Kaviraj (or Rajkavi, Kaviraja) is a title of honor, which was given to poets and litterateurs attached to royal courts in medieval India. Eminent Charans who were inducted into the royal courts due to their literary merit as royal poets and historians were given the rank of Kaviraja (King of Poets). Such Charans assumed positions of great influence in the medieval polity. Few well known people are Kaviraja Shyamaldas, Kaviraja Bankidas, etc. The descendants of such persons also started using the surname, Kaviraj.