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{{ | {{short description|Community of India}} | ||
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{{ | {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} | ||
{{ | {{Infobox caste | ||
|caste_name=Kayastha | |||
| | |subdivisions= [[Bengali Kayastha]], [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]] and [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]] | ||
|populated_states=[[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Delhi]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]], [[Orissa]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Maharashtra]] | |||
|religions= Majority: [[Hinduism]]<br/> | |||
| | Minority: [[Islam]]<ref>Muslim Kayasthas of India by Jahanara KK Publications {{ISBN|978-81-675-6606-5}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=April 2020}}|image=Calcuttakayasth.jpg|caption="Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by [[Frans Balthazar Solvyns]]|image_size=160px}} | ||
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'''Kayastha''' (also referred to as '''Kayasth | '''Kayastha''' (also referred to as '''Kayasth''') denotes a cluster of disparate [[South Asian ethnic groups|South Asian]] communities broadly categorised by the regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in which they were traditionally located{{mdash}}the [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]]s of [[North India]], the [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s of [[Maharashtra]] and the [[Bengali Kayastha]]s of [[Bengal]]. All three were traditionally considered "writing [[Caste|castes]]", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Imam|first=Faitma|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/755414244|title=India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|others=Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|location=Santa Barbara|pages=403-405|oclc=755414244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Karen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60856154|title=Encyclopedia of India|date=2006|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2006|isbn=0-684-31349-9|editor-last=Wolpert|editor-first=Stanley|location=Detroit|pages=22|oclc=60856154|quote=All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.}}</ref> They were broadly considered by various [[Indian people|Indian]], [[British Raj|British]] and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/973222959|title=The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860|date=2017|year=2017|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon|pages=155|chapter=Kayasthas, ‘caste’ and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900|oclc=973222959}}</ref> | ||
The earliest known reference to the term "Kayastha" dates back to the [[Kushan Empire]],<ref name=":172">{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|date=2014|title=From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)|url=|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=75|pages=37|issn=2249-1937|jstor=44158358|via=}}</ref> when it evolved into a common name for a writer or [[scribe]].<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Chitrarekha|date=1983|title=The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001946468302000203|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=20|issue=2|pages=194|doi=10.1177/001946468302000203|issn=0019-4646|quote=The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history}}</ref> In the [[Sanskrit]] literature and [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]], it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ&newbks=0|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=18-19|language=en|quote=Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.}}</ref> In this context, the term possibly derived from ''kaya-'' (principal, capital, treasury) and -''stha'' (to stay) and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ&newbks=0|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=20|language=en|quote=In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... kaya (principal, capital, treasury) and stha, to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|date=2014|title=From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)|url=|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=75|pages=37|issn=2249-1937|jstor=44158358}}</ref> | |||
Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around [[Scribe|scribal]] services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfil responsibilities in all these venues.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Ronald M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/808346313|title=Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture|date=2005|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-231-50889-6|location=New York|pages=179|oclc=808346313}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Carroll|first=Lucy|date=February 1978|title=Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=37|issue=2|pages=233–250|doi=10.2307/2054164|jstor=2054164}}</ref> Kayasthas, along with [[Brahmin]]s, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-mediaeval India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191849214|title=History of medieval India : 800–1700|date=2007|publisher=Orient Longman|year=2007|isbn=81-250-3226-6|location=Hyderabad, India|pages=50|oclc=191849214|quote=There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.}}</ref> | |||
< | Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside [[Khatri|Punjabi Khatris]], [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s, [[Parsis]], [[Nagar Brahmin]]s of Gujarat, [[Chitpawan]]s and [[CKP]]s (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including [[Deshastha Brahmin]]s from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the [[Muslims|Muslim]] as well as [[Christians|Christian]] communities that made up the [[middle class]] at the time of [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian independence]] in 1947.<ref name=":13">{{cite book|author=Pavan K. Varma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|title=The Great Indian Middle class|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2007|isbn=9780143103257|page=28|quote=its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite book|author1=Paul Wallace|title=Region and nation in India|author2=Richard Leonard Park|publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.|year=1985|quote=During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=D. L. Sheth|url=https://www.csds.in/d_l_sheth}}</ref> | ||
== Origins == | ==Origins== | ||
According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the Sanskrit ''kāya'' (body), and the suffix ''-stha'' (standing, being in).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kayasth|title=Kayastha|website=Merriam-Webster.com|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref> | |||
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of India. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Vanina|first=Eugenia|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794922930|title=Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man|date=2012|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-19-1|location=New Delhi|pages=178|oclc=794922930|quote=This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|title=From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 Bce-200 Ce)|date=2014|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=75|pages=37|jstor=44158358|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> | |||
'' | The term also finds mention in an inscription of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Kumaragupta I]], dated to 442 CE, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' (chief officer) is used as an administrative designation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|page=858|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'', also from the Gupta era, and the ''[[Vishnu Smriti]]'' describe ''kayasthas'' as record keepers and accountants.<ref name="bellenoit">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMlDgAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134494361|pages=69–70}}</ref> | ||
==History== | |||
=== Medieval India === | |||
==== Early medieval India ==== | |||
