History and origin

The Brahmin castes may be broadly divided into two regional groups: Pancha-Gauda Brahmins from Northern India and considered to be North of Vindhya mountains and Pancha-Dravida Brahmins from South of Vindhya mountains as per the shloka. However, this sloka is from Rajatarangini of Kalhana, which was composed only in the 11th century CE.

कर्णाटकाश्च तैलंगा द्राविडा महाराष्ट्रकाः,
गुर्जराश्चेति पञ्चैव द्राविडा विन्ध्यदक्षिणे ||
सारस्वताः कान्यकुब्जा गौडा उत्कलमैथिलाः,
पन्चगौडा इति ख्याता विन्ध्स्योत्तरवासिनः ||^[4]

Translation: Karnataka (Kannada), Telugu (Andhra), Dravida (Tamil and Kerala), Maharashtra and Gujarat are Five Southern (Panch Dravida). Saraswata (Punjab & Sindh), Kanyakubja (Uttar Pradesh), Gauda (Bengal), Utkala (Orissa), Maithili (Bihar) are Five Northern (Pancha Gauda). This classification occurs in Rajatarangini of Kalhana and earlier in some inscriptions^[5] The Gaur Brahmin have their origin inHaryana, where they claim to have originally from Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, they have two division, those of Saharanpur District, who have taken agriculture, and those of Haridwar, who are known as Panda, and perform death rites. They are found in the districts of Meerut,Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar and the adjoining areas of Haryana state. They use the surnames Sharma, Kapil, Tiwari, Kaushik,Kanago and Sandali.^[1] In Haryana, they are found maily in Gurgaon and Karnal districts. In that district, they have the following sub-divisions, Bhardwaj, Mudgil, Vashist, Kaushik, Bashisthmun, Pathik, Bachis, Tandra, Diikhaut, Kaknangiya and the Lath Joshi.^[6]

Other than the Pandas of Haridwar, the Gaur are a community of Brahmins, who are essentially cultivators. They cultivate wheat maize, jowar, paddy, mustard and sugar cane.

The Gaur are Vaishnavi Hindu, and worship all the major gods and goddesses.^[1] The only exception is a community of Gaur Brahmins inGurgaon District, who had converted to Islam. These Gaur Shaikhs all emigrated to Pakistan, at the time of partition.^[7]

[edit]Eminent Gaur Brahmins

• Kalidas - the MAHAKAVI of Sanskrit
• Swami Haridas ( Guru of Tansen )- ( Akbar urged Swami Haridas to sing for him but Swamiji refused.. At last Akbar went to Vrundavan to here the devine SANGEET of swami Haridas)
• Hemachandra Vikramaditya AKA Hemu ( Last Hindu King of Medieval India & "Defeated" 'Humayun' in II battle of Panipat) )
• Tansen( Legendary Musician & one of Nine Jewels of Akbar's Court)
• Raja Todar Mal (King Akbar's Finance Minister & one of his nine jewels)
• Raja Birbal (One of King AKbar's nine jewels,famous for his 'Wit' & 'Wisdom')
• Pandit MadanMohan Malaviyaji
• MUNDIYA SWAMI ( Sree Gaur Brahmin From Junagadh-Gujarat)
• Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma (Former President of India)
• Kamlesh Sharma Secretary Genral Commonwealth
• Rakesh Sharma ( First Indian in Space)
• Shri B.D. Sharma (First Chief Minister of Haryana)
• Gopi Chand Bhargava ( First Chief Minister of Punjab)
• Pandit Jasraj (Classical Indian Vocalist)
• Guru Hanuman (Legendary Wrestling Coach, Droncharya Award recipient, Padma Shri)
• Jaiprakash Gaur ( Founder JayPee Group )
• Manoj Gaur ( Chairman JayPee Group )
• Pandit Lakhmi Chand (Legendary Haryanavi Poet & Writer )
• Sushma Swaraj ( Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha & Former Chief Minister of Delhi)
• Swaraj Kaushal ( Youngest Governor of any Indian State )
• Hansraj Bharadwaj (Governor Karnatka)
• Anand sharma Cabinet Minister Government Of India
• Rajat Sharma ( Founder India T.V)
• Ashok Chakradhar (Poet)
• Surendra sharma (Poet & Chairman Haryana Sahitya Academy)
• Kumar Vishwas (renounded Hindi poet)
• Kuldeep Sharma ( President- Haryana Congress Committee)
• Manoj Prabhakar(Cricketer)
• Ishant Sharma (Cricketer)
• Naval Kishore Sharma (Governor Gujrat)
• Shyam Sunder Sharma
• Yogeshwar Dutt ( Wrestler & Gold Medalist { Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010})
• Arvind Gaur
• Laxmi Narayan Sharma The big merchant of Mustard Oil.
• Deven Sharma former president of Standard & Poor's
• AKANSH GAURH
• Dr. Yogesh Atal Noted International Social Scientist, Anthropologist, Director-UNESCO
• Pandit Vikash Maharaj Sarod maestro & social worker for human rights, Holiwater, YAARAA.
• [Pandit Vishwambhar Dayal Sharma](1897–1967) (founder of Shri Devarshikul Vidyalay)Jaipur Raj
• [Priyank Gaur] (lecturer Of Physics),Ajmer Rajasthan

Shringi Rishi/Shranga Rishi /Rishi Shring is the legendary Indian Hindu seer or Rishi of seer Kashyapa's lineage. Shringi Rishi is great saint of the Ramayan era of ancient India. His father is great saint Vibhandak Rishi.

[edit]Overview

Shringi Rishi performed 'Putrakameshti Yajya' for King Dashrath of Ayodhya, after that Lord Rama and his three brothers were born. There is an ashram of Shringi Rishi situated at Ayodhya on the banks of Sarayu river near Laxman Ghat.Legend has it that Shringi Rishi cursed King Parikshit for his sinful conduct against rishi Lomash. The boons and curse uttered by him were proved to be absolutely true. Rishi Shringi was a distinguished expert of the super science of mantras. A temple of Shringi Rishi, is also located at Banjar in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, in whose honour a fair is held every year in May.Shringi Rishi is the ruling deity of Banjar valley. Here rishi is popularely known as Skirni Deo. Skirni Deo is thought to be the king of Kaliyuga. A wooden temple of Shringi Rishi is located at Skiran (12000 feets),where pindi of Shringi and Bhagvati Shanta is established. In 2008, this temple has been reconstructed after 60 years. Shringi rishi is one of the ancient deity of Kullu valley, also included among atthara kardoo (eighteen chief deities of Kullu). Here rishi used to trevel whole valley after certain interval of time. Some of the tours are trips to Rakti sar, Dhol Garh, Hamta , Malana, Panch Kothi doura and Lambti doora.Each trip is followed by one and another in the regular interval of 12–18 years.Each trip lasts for about one month or so, though Dhol Garh trip usually lasts for three and half months. Devatas (In Kullu, there are about more than 600 palanquins of gods called rath) from the whole valley used to come and meet Shringi rishi whenever there is sevre drought in the area. cave is also located in district Sirmaur near Nahan in Bagthan where he is supposed to have stayed. It is a long cave where he is supposed to do yagna and worth seeing.

