Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu

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Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP)
Total population
India
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Marathi
Religion
Hinduism
"CKP" redirects here. For the South Korean political party, see Creative Korea Party.

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is an ethno-religious clan of South Asia. It is part of the broader Kayastha community.[1] Traditionally, the CKPs have been granted the upper caste status, which allowed them to study the Vedas and perform religious rites along with Brahmins.

The CKPs are today concentrated primarily in western Maharashtra, southern Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh (Indore region).[2]

History

They CKP consider themselves descendants of Chandrasen, an ancient kshatriya king of Ayodhya and of the Haiyaya family of the lunar Kshatriya Dynasty[3] [4] [5] "Kayastha-mitra"(Volume 1, No.9. Dec 1930) gives a list of north Indian princely families that belonged to the CKP caste. [6]

The name Chandraseniya may be a corruption of the word "Chandrashreniya", meaning from the valley of the Chenab River (also known as "Chandra"). This theory states that the word "Kayastha" originates from the term "Kaya Desha", an ancient name for the region around Ayodhya.[7]

The CKPs have traditionally been placed in the Kshatriya varna, next only to the Brahmins, and also followed the Brahmin rituals, like the sacred thread ceremony.[4] [8]

According to a letter written by the Shankaracharya of the Shingeri Math in the 1800's, who confirmed the 'vedadhikar' of the CKPs, the title 'Prabhu' must have been given to the CKPs by the Shilahar kings of Konkan. 'Prabhu' is a title found among Saraswat Brahmins, Karhade brahmins and other brahmin subcastes. It means 'High Official'. [9]

The CKPs, described as a traditionally well-educated and intellectual group, came into conflict with Marathi brahmins at least 350 years ago over their rights to be teachers and scholars.As such they competed with the Brahmins in the 18th and 19th century for jobs in the governments of the time. [10]

Deccan sultanate and Maratha Era

The CKP community became more prominent during the Deccan sultanates and Maratha rule era. During Adilshahi and Nizamshahi, CKP , the brahmins and high status Maratha were part of the elites. Given their training CKP served both as civilian and military officers [11]. Several of the Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji's generals and ministers, such as Murarbaji Deshpande and Baji Prabhu Deshpande, were CKPs.[12].As the Maratha empire/confederacy expanded in the 18th century, and given the nepotism of the Peshwa of Pune towards their own Chitpavan Brahmin caste, CKP and other literal castes migrated for administration jobs to the new Maratha ruling states such as the Bhosale of Nagpur, the Gaikwads, the Scindia etc. [13],[14]

In 1801-1802 CE (1858 Samvat), a Pune-based council of 626 Brahmins from Maharashtra, Karnataka and other areas made a formal declaration that the CKPs are twice-born (upper caste) people who are expected to follow the thread ceremony(munja).[15]

British Era

During the British colonial era, the two literate communities of Maharashtra, namely the Brahmins and the CKP were the first to adopt western education. with enthusiasm and prospered with opportunities in the colonial administration.A number of CKP families also served the semi-independent Princely states in Maharashtra or other regions of India such as Baroda[16],[17][full citation needed]The British era in 1800s saw the publication of periodical dedicated to finding sources of CKP history[18]

Rango Bapuji Gupte, the CKP representative of the deposed Raja Pratapsinh Bhosale of Satara spent 13 years in London in 1840s and 50s to plead for restoration of the ruler without success. At the time of the Indian mutiny in 1857, Rango tried to raise a rebel force to fight the British but the plan was thwarted and most of the conspirators were executed.However,Rango Bapuji escaped from his captivity and was never found[19]

Other communities, at times, tried to contest CKP rights to Upanayana and being twice born.They based their opinion on the belief that no true Kshatriyas existed in the Kali Yuga; however the upanayana for CKPs was supported by prominent Brahmins like Gaga Bhatt[20]

The Shankaracharya of Shingeri Math also gave his opinion (in the 1800's) that the CKPs are 'pure Kshatriyas' and affirmed their rights to 'upanayana'. [9]