Whilst there are many theories regarding their origins, Kayasthas are recorded in Brahmanical religious texts from as early as the 7th century, being described a distinct caste with responsibility for writing secular documents and keeping records.<ref name="IT2011"/> In some of the [[Sanskrit]] works of [[Kshemendra]], in the ''Vikramankadevacharita'' of [[Bilhana]] and in [[Kalhana|Kalhana's]] historical chronicle known as the ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' ("River of Kings"), written in the early-medieval [[Kashmir]], the term ''kayastha'' may have been used to denote the members of [[bureaucracy]] ranging from ''Gṛhakṛtyamahattama'' (the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs) to the Asvaghasa-kayastha (officer in charge of the fodder for horses), whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ray|first=Sunil Chandra|title=A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra|date=1950|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=13|pages=124–126|jstor=44140901|issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kalhana|title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzxTkI9iAxkC|year=1989|editor-last=Stein|editor-first=Sir Marc Aurel|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-20-80370-1|pages=8, 39, 45}}</ref> | |||
==== Late medieval India ==== | |||
In Bengal, during the reign of the [[Gupta Empire]] beginning in the 4th century, when systematic and large-scale colonisation by [[Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan]] Kayasthas and Brahmins first took place, Kayasthas were brought over by the Guptas to help manage the affairs of state.<ref>{{cite book|first==U. A. B. Razia Akter |last=Banu|title=Islam in Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC|year=1992|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09497-0|pages=5–6}}</ref> | |||
After the Muslim conquest of India, they mastered [[Persian language|Persian]], which became the official language of the Mughal courts.<ref>{{cite book|first=Lisa |last=Ballbanlilar|title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&pg=PA59|year=2012|publisher=I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd.|isbn=978-1-84885-726-1|page=59}}</ref> Some converted to [[Islam]] and formed the [[Muslim Kayasths|Muslim Kayasth]] community in [[North India|northern India]]. | |||
Bengali Kayasthas had been the dominant landholding caste prior to the Muslim conquest, and continued this role under Muslim rule. Indeed, Muslim rulers had from a very early time confirmed the Kayasthas in their ancient role as landholders and political intermediaries.<ref name="RiseofIslam"/> | |||
Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and ''[[Vizier|wazirs]]'' (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of [[List of rulers of Bengal#Muslim rule|Muslim sultans]]' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became ''[[zamindar]]s'' and ''[[jagirdar]]s''. According to Abu al-Fazl<!--- not the redirect to the foremost Baháʼí scholar --->, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.<ref>{{cite book|first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |last=Banu|title=Islam in Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC|year=1992|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09497-0|pages=24–25}}</ref> | |||
[[Pratapaditya|Maharaja Pratapaditya]], the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.<ref>{{cite book|first=Dipesh |last=Chakrabarty|title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139|year=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-10045-6|page=139}}</ref> | |||
===British India=== | |||
[[File:Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh,_Rewa.jpg|thumb|276x276px|A Kayastha employee of the political agent of the [[Bagelkhand Agency]] 1901. ]] | |||
During the British Raj, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEQwAQAAIAAJ&q=kayastha+under+british+raj|title=Origin and development of class and caste in India|last=Srivastava |first=Kamal Shankar |year=1998}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}} | |||
Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other parts of India and profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example, Bengali Kayasthas and Bengali Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Raymond Lee |last1=Owens |first2=Ashis |last2=Nandy|title=The New Vaisyas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqUcAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Carolina Academic Press|isbn=978-0-89089-057-8|page=81}}</ref> | |||
===Modern India=== | |||
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of [[Independence of India|Indian independence]], that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|first=Pavan K. |last=Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref> | |||
The | |||
The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first=Surinder Mohan |last=Bhardwaj|title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231|year=1983|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04951-2|page=231}}</ref> They are considered a [[Forward Caste]], as they do not qualify for any of the [[Reservation in India|reservation benefits]] allotted to [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] and [[Other Backward Class]]es that are administered by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=K.|last1=Srinivasan|first2=Sanjay|last2=Kumar|title=Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=34|issue=42/43|jstor=4408536|date=16–23 October 1999|page=3052}}</ref> This classification has increasingly led to feelings of unease and resentment among the Kayasthas, who believe that the communities that benefit from reservation are gaining political power and employment opportunities at their expense. Thus, particularly since the 1990 report of the [[Mandal Commission]] on reservation, Kayastha organisations have been active in areas such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Orissa. These groups are aligning themselves with various political parties to gain political and economic advantages; by 2009 they were demanding 33 percent reservation in government jobs.<ref name="IT2011">{{cite book|editor1-first=Arnold P. |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor2-first=Roger D. |editor2-last=Long|first=Fatima A. |last=Imam|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313374623|pages=404–405|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405}}</ref> | |||
The | ==Sub-groups== | ||
===Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas=== | |||
{{Main|Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha}}The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a [[myth of origin]] that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god [[Chitragupta]], the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.<ref name="bellenoit"/> The suffix ''-vanshi'' is [[Sanskrit]] and translates as ''belonging to a particular family dynasty''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=vaMza|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=vaMza&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|website=Spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> | |||
At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th centuries, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|pages=859|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Although at that time, prior to the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent]], they were generally outnumbered by [[Brahmin]]s in the Hindu royal courts of northern India, some among these Kayasthas wrote eulogies for the kings. Of the various regional Kayastha communities it was those of north India who remained most aligned to their role of scribes, whereas in other areas there became more emphasis on commerce.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Saurabh|year=2015|title=Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas|journal=Social Scientist|volume=43|issue=5/6|pages=29–45|jstor=24642345|issn=0970-0293|quote=One thing is clear that by this time, Kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of Kayastha officials.}}</ref> | |||
=== Bengali Kayasthas === | |||
{{Main|Bengali Kayastha}} | |||
In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th/6th centuries and 11th/12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the [[Sena dynasty]].<ref name="AlHind">{{cite book|author=Andre Wink|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC|access-date=3 September 2011|year=1991|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|page=269}}</ref> According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary ''[[Smriti]]s''. Sharma further states:{{quote|Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC}}</ref>}} | |||
=== Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas === | |||
{{Main|Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu}} | |||
In Maharashtra, [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.<ref name="Hebalkar2001">{{cite book|author=Sharad Hebalkar|title=Ancient Indian Ports: With Special Reference to Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ontAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=978-81-215-0858-2}}</ref> Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as [[Deshpande]]s and [[Gadkari]]s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a [[castellan]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|first = B. R. |last=Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history}}</ref> Traditionally, the CKPs have the [[upanayana]] (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the [[vedas]] and perform [[vedic]] rituals along with the Brahmins.<ref name="MiltonWagle">{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor=Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|pages=147–170}}</ref> | |||
==Varna status== | |||
As the Kayasthas are a non-cohesive group with regional differences rather than a single caste, their position in the Hindu varna system of ritual classification has not been uniform. | |||
This was reflected in Raj era court rulings. Hayden Bellenoit gives details of various Raj era law cases and concludes the varna Kayastha was resolved in those cases by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by the specific community under consideration. Bellenoit disagrees with Rowe, showing that Risley's theories were in fact used ultimately to classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] with a property dispute where the [[plaintiff]] was considered an "illegitimate child" by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the [[Allahabad High Court]], a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, the aforementioned 1884 adoption case and the 1916 property dispute saw the [[Calcutta High Court]] rule that the Bengali Kayasthas were shudras. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas.<ref name="bellenoit174"/><ref name="ashwani">{{cite book |first=Ashwani |last=Kumar |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2008 |page=195}}</ref> Hayden Bellenoit concludes from an analysis of those that {{quote|in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of [[twice-born]] status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a [[shudra]] status.}} Even where the shudra designation was adjudged, the Raj courts appear to have sometimes recognised that the Bengali Kayasthas were degraded from an earlier [[kshatriya]] status due to intermarrying with both shudras and slaves ('dasa') which resulted in the common Bengali Kayastha surname of 'Das'.<ref name="bellenoit174">{{cite book|first=Hayden J. |last=Bellenoit|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|pages= 173–176}}</ref> The last completed [[census of India prior to independence|census of the British Raj]] (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. [[Dwija]],<ref name="ashwani"/> and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.<ref name="bellenoit174" /> | |||
Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–12, botanist and zoologist [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Francis Buchanan]] had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, [[Ahir]]s, [[Kurmi]]s and the [[Koeri]]s. William Pinch, in his study of [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] in the north describes the emergence of the concept of "pure Shudra" in growing need of physical contact with some of the low caste groups who were producer and seller of essential commodities or were the provider of services without which the self sufficiency of rural society couldn't persist. However, many of these adopted Vaishnavism in the aim to become Kshatriya. In 1901 Bihar census, Kayasthas of the area were classified along with Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar as "other castes of twice-born rank"<ref name="William Pinch ">{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7cwDwAAQBAJ&q=pesant+and+monk|pages=73–75, 82–83|quote=(index)108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; (pg)Bhagvan Prasad's ministrations reflected his own personal interpretation of the social mandate implicit in the religious message of Ramanand. However, Ramanandi ambivalence toward caste emerged in discussions about the prescribed stages of a sadhu's entry into the sampraday. In his biography of Bhagvan Prasad, Sahay expressed the view that originally anyone (including untouchables) could have become Ramanandi sadhus, but that by his time (the early 1900s), “Ramanandis bring disciples from only those jatis from whom water can be taken.”[107] For those designated shudra by the elite, this phrase, “from whom water can be taken,” was a common enough euphemism for a person of “pure shudra” status, with whom restricted physical contact could be made. From the elite perspective, such physical contact would have occurred in the course of consuming goods and services common in everyday life; the designation "pure shudra" implied a substantial body of "impure"—hence untouchable—people with whom physical contact was both unnecessary and improper. Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweet vendors), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel leaves), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parchers), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds). As a result of their very public campaign for kshatriya status in the last quarter of the century, not to mention their substantial economic and political clout, Kayasths were classified along with "Babhans" and Rajputs as "other castes of twice-born rank" in the 1901 census hierarchy for Bihar.}}</ref> According to Arun Sinha, there was a strong current since the end of the 19th century among [[Shudra]]s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' status. The Kayastha along with the [[Bhumihar]]s were first among the shudras to attain the recognition as "upper caste" leaving the other aspirational castes to aspire for the same.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=93 |publisher=Viking | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA93 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref> | |||
The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of [[Herbert Hope Risley]], who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the [[Bengal Presidency]]. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] and the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurise the government to recognise them as kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of [[sanskritisation]] and [[westernisation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Structure and Change in India Society |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2007 |orig-year=1968 |chapter=Mobility in the Nineteenth-century Caste System |first=William L. |last=Rowe |editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn |isbn=978-0-202-36138-3 |page=202 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&pg=PA202}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=I find it hard to believe they pressurised the govt to reform their caste practises - surely the caste do that, not the govt|date=April 2020}} | |||
Rowe's opinion has been challenged, with arguments that it is based on "factual and interpretative errors", and criticised for making "unquestioned assumptions" about the Kayastha sanskritisation and westernisation movement.<ref>{{cite journal |title = Cambridge South Asian Studies, Issue 24|publisher = Cambridge University Press|page=186|year=2007|quote= In three articles: 1975, 1977 and 1978. In these essays she also pinpoints factual and interpretative errors in William L. Rowe's presentation of the Kayastha movement.}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=April 2020}}<ref>{{cite book | title =The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|first = Lucy Carol |last=Stout|publisher = University of California, Berkeley|year=1976}}</ref> | |||
