Pāṇi is a surname used in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, found often in the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

(formerly Orissa). The surname Pāṇi is widely used in Orissa,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, and a large part of eastern and central India. This surname is used by Brahmins whose root is claimed to be traced to

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

of Madhya Pradesh and to the period of

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and ...

. The surname Pani is in use in Italy as well. In Italian, Pane means bread. So it is an occupational surname(last name).

History

There are two stories how this surname (or caste name) came about. The first one says the great grammar pundit

Pāṇini , era = ;;6th–5th century BCE , region = Indian philosophy , main_interests = Grammar, linguistics , notable_works = ' (Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit) , influenced= , notable_ideas=Descript ...

is the ancestor of Pāṇis, and the other story is that a king of

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writin ...

conferred the title Pāṇi to

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

s who could easily memorize all of the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

. It is widely believed that the Brahmins who were primarily occupied with writing scriptures and preserving it were known by the surname Pāṇi. Unlike other Brahmin communities, these Brahmins practiced martial arts and participated in wars. Pani reached their zenith and were revered as ministers in the period of king

Vikramaditya Vikramaditya (IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and ''Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Pratis ...

(1st century AD). Pani migrated to Orissa in the 12th century AD after king Jajati Keshari invited them for a

yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

that was held to honour

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. Pani families in

Purulia district Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

have been

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

s (in

Chakradharpur Chakradharpur is a city in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India. It is the railway divisional headquarters of Chakradharpur (CKP) division of the South Eastern Railway. The city stands at an elevation of 227 metres (745 fee ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

Barabazar Barabazar is a census town in the Barabazar CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Area overview Purulia district forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The g ...

. Some Pāṇis migrated inland to the tribal areas of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and settled during the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

(17th century). (The migrants' descendants still identify themselves as residents of Orissa.) There are a few Pāṇis from this migratory group in Jhargram in west bengal and in western Odisha.

Notable people

Notable people with the surname include: *

Baishnaba Pani Baishnaba Pani (1882–1956) was an Indian writer and arranger of jatras, born at Kothapada, Mahanga, Cuttack; a type of folk-theatre in the state of Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an ...

(1882–1956), Indian writer and theatre director *

Biswamohan Pani Biswamohan Pani is a former design engineer at Intel. In November 2008 he was charged with stealing $1 billion worth of trade secrets from Intel while he worked for its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).Anastasia Tubanos''Intel Employee Cha ...

, former design engineer at Intel *

Bhavna Pani Bhavna Pani is an Indian actress, model and dancer. She is trained in classical dance forms Odissi and Kathak, as well as in ballet and contemporary modern dance. She debuted in films in 2001 with ''Tere Liye''. Career Bhavna Pani was born ...

, Indian actress, model, and dancer *

Ravi Narayan Pani Ravi Narayan Pani is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from Deogarh, Odisha as a member of the Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in ...

, Indian politician *

Uday Shankar Pani Uday Shankar Pani is an Indian film maker. He graduated in 1974 from the Film and Television Institute of India. He was an assistant director in Richard Attenborough's ''Gandhi''. A 1974 documentary on the National Film Archive of India made by ...

, Indian filmmaker

References

{{portalbar, India, Language Surnames Surnames of Indian origin