Bishnupur – History
Bishnupur is a town and a
municipality in Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura
District in the state of West
Bengal, India. It is famous for its terracotta
temples, terracotta crafts and the Baluchari
sarees. Royal patronage also gave rise to Bishnupur
Gharana (school) of Hindustani classical music in
late 18th century and the Bishnupur school of painting. Since
1997, the temples of Bishnupur is on UNESCO World Heritage Site's Tentative
list.
Pre-History:
The earliest signs of human
habitation in the area were at Dihar. At about 1000 BC chalcolithic people had
settled on the north bank of the Dwarakeswar. In later pre-historic times this
area was inhabited by various Proto-Australoid and Proto-Dravidian tribes which
were spread across different strata of development – food-gathering, hunting,
animal-rearing and agriculture.
Bankura district was part of
Rarh in ancient times. This area was dominated by aboriginal tribes, more than
other areas of Bengal, and was Aryanised or assimilated with the people and
culture of the Proto-Indo-European group, who prevailed in northern India,
substantially later than rest of Bengal. There were two primary groups of
people, the Nishadas (who were Proto-Australoid tribes) and Dasa-dasyus
(related to Dravidians).
Amongst the subgroups were
Bagdi, Bauri, Jele, Hari, Dom, and others. Santals and Mal Pahariyas were
probably also there from the beginning. There were substantial differences
amongst the tribes in relation to food, dress, religion, behavioral patterns
and other matters and there were severe limitations on inter-mixing, not to
think of inter-marriage.
Arrival of the Proto-Indo-Europeans:
When Proto-Indo-Europeans
arrived on the scene, they gradually effected assimilation, based primarily on
their concepts of work and quality, which led to the development of caste-based
society or it could be the extension of an older system. The assimilation was
not easy and took many centuries and was achieved through both conflict and
cordiality. In the Aitareya Aranyaka (around 7th century BC), the people
of the region have been referred to as asuras (demons).
To this day, the names of
numerous villages in the district are associated with asuras. In the religious
texts of Baudhayana Dharmasutra (around 5th-6th century BC), it has been
mentioned that while Anga and the middle country has been partially Aryanised,
Pundra, Banga and Kalinga had only come in contact with the Aryans or
Proto-Indo-Europeans of northern India.
In the old Jain book Acaranga
Sutra (around 4th century AD), there is mention of Sumha and Ladha, a reference
to an area inhabited by uncivilised and barbaric people. Many historians opine
that assimilation with Proto-Indo-Europeans took place first in northern and
eastern Bengal and then in western Bengal. This has also been the broad course
of the spread of Buddhism and Jainism in Bengal. There is ample evidence of
pre-eminence of Aryan religion and culture in West Bengal from around 6th
century AD.
Gupta Period:
Inscriptions dating back to
Samudra Gupta’s period have referred to the locale, which came to be known
later in the 10th century CE as Bishnupur, a small kingdom governed
by local rulers who paid tribute to the Guptas. This was followed by a long
period of obscurity, when the land shifted to and fro between being a minor
independent principality and a feudatory state.
Malla Dynasty:
Bishnupur eventually became the
capital of the kings of the Malla dynasty, who ruled over a region known as
Mallabhum, covering modern day Bankura, Onda, Bishnupur, Kotulpur and Indas,
till the first half of the 20th century. During the reign of the
Malla kings, which can be traced back to the 7th century CE, the
region known as Mallabhum stretched further north to Damin-i-Koh in the Santhal
Parganas, Midnapore in the south, Bardhaman in the east, and parts of Chota
Nagpur in the west.
Adi Malla:
Legend has it that in the year
102 of the Malla Era or 695 CE, a lady died while giving birth to a son in a
forest at Laugram, six miles from Kotulpur, in modern Bankura district. Her
husband was a Rajput (from Sanskrit ‘raja-putra’) or a prince from northern
India, and they were both travelling to the Jagannath temple of Puri. To reach
the temple at the earliest, the wife was abandoned while in labor. The newborn,
later named Raghunath, was found the next day by a woman who had gone to the
forest to collect firewood, who brought him back and raised him.
