The Bengali-speaking population of the world is often split (by a sub-population hailing mostly from present-day West Bengal, Republic of India, and identifying as Hindu) into two loosely defined socio-lingual groups: Ghoti (ঘটি; घटि) and Bangal (বাঙাল; बाङ्गाल) corresponding roughly to the western and eastern parts of the Bengal region. These two groups differ in their spoken dialects, cuisines, and customs (both secular and religious even if they can be subsumed under the Bengali Hindu umbrella), and have historically enjoyed exchanging innovative insults.
For a long time, Calcutta, the heartland of Ghoti culture, has also been home to a significant Bangal population who migrated to the city in several waves for various political and economic reasons, and retain many of their cultural idiosyncrasies to this day. The anonymous quotes I am offering today bear testimony to the fact that the Ghoti intelligentsia of this city, which had become a seat of Sanskrit learning in the 19th century under the aegis of the British, were not content with venting their anti-Bangal venom in their mother-tongue only.
For a long time, Calcutta, the heartland of Ghoti culture, has also been home to a significant Bangal population who migrated to the city in several waves for various political and economic reasons, and retain many of their cultural idiosyncrasies to this day. The anonymous quotes I am offering today bear testimony to the fact that the Ghoti intelligentsia of this city, which had become a seat of Sanskrit learning in the 19th century under the aegis of the British, were not content with venting their anti-Bangal venom in their mother-tongue only.
(1) Devanagari script:
स्थाने सिंहसमा रणे मृगसमा देशान्तरे जम्बुका
आहारे बककाकशूकरसमाश्छागोपमा मैथुने|
रूपे भूतपिशाचकीशसदृशाः क्रूराः खला दुर्मुखा
बाङ्गाला यदि मानवा हरि हरि प्रेतास्तदा कीदृशाः||
आहारे बककाकशूकरसमाश्छागोपमा मैथुने|
रूपे भूतपिशाचकीशसदृशाः क्रूराः खला दुर्मुखा
बाङ्गाला यदि मानवा हरि हरि प्रेतास्तदा कीदृशाः||
sthAne siMhasamA raNe mRgasamA dezAntare jambukA
AhAre bakakAkazUkarasamAzchAgopamA maithune|
AhAre bakakAkazUkarasamAzchAgopamA maithune|
rUpe bhUtapizAcakIzasadRzAH krUrAH khalAH durmukhA
bAGgAlA yadi mAnavA hari hari pretAstadA kIdRzAH||
bAGgAlA yadi mAnavA hari hari pretAstadA kIdRzAH||
Loose translation: They are like (aggressive) lions in their comfort zone, (timid) deer on the battlefield, and (cunning) jackals when they are abroad. They are comparable to cranes, crows, and hogs in their eating habits, and to goats in sexual activity. With looks similar to those of bhutas, pishachas and apes, they are cruel, criminal, and foul-mouthed. If these Bangals are human beings – O Lord! – then what must ghosts be like?
Notes: The words bhUta (भूत), pizAca (पिशाच), and preta (प्रेत) are sometimes used interchangeably, and are often translated as ghost, ghoul, demon, spirit, etc. Incidentally, both the words bangal (বাঙাল) and bhut (ভূত) are mild expletives in Bengali, sometimes uttered in conjunction with each other, describing someone perceived as "an unrefined rustic".
आहारे बककाकशूकरसमाः : The comparison to crows and hogs evidently implies gluttony, indiscriminate eating, and bad table manners, but I am not sure why the baka (बक) is included in this list. This word, usually translated as "crane", denotes a fish-eating aquatic bird that is infamous in Indic literature for standing still, as if meditating, in order to catch its prey by surprise (बकचर, बकधार्मिक, बकव्रतिन्, etc. = hypocrite), so our poet is perhaps insinuating that the people he is chastising here earn their bread by deceptive means. It is also possible that the original version had vRka (वृक) instead of बक; वृक, referring to a (predatory or scavenging) nocturnal carnivorous quadruped, occurs in literature as ancient as the hymns of the Rigveda and is often interpreted as "wolf", hence it would arguably be a better fit than बक in this context.
