Maharashtrian Konkanastha Brahmins

Chitpavan/Kokanastha Brahmins
Classification	Brahmin
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Primary mother tongue is Chitpavani (a dialect of Konkani) and Konkani but also have proficiency in native languages,
Populated states	Maharashtra, Konkan (Goa and coastal Karnataka); some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat

The Chitpavan or Chitpawan, part of the Konkanastha Brahmins (i.e. "Brahmins native to the Konkan"), are a Brahmin community of Konkan, the coastal region of western India. The community is Hindu. Until the 18th century, however, the Chitpavans were not esteemed in social ranking, and were indeed considered by other older Brahmin castes as being an inferior caste of Brahmins.

The community remains concentrated in Maharashtra but also has populations all over India and the rest of the world including the USA and UK.

There are two common mythological theories of origin among the Chitpavans. The more contemporary theory is based on the etymology of their name meaning "pure of mind", while an older belief uses the alternate etymology of "pure from the pyre" and is based on the tale of Parashurama in the Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana. The Parashurama myth of origin is identical to the myth that claimed by the Bene Israel of the Kolaba district. According to Bene Israeli myth, the Chitpavan and Bene Israel are descendants from a group of 14 people shipwrecked off the Konkan coast. One group converted to Hinduism as Chitpavan Brahmins, the other remained Jewish or Bene Israel. The Konkan region has witnessed the immigration of various groups, such as the Bene Israeli, Parsis and Kudaldeshkarkodav community of coorg is believed to have blue .green eyes uncommon otherwise but it is not clearly known where they came from Each of these settled in distinct parts of the region and there was little mingling between them. The Chitpavans were apparently the last major community to arrive there and consequently the area in which they settled, around Ratnagiri, was both the least fertile and that with a relative scarcity of good ports for trading. While the other groups generally took up trade as their primary occupation, the Chitpavans became known as administrators.

They are known to have fair skin and middle eastern features such as grey-green eyes.

Very little is known of the Chitpavans before 1707 A.D. Sometime around this time, an individual of the Chitpavan community, Balaji Vishwanth Bhat arrived from Ratnagari to the Pune-Satara area. He was brought there on the basis of his reputation of being an efficient administrator. He quickly gained the attention of Chhatrapati Shahu and his work so pleased the Chhatrapati that he was appointed the Peshwa or Prime Minister in 1713. Balaji was blessed by his spiritual preceptor Narayan Dikshit Patankar. He ran a well-organized administration, and, by the time of his death in 1720, he had laid the groundwork for the expansion of the Maratha Kingdom. Since this time until the fall of the Maratha Kingdom, the seat of the Peshwa would be held by the members of the Bhat family.

...
Wikipedia