Tracing our Roots....
A Sanskrit proverb says that " A person who
forsakes
his roots, loses direction and the new roots he likes to create will not
really exists". Hence, a justifiable concern for our origins provides a
sense of stability and purpose to our struggles for our existence and
survival.
The origin of the Anavils is traced to the period of
Rama. According to the
Skanda Purana, when Rama was returning from Lanka with Sita after
killing Ravana, he came to the hermitage of Agastya which was situated
in a dense forest on the southern slopes of the Vindhya hills. At a
great rishi’s
bidding, Rama decided to perform a solemn act of expiation at Anadisidha,
for the slaying of Ravana. But as there were no Brahmanas there (without
whom he could not perform the yajna) some Ajachak Brahmanas were
summoned from Gangakulgiri in the Himalayas. Rama offered them a
handsome dakshina but they would not accept it and insisted that they
had merely performed their duty.
Displeased with their refusal, Rama deprived them of
the privilege of teaching the Vedas and performing yajnas. Like the
Vaisyans, their function in society became agricultural. It is said it
was these Brahmanas who became the progenitors of the people of the
Bhathela or the Anavala caste, the subdivisions of which are the Naik
and the Vashi.
The word "Anavil"
The word "Anavil" itself it interesting! It is a
combination of two Sanskrit words: UN+AVIL; UN, a prefix, means NOT in
Sanskrit and AVIL means "that which is dirty or impure". The combined
word therefore means VERY PURE!. It, therefore, seems that Anavils had a
reputation of being a very upright and pure people and, from a
historical perspective, that appears to be borne out.
During the early sixteenth century, when the Moguls'
first came to the Surat district as conquerors, the Anavils were soldier
farmers by all accounts. Why they were soldiering, besides farming, is
not known for sure but one can guess. The word "DESAI" was not is use to
describe these people then. In those days, they were popularly known as
BHATELLAS rather than just ANAVILS. There are five interpretations for
this sobriquet:
1. Bhatella is a combination of two Sanskrit words:
(BHAT+EELA). BHAT means a soldier and EELA means earth. The word,
therefore, means a soldier-farmer;
2. The word could also be a combination of
BHAT+HATHILA. HATHILA means tenacious or obstinate and hence the word
would be interpreted as a tenacious or obstinate soldier;
3. The word has also been interpreted as a degenerate
or derogative derivative of the word BRASHTILLA which means those
brahmins who had lost their purity;
4. The word could have some BHAT meaning RICE + EELA
meaning EARTH thus being interpreted as RICE CULTIVATORS. It is also
true that they were the very first rice farmers in southern Gujarat, and
5. The word could be a combination of BHAT meaning
RIVER DELTA + EELA meaning EARTH and hence being interpreted as a people
who farmed or lived in river deltas.
The first interpretation, that of a soldier farmer,
appears to be the most likely interpretation because the word is a
proper Sanskrit word and Anavils were certainly fighters. Other surnames
(family names) that are common to the Anavils confirm this
observation-NAIK VASHI and MEHTA- all of which mean professionals in the
army or Royal administration. NAYAK means a platoon leader, e.g.
GANANAYAK. The Sanskrit word "VASH" means to control and MEHTA was a
title given to the prime ministers of the princely states in Saurashtra
were called Mehtas. Today, the meaning of the word MEHTA has expanded to
include accountants and teachers, possibly because of the heavy
concentration on education in the last hundred years since the arrival
of British influence and many Mehta families adopted a natural bent
towards accounting and teaching which is what they did when they were
advisors to the rulers of the princely states in earlier times.
Taking the 1962 population census, the Anavils formed
roughly 5% of Surat district's population. Assuming a density of 700
people per square mile, the Anavil population can be approximated as
200,000. Assuming that half as many now live in foreign lands and other
large urban centers in India, the total can be estimated to be about
300,000. An accurate count can only be had if the entire community
participated in developing a world directory, which is the goal of this
virtual community site.....
Portions of this information has been extracted
from the Anavil Samaj of Canada 1993-1994 directory. Thanks to Harmesh
Naik of Michigan for finding the article that contributed to this
story...
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