II

THE ORIGIN OF THE CASTE

407

Sanskars in the same method as is prescribed for Kshatriyas, the Pandits of several places have given formal opinions that the Kayasths are Kshatriyas. On the other hand, there is not the slightest doubt that the Kayasths are commonly regarded either as a mixed caste, with some relationship to two if not three of the twice-born castes, or as Sūdras. This is openly stated in some of the reports, and not a single Hindu who was not a Kayasth of the many I have personally asked about the matter would admit privately that the Kayasths are twice-born, and the same opinion was expressed by Muhammadans, who were in a position to gauge the ordinary ideas held by Hindus, and are entirely free from prejudice in the matter. One of the most highly respected orthodox Brahmans in the Provinces wrote to me confirming this opinion, and at the same time asked that his name might not be published in connection with it. The matter has been very minutely examined in a paper sent up by a member of the Benares committee who came to the conclusion that while the Kayasths have been declared to be Kshatriyas in the Purānas, by Pandits, and in several judgments of subordinate courts, and to be Sūdras by Manu and various commentators on him, by public opinion, and in a judgment of the High Court of Calcutta, they are really of Brahmanical origin. He holds that those who to-day follow literary occupations are the descendants of Chitragupta by his Brāhman and Kshatriya wives, that the so-called Unaya Kayasths are descended from Vaishya mothers, and the tailors and cobblers from Sūdra mothers. It is possible to trace to some extent points which have affected public opinion on this question. The Kayasths themselves admit that in the past their reputation as hard drinkers was not altogether unmerited, but they deserve the highest credit for the improvements which have been effected in this regard. There is also a widespread belief that the existing general observance by Kayasths of the ceremonies prescribed for the twice-born castes, especially in the matter of wearing the sacred thread, is comparatively recent. It is almost superfluous to add that notwithstanding the theoretical views held as to their origin and position, Kayasths undoubtededly rank high in the social scale. All European

3. The rise

of the Kayasths under

foreign rulers.

writers have borne testimony to their excellence and success in many walks of life, and even before the commencement of British power many Kayasths occupied high social positions and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers."

1

It appears then a legitimate conclusion from the evidence that the claim of the Kāyasths to be Kshatriyas is comparatively recent, and that a century ago they occupied a very much lower social position than they do now. We do not find them playing any prominent part in the early or mediæval Hindu kingdoms. There is considerable reason for supposing that their rise to importance took place under the foreign or non - Hindu governments in India. Thus a prominent Kayasth gentleman says of his own caste : "The people of this caste were the first to learn Persian, the language of the Muhammadan invaders of India, and to obtain the posts of accountants and revenue collectors under Muhammadan kings. Their chief occupation is Government service, and if one of the caste adopts any other profession he is degraded in the estimation of his caste-fellows." Malcolm states: 2" When the Muhammadans invaded Hindustān and conquered its Rājpūt princes, we may conclude that the Brahmans of that country who possessed knowledge or distinction fled from their intolerance and violence; but the conquerors found in the Kayastha or Kaith tribe more pliable and better instruments for the conduct of the details of their new Government. This tribe had few religious scruples, as they stand low in the scale of Hindus. They were, according to their own records, which there is no reason to question, qualified by their previous employment in all affairs of state; and to render themselves completely useful had only to add the language of their new masters to those with which they were already acquainted. The Muhammadans carried these Hindus into their southern conquests, and they spread over the countries of Central India and the Deccan; and some families who are Kanungos3 of

1 Lāla Jwāla Prasad, Extra Assistant Commissioner, in Sir E. A Maclagan's Punjab Census Report for 1891.

2 Memoir of Central India, vol. ii. pp. 165-166,

3 The

Kanungo maintains the statistical registers of land - revenue, rent, cultivation, cropping, etc., for the District as a whole which are compiled from those prepared by the patwāris for each village.

II

THE RISE of the kĀYASTHS

409

districts and patwaris of villages trace their settlement in this country from the earliest Muhammadan conquest." Similarly the Bombay Gazetteer states that under the arrangements made by the Emperor Akbar, the work of collecting the revenues of the twenty-eight Districts subordinate to Surat was entrusted to Kāyasths.1 And the Mathur Kayasths of Gujarat came from Mathura in the train of the Mughal viceroys as their clerks and interpreters.2 Under the Muhammadans and for some time after the introduction of English rule, a knowledge of Persian was required in a Government clerk, and in this language most of the Kayasths were proficient, and some were excellent clerks. Kayasths attained very high positions under the Muhammadan kings of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue department under the Nawabs of Murshīdābād; while Rai Durlao Rām, prime minister of Ali Verdi Khan, was a Kayasth. The governors of Bihār in the period between the battle of Plassey and the removal of the exchequer to Calcutta were also Kayasths. The Bhatnagar Kāyasths, it is said, came to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan conquest.5 Under the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous Kayasths occupied posts of high trust. Similarly the Kāyasths entered the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. is said that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh in Chhindwara went to Delhi, he brought a number of Kayasths back with him and introduced them into the administration. One of these was appointed Bakshi or paymaster to the army of Bakht Buland. His descendant is a leading landholder in the Seoni District with an estate of eighty-four villages. Another Kayasth landholder of Jubbulpore and

