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Karan Kayastha

Karan Kayastha is a community of Kayasthas that inhabit Orissa and the Mithila region, a region now divided between India and Nepal.[1]

Origin

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According to Manu, a Hindu scripture, the Karans are regarded as bratya (degraded) Kshatriyas.[2]

Culture and profession

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The archeologist B. P. Sinha says that the duty of Karanas was rajaseva and durgantapuraraksha.[1][page needed][clarification needed]

Epigraphist Dineshchandra Sircar mentions that several historial edicts and inscriptions have been found in the relevant geographic locations that show that the terms Karana, Karanin, Karaneeka, Karanakas and Karaneegars are used to represent a bureaucratic range from clerks to ministers. Significant among these are Minor Rock Edict No. II, the Kanas plates of Lokavigraha, the Ghugrahati copperplate of Samacharadeva and the Tipper copperplate of Lokanath etc.[3][page needed]

Karn of Mithila

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The Karna Kayasthas are viewed as the most pure and ancient embodiment of Mithila culture along with Maithil Brahmins. They do not fit in four varna system but still became a dominant caste of this region.[4][page needed]

Karan of Bengal

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The Karan caste group can also be found in Bengal region from the mediaeval era. The post of Karan used to be a professional designation that was occupied by literate people.[5] They exclusively served the ruling powers as their ministers, advisors, governors, military commanders, accountants, record keepers and diwans.[6][7][8] [page needed] According to Historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar the Karan merged themselves into the Kayastha caste who performed the same profession.[9]

Karana of Odisha

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Main article: Karan (caste)

Karanas in Odisha are referred to as members of writer caste community, they are a prosperous and influential community of Odisha and rank next to Brahmins in the social hierarchy.[10] Karanas received land grants in mediaeval period and held feudatory status in Odisha.[11] Karanas also held high positions in government during mediaeval period.[12] As per Sircar the Bhajas inscription, mentions a list of individuals involved in land records and contains a phrase 'Brahmana-Karana-Puroga-Nivasi' which is a good indication of their social status.[3] Historian RS Sharma has also mentioned that Loknatha, a Karana, was also referred to as a Brahmin in inscriptions, even in current scenario they hold good political power in Odisha including several Chief Ministers in recent years.[13][page needed] Karanas consider themselves as a separate group distinct from Kayasthas.[14] Karanas had also developed their own unique "Karani" script named after their community to write documents in Odisha.[15][16][17] Additionally Karanas are also mentioned as "Grama Karana" and "Mandala Karana" in Ganga and Gajapati records having authority over a large number of villages, similarly the "Chamu Karana" and "Deula Karana" of Gajapati period were the private secretary of the king and the chief administrator of Jagannath Temple respectively.[18] Karanas emerged from the community of Kshatriyas.[19]

Karanam or Sistakarnam of Andhra and Telangana

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Main article: Karanam

Karanam (Telugu: కరణం) or Karnam was an office and title native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Traditionally, Karanam was an official who maintained the accounts and records of the villages and collected the taxes.[20][21] Sircar mentions that they mostly dealt with accounting, bureaucracy, teaching etc.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Sinha, Bindeshwari Prasad (2003). Kayasthas in Making of Modern Bihar. Impression Publication.
  2. ^ Mandal, Mahitosh (2022). "Dalit Resistance during the Bengal Renaissance: Five Anti-Caste Thinkers from Colonial Bengal, India". CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion. 3 (1): 11–30. doi:10.26812/caste.v3i1.367. ISSN 2639-4928. JSTOR 48674170. S2CID 249027627.
  3. ^ a b c Sircar, Dineshchandra (1960–61). Epigraphia Indica- Volume XXXIV. Delhi: Archaeological Survey Of India.
  4. ^ Chatterji, Roma (1 December 2014). Wording the World: Veena Das and Scenes of Inheritance. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-6187-1.
  5. ^ Pati, Rabindra Nath (2008). Family Planning. APH Publishing. ISBN 978-81-313-0352-8.
  6. ^ Mohanty, Ramesh P.; Biswal, Durgesh Nandini (2007). Culture, Gender and Gender Discrimination: Caste Hindu and Tribal. Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-81-8324-199-1.
  7. ^ Sircar, D. C. (1 January 2017). Indian Epigraphy. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-4103-1.
  8. ^ Mohanty, Pramod Kumar (2007). Colonialism and South Asia: Cuttack, 1803-1947. R.N. Bhattacharya. ISBN 978-81-87661-52-8.
  9. ^ MAJUMDAR, R. C. (1971). HISTORY OF ANCIENT BENGAL. G. BHARADWAJ , CALCUTTA.
  10. ^ Pati, Rabindra Nath (2008). Family Planning. APH Publishing. ISBN 978-81-313-0352-8.
  11. ^ Panda, Shishir Kumar (2000). New Perspectives on the History and Culture of Orissa. Punthi Pustak. ISBN 978-81-86791-23-3.
  12. ^ Chakraborty, Rabindra Nath (1985). National Integration in Historical Perspective: A Cultural Regeneration in Eastern India. Mittal Publications.
  13. ^ Singh, Pradeep (2020). Urban Ecology: Emerging Patterns and Social-Ecological Systems. Elsevier Science.
  14. ^ Institute, West Bengal (India) Cultural Research (1980). Bulletin of the Cultural Research Institute. Cultural Research Institute.
  15. ^ Williams, Joanna (22 December 2023). The Two-Headed Deer: Illustrations of the Ramayana in Orissa. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-32182-3.
  16. ^ Orissa Society of Americas 25th Annual Convention Souvenir: For Annual Convention Held in 1994 at Pamona, New Jersey. Odisha Society of the Americas.
  17. ^ The Orissa Historical Research Journal. Superintendent of Research and Museum. 2004.
  18. ^ Das, Biswarup (1985). Orissa: Social, Cultural, and Religious Aspects. Sundeep Prakashan. p. 50.
  19. ^ Das, Biswarup (1980). "Kayasthas and Karanas in Orissa—a Study on Inscriptions—". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 41: 940–944. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141924.
  20. ^ Community Development and Panchayati Raj Digest, Volumes 3-5. National Institute of Community Development. 1971. p. 334. Patwari / Karanam shall be the additional secretary to the gram panchayat for keeping the record concerning lands
  21. ^ Andhra Pradesh District Gazetteers. Government of Andhra Pradesh. 2000. pp. 185, 186.
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