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kulkarni

{{Short description|Indian family name}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

Kulkarni is a Marathi Brahmin surname common amongst Deshastha Brahmins, the CKP community, and Karhade Brahmins of Maharashtra. “Kulkarni” is also a Brahmin surname in a few parts of northern Karnataka. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (kula and karni). Kula means "family", and Karanika means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title given to the village record keeper.{{cite book|author=J. Bloch|title=Formation of the Marathi Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1noaklDiSOEC&pg=PA318|year=1970|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-2322-8|pages=318–}}

As per the historian P.J. Marshall, both Kulkarni and Deshpande were specialized scribes who "served great households and enhanced other, familiar, administrative mechanisms at their disposal".{{cite book | author = P. J. Marshall | date = 2005 | title = The Eighteenth Century in Indian History: Evolution Or Revolution? | publisher = Oxford University Press | pages = 69 | isbn = 978-0-19-567814-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WT1uAAAAMAAJ}}

History

Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the pargana. The chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh and record keepers were called Deshpande.{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Stewart|title=The Marathas 1600-1818|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge University|location=New York|isbn=978-0521268837|pages=22, xiii|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&q=%22deshmukh%22+%22deshpande%22+sultanate+pargana&pg=PR9}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zN4nTmnlwsAC&q=deshpande+surname&pg=PA74 | title=Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture - Google Books | publisher=Yoda Press, 2005 | author=Ruth Vanita | year=2005 | page=316 | isbn=9788190227254}} The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil or the head of the village, collector of revenue, and Kulkarni, the village record-keeper. These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from the Maratha caste. The Kulkarni was usually from literate communities such as Brahmin (mainly from Deshastha{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2puAAAAMAAJ|title=Maharashtra: society and culture|author=A. Rā Kulakarṇī|publisher=Books & Books|year=2000|page=74|isbn=9788185016580 |quote=However, the rural areas were still dominated by the Deshasthas, another sub-caste of the Brahmins. The Kulkarni generally belonged to the rural-based Deshastha community, even under the Chitpavan rule.}}{{cite book|title=Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra|editor1=Irina Glushkova |editor2= Rajendra Vora |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=118|quote= The wada tells us of a story of three generations of a family called Deshpande who belong to the Deshastha Brahmin caste. ....Spread all over Maharashtra as a result of this process, Deshastha Brahmans held, in particular, the office of Kulkarni.}} and the Karhade sub-castes{{cite book|title=Bombay Teachers and the Cultural Role of Cities|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|year=1973|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBG_QmivOWgC&pg=PA106|page=106|author=Bryan Sharpe}}) and CKP castes. The Kulkarni operated at the village level but at a pargana level, the recordkeeper had titles such as Deshkulkarni, Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in Karnataka).{{cite book|last1=Deshpande|first1=Arvind M.|title=John Briggs in Maharashtra: A Study of District Administration Under Early British rule|date=1987|publisher=Mittal|location=Delhi|isbn=9780836422504|pages=118–119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79sS_w_bOQYC&q=balutedar+maharashtra&pg=PP15}}{{cite magazine |title=Unknown |magazine=The Illustrated Weekly of India |volume=91 |issue=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Glk6AQAAIAAJ |date=July 1970 |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company |page=12 |quote=Generally speaking, excepting names such as Kulkarni, Thackerey, Chitnis, Deshmukh, Deshpande, which are common to many communities in Maharashtra, a C.K.P. can be recognised by his surname. }}{{cite journal|title=The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies - Volume 8|page=44|publisher=Institute of Historical Studies|year=1969|quote=The accountant of the Village was simply known as 'Kulkarni' and that of the Pargana or smaller areas was called Deshkulkarni, or Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in the Karnatak)...As work required the incumbent to be a literate man, he was generally a [Brahmin] or a [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhu by caste}}{{cite book | author = B. G. Tamaskar | date = 1978 | title = The Life and Work of Malik Ambar | publisher = Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli | pages = | url = https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.117961/page/211/mode/2up}} The Kulkarni watans (land rights) were abolished in 1950.{{cite web|url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/acts/1950.60.pdf|title=The Bombay Paragana and Kulkarni Watans' (Abolition) Act 1950|publisher=Bombay High Court|accessdate=13 November 2014}}

Notable Kulkarni

= Saints =

  • Dnyaneshwar: Pre-sainthood name Dnyandev Kulkarni (1275–1296)
  • Eknath: Pre-sainthood name Eknāth Kulkarni (1533–1599)
  • Samarth Ramdas: Pre-sainthood name Narayan Kulkarni (Thosar) (1608–1681)
  • Nivruttinath: Pre-sainthood name Nivrutti Kulkarni, elder brother and teacher of Dnyaneshwar
  • Sopan: Pre-sainthood name Sopan Kulkarni
  • Muktabai: Pre-sainthood name Mukta Kulkarni
  • Mahipati: Chronicler of many Indian saints, author of the Bhaktavijaya (1715–1790)

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See also

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References

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Category:Surnames

Category:Surnames of Indian origin

Category:Indian feudalism

Category:Indian words and phrases

Category:Marathi-language surnames