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Historically, they started to consolidate into a distinct caste or sub-castes around the 11th- 12th centuries CE[1] i.e from the time of Gurjara-Pratihara Empire to the subsequent rise of independent Rajput kingdoms of Northern India, and traditionally wrote eulogies for the Hindu Kings prior to Turkic invasions of North India.[2] Under the Chahamana and Parmara dynasties—Naigama Kayastha[3] (Nigam), Vallabhya Kayastha and Māthuranvaya Kayastha (Mathur i.e original settlers from Mathura)—wrote royal charters[4] and held prominent administrative positions.[5][6] Some Mathur Kayasthas in the Rajaputana had even earned the title of thakkura[7] and had built temples.[8][9]

While some scholars identify Gauda Kayasthas with Bengali Kayasthas, J.N. Bhattacharya notes that Bengali Kayasthas were different from "North-Indian Gaudas" who were found in almost all districts lying between Delhi and Patna, and identifies Bhatnagar Kayasthas as Gauda Kayasthas.[10] The Gauda Kayasthas rendered their services in writing eulogies for several ruling kings and their feudatories—including the Chahamana, Chaulukya[11] Chandela of Jejakabhukti, Kalachuri and Gahadavala rulers.[12] The Bhatnagars take their name possibly from the old town of 'Bhatner', near Bikaner in Rajasthan.[13]

The members of Śrī-Vāstavya[14] (Srivastava) community rose to very high administrative positions—many of whom enjoyed the status of thakkura and were involved in military services—under the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti [15][16][17] as well as the Gahadavala kings Govindachandra and Jayachandra.[18][19][20][21] Another Vastavya family served as hereditary scribes and poets under the Kalachuris of Ratanpur.[22] The inscriptions of Vastavya family suggest that they might have originally migrated from Takkarika or Kausamyapur (Prayagraj).[19]

The Ambashtha Kayasthas (found chiefly in Southern Bihar), Crooke suggests "may be connected with the old Ambastha caste of Western-Punjab mentioned in the Mahabharata" as some Kayasthas are also associated with the practice of medicine and surgery.[23][13]

Sub-groups

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 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

Prominent figures

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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
Adoxa (Adoxa moschatellina)

History (Kayastha)

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From classical to early-medieval India

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The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the Gangetic plains from the Gupta period. The earliest evidence comes from a Mathura inscription of Vasudeva I, composed by a Kayastha Śramaṇa.[24] From this point we find, the term kayastha occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor Kumaragupta I as prathama-kāyastha,[25] as karaṇa-kāyastha in Vainayagupta’s inscription,[26] and as gauḍa-kāyastha in a Apshadha inscription dated 672 CE.[27] The occasional references to individuals of the Karaṇa caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too.[28] Some charters, discovered in Chamba dated eleventh-century speak of the scribe as Karana-Kayastha. The use of Karana and Kayastha as synonymous words in medieval lexicons

From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas in northern India had started to consolidate into a distinct caste.[29] However, references to some Kayastha sub-groups such as the Ambashthas goes back to ancient period. The Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (composed around c. 800 BC) mentions an Ambashtha king and his minister. According to Greek sources, the Ambashtha people lived on the banks of Chenab river in the southern Punjab region and are referred as Ambastanoi. The Mahabharata also mentions Ambashthas along with other tribes such as Shibi, Kshudraka and Malava.

Some scholars such as Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to Bengal during the reign of the Gupta Empire to help manage the state affairs.[30] According to a legend, a Bengali King named Adisur had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from Kannauj who became an elite sub-group described as Kulin.[31] However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.[32]


This is evident from a epigraphic record dated 871 CE of the King Amoghavarsha that mentions a branch of Kayasthas referred to as vālabhya-kāyastha. The author of the Sanskrit work Udayasundarī-kathā also referred to himself as vālabhya-kayāstha and characterized Kayasthas as 'ornaments of the Kṣatriyas'.[33]

In Soḍḍhala’s account

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According to the author of Udayasundarī-kathā, who claimed to be a Kayastha himself, Kayasthas traced their descent to a younger brother of the Maitrika king, identified as Śilāditya VI or VII, referred to as Kalāditya. He narrates that Kalāditya had besieged Dharmapala of the Pala Dynasty that led to the victory of his elder brother. Subsequently, he was entrusted by Śilāditya to administer his kingdom at the advice of the Goddess Rāja Lakśmī. Kalāditya has been further described as an incarnation of a gaṇa transl. "attendant" of Shiva called Kayastha.[34]

In northern India

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As evidenced by epigraphic records, different branches of Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas had started to emerge around the eleventh-century itself. The members of these branches had become particularly influential in the pre-Islamic Hindu kingdoms.

