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	'''Shakadvīpī''' (Shakadvīpī, also known as '''Śākaladvīpī''') or '''Bhojaka''' is a class of ] priests in Western ], ] and western ]<ref>cf. Brahman Nirnaya, page 491 : this book cites some other writers who say that Śākadvīpī reside around Banaras and Bihar.</ref>. The term Bhojaka is popular in western India and Śākadvīpī or Śākaladvīpī is in vogue in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

	This is the only division of brahmins whose origins are said to be outside India, although half of its ] names are same as those found in native brahmins, which suggests some common origins. Wise men of the east (]) are believed to be Śākadvīpī brahmins<ref>cf. next section</ref>.

	==History==
	The most detailed account of the origin of Śākadvīpīs or Bhojakas occurs in ] (chapter 133)<ref>{{IAST\|Jāti-Bhāṣkara}}, p. 150 quotes Bhavishya Purana while giving an account of the origin of Śākadvīpīs.</ref> . According to this story, ]'s son Sāmba built a Sun Temple and asked ] Gaurmukha to become its priest. But sages did not like the profession of priesthood. Then, Sun God said that no brahmin in ] was qualified for Sun-worship and asked Sāmba to invite four categories of peoples from Śākadvīpa: '''Maga''', Magas, Mānas and Mandaga. Sāmba invited celibates of 18 kulas (extended family) who settled in Sāmbapura on the banks of Chandrabhāgā river in western India. Of them, 8 kulas of Mandagas were ]s or Śūdras and 10 kulas of Magas were brahmins. They were married to girls of Bhoja vamśa. Therefore, the descendants of those 18 Śākadvīpī kulas came to be known as Bhojakas.

	Maga is the term applied to ]/Mazdayasti priests. ] in Bactria (Afghanistan) was a major center of Zoroastrianism. Śākadvīp corresponds to regions of Afghanistan beyond the Hindukush mountains.

	The 8 Mandaga kulas were married to Śaka (], who were eastern ], distinct from African ]) and their descendants were not called Mandaga, and were considered to be Śūdras. <ref>Besides {{IAST\|Jāti-Bhāṣkara}}, ''Brāhmaṇotpatti-mārtaṇḍa'' also narrates this story.</ref>

	These communities have historically served as the priests of the Sun god (], ] in Sanskrit, ] in Avestan). Sanskrit word '''mihir''' is related to Sun and one Śākadvīpī gotra name is mihirāsu, which points to Persian connections (] in Persian).Scholar ] is believed by some to have belonged to this community.

	Bhojas (or Bhojakas) are mentioned in the inscriptions of ] ] and ]. ] dynasty copperplates found in Karnataka mention Bhojakas as manages of Jain institutions.

	The ] Brahmins of Bihar are considered to be closely related to the Bhojakas. The Bhojakas are historically associated with several ''']''' temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan, where they serve as priests and attendants <ref>cf. People of India</ref><ref>cf. Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India</ref>.

	In Gujarat, many of the prominent theater personalities have belonged to the Bhojaka community <ref>http://www.webindia123.com/GUJARAT/Arts/danmusic.htm</ref>.

	==Organisation==
	There are 74 '''Para''' (i.e., ''alla'') among Śākadvīpīs ; endogamy within a ''para'' is forbidden <ref>A History of Brahmin Clans, p.279, 281 </ref>.


	There are 12 ''']s''' in Śākadvīpīs:
	*Kāśyapa (])
	*]
	*Pārāśara (])
	*] (cf. ])
	*{{IAST\|Kauṇḍinya}} (])
	*Kausala
	*Vasu
	*Suryadatta
	*Arkadatta ( literally synonymous to Suryadatta )
	*Nala
	*Bhavya {{IAST\|Maṭi}}
	*Mihrāsu


	'''Titles''' or Surnames (Padavi or Āspada):
	*Miśra (cf. ])
	*{{IAST\|Pāṭhaka}} (])
	*{{IAST\|Pāṇḍey}} (]) <ref>A History of Brahmin Clans, p.281 </ref>.

	==Customs and practices==
	H. H. Risley, the census commissioner of India's 1901 census, wrote that Śākadvīpī brahmins practised endogamous marriage within a gotra (which is forbidden in other brahmins), but avoid ''para'' <ref>A History of Brahmin Clans ,p.279, refers to this citation of H. H. Risley. The book ''A History of Brahmin Clans '' also quotes similar opinions from another book ''{{IAST\|Puṣkara}} Itihāsa'' by Pt Mahārāja {{IAST\|Kriṣna}} (extra asst. commisioner of Ajmer), and Pt Bhattāchārya (Principal of Pandit College, Shāntipur, Nadiā). The author of ''A History of Brahmin Clans '' says that endogamous marriage within a gotra is forbidden in Hindu dharmaśāstras.</ref>. According to ''{{IAST\|Brāhmaṇa Nirṇaya}}'', Kānyakubja (Kannaujiā) and Saryupāriya (Sarwariye) hold that Śākadvīpī should not be appointed as priests in yajña and pūjā (ritualistic worship) and are unfit for dāna (donation) ; this extreme view was related to gotra-endogamy as well as to foreign origins of Śākadvīpīs <ref>cf. {{IAST\|Brāhmaṇa Nirṇaya}}, p.491</ref>.

	But ''A History of Brahmin Clans'' states that Śākadvīpī brahmins have a love for traditional (Sanskrit) knowledge and their {{IAST\|Saṃskāra}}s (cf. ]) are like ]s, although matrimonial and other customary relations with Maithil (or other brahmins) are not in vogue <ref>''A History of Brahmin Clans'', p.281</ref>.

	Pt Dorilāl Śarmā Śrotiya writes : 'they wear long ] at the age of 8 years, keep quiet while eating, like to keep beards like sages, perform agnihotra, and drink wine charmed with mantras, and were called maga because they read the Vedas in haphazard ways' <ref>A History of Brahmin Clans, p.280 </ref>. These statements actually apply to Zoroastrian priests and their recitation of ], not to modern Shakadvipis.

	==Distinguished Shakadvipis==

	* Astronomer ]
	* Bhadrabahu, a Jain Acharya
	* Poet ]

	==Notes==
	<references/>

	==References==
	*{{IAST\|Brāhmaṇa Nirṇaya}} by Pt. Chhote Lāl Sharmā,1916,Aligarh.
	*A History of Brahmin Clans ({{IAST\|Brāhmaṇa Vaṃshõ kā Itihāsa}}) in Hindi, by Dorilāl Śarmā,published by Rāśtriya Brāhamana Mahāsabhā, Vimal Building, Jamirābād, Mitranagar, Masūdābād,Aligarh-1, 2nd ed-1998. (This Hindi book contains the most exhaustive list of Brahmana gotras and pravaras together their real and mythological histories).
	*{{IAST\|Jāti-Bhāṣkara}} by Pt. Jwālā Prasād Misra, published by Khemaraj Shrikrishnadas,(1914).
	*''{{IAST\|Brāhmaṇotpatti-mārtaṇḍa'' Harikṛṣṇa Śāstri}}, (Sanskrit), 1871
	*People of India By Kumar Suresh Singh, N. N. Vyas, B. K. Lavania, Dipak Kumar Samanta, S. K. Mandal, published 1998, Popular Prakashan, ISBN 8171547699
	*Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India By John E. Cort, Published 2001,Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195132343

	==See also==
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	==External links==
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	*: Material from this site has been borrowed for this article with the permission from Dr. Vepachedu:
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