History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s5.1

v3.c34.s5.1

The tradition of the Rathods of Jodhpur is that their ancestor Sihaji who first came to Marwad was a grand-nephew (some say a great-grand-son) of Jayachand and the Gaharwars of U. P. whose chief representative at present is the Raja of Kantit in Mirzapur District consider themselves the direct descendants of Jaichand. Now when the family name Gāhadavāla was actually found mentioned in some of the grants of the kings of Kanauj, the question was discussed whether the Rathods of Jodhpur and the Gaharwars of U. P. are really one clan and were descended from the Gāhadavāla kings of Kanauj. Dr. Hoernle in I. A. XIV discussed this subject and expressed a doubt for two or three reasons. The first is that the gotra of the Gaharwars is Kāśyapa and that of the Rathods is Gautama. Secondly, these two clans intermarry. And thirdly, Gaharwars are despised as not of good family by other Rajputs. Although these facts may or may not be true, they do not go to prove that the Rathods of Jodhpur are not descended from the Gāhadavālas of Kanauj as tradition asserts for the following reasons.