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History of Kaur & Singh

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Kudi Nepal Di:

Kaur

Kaur (Punjabi: ਕੌਰ; Hindi: कौर) in Sikhism (meaning: "princess") is a mandatory last name for female Sikhs, in the same way as Singh is for male Sikhs.

History

Kaur, is term used by Sikh women either as the final element of a compound personal name or as a last name. It cannot be regarded as a true surname or family name. Its origin goes back to Sanskrit word, 'Kunwar' or Kaur which changed into Kaur by metathesis. Among Sikhs, female names are often derived from male names by the addition of Kaur. The tenth guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, made it mandatory for Sikh females to use the name Kaur and for Sikh males to use the name Singh, when he administered Amrit (baptism) to both males and female Sikhs. All female Sikhs were asked to use the name Kaur after their forename and males were to use the name Singh. Since 'Kaur' means princess), it acts as a symbol of equality among males and females. This custom further confirmed the equality of both genders as was the tradition set by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. It also gave women the sense of self-respect.
Guru Gobind Singh said,
"You are my beloved, my daughters. You must be respected. How can this world be without you?".
"You don’t have to take anybody else's name. You are an individual, you are the equivalent of a prince, and you keep Kaur as your given name.
Kaur provides Sikh women with a status equal to all men. This was also intended to reduce the prejudice created by caste-typing based on the family name. Prejudice based on caste was still rampant during Guru Gobind's time (17th century). This particularly affected women who were expected to take their husband's family name upon marriage.

Kudi Nepal Di:

Singh

Singh (Punjabi: ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: सिंह singh, Gujarati: સિંહ sinh) is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion"[1]. It is a common title, middle name, or surname in Northern India used initially by the Kshatriyas (Rajputs).[2] In 1699 the name was adopted in Punjab by adherents of the Sikh faith, according to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh. While others have a choice of using Singh as a name, for all Sikhs the second name Singh is mandatory - regardless of their geographical or cultural binding. The surname was later widely adopted by other groups of India like Yadavs and Jats. It is of interest to note that some Brahmins like Bhumihar Brahmins (see Kingdom of Kashi and Royal House of Benares) and Maithil Brahmins (see History of Mithila) also use this name. "Singh" has gradually emerged as a hereditary title to be used as a middle name, highlighting connections to a warrior status or occupation. However, this is not an exclusive usage, and many Hindu groups including Scheduled Castes and Vaishya have adopted this title without any significant warrior status or ties.

Etymology

The word "Singh" is derived from the Sanskrit Siṃha meaning lion. Several variants of the word are found in other languages:
In Punjabi (Gurmukhi script), the name is written as ਸਿੰਘ (Singh) and pronounced as Singh
In Hindi Devanagari script, the name is written as सिंह ("siṅh", IPA: [sɪŋɦə]) and often pronounced as सिघ ("singh", IPA: [sɪŋɡʱə]). Other variants include Simha, Sinha, and Singhal
In Tamil, the word for lion is Singham or Singhe written as சிங்க, also derived from Sanskrit (see Malay words of Tamil origin, and Singapore)
In Gujarati, it is spelled as સિંહ (Sinh). Another variant is Sinhji, the form of Singh used in Gujarat, where the 'g' is dropped and the suffix of respect, 'ji' is added
In Burmese, it is spelled သီဟ (thiha), derived from the Pali variant siha.
Chinese is said to have also derived the word for lion from Buddhist missionaries from India: the word Shizi 狮子. However, other sources state this was borrowed from Elamite

In Thailand, Singha, written as Thai: สิงห์ with final syllable marked as silent, refers to a mythical lion; the zodiac sign of Leo; a popular brand of beer, Singha; and is frequently used as a place name (for instance, Ban Singh Tha). Singhakhom Thai: สิงหาคม, in which the /ha/ is pronounced, is the Thai solar calendar month of August. Sing Toe Thai: สิงโต, which omits /ha/ entirely and adds Thai for big or grown up, refers to the lion. All except Toe are of Sanskrit origin
A common surname of Bihar, "Sinha" also may have had origins in the word 'Singh"
The term Sinhalese referring to natives of Sri Lanka, meaning "lion blood" (Sinha = lion, le = blood) may also be construed as having origin in the word 'Singh'. The Sinhalese people are said to be descended from Prince Vijaya (a king who is fabled to have descended from a lion)

