Poundra (caste) explained

Poundra, earlier known as Pod, is a Hindu community originating from Bengal. Traditionally located outside the four-tier ritual varna system, the Poundras have been historically subject to acute discrimination — including untouchability — and remain a marginal group in modern Bengal.^[1] As of 2011, their population was around two and a half million;^[2] they are classed as a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal.

History

Medieval Bengal

No mention of the Pods is found in the Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa (c. 13th century), which is the earliest known document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.^[3] The Brahma Vaivarta Purana, notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, records "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.^[4] Mentions are scarce in medieval vernacular literature.

Colonial Bengal

In his 1891 survey of castes, Herbert Hope Risley documented the Pods to be a branch of the Chandala; they were subject to untouchability by the Brahmins as well as the Navasakhas.^[5] A majority were peasants though some had become traders, and even zamindars.

In the late nineteenth century, two influential members of the Pod community — Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar — produced numerous tracts of caste history, as was a common feature of that time. Arguing a descent from the "Poundras" — mentioned across a spectrum of Brahminical literature — they sought to establish the Pods as Kshatriyas, thereby removing the stigma of untouchability. In what might be construed as a self-respect movement, it was also demanded of all Pods to follow Kshatriya rituals. In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra". Further mobilisation happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and the first university graduate from the community.

Contemporary Bengal

The Poundras remain vulnerable to casteist discrimination in 21st century Bengal.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Book: Ray, Antara . Caste Matters in Public Policy: Issues and Perspectives . Routledge . 2022 . 9780367612672 . Choragudi . Rahul . London . Caste and public policy: The case of West Bengal . There has been no serious effort to eradicate any of these caste disabilities as there is no policy to address the issue related to caste dynamics. This situation continued in the politics and administration of Bengal for thirty-four years of the Left Front rule in the state that systematically erased caste from policy-making process, which was supported by the educated-Bengali-middle-class-bhadralok. Thus, the lower-caste identity has been rendered invisible in West Bengal. The Rajbansis and the Poundra, the two major ex-untouchable castes of Bengal, neither could mobilise themselves under one ideology locally nor could they align with the mainstream dalit ideology in the rest of the country. . Pellissery . Sony . Jayaram . N..
2. Web site: West Bengal : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001 . 1 December 2018 . Censusindia.gov.in.
3. Book: Furui, Ryosuke. Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar. R. N. Bhattacharya. 2013. Ghosh. Suchandra. Kolkata. Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa. Bandyopadhyay. Sudipa Ray. Majumdar. Sushmita Basu. Pal. Sayantani.
4. Rocher. Ludo. 1986. Mixed Castes in the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 106. 2. 254. 10.2307/601589. 601589. 0003-0279.
5. Barman . Rup Kumar . 2014-01-01 . From Pods to Poundra: A Study on the Poundra Kshatriya Movement for Social Justice 1891–1956 . Voice of Dalit . en . 7 . 1 . 121–138 . 10.1177/0974354520140108 . 0974-3545 . 148661602.
6. Barman. Rup Kumar. 2020-02-17. Casteism and Caste Intolerance in India: A Study on Casteism of Contemporary West Bengal. Contemporary Voice of Dalit. 12. 2. 165–180. 10.1177/2455328x19898451. 214164973. 2455-328X.