Deshpande

Deshpande (Marathi: देशपांडे) is a surname native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The surname can be also found in northern parts of Karnataka state. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins,[1][2] Goud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB)[3] and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP).[4]

Etymology

The name Deshpande is believed to be a combination of two words (Desh and Pande). Desh means a country or a territory or a group of villages. Pande means one who maintains records or accounts. So deshpande means one who maintains accounts or records at a territory level or district level.[5][6]

Deshpande as a title

Deshpande was a historical title given to a person who was appointed as accountant to a territory of land, in Maharashtra. The title dates back to medieval Deccan sultanates and Maratha Empire era. It was a title conferred on officers responsible for record keeping at Pargana level. The administrative chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh.[7] Their equivalent at village level were Kulkarni (accountant) and Patil (Village chief).[8][9] The deshmukh's and Deshpande's had hereditary lands liable to low rates of land revenues. For deshpande's apart from the collection of land revenue, there was a little outside control over the affairs of the village, which were largely managed by panch or council of leading villagers, including the patil, the kulkarni or village accountant, other village officials and leading land holders.[10]

According to Maharashtra State Gazetteers,[11]

The Deshpande was next to the Deshmukh of the district and hence used to keep the entire accounts of the pargana revenue.They used to maintain a register of lands of pargana showing the owner's of the land and the revenue to be paid by them.Sometimes a Deshpande was also called as Deshkulkarni. It is possible that this term preceded the Deshpande so commonly found in the Berar. The important permanent officers in the village were the Patil or the Mokaddam and the Kulkarni. Sometimes despande's duties were similar to those of the Deshmukh in the paragana i.e., collecting land revenue of the village, maintaining law and order, settling petty disputes etc.

Abolition of Deshpande Watans

The Vatandar system was abolished after the independence of India in 1947, when the government confiscated most of the land of the Deshmukhs, Deshpandes, and Patils. In Maharashtra,[12]

All Patil, Kulkarni, Deshmukh and Deshpande Watans and all inferior village Watans were abolished under the Maharashtra revenue patels (abolition of office) Act 1962, Bombay pargana and Kulkarni Watans Abolition Act 1950 and the Bombay inferior village watans abolition act 1958.

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References
  1. Proceedings of the Session, Volume 52. Superintendent Government Printing, India. 1988. p. 48. Mrs.Krishnabai Deshpande observed:[her quote]It should be noted that Deshpandes belonged to the Deshastha Brahmin caste
  2. I. P. Glushkova, Rajendra Vora (1999). Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra. Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780195646351. wada tells us of a story of three generations of a family called Deshpande, that belonged to the Deshastha Brahmin caste.
  3. "Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 14". Sameeksha Trust. 1979: 1519. Deshpande a college graduate from a progressive Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community.. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. B. R. Sunthankar (1988). Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857. p. 121. The Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. The Konkan districts were their homeland. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history
  5. Proceedings of the Session, Volume 29, Part 2. Superintendent Government Printing. p. 69.
  6. Crispin Bates (2003). Subalterns and Raj: South Asia since 1600. Routledge Publications. p. contents. ISBN 9781134513826.
  7. Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600–1818 (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University. pp. 22, xiii. ISBN 978-0521268837.
  8. J. S. Grewal (2005). The State and Society in Medieval India. Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0195667202. The patil and the kulkarni in the village, like the deshmukh and the deshpande in the pargana, were the official watandars.
  9. Ruth Vanita (2005). Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture – Google Books. Yoda Press, 2005. p. 316. ISBN 9788190227254.
  10. Dharma Kumar (2005). The Cambridge Economic History of India. Orient Blackswan. pp. 178–180. ISBN 9788125027317.
  11. Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Volume 14. Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State. p. 89,104.
  12. Maharashtra (India). Committee for Abolition of Customary and Hereditary Rights in Maharashtra (1980). Report of the Committee for Abolition of Customary and Hereditary Rights in Maharashtra. Social Welfare, Cultural Affairs, Sports, and Tourism Department. pp. 12–37.
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