Chopra (surname)

Last updated

Chopra
Jāti Khatri
Religions Om.svg Hinduism, Khanda.svg Sikhism
Languages Punjabi
Country India
Region Punjab, Haryana
Heraldic title Singh, Sardar, Rao

Chopra is a surname of the Khatri community mainly based in Haryana and Indian Punjab. [1] Chopra Khatris belonged to the Bahri family-group, which also includes the subclans Dhawan, Kakkar, Kapoor, Khanna, Mehra, Malhotra, Sehgal, Seth, Tandon, Talwar, and Vohra. [2]

Contents

The surname is also found among the Ramgarhia Sikhs and the Rors. [2] [3]

Origin

The Chopras claims to originate from one man called "Chaupat Rai" who was killed in a battle with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. His descendants who were born before his death took the name of their forefather and hence came to be known as Chopra. [4] Most Chopras are Hindu, with a minority also being Sikh.

History

Todar Mal was Chopra. Diwan Mulraj and Diwan Sawan Mal were from Chopra Khatri families and served as army generals under Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Sikh Empire. Sawan Mal Chopra was renowned for capturing Multan from the rule of Afghans while Mulraj was known to have rebelled against the British which led to the 2nd Anglo-Sikh war. [5] [6] The ancestors of the Chopras were expert gamblers, so much so that they were called the incarnation of Maharaja Nala. [7]

Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra, governor of Lahore and Multan Sawan Mal.jpg
Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra, governor of Lahore and Multan

They were concentrated in Majha region of Punjab in modern-day countries of India and Pakistan which includes Gujranwala, Amritsar, Lahore etc. [8] [9] Dr. Satyapal, a prominent freedom fighter from Gujranwala who was arrested by the British along with Saifuddin Kitchlew was a Chopra Khatri. [10] [11] Kavi Tahikan was a soldier by profession who also served as one of the 52 poets/writers of Guru Gobind Singh belonged to a Chopra family of Jalalpur town of Gujrat district. [12] [13]

Notable people

People listed may or may not be affiliated to the clans or the religions, include:

Athletes

Authors

Directors

Executives

Film actors

Journalists

Models

Military officers

Politicians

Scientists and academics

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathiawar</span> Peninsula in Western India

Kathiawar is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about 61,000 km2 (23,500 sq mi) bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of Gujarat and borders on the low, fertile hinterland of Ahmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.

Malhotra is a Punjabi surname of the Dhai Ghar sub-group of Khatris from Punjab. Malhotra is a modified Punjabi language version of Mehrotra. Families with last name Malhotra can be Hindu or Sikh.

Kapoor or Kapur is a Punjabi surname of Khatri caste found in the Punjabi Hindu and Sikh communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalsa College, Amritsar</span> Higher education institution in Amritsar, India

Khalsa College is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling 300-acre (1.2 km2) campus is located about eight kilometers from the city-center on the Amritsar-Lahore highway, adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University campus, to which Khalsa College is academically affiliated.

Puri is an Indian Punjabi surname of Kshatriya Varna derived from a Chandravanshi Indo Aryan Puru tribe of King Porus.

Bindra is a Punjabi surname found among Jats & Khatris. Many Bindra Khatris were located in Rawalpindi district.

Khanna is a name.

Rohit, pronounced[ˈroːɦɪt̪]) is a given name, typically male, used among Indian people. It is also used in some parts of Nepal. It is mostly used by Jains, Hindus, and Sikhs.

Tandon is a surname found among the Hindu Khatris and Sikhs of Punjab, India.

Mehra is a Khatri Hindu surname found in India, predominantly in the Punjab, Delhi and Jammu Regions. They generally come under the Dhai Ghar group of the Khatri Caste. Mehra surname are mainly Khatri in origin but many clans from other states also uses this surname as well. They are also known as Kashyap Rajputs. This surname derives from the word Mihir, meaning sun or master.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samar Jai Singh</span> Indian film actor and acting trainer (born 1966)

Samar Jai Singh is an Indian film actor and acting trainer. He graduated from Government Law College, but started in Indian film and television industry in 1992. Samar is an acting coach as one of the founders and directors of Kreating Charakters acting school, since 2005, in Mumbai. He became famous as Lord Shiva in the TV series Om Namah Shivay, in 1997.

Nayar or Nayyar is a surname that is found among Khatri community which are majorly Hindus with a minority of Sikhs and Muslims. The belong to the "Sareen" division among the Khatris. They were mostly concentrated in the Majha region especially in the districts of Gujrat, Lahore, Okara, Nankana Sahib and Sialkot before 1947. Nayyar families were known to have been qanungos (governors) in the town of Kunjah in Gujrat district, Punjab.

References

  1. ↑ Koul, Ram Krishan (1982). Sociology of Names and Nicknames of India: With Special Reference to Kashmir. Utpal Publications. p. 62. Khatri Khatri surnames like Bhatia , Bhandari , Chopra , Chowdhri , Dhawan , Kakar , Kapoor , Khanna , Kochhar , Mahendru , Sami , Sahni , Sethi , Tandan , Uppal , Vohra etc.
  2. 1 2 Hanks, Patrick (2003-05-08). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN   978-0-19-508137-4.
  3. ↑ "Olympic Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra's Success Outlook India". 2 July 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Dogra, R. C.; Mansukhani, Gobind Singh (1995). Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and Culture. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN   978-0-7069-8368-5.
  5. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1978). History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Lion of Lahore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799-1839. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN   978-81-215-0515-4.
  6. ↑ Bobby Singh Bansal, Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in India & Pakistan, Hay House, Inc, 1 Dec 2015
  7. ↑ The Illustrated Weekly of India. Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. April 1971.
  8. ↑ Lipski, Alexander (1969). South Asia Series Occasional Paper. Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University.
  9. ↑ Gauba, Anand (1988). Amritsar, a Study in Urban History, 1840-1947. ABS Publications. ISBN   978-81-7072-015-7.
  10. ↑ Singh, Fauja (1972). Eminent Freedom Fighters of Punjab. Punjabi University, Department of Punjab Historical Studies.
  11. ↑ Goyal, Shailja (2004). Dr. Satyapal, the Hero of Freedom Movement in the Punjab. PBG Publications.
  12. ↑ Commission, Indian Historical Records (1960). Proceedings of the ... Session. The Commission.
  13. ↑ Singh, Harbans (1992). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: S-Z. Punjabi University. ISBN   978-81-7380-530-1.
WPanthroponymy.svg
This page lists people with the surname Chopra.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.