[41] The details compiled from the excellent index and tables in the Panjáb Census yield the following leading groups: 37 sub-castes named Ráthor, Rátor, and other close variants; 53 Rath and Rathis and 2 Rahtas; 50 Ratas, Ratis, or other close variants. Compare Ráhti the name of the people of Mount Abu (Rájputána Gazetteer, III. 139) and the Raht tract in the north-west of Alvar (Ditto, 167). [↑]
CHAPTER XII.
THE MIHIRAS OR MERS.
a.d. 470–900.
Chapter XII.
The Mers, a.d. 470–900. That the Guptas held sway in Káthiáváḍa till the time of Skandagupta (a.d. 454–470) is proved by the fact that his Sorath Viceroy is mentioned in Skandagupta’s inscription on the Girnár rock. After Skandagupta under the next known Gupta king Budhagupta (Gupta 165–180, a.d. 484–499) no trace remains of Gupta sovereignty in Sorath. It is known that Budhagupta was a weak king and that the Gupta kingdom had already entered on its decline and lost its outlying provinces. Who held Suráshṭra and Gujarát during the period of Gupta decline until the arrival and settlement of Bhaṭkárka in a.d. 514 (Gupta 195) is not determined. Still there is reason to believe that during or shortly after the time of Budhagupta some other race or dynasty overthrew the Gupta Viceroy of these provinces and took them from the Guptas. These powerful conquerors seem to be the tribe of Maitrakas mentioned in Valabhi copperplates as people who had settled in Káthiáváḍa and established a maṇḍala or kingdom. Though these Maitrakas are mentioned in no other records from Suráshṭra there seems reason to identify the Maitrakas with the Mihiras the well-known tribe of Mhers or Mers. In Sanskrit both mitra and mihira are names of the sun, and it would be quite in agreement with the practise of Sanskrit writers to use derivatives of the one for those of the other. These Mhers or Mers are still found in Káthiáváḍa settled round the Barda hills while the Porbandar chiefs who are known as Jethvás are recognized as the head of the tribe. The name Jethvá is not a tribal but a family name, being taken from the proper or personal name of the ancestor of the modern chiefs. As the Porbandar chiefs are called the kings of the Mhers they probably belong to the same tribe, though, being chiefs, they try, like other ruling families, to rank higher than their tribe tracing their origin from Hanúmán. Though the Jethvás appear to have been long ashamed to acknowledge themselves to belong to the Mher tribe the founders of minor Mher kingdoms called themselves Mher kings. The Porbandar chiefs have a tradition tracing their dynasty to Makaradhvaja son of Hanúmán, and there are some Puráṇic legends attached to the tradition. The historical kernel of the tradition appears to be that the Mhers or Jethvás had a makara or fish as their flag or symbol. One of the mythical stories of Makaradhvaja is that he fought with Mayúradhvaja. Whatever coating of fable may have overlaid the story, it contains a grain of history. Mayúradhvaja stands for the Guptas whose chief symbol was a peacock mayúra, and with them Makaradhvaja that is the people with the fish-symbol that is
Chapter XII.
The Mers, a.d. 470–900. the Mhers had a fight. This fight is probably the historical contest in which the Mhers fought with and overthrew the Gupta Viceroy of Káthiáváḍa.
The Káthiáváḍa Mhers are a peculiar tribe whose language dress and appearance mark them as foreign settlers from Upper India. Like the Málavas, Játs, Gurjjaras, and Pahlavas, the Mhers seem to have passed through the Punjáb Sindh and North Gujarát into Káthiáváḍa leaving settlements at Ajmír, Bádner, Jesalmír, Kokalmír, and Mherváḍa. How and when the Mhers made these settlements and entered Káthiáváḍa is not known. It may be surmised that they came with Toramáṇa (a.d. 470–512) who overthrew the Guptas, and advanced far to the south and west in the train of some general of Toramáṇa’s who may perhaps have entered Suráshṭra. This is probable as the date of Toramáṇa who overthrew Budhagupta is almost the same as that of the Maitrakas mentioned as the opponents and enemies of Bhaṭárka. In the time of Bhaṭárka (a.d. 509–520?) the Mhers were firmly established in the peninsula, otherwise they would not be mentioned in the Valabhi grants as enemies of Bhaṭárka, a tribe or maṇḍala wielding incomparable power. As stated above in Chapter VIII. some time after the Mher settlement and consolidation of power, Bhaṭárka seems to have come as general of the fallen Guptas through Málwa and Broach by sea to East Káthiáváḍa. He established himself at Valabhi and then gradually dislodged the Mhers from Sorath until they retired slightly to the north settling eventually at Morbi, which the Jethvás still recognize as the earliest seat of their ancestors. At Morbi they appear to have ruled contemporarily with the Valabhis. In support of this it is to be noted that no known Valabhi plate records any grant of lands or villages in Hálár, Machhukántha, or Okhámandal in North Káthiáváḍa. As the northmost place mentioned in Valabhi plates is Venuthali known as Wania’s Vanthali in Hálár it may be inferred that not the Valabhis but the Mhers ruled the north coast of Káthiáváḍa, probably as feudatories or subordinates of the Valabhis. On the overthrow of Valabhi about a.d. 770 the Mhers appear to have seized the kingdom and ruled the whole of Káthiáváḍa dividing it into separate chiefships grouped under the two main divisions of Bardái and Gohelvádia. About a.d. 860 the Mhers made incursions into Central Gujarát. A copperplate dated Śaka 789 (a.d. 847) of the Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭa king Dhruva describes him as attacked by a powerful Mihira king whom he defeated.[1] At the height of their power the Mhers seem to have established their capital at the fort of Bhumli or Ghumli in the Bardá hills in the centre of Káthiáváḍa. The traditions about Ghumli rest mainly on modern Jethvá legends of no historical interest. The only known epigraphical record is a copperplate of a king named Jâchikadeva found in the Morbi district.[2] Unfortunately only the second plate remains. Still the fish mark on the plate, the locality where it was found, and its date
Chapter XII.
