Kotwal (Koli title)
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Kotwal is a respectable title of Kolis in Gujarat. Among members of the Koli caste, Kotwal is a title, derived from the occupation of fort-keepers or protectors of forts and village leader.[1][2] Even when a Koli man retired as a kotwal, he and his descendants would use "Kotwal" as a surname as it signified prestige.[3] Kolis were Kotwal from the times of Mughal rule in Gujarat[4] and were hereditary Kotwal of the royal palaces of Rajkot, Morvi and Bhavnagar Princely states.[5] Kolis of Maharashtra also served as Kotwal in Ahmadnagar Sultanate and controlled the forts.[6]
References
- ↑ Somanaboina, Simhadri. The Routledge Handbook of the Other Backward Classes in India: Thought, Movements and Development (in en) (2021). New Delhi, India: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-46280-7.
- ↑ Rao, B. S. S.. Television for Rural Development (in en) (1992). New Delhi, India, Asia: Concept Publishing Company. p. 161. ISBN 978-81-7022-377-1.
- ↑ Shah, A. M.. Exploring India's Rural Past: A Gujarat Village in the Early Nineteenth Century (in en) (2002). New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. p. 82–91. ISBN 978-0-19-565732-6.
- ↑ Khān, ʻAlī Muḥammad. Mirat-i-Ahmadi: A Persian History of Gujarat (in en) (1965). New Delhi, India, Asia: Oriental Institute. p. 831.
- ↑ Vanyajāti (in en) (1989). New Delhi, India, Asia: Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh.. p. 26.
- ↑ Shyam, Radhey. The Kingdom of Ahmadnagar (in en) (1966). New Delhi, India, Asia: Motilal Banarsidass Publications. p. 376. ISBN 978-81-208-2651-9.