As regards the origin of the Kayasths, the most probable hypothesis
would seem to be that they were an offshoot of Brahmans of irregular
descent. The reason for this is that the Kayasths must have learnt
reading and writing from some outside source, and the Brahmans were
the only class who could teach it them. The Brahmans were not disposed
to spread the benefits of education, which was the main source of
their power, with undue liberality, and when another literate class
was required for the performance of duties which they disdained to
discharge themselves, it would be natural that they should prefer
to educate people closely connected with them and having claims on
their support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir
H. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of the
Bengal Kayasths were five of the caste who came from Kanauj in
attendance on five Brahmans who had been summoned by the king of
Bengal to perform for him certain Vedic ceremonies. [450] It may be
noted also that the Vidurs, another caste admittedly of irregular
descent from Brahmans, occupy the position of patwaris and village
accountants in the Maratha districts. The names of their subcastes
indicate generally that the home of the Kayasths is the country
of Hindustan, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This is
also the place of origin of the northern Brahmans, as shown by the
names of their most important groups. The Rajputs and Banias on the
other hand belong mainly to Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand, and
in most of this area the Kayasths are immigrants. It has been seen
that they came to Malwa and Gujarat with the Muhammadans; the number
of Kayasths returned from Rajputana at the census was quite small,
and it is doubtful whether the Kayasths are so much as mentioned in
Tod's Rajasthan. The hypothesis therefore of their being derived
either from the Rajputs or Banias appears to be untenable. In the
Punjab also the Kayasths are found only in small numbers and are
immigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the physical type of
the Kayasths and their remarkable intellectual attainments indicate
that they possess Aryan blood; similarly Mr. Sherring remarks: "He
nevertheless exhibits a family likeness to the Brahman; you may not
know where to place him or how to designate him; but on looking at
him and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you are in the
presence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect." [451] No doubt
there was formerly much mixture of blood in the caste; some time ago
the Kayasths were rather noted for keeping women of other castes, and
Sir H. Risley gives instances of outsiders being admitted into the
caste. Dr. Bhattacharya states [452] that, "There are many Kayasths
in eastern Bengal who are called Ghulams or slaves. Some of them
are still attached as domestic servants to the families of the local
Brahmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kayasths. Some of the Ghulams have
in recent times become rich landholders, and it is said that one of
them has got the title of Rai Bahadur from Government. The marriage
of a Ghulam generally takes place in his own class, but instances of
Ghulams marrying into aristocratic Kayasth families are at present
not very rare."
Further, the Dakshina Rarhi Kayasths affect the greatest veneration
for the Brahmans and profess to believe in the legend that traces
their descent from the five menial servants who accompanied the
five Brahmans invited by king Adisur. The Uttara Rarhi Kayasths or
those of northern Burdwan, on the other hand, do not profess the same
veneration for Brahmans as the southerners, and deny the authenticity
of the legend. It was this class which held some of the highest offices
under the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, and several leading zamindars
or landholders at present belong to it. [453] It was probably in
this capacity of village accountant that the Kayasth incurred the
traditional hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still
subsists in legend. [454] The influence which the patwari possesses
at present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision
and with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of his
position, is a sufficient indication of what his power must have
been when supervision and control were almost nominal. On this point
Sir Henry Maine remarks in his description of the village community:
"There is always a village accountant, an important personage among
an unlettered population; so important indeed, and so conspicuous
that, according to the reports current in India, the earliest English
functionaries engaged in settlements of land were occasionally led,
by their assumption that there must be a single proprietor somewhere,
to mistake the accountant for the owner of the village, and to record
him as such in the official register. [455] In Bihar Sir H. Risley
shows that Kayasths have obtained proprietary right in a large area.