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Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha
King Chitragupta (Sri Chitragupta Ji Maharaj) and his 12 sons.
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Hindi
Region	Hindi Belt and Nepal
Subdivisions	Srivastava, Mathur, Saxena, Nigam, Kulshreshtha, Bhatnagar, Ambashtha, Asthana, Suryadhwaj, Gaur, Karna, Valmik

Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred as North Indian Kayastha, denotes a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. They claim to be Kayastha Brahmins, which was supported by Brahmin assemblies and Shankaracharya. In the Puranas, they are described to have descended from the Hindu god Chitragupta—assigned with the task of keeping record of mankind's Karma, hence named such.

Some Buddhist and medieval Islamic sources like Abu al-Fazl regard Kayasthas of northern India as a de-facto 'fifth varna' that emerged after the initial four varnas had been formed. Traditions and occupations associated with them, and their belief in the mythical roles assigned to Chitragupta, their progenitor, partly support this claim.

History

Early North India

Earliest known epigraphical evidence of the North Indian Kayasthas have been found from the 11- 12 centuries CE maintaining Chitragupta - the divine scribe as their grand ancestor. By the early-medieval era, various branches of Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas had become highly influential in the administration of contemporary kingdoms and started asserting their identities. The epigraphic sources reveal that some of these Kayastha families even had the status of being feudatories (thakkura); some had earned the title of Pandita for their extensive learning while others being financially sound commissioned construction of Hindu temples. In Rajatarangini, the 11th century semi-historial Sanskrit work of Kalhana, the Karkota dynasty is said to be of Kayastha lineage, as well as one Sivartha is described as a Kayastha Brahmin. Lalitaditya Muktapida of this dynasty is also called the Alexander of India. The author of the 11 century Sanskrit work Udayasundarī Kathā, Soḍḍhala describes himself as a Kayastha and at the same time claims to be Kshatriya. He claims to be Vālabha-Kayastha as he hailed from Vallabhi. Of the hitherto discovered epigraphic evidences, mention of Chitragupta as their ancestor also appears in a royal charter (dated 1115 AD) of Govindachandra of Kannauj written by a Vāstavya-Kayastha Thakkura (i.e. Srivastava branch of Kayastha) named Jalhaṇa. Similar epigraphic records mention Māthuranvaya-Kayastha (Mathur) and Naigama-Kayastha (Nigam) holding important administrative positions under the Chahamana and Paramara dynasties. Kayastha chiefs descended from North Indian Kayasthas ruled over vast swathes of land in Andhra country, and they are recorded in Andhra history dating back to the 13 century CE.

Indo-Islamic Era

The rise of Timuri political power after the sixteenth century had the effect of opening new, albeit subordinate, roles for Kayasthas. The North-Indian Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian regularly even before it became the court language. Kayasthas were a major demographic block in maktabs (equivalent of primary school) where they acquired skills of copying and writing, which were necessary for working in various Mughal departments. Thus, Kayasthas became conversant with and literate in wider Perso-Arabic fiscal lexicon and started to fulfil requirements of the Mughal administration as qanungos (registrars) and patwaris (accountants). Kayasthas, according to Irfan Habib, were the "second layer" of revenue management in Mughal India, dealing with rudiments of revenue collection, land records, and paper management, where their basic Persian literacy and copying skills were put to use.

By the eighteenth century, Kayasthas' control of the qanungo position had essentially become hereditary.

Some Kayasthas were elevated to high ranking positions, such as Raghunath Ray Kayastha (d. 1664)—the Mughal Empire's "acting wazir" and finance minister, whom Emperor Aurangzeb regarded as the greatest administrator he had ever met, and Chandar Bhan Brahman referred to as the "frontispiece in the book of the men of the pen of Hindustan". Emperor Akbar's finance minister, Raja Todar Mal (born in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh), is often referred to as a Kayastha or Khatri. In fact, it was under Akbar's reign and Todar Mal's encouragement that most Kayasthas learnt Persian and were appointed as qanungos.

As their participation in Indo-Persian cultural forms grew, so did their interactions with Muslims, and the Kayasthas gradually became loosely integrated into an Indo-Muslim governing community. The North Indian Kayasthas, in contrast to CKPs and Bengali Kayasthas, became known for adopting an Indo-Muslim lifestyle, which was reflected in their attire, mannerism, and a common affinity for sharab (wine) with Muslim aristocracy. To navigate the Indo-Muslim circle of service and literacy, many adopted Perso-Arabic pennames.

