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{{short description|Community of India}}
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{{Infobox caste {{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Kayastha |caste_name=Kayastha
|region=], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]
|classification= ]/], ], administrator
|subdivisions={{ubl|], ], ], ]}}
|subdivisions=12 main clans
| country = ], ], ]
|populated_states=], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]
|religions = Majority: ]<br> Minority: ]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jahanara |title=Muslim kayasthas of India |date=2005 |publisher=K.K. Publications |location=Allahabad, India |oclc=255708448 |language=English |id=Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh}}</ref>
|languages=], ], ], ], ], ], and ]
|image=Calcuttakayasth.jpg|caption="Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by ]
|religions=]}}
|image_size=160px}}


'''Kayastha''' (or '''Kayasth''') denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the ] in which they were traditionally located{{mdash}}the ]s of ], the ]s of ], the ]s of ] and ]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Biswarup |date=1980 |title=KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS— |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141924 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=41 |pages=940–944 |jstor=44141924 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raut |first=L.N. |title=Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste) |date=2004 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144743 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=304–308 |jstor=44144743 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> of ]. All of them were traditionally considered "writing ]s", 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|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>
'''Kāyastha''' (also referred to as '''Kayasth''' or '''Kayeth''') ({{lang-hi|कायस्थ}}) is a ] of India. They are the a sect who are referred to as direct “blood” progeny of a Vedic God in the religious texts and an ancestor worshiping sect of Hinduism also called Chitranshi/Devputra. They are said in the ] and ] to have a dual-caste status i.e. ] and ]. They are mainly spread across ] and are a sub-sect of ] whose ancient profession was writing.<ref name="vedah.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html|title=Brahmins|last=Vepachedu|first=Sreenivasarao |publisher=vedah.net|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref><ref name="kamat.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/brahmins/list.htm|title=A List of Brahmin Communities|last=Kamat|first=Vikas|date=April 01,2003|publisher=kamat.com|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref><ref></ref>
<ref>, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Social Club, Poona. 1904. </ref>


The earliest known reference to the term ''Kayastha'' dates back to the ],<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> when it evolved into a common name for a writer or ].<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 |s2cid=144941948 |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| issn=0019-4646 }}</ref> In the ] literature and ], 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|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 {{lang|und|kaya-}} ('principal, capital, treasury') and -{{lang|und|stha}} ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=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 name="Visvanat 2014"/>
* The Sanskrit dictionary at ''Hindunet.org'' defines Kayastha as follows:
:'''''ka_yastha, ka_yata''' a man belonging to the writer-caste; a tribe of bra_hman.as whose employment is writing (Ka.)(Ka.lex.)<ref></ref>


Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around ] 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 fulfill 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|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|s2cid=146635639 }}</ref> Kayasthas, along with ]s, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191849214|title=History of medieval India : 800–1700|publisher=Orient Longman|year=2007|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|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>
* '''BRAHMINS ''' by vedah.net <ref name="vedah.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html|title=Brahmins|last=Vepachedu|first=Sreenivasarao |publisher=vedah.net|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref> is an arcticle on who the brahmins are and the various sub-groups of Brahmins. The Kayastha Brahmins are mentioned at sl.no. 15 (in alphabetic order).
* '''The Brahmins : A List of Brahmin Communities ''' is an extensive list prepared by Kamat.com <ref name="kamat.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/brahmins/list.htm|title=A List of Brahmin Communities|last=Kamat|first=Vikas|date=April 01,2003|publisher=kamat.com|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref> of all Brahmin communities in India. Kayastha Brahmins are mentioned (in alphabetic order).


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 ], ]s, ], ]s of Gujarat, ], ]s and ]s (CKPs) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including ]s from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the ] as well as ] communities that made up the ] at the time of ] 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 ... 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>
* ] quoted in ] says:
:'' The Kayasthas have sprung from the kaya or body of Lord Brahma. They are similar in rank to Brahmans.


==Origins==
'''''The major differences between this ministerial class and the proper priestly class, started around 1500 years ago in the Kingdom of Kashmir, where each accused the other of misusing their power.''''' <ref> </ref> <sup></sup>
=== Etymology ===
According to ], the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the ] ''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 a class of administrators ===
----
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged as a 'class of administrators' between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of Indian history. 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 name="Visvanat 2014">{{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|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158358 |volume=75|pages=34–40|jstor=44158358|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The term also finds mention in an inscription of the ] emperor ], dated to 442 <small>CE</small>, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' ({{translation|'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 ], also from the Gupta era, and the ] describe ''kayasthas'' as record-keepers and accountants, but not as {{lang|sa|]}} (] or clan).<ref name="bellenoit">{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMlDgAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134494361|pages=69–70}}</ref> Similarly, the term ''Kayastha'' is used in the works of ], ] and ] to refer to members of ] varying from {{lang|und|Gṛhakṛtyamahattama}} ({{translation|'the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs'}}) to the {{lang|und|Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha}} ({{translation|'officer in charge of the fodder for horses'}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref>


According to ], the offices that demanded formal education including that of a ''kayastha'' were generally occupied by the "'']s'', revenue collectors, ]s and those concerned with legal matters".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=191–204 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.}}</ref>
Kayastha have been described in the oldest of the ]s, ]s and ]s:


=== In Buddhist association ===
*According to the Vedic scriptures, the souls of men after death receive rewards and punishments according to their sins and virtues, and hence it is believed that good and bad deeds of men are not destroyed. The souls of men after death go to Yamapuri which is presided over by the deities called Yamas who keep records of men’s actions and accordingly give them their dues. The principal Yama is called Yamaraja or Dharamaraja, that is, the ruler of Yamapuri or the King of Laws.
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that ]s, in their effort to create an educated non-] class, strove to popularize the utility of education and fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in ], where the ''lekha-sippa'' ('craft of writing'), was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It is also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning ''lekhaka'' ('writer') or ''kayastha'' have been made in association with ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=193–194 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |via=SAGE}}</ref>


=== As an independent guild of professionals ===
'''The Yama Samhita''' which is an extract from the 9th Chapter of Ahilya Kamdhenu, a work of Hindu Law, says that Dharamaraja complained to Lord Brahma about his difficulties in performing his most responsible duties of keeping records of the deeds of men and doing justice to them. Lord Brahma went into meditation. Shree Chitragupta sprang from his body and stood before him bearing an inkpot and a pen. The God Brahma (Creator) said: "Because you are sprung from my body (kaya), therefore you shall be called Kayastha and as you existed in my body unseen I give you the name of Chitragupta." He then assumed charge of Yamapuri. Dharma Sharma married his daughter Irawati to Chitragupta and Manuji, son of Surya (the Sun) married his daughter Sudakhina to him." Chitragupta had eight sons from the former and. four from the latter and these twelve sons became the progenitors of the twelve sub−divisions of the Chitraguptavansi Kayasthas, namely, Mathur, Gaur, Nigam, Ashthana, Kulshretha, Suryadwaja, Balmika Bhatnagar, Srivastava,Ambastha, Saxena and Karana.
It is possible that ''kayasthas'' may have started out as a separate profession, similar to ]ers, ]s, and ]s. As suggested in certain epigraphs, they had a representative in the district-level administration, along with those of bankers and merchants. This is also implied in {{lang|sa|]}}, where a ''kayastha'' would work for any man who paid his wages on time. Possibly secular knowledge, like writing, administration, and jurisprudence, was monopolised by a non-Brahmin professional elite that later came be referred as ''kayasthas''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001946468302000203?journalCode=iera |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=195 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=They seem to have had guilds of their own and the head of the guild, the prathama-kayastha, represented his class in the administration of the city. The profession of the kàyasthas, like those of the bankers, merchants and the artisans, was an independent one and was not necessarily associated with the king and his court....Thus it may be assumed that while the Brahmanas were engaged in studying religious literature, secular knowledge of document writing, etc., was the monopoly of a professional group, who came to be called Kayasthas.}}</ref>


==History==
*In '''Padma Purana''', Uttar Khanda, it says that Shree Chitragupta had twelve sons by two wives. They were all invested with the sacred thread and were married to Nagakanyas. They were the ancestors of the twelve sub−divisions of the Kayasthas.
=== From classical to early-medieval India ===
The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the ] from the Gupta period.<ref>{{Citation |last=Sahu |first=Bhairabi Prasad |title=Commerce and the Agrarian Empires: Northern India |date=2021 |url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-596 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.596 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |quote=The Gupta period witnessed the rise of the writers’ class (Kayastha/Karana) with other symmetrical developments such as the spread of local state formation. Besides maintaining records, they also helped the administration of justice and commercial activities.}}</ref> The earliest evidence comes from a ] inscription of ], composed by a Kayastha ].<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> From this point we find, the term ''kayastha'' occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor ] as ''prathama-kāyastha,<ref name=":23">{{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 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44143088}}</ref>'' as ''karaṇa-kāyastha'' in ]’s inscription,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=395 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> and as ''gauḍa-kāyastha'' in an Apshadha inscription dated 672 <small>CE</small>.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960">{{Cite book |last=Mazumdar |first=Bhakat Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJKAAAAMAAJ |title=Socio-economic history of northern India (1030-1194 A.D.)|date=1960 |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |pages=99, 104|oclc=614029099 |language=en |quote=As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...}}</ref>{{rp|104}} The occasional references to individuals of the ''Karaṇa'' caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The history and culture of the Indian people |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=374 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to ] during the reign of the ] to help manage the state affairs.<ref name="Banu 1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC |title=Islam in Bangladesh |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09497-0}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}} According to a legend, a ] King named ''Adisur'' had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from ] who became an elite sub-group described as ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luca |first1=Pagani |last2=Bose |first2=Sarmila |last3=Ayub |first3=Qasim |date=2017 |title=Kayasthas of Bengal |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/47/special-articles/kayasthas-bengal.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=52 |issue=47 |pages=44 |quote=...which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...}}</ref> However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960"/>{{rp|99}}


