Guhila dynasty
Guhila Dynasty
The Guhila ruling family of Chitor remained undisturbed by the Ghaurid conquest until the end of the 13th cen-tury. It claimed unbroken descent from a solar race. The founder of the dynasty, Bapa Rawal, is credited with repulsing the Arab inva-sions of Rajputana in the eighth century. His son, Guhila, gave the ruling dynasty its name. The Guhilas were evicted from Chitor by 'Ala al-Din Khalji in 1303, but their authority was restored by Rana Hammir (1326-1364) of the Sisodiya branch of the family. The fa-mous Rana Kumbha (1433-1468) and Rana Sanga (1508-1527) be-longed to the same dynasty.
history of the Guhilas has been obscured by bardic legends. In the 7th century, three different Guhila dynasties are known to have ruled in present-day Rajasthan: the Guhilas of Nagda-Ahar, the Guhilas of Kishkindha (modern Kalyanpur), and the Guhilas of Dhavagarta (present-day Dhor). None of these dynasties claimed any prestigious origin in their 7th century records.
The Guhilas of Dhavagarta explicitly mentioned the Mori (later Maurya) kings as their overlords, and the early kings of the other two dynasties also bore the titles indicating their subordinate status.
By the 10th century, the Guhilas of Nagda-Ahar were the only among the three dynasties to have survived. By this time, their political status had increased, and the Guhila kings had assumed high royal titles such as Maharajadhiraja. During this period, the dynasty started claiming a prestigious origin, stating that its founder Guhadatta was a mahideva (Brahmin) who had migrated from Anandapura (present-day Vadnagar in Gujarat).
The 977 CE Atpur inscription of Shaktikumara lists 20 Guhila kings in an unbroken line of succession, starting with Guhadatta and ending with Shaktikumara.
By the 13th century, having consolidated their rule over the Medapata (Mewar) region, the Guhilas came up with a new origin myth.
Their post-13th century records and the subsequent bardic legends name the dynasty's founder as Bappa Rawal, who is not mentioned in the Atpur inscription.[6] These accounts state that Bappa Rawal consolidated his rule with the blessings of the Pashupata sage Haritarashi. Different historians identify Bappa Rawal with different kings mentioned in the Atpur inscription, including Kalabhoja, Shiladitya, and Khummana. R. C. Majumdar theorizes that Bappa achieved a highly significant military success, because of which he gained reputation as the dynasty's founder.
According to 1274 CE Chittor inscription and 1285 CE Achaleshwar (Abu) inscription of Vedasharma, Bappa Rawal "changed his priestly splendour for regal lustre". Based on this, scholars such as D. R. Bhandarkar theorized that the Guhilas were originally Brahmins. G. H. Ojha, however, believed that the statement in Vedasharma's inscription is a misinterpretation of the earlier Atpur inscription. The Atpur inscription describes Guhadatta as a "Mahideva", which according to historian R. V. Somani, can be translated as either "king" or "Brahmin".
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