Ahivarn
Encyclopedia
Maharaja
Ahivaran was the ancestor King of Varanwal/Baranwal community. Ahivaran was a Soorya vanshi kshatriya, who was the 21st descendent of Emperor Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. Ayodhya is the place where Bhagwan Sri Ram was born and ruled. The descendents of Emperor Ahivaran were called varanwala, which in the course of time deformed to varanwal and then baranwal. He was a Tomar king and his successors ruled areas of U.P. and Haryana for many centuries. Later the seat of power went to Dors and Chauhans, with the rise of Hardatta, a Dor ruler who took possession of Baran along with Meerut and Koil. He was soon beset with troubles due to the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni. The last Hindu ruler of the state was Chandrasena. The family and relatives of the Tomar and the Dor kings formed a separate endogamous community of their own.
The city of Buland Shahar (literal meaning - High City, due to being situated at a high place) derives its name from the fort of Barnwals located at a very high mound/ hillock. The old name 'Baran' can be still be traced in the old Government documents. It was a rich and prosperous capital state of King Ahivarn's kingdom and numerous copper and gold coins with Greek and Pali inscriptions had been excavated at the site of the fort as mentioned in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 52, Parts 1-2 By Asiatic Society of Bengal and many other journals.
Ahivaran was a Suryavanshi Kshatriya
who was the 21st descendant of Emperor Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. According to the mythological Mahalakshmi Vrat Katha, Ahivarn, the son of King Parmaal, and the King Agrasen (son of King Vallabh) belonged to the same lineage. According to a treatise called Jaati Bhaskar, Mandhata had two sons, Gunadhi and Mohan. Parmaal was the descendant of Gunadhi, while Vallabh was the descendant of Mohan.
The history of Bulandshahr begins even before 1200 BCE. This region is close to the capital of the Pandavas - Indraprastha and Hastinapur. After the decline of Hastinapur, Ahar, which is situated in the north-east of Bulandshahr District, became an important place for the Pandavas. Later the king Parma made a fort in this part of the region and a king named Ahibaran laid the foundation of a tower called Baran (sahar). Since it was perched on a highland it came to be known as "high city", which translates as Bulandshahr in Persian language. King Ahivarn or Ahibaran was a Kshatriya and a Suryavanshi (lineage of the Sun). He was the 21st descendant of Samrath (Emperor) Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. As per Mahalakshmi Vrat Katha, it is under Emperor Mandhata lineage that at one stage son of King Vallabh, Agrasen was born and at another stage son of King Parmaal, Ahivarn was born; both of whom further started their own clans: Agrawal (or Agarwal) and Varnwal (or Barnwal). The Pandavas were the five sons of the king Pandu. The first city of Delhi is believed to be founded by the legendary Pandavas of the Mahabharata
around 1400 BC. It was called Indraprastha. It is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
As per an old treatise on the caste system of India, 'Jati Bhaskar', it is understood that Samrath Mandhata had two sons, Gunadhi and Mohan. King Parmaal was the descendant of King Gunadhi while King Vallabh was the descendant of King Mohan.
In 1192 CE when Muhammad Ghauri conquered parts of India, his Senapati (Military commander) Qutubbudin surrounded Fort Barn and, with the help of traitors, was able to kill King Chandrasen Dor and in the process take control of the Barn kingdom.
After the fall of Barn-sahar, the Baranwal community scattered to different parts of India, mostly to the Gangetic plains of India, and started living under the various names of Goyal, Bakshi, Choudhary, Gupta, Modi, Jaiswal, Agrawal, Lal, Arya, Shah and Singh. They are mostly spread in Uttar Pradesh
, Bihar
, Jharkhand
and West Bengal
along with a sprinkled presence in Rajasthan
, Madhya Pradesh
Gujarat and Maharastra and the neighboring Kingdom of Nepal. Some of them have spread globally and settled down in UK and USA.
The ancient ruins found at places in Bhatora Veerpur, Ghalibpur, etc. are indicative of the antiquity of Bulandshahr. There are several other important places in the District from where statues belonging to the medieval age and objects of ancient temples have been found. Even today, several of these historical and ancient objects such as coins, inscriptions etc. are preserved in the Lucknow State Museum. Moreover, according to Hindu mythology the pandavas had an encounter with prajapati daksh, father-in-law of Hindu lord Shiva; the place of their conversation, a pond, is in Bulandshahr.
