A Kulavruttanta or a Kul-vrttant (Marathi: कुलवृत्तांत; IAST: Kula-vr̥ttānta; lit. transl. family report), is a genealogical almanac and biographical dictionary, a format of genealogical record keeping predominantly found in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

History

Kulavruttantas are categorically published by family name, or surname,^[1] and are usually in Marathi.^[2] They usually document various aspects of that particular family's history, heraldry, the etymology of their name, ancestral land holdings, migration maps, and religious traditions.^[3] The genealogical charts are usually sectioned based on each gharana, or branch, of the family; these are then followed by biographies of individuals within those gharanas; and followed finally by indices of births, deaths and marriages within the family.^[4]

Kulavruttantas have been historically attributed to the genealogical history of Chitpavan brahmins.^[5] The Bhat family, during their rule of the Maratha confederacy, are usually credited for commissioning surveys and censuses of Chitpavan brahmin households, recorded on paper or cloth scrolls.^[6] These scrolls are generally used as the references of the historical and genealogical data for the compilation of these almanacs.^[7] Beginning with the publication of the Kulavruttanta of the Apte family in 1915,^[8] throughout most of the 20th century, several other Chitpavan families have gone on to commission or publish their own versions.^[9] Historian and biographer Sadashiv Ranade has notably authored several of these.^[10][11]

In the 21st century, Kulavruttants have also been adopted by several other communities as a means of documenting their genealogical data, most notably the Maratha community.^[12][13]