Other States - Orissa   

In search of the roots of his ancestors

BHUBANESWAR: Frantic search of a Mauritius national to trace the roots of his Oriya-migrant ancestors who landed in the island nation about 140 years ago is likely to end on a pleasant note.

Researchers of the National Archive's Eastern Zone Centre have zeroed in on a hamlet named Moolgaon in Jajpur district of Orissa from where great-great grandfather of Ramroop Jugurnauth, a 50-year-old government employee in the Ministry of Education of Mauritius, possibly came from.

Mr. Jugurnauth, who speaks Bhojpuri, the dominant language of Indian migrants to Mauritius, heard from his grandfather that they belonged to Orissa. But he was not confirmed about his status.

But when the Mauritius national found typical manuscripts from his house, he immediately sent those to his friend in Banaras Hindu University. His friend confirmed that that the script was written in Oriya language.

Revelation

The revelation made Ramroom Jugurnauth so desperate to know his roots and he embarked upon an investigation on his own.

He landed in Mahatama Gandhi Institute of Library and Archives at Moka in Mauritius.

The piece of paper which he stumbled upon in the Mauritius archive was the immigration registration of his great-great grandfather Juggurnath Das.

The immigration paper pointed out that his great-great grandfather landed in the island nation on November 30, 1870.

The ship Juggurnath Das boarded Alumgheer from Kolkata port.

Mr. Jugurnauth even found photograph of the great-great grandfather.

This made him further restless to trace who were his forefathers and where were they living. Mr. Jugurnauth started to write in magazines.

“I am a Mauritian by nationality but I am an Odia by hearth. Although I have never visited to Odisha but my heart yearns for my ancestral lineage,” he wrote in a journal.

Fervent plea

Mr. Jugurnauth made a fervent plea that, “I have put forth all the evidences I have with me that points me towards my ancestral origin. I am sure my great-great grandfather Bandhoo Jugurnauth had left family members behind in Jajpore when he migrated to Mauritius. I am sure that some of their great-great grandchildren (my long lost cousins) are still living in the village from where my ancestors migrated.”

Lalatendu Das Mohapatra, in-charge National Archive's Eastern Zone Centre, came forward to help Mr. Jugurnauth.

“I went through Oriya manuscripts he had. His great-great grandfather's name was Jagannath Das. His Gotra (lineage) was Sandilya. Usually under British rule, lower caste people used to migrate as indenture labour. After great deal of research it was found that Brahmins were also going along with them to perform rituals of Indian community.”

“The name of village mentioned in the immigration register was found from Rajbhoga, a compendium of late medieval texts. A lecturer from Dharmasala College also pitched in to find out the village in Jajpur district. We will need further research on the village before coming to a conclusion,” Mr. Das Mohapatra said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Painter Atasi Basu gets candid at an interactive session
Directive to PIO on property statements
Being a mentor
Wild bear rescued
Attacks on journalists condemned
Students protest against development fee
Custodial death triggers row
In search of the roots of his ancestors
Stir against POSCO project gets fillip
PIL seeks probe into abduction of Collector

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu