Mian 1

Samuele Mian
ART 102
Prof. Takayama
November 30, 2020
Term Paper #1

Origins and Meanings Behind the Last Name That Accompanied My Family for
Several Generations

Nowadays it is extremely difficult to think about the concept of family without also

thinking about the last name which is considered a family identification tool. In particular, the

first last names were introduced during the Roman Empire to satisfy a specific need of the

ancient Roman society: to identify people’s origins. In fact, as testified by Arnaldo Momigliano

in his essay Observations on the distinction between patricians and plebeians, “the ancient

Romans used last names to distinguish wealthy families (“patricians”) from poorer ones

(“plebeians”) so as to differentiate society into social classes” (8). The last name thus became an

irrefutable means to trace the aristocratic or popular origins of a specific family; hence, last

names became such an important identification resource that were passed down from generation

to generation. Over the time, last names have significantly changed their historical-cultural

function so that today they are no longer used as a tool to classify the population into social

classes but only as a method for identifying the meanings and historical-cultural origins that

every family carries with it.

Taking into consideration that last names—as we understand them today—were

introduced over a thousand years ago, identifying a last name’s history is always difficult; hence,

even having official supporting documents, it is hard to determine with certainty the origins and

meanings of one’s family last name. In order to research the history behind one's last name, as
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well suggested by the famous Italian writer Matteo Sacchi in his article Last names tell us who

we are and who we were, “it is important to analyze the historical-cultural contexts that have led

to the need to identify people” (5); he thus gave us an idea on how to search for the origins of our

last names and how and why it is possible that our last names have been altered over time. In

particular, the author suggested that it is possible that some last names “have been imposed to

satisfy some personal requirements of the Western colonial powers” (6), thus imposing a

tradition that was not typical in a colonial country but he also suggested that it might also be that

some last names “have changed spelling or length over time when ancestors entered another

country” (6). These suggestions turned out to be fundamental in finding the origins of my family

last name as I was able to face the research by taking into account some points of view that I

hadn’t considered previously.

The last name that accompanied my family for several generations is Mian, a name I've

been carrying around since I was born but of which I have never sought the origins. Curious

about where my last name originated, I began to research it through websites, libraries and some

online resources and I found that Mian was a title of nobility used by Muslims in the Punjab

region of South Asia. In particular, as well stated by Frederic Miller in his book Mian: Muslim

Nobility Title “this last name was first introduced in the early 1800s when family Baghbanpura

officially received the Royal title of Mian from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II for the prominent

political contributions in the Punjab region” (21). According to Frederic Miller, the last name

Mian is therefore a noble title that has subsequently been passed down from generations till

reaching me and, considering that it was first introduced in the early 1800s, it means that it has a

relatively recent origins.

Following the breakup of the Mughal Empire, the Mian family was forced to take refuge

in Europe as the British Empire colonized the whole of India. In particular, as documented by
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Frederic Miller "with the end of the Mughal Empire, in the late 1800s, the noble Mian dynasty

emigrated to Italy" (25), making it possible to spread the last name Mian also in Europe and not

only in Asia. Being born and raised in Italy and being intrigued by the history of my family, I

looked for some Italian official documents that testified the exact moment in which the last name

Mian was first introduced in Italy and, in accordance with the municipal register of Mossa, “the

last name Mian was first introduced in Italy in 1890 just before the First World War” (3). This

date was later confirmed by my grandfather (Arrigo Mian) who told me how his father (Gabriele

Mian) in 1890, after a journey of over a month, immigrated to Italy to take refuge from the

British Empire that colonized the whole India. Once in Italy, my great-grandfather registered his

last name in the municipality of Mossa—in the region where we still live today—and that was

the exact moment in which the last name Mian was first introduced in Italy.

Over the years my family's last name has remained unchanged for over 200 years but the

same cannot be said of the last name of my great-grandfather's brother (Michele Mian) who

immigrated to Italy only in 1926. In fact, as he arrived in Italy during the fascist regime, his last

name was Italianized as determined by the Fascist Laws (1925) "all last names of foreign origin

will be Italianized to manifest the Italian influence to the detritment of foreign cultures".

Precisely for this reason, Michele's last name underwent a slight variation in order to be

considered more Italian, becoming Miani. Even today my family (descendant of Gabriele Mian)

bears the same last name that it obtained as a noble title from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II

over 200 years ago while my cousin's family (descendant of Michele Mian/Miani) bears the last

name Miani as required by the fascist regime. It seems almost unthinkable that, being part of the

same family, my cousin (Lorenzo Miani) and I have different last names due to the arrival at

different times in Italy: while before fascism last names were respected for their origins, during

the Mussolini’s regime immigrants witnessed the distortion of all last names of foreign origins.
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This makes us reflect on what the writer Sacchi had previously said in his article Last names tell

us who we are and who we were: "it is possible that some last names have been changed due to

the influence of European powers that wanted to impose their own traditions without considering

the immigrants’ culture" (6).

Having discovered the history behind my last name, I can say with certainty that the

meaning of Mian is due to Indian origins. In particular, as established by the website genealogy

bank, "the last name Mian is of Indian (Sanskrit) origin and means first ray of light from the

rising sun". The meaning of my last name could be traced back to the fact that my ancestors,

once appointed as noble family of the Mughal Empire, had the opportunity to start a new life like

the rising sun begins a new cycle. My grandfather; in fact, told me that when his grandparents

obtained the noble title, they began to climb the social classes until they became large

landowners. This family testimony is confirmed by the words of Yousuf Dadoo in his book

Building the Islamic moral self: Sufi Abed's Bustān Fāṭimahma'a Bustān 'Ā'ishah where the

author highlights the fact that "the Mian family, after being proclaimed noble family, became a

landowner, marking the social and economic rebirth of an important family on the Indian scene"

(12). Although I had never given much importance to the meaning of my last name, according to

the writer Yousuf Dadoo, behind the Indian noble title Mian there is a very deep historical-

cultural meaning.

Never having asked myself questions about my last name’s history, this research allowed

me to discover the origins and meanings behind the last name that accompanied my family for

several generations. Having found a lot of resources to tackle this research, I was able to examine

and compare them to obtain an accurate and unbiased historical information related to my family

last name’s origins and meanings. I was quite shocked when I was able to piece together the

story of my last name as I would never have believed that my last name had a noble derivation
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and I could not even remotely think that this name symbolized the rebirth of a family. This

research shows that behind every last name there is a story that must be discovered and handed

down from generation to generation so as to never forget one's origins.

Works Cited Page

Momigliano, Arnaldo. “Osservazioni sulla distinzione fra patrizi e plebei” Entretiens sur

l’Antiquité classique, vol. 13, Fondation Hardt pour l’étude de l’Antiquité classique,
1967, p. 197–, doi:10.5169/seals-660879.

Sacchi, Matteo. “Last names tell us who we are and who we were” Il Messaggero Veneto, vol.
2020, no. 9, Springer, Sept. 2020, doi:10.1007/JHEP09(2020)161.

Miller, Frederic. “Mian: Muslim Nobility Title” Advertising Age, vol. 83, no. 3, Crain
Communications, Inc, Aug. 2010, doi:10.4046/ seals-693810.

Italian register of Mossa. April 10, 2012. PDF document that describe the meaning and when a
last name were first introduced in Italy.
http://www.comune.mossa.go.it/portale/export/sites/comune5/allegati/archivio_file/TUT
TI_COGNOMI_bis.pdf

Fascist Laws. March 30, 2018. Online article that describe how the Italianization of last names
took place under the fascist regime https://www.fanpage.it/cultura/nel-luglio-1923-il-
fascismo-vieta-le-parole-straniere-cosi-il-sandwich-si-trasformo-in-tramezzino/

Genealogybank. Search engine to discover the origins and meanings behind a last name

https://www.genealogybank.com/last-name-meaning

Dadoo, Rafudeen. “Building the Islamic Moral Self: Sufi Abed’s Bustān Fāṭimahma’a Bustān
‘Ā’ishah.” Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde, vol. 54, no. 2, Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association,
July 2017, pp. 42–60, doi:10.17159/tvl.v.54i2.1723.
 
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Interview with my grandfather Arrigo Mian. November 1, 2020. Questions to get the familiar
point of view about the origins and meanings behind the last name of our family.