Brāhmaṇ a Land Donees on Bengal’s Eastern Frontier,600–1300

Abstract

The role of Brāhmaṇa land-grantees in extending cultivation during the early medieval period has been noted by several historians. This study examines the evidence preserved in copper plates from sites in Bengal’s eastern ‘frontier’ formed by the present-day districts of Sylhet, Comilla, Neokhali and Chittagong in Bangladesh, issued between 600 and 1300 AD. The study aims at extracting from the evidence of the copper plates whatever can be gained about the composition of the Brāhmaṇa donees, their personal names, areas of origin and possible connexions with other castes that became subsequently prominent in Bengal, chiefly Kāyasthas. The mechanism of issue of land-grants, possible intermediaries and nature of grantees’ rights, so far as these can be legitimately inferred from evidence, are also discussed.