Sikhwal (also known as Sukhwal, Shringi) are one of the prominent Brahmin sects of Rajasthani Brahmins who trace their origin from the great sage Rishi Shringi (or Rishi Shring). Rishi Shringi was the son of Sage Vibhandak, himself a highly respected Vedic scholar of Kashyaap linage. Rishi Shringi is credited in Indian mythology as the inventor of ‘Putrakameshti Yagna’, the Vedic sacrifice for begetting a male progeny. This first ever Putrakameshti Yagna was performed by Rishi Shringi for the Suryawanshi Emperor Dashrath of Ayodhya (of Ikshavaku lineage) and the outcome of this Yagna was the birth of Lord Rama, the great Indian God-king and revered ‘Avtaar’ (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu, the powerful god in the holy Hindu trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. Lord Rama was born with the blessings of the Gods who were appeased by Rishi Shringi with powerful mantras. Three more sons were born to Dashrath besides Rama (born to his eldest Queen, Devi Kaushlya) Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughna born to Devi Sumitra and Devi Kaikayee, the other two Queens of Emperor Dashrath.

The Yagna was an elaborate affair spreading over twelve days and was performed with much fanfare befitting its uniqueness. The legend has it that Emperor Dashrath’s only Sister, the beautiful young Princess Shanta, who was actively involved in the organizing of the Yagna, fell in love with the handsome and scholarly young sage Shringi. Her brother, Emperor Dashrath understood her feelings and on the occasion of ‘Poornaahuti’ (final sacrifice offered to gods, announcing the completion of Yagna process) proposed royal princess Shanta’s hand in marriage to Rishi Shringi. They were married and had eight sons and many daughters. All the sons born out of the alliance were highly respected for their knowledge of the holy Vedas and involved themselves in scholarly pursuits. Their descendants were later organized into the sub-sect of Brahmins, called Sikhwal Brahmins (also known as Sukhwal, Shringi Brahmins).

Cities of uttar Pradesh such as Jhansi, Lalitpur, Kanpur and many other subcities like Baruasagar,Babina,Dhaurra in jhansi have a presence of Shringirishi Brahmins. Cities of Madya Pradesh such as Bhopal, Jabalpur, Saugor, Jhansi, Khurai, Damoh and many villages of the state like Bina,Dhaura,Burogon,Khiria,Kalyanpura,Mohara,Baruasagar,Sihora,Ramnagar,Sinonia,Rampura etc. still have their designation.

Cities of Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota and Udaipur and many other places in Rajasthan, Kolkota in West Bengal, Hyderabad and Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Nasik, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, Latur and other places in Maharashtra have a significant presence of Sikhwal Brahmin population. Today, the Sikhwals are spread all over India and also in USA and Europe.

Other prominent Rajasthani Brahmin sub-sects are Gaur, Gujar-Gaur, Daima (also called Dayama or Dadeech), Pareek, Khandelwal (not to be confused with the ‘Vaisha’ community of the same name) and Saraswat Brahmins.

In Rajasthan the other five castes i.e. Guar, Gujar-Gaur, Daima, Pareek and Khandelwal [not vaisha] together form Chh-Nyatee Bhai. Though they do not marry among themselves, but share a strong social bonding and invite each other on all auspicious occasions. In Pushkar near Ajmer in state of Rajasthan, India, Sikhwal Brahmins have an inn and a temple dedicated to Shringi Rishi.

Shringi Rishi Ashram

40 Km away from Faizabad after reaching Gosaiganj and 8 Km from Bandanpur there is a Market called Mehbubganj you reach to Sherwaghat.There is also an ashram of Shringi Rishi.

20 Km away from Jhansi after reaching Baruasagar there is a Shringirishi temple.

20 Km away from Bina MP after reaching village Sarkhadi there is Shringirishi Temple.

80 Km away from Jhansi in village Sangaouli there is new temple of Shringirishi.

For more information visit: Shringirishi.org

Read free e-books: e-Books

History and origin

Pareeks are descendants of Maharshi Parashar and one of the constituent Chhaenyati Brahim Samaj.

Pareek's are mainly found in the districts of Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bhilwara, kota, Ajmer, Sikar,Bikaner, Jaipur and Churu.Ichalkaranji Maharastra^[2]

[edit]Present circumstances

The Pareek have twelve broad divisions, based on the basis of descent from the twelve rishis. Beside this, the community is also split into one hundred and eighty exogamous clans, called khaps. They speak the Marwari and Dhundari dialect of Rajasthani.

The Pareek are a priestly community serving commoners as well as the ruling houses of Rajasthan. Many Pareek are also engaged in agriculture and Business.

Rajpurohit (राजपुरोहित) is a subgroup of Hindu Brahmins (Brāhmaṇa, ब्राह्मणः) with its roots inRishikul (great revered Indian sages from Vedic era) and later Brahaminical Gupta period in India.All brahami has origanally seven gotra came from seven rishi.

They are considered as the oldest brahmins who were associated with the ruling class of a kingdom since ancient ages in India. As a tradition Rajpurohits were not only involved in heading the religious rites and duties but also provide selfless service to the state, they were considered to be guardians of the state. They were as much into mentoring royal house, educating princes, guiding king on the path of dharma, providing advise on the matters of welfare of the state, performing religious duties as they were into helping in maintaining the security of kingdom by being actively involved in battles. Guru Dronacharya and Kripacharya were the Rajpurohits of the ancient kingdom of Hastinapur who participated in the great war of Mahabharata on behalf of the state during fall of the Dvapara Yuga. Present day Rajpurohits also trace this spirit of martial hood from the great Brahmin warrior sage Parashurama. As an example, the Junagarh fort inBikaner houses memorial of Jagram ji Rajpurohit who died fighting for the cause of the state. As a custom, every wedding in the royal family of Bikaner is incomplete without paying homage to him. Such cenotaphs and headstones of Rajpurohits can be found all over Marwar and Bikaner.Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य Cāṇakya) (c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser, a prime minister and Rajpurohit to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BCE), and architect of his rise to power. Along with the other surnames like Dixit,Sharma, Goswami etc., Purohit/Rajpurohit is also used as a surname among the Brahmins.

Historical evolution as a community

Presently Rajpurohits as a community majorly dwell in the state of Rajasthan in India. There are more than 100 sub-castes of Rajpurohit each associated with one ruling ancient Kshatriya clan or the other. Some of them are Raithala,Sevad, chawandiya, Siya/Siha, Jagarwal, Udesh, Manana, Mutha, Sodha, Rajguru/Rajgur/Rajgar, Raigur/Raigar,selarwal, Paliwal, Gundecha, Santhua,shreegod,johi,Panchlod, Sidhap, Udesh/Audichya, Dudawat, Trambkoti, Balvasa/Balocha, Ridwa, Aboti, Joshi, Vyas, Podharwal,vora, Fandar,gorakha, Daviyal, Kevancha, Sepau, Kesariya, Bakaliya, Makwana, Ojha, Ajariya, Badmera, Sanchora, Titopa, Dadala, Kedariya,Jui, Vyas, Radbada & Halsiya,sothada,bakliya,sindap,punayacha,moomariya. Each of these sub-castes individually had been Rajpurohit(Royal caretakers/priests) of a Kshatriya clan in India and were in lineage to various ancient Rishis. As a normal practice of those times the marriage relationships between rajpurohit families associated with different gotras was common place. With the passage of time the kingdoms were created and decimated but these Brahmins were woven together in a community named Rajpurohit. Rajpurohit as a community is a group of brahminswho are/were royal caretakers and priests of a Hindu Kingdom in medieval times. Over last few centuries, Rajpurohits were inculcated intofeudal structure of Rajasthan as they time to time received grants of villages called Jagirs from rulers. Consequently, they came closer toRajputs in terms of tradition, way of living and customs, though they retained the Brahminical customs of vegetarianism, wearing of Janeuetc. They address each other as Jagirdars and normally have Singh as their middle name.

