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Routledge Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora

Joya Chatterji, David Washbrook

Scribal Migrations in Early Modern India

Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 Rosalind O'Hanlon Published online on: 10 Dec 2013

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Key tive insearch ofopportunity, for suchmigrations strategies patronage andemployment (S. Bayly people –suchasBrahmans, kayasthas, khatris, specialists–developed Muslimscribal very effec- (Subrahmanyam 1992; Alam andSubrahmanyam 2007). Within India, communities ofservice India itselfwas a magnetforsuchpeople, drawn from thestatesofcentralandwest Asia peoplewillingtotravel forskilledservice opportunities insearch ofemployment andpatronage. flcourts withintheframeworkourished oftheMughalempire, saw thegrowth ofexceptional ofIndia’san earlierperiod history. India’s centuries, earlymodern statesand whenregional qualifi traders, artisans, menandindentured labourers. military India’s diasporaofhighly modern empire –thosethatdrewthe British from thehumbler socialstrataofsmallbusiness peopleand looks very different from thattookplacewithinandfrom many ofthemigrations Indiawithin west coast, of andintheITsciencedepartments universities.American diaspora This modern skilled Indianprofessionalsofthe are industries inhighdemandtheITandtechnology service ofadiasporainEuropethis mobilitytakes andabove theform allintheUnitedStates, where universities andITcompaniesnow collaborateinproductive alliance. Even more spectacularly, professionals have gravitatedtoBangalore, Hyderabad, Puneandotherexpandingcitieswhere above allthoseinthenew communications technologies. Within India, studentsandyoung India’s post-liberalisationeconomicgrowth, communities, liesinthemobilityofitsskilledservice aspectsofIndia’sOne ofthemoststriking recent history, to avitalcontributor andcertainly of scribal peopleofmany different kindsinMughal India.of scribal Mughal administrationincorporated Economic, political, andintellectualdevelopments religious intensifi In fact, professionalhaveprecedent within migrations thesemodern historical animportant edprofessional elitesmightbethoughttobearlittleconnectionIndia’s earlierhistory. IN EARLY MODERNINDIA SCRIBAL MIGRATIONS Scribal specialists and specialists Scribal ‘early modernity’ Rosalind O’Hanlon Introduction 3 32 ed thedemandforskills Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 service ethicofMughalscholarbureaucratsservice (Richards 1984: with 255–89)contrastedsharply different ethnicidentities, ethics. cultures religious andservice At theextremes, theimperial (O’Hanlon 2010b: 563–95). advantages –althoughoften, intheprocess, rivals hostilityfrom Brahmanscribal attractingsharp selves tothePersianate gave languageandculture of Muslimcourts themenormous forthem.opportunities contexts, Inthesenew courtly theirwillingnesstoassimilatethem- medieval serving Originally ‘Hindu’ kings, thecomingof Muslimempires openedupnew literature represented menintheirown andgreat appear ininscriptional aspiousdonors right. reviled themfortheinfl uence they were able tocommandasroyal scribes, but they also had earlyinthesecondmillenniumdeveloped andclerks. asspecialisedscribes Popular literatures were people.and khatris theleadingscribal These communities were notBrahmans, but (Chatterjee 2009: 445–72). India andtheRajputstates, Innorthern Persian-assimilated kayasthas functions were dischargedby more cosmopolitanandoftenPersianised Brahmansand Vaidyas fortheregion’sexpertise states (Fukazawa 1991: 1–48; Wink 1986: 67–84). InBengal, similar Brahman communitiesculture rooted hadlongprovided inalongstandingSanskrit thescribal et al. 2001: 92–139). ofwestern India, IntheMarathi-speakingregions more conservative the worldly karanam classesofclerklyniyogi Brahmanspredominated (Narayana Rao Alam 1986). Brahmancommunities ofmany different kindsalsoparticipated. Inthesouth, 58–78; Subrahmanyam 1992: 340–62; Athar Ali 1997: 136–53; Hasan2004, 1987, Barnett who worked alsoatlower levels ofthesystemasjudicialandrevenue offi India’s basedinnorth camefromOthers families ashraf Muslimgentry expandingurbancentres, ofcentral parts homes invarious Asia: Iranians, Turanis, Tajiks, Uzbegs, Afghans