Brahman-Kasta: Deccan

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Brahman-Kasta

This article is an extract from THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS BY SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and Middle Temple, London. One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court of Judicature : Lately Director of Public Instruction. BOMBAY THE TlMES PRESS 1920 Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Secondly, this has been scanned from a book. You can help by sending the corrected version/ additional information to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be duly acknowledged.

The Kasta Brahmans are found in very few numbers in the Dis- tricts of Bir and Parbhani. They call themselves Katyayani Shakhi Brahmans and trace their origin to Katyayan, the eldest son of the sage Yadnyawalkya and his wife Katya. They are dark in com- plexion, well-built in frame and look like Deshastha Brahmans in appearance. They are looked down upon by the Deshastha Brahmans and are not allowed to the communion of food.

The origin of this sub-caste is involved in obscurity. They are the Shukla Yajurvedis of the Madhyandin Shakha and have the six gotras mentioned below : —

Intermarriages between members of the same gotra and the same pravara are forbidden. They marry their girls as infants and conduct the ceremony on the same lines as the Deshastha Brahmans. Their tutelary deities are Bhavani of Tuljapur, Khandoba of Ambadgaon, near Paithan, and Shri Vyankatesh. They worship all the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Some of them are Shaktas. By profession they are priests, money-lenders, money-changers and shop-keepers.