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]
Based on Veda and Vedanta
Karhade Brahmins are essentially Rigvedi Brahmins who follow the Ashwalayana Sutra and belong to Shakala Shakha. Karhade Brahmins are divided into two groups based on the Vedanta they follow, the first of which follows the Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara and the second of which follows the Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya. Hence, Karhade Brahmins have both Smarthas and Madhvas (also known as Bhagvats or 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]Rosalind O’Hanlon mentions Padhye as a separate individual caste and denies it being a subcaste of Karhade.[9]
Origin
Origin and history
Skanda Purana (Sahyadri Khanda) as well as Brahmanda Purana are very harsh towards Karhade Brahmins.[10] According to Sahyadri Khanda, 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.[11]
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 Gauda and Pancha Dravida classification of Brahmins, which became popular during the 13th-14th centuries.[12]
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.[13] Deshpande suspects the modification of text by deshasthas or saraswats but he fails to conclude the same.[14][15]
The Karhade Brahmins take their name from the town of Karad in Satara district, the sacred junction of the Koyna and Krishna. They migrated to the region between Malvan and Sangameshwar near the Konkan coast and made it their homeland. The Karhade section, though it takes its name from Karad, a place in the Deccan region, is found chiefly in the Konkan coast.[16] Author Sandhya Gokhale says, "Karhade Brahmins 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]
Demographics
Most Karhade Brahmins live in Maharashtra though a significant population exist in Goa, Karnataka, and cities outside Maharashtra such as Sagar[18] and Indore,[19]Gwalior and Jabalpur in present day state of Madhya Pradesh. Ancestors of these people moved to these places during 18th century during the 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.[20]
Culture
Language
Marathi is the mother tongue of most of the Karhade Brahmins in Maharashtra.[21]
Diet
Karhade Brahmins generally follow a vegetarian diet.[22]
Jitendra Abhisheki (1929-1997) was an Indian vocalist, composer and scholar of Indian classical, semi-classical, and devotional music for in a Padye Karhade Brahmin family. While he distinguished himself in Hindustani music, he is also credited for the revival of the Marathi musical theatre in the 1960s.[36]
^Gregory Naik (2000). Understanding Our Fellow Pilgrims. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash. p. 65. ISBN9788187886105. 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).
^Syed Siraj ul Hassan (1989). The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. p. 113. ISBN9788120604889. 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.
^Baidyanath Saraswati (1977). Brahmanic Ritual Traditions in the Crucible of Time. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. p. 140. ISBN9780896844780. 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.
^Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and Communities of India. East-West Publications. p. 56. ISBN978-0856920813. These Karhade were appointed priests and came to be called Upadhyayas which in due course became Upadhye.
^"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.
^Syed Siraj ul Hassan (1989). The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. p. 115. ISBN9788120604889. 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.
^Tucker, R., 1976. Hindu Traditionalism and Nationalist Ideologies in Nineteenth-Century Maharashtra. Modern Asian Studies, 10(3), pp.321-348.
^Roberts, John (1971). "The Movement of Elites in Western India under Early British Rule". The Historical Journal. 14 (2): 241–262. JSTOR2637955.
^Joyce Lebra (2008). Women Against the Raj: The Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 2. ISBN9789812308092. 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
^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.
Rosalind O'Hanlon (2013). "Performance in a World of Paper: Puranic Histories and Social communication in Early Modern India". Past and Present. Oxford University Press / The Past and Present Society: 87–126. JSTOR24543602.
