Kayastha

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Kayastha

"Calcutta Kayastha", from a 19th century book
Languages
Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese,
Maithili and Urdu
Religion
Hinduism
Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth or Kayeth) is a caste or community of Hindus originating
in India. Kayastha means "scribe" in Sanskrit, reflecting the caste's traditional role as record-
keepers and administrators of the state.
[1]
Kayasthas have historically occupied high government
office, serving as ministers and advisors under early medieval Indian kingdoms and in important
administrative positions during the Mughal Empire and British Raj. In modern times, they have
attained success in politics, as well as in the arts and various professional fields.
[2]

According to the Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas, Kayasthas are descended from King
Chitragupta,
[3]
the deity responsible for recording the deeds of humanity, upholding the rule of
law and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell.
[4]

Contents
[hide]
1 Varna status
2 History
o 2.1 Ancient India
o 2.2 Medieval India
o 2.3 Modern India
3 Surnames
4 Notables
5 References
6 Further reading
[edit] Varna status
The exact varna status of Kayasthas has been a subject of debate.
[5]
According to multiple
accounts, they are a literate and educated class of Kshatriyas,
[6][7]
and have been referred to as a
twice-born caste "whose claims to Kshatriya status need not be caviled at".
[8]
Other sources rank
Kayasthas even higher than Kshatriyas, referring to them as "a caste between Brahmins and
Khatris"
[9]
and "a mixed caste" that includes Brahmins and Kshatriyas.
[2][10]
Some Kayasthas
have claimed Brahmin status, though this has been challenged by other Brahmin groups.
[11]

In Bengal, Kayasthas, alongside Brahmins, are regarded as the "highest Hindu castes"
[12]
that
comprise the "upper layer of Hindu society".
[13]

In Maharashtra, the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu claim Kshatriya status through descent from
a Kshatriya king of the Haihaya clan.
[14]

In northern India and Pakistan, Muslim Kayasthas are descended from members of the Hindu
Kayastha community that converted to Islam during the 15th-16th centuries.
[15]

During the British Raj, British courts classified Kayasthas as Shudras, based largely upon the
theories of Herbert Hope Risley. However, the Kayasthas of Bengal, Bombay and the United
Provinces forcefully and persistently challenged this classification, producing a flood of books,
pamphlets, family histories and journals to support their position of holding Kshatriya rank.
[16]

[edit] History
[edit] Ancient India
According to Kalhana's history of Kashmir, known as Rajatarangini, Kayasthas were tax-
collectors and financiers under several Kashmiri kings.
[17]
King Lalitaditya Muktapida, who
ruled Kashmir in middle of the 8th century AD, was a Kayastha emperor of the Karkota Dynasty.
In Bengal, during the reign of the Gupta Empire beginning in the 4th century AD, when
systematic and large-scale colonization by Aryan Kayasthas and Brahmins first took place,
Kayasthas were brought over by the Guptas to help manage the affairs of state.
[18]

[edit] Medieval India
Prior to the 13th century AD, during the rule of Hindu kings, Kayasthas dominated public
service and had a near-monopoly on appointments to government positions.
[19]

According to Abu al-Fazl, Emperor Akbar's prime minister, Kayasthas were rulers of the Pala
Empire, one of the major early medieval Indian kingdoms that originated in Bengal.
[20]

The rulers of the Sena Empire, which reigned over Bengal during the 11th-12th centuries AD,
were Kayasthas belonging to the Gaur sub-caste.
[21]

With the Muslim conquest of India, Kayasthas learned and mastered Persian
[2]
, which became
the official language of the Mughal courts.
[22]

One of the most notable Kayasthas of the Mughal period was Raja Todar Mal, Emperor Akbar's
finance minister and one of the court's nine Navaratnas, who is credited with establishing the
Mughal revenue system.
[23]
He also translated the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit into
Persian.
[24]

In Bengal, Kayasthas attained very high administrative positions under Mughal rule, serving as
governors, prime ministers and treasury officials. During the subsequent British Raj, Kayasthas
continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial
offices open to Indians.
[25]

As a result of their exalted status amongst Muslim sultans, many Bengali Kayasthas became
zamindars and jagirdars. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu zamindars in Bengal were
Kayasthas.
[26]

