Mathur (subcaste)

Mathur is an endogamous clan of the Kayastha community in Northern India,[1] with their origins possibly in Mathura.[2] Mathur are a prominent clan in Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh. They have traditionally being dominating the civil services and historically they have associations with the princely states of Rajputana such as Mewar, Dhundhar and Ajmer- Merwara . Mathur have a mixed origin as there is a dispute regarding their varna status. They undoubtedly come under the upper caste category but the varna they belong to is contestable. We have evidences of Mathurs being a sub clan of Rajputs and largely on the basis of evidences we can infer that it was a title which was bestowed upon the scholarly class in the past.

ORIGIN They are the only sect who are referred to as direct descendants of a Vedic God in the religious texts and the only ancestor worshipping sect of Hinduism also called Chitranshi/Devputra. Kayasth's are said, in the Vedas and Puranas, to have a dual-caste status i.e. Kshatriya and Brahmin. Mathurs are mainly spread across North Indian states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and are a sect whose ancient profession was writing.

According to the Hindu theology Lord Brahma, the Creator, created Lord Chitragupta out of his own body. When Lord Brahma had created all the four Varnas, he thought that there must be someone to keep records and account of each Varna - so he went into deep meditation of the Lord. When this meditation was over, he found standing in front of him a radiant human figure holding a pen and an inkpot in his hands as well as a sword girdled to his waist. Thereupon Brahma said, "Thy manifestation has come about through my mind (chitta) and in secret mystical (Gupt) manner, thy name shall be Chitragupta and as thy creation has been from the whole of my body (kaya), therefore thy progeny will be called Kayastha. So ever since then reading and writing has been the hereditary occupation of the Kayasthas, the descendants of Lord Chitragupta, and in all governmental institutions the Kayasthas have held high administrative posts.Kāyastha or Kayasth (Hindi: कायस्थ) is a caste/ethnic-group of India. As regards the Mathur sub-caste of the Kayasthas,They were the descendants of Charu (one of the twelve sons of Lord Chitragupta) and Irawati. (It is noticeable that there are a class of Brahmins who call themselves Mathurs and trace their ancestry to Mathura. Mathura is also the birthplace of Sri Lord Krishna. There are also a class of Vaishya who call themselves Mathur Vaishya and trace their ancestry to Mathura kingdom. There are also some Bengalis who are known as Mathur Babus). According to Puranic tradition, Charu took up his abode at Mathura—and so his descendants came to be known as Mathurs.

The Mathurs served under the Hindu Kings of Mathura till Qutab-ud-din conquered it, after that some of them learned Arabic and served under the courts of Turkish thereafter Mughal emperors while others fled to other areas in search of work. Since the ancient times they worked in the posts of Dewan of some area under the Surya Vanshi Kings prominently in Rajputana states of Mewar under Sisodiya patronage and Amber of Kacchawas . The Mathurs are subdivided into als and gotras. Later in pre modern period we have evidences of Mathur or Rai being a title granted by the prerogative of the King.