Raghuvaṃśa (dynasty)

Raghuvanshi (Sanskrit: रघुवंशी) or Raghuvaṃśa (Sanskrit: रघुवंश) or Raghukula is a legendary^[1] Indian Rajput dynasty, primarily featured in Hindu scriptures such as the Itihasas and the Puranas.^[2]^[3] It is considered to be an offshoot of the Sūryavaṃśa or the Ikshvaku Kshatriya dynasty lineage of kings, tracing its ancestry to the sun deity Surya.

Kings of the Raghuvaṃśa line are referred to as Raghuvanshi or Raghuvaṃśī. The dynasty is named after Raghu, a legendary king who protected the sacrificial horse of ashvamedha from Indra. Raghuvaṃśī kings include Mandhata, Harishchandra, Sagara, Bhagiratha, Dilīpa, Raghu, Aja, Dasharatha and Lord Rama.Kalidasa's work, Raghuvaṃśa, narrates the epic of the Raghuvaṃśa in 19 sargas (cantos).^[4]

In the modern era, the Raghuvanshi Kshatriyas are known as Raghav (Bargujar) Rajputs in the Indian subcontinent.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Notable members

Several legendary kings came from the Solar dynasty and are referred to as Raghuvaṃśa after their ancestor, the king Raghu.

Mandhata, who is said to have ruled the entire earth during the Vedic period, and defeated the Indra, the king of the devas.
Sagara, a king who was tricked by Indra into a conflict with the sage Kapila, leading to the death of his 60,000 sons, the descent of the Ganga to earth, and his sons' revival
Harishchandra, the king of Ayodhya, believed to be an exemplar of honesty
Dilīpa, said to be the most righteous and chivalrous emperors of the Ikshvaku dynasty
Bhagiratha said to be the legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who brought the river Ganga, personified as the river goddess Ganga, to Earth from the heavens
Raghu II, whose descendants are known as Raghuvaṃśa. The Valmiki Ramayana refers to Raghukula, a clan of this king
Aja, son of King Raghu and grandfather of Rama.
Dasharatha, son of Aja and father of Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna
Rama, he is considered the seventh avatar of Vishnu. Rama's story before he became king of Ayodhya is recounted in the Ramayana. After he ascended the throne, he performed the ashvamedha yajna. Bharata, his younger brother, won the country of Gandhara and settled there
Lava and Kusha – They were the twin sons of Rama and his wife Sita. Lava ruled south Kosala while Kusha ruled north Kosala, including Ayodhya. Kusha married the naga princess Kumudvati, the sister of Kumuda.^[8] After Kusha, the following kings of the solar dynasty ruled Ayodhya:
Śuddhodana, leader of the Shakya republic in present-day Nepal, with their capital at Kapilavastu. He was also the father of Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha.
Sumitra, the last king of Ayodhya from the Raghuvaṃśa, defeated by Mahapadma Nanda.

References

^ Indian History: Ancient and medieval. Vol. 1. 2003. p. 22.
^ Majumder, Bhaskar “For the eastern U.P. Bernard S. Cohn records how the Thakur of Senapur trace their descent from one Ganesh Rai, a Raghuvanshi Rajput who in the sixteenth century (had) migrated to Jaunpur district where there are well over 20,000 of them living in the local area (taluka) (1987: 91).” (2011). Rethinking Villages. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-8069-764-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Brentnall, Mark “The founder was a certain Abhoi Deo, a Garg Raghuvanshi Rajput and prince of Aknur in Jammu, who came to the region in 1154 to make most of the turmoil then engulfing the state of Bilaspur.” (2004). The Princely and Noble Families of the Former Indian Empire: Himachal Pradesh. Indus Publishing. ISBN 978-81-7387-163-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Raghuvaṃśa of Kālidāsa - Edited with extracts & notes etc by Narayan Ram Acharya Kavyatirtha, Chaukhambha Publishers, Varanasi, 2nd ed (2002), Appendix 2
^ Singh, David Emmanuel “The rajput gotras and their shakhas (branches) claiming to go back to their mythical progenitors, the sun (surya) and the moon (chanda) [and modeled, as noted earlier, most perfectly by the great epic heroes, Rama and Krishna, are too many to list. Some of the main rajput gotras, many of which are common to the Gujjars, are: Chauhan, Solanki (Cha-lukya), Pratihar/Parihar, Kashyap (somtimes Koshyal/Kanshilya), Va-shishta, Vashist/Bharadwaj, Gehlot, Rathore/Gahadval/Gaharwar, Kush-waha/ Kachchawa, BADGUJAR OR RAGHAV, Jadeja, Jadaun, Bhati, Haihai/Ka-luchari, Chandel, Tomar/Tanwar, Bundela, Jhala, Banafar, Bharadwaj, Janwar, Kaushik, Pawar, Palwar, and Vyadhra. Many of the sub-divisions of these gotras have, over the years, acquired independent status. (31 August 2012). Islamization in Modern South Asia: Deobandi Reform and the Response. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-61451-185-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Singh, K. S. (1996). Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-0-19-563357-3.
^ Rathore, Abhinay. "History of Badgurjars". Rajput Provinces of India. Retrieved 17 February 2005.
^ Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. p. 711. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.

[1] Indian History: Ancient and medieval. Vol. 1. 2003. p. 22.

[2] Majumder, Bhaskar “For the eastern U.P. Bernard S. Cohn records how the Thakur of Senapur trace their descent from one Ganesh Rai, a Raghuvanshi Rajput who in the sixteenth century (had) migrated to Jaunpur district where there are well over 20,000 of them living in the local area (taluka) (1987: 91).” (2011). Rethinking Villages. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-8069-764-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[3] Brentnall, Mark “The founder was a certain Abhoi Deo, a Garg Raghuvanshi Rajput and prince of Aknur in Jammu, who came to the region in 1154 to make most of the turmoil then engulfing the state of Bilaspur.” (2004). The Princely and Noble Families of the Former Indian Empire: Himachal Pradesh. Indus Publishing. ISBN 978-81-7387-163-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[4] Raghuvaṃśa of Kālidāsa - Edited with extracts & notes etc by Narayan Ram Acharya Kavyatirtha, Chaukhambha Publishers, Varanasi, 2nd ed (2002), Appendix 2

[5] Singh, David Emmanuel “The rajput gotras and their shakhas (branches) claiming to go back to their mythical progenitors, the sun (surya) and the moon (chanda) [and modeled, as noted earlier, most perfectly by the great epic heroes, Rama and Krishna, are too many to list. Some of the main rajput gotras, many of which are common to the Gujjars, are: Chauhan, Solanki (Cha-lukya), Pratihar/Parihar, Kashyap (somtimes Koshyal/Kanshilya), Va-shishta, Vashist/Bharadwaj, Gehlot, Rathore/Gahadval/Gaharwar, Kush-waha/ Kachchawa, BADGUJAR OR RAGHAV, Jadeja, Jadaun, Bhati, Haihai/Ka-luchari, Chandel, Tomar/Tanwar, Bundela, Jhala, Banafar, Bharadwaj, Janwar, Kaushik, Pawar, Palwar, and Vyadhra. Many of the sub-divisions of these gotras have, over the years, acquired independent status. (31 August 2012). Islamization in Modern South Asia: Deobandi Reform and the Response. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-61451-185-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[6] Singh, K. S. (1996). Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-0-19-563357-3.

[7] Rathore, Abhinay. "History of Badgurjars". Rajput Provinces of India. Retrieved 17 February 2005.

[8] Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. p. 711. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.

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Notable members

See also

References