| Jatt Clan: Grewal/ Garewal | |
| Distribution | Punjab, Haryana (India) and Punjab (Pakistan) |
| Descended from: | |
| Branches: | None |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Languages | Punjabi , Haryanvi |
| Surnames: | Grewal, Garewal |
Grewal/ Garewal is a surname of Jats found in Punjab, Haryana and Pakistan. They are regarded as prominent and respected clan that has greatly influenced South Asia, especially during the British Raj. Notable people include Saheed sardar Kartar Singh Sarabha.
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The Grewals/ Garewals are a tribe of the Jat clan found in Northern India. The Grewals/ Garewals are descendants of Chandel Rajputs, in North India.The Grewal clan were the most educated Jat clans and were the most superior in the whole of Punjab. 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 at Kalinjar. On the other hand, as per the Grewal Itihas Committee, the Grewals originated from the Chandel Rajputs of Chendeli in Himachal Pradesh. They are from jhumritalai Vedsi was the first ancestor of the Grewals/ Garewals, 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.
Grewal/Garewal is a widespread community of Jats ( Hindu ) in Haryana. Their major concentration is along the cities of Hisar, Jind , Narwana and Bhiwani. Like other jats in Haryana, they are a prosperous farming community.
In Indian Punjab, Grewals/ Garewals primarily belong to the Malwa region in Punjab. There are a total of 52 purely Grewal/ Garewal villages (meaning everyone in the village is Grewal) Ludhiana district alone. The main villages of Grewals/ Garewals 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,jodamasura,ballowal 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/ Garewal 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/ Garewal villages are characterized by large land holdings and a large estates called Jagirdars. As a result, the Grewal/ Garewal 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/ Garewal also contributed to the fight for freedom of India. .Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896–1915) was an Indian revolutionary who was amongst the most famous accused in the Lahore conspiracy trial. A leading luminary of the Ghadar Party, Kartar Singh was executed at Lahore in November 1915 for his role in the Ghadar Conspiracy in February 1915.Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal was born into a Grewal Sikh family at village Sarabha in the district of Ludhiana, Punjab, in 1896. His father's name was Sardar Mangal Singh.He was still very young when his father died. His grandfather brought him up with great care.After receiving his primary education in his own village, Kartar Singh entered the Malwa Khalsa High school at Ludhiana for his matriculation. He was in tenth class when he went to live with his uncle in Orissa where, after finishing high school, he joined college. When he was fifteen, his parents put him on board a ship for America to work there. The ship landed at the American port of San Francisco in January 1912. The American Immigration officer put Indians through rigorous questioning while people of other countries were allowed to pass after slight checks. Kartar Singh asked one of the passengers about this type of behaviour. He told him, "Indians are the citizens of a slave country. As such, they are treated badly." This incident had a great effect on Sarabha.Saheed sardar Kartar Singh Sarabha from Sarabha village lead the fight and was accepted as a guru by the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
One of the famous 'Garewal' families who have been serving the nation with pride for 'four' generations now also belong to Ludhiana in India, With the first of them, Sardar Bahadur Captain Kehar Singh Garewal, of 13 DCOS Lancers, now part of Pakistan Army, who served the British Army form 1905 to 1939, fought the First World War and was conferred the honour of Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of British India (MBI). His son, Colonel Gurdev Singh Garewal, of The Royal Indian Army Service Corps, served the Indian Army from 1941 to 1969 and fought the World War - II , the 1962 Chinese Aggression and the 1965 Indo Pak Wars. Grand Son, Colonel Bhupindra Singh Garewal, served in the Elite Armoured Corps from 1970 to 2006, fought the 1971 Indo Pak War 'Op Cactus Lilly' (17 Poona Horse), 1985 'Op Pawan' (43 Armd Regt), 1984 'Op Blue Star' (43 Armd Regt), 1991 'Op Bajarang' (15 Armd Regt), 1992 'Op Rhino' (15 Armd Regt), 1999 'Op Vijay', 2000 'Op Parakaram', 2004 'Op Rakshak' apart from various other classified and under cover operations.
