Chapter 19

Jat, Jāt.—In all the ancient catalogues of the thirty-six royal races of India the Jat has a place, though by none is he ever styled ‘Rajput’; nor am I aware of any instance of a Rajput’s intermarriage with a Jat.[112]It is a name widely disseminated over India, though it does not now occupy a very elevated place amongst the inhabitants, belonging chiefly to the agricultural classes.

In the Panjab they still retain their ancient name of Jat. On the Jumna and Ganges they are styled Jāts, of whom the chief of Bharatpur is the most conspicuous. On the Indus and in Saurashtra they are termed Jats. The greater portion of the husbandmen in Rajasthan are Jats; and there are numerous tribes beyond the Indus, now proselytes to the Muhammadan religion, who derive their origin from this class.

Of its ancient history sufficient has been already said. We will merely add, that the kingdom of the great Getae, whose capital was on the Jaxartes, preserved its integrity and name from the period of Cyrus to the fourteenth century, when it was converted from idolatry to the faith of Islam. Herodotus [iv. 93-4] informs us that the Getae were theists and held the tenet of the soul’s immortality; and De Guignes,[113]from Chinese authorities, asserts that at a very early period they had embraced the religion of Fo or Buddha.

The traditions of the Jats claim the regions west of the Indus as the cradle of the race, and make them of Yadu extraction; thus corroborating the annals of the Yadus, which state their migration from Zabulistan, and almost inducing us to [107] dispense with the descent of this tribe from Krishna, and to pronounceit an important colony of the Yueh-chi, Yuti, or Jats. Of the first migration from Central Asia of this race within the Indus we have no record; it might have been simultaneous with the Takshak, from the wars of Cyrus or his ancestors.

It has been already remarked that the Jat divided with the Takshak the claim of being the parent name of the various tribes called Scythic, invaders of India; and there is now before the author an inscription of the fifth century applying both epithets to the same prince,[114]who is invested moreover with the Scythic quality of worshipping the sun. It states, likewise, that the mother of this Jat prince was of Yadu race: strengthening their claims to a niche amongst the thirty-six Rajkulas, as well as their Yadu descent.

The fifth century of the Christian era, to which this inscription belongs, is a period of interest in Jat history. De Guignes, from original authorities, states the Yueh-chi or Jats to have established themselves in the Panjab in the fifth and sixth centuries, and the inscription now quoted applies to a prince whose capital is styled Salindrapura in these regions; and doubtless the Salivahanpur[115]where the Yadu Bhattis established themselves on the expulsion of the Tak.

How much earlier than this the Jat penetrated into Rajasthan must be left to more ancient inscriptions to determine: suffice it that inA.D.440 we find him in power.[116]

When the Yadu was expelled from Salivahanpura, and forced to seek refuge [108] across the Sutlej among the Dahia and Johya Rajputs of the Indian desert, where they founded their first capital, Derawar, many from compulsion embraced the Muhammadan faith; on which occasion they assumed the name of Jat,[117]of which at least twenty different offsets are enumerated in the Yadu chronicles.

That the Jats continued as a powerful community on the east bank of the Indus and in the Panjab, fully five centuries after the period our inscription and their annals illustrate, we have the most interesting records in the history of Mahmud, the conqueror of India, whose progress they checked in a manner unprecedented in the annals of continental warfare. It was in 416 of the Hegira (A.D.1026) that Mahmud marched an army against the Jats, who had harassed and insulted him on the return from his last expedition against Saurashtra. The interest of the account authorizes its being given from the original.

“The Jats inhabited the country on the borders of Multan, along the river that runs by the mountains of Jud.[118]When Mahmud reached Multan, finding the Jat country defended by great rivers, he built fifteen hundred boats,[119]each armed with six iron spikes projecting from their prows, to prevent their beingboarded by the enemy, expert in this kind of warfare. In each boat he placed twenty archers, and some with fire-balls of naphtha to burn the Jat fleet. The monarch having determined on their extirpation, awaited the result at Multan. The Jats sent their wives, children, and effects to Sind Sagar,[120]and launched four thousand, or, as others say, eight thousand boats well armed to meet the Ghaznians. A terrible conflict ensued, but the projecting spikes sunk the Jat boats while others were set on fire. Few escaped from this scene of terror; and those who did, met with the more severe fate of captivity.”[121]

Many doubtless did escape; and it is most probable that the Jat communities, on whose overthrow the State of Bikaner was founded, were remnants of this very warfare [109].

