Vaid
Encyclopedia
Vaid is a Brahmin
clan from the Punjab
, one of the seven clans of the Mohyal
s. The words Vaid and Rajvaid are particularly used to denote medical professionals in Indian history.
or founding lineage of the Vaids is Dhanvantari
. In the story of the Kurma
Avatar
mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana
, during the Samudra manthan
, fourteen ratnas emerged as a result of the churning of the oceans by the devas
. The last founder to emerge was Dhanvantari, carrying Amrita
, the elixir of life. He was a genius in medicine who invented Ayurveda
and classified it into eight parts. Dhanvantari is one of the twenty-five avatars of Vishnu
.
The Dhanvantari gotra was used over the ages as a surname by Brahmins who practised Ayurveda. Hindus observe the birthday of Dhanvantari as Dhanteras, on the eve of Diwali
.
, a city in northern India. After him, Raja Kanwarpal established a dynasty in Kannauj. He ruled for sixty-four years, until 520 BC, and his kingdom extended up to the river Jhelum
in the Punjab.
and there was mutual exchange of trade and army personnel between the two countries. He ruled for fifty years and was succeeded by his son Sajanpal.
Sajanpal was a staunch Buddhist who had no heart in the affairs of the state. His apathy led to the disintegration of the kingdom, which his forefathers had consolidated.
, where the mortal remains of Porus were cremated. The excavations carried out by Maharaja Ranjit Singh
in 1830, have yielded a large amount of coins, copper and brass vessels. They have also laid bare the plinths of houses, layout of streets and the remains of important temples.
After Manak Rao, there is a gap of eleven centuries during which nothing is known about the Vaids. A new generation of Vaid rulers arose in the ninth century.
.
who ruled from 951 to 1002 AD was a distinguished king. His capital was at Ohind and his writ ran all over Northern India, from Kashmir
to Multan
. Sebük Tigin the slave king of Ghazni
stormed into India and after conquering Sindh and ransacking Multan, advanced to Lahore
. In AD 977, Jaipal attacked to the kingdom of Sebük Tigin. To avenge his defeat Subkutgin mounted a second attack on Jaipal. Jaipal suffered an ignominious defeat in spite of the reinforcements provided by the friendly rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar and Ajmer
. After the death of Sebük Tigin in 997, his son Mahmud of Ghazni
made his first independent assault on Jaipal in AD 1001. A pitched battle took place in Peshawar
in which nearly fifteen thousand soldiers of Jaipal were killed and he along with fifteen other members of the Royal family. They were chained and taken to the Baghdad
slave markets to be paraded and sold off to Arab merchants, while the royal women were kept in harems.
rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar, Gwalior, Ujjain
and Ajmer and urged them to forge an alliance against the common foe. His campaign roused so much patriotic fervor amongst the people against the enemy that men volunteered for recruitment in the army while women donated their ornaments to help the cause.
With a powerful army at his command, a spirited Anandpal attacked Mahmud at Ohind in 1009. He pushed him beyond the Indus and recovered all the territory that his father had lost. However, at that crucial moment, the elephant of Anandpal, having been severely wounded on his trunk by a poisonous arrow, became delirious and ran away from the battle arena. His soldiers thought that the king was retreating so they threw down their weapons. After losing the war, Anandpal escaped to Jammu
. Mahmud came in pursuit and plundered many towns on the way. The monumental temple at Nagarkot was reduced to shambles and the wealth of the adjoining Bhim fort looted. Anandpal shifted his capital to Nandana at Balnath but did not live to see its glory and was succeeded by his son Tirlochanpal.
scholar who accompanied Mahmud to India, paid glowing tributes to his valour and sagacity. Around this time Tirlochanpal had a tiff with Raja Chandrarai of the Sharwa Kingdom, to whose daughter his son Bhimpal was engaged. When the wedding party reached the host town in 1018, they were treacherously made prisoners by Chandrarai. Tirlochanpal himself escaped as he had stayed behind in Lahore to guard his capital from Mahmud. Instead of invading Lahore, Mahmud directed his fury on Chandrarai, devastated his state and made him flee to the jungles. In the ensuing confusion Bhimpal was set free.
