The Hara is the most important of the twenty-four Chauhan sakha, being descended from Anuraj, the son of Manik Rae, king of Ajmer, who in S. 741 (A.D. 685) sustained the first shock of the Islamite arms.[1]
“When the impieties of the kings of the warrior race drew upon them the vengeance of Parasurama, who twenty-one times extirpated that race, some, in order to save their lives, called themselves bards; others assumed the guise of women; and thus the singh (horn) of the Rajputs was preserved, when dominion was assigned to the Brahmans. The impious avarice of Sahasra Arjuna, of the Haihaya race, king of Maheswar[4] on the Nerbudda, provoked the last war, having slain the father of Parasurama [440].
“But as the chief weapon of the Brahman is his curse or blessing, great disorders soon ensued from the want of the strong arm. Ignorance and infidelity spread over the land; the sacred books were trampled under foot, and mankind had no refuge from the monstrous brood.[5] In this exigence, Viswamitra, the instructor in arms[6] of Bhagwan, revolved within his own mind, and determined upon, the re-creation of the Chhattris. He chose for this rite the summit of Mount Abu,[7] where dwell the hermits and sages (Munis and Rishis) constantly occupied in the duties of religion, and who had carried their complaints even to the khir samudra (sea of curds), where they saw the Father of Creation floating upon the hydra (emblem of eternity). He desired them to regenerate the warrior race, and they returned to Mount Abu with Indra, Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu, and all the inferior divinities, in their train. The fire-fountain (analkund) was lustrated with the waters of the Ganges; expiatory rites were performed, and, after a protracted debate, it was resolved that Indra should initiate the work of re-creation. Having formed an image (putli) of the durva grass, he sprinkled it with the water of life, and threw it into the fire-fountain. Thence, on pronouncing the sanjivan mantra (incantation to give life), a figure slowly emerged from the flame, bearing in the right hand a mace, and exclaiming, 'Mar! mar!' (slay, slay). He was called Pramar; and Abu, Dhar, and Ujjain were assigned to him as a territory.
“Brahma was then entreated to frame one from his own essence (ansa). He made an image, threw it into the pit, whence issued a figure armed with a sword (khadga) in one hand, with the Veda in the other, and a janeo round his neck. He was named Chalukya or Solanki, and Anhilpur Patan was appropriated to him.
“Rudra formed the third. The image was sprinkled with the water of the Ganges, and on the incantation being read, a black ill-favoured figure arose, armed with the dhanush or bow. As his foot slipped when sent against the demons, he was called Parihar, and placed as the pauliya, or guardian of the gates. He had the Naunangal Marusthali, or ‘nine habitations of the desert,’ assigned him.him.
“The fourth was formed by Vishnu; when an image like himself four-armed, each having a separate weapon, issued from the flames, and was thence styled Chaturbhuja Chauhan, or the ‘four-armed.’ The gods bestowed their blessing upon him, and Mahishmati-nagari as a territory. Such was the name of Garha-Mandla in the Dwapur, or silver age [441].[8]
“The Daityas were watching the rites, and two of their leaders were close to the fire-fountain; but the work of regeneration being over, the new-born warriors were sent against the infidels, when a desperate encounter ensued. But as fast as the blood of the demons was shed, young demons arose; when the four tutelary divinities, attendant on each newly-created race, drank up the blood, and thus stopped the multiplication of evil. These were—
“When the Daityas were slain, shouts of joy rent the sky; ambrosial showers were shed from heaven; and the gods drove their cars (vahan) about the firmament, exulting at the victory thus achieved.
“Of all the Thirty-six Royal Races (says Chand, the great bard of the Chauhans), the Agnikula is the greatest: the rest were born of woman; these were created by the Brahmans![10]—Gotracharya of the Chauhans, Sama Veda, Somvansa, Madhuvani sakha, Vacha gotra, Panch parwar janeo, Laktankari nikas, Chandrabhaga Nadi, Brighu nishan, Ambika-Bhavani, Balan Putra, Kalbhairon, Abu Achaleswar Mahadeo, Chaturbhuja Chauhan.”
