Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
communities broadly categorised by the regions of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
in which they were traditionally locatedthe
Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha
Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred as ''North Indian Kayastha'', is a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. In Hindu texts and traditions, they are described to have desc ...
s of
North India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
, the
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...
s of
Maharashtra, the
Bengali Kayastha
A Bengali Kayastha is a Bengali Hindu who is a member of the Kayastha community. The historical caste occupation of Kayasthas throughout India has been that of scribes, administrators, ministers and record-keepers; the Kayasthas in Bengal, along ...
s of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and
Karanas of
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
. 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
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
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 ('principal, capital, treasury') and - ('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
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfil responsibilities in all these venues.
Kayasthas, along with
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
s, 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 Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region l ...
s,
Parsis
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
,
Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat,
Chitpawans and
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...
s (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
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
at the time of
Indian independence in 1947.
Origins
Etymology
According to
Merriam-Webster, the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''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
Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...
emperor
Kumaragupta I
Kumaragupta I (Gupta script: ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'', r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited te ...
, dated to 442
CE, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' () is used as an administrative designation. The
Yājñavalkya Smṛti
The ''Yajnavalkya Smriti'' ( sa, याज्ञवल्क्य स्मृति, IAST: ') is one of the many Dharma-related texts of Hinduism composed in Sanskrit. It is dated between the 3rd to 5th-century CE, and belongs to the Dharmasha ...
, also from the Gupta era, and the
Vishnu Smriti
Vishnu Smriti (IAST: ) is one of the latest books of the Dharmaśāstra tradition in Hinduism and the only one which does not deal directly with the means of knowing dharma. The text has a strong bhakti orientation, requiring daily puja to the g ...
describe ''kayasthas'' as record-keepers and accountants, but not as (
caste or clan).
Similarly, the term ''Kayastha'' is used in the works of
Kshemendra
Kshemendra (; ) was an 11th-century Sanskrit polymath-poet, satirist, philosopher, historian, dramatist, translator and art-critic from Kashmir in India.
Biography
Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family. His father wa ...
,
Kalhana
Kalhana ( sa, कल्हण, translit=kalhaṇa) was the author of ''Rajatarangini'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be ...
and
Bilhana
Kaviraj, Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the ''Caurapañcāśikā''.
According to legend, Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, ...
to refer to members of
bureaucracy varying from () to the ().
According to
Romila Thapar
Romila Thapar (born 30 November 1931) is an Indian historian. Her principal area of study is ancient India, a field in which she is pre-eminent. Quotr: "The pre-eminent interpreter of ancient Indian history today. ... " Thapar is a Professor ...
, the offices that demanded formal education including that of a ''kayastha'' were generally occupied by the "''
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
s'', revenue collectors,
treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury ...
s and those concerned with legal matters".
In Buddhist association
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
s, in their effort to create an educated non-
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
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
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
.
As an independent guild of professionals
It is possible that ''kayasthas'' may have started out as a separate profession, similar to
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
ers,
merchants, and
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
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 , 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
Gangetic plains
The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Ba ...
from the Gupta period. The earliest evidence comes from a
Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...
inscription of
Vasudeva I
Vāsudeva I ( Kushano Bactrian: Βαζοδηο ''Bazodeo''; Middle Brahmi script: ''Vā-su-de-va'', Chinese: 波調 ''Bodiao''; fl. 200 CE) was a Kushan emperor, last of the "Great Kushans." Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kan ...
, composed by a Kayastha
Śramaṇa
''Śramaṇa'' (Sanskrit: श्रमण; Pali: ''samaṇa, Tamil: Samanam'') means "one who labours, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose)" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic".Monier Monier ...
.
From this point we find, the term ''kayastha'' occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor
Kumaragupta I
Kumaragupta I (Gupta script: ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'', r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited te ...
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
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
during the reign of the
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...
to help manage the state affairs.
According to a legend, a
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
King named ''Adisur'' had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from
Kannauj
Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
who became an elite sub-group described as
Kulin Kulin may refer to:
Places
*Kulin, Western Australia, a small town in Australia
** Shire of Kulin, a local government area
*Kulin, Iran, a village near Tehran
*Kulin, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, a village in south-west Poland
*Kulin, Kuyavian-Pome ...
. 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. This is evident from a epigraphic record dated 871
CE of the King
Amoghavarsha that mentions a branch of Kayasthas referred to as ''vālabhya-kāyastha''. The author of the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
work ''Udayasundarī-kathā'' also referred to himself as ''vālabhya-kayāstha'' and characterized Kayasthas as 'ornaments of the
Kṣatriyas'.
