The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3

Of their method of dancing Ball421 writes as follows: “In the evening some of the villagers—Kaurs they were I believe—entertained us with a dance, which was very different from anything seen among the Santāls or Kols. A number of men performed a kind of ladies’ chain, striking together as they passed one another’s pronged sticks which they carried in their hands. By foot, hand and voice the time given by a tom-tom is most admirably kept.”

Kāyasth

1. General notice and legend of origin

Kāyasth,422 Kaith, Lāla.—The caste of writers and village accountants. The Kāyasths numbered 34,000 persons in 1911 and were found over the whole Province, but they are most numerous in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. In the Marātha country their place is to some extent taken by the Prabhus, the Marātha writer caste, and also by the Vidūrs. No probable derivation of the name Kāyasth appears to have been suggested. The earliest reference to Kāyasths appears in an inscription in Mālwa dated A.D. 738–739. The inscription is of a Maurya king, and the term Kāyasth is used there as a proper noun to mean a writer. Another dated A.D. 987 is written by a Kāyasth named Kānchana. An inscription on the Delhi Siwālik pillar dated A.D. 1164 is stated to have been written by a Kāyasth named Sispati, the son of Māhava, by the king’s command. The inscription adds that the Kāyasth was of Gauda (Bengal) descent, and the term Kāyasth is here used in the sense of a member of the Kāyasth caste and not simply meaning a writer as in the Mālwa inscription.423 From the above account it seems possible that the caste was of comparatively late origin. According to their own legend the first progenitor of the Kāyasths was Chitragupta, who was created by Brahma from his own body and given to Yama the king of the dead, to record the good and evil actions of all beings, and produce the result when they arrived in the kingdom of the dead. Chitragupta was called Kāyastha, from kaya stha, existing in or incorporate in the body, because he was in the body of Brahma. Chitragupta was born of a dark complexion, and having a pen and ink-pot in his hand. He married two wives, the elder being the granddaughter of the sun, who bore him four sons, while the younger was the daughter of a Brāhman Rishi, and by her he had eight sons. These sons were married to princesses of the Nāga or snake race; the Nāgas are supposed to have been the early nomad invaders from Central Asia, or Scythians. The twelve sons were entrusted with the government of different parts of India and the twelve subcastes of Kāyasths are named after these localities.

2. The origin of the caste

There has been much discussion on the origin of the Kāyasth caste, which now occupies a high social position owing to the ability and industry of its members and their attainment of good positions in the public services. All indications, however, point to the fact that the caste has obtained within a comparatively recent period a great rise in social status, and formerly ranked much lower than it does now. Dr. Bhattachārya states:424 “The Kāyasths of Bengal are described in some of the Hindu sacred books as Kshatriyas, but the majority of the Kāyasth clans do not wear the sacred thread, and admit their status as Sūdra also by the observance of mourning for thirty days. But whether Kshatriya or Sūdra, they belong to the upper layer of Hindu society, and though the higher classes of Brāhmans neither perform their religious ceremonies nor enlist them among their disciples, yet the gifts of the Kāyasths are usually accepted by the great Pandits of the country without hesitation.” There is no doubt that a hundred years ago the Kāyasths of Bengal and Bihār were commonly looked upon as Sūdras. Dr. Buchanan, an excellent observer, states this several times. In Bihār he says that the Kāyasths are the chief caste who are looked upon by all as pure Sūdras and do not reject the appellation.425 And again that “Pandits in Gorakhpur insist that Kāyasths are mere Sūdras, but on account of their influence included among gentry (Ashrāf). All who have been long settled in the district live pure and endeavour to elevate themselves; but this has failed of success as kindred from other countries who still drink liquor and eat meat come and sit on the same mat with them.”426 Again he calls the Kāyasths the highest Sūdras next to Vaidyas.427 And “In Bihār the penmen (Kāyasthas) are placed next to the Kshatris and by the Brāhmans are considered as illegitimate, to whom the rank of Sūdras has been given, and in general they do not presume to be angry at this decision, which in Bengal would be highly offensive.428 Colebrooke remarks of the caste: “Karana, from a Vaishya by a woman of the Sūdra class, is an attendant on princes or secretary. The appellation of Kāyastha is in general considered as synonymous with Karana; and accordingly the Karana tribe commonly assumes the name of Kāyastha; but the Kāyasthas of Bengal have pretensions to be considered as true Sūdras, which the Jātimāla seems to authorise, for the origin of the Kāyastha is there mentioned before the subject of mixed castes is introduced, immediately after describing the Gopa as a true Sūdra.”429 Similarly Colonel Dalton says: “I believe that in the present day the Kāyasths arrogate to themselves the position of first among commoners, or first of the Sūdras, but their origin is involved in some mystery. Intelligent Kāyasths make no pretension to be other than Sūdras.”430 In his Census Report of the United Provinces Mr. R. Burn discusses the subject as follows:431 “On the authority of these Purānic accounts, and in view of the fact that the Kāyasths observe certain of the Sanskārs in the same method as is prescribed for Kshatriyas, the Pandits of several places have given formal opinions that the Kāyasths are Kshatriyas. On the other hand, there is not the slightest doubt that the Kāyasths 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 Kāyasth of the many I have personally asked about the matter would admit privately that the Kāyasths 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 Brāhmans 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 Benāres committee who came to the conclusion that while the Kāyasths 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 Brāhmanical 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 Unāya Kāyasths 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 Kāyasths 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 Kāyasths 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, Kāyasths undoubtedly rank high in the social scale. All European writers have borne testimony to their excellence and success in many walks of life, and even before the commencement of British power many Kāyasths occupied high social positions and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers.”

