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The Chitpavan are also known as Konkanastha Brahmin. They have two common mythological stories of origin, of which the more contemporary story is based on the etymology of their name, meaning "pure of mind", while an older belief uses the alternate etymological meaning : "pure from the pyre" and is based on the tale of Parashurama in the Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana.

The Parashurama mythological story of shipwrecked people is similar to the mythological story of the Bene Israel Jews of Raigad district. The Bene Israel claim that Chitpavans are also of Jewish origin.

The Konkan region witnessed the immigration of groups, such as the Bene Israel, and Kudaldeshkars. Each of these settled in distinct parts of the region and there was little mingling between them. The Chitpavans were apparently the last major community to arrive there and consequently the area in which they settled, around Ratnagiri, was the least fertile and had few good ports for trading. While the other groups generally took up trade as their primary occupation, the Chitpavans became known as administrators.

Along with the following castes — the Nagar Brahmin, Deshastha Brahmin, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu and Khatri — historian Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya classifies the Chitpawans as being of Aryan origin.

Rise and fall during the Maratha rule

Very little is known of the Chitpavans before 1707 A.D. Around this time, Balaji Vishwanth Bhat, a Chitpavan arrived from Ratnagiri to the Pune-Satara area. He was brought there on the basis of his reputation of being an efficient administrator. He quickly gained the attention of Chhatrapati Shahu. Balaji's work so pleased the Chhatrapati that he was appointed the Peshwa or Prime Minister in 1713. He ran a well-organized administration and, by the time of his death in 1720, he had laid the groundwork for the expansion of the Maratha Empire. Since this time until the fall of the Maratha Empire, the seat of the Peshwa would be held by the members of the Bhat family.

With the ascension of Balaji Baji Rao and his family to the supreme authority of the Maratha Empire, Chitpavan immigrants began arriving en masse from the Konkan to Pune where the Peshwa offered all important offices to his fellow castemen. The Chitpavan kin were rewarded with tax relief and grants of land. Historians cite nepotism and corruption as causes of the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818. Richard Maxwell Eaton states that this rise of the Chitpavans is a classic example of social rank rising with political fortune. The alleged haughty behavior by the upstart Chitpavans caused conflicts with other communities which manifested itself as late as in 1948 in the form of anti-Brahminism after the killing of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, a Chitpavan.

The Peshwa rule forced untouchability treatment on the Mahars. As a result Mahars served in the armies of the East India company On 1 January 1818 in the Battle of Koregaon between forces of the East India Company and the Peshwa, Mahars soldiers formed the biggest contingent of the Company force. The battle effectively ended Peshwa rule.

Role in Indian politics

After the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818, the Chitpavans lost their political dominance to the British. The British would not subsidize the Chitpavans on the same scale that their caste-fellow, the Peshwas, had done in the past. Pay and power was now significantly reduced. Poorer Chitpavan students adapted and started learning English because of better opportunities in the British administration.

Some of the prominent figures in the Hindu reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries came from the Chitpavan Brahmin community. These included Dhondo Keshav Karve, Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Vinoba Bhave.

Some of the strongest resistance to change came from the very same community. The vanguard and the old guard clashed many times. D. K. Karve was ostracised. Even Tilak offered penance for breaking caste or religious rules. One was for taking tea at Poona Christian mission in 1892 and the second was going to England in 1919.

The Chitpavan community includes two major politicians in the Gandhian tradition: Gopal Krishna Gokhale whom Gandhi acknowledged as a preceptor, and Vinoba Bhave, one of his outstanding disciples. Gandhi describes Bhave as the Jewel of his disciples, and recognized Gokhale as his political guru. However, strong opposition to Gandhi came from the Chitpavan community. V D Savarkar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist political ideology Hindutva, was a Chitpavan Brahmin. Several members of the Chitpavan community were among the first to embrace the Hindutva ideology, which they thought was a logical extension of the legacy of the Peshwas and caste-fellow Tilak. These Chitpavans felt out of place with the Indian social reform movement of Mahatama Phule and the mass politics of Mahatama Gandhi. Large numbers of the community looked to Savarkar, the Hindu Mahasabha and finally the RSS. Gandhi's assassins Narayan Apte and Nathuram Godse, drew their inspiration from fringe groups in this reactionary trend.

The Chitpavans have considered themselves to be both warriors and priests. The willingness of the Chitpavans to enter military and other services earned them high status and power in the Deccan.

The active involvement of Chitpavans in military affairs started with the rise of the Peshwas.

During the British rule in India, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the household worshiping of Ganesha into a grand public event (Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav) to spread the message of freedom struggle and to defy the British who had banned public assemblies.Students often would celebrate Hindu and national glory and address political issues including patronage of Swadeshi goods. Today large-scale Ganesh festival celebrations take place in Maharashtra with millions of people visiting the community Ganesh Pandals.

Traditionally, the Chitpavan Brahmins were a community of astrologers and priests who offer religious services to other communities. The 20th century descriptions of the Chitpavans list inordinate frugality, impassive, hard work, cleanliness and intelligence among their attributes.^[43][44][45] Agriculture was the second major occupation in the community, practised by the those who possess arable land. Later, Chitpavans became prominent in white collar jobs and business.

