in hand) for the first
time by any scholar so far. However, this theory
needs to be tested with further studies.
Results and Discussions
The region of Santal Paragnas, now a
commissionary division of the modern state of
Jharkhand, is “lying between 23° 48’ and 25°
18’ N. and 86° 28’ and 87° 5’ L. with an area of
2
5,470 square miles” . It is bounded on the north
by modern Bhagalpur and Katihar districts of
Bihar, on the east by Malda, Murshidabad and
Birbhum districts of West Bengal, on the south
by Burdwan and Dhanbad districts of West
Bengal and Jharkhand and on the west by
Giridih, Hazaribag, Jamui and Banka districts
of Jharkhand and Bihar. The old Bihar district
has been subdivided into six separate districts -
Dumka, Deoghar, Godda, Sahebganj, Jamtara
and Pakur.
It has three clear physiographic components.
The west or southwest section is dominated by
a rolling topography interspersed with hills.
The Calcutta-Patna section of the Indian
Railways passes through this area.
“Communication-wise this section was not
important till the advent of the railways” opines
3
D. K. Chakrabarti , but he is not correct. The
4
issue has already been dealt elsewhere, it can
be said that this very section provides the most
important information regarding the process of
state formation taking place in the early
medieval period of modern Santal Paragnas.
The most important river in this section is the
Ajay which, like the lesser rivers of the region,
has a shallow bed and frequent meanders. In
the Godda area and the stretch between
Burdwan and Teliagarhi along the Ganges, the
topography is flat and alluvial. The BurdwanTeliagarhi stretch is historically the most
important communication line between the
middle Gangetic valley and the regions further
5
east. This is a corridor defined by the
Rajmahal hills on the west and the Ganges on
the east. The hills come very close to the river
bank at some places. The forts at Teliagarhi,
north of Sahibganj and Sakrigali, south of
Sahibganj are on this line. The rim of the hills
overlooking the river are honey combed with
stone quarries and “we like to imagine that the
situation was the same in antiquity, particularly
during the Pala and Sena periods when the
stone from the Rajmahal hills was widely used
6
to make innumerable sculptures”.
Historical development in the region of
Santal Paragnas - In the Later Gupta period
Adityasena was certainly the master of South
7
and East Bihar. His Apsad and Shahpur
inscriptions are found in Magadh and the
Mandar Hill Rock-inscription in the east of
Banka Sub-division of the Bhagalpur district
8
(ancient Anga). In this connection reference
may be made to Vaidyanath Temple Inscription
9
which was brought from the Mandar Hill. “It
appears that the Baidyanath Temple Inscription
actually preserves important historical information
10
about Adityasena” concludes Dr. B. P. Sinha.
Here it may be added this inscription also
preserves important information about the
historicity of the Baidyanath Temple. But
surprisingly Dr. Sinha is of the opinion that “The
inscription is certainly much later, belonging to
th 11
the 16 century A.D.” But it seems that Sinha's
findings could be questioned. In effect, there
are enough evidence to prove the antiquity of
this Temple and hence this region as well.
Bateshwar inscriptions near ancient
Vikramsila University speak about Baidyanath
12
Tirtha Kshetra. Thus, one can say that in the
7th century A.D., the Later Gupta Emperor
Adityasena ruled this region.
Rahul Sankrityan is of the opinion that
during this period this area was known as
13
‘Sumha’. By various sources it can be inferred
that the core area of it (Sumha) was located in
Santal Paragnas. Dr. Surendra Jha writes in
this regard “Geographical connotation of the
ancient site of Sumha country varied from time -3- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
to time. Major portion of the present Santal
Paragnas was in Anga and the region in which
the village Maluti is located was known as
14
Sumha”. But he further mentions that another
geographical term related to Sumha was
‘Radha’. According to Jain Acharanga Sutta,
Vajjabhumi and Subbhabhumi were component
part of ‘Ladha’ (Radha) and the equation
shows that only a portion of Radha was known
by the geographical term ‘Sumha’. Thus it is
clear that Sukshma Desha or Sumha region
contained eastern portions of Birbhum as well
15
as Santal Paragnas opines Dr. Jha. However,
the writer disagrees with Dr. Jha to some
extent and believe that Dr. Jha is not correct
when he disputes Bhattacharya, that “Prof.
Bhattacharya has wrongly identified it with
Dakshina Radha only.” In fact taking clue from
Rahul Sankrityayan and corroborating with the
inscriptions mentioned above, it is clear that
the area of Apar Mandar, Radha and Sumha
overlapped and hence Sumha and or Radha
denotes more or less entire area of modern
Santal Parganas along with its surroundings,
which witness the process of historical
developments during this period. During the
fabulous regime of Pala dynasty.
