Rajput: Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha

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This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in 1916 its contents related only to Central India and did not claim to be true of all of India. It has been archived for its historical value as well as for the insights it gives into British colonial writing about the various communities of India. Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all. Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly on their online archival encyclopædia only after its formal launch. See examples and a tutorial.

From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from a book. During scanning some errors are bound to occur. Some letters get garbled. Footnotes get inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot errors might like to correct them, and shift footnotes gone astray to their rightful place.

Rajput: Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha

A celebrated clan of Rajputs included among the thirty-six royal races, to which the Maharajas of the important states of. Amber or Jaipur and Alwar belong. They are of the solar race and claim descent from Kash, the second son of the great king Rama of Ajodhia, the incarnation of Vishnu. Their original seat, according to tradition, was Rohtas on the Son river, and another of their famous progenitors was Raja Nal, who migrated from Rohtas and founded Narwar.-^ The town of Damoh in the Central Provinces is supposed to be named after Damyanti, Raja Nal's wife. According to General Cunningham the name Kachhwaha is an abbreviation of Kachhaha-ghata or tortoise -killer.

The earliest appearance of the Kachhwaha Rajputs in authentic history is in the tenth century, when a chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parihar-Gujar kings of Kanauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independent existence till A.D. 1128, when it became tributary ^ Rajasthdti, ii. p. 319.

to the Chandel kings of Mahoba.^ The last prince of Gwalior was Tejkaran, called Dulha Rai or the bridegroom prince, and he received from his father-in-law the district of Daora in the present Jaipur State, where he settled. In 1 1 50 one of his successors wrested Amber from the Minas and made it his capital. The Amber State from the first acknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperors, and the chief of the period gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar.

This chiefs son, Bhagwan Das, is said to have saved Akbar's life at the battle of Sarnal. Bhagwan Das gave a daughter to Jahanglr, and his adopted son, Man Singh, the next chief, was one of the most conspicuous of the Mughal Generals, and at different periods was governor of Kabul, Bengal, Bihar and the Deccan. The next chief of note, Jai Singh I., appears in all the wars of Aur^ngzeb in the Deccan. He was commander of 6000 horse, and captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of the Maratha power.

The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequent chief, Jai Singh II., in 1728. During the Mutiny the Maharaja of Jaipur placed all his military power at the disposal of the Political Agent, and in every way assisted the British Government. At the Durbar of 1877 his salute was raised to 2 1 guns. Jaipur, one of the largest states in Rajputana, has an area of nearly 16,000 square miles, and a population of 2^ million persons.

The Alwar State was founded about 1776 by Pratap Singh, a descendant of a prince of the Jaipur house, who had separated from it three centuries before. It has an area of 3000 square miles and a population of nearly a million." In Colonel Tod's time the Kachhwaha chiefs in memory of their descent from Rama, the incarnation of the sun, celebrated with great solemnity the annual feast of the sun. On this occasion a stately car called the chariot of the sun was brought from Rama's temple, and the Maharaja ascending into it perambulated his capital. The images of Rama and Siva were carried with the army both in Alwar and Jaipur. The banner of Amber was always called the PdncJiranga

• Early Ilislory of India, 3rd cdi- from the new /w/tv-w/Case/z'^er, articles

tion, p. 381. Jaipur and Alwar States.

2 The above information is taken

or five-coloured flag, and is frequently mentioned in the traditions of the Rajput bards. But it does not seem to be stated what the five colours were. Some of the finest soldiers in the old Sepoy army were Kachhwaha Rajputs. The Kachhwahas are fairly numerous in the United Provinces and rank with the highest Rajput clans.^ In the Central Provinces they are found principally in the Saugor, Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts.