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99-621: Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu ( CKP ) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra . Historically, they made equally good warriors , statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced some of the best warriors in Maharashtrian history. Traditionally, in Maharashtra,

198-665: A Chief in Sanskrit language. The CKP claim descent from Chandrasen, an ancient Kshatriya king of Ujjain and Ayodhya and of the Haihaya family of the lunar Kshatriya Dynasty. Epigraphical evidences i.e. engravings from the Shilahara times have been found in Deccan to prove that many CKPs held high posts and controlled the civilian and military administration. For example, a Shilahara inscription around A.D. 1088 mentions

297-577: A 1916 essay, Prabodhankar Thackeray objected to Rajwade's assumptions and wrote a text outlining the identity of the caste, and its contributions to the Maratha empire. In this text, Gramanyachya Sadhyant Itihas , he wrote that the CKPs "provided the cement" for Shivaji 's swaraj (self-rule) "with their blood". Gail Omvedt concludes that during the British era, the overall literacy of Brahmins and CKP

396-560: A great contributor of the Maratha Empire like Parshuram Pant. Shahu immediately released Parshuram Pant, apologized to him, and bestowed his Parker pen back. Soon after this episode, Khando died, probably in 1712. Khando Ballal Chitnis's great-grandson wrote the Chitnis Bakhar which went on to become one of the most historically important sources of information on the 6 Chhatrapatis of the Maratha Empire . He even wrote

495-572: A group that included Arab theologian Ibn Suwaid , several Sayyid Sufi members of the Aydarus family of Tarim in Yemen , Iberian court interpreter Ali al-Andalusi from Granada , and the Arab jurist Bahraq from Hadramaut who was appointed a tutor of the prince. Among the illustrious names who arrived during the reign of Mahmud Begada was the philosopher Haibatullah Shah Mir from Shiraz , and

594-486: A letter to his eldest son, Muhammad Azam Shah , asking him to be kind and considerate to the people of Dahod as it was his birthplace. Muhammad Azam was then the Subedar (governor) of Gujarat. In his letter, Aurangzeb wrote: My son of exalted rank, the town of Dahod, one of the dependencies of Gujarat, is the birthplace of this sinner. Please consider a regard for the inhabitants of that town as incumbent on you. When

693-590: A lion might indicate that the port city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century CE, Saka rulers played a prominent part in Gujarat's history. The weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I (100 CE) of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps , or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on

792-591: A number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya , was appointed the governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime. He ruled Girinagar (modern-day Junagadh ) (322 BCE to 294 BCE) and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Emperor Ashoka the Great , the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya , not only ordered his edicts engraved in the rock at Junagadh, but also asked Governor Tusherpha to cut canals from

891-651: A par with contemporary Venice and Beijing , great mercantile cities of Europe and Asia, and earned the distinguished title, Bab al-Makkah (Gate of Mecca). Drawn by the religious renaissance taking place under Akbar, Mohammed Ghaus moved to Gujarat and established spiritual centers for the Shattari Sufi order from Iran, founding the Ek Toda Mosque and producing such devotees as Wajihuddin Alvi of Ahmedabad whose many successors moved to Bijapur during

990-474: A plot for the escape of Rajaram. He, however, kept his word and helped Rajaram to escape from the blockade and to hand him over to the troops under Maratha General Dhanaji Jadhav by giving up his Dabhol Vatan to Ganoji Shirkhe. Until the death of Rajaram in 1700, Khando Ballal worked with him not only as his personal assistant, but also as an adviser in confidence. After Rajaram's death, Khando Ballal continued his post as advised by Queen Tarabai until 1707. On

1089-605: A serious challenge to the Brahman monopoly of Vedokta. During the British colonial era, the two literate communities of Maharashtra, namely the Brahmins and the CKP were the first to adopt western education with enthusiasm and prospered with opportunities in the colonial administration. A number of CKP families also served the semi-independent princely states in Maharashtra and other regions of India, such as Baroda. The British era of

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1188-584: A traditionally well-educated and intellectual group claimed themselves as Kshatriyas, while the predominant regional Brahmin belief was that they were Shudras (considering that there are no true Kshatriyas in the Kali Yuga ). The dispute first broke out few years before the coronation of Shivaji, and was related to the Upanayana rights of the CKP community. CKPs even demanded privileges of the Brahmin order –

1287-558: Is believed to have been one of the world's first seaports . Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch and Khambhat , served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires and during the succession of royal Saka dynasties in the Western Satraps era. Along with Bihar , Mizoram and Nagaland , Gujarat is one of four Indian states to prohibit the sale of alcohol . The Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat

