Savji
Encyclopedia
“Savji” or “Somavanshi Sahastrarjun Kshatriyas” are people who belong to the Kshatriya community within the Hindu caste system in India. They claim their linage to legendary puranic king Sri Sahasrārjuna also called Kartavirya Arjuna
or Sahastrabahu
of the Haihaya vansha. The savji community is also referred with other names like Pategar, Pattegar, Patkar, Patvegar, Patvekar and Khatris in different regions of India where they reside. They traditionally follow the patrilineal system of descent and kinship. Savji community is spread in different parts of India.
Savjis are also called with different names in some parts of the country like Pategar / Patkars (mostly in Karnataka / Andhra / Tamilnadu), Shas’ (some parts of Tamilnadu) and Khatris (mostly in Rajasthan, Andhra and some other states). The name Pategar / Patkar has its root in Tamil language and comes from the word “Pattu”. Pattu in Tamil means “Silk”. When savjis from the north central India migrated to the southern states, many of them were involved in silk cleaning and weaving business. Because of this occupation they came to be known as “Pattu Velu” (meaning “Silk Cleaners “in Tamil. “Velu” in Tamil means “cleaning”) or “Pattu garu” or “Pattu kar”, meaning “Silk makers” in Telugu
which eventually became “Pategar” or “Patkar”. Even today, there are many savji families in Karnataka , Andhra and Tamil nadu who are in silk cleaning and weaving business. They are called as Khatris in parts of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
or Sahastrabahu
of the Haihaya dynasty ruled his ancient kingdom and had his capital in Maheshwar
, Madhya Pradesh. Written accounts of Kartavirya Arjuna can be found in Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. Sahastrarjun is also mentioned as one of the chakravartin
kings in puran
and Mahabharata
. There's a temple of Sri Somavamsha Sahasrārjuna in Maheshwar, MP, dating back to the early 2nd century. The temple was rebuilt in 13th century after withstanding Muslim
attacks. This temple is also called as Sahastrabahu temple and is a major tourist attraction. It is also referred to as Sas – bahu temple (which is mispronunciation of Sahastrabahu
not to be confused with Mother in law – Daughter in law)
Later, medieval history (8th century to 13th century) is attributed to the Savji kings and dynasties who were the direct descendants of Sri Sahastrarjun, who ruled in north central India, notable among them being the Kalchuri dynasties. They bravely withstood the constant threats from the Muslim invasions. However with the fall of the Kalchuri rulers and the threat of rising conversions by the Islamic rulers , whose kingdoms were expanding from north, the community started migrating slowly from their original homeland to other parts of India during the 12th and 13th century AD.
pooja (in the form of Hinglaj mata, Bhawani mata or Jagdamba mata etc) is common in both the communities. Savjis believe their descent from Haihaya dynasty (dynasty of Sri Sahasrārjuna). Even Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
claim to be descendants of King Sahastrarjuna and the Haihaya dynasty. All of these communities were once the same and part of the dynasty that ruled the region of Malwa. Once powerful, the Kalchuri dynasty fell gradually to the rising Islamic rule in northern India. Constant threat of Islamic invasions and a fear of losing their cultural identity to the forced religious conversions by the Islamic rulers compelled the community to gradually disintegrate, and disperse from their homeland to different parts of India.
Savji community now as it is known thus broke from the larger community and migrated down south during that time. During the course of several centuries the link between these disintegrated communities was lost. The people who migrated to whichever parts of India adopted the regional traditions and languages. The places where they migrated as one big integrated group, retained their culture and tradition with little influence from the regional communities whereas places where they are in small numbers adopted the regional cultures and languages of the state where they are residing for example, people in Madhya Pradesh speak Hindi
and follow Malwa culture, people in Gujarat speak Gujarati
and follow Gujarati culture, many people in Maharashtra
speak Marathi
and follow Marathi culture etc.
pooja. As such the family deities of the savjis are manifestations of the goddess Shakti like Jagadamba mata, Durga Mata, Hinglaj Mata and Bhawani Mata. All religious ceremonies are performed as per Vedic rituals. Being Kshatriyas and as prescribed by ancient Hindu scriptures, savjis perform thread ceremony (Upanayana
) for boys. Men are only supposed to marry after their upanayan. Dasara or Dusshera is the main festival in the community and forms the period of Shakti worship and is observed for nine days or navaratri.
, Holi
and other traditional Hindu festivals. Every year communities in some places organize social gathering and deity prayer called “Bhandara”. The function is preceded with prayer, bhajan and aarti of the deity , followed by meals in the form of Prasad. The meal served during the function is mostly vegetarian food.
