Elsewhere I have traced the spread of the Aryans through India, and attempted to give a rational account of caste.[1] According to the Sástras or Sacred Books, the Hindus first settled in the Panjáb and North-Western Provinces, to the west of the river Saraswatí and northward of the Vindhya Mountains. It is impossible to historically trace their diffusion into Bengal, then said to be inhabited by aborigines called Kiráts. According to the Puránas or mediæval law, Banga, Sunma, and Pundra, remote descendants of Jajáti, the celebrated King of the Lunar Race, were the first immigrants into Eastern India, and the name Bengal is traditionally derived from Banga. The tract of country described by these three names does not extend further south than a portion of Nadiyá. The 24 Parganás were therefore probably occupied by the Hindus at a later date. It is impossible, however, to fix the period when the Aryans arrived, although the Bengal immigration probably took place prior to Alexander’s invasion.
The Brahmans who first settled in Bengal are said to have gradually given up the study of the Sacred Law, and to have become degraded. In consequence of this, tradition relates that Adisur, king of Bengal, wishing to perform a great sacrifice, imported five Bráhmans from Oudh to conduct it. The Brámans of the 24 Parganás are divided into the following five sects or classes: —Rárhi, Bárendra, Vaidik, Kanauj, and Uriyá, each of which is again subdivided into septs or gotras. The Rárhis form almost the entire Bráhman population of the District, which indeed is the home of the sect, as it forms a portion of the division of Bengal assigned to them by King Ballál Sen in the twelfth century. The other Bráhmans are merely descendants of immigrants from different parts of the country. Vide also the Statistical Accounts of the Orissa Districts of Purí and Balasor.
The Rarhi Brahmans are divided into Kulins, Bansaj, and Srotriyas. Ballál Sen divided the Kulins into two classes—Mukhya, or Kulins of the first class; and Gauna, or Kulins of an inferior rank. These were subsequently further subdivided into families or mels, of which the following are said to be the most important:— Khardah, Phule, Ballabhi, Sarbánandi, and Pandiratni. The rank of Kulin is a hereditary one, but liable to be lost by intermarriage with a
- ↑ ‘Annals of Rural Bengal,’ 90-96; ‘Orissa,’ i. 248 (242-265).
