SONARANG – THE VILLAGE THAT WE LOST

Prafulla Nath Sen

Sonarang is a village in East Bengal, now in Bangladesh, where our ancestors

lived before partition of Bengal in 1947. Well before partition, we, the Baidya Hindu
community who settled in the village since ages, started moving out and after partition
completely abandoned our homes and hearth, leaving behind only a sentiment, a feeling
of rootlessness and loss. My father, who was posted as Shipping Master of Calcutta Port
in 1940, somehow sensed that we are to lost Sonarang given the political situation and the
rise of the Muslim League, wanted to give his children a feel of the village and hence a
holiday in Sonarang. Another reason to go was that his grand uncle, the doyen of
Sonarang, Rai Sahib Bhuvan Chandra Sen, who retired as Superintendent Home
Department, Government of India in 1919 and was still living in the village, wanted to
see us. Known locally as Bhuvan Bhuiya (or landlord) a grand old Buddha sitting on his
taktaposh ordering his servants, tenants and grand children about, he could not be taken
lightly. He was the last of the Civil Servants to settle in the village after return. So great
was his reputation, that his chief servant Bhima with me as an eight year old boy, his
inseparable companion, went to buy potatoes “Potatoes! Potatoes, how lucky you are to
go to Bhuvan Bhuiya’s house.” Today, after 65 years, we may be the few survivors who
can recollect the village as it was. It is still there. Dr. Mrs. Jharna Gourlay, who made a
documentary on Sonarang for BBC Channel 4, recollects the reception she got from the
new residents, mostly Muslims who, wonder of wonders, appropriated the title of
Bhuiyas, the prominent Hindu family of Sonarang.

In Hindu folklore and legend, Sonarang is in Bikrampur, the ancient seat of

Hindu kings. The English were more prosaic: they placed the village in Munshigunge
sub-division in the district of Dhaka. By 1940 Dhaka had already achieved the proud
position of being Bengal’s second biggest city and was the seat of a distinct Hindu
bhadralok culture of East Bengal. This culture was spread all over East Bengal, nestled
within a cluster of villages, nurtured by a fairly prosperous Hindu middle class. The
tenants and peasants of East Bengal were however mostly muslims. In the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, the lower classes of East Bengal, who felt oppressed and
discriminated against by the tantric Brahminism practiced by the upper castes, converted
en masse to Islam, influenced by traveling fakirs, who sang ballads about brotherhood of
man. One such example is that of Lallan Fakir. The scheduled castes like Kaybartas
(fishermen), sonar (goldsmiths), and lohars (blacksmiths), etc., did not convert due to
strong ties but lived within their communities. So each village was a mix of communities
but usually as Elphinstone has pointed out, one community was dominant. So we have
Brahmin villages, Vaidya villages, and Kayastha villages. It stands to reason that the
dominant caste was closely interlinked and related. Interestingly, however, due to
genetic reasons (i.e., gotra, etc.) marriages were mostly with outside girls from linked
villages. This is important to understand the culture and ethos of Sonarang.

Sonarang was settled and dominated by a caste of Hindus known as Vaidyas,

peculiar only to Bengal. Vaidyas community, a very minute (2% of Hindu Bengalis), has
somehow made its presence felt in Bengal through erudite scholarship and intellectual
excellence. This community today boasts about people like Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen
and Miss Universe and actor Sushmita Sen -- a wide spectrum indeed. Sonarang itself
has produced one Central cabinet minister, four Indian Civil Service members, about
twelve justices, scores of teachers, doctors and scientists – all from Sonarang School.
The community owes its pre-eminence to Raja Raj Ballabh Sen, the Dewan of
Serajuddaula, who conspired to overthrow the nawab with the help of Robert Clive and
bring in the English in 1757. He arranged a conclave of Vaidya leaders in Murshidabad
and declared “Henceforth we will call ourselves Vaidya Brahmins and wear the sacred
thread”. The practice is still carrying on. The writer’s grand aunt once told him that for
all his treachery Raj Ballabh’s palace with all its gold was washed away by the
Kirtinasha, a tributary of Brahmaputra. Later in the Raj era, eminent Vaidyas included
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, V. Sengupta, Acharya Kshitmohan Sen and many others
prospered. So prominent was Sonarang in the national movement that Judge Rowlatt in
his famous Rowlatt report mentions Sonarang 18 times as the home of Bengal sedition
against the Raj. Many Vaidyas have wondered where we have come from because there
are unusual features like better looks than the average Bengali.

