=Migration of the Rāthors into Rājputāna.=—In S. 1268 (A.D. 1212),
eighteen years subsequent to the overthrow of Kanauj, Siahji and Setram,
grandsons of its last monarch, abandoned the land of their birth, and
with two hundred retainers, the wreck of their vassalage, journeyed
westward to the desert, with the intent, according to some of the
chronicles, of making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Dwarka;[5.2.1] but
according to others, and with more probability, to carve their fortunes
in fresh fields, unscathed by the luxuries in which they had been tried,
and proud in their poverty and sole heritage, the glory of Kanauj [12].
=The Tribes of Rājputāna.=—Let us rapidly sketch the geography of the
tribes over whom it was destined these emigrants of the Ganges should
obtain the mastery, from the Jumna to the Indus, and the Gara River to
the Aravalli hills. First, on the east, the Kachhwahas, under Malesi,
whose father, Rao Pajun, was killed in the war of Kanauj. Ajmer,
Sambhar, and the best lands of the Chauhans fell rapidly to the
Islamite—though the strongholds of the Aravalli yet sheltered some, and
Nadol continued for a century more to be governed by a descendant of
Bisaldeo. Mansi, Rana of the Indha[5.2.2] tribe, a branch of the
Parihars, still held Mandor, and the various Bhumias around paid him a
feudal subjection as the first chief of the desert. Northward, about
Nagor, lived the community of the Mohils (a name now extinct), whose
chief place was Aurint, on which depended 1440 villages. The whole of
the tracts now occupied by Bikaner to Bhatner were partitioned into
petty republics of Getae or Jats, whose history will hereafter be
related. Thence to the Gara River, the Johyas, Dahyas, Kathis, Langahas,
and other tribes whose names are now obliterated, partly by the sword,
partly by conversion to Islamism. The Bhattis had for centuries been
established within the bounds they still inhabit, and little expected
that this handful of Rathors was destined to contract them. The Sodha
princes adjoined the Bhattis south, and the Jarejas occupied the valley
of the Indus and Cutch. The Solankis intervened between them and the
Pramaras of Abu and Chandravati, which completed the chain by junction
with Nadol. Various chieftains of the more ancient races, leading a life
of fearless independence, acknowledging an occasional submission to
their more powerful neighbours, were scattered throughout this space;
such as the Dabhis of Idar and Mewa; the Gohils of Kherdhar; the Deoras
of Sanchor; and Sonigiras of Jalor; the Mohils of Aurint; the Sankhlas
of Sandli, etc.; all of whom have either had their birthright seized by
the Rathor, or the few who have survived and yet retain them are
enrolled amongst their allodial vassals.
=The Exploits of Siāhji.=—The first exploit of Siahji was at Kulumad
(twenty miles west of the city of Bikaner, not then in existence), the
residence of a chieftain of the Solanki tribe. He received the royal
emigrants with kindness, and the latter repaid it by the offer of their
services to combat his enemy, the Jareja chieftain of Phulra, well known
in all the annals of the period, from the Sutlej to the ocean, as Lakha
Phulani, the most celebrated riever of Maru, whose castle of Phulra
stood amidst the almost inaccessible [13] sandhills of the desert. By
this timely succour the Solanki gained a victory over Lakha, but with
the loss of Setram and several of his band. In gratitude for this
service, the Solanki bestowed upon Siahji his sister in marriage, with
an ample dower; and he continued his route by Anhilwara Patan, where he
was hospitably entertained by its prince, to the shrine of Dwarka. It
was the good fortune of Siahji again to encounter Lakha, whose wandering
habits had brought him on a foray into the territory of Anhilwara.
Besides the love of glory and the ambition of maintaining the reputation
of his race, he had the stimulus of revenge, and that of a brother’s
blood. He was successful, though he lost a nephew, slaying Lakha in
single combat, which magnified his fame in all these regions, of which
Phulani was the scourge.
Flushed with success, we hear nothing of the completion of Siahji’s
pilgrimage; but obedient to the axiom of the Rajput, “get land,” we find
him on the banks of the Luni, exterminating, at a feast, the Dabhis of
Mewa,[5.2.3] and soon after the Gohils of Kherdhar,[5.2.4] whose chief,
Maheshdas, fell by the sword of the grandson of Jaichand. Here, in the
“land of Kher,” amidst the sandhills of the Luni (the salt-river of the
desert), from which the Gohils were expelled, Siahji planted the
standard of the Rathors.
