Pothohar was known to be centre of Sikhism during and after the Sikh Raj.

Tehsil Kahuta had a

prominent position in Pothohar. Saints such as Sant Attar Singh had a large following amongst
Sikh & Hindus. It was here that Nanak Chand was baptized and given a new name - Tara Singh –
the name representing that Baba Ji had blessed him to show lights to others. This towering
figure later was known as Master Tara Singh.

Both Master Tara Singh & Baba Kharak Singh must have been role models for other Sikhs during
the Gurudwara movement and I believe that’s where the seeds of political activism amongst our
vansh were sown. The first known incident was the Jhalianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.

Jhalianwala Bagh, Amritsar Massacre:

On 13th April quite a few people gathered to protest against the arrest of two leaders -
Dr.Satyapal and Dr.Saifuddin despite a curfew which had been recently declared but not widely
disseminated. General Dyer was quite infuriated and ordered fire on innocent unarmed women,
children and men of all ages. The firing went on for ten minutes and over 500 died and 1000s
were injured. Amongst the dead was one boy from Kahuta - Sardar Sohan Singh and various
others were injured. The persons who had minor injuries from Kahuta were Ch.Jodh Singh Akali,
Bakshi Gurcharan Singh Advocate, Dr. Balwant Singh & Bakshi Barkat Singh & Ch.Shiv Darshan
Singh. It is believed that not all of them were protesters. With demise of Ch.Jodh Singh Akali in
2003 perhaps now there is no living witness to this gruesome tragedy.

Gurudwara Movement:

During the eighteenth century, when Sikhs were living on horseback in the hills and forest for
nearly sixty five years, their places of worship (Gurudwaras) fell into the hands of Mahants who
considered this to be their property and a source of their income.
 In the early 1920s Master Tara Singh was at the helm of Shiromani Akali and he encouraged the
formation of The Independent groups called “Jathas” both in the cities and countryside. He
invoked the reality of their proud heritage and sacrifice for the community. He was a charismatic
leader and mobilized the youth to form local groups or Jathas. The most prominent political
activist among our Vansh were Ch. Shivdarshan Singh , Bakshi Barkat Singh, Gyani Hakumat Singh
( there is a square named after him in Andheri East in Mumbai ), Ch. Jodh Singh and Sardar
Gurbachan Singh Pardesi ( who joined INA and became their head of communications) . Bakshi
Barkat Singh was in charge of liberation of Muktsar Sahib Gurudwara and supervised its
reconstruction.

Gurudwara Movement & Induction of boys into active politics:

Master Tara Singh knew the importance of newspapers to reach out the masses through print
media. He was editor of two newspapers Akali in Gurmukhi and the Akali-te-Pardesi in Urdu. This
helped in bringing the necessary awakening among the Sikh masses and prepared them to
demand control of all Sikh shrines.

Residents of Kahuta were quite active in the Gurudwara movement: Ch. Jodh Singh Akali was
first arrested at the age of 19 along with Ch. Chet Singh and were sentenced for imprisonment
for eight months. In the jail they met with Ch.Ishar Singh Chadha of Kallar, Bhai Jai Singh and
Sundar Singh from Gujjar Khan. After this imprisonment Ch.Jodh Singh was known as Jodh Singh
Akali. Some of these budding politicians had an honour of being in the same prison as our
national leaders of the time. For example Bakshi Barkat Singh shared prison with Pandit Nehru,
Baba Kharak Singh, Khan Abdul Ghaffar and Master Tara Singh.

Keys Agitation- Chabian da Morcha

This was the first Akali Dal movement organised by Master Tara Singh. From Kahuta, Bakshi
Barkat Singh was leading a group of people known as Jathas. The management of the Golden
Temple has always been of great importance to Sikhs and they wanted to have complete
management of this shrine to themselves. The Executive Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara
Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) on 29 October 1921 adopted a resolution asking its secretary
Sunder Singh Ramgarhia to hand over the keys of the treasury to its president, Baba Kharak
Singh. The secretary consulted the Deputy Commissioner and deposited the keys with the
government treasury and refused to give it to SGPC. The Keys became the bone of contention
and the Akalis had no alternative but to protest against the uncalled for and unwarranted
interference of the government in matters of the Sikh religion. Public meetings were held
throughout the province that was followed by widespread agitation. This agitation is known as
Chabian Da Morcha (Keys Agitation) in Sikh history.

