from Kannauj who became an elite sub-group described as Kulin. However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars. From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste. This is evident from a epigraphic record dated 871 CE of the King Amoghavarsha that mentions a branch of Kayasthas referred to as vālabhya-kāyastha. The author of the Sanskrit work Udayasundarī-kathā also referred to himself as vālabhya-kayāstha and characterized Kayasthas as 'ornaments of the Kṣatriyas'. In Soḍḍhala’s account According to Soḍḍhala, who claimed to be a Kayastha himself, Kayasthas traced their descent to a younger brother of the Maitrika king, identified as Śilāditya VI or VII, referred to as Kalāditya. He narrates that Kalāditya had besieged Dharmapala of the Pala Dynasty that led to the victory of his elder brother. Subsequently, he was entrusted by Śilāditya to administer his kingdom at the advice of the Goddess Rāja Lakśmī. Kalāditya has been further described as an incarnation of a gaṇa () of Shiva called Kayastha. In Sanskrit literature The Mitākṣarā refers to Kayasthas as accountants and scribes, they are described as favorites of the king and cunning. The Kayastha appears as a figure in Act IX of the , a kāyastha is shown accompanying a judge (adhikaraṇika) and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that: In , a Kayastha named Śakaṭadāsa is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the Nanda King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title Ārya added to the name of Śakaṭadāsa implies that he was a member of the nobility. Another Kayastha called Acala is the scribe of Chanakya. In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term kayastha denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. Kshemendra’s Narmamālā composed during the reign of Ananta (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included Gṛhakṛtyadhipati, Paripālaka, Mārgapati, Gañja-divira, Āsthāna-divira, Nagara-divira, Lekhakopādhya and . Kalhana’s Rājataraṃgiṇī ('The River of Kings') and Bilhana's Vikramāṅkadevacarita ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas. It is also mentioned that father of Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota Dynasty, Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha. Kayasthas have been authors of several Sanskrit texts too. In Brahmanical literature Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining