Gwala

B. R. Gwala, IPS

Gwala (ग्वाला) Gawala (गवाला) Gowara (गोवारा) gotra Jats are found in Jodhpur, Jaipur, Nagaur districts in Rajasthan; Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh.

Origin

They get this gotra as they were the herdsmen (ग्वाला) taking care of cows. Gwala Gotra of Jats have originated from village Gwalu in Nagaur tahsil and district in Rajasthan. Their kuladevi temple is situated in this village.

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Gwala = Gaulopes (Pliny.vi.32).

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Arabia......... We will now proceed to describe the coast after leaving Charax¹³, which was first explored by order of king Epiphanes. We first come to the place where the mouth of the Euphrates formerly existed, the river Salsus¹⁴, and the Promontory of Chaldone¹⁵, from which spot, the sea along the coast, for an extent of fifty miles,¹⁶ bears more the aspect of a series of whirlpools than of ordinary sea; the river Achenus, and then a desert tract for a space of one hundred miles, until we come to the island of Ichara; the gulf of Capeus, on the shores of which dwell the Gaulopes and the Chateni, and then the gulf of Gerra¹⁷. Here we find the city of Gerra, five miles in circumference, with towers built of square blocks of salt.

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13 Or rather, as Hardouin says, the shore opposite to Charax, and on the western bank of the river.

14 Called Core Boobian, a narrow salt-water channel, laid down for the first time in the East India Company's chart, and separating a large low island, off the mouth of the old bed of the Euphrates, from the mainland.

15 The great headland on the coast of Arabia, at the entrance of the bay of Doat-al-Kusma from the south, opposite to Pheleche Island.

16 This is the line of coast extending from the great headland last mentioned to the river Khadema, the ancient Achenus.

17 So called from the city of Arabia Felix, built on its shores. Strabo says of this city "The city of Gerra lies in a deep gulf, where Chaldæan exiles from Babylon inhabit a salt country, having houses built of salt, the walls of which, when they are wasted by the heat of the sun, are repaired by copious applications of sea-water." D'Anville first identified this place with the modern El Khatiff. Niebuhr finds its site on the modern Koneit of the Arabs, called "Gran" by the Persians; but Foster is of opinion that he discovered its ruins in the East India Company's Chart, situate where all the ancient authorities had placed it, at the end of the deep and narrow bay at the mouth of which are situated the islands of Bahrein. The gulf mentioned by Pliny is identified by Foster with that of Bahrein.

History

H.A. Rose writes that Gwala (ग्वाला), an occupational term for a Hindu cowherd and shepherd. In the Punjab a Hindu milkman, butter-maker and cowherd is called a gwala and is generally by caste an Ahir^* ; but if a Muhammadan, he would be called a ghosi and is often a Gujar by tribe. The Ahir gwalas of the Punjab used to buy milk largely of the ghosis for butter-making, of which they had the monopoly. Till the Mutiny the ghosis were simply milk-sellers, but alter it they took to butter-making also. Hindus will buy milk of a Hindu gwala, or a Muhammadan ghosi, but not of the latter if water has been mixed with the milk, as the water would defile them. When gwalas purchage milk of Muhammadan ghosis to make butter they are supposed to see the cow milked.

Evidence compiled by Nainsi on the clans of the Jats and their original homes and migration there from to different places in Merta in Nagaur are of Immense importance. It is one of the prominent immigrant clans who came to Merta.

Distribution in Rajasthan

Villages in Jodhpur district

Bhagasani, Bhatida, Bhopalgarh, Boyal, Gharaw (4), Hiradesar, Khejarla, Kalauna Kukarda, Mailana (20), Mandali Charan, Murkasani, Ostaran, Rampuriya Bilara, Ransi Gaon,

Villages in Pali district

Phoolmal,

Locations in Jaipur city

C-Scheme,

Villages in Nagaur district

Degana Ganw, Dhadharia Kalan, Diyawadi, Dodiyana Nagaur, Kurchhi, Loroli Kalan, Manakpur, Samdolao Kalan, Thata,

Villages in Alwar district

Gheekaka,

Distribution in Madhya Pradesh

Villages in Ratlam district

Villages in Ratlam district with population of this gotra are:

Ratlam (3), Sujlana (18),

Villages in Dewas district

Amodiya, Kamlapur, Umariya Khategaon

Villages in Indore district

Indore, Pardeshipura (a locality in Indore city)

Villages in Chittaurgarh district

Kanera,

Villages in Harda district

Abagaon Khurd, Dagawan Neema, Kachbaidi,

Villages in Khargone district

Katkut, Kodala, Kogawan

Villages in Sehore district

Dudlai (Ichhawar tahsil),

Villages in Shajapur district

Piplya Indore,

Villages in Ujjain district

Borkheda Pitramal, Khandoda,

Distribution in Punjab

Gowara named Village is in Dera Baba Nanak tahsil in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.

Villages in Sangrur district

• Gowara is Village in Malerkotla tahsil of Sangrur district in Punjab.

• Gowara is Village in Dera Baba Nanak tahsil in Gurdaspur district in Punjab, India.

Notable Persons

• B. R. Gwala - Retd. IPS ,Rajasthan. Date of Birth : 19-November-1948, Village.- Mandli Charna, Teh.- Bhopalgarh, Distt.- Jodhpur, Present Address : C-124, Angad Marg, Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur, Phone Number : 0141-2353330, Mob: 9829215454, Email: br.gwala@gmail.com
• H. R. Gwala - Manager Sahara Primecity Ltd, Date of Birth : 15-January-1967, VPO- Bhopalgarh, Distt.- Jodhpur, Present Address : F-9/465, Chitrakot , Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur, Phone Number : 0141-2440687, Mobile: 9783940001, Email: hrgwala@yahoo.com
• Ram Niwas Jat Gwala - Asst. Engineer CPWD, 10-A, Vrandavan garden, Near scheme-140, Pipliyahana,Indore, Date of birth: 13-03-1966 Mobile: 09425072239, Email:ramniwas1966@gmail.com
• Sunil jat Gwala - Asst Engineer at IITDM Jabalpur
• Rahul Jat Gwala - Junior Engineer Military Engineering Service Jabalpur, Email: rahuljatce@gmail.com, Mob: 9893193445, Add: 10-A, Vrandavan garden, Near scheme-140, Pipliyahana,Indore
• Mahendra Gwala-smc head rampuriya bilara

Gallery

• 

  Amba Ram Gwala, Sujlana

References

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