Volume XIII Part I, (Thana). Pp. 87-89 Writers included two classes with a strength of 5,213 souls (males 2,726, females 2,477) or 0.68 per cent, of the Hindu population. Of these 5,128 (males 2,696, females 2,432) were Kayaath Prabhus, and 85 (males 40 females 45) Patane Prabhus.

Kayasth Prabhus are returned as numbering 5,128 souls and at living in all parts of the district except in Mahim. They claim descent from Chandrasen, a Kshatraya king of Oudh. According to the Renuka-Mahatma of Padma Puran, the story is that after Parashut ram, in fulfillment of his vow to destroy all Kshathriyas, had killed Sahasrarjun and king Chandrasen, he discovered that Chandrasen's wife had taken refuge with Dalabhya, one of the rishia or seers and that she was with child. To carry out his vow Parashurarn went to the sage who asked him to name the object of his visit, assuring him that his wish would be fulfilled. Parashurarn replied that he wanted Chandrasen's wife. The sage without any hesitation brough, the lady, and Parashuram delighted -with the success of his scheme promised to grant the sage any tiling he might ask. The sage asked For the unborn child and Parashur.im agreed to give him the child, on the sage engaging that it and its offspring should be trained at clerks not as soldiers. The child was named Som Raja, and his sons Vishvanath, Mahadev, Bhanu, and Lakshumidhar, and the Sudras called their descendants Kayasth Parbhus as they could not pronounce the word Prabhus. Brahmans in their hate and rivalry taking advantage of this mispronunciation, declared that their true name was Parbhu, that is bastard or people of irregular birth. But the word is spelt Prabhu in letters and deeds granted to those of the community who served the Satara and Peshwa Governments. The services of the Kayasthas were early secured by the MusalmanB. A colony was established near the Musalman city of Junnar in Poona; a second settlement, probably from Surat by sea, Tfas made at Rajupuri in Janjira, whose ruler the Habshi admiral had a Kayasth Prabhu minister ; a third settlement was at Daman on the north border of the Thana district ; a fourth was at Baroda under the patronage of Raoji Appaji, the minister of the Gaikvad; and a fifth was at Kalyan, from where they spread over the Thana district, iShivaji (1627-1680) was very fond of Kayasth Prabhus, and they have occasionally been supreme in the Satara, Kolhapur, Nagpur, and Baroda courts. According to a Maratha story in the possession of Rao Bahadur Ramchandra Sakharam Gupte of Poona, Shivaji on one occasion dismissed all the Brahmant who held financial posts and engaged Kayasth Prabhus in their places. In reply to the complaints of Moropant Pingle and Nilopant, his two Brahman advisers, he reminded them that, while all Musulman places of trust held by Brahmans had been given up without a struggle, those held by Prabhus had been most difficult to take, and that one of them, Rajpuri, had not yet been taken.

Their commonest surnames are Adhikari, Chitre, Donde, Gupte, Jayavant, Pradhan, Raje, Randive, Tamhane and Vaidya. They have also family names, taken from official titles such as Chitnis, Parasnis, Potnis, Tipnis, Deshmukh, Deshpande, Daftardar, Karkhanis, Phraskhane, Divan and Kulkarni. As a class the men are middle-sized and slightly built, fair with regular features and handsome intelligent faces. Their women are refined and graceful. The young men generally speak correct and well pronounced Marathi. But among some of the elders there are several peculiarities, chiefly the use of v for / and i for v as virada for irada, Inayak for Vinayak and Ishvatshver for Vishveshver. They are clean, neat, hardworking and faithful, and hold places of trust both in Native States and under the British Government, to whom they have always been loyal. They are mostly writers and accountants, and regard such duties as their birthright, The keen rivalry between them and the Brahmans has made the? Kayasthas most staunch-supporters of each other, as the proverb says, ''The crow, the cock, and the Kayasth, help those of their own caste”. (The Marathi runs, "Kak, kukut, Kayastlt, Svajatiche pariposhak.) Some are husbandmen, holders of hereditary grants of land, and traders. But most are clerks, quick and neat enough workers to hold their own against Brahman or any other rivals. Most of them live in one or two-storied brick or stone and lime built houses with tiled roofs. On the ground floor there is a cook-room, a room for the gods, a dining-room, a receiving hall, and two or three sleeping-rooms. On the second storey a public room Divankhana, a receiving room or guest chamber, the women's hall majghar, a store room and place for drying clothes, and two or three other rooms. They have a good store of furniture, copper, brass, iron and tin vessels, boxes, cots and bedding. Each family has a Kunbi servant and most have cattle and bullock carts. A good many have milch cows and she- buffaloes.

They eat fish, the flesh of goats and sheep, but deem fowls unclean and never touch them. Some of them drink liquor. But the fish eating and liquor drinking are done stealthily, as they like, as far as possible, to be supposed to live in the same way as Brahmans. Their daily food is rice, pulse, vegetables and fish, or pulse curry. They are fond of good living, and their caste feasts cost them from 6d. to 1s. each (4-12 annas) a head. In dining they sit on low wooden stools and eat from metal plates, apart from each other. Both men and women dress like Konkan Brahmans, the men in the middle-sized flat-rimmed Brahman turban, with a plain bordered waist cloth, waistcoat, short coat, a shoulder-cloth passed round the neck and falling to the knees, and Brahman shoes. Their women wear their hair like Brahman woman, tightly drawn back and formed into a knot or bunch on the top of the head. It is generally hard to tell a Prabhu from a Brahman woman. They are equally richly dressed and with quite as much neatness and care. Of ornaments well-to-do men wear a gold ring on the little finger of the left hand. Their women wear the same ornaments as Brahman women. Most families have a rich store of good clothes for high days. The men generally rise between six and seven, and repeat a verse or two in praise of some god. Then, after a cup of tea or coffee, they bathe and worship their household gods and breakfast about ten. After breakfast they chew a packet of betelnut and leaves, and attend to their business. In the evening supper is generally over before eight and they retire to rest soon after.

On the birth of a child, musicians play upon pipes and drums, friends and relations are called, a birth paper is drawn out by H Brahman astrologer, sweetmeats and betelnut are handed round, and the guests take their leave. On the fifth day friends and relations are treated to a cup of milk. On the sixth the goddess Sati is worshipped, and on the twelfth, the child is laid in a cradle and named. Boys are girt with the sacred thread either in their sixth or in their eighth year. Girls are married between nine and eleven, and boys between twelve and sixteen. They burn their dead and do not allow widow marriage. They are generally Bhagvats, but they worship goddesses more than gods. They have images of their gods in their houses. They perform three of the six Vedic duties or Karmas, studying the Veds Adhydfan sacrificing Yajan, and giving alms Dan. Their Priests who are Brahmans, are treated with respect. They keep all Hindu holidays and fasts. Social disputes are settled by a meeting of the men of the caste, and the decision of the majority is respected. Those who dis-obey are cut off from marriage, dinner, and other caste ceremonies. Caste discipline shows no sign of decline. They send their boys to school, and though the competition for clerkships has greatly increased, they are still well-to-do.