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
Ahivaran was the ancestor King of Varanwal/Baranwal community. Ahivaran was a Soorya vanshi kshatriya, who was the 21st descendent of Emperor Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. Ayodhya is the place where Bhagwan Sri Ram was born and ruled. The descendents of Emperor Ahivaran were called varanwala, which in the course of time deformed to varanwal and then baranwal. He was a Tomar king and his successors ruled areas of U.P. and Haryana for many centuries. Later the seat of power went to Dors and Chauhans, with the rise of Hardatta, a Dor ruler who took possession of Baran along with Meerut and Koil. He was soon beset with troubles due to the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni. The last Hindu ruler of the state was Chandrasena. The family and relatives of the Tomar and the Dor kings formed a separate endogamous community of their own.
Biography
The Barnwal family crest was started by King Ahivarn, whose ancestors had moved to a place called Ahar in North India. Ahivaran renamed the Ahar kingdom after himself as "Varn-sahar" and was the founder of modern Bulandshahar in present day Western UP. Later his family and relatives adopted the Baranwal title in his honor and remeberence.The city of Buland Shahar (literal meaning - High City, due to being situated at a high place) derives its name from the fort of Barnwals located at a very high mound/ hillock. The old name 'Baran' can be still be traced in the old Government documents. It was a rich and prosperous capital state of King Ahivarn's kingdom and numerous copper and gold coins with Greek and Pali inscriptions had been excavated at the site of the fort as mentioned in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 52, Parts 1-2 By Asiatic Society of Bengal and many other journals.
Ahivaran was a Suryavanshi Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
who was the 21st descendant of Emperor Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. According to the mythological Mahalakshmi Vrat Katha, Ahivarn, the son of King Parmaal, and the King Agrasen (son of King Vallabh) belonged to the same lineage. According to a treatise called Jaati Bhaskar, Mandhata had two sons, Gunadhi and Mohan. Parmaal was the descendant of Gunadhi, while Vallabh was the descendant of Mohan.
The history of Bulandshahr begins even before 1200 BCE. This region is close to the capital of the Pandavas - Indraprastha and Hastinapur. After the decline of Hastinapur, Ahar, which is situated in the north-east of Bulandshahr District, became an important place for the Pandavas. Later the king Parma made a fort in this part of the region and a king named Ahibaran laid the foundation of a tower called Baran (sahar). Since it was perched on a highland it came to be known as "high city", which translates as Bulandshahr in Persian language. King Ahivarn or Ahibaran was a Kshatriya and a Suryavanshi (lineage of the Sun). He was the 21st descendant of Samrath (Emperor) Mandhata, the ruler of Ayodhya. As per Mahalakshmi Vrat Katha, it is under Emperor Mandhata lineage that at one stage son of King Vallabh, Agrasen was born and at another stage son of King Parmaal, Ahivarn was born; both of whom further started their own clans: Agrawal (or Agarwal) and Varnwal (or Barnwal). The Pandavas were the five sons of the king Pandu. The first city of Delhi is believed to be founded by the legendary Pandavas of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
around 1400 BC. It was called Indraprastha. It is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
As per an old treatise on the caste system of India, 'Jati Bhaskar', it is understood that Samrath Mandhata had two sons, Gunadhi and Mohan. King Parmaal was the descendant of King Gunadhi while King Vallabh was the descendant of King Mohan.
In 1192 CE when Muhammad Ghauri conquered parts of India, his Senapati (Military commander) Qutubbudin surrounded Fort Barn and, with the help of traitors, was able to kill King Chandrasen Dor and in the process take control of the Barn kingdom.
After the fall of Barn-sahar, the Baranwal community scattered to different parts of India, mostly to the Gangetic plains of India, and started living under the various names of Goyal, Bakshi, Choudhary, Gupta, Modi, Jaiswal, Agrawal, Lal, Arya, Shah and Singh. They are mostly spread in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
and West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
along with a sprinkled presence in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
Gujarat and Maharastra and the neighboring Kingdom of Nepal. Some of them have spread globally and settled down in UK and USA.
The ancient ruins found at places in Bhatora Veerpur, Ghalibpur, etc. are indicative of the antiquity of Bulandshahr. There are several other important places in the District from where statues belonging to the medieval age and objects of ancient temples have been found. Even today, several of these historical and ancient objects such as coins, inscriptions etc. are preserved in the Lucknow State Museum. Moreover, according to Hindu mythology the pandavas had an encounter with prajapati daksh, father-in-law of Hindu lord Shiva; the place of their conversation, a pond, is in Bulandshahr.