Sisodia

Rajput Clan Sisodia
Maharana Prathap Singh, a Sisodia ruler
Claim Descent From	Suryavansh
Descended from:	Koshal
Branches (Gotras):	Gahlots, Bachals, Gohils
Ruled in	Delhi, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat
Princely states:	Ayodhya, Awadh, Koshal, Rajputana
Population Location:	India, Nepal and Pakistan
Languages:	Hindi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Braj Bhasa, Awadhi

Raja Sri Ramchandra

The Sisodia (also known as Sesodia, Shishodia, Shishodya, Sisodya, Sisodhya or Sisodiya) are Chattari rajputs of the Suryavanshi lineage who ruled over the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan. Prior to Rana Hamir the clan was known as Gehlot or Guhilot.

In 1303 CE, Alla-ud-din Khilji attacked Chittor for the second time after 5 years. According to legend the events following up to the sack of Chittor, defeat of the Rajput was evident. Most fighting men had fallen during the first siege of Chittor. In an attempt to save face, all Rajput men went down fighting during the last stages and met certain death. Meanwhile Rani Padmini committed Jauhar or self immolation with all Rajput women. Muslim invaders often captured women as war bounty. Young boys of the clan were not in the fort during the assault therefore the lineage survived. Amongst the survivors was Hammir who hailed from Sisoda village. Hamir's Queen, and daughter of Mal Dev Songira helped him recover Chittor. Ultimately Rana Hamir re-established rule over Chittor after 16 years of Muslim occupation. His clan was renamed Sisodia after their village of "Sisoda".

Origins

Mythology

Sisodias claim their descent from Rama - who was from the Raghav (Raghuvanshi) clan of Suryavanshi dynasty. Rama is the hero of The Ramayana, a Hindu epic. and the Sisodias claim descent through his son, Luv.^{[citation needed]}

Historical

The clan claims that they moved from Lahore — then known as Lohkot or Lavasthali — to Shiv Desh (Chittor) in V.S. 191. Bappa Rawal conquered Chittor, taking it from a ruler of the Mori dynasty, and established Mewar, This scion of the Gahlot clan, established himself as ruler of Mewar in 734 AD, ruling from the fortress of Chittor.

The gotras of Sisodias is Vaishampayan. The Lord Jaharveer Goga were from a Sisodia (Bachal) family.^{[citation needed]}

Rulers at Chittor

Prince Khoman led various expeditions against invaders. Important was expedition in 813 AD uniting Rajputs and throwing the armies of Al-Mamun from Chitor and Sind. Al-Mamun attacked Chitor 24 times and was defeated every time by the combined strength of Rajput armies to victory. He gave up only after his pride fell like the demon Ravana and he finally accepted defeat. This resulted in peace for another 200 years. Maharaja Kanak Sen died at the age of Ninety-four in VS 250. His progeny were ruling over 84 states during this period. Peace prevailed after Al-Mamun’s defeat in 9th Century. The period was both peaceful and productive. New forts like that of Sikri, Agra and Patri etc. were constructed. Rich temples were dedicated to various Gods also seem to have come up. While each king ruled over his respective state the ‘Emperor ship’ was rotated. Rawal Kirti Verma a contemporary of Mahmud Gaznavi of A.D 997 to 1027 or AH 387 to 418 fought him. Md Gaznavi confined himself to looting of Indian temples of their wealth.^{[citation needed]}

