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Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is an ethno-religious clan of South Asia. It is part of the broader Kayastha community. Traditionally, the CKPs have been granted the upper caste status, which allowed them to study the Vedas and perform religious rites along with Brahmins.

The CKPs are today concentrated primarily in western Maharashtra, southern Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh (Indore region). They played an important role in the establishment and administration of the Maratha empire.

History

Medieval History

The name Chandraseniya may be a corruption of the word "Chandrashreniya", meaning from the valley of the Chenab River (also known as "Chandra"). This theory states that the word "Kayastha" originates from the term "Kaya Desha", an ancient name for the region around Ayodhya.

The CKP community became more prominent during the Maratha rule. Several of the Maratha King Shivaji's generals and ministers, such as Murarbaji Deshpande and Baji Prabhu Deshpande, were CKPs.

British Rule

The CKPs have traditionally placed themselves in the Kshatriya varna, next only to the Brahmins, and also followed the Brahmin rituals, like the sacred thread ceremony. . In 1801-1802 CE (1858 Samvat), a Pune-based council of 626 Brahmins from Maharashtra, Karnataka and other areas made a formal declaration that the CKPs are twice-born (upper caste) people who are expected to follow the Kshatriya duties.

Surnames

A number of CKP surnames are derived from community members serving as administrators for the Deccan sultanates rulers and later for the Maratha rulers. Most of these surnames have Persian origins and include the surnames Chitanvis, Kotwal, Karnik, Inamdar, Karkhanis, Phadnis, and Potnis. Kulkarni (village record keeper), Deshpande(Pargana level record keeper), and Deshmukh(Pargana chief) are other surnames that denote administrative roles of increasing seniority but are not derived from the Persian language. Other CKP surnames derived from administrative or military service include Gadkari, Dalvi, Patil,Pradhan,and Raje. There are also typical Maharashtrian surnames derive by adding the suffix -Kar to a village name such as Ambegaonkar, Rajapurkar, Mahadkar,Kohochkar, Kharshikar,and Haldankar. Other CKP surnames include Nachane, Bahire, Vaidya, Gupte,Tamhane,Chitre, Sipre, Mokashi, , Kharkar, ,Karnik', , Pattekar, Adhikari, Sawant, , Bendre, Chaubal,Donde, Jaywant Ghule Likhite Nimak and Dighe.

Culture

The CKPs share many common rituals with the upper-caste communities and the study of Vedas and Sanskrit. Unlike most upper-caste communities however, the CKPs through their interaction with Muslims, have traditionally adopted a diet which includes meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Many CKP clans have Ekvira temple at Karle as their family deity whereas others worship Vinzai, Kadapkarin, Janani as their family deity The mother tongue of most of the community is now Marathi, though in Gujarat they also communicate with their neighbours in Gujarati, and use the Gujarati script, while those in Maharashtra speak English and Hindi with outsiders, and use the Devanagari script.

Notable people

• Baji Prabhu Deshpande - Commander of Shivaji's forces who died defending Vishalgad in 1660
• Murar Baji - Commander of Shivaji's forces who died defending the fort of Purandar against the Mughals in 1666
• Shankar Abaji Bhisey (1867-1935)-Scientist
• Prabodhankar Thackeray(1885 – 1973)- Indian politician, social activist and author. Father of Bal Thackeray
• Bal Thackeray(1926 –2012) - Founder of Shiv Sena
• Shobhna Samarth(1916 – 2000) - Indian film actress from 1940s. She was mother of actresses Nutan and Tanuja
• Nalini Jaywant (1926 – 2010)- Indian film actress from 1940s and 1950s. She was the first cousin of Shobhna Samarth
• Vijaya Mehta - Actor and Director on Marathi stage, TV and Film
• CD Deshmukh (Chintamanrao Deshmukh) - First Indian to be appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India during British rule and first Finance Minister of Independent India
• Ram Ganesh Gadkari - Marathi play writer and poet who was conferred an honour of Kalpana Kuber and Bhasha Prabhu.
• Shrinivas Khale - Composer (director) of music for Marathi films and plays

References

1. D. Shyam Babu; Ravindra S. Khare (2011). Caste in Life: Experiencing Inequalities. Pearson Education India. p. 165. ISBN 978-81-317-5439-9. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
2. Susan Bayly (22 February 2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 414. ISBN 978-0-521-79842-6. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
3. Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of India. Vision Books. p. 88. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
4. Balkrishna Govind Gokhale (1988). Poona in the eighteenth century: an urban history. Oxford University Press. p. 112. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
5. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh (2004). People of India: Maharashtra. Popular Prakashan. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
6. G.T. Kulkarni, DECCAN (MAHARASHTRA) UNDER THE MUSLIM RULERS FROM KHALJIS TO SHIVAJI : A STUDY IN INTERACTION, Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute,Vol. 51/52, PROFESSOR S.M KATRE Felicitation Volume (1991-92), pp. 501-510
7. Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818 (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University. p. 22. ISBN 9780521268837.
8. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh; Rajendra Behari Lal (2003). People of India: Gujarat. Popular Prakashan. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-81-7991-104-4. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
9. Zelliot, Eleanor; Berntsen,, Maxine (1988). The Experience of Hinduism : essays on religion in Maharashtra. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 335. ISBN 9780887066627.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
10. Kumar Suresh Singh (2004). People of India: Maharashtra. Popular Prakashan. pp. 398–. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
11. ^ Kantak, M. R. (1978). "The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji's Swarajya". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 38 (1): 46. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
12. DHUMATKAR, A., 2010. The Indian Edison. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.67-74.
13. Purandare, Vaibhav (2012). Bal Thackeray & the rise of the Shiv Sena. New Delhi: Roli Books Private limited. ISBN 9788174369581.
14. "Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East". South Asia Bulletin. 16 (2). University of California, Los Angeles: 116. 1996. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
15. ^ Gupte, Pranay (30 December 2010). "Alone and forgotten". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
16. Gulati, Leela (editor); Bagchi, Jasodhara (Editor); Mehta, Vijaya (Author) (2005). A space of her own : personal narratives of twelve women. London: SAGE. p. 181. ISBN 9780761933151. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
17. South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia by Yogendra K. Malik, page 63

• Use dmy dates from May 2011
• Kayastha
• Social groups of Maharashtra
• Ethnoreligious groups in Asia