Bhargava
Bhargava, also spelled Bhargav, is a community in India who believe themselves to be descended from the sage Bhrigu. Its members originate from the Dhosi Hill area and were originally known as Dhusars.
History
The Bhargava community were originally known as Dhusars and were a trading caste (bania or vaishya). During the later part of the 19th century they successfully engineered a rise to the status of brahmin using a process sometimes termed sanskritisation. It was at this time that they took the name of Bhargava.[1] The oldest known inscription mentioning the Dhusar community is at the Sakrai Mata temple at Sakrari in Sikar district, Rajasthan. Dineshchandra Sircar dates this to 879 AD,[2] although it is dated by others to 642 A.D. They were merchants or traders at that time.[3]
The Bhargava now believe themselves to be descended from the sage Bhrigu and his son Chyavana.[4]
Present status
The Bhargava have well-established community associations, the Bhargava Sabhas, that operate in various cities[5] under an umbrella organisation, the All-India Bhargava Sabha (AIBS) located at Gurgaon, Haryana. There are around 37 of these Bhargava Sabhas.[6]
AIBS has also held international conferences. These took place in Canada (2008), USA (2009) and Dubai (2012).
Notable people with Bhargava surname
- Girdhari Lal Bhargava (1936 – 2009), Indian politician, and member of the Lok Sabha
- Gopi Chand Bhargava (1889 – 1966), first Chief Minister of Punjab
- H. R. Bhargava, Indian film director
- Kant Kishore Bhargava, Indian diplomat
- Lila Ramkumar Bhargava, Indian freedom fighter, social worker
- Manish Bhargav, (born 1994), Indian footballer
- Manoj Bhargava, Indian American businessman and philanthropist
- Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, Indian scientist, writer, and administrator
- Rajeev Bhargava (born 1954), Indian political theorist
- Ranjit Bhargava, Indian environmentalist
- Ravindranath Bhargava, Indian politician from Madhya Pradesh.
- R. C. Bhargava (born 1934), chairman of Maruti Suzuki
- Seema Bhargava, Indian film and television actress
- Sharda Bhargava (1912–1999), Indian politician, of Indian National Congress and member Rajya Sabha
- Sneh Bhargava, Indian radiologist, medical academic
See also
References
- ↑ Stark, Ulrike (2004). "Hindi Publishing in the Heart of an Indo-Persian Cultural Metropolis". In Blackburn, Stuart H.; Dalmia, Vasudha. India's Literary History: Essays on the Nineteenth Century. Orient Blackswan. pp. 268, 276. ISBN 978-8-17824-056-5.
- ↑ रतन लाल मिश्र:शेखावाटी का नवीन इतिहास, मंडावा, १९९८, पृ.३११-३१२
- ↑ Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2003). The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-52101-109-9.
- ↑ Bhargava, Puroshottam Lal (1989). Bhargava Jati Ka Itihas. p. 8.
- ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das pages 272 to 277 Manohar Publications
- ↑ Souvenir, "All India Bhargava Sabha' issued at Bikaner, 25-27 Dec 2011, page 57