1386-662: Is home to the only wild population of the Asiatic lion in the world. The economy of Gujarat is the fourth-largest in India , with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹ 16.55 trillion (equivalent to ₹ 19 trillion or US$ 220 billion in 2023) and has the country's 10th-highest GSDP per capita of ₹ 215,000 (US$ 2,600). Gujarat has the highest exports of all states , accounting for around one-third of national exports. It ranks 21st among Indian states and union territories in human development index . Gujarat

1485-468: Is pardonable. There are Gujaratees settled everywhere. They work some for some and others for others. They are diligent, quick men in trade. They do their accounts with fingers like ours and with our very writings. Gujarat was one of the twelve original subahs (imperial top-level provinces) established by Mughal Emperor ( Badshah ) Akbar , with a seat at Ahmedabad, bordering on Thatta (Sindh), Ajmer , Malwa and later Ahmadnagar subahs. Aurangzeb ,

1584-533: Is regarded as one of the most industrialised states and has a low unemployment rate , but the state ranks poorly on some social indicators and is at times affected by religious violence . Gujarat is derived from the Gurjaras , who ruled Gujarat in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. Parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat were known as Gurjarat or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat

1683-730: The Center for the Study of Developing Societies in India (CSDS) , educated upper castes and communities – Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, CKPs, the Chitpawans, Nagar Brahmins , South Indian Brahmins, Bhadralok Bengalis , etc., along with the Parsis and upper crusts of the Muslim and Christian society were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of Indian independence , that constituted

1782-655: The Ghoris had assumed a position of Muslim supremacy over North India, Qutbuddin Aibak attempted to conquer Gujarat and annexe it to his empire in 1197, but failed in his ambitions. An independent Muslim community continued to flourish in Gujarat for the next hundred years, championed by Arab merchants settling along the western coast. From 1297 to 1300, Alauddin Khalji , the Turko-Afghan Sultan of Delhi , destroyed

1881-759: The Gujarati script , while those in Maharashtra speak English and Hindi with outsiders, and use the Devanagari script . According to anthropologist Iravati Karve , their "ways of living, dress, worship, cremation" are exactly like those of the Brahmins except that they are not necessarily vegetarian. The CKPs holds the varna rank of Kshatriya . They performed three "vedic karmas"(studying vedas, fire sacrifice, giving alms) as opposed to full("Shatkarmi") Brahmins who performed six vedic duties which also include accepting gifts, teaching Vedas to other and performing vedic rites for others. They also followed rituals, like

1980-648: The Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty and Bappa Rawal of the Guhila dynasty . After this victory, the Arab invaders were driven out of Gujarat. General Pulakeshin , a Chalukya prince of Lata , received the title Avanijanashraya (refuge of the people of the earth) and honorific of "Repeller of the unrepellable" by the Chalukya emperor Vikramaditya II for his victory at

2079-699: The Ottoman state . Humayun also briefly occupied the province in 1536, but fled due to the threat Bahadur Shah , the Gujarat king, imposed. The Sultanate of Gujarat remained independent until 1572, when the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered it and annexed it to the Mughal Empire . The Surat port (the only Indian port facing west) then became the principal port of India during Mughal rule, gaining widespread international repute. The city of Surat, famous for its exports of silk and diamonds , had reached

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2178-634: The Ottomans and Egyptian Mamluks naval fleets led by governor-generals Malik Ayyaz and Amir Husain Al-Kurdi , vanquished the Portuguese in the 1508 Battle of Chaul resulting in the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the Indian Ocean . To 16th-century European observers, Gujarat was a fabulously wealthy country. The customs revenue of Gujarat alone in the early 1570s was nearly three times

2277-713: The Republic of India on 19 December 1961 by military conquest. The British East India Company established a factory in Surat in 1614 following the commercial treaty made with Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir , which formed their first base in India, but it was eclipsed by Bombay after the English received it from Portugal in 1668 as part of the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza , daughter of King John IV of Portugal . The state

2376-472: The University of Toronto . Modern scholars conclude that the fact that the CKPs held high ranking positions in administration and the military and as statesmen was a "double edged sword". Historians, while analyzing the gramanyas state "As statesmen, they were engulfed in the court intrigues and factions, and, as a result, were prone to persecution by opposing factions. On the other hand, their influence in

2475-680: The Vaghela chiefs of Dholka came to rule the Kingdom of Gujarat . In 1292, the Vaghelas became tributaries of the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri in the Deccan . Karandev of the Vaghela dynasty was the last Hindu ruler of Gujarat. He was defeated and overthrown by the superior forces of Alauddin Khalji from Delhi in 1297. With his defeat, Gujarat became part of the Delhi Sultanate , and

