Hi Everybody,
See how the Gujjar empire from 550 to 950 A.D. as seen by various Visiting scholars.
1. Hiuen Tsang from China:
About sixty years after the destruction of the Huna supremacy in nortthern India, there arose another Empire at Kanuj under Harshavardan (606 to 647 A.D.), but Rajasthan(29) lay out of his suzerainty. Hiuen Tsang mentions the existence of independent Gurjara (Ku-che-lo) kingdom with Pi-lo-mo-lo, which has been indefined with Bhillamala, modern Bhinamal, as its Capital.
2. Sulaiman, The Arab Scholar:
Sulaiman an Arab traveller, who visited India in 851 A.D. refers to Bhoj Prathihar in Vivid terms and states that the king maintained numerous forces and that not other Indian prince had so fine a cavalry. He further observes that there was no greater foe of the Muhammadan faith than him. He had great riches and his camels and horses were numerous. No country in India was more safe than his country.
3. Al Masudi A traveller from Bagdad:
Al Masudi a native of Bagdad, who visited India in the year 915-16 A.D. refers to the great power and resources of the Pratihar king of Kanauj, and the wide extent of his kingdom, which touched Rashtrakuta kingdom in the South and the Muslim Principality of Multan in the west with both of whom the king was at war. He was rich in horses and camels and maintained four armies in four directions each numbering 7,00,000 or 9,00,000 men.
And with all this strength(40) , even though the Pratiharas could have easily exterminated the Muslim rule in the Sindh province, they allowed it to remain there. It appears that the danger of the Muslim meance was not fully realized by them. Had they possessed even a general knowledge of the political condition of the lands immediate outside the borders of India on the north-west, they would not have committed such a grave mistake. The indifference of the Hindu Chiefs in general cost them terribly very soon.
The Overlord :Gujjar Pratihars:
It is well known that Mughal king Aurangjeb killed his own brothers for the sake of throne. In the normal circumstance he would have made them his own fuedatories kings and thus inviting troubles for his throne in future.
The Gujjars were different. Though they used to fight a lot among themselves but never went to the extent of killing their own brothers.The peak of gujjar kingdom was the time of the Samrat Mihir Bhoja the Great and every king, irrespective of his race and status were either his fuedatory or vassal ( a term used to inferior kings and was normally used kings of the races other than the overlord). His son Mahendra Pal was a Great warrior and able ruler and he expanded the boundy of Gujjar kingdom to Present day Bangla Desh. As a authentic record to prove my point I would like to mention that there is a place in north Bengal Pratirajpur named after Gurjar Pratihars. This also shows that the boundries of Gujjar kingdom were up to Gujrat to Bengal and Sindh to Karnataka. This fact is recorded in an inscription pillar found in Dinajpur (now in Bangladesh)of Gurjar Pratihar king Mahendra Pal, son of king Mihir Bhoja.
Another proof is that there was a kamboja regiment Gujjar army placed at Bengal see the following record and see how Kamboja feel great to be related to Gujjars as their brave soldiers.
According Dr H.C. Raychaudhury, numerous Kambojas had joined the army of Gurjara Pratiharas. In fact according to him there was indeed a regiment of the Kamboja soldiers in the army of Gurjar Pratiharas. When the Pala kingdom lost political and military clout over time, some commanders of the Kamboja soldiers took political control of the situation as is normally expected in similar circumstances. (The Dynastic History of Northern India, p 311, f.n. 1). Dr H. C. Ray states: “I must also admit however, that the Bengalese Kambojas may also have come from north-west as mercenaries and then formed into an independent army under a Kamboja chief by successful rebellion” (IHQ., XV-4, Dec, 1939, p 511 Dr H. C. Ray, EI., Vol XXII., p 153, Dr N. G. Majumdar, The Dacca University Studies, Vol I., No 2, April 1936, p 132).
King Mahendra Pal did a mistake at the end of suceesful career. He divide the kingdom between two of his sonsand gave them equal power and that was begining of the downfall. The loyalty of the fuedatory kings were also divided between two of them and later when the opprtunity was proper asserted their independence.The subsequent kings became even more weaker and there was a time when they were also become equal in power to their own fuedatories.
The process of the disintegration of the Gujjar empire continued and the 10th Century AD the empire shrunk into a small kingdom. In 1018AD when Mahmud Ghaznavi invaded Kannauj the ruler Rajapala decided not to face him but fled the city. This caused resentment in the Chandela ruler Gauda, who sent his son Vidydhar to invade Kannauj. He defeated and killed Rajyapala but placed Trilochanpala Rajyapala's son on the throne. The last ruler of the dynasty was Jasapala who ruled up to 1036 AD before Pratihara dynasty came to an end.
Some of these fuedatories were their own brothers and they founded their own kingdoms in the name of their gotras and not by the name of the race. That was another begining of disintegration.The main gotras of Gujjars were Pratihars,Solankis, Chauhans Chawras, Chandellas and Tanwar, Dhama, etc. and others are their braches and sub branches. The descendents of these clans are Hindus, Sikhs as well Muslims including Gujjars and Rajputs of both religions.
The Gujjar kingdoms formed in the name of Gujjar gotra were the Pratiharas who retired to rajasthan desert after the fall of kannauj were of Pratihars though of very little importance in terms of Power but still respected by their earlier fuedatory brothers. The others were of gujjar Solankis of Anhilwada Patan (Gujrat), Ajmer by Gujjar Chauhans, the Bundelkhand by Gujjar Chandellas, Chittor by Gujjar Guhilas, Malwa by Gujjar Parmars and Non-Gujjar Fuedatrories of Pratihars who became independent were Kachhaghal (Kachwaha) of Gwalior and Kalachuris and Chedis of central India.
One more fact I would like to inform you that the Gujjar Gotras are having the title of Rana like Bhadana, Kasana, Adhana, Harshana, Chaprana, Salumbra ( Rana of Salumber, Salumber is place in Rajasthan), Nagdee called Nagar (Rana of Nagda, Nagda is a place in MP of very strategic importance during those days to control the trade route of Salt. This place is also called as Nagraha or serpentine route), Khatana, are mostly Gujjar Pratihars. This is due to the fact that only the overlords were called as Rana and their queens as Ranis. Later this title was also used by other Gujjar clans like Chauhans of Ghoga Bapa fame ( like Kalsana)and Guhilas ( a branch of Gujjar Solankis of Patan Gujrat of Bapa Rawal, Maharana Sanga and Maharan Pratap fame) after defeating some small Pratihars kingdoms in located in Rajasthan much later than 1036 AD after the fall of Pratihar kingdom kannauj to Muslim invaders.
It is another distorted fact written in history that it was Gaznavid raids which blown over Gujjar kingdoms. The real fact is that it was the infighting among various Gujjar clans like Chauhans, Chandellas, Parmars,Chalukyas (Solankis), Chawras and Tanwars which started after the main kingdom was divided between two sons of Mahenra Pal.
The main reasons for Imperial Gujjars not to attack Afghanistan, the place of Gaznavis and Ghoris was that was that there was very little there similar to Mongolia to attract Gujjar conquerors like MihirBhoj Pratihar, Sidraj Jaisingh Solanki and Kumarpal Solanki, as there is little today to lure builders of factories and high-rises. This reason gave enough time for Gaznavis and Ghoris to gain strength and to wait for right opportunity to attack during the reign of weak Gujjar rulers. However the Gujjars placed the people of their own clan at Sindh to check the invaders at that place. The Raja Ram Bhatti may be one of such fuedatory king, who also must have asserted independence once the main Gujjar kingdom eas blown over.
Hi everybody,
This person who sent this posting in the name of Sanjeev Nagar is actually a jat and his sister has married a Gujjar.Be aware of him as he is spreading wrong information about Gujjars.
Hi all,
somebody was asking if Kasanas in India were Jats. No dear Kasanas are Gujjars in India. in fact, we have Hindus as well as Muslims. For any other details on Gujjars (indian). Please don't hesitate to e-mail me on jskhepar••yahoo•••••
I am from gujjar family.
I want to marry with any
gujar girl in uk
The City of Bhopal the capital of MP in India was built by Gujjars Pratihara king Bhojpal. See the following information taken from authentic historical records for proof alongwith the details of the coin found from the mint of the Great King Bhoja or Mihir Bhoja whose vassals Gujjar Tomaras founded the city of Dhillika (Present capital of India) is shown as the incarnation of Vishnu on the coin.The picture of the coin can be sent on request to pratihars••hotmail•••••
By ninth century, the supremacy of northern India was taken over by another illustrious dynasty called Pratiharas which claimed descent from Lakhamana, brother of Lord Rama. The greatest king of pratihara dynasty was Bhoja I who took control of Kanyakubj (modern Kannauj) in 836 AD and created an empire which was similar in size of his predecessor, Harsha-Vardhana. He built a city Bhojpal (modern Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state) which was named after him. He was successful general and managed to defeat many of his powerful neighbours including the Gaudas of Bengal. Like Harsha-Vardhana, Bhoja too was a great patron of art and literature and famous poet Rajashekhar was in his court. He received foreign travellers like Sulaiman and Al Masudi who left account of their travels to India. Both talk highly of his superior cavalry and his fine administration.
Bhoja I
836-885 AD
Imperial Pratihars
silver drachm
Obverse: Aadivaraha, Anthropoid boar representing incarnation of Vishnu
Reverse: Fire altar and two attendants (Stylized), legends in Brahmi
Weight: 3.9 gm
MNW#336-348
Pratihara dynasty ruled for another 200 years although their dominion was never to the extent of during Bhoja's rule. In 1018, Kannauj then ruled by Rajyapala Pratihara was sacked by Mahmud of Gazni and that was beginning of the end of this illustrious dynasty of north India. Shown above is a coin minted by the great Pratihara king Bhoja I. The obverse show Aadivaraha, boar like incarnation of Lord Vishnu while reverse of the coin show stylized fire altar and two attendant. The deity Aadivaraha is supposedly holding earth by his snout. The vigour and strength of Aadivaraha's image on these coin amply show die engraver's knowledge of scultptures of that era. Altar and attendant motif was borrowed from Sassanaian coins which possibly came in India due to trade from Sassanian ruled Persia. The coins of Bhoja were immencely popular in medieval period and were extensively copied by his successors. All the kings of Pratihara dynasty minted exact same coin which were introduced by Bhoja I. Although the coins of later rulers of Pratihara dynasty were more stylized and heavily debased.
The Rajputs - Samurais from India, till 10th. century were mostly jagirdars and revenue collectors of Gujjars. See wwwdotrajasthaninfolinedotcom/rinfo/rajputhdothtm
in spite of the Muslim rule up to Punjab, the Rajputs gained control of the heart of North India. The Rajput (from Raj-Putra i.e. prince or literally "king's son") who held the stage of feudal rulers before the coming of the Muslims were a brave and chivalrous race. The Rajput legend traces their ancestry to Bappa Rawal - the legendary founder of the race who is said to have lived in the 8th century. In actual fact although they were Kshatriyas in the Hindu caste hierarchy, they seem to have genetically descended from the Shakas and Hunas who had invaded north India during the Gupta period and had subsequently settled down in North India and due to their war-like attitudes and been absorbed as Kshatriyas into Hindu society. It is they who held the banner when the first Muslim invaders reached the Indian Heart land in the 12th century i.e. around 1191 C.E.
The Rajputs who till the 10th century were mostly local feudal lords holding the status of revenue collectors for their Gurjara-Pratihara overlords, asserted themselves as independent rulers, after the Ghaznavid storm had blown over, and took over the earlier kingdoms of the Gurjara-Pratiharas. The main Rajput kingdoms in the 11th and 12th centuries were that of the Cahamanas (Chouhans) in East Punjab, Northern Rajasthan and Delhi. The Gahadwalas (Rathods ) ruled the Ganges valley today's UP. The Paramaras ruled Malwa in Central India and the Tomaras ruled from Gwaliar. The most powerful kingdoms were hose of the Chouhans and the Rathods - both of which unfortunately were incessantly at war with each other when the Muslim raiders appeared again in the 1191 C.E. The Rajputs, (from Raj-Putra i.e. prince or literally "king's son") who were a brave and chivalrous race, held the stage of feudal rulers before the coming of the Muslims.
Parikishatgarh Ruled By Gujjar Raja Nain Singh
Parichhatgarh, also known as Qila or Qila Parikishatgarh, is an ancientplace and lies in latitude 28 degree 59'N and Logitude 77 degrre 56'E. 22 Kms east of the district headquarters with which it is connected by a metalled road. Other roads link it to Mawana Kalan, lying 16 Kms north and to Kithore, which is 15 Kms. to the south.
The place is associated with and derives its name from King Parikshit of Hastinapur (the grandson of Arjuna) and it is believed that it is on the ruins of a fort built by him that the present fort (ascribed to the Gujar raja, Nain Singh) stands. In 1916 a big hoard of silver coins, mostly of the time of Shah Alam II, was found under the staircase of the place. The Navalde well here is known for its water which is regarded by local people as a specific for leprosy. A local story goes that on being told that his new-born daughter, Navalde, would bring him disaster, the Naga king, Vasuki, threw her into a dungeon. His affliction of leprosy was healed when he had a bath in the water brought by her from a certain well (which is supposed to be this well), Parikshit fell in love with her but she managed to elude him. Vasuki was enraged by Parikshit's behaviour and in the war waged against him the latter was killed. After her father's cure Navalde disappeared inside the well. The Gandhari Talab located here is named after Gandhari, the mother of the hundred Kauravas. From 6 kms away there is Rishi Shrang Ashram, this ashram is converted to temple now. It was said Maharishi Vedvyas start to write the Mahabharata here at this temple.
According to the census 1991 the population of the place is 133961 and area is 324.8 square Kms. There are Nine nayay panchayat and 54 gram sabha. A market is held here on Mondays and Thursdays. A fair, known as the Chhariyon-ka-Mela, is held here in Sravana every year and is attended by several persons.