Sanadya Brahmin (or Sanadh) are a community of Brahmins, living prominently in

Western Uttar Pradesh area of India.

Sanadhya Samhita gives an account of the origin of the Sanadhya community. Lord
Ramachandra of Ayodhya invited some Adi Gauda brahmins to conduct a yajna. As
dakshina he gave villages to 750 of them, who came to be called Sanadhya. They were
engages in tapa, thus came to be called Sanadhya[1]:

सचछबदेन तपो गाहं तेनाधया ये िदजोतमाः||

An alternative theory is that since they worship Lord Sun (or Surya) (Skt san), they are
called Sanadhya. Sikh Guru Gobind Singh has mentioned that his ancestors once lived in
the Sanadh region, this may have been the region from where the Sanadhya originated.

In the 19th and 20th national convention of Kanyakubja Brahmins by Kanyakubja Mahati
Sabha, in 1926 and 1927 respectively, an earnest appeal was made for unity among
Kanyakubja Brahmins whose different branches included Sanadhya, Pahadi(Kumaun
brahmins), Jujhoutia, Saryupareen, Chattisgadhi, Bhumihar Brahmins and different
Bengali Brahmins.[2]

Sanadhya word carries two very ancient Sanskrit roots, in fact, of vedic antiquity. Sanah
for a specific sacrifice(Sanatana from the same root ~synonym) and aadhiyah or aarurha
means 'incessantly engaged in', and also 'full of opulence' or 'rich in' or 'firmly
walking (or mounted) foremost and ahead' on the path of penance. Hence those who
possess opulence of Sanah sacrifice, or 'ahead in austerities'or 'mounted firmly,
foremost and ahead of all, on the Tapascharya' were called sanadhyas in comparison
to the Purohitas and Priest who lived in cities or villages.The term is non-local, and
independent of region. It is associated with the Aaranyaka brahmins, the forest dwellers,
and therefore the much later classification into regional subclass into Panch Gauda and
Panch Dravid does not include the forest dwellers. It is true that every brahmin, wherever
he may belong to,the glorious Saraswat of Kashmir, the matchless and graceful
Kanyakubja, the pious and profoud Sarayuparain, the brilliant and mystic Maithil, the
holy and lofty Gauda or the one from great descent of panch Dravidas, has been a
descendent of the original clans of Forest dwellers/or those engaged in austerities and
penance.

The first story cited from the so called Sanadhya Samhita does not seem to be consistent.
The composition of the Samhita does not seem to have any remote date in the
history.During Rama's time, by any rate going prior to 600 BC, the time when division
into subclasses as we presently know them, had not taken place. No question, then, arises
for calling them to be a group of Adi gauda's participated in the yajna.However, the
ground reality is that they remain non-distinct from Adi Gauda and do consider
themselves the ascetic branch of Adi Gauda. In Rama's time there were only three
occupations of Brahmins priests, Purohitas and Aranyaka brahmins,some of them
elevated to the level of Rishi. The Samahita seems to be quite recent or post-classification
era, far down in time from the Valmiki Ramayana. Rama did meet Aranyaka brahmins
in the Valmiki Ramayana, and he did call them to be always engaged in Tapa and
therefore were the brahmins worthy of 'high reverence'. That is all.

The second hypothesis related to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's ancestral village Sanadh, it
again does not prove to be native place for sanadhyas and the name sanadhyas to be after
this village.The opposite may be a possibility that the place came to be called Sanadh
after the Sanadhyas.

Sanadhyas are a dominant section of north Indian brahmins, most numerous in Gangetic
Doaba region and they touch the Kanaujias on the north west extending over central
Rohilkhand, and the part of the upper central duab from Pilibhit to Gwalior. The
boundary line runs from the nort-west angle of Rampur through Richa, Jahanabad,
Nawabganj, Barielly, Faridpur to the Ramganga, thence through Samilpur and the
borders of Mehrabad, thence down the Ganges to the borders of Kanauj, thence up the
Kali nadi to the western border of Alipurpatti, through Bhavgaon, Sij, Bibamau and down
the Janumna to the junction of Chambel.[4]