As the result of this agitation Master Tara Singh and other Sikh leaders including Baba Kharak
Singh and Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh, Bakshi Barkat Singh and many others were tried,
convicted and sentenced to various terms of rigorous imprisonment. The Shiromani Gurdwara
Prabandhak Committee passed a resolution on 16 December 1921 that no Sikh should agree to
any arrangement about the restoration of keys until all the Akali arrested in connection with the
Keys Affair were unconditionally released. After arresting more than one thousand leaders and
workers the government had to give up the policy of repression and on 11 January 1922 released
all the prisoners. The government had to send an Indian officer to hand over the keys to Baba
Kharak Singh at a gathering of Sikhs specially arranged for the purpose.

This was great victory for the Alkalis’. Mahatma Gandhis telegram to Kharak Singh read, “First
battle for Indias freedom won, congratulations.” It was because of the policy of cooperation with
the Indian National Congress, that the victory in the Keys Affair was declared so by Mahatma
Gandhi and Master Tara Singh was instrumental in the adoption of this policy.

Morcha Guru Ka Bagh

After successfully getting various other Gurudwaras under its control SGPC asked Mahant Sunder
Das to give control of Gurudwara under his authority, which he agreed. However there was a
land attached to it which was a forest and was known as Guru Ka Bagh and was used for cutting
wood from the trees to prepare Langar for daily use. He objected to SGPC workers cutting wood
from his piece of land as it was his private property. He registered a complaint to the police and
they obliged by arresting a few Sikhs - amongst these were a few from Kahuta mainly Bakshi
Barkat Singh, Bhai Kartar Singh, Sardar Mani Singh & Akali Bhagat Singh. Any government
employee found agitating was dismissed from his job one such person from Kahuta was Babu
Nand Singh who was working with Forestry Department.

This provoked the Sikhs to assert their rights, as the land was the property of the Gurdwara. The
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee started sending jathas of five Akalis every day to
Guru-Ka-Bagh from Amritsar. More than 200 Akalis were arrested by 25 August. Every jatha was
given strict instructions to remain non-violent and to bear all hardships and excesses on the part
of the police without any retaliation.

On 26 August 1922, eight important leaders of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
including Master Tara Singh and Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh were arrested who were trying to
hold a meeting at the Gurdwara Guru-Ka-Bagh. Akali volunteers continued to reach Amritsar in
groups of 80, 100 or even 200 and continued to march from the Akal Takht to the Guru-Ka-Bagh,
only to suffer the most brutal repression of the police. By 19 October, the number of Akalis
arrested was more than 2,450.

It was here, in the Guru ka Bagh that the Akalis demonstrated peaceful agitation by their strict
adherence to the vow of non-violence and thus set a new example to inspire the forces of
nationalism in the country. Their firm faith shook the authorities whose immoral use of power
was exposed by peaceful agitation by Akalis. Hindus and Muslims both had their sympathy with
the Sikh cause. This agitation ultimately came to an end through the intervention of Sir Ganga
Ram, the well-known philanthropist of Lahore who took the land on lease and gave it to the
Gurdwara.

Civil Disobedience Movement

When Gandhi Ji declared the Civil Disobedience Movement in March 1931, Baba Kharak Singh
who was then the president of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee opposed it while
Master Tara Singh who was then the vice-president of the committee supported it and was
successful in getting Shrimani Akali Dal to get involved with civil disobedience movement; and
placed the immediate services of 5000 Alkalis’ at the disposal of Mahatma Gandhi. It is believed
our people were among those 5000. At mere one stroke this brought The Sikhs to the forefront
of the national movement against the British.

