Pandey

For other uses, see Pandey (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Pende people.

Pandey (Devanagari: पाण्डेय) or Pande (पाण्डे pāṇḍe) is a surname of the Hindu Brahmins communities of Northern and Central India as well as of both Brahmin but mostly Chhetri families of Nepal. In Maharashtra, several Brahmin families have names ending in "-pande", such as "Deshpande" or Sardeshpande. There are also Marathi speaking people of the Vidarbha region with the surname Pande.

The name is also the root of tree Pandeism.

Derivation

It is most likely that it is derived from the Sanskrit word paṇḍita (पण्डित (पाण्डेय) ), which refers to a 'spiritual scholar' or 'scholar'. Sanskrit word Panditya means "learned man". This sect was derived from a group of so-called "pandits" or spiritual technician who practiced "yajnas" or yagyas and conducted other vedic practices.

Etymology

Those Brahmin families who specialized in all 4 Vedas came to be known as Chaturvedi (chaturth means 4 in Sanskrit from which it is derived), those who specialized in 3 Vedas came to be known as Trivedi or Tiwari or Tripathi (tri- meaning 3 in Sanskrit), while Dwivedi specialized in 2 Vedas (dwi- meaning 2). Those who only studied the Veda but did not specialize in them came to be known as Pathak, i.e. the reader. Those who specialized in Upanishads were known as Upadhyaya.

The name PandeyJI (meaning pundit or Expert) indicated Brahmins who specialized in all 4 Vedas as well as Puranas and preaching vedic knowledge and conducting vedic practices. The Brahmins in north India is categorized as kanyakubj Brahmin and sarayuparin Brahmins.

Pandeys are known as Sarayuparin Brahmins,are North Indian Brahmins residing on the eastern plain of the Sarayu near Ayodhya. Saryupareen families Pandeys, Pathaks and Dikshits were involved solely in the reading and preaching of Vedas and other religious texts, performing yajnas and other religious practice.

Some people also say that the word Pandey is believed to be derived from the word Pandya, which was the oldest dynasty of India and one of the three dynasties of the Ancient Tamil kingdom.[1] It is believed that the influence of the Pandya rulers in the North and central India because of their successful invasions made the people adopt the name Pandya as a surname. Similar names like "Deshpande" are also believed to be of similar origin by scholars.[2]

Distribution

The majority of people with the surname Pandey reside in the North Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi . The surname is also found in states such as Punjab,Joginder Pal Pandey was MLA from Ludhiana in Punjab,also found in Jharkhand & Haryana (primarily in districts such as Yamunanagar,Panipat & Karnal). Depending in the states which they reside they speak the Language. For E.g., Most of the people with Surname Pandey residing in Uttar Pradesh speak Hindi & Awadhi, in Uttaranchal they speak Kumauni or Garhwali, in Madhya Pradesh they speak Bagheli whereas in Punjab they speak Punjabi, whereas in the state of Haryana they speak Hindi & Punjabi.

It can be found outside of India in Guyana, Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Nepal (Dadeldhura, Baitadi,Acham, Kailali, Parbat,Arghakhanchi,Gulmi etc.), Suriname and the EU (within the EU a proprotionately larger amount resides in the UK[3]).

Social groups

The surname is found predominantly among the Saryupareen Brahmins, Kanyakubja, Saraswat, Babhan, Sakaldwipi Brahmin and other Brahmin communities. This is also found in Karnataka's Veershaiva communities as Pande instead of Pandey, Veershaiva community is dominantly spread over north Karnataka state of India and some part of south Maharastra.The surname is carried by some of the Kunbi Patils of Maharashtra.

Similar names

The surname Pandey is similar to the surname "Pande" (पाण्डे pāṇḍe), which is used in Gujarat and North India. But in Nepal 'Pandey' is taken differently than 'Pande'. Pandey is used as their surname by pure Brahmans whereas Pande by Chhetriyas. In Maharashtra, several Brahmin families have names ending in "-pande", such as "Deshpande".In Orissa the Brahmins use the surname "Panda" पण्डI. In Gujarat "Pandya" surname has roots to the surname Pandey.

Panday or Ponday surname is used by some modern Brahmins who fled to Madras during the 1857 Mutiny. It is the newer spelling of the surname "Panday", which is found by emigrants in countries which did not adopt the new Indian spelling. An older spelling is Pandy, which is found in literature and the Wester dictionary in relation to the great mutiny. The caste was numerous in the British Indian army due to their valour & bravery and played an important role in the 1857 Mutiny against the British Rule in India during Colonial period.

In Bali island - Indonesia, there are families use Pande as their surname. Balinese usually put their surname in the front side of the name, such as: Pande Putu Krishna Yuktatama; Pande Made Indra Dhananjaya; Pande Nyoman Agus Jaya; Pande Ketut Ariasih. The first word in Balinese name is a surname. The second word is indicated as a birth order. Putu is the first order, Made is the second order, Nyoman is the third order, Ketut is the fourth order. For the fifth order start with Putu again, the sixth order is Made, and so on. In Balinese name, the nickname is the third and fourth words in the full n.

Notable people with this surname

See also

References

  1. ↑ Page vi, Mackenzie collection: a descriptive catalogue of the oriental manuscripts and other articles illustrative of the literature, history, statistics and antiquities of the south of India collected by the late Lieut.-Col. Colin Mackenzie, surveyor general of India, Volume 1
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5XlPyOtups
  3. ↑ www.linkedin.com