In Soḍḍhala’s account
According to Soḍḍhala'','' who claimed to be a Kayastha himself, Kayasthas traced their descent to a younger brother of the
Maitrika king, identified as ''Śilāditya VI or VII'', referred to as ''Kalāditya''. He narrates that ''Kalāditya'' had besieged
Dharmapala
A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "'' dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are a ...
of the
Pala Dynasty that led to the victory of his elder brother. Subsequently, he was entrusted by Śilāditya to administer his kingdom at the advice of the Goddess ''Rāja Lakśmī.'' Kalāditya has been further described as an incarnation of a ''gaṇa'' () of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
called ''Kayastha''.
Late medieval India
In Bengal, during the reign of the
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...
beginning in the 4th century, when systematic and large-scale colonisation by
Indo-Aryan Kayasthas and Brahmins first took place, Kayasthas were brought over by the Guptas to help manage the affairs of state.
After the
Muslim conquest of India
The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to 17th centuries. Earlier Muslim conquests include the invasions into what is now modern-day Pakistan and the Umayyad campaigns in India in eighth century and res ...
, they mastered
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, which became the official language of the Mughal courts. Some converted to
Islam and formed the
Muslim Kayasth community in
northern India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
.
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
The Wazirs or Waziris ( ps, وزير) are a Karlani Pashtun tribe found mainly in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region of North waziristan, South Waziristan and Bannu Ahmadzai Wazir (Domel) and Utmanzai wazir (Baka Khel and Jani Khel) The Utman ...
'' (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 ''
zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
s'' and ''
jagirdars''. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.
Maharaja Pratapaditya
Pratapaditya was a Mughal vassal of Jessore and a powerful Zamindar of lower Bengal, before being crushed by the Mughal Empire. He was eulogized, in an ahistorical manner, by 20th century Bengali nationalists as a Hindu liberator from foreign (Isl ...
, the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.
In Sanskrit literature
The ''Kayastha'' appears as a figure in Act IX of the , where a ''sreṣṭhin'' and ''kāyastha'' are 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 , a Kayastha named ''Śakaṭadāsa'' is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the
Nanda
Nanda may refer to:
Indian history and religion
* Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE
** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire
** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...
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
Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭil ...
.
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
Kaviraj, Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the ''Caurapañcāśikā''.
According to legend, Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, ...
's ''Vikramāṅkadevacarita'' ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas. It is also mentioned that father of
Lalitaditya Muktapida
Lalitaditya alias Muktapida (IAST: Lalitāditya Muktāpīḍa; r. c. 724 CE–760 CE) was a powerful ruler of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir region in the Indian subcontinent.
The 12th-century chronicler Kalhana characterizes Lalitaditya as a ...
of the
Karkota Dynasty, Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of ''Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.''
Kayasthas have been authors of several
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
texts too.
In Brahmanical literature
Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in
Brahmanical
The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...
religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.
In these texts, some described Kayasthas as
Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
s, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
and
Shudra
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class ser ...
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.
British India
![Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh,_Rewa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh%2C_Rewa.jpg)
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
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
and
Other Backward Class
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, ...
es that are administered by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
. 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
The ''Mandal Commission'' or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educa ...
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
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a
myth of origin
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...
that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god
Chitragupta
Chitragupta (Sanskrit: चित्रगुप्त, 'rich in secrets' or 'hidden picture') is a Hindu deity assigned with the task of keeping complete records of the actions of human beings and punishing or rewarding them according to their ...
, the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.
The suffix ''-vanshi'' is
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
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
The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to 17th centuries. Earlier Muslim conquests include the invasions into what is now modern-day Pakistan and the Umayyad campaigns in India in eighth century and res ...
, they were generally outnumbered by
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
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.
The group of
Bhatnagar,
Srivastava,
Ambashtha
Ambashtha or Ambastha is a caste or sub-caste or a community of Hindus in India. According to Hindu scriptures, the term Ambastha refers to the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Vaishya mother, whose traditional occupation was the practice ...
and
Saxena Saxena is an Indian surname primarily found in northern and Central India. Kayastha in origin, it derives from the Sanskrit word ''sakhisena'' meaning “friend of the army”.
Notables
*Abha Saxena, the Coordinator of the Global Health Ethics Uni ...
of
Doab
''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
were classified by various
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".
Bengali Kayasthas
In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th-6th centuries and 11th-12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the
Sena dynasty
The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcont ...
.
According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary ''
Smriti
''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that ...
s''. Sharma further states:
Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas
In Maharashtra,
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...
s (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.
Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as
Deshpande
Deshpande is a surname native to the Indian states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The surname can be also found in some parts of Andhra Pradesh. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and the Chan ...
s and
Gadkari Gadkari is a surname native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. Gadkari surname is found among the Hindu CKP and Deshastha Brahmin communities.