3. The rise of the Kāyasths under foreign rulers

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 Kāyasth gentleman says of his own caste:432 “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:433 “When the Muhammadans invaded Hindustān and conquered its Rājpūt princes, we may conclude that the Brāhmans of that country who possessed knowledge or distinction fled from their intolerance and violence; but the conquerors found in the Kāyastha 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 Kānungos434 of districts and patwāris 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.435 And the Māthur Kāyasths of Gujarāt came from Mathura in the train of the Mughal viceroys as their clerks and interpreters.436 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 Kāyasths were proficient, and some were excellent clerks.437 Kāyasths attained very high positions under the Muhammadan kings of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue department under the Nawābs of Murshīdābād; while Rai Durlao Rām, prime minister of Ali Verdi Khān, was a Kāyasth. The governors of Bihār in the period between the battle of Plassey and the removal of the exchequer to Calcutta were also Kāyasths.438 The Bhatnāgar Kāyasths, it is said, came to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan conquest.439 Under the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous Kāyasths occupied posts of high trust.440 Similarly the Kāyasths entered the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. It is said that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh in Chhindwāra went to Delhi, he brought a number of Kāyasths 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 Kāyasth landholder of Jubbulpore and Mandla occupied some similar position in the service of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla.

Finally in the English administration the Kāyasths at first monopolised the ministerial service. In the United Provinces, Bengal and Bihār, it is stated that the number of Kāyasths may perhaps even now exceed that of all other castes taken together.441 And in Gujarāt the Kāyasths have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed as Government clerks.442 The Mathura Kāyasths of Gujarāt are said to be declining in prosperity on account of the present keen competition for Government service,443 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 Kāyasths, were from the time of the earliest European settlements much trusted by English merchants, and when the British first became supreme in Gujarāt 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 Brāhman, Sunār, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English descent.444 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, kirāni, 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 Kāyasths, 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 Barīk, and this supports the derivation from the Karans or Uriya Kāyasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to that of the Prabhus in Bombay.445

4. The original profession of the Kāyasths

From the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce that the Kāyasths formerly occupied a lower position in Hindu society. The Brāhmans were no doubt jealous of them and, as Dr. Bhattachārya states, would not let them learn Sanskrit.446 But when India became subject to foreign rulers the Kāyasths 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 Brāhmans and the Banias. The Brāhmans 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 Kāyasths 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 Kāyasths 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 Kāyasths as a distinct caste,” Sir H. Risley states, “occurs in Yājnavalkya, 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 Kāyasth 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. Patwāris, one of them said to Sir H. Risley, however rich they may be, are considered as socially lower than other Kāyasths, e.g. Kānungo, Akhauri, Pānde or Bakshi. Thus it appears that the old patwāri Kāyasths are looked down upon by those who have improved their position in more important branches of Government service. Kānungo, as explained, is a sort of head of the patwāris; and Bakshi, a post already noticed as held by a Kāyasth in the Central Provinces, is the Muhammadan office of paymaster.

Similarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher members of the caste stand well in general repute, the village Lāla (or Kāyasth), who is very often an accountant, is in evil odour for his astuteness and chicanery. In Central India, as already seen, they are Kānungos of Districts and patwāris of villages; and here again Malcolm states that these officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later comers, who held more important posts, did not intermarry with them.447 In Gujarāt the work of collecting the revenue in the Surat tract was entrusted to Kāyasths. Till 1868, in the English villages, and up to the present time in the Baroda villages, the subdivisional accountants were mostly Kāyasths.448 In the Central Provinces the bulk of the patwāris in the northern Districts and a large proportion in other Districts outside the Marātha country are Kāyasths. If the Kāyasths were originally patwāris or village accountants, their former low status is fully explained. The village accountant would be a village servant, though an important one, and would be supported like the other village artisans by contributions of grain from the cultivators. This is the manner in which patwāris of the Central Provinces were formerly paid. His status would technically be lower than that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a Sūdra or a mixed caste.

