What is "dabral"

Dabral ( Devanagari: डबराल; Ḍabrāl), is a surname found in Hindu community of Garhwali Saraswat Brahmins primarily living in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state of India. Member of this community are also found in Kumaon region. According to their traditions they are the descendents of the Rishi Bharadwaja. Adherent of the Shaivism sect, they do worship Shiva as their prime deity.

According to Pandit Badri Datt Pandey's legendary book History of Kumaon and Garhwal the Dabrals were originally inhabitants of Maharashtra state of the Western India region, from where they migrated to the Himalaya in the north as a result of the Islamic invasion in the 15th century A.D. Some sources cite that two Brahmin brothers from Maharashtra named Sadanand and Shivanand migrated to the Garhwal region in the year 1433 A.D. where they first settled at the hilly village Dabar in Pauri Garhwal district near the town Lansdowne in present day Uttarakhand thus given the surname Dabral. Modern day Dabrals are considered their descendents.