Keshwala Rajputs

Keshwala Rajputs (Suryavanshi)

Kachwaha (Kishwaha, Cutchwaha and Keshwala). Also sprang from Kusha. It has 12 kotri or houses.
Major subdivisions: Gogawat, Kubhani, Naruka, Ladkhani, Tajkhani, Nathawat, Rajawat, Shekhawat, Jeetawat, Bankawat,Balbhadrot, Khangarot, Chaturbhujot.
This is a celebrated clan to which the maharajas of important states of Amber or Jaipur and Alwar belong. They are of solar race and claim descent from Kash, second son of the great king Rama of Ajodhia Their original seat , according to tradition, was Rohtas on the Son river, and another of their famous progenitors was Raja Nal, who migrated from Rohtas and founded Narwar. The town of Damoh in the Central Provinces is supposed to be named after Damyanti, Raja Nal’s wife. According to general Cunningham Kachhwaha is an abbreviation of Kachhaha-ghata or tortoise-killer.
The earliest appearance of the Kachhwaha rajputs in authentic history is in the 10th century, when a chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parihar-Gujar kings of Kannauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independent existence till AD 1128, when it became tributary to the Chandel kings f Mahoba. The last king of Gwalior was Tejkaran, called Dulha Rai or the bridgegroom-prince, and he received from his father-in-law the district of Daora in the present Jaipur State, where he settled. In 1150 one of his successors wrested Amber from the Minas and made it his capital. The Amber State from the first acknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperors, and the chief of the period gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar.
The chief’s son, Bhagwan Das, is said to have saved Akbar’s life at the battle of Sarnal. Bhagwan Das gave a daughter to Jahangir, and his adopted son, Man Singh, the great chief, was one of the most conspicuous of the Mughla emperors, and at differnt periods was governor of Kabul, Bengal, Bihar and the Deccan. The next chief of note, Jai Singh I, appears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan. He was commander of 6000 horse, and captured Sivaji, the celbrated chief of Maratha power. The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequent chief, Jai Singh II, in 1728. At the Burbar of 1877 his salute was raised with 21 guns. The Alwar State was founded about 176 by Pratap Singh, a descendent of a prince of the Jaipur house, who had separated from it centuries ago.
In Colonel Tod’s time the Kachwaha chiefs in memory of the their desent from Rama, the incarnation of the sun , celebrated with great solemnity the annual feast of the sun. On this occasion a stately car called the chariot of the sun was brought from Rama’s temple, and the Maharaja ascending into it peramulated his capital. The images of Rama and Siva were carried with the army bot in Alwar and Jaipur. The banner of Amber frequently mentioned by the bards was called Panchranga (5 colours). The Kachwahas are fairly numerous in UP and in MP are found in Saugor, Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts pricipally.
One of the royal clans in Rajastan is: Shekawat, descended from raja Sekha Rao of Kachhwaha. Kachhwahas are the Suryavans rajputs (living around Jaipur). There are 65 gotras of Kachwaha rajputs (among others Rajawat, Shekawat, Nathawat, Khangarot, Ranawat). They derive their name from cutch or from Kush. (Another meaning is tortoise). There is also a section of the Kacchi Kayasts with the same name. Shekawati are the most influential of all Kachawaha Rajputs and reside in Shekawati areas (Jhunjhunu, Sikar, etc).
The Kachhwahas of Jaipur are related to the Kachtries (Kuchi) of Baluchistan and the Kuchi of Afghanistan according to some sources. Kacha-pa also means turtle (lliterally inhabiting the kacha = marshland,s hores = Kutch?). The Kuchi tribe of Pashtunistan is great for belly dance and tribal dance. They live in southeastern Afghanistan to the border of Pakistan. The Kuchi tribe of Afghanistan are nomadic, accustomed to moving annually with their herds between summer pastures in Afghanistan and winter pastures in Pakistan. Kuchi is a Baluchistan word meaning nomadic or wandering .
The Ghorewahas (or Main) are Kachwaha Rajputs. “They say that Raja Man, sixth in descent from Kush [one of the sons of Lord Ram], had two sons Kachwaha and Hawaha, and that they are of the lineage of Hawaha (161). It is possible that some of the Ghorewahas became goldsmiths. Amber, the old Kachhwaha capital was taken from Meenas in 1037.