Maharaja Pratapaditya, the legendary King of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal
rule in the early 17th century, was a Kayastha.
[27]

[edit] Modern India


Rajendra Prasad (Center) who went on to become President of India with Jawaharlal Nehru and
Bhulabhai Desai at AICC Session, April 1939.
During the British Raj, Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other
parts of India and directly profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example,
Kayasthas and Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in
Bengal.
[28]

Today, there are an estimated 800,000 Kayasthas in India, mostly engaged in professional fields
such as law, business, engineering and medicine. Kayasthas that have risen to prominence since
independence include the country's first president, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and its second prime
minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.
[2]

Kayasthas are considered a Forward Caste, as they do not qualify for any of the reservation
benefits alloted to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes that are
administered by the Government of India.
[29]

[edit] Surnames
Kayastha surnames and family names include the following:
Bose/Basu
[30]

Ghosh
[30]

Guha
[30]

Mitra
[30]

Datta/Dutta
[30]

[edit] Notables
Main article: List of Kayasthas
[edit] References
1. ^ Surinder Mohan Bhardwaj (1983). Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural
Geography. University of California Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-520-04951-2.
http://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
2. ^
a

b

c

d
Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long (2011). India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the
Republic. ABC-CLIO. pp. 403404. ISBN 978-0-313-37462-3.
http://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA404#v=onepage&q&f=
false. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
3. ^ Sir Herbert Hope Risley (1892). The Tribes and Castes of Bengal: Ethnographic Glossary.
Bengal Secretariat Press/British Library. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-240-90710-6.
http://books.google.com/books?id=5yk-AAAAYAAJ&dq. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
4. ^ D.C. Baillie, India Census Commissioner (1894). Census of India, 1891, Volume 16, Part 1.
North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Press. p. 219.
http://books.google.com/books?id=JC5RAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
5. ^ Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1970). Who were the Shudras?: How they came to be the fourth
Varna in the Indo-Aryan society. Thackers. pp. 177213.
http://books.google.com/books?id=onJDAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
6. ^ M.K. Prasad, S. Dusre (1877). The Kayastha Ethnology, an Inquiry into the Origin of the
Chitraguptavansi and Chandrasenavansi Kayasthas. American Methodist Mission
Press/Kessinger Publishing. pp. 89 (Preface). ISBN 978-1-104-31197-1.
http://books.google.com/books?id=AH0IAAAAQAAJ&dq=The+Kayastha+ethnology&source=g
bs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
7. ^ Romesh Chunder Dutt (1893). A History of Ancient Civilization in India, Volume 2. Kegan
Paul, Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd.. p. 216. http://books.google.com/books?id=fnccAAAAMAAJ.
Retrieved 15 August 2011.
8. ^ M. L. Mathur (1 January 2005). Caste and Educational Development. Kalpaz Publications. pp.
71. ISBN 978-81-7835-123-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=O9PrGM5Sh2kC&pg=PA71.
Retrieved 18 April 2011.
9. ^ K. S. Singh; B. V. Bhanu; Anthropological Survey of India (2004). Maharashtra. Popular
Prakashan. p. 134. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6.
http://books.google.com/books?id=DEAlCTxJowUC&pg=PA134. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
10. ^ Nagendranath Basu, comp., Bishvakosh (repr., Delhi, 1988)
11. ^ S. N. Sadasivan (October 2000). A social history of India. APH Publishing. pp. 258. ISBN
978-81-7648-170-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=Be3PCvzf-BYC&pg=PA258. Retrieved
18 April 2011.
12. ^ 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.
http://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
13. ^ Bhattacharya, Jogendra Nath (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co..
p. 175. http://www.archive.org/details/hinducastesands00bhatgoog. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
14. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh; Rajendra Behari Lal; Anthropological Survey of India (2003). Gujarat.
Popular Prakashan. pp. 283. ISBN 978-81-7991-104-4.
http://books.google.com/books?id=d8yFaNRcYcsC&pg=PA283. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
15. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh. People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part 2. p. 1046.
16. ^ Rowe, William L. (2007) [1968]. "Mobility in the nineteenth-century caste system". In Singer,
Milton; Cohn, Bernard S.. Structure and Change in India Society (Reprinted ed.). Transaction
Publishers. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-202-36138-3. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC.
Retrieved 2011-12-17.
17. ^ Romesh Chunder Dutt (1893). A History of Ancient Civilization in India, Volume 2. Kegan
Paul, Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd.. p. 216. http://books.google.com/books?id=fnccAAAAMAAJ.
Retrieved 15 August 2011.
18. ^ U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 56.
ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&dq. Retrieved
15 August 2011.
19. ^ Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects. Thacker, Spink & Co./Nabu
Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-143-93343-1. http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=xlpLAAAAMAAJ.
Retrieved 14 August 2011.
20. ^ Andre Wink (1991). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1. Brill Academic
Publishers. p. 269. ISBN 978-90-04-09509-0.
http://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
21. ^ William Crooke (1990). The Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh,
Volume 3. Office of the superintendent of government printing. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-141-91749-5.
http://books.google.com/books?id=61Y2M9ppW64C. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
22. ^ Lisa Ballbanlilar (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.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Retrieved 7 June 2012.
23. ^ Hugh Tinker (1990). South Asia: A Short History. University of Hawaii Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-
0-8248-1287-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=n5uU2UteUpEC&dq. Retrieved 15 August
2011.
24. ^ Rahman, M.M. (2006). Encyclopaedia of Historiography. Anmol Publications. p. 168. ISBN
978-81-261-2305-6. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=RZCv3d2XUeUC&pg=PA168.
Retrieved 26 February 2010.
25. ^ Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects. Thacker, Spink & Co./Nabu
Press. pp. 176177. ISBN 978-1-143-93343-1.
http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=xlpLAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
26. ^ U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 2425.
ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&dq. Retrieved
15 August 2011.
27. ^ E. Lethbridge, ed. (1876). The Calcutta Review, Volume 63. Thomas S. Smith, City Press. p.
14. ISBN 978-1-154-28288-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=zm8oAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved
26 August 2011.
28. ^ Raymond Lee Owens, Ashis Nandy (1978). The New Vaisyas. Carolina Academic Press. p. 81.
ISBN 978-0-89089-057-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=CqUcAAAAMAAJ&q. Retrieved
14 August 2011.
29. ^ Srinivasan, K.; Kumar, Sanjay (1999). Economic and Political Weekly 34 (42/43): 3,052.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4408536. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
30. ^
a

