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{{Short description|Brahmin sub-caste from Maharashtra, India}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2024}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = Karhade Brahmins
| total =
| popplace = Primary populations in [[Maharashtra]]
| langs = [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and Konkani (Karhadi dialect)
}}

'''Karhaḍe Brahmins''' (also spelled as '''Karada Brahmins''' or '''Karad Brahmins''') are a [[Hindu]] [[Brahmin]] sub-caste mainly from the Indian state of [[Maharashtra]], but are also distributed in the states of [[Goa]], [[Karnataka]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Patterson|first=Maureen L. P.|title=Caste and Political Leadership in Maharashtra: A Review and Current Appraisal|journal=The Economic Weekly|date=25 September 1954|page=1065|url=http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1954_6/39/caste_and_political_leadership_in_maharashtraa_review_and_current_appraisal.pdf|access-date=14 October 2017|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828174930/http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1954_6/39/caste_and_political_leadership_in_maharashtraa_review_and_current_appraisal.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Based on Veda and Vedanta ==
Karhade Brahmins are essentially Rigvedi Brahmins who follow the Ashwalayana Sutra and belong to [[Shakala Shakha]]. Karhade Brahmins are divided into two groups based on the [[Vedanta]] they follow, the first of which follows the [[Advaita Vedanta]] of [[Adi Shankara]] and the second of which follows the [[Dvaita Vedanta]] of [[Madhvacharya]]. Hence, Karhade Brahmins have both Smarthas and [[Madhvas]] (also known as ''Bhagvats'' or [[Vaishnavas]]) among them.<ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding Our Fellow Pilgrims|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IXYAAAAMAAJ|page=65|author=Gregory Naik|publisher=Gujarat Sahitya Prakash|year=2000|quote=The Karhada Brahmins: The Brahmins lived in southern parts of modern Maharashtra, between Konkan and Desh, in a province, then called Karathak, comprising Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur, with Karad as capital. Hence the name of Karhada Brahmins. Among them too there are Smartas and Madhvas or Bhagwats (Vaishnavites).|isbn=9788187886105}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYSd-3yL9h0C&pg=PA113|page=113|publisher=Asian Educational Services|author=Syed Siraj ul Hassan|year=1989|isbn=9788120604889|quote=The Karhades are all Rigvedis of the Shakala Shaka, who respect the sutra, or aphorism, of Ashwalayana. They belong to both the Smartha, and the Vaishnava sects, and in religious and spiritual matters follow the guidance of Sri Shankaracharya, and Madhwacharya, respectively.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZotAAAAMAAJ|title=Studies in Indian Cultural History Volume 3|author=Parshuram Krishna Gode|year=1960|page=24|quote=The Karhadas are both स्मार्त and वैष्णव. The वैष्णव group is of माध्वमत.}}</ref> Like their Deshastha counterparts, traditionally the karhade allowed cross-cousin marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1959_11/4-5-6/what_is_casteiv_castesociety_and_vedantic_thought.pdf |title=Karve, I., 1958. What is caste. Economic Weekly, 10(4), p.153 |access-date=3 October 2019 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121073501/https://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1959_11/4-5-6/what_is_casteiv_castesociety_and_vedantic_thought.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Brahmanic Ritual Traditions in the Crucible of Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2VIqAAAAYAAJ|page=140|author=Baidyanath Saraswati|publisher=Indian Institute of Advanced Study|year=1977|isbn=9780896844780|quote=In Maharashtra, the Brahmans generally practise cross-cousin marriage in which a man marries his matulikanya. Among the Saraswata, the Karhada and the Desastha Rigvedi Brahmans of this region it is indeed the preferred type of marriage, but the Chitpavan follow the North Indian custom.}}</ref>

;Sub-division and other claims
There are three divisions of Karhade Brahmins - Karhade (from [[Desh, Maharashtra|Desh]]), [[Padye]]<ref name="Larios2017">{{cite book|author=Borayin Larios|title=Embodying the Vedas: Traditional Vedic Schools of Contemporary Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNwtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR5|date=10 April 2017|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-051732-3|page=91}}</ref> and [[Bhatt Prabhu]] (from [[Konkan]]). "Padhye" was a further division of "Padye" - and were Khots or farmers. There are three sub-castes in Karhade Brahmans 1. Karhade 2. Padye and 3. Bhatt Prabhu. Padyes were found mostly in Ambuj province of Konkan . According to author Pran Nath Chopra, The Karhade Brahmins who were appointed as the priests came to be called as "''Upadhyayas''" which in due course became ''Padhye''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religions and Communities of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAtuAAAAMAAJ|page=56|author=Pran Nath Chopra|publisher=East-West Publications|year=1982|quote=These Karhade were appointed priests and came to be called Upadhyayas which in due course became Upadhye.|isbn=978-0856920813}}</ref> [[Polly O'Hanlon|Rosalind O’Hanlon]] mentions Padhye as a separate individual caste and denies it being a subcaste of Karhade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Hanlon |first=Rosalind |date=2010 |title=Letters Home: Banaras pandits and the Maratha regions in early modern India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27764655 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=206 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X09990229 |jstor=27764655 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Origin==

=== Origin and history ===
[[Skanda Purana]] (Sahyadri Khanda) as well as [[Brahmanda Purana]] are very harsh towards Karhade Brahmins.<ref>"A socio-cultural history of Goa from the Bhojas to the Vijayanagara" By Vithal Raghavendra Mitragotri Published by Institute Menezes Braganza, 1999, Original from the University of Michigan, Pages:50.</ref> According to ''Sahyadri Khanda'', Karhades are fallen Brahmins from the polluted land of Karashtra, and made offerings to the wicked goddess Matrika. The text derives their name from the word Karashtra ("evil land"), as well as the words "donkey-bones" (khara-ashti), stating that they originated when some semen spilled on a heap of donkey bones.{{sfn|Rosalind O'Hanlon|2013|pp=105-106}}

==== Scholarly interpretation ====

According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written "before or around the end of the first millennium": it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue. The remaining text appears to have been written later, as it describes the [[Pancha Gauda]] and [[Pancha Dravida]] classification of Brahmins, which became popular during the 13th-14th centuries.{{sfn|Rosalind O'Hanlon|2013|p=103}}

German academic [[Alexander Henn]], citing Stephan Hillyer Levitt and João Manuel Pacheco de Figueiredo, describes the ''Sahyadri-khanda'' as an apparently recently organised. Based on Levitt's work, he states that the earliest of these texts dates to the 5th century, and the latest to the 13th century.{{sfn|Henn|2014|p=87}} Madhav Deshpande believes that the motivation in writing this negative account in Sahyadri Khanda is suspect because it is a "pro-saraswat" text and the Brahmins of Maharashtra, i.e. [[Deshastha]], [[Chitpavan]] and Karhade were unanimous in the rejection of the Brahmin claim of the [[Gaud Saraswat Brahmins]]. Deshpande considers it a "virulent anti-Karhāḍe tirade". Lewitt suggests that the transmission of the text was recently in Saraswat hands for some time.{{efn|Although the quote uses the word 'saraswat', the context of the paper shows that he refers to Gaud Saraswat only and the source referred by the source for the cases is ''The History and Social Organization of the Gauḍa Sārasvata Brāhmanas of the West Coast of India''(1970) by Wagle}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Deshpande, M.M.| year=2010|title= Pañca Gauḍa and Pañca Drāviḍa: Contested borders of a traditional classification| journal=Studia Orientalia: 108|pages=30–54|quote=The Deśasthas, Citpāvans and Karhāḍes were united in their rejection of the brahminhood for the Sārasvatas, and Wagle himself provides evidence of this animosity. See Wagle 1970b: 318–319 for court cases filed by different brahmins against the Sārasvatas in 1788 ad, 1850 ad and 1864 ad. Also see Bambardekar 1939 and Conlon 1977: 39ff}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Levitt S. H.| year = 2017|title =Reflections on the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa's Uttarārdha|journal= Studia Orientalia Electronica | volume = 5|pages= 151–161| doi = 10.23993/store.65156|doi-access = free}}</ref>