Today the members of Rajpurohit community have spread across the length and breadth of the world. The major occupations of Rajpurohits are farming, food and catering, cloth and textile merchants and cosmetics, while many of them have managed to get into prestigious jobs and professional degrees.^{[citation needed]}

Apart from Rajasthan, there is also a brahmin Rajpurohits community living in hills of Himachal Pradesh. They differ from the martial Rajpurohits of Rajasthan. Some of these Vatsayan Rajpurohits in eastern Himalaya hills migrated, during wars or later Islamic invasions, from the east Nilachal hills via the Tibet silk route to Kashmir and settled down in lower north Himalayan regions in remote hilly areas establishing the origin goddess temples like the Kamakhya temple in Himachal. Some of these migrant Rajpurohits were patronised by the local Kings with privileges similar to other Rajpurohits. The history of the Rajpurohits in lower Himalayas is recorded to be about 800 years as in theKamakhya temple in the remote forest area near the village Polian Purohitans in lower Himachal Shivalik hills where the goddess manifest was sanctified in 1206 C.

Rajpurohit man traditional attire

[edit]Demography

Rajpurohit a Title bestowed upon those learned Brahmins, who were masters in 4 arts i.e. mantra's( all rituals), economics, politics and warfare.They were the "Brain of King's". They looked after the administrative running of the kingdoms.In the course of their service to the kingdom, according to ancient traditions, the kings used to award few non-taxable villages or land known asSasan Jagir and donated call Doli Jagir within his kingdom to their Rajpurohits. These villages or land were considered to be free from any ruler, and were outside the ambit of any form of tax. Also any member of Kshatriya clan were barred to reside in such jagirs. Even today, this is a fact in many parts of Rajasthan. Since in India, the majority of Rathori raj was prevalent in Rajasthanbefore the independence of India, the Rajpurohit caste is prominently found in Marwar & Godwadregion of Rajasthan i.e. Jodhpur, Jalore, Pali, Nagaur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Churu & Sirohidistricts of Rajasthan. Most of the Rajpurohits who live in other parts of India, can trace back their roots, up to one to two generations, back to some village of Rajasthan. However some parts ofGujarat and Madhya Pradesh with their common boundary with Rajasthan do have members from Rajpurohit community residing there.

[edit]Beliefs

Since the Rajpurohits are believers of Indo-Aryan tradition, some practice Sanātana Dharma.They believe in preserving ancient Hindu Vedic Culture and follow majority of common Hindu customs and rituals. A male rajpurohit has Janeu, the sacred thread on his shoulder, denoting that the bearer should be pure in his thought, word and deed. The sacred thread reminds the bearer to lead a regulated life with purity in his thought, word and deed. These threads also represent the debt that is owed to the spiritual guru, parents and society. Rajpurohits are pure vegetarianand generally non-drinkers. They normally use Rajasthani/Marwari, a major language spoken in the western Rajasthan.

[edit]Current State of Community

It is commonly believed that the previous two centuries were more or less a Dark Age for Rajpurohit community. By the mid 19th century almost all the Kshatriya kingdoms of Rajasthan came under British protectorate. The British interference increased in the matter of states and this had its own repercussions on Rajputs and Rajpurohits. Kingship distanced itself from Kshatriya Dharma and the role of Rajpurohits also diminished in statecraft. The taxfree Jagirs ensured that education lost its importance. Over centuries Rajpurohits saw transformation from a highly educated Vedic community to a primarily agrarian society.

Mediaeval social evils of Purdah(Veil) system, Dowry etc. were also inculcated in the Rajpurohit Society. Once fountainheads of education and moral torch bearers of Sanātana Dharma in India, members of the Rajpurohit society were now reduced to a largely illiterate agrarian society. With the advent of Indian independence in 1947, the community saw itself much diminished in economic and political influence.

In past six decades, many of the community members migrated to various Indian cities in search of business opportunities. Learning from the changing situation and persistence of people like Sant Atmanand Ji Maharaj who opened several youth hostels, the community saw a boost in education. This resulted in many community members joining state and central services along with other professions. Although education levels are on the rise but there is still room for improvement in the area of education for women education; the area is very conservative and as a result of this, women's education levels have been very low.

Politically, a strong benevolence in Hindu Dharma made right wing political parties an obvious choice for the community. Resulting in majority of community votes going to parties like Jansangh and later on BJP. But modern politics being an unknown turf coupled with political immaturity, Rajpurohits have mostly been a vote bank to political parties. Even in the regions with strong presence of Rajpurohits, hardly any political party historically choose a representative from them. This situation owed much to lack of unity between community members and their personal egos. Until recently, when other communities were keeping their own welfare and political representation above and over political ideologies, Rajpurohits still seemed to be living in a neverland of idealism. Community awakened and came together after Sant Khetaram ji Maharaj/Kheteshwar ji Maharaj sacrificed himself in mid 1980s, for the greater good of humanity as a whole and Rajpurohits in particular. Gradually, there had been a political awakening in the community with number of political representatives from community in both major political parties, increasing in 21st century.^[1]

Child Marriages are decreasing but Dowry system, lavish marriages and Nyat (function after someone's demise) etc. are eating up lot of community resources and finances. Opium addiction has also came up as a challenge to the community which needs immediate attention.

[edit]Gotra (sub-castes)

[edit]Sewad

Gotra Rishi of Sewad Rajpurohits is Maharishi Bharadwaj while Bishasth maata(the goddess with twenty hands) being the var devi.kuldevi is nagnechi mata. The term Sewad is derived from Shri Goud linking them with a larger Pancha-Gauda Brahmin family of Northern India.

It is said that their ancestor Rajpurohit Devpal Dev Ji came to Marwar with Rao Sheoji Rathore from Kannauj. A family known to us as the "Gahadvala" dynasty ruled Kannauj in 12th century AD; their best-known dynast was Raja Jaichand, their last king. The Gahadvalas were displaced from Kannauj by the invasion, in 1194 CE, of Muhammad of Ghor. It is said that Rao Sheoji, a surviving grandson of Jaichand, on pilgrimage to Dwarika along with Rajpurohit Devpal Dev around 1272 samvatsari, met a few Paliwal Brahmins at Pushkar. Pali was a flourishing and prosperous trade center en route Persia, central Asia and Middle-East and beyond. It was governed by local brahmins. TheBrahmins requested Rao Sheoji to come to Pali and help them get rid of local tribal people and marauding bands, who were harassing and looting them time to time. Rao Sheoji and his fellow men defeated tribal chiefs first and eventually succeeded in conquering Pali from thebrahmins as well. This was the first conquest of Rathores in present day Marwar and paved the way for building up of Rathori Raj. Then they expanded to Khed near today's Balotra defeating Gahlot Rajputs, and slowly with time conquered Malani region from other local Rajput clans. Rajpurohit Devpal Dev was given many villages as jagir. The services lent by Rajpurohits to the state was rewarded with more jagiri lands by Rathore kingdom during the course of time

Prominent Sewad villages are Kanodiya purohitan, Baori Khurd, Baori Kalan, Bada Khurd, Kalyanpura(Churu), Dewal (Tonk), Barli Bhairu Ji Ki, Badabas (Osyian), Thob, Tunkalia, Chavnadiya khurd, Kheapa, Bhensar, Tinwri, Bhensar Kotwali, Mohrai, Talkiya, Bikarlai, Mahabar, Bhawnda, Kharabera, Ghewra, Ghantiyala, Narwa, Dhandora, Khichan, Kisnasar, Ratanpura, Bitti, Panchlodiya, Rupawas. The Kanot villages of Bikaneri are Kalyanpura, Desalsar, Sajansar, Swaibari, Aadsar, Dherdesar, Kisnasar, Hiyadesar, Rasisar, Hirasar, Kuntalsar, Patlisar, and Chanchodi.

