Chopra

Chopra (Devanāgarī: चोपड़ा, IAST: chopṛa) is a Punjabi Khatri family name.

Etymology and historical references

Chopra is a Punjabi Khatri clan and belongs to the Bara-Ghar (12 House) Khatri section.

The earliest reference to this family name dates back to around 400 AD. One of the important characters of a famous Punjabi legend 'Raja Rasalu' is minister Mahita Chopra. Most scholars agree that Raja Rasalu is a historical figure that ruled from Sialkot and lived sometime between 400 to 500 AD. If this is true, then the Chopra family name developed by that time.

Other references are more recent. The father and son pair of the Diwan Sawan Mal and Mul Raj Chopra were successive governors of Multan under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the early 1800s.

See also

• Caste
• Punjabi people
• Sikhs
• Hinduism in Punjab
• Khatri

References

• Temple, R.C. "The Legends of The Panjab", 1884. Many reprints 1977, 2002 (ISBN 81-7167-636-7, ISBN 0-405-10128-7)
• Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
• Imperial Rule in the Punjab: The Conquest and Administration of Multan, 1818-1881 by James Royal Roseberry, III. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 110, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1990), p. 176
• Griffin, Lepel Henry. The Panjab chiefs, historical and biographical notices, 1865