The Kashyap Rajput or Kashyap are a

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

in India. They are sometimes called the Koshyal or Kanshilya.

History

''Kashyap'' is originally one of the eight primary

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...

s (clans) of the Brahmins, being derived from Kashyapa, the name of a

rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

(hermit) from whom the eponymous gotra Brahmins believe to have descended. The Brahmanical clan system was later emulated by people as an early example of the sanskritisation process. In more recent times, the All-India Kashyap Rajput Mahasabha pressure group was established prior to the 1941 census of British India to lobby the census authorities to record the caste as ''Kashyap Rajput'' rather than by any other name.

Kashyap communities

There were proposals in 2013 that some or all of the communities related to Kashyap in the state should be reclassified as Scheduled Castes under India's system of positive discrimination; this would have involved declassifying them from the Other Backwards Class category. Whether or not this would happen was a significant issue in the campaign for the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

. They are among 17 OBC communities that were again proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

-controlled Government of Uttar Pradesh. However, this proposal, which relates to

votebank politics Votebank (also spelled vote-bank or vote bank), in the political discourse of India, is a term referring to a loyal bloc of voters from a single community, who consistently back a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections. ...

, has been stayed by the courts; the prior attempt had been rejected by the Government of India.

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * {{refend Other Backward Classes Social groups of Uttar Pradesh

History

Kashyap communities

See also

References