Guest guest Posted October 7, 2002 Report Share Posted October 7, 2002 >Kayasthas have traditionally been scribes (as >distinguished from writers).They probably were >responsible for much of early stone and copper >inscriptions. A popular last name (or final part of >names)of inscribers has been ghosha, a kayastha last >name in Bengal. What abot Azva-ghosha? In his Buddha lifestory work, many Hindu gods' legends are satirized, and these stories are repeated in a 11th century Tamil prabandham, kArAnai vizupparaiyan maTal, written by JayamkoNTAr, of scribe heritage. Interestingly, potters are called "kosavar" in Tamil, and "ghosha" and "kosava" may be related. Among the available 100000+ tamil inscriptions, a common signature for scribes will include, "vELAn" - a title for the potter caste. There is a theory that the accountant caste, whose god is Citragupta, may be originally potters. After all, potters scratch on the kalazas, and writing is born. The intense rivalry between potters and accountants is told in many tamil legends (eg. there is an akaval verse and prose commentary quoted in medieval commentaries of TolkAppiyam grammar). Traditionally, s. Indian society was organized into left-handed and right-handed castes. Left-handed castes were service castes such as carpenters, smiths, traders (kOmaTi cases), accountants, brahmins and right handed castes were land owning - vellalas (velama in Teugu), and, potters also. See the potter and brahmaNa connections analyzed by S. Palaniappan in Indology (Liverpool) archives. The acculturing of potter -> accountant -> brahmin castes is worth exploring. The potter vs. kayasth legends in literature need to be studied. Karnikar caste origin legends: INDOLOGY/message/1676 INDOLOGY/message/1660 Regards, N. Ganesan Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interview: INDOLOGY/message/2090 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2002 Report Share Posted October 7, 2002 INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote: > > > Traditionally, s. Indian society was organized into > left-handed and right-handed castes. Left-handed castes > were service castes such as carpenters, smiths, traders > (kOmaTi cases), accountants, brahmins and right handed > castes were land owning - vellalas (velama in Teugu), > and, potters also. Traditionally Brahmins were not classified into either valankai or idangai i.e. right or left-handed castes. Ref: Burton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2002 Report Share Posted October 8, 2002 > INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote: > > > > > > Traditionally, s. Indian society was organized into > > left-handed and right-handed castes. Left-handed castes > > were service castes such as carpenters, smiths, traders > > (kOmaTi cases), accountants, brahmins and right handed > > castes were land owning - vellalas (velama in Teugu), > > and, potters also. For brahmins as left-handed castes, refer to Brenda Beck and Velcheru Narayanrao's writings. Who's Burton & what does he say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2002 Report Share Posted October 8, 2002 INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote: > For brahmins as left-handed castes, refer to Brenda Beck > and Velcheru Narayanrao's writings. > > Who's Burton & what does he say? Sorry, it should have been Burton Stein. The different lists of left anf right-handed mentioned in diffeent periods don't mention brahmins. Hence Burton Stein concludes brahmins were not part of this classification. I don't have his book on Medievel South India on hand and writing from memory and hence can't give page no.s , etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.