From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R.C. |url=http://archive.org/details/struggleforempir05bhar |title=History and Culture of the Indian People |date=2001 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |others=Public Resource |editor-last=Ramakrishnan |editor-first=S. |volume=5 |pages=477 |quote=We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.}}</ref> The ''Kayastha'' appears as a figure in Act IX of the {{lang|sa|]}}, ''a kāyastha'' is shown accompanying a judge (''adhikaraṇika'') and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that:<ref name="Visvanat 2014" />{{Cquote
*The same legend with some slight difference is given inmost of the Puranas.
| quote = Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy and a donkey—where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish.
}}


In {{lang|sa|]}}, a Kayastha named ''Śakaṭadāsa'' is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the ] King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title ''Ārya'' added to the name of ''Śakaṭadāsa'' implies that he was a member of the nobility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=196 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |issn=0019-4646 |s2cid=144941948}}</ref> Another Kayastha called ''Acala'' is the scribe of ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deshpande |first=R. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.csl.8864 |title=Visakhadattaʼs Mudraraksasa |date=1948 |publisher=Popular book Store, Surat |pages=ii}}</ref>
*'''Padma Purana''' after stating the legend says: "Shree Chitragupta was placed near Dharamaraj to register the good and evil actions of all sentient beings,that he was possessed of supernatural wisdom and became the partaker of sacrifices offered to the gods and fire. It is for this reason that the twice−born always give him oblations from their food. As he sprang from the body of Lord Brahma he was called Kayastha of numerous gotras on the face of the earth."


In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term ''kayastha'' denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. ] ''Narmamālā'' composed during the reign of ] (1028-1063 <small>CE</small>) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included ''Gṛhakṛtyadhipati,'' ''Paripālaka'', ''Mārgapati'', ''Gañja-divira'', ''Āsthāna-divira'', ''Nagara-divira'', ''Lekhakopādhya'' and {{Lang|sa|Niyogi}}. Kalhana’s ] ('The River of Kings') and ]'s ''Vikramāṅkadevacarita'' ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A NOTE ON THE KĀYASTHAS OF EARLY-MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140901 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kalhana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzxTkI9iAxkC |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-20-80370-1 |editor-last=Stein |editor-first=Sir Marc Aurel |pages=8, 39, 45}}</ref> It is also mentioned that father of ] of the ], Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of ''Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1957 |title=ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44082819 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=38 |issue=3/4 |pages=176 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=44082819 |quote=He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.}}</ref>
*In '''Shristhi Khanda''' the same Purana says that the sacrificial rites and study of the Kayasthas should be of the Vedas and supporting scriptures and their occupation related to writing.


Kayasthas have been authors of several ] texts too.
*'''Bhavishya Purana''' states that God, the Creator, gave the name and duties of Chitragupta as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
Because you have sprung from my body, therefore, you shall be called Kayastha and shall be famous in the world by the name of Chitragupta. Oh my son, let your residence be always in the region of the god of justice for the purpose of determining the merits and demerits of men.
|+Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the ''Kayasthas''
!Work(s)
!Genre(s)
!Author
!Author's lineage
!Date
|-
|]
|Biography
|Sandhyākaranandin
|]<ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536567 |title=The past before us : historical traditions of early north India |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=498 |oclc=859536567 |quote=He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).}}</ref>
|12th c.
|-
|''Udayasundarī Kathā''
|'']''
|Soḍḍhala
|Vālabhya<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last1=Ghosh |first1=Jogendra Chandra |last2=Ghosh |first2=Jogesh Chandra |date=1931 |title=GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41688244 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=197–205 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=41688244}}</ref>
|11th c.
|-
|''Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu''
|Medicine, '']''
|Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa
|]<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last=O’Hanlon |first=Rosalind |date=2010 |title=The social worth of scribes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946461004700406 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=583 |doi=10.1177/001946461004700406 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad.. |s2cid=145071541}}</ref>
|15th c.
|-
|''Kṛtyakalpataru''
|Administration
|Lakṣmīdhara
|]<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=H T Colebrooke |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142316 |title=A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I |date=1898 |pages=xvii |quote=Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...}}</ref>
|12th c.
|}


==== In Brahmanical literature ====
*'''Vignana Tantra''' says the same thing.
Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in ] religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.<ref name="IT20112">{{cite book |last=Imam |first=Fatima A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405 |title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313374623 |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor1-first=Arnold P. |pages=404–405 |editor2-last=Long |editor2-first=Roger D.}}</ref> In these texts, some described Kayasthas as ]s, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with ] and ] components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=India - The Rajputs |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |quote=A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/753563817 |title=A History of India |date=1998 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-194976-5 |volume=1 |location=New Delhi |pages=99 |oclc=753563817 |quote=Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.}}</ref>


=== Late medieval India ===
*The same is the enjoinment of Lord Brahma to Shree Chitragupta according to '''Brihat Brahma Khanda'''. He was named Kayastha having sprung from the body (kaya) of Lord Brahma. He was directed to perform all sanskars and to have writing as his profession.


After the ], they mastered ], which became the official language of the Mughal courts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballbanlilar |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&pg=PA59 |title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd. |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84885-726-1 |page=59}}</ref> Some converted to ] and formed the ] community in ].
*'''Garuda Purana''' describes the imperial throne of Shree Chitragupta in Yamapuri holding his Court and dispensing justice according to the deeds of men and maintaining their record, in the following words:
(There Dharmaraja, Chitragupta, Sravana and others see all sins and virtues which remain concealed in the bodies of men).


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" />
*Similarly, '''Apastamba Shakha''' of the Veda quoted in Shabda−Kalpadrum 2nd part, page 228, Shabda 20,
under Kshatriya, states that Kayasthas are Kshatriyas. Chitragupta who reigns in heaven and his son Chaitrarath, who was light of the family, meritorious and of illustrious deads ruled on earth for a long time as King of Chitrakoot near
Allahabad. '''Meru Tantra''' quoted in Shabda−Kalpadrum under the word ’Kshatriya’ supports the same view.


Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and '']'' (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of ]' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became '']s'' and '']s''. According to Abu al-Fazl<!--- not the redirect to the foremost Bahá'í scholar --->, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.<ref name="Banu 1992"/>{{rp|24–25}}
*'''The Mahabharata (Anusasan Parva, Chap. 130)''' recites the teaching of Shree Chitragupta requiring men to do virtuous and charitable acts and performing Yagya, saying that men are rewarded or punished according to their good or bad deeds.


], the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Dipesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-226-10045-6 |page=139}}</ref>
*Turning to the ]s, Vishnu in Chap. VII, verse 3, says that a document attested by the King is one which is written or prepared by a Kayastha and stamped with the finger prints of the head of the department.


===British India===
*The words are Virihat Parasara in Chap. X, Sloka 10 says. Kayasthas should be appointed as writers, they being expert in writing.
] 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>
*Again in Chap. I, Sloka 235, he says that Danda−dhrita the Magistrates and Judges of the Courts should be (dharmagya), persons versed in laws and good administration, Kayasthas, who are versed in the art of writing.


===Modern India===
*Vyas says that the writer and the accountant should be that is versed in Mimansa (]s) and ]s (Adhyayana) as explained by Mitakshara in commenting upon Yajnavalkya, Chap. II, Sloka 2, which says that the King’s Councillors should be versed in the sacred books of Mimansa and Vedas, expert in law, truthful and impartial.
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of ], 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 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 ], as they do not qualify for any of the ] allotted to ] and ]es that are administered by the ].<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 ] 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>
*Similarly, Shukraaiti in Chap. XXXII, Sloka 420, describes Kayasthas as lekhaks, and in Chap. II, versa 178, says that the accountant and lekhak knew the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas.


==Sub-groups==
*Yajnavalkya in Slokas 317 to 320 describes how the edicts of the king should be written, sealed and promulgated. Apararka in his commentary upon these Slokas quotes from Vyas and shows that these edicts should be written by lekhaks, the ministers of war and peace (sandhi vigraha kari), and that they should be promulgated to the gentry and officials among whom Kayasthas have been mentioned.
===Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas===
{{Main|Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha}}


The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a ] that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god ], the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.<ref name="bellenoit"/> The suffix ''-vanshi'' is ] 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>
*Similarly, Vijnanesvara in his Mitakshara commenting upon these Slokas says:
He (King) should cause it to be recorded by that officer of his, who is in charge of war and peace (i.e. by a Kayastha), and not by anybody else.


