Rajpurohit Community History They are considered as the oldest brahmins who were associated with the ruling class of a kingdom since ancient ages in India. As a tradition Rajpurohits were not only involved in heading the religious rites and duties but also provide selfless service to the state, they were considered to be guardians of the state. They were as much into mentoring royal house, educating princes, guiding king on the path of dharma, providing advise on the matters of welfare of the state, performing religious duties as they were into helping in maintaining the security of kingdom by being actively involved in battles. Guru Dronacharya and Kripacharya were the Rajpurohits of the ancient kingdom of Hastinapur who participated in the great war of Mahabharata on behalf of the state during fall of the Dvapara Yuga. Present day Rajpurohits also trace this spirit of martial hood from the great Brahmin warrior sage Parashurama. As an example, the Junagarh fort in Bikaner houses memorial of Jagram ji Rajpurohit who died fighting for the cause of the state. As a custom, every wedding in the royal family of Bikaner is incomplete without paying homage to him. Such cenotaphs and headstones of Rajpurohits can be found all over Marwar and Bikaner. Chanakya (c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser, a prime minister and Rajpurohit to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BCE), and architect of his rise to power. Along with the other surnames like Dixit, Goswami etc, Purohit/Rajpurohit is also used as a surname among the Brahmins. Historical evolution as a community : Presently Rajpurohits as a community majorly dwell in the state of Rajasthan in India. There are more than 100 sub-castes of Rajpurohit each associated with one ruling ancient Kshatriya clan or the other. Some of them are Raithala,Sevad, Siya/Siha, Jagarwal, Udesh, Manana, Mutha, Sodha, Rajguru/Rajgur/Rajgar, Raigur/Raigar, Paliwal, Gundecha, Santhua, Panchlod, Sidhap, Udesh/Audichya, Dudawat, Trambkoti, Balvasa/Balocha, Ridwa, Aboti, Joshi, Vyas, Podharwal, Fandar, Daviyal, Kevancha, Sepau, Kesariya, Bakaliya, Makwana, Ojha, Ajariya, Badmera, Sanchora, Titopa, Dadala, Kedariya, Joshi/Jui, Radbada & Halsiya. Each of these sub-castes individually had been Rajpurohit(Royal caretakers/priests) of a Kshatriya clan in India and were in lineage to various ancient Rishis. As a normal practice of those times the marriage relationships between rajpurohit families associated with different gotras was common place. With the passage of time the kingdoms were created and decimated but these Brahmins were woven together in a community named Rajpurohit. Rajpurohit as a community is a group of brahmins who are/were royal caretakers and priests of a Hindu Kingdom in medival times. Over last few centuries, Rajpurohits were inculcated into feudal structure of Rajasthan as they time to time received grants of villages called Jagirs from rulers. Consequently, they came closer to Rajputs in terms of tradition, way of living and customs. Though they retained the Brahminical customes of vegetarianism, wearing of Janeu etc. They address each other as Jagirdars and normally have Singh as their middle name. Today the members of Rajpurohit community have spread across the length and breadth of the world. The major occupations of Rajpurohits are Farming, Food & Catering, Cloth & Textile merchants and Cosmetics. While many of them have managed to get into prestigious jobs and professional degrees. Demography : Rajpurohit a Title bestowed upon those learned Brahmins, who were masters in 4 arts i.e mantra's( all rituals), economics, politics and warfare.They were the "Brain of King's". They looked after the administrative running of the kingdoms.In the course of their service to the kingdom, according to ancient traditions, the kings use to award few non-taxable villages or land known as Sasan Jagir and donated call Doli Jagir within his kingdom to their Rajpurohits. These villages or land were considered to be free from any ruler, and were outside the ambit of any form of tax. Also any member of Kshatriya clan were barred to reside in such jagirs. Even today, this is a fact in many parts of Rajasthan. Since in India, the majority of Rathori raj was prevalent in Rajasthan before the independence of India, the Rajpurohit caste is prominently found in Marwar & Godwad region of Rajasthan i.e. Jodhpur, Jalore, Pali, Nagaur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Churu & Sirohi districts of Rajasthan. Most of the Rajpurohits who live in other parts of India, can trace back their roots, up to one to two generations, back to some village of Rajasthan. However so me parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with their common boundary with Rajasthan do have members from Rajpurohit community residing there for quite some time. Beliefs : Since the Rajpurohits are believers Indo-Aryan Sanatana Dharma, they believe in preserving ancient Hindu Vedic Culture and follow majority of common Hindu customs and rituals. A male rajpurohit has Janeu, the sacred thread on his shoulder. It denotes that bearer should be pure in his thought, word and deed. The sacred thread reminds the bearer to lead a regulated life with purity in his thought, word and deed. These threads also represent the debt that is owed to the spiritual guru, parents and society. Rajpurohits are pure vegetarian and generally non-drinkers. They normally use Rajasthani/Marwari, a major language spoken in the western Rajasthan.
