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Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha

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Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha
King Chitragupta.png
King Chitragupta (Sri Chitragupta Ji Maharaj) and his 12 sons.[1]
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesHindi
RegionHindi Belt and Nepal
SubdivisionsSrivastava, Mathur, Saxena, Nigam, Kulshreshtha, Bhatnagar, Ambashtha, Asthana, Suryadhwaj, Gaur, Karna, Valmik

Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred 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 the Puranas, they are described to have descended from the Hindu god Chitragupta, —assigned with the task of keeping record of mankind's Karma.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in).[6] The suffix vanshi is derived from the Sanskrit word vansh (वंश) which translates to belonging to a particular family dynasty.[7] According to Brahmanical literature, Chitragupta had two wives- Shobhavati, who was daughter of a Brahmin Susharma, and Nandini, who was daughter of a Kshatriya Shradhadev Manu, respectively and the descendants of their 12 sons form the 12 sub-groups of this community.[8][9]

History

Early North India

From the eleventh-century onwards, epigraphical texts mention various regional lineages belonging to the North Indian branch of the Kayasthas,[10][11] which were identified with their common occupational specialization[12] and whose members had become particularly influential in the administration of mediaeval kingdoms.[13] 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.[14] The earliest epigraphic mention of Chitragupta having any connection with the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas appears around the same period from a royal charter (dated 1115 AD) written by a Srivastava feudatory of Govindachandra of Kannauj.[15][16] Similar epigraphic records mention Mathur feudatory of Udayasimha,[17] and members of other Kayastha branches holding important administrative positions under different mediaeval kingdoms.[18] 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).[19] The members of this lineage, possibly from Vallabhi, are mentioned as early as ninth-century in the epigraphs of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha.[20]

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 lengthy inscriptions. Inviting them as professional scribes was considered an indicator of an established kingdom.[21] 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 but not always with impressive results. [22]

Indo-Islamic Era

The rise of Timuri political power after the sixteenth century had the effect of opening new roles for Kayasthas.[23] The North-Indian Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian regularly even before it became the court language.[24] 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.[25] Thus, Kayasthas became conversant with and literate in wider Perso-Arabic fiscal lexicon[26] and started to fulfil requirements of the Mughal administration as qanungos (transl. "Registrar") and patwaris (transl. "Accountant").[27] 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. [28]

By the eighteenth century, Kayasthas' control of the qanungo position had essentially become hereditary.[29]

Some Kayasthas were elevated to high ranking positions, such as (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".[30] Emperor Akbar's finance minister, Raja Todar Mal (born in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh), is often referred to as a Kayastha.[31] 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.[32]

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. [33] 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.[34] To navigate the Indo-Muslim circle of service and literacy, many adopted Perso-Arabic pennames. [33]

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'. [35] 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.[36] Many Kayasthas left their sacred thread (suta) at home when Emperor Aurangzeb made it illegal to wear it at court.[37]

Most Kayasthas remained pragmatic and vocationally oriented towards their Persian language skills,[38] probably with the exception of (d. 1879), the chief shagird (transl. "disciple") of Mirza Ghalib.[39][40] They also remained largely reluctant and rarely converted to Islam which, according to H. Bellenoit, limited their "administrative worth".[41] Those who did convert maintained traditions of accountancy and paper-management, and are known as Muslim Kayasthas, a numerically small community of northern India.[42]

Under Nawabs of Awadh

Maharaja Tikait Rai, the Kayastha Diwan of Oudh (d. 1801)

The Kayasthas fared even better under the Nawabs of Awadh, with Raja Tikait Rai and later Raja Jhau Lal serving as successive Kayastha Diwans (transl. "Finance Minister") of Awadh under Asaf-ud-Daula.[43][44] 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.[45] In 1780s Lucknow, thousands of Kayastha worked as calligraphers who had mastered the Persian works of Hafez and Sadi.[46]

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).[47][48][49]

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.[50] 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. [51] 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".[52]

Modern India

Modern scholars categorise them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, Parsis, Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat, South-Indian Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins, Chitpavan Brahmin, Prabhu Kayasthas, Bhadralok Bengalis and upper echelons of the Muslim and Christian communities that made up the middle class at the time of Indian independence in 1947.[53][54][55]

Varna status

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.[56][57] 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.[58][59][60]

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".[61] The late-nineteenth-century ethnographers and observers unanimously agreed on the Kayasthas' high social status in the Hindu society.[62]

They are recognized as a Forward Caste, as they do not qualify for any of the reservation benefits allotted to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes that are administered by the Government of India.[63]

Subgroups and culture

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 and Bihar.

Subgroups

 Chitragupta
progenitor
 
  
 Nandini
wife		 Shobhavati
wife
  
            
Bhanu
Srivastava		Vibhanu
Suryadhwaj		Vishavbhanu
Nigam		Viryavan
Kulshrestha		Charu
Mathur		Chitracharu
Karna		Matiman
Saksena		Sucharu
Gaur		Charusta
Ashthana		Himvan
Ambashtha		Chitraksha
Bhatnagar		Atindaya
Valmik

Kaithi Script

Main article: Kaithi
Kaithi script (left side bottom most line) on the coins of Sher Shah Suri

Kaithi is a historical Brahmic script that was used widely in parts of Northern India. It was the most widely used script of North India west of Bengal. The script derives its name from the word Kayastha.[64] Documents in Kaithi are traceable to at least the 16th century. The script was widely used during the Mughal period. During the British Raj, the script was recognised as the official script of the law courts in some provinces. John Nesfield in Oudh, George Campbell of Inverneill in Bihar and a committee in Bengal all advocated for the use of Kaithi script in education.[65]

