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Brahmanical See refers to the domain of certain Hindu leaders in the Indian subcontinent. Because it is essentially an Anglicized term (compare episcopal see), this nomenclature has begun to fall into disuse.
Much like the former Indian principalities, which varied in scale from small estates to vast kingdoms, the brahmanical sees range from minor parishes to quasi-states.
With Hinduism itself lacking any central organizing institutions, it is common for brahmanical sees to geographically overlap with one another, just as the sees of different Christian denominations can coexist within a shared geography.
A religious leader over a Brahmanical See is typically known as a maharaj, or in European terms, a prince of the faith. The office is generally passed down the generations in the male line within an extended family, though not necessarily from father to son.
Again, similar to the tensions which existed in medieval Europe between the papacy and the aristocracy, tensions between the brahmanical maharajs and the royal maharajas constantly were an issue throughout much of the history of India. The brahmanical maharajs could bestow or withhold the legitimacy without which royal maharajas could not reign, and the royal maharajas could extend or withdraw the military protection without which brahmanical maharajs might not survive.
The longest established brahmanical sees are the Brahmanical See of Rajasthan (which contains a large number of kingdoms), the Brahmanical See of Mysore (whose borders are coterminal with those of the Kingdom of Mysore), and the Brahmanical See of Dabra (which is one of several sees contained within the Kingdom of Gwalior).
With the dissolution of the old kingdoms and the coming of modernity, the importance of the brahmanical sees declined sharply in the last quarter century. The see of Rajasthan is now held by an Indo-Canadian, the see of Mysore is disputed by three claimants, and the see of Dabra has been allowed to lapse entirely.
- "Brahmanical Ideology, Regional Identities and the Construction of Early India", Social Scientist, Vol. 29-7, Bhairabi Prasad Sahu
- Brahmanism and Hinduism, Sir Monier Monier Williams, 1891
- "Brahmans and the Legitimation of Hindu Kingship", Man, New Series, Vol. 27-4, Norbert Peabody, C. J. Fuller, Adrian C. Mayer