During the fabulous regime of Pala
dynasty this region was part of the Pala
Empire. D. C. Sircar also says “Vatesvara is
mentioned as Valesvara (i.e.Vadesvar) in an
inscription of the early Pala age found at
Vatesvarasthan near the colgoan (Kahalgaon)
16
railway station in Bhagalpur district”. Keeping
in view the closeness of Santal Paragnas with
this place (Santal Paragnas has been carved
out with portions of old Bhagalpur division and
Burdwan division as mentioned earlier), it can
be inferred that during the early Pala period the
region under study, Santal Paragnas, must
have been in flour ishing state and
Vatesvarnath area was within the cultural zone
of Santal Paragnas since this also mentions
17
Vaidyanath kshetra.
In the region of Santal Paragnas a good
number of stone idols and other old relics
belonging to the Pal-Sena period (circa 8th
18
century-12th century A. D.) have been found.
The temples at Burhait, Basukinath, Deoghar,
Katikund, Dumka, Maluti, Pathrol etc comprise
a good number of stone idols of the Pala-Sena
19
period. A beautiful Door-jamb belonging to
the Sena period was found near Rajmahal by
20
the railway authorities. Likewise, at Teligarhi,
a richly carved Stone Pillar (12th century A. D.)
21
is still under worship. Recently the Basta
Pahar in the Meharama block of Godda District
has been explored and traces of a number of
ruined brick built temples on its summit have
22
been found. Local people connect this site
with Ramayan age. Further excavation may
add something new to this place.
During the reign of Narayan Pal this area
again formed the core part of part empire as
is evident from the fact that “Acharya
Abhayakaragupta, a great teacher and scholar
of Tantra, became the abbot of Vajrasana,
Nalanda and Vikramashila. He wrote a
commentary in eight thousand verses on
Prajnaparamita. Many of his books were
translated into Tibetan by Buddhakirti.
23
Abhayakaragupta hailed from Deoghar,”
writes Radhakrishna Chaudhary.
During his Gangetic campaign Rajendra
Chola seems to have visited the Baidyanath
Temple, as per the collective memory of the
people of this region. The Baidyanath Temple
Inscription of Adityasena mentions about
Cholesvar, probably indicating Rajendra
Chola. Since in Tirumalai Rock Inscription of
Rajendra Chola, mention is made of
Ranashura, of Dakshin Radha, the ancestor of
Lakshmishura, the ruler of Apar Mandar
mentioned in the Ramacharita, separately
from Mahipal of Uttar Radha, usually identified
24
by the scholars with Mahi Pala I of Pal family ,
we can safely reach the conclusion that the
collective public memory of the land bears the
historical fact.
Two inscriptions of Pala period found in
this area clearly establish the fact that the
region of Santal Paragnas was a part of the
Pala Empire. The Tapovan Inscription found
from Tapovan hill rocks, lying six km south-east
of Deoghar, speaks of ‘Shri Ramapal Devah’
and the second Inscription found from
Harlajori, a place five km in the north-east from
Deoghar mentions ‘Sri Nayayapal Devah’
25
leaves no doubt to this.
During the early sultanate period, this
region was under Bengal. Ikhtiyaruddin-4- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Muhammad Bin Bhakhtiyar Khalji had invaded
Assam and Bengal en route Tailiyagarhi. As
per a local legend, the Son of Laxman Sen, the
King of Cooch Bihar, fled from there and came
to Deoghar in the year 1201 A.D. The local
tradition claims that the king after fleeing from
his capital took shelter at Deoghar and made
this place his capital. Following the prince,
Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad Bin Bhakhtiyar
Khalji also came to Deoghar and he also made
26
Deoghar his Capital in the same year, 1201.
As per the local legend, there was a fort built by
him at the present site known as Jhaunsagarhi,
27
which was later burnt by Kala Pahar and is
called Jhaunsagarhi, since then. However,
there is no archeological evidence to support
this local legend as on today.
The Muslim invaders overrun entire area
during 13th–14th century A.D. Tailiyagarhi
was an entrance door for Muslim invaders.
They used to travel to & fro from Bengal to
Taliyagarhi because the main route from Bihar
to Bengal passed through Teliagarhi,
28
Sakarigali and Rajmahal of. this region.
