417. Baje and allied place names

Many of the toponyms or the place names serve as useful   components   in deciphering strings of history, as we have suggested in some of our previous posts herein.

 There are a number of   villages (and hamlets) in Tulunadu that bear the place name “Baja¹” or “Baje¹” or a prefix component of similar word. The ancient   word “baje” in general represents a dry barren or hard topped area. Related   modern Kannada words, such as “banje” (=infertile) and “banjaru” (=dry, waste land) connote the significant meaning of the term “baje”.

Further, the “baje” word in the commonly found: an oil-fried coastal vegetarian dish, ”golibaje” (popularly designated as “Mangaluru bajji” in  Bengaluru)  also declares the dry, fried status of the delicious  eatable.  (In Kannada, it has become "bajji"). Besides, there is also a “baje” a dried medicinal root material used as a household  Ayurvedic medicine in  villages of Tulunadu. Similarly, "bajant" (or bejant) in Tulu is dried cow dung cake.

The scope of the meaning of the word “baj-” can be further elucidated with the help of “bajra” the ancient word form of “vajra” (bajra>vajra = diamond), wherein baj+ra stands for hardest known mineral or gem stone.

That the term “bajra”   means hard and strong is further vindicated by the name “Bajrang-bali”,  referred to Hanuman, the faithful servant of Rāma. The term Bajra+ang+bali means a powerful  person (“bali”) having body (“ang”) like “bajra”(diamond).

There are several usages in Tulu having  ”baje” as a word component: For example:

Bajant; bejant= dry cow dung cakes

Baji; bajee= empty;waste;

Bajee banji=empty stomach; bajee mande=bald head.

Bajikre; bejikre= dry leaves.

Bajavu=dry leaves

Bajil= dry rice flakes ; beaten rice; avalakki

Bajel= (water for) quenching thirst

Baja¹ or Baje¹ and allied Villages

Let us study the following place names, carrying   the prefix of   ‘Baja’ or ‘Baje’:

Baje: the location of water supply dam on the banks of River Swarna, near the Udupi town.

Bajape:  the village associated with Mangaluru international airport.

Bajāl: a village located on the bank of River Netrāvathi in the outskirts of Mangaluru city.

Bajagoli:  a rocky village on the Karkal -Kudremukh road.

Bajathur: a village near Uppinangadi, close to Mangaluru-Bengaluru  National Highway.

Bajre: a village near Venur,  Beltangadi Taluk, Dakshina Kannada district.

Baje

Now, the village of Baje, near Udupi is located on the bank of River Swarna. A dam has been built at Baje village to store water for the Udupi city agglomerate. Thus, by present day standards, you cannot now classify this village as a dry, hard, unfertile or barren region.  But when the village name was coined by our ancestors probably some two thousand (or more) years ago, the village was quite dry, barren by standards of that time. To complement this, the geological data suggests us that the coastal rivers have migrated and changed their position due to neo- tectonic movements during the recent geological past.

Bajape

In this village name Bajape, the prefix baja- has a suffix of -pe  (baja+pe) attached to it. The suffix variants such pa, pu or pe represent ancient spatial units such as habitation or village.examples: Mudipu, Odipu>Udipi, Kudupu, Aryapu, Didupe, Balapa, Kadapa etc).
   The Bajape is a laterite plateau located to the north of Mangaluru city and part of the village has been area adopted for the Mangaluru international airport.

By modern standards the Bajape village now is not exclusively a dry or barren area, being endowed with adequate ground water resources that are being tapped by deep open wells and bore-wells. However, when the village was named some two millennia ago it was considered a dry region being away from rivers and lakes.

Bajāl

The Bajāl (baja+āl) village is rather dry area with hard granite outcrops, even though currently it is located on the northern bank of Netrāvati river. The suffix –al   denotes that the place is located close to river or lake.

Bajagoli

Bajagoli is an interesting place name because some people may try to analyse the word as baja+goli, wherein the suffix term  ‘goli’ usually may be confused with Goli tree (Ficus benghalensis, the Ala tree).

The correct analysis of the place name should be baja+ga+oli, wherein ga is a short suffix for village (as commonly found in Gadaga, Binaga etc place names) and oli also means village. Therefore, goli (ga+oli) simply means village and not the banyan tree.

Bajathur

The village name can be analysed as baja+ta+ur, where ta means of or related to and ur (oor) means the village. Thus the original meaning of the word happens to be the village of barrenness.

Bajre

The Bajre village can be accessed on the Siddakatte  to Venoor road in Beltangadi Taluk. In the place name Bajre (baj+re), re (ar,ara, ra,re, ri) is a spatial suffix suggestive of open field or ground (as also found in numerous place names such as Bolar, Kombar, Kadire, Ujire, Hebri, Naguri, etc).

Baja: a word of Prakrit/Munda origin

Since, I chose some examples from traditional Tulunadu for the Baja/Baje village names in this  post, do you get a feeling that this is an exclusive Tulu word? No,  it is a borrowed word in Tulu!

