Tomar (also called/spelt Tomara, Tanwar) is a clan, some members of which ruled parts of North India at different times. People belonging to the Tomara clan are found among the

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 ...

s of

Northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

. Most of their population is primarily concentrated in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

- Torawati and Western UP. There exists 84 villages of Tomars in Western UP alone. Besides,few areas in Northern Madhya Pradesh like

Morena Morena is the headquarter city of Morena district, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is governed by a municipality corporation. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Chambal division. It is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. G ...

Bhind Bhind is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the Bhind district. Demographics As of 2011 Indian Census, Bhind had a total population of 197,585, of which 105,352 were males and 92,233 were females. Populati ...

and

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

is referred to as "Tomargarh" meaning "Fort of Tomars" due to quite large population of Tomar Rajputs outside Delhi and its surrounding areas.

History

The Tomar clan claim descent from

Chandravanshi The Lunar dynasty ( IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities ('' ...

dynasty, naming the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'' warrior Arjuna among their forebears. The earliest extant historical reference to the Tomaras (the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

form of "Tomar") occurs in the Pehowa inscription of the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of th ...

king

Mahendrapala I Mahendrapala I (885–910) was a ruler of Pratihara dynasty, the son of Mihir Bhoja I and queen ''Candra-Bhatta-Rika-Devi''. He was also mentioned on various inscriptions in Kathiawar, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh by names ''Mahindrapala'', '' ...

(r. c. 885-910 CE). This undated inscription suggests that the Tomara chief Gogga was a vassal of Mahendrapala I. During 9th-12th century, the Tomars of Delhi ruled parts of the present-day

Western Uttar Pradesh Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cul ...

and parts 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 s ...

. Much of the information about this dynasty comes from bardic legends of little historical value, and therefore, the reconstruction of their history is difficult. According to the bardic tradition, the dynasty's founder Anangapal Tomar (that is Anangapala I Tomara) founded Delhi in 736 CE. The bardic legends also state that the last Tomara King (also named Anangapal) passed on the throne of Delhi to his son-in-law

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III ( IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in presen ...

. This claim is subject to interpretation: historical evidence shows that Prithviraj inherited Delhi from his father Someshvara. According to the

Bijolia Bijoliya is a census town in Bhilwara district in the state of Rajasthan, India and is surrounded by nature and waterfalls and is famous for Tapodaya Teerth Kshetra and Mandakini Temple. Geography Bijoliya Kalan is located at . It has an aver ...

inscription of Someshvara, his brother

Vigraharaja IV Vigraharāja IV (r. c. 1150–1164 CE), also known as Visaladeva, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty in north-western India. He turned the Chahamana kingdom into an empire by subduing the neighbouring kingdoms of Chaulukya, Nadd ...

had captured Dhillika (Delhi) and Ashika (Hansi); he probably defeated a Tomara ruler. The

Tomaras of Gwalior The Tomaras of Gwalior (also called Tomar in modern vernaculars because of schwa deletion) were a Rajput dynasty who ruled the Gwalior Fort and its surrounding region in central India during 14th–16th centuries. They are known for their patr ...

ruled an area north of Gwalior known as the Tonwargarh tract. The most notable of these rulers was

Man Singh Tomar Man Singh Tomar (IAST: Mānasiṃha) was a Tomar Rajput ruler of Gwalior who ascended the throne in 1486 CE. History Maharaja Man Singh Tomar was born to Raja Kalyanmall, the Tomar Rajput ruler of Gwalior. He ruled for over 30 years. In hi ...

(1486-1517).

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomara Dynasty Rajput rulers Jat clans Rajput clans of Delhi Rajput clans of Rajasthan Gurjar clans Rajput clans of Madhya Pradesh