Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Marathi Brahmin" in English language version.
The Deshasthas, who hailed from the Deccan plateau, the Desh, accounted for three-fifths of the Maratha Brahman population.
Thus the Brahmin government of Poona, while passing some legislation prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquors, excluded the bhandaris kolis and similar other castes from the operation thereof but strictly forbade the sale of drinks to Brahmins, Shenvis, Prabhus and Government officers
In Maharashtra Brahmin caste has Karhade, Deshastha, Kokanastha, Devrukhas, Sarasvats, etc. as sub- castes . Further Deshastha Brahmin sub - caste has sub - sub - castes like Rigvedi and Yajurvedi which are also endogamous groups.
The Brahmin who form about 8% of the population of Maharashtra.
While comprising only 9% of the Maharashtrian population, the eight endogamous Brahmin castes studied by Karve and Malhotra
The Chitpavans account for one-fifth of all Maharashtrian Brahmins.
In Maharashtra, Brahmins have been known for traditional occupations of broader scope than those in most of the rest of India. Not just characteristically priests and scholars as elsewhere, Maharashtrian Brahmins were also recognized as men of action: administrators, businessmen and political leaders
Bijapur Sultanate certainly inherited patterns of cultural interaction from the Bahamani dynasty. One notable practice was the use of Maharashtrian Brahmins and Marathi-speaking soldiers in the kingdom's administration and army. Because the number of Muslims in Deccan was relatively small, the Deccan Islamic kingdoms depended on Brahmins, primarily from the Maharashtrian region, for administration and tax collection.
Saraswatis claim that they come from the Brahmin caste – hence their name - but others believe that they are usurpers using some fake brahmin ancestry to maintain their superiority.
Saraswat claim to Brahminhood is still strongly under dispute, particularly in the coastal districts of Karnataka.
The Karhada Brahmins: The Brahmins lived in southern parts of modern Maharashtra, between Konkan and Desh, in a province, then called Karathak, comprising Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur, with Karad as capital. Hence the name of Karhada Brahmins. Among them too there are Smartas and Madhvas or Bhagwats (Vaishnavites).
The Karhades are all Rigvedis of the Shakala Shaka, who respect the sutra, or aphorism, of Ashwalayana. They belong to both the Smartha, and the Vaishnava sects, and in religious and spiritual matters follow the guidance of Sri Shankaracharya, and Madhwacharya, respectively.
The Brahmins, who found very few jobs in the arid hills of the western ghats, since one subcaste, the Chitpawan brahmins, dominated that region, felt the Chitpawan competition very unfair in Maharashtra. Most notably, these were Deshastha and Karhade Brahmans many of whom migrated across Deccan into the East Godavari basin. This was administered through the 19th century by Deshastha Brahmins who used the Maharashtrian surname, Rao.
Among them the Chitpavan, Desastha, Karhade and Devdny Brahman are pure vegetarian.
The Saraswat Brahman eat only fish while other Brahmans like Deshastha, Karhade and Konkanastha take a vegetarian diet.
(pg 147)Members of the Maharashtrian high castes were particularly numerous, whether Brahmins or - like Thakre[Kushabhau, pg 133] - CKPs.(pg 148) In Indore, the Maharashtrian upper castes were particularly over-represented within the RSS and the Jana Sangh. In the municipal councils, from 1950-65, the Maharashtrian Brahmins and CKP accounted for two-thirds or three-fourth of the Hindu Nationalist representation.
Such resistance was to no avail, and the Brahmans' fears and troubles were realized in February 1948 when they were set upon by recently politicized communities - Marathas, as well as Jains and Lingayats - who unhesitatingly took advantage of the opportunity provided by assassin Godse's shots.[page 50]; This is no doubt low since about 1000 houses were officially reported to have been burnt down in some 300 villages spread across all thirteen talukas of the district and Aundh State.[page 40]
