Mukherjee

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Mukherjee (Bengali: মুখার্জি Mukharji), Mookerjee or Mukerji or Mukherji is a Bengali surname, common among residents of the Indian state of West Bengal. The traditional Bengali version is মুখোপাধ্যায়, which is sometimes written Mukhopadhyay, which is alternately spelled as Mookerjee or Mukerji. According to the Indian caste system, Mukherjees have traditionally belonged to the Kulin Brahmin group and along with Chatterjee, Banerjee, and Ganguly, constitute the top rank of the Bengali Brahmin caste.

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[edit] Origins

All Mukherjees belong to the Bharadwaj Gotra or the clan of Rishi Bharadwaj. The Mukherjees belong to the Kulin Brahmin class and are also classified as Radh Brahmins. The origins of most Brahmins in Southern Bengal was the Gangetic plains of Northern India, chiefly Kanauj. The Mukherjees, along with Banerjees, Chatterjees and Gangulys moved on to settle on the western banks of the Bhagirathi river in Southern Bengal during the reign of the Sena Dynasty of Bengal. This region is known as Radh or Radh Bhoomi, leading to these clans of Brahmins being categorized as Radh Brahmins.

For several decades from the 1970s to the 1990s, the West Bengal Higher Secondary board mandatorily changed all spelling variants (Mukherjee, Mukerjee, Mookerji etc.) to Mukhopadhyay (as was done with Bannerjee, Ganguly, etc.)

[edit] Historical and Traditional accounts

The earliest historically verifiable presence of brahmins in Bengal can be ascertained from Dhanaidaha copper-plate inscription of Kumargupta 1 of the Gupta Year 113 (433 C.E.) which records the grant of land to a brahmin named Varahasvamin of the Samavedi school.[1] A copper-plate grant from the Gupta period found in the vicinity of Somapura mentions a Brahmin donating land to a Jain vihara at Vatagohali. Literary sources like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Jain and Buddhist works, however record the presence of brahmins in various parts of Bengal during earlier periods.[2] Historical evidence also attests significant presence of Brahmins in Bengal during the Maurya period. The Jain Acharya Bhadrabahu, regarded to be the preceptor of Chandragupta Maurya is said to have been born in Brahmin family of Pundravardhana ( or Puṇḍra, the region north of the Ganges and west of Brahmaputra in Bengal, later known as Vārendra). Such evidences suggest Puṇḍra or Vārendra and regions west of Bhagirathi (called Radha in ancient age) to be seats of brahmins from ancient times; Rādhi and Varendra are still chief branches of Bengali brahmins settled in these regions.[3] Medium to large scale migrations of Brahmins from various parts of India like Kanyakubja region, Kolancha, southern India and Pushkar in Rajasthan, among other places, occurred from time to time, especially during Pala and Sena periods.[4]

Traditionally, Bengali brahmins are divided into the following categories:[2][5][6]

  • Rādhi from Radh (region south-west of the Ganges)
  • Varendra, from Vārendra region (North-East) or Puṇḍra. Vārendra originally meant rain-maker magicians.[7]
  • Vaidika (migrants, originally experts of Vedic knowledge)
    • Paschatya Vaidika (Vedic brahmins from west of Bengal)
    • Dakshinatya Vaidika (Vedic brahmins from south of Bengal)
  • Madhya Sreni (brahmins of the midland country)
  • Shakdvipi/ Grahavipra (migrant brahmins of Shakdvipa in Central Asia)
  • Saptaśati

The different brahmin communities of Bengal have their own traditional accounts of origin, which are generally found in various genealogical texts known as kulagranthas or kulapanjikas. Other details may also be obtained from court chronicles of various kings of Bengal. Important writers are Harimishra (13th century C.E), Edu Mishra (13th century C.E), Devivara Ghatak (15th century C.E), Dhruvananda Mishra (post 15th century C.E), Vachaspati Mishra, Rajendralal Mitra among others.[2]

  • Radhi and Varendra

The traditional origin of both Radhi and Varendra brahmins has been attributed to a king named Ādiśūra who is said to have invited five Brahmins from Kolancha (as per Edu Mishra and Hari Mishra[8]) and/or from Kanyakubja,[9] (as per Dhruvananda Mishra) so that he could conduct a yajña, because he could not find Vedic experts locally. Some traditional texts mention that Ādiśūra was ancestor of Ballāl Sena from maternal side and five brahmins had been invited in 1077 C.E.[10] Other texts like Varendrakulapanjika, Vachaspati Mishra's account and Edu Mishra's account attribute a date of 732 C.E for the migration. Additionally, other sources like Sambandhanirnaya, Kulanrava and others attribute various dates like 942 C.E, 932 C.E and others.[2]

