| Rajput Clan Sisodia |
|
| Claim Descent From | Suryavansh |
| Descended from: | Koshal |
| Branches (Gotras): | Gahlots, Bachals, Gohils |
| Ruled in | Delhi, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Hariyana, Rajasthan, Gujarat |
| Princely states: | Ayodhya, Awadh, Koshal, Rajputana |
| Population Location: | India, Nepal and Pakistan |
| Languages: | Hindi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Braj Bhasa, Awadhi |
The Sisodia (सिसोदिया in Hindi)(also known as sisodia, Sesodia, Shishodia, Shishodya, Sisodya or Sisodhya) are Chattari Rajputs of the Suryavanshi lineage who ruled the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan.[1] Prior to Rana Hamir the clan was known as Gehlot or Guhilot.
In 1303 CE Alla-ud-din Khilji attacked Chittor. According to legend the events following up to the sack of Chittor, defeat of the Rajput forces were evident. In an attempt to save face, all Rajput men capable of fighting rushed out of the fort during the last stages of the siege to meet certain death. Meanwhile Rani Padmini committed Jauhar or self immolation with all Rajput women, as the muslim invaders often turned the captured women (war bounty) into sex slaves. As parts of the clan were not at the fort during the invasion the lineage survived. Amongst the survivors was Hammir who hailed from Sisoda village. During Hamir of Mewar's visit to Gujarat , a saintly Charan woman Maa Barvadi ji, mother of Baru ji Sauda, helped him using her own funds to supply him with 500 horses to use in the recovery of Chittor. Ultimately Rana Hamir re-established rule over Chittor after 23 years of Muslim occupation. His clan was renamed Sisodia after their village of "Sisoda".[2]
Sisodias claim their descent from Lord Rama - who was from the Raghav (Raghuvanshi) clan of Suryavanshi dynasty. Lord Rama is the hero of the famous Hindu epic The Ramayana & the Sisodias claim descent through his son Luv.
They claim that their flag of Luv that has insignia of 'Sun' that embossed on a crimson back ground. The clan claims that they had moved from Lahore that was also known as 'Lohkot' or 'Lavasthali' to Shiv Desh, or Chitor in V.S 191.[3] The gotras of sisodias is Vaishampayan. The Lord Jaharveer Goga ji were from sisodia(Bachal) family.
In V.S 193 their ancestor Maharaja Kanak sen ruled over Lahore.[4][5] Later he defeated the Kushan Satrap Rudradaman who ruled over Gujarat and moved to Gujarat on a punitive expedition against Dihraj Dev Parmar the ruler of Idar (Gujarat).[6] There he established his capital Vallabhi and a university by the same name.[7]
Vallabhi was the name of Kanak sen's queen and mother of four of his sons Chander Sen, Raghav Sen, Dhir Sen and Bir Sen who later established Bir Nagar in his name.[8] Present day Chittor was also called Bir Nagar in those days.
When their capital was invaded by Hunnic raiders the pregnant queen, Pushpavati, a Paramara princess, escaped their clutches because she was away on a pilgrimage.[9] The queen gave birth to a baby boy, Guhil (Guha - cave born), in a cave in the mountains of Mallia and left him in the hands of Kamalavati, a Brahmin lady from Birnagar. The queen then committed sati (a widow’s self immolation on her husband’s funeral pyre).[9]
Guhil[8] grew up among the tribal Bhils and in 568 AD, when he was 11, became their chieftain. Guhil also founded a new clan known as the Gehlot, who derived their name from their founder. Guhil was succeeded by his son Raja Bhoja and he was succeeded by his son Mahendra I whose son was Nagaditya.
In the 7th century they moved north to the plains of Mewar and settled in the area around Nagda. Nagda (Nagagraha) is a small town around 25 km from Udaipur and was named after Nagaditya, the fourth ruler from Guhil.
Nagaditya was followed by Siladitya (646 AD), whose son was Aparajit (661 AD) who was succeeded by Mahendra II who was accidentally killed by a Bhil in 734 AD, and thus the three-year-old Kalbhoj became king, who later came to be known as Bappa Rawal (Bappa meaning father or elderly figure in local language and Rawal a title of the Kshatriya caste).
