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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Dec 22, 2024

🧵 A 10th century inscribed Buddha image donated by a Kayastha chief in Mithila

This large image of black basalt is located in the Bhagavati Mandir, Korthu village, Darbhanga district Bihar; published by Dr. Jalaj Kumar Tiwari in Mithila Bharati, 2019.

It consists of Lord Buddha standing in the middle under a Chhatra, in Samapadsthanaka pose on a lotus. To his right and left are is Padmapani Avalokitesvara and Maitreya respectively, both in Tribhanga posture on lotus pedestals. The sculpture is beautifully carved with several attendants.

The inscription consists of a single line incised on the pedestal of this sculpture. But it is of great historical value and reveals several important details about the contemporary socio-political conditions.

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The inscription on the Buddha pedestal is undated, but based on the characters it belongs to the 10th century. It reads:

"चेदी वं(शी)य कायस्थ-नादा श्री देहदलस्य"

"(This image is a gift) by Sri Dehadala, the leader of the Kayasthas, hailing from the Chedi region."

The inscription attests the expansion of the Chedis, ie, Kalachuris into Mithila around this time. Moreover, epigraphical evidences show that Kayasthas of Gauda and Srivastava lineages served as hereditary ministers to various branches of the Kalachuri dynasty, especially those of Tripuri. There is evidence of Kalachuri kings giving hereditary grants to families if Kayasthas. Presumably, Dehadala could have been the head of a Kayastha guild that accompanied the Kalachuris into Mithila.

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1866451488228413879

Moreover, the association of Kayasthas with Buddhism is well known. Both in Mithila, as well as the Chedi region have records of Buddhist Kayasthas. We previously discussed an 11-12th century Buddhist donation by a Kayastha from the Chedi region. This is perhaps one of the last Buddhist records from central India.

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1866451488228413879

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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Dec 20, 2024

🧵 A new, unpublished, 11th century inscription of Kirttivarman Chandela issued by his Kayastha minister:

I am glad to announce that 2 days back during an exploration in Garhwa, Allahabad, my colleagues and I discovered a large stone slab inscription of Kirttivarman Chandela. It consists of 16 lines, and barring a couple of letters on the left margin of every line, the rest is in an excellent state of preservation. The language is Sanskrit as usual in nearly emgraved characters of 11th century Nagari. This is perhaps the first stone inscription of Chandelas to be discovered at Allahabad. It is of immense historical importance as we shall see further in this thread.

Although, the transcription is completed and the translation is also almost done, I can't share the entire record here before it is published. Nevertheless, I shall discuss some interesting bits of this record in this thread.

The inscription records three kings of the चन्द्रात्रेय-नरेश्वर-वन्शे, ie, the Lunar Chandela dynasty, viz Vidyadhara, Vijayapala and Kirttivarman.

The record seems to be the eulogy of a Rama temple constructed in Allahabad on the path to Chitrakoot by a minister of Kirttivarman Chandela.

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After a brief discription of the three kings of this dynasty is mentioned the minister Vatsaraja who seems to be the issuer of the record at hand. He is described as a Srivastava Kayastha in this record. Here is a transcription of the verse about him:

"वास्तव्य-आन्वय तिलको नय मार्ग्ग गुरूर्गुणेक निधिः। अभवच्च वत्सराज स्तभ्य..... सान्धिविग्रहिकः"

"Vatsaraja, the crest-jewel of the Vastavya lineage (Srivastava), a guide on the path of policy, a mine of virtues, became the Minister of Peace and War."

The post of सन्धि-विग्रहिक, or the Minister of Peace and War is known since ancient times. This office combined defence and diplomacy. In the early mediaeval times it was monopolised by Kayasthas from Rajasthan to Odisha.

However, only two Sandhi-Vigrahikas are known from the inscriptions of Chandelas. This is the third Sandhi-Vigrahika being reported for the first time.

