Marathi Brahmin

Marathi Brahmins (also known as Maharashtrian Brahmins) are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, "Desh", "Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmin subcastes that come under Maharashtra Brahmins include Deshastha, Chitpavan (Kokanastha), Karhade, and Devrukhe.

Maharashtrian Brahmins are native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. However, their training as priests, expertise in Hindu laws and scriptures, and administrative skills have historically led them to find employment in all corners of India. For example, in the 1700s, the court of Jaipur had Maharashtrian Brahmins recruited from Benares. This community had in turn migrated to Benares after the fall of Vijayanagar empire in southern India. The greatest movement of the community took place when the Maratha Empire expanded across India. Peshwa, Holkars, Scindia, and Gaekwad dynastic leaders took with them a considerable population of priests, clerks, and armymen when they established new seats of power. Most of these migrants were from the literate classes such as Deshasthas, Saraswats and non-Brahmin communities like CKP. These groups formed the backbone of administration in the new Maratha Empire states in many places such as Baroda, Indore, Gwalior, Bundelkhand, and Tanjore. The Deshasthas in Tanjure in modern day Tamil Nadu state in southern India dates back to early 1700s. In modern times the Maharashtrian brahmin and CKP communities of Indore dominated the RSS and Bharatiya Janasangh (the forerunner of the BJP).

Brahmins are about 8-10% of the total population of Maharashtra. Among Maharashtrian Brahmins, almost 60 per cent (three-fifth) are Deshastha Brahmins and 20 per cent (one-fifth) are Chitpavan Brahmins.

In Maharashtra Brahmins have had a wider occupational basis, including as priests, vedic scholars, administrators, warriors, courtiers, business and politics. For decades together during the era of the Deccan sultanates Deshasthas and Saraswats were significant recruits to administrative roles and as tax collectors. They were also administrators during the period of the Maratha Empire, spanning the 17th and 18th centuries, when some Chitpavans also emerged as peshwas and thus the de facto rulers. During the peshwa rule, Pune became the de facto financial capital of the empire with the bankers (sawakar in Marathi) being mainly Maharashtrian brahmins. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many Marathi brahmins migrated north to Hindu holy city of Benaras on the Ganga River. During this period Benaras had become an important center of learning. Seven Marathi brahmin clans became the intellectual elites of the city with patronage from wealthy benefactors during the early Mughal era or even from an earlier period. The clans included Sesa, Bhat, Dharmadhikari, Bharadvaja, Payagunde, Puntambekar and Chowdhuri. These brahmins were collectively called dakshinatya brahmins. The clans dominated the study of Sanskrit scriptures and Hindu laws in the city for many centuries. Most them also mentioned maintained close connections to their original homes in the centers of learning on the Godavari River such as Paithan, Puntamba, and Trimbakeshwar. All these clans had expertise in particular area of Sanskrit literature. During this era, Benaras also became a base from which scholars could go to regional courts and display their learning. The Bhatta family, for example, had branches in Benaras, Amer and Mathura. A number of Maharashtrian brahmins settled in the Kumaon and Garhwal region of present day Indian state of Uttarakhand in places such as Almora. These brahmins now form part of the Kumaoni brahmin community and the Garhwali Pandit Community.

John Roberts has argued that from the time of the Maratha Empire and into the period when the British East India Company was forming the administrative unit of the Bombay Presidency, they were mostly urban dwellers, along with other non-Brahmin clerical castes, and shunned trading roles.^{[clarification needed]} This view appears to be distinct to that of Edmund Leech and S. N. Mukherjee, who note the Chitpavan incomers to the region as being involved also in trade and cultivation.

The British rulers of Maharashtra region during early years of colonial rule in the nineteenth century recruited for clerical and lower level administrative work mainly from castes such as brahmin and CKP whose traditional occupations involved scholarship, teaching, and record keeping. Incidentally, these castes had considerable experience in government administration during the Peshwa rule which preceded the British rule. Brahmins and CKP were also the first to take to western education. This was their gate way to rise to positions of dominance in many fields during the nineteenth century colonial era. These included positions in professions such as teaching, law, medicine, and engineering. Maharashtrian brahmins also dominated lower level jobs in the colonial government. The 19th century social reformer, Jyotirao Phule lamented the brahmin domination in education and government jobs. In the early 20th century, however, different governments in the region such as the Bombay Presidency or the princely state of Kolhapur started reservation policies in government jobs at lower levels that discriminated against the brahmins.

Being the first to receive western education, Maharashtrian brahmins such as Justice Ranade, or Gopal Hari Deshmukh were at the forefront of social reform, female education, and participation in political process at the local level. They were also equally opposed by more orthodox members' of their own communities such as Lokmanya Tilak for advocating reforms. In the twentieth century, Maharashtrian brahmins such as Savarkar formulated the Hindutva ideology, and Hedgewar, and his successor Golwalkar founded or led the Hindu nationalist organization, the RSS.

In the last one hundred years, many brahmin families such Kirloskar, Garware, Ogale, and Mhaiskar have been successful in creating large manufacturing, and construction businesses.