The Khanzadas of Mewat were a dynasty of chiefs from

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

who had their capital at

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...

. The Khanzadas were

Muslim Rajput Muslim Rajputs are the descendants of Rajputs of Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval India, medieval period in India onwards, retaining historically Hin ...

s who descended from Raja Sonpar Pal who was a

Yaduvanshi Rajput Yaduvanshi is a term used for describing various Rajput clans. Prominent among them are Bhatis, Jadejas, Sammas and Chudasamas. Several inscriptions links the Chudasamas to Yadavas of the legendary Lunar dynasty. According to these, Chuda ...

who converted to Islam during the period of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Mewat Mewat is a historical region of Haryana and Rajasthan states in northwestern India. The loose boundaries of Mewat generally include Hathin tehsil and Nuh district of Haryana, Alwar (Tijara, Kishangarh, Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh, Kathumar tehsil ...

was spread over a wide area, it included

Hathin Hathin is a City and a Municipal Committee, nearby Palwal city in Palwal district of Haryana in India. Geography It lies in NCR region, located south of Delhi, west from NH19 ( Delhi-Mathura Highway) and 10 kilometres south from KMP (Kun ...

tehsil,

Nuh district Nuh district (formerly known as Mewat district) is one of the 22 districts in the Indian state of Haryana. There are four sub-divisions in this district: Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka, Punahana, and Taoru. It has an area of and had a population of 1. ...

Tijara Tijara is a city and a municipality in Alwar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Tijara comes under the NCR area and is situated 48 km to the northeast of Alwar. The nearest railway station to Tijara is Khairthal. Bhiwadi is a census ...

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

Kishangarh Kishangarh is a city and a Municipal Council in Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. History Kishangarh State was founded by the Jodhpur prince Kishan Singh in 1609. Prior to the rule of Kishan Singh this area was ruled by Ra ...

Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh Tehsils

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad Gujarat. ...

district and Pahari, Nagar, Kaman tehsils in Bharatpur district of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and also some part of

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

district of Uttar Pradesh.

History

In 1372,

Firuz Shah Tughlaq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

granted the Lordship of

Raja Nahar Khan Wali-e-Mewat Raja Nahar Khan, Bahadur, birth name Raja Sonpar Pal, the ruler of Mewat, was the progenitor of Khanzada Rajput tribe. He was converted to Islam by Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1355. Background He was the son of Rajput Raja Lakhan ...

, (who was formerly known as Raja Sonpar Pal, of Kotla). Raja Nahar Khan established a hereditary polity in Mewat and proclaimed the title of

Wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

-e-Mewat. Later his descendants affirmed their own sovereignty in Mewat. They ruled Mewat till 1527. Alwarfort

Downfall

The last

Khanzada Rajput The Khanzada or Khan Zadeh are a community of Muslim Rajputs found in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. This community is distinct from the Rajasthani Khanzada Rajput, the descendants of Wali-e-Mewat Raja Naher Khan, who are a s ...

ruler of Mewat was Hasan Khan Mewati, who died in the

Battle of Khanwa The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa on March 16, 1527. It was fought between the invading Timurid forces of Babur and the Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga for suprermacy of Northern India. The battle was a major event in Medieval I ...

. Following this battle, Mewat was integrated into the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and the Khanzadas became a part of the Mughal nobility.

Rulers of Mewat

The

Khanzada Rajputs The Khanzada or Khan Zadeh are a community of Muslim Rajputs found in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. This community is distinct from the Rajasthani Khanzada Rajput, the descendants of Wali-e-Mewat Raja Naher Khan, who are a s ...

rulers of Mewat State adopted the title "''Wali-e-Mewat''". The title was later changed to "''Shah-e-Mewat''" by Hasan Khan Mewati in 1505.

Descendants

In the following centuries, the Khanzadas were reduced to the status of

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 ...

s. Many continued to serve in the

Alwar State Alwar State was a kingdom from 1770 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. Initially its capital was Macheri and then the city of Alwar. The nobility of Alwar State belonged to the Naruka branch of the Kachwaha dyna ...

Forces and

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. However, the

Chowdhury Chowdhury is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminent people, while during British rule, the term was associated ...

s' of

and

Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...

s of Shahabad, Alwar remained important Khanzadas strongholds. Among them

Nawab Feroz Khan Khanzada Nawab Feroz Khan was the first Nawab of Shahabad, Alwar and a Commandant in Mughal Army. He was a close confidant and trusted aide of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I. He belonged to a Khanzada Muslim Rajput family. He was a descendant o ...

of Shahabad, Alwar and Khan Bahadur

Fateh Naseeb Khan Khan Bahadur Maj.Gen. Fateh Naseeb Khan, OBE KB (1888–1933), was the Commander-in-chief of Alwar State Forces. He was a close confidant and trusted aide of Maharaja Jai Singh Prabhakar Bahadur, who was the Maharaja of Alwar State. He ...

of Tijara, Alwar achieved Imperial chivalry ranks. After the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, majority Khanzadas of Mewat migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

References

{{Reflist History of Rajasthan Muslim dynasties of India Mewat

History

Downfall

Rulers of Mewat

Descendants

See also

References