Poundra (caste)

Poundra, earlier known as Pod, is a Bengali Hindu community originating from the region of Bengal.^[1] Traditionally located outside the four-tier ritual varna system, the Poundras have been historically subject to acute discrimination — including untouchability — and remain a marginal group in modern Bengal.^[1][2] As of 2011, their population was around two and a half million;^[3] they are classed as a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal.^[1]

History

Medieval Bengal

No mention of the Pods is found in the Bṛhaddharma Upapuraṇa (c. 13th century^[a]), which is the earliest known document to chronicle a hierarchy of castes in Bengal.^[4][b] The Brahma Vaivarta Purana, notable for a very late Bengali recension c. 14/15th century, records "Paundrakas" to be the son of a Vaisya father and Sundini mother but it is unknown if the groups are connected.^[5] Mentions are scarce in medieval vernacular literature.

Colonial Bengal

In his 1891 survey of castes, Herbert Hope Risley documented the Pods to be a branch of the Chandala; they were subject to untouchability by the Brahmins as well as the Navasakhas.^[1] A majority were peasants though some had become traders, and even zamindars.^[1]

In the late nineteenth century, two influential members of the Pod community — Benimadhab Halder and Srimanta Naskar — produced numerous tracts of caste history, as was a common feature of that time. Arguing a descent from the "Poundras" — mentioned across a spectrum of Brahminical literature — they sought to establish the Pods as Kshatriyas, thereby removing the stigma of untouchability.^[1] In what might be construed as a self-respect movement, it was also demanded of all Pods to follow Kshatriya rituals.^[1] In 1901, Halder organized a pan-Bengal conference of the Pods, wherein it was resolved to have the government rename the caste as "Poundra".^{[1][disputed – discuss]} Further mobilisation happened under the leadership of Raicharan Sardar, a lawyer and the first university graduate from the community.^[1]

Contemporary Bengal

The Poundras remain vulnerable to casteist discrimination in 21st century Bengal.^[6]

Notes

1. Ludo Rocher however notes the text to contain multiple layers (like all other Puranas) making any dating impossible. However, he agrees with R. C. Hazra that a significant part was composed as a response to the Islamic conquest of Bengal.
2. Older sources on social setup (not caste) include inscriptions of the Gupta and the Pala periods but these do not refer to Pods.