In Search of My Roots: The Living Tradition of Bahis

In Search of My Roots: The Living Tradition of Bahis

 

I had originally intended to write this article in Hindi. However, I soon realised that many of my friends, though fluent in speaking their mother tongue, are far more comfortable reading in English. So, here I am, attempting to narrate a story that is deeply rooted in my heritage in a language that reaches a wider audience.

 

I have an inherent curiosity within me, when it comes to history, possibly inculcated by my mother. I get excited to hear about it or talk about it and often am engrossed in such thoughts. This is probably the reason why I chose it for my alma mater. The same curiosity led me to research about my own roots. I had started making a family tree back in 2010 when I was nine years old, with the help of my grandfather Dr. Surya Narayan Chaturvedi, who passed away the next year. My grandfather gave me whatever information he had, along with a book titled “शंकरपुर के पाण्डे: एक परिचय” written by Shri Ravindra Nath Ji and Shri Dhirendra Nath Ji. My grandfather had told me that our family originally hails from Shankarpur, a village near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, and then migrated to Varanasi almost 150 years ago. Apart from that he had no information about our roots at Shankarpur.

 

The aforementioned book proved to be a great source for the history of Shankarpur village and of all the families associated with it, and I have immense respect and admiration for the writers, who undertook such a difficult, yet paramount task! Yet, it could trace our family only till 6-7 generations. The writers themselves mentioned that they could not connect the dots, that would link our family to the initial inhabitant of Shankarpur, Shri Kalyankar Pandey, who lived around the end of the fifteenth century (c. 1480). (Yes, that's impressive.)

 

I dived a little deeper into the book to see if some connection sprouted up, but to no success. The authors, Shri Ravindra Nath Ji and Shri Dhirendra Nath Ji assume that we are linked by some branch to the only Sati of Shankarpur आदरणीया दादी जी, the wife of श्री खरगमणि, the Diwan of Narvar. This seems the most plausible explanation of our origin, since our family has immense faith in Sati Mata (though there is an absence of सती के गीत or her श्राद्ध), yet our family, most religiously follows the prohibition of “हरी छोर की चुनरी और लाख की चूड़ियां” for any auspicious occasion, which is similar to the families that directly descent from Dadi Ji in Etawah. So it is almost certain that our family may also trace descent from Dadi Ji and Kharagmani Ji, who had eight sons, three of whose descendants cannot be traced. We may be the descendants of one of those three sons or from Madarilal Ji, the brother of Shri Kharagmani Ji.

 

Since the book mentioned my great-grandfather's visit to Haridwar, therefore to find answers to my questions, I travelled to Haridwar to consult with the Pandas who preserve family histories in documents called Bahis. The book mentioned the name of Shri Motiram Ji Pokhariya, who kept this Bahi. It took us some time to find the Panda that kept the records of our family, but it was definitely worth it. After searching for a while we reached Ramgiri Ki Haveli in Haridwar to find Panda Motiram Ji Pokhariya's descendants. To my relief we found them and were taken to a small room packed with such records. As soon as we entered the room, we were greeted by the question “आप चौबे हैं?” Possibly my round face and moreover, my extra protruding belly gave away my identity. Jokes apart, I was surprised and answered with a simple nod.

 

Now the person asked “आप कुलीन हैं, सेगवार हैं या बदलुए”, I said “कुलीन”. The next question was “अल्ल बताइए” , “पाण्डे” I replied. Then from an almost broken cupboard, he took out a huge roll of pages, carefully kept and covered with a cloth. On its front was written “मथुरिया पाण्डे”. He opened and started flipping the pages, then he turned up and asked, “आप मीठे हैं कि कड़वे?” I replied with a grin “हम कड़वे हैं”. He called his brother “अरे राजू ये मीठे पाण्डों की है, दूसरी निकालो”, then another huge bundle was taken out and the name “शंकरपुर” was being searched. He came across many names including the above-mentioned authors Shri Ravindra Nath Ji and Shri Dhirendra Ji. But couldn't find our family's details. Then one of the pages of the Bahi were visible and I saw the name “पं० कैलाशनाथ चौबे” written, to which I immediately pointed out.

 

The record read

 

“मु ० पांडे संकरपुरी के कासी जी के मोहल्ला सिद्धमाता गली के लिखितम चौबे कैलासनाथ जी बेटे रामप्रसाद जी के पोते महादेव लाल जी के। महादेवलाल बेटे देवीप्रसाद के पोते संगमलाल के। विश्वेश्वर नाथ बा शंभुनाथ बा सूरजनाथ बा हरिनाथ बा उमानाथ की माता सावित्री बेटे कैलासनाथ जी के ० कैलासनाथ जी हरद्वार आये मसूरी को गये अमरतसर को गये साल दुसाल खरीदने को भाद्र सुदी १२ (12), १९९५ (संवत् 1995)”

 

 

 

To which my great grandfather had signed:

 

“हमारे वंसज का ठीक पता जो पंडा बतावेगा वही माना जाएगा”

पं ० कैलाशनाथ चौबे (his signature)

वा खद ६-९-३८ (06/09/1938)

 

The Panda exclaimed “देखिए वो मसूरी गए थे! आपके परिवार से अट्ठासी (88) साल बाद कोई आया है!”

Now this was so astonishing, so exhilarating! I found the name of one more generation, though couldn't find the connection, the missing link, but what mattered was that I was able to see what my great-grandfather had deliberately left this record for his descendants, i.e. for me!

