Traditional Indian society was built around a collection of endogamous subgroups called jatis ("birth").
The group's hereditary occupation, over which each group held a monopoly, was how these jatis were structured (and how their social rank was decided).
Even brahmins, whose function has been to serve as priests, scholars, and instructors, were differentiated in this way.
The Deshastha brahmin jati is a subdivision of the Maharashtri brahmins, who were one of the five brahmin groups in the south (Pancha Dravida).
The Deshastha brahmins' primary location is Maharashtra's Deccan region, while the other major subcommunity, the Chitpavan or Konkanastha, lives on the coast.
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