In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside [[Bengali Brahmins]], have been described as the "highest Hindu castes".<ref>{{cite book|first=Ronald B. |last=Inden|author-link=Ronald Inden|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA1|year=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02569-1|page=1}}</ref> After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties{{mdash}}including the [[Sena dynasty|Sena]], [[Pala Empire|Pala]], [[Candra|Chandra]], and [[Varman dynasty|Varman]]{{mdash}}and, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the [[Baidya]]s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the [[gentry]] or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.<ref name="RiseofIslam">{{cite book|first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|pages=102–103|isbn=978-0-52020-507-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Tamil Brahmans: The making of a middle caste|page=212|first1=C. J. |last1=Fuller |first2=Haripriya|last2=Narasimhan|publisher =University of Chicago Press|year=2014|isbn=9780226152882|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=r7KjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|quote=In Bengal, the new middle class emergent under the British rule styled itself 'bhadralok', the gentry or "respectable people", and its principal constituents were the three Bengali high castes, Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas. Moreover, for the Bhadralok, a prestigious, refined culture based on education literacy and artistic skills, and the mastery of the Bengali language, counted for more than caste status itself for their social dominance in Bengal.}}</ref> | |||
According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christian Lee|last= Novetzke |title=The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India|year=2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=159|isbn=9780231175807}}</ref> Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of Chitraguptvanshi Kayasthas to be Brahmin<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lokashasakmahakalchitraguptatathachabrahmakayasthagaudbrahmanaahsanatandharmatrustgorakhpur|title=Loka Shasak Maha Kal Chitragupta Tatha Cha Brahma Kayastha Gaud Brahmana|last=Shukla|first=Indrajit|publisher=Sanatan Dharm Trust|year=2016|location=Gorakhpur}}</ref> and CKPs as Kshatriya.<ref name="chib161">{{cite book | title = The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India | author = K. P. Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib | page= 161| publisher=ESS Publications|year=1981| quote= The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus ... They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana ... The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Houghton Mifflin| editor= Harry M. Lindquist|author= Harold Robert Isaacs| title = Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission| year = 1970| page = 88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective|author= André Béteille|year= 1992|isbn=0195630661|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=48}}</ref> | |||
==Notable people== | |||
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas. | |||
<!-- please make sure to only add names of people that already have an article on Wikipedia, and make sure that their article mentions their Kayastha membership and provides a reliable source to support it. In the case of the Bachchan family, they have specifically rejected membership of castes & therefore should not be included here, e.g.: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-28/news-interviews/29821192_1_caste-aarakshan-amitabh-bachchan --> | |||
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> | |||
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦---> | |||
* [[Sri Aurobindo]], Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist<ref>{{cite conference|last=Aall|first=Ingrid|year=1971|editor2=Mary Jane Beech|location=East Lansing|publisher=Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University|page=32|oclc=258335|quote=Aurobindo's father, Dr Krishnadhan Ghose, came from a Kayastha family associated with the village of Konnagar in Hooghly District near Calcutta, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh...|editor1=Robert Paul Beech|book-title=Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16–20}}</ref> | |||
* [[Nagendranath Basu]], historian and editor<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chakravarty|first=Ishita|date=2019-10-01|title=Owners, creditors and traders: Women in late colonial Calcutta|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=56|issue=4|pages=427–456|doi=10.1177/0019464619873800|s2cid=210540783|issn=0019-4646}}</ref> | |||
*[[Shankar Abaji Bhise]] (1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=45 |issue=42 |date=16 October 2010 |pages=67–74 |jstor=20787477 |last=Dhimatkar |first=Abhidha |title=The Indian Edison}}</ref> | |||
* [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]], Indian scientist<ref>{{cite book | title = Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore | year = 2007 | author=Gosling}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2020}} | |||
* [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=A. |last1=Pelinka |first2=R. |last2=Schell|title=Democracy Indian Style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the Creation of India's Political Culture|publisher=Transaction Publishers| year=2003| page=32 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6gLpMf5-jwC&pg=PA32|isbn=978-07-6580-186-9}}</ref> | |||
*[[Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal]] (1857–1933), Indian origin British era Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Member of Executive Council of Governor of Bombay in 1912 and Member of Royal Commission on Public Services in India.<ref>{{cite book | title = Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri: Being the Third Part of the Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant and the Third Part of a Voyage Round the World by Dr. John Francis Gemelli Careri|first=Surendra Nath |last=Sen| year =1949|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1gluAAAAMAAJ&q=mahadev%20chaubal}}</ref> | |||
* [[Har Dayal]], Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the [[Ghadar party]] in the USA<ref>{{cite book|last=Sareen|first=Tilakraj|title=Select Documents on the Ghadr Party |year=1994|publisher=Mounto Publishing House|page=20}}</ref> | |||
*[[C. D. Deshmukh]] (1896–1982), first recipient of the [[Jagannath Sankarseth|Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship]], topper of [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|ICS Examination]], first Indian Governor of [[Reserve Bank of India|RBI]], first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the [[University of Delhi]]<ref>{{cite book |title=South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia |first=Yogendra K. |last=Malik |page=63 |publisher=Heritage |year=1981}}</ref> | |||
*[[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]] (1615–1660), commander of [[Shivaji Maharaj]]'s forces who along with his brother died defending [[Vishalgad]] in 1660<ref name="kantak">{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=40–56|jstor=42931051}}</ref> | |||
*[[Murarbaji|Murarbaji Deshpande]] (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of [[Purandar fort|Purandar]] against the Mughals in 1665<ref name="kantak" /> | |||
*[[Jayaprakash Narayan]] (1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner<ref name="Das2005">{{cite book|first=Sandip |last=Das|title=Jayaprakash Narayan: A Centenary Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9U0LiT3dtMC&pg=PA109|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-001-7|page=109}}</ref> | |||
*[[Bipin Chandra Pal]], Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of [[Lal Bal Pal]] triumvirate<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947)|quote=Bipin Chandra Pal (1858–1932) a patriot, nationalist politician, renowned orator, journalist, and writer. Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family|first=M. K. |last=Singh|year=2009|page=130|publisher= Anmol Publications}}</ref> | |||
*[[Aba Parasnis|Vithal Sakharam Parasnis]] (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian [[James Grant Duff]]; author of the Sanskrit "karma kalpadrum"(manual for Hindu rituals); first head of the school opened by Pratapsimha to teach Sanskrit to the boys of the Maratha caste<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Israel |editor2-first=N. K. |editor2-last=Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|page=166}}</ref> | |||
* [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Devdutt Pattanaik: Descendants of Chitragupta |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/devdutt-pattanaik-descendants-of-chitragupta/19083152 |access-date=17 March 2020 |work=mid-day |date=18 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
