Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu

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Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP)
Regions with significant populations
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa
Languages
Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Hindi
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Pathare Prabhu, Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu[1][2][3] is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced some of the best warriors in Maharashtrian history.[4][5]

Traditionally, in Maharashtra, the caste structure was headed by the Deshasthas, Chitpawans, Karhade, Saraswats and the CKPs.[6] Other than the Brahmins, the Prabhus (CKPs and Pathare Prabhus) were the communities advanced in education.[7]

The CKPs have the upanayana ( janeu or thread ceremony)[8][9] and have been granted the rights to study the Vedas and perform Vedic rituals along with the Brahmins. The CKP performed three Vedic karmas or duties which in Sanskrit are called: Adhyayan- studying of the Vedas, yajna- ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras and dāna – alms or charity.[5][10] Ritually ranked high (along with the Brahmins), the caste may be considered socially proximate to the Brahmin community.[11][12][13][14][15] They have traditionally been an elite and literate but a numerically small community.[4][16][17][18][10]

More formally, in Maharashtra, they are one of the Prabhu Communities and a sister caste of the Pathare Prabhu.[19][20] The CKP traditionally follow the Advaita Vedanta, as propounded by Adi Shankara.[5]

  1. ^ Commissioner, India Census (1903). Census of India, 1901. Printed at the Government central Press.
  2. ^ Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya (1896). Hindu Castes And Sects.
  3. ^ Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Social Club, Poona; Gupte, T. V. (1904). Ethnographical notes on Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu. University of California Libraries. Poona.
  4. ^ a b B. R. Sunthankar (1988). Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857. p. 121. The Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. The Konkan districts were their homeland. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history
  5. ^ a b c K.P.Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib (1981). The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India. ESS Publications. p. 161. pg 161: The Kayastha Prabhus...They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana...The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Adi Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods. ...Most of the Pathare Prabhus are the followers of smart sect who adopt the teachings of Shankaracharya
  6. ^ Sharmila Rege (2013). Writing Caste/Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women's Testimonies. Zubaan Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-93-83074-67-9. The traditional caste hierarchy was headed by the brahmin castes-the deshasthas, chitpawans, karhades saraswats and the chandraseniya kayastha prabhus.
  7. ^ Sulabha Brahme, Ashok Upadhyaya (2004). Agrarian structure, movements & peasant organisations in India, Volume 2. V.V. Giri National Labour Institute. p. 29. ISBN 978-81-7827-064-7. Besides Brahmins, the other communities advanced in education are Kayastha Prabhu, Pathare Prabhu found mainly in the...
  8. ^ KS Singh (1998). India's communities. Oxford University Press. p. 2083. ..the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu observe the thread-wearing (janeu) ceremony for male children. They cremate the dead and observe death pollution for ten days.
  9. ^ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of India. Vision Books. p. 98. ISBN 9780391027480. Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu [irrelevant text unrelated to thread ceremony]They have the Upanayana ceremony and are Vedadhikaris ( having the right to read the Vedas )
  10. ^ a b Milton Israel and N.K.Wagle, ed. (1987). Religion and Society in Maharashtra. Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. pp. 147–170.
  11. ^ André Béteille (1992). Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0195630661. Although the Chandraseniya Kayasth Prabhu are non-Brahmins, they rank very high and might be regarded as being socially proximate to the Koknasth Brahman.
  12. ^ Kurtz, Donald (1 August 1997). Book Contradictions and Conflict: A Dialectical Political Anthropology of a University in Western India (Studies in Human Society, Vol 9). Brill. p. 68. ISBN 978-9004098282. ... CKPs. They represent a small but literate and ritually high caste.
  13. ^ Rosenzweig, Mark; Munshi, Kaivan (September 2006). "Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender, and Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy". American Economic Review. 96 (4): 1225–1252. doi:10.1257/aer.96.4.1225. (page 1228)High castes include all the Brahmin jatis, as well as a few other elite jatis (CKP and Pathare Prabhus).Low castes include formerly untouchable and backward castes (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes, as defined by the government of India). Medium castes are drawn mostly from the cultivator jatis, such as the Marathas and the Kunbis, as well as other traditional vocations that were not considered to be ritually impure.
  14. ^ Bidyut Chakrabarty (2003). Communal Identity in India: Its Construction and Articulation in the Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-19-566330-3. Of the six groups, four are Brahmins; one is high non-Brahmin caste, Chandraseniya Kayashth Prabhu (CKP), ranking next only to the Brahmins; and the other is a cultivating caste, Maratha (MK), belonging to the middle level of the hierarchy.
  15. ^ Champa Aphale (1976). Growing Up in an Urban Complex. National Publishing House. p. 5. advanced castes among the maharashtrians viz.Brahmins. In this groups were also included families belonging to the chandraseniya kayastha prabhu besides the three subscastes among the brahmins, viz. Kokanastha Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins and Saraswat Brahmins. The reason for this was that, though non-Brahmins, these C.K.P. families were very much near the Brahmin families as regards their educational and occupational status.
  16. ^ V. B. Ghuge (1994). Rajarshi Shahu: a model ruler. kirti prakashan. p. 20. In the Hindu social hierarchy the privileged classes were Brahmins, CKP's and others. Similarly other elite classes were Parsis and Europeans.
  17. ^ Donald B. Rosenthal (1973). "From Reformist Princes to 'Co-operative Kings". Special Studies Series, State University of New York. Buffalo, N.Y. Council on International Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo: 7.
  18. ^ Rosenthal, Donald (19 May 1973). "From Reformist Princes to 'Co-operative Kings': I: Political Change in Pre-Independence Kolhapur". Economic and Political Weekly. 8 (20): 903–910. JSTOR 4362649. (page 905)Within the circle of "available" non-Brahman elite groups one might also count the tiny community of CKP's Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhu...A community which claimed status equal to Brahmans-a claim which the Brahmans always stridently rejected – the CKP's were a source of men of talent who were to act as advisors to Shahu...
  19. ^ Christine E. Dobbin (1972). Urban leadership in Western India: politics and communities in Bombay city, 1840–1885. Oxford University Press. p. 225. ISBN 9780198218418. Not only were the Pathare prabhus aware for the need for self help. In 1876 the members of their sister community, the Chandraseniya Kyasth Prabhus, began to organize themselves.
  20. ^ Vijaya Gupchup. Bombay: Social Change 1813–1857. p. 166. The other intellectual class[other than Brahmins], the Prabhus were once again subdivided in the Chnadraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and the Pathare Prabhus