When the prominent Marathi historian VK Rajwade contested their claimed Kshatriya status in a 1916 essay, the CKP writer Prabodhankar Thackeray wrote a text outlining the identity of the CKP caste, and its contributions to the Maratha empire. In this text, Gramanyachya Sadhyant Itihas, he wrote that the CKPs "provided the cement" for Shivaji's swaraj (self-rule) "with their blood".[21]

Culture

The CKPs share many common rituals with the upper-caste communities and the study of Vedas and Sanskrit. Unlike most upper-caste communities however, the CKPs through their interaction with Muslims, have traditionally adopted a diet which includes meat, fish, poultry and eggs.[22] Many CKP clans have Ekvira temple at Karle as their family deity whereas others worship Vinzai, Kadapkarin, Janani as their family deity[23] The mother tongue of most of the community is now Marathi, though in Gujarat they also communicate with their neighbours in Gujarati, and use the Gujarati script,[22] while those in Maharashtra speak English and Hindi with outsiders, and use the Devanagari script.[24]

Surnames

A number of CKP surnames are derived from community members serving as administrators for the Deccan sultanates rulers[25] and later for the Maratha rulers. Most of these surnames have Persian origins and include the surnames Chitanvis, Kotwal, Karnik, Inamdar, Karkhanis, Phadnis, and Potnis. Kulkarni (village record keeper), Deshpande(Pargana level record keeper), and Deshmukh(Pargana chief) are other surnames that denote administrative roles of increasing seniority[26] but are not derived from the Persian language. Other CKP surnames derived from administrative or military service include Gadkari, Dalvi, Patil,Pradhan,and Raje. There are also typical Maharashtrian surnames derive by adding the suffix -Kar to a village name such as Ambegaonkar, Rajapurkar, Mahadkar,Kohochkar, Kharshikar,and Haldankar. Other CKP surnames include Nachane, Bahire, Vaidya, Gupte,Tamhane,Chitre, Sipre, Mokashi,Kharkar, ,Karnik',Pattekar, Adhikari,Bendre, Chaubal,Donde, Jaywant Ghule Likhite Nimak and Dighe.[4]

Notable people

  • Baji Prabhu Deshpande - Commander of Shivaji's forces who died defending Vishalgad in 1660[27]
  • Murar Baji Deshpande - Commander of Shivaji's forces who died defending the fort of Purandar against the Mughals in 1666[27]
  • Sakharam Hari Gupte Ambegaonkar, Raghoba Peshwa's(Chitpawan Brahmin's) loyal general, who led his army, chasing Ahmadshah Abdali and driving him all the away beyond Attock.(1712 -1777)[citation needed].
  • Rango Bapuji Gupte (1800 – Missing 5 July 1857) - Vakil(lawyer) and Envoy of the deposed Bhosale Raja of Satara. Tried to organize rebellion against the British in 1857[28]
  • Ram Ganesh Gadkari - Marathi play writer and poet who was conferred an honour of Kalpana Kuber and Bhasha Prabhu. [29]

