Pir Gorachand Raji, and Budhan, and Birth of Chaitanya Story (Part V)
abu
V)"
Coming back to the episode when the king of Gaur was terrorized by
Kali to re-found Nadia as described towards the end of the last part,
we can also take the reference to Kali as another example of the late
origin of Chaitanya story.
About this story of Kali David Kopf who did not suspected the late
origin of Chaitanya story writes, "Despite the power attributed to
her, there is no other contemporary evidence to suggest that she was a
major Shakti goddess or that she had a cult following."
["A Historiographical Essay on the Idea of Kali," in Tony K. Stewart
ed. "Shaping Bengali Worlds Public and Private."]
For more on Kali and Christian encounter see our, "Why do we know so
little about Isa Khan?" Part III and V.
Although in PART 4 of our article we called the Akhra (lodge) at
Bithangal (the name was wrongly stated there) as that of Chaitanya
Baishnabs, it was actually founded by Jagamohan Gosai. His times
differ in the literarture so I shall quote the latest time c.1700
first.
In the lecture "Banglar Baul" by Professor Kshitimohan Sen (1993, Lila
Lecture of 1949) it is stated that Ramkrishna, a disciple of Santa
Gosai of the Jagamohinee Community died in 1652.
According to another description Ramakrishna, founder of the
Jagamohinee Community became a devotiee of Khwaja Mainuddin Chisti
(Rh) [check "Bange Vaisnava Dharma" by Ramakanta Chakrabarti].
According to Kshitimohan Sen Jogamohan's guru was Murari and he
followed the line of Ramanand. Possibly this Murari was the
inspiration behind Murari Gupta. Murari Gupter Karcha believed to be
written in 1513 (Saka 1435). Murari Gupta was from Sylhet and was a
classmate of Chaitanya.
According to Deeneshchandra Sen (History of the Bengali Language and
Literature, pp566-67) Nera-Neris were converted to Vaishnab religions
by Nityananda and Adaitarcharya. He believed that earlier Buddhist
vikkhus could not mix in the Hindusamaj.
Clearly Deeneshchandra took the name as Nera (Ner.aa to indicate the
retroflex flap) which is an old hate term for the Buddhists used by
the Hindu hate-mongers and is also applied to Muslims.
Its meaning Hindus never disclosed. Possibly there is an obscene
reference as the word nar.aa means to vibrate. An intelligent young
man observed "potaa nare jal pare." Also laaraa means naked.
But it appears that he was confused about a group of Faqirs called
actually Naar.aa not Ner.aa. Hate mongers managed to crystallize the
latter form because of their monopoly in the modern education system.
Abdul Wali talked about a group of Baul Faqirs called Naar.aa. First
of the two opinions he described regarding this obscure name states
that the founder of this system used to carry naar.aa (khar., straw)
in his sack and used to sit on them. The second opinion related the
word to natya in the sense of dance.
In Burdwan we find the Letor group. This was a group of entertainers.
In his boyhood Poet Nazrul was attached with one such group. From the
biography of the poet we see that people having Faqir background were
also involved in Letor groups.
Bengali khaagr.aa (reed, straw) is also called khar, though now
khaagraa usually means dried reed. Nal khaagraa was an important part
of the landscape of Narail and Naldi. Here we remember the Reed Sea of
the Sabians of the marshes and the Sufi cloak mentioned in our article
"Boyale Qalandar, Boyalias and Boyalmaris (PART III)."
Nal is also called ulu or ulukhaagraa.
The deep Sabian connection of this part of Bengal we explained in
almost all of our articles on the historical themes of Bangladesh.
Although Manik Pir of Southwest Bengal has been suggested to be the
memory of Mani with scanty support, the depth of the Sabian-Nazarene
connection as shown by us is usually lacking in the literature.
In particular we suggested Burdwan to be a displaced Bar Toman,
although we take the word Toman generally to mean a (brotherhood of)
Shaman rather than the particular person of St. Thomas.