At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th century, 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 ], they were generally outnumbered by ]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>
*As says a ]: That officer of his, who is sandhi vigraha kari or the officer in charge of peace and war should be its writer (lekhak).


The group of ], ], ] and ] of ] were classified by various ], ] 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|year=2017|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|location=Milton Park, Abingdon, UK |page=155 |chapter=Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900 |oclc=973222959|quote=And while these Bhatnagar, Ambastha, Srivastava and Saxena families were important for the colonial state by the 1860s, they were also beneficiaries of British success and power in India. They shaped the materiality of administration and populated the ranks of the Raj's intermediary enforcement.....by 1900 they were broadly considered by various Indian , British and missionary observers to the most educated and influential of the service castes.}}</ref>
*Yajnavalkya uses the word "Kayastha" in Slokas 335 36, Chap. I. Commenting upon this, Mitakshara says that Kayasthas are accountants and writers. He makes the word "Kayasthas synonymous with accountants and writers. Similarly, Apararka says that Kayasthas were revenue−collectors (kar−adhi−krita).


=== Bengali Kayasthas ===
*The accountants and scribes constitute one of the ten parts of a judicial proceeding.
{{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 ].<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 '']s''. Sharma further states:{{blockquote|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>}}
*Brihaspati says the same thing, as quoted in Prasara Madhava, Vyavahara Kanda.


=== Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas ===
*According to the Smritis, the officers of the realm, such as, ministers of peace and war, courtesans and Councillors, Governors and headmen of villages should be men versed in the Sastras, valorous and born of noble family, pure, intelligent, affluent in wealth and of tested virtue and comprehension: Manu, Chap. VII, Verses 54 to 121 Yajnavalkya, Chap. I, Verse 312.
{{Main|Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu}}


In Maharashtra, ]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 ]s and ]s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a ].<ref>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|first = B. R. |last=Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The 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> The CKPs have the ] (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the ] and perform ] 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>
Kayasthas in recent times are the giver of the Hare Krishna Movement-ISKCON(Swami ]), Transcendental Meditation(]), Integral yoga(]), Kriya Yoga(] of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ fame) and Vedanta(]) to the western world.


== Types of Kayasths == === Karanas ===
{{Main|Karan (caste)}}


Karana is a community found predominantly in ] and ]. They are a prosperous and influential caste in Odisha and rank next to the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pati |first=Rabindra Nath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5seKkk3GkIC&dq=karan+rank+next+to+brahmin&pg=PA116 |title=Family Planning |date=2008 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-313-0352-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref></ref> They exclusively served the ruling powers as their ministers, advisors, governors, military commanders, record keepers and diwans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mohanty |first=Pramod Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GzaAAAAMAAJ&q=srikarana |title=Colonialism and South Asia: Cuttack, 1803-1947 |date=2007 |publisher=R.N. Bhattacharya |isbn=978-81-87661-52-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mohanty |first1=Ramesh P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl66OPnClpoC&pg=PA40 |title=Culture, Gender and Gender Discrimination: Caste Hindu and Tribal |last2=Biswal |first2=Durgesh Nandini |date=2007 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-199-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sircar |first=D. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceDuDwAAQBAJ&dq=srikarana&pg=PA375 |title=Indian Epigraphy |date=2017-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-4103-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYhKAQAAIAAJ&q=Sri+Karana++Mahasenapati |title=Cultural Heritage of : pts. 1-2. Katak |date=2002 |publisher=State Level Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Smruti Samsad |isbn=978-81-902761-5-3 |language=en}}</ref> They have the highest literacy caste-wise and are highly prosperous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Joanna Gottfried |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22wCxbKAdmkC&dq=The+Two-headed+Deer:+Illustrations+of+the+R%C4%81m%C4%81ya%E1%B9%87a+in+Orissa&pg=PA90 |title=The Two-headed Deer: Illustrations of the Rāmāyaṇa in Orissa |date=1996-01-01 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08065-2 |language=en}}</ref> Karanas owned most ] in Odisha and were extremely rich.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Bishnupada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wuLZAAAAMAAJ&q=karan+zamindar |title=Some Aspects of Socio-economic Changes in South Western Frontier Bengal Since Introduction of Neo-Vaiṣṇavism |date=1996 |publisher=Firma KLM Private Limited |isbn=978-81-7102-049-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Congress |first=South Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cw9uAAAAMAAJ&q=karan+caste+zamindar+extremely+rich |title=Proceedings of the ... Annual Conference ... |date=1995 |publisher=The Congress |language=en}}</ref><ref></ref> They also received large amounts of land grants in Khurda administration of ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tanabe |first=Akio |date=2020 |title=Genealogies of the "Paika Rebellion": Heterogeneities and Linkages |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-asian-studies/article/genealogies-of-the-paika-rebellion-heterogeneities-and-linkages/4F1D10668F4ED9EE67FA01845047B201# |journal=International Journal of Asian Studies |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1017/S1479591420000157 |issn=1479-5914|doi-access=free }}</ref> They represent around 5% of Odia people. The Karanas are a forward caste of Odisha.<ref name="MatthiesNärhi2016">{{cite book|author1=Aila-Leena Matthies|author2=Kati Närhi|title=The Ecosocial Transition of Societies: The contribution of social work and social policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=4 October 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-03460-5|pages=110–}}</ref>
There are of three kinds of Kayasthas (by blood) and four types in total:<br />
1. Chitragupta Kayasthas (Brahma Kayashta or Kayastha Brahman). Caste-Status:]; usually 'Kayastha' in most ancient Vedic literature refers to this sect, henceforth Kayastha in this article would refer to the Chitragupt Kayastha unless otherwise stated.<ref name="vedah.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html|title=Brahmins|last=Vepachedu|first=Sreenivasarao |publisher=vedah.net|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref><ref name="kamat.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/brahmins/list.htm|title=A List of Brahmin Communities|last=Kamat|first=Vikas|date=April 01,2003|publisher=kamat.com|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref>


==Varna status==
* '''BRAHMINS ''' by vedah.net is an arcticle on who the brahmins are and the various sub-groups of Brahmins. The Kayastha Brahmins are mentioned at sl.no. 15 (due to alphabetic order).
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.
* '''The Brahmins : A List of Brahmin Communities ''' is an extensive list prepared by Kamat.com of all Brahmin communities in India. Kayastha Brahmins are mentioned in the alphabetic order.
* The Sanskrit dictionary at ''Hindunet.org'' defines ‘'''Kayastha'''’ as follows:
::: ''ka_yastha, ka_yata'' —a man belonging to the writer-caste; a tribe of bra_hman.as whose employment is writing (Ka.)(Ka.lex.)<ref name=" Hindunet.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati/dictionary/2059TO.HTM|title=Sanskrit Dictionary at Hindunet.org|publisher= Hindunet.org|accessdate=2009-07-18}}</ref>
2. ] (Rajanya Kshatriya Kayasthas- from the Haiyaya family) Caste-Status:], <br />
3. Kayasthas of the mixed blood. Caste-Status:] or others as per the law of Hindu ]s and <br />
4. Kayasthas by name or virtue of profession (not by blood). Caste-Status:depends on history of that group and may vary with regions


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 ], ] with a property dispute where the ] 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 ], 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 ] 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 {{blockquote|in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of ] status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a ] 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 ] 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 ] (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. ],<ref name="ashwani"/> and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.<ref name="bellenoit174" />
== Origin legends ==
]


Other than literature by Europeans such as ] and others, several Hindu religious scriptures and Hindu scholars' opinions were also used by the courts to decide the varna as well as make decisions in the specific cases. The Hindu texts referenced were '']'', the ], “original ''Vyavashta'' of the Pundits of Kashmir”, ]'s books, (8th to 5th century BC authored) '']'', '']'' (17th century), ], ], ''Vivādacintāmaṇi'' of ], Sanskrit Professor Sarvadhikari's literature, ''Dattakamīmāṃsā'', Shyamcharan Sarkar’s ''Vyavasthādarpaṇa'', etc. Some contemporary Hindu scholars referenced (as witnesses in person or indirectly by their writings) were two Benaras Pandits(Nityananda and Bast Ram Dube), Raja Ram Shastra( a Benares Sanskrit College professor, well versed in Hindu ]) and ].<ref name="bellenoit2023">{{cite journal|title=Legal Limbo and Caste Consternation: Determining Kayasthas' Varna Rank in Indian Law Courts, 1860–1930|author=Bellenoit H.|date= March 9, 2023|journal=Law and History Review|volume=41 |pages=43–63|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0738248023000056 |s2cid=257448600 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
The Kayastha trace their genealogy from Lord Chitragupta. It is said that after Lord Brahma had created the four Varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras), Yama (Dharamraj) requested Lord Brahma to help him record the deeds, both good and evil, of men and to administer justice.


Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–1812, botanist and zoologist ] had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, ]s, ]s and the ]s. William Pinch, in his study of ] 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.” 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 ]s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of ]s and ]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 '']'' status. Sinha further mentions that the Kayasthas of Bihar along with the ]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>
According to the scriptures, Lord Brahma went into meditation for 11,000 years and when he opened his eyes he saw a man holding a pen and ink-pot in his hands, as well as a sword girdled to his waist. Lord Brahma spoke: ``Thou hast been created from my body (Kaya); therefore, shall thy progeny be known as the Kayasthas. Thou hast been conceived in my mind (Chitra) and in secrecy (gupta); thy name shall also be Chitragupta.'' Brahma then enjoined him to dispense justice and punish those who violated the dharma. Thus, the Kayasthas were accorded a dual caste, Brahman/Kshatriya.

In the legends of Chitragupta as well as in the Vedas, he is referred to as the greatest king, while the rest are "Rajakas," or little kings.

'''चित्र इद राजा राजका इदन्यके यके सरस्वतीमनु ।'''<br />
'''पर्जन्य इव ततनद धि वर्ष्ट्या सहस्रमयुता ददत ॥''' '''''RIG VEDA Book 8/ Hymn 21/ Stanza 18'''''

In the Garud Purana, Chitragupta is hailed as the first man to give the script.

'''"Chitragupta namastubhyam vedaksaradatre"'''
(Obeisance to Chitragupta, the giver of letters)

The Rig Veda mentions an invocation to be made to Chitragupta before offering sacrifice. There is also a special invocation to Chitragupta as Dharmraj (Lord of Justice) to be made at the performance of shradh or other rituals.<br />
'''"Om tat purushaya vidmahe Chitragupta dhimahi tena lekha prachodayata."'''

The priests also pay reverence to Shri Chitragupta :

'''"Yamam Dharmarajya Chitraguptaya vain namah."''''

Lord Chitragupta is the Athi Devathai for Kethu, one of the Navagrahas, and those who worship Chitragupta, would be bestowed with prosperity. Also the evil effects of Kethu during its transit period would be mitigated.

'''The birthday of Shree Chitraguptaji is celebrated on Yamadwitiya and Chitraguptajayanti Puja is performed on this day.'''

The privileges of performing religious duties related to Yamaraj and Chitraguptaji are reserved by the Kayasthas. Of these, one of most important is the Chitraguptajayanti Puja. The greatness of this yajna is that whoever performs it, is spared the punishments of hell, whatever his records of deeds be.

The ancient story related to this is now told. There was a mighty king, who had subjugated the whole world by his ambition to be the supreme King of Kings. The stories of his cruel deeds had spread to all the corners of the world. His name was uttered only with great respect and a greater fear at heart, for everyone knew that his deeds were vile and extreme. His name was Sudass, the King of Saurastra, his capital, from where he ruled his vast empire with an iron fist. He was known to be one of most ‘Adharmi’ (nearest meaning: ‘irreligious and one who crosses the threshold of Dharma’) and perpetrator of ‘Paap’ (nearest meaning: ‘sins’). All through his extensive kingdom, it was known that their king had never ever done a ‘Punya’ in his evil life.
This King was fond of hunting, and once on a hunting spree, was lost in the jungle. Unable to find his way out, and unknown to fears of any kind, he decided to see what his jungles were like. He went on exploring the jungles when he heard the sound certain ‘Mantras’ coming from North. He headed for the place where the mantras where being chanted. There he found a few Brahmins performing a yajna and few common people sitting to witness this. The king lost his cool on seeing a puja being performed without his consent. He thus spoke with thunder in his voice:
The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of ], who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the ]. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, ] and the ] 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 ] and ].<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}}
“I am King Sudass, the King of Kings. Salute me you foolish men. Who are you and what are you doing here? I demand an answer.”
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 book |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=Caste conflict and elite formation: The rise of a Karāva elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931 |date=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521052856 |pages=187 |chapter=Casteism in South Asian politics during British times: Emergent cultural typifications or elite fictions?|quote=Lucy Carroll has revealed how one cannot identify a temporal evolution from Sanskritist sacred goals to Westernised secular aims because the strategies of caste associations were mixed She indicates that several of the apparently Sanskritist ascetic reforms advocated by caste associations derived from the influence of Victorian puritanism and other Western values 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. |id=}}</ref><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 ], 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 ], ], ], and ]{{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 ]s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the ] 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>
The group of priests kept on chanting their mantra and paid no heed to the angry king, all the while people sitting at some distance and witnessing the yajna being performed kept mum, being afraid of the king. On being so ignored the king lost his cool and raised his sword to hit the head priest. Seeing this, the youngest of the priests stood up and spoke thus:


Modern scholars like ] and ]{{efn|According to ] and ]}} consider the present varna status of Bengali Kayasthas as 'twice-born',<ref name="RudolphRudolph1984">{{cite book|author1=Lloyd I. Rudolph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7guY1ut-0lwC&pg=PA124|title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India|author2=Susanne Hoeber Rudolph|date=15 July 1984|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73137-7|pages=124–|quote=And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Westernized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population}}</ref><ref name="Hutton1961">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=John Henry| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuHUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22twice%2Bborn%22|title=Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins|publisher=Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|year=1961|page=65}}</ref> while ] considers their varna as disputed.<ref name="Lipner2009">{{cite book|last=Lipner|first=Julius J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-Y6QkumxEgC&pg=PA172|title=Debi Chaudhurani, or The Wife Who Came Home|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-973824-3|page=172}}</ref>
“Stop! King Sudass, stop! Don’t turn this opportunity into a disaster. You have been sent here not to be condemned but saved.”


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 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 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>
On hearing these words the King became interested and said, “You, young boy, have great courage and knowledge for your age. Will you elaborate on what you have just said?”


==Socio-economic condition==
The young priest said to the King, “O Sudass, you call yourself the King of Kings: how mistaken you are! When you die you would be subjugated to such punishments that your pride will vanish in thin air. You want to know who these men are and what are they doing and what is the purport of my speech. Then listen:
In 2023, ] published the data of ]. It showed that amongst the ] of ], Kayastha was the most prosperous one with lowest poverty. Out of total families of Kayasthas residing in the state, only 13.38% were poor. The community totally numbered 1,70,985 families, out of which 23,639 families were poor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhelari |first=Amit |date=2023-11-07 |title=Bihar caste-based survey report {{!}} Poverty highest among Scheduled Castes, lowest among Kayasths |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihars-caste-based-survey-report-shows-yadavs-hold-most-govt-jobs-among-obcs/article67509087.ece |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>


==Kayasthas in Nepal==
We are the sons of Lord Chitragupta, whom the great Rigveda call the true King of Kings, and whose title you are not worth stealing. We are Kayasthas and we are performing yajna to our Lord Yamaraj and our progenitor Maharaj Chitrgupta on this great day of Yamadwitiya. O King Sudass, whoever performs this puja is spared the punishments of hell. You can be free from hell if you will only submit to Yamaraj and Chitraguptaji, who has the record of all the sins that you have done in your vile life! Nothing in this world is hidden from Him and only He could save you. On one hand is salvation and on the other is hell. Come, join us or kill us all.”
The ] of Nepal classifies the Kayastha as a subgroup within the broader social group of ] Brahmin/Chhetri (together with Terai ]s and ]s).<ref></ref> At the time of the ], 44,304 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Kayastha. The frequency of Kayasthas by province was as follows:
* ] (0.5%)
* ] (0.2%)
* ] (0.1%)
* ] (0.1%)
* ] (0.0%)
* ] (0.0%)
* ] (0.0%)


The frequency of Kayasthas was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:<ref></ref>
The king was left dumbfounded and followed the young priest as if in a trance. He then performed the puja with full devotion and the exact procedure. Thereafter he took the ‘prasaad’ and went back to his kingdom with the other men.
* ] (1.0%)
* ] (0.8%)
* ] (0.6%)
* ] (0.4%)
* ] (0.4%)
* ] (0.4%)
* ] (0.4%)
* ] (0.3%)
* ] (0.3%)
* ] (0.3%)


==Notable people==
'''With the passage of time there came the day when the Yamadoots came to take him away with them, to the Yamaloka. The Yamadoots tied the king's soul in chains and pulled it to the court of Yamaraja. When the bleeding and dilapidated King reached the court of Yamaraj, Lord Chitragupta opened the book of his deeds and thus spoke to Yamaraj. “O great Yamaraj, I can only see a life full of sins in his case, yet this king did perform our yajna in his life time? He performed the puja on Karthik shukla dwitiya and with full devotion and the right procedure. He performed our and your ‘vrat’ on that day. Thereby, all his ‘paaps’ have been nullified and according to the rules of Dharma, he cannot be sent to hell.” Thus the king was saved from hell and till this day whoever performs the Chitraguptajayannti puja is spared the punishments of hell.'''
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
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 Misplaced Pages, 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 -->
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=== ] ===
==Temples==
*]


=== ] ===
There are several temples in India, particularly in ], enshrining the Lord Chitragupta. The most famous of them is located at ] , ] state, India. One of the ancient temples of Chitraguptaji is situated in Khajuraho.
*]