Like Brahmins, Savjis perform the thread ceremony (Upanayana
). Marriages follow the traditional Vedic wedding and happens for three days with all the rituals like deity pooja, engagement, “Gandh”, “Haldi” etc. Offering dowry in any form is strictly forbidden in the community. This is a notable feature of Savji community which they take lot of pride in. Moreover, the marriage ceremony is performed by the bride groom’s side. In many places mass marriages and upanayanas are conducted for the welfare of poor samaj people. During marriage the bride and groom side look for the Lagna
and Janma Kundli to match between the boy and the girl, and also for the matching Gotra
. Wedding date is fixed based on the Panchang
for auspicious day. Inter caste marriages are not very common in the community. Marriages mostly happen within the community and in some cases between far relatives. Because of this close association, the community has also managed to preserve its distinct culture and tradition.
Traditionally men in the community appended “sa” and women “bai” to their names, for example: Yellosa, Pitambarsa, Ambubai etc. It is also considered respectful among elders to call someone of their age with the “sa” or “bai” appended to their name when referring or addressing them.
Most places have a committee called the “Punch” formed with elders in the community. The “Punch” committee takes care of organizing social events, gatherings and functions in those places, finances for the welfare of the community etc. Most marriages are registered with the “Punch” for record. The “Punch” also helps to resolve community issues, family issues when required. Before going to court or legal system, the members of the community discuss the matter with the “Punch” and take their advice and try to resolve the issue within themselves. Because of these social works, the “Punch” committee is highly respected in the community. Most of the community functions happen in community center or in temple halls after taking the blessings of the deity.
and Solapur
in Maharashtra etc. There are a line of savji bhojanalays in Nagpur that are very popular in Maharashtra so much so that, the famous Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor had once featured Savji mutton on one of his shows and it’s recipe is also listed on his website. Besides the non vegetarian cuisines savji sweets like Malido (made of coarsely ground wheat chapatis) sweetened with jaggery with a good dash of roasted gram, roasted pea nuts, grated coconut and other condiments like nutmeg, cardamom, poppy seeds etc. Chonga, Chakkole, Labshi, Shervo, Pure, Kanola, Puran Poli and Mithi Dal are also most commonly cooked sweets. The influence of other communities can be seen from these cuisines, e.g. Puran Poli is typically a Maharashtrian cuisine, Mithi Dal is nothing but Hygru made by the North Karnataka Brahmins, Chonga and Malido are made by the Muslim community in Hyderabad, Labshi is a sweet commonly prepared by the Saurashtrians in Gujarat.
It is hard to estimate the exact number of people in the community because of its wide dispersion. However it is estimated that the total strength of the community could be somewhere between 4-5 lakhs in India. The community has never had an official caste census. Maximum population of the community resides in Karnataka(majority of them in Hubli/ Dharwad/Gadag(around 2-3 lakhs) and others in Bangalore/Harihar/Belgaum/Gudur/Gajendragad/Gulbarga) and in Maharashtra(majority of them in Solapur
/Nagpur
and others in Nasik, Pune, Mumbai, Kolhapur,Karad,Satara Sinnar, Sangamner, Yeola, Vasmat (Basmath)) , Andhra(majority in Hyderabad / Secunderabad and other in Kurnool, Nandyala, Gudur (knl dist), Gadval, Armoor, Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Koratla, Sangareddy, Rayalseema areas like Kodumur, Rajoli, Gadval, Mahabub Nagar, Gudur, Kurnool and Nandyala where they are called Khatris), Tamilnadu(majority in Chennai , Kanchipuram and others in Tanjore, Vellore, Madurai), Madhya Pradesh(majority in Indore, Burhanpur,Jabalpur, Gwalior) , Gujarat(majority in Ahmedabad/Vadodara/Surat). They are also found in Rajasthan (Jaipur, Ajmer) and Delhi in small numbers. In recent years some of the savji families have settled in foreign countries with most of them in USA and others in UK, Canada etc.