The period of this grand convocation of the gods on Mount Abu, to regenerate the warrior race of Hind, and to incite them against ‘the infidel races who had spread over the land,’ is dated so far back as the opening of the second age of the Hindus: a point which we shall not dispute. Neither shall we throw a doubt upon the chronicles which claim Prince Salya, one of the great heroes of the Mahabharata, as an intermediate link between Anhal Chauhan and Satpati, who founded Mahishmati, and conquered the Konkan; while another son, called Tantar Pal, conquered Asir and Gualkund (Golkonda), planted his garrisons in every region, and possessed nine hundred elephants to carry pakhals, or water-skins [442].
Let us here pause for a moment before we proceed with the chronicle, and inquire who were these warriors, thus regenerated to fight the battles of Brahmanism, and brought within the pale of their faith. They must have been either the aboriginal debased classes, raised to moral importance, by the ministers of the pervading religion, or foreign races who had obtained a footing amongst them. The contrasted physical appearance of the respective races will decide this question. The aborigines are dark, diminutive, and ill-favoured; the Agnikulas are of good stature, and fair, with prominent features, like those of the Parthian kings. The ideas which pervade their martial poetry are such as were held by the Scythian in distant ages, and which even Brahmanism has failed to eradicate; while the tumuli, containing ashes and arms, discovered throughout India, especially in the south about Gualkund, where the Chauhans held sway,[11] indicate the nomadic warrior of the north as the proselyte of Mount Abu.
Of the four Agnikula races, the Chauhans were the first who obtained extensive dominions. The almost universal power of the Pramaras is proverbial; but the wide sway possessed by the Chauhans can only be discovered with difficulty. Their glory was on the wane when that of the Pramaras was in the zenith; and if we may credit the last great bard of the Rajputs, the Chauhans held in capite of the Pramaras of Telingana, in the eighth century of Vikrama, though the name of Prithiraj threw a parting ray of splendour upon the whole line of his ancestry, even to the fire-fountain on the summit of classic Abu.
The facts to be gleaned in the early page of the chronicle are contained in a few stanzas, which proclaim the possession of paramount power, though probably of no lengthened duration. The line of the Nerbudda, from Mahishmati, Maheswar, was their primitive seat of sovereignty, comprehending all the tracts in its vicinity both north and south. Thence, as they multiplied, they spread over the peninsula, possessing Mandu, Asir, Golkonda, and the Konkan;[12] while to the north, [443] they stretched even to the fountains of the Ganges. The following is the bard’s picture of the Chauhan dominion:—
“From ‘the seat of government’ (rajasthan) Mahishmati, the oath of allegiance (an) resounded in fifty-two castles. The land of Tatta, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar,[13] the Chauhan in his might arose and conquered even to the hills of Badarinath. The infidels (Asuras) fled, and allegiance was proclaimed in Delhi and Kabul, while the country of Nepal he bestowed on the Mallani.[14] Crowned with the blessing of the gods, he returned to Mahishmati.”
It has already been observed, that Mahishmati-Nagari was the ancient name of Garha-Mandla, whose princes for ages continued the surname of Pal, indicative, it is recorded by tradition, of their nomadic occupation. The Ahirs, who occupied all Central India, and have left in one nook (Ahirwara) a memorial of their existence, was a branch of the same race, Ahir being a synonym for Pal.[15] Bhilsa, Bhojpur, Dip, Bhopal, Eran, Garaspur, are a few of the ancient towns established by the Pals or Palis; and could we master the still unknown characters appertaining to the early colonists of India, more light would be thrown on the history of the Chauhans.[16]
A scion from Mahishmati, named Ajaipal, established himself at Ajmer,[17] and erected its castle of Taragarh. The name of Ajaipal is one of the most conspicuous that tradition has preserved, and is always followed by the epithet of Chakravartin, or universal potentate. His era must ever remain doubtful, unless, as already observed, we should master the characters said to belong to this race, and which are still extant, both on stone and on copper.[18] From what cause is not stated (most probably a failure of [444] lineal issue), Prithi Pahar was brought from Mahishmati to Ajmer. By a single wife (for polygamy was then unknown to these races) he had twenty-four sons, whose progeny peopled these regions, one of whose descendants, Manika Rae, was lord of Ajmer and Sambhar, in the year S. 741, or A.D. 685.
