Chitpavan
The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, 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. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Maharashtra region who considered the Chitpavans as "Parvenus" or newcomers to the Brahmin class. As per  Jayant Lele, the influence of the Chitpavans in the Peshwa era as well as the British era has been greatly exaggerated because even during the time of the most prominent Peshwas, their political legitimacy and their intentions were not trusted by all levels of the administration, not even by Shivaji's successors. He adds that after the defeat of Peshwas in the Anglo-Mahratta wars, Chitpavans were the one of the Hindu communities to flock to western education in the Bombay Province of British India. As per the 1901 census, about 5% of the Pune population was Brahmin and about  27% of them were Chitpavans. Origin. The Chitpavans are also known as Konkanastha Brahmin. The etymology of their name is given in the chapter "citpāvanabrāhmaṇotpattiḥ" i.e “Origin of the Citpāvan brahmins” in the Hindu Sanskrit scripture Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana. According to this chapter, Parashurama, who could not find any Brahmins in Konkan, found sixty fishermen who had gathered near a funeral pyre near the ocean shore. These sixty fishermen families were purified and Sanksritized to Brahminhood. Since the funeral pyre is called "Chita" and pure as "pavana", the community was henceforth known by the name "Chitpavan " or "purified  at the location of a funeral pyre". However, 'Chita' also means 'mind' in Sanskrit and the Chitpavans prefer "pure of mind" instead of "pure from the pyre". The scriptures were also referred to in a 20th century case related to the Veerashaiva rights to perform "Rudra-abhishek". Bairy, a modern scholar on caste and sociology quotes a statement made by Viroopaksha Pandita on the Chitpavans non-Brahmin or non-Dvija origin by citing their scriptures. The successful argument was made by him during Shastrartha and was regarding Brahmin purity and was cited in "Nanjundaradhya"(1969). The opposing side, headed by Mr. Bapat was unable to argue the case - as reported by the Star of Mysore. As per Tudor Parfitt and Yulia Egorova, the Parashurama mythological story of shipwrecked people is similar to the mythological story of the Bene Israel Jews of Raigad district. According to the historian Roshen Dalal, similarities between the legends may be due to a connection between the Chitpavans and the Bene Israel communities. The history of the Bene Israel, who also settled in Konkan, claims that the Chitpavans are also of Jewish origin. In addition, Indian scholar Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar has shown similarity between names of Chitpavans  and the geographical sites in Palestine. The Konkan region witnessed the immigration of groups, such as the Bene Israel, 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 the least fertile and had few good ports for trading. The other groups generally took up trade as their primary occupation. In ancient times, the Chitpavans were employed as messengers and spies. Later, with the rise of the Chitpavan Peshwa  in the 18th century they began migrating to Pune and found employment as military men, diplomats and clerks in the administration. A 1763-4 document shows that at least 67% of the clerks at the time were Chitpavans. History. Rise during the Maratha rule. Very little is known of the Chitpavans before 1707 CE 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. With the ascension 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 where the Peshwa offered all important offices to  his fellow castemen. The Chitpavan kin were rewarded with tax relief and grants of land. Historians cite nepotism and corruption 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. British Era. After the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818, the Chitpavans lost their political dominance to the British. The British would not subsidise 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. 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, Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Vinoba Bhave. Some of the strongest resistance to change 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 to England in 1919. When the Mali(a low caste) social reformer, Jyotirao Phule was trying to get the backward castes educated, the Chitpavans of Pune did not allow any backward and Dalit student to join existing schools. This opposition from them resulted in Phule establishing schools in and around Pune. The Chitpavan community includes two major politicians in the Gandhian tradition: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whom Mahatma Gandhi acknowledged as a preceptor, and Vinoba Bhave, one of his outstanding disciples. Gandhi describes Bhave as the "jewel of his disciples", and recognised Gokhale  as his political guru. However, strong opposition to Gandhi came from the Chitpavan community. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist political ideology Hindutva, was a Chitpavan Brahmin and several other Chitpavans were among the first to embrace it because they thought it was a logical extension of the legacy of the Peshwas and caste-fellow Tilak. These Chitpavans felt out of place with the Indian social reform movement of Phule and the mass politics of Gandhi. Large numbers of the community looked to Savarkar, the Hindu Mahasabha and finally the RSS., drew their inspiration from fringe groups  in this reactionary trend. Anti-Brahmin violence in the 20th century. Shahu of Kolhapur. During the early 20th century, the ruler of Kolhapur state, Shahu and Bal Gangadhar Tilak fell out with each other due to vedokta controversy. He was also instrumental in shaping anti-Brahmin attitude in the non-Brahmin communities during that period. This led to great violence against Brahmins in Kolhapur. Gandhi assassination. After Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by Nathuram Godse, a Chitpavan, Brahmins in Maharashtra, became targets of violence, mostly by members from the Maratha caste. The motivating factor for the violence was not love for  Gandhi on the part of the rioters but the denigration and humiliation that the Marathas were subjected to due to their caste status. The total monetary loss has been estimated to Rs.100 million (or about 20 million in 1948 US dollars). The violence after the assassination affected chitpavan Patwardhan family ruled princely states such as Sangli, where the Marathas were joined by the Jains and the Lingayats in the attacks against the Brahmins. Here, specifically, the loss was about Rs.16 million. This event led to the hasty integration of the Patwardhan states into the Bombay Province by March 1948 - a  move that was opposed by other Brahmins as they feared the Maratha predominance in the integrated province. Military. The Chitpavans have considered themselves to be both warriors and priests. Their involvement in military affairs began with the rise of the Peshwas and their willingness to enter military and other services earned them high status and power in the Deccan. Culture. In their original home of Konkan, their primary occupation was farming, while some earned money by performing rituals among their own caste members. Anthropologist Donald Kurtz writes that the late 20th century opinions about the culture of the Chitpavans was  that they were frugal to the point of appearing cheap, impassive, not trustworthy and also conspiratorial. According to Tilak, a Chitpavan himself, his community was known for cleanliness and being industrious but he suggested they should learn virtues such as benevolence and generosity from the Deshasthas. During the heyday of the Maratha Empire, the city of Pune became the financial metropolis of the empire with 150 big and petty moneylenders. Most of these were Chitpavan or Deshastha Brahmins. D.L.Sheth, the former director of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies in India (CSDS), lists Indian communities that were traditionally  urban and professional (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) immediately after Independence in 1947. This list included Chitpavans and CKPs(Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus) from Maharashtra; the South Indian Brahmins; the Nagar Brahmins from Gujarat; the Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and Kayasthas from northern India; the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis; the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. According to P.K.Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school. Language. The historical language of  the Chitpavans was primarily Chitpavani/Chitpavani. Though now, Chitpavan Brahmins in Maharashtra speak Marathi as their language. The Marathi spoken by Chitpavans in Pune is the standard form of language used all over Maharashtra today. This form has many words derived from Sanskrit and retains the Sanskrit pronunciation of many, misconstrued by non-standard speakers as "nasalised pronunciation". 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 socio-economic class), barely equal to the noblest of dvijas. The Deshastha Brahmins and  the Karhadas treated the Peshwa's caste with contempt and refused to interdine with them. Even during the days of earlier Peshwa's they hesitated the admit the Chitpavans to social equality. Even the Peshwa was denied the rights to use the ghats reserved for Deshastha priests at Nashik on the Godavari river. After the appointment of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat as Peshwa, Konkanastha migrants began arriving en masse from the Konkan to Pune, where the Peshwa offered some important offices to the Konkanastha caste. The Konkanastha kin were rewarded with tax relief and grants of land. Historians point out nepotism  and corruption during this time. The rise in prominence of the Chitpavans compared to the Deshastha Brahmins resulted in intense rivalry between the two communities. 19th century records also mention "Gramanyas" or village-level debates between the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus and the Chitpavans, Saraswat Brahmins and the Chitpavans, Pathare Prabhus and the Chitpavans and Shukla Yajurvedi Deshastha Brahmins and the Chitpavans. These disputes pertaining to the so called violation of "Brahmanical ritual code of behavior" were quite common in Maharashtra during that period. Bal Gangadhar Tilak believed that the Deshasthas, Chitpavans and Karhades should get united. As early as 1881 , he encouraged this by writing comprehensive discussions on the urgent need for these three Maharashtrian Brahmin sub-castes to give up caste exclusiveness by intermarrying and dining together. Starting in the 20th Century, the relations between the Deshastha Brahmins and the Chitpavan Brahmins have improved by the large-scale mixing of both communities on social, financial and educational fields, as well as with intermarriages. Diet. Traditionally, Chitpavan Brahmins are vegetarian. Rice was their staple food. Section::::"Bodan". A.J.Agarkar describes "Bodan" as follows and adds that some kind of dancing is also involved: Genealogy. The community has published several family history and  genealogy almanacs called "Kulavruttantas". These books usually document various aspects of a clan's history, name etymology, ancestral land holdings, migration maps, religious traditions, genealogical charts, biographies, and records of births, deaths and marriages within the clan. References. Notes Citations