Dr Sushil Bhati
Khokhar-Rawal khap of
Gurjaras is a unit of 27 Villages in Panipat district. It is believed that they
Came here from beyond the Lahore. First they settled in Rana khera (now known
as Rajapur) but then moved to kabri and Kohand where they held a Barah of 12
villages; they also held Bapauli, When they eventually settled 27 (sataisi)
villages of Khojgipur thappa in khadir. They still hold the khadir villages but
have lost most of those near the Kohand.
Chokker khap (Chaubisi) of
Gurjaras is a unit of 24 Villages in Panipat district with Namaunda as its
headquarters. They immigrated from Jewar thappa beyond Mathura.
Bhamla khap (Barah) of
Gurjaras consists of a unit of 12 villages in Gurgaon district. Its head
quarter is at village Harchandpur Khor.
Khatana khap of Gurjaras
(Barah) is a unit of 12 villages in Gurgaon district. Its headquarter is at
village Rozka Gujar( Damdama).
Tanwar Khap of Gurjaras
is a unit of 12 villages which lie in mehrauli, Delhi and adjoining region of
Haryana. Out of these 12 Villages 8 villages are in Mehrauli area of Delhi and
4 villages in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts of Haryana. Fatehpur Beri and
Gwal Pahari are the head quarters of the Khap. Asola in Delhi and Ankhir
in Faridabad are also important village of the khap. Anangpal Tanwar shifted
his capital from Anangpur in Faridabad district to Mehrauli and laid the
foundation of Delhi. Anangpur is now a village and still has some
families of Tanwar Gurjaras . It seems that the Tanwar Khap area formed the
nucleus of Tanwar kingdom of Dilli during early medieval period.
Bhadana khap (Barah) of
Gurjaras consists of a unit of 12 Villages in Faridabad district. Village Pali
is the headquqrter of the khap. Village Anangpur named after Anangpal Tanwar
still having the archaeological remains of capital town of Tanwars forms
the part of this khap. Later Tanwars shifted their capital to Mihirpur now
known as Mehrauli. But remaining families of Tanwar Gurjaras still reside in
Anangpur village along with Bhadana Gurjaras. From this khap area some
Bhadana Gurjaras moved across the Yamuna in Vicinity of Meerut where too
they have Barah, unit of 12 villages. Bhadanas also had a stronghold in Bayana
region of Rajasthan which was known as Bhadana or Bhadanak desh during 12th
century and we have many references of their fight with Chauhans of Delhi and
Ajmer. We also come to know about Valiant fight of Bhadanas of Pali and Pakhal
against Sher Shah Suri while he was raising a fortification at Purana Kila in
Delhi.
Nangdi khap of Gurjaras
has Chaurasi, 84 Villages in Faridabad district. Infact, Nangdis reside in 24
villages rest of the villages belong to other Gurjara clans or non Gurjara
caste. Villages Neemka and Tigaon are the head quarters of the Khap. From here
some Nangdi Gurjara moved to other side of river Yamuna where they have a chaubisi,
unit of 24 villages in Dadri area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district. From there
they moved further east into Meerut district. Here during the mid nineteenth century,
their chief Jait singh got Mukarrardari of 350 villages from Mughals and laid
the foundation of Bahsuma-Parikshatgarh Riyasat. Nangdi chiefs styled
themselves as Rajas and built the forts ‘Kilas’ at Bahsuma and Parikshatgarh.
Thereafter Parikshat Garh in Meerut came to be known as Kila Parikshat Garh or
simply Kila.
Bainsla clan of Gurjaras
has a chaubisi, unit of 24 villages in
Palwal district. Kushak-Badoli forms the head quarter of the khap. Like the
other Gurjaras Bainslas also crossed the Yamuna and have a Barah, a unit of 12
villages in Loni area of Baghpat district.
Meham Chaubisi of Jats
in Rohtak area is a mix khap having villages of Malik, Dalal, Rathi and Boora
clans of Jats. Madina, Meham and Mokhra are the main villages of this
Khap.
Hooda khap of Jats in
Rohtak, Sonipat and Jhajjar area.
Dalal Khap of Jats in
Rohtak, Bhiwani area.
Dahia Khap of jats in
Sonipat and Panipat district.
Ahlawat khap of Jats in
Jhajjar and Panipat area.
Rathi khap of Jats in
Sonipat and Rohtak area.
Sangwan khap of Jats in
Bhiwani area.
Gathwala Khap of Malik
Jats in Sonipat area of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
We see that Khaps of Gurjaras
are geneally situated along the bank of river Yamuna in eastern Haryana while
the Jat Khaps are more concentrated in western and northern districts of
Haryana. The Gurjara Khaps’ villages are generally found in unit of 12 or its
multiple I.e. 24 or 84. But no such thing is followed in settlements of
Jats khaps in Haryana except the Meham Chaubisi in Rohtak district, although
Jat clans’ villages are more numerous but scattered in Haryana. It is also
clear that many Gurjara clans settled in upper doab of Yamuna and Ganga went
there from the Haryana. There are also indications that, in turn, many Gurjara
clans came to Haryana and Delhi from Rajasthan during the reign of Gurjara
Pratihara and their feudatories Tomars and chauhans as famous Historian R S Sharma ascribes the formation of
these units of 12 villages or its multiples to the Gurjara Pratiharas or
their feudatories rule in North Western India during the early medieval period.
He says that what distinguished the Gurjara Pratihara polity from
that of contemporary Rastrakutas and Palas was the imposition of clan
aristocracies on old, settled villages. He further says that Gujar
imposed themselves as dominant clans on settled villages. The tribal practice
that spoils should be distributed among the members of the tribe led to the
apportionment of villages among the conquering chiefs, some of them received
them in units of 84. It implies that Khaps which are unit of 12 villages
or its multiple constitute the clan aristocracies of Gurjara Pratihara empire
system or polity.
References
R S Sharma, Indian Feudalism, AD 300-1200,Delhi,
2006, P 88-89
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1403928630
B.N. Puri, History
of the Gurjara Pratiharas, Bombay, 1957
V. A. Smith, The
Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, (Jan., 1909), pp.53-75
V A Smith, The Oford History
of India, IV Edition, Delhi, 1990
P C Bagchi, India and
Central Asia, Calcutta, 1965
Romila Thapar, A History of India,
Vol. I., U.K. 1966.
R S Tripathi, History of Kannauj
Denzil Ibbetson, Report on the revision
of the settlement of the Panipat Tehsil and Karnal Pargana of Karnal
District,1872-1880, Allahbad, 1883, p 84
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=cU-bknDEhQAC
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=cU-bknDEhQAC