=== ] ===
== The Family Tree ==
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* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hebbar |first=Nistula |date=2019-09-15 |title=Thackeray family traces origin to Bihar, says new book |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/thackeray-family-traces-origin-to-bihar-says-new-book/article29424604.ece |access-date=2024-10-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bharadwaj |first1=Hareesha Rishab |last2=Bone |first2=Matan |date=2023-04-10 |title=Statue of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882–1962): An epitome of healthcare in politics |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09677720231167783 |journal=Journal of Medical Biography |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=280–281 |doi=10.1177/09677720231167783 |pmid=37038350 |issn=0967-7720}}</ref>
* ]
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=== Others ===
Shree Chitraguptaji married Devi Nandani and Devi Shobhavati and had twelve divine Sons. The 12 Sons started the 12 main branches of Brahma Kayastha.
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Misplaced Pages ♦♦♦--->
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* ], 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>
* ], Indian nobleman and politician<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://discover.23andme.com/last-name/Sahai|title=Sahai surname}}</ref>
* ], 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>
*] (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>
* ], 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}}
* ]<ref>{{cite book|title=Satyendra Nath Bose|page=12
|author1 = Santimay Chatterjee|author2=Enakshi Chatterjee|year=1976|publisher=National Book Trust, India| quote=Satyendra Nath was born in Calcutta on the first of January, 1894, in a high caste Kayastha family with two generations of English education behind him.}}</ref> Known for his work on ], for developing the foundation of ] and the theory of the ]. The class of particles that obey Bose statistics, ]s, was named after Bose by ].<ref>{{Citation | title = Notes on Dirac's lecture ''Developments in Atomic Theory'' at Le Palais de la Découverte, 6 December 1945 | series = UKNATARCHI Dirac Papers | id = BW83/2/257889 | at = p. 331, note 64 | contribution = The Strangest Man | first = Graham | last = Farmelo}}.</ref><ref name="Sean2013">{{cite book | author=Miller, Sean | title=Strung Together: The Cultural Currency of String Theory as a Scientific Imaginary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXTcSoXEZNUC&pg=PA63 | date=18 March 2013 | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn=978-0-472-11866-3 | page=63 }}</ref>
* ]<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>
*] (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>
* ], Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the ] 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>
*] (1896–1982), first recipient of the ], topper of ], first Indian Governor of ], first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the ]<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>
*] (1615–1660), commander of ]'s forces who along with his brother died defending ] 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>
*] (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of ] against the Mughals in 1665<ref name="kantak" />
*] (11th century), 11th century ] master and scholar from ] in modern-day ]<ref name="Stearns2002">{{cite journal |last1=Stearns |first1=Cyrus |title=The Mystery of Lord Gayadhara |journal=Luminous Lives: The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam 'bras in Tibet |date=2002 |pages=47–55 |isbn=978-0-86171-307-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDT7EQUMCx0C&q=luminous+lives}}</ref>
*] (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>
*], Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of ] 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>
*] (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian ]; 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>
* ]<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>
*] (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>
*], lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of ]<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>
*]<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>
*]<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>
*]<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>
* ], author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''<ref>Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3</ref>
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==See also==
The 12 clans of Brahma Kayastha:
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] or Shrivastava
*]
*]
*]
*]


==References==
===Sons of Devi Shobhavati===
{{reflist}}
*'''Charu''' (Mathur): He was a disciple of sage Mathure, ] was Dhurandhar, was married to Devi Pankajakshi and worshipped Devi Durga. Mathureshwari. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Charu to establish a Kingdom in the Mathara region (between Mahanadi and Krishna River in Orissa). His descendants were known as the Mathurs. After defeating the demons, a term regularly used for the anti-Vedic tribes, they established the Kingdom of Mathara. This done, they also propagated to other part of Aryavartha. In the meanwhile they were further divided into 3 sub-divisions 1.The Mathurs of Mathara, 2.The Pancholi or Panchali of Pnachal Kingdom where in garwhal hills there is town of Mathara 3.The Kacchi of Gujrat. The Mathurs seemed to enjoy a long history of ruling many Kingdoms, the most important of which was ], ruled by them before the Raghuvanshis took the reign. They are divided into 84 Als. They established Pandya Kingdom covering Madurai Trinivelli etc.<ref>''Madan Kosh'' by Madanlal Tiwari of ], p.220</ref> They sent an emissary to the Roman Emperor ].
{{notelist}}


==Further reading==
*'''Sucharu''' (Gaur) गौड़ : He was a disciple of sage Vasishtha, Rashi name was Dharamdutta and worshipped Devi Shakambari. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Sucharu to establish a Kingdom in the Gaud region. Shree Sucharu married Devi Mandhiya, the daughter of Nagaraj Vasuki. The gaurs are divided into five divisions: 1.Khare, 2.Doosre, 3.Bengali, 4.Dehlavi, 5.Vadanyuni. Gaur Kaystha have been further sub divided in 32 Als. Bhagdutta of Mahabharat and Rudradutta of Kalinga were famous.
* {{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}}
*'''Chitraksh''' (Bhatnagar): He was a disciple of sage Bhat, was married to Devi Bhadrakalini and worshipped Devi Jayanti. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Chitraksh to establish a Kingdom in the region of Bhat river at Bhattdesh and Malwa.They established Chittor and Chitrakoot He settled then there and his progeny came to be known as Bhatnagar. They are divided into 84 Als.
* {{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}}<!--These 3 refs are to be nested into another ref when I can work out how
*'''Matimaan''' (Saxena): He was married to Devi Kokalesh and worshipped Devi Shakambari. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Matimaan to establish a Kingdom in the Shak region. His(Shree Matimaan’s) son was a great warrior and established His kingdom in the modern day Kabul-Kandhar and Eurasia region and as they were sakha ( friends Of Sena )the progeny was called Shaksena or Saksena, a part of modern Iran was under their rule. Today they are abundantly found in the regions of Kannuaj,Pilibhit, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Badayu, Farrukhabad, Etta, Mainpuri, Aligarh. They are divided into Khare and Dusare and had 106 main Als at present. According to RC Majumdar, they were kings Shena of Shakas hence Shakashena which anglicised to Saxena.
* Carroll, Lucy (1975) 'Caste, social change and the social scientist: a note on the ahistorical approach to Indian social history', ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', vol. '''xxxv''', November 1975, pp. 63-84.
*'''Himvaan''' (Ambashth): His Rashi name was Sarandhar, was married to Devi Bhujangakshi and worshipped Devi Amba-Mata. Settled in Girnar and kathiawar area called Amba-sthan, hence the name. Shree Himvaan had five divine sons Shree Nagasen, Shree Gayasen, Shree Gayadatta, Shree Ratanmool and Shree Devdhar and they married Gandharvyakanyas. These five Sons settled at different locations and accordingly their lineage spread their rule over these and were further divided into: Nagasen: 24 Als, Gayasen: 35 Als , Gayadatta: 85 Als, Ratanmool: 25 Als, Devdhar: 21 Als. Later they settled in Punjab after their defeat by ]'s general and then by ].
* Carroll, Lucy (Winter 1977) '"Sanskritization", "Westernization", and "Social mobility"; a reappraisal of the relevance of anthropological concepts to the social historian of modern India', ''The Journal of Anthropological Research'', '''33''':4, pp. 355-71.
*'''Chitracharu''' (Nigam): His Rashi name was Sumant, was married to Devi Ashgandhmati and worshipped Devi Durga. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Chitracharu to establish a Kingdom in the Mahakoshal and the Nigam region (on the bank of river Saryu). His progeny were very proficient in the rules laid in Vedas and the Shastras, hence Nigam. Today they live in Kanpur, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Banda, Jalon, Mahoba. They are divided into 43 main Als.
* Carroll, Lucy (February 1978) "Colonial perceptions of Indian society and the emergence of caste(s) associations", ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', vol. '''xxxv'''(2), pp. 233-50.-->
*'''Aruncharu''' (Karna): His Rashi name was Damodar, was married to Devi Kamakala and worshipped Devi Laxmi. They were Vaishnavites. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Aruncharu to establish a Kingdom in the Karna region (modern day Karnataka). His progeny slowly migrated to the Northern Kingdoms and now live abundantly in the present day Nepal, Orissa and Bihar. The Bihar branch is further divided into two; namely the ‘Gayaval Karna’ who settled in Gaya and the ‘Maithil-Karna’ who settled in the Mithila region.Later they adopted Buddhism. They are divided into an astounding 360 Als; this huge figure is attributed to the families who migrated in different phases from South. The clan has nothing to do with Karna of Mahabharata.
*'''Jitendra''' (Kulshreshtha): His Rashi name is Sadananda, was married to Devi Manjubhashini and worsipped Devi Laxmi. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Atiyendriya(also known as Jitendra) to establish a Kingdom in the Kannauj region. Shree Atiyendriya was one of the most religious and pious ascetic of the twelve Sons. He was known as ‘Dharmatama’ and ‘Pundit’ and was a master of passions; His progeny came to be known as Kulshrestha. Today the Kulshreshthas live abundantly in Mathura, Agra, Fawrookhabad, Etah, Etahwa and Mainpuri.A few are in Nandigaon ,Benga. Like Shree Shekhar kulsreshtha<ref>Shekhar Kulshreshtha</ref> and Sugam Kulshreshtha as in Jalesar ( Etah ) Both of them were renowed writer.