The Karhade Brahmins take their name from the town of [[Karad]] in [[Satara district]], the sacred junction of the [[Koyna River|Koyna]] and [[Krishna River|Krishna]]. They migrated to the region between [[Malvan]] and [[Sangameshwar]] near the [[Konkan coast]] and made it their homeland. The Karhade section, though it takes its name from [[Karad]], a place in the [[Deccan]] region, is found chiefly in the [[Konkan coast]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bio-anthropological Research in India: Proceedings of the Seminar in Physical Anthropology and Allied Disciplines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOsDAAAAMAAJ|author=Hirendra K. Rakshit|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India|year=1975|page=68}}</ref> Author Sandhya Gokhale says, "Karhade Brahmins are generally thought to be a branch of the [[Deshastha|Deshastha Rigvedis]] who immigrated from their home in [[Satara district]] to the southern part of [[Ratnagiri]] on the [[Konkan Coast]], where they were principally settled".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Chitpavans: Social Ascendancy of a Creative Minority in Maharashtra, 1818-1918|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez4wAQAAIAAJ|page=28|author=Sandhya Gokhale|publisher=Shubhi Publications|year=2008|isbn = 9788182901322|quote=Karhade Brahmans are generally thought to be a branch of the Deshastha Rigvedis who immigrated from their home in Satara district to the southern part of Ratnagiri on the Konkan Coast, where they were principally settled.}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
Most Karhade Brahmins live in Maharashtra though a significant population exist in [[Goa]], [[Karnataka]], and cities outside Maharashtra such as [[Sagar, Madhya Pradesh|Sagar]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=John|title=The Movement of Elites in Western India under Early British Rule|journal=The Historical Journal|date=1971|volume=14|issue=2|pages=241–262|jstor=2637955}}</ref> and [[Indore]],<ref name="Jones1974">{{cite book|author=Rodney W. Jones|title=Urban Politics in India: Area, Power, and Policy in a Penetrated System|url=https://archive.org/details/urbanpoliticsini0000jone_v3u0|url-access=registration|year=1974|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02545-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/urbanpoliticsini0000jone_v3u0/page/53 53]}}</ref> [[Gwalior]] and [[Jabalpur]] in present-day state of [[Madhya Pradesh]]. Ancestors of these people moved to these places during 18th century during the [[Maratha Empire]] period. A southern branch of the Karhade settled around the Udupi - Mangalore - Kasargod region of the Malabar coast and they are called the "Karadas” and share their traditions with Kerala Brahmins and the Brahmins of [[South Karnataka]].<ref>{{cite book|title=India's Communities, Volume 5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MVAQAAMAAJ|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|page=1583|isbn = 9780195633542}}</ref>

== Culture ==

===Language===
[[Marathi language|Marathi]] is the mother tongue of most of the Karhade Brahmins in Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/3890/mitragotri_v_r_1992.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=A socio-cultural history of Goa from the Bhojas to the Vijayanagara|author=Vithal Raghavendra Mitragotri|publisher=Institute Menezes Braganza|year=1999|page=54}}</ref>

