Chitpavan

Chitpavan/Kokanastha Brahmins
Religions Hinduism
Languages Primary mother tongue is Chitpavani (a dialect of Konkani) and Konkani but also have proficiency in native languages,[1]
Populated states Konkan (Coastal Maharashtra, Goa and coastal Karnataka); some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat

The Chitpavan Brahmin (चित्पावन ब्राह्मण) or Kokanastha Brahmin (कोकणस्थ ब्राह्मण) (i.e. "Brahmins native to the Konkan"), is a Hindu Brahmin community from Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra in India. The community came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire.[2] Under the British Raj, they were the one of the Hindu community in Maharashtra to flock to western education and as such they provided the bulk of social reformers, educationalists and nationalists of the late 19th century.[3] Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Maharashtra region.[4][5][6]

Origin

There are two common mythological theories of origin among the Chitpavans. The more contemporary theory is based on the etymology of their name meaning "pure of mind", while an older belief uses the alternate etymology of "pure from the pyre" and is based on the tale of Parashurama in the Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana.[7][8] The Parashurama myth of origin is identical to the myth that claimed by the Bene Israel of the Kolaba district. According to Bene Israeli myth, the Chitpavan and Bene Israel are descendants from a group of 14 people shipwrecked off the Konkan coast. One group converted to Hinduism as Chitpavan Brahmins, the other remained Jewish or Bene Israel.[9][10][11]. Chitpavans also show their distant relation with the nomadic Kaikadi (കൈകാഡി/कैकाडी) & Waddar (వడ్డర/वडार) people, who are found in & around Ambejogai.

Originally the myth pertained to Chitpavans only, but a certain section of society was obsessed with their lineage, hence furthered the name of Bene israel.[12]

The Konkan region has witnessed the immigration of various groups, such as the Bene Israeli,and Kudaldeshkars. Each of these settled in distinct parts of the region and there was little mingling between them. The Chitpavans were apparently the last major community to arrive there and consequently the area in which they settled, around Ratnagiri, was both the least fertile and that with a relative scarcity of good ports for trading. While the other groups generally took up trade as their primary occupation, the Chitpavans became known as administrators.[6]

History

Rise and fall during the Maratha rule

Peshwa Madhavrao II with Nana Fadnavis and attendants, at Pune in 1792

Very little is known of the Chitpavans before 1707 A.D.[6] Around this time, Balaji Vishwanth Bhat, a Chitpavan arrived from Ratnagiri to the Pune-Satara area. He was brought there on the basis of his reputation of being an efficient administrator. He quickly gained the attention of Chhatrapati Shahu. Balaji's work so pleased the Chhatrapati that he was appointed the Peshwa or Prime Minister in 1713. He ran a well-organized administration, and, by the time of his death in 1720, he had laid the groundwork for the expansion of the Maratha Empire. Since this time until the fall of the Maratha Empire, the seat of the Peshwa would be held by the members of the Bhat family.,[13][14]

With the accession of Balaji Baji Rao and his family to the supreme authority of the Maratha Empire, Chitpavan immigrants began arriving en masse from the Konkan to Pune[15][16] where the Peshwa offered all important offices to his fellow castemen.[6] The Chitpavan kin were rewarded with tax relief and grants of land.[17] Historians cite nepotism[18][19][20][21][22][23] and corruption[21][23] as causes of the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818. Richard Maxwell Eaton states that this rise of the Chitpavans is a classic example of social rank rising with political fortune.[16] The alleged haughty behavior by the upstart Chitpavans caused conflicts with other communities which manifested itself as late as in 1948 in the form of anti-Brahminism after the killing of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, a Chitpavan.[6]

The Peshwa rule forced untouchability treatment on the Mahars as a result Mahars served in the armies of the East India company[24] On 1 January 1818 in the Battle of Koregaon between forces of the East India Company and the Peshwa,Mahars soldiers formed the biggest contingent of the Company force. The battle effectively ended Peshwa rule [25]

Role in Indian politics

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

After the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818, the Chitpavans lost their political dominance to the British. The British would not subsidize the Chitpavans on the same scale that their caste-fellow, the Peshwas had done in the past. Pay and power was now significantly reduced. Poorer Chitpavan students adapted and started learning English because of better opportunities in the British administration.[17]

Some of the prominent figures in the Hindu reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries came from the Chitpavan Brahmin community. These included Dhondo Keshav Karve,[26] Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade,[27] Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,[28][29] Gopal Ganesh Agarkar,[30] Vinoba Bhave.[31]Wolpert, Stanley A. (April 1991). Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0195623925. </ref> Some of the strongest resistance to change also came from the very same community.The vanguard and the old guard clashed many times. D. K. Karve was ostracised. Even Tilak offered penance for breaking caste or religious rules.One was for taking tea at Poona Christian mission in 1892 and the second was going overseas to England in 1919[32]