Notables

Prominent Kayastha Figures
Green herb with a few tiny yellow-white flowers
Three small white and yellow flowers before green-leaf background
Leaves of a plant, in groups of three each with three lobes
(From Left to Right)Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajendra Prasad , Premchand, Lala Har Dayal, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar

Politicians and revolutionaries

Literature

Science and Technology

Actors and Artists

See Also

References

  1. ^ Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
  2. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2005). Tibetan renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313.
  3. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 14.
  4. ^ R. B. Mandal (1981). Frontiers in Migration Analysis. Concept Publishing Company. p. 175. ISBN 978-03-91-02471-7.
  5. ^ R. B. Mandal (1981). Frontiers in Migration Analysis. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-03-91-02471-7.
  6. ^ "Kayastha". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  7. ^ "vaMza". Spokensanskrit.org.
  8. ^ 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।
  9. ^ Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
  10. ^ O’Hanlon, Rosalind (2010). "The social worth of scribes: Brahmins, Kāyasthas and the social order in early modern India". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 47 (4): 564. doi:10.1177/001946461004700406. ISSN 0019-4646. S2CID 145071541. By the start of the twelfth century, and probably much earlier, northern India's Kayasthas were divided into regional lineage groupings. These were to become the sub-castes of more recent Kayastha history. Later, and as part of social processes examined in this article, the same communities came to be identified as Chitragupta Kayasthas
  11. ^ SHAH, K.K. (1993). "SELF LEGITIMATION AND SOCIAL PRIMACY: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 54: 859. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088 – via JSTOR. By the 11th-12th centuries AD it appears various subcastes of the Kayasthas and consolidated because from contemporary inscriptions we learn of epithets such as Mathura, Saksena, Naigama Katariya qualifying their Kayastha identity in various parts of northern India.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : Historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. This may have been partly conditioned by the many branches of the kayastha caste that had become powerful in the administration of contemporary kingdoms.
  14. ^ Kumar, Saurabh (2015). "Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas". Social Scientist. 43 (5/6): 29–45. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24642345 – 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.
  15. ^ Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 202. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244 – 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.
  16. ^ 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...
  17. ^ 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...
  18. ^ SHARMA, KRISHNA GOPAL (1991). "Light on Social Set-Up and Social Life from the Early Jaina Inscriptions from Rajasthan (Upto 1200 A.d.): Summary". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 52: 199–200. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44142598 – via JSTOR. Our inscriptions mention Kayasthas as a separate caste, though they are seen associated with their hereditary profession. Two families of the Kayasthas emerge prominently, the family of the Naigamas and the Valabha family. One Kayastha is shown as holding the coveted position of a Sandhivigrahi.
  19. ^ Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 198, 201. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244 – 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)
  20. ^ Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 197–205. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244 – 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.
  21. ^ Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : Historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 525, 539, 565. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567.
  22. ^ Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : Historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 578. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567.
  23. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 878. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312.
  24. ^ BELLENOIT, 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. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312 – 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.
  25. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 882. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312.
  26. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "Revenue administration and scribal skills in late Mughal India, c. 1650-1750". The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  27. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 872–910. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312 – via JSTOR. It also examines the Kayastha pensmen who became an exponentially significant component of an Indo-Muslim revenue administration. They assisted the extension of Mughal revenue collection capabilities as qanungos (registrars) and patwaris (accountants).
  28. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 884. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312.
  29. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. 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’.
  30. ^ Kinra, Rajeev (2015). Writing Self, Writing Empire. University of California Press. pp. 53, 82. doi:10.1525/luminos.3. ISBN 978-0-520-96168-5. 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  31. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. The joust over whether Akbar’s eagle-eyed financial reformer, Todar Mal (‘that paragon of Hindu wazirs) was either a Kayastha or Khattri....
  32. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. pp. 40, 57. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. 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.
  33. ^ a b BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 886. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312.
  34. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 880. doi:10.1017/S0026749X13000218. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 24494608. S2CID 145013312 – via JSTOR. Yet Kayastha lifestyles could also vary regionally. Bengali Kayasthas were far more 'Brahmanical in their lifestyles and customs with regard to diet, whereas Bihari and Awadhi Kayasthas took on much more of an Indo-Muslim dress, mannerisms and a shared affinity for sharab with the scions of Muslim nobility.
  35. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "The pensmen and scribal communities of Hindustan". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  36. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "The pensmen and scribal communities of Hindustan". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  37. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  38. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. 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.
  39. ^ Varma, Pavan K. (2008). Ghalib. Penguin Books India. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-14-306481-7.
  40. ^ Khan Ghalib, Mirza Asadullah (2005). Mirza Ghalib: Selected Lyrics and Letters. Translated by Kanda, K. C. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 509. ISBN 978-1-932705-61-4.
  41. ^ Bellenoit, 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. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. 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.
  42. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.
  43. ^ "Raja Tikait Rai: Keeper of the Nawab's Treasury". www.livehistoryindia.com. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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Bibliography

  1. Sinha, Ranjit K. (2014). The Kayastha Caste of India: Antiquity, Tradition and Modernity. Patna, Bihar: Indo books. ISBN 9789350741139.
  2. Prasad, K.; LLC, Books (2018). The Kayastha Ethnology, an Enquiry Into the Origin of the Chitraguptavansi and Chandrasenavansi Kayasthas. Creative Media Partners. pp. 34–69, 75–78. ISBN 9780343919894.
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