* [[A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]], founder of the Hare Krishna Movement-ISKCON<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bvml.org/contemporary/sankarsan.html|title=Interview with Srila Prabhupada's Grand-Nephew - Sankarsan Prabhu|website=bvml.org|access-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727173533/http://bvml.org/contemporary/sankarsan.html|archive-date=27 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
*[[Rajendra Prasad]] (1889–1963) – first president of republic of India<ref>{{cite book|first=Janak Raj |last=Jai |title=Presidents of India, 1950–2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2C2InxI0xAC&pg=PA1 |year=2003 |publisher=Regency Publications |isbn=978-81-87498-65-0 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Dr. Rajendra Prasad: A Brief Biography |author= Tara Sinha |year= 2013 |publisher= Ocean Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tZ8wBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |isbn= 978-81843-0173-1 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180510204127/https://books.google.com/books?id=tZ8wBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date= 10 May 2018}}</ref> | |||
*[[Premchand]] (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language<ref>{{cite book|last = Gupta|first = Prakash Chandra|title=Makers of Indian Literature: Prem Chand|year = 1998|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0428-7|page=7}}</ref> | |||
*[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] (1904–1966) – Prime minister of India<ref>{{cite book |title=Opposition in a Dominant Party System: A study of the Jan Sangh, the Praja Socialist Party and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh, India |first=Angela Sutherland |last=Burger |publisher=University of California Press |year=1969 |url=https://archive.org/details/oppositionindomi0000burg |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/oppositionindomi0000burg/page/28 28]}}</ref> | |||
*[[Sachchidananda Sinha]], lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of [[Bihar]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Ashwani |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |date=2008 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-709-8 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA33}}</ref> | |||
*[[Mahadevi Varma]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Schomer |first=Karine |year=1998 |title=Mahadevi Varma and the Chhayavad Age of Modern Hindi Poetry |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-564450-6}}</ref> | |||
*[[Bhagwati Charan Verma]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0140276637|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography|last=Bachchan|first=Harivansh Rai|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=9780670881581|location=India}}</ref> | |||
*[[Swami Vivekananda]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Banhatti|first=G. S.|title=Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors| year=1995| page=1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jK5862eV7_EC|isbn=978-81-7156-291-6}}</ref> | |||
* [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''<ref>Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3</ref> | |||
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> | |||
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦---> | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
==Further reading== | |||
*{{cite book|first=Asok |last=Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations)|title=The tribes and castes of West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bTUAAAAMAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press}} | |||
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2054164 ''Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations''] Lucy Carroll, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp. 233–250. | |||
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32aMey7k-IYC|title=Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad|last=Leonard|first=Karen Isaksen|year=1994|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|isbn=978-81-250-0032-7}} | |||
{{ | ==External links== | ||
*{{Commonscatinline}} | |||
{{Bengali Hindu people}} | |||
[[Category:Kayastha| ]] | |||
[[Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh]] | |||
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]] | |||
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]] | |||
[[Category:Bengali Hindu castes]] | |||
[[Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh]] | |||
[[Category:Social groups of Jharkhand]] | |||
Revision as of 17:10, 10 July 2021
| Kayastha | |
|---|---|
 "Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by Frans Balthazar Solvyns | |
| Religions | Majority: Hinduism Minority: Islam[1][full citation needed] |
| Populated states | Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra |
| Subdivisions | Bengali Kayastha, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha |
Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate South Asian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally located—the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus of Maharashtra and the Bengali Kayasthas of Bengal. All three were traditionally considered "writing castes", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.[2][3] They were broadly considered by various Indian, British and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".[4]
The earliest known reference to the term "Kayastha" dates back to the Kushan Empire,[5] when it evolved into a common name for a writer or scribe.[6] In the Sanskrit literature and inscriptions, it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.[7] In this context, the term possibly derived from kaya- (principal, capital, treasury) and -stha (to stay) and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.[8][9]
Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around scribal services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfil responsibilities in all these venues.[10][11] Kayasthas, along with Brahmins, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-mediaeval India.[12]
Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, Parsis, Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat, Chitpawans and CKPs (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including Deshastha Brahmins from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the Muslim as well as Christian communities that made up the middle class at the time of Indian independence in 1947.[13][14][15]
Origins
According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in).[16]
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of India. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation.[17][18]
The term also finds mention in an inscription of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I, dated to 442 CE, in which prathama-kāyastha (chief officer) is used as an administrative designation.[19] The Yājñavalkya Smṛti, also from the Gupta era, and the Vishnu Smriti describe kayasthas as record keepers and accountants.[20]
History
Medieval India
Early medieval India
Whilst there are many theories regarding their origins, Kayasthas are recorded in Brahmanical religious texts from as early as the 7th century, being described a distinct caste with responsibility for writing secular documents and keeping records.[21] In some of the Sanskrit works of Kshemendra, in the Vikramankadevacharita of Bilhana and in Kalhana's historical chronicle known as the Rajatarangini ("River of Kings"), written in the early-medieval Kashmir, the term kayastha may have been used to denote the members of bureaucracy ranging from Gṛhakṛtyamahattama (the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs) to the Asvaghasa-kayastha (officer in charge of the fodder for horses), whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes.[22][23]
Late medieval India
In Bengal, during the reign of the Gupta Empire beginning in the 4th century, when systematic and large-scale colonisation by Indo-Aryan Kayasthas and Brahmins first took place, Kayasthas were brought over by the Guptas to help manage the affairs of state.[24]
After the Muslim conquest of India, they mastered Persian, which became the official language of the Mughal courts.[25] Some converted to Islam and formed the Muslim Kayasth community in northern India.
