These days, the Kshatriya & Gujjar communities are at loggerheads due to a controversy that has its roots in colonial interpretation. It was later exploited by political parties and communist writers who equated the demonym Gurjara (which is still used for Gujaratis) in west India with the Gujjar tribes of North India in order to prove the foreign identity of the ruling Kshatriya clans, associating them with tribes like Khazars. According to this view, from this invading Khazar (Gujjar) tribe sprang Gurjar Brahmins, Gurjar Kshatriyas, Gurjar Jains, Gurjar Pasi, Gurjar Ahir and all other such Gurjar communities throughout India.

It is unfortunate that this colonial misunderstanding reinforced by the RSS-BJP for vote bank politics has led to a situation of social breakdown from Haryana to Gwalior.

While people who had little knowledge of local history, the Gujjar community and their traditions, fail to check into the local traditions before making these claims. In this article, we endeavour to understand the Bagdawat & Devnarayan Folklore which is central to the Gujjar identity and culture, and also sheds light upon the relations that the two communities had, historically.

The Bagdawat Folklore

The Bagdawats are a clan among Gujjars of southern Rajasthan, and Bhagwan Devnarayan is a Gujar folk god. This folklore was sung by Bhopas for centuries in the Gujjar villages, before being composed in a Phad (Phad is a rich tradition of storytelling in western India through coloured pictorial representations, often in form of scrolls) and later into written documentation.

Although the Devnarayan Katha is full of many fanciful phenomena and all varieties of outlandish events; it has a gripping story to tell us about the origin, extermination of the Gujjar Bagdawat brothers, century-old Gujjar traditions and the identity of Pratiharas. So, here it goes:

“During the reign of Rajput King Bisaldev Chauhan (Vigrahraj IV) of Ajmer, there lived a Rajput Hari Ram Chauhan, who hunted a lion that was the cause of terror to the natives of his country. Having killed the lion, he proceeded to the holy lake of Pushkar carrying the head of the beast on his shoulders, and while he was engaged in ritual ablution, a Brahmin woman called Lila Sevri, who had avowed never to see the face of a man, accidentally, happened to see his reflection in the water, and thus became pregnant (as per the folktale). The two ended up marrying. A son was born to them in due course. This child had an extraordinary appearance – a half-man and half-beast, and thus was named Baagdawat or Bagh Singh. King Bisaldev, having been enamoured by the extraordinary story of the birth of this child, adopted him as his son. Thus, the son of a Kshatriya father and Brahman mother became the adopted son of the king. However, due to his ferocious countenance, he was sequestered in a garden consigned to the care of a  caretaker.

When he came of age, the question of his marriage was resolved by a clever stratagem carried out by the caretaker. He tricked young maidens belonging to different castes into circumambulating the young Baagdawat, and thus symbolically marrying them to him. The marriage was consummated, and each of the twelve wives produced two sons, these twenty-four sons, and one daughter became collectively known in the world as the Baagdawats.

Later in the story, we are told that these twenty-four brothers married Gujjar women and adopted the profession of cow-herding from their mother (as per the prevailing traditions and laws of Manu, Chapter 3, Verse 15-16). Among these brothers, Savai Bhoj who was born to a Khatana Gujjar mother from Malwa was conspicuous for his bravery. He met a Nath Yogi Rupnath and obtained from him a benediction of wealth and prosperity for his family, which would last for a period of 12 years terminating in the annihilation of his family. These brothers then came in touch with the Rajput Rana of Bhinai, Baghraj Pratihar and befriended him, their friendship blossomed, and the Rana became their Dharambhai. The Pratihar Rajput Rana Kuntal had established Pratihar power around Bhinai in Mandore (Near Jodhpur). Rana Baghraj Pratihar was the son of the same Rana Kuntal. The region still abounds in Inda Parihar Rajputs though. They (Baagdawats) would frequently indulge themselves in drinking with the Rana in such hyperbolic proportions, according to the folktale, one day the alcohol began to reach the underground regions where the Nagas lived. The King of Nagas, Vasuki complained to Bhagawan, but even though the term of 12 years was now about to end, there was no one to carry out the extermination of the Baagdawats. Now, Bhagawan approached Sadumata, the wife of Savai Bhoj and informed her of his dilemma and the imminent doom of the Baagdawats. She was overcome by grief but insisted Bhagawan be born as her son after the doom of the Baagdawats.

Now Bhagawan approached Goddess Sakti and requested her to be born as princess Jaimati in the family of Solanki Rajput chief. Later she would become the cause of conflict between the Pratihar Rajputs and Bagdawat Gujjars. The aged Rajput chief Baghraj Pratihar marries Jaimati, the young daughter of Solanki Rajput chief Dev Solanki. So, as to fulfil the prophecy, Jaimati runs away from her husband’s home and reaches Sawai Bhoj’s abode. This started a  prolonged rivalry which ultimately led to the extermination of the Bagdawat Gujjars brothers at the hands of Pratihar Rajputs of Bhinai. Later, according to the folklore, Bhagwan took birth as the son of Sadumata, and he came to be known as Devnarayan.

This fascinating story underscores multiple important facts about the Baagdawats:

1. The Baagdawat Gujjars claim lineage from Rajput father and Brahmin mother.
2. After their marriage with Gujjar women, the Bagdawat brothers get assimilated into their mother’s caste according to the rules of Manu Smriti and take up the occupation of their mother.
3. The Gujjar folktale itself says that Bagdawat Gujjars had a conflict with Pratihars who were Rajputs.
4. A noteworthy fact: the destruction of these Bagdavat Gujjars was done at the hands of a Rajput Pratihara chief.
5. Undoubtedly the folktale is more of a fiction, but importantly, it tells us about the clear distinction of identity between the Pratiharas and the Gujjars.
6. Gujjar community is presented as cattle herders.

This folktale is known to almost every kid in Rajasthan and there has been no contention on the lineage of Pratihars for all these years, but due to the rise of caste-based politics, the political parties have started distorting the lineage and identity of one of the most important dynasties of the Rajput Era, who stood as the bulwark against the Invading forces for almost 3 centuries.

Devnarayan ki Phad: Pictorial Representation of Bagdawat Folokore https://creativeyatra.com/events/dev-narayan-parh-narrative-scroll/

 REFERENCES:

1. Bagdawat Devnarayan Mahagatha- Full render in writing done by Padma LakshmiKumari Chundawat in the 1970s published by Rajkamal Publications

2. Rajputane ka Itihaas, Vol 1 Pg 190, by Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha.

3. Muhnot Nainsi Ri Khyat Pg 220 by Ramnarayan Dugad