Jammu has an important place in the history of the Nandas since it was the seat of office of the Diwan Nandas who were hereditary Diwans or Prime Ministers of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under the reign of the Jammu Raja or Dogra dynasty, beginning with Maharaja Gulab Singh in the mid 1800's.
Since those times, the descendants of the Diwan Nandas and many other Nanda families have been living in Jammu. Note the ancestral home of the Nandas-Eminabad is only about 100km from Jammu -- the area then was of course borderless. I made 2 exploratory trips to Jammu, the first in 2009 on my own, and the second in 2011 with my wife.
There are biannual mels or clan get-togethers held by the Nandas, one in April at the Nanda's Kuldevi's shrine which is located within the Diwane-da-Mandir and the second in a village called Ranjan Jandial, about an hour's car journey from Jammu. The latter too has a shrine of the Kuldevi and I understand, there were/are lands owned by the Nandas in these parts. The timing of my visits enabled me to attend mels in both these locations where I collected some genealogical data from the Nanda visitors.
The Jammu Nandas unusually have a strong familiarity with the name of "Baba Pheru" the oldest know Nanda ancestor, whereas his name seems to have been forgotten in other locations. The relics at the Nanda Shrine at the Diwane-da-Mandir are said to go back to the times of Baba Pheru and may even have belonged to him.
I made good friends with Messrs. Vijay Nanda and VK Nanda and their families and with Dr. Rakesh Nanda and Dr. Suresh Abrol, all of whom took interest in my work and a lot of trouble to guide me and ferry me all around in my searches. The following pages contain photos and more details of these 2 visits.
2009 Jammu trip>>>
2011 Jammu trip>>>