The Meghani (
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
: મેઘાણી,
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
: मेघाणी) is a
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
of
Koli
Koli may refer to:
Places
* Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland
* Koli National Park, a national park in Finland
* Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran
* Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific
Other uses
* Koli people ...
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
in 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
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
.
As a surname
''Meghani'' (Gujarati મેઘાણી, Hindi मेघाणी) also appears as a
Hindu Gujarati surname. It is judged by the ''
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'' 'probably' to originate in the Sanskrit word मेघ (''
megha Megha means "cloud" in several Indian languages, comes from the Sanskrit word मेघ (megha, "cloud"). It may refer to:
Films
* ''Megha'' (1996 film), hi, मेघा, an Indian Hindi-language film.
* ''Megha'' (2014 film), ta, மேக ...
'').
[''The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'', ed. by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, and Peter McClure, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), III, p. 1819 .v. ''Meghani'' .] The name ''Megha'' is glossed by the ''Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys'' as 'sprinkler', 'cloud, mass', the name of a mythical ''
rakshasa
Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma whe ...
'', and 'the father of the 5th
Arhat
In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...
of the present
Avasarpinī'.
[Maneka Gandhi, ]
The Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys
' (New Delhi: Penguin, 2004), p. 212 (s.v. ''Megha''). In the surname ''Meghani'', ''Megha'' is combined with the adjectival suffix ''-ani'', ostensibly implying a name meaning 'to do with cloud' but, since ''Megha'' can also be a personal name, more likely meaning 'descended from Megha'. The dictionary identifies the name as a Hindu one, and notes that 'this name is also found among people from Sind, Pakistan, who have migrated into India'. The name is associated with the
Lohana caste. As of about 2016, 219 people bore the name in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and none in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Notable people with the name include:
*
Jayant Meghani (1938–2020), Indian editor and translator from Gujarat
*
Jhaverchand Meghani (1896-1947), Indian poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter from Gujarat
References
Surnames of Indian origin
{{India-ethno-stub