Table of Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 Pioneers

2 Jagirdar Families

3 Emigrant Jathas

4 Settling in Canada

5 Trouble in British Columbia

6 Refuge in Ontario

7 Lumber Business

8 Women and Children at Mayo Siding

9 Village Life in Canada and India

10 Ending a Partnership: Life in the City

11 Citizens without Votes

12 A Real United Nations in Practice

13 Lessons about India and Spirituality

14 The Hospital at Aur

15 Finding a Teacher and Losing a Father

16 Marriages and Losing a Mother

17 Canada and India

18 The Span of a Century

Notes

Index

Promotional Information

The saga of three generations of a Sikh family in Canada who lived at the centre of a community’s struggles for survival and success.

About the Author

Hugh J.M. Johnston is a historian affiliated with Simon Fraser University. He is the author of two previous books on Punjabis in Canada, The Voyage of the Komagata Maru and The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life Journey of an Emigrant Sikh.

Reviews

Hugh Johnston swept me away on the long arc of his narrative ... Jewels of the Qila is a deeply researched and engagingly written story of an unconventional family sustained by faith, friendships made and tested in Canada, and concern for the welfare of the people of India.
*Shauna Singh Baldwin, author of What the Body Remembers and The Tiger Claw*

Johnston’s vast knowledge of Canadian immigration history has resulted in a book that will long set the standard for those aspiring to recover the social history of British Columbia.
*Harjot S. Oberoi, Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia*

Jewels of the Qila is not just a success story about one unusual family. This is a splendidly serious, smart and multifaceted investigation of events and characters in both India and Canada. Using Kapoor [Singh Siddoo]'s wide-ranging life as a prism, Johnston has provided an authoritative and engaging overview of Sikhs in B.C.
*BC BookWorld, Autumn 2012*