CHANDRASENIYA KAYASTHA PRABHU

Contents

Introduction

Vedic origin

Ancient History of CKP Community

Middle-Age History

Arrival in Maharastra

Common CKP last names

Palkar

Cities having population of CKPs

Bibliography

Famous People

Introduction

'Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP)' (Marathi: चांद्रसेनीय कायस्थ प्रभू) is a Kshatriya caste of India. They share many common rituals along with Brahmins like Munj and the study of Vedas and Sanskrit. The Sword and the Pen were tools of this community for centuries.
Members of this community are mostly found in certain parts of Maharashtra in India. They are said to be one of the designated "brave helpers of Maharashtra" as proclaimed by Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire in his "Mala Ek Swapna Ahe" speech.
The roots of this community lie in Kashmir, wherein their current location is a result of the downfall of various kingdoms which were ruled or were resided in by the community's families (7th-8th Century A.D.) The last known migration was in 1305 A.D. wherein 42 families finally arrived in Maharashtra.
In actuality, there are only 42 original last names that can be linked to the community which derive from the last surviving families that migrated to Maharashtra in 1305 A.D. The remaining surnames are derived from the 42 original last names, and there is a possibility that there may have been other original last names but were lost as the families died.
The word "Chandraseniya," by some historians, is ascribed to the original home of the community in the valley of Chenab in Kashmir a river also known as Chandra in Sanskrit. It is said that the word "seniya" is corruption of Sanskrit word "shreni" meaning a group of people. Thus the term chandraseniya literally means the people of Chandra or Chenab.

Vedic origin

The Kayastha trace their genealogy from Adi Purush Shri Chitraguptaji Maharaj. It is said that after Lord Brahma had created the four Varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras), Yama (Dharamraj) requested Lord Brahma to help him record the deeds, both good and evil, of men, and administer justice.
Lord Brahma went into meditation for 11000 years and when he opened his eyes he saw a man holding a pen and ink-pot in his hands, as well as a sword girdled to his waist. Lord Brahma spoke: ''Thou hast been created from my body (Kaya), therefore shall thy progeny be known as the Kayasthas. Thou hast been conceived in my mind (Chitra) and in secrecy (gupta), thy name shall also be Chitragupta.'' Brahma then enjoined him to dispense justice and punish those who violated the dharma. Thus, the Kayasthas were accorded a dual caste, Brahmin/Kshatriya.^{SEE NOTES}
In the legends of Shree Chitraguptaji Maharaj, he is referred to as the greatest King, while the rest are "Rajakas," or little kings.
:::'चित्र इद राजा राजका इदन्यके यके सरस्वतीमनु ।'
:::'पर्जन्य इव ततनद धि वर्ष्ट्या सहस्रमयुता ददत ॥' RIG VEDA 8/21/18
In the ''Garud Puran'', Chitragupta is hailed as the first man to give the script.
:::'''"Chitragupta namastubhyam vedaksaradatre"'''
::: (Obeisance to Chitragupta, the giver of letters)
The '''Rig Veda''' mentions an invocation to be made to Chitragupta before offering sacrifice. There is also a special invocation to Chitragupta as ''Dharmraj'' (Lord of Justice) to be made at the performance of shradh or other rituals.
:::'''"Om tat purushaya vidmahe Chitragupta dhimahi tena lekha prachodayata."'''
The priests also pay reverence to Shri Chitragupta :
:::'''"Yamam Dharmarajya Chitraguptaya vain namah."''

Ancient History of CKP Community

Descendants of King Chandrasen, his son Kayastha, and Kayastha's son Somraj, ruled Kashmir and most of central India. Chandrasen, son of great King Sahastrararjun, was killed by Parshuram (The great warrior, in order to fulfill his wish to kill every Kshtriya on earth). Chandrasen's pregnant wife Ganga / Kamala took asylum with Dalabhya mooni. Parshuram demanded mooni to hand over Ganga, but the mooni very wisely asked him to spare this pregnant women. Parshuram agreed to Mooni's request and blessed her that the child born from her ' KAYA " would be called "Kayastha." Parshuram said as his father's kingdom has been destroyed; he and his ascendant would live with the help of sword and ink (Asijivi/Masijivi). This is a mythological story but all agree in saying that it means the descendents of the king Chandrasen who was the Kshatriya (warrior by profession) king, the son of Sahastrararjun of the Haiyaya family.
Another point is tribes of kaya province are Kayastha. The province kaya means Ayodhaya. According to Mr. H.S. Wilson (1819), Kayastha means the Supreme Being, the writer caste born of Kshatriya father and Shudra mother. The word Prabhu means supreme or powerful. As we read the Origin of CKP's is from Kashmir and North India. The Pandavas, Kauravas, and Gupt Vansh are all Chandravanshis.

Middle-Age History

Chinese travelers mentions about Shaiv-Kayastha kings in Kashmir in 5 th century.
These kings used to talk in Sanskrit and one such king even composed a poem set namely ‘Rajatagini’ which describes beautiful scene of Kasmir and Himachal Pradesh.
In the 7th and 8th century, Kayasthas were Prominent rulers in Kashmir state and later they shifted from Kashmir to northern India and madhya bharat in late 10 th century due to invasion from Islamic rulers. Sometime during the advent of Budhism, the last CKP kingdom was lost and the community moved to Mandugadh where they held important positions in the court of the Parmars.

