Wikipedia / Kulkarni
Wikipedia / Kulkarni
Kulkarni is a surname. 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 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. The chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh 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 Karnataka). The Kulkarni watans (land rights) were abolished in 1950.
Notable Kulkarni
Saints
Dnyaneshwar: Pre-sainthood name Dnyandev Kulkarni (1275–1296)
Eknath: Pre-sainthood name Eknāth Kulkarni (1533–1599)
Samarth Ramdas: Pre-sainthood name Narayan Kulkarni (Thosar) (1608–1681)
Nivruttinath: Pre-sainthood name Nivrutti Kulkarni, elder brother and teacher of Dnyaneshwar
Sopan: 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 (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 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
Sandeep Kulkarni: Marathi actor
Sonali Kulkarni: Bollywood actress
Sonalee Kulkarni: Marathi film 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 writer, Founder of Sudha Murty Foundation and wife of N. R. Narayana Murthy
Shrinivas Kulkarni (born 4 October 1956): US-based astronomer born and raised in India
See also
References