Bengal The Unique State

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About the Author Prof. J.N. Nanda, with a string of academic distinctions including two earned doctorates, multitude of awards from the IBC and American Biography Association, and other national and international awards, is a distinguished scientist, thinker and writer. He has represented India abroad many times. He has summarized his all embracing philosophy and religion as New Mahayana in which all 'isms' co-exist. Among his scientific contributions, mention can be made of his new light on the earth's internal structure, the origin of the moon and the origin of earth's magnetism etc. He has travelled practically in all continents and studied many languages. Besides his scientific books and publications, mention may be made of his book Science and Technology in India's Transformation, released by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in 1986. Other important books are Conflicts and Co-existence-India, Glimpses of Indian History and Culture, Co-operative Development of the Resources of the Sea-India and Religion and Philosophy for Modern Youth.

Preface Indian history and culture is multi-dimensional. Bengal has all kinds of priority. I count many Bengalis among my friends and colleagues. Throughout the last century Bengal spread like the sky over the rest of the country. The Bengalis ran the country while serving the British colonial sahibs. They also spearheaded the fight for freedom forestalling many of the tools of struggle for the freedom movement and produced self-sacrificing band of freedom fighters who refused to wage only a non-violent struggle. They were vindicated when the mahatma gave the call of "Do or Die" to the youth of India and justified even a violent struggle to end injustice. I recall the all embracing personality of my friend Prof. S.D. Chatterjee who had in his lonely pursuit of science at Calcutta discovered the nuclear fission much before anyone else in the world. He was not given any attention. Only much later the American Society of Engineers elected him as an honorary fellow of their society. He was invited by the Carnegie Institution of Washington to repair some of their equipments in 1949 where I met him and we remained lifelong friends. I often stayed with him at Ballygunge Place in Calcutta. He was a committed bachelor and later bequeathed all his wealth to Chatterjee Research Foundation. He introduced me to the swami-in-charge of the Ramakrishna Mission and many other eminent Bengali scientists and artists. Another close friend of mine was Prof. P.K. Bhattacharya who besides being a prominent geophysicist was a dancer and sang Tagore's songs beautifully. He was given a special invitation to visit many institutions in the Soviet Union in order to present finer points of Indian dance and music. It seems to be a Bengali trait to carry a superior intellect but express their achievements in low key. They achieve but remain modest. The Ramakrishna Mission, a Bengali institution reflects Bengali character fully of love and self-less activity and full commitment to Indianness.

What Indian secularism or the Indianness can grow into is best shown in Bengal. In the rest of north India, it was bedevilled by successful Muslim aggression and the Indian assimilation and integration efforts were less successful. In Bengal half the Muslim rulers were either native or at loggerheads with the Delhi imperialists. The joint culture prevailed where all religions and modes of life were thoroughly coexisting. By seeking their fortunes in the Indian Union the Muslims of Bengal have demonstrated their trust, which has grown in time, of the Hindus. There are weighty inter-communal contacts in Bengal than in Punjab or Delhi for example. The Bengali is evolving continuously and being Buddhist, Hindu (Saivite or Vaishnavite), Jain or Tantric, yoga addict or democratic traditionalist or terrorist revolutionary, capitalist-cum-communist etc. are all temporary phases in Bengali evolution. Bengal might yet make the core of global culture. Bengali Muslims are the majority in Bangladesh which is at present standing on the razor's edge of communal division and harmony. We are certain that it will seek its destiny in harmony which will have far reaching benefits to the global struggle against the Islamic imperialism based on terrorism. Study of the history of modern Bengal and Bangladesh fills all Indians with hope of a glorious future.

Foreword In his book "Uniqueness of Bengal among the Indian States" Prof. J.N. Nanda, who is an eminent Physicist, has critically analyzed the various historical events which led to Bengal's political, cultural and religious developments over the centuries. In his approach Prof. Nanda has been very objective and discerning the traits of a true Historian.

According to Prof. Nanda, Bengal has a uniqueness in the Indian national matrix. Thus the concept of hereditary monarchy or the dynastic rule was first opposed by the people of Bengal. The seeds of democracy were first sown in Bengal when the people democratically elected a leader to save them from internal chaos and the external attacks from Tibet and from the East. Thus Gopala, the strong ruler of Gauda, was so elected and Pala dynasty followed.

Even in trade and commerce Bengal had long flourishing trade relations with Burma (Myanmar), Java, Cambodia, etc. Buddhism and Hinduism spread extensively, historical relics of which are seen in plenty. The Temple of Angkor Vat shows the influence of art and architecture of Bengal.

According to Prof. Nanda, a joint identity was given to the Hindus and Muslims of Bengal through the Bengali language which developed as one distinct from Sanskrit, though it had its roots in Sanskrit. It helped the growth of a common culture.

The author has remarked that an essential ingredient of the integrated Indianness of Bengal is a contribution of Sufism. In fact, Bengal became the main Sufi centre in India. The goals of Hindu and Sufi Mysticism were identical and paths similar. In the medieval period Bhakti Cult and Vaishnavism were the manifestations of this Vivekananda and Ramakrishna of the 19th Century were influenced by liberal humanism preached by Sufi saints.

In Bengal, people began to identify Shiva with Akbar, Kartik with Qazi, Goddess Chandi with Eve (Amma Hava). King Hussain Shah, a patron of art and literature was popular with the Vaishnavas of Bengal who regarded him as an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Even in the Bengali Katha of Lord Satyanarayana, incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Fakirs have been idolized. Lord Satyanarayana has been identified with Lord Satya Pir. Thus even before the concept of Din- Ilahi by Akbar to bring about a synthesis of the two dominant religions, namely, Hinduism and Islam, a serious attempt had been made in Bengal to develop a harmonious relationship among the different religions-a practice which has been handed down even to this day. Thus communal riots witnessed in several parts of India or the recent mayhem in Gujarat cannot be dreamt of in Bengal.

Introduction While Indian and Asian thinking is open-ended, Arab and European mind lay stress on classification and specialisation. They always classified Indian religion and philosophy as nebulous and unbounded. A Jew is of chosen race and must rule. A Muslim is granted the teaching directly given by Allah to the prophet. A Christian has only to firmly accept Christ as the only begotten Son of God and he is assured of heaven in the next world and supremacy in this world. When exposed to religious argumentation common in India from ancient times, they tended to compartmentalise Indians as Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, etc. and present day categories include Sikhs, tribals and dalits. The masses of India were only Indians and had faith in humanism (Manav dharma), i.e. they were Sanatanists and the same person could be struggling at various rungs of the religious and philosophical ladder. If an invading band came across a Buddhist king, they imagined they were in the Buddhist period of Indian history and were equally sure of seeing a Hindu revival when the ruler they came across was worshipper of old deities. The Indians or Bengalis were just plain Indian or Bengali and were living their life of free thinking and free worship of the deity they chose or which was then popular. Periodical fairs were held regularly exalting sometimes one and sometimes the other deity. A fair in honour of Siva could also play up Dharma, a Buddhist deity or a fair in honour of Chandi could slide into the worship of Hariti and so on. This is still going on in Bengal. If the area teems with fishermen, the local deity of fishermen will hold court for visiting deities of the jungle or the supreme from the hills.

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