It is estimated that the Sikh participation in the 'Civil Disobedience Movement' was
proportionately the largest and the most glorious, as out of 7,000 satyagrahi convicted in Punjab
over 3,000 were Sikhs ( quite a few from Kahuta Tehsil) , leaving the majority to be divided
between the Hindu and Muslim citizens. The credit for this large mobilisation goes to Master
Tara Singh who had the blood of Pothohar in his veins. Ourvansh.com salutes all those freedom
fighters for their courage, hardship and their determination to sacrifice their lives for a “Free
India”.
References : Wikipedia

Sikh- History.com

The sikhencyclopedia.com

The History Of Kahuta

(Translated from Ch. Jodh Singh’s Book - History of Kahuta)

During British Raj District Rawalpindi was a very prominent place. It had four Tehsils (sub
division) i.e. Rawalpindi, Gujjarkhan, Comerry and Kahuta. Kahuta is a mountainous area located
22 miles east of Rawalpindi. For generations Sikh Mahajan have been living here and the other
half of the population were Muslims known as Janjua Rajput Do Lal. The total area of Tehsil
Kahuta was 950 Square miles and had 550 villages. At the time of partition 26 percent of the
population were army pensioners and the collective pension was Rs 125,000 per month. During
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s reign Kahuta was part of Poonch but after his death the British captured
Punjab, sold Jammu & Kashmir to Dogras of Poonch and Kahuta was merged with Rawalpindi
District.

North of Kahuta is Comerry, South is Tehsil Gujjarkhan, West is Rawalpindi and East is River
Jhelum. About 22 miles from the East of Kahuta behind Jhelum River is Lakshman Pattan which is
in the district of Poonch. From Kahuta there was a road called Galley Wali Gali .There were lots of
flowers and fruit trees and on this mountain there was the Devi Temple on top of the mountain.
From this temple you could see Kallar Police station which was about 16 miles from Kahuta.
Galley Wali road was in between the two mountains from where the cool breeze of fresh air
would flow all year round starting in the night and flowing until 10am with the same speed
towards Santas caves (Santa deea gufava) which was only half a mile from the village Batala and
then went onto the village Mangla and beyond. Bala, one of the companions of Guru Nanak
moved to Dan Gali which was in Tehsil Kahuta where his grave still exists. His descendants still
live in Thoa Khalsa in Tehsil Kahuta. Chowdhry Kishan Singh was contracted out to build this road
and saw this grave himself.

West of Kahuta was a forestry office which used to be a jail during the Dogra reign. The office of
Tehsil was in a small fort, inside of this fort were two big old trees. About a quarter of a mile
after passing this office there was a well and a garden built by Barkat Singh Shah and beside it
was a beautiful waterfall called Bawa Jattee. There was also a beautiful pond (Bavli) which was
built by Choha village tehsildar. Above this was a Thakur Dwara a house for the priest. There was
a boundary wall and inside was a large grave of Bawa Jattee, and 6 more small graves which
belonged to his devotees, in those days they used to bury their dead and not cremate them.

There was another Bawa (holy man) named Fakir Gheer who was buried there with over 410 kg
of salt. There was also a well and some land attached to it.

Khalsa School (now called Government school) was located west of Kahuta on the road going
towards Sialla .The school had its own well and left of the school there were wells which
belonged to Sunder Singh Shah and Ch.Chet Singh Barva Sagar. Towards Sialla near Pohli Kassi
there was Maee Gango’s well and a waterfall, on one side there was a well and on the other side
was a Bavli (Pond). A further half mile towards Ling Nala, on the right hand side was Teeja Ram’s
Choha (cool water.)

Just under a mile further on was the Ling Nala where people used to bathe and wash their
clothes. Nearby there was a crematorium and a small tree.

On the right hand side of Khalsa school was the DAK Bunglow (official guest house) boundary
wall, which was built of stones. Outside the boundary wall there was a pond for animals to drink
water from and from here you could see below to small hills surrounded by trees, there was also
one BAVLI which always had muddy water and was never cleaned. People from Chak Kandi and
Chak Karoo and other people drank this to cure thyroid (caused by iodine deficiency) and in
Punjabi it is called GILLARD. The water was bitter in taste but after few days they used to get
cured.
Further up was an old police station which used to be cantonment of Mia Hattu during Dogra
reign. Afterwards, this was rebuilt with new stones and inside was a big bohr tree. In front of the
police station was a lane going towards Letraar and further up were lots of beautiful trees.
Under these trees was a Muslim shrine known as s Sakhi Sai or Mirza Sai. This Fakir is known as
Rajput’s clan Fakir.