2574-509: The sacred thread (Janeu) ceremony , the observation of the period of mourning and seclusion by person of a deceased's lineage by the CKPs has traditionally been for 10 days although Kshatriyas generally observe it for 12 days. Educationally and professionally, 20th century research showed that the Saraswat, CKP, Deshastha and Chitpawan were quite similar. Researcher and professor Dr.Neela Dabir sums it up as follows "In Maharashtra for instance,

2673-507: The western coast of India . Its coastline of about 1,600 km (990 mi) is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area , covering some 196,024 km (75,685 sq mi); and the ninth-most populous state , with a population of 60.4 million in 2011. It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to

2772-507: The 1800s and 1900s saw the publications dedicated to finding sources of CKP history The book Prabhu Kul Deepika gives the gotras ( rishi name) and pravaras etc. of the CKP caste. Another publication, Kayastha-mitra (Volume 1, No.9. Dec 1930) gives a list of north Indian princely families that belonged to the CKP caste. Rango Bapuji Gupte , the CKP representative of the deposed Raja Pratapsinh Bhosale of Satara spent 13 years in London in

2871-481: The 1840s and 50s to plead for restoration of the ruler without success. At the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857 , Rango tried to raise a rebel force to fight the British but the plan was thwarted and most of the conspirators were executed. However, Rango Bapuji escaped from his captivity and was never found. When the prominent Marathi historian Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade contested their claimed Kshatriya status in

2970-516: The 5th century, the Gupta empire went into decline. Senapati Bhatarka, the general of the Guptas, took advantage of the situation and in 470 set up the Kingdom of Valabhi . He shifted his capital from Giringer to Valabhi , near Bhavnagar , on Saurashtra's east coast. The Maitrakas of Vallabhi became very powerful with their rule prevailing over large parts of Gujarat and adjoining Malwa . A university

3069-515: The Advisory Committee of Shahu and attained great respect and honour. When Shahu became wild on the so-called betrayal by Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi , one of the great diplomats and warriors of the Maratha Empire , he ordered Parshuram to be arrested at once and blinded. When he came to know about this, Khando Ballal ran to Shahu’s court and requested him to cease with this nonsense. He then reprimanded Shahu for such unfair treatment with

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3168-544: The British Government in the Bombay Presidency were Brahmins, CKP, Pathare Prabhus, Marwaris, Parsis, Banias and Christians. In Pune, the descendents of Sakharam Hari Gupte donated premises for conducting thread ceremonies and marriages for the members of the CKP community and the facilities were available to other communities as well. According to the studies by D.L.Sheth, the former director of

3267-611: The Dutch, French, English and Portuguese all established bases along the western coast of the region. Portugal was the first European power to arrive in Gujarat, and after the Battle of Diu , acquired several enclaves along the Gujarati coast, including Daman and Diu as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli . These enclaves were administered by Portuguese India under a single union territory for over 450 years, only to be later incorporated into

3366-790: The European Middle Ages . The oldest written record of Gujarat's 2,000-year maritime history is documented in a Greek book titled The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea : Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century . In the early 8th century, the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate established an empire in the name of the rising religion of Islam , which stretched from Spain in

3465-585: The Hindu metropolis of Anhilwara and incorporated Gujarat into the Delhi Sultanate . After Timur sacked Delhi at the end of the 14th century, weakening the Sultanate, Gujarat's Muslim Khatri governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar ( Muzaffar Shah I ) asserted his independence, and his son, Sultan Ahmed Shah (ruled 1411–1442), established Ahmedabad as the capital. Khambhat eclipsed Bharuch as Gujarat's most important trade port. Gujarat's relations with Egypt , which

3564-547: The Indus Valley civilisation. The most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about fifty Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat. The ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear historical evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt , Bahrain and Sumer in the Persian Gulf during the time period of 1000 to 750 BCE. There

3663-632: The Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji 's generals and ministers, such as Murarbaji Deshpande and Baji Prabhu Deshpande , and Khando Ballal Chitnis were CKPs. In 17th-century Maharashtra, during Shivaji 's time, the so-called higher classes i.e. the Marathi Brahmins , CKPs and Saraswat Brahmins, due to social and religious restrictions were the only communities that had a system of education for males. Except these three castes, education for all other castes and communities

3762-726: The Maratha empire/confederacy expanded in the 18th century, and given the nepotism of the Peshwa of Pune towards their own Chitpavan Brahmin caste, CKP and other literal castes migrated for administration jobs to the new Maratha ruling states such as the Bhosale of Nagpur, the Gaekwads , the Scindia , the Holkars etc., The Gaekwads of Baroda and the Bhosale of Nagpur gave preference to CKPs in their administration. The CKPs, described as

