Nagil

Ranthambore Fort built by Nagil Jats

Nagil (नागिल) Nagill (नागिल) is Gotra of Jats found in Haryana. They are found in Bhiwani, Hisar and Rewari districts of Haryana.

Origin

• Nagil are said to be descendants of Nagavanshi mahapurusha Nagavaloka (नागावलोक).

• Nagila are said to be descendants of Nagavanshi King Nagadatta.

History

The Buddhist Bharhut stupa is supposed to be established by the Maurya king Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. The inscriptions here mention about Nagil clan. Pillars of Railing on N.W. Quadrant in Bharhut bears an inscription which reads as under:

Moragirihma Nāgilāyā bhikhuniya dānam thabho.

Meaning: " Pillar-gift of the Nun Nagila of Moragiri."

Morgiri is town in Satara district, Maharashtra. Thus Nagil clan was in existence during Ashoka's period as followers of Buddhism.

They are mentioned by Cunningham in an inscription at the Buddhist Stupa of Sanchi of the Ashoka period as under:

No. 181. — Bhadata Nāgilasa Savamamjnātinam dānam thabho.

" Pillar-gift of Bhadrata Nagila, the learned in all things." (?) (jnāti = Jat ?)

Prinsep, No. 47, reads Danda-nagilalasa pavina- nātinam dānathambho ; and translates, " This pillar is the gift of the illustrious family of Danda Nagi- rala." But the facsimile impression of this inscription, as well as a hand-copy now before me, agree in the reading- which I have given above.

Tej Ram Sharma describes some names ending in la. He mentions from Udayagiri Cave Inscription of the time of Kumaragupta I of Gupta Year 106 (=A.D. 425) a name such as Samghila, who was a soldier who has been mentioned as an 'Ashvapaty. We find Agila (Agi Jat clan), Satila (Satalya Jat clan), Nagila (Nagil Jat clan), Yakhila (Jakha Jat clan), in Sanchi inscriptions.. Probably these indicate Jat clan names mentioned in brackets.

Tejram Sharma gives details about the King Nagila as One of the kings of Aryavarta defeated by Samudragupta. According to Panini, a polysyllabic name was sometime shortened in order to express affection. Thus in the case of names ending in 'ila' we find Devila being derived from Devadatta; Yajnila and Yajnadatta; Makhila from Makhadeva; Agila from Agnidatta ; Satila from Svatidatta; Nagila from Nagadatta, and Yasila, Yakhila from Yaksadatta. Similarly Matila can be formed from Matideva or Matidatta.

Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta mentions about King Matila (मतिल) in Line 21 (No. 1, L. 21) which says:

"(L. 21.)- Who abounded in majesty that had been increased by violently exterminating Rudradeva, Matila, Nāgadatta, Chandravarman, Ganapatināga, Nāgasena,Achyutanandin, Balavarman, and many other kings of (the land of) Āryāvarta;-who made all the kings of the forest countries to become (his) servants;"

Thakur Deshraj has mentioned the history of Nagil Jat clan. They trace their origin from Punjab. They were rulers in Ranthambore. The area around Ranthambore was ruled by Gora and Nagil jats till two centuries prior to the rule of Chauhans. According to the bards about twenty generations ruled here. Ranthambhor town was founded by Ran Mal Jat, hence the name Ranthambore. Ran Mal Jat founded this place by putting a stambh (pillar) at the location of present Ranthambore. He challenged the neighbouring rulers for battle. The Jat sardars of this Ranthambore area had helped Bhagabhatta Chauhan against the Muslims. During Mughal period Jalaluddin Tuniya of Rajiya group wanted to become the ruler of Ranthambore. Rajiya also wanted to attack Ranthambore so asked for the help of Jats. When she was about to attack Ranthambore, a big group of Jats arrived with Gulam sardar Tuniya and she returned back. Al-Tuniya with the help of Jat sardars, attacked Delhi. Jats fought with bravery for this woman.

Thakur Deshraj mentions that in the ninth century one of their illustrious king named Nagavaloka ruled on the lands of Medapata. He ruled in democratic way through a system a council (rajasabha) and his capital was at Bijolia. The council used to award titles. A Chauhan chieftain named Guyak was awarded the title of 'Veer.

