1. Assam

2. Punjab and Haryana

3. West Bengal (India), Bangladesh

4. Notable people

5. In popular culture

6. References

7. Sources

Dutta, also spelled Datta, Dutt and Datt, is an Indian family name and surname that is found primarily among Bengali Kayastha and Punjabi Brahmin, also present among Assamese and Haryanvi Hindus. Datta means "given" or "granted" in Sanskrit. It is also an alternative name for the Hindu deity Dattatreya.{{sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|p=27–28}}

Assam

In Assam, Kayastha Duttas belong to upper caste and are more inclined towards Eksaran Naam Dharma and thus may not religiously follow idol worship unlike most of the traditional Hindus.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}} The Koch Rajbongshi Duttas on the other hand are considered as Other Backward Class and speak Tibeto-Burmese Koch language. Duttas of Assam have made significant contribution to the society of Assam.

Punjab and Haryana

Punjabi and Haryanvi Datts or Duttas belong to the Mohyal Brahmins community. According to the gotra system, Mohyal Duttas are the descendants of Rishi Bharadwaj.^[1] Some consider Gaj Bhavan, the grandson of Rishi Bharadwaj to be the real founder of their clan.^[2][3]

West Bengal (India), Bangladesh

According to Indian historian Tej Ram Sharma, in Bengal the surname Dutta/Datta{{sfn|Clark|2014|p=148}} (দত্ত) is used by Maulika Kayastha caste.{{sfn|Sharma|1978|p=115}} The office of Kayastha (scribe) was instituted before the Gupta period{{sfn|Sharma|1978|p=115}} (c.320 to 550 CE). Originally, Kayastha was composed of people from different Varnas, including Brahmins{{sfn|Sharma|1978|p=115}}{{sfn|Wink|1991|p=269}} and Kshatriyas.{{sfn|Wink|1991|p=269}} After the Gupta reign, the Kayasthas in Bengal developed into a caste,{{sfn|Sekhar|2004|p=20}} and gained a higher status,{{sfn|Sekhar|2004|p=20}} incorporating the Pala, Sena and Varman Kings and their descendants.{{sfn|Wink|1991|p=269}} In the middle period of the history of Bengal, between 1500 and 1850 CE, the Kayasthas were regarded as one of the highest of Hindu castes in the region.{{sfn|Inden|1976||p=1}}

Some members of the Baidya caste use Dutta/Datta as a surname, although they more often use compounded variations such as Duttagupta or Duttasharma instead.

Notable people

• Aishwarya Dutta (Born 1995) Tamil Actress
• Akshay Kumar Datta (1820–1886); writer
• Anandita Dutta Tamuly, record holder in Limca Book of Records
• Aloke Dutta; tabla player
• Amal Dutta; Indian footballer (retired) and football coach.
• Anik Dutta; Bengali film director
• Anjan Dutt; Bengali singer, film director and actor
• Aroti Dutt; noted social worker
• Arpita Singh; born Arpita Dutta, Padma Bhushan awarded Painter
• Aswini Kumar Dutta (1856–1923); nationalist leader and philanthropist
• Bhabatosh Datta (1911 – 1997), Indian economist and academic, Padma Vibhushan (1990)
• Bhaktivinoda Thakur (Kedarnath Datta) (1838-1914); Magistrate and Vaishnava religious reformer
• Birendra Nath Datta, writer and a Padma Shri award recipient
• Bhupendranath Datta, Indian revolutionary and later a sociologist.
• Chitra Singh; born Chitra Shome, singer and wife of Jagjit Singh.
• Dhirendranath Datta (1886–1971); Bengali lawyer and politician
• Divya Dutta (born 1977); Hindi and Punjabi film actress.
• Durjoy Datta ; writer
• Gurusaday Dutt founder- Bratachari Movement,
• Himangshu Dutta (1908–1944); music composer
• Hulasa Ram Dutta; businessman and social activist.
• Indrani Dutta, Bengali television actress
• Jyotirmoy Datta; writer, journalist, poet and essayist
• J. P. Dutta (born 1949), Indian film producer, writer and director
• Jyoti Prakash Dutta (writer), Bangladeshi short-story writer
• Kalpana Joshi; born Kalpana Dutt, noted freedom fighter
• Kanailal Dutta; freedom fighter
• Mankumari Basu; born Mankumari Dutt, poet and short story writer
• Monikangana Dutta, model and actress from Assam
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873); poet and dramatist
• Nargis (1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981); Actress
• Hulasa Ram Dutta; businessman and social activist.
• Radha Raman Dutta; music composer
• Rajani Palme Dutt, British politician
• Roby Datta, poet and educator
• Rasamay Dutt, Bengali educationist, first Indian puisne judge of India, first Indian member of the Asiatic Society.
• Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848–1909); writer, economist, historian, translator of Vedas
• Samadarshi Dutta; Bengali film actor
• Sanjay Dutt; actor
• Saroj Nalini Dutt (née De); noted social worker
• Satyendranath Dutta: (1882-1922) Bengali poet.
• Sunil Dutt (1929–2005); actor, politician
• Sudhindranath Dutta, Bengali poet, essayist
• Supriyo Datta, nanotechnology researcher
• Swami Gambhirananda born Jatindranath Datta, Hindu religious teacher.
• Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902); born Narendranath Datta, spiritual leader of modern India
• Tanushree Dutta; Indian actress
• Tina Dutta; (actress)
• Toru Dutt (1856–1877); poet
• Utpal Dutt (1929–1993); author, dramatist, director, actor and activist
• Yogeshwar Dutt; Wrestler

In popular culture

In 2012, a Bengali film Dutta vs Dutta was released, directed by Anjan Dutt, the film captured family drama of three generations of a Bengali Dutta family.^[4]

References

Sources

• {{Citation | last =Clark | first =Gregory | year =2014 | title =The Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility | publisher =Princeton University Press}}
• {{Citation | last=Inden|first=Ronald B. | year =1976|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA1|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02569-1|page=1}}
• {{Citation|last =Rigopoulos | first =Antonio |title=Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara : A Study of the Transformative and Inclusive Character of a Multi-Faceted Hindu Deity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QTzuXx64d8wC&pg=PA27|accessdate=11 June 2012|year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791436950|pages=27–28}}
• {{Citation |first=Sekhar |last=Bandyopadhyay|title=Caste, Culture, and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlgcrSezHT4C&q=Kayastha#v=snippet&q=Kayastha&f=false|year=2004|publisher=Sage Publications | isbn=81-7829-316-1 | page=20}}
• {{Citation|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC}}
• {{Citation|last =Wink | first =Andre|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC|accessdate=3 September 2011|year=1991|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|page=269}}

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