3861-570: The Marathas was fully exploited by the British, who interfered in the affairs of both Gaekwads and the Peshwas. In Saurashtra , as elsewhere, the Marathas were met with resistance. The decline of the Mughal Empire helped form larger peripheral states in Saurashtra, including Junagadh , Jamnagar , Bhavnagar and a few others, which largely resisted the Maratha incursions. In the 1600s,

3960-402: The Mughal Empire free access to the Arabian sea and control over the rich commerce that passed through its ports. The territory and income of the empire were vastly increased. For the best part of two centuries, the independent Khatri Sultanate of Gujarat was the cynosure of its neighbours on account of its wealth and prosperity, which had long made the Gujarati merchant a familiar figure in

4059-412: The Pathare Prabhu. The CKP traditionally follow the Advaita Vedanta , as propounded by Adi Shankara . The name Chandraseniya may be a corruption of the word Chandrashreniya , which means from the valley of the Chenab River in Kashmir . This theory states that the word Kayastha originates from the term Kaya Desha , an ancient name for the region around Ayodhya . The word Prabhu means Lord or

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4158-399: The Peshwa era, the CKP's main preceptor or Vedic Guru was a Brahmin by the name of Abashastri Takle, who was referred to by the CKP community as "Gurubaba". Sale of liquor was banned by the Brahmin administrators to the Brahmins, CKPs, Pathare Prabhus and Saraswat Brahmins but there was no objection to other castes drinking it or even to the castes such as Bhandaris from manufacturing it. As

4257-489: The Peshwa eras finally culminated in the favor of the CKPs as the Vedokta had support from the Shastras and this was affirmed by two letters from Brahmins from Varanasi as well as one from Pune Brahmins ratified by Bajirao II himself. In the final Gramanya, started by Neelkanthashastri and his relative Balaji Pant Natu , a rival of the CKP Vedic scholar V.S.Parasnis at the court of Satara, the Shankaracharya himself intervened as arbiter and he gave his verdict by fully endorsing

4356-443: The Portuguese, and followed by the Dutch and the English. The Peshwas had established sovereignty over parts of Gujarat and collected taxes and tributes through their representatives. Damaji Rao Gaekwad and Kadam Bande divided the Peshwa territory between them, with Damaji establishing the sway of Gaekwad over Gujarat and making Baroda (present day Vadodara in southern Gujarat) his capital. The ensuing internecine war among

4455-404: The Queens of Rajaram from Maharashtra to Gingee with the help of his maternal uncles Lingoji Shankar and Visaji Shankar Tungare. For the performance shown during the tough times at Gingee, King Rajaram gave him the vatan of Dabhol in the konkan area of Maharashtra. In early 1698, when the Mughal army had surrounded fort Gingee and was preparing for the final blow, Maharani Yesubai designed

4554-414: The Rajput hold over Gujarat would never be restored. Fragments of printed cotton from Gujarat have been discovered in Egypt, providing evidence for medieval trade in the western Indian Ocean. These fragments represent the Indian cotton traded in Egypt during the Fatimid , Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, from the tenth to sixteenth centuries. Similar cotton was also traded as far east as Indonesia. After

4653-406: The Vedas, yajna- ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras and dāna – alms or charity. Ritually ranked high (along with the Brahmins), the caste may be considered socially proximate to the Brahmin community. They have traditionally been an elite and literate but a numerically small community. More formally, in Maharashtra, they are one of the Prabhu Communities and a sister caste of

4752-408: The banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region bordering Punjab. In Gujarat, several battles were fought between the Indian dynasties such as the Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest and the mightiest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps and conquered some parts of Gujarat in the 2nd century CE. The Kshatrapa dynasty

4851-402: The battle at Navsari , where the Arab troops suffered a crushing defeat. In the late 8th century, the Kannauj Triangle period started. The three major Indian dynasties – the northwestern Indian Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, the southern Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty and the eastern Indian Pala Empire – dominated India from the 8th to 10th centuries. During this period the northern part of Gujarat

4950-631: The belief that no true Kshatriyas existed in the Kali Yuga ; however the upanayana for CKPs were supported by prominent Brahmin arbitrators like Gaga Bhatt and Ramshastri Prabhune who gave decisions in the favor of the community. Just after the death of Shivaji this dispute raised again but this time the opinion shifted against the views of Gangabhatta. During the Peshwa era Gramanyas were very common and some Chitpawans, at times, initiated Gramanya against other communities – Prabhu communities (CKP, Pathare Prabhu), Saraswats and Shukla Yajurvedis . however they did not come to fruition . The Gramanya during

5049-486: The caste structure was headed by the Deshasthas , Chitpawans , Karhade , Saraswats and the CKPs. Other than the Brahmins, the Prabhus (CKPs and Pathare Prabhus ) were the communities advanced in education. The CKPs have the upanayana ( janeu or thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the Vedas and perform Vedic rituals along with the Brahmins . The CKP performed three Vedic karmas or duties which in Sanskrit are called: Adhyayan- studying of

