Kachhwaha Gotra
कछवाहा
At a glance
Related Gotras
Common surnames
About
Kachhwaha (Kachwaha, Kachhawa) is the Rajput clan of the rulers of Amber and Jaipur, with branches at Alwar, Shekhawati and Narwar. Tradition makes it Suryavanshi, descended from Rama's son Kusha. Historians connect it with the Kachchhapaghata dynasty of Gwalior, Dubkund and Narwar. The kuldevi in the clan's own tradition is Jamwai Mata at Jamwa Ramgarh. The gotra is given as Kashyapa in one old record and Manava in another; branches differ.
Founding Rishi
Pravara Lineage
The Pravara is the line of illustrious ancestral rishis recited in ritual, from the first ancestor down:
Regional Spread
The Kachhwaha Gotra is predominantly found in:
Etymology
Cunningham took Kachhwaha to be short for Kachchhapaghata, 'tortoise-killer'. Cynthia Talbot notes that kachchhapa is Sanskrit for tortoise. Rima Hooja records the clan being called Kachhapaghata, Kachwaha and Katsawaha in different periods, and the spelling Kachawa becoming common in the late sixteenth century. The clan's own tradition links the name to Kusha. These explanations are guesses from the record, not settled.
Historical Journey
The clan's tradition, in Tod and Crooke, runs from Rama's son Kusha (Kush) of Kosala to Rohtas on the Son, then to Raja Nala, who founded Narwar. Tod dates Nala's founding of Narwar to 295 CE. His thirty-third descendant, Sora Singh, died leaving a young son, Dhola Rae, who was driven out and in 967 CE, in Tod's date, founded the state of Dhundhar, later called Amber. In Tod's account Dhola Rae won Khogaon and Ramgarh (Machh) from the Mina chiefs and Dausa from a Bargujar chief, whose daughter he married. Inscriptions give an earlier and different line. The Kachchhapaghata dynasty ruled in the tenth to twelfth centuries from Gwalior (Gopadri), Dubkund and Narwar. A Sas-Bahu temple inscription and a Sihoniya inscription of 977 CE name Lakshmana as the first prominent chief and say his successor Vajradaman took Gwalior from the Pratihara king of Kannauj. Gwalior inscriptions of 1093-94 and 1104 CE, in the reign of Mahipala, call Vajradaman the ornament of the dynasty. Wikipedia and Rima Hooja treat the Kachchhapaghatas as ancestors of the Kachhwaha of Amber. Bardic tradition says the last Kachchhapaghata, Tejakarana (called Dulha Rai or Dhola Rai), left Gwalior in 1128, and that his Parihar kinsman kept the fort. Inscriptions of 1155, 1192 and 1194 show Kachchhapaghata rule at Gwalior later than that, so the bardic account is not fully reliable. Gwalior fell to Qutb al-Din Aibak's army in 1196. The Amber house grew under the Mughals. Man Singh I (about 1592 to 1614 in Tod's reckoning) was a leading Mughal general and governor of Kabul, Bengal, Bihar and the Deccan, in Russell's summary. Mirza Raja Jai Singh I served under Aurangzeb in the Deccan and, in Russell's words, captured Shivaji. Sawai Jai Singh II (died 1743) founded Jaipur in about 1727 to 1728 and was known for his astronomy, in Tod. The Alwar state came about 1776 from a branch of the Jaipur house. Tod lists the Kachhwaha vassals under twelve Kothris (chambers), with the Naruka of Macheri and the Shekhawat as separate branches. The best-known sub-clans today are Rajawat (the Jaipur line), Shekhawat (from Rao Shekha), Naruka (from Naru), Nathawat (from Natha) and Khangarot (from Khangar); Wikipedia counts about seventy-one in all.