[edit]Shrirakh

Shrirakh migrated from Pali in Rajasthan and hence were Paliwal brahmins. Kuldevi of Shrirakh is 'Bishast Maata whose main temple is located in Bissu Khurd (Barmer). Phogera, Bissu Khurd, Girab and Langera are big Shrirakh villages.

[edit]Thanak

The Kuldevi of Thanak Rajpurohits is Tatiyaal Maata, temple located at Phalodi (Jodhpur). The gotra of Thanak Rajpurohit is Parashar. The Thanak Rajpurohits are found villages Jhabra(Jaislmer), Sanatra(Barmer), Khichan(Jodhpur) and Bhane ka Gaon(Kolayat, Bikaner).

They had the knowledge of Vedas as well as Shastra. They were considered mighty strategists and brave fighters. They were the custodians of kingdoms and use to provide sound advice to rulers.

In olden days, the Thanak Rajpurohits of Bhane ka Gaon fought bravely along with Bhati Rajputs of Chaneri (Kolayat, Bikaner) against theTurkish invaders and sacrificed their lives. In one of such conflict, On 23/02/1712 A.D Late Sh. Jujhar Singh Ji Thanak died fighting the invaders. According to folklores his body kept fighting even when his head was cut.

[edit]Vyas

Kuldevi of Vyas Rajpurohits is Umiya Maata in Uja (Gujarat). Kuldev is Nilkanth Mahadev in Ramseen village. They are in succession ofAadi Rishi Vedvyas.

[edit]Jagarwal

Kuldevi of Jagarwal Rajpurohits is Jageshwari Devi/Jwalamukhi Devi.

Jagarwal migrated from Sesali Village of Jalore district in Rajasthan. Jagarwals were Rajpurohits of Parmara Rajputs who were rulers of Jalore. Bal Rishi/Jabali Rishi was ancestor of Jagarwals. Jalore/Jabalipur was named after him. Bal Rishi had twelve Sasan villages (Tax free villages) including Balwara . Later on Jagarwals became Rajpurohits of Sindhal Rathore Rajputs.

Before independence Jagarwal Rajpurohits had many Sasan Jagir villages in Marwar and Godwad region including Rewara(BIKANER)Jasnagar, Kakindra, Lambiyan,Anwloj, Rewatada, Veerana, Rewat, Modran, Dakatara, Bagra(Marwar), Basda Dhanji, Dhola Sasan, Akadada, Dhariya, Punadiya, Lapod, Auwa Sasan, Champa Khedi and Dhangadwas etc.

[edit]Rajguru

Maharishi Vashishtha is the ancestor of Rajgurus. Their Kuldevi is Sarshawti Maata.About 5 km south of Pindwara on the way to Abu Road, is the village of Ajari. 2 km away from Ajari village, is temple of Mahadeo and Sarswati. The scenery is picturesque, honey-combed with date-trees and a small rivulet flows nearby. Small hillocks form a wonderful background. The temple is enclosed by s high wall. Inside it is a Kundi of 30' x 20' size. Markandeshwar Rishi is said to have meditated here. There is small image of god Vishnu and one that of goddess Sarswati. Nearby is pond commonly known Gaya-Kund where people immerse the mortal remains. On every Jeshtha Sudi 11 and Baisakh Sudi 15 a fair is held here. In Ajari village there is temple of sati maa most of rajguru also visit this temple.

Prominent Rajguru villages are Balera, Silore, Bisu Rajguran, Doli, Radwa, Vani, Pandit ji ki Dhaani(Bethwasiya, Osian) Basni Purohitan Osian, Odwada (Jalore),ghaseri (jalore) ledarmer (jalore) chitrodi (jalore) paovta (jalore ) Chadwal, Bawali, Kailashnager,manora,raipuria,sanpur, bavali, Vaan of sirohi Dist, Patau (near Kalyanpur) and Langera. Balera is a Saasan village of Rajgurushaving Kuldevi Koobar Maataji Temple. The Silore village is often spoken as "Sasan bada Silore gaanv".

[edit]Panchlod

It is said that Panchlod gotra was named on five brothers who split their jagir to form five separate villages. Two of these villages areDharamdhari and Sumdhand.

[edit]Siha/Siya

Gotra Rishi of Siha Rajpurohits is Maharshi Parashara. Chamunda Maata is Kuldevi of the Siha Rajpurohits.

Siha Rajpurohits are said to have originated at the banks of river Godavari in modern day Maharashtra and hence belong to a larger Panch-Dravida brahmin family. The region was controlled from 6th to 8th Century AD by Badami Chalukyas who later moved northwards to Gujaratand came to be known as Solankis in 10th Century AD. Sihas were their Rajpurohits. The word Siha originates from the town Sihor (also called Singhor), their place of dewelling in Gujarat. When Guhilots moved to present day Rajasthan, Sihas accompanied them as theirRajpurohits. It is said that Guhila (Guha - cave born), the ancestor of Gahlot and Sisodia clans of Rajputs was son of a Brahmin, who took toKshatriya Dharma owing to insecurities of those times. Some of his clan members continued as Brahmins and were Rajpurohits of Gahlots. A branch of Gahlots moved to Marwar and set a kingdom at Kher/Khergarh near present day Balotra. They were defeated by Rathores in 13th Century AD and moved towards Gujarat. Some of their Rajpurohit Brahmins stayed back and with time were engulfed in larger Rajpurohitcommunity of Marwar.

In Rathore Raj Bhatelai, Hingola, Bambore, Meghlasia, Balotra, Golian - these seven villages are sibling villages maintained as Jagirs of Siha Rajpurohits. The first four villages fall in the Jodhpur District while remaining three villages are in Barmer District. Balotra is named afterBaala/Vaala Ji Siya, while Golian (also called Bhinda Kuan) was awarded to his brother Bhinda Ji. Balotra has eventually grown to be the largest of all jagirs owned by Rajpurohits.

[edit]Gundesha/Gundecha

KulDevi of Gundesha/Gundecha is Rohini Maata. The Main Temples are in Sadri, Gundoj and Barwa Devnagari dhaam. Villages are Mori, Barwa Devnagari dhaam, Mada, Lopi, Norwa, Nimbada, Mandal, Varka, Garasani, Asop and Maada. Maada being oldest and big village. These villages were not gifted or donated by rulers, but were rather captured by Gundechas after battling local Bhil tribes.

[edit]Mutha

Maharishi Piplad, son of Maharishi Dadhichi is the gotra Rishi. Rohini Maata is Kuldevi of muthas, the temple of Rohini Maata is located in Vandar.people of vandar has made new temple of rohini mata.prathishta of that temple is on 26-4-2012 now this temple has become very nice in vandar.

Their lineage is drawn from veer Shri Somoji. There are five villages of Muthas, Rungari, Pilowani, Vanadar, Ghenari and Shivtalav. Rungari is the oldest village among all five villages. Shivtalav is at a distance whereas rest four villages share boundaries. These five villages are collectively called Shon/Sansan, which means affluent or ruling class.

[edit]Sodha

Pithalji Sodha(Rajpurohit) came with Rao Sheoji and Rajpurohit Devpal Dev from Kannauj to Marwar. He brought the idol of Maa Nagnechaya, kuldevi of Sodha's and Rathore's. They are main trustees of Maa Nagnechaya Temple(Naagana). Mandli, Tarsinghdi, Mayalawas, Gudanal, Megawas, Deriya, Simrakhia, Rewada and Bassi are their jagiri villages. Some many years ago at Sodda - Punjab, Haryana and went looking for trades settled on the same, especially from Punjab, Sri-Ganganagar area have in now Stay sodda Rajpurohit.