The ulama, Muslim aristocracy, and Persian poets, on the other hand, looked down on Kayasthas for wielding influence, labelling them "disloyal, cruel, cheats, and extortionists". According to Ayesha Jalal, unless it was a full-fledged conversion some Muslims kept Hindus ‘at a figurative and literal arm’s length’. One Muslim commentator noted that the Hindu pensman who spoke Persian was a ‘neo-Muslim, but still retained the smell of kufr and discord in his heart'. The Muslim reformer Shah Waliullah once complained that ‘all accountants and clerks Hindus…they control the country’s wealth’. Kayasthas had to try and convince Muslims that they did not represent infidelity in Islam, as ulama claimed.

Many Kayasthas actually left their sacred thread (suta) at home when Emperor Aurangzeb made it illegal to wear it at court.

Under Nawabs of Awadh

The Kayasthas fared even better under the Nawabs of Awadh, with Raja Tikait Rai and later Raja Jhau Lal serving as successive Kayastha Diwans of Awadh under Asaf-ud-Daula. In some areas, Kayasthas were more willing to embrace outward signs of a spiritual orientation that was almost Islamic. Many were active members of Indian Sufi shrines and frequently attended in Shia spiritual months of Muharram and Ashura. In 1780s Lucknow, thousands of Kayastha worked as calligraphers who had mastered the Persian works of Hafez and Sadi. Shiva Dasa 'Lakhnavi', a Kayastha from Awadh, authored his monumental work Shahnama Munawar Kalam in Persian, which provides account of events, political upheavals and factional struggles from the time of Emperor Farrukhsiyar (1712 CE) to Emperor Muhammad Shah's fourth regnal year (1723 CE).

Bhakti movement

The Kayasthas also became a part of the larger Bhakti movement in northern India.

Dhruvadasa (d. 1643), a Kayastha from Deoband (Uttar Pradesh), whose family served as government servants, is considered one of the Radhavallabh sect's foremost poets. Another Kayastha Ghanananda (d. 1739), who served as the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah's Mir Munshi (Chief Scribe), renounced his worldly life and remained in Vrindavan until he was killed by soldiers of Ahmad Shah Abdali. He is regarded as one of the finest Braj Bhasha poets. The most important contribution came from Lalach Kavi, a Kayastha from Raebareli, who in 1530 CE wrote the first ever Hindi vernacular adaptation of the Sanskrit text Bhagavata Purana's "Dasam Skandha".

Modern India

Modern scholars categorise them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, Parsis, Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat, South-Indian Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins, Chitpavan Brahmin, Prabhu Kayasthas and upper echelons of the Muslim and Christian communities that made up the middle class at the time of Indian independence in 1947.

Kaithi Script

Kaithi is a historical Brahmic script that was used widely in parts of Northern India. It was the most widely used script of North India west of Bengal. The script derives its name from the word Kayastha. Documents in Kaithi are traceable to at least the 16th century. The script was widely used during the Mughal period. During the British Raj, the script was recognised as the official script of the law courts in some provinces. John Nesfield in Oudh, George Campbell of Inverneill in Bihar and a committee in Bengal all advocated for the use of Kaithi script in education.

Etymology

According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya (body), and the suffix -stha (standing, being in). The suffix vanshi is derived from the Sanskrit word vansh (वंश) which translates to belonging to a particular family dynasty. According to Brahmanical literature, Chitragupta had two wives- Shobhavati, who was daughter of a Brahmin Susharma, and Nandini, who was daughter of a Kshatriya Shradhadev Manu, respectively and the descendants of their 12 sons form the 12 sub-groups of this community.