In 1019, Tirlochanpal declared war on Mahmud on the mountainous terrain of Poonch
and this time, he had the backing of the Mohyal ruler of Kashmir. He and his men were besieged for nearly a month in the fort of Loharkot. They made repeated strikes on Mahmud's garrison posted outside the fort, decimating it every time, till Mahmud and his men were compelled to quit and run to Ghazni. In their dash, they lost their way in the jungle and were overtaken by a severe snowstorm, which further crippled them.
In retaliation, Mahmud attacked Balnath and its fort, Nandana where the small force of Tirlochanpal was no match to his huge numbers. Disaster was inevitable. Countless men were massacred while women in their hundreds committed Jauhar
. This episode is known as the Carnage of Pir Tapak.
s.
. Here too she had no relief as her father was killed soon after in a coup.
When Basaldev, the ruler of Ajmer, came to know the fate of the exiled prince and his mother, he offered them refuge in his state. He also bestowed on them the jagir of Bhatner.
When Anangpal died in 1180, Muslims recaptured Lahore. The relatives of Anangpal took his young son, Gorakhrai to their ancestral state of Bhatner. He was crowned in 1181. He became a leading light in the court of Prithviraj Chauhan, the king of Delhi and Ajmer.
Raja Jaichand of Kannauj
convened his famous Rajsuya Yagna at Kannauj in 1191 with the object of expelling Muslims from India. Prithviraj was a special invitee to this function, which was attended by many ruling chiefs of the period. Seven eminent men, one from each clan represented the Mohyal community at the Yajna. They were Gorakhrai Vaid, Tirloknath Bali, Midderdev Datt, Narsingdev Chhibber, Takhandev Mohan, Indersain Lau and Kailashdev Bhimwal. However, the ill fated convention failed to achieve its goal due to the clash of Prithviraj and Jaichand whose old rivalries came to the surface over - riding national interests. Prthviraj had abducted Samyukta, Jaichand's daughter, from a crowded Swayamvara
. When he ascended to the throne of Delhi
, Jaichand refused to recognise him as a sovereign and made a rival claim. This breach occurred at a crucial time when a series of invasions of Muhammad Ghori were looming on the horizon. Ghori had captured the empire of Mahmud after his death and was now poised to conquer India.
Ghori made his first strike at Sirhind in 1191 where Prithviraj inflicted a crushing defeat and pushed him back by 40 miles (65 km) in a severely wounded condition. After this victory Prithviraj started leading a luxurious life and lost his grip on the administration of the state. Ghori made his second assault in 1192 with a cavalry of 120,000 men. Prithviraj was defeated and Ghori occupied Delhi as well as Kannauj, Benares, Gwalior and Ajmer. This marked the commencement of Muslim rule in India. In the war with Ghori, Gorakhrai was also killed.
and founded the dynasty known as Jaitheriyas, a subcaste of the Bhumihar
Brahmins. Brahmdev along with his mother and other relatives moved to the north and settled in the hilly tract of Shimla
. One of his heirs named Shiv Datt, who lived in Jammu, later resurrected the lost glory of the Vaid clan.
after plundering Delhi and carrying cartloads of booty and hundreds of prisoners marched past Jammu on his way to Samarkand
. He was intercepted by Raja Maldev of Jammu and forced to set free all the prisoners in his custody. In his fight with Timur, Shiv Datt displayed unusual gallantry and a pleased Maldev made him the governor of Samba
. Eventually, Samba became the imperial capital of the Vaids like Bhera
and Karyala of the Chhibbers and Khadi of the Balis.
