Chauhan
| Chauhan | |
| Vansh | Agnivanshi |
| Common Ancestry | Cheema, Chahal, Chohan Chahar, Chatha, Chhillar |
| Branches: | Sanchora, Sonigara, Lonia Hada, Deora, Bhaduria, Chavan.[2] |
| Ruled in | Nadol, Jalor, Dhundhar, Ajmer, Delhi, Haryana, Neemrana, Hadoti,[3] Godwar |
| Territories: | Ajmer (7th century - 1365) Ranthambore (1236–1302) |
| Princely States: | Tulsipur (7th century - 1857), Mainpuri, Devgadh Baria, Bundi,[3] Sirohi,[3] Kotah[3] |
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Chauhan, Chouhan or Chohan is a clan that ruled parts of northern India in the medieval period. Prithviraj Chauhan, the king of Delhi, was a member of this community.
Myth of origin
Rajput bardic accounts, which are based on mythology, describe the Chauhans as one of the four Agnikula Rajput clans[lower-alpha 1] who claim to have originated from a sacrificial fire-pit (agnikunda) at Mount Abu. These claims of supernatural origin are clearly improbable and have numerous variants, and they give rise to the Chauhans claiming to be a clan of the Agnivanshi dynasty.[1]
Ethnographic status
Denzil Ibbetson, an administrator of the British Raj, classified the Chauhans as a tribe rather than as a caste. He believed, like Nesfield, that the society of the Northwest Frontier Provinces and Punjab in British India did not permit the rigid imposition of an administratively-defined caste construct as his colleague, H. H. Risley preferred. According to Ibbetson, society in Punjab was less governed by Brahmanical ideas of caste, based on varna, and instead was more open and fluid. Tribes, which he considered to be kin-based groups that dominated small areas, were the dominant feature of rural life. Caste designators, such as Jat and Rajput, were status-based titles to which any tribe that rose to social prominence could lay a claim, and which could be dismissed by their peers if they declined. Susan Bayly, a modern anthropologist, considers him to have had "a high degree of accuracy in his observations of Punjab society ... [I]n his writings we really do see the beginnings of modern, regionally based Indian anthroplogy."[4]
History
The Chauhans were historically a powerful group in the region now known as Rajasthan. For around 400 years from the 7th century AD their strength in Sambhar was a threat to the power-base of the Guhilots in the south-west of the area, as also was the strength of their fellow Agnivanshi clans.[5] They suffered a set-back in 1192 when their leader, Prithviraj Chauhan, was defeated at the Battle of Tarain but this did not signify their demise.[6]
Ajay Raj (Anuraj)
Chauhans[7] asserted their independence from the Pratiharas, and in the early 11th century, the Sakhambari king Ajaya-Raja founded the city of Ajayameru (Ajmer) in the southern part of their kingdom.[citation needed]
Notable people
- Prithvi Raj Chauhan, ruler of Ajmer and Delhi
- Gugga, a warrior, minor king and Nāga demigod[8]
- Hammir Dev Chauhan, ruler of Ranathambore
- Kanhad Dev Sonigara, ruler of Jalor
See also
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gupta, R. K.; Bakshi, S. R., eds. (2008). Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages: The Heritage Of Rajputs 1. Sarup & Sons. p. 7. ISBN 9788176258418. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ↑ Stewart Gordon (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818. Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-0-521-26883-7. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Page 51, Chiefs and leading families in Rajputana By C. S. Bayley
- ↑ Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. pp. 139–141. ISBN 9780521798426.
- ↑ Gupta, R. K.; Bakshi, S. R., eds. (2008). Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages: The Heritage Of Rajputs 1. Sarup & Sons. p. 95. ISBN 9788176258418. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ↑ Gupta, R. K.; Bakshi, S. R., eds. (2008). Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages: The Heritage Of Rajputs 1. Sarup & Sons. p. 100. ISBN 9788176258418. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ↑ Radhey Shyam Chaurasia (2002). History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A. D.. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 209. ISBN 978-81-269-0027-5.
- ↑ Hāṇḍā, Omacanda (2004). Naga Cults and Traditions in the Western Himalaya. New Delhi: Indus Publishing. p. 330. ISBN 9788173871610. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
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