Parmar

Parmar (Gurmukhi:ਪਰਮਾਰ)(Hindi:परमार) is gotra of the Rajput Caste and Jat Community.

Also known as Parwar or Pawar in Maharashtra [1], where the brances are: Pawar, Bagwe, Ichare, Renuse, Jagdhane, Rasal, Landage, Bane, Rokade, Chandane, Khairnar, Malwade, Wagaje. According to the myths their great-grand forefather, Parmar, was created out of fire by Inder Devta, the god of fire, at Mount Abu. It is said that as the newly created man had come out from fire saying “mar, mar” loudly, he came to be known as parmar, and Abu, Dhar, and Ujjain were assigned to him as a territory.

History

According to medieval legends, Parmars (Parmaras) is one of the Four Major Agnivanshi Rajput Clans. The other three being Chauhans (Chahamanas), Pratihar (Pratiharas), and Solankis (Chaulukyas).

The Navasahasanka charitra of Padmaguta (11th cent AD) mentions the first of the Parmara clan : Vashishta created a hero from his agnikunda to get back the cow that Vishvamitra had taken from him. Vashishta then said: “you will become a lord of the kings called Paramara”. Here Paramara indicated killer of others. This hero’s son Upendra was succeeded by Vakpatiraj I. The copper-plates of Harsola, that are from 949 AD give the descent of Bappairaja (Vakpatiraja) from Akalavarsha. Akalavarsha was a famous Rashtrakuta king. A later inscription of Vakpatiraj II of the Parmara dynasty mentions that the king bore titles Amoghavarsha, Prathvivallabha and Shrivallabha. There are Rashtrakuta titles. This Vakpatiraj II was an uncle of famous Raja Bhoja.

The kings of Malwa or Ujain who reigned at Dhar and flourished from the ninth to the twelfth centuries were of the Panwar clan. The 7th and 9th kings of this dynasty rendered it famous. “Raja Munja, the 7th king (974-995), renowned for his lerarning and eloquence, was not only a patron of poets, but was himself a poet of small reputation, the anthologies including various works from his pen. He penetrated in a career of conquest as far as Godavari, but was finally defeated and executed there by the Chalukya king. His nephew, the famous Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dhara about 1018 andreigned gloriously for more than forty years. Like his uncle he cultivated with equal assiduity the arts of peace and war. Though his fights with neighbouring powers, including one of the Muhamadan armies of Mahmud of Ghazni, are now forgotten, his fame as an enlightened patron of learning and a skilled author remains undimmed, and his name has become proverbial as that of the model king acoording to Hindu standard. Works on astronomy, architecture, the art of poetry and other subjects are attributed to him. About AD 1060 Bhoja was attacked and defeated by the confederate kings of Gujarat and Chedi, and the Panwar kingdom was reduced to a petty local dynasty until the 13th century. It was finally superseeded by the chiefs of the Tomara and Chauhan clans, who in their turn succumbed to the Muhamaddans in 1401” (V.A. Smith, Early History of India 3rd ed. p395). The city of Ujjain was at this time a centre of Indian intelectual life. Some celebrated astronomers made it their home, and it was adopted as the basis of the Hindu meridional system like Greenwhich in England.

The Panwars were held to have ruled from nine castles over the Marustali or ‘Region of death’, the name given to the great dessert of Rajputana, which extends from Sind to the Aravalli mountains and from the great salt lakes to the skirting of Garah. The principal of these castles were Abu, Nundore, Umarkot, Arore, and Lodorva. Mr. Crooke states that the expulsion of the Panwars from Ujjain under their leader Mitra Sen is ascribed to the attack of the Muhamaddans under Shahab-ud-din Ghori about AD 1190. After this they spread to Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where they are known as Pawar (Sivaji was a Puar and so is the Nimbhalkar tribe) Mr. Crooke (Tribes and castes) states: “The Khidmatia,Barwar or Chobdar are said to be an inferior branch of the Panwars, descended from a low-caste woman” . “The Panwars had the abit of keeping women of lower castes to a greater degree than the ordinary, and this has been found to be trait of other castes of mixed origin, and they are sometimes known as Dhakar, a name having the sense of illigitimacy”. (Russel, p339). In the Maratha rice coutry of Wainganga the Panwars have developed into 36 exogamous sections, bearing names of Rajput clans and of villages. Their titles are: Chaudhri (headman), Patlia (patel or chief officer of a village) and Sonwania.

