Inian (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Bombay city): Hindu (Bania, Vania, Brahman, Khatri), Jain, Parsi, Sikh name meaning ‘chief’ in several modern Indian languages, from Sanskrit mahita ‘praised’, ‘great’ (from mah- ‘to praise or magnify’). In Gujarati it has come to mean ‘teacher’, ‘accountant’, probably because teachers and accountants were respectfully so addressed in Gujarat.