Uprety

Indo-Nepalese family name

Upreti / उप्रेतीLanguage(s)| Nepali, Doteli, Kumaoni

|

Origin
Meaning|

* derived from the village name Upreda or Upretyada, meaning "originated from Upreda"
* based on claim regarding the word derived from Sanskrit Uparati, meaning "cessation from worldly pleasure".

Region of origin| Kumaon, Uttarakhand, India and Doti, Nepal
Other names
See also| Brahmin, Khasas, Thakur

Upreti / उप्रेती, or Uprety (ISO: Upretī), is a surname found within the various ethnic communities of Brahmin, Khasas and Thakur primarily living in Nepal and Kumaon region of Uttarakhand state of India . Many other ethnic groups of Upreti are found in Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and some other states of India as well as in Bhutan & Myanmar too.

Based on multiple Survey, did under various occasion by different Professionals on various time periods, it's been found that the Upreti are divided based on their Profession and Genealogy. Many are categorised as Vedic Brahmin, others as Local Hill Brahmins and few under Hill Rajputs. Based on the recorded historical documents, it came into consideration that the ethnicity and ancestral genealogy of each Upreti varies thus, divided into different gotras. Many are Plain migrants, other comes under the category of Native Pahari descendant, as the difference is clearly noticeable based on their ethnicity and ancestral adherent norms & tradition.

According to their accustomed traditions, they considered themselves to be the descendant of vedic sages and thus, their Gotras. The lists of gotra they are categorised under are: Atreya, Bhardwaja, Gautama, Kaundinya, Kashyapa, Kaushik, Kosalya, Maudgalya, Parasara, Sandilya, Upamanyu, Vasishtha and many others. Each have their own ancestral customary ceremonial rituals, and based on their particular belief and norms, they practice these under their own guideline and terminology. It's compulsory for some to consider vedic priest as their primary  guardian whereas others do not, Some even use village priest as a medium to worship and communicate with their ancestral deity. The Kuladevata ranges from Village Deity, Tutelary deity, Divine Feminine to Solar deity, The Upreti of Bhardwaja gotra however worship Shiva as their Kuladevata and Mahakali as their Kuldevi.[1]

## Etymology[edit]

Based on the book, Kumaon Ka Itihas (transl. History of Kumaon) written by the famed Pandit Badri Datt Pandey, where he quotes: Pandit Rudra Dutt Pant writes, "During the reign of Katyuri kings, a Kanyakubja Brahmin named Shambhu Sharma came from the Chauki village of Doti to Kali Kumaon. The Place where Brahmin stayed was called 'Peti', hence his descendants were called Upreti." These people mainly lives on Peti, Kungaun, Supakot and surrounding areas.[2]

Pandit Ram Datt Jyotirvid writes, " Shiv Prasad Bajpai, A Maharashtran Brahmin of Dravida origin came during the reign of Mankoti kings. The Mankoti king gave him the Upreryada village. The direct descendant of this Brahmin are divided into four families each:- Simha, Shridhar, Deo and Prithvidhar. They used to be wazir of the Mankoti king but they killed the king by deceit. The queen became sati; (burnt herself in fire). She left her son in the custody of Pants. The Upretis were derelicted from authority in the court. Later, they served in the Chand court too. They live in Khetidhura, Chaugarkha, Kafalni. Supakot, Patia and Alay in Baramandal. In Kumaun, Bankubinda and in Phaldakot too. In Sor, they live in Hudeti and other villages, and some to the north of Bageshwar also. There have been a good scholars among them as well, from time upon time. During the Gorkha rule, Pandit Jay Krishna Upreti was the commander-in-chief. His descendant, lives in Almora. The Upretis of Patia, Jhijar and Supakot call themselves to be of one family and the other Upretis of another. Pandit Ganga Datt Upreti states that the Upretis to be a Maharashtrian origin.[3]

