Sauda ( Devnagari: सौदा चारण;

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 ...

: Saudā) (also spelled Soda, Souda) is a clan of the Charanas. They are also known as Sauda-Barhath. Sauda Charans came to prominence in the kingdom of

Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...

with the establishment of

Sisodia dynasty The Sisodia is a Rajput dynasty belonging to the clan that ruled over the Kingdom of Mewar, in the region of Mewar in Rajasthan, India. The Sisodias were an off-shoot of the Guhila dynasty, Guhila Dynasty and claim descent from the Solar dynasty ...

in 1326.

History

The founder of the Sauda clan was Baruji, a

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 ...

from Khod village of Kutch (

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

). Baruji was a wealthy horse trader. When the Guhilot dynasty was displaced from Mewar following an

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

by the

Delhi sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

at the turn of the 13th century, Baruji provided military assistance to Rana Hammir and lent 500 of his

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s. Baruji and his men fought alongside Rana Hammir in the invasion of Chittor. After successfully capturing

Chittor Chittorgarh (; also Chitror or Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It wa ...

, Rana Hammir awarded the position of Prolpat (Barhath) of

Mewar kingdom The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty, foll ...

to Baruji, to be held by his descendants "for posterity". Baruji's descendants came to known as 'Sauda', a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

given by Rana Hammir as they were large horse traders ''(saudagar)''. In Mewar, the descendants of Baruji reside in Antri, Panod, Barwara, Soniyana (near Kankroli), Tallai, Bikakheda and Rabachha.

Notable people

* Thakur Kesari Singh Barhath * Thakur Zorawar Singh Barhath * Kunwar Pratap Singh Barhath

References

{{Charan Clans Charan Surnames of Indian origin Ethnic groups in India Charan clans