Inside there was a grave which has many types of tapestry and beautiful carvings.

Further up on the left of the road there is another Bavli which is called Channu Shah which has
sulfuric properties and it was known to cure skin diseases. Towards the east there is a small
footpath which goes through mountains and meets the road on the other side going towards
Panjjar. There was one big pond named Naiyaa Di Bun which belongs to the ancestors of Chunni
Lal & Das Nai. There were mango, apple and berry trees which were very sweet. Further up
another quarter of a mile was another Bun (pond) which was calle Pase Nam Gale Wali Bun. This
place was surrounded on both sides by mountains and looked like a neck. The breeze from here
was called Galle wali Hava and doctors often used to advise patients to walk here in the
mornings and get fresh air. From here there was a path to Devi Mandir.

Further up on the right hand side of the road there was beautiful a mountain (Pahari) called Sai
Da Naala, its appearance was similar to Kashmir’s gardens and there was a natural water fall
which irrigated the garden, there were apricot trees, banana trees and peaches as well. On the
other side of this Sai Da Naala there was another village called Maniand and about quarter of a
mile from here was the ling Nala where the water depth increased, the water was crystal clear
and was called Narain Sandh where Pandavs used to bathe during their time in exile. Every year
on Baisakhi day, 13th April people gather here for a MELA, funfair.

From Narain Sandh 3 miles further was Nar, a small village from where the the hills start and in
this Nar area was a famous spring water called Pandva Da Chashma and water from here was
known to cure typhoid .

From Mandir in Kahuta city about three miles towards Panjjar there was a street called
“Ghumayaara Di Galli” which was built by Sardar Matwal Singh, father of Sardar Partap Singh
and near there was a well called “ Bai waali Khoee”. In the olden days when there was not much
population there, it was used as a burial place for small children and opposite there was a big
burning torch and the cremation ground of our ancestors. In the city there was a beautiful
temple, and on one side was a gurudwara and on the other side was a very deep and square well
but the water was not sweet it was only used for washing purposes only. On either side of
Mandir there are gardens/ parks and a house for the Hindu priest. One door from this mandir
leads to the mandir wali galli and the 2nd door leads to street towards Panjjar and there were
quite a few shops. This mandir was built in 1890 by Babu Sham Singh. The mandir wali galli leads
to the square where on one side the road goes towards Punjab and the other towards Batala.
Near this square there was a well built by serdar tara singh, the water of this well was very nice
and cold. Further up there was a very old Peepal tree and it has got a Peepal wala Khoo. Bawa
Hari Singh built a Thakur Dwara and it is believed he died at the age of 150. There is also a
gigantic Bohr tree, the shadow of which covers 1400 muraba gajj and it was believed to be over
2000 years old. Further up on left hand side there was an old well and peepal tree which was
built by Ch. Thakur Singh, father of Ch. Ghokal Singh & Ch.Ghulab Singh.

On the Batala road, about half a mile on there was a new well built by Bradarai which was
known as Panchayti Khoo and it was quite shallow with curtains for women to have showers.
Nearby, there was a 36 feet deep well called Bunni Khoee and its water was very nice and
drinkable. People used to get water from here especially for drinking; next to it there was a big
BUNN called Attar Singh

