Pirali Brahmin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Pirali Brahmin is any member of a subgrouping of Brahmins found throughout Bengal, which is split between India and Bangladesh. Notably, Rabindranath Tagore and the Tagore family are members of this group. The term "Pirali" historically carried a stigmatized and pejorative connotation; its eponym is the vizier Mohammad Tahir Pir Ali, who served under a governor of Jessore. Pir Ali was a Brahmin Hindu who converted to Islam; his actions resulted in the additional conversion of two Brahmins brothers. As a result, orthodox Hindu society shunned the brothers' Hindu relatives (who had not converted), and their descendants became the Pirali — among whom numbered the Tagores.[1] This unorthodox background ultimately led the Tagore family to dispense with many of the customs followed by orthodox Brahmins.
[edit] See also
[edit] Citations
- ^ (Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 17-18).
[edit] References
- Dutta, K & A Robinson (1995), Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-14030-4.
