Briton born in India took Punjaub to Oz
SPREAD OVER 715 SQ KM ON THE BORDER OF QUEENSLAND AND NORTHERN TERRITORY IN AUSTRALIA, PUNJAUB WAS NAMED 150 YEARS AGO
MELBOURNE: With cattle stations and parishes named Punjaub, Doab, Ravi, Chenab and Malwa, Queensland in Australia has a strong Punjabi connection dating back to the 19th century.
The Burke area in Queensland near the Gulf of Carpentaria has far too many references to lands and rivers of Punjab for it to be a mere coincidence.
The name of Punjaub was first applied for by Sydney Grandison Watson in 1877.
A look into his family history shows he was born in India to a British army officer serving in the East India Company.
His father went on to become a lieutenant general and Sydney moved to Australia at the age of 20 in 1836.
But experts claim there are older archival references to Punjaub, even before Watson applied for the pastoral lease in its name.
References in Australian archives say the cattle station called Punjaub in Queensland was referred to as “the district of five rivers” or “the country of five rivers”. The same area in Queensland has other cattle stations or parishes named Doab, Little Doab, Ravi, Chenab, Almora and Indus. There was even a county named Malwa further south of this area in Burke.
It’s no coincidence that the two Doabs are in the neighbourhood of Punjaub station.
The literal meaning of Punjaub and Doab coincide with their geography.
If Punjaub has five rivers through it, both Doab and Little Doab have two rivers coursing through each of them. Punjab means the land of five rivers, since ‘Punj’ relates to the number ‘five’ and ‘Aab’ means ‘water’.
Similarly, Doab means the land of two rivers. Indigenous families in the nearby Mt Isa region still use the surname Punjaub.
Spread over 715 sq km on the border of Queensland and Northern Territory, Punjaub was named 150 years ago.
Gurwinder Singh, who leads the Spatial Systems team in the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy in Queensland, says, “The name of Punjaub was first used in the Burke Pastoral District on two runs, which were applied for by a gentleman named Sydney Grandison Watson in 1877. Watson’s application was received by the department of public land, Queensland, on October 11, 1877, and he applied for two leases, giving them the run names of Punjaub No 1 and Punjaub No 2.”
Queensland’s Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying conducted a research into the family history.
An article in the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Research Centre reveals Sydney was born in India on June 22, 1816, and moved to Australia in 1836 at 20.
Gurwinder says, “Sydney’s father was a Major in the East India Company military force and went on to become Lieutenant General. Owing to his Indian background, Sydney named the two properties he was applying for in 1877, Punjaub No 1 and Punjaub No 2.”