Sakaldwipiya Brahmins or Bhojaka Brahmins, is a class of Hindu priests and Ayurveda teachers (acharyas),[1] with significant concentrations of their populations occurring in Western and Northern India.
Spelling variants of "Sakaldwipiya" include Shakdvipi, Shakdwipi, Shakdweepi, Shakdvipiya, Shakdwipiya, Shakdweepiya, Shakadwipi, and Sakadwipi.[1]
The Sakaldwipiyas are also known as Maga Brahmins (see origin myth below). Also known as Maga Brahmins are the Suryadhwaja Brahmins, who however consider themselves to be distinct from the Sakaldwipiya/Bhojaka Brahmins.
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The Sakaldwipiya Brahmin community of India identify themselves as having Iranian roots, and assert that they inherit their by-name maga from a group of priests (cf. mobed) who established themselves in India as the Maga-Dias or Maga-Brahmanas.
Mahabharata describes fourfold varna system that was followed in Shakadwipa: Maga, Mashaka, Manasa, Madanga.[2]
The doctrinal basis for that assertion is Bhavishya Purana 133, which may be summarized as follows:[3][4]
As such, the Sakaldwipiya are one of only two[b] Brahmin groups who are said to have originated outside India, even if about half their clan names (gotras) are the same as those of other Brahmins.
Whatever their original beliefs, by the time the Bhavishya Purana 133 was composed the Sakaldwipiyas were identified as devotees of Surya, Hinduism's deity of the Sun (cf. Hvar). Subsequently, in Vrihata samhita 60.19, Varahamihira directs that the installation of the Surya images should be made by the maga, as they were the first to worship the divinity. Other texts enjoin that the images of Surya should be dressed like a northerner with the legs covered, that he should wear a coat and a girdle. The early representations of the divinity actually follow these injunctions, and early iconography depicts the deity in central Asian dress, replete with boots. In time, the alien features by either discarded or stories were inventing to interpret the others. Nonetheless, the use of the word Mihir in India to refer to Hinduism's Surya is regarded to represent Sakaldwipiya influence, a derivation from Middle Iranian myhr, that is itself a post-4th century BCE development of another development of Avestan Mithra (< Indo-Iranian *mitra). But in Sanskrit, Mihir is derived from the root mih (cf. MW) which is also the root of Megha(cloud), and the chief meaning of this root is to cause rains. Since Sun also causes rains, Mihir came to mean 'Sun'. Mitra (cognate of Avestan Mithra ) was related to Sun, but only functionally, not structurally. And the Shakdwipi Brahamins do in fact appear to have been instrumental in the construction of Sun temples in different part of the country,[5] to include Kashmir, Kathiawad and Somnath in Gujarat, Dholpur in Rajasthan, Hissar in Jodhpur, Bharatput and Khajuraho in Madhya pradesh, Konark in Orissa and Deo, Punyark, Devkund and Umga in Bihar.
The tale of the arrival of the Sakaldwipiyas appears to have been part of living tradition for many centuries. The Govindpur inscription of 1137-1138 refers to a maga family of Gaya, Bihar that was celebrated for its learning, Vedic scholarship and poetic faculty, and who descended from one of the original Samb invitees.[6] The Brahmins of the Godda district in Uttar Pradesh likewise trace their lineage to the original invitees. The maga-vyakti of Krishnadas Mishra is an elaboration of the legend. The Bhojakas are also mentioned in the inscriptions of Maurya Ashoka and Kharavela. Kadamba Dynasty (4th-6th century) copperplates found in Karnataka mention Bhojakas as administrators of Jain institutions.
The A History of Brahmin Clans states that Śākadvīpī Brahmins have a love for traditional (Sanskrit) knowledge and their Saṃskāras are like those of the Maithil Brāhamanas, although matrimonial and other customary relations with Maithil (or other Brahmins) are not in vogue.[7]
Dorilāl Śarmā Śrotiya described them as follows: "they wear long Yajnopavita at the age of 8 years, keep quiet while eating, like to keep beards like sages, perform agnihotra, and charmed with mantras, and were called maga because they read the Vedas in haphazard ways."[7]
Apocryphally, the Sakaldwipiya centre was at Magadha. According to their tradition, they were there allotted 72 principalities (purs),[8] and were identified by their purs rather than by their lineage (gotras). In time they migrated in all directions, but retained their affiliation with the original purs (as opposed to identifying themselves with their lineage, their gotras), and are strict in their practice of gotra and pur exogamy (unlike other Brahmins) and give it prime importance in arranging marriages; endogamy within one of their 74 paras (i.e. allas) is prohibited.
There are altogether 13 Śākadvīpī gotras: Kāśyapa, Garga, Pārāśara, Bhrigu/Bhargava, Kauṇḍinya, Kausala, Bharadwaj, Vasu, Suryadatta/Arkadatta, Nala, Bhavya Maṭi and Mihrāsu.
The Suryadhwaja have 5 gotras:Garga, Surya, Soral, Lakhi, Binju and Malek Jade.
Major Sakaldwipiya centers are in Rajasthan in Western India and near Gaya in Bihar.
The term 'Bhojaka' is popular in the western states while 'Sakadvipi' and its numerous variations is typical for the north and east. The terms 'Graha Vipra' and 'Acharya Brahmin' are common in Orissa, West Bengal and Rajasthan. One of the Sakaldwipiya groups, the 'Suryadhwaja' Brahmins, are endemic to Northern India and is the only Shakadwipiya group classified as Kashmiri Pandits.
The Bhojakas and sewaks are historically associated with several Jain temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan, where they serve as priests and attendants.[9] Some of the Shakdwipi Brahmins of Bihar and Uttar pradesh are Ayurvedic physicians, some are priests in Rajput families, while yet others are landholders.[10]
A community called as Daivajna who speak Konkani hailing from Konkan area are believed to have descended from Magas.[11]
Surnames (Padavi or Āspada titles) in alphabetical order, with their respective traditional areas are:
| Surname | Traditional "Root" Areas |
|---|---|
| Bhatta | J&K, Bihar |
| Bhatt | J&K, Bihar |
| Upadhyay | Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh |
| Ganak | Assam |
| Ganaka | Kerala |
| Acharya | Tripura |
| Graha Vipra | Bihar |
| Bhojak sewak Koushik sharma | Rajasthan, Maharastra |
| Miśra | Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh |
| Pāṭhaka | Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh |
| Mehrishi | Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan |
| Pāṇḍey[7] | Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh |
| Sharma | Rajasthan |
| Shukla | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar |
| Soral | Delhi, Rajasthan |
| Dasguru, Indraguru | Jharkhand, Bihar |
| Vajpayee | Uttar Pradesh |
| Vadhyayar/Vadhyar | Kerala, Karnataka |
| Ojha | Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh |
| Mohapatra, Nayak, Senapati, Ojha, Patta joshi, Nathsharma | Orissa |
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