Sakaldwipiya Brahmins (also known as Bhojaka Brahmins or Maga Brahmins) are a class of

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

priests primarily concentrated in northern India.

History

According to the

Samba Purana The Samba Purana ( sa, साम्ब पुराण, ) is one of the Saura Upapuranas. This text is dedicated to Surya. The recension of the text found in the printed editions has 84 chapters. Chapters 53-68 of this text are also divided into ...

(c.500 - c.800 CE), Samba, the son of Krishna, the king of Sambapura, constructed a sun temple in Mitravan on the bank of Chandrabhaga river. But no local Brahmin agreed to worship in the temple, so Samba brought eighteen families of Maga, descendents of Jarasabda (

Zarathustra Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is s ...

) from ''

Shakdvipa Shakadvipa ( sa, शाकद्वीप, lit=teak island, translit=Śākadvīpa), is an island featured in Hindu mythology. The island is named after a great teak tree that is stated to venerated in its midst. Its terrain and inhabitants are d ...

'' i.e

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

country (Central Asia). The Chinese traveler

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

mentioned the

Multan Sun Temple The Sun Temple of Multan was a temple dedicated to Surya, the Hindu Sun God, in the city of Multan. It commanded significant fame in the subcontinent as a place of pilgrimage and wealth under Hindu as well as Islamic rule before being destroyed ...

of Multan in the 7th century, which is identified as Sambapura by modern scholars. Gradually, they spread to other parts of India. They had knowledge of Astronomy, Astrology and medicines. The inscription of

Narasimhagupta Narasimhagupta (Gupta script: ''Na-ra-si-ṅha-gu-pta'') Baladitya was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of North India. He was son of Purugupta and probably the successor of Budhagupta. Defeat of the Hunas According to the Chinese monk Xuanza ...

Shahabad district Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

records land grants to the sun god in favour of Bhojaka Suryamitra. Prominent ancient Astronomers such as

Varāhamihira Varāhamihira ( 505 – 587), also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian astrologer, astronomer, and polymath who lived in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh, India). He was born at Kapitba in a Brahmin family, in the Avanti region, roughly co ...

and Arya Bhatta were Maga. They helped in the establishment of temples in different regions of the Indian subcontinent, such as

Martand Sun Temple The Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), India. It dates back to the eighth century AD and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hindu ...

, Khajuraho Sun Temple,

Konark Sun Temple Konark Sun Temple is a (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about northeast from Puri city on the coastline in Puri district, Odisha, India.Somnath temple etc. They also served as priests in these temples, priests for kings in different kingdoms.

Historical sources

Hindu texts

The earliest extant Hindu text to mention the Magas is

(c. 7th-8th century CE). This legend made its way into the

Bhavishya Purana The 'Bhavishya Purana' (') is one of the eighteen major works in the Purana genre of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit. The title ''Bhavishya'' means "future" and implies it is a work that contains prophecies regarding the future. The ''Bhavishya ...

and even a twelfth century inscription in Eastern India. After being cursed into a leper, Samba (Lazarus of Bible) had urged Krishna to restore his youth. Krishna expressed his inability and asserted that only the Sun-God had such abilities. So, acting upon the advice of Narada, Samba left for the forests of Mitravan on the banks of Chandrabhaga, which already served as His sacred lands. There, he propitiated Sun into appearing before himself and secured boons of cure and eternal fame. In return, Samba had to set up solar temples; Bhavishya Purana mentions that He had specifically instructed to be installed at the banks of Chandrabhaga, as His perpetual abode. The next day, Samba received an icon of the Sun-God while bathing. However, securing a priest for the temple turned out to be difficult. Both Narada and Gauramukha emphatically rejected the prospects of any Brahmin attending to a temple-icon since such worshippers took the offerings for themselves and had to ran afoul of

Manusmriti The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote thei ...

. Magas were mentioned to be the only classes fit for the task but that neither knew about their location except to be far away from Dwarka, the Sun-God himself was suggested for further guidance. Gauramukha also provided a detailed description about the antecedents of the Magas:. The Sun-God confirmed that none in Jamudwipa was fit for His worship; only among the inhabitants of Sakdwipa—an entire creation of His own—were to be found the Magas, fluent in Vedas and his potential worshippers. In Sakdwipa, Brahmins were the Magas; Kṣatriyas, Maśakas; Vaiśyas, Mānasas; and Śūdras, Mandagas. Eighteen Maga families would travel across an ocean on the back of

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda ...

. Subsequently, the first Sun-temple was established in Sambapura. No further details about the Magas are provided in the Samba Purana but Bhavishya Purana continues to chronicle the life of Magas in India, often in self-contradictory ways. Samba apparently arranged for the women of Bhojas (id. uncertain; might be the eponymous Kings of early medieval India) to be married to them; this went against the earlier narrative of bringing eighteen Maga "families." These Bhoja in-laws of Magas were referred to as Bhojakas notwithstanding Gauramukha's usage of the term. In a later chapter, it is even claimed that eight of the migrant Magas were actually born of Mandagas and hence had to marry Dasas; their progenies did not receive Brahminical knowledge unlike those from the union with Bhojas.

