The Rajputs in Gujarat, or Gujarati Rajputs are members of the Rajput community living in the western Indian state of Gujarat. They ruled several dynasties and princely states during the British era. Some Rajput clans of Gujarat have origins from outside regions such as Rajasthan, while others are native to the region.[citation needed]
Society
In Gujarat, the highest ranking Rajputs were those who belonged to royal families of important kingdoms, with rank declining as the territories they ruled became smaller and smaller kingdoms, fiefs, and land tenures.
Geneology
The Rajputs in Gujarat maintain a distinct identity linguistically as compared to other Rajputs in India, yet studies have also proven for them to have had intermarriages with other communities in the region as the Kolis,[1][2] which was commonly used to enhance or secure social status.[3]
History, clans, and dynasties
Solanki dynasty
The Chaulukyas, also known as the Solankis, ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between the 10th and 12th centuries [4]
Jhala clan
Jhala is a Rajput clan fount in Jhalavad region of Gujarat which was ruled from 11th century by the Jhalas.[5]
Jadeja clan
The Jadejas are a Rajput clan of Gujarat who claim descent from Krishna.[6][need quotation to verify]
Vaghela dynasty & clan
The Vaghela dynasty were an offshoot vassal clan connected to the Chaulukya dynasty, ruling Gujarat in the 13th century CE. Their capital was Dholka. They were the last Hindu dynasty to rule Gujarat before the Muslim conquest of the region.[7][page needed]
Early members of the Vaghela family served the Chaulukyas in the 12th century CE, and claimed to be a branch of that dynasty. In the 13th century, during the reign of the weak Chaulukya king Bhima II, the Vaghela general Lavanaprasada and his son Viradhavala gained a large amount of power in the kingdom, although they continued to nominally acknowledge Chaulukya suzerainty. In the mid-1240s, Viradhavala's son Visaladeva usurped the throne, and his successors ruled Gujarat until Karna Vaghela was defeated by Nusrat Khan[8] of the Delhi Sultanate in 1304 CE, and lost Gujarat.
Chudasama dynasty
The Chudasama dynasty ruled parts of the present-day Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India between the 9th and 15th centuries. Their capital was based in Junagadh and Vamanasthali, and they were later classified among the Rajput clans.[9]
References
Sources
- Fuller, Christopher John (Winter 1975), "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste", Journal of Anthropological Research, 31 (4): 283–312, doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883, JSTOR 3629883, S2CID 163592798
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003), India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India (Reprinted ed.), C. Hurst & Co., ISBN 9781850653981
- Shah, Arvind M. (2012), The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-13619-770-3