===Diet===
Karhade Brahmins generally follow a [[vegetarian]] diet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Kumar Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MVAQAAMAAJ |title=People of India: India's communities |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 |language=en}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
*[[Moropant|Moropant Ramachandra Paradkar]] (1729–1794), [[Marathi language|Marathi]] poet who was the last among those classified by Marathi literary scholars as ''pandit'' (पंडित) poets.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYSd-3yL9h0C|page=115|author=Syed Siraj ul Hassan|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=1989|isbn = 9788120604889|quote=The Karhada Brahmans are remarkable for their neat and cleanly habits and hospitable conduct. They are a very intelligent class and have risen to high offices under the present Government. The poet Moropant and the notoriously brave Rani Laxmibai of Zansi belonged to this caste.}}</ref>
*[[Balshastri Jambhekar]] (1810–1846), journalist and founder of ''Darpan'', the first newspaper in the [[Marathi language]].<ref>Tucker, R., 1976. Hindu Traditionalism and Nationalist Ideologies in Nineteenth-Century Maharashtra. Modern Asian Studies, 10(3), pp.321-348.</ref>
*[[Govind Pant Bundela|Govind Ballal Kher]] (Govind Pant Bundela) (1710 - 1760), general and trustee of Peshwa [[Bajirao I]] 's territories in Bundelkhand.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=John|title=The Movement of Elites in Western India under Early British Rule|journal=The Historical Journal|date=1971|volume=14|issue=2|pages=241–262|jstor=2637955}}</ref>
*[[Visaji Krushna Biniwale]], Visaji Krushna Chinchalkar, popularly known as Visaji Pant Biniwale, was one of the leading generals of [[Peshwas]] in [[Northern India]] during 1759 to 1772. Peshwa [[Madhavrao I]] mainly sought his assistance in his attempt to restore [[Maratha Empire]] in the North after the defeat in the [[Battle of Panipat (1761)]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Poona in the Eighteenth Century:An Urban History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9QcAAAAMAAJ|author=Balkrishna Govind Gokhale|year=1988|page=122|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-562137-2 |quote=Visaji Krishna Biniwale (a Karhada Brahman) rose to eminence as a military commander under Balaji Bajirao.}}</ref>
*[[Rani of Jhansi|Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi]] (1828–1858), one of the leaders of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{cite book| title= Women Against the Raj: The Rani of Jhansi Regiment| author= Joyce Lebra|quote=Myth and history intertwine closely in the life if the Rani of Jhansi, known in childhood as Manu...She was born in the holy city of Varanasi to a Karhada brahmin, Moropant Tambe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuw1Wt1-O7EC&pg=PA2|page=2| isbn= 9789812308092| year= 2008| publisher= Institute of Southeast Asian Studies}}</ref>
*The [[Newalkar]]s - military leaders under the [[Peshwa]] and later rulers of [[Jhansi State|Jhansi]].{{Sfn|Chapman|1986|p=13}}
*[[Govind Sakharam Sardesai]] (1865–1959), historian.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Karve|first1=D.D.|title=The New Brahmans: Five Maharashtrian Families|date=1963|publisher=Univ of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|page=[https://archive.org/details/newbrahmansfivem00karv/page/5 5]|url=https://archive.org/details/newbrahmansfivem00karv|url-access=registration}}</ref>
*[[Bhaskar Ramchandra Tambe]] (1874–1941), Marathi-language poet.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Natarajan|editor-first1=Nalini|title=Handbook of twentieth century literatures of India|date=1996|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=9780313287787|pages=219, 221, 227|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/}}</ref>
*[[Govind Ballabh Pant]] (10 September 1887 – 7 March 1961), Indian freedom fighter, one of the architects of modern India and first [[List of Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh|Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh]]. Recipient of [[Bharat Ratna]]. His ancestors migrated from the coastal Konkan region centuries ago to [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] region in present-day [[Uttarakhand]] state.<ref>{{cite book|title=B.G. Kher, the Gentleman Premier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EtAAAAAMAAJ|author=M. V. Kamath|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|year=1989|page=5|quote=Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant was a Karhade Brahmin whose ancestors went north from Karhatak.}}</ref>
*[[B. G. Kher]] (1888–1957), first Chief Minister of [[Bombay Presidency]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Patterson |first=Maureen L. P. |year=1968 |chapter=Chitpavan Brahmin Family Histories: Sources for a Study of Social Structure and Social Change in Maharashtra |title=Structure and Change in Indian society |page=533 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWQ-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT532 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=9781351487801 |editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn}}</ref>
*[[Laxmanrao Kirloskar]] (1869 – 1956) was an Indian businessman. He is the founder of the [[Kirloskar Group]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xcbBEHHI-90C|title = India's Industrialists|isbn = 9780894104749|last1 = Herdeck|first1 = Margaret|last2 = Piramal|first2 = Gita|year = 1985| publisher=Three Continents Press }}</ref>
*[[Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar]] (1903–1991), [[Kirloskar Group]] son of noted industrialist [[Laxmanrao Kirloskar]].<ref>{{cite book|title=India's Industrialists, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xcbBEHHI-90C|page=145|author1=Margaret Herdeck|author2=Gita Piramal|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|year=1985|isbn=978-0894104152}}</ref>
*[[M. S. Golwalkar]] (1906–1973), [[Sarsanghachalak]] of the Hindu nationalist [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Jyotirmaya|title=Terrifying vision : M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS, and India|date=2007|publisher=Penguin, Viking|location=New Delhi |isbn=978-0670999507 |page=x |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozLMmp6pcJ4C&pg=PR9}}</ref>
*[[Jitendra Abhisheki]] (1929–1997) was an Indian vocalist, composer and scholar of Indian classical, semi-classical, and devotional music for in a [[Padye]] Karhade Brahmin family. While he distinguished himself in Hindustani music, he is also credited for the revival of the Marathi musical theatre in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jitendra Abhisheki - ECLP 2367 - (Condition 85-90%) |url=https://ngh.co.in/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=16758 |access-date=6 February 2022 |website=ngh.co.in}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Deshastha Brahmin]]
*[[Chitpawan Brahmin]]
*[[Marathi people]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Alexander | last = Henn |title=Hindu-Catholic Encounters in Goa |year=2014 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-01300-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFZ_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Rosalind O'Hanlon |title=Performance in a World of Paper: Puranic Histories and Social communication in Early Modern India |year=2013 |journal=Past and Present |issue=219 |publisher=Oxford University Press / The Past and Present Society |jstor=24543602 |pages=87–126 }}
*{{Citation|title=The Rani of Jhansi: A Study in Female Heroism in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oMeAAAAMAAJ|first=Joyce Lebra|last=Chapman|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1986|isbn = 9780824809843}}
{{refend}}

{{Ethnic and social groups of Goa and the Konkan}}

[[Category:Brahmin communities of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Surnames of Indian origin]]

Karhade Brahmin - Revision history

ToniaMirams219 at 14:02, 26 March 2026