Sakaldwipiya

Sakaldwipiya Brahmins (or Bhojaka Brahmins or Maga Brahmins) is a class of Hindu Brahmin priests and Ayurveda teachers (acharyas) and practitioners, with significant concentrations of their populations occurring in Western and Northern India. The name can also be spelled as Shakdvipi, Shakdwipi, Shakdweepi, Shakdvipiya, Shakdwipiya, Shakdweepiya, Shakadwipi, and Sakadwipi.

Origin myth

The Sakaldwipiya Brahmins of India identify themselves as having Iranian roots, and assert that they inherit their by-name mragha from a group of priests who established themselves in India as the Mragha-Dias or Maga-Brahmins. The doctrinal basis for that assertion is found in Bhavishya Purana 133.[1]

As such, the Sakaldwipiya are one of only two Brahmin groups who are said to have originated outside India, even if about half their clan names (gotras) are the same as those of other Brahmins.

In epigraphy

The tale of the arrival of the Sakaldwipiyas appears to have been part of living tradition for many centuries. The Govindpur inscription of 1137-1138 refers to a maga family of Gaya, Bihar that was celebrated for its learning, Vedic scholarship and poetic faculty, and who descended from one of the original Samb invitees.[2]

Internal structures

Some of the Sakaldwipiya Brahmins of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are Ayurvedic physicians, some are priests in Rajput families, while yet others are landholders.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Chand 1964, p. 4
  2. ↑ Sharma 1981, p. 330.
  3. ↑ Mitra 1962, p. 615.

Bibliography

  • Chand, Tara (1964), Indo-Iranian relations, Tehran: Information Service of India, Embassy of India .
  • Mitra, Debala (1962), Foreign Elements In Indian Culture, The Cultural Heritage of India, II, Calcutta: The Ramakrishna Mission Institute, pp. 612–615 .
  • Sharma, Jagdish Saran (1981), Encyclopaedia Indica, II (2nd ed.), New Delhi: Chand
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