In Sanskrit literature

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The Kayastha appears as a figure in Act IX of the Mṛcchakaṭika, where a sreṣṭhin and kāyastha are shown accompanying a judge (adhikaraṇika) and assisting him. It's Act V mentions that "Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy & a donkey - where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish."[35] In Mudrarakshasa, a Kayastha named Śakaṭadāsa is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the Nanda King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title Ārya added to the name of Śakaṭadāsa implies that he was a member of the nobility.[36]

In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term kayastha denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. Kshemendra’s Narmamālā composed during the reign of Ananta (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included Gṛhakṛtyadhipati, Paripālaka, Mārgapati, Gañja-divira, Āsthāna-divira, Nagara-divira, Lekhakopādhya and Niyogi. Kalhana’s Rājataraṃgiṇī transl. "The River of Kings" and Bilhana's Vikramāṅkadevacarita transl. "Life of King Vikramaditya" also mention Kayasthas.[37][38] It is also mentioned that father of Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota Dynasty, Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.[39]

Kayasthas have been authors of several Sanskrit texts too.

Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the Kayasthas
Work(s) Genre(s) Author Author's lineage Date
Rāmacarita Biography Sandhyākaranandin Karana[40] 12th c.
Udayasundarī Kathā Champu Soḍḍhala Vālabhya[34] 11th c.
Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu Medicine, Tantra Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa Naigama[41] 15th c.
Kṛtyakalpataru Adminstration Lakṣmīdhara Vāstavya[42] 12th c.

In Brahmanical literature

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Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in Brahmanical religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.[43] In these texts, some described Kayasthas as Kshatriyas, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with Brahmin and Shudra components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.[44][45]

Works

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  1. Ramacaritam - Sandhyakarnandin
  2. Udayasundarikatha - Soddhala
  3. Rasa Sanket Kalika - kayastha Camunda
  4. Lakshmidhar - Krityakalpataru
Work(s) Genre(s) Author Author's Lineage Date
Rāmacarita Biography Sandhyākaranandin Karana[40] 12th c.
Udayasundarī Kathā Champu Soḍḍhala Vālabhya 11th c.
Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu Medicine, Tantra Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa Naigama[41] 15th c.
Kṛtyakalpataru Adminstration Lakṣmīdhara Vāstavya[42] 12th c.

Origins

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Etymology

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According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in).[46]

As a class of administrators

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As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of India. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation.[47][48] The term also finds mention in an inscription of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I, dated to 442 CE, in which prathama-kāyastha (chief officer) is used as an administrative designation.[25] The Yājñavalkya Smṛti, also from the Gupta era, and the Vishnu Smriti describe kayasthas as record keepers and accountants.[49]

As Buddhist association

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according to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that Buddhists, in their effort to create an educated non-Brahmana class, strove to popularize the utility of education an d fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in Udāna, where the lekha-sippa transl. "craft of writing", was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It's also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning lekhaka transl. "writer" or kayastha have been made in association with Buddhism.[50]

new content

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The medieval Brahmanical sources regard them of 'mixed-origin' and state that they originated from inter-caste marriages, but this clearly is an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.[44]

chitrareha gupta [51] temperance movement [52] kayastha samachar[53] ghalib[54][55] bhakti movement (dhruva, ghana) [56]

In spite of the confusion and diverse theories regarding their historical origin and varna classification, the ethnographers of the late-nineteenth century unanimously agreed to the high social status of the Kayasthas.[57]Despite the uncertainty and conflicting assumptions about their historical origins and varna designation, late-nineteenth-century ethnographers unanimously accepted on the Kayasthas' high social status.

//content from parsis page

D. L. Sheth, the former director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), lists Indian communities that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) immediately after Indian independence in 1947. This list included the Kashmiri Pandits, the Nagar Brahmins from Gujarat, the Brahmins from Southern India, the Punjabi Khatris and Kayasthas from Northern India, the Chitpawans and CKPs from Maharashtra; Bengali Probasis and Bhadraloks, the Parsis, as well as the upper echelons of the Muslim and Christian communities throughout India. According to P. K. Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan-Indian elite"; almost all of the members of these communities could read and write in English and were educated beyond regular schooling institutions.[58][59][60]

//content from deshasth brahmins


Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, Parsis, Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat, South-Indian Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins and upper echelons of the Muslim and Christian communities that made up the middle class at the time of Indian independence in 1947.[58][61] They were broadly considered by various Indian, British and missionary observers to be the most learned and influential of the "service castes".[62]



By 19th century, Deshasthas 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.[61]

Jhau Lal

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The Kayastha patriot, Lala 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. He went on to allege that it was a 'source of great oppression, as the Hercarrahs were much oftner employed as spies and informers for the purpose of extortion than in their proper duties'. 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. He had established agents at Delhi and.....

Caste Assocaition [63]

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Traditionally associated with learning, literary pursuits , sectarial work, writer caste.[64]

RItual Status

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twice born[65][66] stereotyped[67]

Bhakti movement

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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.[56] Another Kayastha Ghanananda (d. 1739), who served as the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah's Mir Munshi (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. [68] 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".[69]

Subgroups and culture

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Women

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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 census report.[70] Many patriarchs of the caste also seemed to have kept concubines.[71][72]

History (Chitraguptavanshi)

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Early North India

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King Chitragupta (Sri Chitragupta Ji Maharaj) and his 12 sons.