The Chitpavan community includes two major politicians in the Gandhian tradition: Gopal Krishna Gokhale whom Gandhi acknowledged as a preceptor, and Vinoba Bhave, one of his outstanding disciples. Gandhi describes Bhave as the Jewel of his disciples, and recognized Gokhale as his political guru. However, strong opposition to Gandhi also came from within the Chitpavan community. V D Savarkar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist political ideology Hindutva, was a Chitpavan Brahmin. Several members of the Chitpavan community were among the first to embrace the Hindutva ideology, which they thought was a logical extension of the legacy of the Peshwas and caste-fellow Tilak.[33] These Chitpavans felt out of place with the Indian social reform movement of Mahatama Phule and the mass politics of Mahatama Gandhi. Large numbers of the community looked to Savarkar, the Hindu Mahasabha and finally the RSS. Gandhi's assassins Narayan Apte and Nathuram Godse, drew their inspiration from fringe groups in this reactionary trend.[34]

Military

The Chitpavans have considered themselves to be both warriors and priests.[35] The willingness of the Chitpavans to enter military and other services earned them both high status and power in the Deccan.[36]

The active involvement of Chitpavans in military affairs started with the rise of the Peshwas.[37]

Culture

During the British rule in India, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the household worshipping of Ganesha into a grand public event (Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav) to spread the message of freedom struggle and to defy the British who had banned public assemblies.Students often would celebrate Hindu and national glory and address political issues including patronage of Swadeshi goods.Today large-scale Ganesh festival celebrations take place in Maharashtra with millions of people visiting the various community Ganesh Pandals.[38]

Traditionally, the Chitpavan Brahmins were a community of astrologers and priests who offer religious services to other communities. The 20th century descriptions of the Chitpavans list inordinate frugality, phlegmatism, hard work, cleanliness and intelligence among their attributes.[39][40][41] Agriculture was the second major occupation in the community, practised by the those who possess arable land. Later, Chitpavans became prominent in various white collar jobs and business.

Language

Most of the Chitpavan Brahmins in Maharashtra have adopted Marathi as their language. A minority of Chitpavans spoke a dialect of Konkani called Chitpavani Konkani in their homes. Even at that time, reports recorded Chitpavani as a fast disappearing language. But in Dakshina Kannada District and Udupi Districts of Karnataka, this language is being spoken in places like Durga and Maala of Karkala taluk and also in places like Shishila and Mundaje of Belthangady Taluk.[42] There are no inherently nasalised vowels in standard Marathi whereas the Chitpavani dialect of Konkani does have nasalised vowels.[43]

The Marathi spoken by Chitpavans in Pune, is the standard form of language used all over Maharashtra today.[3] This form of Marathi has many Sansrkrit derived words. It has also retained the Sanskrit pronunciation of many words, misconstrued by non standard speakers as "nasalized pronunciation" .[44]

Social status

Earlier, the Deshastha Brahmins believed that they were the highest of all Brahmins, and looked down upon the Chitpavans as parvenus (a relative newcomer to a socioeconomic class), barely equal to the noblest of dvijas. Even the Peshwa was denied the rights to use the ghats reserved for Deshasth priests at Nashik on the Godavari.,[45][46]

The rise in prominence of the Chitpavans compared to the Deshastha Brahmins resulted in intense rivalry between the two communities.[47] The 19th century records also mention Gramanyas or village-level debates between the Chitpavans, and two other communities, namely the Daivajnas, and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus. This lasted for about ten years.[48]

