Gill (clan)

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Gill (Punjabi: گل OR ਿਗਲ, Old Norse, Middle English: gil(l)) is a gotra or surname found in the Jat community in India. In Pakistan, Gill is considered as a tribe. Most of the Gills are settled in Malwa and Majha. They lived along the rivers Sutlej and Beas and further in the foothills up to Sialkot. They claim lineage from Raja Prithipat of Garh Mathila.

They came to Punjab from South via Rajasthan. Waryah Jat King Vinepal came to Rajsasthan and built the fort of Bathinda along the banks of Sutlej at Bathinda. Setting up his capital here, he captured the territories up to Peshawar. This dynasty was in power in Punjab till 1010 AD. Waryah was from the 26th generation of Vikrmaditya. Vineypal, Vijaypal, Satpal and Ganpal were from the lineage of Waryah.

Bhim Singh Dahiya traces Gills to the people of Greece. He opines that people of this possibly Indo-Scythian tribe came in the company of Alexander. Then settled in Kabul, Kandhar and Punjab. One of the sons of Hercules from legend was named Gilla. It is also possible that ancestors of Gills came to Greece from Middle Asia (Scythians/Sakas) and then to what is now India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. This would conform with typical Jat ancestry, distinguishing the Gill clan in particular as migrating/invading peoples from the Parthian Greek or Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms which sprang up after Alexander's incursion. These would be a mix of ethnically Greek or Indo-Scythian (Indo-Iranian) peoples, whereas most Jat clans are typically descended from Indo-Scythian/Saka migrations/invasions from the north (Central Asia and Western China).

Most of Gills converted to Sikhism during the period of Guru Hargobind. Gills also sided with 6th Guru in the battle of Mehraj. The descendants of Shergill, one of the eight sons of Gillpal, settled in Zira area.

The chiefs of Nishanwali Misl, Sukha Singh and Mehar Singh were Shergills. Majithia Sardars of Majha were also Shergills.

There are 40 villages of Gills in Jagraon area of Ludhiana.

In the beginning of the 12th century, the descendants of Jhalli son of Gillpal, made Payal their center and founded the village of Chemo Naame. Dhamot, Gouriwala, Gill, Sihora are old Gill villages. Gills and Dhaliwal are also settled in Jagdeo Kalan village in Majha.

The people of Sipra Sub-Clan of Gill clan had mostly migrated towards Jhang. Most of them converted to Islam. Gills in Kabul are Moslems.

In Sandal Baar, Kakkar Gill was the only prominent village of Gills. The Gills settled in Jhang, Montegomery and Shahpur in the West Punjab had converted to Islam.

Shahi, and many of the rulers of Greco-Bactrian kingdoms post-Alexander are also from the Clan of Gills. Some of Gills had settled in Assam in 1505 during the times of Guru Nanak. Many gypsies in Europe are Gills (also a very common French name, with similar derivatives such as Giles, Julian, William, Gilbert, Gillian, etc.) The Gilani surname/tribe, which hails from Gilan in Iran are also Gill.

Gills are numbered at 124172 in the 1881 Census.

Etymology

Indian (Punjab): Sikh name, probably from Punjabi gil ‘moisture’ or 'stream', also meaning ‘prosperity’. There is a Jat tribe that bears this name.
English: from a short form of the personal names Giles, Julian, or William. In theory the name would have a soft initial when derived from the first two of these, and a hard one when from William. However, there has been much confusion over the centuries.
Northern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a ravine or deep glen, Middle English gil(l), Old Norse gil ‘ravine’ or 'stream'.
Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille (Scottish), Mac Giolla (Irish), patronymics from an occupational name for a servant or a short form of the various personal names formed by attaching this element to the name of a saint. See McGill. The Old Norse personal name Gilli is probably of this origin, and may lie behind some examples of the name in northern England.
Jewish (Ashkenaz): ornamental name from Hebrew gil ‘joy’.
Norwegian: habitational name from any of three farmsteads in western Norway named Gil, from Old Norse gil ‘ravine’ or 'stream'.

References

History of the Jatt Clans - H.S Duleh (Translation from original Punjabi work "Jattan da Itihas" by Gurjant Singh)

External links

[History of Gilan (Iran)]
[Guilan]
*[Gill History ?]
Gilani
[Etymology of Gill from various regions]
[Khingila]*

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