Say hello to the Sah Community of Kumaon :)

When I searched for Sah (my paternal surname) on the Internet, I was disappointed to find nothing valuable on the origins of our tiny community. I asked my father to pen down a few details about the stories and tales about the exclusive surname. Here is what he remembers from the narrations of his grand father, father Shri Kishori Lal Sah & uncle Sri Chandra Lal Sah Thulgharia. Enjoy this little read.

"Sah/Shah are a small community of Kumaon. There are many "Sections" of Sah / Shah community and has many myths to it origin. Sah/Shah are an urban community, those living in cities / towns are primarily engaged in trade and others who live in semi-urban or rural places are in agriculture and animal husbandry. The clans of Sah/Shah community are many such as Kumaoiya, Thulgharias, Gangolas, Jagati, Tamkia, Chaudhary, Chukurait, Jakhwal, Kholibhiteria, Salimgarhia. These are derived from either the names of ancestral villages, title received and even the main trade(s) they were involved. 

Interestingly our ancestors claimed to be Kshtriyas and some say or claim to be Vaishya. There are even incidences of Sah/Shah families marrying into rajput families and even Royalty of Nepal. The community per se is not originally  from lands of Kumaon but migrated mainly from UP, HP almost 500 or more years back and got assimilated in the main steam of Kumaon."