Lala Devi Dass Kayastha in his book History of the Kumaon writes: " Shiv Prashad, A Maharastran Brahmin came to Gangoli along with his family & relatives after they successfully made their trip to Badrinath. Gangoli at that time was ruled by Mankoti Monarch. The petty kingdom wanted to strengthen their rule as the unexpected power struggle was on the rise, as the various ongoing wars with/between the neighboring kingdoms made them particularly vulnerable. Thus, the Qualified Political adviser was in demand. The information was spread that the learned Brahmin is currently within the kingdom. Thereafter, the Brahmin was invited to the palace, Upon knowing the maturity of the Brahmin regarding his expertise as a political scholar, The Brahmin was made a Prime Minister. The Vast Majority of Land including its village from River Sarayuganga to Ramganga was given as a reward. The place where the Brahmin stayed was called Upretyada which later on corrupted and became Uprada, As it is being told. The End of Mankoti Reign gave rise to Chand, Almoda became its capital. The Upreti upon getting the political support from Chand, were given the land of kheti, dhura & kaphalani of Chaugarkha, Supakot ale of Barahmandal, many villages of baank, bindaa & phaldakot of Kali Kumaon, Some villages of Almoda as well. Pandit Jaya Krishna Upreti was the prime minister during the reign of Chands. After Chand, came Gurkha, Pandit Jaya Krishna Upreti was appointed as the Commander-in-chief of Army. He also helped the British during their invasion of Kangra. Upon his help, he & his sons Pandit Kamala Pati & Pandit Jaya Narayan Upreti got political pension. Upreti of this lineage are divided between the descendants of four brothers: Simha, Sridhar, Deo & Prithvidhar.[4]

According to other claim, based on Koirala Vanshavali, around 450 A.D. to 550 A.D. A learned Pandit Lalchan Bhatta (Lalu) came together with his family including his sons and wife in Jalanikot, Mayurbhanjyang located in Achham District of present day Nepal, all the way from Vidyanagar, Jalandhar. The highly sought yogi was an expert in Vedas, as his recognition i.e. Brahmagyani Brahmin. He was considered by the King Shilaji to be his royal priest & thus he agreed. Pandit Lalchan Bhatta had three sons, Ila, Bisa and Basu. Ila's two sons became Upreti and Koirala. Bisa's two sons became Timsina and Timalsina. Basu's four sons became Kuinkel, Simkhada, Belkandi and Karki. Thus, the eight brothers began to use their gotra as Moudgalya. Ila's elder son however was called upon by the term Uparati but the word got corrupted and thus Upreti.[5]

In the year 1996, Indraraj Upreti published the book titled Upreti Sangam. In that book, he mentioned an Interview given by the famed Yogi Naraharinath , based on one out of his multiple claim regarding the origin of the terms & titles used within the Nepali Society by Nepalese. He states : ‘Upreti is neither a caste or a clan but an award.’ According to him, there used to live a sage named Mudgala in Mugu District of present day Nepal. It is said that during the Ashvamedha Yajna of Baliraja the chief priest (Purohit) was Vashishtha while secondary priests (Upa-purohita) were the descendants of Mudgala. Hence, the (Upa-purohita)'s became 'Upreti'. 'Upreti' is the corrupted form of the word 'Upa-purohita'.[6]