5. The caste an offshoot from Brāhmans

As regards the origin of the Kāyasths, the most probable hypothesis would seem to be that they were an offshoot of Brāhmans of irregular descent. The reason for this is that the Kāyasths must have learnt reading and writing from some outside source, and the Brāhmans were the only class who could teach it them. The Brāhmans were not disposed to spread the benefits of education, which was the main source of their power, with undue liberality, and when another literate class was required for the performance of duties which they disdained to discharge themselves, it would be natural that they should prefer to educate people closely connected with them and having claims on their support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir H. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of the Bengal Kāyasths were five of the caste who came from Kanauj in attendance on five Brāhmans who had been summoned by the king of Bengal to perform for him certain Vedic ceremonies.449 It may be noted also that the Vidūrs, another caste admittedly of irregular descent from Brāhmans, occupy the position of patwāris and village accountants in the Marātha districts. The names of their subcastes indicate generally that the home of the Kāyasths is the country of Hindustān, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This is also the place of origin of the northern Brāhmans, as shown by the names of their most important groups. The Rājpūts and Banias on the other hand belong mainly to Rājputāna, Gujarāt and Bundelkhand, and in most of this area the Kāyasths are immigrants. It has been seen that they came to Mālwa and Gujarāt with the Muhammadans; the number of Kāyasths returned from Rājputāna at the census was quite small, and it is doubtful whether the Kāyasths are so much as mentioned in Tod’s Rājasthān. The hypothesis therefore of their being derived either from the Rājpūts or Banias appears to be untenable. In the Punjab also the Kāyasths are found only in small numbers and are immigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the physical type of the Kāyasths and their remarkable intellectual attainments indicate that they possess Aryan blood; similarly Mr. Sherring remarks: “He nevertheless exhibits a family likeness to the Brāhman; you may not know where to place him or how to designate him; but on looking at him and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you are in the presence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect.”450 No doubt there was formerly much mixture of blood in the caste; some time ago the Kāyasths were rather noted for keeping women of other castes, and Sir H. Risley gives instances of outsiders being admitted into the caste. Dr. Bhattachārya states451 that, “There are many Kāyasths in eastern Bengal who are called Ghulāms or slaves. Some of them are still attached as domestic servants to the families of the local Brāhmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kāyasths. Some of the Ghulāms have in recent times become rich landholders, and it is said that one of them has got the title of Rai Bahādur from Government. The marriage of a Ghulām generally takes place in his own class, but instances of Ghulāms marrying into aristocratic Kāyasth families are at present not very rare.”

Further, the Dakshina Rārhi Kāyasths affect the greatest veneration for the Brāhmans and profess to believe in the legend that traces their descent from the five menial servants who accompanied the five Brāhmans invited by king Adisur. The Uttara Rārhi Kāyasths or those of northern Burdwān, on the other hand, do not profess the same veneration for Brāhmans as the southerners, and deny the authenticity of the legend. It was this class which held some of the highest offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, and several leading zamīndārs or landholders at present belong to it.452 It was probably in this capacity of village accountant that the Kāyasth incurred the traditional hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still subsists in legend.453 The influence which the patwāri possesses at present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision and with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of his position, is a sufficient indication of what his power must have been when supervision and control were almost nominal. On this point Sir Henry Maine remarks in his description of the village community: “There is always a village accountant, an important personage among an unlettered population; so important indeed, and so conspicuous that, according to the reports current in India, the earliest English functionaries engaged in settlements of land were occasionally led, by their assumption that there must be a single proprietor somewhere, to mistake the accountant for the owner of the village, and to record him as such in the official register.454 In Bihār Sir H. Risley shows that Kāyasths have obtained proprietary right in a large area.

6. The success of the Kāyasths and their present position

It may be hoped that the leading members of the Kāyasth caste will not take offence, because in the discussion of the origin of their caste, one of the most interesting problems of Indian ethnology, it has been necessary to put forward a hypothesis other than that which they hold themselves. It would be as unreasonable for a Kāyasth to feel aggrieved at the suggestion that centuries ago their ancestors were to some extent the offspring of mixed unions as for an Englishman to be insulted by the statement that the English are of mixed descent from Saxons, Danes and Normans. If the Kāyasths formerly had a comparatively humble status in Hindu society, then it is the more creditable to the whole community that they should have succeeded in raising themselves by their native industry and ability without adventitious advantages to the high position in which by general admission the caste now stands. At present the Kāyasths are certainly the highest caste after Brāhman, Rājpūt and Bania, and probably in Hindustān, Bengal and the Central Provinces they may be accounted as practically equal to Rājpūts and Banias. Of the Bengal Kāyasths Dr. Bhattachārya wrote:455 “They generally prove equal to any position in which they are placed. They have been successful not only as clerks but in the very highest executive and judicial offices that have yet been thrown open to the natives of this country. The names of the Kāyastha judges, Dwārka Nāth Mitra, Ramesh Chandra Mitra and Chandra Mādhava Ghose are well known and respected by all. In the executive services the Kāyasths have attained the same kind of success. One of them, Mr. R. C. Dutt, is now the Commissioner of one of the most important divisions of Bengal. Another, named Kālika Dās Datta, has been for several years employed as Prime Minister of the Kuch Bihār State, giving signal proofs of his ability as an administrator by the success with which he has been managing the affairs of the principality in his charge.” In the Central Provinces, too, Kāyasth gentlemen hold the most important positions in the administrative, judicial and public works departments, as well as being strongly represented in the Provincial and subordinate executive services. And in many Districts Kāyasths form the backbone of the ministerial staff of the public offices, a class whose patient laboriousness and devotion to duty, with only the most remote prospects of advancement to encourage them to persevere, deserve high commendation.