Language

Most of the Chitpavan Brahmins in Maharashtra have adopted Marathi as their language. A minority of Chitpavans spoke a dialect of Konkani called Chitpavani Konkani in their homes. Even at that time,^[when?] reports recorded Chitpavani as a fast disappearing language. But in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka, this language is spoken in places like Durga and Maala of Karkala taluk and in places like Shishila and Mundaje of Belthangady Taluk.^[46] There are no inherently nasalised vowels in standard Marathi whereas the Chitpavani dialect of Konkani does have nasalised vowels.^[47]

The Marathi spoken by Chitpavans in Pune is the standard form of language used all over Maharashtra today.^[3] This form of Marathi has many Sansrkrit derived words. It has retained the Sanskrit pronunciation of many words, misconstrued by non-standard speakers as "nasalized pronunciation".^[48]

Social status

Earlier, the Deshastha Brahmins believed that they were the highest of all Brahmins and looked down upon the Chitpavans as parvenus (a relative newcomer to a socioeconomic class), barely equal to the noblest of dvijas. Even the Peshwa was denied the rights to use the ghats reserved for Deshasth priests at Nashik on the Godavari.^[49][50]

The rise in prominence of the Chitpavans compared to the Deshastha Brahmins resulted in intense rivalry between the two communities.^[51] The 19th century records also mention Gramanyas or village-level debates between the Chitpavans and some other communities, like the Daivajna Brahmins and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus. This lasted for about ten years. There are recorded instances of Gramanyas between Saraswats and the Chitpawans, Pathare Prabhus and the Chitpawans and Shukla Yujurvedi Deshastha Brahmins and the Chitpawans.^{[52] [53]}

Diet

By tradition like other Brahmin communities of Southern India, Chitpavan Brahmins are Lacto vegetarians. Rice, wheat and dal are their staple foods.^[54][55][56]

• Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath and his descendants, Bajirao I, Chimaji Appa, Balaji Bajirao, Raghunathrao, Sadashivrao Bhau, Madhavrao I, Narayanrao, Madhavrao II, and Bajirao II
• Nana Phadnavis (1742 - 1800), regent to young Peshwa Madhavrao II^[57]
• The Patwardhans - Military leaders under the Peshwa.^[58] Later rulers of Princely states of Miraj, Sangli,Kurundwad, and Jamkhindi during the British coloial era.
• Nana Sahib-Adopted heir of the deposed Peshwa Bajirao II and one of the main leaders of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Lokhitwadi (Gopal Hari Deshmukh) (1823-1892)- Social reformer^[59]
• Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842–1901)^[30] - Judge and Social reformer
• Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar (1850 – 1882)^[60] -Essayist.Editor of Nibandha Mala, a Marathi journal, Educator.Mentor to Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.Founder of the influential Chitrashala press^[61]
• Vasudev Balwant Phadke (1845 – 1883)^[62] - Educator. Led an armed rebellion against the British^[63]
• Keshavsut (Krishnaji Keshav Damle) (March 15, 1866 - November 7, 1905) -Marathi language poet^[64]
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856 – 1920)^[40] -Educator, Writer and Early Nationalist Leader with widespread appeal.Described by British colonial administration as the "Father of Indian Unrest"^[65][66]
• Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856 – June 1895).^[33] journalist, educator and social reformer
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866 – 1915)^[67] - Early Nationalist leader on the moderate wing of the Congress party
• Chapekar brothers (1873-1899),(1879-1899) - Brothers who assassinated British plague commissioner Walter Rand for his heavy handed approach to plague relief in Pune in 1897^[68]
• Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860 – 1936) - eminent maestro of Hindustani classical music^[69]
• Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (1863–1926) - Historian^[70]
• Dhondo Keshav Karve(1858 – 1962)^[29] - Social reformer and advocate of women's education
• Pandita Ramabai Dongre (1858 – 1922)^[71] - Social reformer and Christian convert
• Anandibai Joshi (1865 – 1887)^[71] - First Maharashtrian and Hindu woman to get a medical degree from a foreign university^[72]
• Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (1872 – 1947)^[73] - Writer, Journalist, Nationalist leader. Served on the Viceroy's Executive Council (1924–29).
• Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,^[74][75] -(28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966)Freedom fighter, social reformer and Formulator of the Hindutva philosophy
• Dadasaheb Phalke- (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944) Pioneer of Indian film industry^[76]
• Krushnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar-(25 November 1872 – 26 August 1948) Editor of Kesari and Navakal^[77]
• Nathuram Godse- (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) Mahatma Gandhi's assassin^[78]
• Narhar Vishnu Gadgil-(10 January 1896 – 12 January 1966) Congress leader and Member of Nehru's cabinet^[79]
• Irawati Karve - (1905 – 1970) - Anthropologist^[80]
• Vinoba Bhave-(1895 – 1982), Gandhian leader and freedom fighter^[81]
• Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (1896 – 1981) - Poet and writer in Kannada language. Winner of the Jnanpith Award^[82]
• Pandurang Shastri Athavale (1920 - 2003) was an Indian activist philosopher, spiritual leader, social revolutionary and religion reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar (Swadhyaya Family) in 1954 ^[83]
• Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar (1930-2012) mathematician^[84]

• Karhade Brahmin
• Devrukhe
• Deshastha Brahmin