Etymology of word 'gupta'

[Guest guest]

The word 'gupta' as a proper noun in India is ubiquitous. It is used

as a name- chitra gupta, vishnu gupta, chandra gupta(maurya)or as a

name of dynasty- the dynasty of guptas....

 

On the other hand, the modern name Gupta is being used a surname of

Vaishyas.

 

On searching the web for the etymology of this word, I found the

following:

 

HTTP://WWW.PLEXOFT.COM/SBF/G04.HTML

 

THE COMMON FAMILY NAME GUPTA, INCIDENTALLY, SEEMS TO HAVE A

DIFFERENT ETYMOLOGY. NOW HERE IS AN IRONY: ADLY WAS TRYING ALL

DURING THIS CONVERSATION TO DERIVE LARGE CHUNKS OF THE HINDI

VOCABULARY FROM ARABIC, BUT HE DIDN'T CLAIM GUPTA. AS IT HAPPENS,

THE ANCIENT RELIGIOUS NAME FOR MEMPHIS (THE ONE IN EGYPT, NOT THE

ENDURING ELVIS-WORSHIP CENTER IN TENNESSEE) WAS HA KA PTAH. IN THE

SEVENTH CENTURY, THE CONQUERING ARABS CORRUPTED THIS TO AGUPTA, AND

EVENTUALLY THE INITIAL A WAS ELIDED AS WELL. THE G WAS DEVOICED

AGAIN ON ENTERING ENGLISH AND SOME OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES,

BECOMING OUR COPT[iC].

 

Hope the group can throw more light on this.

 

kishore

[Guest guest]

IndiaArchaeology, "ymalaiya" <ymalaiya>

wrote:

The use of the last name Gupta by the members of the merchant

community may be relatively new, perhaps last century or so.

 

Many of the merchant communities in North and Western India used the

term "Sah" (Sahu, Shah, Sha etc). Use of this term can found in 11-

12th cent sources (Sadhu in sanskrit), in some places it is still

common.

 

Yashwant

 

IndiaArchaeology, "kishore mohan"

<kishore_future> wrote:

> The word 'gupta' as a proper noun in India is ubiquitous. It is

used

> as a name- chitra gupta, vishnu gupta, chandra gupta(maurya)or as

a

> name of dynasty- the dynasty of guptas....

>

> On the other hand, the modern name Gupta is being used a surname

of

> Vaishyas.

>

> On searching the web for the etymology of this word, I found the

> following:

>

> HTTP://WWW.PLEXOFT.COM/SBF/G04.HTML

>

> THE COMMON FAMILY NAME GUPTA, INCIDENTALLY, SEEMS TO HAVE A

> DIFFERENT ETYMOLOGY. NOW HERE IS AN IRONY: ADLY WAS TRYING ALL

> DURING THIS CONVERSATION TO DERIVE LARGE CHUNKS OF THE HINDI

> VOCABULARY FROM ARABIC, BUT HE DIDN'T CLAIM GUPTA. AS IT HAPPENS,

> THE ANCIENT RELIGIOUS NAME FOR MEMPHIS (THE ONE IN EGYPT, NOT THE

> ENDURING ELVIS-WORSHIP CENTER IN TENNESSEE) WAS HA KA PTAH. IN

THE

> SEVENTH CENTURY, THE CONQUERING ARABS CORRUPTED THIS TO AGUPTA,

AND

> EVENTUALLY THE INITIAL A WAS ELIDED AS WELL. THE G WAS DEVOICED

> AGAIN ON ENTERING ENGLISH AND SOME OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES,

> BECOMING OUR COPT[iC].

>

> Hope the group can throw more light on this.

>

> kishore

--- End forwarded message ---

[benguile 0]

have run across the buddhist group dhammaguptika, which i have broken down to dhamma -guptika, but have no real luck on guptika. one comment i found from a source of indeterminate reliability (possibly quite good? or not?) was that guptika means preserver, from the stem gupta.

 

please anyone having any suggestions, let me know

 

thank you, and best to all

 

benguile@gmail.com

[Kali_Upasaka 1]

Kautilya or Chanakya's original name was Vishnu Gupta. He was a Brahmin.