The nath community of Bengal a historical study 1872 to 2011

Abstract

According to legend right from the deep in the ancient past it was known that there was a community of Lord Shiva s Worshippers, who were known to be Yogi . In the BrahmhaBaibarta Purana which was composed in the reign of Ballalsena it was mentioned that the community produced by Ganga s son who came from Beshdhari was acknowledged to be the Yogi Community. newlineAll over India there are thousand of castes and tribes in existence some of which are labelled as Higher Castes and the rest as the Lower Castes. In Bengal the Lower Castes have been divided as 1) Uttam Sankar, 2) Madhyam Sankar and 3) Antyaja Sankar.According to Niharranjan Nath the Yogi has been comprised in the Uttam sankar. And these Shiva worshippers of Adi Nath. That is why they are called the Naths. In the sixth century before Christ, the Nath community rises on the ruins of the Buddhism. With the erosion of Brahmahanism in the Middle Age the Nathism emerged and flourished.Initiallythis community was very much honoured in the reign of king Ballalsen.Ballalsen gave away land to them. In the Mughal era, especially, emperor Akbar and also in the tenure of Aurangzeb they were given many gifts they used to have the same dignity as the Brahmins. And the crisis of their self-dignity started during colonial era. They have struggled to establish their self dignity which has bought progress of their identity. The word Yoginath is seen to be used for The first time in the census of 1872. After this in the censuses of 1901, 1911 and 1921 the position of Yoginath Community has been mentioned. The much of research that has been carried out so long about this community is basically literature centered and religious. The rise and its flourish of Nath community or rather, the Nath religion and the Nath literature is seen in many honourable researchers researches. The Social downfall, economic transformation and cultural evolution of them in the pre-independence, in the post- independence and even in the present context demands deep and elaborate research indeed.