View source for Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu

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{{short description|Ethno-religious clan of South Asia}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
|group      = Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP)
|popplace = [[Maharashtra]], [[Gujarat]], [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Goa]]
|languages  = [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]] 
|religions  = [[Hinduism]]
|related_groups = [[Pathare Prabhu]], [[Gaud Saraswat Brahmin]]
}}{{Use Indian English|date=April 2015}}

'''Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu''' ('''CKP''') or historically and commonly known as '''Chandraseniya Prabhu''' or just '''Prabhu'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Commissioner |first=India Census |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyUUAAAAYAAJ&dq=chandraseniya+kayastha+prabhu+history&pg=PA87 |title=Census of India, 1901 |date=1903 |publisher=Printed at the Government central Press |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217364 |title=Hindu Castes And Sects |date=1896}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Social Club |first1=Poona |url=http://archive.org/details/ethnographicalno00chanrich |title=Ethnographical notes on Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu |last2=Gupte |first2=T. V. |date=1904 |publisher=Poona |others=University of California Libraries}}</ref> is a caste mainly found in [[Gujarat]] and [[Maharashtra]]. Historically, they made equally good [[warrior]]s, [[wikt:statesman|statesmen]] as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced prominent [[warrior]]s in Maharashtrian history.<ref name= sunthankar /><ref name="chib161">{{cite book | title = The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India | author = K.P.Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib | page= 161| publisher=ESS Publications|year=1981| quote= pg 161: The Kayastha Prabhus...They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana...The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Adi Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods. ...Most of the Pathare Prabhus are the followers of smart sect who adopt the teachings of Shankaracharya}}</ref>

Traditionally, in Maharashtra, the caste structure was headed by the [[Deshastha]]s, [[Chitpawan]]s, [[Karhade]], [[Saraswat]]s and the CKPs.<ref>{{cite book | title =Writing Caste/Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women's Testimonies | page=28|publisher= Zubaan Books|year= 2013 |author= Sharmila Rege|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p4-oDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT28|isbn=978-93-83074-67-9|quote= The traditional caste hierarchy was headed by the brahmin castes-the deshasthas, chitpawans, karhades saraswats and the chandraseniya kayastha prabhus.}}</ref> Other than the Brahmins, the Prabhus (CKPs and [[Pathare Prabhus]]) were the communities advanced in education.<ref>{{cite book |title=Agrarian structure, movements & peasant organisations in India, Volume 2 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UuJFAAAAYAAJ|page=29|author = Sulabha Brahme, Ashok Upadhyaya|publisher = V.V. Giri National Labour Institute|year=2004|isbn=978-81-7827-064-7|quote= Besides Brahmins, the other communities advanced in education are Kayastha Prabhu, Pathare Prabhu found mainly in the...}}</ref>

