_Brahman, Maharashtra, Maratha._--The Maratha Brahmans, or those
of the Bombay country, are numerous and important in the Central
Provinces. The northern Districts were for a period governed by
Maratha Brahmans on behalf of the Peshwa of Poona, and under the
Bhonsla dynasty of Nagpur in the south they took a large part in the
administration. The Maratha Brahmans have three main subcastes, the
Deshasth, Konkonasth and Karhada. The Deshasth Brahmans belong to the
country of Poona above the Western Ghats, which is known as the _desh_
or home country. They are numerous in Berar and Nagpur. The Konkonasth
are so called because they reside in the Konkan country along the
Bombay coast. They have noticeably fair complexions, good features
and often grey eyes. According to a legend they were sprung from the
corpses of a party of shipwrecked foreigners, who were raised to life
by Parasurama. [428] This story and their fine appearance have given
rise to the hypothesis that their ancestors were shipwrecked sailors
from some European country, or from Arabia or Persia. They are also
known as Chitpavan, which is said to mean the pure in heart, but a
derivation suggested in the _Bombay Gazetteer_ is from Chiplun or
Chitapolan, a place in the Konkan which was their headquarters. The
Peshwa of Poona was a Konkonasth Brahman, and there are a number of
them in Saugor. The Karhada Brahmans take their name from the town
of Karhad in the Satara District. They show little difference from
the Deshasths in customs and appearance.
Formerly the above three subcastes were endogamous and married only
among themselves. But since the railway has been opened they have
begun to intermarry with each other to a limited extent, having
obtained sanction to this from the successor of Shankar Acharya,
whom they acknowledge as their spiritual head.
The Maratha Brahmans are also divided into sects, according to the
Veda which they follow. Most of them are either Rigvedis or Yajurvedis,
and these two sects marry among themselves. These Brahmans are strict
in the observance of caste rules. They do not take water from any
but other Brahmans, and abstain from flesh and liquor. They will,
however, eat with any of the Panch-Dravid or southern divisions of
Brahmans except those of Gujarat. They usually abstain from smoking,
and until recently have made widows shave their heads; but this rule is
perhaps now relaxed. As a rule they are well educated, and the majority
of them look to Government service for a career, either as clerks
in the public offices or as officers of the executive and judicial
services. They are intelligent and generally reliable workers. The
full name of a Maratha or Gujarati Brahman consists of his own name,
his father's name and a surname. But he is commonly addressed by his
own name, followed by the honorific termination Rao for Raja, a king,
or Pant for Pandit, a wise man.