Pawars are descendents of Parmar kings of Dhar. Some of Parmar kings were followers of Jainism, others that of Shaivism. Parmar is a big caste of Jains in Gujarat and it is also a famous clan of Oswals. Another Jain caste named Parwar is also descendent of Parmar kings. Osho Rajnish was from this community, that once was part of the Parwars.

The Parwar Jain caste is called “Paurpatta” in Sanskrit inscriptions. There are quite a few Sanskrit inscriptions in the Chanderi region that mention them from 11-12th century. It is likely that they are the same people involved in installing Jain images going back to Gupta period in that region, thus they are unlikley to be the descendants of Parmar kings. The Jain caste in Gujarat (Porwal or Porwad) is called “Pragvata” in Sanskrit. Most of the famous Jain temples in Gujarat (Mt. Abu, Ranakpur) were build by them. Their home is South Rajastan. The Parmar kings are called “Pragvata” in Sanskrit. Their original home too is Southern Rajasthan. Thus “Pragvata” must be the name of the region that is now Southern Rajasthan; and the Parmar Rajputs and the Porwal Jains of Rajasthan/Gujarat both take their name from this region. This is the region where Mount Abu is located.

Mori = Branch of Panwar Rajputs. They claim descent from Chandragupta Maurya, but they are probably not realated to the Maurya emperors. In Maharashtra the septs are: More, Madhure, Devkate, Harphale, Dhyber, Marathe, Darekar, Devkar, Adavale.

This dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Mourya at Patliputra (Modern Patna in Bihar) in 317 B.C. Chandragupta was born in Mayurposag (Peacock tamer) community. Chandragupta became the first historical emperor of India. His empire included almost all of the south Asia. He defeated the Greek invaders. Chandragupta ruled for 22 years. After him his son Bindusar became the emperor. After him Ashok became the emperor. After the war of Kalinga, Ashok adopted Buddhism. After Ashok his grand son Samprati became the emperor and ruled from Ujjain while Dashrath, another grandson ruled from Patliputra. Brihdrath was the last emperor of this dynasty. He was killed by his General Pushyamitra Shung. He founded Pushy dynasty. Kharvel, king of Kaling attacked and killed Pushyamitra. The ‘Devak’ of Mores is feather of peacock. This is because of their ‘Mayurposag’ (Peacock tamer) origin.

Article supplied by Kishan V Sisodia Via:-[2]

In Rigveda

Bhim Singh Dahiya has identified Paramara (परमर) mentioned in Rigveda (RV 10/27/20) with the the Parmar Jats today.

एतौ मे गावौ परमरस्य युक्तौ मो षु पर सेधीर्मुहुरिन्ममन्धि |
आपश्चिदस्य वि नशन्त्यर्थं सूरश्च मर्कौपरो बभूवान || (RV 10/27/20)
etau me ghāvau pramarasya yuktau mo ṣu pra sedhīrmuhurinmamandhi |  
āpaścidasya vi naśantyarthaṃ sūraśca markauparo babhūvān (RV 10/27/20)

James Tod on Pramaras

James Todd writes that The Pramara, though not, as his name implies, the ' chief warrior,' was the most potent of the Agnikulas. He sent forth thirty-five sakha, or branches, several of whom enjoyed extensive sovereignties. ' The world is the Pramar's,' is an ancient saying, denoting their extensive sway ; and the Naukot Marusthali signified the nine divisions into which the country, from the Sutlej to the ocean, was partitioned amongst them.

Maheswar, Dhar, Mandu, Ujjain, Chandrabhaga, Chitor, Abu, Chandravati, Mhau Maidana, Parmavati, Umarkot, Bakhar, Lodorva, and Patan are the most conspicuous of the capitals they conquered or founded.

Though the Pramara family never equalled in wealth the famed Solanki princes of Anhilwara, or shone with such lustre as the Chauhan, it attained a wider range and an earlier consolidation of dominion than either, and far excelled in all, the Parihara, the last and least of the Agnikulas, which it long held tributary.

