Family: hisTree

An accidental click took me to Kartooner’s blog, and specifically to his latest post about family history.

I have a family tree at home that traces all descendants from about a dozen generations ago. When I saw it for the first time, I told my father I didn’t believe we would have that many directly related relatives that we know about. He smiled and traced back a few generations, fondly remembering his distant uncles and fore-fathers and what they were famous for. Then he told me a surprising fact about our recorded family history.

This family tree was drawn by my distant cousin who got all the information from a group of people who track family lineages and record them. It is their job. They come from a village in Rajasthan, returning to our village every 25 years or so and noting down all the new births, etc. All my cousin had to do was track them down, go through their books and note down the information he wanted. My family’s tree can be traced back quite a few hundred years actually.

In my last trip to my village in Uttar Pradesh a few months ago, my Tau Ji (uncle) took me visiting all our ancestral havelis (mansions, houses… call them what you will). And in one he pointed downward and said, “This is where our family started in this village”. We belong to Alwar in Rajasthan and had settled down in Uttar Pradesh about 300 odd years ago. Most of the Rajputs from that belt are there because of that ‘requested’ migration.

Like Kartooner pointed out, it’s truly an amazing feeling knowing where one has come from, who the ancestors were and what they did, if they were famous about anything and if so for what. I know my history and am proud of it. I’m glad there were people who documented it. I’m glad the stories have been passed down the ages.

Many are not this lucky.

26 Responses to “Family: hisTree”

  1. Kavita Kushwaha Says:

    Hi Abhay,

    Just chanced upon your blog and got curious as your surname is same as mine. I am also from Uttar Pradesh and my father tells me that we originally belonged to Jaipur. Where are you from in Uttar Pradesh? I am from Baghpat. Do write to me if you are interested.

    Kavita

  2. Aanand Kharde Says:

    Dear Abhayji
    Kushwaha means that you are from the Raghuvanshi branch of Suryavanshi Kshatriyas. Is it true? My fore fathers migrated from present day region of Uttar Pradesha and Rajasthan in early 16th century to Maharashtra.

    Just chanced upon your blog. We are from the above linage. Would be more interested in knowing my ancestral history. Hope you reply soon. And I am sure you will.

  3. Shiv Prakash Singh Says:

    Dear Mr. Abhay S Kushwaha,

    Thanks for your blog giving information about your family tree. You are quite lucky that you have established links with your ancestors.
    I do also belong to Kushwaha Rajput (Gutra: Kashyap) family of Andupur village PO Nasirpur, Distt. Sitapur. Our Great grandfather Sh. Sarvjit Singh was jamindar till end of Bristish era.
    But we also feel that our ancestors migrated from some part of Rajsthan few hundred years ago. The reason behind this is till our Grandfather Sh. Jangoo Singh, the males used to wear SAAFA on his head and females Lehanga Choli like Rajsthani Royal dress. Our Grand fathers reign was spread in Kambhariya, Bhithmani, Pachdevra, Nevada villages of Sitapur dist. I’m presently working in Rai Foundation, Delhi as AGM IT. Will be glad to start relations. Kindly let me know if you have any clue about this. pl send me the website address or link which can provide info in this regard.

    Thanks and regards,
    SP Singh

  4. jayant Says:

    august 19,2006
    dear sir,
    i only want to say that all the things stated above are truly false and con-cocked. there are no such srong proves and evidences. we know what we are so there is no need to fasinate people. truth are truth.
    so this is what i want to say.

    thanking and regard,
    jayant,
    sant longowal institute of engg & tech ,longowal
    punjab

  5. Sanjay Pratap Singh Says:

    Dear Abhay,
    Like thousand of khushwaha world wide i also one of them, but very few of them search for there ancestors, i did and reached to your link. In old days when i used to visit my village Kurthal,Budhana,Muzaffar Nagar Dist,Uttar Pradesh, that time my uncle,grandfathers often used to say about our roots which lies in Jaipur,Rajasthan. I was always intrested in knowing more and more.But because of studies,work etc everything gone faded away slowly,now again i m in search of my family tree.Plesae help me

  6. Suresh Singh Says:

    Suryavanshi kushwaha Rajput from roorkee

  7. Vishal Kushwaha Says:

    hi abhay,
    I am vishal from Y3KImgenation (IT) what is famialy
    tree. plz explain to me.

  8. Abhay Kushwaha Says:

    Dear Brother

    I am yourself and you are myself.

    Abhay Kushwaha

  9. Vijayant Kushwaha Says:

    Hi Abhay

    My brother in laws fore father were 3 brothers. Killed some rajpoots in rajasthan in some family quarrel and ran away from there. They all departed away from each other and never met again. My brother in law is in Varanasi U.P. So now I am curious if we can track back and get connected again.