Formation and uprising of Nagil clan

According to the records with people of this clan in Haryana, Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil was the most famous ruler of this clan (880 to 935 AD). He ruled Ranthambore for 31 years. He is still remembered by his descendants and local historians for his administrative and war skills. His descendants are found in Sanjerwas, Jaitpur of Bhiwani district and Harita (हरिता) of Hisar district, very close to Rajasthan Border in Haryana. The great Nagill king headed and maintained a small army of 20000 thousand die hard Jat warriors including the cavalry of 10000 soldiers to protect his kingdom from the powerful Rajput kings of Rajasthan. Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil had full support of Gora clan of Jat that ruled Ranthambore for a long time. Both Nagil and gora are associated with the rulers of Marwar. Nagill clan is brotherly branch of Kulharia rulers of Marwar. Nagil, Gora and Kulharia they all belong to the Nagavansh association.

It is believed that one foster son of Kularia ruler, whose grandfather was jat ruler of Naga clan and ruled the north India for a long time, was playing in garden,when he spotted a garish, black cobra snake laying under a spout. The lethal snake attracted and drew the attention of little boy. He started playing with the patience of king cobra. The cobra ignored the little prince but the prince kept pursuing the noble work of provoking the king cobra snake. When the furious Naga was about to retaliate the little prince, the boy scared and shouted for the help. His meek voice for help was heard by his mother who at once rushed to help her little one. She found her kid son shivering in front of a black king cobra. She realized the situation and tendered her apology to the snake king on the behalf of her little son and asked the NAG to spare her son as he was not able to understand the dignity of a king cobra. She also assured the king snake that her son will carry the original title Naga if his life is spared by god of the snakes. She also reminded the king snake that Kulahria family is a Nagavanshi and worships the Shiva and Naga king. She also revealed that the little boy belongs to the Naga clan of Jat and deserves the blessing of king cobra. The king naga forgave the little prince and gave its blessing to the kid by touching his right hand affectionately and left the room without any fuss.The mother kept her promise and the surname of the boy was reverted back since then the descendants of the prince are known as Nagill. The word Nagil had been derived from the association of Nagavansh. For a matter of fact, Nagill, Kohad and Kulaharia never marry in their clans.

Later on the same little prince captured the Ranthambore much before 900 A.D. and his children ruled this part of Rajasthan. The Nagill dynasty ruled the Ranthambore in isolation without any ambition. Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil was the son of that naughty little prince who teased the king of snake innocently.

There are around 2500 people of this clan in Sanjerwas, Harita and Jaitpur in Haryana who are the only descendants of Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil of Ranthambore. The Nagils are well known for their royal habits and well placed status in society.

Nagils Jat rulers & tiger conservation

The Ranthambore was ruled by Nagil, a Jat of Nagavansh, prior to the rule of Prithviraj Chauhanof. The Nagill Jats had captured the Ranthambore much before 900A.D. and developed it into a place to live in. The name of the Jat king ,was Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil. According to the famous jat historians Thakur Deshraj , the writer of Jat Ithihas 1934 and Mr Dharmpal Singh Dudee, Nagil people, a Jat clan, were rulers of Ranthambore.The association of Nagils claim that their king was Sajraj Singh Nagil and his small fort was demolished by Chouhan rulers and established their empire and renovated fort of Ranthambore. Moreover no historian is sure about the date of construction of the fort.The A.S.I , official agency of Indian Govt, is yet to confirm the actual date of construction of the fort . The Chauhans captured it from Jat rulers.

Raja Sajraj Veer Singh was really a brave and intelligent king. He also formulated some policies to conserve the FOREST and the TIGERS. He used to impose penalty on the offenders.He was a small king with a army of 20000 soldiers including the Calvary of 10000 warrior. He was a nature lover king who did every thing for the human beings and tigers. He was a modern conservator in real sense.This is irony that he was never mentioned by the historians as a high class conservator. He is remembered as a brave king by his descendants of village Sanjerwas Haryana. We must adore his forest friendly policies and endorse his views about the conservation of tigers .He was against the customary law of hunting down the innocent animals. Even the guests of royal jat ruler had been debarred from entering the forest.Once the Jat rulers lost the kingdom, the hunting had become a routine for the successive rulers whether its Hindu rulers or fanatic Mugal rulers. These so called rulers just lived a lavish life style and never cared about wild creatures and human beings.The first ruler of Ranthambore, Raja Sajraj Veer Singh Nagil, never got the attention he deserved.