andKashmiris. skills.scribal Many Mughalscholarbureaucrats were drawn from communities with migrant express theirpiety, andholymen. foundmeanstodothisthrough ofscholars thesupport culture (Deshpande2011). Powerful merchant patrons, anxioustodisplay theirwealth and and disputations between forlearning leadingintellectualsboostedthereputations ofrulers ofroyalGreat guaranteedthejudicialauthority scholars courts, whilethepatronage ofpublic valued notonlyfortheirpracticalskills, but alsofortheprestige thattheirpresence couldconfer. ofroyal formore elaborateforms courts demand ofregional ritual. These specialistswere royal eulogies, astrologers, specialistsable lawtomeetthegrowing inreligious andritual experts andPersian:Sanskrit intellectuals, translators, poets, chroniclers, newswriters, of skilledwriters India’s inbothofearlymodern menofletters traditions,supported cosmopolitanliterary employed and pettylords. ofsubstantialgentry tomanagetheaffairs growth ofstatebureaucracies, aswell asofranksskilledaccountantsandadministrators umbrella,Beneath theMughalimperial statesledtothe further theconsolidationofregional establishments, tooversee theirhouseholdsand collect revenues fromestates. theirmilitary 1997: 144–9). themselves Mansabdars alsorequired considerable administrative andsupported often reveal theirpostingstodifferent intheever-expanding regions Mughalempire (Athar Ali of postsinmilitary, civil, judicialandrevenue administration. ofMughalelites Biographies estates,by military obligations indicatedby hadmilitary theirrank, but alsoheldawiderange and credit. The ‘mansabdars’ oreliteadministrative cadres oftheMughalempire, supported ateverynew opportunities level ofsocietyandstateformenadeptinthemovement ofmoney Akbar’s state’s government begantocollecttheimperial revenue demandincash, openingup already underway theyears oftheDelhiSultanate. during However, itquickened astheemperor aswellmilitary aseconomicandrevenue dimensions. The shifttoamoney economy was Early modern India’sEarly modern communities many therefore different scribal groupswith comprised Very many different communities were drawn intoproviding thiswiderangeofspecialist were expertise indemandtoo.Other kindsofscribal Mostroyal households andgreat courts Scribal migrations in early modern India modern inearly migrations Scribal 33 (Richardscers 1993: Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 Gauda, Andhra, Mathura, ofIndia’ andotherparts Kamarupa 1912: (Shastri 12). This gives us Gurjara, Kanyakubja, Malwa, Braja, Mithila, theHimalayan regions, Karnata, Utkala, theKonkan, Narayana Bhatta, helistedallofthosestudents from ofIndia different parts ‘from Dravida, theachievements BanarasscholarKamalakaraBhattadescribed ofhisfather When thefamous the reputations tonewandpatronage ofthoseteachers centres (Kelkar oflearning 1915: 29–34). imbibedinthehouseholdsoftheirteachers, thetraditionsoflearning perpetuate but tospread ofstudentsitwasnumbers known tohave trained, andwhowent onthemselves notonlyto traditions oflearning. ofany pandit householddependednotjustonsons,The fame but onthe skills.ritual For pandithouseholdsinparticular, foreducation was migration built intotheir 2011: 127–31). inlaw couldbeindividual whocombinedexpertise with Others scholars (Minkowskimonastic organisationswhoreceived inthisperiod from substantialsupport rulers who haddeveloped (Alam2009: acloserelation totheMughalcourt 135–74), ortheHindu Some didsowithintheframework sectsandorders, ofreligious suchasthoseMuslim sufi Datia (Khobrekar 1972: 1–4). He thenwent ontoserve theMughaloffi cer DaudKhan andthenRaoDalpat, theRajaof then moved tothecityof Aurangabad in1658, where hetookupwork ashisfather’s deputy. India asanaccountsoffi oftheMughalarmy.cer attachedtotheartillery Bhimsenandhisfamily central Indiantown ofBurhanpurinthe1650s. hadbeenpostedthere from Hisfather north some oftheresponsibilities oftheirfathers. The kayastha BhimsenSaksenagrew upinthe administration, to Mughalimperial operating asunitsandsonsinheriting very oftenwithfamilies patrons andemployers, peopletobemobile. itwas forservice important Transfers were central Where skillswere indemand, but thelocusofdemandfl of and fall uctuated withtherise to reinvent themselves