Kayastha

"Darad" redirects here. For decarad, see darad (angular unit).

Kayastha
"Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by Frans Balthazar Solvyns
Subdivisions

Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally located—the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus of Maharashtra, the Bengali Kayasthas of Bengal and Karanas[2][3] of Odisha. All of them were traditionally considered "writing castes", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.[4][5]

The earliest known reference to the term Kayastha dates back to the Kushan Empire,[6] when it evolved into a common name for a writer or scribe.[7] In the Sanskrit literature and inscriptions, it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.[8] In this context, the term possibly derived from kaya- ('principal, capital, treasury') and -stha ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.[9][6]

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around scribal 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 fulfill responsibilities in all these venues.[10][11] Kayasthas, along with Brahmins, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.[12]

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 Pandits, Parsis, Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat, Bengali Bhadraloks, Chitpawans and Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (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 at the time of Indian independence in 1947.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ Jahanara (2005). Muslim kayasthas of India. Allahabad, India: K.K. Publications. OCLC 255708448. Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh.
  2. ^ Das, Biswarup (1980). "KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS—". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 41: 940–944. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141924.
  3. ^ Raut, L.N. (2004). "Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 65: 304–308. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44144743.
  4. ^ Imam, Faitma (2011). India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K. Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 403–405. ISBN 978-0-313-37463-0. OCLC 755414244.
  5. ^ Leonard, Karen (2006). Wolpert, Stanley (ed.). Encyclopedia of India. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 22. ISBN 0-684-31349-9. OCLC 60856154. All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Visvanat 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 194. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 144941948. The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history
  8. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 18–19. Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.
  9. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 20. In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... kaya (principal, capital, treasury) and stha, to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Carroll, Lucy (February 1978). "Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations". The Journal of Asian Studies. 37 (2): 233–250. doi:10.2307/2054164. JSTOR 2054164. S2CID 146635639.
  12. ^ Chandra, Satish (2007). History of medieval India : 800–1700. Hyderabad, India: Orient Longman. p. 50. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7. OCLC 191849214. There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.
  13. ^ Pavan K. Varma (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257. its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan-Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school
  14. ^ Paul Wallace; Richard Leonard Park (1985). Region and nation in India. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.
  15. ^ "D. L. Sheth".