Srivastava (; ), also spelled variously as Shrivastava, Shrivastav or Srivastav, is a common surname found amongst the

Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred as ''North Indian Kayastha'', is a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. In Hindu texts and traditions, they are described to have desc ...

community of upper caste

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions of India.

Origin

Srivastavas are one of the twelve sub-clans of the

Chitraguptvanshi Kayastha Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred as ''North Indian Kayastha'', is a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. In Hindu texts and traditions, they are described to have desc ...

s that were traditionally involved in record-keeping, administration and military services. They regard themselves as a de-facto ''

varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

'' that arose to keep records of the four ''varnas'' that came before them. Traditions and occupations associated with them, and their belief in the mythical roles assigned to

Chitragupta Chitragupta (Sanskrit: चित्रगुप्त, 'rich in secrets' or 'hidden picture') is a Hindu deity assigned with the task of keeping complete records of the actions of human beings and punishing or rewarding them according to their ...

, their progenitor, partly support this claim. Most of the recorded history, after 10th century AD, of this clan is centred around Varanasi and present day eastern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and central India, as being influential during Ancient empires and

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

in the Indian subcontinent, earning such titles as Pandit, Thakur and

Lala Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del ...

Etymology

The title ''Śrīvāstava'' is the shortened form of ''Śrīvāstavya'' and thus derived directly from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

root words ''Sri'' (श्री) "God" and ''vas'' (वस्) "to dwell" by adding the primary suffix ''tavyat'' which denotes an agent and causes the lengthening of the radical vowel. While the word Sri is used in Sanskrit as honorific prefix to the names of deities '' and vāstavya'' means "a resident, inhabitant"; thereby the whole meaning "in whom God dwells". Note, however, that a word's meaning is derived from its use in sentence, not from its etymology. According to another explanation, the name "Srivastava" originates from "Srivastu/Suvastu", the former name of the

Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the s ...

, which is said to be the place of origin of this clan.

Notable people with this name

Notable people named Srivastava (or its variations) include: *

Aadesh Shrivastava Aadesh Shrivastava (4 September 1964 – 5 September 2015) was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Initially, he had worked as a drummer to music composers including R. D. Burman, Rajesh Roshan before working independently as a music d ...

(1966–2015), Indian music director *

Kapil Srivastava Kapil Srivastava (born 23 June) is an Indian guitarist, music author, composer, trainer from New Delhi. Kapil completed his education from DAV Public School and thereafter pursued his graduation in commerce from University of Delhi. He started ...

, Indian guitarist, music composer, educationist & author *

Aanjjan Srivastav Aanjjan Srivastav (born 2 June 1948) is an Indian film, television and stage actor, associated with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai of which he remained Vice-President for several years. Outside theatre, he is best known as ...

(born 1948), Indian film, television and stage dancer/actor *

Aditya Shrivastava Aditya Srivastava (born 21 July 1968) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films, television and theatre. He is best known for his role as Senior Inspector Abhijeet in India's longest-running television police procedural '' C.I.D.''. He has ...

(born 1968), Indian actor *

Ajita Srivastava Ajita Srivastava is an Indian singer, educationist and a social worker. Srivastava is known for popularizing and promoting the Kajari folk songs, a popular form of folk music from Mirzapur and the surrounding region. She was awarded Padma Shri ...

, Indian singer *

Alankrita Shrivastava Alankrita Shrivastava is an Indian screenwriter, director and producer. Having made her debut as a director in 2011, she has since won accolades such as the Grand Prix at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival and a nomination for a Fi ...

(born 1979), Indian filmmaker * Anand & Milind Shrivastav, Indian music directors *

Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava, more commonly known as A.L. Srivastava, born 16 September 1899, in Andhana, Uttar Pradesh, died 12 July 1973, in Agra district, was an Indian historian specialising in medieval, early modern and modern history of India. ...

(1899–1973), Indian historian *

Chandrika Prasad Srivastava Chandrika Prasad Srivastava KCMG, ComIH, IAS (Retd.) (8 July 1920 – 22 July 2013) was an Indian civil servant, international administrator, and diplomat. Biography C.P. Srivastava was born on 8 July 1920 in a religious Chitraguptvanshi Kayas ...

(1920–2013), Indian diplomat * Chitragupta Shrivastava, Indian music director *

Dheer Charan Srivastav Dheer Charan Srivastav also known as D. C. Srivastav (born 9 August 1967), is an Indian character actor, comedian and dialogue writer from Hyderabad, Telangana, who mostly appears in Hyderabad Deccani Urdu, Tollywood and Bollywood Films. He i ...

(born 1967), Indian actor *

Ganesh Prasad Srivastava Dr. Ganesh Prasad Srivastava, was an Indian professor of physics and author of several books. He was born in 1933. After a distinguished academic career of more than fifty years, he retired as Professor of Electronics from the Delhi Universit ...

