, who fought in the
first and
Second Battle of Tarain from 1191 to 1192.|left The word
Chauhan is the vernacular form of the
Sanskrit term
Chahamana (IAST: Cāhamāna). Several Chauhan inscriptions name a legendary hero called Chahamana as their ancestor, but none of them state the period in which he lived. The earliest known ruler of the dynasty was
Vasudeva. According to the
Prabandha-Kosha of the 14th century Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri, Vasudeva ascended the throne in 551 CE (608
Vikram Samvat). The historical accuracy of this statement is not certain. The earliest extant inscription that describes the origin of the Chauhans is the 1119 CE
Sevadi inscription of
Ratnapala, a ruler of the
Naddula Chahamana dynasty. According to this inscription, the ancestor of the Chahamanas was born from the eye of
Indra. The 1170 CE
Bijolia rock inscription of the
Shakambhari Chahamana king
Someshvara states that his ancestor
Samantaraja was born at Ahichchhatrapura (possibly modern
Nagaur) in the
gotra of
sage Vatsa. The 1262 CE Sundha hill inscription of the
Jalor Chahamana king Chachiga-deva states that the dynasty's ancestor Chahamana was "a source of joy" to the Vatsa. The 1320
Mount Abu (
Achaleshwar temple) inscription of the Deora Chauhan ruler Lumbha states that Vatsa created the Chahamanas as a new lineage of warriors, after the
solar dynasty and the
lunar dynasty had ceased to exist. The Ajmer inscription of the Shakambhari Chahamana ruler
Vigraharaja IV (–64 CE) claims that Chahamana belonged to the solar dynasty, descending from
Ikshavaku and
Rama. The 12th-century
Prithviraja Vijaya mahakavya, composed by
Prithviraja III's court poet Jayanaka, also claims a solar dynasty origin for the ruling dynasty. According to this text, Chahamana came to earth from
Arkamandal (the orbit of the sun). The 15th-century
Hammira Mahakavya of Nayachandra Suri, which describes the life of the
Ranthambore branch ruler
Hammira, gives the following account: Once
Brahma was wandering in search of an auspicious place to conduct a
ritual sacrifice. He ultimately chose the place where a lotus from his hand fell; this place came to be known as
Pushkara. Brahma wanted to protect his sacrificial ceremony against interference from
danavas (miscreant beings). Therefore, he remembered
the Sun, and a hero came into being from the sun's
orb. This hero was Chohan, the ancestor of the Hammira's dynasty. The earliest extant recension of
Prithviraj Raso of
Chand Bardai, dated to 15th or 16th century, states that the first Chauhan king –
Manikya Rai – was born from Brahma's sacrifice. The 16th-century
Surjana-Charita, composed by the
Bengali poet Chandra Shekhara under patronage of the Ranthambore ruler Rao Surjana, contains a similar account. It states that Brahma created the first Chahamana from the Sun's disc during a sacrificial ceremony at Pushkara. of the
Chahamanas of Ranastambhapura. Despite these earlier myths, it was the
Agnivanshi (or Agnikula) myth that became most popular among the Chauhans and other Rajput clans. According to this myth, some of the Rajput clans originated from
Agni, in a sacrificial fire pit. This legend was probably invented by the 10th-century
Paramara court poet Padmagupta, whose
Nava-sahasanka-charita mentions only the Paramaras as fire-born. The inclusion of Chauhans in the Agnivanshi myth can be traced back to the later recensions of
Prithviraj Raso. In this version of the legend, once
Vashistha and other great sages begin a major sacrificial ceremony on Mount Abu. The ritual was interrupted by miscreant
daityas (demons). To get rid of these demons, Vashistha created progenitors of three Rajput dynasties from the sacrificial fire pit. These were Parihar (
Pratiharas), Chaluk (
Chaulukya or Solanki), and Parmar (Paramara). These heroes were unable to defeat the demons. So, the sages prayed again, and this time a fourth warrior appeared: Chahuvana (Chauhan). This fourth hero slayed the demons. of
Bundi supported
Dara Shikoh in the
Mughal war of succession of 1658–1659.|left The earliest available copies of
Prithviraj Raso do not mention the Agnivanshi legend. It is possible that the 16th-century bards came up with the legend to foster Rajput unity against the
Mughal emperor Akbar. Adaptions of the
Prithviraj Raso occur in several later works. The
Hammira Raso (1728) by Jodharaja, a court poet of prince Chandrabhana of
Neemrana, states that once the
Kshatriyas (warriors) became extinct. So, the great sages assembled at Mount Abu and created three heroes. When these three heroes could not defeat the demons, they created Chahuvanaji. A slight variation occurs in the writings of Surya Malla Mishrana, the court poet of
Bundi. In this version, the various gods create the four heroes on Vashistha's request. According to the bardic tale of the
Khichi clan of Chauhans, the Parwar (Paramara) was born from
Shiva's essence; the Solankhi (Solanki) or Chaluk Rao (Chaulukya) was born from Brahma's essence; the Pariyar (Parihar) was born from Devi's essence; and the Chahuvan (Chauhan) was born from Agni, the fire. == History ==