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5148-537: The court meant that they could wield enough political clout to effect settlements in favor of their caste.". The late Indian professor of sociology, Govind Sadashiv Ghurye commented on the strictness of the caste system during the Peshwa rule in Maharashtra by noting that even advanced caste such as the Prabhus had to establish rights to carry on with the vedic rituals. University of Toronto historians and Professors Emeriti, Milton Israel and N.K Wagle opine about this as follows in their analysis: The CKP could undertake

5247-448: The cracks had started to develop in the edifice of the Mughal Empire in the mid-17th century, the Marathas were consolidating their power in the west, Chatrapati Shivaji , the great Maratha ruler, attacked Surat in southern Gujarat twice first in 1664 and again in 1672. These attacks marked the entry of the Marathas into Gujarat. However, before the Maratha had made inroads into Gujarat, the Europeans had made their presence felt, led by

5346-412: The educationally advanced communities in the 1850s – the CKPS, Pathare Prabhus , Saraswats , Daivadnya and the Parsis were the first communities in the Bombay Presidency that allowed female education. Notes Citations Gujarat Gujarat ( / ˌ ɡ ʊ dʒ ə ˈ r ɑː t / GUUJ -ə- RAHT ; ISO : Gujarāt , Gujarati: [ˈɡudʒəɾat̪] ) is a state along

5445-405: The existence of the CKP in Maharashtra. According to the American Indologist and scholar of Religious Studies and South Asian Studies who is the Professor of International Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Washington , Christian Lee Novetzke In the thirteenth century they might have been considered as equal to brahmin or simply within the Brahminic ecumene, this despite

5544-455: The fact that modern day CKPs of Maharashtra understand themselves to have arisen from the Kshatriya varna. Thus they are an intermediate caste between brahmins and Kshatriyas. The CKP community became more prominent during the Deccan sultanates and Maratha rule era. During Adilshahi and Nizamshahi, CKP, the Brahmins and high status Maratha were part of the elites. Given their training CKP served both as civilian and military officers. Several of

5643-642: The fame and reputation of illustrious Islamic scholars, Sufi-saints, merchants and intellectuals from all over the world: Ranel (Rander) is a good town of the Moors , built of very pretty houses and squares. It is a rich and agreeable place ... the Moors of the town trade with Malacca , Bengal , Tawasery (Tannasserim), Pegu , Martaban , and Sumatra in all sort of spices, drugs, silks, musk, benzoin and porcelain. They possess very large and fine ships and those who wish Chinese articles will find them there very completely. The Moors of this place are white and well dressed and very rich they have pretty wives, and in

5742-549: The family norms among the Saraswat Brahmins and CKPs were similar to those of the Marathi Brahmins". However, she also criticizes these communities by concluding that until the 20th century, the Marathi Brahmin, CKP and Saraswat Brahmin communities, due to their upper-caste ritualistic norms, traditionally discouraged widow remarriage. This resulted in distress in the lives of widows from these castes as opposed to widows from other Marathi Hindu castes. They worship Ganesh , Vishnu and other Hindu gods. Some CKPs may also be devotees of

5841-432: The furniture of these houses have china vases of many kinds, kept in glass cupboards well arranged. Their women are not secluded like other Moors, but go about the city in the day time, attending to their business with their faces uncovered as in other parts. The conquest of the Kingdom of Gujarat marked a significant event of Akbar's reign. Being the major trade gateway and departure harbour of pilgrim ships to Mecca, it gave

5940-537: The great emporia of the Indian Ocean that indeed: Cambay is one of the most beautiful cities as regards the artistic architecture of its houses and the construction of its mosques. The reason is that the majority of its inhabitants are foreign merchants, who continually build their beautiful houses and wonderful mosques – an achievement in which they endeavor to surpass each other. Many of these "foreign merchants" were transient visitors, men of South Arabian and Persian Gulf ports, who migrated in and out of Cambay with

6039-448: The height of the Adil Shahi dynasty . At the same time, Zoroastrian high priest Azar Kayvan who was a native of Fars , immigrated to Gujarat founding the Zoroastrian school of illuminationists which attracted key Shi'ite Muslim admirers of the Safavid philosophical revival from Isfahan . Early 14th-century Maghrebi adventurer, Ibn Batuta , who famously visited India with his entourage, recalls in his memoirs about Cambay, one of

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6138-459: The kingdom and kill King Sambhaji twice, with the main conspirator Annaji Datto and other ministers. Since Khando Ballal was not part this conspiracy and Queen Yesubai had great respect for his father, Khando Ballal was appointed to take up the vacant post of his father in 1681. Khando Ballal worked as chitnis for about 8 years until Sambhaji was captured and put to death by Aurangzeb in 1689. After Sambhaji’s death, his brother, Chhatrapati Rajaram,