Puerile as is the transaction, its truth is substantiated by the fact that the Caliph Omar at this very time sent an army to Sind, whose commander, Abu-l-lais, was slain in an attempt on the ancient capital, Alor.[19] Still nothing but the enthusiasm of religious frenzy could have induced a band to cross the desert in order to punish this insult to the new faith.
Whatever were the means, however, by which Ajmer was captured, and Dhola Rae slain, the importance of the event has been deeply imprinted on the Chauhans; who, in remembrance of it, deified the youthful heir of Ajmer: “Lot putra” is still the most conspicuous of the Chauhan penates. The day on which he was killed is sanctified, and his effigy then receives divine honours from all who have the name of Chauhan. Even the anklet of bells which he wore has become an object of veneration, and is forbidden to be used by the children of this race.
“Of the house of Dhola Rae of Chauhan race, Lotdeo, the heir-apparent by the decree of Siva, on Monday the 12th of the month of Jeth, went to heaven.”
Manika Rae, the uncle of the youth (putra) (who is still the object of general homage, especially of the Chauhan fair), upon the occupation of Ajmer, retired upon [445] Sambhar, which event another couplet fixes, as we have said, in S. 741.[20] Here the bard has recourse to celestial interposition in order to support Manika Rae in his adversity. The goddess Sakambhari appears to him, while seeking shelter from the pursuit of this merciless foe, and bids him establish himself in the spot where she manifested herself, guaranteeing to him the possession of all the ground he could encompass with his horse on that day; but commanded him not to look back until he had returned to the spot where he left her. He commenced the circuit, with what he deemed his steed could accomplish, but forgetting the injunction, he was surprised to see the whole space covered as with a sheet. This was the desiccated sar, or salt-lake, which he named after his patroness Sakambhari, whose statue still exists on a small island in the lake, now corrupted to Sambhar.[21]
However jejune these legends of the first days of Chauhan power, they suffice to mark with exactness their locality; and the importance attached to this settlement is manifested in the title of ‘Sambhari Rao,’ maintained by Prithiraj, the descendant of Manika Rae, even when emperor of all Northern India.
Manika Rae, whom we may consider as the founder of the Chauhans of the north, recovered Ajmer. He had a numerous progeny, who established many petty dynasties throughout Western Rajwara, giving birth to various tribes, which are spread even to the Indus. The Khichi,[22] the Hara, the Mohil, Nirwana, Bhadauria, Bhaurecha, Dhanetia, and Baghrecha, are all descended from him.[23] The Khichis were established in the remote Duab, called Sind-Sagar, comprising all the tract between the Behat and the Sind, a space of sixty-eight coss, whose capital was Khichpur-Patan. The Haras obtained or founded Asi (Hansi) in Hariana; while another tribe held Gualkund, the celebrated Golkonda, now Haidarabad, and when thence expelled, regained Asir. The Mohils had the tracts round Nagor.[24] The Bhadaurias had an appanage on the Chambal, in a tract which bears their name, and [446] is still subject to them. The Dhanetias settled at Shahabad, which by a singular fatality has at length come into the possession of the Haras of Kotah. Another branch fixed at Nadol, but never changed the name of Chauhan.[25]
Many chieftainships were scattered over the desert, either trusting to their lances to maintain their independence, or holding of superiors; but a notice of them, however interesting, would here, perhaps, be out of place. Eleven princes are enumerated in the Jaga’s catalogue, from Manika Rae to Bisaldeo,[26] a name of the highest celebrity in the Rajput annals, and a landmark to various authorities, who otherwise have little in common even in their genealogies, which I pass over in silence, with the exception of the intermediate name of Harsraj,[27] common to the Hamir Raesa as well as the Jaga’s list. The authority of Harsraj stretched along the Aravalli mountains to Abu, and east of the Chambal. He ruled from S. 812 to 827 (A.H. 138 to 153), and fell in battle against the Asuras, having attained the title of Arimurdan.[28] Ferishta says, that “in A.H. 143, the Muslims greatly increased, when issuing from their hills they obtained possession of Karman, Peshawar, and all the lands adjacent; and that the Raja of Lahore, who was of the family of the Raja of Ajmer, sent his brother[29] against these Afghans, who were reinforced by the tribes of Khilj, of Ghor and Kabul, just become proselytes to Islam”;[29] and he adds, that during five months, seventy battles were fought with success; or, to use the historian’s own words, “in which Sipahi sarma (General Frost) was victorious over the infidel, but who returned when the cold season was passed with fresh force. The armies met [447] between Karman and Peshawar; sometimes the infidel (Rajput) carried the war to the Kohistan, ‘mountainous regions,’ and drove the Musalmans before him; sometimes the Musalmans, obtaining reinforcements, drove the infidel by flights of arrows to their own borders, to which they always retired when the torrents swelled the Nilab (Indus).”
