hartal

Where does the word "hartal" come from? It comes from Sanskrit hatta, passing through Sanskrit and Gujarati before entering English (early 1900s).

Hartal’s story begins in Sanskrit: hatta meant “market.” Meant 'market'. Within Sanskrit, it grew into talaka by ancient. Meant 'lock'. From there it passed into Gujarati as hadtal by medieval. The compound came to mean closing shops in protest. It reached English by early 1900s as hartal. Entered English through Gandhi's independence movement, which popularized the mass protest strike. Today, hartal means a general strike or mass shutdown of shops and businesses, used as a form of political protest in South Asia.

1. Stage 1 · Sanskrit · ancient hatta "market", meant 'market'.
2. Stage 2 · Sanskrit · ancient talaka "lock", meant 'lock'.
3. Stage 3 · Gujarati · medieval hadtal "the closing of shops and businesses in protest", the compound came to mean closing shops in protest.
4. Stage 4 · English · early 1900s hartal "a general strike or mass closure of businesses as protest", entered English through Gandhi's independence movement, which popularized the mass protest strike.