 

Then the Panda started writing on a fresh page about our visit, asked details of my siblings, my father's siblings and so on. I told that I only have an elder sister, who got married last year. To which he boastingly asked “चौबों में ही हुई है?” To his surprise I said, “जी”. Then he asked “वो लोग कहां के हैं?” I replied, “वे लोग अलीगढ़ में रहते हैं लेकिन इटावा के मूल निवासी हैं” . Another question popped up, “उनकी अल्ल क्या है?” I replied, “डुंडवार”. Now he said something mind blowing, “अच्छा तो वो तो वसिष्ठ गोत्र के हैं” and “आप लोगों की तो चौंसठ (64) अल्ले होतीं हैं”.

 

This is as surprising as it is unbelievable. A priest which has no relation to Chaturvedis at all, knows, by heart, all 64 of them! And also to which gotra they belong to! Even people from our community cannot name all 64 of them. What is his interest, his benefit? The meagre amount of money that one family pays, after visiting in almost 100 years? He could have easily thrown away those records and given those rooms on rent, or as a B&B. But he chose not to. This consciousness, this responsibility, this selflessness certainly deserves respect! In a so-called “modern” age, where western ideas are engulfing us and people are suffering from cultural amnesia, this centuries-old tradition of record-keeping is surviving!

 

Once someone asked me “what will I do with this knowledge? If you consider knowledge at all.” I couldn't reply to them due to my respect for them, but knowing about one's origin is part of knowing about your culture, your heritage and your country. It provides you a sense of belonging, a pride upon your culture and not only that it will provide your future generations about your life! You never know after 88 years one of your descendants will look for something that you left and would be happy to just see your signature!

 

That experience also made me realise that our ancestors did not merely preserve names; they preserved a way of remembering. In the Indian tradition, genealogy was never viewed as an exercise in curiosity alone, but as an essential part of one's relationship with family, society and Dharma. This perhaps explains why our scriptures speak of the concept of the three debts (त्रि-ऋण). In Sanatana Dharma, a person is born with three debts (तीन ऋण): देव ऋण, ऋषि ऋण and पितृ ऋण. The daily rituals of a person are the only way to pay back these debts. By worshipping deities daily you absolve from देव ऋण. By reading the Vedas and daily revisions you absolve from ऋषि ऋण. The only debt that's the most difficult to pay back is the पितृ ऋण. It requires various rituals including तर्पण, श्राद्ध, पिण्ड दान, गयाश्राद्ध/तीर्थ श्राद्ध and by producing progeny yourself! The तर्पण process is required to be done daily or at least fortnightly. It is a series of water oblations to your ancestors in the hope that they receive it. In this process three generations are to be honoured including your parents, paternal grandparents and great-grandparents. On your maternal side are your maternal grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. It is really saddening that in today's time people neither know, nor want to know even their names.

 

An event in mediaeval history proves the great significance of this ritual. As you all might know, Aurangzeb (Alamgir) had killed his elder brother and imprisoned his father Shah Jahan in Agra's Red Fort. He used to send water to his father in only a measured quantity. A well known anecdote ascribed to Shah Jahan reads:

 

ऐ पिसर तू अजब मुसलमानी,ब पिदरे ज़िंदा आब तरसानी।आफ़रीन बाद हिंदवां सद बार,मैं देहंद पिदरे मुर्दा रा व दायम आब।”

“O son! What kind of strange Muslim are you?You are starving your living father for water.A hundred praises be upon the Hindus,Who constantly offer water to their deceased ancestors.”

 

This may not be written by Shahjahan himself, but beautifully explains the beauty of our Dharma!

 

 

 

I once read a line somewhere, “you have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents and sixteen great-great-grandparents! Even if one of them wasn't there, you won't be there.” This had such a great effect on me that I began asking about my own roots, my ancestry. In that attempt I created a family tree, which now includes more than 5000 people, from all Chaturvedi families, which are somehow linked to my paternal (Shankarpur) or maternal family (Mainpuri). In the preface of the book on Shankarpur, Padma Bhushan Pt. Shri Narayan Chaturvedi “Bhaiya Sahab” has mentioned a line from a poem by Pt. Radha Krishna Mishra, “उठते हैं वीर पुत्र, जिनको पितरों का है अभिमान।

 

At a time when rapid urbanisation, migration and changing lifestyles have distanced many of us from our ancestral roots, such traditions deserve renewed appreciation. Perhaps not everyone will feel the same curiosity that I do, and that is perfectly understandable. But if this account inspires even one person to ask their grandparents about their family, preserve an old photograph, write down the names of their ancestors, or visit the Panda who has safeguarded their family's history for generations, I shall consider this article worthwhile. Our roots do not bind us to the past; they help us understand who we are.

 

Remember that one day, decades from now, one of our descendants may come searching for us, just as I searched for my great-grandfather. They may not inherit our wealth, our professions, or even our language. But if they inherit the knowledge of who they are and where they come from, we shall have left them something far more enduring.

 

Please feel free to contact me to know the location of the Panda and his contact details. 

 

ॐ पितृभ्यः स्वधायिभ्यः स्वधानमः। पितामहेभ्यः स्वधायिभ्यः स्वधानमः। प्रपितामहेभ्यः स्वधायिभ्यः स्वधानमः। अक्षन्पितरो मीमदन्त पितरो तीतृपन्त पितरः पितरः शुन्धद्ध्वम्।।

 

~आराध्य चतुर्वेदी 

जन्म: 8/11/2001

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आराध्य चतुर्वेदी (विभु)