tomeetthetask. which strengthened across theperiod. However, –mostnotably kayasthas others –hadconstantly Brahmins, already possessedthelineamentsfrom whichtomake suchpan-Indianidentities, which couldbecome ‘portable’ andrecognisable across thesub-continent. Somegroups, suchas they reshaped societymore broadly, especiallyfavouringthedevelopment ofidentity offorms generations inone. households innew places, even remained fi whiletheirpatriarchs developedMany practicesofsendingoutnew families branchestofoundnew long-term secureno localitywould andthattheneedformovement bepermanently would beconstant. positions forthemselves innew places. Butthepoliticalfl uidity oftheepochguaranteedthat given themselves, landstosupport sooffi built new andfamilies ces becamehereditary often followed by new settlementandlocalentrenchment. Very oftenoffi creation andpiety. seekingoutletsforartistic fortunes At thesametime, movement was andfromin theexpansionofnew courts thegrowth regional ofurbanandmercantile following foradvancement opportunities through promotion viaMughalstateadministration, ofgrowingin theface pressures from thestate. However, some were very willing tomove, complexity andlocalpower-holders soughtthemouttohelpmanagetheirhouseholdaffairs local communities, fi nding new challengesaslocalaccountingandrevenue needsgrew in to Banarasanddifferent Indiancourts. exercised Many scribes theirskillsonlywithinown empire; andbothcontrastedagainwiththatoftheMarathaBrahman intellectualswhomigrated ofthe that ofthesouthIndiankaranamswithwhomthey mightserve ontheDeccanfringes Ritual and religious specialistsalsolookedforexpanded opportunities.Ritual andreligious tomigration Yet communities thepressures locally. ofmobilitydidnotonlyaffectscribal Inmany ways, Logics of migration of Logics Rosalind O’Hanlon 34 locatedoverrmly several werece holders orders Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 state, adeliberate policyofappointingakayastha reported contemporaries andaBrahman provide balanceagainstlocals, whootherwisemightgaintoomuch control. InSivaji’s Maratha encouraged by deliberatelyto thepreference forappointingsomeoutsiders ofmany rulers India tocentralandwestern regions, mostnotably Hyderabad (Leonard 1971). They were accountants. Kayasthas provide examplehere, aprime from frequently migrating northern loanfrom the city’senormous bankers (Sen1920: 71–2). in thecity1666having escapedfrom captivity attheMughalcourt, hewas able toraisean trade.with thegrowth ofthepilgrim kingSivaji soughtrefuge Marathawarrior When thegreat money-lending activities, whichexpandedwiththepopulationofcityandparticularly learning. Itislikely thatsomeatleastalsobecameinvolved inBanaras’s burgeoning bankingand anddisplayBanares alsobecameabasefrom courts their couldgotoregional whichscholars ofIndia,in many otherparts dispensingjusticetoBrahmancommunities outinthelocalities. disputesoriginating served oflastappealinreligious injudicialassembliesothers actingascourts connections withMughalcourtiers; withthewealthy others monasticinstitutioninthe city; 2011) tomeetwealthy patrons who would theirlives support aspiousscholars. Somehadclose functioned asaspecial ‘pull’ factor, too. Very there (O’Hanlon migrated many panditfamilies and piety inthesixteenthandseventeenth centreBanaras asagreat oflearning centuries on andprospered (Axelrod andFuerch 2008). outsidethePortuguese ofmany Brahmanfamilies regions,migration althoughmany alsostayed accompanied theexpansionofPortuguese power intheKonkan littoralalsoresulted inthe depopulation ofDeccanvillages. andforced proselytisation Episodesoftempledestruction that the Deccanregion, in1346andagain1390–1410, whichresulted inthevery widespread and learning, was onesuchstimulus. saw century twoThe fourteenth catastrophic in famines in1294,of Devagiri andconsequentdeclineofnearby Paithan asanoldcentre ofBrahmanpiety migration. ofthecentralIndia Itislikely toMuslimincomers thatthefall Yadava court 1963:(Sastri 111–17). above thatwhatMarathaBrahmansprized observers allwas secure positionsinstateservice Indiatoo,into centralandsouthern anditbecamealmostaclichéforseventeenth-century employment andpatronage. themfar Indeed, ofstatescarried theseskillsappliedintheservice offtodifferentpoint oforigin, members placeswhere but they sendfamily couldfi andspread risk.family wouldThus families oftencombinecontinued landholdingattheir inthestatesofDeccanSultanate.kings andtheirsuccessors The aimwas the todisperse andrevenue instateservice opportunities administrationastheseexpandedundertheBahmani theworldly tosendsomeoftheirsonspursue natural strategyforBrahmanfamilies priests, astrologers orsmallfarmers. With theirskillsofliteracyandnumeracy, itwas a beyondto spread livelihoods theirrisks aspettyteachers, theprecarious tobeearned village economy oftheDeccanplateaumeantthatitwas imperative todiversify, forBrahman families pious couldfl ourish. Outsidethesecentres, therelatively poorandfamine-prone agrarian India,of centralandsouthern clearlyoffered anenvironment andthe inwhichthelearned clustered alongtheGodavari, asthey rivers fl BhimaandKrishna owed eastward across theplains India. centresThe oldreligious ofwesternIndia’s Konkan littoral, towns that andtheshrine andto which reached uptoBanarasandRajasthaninthenorth Thanjavur, deepinsouthern they established. andtheintellectualnetworks undertook that thesescholarfamilies some ideaofthejourneys Other ‘pull’ and needsofstatesforsecularadministrators includedtherecruitment factors becausethey were didnotonlymigrate families But scribal ‘pushed’. The emergenceof These pressures were intensifi ed byevents, particular which precipitated specifi Particularly remarkable was thescholarlydiasporaofMarathaBrahmansfrom westernIndia, Scribal migrations in early modern India modern inearly migrations Scribal 35 c waves of nd Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 grammarian grammarian Visnu Sesa. OtherSesasfrom Bijapurfollowed, althoughtheirtalents tookdifferent least, contacts inthecity, thathehadready-made family to thefact inthedescendantsof Brahmans inthecity(O’Hanlon 2009: 221). Hissuccessmay have beenattributable, at inpart grammarian, butas aformidable astheleaderofgrowing community ofMaharashtrian and reputation. Bythe1580s, Sesa hadmoved Krsna toBanarasandestablished himself notonly andthe family’sgrammarian talentformobilisingsocialnetworks inthequestforopportunity provincial ofBijapur. court Narasimha’s bothhisfather’s Sesainherited sonKrsna skillsasa (Aryavaraguru 1912: 248). excelled asagrammarian, winningthetitleof One Visnu Sesahadmoved toBanarasforhiseducationinthelaterfi but someatleastof Vitthalpant’s leftthetown family forotherdestinations(Kanole1950: 58). Ganesapant, Vitthalpant and Bopajipant. Ganesapantandhisdescendantsremained inNanded, oftheGodaveriwithin theMarathi-speakingregions river incentralIndia. Hehadthree sons, ancestor, Ramakrsna, whoheldlandsinNanded, andpilgrimage centre oflearning animportant in thecity, provides agoodexample. backtoathirteenth-century tracedtheirorigins The family toestablish themselvesmembers centres. atotherpromising or religious courtly was families, commonlyonlyonedestinationforsuchmigrant whomight despatchfurther ofthecity’s emergedasasettledpart branch ofthefamily population. Inaddition, Banaras maintained withnatallocationsformany decadesorlonger, before adistinctive ‘Banaras’ and goingsover several generations, were tiesandofproperty rights inwhichfamily local moves. was Onceafamily established inBanaras, there ofcomings was commonlyaseries their migration. toBanaraswas ofsmallerandmore Migration oftenundertaken through aseries (andevenearly sixteenthcentury earlier), we have ratherlessappreciation ofthemechanics In thecaseofBanares, whilewe know atdifferent timesfrom arrived thatdifferent families the specialists. and skilledBrahmanscribal forambitious patterns ofmigration accentuatedthisregionalisation Pune inwesternIndiafurther 2009).