Whether the Raja of Ajmer personally engaged in these distant combats the chronicle says not. According to the Hamir Raesa, Harsraj was succeeded by Dujgandeo, whose advanced post was Bhatner, and who overcame Nasiru-d-din, from whom he captured twelve hundred horse, and hence bore the epithet of Sultan Graha, or ‘King-seizer.’ Nasiru-d-din was the title of the celebrated Sabuktigin, father to the still more celebrated Mahmud. Sabuktigin repeatedly invaded India during the fifteen years’ reign of his predecessor Alptigin.
This was probably the last of Mahmud’s invasions, when he marched direct from Multan through the desert. He attacked Ajmer, which was abandoned, and the country around given up to devastation and plunder. The citadel, Garhbitli, however, held out, and Mahmud was foiled, wounded, and obliged to retreat by Nadol,[34] another Chauhan possession, which he sacked, and then proceeded to Nahrwala, which he captured. His barbarities promoted a coalition, which, by compelling him to march through the western deserts to gain the valley of Sind, had nearly proved fatal to his army.
The exploits of Bisaldeo form one of the books of Chand the bard. The date assigned to Bisaldeo in the Raesa (S. 921) is interpolated—a vice not uncommon with the Rajput bard, whose periods acquire verification from less mutable materials than those out of which he weaves his song.[35]
Chand gives an animated picture of the levy of the Rajput chivalry, which assembled under Bisaldeo, who, as the champion of the Hindu faith, was chosen to lead its warriors against the Islamite invader. The Chalukya king of Anhilwara alone refused to join the confederation, and in terms which drew upon him the vengeance of the Chauhan. A literal translation of the passage may be interesting:
“To the Goelwal Jeth, the prince entrusted Ajmer, saying, ‘On your fealty I depend’; where can this Chalukya find refuge? He moved from the city (Ajmer) and encamped on the lake Visala,[36] and summoned his tributaries and vassals to meet him. Mansi Parihar with the array of Mandor, touched his feet.[37] Then came the Guhilot, the ornament of the throng;[38] and the Pawasar [449], with Tuar,[39] and Rama the Gaur;[40] with Mohes the lord of Mewat.[41] The Mohil of Dunapur with tribute sent excuse.[42] With folded hands arrived the Baloch,[43] but the lord of Bamani abandoned Sind.[44] Then came the Nazar from Bhatner,[45] and the Nalbandi from Tatta[46] and Multan.[46] When the summons reached the Bhumia Bhatti of Derawar,[47] all obeyed; as did the Jadon of Malanwas.[48] The Mori[49] and Bargujar[49] also joined with the Kachhwahas of Antarved.[49] The subjugated Meras worshipped his feet.[50] Then came the array of Takatpur, headed by the Goelwal Jeth.[51] Mounted in haste came Udaya Pramar,[52] with the Nirwan[53] and the Dor,[54] the Chandel,[54] and the Dahima.”[55]
In this short passage, a text is afforded for a dissertation on the whole genealogical history of Rajputana at that period. Such extracts from the more ancient bards, incorporated in the works of their successors, however laconic, afford decisive evidence [450] that their poetic chronicles bore always the same character; for this passage is introduced by Chand merely as a preface to the history of his own prince, Prithiraj, the descendant of Bisaldeo.
A similar passage was given from the ancient chronicles of Mewar, recording an invasion of the Muslims, of which the histories of the invaders have left no trace (Vol. I. p. 287). The evidence of both is incontestable; every name affords a synchronism not to be disputed; and though the isolated passage would afford a very faint ray of light to the explorer of those days of darkness, yet when the same industrious research has pervaded the annals of all these races, a flood of illumination pours upon us, and we can at least tell who the races were who held sway in these regions a thousand years ago.
