[1][2] The Sanskrit pradhāna translates to "major" or "prime";[3] however, the more modern Hindi definitions provided by the Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary also include "chief" and "leader".
In modern Nepal, Pradhan is employed as a high-caste lineage surname by a section of the Kshatriya (क्षत्रिय) (locally pronounced Chatharīya) caste of Newārs who trace their roots to north-Indian dynasties like the Karnat and Raghuvanshi Rajputs before being absorbed among the Srēṣṭha in the 14th CE.
They are included in the highest tier "Thakuri" (ठकुरी), also written "Thaku" (ठकू), lineage of the Chatharīya (छथरीय, from Sanskrit: क्षत्रिय) Srēṣṭha caste who are the descendants of Malla (Nepal) royalty and its immediate nobility.
Other family names of Chatharīya consist of lineages Malla, Joshi, Rājbhandārī, Rājvanshī, Raghuvanshi, Hādā, Amātya, Maskey, Karmāchārya, among others, who intermarry with each other.
[9] In the Indian states of Sikkim and sections of West Bengal, Assam and Bhutan, Pradhan is a title assumed by all the Newar descendants who had immigrated from Kathmandu Valley to these places primarily since the mid-18th century due to persecution or for trade.