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Deshastha Brahmin

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Deshastha Brahmin
Regions with significant populations
Maharashtra •
Karnataka, Telangana,[1] Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior, Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Katni, Jabalpur)
Gujarat (Vadodara) • Delhi
Languages
Marathi, Kannada,[2] Telugu[3][4]
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Pancha-Dravida • Karhade • Kannada people • Konkanastha •Devrukhe •
• Gaud Saraswat Brahmin • Thanjavur Marathi • Marathi people

Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka.[5] Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana[6][1] (which was earlier part of Hyderabad State and Berar Division), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Which was earlier part of Central Provinces and Berar)[7][8][9][10] Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins".[11][12] The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi, Kannada or Telugu.[2][3][4]

Over the millennia, the Deshastha community has produced Mathematicians such as Bhāskara II,[13] Sanskrit scholars such as Bhavabhuti, Satyanatha Tirtha, Satyadharma Tirtha;[14][15] Bhakti saints such as Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Purandara Dasa, Samarth Ramdas and Vijaya Dasa;[16][17][18] polemical logician such as Jayatirtha and non-polemical scholar such as Raghuttama Tirtha.[19][20]

The traditional occupation of Deshastha Brahmins is priesthood and the Kulkarni Vatan (village accountants).[21][22] They also pursued secular professions such as writers, accountants, moneylenders and also practised agriculture.[23][24][25] In historic times a large number of Deshasthas held many prominent positions such as Peshwa,[26] Diwan, Deshpande (district accountants), Deshmukh, Patil, Gadkari, Desai,[27][28][29][30][31] and Nirkhee (who fixed weekly prices of grains during the Nizam's Rule).[32] Authors Vora and Glushkova state that "Deshastha Brahmins have occupied a core place in Maharashtrian politics, society and culture from almost the beginning of the Maharashtra's recorded history. Occupying high offices in the state and even other offices at various levels of administration, they were recipients of state honours and more importantly, land grants of various types."[33]

  1. ^ a b K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. p. 552. ISBN 9780195633542. The Maharashtra Desastha Brahman are distributed in the districts of Telangana.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference David Goodman Mandelbaum 1970 https://archive.org/details/societyinindia0002mand/page/n192 18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Bhavani Raman (2012). Document Raj: Writing and Scribes in Early Colonial South India. University of Chicago Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0226703275.
  4. ^ a b Kumar Suresh Singh (1992). People of India: India's communities. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 3317. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
  5. ^ Robin Rinehart (2004). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 249. ISBN 9781576079058.
  6. ^ Maharashtra, Land and Its People. Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra. 2009. p. 45. Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmins are the most ancient sub-caste of Maharashtra and they are to be found in all the districts of the Deccan, Marathi speaking part of the former Nizam State and in Berar.
  7. ^ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and Communities of India. East-West Publications. p. 52. ISBN 9780856920813. The Deshasthas are spread all over the Deccan, especially in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra.
  8. ^ Gregory Naik (2000). Understanding Our Fellow Pilgrims. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash. p. 65. ISBN 9788187886105. The Deshastha Brahmins "Desha" is the name given to the territory of the valleys of the Krishna and the Godavari, and the Deccan Plateau. Hence this community is spread over the states of Maharashtra (especially in Kolhapur), Karnataka, and Andhra.
  9. ^ Hans Bakker (1990). The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature: Papers on Pilgrimage in South Asia. BRILL. p. 105. ISBN 9004093184. Deśastha Brahmans can be found not only in Maharashtra but also in Karnataka and other parts of the Deccan.
  10. ^ K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. p. 3316. ISBN 9780195633542.
  11. ^ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and Communities of India. East-West Publications. p. 52. ISBN 9780856920813. Most of the well- known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra were Deshastha Brahmanas. They are intensely religious , steeped in rituals , trustworthy and hardworking . They have produced saints , politicians and men of learning . There are two major groups in the community . The people of one follow the Rigveda and are called Rigvedis and those of the other the Yajurveda and are known as Yajurvedis.
  12. ^ Pritish Nandy (1974). The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95, Part 4. Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. p. 29. Most of the well- known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra are Deshastha Brahmins. They are also a peace-loving, just and duty-conscious people and have always proved reliable.
  13. ^ Pritish Nandy (1974). The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95. Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. p. 30. Deshasthas have contributed to mathematics and literature as well as to the cultural and religious heritage of India. Bhaskaracharaya was one of the greatest mathematicians of ancient India.
  14. ^ Sharma 2000, p. 653.
  15. ^ Rajaram 2019, p. 18.
  16. ^ Hebbar 2005, p. 227.
  17. ^ The illustrated weekly of India, volume 95. 1974. p. 30.
  18. ^ Chopra 1982, p. 54.
  19. ^ Hebbar 2005, p. 205.
  20. ^ Sharma 2000, p. 463.
  21. ^ Maharashtra, Land and Its People. Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra. 2009. p. 45. Priesthood and Kulkarni Vatan were their traditional occupations.
  22. ^ A. R. Kulkarni (2000). Maharashtra Society and Culture. Books & Books. p. 74. ISBN 9788185016580. The Kulkarni generally belonged to the rural based deshastha community, even under the chitpavan rule.
  23. ^ Maharashtra, Land and Its People. Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra. 2009. p. 45. In Maharashtra Chitpavan or Kokanastha, and Deshastha Brahmins practise priesthood as their hereditary profession.
  24. ^ Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Amravati. Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State, Maharashtra (India). 1968. p. 146. Most of the Deshasthas pursue secular professions and are writers, accountants, merchants, etc. The posts of village patwaris are almost monopolised by them.
  25. ^ B. V. Bhanu (2004). Maharashtra, Part 1. Popular Prakashan. p. 480. ISBN 9788179911006. Most of the Deshastha pursue secular professions as writers, accountants, merchants and are among the great Pandits in various branches of Sanskrit learning. Traditionally, the Deshastha Brahmin are a community of priests who render socio-religious services to the other caste groups. Apart from this, agriculture is also practised by the members who possess cultivable land in the rural areas. Some of them also taken to white-collar jobs. They are a progressive community.
  26. ^ Vasant S. Kadam (1993). Maratha Confederacy: A Study in Its Origin and Development. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. p. 49. ISBN 9788121505703. Under Shivaji the Great, Sambhaji and Rajaram all the incumbents of the office of Peshwa were from the Deshastha (residing in the Desh area of Maharashtra) subcaste of the Brahmans.
  27. ^ Francine R. Frankel; M. S. A. Rao (1989). Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order, Volume 2. Oxford University Press. p. xv. ISBN 9780195620986.
  28. ^ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and Communities of India. East-West Publications. p. 52. ISBN 9780856920813.
  29. ^ Syed Siraj ul Hassan (1989). The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Volume 1. p. 108. ISBN 9788120604889.
  30. ^ Dwijendra Tripathi (1984). Business Communities of India: A Historical Perspective. Manohar publications. p. 94. ISBN 9780836412765. The work of collection of revenue and accounts-keeping at village level in Maharashtra and especially in the Deccan had been with the Deshastha Brahmans even during the Muslim times.
  31. ^ Gordon Johnson (8 June 2005). Provincial Politics and Indian Nationalism: Bombay and the Indian National Congress 1880-1915. Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780521619653.
  32. ^ Khan, Dr. (2016). "Administrative Set Up Of The Deccan Under The Early Nizams*". The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention. 3 (4): 5th Pg – via Valley International Journals.
  33. ^ I. P. Glushkova; Rajendra Vora (1999). Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra. Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780195646351.

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