By the age of 15, the boy was
unmatched in wrestling, so the Nrisinghadeb, king of Panchamgram bestowed on
him the name Adimalla, which means the ‘original/unique wrestler'. He was made a
chieftain by King Nrisinghadeb, the king of Padampur. Meanwhile, Pratap
Narayan, the ruler of Jotibhar, an area which actually was a part of Padampur,
declared independence against King Nrisinghadeb. The King sent for Raghunath,
his loyal warrior, to fight him. Raghunath defeated Pratap Narayan and the King
rewarded him with Jotibhar. Thus, Raghunath became feudal king under
Nrisinghadeb. After the death of Nrisinghadeb, his widow married her only
daughter, Chandra Kumari, to Raghunath and established him on the throne.
In 695 A.D. Raghunath was
crowned as first king of Malla dynasty at Padampur. To commemorate his
ascending of throne a new calendar, 'Mallabda' was started in 695 A.D or 101
Bengali calendars. King Raghunath became known as Adi Malla, and the land he
ruled came to be known as 'Mallabhum'. This is only a brief account of one
of the many stories explaining the origins of the Mallas. Some sources mention
that the woman who raised Adimalla was a Kayastha, while others say that she
belonged to the lowly Bagdi caste or was a tribal.
The latter refer to
Adimalla as a Bagdi-Raja or Bagdi-King who ruled in Laugram for 33 years.
Adimalla’s son and successor, Jay Mall, occupied Padampur fort, extended his
territory, and transferred the capital to Bishnupur. The Mallabhum kingdom
covered almost all of the present day Bankura district and extensive parts of
the adjoining districts of Burdwan and Medinipur, along with some parts of
Murshidabad and Bihar’s Chhotanagpur Plateau.
Jagat Malla and shifting of the
capital to Bishnupur:
It was in 994 A.D. King Jagat
Malla shifted his capital from Padampur to Bishnupur because of better
geographical safeguard as Bishnupur lies surrounded by hilly terrain. However,
there is an interesting legend surrounding this. As per folklore, Jagat Malla
came upon the site while hunting in 994 AD. He sent a hawk after a heron;
however, the heron killed the hawk. With this, goddess Durga revealed herself
to the king and commanded him to establish a place for her worship and move his
capital from Laugram.
Bir Hambir / Veer Hambir:
It was in the 16th and
17th centuries, during the reign of Hambir Malla Dev, also known as
Bir Hambir, the 49th king of the Malla dynasty, that Bishnupur began
to draw interest from its neighboring territories, both politically and
culturally. Bir Hambir began the process of building Vaishnavite temples in
Bishnupur. Bir Hambir was a powerful but tyrannical Malla ruler, had
converted to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The origins of Bishnupur as a religious and
cultural hub with its distinctive temple architecture is closely tied to the
Gaudiya Vaishnava devotional movement of the 16th century in eastern
India and Bengal in particular (then known as Gaud or Gaur).
The bhakti saint and social
reformer, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a
brand of spiritualism marked by an emotive and intimate devotion to the Hindu
god Krishna, the central deity of the tradition. Vrindavan—the mythical site
where Krishna spent his youth, believed to be in the woods by the river Yamuna
in north India—held a profound fascination for devotees of the Vaishnava faith.
According to Gaudiya Vaishnava
literature, Chaitanya picked six disciples who came to be called the Goswamis
and established them at Vrindavan over the course of the 16th century.
At his behest, the six Goswamis, who were the second generation of Gaudiya
Vaishnava leaders, compiled the body of theological texts that had come to
define their religious tradition. In the wake of Chaitanya’s demise and the
waning popularity of the Gaudiya Vaishnava movement, the Goswamis chose
Srinivasa Acharya, slated to become the next Gaudiya Vaishnava leader, to
redeploy their energies in Bengal.
He was provided a cartload of
manuscripts inscribed with the essential principles of the tradition to help
him accomplish this task. While travelling through Bishnupur, Srinivas lost
these precious manuscripts placed under his charge. On tracing them to the
local chief, Bir Hambir of the Malla dynasty, he visited Bishnupur and
electrified the court by astutely narrating and elucidating on episodes from
Krishna’s life. The raja was so deeply moved by Srinivas’s passion for Krishna
that he fell at his feet and confessed to having arranged the theft of the
manuscripts, mistaking them for worldly treasures.
In a bid to make amends, Bir
Hambir entreated Srinivasa and his fellow devotees to stay on and granted them
the land and resources to create a sacred centre for Vaishnava devotion in the
region. This narrative, recovered from various Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, draws
attention to Bishnupur’s political patronage of the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith,
which helped the order flourish in this region and establish a seat of culture
and religion based on the Vaishnava tradition. This alliance with the political
authorities of Bishnupur meant that Gaudiya Vaishnavism would have a powerful
influence on the distinctive styles of art, craftsmanship, and temple artistry
that were on the verge of surfacing in the region.