6237-412: The lake where an earlier Indian governor had built a dam. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain , there was an Indo-Greek defeat in Gujarat of Demetrius . In 16th century manuscripts, there is an apocryphal story of a merchant of King Gondophares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas . The incident of the cup-bearer torn apart by

6336-421: The manners and customs of the Portuguese ; yet do they regularly learn their manufactures and workmanship, being all very curious and desirous of learning. In fact, the Portuguese take and learn more from them than they from the Portuguese . Khando Ballal Khando Ballal was born around 1660 in a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family. His father, Ballal Avaji Chitnis, popularly known as ‘ Balaji Avaji ’,

6435-499: The middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.). According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated "beyond school" The mother tongue of most of the community is now Marathi , though in Gujarat they also communicate with their neighbours in Gujarati , and use

6534-414: The names of a certain Velgi Prabhu . Lakshmana Prabhu is mentioned as a MahaDandanayaka (head of military) and MahaPradhana (prime minister); Ananta-Prabhu is mentioned as a MahaPradhana (prime minister), Kosadhikari (Head of treasury) and Mahasandhivigrahika (charge of foreign department). According to Historian and researcher S.Muley, these epigraphs might be the first available evidences of

6633-439: The outside world had created the legacy of an international transoceanic empire which had a vast commercial network of permanent agents stationed at all the great port cities across the Indian Ocean . These networks extended to the Philippines in the east, East Africa in the west, and via maritime and the inland caravan route to Russia in the north. Tomé Pires , a Portuguese official at Malacca , wrote of conditions during

6732-425: The ports of the Indian Ocean. Gujaratis, including Hindus and Muslims as well as the enterprising Parsi class of Zoroastrians , had been specialising in the organisation of overseas trade for many centuries, and had moved into various branches of commerce such as commodity trade , brokerage , money-changing , money-lending and banking . By the 17th century, Chavuse and Baghdadi Jews had assimilated into

6831-589: The reigns of Mahmud I and Mozaffar II: " Cambay stretches out two arms; with her right arm she reaches toward Aden and with the other towards Malacca" He also described Gujarat's active trade with Goa , the Deccan Plateau and the Malabar . His contemporary, Duarte Barbosa , describing Gujarat's maritime trade, recorded the import of horses from the Middle East and elephants from Malabar, and lists exports which included muslins, chintzes and silks, carnelian, ginger and other spices, aromatics, opium, indigo and other substances for dyeing, cereals and legumes. Persia

6930-406: The release of Shahu after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Khando Ballal was invited by Shahu to join his hands, close his eyes and get ready for the prayer after school. Having sincerely felt that Shahu was the rightful and eligible heir to the throne of Maratha Empire rather than Shivaji II , he accepted Shahu’s invitation. Until his death, he worked as a personal gym trainer and senior member of

7029-480: The religious swamis from their own caste – Ram Maruti Maharaj(Deshpande) and "Gajanan Maharaj (Gupte)", who took samadhis at Kalyan (in 1919) and Nasik (in 1946) respectively. Many CKP clans have Ekvira temple at Karle as their family deity whereas others worship Vinzai, Kadapkarin, Janani as their family deity. CKPs have had a progressive attitude regarding female education compared to other communities. For example, Dr.Christine Dobbin's research concludes that

7128-480: The rhythm of the monsoons. But others were men with Arab or Persian patronyms whose families had settled in the town generations, even centuries earlier, intermarrying with Gujarati women, and assimilating everyday customs of the Hindu hinterland. The Age of Discovery heralded the dawn of pioneer Portuguese and Spanish long-distance travel in search of alternative trade routes to " the East Indies ", moved by

7227-506: The rights over Vedas for the CKP. The Shankaracharya's letter is addressed to all Brahmins and he refers to various Shastras , earlier verdicts in the favour of the CKPS as well as letters about the lineage of the CKP to make his decision and void the dispute started by Natu. Modern scholars quote statements that show that they were due to political malice – especially given that the Gramanya

7326-621: The rights to conduct the Vedic rituals (all by themselves) and satkarma (all six karmas of the Brahmin order) for which they were opposed especially by the Chitpawans . At times, there were Gramanyas , i.e. "dispute involving the supposed violation of the Brahmanical ritual code of behavior" also known as "Vedokta disputes", initiated by certain individuals who tried to stop CKP rights to Upanayana . These individuals based their opinion on

