cross-varna kayasthas

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INDOLOGY, ymalaiya wrote:

> Lynken Ghose wrote:

>

> > No, the Sanskrit dictionary is merely quoting smrti texts such as

> > Yajnavalkya etc. We don't know that the particular mixture of varnas is

> > truly the origin of the Kayastha jati; we just know that this

> > particular text says so.

>

> That seems to be true. Origin of Yavanas and Turushkas etc has also

> been given in some texts, assuming that they too are varna-sankaras.

>

> There is some indication that the Kayasthas originated as an

> occupational group. If I remember correctly, Rajatarangini suggests that

sometimes

> Brahmins too were appointed as Kayasthas.

 

In message #2467, Yashwanth Malaiya wrote:

>It is my guess that kayasthas were occupational groups, in some cases

>even brahmins served as kayasthas.

 

It will be interesting if Sanskritists could tell what's

in Rajatarangini about brahmins serving as kayasths.

This was true in the south India. For centuries, Brahmins

served as accountants and scribes at the village level.

 

"In South India, the influence of the Brahmins was no less decisive

Despite their division into a number of endogamous groups,

which were unevenly distributed over the peninsula, the Brahmins

asserted their supremacy on account of their high ritual status,

their ownership of land, and their control of some of the key

administrative positions in rural society. In the Andhra region,

for example, the most important groups were the Niyogi Brahmins,

settled predominantly in the Northern Circars. Through occupation

of the best arable land in the area and their exclusive control

of the key position of the karnam (village accountant), the Niyogis

were able to sustain their power over many centuries during which

they provided continuous local leadership in the Northern circars

[14]" (p. 8)

 

"In Andhra, village heads called Pedda Naidus, Pedda Kapus and

Pedda Reddis, had to share power with the karnams. While

the village heads belonged to the influentual non-brahmin castes

and were dominant in the villages of the interior Telugu districts,

the karnams were almost always Niyogi Brahmins ane were influential

in the coastal areas." [...]

 

"Walter Elliot, Commissioner of the Northern Circars, submitted

to the Madras Government in 1854. Elliot's portrayal of village

authority in this area showed that the real source of local

influence, despite over half a century of British rule, was

still the karnam, a position largely controlled by the

Niyogi Brahmins. ...

Moreover, Elliot found that the practice of payment by fees

was a fertile source of corruption. Karnams used their power

to extort various kinds of contributions from the cultivators

for the ostensible purpose of supporting charities and religious

institutions. Not surprisingly, the Niyogi Brahmins who dominated

this office in the Northern Circars were anxious to safeguard

it as a family preserve." (p.17)

[14] R. E. Frykenberg, "Traditional processes of power in

south India: An historical analysis of local influence,"

Ind. Econ. & Soc. His. Rev., 1:2 (1963), 123-126.

 

>From R. Suntharalingam, Politics and Nationalist

awakening in South India, 1852-1891.

1974: Univ. of Arizona press

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan