Chauhan Rajputs

(Vansh : Agnivanshi) Chauhan with 26 branches. (Major Shakhas- Hada or Hara, Songara, Deora, Khichi,
Shambhri, Sanchora, Pavia, Goyalwal, Bhadauria, Malani, Nirwan, Puravia,Madrecha, Cheeba,
Mohil,Chahil, Balecha, Chachera,Boda,Nadola, Nikumbh,.....etc ,. In Maharashtra the septs are: Chavan,
Tawade, Gavane, Hande, Pansare, Randive, Kalbhor, Ispute, Kedar. According to the Rajput bards
the Chauhan is one of the four (and the last) Agnikula or ''fire sprung'' tribes who were created by the gods
in the anali kund or ''fountain of fire'' on Mount Abu to fight against the Asuras or demons. According to
legend:” Again Vashista (or Agastya) seated in the lotus prepared incantations; again he called the gods to
aid, and as he poured forth the libation a figure arose; lofty in stature, of elevated front, hair like jet, eyes
rolling, breast expanded, fierce, terrific, clad in armour with quiver filled, a bow in one hand and a brand in
the other, quadriform (chaturanga) , hence the name was given as Chauhan”. Another explanation is: that
the Chauhan was born from the fourhanded warrior Chatur-bhuja, Chatur-baha or Chaturvira. This account
makes the Chauhan the most important of the fire clans, and colonel Tod says that he was the most valiant
of the Agnikulas, and it may be asserted not of then only but of the whole Rajput race though the swords of
the Rathors would be ready to contest the point. Chauhan is also one of the 36 (royal) ruling races of the
Rajputs. The Chauhans come from Jaipur and its environ Sambhar (as found from inscriptions) and Ajmer
(which is said to been founded by them in the 11th century) in Rajputana appear to have been the first home
of the clan, and inscriptions record a long line of 39 kings as reigning from Anhul, the first created Chauhan.
The last of them, Vigraha Raja or Bisla Deo, in the middle of the 12th century extended the ancestral
dominions considerably, and conquered Delhi from a chief of the Tomara clan. At the time the Chauhans,
according to their own bard , held the line of the Nerbudda from Garha Mandla to Maheswar and also
Asirgarh, while their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to the Aravalli hills. The nephew of Bisal
Deo was Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the last Hindu Ruler of Delhi. He ruled at Sambhar, Ajmer and Delhi. His first
exploit was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, the Gaharwar (or Rathore) Raja of Kannauj in 1175.
The king of Kanauj had claimed the title of universal sovereign and determined to celebrate the Ashwa-
Medha or horse sacrifice, at which all the offices should be performed by vassal kings. This was the last
Asvamedha performed by a Hindu king. Pritvi Raj of Delhi and Samarsi of Mewar alone declined to attend
as subordinate, and Jaichand therefore made a wooden image of him and set it up at the gate in the part of
the doorkeeper. But when his daughter after the tournament took the garland of flowers to bestow it on the
chief whom she chose for her husband, she passed by all the assembled nobles and threw the garland on
the neck of the wooden image. At this moment Prithvi Raj dashed in with a few companions, and catching
her up, escaped with her from her father’s court. Mer. E. Balfour: ” In this successfull rape he lost the flower
of his followers and his subsequent defeat by the Muhamaddans has been partly attributed to this.
Jaichand , though bereaved of his daughter sent her jahez or trousseau after her. Jaichand closed his
career by lapsing into the Ganga at Ferozabad, the ancient Chandwar.” Afterwards, in 1182, Prithviraj
defeated the Chandel king Raja Parmal and captured Mahoba. In 1191 he was the head of a confederacy of
Hindu kings in combatting the invasion of Huhammad Ghori. He repelled the Muhamaddans at Tarain about
2 miles north of Delhi, but in the following year was completely defeated and killed at Thaneswar, and soon
afterwarand Ajmer fell to the Muhamadans. The Chauhan kingdom was broken up, but scattered parts of it
remained, and about 1307 Asirgarh in Nimar, which continued to be held by the Chauhans, was taken by
Ala-ud-din Khilji and the whole garrison put to the sword except one boy. This boy, Raisi Chauhan, escaped
to Rajputana, and according to the bardic chronicle his descendants formed the Hara branch of the
Chauhans and conquered from the Minas the tract known as Haravati, from which they perhaps took their
name. This is now comprised in the Kotah and Bundi states which is now ruled by Hara chiefs. Another well-
known offshoot from the Chauhans are the Khichi clan, who belong to the Sind-Sagar Doab; and the
Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. The Chauhans are numerous in Punjab and UP
and rank as one of the highest Rajput clans. In the Central Povinces they are found mainly in the
Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts, and also in Mandla. The Chauhans of the Karnal district being
closer to Delhi and the Muslim kings started converting to Islam from the 14th to the 17th Century.
Chauhans in Rajastan are few in number and live in Alwar district of Rajastan. Chahil or Chahira Rajput
tribe is now for the greater part converted to Muhamaddanism. There are a few in the Hissar ditrict and on
the borders of Bikaner. Though Muhamaddan, they nevertheless retain charge of the tomb of Goga
Chauhan, a Hindu prince now esteemed a saint. Sonigurra or Songara is one of the 24 branches of
Chauhan. Hara / Hada: section of Chauhan. They have given their name to Haraoti, and in the 19th century
had their two rajas of Bundi and Kota. A prince of Bundi had married a Rajputni of the Malani tribe, a name
now unknown; but a bard repeating the gotra acharya, it was discovered to have been about eight centuries
before a ramification (sakha) of the Chauhans, to which the Hara of Bundi belonged; divorce and
unhappiness were the consequences. Khich: Khich is a variation of Khichi, which is one of the Chauhan
clans. Ibbetson wrote that they "are said to have come originally from Ajmer, the old seat of Chauhan power,
thence to Delhi, and from Delhi to the Sutlej during the Mughal rule" Nikumbh (Nicomp, Nigam) The
Nikumbh is given as one Tod ’s top 36, but is also the name of a branch of Chauhans and it seems that, as
suggested by Sherring (Tribes and Castes art. Nikumbh) it may be an offshoot of the great Chauhan clan.
The Nikumbh are said to have been given the title of Sirnet (which means headless) by an emperor of Delhi,
because they would not bow their heads on entering his presence, and when he fixed a sword at the door
some of them aloowed their necks to be cut through by the sword rather than bend the head. They were the
propetrietors of the district of Mandelgarh prior to the Gehlot. A Chauhan column with an insription of Raja
Bisal Deo was erected at Nigumbode, a place of pilgrimage on the Jumna a few miles below Delhi, and it
seems possible conjecture that the Nikumbhs may have obtained their name from this place, as do the
Nigam. Mr. Crooke (Eastern India, p 461) takes the Nikumbh to be a separate clan. The foundation of most
of the old forts and cities in Alwar and northern Jaipur is ascribed to them, and 2 of their inscriptons of the
12th and 13th centuries have been discovered in Khandesh. In Northern India some of them are now known
as Raghuvansi. They are chiefly found in the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts and may be connected with
the Raghuvansi or Raghu caste of these provinces. Bhadauria (From Bhadawar in Gwalior state, near Ater
sourth of the Jumna). Important clan of Rajputs. Also a clan in Saugor “from whom Rajputs take daughters
in marriage, but do not give daughters to them” (Russel). The Bhadauria rajputs are propable a branch of
Chauhans as Mr Tod States.

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