History

Singh was first used as a surname by Ahir kings of Nepal and later by the Gurjara-Pratiharas beginning in the 7th century. ames tod says that it has been common practice among the Rajput men to have Singh as their middle name. The Rajputs started using Singh in preference to the classical epithet of "Varman".
The adherents of Sikh faith adopted Singh as a surname in 1699, as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.  In the Spring of 1699, on the day of Baisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh (originally named Guru Gobind Rai), made it mandatory for all Sikh males to append the name suffix Singh after their name and "Kaur" for Women.
Singh is used by Sikhs, Bhumihar Brahmins and Kshatriya communities such as Gurjars,  Jats,  Rajputs, Yadavs etc. as either a middle name or a surname. e.g. Kotwal Dhan Singh Gurjar, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Maharaja Bhim Singh Rana, Mulayam Singh Yadav etc.
The last name "Singh" is in fact used by a wider population from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh and from Kashmir down into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharastra to Uttarakhand as well as the far eastern states of Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, and even Bhutan, spanning the entire subcontinent and even reaching Southeast Asia. It is also found in use among West Indians of Indian origin namely in places of Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam, as well as people of Indian origin found in Mauritius and Fiji Island.

Naming patterns

Singh is often used the traditional way, as previously described, by having it as the middle name after the first name and followed by the clan/family name by many communities, groups & peoples. For example, "Yogendra Singh Yadav", "Bhupinder Singh Hooda", "Mahendra Singh Dhoni", and "Bhairon Singh Shekhawat". Sikh examples include, "Jassa Singh Ahluwalia", "Jassa Singh Ramgarhia" & "Hari Singh Nalwa" . Thus Singh can be used as a middle name before the individual's surname (last name), a common practice among many groups in India e.g. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (Pattern, 1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Family lineage name). Many adherents of Sikh faith across the World, some of which may come from many other races, countries, cultures and groups also use the name "Singh" as a middle name with last name as "Khalsa" e.g. "Avtar Singh Khalsa" (Pattern, 1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Belonging to Khalsa Spiritual Family). Another practise among Sikhs is to use village/town/city/country lineage after middle name Singh to avoid using the caste lineage e.g. "Parkash Singh Badal" (Pattern, 1: First Name, 2: Singh, 3: Village/Town/country lineage). Singh is also used as a surname (last name) (for example, "Manmohan Singh", "Vijay Singh", and "Harbhajan Singh").
Earlier, a common practice among the Rajput men was to have Singh as their last name, while Rajput women had the last name of Kumari(Princess) which is derive from "Kanwar"(Prince). However, many Rajput women have Singh in their name as well. Several times during history due to various reasons Rajputs have migrated out of Rajputana their native region; many of those that settled in other parts of India have since come to use Singh as their last name even though they belong to separate Rajput gotras and clans, this happened over several generations due to the local population preferring to popularly calling them just Singh in the new places they settled outside Rajputana, this was usually enough to denote that they belonged to the Kshatriya varna and were Hindu Rajput warriors by caste.

Immigration issues: Common surname

A section of around a million adherents of Sikhism that live abroad in Western countries only keep Singh or Kaur as their last name. This has caused legal problems in immigration procedures especially in Canada with Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India for a decade stating in letters to its Sikh clients "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada" people with these common Sikh surnames have to change their last names before coming to Canada.
The ban was denounced by the Sikh community, after which the Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced it was dropping the policy, calling the whole thing a misunderstanding based on a "poorly worded" letter.

*rAbh RaKHA*:
U R AEWSUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM  :okk: :okk:

for doing this..tuahde laye :kiss: :kiss:

Kudi Nepal Di:

--- Quote from:   on June 18, 2010, 03:22:00 PM ---U R AEWSUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM  :okk: :okk:

for doing this..tuahde laye :kiss: :kiss:

--- End quote ---

for req:hug::love:

8558:
proud to be sikh

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