It

country and one of them laid down rules for the structure and intermarriage of the Brahman caste, it is practically impossible that they could have been Kayasths. The Muhammadan conquest of Bengal took place at an early period, and very little detail is known about the preceding Hindu dynasties.

5 Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bihar Kayasth.

6 Sherring, Tribes and Castes, vol. iii. pp. 253-254.,

Mandla occupied some similar position in the service of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla.

Finally in the English administration the Kayasths at first monopolised the ministerial service. In the United Provinces, Bengal and Bihār, it is stated that the number of Kayasths may perhaps even now exceed that of all other castes taken together.1 And in Gujarāt the Kayasths have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed as Government clerks.2 The Mathura Kayasths of Gujarāt are said to be declining in prosperity on account of the present keen competition for Government service,3 of which it would thus appear they formerly had as large a share as they desired. The Prabhus, the writer-caste of western India corresponding to the Kayasths, were from the time of the earliest European settlements much trusted by English merchants, and when the British first became supreme in Gujarat they had almost a monopoly of the Government service as English writers. To such an extent was this the case that the word Prabhu or Purvu was the general term for a clerk who could write English, whether he was a Brahman, Sunar, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English descent. Similarly the word Cranny was a name applied to a clerk writing English, and thence vulgarly applied in general to the East Indians or half-caste class from among whom English copyists were afterwards chiefly recruited. The original is the Hindi karāni, kirani, which Wilson derives from the Sanskrit karan, a doer. Karana is also the name of the Orissa writer-caste, who are writers and accountants. It is probable that the name is derived from this caste, that is the Uriya Kayasths, who may have been chiefly employed as clerks before any considerable Eurasian community had come into existence. Writers' Buildings at Calcutta were recently still known to the natives as Karāni ki Barik, and this supports the derivation from the Karans or Uriya Kayasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to that of the Prabhus in Bombay.5

4

From the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce

1 Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and

Tribes, p. 177.

2 Hindus of Gujarāt, p. 81.

3 Ibidem, p. 67.

4 Ibidem, p. 68, and Mackintosh, Report in the Ramosis, India Office Tracts, p. 77.

5 Hobson-Jobson, s.v. Cranny.

II

ORIGINAL PROFESSION OF THE KĀYASTHS

4II

that the Kayasths formerly occupied a lower position in 4. The original Hindu society. The Brahmans were no doubt jealous of profession them and, as Dr. Bhattacharya states, would not let them of the learn Sanskrit.1 Kayasths. But when India became subject to foreign rulers the Kayasths readily entered their service, learning the language of their new employers in order to increase their efficiency. Thus they first learnt Persian and then English, and both by Muhammadans and English were employed largely, if not at first almost exclusively, as clerks in the public offices. It must be remembered that there were at this time practically only two other literate castes among Hindus, the Brahmans and the Banias. The Brahmans naturally would be for long reluctant to lower their dignity by taking service under foreign masters, whom they regarded as outcaste and impure; while the Banias down to within the last twenty years or so have never cared for education beyond the degree necessary for managing their business. Thus the Kayasths had at first almost a monopoly of public employment under foreign Governments. It has been seen also that it is only within about the last century that the status of the Kayasths has greatly risen, and it is a legitimate deduction that the improvement dates from the period when they began to earn distinction and importance under these governments. But they were always a literate caste, and the conclusion is that in former times they discharged duties to which literacy was essential in a comparatively humble sphere. "The earliest reference to the Kayasths as a distinct caste," Sir H. Risley states, "occurs in Yajnavalkya, who describes them as writers and village accountants, very exacting in their demands from the cultivators." The profession of patwāri or village accountant appears to have been that formerly appertaining to the Kayasth caste, and it is one which they still largely follow. In Bengal it is now stated that Kāyasths of good position object to marry their daughters in the families of those who have served as patwāris or village accountants. Patwaris, one of them said to Sir H. Risley, however rich they may be, are considered as socially lower than other Kayasths, e.g. Kānungo, Akhauri, Pānde or Bakshi. Thus it appears that the old patwāri 1 Hobson-Jobson, p. 167.