References

  1. ^ D. Shyam Babu; Ravindra S. Khare (2011). Caste in Life: Experiencing Inequalities. Pearson Education India. p. 165. ISBN 978-81-317-5439-9. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  2. ^ Susan Bayly (22 February 2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 414. ISBN 978-0-521-79842-6. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  3. ^ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency Volume XIII, Part I, Page 87, Govt Central Press 1882
  4. ^ a b c Kumar Suresh Singh (2004). People of India: Maharashtra. Popular Prakashan. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  5. ^ CA Kinclaid (1994). Tale of the Tulsi Plant and Other Studies.
  6. ^ ' V.D Divekar' (1981). 'Survey of Material in Marathi on the Economic and Social History of India'. 'Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandala'. p. 61.
  7. ^ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of India. Vision Books. p. 88. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  8. ^ Gupta, Dipankar (2000). Interrogating caste : understanding hierarchy and difference in Indian society. New Delhi [u.a.]: Penguin Books. p. 76. ISBN 9780140297065.
  9. ^ a b 'The illustrated weekly of India, volume 91, part 3'. 1970. p. 8.
  10. ^ Harry M. Lindquist (1970). Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission.
  11. ^ Pandit, Nalini (1979). "Caste and Class in Maharashtra". Economic and Political Weekly. 14 (7/8 (February 1979)): 425–436.
  12. ^ Balkrishna Govind Gokhale (1988). Poona in the eighteenth century: an urban history. Oxford University Press. p. 112. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  13. ^ Bayly, Susan (2000). Caste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age (1. Indian ed. ed.). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 79. ISBN 9780521798426. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  14. ^ Pandit, Nalini (1979). "Caste and Class in Maharashtra". Economic and Political Weekly. 14 (7/8 (February 1979)): 425–436.
  15. ^ Varma, Dayal, Dusre, Gaur. Kayastha Ethnology. American Methodist Mission Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Gulati, Leela (editor); Bagchi, Jasodhara (Editor); Mehta, Vijaya (Author) (2005). A space of her own : personal narratives of twelve women. London: SAGE. p. 181. ISBN 9780761933151. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ Dattopant Thengadi (1992). National Pursuit.
  18. ^ Divekar, V.D., 1978. Survey of Material in Marathi on the Economic and Social History of India—3. The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 15(3), pp.375-407.
  19. ^ Bates, Crispin (Editor); Naregal, Veena (Author) (2013). Mutiny at the margins : new perspectives on the Indian uprising of 1857. Los Angeles: SAGE. pp. 167–186. ISBN 9788132109709. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ Deshpande, M.M., 2010. Ksatriyas in the Kali Age? Gāgābhatta & His Opponents. Indo- Iranian Journal, 53(2), pp.95-120.
  21. ^ Prachi Deshpande (2007). Creative Pasts: Historical Memory And Identity in Western India, 1700-1960. Columbia University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-231-12486-7. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  22. ^ a b Kumar Suresh Singh; Rajendra Behari Lal (2003). People of India: Gujarat. Popular Prakashan. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-81-7991-104-4. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  23. ^ Zelliot, Eleanor; Berntsen,, Maxine (1988). The Experience of Hinduism : essays on religion in Maharashtra. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 335. ISBN 9780887066627.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  24. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh (2004). People of India: Maharashtra. Popular Prakashan. pp. 398–. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  25. ^ G.T. Kulkarni, DECCAN (MAHARASHTRA) UNDER THE MUSLIM RULERS FROM KHALJIS TO SHIVAJI : A STUDY IN INTERACTION, Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute,Vol. 51/52, PROFESSOR S.M KATRE Felicitation Volume (1991-92), pp. 501-510
  26. ^ Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818 (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University. p. 22. ISBN 9780521268837.
  27. ^ a b Kantak, M. R. (1978). "The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji's Swarajya". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 38 (1): 46. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  28. ^ Bates, Crispin (Editor); Naregal, Veena (Author) (2013). Mutiny at the margins : new perspectives on the Indian uprising of 1857. Los Angeles: SAGE. pp. 167–186. ISBN 9788132109709. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  29. ^ The illustrated weekly of India(1970), volume 91, part 3, page 15
  30. ^ DHUMATKAR, A., 2010. The Indian Edison. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.67-74.
  31. ^ Purandare, Vaibhav (2012). Bal Thackeray & the rise of the Shiv Sena. New Delhi: Roli Books Private limited. ISBN 9788174369581.
  32. ^ South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia by Yogendra K. Malik, page 63
  33. ^ a b Gupte, Pranay (30 December 2010). "Alone and forgotten". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  34. ^ Gulati, Leela (editor); Bagchi, Jasodhara (Editor); Mehta, Vijaya (Author) (2005). A space of her own : personal narratives of twelve women. London: SAGE. p. 181. ISBN 9780761933151. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  35. ^ "Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East". South Asia Bulletin. 16 (2). University of California, Los Angeles: 116. 1996. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  36. ^ "DnaIndia mumbai report (Dec 2013)".
  37. ^ "Nagpur Today (Nov 2014)".
  38. ^ "Goldie Behl's Maha Mantra(Bollywood News, Mid-day June 2010)".
  39. ^ "Deccan Herald(1st Dec 2010)".

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