Jogendranath Gupta, the historian of Bikrampur, surmises that when Ballal Sen
conquered Bengal in the ninth century AD, he imported about 13 families of Brahmins
from Ujjain to oust Buddhism – Bikrampur was then the fulcrum of Buddhism. Dipankar
Atish from Bajrajogini, the adjacent Brahmin village from Sonarang, was summoned by
the Tibetan king to convert his tribal subjects to Buddhism. The Buddhist elite converted
to Hinduism by force but retained their double barreled name like Sen Gupta, Das Gupta.
Any way, this is conjecture. From the end of Buddhism the religion and practices that
dominated East Bengal now was tantric Brahminism with all its esoteric practices and
rituals. One of the eminent practitioners in the 13th century AD was one Surya Sen, who
founded the village of Sonarang. Politically, there had been a change in East Bengal in
the 11th century when Bakhtyar Khilyi ousted Lakshman Sen, the last Hindu king and
established Muslim rule in Dhaka. One of the families of Sonarang had the sanad from
the nawab as land grant, but now they are so dispersed that it is difficult to lay one’s hand
on this document. Our parents were aware that such a document existed. There are other
records of public works on Sonarang mostly public spirited like Bisheshwar Sen lost his
entire wealth in digging the canal that gives access to the village or the king who dug the
lake (dighi) but faced the curse of his mother, who said he could not finish it. A very
senior scientist in Iowa USA narrated this tale preserved in a ballad when he heard we
were from Sonarang. Therefore we can surmise that people of Sonarang were wealthy
and progressive.

The Gangetic delta has been a most prosperous area since ages immemorial.
Dhaka has been the focal point and gateway for trade in eastern India because two major
rives, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, join together to flow into the Bay of Bengal,
creating immense riverine routes. Vincent Smith has pointedly stated that the immense
wealth of Bengal fuelled the British expansion. Munshigunge sub-division is actually on
the confluence of the two mighty rivers and this area is like a huge sea. When the writer
saw this area it was absolutely jam packed with steamers and boats. Commerce was
huge. Barges from Assam carrying tea from the gardens, high rise boats moving in a line
carrying jute, the golden fibre grown in the area, opium, indigo coming from upstream,
huge timber barges carrying mainly teak from Burma and Assam and finally Dhaka
muslin (thin silk) all moved along the rivers to the sea ports of Calcutta and Chittagong.
Roads were a rarity, even people moved by boats which had a life and rhythm of its own.

The terrain of North East India is uneven; mounds and ravines dominate and
Sonarang is no exception. Sonarang was earlier known as Sonartong or the mound of
gold. Dhaka museum has a number of gold artifacts recovered from this hill feature
pointing to a rich past, probably the capital of Senbhoomi a legendary Camelot of East
Bengal. That it was prominent is evident from the fact that Bhiku Dipankar Atish came
from the neighbouring Brahmin village Bajrajogini. But obviously during Ballal Sen’s
conquest of Bengal in the 9th century, Sonarang fell into bad days as Surya Sen, founder
of the village, settled it completely afresh. Although some legends say he was an orphan
found in a mela and raised by a Brahmin family, he was a man of giant intellect, a learned
tantric practitioner who regularly meditated on the mound, left a large progeny and all the
Vaidyas in the village are his descendants. Some of his descendants tried to meditate on
the mound but were found unconscious next day. There is a prophesy that one of his
descendants, most probably the 14th step, will be a world figure.

