Chudasama

Chudasama (चुडासमा) are a Kshatriya clan found in Gujarat, India.

History

The Anthropological Survey of India, which relies heavily on sources compiled during the period of the British Raj, notes that they are "an offshoot of the Samma tribe, who entered India during the seventh or eighth century and are found in Kachchh, Junagadh and Jamnagar districts." They claim to be originally of the Abhira clan from Sindh.

Harald Tambs-Lyche believes that there is evidence, based on myths, that a Chudasama kingdom existed at Junagadh in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The dynasty is traditionally said to have been founded in 875 CE and around 1030 received assistance from members of the pastoralist Ahir community in order to restore its power following a conquest of the kingdom by the king of Gujarat. The Chudasamas are sometimes referred to as the Ahirani Ranis, and Tambs-Lyche says that, "The structure of the Chudasama state ... seems to have been an alliance between a small royal clan — later to be classified as Rajputs — and the Ahir tribe." The last of these kings, Mandulak Chudasama, was forcibly converted to Islam in 1470 by Mahmud Begarha, who also annexed the state. Begarha had attacked the Chudasama kingdom, which was known as Girnar, on several previous occasions.

In Chauhan history

We find mention of this clan in Chauhan history along with the clans who offered the gallant opposition to Allaudin when his forces destroyed the temple of Somanatha.

Dasharatha Sharma in "Early Chauhan Dynasties" [180-191] writes about Jalor Chauhan ruler - Samantasimha and Kanhadadeva.

Samantasimha - [Page-180] The inscriptions of Samantasimha range from V. 1339 to 1362 and show Samantasimha ruling over almost the same territories as his father,Chachigadeva. Of Samantasimha's 16 inscriptions, four come from Bhinmal, three from the state of Sirohi, and the rest from various parts of the Jodhpur division of Rajasthan. About V. 1353, he associated his son, Kanhadadeva , with himself in the government of Jalor; The Jalor inscription of Samantasimha, V. 1353, refers itself to the reign of Maharajakula Sri-Samvatasimha, while Kanhadadeva was subsisting on his lotus like feet and bearing the burden of administration (EI, XI, pp. 61f.). Similarly the Chohtan inscription V. 1356, speaks of Maharajakula Sri-Samvatasimhadeva and Rajan Kanhadadeva.

In V. 1353 (1296 AD) the ruler on the throne of Delhi was Firuz's nephew and assassinator, Ala-ud-din Khalji, perhaps the greatest of Sultans of Delhi, whose avowed ambition was to end all Hindu principalities and kingdoms, and who had been advised by his trusted counselors to treat the Hindus as no better than slaves. Samantasimha of Jalor does not appear to

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[Page-181] have been a man gifted or capable enough to fight against such a redoubtable adversary. It was good that he realised the need of some assistance, and acting probably on the advice of his people put the real direction of the affairs of the state into the hands of Kanhadadeva, then perhaps a young man of twenty five years or so.

Kanhadadeva - Kanhadadeva had not to wait long for a chance to prove his mettle. In the third year of his joint reign, i.e., 1298 A.D., Alauddin decided to conquer Gujarat and destroy the temple of Somanatha. As the best route for his army lay through Marwar, he despatched a robe of honour to Kanhadadeva and desired that he should permit the Khalji forces to pass through his territory. Worldly wisdom should have dictated instant submission to the imperial orders. But to the brave Kanhadadeva svadharma mattered more than worldly pleasures, or a kingdom or even his life. He therefore sent back Alauddin's messenger with the blunt answer,

"Your army would, on its way, sack villages, take prisoners, molest women, oppress Brahmanas and slay cows. This being against our dharma, we cannot accede to your request."

Though the refusal must naturally have angered Alauddin,he took no immediate steps against Jalor. The Khalji army, commanded by Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, marched instead through Mewar. Like a storm of extreme fury, it laid low every state, every chiefship, every principality that lay across its path, conquered very soon the whole of Gujarat and Kathiawar, and destroyed the temple of Somanatha, in spite of the gallant opposition offered by the Jethava (जेठव), Vala (वला), Baja (बाजा) and Chudasama (चुडासामा). And then on its way back to Delhi, Ulugh Khan, either on his own initiative or acting on

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[Page-182] instructions beforehand by Alauddin, decided to punish Kanhadadeva for the affront to Khalji authority. Victorious every where he marched through the Jalor. When the Khalji army reached Sakrana (tah-Ahore), a village 18 miles from Jalor, Kanhadadeva’s chief minister, Jaita Devada, conveyed his master’s message to Ulugh.

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[Page-183] In a well planned raid led by Jaita Devada, Nusrat Khan’s brother, Malik Aizudin and a nephew of Alaudin were slain. Ulugh Khan barely escaped his life. They liberated thousands of Hindu prisnors and the rescue of an idol of Somanatha which was being carried to Delhi.

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[Page-184] Kanhadadeva had its five fragments installed respectively at Prabhasa, Bagada, Abu, Jalor and his own garden. This rescue of Somanatha forms in the popular mind Kanhadadeva's best and greatest title to greatness.