History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c9.2

v1.c9.2

The population of the entire country is as varied as its topography. The majority of the people are Hindus, with the exception of the aboriginals, many of whom also are now approximating to the standard of the lowest class of Hindus of this province. Among the Hindus the principal caste is the Brāhmaṇa, and the different sects of Brāhmaṇas to be found in the three great divisions of the country are considerable. The highest class among these Brāhmaṇas are called Śasanī, i.e., those who had been honoured by past kings with grants of lands embodied in charters written on copper plates, e.g., Tāmra-śāsanas. There are many other sub-divisions of Brāhmaṇas, some of which have emigrated into the country from countries outside Orissa. The records of their immigration, as found in many instances in these charters, show that throughout the mediaeval period Brāhmaṇas continued to pour into Orissa from different parts of Northern India. The oldest of such charters is the Ganjam plate of the Gupta year 300, which records the donation of the village of Chhavalakhya in the Kṛṣṇagiri district (vishaya) to a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja Gotra by the feudatory chief Mādhavaraja II. In many of these charters of Orissa, described in the following pages, we find records of the migration of Brāhmaṇas from the Middle Country or Madhya-deśa or Kauśāmbi, i.e., the ancient Vatsa country or the Southern part of the modern district of Allahabad and even Varendrī or Northern Bengal. It is impossible to agree with Mr. Hira Lal in thinking that *Madhya-deśa* in such cases is the border districts between South-western Bengal and Northern Orissa.¹ Whatever may be the traditional value of the word *Madhya-deśa* in modern Orissa, nobody can deny that up to the Musalman conquest of Northern India, *Madhya-deśa* meant the central portion of the United Provinces. It appears, therefore, that from the beginning of the mediaeval period a constant train of Brāhmaṇas flowed into Orissa, as they did into Bengal. Outside the limits of Orissa proper, the accounts of the different classes of Brāhmaṇas is exceedingly interesting. For example, in the district of Sambalpur the Brāhmaṇas are subdivided into six classes, among which the Utkala Brāhmaṇas are regarded as the highest, as they are the most recent emigrants from Orissa. Next to them are the Jhāruās or Āraṇyakas, who are looked down upon by the Utkalas but claim to be the earliest immigrants from Orissa, who cleared the forests of Sambalpur and became its earliest settlers. The third class, the Raghunāthiās, are taken to be converts from the local tribes who were given the rank of Brāhmaṇas by the eponymous hero-god Rāmachandra when he was wandering in these forests. The Bhimgiriyās belong to the same class but say that one Rāja Raghunāth Deva of Hindol granted a charter to them giving five villages close to Bhimgiri mountain. They are also called Pañcha-śāsanīs. The Raghunāthiyās and Bhimgiriyās are the lowest Brāhmaṇas in the Sambalpur district. The Hāluās and Sāruās are Brāhmaṇas but cultivators, who grow potatoes and arums. The Susārīs are apparently a branch of the Jhāruās, and the term means a cook or a superintendent of stores and provisions. These Brāhmaṇas have become totemistic. The Brāhmaṇas of the Bhāradvāja *Gotra* worship the Blue Jay (*Bharadvāja*), those of the Parāśara *Gotra* worship the ordinary pigeon or *Pārā*. These superstitions may indicate aboriginal descent and consequent totemistic influence. Such characteristics are very rarely met with among Brāhmaṇas in other parts of India.