Tracing the Wali Family Through an 1899 Family Chronicle

Our family history comes to us through a remarkable and deeply personal source — Kitab Yaadgar Wali Munqasim Ba-Do-Hissa, or Books in Memory of the Walis in Two Parts, written by Pt. Bal Kishan Wali in 1898–99.

The work, in two parts, contains remedies and prescriptions in the first part and, more significantly for our family, a detailed history of the Wali family in the second, along with details of Bal Kishan's travels.

The original was written in Persian and Urdu, in the beautiful but difficult Shikasta (Shikasta Nasta'liq) style of handwriting; a rapid, cursive form of Nasta'liq used for Urdu and Persian. Because of the script, language and phrasing, the book was extremely difficult to translate.

Credit does go to Major General J. N. TAIMINI for his in-depth research, documentation and translation of the original work in Hindi, helping to make this precious record accessible to later generations.

I, Charu Wali Khanna, am fortunate to have this link to my family’s past through my grandparents — my Dada-Dadi, Man Mohan Kishan Wali (22 July 1897) and Lakshmi Wattal, later Lilawati Wali (5 August 1906–27 January 1980) — and my Nana-Nani, Dr. Shiv Kishan Kaul and Sheoraj Rani Gurtoo Kaul.

The Wali Line

My grandfather, Man Mohan Kishan Wali, was Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn, England. He went to England to study law, but his association with the Indian freedom movement brought him under scrutiny of British authorities.

He was reportedly blacklisted in Oxford and consequently found it difficult to secure employment under the British administration. His professional journey eventually took him to the former princely states of Suket in Himachal Pradesh and Alwar in Rajasthan, where he held senior administrative positions.

After Independence, he continued his distinguished service in Rajasthan before retiring.

My great-grandfather, Gopi Kishan Wali (19 January 1868–25 February 1939), served as a Tehsildar in Jalandhar and as Jailor in undivided Punjab. He was married to the daughter of Pt. Karta Kishan Zutchi.

One generation further back stands Bal Kishan Wali, my great-great-grandfather, whose life and writings form an important part of this family record.

He served as Officiating Secretary to Commissioner Charles Rex, Deputy Superintendent in Lahore, and Legal Adviser to Diwan Bhuta Singh. A prolific writer, he also translated and published the Bhagavad Gita in Urdu.

The family record tells us that the Walis were originally Shungloo. Indeed, Pt. Bal Kishan Wali himself signed his name at the end of the 1899 book in Lahore as: “Bal Kishan Shungloo Wali.”

This small signature is more than a name — it is a precious link between the Shungloo ancestry and the Wali identity carried forward through generations.

From Kashmir to Lahore

According to our family history, Anand Ram was the first known ancestor of this line to leave the Kashmir Valley. He migrated in 1761–62 to Faizabad, and later moved to Lucknow and Mainpuri. He was my great-great-great-great-grandfather.

His migration took place during a particularly turbulent period in Kashmir’s history. From the mid-18th century through the early 19th century, the Kashmiri Pandit community faced periods of religious persecution, political instability and economic hardship, particularly during Durrani Afghan rule (1752–1819).

This period is widely remembered as one of the most difficult and volatile chapters in Kashmir’s history.

Against this backdrop, Anand Ram’s decision to leave the Valley marked the beginning of a journey that would take our family through Faizabad, Lucknow, Mainpuri and, in later generations, Lahore and other parts of India.

What began as a migration from Kashmir ultimately became a story of adaptation, education, professional achievement and the creation of new homes far from the ancestral Valley.

The ancestral homeland was Srinagar, Kashmir, where successive generations owned residences and house boats.

In a later generation, Bal Kishan Wali migrated to Lahore, settling at Sheranwala Gate, in the Punjab of undivided India.

Lahore subsequently became an important centre of Wali family life — a city where the family pursued education, professional careers, public service and intellectual interests.

The languages spoken by members of the Wali family included Persian, Urdu, English and later Punjabi, reflecting the remarkably cosmopolitan world in which they lived.

The Kaul Connection

My maternal grandparents belonged to another distinguished Kashmiri Pandit family.

My Nana, Dr. Shiv Kishan Kaul, was a doctor who served in the former princely states of Rajnandgaon and Khairagarh, and later continued his medical career in Madhya Pradesh after Independence.

His wife, my Nani, Sheoraj Rani Gurtoo Kaul, was part of a generation of Kashmiri Pandit women whose lives were increasingly shaped by education, independence and changing social circumstances.

Thus, through my Dada-Dadi and Nana-Nani, two branches of my family history — Wali and Kaul — come together, both carrying the memory of Kashmir while building new lives across Lahore, the princely states and, eventually, post-Independence India.

A Family History Preserved Across Generations

What makes the 1899 book particularly special is that it was not written as a distant historical account. It was written by a member of the family, close enough to the people and events to preserve names, relationships, occupations and memories that might otherwise have disappeared.

More than a century later, the manuscript continues to connect us with ancestors who lived in a very different India — an India of Kashmir, Lahore, princely states and undivided Punjab.

For me, this is not simply a genealogy. It is a story of migration, education, public service, scholarship and adaptation — and of a Kashmiri Pandit family that carried its identity with it while creating new homes and new chapters across the subcontinent.

The greatest gift of the old book is that it allows us, generations later, to look back and recognise not just names on a family tree, but the lives and journeys of the people who came before us.

Today, I, Charu Wali Khanna, carry this family legacy forward.

Married into a Punjabi family, to Ranjan Khanna, we have been blessed with two wonderful sons, Dhruv and Shiv Khanna.

Dhruv is married to Cristina Drumm, and they have a son, Rafael, the next generation of our family.

From our Kashmiri Pandit roots in the Valley, through the migrations to Faizabad, Lucknow, Mainpuri, Lahore and Delhi, now USA, our family journey continues — enriched by new relationships, new cultures and new generations.