Bais Rajput

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Bais is a common surname found in the Unnao and Raibarely districts of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the Indian Union. Their clan belongs to the ancient Hindu Rajput warrior caste.

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[edit] Origin and history

The Bais Rajputs are considered to be Suryavanshi but, according to their own account, their eponymous ancestor was Salivanhana, the mythic son of a snake who conquered the great Raja Vikramaditya of Ujjain in 55 AD and established his own area. The clan claims to have come from Manji Paithan in the Dekhan in 78 AD when Salivanhana was king[citation needed]. This was the Saka era and Salivahana was the leader of the Saka nomads who invaded Gujarat on two occasions before and shortly after the beginning of the Christian era.

The Bais Rajputs are now a numerous clan and have given their name to an extensive district Baiswara in the Doab, the land between the Ganga and Yamuna. They are found all over the United Provinces and Bihar and they have settled in small numbers in the Northern and Eastern Districts.

The name according to Crooke in his book, The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh means 'one who occupies the soil'.

[edit] Custom

The Bais Rajput clan never kill snakes, which they hold in great reverence. The Bais believe that no snake has destroyed, or ever can destroy, one of the clan. They seem to take no precautions against snake bite except hanging a vessel of water at the head of the sufferer, with a small tube at the bottom, from which the water is poured on his head for as long as he can bear it. So important is the snake to the Bais that the cobra forms part of the clan's flag.

The principal hero of the Bais was Tilokchand, who is supposed to have come from the Central Provinces. He lived about 1400 AD and he was the premier Raja of Oudh. He extended his dominions over all the tract known as Baiswara which comprises the bulk of the Rai Bareli and Unnao Districts. The descendants of Tilokchand form a separate subdivision known as Tilochandi Bais.

The Bais intermarry with the Chauhan, Kachwaha, Chandel, Gautam and other prominent Rajput clans.

The Bains in Punjab claim to be Bais.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Calcutta, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. ISBN 81-206-1210-8.

[edit] External links