Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred to as North-Indian Kayastha, is a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India.
In Hindu texts and traditions, they are described to have descended from the Hindu god Chitragupta[2][3][4] who is usually depicted carrying "a flowing notebook, a pen and an inkpot" engaged in writing down human deeds.[5] They are further divided into twelve § Subgroups, each of which is claimed to be the progeny of Chitragupta's two consorts.[6][7]
The earliest recorded history of these groups goes to the early medieval period of Indian history,[8] while the word "Kayastha" itself dates to the third-century CE.[9] The North Indian Kayasthas were powerful components of the upper-bureaucracy and made highly influential urban elites under Hindu kings.[10] They are mentioned in several Sanskrit literary, religious and epigraphical texts.[11]
Following Islamic invasions of India, they became some of the first Indian groups to learn Persian regularly[12] and eventually became integrated into an Indo-Muslim governing community[13] gaining hereditary control over the position of Qanungo (transl. "Registrar")[14] but rarely converting to Islam.[15]
Under the colonial rule, many Kayastha families became early beneficiaries of the British power and success in the subcontinent.[16] In 1919, Kayasthas accounted for two-thirds of all Indian Government law members across north India, with most of them in the United Provinces.[17]
Etymology
According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskritkāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in).[18] The suffix vanshi is derived from the Sanskrit word vansh (वंश) which translates to belonging to a particular family dynasty.[19]
History
Early North India
(Top): A temple in the Garhwa Fort complex at Prayagraj commissioned by a Vastavya-Kayastha Thakkura in 1142 CE. (Bottom): Ajaygarh inscription of Chandelas of Jejakabhukti, recording the genealogy of Vastavya-Kayastha family that served in their kingdom as administrators.
From the eleventh-century onwards, epigraphical texts mention various regional lineages belonging to the North Indian branch of the Kayasthas,[8][11] which were identified with their common occupational specialization[20] and whose members had become particularly influential in the administration of mediaeval kingdoms.[21] Some Kayasthas even had feudatory status; some had received the title of Pandita for their extensive knowledge, while others, who were financially well-off, commissioned construction of temples.[22] The earliest epigraphic mention of Chitragupta having any connection with the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas appears around the same period from a royal charter (dated 1115 CE) written by a Srivastava feudatory of Govindachandra of Kannauj.[23][24] Similar epigraphic records mention Mathur feudatory of Udayasimha,[25] and members of other Kayastha branches holding important administrative positions under different mediaeval kingdoms.[26]
Soḍḍhala, the author of the eleventh-century Sanskrit work Udayasundarī Kathā, called himself a Vālabhya-Kayastha while also claiming to be a Kshatriya (warrior class).[27] The members of this lineage, possibly from Vallabhi, are mentioned as early as ninth-century in the epigraphs of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha.[28]
Kayasthas, according to Romila Thapar, had become a "powerful component of the upper-bureaucracy" and were on occasion "highly respected as royal biographers" and composers of inscriptions. Inviting them as professional scribes was considered an indicator of an established kingdom.[29] Thapar also notes that "as recipients of office and holders of grants of land, brahmanas, kayasthas, and sreshtins (wealthy merchants)" were moving into a cultural circle which "attempted to diffuse a Sanskritic culture" [30]
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, Kayasthas became "king-makers and the most influential urban elites".[10]
Indo-Islamic Era
Munshi Hargopal Tafta (d. 1879) - the chief shagird of Mirza Ghalib came from a Bhatnagar Kayastha family.
