Kapoor or Kapur and sometimes but rarely Capoor (Punjabi: ਕਪੂਰ, Hindi: कपूर) is the name of a gotra of punjabi descent belonging to the Khatri (Kshatriya or warrior) Varna. They are part of the "Dhai Ghar", meaning two and a half houses. Kapurs, Malhotra (also called Mehras or Mehrotras), Khanna and Seth (also called Kakkar) marry their children with each other. Kapoor can not marry a Kapoor but can only marry Malhotra, Khanna or Seth. This leaves three "Ghars" to marry out of which they are not supposed to marry any of their mother's side relatives with mother's paternal last name (it could be Khanna, Malhotra or Seth). Which makes it "Dhai Ghar Marriage that is why the word "Dhai Ghar".
The clan hails originally from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.
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The Zamindars of Burdwan in Bengal belong to the Kapoor clan, and held the title of Maharajah. Maharajah Bahadur Tedj Chand Ray adopted Chinilal Kapur. His descendants continued as the Maharajas of Burdwan. The family continued as rulers of Burdwan until zamindari was abolished by the government of India in 1955/56. The area remaining however under direct administration of the British via the Indian Civil Service officers on the Bengal State. They also were never members of the Chamber or Council of Princes such as the Maharaja of Patiala or Kapurtala. Thus the title Maharaja was only honorific as was the case in much of India. During the three centuries that they held the estate of Burdwan, the Kapoor family extended their patronage to various scholars and artists, including:
Several famous buildings and tanks in Burdwan were built by the Maharajas of Burdwan, including the Sarbamangala temple, the Baikunthanath Siva temple, the Shyam sagar tank, the Ranisagar tank, the Bijoy Toran and the Rajbadi (palace). In 1882, the Burdwan Raj College was started in Burdwan, which was supported entirely by the estates of the Kapoor dynasty.
Rabindranath Tagore in his "The Hungry Stones And Other Stories" writes: "the Chhota Lord had been heard to say that in all Bengal, the only really respectable families were those of the Maharaja of Burdwan and the Babus of Nayanjore."
Prithviraj Kapoor (1906–1972), a noted pioneer of Indian theater and of the Hindi film industry, belonged to the Kapoor clan. He was born at Samundri near the town of Lyallpur, in Pakistan. He moved to Bombay, India in 1928 and ended up founding a dynasty of movie stars and film-makers. In 1944, he started the Prithvi Theatre, a travelling theatre troupe.
Prithviraj was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema posthumously. His son, Shashi Kapoor, along with his wife, Jennifer Kapoor, has revived Prithvi Theatre in his honour.
Prominent people bearing the name "Kapoor" include:
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