Bengali Kayasthas had been the dominant landholding caste prior to the Muslim conquest, and continued this role under Muslim rule. Indeed, Muslim rulers had from a very early time confirmed the Kayasthas in their ancient role as landholders and political intermediaries.[26]
Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and wazirs (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of Muslim sultans' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became zamindars and jagirdars. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu zamindars in Bengal were Kayasthas.[27]
Maharaja Pratapaditya, the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.[28]
British India
During the British Raj, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.[29][page needed]
Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other parts of India and profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example, Bengali Kayasthas and Bengali Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.[30]
Modern India
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of Indian independence, that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.[31]
The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal.[32] They are considered a Forward Caste, as they do not qualify for any of the reservation benefits allotted to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes that are administered by the Government of India.[33] This classification has increasingly led to feelings of unease and resentment among the Kayasthas, who believe that the communities that benefit from reservation are gaining political power and employment opportunities at their expense. Thus, particularly since the 1990 report of the Mandal Commission on reservation, Kayastha organisations have been active in areas such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Orissa. These groups are aligning themselves with various political parties to gain political and economic advantages; by 2009 they were demanding 33 percent reservation in government jobs.[21]
Sub-groups
Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a myth of origin that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god Chitragupta, the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.[20] The suffix -vanshi is Sanskrit and translates as belonging to a particular family dynasty.[34]
At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th centuries, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions.[35] Although at that time, prior to the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent, they were generally outnumbered by Brahmins in the Hindu royal courts of northern India, some among these Kayasthas wrote eulogies for the kings. Of the various regional Kayastha communities it was those of north India who remained most aligned to their role of scribes, whereas in other areas there became more emphasis on commerce.[36][37]
Bengali Kayasthas
In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th/6th centuries and 11th/12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the Sena dynasty.[38] According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary Smritis. Sharma further states:
Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.[39]
Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas
In Maharashtra, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.[40] Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris (fort holder, an office similar to that of a castellan.[41] Traditionally, the CKPs have the upanayana (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the vedas and perform vedic rituals along with the Brahmins.[42]
Varna status
As the Kayasthas are a non-cohesive group with regional differences rather than a single caste, their position in the Hindu varna system of ritual classification has not been uniform.
This was reflected in Raj era court rulings. Hayden Bellenoit gives details of various Raj era law cases and concludes the varna Kayastha was resolved in those cases by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by the specific community under consideration. Bellenoit disagrees with Rowe, showing that Risley's theories were in fact used ultimately to classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh with a property dispute where the plaintiff was considered an "illegitimate child" by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the Allahabad High Court, a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, the aforementioned 1884 adoption case and the 1916 property dispute saw the Calcutta High Court rule that the Bengali Kayasthas were shudras. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas.[43][44] Hayden Bellenoit concludes from an analysis of those that
in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of twice-born status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a shudra status.
Even where the shudra designation was adjudged, the Raj courts appear to have sometimes recognised that the Bengali Kayasthas were degraded from an earlier kshatriya status due to intermarrying with both shudras and slaves ('dasa') which resulted in the common Bengali Kayastha surname of 'Das'.[43] The last completed census of the British Raj (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. Dwija,[44] and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.[43]
Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–12, botanist and zoologist Francis Buchanan had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, Ahirs, Kurmis and the Koeris. William Pinch, in his study of Ramanandi Sampradaya in the north describes the emergence of the concept of "pure Shudra" in growing need of physical contact with some of the low caste groups who were producer and seller of essential commodities or were the provider of services without which the self sufficiency of rural society couldn't persist. However, many of these adopted Vaishnavism in the aim to become Kshatriya. In 1901 Bihar census, Kayasthas of the area were classified along with Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar as "other castes of twice-born rank"[45] According to Arun Sinha, there was a strong current since the end of the 19th century among Shudras of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of Brahmins and Rajputs of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and varna status. The Kayastha along with the Bhumihars were first among the shudras to attain the recognition as "upper caste" leaving the other aspirational castes to aspire for the same.[46]
The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of Herbert Hope Risley, who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the Bengal Presidency. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, Bombay and the United Provinces repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurise the government to recognise them as kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of sanskritisation and westernisation.[47][clarification needed] Rowe's opinion has been challenged, with arguments that it is based on "factual and interpretative errors", and criticised for making "unquestioned assumptions" about the Kayastha sanskritisation and westernisation movement.[48][full citation needed][49]
In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside Bengali Brahmins, have been described as the "highest Hindu castes".[50] After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties—including the Sena, Pala, Chandra, and Varman—and, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the Baidyas considered themselves to be Bhadralok, a term coined in Bengal for the gentry or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.[26][51]
According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins.[52] Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of Chitraguptvanshi Kayasthas to be Brahmin[53] and CKPs as Kshatriya.[54][55][56]
Notable people
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.