Source: I have reconstructed this couplet from two sources. Bangla Prabad, "Bengali adages", Second Edition, edited by Sri Sushil Kumar De and published by A. Mukherjee and Co. Ltd. in 1952, contains a slight variant of the last quarter only (बाङ्गाला यदि मानुषा हरि हरि प्रेतास्तदा कीदृशाः) as Entry 5561. The full stanza, with the word बाङ्गाला replaced with an ellipsis, is available in the anthology Kavita Kusumanjali (কবিতা-কুসুমাঞ্জলি; कविताकुसुमाञ्जलि), "an offering of flower-like poems", compiled by Dwarakanath Bidyaratna (द्वारकानाथविद्यारत्न) and published in 1914 CE (Verse 110 of Volume I). In his commentary, the compiler remains playfully evasive about the group of people targeted by the verse, urging his readers to fill in the missing word by themselves!
Notes: The words bhUta (भूत), pizAca (पिशाच), and preta (प्रेत) are sometimes used interchangeably, and are often translated as ghost, ghoul, demon, spirit, etc. Incidentally, both the words bangal (বাঙাল) and bhut (ভূত) are mild expletives in Bengali, sometimes uttered in conjunction with each other, describing someone perceived as "an unrefined rustic".
आहारे बककाकशूकरसमाः : The comparison to crows and hogs evidently implies gluttony, indiscriminate eating, and bad table manners, but I am not sure why the baka (बक) is included in this list. This word, usually translated as "crane", denotes a fish-eating aquatic bird that is infamous in Indic literature for standing still, as if meditating, in order to catch its prey by surprise (बकचर, बकधार्मिक, बकव्रतिन्, etc. = hypocrite), so our poet is perhaps insinuating that the people he is chastising here earn their bread by deceptive means. It is also possible that the original version had vRka (वृक) instead of बक; वृक, referring to a (predatory or scavenging) nocturnal carnivorous quadruped, occurs in literature as ancient as the hymns of the Rigveda and is often interpreted as "wolf", hence it would arguably be a better fit than बक in this context.
Source: I have reconstructed this couplet from two sources. Bangla Prabad, "Bengali adages", Second Edition, edited by Sri Sushil Kumar De and published by A. Mukherjee and Co. Ltd. in 1952, contains a slight variant of the last quarter only (बाङ्गाला यदि मानुषा हरि हरि प्रेतास्तदा कीदृशाः) as Entry 5561. The full stanza, with the word बाङ्गाला replaced with an ellipsis, is available in the anthology Kavita Kusumanjali (কবিতা-কুসুমাঞ্জলি; कविताकुसुमाञ्जलि), "an offering of flower-like poems", compiled by Dwarakanath Bidyaratna (द्वारकानाथविद्यारत्न) and published in 1914 CE (Verse 110 of Volume I). In his commentary, the compiler remains playfully evasive about the group of people targeted by the verse, urging his readers to fill in the missing word by themselves!
(2) Devanagari script:
आशीर्वादं न गृह्णीयात् पूर्वदेशनिवासिनाम्*|
शतायुरिति वक्तव्ये हतायुरिति भाषिणाम्||
Variant: *वङ्गदेशनिवासिनाम्
शतायुरिति वक्तव्ये हतायुरिति भाषिणाम्||
Variant: *वङ्गदेशनिवासिनाम्
AzIrvAdaM na gRhNIyAt pUrvadezanivAsinAm|
zatAyuriti vaktavye hatAyuriti bhASiNAm||
Loose translation: One should never accept blessings from inhabitants of the eastern lands, for when it is appropriate to say
शतायु(र्भव) shatAyur(bhava), "May you live to be a hundred years old!",
they end up saying
हतायु(र्भव) hatAyur(bhava), "May your life be cut short!",
Notes: It might be argued that the above verse is not necessarily targeted at Bangal people: The debuccalization of sibilants is not a feature shared by all Bengali dialects that would be labeled "Bangal" today, and is found in other languages such as Assamese too. Indeed, the first variant of the verse noted above contains the less restrictive toponym पूर्वदेश. But, to the Ghoti population (which the author and the intended audience presumably belonged to), this peculiarity of pronunciation is a distinctly Bangal stereotype.
Source: I found this snippet (and variants) online; apparently, it has been quoted by preeminent Bengali linguists such as Padma Bhushan Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah in their treatises.
Final notes: It is also worthwhile to mention here that the terms Vanga (वङ्ग) and Banga (बङ्ग), along with the derivative Bangaala (बङ्गाल), which are nowadays used as synonyms of the English word Bengal, historically referred to areas that are in present-day Bangladesh.
Final notes: It is also worthwhile to mention here that the terms Vanga (वङ्ग) and Banga (बङ्ग), along with the derivative Bangaala (बङ्गाल), which are nowadays used as synonyms of the English word Bengal, historically referred to areas that are in present-day Bangladesh.
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