INHERITING caste: the judicial construction of Bengali Kayastha caste identity in inheritance settlements in colonial Calcutta

Abstract

ABSTRACT In early twentieth-century legal settlements over inheritance disputes in Calcutta, Kayasthas, a socio-ethnic group formerly considered upper caste, came to be identified as Shudras, the lowest of the four castes. These inheritance settlements, taking place at the Calcutta High Court, deployed caste as a legal category to determine the lawful transfer of property between claimants. Both British and Indian judges, working within a colonial legal framework, relied heavily on caste-based ritual practices to resolve inheritance disputes. Their verdicts reshuffled caste identities while reinforcing existing hierarchies: the formerly upper-caste Bengali Kayasthas were relegated to the lowest level of Shudras on the caste pyramid. Bengali Kayasthas, naturally, resisted this imposed status. They formed caste associations in which their activism fuelled a distinct brand of Kayastha caste pride. At the same time, however, they also internalized colonial definitions of their group to reconfigure their identity and challenged both the colonial state and Brahmin hegemony. Investigating essays published in the monthly periodical Kayastha Patrika (1902–1926), I will argue that inheritance settlements carved out a distinct socio-legal space where both the British and Bengali Kayasthas invented, exploited, renewed, and legitimized caste hierarchies to craft a new self-identity.