Anavil Brahmin - Social Status

Social Status

Anavil Brahmins are not practising priests though they belong to Brahmin varna.They are mainly agriculturist and large number of them are large landowners. Anavils are Ajachak Brahmins (non-fee taking brahmins).

During early sixteenth century when the Mughals first came to the Surat district, the Anavils became tenacious soldier-farmers. Thereafter, the titular Desai surname became highly coveted. The community was split into two: the Desai or Masthanas and the Bhatella. They were popularly known as Desais and Bhatella rather than just Anavils. There are several interpretations of the root of the name 'Bhatella':

1. Bhatella is a combination of two Sanskrit words: (BHAT+EELA). BHAT means a soldier and EELA means earth. The word, therefore, means a soldier-farmer;

2. The word could also be a combination of BHAT+HATHILA. HATHILA means tenacious or obstinate and hence the word would be interpreted as a tenacious or obstinate soldier;

3. The word could have some BHAT meaning RICE + EELA meaning EARTH thus being interpreted as RICE CULTIVATORS. It is also true that they were the very first rice farmers in southern Gujarat, and

4. The word could be a combination of BHAT meaning RIVER DELTA + EELA meaning EARTH and hence being interpreted as a people who farmed or lived in river deltas.

The first interpretation, that of the soldier-farmer, appears to be the most likely as it is a proper Sanskrit word. T surnames (family names) that are common to the Anavil Brahmin caste confirm this: Naik, Vashi, and Mehta all denote professionals in the Army or Royal Administration. Naik means a platoon leader, e.g. Gananayak. The Sanskrit word "vash" means to control and Mehta was a title given to the prime ministers of the princely states in Saurashtra. Today, the meaning of the word Mehta has expanded to include accountants and teachers, which may be due to their history as advisors to the rulers of the princely states. The original, true Desais ruled vast lands in Wesern India so it is not uncommon for other members of the Anavil community, and others, to change their family name to Desai.Nowadays they are mainly in to profession of Agriculture,Teaching,Legal experts, Company Management experts etc.

Taking the 1962 population census, the Anavils formed roughly 5% of Surat district's population. Assuming a density of 700 people per square mile, the Anavil population can be approximated as 200,000. Assuming that half as many now live in foreign lands and other large urban centers in India, the total can be estimated to be about 300,000.