Migration of the Rāthors into Rājputāna.
The Tribes of Rājputāna.
The Exploits of Siāhji.
Flushed with success, we hear nothing of the completion of Siahji’s pilgrimage; but obedient to the axiom of the Rajput, “get land,” we find him on the banks of the Luni, exterminating, at a feast, the Dabhis of Mewa,[[3]] and soon after the Gohils of Kherdhar,[[4]] whose chief, Maheshdas, fell by the sword of the grandson of Jaichand. Here, in the “land of Kher,” amidst the sandhills of the Luni (the salt-river of the desert), from which the Gohils were expelled, Siahji planted the standard of the Rathors.
At this period a community of Brahmans held the city and extensive lands about Pali, from which they were termed Paliwal;[[5]] and being greatly harassed by the incursions of the mountaineers, the Mers and Minas, they called in the aid of Siahji’s band, which readily undertook and executed the task of rescuing the Brahmans from their depredations. Aware that they would be renewed, they offered Siahji lands to settle amongst them, which were readily accepted; and here he had a son by the Solankani, to whom he gave the name of Asvatthama. With her, it is recorded, the suggestion originated to make himself lord of Pali; and it affords another example of the disregard of the early Rajputs for the sacred order, that on the Holi, or Saturnalia, he found an opportunity to “obtain land,” putting to death the heads of this community, and adding the district to his conquests [14]. Siahji outlived his treachery only twelve months, leaving his acquisitions as a nucleus for further additions to his children. He had three sons, Asvatthama, Soning, and Ajmall.
Asvatthāma.
Asvatthama died, leaving eight sons, who became the heads of clans, namely, Duhar, Jopsi, Khampsao, Bhopsu, Dhandhal, Jethmall, Bandar, and Uhar; of which, four, Duhar, Dhandhal, Jethmall, and Uhar, are yet known.
Duhar or Dhūhada.
Rāēpāl, Chhada, Thīda, Salkha, Biramdeo, Chonda.
So fluctuating are the fortunes of the daring Rajput, ever courting distinction and coveting bhum, ‘land,’ that but a short time before this success, Chonda had been expelled from all the lands acquired by his ancestors, and was indebted to the hospitality of a bard of the Charan tribe, at Kalu; and they yet circulate the kabit, or quatrain, made by him when, in the days of his greatness, he came and was refused admittance to “the lord of Mandor”; he took post under the balcony, and improvized a stanza, reminding him of the Charan of Kalu: “Chonda nahīn āwē chit, Khichar Kalu tanna? Bhup bhaya bhay-bhit, Mandawar ra mālya?” “Does not Chonda remember the porridge of Kalu, now that the lord of the land looks so terrific from his balcony of Mandawar?” Once established in Mandor, he ventured to assault the imperial garrison of Nagor. Here he was also successful. Thence he carried his arms south, and placed his garrison in Nadol, the capital of the province of Godwar. He married a daughter of the Parihar prince,[[9]] who had the satisfaction to see his grandson succeed to the throne of Mandor. Chonda was blessed with a progeny of fourteen sons, growing up to manhood around him. Their names were Ranmall,[[10]] Satta, Randhir, Aranyakanwal,[[11]] Punja, Bhim, Kana, Ajo, Ramdeo, Bija, Sahasmall, Bagh, Lumba, Seoraj.