Some offsprings of Auodev left Jammu and moved to Mirpur and Lakha Singh Vaid led the exodus. His progeny, Jawala Singh Vaid was known for having killed a notorious dacoit of Gujranwala
. He also saved the life of Maharaja Gulab Singh when Sultan Khan of Rajouri attacked him. Harichand Vaid, the noted author of Gulshan-e-Mohyali (published in 1923) was a scion of the same family.
Rajouri in the state of Jammu, was a citadel of the Vaids in the past. A king named Prithvipal built many forts, the most famous being on the hilltop of Preet Pal whose ruins are still visible. His son, Madanpal conquered the outlying areas of the Punjab. Sher Afghan murdered the last king named Aunapal in his sleep. Many Vaids were massacred in the battle. After this episode, the sun set on this bastion of power of the Vaids. Many Muslims living in this region and known as Jaraj were originally Vaids.
Moolraj Vaid was the commanding officer of the Maharaja of Jammu. He was equally well known for his proficiency as a physician. He cured the wife of the Gakhar
chief, Sultan Lashkari Khan at Takht Pari. He requisitioned the services of Moolraj from the Maharaja and offered him a jagir of twenty-five villages as a reward for having treated his wife. After the death of Moolraj, his grandson Maniram became the owner of his jagir.
rule, Ram Sahai held a distinguished position and was conferred a jagir, which he continued to hold till the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. But during British
rule, all the jagirs were confiscated.
During the closing years of the eighteenth century there was great turmoil in the Punjab due to the confrontation between Muslims and Sikhs. It was at this time that some Vaids left their native Sialkot
and landed in Benares. Although separated from their ancient habitats over the past two centuries they have maintained their links. They continued to visit Lahore, Rawalpindi and Jammu to perform marriages of their children in the Mohyal community. Some of them have adopted the surname of Sinha with their names.
Dera Bakshian in the Rawalpindi district
had the distinction of producing a galaxy of Vaids who brought glory to the Mohyal community.
of the Mahabharata
.
Drona was born a brahmin, son of Bharadwaja, in modern day Dehradoon (a modification of dehra-dron, a clay pot), which implies that he was not gestated in a womb, but outside the human body in a Droon (vessel). Vaid also means doctor in Hindi. Today, many of the people share the surname "Vaid." These people are descendants of the Aryan dynasty. They have hereditary links to the dynasty of Arjuna, Bhima, and Dronacharya.
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
clan from the Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, one of the seven clans of the Mohyal
Mohyal
Mohyal is the name of an endogamous ethnic group that originates from the Gandhara region and consists of seven Brahmin lineages of that area that left the usual priestly occupation of Brahmins long ago to serve as soldiers and in government services.The...
s. The words Vaid and Rajvaid are particularly used to denote medical professionals in Indian history.
Gotra
The gotraGotra
In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...
or founding lineage of the Vaids is Dhanvantari
Dhanvantari
Dhanvantari is an Avatar of Vishnu from the Hindu tradition. He appears in the Vedas and Puranas as the physician of the gods , and the god of Ayurvedic medicine...
. In the story of the Kurma
Kurma
In Hinduism, Kurma was the second Avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatar also belongs to the Satya yuga.-Samudra manthan :...
Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
, during the Samudra manthan
Samudra manthan
In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas...
, fourteen ratnas emerged as a result of the churning of the oceans by the devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
. The last founder to emerge was Dhanvantari, carrying Amrita
Amrita
Amrit is a Sanskrit word that literally means "immortality", and is often referred to in texts as nectar. The word's earliest occurrence is in the Rigveda where it is one of several synonyms of soma, the drink which confers immortality upon the gods. It is related etymologically to the Greek...
, the elixir of life. He was a genius in medicine who invented Ayurveda
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
and classified it into eight parts. Dhanvantari is one of the twenty-five avatars of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
.
The Dhanvantari gotra was used over the ages as a surname by Brahmins who practised Ayurveda. Hindus observe the birthday of Dhanvantari as Dhanteras, on the eve of Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
.
Kedar Sharma and Kanwarpal
The Vaid's origin can be traced back almost 2,600 years. At that time, Kedar Sharma ruled in KannaujKannauj
Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...