Migration & Diaspora
On the clan's tradition the family moved from Kosala to Rohtas, then Narwar and Gwalior, then Dhundhar in the tenth to twelfth centuries, spreading from Amber and Jaipur into Shekhawati, Alwar and the Ganges-Jumna Doab. Crooke notes that Kachhwaha settlements in the north-western provinces claim a western origin from Amber or Jaipur, or an origin from Gwalior; the stories contradict each other. A Gwalior branch is recorded in Etawah and Jalaun, where Kachhwahagarh (now Madhogarh) is named for them.
Presence Across Regions
Rajasthan (Jaipur, Amber, Alwar, Shekhawati)
Rajput
Core of the clan. The Rajawat hold Jaipur, the Naruka Alwar and Macheri, and the Shekhawat the country around Sikar and Jhunjhunu.
Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior, Narwar, Dubkund)
Rajput
The Kachchhapaghata seats. Russell records Kachhwaha Rajputs in Sagar, Hoshangabad and Nimar.
Uttar Pradesh
Rajput
Crooke's census table for 1891 shows the largest Kachhwaha numbers in Cawnpur, Etawah, Mathura, Jalaun and Agra districts. Local traditions of arrival from Amber, Jaipur or Gwalior contradict each other.
Notable Personalities
Dhola Rae (Dulha Rai)
10th to 12th century
Founder of Dhundhar (Amber) in Tod, who dates it to 967 CE. Bardic tradition makes him the last Kachchhapaghata of Narwar; inscriptions place the dynasty's decline later.
Raja Man Singh I
Reigned about 1592 to 1614 (Tod)
Mughal general and governor of Kabul, Bengal, Bihar and the Deccan, in Russell. He is credited in Amer tradition with bringing the image of Shila Devi from Jessore in Bengal in 1604 and building her temple at Amer.
Mirza Raja Jai Singh I
17th century
Served as a commander in Aurangzeb's Deccan campaigns and is named by Russell as the chief who captured Shivaji.
Sawai Jai Singh II
Died 1743
Founder of Jaipur in about 1727 to 1728 and of observatories; Tod calls him a legislator and man of science, and records that he ruled for forty-four years.
Stories & Legends
Dhola Rae and Maroni
In Tod's account Sora Singh of Narwar died and his brother seized the throne. The infant Dhola Rae's mother carried him west to Khogaon, near modern Jaipur, where the Mina chief sheltered them. Grown up, Dhola Rae took Khogaon from the Mina by force, then Dausa from a Bargujar chief whose daughter he married. He later married Maroni, daughter of the prince of Ajmer, and was killed by the Minas on the way back from visiting the shrine of Jamwahi Mata. His posthumous son, Kankhal, conquered Dhundhar. Historians treat the Dhola and Maru tale as a bardic romance rather than a dated record.
The chariot of the sun
Tod and Russell both record that the Kachhwaha rulers marked their descent from Rama, the incarnation of the sun, by an annual feast of the sun, when a chariot drawn by eight horses (thal) was brought from the temple and the ruler rode in it around his capital. The images of Rama and Shiva were also carried with the army in Alwar and Jaipur, and the banner of Amber was the five-coloured Panchranga.
Ritual Significance
Gotra: Crooke's 1896 account of the clan in the North-Western Provinces says that by one account they claim the Kashyapa gotra, by another the Manava gotra. The page uses Kashyapa, with the pravara and Veda of the Kashyap page here. The site's search index lists Vasishtha, for which I found no source. Families should confirm the gotra with their own purohit. Kuldevi, in the clan's own tradition: Jamwai Mata (Jamwahi Mahadevi), whose temple stands at Jamwa Ramgarh, in the gorge of the Banganga river north-east of Jaipur, according to the Rajputana Gazetteer as quoted by Crooke. Dhola Rae and his son are said to have received her aid against the Minas and the Bargujars, and the sons of the Alwar house go to her temple for the tonsure ceremony. At Amer, Shila Devi is honoured in the fort; tradition holds that Man Singh brought her image from Jessore. Rama and Sita are the deities to whom the Narukas and other Kachhwahas pay most respect, and Krishna, Baladeva and Shiva are also revered. Which deity a family honours as kuldevi depends on its branch and village.