_Rajput, Chauhan_.--The Chauhan was the last of the Agnikula or
fire-born clans, According to the legend: "Again Vasishtha seated on
the lotus prepared incantations; again he called the gods to aid; and
as he poured forth the libation a figure arose, lofty in stature, of
elevated front, hair like jet, eyes rolling, breast expanded, fierce,
terrific, clad in armour with quiver filled, a bow in one hand and
a brand in the other, quadriform (Chaturanga), whence his name was
given as Chauhan." This account makes the Chauhan the most important
of the fire-born clans, and Colonel Tod says that he was the most
valiant of the Agnikulas, and it may be asserted not of them only but
of the whole Rajput race; and though the swords of the Rahtors would
be ready to contest the point, impartial decision must assign to the
Chauhan the van in the long career of arms. [517] General Cunningham
shows that even so late as the time of Prithwi Raj in the twelfth
century the Chauhans had no claim to be sprung from fire, but were
content to be considered descendants of a Brahman sage Bhrigu. [518]
Like the other Agnikula clans the Chauhans are now considered to have
sprung from the Gurjara or White Hun invaders of the fifth and sixth
centuries, but I do not know whether this is held to be definitely
proved in their case. Sambhar and Ajmer in Rajputana appear to have
been the first home of the clan, and inscriptions record a long
line of thirty-nine kings as reigning there from Anhul, the first
created Chauhan. The last but one of them, Vigraha Raja or Bisal Deo,
in the middle of the twelfth century extended the ancestral dominions
considerably, and conquered Delhi from a chief of the Tomara clan. At
this time the Chauhans, according to their own bards, held the line
of the Nerbudda from Garha-Mandla to Maheshwar and also Asirgarh,
while their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to the
Aravalli hills. [519] The nephew of Bisal Deo was Prithwi Raj, the
most famous Chauhan hero, who ruled at Sambhar, Ajmer and Delhi. His
first exploit was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, the
Gaharwar Raja of Kanauj, in about A.D. 1175. The king of Kanauj had
claimed the title of universal sovereign and determined to celebrate
the Ashwa-Medha or horse-sacrifice, at which all the offices should
be performed by vassal kings. Prithwi Raj alone declined to attend
as a subordinate, and Jaichand therefore made a wooden image of
him and set it up at the gate in the part of doorkeeper. But when
his daughter after the tournament took the garland of flowers to
bestow it on the chief whom she chose for her husband, she passed
by all the assembled nobles and threw the garland on the neck of
the wooden image. At this moment Prithwi Raj dashed in with a few
companions, and catching her up, escaped with her from her father's
court. [520] Afterwards, in 1182, Prithwi Raj defeated the Chandel
Raja Parmal and captured Mahoba. In 1191 Prithwi Raj was the head of
a confederacy of Hindu princes in combating the invasion of Muhammad
Ghori. He repelled the Muhammadans at Tarain about two miles north
of Delhi, but in the following year was completely defeated and
killed at Thaneswar, and soon afterwards Delhi and Ajmer fell to
the Muhammadans. The Chauhan kingdom was broken up, but scattered
parts of it remained, and about A.D. 1307 Asirgarh in Nimar, which
continued to be held by the Chauhans, was taken by Ala-ud-Din Khilji
and the whole garrison put to the sword except one boy. This boy,
Raisi Chauhan, escaped to Rajputana, and according to the bardic
chronicle his descendants formed the Hara branch of the Chauhans and
conquered from the Minas the tract known as Haravati, from which they
perhaps took their name. [521] This is now comprised in the Kotah and
Bundi states, ruled by Hara chiefs. Another well-known offshoot from
the Chauhans are the Khichi clan, who belong to the Sind-Sagar Doab;
and the Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. The
Chauhans are numerous in the Punjab and United Provinces and rank as
one of the highest Rajput clans. In the Central Provinces they are
found principally in the Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts, and
also in Mandla. The Chauhan Rajputs of Mandla marry among themselves,
with other Chauhans of Mandla, Seoni and Balaghat They have exogamous
sections with names apparently derived from villages like an ordinary
caste. The remarriage of widows is forbidden, but those widows who
desire to do so go and live with a man and are put out of caste. This,
however, is said not to happen frequently. A widow's hair is not
shaved, but her glass bangles are broken, she is dressed in white,
made to sleep on the ground, and can wear no ornaments. Owing to the
renown of the clan their name has been adopted by numerous classes of
inferior Rajputs and low Hindu castes who have no right to it. Thus
in the Punjab a large subcaste of Chamars call themselves Chauhan,
and in the Bilaspur District a low caste of village watchmen go
by this name. These latter may be descendants of the illegitimate
offspring of Chauhan Rajputs by low-caste women.