Deshastha Brahmin

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Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana (which was earlier part of Hyderabad State and Berar Division), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (which was earlier part of Central Provinces and Berar) Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins". The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi or Kannada. Over the millennia, the Deshastha community has produced mathematicians such as Bhāskara II, Sanskrit scholars such as Bhavabhuti, Satyanatha Tirtha, Satyadharma Tirtha; Bhakti saints such as Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Purandara Dasa, Samarth Ramdas and Vijaya Dasa; polemical logician such as Jayatirtha and non-polemical scholar such as Raghuttama Tirtha. The traditional occupation of Deshastha Brahmins is priesthood and the Kulkarni Vatan (village accountants). They also pursued secular professions such as writers, accountants, moneylenders and also practised agriculture. In historic times a large number of Deshasthas held many prominent positions such as Peshwa, Diwan, Deshpande (district accountants), Deshmukh, Patil, Gadkari, Desai, and Nirkhee (who fixed weekly prices of grains during the Nizam's Rule). Authors Vora and Glushkova state that "Deshastha Brahmins have occupied a core place in Maharashtrian politics, society and culture from almost the beginning of the Maharashtra's recorded history. Occupying high offices in the state and even other offices at various levels of administration, they were recipients of state honours and more importantly, land grants of various types."