Welcome Aboard… Let’s embark on this very auspicious journey into the past… the past that belongs to all of us, the past that is “our” keepsake till eternity. This is a journey where we seek to take a deep dive back into history and try to answer those fundamental questions – “Who we are”, “Where did our ancestry originate”, “What our forefathers were like” and “What cult of the human civilization do we really belong to”. This chapter in “OUR” story has various dimensions – historic, scientific, political, cultural, natural, super-natural…!! This is essentially the story of “Us”, members of the “Gadia Samaaj”, part of the larger Jain community.
If you are reading this page, chances are that you do belong to the “Gadia” samaaj, the family that we take great pride in. The Gadia story started about 900 years ago in a village called Chanderi, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. In the year 1141 AD, Acharya Shri Jin Dutt Suri Ji, who we all respectfully call “Dada Guru Dev”, segregated the Jain society into 499 sects or cults, called Gotras. These were like small families within the larger purview of the Jain society as such. The Gadia cult is one of those 499 cults and is in perennial existence for the past 900 years.
If you are reading this page, chances are that you do belong to the “Gadia” samaaj, the family that we take great pride in. The Gadia story started about 900 years ago in a village called Chanderi, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. In the year 1141 AD, Acharya Shri Jin Dutt Suri Ji, who we all respectfully call “Dada Guru Dev”, segregated the Jain society into 499 sects or cults, called Gotras. These were like small families within the larger purview of the Jain society as such. The Gadia cult is one of those 499 cults and is in perennial existence for the past 900 years.
It is believed that the ruler of Chanderi, “King Khardar Singh Rathore” was extremely impressed by the thoughts and ideas of Shri Dada Guru Dev Ji and subsequently adopted the Jain religion. King Khardar Singh had a son called “Bhainsay Shah”. King Bhainsay Shah’s fifth son was named “Gadhaiye Shah” and it is from him that our Gotra got its name “Gadia”. Venerable Shri Baba Dittu Ji is believed to be the Guru of the Gadia clan and is therefore eternally associated with the Gadia samaaj.
The Gadia family started expanding and reached out to different parts of India, primarily the north-western Indian state of Punjab. A large section of the family got settled in the city of Sialkot in Punjab (present day Pakistan). It is from Sialkot, that the Gadia family grew exponentially in size, prestige and influence. Slowly, the cultural influence of Punjab overshadowed our Rajasthani roots and we became a predominantly “Punjabi” society. Our language, customs, traditions, festivals - all gained a Punjabi touch and the Gadia samaaj accepted it with open arms. However, the over-arching Jain faiths continued to be in place, as strong as a Rock, and ensured that the Gadia samaaj maintained its own identity of “Jains” within the “Punjabi” culture. Our ethics and beliefs in vegetarianism, non-violence, non-indulgence continued to be unshaken and undeterred all this while.
The Gadia family started expanding and reached out to different parts of India, primarily the north-western Indian state of Punjab. A large section of the family got settled in the city of Sialkot in Punjab (present day Pakistan). It is from Sialkot, that the Gadia family grew exponentially in size, prestige and influence. Slowly, the cultural influence of Punjab overshadowed our Rajasthani roots and we became a predominantly “Punjabi” society. Our language, customs, traditions, festivals - all gained a Punjabi touch and the Gadia samaaj accepted it with open arms. However, the over-arching Jain faiths continued to be in place, as strong as a Rock, and ensured that the Gadia samaaj maintained its own identity of “Jains” within the “Punjabi” culture. Our ethics and beliefs in vegetarianism, non-violence, non-indulgence continued to be unshaken and undeterred all this while.
As we approached the era which we call the modern history, the family expanded further and moved to other parts of India, but the hub continued to be Sialkot. Then came that tragic event in the history of India which divided us into two separate nations – India and Pakistan. Politics played its dirty game and the India-Pakistan partition happened in 1947. This drove almost all members of the Gadia samaaj out of Sialkot and other parts of the present day Pakistan. Many members of our family left everything back in Pakistan and travelled to different parts of India as refugees. Among all parts of India, most of the Gadia families moved to the cities of Jammu, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Meerut and Delhi. Although many families had to start from scratch, by the grace of Baba Dittu Ji, we all recovered and re-established ourselves in our new homes. As a result, today, the Gadia families are one of the most affluent and economically successful families in the Jain society and have their presence throughout India and many parts of the world.
