Guhadatta

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

Guhadatta (गुहदत्त) was a Chieftain descended from Rulers of Valabhi in second half of the sixth century AD.

Variants of name

• Goha (गोहा)
• Guhadatia (गुहादतिया)
• Guhadatya (गुहादत्य)
• Guhaditya (गुहादित्य)
• Goha Dutta (गोहादत्त)
• Gohasen (गोहासेन)
• Guhadatta (गुहदत्त)
• Guha (गुह)
• Guhil (गुहिल)

Jat Gotras from Guhadatta

• Gahlot (गहलोत) Gehlot (गेहलोत) Gehlod (गेहलोद) Gahlaut (गहलौत) Gehlaut (गहलौत) Gehlawat (गेहलावत) Gahlawat (गहलावत) Gahlot (गहलोट) Gahlawat (गहलावत) gotra started after Guhadatta (गुहदत्त) which became Gahlaut.

• Gohil (गोहिल) gotra of Jats originated from descendants of Guhadatta (गुहदत्त).

• Godara - Godaras are the descendants of Goha Dutta.

Mention by Panini

Guha/Guhā (गुहा) is a place name mentioned by Panini under Ashmadi (अश्मादि) (4.2.80.8) group.

Guha (गुहा) is name of a place mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi under Kashadi (काशादि) (4.2.80.5) group.

History

Ram Swarup Joon writes...The Gahlot gotra is found among the Rajputs also and they call themselves the descendants of Ramchandra, but their descent is believed to be from Balvanshi

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History of the Jats, End of Page-82

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ruler named Gupta. It is mentioned that Balvanshi Bhattarak King saved the Maurya kings by re-strengthening their power. Bhattarak ruled from 512 to 525 Vikram Samvat. According to "Corpus Inscription Antiquary" Page 169, based on a rock inscription inscribed in 569 Vikram. Bhattark Gupta Balvanshi had four sons - Dharsen, Dronasen, Dhruwasen and Dharpatsen. Each one of them succeeded to the throne one after another, and they were given titles of Maha Samant, Mahapratihar, Mahakartak and Maharaj.

Gohasen son of Dharpatsen was a follower of Vaishnavism, but he had faith in Buddhism too. His descendents are called Gahlawat. Several legends are very well known about Goha and Bappa Rawal. The dynasty is supposed to have migrated from Balabhipur.

There was one Nag Datt among the descendants of Goha who was killed by the Bhils. His young son who later on became known as Kalbhoj Bappa Rawal, joined the army of the Jat Raja Man Indra of Chittor and ultimately rose to the position of commander of his army. Proving to be very brave and loyal, he was ultimately declared heir apparent to the throne and finally became the ruler of the kingdom. The Gahlot gotra is found both among the Jats and the Rajputs. There is however no doubt that Bhattarak was a Maurya Jat dynasty. It existed before the birth of Rajputs. If Bappa Rawal were not a Jat, Jat Raja Mann Indra would not have adopted him as him son. He maintained the title of Rana.

During the Rajput era they joined them and started being called Rajputs. Goha was the grandson of Bhattarak and son of Dhropat Sen. He was married in the Gupta dynasty. Godhes are a sub-tribe and branch of Godhas.

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History of Mewar and its Rulers tells us They came from the borders of Kashmir and by the second Century B.C. they had moved south to what is now Gujarat, founding, as they went, several cities along the coast, one of which was called Vallabhi. The chronicles of the bards tell us that in the sixth century Vallabhi was sacked by strangers from the west. The Queen of Vallabhai, Pushpavati, who was on a pilgrimage offering prayers for her unborn child, heard of the destruction of Vallabhai and the death of her husband while traveling through the Aravalli hills in the north. Despairing, she took refuge in a cave, and there gave birth to a son whom she called Guhil, or "cave born." Then, entrust her child to a maidservant, the queen ordered a funeral pyre lit, and walked into it to join her dead husband's soul. Guhil, or Guhadatta, was befriended by the Bhils, tribal aborigines who had lived in the Aravalli hills since well before 2000 B.C. Amongst the Bhils, Guhadatta grew in power, and became a chieftain. His progeny came to be known as Guhilots.In the seventh century the Guhil moved north, and down to the plains of Mewar, changing their name to Sisodia, after a village they encountered on the way. The descendants of Guhadatia were the great Ranas, Rawals and Maharanas of Mewar.

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Alexander Cunningham writes About a century after their expulsion from Balabhi the representative of the Balabhis, named Bappa or Vappaka, founded a new kingdom at Chitor, and his son Guhila, or Guhaditya, gave to his tribe the new

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[p.319]: name of Guhilawat, or Gahilot, by which thcy are still known.

About the same time a chief of the Chaura tribe, named Ban Raja, or the " Jangal Lord," founded a city on the bank of the Saraswati, about seventy miles to the south-west of Mount Abu, called Analwara Pattan, which soon became the most famous place in Western India. Somewhat earlier, or about A.D. 720, Krishna, the Pahlava prince of the peninsula, built the fort of Elapura, the beauty of which, according to the inscription, astonished the immortals. In it he established an image of Siva adorned with the crescent.

गिहलौट

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...[p.289]: गिहलौट मध्यकाल में चित्तौड़ के निकट अरावली पर्वत की घाटी में बसा हुआ एक अति प्राचीन स्थान है, जो बाद में उदयपुर कहलाया। मेवाड़ की प्राचीन जनश्रुतियों के अनुसार मेवाड़-नरेशों के पूर्वज बप्पारावल ने चित्तौड़ को विजय करने से पहले इसी स्थान के निकट कुछ समय तक अज्ञातवास किया था. गहलोत राजपूतों का आदि निवास-स्थान भी यहीं था. इस स्थान का नामकरण गुहिल जाति के यहाँ मूलरूप से निवास करने के कारण हुआ था। बप्पा का संबंध बचपन में इन्हीं लोगों से रहा था (गुहिल=गुह).

सन 1567 ई. में जब अकबर ने चित्तौड़ पर आक्रमण किया, तो महाराणा उदयसिंह राजधानी छोड़कर गिहलौट में जाकर रहे थे। उन्होंने प्रारम्भ में यहाँ एक [p.290]: पहाड़ी पर सुन्दर प्रासाद का निर्माण करवाया था। धीरे-धीरे यहाँ कई महल बनवाये तथा यहाँ पर निवासियों की संख्या भी बढ़ने लगी। जल्दी ही इस जंगली गाँव ने एक सुन्दर नगर कारूप धारण कर लिया। इसी का नाम कुछ समय पश्चात् उदयसिंह के नाम पर उदयपुर हुआ और उदयसिंह ने मेवाड़ राज्य की राजधानी चित्तौड़ से हटा कर इस नये नगर में बनायी गयी।

Ahar Udaipur Inscription of Shaktikumara of 977 AD

The earliest epigraphic record containing a full genealogy of the family is inscription dated 977 AD found at Atpur. It gives the names of 20 kings in an unbroken line of succession beginning from Guhadatta and ending in Shaktikumara. Allowing five reins in a century Guhadatta may be placed in second half of the sixth century AD. This view is corroborated by other epigraphic evidences, but goes against the bardic tradition that the Guha, the founder of the family , was the son of Siladitya, the last ruler of Valabhi, as the later was on the throne till at least 766 AD.

The inscription of Atapur (Ahara) of V.S 1034 has mentioned the first king's name as Guhadatta meaning gift of Guha or Sadanana, the first son of God Shiva, the family deity of this family.

References

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