The History of Hindu Dharma in Bengal

The name Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga, references to which can be found in Sanskrit texts. Bengal was part of the great Mauryan empire inherited by Ashoka and was later ruled by the Gupta Dynasty from the 4th century BCE. It was further governed by the Buddhist Pala Dynasty, including the present-day state of Bihar, till it came to be governed by semi-independent Islamic rulers in 1200 CE and gradually came completely under Mughal rule by 1576 CE. In 1757CE, the British ousted the Mughals by defeating them in the famous Battle of Plassey.

The cultural and political ethos of Bengal has largely been governed by the political atmosphere of the state. Hindu dharma was the predominant religion of Bengal till the Buddhist influence. The Gaur kingdom was the first sovereign Hindu kingdom around 600 CE, with its capital being the present Murshidabad district. The Bengali Hindu society flourished during the 12th century CE during the Sena dynasty. The influence of Islamic autocracy and thereafter, the British policy of divide and rule diluted the Hindu predominance of Bengal. However, Bengal led the cause of Hindutva, and many are unaware, but in 1892, the term Hindutva was first coined in Bengal when Gurudas Chatterjee published Chandranath Basu’s book Hindutva.

Faltering Hindu Dharma – The beginnings

The British made Kolkata their capital, therefore, the influence of Britishers and their anglicized culture was heavy on the intelligentsia of Bengal. The Bengali elite class, such as the Tagore family, which enjoyed the patronage of the English, were critiques of ancient Hindu ideologies. Similarly, Raja Rammohan Roy, Aurobindo Ghosh, and Bipin Chandra Pal tried to combat colonial modernism, but their reformist and occidental approach restricted the movement from reaching the masses.

Furthermore, the call for Swadeshi made a deep economic impact on the masses, who found it difficult to afford the expensive indigenous produce and started using imported cheap salt and cloth, thus weakening the fervor and bifurcating the impact of the movement. These factors gradually laid the foundation for a more divisive society, a society divided on the basis of class – the elitist or the “Bhadralok” and the masses, the Hindus and the Muslims, the various jatis, especially the Schedule castes and non-Scheduled castes – in Bengal.

On one hand, where the liberal reformist Bengalis were against the rigid strictures of religion, the Schedule castes, on the other hand, were marginalized and discriminated against. It saw a new surge in conversion to Islam. The Muslims, having lost their feudal supremacy after the fall of the Mughal empire, found a new assertion due to the Tenancy Act passed by the Britishers. Later the Partition of Bengal left a bitter divide between both communities, and a pronounced Muslim community was emerging, which made no bones about their communal assertion.

The politics of alienation and appeasement

After independence, the Congress and the Communist party, which ruled the state were indifferent to the causes of oppressed Schedule castes, and the caste divide kept increasing, fragmenting the Hindu unity. Congregational worship and vote bank politics, on the other hand, were empowering the Muslim community. As the demographic numbers grew in favour of Muslims, appeasement politics increased in their support. Their voices and issues were gaining more importance, sidelining the Hindus.

One must bear in mind the multifarious lines of divide existing in the social structure of Bengali Hindus. Not only is Bengal divided on the basis of jaatis and religion, but there is also an underlying dissension between the North Bharatiyas and Odiyas. Equally pronounced is the divide between East Bengalis (those who migrated from Bangladesh) and West Bengalis. Thus the Hindu population was bearing the brunt of these divides, and the minority population kept strengthening itself to become a powerful pressure group.

The missionary activities and the conversion to Christianity were extremely high owing to the presence of ‘Mother’ Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity organization growing in numbers and influence. She claimed to take the poor in her fold and provide them with free treatment and shelter in lieu of conversion. A large mass of the population felt ostracised as the lower class converted to Christianity.

The Hindus continued to get divided, and the Christian community looked down upon the lower-class Hindus. The Bengali liberal society was enamoured by the Christian society in their colonial hangover. The romanticism attached to Moghul literature and arts, coupled with the respect for Christians, was gradually translating to the marginalisation of Hindus and created a sense of inferiority amongst the Hindus who lost all sense of self-pride. These factors started laying the foundation for the decline in pride and assertion of Hindu Dharma.

The rise, fall, and rise of Hindu assertion

The Hindus gradually lost their voice and importance socially and politically. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, the Hindu community began to assimilate the lower class by forming certain organizations like Bharat Sevashram Sangha and Hindu Mahasabha. These organizations addressed the issue of untouchability and promoted the imparting of true knowledge of Hindu Dharma. There were organizations like the Hindu Milan Mandir, which was a platform for congregations for Hindus.

Yet, despite their initial success, they failed to unite the Hindus the way they wanted. The elite was wary of the integration of untouchables, and the lower jatis formed their groups to aim for reservation political benefits. These efforts then suffered a big blow after the partition of Bengal in 1947. The momentum shifted to refugee settlement, and the subsequent governments, with their socialist and secular agenda, only ended up further fragmenting the Hindu samaj.

The tides are changing, however. The appeasement politics of TMC (Trinamool Congress ) has united the Hindus like never before in this state. The cosmopolitan culture of Urban life also started to feel the unnecessary bias against the majority Hindu population and the undue pampering of the minorities. BJP catapulted to 18 seats from a mere two seats in the 2019 general elections. The right-wing BJP emerged as the single largest opposition party amidst accusations of heavy rigging in the assembly elections in 2021.

Bengal is seeing a new surge in the rise in awareness among the majority Hindu population to translate itself as one united, formidable pressure group to keep its glorious identity alive! In a state where chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ was once a criminal offense under the leadership of Mamta Banerjee, the same state now welcomes a Durga Puja Pandal on the theme of Ayodhya Ram Mandir!