Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha


Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha denotes a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. They claim to be Kayastha Brahmins.
Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayasthas largely revolved around scribal services. They were largely employed as scribes, clerks and administrators from early Hindu kingdoms up to the Muslim conquests of North India. Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas and Bengali Kayasthas were traditionally responsible for writing Indic eulogies, known as prashastis for Hindu kings in the early medieval kingdoms.

Etymology

According to Merriam-Webster, the word Kāyastha is probably formed from the Sanskrit kāya, and the suffix -stha. The suffix vanshi is derived from the Sanskrit word vansh which translates to belonging to a particular family dynasty. According to Brahmanical literature, Chitragupta had two wives- Shobhavati, who was daughter of a Brahmin Susharma, and Nandini, who was daughter of a Kshatriya Shradhadev Manu, respectively and the descendants of their 12 sons form the 12 sub-groups of this community.