Mittal Gotra
मित्तल
At a glance
- Founding Rishi
- Mittal
- Veda
- Yajurveda
- Pravara
- Agrasena · Mittal
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. Mittal is associated with Rishi Maitreya in Agrawal lists, and Mittal is among the most common Agrawal surnames. 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 Mittal Gotra is predominantly found in:
Etymology
Mittal is the Hindi form of a gotra that Crooke's Sanskrit table gives as Maitreya. Risley's list has Mittal and also a separate Tittal, and Sherring's has Tittila and Nital, so the older lists do not agree on whether these are one clan or several. The Hindi account of the sacrifices names the sage Maitreya as the priest of the fourteenth. The meaning of the clan name itself is not given in the sources found, but the pairing with Maitreya is the usual one.
Historical Journey
In the Hindi account of Agrasena's eighteen sacrifices, which cites the Shri Agrawal Samaj, the fourteenth was led by the sage Maitreya, and the gotra named for it is Mittal. Crooke (1896) lists Maitreya fourth in his Sanskrit table, under the Yajurveda, Madhyandina school and Katyayana sutra. Maitreya is the sage to whom Parashara tells the Vishnu Purana, and the site has a page on him. 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, Mittal 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; Mittal is one of them.
The fourteenth sacrifice and Maitreya
In the Hindi account of the sacrifices, the fourteenth of Agrasena's eighteen yajnas was led by Maitreya, and the gotra named after it is Mittal. Crooke's table lists Maitreya fourth, so the order is not fixed. Maitreya is the sage to whom Parashara tells the Vishnu Purana.
Ritual Significance
In sankalpa, Mittal families name their gotra as Mittal. Agrawal families avoid marriage within the same gotra, and many also avoid the gotras of the mother's family.