Hey folks, I have been in the UK all my life so I do not know much about this subject however my father is a Tomar Rajput and my mother is a Kachawa Rajputs. They are both Bihari however there great grandparents immigrated to Bihar from Rajasthan and according to my parents they still have relatives in Rajasthan. I would be really thankful if someone could explain the origins of the Kachawa and the Tomara and whether or not they are indigenous. Thanks.
Kachwahas are Suryavanshi Kshatriyas and obviously indigenous.
Kachwaha is a mutated version of 'Kacchapaghata'. The Kacchapaghata dynasty ruled in chambal valley regions of present Madhya Pradesh during the 10th and 11th century.
The post-Harsha polity of north India was not only fragmented but fluid as well. Various powers rose and declined .. new clans came out of the old ones .. people migrated.
Kacchapaghata rose to prominence by wresting Gwalior fort from Gurjara-Pratiharas. Other centres ruled by them were Narwar and Kutwar.
Their territory was almost always sandwiched between Chandels to the East, Paramars in south, Chauhans flanking on west.
Nagda's Vaishnava temple aka Sas Bahu temple (in Rajasthan) has an inscription dated A.D. 1093 that throws light thus on their achievements:
-- "Vajradaman (A.D. 975-1000) put down the rising power of Gadhinagara". Here Gadhinagara/Gadhipura is the old name of Kannauj. This reference is to Gadhavals.
This King fought against Mahmud Ghazni, alongside Anangpal Tomara of Delhi and died in that battle.
The said inscription provides full geneology of this dynasty till the end of 11th century.
In the 12th century the Kachhwahas migrated from Gwalior-Narwar to Dhundhar in modern Rajasthan. They built the massive fort at Amber, and later shifted the capital to Jaipur.
Unlike Rathor's movement from UP to Rajasthan in the aftermath of Ghori-Jaichand battle; this migration was not a sudden one.
It happened as a result of gradual westward expansion by the Kachwaha rulers from their stronghold MP into East Rajasthan.
Later in the medieval centuries Muzaffarnagar-Bulandshehr-Meerut-Mathura were also populated by Kachwaha nobles.
Kachwahas migration to Bihar also is not a one time act.
There have been multiple waves and medieval events like Man Singh's tenure as Viceroy of Bihar-Bengal only played a part in it.
He also held extensive jagirs in Bihar which means that he had to settle down some of his people there.
Many families in Bihar even today trace their roots in Rajputana and the migration therefrom.
The man who laid down the Architecture of Jaipur (new Capital of Kachwahas) in early 18th century was a Bengali brahmin.
One of the theories even affixes the origin of Kachwahas from a place near Son river in Bihar.
Will post on Tomars later.
Regards,
Virendra
No personal attacks. Consider yourself warned.