The Sisodias trace their descent from Bappa Rawal who conquered Chittor from a ruler of the Mori Dynasty and established Mewar],[10][11] the scion of the Guhilot or Guhila or Gehlot or Gahlot clan, who established himself as ruler of Mewar in 734 AD, ruling from the fortress of Chittor (or Chittorgarh).
Bappa grew up with his single mother, working as a cowherd in the town of Kailashpuri (now Eklingji) When he was 15, Bappa came to know that he was the nephew of the Mori ruler of Chittor who had been ousted by the ruler of Malwa. He left Kailashpuri, went to the fortress city of Chittor and snatched his kingdom back from the prince of Malwa, Man Singh Mori. These details are not historically authenticated and can be seen as an example of the Hegemony of Discourse, whereby just because they happened to be territorial feudal lords, & wielded political power - a contrary narrative is not found in evidence.
Chittor remained the capital of the Sisodias till it was sacked by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar in 1568.
Prince Khoman followed Bappa and Khoman II was grandson of Khoman. They led various expeditions against invaders. Important was expedition in 812 AD uniting Rajputs and throwing the armies of Harun-al-Rashid from India and Sind. He was involved in series of battles and led armies to victory after victory culminating in 812 AD when the invaders were finally thrown out. This led to a time of peace till 100 years later Md Gazni came into picture.
Rana Samar Singh (Samarsi) was married to princess Pritha of Ajmer,[12] sister of Prithviraj Chauhan. He was killed at the Battle of Ghaggar during the defeat of the Hindu confederacy under Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Md Shamshuddin Ghori in 1193 AD.[12][13]
Jauhar of 1303: Ala-ud-din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, sent a marauding army across India at the turn of the 13th century; this army, commanded by Malik Kafur, soundly defeated the Guhilot rulers of Mewar in 1303.[14] The impending fall of Chittorgarh, the main bastion of the Guhilots, occasioned the famous Jauhar of 1303 AD.,[15] when the womenfolk, led by Rani Padmini,[16] collectively committed suicide rather than risk personal dishonor at the hands of the victorious invading army. The brave men wore saffron turbans as a mark of performing saka, of running into battle with no hope of coming back. The injured and surviving Guhilot menfolk and their retainers are said to have subsequently taken refuge in the nearby hills.
The Gehlots settled in Ahar,[17] where they were known as Aharya. They maintained this title until they relocated to Sisoda. Sisoda was used as a name when a prince of Chittor built the town right where he had killed a hare (Susso). Since then the clan has retained the title of Sisodia. However, another version says that the dynasty was so named from the word sisa or lead. It is said that a prince of the dynasty was accidentally made to eat a medication with pigeon blood when he had given up meat-eating. The Sisodias are staunch followers of the Hindu faith where being a Satvik is very serious business. When the prince realised his folly he chose to atone for his blunder by swallowing molten lead (sisa).
Rana Hamir Singh (1326–1364) recaptured Chittaurgarh in 1326,[18] and was the first ruler of the clan to use the royal title of "Rana." He changed the family name to Sisodia, derived from Sisoda, the name of the village where he was born. Rana Kumbha (1433–1468) expanded the kingdom and established a system of forts to secure its boundaries. He made Mewar the most powerful Rajput state of the period. Rana Sanga (1509–1527) sought to free northern India from the Sultanate, and convinced Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty, to challenge Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. Babur defeated Ibrahim at the First Battle of Panipat, and Rana Sangha then led an assembled Bargujar and other Rajputs army to drive Babur away and to recapture Delhi from the Muslims, who had ruled there since the end of the 12th century. Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanua, and Mewar was forced to pay tribute to the Mughals.
The struggle between Babur's successor Humayun and the Suri Dynasty allowed Mewar to regain its independence for several decades. Humayun's successor Akbar brought most of the Rajput states under his rule by force or by dynastic marriage, but the Sisodias refused along with Bargujars,[19] and Akbar sent an army headed by the Rajput general Raja Man Singh of the Kachwaha clan. After the capture of Chittaur by the emperor Akbar in 1568, Rana Udai Singh II (1537–1572) shifted the capital to the more defensible site of Udaipur, which he had founded shortly before the fall of Chittaur. Rana Pratap Singh (1572–1596) led a guerrilla war ,along with Raghav (Raghuvanshi) as their main allies, against the occupying armies of the Mughals and their Rajput allies. After the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb attacked the neighboring kingdom of Marwar in 1679, the Sisodias formed a triple alliance with the Rathores of Marwar and the Kachwahas of Jaipur to liberate the Rajputs from the Mughals.