During 11th Century, Rawal Samar Singh took over as the next Emperor of Chitor. This was the period when Someshwar Chauhan or Samanta Singha ruled over Ajmer, Nahar Rao Parihar over Mandor and Jai Chand Rathore over Kanauj. Someshwar was the father of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. Rana Samar Singh had three queens. The first Agira Kanwar was the daughter of Nahar Rao Parihar. She had two sons, Princes Kumbh Karan (eldest) and Karam Singh (second son). His second queen Rainsi Rathore was the daughter of Jai Chand Rathore of Kanauj. She had a son named Raghoraiji (third son). Jaichand second daughter ‘Sanyogita’ was married to Prithvi Raj Chauhan. Samar Singh’s third queen was Pruthu Kanwar. She was the daughter of Someshwar Chauhan and sister of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. She had a son named Rawal Ratan Singh (the youngest son) who was Rani Padmini’s husband. (Refer Chitor Udaipur Ka Patnama page 292). Prithvi Raj Chauhan was therefore the brothers-in-law of Samar Singh. The relationship between Samar Singh of Chitor, Someshwar Chauhan of Ajmer, Jai Chand of Kanauj and Nahar Rao Parihar of Mandor has been highlighted. Though Kumbh Karan was the eldest son, yet Ratan Singh (the youngest son) took over Chitor. Ratan Singh had superseded three of his brothers. He was two years old when Samar Singh died fighting Altutmish at Delhi. As Ratan Singh was son of Pruthu Kanwar (sister of Prithviraj Chauhan) - it brings out the clout that the Chauhans enjoyed at Chitor. He was killed at the Battle of Ghaggar during the defeat of the Hindu confederacy under Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Md Shamshuddin Ghori in 1193 AD.

First Jauhar of Chittor

Jauhar of 1303: Ala-ud-din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, sent a marauding army across India at the turn of the 13th century; this army, commanded by Malik Kafur, soundly defeated the Guhilot rulers of Mewar in 1303. The impending fall of Chittorgarh, the main bastion of the Gehlots, occasioned the famous Jauhar of 1303 AD., when the womenfolk, led by Rani Padmini, collectively committed suicide rather than risk personal dishonor at the hands of the victorious invading army. The brave men wore saffron turbans as a mark of performing saka, of running into battle with no hope of coming back. The injured and surviving Gehlot menfolk and their retainers are said to have subsequently taken refuge in the nearby hills.^{[citation needed]}

The Gehlots settled in Ahar, where they were known as Aharya. They maintained this title until they relocated to Sisoda. Sisoda was used as a name when a prince of Chittor built the town right where he had killed a hare (Susso). Since then the clan has retained the title of Sisodia. However, another version says that the dynasty was so named from the word sisa or lead. It is said that a prince of the dynasty was accidentally made to eat a medication with pigeon blood when he had given up meat-eating. The Sisodias are staunch followers of the Hindu faith where being a Satvik is very serious business. When the prince realised his folly he chose to atone for his blunder by swallowing molten lead (sisa).^{[citation needed]}

Rana Hammir's recapture of Chittor

Rana Hamir Singh (1326–1364) recaptured Chittaurgarh in 1326, and was the first ruler of the clan to use the royal title of "Rana." He changed the family name to Sisodia, derived from Sisoda, the name of the village where he was born. Rana Kumbha (1433–1468) expanded the kingdom and established a system of forts to secure its boundaries. He made Mewar the most powerful Rajput state of the period. Rana Sanga (1509–1527) sought to free northern India from the Sultanate, and convinced Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty, to challenge Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. Babur defeated Ibrahim at the First Battle of Panipat, and Rana Sangha then led an assembled Bargujar and other Rajputs army to drive Babur away and to recapture Delhi from the Muslims, who had ruled there since the end of the 12th century. Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanua, and Mewar was forced to pay tribute to the Mughals.^{[citation needed]}

The struggle between Babur's successor Humayun and the Suri Dynasty allowed Mewar to regain its independence for several decades. Humayun's successor Akbar brought most of the Rajput states under his rule by force or by dynastic marriage, but the Sisodias refused along with Bargujars, and Akbar sent an army headed by the Rajput general Raja Man Singh of the Kachwaha clan. After the capture of Chittaur by the emperor Akbar in 1568, Rana Udai Singh II (1537–1572) shifted the capital to the more defensible site of Udaipur, which he had founded shortly before the fall of Chittaur. Maharana Pratap (1572–1596) led a guerrilla war,along with Raghav (Raghuvanshi) as their main allies, against the occupying armies of the Mughals and their Rajput allies. After the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb attacked the neighboring kingdom of Marwar in 1679, the Sisodias formed a triple alliance with the Rathores of Marwar and the Kachwahas of Jaipur to liberate the Rajputs from the Mughals.^{[citation needed]}

Bhim Singh (1777–1828) was the first ruler to use the title maharana (great king). A branch of the family ruled the state of Barwani in present-day Madhya Pradesh. After India became independent in 1947, Maharana Sir Bhupal Singh acceded to the Government of India in 1948. The Sisodias still retain their royal titles and Maharana Mahendra Singh Mewar of Udaipur is still the "royal officiator of Udaipur" (2005).^{[citation needed]}

