Maharaja Tahanpala of Tahangarh: The ancestor of Karauli Jadon family and founder of Tahangarh fort ---

Maharaja Tahanpala of Tahangarh :The ancestor  of Karauli Jadon family and founder of Tahangarh Fort-----

According to the Karauli Raj bards , Tahanpala or Tribhuvanpala, was the eldest  son of Maharaja  Vijaypala ,after his father's  death remained for 12 years in concealment away from Bayana (Sripatha ,Shantipur ) but in sambat  1115(A.D.1058) he came there and abode in the house of his faithful foster -mother ,supporting himself partly by hunting .One day he pursued a wild boar to a cave in which the beast took refuge.On the Prince's approach an old  "Bairagi "emerged from the cave and asked why he was hunting his boar? Tahanpal apologized and related his history to the hermit ,who , interested and pleased by his manner , bestowed on him the philosopher's stone and directed him to established himself on the spot , where accordingly the fort of Tahangarh and it's fine tank were built.

The site is 15 miles or  22Kms south -east of Bayana in a range of hills , where the ruins of the place are still to be seen and are worth a visit.The territory round it ,in course of time ,became famous after the name of fort.It was also famous by the name of Tribhuvanagiri and Islamabad . It remained a famous seat of Jainism and a centure of the Pashupati sect of the Saivas in the 12 th century .But it could not withstand Muslim invasion and plunder and was devastated .It was a famous fort of Northern India during the early mediaeval period and it was founded by Tamanpala ,a jadon (ancient Yadava )ruler during the 11th century A.D.
From the time of recorded history , Tahangarh and the area that it commanded ,was a part of Surasena Janapad .This Janapada took it's name from Surasena ,the grandfather of Lord Krishna  and covered the present area of Mathura ,part of Agra ,Gurgaon , Bharatpur ,Dholpur and Karauli .Lord Krishna as be know from the tradition  ,was a Jaduvanshi hence the dynasty of Surasena who ruled from Bayana were also called the Jadavas .To this the ruling house of Tahangarh (latter their capital shifted to Karauli ) ,the Jadons trace their ancestery .It appears that some change on the throne of Bayana within the ruling family .

The origin of the name Yadavas & Jadons ---

I-Description of word Yadava and Turvasu ---

The word "Yadava " is admittedly a vedic patronymic derived from Yadu and the word "Turvasa "is a derivative of the vedic word Turvas.The Chiefs of these two Tribes were titled as Yadava and Turvasa respectively.
Mahabharat says -- "It has been remberbed the Yavanas were the descendants of Turvasu , the son of Yayati -Nahusa."The Philologists declare that the " Y" in "Yavana "may be replaced by "J" ,that is both the forms "Yavana " and "Javana "are permissible and therefore interchangeable .
The Yadavas are again separately treated in the purans they have no right to be Kings owing to the alleged curse of Yayati.They were probably still pastoral (pastoral )in habits and hence their separate mentioned.It is therefore , not strange that the Yaduvansis are separately mentioned from the Chandravanshi.Their clans are modern Jadon ,Bhattis ,Jadeja Jadhava 

II-Description of the wordJadu or Jadon--

Jadus  onward came to be substituted for Surasena in early eleventh century .From Jadus to Jadavas and then to Jadons or Jadauns was an early  etymological transformation (  Alexander Cunningham, p.2, Rajputana ka Itihas -Jagdish Singh Gahlot ,pp.593-597. Elliot .H.S, Russell&Rai Bahadur Heera Lal ,Sherring ,M.A.)
Regarding the use of the term Yadava at a few places by many well -known Historians ( Alexander Cunningham , James Tod ,G.N.Sharma ,Allen &Unwin., Jagdish Singh Gahlot,Captain Powlette Karauli history , Elliot .H.S, Prabhu dayal Mittal, R.Pande ,Elliot&Dowson, K.C.Jain ,R.S.Sharma, William Crooke ,Dhasarath Sharma ,Hari Singh Bhatti ,) for ruling Jadu dynasty responsible for the foundation Bayana-Tahangarh -Karauli ,it may be pointed out here that , it appears a misreading for Jadon , a cast designation that they use for the same dynasty at other places.

