Singh

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For the fictional global crime syndicate, see Singh Brotherhood.
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Singh ( ,Hindi: सिंह singh Punjabi: ਸਿੰਘ singh, Gujarati: સિંહ sinh) is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion"[1]. It is a common title, middle name, or surname in North India originally used exclusively by Hindu Rajputs, later adopted by other martial groups of India and finally the Sikhs, in 1699, as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh.[2] In present times it has also been adopted by other Hindu groups and does not necessarily signify warrior status or ties. It is of interest to note that some Brahmins like Bhumihar Brahmins (see Kingdom of Kashi and Royal House of Benares) and Maithil Brahmins (see History of Mithila) also use this name Singh.

Singh emerged as a hereditary title[3] to be used as one's middle name signifying connection to a warrior status or occupation.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The word "Singh" is derived from the Sanskrit Siṃha meaning lion. Several variants of the word are found in other languages:

  • In Hindi Devnagari script, the name is written as सिंह ("Siṅh", IPA: Siŋhə) and often pronounced as सिघ ("Singh", IPA: Siŋɣə). Other variants include Simha, Sinha, and Singhal.[4][5]
  • In Tamil, the word for lion is Singham or Singhe written as சிங்க, also derived from Sanskrit (see Malay words of Tamil origin, and Singapore).
  • In Punjabi (Gurmukhi script), the name is written as ਸਿੰਘ (Singh) and pronounced as Singh.
  • In Gujarati, it is spelled as સિંહ (Sinh). Another variant is Sinhji, the form of Singh used in Gujarat, where the 'g' is dropped and the suffix of respect, 'ji' is added.
  • Chinese is said to have also derived the word for lion from Buddhist missionaries from India: the word Shizi 狮子.[6] However, other sources state this was borrowed from Elamite. [7]
  • In Thailand, Singha, written as Thai: สิงห์ with final syllable marked as silent, refers to a mythical lion; the zodiac sign of Leo; a popular brand of beer, Singha; and is frequently used as a place name (for instance, Ban Singh Tha). Singhakhom Thai: สิงหาคม, in which the /ha/ is pronounced, is the Thai solar calendar month of August. Sing Toe Thai: สิงโต, which omits /ha/ entirely and adds Thai for big or grown up, refers to the lion. All except Toe are of Sanskrit origin.
  • A common surname of Bihar, "Sinha" also may have had origins in the word 'Singh"
  • The term Sinhalese referring to natives of Sri Lanka, meaning "lion blood" (Sinha = lion, le = blood) may also be construed as having origin in the word 'Singh'. The Sinhalese people are said to be descended from Prince Vijaya (a king who is fabled to have descended from a lion)

[edit] History

Singh was first used as a surname by the Rajputs beginning in the 7th century[8]. It has been common practice among the Rajput men to have Singh as their middle name.[9] The Rajputs started using Singh in preference to the classical epithet of "Varman".[10]

The Sikhs adopted Singh as a surname in 1699, as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.[11] In the Spring of 1699, on the day of Baisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh (originally named Guru Gobind Rai), made it mandatory for all Sikh males to append the name suffix Singh after their name. Singh is used as a middle name or as a surname (see naming patterns section) by approximately 20 million adherents of Sikhism.[12]

Apart from the Rajputs and the Sikhs, several other groups in India have also adopted Singh as either a middle name or a surname. Some others include the Yadavs (e.g. "Mulayam Singh Yadav"), Bhumiyar Brahmins, the Gujjars (e.g. "Nirbhay Singh Gujjar"), and the non-Sikh Jats (e.g. "Chaudhary Charan Singh and Maharaja Bhim Singh Rana").

The last name "Singh" is in fact used by a wider population from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh and from Kashmir down into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharastra to Nepal as well as the far eastern states of Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, and even Bhutan, spanning the entire subcontinent and even reaching Southeast Asia. It is also found in use among West Indians of Indian origin namely in places of Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam, as well as people of Indian origin found in Mauritius and Fiji Island.

[edit] Naming patterns

Singh is often used the traditional way, as previously described, by having it as the middle name after the first name and followed by the clan/family name by many communities, groups & peoples.[13] For example, "Yogendra Singh Yadav", "Bhupinder Singh Hooda", "Mahendra Singh Dhoni", and "Bhairon Singh Shekhawat"). Sikh examples include, "Jassa Singh Ahluwalia" (Commander-in-Chief of the Khalsa army), "Jassa Singh Ramgarhia" & "Hari Singh Nalwa" (General of Khalsa army). Thus Singh can be used as a middle name before the individual's surname, a common practice among many groups in India e.g. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (Pattern, 1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Family name). Singh is also used as a surname (for example, "Manmohan Singh", "Vijay Singh", and "Harbhajan Singh").