, Sindhi
, Gujarati
, Marwari
. It originated as the prototypical languages that existed in the Maheshwar region at time of their migration in early 11th century from that region. The language is very similar to Gujarati which forms fifty percent of the words and sounds very much like a dialect of Gujarati with some words of Marathi, Hindi, and Marwari etc. In the course of their migration from their original homeland, the language of the people got influenced by other languages that were prevalent in the regions through which they migrated and settled. The language spoken by savji people in Hubli/Dharwad/Gadag area in Karnataka where they settled in large number after their long migration seems to be the closest to the original language since it is less influenced by regional language. Whereas in places where they scattered in small numbers, the language got heavily influenced by other regional languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu etc. Close resemblance to Gujarati and Marwari languages also suggests that savji people were part of communities that lived in the region of eastern Madhya Pradesh and western Gujarat , which eventually got separated and migrated to settle in different parts of India. Savji language does not have its own script, as such, the language is written in other regional language scripts like Devanagari
, Marathi
, Hindi
, Kannada, Telugu
, and Tamil
etc. Most savji families living in Madhya Pradesh mostly speak Hindi, savjis in some parts of Maharashtra speak in Marathi, savjis in some parts of Gujarat speak Gujarati. Savjis in Tamil Nadu, Andhra and some parts of Karnataka speak a variation of the savji language influenced with urdu and other deccani languages and call it Khatri bhasha. It is interesting to note that Nimadi Dialect spoken commonly in the whole of Malwa District, East Nimar, West Nimar and a part of Dhar Districts of Madhya Pradesh has very close resemblance to the Dialect spoken by the Savji Community.
Kartavirya Arjuna
Kartavirya Arjuna , was a legendary king of an ancient kingdom during the Ramayana period with capital at Mahishamati which is on the banks of Narmada River in the current state of Madhya Pradesh. Kartavirya was son of Kritavirya, king of the Haihayas. This is his patronymic, by which he is best...
or Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu is a legendary warrior in Hindu mythology.. According to legend, he was a contemporary to Lord Rama. He fought many fights and won all of them except one with Parshuram who killed all the Kshatriya Kings to take revenge of his parents' death....
of the Haihaya vansha. The savji community is also referred with other names like Pategar, Pattegar, Patkar, Patvegar, Patvekar and Khatris in different regions of India where they reside. They traditionally follow the patrilineal system of descent and kinship. Savji community is spread in different parts of India.
Etymology
The origin of the word savji is much speculated. According to one belief the word has its root in the word “Sau” , “Sav”, “Sao” or “Sahu” used for merchants and money lenders in the Malwa region (east Gujarat and West Madhya Pradesh) of India during medieval times. Modern words Savkar, Sahukar, Saukar or Saokar used primarily in North and Western India is derived from the same root words. Traditionally, savjis have been a business community from several centuries; as such it is possible that they derived this name from their occupation. Within the savji community, the word by itself is used by other people in the community to designate elders with respect. For example to refer someone respected in the community the word “savji” is post fixed with the person’s name example Ram savji, Gopal savji etc. Also, it is used to refer to brother in law in the community.Savjis are also called with different names in some parts of the country like Pategar / Patkars (mostly in Karnataka / Andhra / Tamilnadu), Shas’ (some parts of Tamilnadu) and Khatris (mostly in Rajasthan, Andhra and some other states). The name Pategar / Patkar has its root in Tamil language and comes from the word “Pattu”. Pattu in Tamil means “Silk”. When savjis from the north central India migrated to the southern states, many of them were involved in silk cleaning and weaving business. Because of this occupation they came to be known as “Pattu Velu” (meaning “Silk Cleaners “in Tamil. “Velu” in Tamil means “cleaning”) or “Pattu garu” or “Pattu kar”, meaning “Silk makers” in Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
which eventually became “Pategar” or “Patkar”. Even today, there are many savji families in Karnataka , Andhra and Tamil nadu who are in silk cleaning and weaving business. They are called as Khatris in parts of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
History
According to ancient history, Somvanshi Sahasrārjuna Kshatriyas were once the rulers of the north central India. They belong to the lunar dynasty of the Arya race.Savjis are staunch martial Hindus with strong lineage of Emperors, Kings and renowned warriors. In puranic times the illustrious king Sri Rajarajeshwar Sahasrārjuna or Kartavirya ArjunaKartavirya Arjuna
Kartavirya Arjuna , was a legendary king of an ancient kingdom during the Ramayana period with capital at Mahishamati which is on the banks of Narmada River in the current state of Madhya Pradesh. Kartavirya was son of Kritavirya, king of the Haihayas. This is his patronymic, by which he is best...
or Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu is a legendary warrior in Hindu mythology.. According to legend, he was a contemporary to Lord Rama. He fought many fights and won all of them except one with Parshuram who killed all the Kshatriya Kings to take revenge of his parents' death....
of the Haihaya dynasty ruled his ancient kingdom and had his capital in Maheshwar
Maheshwar
Maheshwar is a town in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located 13 km east of National Highway 3 and 91 km from Indore, the commercial capital of the state. The town lies on the north bank of the Narmada River.-Etymology:The name Maheshwar comes from...