[edit]Notable Rajpurohits

1. Brahmarshi Sant Khetaram ji Maharaj/Kheteshwar ji Maharaj - Revered saint who laid down his mortal beings for greater good of common folk - see Asotra
2. Brahmarishi sant shivanandji maharaj -Ravidham (Gujarat)
3. Brahmarshi Sant Tulsaram ji Maharaj - Present head of Brahma Temple, Asotra
4. Sant Atmanand ji Maharaj - Revered educationist of the community
5. Shree Brahmanandji maharaj - mamaji ashram raipuria Jalore
6. Late Shri. Balkishan ji Purohit(Madri) - 1st Purohit R.P.S (1901-1959)
7. Late Dr. Devi singh ji 'Sarvan' Ratlam(M.P.) - Freedom fighter & Ex-Health Minister of Madhya Pradesh
8. Late Shri. Vijai singh ji Rajpurohit(Madri) - 1st Purohit I.R.S (1925-1994)
9. Late Mohan Singh ji 'Ghenari' - He was the Dean of first Vetanary College of India - was popularly called Dean Sahab
10. Late Tikam Singh ji 'Kanodia' - Retd. Adl. S.P. (Rajasthan Police)
11. Late Bhopal singh ji 'silore' - Retd. S.I. (rajasthan police),honoured with "Rastrapati Police Medal"
12. Late Pukhraj Singh ji Rajpurohit, Bawari Khurd (Phalodi), Retd. Addl SP (Rajasthan Police)
13. Mr. Dalpat Singh 'Dinkar' - Indian Police Service, Inspector General of Police (Rajasthan Police)
14. Prof. Bhanwar Singh ji Simarakhia, Vice Chancellor, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur
15. Mr. Shankar Singh - Former MLA (Ahor Constituency, Jalore)
16. Mr. Bhanwar Lal Ji - Former MLA (Makrana Constituency, Nagaur)
17. Mr. Sanjay Purohit - CEO of a USA based consultancy firm. Is a former IAS officer, completed his Master's from IIT Mumbai and is an MBA (Gold Medalist) from IIM Ahmedabad
18. Mr. Rajendra Singh - Chairman of Gou Seva Ayog, Government of Rajasthan
19. Mr. M L Rajpurohit - MLA (Dhanera constituency, Gujrat)
20. Mr. Suresh Rajpurohit - Indian Police ServiceKerala Cadre, DIG CBI, Jaipur
21. Dr. Bharat Singh Rajpurohit- Indian Foreign Service, Second Secretary (Political) at the Indian Embassy in AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates
22. Mr. Durg Singh Kanodia - Retd. Adl. S.P.(Rajasthan Police)
23. Prof. Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit 'Sokra' - Professor Columbia University, New York (U.S.A.)
24. Bramchari Sant Devpuri ji Maharaj - Dugarpuri ji ka math Chohtan
25. Mr. Heer Singh Rajpurohit Retd. Pharmacist (USA since 1975) educated from (B.I.T.S)
26. Mr. Ram Singh Rajpurohit (Melawas,Pali) (Thar Shree, Mr Bikana )
27. ‎Mr. Raj K. Purohit -MLA kalbadevi, Mumbai. Constituency and 1st minister in the Government of Maharashtra.
28. Mr. Prakash Rajpurohit- IAS 2nd Rank - 2009
29. Mr. Jagdish Rajpurohit-Film Producer / Director + Smart Card Personalization Expert(Movies :paa 2009/Bumboo 2012

The Dadhich Brahmins are a subgroup of Brahmins who are the descendants of Rishi Dadhichi, who is said to have given his bones for making of the vajra, the mythological weapon created to kill the demon vritra/virtrasur. It was Dadhichi's father Atharvan who along withAngiras composed the Atharvaveda. A temple of Dadhichi's sister Dadhimati is found in the village Goth Manglod, Nagaur, Rajasthan. They are most ancient among Brahmins of the Marwad region and elsewhere.

Sage Dadhich is a legend in the 1st mandala of rigveda, and there are references of him visiting the sindu, sarswati area. Some section ofSarswat brahmins also trace their origin from him.

They are mostly found in Rajasthan region; a large part of the society has even migrated to other parts of world. They can have surnames likeDadheech, Dayama, Joshi, dahima, sharma, mishra, tiwari, Vyas, etc.

They belong to six groups of Brahmins, i.e. Chhanyati brothers who performed homas and rituals for Maharaja jai singh of Jaipur.

1. Dadheech Brahmins
2. Parikh Brahmins
3. Sikhwal or Sukhwal Brahmins, also called Shringi Brahmins
4. Saraswat Brahmins
5. Gujar Gaud Brahmins
6. Khandelwal Brahmins.

7. List of common gotras

   1. Gautam -patodhya,palod,nawal,kumbhya,kanth,budadhara,khatod,budsuna,bagadiya,vedvant,

   vanansidara,lelodhya,kakda,gangvani,bhuwal,bhabhda

   1. Vatsa-ratava,kolwal,baldawa,rolanya,cholsankhya,jopat,itodhya,polgala,nosara,namawal,

   ajmera,kukda,taranwa,avadig,didel,musya,mang

   1. Bhardwaj-pedwal,shukl,karesya,malodya,asopa,lyali,barmota,indorwal,harsodiya,bhataly,gadiya,solyani
   1. Bhargav - inaniya,jajhodiya,prathanya,kasalya,shilnodhya,kuradya,khebar,bisawa,ladanwa,badagana,kapdodya
   2. Kotchs-didwanya,mandodya,dhavdodya,jatalya,doba,mundel,manajwal,sosi,gothecha,kudal,tetrawal,
   3. Kashyapa - borayada,derolya,namwal,shirgota,rajthala,badawa,balaya,cholakhya
   4. Shandilya- rinwa,bediya,bahad,gothwal,dahwal
   5. Atrey -sunthwal,jujnodya,dubanya,sukalya,
   6. Parasar-bheda,parasar,
   7. Kapil-chipada
   8. Garg- tulachhya
   9. Mamm - anachar se mlechh(apavitra) ho gaye

Saryupareen Brahmins (Hindi: सरयू पारीण ब्राह्मण), also known as Sarvarya Brahminsor Saryupariya Brahmins, are North Indian Brahmins residing on the eastern plain of the Sarayu near Ayodhya. Saryupareen families such as the Tripathis, Tiwaris,Trivedis, Pandeys, Shuklas, and Dikshits were involved solely in the research and analysis of Vedas and other religious texts, performing yajnas and other religious practices. These families did not perform 'pujas for benefactors and did not takedakshinas or donations against such prayers. Hence they were considered to be solely devoted to the quest of learning about the Vedas and spreading knowledge rather than benefiting in any way through benefactors. Along with the other Pancha-Gauda Brahmin communities, the Saryupareen traditionally preserve the customs and traditions as prescribed by ancient Hindu canons.

In the 19th (held at Prayag) and 20th (held at Lucknow) national convention ofKanyakubja Brahmins by Kanyakubja Mahati Sabha, in 1926 and 1927 respectively, it appealed for unity among Kanyakubja Brahmins whose different branches includedSanadhya, Pahadi, Jujhoutia, Saryupareen, Chattisgarhi, Bhumihar Brahmins and different Bengali Brahmins.^[1]

The Saryupareen generally dwell in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh with a significant amount of them concentrated in the easter region of Uttar Pradesh known as Purvanchal. There are also minority Saryupareen communities inMauritius, where Bhojpuri is a commonly spoken language and the Caribbean..