Lohi Wali Bunn. This Bunn (boundary wall) was quite big and deep and there were plenty of
trees, in the old days holy men and merchants from other places used to come and stay here for
the Mela (fair) called CHUPNEEYA WALA MELA every year. Towards the west of this Bunn there
was an AARA (small hill) about 224 years old Bai Wali Khoo cremation ground was moved to this
place and after 125 years later it was moved to the LINGE WALA side. One furlong (quarter mile)
further along there was First Kassi: there was Chota nala from where there were two roads, one
goes to darankote, thanda paani, hanesar and on the other side batala, mavara and matore.
After 100 yards on the corner of this road there was a bavli built by Sant Singh. The next land
next to it, about 100 kanal belonged to Dunni Singh which was very fertile and had on three
sides “Kaseeya flow kardeeya see”. Opposite this Kassi on right hand side there was 10 kanal land
donated by Sardar Partap Singh for the burial of young children. Sardar Partap Singh was the
father of Bramh Giani Singh, Dhayan Singh & Dogar Singh. There is a “CHOHA” built by Sardar
Mohan Singh in 1925 on the right hand side of this land which was used for showering. After this
there was second Kassi which was called Santa De Guffa Waali Kassi .This land was bought by
Partap Chand Shah, who excavated the hilly area and built 6 rooms caves. Inside there was a
Bavli, well and Jhalhaar (waterfall/ swimming pool or pond for taking bath) Here Sant Attar Singh
used to come and sing hymns from Gurugranth Sahib. After the death of Sant Attar Singh
Sardarni Parmeshwari and Sardar Harnam Singh M.A.LLB senior Sub Judge Lahore and Gujrawala
court made a big well and waterfall.

Further three furlong from here there is third Kassi called BALOVEY WALI KASSI where there
were lots of old THKEERIA (stone pieces) and it was believed that a long time ago due to severe
drought the entire population perished. A short distance from here was Ajman Da deep Kass
(nala) beyond which there was a road to Batala village. Further up on the left hand side there
was a pakki bavli, a new well and harar and dhok bag – land near this dhoke (about 80 kanal)
belonged to jodh singh and his brother damodar singh and also in the village there is over 400
kanal land. In Batala Village there was a pakka Khoo built by my great grand father Dr. Atma
Singh – the water of which was very nice and the entire village used it. He made sure that people
of all religions and caste had full access to this well.

Ahead of this road was Mavara, Matore, Nara, and Hundi Salgram Patan, across the Jhelum River
was Mirpur, bimbar and rajouri boundary was nearby. Banda Bahdur was from this area of
Rajouri.

From Kahuta Thoa Khalsa was only 5 miles and near Thoa khalsa was a famous Dera called DHUK
BHANJANI . This Dera was built by Thakur Nihal Singh (he was a saintly person) and it had its own
well, Bavli and beautiful gurudwara. There were lots of mango trees and other trees. This dera
had about 30 Khumoo land. Learned Pandit and holy men from Kashi and other places used to
come and sing praises of God. In 1907 its name Dhuk Bhajni was registered (Intkaal or Dhakal
Kharaj ) by Bakshi Sadhu Singh who was patwari, he had it approved by Tahsildar. After the death
of Thakur Nihal Singh, Sant Mahal Singh came there and then Sant Kartar Singh.

Thana Kallar: This kasba Kallar tehsil kahuta’ one thana which was inhabited by Mahajan Sikhs,
Chadha, Suri and other wise people. Sir Baba Khem Singh Bedi had his own fort (Mahal). His
descendants were Baba Gurbax Singh Bedi, and Tikka Surinder Singh. Baba Gurbax Singh Bedi
got the title of “Raja Sir.” All khalsa schools in Punjab were built and paid for by Sir Baba Khem
Singh Bedi and his descendants. After Britain’s 1895 war with Afghans a peace treaty was signed
by Baba Gurbax Singh on behalf of the British government in Kabul. He was given lot of land in
Montgomery, at one time they had about 44 villages.

Village Thamali: This village is known for General Hari Singh who served in Maharaja Ranjit
Singh. He got married in this village.
Village Kanoha: this village is about 5 miles from east of Kallar and is well known for late Sant.
Attar Singh. This village had quite a few Sikhs.

Vansh Our Heritage

Overthe past several decades various people have attempted to make a genealogy of our family.
My task of doing this was much simpler due to the availability of their work, the cooperation of
various people and above all the current advances in computer technology.