The Kayasthas are mentioned as an office (not a caste) as early as the first century C.E.[73][74] As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, they emerged in the period between late ancient and early medieval India. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a consequence of "growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and fast-spreading land-grant practice that required professional documentary fixation". Initially, the term Kayastha seems to have referred to an occupational class[75] and not a distinct social group. Gradually, the North Indian branch of Kayasthas consolidated into a distinct caste-like community somewhere around the 11th- 12th centuries CE[1] maintaining Chitragupta - the divine scribe as their grand ancestor. [76]

Apparently, the emergence of Kayasthas challenged the monopoly of Brahmins on intellectual occupations. [76][77]

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayasthas largely revolved around scribal services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term “secretary”. They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfil responsibilities in all these venues. As indicated by various epigraphic evidences, they acted in the capacity of a medieval office combining duties of both a secretary of war and a secretary of state (Mahāsandhivigrahin).[78][79]

Kayasthas were also responsible for writing Indic eulogies, known as prashastis for Hindu kings prior to Turkic invasions of North India.[80]

According to Romila Thapar, Kayastha were a "powerful component of the upper bureaucracy and.... (though ranked lower than Brahmins) were on occasions highly respected as royal biographers and composers of lengthy inscriptions" and "inviting Kayasthas as professional scribes was (another) indicator of an established kingdom" in the early North India.[81] She 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 invariably with impressive results." [82]

According to Chitrarekha Gupta, Kayasthas were "highly educated and patronized art and culture" but at the same time "tax-paying common people were much suspicious of the Kayasthas because deceit lurked both in their tongues as well as in their documents". [83] Indeed, Kayasthas had earned some reputation for being deceitful and thus became a target of many works of medieval Indian satire. For example, Kshemendra's 11th century work Narmamālā narrates the adventures of an ambitious, greedy and ignorant Kayastha who manages to become a minister and as a result ruined the whole country.[84] Kshemendra argues in his work that Kayasthas' invention of a separate script was a method to defraud people so that good kings even though knowing their kayasthas to be "eager to kill, robbers of others' property, rogues and demons" had to befriend them in order to balance the treasury. [85]

According to K. Leonard, "Kayasthas are an example of the social mobility of a caste through association with a ruler, rather than through Sanskrtization (emulation of Brahmin culture) or through military conquest (like Rajputs)". [86] By the early-medieval era, various branches of Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas had become highly influential in the administration of contemporary kingdoms and started asserting their identities.[87][1] The epigraphic sources reveal that some of these kayasthas even had the status of being feudatories (thakkura); some had earned the title of pandita for their extensive learning while others being financially sound commissioned construction of Hindu temples.[88][7][18] Soḍḍhala, the author of the 11th century Sanskrit work Udayasundarī Kathā describes himself as a Kayastha and at the same time claims to be Kshatriya. His claims to be Vālabha-Kayastha as they hailed from Vallabhi.[89] The earliest epigraphic mention of Chitragupta having any connection with the Kayasthas also appears around the same era from the charter (dated 1115 AD) of Govindachandra of Kannauj written by a Vāstavya-Kayastha Thakkura (apparently, Srivastava branch of Kayastha) named Jalhaṇa.[90] Similar epigraphic records mention Māthuranvaya-Kayastha (Mathur) and Naigama-Kayastha (Nigam) belonging to the Chahamana and Paramara dynasties. [4][5][7]

Early North India 2

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The earliest known reference to the term "Kayastha" dates back to the Kushan Empire[24], when it evolved into a common name for a writer or scribe.[91] In the Sanskrit literature and inscriptions, it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.[92] In this context, the term possibly derived from kaya- (principal, capital, treasury) and -stha (to stay) and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.[93][94] As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of India. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation.[95]

Initially, the term "Kayastha" seemed to refer only to a particular occupational or functional class,[96][97] appointed mainly from Brahmin and sections of upper-classes that had access to formal education.[95][98] From the eleventh century onwards, epigraphical texts began to mention various regional lineages belonging to the North Indian branch of the Kayasthas,[99][100] which were identified with their common occupational specialization[101] and whose members had become particularly influential in the administration of mediaeval kingdoms.[102] 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.[103] 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.[104][105] Similar epigraphic records mention Mathur feudatory of Udayasimha,[106] and members of other Kayastha branches holding important administrative positions under different mediaeval kingdoms.[107] Soḍḍhala, the author of the eleventh-century Sanskrit work Udayasundarī Kathā, calls himself a Vālabha-Kayastha while also claiming to be a Kshatriya (warrior class).[108] The members of this lineage, possibly from Vallabhi, are mentioned as early as ninth-century in the epigraphs of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha.[109]

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.[110] 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. [111]

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around scribal services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term “secretary”. They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfil responsibilities in all these venues. As indicated by various epigraphic evidences, they acted in the capacity of a medieval office combining duties of both a secretary of war and a secretary of state.[112][113] They were also responsible for writing Indic eulogies, known as prashastis for Hindu kings prior to Turkic invasions of North India.[114]