The rise of Timuri political power after the sixteenth century had the effect of opening new roles for Kayasthas.[31] The North-Indian Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian regularly even before it became the court language.[12] Kayasthas were a major demographic block in maktabs (equivalent of primary school) where they acquired skills of copying and writing, which were necessary for working in various Mughal departments.[32] Thus, Kayasthas became conversant with and literate in wider Perso-Arabic fiscal lexicon[33] and started to fulfil requirements of the Mughal administration as qanungos (transl. "Registrar") and patwaris (transl. "Accountant").[34] Kayasthas, according to Irfan Habib, were the "second layer" of revenue management in Mughal India, dealing with rudiments of revenue collection, land records, and paper management, where their basic Persian literacy and copying skills were put to use.[35]
By the eighteenth century, Kayasthas' control of the qanungo position had essentially become hereditary.[14]
Some Kayasthas were elevated to high ranking positions, such as Raghunath Ray Kayastha (d. 1664)—the Mughal Empire's "acting wazir" (transl. "Prime Minister") and finance minister, whom Emperor Aurangzeb regarded as the greatest administrator he had ever met, and Chandar Bhan Brahman referred to as the "frontispiece in the book of the men of the pen of Hindustan".[36] Emperor Akbar's finance minister, Raja Todar Mal (born in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh), is often referred to as a Kayastha.[37] In fact, it was under Akbar's reign and Todar Mal's encouragement that most Kayasthas learnt Persian and were appointed as qanungos in the first place.[38]
As their participation in Indo-Persian cultural forms grew, so did their interactions with Muslims, and the Kayasthas gradually became loosely integrated into an Indo-Muslim governing community.[13] The North Indian Kayasthas, in contrast to CKPs and Bengali Kayasthas, became known for adopting an Indo-Muslim lifestyle, which was reflected in their attire, mannerism, and a common affinity for sharab (transl. wine) with Muslim aristocracy.[39] To navigate the Indo-Muslim circle of service and literacy, many adopted Perso-Arabic pennames.[13]
Table 1. Some Perso-Arabic pennames and titles adopted by North Indian Kayasthas
Name
Meaning
Raizada
Son of a king (Rais), or boss
Malik
Chief
Bakshi
Paymaster
Inamdar
The rewarded one
Qanungo
Of the law/custom/registrar
Daftri
Office-person
Daulatzada
Son of authority
Umid
Hope
Gulab
Rosewater
Daulat
Wealth
Fateh
Victory
Farhad
Happiness
The ulama, Muslim aristocracy, and Persian poets, on the other hand, looked down on Kayasthas for wielding influence, labelling them "disloyal, cruel, cheats, and extortionists". According to Ayesha Jalal, unless it was a full-fledged conversion some Muslims kept Hindus ‘at a figurative and literal arm's length’. One Muslim commentator noted that the Hindu pensman who spoke Persian was a ‘neo-Muslim, but still retained [sic] the smell of kufr [infidelity] and discord in his heart'.[40] The Muslim reformer Shah Waliullah once complained that ‘all [of India's] accountants and clerks [are] Hindus…they control [sic] the country's wealth’. Kayasthas had to try and convince Muslims that they did not represent infidelity in Islam, as ulama claimed.[41] Many Kayasthas left their sacred thread (suta) at home when Emperor Aurangzeb made it illegal to wear it at court.[42]
Most Kayasthas remained pragmatic and vocationally oriented towards their Persian language skills,[43] probably with the exception of Munshi Hargopal Tufta (d. 1879), the chief shagird (transl. "disciple") of Mirza Ghalib.[44][45] They also remained largely reluctant and rarely converted to Islam which, according to H. Bellenoit, limited their "administrative worth".[15] Those who did convert maintained traditions of accountancy and paper-management, and are known as Muslim Kayasthas, a numerically small community of northern India.[46]
The Kayastha's association with the Nawab's began early with Nawal Ray (d. 1750), a Saksena Kayastha from Etawah. In 1748, Safdar Jang made him deputy governor over Allahabad and he was awarded the title of first Raja and then of Maharaja. Nawal died on the battlefield fighting against Pathans on behalf of Safdar [47][48]
Under the reign of Asaf-ud-Daula, the Kayastha Raja Tikait Rai who served as a Diwan (transl. "Finance Minister") became an important figure in the region's administration.[49][50] After him a number of Kayastha administrators such as Raja Jhau Lal, Raja Gulab Rai, Munshi Hardayal, Trilok Chand Bakshi, Raja Jiya Lal and several others made important contributions in administration and cultural activities of Awadh.[51]
In some areas, Kayasthas were more willing to embrace outward signs of a spiritual orientation that was almost Islamic. Many were active members of Sufi shrines and frequently attended in Shia spiritual months of Muharram and Ashura.[52] In 1780s Lucknow, thousands of Kayastha worked as calligraphers who had mastered the Persian works of Hafez and Sadi.[53]
Shiva Dasa 'Lakhnavi', a Kayastha from Awadh, authored his monumental work Shahnama Munawar Kalam in Persian, which provides account of events, political upheavals and factional struggles from the time of Emperor Farrukhsiyar (1712 CE) to Emperor Muhammad Shah's fourth regnal year (1723 CE).[54][55][56]
Bhakti movement
The Kayasthas also became a part of the larger Bhakti movement in northern India.