Not long after this event the original empire of the Getae was overturned, when many fugitives found a refuge in India. In 1360 Togultash Timur was the great Khan of the Getae nation; idolaters even to this period. He had conquered Khorasan, invaded Transoxiana (whose prince fled, but whose nephew, Amir Timur, averted its subjugation), gained the friendship of Togultash, and commanded a hundred thousand Getae warriors. In 1369, when the Getic Khan died, such was the ascendancy obtained by Timur over his subjects, that the Kuriltai, or general assembly, transferred the title of Grand Khan from the Getic to the Chagatai Timur. In 1370 he married a Getic princess, and added Khokhand and Samarkand to his patrimony, Transoxiana. Rebellions and massacres almost depopulated this nursery of mankind, ere the Getae abandoned their independence; nor was it till 1388, after six invasions, in which he burnt their towns, brought away their wealth, and almost annihilated the nation, that he felt himself secure.[122]

In his expedition into India, having overrun great part of Europe, “taken Moscow, and slain the soldiers of the barbarous Urus,” he encountered his old foes “the Getae, who inhabited the plains of Tohim, where he put two thousand to the sword, pursuing them into the desert and slaughtering many more near the Ghaggar.”[123]

Still the Jat maintained himself in the Panjab, and the most powerful and independent prince of India at this day is the Jat prince of Lahore, holding dominion over the identical regions where the Yueh-chi colonized in the fifth century, and where the Yadus, driven from Ghazni, established themselves on the ruins of the Taks. The Jat cavalier retains a portion of his Scythic manners, and preserves the use of the chakra or discus, the weapon of the Yadu Krishna in the remote age of the Bharat.

Hun or Hūn.—Amongst the Scythic tribes who have secured for themselves a niche with the thirty-six races of India, is the Hun. At what period this race, so well known by its ravages and settlement in Europe, invaded India, we know not.[124]Doubtless it was in the society of many others yet found in the peninsula of [110] Saurashtra, as the Kathi, the Bala, the Makwana, etc. It is, however, confined to the genealogies of that peninsula; for although we have mention of the Hun in the chronicles and inscriptions of India at a very early period, he failed to obtain a place in the catalogue of the northern bards.

The earliest notice of the tribe is in an inscription[125]recording the power of a prince of Bihar, who, amidst his other conquests, “humbled the pride of the Huns.” In the annals of the early history of Mewar, in the catalogue of princes who made common cause with this the chief of all the Rajputs, when Chitor was assailed in the first irruption of the Muhammadans, was Angatsi,lord of the Huns, who led his quota on this occasion. De Guignes[126]describes Angat as being the name of a considerable horde of Huns or Moguls; and Abulghazi says that the Tartar tribe who guarded the great wall of China were termed Angatti, who had a distinct prince with high pay and honour. The countries inhabited by the Hiong-nou and the Ou-huon, the Turks and Moguls, called ‘Tatar’ from Tatan,[127]the name of the country from the banks of the Irtish along the mountains of Altai to the shores of the Yellow Sea, are described at large by the historian of the Huns: following whom and other original sources, the historian of the Fall of Rome has given great interest to his narrative of their march into Europe. But those who are desirous to learn all that relates to the past history and manners of this people, must consult that monument of erudition and research, the Geography of Malte-Brun.[128]

D’Anville,[129]quoting Cosmas the traveller, informs us that the White Huns (λευκοὶ Ούννοι)[130]occupied the north of India; and it is most probable a colony of these found their way into Saurashtra and Mewar.

It is on the eastern bank of the Chambal, at the ancient Barolli, that tradition assigns a residence to the Hun; and one of the celebrated temples at that place, called the Singar Chaori, is the marriage hall of the Hun prince, who is also declared to have been possessed of a lordship on the opposite bank, occupying the [111] site of the present town of Bhainsror. In the twelfth century the Hun must have possessed consequence, to occupy the place he holds in the chronicle of the princes of Gujarat. The race is not extinct. One of the most intelligent of the living bards of India assured the author of their existence; and in a tour where he accompanied him, redeemed his pledge, by pointing out theresidence of some in a village on the estuary of the Mahi, though degraded and mixed with other classes.[131]

We may infer that few convulsions occurred in Central Asia, which drove forth these hordes of redundant population to seek subsistence in Europe, without India participating in such overflow. The only singular circumstance is, by what means they came to be recognized as Hindus, even though of the lowest class. Sudra we cannot term them; for although the Kathi and the Bala cannot be regarded as, or classed with Rajputs, they would scorn the rank of Sudra.

