Pronunciation English pronunciation: /əˈpɹɛtiː/
Hindustani pronunciation: [ˈʊpreːt̪iː] Meaning derived from the village named Preti, meaning a person originated from Preti Region of origin Almora district, Uttarakhand, India | ||
Upreti or sometimes spelled Uprety (Devanagari: उप्रेती; Upretī), is a surname found in Hindu community of Kumaoni Saraswat Brahmins and also in Nepali Bahuns (Brahmins) primarily living in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand state of India, all over Nepal and few are found in Sikkim too.
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According to their traditions they are the descendents of the Rishi Bharadwaja. Adherent of the Shaivism sect, they worship Shiva as their prime deity.
Etymology
According to Pandit Badri Datt Pandey's book History of Kumaon (Hindi: कुमाऊँ का इतिहास) where he quotes Pandit Rudra Datt Pant, pp.572- "During the times of the Katyuri Kings, from the Chauki village of Doti, a Kanyakubja Brahmin Shambhu Sharma came to Preti village in Kali Kumaon, and hence the descendants were called Upretis."
History
In the same section of his book, Badri Datt Pandey mentions about the famous Pnadit Ram Datt Jyotirvidji who says that Uprada/Upretyada, the estate of the then royal priests Upretis in Gangolihat was given to the Dravida Vajpayee Brahmin Shivaprasad who came to Kumaon during the reign of Mankoti kings.
During the time of the Gorkhas, Pandit Jayakrishna Upreti was a famous General whose descendants continue to live in Almora.
Pandit Badri Datt Pandey mentions that within Kumaoni Brahmins, the Upretis of Patiya, Jhijhad, and Supakot have a common descent, whereas other Upretis belong to a different group (pp572).
He also quotes that Pandit Ganga Datt Upreti claims that a few Upretis are also the original inhabitants of Maharashtra state of the Western India region who later migrated to the Kumaon region.
Thus those who claim to have Kanyakubja origins would have migrated to the Himalaya during the Islamic invasions of the twelfth century, whereas the one from Maharashtra would have moved northward along with the Marathas in the 17th century. The former seems more plausible as the Chand dynasty who ruled Kumaon from the 10th Century onward, after the reign of the Katyuris, came from Kannauj.
They also migrated to Nepal along with other Brahmins from Almora district under the royal patronage of the Hindu Kingdom when the Kumaon region was under the control of the Gorkhas till the Treaty of Sugauli with British India in 1814 A.D.