Salunkhe is the surname of a prominent

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

clan. The Salunkhe clan belongs to the Kshatriya varna according to the varna system. They are oldest of the four Agnivanshi Rajputs. They have Angiras Gotra. The descendants of the Chaulukya dynasty of the 5th century CE came to be known by the surname Salunkhe in Maharashtra and Solankis in Gujarat. Prabhas Patan, a City in present day Gujarat, was the main Thane of the Chaulukyas. The name "Prabhas" arises from Sun God's (Savitar or Bhaskar) and his wife named Prabha's son named Prabhat. There were twelve idols (respective to twelve Adityas or months) of Sun God at Prabhas Patan which were later shifted to the Kanakaditya Temple in Kasheli, Ratnagiri. Salukya-Salunkhe are the corrupt forms of Chaulukya surname and these surnames were formed. The Salunkhe dynastic clan is regarded as the largest of the 96 clans of the Marathas. 96 Surnames in the 96 Clans of the Marathas. Titles associated with the Salunkhe group include

Raje *In Maharashtra, Chatrapati Shivaji Raje was addressed as ''King'' or ''Raje''. Also, other clans of the Maratha community put Raje before their original clan name; Raje Shirke, Raje Mahadik, Raje Kadam, Raje Chalukya, Raje Jadhavrao etc or used ...

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

, Naik, Sarkar,

Deshmukh Deshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh), is a historical title conferred to the rulers of a . It is used as a surname in certain regions of India, specifically in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh whose family received it as a ...

, Patil. Surnames included in this royal clan are Salunke, Pandhare, Masaram,Patankar, Patole, Shevale, Babar, Padwal, Magar, Randheer, Ranpise, Sonawane, Gunjal, Lahane, Vyavhare, Navale, Londhe.

Origin

Salunkhes are descendants of the

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

who once ruled the north-western India. The architecture of the Somanātha temple is in Māru-Gurjara, that is, Solanki style. The temple is believed to have been visited by Lord Brahma, Lord Krishna, Lord Indra and Lord Shiva (Chandra).

Origin

References

Further reading