Mukherjee

Mukherjee ( 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.

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.)

Etymology

Note that "Mukherjee" evolved from the Sanskrit Mukhopadhyay ( Mukhopaddhae). Mukhopadhyay is from the purer Sanskrit form Mukhyopadhyay...
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