Kharaparika

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Kharaparika (खरपरिक) was one of the tribes who paid homage to Samudragupta. Kharapara (खरपर) tribe is mentioned in Batihagarh stone Inscription of the Vikrama Year 1385 (1328 AD) 1328 A.D. is the year when The Mongols invade India.

Variants

• Kharab (Jat clan) = Kharaparikas
• Kharaparikas
• Kharpara/Kharparas/Kharapara (खरपर) mentioned in Batihagarh stone Inscription of the Vikrama Year 1385 (1328 AD).

• Kalapak = Kharaparika

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Kharap (खरप)/Kharab (खरब) (Jat clan) = Kharapara (खरपर). Kharapara (खरपर) is mentioned in Batihagarh stone Inscription of the Vikrama Year 1385 (1328 AD) states that Jallala was the representative of Hisamuddin, son of Julachi, who was appointed Commander of the Kharapara armies and Governor of Chedi country by Sultan Mahmud of Yoginipura or Delhi. This Mahmud must be Nasiruddin Mahmud of the Slave dynasty who reigned between 1246 and 1266 A.D. It was in 1251 that he conquered Chanderi and Malava and appointed a Governor there. The mention of Kharapara armies gives importance to this record. They are apparently identical with the Kharaparikas of Samudragupta's inscription on the Allahabad pillar. They must have been a powerful tribe to deserve mention by that great Emperor in the 4th Century A.D. The record is dated in the Vikrama year corresponding to 1328 A.D. 1328 A.D. is the year when The Mongols invade India. Batiagadh (बटियागढ़) is an ancient historical town and tahsil in Damoh District of Madhya Pradesh. It is site of many Sati pillar and other important inscriptions.

• Kharap (खरप)/Kharab (खरब) (Jat clan) = Kharpara (खर्पर). Kharpara (खर्पर) is mentioned in Verse-5 of No.9. Batihagarh stone Inscription Samvat 1385 (1328 AD)....( V.5) Ordered by him the Malik (मलिक) famous by the name of Julachi became the warrior (commander) of the Kharpara armies and the governor of the Chedi country..... (V.5) Ordered by him the Malik (मलिक) famous by the name of Julachi became the warrior (commander) of the Kharpara (खर्पर) armies and the governor of the Chedi country.

• Malik (मलिक) (Jat clan) - Malik (मलिक) is mentioned in Verse-5 of No.9. Batihagarh stone Inscription Samvat 1385 (1328 AD)....( V.5) Ordered by him the Malik (मलिक) famous by the name of Julachi became the warrior (commander) of the Kharpara armies and the governor of the Chedi country.

History

Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta mentions in Line-22:

(L. 22.)-Whose imperious commands were fully gratified, by giving all (kinds of) taxes and obeying (his) orders and coming to perform obeisance, by the frontier-kings of Samatata,Davaka, Kamarupa, Nepala, Kartripura, and other (countries), and by the Mālavas, Arjunāyanas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Abhiras, Prārjunas, Sanakanikas, Kākas, Kharaparikas, and other (tribes);-

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Tej Ram Sharma mentions about Kharaparikas (खरपरिक) (No. 1, L. 22) : One of the tribes who were subjugated by Samudragupta. D. R. Bhandarkar takes them to be the Kharparas (खरपर) mentioned in the Batihagadh Inscription of the Damoh district of M.P. Kharpara means a thief, a rogue or a cheat. The name Kharaparika does not occur elsewhere in inscriptions or literature. The Markandeya Purana mentions a tribe called Khara-sagara-rāśis, along with the Gandharas and the Yaudheyas; and the Matsya Purana refers to a country named Kharapatha, watered by the river Nalini. It is difficult to say whether Khara-sagara-rasi and Kharapatha (खरपथ) had anything to do with the Kharaparikas. K.P. Jayaswal expresses the probability of the identification of the Kharaparikas with the five Karpaṭas of the Mahabharata.

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Bhim Singh Dahiya writes that Kharab are mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, as Kharaparikas. The Padma Purana calls them Mlecchas, which is a proof of their being foreigners.

Bhim Singh Dahiya writes about the clan Kharpar : These people mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar Inscriptions of Samudragupta are already identified with the present Kharap clan. The nine gems of Vikramaditya's court, included one Ghaṭa Kharpar. Even in 1251 A.D. Kharpar armies under Nasiruddin of the slave dynasty of Delhi were fighting in Madhya Pradesh area.

(70) Batihagarh stone Inscription of the Vikrama Year 1385 (1328 AD)

(70) Batihagarh stone Inscription of the Vikrama Year 1385 (1328 AD) (Deposited in the Nagpur Museum)

Source- Hira Lal:Descriptive lists of inscriptions in the Central provinces and Berar, p.50

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[p.50]: Batihagarh is a village 21 miles north-west of Damoh. The inscription refers itself to Jallala Khoja, a local Muhammadan Governor at Batihadim (the present Batihagarh). It states that Jallala was the representative of Hisamuddin, son of Julachi, who was appointed Commander of the Kharapara armies and Governor of Chedi country by Sultan Mahmud of Yoginipura or Delhi. This Mahmud must be Nasiruddin Mahmud of the Slave dynasty who reigned between 1246 and 1266 A. D. It was in 1251 that he conquered Chanderi and Malava and appointed a Governor there.¹ The mention of Kharapara armies gives importance to this record. They are apparently identical with the Kharaparikas of Samudragupta's inscription on the Allahabad pillar. They must have been a powerful tribe to deserve mention by that great Emperor in the 4th Century A.D. The record is dated in the Vikrama year corresponding to 1328 A.D.

(Epigraphia Indica, Volume XII, page 44 ff.)

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1. Briggs' Firishtā, Volume I, page 232, and Tabakāt-i-Nasīri as quoted in Dowden's Elliott, Volume VI, page 351, and Cunningham's archaeological Reports, Volume II. page 402,

Clan Identification

Bhim Singh Dahiya identifies Indian name Kharaparika with the Present Central Asian name Kalapak.

S.No.	Present Central Asian names	Indian name
2.	Kalapak	Kharaparika

खरपरिक

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ... गुप्त सम्राट महाराजाधिराज समुद्रगुप्त की प्रयाग प्रशस्ति में समुद्रगुप्त के साम्राज्य की पश्चिमी व पश्चिम दक्षिणी सीमा पर स्थित कुछ अधीन प्रजातियों की सूची में 'खरपरिक' भी है--मालवार्जुनायन-यौधेय-माद्रकाभीर-प्रार्जुन-सनकानीक-काक-खरपरिक'.

References

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