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The Brahmans of Mithila before the PanjiPrabandha


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1 Department of History, Adamas University, Barasat, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
     

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Genealogies are composed in order to validate the present by confirming the past. The panji Prabandha introduced during the fourteenth century was a landmark in the history of the north Bihar. They contain details on the ancestry of an individual in order to establish his relationship with another person, his association with a lineage, or membership in a particular social group. If we presuppose that Brahmins by registering the ancestries and understanding their past to establish a future plan then how was their condition before its promulgation. The Brahmins of Mithila (Cultural zone in the north Bihar) are one of the five Brahmins in north India (Panca-Gaudas). They are presently the most powerful class in north Bihar and the majority of land is under their possessions. It is also said that it is only in Mithila, the Bhudevas(land owners) and the Bhupalas(land protectors) have combined their power. They were the rulers as well as the priestly class. It is also worth mentioning that till the nineteenth century, Sanskrit continued to be the official language in the courts of Maithili rulers in which these rulers were experts. My paper aims to seek the origin of Brahmins in Mithila before the promulgation of genealogies (the Panji Prabandha).

Keywords

Panji, Mithila, North Bihar, Migration, Assimilation, Contestations.
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  • Chaudhary, Radhakrishna “The Karṇāṭa Kingdom of Mithila.” In The Comprehensive History of Bihar, vol. II, pt.I, edited by Syed HasanAksari and Qeyamuddin Ahmad, 1983, pp. 107–156.

  • Sakasena, Baburama, ed. Kirtilata. Kasi: Nagari Pracini Sabha. 1964, P.9

  • These are Shrotriya or Soit, Jogya or Jog, Panjeebadha and Jaiwaar Brahmins

  • Singh, Rameshwar ‘An Account of the Maithili Marriage’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa research Society III (1917), pp.515-542; Upendra Thakur, History of Mithila: Circa 3000 BC-1556 AD; UgraNathJha, Genealogies and Genealogists of Mithila: A Study of the panji and the Panjikars. Varanasi: KishorVidyaNiketan, 1980; Paramesvara Thakur, Mithila TatvaVimarsaPatna: Maithili Akademi, 1977; also my own memories from my village, which lies in the (so-called) core areas in Darbhanga.

  • Jha, Paramesvara, MTV.P. 84

  • Jha, Hetukar, ‘Permanent Settlement in Bihar’, Social Scientists, Vol. 9 August 1980. Pp. 53

  • Ibid

  • Singh, Upinder, ‘Kings, Brahmans and Temples in Orissa: An epigraphical study (300-1147 CE)’. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. 1990 p.18

  • Maithili VijiPurusa ‘primal individual’, Sanskrit Bija‘seed’ + purusa‘man’; refer to the progenitor of a tribe or family’ Monier- Williams, ed. Sanskrit English Dictionary: Etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. New edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1889, p. 732.

  • Dineshchandra Sircar, “Copper Plate Grants from Bihar, EpigraphiaIndica XXXV, pt.II (1963): 125-144

  • Found at Bangaon in Bhagalpur District of Bihar

  • DineshchandraSircar, “Bangaon Plate of Vigrahapal III, Regnal Year 17’ EpigraphiaIndica XXIX, pt.1 (1951): 48-57 “55

  • Line: 25: “tirabhuktauHodreya-Vaishyika-Vasukavarttat| “(ibid).

  • An inscription found at the ruins of the fort of Simraon cited in RadhakrishnaChoudhary ed. ‘The So-called Simraon Inscription of Nanyadeva,’ in Select Inscriptions of Bihar, Madhipura: Shanti Devi, 1958, 124. He interprets this date as being Saturday in the month of Sravara, in the Naksatra of Svati in the year 1097. Political History of North Bihar, “ 306

  • Administrative name of Mithila

  • Sircar D.C, Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient and Medieval India. Vol. 1. Calcutta: Rirma K L Mukhopadhyaya. 1967, p. 140

  • Singh, Shyam Narayan, History of Tirhut: from the earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press. 1922. P. 62

  • Ibid

  • Singh, History of Tirhut, 63

  • Choudhary, Radhakrishna, ‘The Karnata Kingdom of Mithila’ in The Comprehensive History of Bihar, vol. II, pt.I, edited by Syed HasanAksari and Qeyamuddin Ahmad, 107-156. Historical Research Series, vol- XIX, Patna: Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute, 1983. P.116

  • Ibid.

  • Panchobh copper plate of Samgrama Gupta, “114

  • Panchobh copper plate of Samgrama Gupta, lines 6-7

  • ‘Bangaon Plate,’ 51

  • ‘Bangaon plate’ Lines 49-50, p. 57

  • Sircar D.C, Indian Epigraphical Glossary, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. 1966. P. 179

  • Ibid

  • Ibid. p. 215

  • Seems to be a synonym of the Mudradhikarina described by Sircar, Indian Epigraphical Glossary, 204

  • Quoted in Jayaswal and Sastri, Catalogue of Manuscripts of Mithila no. 86 ‘Gangabhaktitarangini’ p. 88

  • Kamalaksna Smrtiirtha Grhastha Ratnakara.3

  • Ibid., 6

  • Kamalakrsna Smrtitirthaed. Vivāda-Ratnakara: A treatise on Hindu Law by Candesvara Thakkura. Bibliotheca Indica Vol. 103 (re-issue).Issues no. 1511 (new series). Calcutta: Aisatic Society of Bengal, 1931. P. 2

  • Ibid.p. 1

  • Ibid. p.1

  • Kane, P V, History of Dharmasastra, Vol. II, Part I, Bhandarkar Orient Research Institute. 1941. Pp.870-872.

  • Mishra, Jayakant, History of Maithili Literature, Vol I, (Early and Middle periods) Allahabad: Tirabhukti Publications, 1949. P. 136


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  • The Brahmans of Mithila before the PanjiPrabandha

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Authors

Nisha Thakur
Department of History, Adamas University, Barasat, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Abstract


Genealogies are composed in order to validate the present by confirming the past. The panji Prabandha introduced during the fourteenth century was a landmark in the history of the north Bihar. They contain details on the ancestry of an individual in order to establish his relationship with another person, his association with a lineage, or membership in a particular social group. If we presuppose that Brahmins by registering the ancestries and understanding their past to establish a future plan then how was their condition before its promulgation. The Brahmins of Mithila (Cultural zone in the north Bihar) are one of the five Brahmins in north India (Panca-Gaudas). They are presently the most powerful class in north Bihar and the majority of land is under their possessions. It is also said that it is only in Mithila, the Bhudevas(land owners) and the Bhupalas(land protectors) have combined their power. They were the rulers as well as the priestly class. It is also worth mentioning that till the nineteenth century, Sanskrit continued to be the official language in the courts of Maithili rulers in which these rulers were experts. My paper aims to seek the origin of Brahmins in Mithila before the promulgation of genealogies (the Panji Prabandha).

Keywords


Panji, Mithila, North Bihar, Migration, Assimilation, Contestations.

References