Thakur (title)

Thakur (Anglicized as Tagore) is a historical feudal title of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used as a surname in the present day. The female variant of the title is Thakurani or Thakurain, and is also used to describe the wife of a Thakur. There are varying opinions among scholars about its origin. Some scholars suggest that it is not mentioned in the Sanskrit texts preceding 500 BCE, but speculates that it might have been a part of the vocabulary of the dialects spoken in northern India before the Gupta Empire. It is viewed to have been derived from word Thakkura which, according to several scholars, was not an original word of the Sanskrit language but a borrowed word in the Indian lexis from the Tukharistan region of Uzbekistan. Another view-point is that Thakkura is a loan word from the Prakrit language. Scholars have suggested differing meanings for the word, i.e. "god", "lord", and "master of the estate". Academics have suggested that it was only a title, and in itself, did not grant any authority to its users "to wield some power in the state". In India, this title is widely used by the people belonging to the Rajput community while few people of other communities also use this title include communities such as, Bengali Brahmins, Bhumihars, Charans and Kolis.