The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c30.2

v2.c30.2

The modern Rajput tribe which is known as Kachwāha claim to be the descendants of Kuśa, son of Rāma, the epic king of North Kośala. According to bardic tradition, after leaving their parental abode, they erected the famous castle of Rohtas on the Son and thence a section of the tribe in company of Raja Nal, 'migrated westward, and founded the kingdom and city of Narwar,' classically styled Naiṣadha, in (*V.*) *S.* 351 (A. D. 295).¹ The inscriptions of the tribe totally ignore this story, which was probably a later fabrication. Their earliest epigraphic records, unlike those of some other tribes of this period, contain no story of the family's mythical origin, but abruptly introduce the founders of the various branches as *Kacchapaghāta-vaṁśa-tilaka*² or *Kacchapaghātānvaya-saraḥ-kamala-mārtaṇḍa*.³ It is moreover impossible to derive the word *Kacchapaghāta* or the modern *Kachwāha* from *Kuśa*. The statement that a section of the tribe settled in Narwar is however supported by the Narwar grant of Vīrasiṁha, which was actually issued from *Nala-pura-mahādurga* in *V. S.* 1177 (A.D. 1120).⁴ Moreover, there are other epigraphic records which show that in the 10th and 11th centuries at least three families of Kacchapaghātas ruled in and around Eastern Rajputana and the region now known as Gwalior Residency. They may be conveniently designated as (1) *The Kacchapaghātas of Gwalior*, (2) *The Kacchapaghātas of Dubkund*, and (3) *The Kachapaghātas of Narwar*.