Kayastha or
Kayasth or
Kayeth is a
casteCaste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
or community of Hindus originating in India. Kayastha means "scribe" in
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, and has traditionally denoted members of the writer caste.
According to the Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas, Kayasthas are descended from King
ChitraguptaChitragupta is a Hindu god assigned with the task of keeping complete records of actions of human beings on the earth. Upon their death, Chitragupta has the task of deciding heaven or the hell for the humans, depending on their actions on the earth...
, a deity tasked by
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, the god of creation, with recording the deeds of humanity, upholding justice and the rule of law and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell upon death.
Kayasthas are considered a Forward Caste, as they do not qualify for any of the
reservation benefitsReservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
administered by the
Government of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
.
Varna status
Kayasthas belonging to different regions and ethnic groups within India claim different
varna status, a topic which has been a subject of debate. According to multiple accounts, they are a learned class of
Kshatriya*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s, and have been referred to as a twice-born caste "whose claims to Kshatriya status need not be caviled at". Other sources rank Kayasthas even higher than Kshatriyas, referring to them as "a caste between Brahmins and Khatris" and "a mixed caste". Still, others have called them "superior
ShudraShudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
s",
Sat-Shudras or "higher Shudras" and "a clean Shudra caste". Some Kayasthas have claimed Brahmin status, though this has been challenged by other Brahmin groups.
In
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Kayasthas, alongside
BrahminsThe Bengali Brahmins are those Hindu Brahmins who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Bangladesh...
, are regarded as the "highest Hindu castes" that comprise the "upper layer of Hindu society".
In
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, the
Chandraseniya Kayastha PrabhuChandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu or , abbreviated CKP, is an ethno-religious community which is part of Kayastha. The mother tongue of this community is Marathi...
claim Kshatriya status through descent from a Kshatriya king of the Haihaya clan.
In northern India and Pakistan,
Muslim KayasthasThe Kayastha Muslim are community of Muslims, descendents of members of the Kayasth caste who embraced Islam. They live in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, the provinces of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan and many have now settled in United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The community uses...
are descended from members of the Hindu Kayastha community that embraced Islam during the 15th-16th centuries.
Mythological origins
According to the Puranas, after Brahma had created the four varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras), Yamaraj, the lord of death, requested Brahma to help him record the deeds, both good and evil, of men and to administer justice. Brahma went into meditation for 11,000 years and when he opened his eyes he saw a man holding a pen and ink-pot in his hands, as well as a sword girdled to his waist. Brahma spoke:
Brahma then enjoined the newly-named Chitragupta to dispense justice and punish those who violated
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
(law):
Chitragupta had two wives, Shobhavati (Iravati) and Nandani and had twelve divine sons; eight from the former and four from the latter. The twelve sons started the twelve sub-castes of Kayastha:
Ancient India
According to
KalhanaKalhana , a Kashmiri, was the author of Rajatarangini , an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is Mark Aurel Stein...
's history of
KashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, known as
RajataranginiThe Rājatarangiṇī is a metrical chronicle of North west of the Indian subcontinent particularly the kings of Kashmir from earliest time written in Sanskrit by Kalhaṇa. The Rājatarangiṇī often has been erroneously referred to as the River of the Kings. In reality what Kalhana means by Rājatarangiṇī...
, Kayasthas were tax-collectors and financiers under several Kashmiri kings. King
Lalitaditya MuktapidaLalitaditya Muktapida was a Hindu emperor of the Karkota dynasty from Kashmir, India. He ruled from , during this period he conquered most of Northern India and Central Asia. He was the son of emperor Durlabhvardhana, a ashwa-ghas kayastha...
, 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 EmpireThe Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
beginning in the 4th century AD, when systematic and large-scale colonization by
AryanIndo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
Kayasthas and Brahmins first took place, Kayasthas were brought over by the Guptas to help manage the affairs of state. 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.
