We often think of finding more branches or trunks on our family tree and learning more about our past, but an important side benefit of this research is developing a deep connection to our history—and to the people who still live in our ancestral villages. Here’s a great story about one family who took their search seriously, and in doing so, not only uncovered their roots but also found meaningful ways to give back. Their journey has led them to become vital partners in improving many lives.
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My father, Gurcharan Singh Gill, left his village home of Dhudike, Punjab, and came to California in 1954. Working hard on farms to support himself, he earned a PhD and became a mathematics professor. While teaching and raising his own children, he and my mother, Vilo Pratt Gill, also sponsored his brothers to come to the USA. We cousin children spent wonderful summers together on the family’s California raisin farms.
The Gill brothers never forgot their homeland. Together, they renovated the village family home. As a wheat geneticist, my uncle Bikram Singh Gill frequently returns to India for research projects and conferences. Another uncle, Surinderpal Singh Gill, returns to India nearly every year with other uncles and cousins to co-sponsor the Dhudike Mela, which was featured this month on Prime Asia TV. Our family is working with villagers and other NRIs from Dhudike to provide school supplies and establish a WiFi-enabled student homework center near the Lala Lajpat Rai memorial. We are also assisting the Panchayat with a project to modernize the sewage and solid waste management systems.
My father’s contribution has been the preservation of village records. He visited the Tehsildar of Moga District to examine old revenue records containing Jamanbandi, land ownership history tables. Some Tehsils in Punjab have Jamanbandi records dating back to the early 1800s. These tax rolls were updated every time tax rates changed, generally every ten years, with more frequent updates in recent times. Early records are in Urdu, while more recent ones are in Punjabi.
Kept by dedicated Numberdars and scribes with beautiful handwriting, these records can be searched using the Hard Bas number of the village, family surname, and land parcel khewat number. For each khewat, the landowners at the time of recording are identified along with a few generations of ancestors. By examining multiple Jamanbandi over a century, one can gain a clear picture of their genealogy. Many of these records are fragile and difficult to read, making their preservation crucial to safeguarding this history.
My father collaborated with my local cousin to hire a photographer to create digital images of our family’s land revenue records. We also enlisted a couple of local college students to help translate the records, ensuring that we have both Punjabi and English spellings of the family history contained within them.
There are so many worthy projects that we cousins could undertake to contribute to the future of our home place, Dhudike, and Punjab. As we instill in our own children a love for their Punjabi village heritage, we hope to pass on the excitement of giving back to the land that nourished our fathers.
Title page of record book for Hard Bast N. 40, Village Dhudike, Tehsil Moga, District Ferozepur:
Punjabi record example:
Urdu record example:
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