References

1. Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati
2. Shukla, Indrajit (2016). Loka Shasak Maha Kal Chitragupta Tatha Cha Brahma Kayastha Gaud Brahmana. Gorakhpur: Sanatan Dharm Trust.
3. OHanlon, Rosalind (2014). Discourses of caste over the longue durée: Gopīnātha and social classification in India, ca. 1400–1900. Oxford University. p. 102 to 129. On the 18th of October 1779, an assembly of learned Brahman in Banaras despatched a lengthy Sanskrit letter of ...
4. Milton Israel and N.K.Wagle, ed. (1987). Religion and Society in Maharashtra. Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. p. 173. The Shankaracharya's letter contains three documents which he produces verbatim, two from Banares Brahmins(1779, 1801)..
5. Gupte, TV (1904). "Appendix I.(page 7) Translation of the letter addressed by the Benaras Pandits to the Peshwa Darbar". Ethnographical notes on Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu. p. 8. Kayasthas are said to be of three sorts (kinds)— (1) the Chitragupta Kayasthas (2) Dhalbhaga Gatri Kshatriya Kayasthas and (3) Kayasthas of the mixed blood. The origin of Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas is given in the Puranas. He was born from the body of Brahma while he was contemplating how he should know the good and evil acts of living beings. He was a brilliant person with pen and ink in his hands. He was known as Chitragupta and was placed near the God of death. He was appointed to record the good and evil acts of men. He was a Brahmin possessed of supra sensible knowledge. He was a god sharing the offerings at sacrifices. All the Brahmins offer him oblations of rice before taking their meals. He is called Kayastha because of his origin from the body of Brahma. Many descendants of his bearing different Gotras still exist on this earth. From this it will be seen that Kayastha Brahmins of Karhada and Khandesha are the Brahma-Kayasthas. Now about the origin of Chandraseniya Kshatriya Kayastha.....(last line) In short the will of God is all powerful Sunday, 8th Day of the white half of the Ashvin month of the year 1701(saka).
6. Davidson, Ronald M (2005). Tibetan renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313.
7. Stout, Lucy Carol (1976). The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873-1914. University of California, Berkeley. p. 14.
8. R. B. Mandal (1981). Frontiers in Migration Analysis. Concept Publishing Company. p. 175. ISBN 978-03-91-02471-7.
9. R. B. Mandal (1981). Frontiers in Migration Analysis. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-03-91-02471-7.
10. Sinha, Gopal Sharan; Sinha, Ramesh Chandra (1967). "Exploration in Caste Stereotypes". Social Forces. 46 (1): 42–47. doi:10.2307/2575319. ISSN 0037-7732 – via JSTOR. The Kayastha were not included in the original four divisions of Hindu society, viz.,Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra, but they claim to be one of the most important functionary and ancient castes of Hindu society. Traditions and occupations associated with the Kayastha partly support this contention....The Kayasthas' strong belief in the story of the causation of Shri Chitragupta Maharaj and mythical roles assigned to Him at least corroborate the above contention.
11. Davidson, Ronald M. (2005). Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan culture. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 178–180. ISBN 978-0-231-50889-6. OCLC 808346313. This North Indian branch regards itself as really a fifth varna, different from the creator Brahma's mouth (Brahmans), his arms (Kshatriyas), his thighs (Vaishyas) or his feet (Sudras), North Indian Kayasthas maintain that they were formed from the body of the creator and therefore are grounded (stha) in Brahma's body (kaya){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
12. SHAH, K.K. (1993). "SELF LEGITIMATION AND SOCIAL PRIMACY: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 54: 859. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088 – via JSTOR. By the 11th-12th centuries AD it appears various subcastes of the Kayasthas and consolidated because from contemporary inscriptions we learn of epithets such as Mathura, Saksena, Naigama Katariya qualifying their Kayastha identity in various parts of northern India.
13. Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man. New Delhi: Primus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-93-80607-19-1. OCLC 794922930. Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like...

    ---

    This group as demontrated by epigraphical....that required professional documenting fixation.
14. Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us : Historical traditions of early north India. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2. OCLC 859536567. Their ambiguous caste status in Brahmanical social codes may have encouraged them when acquiring office to insist on recording their origins and history as an assertion of identity. This may have been partly conditioned by the many branches of the kayastha caste that had become powerful in the administration of contemporary kingdoms.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
15. SHAH, K.K. (1993). "SELF LEGITIMATION AND SOCIAL PRIMACY: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 54: 859. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44143088 – via JSTOR. By the 11th-12th centuries AD it appears various subcastes of the Kayasthas and consolidated because from contemporary inscriptions we learn of epithets such as Mathura, Saksena, Naigama Katariya qualifying their Kayastha identity in various parts of northern India.
16. Kumar, Saurabh (2015). "Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas". Social Scientist. 43 (5/6): 29–45. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24642345 – via JSTOR. One thing is clear that by this time, kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of kayastha officials.
    
