Gaekwad (also spelt Gaikwar and Gaikwad; mr, Gāyǎkǎvāḍǎ) is a surname native to the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

of Maharashtra. The surname is found among the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas the ...

and in

Scheduled castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

. It is also a common surname among

Bharadi Bharadi is a village in Ambegaon taluka of Pune District in the state of Maharashtra, India. The village is administrated by a Sarpanch who is an elected representative of village as per constitution of India and Panchayati raj (India) ...

Dhor The Dhor Koli also known as Tokre Koli, or Tokare Koli is a subcaste of the Koli caste found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Dhor Kolis are bamboo cutters by profession. Origin and distribution The Dh ...

, and

Mahar Mahar, meaning "original inhabitants of Maharashtra" (in various languages), is an Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism i ...

communities of Maharashtra.

Etymology

The

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

historian D.S. Parasnis and his co-author, the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

High Court judge, C.A. Kincaid of colonial-era India, wrote in 1908 that the origin of the name ''Gaekwad'' is a combination of two

words. In mr, gai, italic=yes means ''cow'' and means ''small door''. Therefore, ''gaekwad'' (or ''gaikwad'') denotes ''cow door''.

Notable people

Notable people with the surname include: * Gaekwads of Baroda - Maharajas of Baroda State *

Keerti Gaekwad Kelkar Keerti Gaekwad Kelkar (born 21 January 1974) is an Indian television actress and model. She is prominently known for playing the '' leading character'' of Simar Prem Bharadwaj in television series ''Sasural Simar Ka''. She began her career in ...

(born 1974), an Indian television actress and model *

Anshuman Gaekwad Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad (born 23 September 1952) is a former Indian cricketer and two-time Indian national cricket coach. He played in 40 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals. His father Datta Gaekwad also played Test Cricket for I ...

, a former Indian cricketer and two-time Indian national cricket coach * Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, known by his stage name Rajinikanth, an Indian actor and politician * Sunil Gaikwad Member of Parliament 16th, Maharashtra *

Ravindra Gaikwad Ravindra Vishwanath Gaikwad (born 27 April 1960) is an Indian politician associated with Shiv Sena, and was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India from 2014 to 2019 as a member of that party. He did not contest Lok Sabha elections in 2019. In ...

, a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India *

Hiralal Gaekwad Hiralal Ghasulal Gaekwad (29 August 1923 – 2 January 2003) was an Indian cricketer who played in one Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * ...

, an Indian cricketer who played in one Test in 1952 *

Rajeshwari Gayakwad Rajeshwari Gayakwad (born 1 June 1991) is an Indian cricketer. She plays as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She made her debut in international cricket in a One Day International against Sri Lanka on 19 January 2014. Personal life She star ...

, Indian women cricketer *

Ruturaj Gaikwad Ruturaj Dashrat Gaikwad (born 31 January 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for Maharashtra in domestic cricket and for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He made his international debut for the Ind ...

, Maharashtra domestic and

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

Cricketer * Raju Gaikwad, professional footballer

References

{{surname Indian surnames Koli clans