Apparently, the emergence of Kayastha communities challenged the monopoly of Brahmins on intellectual occupations.[95][115] Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas along with other Kayastha communities and Brahmins, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-mediaeval north India.[116] Some popular literatures were harsh to them for the influence they were able to command as royal scribes, but they are also depicted as pious donors and great men in inscriptional literature.[117] While some medieval sources mention Kayasthas as a de-facto 'fifth varna' that emerged after the initial four varnas had been formed. Traditions and occupations associated with them, and their belief in the mythical roles assigned to Chitragupta, their progenitor, partly support this claim.[118][119]

According to Chitrarekha Gupta, Kayasthas were highly educated and patronized art and culture but at the same time tax-paying common people were much suspicious of the Kayasthas, [120] as depicted in works of Kshemendra.[121] [122] According to K. Leonard, "Kayasthas are an example of the social mobility of a caste through association with a ruler, rather than through Sanskrtization (emulation of Brahmin culture) or through military conquest (like Rajputs)". [123]

Kayastha chiefs descended from North Indian Kayasthas ruled over vast swathes of land in Andhra country, and they are recorded in Andhra history dating back to the 13th century CE.[124][125]

Indo-Islamic Era

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The rise of Timuri political power after the sixteenth century had the effect of opening new, albeit subordinate, roles for Kayasthas.[126] The North-Indian Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian regularly after it became the court language.[127] 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.[128] Thus, Kayasthas became conversant with and literate in wider Perso-Arabic fiscal lexicon[129] and started to fulfil requirements of the Mughal administration as qanungos (registrars) and patwaris (accountants).[130] According to Irfan Habib, Kayasthas constituted the ‘second layer’ of the revenue management in Mughal India and dealt with rudiments of revenue collection, land records and paper management, where their basic Persian literacy and copying skills were put to use. [131]

Some Kayasthas were exalted to high ranks such as Raghunath Ray Kayastha (d. 1664)—the "acting wazir" and the finance minister of the Mughal Empire whom Emperor Aurangzeb fondly remembered as the greatest administrator he had ever known while Chandar Bhan Brahman described him as the 'frontispiece in the book of the men of the pen of Hindustan'. Raghunath not only had supported Aurangzeb’s effort to win the throne during the Mughal war of succession but also had participated in the later battles against princes Dara Shukoh and Shah Shuja.[132]

Soon the North Indian Kayasthas became loosely integrated into an Indo-Muslim governing culture.[133] In contrast to CKPs and Bengali Kayasthas, North Indian Kayasthas became known for adopting an Indo-Muslim lifestyle that reflected in their dress, mannerism and a shared affinity for sharab (wine) with the scions of Muslim nobility.[134] Many adopted Perso-Arabic pennames to better navigate within the Indo-Muslim circle of service and literacy. Some examples include:[133]

Table 1. Some Perso-Arabic pennames adopted by North Indian Kayasthas
Name Meaning
Raizada Son of a king (Rais), or boss
Malik Chief
Umid Hope
Gulab Rosewater
Daulat Wealth
Fateh Victory
Farhad Happiness

Their broader participation in Indo-Persian cultural forms translated into shared experiences with Muslims. However, Kayasthas still faced a degree of condescension from the ulama, Muslim nobility and Persian-poets who considered them ‘disloyal, cruel, cheats and extortionists’ for exercising their power. 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'. [135] The Muslim reformer Shah Waliullah once complained that ‘all [of India’s] accountants and clerks [are] Hindus…they control [sic] the country’s wealth’. Some Kayasthas had to plead to Muslims that they don’t represent, as ulama claimed, infidelity over Islam.[136]

While most Kayasthas remained pragmatic and vocationally oriented to their Persian language skills,[137] a few such as Munshi Hargopal Tufta (d. 1879), the chief disciple of Mirza Ghalib, were able to penetrate high-literary circles.[55][138]

Quote: 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.(pg 45)

Under Nawabs of Awadh

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The Kayasthas fared even better under the Nawabs of Awadh, with Raja Tikait Rai and later Raja Jhau Lal serving as successive Kayastha Diwans of Awadh under Asaf-ud-Daula.[139][140] Raja Tikait was also named the royal yajmān (patron) of Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya as a result of his donations.[141] In some areas, Kayasthas were more willing to embrace outward signs of a spiritual orientation that was almost Islamic. Many were active members of Indian Sufi shrines and frequently attended in Shia spiritual months of Muharram and Ashura.[142] In 1780s Lucknow, thousands of Kayastha worked as calligraphers who had mastered the Persian works of Hafez and Sadi.[143] Shiva Dasa 'Lakhnavi', a Kayastha from Awadh, authored the monumental work Shahnama Munawar Kalam in Persian, which provides account of events, political upheavals and factional struggles from Emperor Farrukhsiyar (1712 CE) to Emperor Muhammad Shah's fourth regnal year (1723 CE).[144][145][146]

British Raj

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With Jonathan Duncan's settlement of Benares in the late 1780s, the role of literate scribes and 'pensmen' grew in importance and became firmly stitched into the early stage of the East India Company. By the 1820s, the 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. The British had little understanding of the dynamics of taxation in the Doab until the 1840s, so they relied largely on scribes to help them expand their fiscal might and bureaucratic state upcountry from Bengal.[147]