  10. Reetu Singh Says:

    Hi,
    I am from Utter pradesh, Chandauli district (near Mugal Sarai).
    My father says that we are barhwalia, Bhriguvanshi. I have been trying to find out the route and link to my anchestral lineage. Around 1000 years ago we came from Alwar, Rajasthan to settle down around the Ganga River.
    I dont know if we maintain any database, but as myth goes, we are either vanshaj of King Pururuva (with Urvashi). I tried to find link but in vain.

    In short, Bhriguvansh is not much discussed anywhere neither the savran gotra. Howver, our Clan is quiet respected of other rajput Clan which i am able to trace (for example my mother belongs to Rohilla Banafar rajput clan (who fought agaist prithviraj chauhan) ).

    All i found that we are decendent of Kusha/Kushambu/kaushika (father of Gadhi who is father of Vishwamitra). so there are lots of discrepencies in the collected information. can u help me here?

  11. Reetu Singh Says:

    well, my analogy is that if we are decendent of Kusha/Kushambu/kaushika ( lineage of king Pururvar) to king Gadhi (father of Maharishi Vishwamitra (who attained this title even being Khashtriya)) from alwar but chandravanshi Rajput. How to tract it down?

  12. arun singh Says:

    Reetu
    I belongs to same caste and place of yours. The Bhriguvanshi Rajputs to my knowledge comes under Suryavanshi Rajputs. The Savarn is the son of Manu which is depicted in our holy book Geeta. The barhwalia Rajputs were discussed in a book relating to history of Rajputs. The bhriguvanshi Rajputs are not much discussed but to my & others belifes it is considered to be most respectable clan of Rajputs.
    dated : 30.01.2009

  13. SANJAY PRATAP SINGH Says:

    Dear Abhay,
    where are you these days? i am living in KSA and want to establish a contact with you, i am from same village KURTHAL, BUDHANA. s.singh at nesma dot net aapkay mail kaa intzaar hai bhai

  14. Neeraj Kumar (Kapri) Says:

    Hello
    Abhay G & all Kushwaha clan/cast,
    I M from Bihar, Banka, Bhagalpur. My grand father was poor illitret and his grand father was migrated here from someher else(west Bihar or Gaya side in Bihar). He was not much aware of our root. But as our elder says that V R Kushwaha Kshatriya(Chhatriya) that belongs from Raja Ramchandra’s son Kusha(Kush brother of Luv).Since V R vanshas(belonging vansh)of Kush so V called Kushwaha.My Gotra(gotr)is Kashyap. Kushwaha’s other type is 1-Vanafer, 2-Chirmai, 3- Dangmai, 4-Maghaiya, 5-Kumhra. Our cast synonym is 1-Kushwaha, 2-Koyari, 3-Kachhi, 4-Chasi. Our cast’s surname is Singh, Kapri, Choudhari, Mahto, Mandal, Manjhi, Panjiara, Vaidya, Morya, Saini Etc. Although I M not great supporter of Cast system, but want to know is it true, is there any fact in this matter. Please let me know. Request from all reader. Thanks.

  15. A..K.Singh Says:

    To Ritu and Arun
    Like many others, I started searching for the origin of Bhiguvansh and Savaran Gotra. I also belong to Chandauli near Sakaldiha. In the History of Rajput it is mentioned that our ancestors while coming back from piligrimage to GAYA settled down in Cahndauli. From whatever has been my search on the subject, we come from Brigu vansh.Brigu was Manas putra of Brahma who created manas putras to help him in for creation. We certainly have superior lineage. Rahim wrote ” Ka Rahim Hari Ko ghtyo jo Bhrigu Mari Lat” .After that incidence when Lxmi said that I will not be with Bhramins any more because a brahmin insulted her husband, he wrote Bhigu samhita to enable Bhramins to predict past present and future and earn livelyhood. Difficult to trace back the origin in the history of 300-400 years as migration during the period of Muslim aggression led many respected families to move to different location but my people village also tell that they have come from Alwar with a group for piligrimage to GAYA and settled here in BADHWAL PARGANA.

  16. Siddhartha Singh Says:

    Hi
    I also belong to Sakaldiha from bhrigibanshi barwalia clan.
    We are also called thakurai in our area.
    I tried to trace back our ancestory, we came from Alwar but still not clear as we are just located in chandauli & sakaldiha region in whole of india.

  17. Ravindra B. Singh Says:

    Hi Reetu and Arun,
    I am glad to learn that Bhriguvanshi clan of rajputs is under discussion.One hardly find mention of this clan in rajput vanshawali written anywhere.I also belong to this clan and our gotra is savran.We have migrated from a place called Bathawal near Sakaldiha in Chandauli district of Varanasi in U.P.to Sonebhadra district also in U.P. The word Barhwalia originates from Barhwal Pargana in Varanasi having maximum concentation of this clan.It is said that Sage Bhrigu was Brahmin who created this rajput sect to fight evils in the society.Some elders claim that it is a sub clan of Kuchhwaha and trace their origin to Kuchh of Gujrat state. Hope, some one clarifies it.

