Kulkarni is a Marathi Brahmin

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

common amongst Deshastha Brahmins, the CKP community, and Karhade Brahmins of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. “Kulkarni” is also a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

in a few parts of northern

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (''kula'' and ''karni''). ''Kula'' means "family", and ''Karanika'' means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title given to the village record keeper. As per the historian P.J. Marshall, both Kulkarni and Deshpande were specialized

scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and ...

who "served great households and enhanced other, familiar, administrative mechanisms at their disposal".

History

Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

. The chief of the pargana was called

Deshmukh Deshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh) is a historical title conferred to the rulers of a . It is used as a surname in certain regions of India, especially in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana and also in Andhra Pradesh and northern parts of ...

and record keepers were called Deshpande. The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil or the head of the village, collector of revenue, and Kulkarni, the village record-keeper. These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from the Maratha caste. The Kulkarni was usually from literate communities such as Brahmin (mainly from Deshastha and the Karhade sub-castes) and CKP castes. The Kulkarni operated at the village level but at a pargana level, the recordkeeper had titles such as Deshkulkarni, Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in

). The Kulkarni watans (land rights) were abolished in 1950.

Notable Kulkarni

Saints

Dnyaneshwar Sant Dnyaneshwar (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ɲaːn̪eʃʋəɾ, (Devanagari : सन्त ज्ञानेश्वर), also referred to as Jñāneśvara, Jñānadeva, Dnyandev or Mauli or Dnyaneshwar Vitthal Kulkarni (1275–1296 (living ...

: Pre-sainthood name Dnyandev Kulkarni (1275–1296) *

Eknath Eknath (IAST: Eka-nātha, Marathi pronunciation: knath (1533–1599), was an Indian Hindu Vaishnava saint, philosopher and poet. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity Vitthal and is a major figure of the Warkari movement. Eknath is often vie ...

: Pre-sainthood name Eknāth Kulkarni (1533–1599) *

Samarth Ramdas Ramdas (c. 1608 – c. 1682), also known as Samarth Ramdas Swami or Ramdas Swami, was an Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master. He was a devotee of the Hindu deities Rama and Hanuman. Early life Ramdas or previous ...

: Pre-sainthood name Narayan Kulkarni (Thosar) (1608–1681) *

Nivruttinath Nivruttinath ( Marathi : निवृत्तिनाथ) (c. 11 February 1273 – 24 June 1297) was a 13th-century Marathi Bhakti saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Vaishnava Nath tradition. He was the elder brother and the mento ...

: Pre-sainthood name Nivrutti Kulkarni, elder brother and teacher of Dnyaneshwar *

Sopan Sant Sopandeo was a sant of the Varkari and also the younger brother of Dnyaneshwar. Sopan(19 November 1277 A.D- 29 December 1296 A.D), attained samadhi at Saswad near Pune. He wrote a book, the ''Sopandevi'' based on the Marathi translation ...

: Pre-sainthood name Sopan Kulkarni * Muktabai: Pre-sainthood name Mukta Kulkarni * Mahipati: Chronicler of many Indian saints, author of the ''Bhaktavijaya'' (1715–1790)

Historic figures

Ramchandra Pant Amatya Ramchandra Neelkanth Bawadekar (1650–1716), also known as Ramchandra Pant Amatya, served on the Council of 8 (''Ashta Pradhan'') as the Finance Minister (''Amatya'') to King (''Chhatrapati'') Shivaji, dating from 1674 to 1680. He then served ...

(1650–1716): The third Peshwa, Finance Minister (Amatya) to Emperor (Chhatrapati) Shivaji and Imperial Regent (Hukumat Panah) * Parshuram Trimbak Kulkarni (1660–1718): Held post of Pant Pratinidhi, the fifth

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

and the founder of Aundh and Vishalgad princely states.

Entertainment

* Atul Kulkarni: Marathi film and theater actor * Chandrakant Kulkarni: Film director * Girish Kulkarni: Marathi film actor * Mamta Kulkarni: Bollywood actress * Mrinal Dev-Kulkarni: Marathi television actress. * Saleel Kulkarni: Marathi singer and composer * Sameep Kulkarni: International Sitarist * Sandeep Kulkarni: Marathi actor * Sonali Kulkarni: Bollywood actress * Sonalee Kulkarni:

Marathi film Marathi cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry in India an ...

actress * Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni: Film Director

Literature

* G. A. Kulkarni (1923–1987): Short story writer

Sports

* Nilesh Kulkarni: Indian cricketer * Raju Kulkarni: Former Indian cricketer * Shubhangi Kulkarni: Indian woman cricketer and secretary of the Women's Cricket Association of India * Vineet Kulkarni: Indian cricket umpire

Professionals

* Ravi S. Kulkarni (born 1942): Indian mathematician * Sudha Kulkarni Murty:

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

writer, Founder of Sudha Murty Foundation and wife of N. R. Narayana Murthy * Srinivas Kulkarni (born 4 October 1956): US-based astronomer born and raised in India

References

{{Reflist Surnames Surnames of Indian origin Indian feudalism Indian words and phrases Marathi-language surnames