The origin of the name Jadon ,is traced by Sir Henry Elliot to Yadu and Yadava ,but it would perhaps be more correct to say that Jadon ,Jadu , and Yadava are etymologically the same ,the former being corruptions of the last.The tribe traditionally belongs to the Lunar Race and professes to trace it's descent in the direct line from Krishna .Yadu (according to the same writer , following Tod )is the patronymic of all the descendants of Budha (See the genealogical table of Krishna's descent in Mr.Growse's Mathura , pp.52) ,the ancestor of the Lunar race , of which the most conspicuous clans are now the Bhattis and Jhareja .

The title Jadon for Surasenas  ----

The title of Jadon is now exclusively applied to the tribe which appears never to have strayed far from the limits of the ancient Surasena , and  ther found in considerable number in the neighbourhood (near Mathura -Bayana-Katauli region ).The large tract south of Chambal ,called after them Yaduvati /Jadonvati.

The name for the country and people round Mathura ,given by Alexander's historians , is Surasena (Tod's Rajasthan ,I.,37) .
The earliest Aryan people who settled in these part seem to have been the Yadus , who find mentioned in the Rigveda and whose favourite river was the Yamuna (McDonell &Keith ).It is said that Yadu was the eldest son of Yayati , the great -grandson of Pururavas Aila (who himself was a grandson of Manu Vaivasvata ),the progenitor of the Lunar race of the ancient Kshatriyas (Pargiter ).According to Sir.Henry Miers .Elliot "Yadava "is a Sanskrit version .It's hindi version is "Jadon ".

The name Tahangarh has been spelt differently by the chronicles -

In early olden times it was also known as Tribhuvanagiri  .In later time about 13th century chronicles spelt it differently.Minhas-i-Siraj ,in his Tahakat-i-Nasiri mentioned  name of Tahangarh fort by the name Thangir .Hasan Nizami spelt  it as Thangarh in his Taj-ul-Maasir .Alexander Cunningham says that the name of this fort appeared as Tewangarh in the maps,used by him .Further  ,in the Gazetteer of district Sawaimadhopur ,the name of this fort is given as Tamangarh  which is obviously an attempt to follow the version in the local dialect .

The foundation of Tahangarh--

In early days it was one of the famous forts of Northern India .The foundation of Tahangarh fort is ascribed to the Jadava /Jadon king Tahanpala , in A.D .1058 , son of Raja Vijayapala  whose time is known from  a still existing  inscription in the Bahari-Bhitari Mahalla Masjid of Bayana  , in which his name occurs , with the date of  Samvat 1100 , or 1043 A .D  .The date of his son Tahanpala may , therefore  ,be placed in the latter half of the same century , or from A.D .1075 to 1100 . The name Tahun pala by the bards , and it appears as Tewangarh in the maps .Like his father  ,he also built the fort after his own name .The territory round it ,in course of time  ,became famous after the name of the fort.It was also famous by the name of Tribhuvangiri .

When Mohammedans occupied it,it assumed the name of Islamabad . Tarhati better known in history as Tamangarh fort , is a small village in Karauli tahsil.
Timanpala was a powerful king of this Jadu dynasty.In the course of a long reign of 66 years he did much to increase the power of his kingdom by constructing the fort of Tawangarh (the Thankar of persian histories),  22kms from Bayana ,and by making fresh conquests.He extended his kingdom by bringing within it the major parts of Dang,Alwar ,Bharatpur ,Dholpur ,Gungon ,Mathura ,Agra and Gwalior .His political sovereignty over the wide  expanse of territory is further established by his title of "Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhiraj Parameswar .

Descendants of Maharaja Tahanpala ----

In sambat 1147 (A.D.1090) Timanpal died .
The two succeeding ruler Haripala and Dharmpala,who followed Tahangarh ,could not maintain their hold over their patrimony ,partly due to the conflicts within the family and partly owing to the growing power of their feudatories.They also failed in opposing Muizzuddin Ghauri ,who took possession of Bayana and Tahangarh.(or Thankar)in 1196 A.D.
Tahanapala was followed in succession by Dharmapala ,Kunwarapala ,and Ajayapala .Cunningham suggests that there is a chronological error in placing Kunwarpala before Ajayapala. But ,this view does not seem to be correct.Both Kunwarpala ,and Ajayapala were ruling over two different principalities.

