The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

India’s original record- keepers

Caste - based genealogis­ts have been preserving India’s history. However, better job opportunit­ies mean this age - old tradition is on its last legs

WHEN Yasin Maulani Chipa, 65, an artisan from Pipad in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district, wanted to get a Geographic­al Indication ( GI) tag for the area’s famous offering, the Pipad block print, he sought help from an unusual quarter — his family genealogis­t. He travelled to Roopangarh in Ajmer district this January to learn about his ancestral occupation.

“The genealogis­t told me that our family, which embraced Islam during the reign of emperor Firoz Shah Tughlaq, was in the block print business. The emperor commission­ed us and a few other families to make clothes for soldiers with the Pipad block print,” he said. Armed with this informatio­n, he’s now doing the paperwork to seek the GI tag for this ancient art form.

Considered India’s traditiona­l record- keepers, genealogis­ts maintain records of family lineages going back centuries. These ledgers serve various purposes — court cases, property disputes and even, as in Chipa’s case, intellectu­al property issues.

For instance, in March 2023, a district court in Ashok Nagar, Madhya Pradesh, used these family records to resolve a property dispute. The plaintiff claimed that his father had been adopted by his uncle, who had no heirs of his own, and that he was, therefore, the rightful claimant to the family property. The uncle’s brothers claimed no official record of this adoption. The court ruled in favour of the plaintiff, and, in the absence of an official adoption certificat­e, it fell back on the family patiya or genealogy record.

Traditiona­lly, there are two types of genealogis­ts: those who work in places where the Ganga flows and those who work in other places. Each caste group has different genealogis­ts, who have a set of inter- generation­al patrons, called jajmans. They support the geneologis­ts with charitable donations or grants. Typically, a genealogis­t would go to a jajman’s house and record informatio­n in their pothis ( record books), passed on from one to another. Everything goes on record — births, deaths, marriages, divisions in the family and even donations made for religious purposes.

According to Bansilal Bhatt from Kota district’s Kaithun village, genealogis­ts see themselves as sons of the Hindu god Brahma. Bhatt, like his father, keeps records of Dhakad and Malav castes. “I have records dating back 300 years in my house. We go to our jajman’s house, recite their history and make additions. In return, the jajman gives food, clothes and money. Some jajmans have gifted cars and even land to their genealogis­ts,” he said.

The script they use for this isn’t your typical Hindi — while some genealogis­ts call it Brahmi, others claim it’s Betali. Since the occupation is patriarcha­l in nature, the script is only taught to men. Even though women are sometimes known to take up the profession after the death of their husbands.

Ramprasad Srinivas Kuyenwale, a 73- yearold genealogis­t from Haridwar, has been practising genealogy since childhood, having learnt it at his father’s knee. According to him, genealogis­ts, called pandas in this Hindu holy city, have records of all those who go there to perform last rites. “We preserve records dating back hundreds of years. Many people who live outside India have also started visiting us to get records of ancestral lands,” he said.

Because each genealogis­t caters to multiple generation­s in the same family, they cannot take sides in a family dispute. However, the pothis make for useful evidence.

The new Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, also considers them valid evidence under Sections 26 ( e) and ( f), as both deal with proof to establish family relationsh­ips.

And it’s not limited to Hindu castes — as illustrate­d in Chipa’s case, Muslims too follow these genealogis­ts. In a 2005 research project for which he was given a grant by the Union Department of Culture, Madan Meena, an artist and executive member of the Kota Heritage Society, found there were even separate genealogis­ts for women of royal families. “There are people who keep records for Meenas, Rajputs, Baniyas, and Dalits. A Rajput genealogis­t cannot make a Jat his patron,” Bansilal Bhatt said.

On the flip side, being considered compelling evidence could mean that these records could end up in legal custody until the case drags on. Pandit Ashish, another genealogis­t in Haridwar, cites how one of these ledgers had been tied up in a court that has now been going on for 20 years. “There’s informatio­n about other jajmans in that pothi too. Hence, we don’t like to get involved in legal battles, especially where we have to travel.”

Babulal Bhatt, national secretary of Rajasthan’s Vansh Lekhak Akademi — the state’s official department concerned with lineages — believes genealogis­ts played an important role in the 1857 rebellion, considered India’s first freedom movement.

Dwindling interest in the traditiona­l occupation combined with modern technology, better job opportunit­ies and growing internet penetratio­n has meant that only a handful follow the profession. Even among those who still practise, many have other jobs that give them a more sustained source of income. The interest is waning among the youth as well. “There is a loss of interest among both jajmans and genealogis­ts,” says Madan. “Patrons don’t feel the need to know their family history. As villages get more urbanised, the younger generation finds no interest in this tradition. Increasing migration means many have stopped it.”