According to Abu al-Fazl, Emperor Akbar's prime minister, Kayasthas were rulers of the
Pala EmpireThe Pāla Empire was one of the major middle kingdoms of India existed from 750–1174 CE. It was ruled by a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names ending with the suffix Pala , which means protector. The Palas were often described...
, one of the major
Middle Kingdoms of IndiaMiddle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 3rd century BC after the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC...
that originated in Bengal.
The rulers of the Sena Empire, which reigned over Bengal during the 11th-12th centuries AD, were Kayasthas belonging to the Gaur sub-caste.
Islamic and British India
The Kayastha's affinity for learning and socio-economic status, both enabled and dictated that the community develop expertise in the changing administrative policies and official languages, as different empires were established in India. With the
Muslim conquest of IndiaMuslim conquest in South Asia mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the Rajput Kingdoms in North India, from the 7th century onwards.However, the Himalayan...
, the community learned and adapted to
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Turkic,
ArabicArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and later Urdu. Importantly, the community created, maintained and developed empire-wide administrative practices in monetary policy, jurisprudence and taxation.
One of the most notable Kayasthas of the period was
Raja Todar MalRaja Todar Mal was born in Laharpur, Uttar Pradesh in a Punjabi Kayastha family, and rose to become the Finance Minister in Akbar's Darbar of the Mughal empire. He was made in charge of Agra and settled in Gujarat. Later, he was made in charge of Gujarat as well. He also managed Akbar's Mint at...
, Emperor Akbar's finance minister and one of the court's nine
NavaratnasNavaratnas Nauratan was a term applied to a group of nine extraordinary people in a emperor's court in India...
, who is credited with establishing the Mughal revenue system. He also translated the
Bhagwat Purana into Persian.
Government service roles continued into the British colonial era, where many Kayasthas were the first to learn
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and become civil servants, tax officers, junior administrators, teachers, legal helpers and barristers. During this period, Kayasthas were more likely than members of other communities to undertake academic training in England and often rose to the highest positions accessible to Indians. As a consequence of their relatively large proportion amongst Indian students abroad, and because many hit ceilings of progression because of racial status, community members played pivotal roles in the early political groups that questioned British rule in India.
In Bengal, Kayasthas attained very high administrative positions under
Mughal ruleThe Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
, serving as governors, prime ministers and treasury officials. During the subsequent
British RajBritish Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.
As a result of their exalted status amongst Muslim sultans, many Bengali Kayasthas became
zamindarA Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
s and jagirdars. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu zamindars in Bengal were Kayasthas.
Maharaja Pratapaditya, the legendary King of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Kayastha.
Bengali Kayasthas also 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.
Modern India
In the post-independence era, Kayasthas have achieved great success in various fields, most notably in the arts, academia, law and politics. The community's traditional association with education has also allowed many of them to immigrate from India to pursue economic and advancement opportunities in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
Notables
Notable Kayasthas include the spiritual leader and social reformer
Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
(born Narendranath Dutta), revolutionary political and military leader
Subhash Chandra BoseSubhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...
, physicist and biologist Jagadish Chandra Bose, the first
President of IndiaThe President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
,
Rajendra PrasadDr. Rajendra Prasad was an Indian politician and educator. He was one of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution and serving as the first president of independent India...
, the third
Prime Minister of IndiaThe Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
,
Lal Bahadur ShastriLal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:...
,
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film star
Amitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
and award-winning author
Arundhati RoyArundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays...
.
Surnames
Certain surnames are common among the Kayastha. These include:
Further reading
- Maithili Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan
Maithil Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan is a book written by Binod Bihari Verma in Maithili. It is a research study on the available ancient manuscripts in the Mithila region, called as Panjis, which are genealogical charts of Maithil Brahmin and Kayasthas castes...
by Binod Bihari VermaBinod Bihari Verma was a Maithili littérateur by soul, medical doctor by profession and a defence officer by career. He is most noted for his pioneering work on Panjis, which are ancient genealogical charts, Maithili Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan. He is also known for his depiction of rural...
, A Survey of Panjis of Maithil Karna Kayasthas.
- 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. 233–250.