The colonial administration, thus, came to be shaped by influential Kayastha families who became early beneficiaries of the British power and success. In the 1880s, Allan Octavian Hume called for the colonial government to, [148]

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
— Allan Octavian Hume, founder of the Indian National Congress

Controvsersies

[edit]

In 1882, the Indian Army’s Adjutant-General, General George Greaves, issued General Order No. 9, which outlawed the recruitment of ‘lower classes and Kayasthas’ from the army. Kayastha resistance was ferocious due to its association with the "lower classes". The Kayastha Samachar argued that it was "calculated to lower their prestige". [149]

As part of the British divide and rule strategy, in 1901, the Principal of Queens College, a main recruitment centre for filling subordinate positions, received a directive from the Commissioner of Benares and its District Collector that stated candidates for the Collector's office should "belong to castes other than Kayasthas." Thus, making room for Brahmins adn other castes. Madan Mohan Malviya publicly noted to the UP Provincial Legislative Council in 1908, that Kayasthas were ‘in the bad books of the Government’. He suggested that Kayasthas could serve the Government by entering into industry and commerce to benefit themselves and the country.[150]

Diet and cuisine

[edit]

Kayasth cuisine focuses a great deal on meat – in fact, most vegetables in the Kayastha menu are prepared the same way as meat.[151] Yet traditionally meat eating is often limited to public sphere as Kayasthas tend to consume vegetarian cuisine at home. [152]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c 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 – 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.
  2. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Taylor & Francis. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. For example, North Indian Kayasthas wrote the eulogies of kings (prasastis) for Hindu Rajas before Turkic invasion
  3. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic history of northern India, 1030-1194 A. D. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 103. The Naigama Kayasthas, so far as the inscriptional information is concerned, are referred to as scribes. They wrote the Nadol plates of Chahamana Kirttipala and Alhanadeva in VS 1218/c 1160-61 A.D. and Bijholi inscription dated VS 1226/1170 A.D.
  4. ^ a b Asopa, Jai Narayan (1990). A Socio-political and Economic Study, Northern India. Prateeksha Publications. p. 318. Similarly, the Mathuranvaya and Vallabyha wrote the charters of the Chahamana and Paramara Kings.
  5. ^ a b 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. ISSN 2249-1937 – 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.
  6. ^ Bajpai, K. D. (2006). History of Gopāchala. Bharatiya Jnanpith. p. 61. ISBN 978-81-263-1155-2. In several inscriptions and prasastis...Mathur-anvaya, Balatkara-gana and Sarasvati Gachchha.
  7. ^ a b c Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 103–104. Another sub-caste of the Kayasthas was the Mathuranvaya Kayasthas, who probably...as a feudal vassal, with the title of Thakkura, the name of one Udayasiha is mentioned in the...
  8. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1996). The Kāyasthas: a study in the formation and early history of a caste. K.P. Bagchi & Co. pp. 107–109. ..Four temples were built by this wealthy family in the fort of Ranothambhar...
  9. ^ Meena, Ravina (2014). "TEMPLE, TRADE AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES: SAIVISM IN EARLY MEDIEVAL RAJASTHAN". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 248. ISSN 2249-1937 – via JSTOR. The Dabok inscriptions dated A.D 664 attests to the patronage to the cults of Maheshvara (Shiva) and Ghattavasini (goddess residing in the pot) by a local Kayastha family through land and cash grants in Dhavagarta locality near Chittaudgarh.
  10. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1996). The Kāyasthas: a study in the formation and early history of a caste. K.P. Bagchi & Co. p. 67. ...Bengali Kayasthas are different from North Indian Gaudas. J.N Bhattacharya appears to be more scientific in his observations that the Gauda Kayasthas are found in almost all districts lying between Delhi and Patna. J.N Bhattacharya has taken the Bhatnagar Kayasthas as a section of the Gaudas.
  11. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. p. 99. ...The Gauda Kayastha aso rendered their service to Chahamanas of Shakambari and Naddula by writing the Kinsariya (999 A.D), Delhi-Siwalik (1163) and Nadol inscriptions for Kings Durlabharaja, Visaladeva and Rayalpala resp....and his master, the Chaulukya King Kumarapala in VS 1213 and 1212/1156 A.D.
  12. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Profession". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. p. 100. The Gauda Kayastha also traveled to the courts of Chandellas and Kalachuri Kings...An inscription of Govindachandra Gahadavala dated 1129-30 A.D. refers to...
  13. ^ a b Russell, Robert Vane. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume III of IV. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 978-1-4655-8303-1.
  14. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1996). The Kāyasthas: a study in the formation and early history of a caste. K.P. Bagchi & Co. p. 117. This love and respect for knowledge were nothing special with the line of Jajuka. Rather, these were general features of the characters of the Sri-Vastavyas
  15. ^ 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: 860–861. ISSN 2249-1937 – via JSTOR. Vastavya, therefore, will have to be taken as a sub-caste a few members of which rose to very high positions in the administrative hierarchy of the Chandella kingdom. Two families from this branch of the Kayasthas have left three inscriptions for us containing an account of the mythical origin as also genealogical tree in order to establish their high Brahminic credentials...It is also noteworthy that both Jajuka and Maheshvara have remarkable military achievements to their credit which could put them on par with the Kshatriyas.
  16. ^ Dikshit, R. K. (1976). The Candellas of Jejākabhukti. Abhinav Publications. pp. 71, 173–175, 190. ISBN 978-81-7017-046-4.
  17. ^ Mitra, Sisir Kumar (1977). The Early Rulers of Khajuraho (Second Revised Edition). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 180. ISBN 978-81-208-1997-9.
  18. ^ a b 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...
  19. ^ a b Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. p. 100. Three inscriptions written by these Vastavya Kayasthas for the Gahadavala kings Govindachandra and Jayachandra and also the Sahet Mahet inscription dated 1276 VS/1219-29 A.D....Nana's ancestors were inhabitants of Kausamyapura or Kosam in the Allahabad district originally.