Therefore, it was but natural that the region of
Santal Paragnas did not remain unaffected
from the movements of new political powers of
the land. However, it’s greater part-Sumha/
Urrat Radha/ Dakshin Radha/ Apar Mandar--
remained free from the destructions as we do
not have any evidence of invasion of
Bhakhtiyar Khilaji on the temple of Baidyanath,
which had acquired great fame since 7th
century A.D. Rather, if we believe Minhas, after
the invasion of Bhakhtiyar Khalji on Rai
Lakhamania (Monghyr), the Brahmins of that
area fled and took shelter at their holy places
named Shankhanath and Jagannath. Keeping
in view the religious importance of this place
this Shankhanath should be read as the
29
Baidyanath. In this context it is interesting to
note that he did not harm Baidyanath Temple,
while as he is said to have burnt the
Vikramshila University. Can we have the liberty
to say that the Baidyanath commanded
respect of Muslims also from the very
beginning, which is seen even today, as the
daily puja of Baidyanath is not completed
unless he is offered flowers from the Halim
family, descendents of Data Saheb Faquir, a
venerated sufi saint of the area, before the
30
doors of the temple are closed?
Migration of the Maithil Brahmins in the
Region of Santal Paragnas - We are told that
during the early medieval period Maithil
Brahmins migrated to Bengal in good
numbers. The story of Adisura, a legendry king
of Bengal is being credited for the migration of
Maithil Panditas to Bengal. But the historicity of
Adisura is not yet proven. Some identify
Adisura with Gurjar-Pratihar Bhoja. There are
others who hold that Vallalsena may be a
descendant of Adisura from the mother’s side
31
who flourished in 1060 A.D. “It is also
suggested that Adisura could well have been a
son or a grandson of Ranasura of Dakshina
Radha reffered to in Tirumalai Rock
32
Inscriptions of Rajendra Cola.” But D. C.
Sircar has different views about Adisura. He
holds Adisura legend totally unreliable.
According to him, Sura royal family in ancient
Bengal is known but no genuine ruler named
Adisura is found in Bengal sources. The only
Adisura known to the East Indian history is a
petty chief who is mentioned by Vacaspatimisra
33
in his Nyayakanika. In this context J. C. Jha
opines “Hence Adisura, his contemporary
must have flourished in the middle of the ninth
34
century A.D.” Swati Sen Gupta also opines
“He may have been a petty chief of North Bihar,
and a vassal of the Palas of Bengal and
35
Bihar.”
Further, if one try to reinterpret the story of
Adisura, he may reach to some valid
conclusion. As suggested by Swati Sen Gupta,
36
Adisura might be a small king of North Bihar.
Again as stated earlier, it is also suggested that
Adisura could well have been a son or a
grandson of Ranasura of Dakshina Radha
reffered to in Tirumalai Rock inscriptions of
37
Rajendra Cola. And, since Ranasura himself
might have been an ancestor of Laksmishura,
the ruler of Aparmandar, mentioned in the
38
Ramcharita, It can be safely concluded that
the said Adisura, a descendent of Ranasura,
was the ancestor of Laksmansura of Apar
Mandar. As shown earlier the area of Apar
Mandar/ Sumha/ Uttar Radha/ Dakshin Radha
are inter-changeable and overlapping and
correspond to the modern Santal Paragnas,
therefore, Maithil Brahmins must have started
to come to this area during the reign of Adisura
who was the king of the region of the modern -5- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Santal Paragnas during 10th-11th centuries.
Thus we can conclude that both D. C. Sircar
and R. C. Majumdar may not be correct when
they declare Adisura a mythical character. He
was a historical personality and ruler of the
region of Santal Paragnas. Readings of Swanti
Sen Gupta that Adisura was a king of east
Bihar Na not of North Bihar needs corrections
under abovementioned observations. Thus, by
all probable explanations it is safe to conclude
that the migration of the Maithil Brahmins in the
region of Santal Paraganas started taking
39
place since 10th-11th century AD.
The migration of Maithil Brahmins in this
region started a new era for this land. The
process of acculturation and Sanskritisation
left deep impact on both the Maithila Brahmins
and the local traditions of this area which
ultimately gave rise to the distinct character of
a religious sect of this area to be known as ‘The
Baidyanath Cult’. The Baidyanath Cult and the
cultural horizon of the region is deeply
influenced by the migration of Maithil Brahmins
40
in this area to a great extent, as a whole.
Evolution of a Regional Culture in the
Region of Santal Paragnas - The Santal
Paragnas along with some of the areas of
modern Bihar and West Bengal; such as the
Banka and the Jamui Districts of Bihar in the
north and north west and Burdawan and
Birbhoom Districts of West Bengal in the south
and south east comprise a large and separate
geo-cultural entity. Some of the characteristics
of this region can be identified by any serious
student of History. Topography, demography,
languages, mode of agriculture, landscape,
pattern of house building, food habits, attire
and several other things form this vast country
into one distinct region. Most of the people of
this region are tri-lingual. Apart from the local
dialect, almost all the population of this area
understands and speaks Bangla and Hindi.
