The origin of Chahamana!

 With the onset of Kaliyuga evil loomed large and seemed to be all pervasive, no matter where one looked! People had lost hope. Women and children were at the mercy of those who did not know it's meaning. Death seemed to be the only resort. 

    An ancient sage's heart bled at the way his brethren were cringing under the onslaught of Evil. He climbed the peak of what is now known as mount Abu, and sincierely prayed to the almighty Lord of the Universe. "Does your heart remain unmoved, oh protector of the innocent, that you do not come down and end their suffering. Kindly help the creatures who are suffering endlessly. Please offer some sort of help oh Giridhar Murari!". So saying he dug a Agni-Kunda (fire pit), and offered in it as oblation, his ego and stood like another mountain firm in faith. Then he heard the terrifying growls and the rakshasas were bearing down upon him. Even as he felt their hot breath, he stood unmoving, praying earnestly for a miracle. And out of the firepit came the miracle. The fierce warriors who embodied Kshatra (Warrior ethics) emerged and they were the Rajputs. 

They decimated the rakshasas and stood gazing at the horizon. To their utter dismay they found more and more rakshasas climbing up the mountain thristing for their blood. The sage saw all this and a drop of tear escaped from his sad eyes. It fell in the fire pit and then rose the fiercest of all Rajputs, a Chahmana. An undaunted warrior, carrying weapons and shields in his four arms. On that day, he offered the blood of all the rakshasas as oblation in the sacrificial fire. From him, were born the Chahmanas or Chouhans, and that brings us to the tale of the noblest warrior in the clan, Prithviraj!

I am Chand Bardai. I am a bard in the court of the noble king Prithviraj Chahmana. It appears as though it was only yesterday, when my King became the mighty King Sapadaleksha. The king had to fight many internal battles. The Bharatavarsha of the time though composed of many kingdoms, was culturally a common whole! The magnificent temple of Somanatha in Prabhasa was rebuilt after the Turushkas had plundered it. The sacrilege was avenged by the godlike Paramara Bhoja of Ujjain. However, one could see a steady decline in values, but no decline in valor. There was confusion around what true dharma was. The life of Prithviraj though would end in great tragedy for not just the mighty king, but the entire country! In my quest for describing the glory of the Chahmana king, many people may find my description as flights of fancy. But believe me! I was there. In that accursed place, where the Turushkas stood facing our army. I was there, and I witnessed it all. Perhaps by reading this sad tale, you would know better than to make such mistakes. Perhaps children will learn the true meaning of Spirituality and Dharma.

I spoke about the historical Chahamana and how he descended on the rakshasas who were rampaging the earth. This is the mystical story that is often sung in ballads and has become firmly entrenched as a local legend. There is another less exciting history of the origion of the chahamanas. Many people tend to believe in this and consider the former as a mythical tale woven around the Chahamanas by a Bard such as myself. However, if you had but seen my King even once, you would be most inclined to believe in the former than the one I am about to describe!

It is said that Chahamana was the son of Virochana who was a feaudatory of the king of Malva. Chahamana and his brother Dhananjaya's valiant defeat of the Huns at the time earned him great fame. And it was thus that his family took on his name to represent their clan. This fight against unscrupulous and cruel invaders probably gave rise to the tale of the fight against rakshasas.