Bhim Singh (1777–1828) was the first ruler to use the title maharana (great king). A branch of the family ruled the state of Barwani in present-day Madhya Pradesh. After India became independent in 1947, Maharana Sir Bhupal Singh acceded to the Government of India in 1948. The Sisodias still retain their royal titles and Maharana Mahendra Singh Mewar of Udaipur is still the "royal officiator of Udaipur" (2005).
A second branch of Gohils who also were the descendants of Bappa Rawal ruled Khergarh in Marwar. They were displaced by the combined forces of the Rathores and Sodhas and were forced to migrate to present day Gujarat under the leadership of Sejakji. After building various alliances with the local Solanki and Raijada rulers and displacing some of the local Kathi and Mer rulers.
Sejakji established a kingdom in eastern Kathiawar.[20] Sejakji's descendants managed to hold a precarious hold over their newly acquired territory under constant pressure from the local Kathis and the Muslim Sultanate of Gujrat initially. During later years they had to also face hostilities from the Nawab of Junagadh and the Marathas which resulted in many armed conflicts. Many of these descendants of Sejakji perished in the almost constant state of warfare that existed in the turbulent and violent Eastern Kathiawar of those days.They had to frequently shift capitals starting from Sejakpur to Ranpur, Ghogha, Shihor and finally Bhavnagar[21] due to land constantly changing hands during hostilities. However in spite of the tremendous odds stacked against them they kept expanding by conquering Kathi territories and gained wealth and prominence by raiding the territories of the Sultanate of Gujrat. They frequently plundered the ships of the Delhi Sultans that plied the Gulf of Khambat.
Sejakji's grandson Mokhdaji[22] became famous as a plunderer of Mohammad Tugluq's fleet. The Gohils eventually founded the State of Bhavnagar also known as Gohilwar. One of Mokhdaji's sons inherited Rajpipla[23] from his maternal Grandfather who ruled the area and had no other heir and so the Gohils also gained Rajpipla in Eastern Gujrat. The Gohil Rulers of Bhavnagar and their immediate brethren (up to six generation distant) are titled Raol. H.H. Maharaja Raol Shree KrishnakumarSinghji Gohil of Bhavnagar was the first Indian Ruler to voluntarily accede to the Indian Union in 1947. In addition to Bhavnagar two of Sejakji's younger sons each founded the smaller states of Palitana and Lathi in Kathiawar. Other branch of Gohils from Khergarh (Marwar) settled at Naroli in the present day Banaskantha District and made Naroli their capital. They were eventually displaced by the Chauhans.
Guhil was the first person of this clan, after whom the clan was named Guhilot or Gehlot. Son of Guhil was Bhoj and his son was Mahendra. Son of Mahendra was Nagaditya and his son was Shiladitya (646). Son of Shiladitya was Aparajit (661). Son of Aparajit was Mahendra II and his son was Kalbhoj. Kalbhoj is also known by his title Bappa Rawal. He established rule over Chittor in 734.