According to Abdul Wali the name Naar.aa was prevalent in the northern
part of Jessore and most part of Nadia. Another name he found in the
same region is Kala which he said was the name of the founder.
According to Akshykumar Datta ("Bharatbarshiya Upasak Sampradai")
founder of the Naar.aa community was Birbhadra son of Nityananda. We
have to interpret this in the opposite sense that Birbhadra's father
Nityananada was from a community of Naar.aa. That would again take was
to the Narial Faqir mentioned by Mohsin Hussain.
As stated in "Boyale Qalandar, Boyalias and Boyalmaris (PART I)"
apologetic Abdul Wali was quite embarrassed that his sources were
outwardly Muslims. Yet he followed "Dabistan-i-Mazhib" of dubious
origin. However given the environment in which he wrote we must be
sympathetic to him and thankful to him for the information he
provided.
Adwaitacharja (Kamlakar Chakrabarti, 1434-1557) of Shantipur was
reportedly a disciple of Chaitanya. There are several biographies of
Adwaitacharja. Three of them are considered forgery.
For us his only importance is that he is called a grandson of
Narasinha Nardial which story could result from his connection with
Naar.aa Faqirs.
It is an open problem for the historians of Bangladesh to list the men
of religion killed, persecuted, prosecuted or harassed for valid or
invalid causes under the office of the Hindu renaissance men serving
as administrators.
Such studies need careful investigation. A Hindu officer opposing a
European factory-owner or a missionary siding with the persecuted
farmers for the ulterior motive of evangelization may appear as a good
man. A Hindu officer settling dispute between two Muslims may appear
as a well-wisher of a Muslim.
It would be stupidity to hasten to give them credit unless their
activities are examined critically and from global perspective. In
fact at this stage historians should not pass any judgment and give
any credit. They simply investigate the cases from all aspects.
There is a story of a non-conformist Hindu Yogi declared criminal and
dying under custody challenging Kedarnath Datta's office in Orissa.
In short Deeneshchandra Sen's reference to Nera-Neri's convertion into
Vaishnabism reminds us Kedarnath Datta's obscure crusade against the
"Apasamprady" (Bad Communities).
Whatever may be the connection of Kedarnath Datta with Madangopal
Datta of Narail (see Boyale Qalandar, Boyalias and Boyalmaris … PART
III) the maternal ancestors of Kedarnath Datta were Ghoshes.
In fact his maternal grandfather had the surname Mustauphi. This can
mean that one of the ancestors was an accountant in the Muslim
government.
However the surname was also used by a Pirali Brahman family (that of
Bomkesh Mustaufi's ancestors), though it is claimed that in this case
the Pirali connection was through marriage relation to a Pirali
family.
Given that Piralis were quite important in this district, and one can
still get glimpses of the Faqir influence on Kedarnath Datta's
ancestors in historical descriptions, one can suspect that they were
Piralis or at least followed some Faqirs.
The time of Kabir Shah is very often given as 1440-1518 by authors who
followed uncritical claims. As expected Chaitanya story tallies with
this erroneous time.
Kabir Shah Jolah, according to his descendants, was born in a Muslim
weaver community in a place called Maghar in Gorakhpur district c.1398
CE. He died c.1448 CE. A local chief by the name Bizli Khan erected
his raoja ((tomb) about 1450
[p224, A. Fuehrer, "Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions in the
North-Western Provinces and Oudh," Vol II. p32, footnote 2, C.
Vaudeville, "Kabir," 1974].
Note that 1518 minus 1398 is 120, the golden age an accomplished man
is supposed to live in some North Indian beliefs. An astrologer
promised Akbar this age.
Instead of putting the departure of Kabir earlier many Hindus, and
indophil authors trying to assimilate Kabirpanthis in the newly
constructed Hinduism, dragged his birth forward to make their story
credible.
We find a Bizuli-Khan Pathan in the Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita of
Krishnadas Kaviraj. "That Bizuli-Khan became mahabhagabata/ His
greatness spread to all sites of pilgrimage (Madhya-lila, Chapter 18,
verse 212)."
