Updated 1tth April 2008
 
This website will contain the family tree and ancestral history of Ravi Mehta and of
many other families related to Ravi and his ancestors. Ravi Mehta's paternal
grandfather Shri Gulzarilal Nanda (Nandaji / Dadaji), was born on July 4, 1898 in
Sialkot in the Punjab province of British India and died in Ahmedabad on January
15,1998 in his daughter Dr.Pushpa Naik's home at the age of almost 100 years. Nandaji
was the Prime Minister of India twice: the first time after the death of Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, and the second time after the death of Prime Minister Lal
Bahadur Shastri in 1966. Both terms were uneventful, yet they were important because of
potential danger to the country following Nehru's death soon after a war with China in
1962, and Shastri's death after a war with Pakistan in 1965. A separate website on
Nandaji will be made on www.primeminister-india.com but it has not been started yet.
This website will contain interesting items which have never been published before such
as images of correspondence between Mahatma Gandhi and Dadaji, antique photographs with
national leaders, old books, letters, autographs and other memorabilia and souvenirs.
 
Ravi Mehta's father Maharaj Krishen Mehta, deceased on March 28,2006 at the age of 87,
was the eldest son of Gulzarilal Nanda. Dr. Keval Krishen Mehta, his maternal
grandfather, adopted him. Hence my surname is Mehta and not Nanda.Maharaj Krishen Mehta
was a brilliant mechanical engineer in several different industries, an
inventor of international repute and held a large number of patents for his designs. He
was Managing Director of a company in UK for 15 years and executed vast projects in
about 20 countries on all continents. Earlier he had lived and worked in USA, Canada
and India. In the early 1960's he was the chief design engineer of Bhilai Steel Plant.
A separate website on my father, outlining his interesting life will be set up in due
course. Gulzarilal Nanda's daughter Dr.Pushpa Naik and her family were devoted to
Dadaji and looked after him during the last 10 years of his life when he stayed with
them in Ahmedabad.Dr.Chhotubhai Naik was a Cardiologist of the highest rank and
physician to the President of India.Dr.Pushpa Naik personally ran a hospital in
Ahmedabad on a voluntary basis for 40 years and is still active. It was her 87th
birthday on 13th April 2008. The Naik family is very well known and has excelled in
their respective fields: Tejus is a reputed Paediatric surgeon and established his own
hospital in Ahmedabad, and Alankar is in the top management team of a Fortune 500 MNC
in USA.Gulzarilal Nanda's younger son Narinder Nanda, was a brilliant electronic
engineer in reputed government organizations. He is now in his early 80's and still
works as an electronic engineer. His son Vivek Nanda has a flourishing practice as an
Architect in London and has lectured at Cambridge in academic positions.
 
The Nandas are a Khatri clan from Eminabad near Sialkot in pre-partition Punjab. Their
known history goes back to the time of Babar's invasion of Punjab in 1529 when the town
was known as Sayidpur.Eminabad is known in history for Guru Nanak's stay there and his
penance there when he made his bed on a heap of stones (Rohri), his capture by Mughal
Emperor Babar, a miracle he performed there of getting his grain mill or chakki - which
he was given as punishment to grind - work on its own and his subsequent release by
Babar.There are Gurdwaras, including the Rohri Sahib and Chakki Saheb , and a Sikh
community still living there whom I hope to be able to contact. The Sikhs and Khatris
are historically closely connected - all the 10 Gurus were Khatris, Khatris used to
make one of their sons a Sikh.Nandaji wrote a book on Guru Tej Bahadur, which I am
trying to locate. Several generations ago my grandfather's branch of the family moved
to a village near Eminabad called Baddon-ki-Gosain which as he stated himself is his
own place of origin, although there is another piece of information which says he was
born in Ghartal near Sialkot - the hometown of the Puris, his maternal family. This
site has been started just recently, and will never be "complete". Contributions and
corrections are most welcome by way of email to analytic10@gmail.com or by clicking on
"Guestbook" above. The expansion and enhancement of this site may be along the
following avenues:
 
a) Origins and detailed history of the Nandas going back at least 500 years.
 
b) Role of the Nandas in the history of the Khatris.The Khatris and their various
subdivisions provide fascinating material for research and it is clear they have been a 
capable community in the professions,administration,law, accountancy and business.
 
c) All aspects of the customs, traditions, life and culture of the Nanda clan, within
the context of the Khatri caste.
 
d) Intersection of the histories of the Nanda clan and the geographical areas of
Sialkot, Eminabad and Baddon-ki-Gosain in prepartition Punjab. All this applies during
the rules of the various ruling dynasties / kings / governors of the Mughals, Sikhs and
British, including Ranjit Singh and Gulab Singh.
 
