Gaidher / Gaidhar also known as Gajdhar is a word of Gujarati, Kutchi and

Rajasthani language The Rajasthani languages are a group of Western Indo-Aryan languages, primarily spoken in Rajasthan and Malwa, and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India and South Punjab and the adjacent areas of Sindh in Pakistan. T ...

. The word Gaidher derives its origin from the word ''Gadh'' or ''Garh''. The word ''Gadh'' in north Indian languages like

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Marwari, Marathi means a

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

, like Chittorgarh, Sinhgadh, Mehrangadh. The persons who were expert and had skilled knowledge to plan and build a fort were called Gaidher or Gajdhar. Gaidhar means chief architect. Gaidhar literally also means a construction foreman or a Master Mason.''Gaidhar : Master Mason; Construction Foreman'' from Bhuj, Art, Architecture, History by Azhar Tyabji, Environmental Planning Collaborative (Ahmadābād, India)Mapin, 2006 :pp 72, 78, 138, 189, 238. Forts were built at strategic locations, often on a hill-top, to guard the kingdoms. Gaidhar held an important place in king's court and were looked upon with respect. Gaidhar were appointed by kings, upon their skills and also loyalty. Gaidhar were persons of high integrity as they used to make the blue-print of fort and whole forts were erected under his supervision and guidance. The kings used to trust them and they had the power and authority to hire manual laborers and skilled masons for such construction works. For example, members from Mestri and

Suthar Suthar is a community within the Vishwakarma community found primarily in India and Pakistan. Its traditional occupation is mostly carpentry. Suthar community predominantly found in Gujarat and Rajasthan is a mixture of various castes. Curren ...

communities, who were master-builders, were usually appointed as Gaidher in Cutch. In Madhya Pradesh, Gajdhar was a title awarded to the city architects and held an important place in the royal court and were looked upon with respect. Sometimes upon requirement another, two or three Gaidhers were then appointed with his consultation by king and they used to work under head Gaidher as their assistants, Something like Assistant Engineer.

Surname

This is also one of the occupational surnames found in persons of India or Indian origin. In India or persons of Indian origin you can find many people using ''Gaidhar'' or ''Gajdhar'' as a surname. The persons using this surname are usually found in people of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

References

{{Reflist Indian architectural history Surnames Indian words and phrases Surnames of Indian origin