The Bhonsle clan, to which the Maratha Empire's founder Shivaji belonged, also claimed descent from the Sisodia clan. According to this theory, Shivaji's original ancestors had migrated from Mewar to Deccan.[24] Pandit Gaga Bhatt of Varanasi presented a genealogy declaring that Shivaji's ancestors were Kshatriyas descended from the solar line of the Rajput Ranas of Mewar.[25]
The following is the Sisodia lineage which is said to have migrated from Chittor to Deccan:[26][27]
However, the claimed Sisodia Rajput origin of the Bhonsle has been contested by academics such as Sir Jadunath Sarkar.[28] On the contrary much famed British Historian James Tod declares Shivaji to be a rajput of sisodia lineage.[29]
Sisodia - Shaktawat lineage from Bainsroregard which moved to Umgaa(Dev Riyassat) Magadh/Gaya/Aurangabad/Bihar (early of 16th century)
The Mewar flag[30] is distinguished for its "crimson" flag. During times of war and peace, this standard could always be seen flying high. It depicts the image of a dagger and a flaming sun. Robert Taylor of the Bengal Civil Service records in his book, "The Princely Armory", "...for eight centuries a golden sun in a crimson field has floated over the head of the Rana at feast and fray, and is conspicuous in the ornament of his palace...On the top of the mast is the face of the Sun, embossed in gold. On the triangular Nishan (flag), the human face is embroidered in gold depicting the Sun. It has a gold tassle at the end. A Katar (a type of dagger) with silver threads on the Nishan completes this simple design. The Sun signifies that the Nishan is of the "Surya Vansi" (Sun Dynasty) Maharanas of Mewar. The Katar is the emblem of independence....the colour of the Nishan (flag) is Saffron and the mast is red."[31]
Villages of sisodia in Bihar(Siwan,Magadh Region)
There is one village in Siwan named Narhan well known for sisodia Rajput. There are proved history which is yet to reveal for their movement. Research is still under progress.
There are 25 village in the dist of Aurangabad ,Bihar All are the vansha of Saktawat clan of sisodia Rajpoot. Rana sakti Singh of Bainsroregarh his son Rana Rao bhan singh married his son Sahatramaal Singh in Umga (Aurangabad). The villages of Sisodia Rajpoots in Aurangabad Bihar(Magadh) are-Dev, Umgaa ,Riyasat Ghatrain, Rankappi, Bania, Mahuawaan,Aajan ,Pemaa, Baarah,dadhpa,Panchokhar,Berhni,khargdiha, katayia,ketaki, basdihaa, bahuaraa,sadkaar, Belwan(daudnagar). Note :all these villages are situated in Madanpur Block ,Aurangabad Bihar. The sisodia Lived in these villages are Skatawat Clan of Rajpoot
Agra district: There are 12 villages of sisodia rajputs near Fatehpur sikri fort in agra district. These are Daultabad, Nayavas, Satha, korai, Behrawati, Byara, Undera, Kachora, Singarpur, Vidyapur,Bakanda khas, Onera, Arrua, Rajnagar (Kla),hasanpur baru near Sadabad Distt. And 5(five) Villages Like Naglakhansingh,and Madanpur,Santoshpur,Shakheuli,Harsinghpur,Ugarpur at Farrukhabad district Near Bewar. Ghaziabad district-- There are 60 villages of sisodia rajputs near pilkhua,famous as satha(60 villages in local language).
Some of the famous villages are Bajhera Khurd, Dhaulana, Shahpur Phagota (Fagota), Saulana, Samana, Jarcha, Sapnawat, Dahana, Matnawali, Shivaya, Khera etc. This area is dominated by sisodia rajputs and they are also known as Rana or Gehlot. There ancestors came from Mewar (Rajasthan)
There are 12 villages of bachal sisodias in bulandshahr district in siyana tehsil namely unchagaon(amarthal), narsaina, sabdalpur, pali, raghunathpur etc.
There are 150 villages in district of hathras near agra.This is the largest hub of Sisodias in Uttar Pradesh. These 150 villages are leaded by some dominating villages like BISANA,ROHAI,SEHPAU. Bisana is considered as the most developed village between them. Sisodias of Bisana usually use Rana as there surname.
There are 22 villages of sisodia rajputs in delhi. Some of them are Rajapur in rohini sec-9 ,Shalimar Bagh, Singlepur, Mukundpur etc.
There are 24 villages of Sisodias near OSIAN, SHERGARH District(JODHPUR) in Rajasthan namely BAPINI, BAP, ISARU, BEDU, SUWAP,BHADA,Gudiyala, Barla, Gopalsar and Belva. dungar sisodiya www.dungarsisodiya.ewebsite.com
Thikana Yawal,Vathoda, Bhavale,Malpur,Osarli,Koparli,Holnanthe,Virvade,Vaindane,Suray,Kharde,Rami,Palasner,Vani,Malane,Bahyane,Aarale,Dondaicha,Kolde,Jatoda, Kalamsare etc.