Shiva and Shakti are worshipped in this entire
area. Baidyanath remains in the centre of the
entire world view of this region. Not only the
famous temples of Baidyanath and Basukinath
but several other Shiva temples and ShaktiPithas are the centers of cultural activities of
this region. Here Shiva and Shakti combine
together and become one, as far as the
philosophical background of the Hindu religion
in this region is concerned. All are Shakta as
well as Shaiva at a time, in this country. Even
Vaishnavites also worship Shiva and Shakti.
Hence, Shiva-Shakti cult becomes the
essence of the Baidyanath Cult and
Baidyanath in his Ardhanarishwar form not
only is worshiped but remains as the supreme
deity of this region. All other deities are
connected to him in different ways.
In course of field studies the writer has
come across a number of deities worshiped at
different levels in this region, but all extract
powers from the Baidyanath only, in the
capacity of his subordinate. We have made
extensive study of the following deities in order
to understand the influence of the Biadyanath
cult, which ultimately gives this entire region a
distinct identity. Some of those deities are as
under:
DUBE BABA: The first and most
important local deity of this area is ‘Dube
Baba’. As the name itself suggests, ‘Dube’ is
one of the surnames of Kanyakubja Brahmins,
who have migrated to this land from the
Madhyadesha during the pala-Sena period.
‘Dube Baba’ is worshiped primarily in Deoghar
and Jamtara districts and also in some parts of
Giridih district of this region. In Deoghar district
two villages named Dakai and Bamangama
are the two most important places where this
deity is worshiped on a large scale, though
there is not a single village in these two districts
where we do not find the prevalence of Dube
Baba Pooja.
The emergence of ‘Dube Baba’ as a deity
is attributed to his enmity with a powerful
Khetori chief. Dube was killed by the chief in a
fight for a piece of land. Thereafter, incarnated
as ‘Dube Baba’, he started uprooting Khetoris
from the area by his divine use of snakes.
Unable to sustain the curse of snake-bite all
khetoris left that area and took shelter in the
vicinity of Basukinath Dham of Dumka district,
where Shiva is worshipped as lord Basukinath,
the lord or the king of snakes, and thus the
wrath of ‘Dube Baba’ on khetoris was
restrained. But ‘Dube Baba’ retained his
supreme position as a God of snakes in the
above mentioned two districts of the area. In
this entire area, where ‘Dube Baba’ is
worshipped, we do not find the habitat of any -6- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
khetori family even today.
Dube Baba is the supreme deity of snakes
in this area. Here snake-bite is cured only by
the grace of this deity. Even today, in this age of
globalization and computerization, after any
incident of a snake-bite, not only illiterate
villagers but the highly placed officers and
English educated intellectuals of this area also
take refuge to this deity, instead of going to a
doctor. It is believed that with the pleasure of
Dube Baba the snake will come back, again
bite the victim to take back its poison and the
victim will be cured. Therefore, snakes are not
killed in this region. This may undoubtedly be
the reflection of utter superstition but at the
same time this also speaks of the popularity of
the deity in this entire region. This deity
derives all his powers from Baidyanath as he is
regarded as the manifestation of a particular
aspect of Shiva, Nageshwar, the lord of
serpents too.
BABU OJHA : ‘Babu Ojha’ is primarily
worshiped in the village named Sakarigali,
situated at about 15 Km west of Deoghar city.
This deity is the main deity of this village and is
perceived to be a ‘Rakshak’ or saviour. He
cures the problems related to ghosts and black
magic. People from far distant places visit this
village to get cured of their problems and in
lieu, offer their worship to this deity. We all
know that Shiva is known as Bhootnath as well.
I believe this deity is the manifestation of that
aspect of Shiva. This deity is satisfied only after
being given he-goat sacrifice to him. The
importance of ‘Babu Ojha’ can be assessed by
the simple evidence that on the main door of
the Baidyanath temple, local pilgrims offer
water, flowers and other things to this deity,
before entering into the sanctorum (garbhagriha)
of the temple. As per our present state of
knowledge, ‘Babu Ojha’ is worshiped in
Sankarigali village only but exercises immense
influence in the entire area. The entire region
gives high respect to this deity.
