Deshastha

The model for traditional Indian society
was as a collection of endogamous subgroups known as jatis (“birth”). These
jatis were organized (and their social
status determined) by the group’s hereditary occupation, over which each group
had a monopoly. This sort of differentiation applied even to brahmins, whose
role has been to serve as priests, scholars, and teachers. The Deshastha brahmin jati is a subset of the Maharashtri
brahmins, who were themselves one of
the five southern brahmin communities
182
Deogarh
(Pancha Dravida). The core region for
the Deshastha brahmins is in the
Deccan region in Maharashtra, whereas
the other major subcommunity, the
Chitpavan or Konkanastha, is found on
the coast.