e) The history of the branch of the Puri family which was Gulzarilal Nanda's maternal
family and their strong connections with the Dogra royal families of Jammu and Kashmir,
particularly the Rajas of Poonch.The Nandas were chief ministers in the Jammu and
Kashmir governments for generations. This includes the story of Gulzarilal Nanda's
father Bulaqiram Nanda, his stay in Poonch and his relationship with the Diwans of
Poonch.There is a very interesting section from a book by Krishan Chandar, the well
known short story writer who belonged to Poonch, telling the story of his (Chandar's) 
student days and escapades under his strict teacher Bulaqi Ram, and also the latter's
unhappiness about Dadaji (Gulzarilal) reading newspapers and becoming involved in
politics at the expense of economic stability and his family. Dadaji was very fond of
his mother Ishwaridevi, whom Buaji (Dr.Pushpa Naik ) remembers meeting.I have met
Bulaqiram Ram Nanda ,my great grandfather often in my childhood during vacations in
Delhi. Ishwaridevi's brother was Diwan Gyan Chand who was very helpful to Bulaqiram in
getting him a job as Headmaster in a school in Poonch. Bulaqiram stayed in Gyan Chand's
house in Poonch initially before making his own arrangement. Dadaji studied in Poonch
for several years and remembers it as one of the happiest times in his life.I can
confirm that Poonch is an extremely naturally beautiful place. I have seen Diwan
Gyan Chand's house and Bulaqiram's other house and old school in Poonch although all 3
were substantially renovated after the devastating earthquake in Poonch in 2006.
 
f) The history of the development of Kurukshetra by Shri Gulzarilal Nanda, restoration
of hundreds of ancient monuments; the museums there including one solely dedicated to him.
 
g) Current status of the approximately 18 NGO's such as Bharat Sevak Samaj started by
Gulzarilal Nanda and what happened to them. The story of the labour movement in Indore
and the Nanda Nagar there.
 
h) History of the Mehtas my father's maternal family. 
 
i) My mother Kanta Mehta's family was from Multan, now in Pakistan. Multanis have
strong and stubborn personalities (me too) and a distinct culture and
language.Incidentally they almost killed and seriously wounded Alexander the Great when
he came visiting and he died several years later from the these wounds. They
were very successful in many fields after moving to India during the partition. In
future, historical and genealogical research on Multani families from my mother's side
- the Ahujas, Katarias and Bagais etc and their culture will also be carried out.2
sisters of my maternal grandmother (Ramdevi Ahuja): Bhag Kataria,over 100 years of age,
and Vidya Chandra almost 100 yearsof age are living in Delhi and we celebrated Bhag
Aunty's 100th birthday in great style and hosted by her son Minna Kataria,in  Delhi
last year. A website of my maternal uncle Suresh Chandra Ahuja (Suresh Mama) who was
blind, and head of the National Association for the Blind will also be made in due
course. He was a reputed professional in the field of blind welfare, travelled overseas
tirelessly and won several international awards. Swaran Ahuja my Mami, is a truly
wonderful and unique lady who while pursuing her own professional career in the blind
training field,devotedly supported Suresh Mama in all his endeavours. Suresh Mama
passed away on 27th January 2007  .In their heyday they were both part of the Bombay
"social set" and would have certainly been page 3 personalities if that  concept had
existed in those days.The 5 Kataria brothers (my mother's cousins) and their families
have each blazed their own trails as industrialists, corporate top management,senior
defense services personnel and in Medicine.My mother's cousin Satish Chandra was
formerly the High Commissioner of India in Pakistan. 
 
j) Ravi's wife Vrinda's famlly , the Capoors who are based in Hyderabad of Khatri
origin,Dhaighar to be precise - higher caste than Nandas who are from the Bawanjati,
Bawanjai or "52 clans" group of Khatris - and had close links with the Nizams in
earlier generations.Her family history will be explored. Vrinda's father Dwarkanath
Capoor was the Home Secretary in the Maharashtra governmentin the early 1980's. 
 
k) Anecdotes, as many as possible will be supplied, to liven up the personalities. Time
is running out since many of the people who have information are now very old.
 
l) The cycle trip  which Mr.K Arun undertook for 5 years to South Asian countries as a
member of the Bharat Sevak Samaj founded by Dadaji.
 
The maturity of a civilization is reflected in the respect they have for preserving
their history. After the British conquered India, they wanted to document all aspects
of their new country and their subjects and in this they were thorough.Among the
colonizers many of the individuals who did the studies were actually Indophiles  and
devoted students of Indian history and culture. The records they left behind over a 100
years ago are still useful and are not matched in quality and, accuracy any of the
current work - sorry historians. Caste is viewed from a negative angle and rightly so
for its discriminatory effect hence data on caste has for a long time not been asked
for and collected in the Census surveys. However this amounts to loss of valuable
information since caste is a historical /anthropological reality and is important for
the study of the history and culture of communities. The tragedy and impact on families
of partition, in terms of disintegration of their social fabric, is felt in full force
when doing such a project; so is the disappointment with leaders of all sides for their
impotence in avoiding partition and incurring such heavy loss of life. A huge variety
of sources are being used for this project such as the following:
 