Saryupareen Brahmin

Chandrashekhar Azad • Rambhadracharya Chunky Pandey • Mangal Pandey • Shweta Tiwari
Total population
2 million (estimated)
Regions with significant populations
Uttar Pradesh •Madhya Pradesh • West Bengal Bihar Jharkhand • Maharashtra • Delhi Fiji • Mauritius • Suriname
Languages
First languages – Hindi •Awadhi • Bhojpuri Second languages – Hindustani • Maithili Fijian Hindi • Mauritian Bhojpuri • Sarnami • English
Religion
Hinduism (100%)
Related ethnic groups
Kanyakubja Brahmins • Maithil Brahmin • Bhumihar Jujhautiya Brahmin • Sanadhya Brahmin Indo-Iranians • Indo-Aryans

Families & classification

History and origin

Sanadhya Samhita gives an account of the origin of the Sanadhya community. Lord Ramachandra of Ayodhya invited some Adi Gauda brahmins to conduct a yajna. As dakshina he gave villages to 750 of them, who came to be called Sanadhya. They were engaged in tapa, thus came to be called Sanadhya^[2]:

सच्छब्देन तपो ग्राह्यं तेनाध्या ये द्विजोत्तमाः||

An alternative theory is that since they worship Lord Sun (or 'Surya') (Skt san), they are called Sanadhya. Sikh Guru Gobind Singh has mentioned that his ancestors once lived in the Sanadh region, this may have been the region from where the Sanadhya originated.

There have been genuine attempts to show the unity of Brahmins, but it was always to show that all the Brahmins were migrated and bifurcated from a "particular Brahmin". The point is missed that Brahmins as such were one original class which moved towards the East. It was a strict practice to safeguard the purity of the blood of the East-advancing front of Brahmins by taking girls from the west so that the East advancing front does not mingle up with the Nagas and other races which were pushed further east. Brahmins remember this practice even today to marry their daughters to the east and take girls from the west, and by doing so they preserved the purity throughout the Indo-Gangetic plains also called Gaudadesh. Later, when advancement to the east eventually completed, sticking up with locality was forced to check the continuous flux of Brahmins from the west. This was a wise step to control possibility of over-populating the firtile lands of the Ganges eastward.But, sadly, it resulted in a rigid and foolhardy localisation and division of the great width of Brahmins. They became almost myopic and lost their strength.

Sanadhya word carries two very ancient Sanskrit roots, in fact, of vedic antiquity. Sanah for a specific 'sacrifice'(Sanatana from the same root ~synonym) and aadhiyah or aarurha means 'incessantly engaged in', and also 'full of opulence' or 'rich in' or 'firmly walking (or mounted) foremost and ahead' on the path of penance. Hence those who possess opulence of Sanah sacrifice, or 'ahead in austerities'or 'mounted firmly, foremost and ahead of all, on the Tapascharya' were called sanadhyas in comparison to the Purohitas and Priest who lived in cities or villages.The term is non-local, and independent of region. It is associated with the Aaranyaka brahmins, the forest dwellers, and therefore the much later classification into regional subclass into Panch Gauda and Panch Dravid does not include the forest dwellers. It is true that every brahmin, wherever he may belong to,the glorious Saraswat of Kashmir, the matchless and graceful Kanyakubja, the pious and proud Sarayuparain, the brilliant and mystic Maithil, the holy and lofty Gauda or the one from great descent of panch Dravidas, has been a descendent of the original clans of Forest dwellers/or those engaged in austerities and penance.

The first story cited from the so called Sanadhya Samhita does not seem to be consistent. The composition of the Samhita does not seem to have any remote date in the history.During Rama's time, by any rate going prior to 600 BC, the time when division into subclasses as we presently know them, had not taken place. No question, then, arises for calling them to be a group of Adi gauda's participated in the yajna.However, the ground reality is that they remain non-distinct from Adi Gauda and do consider themselves the ascetic branch of Adi Gauda. In Rama's time there were only three occupations of Brahmins priests, Purohitas and Aranyaka brahmins,some of them elevated to the level of Rishi. The Samahita seems to be quite recent or post-classification era, far down in time from the Valmiki Ramayana. Ramadid meet Aranyaka brahmins in the Valmiki Ramayana, and he did call them to be always engaged in Tapa and therefore were the brahmins worthy of 'high reverence'. That is all.

The second hypothesis related to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's ancestral village Sanadh, it again does not prove to be native place for sanadhyas and the name sanadhyas to be after this village.The opposite may be a possibility that the place came to be called Sanadh after the Sanadhyas.

Sanadhyas are a dominant section of north Indian brahmins, most numerous in Gangetic 'Doaba' region and they touch the Kanaujias on the north west extending over central Rohilkhand, and the part of the upper central duab from Pilibhit to Gwalior. The boundary line runs from the northwest angle of Rampur through Richa, Jahanabad, Nawabganj, Barielly, Faridpur to the Ramganga, thence through Samilpur and the borders of Mehrabad, thence down the Ganges to the borders of Kanauj, thence up the Kali nadi to the western border of Alipurpatti, through Bhavgaon, Sij, Bibamau and down the Janumna to the junction of Chambel.[4]

Sanadhya Brahmins make a triumvarate along with kanyakubj brahmins and Bengali brahimns in practicing the doctroine of nobility ; like biswa system of kanyakubj brahmins and kuleen system of Bengali brahmins, the sanadhyas rigourusly practice the 'allh' system to jeaously safeguard the purity of their blood. They are branch of Adi Gauda brahmins, Rtviz of ashwmegh yajna performed by Lord Sri Rama and have matrimonial relations in their own fold and Adi Gauda brahmins.[5] They have matrimonial relations with kanyakubj brahmins as well.[6][7] It should be kept in mind that Lord Rama established 750 autonomous ashrams in the Doab region to institutionalize the otherwise unorganized spread of knowledgeable traditional brahmins whom he had promised a safe living at the time of his exile. The adi gauda means the ancient undivided non-regionalised brahimins of the gangetic plains (i.e. the Adi gauda region) and not the Adi gauda sub-class of the present day classification in the strict sense of the word of that era, therefore, it encompasses all the best learned families of north Indian brahmins.Further as the history goes this region faced invaders' cruelty and calamity and the institutional system faced greatest blows. Number of Vedic branches, shivaite schools, and grammarian and other rare traditional texts were lost. Yet, against all oddities Sanadhyas survived with their pure taste for knowledge though they were forced by the invaders to live in the fringes of un-furtile lands and ravines with little to support an average living.

However the brahmins of different regions developed specialized understanding in the brahmin pockets. The great clans of the Brahmins of Kanyakubja region were extraordinary in Raj-dharma and Nyay dhrama, the Saryuparain Brahmins were superb puritan of Ramashrayi school of Vaishnavas,standing high on the Epic and Puranas interpretaions and remain outstanding in the conduction, interpretation, and practice of religion, Maithils were great Shaktas with profound depth of tantrik taditions, Adigaudas, were precise Astrologers and adept Ayurvedic masters forming lofty Krishnashrayi school of Vaishnavas, Jijotiyas were the specilized vedic Karmkandi with perfection in Yagnik practices. Saraswatas excelled in Grammars and Yogik practices. Sanadhyas followed the diverse practices of Shaivite philosophy to Shakta tradition and so also thoroughly vaishnavism however keeping their eyes fixed on vedic and upanishadic abstract thinking. All this great width of Brahmins of Indo-gangetic plains flowed like thousand meadows through the second millennium of adversity to vedic religion.