Within a short period, despite Bakhtiyar Khilyi’s conquest and establishing the
Nawab’s rule in Dhaka, Sonarang prospered into what Elphinstone has commented as
“the insular, self-contained caste village”. Surya Sen’s descendants split into twelve
clans initially. Later they split further. They were called Varsya Bhuiya bari, Bisharod
(lawyer) bari and Munshi bari (accountants) and so on. In the outskirts we had the
Brahmanpara or priests’ family, the kaybarta para (fishermen) and mussalman para
(muslim area) and many others. Community leaders built temples like “joradenl” (joint
temple with tall twin towers), schools for boys and girls and medical clinics and in 1940
was almost like a small town. As we have already stated, access was by canal, internal
roads were non existent, only dirt tracks impassable during the rains, were used. State aid
during Raj period was negligible and what was achieved was by the people themselves,
yet there were many gaps like medical facilities.

What amazes one is the lack of sanitary facilities as late as 1940. When I
mentioned this to Didima, she promptly marched me to Munshibari where they were
installing sanitary toilets with sewage tanks. She said, “Wait, this will soon come”, but
famine, riots, disease and death would sooner engulf the area due to war and political
turmoil. The urgent problem then was employment for the youth. Due to lack of
development there was no employment for the youth and migration for the West was
becoming a flood. Even then, the growth of Sonarang in earlier days of the Raj was
impressive, the Sonarang High School and the Middle Girls’ School came as early as
1880. But sad to say, the concentration was on creation of the Babu class. Sonarang
school, despite being in a village and under thatched roof, boasted of an excellent library,
which had a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. The Headmaster was a extremely
dedicated man devoted to education. But the need of the hour was funds, the educational
institutions needed buildings and equipment. With such a glittering alumni, the school
was struggling.

The plus point of Sonarang was the closeness of relationships. In sadness or

sorrow, in pleasure or enjoyment, human support and help were maximum. Two simple
examples will illustrate this. My grandfather, an expatriate in Assam, suddenly died at a
young age. My father was only 4 years old. My grandmother with six children moved
back to the village for shelter. She could bring up the children only with the help of other
villagers. Another example after Independence was that of Late Rabi Sen, the President
Emeritus of Price Waterhouse Cooper (the first Indian to do so), my father’s cousin and
senior most Bhunyan from Sonarang, on hearing of my retirement from the Army wanted
to know if he could help. As I was joining Union Bank, I did not need it but I was
grateful for his support.

But this closeness had also some negative impacts. Revolt was frowned upon.
Acquiescence to common norms was always desired. Yet people did resist the
straightjacket. Nibaron Kaka had a mistress and Didima strictly told us not to cross the
courtyard but the lady was so nice, she offered sweets on the sly. The religion, the
animal sacrifices, festivals, rituals and its commercialization revolted many, who became
Brahmos or Christians. They found it difficult to stay. One example is Kalipada whose
descendants struck out on their own in the spread of education.

Even though we were small, three things were evident during our visit which we
now realize led to the decline of the middle class Hindu society and ultimate destruction
due to partition. In no way can one claim a revival of East Bengal Hindu culture in
relocation in India. The first was the utter lack of any development and next tackling the
fury of nature in disease, famine and calamities. This led to continuous migration. The
last was the political chaos engineered by the declining Raj. This has been brought out in
great relief by the scholar Suranjan Das. In 1940 itself there was an element of fear in the
villages, hints of dark foreboding. The maulavis encouraged by the Raj administration
preached jihad against the gentry. Das brings out the Raj propaganda to encourage lower
class muslims, that agitation for independence was actually anti muslim conspiracy by
the upper class Hindu, which led to a chain of riots in Dhaka starting from 1904.
Therefore what we can claim today is nostalgia. This inevitability of destiny led our
parents to pay a last visit to Sonarang with their children.

Kolkata to Dhaka today by air takes 20 minutes and by bus about 12 hours. In
1940, though Bengal was politically one state, it took 24 hours to reach Sonarang. We
took the night train from Sealdah to Goalondo, the steamer station on Padma. It took the
better part of the day to reach Narayangunje, the jute jetty, by huge paddle steamers with
names like Kiwi and Emu. From Narayangunje a smaller ferry took us to Munshigunje,
where servants from Bhuvan Bhuiya’s household awaited us. Lazily we were taken by
boat propelled by huge bamboo sticks called logi with which the boatmen pushed the
boat forward. By evening (dusk comes early in the East) we reached Sonarang to a very
warm welcome. We were not alone, a large body of expatriates was coming by the
steamer to visit the villages on winter vacation. Later, I recollected the same feeling of
nostalgia from expatriates on the boat from Bombay to Goa, but what I remember most is
the exquisite lunch on the boat either curry (the haldi or turmeric is rare) or hilsa and
rice. Rest of the days we spent in visiting almost all the houses turn by turn. On the
night before departure my father invited all the tenants to a sumptuous feast. Didima
insisted that the tenants pay the necessary obeisance to us (a feudal rite). Next morning
we left after sad farewells and Bhima and others were literally in tears when the steamer
cast off at Munshigunge. We never went back.

In 1943, due to the Japanese invasion of Burma, all boats were destroyed in east
Bengal, akin to all lorries carrying food in a metropolis. In addition, the rice crop failed.
Three million, mainly landless people died of hunger and that included Bhima and
others. It was devastation without a parallel. A family friend, Kalidas Roy, was editing
“Sainik Samachar” in 1977. He asked me to write something for his paper. I wrote the
“Death of a Village”. Roy who was from East Bengal later told me he could not sleep for
the whole night while reading the piece. Much later in 1987, I chanced to see an article
in Economic and Political Weekly by Ashok Mitra, ex Indian Civil Service and later a
noted demographer who was Munshigunje’s Sub-divisional officer during the famine,
who describes the utter devastation of a rural heartland in 1943. Sitting in Delhi, we
could do nothing. Absentee landlordism was meaningless. We had lost Sonarang. The
partition of 1947 was a formality only.

Rajballabh (Raja)
Rajballabh (Raja) the diwan of Dhaka and subsequently the faujdar
of Munghyr. A Vaidya by caste, he started his career as a muharrir
(treasurer) of the department of QANUNGO in 1717. From that petty
official position, he rose rapidly in the service of the Mughals and
became the diwan of Dhaka (1756-57) with the title of maharaja.
Subsequently he rose to the position of the faujdar of Munghyr. His
father Krishnajivan also was a muharrir of the nawara mahal (fleet
maintaining establishment) and later on the majumdar.

An ambitious man, Rajballabh used his official position and wealth to

acquire landed estate that, with its attendant power and privileges,
was considered as a hallmark of respectability in the contemporary
society. With the acquisition of lands from the districts of Dhaka,
Faridpur, Barisal and Tippera, he formed the new pargana of Rajnagar
and subsequently extended his zamindari by adding major parts of the
estate of VIKRAMAPURA by questionable means. Rajballabh soon imposed
his authority over countless petty taluqdars scattered over Dhaka,
Faridpur and specially Barisal.

Rajballabh played a prominent part during the years (1756-63) when

the political situation of Bengal was a fluid one. An accomplice of MIR
JAFAR and GHASETI BEGUM,
Rajballabh incurred the displeasure of Nawab
SIRAJUDDAULA for the misappropriation of a huge fund during his tenure as
the diwan of Dhaka. At his behest his son Krishnadas fled to Calcutta
with the embezzled amount and took shelter with the English - a factor
that subsequently became one of the causes of Siraj's armed conflict
with the English EAST INDIA COMPANY. Nawab MIR QASIM suspected him of
conspiring with the English and put him to death by drowning (1763).

The Rajnagar of Raja Rajballabh displays the architectural skill of the

contemporary craftsmen and at the same time it speaks of the taste
and economic resources of its patron. [Shirin Akhtar]

The Sena rulers may or may not be related to us, although of course all
Sens duly claim kinship with the likes of Ballal Sen. The Senas were
originally feudatories of the Chalukyas (not Cholas) of Karnataka and
must have come to Bengal during one of the numerous Chalukya
raids. It would seem that they settled down in Senbhum (now
Singhbhum) before they consolidated their position and eventually
dislodged the Pal Dynasty. incidentally, the Pals were the last Buddhist
rulers of Bengal (indeed of India). It was during their reign that Tibet
was converted to Buddhism by the great scholar Dipankar. If you
recall, the Tibetan script is almost exactly the same as the Bengali
script.