_Rajput, Gaharwar, Gherwal_.--This is an old clan. Mr. V.A. Smith
states that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong and
Chhatarpur before the Parihars in the eighth century. The Parihar
kings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. In
their practice of building embankments and constructing lakes the
Chandels were imitators of the Gaharwars, who are credited with the
formation of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand. [523]
And in A.D. 1090 a Raja of the Gaharwar clan called Chandradeva seized
Kanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and established his
authority certainly over Benares and Ajodhia, and perhaps over the
Delhi territory. Govindachandra, grandson of Chandradeva, enjoyed a
long reign, which included the years A.D. 1114 and 1154. His numerous
land grants and widely distributed coins prove that he succeeded to a
large extent in restoring the glories of Kanauj, and in making himself
a power of considerable importance. The grandson of Govindachandra
was Jayachandra, renowned in the popular Hindu poems and tales of
northern India as Raja Jaichand, whose daughter was carried off by
the gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi Raj of Ajmer. Kanauj was finally
captured and destroyed by Shihab-ud-Din in 1193, when Jaichand retired
towards Benares but was overtaken and slain. [524] His grandson,
Mr. Crooke says, [525] afterwards fled to Kantit in the Mirzapur
District and, overcoming the Bhar Raja of that place, founded the
family of the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit Bijaypur, which was recently
still in existence. All the other Gaharwars trace their lineage to
Benares or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharwars in Kantit and
in a large tract of country lying contiguous to it were the Bhars, an
indigenous race of great enterprise, who, though not highly civilised,
were far removed from barbarism. According to Sherring they have
left numerous evidences of their energy and skill in earthworks,
forts, dams and the like. [526] Similarly Elliot says of the Bhars:
"Common tradition assigns to them the possession of the whole tract
from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and the large pargana of
Bhadoi or Bhardai in Benares is called after their name. Many old stone
forts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh,
Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seem
to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation." [527] Colonel
Tod says of the Gaharwars: "The Gherwal 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." [528] It is thus curious that the Gaharwars, who are one
of the oldest clans to appear in authentic history, if they ruled
Central India in the eighth century before the Parihars, should be
considered to be of very impure origin. And as they are subsequently
found in Mirzapur, a backward forest tract which is also the home
of the Bhars, and both the Gaharwars and Bhars have a reputation as
builders of tanks and forts, it seems likely that the Gaharwars were
really, as suggested by Mr. V.A. Smith, the aristocratic branch of the
Bhars, probably with a considerable mixture of Rajput blood. Elliot
states that the Bhars formerly occupied the whole of Azamgarh, the
pargana of Bara in Allahabad and Khariagarh in the Kanauj tract. This
widespread dominance corresponds with what has been already stated
as regards the Gaharwars, who, according to Mr. V.A. Smith, ruled
in Central India, Kanauj, Oudh, Benares and Mirzapur. And the name
Gaharwar, according to Dr. Hoernle, is connected with the Sanskrit root
_gah_, and has the sense of 'dwellers in caves or deep jungle.' [529]
The origin of the Gaharwars is of interest in the Central Provinces,
because it is from them that the Bundela clan of Saugor and Bundelkhand
is probably descended. [530]
The Gaharwars, Mr. Crooke states, now hold a high rank among Rajput
septs; they give daughters to the Baghel, Chandel and Bisen, and take
brides of the Bais, Gautam, Chauhan, Parihar and other clans. The
Gaharwars are found in small numbers in the Central Provinces,
chiefly in the Chhattisgarh Districts and Feudatory States.