This is Bizli Khan who was a Muslim disciple of Kabir. His name was
associated with the struggle against the hinducization of the
Kabirpanthis.
It is said that after Kabir's death his Muslim followers came under
the leadership of Bizli Khan to claim the dead body. People found a
heap of flowers instead of the body. Compare with the story told by
Badauni about Shaikh Alai Mahdi Shaheed.
Kaviraj wrote that Chaitanya changed the name of one of the Pathan
servants of Bizuli-Khan to Ramdas. Bizli Khan erected Kabir's tomb in
1450 and Chaitanya was born in 1485.
Thus Chaitanya's story reflects the year of death of Kabir to be 1518.
Since simple-minded believers who believed that Kabir lived hundred
and twenty years were not interested in the chronology, one can
suspect that at least this part of Chaitanya story originated after
Christian missionary investigations on Kabir started.
The story of changing the name of Bizuli-Khan's servant to Ramdas is
interesting for another reason. It is connected with the effort to
show Kabir as a disciple of "Hindu" Ramanand.
Scholars familiar with the history of Sikhism are usually not ignorant
of the falsity of the claim that Kabir is a disciple of Ramanand.
Grewal writes, "Far from being a disciple of Ramanand, as it is
generally but wrongly believed, Kabir discovered and delineated a new
path which for want of a better term is still called bhakti. [p27,
"The Sikhs of the Punjab" by J. S. Grewal, The New Cambridge History
of India II.3, 1990]."
The anonymous author of "Dabistan-i-Mazahib," a project wrongly and
cleverly attributed to orthodox Qadiriya Sufi Muhsin Fani, called
Kabir a Vairagi and a disciple of Ramanand, and this appear to be the
source of later fictions and inspirations.
It is amazing how the dubious "Dabistan-i-Mazahib" pops up again and
again in the study of the religious sects to be assimilated into
Hinduism. We commented on Abdul Wali's reference to it when he tried
to classify Baul Faqirs as Shaktas or Vaishnabs.
An internet search indicates that some people still connect Kabir with
Ramanand. This is an example how falsehood settling on falsehood can
create a checkered history giving a color of richness and depth and
hiding the real drossy nature.
Dragging of Kabir's time forward created a time gap from the supposed
fourteenth-century floruit of Ramanand. Of course there would not be
any gap if one also moves Ramanand's time forward. Some people do
that. Others care little about chronology while spreading falsehood as
truth.
A history is created for otherwise obscure Ramanand. Critical authors
do only anthropological study on his supposed legacy and stay away
from making historical statements about him. As a result baseless
beliefs persist by default.
There was an order of Sadhus by the name Ramanandi, and they had a
founder. But before the Sadhus could tell their story to the modern
world they got corrupted by the influence of the anti-Muslim politics
of the Christian Missionaries.
We believe that Ramuyas of ancient Sabians migrated to India and they
brought the worship of the Aramaean God of Rammon (Rimmon of the
Bible). It is very likely that this Rammon is only a variation for
Bani Aram of the Rahman and the Rahim.
In Sura Bani Israil we find that some enemies of the Prophet (SM)
thought Ar-Rahman to be a separate god from Allah (17:110, also 25:60
Pickthall).
It appears that the first Hindu mahant (superintendent) in Maghar came
in 1764 when Padre Marco della Tomba was studying the followers of
Kabir in North India. Similarly the associates of missionary Grierson
and Gilchrist involved with the creation of modern Hindi and Nagari
Pracharani Sabha were behind the modern stories regarding Ramanand.
And the dross is like the stubborn scum in the bathroom. Tagore
translated Kabir poems from K. M. Sen's Bengali translation. Bridges,
English Poet Laureate (1913-1930), wrote, "I am afraid that Tagore's
version was done without actual reference to the original Hindi."
Yet Bridges did not get permission from Tagore for slight alterations.
