Who are Pan's Pandeys?

[under construction]

Pan's residents are Pandey, a surname that is popular in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. However, they are not always inter-related except for being Bhahmins. Some of them have adopted the Pande पांडे variant and others, Pandey पांडेय. Writing one's surname as Pandey in English and  पांडे in Hindi is also a common practice.

The new variants of the surname are derived from Sanskrit and early Hindi पाण्डे  or पाण्डेय, especially under the influence of English. In fact, till 1970's, these were in wide use. Pande is a common surname among Brahmins in north and central India. In Maharashtra, many surnames end with this suffix. In Nepal, this surname is also attached with a Kshatriya clan.

In itself, Pande may not have a significance in tracing the origin of a clan of Brahmins, as this surname seems to have been given to / adopted by Brahmins who were pandits पण्डित (wise men), had paand पाण्ड (a small piece of land) or travelled here and there (Sanskrit पाण्ड = to move). In recent times, this surname is reported to be adopted by those residing in the vicinity of Pandeys' villages.

 

Pandeys traditionally are Brahmins who do not conduct rituals in others' homes and take dakshina for that. Bairati's Tiwaris have been doing pujas and other rituals in the homes of Pan's Pandeys.

Gazetteers of British times are often quoted. Since those were not research documents but compilations made by locals based quite often on hearsay and certified by a British officer, it is doubtful whether they understood the nuances.

Like many other Kumanoni Brahmins, the ancestors of Pan came from the plains. The earliest name recorded is that of Mahati Pandey who came to the foothills from Kannauj during the rule of Rudrachandra and settled there. If so, Pan's Pandeys are Kanyakubj Brahmins. 

 

Mahati Pandey and his progeny was given land by the king and over time they settled in higher reaches of Kumaon. [The linkage from Mahati Pandey has been drawn up by some knowledgeable people from the village and has been published by Shri Girish Pandey in the form of a book. Scans of the book's pages are available on the present blog.]

Traditionally, Pan's Pandeys are vegetarian and do not offer animals to local deities. They even did not plough their land themselves because the yoke of the plough was made of animal hide. (That is supposed to be one of the main reasons of their decline.)

Their culture has traditionally been strongly aligned with other Kumaoni Brahmins. They have been firm believers in karmakand (Hindu Brahmanic rituals), and would keep fast and performed puja on a number of days throughout the year. They follow traditions of the plains and adopt many from the locals. The ceremonies and rituals held during marriage, janeu (threading), namkarn and antyeshti (last rites) have also elements of plains, adopted for the hills. Like other Brahmins from this regions, some of their typical icons/ rituals are: pichhora (a yellow scarf with red dots, worn at weddings and other festivities), ...

Pan's residents have not adopted ethnic dances such as jhora, perhaps because these are more aligned with local khshatriya traditions. Similarly, drinking has not formally entered their festivities.

GOTRA

कश्यप / काश्यप / काशिव / काशिब

The gotra (=clan) of Pan's Pandeys is Kashyap कश्यप, known after the name of Vedic Rishi of that name. Kashyap is supposed to be among the top eight Rishis mentioned in Vedas.

During discussion with some people who have/ had lived in the village, it was learnt that Kashib (काशिब) as the gotra has been in use by priests while performing pujas. It is also known to have been used by old people while talking of their gotra. 

Some people have also shared that according to the legend, Kashyap Rishi had two disciples and one of them was Kashiv/ Kashib काशिव. Pandeys of Pan descended from the disciple Rishi and thus have Kashiv/ Kashib (काशिव/ काशिब) gotra.

Some believe that the real name of Pan's gotra is Kaashyap काश्यप. In a Sanakrit text, it is stated that Kaashyap काश्यप depicts those originated from Rishi Kashyap कश्यप, the same way as name of Angiras अंगिरस gotra comes from Angira अंगिरा Rishi's name. If so, Kaashyap काश्यप and Kashyap कश्यप are two variants of the same word. 

 

On a discussion on Simaltiya Pandeys, it is stated that while Simaltiya Pandeys belong to Kashyap कश्यप gotra, the clan of Pandeys of Pan-Bairati, Bhatkote, Pipal Kanda, Nahan etc belongs to Kaashyap काश्यप gotra.

According to Hindu tradition, persons of the same gotra are not allowed to marry each other. It is argued that there have been marriages with Pandeys of some other villages who have Kashyap as their gotra; so, if Pan's gotra were Kashib, the marriage was not possible. 

When some research was done on the subject, it was found that there was only one Rishi, Kashyap. Many Hindus claim to have a linkage with him, and there is even a surname Kashyap. Originally only Brahmins claimed gotras in the name of Rishis, but later these were adopted by Kshatriyas also. In fact, the Kashyap gotra among Rajputs has a large number of surnames under it.

It is also learnt that gotra system does not necessarily state that persons of a particular gotra are descendants of that particular Rishi but perhaps Rishis' names were used as mascots. While one belief is that all the living beings on the earth originated from 13 wives of Kashyap Rishi, there are texts that state that Hindu Brahmin gotras originated from 10 Rishis whose descendants were identified with the name of the ancestor. The descendants who also became Rishis in their own right were called Pravars प्रवर and their descendants were also known by the names of Pravars. 

According to some documents, Kashiv / Kashib originated from a Jat legend. According to it, Jats came from  jataa जटा of Lord Shiva, and so one of their clans adopted Kashiv (= का शिव) as their gotra, which then became Kashib काशिब.