{{Short description|Indian family name}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} '''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.<ref name="Bloch1970">{{cite book|author=J. Bloch|title=Formation of the Marathi Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1noaklDiSOEC&pg=PA318|year=1970|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-2322-8|pages=318–}}</ref>
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".<ref name="Marshall2005">{{cite book | author = P. J. Marshall | date = 2005 | title = The Eighteenth Century in Indian History: Evolution Or Revolution? | publisher = Oxford University Press | pages = 69 | isbn = 978-0-19-567814-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WT1uAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Stewart|title=The Marathas 1600-1818|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge University|location=New York|isbn=978-0521268837|pages=22, xiii|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&q=%22deshmukh%22+%22deshpande%22+sultanate+pargana&pg=PR9}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture - Google Books">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zN4nTmnlwsAC&q=deshpande+surname&pg=PA74 | title=Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture | publisher=Yoda Press | author=Vanita | year=2005 | page=316 | isbn=9788190227254|first=Ruth}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2puAAAAMAAJ|title=Maharashtra: society and culture|author=A. Rā Kulakarṇī|publisher=Books & Books|year=2000|page=74|isbn=9788185016580 |quote=However, the rural areas were still dominated by the Deshasthas, another sub-caste of the Brahmins. The Kulkarni generally belonged to the rural-based Deshastha community, even under the Chitpavan rule.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra|editor1=Irina Glushkova |editor2= Rajendra Vora |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=118|quote= The wada tells us of a story of three generations of a family called Deshpande who belong to the Deshastha Brahmin caste. ....Spread all over Maharashtra as a result of this process, Deshastha Brahmans held, in particular, the office of Kulkarni.}}</ref> and the Karhade sub-castes<ref>{{cite book|title=Bombay Teachers and the Cultural Role of Cities|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|year=1973|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBG_QmivOWgC&pg=PA106|page=106|author=Bryan Sharpe}}</ref>) 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).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Deshpande|first1=Arvind M.|title=John Briggs in Maharashtra: A Study of District Administration Under Early British rule|date=1987|publisher=Mittal|location=Delhi|isbn=9780836422504|pages=118–119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79sS_w_bOQYC&q=balutedar+maharashtra&pg=PP15}}</ref><ref name="IWI">{{cite magazine |title=Unknown |magazine=The Illustrated Weekly of India |volume=91 |issue=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Glk6AQAAIAAJ |date=July 1970 |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company |page=12 |quote=Generally speaking, excepting names such as Kulkarni, Thackerey, Chitnis, Deshmukh, Deshpande, which are common to many communities in Maharashtra, a C.K.P. can be recognised by his surname. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies - Volume 8|page=44|publisher=Institute of Historical Studies|year=1969|quote=The accountant of the Village was simply known as 'Kulkarni' and that of the Pargana or smaller areas was called Deshkulkarni, or Deshpande, or Nadkarni (in the Karnatak)...As work required the incumbent to be a literate man, he was generally a [Brahmin] or a [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhu by caste}}</ref><ref name="Tamaskar1978">{{cite book | author = B. G. Tamaskar | date = 1978 | title = The Life and Work of Malik Ambar | publisher = Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli | pages = | url = https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.117961/page/211/mode/2up}}</ref> The Kulkarni watans (land rights) were abolished in 1950.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/acts/1950.60.pdf|title=The Bombay Paragana and Kulkarni Watans' (Abolition) Act 1950|publisher=Bombay High Court|accessdate=13 November 2014}}</ref>
== 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 * Srinivas Kulkarni (born 4 October 1956): US-based astronomer born and raised in India
== See also == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Marathi people * Deshpande * Patwari * Patil * Indian honorifics * Indian feudalism * Deshmukh * Jagirdar * Lambardar * Mankari * Sarpanch * Zaildar * Zamindar {{div col end}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Surnames Category:Surnames of Indian origin Category:Indian feudalism Category:Indian words and phrases Category:Marathi-language surnames