At this period a community of Brahmans held the city and extensive lands
about Pali, from which they were termed Paliwal;[5.2.5] and being
greatly harassed by the incursions of the mountaineers, the Mers and
Minas, they called in the aid of Siahji’s band, which readily undertook
and executed the task of rescuing the Brahmans from their depredations.
Aware that they would be renewed, they offered Siahji lands to settle
amongst them, which were readily accepted; and here he had a son by the
Solankani, to whom he gave the name of Asvatthama. With her, it is
recorded, the suggestion originated to make himself lord of Pali; and it
affords another example of the disregard of the early Rajputs for the
sacred order, that on the Holi, or Saturnalia, he found an opportunity
to “obtain land,” putting to death the heads of this community, and
adding the district to his conquests [14]. Siahji outlived his treachery
only twelve months, leaving his acquisitions as a nucleus for further
additions to his children. He had three sons, Asvatthama, Soning, and
Ajmall.
=Asvatthāma.=—One of the chronicles asserts that it was Asvatthama, the
successor of Siahji, who conquered “the land of Kher” from the Gohils.
By the same species of treachery by which his father attained Pali, he
lent his aid to establish his brother Soning in Idar. This small
principality, on the frontiers of Gujarat, then appertained, as did
Mewa, to the Dabhi race; and it was during the _matam_, or period of
mourning for one of its princes, that the young Rathor chose to obtain a
new settlement. His descendants are distinguished as the
Hathundia[5.2.6] Rathors. The third brother, Aja, carried his forays as
far as the extremity of the Saurashtra peninsula, where he decapitated
Bikamsi, the Chawara chieftain of Okhamandala,[5.2.7] and established
himself. From this act his branch became known as the ‘Vadhel’;[5.2.8]
and the Vadhels are still in considerable number in that furthest track
of ancient Hinduism called the “World’s End.”
Asvatthama died, leaving eight sons, who became the heads of clans,
namely, Duhar, Jopsi, Khampsao, Bhopsu, Dhandhal, Jethmall, Bandar, and
Uhar; of which, four, Duhar, Dhandhal, Jethmall, and Uhar, are yet
known.
=Duhar or Dhūhada.=—Duhar succeeded Asvatthama. He made an unsuccessful
effort to recover Kanauj; and then attempted to wrest Mandor from the
Parihars, but “watered their lands with his blood.” He left seven sons,
namely, Raepal, Kiratpal, Behar, Pital, Jugel, Dalu, and Begar.
=Rāēpāl, Chhada, Thīda, Salkha, Biramdeo, Chonda.=—Raepal succeeded, and
revenged the death of his father, slaying the Parihar of Mandor, of
which he even obtained temporary possession. He had a progeny of
thirteen sons, who rapidly spread their issue over these regions. He was
succeeded by his son Kanhal [or Kānpāl], whose successor was his son
Jalhan; he was succeeded by his son Chhada, whose successor was his son
Thida. All these carried on a desperate warfare with, and made conquests
from, their neighbours. Chhada and Thida are mentioned as very
troublesome neighbours in the annals of the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, who
were compelled to carry the war against them into the “land of Kher.”
Rao Thida took the rich district of Bhinmal from the Sonigira, and made
other additions to his territory from the Deoras and Balechas [15]. He
was succeeded by Salakh or Salkha. His issue, the Salkhawats, now
Bhumias, are yet numerous both in Mewa and Rardara. Salkha was succeeded
by his son Biramdeo, who attacked the Johyas of the north, and fell in
battle. His descendants, styled Biramot and Bijawat, from another son
Bija, are numerous at Setru, Siwana, and Dechu. Biramdeo was succeeded
by his son Chonda, an important name in the annals of the Rathors.
Hitherto they had attracted notice by their valour and their raids,
whenever there was a prospect of success; but they had so multiplied in
eleven generations that they now essayed a higher flight. Collecting all
the branches bearing the name of Rathor, Chonda assaulted Mandor, slew
the Parihar prince, and planted the banners of Kanauj on the ancient
capital of Maru.