Sanadhya Brahmins make a triumvarate along with kanyakubj brahmins and Bengali
brahimns in practicing the doctroine of nobility ; like biswa system of kanyakubj
brahmins and kuleen system of Bengali brahmins, the sanadhyas rigourusly practice the
'allh' system to jeaously safeguard the purity of their blood. They are branch of Adi
Gauda brahmins, Rtviz of ashwmegh yajna performed by Lord Sri Rama and have
matrimonial relations in their own fold and Adi Gauda brahmins.[5] They have
matrimonial relations with kanyakubj brahmins as well.[6][7]

Migration and infiltration of Sanadhya brahmins into central India from the north took
place after the fall of Marathas. In the beginning of the 19th century by 1820 AD families
of Sanadhyas started to migrate to the Narmada valley extending from Mandla to
Hoshangabad and so also into the Malwa from Vidisha to Ujjain and Indore. This
migration was mostly from Bhind-Gwalior-Murena-Agra region where extensive Gully-
Ravines were forming and penetrating into agriculture lands and converting these lands
of Chambal-Yamuna belt into so called Badland Topography. The north-western MP i.e.
Ratlam and Mansaur regions were infiltrated from southern Rajasthan. This migration
may be corelateable with the deterioration of lands and family partitions. Those who
opted to move to the fertile lands of MP were sufferers of family division and got
ravenous part of the parental land on property divisions. The mass migration was
accompanied by other people also belonging to Rajputs ( Chouhans and Sisodias),
Kauravas, Jats, Gujjars, yadavas etc. Narsinghpur district. of Narmada valley has a good
population of this assembly which is a facsimile representative of the Vraja-mandala
includung part of Dhaulpur-Bharatpur and Gwalior region, wherefrom the migration had
triggered. Remarkably, the Narmada valley was freed from Pindaries by 1820 by the
Narmada Protection Force and from Thugs by 1842 by the great British officer Col.
Sleeman. Thus Narmada valley became a safe and favourite place for settlement with its
fertile soils. Apart from the Narmada region, migration took place from Gwalior-Jhansi-
Urai area to the Sagar region of MP.
[edit] Famous Sanadhyas
• Keshavdas (1555–1617), author of Rasikpriya etc. of Orchha, classical Hindi
poet[3]
• Pandit Totaram Sanadhya who lived in Fiji[4]
• Hon'ble Shankar Dayal Sharma,former President of India
• Mahrashi Sandeepan, Guru of Lord Srikrishana

• Pandit Gopal Swarup Pathak former Vice President of India

• Mahakavi Behari

• Pandit Ayodhya Singh Upadhyaya "Hariodh", Famous Hindi Poet

• Shri J.P.Sharma, Industralist, Chairman of JP Group of Industries

• Indian environmentalist R K Pachauri, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) headed by him was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

• Pandit Rajmani Tigunait,Great spiritualist,Director of Himalayan Institute, USA,

Author of several books on Tantra, meditation and other spiritual disciplines and
the successor of the famous saint and Master Swami Rama(Author of 'Living with
the Himalayan Masters')

• Swami Haridas:The great Musician, Poet and saint of Vrindavana, Teacher of

Famous Tansen and Baiju.

[edit] References
1. ^ बाहणोतपित मातरणड, हिरकृषण शासती, १८७१, खेमराज शीकॄषणदास
2. ^ Saraswati, Swami Sahajanand (2003). Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Rachnawali in Six
volumes (in Volume 1). Delhi: Prakashan Sansthan. pp. 519 (at p 68-69) (Volume 1).
ISBN 81-7714-097-3.
3. ^ The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry, Review author[s]: H. Goetz
Artibus Asiae,1957 Artibus Asiae Publishers
4. ^ The Sources of Indian Emigration to Fiji, by K. L. Gillion Population Studies, 1956
Population Investigation Committee

4. Supplementary Glossary by Sh. H.M.Elliot

5. Brahmin Nirnya by Pt. Chotey Lal Shrotriya

6. Jati Bhaskar by Pt. Jwala Prasad Mishra

7. Shri Sunil Sharma Raghunath Das,

8.Caste & Tribes by Mr. C.S.W.C. Crooks

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