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Chowdhury

{{Short description|Title in the Indian subcontinent}}

{{use Indian English|date=March 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox surname

|name = Chowdhury

|pronunciation = {{Plainlist|

  • chow-dhuree
  • chaw-dree
  • chow-dree

}}

|imagesize =

|caption =

|meaning = "Holder of four"; "four-way duties"; "four responsibilities"

|region = Indian subcontinent

|origin =

|variant = Chaudhary, Chaudri, Choudhary, Chaudhry, Chowdary, Chowdhry, Chowdhary, Chaudry, Choudary, Choudhry, Chaudhuri, Chaudhari, Chudhry, Choudhari, Choudhury, Chowdhuri, Chowduri, Chaudhurani, Choudhurani, Chowdhurani, Chowdhrani, Choudhrani, Chaudhrani.

|footnotes =

}}

Chowdhury (also: Choudhuri, Chaudhuri, Choudhury, Chaudhri, Chaudhary) is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminent people, while during British rule, the term was associated with zamindars and social leaders. The common female equivalent was Chowdhurani.{{Cite web |last=Karim |first=Elita |date=1 August 2008 |title=A Dedicated Educationist |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/08/01/history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202130631/http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/08/01/history.htm |archive-date=2 February 2014 |url-status=dead |department=History |work=Star Weekend Magazine |volume=7 |issue=31 |access-date=19 February 2021}}

Meaning

"Chowdhury" is a term adapted from the Sanskrit words čatus "four-way, all-round" and dhurīya "undertaking a burden", denoting the head of a community or caste.{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |title=Chowdhury |date=17 November 2016|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001/acref-9780199677764-e-07692 |access-date= |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-967776-4 |oclc= |last2=Coates |first2=Richard |last3=McClure |first3=Peter |url-access=subscription}}

Significance

It was a title awarded to persons of eminence, including both Muslims and Hindus, during the Mughal Empire. It was also used as a title by military commanders responsible for four separate forces, including the cavalry, navy, infantry and elephant corps. These people belonged to the zamindar families in British India.{{cite book|title=The Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, Volume 51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DfeBAAAAMAAJ&q=chowdhury+title+brahmin|page=204|publisher=Anthropology Survey of India|year=2002}}{{Verify source|date=January 2022}}

Later, the Mughals and the Nawabs conferred the same title in great numbers. Chaudharies were local magnates responsible for land taxes alongside an amil (revenue collector) and a karkun (accountant) in the local-level administrative units known as parganas .{{Cite web|title=Administrative System - Sultani Period.|url=https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/SrSec315NEW/315_History_Eng/315_History_Eng_Lesson12.pdf|access-date=10 December 2020|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414110607/https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/SrSec315NEW/315_History_Eng/315_History_Eng_Lesson12.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=University of Calicut, Kerala.|url=http://www.universityofcalicut.info/SDE/BA_his_medieval_india_society.pdf|access-date=10 December 2020|archive-date=1 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101045006/http://www.universityofcalicut.info/SDE/BA_his_medieval_india_society.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Odisha State Open University - M.A. (History).|url=http://egyanagar.osou.ac.in/slmfiles/MHI-04-BLOCK-06.pdf}}

In modern times, the term is a common South Asian surname for both males and females.

In Odisha, "Choudhury" is used as a title by Karanas.{{Cite web |title=rediff.com: The evil that envelopes Orissa |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2000/feb/14oriss.htm |work=Rediff |date=14 February 2000 |access-date=11 September 2024}}

=Regional =

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the titular Rajas of the Bohmong Circle and Mong Circle have the surname Chowdhury.{{Cite web|url=http://ext.bd.undp.org/insidestory/Lists/InsideStoryEventsMaster/DispForm.aspx?ID=110|title=InsideStoryEventsMaster - Raj Punyah Ceremony Held Both in Bandarban...|website=ext.bd.undp.org}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-71831|title=Saching Prue new Mong King|date=18 January 2009|website=The Daily Star}}{{cite news |title=Feature: 'Kingdom' system in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts still in force |url=http://en.people.cn/90001/90777/90851/6553229.html |access-date=4 March 2022 |work=people.cn |date=15 December 2008 |archive-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628220349/http://en.people.cn/90001/90777/90851/6553229.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://unpo.org/article/14112|title=UNPO: Chittagong Hill Tracts: Stalemate For Land Commission|website=unpo.org|date=2 November 2009 }}

The Bengali Muslim Mirashdars{{NoteTag|Mirashdar is a term referring to a landowner who pays taxes directly to the government.{{cite book|last=Laskar|first=Nitish Ranjan|title=Mahishya Das of Cachar and their Social Background|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjRuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Mirashdar,+he+being+a+land+holder+in+his+own+right+and+paying+revenue+direct+to+the+Govt%22|series=Proceedings of North East India History Association|year=1985|publisher=North East India History Association|page=456}}}} living in the former Kachari Kingdom were given titles by the Kachari Raja, which in modern-day acts as a surname for them.{{cite book|title=Principal Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division|chapter=Cachar District: Statement No. XVIII: Glossary of Local Terms |pages=406–408|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/principalheadsh00unkngoog/page/n419|year=1868|location=Calcutta|author=E M Lewis|publisher=Calcutta Central Press Company}}

In Bihar, the Pasi are also known as the Chaudhary, a community traditionally connected with toddy tapping.People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 759 to 765 Seagull Books

In Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary surname is widely used by Jat community while some other communities using it are Rajputs, Gurjars, Ahirs, Dalits, etc.{{Cite book |last=Elliot |first=Sir Henry Miers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2kIAAAAQAAJ&q=chaudhary+title |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period |date=1867 |publisher=Trübner and Company |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Sheoran |first=C. B. Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IiCeDwAAQBAJ&dq=rajput+chaudhary&pg=PR41 |title=Gallant Haryana: The First and Crucial Battlefield of AD 1857 |date=17 June 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-43913-7 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GulBDMgxcU0C&dq=chaudhary+rajput&pg=PA148 |title=Encyclopaedia of Dalits in India: Emancipation and empowerment |date=2002 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-7835-269-5 |language=en}} This surname is popular in North India and it conveys honour and strength.{{Cite web |title=Surname Choudhary: Meaning Origin Variants |url=https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/c/choudhary |access-date=12 May 2024 |website=www.igenea.com}}{{Cite book |last=Bhindar |first=Imran |title=FROM SIALKOT TO VANCOUVER |publisher=Lulu Chaudhary |year=2018 |isbn=9781642547917 |pages=28 |language=En-US}} It is typically used as a prefix before the given name, often represented by the prefix 'Ch' such as Ch. Charan Singh, 5th prime minister of India and Ch. Devi Lal, 6th deputy prime minister of India.

Deshastha Brahmins and Kammas from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who got this as a title during Qutb Shahis of Golconda and Nizams of Hyderabad also use Chowdhari or Chowdhury as their surnames.{{cite book |last1=Gaikwad |first1=V. R. |last2=Tripathy |first2=Ram Niranjan |title=Socio-psychological Factors Influencing Industrial Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas: A Case Study in Tanuku Region of West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh |date=1970 |publisher=National Institute of Community Development |pages=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sb4tAAAAMAAJ&q=Socio-psychological%20Factors%20Influencing%20Industrial%20Entrepreneurship%20in%20Rural%20Areas%20A%20Case%20Study%20in%20Tanuku%20Region%20of%20West%20Godavari,%20Andhra%20Pradesh |language=en}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5gzTp13AXQC&pg=PA112|title=State and Society: A Reader in Comparative Political Sociology|author=Coenraad M. Brand|year=1973|page=112|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520024908 }}{{cite news|title=Revealing the missing links|url=https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Hans/2016-07-24/Revealing-the-missing-links/244188|publisher=Hans India|date=24 July 2016}}

Alternate spellings

Its alternate spellings include:Choudry, Chaudhary, Chaudri, Chaudhri, Choudhary, Chaudhry, Chowdary, Chowdhary, Chaudry, Choudary, Choudhry, Chaudhuri, Chaudhari, Chudhry, Choudhari, Choudhury, Chowdhuri and Chowdury. The female equivalent is Chaudhurani and alternate spellings include: Choudhurani, Chowdhurani, Chowdhrani, Choudhrani, Chaudhrani.

Chowdhury by country

=Bangladesh=

File:Faizunnesa.jpg]]

File:Saheb Qiblah.gif]]

File:Abdul Hamid Chowdhury.jpg]]

File:Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.jpg]]

File:Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury.JPG]]

File:HabibullahBaharChowdhury.jpg]]

File:Abu Sayeed Chowdhury at the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Dacca University, November 1970.png]]

File:মাওলানা মুহাম্মদ হুছামুদ্দীন চৌধুরী ফুলতলী.jpg]]

=India=

File:General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri.jpg]]

==Andhra Pradesh and Telangana==

==Assam==

File:Moinul Hoque Choudhury.gif]]

== Uttar Pradesh ==

File:Charan Singh Portrait.jpg in 1979]]

==West Bengal==

=Nepal=

=Fiji=

=Pakistan=

File:Choudhry Rahmat Ali.jpg]]

=United Kingdom=

=United States=

Chaudhary

=Business=

  • Binod Chaudhary (1955-), a Nepalese businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, and politician
  • Fawad Chaudhry a Pakistani businessman, landlord, lawyer and politician

=Acting, modelling and entertainment=

=Politics=

=Sports=

=Academia, science & scholarship=

=Journalism=

=Other occupations=

Chaudhari

Chaudhari ({{langx|hi|चौधरी}}, {{langx|pa|ਚੌਧਰੀ}}, {{langx|mr|चौधरी}}) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Chaudhri

Chaudhuri

Choudhury

Chaudhurani

  • Faizunnesa Choudhurani, Muslim feminist and awarded the title Nawab by Queen Victoria
  • Indira Devi Chaudhurani, Indian literary figure, author and musician.
  • Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani (1855–1926), Bengali poet, social worker, and patron of literature.{{cite book|last1=Hossain|first1=Anowar|title=Muslim women's struggle for freedom in colonial Bengal: (1873-1940)|date=2003|publisher=Progressive Publishers|isbn=9788180640308|page=266|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=84JuAAAAMAAJ&q=Karimunnesa+Khanam+Chaudhurani}}
  • Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, founder of the first women's organisation in India, the Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad in 1910.

Fictional characters

Other

Further disambiguation pages

=Organisations=

Notes

{{NoteFoot}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{surname}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bengali-language surnames

Category:Titles in Bangladesh

Category:Surnames of Indian origin

Category:Pakistani names

Category:Punjabi-language surnames

Category:Gujarati-language surnames