Dhruvadasa (d. 1643), a Kayastha from Deoband (Uttar Pradesh), whose family served as government servants, is considered one of the Radhavallabh sect's foremost poets.[57] Another Kayastha Ghanananda (d. 1739), who served as the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah's Mir Munshi (transl. "Chief Scribe"), renounced his worldly life and remained in Vrindavan until he was killed by soldiers of Ahmad Shah Abdali. He is regarded as one of the finest Braj Bhasha poets.[58] The most important contribution came from Lalach Kavi, a Kayastha from Raebareli, who in 1530 CE wrote the first ever Hindi vernacular adaptation of the Sanskrit text Bhagavata Purana's "Dasam Skandha".[59]
British Raj
Raja Girdhari Pershad c. 1890: A Kayastha who supervised household and military units for Nizam of Hyderabad
By the 1820s, the East India company's agrarian taxation had built upon a network of paper-managers that reached back into the Late Mughal era. The registrars and accountants provided important information on "rents, assessments and methods of negotiating rent rates".[60] In the Great rebellion triggered by the annexation of Awadh in 1856, many old Nawabi fiscal records were destroyed in Lucknow and Faizabad. Kayastha qanungos and scribes proved to be of great help in achieving fiscal consolidation and integration of the region into north Indian administration.[61] And in this sense, Kayasthas became well-known in the colonial officialdom and it was observed that:
Hindoos of the Kyut [Kayastha] caste are always to be preferred for this duty...generally speaking [they] are respectable, well-dressed and intelligent, and carry much weight with them on entering a village, assuming great consequence, and summoning the village authorities to attend with a great deal of parade and show…he never appears without a bearer holding a chattah (umbrella) over his head.[62]
The early colonial administration, thus, came to be shaped by influential Kayastha families who became early beneficiaries of the British power and success. In 1919, at the cusp of Congress's launch of Civil Disobedience, Kayasthas accounted for two-thirds of all Indian Government law members across north India, with most of them in the United Provinces.[17] One famous Gaur Kayastha, Brij Bhukhan Lal, became the first Indian to hold the post of Registrar Judicial in Oudh.[63]
Kayastha Samachar
Munshi Kali Prasad, who also founded the Kayastha Pathshala, commenced the publication of an Urdu journal - the Kayastha Samachar. It gained recognition among Indian periodicals and was invited to the Delhi Darbar in 1903. Its language was subsequently changed to English whereas name to Hindustan Review and Kayastha Samachar and later Hindustan Review.[64] By 1904, the circulation of the Hindustan Review and Kayastha Samachar was the largest of any Indian monthly.[65]
tax the… Kayasths… who, while growing rich by the pen, oust their betters from their ancestral holdings, and then are too great cowards to wield a sword either to protect their own acquisitions or to aid the Government which has fostered their success.