(1933–2011), physicist, author *

Hari Shankar Srivastava Hari Shanker Srivastava (1 January 1921 – 19 June 2017 ) was an Indian historian. He was educated at Ewing Christian College, Allahabad (1937–39), and Allahabad University (1939–43). He is a Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society and Fellow of ...

(1921-2017), Indian historian *

Harish Chandra Srivastava Harish Chandra Srivastava (Harish Ji) (21 February 1925 – 18 January 2015) was an Indian politician and former Minister of Social Justice in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. He was elected to Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly two times from ...

, Indian politician *

J. N. Srivastava Jagdish Narain Srivastava (1933-2010) was an Indian-born mathematician, statistician and a professor at Colorado State University. Srivastava is known for the research in the area of Design of experiments, Multivariate analysis and Combinatorial ma ...

(1933–2010), Indian mathematician * Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918–2008, recorded by Allahabad University as "M.C. Shrivastava"), introduced

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...

Mansi Srivastava Mansi Srivastava is an Indian television actress. She made her television debut in 2012 through '' Suvreen Guggal'' and gained popularity with her performances in ''Do Dil Bandhe Ek Dori Se'', ''Sasural Simar Ka'', '' Ishqbaaaz'', ''Divya Dris ...

(born 1990), Indian TV actress *

Nikhil Srivastava Nikhil Srivastava is an associate professor of Mathematics at University of California, Berkeley. In July 2014, he was named a recipient of the Pólya Prize with Adam Marcus and Daniel Spielman. Early life and education Nikhil Srivastava was bo ...

, Indian mathematician *

Nirmala Srivastava Nirmala Srivastava (née Nirmala Salve; 21 March 192323 February 2011), also known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, was the founder and guru of Sahaja Yoga, a new religious movement sometimes classified as a cult. She claimed to have been born fully ...

(1923–2011), founder of Sahaja Yoga *

Onkar Nath Srivastava Onkar Nath Srivastava (31 December 1942 – 24 April 2021) was an Indian material physicist, an Emeritus professor of Banaras Hindu University and the vice president for India and South Asia of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, ...

(born 1942), Indian physicist * Dr. Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was the first President of India, in office from 1950 to 1962. * Rajendra Srivastava (born 1951), Indian academic *

Raju Srivastav Satya Prakash Srivastav (25 December 1963 – 21 September 2022), known professionally as Raju Srivastav and often credited as Gajodhar, was an Indian comedian, actor and politician. He had been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 201 ...

(born 1963), Indian comedian *

Ramesh Srivastava Ramesh McLean Srivastava (born June 26, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Voxtrot, active from 2003 to 2010. After the dissolution of Voxtrot, Srivastava has also rele ...

(born 1983), American singer * Sanjeev Srivastava, Indian journalist *

Shailendra Nath Shrivastava Shailendra Nath Shrivastava (26 October 1936 – 12 February 2006) was former Indian politician from Bihar. He was born at Chausa Bhojpur district. In 1980 he was elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly and in 1989, he was elected to Lok Sabha f ...

(1936–2006), Indian politician * Tara Rani Srivastava, Indian woman freedom fighter ; Notable Srivastavas who changed their name * Amitabh Bachchan (born 1942), born as Amitabh Srivastava, Bollywood actor *

Harivansh Rai Bachchan Harivansh Rai Bachchan (; 27 November 1907 19 December 2002) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is be ...

(1907–2003), born as Harivansh Rai Srivastava, Indian poet *

Madan Mohan Malaviya Madan Mohan Malaviya ( (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and politician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress four times and ...

(1861-1964), founder of

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

(1904–1966), second Prime Minister of India, son of Sharada Prasad Srivastava * Zamindaar Babu Trilok Nath (1866–1960, born Trilok Nath Shrivastav), prince of British India *

Parichay Das Parichay Das (born ''Ravindra Nath Srivastava''), is an Indian writer, essayist, poet and editor of contemporary Bhojpuri poetry. He is Professor and Head, Department of Hindi, Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Deemed University. He writes in Bhojpuri and ...

, writer and editor, born Ravindra Nath Srivastava *

Natwarlal Natwarlal (born Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava; 1912 — 25 July 2009) was an Indian fraudster known for his high-profile crimes and prison escapes, including having supposedly repeatedly "sold" the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, ...

(1912–2009), born Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava, Indian con man *

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...

(1902–1979, son of Harsu Dayal Srivastava), Indian independence activist, social reformer and political leader *

Munshi Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...

(1880–1936, born Dhanpat Rai Srivastava), Indian writer

References

{{surname Indian surnames Kayastha People from Swat District