Patel

Patel is an Indian caste/clan 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. 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.[1]

Not to be confused with Patal.

As a title
  • Kolis of Gujarat who are agriculturist by profession use Patel as a title.
  • Patidars of Gujarat also use the Patel title as they are traditionally village headmen.[2]
  • Parsis of Gujarat were traditionally village herdsmen, some adopted the title of Patel.[3]

Etymology

The Gujarati term paṭel, along with its cognate Marathi terms pāṭel and pāṭīl, are derived from the Prakrit word paṭṭaïl(l)a- "village headman", itself derived from the Sanskrit word paṭṭakila "tenant of royal land", a term first appearing in the Vetālapañcaviṃśatikā.[5]

Geographical distribution

The surname historically originated in the Indian state of Gujarat, where it is amongst the most common of surnames.[6] Today, the name is found across India, as well as in the Indian diaspora.

See also
Look up Patel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References
  1. Rajghatta, Chidanand (4 June 2015). "Global Gujaratis: Now in 129 nations". The Times of India.
  2. Basu, Pratyusha (2009). Villages, Women, and the Success of Dairy Cooperatives in India: Making Place for Rural Development. Cambria Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-60497-625-0.
  3. "'Patel', the most common Indian surname: Oxford". The Hindu. 17 November 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  4. Sheikh, Aziz; Gatrad, Abdul Rashid (2000). Caring for Muslim Patients. Radcliffe Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-85775-372-1.
  5. Turner, Ralph Lilley (1962). A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 434.
  6. Washburn, Edward (2005). India Old and New: With a Memorial Address. p. 178. ISBN 0-543-99414-7.
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