As part of the British divide and rule strategy, in 1901, the Principal of Queens College received a directive from the Commissioner of Benares and its District Collector that candidates for the Collector's office should "belong to castes other than Kayasthas." Thus, making room for Brahmins and other castes.[66]
Census of India (1931)
According to census of India of 1931, Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas were the most literate caste group in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Around 70% of Kayastha males aged 7 years and over and 19% females were literate.[67][68]
Table 2. Approximate literacy rates of different caste groups according to 1931 census of India in the United Provinces, British India.[67]
The functionality of the Kayasthas, who identified themselves with "Chitragupta and paper-oriented service", was more significant before the 1870s, and historically, their caste status have been ambiguous.[72][73] Kayasthas of northern India regard themselves as a de facto varna that arose to keep records of the four varnas that came before them. Traditions and occupations associated with them, and their belief in the mythical roles assigned to Chitragupta, their progenitor, partly support this claim.[74][75][76]
Social status
By 1900, the Kayasthas became so dominant as a 'service caste' that "their ability to mould north India's governance led to numerous calls from British officialdom to cut their numbers down".[77] The late-nineteenth-century ethnographers and observers unanimously agreed on the Kayasthas' high social status in the Hindu society.[78]
Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas are primarily divided into twelve subgroups. These subgroups have traditionally practiced endogamy within their subgroup. H. Bellenoit has shown that these subgroups tended to reside in certain geographic areas of Hindustan.
Top: Kaithi script (left side bottom most line) on the coins of Sher Shah Suri; Bottom: Chitragupta Puja rituals that involve venerating the pen and paper.
Kaithi is a historical Brahmic script that was used widely in parts of Northern India especially Awadh and Bihar. The script derives its name from the word "Kayastha".[80] Documents in Kaithi are traceable to at least the 16th century. The script was widely used during the Mughal period.
Under the British Raj, the script was recognized as the official script of the law courts in some provinces. John Nesfield in Oudh, George Campbell in Bihar and a committee in Bengal all advocated for the use of the script in education.[81]
Women
Traditionally, the North Indian Kayastha women were allowed to attend school and receive education, but were kept in "far more seclusion than the Rajput women," according to a Colonial era census report.[82] Some patriarchs of the caste also seemed to have kept concubines.[83][84]
A 2015 survey at a District Court revealed that the Kayastha caste appeared to have produced the most female lawyers overall. The Kayastha caste, unlike the majority of other castes in Indian society, typically relies on employment rather than land, hence both men and women in this caste marry after obtaining professional qualifications. The Kayastha women consequently marry at an older-than-average age.[85]
Festivals
Beside celebrating all major Hindu festivals, Kayasthas also celebrate Chitragupta Puja (also known as Kalam-Dawat Puja) around the festival of Diwali.[86][87] The rituals symbolize veneration towards the pen, paper, ink-pot and Chitragupta that are considered indispensable part of the Kayastha heritage.[88]
Diet and cuisine
Kayasth cuisine focuses a great deal on meat – in fact, most vegetables in the Kayastha menu are prepared the same way as meat.[89] Yet traditionally meat eating is often limited to public sphere as Kayasthas tend to consume vegetarian cuisine at home.[90]
Education and Literacy
According to the last completed census of India of 1931, Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas were the most literate caste group in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Around 70% of Kayastha males aged 7 years and over and 19% females were literate.[67][91]
Table 2. Approximate literacy rates of different caste groups according to 1931 census of India in the United Provinces, British India.[67]
^Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
^Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
^Rajnī Kānt Śāstrī (1949). Hindū jati kā utthān aur patan. Kitab Mahal. अब चित्रगुप्त के विवाह संबंध की वार्ता सुनिए। इनकी दो स्त्रियां थीं-(१)सुशर्मा ब्राह्मण की कन्या शुभावती (ब्राह्मणी) जिसके आठ पुत्र हुए श्रौर (२)श्राद्धदेव मनु की पुत्री नन्दिनी (चत्रिया) जिसके चार पुत्र हुए।
^ abBELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 879. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN0026-749X. JSTOR24494608. S2CID145013312 – via JSTOR. With the expansion of Mughal power into north, east and central India, Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian more regularly; some had been loosely exposed to it under the Delhi Sultanates. In Bulandshahr and the Punjab, for example, Kayasthas started learning Persian before the formal establishment of Mughal power, whilst in Meerut they were amongst the very first Hindus to learn the new language of India's conquerors.
^ abBellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Taylor & Francis. p. 57. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC973222959. Kayasthas, as we have seen, had positioned themselves as indispensable paper managers for the Mughals, most acutely under Emperor Aurangzeb, by 1700. We can discern a few trends in their patterns of employment. For one, Kayasthas' dominance of the qanungo position had largely become hereditary by the eighteenth century. Most Kayastha qanungos were appointed 'in the time of Akbar'.
^ abBellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. pp. 38, 41, 50, 195. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC973222959. Most did not convert to Islam, and combined with their lack of landed, military and religious prowess this naturally limited their administrative worth...Some Kayasthas converted to Islam, but this was very rare...But they were never full members, largely due to their reluctance to convert.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 20. A functional class, fulfilling the clerical and administrative requirements of the time, might have well evolved, not into a caste but a collection of castes which were distinguished by their common occupation.
^Kumar, Saurabh (2015). "Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas". Social Scientist. 43 (5/6): 29–45. ISSN0970-0293. JSTOR24642345 – via JSTOR. One thing is clear that by this time, kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of kayastha officials...Like the contemporary brahmanas and ksatriyas, some kayasthas and karanikas enjoyed the status of thakkura.
^Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 202. ISSN0378-1143. JSTOR41688244 – via JSTOR. The earliest epigraphic mention of Citragupta having any connection with the Kayasthas is found in a charter of Govindacandradeva of Kannauj, dated 1115 AD. This plate was written by a Vãstavya-Kãyastha Thakkura named Jalhana.
^Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 101–103. Members of Vastavya community rose to very high positions. They enjoyed the feudatory status of Thakkura under the Gahadavala Kings under Govindachandra and Jayachandra, and the Chandela King Bhojavarman...
^Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 102–103. Another sub-caste of the Kayasthas was the Mathur-anvaya Kayasthas, who probably...as a feudal vassal, with the title of Thakkura, the name of one Udayasiha is mentioned in the...
^Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 198, 201. ISSN0378-1143. JSTOR41688244 – via JSTOR. They spread themselves to metropolitan towns for the triumph of the Kshatriyas and as supporters of the creeper of royal prosperity. They came to be known as Vãlabha Kãyasthas as they hailed from Valabh. (198) Soddhala calls himself a Käyastha and at the same time claims to be a Ksatriya. There can be no doubt as to his claim to the Ksatriyahood, as his book containing the...(201)
^Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 197–205. ISSN0378-1143. JSTOR41688244 – via JSTOR. The earliest mention of Kayastha as a caste-name that we have hitherto been able to find, is in the Saojan copper-plate grant of the Rastrakuta king Amoghavarsa I, dated 871 A.D. It was written by Dharmadhikarana-senabhogika Gunadhavala of the Valabha-Kayastha-vamsa, i.e. the very Kayastha family to which our poet belonged.
^Kinra, Rajeev (2015). Writing Self, Writing Empire. University of California Press. pp. 53, 82. doi:10.1525/luminos.3. ISBN978-0-520-96168-5. Later in life, Aurangzeb wrote fondly of Raja Raghunath in letters to others,praising the raja's abilities and even quoting his sage advice on how to appoint good administrators.
^Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Taylor & Francis. pp. 40, 57. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC973222959. It was really after Emperor Akbar, and perhaps due to the influence of Raja Todar Mal, that Kayasthas became more heavily invested as subordinate stakeholders in the Mughal revenue administration.... Many Kayasthas learnt the Persian language from their Iranian tutors under Akbar's and Todar Mal's encouragement.
^Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC973222959. Kayasthas received some exposure to the great Persian works, but their Persian language experience seems to have been much more pragmatic. They engaged with the Indo-Islamic world of learning on their own, more vocationally oriented, terms, gaining rudimentary skills in accountancy, reading and basic writing.
^"Raja Tikait Rai: Keeper of the Nawab's Treasury". www.livehistoryindia.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021. Tikait Rai was born into a middle-class Hindu family in Dalmau town in Rae Bareili district in Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to the Kayastha clan, and most of the men from his community formed the core of accountancy in the courts of the Mughals and the Nawabs....Jhao Lal hailed from the same community as Tikait Rai did.....Tikait Rai was dismissed from service and the Nawab wanted to appoint Jhao Lal in his place.