Worship of Madan Mohan and
Kalachand was introduced in Bishnupur. Ritual celebrations and performances
formed the core of Sri Chaitanya’s practice, which was continued by the
Goswamis. To provide a space for such celebrations, exquisite structures like
the Rasmancha was built. Given the absence of stones, terracotta soon emerged
as the most important medium of temple building. The medium is unique compared
to the temples of the rest of the subcontinent.
At the triple-arched south entrance
of the Madan Mohan temple, the historical incident described above is
represented in commemorative relief. In this terracotta tile, Acharya Srinivas
is represented as a Vaishnavite Goswami reading a pothi, that is the Bhagwata,
to an engrossed royal listener, Bir Hambir. Even in a Rajasthani painting, the
same has been recorded. Goswamis were quite conservative – they regressed from
the humanist approach of Sri Chaitanya, and the same is reflected in the visual
representations found on the temple walls as Chaitanya is rarely depicted.
However, a unique image of a
six-handed Sri Chaitanya is presented in Kestorai’s Jorbangla. As Chaitanya’s
performance-based, human-centric interpretation of Vaishnavism had already been
institutionalized by its incorporation into Sanatana Brahmanism, the Goswamis
propagated Bhagvatism under the garb of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Thus, with the
help of Bir Hambir’s patronage and the support of the Goswami Siddhanta, the acharya established the
supremacy of the Gita within
Gaudiya Vaishnavism.
The pre-eminence of the Goswamis
is repeatedly emphasized in the terracotta carvings of the temples at
Bishnupur, like the Madan Mohan temple or the contiguous Radhagovinda temple.
In the latter temple, a Vaishnavite saint or a Goswami is depicted reading from
a manuscript with two engrossed female listeners with a Japamala (prayer beads) next to
him. According to Vaishnavism, listening to recitations is a pious act. Both
the temples mentioned above are located close to Acharya Srinivas sadhan-pith.
Though Bishnupur was highly
influenced by the Gita and
Goswami Siddhanta in the 17th century, Vishnu as godhead had not
been unknown in this part of Bengal, as is evident from the Pala image of
Anantasayana Vishnu. Therefore, it is apt to call this late medieval period the
revival of the (Hindu) classical age in all respects, be it in art and culture
or religion.
The consequent proliferation of
temples in this region over the next century and a half, which British site
surveys and administrative reports of the mid-8th century estimate
to be between 150 and 450 in number, is probably what gave Bishnupur its
reputation as a religious centre. The earlier Malla kings were known for their
devotion to Lord Shiva. The Sareswar and Saileswar temples at Dihar were
constructed during this period. Bir Hambir built that wonderful Rasmancha in
1600, followed by a Dalan Temple for Mrinmayee, the royal deity, in 1601.
Other kings & their works:
Veer Hambir’s
successor, Raghunath Singha, built Malleshwar Temple in 1622 and
dedicated the temple in the name of Veer Hambir. His other works
include Shymaraya, a pancha Ratna temple, in 1643, Keshtaraya
(Jorbangla type) temple in 1655, and Kalachand temple, an ek-Ratna Temple
in 1656. First two are built in brick and entirely covered with terracotta
artworks. Kalachand temple was built with laterite stone, but some relics of
artworks are still found on the temple walls.
After Raghunath Singha, his
son Veer Singha II built Lalji temple, an ek-Ratna temple in
laterite stone in 1658. Raghunath Singha I built Radha Vinod Aatchaalaa
Temple in brick in 1659 in Kharbangla. In 1665, the Queen of Veer
Singha II built two exquisite temples, Madanagopala, a Pancharatna Temple
and Murulimohana, a laterite temple. He is also credited with the building
of Tejpal temple in 1672. In 1694, Durjan
Singha built Madana Mohana ek-Ratna Temple in brick.
King Gopal Singha built
number temples in Bishnupur. In 1726 three ek-Ratna laterite temples came up,
which are known as 'Jora Temple'. Then in 1729 he built Radhagovinda ek-Ratna
temple in laterite. In 1734-35 came up Mahaprabhu Temple, a Jorbangla
type brick temple and 1737 he built another ek-Ratna Temple in laterite, Radha
Madhava temple. In 1758 King Chaitanya
Singha built Radhashyama Temple, an ek-Ratna laterite temple and
another similar temple in Patpur near Bishnupur. In the early 19th
Century, the Bose family of Bishnupur built the 'Sridhar Temple',
the only Navaratna temple in Bishnupur with plenty of terracotta artwork.
