Singh

Singh (meaning Lion'सिंह') /ˈsɪŋ/ is a middle name or surname which originated in India. Singh as a middle name or last name was first used in Rajasthan in 7th century, then in other states such as Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Bihar,Haryana.The Punjabi (warriors, administrators and kings) as well as Sikh were among the last ones who had adopted the surname "Singh".[1]

It is derived from the Sanskrit word सिंह siṃha meaning lion.[2] It is used as a surname or middle name by Hindu communities including Jats,[3] Gurjars, Rajputs, Rajanya Kayasthas, Kurmis, Yadavs, Manipuris, Bengali Hindus and Ahirs,[4][5] as well as by Sikhs,[6] for whom it is mandatory. The surname is generally used by males.

By the sixteenth century, "Singh" had become a popular surname among Rajput warriors and Royal Kayastha administrators/lords.[7]

It was adopted into Sikhism in 1699 as per the instructions of Guru Gobind Singh; the use of Singh as a last name is mandatory for all baptized male Sikhs since 1699, regardless of their geographical or cultural binding.

Some Brahmins, such as Bhumihar Brahmins, Maithil Brahmins also use this surname in Bihar. The anthropologist Kumar Suresh Singh said in People of India (Bihar and Jharkhand), published by the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) that the surname "Singh/Sinha", used to denote connection with power and authority, was now used in Bihar by Brahmin and Kayastha zamindars, like the surname "Khan" is used by Muslims.[8]

In Orissa, "Singh" or "Singha" is derived from "Singha-Mahapatra", which is an Utkala Brahmin surname.[9]

"Singh" has gradually emerged as a hereditary title[10] to be used as a middle name, highlighting connections to a warrior and Royal status.

In the Hindi speaking communities, Singh (Lion) is perhaps the most common surname in Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.[11]

Etymology

The word "Singh" is derived to Sanskrit सिंह Simha/Sinha meaning lion. Several variants of the word are found in other languages:

History

Singh (Hindi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Khari Boli, Western Hindi, Punjabi: , Gujarati: Sinh) is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion". It is used as a common surname and middle name in North India by many communities, groups and peoples, especially the Hindu Rajputs, Jats and the Sikhs. Singh was first used as a surname by the Rajputs beginning in the 7th century. It has been common practice among the Rajput men to have Singh as their middle name. The Rajputs started using Singh in preference to the classical epithet of Varman (meaning shield).

The Sikhs adopted Singh as a surname in 1699, as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. In the Spring of 1699, on the day of Baisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh (originally named Gobind Rai), made it mandatory for all Sikh males to append the name suffix Singh after their name. Singh is used as a middle name or as a surname (see naming patterns section) by approximately 10 million adherents of Sikhism.

Apart from the Sikhs and the Rajputs, several other groups in India have also adopted Singh as either a middle name or a surname. Some of these include the Yadavs (e.g. "Mulayam Singh Yadav"), the Bhumihars, the non-Sikh Punjabis, the Gujjars (e.g. "Nirbhay Singh Gujjar"), and the non-Sikh Jats (e.g. "Maharaja Bhim Singh Rana").

Contrary to the popular belief that Singh is only used by Punjabis, Singh is used by a wider population from Punjab & Haryana to Uttar Pradesh and from Kashmir down into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra to Nepal as well as the far eastern states of Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim and even Bhutan, spanning the entire subcontinent, even reaching Southeast Asia and Indian diaspora across the world. It is also found in use among West Indians of Indian Rajput origin namely in places of Guyana, Trinidad and Surinam, as well as people of Indian origin found in Mauritius and Fiji Island. it is also used by the Thai people with connection to the royalty.

The use of Singh in Hindus as a middle name or last name denotes automatically that they are from the Kshatriya varna and are of the Rajput or Jat sub-caste. Original occupation of Kshatriyas, Rajputs and Jats was of being warriors and rulers, many families under different circumstances over the centuries intermarried or changed their profession to being farmers, carpenters etc. but retained Singh in their name denoting their ancestry and original family genealogy and caste.

The earliest recorded examples of the names ending with "Simha" are the names of the two sons of the Saka ruler Rudraraman in the 2nd century CE.[13]

The first ruler of the Solanki/Chalukya clan who bore the title Simha ruled around 500 CE. The Vengi branch of the Chalukyas continued using Simha as a last name till the 11th century.[13] The Rajputs started using Singh in preference to the classical epithet of "Varman" (meaning shield). Among the Rajputs, the use of the word Simha came into vogue among the Paramaras of Malwa in 10th century CE, among the Guhilots and the Guhilot of Narwar in the 12th century CE, and the Rathores of Marwar after the 17th century.[13]

In the 18th century, the non-kshatriya martial tribes, including the Brahmins and the Baniyas of what are now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, also started using the title Singh in imitation.[13] In the 19th century, even the Bengal court peons of the lower castes also adopted the title Singh.[13]

The adherents of Sikh faith adopted Singh as a surname in 1699, as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.[14] In the Spring of 1699, on the day of Baisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh Ji (originally named Guru Gobind Rai Ji), made it mandatory for all Sikh males to append the name suffix Singh after their name (see also Kaur).

Singh/Sinha is used by Sikhs, Bhumihar Brahmins, Maithil Brahmins and Kshatriya communities as either a middle name or a surname. e.g., Kotwal Dhan Singh Gurjar, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Maharaja Bhim Singh Rana, Prahlad Singh Patel etc. At times, the Marathi Brahmins also use Sinha or Singh as a suffix to their first names, e.g. Udaysinh Peshwa, the scion of the Peshwa Dynasty.[15][16]

The last name "Singh" is in fact used by a wider population from Bihar Jharkhand Punjab to Uttar Pradesh and from Kashmir down into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, to Uttarakhand as well as the far eastern states of Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, and even Bhutan, spanning the entire subcontinent and even reaching Southeast Asia, where in Thailand, as the Chakri Dynasty strove to empower Siam after the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Singh Singhaseni (1777–1849) was a prominent general, and Chao ("Lord") Racha Wong Singh governed Yasothon, 1815–1823. The name is also found in use among West Indians of Indian origin namely in places of Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam, as well as people of Indian origin found in Mauritius and Fiji Island.

