Gadkari Explained

Gadkari is a surname native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. Gadkari surname is found among the Hindu CKP^[1] and Deshastha Brahmin^{[2] [3] [4]} communities.^[5]

Etymology

The name Gadkari is believed to be a combination of two words (Gad and Kari). Gad means a fort and Kari means one who maintains or protects it. So Gadkari means a person who protects the fort.^[6]

Gadkari as a title

Gadkari was a historical title given mostly in Maharashtra, to a person who was appointed to protect the fort.^[7]

Notable people

• Ram Ganesh Gadkari (1885-1919), Marathi poet
• Chandrasekhar Gadkari (1928-1998), Indian test cricketer
• Madhav Yeshwant Gadkari (1928–2006), Indian Journalist, Padma Shri award recipient
• Nitin Gadkari (born 1957), India's Minister of Road Transport and Highways
• Sandesh Gadkari (born 1987), Indian cricketer
• Jui Gadkari (born 1988), Indian actress

Other

• Gadkari – 2023 Marathi language film based on Nitin Gadkari

Notes and References

1. News: chandraseniya kayastha prabhus aim for better community connect. CKP as a community has been known for its “writing and fighting skills”. Some prominent faces that it boasts as members are [...] Ram Ganesh Gadkari [...].
2. News: Obidiently yours. The Hindu. 31 October 2014. Kumar Ketkar.
3. Book: INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation. Harish Damodaran. Hachette UK. 25 November 2018. 20. The Mhaiskars are Chitpavan, while Gadkari is a Deshastha Brahmin.
4. News: Son Of The Sangh. 1 April 2018. The Caravan. NITIN GADKARI WAS BORN in 1957, to Jairam and Bhanutai Gadkari. The Gadkaris were a Deshastha Brahmin family of modest means, with some agricultural land in Dhapewada village, near Nagpur. They lived in an area of old Nagpur called Mahal, close to the RSS’s headquarters..
5. Book: Maharashtra State Gazetteers: General Series: Maharashtra, land and its people(CHAPTER 5—ORGANISATION OF SPACE). Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications. 1968. 136. There was also a gadkari (head of the civil administration of the fort and for tax-collection from the surrounding villages) who was generally a Kayastha and a Brahmin who was the Temple priest, letter-writer etc. Sometimes, people of some other caste held these posts..
6. News: Gadkari means protector of fort: BJP. The Siasat Daily. 18 November 2009.
7. Book: Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Volume I: Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality. SAGE Publishing. Crispin Bates. 26 March 2013. 178.