b

c

d

e
Nripendra Kumar Dutt (1965). Origin and Growth of Caste in India, Volume 2. Firma K.
L. Mukhopadhyay. pp. 1819. ISBN 978-1-4437-3590-2.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=N0AwAQAAIAAJ&q. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
[edit] Further reading
Maithili Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan by Binod Bihari Verma, A Survey of Panjis
of Maithil Karna Kayasthas.
R V Russel (Superintendent of Ethnography) and Rai Bahadur Hiralal (1916). The Tribes
and Castes of the Central Provinces of India: Volume III. Macmillan and Co. Limited,
London.
Asok Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations) (1953). The
tribes and castes of West Bengal. Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press.
http://books.google.com/books?id=2bTUAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations Lucy
Carroll, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp. 233250.
[hide]
v
t
e
Bengali Hindus

Castes
Aguri
Bagdi
Baidya
Baishya Kapali
Barujibi
Bauri
Brahmin
Chunaru
Dom
Gandhabanik
Hari
Kaibartya
Kansabanik
Karmakar
Kayastha
Mahishya
Namasudra(Namassej)
Pirali Brahmin
Sadgop
Sarak
Shunri
Yogi



Sects
Brahmo
Kartabhaja
Shaiva
Shakta
Vaishnava


Religious bodies
Ananda Marga
Ramakrishna Mission
Bharat Sevashram Sangha
Matua Mahasangha


Festivals
Poila Baisakh
Rathayatra
Janmashtami
Bhadu
Vishwakarma Puja
Durga Puja
Lakshmi Puja
Kali Puja
Bhai Phonta
Nabanna
Jagaddhatri Puja
Makar Sankranti
Saraswati Puja
Gajan


Folk arts
Dhokra
Sholapith


Folk dances
Raibenshe
Chhau
Paika


Folk songs
Alkap
Kavigan

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