, a city in northern India. After him, Raja Kanwarpal established a dynasty in Kannauj. He ruled for sixty-four years, until 520 BC, and his kingdom extended up to the river Jhelum
Jhelum River
Jehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...
in the Punjab.
Gotpal, Sajanpal and Bodhpal
Kanwarpal was succeeded by his son Gotpal who built a city named Goti Pal on the banks of the Jhelum. His reign was marked by friendly relations with the rulers of IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and there was mutual exchange of trade and army personnel between the two countries. He ruled for fifty years and was succeeded by his son Sajanpal.
Sajanpal was a staunch Buddhist who had no heart in the affairs of the state. His apathy led to the disintegration of the kingdom, which his forefathers had consolidated.
Manak Rao
Manak Rao was an ineffectual ruler but he made a mark by building a new city at Manakyala near RawalpindiRawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, where the mortal remains of Porus were cremated. The excavations carried out by Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
in 1830, have yielded a large amount of coins, copper and brass vessels. They have also laid bare the plinths of houses, layout of streets and the remains of important temples.
After Manak Rao, there is a gap of eleven centuries during which nothing is known about the Vaids. A new generation of Vaid rulers arose in the ninth century.
Bachanpal
The foremost in the line was Raja Bachanpal who ruled for fifty years. His empire touched AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Jaipal
Raja JaipalJayapala
Jayapala Janjua Shahi, the son of Asatapala and father of Anandapal, was the first king and founder of the Hindushahi dynasty of Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan. He succeeded the last Brahman Shahi king Bhimadeva in about 964 CE, and thus began the Janjua Rajput phase of Shahiya Dynasties...
who ruled from 951 to 1002 AD was a distinguished king. His capital was at Ohind and his writ ran all over Northern India, from Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
to Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
. Sebük Tigin the slave king of Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
stormed into India and after conquering Sindh and ransacking Multan, advanced to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. In AD 977, Jaipal attacked to the kingdom of Sebük Tigin. To avenge his defeat Subkutgin mounted a second attack on Jaipal. Jaipal suffered an ignominious defeat in spite of the reinforcements provided by the friendly rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar and Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
. After the death of Sebük Tigin in 997, his son Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
made his first independent assault on Jaipal in AD 1001. A pitched battle took place in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
in which nearly fifteen thousand soldiers of Jaipal were killed and he along with fifteen other members of the Royal family. They were chained and taken to the Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
slave markets to be paraded and sold off to Arab merchants, while the royal women were kept in harems.
Anandpal
The new Vaid king, Raja Anandpal, inherited the throne as well as the war of retribution with Mahmud in 1002. He called a convention of the HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar, Gwalior, Ujjain
Ujjain
Ujjain , is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River , today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini...
and Ajmer and urged them to forge an alliance against the common foe. His campaign roused so much patriotic fervor amongst the people against the enemy that men volunteered for recruitment in the army while women donated their ornaments to help the cause.
With a powerful army at his command, a spirited Anandpal attacked Mahmud at Ohind in 1009. He pushed him beyond the Indus and recovered all the territory that his father had lost. However, at that crucial moment, the elephant of Anandpal, having been severely wounded on his trunk by a poisonous arrow, became delirious and ran away from the battle arena. His soldiers thought that the king was retreating so they threw down their weapons. After losing the war, Anandpal escaped to Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
. Mahmud came in pursuit and plundered many towns on the way. The monumental temple at Nagarkot was reduced to shambles and the wealth of the adjoining Bhim fort looted. Anandpal shifted his capital to Nandana at Balnath but did not live to see its glory and was succeeded by his son Tirlochanpal.