Grewals in Indian Mining Industry. The 1st Grewal to join Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 1st batch was S. Sarwan Singh Grewal in 1926, who went on to become the 1st Indiam Chief Inspector of Mines in 1954.S Balbir Singh Grewal joined Indian School of Mines in 1940, Pickering Medalist standing 1st All 4 years, 1st Indian M.Tech in Mining from Shefield University U.K.in 1947, 1st Indian Acting Chief Mining Engineer,in 1953 of Shaw Walace & Company in Madhya Pradesh.Left when Coal Mines were Nationalised in 1971. He then Ran his Farm of 50 Acres in Vilage Hawas, Ludhiana for more than 30 years, before he expired in 2008.
There were 9 more Grewal's closely related to each ,who have Graduated from Indian School of Mines till 1971, with P.S.Grewal being the last & 2nd Generation Mining Engineer. Grewal's practically ran the Mining Industry Coal/Iron Ore for more than 25 years till Nationalisation.
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/ Garewals 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.
The main villages of the Grewals/ Garewals are Koga near Kharar(Mohali District), Sural Kalan (near Rajpura, Patiala District), Dolon Kalan, Dolon Khurd, Sarabha, Sahouli, Narangwal, Qila Raipur, Gujjarwal, Lohgarh, Dhaipai, Dhandra, Dulay, Thrike, Baddowal ,Jassowal Sudhan, Chupki, Sarabha, Lalton Kalan, Lalton Khurd, Jhande, Mansuran, Jodhan, Humanyunpura, Barewal, Koga, Grewal, Mehma Singh Wala, Phallewal, Daad, Hawas, Khawajke, Sirha (Chude kuku wala), Noorwal, Thakkerwal, Majri, Bihla, Sukhana, Khanjarwal, Mehmoodpur, Assi Kalan, Aandlu, Ballowal,bandi(near bhatinda), Chaminda, Butahri, Chubki, Khedi Jhamedi, Kadian, Buraj Pakka, Bamla, and Chandeni,(Hakmabad,16, 17, 19z,Sriganganagar, Rajasthan),BIJWASAN(New Delhi), Dalampur(Meerut,U.P.), Kalyanpur and Lohdda(Meerut,U.P.).
Many Jat Sikh Grewal/ Garewal families are also based in parts of Jalandhar District such as villages Bilga, Talwan, Sareenh, Paasla and Pharwala In Hoshiarpur District, the Village of Jalota Ear Dasuya. Amritsar district has a dense population of Grewals in Khojala village. Sangrur district has two big villages settled by Grewals named Rai singh and Sakroudi. That came from Qila Raipur
Most of these families are engaged in farming and business. . The city of Phillaur in Doaba region, adjacent to the Malwa region, was originally named as Phulnagar (The Town of Flowers) by a Grewal Jatt called Phul Singh Grewal.
Many Grewals/ Garewals also live in Sriganganagar, Hakmabad(Rajasthan) capital of Punjab & Haryana states Chandigarh and capital of India, New Delhi.
Grewals/ Garewals have migrated to all corners of the globe with significant populations having settled in parts of Malaysia, Canada, the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia. Almost all of the Grewals from village Bilga in district Jalandhar now live in England.
The very first husband-wife team to be elected to the Canadian Parliament was Grewal (that of Mrs. Nina Grewal and Mr. Gurmant Grewal). Mr. Gurmant Grewal was later embroiled in a controversy and did not seek re-election. Mrs. Nina Grewal is still a sitting member of Canadian Parliament. British television channel 4 depicted life of a Grewal family living in borough of Hounslow near Heathrow airport in a real life show called Family in 2009. (www. thegrewalfamily.com) Justice Gurnaam Singh Grewal from Mehma Singh Wala village was the Chief Minister of Punjab for a short period of time. Inderjit Singh Grewal from Qila Raipur was a Member of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in the 11th House of the Mini Parliament of Sikhs from 1996 to 2004.
Grewals have won two gold medals at the Olympic Games: In Berlin (Germany)- 1936 Summer Olympics, by Gurbachan Singh Garewal as a player of the Indian men's hockey team; and in Los Angeles (USA) - 1984 Summer Olympics, by Alexi Grewal in the individual road race, becoming the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in cycling.