History of Rawat Rajputs

Rawat Rajputs

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Rawat Rajputs are a group of people who reside in Ajmer, Ballabgarh, Faridabad, Palwal Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Pali districts of Rajasthan, the area known as Magra-Merwara and the Kumaon division and Garhwal Divisions of Uttarakhand, India. The Rawat Rajputs of Magra (Rajasthan) claim their descent from warriors of the Chauhan dynasty. Rawat Gotra is also found in Meenas and bhils in Rajasthan which is not to be confused with the Rawat Rajputs as the Rawat Rajputs have distinct Rajput surnames as chauhan, Panwar, bhati etc. Rawat Rajputs of Magra Merwara traditionally marry only among other Rawat Rajputs of the same region.
According to historian Robert Vane Russell, Rawat, a corruption of Rajputra or "princeling", is the name borne by the Ahir caste in Chhattisgarh and Maharastra.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Merwara, Rajasthan 2 Distribution 3 Subdivisions 4 Notables 5 References

 History

The word Rajput is claimed to be a corruption of Rajputra. Rawat Rajputs are believed to be descendants of Chauhans.^[4] Some historians believe that Rawat Rajputs are direct descendants of Prithviraj III's brother Hariraj, who escaped to hilly and dense forest areas after the fall of the Chauhan empire in 1191. Some based on accounts of the records kept by the local bard like tribe called the Bhats are of the opinion that Rawat Rajputs of Ajmer, Rajsamand and Pali districts are the descendants of the Rao Lakhansi of the Nadole Branch of the Chauhans. The term 'Rawat' came to be associated with these Rajputs as some of their ancestors were awarded the title of Rawat by the Ranas of Udaipur for showing extra ordinary bravery in battle. Their descendants then started using the title with their names. The areas in Ajmer that these Rajputs resided were hilly and forest areas. After 22 generations from Hariraj Chauhan these Chauhan Rajputs had established a few separate sub-clans among themselves such as Saidot, Ghodawat, Aapawat etc, with two major branches, one represented by Rao Karansi and the other represented by Rawat Bhim singh. Due to socio-political and geo-political circumstances at this point of time, in a meeting it was decided to allow marital alliances among these sub-clans of the Chauhan Rawat Rajputs against the widely accepted norm of the rajputs of not marrying within the same major clan or Kul, "Chauhan" in this case. The first marriage of this kind was between the daughter of Rao Karan singh Chauhan (the establisher of clan of the Rawats) and the son of Rawat Bhim singh. Gradually with more frequent marital alliances within the subclans of the Rawats, a new race called Rawat-Rajputs emerged. With time some subclans of the Rathore, Panwar, Bhati, Gahlot, Sisodiya, also became part of the community of Rawat Rajputs. The Rawats of Ajmer held 10 thikanas from Narwar to Diver, with the seat of Diver to be in the Udaipur darbaar. The major thikanas were Narvar, Shyamgarh, Diver, Athungarh etc and some minor Thikanas like Borwa, Sendra etc.

 Merwara, Rajasthan

In the 13th generation of Chauhan clan was born a king Named Vakpatiraj, ruler of Sambhar. He had three sons named Singhraj, Vatsaraj and Laxman. After the king's death the kingdom was divided among the three brothers and the smallest share was given to the youngest prince Laxman. Being a valiant Rajput, he considered it to be against his dignity and left Sambhar and became a minister in the court of Raja Samant Singh Chawda, the ruler of nadole. After the death of Samant singh , Rao Laxman, being a valiant warrior, managed to establish his own kingdom in Nadole and gradually became the sole lord of Nadole. Rao Laxman had six sons 1) Anhal Rao 2) Anoop Rao 3) Aasal 4) Shobhitraj 5) Vigrahpal 6) Ajeetsingh. Rao Anhal and Rao Anoop in the year 998 A.D., set on a military expedition and defeated the Chandel Gurjars ruling in Chaang and Cheta villages.

 Distribution

Villages of Rawat Rajputs are also found in the Tehri Garhwal and Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and some villages are also found in the Shivpuri and Datia districts of Madhya Pradesh. Some if not all of the Rawat Rajputs are believed to have migrated from the Indian plains during the Middle Ages. They still retain the name of their areas of origin: for instance, the 'Udaipur Patti' in Garhwal is a group of villages inhabited by people believed to have migrated from Udaipur in present-day Rajasthan.