The CKPs have the ''[[upanayana]]'' ( ''[[Upanayana#Yajñopavītam|janeu]]'' or thread ceremony)<ref name="kssingh19982">{{cite book |author=KS Singh |title=India's communities |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |page=2083 |quote=..the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu observe the thread-wearing (janeu) ceremony for male children. They cremate the dead and observe death pollution for ten days.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Pran Nath Chopra | title=Religions and communities of India | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggtuAAAAMAAJ | year=1982 | page = 98| publisher=Vision Books | isbn=9780391027480 |quote=Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu [irrelevant text unrelated to thread ceremony]They have the Upanayana ceremony and are Vedadhikaris ( having the right to read the Vedas )}}</ref> and have been granted the rights to study the [[Vedas]] and perform [[Vedic]] rituals along with the [[Brahmins]]. The CKP performed three Vedic karmas or duties which in Sanskrit are called: Adhyayan- studying of the Vedas, yajna- ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras and dāna – alms or charity.<ref name="chib161"/><ref name="MiltonWagle">{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor=Milton Israel and N.K.Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|pages=147–170}}</ref>
Ritually ranked high (along with the Brahmins), the caste may be considered socially proximate to the Brahmin community.<ref>{{cite book |title=Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective|author= André Béteille|year= 1992|isbn=0195630661|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote= Although the Chandraseniya Kayasth Prabhu are non-Brahmins, they rank very high and might be regarded as being socially proximate to the Koknasth Brahman.|page=48}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title= Book Contradictions and Conflict: A Dialectical Political Anthropology of a University in Western India (Studies in Human Society, Vol 9)|first=Donald|last=Kurtz|page=68|isbn=978-9004098282|publisher=Brill|date=1 August 1997|quote=... CKPs. They represent a small but literate and ritually high caste.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosenzweig |first1=Mark |last2=Munshi |first2=Kaivan |date=September 2006|title=Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender, and Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy |journal=American Economic Review |volume=96|number=4 |pages=1225–1252 |doi=10.1257/aer.96.4.1225|quote= (page 1228)High castes include all the Brahmin jatis, as well as a few other elite jatis (CKP and Pathare Prabhus).Low castes include formerly untouchable and backward castes (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes, as defined by the government of India). Medium castes are drawn mostly from the cultivator jatis, such as the Marathas and the Kunbis, as well as other traditional vocations that were not considered to be ritually impure.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Communal Identity in India: Its Construction and Articulation in the Twentieth Century | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtztAAAAIAAJ|author= Bidyut Chakrabarty |year= 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=138|isbn=978-0-19-566330-3|quote= Of the six groups, four are Brahmins; one is high non-Brahmin caste, Chandraseniya Kayashth Prabhu (CKP), ranking next only to the Brahmins; and the other is a cultivating caste, Maratha (MK), belonging to the middle level of the hierarchy.}}</ref><ref name=aphale76>{{cite book | title=Growing Up in an Urban Complex | author= Champa Aphale | year =1976| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBYFAAAAMAAJ| page= 5| publisher=National Publishing House|quote=advanced castes among the maharashtrians viz.Brahmins. In this groups were also included families belonging to the chandraseniya kayastha prabhu besides the three subscastes among the brahmins, viz. Kokanastha Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins and Saraswat Brahmins. The reason for this was that, though non-Brahmins, these C.K.P. families were very much near the Brahmin families as regards their educational and occupational status.}}</ref> They have traditionally been an elite and literate but a numerically small community.<ref name = sunthankar>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|author = B. R. Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. The Konkan districts were their homeland. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title= Rajarshi Shahu: a model ruler | publisher=kirti prakashan|page=20|year=1994|author = V. B. Ghuge| quote= In the Hindu social hierarchy the privileged classes were Brahmins, CKP's and others. Similarly other elite classes were Parsis and Europeans.}}</ref> Rosenthal, while discussing the British era situation in Kolhapur says that they "claimed a status equal to Brahmans -a claim which the Brahmans always stridently rejected".<ref name="sssny1973">{{cite journal|journal= Special Studies Series, State University of New York|year=1973|page=7|title=From Reformist Princes to 'Co-operative Kings|publisher=Buffalo, N.Y. Council on International Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo|author=Donald B. Rosenthal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dz4tAQAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rosenthal|first=Donald|title=From Reformist Princes to 'Co-operative Kings': I: Political Change in Pre-Independence Kolhapur|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=8|number=20 |date=19 May 1973|pages=903–910|jstor=4362649|quote=(page 905)Within the circle of "available" non-Brahman elite groups one might also count the tiny community of CKP's Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhu...A community which claimed status equal to Brahmans-a claim which the Brahmans always stridently rejected – the CKP's were a source of men of talent who were to act as advisors to Shahu...}}</ref><ref name="MiltonWagle"/>

More formally, in Maharashtra, they are one of the [[Prabhu Communities]] and a sister caste of the Pathare Prabhu.<ref>{{cite book | title = Urban leadership in Western India: politics and communities in Bombay city, 1840–1885 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2eYhAAAAMAAJ&q=sister | author=Christine E. Dobbin| year=1972 |page= 225| publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn = 9780198218418|quote=Not only were the Pathare prabhus aware for the need for self help. In 1876 the members of their sister community, the Chandraseniya Kyasth Prabhus, began to organize themselves.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Bombay: Social Change 1813–1857| author=Vijaya Gupchup|page=166|
quote=The other intellectual class[other than Brahmins], the Prabhus were once again subdivided in the Chnadraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and the Pathare Prabhus}}</ref> The CKP traditionally follow the [[Advaita Vedanta]], as propounded by [[Adi Shankara]].<ref name="chib161" />

== Etymology ==
The name ''Chandraseniya'' may be a corruption of the word ''Chandrashreniya'', which means from the valley of the [[Chenab River]] in [[Kashmir]]. This theory states that the word ''[[Kayastha]]'' originates from the term ''Kaya Desha'', an ancient name for the region around [[Ayodhya]].<ref name="chopra">{{cite book |author=Pran Nath Chopra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggtuAAAAMAAJ |title=Religions and communities of India |publisher=Vision Books |year=1982 |isbn=9780391027480 |page=88 |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref><ref>quote:The name Chandraseniya is a corrupt form of Chandrashreniya ( meaning from the valley of the Chenab in Kashmir ) . The term Kayastha originates from the region around Ayodhya , which was called Kaya Desh , where the Chandraseniya Prabhus settled. ' Prabhu ' denotes a high government official</ref> The word Prabhu means ''Lord'' or a ''Chief'' in [[Sanskrit]] language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of PRABHU |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prabhu |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>

==History==

=== Origin ===
The CKP claim descent from Chandrasen, an ancient [[Kshatriya]] king of [[Ujjain]] and [[Ayodhya]] and of the [[Haihaya]] family of the lunar Kshatriya Dynasty.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |author=Sharad Hebalkar |title=Ancient Indian ports: with special reference to Maharashtra |year=2001 |page=87}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book |author=Lucy Carol Stout |title=The Hindustani Kayasthas : The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |year=1976 |page=17}}</ref>

=== High medieval period ===
[[Epigraphical]] evidences i.e. engravings from the [[Shilahara]] times have been found in [[Deccan]] to prove that many CKPs held high posts and controlled the civilian and military administration. For example, a [[Shilahara]] inscription around A.D. 1088 mentions the names of a certain ''Velgi Prabhu''. ''Lakshmana Prabhu'' is mentioned as a ''MahaDandanayaka'' (head of military) and ''MahaPradhana'' (prime minister); ''Ananta-Prabhu'' is mentioned as a ''MahaPradhana'' (prime minister), ''Kosadhikari'' (Head of treasury) and ''Mahasandhivigrahika'' (charge of foreign department). According to Historian and researcher S.Muley, these [[epigraphy|epigraphs]] might be the first available evidences of the existence of the CKP in Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite book | author=S.Muley,M.A.,PhD | title=Studies in the Historical and cultural geography and ethnography of the Deccan|year=1972 | publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, University of Poona | pages = 301, 303, 304| quote = " pg 301: (section)Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu...From our epigraphical evidences, many Prabhus seem to have held high posts in the Silahara kingdom, and controlled the civil and military administration. The Chaul inscription of AD.1088 mentions Veliga Prabhu. Ananta Prabhu and Lakshamana Prabhu appear in a number of records. The former was a MahaPradhana, Kosadhikari, MahasandhiVigrahika and the latter was a MahaPradhana and Mahadandanayaka. Table on Pg 303,304: minister: pradhana, head of treasury: kosadhikari, foreign department charge: Mahasandhivigrahika, head of military: MahaDandanayaka}}</ref>

According to the American [[Indologist]] and scholar of Religious Studies and [[South Asian]] Studies who is the Professor of International Studies and Comparative Religion at the [[University of Washington]], [[Christian Lee Novetzke]]{{blockquote|In the thirteenth century they might have been considered as equal to brahmin or simply within the Brahminic ecumene, this despite the fact that modern day CKPs of Maharashtra understand themselves to have arisen from the Kshatriya varna. Thus they are an intermediate caste between brahmins and Kshatriyas.<ref name = "Novetzke">{{cite book| author = Christian Lee Noverzke|title =  The Qutodian revolution : Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India, part 2| page = 159 | publisher = Columbia University Press | year =2016}}</ref>}}

===Deccan sultanate and Maratha Era===

<!--- see in edit mode: Scholars to incorporate info from 1426 era virtues of CKP in a book by Krishna Prakash Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib (1977). The Castes, Tribes & Culture of India: Western Maharashtra & Gujarat. Ess Ess Publications. p. 27. A sanad was bestowed on one Parashurama Prabhu Karnik in 1426 by the Bidar king...They showed remarkable valour and loyalty, and were one of the chief sources of strength to Shivaji Maharaj..so useful did Shivaji Maharaj find them, that at one stage he dismissed all the Brahmins from their high posts and replaced them by Kayastha Prabhus remarkable inasmuch as they were equally good warriors, statesmen and writer -->


The CKP community became more prominent during the [[Deccan sultanates]] and [[Maratha Empire|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.<ref name="Caste and Class in Maharashtra">{{cite journal|last1=Pandit|first1=Nalini|title=Caste and Class in Maharashtra|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=1979|volume=14|issue=7/8 (February 1979)|pages=425–436|jstor=4367360}}</ref> Several of the Maratha Chhatrapati [[Shivaji]]'s generals and ministers, such as [[Murarbaji Deshpande]] and [[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]], and [[Khando Ballal|Khando Ballal Chitnis]] were CKPs.<ref name="BGGokhale1988">{{cite book | author=[[Balkrishna Govind Gokhale]] | title=Poona in the eighteenth century: an urban history | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=THR5AAAAIAAJ | access-date=17 November 2012 | year=1988 | publisher=Oxford University Press |page=112| isbn=978-0-19-562137-2 }}</ref>

In 17th-century Maharashtra, during [[Shivaji]]'s time, the so-called higher classes i.e. the Marathi [[Brahmins]], CKPs and [[Saraswat]] Brahmins, due to social and religious restrictions were the only communities that had a system of education for males. Except these three castes, education for all other castes and communities was very limited and consisted of listening to stories from religious texts like the [[Puranas]] or to [[Kirtans]] and thus the common masses remained illiterate and backward. Hence Shivaji was compelled to use people from these three educated communities – Marathi Brahmins, CKPs and Saraswat Brahmins – for civilian posts as they required education and intellectual maturity. However, in this time period, these three as well as other communities, depending on caste, also contributed their share to Shivaji's "Swaraj"(self-rule) by being cavalry soldiers, commanders, mountaineers, seafarers etc.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |page=44,47 |jstor=42931051| quote= (page 44) Next to the Brahmins came the Saraswats and the Kayastha Prabhus.  Except the Brahmins, the saraswats and the kayasthas, all other castes and communities in Maharashtra received very little education, which was the sole privilege of the higher castes.(page 47)A charge may be leveled against Shivaji Maharaj that he recruited in his civil departments the people from the so called intellectual classes only. It is a fact that Shivaji Maharaj's civil services were dominated by the Brahmins, the Prabhus and the Saraswats. However, the blame on it does not fall on Shivaji Maharaj but on the social framework within which he was workings. As has been pointed out earlier in this article , in 17th century Maharashtra, due to social and religious restrictions, education was the privilege of the higher classes only. Consequently, the common masses remained illiterate and backward. For civil posts, intellectual maturity, some standard of education as well as knowledge of reading, writing and account keeping ,etc. were essential. Shivaji Maharaj found these requisites readily in the Brahmins, the Saraswats and the Kayasthas which were the only educated classes then. Shivaji Maharaj had no alternative but to recruit them in his services for maintaining a high standard of efficiency.}}</ref> During the Peshwa era, the CKP's main preceptor or Vedic [[Guru#In Hinduism|Guru]] was a Brahmin by the name of Abashastri Takle, who was referred to by the CKP community as "Gurubaba".<ref name="MiltonWagle" /> Sale of liquor was banned by the Brahmin administrators to the Brahmins, CKPs, [[Pathare Prabhus]] and Saraswat Brahmins but there was no objection to other castes drinking it or even to the castes such as Bhandaris from manufacturing it. 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 [[Gaekwad]]s, the [[Scindia]], the [[House of Holkar|Holkar]]s etc.,<ref name="Caste and Class in Maharashtra" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bayly |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&pg=PR6 |title=Caste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-79842-6 |edition=1. Indian |location=Cambridge [u.a.] |page=79}}</ref>
The Gaekwads of [[Baroda State|Baroda]] and the Bhosale of [[Nagpur kingdom|Nagpur]] gave preference to CKPs in their administration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Stewart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PR9 |title=The Marathas 1600–1818 |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University |isbn=9780521268837 |edition=1. publ. |location=New York |page=145}}</ref> 

==== Varna dispute and Gramanya ====
The CKPs, described as a traditionally well-educated and intellectual group<ref name="mifflin1970">{{cite book |author=Harold Robert Isaacs |url=https://archive.org/details/educationreading0000lind |title=Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1970 |editor=Harry M. Lindquist |page=[https://archive.org/details/educationreading0000lind/page/88 88] |quote=..in this case the particular tradition of a Kshatriya caste called "CKP"(Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu). This group described as an intellectual community came into conflict with the Brahmins at least 300 years ago over their right to be teachers and scholars |url-access=registration}}</ref> claimed themselves as Kshatriyas, while the predominant regional Brahmin belief was that they were [[Shudra]]s (considering that there are no true Kshatriyas in the [[Kali Yuga]]).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Deshpande |first=Madhav |date=2010-01-01 |title=Ksatriyas in the Kali Age? Gāgābhatta & His Opponents |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/iij/53/2/article-p95_1.xml |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |language=en |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=95–120 |doi=10.1163/001972410X12686674794853 |issn=0019-7246|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The dispute first broke out few years before the coronation of Shivaji, and was related to the Upanayana rights of the CKP community.<ref name=":2" /> CKPs even demanded privileges of the Brahmin order – the rights to conduct the [[Vedic]] rituals (all by themselves) and ''satkarma'' (all six karmas of the Brahmin order) for which they were opposed especially by the [[Chitpawan]]s.<ref name="sssny1973" /><ref name="sandhyagokhale">{{Cite book |last=Gokhale |first=Sandhya |title=The Chitpwans |date=2008 |publisher=Shubhi Publications |pages=30 |quote=[the CKP] claimed privilege of the traditional Brahmin order, the right to perform Vedic Ritual...in this they were frequently opposed by the Brahmins, especially the Chitpawans}}</ref> At times, there were [[Gramanya]]s, i.e. "dispute involving the supposed violation of the Brahmanical ritual code of behavior" also known as "Vedokta disputes", initiated by certain individuals who tried to stop CKP rights to [[Upanayana]]. These individuals based their opinion on the belief that no true Kshatriyas existed in the [[Kali Yuga]]; however the upanayana for CKPs were supported by prominent Brahmin arbitrators like Gaga Bhatt and [[Ramshastri Prabhune]] who gave decisions in the favor of the community.<ref name="MiltonWagle" /> Just after the death of Shivaji this dispute raised again but this time the opinion shifted against the views of Gangabhatta.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Deshpande |first=Madhav |date=2010-01-01 |title=Ksatriyas in the Kali Age? Gāgābhatta & His Opponents |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/iij/53/2/article-p95_1.xml |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |language=en |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=95–120 |doi=10.1163/001972410X12686674794853 |issn=0019-7246|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  During the Peshwa era ''Gramanyas''  were very common and some Chitpawans, at times, initiated ''Gramanya'' against other communities – Prabhu communities (CKP, Pathare Prabhu), Saraswats and [[Deshastha Brahmin|Shukla Yajurvedis]]. however they did not come to fruition .<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gokhale |first=Sandhya |title=The Chitpwans |date=2008 |publisher=Shubhi publications |page=204 |quote=The jati disputes were not a rare occurrence in Maharashtra. There are recorded instances of disputes between jatis such as Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus and the Chitpawans, Pathare Prabhus and the Chitpawans, Saraswats and the Chitpawans and Shukla Yajurvedi and the Chitpawans. The intra-caste dispute involving the supposed violation of the Brahmanical ritual code of behavior was called Gramanya in Marathi.}}</ref> The ''Gramanya'' during the Peshwa eras finally culminated in the favor of the CKPs as the Vedokta had support from the [[Shastras]] and this was affirmed by two letters from Brahmins from Varanasi as well as one from Pune Brahmins ratified by Bajirao II himself.  In the final Gramanya, started by Neelkanthashastri and his relative [[Balaji Pant Natu]], a rival of the CKP Vedic scholar V.S.Parasnis at the court of Satara, the Shankaracharya himself intervened as arbiter and he gave his verdict by fully endorsing the rights over Vedas for the CKP. The Shankaracharya's letter is addressed to all Brahmins and he refers to various [[Shastra]]s, earlier verdicts in the favour of the CKPS as well as letters about the lineage of the CKP to make his decision and void the dispute started by Natu.<ref name="MiltonWagle" />