==External links==
===Sons of Devi Nandani===
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*'''Shribhanu'''(Srivastava): His Rashi name was Dharamdwaj. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Shribhanu to establish a Kingdom in the Shrivaas(Srinagar)region in Kashmir and Kandhar. He was married to Nagaraj Vaasuki’s daughter Devi Padmini and two divine sons named Shree Devdatta and Shree Ghanshyam were born. Shree Devdatta got the rulership over Kashmir and Shree Ganshyam got the rulership over the banks of Sindhu river. They were called Srivastava ‘Khare’ born from second wife Kheri.Two divine sons named Shree Dhanvantari and Shree Sarvagya were born. They were called Srivastava ‘Doosre’.The Srivastavas are divided into 65 main Als.
*'''Vibhanu''' (Suryadhwaj): His Rashi name was Shyamsunder, was married to Devi Malti. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Vibhanu to establish the Kingdom in northern parts of the Kashmir region. Since Mother Dakshina was the daughter of Suryadev, the progeny of Shree Vibhanu carried the emblem of the Sun God on their flags and were called Suryadhwaj.Jarasandha of Mahabharat and Jamnaya of Taxila were well known.Later they settled at Magadh
*'''Vishwabhanu''' (Valmiki): His Rashi name was Deendayal and worshipped Devi Shakumbhari. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Vishwabhanu to establish a Kingdom in Valmiki region near Chirakoot and Narmada. Shree Vishwabhanu was married to Nagakanya Devi Bimbvati. He’s known to have spend a great part of his life practicing intense meditation(Tapasya) on the banks of river Narmada, when covered with the leaves of creeper Valmiki.His progeny were known as Valmiki.They became Vallabhpanthi. His son Shree Chandrakant settled in Gujarat while the other Sons migrated with their families to the North, near river Ganga and the Himalayas. Today they live in Gujarat and Maharashtra. They are also known as ‘Vallabhi Kayastha’ in Gujarat.
*'''Viryabhanu''' (Asthana): His Rashi name Madhavrao, was married to Devi Singhdwani. Maharaj Chitraguptji sent Shree Viryabhanu to establish a Kingdom in Adhisthana. His progeny came to be known as Asthana as Ramnagar-Varanasi's king bestowed them with eight jewels.Some say that they had no fixed sthan, hence the name. Today the Asthanas live abundantly in various districts of U.P. In Bihar they live in Saran, Sivaan, Champaran, Mujjafarpur, Sitamadhi, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur regions. Their population is also notable in U.P.’s neighboring state M.P. They are divided into 5 main Als.


{{Bengali Hindu people}}
===ALs===
{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}
These twelve sub-castes are further divided into ''AL''s. A ''Vansh'' originates from a ''King'', a ] or a ''Deity'' and as it grows it divides itself in to several branches. The descendents start to build their own sub-Vansh depending upon the places and situations met, at the same time acknowledging their submission to the ''MOOL'' Vansh. These sub-Vansh add specific nouns to their names which in case of the Chirtagupta Vansha(Chitranshi) are called the ''Al''s (Kindly be clear upon the point that the 12 main sub-castes are acknowledged divisions based on the family of the 12 Sons, they are not called ''Al''s, their further divisions are what '''Al'''s are) One has to be careful to avoid confusing them with ''Gotra''. Gotra goes after the name of a '''Vedic''' Rishi, who was either a Guru, RajGuru or Progenitor of that Vansh. The gotra for a MOOL Vansh is always the same. It is ''Kashayap'' for the ''Kayastha''s. Thus, a Vanshaz can be known from his Gotra and Al (The term ''Kul'' is often used for ''Al'', though the former has a much broader meaning).The ''Al''s can be thousands in number and must be added to the name in conjunction with one of the 12 main sub-castes. The ignorance of this law is precisely the reason why so many can not find their surnames mentioned amongst the 12 main sub-castes.
{{Ethnic groups and Communities of Odisha}}


]
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== Aspects of Kayastha culture ==

=== Marriage Practices ===

Kayasthas practice family ] and caste ] preferring to marry within specific sub-castes. The individuals of same AL (see a definition of AL above) cannot intermarry, while those of same caste and different ALs can. To illustrate, individuals from the ] sub-caste and the Pandey AL do not marry another Pandey of the Srivastava sub-caste, but may marry individuals belonging to another AL of the ] sub-caste.

=== Distinctive Worship ===

Kayasthas are unique from other Hindu castes in their worship of an ancestor, Shree ]ji and the practice of '']'', a ritual in which pens, papers and books are worshiped. Both these rituals are performed on the Yama Dwitiya, this is the day when Shree Chitraguptji was created by Lord Bramha and Yamaraj got relieved of His duties and used this leave to visit His sister Devi Yamuna; hence the whole world celebrates Bhaiya dooj on this day and the Kayastha celebrate ShreeChitraguptajayanti, i.e. the 'Birthday' of their progenitor. Kayasthas have the singular distinction of being the only "Ancestor-worshipping" sect of Hinduism.

=== Social ===
Of all the other castes in India, Kayasthas are the easiest to mingle with other castes. They did this when the Muslims came to India, and modern examples of this are Kayasthas outside India where they mingle with other castes more than they mingle among themselves. This cosmopolitan outlook distinguishes members of this caste, and along with the great emphasis on education, is to a large extent responsible for their success in changing times.

== History ==

=== Ancient India ===

Kayastha ministers find mention in Hindu mythology. Prior to the Raghuvanshis, Ayodhya was ruled by Mathur Rulers, progeny of Chitragupta.

The Kayastha who are represented by the "Kayath" or the hereditary caste of the scribes of the present day, formed originally a sub-military class. The Anthropological Survey of India conducted a survey during the British Raj which concluded that the Kayastha community were also influential during the Mauryan period as administrators. Also, many proof have been found that the Hindu Kings used to grant lands to the Kayasthas, a practise enjoyed only by a particular caste. Also, it is but logical to consider the status of the Kayasthas when Sanskrit was the state language under the Hindu Kings.

The Kayastha were one of the most influential Caste in Kashmiri politics around 7th century <ref>] Muktpida was one glorious King of a Kayastha dynasty of Kashmir.

The various scripts used by the Kayastha during most of the Ancient period can only be conjectured, but ] certainly was extensively used and often praised as the scrit of the Vedas given by Bhagvaan Chitragupt himself.

=== Islamic and Pre-independence India ===

The Kayastha caste's affinity for learning and socio-economic status, both enabled and dictated that the community develop expertise in the changing administrative policies and official languages, as different empires were established in India. The community learned and adapted terminology to ], ], ] and later ] in ] India. Importantly, the community created, maintained and developed empire-wide administrative practices in monetary policy, jurisprudence and taxation.

The script used during this period was majorly ].

These roles continued into the colonial colonial era, where many Kayasthas were the first to learn ] and become civil servants, tax officers, junior administrators, teachers, legal helpers and barristers. During this period, Kayastha community members were more likely (than other communities) to undertake academic training in England and often rose to the highest positions accessible to natives in ]. As a consequence of their relatively large proportion amongst Indian students abroad, and because many hit ceilings of progression because of racial status, community members played pivotal roles in the early political groups that questioned British rule in India.

The script used during this period was ]. The name makes a very clear reference to the creators, the Kaystha are often referred as "Kayath" in middle ages. Kayasthas have a unique distinction of having a script - Kaithi - associated with their name. Kaithi (also known earlier as Kayati, Kayathi or Kayasthi), similar to Dev Nagri, was used mainly by Kayasthas in northern India. It has its own Unicode now and was the major contender in the race to become national script but was left behind due to being not known to masses.

=== Modern India ===

Many Kayasthas were successful in adapting to post-independence India, becoming civil servants, bureaucrats and lawyers. The community's traditional association with higher education also led to heavy immigration to the west in the 1970's and 1980's as community members sought increased educational and research opportunities. Notable examples include the first ], ], the third ], ], social and religious reformer ], freedom fighter ] and film-star ].

== Prominent Kayasthas ==
{{Main|List of Kayasthas}}

Dr ] rose to become the first President of the Republic of India. Dr ] was the first Chief Minister of U.P. and Governor of Rajasthan, besides being a literary figure. ] brought down ], ] fought the British rule militarily. ], ] and ] were eminent scientists. Munshi ], ], ] a freedom fighter, Raghupat Sahai "Firaque" Gorakhpuri, Dr Vrindavan Lal Verma, Dr. Ram Kumar Verma, ], Kamla Chaudhury, Dr Dharm Vir Bharti and Bhagavati Charan Verma have been men of letters. Swami ] and ] were philosophers. Alakh Kumar Sinha was the first Indian Inspector-General of Police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.a2a.org.uk/search/records.asp?cat=059-msseur_11&cid=11-8-23|title=www.a2a.org.uk/search/records.asp?cat=059-msseur_11&cid=11-8-23<!--INSERT TITLE-->}}</ref>, ], PVSM, has served as Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Governor of Assam and Governor of Jammu & Kashmir.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jammukashmir.nic.in/govt/gov.htm|title=Jammu & Kashmir government website}}</ref> ] and ] have excelled in the film world, ] have done best in the field of Comedy, ], ] in the world of music, ] is in the field of Literature and Architecture . and ] who is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi) is the founder of ], a new ]. ], the author of ] (adapted as the ] winning film "]") and ], and a career Indian Diplomat, is from a prominent Kayastha family of Allahabad.

