Chitpavan
| Chitpavan/Kokanastha Brahmins | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Brahmin |
| Religions |
 Hinduism
|
| Languages | Primary mother tongue is Chitpavani (a dialect of Konkani) and Konkani but also have proficiency in native languages, |
| Populated states | Maharashtra, Konkan (Goa and coastal Karnataka); some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat |
The Chitpavan or Chitpawan, part of the Konkanastha Brahmins (i.e. "Brahmins native to the Konkan"), are a Brahmin community of Konkan, the coastal region of western India. The community is Hindu. Until the 18th century, however, the Chitpavans were not esteemed in social ranking, and were indeed considered by other older Brahmin castes as being an inferior caste of Brahmins.
The community remains concentrated in Maharashtra but also has populations all over India and the rest of the world including the USA and UK.
Very little is known of the Chitpavans before 1707 A.D. Sometime around this time, an individual of the Chitpavan community, Balaji Vishwanth Bhat arrived from Ratnagari 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 and his work so pleased the Chhatrapati that he was appointed the Peshwa or Prime Minister in 1713. Balaji was blessed by his spiritual preceptor Narayan Dikshit Patankar. 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 accession 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 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. The alleged haughty behavior by the upstart Chitpavans caused conflicts with other communities which manifested itself as late as in 1948 in the form of anti-Brahminism after the killing of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, a Chitpavan.
After the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818, the Chitpavans lost their political dominance to the British. The British would not subsidize 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.
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Wikipedia