Analysis

On the basis of terminological similarities in relevant Puranic verses with proto-Iranian roots and a common tradition of Sun worship, most scholars deem the legend to reflect the migration of Magis of Persia (or some region under the influence of Persian cosmopolis) in multiple waves to India over an extended period of time. Sambapura has been identified with Multan (and the temple with the eponymous institution) but there exists little evidence in support and

Heinrich von Stietencron Heinrich von Stietencron (18 June 1933 in Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland – 12 January 2018) was a German Indologist. He was a Professor and the Director of the Institute of Indology and Comparative Religion at the University of Tübingen. He ...

rejects the idea. The later arrivals were deemed as Bhojakas, a term conspicuously absent in Samba Purana.Stietencron, Heinrich von (1966): Indische Sonnenpriester. Sāmba und die Śākadvīpīya-Brāhmaṇa. Eine textkritische und religionsgeschichtliche Studie zum indischen Sonnenkult. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. (Schriftenreihe des Südasien-Instituts der Universität Heidelberg, 3.)

Buddhist texts

Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra, a Buddhist text from Kashmir c. 2nd century C.E. notes the Magas to be Mlechhas (lit. barbarians) for not seeing anything objectionable in having sexual relations with own family. Karma Prajnapti, dated to around the same time, repeats the observations of incest; Magas apparently held women as property of the commons — like cooked rice and pestle, roads and river banks, and fruits and flowers — whose sexuality was accessible to all. In Tarkajvālā (6th century CE),

Bhāviveka Bhāviveka, also called Bhāvaviveka (; ), and Bhavya was a sixth-century (c. 500 – c. 570) madhyamaka Buddhist philosopher.Qvarnström 1989 p. 14. Alternative names for this figure also include Bhavyaviveka, Bhāvin, Bhāviviveka, Bhagavadviv ...

notes the Magas to be perverted people from Persia: their religious doctrines exhibited similarities with Vedas, in that ''agamyā-gamana'' was supported. Never were they held to be Brahmins.

Analysis

Bronkhorst sees no reason to doubt that the Buddhist texts were referring to the Magas. However, that the Magas are always held to be in the West, Jonathan Silk doubts that the Magas might not have followed such practices and they were merely (but reasonably) confused with the Persians.

Others

Varāhamihira’s (6th century CE) Bṛhat Saṃhitā mention the Magas; he himself might have been a Maga. In his Pañcasiddhāntikā, one "Year of Magas" mention 30 names of the "lords of degree of signs" — they are since understood to be a Saivite rendering of the list of

Yazatas Yazata ( ae, 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀) is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and i ...

. Ptolemy’s Geography (2nd century CE) noted a particular town to be inhabited by Maga Brahmins.

Al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

, an 11th century Persian polymath, noted some Zoroastrians to have migrated to India where they were known as Magas and in a hostile relation with Buddhists.

Social status

In the Brahminical corpus all Mlechhas (foreigners) are routinely referred to in the "most disagreeable terms" and either held to be below

Sudras Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class ser ...

or bereft of varna. Saura literature is very scarce in the Hindu cannon and in all probabilities, Magas failed to ever exert considerable influence on any royal power. Consequently, why were the Magas allowed the Brahmin status in society remains a pertinent locus of enquiry. R. C. Hazra—a preeminent scholar of Puranic literature—believes the Magas and their particular brand of Sun-worship to have gained immense popularity under Scythian patronage; hence, the Brahmins were compelled to draft the Samba Purana, infuse aspects of their cult into prevalent , and accommodate them in the elites. Stietencron, on a comparative assessment of Samba Purana with other texts, disagrees: little foreign influence was visible in the descriptions of the Puranic episode and if at all, the Magas had popularized a pre-existing cult of solar worship. Bronkhorst remarks that even if the Magas had claimed descent from Persian priestly traditions, the Brahminic classes of India (Jambudvīpa) won't have easily accommodated foreigners at the highest echelons of society. On a comparison with Buddhist texts and secular records, he proposes that Sakadvipa was not Persia (or some other territory, west of India) but a "mythico-geographical region" for classical Hindu authors, wherein prevailed the Brahmanical order of society for reasons unknown. Descendants of the Magi migrants of Persia staked a claim to this Brahminic space rather than their native place. By the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

, their claims would be accepted and serviced in the retrospective construction of Puranic legends.

Modern India

The Sakaldwipiya Brahmins of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

are Ayurvedic physicians, priests and landholders..

Puras

Unlike other Brahmin, Sakaldwipia Brahmin practice both gotra and puras exogamy. They have 72 puras named after village settlements such as Urwar i.e from Thekri of Gaya, Khantwar from Khant of Gaya, Cheriar from cheri of Gaya, Kuraichiar from Kuraich, Makhpawar from Makhpa, Devkuliar from Devkuli, Bhaluniar from Bhaluni, Dumariar, Padariayar, Adaiar, Pawaiar etc.

Notes

References

{{Ancient India and Central Asia Brahmin communities of Bihar Brahmin communities of Odisha Brahmin communities of Uttar Pradesh Brahmin communities of West Bengal