Who were the Brahmins?
Brahmin is a term (believed to have been coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes in the late 19th century) used to refer to the Boston aristocracy — older Yankee families who controlled much of Boston’s wealth and power. Members of this group saw themselves as moral leaders of the community, apart from the rest of society. This attitude moved Holmes to compare the group to the priestly class of Brahmins in India.
