Foreword

Foreword:

                     The Rajputs of India from times immemorial have been held a unique position in the History of the country. It is, however, unfortunate that their achievements have had no chronological records either here or elsewhere. Of course, glimpses of what they have done and are continuing to do, are found in treatises such as “The Annual and Antiquites of Rajasthan” by the late Colonel James Tod and Pandit Gauri Shankara Ojha, who has written several books on Rajput History in Hindi. My own great grandfather Shri Thakur Bahadur Singh Ji had the good fortune of digging a little into their past, not because he was a Rajput himself but because he felt that some sort of data was essential to show how our clans had to face calamities both within and without the country and how they kept up to their traditions right down to this age. My great grandfathers interest and what he left for his posterity to inherit, has enabled me to study the subject in some detail. Accordingly, whenever I come across a book on Rajput History, my joy knows no bound.

                     Recently, Mr.Keshav Chandra Sen M.A. HeadMaster Jain High School Panipat, sent me a copy of his book ‘Itihas Rohilla Rajputs’ and asked me for my comments. I read it throughly very minutely and was surprised to find how the Hindu Rohillas came to India as early as the 9^th and 10^th Centuries A.D. and founded what is known as ‘Rohilkhand’ now merged in the Uttar Pradesh, long before the Muslim Rohillas entered India in the reign of Sher Shah Suri in the 16^th Century. The Suffix “Khand” to the name strengthens my belief that if the founders had not been Hindus, they would not have used this word. With what little knowledge I possess  of the History of Rajputs, I cannot help appreciating Mr. Sen going so deep into the background of the Rohillas and bringing to light the hidden links that Rajputs in  India had with them both in origin and tradition. Mr Sen has quoted at length various authorities on history, both ancient and mediaeval, and I have no doubt if this book goes into the hands of some Historical Society such as exists in the United Kingdom, his work would be taken as a great service to the historical world in the present age.

                     This short history of the Rohillas as far as I gather, is based on:

(i)                  General Cunningham’s Geography Of India.

(ii)                Pandit Jai Chand’s “Bharat Bhumi Aur us Ke Nivasi and Bhartiya Itihas Ki Rup Rekha.

(iii)               Thakur Ajit Singh Parihar’s “Khsatriya Vartman.”

(iv)              Bhat Bhim Raj’s “Rohilla Jati Aur Us Ka Nirnaya”.

(v)                Prithvi Raj Rasso.

(vi)              Dey’s Geography of India.

(vii)             Colonel James Tod’s “Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan”.

(viii)           Pandit Gauri Shankar Ojha’s “History of Rajputana”.

(ix)              Travels of H. Tsang as edited by Watters.

(x)                Sardar Jhanda Singh Nag’s “History of Tak Rajputs”.

(xi)              C.V.Vaidyas “Mediaeval India”.

                     According to General Cunningham and Shri Jai Chand, the  land from where the Rohillas  migrated into India was present Afghanistan which was called “ Ruh Desh” in the Middle Ages. When Ruh Desh turned Muslim , the Hindus living there left their motherland and came to India about the 9^th or 10^th Century A.D. Later, Muslim Rohillas followed them in the 16^th century and settled down in the same area, i. e. Rohilkhand, in the reign of Sher Shah Suri, On Page 3 of the Book, stanzas of two poems as extracted from the “Kshatriya Vartman” by Thakur Ajit Singh Parhiar and the inscription on a Shiv Temple in Gujarat (Kathiwar) clearly establish “Rohillas” as Rajputs as also does an extract from the song on Alla and Udal of Mohaba given on page 2. Alla, Udal, and Malkhan of Mohaba appeared to have been soldiers of fortune from Ruk Desh and were crushed by Prithvi Raj, as they were considered by him as foreigners. They  belonged to a clan called “Rohil Banafar.” The downfall of Rohilla Rajputs started with Prithvi Raj and ended, when Raj Saharan, The Takshak Raja of Thanesar, embraced Islam. After the the downfall the Rohillas with their various branches, including the Takshaks, went into obscurity and were removed from the list of Rajputs.

                     The above sketch of what is dug into by Mr.Sen will, I have no doubt, rouse the interest of every reader of this book and will make him study it throughly to understand how Rajputs have invariably suffered. The upheaval in the Punjab in 1947 under our very eyes, has given a convincing proof of the veracity of what Mr.Sen has written. I am sure he will continue his researches in the Rajput History whereby he would be doing immense service to the cause of the Rajputs.

                   In conclusion, I once again express my grateful thanks to Mr. Sen for having given me this opportunity to do a little service to the Rajput community by writing a few lines with a view to introducing his book to the scholars of history in general and Rajputs in patricular.

Bidasar Fort,

BikanerState,

Sd/-Pratap Singh

Rajasthan.

Raja Bidasar.

Dated 10. 6. 1950.