Kāthi.—Of the ancient notices of this people much has been already said, and all the genealogists, both of Rajasthan and Saurashtra, concur in assigning it a place amongst the royal races of India. It is one of the most important tribes of the western peninsula, and which has effected the change of the name from Saurashtra to Kathiawar.

Of all its inhabitants the Kathi retains most originality: his religion, his manners, and his looks, all are decidedly Scythic. He occupied, in the time of Alexander, that nook of the Panjab near the confluent five streams. It was against these Alexander marched in person, when he nearly lost his life, and where he left such a signal memorial of his vengeance. The Kathi can be traced from these scenes to his present haunts. In the earlier portion of the Annals of Jaisalmer mention is made of their conflicts with the Kathi; and their own traditions[132]fix their settlement in the peninsula from the south-eastern part of the valley of the Indus, about the eighth century.

In the twelfth century the Kathi were conspicuous in the wars with Prithwiraja, there being several leaders of the tribe attachedto his army, as well as to that of [112] his rival, the monarch of Kanauj.[133]Though on this occasion they acted in some degree of subservience to the monarch of Anhilwara, it would seem that this was more voluntary than forced.

The Kathi still adores the sun,[134]scorns the peaceful arts, and is much less contented with the tranquil subsistence of industry than the precarious earnings of his former predatory pursuits. The Kathi was never happy but on horseback, collecting his blackmail, lance in hand, from friend and foe.

We will conclude this brief sketch with Captain Macmurdo’s character of this race. “The Kathi differs in some respects from the Rajput. He is more cruel in his disposition, but far exceeds him in the virtue of bravery;[135]and a character possessed of more energy than a Kathi does not exist. His size is considerably larger than common, often exceeding six feet. He is sometimes seen with light hair and blue-coloured eyes. His frame is athletic and bony, and particularly well adapted to his mode of life. His countenance is expressive, but of the worst kind, being harsh, and often destitute of a single mild feature.”[136]

Bāla.—All the genealogists, ancient and modern, insert the Bala tribe amongst the Rajkulas. The birad, or ‘blessing,’ of the bard isTatta Multan ka rao,[137]indicative of their original abodes on the Indus. They lay claim, however, to descent from the Suryavansi, and maintain that their great ancestor, Bala or Bapa, was the offspring of Lava, the eldest son of Rama; that their first settlement in Saurashtra was at the ancient Dhank, in more remote periods called Mungi Paithan; and that, in conquering the country adjacent, they termed it Balakshetra (their capital Valabhipura), and assumed the title of Balarae. Here they claim identity with the Guhilot race of Mewar: nor is it impossiblethat they may be a branch of this family, which long held power in Saurashtra.[138]Before the Guhilots adopted the worship of Mahadeo, which period is indicated in their annals, the chief object of their adoration was the sun, giving them that Scythic resemblance to which the Balas have every appearance of claim [113].

The Balas on the continent of Saurashtra, on the contrary, assert their origin to be Induvansa, and that they are the Balakaputras who were the ancient lords of Aror on the Indus. It would be presumption to decide between these claims; but I would venture to surmise that they might be the offspring of Salya, one of the princes of the Mahabharata, who founded Aror.

The Kathis claim descent from the Balas: an additional proof of northern origin, and strengthening their right to the epithet of the bards, ‘Lords of Multan and Tatta.’ The Balas were of sufficient consequence in the thirteenth century to make incursions on Mewar, and the first exploit of the celebrated Rana Hamir was his killing the Bala chieftain of Chotila.[139]The present chief of Dhank is a Bala, and the tribe yet preserves importance in the peninsula.

Jhāla Makwāna.—This tribe also inhabits the Saurashtra peninsula. It is styled Rajput, though neither classed with the Solar, Lunar, nor Agnikula races; but though we cannot directly prove it, we have every right to assign to it a northern origin. It is a tribe little known in Hindustan or even Rajasthan, into which latter country it was introduced entirely through the medium of the ancient lords of Saurashtra, the present family of Mewar; a sanction which covers every defect. A splendid act of self-devotion of the Jhala chief, when Rana Partap was oppressed with the whole weight of Akbar’s power, obtained, with the gratitude of this prince, the highest honours he could confer,—his daughter in marriage, and a seat on his right hand. That it was the act, and not his rank in the scale of the thirty-six tribes, which gained him this distinction, we have decided proof in later times, when it was deemed a mark of great condescension that the present Rana should sanction a remote branch of his ownfamily bestowing a daughter in marriage on the Jhala ruler of Kotah.[140]This tribe has given its name to one of the largest divisions of Saurashtra, Jhalawar, which possesses several towns of importance. Of these Bankaner, Halwad, and Dhrangadra are the principal.

