Gokhale

Gokhale, Gopal Krishna, 1866-1915, Indian nationalist leader. A Brahman from Maharashtra, he was educated in India and became involved in the nationalist movement when he was quite young. A moderate, he stressed negotiation and conciliation rather than non-cooperation or violence. He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council in 1899 and to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1902. The conflict of Gokhale's moderate views with the more militant ideas of Bal Gangadhar Tilak led to a breach in the Indian National Congress that nearly immobilized it from 1907 to 1916. Gokhale was instrumental in founding the Servants of India Society, a nationalist organization whose members, sworn to poverty and obedience, were enlisted to serve as volunteers for the social, political, and economic welfare of India.

Gokhale is an Indian surname typically found in the western state of Maharashtra. It is a Hindu surname found among the caste of Chitpavan kokanastha Brahmins,The term Konkanastha means "from the Konkan", referring to the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra. The origin of the Gokhale clan supposedly was in the small coastal town of Velneshwar (10km from Guhagar, 50km from Chiplun) in Konkan.

The etymology of the word is accepted to be from Marathi gokhla, meaning "round window", originally from Sanskrit gavākşa. (Gavākşa can be rendered: go "cow" + akşa "eye"), literally "cow-eye", but also used as a synonym for a window.

Some famous Gokhales are nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale, students Nye, Nick and Salil Gokhale, actors Vikram Gokhale and Mohan Gokhale, and poet Chandrashekhar Gokhale.

Other Typical Chitpavan Surnames

These include Ranade, Tilak, Bhat, Ketkar, Paranjape, Karve, Chitale, Joshi and Tamhankar.

See also

• Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune

External links

• www.gokhale.com