The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km north of Jaipur. ...

and Maihar.

Subclans

Rajawat, Shekhawat, Naruka, Bikawat, Khangarot, Nathawat, Dhirawat,

Bandhalgoti Bandhalgoti is a clan of Rajputs found mainly in Amethi- Sultanpur region of Uttar Pradesh. Bandhalgoti is the most prominent clan among Kachhwaha. Bandhalgoti Rajputs ruled a number of estates including Kohra, Amethi and Shahgarh etc. which l ...

etc.are subclans of Kachwahas of

House.

Clan deities

Jamway Mata is their Clan Goddess (''kuldevi''). Historical temple dedicated to Jamway Mata is present in Jamwaramgarh sub-division of Jaipur District, Rajasthan. This temple was built by Raja Dulhe Rai Kachawaha after he won battle due to Goddess's blessings.

Etymology

According to Cynthia Talbot, the meaning of word ''Kachhwaha'' is tortoise.

Origin

There are many theories on the origin of the Kachhwahas.

Suryavansh Origin

Suryavansh Dynasty or Ikshwaku Dynasty or Raghuvansh Dynasty : Kachwaha claim descent from Kusha, a son of the

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, Rama, as expressed by them citing historical documents during the Supreme court of India proceedings on

Ram Mandir Ram Mandir is a Hindu temple that is being built in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, according to the ''Ramayana'' the birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism. The temple construction is being supervised ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...

. Ish Devji a Kachhwaha Raja of outstanding merit, with his capital at Gwalior, is recorded to have died in 967 A.D.

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

genealogists place him as being the three hundred & third generation after Ikshwaku. The Kachhwahas of Amber are descendants of Ish Devji. According to Rima Hooja, the Kachhwaha word became popular in the late 16th century during the reign of Raja Man Singh. There are many inscriptions and manuscripts which prove this theory, like the ones found in Balvan, Chatsu, Sanganer and Rewasa.

Kurma Avtar Origin

Another view-point is that the Kachhawahas claim descent from Vishnu's turtle avatar.

Kacchapaghat Origin

T.H. Hendley states in his Rulers of India and the Chiefs of Rajputana (1897), that the Kachwaha clan is believed to have settled in an early era at Rohtas (Rahatas) on the Son River in present-day Bihar. He notes that their notable seats of power were Kutwar, Gwalior, Dubkhund, Simhapaniya and Narwar (Nalapura) (all in present-day Madhya Pradesh). This second westward migration to Madhaya Pradesh is said to have been initiated under Raja Nala, the legendary founder of Narwar. Historians state that the Kacchapaghatas, like the Chandellas and Paramaras, originated as tributaries of the preceding powers of the region. They point out that it was only following the downfall, during the 8th–10th centuries AD, of Kannauj (regional seat of power following the breakup of Harsha's empire), that the Kacchapaghata state emerged as a principal power in the Chambal valley of present-day Madhya Pradesh. This view is largely supported by archaeological artifacts: Kacchapaghata coinage (minted Gupta-fashion) discovered in Madhya Pradesh and Gopaksetra inscriptions. According to Rudolf Hoernle (1905), the Kachhwahas are related to the Gurjara-Pratiharas. He identifies similarities between the names of the line of rulers of Kannauj (mid-10th century) with the recorded line of eight Kachwaha rulers of Gwalior (based on the Sas-Bahu inscription of Mahipal). After Sumitra, Madhubramh, Kanh, Devanik and Isha Singh ruled Narwar. The Sas-Bahu inscription dates to 1093, and provides a genealogy of the ruling family up to Mahipal (who died sometime before 1104). Kachhwahas are the descendants of Kachchhapaghatas of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and

History

Conquest of Dhundhar

Kachhwaha established their kingdoms in the Dhundhar region of modern Rajasthan in the 11th century. One Kachhwaha Dulha Rai conquered most of the dhundhar area from Bargujars Rajputs.

Raja Kakil deo

After Dulherai, his son Kakil Deo defeated the Meenas of Amer and made Amer the capital of Dhundhar after Khoh.

Raja Pajawan

Raja Pajawan helped

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III ( IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in presen ...

in his most of the campaigns and conquests. He was married to a cousin of Prithviraj Chauhan. He died before the battle of Tarain.

Raja Prithviraj Singh I

Kachhwaha King Prithviraj Singh I fought along with Rana Sanga at battle of Khanwa.

Raja Man Singh I

He was one of the most trusted noble of Akbar. He was the supreme commander of the Mughal forces. He built the Amer Fort. He built and saved so many Hindu temples from Islamic destruction.

Sawai Jai Singh II

He built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatives at Delhi, Jaipur, Benaras, Mathura and Ujjain. He also established Govind Dev Ji temple at Jaipur.

Princely States

The Jaipur royal family is considered to be the head house of Kachhwahas. At the time of India's independence in 1947 there were so many princely states, ''jagirs, thikanas'' and other estate ruled by various branches of Kachhwaha clan across entire India. Some

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

included : *

(Dhundhar), in present-day Rajasthan, founded in 966 by Raja Sodh Dev *

, in present-day Rajasthan, founded in 1770 by Rao Raja Pratap Singh * Darkoti, in present-day Himachal Pradesh, founded in 1787 by Rana Balram * Maihar, in present-day Madhya Pradesh, founded in 1778 by Raja Beni Singh *

Keonjhar Kendujhar is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha. Climate Politics Mohan char ...

, in present-day Orissa, founded in 1480 by Raja Govind Bhanj * Talcher, in present-day Orissa, founded in 1471 by Raja Narhari Singh

Notable people

Amer Kingdom

* Pajawan * Prithviraj Singh I * Bharmal *

Bhagwant Das Raja Bhagwant Das (1527 – 4 December 1589) was the 23rd Kacchwaha ruler of Amber. His sister, Mariam-uz-Zamani, was the chief consort of Emperor Akbar and mother of his successor, Emperor Jahangir. His son, Man Singh I, one of the Navaratnas ...

* Man Singh I * Mirza Raja Jai Singh I

Jaipur State

* Maharaja Sawai

Jai Singh II Jai Singh II (3 November 1681 – 21 September 1743) popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Jaipur State, Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He was born ...

* Maharaja Ram Singh I * Maharaja Sawai

Madho Singh I Madho Singh I (December 1728 – March 5, 1768) was ruler of the state of Jaipur in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan.D.K. Taknet, Razia Grover, Nandita Bhardwaj, 2016Jaipur: Gem of India He was the younger son of Jai Singh II and bec ...

* Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh * Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II * Maharani

Gayatri Devi Gayatri Devi (born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar; 23 May 1919 − 29 July 2009) was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for th ...

* Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh * Princess Diya Kumari * Maharaja Padmanabh Singh

Alwar State

* Rao Raja Pratap Singh * Colonel HH Raj Rishi Shri Sawai Maharaja Sir Jai Singh * HH Raj Rishi Shri Sawai Maharaja Jitendra Singh * Rajkumari Bhuvneshwari Kumari

Shekhawati Region

Rao Shekha Maharao Shekhaji (1433–1488) was a shtriya (Rajput) King in 15th-century India. He is the namesake of the Shekhawati region, comprising the districts of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan. His descendants are ...

Ajit Singh of Khetri Raja Ajit Singh Bahadur (16 October 1861 – 18 January 1901) was the ruler of the Shekhawat estate (thikana) of Khetri at Panchpana in Rajasthan between 1870 and 1901. He was born on 16 October 1861 at Alsisar. His father was Thakur Chattu Sing ...

References

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