The Mers, a.d. 470–900. leave little doubt that the plate belongs to the Makaradhvaja or Jethvá kings. The date of the grant is 585 Gupta era the 5th Phálguna Sudi that is a.d. 904, about 130 years after the destruction of Valabhi, a date with which the form of the letters agrees.
A similar copperplate in which the king’s name appears in the slightly different form Jáikadeva has been found at Dhiniki in the same neighbourhood as the first and like it bearing the fish mark.[3] This copperplate describes the king as ruling at Bhúmiliká or Bhúmli in Sorath and gives him the high titles of Parama-bhaṭṭáraka-Mahárájádhirája-Parameśvara, that is Great Lord Great King of Kings Great King, titles which imply wide extent and independence of rule. This grant purports to be made on the occasion of a solar eclipse on Sunday Vikrama Saṃvat 794 Jyeshṭha constellation, the no-moon of the second half of Kárttika. This would be a.d. 738 or 166 years before the Jáchika of the Morbí plate. Against this it is to be noted that the letters of this plate, instead of appearing as old as eighth century letters, look later than the letters of the tenth century Morbí plate. As neither the day of the week, the constellation, nor the eclipse work out correctly Dr. Bhagvánlál believed the plate to be a forgery of the eleventh century, executed by some one who had seen a fish-marked copperplate of Jáchika dated in the Śaka era. It should however be noted that the names of ministers and officers which the plate contains give it an air of genuineness. Whether the plate is or is not genuine, it is probably true that Jáikadeva was a great independent sovereign ruling at Bhúmli. Though the names of the other kings of the dynasty, the duration of the Bhúmli kingdom, and the details of its history are unknown it may be noted that the dynasty is still represented by the Porbandar chiefs. Though at present Bhúmli is deserted several ruined temples of about the eleventh century stand on its site. It is true no old inscriptions have been found; it is not less true that no careful search has been made about Bhúmli.
Early in the tenth century a wave of invasion from Sindh seems to have spread over Kacch and Káthiáváḍa. Among the invading tribes were the Jádejás of Kacch and the Chúḍásamás of Sorath, who like the Bhattis of Jesalmír call themselves of the Yaduvaṃśa stock. Doctor Bhagvánlál held that the Chúḍásamás were originally of the Ábhíra tribe, as their traditions attest connection with the Ábhíras and as the description of Graharipu one of their kings by Hemachandra in his Dvyáśraya points to his being of some local tribe and not of any ancient Rájput lineage. Further in their bardic traditions as well as in popular stories the Chúḍásamás are still commonly called Áhera-ránás. The position of Aberia in Ptolemy (a.d. 150) seems to show that in the second century the Ahirs were settled between Sindh and the Panjáb. Similarly it may be suggested that Jádejá is a corruption of Jaudhejá which
Chapter XII.
The Mers, a.d. 470–900. in turn comes from Yaudheya (the change of y to j being very common) who in Kshatrapa Inscriptions appear as close neighbours of the Ahirs. After the fall of the Valabhis (a.d. 775) the Yaudheyas seem to have established themselves in Kacch and the Ahirs settled and made conquests in Káthiáváḍa. On the decline of local rule brought about by these incursions and by the establishment of an Ahir or Chúḍásamá kingdom at Junágaḍh, the Jethvás seem to have abandoned Bhúmli which is close to Junágaḍh and gone to Srínagar or Káṇtelun near Porbandar which is considered to have been the seat of Jethvá power before Porbandar.
A copperplate found at Haddálá on the road from Dholka to Dhandhuka dated a.d. 917 (Śaka 839) shows that there reigned at Vadhwán a king named Dharaṇívaráha of the Chápa dynasty,[4] who granted a village to one Mahesvaráchárya, an apostle of the Ámardáka Śákhá of Śaivism. Dharaṇívaráha and his ancestors are described as feudatory kings, ruling by the grace of the feet of the great king of kings the great lord the illustrious Mahípáladeva. This Mahípála would seem to be some great king of Káthiáváḍa reigning in a.d. 917 over the greater part of the province. Dr. Bhagvánlál had two coins of this king of about that time, one a copper coin the other a silver coin. The coins were found near Junágaḍh. The copper coin, about ten grains in weight, has one side obliterated but the other side shows clearly the words Ráná Śrí Mahípála Deva. The silver coin, about fourteen grains in weight, has on the obverse a well-executed elephant and on the reverse the legend Ráná Śrí Mahípála Deva. From the locality where the name Mahípála appears both in coins and inscriptions, and from the fact that the more reliable Chúḍásamá lists contain similar names, it may be assumed as probable that Mahípála was a powerful Chúḍásamá ruler of Káthiáváḍa in the early part of the tenth century.