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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1875.
destroyed Valabhi. Vanarâja, on acquiring these hoards through the agency of Anhal, founed a new city, which he named after him, on the old site of Pattan, whence the name Anhallawada Pattan. Abu and Chandravati were both from the remotest time held by this tribe, and so were Bhinmal (formerly called Srimal), Palanpur, Tharad, etc. Even in Saurashtra we find traces of the Parmars. Wadhwan, supposed to be the ancient Vardhaman pur, is said to have been ruled by Parmars in very ancient times; and an inscription lately discovered in the south of this province shows that a Farmár sovereign ruled in W å lå kshetra, the modern Walák. In the Administration Report of the Palanpur Saperintendency for1873-74 I alluded to the local tradition that Chadchat, properly Chà vad chat, is said to have derived its name from the Chåds or Châ vadas, a branch of the Parmar tribe ; and there seem other reasons for thinking that the Chỉvadas were indeed a branch of the Parmars. There is a notorious tendency in the Rajput and other tribes to break up into sub-tribes, and those sub-tribes to go on subdividing, until the original name is lost. Thus if you ask a modern Rajput his tribe, he will tell you that he is a Devâni, Váchâni, &c., and it is only on crossexamination that you can elicit that the Devånis are a sub-tribe of (say) the Jhâdejas, while bat (comparatively) few Jhâdejas know that the Jhâdejâs are only a sub-tribe of the Yadava rbce. Like instances may be quoted of the Rathod, Chohin, and other famous tribes, where the original tribe appellation has been completely or nearly lost and submerged in the fame of the sub-tribe. Thus the W&jàs, who still survive at Jhanjhmer and elsewhere in Saurashtra, are really of the Rathod clan, but none of the tribe would call himself a Rathod unless pressed. And so the Sirohi chieftains and their clansmen, who wrested from the Parmars Abu and Chandravati, though Chohans, are universally known by the name of their subtribe, the Devrå. In a race of such undoubted antiquity as the Parmar, especially where (supposing these speculations correct) one branch, the Chavadas, attained as sovereigns of AnhallaWAdA such undoubted preëminence, one might, I think, expect to find the name of the original clan obliterated by the surpassing glory of the sub-tribe. The genealogy of Vanaraja is, as is well known, traced to Vach råja Chá vada,
the father of Venir aja the lord of Diva - gadh, now held by the Portuguese. The legend relates that Vachar å ja founded the Chavada sovereignty of Div, where he, and after him Venirija, ruled. Venirija betrayed the trust of a merchant wbo had entrusted him with the valuable cargoes of his vessels, after having taken the Arabian Sea to witness as to the truth of his protestations that the merchandise should remain at Div in safety. The Ocean, indignant at his name being thus taken in vain, overwhelmed Div, Veniraja being drowned in the deluge, which converted Div into an island, and has left its traces all along the southern coast of Saurashtra, especially at Div, the Shial Island, Piram, Jhanjhmer, &c. It was on this occasion that the mother of Vanarâja, being, it is said, forewarned in a dream of the destruction which was imminent, fled to Panchisar, and afterthe destruction of that township by thesovereign of Kanauj (?) or Kalyana (?) she sought refuge in the dense jungle which then clothed that part of Gujarat, and eventually at Chandur gave birth to Vanaraja, who on growing to man's estate became a renowned freebooter and associate of all the discontented characters of the country, and succeeded on one occasion in intercepting the Kanauj tribute. The acquisition of so large a sum enabled him to be liberal to his followers and to entertain a larger band; and on the discovery to him of the hidden treasures of Pattan by Anhal the herdsman, he was enabled to found the city of Anhal law ada Pattan, afterwards so famous. The genius of the Hindu race has ever been to describe historical events in verse, and there exists a famous poem describing the sovereignty of the Chavadas at Div, the founding of Pattan, and the rule of the sovereigns of that famous city. On disputed points of history, if a disputant can quote a verse of any well-known poem or even a well-known couplet, it is usually accepted among Bhâts, Chârans, &c. as conclusive, and in one of the verses of this poem Vanaraja is distinctly mentioned as being a Parmar. I have never met any one who knew the whole poem, which is somewhat long, but the following verses will perhaps be sufficient to show the tradition regarding the destruction of Div, and the fact of Vanarâja being a Parmår:
dragt | WTTTTTTT राजदीयो रघुनाथ ॥ आवीयो चावडो अठे।