Brahma Devata : This deity is very special
in the sense that only Maithil Brahmins worship
him. All Maithil Brahmin families have their own
‘Brahma Devatas’. This deity is supposed to be
one of the most pious and elevated forefathers
of the concerned family, who is incarnated as
‘Brahma Devata’ after unnatural death, to
protect his family members from the negative
influence of all evil forces. So, he is also a
‘Rakshak Devata’ of individual Maithil Brahmin
families in this region. The interesting thing to
note is that this deity is different from ‘Brahma
Pishach’ who is also worshipped in the similar
fashion in certain families of not only Maithil
Brahmins but other Brahmins too. While an
unnatural death of a non-Maithil Brahmin may
lead to his emergence as ‘Brahma Pishach’the
same cannot be said about ‘Brahma Devata’.
The basic difference between these two is that
while ‘Barhma Devata’ is a Rakshak Devata of
Maithil Brahmins only, as said earlier, ‘Brahma
Pishach’ is an evil spirit. Villagers are scared of
‘Brahma Pishach’ but ‘Brahma Devata’ is
highly respected and venerated. This deity too
derives his power from Baidyanath and
protects his progenies from evil forces.
Yaksha Baba: Almost 20 Km in the north
east side of Deoghar city, there is a deity
known as ‘Jakh Baba’ or ‘Yaksha Baba’ in
Jaynagara village. This deity also cures people
suffering from all black magic. As we know that
Yakshas and Kinnaras are regarded the
servants of Shiva, hence in that capacity this
deity too derives his power from Baidyanath.
Interestingly this is perhaps the only place
where this deity Yaksha is worshipped, though
we come across much folk lore narrating the
charismatic power of Jakha. He is regarded a
foolish but very powerful deity who can be
tamed by people by their seer wisdom. He is
not a harmful deity and generally regarded
very friendly and helpful to the villagers in this
entire region. People from all part of the Santal
Paragnas visit this place in large numbers in
order to be blessed by ‘Yaksha Baba’.
Kolha Gosain : This deity is basically
worshipped in the so called low caste people of
this area. The very name of this deity gives us
some clue about his origin. He might be the
chief deity of the primitive ‘Cole tribe’ of this
region. This tribe seems to be one of the
aboriginal inhabitants, like Paharias, of this
region. In the process of acculturation this
deity became an important deity of the region.
People of all caste and class are very fearful of
this deity and offer sacrifices to please him. He
is so ferocious that nobody dares to displease -7- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
him and is offered his share of sacrifice at all
auspicious occasions like birth, mundan,
upanayan and marriage ceremonies.
In a village named Lakhoria, situated
around 20 Km in the south west from Deoghar
city, this deity is worshipped. Though, as we
said, this deity belongs to the lower caste/tribal
origin, but worshipped by all castes including
Brahmins. Normally he is satisfied by goat
sacrifice, but he is very fond of hen & cocks.
Though Brahmins are allowed to offer only hegoats, other caste people can offer hen &
cocks also.
Baba Namdeva: This deity too is
worshipped mainly by the Charmakar
community of this region but the ceremony and
vrata known as ‘Chaupahara’ related to this
deity is observed by all class and caste
including the Brahmins. Mythologically Baba
Namdev is said to be the son of Parshuram by
some sections of the Charmakar community of
this area but this popular belief is not supported
by any scripture or Purana. Nevertheless, the
famous Bhakti Saint Namdev has some
similarities with this Baba Namdev of
Chaupahara story. This Baba Namdev is also
said to be the incarnation of Parshuram, as per
the popular belief of other sections of the
Charmakar community of this region. As per
the versions of this section, Baba Namdeva
was born in a low caste family as he had
committed the sin of killing his mother Renuka
in his last birth by the order of his father
Jamadagni. Though as a vow and penance
Baba Namdev had completed extreme
‘Tapasya’ and he had adopted the Bhakti Marg,
but Brahmins did not pay him any respect and
he was forced to remain as an untouchable
and was prohibited to enter the village temple.
Hence, he was compelled to offer pooja to the
village deity from the back of the temple. But as
he was a great soul, the village deity shifted the
door in the direction of Namdeva. Thus
Namdeva becomes the symbol of the magical
power of an untouchable earned by the
‘Tapasya’ or ‘Bhakti’ and ‘Chaupahara’ is
celebrated to mark his achievements.
