Did Bal Thackeray’s ancestors come from Bihar?

A political reunion has reopened an old wound: Are the Thackerays really from Maharashtra—or did their roots lie in ancient Bihar?

Transcript

00:00Is the Thakre family from Bihar?

00:01This reunion has sparked a new conversation about the roots of the clan and if they hail

00:05from Bihar.

00:06In 2012, Congress leader Digvajay Singh claimed that Bal Thakre's ancestors had migrated

00:10from Bihar to Maharashtra.

00:11Uddhav Thakre called him mad for saying that.

00:14Singh based this claim on the book Maazi Jeevan Gatha, an autobiography written by Bal Thakre's

00:18father, Keshav Sitaram Thakre, whose pen name was Prabodhankar Thakre.

00:22He wrote in one of his books about the Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhu, a community to which the

00:27Thakres belong.

00:28The community is said to have migrated from ancient Magath around the 3rd or 4th BC during

00:33the reign of Mahapadamananda, whose practice of imposing usury on his subjects triggered

00:37the migration.

00:38One of their ancestors is also said to have served as a kiladar or fort custodian during

00:42the Maratha reign.

00:43Keshav Sitaram Thakre also said in the book that the real family name given to them was

00:47Thakre.

00:48Keshav, being the watershed personality of his family, changed his surname to the more anglicised

00:53Thakre, an inspiration he took from Kolkata-bound British writer William Makepeace Thakre.

00:58Keshav Sitaram Thakre.

00:59Keshav.

01:00Keshav.

01:01Keshav.

01:02Keshav.