Naming patterns

Singh is often used the traditional way, as previously described, by having it as the middle name after the first name and followed by the clan/family name by many communities, groups and peoples.[17] For example, Yogendra Singh Yadav, Prahlad Singh Patel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Sikh examples include Gurmukh Singh Saini,Kirori Singh Bainsala, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Hari Singh Nalwa. Thus Singh can be used as a middle name before the individual's surname (last name), a common practice among many groups in India, e.g., Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1: First name, 2: Singh, 3: Family lineage name). Many adherents of Sikh faith across the world, some of which may come from many other races, countries, cultures and groups use the name "Singh" as a middle name with last name as Khalsa, e.g., Avtar Singh Khalsa (1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Belonging to Khalsa spiritual family). Another practise among Sikhs is to use village/town/city/country lineage after middle name Singh to avoid using the caste lineage, e.g., Parkash Singh Badal (1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Village/town/country lineage).

Singh is also used as a surname (last name) (for example, Choudhary Charan Singh, Vijender Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Manmohan Singh, Vijay Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Dakssh Ajit Singh, and Rajnath Singh).

A common practice among the Rajput men was to have Singh as their last name, while Rajput women had the last name Kumari (Princess) which is derived from Kunwar (Prince). However, many Rajput women have Singh in their name as well.[18] Several times during history Rajputs migrated out of Rajputana; many of those who settled in other parts of India have since come to use Singh as their last name even though they belong to separate Rajput gotras and clans. This happened over several generations due to the local population preferring to popularly call them just Singh in the new places. This was usually enough to denote that they belonged to the Kshatriya varna and were Hindu Rajput warriors by caste.[19]

Immigration issues: Common surname

A section of around a million adherents of Sikhism that live abroad in Western countries only keep Singh or Kaur as their last name. This has caused legal problems in immigration procedures, especially in Canada. For a decade, the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India stated in letters to its Sikh clients that "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada", requiring people with these surnames to adopt new ones. The ban was denounced by the Sikh community, after which the Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced it was dropping the policy, calling the whole thing a misunderstanding based on a "poorly worded" letter.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Raymond Thomas Smith (1996). The matrifocal family: power, pluralism, and politics. Routledge. p. 118. ISBN 0-415-91214-8. ISBN 978-0-415-91214-3.
  2. ↑ Feuerstein, Georg (2002) [1998]. The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice. Motilal Banarsidass/Hohm. p. 444. ISBN 81-208-1923-3. OCLC 39013819.
  3. ↑ B. V. Bhanu Contributors Kumar Suresh Singh, B. V. Mehta, Anthropological Survey of India (2004). People of India: Maharashtra, Part 3. Popular Prakashan,. p. 1846. ISBN 9788179911020.
  4. ↑ Kumar Suresh Singh (1996). Communities, segments, synonyms, surnames and titles. Anthropological Survey of India, Original from the University of Michigan. p. 1390. ISBN 9780195633573.
  5. ↑ Rolamba, Volume 2. Joshi Research Institute. Original from the University of California. 1982. p. 34.
  6. ↑ Catherine B. Asher, Cynthia Talbot (2006). India Before Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 269. ISBN 9780521809047.
  7. ↑ Prakash Chander (1 January 2003). India: Past & Present. APH Publishing. pp. 120–. ISBN 978-81-7648-455-8. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Pranava K Chaudhary (2009-02-21). "Using surnames to conceal identity". The Times of India. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  9. ↑ "West Bengal District Gazetteers: Bānkurā". google.co.in.
  10. ↑ The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008 defines Singh as: "Singh/ Simha/Sinha/ Sinh • n. a title or surname adopted by certain warrior castes of northern India, esp. by male members of the Sikh Khalsa". From The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008, originally published by Oxford University Press 2008 Singh encyclopedia.com; Also see: Oxford University Press, India
  11. ↑ Raja Ram Mehrotra (2001). Book Of Indian Names. Rupa Publications,. ISBN 9788171675425.
  12. ↑ Vanita, Ruth (2005). Gandhi's tiger and Sita's smile: essays on gender, sexuality and culture. New Delhi: Yoda Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-902272-5-4. OCLC 70008421.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Qanungo, Kalika Ranjan (1960). Studies in Rajput History. Delhi: S. Chand. pp. 138–140. OCLC 1326190.
  14. ↑ A History of the Sikh People (1469-1988) by Dr. Gopal Singh ISBN 81-7023-139-6
  15. ↑ "Shivaji's generals will never fade". The Times Of India. 2 June 2004.
  16. ↑ "In PMC we don't trust". Pune Mirror.
  17. ↑ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume I
  18. ↑ Kolff, Dirk H.A., The Rajput of Ancient and Medieval North India: A Warrior-Ascetic; Folk, Faith and Feudalism, edited by NK Singh and Rajendra Joshi, Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur, India. Rawat Publications, Jaipur and New Delhi. ISBN 81-7033-273-7
  19. ↑ Joshi, Rajendra, Feudal Bonds; Folk, Faith and Feudalism, edited by NK Singh and Rajendra Joshi, Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur, India. Rawat Publications, Jaipur and New Delhi. ISBN 81-7033-273-7
  20. ↑ "'Singh' ban denounced". thestar.com. 26 July 2007.