, Madhya Pradesh. Written accounts of Kartavirya Arjuna can be found in Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. Sahastrarjun is also mentioned as one of the chakravartin
Chakravartin
Chakravartin , is a term used in Indian religions for an ideal universal ruler, who rules ethically and benevolently over the entire world. Such a ruler's reign is called sarvabhauma. It is a bahuvrīhi, literally meaning "whose wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling...
kings in puran
Puran
Puran Puran Tehsil is a sub-division and tehsil of Shangla District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan....
and Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. There's a temple of Sri Somavamsha Sahasrārjuna in Maheshwar, MP, dating back to the early 2nd century. The temple was rebuilt in 13th century after withstanding Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
attacks. This temple is also called as Sahastrabahu temple and is a major tourist attraction. It is also referred to as Sas – bahu temple (which is mispronunciation of Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu
Sahastrabahu is a legendary warrior in Hindu mythology.. According to legend, he was a contemporary to Lord Rama. He fought many fights and won all of them except one with Parshuram who killed all the Kshatriya Kings to take revenge of his parents' death....
not to be confused with Mother in law – Daughter in law)
Later, medieval history (8th century to 13th century) is attributed to the Savji kings and dynasties who were the direct descendants of Sri Sahastrarjun, who ruled in north central India, notable among them being the Kalchuri dynasties. They bravely withstood the constant threats from the Muslim invasions. However with the fall of the Kalchuri rulers and the threat of rising conversions by the Islamic rulers , whose kingdoms were expanding from north, the community started migrating slowly from their original homeland to other parts of India during the 12th and 13th century AD.
Origin and connections with other similar communities
Customs, traditions and the language spoken by savjis suggests that the community has its origin in North Central part of India or Malwa region (between west Madhya Pradesh and East Gujarat) where such customs are followed and languages similar to the savji language are spoken. Close resemblance in physical features, traditions and believes of other kshatriya communities like the kalchuri in north central India, and the common history that these communities share, also establishes the fact that savjis were part of a larger community that lived in north-central part of India during 6th century till 13th century before the advent of Islam in northern part of India. ShaktiShaktism
Shaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
pooja (in the form of Hinglaj mata, Bhawani mata or Jagdamba mata etc) is common in both the communities. Savjis believe their descent from Haihaya dynasty (dynasty of Sri Sahasrārjuna). Even Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu or , abbreviated CKP, is an ethno-religious community which is part of Kayastha. The mother tongue of this community is Marathi...
claim to be descendants of King Sahastrarjuna and the Haihaya dynasty. All of these communities were once the same and part of the dynasty that ruled the region of Malwa. Once powerful, the Kalchuri dynasty fell gradually to the rising Islamic rule in northern India. Constant threat of Islamic invasions and a fear of losing their cultural identity to the forced religious conversions by the Islamic rulers compelled the community to gradually disintegrate, and disperse from their homeland to different parts of India.
Savji community now as it is known thus broke from the larger community and migrated down south during that time. During the course of several centuries the link between these disintegrated communities was lost. The people who migrated to whichever parts of India adopted the regional traditions and languages. The places where they migrated as one big integrated group, retained their culture and tradition with little influence from the regional communities whereas places where they are in small numbers adopted the regional cultures and languages of the state where they are residing for example, people in Madhya Pradesh speak Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and follow Malwa culture, people in Gujarat speak Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
and follow Gujarati culture, many people in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
speak Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
and follow Marathi culture etc.
Religion
Savjis follow Hinduism with emphasis on ShaktiShaktism
Shaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
pooja. As such the family deities of the savjis are manifestations of the goddess Shakti like Jagadamba mata, Durga Mata, Hinglaj Mata and Bhawani Mata. All religious ceremonies are performed as per Vedic rituals. Being Kshatriyas and as prescribed by ancient Hindu scriptures, savjis perform thread ceremony (Upanayana
Upanayana
Upanayana is the initiation ritual by which initiates are invested with a sacred thread, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge .- Significance of the sacred thread :...
) for boys. Men are only supposed to marry after their upanayan. Dasara or Dusshera is the main festival in the community and forms the period of Shakti worship and is observed for nine days or navaratri.
Culture and Festivals
Dasara or Dusshera is the main festival in savji community during which goddess of power or Shakti is worshiped. Special culinary dishes like "Edimi" (prepared of wheat flour, gram flour), "Arithi" (prepared of wheat flour in shape of Diyas) and offer Lalpani" (intoxicants) to the Goddess Bhavani. On every Kartika month Sapthami tithi in Shravana Nakshatra Savjis celebrate the birthday of Sri Sahastrarjun called “Sahastrarjuna Jayanti” with much pomp and gaiety. Procession of Sahastrarjun’s idol is taken out in many places on the Sahastrarjuna Jayanti. Other festivals that are celebrated are DiwaliDiwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
, Holi
Holi
Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United...
and other traditional Hindu festivals. Every year communities in some places organize social gathering and deity prayer called “Bhandara”. The function is preceded with prayer, bhajan and aarti of the deity , followed by meals in the form of Prasad. The meal served during the function is mostly vegetarian food.