Migration and infiltration of Sanadhya brahmins into central India from the north took place after the fall of Marathas. In the beginning of the 19th century by 1820 AD families of Sanadhyas started to migrate to the Narmada valley extending from Mandla to Hoshangabad and so also into the Malwa from Vidisha to Ujjain and Indore. This migration was mostly from Bhind-Gwalior-Murena-Agra region where extensive Gully-Ravines were forming and penetrating into agriculture lands and converting these lands of Chambal-Yamuna belt into so called Badland Topography. The north-western MP i.e. Ratlam and Mansaur regions were infiltrated from southern Rajasthan. This migration may be corelateable with the deterioration of lands and family partitions. Those who opted to move to the fertile lands of MP were sufferers of family division and got ravenous part of the parental land on property divisions. The mass migration was accompanied by other people also belonging to Rajputs ( Chouhans and Sisodias), Kauravas, Jats, Gujjars, yadavas etc. Narsinghpur district. of Narmada valley has a good population of this assembly which is a facsimile representative of the Vraja-mandala includung part of Dhaulpur-Bharatpur and Gwalior region, wherefrom the migration had triggered. Remarkably, the Narmada valley was freed from Pindaries'Pindari' by 1820 by the Narmada Protection Force and from Thugs by 1842 by the great British officer Col. Sleeman. Thus Narmada valley became a safe and favourite place for settlement with its fertile soils. Apart from the Narmada region, migration took place from Gwalior-Jhansi-Urai area to the Sagar region of MP.

[edit]Famous Sanadhyas

• Keshavdas (1555–1617), author of Rasikpriya etc. of Orchha, classical Hindi poet^[3]
• Pandit Totaram Sanadhya who lived in Fiji^[4]
• Hon'ble Shankar Dayal Sharma,former President of India
• Mahrashi Sandeepan, Guru of Lord Srikrishana
• Ved-Vyas, author of Mahabharat
• Pandit Gopal Swarup Pathak former Vice President of India
• Pandit Ayodhya Singh Upadhyaya "Hariodh", Famous Hindi Poet
• Shri J.P.Sharma, Industralist, Chairman of JP Group of Industries
• Govardhan Lal Ojha. former Supreme Court Judge
• Indian environmentalist R K Pachauri, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by him was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Director of Himalayan Institute, USA, Author of several books on Tantra, meditation and other spiritual disciplines.
• Swami Haridas: Musician, Poet and saint of Vrindavana, Teacher of Famous Tansen and Baiju.
• Deepak Sanadhya, Manager Global Business Alliances at Infogain Corp.
• Dilip Sharma
• Ram Kishan Sharma
• Ram K. Sharma.

Maithil Brahmins ( Brāhamaṇas is the correct Sanskrit term) form part of ancient Vedic Brahmins. Maithil Brāhamaṇas are a part of Panch-gauda Pañchgauḍa , a group of highest-ranking castes among Brahmin, who still strive to follow rites and rituals according to ancient Hindu canons.^{[citation needed]} Maithil Brahmin is a community of highly cohesive, and traditional Brahmins.^{[citation needed]} They have a reputation for orthodoxy and interest in learning.^{[citation needed]} Most of them live in and around Mithila, which is a portion of North Bihar. A large number of Mathil Brahmins migrated a few centuries back to adjoining areas of South-east Bihar & Jharkhand ,Parts of West Bengal as well as to adjoining Terai regions of Nepal. Mithila was the name of capital of the ancient kingdom of legendary King Janak. Most of the Maithil Brahmins are Śāktas (worshippers of Śakti) and love Maach (Fish),Choora-dahi (Beaten rice - Curd), Sugar, Pickle, Mangoes and discussions and debate.Maithili is their mother tongue, though many use Angika (a south-eastern dialect of Maithili) as their mother tongue.

They have four hierarchically ordered divisions: Śrotiya, Yogya or Joga, Panjibaddha (Pāinj in Maithili) and Jayawāra or Jaibar (which can be divided into Grihastha and Vamśa according to some scholars).^{[citation needed]} They have no further endogamous divisions but observe a complicated rules for marriage, each of these four divisions may take a wife from the group below it.^{[citation needed]}They are organized into named patrilineal groupings, and the genealogical links within and between these groupings has been an essential feature of Maithil Brahman social life for centuries. A class of genealogists known as panjikaras maintain records of the lineages and marriage links between them for the higher ranking lineages.

Traditional Areas of Maithil Brāhamanas

The Mithila Khanda of Visnu purana defines the traditional boundaries of Mithila as the Kosi River in the East, Gandaki or Gandaka in the west, Himalaya in the North and Gangā (Ganges) in the south, measuring 24 yojanas (1 yojana measured 12.52 Kilometres in 550AD according to Panchsiddantika ^[1]) east-west and 16 yojanas north-south. But now many districts south of Gangā are also included in Mithila by dint of being the region of Maithili language as well as the residence of Maithil Brāhamanas.^[2] Mithila is the traditional region associated with Maithil Brāhamanas, but a large number of Maithil Brāhamanas have been living in various parts of Madhya Pradesh (esp. Māndla region) and Chhattisagarh states for millennia. Few Maithil Brāhamanas also reside in Uttarakhand's Garhwal region e.g. Uniyal Brāhamanas. In Uttarakhand, the most famous family of Maithil brahmins was of late Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, whose ancestors had migrated from Mangalvaani village, now Mangrauni, in Madhubani district of Mithila, and were honoured by the title Bahuguna due to scholarship in many disciplines, by the king of Garhwal. Maithil Brahmans have now migrated to all over the world.

Linguistic Survey Of India by George Grierson gives a map and details of regions and features of Maithili language, this region is now known as Mithila. Mithila region comprises following districts in India :Darbhanga, Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Madhubani, Samastipur, Begusarai,Supaul, Madhepura, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzzafarpur, Khagaria, Katihar, Araria, Banka, Godda, Deoghar, Jamui, Munger and following districts in Nepal: Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa, Dhanusa, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rauthat, Bara, Parsa,etc.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Origin of Maithil Brāhamanas

Uttarakānda of Vālmiki Rāmāyana (Ramayana) gives a detailed story of the origin of Maithil Brāhamanas.^{[citation needed]} The King Nimi started a great yajna in which he invited rishi Vasiṣṭha for performing this yajna.^{[citation needed]} Vasiṣṭha accepted but was busy in another yajna for a long time and therefore could not come in time.^{[citation needed]} In the meantime, King Nimi asked the rishi (sage) Gotama to perform the yajna.^{[citation needed]} Many other rishis were also invited.^{[citation needed]} When Vasiṣṭha came and saw that the yajna was over, he cursed Nimi to live without body. Nimi retorted with a similar curse.^{[citation needed]} By the blessings of his father Brahma, Vasiṣṭha was reborn in a kumbha (pitcher).^{[citation needed]} Bhrigu and other sages asked the disembodied king Nimi whether he wanted to get a body, but Nimi refused and said he wanted to live in the 'pupils' (eyelids, Nimi) of people.^{[citation needed]} Then Nimi's body was churned and a man was created, who came to be called Videha because he was born of a father who had no body (deha), and was also called Maithil because he was produced by churning (manthana).^{[citation needed]} All the present gotras of Maithils are said to start from the sages who participated in the great yajna of Nimi.^{[citation needed]} Yajnayalkya lived in Mithila (according to Brihadaranyaka Upanishada) and proponents of India's six philosophies also lived here, including Gotama (Nyaya), Kapil(Samkhya),etc. Buddhism was widespread here.^{[citation needed]} Later Udyotkata, Kumarila Bhatta,Mandana Mishra, Prabhakara, Udayanacharya, Gangesh,Ayachi Mishra, Shankar Mishra(Son of Ayachi Mishra), Pakshadhara Mishra, etc reestablished the Vedic religion by defeating Buddhists in debates.^[3]

Recently Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Sir Ganganath Jha, Mahamahopadhyaya Balkrishna Mishra, Pandit Dharmadatta Jha(Bachcha Jha),Dr. Amarnath Jha( Son of Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Sir Ganganath Jha),Pandit Markendeya Mishra are the names to conjure with in the field of Sanskrit learning.

