.svg)
Editing Babu (title)
Content that violates any copyrights will be deleted. Encyclopedic content must be verifiable. Work submitted to this Wiki can be edited, used, and redistributed—by anyone—subject to certain terms and conditions.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
[[File:ORIENTAL HEADS p033 Baboo Tarachand Chukturburtee, Varenda Brahmin, Calcutta.jpg|thumb|Baboo Tarachand Chukturburtee, Varenda Brahmin, Calcutta 1844]] | [[File:ORIENTAL HEADS p033 Baboo Tarachand Chukturburtee, Varenda Brahmin, Calcutta.jpg|thumb|Baboo Tarachand Chukturburtee, Varenda Brahmin, Calcutta 1844]] | ||
[[File:Twenty-One Days in India, or, the Tour Of Sir Ali Baba K.C.B. and, the Teapot Series by George Aberigh-Mackay.tif|thumb|"The Bengali Baboo" - Twenty-One Days in India, or, the Tour Of Sir Ali Baba K.C.B. and, the Teapot Series by George Aberigh-Mackay]] | [[File:Twenty-One Days in India, or, the Tour Of Sir Ali Baba K.C.B. and, the Teapot Series by George Aberigh-Mackay.tif|thumb|"The Bengali Baboo" - Twenty-One Days in India, or, the Tour Of Sir Ali Baba K.C.B. and, the Teapot Series by George Aberigh-Mackay]] | ||
The title '''babu''', also spelled '''baboo''', is used in the [[Indian subcontinent]] as a sign of respect towards men. In some cultures, the term 'Babu' is a term of endearment for a loved one as well. The [[honorific]] "[[-ji|ji]]" is sometimes added as a suffix to create the double honorific "babuji" which, in northern and eastern parts of [[India]], is a term of respect for one's father. "Babuji" can also be used as a term of respect for any respected elder or man.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | The title '''babu''', also spelled '''baboo''', is used in the [[Indian subcontinent]] as a sign of respect towards men. In some cultures, the term 'Babu' is a term of endearment for a loved one as well. The [[honorific]] "[[-ji|ji]]" is sometimes added as a suffix to create the double honorific "babuji" which, in northern and eastern parts of [[India]], is a term of respect for one's father. "Babuji" can also be used as a term of respect for any respected elder or man. {{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | ||
Babus are defined as Hindoo gentlemen, or a native clerk who writes English; it is also a Hindoo title answering to Mr. or Esquire. | |||
In some Indian [[Zamindari]] [[Estate (land)|estate]]s the title Babu or Babu [[Sri]] was used by its rulers. In many kingdoms the members of royal family and kin of the [[king]]s also used this title. {{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | In some Indian [[Zamindari]] [[Estate (land)|estate]]s the title Babu or Babu [[Sri]] was used by its rulers. In many kingdoms the members of royal family and kin of the [[king]]s also used this title. {{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | ||
In [[Bengali language|Bangla]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]], babu is used as | In [[Bengali language|Bangla]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]] , babu is used as suffix to a person's name to show respect while calling him by name, for example, "Mohan ''babu'', could you please come here?". In [[Bengal]], the word Babu or Babushona is used more broadly, meaning baby or a little kid or one's child, especially to younger kids.{{clarify|date=March 2016}} In the [[Saurashtra language]], babu may refer to a younger brother, male, (sibling). The term "babu" may be suffixed to a person's name - for example, Rosebabu to refer to someone called Rose - but the term "babuji" is always used by itself.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | ||
==Civil servants== | ==Civil servants== | ||
{{see also | Civil_Services_of_India#Concerns_and_Reforms | l1= Concerns regarding Civil Services of India | Civil service reform in developing countries | The Indian Clerk }} | {{see also | Civil_Services_of_India#Concerns_and_Reforms | l1= Concerns regarding Civil Services of India | Civil service reform in developing countries | The Indian Clerk }} | ||
In [[British India]], ''babu'' often referred to a native Indian clerk. The word was originally used as a term of respect attached to a proper name, the equivalent of "mister", and "babuji" was used in many parts to mean "sir" as an address of a gentleman; their life-style | In [[British India]], ''babu'' often referred to a native Indian clerk. The word was originally used as a term of respect attached to a proper name, the equivalent of "mister", and "babuji" was used in many parts to mean "sir" as an address of a gentleman; their class life-style also called "babu culture". In some historical novels, it would be seen some gestures of that so-called culture. They have enjoyed a number of privileges for being the service holder of the British Raj. Even their social demands expressed with much importance. The British officials treated them as near workers who have both the Indians and British connections.