Arrival in Maharastra

After Mandugadh fell to Allaudin Khilji in 1298, the Prabhus fled from Mandu. They went into Gujarat and they via sea landed in the Konkan strip where they made their homes. Totally 42 families came to Maharashtra in 1305. In Maharashtra they were successful but faced lot problems from Brahmin Community, especially the Kokanastha Brahmins. Between 1400 and 1900 Brahmin's laid Gramanyas i.e. Boycott on them. Each time the CKP families got various proofs of they being Prabhu's, including letter from Shankaracharya.
The most famous example is when Mr.Balaji Avji Chitnis wanted to perform the Thread ceremony ( Munj ) on his son. Brahmins did not allow him saying " Prabhu's are not Brahmins and are from lower caste, hence thread ceremony cannot be performed on them". Mr.Chitnis got letter from then Shankarachaya Vidhanrusingha Bharati from Karvir Peeth, in year 1913, which said "Prabhu's are Rajanya Kshatriyas (Royal warriors)". Only Rajanya Kshatriyas (warrior by profession ) are allowed to do thread ceremony, so though Maratha's are Kshatriyas thread ceremony is not performed on them. Only exceptions were Bhonsale's who were decedents of Sisodia Royal family of Rajasthan. The Letter written by Shankaracharya can be found in office of Bombay Gazzette.
This community is at Par with Brahmins in performing Vedic rituals. During Shivaji Maharaj’s period, this was the only community, who along with Brahmins, held higher administration positions like Chitins, Sabnis, Karkhanis and Mujumdar. They had also played a good role in the army of Maratha Empire during Shivaji Maharaj’s time and later during Peshwai’s period. It was also mentioned that during historic attack of Marathas on Afghans in 1751, Sardar Gupte of Pune led the battle of attock (read : अटकेपार झेंडें in marathi)
http://www.ckpsocialclubthane.org

Common CKP last names

★ Bendre

★ Bhise

★ Chitnis

★ Chitre

★ Deshmukh

★ Deshpande

★ Dighe (Kuldaiwat: Janani Devi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kedar_Janani.pdf)

★ Donde

★ Durve

★ Gadkari

★ Gupte

★ Jaywant

★ Karkhanis

★ Karnik

★ Kemkar (Kuldaiwat: Ekvira Devi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ShriEkviraDevi.jpg)

★ Khale

★ Kharkar

★ Kulkarni

★ Likhite

★ Mohile

★ Mokashi

★ Nachane

★ Palkar

★ Patankar

★ Pradhan (Kuldaiwat : Winzai Devi also locally known as Tamhini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shree_Winzai_Devi.jpg more details also available on http://www.winzai.org) (Also Padmavati-Champavati is a kuldaivat of some Pradhan's)

★ Raje

★ Ranadive or Randive

★ Satpute

★ Sule

★ Tamhane

★ Thakre (Thackeray)

★ Tipnis (Kuldaiwat: Kalikai Devi, Kadape, Mangaon, Raigad)

★ Vaidya

★ Khopkar

★ Phadnis

Palkar

'Palkar' is the last name of certain Maharashtrians who belong to the sub-sect Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu or Marathas. The name was taken by the C.K.P people who originally lived in the village "Pali" in Maharashtra. People of this last name currently reside mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Cities having population of CKPs

★ Banglore

★ Indore

★ Kolhapur

★ Mumbai

★ Nashik

★ Pune

★ Thane

★ Baroda

★ Parts of the United States and the United Kingdom

Bibliography

Bendre, Dhananjay. "Migration of CKP's to Maharashtra." Welcome to Bendre.net. 4 Jul 2006 [1].

Famous People

★ Baji Prabhu Deshpande (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Trusted Aide)

★ Balaji Avji Chitnis (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Trusted Secretary)

★ Nana Phadanvis Statesman and key figure working with peshwa of Maratha empire.

★ C.D. Deshmukh (First Indian Gorvernor of Reserve Bank of India)

★ General ArunKumar Vaidya (Ex. Chief of Indian Army - assassinated by terrorists)

★ Air Chief Marshall A.Y. Tipnis (Former Air Chief Marshall)

★ Balasaheb Thackeray (Prominent Leader)

★ Anand Dighe

★ Nalini Jaywant (actress)

★ Shobhana Samarth, Nutan, Tanuja (actresses - mother and her two daughters)

★ Madhu Mangesh Karnik Famous marathi writer

★ Ram Ganesh Gadkari Great marathi play writer and intellectual.

★ Sonali Bendre (film star)

★ Vandana Gupte (Not a CKP by birth but married to one.Stage,cinema,television actress)

★ Avdhut Gupte (music composer)

★ Lalita Gupte (entry in forbes magazine 50 powerful women)

★ Anil Mohile (Music Director and Composer)

★ Meena Prabhu (pravasvarnan lekhika)

★ Supriya Sule (Daughter of Sharad Pawar,MP Rajya Sabha by marriage so must not count much. one can name her husband though.

★ Raj Thackeray (President of MNS)

★ Uddhav Thackeray (Prominent Leader)

★ Sudhir Vaidya (Cricket Statistician)

★ Samir Dighe ( ex Indian wicketkeeper )

★ Anupama ( film actress 1970's : from dharmakanya, gharchi rani, aadhar etc. )

★ Sujata Khanna (Born Sujata Deshmukh, Educator, Chairperson Career Forum Ltd- Company spread across 40 Indian cities)

★ Subhash Gupte Googli bowler of Indian cricket.

★ Ajit Mokashi Son of a famous meterologist Dr.Ramesh Mokashi,friend of Vasu Dandvate,Jayanta Bapat and a big shot in Chennai area.

★ G.P.Pradhan

★ B G Deshmukh,

★ Ram Pradhan,

★ D B Karnik,

★ V.B. Karnik,

★ Madhav Gadkari, former editor of Times of India mumbai
K P Medhekar

★ Amrut Sitaram Pradhan (Balasaheb) - Advocate General of Baroda State

★ Manohar B Deshmukh, (Ex. MD of State Bank Of India)