Posted on: 14 September 2010

Chandal or Namasudra (Ghasi sub-caste), Eastern Bengal - 1860

Half-length portrait against a plain background of a young man by an unknown photographer in the early 1860s. The Chandals or Namasudras were a Hindu caste of Eastern Bengal. It is likely that they originally inhabited lands around Gaya to the north and were driven to the marshlands of modern-day Bangladesh during the Aryan invasions. They are recorded as living apart from the remainder of the population in cities and as being employed performing menial tasks for members of the brahmin or priestly class. The specific sub-caste known as 'Ghasi', of whom this man was a member, were grass-cutters by occupation.

Source : British Library


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This is very exciting information. Tell me if the Chandals are the forebears of the present Bengalis.

How interesting

This man is at least 180 years old now.

Good looking fellow

'Chandal' is the appellation given to an undertaker - the one who stokes the fires of the funeral pyre till the body is disintegrated to ashes...Yes, people abhorred these guys since they were 'indirectly' associated with Death! How cruel! But for these great savants of social service, we would have had to deal with decaying cadavers... Shifting from this sombre thought, let me also say something good - This guy in the picture has a better six-paxk than I do :-)! God Bless him!

he looks like Brad Pitt's brother...

Very handsome young man!! :)