Mahishya

According to ancient texts like Manusmriti, the term Mahishya refers to one born to a Kshatriya father and a Vaishya mother, supposed to be engaged in the profession of astronomy or agriculture.[4][5]

The group now known as Mahishyas were originally considered Kaibarttas. In the latter half of the 19th century, many upwardly mobile Kaibarttas, the caste generally being associated with the lowly occupation of fishing, asserted themselves as Chasi Kaibartta and later, as Mahishyas; transforming themselves into a dominant agrarian caste in Bengal.

Although many are still involved in traditional work in rural areas, within a generation Mahishyas gave up agriculture in large numbers in favour of engineering and skilled labour in the urbanised areas of Howrah and Kolkata. In Howrah, the Mahishyas are the most numerous and successful businesspeople. At the turn of the 20th century, much of the land and factories were owned by Kayasthas; but by 1967, the Mahisya community owned 67 percent of the engineering businesses in the district.[6]

Although the financial, social, and political success of Mahishyas is notable, they have often been stigmatised due to their agrarian roots. Mahishyas have not been averse to manual labour (often considered demeaning by higher castes);[6] for example, Birendranath Sasmal was refused the post of Chief Executive of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation by Chittaranjan Das on the grounds that his appointment would offend the Kayasthas of the city.[7] The job ultimately went to Subhas Chandra Bose.

• Rani Rashmoni
• Birendranath Sasmal
• Hemchandra Kanungo
• Basanta Kumar Biswas
• Matangini Hazra
• Alamohan Das
• Satish Chandra Samanta
• Sushil Kumar Dhara
• Sailen Manna
• Ashok Dinda
• Anil Kumar Gain
• Mani Lal Bhaumik

• Jalia Kaibarta