(Horstmann From theearlyeighteenthcentury, at theestablishment ofaBrahman court ofRajasthan andinthecourts Marathacountry patronage ofthesouthern inthecourts religiosity. climate, Inthischanging law inreligious soughtalternative specialistsandexperts ritual Brahmans ofhaving aidedSivaji inhisescapeanddeveloped hisown more assertive Islamic up,Mughal patronage inBanarasdried toBrahmanscholars as Aurangzeb suspectedthecity’s expertise.specialists withreligious UndertheMughalemperor Aurangzeb, theolderfl (Sen 1920: 29–30). departments,jointly toheadupparticular thuslimiting thepower andinfluence enjoyed by each scholar peers atBijapurrewardedscholar peers himwiththetitleofbhat grammar, inSanskrit traditionoflearning inthefamily forwhichhisBrahman for hisexpertise NarasimhaSesaalsoreceivedcontemporary patronage atthecourt, skills, notforhislibrary but his royal patron, forhisappointmentwas renewed in1575(Joshi 1956–7: 10). Vaman’s 80) ofBijapur, of1,000goldhonperannum. withthesubstantialsalary Vaman clearlyimpressed 1567, one Vaman, thesonof Anant Sesa, was appointedroyal to librarian Ali Adil ShahI(1558– ofBijapur,the court clearlyfl where thefamily inarangeofdifferent avocations.ourished In indebate(Kanole1950:performances 60–1). Otherdescendantsof Vitthalpant leftNandedfor Not longafterwards, however, theattractions ofMughalBanarasbegantoeclipsethosethe The eminentSesafamily, asleadinggrammarians whoemergedinthelatesixteenthcentury From thelaterseventeenth century, several promoted even factors largerfl ows ofscribal Paths and patterns of mobility Paths of andpatterns Rosalind O’Hanlon sabha 36 - pati, ‘lord oftheassembly’, forhisoutstanding . . t a-bhat . . t a - ra - kar, ‘revered amongscholars’ fteenth century, where he ow of ow Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 reasons thatare obscure, Ramesvara didnotfind Vijayanagar congenial. left,The family now with its wealthand, oflearning perhaps, there toexplore forsuitable theopportunities patronage. For in thehopeofgettingasonfor thefamily, andto the Vijayanagar ofKrsnadevaraya, court tosee Ramesvara andhiswifeintheirsubsequentjourneys: toKolhapur deity, to worship thefamily Ramesvara setuphisown successfulestablishment asateacher. Hisstudentstravelled with decade ofthesixteenthcentury. movedThe family some80mileswest toSangamner, where Ramesvara Bhatta, ofscholars, oftheeminentBanarasBhattafamily leftPaithan inthefi beyondintellectual connectionsfar thesonsoffamily. view ofanexpandingscholarhousehold, developing itsrangeofpotentiallyvaluable socialand quasi-fi years, and therelationship between andstudentseemsoftentohave teacher orguru assumeda their teacher’s household, receiving educationalongsidehissons, ofmany andoftenforperiods transmitted andhumancapitalpreserved andconcentrated. Young oftenlived scholars of aspart translatedintoactivetheir migration strategy, was thehousehold. Here, skillswere and learned were migrants institutionthrough transmitted, whichtheskillsofscribal The principal and recordedfor Krsna thathewrote hisplay Mura active. movedWhen Krsna toBanaras, NarasimhahadclearlygonebacktoNanded, hisfather outstandingly successfulpoet(Kanhere 1926: 305–14). Bijapur, educationinBanaras, hisSanskrit but thenlefttopursue where heemergedasan forms. The royal librarian Vaman’s grandson, also Vaman pandit(1608–95), spenthisyouth in the eighteenth century (Horstmann 2009). (Horstmann the eighteenthcentury asthereinvention hasdescribed Horstmann andrevival of thecourse ofHindukingshipduring new setting, religious becamecentraltowhatMonika andritualists theseBrahmanscholars who was himselfamajor Vaishavite patron (Gode1943: 292–306). Adapting themselves totheir culture.religious These sonsbecamevery infl – Vrajnatha andGokulnatha–refl ect this infl uence andthefamily’s adaptationtothelocal Mathura, where hewas a teacherinthecity’s great Vaishnava temple. The nameshegave hissons to thegodsinHindupantheon. The secondson, Prabhakar, totheholycityof migrated Banaras, where hisson Vidyadhar grew sowealthy thathewas called ‘Kuber’ afterthetreasurer ofguides.court andspiritual asgurus Amer andcametoserve thefamily Dinkarastayed in sons, Dinkara, PrabhakarandRatnakar, whogrew very closetotheroyal oftheRajput family Mahasabde toappearinthecity’s judicialassemplyin1657. important Devabhatta hadthree established themselvescentury suffi ciently successfullyinBanarasforDevabhatta andJotirvid mobility. They were whohadby aMarathaBrahmanfamily themiddleofseventeenth 1570s (Kanole1950: 64). found copiesoftheroyal librarian’s documentsofappointment, datingbacktothe1560sand oftheSesafamily,historian thefamily’s was exploring archives in the1940s, itwas here thathe documentswere family forsafekeepingimportant returned toNanded. When Kanole, the the document(Kanole1950: 62). Inaddition, there was traditionwhereby clearlysomefamily