The Kashmiri Brahmins, usually called Pandits, constitute one
single group, the kashmiri Bhramins , without any real subdivisions.
They form, according to Buhler, the first Indologist to visit
the Valley, one unified community: they 'interdine' (annavyavahara)
and they also teach each other (vidyavyavahara, vidyasambandha).
But not all of them intermarry (kanyavyavahara, yonisambandha),
which is the real test of belonging or not belonging to a single
community. This is confirmed by Lawrence,3 who distinguishes "the
astrologer class (Jotish), the priest class (Guru or Bachabat)
and the working class (Karkun). The priest class do not intermarry
with either of the other classes. But the Jotish and Karkun intermarry.
The Jotish Pundits are learned in the Shastras and expound them
to the Hindus, and they draw up the calendars in which prophecies
are made about the events of the coming year. The priest class
perform the rites and ceremonies of the Hindu religion. The vast
majority of the Kashmiri Pandits belong to the Karkun class and
have usually made their livelihood in the employment of the state."
This division is believed to have taken place after the country
turned to Islam in the fourtheenth century, and especially after
the initial persecution of Brahmins at around 1400 A.D. As the
Kashmiri Pandits then had to earn their living as scribes and
other government officials, there was no longer any need, and
actually, no possibility, for the majority of them to do priestly
work. Therefore, at an unknown time during Muslim rule, they resorted
to a "division of labor": only very few Pandits would
continue to perform the rituals for their more affluent Brahmin
brothers.