## History[edit]

There hasn't been any proper evidence available regarding an actual origin of the term Upreti. As, the multiple falsifiable claim has been regarded as a fact. Especially, the lack of proper data & survey has made it really difficult to hypothesize. As, there are various ethnic groups within India & Nepal, who identify themselves as Upreti. Yet, considering the limited anthropological data & census survey as a source, the conclusion can be made that the term Upreti has been derived from the word Upredi (which refers as the man from Upreda). The evidence is quite plausible as the bulk of population from hierarchy of castes from all ages of life with their identification particularly as Upreti resides to that area . Moreover, the evidence also favors with this fact that every emigrant ones with their last name as Upreti has considered Upreda or Upretyada as their place of origin (whether it's the Native ones or Migrants from plain). Upreti are divided based on their Ethnicity, Profession and Genealogy as there are Brahmin, Khasas and Thakur having similar identification. Many of them are considered as Forward Caste Vedic Brahmin, others as Lower Class Local Hill Pitaliya Brahmins and few as Hill Rajputs. The Vedic brahmins considered themselves as the migrants from plain (As the genealogy suggest likewise, Moreover, the difference is also clearly noticeable based on their ethnicity and ancestral adherent norms & tradition),[7] whereas the Local Hill Pitaliya Brahmins and Hill Rajputs are considered as the native Khasas of Himalaya, or so they used to call themself.[8] There is the town lies in Almoda which got it's name from the term Upreti as previously known as Khasiya Khola now Upreti Khola, as it's been told that the older residents of that village was of the Khas community who were the legal caretaker of the famed Sun temple called Katarmal. They used to clean the utensils of the temple by a sour grass named milmoda (almoda, chalmod;, bhilmoda, kilmoda etc. sour grass) which used to brought daily to Katarmal.[9] There is one group of Upreti in Nepal who worship Sun as their ancestral deity, There is some possibility that they might be an actual descendant of the same Khas community of Khasiya Khola. As, this particular group of Upreti used to fall under the category of काँचा कुमाइ, which literally translates as Ignorant Kumaoni, whereas few other groups of Upreti were called पाका कुमाइ, which translates as Expert Kumaoni. High Caste Brahmins and Rajputs of Nepal used to look काँचा कुमाइ, as an inferior. It used to be a taboo or it was forbidden to establish a marital relationship with काँचा कुमाइ. Even, the food wasn't approved to be eaten if touched or made from the hands of काँचा कुमाइ. As, काँचा कुमाइ, used to eat anything made from the hands of पाका कुमाइ, but पाका कुमाइ, dare woundn't eat anything made from or touched by the hands of काँचा कुमाइ.[10]

## Notable people with Upreti as a surname[edit]

* Almoda Rana Uprety; Nepalese singer and musician
* Arun Kumar Upreti, Indian politician
* Bharat Raj Upreti; Former judge of the Supreme Court of Nepal
* Bishal Nath Upreti; Nepalese academician
* Dalip Kumar Upreti; Indian lichenologist
* Dilli Prasad Upreti; Nepalese politician
* Hari Prasad Upreti; Nepalese politician
* Kharananda Upreti; Indian politician
* Kul Prasad Uprety, Nepalese politician
* Melissa Upreti; Nepalese Lawyer and Human rights Expert
* Mohan Upreti; Indian playwright and theater personality
* Nikhil Upreti; Nepalese actor
* Nilkantha Upreti; Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
* Ramesh Upreti; Nepalese actor
* Sanjeev Uprety; Nepalese journalist

## See also[edit]

* Brahmin
* Rajput
* Khas
* Kanet
* Katyuri Kingdom
* Kuninda Kingdom
* Kumaoni people
* Kumaoni language

## References[edit]

1. ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A. Hasan & J. C. Das Part Three pages 1545 to 1549 Manohar Publications
2. ^ Pandey, B. D. (1993). History of Kumaun, Vol 2 (pp. 530-531). Shree Almora Book Depot The Mall, ALMORA-263601 (U.P.), INDIA Phone : 22148.
3. ^ Pandey, B. D. (1993). History of Kumaun, Vol 2 (pp. 530-531). Shree Almora Book Depot The Mall, ALMORA-263601 (U.P.), INDIA Phone : 22148.
4. ^ Kayastha, L. D. D. (1897). History of the Kumaon (pp. 59-60). Kumaon Printing Workers Press, Almoda.
5. ^ Vanshavali, U. (2066). Upreti Vanshavali (p. 0). Upreti Samaj Sewa Samiti.
6. ^ Upreti, I. (1996). Upreti Sangam (p. 09).
7. ^ Joshi, L. D. (1928). The Khasa Family Law (pp. 44-47). Superintendent Government Press, United Province.
8. ^ Lal, P., ICS (1920). Kumaun Local Customs (pp. 65-67). Superintendent Government Press, United Province.
9. ^ Pandey, B. D. (1993). History of Kumaun, Vol 1 (pp. 65-66). Shree Almora Book Depot The Mall, ALMORA-263601 (U.P.), INDIA Phone : 22148.
10. ^ उपाध्याय, श. प., आँसुकवि . ठुलो थर गोत्रावली (pp. 43-45). गोर्खा पुस्तक एजेंसी, जंगमवाडी, वाराणशी.

*[transl.]: translation