"Shaahed" Suhrawardy, at that time a student at Oxford, helped Bridges
with Hindi to make new translations of several poems. In Bangladesh he
is usually called Shaahed though his name is Hasan Shahid since Shahid
refers to his politician brother Huseyn Shahid Suhrawardy.
Now the responsibility of changing the final date of Kabir to 1518 is
sometimes placed on Evelyn Underhill's shoulder. Underhill, who
assisted in the publication of Tagore's "Songs of Kabir" in America,
actually tried to gather historical details of Kabir.
She wrote to Tagore (August 19, 1913) about Rothenstein's decision
that the poems should be published at once:
"quite impossible, ... till I have a great deal more information about
K's position in Indian literature, his relation to the Sufi poets,
etc., than I at present possess." [Quoted in Mary M. Lago's "Imperfect
Encounter, Letters of William Rothenstein and Rabindranath Tagore
1911-1941," 1972.]
When the names and stories do not have the chain of custody, and there
is a general suspicion of forgeries, we remember what historian
Rakhaldas told about the genealogical composition of Batubhatta:
"bartaman juger sata sata kulpanjikar nay dui dash batsar purbbe
likhita ebang baigganik prakriyay 'praacheeneekrita'."
[like the hundreds of genealogical compositions written two or ten
years ago and 'made old' using scientific processes]
The given names of Rup and Sanatan and the given genealogy do not
count. They were Muslims and they had some Muslim names. The Muslim
sounding names usually given are clearly work-related titles. Those
are not names.
It is claimed that Sanatan (1484-1558) and Rup Goswami (1490-1563)
were in the court of Sultan Hussain Shah. They were brothers. They
revolted for "seeing the persecution of the followers of Chaitanya by
the Muslims."
It is agreed that the names Rup and Sanatan were not their actual
names. But Chaitanya gave them those names. Jib Goswami was a son of a
brother of Rup and Sanatan. These were the three of the Six Goswamis
of Brindaban (Vrindavana).
As regards Rup and Sanatan being Chaitanya's disciples we must mention
their notice in the decayed Baul literature.
From "Baul Bibarani" attributed to Faqir Kanai Shah which exists in
more than one form and in both of which signs of mutilation is clear,
we understand that there was a controversy regarding the "Darveshi"
connection of Rup and Sanatan.
In view of the correction about the Shahibjani sect by Sayyid Mustafa
Siraj and variegated reports that were current about this sect, one
can suspect that the story of Rup and Sanatan has also been
hinducized.
In particular one thinks that these two names have been inserted in
the Baul Bibarani after the original persons involved got general
recognition in their given names.
The fifteenth line Aar Rup-Sanatan (?? ???-?????)
<FONT size=5> আর রূপ</FONT>-<FONT
size=5> সনাতন </FONT>
comes suddenly after Bismillah Kaalaam, Eve, Adam, Oli-Auliya, Pir,
Paigambars (Prophets), Four Imams, and Companions of the Messenger of
God (SM), Khowaj Khizr (Hazrat Khizr (A)), Auliya Kabir, Gazi-Kalu, Bu
Ali Qalandar and Mandar (Madar Shah).
All the names before the two names, or rather one name as they are
hyphenated anachronistically, are the names of much loved Prophets and
Saints of Bengali Muslim village traditions of the medieval period.
Then suddenly pops up Rup-Sanatan.
There is no Chaitanya before Rup-Sanatan. What is the reason that
Chaitanya's name would be dropped but the names of two persons who
were slave-like disciples of Chaitanya are produced first? And that
possibly inspired the cutting and pasting in the following block.
Further discussion on our claim that a botched surgery took place at
this point is done in our "Boyale Qalandar, Boyalias and Boyalmaris:...
(PART III)."
Hunter in his "Statistical Account of Bengal (vol 9, p57)" says that
Rup and Sanatan were Mohammadans converted into Vaishnavism. Hunter
says that he had never heard any other case of Muslim converting into
Vaishnavism. If he would leave more details of what he heard we could
have analyze and compare his accounts with "Baul Bibarani."