This is a list of noteworthy people of the Kayastha caste of India.

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== Other Information ==
=== Unfortunate case of the Kayasthas of Bengal ===

<sub>'''Warning: HIGHLY SENSITIVE. Based on the court cases of British era. Not intended to insult any group. Users are requested to be cautious not to edit this section unless extremely needed and be cautious not to hurt the feelings of any group.'''</sub>
<br /><br />
This was caste politics during the colonial rule at its worst. It also opened the question whether any caste (including the Brahmin sub-castes) can be sure of their caste status in the years to come. A fancy and novel phrase that had never been heard before in the history of India was introduced : '''"degraded to Sudradom".''' The British law court in Calcutta declared the Kayasthas of Bengal to have "degraded to Sudradom" due to their customs. Thus, the caste obsessed Kayasthas, who even had hierarchy among their castemembers with a system named Kulin, were proved low. This turned the caste pride of the Kaystha into shame, if nothing worst. We now present the court case which declared the Bengal Kayastha to be Sudra (while the Kayasthas of north India remained a high caste (Kshatriya) as per the court. What double standards!) The status was later corrected with many proofs to the contrary being present in the Hindu law books. Their present status is Kshatriya. The fiasco lead to much needed unity between the Kayasthas and a modern outlook devoid of orthodoxy. Few of the greatest reformers and revolutionaries are a product of this period.



''THIS VERDICT MAY BE INFLUENCE OF COLONIAL RULERS''

(Ref. Raj Coomar Lall v. Bissessur Dyal 10 C. 688 : 8 Ind. Jur. 621 : 5 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 462)

"According to the decision in Raj Coomar Lall v. Bissessur Dyal 10 C. 688 : 8 Ind. Jur. 621 : 5 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 462 the Bengali Kayasthas as a class were Sudra. The decision in that case was based upon a passage in the Vyavastha Darpana of Shyama Charan Sarcar where it is stated that '''the Kayasthas were Kshatriyas but they, at least those of Bengal, have been degraded to Sudradom by using after their proper names the surname "Das" instead of their own Kshtriya epithet "Varma" and also by omitting to perform the Upanayana ceremony'''."

The Brahmins of Benaras called it shocking and were one of the most active group in undoing it. The Kayastha of North got ready to avoid any such future references to them and united in support of the effected groups.

In the case that overruled this decision, among various references to the Purana, Srutis and Smritis, it was also wisely pointed out that omitting to perform the Upanayana ceremony will not cause their degradation to sudradom, as Manu himself in Chap. X, Verse 20, definitely lays down that twice born ones devoid of the rights of initiation with the thread are Vratyas (broken vowed ones) called Vratya Brahmans, Vratya Kshatriyas and Vratya Vaisyas respectively.

Mitakshara and Balambhatta both explain Vratya as devoid of sacrament,that is excluded from performing the religious ceremonies. They do not say that such a twice−born will lose the civil rights of succession, marriage and adoption. Sarvadhikari, as already observed, emphatically expressed it and asked the question what would happen if the Kayasthas, (or other high castes who do not perform Upananaya ceremony including many Brahmins of the North) and who according to Shyama Oharan Sarkar omitted to perform Upanayana and thus degraded themselves to sudradom, would again begin, as many are doing, to wear the sacred thread?

The reason that the surname ] caused their fall; was a sham, for apart from the Kayasthas of Bengal many other group use it, including the North-Indian Brahmins.

The decision was rectified but left bitter memories in the minds of Kayasthas. Even to this day the literature that was produced in Bengal during this period is used to harass Kayastha all over. For example, all the first year Kayastha students (since 2000) of engineering in UP (]) took the shock of their life when they were made to read a story named 'Renunciation'(set in Bengal) in the course for professional communication. These have always been proud of their lineage and were left scarred for life after reading the story! The fun of the thing was that even during the dark period, the Kayastha of UP were classed Kshatriya by British courts, and even today are categorised 'GENERAL' and pay the price of reservation!

A growing movement that demands reservation for Kayasthas is brewing, since the community as a whole depends on professional jobs(including the government sector) and higher education.

== References ==
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* Vedah.net
* Kamat.com
* The Sanskrit dictionary at Hindunet.org
* ] by ], A Survey of Panjis of Maithil Karna Kayasthas.
* "The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India: Volume III ", by R V Russel (Superintendent of Ethnography) and Rai Bahadur Hiralal, Publisher: Macmillan and Co. Limited, London, pages 404-422, 1916 .
* "The Tribes And Castes Of West Bengal", by A. Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations), Publisher: West Bengal Government Press, 1954 .
* Lucy Carroll, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp.&nbsp;233–250.

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Latest revision as of 00:31, 16 December 2024

Community of India "Darad" redirects here. For decarad, see darad (angular unit).

Kayastha
"Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by Frans Balthazar Solvyns
ReligionsMajority: Hinduism
Minority: Islam
CountryIndia, Pakistan, Nepal
RegionUttar Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra
Subdivisions

Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian 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, the Bengali Kayasthas of Bengal and Karanas of Odisha. All of them were traditionally considered "writing castes", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.

The earliest known reference to the term Kayastha dates back to the Kushan Empire, when it evolved into a common name for a writer or scribe. In the Sanskrit literature and inscriptions, it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service. In this context, the term possibly derived from kaya- ('principal, capital, treasury') and -stha ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.

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 fulfill responsibilities in all these venues. Kayasthas, along with Brahmins, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.

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, Bengali Bhadraloks, Chitpawans and Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKPs) 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.

Origins

Etymology

According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in).

As a class of administrators

As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged as a 'class of administrators' between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of Indian history. 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". The term also finds mention in an inscription of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I, dated to 442 CE, in which prathama-kāyastha (transl. 'chief officer') is used as an administrative designation. The Yājñavalkya Smṛti, also from the Gupta era, and the Vishnu Smriti describe kayasthas as record-keepers and accountants, but not as jāti (caste or clan). Similarly, the term Kayastha is used in the works of Kshemendra, Kalhana and Bilhana to refer to members of bureaucracy varying from Gṛhakṛtyamahattama (transl. 'the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs') to the Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha (transl. 'officer in charge of the fodder for horses').

According to Romila Thapar, the offices that demanded formal education including that of a kayastha were generally occupied by the "Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters".

In Buddhist association

According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that Buddhists, in their effort to create an educated non-Brahmin class, strove to popularize the utility of education and fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in Udāna, where the lekha-sippa ('craft of writing'), was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It is also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning lekhaka ('writer') or kayastha have been made in association with Buddhism.

As an independent guild of professionals

It is possible that kayasthas may have started out as a separate profession, similar to bankers, merchants, and artisans. As suggested in certain epigraphs, they had a representative in the district-level administration, along with those of bankers and merchants. This is also implied in Mudrarakshasa, where a kayastha would work for any man who paid his wages on time. Possibly secular knowledge, like writing, administration, and jurisprudence, was monopolised by a non-Brahmin professional elite that later came be referred as kayasthas.

History

From classical to early-medieval India

The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the Northern India from the Gupta period. The earliest evidence comes from a Mathura inscription of Vasudeva I, composed by a Kayastha Śramaṇa. From this point we find, the term kayastha occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor Kumaragupta I as prathama-kāyastha, as karaṇa-kāyastha in Vainayagupta’s inscription, and as gauḍa-kāyastha in an Apshadha inscription dated 672 CE. The occasional references to individuals of the Karaṇa caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too. Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to Bengal during the reign of the Gupta Empire to help manage the state affairs. According to a legend, a Bengali King named Adisur had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from Kannauj who became an elite sub-group described as Kulin. However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.

From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste. The Kayastha appears as a figure in Act IX of the Mṛcchakatika, a kāyastha is shown accompanying a judge (adhikaraṇika) and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that:

Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy and a donkey—where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish.

In Mudrarakshasa, a Kayastha named Śakaṭadāsa is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the Nanda King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title Ārya added to the name of Śakaṭadāsa implies that he was a member of the nobility. Another Kayastha called Acala is the scribe of Chanakya.

In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term kayastha denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. Kshemendra’s Narmamālā composed during the reign of Ananta (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included Gṛhakṛtyadhipati, Paripālaka, Mārgapati, Gañja-divira, Āsthāna-divira, Nagara-divira, Lekhakopādhya and Niyogi. Kalhana’s Rājataraṃgiṇī ('The River of Kings') and Bilhana's Vikramāṅkadevacarita ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas. It is also mentioned that father of Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota Dynasty, Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.