The most important thing to note about
this ‘Chaupahara’ is that though this is
celebrated even by Brahmins but the ‘Bhajans’
and songs are sung by a group consisted of the
people from ‘Charmakar’ and or ‘Dom’
community only. They are also known as
‘Dholakiyas’. Interestingly this group sings the
songs composed by two great personalities of
this area named Charu Charmakar and Bhava
Pritanand Ojha respectively. For the first half of
the ceremony songs of Charu Charmakar are
sung. The tones of these songs are very bitter
and critical to Brahmanic order. In the second
half of the ceremony devotional songs and
Jhumars dedicated to Baidyanath and Parvati,
composed by Bhava Pritanand Ojha, one of
the chief priests of the Baidyanath Temple and
a representative of the orthodox brahmanic
order, are sung. Thus Charu Charmakar, a
rebel of brahamanic order and Bhava
Pritanand Ojha, an upholder of brahmanic
order, both are venerated by Brahmins as well
as Charmakars in ‘Chaupahara’. Hence
‘Chaupahara’ event becomes the symbol of
the assimilation and synthesis of the two
mutually contradictory and hostile world views.
This assimilation of cultural values and
synthesis of different world views provides this
entire region of Santal Paragnas a distinct
41
identity of its own.
There are also a number of various other
local deities worshiped in this region, but we
are not including details of all of them and have
studied these five major deities only, because
all the symptoms and characteristics
associated to the distinct culture of the region
of Santal Paragnas are imbibed in these five
major local deities. All other small local deities
appear to be proxy of these five.
With a careful and minute analysis of the
mode of worship of these deities we also
observe several distinct characteristics of this
region. We find that while ‘Dube Baba’ comes
from a Kanyakubja Brahmin caste and
naturally he is supposed to be a vegetarian
deity as the Kanyakubjas are, but he accepts
both Anna as well as Pashu-Bali that is animal
sacrifices as offerings. He-goats are sacrificed
to him in a large numbers at different places.
Both the villages of Dakai and Bamangama
witness the scene of hundreds of goat
sacrifices every year. This can simply be
explained in terms of the influence of the “little
tradition” of the area on the “great tradition” -8- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
where aboriginal peoples’ non-vegetarian
mode of worship combined with Maithil
Brahmins goat sacrificial mode of worship is
attributed to this vegetarian Kanyakubja
Brahmin deity. Along with this the ecological
concerns of aboriginal people is still honored
by not killing snakes in this region. That is why
many rare species of snakes are still found in
this region. Therefore, the emergence of ‘Dube
Baba’ as an important deity of this region with
this distinct mode of ritual worship is a
reflection of the process of cultural assimilation
between the “Great tradition” and the “Little
tradition” of the region.
Similarly ‘Babu Ojha’, who comes from a
Maithil Brahmin caste, is able to acquire a
place on the door of Baidyanath temple is
again the reflection of the same process. We
all know that the Baidyanath is worshiped in
the region since time immemorial and the
historicity of the Baidyanath Cult goes back to
7th century A.D., while as Maithil Brahmins
migrated in this region much later, only around
10th-11th century A.D., as we have already
discussed earlier. Hence the prominent
position acquired by Babu Ojha on the door of
the Baidyanath Temple signifies the important
place acquired by the Maithil Brahmins in the
overall Baidyanath Cult horizon. Similarly the
acceptance of ‘Brahmadevata’ as an important
deity of the area also indicates the same thing
i.e. the important positions of Maithil Brahmins
in the process of the evolution of the regional
culture of this country.
The recognition and acceptance of ‘Kolha
Gosain’ and ‘Namdeva’ as important deities by
the upper caste Hindus including Brahmins,
very clearly establishes the fact that the
process of interactions between the local or
“little tradition” and the elite or “great tradition”
ultimately paved the way for the emergence of
a distinct regional culture of the region of
Santal Paragnas. We further notice this
procees when we find that two sub-castes
emerged within the Charmakar community of
this region which is known as ‘Goriya’ and
‘Dusiya’ Charmakars. The ‘Goriyas’ are those
having fair skin and who left eating flesh of
dead animals simply because their women folk
were allowed to enter the houses of Brahmins
as a ‘Dagarin’ and were even allowed to feed
their milk to the infants of Brahmin families.
The ‘Dusiya’ remained polluted or ‘Dushit’
because they continued with their traditional
work and food habits. That is why we find that
the ‘Gorias’ do not marry outside any
Charmakar families of this region and claim to
be as pious as those of the Brahmins.
Interestingly ‘Dagarins’ command respect and
love of the Brahmin communities of this region.
This is a very distinct characteristic of the
region of Santal Paraganas.
The topography of this region has made
the Santal Paragnas a safe heaven for the
rebels as they could hide themselves in the
dense forest and unconquerable hills of the
region. We come across many examples
during medieval period when rebel against the
mighty central power took shelter in this region.
During the British period also this country used
to be the refuse of revolutionaries. That is why
we find a tradition of rebellions in this land.
