KALCHURIS
The Kalachuris, also known as the Haihayas, were an ancient people. The dynasty was founded by one Soma who grew beard and moustache, to save himself from the wrath of Parashurama, and thereafter the family came to be known as "Kalachuris", Kalli meaning a long moustache and churi meaning a sharp knife.
It was the bloody war that took place between Aryan Brahmins lead by Parasurama on one side and the Aryan Kshatriyas lead by Sahasrarjuna on the other side which divided Aryans into two eternal rivals. Parasurama launched a series of wars for 21 times to carry out mass killing of Aryan Kshatriyas to avenge the death of his father Jamadagni at the hands of Sahsrarjunas son's.
The Aryan Kshatriyas who suffered a mass annihilation at the hands of Aryan Brahmins established a separate religion for themselves based on the principles of Shiva (Jina) worship to unitedly fight Aryan Brahmin domination. Shiva is the God of Dravidian race and Jina worship of jains indicate the historical truth of great divide between Aryan Kshatriyas and Aryan Brahmins and the association of Aryan Kshatriyas with Dravidian warrior kings.
The Kalchuri clan gave Kharvel, the great emperor. He ruled in 2nd century B.C. Kharvel organised a convention of 3000 Jain monks at Kumari Parvat and Jain Agams were compiled there.
Kalachuri kings ruled from places like Tripuri, Gorakhpur, Ratnapur, Rajpur. They migrated to the south and made Magaliveda or Mangalavedhe (Mangalavada) their capital. They called themselves Kalanjarapuravaradhisvara, which indicates their central Indian origin. Their emblem was Suvarna Vrishabha or the golden bull. Chalukyas of Kalyani. In the later half of 6th century A.D., they ruled over a powerful kingdom comprising Gujarat, northern Maharashtra, and some parts of Malwa The Kalachuris of Chedi also known as kings of Dahalas, had their capital at Tripur, represented by the modern village of Tewar, six miles to the west of Jubulpore.
Majority of Kalchuris call themselves as Kalars which is a name given to the people who are engaged in liquor business. There was basically no platform for Kalchuris who have the surnames such as Rai,Choukse, Malviya, Jaiswal, Sheohare,Nashine, Pashine, Ujawane, Rajbhoj, Sahu, Sao (Waghmare), Katakwar, Mohabey, Mohbansi, Verma, Ghote, Gupta, Sheohare, Karmele (Karamveer), Khubele, Kharate,Thantharate, Turhate, Pahire, Rais, Shah, Pate who have settled in Central Part of India are proud to call the descendants of Great Kalchuri Clan. .
Kalchuris are worshipers of Shiv and Shakti and Kalchuri Kings have constructed many Shiv temples as well as temples of Shakti namely the famous Maha-Maya Temple at Ratanpur (Bilaspur)
Raipur city had been the capital of the Haihaya Kings, controlling the traditional forts of the Chhattisgarh for a long time. The town of Raipur has been in existence since the 9th century, the old site and ruins of the fort can be seen in the southern part of the city. Satawahana Kings ruled this part till the 2nd-3rd century AD.
The Kalchuri Kings of Tumman ruled this part for a long time making Ratanpur as capital. Kalachuri Empire of Central India (west Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan) was called Chedi or Haihaya.They are supposed to be offshoot of Abhira of Traikutika dynasty. The earliest known Kalachuri family (AD 550–620) ruled over northern Maharashtra, Malwa and western Deccan from their capital Mahismati situated in the Narmada river valley.
Another famous Kalchuri king was Bijjal. He ruled from Annigeri , Mangalvedhe and Kalyan (Karnatak) in 12the century. Bijjala a viceroy of this dynasty established the authority over Karnatakam after wresting power from the Chalukya king Taila III. Bijjala was succeeded by his sons Someshwara and Sangama but after 1181 AD, the Chalukyas gradually retrieved the territory. Their rule was a short and turbulent and yet very important from a the socio-religious movement point of view; a new sect called the Lingayat or Virashaiva sect was founded during these times.
The Kalachuris of the south were Jains and encouraged Jainism in their kingdom. The first notable chief of the Kalachuri family of Karnataka was Uchita. While there were several kings who followed him ruling as feudatories of the Kalyani Chalukyas, it was Jogama who became an influential vassal of Vikramaditya VI, being related to the great Chalukya king by matrimony.
Basically, Kalchuri kings were supporters of Jainism. Kalchuris established a Kalchuri kingdom in the region of Karnataka in South India. These Kalchuris made a great contribution in propagating Jainism and creating Jain architectural manuments in South India. A lot of Kalchuris were originally Jains and many of them seems to associated with Mouryan dynasty. Even Ashoka was a Jain religious follower before he came a staunch follower and propagator of Buddhism.
The Kalchuris were originally Jain kings from North India. For example, the Kundalpur region in Madhya Pradesh was once in the domain of the Kalachuri kings and Jainism was quite popular during the long Kalachuri rule, many Jain idols from the Kalachuri period have been found. Kundalpur is approximately twenty miles northeast of Damoh, Madhya Pradesh. With about sixty temples built m the eight and ninth century, Kundalpur is one of the most ancient and extensive Jain pilgrimage site in central India. Historically speaking, the development of Jainism in Kundalpur took place under the reign of the Kalchuri kings from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries.