Regarding the period of the settlement of the Jhalas tradition is silent, as also on their early history: but the aid of its quota was given to the Rana against the [114] first attacks of the Muhammadans; and in the heroic history of Prithwiraja we have ample and repeated mention of the Jhala chieftains who distinguished themselves in his service, as well as in that of his antagonist, and the name of one of these, as recorded by the bard Chand, I have seen inscribed on the granite rock of the sacred Girnar, near their primitive abodes, where we leave them. There are several subdivisions of the Jhala, of which the Makwana is the principal.

Jethwa, Jaithwa, Kamāri.—This is an ancient tribe, and by all authorities styled Rajput; though, like the Jhala, little known out of Saurashtra, to one of the divisions of which it has given its name, Jethwar. Its present possessions are on the western coast of the peninsula: the residence of its prince, who is styled Rana, is Porbandar.

In remote times their capital was Ghumli, whose ruins attest considerable power, and afford singular scope for analogy, in architectural device, with the style termed Saxon of Europe.[141]The bards of the Jethwas run through a long list of one hundred and thirty crowned heads, and in the eighth century have chronicled the marriage of their prince with the Tuar refounder of Delhi. At this period the Jethwa bore the name of Kamar; and Sahl Kamar is reported to be the prince who was driven from Ghumli, in the twelfth century, by invaders from the north. With this change the name of Kamar was sunk, and that of Jethwa assumed,which has induced the author to style them Kamari;[142]and as they, with the other inhabitants of this peninsula, have all the appearance of Scythic descent, urging no pretensions to connexion with the ancient races of India, they may be a branch of that celebrated race, the Cimmerii of higher Asia, and the Cimbri of Europe.

Their legends are as fabulous as fanciful. They trace their descent from the monkey-god Hanuman, and confirm it by alleging the elongation of the spine of their princes, who bear the epithet of Puncharia, or the ‘long-tailed,’ Ranas of Saurashtra. But the manners and traditions of this race will appear more fully in the narrative of the author’s travels amongst them.

Gohil.[143]—This was a distinguished race: it claims to be Suryavansi, and with some pretension. The first residence of the Gohils was Juna Khergarh, near the bend of the Luni in Marwar.[144]How long they had been established here we know not. They took it from one of the aboriginal Bhil chiefs named Kherwa, and had been in possession of it for twenty generations when expelled by the [115] Rathors at the end of the twelfth century. Thence migrating to Saurashtra, they fixed at Piramgarh;[145]which being destroyed, one branch settled at Bhagwa, and the chief marrying the daughter of Nandanagar or Nandod,[146]he usurped or obtained his father-in-law’s estates; and twenty-seven generations are enumerated, from Sompal to Narsingh, the present Raja of Nandod. Another branch fixed at Sihor, and thence founded Bhaunagar and Gogha. The former town, on the gulf of the Mahi, is the residence of the Gohils, who have given their name, Gohilwar, to the eastern portion of the peninsula of Saurashtra. The present chief addicts himself to commerce, and possesses ships which trade to the gold coast of Sofala.

Sarwaiya or Sariaspa.—Of this race tradition has left us only the knowledge that it once was famous; for although, in the catalogues of the bard, it is introduced as the “essence of the Khatri race,”[147]we have only a few legends regarding its presentdegradation. Its name, as well as this epithet of the bard, induces a belief that it is a branch of the Aswas, with the prefix ofsar, denoting ‘essence,’ or priority. But it is useless to speculate on a name.

Silār or Salār.—Like the former, we have here but the shade of a name; though one which, in all probability, originated the epithet Larike, by which the Saurashtra peninsula was known to Ptolemy and the geographers of early Europe. The tribe of Lar was once famous in Saurashtra, and in the annals of Anhilwara mention is made of Siddharaja Jayasingha having extirpated them throughout his dominions. Salar, or Silar, would therefore be distinctivelytheLar.[148]Indeed, the author of the Kumarpal Charitra styles it Rajtilak, or ‘regal prince’; but the name only now exists amongst the mercantile classes professing the faith of Buddha [Jainism]: it is inserted as one of the eighty-four. The greater portion of these are of Rajput origin.

