In Jacobpura, Gurugram’s older homes still hold a longer history

In Jacobpura, migrant labourers from Bundelkhand are pulling down a bungalow whose exposed frame still shows old courtyards and doorways. A few similar homes remain in the adjoining lanes, including one with a carved wooden door and a parapet punctured by small openings.

They sit far from the glass-and-concrete image usually associated with Gurugram. The 1910 *Gazetteer of the Gurgaon District* traces the area’s history to the late Harappan period and traditions linked to the Mahabharata, including the belief that Yudhishthira granted the village to Dronacharya. It also records successive rule by the Mauryans, Harsha, the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Tomars, Chauhans, the Sultanate, the Lodhis, Sur rulers and the Mughals.

British rule, which began in the region in 1803, remains visible in Civil Lines at the Church of Epiphany, with its lancet windows and gabled roof. Another more recent layer is Mianwali Colony, named for people who arrived from Mianwali in Pakistani Punjab after Partition.

For residents moving through a rapidly rebuilt city, Jacobpura’s remaining houses are among the few visible reminders that Gurugram was once a cluster of villages before it became a corporate centre.