According to Jibananda Siddhanta, Basanta Chattopadhyay believed that
the father of Rup and Sanatan was from Jessore and was converted to
"Pirali religion, a subclass of Islam." This is again a faulty and an
incomplete description because both converted Muslims and "still non-
Muslims" were included among Piralis.
Others believe that Rup and Sanatan were Hindu because, in reference
to their discourse on the Bhaagbat with Brahmins, "Majumdar says that
Hindus, and specially Brahmins, would not co-operate with Rup-Sanatan
in that manner if they were Muslims (page 75, Jibananda
Siddhanta ...)."
We believe the real persons behind these Hindu stories were Muslims,
and somehow their Muslim names have been superseded by newly given
tatsama names.
One of the Six Goswamis of Vrindabana, Gopal Bhatta Goswami appears to
be living about 1662 though he was a friend of Rup and Sanatan. The
general significance of 1660's as regards dubious descriptions of
religious sects we shall discuss later. It is said that Jib Goswami
was 25, roughly in another description, when Chaitanya died.
A strange coincidence is that the names Jib Goswami and Gopal Bhatta,
two of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavana, correspond to the names of two
generals of the Maratha chiefs of Mathura fighting the Rajputs of
Jaipur in May 1790. These were Jiva Dada Bakhshi and Gopal Bhau. They
were locally quite famous when British annexed Mathura.
One can visualize that Bengali Hindus coming from Bengal with the
British army stole the credits of people who opposed the British and
were famous in Mathura. Marathas supporting the Mughals were the main
enemy of the English and their Bengali Hindu servants.
Bengali Hindus who were not considered good fighters were good on
propaganda war. No doubt that Bengali pundits were given the charge of
the cultural warfare. As the enlightened rajas of Jaipur collected the
books and documents of the Mughal Imperial library these pandits also
got opportunity to contaminate Ain-i-Akabari.
After the death of Bahadur Shah I in 1712 the Mughal administration
rapidly decayed. Rajput Kachhawa Chiefs of Amber who founded the state
of Jaipur usually ruled the district of Mathura which lies in the
northeast of Agra on the road to Delhi. They also ruled Ajmeer as
Mughal governor.
Living close to Agra and Delhi, this branch of Rajputs to which Raja
Man Singh belonged, were generally friendly to the Mughals and Muslims
down to the middle of the reign of Shah Alam II (r.1754-1806)
excepting temporary setbacks due to the influence of the Ranas of
Jodhpur.
Sometime war of successions and court politics strained relation since
Mughal princes frequently married daughters of rajas. However once the
new administration started functioning they were with the emperor who
won the throne.
It appears from the article of Shaukat Ali Khan (in Jai Narayan Asopa
ed. "Cultural Heritage of Jaipur," 1982 pp185-194) that only towards
the end of the nineteenth century Muslim influence on the cultural
side of Jaipur decreased considerably.
Maharaja's Sanskrit College was founded in 1852 from the college
established by Major Ludlow in 1844.
In fact the slow and late process of sanskritization in this heartland
of the highest caste Hindus is also evident from the name Pothikhana
and Suratkhana for the library and picture gallery of the rajas of
Jaipur. It must be embarrassing for a communal mind.
Gopal Narayan Bahru takes pain to claim that these names were of later
origin, that is, from the period of Madho Singh I (r.1750-1767).
Mirza Raja Jai Singh (r.1620-1667) served in the court of Shahjahan
and Aurangzeib. Madho Singh I was a son of Sawai Jai Singh II who
founded these Pothikhana and Suratkhana.
In Bengali a library today is called a paatthaagaar or granthagaar,
and a bookshop is called a baighar or baier dokaan. The actual Bengali
word for grantha was gaa(n)thaa which now has a different meaning.
Everywhere in Bangladesh we see signs of mutilation.
(To be continued)