    Like the contemporary brahmanas and ksatriyas, some kayasthas and karanikas enjoyed the status of thakkura.
17. Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 103–104. Another sub-caste of the Kayasthas was the Mathur-anvaya Kayasthas, who probably...as a feudal vassal, with the title of Thakkura, the name of one Udayasiha is mentioned in the...
18. Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 101–103. Members of Vastavya community rose to very high positions. They enjoyed the feudatory status of Thakkura under the Gahadavala Kings under Govindachandra and Jayachandra, and the Chandela King Bhojavarman...
19. Stein, M. A. (2007). Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir. Vol. 1–3 (Reprint ed.). Srinagar, India: Saujanya Books. ISBN 81-8339-043-9.
20. Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 198, 201. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244 – via JSTOR. They spread themselves to metropolitan towns for the triumph of the Kshatriyas and as supporters of the creeper of royal prosperity. They came to be known as Vãlabha Kãyasthas as they hailed from Valabh. (198)
    Soddhala calls himself a Käyastha and at the same time claims to be a Ksatriya. There can be no doubt as to his claim to the Ksatriyahood, as his book containing the...(201)
21. Ghosh, Jogendra Chandra; Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra (1931). "Gleanings from the Udayasundarī-Kathā". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 13 (3/4): 202. ISSN 0378-1143. JSTOR 41688244 – via JSTOR.
22. Asopa, Jai Narayan (1990). A Socio-political and Economic Study, Northern India. Prateeksha Publications. p. 318. Similarly, the Mathuranvaya and Vallabyha wrote the charters of the Chahamana and Paramara Kings.
23. SHARMA, KRISHNA GOPAL (1991). "Light on Social Set-Up and Social Life from the Early Jaina Inscriptions from Rajasthan (Upto 1200 A.d.): Summary". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 52: 199–200. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44142598 – via JSTOR. Our inscriptions mention Kayasthas as a separate caste, though they are seen associated with their hereditary profession. Two families of the Kayasthas emerge prominently, the family of the Naigamas and the Valabha family. One Kayastha is shown as holding the coveted position of a Sandhivigrahi.
24. Mazumdar, Bhakat Prasad (1960). "Castes and Professions". Socio-economic History of Northern India: (1030 - 1194 A.D.). Mukhopadhyay. pp. 103–104. Another sub-caste of the Kayasthas was the Mathuranvaya Kayasthas, who probably...as a feudal vassal, with the title of Thakkura, the name of one Udayasiha is mentioned in the...
25. Devi, Yashoda M. The History Of Andhra Country 1000 A D 1500 A D. pp. 401–419. CHAPTER 19. THE KAYASTHAS. The Kayasthas as defacto independent rulers
26. Government, Andhra Pradesh (1960). The History Of Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series. p. 103. the Kayastha chiefs of the Kakatiyās had dislodged the Pandyan occupation of this area.
27. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 878. ISSN 0026-749X.
28. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 879. ISSN 0026-749X – via JSTOR. With the expansion of Mughal power into north, east and central India, Kayasthas were some of the first groups to learn Persian more regularly; some had been loosely exposed to it under the Delhi Sultanates. In Bulandshahr and the Punjab, for example, Kayasthas started learning Persian before the formal establishment of Mughal power, whilst in Meerut they were amongst the very first Hindus to learn the new language of India's conquerors.
29. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 882. ISSN 0026-749X.
30. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "Revenue administration and scribal skills in late Mughal India, c. 1650-1750". The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
31. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 872. ISSN 0026-749X – via JSTOR. It also examines the Kayastha pensmen who became an exponentially significant component of an Indo-Muslim revenue administration. They assisted the extension of Mughal revenue collection capabilities as qanungos (registrars) and patwaris (accountants).
32. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 884. ISSN 0026-749X.
33. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. Kayasthas, as we have seen, had positioned themselves as indispensable paper managers for the Mughals, most acutely under Emperor Aurangzeb, by 1700. We can discern a few trends in their patterns of employment. For one, Kayasthas' dominance of the qanungo position had largely become hereditary by the eighteenth century. Most Kayastha qanungos were appointed 'in the time of Akbar'.
34. Kinra, Rajeev (2015). Writing Self, Writing Empire. University of California Press. pp. 53, 82. doi:10.1525/luminos.3. ISBN 978-0-520-96168-5. Later in life, Aurangzeb wrote fondly of Raja Raghunath in letters to others,praising the raja's abilities and even quoting his sage advice on how to appoint good administrators.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
35. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. The joust over whether Akbar's eagle-eyed financial reformer, Todar Mal ('that paragon of Hindu wazirs) was either a Kayastha or Khattri....
36. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. pp. 40, 57. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. It was really after Emperor Akbar, and perhaps due to the influence of Raja Todar Mal, that Kayasthas became more heavily invested as subordinate stakeholders in the Mughal revenue administration.... Many Kayasthas learnt the Persian language from their Iranian tutors under Akbar's and Todar Mal's encouragement.
37. ^ BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 886. ISSN 0026-749X.