===== Scholarly interpretation =====
Modern scholars quote statements that show that they were due to political malice – especially given that the Gramanya was started by a certain Yamaji Pant who had sent an assassin to murder a rival CKP. This was noted by Gangadharshastri Dikshit who gave his verdict in favor of the CKPs. Abashastri Takle had used the scriptures to establish their "Vedokta". Similarly, the famous jurist [[Ramshastri Prabhune]] also supported the CKPs Vedokta.<ref name="MiltonWagle" />

The analysis of ''gramanyas'' against the CKP was done in depth by historians from the [[University of Toronto]]. Modern scholars conclude that the fact that the CKPs held high ranking positions in administration and the military and as statesmen was a "double edged sword". Historians, while analyzing the ''gramanyas'' state "As statesmen, they were engulfed in the court intrigues and factions, and, as a result, were prone to persecution by opposing factions. On the other hand, their influence in the court meant that they could wield enough political clout to effect settlements in favor of their caste.". The late Indian professor of sociology, [[Govind Sadashiv Ghurye]] commented on the strictness of the caste system during the Peshwa rule in Maharashtra by noting that even advanced caste such as the Prabhus had to establish rights to carry on with the vedic rituals.<ref name="MiltonWagle" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Govind Sadashiv Ghurye |url=https://archive.org/details/casteraceinindia0000ghur |title=Caste and Race in India |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1969 |isbn=9788171542055 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/casteraceinindia0000ghur/page/5 5], 14 |quote=(page 5) Thus the Brahmin government of Poona, while passing some legislation prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquors, excluded the bhandaris kolis and similar other castes from the operation thereof but strictly forbade the sale of drinks to Brahmins, Shenvis, Prabhus and Government officers (page 14). Such an advanced caste as the Prabhus in the Maratha country had to establish its rights to carry on the rites according to the vedic formulae which were being questioned at the time of the later peshwas |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Derett">{{cite book |title=Indology and Law: Studies in the Honour or Professor J.Duncan M.Derett |publisher=Südasien-Institut – Universität Heidelberg |year=1982 |editor1=Gunther-Dietz Sontheimer |page=325 |quote=(page 321) Gangadhar Dikshit remarked "The proof in favor of the prabhus vedokta adduced by their preceptor is preponderant. There is no argument against it. Who can, therefore, dare say that the Shastra is false? Their preceptor Gurubaba (Abashastri Takle), indeed, quoting from the scriptures convincingly argued the Prabhus claims to Vedokta before the Pandit assembly by proving their Kshatriya genealogy (page 325). As the [Chandraseniya Kayastha] prabhus's Gurubaba stated in the Pandit assembly, that the gramanya initiated by Yamaji was due to political malice("rajyakarani dvesha"). It did not therefore, come to fruition. That there was an active enmity between Govindrao, a leading member of the prabhu caste and Yamaji, is clear from a document in which it is stated that Yamaji Pant actually sent an assassin to murder Govindrao. The Prabhus eminence as soldier-statesmen and high ranking administrative officers from Bajiravs time to end of Peshwai was both an asset and a liability. As statesmen, they were engulfed in the court intrigues and factions, and, as a result, were prone to persecution by opposing factions. On the other hand, their influence in the court meant that they could wield enough political clout to effect settlements in favor of their caste.(page 328)It is significant that the two Prabhu Sardars, Nilkanthrav Page and Ravji Apaji were the key members of the faction which helped Bajirav to acquire the Peshwaship. |editor2=Parameswara Aithal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Vijaya Gupchup |title=Bombay: Social Change |page=166,167 |quote=(page 166)The other intellectual class, the Prabhus were once again subdivided in the Chnadraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and the Pathare Prabhus. (page 167) The Bhandaris were given a permit for the manufacture of liquor but were forbidden to sell their products to castes such as Brahmins and Shenvis and the Prabhus because these were required by their caste laws to abstain from drinking}}</ref>

[[University of Toronto]] historians and Professors Emeriti, Milton Israel and N.K Wagle opine about this as follows in their analysis:

{{blockquote|The CKP could undertake the six functions (satkarma) because they had the expertise to do so. Aba Parasnis the CKP[in the early 1800s] could easily hold his own and argue intricate points from the [[vedas]], [[puranas]] and the [[dharmasastra]]s in a debate which resulted in his composition of the siddhantavijaya in [[sanskrit]].He prepared the [[Samskara (Indian philosophy)|sanskara]] manual(karmakalpadruma), which was published by Pratapsimha. The CKP as an educated elite therefore, were a serious challenge to the Brahman monopoly of Vedokta.<ref name="MiltonWagle" />{{efn|name=MW168|quote on page 168:The CKP could undertake the six functions (satkarma) because they had the expertise to do so. Aba Parasnis the CKP[ in the early 1800s] could easily hold his own and argue intricate points from the vedas,puranas and the dharmasastras in a debate which resulted in his composition of the siddhantavijaya in sanskrit.He prepared the samskara manual(karmakalpadruma), which was published by Pratapsimha. The CKP as an educated elite therefore, were a serious challenge to the Brahman monopoly of Vedokta.}}}}

===British era and later===
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 and other regions of India, such as Baroda.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Gulati|editor-first1=Leela|editor-last2=Bagchi|editor-first2=Jasodhara|last=Mehta|first=Vijaya|title=A space of her own : personal narratives of twelve women|date=2005|publisher=SAGE|location=London|isbn=9780761933151|page=181|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdzF06JsGyMC&pg=PA181}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=June 2017}}

The British era of the 1800s and 1900s saw the publications dedicated to finding sources of CKP history<ref name="divekar1978">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.</ref> The book ''Prabhu Kul Deepika'' gives the [[gotra]]s ([[rishi]] name) and [[pravaras]] etc. of the CKP caste. Another publication, ''Kayastha-mitra'' (Volume 1, No.9. Dec 1930) gives a list of north Indian princely families that belonged to the CKP caste.<ref name="divekar81">{{cite book | author = V.D Divekar| title = Survey of Material in Marathi on the Economic and Social History of India |publisher = Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandala|page =61|year = 1981|quote=On the historical information relating to Chandraseneeya Kayastha Prabhus (known popularly as &dquo;C.K.P.s&dquo;) we have a good book published from Baroda (no publication date) under the title Prabhu-kul-deepika. The book gives detailed information about the Gotras, Pravaras, allied caste names, surnames, etc., of the members of the C.K.P. caste. R.R. Pradhan, in an issue of Kayastha-mitra (Vol. 1, No. 9, December 1930, pp. 2-3) gives a list of north Indian princely families that belonged to the C.K.P. caste.  We may mention here two such publications: Chandraseneeya Kayastha Prabhunchd itihas dni Sans-theche patrak (Baroda, 1891); and, Chdndraseneeya Kdyastha Prabhu samci-jachyd itihäsáche digdarshan, by R.N. Pradhan (Baroda, 1918). Seetanandan has compiled a detailed list of authors belonging to the C.K.P. caste}}</ref>

[[Rango Bapuji Gupte]], the CKP representative of the deposed Raja Pratapsinh Bhosale of Satara spent 13 years in London in the 1840s and 50s to plead for restoration of the ruler without success. At the time of the [[Indian rebellion of 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.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Bates|editor-first1=Crispin|last=Naregal|first=Veena|title=Mutiny at the margins : new perspectives on the Indian uprising of 1857.|date=2013|publisher=SAGE|location=Los Angeles|isbn=9788132109709|pages=167–186}}</ref>

When the prominent Marathi historian [[Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade]] contested their claimed Kshatriya status in a 1916 essay, [[Prabodhankar Thackeray]] objected to Rajwade's assumptions  and wrote a text outlining the identity of the 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".<ref name="Prachi2007">{{cite book | author=Prachi Deshpande | title=Creative Pasts: Historical Memory And Identity in Western India, 1700–1960 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5FdJnnDhSwC&pg=PA181 | access-date=1 September 2012 | year=2007 | publisher=Columbia University Press | isbn=978-0-231-12486-7 | page=181}}</ref><ref name="Sen 1969 p. ">{{cite book | last=Sen | first=S.P. | title=Studies in Modern Indian History: A Regional Survey | publisher=Institute of Historical Studies | year=1969 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTzRAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2024-01-25 | page=81}}</ref>

[[Gail Omvedt]] concludes that during the British era, the overall literacy of Brahmins and CKP was overwhelmingly high as opposed to the literacy of others such as the [[Kunbi]]s and [[Maratha]]s for whom it was strikingly low.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Omvedt |first=Gail|title=Development of the Maharashtrian Class Structure, 1818 to 1931|journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]] |volume=8 |issue=31/33 |pages=1418–1419 |date=August 1973|quote=page 1426:There is difficulty in using such Census data, particularly because the various categories tended to be defined in different ways in different years, and different criteria were used in different provinces for classifying the population. Nonetheless, the overall trend is clear...page 1419:Male literacy rates were much higher than the male and female together, but show the same pattern, as does the literacy in English. Not only were the Brahmans and CKPs overwhelmingly dominant, but maratha kunbi figures were amazingly low, especially for bombay province. Even allowing for the effects of sampling differences, the low rates for the marathas kunbis are striking, and it is noteworthy that many artisan castes were more literate. This also tended to be true in the central provinces-Berar.}}</ref>{{efn|Omvedt does add a proviso saying that :There is difficulty in using such Census data, particularly because the various categories tended to be defined in different ways in different years, and different criteria were used in different provinces for classifying the population. Nonetheless, the overall trend is clear}}

In 1902, all communities other than Marathi Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmins, Prabhus (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus, [[Pathare Prabhus]]) and [[Parsi]] were considered backward and 50% reservation was provided for them in by the [[princely state]] of [[Kolhapur]]. In 1925, the only communities that were not considered backward by the British Government in the [[Bombay Presidency]] were Brahmins, CKP, Pathare Prabhus, Marwaris, Parsis, Banias and Christians.<ref>{{cite book|title=The construction of minorities: cases for comparison across time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2vAR02K6ecC&pg=PA222|page=222|editor1=André Burguière|editor2=Raymond Grew|year=2001| publisher=University of Michigan Press |quote=Reservations for backward communities were instituted in Bombay after 1925, when a government resolution defined backward classes as all except for "Brahmins, Prabhus, Marwaris, Parsis, Banias, and Christians."|isbn=978-0472067374}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Myth of the Lokamanya: Tilak and Mass Politics in Maharashtra|publisher=University of California Press|author=Richard I. Cashman|url=https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich/page/116 116]|quote=when he issued the resolution of july 26th,1902, reserving, 50% of future vacancies in the kolhapur state service for the members of the "backward classes"The backward castes were considered to be those groups other than the advanced communities, namely the brahmans ,Prabhus, Shenvis and parsis|isbn=9780520024076|date=1975-01-01}}</ref><ref name="gupchup">{{cite book| title=Bombay: Social Change 1813–1857| author=Vijaya Gupchup|page=166,167|quote=(page 167) The Bhandaris were given a permit for the manufacture of liquor but were forbidden to sell their products to castes such as Brahmins and Shenvis and the Prabhus because these were required by their caste laws to abstain from drinking.(page 166) The other intellectual class[besides Brahmins], the Prabhus were once again subdivided in the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and the Pathare Prabhus.}}</ref>

In Pune, the descendents of [[Sakharam Hari Gupte]] donated premises for conducting thread ceremonies and marriages for the members of the CKP community and the facilities were available to other communities as well.<ref name=Oturkar>{{cite book|title=Poona: Look and Outlook|editor=Rajaram Vinayak Oturka|author=Rajaram Vinayak Oturka|publisher=Municipal Corporation(Pune)|page=133|quote=Sakharam Hari Gupte C. K. P. Karyalaya : The above Karya- laya is situated at 4 Narayan Peth, Poona, on a site secured from the Sardar Ambegavkar family of Baroda on a nominal rent, through the efforts of the C. K. P. Swayamsevak Sangh which also collected donations from members of the C. K. P. community for the construction of the building. The objects of the trust are to promote the educational, moral and cultural welfare of the C. K. P. community. The premises are let out particularly for marriage and thread ceremonies to members of the community and when possible to other communities as well.}}</ref>

According to the studies by D.L.Sheth, the former director of the [[Centre for the Study of Developing Societies|Center for the Study of Developing Societies in India (CSDS)]], educated upper castes and communities – Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, CKPs, the Chitpawans, [[Nagar Brahmins]], South Indian Brahmins, [[Bhadralok]] [[Bengalis]], etc., along with the Parsis and upper crusts of the Muslim and Christian society were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian independence]], that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.). According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated "beyond school"<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|author=Pavan K. Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref>

==Culture==

The mother tongue of most of the community is now [[Marathi language|Marathi]], though in [[Gujarat]] they also communicate with their neighbours in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], and use the [[Gujarati script]], while those in Maharashtra speak English and [[Hindi]] with outsiders, and use the [[Devanagari script]].{{cn|date=December 2024}}

According to anthropologist [[Iravati Karve]], their "ways of living, dress, worship, cremation" are exactly like those of the Brahmins except that they are not necessarily vegetarian.<ref>{{cite book | last=Karve | first=I.K. | title=Maharashtra, Land and Its People | publisher=Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State | series=Gazetteer of India | year=1968 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLkLAQAAIAAJ | access-date=2024-01-25|quote=During the Maratha fight against Aurangazeb they distinguished themselves as loyal and staurch supporters of Shivaji Sambhaji and Rajaram and made a name as warriors also. They are today mostly government employees, teachers, lawyers, doctors etc. They are an intellectually keen and are a progressive community ...Their way of living, dress, worship, cremation ceremonies are like those of the Brahmins except that they eat fish, fowl and mutton. They are mostly concentrated in the region north of Bombay and are found in great numbers in the cities of Bombay and Poona. Some families are found in the villages near the western Ghats where they hold inam lands.}}</ref>

The CKPs holds  the [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] rank of [[Kshatriya]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurtz |first1=Donald V. |year=2009 |title=The Last Institution Standing: Contradictions and the politics of Domination in an Indian University |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=611–640 |doi=10.3998/jar.0521004.0065.404 |jstor=25608264 |s2cid=147219376 |quote=The CKP jati is resident largely in Maharashtra, holds the varna rank of Kshatria, which commonly, except by some Brahmans,  is accorded a caste [social] status equal to that of the Chitpawan Brahmans.}}</ref><ref name="mifflin1970" /><ref name="Zeiler2019">{{cite book |author=Fritzi-Marie Titzmann |title=Digital Hinduism |date=24 October 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-60732-2 |editor=Xenia Zeiler |pages=59 |quote=22.Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu. CKP is a Kshatriya subcaste whose members live predominantly in Maharashtra.}}</ref> They performed three "vedic karmas"(studying vedas, fire sacrifice, giving alms) as opposed to full("Shatkarmi") Brahmins who performed six vedic duties which also include accepting gifts, teaching Vedas to other and performing vedic rites for others.<ref name="chib161"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Bombay: Social Change, 1813–1857|author= Vijaya Gupchup|publisher=Popular Book Depot|quote=The Brahmana's six duties (Satakarmas) are studying the Vedas and teaching them, performing rites for himself and for others, giving and accepting gifts. Trikarmi means that one can study the Vedas, perform rites for himself and give gifts.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Goan Society in Transition: A Study in Social Change|page=61|publisher=Popular Prakashan|year=1975|author=Bento Graciano D'Souza|quote=The most important of the Konkani caste communities were: (1) The Saraswat Brahmins such as Shenvis, Sastikars, Bardesh- ... They are, therefore, called Trikarmi Brahmins as distinguished from Shatkarmi Brahmins who performed all the six duties}}</ref> They also followed  rituals, like the [[Upanayana|sacred thread (Janeu) ceremony]],<ref name="kssingh19982"/> the observation of the period of mourning and seclusion by person of a deceased's lineage by the CKPs has traditionally been for 10 days although [[Kshatriya]]s generally observe it for 12 days.<ref name="kssingh19982" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Paul Gwynne |title=World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=2017 |page=146 |quote=According to tradition the defilement period differs by class; 10 days for brahmin, 12 days for kshatriya , 15 days for vaishya and one month for shudra.}}</ref> Educationally and professionally, 20th century research showed that the Saraswat, CKP, Deshastha and Chitpawan were quite similar.<ref name="aphale76" /> Researcher and professor Dr.Neela Dabir sums it up as follows "In Maharashtra for instance, the family norms among the Saraswat Brahmins and CKPs were similar to those of the Marathi Brahmins". However, she also criticizes these communities by concluding that until the 20th century, the Marathi Brahmin, CKP and Saraswat Brahmin communities, due to their upper-caste ritualistic norms, traditionally discouraged widow remarriage. This resulted in distress in the lives of widows from these castes as opposed to widows from other Marathi Hindu castes.<ref>{{cite book|title=women in distress|author=Dr.Neela Dabir|pages=97, 99|publisher=Rawat Publishers|year=2000}}</ref>

They worship [[Ganesh]], [[Vishnu]] and other Hindu gods.<ref name="chib161"/> Some CKPs may also be devotees of the religious [[swami]]s from their own caste – Ram Maruti Maharaj(Deshpande) and "Gajanan Maharaj (Gupte)", who took [[samadhi]]s at [[Kalyan]] (in 1919) and [[Nasik]] (in 1946) respectively.<ref name="IWI">{{cite book |title=The illustrated weekly of India, volume 91, part 3 |year=1970 |pages=6–13}}</ref>{{efn|quote from page 14: Rubbing shoulders with the portraits of the Gods and Goddesses would be pictures of Ram Maruti Maharaj or Gajanan Maharaj(both CKP Swamis, whose samadhis are at Kalyan and Nasik respectively)....Almost every C K.P home will have either a coloured or a black-and-white portrait of Sai Baba of Shirdi...}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Mountain Path – Volume 12 – No.1| page=37|publisher=T. N. Venkataraman,Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai|author=N.S.Pathak|quote=[by N.S.Pathak] My guru, Sri Gajanan Maharaj Gupte of Nasik (who attained Mahasamadhi in September 1946) was, in 1943, invited by Sri Ramana Maharshi Mandal of Matunga, Bombay, to attend the 63rd birth anniversary celebrations...}}</ref> Many CKP clans have [[Ekvira]] temple at Karle as their family deity whereas others worship Vinzai, Kadapkarin, Janani as their family deity.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zelliot|first1=Eleanor|last2=Berntsen|first2=Maxine|title=The Experience of Hinduism : essays on religion in Maharashtra|date=1988|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, N.Y.|isbn=9780887066627|page=[https://archive.org/details/experienceofhind00zell/page/335 335]|url=https://archive.org/details/experienceofhind00zell|url-access=registration|quote=ckp.}}</ref>

CKPs have had a progressive attitude regarding female education compared to other communities. For example, Dr. Christine Dobbin's research concludes that the educationally advanced communities in the 1850s – the CKPS, [[Pathare Prabhu]]s, [[Saraswat]]s, [[Daivadnya]] and the [[Parsi]]s were the first communities in the [[Bombay Presidency]] that allowed female education.<ref>{{cite book|title=Urban leadership in western India|url=https://archive.org/details/urbanleadershipi0000dobb_6|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/urbanleadershipi0000dobb_6/page/57 57–58]|author=Christine Dobbin|publisher=Oxford University Press| year=1972|isbn=978-0-19-821841-8 }}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{ notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Prabhu Communities of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Kayastha]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]