Adi Sura

Adi Sura (also written as Adisura) is widely associated with the bringing in of five Brahmins, well versed in the Vedas, to Bengal from Kannauj, as there were supposedly none in Bengal who could perform certain Vedic sacrifices. Various dates from 8th century AD downwards and numerous family links have been assigned to Adi Sura by the genealogical texts or kulajis, belonging to the late medieval period.[1]

For the genus of moths, see Adisura

Historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, in his History of Ancient Bengal, says, "King Adisura is the pivot round which the genealogical accounts move. No positive evidence has yet been obtained of his existence, but we have undoubted reference to a Sura family ruling in Western Bengal in the eleventh century. Adisura may or may not be a historical person but it is wrong to assert dogmatically that he was a myth and to reject the whole testimony of the Kulajis on that ground alone." [1]

Quoting various genealogical tables, an earlier historian Rakhaldas Bandopahyay, in his Banglar Itihas (History of Bengal), mentions that when the son-in-law of King Jayanta of Gauda Kingdom, ascended the throne he adopted the name of Adisura.[2]

The story of the Brahmins

All the Kulajis maintain that bulk of the Brahmins in Bengal are descendants of the five Brahmins who came at the invitation of king Adisura from Kannauj.[1]

There is a superstitious belief that king Adisura requested the king of Kannauj (or Kolancha) to send five Brahmins versed in the Vedas and Vedic sacrifices. On being refused, Adisura decided to go to war against him. The king of Kannauj was a devout Brahmin. Devotion to Brahmins and cows was natural to him. Adisura sent seven hundred Brahmins from Bengal, seated on bulls, to wage war against the king of Kannauj. As expected, the latter did not fight but sent five Brahmins to Bengal as requested.[1]

The five Brahmins, along with five attendants, armed with bows and arrows came on horse-back. On not being received by king Adisura with proper respect, they threw away the flowers and herbs they had brought to bless the king on to a stump of wood, which immediately grew into a living tree. The spectacle impressed the king, he begged their pardon and welcomed them properly. They performed the sacrifice and returned to Kannauj. On return, they were deemed to have been degraded because of their visit to Bengal and asked to offer penances. They refused and came back to Bengal with their families and servants. Adisura gave them five villages to live in.[1]

There are numerous versions and variations of this story and thus it becomes very doubtful and cannot be believed. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar says, "We may freely admit that the Kulajis contain a kernel of historical truth about the social condition of the Brahmanas in the closing centuries of the Hindu period, their story with all the details can by no means be regarded as of any historical value… The same conclusion may be drawn from the Kulaji accounts of Vaidyas, Kayasthas and other castes, which belong to the same type as those of the Brahmanas and cannot be considered as of greater historical value." [1]

References
  1. Majumdar, Dr. R.C., History of Ancient Bengal, Tulshi Prakashani, Kolkata, pages 442, 413, 409-415, first published 1971, first Tulshi edition, 2005. ISBN 81-89118-01-3
  2. Bandopadhayay, Rakhaldas, Banglar Itihas (History of Bengal), (in Bengali), Nababharat Publishers, Kolkata, page 103, 1979 edition.
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