Barot is an Indian caste native to

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

. They traditionally worked as

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, genealogists and mythographers.

Origin

The caste is also known as "Vahivancha Barots". The word Vahivancha (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: "Vahīvancā) literally means "one who reads a ''vahi''" (''vahi'' means a book of genealogy, a

ledger A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which account transactions are recorded. Each account has an opening or carry-forward balance, and would record each transaction as either a debit or credit in separate columns, and the ending or ...

or a book in general). The Vahivanchas traditionally maintained genealogies, told stories and recited bardic poetry. The term "Barot" was originally used as an honorific title for both Vahivanchas and

Bhat Bhat (also spelled as Bhatt or Butt) is a surname in the Indian subcontinent. Bhat and Bhatt are shortened rendition of Bhatta. Etymology The word "Bhat" ( sa, भट, ) means "teacher" in Sanskrit. While the original shortened rendition of "Bh ...

, and was gradually adopted as a caste appellation by the Vahivanchas. According to one theory, the caste of Vahivancha Barots developed from the Bhats. Widespread tradition states that the Vahivanchas came to Gujarat from

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

during the

Solanki Solanki may refer to: *Solanki (name), surname and given name *Solanki (clan), Indian clan associated with the Rajputs *Solanki dynasty, alternate name for the Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty tha ...

period (942-1245 CE). The oldest extant Vahivancha book dates back to 1740 CE, written in

Old Gujarati Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

language. They are said to be of

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

origin. People of India Gujarat Volume XXII Part One edited by R.B Lal, S.V Padmanabham & A Mohideen page 137 to 140 Popular Prakashan

Present circumstances

At present, the traditional occupation of Barots or Bhatts is on the verge of extinction as the new generation of the casts/communities for whom they worked as Barots, no longer patronise them. Further, the young generation of Barots, also have got involved in other occupation and businesses and higher studies.

References

{{Reflist Social groups of Gujarat Indian surnames Social groups of Rajasthan Scheduled Castes of Gujarat

Origin

Present circumstances

See also

References