Trilochanpal
Tirlochanpal fought three wars against Mahmud in 1013, 1014 and 1019 AD. Alberuni, the ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
scholar who accompanied Mahmud to India, paid glowing tributes to his valour and sagacity. Around this time Tirlochanpal had a tiff with Raja Chandrarai of the Sharwa Kingdom, to whose daughter his son Bhimpal was engaged. When the wedding party reached the host town in 1018, they were treacherously made prisoners by Chandrarai. Tirlochanpal himself escaped as he had stayed behind in Lahore to guard his capital from Mahmud. Instead of invading Lahore, Mahmud directed his fury on Chandrarai, devastated his state and made him flee to the jungles. In the ensuing confusion Bhimpal was set free.
In 1019, Tirlochanpal declared war on Mahmud on the mountainous terrain of Poonch
Poonch
Poonch is a town and a municipal committee in Poonch District in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on the Mahābhārata evidence, and the evidence from 7th Chinese traveler Xuanzang, the districts of Poonch along with Rajauri and Abhisara had been under the sway of the Republican Kambojas...
and this time, he had the backing of the Mohyal ruler of Kashmir. He and his men were besieged for nearly a month in the fort of Loharkot. They made repeated strikes on Mahmud's garrison posted outside the fort, decimating it every time, till Mahmud and his men were compelled to quit and run to Ghazni. In their dash, they lost their way in the jungle and were overtaken by a severe snowstorm, which further crippled them.
In retaliation, Mahmud attacked Balnath and its fort, Nandana where the small force of Tirlochanpal was no match to his huge numbers. Disaster was inevitable. Countless men were massacred while women in their hundreds committed Jauhar
Jauhar
Jauhar and Saka refer to the ancient Indian tradition of honorary self immolation of women and subsequent march of men to the battle field to end their life with respect. It was followed by the Rajput clans in order to avoid capture and dishonour at the hands of their enemies...
. This episode is known as the Carnage of Pir Tapak.
Bhimpal
Bhim Pal was crowned as the next ruler in 1021 in the fort of Loharkot. The fort was still under continuous attacks from Mahmud. Bhimpal was victorious initially, but ultimately his resistance crumbled. He lost Lahore as well as the Punjab, a territory that his forefathers had held for thirteen generations. Overwhelmed with grief on the turn of fate, he died prematurely in 1026. This marked the end of the ruling Brahmin dynasty of the ShahiShahi
The Shahi , Sahi, also called Shahiya dynasties ruled one of the Middle kingdoms of India which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of Gandhara , from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century...
s.
Rudrapal and Dwarpal
After the passing away of Bhimpal his wife and two sons, Rudrapal and Dwarpal, sought asylum in Kashmir. The king, Anantdev Rudrapal the general of his army. Both Rudrapal and Dwarpal died at an early age. Anantdev also died in AD 1063.Jyesthpal
This created a power vacuum leading to anarchy and ultimately liquidation of the empire. Asumati, wife of Rudrapal, along with her infant son, Jyeshtpal, migrated to her parental home in JalandharJalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
. Here too she had no relief as her father was killed soon after in a coup.
When Basaldev, the ruler of Ajmer, came to know the fate of the exiled prince and his mother, he offered them refuge in his state. He also bestowed on them the jagir of Bhatner.
Anangpal
When Anangpal, son of Jyesht Pal, grew of age he consolidated his power in Bhatner. He was the fifteenth ruler in the line of succession. He was a great exponent of Ayurveda and he once cured Prithviraj Chauhan, who was suffering from a deadly ailment. As a reward, Prithviraj gifted him yet more land in Bhatner. This fuelled in Anangpal the urge to take up arms in order to recover his ancestral kingdom. He mobilised a large force and attacked Lahore in 1179. He laid siege to the fort and from its precincts carried on a fierce war for six months until he captured the city.When Anangpal died in 1180, Muslims recaptured Lahore. The relatives of Anangpal took his young son, Gorakhrai to their ancestral state of Bhatner. He was crowned in 1181. He became a leading light in the court of Prithviraj Chauhan, the king of Delhi and Ajmer.
