Dalavayi also spelled Dalwai, Dalavay and Dalvoy was meaning title of Chief in Commander or Commander in the military in South Indian dynasty. In Kingdom of Mysore,

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...

and his eldest son

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

were appointed to this position. The word Dalavayi is a

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

or vernacular form of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

word (which literally means: leader or chief of the team or wing). In western India, especially Maharashtra and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

the descendants of Dalavayis still use the title ''Dalvi'' (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

: दळवी) as surname, which is modern form of the Prakrit word Dalavayi.{{cite book, last1=Bloch, first1=J., title=Formation of the Marathi Language, date=1970, publisher=Motilal Banarasidas Publishers, isbn=9788120823228, page=161

References

Heads of government Titles in India People of the Kingdom of Mysore Military personnel from Karnataka