- Sri Aurobindo, Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist[57]
- Nagendranath Basu, historian and editor[58]
- Shankar Abaji Bhise (1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".[59]
- Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian scientist[60][full citation needed]
- Subhas Chandra Bose[61]
- Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal (1857–1933), Indian origin British era Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Member of Executive Council of Governor of Bombay in 1912 and Member of Royal Commission on Public Services in India.[62]
- Har Dayal, Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the Ghadar party in the USA[63]
- C. D. Deshmukh (1896–1982), first recipient of the Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship, topper of ICS Examination, first Indian Governor of RBI, first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the University of Delhi[64]
- Baji Prabhu Deshpande (1615–1660), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who along with his brother died defending Vishalgad in 1660[65]
- Murarbaji Deshpande (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of Purandar against the Mughals in 1665[65]
- Jayaprakash Narayan (1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner[66]
- Bipin Chandra Pal, Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of Lal Bal Pal triumvirate[67]
- Vithal Sakharam Parasnis (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian James Grant Duff; author of the Sanskrit "karma kalpadrum"(manual for Hindu rituals); first head of the school opened by Pratapsimha to teach Sanskrit to the boys of the Maratha caste[68]
- Devdutt Pattanaik[69]
- A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna Movement-ISKCON[70]
- Rajendra Prasad (1889–1963) – first president of republic of India[71][72]
- Premchand (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language[73]
- Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) – Prime minister of India[74]
- Sachchidananda Sinha, lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of Bihar[75]
- Mahadevi Varma[76]
- Bhagwati Charan Verma[77]
- Swami Vivekananda[78]
- Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi[79]
References
- ↑ Muslim Kayasthas of India by Jahanara KK Publications ISBN 978-81-675-6606-5
- ↑ Imam, Faitma (2011). India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K. Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 403–405. ISBN 978-0-313-37463-0. OCLC 755414244.
- ↑ Leonard, Karen (2006). Wolpert, Stanley (ed.). Encyclopedia of India. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 22. ISBN 0-684-31349-9. OCLC 60856154.
All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ↑ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
- ↑ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 194. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646.
The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history
- ↑ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 18–19.
Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.
- ↑ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 20.
In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... kaya (principal, capital, treasury) and stha, to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.
- ↑ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
- ↑ Davidson, Ronald M. (2005). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ↑ Carroll, Lucy (February 1978). "Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations". The Journal of Asian Studies. 37 (2): 233–250. doi:10.2307/2054164. JSTOR 2054164.
- ↑ Chandra, Satish (2007). History of medieval India : 800–1700. Hyderabad, India: Orient Longman. p. 50. ISBN 81-250-3226-6. OCLC 191849214.
There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ↑ Pavan K. Varma (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257.
its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school
- ↑ Paul Wallace; Richard Leonard Park (1985). Region and nation in India. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.
During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.
- ↑ "D. L. Sheth".
- ↑ "Kayastha". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ↑ Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930.
This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...
- ↑ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 Bce-200 Ce)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
- ↑ Shah, K. K. (1993). "Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 54: 858. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Routledge. pp. 69–70. ISBN 9781134494361.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Imam, Fatima A. (2011). Kaminsky, Arnold P.; Long, Roger D. (eds.). India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. pp. 404–405. ISBN 9780313374623.
- ↑ Ray, Sunil Chandra (1950). "A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 13: 124–126. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44140901.
- ↑ Kalhana (1989). Stein, Sir Marc Aurel (ed.). Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. pp. 8, 39, 45. ISBN 978-81-20-80370-1.
- ↑ Banu, =U. A. B. Razia Akter (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ↑ Ballbanlilar, Lisa (2012). Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia. I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-84885-726-1.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1996). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-52020-507-9.
- ↑ Banu, U. A. B. Razia Akter (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0.
- ↑ Chakrabarty, Dipesh (2015). The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth. University of Chicago Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-226-10045-6.
- ↑ Srivastava, Kamal Shankar (1998). Origin and development of class and caste in India.
- ↑ Owens, Raymond Lee; Nandy, Ashis (1978). The New Vaisyas. Carolina Academic Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-89089-057-8.
- ↑ Varma, Pavan K. (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257.
- ↑ Bhardwaj, Surinder Mohan (1983). Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography. University of California Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-520-04951-2.
- ↑ Srinivasan, K.; Kumar, Sanjay (16–23 October 1999). "Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness". Economic and Political Weekly. 34 (42/43): 3052. JSTOR 4408536.
- ↑ "vaMza". Spokensanskrit.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ↑ Shah, K. K. (1993). "Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 54: 859. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088.
- ↑ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3.
- ↑ Kumar, Saurabh (2015). "Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas". Social Scientist. 43 (5/6): 29–45. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24642345.
One thing is clear that by this time, Kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of Kayastha officials.
- ↑ Andre Wink (1991). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 269. ISBN 978-90-04-09509-0. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ↑ Sharma, Tej Ram (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. p. 115.
- ↑ Sharad Hebalkar (2001). Ancient Indian Ports: With Special Reference to Maharashtra. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 978-81-215-0858-2.
- ↑ Sunthankar, B. R. (1988). Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857. p. 121.
The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history
- ↑ Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle, ed. (1987). Religion and Society in Maharashtra. Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. pp. 147–170.
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. pp. 173–176. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3.
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. p. 195.
- ↑ Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. pp. 73–75, 82–83. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
(index)108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; (pg)Bhagvan Prasad's ministrations reflected his own personal interpretation of the social mandate implicit in the religious message of Ramanand. However, Ramanandi ambivalence toward caste emerged in discussions about the prescribed stages of a sadhu's entry into the sampraday. In his biography of Bhagvan Prasad, Sahay expressed the view that originally anyone (including untouchables) could have become Ramanandi sadhus, but that by his time (the early 1900s), "Ramanandis bring disciples from only those jatis from whom water can be taken."[107] For those designated shudra by the elite, this phrase, "from whom water can be taken," was a common enough euphemism for a person of "pure shudra" status, with whom restricted physical contact could be made. From the elite perspective, such physical contact would have occurred in the course of consuming goods and services common in everyday life; the designation "pure shudra" implied a substantial body of "impure"—hence untouchable—people with whom physical contact was both unnecessary and improper. Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweet vendors), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel leaves), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parchers), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds). As a result of their very public campaign for kshatriya status in the last quarter of the century, not to mention their substantial economic and political clout, Kayasths were classified along with "Babhans" and Rajputs as "other castes of twice-born rank" in the 1901 census hierarchy for Bihar.