^Bayly, C. A. (1996). Empire and information : intelligence gathering and social communication in India, 1780-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN0-511-00203-3. OCLC48138767. The Kayastha patriot, Raja Jhau Lal, remodeled the intelligence services to outface his British enemies. Sir John Shore, visiting Lucknow as Governor-General in 1797, wrote, 'The Dauk, an intelligence department was very extensive under Jao Lal...Jhau Lal had amalgamated the offices of revenue manager (diwan) and head of intelligence. He also controlled the Lucknow city police chief and used key men in the army as informers...
^Jaffer, Mehru. "Wandering In The Lanes of History". The Citizen. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021. Kayasthas were promoted to a critical link in society's multiple relationships. They were made equal participants with the elite in matters of language, diet, dress, mannerisms, lifestyle and etiquette. While they never intermarried or converted to Islam, they shared many common experiences such as primary education, and qawwali at the sufi dargha with Muslims. Shiva Das Lakhnawi, author of the well known Shahnama Munawwar Kalam, was an active member of the Chishti Sufi circle.
^Lakhnawi, Shiv Das (1980). Shahnama Munawwar Kalam. p. 7. A striking fact about the historical works of the Hindus is that they were produced in large numbers in an age of political disintegration when Mughal politics had degenerated into a series of political vendetta and factional struggles between rival groups of designing Court nobles and provincial satraps....
^Pavan K. Varma (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN9780143103257. ...its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc]...The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school
^Paul Wallace; Richard Leonard Park (1985). Region and nation in India. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.
^Sinha, Gopal Sharan; Sinha, Ramesh Chandra (1967). "Exploration in Caste Stereotypes". Social Forces. 46 (1): 42–47. doi:10.2307/2575319. ISSN0037-7732. JSTOR2575319 – via JSTOR. The Kayastha were not included in the original four divisions of Hindu society, viz.,Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra, but they claim to be one of the most important functionary and ancient castes of Hindu society. Traditions and occupations associated with the Kayastha partly support this contention....The Kayasthas' strong belief in the story of the causation of Shri Chitragupta Maharaj and mythical roles assigned to Him at least corroborate the above contention.
^Davidson, Ronald M. (2005). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 178–180. ISBN978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC808346313. This North Indian branch regards itself as really a fifth varna, different from the creator Brahma's mouth (Brahmans), his arms (Kshatriyas), his thighs (Vaishyas) or his feet (Sudras), North Indian Kayasthas maintain that they were formed from the body of the creator and therefore are grounded (stha) in Brahma's body (kaya)
^Leonard, Karen (2006). Wolpert, Stanley (ed.). Encyclopedia of India. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 22. ISBN0-684-31349-9. OCLC60856154. The most common Kayastha myth of origin avoided this problem of varna classification by cleverly postulating the creation of a fifth varna, the Kayasthas, to keep records concerning the other four. Brahma, they say, after creating the four varnas, created the first Kayastha, pen and inkpot in hand.
^Srinivasan, K.; Kumar, Sanjay (16–23 October 1999). "Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness". Economic and Political Weekly. 34 (42/43): 3052. JSTOR4408536.
^Grierson, George A. 1899. A Handbook to the Kaithi Character. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.
^Rai, Alok (2007). Hindi Nationalism (Reprint ed.). London: Sangam Books. p. 51. ISBN978-81-250-1979-4.
^Bengal; Beverley, H. (1872). Report of the Census of Bengal, 1872. Bengal Secretariat Press. pp. 170–172. ...they are however kept in much greater seclusion than women of the rajputs...
^Martin, Robert Montgomery (1838). Behar (Patna City) And Shahabad. p. 186. The Rajputs, Khatris and Kayasthas....openly keep women slaves....
^Sahay, Gaurang R. (2019), Mukherji, Partha Nath; Jayaram, N.; Ghosh, Bhola Nath (eds.), "Caste, Economy and Power: Changing Rural Bihar", Understanding Social Dynamics in South Asia, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 83–106, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-0387-6_6, ISBN978-981-13-0386-9, S2CID159238433, In villages, the castes publicly proclaim their belief in separate origin tales by worshiping their originators or the primary representatives of their castes in the form of deities. The organisation and celebration of the Govardhan Puja by the Yadavs, the Chitragupta Puja by the Kayasthas...
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