Sakaldwipiya

Śākadvīpīya Brahmins (or Bhojaka Brahmins or Maga Brahmins)(Sanskrit: शाकद्विप), is a class of Hindu Brahmin priests and Ayurveda teachers (acharyas) and practitioners, with significant concentrations of their populations occurring in Western and Northern India.

Spelling variants of "Śākadvīpīya" (IAST transcription) include Shakdvipi, Shakdwipi, Shakdweepi, Shakdvipiya, Shakdwipiya, Shakdweepiya, Shakadwipi, Śākadvīpīya, and Sakadwipi.

The Śākadvīpīyas are also known as Maga Brahmins (or sometimes Mragha) see origin myth below). Historically, Maga Brahmins are Sūryadvija Brahmins, who nevertheless today consider themselves to be distinct from the other Śākadvīpīya brahmins.

Origin myth

The Śākadvīpīya Brahmin community of India identify themselves as having Iranian roots, and assert that they inherit their by-name mragha from a group of priests (cf. mobed) who established themselves in India as the Mragha-Dias or Maga-Brahmins.

The doctrinal basis for that assertion is Bhaviṣya Purāṇa 133, which may be summarized as follows: