Rarh region

Rarh region (Bengali pronunciation: [raːɽʱ]) is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various sources throughout history, it is mainly coextensive with the state of West Bengal, also comprising parts of the state of Jharkhand in India. The region is also referred to as Rarh, Rāḍha, or Rada's, representing the south-western parts of Bengal (South-West Bengal).

The Rarh region historically has been known by many different names and has hosted numerous settlements throughout history. One theory identifies it with the powerful Gangaridai nation mentioned in the ancient Greco-Roman accounts. The Naihati copper plate inscription of King Ballal Sen names it as the ancestral settlement of the Sena dynasty.

Rāḍha (Sanskrit), Lāḍ[h]a (Prakrit) and Lala are the ancient names of the Rarh region. Other variations of the name that appear in the ancient Jain literature include Rarha, Lara, and Rara. The Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles such as Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa state that the legendary Prince Vijaya came from a region called Lāla, which is identified with Rāḍha by several scholars.

In a 1972 thesis, the researcher Amalendu Mitra traced the origin of the word Rarh to "lāṛ", the Santali word for snake. This theory was also endorsed by his mentor Panchanan Mandal. However, German Indologist Rahul Peter Das notes that this is highly unlikely: the Santali word "lāṛ" actually means string or fibre, and is sometimes used for "snake" or "twig". Das further points out that the word "lāṛ" may itself be an Indo-Aryan loanword in Santali.

"Gangaridai", the name of an ancient Bengali people in Greek literature, is sometimes believed to be a Greek corruption of "Ganga-Rāḍha". However, according to D. C. Sircar, the word is simply the plural form of "Gangarid" (which is derived from the base "Ganga"), and means "Ganga (Ganges) people".

Many aspect of Rarh are found in these books entitle as 'Subarnarekha hoite Mayurakshi and Rarher Mantrayan authored by Maniklal Sinha. Rarher Mantrayan contains the ancient manuscripts of tantra and mantra, raveling various villages, and mixing with 'Mantrayanis' in Rarh. Whereas, Subarnarekha hoite Mayurakshi is based on the tribal lifestyle, introducing various tribes, their festivals, clothing's, culture of Hazaribag, Singbhum, Manbhum, Dhalbhum Shikarbhum, Santal Pargana and Bankura that are situated in the basin of the river Subarnarekha. The author also discussed about the landscape of those laces and the influence of Buddhism on the tribal religion.

The Rarh region lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the west and the chief flow of the Ganges river (which has been continuously changing) in the east. The Rarh plains comprise the lower Gangetic plains to the south of the Ganges, and to the west of its Bhagirathi-Hooghly distributary. These plains are formed of old alluvial deposits. The elevation ranges between 75 and 150 m.

Low-level Pleistocene-era lateritic badlands (locally called khoai) are common in the region. Several of these small hillocks were formed as a result of subaerial erosions and other tectonic movements. The highest of these are Biharinath (440 m) and Susunia (440 m). Biharinath contains sedimentary rocks of Gondwana system. Susunia contains gneissic and schistose rocks of Archean age, and also felspathic quartzite at its top.