Evidence record · personal name

Meaning and use are separate questions.

Lexical evidence: Platts separates mihr/měhr, sun-related mihr and Arabic mahr.

Documented use: Judicial and memorial credits.

Several historical dictionary headwords

Platts separates several headwords that a loose Roman search can bring together. Persian mihr, also měhr, includes love, favour and mercy. A separate mihr entry concerns the sun, while Arabic mahr concerns a marriage portion. These are distinct lexical contexts, rather than interchangeable meanings for a single person. The spelling Mehar in a modern credit does not automatically select one of them. This comparison therefore preserves the actual dictionary distinctions while leaving a complete personal-name etymology unestablished. It also avoids turning a historical vocabulary entry into a rule about someone’s character or family.[1]

Mehr Chand Mahajan in a court record

The Supreme Court of India’s biographical record uses the heading Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan. Selected professional entries place legal practice in Dharmshala in 1913, Gurdaspur during 1914–1918 and Lahore during 1918–1943. The record also lists Punjab University fellowship and Syndicate service during 1940–1947, followed by an East Punjab University Syndicate entry for 1947–1950. It lists an honorary LL.D. These dates and institutions attach the spelling Mehr to a particular judicial biography. They do not explain a private naming choice. The website’s recent update stamp is not taken as the original publication date of that biography.[2]

Two spellings inside one address

Panjab University released Jagdish Singh Khehar’s memorial address on 3 October 2016, identifying its delivery as 1 October. Its title and opening use Mehar Chand Mahajan, while paragraph 4 and the closing tribute use Mehr Chand Mahajan. The variation occurs within this particular address; it does not establish an equivalence rule for every bearer.[3]

A college’s memorial credit

A brochure for a conference planned for 29–30 May 2024 states that DAV College Kangra began in 1976 and was later renamed MCM DAV College in memory of Mehar Chand Mahajan. The brochure supplies no precise renaming date.[4]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. John T. Platts. A Dictionary of Urdū, Classical Hindī, and English ↗original dictionary scan · Source date: 1884 first edition; consulted Sampson Low impression undated · Locator: Printed 1099, mihr / měhr and separate homographs; Part 2 PDF 495; corrections 1255–1259 checked. Accessed 2026-11-02.Selected entry and corrections checked; personal naming intention is unrecorded.Return to Several historical dictionary headwords, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Supreme Court of India. Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan ↗official biographical record · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Name heading and selected legal-practice and university credits. Accessed 2026-11-02.Selected record checked; portal update date is not original publication.Return to Mehr Chand Mahajan in a court record, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Jagdish Singh Khehar; Panjab University. Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan Oration Lecture By Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar (Judge, Supreme Court of India), delivered at Panjab University on 01.10.2016 ↗university-hosted commemorative address · Source date: 2016-10-03 release · Locator: Title/byline, paragraphs 1, 4 and 10; release line. Accessed 2026-11-02.Selected name credits checked; political and disputed service-date narratives are unselected.Return to Two spellings inside one address, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. MCM DAV College Kangra. National Conference on Basic and Social Sciences: Innovations & Challenges-2024 ↗institutional conference brochure · Source date: 2024 programme; publication date unestablished · Locator: PDF 1–2, conference title/date and About the College. Accessed 2026-11-02.Brochure sections checked; a planned conference is not a delivered event.Return to A college’s memorial credit, paragraph 1 ↑
Help improve this entry. Suggest a correction with a source.
Record PH-NAM-0080 · English edition · human review not performed