Ratnu (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Ratanūṃ;

Devnagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient '' Brāhmī'' script. It is one of the official scripts of India and ...

: रतनूं), also spelt as Ratanu or Ratnoo, is a major clan of the

Charan Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan prov ...

as in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Origin

The origin of the Ratnu Charanas is considered to be in the same time period as that of Sindhaych Charanas, around 8th to 9th century CE. They are the descendants of Ratanji Charan who once saved Rawal Devraj's life, a

Bhati Bhati (also romanised as Bhattī) is a Rajput clan. The Bhati clan historically ruled over several cities in present-day India and Pakistan with their final capital and kingdom being Jaisalmer, India. History The Bhatis of Jaisalmer bel ...

chieftain who later founded

Derawar Derawar Fort ( Saraiki, ) is a fortress in Ahmadpur East Tehsil in the Bahawalpur District of Punjab, Pakistan. Approximately 20 km south of the city of Ahmedpur East, the forty bastions of Derawar are visible for many miles in the Cholis ...

. After founding Derawar, Rawal Devraj called upon his childhood friend Ratanji and honored him with the position of ''Prolpat-Patvi'' of the

dynasty. Subsequently, Ratnu Charanas held this position in the kingdoms of

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

and

Pugal Pugal is a town in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan, India. It is also the headquarters of the tehsil in the Pugal Sub-division with the same name. Geography Pugal is located at . It has an average elevation of 145 metres (869 feet ...

History

Ratnus played an important role in the administration and polity of the region and held extensive ''

sasan Sasan (Middle Persian 𐭮𐭠𐭮𐭠𐭭 ''Sāsān'' > Persian ساسان), considered the eponymous ancestor of the Sasanian (or Sassanid) Dynasty (ruled 224–651) in Persia, was "a great warrior and hunter" and a Zoroastrian high priest ...

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

s throughout Rajasthan. Many were influential poets, writers, and historians. The Ratnu family of

Sikar Sikar is a city and municipal council in the Sikar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Sikar district. It is largest city of the Shekhawati region, which consists of Sikar, Churu and Jhu ...

formed one such bureaucratic lineage whose members were Diwans (Prime Minister) of the princely states of

, Idar, Kishengarh, and Jhalawad.

Notable people

* Thakur Akshay Singh Ratnu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnu Charan clans Charan Surnames of Indian origin Ethnic groups in India Rajputs