Like Brahmins, Savjis perform the thread ceremony (Upanayana
Upanayana
Upanayana is the initiation ritual by which initiates are invested with a sacred thread, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge .- Significance of the sacred thread :...
). Marriages follow the traditional Vedic wedding and happens for three days with all the rituals like deity pooja, engagement, “Gandh”, “Haldi” etc. Offering dowry in any form is strictly forbidden in the community. This is a notable feature of Savji community which they take lot of pride in. Moreover, the marriage ceremony is performed by the bride groom’s side. In many places mass marriages and upanayanas are conducted for the welfare of poor samaj people. During marriage the bride and groom side look for the Lagna
Lagna
In Hinduism, the Lagna , is the first moment of contact between the soul and its new life on earth in Jyotisha.One's ascendant, or lagna, is the degree of the rāshi which is rising on the eastern horizon at the time of one's birth.This is more specifically called the Udaya Lagna to differentiate...
and Janma Kundli to match between the boy and the girl, and also for the matching Gotra
Gotra
In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...
. Wedding date is fixed based on the Panchang
Panchangam
A panchāngam is a Hindu astrological almanac, which follows traditional Indian cosmology, and presents important astronomical data in tabulated form. It is sometimes spelled Pancanga, Panchanga, Panchaanga, or Panchānga, and is pronounced Panchānga...
for auspicious day. Inter caste marriages are not very common in the community. Marriages mostly happen within the community and in some cases between far relatives. Because of this close association, the community has also managed to preserve its distinct culture and tradition.
Traditionally men in the community appended “sa” and women “bai” to their names, for example: Yellosa, Pitambarsa, Ambubai etc. It is also considered respectful among elders to call someone of their age with the “sa” or “bai” appended to their name when referring or addressing them.
Most places have a committee called the “Punch” formed with elders in the community. The “Punch” committee takes care of organizing social events, gatherings and functions in those places, finances for the welfare of the community etc. Most marriages are registered with the “Punch” for record. The “Punch” also helps to resolve community issues, family issues when required. Before going to court or legal system, the members of the community discuss the matter with the “Punch” and take their advice and try to resolve the issue within themselves. Because of these social works, the “Punch” committee is highly respected in the community. Most of the community functions happen in community center or in temple halls after taking the blessings of the deity.
Cuisine
Savji community is known for its hot and spicy non vegetarian delicacies and savji masala in places where savjis are concentrated in large numbers. Majority of the savji people are non vegetarian and hence preparation of variety of meat dishes is very common in the community. Goat meat, chicken and fish forms major component of Savji cuisine along with other vegetarian dishes. Alcohol consumption is not restricted in the community. Some of the common recipes include edmi (puris made of wheat flour, gram flour, chilies and other spices), khaimo or kheema (minced goat meat), shakanu chaknu (goat and chicken curry) prepared in special Savji spices. Savji food is famous for its very hot and spicy flavor in many cities (where they are in large number) served in small family style restaurants called Savji khanavali or Savji Hotel / Bhojanalaya, found in large numbers in places like Hubli, Bangalore, Belgaum in Karnataka, NagpurNagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
and Solapur
Solapur
Solapur is a city in South Western Maharashtra, India governed by municipal corporation.Solapur is one of the four districts that form the region of Western Maharashtra . It is the fourth largest district in Maharashtra in terms of land area and seventh largest in terms of population...
in Maharashtra etc. There are a line of savji bhojanalays in Nagpur that are very popular in Maharashtra so much so that, the famous Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor had once featured Savji mutton on one of his shows and it’s recipe is also listed on his website. Besides the non vegetarian cuisines savji sweets like Malido (made of coarsely ground wheat chapatis) sweetened with jaggery with a good dash of roasted gram, roasted pea nuts, grated coconut and other condiments like nutmeg, cardamom, poppy seeds etc. Chonga, Chakkole, Labshi, Shervo, Pure, Kanola, Puran Poli and Mithi Dal are also most commonly cooked sweets. The influence of other communities can be seen from these cuisines, e.g. Puran Poli is typically a Maharashtrian cuisine, Mithi Dal is nothing but Hygru made by the North Karnataka Brahmins, Chonga and Malido are made by the Muslim community in Hyderabad, Labshi is a sweet commonly prepared by the Saurashtrians in Gujarat.