Maheswar, the ancient seat of the Haihaya kings, appears to have been the first seat of government of the Pramaras. They subsequently founded Dharanagar, and Mandu on the crest of the Vindhya hills ; and to them is even attributed the city of Ujjain, the first meridian of the Hindus, and the seat of Vikrama.

There are numerous records of the family, fixing eras in their history of more modern times ; and it is to be hoped that the interpretation of yet undeciphered inscriptions may carry us back beyond the seventh century.

The era of Bhoj, the son of Munja, has been satisfactorily settled ; and an inscription in the nail-headed character, carries it back a step further, and elicits an historical fact of infinite value, giving the date of the last prince of the Pramaras of Chitor, and the consequent accession of the Guhilots.[p.110]: The Nerbudda was no limit to the power of the Pramaras. About the very period of the foregoing inscription, Ram Pramar held his court in Telingana, and is invested by the Chauhan Bard, Chand, with the dignity of paramount sovereign of India, and head of a splendid feudal association, whose members became independent on his death. The Bard makes this a voluntary act of the Pramaras ; but coupled with the Guhilots' violent acquisition of Chitor, we may suppose the successor of Ram was unable to maintain such supremacy.

While Hindu literature survives the name of Bhoj Pramara and ' the nine gems ' of his court cannot perish ; though it is difficult to say which of the three princes of this name is particularly alluded to, as they all appear to have been patrons of science.

Chandragupta, the supposed opponent of Alexander, was a Maurya, and in the sacred genealogies is declared of the race of Takshak. The ancient inscriptions of the Pramars, of which the Maurya is a principal branch, declare it of the race of Tasta and Takshak, as does that now given from the seat of their power, Chitor.

Salivahana, the conqueror of Vikramaditya, was a Takshak, and his era set aside that of the Tuar in the Deccan.

Not one remnant of independence exists to mark the greatness of the Pramaras : ruins are the sole records of their power. Theprince of Dhat,1 in the Indian desert, is the last phantom of royalty of the race ; and the descendant of the prince who protected Humayun, when driven from the throne of Timur, in whose capital, Umarkot, the great Akbar was born, is at the foot of fortune's ladder ; his throne in the desert, the footstool of the Baloch, on whose bounty he is dependent for support.

Among the thirty-five sakha of the Pramaras the Vihal was eminent, the princes of which line appear to have been lords of Chandravati, at the foot of the Aravalli. The Rao of Bijolia, one of the sixteen superior nobles of the Rana's court, is a Pramara of the ancient stock of Dhar, and perhaps its most respectable representative.[3]

Thirty-Five Sakha/Branches of the Pramaras

•Mori [or Mauryn]. — Of which was Chandragupta, and the princes of Chitor prior to the Guhilot.

•Sodha. — Sogdoi of Alexander, the princes of Dhat in the Indian desert.

•Sankhla. — Chiefs of Pugal, and in Marwar.

•Khair. — Capital Khairalu.

•Umra and Sumra. — Anciently in the desert, now Muhammadans.

•Vihal, or Bihal. — Princes of Chandravati.

•Mepawat. — Present chief of Bijolia in Mewar.

•Balhar. — Northern desert.

•Kaba. — Celebrated in Saurashtra in ancient times, a few yet in Sirohi.

•Umata. — The princes of Umatwara in Malwa, there established for twelve generations.

•Umatwara is the largest tract left to the Pramaras. Since the war in 1817, being under the British interference, they cannot be called independent.

•Rehar - Girasia petty chiefs in Malwa.

•Dhunda - Girasia petty chiefs in Malwa.

•Sorathia - Girasia petty chiefs in Malwa.

•Harer - Girasia petty chiefs in Malwa.

Besides others unknown ; as Chaonda, Khejar, Sagra, Barkota, Puni, Sampal, Bhiba, Kalpusar, Kalmoh, Kohila, Papa, Kahoria, Dhand, Deba, Barhar, Jipra, Posra, Dhunta, Rikamva, and Taika. Many of these are proselytes to Islamism, and several beyond the Indus.

List of Kings of Paramara dynasty of Malwa (c. 800–c. 1305)

•Upendra (c. 800–c. 818)

•Vairisimha I (c. 818–c. 843)

•Siyaka I (c. 843–c. 893)

•Vakpati (c. 893–c. 918)

•Vairisimha II (c. 918–c. 948)

•Siyaka II (c. 948–c. 974)

•Vakpatiraja (c. 974 – c. 995)

•Sindhuraja (c. 995 – c. 1010)

•Bhoja I (c. 1010 – c. 1055)

•Jayasimha I (c. 1055 – c. 1060)

•Udayaditya (c. 1060 – c. 1087)

•Lakshmanadeva (c. 1087 – c. 1097)

•Naravarman (c. 1097 – c. 1134)

•Yasovarman (c. 1134 – c. 1142)

•Jayavarman I (c. 1142 – c. 1160)

•Vindhyavarman (c. 1160 – c. 1193)

•Subhatavarman (c. 1193 – c. 1210)

•Arjunavarman I (c. 1210 – c. 1218)

•Devapala (c. 1218 – c. 1239)

•Jaitugideva (c. 1239 – c. 1256)

•Jayavarman II (c. 1256 – c. 1269)

•Jayasimha II (c. 1269 – c. 1274)

•Arjunavarman II (c. 1274 – c. 1283)

•Bhoja II (born c. 1283)

•Mahlakadeva (died 1305)

Notable people[4])

•Abha Parmar (born 1963), Indian actress

•Arvind Parmar (born 1978), former British professional tennis player

•Ashish Parmar (1979–2020), Indian photographer

•Atmaram Parmar, Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Gujarat

•Belinda Parmar (born 1974), British entrepreneur, campaigner and corporate activist

•Bhaljibhai Ravjibhai Parmar (1920), Indian politician

•Bharatsinh Parmar, Indian politician

•Chirag Parmar (born 1990), Indian cricketer

•Dayaram Parmar (born 1945), Indian politician

•Dinesh Parmar, Indian politician and medical doctor

•Disha Parmar (born 1994), Indian television actress and former model

•Gajendrasinh Parmar (born 1978), Indian politician

•Gopal Parmar, Indian politician

•Govind Parmar, Indian politician

•Heena Parmar (born 1990), Indian actress

•Inderjeet Parmar, professor of international politics

•Ishwarbhai Parmar (born 1971), Indian politician

•Jashoda Parmar, Indian women politician

•Jaspal Parmar (born 1984), Indian football player

•Jaydrathsinh Parmar (born 1964), Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat

•Jayveer Parmar (born 1998), Indian cricketer

•Juhi Parmar (born 1980), Indian anchor, actress, presenter, singer and dancer

•Kishan Parmar (born 1992), Indian cricketer

•Kripal Parmar (born 1959), Indian politician

•Madansingh Parmar (born 1936), Indian former cricketer

•Mahendrasinh Parmar (born 1967), Gujarati writer

•Manoj Parmar (born 1967), former Indian cricketer

•Mohan Parmar (born 1948), Gujarati language short story writer, novelist and critic

•Monish Parmar (born 1987), right-arm off-break bowler from India

•Mukund Parmar (born 1968), Indian former cricketer

•Natverlal Parmar (1927–2010), Indian politician

•Nilesh Parmar (born 1970), Indian former international cricketer

•Parmjeet Parmar (born 1970), New Zealand politician

•Parul Parmar (born 1973), Indian para-badminton player from Gujarat

•Pradip Parmar, Indian politician

•Pratibha Parmar (born 1955), British filmmaker- a writer, director and producer

•Raj Parmar (born 1981), British-Asian Bollywood dancer, choreographer, and television and radio personality

•Raju Parmar (born 1950), Indian politician

•Sandeep Parmar (born 1979), British women poet

•Sanjeev Parmar (born 1978), Canadian former soccer player

•Sarena Parmar, Canadian actress

•Shailesh Parmar (born 1969), Indian politician

•Talwinder Singh Parmar (1944–1992), Canadian-Sikh Activist and Sikh Militant

•Vipin Singh Parmar (born 1964), Indian politician

•Vishvesh Parmar (born 1983), Indian playback singer/recording artist and composer

•Yashwant Singh Parmar (1906–1981), Indian politician

•Yusuf Parmar, Gujarat Indian National Congress politician