enlightening blog on Goan surnames. While Hindus shortened family names, Catholics expanded their own
By Valmiki Faleiro. > >We checked Goan Hindu Brahmin (GSB) surnames last Sunday. Let us today look at >those of other castes … and how GSBs warded off threats to their surname >identities! The most common non-GSB surnames across Salcete were Chatim (a >corruption of Xette/Shetty, used by Kshatriyas, Vanis and goldsmiths), Garo >(Gaad) and Naique(Naik). Others: Gamso (Gauns), Gorvy (Gurav), Guto, >Poll/Pollo (Pol), Porto, Qurov(Kudav), Saunto (Sawant), Sucaro (Sukdow) and >Vangari. Some exceptional Vanissported the surname ‘Gawde’ – a pre-Aryan Goan >tribe name. Difficult to digest how that came about. Surnames of ‘lower’ >classes, generally, were names of their tribe, caste or occupation. As if >branded on their foreheads. The tribal name of Goa’s first inhabitants, Mhars, >became their ‘untouchable’ surname. Gavdo (Gawde) was a caste-based surname, >like equivalents Zalmi or Velip. So also ‘Gonvlli,’ the tribal name of the >pastoral tribes.The surname of barbers was Mhalo (Nabik in the Marathicized regions of north Goa), denoting the occupation. A class of skilled workmen were Charis. Chanekar, Gadekar,Ghodekar, Kansar, Kumbhar, Pagi were occupation based surnames. > >As the so-called ‘lower’ classes emancipated, they began to take recourse to >various means to hide their caste identity. The easiest way was to replace >their caste surname with that of their village. Traditionally, only GSBs >appended the village name to the surname, as in Nayak-Sancoalkar or >Poy-Raiturcar. Other castes now began using them as surnames. Devllis (temple >servants), ‘devadasis’ or Kalavants (dancers who swirled into whoring) began >calling themselves Pednekars, until then a highly regarded category of >Pernem’s GSBs. Humble ‘Mhars’ renamed themselves Gaunkar, which, indeed, they >were! Thus began a delectable confusion of caste identities via surnames. It >would not be an exaggeration to say that a bulk of non-GSB Goan Hindu surnames >today end in “kar” – and that most of these are after village names. They >reveal neither caste nor occupation. Which, at least to the uninitiated, is >confusion confounded… > >A ‘Borkar’ could either be a GSB from Borim (as in Varde Borkar), or a >Naik-Bhandarihailing from the same village. A ‘Gaunkar’ could be either a GSB >(as in ‘Pai Gaunkar’)or a thoroughbred Kshatriya Maratha, or from any of the >pre-Aryan original settlers of the village way down the caste hierarchy. >‘Kerkar’ could glide from the purest GSBs up to temple dancers. ‘Redkar’ >actually spans the spectrum from GSBs to cobblers. ‘Sardesai’ could be a GSB >or a SattariKshatriya. ‘Chodankar’ could similarly be a GSB, or a goldsmith, >or a Vani, or a Naik-Bhandari, or even a fisherman! Interestingly, goldsmiths >who call themselves Daivadnya Brahmins, adopted surnamesin parallel with GSB >ones. A ‘Lotlikar’ could be a GSB or a goldsmith. ‘Desai,’ chiefly aKshatriya >surname, applies to GSBs and even a rare goldsmith. ‘Shirodkar’ and ‘Kavlekar’ >similarly traverse caste divides. ‘Shirodkar’ ranges from arare GSB or a not-so-rare goldsmith, or even a Bhandari from Shiroda. ‘Raikar’ couldbe a GSB, Vani or goldsmith. ‘Vernekar’ could be GSB or goldsmith. ‘Verlekar’ though, like Nagvenkar, Karekar and Revankar, are generally goldsmith domain surnames.‘Madkaikar’, another golden surname, however, could swing between a goldsmith and a gawda. “Naik” must be the most common surname across the board. It encompasses a broadcanvas: from Kashmiri Muslims (yes, Muslims), GSBs, Kshatriyas, Vanis, Bhandaris –and at least two Catholic (Jesuit) priests I know! An archived baptismal certificate says,“On 8-9-1734, Ganeça Naique (Ganesh Naik), of caste Charado (Kshatriya)…” > >From aRegister of Burials at the College of St. Paul: “The said Baygem Xette >belonged to the caste Vani or Vaixya…” An entry in the Deaths Register of the >Catechumenal House of Betim, “On 31-8-1783, died Jeronimo, known as Madu >Naique, of caste Bandari.” Also:“On 22-3-1759 was baptized Maria or Neuguem, >of the caste sudra…” Faced with increasing mistaken identities, GSBs quietly >fought back. They resorted to reusing their distinct spelling forms (like >Nayak for Naik, Bhandare for Bhandari,Chodnekar for Chodankar) and prefixes of >Shenvi (Sinai) and Pai (Poi) – as in Sinai Dempo or Poi Palondikar – that were >long in disuse. But the Naik-Sancoalkars of Vithalwadi-Comba, Margao, who ages >ago had migrated when their native Sancoale was ravaged by plague – and who >had since dropped the ‘Sancoalkar’ appendage –refused to revert back to their >former surname style: they were too well-known to bemistaken with other Naiks! > >Other GSBs with distinct surnames difficult to ape, abbreviated them. As in >the case of Rajadhyax-Nagarcenkars from Nagarcem-Canacona. Many dropped the >‘Nagarcenkar’appendix. As in Shoba Rajadhyax, before she became Shoba Dey. >Which brings us to another contrast between Goan Hindu and Catholic surnames: >by and by, while Hindus shortened family names, Catholics expanded their own. >Vive la difference? (ENDS.) > > > > >On Thu, Jun 26, 2014 at 11:15 AM, Mario Goveia <mgov...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > >They both don't seem to know how Portugal just happened to be in Goa. LOL! >> >> >>Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Jun 26, 2014, at 1:37 AM, fct11 <falconcit...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> BC >>> your bossmaster missing in action? >>> let it be like that vonly >>> we are enjoying the peace and harmony >>> Paul >> >
