Bankura district

Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. Bankura district is surrounded by Purba Bardhaman district and Paschim Bardhaman district in the north, Purulia district in the west, Jhargram district and Paschim Medinipur district in the south, and some part of Hooghly district in the east. Damodar River flows in the northern part of Bankura district and separates it with the major part of Burdwan district. The district head quarter is located in Bankura town.

The district has been described as the "connecting link between the plains of Bengal on the east and Chota Nagpur plateau on the west." The areas to the east and north-east are low-lying alluvial plains while to the west the surface gradually rises, giving way to undulating country, interspersed with rocky hillocks.

Centre of the historic Mallabhum (Malla kingdom) of western Bengal, Bankura and its surrounding regions are identified with its historical and cultural significance for the later Middle Ages. Vaishnavism, which gained the status of state religion in the Malla kingdom in the seventeenth century, shaped the culture of the region. The Malla kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company in 1765 and the modern Bankura district took its form in 1881 and was named after its headquarters.

There are few accepted opinions about the etymology of the word Bankura. In the language of the Kol-Mundas, orah or rah means habitation. Banku means extremely beautiful. It may also have come from the word banka which means zig-zag. One of the most influential deities in the district is Dharmathakur and he is locally called Bankura Roy. According to local tradition, the town, which is presently the headquarters of the district, was named after its founder, a chieftain named Banku Rai. Another legend has it the town was named after Bir Bankura, one of the twenty-two sons of Bir Hambir, the Raja of Bishnupur. He divided his kingdom into twenty-two tarafs or circles and gave one to each son. Taraf Jaybelia fell to the lot of Bir Bankura. He developed the town that now bears the name Bankura. It has also been suggested that the name is a corruption of the word Bankunda, meaning five tanks. The name Bacoonda is found in old official records.

The earliest signs of human habitation in the area are at Dihar—by about 1000 BC chalcolithic people had settled on the north bank of the Dwarakeswar. Bankura district was inhabited by various indigenous tribes in later pre-historic times as well as Aryanised or assimilated with the people and culture of the Indo-Aryan group, who prevailed in northern India, substantially later than rest of Bengal. These developments took place over many centuries through both conflict and cordiality.

The district was part of Rarh in ancient times. In the old Jain book Acaranga Sutra (around 4th century) there is mention of Sumha and Ladha (Rarh?) and there too the reference is to an area inhabited by uncivilised and barbaric people.

In the fourth century, Susunia edicts record in Prakrit and Sanskrit that Chandravarman, son of Simhavarman, was the ruler of Pushkarana (modern Pakhanna in Bankura district). According to the inscription on the Allahabad pillar, Chandravarman was defeated by Samudragupta and the area became a part of the Gupta Empire. The area was for many years part of Dandabhukti and Bardhamanbhukti.

Many historians opine that assimilation with Indo-Aryans 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 Indo-Aryan religion and culture in West Bengal from around the sixth century.