Patel

Not to be confused with Patal.

The Patel is an Indian surname or title, predominantly found in the state of Gujarat representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British East India Company) businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally the title is a status name referring to the village chieftains during medieval times, and was later retained as successive generations stemmed out into communities of landowners, including Patidars,^[1] Kolis,^[2] Kurmis,^[1] some Parsis^[3] and Muslims.^[4] There are roughly 500,000 Patels outside India, including about 150,000 in the United Kingdom and about 150,000 in the United States. Nearly 1 in 10 people of Indian origin in the US is a Patel.^[5]

Etymology

The term patel derives from the word Patidar, literally "one who holds (owned) pieces of land called patis", implying a higher economic status than that of the landless,^[6] ultimately from Sanskrit paṭṭakīla,^[7] with the ending -dar (from Sanskrit "धार"—supporting, containing, holding) denoting ownership.^[8]

Geographical distribution

The surname historically originated in the Indian state of Gujarat, where it is amongst the most common of surnames.^[9] Today, the name is found across India, as well as in the Indian diaspora.

See also

• List of people with surname Patel
• Meet the Patels
• Patil
• Patil (surname)

 

Look up Patel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

1. Desk, India TV News; News, IndiaTV (17 November 2012). "India's Patel community: Its history and prominent personalities". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 5 December 2022. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
2. Shylendra, H. S.; Rani, Uma (2005). Diversification and Sustainable Rural Livelihood: A Study in Semi-arid Villages of Western India. New Delhi, India, Asia: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 102: After Patel and Darbaars, Koli Patels and Dalwadis are the next important landed castes in the village. The Koli Patels who comprise about 12.5 per cent of the households own about 15 per cent of the land. Besides agriculture, the Koli Patels also pursue other non-farm occupations like trading and diamond polishing. ISBN 978-81-8069-205-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
3. "'Patel', the most common Indian surname: Oxford". The Hindu. 17 November 2016. pp. One of the most common Indian surnames, Patel, was a status name from a Hindu and Parsi name for a village herdsman. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
4. Sheikh, Aziz; Gatrad, Abdul Rashid (2000). Caring for Muslim Patients. New Delhi, India, Asia: Radcliffe Publishing. pp. 65: Common Sikh names include Kaur. Singh. Gill, Samra. Baines, Uppal, Mann. Khera and names ending in -jit or -jeet. Common. Hindu names include Ben, Devi, Kumar. Das, Lal and Patel, although Gujrati Muslims also occasionally use Patel. ISBN 978-1-85775-372-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
5. Rajghatta, Chidanand (4 June 2015). "Global Gujaratis: Now in 129 nations". The Times of India.
6. Basu, Pratyusha (2009). Villages, Women, and the Success of Dairy Cooperatives in India: Making Place for Rural Development. Cambria Press. pp. 51–55. ISBN 978-1-60497-625-0.
7. . Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
8. Goyal, Pawan (19 May 2014). "ध". Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (in Javanese). The Sanskrit Heritage Site. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
9. Washburn, Edward (2005). India Old and New: With a Memorial Address. p. 178. ISBN 0-543-99414-7.