Ananda Bhattacharyya Oral Sources for Writing the History of The
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Ananda Bhattacharyya Oral Sources for Writing the History of the Sannyasi and Faqir Rebellion (1763-1800) Words and Silences. Vol. 6, No. 2 December 2012 Pp. 4-11 (cc) International Oral History Association Words and Silences is the official on-line journal of the International Oral History Association. It is an internatio- nally peer reviewed, high quality forum for oral historians from a wide range of disciplines and a means for the professional community to share projects and current trends of oral history from around the world. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. wordsandsilences.org ISSN 1405-6410 Online ISSN 2222-4181 ORAL SOURCES FOR WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE SANNYASI AND FAQIR REBELLION (1763-1800) Ananda Bhattacharyya West Bengal State Archives, Kolkata [email protected] In an earlier publication1 I have discussed various their origin, as it will be evident from my later aspects of the Sannyasi and Faqir Rebellion which discussion. The Sannyasis used to visit different took place in the second half of the eighteenth-cen- parts of Bengal either in connection with reli- tury Bengal. These were based on mainly the gious pilgrimage, or for the purchase of mer- archival sources2 available in different repositories chandise and to transact money lending. Simul- in India and abroad, collectorate records, govern- taneously, some of them rendered their services ment publications, district gazetteers and other sec- as mercenary groups to the local powers. Their ondary sources, as well as Bengali, Marathi and wonderful organisation and the wide communi- Persian sources. The oral sources were incorpo- ties were adopted in the Sannyasi order. Rajputs rated in that paper only to the extent in which these were also recruited even during the period of re- supplemented the written ones. The large amount bellion. Even the Sannyasis engaged in civil, of oral sources I collected during my research on military and economic activities used to recruit this theme, hence this paper, however, demanded a chelas (disciples) from among the Rajputs. It is full-fledged paper based on these sources. also reasonable range of their activities, includ- ing their subsequent armed conflicts with the The Sannyasis belonged to the Saivaite Dasanami British Raj, could only be sustained by recruit- order and the faqirs were a group of heterodox Sufi ment of followers on a large scale. Sometimes orders commonly known as Madariya group of Su- they were also deployed for the purpose of trade, fis. The Dasanamis and the Madaris, though they or for the maintenance of their organisational did not traditionally belong to Bengal, had a linger- strength and security. The recruited followers ing tradition of existence in various parts of this consisted of heterogeneous elements. The new province. Apart from Bengal they had been living recruits were mainly drawn from outside Bengal. in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Ra- Besides Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Sudras and the jasthan, Punjab and the South India since the day of poorer classes of different communities were re- cruited in order to understand the rituals, cus- 1 Ananda Bhattacharyya “Reconsidering Sannyasi toms religious practices and also other activities Rebellion”Social Scientist, Vol. 40, Nos. 3-4 March-April of various kinds of Sannyasis. As the followers New Delhi, 2012 pp. 81-100. See also, Sannyasi O Fakir Bidroho: Itihaser Punarbibechona “(in Bengali), Gangchil, of the Siva and Goddess Bhawani, they followed Kolkata, 2010. Hindu traditions in their religious observance. 2 The National Archives of India, New Delhi; West The Dasanami Sannyasis generally wore either Bengal State Archives, Kolkata; Allahabad Regional Ar- orange coloured clothes or the kaupina with a chives, Allahabad; U.P. State Archives, Lucknow and short piece of ochre-coloured cloth and garland Bangladesh National Archives, Dhaka. 3 of rudraksha. They rubbed ash on their body, used coloured flag, popularly known as “Bhairo to take bhang (intoxicated hemp) and wore iron Prakash” and “Surya Prakash”. chains round their neck. They carried an ochre- Though the Sannyasis admitted the fact that they Similarly the customs and rituals observed by were not merely ascetics but performed pilgrimage the Madari group of Faqirs were significant that in addition to their normal activities viz.mercenary, they did not observe the rituals, neither engaged money-lending and trade. Their annual cycle of pil- in prayers nor did they obey have any strict ad- grimage started with attending the Kumbha mela at herence to all the faiths, observances, daily Allahabad, Hardwar, Ujjain or Trimbak. In March, prayers, the Meccan pilgrimages, rather publicly they attended a mela at Janakpur in Nepal and then flouted those practices, drank wine. They did not moved to Bengal to finally take a holy bath at settle themselves in any fixed place and used to Sagar Island. Then they would either return to up- extort contributions from the local powers and per India via Bihar or move south-west to puri to common people as charity. In course of their re- offer their devotion to Lord Jagannath. It appeared ligious pilgrimage they used to collect contribu- from the discussion with the Mahants of Niranjani tions, if necessary, by force. Thus collection of akhra that that the Sannyasis used to compete with contribution, in one hand, and their procession each other particularly during their bathing cere- with large armed followers, on the other, created mony at Kumbha mela. The Sannyasis’ centres of a suspicion to the newly formed East India Com- pilgrimage and maths also could be viewed as pany that they were considered by the Com- branches of a far-flung commercial and banking pany’s Government as an enemy to the Govern- network which facilitated transmission of money ment. and goods. The geographical location of Benares In order to arrive at a clear understanding about also helped it to serve as a link in the commerce the ethnic roots of the Dasanamis and the with Bengal. The Sannyasi merchants of Benares Madaris, their social and cultural activities and who also held a large estate in Mymensingh had a their relations with the local powers vis-à-vis the trading connection with Malda. Thus it emerged Indian powers I visited different places, both in from their activities that the pre-colonial Indian Bengal and outside, where the descendants of powers neither imposed any restrictions on their them had been living for a long time. A lot of activities nor declared such activities as illegal. But information in the form of oral testimony was the Company’s government looked upon their ac- thus collected through the personal interviews tivities including their religious pilgrimage with with these people who have been incorporated distrust and suspicion in such a way that a conflict with the official documents and hagiographic lit- became inevitable which spanned nearly the whole erature. of the second half of the eighteenth century. The conflict between the Sannyasis and the Company The north and eastern regions of Bengal were was inevitable, because the state had undergone a the major strongholds of the rebel Sannyasis and radical change in the latter half of the eighteenth the faqirs. In north Bengal, particularly in Dina- century and the existence of social groups like the jpur, Rangpur (presently in Bangladesh), Malda Sannyasis and Faqirs and their erstwhile roles was and Cooch Behar and in eastern Bengal like a major stumbling block for establishing the kind Dacca, Rajshahi and Chittagong (Bangladesh) of “order” envisaged by the Company. This state- were the centres of operations of both the San- ment implies two-fold task, viz.to analyse the role nyasis and the faqirs. With the financial assis- of the Sannyasis in the pre-colonial social policy, tance of Indian Council of Historical Research and then to proceed to the task of constructing the (ICHR) and Indian Council of Social Science ground on which the conflicts with the Company Research (ICSSR), I visited those places which was based. were largely associated with the said rebellion 4 and was able to gather information which is unique traders may be corroborated with the oral inter- in nature.3 views taken in 1998 from one Saivaite Dasanami Malda4 living in Gosaintuli, adjacent to English Bazar locality of Malda. The name Gosaintuli clearly The archival sources of the West Bengal State Ar- indicates that this area was highly dominated chives, Kolkata and the National Archives, New and influenced by the Gossains; the place was Delhi, throw enough light on the operational activi- named after them. The present Mahant (Head of ties of the Sannyasis in the Malda area.5 It is learnt the Math or monastery) Manohar Giri, then aged that the Malda was a centre of their trade but not about ninety years, frankly discussed the ances- for money lending operations.6 Their trading capac- try of the Gossains (gossains are familiar in ities in those areas may be corroborated with the North India, and they maintained family life) Duncan Proceedings7 and it appears that the San- and their present-day activities. There is a differ- nyasis used to purchase silk and cocoons from the ence between the nagas and gossains. Nagas had aurangs (silk factories) from Malda and used to sell to maintain celibacy and their activities were that merchandise in Benares, Mirzapur and Alla- akhra based, whereas, the gossains could marry habad.8 The role of the Sannyasis of Malda as and lived in maths and also in their respective residences .Manohar Giri belonged to the Giri 3 The interviews taken by the present researcher with the suborder of the Dasanami Sannyasis and, ac- pirzadas of the darghas of Shah Madar at Mackwanpur in cording to him, his ancestors came from Kanpur district, khadims of the dargahs situated in Baliya- Benares.