Mewar as Focus of Guhila State (Part-XXIII)
The Guhilas attempted to create buffer zones and political allies in their immediate north. — Prof. Nandini Kapur Sinha
They claim a rank superior of the Bhils. Thus Bhils the process of state formation in Mewar highlights the process of state formation in Mewar highlights the process of differentiation within an egalitarian tribe on coming in contact with a stratified society. Morton H. Fried makes a similar observation in the context of tribal social formation in general. The Bhilâlâs such as the Solamki-Bhils of Oghna-Panarwa demonstrate the emergence of an elite section among the Bhils as a result of their close interaction with state- society over a long period of time.
Perhaps the case of the Solamki-Bhils of Oghna-Panarwa is one of the best illustrations of the social aspect of the process of state formation. It is relevant to reiterate Chattopadhyaya’s observations in the context of Solamki Bhils of Oghna.
The process of caste formation remained the essence of the social processes which drew widely dispersed and originally outlying groups into a structure which allowed them in a large measure to retain their original character, except that this character was defined with reference to the structure...
For the Oghna Bhils of the fifteenth-century royal authority was represented by the local Solamki chiefs. Therefore, for the Solamki Bhils chiefs of Oghna-Panarwa of the fifteenth-century titled räòâ, the following observations can be partially held true, ‘Some of these tribal princes found themselves similarly involved in the process of Hinduization and rose to become tributary princes (samanta) in the course of further development, while others in their turn could preserve their autonomy for centuries. The study of even the core-area Bhils in Mewar demonstrates that despite their formal integration into the political structure, and beginnings of ‘Rajputization’, as well as their recurring revolts, we cannot definitely locate them as samantas before the fifteenth century.
Social Alliances and Relations with Contemporary powers
Social relations of the Guhilas with the Cahamanas of Suvarnagiri (Songira) or Jalor can be seen in the context of the Gujarat-Delhi Sultanate imbroglio. The Achalesvara Inscription significantly states that Samarasimha (son of Tejasimha) lifted the deeply sunk Gurjara land high out of the Turuºka sea. The continuing south-western expansion of the Delhi Sultanate with its recurrent inroads into Mewar was a part of its attempt to control Gujarat is attested by the Chiravä inscription recording the battle of Bhûtâlâ near Nägadrahapura (between Jaitrasimha and Iltutmish). It is also interesting that none of the Persian sources mentions Iltutmish’s ventures into Mewar indicating Iltutmish’s possible failure to secure the routes to Gujarat through Mewar. The sultanate’s interests in Mewar are evident from the following: Jayasimha Sûri’s Hammiramadamardana referring to the burning of Medapâa in the context of the raids conducted by Milâcchikâra Suratrâòa, etc., in Bhâghelâ King Viradhavala’s (Gujarat) reign and referring to Jaitrasimha as Medapataprth vilâtam mandalam Jayatalam, the claim by Chiravã inscription that the rulers of Gurjara, Mâlava, Jangal (present state of Bikaner in Thar desert and northern part of Mewar) could not humble his pride, similar claims by an unpublished inscription from Ghaghsa (near Chittaurgarh), the Achaleœvara inscription crediting Jaitrasimha with victory over the army of the Turuskas and defence of Mewar, and Jinaprabhasûri’s Tîrthakalpa referring to Samarasimha’s clash with Ulugh Khan, younger brother of Sultan Alauddin. In response, the Guhilas attempted to create buffer zones and political allies in their immediate north. Contemporary references to Jaitrasimha as the ‘uprooter of Nadûla power’ and control over Abu-Sirohi locality for the first time in the late thirteenth century, point to Guhila attempts to control their north-western frontiers. The Cahamânas of Suvarnagiri (Songira) were won over as political allies in central Rajasthan through the marriage of the Songira Princess Rupâdevi, daughter of Cahamâna Cäcigadeva and sister of Cahamâna Samantasimha, with Guhila King Tejasimha. She was the mother of Guhila Prince Ksetrasimha.
The Khalji-Tughlaq interregnum in Chittaurgarh in the first half of the fourteenth century is mentioned in records dating to the reigns of Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughlaq, and in seventeenth-century Guhila references to the legendary Padmini (the Alauddin-Padmini episode, more bardic lore than historic truth also testifies to the fall of the Guhilas at Chittaurgarh). However, there are references to Songira presence at Chittaurgarh, perhaps as the subordinates of the Tughlaqs, in a record of Songirä Prince Vanavira dated AD 1338. It is strange that historians such as M.S. Ahluwalia in his Muslim Expansion in Rajasthan: The Relations of Delhi Sultanate with Rajasthan 1206-1526, ignore contemporary evidence on the Songiräs at Chittaurgarh as Nainsi too mentions the Songiras at Chittaur.
The Guhila-Songira marriage recorded in the bardic traditions of Mewar highlights the importance of the Songiräs for the Guhilas. Rânâ Hammira is stated to have married Songirâ Vanavira’s sister, a Songira Cahamâna princess. Badvâdevidân Khyät names a Songira queen of the legendary Râòâ Hammira, and Nainsi mentions a Songirâ mother of Hammira. The political importance of such a marriage for the early princes of the Râòa branch is obvious in view of the eclipse of Guhila power at Chittaurgarh in the fourteenth century and the rise of the Songira Cahamânas at Chittaur, with their territorial hold over the Godwar region. Political alliances of the Guhilas and the Songiräs seem to have been maintained as the traditions record the marriage of a Sisodia (Râòâ Guhilas) Princess Subâli with a Songira chief Rão Samantasimha, and the induction of Songira Prince Vanavira into the royal services of Mewar. Although none of the fifteenth-century Guhila records refers to any Guhila-Songira matrimonial alliance, the presence of the Songirâs at Chittaurgarh points towards possibilities of Guhila social linkages with the Songira Cahamânas.
Social linkages of the Guhilas with contemporary Rajputs such as the Bagheläs and Yadavas of Gujarat and Khicis of Gagraun in the fifteenth century need to be seen in view of the rise of Gujarat and Malwa as sultanates and the ensuing problems of defending the western and south-eastern frontiers. Even before the rise of the sultanate of Gujarat, there was a Guhila-Baghela clash at the western frontier of Mewar leading to the Guhila capture of a local fortress, Kottadaka (modern Kotra).
(to be continued... )
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