Mewar: Titles of the Chiefs
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Titles of the Chiefs
Rama had two sons, Lava and Kusa : from the former the Rana's family claim descent. He is stated to have built Lahore, the ancient Lohkot ; ^ and the branch from which the princes of Mewar are descended resided there until Kanaksen emigrated to Dwarka. The difficulty of tracing these races through a long period of years is greatly increased by the custom of changing the appellation of the tribe, from conquest, locality, or personal celebrity. Sen * seems to have been the martial termination for many generations : this was followed by Dit, or Aditya, a term for the ' sun.' The first change in the name of the tribe was on their expulsion from Saurashtra, when for the generic term of Suryavansi was substituted the particular appellation of Guhilot. This name was maintained till another event dispersed the family, and when they settled in [216] Ahar,* Aharya became the appellative of the branch. This continued till loss of territory and new acquisitions once more transferred the dynasty to Sesoda,* a temporary capital in the western moun tains. The title of Ranawat, borne by all descendants of the blood royal since the eventful change which removed the seat of government from Chitor to Udaipur, might in time have super seded that of Sesodia, if continued warfare had not checked the increase of population ; but the Guhilot branch of the Suryavansi still retain the name of Sesodia.
Having premised thus much, we must retrograde to the darker ages, through which we shall endeavour to conduct this celebrated dynasty, though the clue sometimes nearly escapes from our hands in these labyrinths of antiquity.® When it is recollected
1 [It is the other way : Kausalya took her name from Kosala.]
2 [See p. 116 above.]
3 Sen, 'army'; kanak, 'gold.' [Kanaksen is entirely mythical. It has been suggested that the name is a reminiscence of the connexion of the great Kushan Emperor, Kanishka, with Gujarat and Kathiawar {BG, i. Part i. 101).]
4 Ahar, or Ar, is in the valley of the present capital, Udaipur.
5 The origin of this name is from the trivial occurrence of the expelled prince of Chitor having erected a town to commemorate the spot, where after an extraordinarily hard chase he killed a hare {sasu).
6 The wila fable which envelops or adorns the cradle of every illustrious family is not easily disentangled. The bards weave the web with skill, and it cUngs like ivy round each modern branch, obscuring the aged stem, in to what violence this family has been subjected during the last eight centuries, often dispossessed of all but their native hills and compelled to live on their spontaneous produce, we could scarcely expect that historical records should be preserved. Chitor was thrice sacked and destroyed, and the existing records are formed from fragments, registers of births and marriages, or from the oral relations of the bards.