If you check up the list of Baj/Baja/Baje/Baji - prefixed village names in the database of Census of India 2011, you will find that there are not less than 750 number of villages distributed mostly all over India. (And this does not include the list of sub-village/ hamlet names). Most of these “Baj” and “Baj+ “ village names are found in the States of  Uttar Pradesh(157), West Bengal (87), Madhya Pradesh (65), Rajasthan (62),Uttaranchal (58), Bihar (52), Jharkhand (47),Orissa (46),Himachal Pradesh (42), Assam(29), Punjab (28), Maharashtra(22) and so on.

Baj villages in India

 A few of the interesting baj place names distributed in India, along with their interpreted etymological analysis are given here below:

Baj. Variants: Bajda (baj+da), Bajna (baj+na) etc

Baja.  Variants:  Bajha (baj+[h]a); Bajah (baj+a[h]); Bajai(baj+ai); Bajaili(Baj+ai+li) , etc.

Bajad (baja+d). Variants: Bajadi (baja+di), Bajaddi (baja+ddi),Bajadih(baja+dih) etc

Bajai (baj+ai).Variants: Bajaihal (baj+ai+hal) etc.

Bajaj (baj+aj). Variants: Bajaji (baj+aji) etc.

Bajak (baj+ak), Bajakhana (baja+ka+na) etc.

Bajal (baj+al). Variants: Bajali(baj+al+i) etc

Bajan (baj+an).  Variants: Bajania (baja+an+ia); Bajana(baja+na); Bajang (baja+ng); Bajania (baja+n+ia) etc

Bajar (baj+ar). Variants: Bajarda(baj+ar+da), Bajardih(baj+ar+dih), Bajari (baj+ari) etc

Bajata (baja+ta)

Bajau (baj+au)

Bajar (baj+ar). Variants: Bajara,(baj+ara); Bajari (baj+ar+i); Bajahar(baja+[h]ar); etc

Bajarda (baj+ar+da)

Baje.  Variants: Bajel( baje+al)

Baji. Variants: Bajida(baji+da), Bajidapur (baji+da+pur), Bajira(baji+ra), Bajiya(baji+ya) etc.

Bajor (baj+or). Variants: Bajora(baj+ora)

Bajol (Baj+ol); variants; Bajoli(baj+oli);

Bajra (baj+ra); variants: Bajre(baj+re),Bajrol (baj+r+ol), Bajrakot(baj+ra+kot), etc.

Bajwa (baj+wa) ; variants: Bajwad (baj+wa+d);Bajwala (baj+wa+ala), Bajwar(baj+wa+ar); Bajwas (baj+wa+as) etc

Bajyoli (baj+y+oli), Bajyora (baj+y+ora);Bajyura (baj+y+ura) etc.

Inferences

The distribution of these Baje place names and their antiquity suggests that the origin of this ancient word is Prakrit or Munda languages of India. King Ashokas epitaphs were inscribed in Prakrit language (ca 300 BCE). It has been found that until three centuries of the CE, Prakrit was the common administrative language in Deccan, including ancient Karnataka and Tulunadu. It appears that during this period Kannada and Tulu imbibed words from Prakrit (and Munda) languages.

Homonyms of   the word ‘baje’

Additionally, the word “baje” also has other homonyms in Indian languages, with following meanings:

(1) baje² (Hindi, Punjabi) = hour

(2) bhaja[+n]³= devotional sound, prayer or music.

Baja caves

Note that there are Baja (Bhaja) caves with carvings connected with Buddhist historical prayer halls located at Maval , near Lonavala, in Maharashtra.

Phonetic evolution: pa>ba>va

We have noted in passing above that ba>va phonetic evolution has taken place along the timeline. Similarly indications suggest that an apparently older variation of ba was pa. Among other similar relevant places, we also find the place name Pājaka , near Udupi, being the birthplace of Madhvacharya.
Therefore the overall phonetic evolution in Indian subcontinent, at least, in these consonants  along the historical timeline  appears to be: pa>ba>va. Apart from the present example under discussion, another example that comes to mind immediately is : panga>banga>vanga.

Since the ba->va- word transitions apparently are associated with renaissance of Sanskrit probably corresponding to the period of ca. 100 BCE-500 CE, it is tempting to suggest that ba- words (and pa>ba words ) possibly dominated along with Prakrit languages during 1000 to 100 BCE. The pa-words could have been the regional variants of ba words or  probably were associated with an older period of time-span. This is a rough linguistic model amenable for further refinement with additional data inputs. (Reader comments and suggestions welcome)

Phonetic transition: pa>ha

While Kannada language evolved from old (“hale”)Kannada to new (“hosa”)Kannada words beginning with pa- were transformed into ha- words.(For example: palasu>halasu (jack fruit)). Similar pa>ha changes were applied to place names also, like Pejamādi>Hejamādi; Perur> Herur; Pangalūru > Hangalūru etc.. The p>h transitions are also apparent in some European languages. However, the pa>ha transitions are not evident in Tulu language. More detailed relevant studies are required into these aspects.

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-Ravindra Mundkur  with Hosabettu Vishwanatha.