King Nagavaloka

Dr. Kielhorn has published an inscription found on a pillar at Pathari, in the Native State of Bhopal in Central India. According to this inscription a king of the Rastrakutas named Parabala was reigning in the Vikrama year 917 = 861 A.D. This Parabala is most probably the father-in-law of Dharmmapaladeva, So if Parabala married his daughter to the Pala king, the latter must have had reigned for a very long time. Parabala and his father were very long-lived men. His father Karkaraja defeated a king named Nagavaloka, who was a contemporary of Chahamana Guvaka I of Sakambhari and one of whose grants is dated in the year 813 of the Vikrama era = 756 A.D. Dharmmapala had a son named Tribhuvanapala, who is mentioned in the Kha'impur grant as the dutaka, and who seems to have died during the lifetime of his father as Dharmmapala was succeeded by his second son Devapaladeva after a reign of about forty years.

ठाकुर देशराज लिखते हैं

ठाकुर देशराज लिखते हैं कि ये अपना निकास पंजाब से बतलाते हैं। साथ ही कहते हैं कि उनके नौ राजाओं ने राजपूताने पर राज किया था। अभी यह निश्चय नहीं हुआ कि इनकी राजधानी कहां पर थी। इस समय इनका अस्तित्व जयपुर और यू.पी. के प्रान्तों में पाया जाता है। नागा और नागिलों की भांति जाटों में एक गोत्र नागर भी है। स्यालकोट में नागर जाट अब भी हैं।¹ नागरों का असल स्थान नगरकोट में था। जाट लोग आज तक भी नगरकोट की देवी की पूजा के लिए जाते हैं। वे उसी जाट-कन्या के रूप में पूजते हैं। उसके नाम पर कुंवारे जाट लड़के लड़कियों को खिलाते हैं।

नवमी शताब्दी में मेदपाट की भूमि पर इनका नागावलोक नाम का एक राजा राज करता था । इनका वह राजा, अपना शासन, राज-सभा द्वारा करता था। राजधानी उसकी विजौलिया के आस-पास थी। वह राज पूर्ण उन्नति पर था। आजकल की सरकार की भांति इनकी राजसभा उपाधि वितरण करती थी। उन्होंने गूयक नाम के चौहान सरदार को ‘वीर’ की उपाधि दी थी।²

नागौर पर भी एक लम्बे अर्से तक नाग लोगों का शासन रहा था। जिसके कारण वह अहिछत्रपुर भी कहलाता था। नाग लोग आरम्भिक अवस्था में अराजकतावादी और मध्यकाल में प्रजातन्त्री थे। उन्होंने अपने प्रजातन्त्रों की रक्षा के लिए बड़े-बड़े कष्ट सहे थे। उनके समूह के समूह विरोधियों से लड़कर मारे गए। वास्तव में नाग एक समाज था, जिसके विद्वान् आज नागर ब्राह्मण और योद्धा लोग जाटों में पाये जाते हैं। उनके मंत्रि-मण्डल का अधिकांश भाग कायस्थों में शामिल हो गया है। बृज के हिन्दू श्री बलरामजी को शेषनाग का अवतार मान कर पूजते हैं।

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1. नागरी प्रचारिणी पत्रिका। भाग 13। अंक 21 पृ. 236।

2. Epigraphia Indica. Vol. VII. P. 119-125

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जाट इतिहास:ठाकुर देशराज,पृष्ठान्त-594

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Distribution in Haryana

They are found in Bhiwani, Hisar and Rewari districts of Haryana. There are around 2500 people of this clan in Sanjerwas in (Bhiwani), Harita (Hisar) and Jaitpur (Rewari) etc. in Haryana.

Villages in Bhiwani districts

Sanjerwas, Bilawal

Villages in Hisar districts

Harita,

Villages in Rewari districts

Jaitpur,

Famous Jats of this clan

• Ch. Sajjan Vir Singh Nagill - Probably the greatest member of this clan. A true descendent of Raja Sajraj Veer Singh.

• Ch Piritam Singh Nagill - Brig. in Indian army, fraught bravely in 1971 war with Pakistan. He was from Bhiwani, Haryana. Died on 16 February 1999. He was rewarded by Indian Govt for his dedicated service to nation.

• Ch Hoshiar Singh Nagill - He serve in Indian Army, in 1937 - 1947. He was born in Phogat village from Bhiwani, Haryana. He is femous name as Tekedar. Because he is a big contractor of wine overall Haryana state.

• Ch Joginder Singh Nagill - Sub Maj in indian Army (Corps of Signal). He is particepiated in Kàrgil war with Pakistan.

See also

• Nagal

Further reading

• Thakur Deshraj, Jat Ithihas, 1934
• The descendants of the rulers of Ranthambore and people of Sanjerwas, Jaitpur and Harita. Inputs from the local jats and local historians.

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