Demographics and Distribution
It is hard to estimate the exact number of people in the community because of its wide dispersion. However it is estimated that the total strength of the community could be somewhere between 4-5 lakhs in India. The community has never had an official caste census. Maximum population of the community resides in Karnataka(majority of them in Hubli/ Dharwad/Gadag(around 2-3 lakhs) and others in Bangalore/Harihar/Belgaum/Gudur/Gajendragad/Gulbarga) and in Maharashtra(majority of them in Solapur
Solapur
Solapur is a city in South Western Maharashtra, India governed by municipal corporation.Solapur is one of the four districts that form the region of Western Maharashtra . It is the fourth largest district in Maharashtra in terms of land area and seventh largest in terms of population...
/Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
and others in Nasik, Pune, Mumbai, Kolhapur,Karad,Satara Sinnar, Sangamner, Yeola, Vasmat (Basmath)) , Andhra(majority in Hyderabad / Secunderabad and other in Kurnool, Nandyala, Gudur (knl dist), Gadval, Armoor, Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Koratla, Sangareddy, Rayalseema areas like Kodumur, Rajoli, Gadval, Mahabub Nagar, Gudur, Kurnool and Nandyala where they are called Khatris), Tamilnadu(majority in Chennai , Kanchipuram and others in Tanjore, Vellore, Madurai), Madhya Pradesh(majority in Indore, Burhanpur,Jabalpur, Gwalior) , Gujarat(majority in Ahmedabad/Vadodara/Surat). They are also found in Rajasthan (Jaipur, Ajmer) and Delhi in small numbers. In recent years some of the savji families have settled in foreign countries with most of them in USA and others in UK, Canada etc.
Language
Savji people speak a language called "Savji bhasha" or "Khatri bhasha" in some regions that belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and appears to be an amalgamation of Indic languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, MarathiMarathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Sindhi
Sindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
, Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
, Marwari
Marwari language
The Marwari language , also variously Marvari, Marwadi, Marvadi), is spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Marwari is also found in the neighboring state of Gujarat and Haryana and in Eastern Pakistan...
. It originated as the prototypical languages that existed in the Maheshwar region at time of their migration in early 11th century from that region. The language is very similar to Gujarati which forms fifty percent of the words and sounds very much like a dialect of Gujarati with some words of Marathi, Hindi, and Marwari etc. In the course of their migration from their original homeland, the language of the people got influenced by other languages that were prevalent in the regions through which they migrated and settled. The language spoken by savji people in Hubli/Dharwad/Gadag area in Karnataka where they settled in large number after their long migration seems to be the closest to the original language since it is less influenced by regional language. Whereas in places where they scattered in small numbers, the language got heavily influenced by other regional languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu etc. Close resemblance to Gujarati and Marwari languages also suggests that savji people were part of communities that lived in the region of eastern Madhya Pradesh and western Gujarat , which eventually got separated and migrated to settle in different parts of India. Savji language does not have its own script, as such, the language is written in other regional language scripts like Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Kannada, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, and Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
etc. Most savji families living in Madhya Pradesh mostly speak Hindi, savjis in some parts of Maharashtra speak in Marathi, savjis in some parts of Gujarat speak Gujarati. Savjis in Tamil Nadu, Andhra and some parts of Karnataka speak a variation of the savji language influenced with urdu and other deccani languages and call it Khatri bhasha. It is interesting to note that Nimadi Dialect spoken commonly in the whole of Malwa District, East Nimar, West Nimar and a part of Dhar Districts of Madhya Pradesh has very close resemblance to the Dialect spoken by the Savji Community.
