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II
Scholars agree that the peoples of South Asia are closely
interrelated, and their culture reflects a unity in diversity.
The unity has been seen in terms, among others, of her being
a seat of an ancient civilization, the predominance of her
agricultural economy, and the preponderantly rural, caste-oriented
and religious character of her culture; the diversity in terms
of the physical features of the land and the people, the variety
of regional languages, the political divisions, the differences
in religious persuasions, the divergence of food habit and
the like. It is therefore possible to study on one level,
the culture of South Asia in its fundamental unity -- the
whole wood, as some scholars put it, and, on the other hand,
the individual trees - the cultures of her various regions,
of which Bengal has been one.
The inheritance of common sources explains
the similarities of the cultural traits of Bengal with other
parts of South Asia. The ethnic groups that peopled Bengal,
the caste system that appeared, the religious outlook that
pervades the life of the people, the preponderantly agrarian
economy, and the mode of production -- these were common to
the whole subcontinent. The Bengali language, a member of
the Indo-European family, and many customs and rituals of
Bengal indicate a special affinity with northern India. The
consumption of rice and oil, the use of turmeric, betel nuts,
and betel leaves, and the custom of wearing unsewn garments
point out an affinity on the other hand not only with southern
India but with southeast Asia as well. An analysis of early
Bengal architecture has also shown the co-existence of north
Indian and southeast Asian styles. With the coming of the
Muslims, the culture of the Islamic world - which itself was
an amalgam of Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Central Asian
cultural elements - was introduced; and the European contact
led to selective adaptation of yet another culture. Thus various
cultural streams -- many major ones - confluenced in this
region and contributed to the shaping of its culture.
So did Nature. The physical features of Bengal
made the production of food easy, which led to a kind of self-sufficiency
of the economy, which is now proverbial.1 The geographical
situation of Bengal made possible the rise and continuance
of numerous kingdoms in comparative isolation. This isolation
also helped to develop the streak of heterodoxy in religious
ideas of Bengal, noticed by so many scholars. The collective
response to the physical features of Bengal was further reflected
in the variety of her literary and musical expressions. A
particular body of poems, glorifying the snake-goddess, Manasa,
developed in the marshy eastern part of Bengal, while the
dry west Bengal produced Vaisnaua lyrics. The Bhatiyali, a
boatman's song, is exclusive to east Bengal; the Bhawaiya,
a cartman's song, is peculiar to the north; the Kirtana -
Vaisnava lyrics in tune - and the Baul. a branch of mystic
songs, is mainly a product of west Bengal. The availability
of art materials also depended on the gift of nature, this
accounts for the fact that clay and bricks were more often
used in Bengal architecture than stone, and that the sculptures
tended to overcome the paucity of materials by imitating the
form appropriate for a given kind of material on another.
Whatever peculiarities the cultural life
of Bengal might have had in the earlier times- of which we
know very little - were engulfed by an all-India orientation,
when Bengal turned into a province of the Gupta empire between
the fourth and seventh centuries A. D. Though agriculture
formed the predominant sector of the economy, textiles developed
as an important industry. With the growth of external commerce,
boat-making and ship-building flourished. The kingship was
already established; Buddhism began to lose grounds to Brahminical
doctrines, and the caste system was asserted. A leisured class
grew up; the priest and the learned who depended on the court
stood high in the social order, while the artisan and the
manual worker occupied a lower stratum. In this background
the learned devoted himself to producing literary works in
Sanskrit, the Ayurveda system of medicine found favour, and
the prosperous lay patrons ordered works of art to be produced.
Architecture bore the mark of the Gupta school, and sculpture
showed affiliation with Kusana, Sunga, and Gupta art. Works
of art expressed the collective religious experience of a
cult - not necessarily the artisan's own, but that of his
patrons.
By the end of the seventh century the ideal
of an all-India sovereignty gave place to the regional spirit.
By then external commerce had begun to decline; silver and
gold coins had begun to disappear, yielding place to cowries,
the textile industry had been compelled to cater to the needs
of a smaller clientele, and pressure had mounted on agriculture.
Men began to look inward to a narrower surrounding.
It was then that the creativity of Bengal
was expressed in the development of distinctive traits in
intellectual activities which were already in existence. Mystic
Buddhism was evolved and was carried to Tibet, among' other
places, by Bengali Buddhist leaders; a Bengal School of Dharmasastra,
pertaining to Hindu law of inheritance and judicial procedure,
was founded; an eastern style of art flourished; the Gaudi
(Bengal) style developed in Sanskrit literature; literature
appeared in Apabhramsa; and Hasti-Ayurveda,2 a
branch of medicine for the treatment of elephants, developed.
In the several cults that grew out of Mystic Buddhism one
could find the matrix of primitive faith, the rejection of
the caste system, the dismissal of rituals, and, at the same
time, an attempt at finding common grounds with the Hinduism
in practice. The essence of Gaudi style was its pompous diction,
and that of the most well known Sanskrit literary work . produced
in Bengal was a sensuousness which also notably featured in
the sculpture and painting (found in the illustrations of
manuscripts) of the period.
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