Earlier, a common practice among the Rajput men was to have Singh as their last name, while Rajput women had the last name of Kumari or Kunwarani. However, many Rajput women have Singh in their name as well.[14] Several times during history due to various reasons Rajputs have migrated out of Rajputana their native region; many of those that settled in other parts of India have since come to use Singh as their last name even though they belong to separate Rajput gotras and clans, this happened over several generations due to the local population preferring to popularly calling them just Singh in the new places they settled outside Rajputana, this was usually enough to denote that they belonged to the Kshatriya varna and were Hindu Rajput warriors by caste.[15]

[edit] Immigration issues: Common surname

A section of around a million adherents of Sikhism that live abroad in western countries only keep Singh or Kaur as their last name. This has caused legal problems in immigration procedures especially in Canada with Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India for a decade stating in letters to its Sikh clients "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada" people with these common Sikh surnames have to change their last names before coming to Canada. This has been causing severe emotional, legal and financial hardship for Sikh applicants in India who have been complying by undergoing costly and lengthy name change procedures out of fear that their application to immigrate to Canada will be rejected outright otherwise.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] However as soon as the media got involved and after a storm of complaints from Sikhs, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa reversed New Delhi office's 10-year decree that `the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada' with Canadian Federal immigration officials further clarifying that "asking applicants to provide a surname in addition to Singh or Kaur has been an administrative practice used by our visa office in New Delhi as a way to improve client service and reduce incidents of mistaken identity. This was not a mandatory requirement. There is no policy or practice whereby people with these surnames are asked to change their names, the letters that were sent out to Sikh clients in Delhi were poorly worded."[25][26][27]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Feuerstein, Georg (2002) [1998]. The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice. Motilal Banarsidass/Hohm. p. 444. ISBN 8120819233. OCLC 39013819. 
  2. ^ Allen, Charles; Sharada Dwivedi (1984). Lives of the Indian Princes. New York: Century. p. 344. ISBN 9780517556894. OCLC 11821681. 
  3. ^ The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008 defines Singh as: "Singh / sing/ • n. a title or surname adopted by certain warrior castes of northern India, esp. by male members of the Sikh Khalsa". From the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008, originally published by Oxford University Press 2008 [1]. Also see: Oxford University Press, India
  4. ^ Dahiya, Bhim Singh (1980). Jats, the Ancient Rulers: A Clan Study. New Delhi: Sterling. p. 5. OCLC 7086749. 
  5. ^ Vanita, Ruth (2005). Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture. New Delhi: Yoda Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-8190227254. OCLC 70008421. 
  6. ^ The Wisdom of China and India - By Lin Yutang ISBN 0394607597
  7. ^ http://www.linguistics.stonybrook.edu/pub/papers/Miao_2005.pdf
  8. ^ History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India - 4 Vols. ; Till the Year A.D. 1612 by Mahomed Kasim Ferishta ISBN 8170691222
  9. ^ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by Col. James Tod ISBN 8175361883 ISBN 978-8175361881
  10. ^ Qanungo, Kalika Ranjan (1960). Studies in Rajput History. Delhi: S. Chand. p. 99. OCLC 1326190. 
  11. ^ A History of the Sikh People (1469-1988) by Dr. Gopal Singh Isbn: 8170231396
  12. ^ Dr. McLeod, Head of Sikh Studies, Department of South Asian Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
  13. ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume I
  14. ^ Kolff, Dirk H.A., The Rajput of Ancient and Medieval North India: A Warrior-Ascetic; Folk, Faith and Feudalism, Edited by NK Singh and Rajendra Joshi, Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur, India. Rawat Publications, Jaipur and New Delhi. isbn 81-7033-273-8
  15. ^ Joshi, Rajendra, Feudal Bonds; Folk, Faith and Feudalism, Edited by NK Singh and Rajendra Joshi, Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur, India. Rawat Publications, Jaipur and New Delhi. ISBN 81-7033-273-8
  16. ^ "Common Sikh names banned under Canada's immigration policy". Canada: CBC News. July 23, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/07/23/names-immigration.html. 
  17. ^ "Speaking Notes". Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on Surnames on Permanent Resident Applications. July 26, 2007. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/speeches/2007/2007-07-26.asp. 
  18. ^ "Sikh name-change letter 'poorly worded'". Canada: CBC News. July 25, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/25/immigration-name.html. 
  19. ^ "Sikh group slams immigration name change policy". Canada: CBC News. July 25, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/24/name-singh.html. 
  20. ^ Binks, Georgie (25, 2007). "Tune that name, In Depth Immigration". Canada: CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/name-change/index.html. 
  21. ^ "Letter to CBCNews.ca from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Clarifying the names policy; In Depth Immigration". Canada: CBC News. July 26, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/name-change/email.html. 
  22. ^ "Common surnames, In Depth Immigration". Canada: CBC News. July 26, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/name-change/common-surnames.html. 
  23. ^ "FBI Name Check Cited In Naturalization Delays (USA), Official Calls Backlog 'Unacceptable'". Washington Post. 17, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601360_pf.html. 
  24. ^ "No more Singhs, Kaurs on visa forms". Canada: The Times of India. 26 Jul 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indians_Abroad/File_No_more_Singhs_Kaurs_on_visa_forms_Canada/articleshow/2234538.cms. 
  25. ^ San Grewal Staff reporter (Jul 26, 2007). "WHAT THE LETTER SAYS". Canada: TheStar.com. http://www.thestar.com/article/240030. "'Singh' ban denounced, After a storm of complaints from Sikhs, Ottawa reverses New Delhi office's 10-year decree that `the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada'" 
  26. ^ "Canada allows Sikhs to keep last names". USA TODAY. Jul 26, 2007. http://usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-07-26-3691324223_x.htm. 
  27. ^ "Canada drops immigration policy on Sikh surname". The Times of India. 26 Jul 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/File_Canada_drops_policy_on_Sikh_surnames/articleshow/2237206.cms. 
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