Leaving aside the remote past even if we try to
analyze its recent past we find a series of
revolts against the British rule in this country
starting from ‘paharia’ revolt up to the
‘Jharkhand movement’. Inhabitants of this
region have always been up in arms against
the exploiters and invaders. This distinct
characteristic was possible due to its
topography. The topography of this land gives
it a distinct regional identity.
The Region of Santal Paragnas: a
victim of Historiographical Colonialism - It
is a truth that the region of Santal Paragnas
has never been able to attract the attention of
historians, despite the fact that it contains very
rich pre-historical and historical traditions.
Generally this region is perceived as a part of
ancient and medieval Anga, which is not
correct. As has been said earlier, historically,
only some parts of Santal Paragnas
constituted a portion of the Anga and a greater
portion of this region remained outside the
boundary of the Anga. Similarly, southern and
eastern parts of modern Santal Paragnas
constituted parts of various early medieval
kingdoms of modern Bengal. Therefore, the
historicity of this region known as Santal
Paragnas in modern times, gives her a distinct
regional identity during the early medieval
periods of Indian history.-9- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
Before venturing into the study of a
regional culture in the region of Santal
Paragnas we must not forget that most of the
modern historians focus only on the events
related to the Santals and other tribes and thus
tend to forget to throw light on the land, culture
and history of Santal Paragnas in toto. May be,
unconsciously, Santal Paragnas becomes the
synonym of tribal culture alone, while as the
fact remains that along with Santal and other
tribes the entire region has a long history and
culture like its other neighbours i.e. Bengal and
Bihar. Therefore, this general understanding
about Santal Paragnas needs to be improved
with factual details.
We all know that the geography plays a
significant role in the formation of the regional
identities of a place or area in the course of its
historical evolution. Gramsci also acknowledges
this point In his essay ‘Some Aspects of the
42
Southern Questions’. Historians, like B.
43
Subbarao also feel the same way. M. S.
44
Pandey also addresses the same issue. Thus
geographical differentiation does not underline
only the evolution of variant landscapes, etc.
but also marks the process of alternate social
and cultural formations. Therefore, we have to
understand the geographical composition and
the process of state formation, in order to
understand the religio-cultural developments,
of the area of our study. But unfortunately
regional histories do not find much attention of
dominant historiography in India which
sometimes prepares ground for socio-political
unrest in the country.
In the 55th session of the Indian History
Congress (1994), referred earlier, delivering
the Presidential address for the Ancient India
Section Dr. C. P. N. Sinha too expresses his
concern that “the hitherto dominant
explanatory models for the study of early India
very often ignore the specificities of the
45
different regions”. Consequently, the “imagined”
Indian Idioms receive such domineering
historical projections that they too subsume
even the distinct traits of the constitutive
regions. Such a tendency not only negates the
dynamic role of a set of peripheries by pushing
them into the backyards of historical
development, but ironically puts a region as
antithetical to the national ethos if the former
seeks to underline its own identity. It is needless
to say, therefore, that a historiographical tradition
which neglects regional history may culminate
into dangerous outcomes– by negating
regional identities, it in effect, generates a
regional perception that seeks to demand for
break way autonomy for itself. Hence, “it is
argued that to overwhelm to the extent of
negating regional identities under the rubric of
pan-Indian historiography is to tread a path
46
which is essentially counter productive”. The
historical identity of a region should certainly
be appreciated and an attempt should be
made to situate it in the “broader context of
47
historical developments in early India”. There
is a sensible need for sharing important
concerns with the suppressed voices and
imaginations within the metropolis. So the
need of investigating history at micro-level has
become much more relevant today, than was
in any other period of history, to understand the
basis of Indian cultural traditions. “National
history is nothing but a composite of the
histories of regions comprising the nation”
says again Dr. C. P. N. Sinha, in his book ‘The
48
Mithila under the Karnata’. In the Indian
context regional history has significance as
India has always been a sub-continent, a vast
geographical entity with a variety of cultures,
religions and languages. “Each fragment of
this vast land mass has fostered a unique
49
culture of its own”. Regional history in India is
a far more complex and absorbing subject than
in any other country of the world because often
a particular region has a distinct identity of its
50
own.
Conclusion
The present study does not permit to put
all findings related to the reconstruction of the
history of the region of Santal Paragnas (best
be renamed as Upper Mandar, a principality or
small kingdom of 7th century A.D., which
incorporated almost the same geo-political
boundary of today’s santal Paragnas and its
surroundings), the use of a specific geocultural term, ‘The Vaidyanatheshwar Kshetra’
as cited above, to denote this entire area
leaves no doubt that this is a specific ‘Region’
since the early medieval period. The region of
Santal Paragnas, forms a separate geo--10- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
cultural entity from the very beginning, at least
from the 7th century A.D. The importance of
Baidyanath lingam as one of the important 12
jyotirlingams and one of the famous Shakti
pithas called Chitabhoomi, mentioned in the
52
list of the Shakta Pithas named hardaPitha,
indicates about the historicity of this ‘Region’.
