Khant Rajput

The Khant Rajput tribe is primarily from the Gir villages of the Junagadh district in Kathiawar, India.

Demographics

The brave community of Rajput used to fight with Muhanmmad Begda to save Junagadh and early Rulers of BilkhaChovisi. Reports reflect a population of 13,423 people (since 1901), which consists of 6,733 males and 6,690 females. The chief of the tribe claims to be a descendant from Bhati Rajputs. As both castes can intermarry they must be descended from the same source or from a same caste.

History

James Tod described the Khant Rajput community as "Jag kahe jesal mer atali bal utat paranyo Bhil padamani khatri badali hua Khyaat" meaning that Jesal Mer, a famous Bhati Rajput chief and his Rajput Soldiers married the Bhil women. thus they were converted from Kshatriya Rajput to Khyaat. Here the word Khyaat means "famous" and Khatri is used for Kshatriya. As time passed the word Khyaat became part of the Khant language.

In 1414 A.D, on the sixteenth attack of Muhammad Gazni, he broke Lord Shiva's Somnath temple and made his soldier named Subo the area's chief. This soldier was disruptive and threatened the people in the local society. Veer Hamirsinh Gohil (a 22 year old Rajput young and son of King of Lathi (a place in Gujarat near Amreli]); decided to fight with Subo. When Veer Hamirji Gohil was on his way to the temple of Somnath with about two hundred soldiers, they stayed at the village of Vegadaji Bhil, where Vegadji said that they were all are unmarried and because of this their chances of winning were reduced. If they had wives to pray for their victory then they would definitely win. He and his soldiers married the Girls of Bhil. In the fight for Somnath temple, he won the battle but many of his soldiers were killed. Thus from Gujarati word Khantya meaning "To Win" they are called Khant.

The Khant Rajput community is a division of Rajput community according to stories passed down from generation to generation. The leading families are known by the title of Mer, which is said to mean "chief." This term comes from the Old Gujarati word mer, meaning the largest bead in a necklace.

Dhandh Khant, an early leader, was the son of Sonang Mer. He was a Khant Rajput chief, conqueror of Dhandhuka, and founder of Dhandhalpur in Panchal. Patal Khant is believed to have conquered Petlad. Their most famous leader was Jesa (or Jesing), who helped Emperor Muhammad bin Tughluq take Junagadh (1330) from Ra'Khengar. In return, the emperor is said to have bestowed on the Khants the hill of Girnar and the 24 villages of Bilkha Chovisi. A century later, when Mahmud Begada conquered Junagadh (1472), he found Khants living in Girnar. The tribe believes that Markand, the son of Kashyap, is their ancestor.

Current circumstances

The Khant Rajputs have 56 Clans called "ataks", namely Chauhan, Pipaliya, Bheda, Bhonkiya, Rathod, Vagadiya, Solanki, Lalakiya, Bhakhotra, Baria, Chavda, jethva, Makwana, Bhaliya, Bhadeliya, Dabhi, Morabiya, Kandoliya, Gujarati, zala, Sarvaiya, Parmar, Deavla, and Vaghela. Their claim to Rajput status is generally acknowledged, and they are referred to as Khant Darbars.

See also

• Rajputs
• Bhat