Guhils of Khergarh

A second branch of Gohils who also were the descendants of Bappa Rawal ruled Khergarh in Marwar. They were displaced by the combined forces of the Rathores and Sodhas and were forced to migrate to present day Gujarat under the leadership of Sejakji. After building various alliances with the local Solanki and Raijada rulers and displacing some of the local Kathi and Mer rulers.^{[citation needed]}

Sejakji established a kingdom in eastern Kathiawar. Sejakji's descendants managed to hold a precarious hold over their newly acquired territory under constant pressure from the local Kathis and the Muslim Sultanate of Gujrat initially. During later years they had to also face hostilities from the Nawab of Junagadh and the Marathas which resulted in many armed conflicts. Many of these descendants of Sejakji perished in the almost constant state of warfare that existed in the turbulent and violent Eastern Kathiawar of those days.They had to frequently shift capitals starting from Sejakpur to Ranpur, Ghogha, Shihor and finally Bhavnagar due to land constantly changing hands during hostilities. However in spite of the tremendous odds stacked against them they kept expanding by conquering Kathi territories and gained wealth and prominence by raiding the territories of the Sultanate of Gujrat. They frequently plundered the ships of the Delhi Sultans that plied the Gulf of Khambat.^{[citation needed]}

Sejakji's grandson Mokhdaji became famous as a plunderer of Mohammad Tugluq's fleet. The Gohils eventually founded the State of Bhavnagar also known as Gohilwar. One of Mokhdaji's sons inherited Rajpipla from his maternal Grandfather who ruled the area and had no other heir and so the Gohils also gained Rajpipla in Eastern Gujrat. The Gohil Rulers of Bhavnagar and their immediate brethren (up to six generation distant) are titled Raol. H.H. Maharaja Raol Shree KrishnakumarSinghji Gohil of Bhavnagar was the first Indian Ruler to voluntarily accede to the Indian Union in 1947. In addition to Bhavnagar two of Sejakji's younger sons each founded the smaller states of Palitana and Lathi in Kathiawar. Other branch of Gohils from Khergarh (Marwar) settled at Naroli in the present day Banaskantha District and made Naroli their capital. They were eventually displaced by the Chauhans.^{[citation needed]}

Sisodia lineage from Chittod which moved to Deccan

The Bhonsle clan, to which the Maratha Empire's founder Shivaji belonged, also claim descent from the Sisodia clan. According to this theory, Shivaji's ancestors migrated from Mewar to the Deccan. Pandit Gaga Bhatt of Varanasi presented a genealogy declaring that Shivaji's ancestors were Kshatriyas descended from the solar line of the Rajput Ranas of Mewar. The Persian Sanads in the possession of the Ghorpade family of Mudhol claim that Bhonsle and Ghorpade are Sisodia Rajputs: these Persian documents, which were translated in the 1930s, refer to Rana Ugrasena, father of Karna Singh and his younger brother Shubha Krishna, as common ancestors of both the Bhonsle and Ghorpade. The Ghorpade title was given to Karna Singh and his son, Bhimsen, in recognition of their capture of the fort of Khelna (presently, Vishalgad) in 1470 AD with the help of an Iguana, which is called Ghorpad in Marathi. These Persian firmans given to ancestors of Ghorpade and Bhonsle by early Bahamani Sultans and then Adil Shahi Sultans link both the Bhonsle and Ghorpade families to Ugrasena who is considered a common ancestor by them.

The Sisodia flag

The Mewar flag depicts the image of a dagger and a flaming sun. On the top of the mast is the face of the Sun, embossed in gold. On the triangular Nishan (flag), the human face is embroidered in gold depicting the Sun. It has a gold tassle at the end. A Katar (a type of dagger) with silver threads on the Nishan completes this simple design. The Sun signifies that the Nishan is of the "Surya Vansi" (Sun Dynasty) Maharanas of Mewar. The Katar is the emblem of independence....the colour of the Nishan (flag) is Saffron and the mast is red.

See also

• Rajput clans
• Gad or Gath
• Shaktawat
• Chundawat