Origins
According to the Rajput bards, Chauhan is one of the four Agnikula or ‘fire sprung’ clans who were created by the Gods in the anali kund or ‘fountain of fire’ on Mount Abu to fight against the Asuras or demons. Chauhan is also one of the 36 ruling races of the Rajputs.
Agnikula origin was perpetuated by Raso from the 16th century onwards. Chauhan gotracharya: Samved, Somvansh, Madhyandini Shakha, Gotracharya is used for marriage relationship and has not changed from time immemorial. Chauhans are termed as Agnivanshi khstriyas.
History
According to the Rajput bards the Chauhan is one of the four Agnikula or ‘fire sprung’ tribes who were created by the gods in the Agni kund or ‘fountain of fire’on Mount Abu to fight against the Asuras or demons. There was an Asur Named Dhunda at Mount Abu. All Rajputs of the world were unable to kill him. Then Guru Vashistha make a Yagya at Mount Abu. In the agni of that Yagya 4 Rajputs took Birth Ist was solanki, 2nd was Parmar ,3rd was parihar but those 3 were also unable to kill asur Dhundha. Then 4th birth from that Kund Was Anhil, his name was Anhil, Guru Vashishtha take the 4 Swear from Anhil those were Satya, Dharm,Karm & Daya, those were 4 Aans for Anhil So he named as The follower of charaans ie. Chauhan.The Anhil killed that Asur Dhundha & free the Earth from Asurs. Chauhan is also one of the 36 ruling races of the Rajputs. Chauhans were mainly used as foot soldiers in many battles due to their huge population.
The Chauhan dynasty flourished from the 8th to 12th centuries AD. It was one of the four main Rajput dynasties of that era, the others being Pratiharas, Paramaras and Chalukyas. Chauhan dynasties established themselves in several places in North India and in the state ofGujarat in Western India. They were also prominent at Sirohi in the southwest of Rajputana, and at Bundi and Kota in the east. Inscriptions also associate them with Sambhar, the salt lake area in the Amber (later Jaipur) district (the Sakhambari branch remained near lake Sambhar and married into the ruling Gurjara-Pratihara, who then ruled an empire in Northern India). Chauhans adopted a political policy that saw them indulge largely in campaigns against the Chalukyas and the invading Muslim hordes. In the 11th century they founded the city of Ajayameru (Ajmer) in the southern part of their kingdom, and in the 12th century captured Dhilika (the ancient name of Delhi) from the Tomaras and annexed some of their territory along the Yamuna River. Prithviraj III has become famous in folk tales and historical literature as the Chauhan king of Delhi who resisted the Muslim attack in the First Battle of Tarain (1191). Armies from other Rajput kingdoms, including Mewar assisted him. However, Prithviraj was defeated in the Second Battle of Tarain the following year. This failure ushered in Muslim rule in North India in the form of the Slave Dynasty, the first of the Delhi Sultanates.
Ajmer,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. Prithi Pahar was brought from Mahishmati to Ajmer. By a single wife 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. Prithiraj, the descen-dant 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, the Hara, the Mohil, the Nirwana, Bhadauria, the Bhaurecha ,the Dhanetiya, and the Baghrecha, are all descended from him.
The Chauhans later asserted their independence from the Pratiharas, and in the early eleventh century, the Sakhambari king Ajaya-Raja founded the city of Ajayameru (Ajmer) in the southern part of their kingdom, and in the mid twelfth century, his successor Vigraharaja enlarged the state, captured Dhilika (the ancient name of Delhi) from the Tomaras and annexed some of their territory along the Yamuna River, including Haryana and Delhi. In 12th century the Chauhans dominated Delhi, Ajmer and Ranthambhor. They were also prominent at Godwar in the southwest of Rajputana, and at Hadoti (Bundi and Kota) in the east. Chauhans adopted a political policy that saw them indulge largely in campaigns against the Chalukyas and the invading Muslim hordes.
The Chauhan kingdom became the leading state and a powerful kingdom in Northern India under King Prithviraj III (1165-1192), also known as Prithvi Raj Chauhan or Rai Pithora. Prithviraj III has become famous in folk tales and historical literature as the Chauhan king of Delhi who resisted and repelled the invasion by Mohammed of Ghor at the first Battle of Tarain in 1191. Armies from other Rajput kingdoms, including Mewar, assisted him. The Chauhan kingdom collapsed after Prithviraj faced defeat in the war against Mohammed of Ghor in 1192 at the Second Battle of Tarain.
After Prithviraj III
Prithviraj’s defeat and capture at Tarain ushered in Muslim rule in North India by the Delhi Sultanate. The Chauhans of Ajmer remained in exile due to Muhammad of Ghor and his successors, the Sultans of Delhi, and thus swelled the ranks of the armed forces of the Maharana of Mewar, until 1365, when Ajmer was captured by the Sisodias rulers of Mewar, and Ajmer was then returned to the Chauhans.
A branch of the Chauhans, led by Govinda, the grandson of Pritviraj III, established themselves as rulers of Ranthambore from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, until Ranthambore was captured by Rana Kumbha of Mewar. The Hadas, great dynasty of the Chauhans, moved into the Hadoti region in the twelfth century, capturing Bundi in 1241 and ruled there until the twentieth century. One sect of these Hada Rajputswon Kota The Dhanetiyas of Shahabad, which by a singular fatality has at length come into the possession of the Hadas of Kota and ruled their till the merger of state in independent India.
Chauhans of the Deora branch established the state of Sirohi in southern Rajasthan, and ruled there from the fifteenth century until Indian Independence. In western India, Chauhans are found at Devgadh Baria, founded by Dungarsinhji, a member of the Khichi Chauhan clan about 700 years ago. Rajkumar (Bhadaiyan State of Awadh) and Bachgoti (Diyara State of Awadh) are two other branches of Chauhans in Uttar Pradesh. Chauhan’s are also found in Khurja Dasheri and Arnia.
Religion
In India, Chauhans are predominantly Hindu.
Some Chauhan Rajputs of the Doab region of Punjab also adopted Sikhism and are called Sikh Rajputs, not to be confused with Jat Chohans of the Punjab (who happen to write the transliteration of their name in English differently).
85 villages of chauhan’s lies in western uttarpradesh, in the district of Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra Etc. Village Davkoura lies in Bulandshahr have 75% population of Chauhan’s.
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