108 
J. Wise —On the Borah Bhuyas of Eastern Bengal. [No. 3, 
further particulars and complete what is still wanting of the history of 
Bengal previous to the final conquest by the Muhammadans. 
My attention was first directed to this subject by the perusal of a 
work which accidentally fell into my hands. It was published at the time 
that the controversy regarding the Permanent Settlement was raging 
fiercely among the English officials, and one of its chief objects was to 
determine who were the persons actually in possession of the lands of 
Bengal at the time the country was finally reduced to the authority of the 
emperor Akbar. Mr. Bouse* ascertained that at the period referred to 
Bengal was held by twelve “ Bhuyan,” and that five of these ruled over 
southern and eastern Bengal. Before detailing the history of these five 
Bhuyas, as far as it has been possible to trace it, the meaning of the title 
Bhuinliar, Blnimik, or as the word is used in the vernacular, Bhuya, must be 
explained. These terms literally mean a landholder or occupier of land. Mr. 
Bouse held that they were synonymous with “ krishan,” a cultivator. Mr. 
Shore, however, in his well known minute of the 2nd April. 1788, says with 
more correctness that “ bhumik and zammdar are the same.”f At the 
present day, however, Bhumik or Bhuya is a common patronymic among 
Brahmans, Baidyas, and Ivayasths, and it is occasionally met with as a 
surname of the despised Jogi weavers. Bhuya again is a Muhammadan 
title, and no Muhammadan of Eastern Bengsl is ever addressed as Bhumik. 
In the villages of the interior, Bhumik is frequently employed as the 
equivalent of c Karta,’ an agent or proprietor. It is also a respectful term by 
which to address any landholder. It is, moreover, used in Bikrampur by 
servants to their masters, even though they possess no lands. 
Again, as late as the beginning of the present century, the Baja of 
Kacliliar conferred the titles of Bara Bhuya, Majliola Bhuya, and Chhota 
Bhuya on any petty landholder (Miraslar) who paid him a fee of fifty 
rupees. In the census report of 1872, these Bhuyas, 374 in number, are 
returned as belonging to the semi-Hinduized aboriginal race of Bhuiya ! 
The titles bestowed by the Dihli kings were mostly Arabic or Persian, 
rarely Sanskrit. It is probable, therefore, that Bhumik was conferred by the 
Hindu princes of Gfaur, or Nadiya, as we know the titles of Baja Bar, 
Chaudhari, and Manik were. 
History affords us little information regarding the landholders of Bengal 
before Akbar’s reign. About 1541, however, we learn that Sher Shah divided 
the provinces of Bengal among a number of officers or governors, as they 
were variously called, independent of each other, with Qizi Eazilat as Amir 
* Dissertation concerning- tlic Landed Property of Bengal, by C. W. B. Rouse, Esq., 
London 1791. 
f Analysis of the Laws and Regulations, by J. B. Harington, Vol. Ill, 240. 