Notable people

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Valentine, Chirol (2012). Indian Unrest. Tredition. p. 72. ISBN 978-3-8472-0599-9.
  3. 1 2 Singh, R.; Lele, J. K. (1989). Language and society: steps towards an integrated theory. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 34. ISBN 978-9-00408-789-7.
  4. ↑ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of India. Vision Books. p. 49.
  5. ↑ H. H. Dodwell. The Cambridge History of India: British India, 1497-1858. p. 385.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Cohn, =Bernard S.; Singer, Milton (2007). Structure and Change in Indian Society. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-0-202-36138-3.
  7. ↑ Figueira, Dorothy M. (2002). Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: theorizing authority through myths of identity. SUNY Press. pp. 121–122. ISBN 9780791487839. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  8. ↑ Irawati Karve (1989) [1928]. The Chitpavan Brahmins - A Social and Ethnic Study. pp. 96–97. ISBN 81-7022-235-4.
  9. ↑ T. Parfitt, Y. Egorova (2005). "Genetics, History, and Identity: The Case Of The Bene Israel and the Lemba" (PDF): 206, 208, 221.
  10. ↑ "Jews and India: Perceptions and Image", Yulia Egorova, 2006, Page 85, ISBN 978-0-203-96123-0
  11. ↑ Strizower, Schifra (1971). The Bene Israel of Bombay: A Study of a Jewish Community. p. 16. ISBN 0-8052-3405-5.
  12. ↑ Karve, Irawati (1989) [1928]. The Chitpavan Brahmins - A Social and Ethnic Study. pp. 104–107. ISBN 81-7022-235-4.
  13. ↑ Stewart Gordon (16 September 1993). The Marathas 1600-1818. Cambridge University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-521-26883-7.
  14. ↑ Gokhale, B.G., 1985. The religious complex in eighteenth-century Poona. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 105(4), pp.719-724.
  15. ↑ Sandhya Gokhale (2008). The Chitpavans: social ascendancy of a creative minority in Maharashtra, 1818-1918. p. 113. ISBN 81-8290-132-4.
  16. 1 2 Richard Maxwell Eaton. A social history of the Deccan, 1300-1761: eight Indian lives, Volume 1. p. 192.
  17. 1 2 Edmund Leach, S. N. Mukherjee (1970). Elites in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 101, 104, 105. ISBN 0-521-10765-2.
  18. ↑ Tryambaka Śaṅkara Śejavalakara (1946). Panipat: 1761. pp. 24, 25.
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  21. 1 2 Govind Sakharam Sardesai (1986) [1946]. New history of the Marathas: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. p. 254.
  22. ↑ J. R. Śinde (1985). Dynamics of cultural revolution: 19th century Maharashtra. p. 16.
  23. 1 2 S. M. Michael. Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values. p. 95.
  24. ↑ "Clifford"Sawhney, Clifford (2004). Strange But True Facts. Pustak Mahal. p. 77,78.
  25. ↑ Banerjee, Shoumojit. "When Mahars fought on home turf, and helped Britain win". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  26. 1 2 Karve, Dinakar D. (1963). The New Brahmans: Five Maharashtrian Families (First ed.). Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 13 – via Questia.
  27. 1 2 Wolpert, Stanley A. (April 1991). Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0195623925.
  28. ↑ Wolf, Siegfried O. "Vinayak Damodar Savarkar: Public Enemy or national Hero?" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  29. ↑ Wolf, Siegfried (Editor) (2009). Heidelberg Student papers, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:: Public Enemy or national Hero (PDF). Dresden: Heidelberg University. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-86801-076-3.
  30. 1 2 Wolpert, Stanley A. (April 1991). Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0195623925.
  31. ↑ Maloni, edited by Mariam Dossal, Ruby (1999). State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 87. ISBN 9788171548552.
  32. ↑ Cashman, Richard I. (1975). The myth of the Lokamanya : Tilak and mass politics in Maharashtra. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780520024076.
  33. ↑ Swapan Dasgupta, Smruti Koppikar (3 August 1998). "Godse on Trial". India Today: 24–26. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
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  35. ↑ Bhatt, Chetan (2001). Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths. Berg. p. 32. ISBN 9781859733486.
  36. 1 2 Hansen, Thomas Blom (2001). Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay. Princeton University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-69108-840-2.
  37. ↑ Sandhya Gokhale (2008). The Chitpavans: social ascendancy of a creative minority in Maharashtra, 1818-1918. Shubhi. p. 82. ISBN 978-81-8290-132-2.
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  45. ↑ Ravinder Kumar Western India in the Nineteenth Century, p 38.
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  51. ↑ Wolpert, Stanley A. (April 1991). Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0195623925.
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  54. ↑ Bayly, Susan (2000). Caste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age (1. Indian ed. ed.). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0521798426.
  55. ↑ Pinney, Christopher (2004). Photos of the gods : the printed image and political struggle in India. London: Reaktion. p. 46-47. ISBN 9781861891846.
  56. ↑ KESHAVSUT,PRABHAKAR MACHWE,Indian Literature,Vol. 9, No. 3 (JULY-SEPTEMBER 1966), pp. 43-51
  57. ↑ Wolpert, Stanley A. (April 1991). Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0195623925.
  58. 1 2 Kosambi, Meera. "Women, Emancipation and Equality: Pandita Ramabai's Contribution to Women's Cause." Economic and political weekly (1988): WS38-WS49.
  59. ↑ Wolf, Siegfried O. "Vinayak Damodar Savarkar: Public Enemy or national Hero?" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  60. ↑ Wolf, Siegfried (Editor) (2009). Heidelberg Student papers, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:: Public Enemy or national Hero (PDF). Dresden: Heidelberg University. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-86801-076-3.
  61. ↑ Shoesmith, B., 1988. Swadeshi cinema: Cinema, politics and culture: The writing
  62. ↑ Jeffrey, R., 1997. Marathi: Big Newspapers Are Elephants. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.384-38
  63. ↑ Jaffrelot, C., 1999. The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to the 1990s: strategies of identity-building, implantation and mobilisation (with special reference to central India). Penguin Books India.
  64. ↑ Maloni, edited by Mariam Dossal, Ruby (1999). State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 79. ISBN 9788171548552.
  65. ↑ Maloni, edited by Mariam Dossal, Ruby (1999). State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 87. ISBN 9788171548552.
  66. ↑ Subramanian, L., 2000. The master, muse and the nation: The new cultural project and the reification of colonial modernity in India∗. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 23(2), pp.1-32.

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