References
1. Jha Amar Nath, Locating the Early History
of Santal Paragnas, Paper presented in
Ancient India Section of the 70th session
of All India History Congress, University of
Delhi, Delhi
2. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XXII,
p 78
3. Chakrabarti D. K., Archaeology of Eastern
India, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi,
1993, p 98
4. Jha Amar Nath Jha, op. cit
5. Chakrabarti D. K. , op.cit
6. Ibid
7. Sinha B. P., Dynastic History of Magadh,
Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1977,
p 158
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Sinha B. P., op. cit., p159
11. Sinha B. P., op. cit., pp. 158-159
12. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, Hindi Vidyapeetha Deoghar,
2009, p 258
13. Sinha C. P. N., Presidential Address,
Section I, PIHC, 55th Session, Aligarh,
1994, p18
14. Jha Surendra, Synthesis of Budhist,
Shaiva and Shakta Tantras, Pratibha
Prakashan, New Delhi, 2009, p 15
15. Ibid
16. Sircar D. C., J.A.I.H. Vol. 1-2, 1972-73,
p 46
17. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., p 258
18. Sinha Ajay Kumar, The Santal Paragnas
through the Ages. (I could not find any
book of this writer on Santal Paragnas.
However I have a printed article with the
above title with me.)
19. Ibid
20. Ibid
21. Ibid
22. Ibid
23. Chaudhary Radhakrishna, The University
of Vikramasila, Bihar Research Society,
Patna, 1975, p. 31, Cf. R. Sankrityayana,
Tibet Me Baudhadharma, p 42
24. Ghosh Amartya, PIHC: 53 Session, 1992-
93, pp 79-81
25. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., pp 262-263
26. We do not have any further evidence to
corroborate this, except the District
Census Hand Book (Santal Pagnas),
1961, Cf. S. Narayan, The Sacred
Complexes of Deoghar and Rajgir, New
Delhi, 1979, p 5
27. As per the versions of the local people of
Deoghar, Kala Pahar had attacked the
Baidyanath Temple in 1565, but could not
destroy it. Thus, he became revengeful
and set the said old fort/settlement of the
present Jhaunsa Garhi to fire and burnt it
completely
28. Chakrabarti D.K., op. cit.
29. Shree Shree Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vangmay, op. cit., p 277
30. I have been told about this practice by Mr.
Harafu, the surviving descendent of Data
Saheb Faquir and also by the Priests of
the temple
31. Chanda R., Gauda-Rajmala, p.p. 69-71,
cf. J. C. Jha, Migration and Achievements
of Maithila Panditas, Janaki Prakashan,
New Delhi, 1991
32. Ghosh Amartya, Op. cit
33. Jha J. C., op. cit., p 30-11- Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. I / January 2011
34. Jha J. C., op. cit
35. Jha J. C., p. 31
36. Ibid
37. Ghosh Amartya, PIHC: 53 Session, 1992-
93, pp.79-81. Also see J. N. Sarkar,
History of Bengal, Vol.II, Calcutta, 2003
(reprint), p 459
38. Sinha C. P. N., Sectional Presidential
Address (Ancient India), Proceedings,
IHC: 55th Session, 1994, p19
39. Jha Amar Nath Jha, Migration of Maithil
Brahmanas to Santal Paragnas,
Anusandhanika / Vol.VIII / No. II / July
2010, pp 184-189
40. Ibid
41. Das R.K., Principal, Kendriya Vidyalay,
Suratgarh, Rajasthan who is also a native
of the village Navadih (near Rohini)
Deoghar district of Jharkhand, provided
me this extremely important information
which was subsequently confirmed by
investigating other sources
42. Selection from political writings, 1921-26,
London, 1976, pp.458-462. Cf. C. P. N.
Sinha, Sectional Presidential Address, op.
cit
43. Subbarao B. , The personality of India: Pre
and Proto History of India and Pakistan,
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,
1958
44. Pandey M. S., The Historical Geography
and Topography of Bihar, Motilal
Banarasidas, Delhi, 1963
45. Sinha C. P. N., Presidential Address,
Section I, PIHC, 55th Session, Aligarh,
1994
46. Ibid
47. Ibid
48. Sinha C. P. N., Mithila Under the Karnatas,
Janaki Prakashan, Patna, 1979, preface
49. Ibid
50. Ibid
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