>Rosiestep at 21:48, 2 January 2022

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
'''Makanji Kuber Makwana''' (1849-1924) was a social leader, social worker and a historian, who is noted for writings on the history of the [[Mahyavanshi]] caste.

==Life sketch==
Makanji was born in 1849 at [[Ahmedabad district|Ahmadabad]] in a [[Vankar]] community. He shifted to [[Bombay]] at the early age of fifteen and later joined [[J.J. School of Art]] and became a painter by profession.<ref name=a/> He opened his own painting shop and amassed a good fortune.<ref name=a/><ref name=b/>

Makanji was deeply disturbed about caste treatment meted out. Community in which he belonged, tried to establish that communities like [[Vankar]]s (weavers) were actually [[Kshatriya]] caste, which had fallen from grace by writing several researched books starting with ''Mayavat Rajput Prakash'' in 1908 followed by several others. These books written by him helped the cause of their caste to get [[Kshatriya]] status officially as Mahyavanshi by Government of India in 1939, in which other social and political leaders after his death in 1924, like [[Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi|Dr. Kanhaiyalal Munshi]] and Dr. Purshottam Solanki played the leading role.<ref name=a>Takashi Shinoda. [https://books.google.com/books?id=KZNfS7mikMoC&pg=PA27&dq=Mayavat+Rajput+Prakash&hl=en&ei=qxekTd6zEIm0rAeRq5D8CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Mayavat%20Rajput%20Prakash&f=false ''The Other Gujarat'']</ref><ref name=b/>

Makanji spent most of his wealth for the benefit of community and philanthropic works. He founded "Kabir Ashram" (Hostel) and "Kabir Temple" named after [[Sant Kabir]] in Bombay and declared opened for the community on 11 May 1913, which provided free boarding and lodging for community person till he found an employment in Bombay.<ref name=b/>

Further, he was also founder of community forum, ''Mayavat Rajput Hitt Vardhak Sabha'' in 1910, to unite the community spread across the erstwhile [[Bombay State]] and make them aware of his movement to establish the community as [[Rajputs]].<ref name=b/>

==Books==
Makanji in his writings stressed that the Mahyavanshi were the descendants of the [[Heheya Kingdom|Hattiavanshi]] King [[Kartavirya Arjuna|Arjuna]], arguing that it was because of the slaughter of [[Parashurama|Parsuram]] they were relegated to a lower caste thus linking them with the Mayavat Rajputs, a branch of [[Parmara]] clan of Kshatriyas. There are several books written by him in [[Gujarati language]], as under:<ref name=b>[http://mahyavanshifoundation.org/makanji.html Makanji Kuber Makwana] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820115746/http://mahyavanshifoundation.org/makanji.html |date=20 August 2011 }}</ref>-

#Mayavat Rajput Prakash (1908) (A light on Mayavat Rajputs)
#Mahyavanshi no Itihas (1910) (History of Mahyavanshi)
#Mayavat Rajputoday (1911) (The rise of Mayavat Rajput)
#Mahyavanshi Atle Shu? (1911) (Who is a Mahyavanshi?)

==See also==
*[[Mahyavanshi]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makwana, Makanji Kuber}}
[[Category:1849 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Activists from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Dalit activists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Writers from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Scholars from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Social leaders]]

Makanji Kuber Makwana - Revision history

>Rosiestep at 21:48, 2 January 2022