Gill (clan) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jat Clan: Gill
Distribution	Mostly in Patiala District Patiala District Patiala district is one of the twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West India.Patiala District lies between 29 49’ and 30 47’ north latitude, 75 58’ and 76 54' east longitude, in the southeast part of the state... , Ludhiana District Ludhiana District -Rainfall:The rainfall in the district increases from the southwest toward the northeast. About 70% of the rainfall is received during the period of July through September... , Barnala District Barnala district Barnala is one of the district of Indian state of Punjab. Earlier Barnala was part of Sangrur district , but now Barnala is a separate district.... , Moga District Moga District Moga district is one of the Twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West Republic of India. It became the 17th district of Punjab State on 24 November 1995. It is also known as NRI district. Most Punjabi Non-resident Indians belong to rural areas of Moga District, who immigrated to the... , Ferozepur District, Amritsar District Amritsar District Amritsar district is one of 22 districts in the state of Punjab in West India. It has a population of 3,074,207 and covers an area of 5075 km²... ,Ganganagar District Ganganagar district Ganganagar District is a northern most district of Rajasthan state in western India. The town of Sri Ganganagar is the district headquarters.-History:...
Religion	Sikhism Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing... and Islam Islam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
Languages	Punjabi Punjabi language Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language... , Urdu, English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

Gill is a gotra/surname of the Jat ethnicity found in Punjab. Though, to westerners, Gill seems like a familiar given name

Gill (name)

- Gill as a given name :- Europe :* English: From a short form of the personal names such as "Giles", "Julian", "William", "Gilbert" or "Gillian". In theory, the name would have a soft initial when derived from the first two of these, and a hard one when from 'William'...

(derived from versions of William), the Gill surname does not have the same etymological origins. "Gill" stands out to be one of the most popular surnames of the Jat race, with population of Gills being resided in all districts of Punjab. Many Gills also use the surname Shergill as the Shergills have descended from the Gill clan of Jats.

South Asia

Gill (Gurmukhi: ਗਿੱਲ), is a tribe of the Jat

Jat people

The Jat people are a community of traditionally non-elite tillers and herders in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory,...

clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

found in the Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

region straddling eastern Pakistan and north western India. It is considered to be one of the largest Jat tribes. In the 1881 British Punjab Census, there were 124,172 Gills. The Gill clan is mainly found in the Malwa

Malwa (Punjab)

Malwa is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. This Malwa should not be confused with the Malwa Plateau region of Madhya Pradesh, Central India...

area, certain villages in Doaba, and some parts of the Majha belt.

Gills in Punjab

The Gills lived along the Satluj and Beas

Beas River

The Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....

rivers, and further in the foothills up to Sialkot

Sialkot

Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...

. Gills and Dhaliwal

Dhaliwal

Dhaliwal is a large Jatt clan found mainly in the Malwa portion of Punjab, Haryana also it's gotra in Yaduvanshi Ahirs It is considered to be an old Jatt clan with history dating back over 1000 years.-Lineage, origin and history:...

s are also settled in the Jagdev Kalan village in district Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

in Majha

Majha

Majha is a region of the Punjab comprising the modern districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran in the Indian State of Punjab and the districts of Narowal, Lahore and Kasur in the Pakistani Province of Punjab. The term previously applied to Panjabis living north of the Sutlej...

.

GillS around Moga, Ferozepure are one of the two most prominent clans of the Punjab, the other being the Sidhus .

It is historically noted that the Shergill was born to a Jat Rani of Ragho Vanshi (family)Raja Pithipal, who ruled Ferozepore around 12-13 centuries. One of his descenant Moga came to be known as Moga Btaalia (42). Reason being that his descent had established 42 villages around the city of Moga.

During the early 1720s writer's maternal ascendants had left the village of Gill near Moga for mahja to take part in the up-rise of Khalasa Raj, after the partition of 1947 came back to settle again in the Moga area.

Sikh Gills

Most Gills converted to Sikhism

Sikhism

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...

during the period of the sixth Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

Guru, Guru Har Gobind

Guru Har Gobind

Guru Hargobind Sahib, also Saccha Badshah was the sixth of the Sikh gurus and became Guru on 25 May 1606 following in the footsteps of his father Guru Arjan Dev. He was not, perhaps, more than eleven at his father's execution...

