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Thakur

Thakur (ठाकुर) is a historical feudal title of the Rajputs or Kshatriyas of the Indian subcontinent[1][2][3] It is also used as a surname in the present day. The female variant of the title is Thakurani or Thakurain, and is also used to describe the wife of a Thakur.[4]

The Thakur Sahib of Morvi (1858-1922) by Sydney Prior Hall royal collections

There are varying opinions among scholars about its origin. Some scholars suggest that it is not mentioned in the Sanskrit texts preceding 500 BCE, but speculates that it might have been a part of the vocabulary of the dialects spoken in northern India before the Gupta Empire. It is viewed to have been derived from word Thakkura which, according to several scholars, was not an original word of the Sanskrit language but a borrowed word in the Indian lexis from the Tukhara regions of Inner Asia. Another view-point is that Thakkura is a loan word from the Prakrit language.

Scholars have suggested differing meanings for the word, i.e. "god", "broodlord", and "master of the estate". Broodlord Ram was a Suryavanshi Kshatriya (the sun dynasty) [5]while Broodlord Krishna was a Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (a branch of the Chandravansh i.e.,the lunar dynasty).[6][7] Thus, the ‘Thakur’ title is used for the Gods for the same reason.

Etymology and meaning

Sisir Kumar Das stated that the word Thakur is derived from the "late Sanskrit" word Thakkura.[8]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist. 

Harka Bahadur Gurung noted that the Nepalese version of the word Thakur is Thakuri.[9]

The meaning of the word Thakur was suggested to be "god" by S. K. Das;[8]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist.  "broodlord" by Blair B. Kling;[10] and "master of the estate" by H. B. Gurung.[9]

Origin

Nirmal Chandra Sinha stated that the word Thakura is "unknown" to the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit and finds no mention in the Sanskrit literature preceding 500 BCE. He suggests, however, that "the word was possibly current in many north Indian dialects before the Imperial Guptas". Sinha notes that many scholars, such as Buddha Prakash, Frederick Thomas, Harold Bailey, Prabodh Bagchi, Suniti Chatterji, and Sylvain Lévi, have suggested that Thakura is a borrowed word in the Indian lexis from the Tukhara regions of Inner Asia.[11] Sinha observed:

Byomkes Chakrabarti noted that the Sanskrit word Thakkura finds mention in "late Sanskrit". He doubted, however, that Thakkura is "an original Sanskrit word" and was of the opinion that Thakkura is probably a loan word from the Prakrit language.[12]

Usage

Thakur Lakhajirajsinhji II Bavajirajsinhji of Rajkot

Susan Snow Wadley noted that the title Thakur was used to refer to "a man of intermediate but mid-level caste, usually implying a landowning caste". Wadley further notes that Thakur was viewed as a "more modest" title in comparison to "Rājā" (King).[13]

S. K. Das noted that while the word thakur means "god", it is also used to refer to the father-in-law of a woman[8][13] or for the Rajputs.[14]

Some academics have suggested that "Thakur was merely a title and not an office whereby a holder was entitled to wield some power in the state".[15] However, some other academics have noted that this title had been used by "petty chiefs" in the western areas of Himachal Pradesh.[16]

The title was used by rulers of several princely states, including Ambliara, Vala, Morbi, Barsoda, and Rajkot State. Sons of thakurs were given the Sanskrit title of Kumara ('prince'), popular usage being Kunwar in the North and Kumar in Bengal and South India.[17]

The territory of land under the control of a Thakur was called thikana.[18]

References

  1. ↑ This Rajput community, which claims to be Broodlord Ram’s descendants, will wear pagris after 500 years! - The Economic Times. m.economictimes.com. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  2. ↑ Rajput History in the Theatre of Post-Truth Narratives (in en). The Arch-Rebel (2023-04-06). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  3. ↑ Dhingra, Sanya. Who are Thakurs of UP and why are they powerful? Answers are key to understanding Hathras (in en-US). ThePrint (2020-10-09). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  4. ↑ Thakur last name popularity, history, and meaning (in en). namecensus.com. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  5. ↑ This Rajput community, which claims to be Broodlord Ram’s descendants, will wear pagris after 500 years! - The Economic Times. m.economictimes.com. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  6. ↑ Narayanteli. करौली का इतिहास ( यादव वंश ) - History of Karauli (in en-US). Jaimini (2021-08-21). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  7. ↑ करौली में यादवा (आधुनिक जादों ) राज्य की स्थापना , संस्थापक एवं तत्कालीन यदुवंशी शासक ---. करौली में यादवा (आधुनिक जादों ) राज्य की स्थापना , संस्थापक एवं तत्कालीन यदुवंशी शासक ---. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Das, Sisir Kumar. Forms of Address and Terms of Reference in Bengali. Anthropological Linguistics 10 (4) (April 1968)Trustees of Indiana University. p. 19–31.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gurung, Harka Bahadur. Faces of Nepal (1996)Himal. p. 29. ISBN 978-9993343509.
  10. ↑ Kling, Blair B.. Partner in Empire: Dwarkanath Tagore and the Age of Enterprise in Eastern India (1976)University of California Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0520029279.
  11. ↑ Sinha, Nirmal Chandra. Inner Asia and India Through the Ages. New. Bulletin of Tibetology 23 (1) (1987). Gangtok, India: Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  12. ↑ Chakrabarti, Byomkes. A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali (1992)K. P. Bagchi & Company. p. 14. ISBN 978-8170741282.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Wadley, Susan S.. Raja Nal and the Goddess: The North Indian Epic Dhola in Performance (2004). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0253217240.
  14. ↑ Ellinwood, DeWitt C.. A Perspective on the Western Front by an Indian Army Office on the Western Front. Western Front Association (January 2002). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Sharma, Ghanshyam Datt. Rajput Polity: A Study of Politics and Administration of the State of Marwar, 1638–1749 (1977)Manohar. p. 18. ISBN 978-0883868874.
  16. ↑ Ohri, Vishwa Chander. History and Culture of the Chamba State, a Western Himalayan Kingdom: Collected Papers of the Seminar Held at Chamba in 1983 (1989)Books & Books. p. 131. ISBN 9788185016252.
  17. ↑ Vadivelu, A.. [Thakur at Google Books The Aristocracy of Southern India, Volume 2].
  18. ↑ Doornbos, Martin. Dynamics of State Formation: India and Europe Compared (1997)Sage. p. 81. ISBN 978-8170365747.
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