Kanyakubja Brahmin
Kanyakubja Brahmins are an endogamous[3] Brahmin community mainly found in northern India. They are classified as one of the Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities native to the north of the Vindhyas.[4]
%27_(11151912296).jpg) Brahmins performing daily ritual on the banks of river Ganga, Kannauj, 1882 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh • Madhya Pradesh • West Bengal • Rajasthan • Gujarat • Chhattisgarh • Karnataka • Andhra Pradesh • Telangana • Jharkhand • Bihar • Assam • Tripura • Himachal Pradesh • Maharashtra • Uttarakhand • Nepal[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Hindi • Kannauji • Awadhi • Nepali • Marathi • Bhojpuri • Bengali • Braj Bhasha • Marwari • Kannada • Telugu language[2] • other Indo-Aryan languages | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Saraswat Brahmins • Gauda Brahmins • Maithil Brahmins • Bengali Brahmins • Utkala Brahmins |
Origins
changeThe majority of the interviewees assert that the designation of the caste originates from the city of Kannauj, emphasizing that this name signifies a geographical association. The etymology of this caste is solely preserved through genealogies, oral traditions, mythical narratives, and proverbial accounts.[5]
Social status
changeIn Uttar Pradesh, they are considered the highest class of Brahmins.[6]
Occupation
changeSome of the Kanyakubja Brahmins were Priests, Astronomers, Astrologers, teachers while others chose the career of soldier. They formed the best fighting element in Awadh next only to Rajputs.[7]
Military
change
Kanyakubja Brahmins supplied excellent recruits in the old Bengal Army. There were only two regiments of Brahmins in Bengal Army which recruited exclusively from Kanyakubja Brahmins. It is from this tribe that most of the soldiers in two Brahmin regiments 1st Brahmans & 3rd Brahmans were drawn.[8][9][10]
Mr. George Campbell gives the following information:--
"Whether from the example of the Rajputs, or for other reasons, Kanyakubja Brahmins of the Antarvéda and Awadh have taken largely to the profession of arms, not usually much followed by Brahmins in other parts of the country; and beyond their own boundaries in their military character they are reputed the most overbearing and disagreeable of their race. Yet I fancy that it is rather their profession than their natural character, which has attached to them this bad name".[11]
It is still generally believed that the Kanyakubja Brahmins formed the first power in the Bengal Army which mutinied. Considering their numbers and influence, they are to be held chiefly responsible for the atrocities which were committed in Eastern India on East India Company.[12]
Notable people
changeReligious figures
change- Bhava Brihaspati, a Shaiva Pashupata ascetic. [13]
- Abhinavagupta, Kashmir Shaivism Philosopher [14]
- Ramananda, 14th century Vaishnav poet and founder of Ramanandi sect.[15][16]
- Bhagat Parmanand, Vaishnav mystic and saint-poet.[17]
- Swaroopanand Saraswati, Indian Religious leader and Former Shankaracharya of Dwarka.[18]
Politicians
change- Ravishankar Shukla, first chief minister of Madhya Pradesh[19]
- Shyama Charan Shukla, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh[19]
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India[20]
- Bindeshwari Dubey, Former Chief Minister of Bihar.[21]
- Dwarka Prasad Mishra, Writer, Journalist and Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.[19]
Poets/Writers
change- Bāṇabhaṭṭa, 7th century Sanskrit writer and poet from Kannauj.[22]
- Jayadeva, Sanskrit Poet [23]
- Suryakant Tripathi, Indian poet and novelist.[24]
- Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Indian Hindi writer and editor.[25]
- Kavi Bhushan, Court poet of Bundeli king Chhatrasal & Marathi king Shivaji.[26]
- Kalash Deva, Poet and personal advisor of Sambhaji[27]
Freedom Fighters
change- Chandra Shekhar Azad, An Indian Revolutionary.[28]
References
change- ↑ RS Khare. The Changing Brahmans.
- ↑ Sengupta, Nitish K. (2001). History of the Bengali-Speaking People. UBS Publishers' Distributors. p. 25. ISBN 81-7476-355-4.
- ↑ Suhasini Bhatnagar and Suraksha Agrawal (2016). "Surname Endogamy among the Brahmin of India". Current Sociology. 50 (6): 853–861. doi:10.1177/0011392102050006005. S2CID 145181320.
- ↑ Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India. Pearson Education India. p. 575. ISBN 9788131711200.
- ↑ Khare, R. S. (1960). "The Kānya-Kubja Brahmins and Their Caste Organization". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 16 (3): 348–367. doi:10.1086/soutjanth.16.3.3629037. ISSN 0038-4801.
- ↑ Angela S. Burger (2022). Uttar Pradesh : General Background Opposition in a Dominant Party System A Study of the Jan Sangh, the Praja Socialist Party, and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh, India. University of California Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780520365568.
- ↑ Singh, Surya Narayan (2003). The Kingdom of Awadh. Mittal Publications. p. 9.
- ↑ P.D. Bonarjee (1899). A Handbook of the Fighting Races of India. Thacker, Spink & Company. p. 211. ISBN 9780520365568.
- ↑ Gaylor, John (1992). Sons of John Company. The Indian & Pakistan Armies 1903-1991. p. 130. ISBN 0-946771-98-7.
- ↑ The Monthly Review. The University of California. 1904. p. 130.
- ↑ Wilson, John (1877). Indian caste. Times of India office. p. 158, 159.
- ↑ Wilson, John (1877). Indian caste. Times of India office. p. 159.
- ↑ Thapar, Romila (2008). Somanatha. Penguin books limited. ISBN 978-93-5118-021-0.
- ↑ Proceedings and Transactions of the ... All-India Oriental Conference. Bihar and Orissa Research Society. 1964. p. 48.
- ↑ Harder, Hans (3 August 2020). Literature and Nationalist Ideology. Taylor and Francis.
- ↑ Singh, Vidyotma (2005). Saints of Ancient and Medieval India. Vista International Publishing House.
- ↑ Thielemann, Selina (2000). Singing the Praises Divine Music in the Hindu Tradition. A.P.H. publishing corporation. ISBN 9788176481656.
- ↑ Sharma, Anima (2005). Tribe in Transition. Mittal Publications. p. 334.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Journal of the Society for Study of State Governments. 1972. p. 131.
- ↑ Singh, N. K (31 May 1996). "Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A private person with strong dislikes and few close friends". India Today. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ↑ Good News, Bad News. Punnoose Tharyan. 1999. p. 156.
- ↑ Singh, Upinder. History Of Ancient And Early Medeival India From The Stone Age To The 12th Century. Penguin Books Limited. p. 110.
- ↑ Parimal Brahma. "Jayadeva's Genius".
- ↑ Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna (12 December 2006). Last Bungalow: Writings on Allahabad. Penguin Books Limited. p. 197. ISBN 978-93-5214-094-7.
- ↑ Mody, Sujata S. "Dwivedi, Mahavir Prasad". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97284. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ People's Raj. Vol. 30. Directorate-General of Information and Public Relations. 1974. p. 78.
- ↑ Pandey, Awadh Bihari (1965). Society and Government in Medieval India.
- ↑ "Pratappur Bhaunti इस the ancestral village of Chandrashekhar Aazad". inext live. 2024.
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