[4] The Shrimáli Bráhm-Bháts are of the following subdivisions: Dhondaleshvar, Hár, Hera, Loh, Poeshsha, Pitalia, and Varing. They say Shrimál is their original home. [↑]
[5] The local explanation of Reh-bári is liver out of the way. Their subdivisions are; Ál, Barod, Bougaro, Dagalla, Gansor, Gongala, Kalotra, Karamtha, Nangu, Panna, Pramára, Roj. All are strong dark full-bearded men. [↑]
[6] The importance of Bhinmál as a centre of population is shown not only by the Shrimáli Bráhmans and Vánis who are spread all over Gujarát, but by the Porwárs a class of Vánis now unrepresented in their native town who are said to take their name from a suburb of Bhinmál. Oswáls, almost all of whom are Shrávaks or followers of the Jain religion, have practically spread from Bhinmál. The origin of the name Osvál is (Trans. Roy. As. Soc. III. 337) from Osi the Mother or Luck of Osianagar an ancient town and still a place of pilgrimage about eighteen miles north of Jodhpur. The Oswáls were originally Rájputs of several classes including Pawárs but mainly Solaṅkis and so apparently (Tod’s Western India, 209) of Gurjjara origin. Equally of Gurjjara origin are the Shrimáli Vánis who hold a specially high place among Western Indian Jains. The care taken by the Jains to secure foreign conquerors within their fold is notable. The Tirthankar is a Rája who by piety and other virtues attained moksha or absorption. The fifty-four worshipfuls uttamapurushas, the twenty-four tirthankars, the twelve chakravartis, the nine báladevas, and the nine vásudevas are Rájás, most of them great conquerors (Trans. Royal Asiatic Society. III. 338–341). The local story is that the Solaṅkis were called to help the people of Shrimál to resist the Songara Rájputs of Jhálor who took Bhinmál about a.d. 1290. Before that the Shrimális and Solaṅkis were enemies. This tradition of hostility is interesting as it may go back to a.d. 740 when Múlarája Solaṅki transferred the seat of power from Bhinmál to Aṇahilaváḍa Pátan. (See Below page [469].) A class who trace to Bhinmál are the Pitals or Kalbis of Márwár (Márwár Castes, 41). They claim descent from Rájput men and Bráhman women. In support of the tradition the women still keep separate neither eating with nor using the same vessels as their husbands. [↑]
[7] These dancing girls hold land. They are said to have been brought by the Songara Rájputs, who according to the local account retreating from Alá-ud-dín Khilji (a.d. 1290) took Bhinmál from the Shrimáli Bráhmans. [↑]
[8] The Jatiyas all Hindus of the three subdivisions Baletta, Sunkaria, and Talvaria came from Mándu near Dhár in Central India. The name is locally derived from jatukarta a skin. [↑]
[9] According to a local story there was a hermitage of Jangams near the temple of Jagamdeva the Sun-God and a hermitage of Bharatis near Chandeshvar’s shrine. In a fight between the rival ascetics many were slain and the knowledge where their treasure was stored passed away. When repairs were made in a.d. 1814 (S. 1870) the Bharati hermitage was cleared. Two large earthen pots were found one of which still stands at the door of Chandeshvar’s temple. These pots contained the treasure of the Bharatis. In a.d. 1814 nothing but white dust was found. Most of the dust was thrown away till a Jain ascetic came and examined the white dust. The ascetic called for an iron rod, heated the rod, sprinkled it with the white dust, and the iron became gold. [↑]
[10] According to Alberuni (a.d. 1030) the Brahmasiddhánta was composed by Brahmagupta the son of Jishnu from the town of Bhillamála between Multán and Anhilwára. Sachau’s Translation, I. 153. Another light of the college was the Sanskrit poet Magha, the son of Śrímálí parents, who is said to have lived in the time of Bhoj Rája of Ujjain (a.d. 1010–1040). Márwár Castes, 68. [↑]
[11] The local account explains the origin of the name Kanak which also means gold by the story of a Bhil who was drowned on the waxing fifth of Bhádarwa. The Bhil’s wife who was with him failing to drown herself prepared a funeral pyre. Mahádeva pleased with the woman’s devotion restored her husband to life and made his body shine like gold. As a thankoffering the Bhil enlarged the tank and built a shrine to Kirait Mahádeva. [↑]
[12] The local explanation of the name Yaksha’s Pool is that Rávana went to Abaka the city of the great Yaksha Kuvera god of wealth and stole Pushpak Kuvera’s vimán or carrier. Kuvera in sorrow asked his father what he should do to recover his carrier. The father said Worship in Shrimál. Kuvera came to Shrimál and worshipped Brahma who appeared to him and said: When Rámchandra destroys Ravana he will bring back Pushpak. [↑]
[13] No local tradition throws light on the reason why this figure is called a Yaksha. The holding a head in his hand suggests that he may have been a guardian Bhairav in some Buddhist temple and so remembered as a guardian or Yaksha. Or he may have been supposed to be a statue of the builder of the temple and so have been called a Yaksha since that word was used for a race of skilful architects and craftsmen. Troyer’s Rajataraṅgíní, I. 369. In the Vrijji temples in Tirhut which Buddhist accounts make older than Buddhism the objects of worship were ancestral spirits who were called Yakshas. If the Buddhist legends of Śaka settlements in Tirhut during Gautama’s lifetime (a.d. 540) have any historical value these Vrijjis were Śakas. As (J. As. Ser. VI. Tom. II. page 310) Yaka is a Mongol form of Śaka the ancestral guardians would be Śakas. Compare in Eastern Siberia the Turki tribe called Yakuts by the Russians and Sokhas by themselves, Ency. Brit. XXIV. 725. This would explain why the mythic Yaksha was a guardian, a builder, and a white horseman. It would explain why the name Yaksha was given to the Baktrian Greeks who built stupas and conquered India for Aśoka (J. As. Ser. VII. Vol. VI. page 170; Heeley in Indian Antiquary, IV. 101). It further explains how the name came to be applied to the Yuechi or Kusháns who like the Yavanas were guardians white horsemen and builders. In Sindh and Kachh the word Yaksha seems to belong to the white Syrian horsemen who formed the strength of Muhammad Kásim’s army, a.d. 712. (Tod’s Western India, 197; Reinaud’s Fragments, 191; Briggs’ Farishtah, IV. 404–409). [↑]