Historians have located a ruler named Ādiśūra ruling in north Bihar, but not in Bengal[citation needed]. But Ballāl Sena and his predecessors ruled over both Bengal and Mithila (i.e., North Bihar). It is unlikely that the brahmins from Kānyakubja may have been invited to Mithila for performing a yajña, because Mithila was a strong base of brahmins since Vedic age.[11] However some scholars have identified Ādiśūra with Jayanta, a vassal chief of the Gauda king around middle of 8th century C.E.[2] and is also referred to as a contemporary of Jayapida (779 to 812 C.E) of Kashmir (grandson of Lalitaditya) in Kalhana's Rajatarangini.[12]

Kulin Brahmins are those Brahmins in Bengal who can trace themselves to the five families of Kanauj (Kanyakubja), Uttar Pradesh who migrated to Bengal. The five families were of the five different gotras (Shandilya, Bharadwaj, Kashyap, Vatsya and Swavarna). They are widely believed to be at the apex of Bengal's caste hierarchy.

The kulin families are further divided into two sections:

Barendra : Belonging to those families who settled at the north or north east region of the Ganges or Padma river. Rarhi : Belonging to those families who settled at the south or southwest region of the Ganges or Padma river.

[edit] Etymology

Note that "Mukherjee" evolved from the Sanskrit Mukhopadhyay (Bengali: মুখোপাধ্যায় Mukhopaddhae). Mukhopadhyay is from the purer Sanskrit form Mukhyopadhyay (in Sanskrit Mukhya - chief, Upadhyay - teacher, not necessarily a religious teacher). In modern parlance, the two are often used interchangeably, much like other such pairs (Banerjee/Bandhyopadhyay, Chatterjee/Chattyopadhyay), with the latter being used primarily in religious contexts. How these interchangeable pairs arose is unknown. Another theory is that Upadhyay from Kanauj settled at different villages in present day West Bengal and thus earned the prefixes of the villages before their Upadhay surname.[citation needed]

[edit] Mukhuti

Families with surnames Mukhati or Mukhuti are believed to be of the same origins as Mukherjees and it is possible that these surnames represent the older forms of the Mukherjee surname.[citation needed] According to another alternative hypothesis in common belief, Mukhati or Mukhuti came to be the surname of some Mukherjees who took to the fields and worked with the langol (plough) akin to the Bhumihar Brahmins in neighbouring Bihar and are therefore sometimes called "langla bamun".[citation needed] Mukhoti village near Bankura, West Bengal may be the original village in this case (refer to Niharranjan Ray's "Bangalir Itihas").[13]

[14]

There are several hypotheses on the origin of the jee in Mukherjee (and in the related Chatterjee and Banerjee surnames).[15]

[edit] Deogharia

Families with surname Deogharia are also Mukherjee. The title of Deogharia belongs to Mukherjee families of erstwhile Panchkot kingdom (near Adra, Purulia, West Bengal). The title of Deogharia was given by the kings to the Mukherjee families of that place who were involved in religious activities. However, now as neither there is any kingdom, nor any signification of such title, many are reconverting surname of their children back to Mukherjee.

[edit] Famous Mukherjees

Famous people with the last name Mukherjee :

[edit] Planet

[edit] A

[edit] B

[edit] C

[edit] D

[edit] H

[edit] J

[edit] K

[edit] M

[edit] N

[edit] P

[edit] R

[edit] S

[edit] T

[edit] U

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ cf. Some Historical Aspects of the Inscription of Bengal, page xii
  2. ^ a b c d e cf. Banger Jatiya Itihash, Brahman Kanda, Vol 1
  3. ^ cf. History of Brahmin Clans,page 281
  4. ^ cf. Banger Jatiya Itihash, Brahman Kanda, Vol 3, Chapter 1
  5. ^ cf. Hindu Castes and Sects, Jogendranath Bhattacharya, Part III, Chap 1, Pg 35
  6. ^ cf. Samaj Biplab ba Brahman Andalon, Dinabandhu Acharya Vedashastri
  7. ^ Vāri+indra, Vāri meant water : cf.A History of Brahmin Clans , page 283.
  8. ^ cf. Harimishra, कोलांचदेशतः पंचविपरा ज्ञानतपोयुताः । महाराजादिशूरेण समानीताः सपत्नीकाः ॥
  9. ^ cf. History of Brahmin Clans,page 281-283
  10. ^ cf. History of Brahmin Clans,page 281 : this book quotes Krishna-Charita by Vidyāsāgar for dating.
  11. ^ cf. D.D. kosambi, p. 123.
  12. ^ cf. Rajatarangini, Tarang 4, Verse 421
  13. ^ Sherring, M.A. (First ed 1872, new ed 2008). Hindu Tribes and Castes as Reproduced in Benaras. 6A, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049, India: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-8120620360. 
  14. ^ Saraswati, Swami Sahajanand (2003). Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Rachnawali in Six volumes (in Volume 1). Delhi: Prakashan Sansthan. pp. 519 (at p 68–69) (Volume 1). ISBN 81-7714-097-3. 
  15. ^ See also -ji.

[edit] See also

[edit] References


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