Chaturvedi

The Mathur Chaturvedi Brahmins, or sometimes just Chaturvedi are an endogamous Brahmin community found mainly in western Uttar Pradesh. A Brahmin family name indicating that the title bearer's forefathers were proficient in all of the four Vedas (including the Vedic branch one is born into). This was considered a significant achievement and an elevated social status.^[1]

Distribution

The origin of Chaturvedis goes back to Mathura (a holy land of Lord Krishna). The Land/Bhumi Of Chaturvedis and have their majority . Chaturvedi families were residing near Mathura, and nearby villages like Chanderpur, Bateshwar, Holipura, Mainpuri etc. In 17th century when Aurangzeb attacked these Chaturvedi families. Those who left behind in Mathura were known as Meethe (sweet) Chaturvedis as they accepted the new Ruler and those who fled the city and settled in nearby cities like Agra (Pinhaat, Talganv, Holipura villages), Delhi, Kota, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, etc. were known as Karwe (bitter) Chaturvedis. They set up their own councils in villages near Agra. Other then these two major categories, there are other kind of Chaturvedi's also which include regional Chaturvedi's part of this community as well as Chaturvedi community from West Bengal who are totally different community. Also there is one more sub category which consist of people who knot the ties between Meethey and Kadve Chaturvedi families.

The rituals of each community have a major impact of the region The Chaturvedi community is a very well high social status community. Presently, the majority of Chaturvedis inhabit the fertile agricultural regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi & Orissa, where they are engaged in mainly tertiary sector activities (Govt. & Private Services) as well as in Medical, Technologies, Research, Defence, Politics, Law, Education fields, agriculture and allied activities. One generation back they were mainly in teaching & religious duties as per their traditions. Current Generation has many engineers, scientists, civil servants, writers, musicians, poets & politicians. Marriages still take place between the community. Name of the ancestral village specifies the family origin. Although both the groom and bride belong to the same community, their gotras differ. The Chaturvedis publish a monthly magazine of their own, called Chaturvedi Chandrika under the group called Chaturvedi Mahasabha which brings Meethey, kadwe and regional community under one flag. They also publish a yearly directory and held conferences. The surname Choubey also falls under the Chaturvedi community.Some of them also use their gotras such as Bhardwaj, Mishra, Pandey etc. in place of Chaturvedi surname.

References

1. ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das pages 952 to 957 Manohar Publications