Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha

Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha
King Chitragupta (Sri Chitragupta Ji Maharaj) and his 12 sons.[1]
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesHindi
RegionHindi Belt and Nepal
SubdivisionsSrivastava, Mathur, Saxena, Nigam, Kulshreshtha, Bhatnagar, Ambashtha, Asthana, Suryadhwaj, Gaur, Karna, Valmik

Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred to 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 descended from the Hindu god Chitragupta[2][3][4] who is usually depicted carrying "a flowing notebook, a pen and an inkpot" engaged in writing down human deeds.[5] They are further divided into twelve § Subgroups, each of which is claimed to be the progeny of Chitragupta's two consorts.[6][7]

The earliest recorded history of these groups goes to the early medieval period of Indian history,[8] while the word "Kayastha" itself dates to the third-century CE.[9] The North Indian Kayasthas were powerful components of the upper-bureaucracy and made highly influential urban elites under Hindu kings.[10] They are mentioned in several Sanskrit literary, religious and epigraphical texts.[11]

Following Islamic invasions of India, they became some of the first Indian groups to learn Persian regularly[12] and eventually became integrated into an Indo-Muslim governing community[13] gaining hereditary control over the position of Qanungo (transl. "Registrar")[14] but rarely converting to Islam.[15]

Under the colonial rule, many Kayastha families became early beneficiaries of the British power and success in the subcontinent.[16] In 1919, Kayasthas accounted for two-thirds of all Indian Government law members across north India, with most of them in the United Provinces.[17]

  1. ^ Hayden J. Bellenoit (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
  2. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2005). Tibetan renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313.
  3. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 14.
  4. ^ R. B. Mandal (1981). Frontiers in Migration Analysis. Concept Publishing Company. p. 175. ISBN 978-03-91-02471-7.
  5. ^ Srivastava, Vinay Kumar (2016). "Speaking of Caste: Merit of the Principle of Segmentation". Sociological Bulletin. 65 (3): 317–338. doi:10.1177/0038022920160302. ISSN 0038-0229. S2CID 158426264. Chitragupta is generally identified with a long, flowing notebook (bahi)...His assistant has temples that the Kayastha have built to venerate him, for he is their ancestor. On the day of his annual worship...
  6. ^ Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
  7. ^ Rajnī Kānt Śāstrī (1949). Hindū jati kā utthān aur patan. Kitab Mahal. अब चित्रगुप्त के विवाह संबंध की वार्ता सुनिए। इनकी दो स्त्रियां थीं–(१)सुशर्मा ब्राह्मण की कन्या शुभावती (ब्राह्मणी) जिसके आठ पुत्र हुए श्रौर (२)श्राद्धदेव मनु की पुत्री नन्दिनी (चत्रिया) जिसके चार पुत्र हुए।
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 34–40. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  16. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)