Southern Kalchuris also known as Kalabhra kings later became Buddhist supporters. The prominent king Vijjala of this clan and his several statesmen had adopted Jainism. Rechmayya, the minister of Kalchuri State set up the image of Tirthankar Shantinath at Shravanabelagola.
Under the Kalabhras, Buddhism and Jainism were becoming increasingly popular in their territories. With occupation of Tamil country Kalabhras considered to be the patrons of the Buddhism and Jainism. TheBuddhist Monks florished around the 5 th century A.D .
The Buddhist Kalchuris became anti-brahmin crusaders in South India as Brahmin Pushyamitra killed Brihadrath, the last emperor of Buddhist Mouryan dynasty. The Kalabhras moved gradually into South Indian Hindu kingdoms ruled by Hindu Chola - Chera - Pandya Adhirajas and occupied them by creating a great havoc.
These anti-brahmin ( Anti- Hindu) Kalabhras snatched away the lands possessed by brahmins as Brahmadeyas. The Kalabhras ruled over the entire South India for about 300 years and spread Buddhism. They sponsored Buddhist literature of highest moral and ethical values. It is believed that Thirupathi Balaji was a Buddha statue worshipped by Buddhists during the Kalabhra rule.
During the rule of Kalabhra kings (3rd Century AD), Jainism attained supermacy in Tamil Nadu. As followers of Jainism they prohibited animal sacrifices in rituals. The Kalabhra rule in the Tamil country had witnessed the growth of education and literature. The Jain Palli had remained important educational centers during the Kalabhra rule. Kalabhras fought against Brahmin supremacy and were abused by Brahmin epigraphists after their rule ended. It is believed that Kalabhras were having Aryan Kshatria blood who established Jainism to counter the influence of Aryan Brahminism lead by Parasurama.
The Kalchuris of South India seems to have switched over to Buddhism when Ashoka ruled part of South India. Ashoka was also a Jain religious follower initially till he fought the bloody Kalinga war.
There are people in Mudiraj community having Dhadhi as their gotram. Bijjala, and most of the Kalachuri clans were Shaivites. It is also believed that there are some sections of Reddies having descendancy from Kalchuris.
Some of the communities belong to Kalchuri clan is listed as follows :
Kalars are members of the subcaste of "distillers of alcohol" within the Indian caste system. Many of them are in iron ore and iron scrap processing and trading business. In modern times, they may follow any occupation. Kalwars or kalars are Haihayavanshi. They are classified as OF Somavamshiya Sahastrarjun Kshatriyas. Haihaya is branch of Somavamshiya Kshatriyas.They claim lineage from King Rajeshwara Sahastrarjuna also known as Kartavirya Arjuna, one of the great Chakarvarti Samrats of India. Common Surnames of Kalar are :
Aarya,
Ahake,
Aharwal,
Ahluwalia
Baranwal,
Batham
Bhagat
Bhoyar
Bhoyare
Bisane
Chauragade
Chaurewar
Choudhary
Chouksey
Dadsena
Dahake
Daharwal
Dhapade,
Dhapare
Dhapare Dhapade
Dholakiya
Dhuware
Diyewar
Dohare
Duvadhapar
Duve
Gangbhoj
Gopaliya
Goud
Gulhare
Gupta,
Jain Jaiswal
Jain Kalar
Jaisar
Jaiswal
Jamaiwar
Karnwal
Kawle
KELA
Kharidaha
Khubele,
Lanjekar
Lohiya
Mahawar
Malviya
Meshram
Meshram,
Mewada
Nandhediya
Nashine
Neorgade
Niwnaaha
Padiyar
Palewar
Pardesi Maratha kalar
Pareta
Pashine
Patel
Patel,
Porwal
Prasad
Purviya
Rai
Sahu
Sewaiwar
Shanicharaha
Shione,
Shivhare
Shoundik/Sundhi
Sirmoria
Somvanshi
Sonwani
Sugnadhi
Suwalka
Talwar
Tikkiwal
Verma.
Vyahut
Walia
Zendaha
They number an estimated 35,000,000 worldwide and mostly live in: Western and Northern India,South India, Nepal, Central and Western Pakistan, Eastern Afghanistan, Germany. There are similar communities in different parts of India involved in same profession and background.
Ezhavas or Thiyyas of kerala,Billavas and Thiyya billavas of South Kannada region,Edigas of Karnataka,Bhandari of Maharastra,Nadars of Tamilnadu, Gouds of Andhra,Durave and Nalaver of Srilanka are from the same stock. There are various surnames of kshyatriya martha Pardesi kalar as, Chaurewar, Diyewar, Jamaiwar, Adewar, kawle, 'Chauragade', Bisane, Duve, Duvadhapar, etc.
posted by
S.SALIMKUMAR
KURUMPAKARA/PATHANAPURAM