Raja Jaichand of Kannauj
Jaichand of Kannauj
Jaichand was the Rajput ruler of Kannauj. He was the father of Sanyogita, Prithvi Raj Chauhan's wife. Jaichand was the name of the last ruler of Kannauj belonging to the Rathore dynasty.-Sources:...
convened his famous Rajsuya Yagna at Kannauj in 1191 with the object of expelling Muslims from India. Prithviraj was a special invitee to this function, which was attended by many ruling chiefs of the period. Seven eminent men, one from each clan represented the Mohyal community at the Yajna. They were Gorakhrai Vaid, Tirloknath Bali, Midderdev Datt, Narsingdev Chhibber, Takhandev Mohan, Indersain Lau and Kailashdev Bhimwal. However, the ill fated convention failed to achieve its goal due to the clash of Prithviraj and Jaichand whose old rivalries came to the surface over - riding national interests. Prthviraj had abducted Samyukta, Jaichand's daughter, from a crowded Swayamvara
Swayamvara
Swayamvara , in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means choice or desire ....
. When he ascended to the throne of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, Jaichand refused to recognise him as a sovereign and made a rival claim. This breach occurred at a crucial time when a series of invasions of Muhammad Ghori were looming on the horizon. Ghori had captured the empire of Mahmud after his death and was now poised to conquer India.
Ghori made his first strike at Sirhind in 1191 where Prithviraj inflicted a crushing defeat and pushed him back by 40 miles (65 km) in a severely wounded condition. After this victory Prithviraj started leading a luxurious life and lost his grip on the administration of the state. Ghori made his second assault in 1192 with a cavalry of 120,000 men. Prithviraj was defeated and Ghori occupied Delhi as well as Kannauj, Benares, Gwalior and Ajmer. This marked the commencement of Muslim rule in India. In the war with Ghori, Gorakhrai was also killed.
Ganeshdev and Brahmdev
After the death of Gorakhrai, his two minor sons Ganeshdev and Brahmdev fled to safer places. Ganeshdev went to the east and his descendants established the state of Bettiah in BiharBihar
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....
and founded the dynasty known as Jaitheriyas, a subcaste of the Bhumihar
Bhumihar
Bhumihar or Babhan or Bhuin-har is a Brahmin Hindu community mainly found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.- Varna status :...
Brahmins. Brahmdev along with his mother and other relatives moved to the north and settled in the hilly tract of Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. One of his heirs named Shiv Datt, who lived in Jammu, later resurrected the lost glory of the Vaid clan.
Shiv Datt
In 1398, TimurTimur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
after plundering Delhi and carrying cartloads of booty and hundreds of prisoners marched past Jammu on his way to Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. He was intercepted by Raja Maldev of Jammu and forced to set free all the prisoners in his custody. In his fight with Timur, Shiv Datt displayed unusual gallantry and a pleased Maldev made him the governor of Samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
. Eventually, Samba became the imperial capital of the Vaids like Bhera
Bhera
Bhera is a city on the Jhelum river in Sargodha District, Punjab province of Pakistan. It lies at latitude 32.48 N, longitude 72.92.-Location:...
and Karyala of the Chhibbers and Khadi of the Balis.
Later rulers
His son Ganpati succeeded Shiv Datt. A long line of successors who were all mediocre men and made no mark in their times followed him. Then came an illustrious man Raja Auodev who earned a lot of fame and laurels. He was an outstanding exponent of Ayurveda in the tradition of the founder of his pedigree, the legendary Dhanvantri. He was appointed as Raj Vaidya(Court physician) in the court of the Maharaja of Jammu. Auo Dev shifted to Jammu while his son Morardas looked after the state of Samba.Some offsprings of Auodev left Jammu and moved to Mirpur and Lakha Singh Vaid led the exodus. His progeny, Jawala Singh Vaid was known for having killed a notorious dacoit of Gujranwala
Gujranwala
Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
. He also saved the life of Maharaja Gulab Singh when Sultan Khan of Rajouri attacked him. Harichand Vaid, the noted author of Gulshan-e-Mohyali (published in 1923) was a scion of the same family.
