Know Your Kayastha Community
The Pride of Kayasthas:
Subhas Chandra Bose, President of the Indian National Congress (1938-1939) and founder of the Indian National Army.
Swami Vivekananda, monk and chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna. He founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission in West Bengal.
Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India (1950 - 1962). Few of his famous literary contributions are Satyagraha at Champaran (1922), Bapu ke Kadmon Mein (1954), Since Independence (1960).
Sri Aurobindo, Indian nationalist, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. He was one of the first Indians to create a literary corpus in English.
Lal Bahadur Shastri, the third Prime Minister of the Republic of India belonged to the Kayastha community. He came up with slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer).
One of the most notable Kayasthas of the Mughal period was Raja Todar Mal, Emperor Akbar's finance minister, who is credited with establishing the Mughal revenue system. He also translated the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit into Persian.
Did you Know?
There are an estimated 800,000 Kayasthas in India as of 2010.
During the Muslim conquest of India, Kayasthas mastered Persian, which became the official language of the Mughal courts.
During the Mughal period, some Kayasthas converted to Islam and formed the Muslim Kayastha community in northern India.
In 1911, Kayasthas owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.