Etymology
The name Gadkari is believed to be a combination of two words (Gad and Kari). Gad means a fo ...
s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a
castellan. Traditionally, the CKPs have the
upanayana
''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...
(thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the
vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
and perform
vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
rituals along with the Brahmins.
Karanas
Karana is a caste found predominantly in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They are a regional subcaste of Kayastha and traditionally they were the official record-keepers in the royal courts during Medieval times. 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
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
with a property dispute where the
plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...
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 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
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
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
Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born" in ancient Indian Sanskrit. The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the ...
,
and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.
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,
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior til ...
s and the
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
s. William Pinch, in his study of
Ramanandi Sampradaya
The Ramanandi (IAST ), also known as Ramavats (IAST ), are a branch of the Vaishnava Sri Sampradaya of Hinduism. Ramananda sect is the largest sect of Vaishnavas, out of 52 gates of Vaishnavism, 36 are held by Ramanandi's. They mainly emphasi ...
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
Shudra
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class ser ...
s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
s and
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and ''
varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria
**Varna Province
**Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
**Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
*Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
*Varniai, a city in Lithuania
* Varna (Šaba ...
'' status. The Kayastha along with the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin stat ...
s 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
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal,
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
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
Sanskritisation (or Sanskritization) is a term in sociology which refers to the process by which castes or tribes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek 'upward' mobility by emulating the rituals and practices of the dominant castes or upper ...
and
westernisation
Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...
.
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
The Bengali Brahmins are Hindu Brahmins who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.
The Bengali Brahmins, along with Baidyas ...
, have been described as the "highest Hindu castes". After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynastiesincluding the
Sena,
Pala Pala may refer to:
Places
Chad
*Pala, Chad, the capital of the region of Mayo-Kebbi Ouest
Estonia
* Pala, Kose Parish, village in Kose Parish, Harju County
* Pala, Kuusalu Parish, village in Kuusalu Parish, Harju County
*Pala, Järva County, vi ...
,
Chandra
Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) a ...
, and
Varmanand, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the
Baidya
Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste ('' jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, b ...
s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.
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.
Notable people
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
*
Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
Prime Minister of India
*
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
Chief Ministers
*
Krishna Ballabh Sahay
Krishna Ballabh Sahay ( hi, कृष्ण बल्लभ सहाय; 31 December 1898 – 3 June 1974) ,fondly known as K B Sahay was an Indian freedom fighter, who after Indian Independence became the Revenue Minister of Bihar and the ...
*
Mahamaya Prasad Sinha
Mahamaya Prasad Sinha (1 May 1909 – 1987) was an Indian politician. He was the fifth Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1967 to January 1968 which was the first non congress Government in Bihar. Sinha was a follower of Maharaja Kamakhya Narain ...
*
Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. He was also the president of Shiv Sena prior to ...
*
Shiv Charan Mathur
Shiv Charan Mathur (14 February 1927 – 25 June 2009) was an Indian politician. A leader of the Indian National Congress, he was Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1988 to 1989; later, he was Governor of Assam fro ...
*
Nabakrushna Choudhuri
Nabakrushna Choudhuri (23 November 1901 – 24 June 1984) was an Indian politician and activist. He served as Chief Minister of the Indian state of Odisha. He was a freedom fighter who participated in the Non-cooperation Movement, the Civil Di ...
*
Biju Patnaik
Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha.
Early life
His parents lived in Bellaguntha, Ganjam dist ...
*
Biren Mitra
Biren Mitra (26 November 1917 – 25 May 1978) was an Indian politician, a leader of the Indian National Congress and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 2 October 1963 to 21 February 1965.
Biren Mitra started his student politics with AISF (Commu ...
*
Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (3 January 1927 – 21 April 2015) was an Indian politician who had been Governor of Assam from 2009 to 2014. A leader of the Indian National Congress, he was Chief Minister of Odisha from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 ...
*
Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
*
Sampurnanand
Sampurnanand (1 January 1891 – 10 January 1969) was a teacher and politician in Uttar Pradesh, India. He served as the second Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1954 to 1960. If single tenures in the office of the Uttar Pradesh Chief M ...
*
Jyoti Basu
Others
*
Sri Aurobindo, Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist
*
Nagendranath Basu
Nagendranath Basu ( bn, নগেন্দ্রনাথ বসু; 6 July 1866 – 11 October 1938) was an archaeologist, encyclopaedist and a nationalist social historian of Bengal.
Early life
Nagendranath was born in the village of Mahesh ...