Dr. Atma Singh emphasised the empowerment of women and education for all. He was right in
thinking about the importance of education. He truly believed what happens in Kahuta will
define our future generations.His aim was ambitious but the reward was transforming his
generation and generations to come.The Kahuta diaspora today is well-educated and spread all
over the world. Bhuva Minder - daughter of Chacha Kahn Singh, was the first graduate in the
family (early 1920s) and brought us a great deal of pride. Since then we have seen many lady
doctors, engineers, architects, bankers, civil servants, legal service providers, armed forces,
media, civil servants, amongst others.

The basis of this genealogy is a video recording of my father Sardar Nand Singh’s video
conversation with family on his 89th birthday and excerpts of which can be seen under videos,
notes of Col.Kirpal Singh and Chacha Lochan Singh and the recollections of family and close
relations.

There are two compelling theories to show our roots in the early 18th century. The first is that
our ancestors were called TODAS – Toda is a village in Rajasthan. Our first known ancestor is
Ch.Chirag Shah - his surname “Shah” is attributed to the Poonch region rather than Rajasthan.
Most of our ancestors lived in the Potohar ( Potwar) region and made Kahuta as their base.
During the mid-18th century, Sikhs ruled Punjab and a greater part of Afghanistan and Kashmir
amongst other regions; and Potohar was a Centre for the Sikh people. It is during this time that
the son of Rai Sahib Gucchae Shah, Ram Singh, converted to Sikhism and perhaps was the first
Sikh in Kahuta. He was known as Singh Sahib Ram Singh.

Our ancestors were a paradigm of family unity and care; and had a sense of duty towards each
other. When Uncle Kahn Singh, a barrister, came back to India from the UK, he asked his three
brothers Dr. Mukha Singh, Dr.Makhan Singh, and Mr Dayal Singh to pool together money to send
the next generation to study in the UK. In 1920 the four brothers chose ChachaDalip Singh,
CachaLochan Singh,ChachaHukam Singh, Chacha Captain Basant Singh and Manmohan Singh,
who were sent to UK for further studies.ChachaPritam Singh joined them soon after. They all
did very well academically, had very successful careers and did the family name proud. Our great
grandfather, Atma Singh must have been well pleased with the family unity and forward
thinking. Chacha Hukam Singh retired as Chief Engineer of Punjab. Chacha Lochan Singh was
Post Master General and later on a member of the Railway Board. Chacha Pritam retired as
Major General and Captain Basant Singh was Chief Town Planning Engineer. The brothers also
took the responsibility of their sister Dhanwant who became widow at the tender age of 18 and
had two young children - Lochan and Rajjah.

Chacha Kahn Singh was the first to use the surname Chowdhry. Subsequently some of us started
using the same, but majority of was content with the name Singh.

The partition of India proved to be a disaster not only for the family but for many Hindus , Sikhs
and Muslims. Many lost their lives - women and children were made to jump in fire or in wells,
and properties were looted and set on fire. My first cousin Surjit (son of Dr.Arjan Singh, my
father’s eldest brother) was the first victim of a senseless orgy of violence in Kahuta. He was shot
dead by baying mobs. My uncle was gutted to lose his only son – an incident made worse by the
fact that he was unable to cremate Surjit because all men immediately gathered in the local
gurudwara and were taken to a military camp in Rawalpindi. My uncle never really got over the
fact and manner of Surjit’s death, which stayed with him until he died- heartbroken. My father
would often talk about this incident and his brother’s sorrow with great sadness.

I think we have a very rich heritage and we need to explore more into our history .I hope when
this website is up and running we will get more interesting facts about our past and recent
successes. It is my endeavor to keep updating this site as and when new information is brought
to my notice.

I am sincerely indebted and thankful to my sister Jaspal Kaur Bakshi, Col.Jaspal Singh Bakshi,
Engr.Iqbal Singh for their support and guidance. I am also indebted and thankful to Mrs.
Harsaran Bir Pandey, and Harbir Singh who both made notes of their respective fathers available
to me for this genealogy. I am sure it would have not been possible without their help. Besides I
would like to thank the members of my family who encouraged me to do this work and finally I
thank Supreet Grewal’s help in putting this website together.

Chanchal Singh Chowdhry

Son of Sardar Nand Singh “Engineer”

And grandson of Sardar Dayal Singh