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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
'''Shett''' (also spelt as '''Shet''') is a surname and title of the [[Daivajna]] subcaste of [[Konkani people]], residing along the coast of the [[Konkan region]] in western India. It is also an honorific used by them in [[Goa]], [[Damaon]], [[Konkan division]] of Maharashtra, and [[Kanara]] subregion of [[Karnataka]].<ref name=shet />
[[File:Shetgentleman.jpg|thumb|upright|A Shett gentlemen from [[Goa]], late 18th&nbsp;– early 19th century (Courtesy: Gomant Kalika, Nutan Samvatsar Visheshank, April 2002)]]

==Etymology==

The word ''Shett'' is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] word {{IAST|Śreṣṭha}} ([[Devanagari]]: {{script|Deva|श्रेष्ठ}}) or {{IAST|Śreṣṭhin}} ({{script|Deva|श्रेष्ठीन्}}, ‘superior’), [[Prakrit]] as {{IAST|Seṭhī}} ({{script|Deva|सेठी}}), and then {{IAST|Śeṭ}} ({{script|Deva|शेट}}) or {{IAST|Śeṭī}} ({{script|Deva|शेट}}) in modern Indo-Aryan dialects.<ref>''Gomantak Prakruti ani Sanskruti'', Part-1, Page-221 by B.D. Satoskar, Shubhada Publication</ref>

The guilds of the traders, merchants, bankers as well as moneylenders (''mahjana''),{{Which lang|date=September 2021}} administrators of various institutions and their employees in ancient Goa, like other parts in India, were called as [[shreni|{{IAST|śreṇī}}]], and the head of these guilds were called as {{Transliteration|sa|Śreṣṭha}} or {{Transliteration|sa|Śreṣṭhīn}}, which would mean 'His Excellency'.<ref name="set">{{cite book|title=Census of India, 1961 |publisher=India. Office of the Registrar General|year=1962|volume= v. 11, pt. 6, no. 14 |pages=14}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

==Usage==

Various [[Romanization|Romanised]] versions found during the colonial period include ''Chatim, Xete, Xetim, Xatim, Chati, Sette'' etc.<ref name=s1>{{cite book|last=Pearson|first=Michael Naylor|title=Coastal western India: studies from the Portuguese records Issue 2 of XCHR studies series|year=1981|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=9788170221609|pages=149 pages(see:102,126,127)}}</ref><ref name=s2>{{cite book|last=Shirodkar|first=Prakashchandra P.|title=Researches in Indo-Portuguese history, Volume 1|year=1998|publisher=Publication Scheme|isbn=9788186782156|pages=194}}</ref>

Before the [[Goa Inquisition]], Daivajna men used the titles ''Sethi,'' etc. after their first names. e.g. Virupa Chattim, Gana Sethi, etc. The father's name was used as a middle name. The Daivajna diaspora started using village names after their first names to distinguish themselves from other communities. Daivajna people still in Goa continue to use it as an honorific title. Due to various socio-economic reasons, Daivajna people migrated from [[Goa]] to other places. Some started using ''Shet'' as their surname just to distinguish themselves from others (especially in [[South Canara]], [[Udupi]], [[Shimoga]] and in some parts of [[North Canara]].<ref name=shet>{{cite book|last=Karnataka (India)|title=Karnataka State gazetteer, Volume 16|year=1985|publisher=Printed by the Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Govt. Press|location=Karnataka|pages=254}}</ref>

==Historical references==
*The earliest reference to the word ''Shreshthi'' in Goa is found in a [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate inscription]], dating to the early 4th century. It mentions a certain Aditya Shreshthi of [[Shiroda, Goa]] who was head of a guild which was issued by the [[Bhojas of Goa|Bhoja]] king, Kapalivarman.<ref name="adi">{{cite book|last1=De Souza|first1=Teotonio R. De Souza|title=Goa Through the Ages, Volume 2|date=1990|publisher=Concept Publishing Company| isbn=9788170222590|page=119}}</ref>
*Southern [[Shilahara]] copper plates mention Durga Shreshthi and Babbhana Shreshthi as their ministers.
*Names of many traders like Naga Sette, Gomo Sette, and Bhaira Sette have been found in a copper plate dating back to 1348 AD.<ref>{{cite book|last= Pereira|first=Rui Gomes|title=Goa|year=1978|pages=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMwdDpm0IoMC&q=khategrama|language=en,pt}}</ref>
*A [[Kasarpal]] copper plate dating to 1436 AD mentions Rupa Sheti and his son Lakshmana Sheti, whom a certain Brahmin Nagavdeva donated the village of Varandem (which includes Kasarpal).<ref name=kalika>{{cite book|last1=Gomes Pereira|first1=Pereira|title=Hindu temples and deities(tranlslated from the original in Portuguese by Antonio Victor Couto)|date=1978|publisher=Perera|location=Panaji|pages=121–122}}</ref>
*Gana Sethi or Gana Chatim (as his name appears in [[Indo-Portuguese]] documents) was an [[interpreter]] in the court of the [[Portuguese in Goa and Bombay]].<ref name="ReferenceA">"Gomantak Prakruti ani Sanskruti" by B.D. Satoskar, published by Shubhada Publication</ref>
*Ravala Sethi or Roulu Chatim, a certain merchant of Caraim (name mentioned in 15th-century documents)<ref>"The Portuguese empire, 1415-1808" By A. J. R. Russell-Wood, Page 105</ref>
*Virupa Sethi in the 16th century, who protested against the Portuguese.<ref name="Xavier 269 -295">{{Citation|last=Xavier|first=Ângela Barreto|title=Disquiet on the island: Conversion, conflicts and conformity in sixteenth-century Goa|date=September 2007|series=Indian Economic & Social History Review|volume=44|pages=269–295}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Shetty]]
*[[Sheth]]
*[[Sethi (disambiguation)|Sethi]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{Daivadnya}}

[[Category:Konkani]]
[[Category:Religion in Goa]]
[[Category:Social groups of Goa]]
[[Category:Social groups of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Surnames of Indian origin]]
[[Category:Konkani-language surnames]]