1707-1860 The Tewatias, a clan of the hardy peasant Jat community, live in village Sihi, district Ballabhgarh, to the south of Delhi in the modern-day state of Haryana. They come into their own after the authority of the Empire contracts following the death of Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal Emperor. Gopal Singh is entrusted with the responsibility to collect revenue on behalf of the Mughal court for a 1/16th share, and thus begins the story of the ascent of his clan.

Over the following 150 years, the Tewatia clan grows its local influence. Gopal Singh’s descendant Nahar Singh (1823–1858) becomes the chieftain, or Raja, of the small state of Ballabhgarh (with 121 villages) and plays a revolutionary role in the 1857 War of Independence. Captured and hanged by the British on Delhi’s Chandni Chowk along with 17 co-conspirators, his unsuccessful revolt triggers an exodus of his clansmen to villages a safe distance away from Ballabhgarh (as per family mythology) to avoid the depredations of the British forces.

Badam Singh, one such clansman, leaves Sihi village in search of new opportunities and moves to Bhatauna village, which is 60 kilometers away from the Yamuna River and is another clan village, halfway from Sihi to the great Ganga river. He has five sons; the eldest is Lakhpat Singh and the youngest is Mir Singh.