Rajouri in the state of Jammu, was a citadel of the Vaids in the past. A king named Prithvipal built many forts, the most famous being on the hilltop of Preet Pal whose ruins are still visible. His son, Madanpal conquered the outlying areas of the Punjab. Sher Afghan murdered the last king named Aunapal in his sleep. Many Vaids were massacred in the battle. After this episode, the sun set on this bastion of power of the Vaids. Many Muslims living in this region and known as Jaraj were originally Vaids.
Moolraj Vaid was the commanding officer of the Maharaja of Jammu. He was equally well known for his proficiency as a physician. He cured the wife of the Gakhar
Gakhars
The Gakhars are an ancient warrior clan who have predominantly resided in what is present day northern Punjab and South-Western Kashmir, Pakistan. In particular in the cities of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and regions of Gilgit, Baltistan, Chitral, Khanpur and Mirpur, Pakistan...
chief, Sultan Lashkari Khan at Takht Pari. He requisitioned the services of Moolraj from the Maharaja and offered him a jagir of twenty-five villages as a reward for having treated his wife. After the death of Moolraj, his grandson Maniram became the owner of his jagir.
Vaids in the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab
During SikhSikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
rule, Ram Sahai held a distinguished position and was conferred a jagir, which he continued to hold till the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. But during British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
rule, all the jagirs were confiscated.
During the closing years of the eighteenth century there was great turmoil in the Punjab due to the confrontation between Muslims and Sikhs. It was at this time that some Vaids left their native Sialkot
Sialkot
Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
and landed in Benares. Although separated from their ancient habitats over the past two centuries they have maintained their links. They continued to visit Lahore, Rawalpindi and Jammu to perform marriages of their children in the Mohyal community. Some of them have adopted the surname of Sinha with their names.
Dera Bakshian in the Rawalpindi district
Rawalpindi District
Rawalpindi is a district of Pakistan in the north of the Punjab province which contains the city of Rawalpindi. The district has an area of . It was part of Rawalpindi Division, until the year 2000 when the division was abolished...
had the distinction of producing a galaxy of Vaids who brought glory to the Mohyal community.
Mythological origin
The Vaids regard themselves to be the descendants of Dronacharya, the Generalissimo of the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra warKurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
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....
.
Drona was born a brahmin, son of Bharadwaja, in modern day Dehradoon (a modification of dehra-dron, a clay pot), which implies that he was not gestated in a womb, but outside the human body in a Droon (vessel). Vaid also means doctor in Hindi. Today, many of the people share the surname "Vaid." These people are descendants of the Aryan dynasty. They have hereditary links to the dynasty of Arjuna, Bhima, and Dronacharya.
See also
- ChhibberChhibberChhibber is a Brahmin clan from the Punjab. They are one of the seven clans of the Mohyals who are Saraswat Brahmins of the Punjab. The other six clans are Bali, Bhimwal, Datt/Dutt, Lau, Mohan and Vaid. Punjabi Brahmins other than Mohyals include Barahis , Bawanjais and Athwans...
- DattDattDatt or Dutt is a Brahmin clan from the Punjab. They are one of the seven clans of the Mohyals who are Saraswat Brahmins of the Punjab. The six other clans are Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Lau, Mohan and Vaid. Most Datts are Hindus, but like most Mohyals, many follow Sikhism and other religions as...
- MohanMohan (Mohyal)Mohan is a famous Brahmin clan from the Punjab. They are one of the seven clans of the Mohyals who are Saraswat Brahmins of the Punjab. The six other clans are Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Datt, Lau, and Vaid...
- Forward Castes
- EzhavathyEzhavathyEzhavathy are a sub-caste in Kerala. They are traditionally barbers to the Ezhava caste, and would not work for any other class, even the Nampootiri Brahmins, and are ranked along with the Velakkathala Nayar and Nassuvan. The caste also serves as priests to the Iluvar caste ....
in Kerala