Origin of the Mahishya Community: Few Sources/ মাহিষ্য সম্প্রদায়ের উৎপত্তি : কয়েকটি সূত্র

Abstract

The Mahishya community is familiar in different regions by various names. They are called as Parasar Das, Halik Das and Mahishya Das in East Bengal. They are also called as Chashi Das and Halik Das in the district of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hoogly, Howrah, Midnapore and Nadia. It is said that the Mahishya community is the legitimate child of the Kshatriya and they are born in the womb of the Baishya. The motherland of the Mahishya community lay just on the south part of the Vindhya range and it was a borderland of the Buddhist Madhyadesha or Middle Country. It is situated in the bank of the Narmada river. It is also said that there is a relation between the Kaibarta community and the Mahishya community. The subject of their birth is the same. But there was no evidence of the communication between the Kaibarta community and the Mahishya community in the reign of the Pala Dynasty. Then the Kaibarta community did not claim themselves as ‘Mahishya’. After that this matter was also not mentioned in any treatise of the Sena rule. Thereafter there was emerged the demand of declarion of the Kaibarta community and the Mahishya community as same community. The demand was almost accepted by the society. But the Chashi Kaibarta was acceptable by the higher castes, like the Brahmins and the Jalik Kaibarta was unacceptabe by the higher castes.