Note 26 — KĀYASTH

Similarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher members of the caste stand well in general repute, the village Lāla (or Kāyasth), who is very often an accountant, is in evil odour for his astuteness and chicanery. In Central India, as already seen, they are Kānungos of Districts and patwāris of villages; and here again Malcolm states that these officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later comers, who held more important posts, did not intermarry with them.26 In Gujarāt the work of collecting the revenue in the Surat tract was entrusted to Kāyasths. Till 1868, in the English villages, and up to the present time in the Baroda villages, the subdivisional accountants were mostly Kāyasths.27 In the Central Provinces the bulk of the patwāris in the northern Districts and a large proportion in other Districts outside the Marātha country are Kāyasths. If the Kāyasths were originally patwāris or village accountants, their former low status is fully explained. The village accountant would be a village servant, though an important one, and would be supported like the other village artisans by contributions of grain from the cultivators. This is the manner in which patwāris of the Central Provinces were formerly paid. His status would technically be lower than that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a Sūdra or a mixed caste.