References ----

1-The old name Santipura as known from the local tradition is not confirmed by the epigraphical and literary sources.
2-Et.,XXII ,pp.121-122.
3-Copy of the Manuscript in the Sastra Bhandara of Bayana , see Appendix No .I. for the text.
4-IA,XXI ,p.57.
5-HIED, II ,p.304 and p. 308 .
6-Ibid .
7-CII ,III ,p.251.
8-C H,III ,p.252 .
9-IA ,X ,pp.34-35 .
10-EI ,XXII, 121.
11-V.V.Mishra attributes some coins to king Vatsadaman of the Surasena dynasty .See.IHQ.XVIII ,p.71.
12-G.H.Ojha and R.Burn illustrated the coins of the cow-suckling calf type with legend Sri Vappa.See JASB (1927 ), Num ,Suppl.XXII ,pp14-18.and JNSI ,XXII ,p.279.
13-EI,XXII ,p.121.
14-Ibid III ,p.263.
15-SJS ,XXI (Introduction ) .
16-JSSI.,pp.197-198.
17-The Struggle for Empire ,p.13.
18-Archaeological Survey of India Report ,A Tour in Eastern Rajputana (1882-83) ed Alexander Cunningham ,Vol .XX.reprint Varansi ,1969 .
19-Rajasthan District Gazetteers -Bharatpur ,History pp.50-51.
20-ARRMA, 1913-14 ,pp.1-2.see also IA,XIV ,p.10.
21-ONS ,III ,p.1(see Virtavilasa ).
22-VV.,p.1494.
23-Karauli Ka Itihas -Mahavir Prasad Sharma
24-Karauli ki Jaga Pothi-Late Kulbhan Singh ,Akolpura Thikana.
25-Gazetteer of the Karauli State 1874-Percy Powlett.
26-A Gazetteer of Eastern Rajputana : Comprising the Native States of  Bharatpur ,Dholpur and Karauli  ,1905-H.E.Drake-Brockman.
27-Jaisalmer Khyati; Archaeological Survey of India ,Vol ,.20.p.38 .
28-Cultural and Historical Study of Karauli District.-Dr Mohan Lal Gupta .
29-Emperical Gazetteer ;Rajaptana Gazetteer Karauli State ; Rajasthan District Gazetteers -Sawaimadhopur ,
30-Rajputana -ka-Itihas -J.S.Gahlot ;Timangarh Durg,Kala evnm Sanskritik Adhyayan -Ramji Lal Koli.;Karauli Rajaya Ka Itihas -Damodar Lal Garg.
31-Archaecological Survey of India ,Vol .,20 .p.3.
32-ONS,III,p.1
33-The History and Culture of Indian People ,Vol.,V.,The struggle of Empire ,Bombay ,p.55.
34-KB, p.19
35-The Struggle for Empire ,p.55.
36-ONS, III,p.1.
37-The struggle for Empire ,p.1.
38-ARRM, 1913-14 ,No 4, p.2.
39-KB ,pp.19-20.
40-Singh ,R.B.,History of Chahamanas ,Varansi (1964) .
41-Rajasthan District Gazetteers -Bharatpur ,History pp.51 .Imperial Gazetteer ; Alwar Gazetteer
42-Bhachgoti ,
43-Jadu-Vamsa-Ganga Singh ,Jaton Ka Naya Itihas-Dr .Dharmendra Vidhyasankar ;Cunningham.A.Archeological Survey of India Report of a tour in eastern Rajputana in 1882-83 , pp.68-69.
44- New Epigraphical Evidence located at Tahangarh  fort -by V.K.Singh IHC:Proceedings 60th Session 1999,pp.1126-1134.
45-Archaeological Survey of India Report.,Alexander Cunningham ,p57.
46-Macdonell A.A. and Keith A.B.:Vedic Index of Names and Subjects ,(Varanasi ,1958 ),Vol.II.,pp.185,186.
47-Pargiter ,op.cit .,pp.84-87.
48-Mahabharata ,Adi-parva , ch.75, w.30-32.
48-Supplementry Glossary of N.W.P.by S.H.M.Elliot.
49-Trives and Casts of the North-Western Provinces and Wish.Vol I., By William Crooke .p128-129.
50-Russell,R.V.and Rai Bahadur Heera Lal .The trives and casts of the central provinces of India.Vol.Iand Vol.II.

Author- Dhirendra Singh Jadaun
Village-Larhota near Sasni
District-Hatharas ,Uttar Pradesh
Associate Prof in Agriculture
Shahid Captain Ripudaman Singh Govt.College ,Sawai madhopur 'Rajasthan ,322001.

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