Jindal Gotra
जिंदल
At a glance
- Founding Rishi
- Jindal
- Veda
- Yajurveda
- Pravara
- Agrasena · Jindal
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. Jindal (also written Jiwal or Jaital in some lists) is associated with Rishi Jaimini in Agrawal lists, and is common in Haryana and Punjab. 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 Jindal Gotra is predominantly found in:
Etymology
Jindal is the Hindi form of a gotra that Crooke's Sanskrit table gives as Jaimini; the existing page also notes Jiwal as a variant. The Hindi account of the sacrifices names the sage Jaimini as the priest of the eighth. Jaimini is the sage of the Mimamsa Sutras and of the Jaiminiya school of the Samaveda, and the site has a page on him. Neither Risley's nor Sherring's list has a Jindal entry, and the meaning of the clan name itself is not given in the sources found.
Historical Journey
In the Hindi account of Agrasena's eighteen sacrifices, which cites the Shri Agrawal Samaj, the eighth was led by the sage Jaimini, and the gotra named for it is Jindal. Crooke (1896) lists Jaimini fifth in his Sanskrit table, under the Yajurveda, Madhyandina school and Katyayana sutra. Risley's and Sherring's lists, as Crooke prints them, have no Jindal entry, which shows how far the older lists differ; Jindal is among the names fixed at the 1983 Sammelan. 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. Jain Agrawals are reported to be about one in seven of the community, and to include Digambar, Shwetambar and Sthanakwasi families (Jainology blog, citing People of India).
Migration & Diaspora
From Agroha, Jindal 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; Jindal is one of them.
The eighth sacrifice and Jaimini
In the Hindi account of the sacrifices, the eighth of Agrasena's eighteen yajnas was led by Jaimini, and the gotra named after it is Jindal. Crooke's older table lists Jaimini fifth, so the order is not fixed. The Jaimini of the account is the sage whom tradition makes the author of the Purva Mimamsa Sutras and a pupil of Vyasa.
Ritual Significance
In sankalpa, Jindal families name their gotra as Jindal. Agrawal families avoid marriage within the same gotra, and many also avoid the gotras of the mother's family.