Indian Antiquary Vol 61

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 59

MARCH, 1932) THE NÅGAR BRAHMANS AND THE BENGAL KIYASTHAS
charter of the twelfth century styling himself, not simply as Kâyastha but as Karana-Kayastha.47 The term Karana-Kayastha is met with also in two Chamba copper-plates as the desig. nation of the writers of those documents.28 This may also be compared with salbauddha-kararakayastha-thakkura sri-Amitabhêna likhitam=idam Venugráme Vikramaditya-deva-san, 1192 Phålguna-sudi 4 Kuje occurring in Bengali characters in the colophon of a MS. of Bodki. charyavatára.29 But what can Karana-Kâyastha mean? As Kayastha is here conjoined with Karana, it is obvious that Kayastha must denote a mere officer, in this particular case, an officer who is in charge of karana. This shows that there were Kayasthas who were in charge of different departments ; in other words, there were Kayasthas also entrustcu with duties other than those of a Karanika. This is clear also from a critical study of the concluding portions of the Gåhadavala charters where are specified the names of officers connected with the grant. Whereas we have thus some who are Karanika-shakkura (List Inscr. North Ind., Nos. 195, 202, 207, etc.), we have some who are Kayastha-Thakkura (ibid., Nos. 188, 216, 249) and some who are Akshapatalika-Thakkura (ibid., Nos. 368, 369, 433) as the officers who wrote the grant. It will be seen that there were some Kâyasthas who were neither Karanikas nor Akshapatalikas. We have also evidence to show that the office of the Karanika was not the monopoly of the Kâyastha communities, but was held some times even by the Brahmans. We have thus an inscription dated V.S. 1228=1171 A.D. and found at Dhod in the Udaipur State, Rajpûtâna, which records a benefaction of the Karanika Brâhman Chahada to the temple of Nityapramoditadeva (ibid., No. 350). Then again a South Indian grant mentions two of the Brahman grantees as Karanika Timmarasa and Karanika Damvana.30 Nay, the Nidhanpur charter of Bhaskaravarman referred to above also speaks of a Brâhman donee, called Janårdanasvâmi, as Nyâya-karanika. It is thus evident that all Karaņikas were not Kayasthas, but that there were some who were Brâhmans.
Let us now turn for a while to the Raja-tarangini, which bristles with references to the Kayasthas. Let us cull together a few passages from it and find out what they teach us. Thus one passage from the Raja-tarangini (IV. 621) has the following: “Being besought by the Kayasthas: "what is the good of hardships such as the conquest of the quarters and so on? Let wealth be obtained from your own land,' he (Jayapida) oppressed his own kingdom." The king relished the idea, and only eight verses thereafter, we are told that " with his mind eclipsed by greed, he considered the Kåyasthas as his benefactors - Kâyasthas who gave small fractions of wealth (to the king) though they snatched away all the property (of the people). The big fishes of the sea and the kings are alike. The former consider the clouds to be donors when they let go, (some drops from the water just seized from them (from the sca). The latter, alas, believe in the secret services of the wicked tribe of the Kayasthas who deliver a few bits after openly plundering everybody"-(vs. 629-30).31 In both the passages, the word Kayastha has rightly been taken to mean “officials ” by Sir Aurel Stein. That this was the state of things in Kashmir as described by Kalhana may be proved in another way. The author of the Kathasaritsagara was Somadeva, who was also a pandit of Kashmir. In his work (XLII. 91) we find the following line : Samdhiri. graha-Kayasthens sártha-samchayaih. It has been translated by C. H. Tawney as "secre. tary for foreign affairs." This shows that in Kashmir the term Kayastha was used to denote any official, especially of the higher rank. It is no use quoting further passages to show that in the Raja-tarangini Kayastha was used in the sense of officials in general.' One
7 Ibid., Vol. VII. p. 97, 1. 38. 98 Antiquities of Chamba Statc by J. Ph. Vogel, Pt. I. p. 194, 1. 28; and p. 199, 1. 21.
29 Haraprasad Sastri's A Descrip. Cat. of Sk. MSS. in the Govt. Col. under the care of the As. Soc. Bong., Vol. I. p. 21 (MS. 19/8067).
30 Ep. Ind., Vol. Xll. p. 167. 31 Sve also Kalhana's Raja-tarunginf (text), VII, 86-7.