Goyal Gotra
गोयल
At a glance
- Founding Rishi
- Goyal
- Veda
- Yajurveda
- Pravara
- Agrasena · Goyal
Related Gotras
Common surnames
About
One of the 18 Gotras of the Agrawal community, traced to the eighteen sons (or eighteen yajnas) of Maharaja Agrasena of Agroha. Gobhila is named as the teacher-rishi in many Agrawal lists; Goyal is one of the largest Agrawal gotras and today also a common surname. Agrawal gotras are clan divisions within one community rather than Vedic rishi lineages, so marriage within the same gotra is avoided, as with Brahmin gotras.
Founding Rishi
Pravara Lineage
The Pravara is the line of illustrious ancestral rishis recited in ritual, from the first ancestor down:
Regional Spread
The Goyal Gotra is predominantly found in:
Etymology
Goyal is the usual Hindi form of a gotra that Crooke (1896) gives in Sanskrit as Gobhila. Risley writes it Goil and Sherring Goila, and Goel is a common modern spelling. The sage named for it in the Hindi account of the sacrifices is Gobhila, whose name is attached to a Grihya Sutra of the Samaveda. The spellings Goil and Gobhil suggest that the clan name grew out of the sage's name, but no source says so.
Historical Journey
In the Hindi account of Agrasena's eighteen sacrifices, which cites the Shri Agrawal Samaj, the second was led by the sage Gobhila, and the gotra named for it is Goyal. Crooke (1896) lists Gobhila second in his Sanskrit table, under the Yajurveda, Madhyandina school and Katyayana sutra, although the Gobhila Grihya Sutra itself belongs to the Samaveda. Risley's list has both Goil and Gobhil as separate entries, and Sherring's has Goila. Crooke says the lists of the Agarwal gotras differ considerably, and prints a Sanskrit table that seems authoritative beside the lists of Risley and Sherring. The Akhil Bhartiya Agrawal Sammelan fixed the list of eighteen gotras by vote in 1983. The Agroha mound in Hisar district shows occupation from about the 3rd or 4th century BCE to the 13th or 14th century CE, with coins inscribed Agrodaka. The Wikipedia account says Muhammad of Ghor destroyed the town in 1194, and Ibbetson (1883) says the Aggarwals spread across Hindustan after Shihab-ud-din Ghori took Agroha in 1195. Agrawals are Vaishnava and Jain, and the two groups share the gotras and intermarry (Jainology; Ibbetson notes that many Delhi Aggarwals are Jain), so a family of this gotra may be of either faith.
Migration & Diaspora
From Agroha, Goyal families moved with the Agrawal trading diaspora into Delhi, Rajasthan (Shekhawati and Marwar), western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and in the 18th to 20th centuries to Kolkata, Mumbai and the rest of India as Marwari and Agrawal merchants.
Presence Across Regions
Haryana
Agrawal Vaishya
The Agroha homeland.
Delhi & NCR
Agrawal Vaishya
Large urban presence in trade and the professions.
Rajasthan
Agrawal / Marwari
Shekhawati and Marwar trading towns.
Notable Personalities
Maharaja Agrasena
Legendary
Founder of Agroha and of the eighteen Agrawal gotras.
Stories & Legends
The eighteen yajnas
In the Agrawal story, Agrasena performed eighteen yajnas and stopped the animal sacrifice at the last one, turning to non-violence. Each yajna was led by a rishi and gave one gotra its name; Goyal is one of them.
The second sacrifice and Gobhila
In the Hindi account of the sacrifices, the first of Agrasena's eighteen yajnas was led by Garga, and the second by Gobhila. The gotra that took the name of the second is Goyal. Crooke's table also puts Gobhila second. The account is the community's own and gives no dates; the order of the sacrifices is not the same in every list.
Ritual Significance
In sankalpa, Goyal families name their gotra as Goyal. Agrawal families avoid marriage within the same gotra, and many also avoid the gotras of the mother's family.