Sarak

History

The Saraks are an ancient community in Jharkhand and Bengal. British anthropologist Edward Tuite Dalton noted that according to the Bhumij tradition in Singhbhum district, the Saraks were early settlers in the region. According to Santosh Kumar Kundu, the Saraks arrived from the north western region of India, presently in Uttar Pradesh. In the region between the rivers Barakar and Damodar, two democratic republics, Shikharbhum and Panchakot, flourished. Later they merged and came to be known as Shikharbhum, with the capital at Panchakot. According to Ramesh Chandra Majumder, the Jain scholar Bhadrabahu, the second Louhacharya and the author of Kalpa Sutra may have come from the Sarak community. The Saraks were agriculturists and moneylenders having landed properties.

They have continued to remain vegetarian even though this practice is uncommon among other communities in the region. Saraks have Parshva as a favored patron and recite the Ṇamōkāra mantra. They revere both Hindu and some Jain idols.

The region is called Vajjabhumi in ancient texts because diamonds were once mined in the region. The Tirthankara Mahavira visited this region according to the Kalpa Sūtra.The low profile ‘Sarak’ solely depends on agriculture for their livelihood. One can see numerous youngsters carrying axe in their hands who are unaware of the modernity of the progressive society. On the one hand where we feel highly responsible towards Indian values, there are ‘Sarak’, who are not even acquainted with education, technology and art. Peaceful and simple by nature, ‘Sarak’ people claim with proud that none of them have ever been to jail for committing any kind of crime. They are well accomplished in the art of arbitration and do not believe in any kind of violence. They do not even use words like, ‘kill’ or ‘cut’ in their daily conversation. They celebrate Jain festivals like Mahaveer Janam Kalyanak.

A group of Saraks from northern parts of Purulia district migrated to the Subarnarekha valley and established a small state by the name Ruam. There is a village existing by the same name in Musabani Block of East Singhbhum district very close the Uranium town of Jaduguda. They are the people who started mining of Copper ore for the first time in Singhbhum Shear Zone which is now famous for mining of precious metals such as Copper, Gold, Silver and Uranium. The Saraks of Ruam also mastered the art of smelting of copper. It is also evident that famous ancient port of Tamralipta ows its name to the copper mined and processed in the Sarak country of Ruam which was exported to the South East Asian kingdoms in a large scale.

Separation and rediscovery

The Saraks lost contact with Jains in the rest of India after its conquest by Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Contact with the Digambara Bundelkhand Jains was reestablished when the Parwars Manju Chaudhary (1720–1785) was appointed the governor of Cuttack by the Maratha Empire.

Saraks are concentrated in Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan district of West Bengal and Ranchi, Dumka and Giridih districts and Singhbhum region of Jharkhand. The Saraks belonging to most of Jharkhand and West Bengal are Bengali speakers while those living in historical Singhbhum region speak Singhbhumi Odia.

In 2009, more than 165 Sarak Jains living in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar visited the ancient Jain pilgrimage center of Shravanabelagola. A special function to welcome the Sarak Jains was organised at Shravanabelagola.

A social organization called, 'Sarak Samaj Unnayan Samity' is working for the welfare of sarak community. Its main goals include eradicating dowry system from the Sarak community.

Professions

In the past they were engaged in copper mining in the region. Most Saraks are farmers engaged in rice cultivation. Some of them have shops related to agriculture. Many are well educated. There are some teachers, doctors and professors in this community. It has been found that in this region Sarak students are excellent in education.