Post by kuldeepadhana on Oct 1, 2006 3:49:33 GMT -5
Gurjars of Maharastra
Maharashtra is a name of the territory which we don’t find used earlier, thought the language Maharashtri is mentioned even by Varauchi of the first century. As applied to the present Maratha state Maharashtra is used by Hieun Tsang only in seventh century, previous Indian writers such as Varah Mihir using other names to denote it. The western sea coasts was called konkan which the Arabs in 8th to 10th century applied collectively for the Maharashtra, Arabs used the word kamkam. During foreign Muslim rule in India, they used to call it Marhat and its inhabitants were called Hindus. 300 years ago when Shivaji with his warriors rose against Aurangzeb, he and his party were called Maratha after name of their native land. Who were originally these Marathas?
Sir Yadu Nath Sirkar writes in his Maratha History that the early Maratha party consisted of five Kshatriyan families Yadav, Panwar, Sindey, Gurjar and Mauray. Chintamani Vinayak writes in “Hindu Bharat ka Utkars” that the present Maratha families Shirke, Selhar, Maharik and Gujar are ancient Kshatria. Niaymurti Ranade in “History of Peshwas” mentions that the commander’s in-chef of the Maratha kingdom always belonged to eight families Phalkar, Gujar, Mohite, Ghorpare and Yadav. Pratap Rao Gurjar was the commander of Maratha cavalry of Shivaji. The Mawal Gurjars of Deccan were the brave people who had always ten to twenty thousand cavaliers in their own army. In 1672 CE, salher fort was besieged by the Mughal forces; Pratap Rao Gurjar reached the place and defeated the besiegers in an open fight. He then conquered Surat and Khandesh. He was again sent to Balgan where Mughal army was destroyed; he also defeated the Bijapur army at Panhal Khoti. Singh Gadh fort was conquered by another Gurjar commander namely Kartoji.
In 1666 CE when Shivaji went to Delhi to see the emperor Aurangzeb on assurance of safety given to him by Mirza Raja Jai Singh Amber (Modern Jaipur) he had formed an Executive Council to work after him; Pratap Rao Gurjar was one of its members and when Shivaji was arrested at Delhi by the emperor, Pratap Rao took the field in Maharashtra and protected the country against aggression. The Gurjars of Deccan were the right hand of Shivaji in his liberation movement in each fight. Against Afzal Khan, Shaista Khan and Prince Moazzam they led their armies in the fore-front. Later Sidho Ji Gurjar established the Maratha Naval Force.
The ancestors of Gurjars of Maharastra had been destroyed and driven out of North by the Muslims during past centuries. They migrated in the south.
Maharashtra is a name of the territory which we don’t find used earlier, thought the language Maharashtri is mentioned even by Varauchi of the first century. As applied to the present Maratha state Maharashtra is used by Hieun Tsang only in seventh century, previous Indian writers such as Varah Mihir using other names to denote it. The western sea coasts was called konkan which the Arabs in 8th to 10th century applied collectively for the Maharashtra, Arabs used the word kamkam. During foreign Muslim rule in India, they used to call it Marhat and its inhabitants were called Hindus. 300 years ago when Shivaji with his warriors rose against Aurangzeb, he and his party were called Maratha after name of their native land. Who were originally these Marathas?
Sir Yadu Nath Sirkar writes in his Maratha History that the early Maratha party consisted of five Kshatriyan families Yadav, Panwar, Sindey, Gurjar and Mauray. Chintamani Vinayak writes in “Hindu Bharat ka Utkars” that the present Maratha families Shirke, Selhar, Maharik and Gujar are ancient Kshatria. Niaymurti Ranade in “History of Peshwas” mentions that the commander’s in-chef of the Maratha kingdom always belonged to eight families Phalkar, Gujar, Mohite, Ghorpare and Yadav. Pratap Rao Gurjar was the commander of Maratha cavalry of Shivaji. The Mawal Gurjars of Deccan were the brave people who had always ten to twenty thousand cavaliers in their own army. In 1672 CE, salher fort was besieged by the Mughal forces; Pratap Rao Gurjar reached the place and defeated the besiegers in an open fight. He then conquered Surat and Khandesh. He was again sent to Balgan where Mughal army was destroyed; he also defeated the Bijapur army at Panhal Khoti. Singh Gadh fort was conquered by another Gurjar commander namely Kartoji.
In 1666 CE when Shivaji went to Delhi to see the emperor Aurangzeb on assurance of safety given to him by Mirza Raja Jai Singh Amber (Modern Jaipur) he had formed an Executive Council to work after him; Pratap Rao Gurjar was one of its members and when Shivaji was arrested at Delhi by the emperor, Pratap Rao took the field in Maharashtra and protected the country against aggression. The Gurjars of Deccan were the right hand of Shivaji in his liberation movement in each fight. Against Afzal Khan, Shaista Khan and Prince Moazzam they led their armies in the fore-front. Later Sidho Ji Gurjar established the Maratha Naval Force.
The ancestors of Gurjars of Maharastra had been destroyed and driven out of North by the Muslims during past centuries. They migrated in the south.