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1492010911812313092

We posted about Kayastha Ministers of Peace and War earlier.

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1492010911812313092

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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Dec 14, 2024

THREAD

On the etymology of the Kayastha subcaste Srivastava:

Srivastavas are today counted among the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of northern India, found across several Hindi speaking states and Nepal. There are several popular derivations of this surname. But in this thread we will try to understand the etymology of this name using epigraphical records.

The clan name of Srivastava is found in several inscriptions of early-medieaval north central India as writers, officials and ministers of various kingdoms. The original spelling of the name was श्री-वास्तव्य (Śrī-vāstavya) with श्री as a prefix- which is sometimes absent in old records of this clan. Three epigraphical records by different families of this clan give us a derivation of this name which we shall discuss here.

Two families of Srivastavas served as hereditary ministers to the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti. Both these families claimed descent from Rishi Kashyap, but they differ in the etymological derivation of their clan name. Both their records are known from the Ajaigarh fort in Panna.
One of the families was originally from a city named Kausamyapura where they served as ministers to a local dynasty. Some time later they Nana, a member thereof, who was a minister of Bhojavarman Chandela established a Vishnu mandir inside the fort, as mentioned in a large stone inscription dated to 1345 Vikrama Samvat (1288 CE) now housed at the Calcutta museum.

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The appellation of Srivastava first occurs in relation to an ancestor of this family who was a descendant of Kashyap. In the verse 15 of this record he is desribed thus:
श्रियो-निवासादभजत्स-वंशो-वास्तव्यताम-प्रतिरूप-कोटिम्

"Endowed with endless virtues (श्री) the whole family thus enjoyed the appellation of Śrī-vāstavya, or the abode of श्री"

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1861378403615785020

We briefly discussed this family earlier and tentatively identified one of its members as a minister of the Gahadavalas. Read more below:

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1861378403615785020

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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Dec 8, 2024

🧵 THREAD

Contextulising Kāyastha Nindā: How bureaucratic monopoly, professional rivalry and corruption shaped the image of a caste

In our previous thread, we saw how Kayasthas had a stronghold on the early mediaeval revenue system from the lowest to the highest rungs. But the genesis of this group can be traced to even earlier. Now, it is not exactly clear when Kayasthas coalesced into a Jati group, but as an official post, they became prominent since the Gupta era. We shall discuss Kayasthas in Gupta era bureaucracy separately. In this thread we will examine the origin, causes and development of Kayastha-Ninda based on epigraphical and literary sources.

One of the earliest mention of Kayasthas in a religious text comes from the Yajnavalkya smriti. Verse 336 of the Smriti states:
चाटतस्करदुर्वृत्तमहासाहसिकादिभिः ।
पीऽयमानाः प्रजारक्षेत्कायस्थैश्च विशेषतः ।।
"The King must protect his subjects from thieves, dacoits, men of bad conduct, rogues and especially Kayasthas."

Pictured: A folio of an 18th century manuscript of Mitakshara, a commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.

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The exact date of compilation of this Smriti is unknown, but it can be estimated based on its dated commentaries. The early ones, by Vijnaneswar, Vishvarup and Aparaditya, are largely on the same text that is available today; Vijnaneswar, from the 8th century, being the oldest. Based on this assessment, Yajnavalkya can be dated to the middle of the first millenium CE.

Around this time, Kayasthas were rising in the Gupta bureaucracy. Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasada Shastri remarks that between 500-600 CE in Bengal, "none could obtain even a very small piece of land in a village without the assent of the Kayasthas."
For instnace, in the Faridpur charter of Gopachandra, circa 6th century CE, a Jyeshtha Kayastha ascertained the land to be awarded as grant to a Brahmin.
Such a control over the system would have also resulted in corruption which is reflected in the above verse.

But the detailed account of the bureaucratic tyranny of Kayasthas comes from the Kashmiri writers Kshemendra and Kalhana.

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Kshemendra, alias Vyasadasa, was a satirist from 11th century Kashmir. He has chosen a myriad of characters to ridicule, but the chief of them are Kayastha bureaucrats of contemporary Kashmir. Two of his works are notable in this regard: Kalavilasa and Narmamala.
The former, literally Display of Arts, consists of 551 verses divided in 10 cantos. It is a satire on the trickery and deception practiced by various sections of the society.

The 5th canto is titled Kayastha-Charita where the author loathes Kayasthas as messengers of death and how they loot the masses. He narrates the story of the member of a "Kayastha-Kula" from Magadha who upon death became one a part of Lord Shiva's garland of skulls. The skull, being the cunning bureaucrat that he was in his life, stops Shiva from blessing a devotee.

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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Dec 5, 2024

🧵 Kayasthas in the revenue department: An in depth survey of early mediaeval land grants

As a class of record-keepers, Kayasthas were primarily associated with revenue department of early-medieaval kingdoms in North-India. Both literary and epigraphical evidence, particularly copper plate grants, suggest that members of this group occupied all rungs of the revenue administration in those times and were also the benefactors thereof.

In this thread we will study, how not only Kayasthas shaped and managed the revenue administration, but also how their own social identity was shaped by the system.
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In early mediaeval records, an officer of the revenue department was generally known as the अक्षपटलिक (Akshapatalika). Copper plate land-grants suggest that there were different grades of this post. The highest being महा-अक्षपटलिक the general superintendent of revenue records of the state. In many medieval kingdoms, this post was monopolised by members of the Kayastha caste.

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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1861378362750779688

This is best demonstrated best through the records of the Gahadavalas and their feudatories. Curiously enough, most Gahadavala records are land-grants to Brahmins and most of the seem to have been written by Kayasthas.
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https://x.com/historiakayasth/status/1861378362750779688

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historiakayasthas

@historiakayasth

Nov 30, 2024

🧵 Gauda Kayasthas: A bridge between Kayasthas of the north and east

According to the legend of Adisura, Kayasthas and Brahmins were brought to Bengal from Kanyakubja sometime after the fall of the Palas. The higher ranking members of the two were raised to the status of Kulins, while the rest were relegated to the status of Mauliks.
However, this legend doesn't find support in historical records for either castes.

Kayasthas are known from Bengal since atleast the Gupta era. The Damodarapura Copper plate of Kumaragupta I from Bengal, dated 444 CE, mentions a Prathama Kayastha named Shamba-Pala. Members of this group seemed to have played an important role in the administration of Gupta era Bengal, and continued to do so ever after.

We will discuss the genesis of Kayasthas of Bengal from an official post to a Jati a separate thread.

In this thread we shall document, how contrary to the popular belief, there is evidence of the migration of some Kayastha lineages from Bengal to parts of Northern India during early mediaeval period and how they merged with the local Kayasthas.

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In the current times, a subcaste of Chitragupta Kayasthas of northern India is named Gauda. There are several legends regarding the origins of this subcaste and their provenance remains a matter of debate. There have been a multitude of places named Gauda. Although generally associated with Bengal, other parts of Northern India were also called Gauda. Regarding, Kayasthas of this name, epigraphical records might offer some clue.

One of the earliest records of a Gauda Kayastha outside Bengal comes from the Khajuraho inscription of Yasovarman Chandel of 1011 Vikrama Samvat (954 CE). The writer of this record is a "Gauda" Karanika named Jaddha. Interestingly enough, this record also describes the victory of Chandelas over the Palas- the rulers of Gauda country which is undoubtedly Bengal.

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Moreover, the father of the Gauda writer is named Jaya- "Guna." This name ending is to be found among Kayasthas of Bengal. In fact, it is also a variant of the Kulin Kayastha surname Guha. This proves beyond doubt many Kayasthas from Bengal migrated to parts of northern India in early times.

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