a) Talks with old people and relatives in many cities.
b) A large number of libraries in several cities such as the National Archives
Delhi, Nehru Memorial Library, Delhi, the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad,Kurukshetra Museum.
c) Old surviving photgraphs, letters, souvenirs in the family.
d) Visits to Pandas who are priests as well as genealogists and photos of their records,
some in the script of the old western Punjabi or Multani (Lahndi), which was modified
for Gurmukhi.Pandas in Haridwar and even more so in Peohwa near Kurukshetra have been
able to provide family trees going back upto 10 generations ie back to the mid 1600's.
e)Khatri associations and the Arya Samaj.
f)Organisations and NGO's started by Gulzarilal Nanda and people who still remember
him.The numbers of Dadaji's devotees in all walks of life in every nook and corner of
India and the affection and respect they express has never been experienced by me
anywhere earlier.There was something of the highest class in the personality /
spirituality of Gulzarilal Nanda which still finds resonance in those I meet.
h)Pramila Kalhan's excellent book:A Life in the Service of the People. Regret she
passed away many years ago but they still remember her well in Delhi.
 
I would like to thank immensely the following friends and respected elders who have
helped or inspired me:

a)Mr.and Mrs.Madanlal Nanda of Mumbai who gave me a family tree.Mrs.Madanlal Nanda also
gave me the words in Punjabi of the Puja that only the Nanda ladies do on the day after
Nagpanchmi.There is a very interesting story behind this.  
b) Mr.K.D.Maini, an author and historian of Poonch and Kashmir and his family in Poonch
who treated me as a member of their own family.
c) Mrs Kusum Chopra and Captain Chopra of Ahmedabad who gave me valuable information on
the Nanda family tree and Eminabad.
d) Mr L.M. Puri of Kolkata who inspired me by giving me a copy of his book containing
the family trees and history of his extended family.
e) Dr.Rajesh Purohit,Director  of the Krishna museum and the Gulzarilal Nanda museum in
Kurukshetra.
f) Mr.P.C.Chib and Mr.Arun of the Gulzarilal Nanda Foundation,who have been close
associates of Dadaji for decades.
g) Mr.Rajesh Chauhan , journalist of Kurukshetra who along with Mr.Arun K took a lot of
trouble to guide me in Kurukshetra.
h) Many more people including close family,relatives,friends and office staff whom I
have not mentioned individually.

The mutiple objectives for making this  website are as follows:
 
a) To fulfill an inner need, perhaps to add some more meaning to life and pay respects
to ancestors in some spiritual way to whom I owe the sum and total of who I am
b) Keep memories alive of eminent people who have contributed to the country but are
unjustifiably forgotten in the page 3 era of Shah Rukh Khans,and Virendra Sehwags.
c) To document the history so it can be passed on to future generations as a common
legacy of our extended family.
d) To have a focal point where missing information can be input by anyone viewing this
site.
e) Provide contact information to enable networking.
f) To solve many puzzles and missing pieces in the history
g) Unearth many interesting facts and hitherto untold stories.
h) Form a good base of information before making a trip to Pakistan?
i) Encouragement to the younger generation to understand their roots.
 
I hope to make good progress on this project,so please keep coming back to visit. 
 
As I said I have got the Nanda's family tree upto mid 1600's.Now the challenge is to
fill the gap upto 1525 - please see the following extracts from the book by the British
administator Lepel Griffin, dated 1907, Chiefs and Families of Note of Punjab:
 
"The Nanda Khatri family of which Ganga Bishen is the present representative, is of
some antiquity.Ujar Sen , the first of whom any mention is made , lived in the reign of
Babar Shah,and by a marriage with the daughter of a wealthy official of Eminabad in
Gujranwala , whither he had gone in the train of the Emperor,established the fortunes
of the family.His son Lakhu was adopted by his father in law , Devi Ditta , and on his
death ,succeeded to his office of Kanungo ;and for several generations the office
,which was in those days of some consideration, remained with the family. etc.etc."
 
"The family is well known all over northern India by reason of the close connection for
years past of many of its members with the Jammu and Kashmir State............"  
 
(The connection between Eminabad and Jammu and Kashmir goes back to Ranjit Singh's time
when he gave Eminabad as a Jagir to the Raja Dhyan Singh of Jammu.Since then the Nandas
of Eminabad held important positions such as Diwan/Wazir under the Rajas of Jammu and
Kashmir.)                     
 
"The family history goes back to Rai Ugar Sen of Bikaner,who was Peshkar or Secretary
to the Emperor Babar , whom he once accompanied on a visit to the Punjab and marrying
amongst the Kanungo Khatris of Eminabad in the Gujranwala district , settled there ..."
 
So did the Nandas originate in Bikaner ? and before Bikaner ?
 
But as of this moment the rest of this site may be inaccurate-so wait a couple of weeks
 
Best wishes,
 
Ravi 9819576975,  022 26300663.