Common phrases in the savji language
| Words / phrases | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| नमस्कार | Namaskaar | Hi / Hello |
| परत भेटा | Parat Bheta | See you again/Bye Bye |
| धन्यवाद | Dhanyavaad | Thank you |
| व्है | Vhai / Whai | Yes (Konkani = vhai) |
| नै | Nai | No |
| नको | Nako / Na | Don't |
| कौडा | Kauda / Ketla | How much/many |
| कौ | Kau | How |
| कवा | Kavaa | When |
| कोण | Kon | Who (Marathi = Kon) |
| काय | Kaay | What (Marathi = kaay) |
| कसान | Kasaan | Why |
| हौ | Hau | I (Konkani = Hav,Gujarati = hun) |
| तू | Tu | You (singular) |
| हमिः | Hamee(h) | We |
| तुमिः | Tumee(h) | You (plural)Konkani = tumee |
| छोगोट | Chogot | Good (Marwari = chokhu) |
| जुमन | Juman | Meal (Marwari = zhiman) |
| शाका | Shaka | Meat (especially mutton) |
| चाकनू | Chaknoo | Curry (Vegetarian or Meat) |
| पासल | Paasal | Behind (Gujarati = Paachal) |
Comparison of Savji language with Gujarati
| Words / Phrase | Transliteration | English | Gujarati Gujarati language Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages... | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| तुमिः कौ छे ? | Tumeeh kau che? | How are you? | Tame kem Cho? | |
| तुमी जुमन कर्या ? | Tumee juman karya? | Did you eat? | Tame jaman kariyu? | |
| तू कटला वास्ता आई ? | 'Tu katla vasta aai? | What time did you come? | Tu katla vagey avi? | |
| त्यो गयोतो | Tyo gayo toe | He had gone | Te gayo hato | |
| त्यो आयो | Tyo aai gayo | He came | Te avi gayo | |
| हौऊ तूने प्रेम करूच | Hau tuney prem karuch | I love you | Hun tamane prem karu chhu | |
| तुमी खा सूरआई गयाता? | Tumi kha sur aii gayata? | Where did you sleep | Tame kya sui gaya hata? | |
| तुमारू नाव काय छे? | Taru naav kai chey? | What is your name? | Taru naam shu chey? | |
| तुम्ने भेटिकन आनंद हि | Tumne bhetikan anand hee | Pleased to meet you | Tamane maline anand thaiyo |
Common last names or (Surnames) of savjis
Afre, Ahir, Arsid, Akhnoor, Akola, Alaspure, Aljapur, Ambala, Ambekar, Ambadkar, Amate, Ambhore, Anthalamara, Anvekar, Aparya, Arawatagi, Athani, Avadhuta, Auji, Bhagat, Bhumkar, Baddi, Badam, Bachawal, Bagdane, Bahekar, Bande, Baji, Bakale, Bakde, Bakhave, Bakle, Balid, Bankapur, Banuse, Barad, Baredu,Baradi, Barhanpure, Basone, Basude, Baswa, Batchu, Bawale, Benglorkar, Bevinakatti, Bhandage, Bhandari, Bharatkhane, Bharatwaj, Bhoomraddi, Bhure, Bhupat, Bhute, Bidri, Bobde, Boriwale, Borgaonkar, Bichawe, Bojagiri, Bochekeri, Billade, Burbure, Burukul, Cettiyar, Chauhan, Chandan, Chandu, Chamakura, Chatni, Charahazare, Chatankar, Chavan, Chaute, Chawale, Chawande, Chawadimani, Chawla, Chede, Chennapatnam, Chinagi, Chinchanasure, Choudhari, Choule, Dagudu, Dalbhanjan, Danej, Dani, Damam, Damankar, Damji, Darade, Daulatabad, Dawale, Dave, Dhage, Dharamdhas, Dhigale, Dhinggar, Dhinge, Darbi, Dariya, Dashpute, Dassu, Deshmukh, Devre, Dhadange, Dhalkari, Dhondale, Dhongadi, Dhondi, Diwan, Dumane, Dutte, Fanse, Fazal, Fulzad, Gadagkar, Gaddada, Gaddi, Gadhuda, Gathadi, Gamva, Gantedi, Ganbhava, Ghogade, Ghokari, Ghondale, Gangji, Garag, Gemanjyothi, Golconda, Gaul, Ghatadi, Gopal, Gongle, Gorak, Gorale, Gore, Gouda, Goyal, Gudas, Gudi, Gulhane, Gujarathi, Gyani, Habib, Hade, Hadgal, Haadimani, Hamsagar, Handi, Hanumasagar, Harihar, Harke, Hasaji, Havanur, Hazari, Hazare, Hirulkar, Hondadakatti, Hosmani, Hublikar, Irkal, Jadi, Jadhav, Jahagirdar, Jalnapure, Jamadar, Jartarghar, Jarthargar, Javare, Jayade, Jituri, Jessu, Jyothi, Jamanjyothi, Jetling, Jugge, Jathe, Jedis, Jethe, Jhare, Jhinge, Joshi, Kabadi, Kabadagi, Kadthan, Kadwane , Kalburgi, Kalpavruksh, Kamlapure, Kale, Kaligar, Kalgikar, Kalyan, kamlu, Kanchi, Khandesh, Kankarej, Kantakar, Kapadi, Kashalakar, Kashigaon, Kashikar, Kashiwale, Kathare, Kathari, Kathe, Katyare, Katekar, Katigar, Katikar, Katwa, Katwe, Kavade, Kedare, Keshavdas, Khade, Khaire, Khanapure, Khataraki, Khatwate, Khatri, Khedkar, Kherud, kherudkar, Khidse, Khoday, Khodwe, Kodmur, Kokane, Kolhapure, Komte, Kondekar, Koneri, Korukonda, Kosandal, Kosandar, Kotha, Kothle, Kubeer, Kudane, Kudalia, Kukkar, Kunbi, Kumar, Kuthe, Ladwa, Ladwe, Ladhwa, Lalpotu, Latkan, Lomte, Magaji, Magajikondi, Mahaldar, Mahale, Mahakucha, Mahorkar, Maldar, Malda, Malapure, Mallampally, Malokar, Makara, Makawane, Makat, Mani, Mahajan, Malji, Malagi, Maitrani, Mamarde, Mathera, Mathira, Memani, Merpade, Metrani, Megharaj, Meharwade, Merwade, Mamidi, Mengi, Mengji, Mhatre, Margue, Marajkar, Mule, Mirajkar, Maratta, Miskin, Mudgal, Nagpure, Nagare, Nagri, Nakade, Nakoti, Nandedkar, Nandgaonkar, Nandyal, Naikwad, Nakhare, Nakod, Nakode, Naldurg, Namji, Nampalli, Narayankar, Navale, Niranjan, Omkar, Padal, Padwalkar, Pawar, Pakhare, Palanpure, Palankar, Pandhare, Pandhya, Pancholi, Panchpakali, Pandit, Papli, Pahilwan, Pakhale, Parihar, Painjane, Paralkar, Parashar, Parlikar, Patekar, Patvi, Pati, Patil, Pattan, Patwekar, Pendu, Petkar, Phulpagar, Pidikeri, Pisavaari, Pohar, Pujari, Punasako, Punekar, Raibagi, Rangapure, Rajoli, Ramning, Rangrej, Raotole, Rathod, Raut, Rawal, Ratan, Ratnapuri, Rawane, Rokde, Rings, Rodage, Rooda, Roodatakka, Rowdri, Rupakathare, Sadhu, Sahu, Sakaram, Sambar, Satpute, Satarkar, Savji, Shastrakar, Shalgar, Shidling, Shahari, Shendre, Shespure, Shete, Shibaragatti, Shikari, Shilodre, Shisodre, Shingri, Shiralkar, Shirasagar, Shivgunde, Shrigade, Sidikeri, Sirigiri, Sita, Solanki, Solanke, Someshwarapu, Somvanshi, Sonatakke, Sonawane, Sonicha, Subanji, Suryavanshi, Sultanpurkar, Surapure, Surve Surthi, Sutare, Sulegar, Sulegai, Tagadghar, Tambre, Tanksali, Taak, Tapar, Tartare, Tavarej, Tanaji, Tegginamani, Thokal,Tikale, Tikare, Tikandar, Trimal, Tirumali, Tokle, Tunk, Ture, Turerao, Ucchatni, Ugadhmathe, Ugvar, Ujawane, Uieke, Uttarkar, Uttarkumar, Vaddey, Utawale, Vadegar, Vagale, Valnekar, Varma, Vaidya, Vasmatkar, Vijapure, Vishwanatha, Wagule, Waghmare, Wakhare, Walvekar, Wadekar, Yeolekar, Zad,Organizations and Associations
- There are several organizations that work for the welfare of the community. Some of them are:
- Akhil Bharatiya Somvanshiya Sahastrarjuna Kshatriya Sangh, Bangalore
- The Vidhyavardhak Sangh of Gadag, Karnataka which sponsors prizes and donations to meritorious students.
- SSK Sports and Cultural Association of Bangalore, Karnataka
- Sahasrarjun Seva Samiti in Bangalore, Karnataka registered as a charitable trust to serve the economically challenged section of the community.
- SSK Samaj of Solapur, Maharashtra.
- SSK Samaj Secunderabad, Hyderabad.
Magazines and Publications
- A quarterly magazine called "Sahastrarjuna Vani" is published from Bangalore. It is published in Hindi, English and Kannada.In Maharashtra a magazine called "Sahastrarjuna Samachar" is published from Ulhasnagar and "Sahasrarjuna Sandesh" is published from Solapur
External links
- SSK Pranthiya Samaj, Andhrapradesh
- http://www.mahaprantiyassksamaj.com
- Global Portal for Somavanshiya Sahasrarjun Kshatriya Samaj
- Exclusive Matrimonial Site for SSK community
- Akhil Bharatiya SSK Samaj - Savji's in India
- Savji's in North America
- Sahasrarjun Seva Samiti in Bangalore
- SSK Samaj - Ahmedabad, Gujarat state
- SSK Samaj Solapur, Maharashtra