Decline:
Though the Malla kings shifted
their capital from Padampur to Bishnupur in 994 A.D., it was only from 17th
century onwards Bishnupur started to flourish. But this great Kingdom, an
independent Hindu Kingdom in the eastern India could survive there after only
for a little more than 150 years (1600-1758). The Bishnupur kings, who were at
the summit of their fortunes towards the end of the 17th century,
started declining in the first half of the 18th century. First, the
Maharaja of Burdwan seized the Fatehpur Mahal, and then the Maratha invasions
laid waste their country.
Gopal Singh:
Gopal Singh (1730–1745) was a
pious king but was not fit to cope with the difficulties that faced his
kingdom. He issued an edict that people of Mallabhum should count their beads
and chant Harinam (name of God) every evening at sunset. In 1742, when the
Marathas, under Bhaskar Rao, attacked Bishnupur, the troops put up a spirited
defence but then Gopal Singh retreated within the fort and ordered the troops
and citizens to pray to Madan Mohan to save the city. It is believed that Madan
Mohan responded, and the cannons were fired without human assistance.
The truth probably is that the
Maratha cavalry were unable to pierce the strong fortifications and retired.
While they failed to take the fort and pillage the treasury, the Marathas
harried the less protected parts of the kingdom. The Maratha chief, Sheobhat,
made Bishnupur his headquarters in 1760 during the invasion of Shah Alam. The
Marathas fell with their heaviest weight on border principalities such as
Bishnupur and Birbhum. Exactions of a hundred sorts reduced the once powerful
kingdom to poverty. The tenants fled, and the country became desolate.
Chaitanya Singh:
Chaitanya Singh was another
pious ruler unfit to face the difficulties. As he was too involved in religious
matters, he did not have time for administrative matters. He faced internal
feuds. Damodar Singh, a cousin of his, tried to gain power. He was able to
convince the court at Murshidabad about his capabilities. Initially, Siraj
ud-Daulah lent him forces but he was unable to capture Bishnupur. Later, after
the British defeated Siraj, Mir Jafar lent him stronger forces. He succeeded in
taking Bishnupur, and Chaitanya Singh escaped to Kolkata with the idol of Madan
Gopal, but the British restored the latter to power. However, intrigue and
litigation continued for many years. Litigation ruined the Bishnupur Raj family
and eventually in 1806, the estate was sold for arrears of land revenue and
bought up by the Maharaja of Burdwan.
Early British Administration:
Bishnupur was ceded to the
British with the rest of Burdwan chakla in 1760. The Marathas had laid the
country waste and famine of 1770 completed the misery of the kingdom. A large
section of the population was swept away, cultivation fell, and lawlessness spread.
The once powerful king had been reduced to the status of a mere zamindar. In
1787, Bishnupur was united with Birbhum to form a separate administrative unit,
the headquarters was shifted to Suri, and a rebellious situation prevailed. The
situation was so bad that the people of Bishnupur came to be known as Chuars or
robbers. Bankura continued to be one district with Birbhum till 1793, when it
was transferred to the Burdwan collectorate.
Chuar Rebellion:
Towards the end of the 18th
century certain portions of the district around Raipur was affected by the
Chuar rebellion. The leader of the rebels was Durjan Singh, a former zamindar
of Raipur. He had a following of about 1,500 men and created havoc in certain
areas. The police force was simply not in a position to control the situation.
At the time Bankura appears to have been part of Jungle Mahals. While the
Chuars continued to be a menace, Bankura played an important role in the
commercial department of East India Company.
Sonamukhi had a head factory
with 31 subordinate ones, including one at Patrasayar, as well as at Surul and
Ilambazar in Birbhum. The disturbances of the Chuars in 1832 in the western
part of the district lead to the disbandment of the Jungle Mahals in 1833. While
Bishnupur was transferred to Burdwan, most of the district formed a part of
Manbhum and what was known as North-west Frontier Agency. In 1872, the parganas
of Sonamukhi, Indas, Kotulpur, Shergarh and Senpahari were transferred to
Burdwan.