So fluctuating are the fortunes of the daring Rajput, ever courting
distinction and coveting _bhum_, ‘land,’ that but a short time before
this success, Chonda had been expelled from all the lands acquired by
his ancestors, and was indebted to the hospitality of a bard of the
Charan tribe, at Kalu; and they yet circulate the _kabit_, or quatrain,
made by him when, in the days of his greatness, he came and was refused
admittance to “the lord of Mandor”; he took post under the balcony, and
improvized a stanza, reminding him of the Charan of Kalu: “_Chonda nahīn
āwē chit, Khichar Kalu tanna? Bhup bhaya bhay-bhit, Mandawar ra mālya?_”
“Does not Chonda remember the porridge of Kalu, now that the lord of the
land looks so terrific from his balcony of Mandawar?” Once established
in Mandor, he ventured to assault the imperial garrison of Nagor. Here
he was also successful. Thence he carried his arms south, and placed his
garrison in Nadol, the capital of the province of Godwar. He married a
daughter of the Parihar prince,[5.2.9] who had the satisfaction to see
his grandson succeed to the throne of Mandor. Chonda was blessed with a
progeny of fourteen sons, growing up to manhood around him. Their names
were Ranmall,[5.2.10] Satta, Randhir, Aranyakanwal,[5.2.11] Punja, Bhim,
Kana, Ajo, Ramdeo, Bija, Sahasmall, Bagh, Lumba, Seoraj.
Chonda had also one daughter named Hansa, married to Lakha Rana of Mewar
[16], whose son was the celebrated Kumbha. It was this marriage which
caused that interference in the affairs of Mewar, which had such fatal
results to both States.[5.2.12]
The feud between his fourth son, Aranyakanwal, and the Bhatti prince of
Pugal, being deemed singularly illustrative of the Rajput character, has
been extracted from the annals of Jaisalmer, in another part of this
work.[5.2.13] The Rathor chronicler does not enter into details, but
merely states the result, as ultimately involving the death of
Chonda—simply that “he was slain at Nagor with one thousand Rajputs”;
and it is to the chronicles of Jaisalmer we are indebted for our
knowledge of the manner. Chonda acceded in S. 1438 (A.D. 1382), and was
slain in S. 1465 [A.D. 1408-9].
=Ranmall killed A.D. 1444.=—Ranmall succeeded. His mother was of the
Gohil tribe. In stature he was almost gigantic, and was the most
athletic of all the athletes of his nation. With the death of Chonda,
Nagor was again lost to the Rathors. Rana Lakha presented Ranmall with
the township of Darla and forty villages upon his sister’s marriage,
when he almost resided at Chitor, and was considered by the Rana as the
first of his chiefs. With the forces of Mewar added to his own, under
pretence of conveying a daughter to the viceroy of Ajmer, he introduced
his adherents into that renowned fortress, the ancient capital of the
Chauhans, putting the garrison to the sword, and thus restored it to
Mewar. Khemsi Pancholi, the adviser of this measure, was rewarded with a
grant of the township of Kata, then lately captured from the
Kaimkhanis.[5.2.14] Ranmall went on a pilgrimage to Gaya, and paid the
tax exacted for all the pilgrims then assembled.
The bard seldom intrudes the relation of civil affairs into his page,
and when he does, it is incidentally. It would be folly to suppose that
the princes of Maru had no legislative recorders; but with these the
poet had no bond of union. He, however, condescends to inform us of an
important measure of Rao Ranmall, namely, that he equalized the weights
and measures throughout his dominions, which he divided as at present.
The last act of Ranmall, in treacherously attempting to usurp the throne
of the infant Rana of Mewar, was deservedly punished, and he was slain
by the faithful Chonda, as related in the annals of that State.[5.2.15]
This feud originated the line of demarcation of the two States,[5.2.16]
and which remained [17] unaltered until recent times, when Marwar at
length touched the Aravalli. Rao Ranmall left twenty-four sons, whose
issue, and that of his eldest son, Jodha, form the great vassalage of
Marwar. For this reason, however barren is a mere catalogue of names, it
is of the utmost value to those who desire to see the growth of the
frèrage of such a community.[5.2.17]
Names. Clans. Chieftainships or Fiefs.
1. Jodha (succeeded) Jodha.
2. Kandal ┌ Kandalot, conquered ┐
└ lands in │ Bikaner.
│ Awa, Kata, Palri,
3. Champa Champawat ├ Harsola, Rohat,
│ Jawala, Satlana,
┘ Singari.
┐ ┌ Asop, Kantalia,
4. Akhairaj │ Kumpawat │ Chandawal, Siryari,
had seven sons: ├ ┤ Kharla, Harsor, Balu,
1st Kumpa │ │ Bajoria, Surpura,
┘ └ Dewaria.