  18. Anuj Singh Says:

    Dear Abhay,
    Very nice to c ur blog and information shared on Kushwaha Rajput, Please guide me to trace family history.
    I am from Chandawali District near Mugalsarai in UP, Savran Gotra/ Bhirugvanshi and we migrated to Bathwal from Alwar, Jaipur.

  19. vibhav singh Says:

    deaer sir
    i have recived one very good rishta from pariwar rajput.they say that there all 3 daughter are married in briguvanshi.can you please confirme me that sucn clan of rajput does briguvanshi has relatives.they are basically belonging to mirzapur u.p.
    they say that pariwar parihar,paliwal are the same but the pronunciation has altered locally.

  20. Rohit Singh Says:

    Hi Abhay, for a long time I was searching rout of my origin that is called BARHWALIYA GOTRA SAWARNA. i belongs from village Bajahaan post baburi Dist. Chandauli near mughalsarai. we called as Bhrivanshi rajpoot also. My grand father says that some raj purohit from Alwar were came and noted names of our family tree. some body says that the Barhwaliya rajpoot are sub clan of kachhawa which was kushwaha in ancient generation of kush son of Shri Ram chandra. I want to know exact origin and famous generator name. If any body can help on it please mail me at rohit_cmc20@yahoo.co.in Thanks Rohit

  21. Anand Says:

    vaibhav,
    Just ask these people where they have married there 3 daughters to..(ancestral home) if they say near Mugalsarai/Chandauli then probably they are telling the truth.

    Regarding “pariwar parihar,paliwal”:
    Parihars are very good rajputs in M.P a major ruling rajput clan(check out Wikipedia). Paliwal are basically brahmins/baniya from Pali rajasthan to my knowledge. Priwar i have not heard of.
    Mirjapur borders with Reva MP so it is very much possible that these people are genuine Parihars as these are the region dominated with parihars/Bhagels. I have also heard that there are parihars in Mirzapur. and have heard of lot of spelling catches in Rajput community n names.

    To All,
    As a proud Rajput, I have always been interested knowing about my inheritance but as not much is know about the Bhriguvanshi Rajput clan, i guess this is because Bhriguvanshi Rajput never ruled any state but were majorly contributing to society as farmers. Certainly it is a reputed clan and people do know that we exist as a good rajputs.

    Thanks to you all for the enlightening information and the only page i could find on Bhriguvanshi other then matrimonials.

    I am soon going to create a Wikipedia page on “Bhriguvanshi” and i am requesting you all to contribute.

  22. aakalp kushwaha Says:

    i also belongs to kushwaha family.from village kurthal from mohalla kazzivada.nice to meet you.

  23. S Singh Says:

    Hi all,

    I am also a Bhriguvanshi rapjut UP. I have bee trying to trace the origins of bhriguvanshi’s for a long time. Great to see so much discussion on th topic.

    I have also heard that we are originally from Alwar in rajasthan. But not sure, can anybody throw some more light..

  24. R.K.Singh Says:

    Hi Guys, I am also a Bhadolia (Bhriguvansi)rajput of Sawarn Gotra. My origin is Hararika Vill. Near Baburi, of Chandauli. What I heard is the same story of Gaya and the record maintenance by Bhat’s. My grand father who was a teacher at Ahok Inter Collage, Baburi told me that there was a book on Bhadolia rajputs in there Liberary. However, I never saw this book. Recently on net I came across a reference “Rajput clan-settlements in Varanasi District by Ram Bali Singh ; edited by R. L. Singh., N.G.S.I. research publication ; no. 12, 1975” which I think will help in finding the truth. If any body find this book or the address of Bhat’s from Rajasthan pls. inform me too.

  25. Balendu Singh Says:

    A wonderful and interesting blog. My congratulations to you Abhay Singh Ji for putting this together.
    I just happened on to this while surfing and was amazed by the replies and interest your blog has generated. To the detractors, I say, the pride of having a lineage is our cherished possession. No Government or Constitutional ammendment can it take away from us.
    I belong to the Parmar Clan and am from Bikaner, Rajasthan.

  26. jai prakash singh Says:

    DEAR FRIENDS
    WE SHOULD KNOW THAT KUSHWAHA IS A GREAT CLAN IT HAS LOT OF SUB CLAN/CASTE WHICH ARE GRADUALLY CREATED BY VIRTUE OF TIME AND SITUATIONS/COMPULSIONS PREVAILED AT THAT TIME. THEREFORE EVERY ONE WHO LEARNS FROM THEIR FORE-FATHER THAT THEY ARE RAGHUVANSHI/KUSHWAHA. NEED NOT WORRY THEY ALL ARE KUSHWAHA.WE ARE DESCENDANT OF LORD RAMA WHO ACCEPTS ALL THEREFORE THERE SHOULD NOT BE SMELL OF ANY CASTISM IN THIS DISCUSSION. THANKS

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