Rajpurohit

Rajpurohit[lower-alpha 1] is a community of people living in western Rajasthan, India. They maintain traditions that are similar to both Brahmins and Rajputs.[3] They are engaged into agriculture, catering and trading and are spread across entire country with very poor literacy rate. They were given villages at boundary of kingdom. According to political analysts, Rajput, Rajpurohit and Charan communities are considered to be identical in regards to their social customs and political ideologies.[4]

Social Structure

Rajpurohits are a Brahmin community, who as a rule, did not provide Brahminical services as expected with the caste duties of Brahmins. Though they have been described as a Brahmin group which mediates matrimonial alliances of Rajputs, they did not play any role in actual rituals of the wedding for which the services of a regular Brahmin were employed.[5]

Political activities

The Rajpurohit community had previously been allied primarily with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2009, however, the community switched loyalties to the Indian National Congress, due to perceived neglect by the BJP.[4]

Notable members of the Rajpurohit community

References

Notes

  1. Aside from being a community, Rajpurohit is synonymous with Rajguru as an ancient term for a type of Brahmin. Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund note that "There is much evidence in ancient texts that there were two ideal types of Brahmins in those days, the royal priest or advisor (rajpurohit, rajguru, "akherajot" and "kanot") and the sage (rishi) who lived in the forest and shared his wisdom only with those who asked for it."[1] Its modern use in this sense has been described by Sumit Sarkar as a "self-conscious archaism".[2]

Citations

  1. Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004) [1986]. A History of India (Fourth ed.). Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 9780415329194. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  2. Sarkar, Sumit (2002). Beyond Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism, Hindutva, History. Indiana University Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780253342034. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  3. Singh, Manvendra (15 April 2013). Campaign Diary: Chronicle of an Election Fought and Lost. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-983-9.
  4. "Rajpurohits pitch in for Cong". The Times of India. 14 April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  5. Singh, Hardyal (1990). The Castes of Marwar, Being Census Report of 1891. Books Treasure.


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