5. Mandla Mandlot Sarunda.
6. Patta Pattawat ┌ Kurnichari, Bara, and
└ Desnokh.[5.2.18]
7. Lakha Lakhawat ——
8. Bala Balawat Dunara.
9. Jethmall Jethmallot Palasni.
10. Karna Karnot Lunawas.
11. Rupa Rupawat Chutila.
12. Nathu Nathawat Bikaner.
13. Dungra Dungrot ┐
14. Sanda Sandawat │
15. Manda Mandot │
16. Biru Birot │
17. Jagmall Jagmallot │ Estates not mentioned;
18. Hampa [18] Hampawat ├ their descendants have
19. Sakta Saktawat │ become dependent on the
20. Karimchand —-—- │ greater clanships.
21. Arival Arivalot │
22. Ketsi Ketsiot │
23. Satrasal Satrasalot │
24. Tejmall Tejmallot ┘
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Footnote 5.2.1:
[The date of Siha or Siāhji, the traditional founder of the Mārwār
dynasty, was until recently uncertain. An inscription on a memorial
stone gives the date as Vikrama Sambat 1330, A.D. 1387, and for his
grandson, Dhūhada V.S. 1336, A.D. 1393. He is called the eldest son of
Asvatthāma mentioned in the text (_IA_, xi. 301). The tradition is
vitiated by the fact that this was not the first appearance of Rāthors
in Rājputāna. An inscription at Bījapur states that five of this clan
ruled at Hathūndi (Hastikūndi) in the tenth century (Erskine iii. A.
54; _IGI_, vi. 247 f.).]
Footnote 5.2.2:
[The Indhas occupy the W. tract of Mārwār; will not eat the flesh of
the boar; believe that no member of the clan can be struck by
lightning, owing to the prediction of Khākhaji, one of their
ancestors; no epidemic ever breaks out in their territory as it is
under the protection of their goddess, Chāwanda Māta (_Census Report,
Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 31).]
Footnote 5.2.3:
The Dabhi was one of the thirty-six royal races; and this is almost
the last mention of their holding independent possessions. See Vol. I.
p. 138, and the map for the position of Mewa at the bend of the
Luni. [Kher is now a ruined village near Jasol, about 60 miles S.W. of
Jodhpur city, on the left bank of the Lūni.]
Footnote 5.2.4:
In my last journey through these regions, I visited the chief of the
Gohils at Bhavnagar, in the Gulf of Cambay. I transcribed their
defective annals, which trace their migration from ‘Kherdhar,’ but in
absolute ignorance where it is! See Vol. I. p. 137.
Footnote 5.2.5:
[Pāli, 45 miles S.S.E. of Jodhpur city. The Pāliwāls have some
remarkable customs; they do not observe the Rākhi festival because of
a tradition that on the day the town was sacked by Shihābu-d-dīn, the
sacred cords of the men slain and the bangles of those women who
immolated themselves weighed respectively 9 and 84 maunds. Compare the
story of Chitor (Vol. I. p. 383) (_Census Report, Mārwār_, 1891,
ii. 79).]
Footnote 5.2.6:
[Who take their name from their capital, Hathūndi, now ruined, near
Bījapur in S.E. Mārwār.]
Footnote 5.2.7:
On the western coast of the Saurashtra peninsula. [The Okhamandal
legend calls the Rāthor leaders Virāval and Bījal, who overcame the
Chāwaras, and abandoning the name Rāthor, called themselves Vādhel,
‘slayers’ (_BG_, v. 590 f.).]
Footnote 5.2.8:
From _badh_, _vadh_, ‘to slay.’
Footnote 5.2.9:
He was of the Indha branch of the Parihars, and his daughter is called
the Indhavatni.
Footnote 5.2.10:
The descendants of those numbering 1, 2, 4, 7 still exist.
Footnote 5.2.11:
This is the prince mentioned in the extraordinary feud related (p.
731) from the annals of Jaisalmer. Incidentally, we have frequent
synchronisms in the annals of these States, which, however slight, are
of high import.
Footnote 5.2.12:
See Vol. I. p. 323.
Footnote 5.2.13:
See p. 730.
Footnote 5.2.14:
[The Kāim or Qāimkhānis were originally Chauhāns, converted to Islām
in the time of Fīroz Shāh. They are said to derive their name from the
first famous convert. It is a rule with them not to use wooden planks
in their doorways (_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 37 f.; Rose,
_Glossary_, iii. 257).]
Footnote 5.2.15:
See Vol. I. p. 327.
Footnote 5.2.16:
See Vol. I. p. 328.
Footnote 5.2.17:
It is only by the possession of such knowledge that we can exercise
with justice our right of universal arbitration.
Footnote 5.2.18:
Brave soldiers, but, safe in the deep sands, they refuse to serve
except on emergencies.
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