HIS 101
Course Teacher: Samila Nowshin
Department of History and Philosophy
North South University
Topic 4:
Bengal’s pre-history; Physical Types (Ethnic Composition)
Bengalis are the third-largest ethnic group in the world, after the Han Chinese and Arabs. They
are the largest ethnic group within the Indo–European linguistic family and the largest ethnic
group in South Asia.
Early Human Settlement in Bengal
From very early times, the human species belonging to various human groups and tribes from
different regions had been pouring into this land of Bengal and had settled here permanently.
They have brought with them their cultural traits. These were intermingled with the indigenous
cultural elements of this region, and through this process, the culture of Bengal was invigorated
and transformed over the ages.
Many groups of people from the world had intruded into Bengal; many also went away, but
they left behind marks of their stay. The existence of numerous and varied ethnic groups can
be traced to the mixed blood of the Bengalis. These ancient people lived in various places in
Bengal, occupying different Janapadas, and got mixed with each other over the centuries.
What is pre-history?
Pre-history is a term for all eras before the development of the earliest writing systems. It is a
vast period of time. This time frame includes the Neolithic Revolution, Neanderthals,
Stonehenge, the Ice Age and more. The common pre-history definition suggests that “history”
began around 3600 BCE when ancient Mesopotamians developed writing.
Pre-historic implements- both Paleolithic and Neolithic tools have been discovered in
different parts of Bengal. However, it is difficult to determine the exact time when people first
started using them in Bengal. The anthropologists tell us the original settlers in Bengal were
not descended from the Aryan speakers but a group of people who resemble present-day
Kola, Sabara, Dom, etc. Linguistic evidence shows they all belonged to the same Nishada or
the Austric stock.
We know very little about the degree and nature of the civilisation possessed by the pre-Aryan
speakers of Bengal. It is now generally believed that the foundations of the civilisation of
Eastern India and its village life were based on agriculture which was laid by the Nishada or
the Australoid peoples, and the same was also probably true in the case of Bengal.
Proto-Austroloid: Bang and Negrito are probably the first ethnic groups of the Bengal region
that scholars have pieces of evidence of. However, these pieces of evidence need to be studied
more. They are considered the ancestors of the Kol, Bheel, Santal, Bhumees, Munda,
Banshforh, Malpahari and other ethnic groups. They lived as hunter-gatherers, while some
also used agriculture, such as plant harvesting. The Negritos form the indigenous population
of Southeast Asia but were absorbed mainly by Austroasiatic and Austronesian
speaking groups who migrated from southern East Asia into Mainland and Insular Southeast
Asia with the Neolithic expansion.
Australoids: They were an ethnic group of people in ancient Bengal. Anthropologists
considered them as the early Australian people. Australoids are also known as Austric or
Austro-Asian. In ancient literature, these people had been mentioned as the Nishad. Scholars
stated that the early habitants of the Australoids were from central India to South India and also
from Shinghal to Australia. Over time, some of these ethnic groups left their habitats and
migrated to ancient Bengal. Probably Australoids came into Bengal after the ancient Bang and
Negrito people.
The Austric tribes brought a primitive agriculture system in which a digging stick (lag) was
employed to till the hillside. They probably introduced terrace cultivation on hills and plains
cultivation of rice. They brought the cultivation of coconut (Narikela), plantain (kachkala),
betel vine (Paan), betel nut, turmeric and ginger, and some vegetables like brinjal and
pumpkin. They had no use for milk, but they were probably the first to tame the elephant.
The habit of counting by twenties (Kudi) appears to be the relic of an Austro-Asiatic habit.
The Austrians knew the art of weaving cotton clothes and could produce sugar from
sugarcane. They maintained a Panchayat system in their social organisation and influenced
the Bengali language and culture. Considering all these, anthropologists stated that the
Austroloids significantly influenced the ancient ethnic people of Bangladesh.
Dravidian: After the Australoid, the second human group intrusion happened through the
Dravidian population. The Dravidians were the majority population across the Indian
subcontinent before the second millennium. The evidence of early Dravidians comes from
studying the Indo-Aryan culture, languages, and findings at many mounds, the preeminent of
which are Mohenjodaro in Punjab and Harappa in Larkana District in Sind. Dravidians had
an advanced city culture that was more ancient than that of Aryan speakers and other groups.
They were the founders of the Indus Valley, and in the region of Bengal, they also promoted
urbanisation. It is also said that even within historical times, many people in Bangladesh spoke
a language related to Telegu, a Dravidian language.
Mongoloid: Mongoloid blood is also visible in the population of Bangladesh. However, the
lack of sources makes it very difficult to know more about them. The Indigenous peoples of
present-day Bangladesh are descendants of this ethnic group of people, along with Dravidian
and Australoids.
Aryan Speakers: Aryan Speakers are known as the later arrivals. They spoke a language of
the Indo-European family. Over the centuries, they mixed with the local population. With rice
cultivation's adoption and spread, this mixed population of Ayro-Dravidians moved to the
Bengal basin around 600 BCE.
There was no mention of the Bengal region in the hymns of the Vedas. The most ancient place
in the Vedic tradition was Bihar. It is mentioned in the Aitareya Brahman that 'robbers' lived
to the east of the eastern Aryabarta. It gave the verdict that the robbers were deviant sinners
because they did not follow any 'true book'. After declaring the existence of
robbers, Aitareya mentions
the Pundra nation
and
its
capital,
Pundranagara.
The
present Mahasthangarh represents the ancient Pundranagara.
It is seen in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata that not only were the Bengalis non-sinners,
but they were also a promising nation fit to become an ally of the Aryan speakers. The
Mahabharata mentions the conquest of the Pundravardhana and a few other Bengali habitats
by 'Bhim'.
'Guptas', 'Senas', 'Barmans', 'Kamboja', 'Kharhaga', 'Turkish', 'Afghans', 'Mughals',
'Portuguese', 'English', 'Armenians', etc., who left behind their blood current. This
intermingling of blood continued even during the Pakistani era. This mixing (Shankarayana)
has been geared up even more during the current age of globalisation. In other words, the
Bangalis are a mixed (Shankara) nation.
0