, historian and editor
*
Shankar Abaji Bhise
Shankar Abaji Bhisey, Sunker Abaji Bhisey, Shanker Abaji Bhise or Sunker Bisey Abaji (he used the form Bisey in the US) (29 April 1867 – 7 April 1935) was a self-taught Indian inventor who was once named in a US newspaper as the "Edison of India" ...
(1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".
*
Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian scientist
*Satyendra Nath BoseKnown for his work on
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...
, for developing the foundation of
Bose statistics
Bose may refer to:
* Bose (crater), a lunar crater
* ''Bose'' (film), a 2004 Indian Tamil film starring Srikanth and Sneha
* Bose (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name)
* Bose, Italy, a ''frazioni'' in Magnano, Province of Biella ...
and the theory of the
Bose condensate. The class of particles that obey Bose statistics,
boson
In particle physics, a boson ( ) is a subatomic particle whose spin quantum number has an integer value (0,1,2 ...). Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being fermions, which have odd half-integer spi ...
s, was named after Bose by
Paul Dirac
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Univer ...
.
*
Subhas Chandra Bose
*
Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal
Sir Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal K.C.I.E., C.S.I., B.A., LL.B. was Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court during the British Raj.
In 1912, Chaubal was a member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Bombay. He also served as a member o ...
(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.
*
Har Dayal
Lala Har Dayal Mathur (Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...
, Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the
Ghadar party
The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...
in the USA
*
C. D. Deshmukh
Sir Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh, CIE, ICS (14 January 1896 – 2 October 1982) was an Indian civil servant and the first Indian to be appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1943 by the British Raj authorities. He subsequent ...
(1896–1982), first recipient of the
Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship, topper of
ICS Examination, first Indian Governor of
RBI, first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the
University of Delhi
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
*
Baji Prabhu Deshpande
Baji Prabhu Deshpande ( 1615–1660) was a commander of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha empire. Baji Prabhu is linked with an important rear guard battle enabling Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's escape from Panhala fort; he wa ...
(1615–1660), commander of
Shivaji Maharaj
Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...
's forces who along with his brother died defending
Vishalgad
Vishalgad (also called Vishalgarh, Khelna or Khilna) was a jagir during the Maratha Empire and then later part of the Deccan States Agency of the British Raj. It was governed by Deshastha Brahmins, who were feudatories of Kolhapur State.
Fort
...
in 1660
*
Murarbaji Deshpande (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of
Purandar against the Mughals in 1665
*
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...
(1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner
*
Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal ( bn, বিপিন চন্দ্র পাল ; 7 November 1858 – 20 May 1932) was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement freedom fighter. He was one third of the “ ...
, Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of
Lal Bal Pal triumvirate
*
Vithal Sakharam Parasnis (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian
James Grant Duff
James Grant Duff (8 July 1789 – 23 September 1858) was a British soldier and historian from Scotland, who was active in British India.
Early life
Born James Grant, Duff was the eldest son of John Grant of Kincardine O'Neil and Margaret Miln D ...
; 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
*
Devdutt Pattanaik
Devdutt Pattanaik is a mythologist from Mumbai, India. He is also a speaker, illustrator and author, on Hindu sacred lore, legends, folklore, fables and parables. His work focuses largely on the areas of religion, mythology, and management. He ha ...
*
Premchand (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language
*
Sachchidananda Sinha
Sachchidananda Sinha (10 November 1871 – 6 March 1950) was an Indian lawyer, parliamentarian, and journalist.
Early life
Sinha was born on 10 November 1871 in Arrah, in Bengal Presidency (in present-day Bihar) into a well-to-do Srivastava Kay ...
, lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
*
Mahadevi Varma
Mahadevi Varma (26 March 1907 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, sketch story writer and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the '' Chhayawadi'' era in ...
*
Bhagwati Charan Verma
Bhagwati Charan Verma (30 August 1903 – 5 October 1981) was a Hindi author. He wrote many novels, his best work was '' Chitralekha'' (1934), which was made into two successful Hindi films in 1941 and 1964 respectively. He was awarded Sa ...
*
Swami Vivekananda
*
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...
, author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''
[Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3]
See also
*
Karan Kayastha
Karan Kayastha is a community of Kayastha that inhabit Orissa and Mithila region, a region now divided between India and Nepal.
History and migration
Eminent archeologist, BP Sinha explains that duty of Karana was rajaseva and durgantapurara ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
{{Ethnic groups and Communities of Odisha
Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
Social groups of Bihar
Social groups of Madhya Pradesh
Social groups of Jharkhand
Social groups of West Bengal
Bengali Hindu castes
Social groups of Maharashtra
Social groups of Odisha