https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Khengarji_IKhengarji I - Revision history2026-07-31T18:23:20ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Khengarji_I&diff=399019&oldid=prevAjay Kumar at 19:49, 23 July 20232023-07-23T19:49:06Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Ruler of Kutch from 1548–1585}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}<br />
'''Khengarji I''' (1510-1585) was an Indian ruler belonging to [[Jadeja]] clan of Rajputs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jhala|first=Jayasinhji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSZqDwAAQBAJ&q=khengarji+jadeja&pg=PA54|title=Genealogy, Archive, Image: Interpreting Dynastic History in Western India, c. 1090-2016|date=2018-07-19|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-11-060129-9|language=en}}</ref> He was the ruler of [[Morbi]] from 1538-1585 and later became ruler of [[Cutch State|Cutch]], assuming title of Rao of Cutch, ruling unified Cutch from 1548 to 1585.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7EHTBl_pyQC&q=khengarji+jadeja&pg=PA317|title=Gujarat–Daman–Diu: A Travel Guide|date=1998|publisher=Orient Longman Limited|isbn=978-81-250-1383-9|language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Early life==<br />
Khengarji I was son of [[Jam Hamirji]] of [[Lakhiarviro]] ([[Cutch State|Cutch]]), chief of one of branch of Jadeja and descendant of Othaji. It is believed that [[Jam Rawal]] attributed the murder of his father Jam Lakhaji to Hamirji, as he was killed within the territory of Lakhiarviro, where he had been invited on the pretense of resolving the dispute between the two branches. Jam Rawal, in revenge, treacherously killed his uncle Rao Hamirji in 1524 and ruled Cutch for more than two decades.<ref name=s>{{cite book|title=The Land of 'Ranji' and 'Duleep', by Charles A. Kincaid by Charles Augustus Kincaid|year=1931|publisher=William Blackwood & Sons, Limited|pages=11–15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYBAAAAMAAJ&q=hamirji}}</ref><br />
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==In court of Mahmud Begada==<br />
At the time of murder of Hamirji, his elder sons, Alioji and Khengarji both were in [[Ahmedabad|Ahmadabad]] and escaped the complete destruction of the royal family of senior branch. Further, the other two sons of Hamirji were saved from execution by the wife of Jam Rawal.{{cn|date=June 2020}} Khengarji was 15 years old when his father was murdered. He enlisted himself in to the army of [[Mahmud Begada]] and became his confidante. During one royal hunting party, Khengarji I killed a [[Asiatic lion|lion]] and saved the life of Sultan Begada for which he was asked to name his reward.<ref name=i/><ref name=g>Gujarat State Gazetteers: Junagadh by Gujarat (India) - 1971 - Page 79</ref><br />
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==Ruler of Morbi==<br />
The prime ambition of Khengarji was to regain Cutch and hence he asked for support to fight Jam Rawal, whereby, he was given 1000 soldiers and fiefdom of [[Morvi]] and given a title of Rao by the Sultan Mohamad Beghda in 1538.<ref name=i>Imperial Gazetteer 2 of India, Volumen 11,. 1908. pp. 75–80.</ref><ref name=g/><br />
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==Conquering of Cutch==<br />
Rao Khengar now based at Morbi, with the support of army provided to him and well wishers within Cutch fought with [[Jam Rawal]] and slowly started gaining the territories of [[Rapar]] and nearby villages.{{cn|date=June 2020}} As Khengarji was the rightful heir to the throne he was welcomed within Cutch.<br />
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On other hand, Jam Rawal, was finding himself squeezed in terms of manpower. He was ardent devotee of [[Ashapura]] the [[Kuldevi]] of Jadejas and folklore are that the Goddess indicated in a dream to Jam Rawal to leave Kutch and establish himself at [[Halar]] region and that she will support him in this venture. Jam Rawal, later escaped out of Cutch in 1548, when a large army was sent against him jointly by [[Mughals]] and Sultan Beghda to aid Khengarji. He set out for Saurashtra with his retinue, loyalist and soldiers faithful to him and established [[Nawanagar State|Nawanagar]]. Thus throne of Cutch was left to Khengarji in 1548, who was its rightful heir.<ref name=s/><br />
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==Rao of Cutch==<br />
Khengarji I, thus expelling Jam Rawal, assumed the title of 1st Rao of Cutch in 1548 and was crowned at [[Rapar]] but in 1549 he shifted the capital to [[Bhuj]].<ref name=a>The Paramount Power and the Princely States of India, 1858-1881 - Page 287</ref> Khengarji I, is also noted as he founded the united [[Cutch State]]. He united Eastern Central & Western Cutch into one dominion, which before him was ruled partially by other Rajput tribes like [[Chawda]]s, Vaghelas, [[Chauhan]]s, [[Kathi caste|Kathis]] apart from the [[Jadeja]]s.<ref name=i/> Upon integration of Cutch, in 1549, he shifted his capital to [[Bhuj]], a city established by his father Rao Hamirji in 1510.<ref>Special issue to honor the centenary celebrations of the ... - Page 2 by S. K. Bhowmik - 1977</ref> Further, he expanded his territories beyond Cutch and conquered the territories of [[Santalpur]] and [[Chadchat]] near [[Palanpur]] and estate of Pandu Mehvas, which took away from Sarkhaji, the son of Lunaji Vaghela.<ref>The Rajputs: history, clans, culture, and nobility by Rānā Muḥammad Sarvar K̲h̲ān̲ 2005- Page 174.</ref><ref>Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency ... - Volume 9, Part 1, 1901 - Page 126</ref><br />
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==Administration==<br />
He established [[Bhayyat]] system, thus integrating his clan and to accept him as their ruler. He gathered under him twelve Jadeja noble landowning families, who were related to him, as well as two noble families of the [[Waghela]] Rajput community. Bhayyat is the term used for all the descendants of the royal family who own and control their own domains allocated to them within the state and adhere to the feudal system.<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://www.sasnet.lu.se/EASASpapers/23McLeod.pdf |first=John |last=Mcleod |title=The Rise and Fall of the Kutch Bhayati |publisher=Eighteenth European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, University of Lund |date=6–9 July 2004 |pages=1–5 |access-date=13 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307204736/http://www.sasnet.lu.se/EASASpapers/23McLeod.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2012 }}</ref><br />
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He established the port of [[Mandvi]] in 1580.{{cn|date=June 2020}}<br />
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==Death==<br />
He died at Bhuj in 1585, having had issue, including two sons - [[Bharmalji I]] and Bhojrajji Khengarji of whom Bharmalji, the elder succeeded him to throne of Cutch.{{cn|date=June 2020}} Bhojaraji became a Bhayyat and was given fiefdom of [[Kera, Kutch]] after his death.{{cn|date=June 2020}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Maharajas of Kutch]]<br />
[[Category:1496 births]]<br />
[[Category:1585 deaths]]</div>Ajay Kumar