ABOUT GREWALZZ

The Grewals are a tribe of the Jat clan found in Northern India.The Grewals are descendants of Gharwal Rajputs, in North India. Chandels are one of the 36 royal castes of Rajputs. At one time, Chandels ruled over Bundelkhand. The state of Bundelkhand was located in between rivers Yamuna and Narmada with a garrison atKalinjar. On the other hand, as per the Grewal Itihas Committee, the Grewals originated from the Chandel Rajputs of Chendeli in Himachal Pradesh. Vedsi was the first ancestor of the Grewals, he was a prince of Bilaspur state and had married a beautiful Jat girl named Roop Kaur. Chaudhary Gujjar sixteenth in lineage of prince Vedsi established the Grewal estate at Gujjarwal (Ludhiana) in 1469 A.D. occupying 52,000 bighas of land. Grewals are described as a superior class of Jats in North India.

In Indian Punjab, Grewals primarily belong to the Malwa region in Punjab. There are a total of 52 purely Grewal villages (meaning everyone in the village is Grewal) Ludhiana district alone. The main villages of Grewals are located in Ludhiana district in and around Ludhiana City, such as Threeke, Dolon Kalan,Noorwal, Ratan Lalton Kalan, Gujjarawal, Phallewal, Pakhowal, Qila Raipur, Sarabha, Baddowal, Sunet, Daad, Narangwal and Kadian,etc. The Rajputs started living in these villages around 1469 AD. When the sixth Guru of Sikhs Guru Hargobind visited Gujjarwal in 1631 AD, the Rajputs converted to Sikhism and gave themselves the name Garhwal, presumably based on the name of one of the royal princess of the royal Rajput clan.

The Grewal villages being south of the Sutlej River, came under British rule early even as Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated the Sikh Empire all the way to Kabul. The Grewal villages are characterized by large land holdings and a large estates called Jagirdars. As a result, the Grewal villages with a high middle class prospered. They also joined the British-Indian mercenary army and fought in wars from Mesopotamia to Germany.

One of the very first Sikh Regiments in the British army that was created after the mutiny, bore the name Ludhiana Sikhs, other one being Ferozepur Sikhs." Grewals also contributed to the fight for freedom of India. Kartar Singh Sarabha from Sarabha village lead the fight and was accepted as a guru by the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Women's emancipation came early to the Grewals: a girl's high School was established in Gujjarwal and Qila Raipur nearly a hundred years ago. Grewals were also the first among the Jat sikh clans to encourage their daughters to seek higher education and seek outside employment as opposed to traditional role of Indian women. Education became the passport for the Grewals to travel and obtain positions across the globe.

Dr Gurdial Kaur Grewal and Dr Shivdev Kaur Grewal graduated from Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi early in the twentieth century. With education came problems for the girls: while sought after as educated brides, they were also less likely to accept the often vicious treatment of daughters-in-law across India. The prohibition of Grewals marrying Grewals made the matters only worse. Even though infanticide was common across Punjab at the turn of the 20th century, it was common for large Grewal families to include more girls than boys. In the Grewal villages, women held equal power and often worked on the farms.