Rajbanshi
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Briefly
The Rajbanshi community is an ethnic group found in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar, as well as in the neighboring country of Nepal. They are also known as Koch Rajbanshi, or simply Rajbanshi, and are said to be descendants of the ancient Kshatriya warrior caste.
The Rajbanshis are primarily an agrarian community and are known for their traditional agricultural practices, including wet rice cultivation. They also engage in fishing, weaving, and other cottage industries. The Rajbanshis have their distinct language called Rajbanshi, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family.
In terms of religion, the Rajbanshis are mainly Hindus, although there is also a significant population that follows Buddhism and Christianity. They have their unique cultural practices, including folk songs and dances, such as the Baul and Bhawaiya.
The Rajbanshis have been historically marginalized and have faced social and economic discrimination. They have been demanding for the recognition of their community as a Scheduled Tribe, which would provide them with constitutional protections and affirmative action benefits. In recent years, there have been movements advocating for their rights and welfare, including the formation of political parties and organizations representing their interests.
Political importance
As in 2023
Santanu Chowdhury, April 26, 2023: The Indian Express
The population of Rajbanshis or Koch-Rajbanshis is estimated to be over 33 lakh in Bengal, which is mostly concentrated in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Malda and Murshidabad districts in northern parts of the state.
The Rajbanshi community accounts for 30 per cent of the electorate in North Bengal and is seen as a key factor in many Assembly seats, especially in over 15 Assembly segments in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts.
The community, which has been categorised in Begal among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), also plays a significant role in seven of the eight parliamentary seats in the region.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, riding on Rajbanshis’ support, the BJP won seven Lok Sabha seats in North Bengal.
The community’s support also helped the BJP win 30 of the region’s 54 Assembly seats in 2021 Assembly polls even though the TMC swept the state bagging 213 of 292 seats as against the saffron party’s 77-seat tally.
Traditionally, a majority of Rajbanshis had supported the Left Front government during its 34-year-rule in the state. Later, they shifted their allegiance to the TMC after it came to power in 2011. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they flipped in favour of the BJP.
Since then the TMC and the BJP have been vying with each other to woo the community through various moves.
Ahead of the 2021 polls, Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced the formation of three new police battalions, including the “Narayani Battalion” of Cooch Behar, which had been a long-standing demand of Rajbanshis. The BJP-led Centre then conferred the Padma Shri award to Dharma Narayan Barma, a retired teacher from the community.
In 2012, one year after coming to power, the TMC government set up the Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, named after the 19th century Rajbanshi leader and social reformist.
In February last year, Mamata visited North Bengal, and for the first time attended an event hosted by the Ananta Rai faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA), which has been demanding a separate Cooch Behar state comprising parts of North Bengal. Its other faction, headed by Bangshibadan Barman, has been with the TMC for years.
The Mamata dispensation also declared a holiday on Panchanan Barma’s birth anniversary on February 14.
Given Rajbanshis’ crucial electoral salience in North Bengal, both the TMC and the BJP are set to step up their outreach to the community in the run-up to the upcoming panchayat polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This explains their raging war of words in the wake of the current Kaliaganj flare-up. While the BJP was quick to demand a CBI probe into the alleged rape-murder of the girl, the TMC camp accused the party of making a bid to polarise the belt.
BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya alleged, “Under the TMC government, atrocities on members of Rajbanshi community are taking place every now and then. Several incidents had taken place in last two years but the state government did not handle the matter with an iron fist. The protest by the community is an outcome of the administration’s failure to address their demands and concerns.”
Hitting back, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh charged that the BJP was trying to instigate the community to gain political dividends. “It is being done in a pre-planned manner. BJP leaders are provoking people through misinformation…. Instead of allowing the police to investigate the matter, they are coming out with their own conclusions. This is being done to influence the administrative process. This is the politics of vultures. They are trying to create an issue out of this tragic incident,” he said.
Rajbanshi
Synonyms: Bahey, Deshi, Deshibahe, Rajbanshi Kshatriya [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Bahey, Desi, Rajbanshi, Rajbanshi Khattriya [West Bengal]
Groups/subgroups: Bara Bhag, Chota Bhag [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Bara Bhag, Choto Bhag [West Bengal]
- Sub-divisions: Kudlukara in South Canara, Kudalderkkara [E. Thurston]
Titles: Adhikari, Bhang in Jalpaiguri, Bhanga Kehatiya, Eastern Bengal [H.H. Risley]
Surnames: Rajbanshi, Singh [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Barman, Dev, Roy, Sarkar [West Bengal]
Gotra: Vasishr, Savarna, Vatsya [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Alambyan, Batsya, Kashyapa, Moudgaulya, Parasar, Sandilya [West Bengal]