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Babu|volume=3}}</ref> Since the mid-twentieth century, the term babu is frequently used pejoratively to refer to bureaucrats of [[Indian Administrative Service]] (IAS) and other government officials,<ref>{{cite web|title=babu, n|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/14245|website=OED Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=22 April 2015}}</ref> especially by the Indian media,<ref>{{cite news| title = Yet to start work, Natgrid CEO highest paid babu| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Yet-to-start-work-Natgrid-CEO-highest-paid-babu/articleshow/15610191.cms?referral=PM |date=23 August 2012| access-date = 2014-09-17 | newspaper = The Times of India}}</ref> while the [[Indian bureaucracy]] is called "babudom", as in the "[[Civil Services of India#Reforms|rule of babus]]", especially in India media.<ref>{{cite magazine | ||
|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1818/18181170.htm | |url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1818/18181170.htm | ||
|title=A barbed look at babudom: Will the typically British humour of Yes Minister work if transplanted to an Indian setting? Viewers of a Hindi satellite channel have a chance to find out. | |title=A barbed look at babudom: Will the typically British humour of Yes Minister work if transplanted to an Indian setting? Viewers of a Hindi satellite channel have a chance to find out. | ||
| Line 28: | Line 29: | ||
==Other uses== | ==Other uses== | ||
"Babu" | "Babu" is used as a salutation to a loved one like jaanu or baby. More in vogue in Bihar and Bengal. A babu is predominantly more platonic than a jaanu but lesser than a baby. | ||
On the island of [[Mauritius]] the word ''Babu-ji'' refers to the [[Kshatriya]] caste within the [[Indo-Mauritian]] community. This community consists mainly of [[Bihari Mauritians]] whose ancestors landed on the island as [[Indentured servitude|Coolies]] or indentured sugar cane field labourers during the 1810-1968 British colonial rule.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Claveyrolas |first1=Mathieu |title=The ‘Land of the Vaish’? Caste Structure and Ideology in Mauritius |url=https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3886 |access-date=2015-09-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nave |first1=Ari |title=Nested Identities: Ethnicity, Community and the Nature of Group Conflict in Mauritius (C. Bates (ed.), Community, Empire and Migration) |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-137-05743-3_3 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-05743-3 |doi=10.1007/978-1-137-05743-3_3 |access-date=2001-06-25}}</ref> | "Babu" in [[Swahili language|Swahili]], like "papu" in [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref>See [[Wiktionary:babu|babu]] in [[Wiktionary:|Wiktionary]].</ref> It is cognate with "baba" in [[Slavic languages]], and ultimately with "papa" in [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] and [[Romance languages]]. In [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Eastern Hindi]]/[[Bihari languages|Bihari]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]],Bengali, [[Telugu language|Telugu]], and [[Oriya languages]], it is a means of calling with love and affection to spouses or younger brothers, sons, grandsons etc. It can be found in urban trend to call "babu" to girlfriends or boyfriends, common-friends to symbolize deep love or dearness. In many Bengali families fathers and sons are usually named babu, as a matter of intimacy with daughters or mothers. He is used in stories. | ||
On the island of [[Mauritius]] the word ''Babu-ji'' nowadays refers to the [[Kshatriya]] caste within the [[Indo-Mauritian]] community. This community consists mainly of [[Bihari Mauritians]] whose ancestors landed on the island as [[Indentured servitude|Coolies]] or indentured sugar cane field labourers during the 1810-1968 British colonial rule.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Claveyrolas |first1=Mathieu |title=The ‘Land of the Vaish’? Caste Structure and Ideology in Mauritius |url=https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3886 |access-date=2015-09-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nave |first1=Ari |title=Nested Identities: Ethnicity, Community and the Nature of Group Conflict in Mauritius (C. Bates (ed.), Community, Empire and Migration) |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-137-05743-3_3 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-05743-3 |doi=10.1007/978-1-137-05743-3_3 |access-date=2001-06-25}}</ref> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||