Kayasthas mostly belong to the Hindi-speaking states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.
Kayasthas also migrated to various other parts of the country. Most of the Kayasthas who shifted to Hyderabad from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the middle of the eighteenth century got employment in the court of the Nizam. In 1820, out of the 400 North Indian mansabdars, 60 were Kayasthas.
With the passing of time, the Kayasthas have surged ahead. They have broken new grounds in vocations other than those relating to writing and record-keeping, and excelled in them. Thus, in public life, Dr Rajendra Prasad rose to become the first President of the Republic of India, whereas Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister. Dr Sampuranand was the Chief Minister of U.P. and Governor of Rajasthan, besides being a literary figure. Jaya Prakash Narain brought down Indira Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose fought the British rule militarily. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, and Jagdish Chandra Bose were eminent scientists. Munshi Prem Chand, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Raghupat Sahai "Firaque" Gorakhpuri, Dr Vrindavan Lal Verma, Dr Ram Kumar Verma and Dr Dharm Vir Bharti have been men of letters. Swami Vivekanand was a philosopher and a true Indian. Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha have excelled in the film world, Mukesh and Sonu Nigam in the world of music.
It is said that Brahma, the Creator, having established the four varnas "Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra" dained Dharamraj (also called Yamraj, the god of death) to keep record of the deeds "good and evil" of all life-forms born and yet to be born on the earth, in the heavens above and in the lands below. Dharamraj, however, complained, "O Lord, how can I alone keep record of the deeds of the beings born into 84 lakh yonis (life-forms) in the three worlds?"
Brahma then closed his eyes, meditated for a while and lo and behold! there appeared a radiant figure with a quill-pen in one hand and an ink-pot in another. Brahma named him Chittagupta for he was conceived in his cognitive-self (chitta) and he was lying in Him, dormant and secret (gupta). He was born of Brahma's body (kaya) and so the Lord decreed that his progenies be called Kayasthas. He was assigned to work as a minister, to write and record for Dharamraj. Thus, the fifth varna, the Kayastha, came into existence. Some historians hold the view that during the reign of the Mughals, a number of Hindus who were were educated and endowed with sharp intellect attained administrative positions through rapid adaptation to the Persian language and culture of India's new rulers. These influential Hindus got together and formed a new caste known as Kayastha.
* Scripture Prayers for the Kayastha (Hindu traditions) in Nepal.
Profile Source: Alok Saxena |
People Name General | Kayastha (Hindu traditions) |
People Name in Country | Kayastha (Hindu traditions) |
Pronunciation | kay-AHS-tah |
Population this Country | 43,000 |
Population all Countries | 9,637,000 |
Total Countries | 4 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | No |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 1 |
Alternate Names | Kact; Kaiath; Kait; Kaith; Karan; Kast; Kastha; Kayashtha; Kayasth; Kayath; Lal; Lala; Lalli; कायस्ता (हिंदू ट्रेडिशन्स) |
People ID | 17124 |
ROP3 Code | 112470 |
Country | Nepal | |||||||||||||||
Region | Asia, South | |||||||||||||||
Continent | Asia | |||||||||||||||
10/40 Window | Yes | |||||||||||||||
National Bible Society | Website | |||||||||||||||
Persecution Rank | 32 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | |||||||||||||||
Total States on file | 13 | |||||||||||||||
Largest States |
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Specialized Website | South Asia Peoples |
Country | Nepal |
Region | Asia, South |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 32 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Total States | 13 |
Janakpur 11,000 | |
Narayani 10,000 | |
Kosi 5,400 | |
Sagarmatha 4,000 | |
Lumbini 3,700 | |
Bheri 3,500 | |
Bagmati 2,700 | |
Mechi 1,100 | |
Seti 400 | |
Dhaulagiri 300 | |
Gandaki 100 | |
Mahakali 60 | |
Rapti 50 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Language | Maithili (27,000 speakers) | |||||||||
Language Code | mai Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||
Total Languages | 10 | |||||||||
Secondary Languages |
|
Primary Language | Maithili (27,000 speakers) |
Language Code | mai Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 10 |
Secondary Languages | |
Bhojpuri 9,400 | |
Awadhi 4,800 | |
Nepali 1,500 | |
Hindi 800 | |
Bengali 500 | |
Angika 300 | |
Rangpuri 80 | |
Magahi 40 | |
Kumaoni 20 | |
People Groups | Speaking Maithili |
Primary Language: Maithili
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (1986-2010) |
Bible-Complete | No |
Bible-NT Audio | Online |
Bible-NT Text | Online |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name |
---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching (GRN) |
Audio Recordings | Online New Testament (FCBH) |
Audio Recordings | Oral Bible stories in Maithili |
Audio Recordings | Story of Jesus audio (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | God's Story Video |
Film / Video | Good News |
Film / Video | Indigitube.tv Video / Animation |
Film / Video | Jesus Film: view in Maithili |
Film / Video | My Last Day (Jesus Film Project Anime) |
Film / Video | Story of Jesus for Children (JF Project) |
General | Gospel website in this language |
General | Got Questions Ministry |
Text / Printed Matter | Bible: jivən səndesh |
Text / Printed Matter | Jesus Messiah comic book |
Text / Printed Matter | OneHope resources for children and youth |
Text / Printed Matter | Online Bible text (Scripture Earth) |
Text / Printed Matter | World Missionary Press Booklets |
Primary Religion: | Hinduism |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical Unknown) |
0.41 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
99.59 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
* From latest Nepal census data. Current Christian values may substantially differ. |