According to D.D. Kosāmbi,^[4] Śatpath Brāhmana tells that Māthava Videgha, led by his priest Gotama Rahugana, was the first king who originally lived in the land of Sarasvati crossed Sadānirā (supposed to be Gandaka) and founded a kingdom, where the people named videhas lived at the time of composition of Śatpath Brāhmana. Gotama Rahugana was a vedic rishi who composed many hymns of the first mandala of Rgveda. Most notable Rgvedic hymns of Gotama Rahugana are those that praise Sva-rājya, which was the State of Videgha, which later became Videha due to phonetic change. Māthava Videgha, therefore, must belong to the Rgvedic period and must have preceded the period of Śatpath Brāhmana by a considerable gap. Rgveda also mentions hymns by Kāśirāja Pratardana in tenth mandala. Hence, Mithilā and Kāśhi formed part of the region in which Rgvedic people lived. Descendandants of Gotama Rahugana were called Gautama. One such sage lived near Ahilya-sthāna during the age of Rāmāyana.

[edit]Migration to Agra

Akbar always had a deep respect towards the talents & knowledge of Phalit Jyotish,so he had invited, in his Darbar, the most talented & well-versed Maithil pandits from Bihar.^{[citation needed]} These pandits lived happily & respectfully in the regime of Akbar, which continued and gradually decreased in Jahangir's and then Shahjahan's rule.^{[citation needed]}In the meantime, these pandits were cut off from their basic origin, i.e., Bihar.^{[citation needed]}Then afterwards in the reign of Aurangzeb these once respectful pandits were treated unrespectfully and were tortured.^{[citation needed]} They were forced to accept Islam by Aurangzeb.^{[citation needed]} Among them who dared to oppose this were brutally killed while all the others had to fled away to distant villages to save their lives.^{[citation needed]} Since then they are living in Agra, Aligarh, Mathura & distant villages and started calling themselves "BRAJASTHA MAITHIL BRAHMAN" as a new identity.^{[citation needed]}Even after so many years the fear of Aurangzeb is still there in the un-conscious mind of them.^{[citation needed]}Due to this fear some of the Maithils have even changed their surname to "SHARMA," a local Brahmin surname.^{[citation needed]}Brajastha Maithil Brahmans have little connections with their own origin Bihar's Maithil Brahmins.^{[citation needed]}Even after changing their surname to "SHARMA" local brahmins too had little affinity with them.^{[citation needed]} This migration information is also depicted in Akbar's autobiography "EIN-E-AKBARI".^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Organisation

Vedas and Shākhās of Maithil Brāhamins :;.^[5][6]

All Maithil brahmins of Śāṇḍilya gotra belong to Sāmveda (Chāndoga), and all remaining Maithil brahmins belong to Yajurveda (Vājasaneyi, Mādhyandina Shākhā). Other Śākhvs of Vedas in Maithil brahmins have vanished, but names of many villages, such as Riga for Rgveda, Jajuar for Yajurveda, Samaul for Samaveda, Athari for Atharvaveda, etc, still remind that once upon a time brahmins of all Śākhvs lived in Mithila. Organisation into gotras and mūlas : All Maithil Brāhamins are divided into organised (vyavasthita) and unorganised (avyavasthita) types. There are 7 gotras among organised and 12 gotras among unorganised Maithil Brāhamanas. There are 7 organised gotras based on 7 rishis and 34 (according to some 36) organised mūlas (mūla means root or origin), and a total of 19 gotras and 180 mūlas. On the basis of three criteria, namely purity of birth, conduct and learning, 20 mūlas were declared to be uttama (best), and 14 or 16 were deemed medium, both taken together were called organised mūlas. In the following table, among the organised mulas, best (uttama) mūlas have been indicated in regular typeface and medium (madhyama) mūlas in italics. Unorganised mūlas do not show such differentiation.

Table of 7 Organised Gotras

Table of 12 Unrganised Gotras

Organisation into Grāma : Each Mūla was further sub-divided into several Grāmas. Literally, Grāma means village, but in present context it does not mean modern village, but original village. Each Maithil brahmin is expected to remember his/her Śākhā, Gotra, Pravaras, Mūla and Grāma. The last denotes the village of residence when this organisation was introduced. Last mention of such an organisation or reorganisation dates to cir. 1324 AD, just before Mithilā was conquered by Giasuddin Tughlaq's army and the last independent Hindu king Harisinghdeva fled to Kāthamāndu. For instance, Śāṇḍilya gotra has 172 Śākhās dispersed in 132 original Grāmas ; these Śākhās were branches of a mūla, e.g., Gangoli mūla has 14 Śākhās distributed into 20 Grāmas.

[edit]Surnames Of Maithil Brahmins

Jhā (one of the most common Surname of Maithil Brahmins)

Mishrā,(another common Surname of Maithil Brahmins),

Thākur

Pāthak,

Choudhary,

Rāi (also spelled as Roy, a small section of Maithil Brahmins originally from near Madhubani, Laheriasarai and Baghba Village of Saharsa, who were small Kings or Zamindars by virtue of their unusual combination of strengths, intellect and acumen and were given Royal titles of Roy, RaiBahadur or RaiSahab by the British. Many abandoned their titles and donated their riches during the fight for India's Independence but were still referred to as Rai due to their several generations of royal lineage)

Rājhans, including Canadian TV personality Mohit Rajhans

Bhāradwaj (mostly those who use their Gotras as their Surnames),

Shāndilya (mostly those who use their Gotras as their Surnames)

Kashyap (mostly those who use their Gotras as their Surnames)

Parāshar, (mostly those who use their Gotras as their Surnames)

Pratihast,^{[citation needed]}

Jajwāre (rare surname, but one family with this surname is in existence in Toronto, Canada)

Achārya,

Kātyāyan

Singh (Brahmins who were also Zamindars and preferred to associate themselves more with Kings than Vipra Brahmins. e.g., Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga Raj, Singhs/Sinha of Banaili raj, etc. But use of this surname is more an exception than a widely accepted phenomenon.),

Bājpayee,

Chaturvedi (A large portion of the Migrant Maithil Brahmins have this Surname),

Khān (a small section of Maithil Brahmins (originally from near Saharsa, i.e. from Bangaon and Parari Village of Sahara District, Bihar) who were small Kings or Zamindars by virtue of their unusual combination of strengths, intellect and acumen and were given Royal titles of Khan, KhanBahadur or KhanSahab during Akbar's reign)

In fact it was not in Akbar's reign that Khan surname was adopted by these Brahmins. Both Bahadur and Khan are in fact Monglian words brought to India and Arab by Genghis (Changez). People (Muslims) started using the Khan surname as an acknowledgement to Genghis (Changez) Khan's valour and similarly Lal Bahadur was derived from Ulan Batur the capital of Mongolia. So Bahadur and Khan was derived as a surname depicting the valour of Genghis (Changez) Khan. Thus few ruling Brahmins of Mithila adopted the Surname of Khan or Khan Bahadur. (Gurudutta/September-2010)

Sharmā (a small section of Maithil Brahmins who were originally from Mithila, Bihar, were highly respected by Akbar and were requested to relocate by Akbar to his kingdom near Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, during his reign. These Brahmins later flew away during Aurangzeb's tyranny when he tried to force them to convert into Muslims and changed their surnames to Sharma),

Ojhā