Pandey
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Pandey or Pande (Dev. पाण्डेय pāṇḍeya; also पाण्डे pāṇḍey) is a surname found primarily among the Brahmin caste communities of India and Nepal.
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[edit] Derivation
The etymology of Pandey is unclear. It is most likely that it is derived from the Sanskrit word paṇḍita (पण्डित), which refers to a 'learned man' or 'scholar'.
[edit] Folk Etymology
The popular belief is that those Brahmin families who specialized in all 4 Vedas came to be known as Chaturvedi (chatur means 4 in Sanskrit), those who specialized in 3 Vedas came to be known as Trivedi or Tripathi (tri- meaning 3 in Sanskrit), while Dwivedi specialized in 2 Vedas (dwi- meaning 2). Those who only studied the Veda but did not specialize in them came to be known as Pathak, i.e. the reader. Those who specialized in Upanishads were known as Upadhyaya.
[edit] Distribution
The majority of people with the surname Pandey reside in the North Indian states of Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and western districts of Nepal (Gulmi, etc.). The surname is also found in states such as Jharkhand.
It can be found outside of India in Nepal, Guyana, Fiji, Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago.
[edit] Social Groups
The surname is found predominantly among the Sakaldwipi Brahmin, Kanyakubja, Sarayuparina and other Brahmin communities.
[edit] Similar Names
The surname Pandey is similar to the surname "Pande" (पाण्डे pāṇḍe), which is used in Gujarat, North India and as well as in Nepal. In Maharashtra, several Brahmin families have names ending in "-pande", such as "Deshpande".Panday or Ponday surname is used by some modern Brahmins who fled to Madras during the 1857 Mutiny . It is distinct from the surname "Panday", which is also used by various social groups.
[edit] Notable Pandeys in Society
- Mangal Pandey: Revolted against British and was hanged in the first anti-British Indian Rebellion of 1857
- Aaadietya Pandey: Numerologist
- Chunky Pandey: Film actor
- Ajay Pandey: Chief Operating Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited
- Gyanendra Pandey: Cricketer
- Kamla Kant Pandey: Botanist
- Prasoon Pandey: Film director
- Sandeep Pandey: Social activist
- Pt. Tarkeshwar Pandey: Former Indian Member of Parliament
- Kabinga J Pande: Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament
- Vinod Chandra Pande: Ex-governor, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh
- Bhairab Dutt Pande: Ex-governor, Punjab and West Bengal
- Mrinal Pande : Journalist, writer
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This article contains Indic text. Without rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes or other symbols instead of Indic characters; or irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. |