38. BELLENOIT, HAYDEN (2014). "Between qanungos and clerks: the cultural and service worlds of Hindustan's pensmen, c. 1750–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 48 (4): 880. ISSN 0026-749X – via JSTOR. Yet Kayastha lifestyles could also vary regionally. Bengali Kayasthas were far more 'Brahmanical in their lifestyles and customs with regard to diet, whereas Bihari and Awadhi Kayasthas took on much more of an Indo-Muslim dress, mannerisms and a shared affinity for sharab with the scions of Muslim nobility.
39. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "The pensmen and scribal communities of Hindustan". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
40. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "The pensmen and scribal communities of Hindustan". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
41. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The formation of the colonial state in India: scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
42. "Raja Tikait Rai: Keeper of the Nawab's Treasury". www.livehistoryindia.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021. Tikait Rai was born into a middle-class Hindu family in Dalmau town in Rae Bareili district in Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to the Kayastha clan, and most of the men from his community formed the core of accountancy in the courts of the Mughals and the Nawabs....Jhao Lal hailed from the same community as Tikait Rai did.....Tikait Rai was dismissed from service and the Nawab wanted to appoint Jhao Lal in his place.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
43. Bayly, C. A. (1996). Empire and information : intelligence gathering and social communication in India, 1780-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-511-00203-3. OCLC 48138767. The Kayastha patriot, Raja Jhau Lal, remodeled the intelligence services to outface his British enemies. Sir John Shore, visiting Lucknow as Governor-General in 1797, wrote, 'The Dauk, an intelligence department was very extensive under Jao Lal...Jhau Lal had amalgamated the offices of revenue manager (diwan) and head of intelligence. He also controlled the Lucknow city police chief and used key men in the army as informers...
44. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.
45. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860. Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-49436-1.
46. Jaffer, Mehru. "Wandering In The Lanes of History". The Citizen. Retrieved 17 March 2021. Kayasthas were promoted to a critical link in society's multiple relationships. They were made equal participants with the elite in matters of language, diet, dress, mannerisms, lifestyle and etiquette. While they never intermarried or converted to Islam, they shared many common experiences such as primary education, and qawwali at the sufi dargha with Muslims. Shiva Das Lakhnawi, author of the well known Shahnama Munawwar Kalam, was an active member of the Chishti Sufi circle.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
47. Peabody, Norbert (2003). Hindu Kingship and Polity in Precolonial India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-521-46548-9.
48. Lakhnawi, Shiv Das (1980). Shahnama Munawwar Kalam. p. 7. A striking fact about the historical works of the Hindus is that they were produced in large numbers in an age of political disintegration when Mughal politics had degenerated into a series of political vendetta and factional struggles between rival groups of designing Court nobles and provincial satraps....
49. Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1005–1006. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
50. Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1385, 1386. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
51. Orsini, Francesca (2014), Dalmia, Vasudha; Faruqui, Munis (eds.), "Inflected Kathas: Sufis and Krishna Bhaktas in Awadh", Religious Interactions in Mughal India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 200, ISBN 978-0-19-808167-8
52. Pavan K. Varma (2007). The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 9780143103257. ...its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists ...The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school
53. Paul Wallace; Richard Leonard Park (1985). Region and nation in India. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.
54. Bellenoit, Hayden J. (2017). "Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c.1860–1900". The formation of the colonial state in India : scribes, paper and taxes, 1760-1860. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. OCLC 973222959. They were broadly considered by various Indian, British and missionary observers to be the most learned and influential of the "service castes".{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
55. Grierson, George A. 1899. A Handbook to the Kaithi Character. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.
56. Rai, Alok (2007). Hindi Nationalism (Reprint ed.). London: Sangam Books. p. 51. ISBN 978-81-250-1979-4.
57. "Kayastha". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
58. "vaMza". Spokensanskrit.org.
59. Rajnī Kānt Śāstrī (1949). Hindū jati kā utthān aur patan. Kitab Mahal. अब चित्रगुप्त के विवाह संबंध की वार्ता सुनिए। इनकी दो स्त्रियां थीं-(१)सुशर्मा ब्राह्मण की कन्या शुभावती (ब्राह्मणी) जिसके आठ पुत्र हुए श्रौर (२)श्राद्धदेव मनु की पुत्री नन्दिनी (चत्रिया) जिसके चार पुत्र हुए।
60. Hayden J. Bellenoit (17 February 2017). The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-49429-3. The north Indian Kayasthas are divided into 12 subgroups, reflecting King Chitragupta's marriage to Devi Nandini and Devi Shobhavati

Bibliography

1. Sinha, Ranjit K. (2014). The Kayastha Caste of India: Antiquity, Tradition and Modernity. Patna, Bihar: Indo books. ISBN 9789350741139.
2. Prasad, K.; LLC, Books (2018). The Kayastha Ethnology, an Enquiry Into the Origin of the Chitraguptavansi and Chandrasenavansi Kayasthas. Creative Media Partners. pp. 34–69, 75–78. ISBN 9780343919894.

See also

• Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
• Karan Kayastha

• Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
• Social groups of Bihar
• Kayastha