Rastogi
 MahaRaja Harishchandra, the Legendary King who was the forefather of Rastogi, Rohatgi and Rustagi | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India, United States, Nepal and England | |
| Languages | |
| Hindi, English, Haryanvi | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Vedic Religion Hinduism Minority: Jainism |
Rastogi is a surname of Kshatriya Varg within Hindu Society. The legacy of King Harishchandra's son, Rohitashva, whose name signifies "lineage of the sun", gave rise to a series of surnames ("Rastogi", "Rohatgi", "Rustagi") associated with the Solar Dynasty of Kshatriya (Ikshvaku), or the Warrior Clan. However, as time passed, they shifted their focus to commerce and were subsequently recognized as members of the Vaishya (Bania) elite community, renowned for their trading prowess. The Rastogis have a rich history as money lenders and businessmen. After the introduction of the Nesfield theory in 1885, they were officially classified as Vaishya based on their occupation. The Mahabharata recounts the glory of Rohitaka's kingdom founded by Rohitashva, whose glory is preserved in its 4 parva (Virata Parva), 35 upa-parva (Nakula Digvijaya), and 5 adhyayas.
The kingdom stretched from Kashi's south banks on the Son River all the way to the borders of Indraprastha Punjab in the northwest and Kannauj in the north. Their capital, Rohtasgarh, was named after their ancestral prince Rohitashva. The present-day district of Bihar Rohtas is also named after him. To better administer their kingdom, they established sub-capitals such as Rohtak in Punjab named after Prince Rohitashva/Raja Rohtash. They ruled until the fifth century A.D. The majority of the Rastogi's are concentrated in the Uttar Pradesh Province of India.[1]
Notable Rastogis[edit]
- K. C. Rastogi, former Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, Parliament of India
- Rajeev Rastogi, Indian computer scientist Vice President of Amazon Machine Learning.
- Sanjay Rastogi, British polymer physicist and professor
- Anil Rastogi, Indian theatre, television and film actor
- Ajay Rastogi (born 1958), Indian Supreme Court judge
- Anuj Rastogi, Canadian film composer, producer, musician, artist, writer and live event producer
- Karan Rastogi, Indian tennis player
- Manit Rastogi, Indian urban planner
- Natasha Rastogi, Indian actress and director
- Roshni Rastogi, Indian television actress
- Sonali Rastogi, Indian architect
- Veer Bala Rastogi, Indian zoologist
- Vineeta Rastogi, American AIDS activist, public health worker and Peace Corps Volunteer
- Yogendra Rastogi, Indian calendar art painter
References[edit]
- ^ Raghavanka (2017) [First published in the 13th Century]. The Life of Harishchandra. Translated by Viswanatha, Vanamala. ISBN 978-0-6745-4566-3.
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