Kayasthas have been authors of several Sanskrit texts too.

Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the Kayasthas
Work(s) Genre(s) Author Author's lineage Date
Rāmacarita Biography Sandhyākaranandin Karana 12th c.
Udayasundarī Kathā Champu Soḍḍhala Vālabhya 11th c.
Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu Medicine, Tantra Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa Naigama 15th c.
Kṛtyakalpataru Administration Lakṣmīdhara Vāstavya 12th c.

In Brahmanical literature

Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in Brahmanical religious writings dating back to the seventh-century. In these texts, some described Kayasthas as Kshatriyas, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with Brahmin and Shudra components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.

Late medieval India

After the Muslim conquest of India, they mastered Persian, which became the official language of the Mughal courts. 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.

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.

Maharaja Pratapaditya, the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.

British India

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.

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.

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.

The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal. 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. 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.

Sub-groups

Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas

Main article: 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. The suffix -vanshi is Sanskrit and translates as belonging to a particular family dynasty.

At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th century, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions. 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.

The group of Bhatnagar, Srivastava, Ambashtha and Saxena of Doab were classified by various Indian, British and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".

Bengali Kayasthas

Main article: 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. 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.

Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas

Main article: Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu

In Maharashtra, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen. Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris (fort holder, an office similar to that of a castellan. 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.

Karanas

Main article: Karan (caste)

Karana is a community found predominantly in Odisha and Andhrapradesh. They are a prosperous and influential caste in Odisha and rank next to the Brahmins. They exclusively served the ruling powers as their ministers, advisors, governors, military commanders, record keepers and diwans. They have the highest literacy caste-wise and are highly prosperous. Karanas owned most Zamindaris in Odisha and were extremely rich. They also received large amounts of land grants in Khurda administration of Khurda Kingdom. They represent around 5% of Odia people. The Karanas are a forward caste of Odisha.

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. 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'. The last completed census of the British Raj (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. Dwija, and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.

Other than literature by Europeans such as Max Müller and others, several Hindu religious scriptures and Hindu scholars' opinions were also used by the courts to decide the varna as well as make decisions in the specific cases. The Hindu texts referenced were Mitākṣarā, the Padmapurāṇa, “original Vyavashta of the Pundits of Kashmir”, Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik's books, (8th to 5th century BC authored) Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Vīramitrodaya (17th century), Bhaviṣyapurāṇa, Skandapurāṇa, Vivādacintāmaṇi of Vāchaspati Misra, Sanskrit Professor Sarvadhikari's literature, Dattakamīmāṃsā, Shyamcharan Sarkar’s Vyavasthādarpaṇa, etc. Some contemporary Hindu scholars referenced (as witnesses in person or indirectly by their writings) were two Benaras Pandits(Nityananda and Bast Ram Dube), Raja Ram Shastra( a Benares Sanskrit College professor, well versed in Hindu Dharmaśāstras) and Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik.

Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–1812, 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" 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. Sinha further mentions that the Kayasthas of Bihar 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.

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. 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.

In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside Bengali Brahmins, have been described as the "highest Hindu castes". 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.

Modern scholars like John Henry Hutton and Ronald Inden consider the present varna status of Bengali Kayasthas as 'twice-born', while Julius J. Lipner considers their varna as disputed.

According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins. Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of CKPs as Kshatriya.

Socio-economic condition

In 2023, Government of Bihar published the data of 2022 Bihar caste-based survey. It showed that amongst the Forward castes of Bihar, Kayastha was the most prosperous one with lowest poverty. Out of total families of Kayasthas residing in the state, only 13.38% were poor. The community totally numbered 1,70,985 families, out of which 23,639 families were poor.

Kayasthas in Nepal

The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Kayastha as a subgroup within the broader social group of Madheshi Brahmin/Chhetri (together with Terai Brahmins and Rajputs). At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 44,304 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Kayastha. The frequency of Kayasthas by province was as follows:

The frequency of Kayasthas was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:

Notable people

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This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.

President of India

Prime Minister of India

Chief Ministers

Others

See also

References

  1. Jahanara (2005). Muslim kayasthas of India. Allahabad, India: K.K. Publications. OCLC 255708448. Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh.
  2. Das, Biswarup (1980). "KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS—". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 41: 940–944. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141924.
  3. Raut, L.N. (2004). "Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 65: 304–308. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44144743.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. ^ 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: 34–40. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  7. 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. S2CID 144941948. 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
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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. S2CID 146635639.
  12. Chandra, Satish (2007). History of medieval India : 800–1700. Hyderabad, India: Orient Longman. p. 50. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7. 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.
  13. 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 ... 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
  14. 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.
  15. "D. L. Sheth".
  16. "Kayastha". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  17. 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...
  18. 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.
  19. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Routledge. pp. 69–70. ISBN 9781134494361.
  20. 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.
  21. Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 191–204. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 144941948. According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.
  22. Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 193–194. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. S2CID 144941948 – via SAGE.
  23. Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 195. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 144941948. They seem to have had guilds of their own and the head of the guild, the prathama-kayastha, represented his class in the administration of the city. The profession of the kàyasthas, like those of the bankers, merchants and the artisans, was an independent one and was not necessarily associated with the king and his court....Thus it may be assumed that while the Brahmanas were engaged in studying religious literature, secular knowledge of document writing, etc., was the monopoly of a professional group, who came to be called Kayasthas.
  24. Sahu, Bhairabi Prasad (2021), "Commerce and the Agrarian Empires: Northern India", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.596, ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7, The Gupta period witnessed the rise of the writers' class (Kayastha/Karana) with other symmetrical developments such as the spread of local state formation. Besides maintaining records, they also helped the administration of justice and commercial activities.
  25. 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.
  26. Majumdar, R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal (1990). The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. 4. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 395. OCLC 643663693.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). Socio-economic history of northern India (1030-1194 A.D.). Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. pp. 99, 104. OCLC 614029099. As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...
  28. Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal (1990). The history and culture of the Indian people. Vol. 4. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 374. OCLC 643663693.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ Banu, U. A. B. Razia Akter (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0.
  30. Luca, Pagani; Bose, Sarmila; Ayub, Qasim (2017). "Kayasthas of Bengal". Economic and Political Weekly. 52 (47): 44. ...which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...
  31. Majumdar, R.C. (2001). Ramakrishnan, S. (ed.). History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. 5. Public Resource. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 477. We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.
  32. Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 196. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 144941948.
  33. Deshpande, R. R. (1948). Visakhadattaʼs Mudraraksasa. Popular book Store, Surat. pp. ii.
  34. 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.
  35. 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.
  36. Ray, Sunil Chandra (1957). "ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 38 (3/4): 176. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 44082819. He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.
  37. Thapar, Romila (2013). The past before us : historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 498. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).
  38. Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 197–205. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244.
  39. O’Hanlon, Rosalind (2010). "The social worth of scribes". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 47 (4): 583. doi:10.1177/001946461004700406. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 145071541. ..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad..
  40. H T Colebrooke (1898). A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I. pp. xvii. Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...
  41. 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.
  42. "India - The Rajputs". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 January 2021. A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.
  43. Thapar, Romila (1998). A History of India. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Penguin Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-14-194976-5. OCLC 753563817. Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.
  44. 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.
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  46. 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.
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  48. Owens, Raymond Lee; Nandy, Ashis (1978). The New Vaisyas. Carolina Academic Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-89089-057-8.
  49. Varma, Pavan K. (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257.
  50. 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.
  51. 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.
  52. 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.
  53. "vaMza". Spokensanskrit.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  54. 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.
  55. 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.
  56. 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.
  57. 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, UK. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. And while these Bhatnagar, Ambastha, Srivastava and Saxena families were important for the colonial state by the 1860s, they were also beneficiaries of British success and power in India. They shaped the materiality of administration and populated the ranks of the Raj's intermediary enforcement.....by 1900 they were broadly considered by various Indian , British and missionary observers to the most educated and influential of the service castes.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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  76. Bellenoit H. (9 March 2023). "Legal Limbo and Caste Consternation: Determining Kayasthas' Varna Rank in Indian Law Courts, 1860–1930". Law and History Review. 41. Cambridge University Press: 43–63. doi:10.1017/S0738248023000056. S2CID 257448600.
  77. 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." 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.
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  80. Roberts, Michael (1982). "Casteism in South Asian politics during British times: Emergent cultural typifications or elite fictions?". Caste conflict and elite formation: The rise of a Karāva elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0521052856. . Lucy Carroll has revealed how one cannot identify a temporal evolution from Sanskritist sacred goals to Westernised secular aims because the strategies of caste associations were mixed She indicates that several of the apparently Sanskritist ascetic reforms advocated by caste associations derived from the influence of Victorian puritanism and other Western values 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.
  81. Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley.
  82. 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.
  83. 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.
  84. Lloyd I. Rudolph; Susanne Hoeber Rudolph (15 July 1984). The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 124–. ISBN 978-0-226-73137-7. And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Westernized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population
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  1. According to Lloyd Rudolph and Susanne Rudolph

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