  20. ^ Sinha, Bindeshwari Prasad (2003). Kayasthas in making of modern Bihar. Impression Publication. p. 13. Banaras plate of Govinchandra refers to Vastavya Kayastha.
  21. ^ Niyogi, Roma (1959). The History of the Gāhaḍavāla Dynasty. Oriental Book Agency. p. 212. It also contains a statue of Vastavya-Kayastha Thakkura Sri-Ranapala (in a soldier's outfit) who appears to have built...
  22. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. p. 102. ..The members of the family of Dharamraja, the hereditary scribes of the Kalachuri kings of Ratanpur, were good poets.
  23. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1996). The Kāyasthas: a study in the formation and early history of a caste. K.P. Bagchi & Co. p. 60. But Bihar was not the original homeland of the Ambashthas. The Ambashthas were a famous tribe from Western Punjab and have been mentioned in the Mahabharata.
  24. ^ a b Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE-200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  25. ^ a b 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: 858. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088.
  26. ^ Majumdar, R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal, (1990). The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. 4. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 395. OCLC 643663693.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). Socio-economic History of Northern India, 1030-1194 A. D. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 104. As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...
  28. ^ Majumdar,, Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal, (1990). The history and culture of the Indian people. Vol. 4. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 374. OCLC 643663693.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ Majumdar, R.C. (2001). Ramakrishnan, S. (ed.). History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. 5. Public Resource. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 477. We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.
  30. ^ Banu, U. A. B. Razia Akter (1992). Islam in Bangladesh. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0.
  31. ^ Luca, Pagani; Bose, Sarmila; Ayub, Qasim (2017). "Kayasthas of Bengal". Economic and Political Weekly. 52 (47): 44. ..which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...
  32. ^ Prasad., Mazumdar, Bhakat. Socio-economic history of northern India : (1030-1194 A.D.). p. 99. OCLC 614029099.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ a b 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.
  35. ^ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "FROM THE "LEKHAKA" TO THE KĀYASTHA: SCRIBES IN EARLY HISTORIC COURT AND SOCIETY (200 BCE-200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 34–40. ISSN 2249-1937.
  36. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 196. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646.
  37. ^ Ray, Sunil Chandra (1950). "A NOTE ON THE KĀYASTHAS OF EARLY-MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 13: 124–126. ISSN 2249-1937.
  38. ^ Kalhana (1989). Stein, Sir Marc Aurel (ed.). Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. pp. 8, 39, 45. ISBN 978-81-20-80370-1.
  39. ^ Ray, Sunil Chandra (1957). "ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 38 (3/4): 176. ISSN 0378-1143. He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.
  40. ^ a b Thapar, Romila (2013). The past before us : historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 498. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).
  41. ^ a b O’Hanlon, Rosalind (2010). "The social worth of scribes". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 47 (4): 583. doi:10.1177/001946461004700406. ISSN 0019-4646. ..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad..
  42. ^ a b H T Colebrooke (1898). A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I. pp. xvii. Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...
  43. ^ Imam, Fatima A. (2011). Kaminsky, Arnold P.; Long, Roger D. (eds.). India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. pp. 404–405. ISBN 9780313374623.
  44. ^ a b "India - The Rajputs". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-01-23. A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ Thapar, Romila (1998). A History of India. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Penguin Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-14-194976-5. OCLC 753563817. Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.
  46. ^ "Kayastha". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  47. ^ Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930. This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...
  48. ^ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 Bce-200 Ce)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  49. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Routledge. pp. 69–70. ISBN 9781134494361.
  50. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 193–194 – via SAGE.
  51. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 194. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one...It should be noted that the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history...
  52. ^ Carroll, Lucy (1974). "Origins of the Kayastha Temperance Movement". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 11 (4): 432–447. doi:10.1177/001946467401100403. ISSN 0019-4646.
  53. ^ Carroll, Lucy (1973). "Kayastha Samachar: from a Caste—to a National Newspaper". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 10 (3): 280–292. doi:10.1177/001946467301000305. ISSN 0019-4646.
  54. ^ indopersianstudies.com http://indopersianstudies.com/wp-content/. Retrieved 2021-03-18. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  55. ^ a b Varma, Pavan K. (2008). Ghalib. Penguin Books India. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-14-306481-7.
  56. ^ a b Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1005–1006. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
  57. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 25.
  58. ^ a b Pavan K. Varma (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257. ...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
  59. ^ "Social Action, Volume 50". Indian Social Institute. 2000: 72. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  60. ^ "D.L. Sheth".
  61. ^ a b 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.
  62. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c.1860–1900". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  63. ^ Singer, Milton B.; Cohn, Bernard S. (1970). Structure and Change in Indian Society. Transaction Publishers. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-202-36933-4.
  64. ^ Sharma, K. N. (1961). "Occupational Mobility of Castes in a North Indian Village". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 17 (2): 146–164. doi:10.1086/soutjanth.17.2.3629140. ISSN 0038-4801.
