Pal, alternative form "Paul", is a common surname found in India and Bangladesh. It is traditionally believed that 'Pal' originated from the Sanskrit pala meaning protector or keeper.[1] It is also occasionally found in other countries.
The surname Pal (or Paul) is found in Bengal among Bengali Kayasthas.[2][3] Historian Tej Ram Sharma mentions that the surname is "now confined to Kayasthas of Bengal" while referring to the names of Brahmins ending in such Kayastha surnames in the early inscriptions dating back to the Gupta period.[2]
Pal is also used as a surname by the Bengali Hindu Potters (Kumbhakars),[4][5] and other castes Like Teli,[5] Subarnabanik and Sadgop.[6]
The Pardhi, a hunter community of Maharashtra, is also known as Pal.[7]
The saint Gwalipa told Suraj Sen, the ruler of Gwalior, to adopt the surname Pal, which remains prevalent up to eighty-three descendants of Suraj Sen.[8]
The Ahirs in Central India use Pal as a surname.[9]
In imitation of Pal dynasty of Assam, the Chutia (pronounced as Sutia) also took the surname of Pal.[10]
Pal was also a popular surname among the Parmar Rajput rulers of the Garhwal.[11][12]
Pal is a surname of the Thakuri people of Nepal.[13]: 22
In Punjab and other states, Pal is often used as a middle name followed by Singh.[citation needed]
Pal is also used as a surname by the Punjabi Khatri community.[citation needed]
The rulers of Kullu held the surname Pal up to about the 15th century A.D., which they later changed to Singh.[14]
During the Gupta period, the Kayasthas had not developed into a distinct caste in Bengal, although the office of the Kayasthas (scribes) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary smritis.
The names of brahmanas occurring in our inscriptions sometimes end in a non-brahmanic cognomen such as Bhatta, Datta and Kunda, etc., which are available in the inscriptions of Bengal. Surnames like Datta, Dama, Palita, Pala, Kunda (Kundu), Dasa, Naga and Nandin are now confined to Kayasthas of Bengal but not to brahmanas. Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.
— Tej Ram Sharma, Indian historian, [2]
Abu al-Fazl, describes these kings (the Pal Kings) as Kayastha. Bengal, in effect, became the land of the Kayasthas, having been ruled by the Kayasthas for about 2000 years. Sanskrit sources such as Rajtarangini however do not yet regard Kayastha as a caste in any sense but as a category of "officials" or "scribes". Between the fifth or sixth centuries (when we first hear of them) and the eleventh-twelfth centuries, its component elements were putative Kshatriyas and, for the larger majority Brahmins, who either retained their caste identity or became Buddhists while laying down the sacred thread. The Kayasthas obtained aspect of a caste perhaps under the Senas.
— André Wink, Historian, [15]
According to Radhey Shyam Chourasia, an Indian historian, the Palas do not trace their origin to any ancient hero. The dynasty is so called because the names of all kings had the termination - Pala. The family has no illustrious ancestry.[16]
Historian Guptajit Pathak believes that the Palas of Kamarupa, who had the same surname as the Palas of Bengal and Bihar (Gaura and Magadha), "were perhaps of non-Aryan origin".[17]
Several kings of the Pala dynasty were Buddhists.[18]
According to the Khalimpur Plate of Dharmapala, Gopala I, the founder of the dynasty, "was the son of a warrior Vapyata and the grandson of a highly educated Dayitavishnu". Unlike other contemporary dynasties, the Palas "do not claim descent from any mythological figure or epic hero". The Kamauly Copper Plate inscription suggests that Palas call themselves Kshatriyas belonging to Solar dynasty. "According to Manjusree Mulakalpa, Gopala I was a sudra and according to Abul Fazl, the Palas were Kayasthas." In Ramacharita, the Pala King Rampala is called Kshatriya but later in the same book Dharmapala is described as Samudrakula-dipa. Bagchi suggests that "the non-mention of caste may be a reason that the Palas were Buddhists and they were not supposed to mention their caste like the Brahmanical ruling dynasties", though they performed the duties and functions of Kshatriyas for about four centuries.[19]