User:Sattvic7/Kayastha

Historically, they started to consolidate into a distinct caste or sub-castes around the 11^th- 12^th 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

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

Prominent Kayastha Figures

Adoxa (Adoxa moschatellina)

History (Kayastha)

From classical to early-medieval India

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

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

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

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

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

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

Etymology

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

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

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

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

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]

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

RItual Status

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

Bhakti movement

The Kayasthas also became a part of the larger Bhakti movement in northern India.

Dhruvadasa (d. 1643), a Kayastha from Deoband (Uttar Pradesh), whose family served as government servants, is considered one of the Radhavallabh sect's foremost poets.^[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

Women

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)

Early North India

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 11^th- 12^th 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 11^th 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 11^th 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

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 13^th century CE.^[124][125]

Indo-Islamic Era

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

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

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

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

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]