Chatterjee

Chatterjee

Chatterjee (sometimes Chatterji) (Bengali: চ্যাটার্জি Chêṭarji) is an Indian family name of a Bengali Brahmin caste; it is a variant of Chattopadhyay(a) (Bengali: চট্টোপাধ্যায় Chôṭṭopaddhae).

Chattopadhyay (compound of village name "Chaṭṭa" and "upādhyāya" denoting "priest, teacher" originally granted with the village named Chaṭṭa) is the Sanskritized form of the local Prakrit word "chaturjye", anglicized to Chatterjee. The people belonging to the Chattopadhyaya group are assigned the highest position in the Bengali Brahmin community, followed by the Bannerjees and Mukherjees.

The Chatterjee ancestors are from the great sage Kashyap, the father of the Devas and Danavas and thus all Chatterjee's have the same Kashyap Gotra, which means they are from the same ancestral root. The Chatterjees today form the only existent Gotra in Bengal descended from a deity, the Sun God, Surya and are widely regarded as the Suryamshis or the Solar-descendants.

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Position in the society

Alongside the Kashyapas of northern India, Chatterjees are thus said to be the children of the Vedic composers. Most of the verses of the Rig Veda and other Vedas were composed by their ancestors. Historically, the Manu Samhita assigns the place of law-maker to the descendants of Kashyap, and Chatterjees occupied the same position in Bengal. They are the first-seaters of Bengali Yajna ceremony.

Royal linage

All Chatterjees are considered historically the descendants of Bharata, the founder of India. In the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, the earth has been referred to as Kashyapi, or the daughter of Kashyap. This is a symbolic concept, revealing a much deeper truth, which can be traced to the time when the Aryavarta was ruled by the various Kashyapa lines. The famed Suryavamsha or Solar Dynasty of India is historically considered to be th source of the Kashyapas of Bengal. Ikkshaku Vamsa or the dynasty of Ikkshaku is another earlier source. Nearly all the people bearing the surname Chatterjee or Chattopadhyay are descended from the kings of Aryavarta, and as per legend, from Bharata, the emperor of India. The weakening of Hindu royal linages gave way to Islamic invasion of Bengal followed by the fragmentation of the Kashyapa people.

Notable Chatterjee and Chattopadhyays

Chatterjee's



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