in Nanded, datedto1629, one Vasudeva Pant Sesa, ‘resident ofKasi’ to ismentionedasaparty extended family’s inland. rights deedconfi Inafamily living ontheGodaveri.father Sesas, whohadleftNanded, clearlycontinued toshare inthe It was often this extended household that undertook journeys ofmigration.It was journeys oftenthis extended householdthatundertook For example, became, asthefamily Dispersed however, thelinkswithSesasbackinNandedremained The Mahasabde family of scholars and priests offer another example of early modern scribal scribal offeranotherexampleofearlymodern andpriests ofscholars The Mahasabdefamily lial form (O’Hanlon2011: lial form 181–9). This strategymadeexcellentsensefrom thepointof Scribal migrations in early modern India modern inearly migrations Scribal Migration andthehousehold Migration uentialattheJaipur ofJaisingh court (1688–1743), 37 - rı ¯ vijaya whenhehimselfwas inBanarasandhis thedivision ofaplotland rming rst rst Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 religious inheritance,religious itrequired modifi agreater cation ofhistory. ofthesecond Intheearlypart atlarge.skilled andreputable oftheBrahmancastecategory members which would becomprehensible wherever moved families andneededtoestablish themselves as withinanall-India frame, atleasttomapthemselvesBrahmans intheory andtheirhistories (O’Hanlon2011: thisperiod consolidating themselves during 191–4). allowedThis grid all were from derived vernacularlanguagecommunities inpart thelinesofregional thenalso Brahmans,or southern andlaidoutfi ve subdivisions withineach. further These subdivisions subcontinent. divided allBrahmansinto This grid ‘gauda’, Brahmansand ornorthern ‘dravida’, a comprehensive ‘grid’ through whichtoconvey andclassifyBrahmanidentitiesacross the (Bayly 1999: 70). To enhancethisadvantage, developed Brahmanintellectualsfurther atthistime that, as ‘Brahmans’, they hadastatusandemployability whichwas meaningfuleverywhere advantage from thatthey were thefact able totapintosubcontinent-widenetworks and and actuallyworked intandemtoenable thesecommunities tomaximisetheirpositions. especially, Brahmansandkayasthas cametoconceive period theearlymodern themselves during associatedwitheminence.households andplacesoforigin affectedthewayThis twinlogic that, it was for alsoimportant ‘prestige’ thatidentitiesshouldremain connectedtoparticular identities shouldberecognisable across different locationsandthus ‘portable’. But, ontheother, couldseematfialthough theirlogic paradoxical.rst Ontheonehand, itwas that important Culture andidentityalsorepresented communities, key scribal aspectsofthestrategymigrant (O’Hanlon 2010b: 578). andhewas court recognised offered apostinSivaji’s attherising revenue administration at thetimethatSivaji’s power begantospread intotheregion. Balaji Avaji’s talentswere in thecoastaltown Rajapur. Herescued thefamily, puttingtheboys towork aswriters, just Rajapur tobesoldasslaves. However, hismother’s brother atthattimewas employed asawriter death ofhispatron. He, hismotherandbrothers were thensenttothenearby town of where Balaji Avaji’s was father executed becauseofsuspicionsthathehadhelpedcausethe Janjira asscribes. household intheKonkan,They toalocalgreat thenbecameministers India, frommigration northern they hadcomedown totheKonkan toserve theSiddhisof writers, ofGholavadi theGholkarfamily villageintheKonkan. ofthekayastha part Originally kayastha Balaji Avaji atSivaji’s scribe astheprincipal court. Balaji Avaji camefrom of afamily 1674 (Bendrey 1960). specialist Gagabhattacamedown Sivaji toconsecratetheMaratharuler in athisRaigad court (O’Hanlon 2009: 59)andbyitself, visitingtheDeccancourt mostnotably ritual whenthegreat wereregions brought, by comingdown toadvisepanditassemblies withintheMarathacountry as itappliedtotheDeccan, byinthepanditassemblies towhichcasesfrom serving theMaratha continued tomaintainitslinkswiththeDeccan:Bhatta family works by onHindulaw writing establish inthatcity(Benson2001: theintellectualpre-eminence ofthefamily 105–17). Butthe for Banaras, where hesettled, andwhere sonsthatwent hiswifebore himthefurther onto traditions inthatcity. From theretoPaithan, hereturned but nottostay: afterwards heleftshortly spent sometimetrainingalocalstudent, onhisintellectual andsethimupthere to carry Narayana, in1513, born ofconsumption. Here, abouthisson, toalleviate hisworries Ramesvara –togo thesacred hisbabya differentcityofDwarka son purpose inthehopeofcuring Kayasthas todevelop alsotried identity but, thiskind ofportable lacking theBrahman As SusanBayly especially hasnoted, Indiadrew Brahmansinearlymodern particular An even lay dramatichistory behindtheeventual more peripatetic appointmentofthe Culture andidentity Rosalind O’Hanlon 38 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 brothers pointed tothecontinued ofthegoddess traditionofworship intheirfamily Vinzai, tained inanew place. in origins As evidenceAwadh, oftheirfamily thetwo kayastha of a community’s ofdistinctiveMemory mightalsotake theform practicesmain- origins papers, andheard andforefathers’ from themouthsofourfathers (Bendrey 1966, vol. 2: 400). down tothe1720s.right This, they said, was onthebasisofahistory ‘taken from original southwards totheDeccanwithMuhammadbin Tughlaq century, inthemiddleoffourteenth their ancestor, Konda Prabhu, whohadcomefrom Indianprovince thenorth of Awadh kayastha dignitary, they were from history thefi able their family toreconstruct the1720s.Indian town ofPuneduring When asked fordetails oftheirlineageby a visiting remarkably, thekayastha brothers Govind RamjiandRango Atmaji were living near thewestern relayed viaacombinationoforaltraditionanddocuments ofproperty right. For example, and This couldtake offorms. a variety Sometimes, memory offamily itmight take theform community alsotobeable todemonstrateitsorigins.was foramigratory oftenvery important forthemselves (O’Hanlon2010a:partners 220–34). notwithstanding–andthustobefi Brahmans –theprotests andcomplaintsofcritics themselves obliged togatherpublicly andspecifically todeclare the ‘Devarshis’ toberespectable To overcome theproblem, ofBanaras’s largenumbers found more eminentpanditfamilies acuteembarrassment. facing with therespectable intowhichthey hadmarried Banarasfamilies belatedly cametolight, origins inlocal relations,their true theseproduced amajorcrisis partners.accepted themasBrahmansofrepute andworthy However, marriage whenhintsat implying thatthey were godlyseers. Onthisbasis, otherBrahmancommunities inBanaras the localHindvidialect, callingthemselves ‘Devarshi’ Brahmans, amuch more dignifi changed theircommunity nameslightly, takingadvantage ofthesoftpronunciation ofthe ‘kh’ in establish impressive reputations forthemselves asrespectable andritualists. scholars They also often refused todine. However, Devarukhethathadmoved families toBanaraswere able to some associationwithlabouronthelandandwhomotherlocalBrahmancommunities Maratha Brahmans. They were community back intheMarathacountry, arathermarginal with maintained. We canseehow delicate, forexample, inthecaseofDevarukhe community of easytoinvent.necessarily A delicatebalancebetween andfi truth –andthesewere not respectability todependontheirplacesoforigin continued partly ‘imagine’ themselves inways whichfl attered theirstatusandraisedprospects, their could beconstantlyreinvented. (O’Hanlon 2010b). Mobilitybothstretched theneedforidentityandmeansby which it time brothers inwesternIndiadisputedthemandcontinued tosustainanti-kayastha feuds travelled backtoBanaras, where localBrahmansacceptedthemeven whiletheirsome- creator ofitslandsandthepatron ofitsindigenous communities. These new identities Parashuram, of sixthincarnation Vishnu andeverywhere tobethe inwesternIndiaunderstood ritual. Instead, they ‘indigenised’ inrelation tothegod themselves theirorigins by describing ofworship.forms Underthesepressures, kayasthas distancedthemselves from tantric culture andcloseconfidants ofkings, but ratheraslow-bornservants affi and expertise. These Brahmans soughttoportray kayasthas notasaccomplishedmenof munities intheseregions, enjoyed who hadhitherto occupations very much amonopolyofscribal onwards century broughtthe fourteenth themintoconfl ict withlong-settledBrahmancom- However, southandwestwards theirmigration asservants ofexpandingMuslimstatesfrom Indiahadstrong affi communities innorthern millennium, andasthey moved from beinganoccupationaltoacaste-like grouping, kayastha Whether or not migration wasWhether ornotmigration usedtoimprove new identities, statusandconstruct it Yet reinvention was notwithoutboundaries. orcommunities might families While migrating Scribal migrations in early modern India modern inearly migrations Scribal liations to tantric forms of Hindu religious culture. ofHindureligious forms liations totantric 39 ction oftenneededtobe liated withdisreputable rst migration of migration rst t marriage tmarriage ed title ed Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 Bendrey, V.S. (1960) Bayly, S. (1999)Caste, totheModern SocietyandPoliticsinIndiafromtheEighteenthCentury Age. Cambridge: Barnett, Richard B. IndiaBetweenEmpires: (1987)North Awadh,. 1720–1801 theMughalsandBritish Axelrod, Paul andMichelleFuerch. (2008) ‘Flight oftheDeities: HinduResistanceinPortuguese Goa’, The Athar Ali, M. (1997)TheMughalNobilityUnder Aurangzeb. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Aryavaraguru, R. (1912) ‘On theSheshasofBenaras’, 51: IndianAntiquary 245–53. — (2007)Indo-Persian Travels inthe Age ofDiscoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge: University Press. Cambridge Alam, M. andSanjay Subrahmanyam. (2004) ‘The MakingofaMunshi’, Comparative StudiesofSouth Asia, — (2009) ‘The Mughals, theSufi ofthe ShaikhsandtheFormation Dispensation’,Akbari Asian Modern Alam, Muzaffar. India. ofEmpireinMughalNorth (1986)TheCrisis on whichthey cancall. Nonetheless, thesecommunities doatleasthave andmobility ofmigration avery longhistory global diasporasinthetwentieth andtwenty-fi (FullerandNarasimhan2010). centuries rst may ofmigration activelyarguable astohow theseearlierhistories have far shapedSouth Asia’s level thatisglobalandnow conductedwiththeaidofairtravel connections. andinternet Itis the strainsonvalues andaspirationswhichthey cause, canlookvery much thesame, albeitata maintain linkswithone’s own distinctive pastandidentity? adopted, strategies The family and one’s ‘special’ abilitiesandqualities?How bothtofi t intothesocietyofnew localesandto involvedfamilies withmany ofthesamedilemmas. How tomake hostsocietiesaware of inthe migration ‘global’ twentieth andtwenty-fi posesmany oftheindividuals and centuries rst away. groupsfaded the world scribal constitutedaround themobilityofearlymodern thepracticalutilityofall-Indianetworks ofcommunitystate undermined andfamily. Muchof and employability. Moreover, inthetwentieth century, ofbothsocietyand thevernacularisation ofrespectability lostmuchetiquettes ofIndianreligion oftheirforce –atleastincreating criteria the culture ofpower becameincreasingly Anglicised, references totheIndianpastand Indian populationwithsuspicion, fearfulthatitsprocesses lay beyond statecontrol. Further, as its governance were ‘sedentarisation’ and ‘peasantisation’ asittreated mobilitywithinthe on largesseanditspatronage activities were heavily constrained. Also, thewatchwords of India. spread across pockets much ofBengaliscribes northern Also, initsearlydays, theEastIndiaCompany state drew practicesand heavily on inherited nineteenth century, andtemplesmosquescontinued todispensesignifi states maintainedoldfeatures oftheirroyal untillateintothe gloss(especiallyintheIndian arts) debatable. Bynomeansalltheoldsources ofpatronage andemployment were lost: theprincely remains mobilitycontinuedHow aftertheonsetofcolonialrule thisculture ofscribal far Enthoven 1922, vol. 3: 238). whose templestoodonthehillof Vindhyachal nearMirzapur(Bendrey 1966, vol. 2: 401; Cambridge University Press.Cambridge Delhi: Manohar. Review45(3):Indian EconomicandSocialHistory 439–76. andtheMiddle East24(2):Africa 61–72. Studies 43(1): 135–74. Oxford University Press. But perhapsnotallofit. The revival (or, ofscribal more properly thesedays, ‘professional’) Nonetheless, changebecameprogressively radical. Even theCompany state was thin The CoronationofShivaji theGreat. Bombay: PPHBookstall. Scribal migrations: legacies migrations: Scribal Rosalind O’Hanlon References 40 Awadh andthePunjab1707–1748. Delhi: cant endowments. cant Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 13:48 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203796528, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203796528.ch3 Benson, J. (2001) ‘Sam — (1966)Maha Chatterjee, Kumkum. inEarlyIndia. 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