Rastogi
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The Rastogi are a Hindu caste found in North India.[1] They are concentrated in the districts of Varanasi, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Mawana, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Moradabad,Faizabad, Bareilly and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Kankarbagh in Bihar and also in many parts of Delhi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Haryana.[2]
The caste's varna status is the Kshatriya[3][4] varnas.
Legendary origin
Their name is derived from Rohtas (rohit meaning sun, aas meaning vansha).
The term Suryavanshi refers to a person belonging to the Suryvansha dynasty. This clan was the oldest and biggest Kshatriya clan of India, which was also known by many synonyms as Ādityavanśa (आदित्यवंश), Mitravanśa (मित्रवंश), Arkavanśa (अर्कवंश) and Ravivanśa (रविवंश).
The early Suryavanshis considered the sun god (Surya, Aditya or Arka) as their kuladevata and mainly practised sun-worship.
They are called as Rohatgi, Rastogi and Rustagi in present time. Rohitashwa was the son of Harishchandra. He founded the town of Rohtas Garh in Rohtas district, Bihar, as well as Rohtak, originally Rohitakul, meaning from the Kul (family) of Rohit.
Rohatgi's (rulers), Rastogi's & Rustagi's are from the clan of Raja Harishchandra.
These are actually known as Rohtaki as resident of Rohtakul but due to change in dialect at different places are known Qila Rohtas after the famous Rohtasgarh Fort in Shahabad district near Baharkunda, Bihar which he captured from the Raja of Rohtas Hari Krishan Rai in 1539. Rohtasgarh is situated on the upper course of the river Son, 20° 37'N and 85° 33'E. It was built by Harish Chandra of the solar dynasty and was named after his son Rohitasva after whom the fort (Rohtasgarh) was named.
Rastogis are descendants of the mythical king Harishchandra, who had a son named Rohit from whom the name Rastogi is derived, and the caste is also sometimes known as Rohatagis. Still, another view[5] is that they are a subgroup of the Vaishya varna, a view probably based on Nesfield's (1885) theory of the occupational basis of the caste system, as Rastogis are mostly money lenders and rich business men.
List of Monarchs
The following is the list, in chronological order, of the monarchs of the solar dynasty.[citation needed]
Manu or Vaivasvata Manu - the King of all mankind and the first human being on Earth. (According to Hindu belief there are 14 Manvantaras; in each, Manu rules. Vaivasvata Manu was the seventh Manu.[8] Manu is referred to as a Rajan (King) in the Shatapatha Brahmana scripture. He had nine sons, Vena, Dhrishnu, Narishyan, Nabhaga, Ikshvaku, Karusha, Saryati, Prishadhru, Nabhagarishta and one daughter, Ila, who was married to Budha of the Lunar Dynasty). He left the kingdom to the eldest male of the next generation, Ikshvaku, who was actually the son of Manu's brother Shraaddev.
Ikshvaku - the first prominent monarch of this dynasty, giving the dynasty its another name the Ikshvaku dynasty.
Bhagiratha - Sagara's great-grandson, after strenuous penances, at last succeeded in bringing Ganges down from Heaven. When she flowed over the remains of his ancestors, their souls were redeemed, and the ocean was refilled. Ganges also bears the name "Bhagirathi", in honour of his deed.
Aja
Dasaratha
Rama - He is considered the seventh Avatar of the god Vishnu. He is worshiped by every Hindu. Many Hindus include his name in either their first or last name. Rama's story before he became king of Ayodhya is recounted in the Ramayana. After he ascended the throne, he performed the Ashwamedha Yajna. Bharata, his younger brother, won the country of Gandhara and settled there.
Lava and Kusha - They were the twin sons of Rama and his wife Sita. Lava ruled south Kosala while Kusha ruled north Kosala, including Ayodhya. Kusha married "Nagkanya" "Kumuddhati", sister of Kumuda. After Kusha the following kings of the solar dynasty ruled Ayodhya:
Śuddhodana
Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha)
Prasenjit II (Pasenadi)
Sumitra — He was the last king of Ayodhya from solar dynasty. In the fourth century BC, emperor Mahapadma Nanda of the Nanda Dynasty forced Sumitra to leave Ayodhya. He went to Rohtas with his sons. His son Kurma established his rule over Rohtas.[where?][when?]
People having this name include:
History
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Some eleven centuries ago they established their rule in the three places, one to the south of Kashi on the banks of river Som, a second in the Punjab to the west of Indraprastha, and a third at Kannauj. Of these, the first extended their kingdom further to the southeast and retained the name of their ancestral prince Rohit in the name of their capital Rohtasgarh. The second who migrated to the Punjab named their kingdom Rohtak also after the prince Rohit, while the people who migrated to Kannauj and ruled up to the fifth century AD later became known as Rothari Rajputs.
Subdivisions
The caste is described as having "about half a dozen" gotras, and 84 exogamous al (clans).[3]
References
- ^ People of India Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Pakistan Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1206 to 1214
- ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1206
- ^ a b Kumar Suresh Singh; Anthropological Survey of India (2005). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 1206–1208. ISBN 978-81-7304-114-3. Retrieved 25 July 2011.Ethnographic and Folk-Culture Society (Uttar Pradesh, India) (1979). The Eastern anthropologist. Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society. p. 42. Retrieved 25 July 2011. - There has never been any internal stratification within the Rastogi community. The Rastogis are considered as a 'bania' (Vaishya) caste within the Hindu caste system. Themselves being strict Vaishnavites until now, they do not like to ... Cite error: The named reference "SinghIndia2005" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ V. Kannu Pillai (2007). Caste: observation of I.C.S. officers and others since 1881. Gautam Book Center. pp. 85–. ISBN 978-81-905583-6-5. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ Crook 1896
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