Kulkarni is a surname. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (kula and karni). Kula means "family", and Karanika means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title given to the village record keeper.[1]
As per the historian P.J. Marshall, both Kulkarni and Deshpande were specialized scribes who "served great households and enhanced other, familiar, administrative mechanisms at their disposal".[2]
History
Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the pargana. The chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh and record keepers were called Deshpande.[3][4] The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil or the head of the village, collector of revenue, and Kulkarni, the village record-keeper. These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from the Maratha caste. The Kulkarni was usually from literate communities such as Brahmin (mainly from Deshastha[5][6] and the Karhade sub-castes[7]) and CKP castes. The Kulkarni operated at the village level but at a pargana level, the recordkeeper had titles such as Deshkulkarni, Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in Karnataka).[8][9][10][11] The Kulkarni watans (land rights) were abolished in 1950.[12]
Notable Kulkarni
Saints
- Dnyaneshwar: Pre-sainthood name Dnyandev Kulkarni (1275–1296)
- Eknath: Pre-sainthood name Eknāth Kulkarni (1533–1599)
- Samarth Ramdas: Pre-sainthood name Narayan Kulkarni (Thosar) (1608–1681)
- Nivruttinath: Pre-sainthood name Nivrutti Kulkarni, elder brother and teacher of Dnyaneshwar
- Sopan: Pre-sainthood name Sopan Kulkarni
- Muktabai: Pre-sainthood name Mukta Kulkarni
- Mahipati: Chronicler of many Indian saints, author of the Bhaktavijaya (1715–1790)
Historic figures
- Ramchandra Pant Amatya (1650–1716): The third Peshwa, Finance Minister (Amatya) to Emperor (Chhatrapati) Shivaji and Imperial Regent (Hukumat Panah)
- Parshuram Trimbak Kulkarni (1660–1718): Held post of Pant Pratinidhi, the fifth Peshwa and the founder of Aundh and Vishalgad princely states.
Entertainment
- Atul Kulkarni: Marathi film and theater actor
- Chandrakant Kulkarni: Film director
- Girish Kulkarni: Marathi film actor
- Mamta Kulkarni: Bollywood actress
- Mrinal Dev-Kulkarni: Marathi television actress.
- Saleel Kulkarni: Marathi singer and composer
- Sandeep Kulkarni: Marathi actor
- Sonali Kulkarni: Bollywood actress
- Sonalee Kulkarni: Marathi film actress
- Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni: Film Director
Literature
- G. A. Kulkarni (1923–1987): Short story writer
Sports
- Nilesh Kulkarni: Indian cricketer
- Raju Kulkarni: Former Indian cricketer
- Shubhangi Kulkarni: Indian woman cricketer and secretary of the Women's Cricket Association of India
- Vineet Kulkarni: Indian cricket umpire
Professionals
- Ravi S. Kulkarni (born 1942): Indian mathematician
- Sudha Kulkarni Murty: Kannada writer, Founder of Sudha Murty Foundation and wife of N. R. Narayana Murthy
- Srinivas Kulkarni (born 4 October 1956): US-based astronomer born and raised in India
See also
References
- ^ J. Bloch (1970). Formation of the Marathi Language. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 318–. ISBN 978-81-208-2322-8.
- ^ P. J. Marshall (2005). The Eighteenth Century in Indian History: Evolution Or Revolution?. Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-19-567814-7.
- ^ Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818 (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University. pp. 22, xiii. ISBN 978-0521268837.
- ^ Ruth Vanita (2005). Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture - Google Books. Yoda Press, 2005. p. 316. ISBN 9788190227254.
- ^ A. Rā Kulakarṇī (2000). Maharashtra: society and culture. Books & Books. p. 74. ISBN 9788185016580.
However, the rural areas were still dominated by the Deshasthas, another sub-caste of the Brahmins. The Kulkarni generally belonged to the rural-based Deshastha community, even under the Chitpavan rule.
- ^ Irina Glushkova; Rajendra Vora (eds.). Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra. Oxford University Press. p. 118.
The wada tells us of a story of three generations of a family called Deshpande who belong to the Deshastha Brahmin caste. ....Spread all over Maharashtra as a result of this process, Deshastha Brahmans held, in particular, the office of Kulkarni.
- ^ Bryan Sharpe (1973). Bombay Teachers and the Cultural Role of Cities. University of California, Berkeley. p. 106.
- ^ Deshpande, Arvind M. (1987). John Briggs in Maharashtra: A Study of District Administration Under Early British rule. Delhi: Mittal. pp. 118–119. ISBN 9780836422504.
- ^ "Unknown". The Illustrated Weekly of India. Vol. 91, no. 3. Bennett, Coleman & Company. July 1970. p. 12.
Generally speaking, excepting names such as Kulkarni, Thackerey, Chitnis, Deshmukh, Deshpande, which are common to many communities in Maharashtra, a C.K.P. can be recognised by his surname.
- ^ "The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies - Volume 8". Institute of Historical Studies. 1969: 44.
The accountant of the Village was simply known as 'Kulkarni' and that of the Pargana or smaller areas was called Deshkulkarni, or Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in the Karnatak)...As work required the incumbent to be a literate man, he was generally a [Brahmin] or a [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhu by caste
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ B. G. Tamaskar (1978). The Life and Work of Malik Ambar. Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli.
- ^ "The Bombay Paragana and Kulkarni Watans' (Abolition) Act 1950" (PDF). Bombay High Court. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