7425-615: The scholar intellectual Abu Fazl Ghazaruni from Persia who tutored and adopted Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak , author of the Akbarnama . Later, a close alliance between the Ottoman Turks and Gujarati sultans to effectively safeguard Jeddah and the Red Sea trade from Portuguese imperialism , encouraged the existence of powerful Rumi elites within the kingdom who took the post of viziers in Gujarat keen to maintain ties with

7524-484: The six functions (satkarma) because they had the expertise to do so. Aba Parasnis the CKP[in the early 1800s] could easily hold his own and argue intricate points from the vedas , puranas and the dharmasastras in a debate which resulted in his composition of the siddhantavijaya in sanskrit .He prepared the sanskara manual(karmakalpadruma), which was published by Pratapsimha. The CKP as an educated elite therefore, were

7623-649: The sixth Mughal Emperor, was born in Dahod , Gujarat. He was the third son and sixth child of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal . At the time of his birth, his father, Shah Jahan, was then the Subahdar (governor) of Gujarat, and his grandfather, Jehangir , was the Mughal Emperor. Before he became emperor, Aurangzeb was made Subahdar of Gujarat subah as part of his training and was stationed at Ahmedabad. Aurangzeb had great love for his place of birth. In 1704, he wrote

7722-618: The social world of the Surat province, later on their descendants would give rise to the Sassoons of Bombay and the Ezras of Calcutta, and other influential Indian-Jewish figures who went on to play a philanthropical role in the commercial development of 19th-century British Crown Colony of Shanghai . Spearheaded by Khoja , Bohra , Bhatiya shahbandars and Moorish nakhudas who dominated sea navigation and shipping, Gujarat's transactions with

7821-727: The south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Gujarat's capital city is Gandhinagar , while its largest city is Ahmedabad . The Gujaratis are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati , is the state's official language. The state encompasses 23 sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation (more than any other state). The most important sites are Lothal (the world's first dry dock), Dholavira (the fifth largest site), and Gola Dhoro (where 5 uncommon seals were found). Lothal

7920-518: The sultans of Gujarat possessed ample means to sustain lavish patronage of religion and the arts, to build madrasas and ḵānaqāhs, and to provide douceurs for the literati, mainly poets and historians, whose presence and praise enhanced the fame of the dynasty. Even at the time of Tomé Pires ' travel to the East Indies in the early 16th century, Gujarati merchants had earned an international reputation for their commercial acumen and this encouraged

8019-496: The total revenue of the whole Portuguese empire in Asia in 1586–87, when it was at its height. Indeed, when the British arrived on the coast of Gujarat, houses in Surat already had windows of Venetian glass imported from Constantinople through the Ottoman empire . In 1514, the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa described the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Rander known otherwise as City of Mosques in Surat province, which gained

8118-647: The trade of gold , silver and spices . In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is said to have discovered the Europe-to-India sea route which changed the course of history, thanks to Kutchi sailor Kanji Malam, who showed him the route from the East African coasts of Mozambique sailing onwards to Calicut off the Malabar coast in India. Later, the Gujarat Sultanate allied with

8217-496: The visit of merchants from Cairo , Armenia , Abyssinia , Khorasan , Shiraz , Turkestan and Guilans from Aden and Hormuz. Pires noted in his Suma Orientale : These [people] are [like] Italians in their knowledge of and dealings in merchandise ... they are men who understand merchandise; they are so properly steeped in the sound and harmony of it, that the Gujaratees say that any offence connected with merchandise

8316-585: The west to Afghanistan and modern-day Pakistan in the east. Al-Junaid, the successor of Qasim , finally subdued the Hindu resistance within Sindh and established a secure base. The Arab rulers tried to expand their empire southeast, which culminated in the Caliphate campaigns in India fought in 730; they were defeated and expelled west of the Indus river, probably by a coalition of the Indian rulers Nagabhata I of

8415-516: Was a succession of various polities such as the Mauryan dynasty , Satavahana dynasty , Gupta Empire , Gurjara-Pratihara Empire, as well as regional ones such as the Western Satraps , the Kingdom of Valabhi , the Kingdom of Gujarat , the Sultanate of Gujarat and finally the Kingdom of Baroda . The early history of Gujarat includes the imperial grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered

8514-749: Was an early point of contact with the west, and the first British commercial outpost in India was in Gujarat. 17th-century French explorer François Pyrard de Laval , who is remembered for his 10-year sojourn in South Asia, bears witness in his account that the Gujaratis were always prepared to learn workmanship from the Portuguese, and in turn imparted skills to the Portuguese: I have never seen men of wit so fine and polished as are these Indians: they have nothing barbarous or savage about them, as we are apt to suppose. They are unwilling indeed to adopt