Amidst meagre, jejune, and unsatisfactory details, the annalist of Rajputana must be content to wade on, in order to obtain some solid foundation for the history of the tribes; but such facts as these stimulate his exertions and reward his toil: without them, his task would be hopeless. To each of the twenty tribes enumerated, formed under the standard of the Chauhan, we append a separate notice, for the satisfaction of the few who can appreciate their importance, while some general remarks may suffice as a connexion with the immediate object of research, the Haras, descended from Bisaldeo.
In the first place, it is of no small moment to be enabled to adjust the date of Bisaldeo, the most important name in the annals of the Chauhans from Manik Rae to Prithiraj, and a slip from the genealogical tree will elucidate our remarks [451].[56]
[From Anhal to Bilandeo, these are but a few of the leading names. From Bilandeo the chain is continuous to the last Chauhan king, Prithiraj.]
| ┌ | Or Agnipala, ‘offspring of fire,’ | ||||||
| │ | the first Chauhan; probable period 650 | ||||||
| │ | before Vikrama, when an invasion | ||||||
| Anhal | ┤ | of the Turushkas took place; | |||||
| │ | established Mahishmati-nagari | ||||||
| │ | (Garha-mandala); conquered the | ||||||
| └ | Konkan, Asir, Golkonda. | ||||||
| Savacha | |||||||
| Malan | ┌ | In all probability this is the patriarch | |||||
| └ | of the Mallani tribe, see p. 1272. | ||||||
| Ganal Sur | |||||||
| ┌ | Or universal potentate; founder of | ||||||
| │ | Ajmer. Same authorities say, in | ||||||
| S. 202 | Ajaipala Chakravartin | ┤ | 202 of the Vikrama; others of the | ||||
| │ | Virat-Samvat: the latter is the | ||||||
| └ | most probable. | ||||||
| ┌ | Slain, and lost Ajmer, on the first | ||||||
| Dhola Rae | ┤ | irruption of the Muhammadans, S. | |||||
| └ | 741, A.D. 685. | ||||||
| ┌ | Founded Sambhar: hence the title | ||||||
| S. 741 | Manika Rae | ┤ | of Sambhari-Rao borne by the | ||||
| └ | Chauhan princes, his issue. | ||||||
| S. 827 | Harsraj | ┌ | Defeated Nasiru-d-din (qu. Sabuktigin?), ' | ||||
| └ | thence styled 'Sultan-graha. | ||||||
| Bir Bilandeo | ┌ | Or Dharmagaj; slain defending | |||||
| └ | Ajmer against Mahmud of Ghazni. | ||||||
| S. 1065 to | ┌ | (Classically, Visaladeva); his period, | |||||
| 1130 | Bisaldeo | ┤ | from various inscriptions, S. 1066 | ||||
| └ | to S. 1130. | ||||||
| Sarangdeo | Died in nonage. | ||||||
| Ana | ┌ | Constructed the Ana-Sagar at | |||||
| └ | Ajmer; still bears his name. | ||||||
| Jaipal. | Harspal. | ||||||
| Ajaideo, | Bijaideo. | Udaideo. | |||||
| or | |||||||
| Ananddeo. | |||||||
| Someswar: | Kan Rae. | Jeth, Goelwal. | |||||
| married Ruka Bai, | |||||||
| daughter of Anangpal | |||||||
| Tuar king of Delhi. | |||||||
| Isardas; | |||||||
| turned Muhammadan. | |||||||
| Prithiraj; | Chahirdeo. | ||||||
| obtained Delhi; slain by | |||||||
| Shihabu-d-din, S. 1249, | |||||||
| A.D. 1193. | |||||||
| Vijaya Raj. | ┌ | Adopted successor to Prithiraj; his | |||||
| └ | name is on the pillar at Delhi. | ||||||
| ┌ | Had twenty-one sons; seven of whom were legitimate, | ||||||
| Rainsi; | │ | the others illegitimate, and founders of mixed tribes. | |||||
| slain in the sack | Lakhansi | ┤ | From Lakhansi there are twenty-six generations to | ||||
| of Delhi. | │ | Noniddh Singh, the present chieftain of Nimrana, the | |||||
| └ | nearest lineal descendant of Ajaipal and Prithiraj. | ||||||