  65. ^ Jayaswal, Prem Kumar (1990). Librarianship and Bureaucratic Organisation: A Study in the Sociology of Library Profession in India. Concept Publishing Company. p. 68. ISBN 978-81-7022-321-4.
  66. ^ Mendis, Dushyantha (2007-12-04). Electoral Processes and Governance in South Asia. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 978-81-7829-970-9.
  67. ^ Sinha, Gopal Sharan; Sinha, Ramesh Chandra (1967-09-01). "Exploration in Caste Stereotypes*". Social Forces. 46 (1): 42–47. doi:10.1093/sf/46.1.42. ISSN 0037-7732.
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  69. ^ Orsini, Francesca (2014), Dalmia, Vasudha; Faruqui, Munis (eds.), "Inflected Kathas: Sufis and Krishna Bhaktas in Awadh", Religious Interactions in Mughal India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 200, ISBN 978-0-19-808167-8
  70. ^ 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...
  71. ^ Behar (Patna City) And Shahabad. 1838. p. 186. The Rajputs, Khatris and Kayasthas....openly keep women slaves....
  72. ^ Gopal, Madan (2020-02-01). Kalam Ka Majdoor : Premchand. Rajkamal Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-88933-48-3. प्रेमचन्द की रखैल शायद....
  73. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2005). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313.
  74. ^ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE-200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  75. ^ Das, Sukla (1980). Socio-economic Life of Northern India. Abhinav Publications. p. 64. ISBN 9788170171164. Thus during the Gupta Period, the Kayasthas meant a scribal profession rather than separate caste
  76. ^ a b Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930. The monopoly of Brahmanas on intellectual occupations began, since early medieval period, to be challenged by the scribal community of kayasthas..
    Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like...
    This group as demontrated by epigraphical....that required professional documenting fixation.     Cite error: The named reference ":4" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  77. ^ Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. The imprint of Brahmanical learning influenced other contenders for the status of intellectuals. Foremost among these were the Kāyasthas. Even as a functional group, they had come to be associated with extensive learning.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  78. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  79. ^ Carroll, Lucy (February 1978). "Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations". The Journal of Asian Studies. 37 (2): 233–250. doi:10.2307/2054164. JSTOR 2054164.
  80. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (January 2017). "The Formation of the Colonial State in India". Routledge Studies in South Asian History (1 ed.): 220. doi:10.4324/9780203762011. ISBN 9780203762011 – via Routledge - Taylor and Francis group.
  81. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  82. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  83. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2008). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 179–180. ISBN 978-81-208-3278-7. OCLC 319585768.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  84. ^ Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  85. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2008). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 179–180. ISBN 978-81-208-3278-7. OCLC 319585768.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  86. ^ Kolenda, Pauline M. (1980). "Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad. Karen I. Leonard". American Anthropologist. 82 (1): 218–218. doi:10.1525/aa.1980.82.1.02a00990. ISSN 1548-1433.
  87. ^ 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. Their ambiguous caste status in Brahmanical social codes may have encouraged them when acquiring office to insist on recording their origins and history as an assertion of identity. This may have been partly conditioned by the many branches of the kayastha caste that had become powerful in the administration of contemporary kingdoms.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  88. ^ 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 – 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.
  89. ^ 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 – 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)
  90. ^ 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 – via JSTOR.
  91. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 194. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one...the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history
  92. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 18–19. Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions--i.e., as a term for the various state officials... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units ad that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.
  93. ^ Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 20. In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from...kaya (principal, capital, treasury) and stha, to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.
  94. ^ Visvanathan, Meera (2014). "From the "lekhaka" to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE-200 CE)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 75: 37. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44158358.
  95. ^ a b c Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930. This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post..
  96. ^ Das, Sukla (1980). Socio-economic Life of Northern India. Abhinav Publications. p. 64. ISBN 9788170171164. Thus during the Gupta Period, the Kayasthas meant a scribal profession rather than separate caste
  97. ^ Chunder Dutt, Romesh (2013). A History of Civilisation in Ancient India : Based on Sanscrit Literature: Volume II. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-136-38217-8. OCLC 862613028. This fact demonstrates that the Kayasthas were only a profession, not a distinct caste, in the Puranic age.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  98. ^ Gupta, Chitrarekha (1983). "The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 20 (2): 191–204. doi:10.1177/001946468302000203. ISSN 0019-4646. According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.
  99. ^ 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. 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
  100. ^ 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.
  101. ^ 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.
  102. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  103. ^ 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.
  104. ^ 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.
  105. ^ 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...
