सूची · Directory
The vocabularies a family is described in
These fields do most of the work of reconnecting branches. A family that lost touch four generations ago will usually still agree on its gotra, its kuladevata and its mool village long after the names and dates have gone. Not every family uses every one of them, and an entry with only one filled in is still a real record.
Surnames
आडनांवMost surnames here come from one of two places: an office a family once held, or the village it came from. Which pattern dominates varies by community, and the notes say so where it is known.
Gotras
गोत्रThe rishi a family descends from, passed from father to child and never changed by marriage. Two people of the same gotra are held to be siblings — which is why it is the first question asked at a match.
Kuladevatas
कुलदेवताThe deity a household turns to first, and the temple it sits in. For many families it is the single strongest clue to where they came from — often the last thing remembered after the village name has gone.
Mool villages
मूळ गांवThe ancestral village — the place a family names as its root, however many generations ago it left. Held onto long after anybody has been there.
Mathas
मठThe monastic seat a family owes allegiance to. It divides the community more sharply than surname or region does — Vaishnava and Smarta households of the same surname may share no ritual at all.
Communities
समाजWhatever a family calls itself. The boundaries between communities are historically fluid and locally argued over, so the archive records the answer a family gives rather than deciding for it.