Dabhi.—Little can be said of this tribe but that it was once celebrated in Saurashtra. By some it is called the branch of the Yadu, though all the genealogists give it distinct importance. It now possesses neither territory nor numbers.[149]

Gaur.—The Gaur tribe was once respected in Rajasthan, though it never there attained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal were of this race, and gave their name to the capital, Lakhnauti [116].

We have every reason to believe that they were possessors of the land afterwards occupied by the Chauhans, as they are styled in all the old chronicles the ‘Gaur of Ajmer.’ Repeated mention is made of them in the wars of Prithwiraja, as leaders of considerable renown, one of whom formed a small State in the centre of India, which survived through seven centuries of Mogul domination, till it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of the British over the Mahrattas, when Sindhia in 1809 annihilated the power of the Gaur and took possession of his capital, Sheopur.[150]Apetty district, yielding about £5000 annually, is all this rapacious head of a predatory government has left to the Gaur, out of about twelve lacs of annual revenue. The Gaur has five sakha: Untahar, Silhala, Tur, Dusena, and Budana.[151]

Dor or Doda.—We have little to say of this race. Though occupying a place in all the genealogies, time has destroyed all knowledge of the past history of a tribe, to gain a victory over whom was deemed by Prithwiraja worthy of a tablet.[152]

Gaharwār.—The Gaharwar Rajput is scarcely known to his brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood to mix with theirs; though, as a brave warrior, he is entitled to their fellowship. The original country of the Gaharwar is in the ancient kingdom of Kasi.[153]Their great ancestor was Khortaj Deva, from whom Jasaunda, the seventh in descent, in consequence of some grand sacrificial rites performed at Vindhyavasi, gave the title of Bundela to his issue. Bundela has now usurped the name of Gaharwar, and become the appellation of the immense tract which its various branches inhabit in Bundelkhand, on the ruins of the Chandelas, whose chief cities, Kalanjar, Mohini, and Mahoba, they took possession of.[154]

Chandel.—The Chandela, classed by some of the genealogists amongst the thirty-six tribes, were powerful in the twelfth century, possessing the whole of the regions between [117] the Jumna and Nerbudda, now occupied by the Bundelas and Baghelas.Their wars with Prithwiraja, forming one of the most interesting of his exploits, ended in the humiliation of the Chandela, and prepared the way for their conquest by the Gaharwars; the date of the supremacy of the Bundela Manvira was aboutA.D.1200. Madhukar Sah, the thirteenth in descent from him, founded Orchha on the Betwa, by whose son, Birsingh Deva, considerable power was attained. Orchha became the chief of the numerous Bundela principalities; but its founder drew upon himself everlasting infamy, by putting to death the wise Abu-l Fazl,[155]the historian and friend of the magnanimous Akbar, and the encomiast and advocate of the Hindu race.

From the period of Akbar the Bundelas bore a distinguished part in all the grand conflicts, to the very close of the monarchy: nor, amongst all the brave chiefs of Rajasthan, did any perform more gallant or faithful services than the Bundela chieftains of Orchha and Datia. Bhagwan of Orchha commanded the advanced guard of the army of Shah Jahan. His son, Subhkarana, was Aurangzeb’s most distinguished leader in the Deccan, and Dalpat fell in the war of succession on the plains of Jajau.[156]His descendants have not degenerated; nor is there anything finer in the annals of the chivalry of the West, than the dignified and heroic conduct of the father of the present chief.[157]The Bundela is now a numerous race, while the name Gaharwar remains in their original haunts.

Bargūjar.—This race is Suryavansi, and the only one, with the exception of the Guhilot, which claims from Lava, the elder sonof Rama. The Bargujar held considerable possessions in Dhundhar,[158]and their capital was the hill fortress of Rajor[159]in the principality of Macheri. Rajgarh and Alwar were also their [118] possessions. The Bargujars were expelled these abodes by the Kachhwahas. A colony found refuge and a new residence at Anupshahr on the Ganges.

