The Gandhavariya (also known as Gandhawariya and Gandhawaria) are a

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

clan based in northern

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. They are descendants of King Vikukshi and they are descendants of Lava, son of

Lord Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

. They ruled over parts of

Madhepura district Madhepura district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Madhepura town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Madhepura district is a part of Kosi division. History Madhepura is part of the Mithila regio ...

and

Saharsa district Saharsa is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India. Saharsa city is the administrative headquarters of this district. Saharsa district is a part of the Kosi Division and it became a district on 1 April 1954 and has subsequently become ...

during medieval times after the decline of the Oiniwar Dynasty.

Origin

One of the theories put forward about the origins of the Gandhavariyas is that they originate from a branch of the

Karnat dynasty Karnat or Karnata dynasty was a Maithil dynasty established in 1097 CE. The dynasty had two capitals which were Simraungadh in Bara District of Nepal and Darbhanga, Bihar which became the second capital during the reign of Gangadeva. The kingdom c ...

of Mithila that remained in the region after the Karnat king,

Harisimhadeva Harisimhadeva (also called Hari Singh Deva) was a King of the Karnat dynasty who ruled the Mithila region of modern-day North Bihar in India and parts of South Nepal. He reigned from 1304 to 1325. He was the last king to belong to the Karnata dyn ...

fled to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

following the invasion of

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq ) (Ghazi means 'fighter for Islam')ref name="sen2"> (died c.1325) was the Sultan of Delhi from 1320 to 1325. He was the first sultan of the Tughluq dynasty. During his reign, Ghiyath al-Din Tughlu ...

History

The writer

Jyotirishwar Thakur Jyotirishwar Thakur or (1290–1350) was a Maithili poet, playwright, musician and an early Maithili and Sanskrit writer, known for the '' Varṇa Ratnākara'', his encyclopedic work in Maithili. Life Jyotirishwar was son of Rāmeśva ...

recorded the existence of the ''Gandhavariyas Rajaputas'' in his 14th century book ''Varṇa Ratnākara'' and detailed how they held sway over much of North Bihar. The traditions of the Gandhavariyas record that prior to their ascendancy in the region, they were engaged in a war with the

Bhar The Bhar are a caste in India. History Influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, as were members of other castes, Baijnath Prasad Adhyapak published ''Rajbhar Jati ka Itihas'' in 1940. This book attempted to prove that the Rajbhar were former ...

who the Gandhavariyas claim to have finished. The

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

i estate of

Sonbarsa Raj The Sonbarsa Raj was a medieval chieftaincy and later a zamindari (estate) during British Raj in modern-day Bihar, in erstwhile Bhagalpur district (now in Saharsa). It was controlled by the Gandhavariya Rajputs. Beside Sonbarsa, the Gand ...

was established by Raja Ranjit Singh who belonged to the Gandhavariya clan. They also controlled Baruari and Barail.

References

{{Rajput Groups , state=expanded Rajput clans of Bihar Social groups of Bihar

Origin

History

See also

References