8613-551: Was captured by the Indian ruler Tailapa II of the Western Chalukya Empire . Zoroastrians from Greater Iran migrated to the western borders of India (Gujarat and Sindh ) during the 8th or 10th century, to avoid persecution by Muslim invaders who were in the process of conquering Iran. The descendants of those Zoroastrian refugees came to be known as the Parsi . Subsequently, Lāṭa in southern Gujarat

8712-477: Was one of the main central areas of the Indus Valley civilisation, which is centred primarily in modern Pakistan . It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal , Dholavira and Gola Dhoro . The ancient city of Lothal was where India's first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, belonging to

8811-503: Was overwhelmingly high as opposed to the literacy of others such as the Kunbis and Marathas for whom it was strikingly low. In 1902, all communities other than Marathi Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmins, Prabhus (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus, Pathare Prabhus ) and Parsi were considered backward and 50% reservation was provided for them in by the princely state of Kolhapur . In 1925, the only communities that were not considered backward by

8910-465: Was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya . Vikramaditya's successor Skandagupta left an inscription (450 CE) on a rock at Junagadh which gives details of the governor's repairs to the embankment surrounding Sudarshan lake after it was damaged by floods. The Anarta and Saurashtra regions were both parts of the Gupta empire. Towards the middle of

9009-632: Was ruled by the Rashtrakuta dynasty until it was captured by the Western Chalukya ruler Tailapa II . The Chaulukya dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Gujarat from 960 to 1243. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and their capital at Anhilwara ( Patan ) was one of the largest cities in India, with a population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. After 1243, the Solankis lost control of Gujarat to their feudatories, of whom

9108-604: Was ruled by the northern Indian Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty and the southern part of Gujarat was ruled by the southern Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty . However, the earliest epigraphical records of the Gurjars of Broach attest that the royal bloodline of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty of Dadda I, II and III (650–750) ruled south Gujarat. Southern Gujarat was ruled by the Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty until it

9207-543: Was secretly sent to fort Gingee for his safety and to run operations from there, Ganoji Shirke assisted the Chhatrapati in reaching Gingee safely. Khando Ballal was one of the few who accompanied Rajaram in this hazardous journey. After reaching Gingee, with the help of Pralhad Niraji , Khando Ballal made tremendous efforts in finding the diplomats and warriors who had vanished on the way and getting them back. He also conspired with Ramchandra Pant Amatya to secretly move

9306-522: Was set up by the Maitrakas, which came to be known far and wide for its scholastic pursuits and was compared with the noted Nalanda University . It was during the rule of Dhruvasena Maitrak that Chinese philosopher-traveler Xuanzang / I Tsing visited in 640 along the Silk Road . Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks and was familiar with other Western centers of civilisation through the end of

9405-529: Was started by a certain Yamaji Pant who had sent an assassin to murder a rival CKP. This was noted by Gangadharshastri Dikshit who gave his verdict in favor of the CKPs. Abashastri Takle had used the scriptures to establish their "Vedokta". Similarly, the famous jurist Ramshastri Prabhune also supported the CKPs Vedokta. The analysis of gramanyas against the CKP was done in depth by historians from

9504-467: Was the chitnis (Secretary) of King Shivaji from 1658 to 1680. Balaji Avaji's original surname was Chitre. However, after being appointed as the personal assistant of King Shivaji, the family started using Chitnis as the surname. Under the regime of King Sambhaji (2nd king of Maratha empire), Balaji Avaji was executed for conspiring and trying to assassinate Sambhaji. Balaji was punished along with his eldest son for conspiring and trying to go against

9603-470: Was the destination for many of these commodities, and they were partly paid for in horses and pearls taken from Hormuz . The latter item, in particular, led Sultan Sikandar Lodi of Delhi , according to Ali-Muhammad Khan, author of the Mirat-i-Ahmadi, to complain that the support of the throne of Delhi is wheat and barley but the foundation of the realm of Gujarat is coral and pearls Hence,

9702-775: Was then the premier Arab power in the Middle East, remained friendly over the next century and the Egyptian scholar, Badruddin-ad-Damamimi , spent several years in Gujarat in the shade of the Sultan before proceeding to the Bahmani Sultanate on the Deccan Plateau. Shah e Alam , a famous Sufi saint of the Chishti order who was the descendant of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht from Bukhara , soon arrived in

9801-656: Was very limited and consisted of listening to stories from religious texts like the Puranas or to Kirtans and thus the common masses remained illiterate and backward. Hence Shivaji was compelled to use people from these three educated communities – Marathi Brahmins, CKPs and Saraswat Brahmins – for civilian posts as they required education and intellectual maturity. However, in this time period, these three as well as other communities, depending on caste, also contributed their share to Shivaji's "Swaraj"(self-rule) by being cavalry soldiers, commanders, mountaineers, seafarers etc. During

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