Sengar.—Of this tribe little is known, nor does it appear ever to have obtained great celebrity. The sole chieftainship of the Sengars is Jagmohanpur on the Jumna.[160]

Sakarwāl.—This tribe, like the former, never appears to have claimed much notice amidst the princes of Rajasthan; nor is there a single independent chieftain now remaining, although there is a small district called after them, Sakarwar, on the right bank of the Chambal, adjoining Jaduvati, and like it now incorporated in the province of Gwalior, in Sindhia’s dominions. The Sakarwal is therefore reduced to subsist by cultivation, or the more precarious employment of his lance, either as a follower of others, or as a common depredator. They have their name from the town of Sikri (Fatehpur), which was formerly an independent principality.[161]

Bais.—The Bais has obtained a place amongst the thirty-six races, though the author believes it but a subdivision of the Suryavansi, as it is neither to be met with in the lists of Chand, nor in those of the Kumarpal Charitra. It is now numerous, and has given its name to an extensive district, Baiswara in the Duab, or the land between the Ganges and Jumna.[162]

Dahia.—This is an ancient tribe, whose residence was the banks of the Indus, near its confluence with the Sutlej; and although they retain a place amongst the thirty-six royal races, we have not the knowledge of any as now existing. They arementioned in the annals of the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, and from name as well as from locale, we may infer that they were the Dahae of Alexander.[163]

Joiya, Johya.—This race possessed the same haunts as the Dahia, and are always coupled with them. They, however, extended across the Ghara into the northern desert of India, and in ancient chronicles are entitled ‘Lords of Jangaldesa,’ a tract which comprehended Hariana, Bhatner, and Nagor. The author possesses a work relative to this tribe, like the Dahia, now extinct.[164]

Mohil.—We have no mode of judging of the pretensions of this race to the place it is allowed to occupy by the genealogists. All that can be learned of its past history is, that it inhabited a considerable tract so late as the foundation of the present State of Bikaner, the Rathor founders of which expelled, if not extirpated, the Mohil. With the Malan, Malani, and Mallia, also extinct, it may [119] claim the honour of descent from the ancient Malloi, the foes of Alexander, whose abode was Multan. (Qu.Mohilthan?)[165]

Nikumbha.—Of this race, to which celebrity attaches in all the genealogies, we can only discover that they were proprietors of the district of Mandalgarh prior to the Guhilots.[166]

Rājpāli.—It is difficult to discover anything regarding this race, which, under the names of Rajpali, Rajpalaka, or simply Pala, are mentioned by all the genealogists; especially those of Saurashtra, to which in all probability it was confined. This tends to make it Scythic in origin; the conclusion is strengthened by the derivation of the name, meaning ‘royal shepherd’: it was probably a branch of the ancient Pali.[167]

Dahariya.—The Kumarpal Charitra is our sole authority forclassing this race with the thirty-six. Of its history we know nothing. Amongst the princes who came to the aid of Chitor, when first assailed by the arms of Islam, was ‘the lord of Debal, Dahir, Despati.’[168]From the ignorance of the transcriber of the Guhilot annals,Delhiis written instead ofDebal; but we not only have the whole of the names of the Tuar race, but Delhi was not in existence at this time. Slight as is the mention of this prince in the Chitor annals, it is nevertheless of high value, as stamping them with authenticity; for this Dahir was actually the despot of Sind, whose tragical end in his capital Debal is related by Abu-l Fazl. It was in the ninety-ninth year of the Hegira that he was attacked by Muhammad bin Kasim, the lieutenant of the Caliph of Bagdad, and treated with the greatest barbarity.[169]Whether this prince used Dahir as a proper name, or as that of his tribe, must be left to conjecture.

Dahima.—The Dahima has left but the wreck of a great name.[170]Seven centuries have swept away all recollection of a tribe who once afforded one of the proudest themes for the song of the bard. The Dahima was the lord of Bayana, and one of the most powerful vassals of the Chauhan emperor, Prithwiraja. Three brothers of this house held the highest offices under this monarch, and the period during which the elder, Kaimas, was his minister, was the brightest in the history of the Chauhan: but he fell a victim to a blind jealousy. Pundir, the second brother [120], commanded the frontier at Lahore. The third, Chawand Rae, was the principal leader in the last battle, where Prithwiraja fell, with the whole of his chivalry, on the banks of the Ghaggar. Even the historians of Shihabu-d-din have preserved the name of the gallant Dahima, Chawand Rae, whom they style Khandirai; and to whose valour, they relate, Shihabu-d-din himself nearly fell a sacrifice. With the Chauhan, the race seems to have been extinguished. Rainsi, his only son, was by this sister of Chawand Rae, but he did not survive the capture of Delhi. This marriageforms the subject of one of the books of the bard, who never was more eloquent than in the praise of the Dahima.[171]

Aboriginal Races[172]

Bagri, Mer, Kaba, Mina, Bhil, Sahariya, Thori, Khangar, Gond, Bhar, Janwar, and Sarad.

Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes

Abhira or Ahir, Goala, Kurmi or Kulumbi, Gujar, and Jat

Rajput Tribes to which no Sakha is assigned

Jalia, Peshani, Sohagni, Chahira, Ran, Simala, Botila, Gotchar, Malan, Uhir, Hul, Bachak, Batar, Kerach, Kotak, Busa, and Bargota.

Catalogue of the Eighty-Four Mercantile Tribes

Sri Sri Mal, Srimal, Oswal, Bagherwal, Dindu, Pushkarwal, Mertawal, Harsora, Surawal, Piliwal, Bhambu, Kandhelwal, Dohalwal, Kederwal, Desawal, Gujarwal, Sohorwal, Agarwal, Jaelwal, Manatwal, Kajotiwal, Kortawal, Chehtrawal, Soni, Sojatwal, Nagar, Mad, Jalhera, Lar, Kapol, Khareta, Barari, Dasora, Bambarwal, Nagadra, Karbera, Battewara, Mewara, Narsinghpura, Khaterwal, Panchamwal, Hanerwal, Sirkera, Bais, Stukhi, Kambowal, Jiranwal, Baghelwal, Orchitwal, Bamanwal, Srigur, Thakurwal, Balmiwal, Tepora, Tilota, Atbargi,Ladisakha, Badnora, Khicha, Gasora, Bahaohar, Jemo, Padmora, Maharia, Dhakarwal, Mangora, Goelwal, Mohorwal, Chitora, Kakalia, Bhareja, Andora, Sachora, Bhungrawal, Mandahala, Bramania, Bagria, Dindoria, Borwal, Sorbia, Orwal, Nuphag, and Nagora. (One wanting.)

1. [This catalogue is now of historical or traditional, rather than of ethnographical value. It includes some which are admittedly extinct: others which are proved to be derived from Gurjara and other foreign tribes, while it omits many clans which are most influential at the present day, and some of those included in the list are now represented by scattered groups outside Rājputāna.]

2. Of his works I possess the most complete copy existing.

3. Presented to the Royal Asiatic Society.

4. Moghji, one of the most intelligent bards of the present day; but, heartbroken, he has now but the woes of his race to sing. Yet has he forgot them for a moment to rehearse the deeds of Parsanga, who sealed his fidelity by his death on the Ghaggar. Then the invisible mantle of Bhavani was wrapt around him; and with the birad (furor poeticus) flowing freely of their deeds of yore, their present degradation, time, and place were all forgot. But the time is fast approaching when he may sing with the Cambrian bard:“Ye lost companions of my tuneful art,Where are ye fled?”

“Ye lost companions of my tuneful art,Where are ye fled?”

“Ye lost companions of my tuneful art,

Where are ye fled?”

5. One of two specimens shall be given in the proper place.

6. A prince of Bundi had married a Rajputni of the Malani tribe, a name now unknown: but a bard repeating the‘gotracharya,’it was discovered to have been about eight centuries before a ramification (sakha) of the Chauhan, to which the Hara of Bundi belonged—divorce and expiatory rites, with great unhappiness, were the consequences. What a contrast to the unhallowed doctrines of polyandry, as mentioned amongst the Pandavas, the Scythic nations, the inhabitants of Sirmor of the present day, and pertaining even to Britain in the days of Caesar!—“Uxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes,” says that accurate writer, speaking of the natives of this island; “et maximè fratres cum fratribus, parentesque cum liberis: sed si qui sint ex his nati, eorum habentur liberi, quo primum virgo quaeque deducta est.”

7.Aparam sakham, ‘of innumerable branches,’ is inscribed on an ancient tablet of the Guhilot race.

8.Got,khanp, denote a clan; its subdivisions have the patronymic terminating with the syllable ‘ot,’ ‘awat,’ ‘sot,’ in the use of which euphony alone is their guide: thus,Saktawat, ‘sons of Sakta’;Kurmasot, ‘of Kurma’;Mairawat, ormairot, mountaineers, ‘sons of the mountains.’ Such is the GreekMainote, frommaina, a mountain, in the ancient Albanian dialect, of eastern origin.

Back to Index Next