Saraks () (from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Śrāvaka Śrāvaka ( Sanskrit) or Sāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used in Buddhism and Jainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for the Jain community itself (for exam ...

) is a Jain community in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. They have been followers of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

, such as vegetarianism, since ancient times, however, were isolated and separated from the main body of the

Jain community The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Shramana tradition. People who practice Jainism, an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent, are collectively referred to as Jains. Sangha Jainism has a fourfold ord ...

in western, northern, and southern India and have been Jain Bengalis ever since. The governments of India and West Bengal both have classified some of the Saraks under Other Backward Classes since 1994 but many of them have been in the General category from the beginning itself.

History

The Saraks are an ancient community in

and

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. British anthropologist Edward Tuite Dalton noted that according to the Bhumij tradition in Singhbhum district, the Saraks were early settlers in the region. According to Santosh Kumar Kundu, the Saraks arrived from the northwestern region of India, presently in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. In the region between the rivers Barakar and Damodar, two democratic republics, Shikharbhum and Panchakot, flourished. Later they merged and came to be known as Shikharbhum, with the capital at Panchkot. According to Ramesh Chandra Majumder, the Jain scholar Bhadrabahu, the second Louhacharya and the author of Kalpa Sutra may have come from the Sarak community. The region is called Vajjabhumi in ancient texts because diamonds were once mined in the region. The

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

visited this region according to the

Kalpa Sūtra The ''Kalpa Sūtra'' () is a Jain text containing the biographies of the Jain Tirthankaras, notably Parshvanatha and Mahavira. Traditionally ascribed to Bhadrabahu, which would place it in the 4th century BCE, it was probably put in writing ...

Separation and rediscovery

Large Statue of Padmaprabha at Pakbirra 03

The Saraks lost contact with Jains in the rest of India after its conquest by Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Contact with the Digambara Bundelkhand Jains was reestablished when the Parwars Manju Chaudhary (1720–1785) was appointed the governor of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

by the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

. Saraks are concentrated in Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan districts of

and

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

, Dumka and Giridih districts and Singhbhum region of

. The Saraks belonging to most of

and

are Bengali speakers while those living in historical Singhbhum region speak Singhbhumi Odia. Educated Saraks speak fluent English. In 2009, more than 165 Sarak Jains living in parts of

and

visited the ancient Jain pilgrimage center of

Shravanabelagola Shravanabelagola (pronunciation: ) is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is from Bengaluru. The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas ...

. A special function to welcome the Sarak Jains was organised at Shravanabelagola.

Pakbirra, Purulia Temples and Sculptures

Statue of couple at Pakbirra.jpg, Divine couple with child, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 51.jpg, Sahasrakuta, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 28.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 25.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Statues of Adinath - Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 45.jpg, Adinatha Idols Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 31.jpg, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia Pakbirra- Jain Shrine of Purulia district 29.JPG, Miniature shrine, Pakbirra, Purulia File:KITLV 88203 - Unknown - Sculptures at Pakbira in British India - 1897.tif, Jain Sculptures at Pakbirra

References

{{Jainism topics Indian Jains Social groups of West Bengal Jain communities Vegetarian communities

History

Separation and rediscovery

Pakbirra, Purulia Temples and Sculptures

See also

References