Śākadvīpīya Brāhmaṇas also known as “Maga Brāhmaṇas”

The Śākadvīpīya (or Maga) Brāhmaṇas are a little known Brahmanical group mainly settled in Rājasthān and Bihār. According to the ancient texts, they are Hindu Sun worshippers but also include Buddhist, Jaina and Iranian features in their cult. In the Sāmba- and Bhaviṣya-purāṇa, the story of their legendary migration is told: Sāmba, Kr̥ṣṇa’s son, is hit by leprosy, and only the Sun god can heal him. For this reason, the Śākadvīpīya Brāhmaṇas, experts in Sun cult, are called from Iran to Northern India to worship the god and heal Sāmba’s sickness. Very interestingly, many Iranian elements are present both in the content and in the language of these Purāṇic passages, such as Iranian loanwords, ritual objects and customs. Over the centuries, the Śākadvīpīya presence is registered in India in epigraphic sources, in the peculiar Sun god iconography with Iranian traits, by the astrologer and astronomer Varāhamihira (6th century CE), travellers’, and three late poems, namely the Magavyakti, the Sāmvavijaya and the Khalavaktracapeṭika (probably ca. 16th century), which record the family names and further legends on the Śākadvīpīyas. They must have been very famous in northern courts in some periods, especially in relation to Sun worship, and even the fact that their texts have been inserted in the Purāṇic literature testifies to their social importance; the same is valid for the later poems. Their cult is perfectly inserted in the syncretistic tendency that has characterized North Indian cults since the first centuries CE, when some groups living in the lands in between Iran and India moved to North India and established powerful reigns there. The Śākadvīpīyas may have followed the same route, settled in India, built their sacred places, and specialised in Sun cult. Nowadays, Śākadvīpīya communities are still present on Indian soil, in the same ancient areas of settlement. Śākadvīpīya priests are still versed in astrology and the main solar festivals are still celebrated by the community. Unfortunately, the new generations are generally not interested in their peculiar customs, and most of them are aware of belonging to a specific tradition only because of marriage endogamic policies. However, in the last years, small groups of Śākadvīpīya people have started again cultivating the interest in their traditions and rediscovered their ancient customs. To revitalise the community, new associations have been created and some magazines, like the Rājasthāni Brahmāṇḍ Cetnā, have been published on monthly basis.Non UBCUnreviewedFacult