. The Gills of this region are famous for their courage, honesty and bravery. The Gills also sided with him in the "Battle of Mehraj". The descendants of Shergill, one of the eight sons of the Great Gillpal, settled in the Zira area located in Malwa, and gave rise to the elite Sher

Sher

Sher can have a variety of meanings:* Sher , the common word for couplet in Persian and Urdu* Sher , a form of dance in Eastern European folk music, notably Russian and Klezmer music*Sher , Ahmedabad district...

gill (i.e. Singh

Singh

Also see SinhaSingh is a common title, middle name, or surname in Northern India and South India used by sikhs warriors and kings. eg. Man Singh I, Maharana Pratap Singh. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion and used by Ahir kings of Nepal". It is also used in Sri Lanka by...

Gill) Jat clan of the Punjab.

The Rulers/Maharajas of the Nishanwalia Misl, Sukha Singh and Mehar Singh were Shergill

Shergill

The Shergill Jatt / Jat Clan is from Punjab, India. Many Shergills also use the surname Gill as they have descended from Gill clan of Jats. Shergill was one of the eight sons of Gillpal who was the founder of Gill surname.- Shergill Surname:...

s. The Majithia Rulers/Maharajas of Majha were also Shergills.

Some Gills had settled in Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

in 1505 during the time of Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak was the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The Sikhs believe that all subsequent Gurus possessed Guru Nanak’s divinity and religious authority, and were named "Nanak" in the line of succession.-Early life:Guru Nanak was born on 15 April 1469, now...

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

Gills are found throughout the central districts of Punjab, Pakistan. According to the Census of India 1911, there were 18,390 Gills of the Muslim faith. They were concenterated in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, Amritsar

Amritsar

, Gurdaspur

Gurdaspur

Gurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals...

, Gujranwala

Gujranwala

Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...

, Sahiwal

Sahiwal

Sahiwal is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is approximately 180 km from the major city Lahore and is the city between Lahore and Multan...

and Sialkot

Sialkot

districts. Muslim Gills had also became settled in the Canal colony districts of Shahpur, Lyalpur and Montgomery. Most Gills were converted in to two periods, the Majha Gills converted during the time of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th Century, while the Sialkot Gills converted during the rule of Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

.Gills are also found in hoshiarpur district of punjab suchas makhsuspur, chella , ispur and pandori.

India

As most Gills originated from areas in what is now Pakistan, small pockets of non-Muslim Gills who left at the time of independence can be found near the border in North Western India.
Today, most Gills are settled in the Malwa

Malwa (Punjab)

Malwa is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. This Malwa should not be confused with the Malwa Plateau region of Madhya Pradesh, Central India...

and Majha regions of the state of Punjab in India. There are forty villages of Gills in the Jagraon

Jagraon

Jagraon is a city and a municipal council in the Ludhiana district in the Indian state of Punjab. Jagraon is more than three centuries old. It has been thought by some that the city's original name was Jagar aon, meaning A place of great flooding, although this flooding has since ceased...

area of Ludhiana. The famous Majithia Sirdars

Majithia Sirdars

This term refers to a set of three related families of Sikh sirdars #chiefs# that came from the area of Majitha - a town 10 miles north of the Punjab city of Amritsar and rose to prominence in the early 19th century. The Majithia clans threw in with the rising star of the Sikh misls - Ranjit Singh...

(families) of Amritsar district

Amritsar District

Amritsar district is one of 22 districts in the state of Punjab in West India. It has a population of 3,074,207 and covers an area of 5075 km²...

are in fact Shergills. Many have also emigrated to various countries.

The newly formed district of Tarn Taran in Malwa contains many villages of Gills, such as Dhotian and Pheloke. There is also one village Rohtak

Rohtak

Rohtak City is a Municipal Corporation in Rohtak district that styles itself as the "Heart of Haryana". It is located 70 km Northwest of New Delhi and 210 km South of the state capital Chandigarh at the NH 10...

Pakistan

Gills are found throughout central Punjab, with several villages near the city of Lahore

Lahore

.

In the former canal colony areas of Sahiwal

Sahiwal

, Faisalabad

Faisalabad

Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...

, Sargodha

Sargodha

Sargodha is a city in the Sargodha District of Punjab province, Pakistan.Sargodha is located in the northwest of Pakistan. It is the eleventh largest city of Pakistan and also known as Pakistan's best citrus-producing area. It is an agricultural trade centre with various industries...

and Khanewal

Khanewal

Khanewal is the capital city of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is notable for being the host city to the second largest train station in Pakistan. Khanewal is located at 30°18'0N 71°56'0E with an altitude of 128 metres and is named after the earliest settlers here who...

, they form an important element in the Jat population. There are also old established communities in Gujranwala

Gujranwala

Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...

and Sialkot

Sialkot

in the northern end of the Rachna Doab.

Sher in Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

means 'Lion' or 'Tiger'

South Asia

Gills in Punjab

Sikh Gills

Muslim

India

Pakistan

See also