The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c34.s3: (3) Guhila-putras of Saurāṣṭra
The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c34.s3
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(3) Guhila-putras of Saurāṣṭra
v2.c34.s3.1
The princes of the modern States of Bhavnagar, Palitana, Vala, and Lathi² in Kathiawad claim to be Rajputs of the Guhila tribe. The rulers of Bhavnagar trace their descent from Sālivāhana of Paithan. A descendant of this ruler, we are told, settled in Khera-gadh on the banks of the Luni in the Jodhpur State.
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² *IGI*, Vol. VIII, p. 93; Vol. XVI, p. 154; Vol. XIX, p. 360. The ruling family of Rajpipla, in Gujarat (Rewa Kantha) also claims Guhila descent, and is apparently connected with the princes of Bhavnagar, see *ibid*, Vol XXI, p. 80.
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The last prince of Khera, Mohadāsa, was killed by Siājī, grandson of the Rathoda ‘Jayacandra’ of Kanauj. Sejakjī,¹ Mohadāsa’s grandson, then migrated to Saurāṣṭra about 1250 V. S. with his followers, and entered the services of the Soraṭh king Mahipāla, whose capital was at Junagarh. He obtained 12 villages around Sāpur, and from his progeny were descended the Guhilas of Kathiawar and the neighbourhood.² Recently Ojha has advanced the theory that Sālivāhana, the ancestor of Sejakjī, was really the prince of that name in the Medapāṭa branch of the Guhilas, who was the predecessor of Saktikumāra (977 A. D.).³ He is of opinion that the person who really migrated from Khera in Jodhpur was Sahajiga who is mentioned in the Mangrol stone-inscription of the Guhila Ṭhakkura Mūlaka. This record was found incised on a slab of black stone attached to the wall of a well in the town of Mangrol in Junagarh, in South Kathiawar. It contains 25 lines, opening with *Om namaḥ Sivāya* and invocation of Hara (Siva). It then praises the Caulukya Kumārapāla (c. 1144-73 A. D.), the successor of Siddhārāja (c. 1094-1144 A. D.). Next follows the following genealogy of a family of Guhilas :—
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¹ Sometimes called Sejaki. He is reported to have founded Sejakpur, while his son ‘Rān Gohel’ founded Rānpur in (V.) S. 1201 (c. 1144 A. D.). *Somnath and other Mediaeval Temples in Kāthiāwād*, by H. Cousens, 1931, p. 5.
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² *Bālabodha Itihāsa of Bhavanagar*, by Devaśaṅkar Vaikuṇṭhaji Bhaṭṭa, quoted in *HR*, Vol. II, p. 481, fn. 2.
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³ *HR*, Vol. II, pp. 480ff.
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In the Guhila family Sāhāra
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Sahajiga
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Mūlaka Somarāja
v2.c34.s3.11
We are next told that Somarāja set up an idol of the god Maheśvara and named it, after his father, Sahajigeśvara. Mūlaka granted one *Kā(rṣāpaṇa ?)* from the custom-house (Śulka-maṇḍapikā) of Maṅgalapura (mod. Mangrol) and other gifts for the service of the god. The record is dated in (V.) S. 1202 (c. 1145 A. D.) and Siṃha Saṃvat 32. The inscription was composed by the Pāśupata teacher Prasarvajña.¹
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¹ BI, pp. 158-60; ARB, pp. 179-80; see also ante, DHNI, Vol. II, p. 977, inscription No. 1 of Kumārapāla.
v2.c34.s3.13
This record shows that Mūlaka was a feudatory chief under the administration of Kumārapāla. Ojha has suggested that Sahajiga first migrated from the Luni valley and took service under Jayasiṃha Siddharāja, and having distinguished himself in his war against the chief of Soraṭh was appointed to a principality in that region.² Though there is at present nothing to support this guess, it is not beyond the range of probability. Sabajiga is described in the inscription as a commander of the Caulukya forces : and it is possible that he was a contemporary of Jayasiṃha. His sons are described as capable of protecting Saurāṣṭra (Saurāṣṭrarakṣā-kṣama) and one of them, Mūlaka, is called Surāṣṭra-nāyaka.
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² HR, II, p. 489 fn.
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No other record is at present known that throws any light upon the history of this branch.