Karhade Brahmin

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Karhade Brahmins
Regions with significant populations
Primary populations in Maharashtra
Languages
Marathi and Konkani (Karhadi dialect)

Karhaḍe Brahmins (also spelled as Karada Brahmins or Karad Brahmins) are a

Hindu Brahmin sub-caste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra, but are also distributed in states of Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.[1]

Classification

Along with the

Maharashtrian Brahmins
.

Based on Veda and Vedanta

Karhade Brahmins are essentially Rigvedi Brahmins who follow the Ashwalayana Sutra and belong to

Vaishnavas) among them.[2][3][4] Like their Deshastha counterparts, traditionally the karhade allowed cross-cousin marriages.[5][6]

Sub-division and other claims

There are three divisions of Karhade Brahmins - Karhade (from

Desh), Padye[7] and Bhatt Prabhu (from Konkan). "Padhye" was a further division of "Padye" - and were Khots or farmers. There are three sub-castes in Karhade Brahmans 1. Karhade 2. Padye and 3. Bhatt Prabhu. Padyes were found mostly in Ambuj province of Konkan . According to author Pran Nath Chopra, The Karhade Brahmins who were appointed as the priests came to be called as "Upadhyayas" which in due course became Padhye.[8]

Origin

Origin and History

Skanda Purana (Sahyadri Khanda) as well as Brahmanda Purana are very harsh towards Karhade Brahmins.[9] According to SahyadriKhanda,Karhades are fallen Brahmins from the polluted land of Karashtra, and made offerings to the wicked goddess Matrika. The text derives their name from the word Karashtra ("evil land"), as well as the words "donkey-bones" (khara-ashti), stating that they originated when some semen spilled on a heap of donkey bones.[10]

Scholarly interpretation

According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written "before or around the end of the first millennium": it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue. The remaining text appears to have been written later, as it describes the

Pancha Dravida classification of Brahmins, which became popular during the 13th-14th centuries.[11]

German academic Alexander Henn, citing Stephan Hillyer Levitt and João Manuel Pacheco de Figueiredo, describes the Sahyadri-khanda as an apparently recently organised.Based on Levitt's work, he states that the earliest of these texts dates to the 5th century, and the latest to the 13th century.[12].Deshpande suspects the modification of text by deshasthas or saraswats but he fails to conclude the same.[13][14]

The Karhade Brahmins take their name from the town of

Konkan Coast, where they were principally settled".[16]

Demographics

Most Karhade Brahmins live in Maharashtra though a significant population exist in

Maratha empire period. A southern branch of the Karhade settled around the Udupi - Mangalore - Kasargod region of the Malabar coast and they are called the "Karadas” and share their traditions with Kerala Brahmins and the Brahmins of South Karnataka.[19]

Culture

Language

Marathi is the mother tongue of most of the Karhade Brahmins in Maharashtra.[20]

Diet

Karhade Brahmins generally follow a

vegetarian diet.[21]

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

Citations

  1. ^ Patterson, Maureen L. P. (25 September 1954). "Caste and Political Leadership in Maharashtra: A Review and Current Appraisal" (PDF). The Economic Weekly: 1065. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  2. ISBN 9788187886105
    . The Karhada Brahmins: The Brahmins lived in southern parts of modern Maharashtra, between Konkan and Desh, in a province, then called Karathak, comprising Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur, with Karad as capital. Hence the name of Karhada Brahmins. Among them too there are Smartas and Madhvas or Bhagwats (Vaishnavites).
  3. ISBN 9788120604889
    . The Karhades are all Rigvedis of the Shakala Shaka, who respect the sutra, or aphorism, of Ashwalayana. They belong to both the Smartha, and the Vaishnava sects, and in religious and spiritual matters follow the guidance of Sri Shankaracharya, and Madhwacharya, respectively.
  4. ^ Parshuram Krishna Gode (1960). Studies in Indian Cultural History Volume 3. p. 24. The Karhadas are both स्मार्त and वैष्णव. The वैष्णव group is of माध्वमत.
  5. ^ Karve, I., 1958. What is caste. Economic Weekly, 10(4), p.153
  6. ISBN 9780896844780
    . In Maharashtra, the Brahmans generally practise cross-cousin marriage in which a man marries his matulikanya. Among the Saraswata, the Karhada and the Desastha Rigvedi Brahmans of this region it is indeed the preferred type of marriage, but the Chitpavan follow the North Indian custom.
  7. ISBN 978-3-11-051732-3
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0856920813
    . These Karhade were appointed priests and came to be called Upadhyayas which in due course became Upadhye.
  9. ^ "A socio-cultural history of Goa from the Bhojas to the Vijayanagara" By Vithal Raghavendra Mitragotri Published by Institute Menezes Braganza, 1999, Original from the University of Michigan, Pages:50.
  10. ^ Rosalind O'Hanlon 2013, pp. 105–106.
  11. ^ Rosalind O'Hanlon 2013, p. 103.
  12. ^ Henn 2014, p. 87.
  13. ^ Deshpande, M.M. (2010). "Pañca Gauḍa and Pañca Drāviḍa: Contested borders of a traditional classification". Studia Orientalia: 108: 30–54.
  14. doi:10.23993/store.65156
    .
  15. ^ Hirendra K. Rakshit (1975). Bio-anthropological Research in India: Proceedings of the Seminar in Physical Anthropology and Allied Disciplines. Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India. p. 68.
  16. ISBN 9788182901322
    . Karhade Brahmans are generally thought to be a branch of the Deshastha Rigvedis who immigrated from their home in Satara district to the southern part of Ratnagiri on the Konkan Coast, where they were principally settled.
  17. JSTOR 2637955
    .
  18. ISBN 978-0-520-02545-5
    .
  19. ISBN 9780195633542
    .
  20. ^ Vithal Raghavendra Mitragotri (1999). A socio-cultural history of Goa from the Bhojas to the Vijayanagara (PDF). Institute Menezes Braganza. p. 54.
  21. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2
    .
  22. ISBN 9788120604889
    . The Karhada Brahmans are remarkable for their neat and cleanly habits and hospitable conduct. They are a very intelligent class and have risen to high offices under the present Government. The poet Moropant and the notoriously brave Rani Laxmibai of Zansi belonged to this caste.
  23. ^ Tucker, R., 1976. Hindu Traditionalism and Nationalist Ideologies in Nineteenth-Century Maharashtra. Modern Asian Studies, 10(3), pp.321-348.
  24. JSTOR 2637955
    .
  25. ISBN 978-0-19-562137-2
    . Visaji Krishna Biniwale (a Karhada Brahman) rose to eminence as a military commander under Balaji Bajirao.
  26. ISBN 9789812308092
    . Myth and history intertwine closely in the life if the Rani of Jhansi, known in childhood as Manu...She was born in the holy city of Varanasi to a Karhada brahmin , Moropant Tambe
  27. ^ Chapman 1986, p. 13.
  28. ^ Karve, D.D. (1963). The New Brahmans: Five Maharashtrian Families. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ of California Press. p. 5.
  29. ISBN 9780313287787
    .
  30. ^ M. V. Kamath (1989). B.G. Kher, the Gentleman Premier. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 5. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant was a Karhade Brahmin whose ancestors went north from Karhatak.
  31. ISBN 9781351487801
    .
  32. ISBN 9780894104749
    .
  33. ISBN 978-0894104152
    .
  34. ISBN 978-0670999507
    .
  35. ^ "Jitendra Abhisheki - ECLP 2367 - (Condition 85-90%)". ngh.co.in. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

Bibliography

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