- ↑ Sinha, A. (2011). Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar. Viking. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-670-08459-3. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
- ↑ Rowe, William L. (2007) [1968]. "Mobility in the Nineteenth-century Caste System". In Singer, Milton; Cohn, Bernard S. (eds.). Structure and Change in India Society (Reprinted ed.). Transaction Publishers. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-202-36138-3.
- ↑ "Cambridge South Asian Studies, Issue 24". Cambridge University Press. 2007: 186.
In three articles: 1975, 1977 and 1978. In these essays she also pinpoints factual and interpretative errors in William L. Rowe's presentation of the Kayastha movement.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley.
- ↑ Inden, Ronald B. (1976). Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal. University of California Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-520-02569-1.
- ↑ Fuller, C. J.; Narasimhan, Haripriya (2014). Tamil Brahmans: The making of a middle caste. University of Chicago Press. p. 212. ISBN 9780226152882.
In Bengal, the new middle class emergent under the British rule styled itself 'bhadralok', the gentry or "respectable people", and its principal constituents were the three Bengali high castes, Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas. Moreover, for the Bhadralok, a prestigious, refined culture based on education literacy and artistic skills, and the mastery of the Bengali language, counted for more than caste status itself for their social dominance in Bengal.
- ↑ Novetzke, Christian Lee (2016). The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India. Columbia University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780231175807.
- ↑ Shukla, Indrajit (2016). Loka Shasak Maha Kal Chitragupta Tatha Cha Brahma Kayastha Gaud Brahmana. Gorakhpur: Sanatan Dharm Trust.
- ↑ K. P. Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib (1981). The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India. ESS Publications. p. 161.
The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus ... They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana ... The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods.
- ↑ Harold Robert Isaacs (1970). Harry M. Lindquist (ed.). Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission. Houghton Mifflin. p. 88.
- ↑ André Béteille (1992). Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0195630661.
- ↑ Aall, Ingrid (1971). Robert Paul Beech; Mary Jane Beech (eds.). Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16–20. East Lansing: Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University. p. 32. OCLC 258335.
Aurobindo's father, Dr Krishnadhan Ghose, came from a Kayastha family associated with the village of Konnagar in Hooghly District near Calcutta, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh...
- ↑ Chakravarty, Ishita (1 October 2019). "Owners, creditors and traders: Women in late colonial Calcutta". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 56 (4): 427–456. doi:10.1177/0019464619873800. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 210540783.
- ↑ Dhimatkar, Abhidha (16 October 2010). "The Indian Edison". Economic and Political Weekly. 45 (42): 67–74. JSTOR 20787477.
- ↑ Gosling (2007). Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore.
- ↑ Pelinka, A.; Schell, R. (2003). Democracy Indian Style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the Creation of India's Political Culture. Transaction Publishers. p. 32. ISBN 978-07-6580-186-9.
- ↑ Sen, Surendra Nath (1949). Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri: Being the Third Part of the Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant and the Third Part of a Voyage Round the World by Dr. John Francis Gemelli Careri.
- ↑ Sareen, Tilakraj (1994). Select Documents on the Ghadr Party. Mounto Publishing House. p. 20.
- ↑ Malik, Yogendra K. (1981). South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia. Heritage. p. 63.
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 Kantak, M. R. (1978). "The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 38 (1): 40–56. JSTOR 42931051.
- ↑ Das, Sandip (2005). Jayaprakash Narayan: A Centenary Volume. Mittal Publications. p. 109. ISBN 978-81-8324-001-7.
- ↑ Singh, M. K. (2009). Encyclopedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947). Anmol Publications. p. 130.
Bipin Chandra Pal (1858–1932) a patriot, nationalist politician, renowned orator, journalist, and writer. Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family
- ↑ Israel, Milton; Wagle, N. K., eds. (1987). Religion and Society in Maharashtra. Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. p. 166.
- ↑ "Devdutt Pattanaik: Descendants of Chitragupta". mid-day. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ↑ "Interview with Srila Prabhupada's Grand-Nephew - Sankarsan Prabhu". bvml.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ↑ Jai, Janak Raj (2003). Presidents of India, 1950–2003. Regency Publications. p. 1. ISBN 978-81-87498-65-0.
- ↑ Tara Sinha (2013). Dr. Rajendra Prasad: A Brief Biography. Ocean Books. ISBN 978-81843-0173-1. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018.
- ↑ Gupta, Prakash Chandra (1998). Makers of Indian Literature: Prem Chand. Sahitya Akademi. p. 7. ISBN 978-81-260-0428-7.
- ↑ Burger, Angela Sutherland (1969). Opposition in a Dominant Party System: A study of the Jan Sangh, the Praja Socialist Party and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh, India. University of California Press. p. 28.
- ↑ Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
- ↑ Schomer, Karine (1998). Mahadevi Varma and the Chhayavad Age of Modern Hindi Poetry. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-564450-6.
- ↑ Bachchan, Harivansh Rai (1998). In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography. India: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780670881581.
- ↑ Banhatti, G. S. (1995). Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 1. ISBN 978-81-7156-291-6.
- ↑ Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3
Further reading
- Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations), Asok (1953). The tribes and castes of West Bengal. Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press.
- Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations Lucy Carroll, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp. 233–250.
- Leonard, Karen Isaksen (1994). Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad. Orient BlackSwan. ISBN 978-81-250-0032-7.
