Kaviraj (or Rajkavi, Kaviraja) is a title of honor, which was given to

poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and litterateurs attached to royal courts in medieval India. Eminent

Charans Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan prov ...

who were inducted into the royal courts due to their literary merit as royal

and

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

were given the rank of Kaviraja (

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

). Such Charans assumed positions of great influence in the medieval

polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

. Few well known people are Kaviraja Shyamaldas, Kaviraja Bankidas, etc. The descendants of such persons also started using the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, Kaviraj. The surname is usually found in people of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, etc. One of the community where this surname is often found is

Charan Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan prov ...

, who were the State poets & historians in the Rajput kingdoms of these regions.

Notable people

* Kaviraja Bankidas Ashiya * Krishnadasa Kaviraja * Kaviraj Shyamaldas *

Kaviraja Muraridan Mahamahopadhyaya Kaviraja Muraridan Ashiya (1830 — 1914) served as the Dewan (Prime Minister) of Marwar during the reign of Jaswant Singh II (1873–1895). Kaviraja is remembered as an astute politician and a farsighted administrator, who made ...

References

{{Reflist Surnames Surnames of Indian origin Indian words and phrases Titles in India Men's social titles Cultural history of India Linguistic history of India Charan

Notable people

See also

References