  106. ^ 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...
  107. ^ 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.
  108. ^ 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)
  109. ^ 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 – 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.
  110. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  111. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  112. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  113. ^ Carroll, Lucy (February 1978). "Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations". The Journal of Asian Studies. 37 (2): 233–250. doi:10.2307/2054164. JSTOR 2054164.
  114. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (January 2017). "The Formation of the Colonial State in India". Routledge Studies in South Asian History (1 ed.): 220. doi:10.4324/9780203762011. ISBN 9780203762011 – via Routledge - Taylor and Francis group.
  115. ^ Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. The imprint of Brahmanical learning influenced other contenders for the status of intellectuals. Foremost among these were the Kāyasthas. Even as a functional group, they had come to be associated with extensive learning.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  116. ^ Chandra, Satish (2007). History of medieval India : 800-1700. Hyderabad, India: Orient Longman. p. 50. ISBN 81-250-3226-6. OCLC 191849214. There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas...The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  117. ^ O'Hanlon, Rosalind (2013). Routledge handbook of the South Asian diaspora. Joya Chatterji, D. A. Washbrook. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-415-48010-9. OCLC 829239521. In northern India and the Rajput states, Persian-assimilated Kayasthas and Khatris were the leading scribal people. These communities were not Brahmans, but had early in the second millennium developed as specialized scribes and clerks. Popular literatures reviled them for the influence they were able to command as royal scribes, but they also appear in inscriptional literature represented as pious donors and great men in their own right.
  118. ^ Sinha, Gopal Sharan; Sinha, Ramesh Chandra (1967). "Exploration in Caste Stereotypes". Social Forces. 46 (1): 42–47. doi:10.2307/2575319. ISSN 0037-7732 – 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 Kayastha, at least in practice, have been a clerical caste throughout the ages of Indian history. 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.
  119. ^ Davidson, Ronald M. (2005). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 178–180. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313. 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){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  120. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2008). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 179–180. ISBN 978-81-208-3278-7. OCLC 319585768.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  121. ^ Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  122. ^ Davidson, Ronald M (2008). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 179–180. ISBN 978-81-208-3278-7. OCLC 319585768.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  123. ^ Kolenda, Pauline M. (1980). "Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad. Karen I. Leonard". American Anthropologist. 82 (1): 218. doi:10.1525/aa.1980.82.1.02a00990. ISSN 1548-1433.
  124. ^ Devi, Yashoda M. The History Of Andhra Country 1000 A D 1500 A D. pp. 401–419. CHAPTER 19. THE KAYASTHAS. The Kayasthas as defacto independent rulers
  125. ^ Government, Andhra Pradesh (1960). The History Of Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series. p. 103. the Kayastha chiefs of the Kakatiyās had dislodged the Pandyan occupation of this area.
  126. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X.
  127. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X – 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.
  128. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X.
  129. ^ 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)
  130. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X – 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).
  131. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X.
  132. ^ 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)
  133. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X.
  134. ^ 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. ISSN 0026-749X – 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.
  135. ^ 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)
  136. ^ 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)
  137. ^ 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.
  138. ^ 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.
  139. ^ "Raja Tikait Rai: Keeper of the Nawab's Treasury". www.livehistoryindia.com. Retrieved 2021-03-17. 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)
  140. ^ Bayly, C. A. (1996). Empire and information : intelligence gathering and social communication in India, 1780-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-511-00203-3. OCLC 48138767. 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...
  141. ^ Hasnain, Nadeem (2016). The Other Lucknow. Vani Prakashan. pp. 64, 65. ISBN 978-93-5229-420-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  142. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.
  143. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.
  144. ^ Jaffer, Mehru. "Wandering In The Lanes of History". The Citizen. Retrieved 2021-03-17. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  145. ^ Peabody, Norbert (2003). Hindu Kingship and Polity in Precolonial India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-521-46548-9.
  146. ^ 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....
  147. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. pp. 67–75. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  148. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  149. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden (2022). "Flesh, booze and (contested) lineages: Kayasthas, caste and colonial ethnography 1870-1930". South Asian History and Culture. 13 (2): 157. doi:10.1080/19472498.2022.2067637. ISSN 1947-2498.
  150. ^ Bellenoit, Hayden (2022). "Flesh, booze and (contested) lineages: Kayasthas, caste and colonial ethnography 1870-1930". South Asian History and Culture. 13 (2): 161. doi:10.1080/19472498.2022.2067637. ISSN 1947-2498.
  151. ^ Chaudhuri, Zinnia Ray. "A history of Kayasth cuisine brings back memories of winter afternoons". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  152. ^ Bellenoit, H. J. A. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. Kayasthas took quickly to meat eating...Yet, it must be stressed that...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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