Ahirwal

Ahirwal was a post-Mughal principality ruled by Ahirs. Also known as Israel of India due to high participation in army and frequent attacks on British and Mughals from this Region.

It was called so by Mughals and post independence by Jawaharlal Nehru after seeing bravery of Ahir soldiers in 1962, Rezangla followed by Chaudhary Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi and Narendra Modi in a rally in Rewari, Haryana.

Ahirwal Pradesh

Ahirwal (meaning land of Ahirs) is a region spanning parts of Southern Haryana , North-Eastern Rajasthan, and South-Western Delhi.

Demands by local population of Ahirwal

Bhiwadi cargo airport to be named after Rao tula ram or Pran sukh yadav

Rao Mitrasen Ahir 121 feet statue in kot-Behror district

History

The region was once a kingdom based from the town of Rewari (first capital at Tijara, Rajasthan) and controlled by members of the Ahir community. It can be concluded by saying that Ahirwal provide sturdy recruits and it has got the credit of Israel of India. According to author, Kumvaralala Vyasasishya, the Yadavas colonized Israel as they were also called Hebrew, Definitely, the word Hebrew is corrupt form of the word Abhira as they were pastoral and shepherd as people as famous in the Indian history.

The name translates as "Land of the Ahirs". J. E. Schwartzberg has described it as a "folk region" and Lucia Michelutti as a "cultural-geographic region". It includes parts of the districts of Alwar, Jaipur district, Rajasthan, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Charkhi Dadri, Bhiwani and parts of Rohtak and Hisar in the state of Haryana and South western Delhi ."

Etymology

According to Pran Nath Chopra, Haryana got its name from Abhirayana-Ahirayana-Hirayana-Haryana. Ahirwal and Ahirayana (Hiryana) was referred to this region before modern state of Haryana was formed (in 1966) and even before Independence of India. Thus, modern state Haryana got its name from Ahirwal (Ahirwati or Hirwati) region.

Languages

The main language of the area is Ahirwati. It is commonly taken to be a dialect of Haryanvi, but it also has characteristics in common with the neighbouring Western Hindi varieties. The closely related Bangru (also known as Haryanvi) and Hindi are spoken in the region.

Heerwati

Common Proverb in Heerwati -

• दिल्ली पाछे मर्द भतेरे, बसे देश अहीरवाल में सिंहनी के जाये शेर अहीर, बसे देश अहीरवाल में
• अहीरवाल का अहीर, खेती की तद्बीर = अहीरवाल के अहीर अपनी कुशल खेती के लिए प्रसिद्ध हैं। वे किरकिरा भूमि को भी बदल सकते हैं समृद्ध और फलदायी देश में।

Political contribution

The Ahirwal region in southern Haryana has 11 assembly segments. The Ahirs(heer) from Ahirwal or Hirana (Rewari, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Jhajjar (now in Haryana), Behrod, Tiara, Khetri(now in Rajasthan)) migrated towards Jaipur after the Battle of Nasibpur in various phases and dominate Jaipur rural lok sabha seat(with more than 3 lakh population).

Spread over 7 Lok Sabha seats (3 in haryana and 4 in rajasthan) – Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, Gurgaon and Rohtak (one segment only) in Haryana and Alwar (more than 4 lakh population of Ahirs [heers]), Jaipur Rural (Jhotwara, shahpura, kotputli, bansur, viratnagar, Amer, phulera with more than 3 lakh voter), Sikar (neema ka thana segment with more than 2 lakh population), Jhunjhunu (one third segment with more than 1 lakh population) in Rajasthan– having a sizeable presence of Ahir voters.

Military involvements

The events at the battle of Rezang La on 18 November 1962 involved many soldiers from the Ahirwal region, who were greatly outnumbered by their Chinese opponents.

Occupation

Traditional occupation

• Landlords (one of the major states in farming production)
• Ahirs of Ahirwal were far more superior farmer than any community of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.
• Defence Forces ( Ahirwal is said to have atleast one men in army from one family and hence also called Israel of India)

Modern occupation

In modern era along with farming and defences forces, youth has been inclined towards sports, government jobs, civil services, politics and Real estate.

Rulers

Rao Ruda Singh

Ahir ruler of Tijara, acquired the jagir of Tijara. Ruda Singh made Bolni village, south of Haryana his headquarter, 12 km to the east. He cleared the forests and established new villages.

Rao Mitrasen Ahir

Rao Mitrasen an Ahir from Behror, Rajasthan was the son of Rao Tulsiram and was the Ahir ruler who ruled Rewari. Rao Raja Mitrasen fought with Muslim invaders, British, Kachwaha of Jaipur and Shekhawat Rajput etc. To take revenge on Rewari. For the purpose, in the early months of 1781, the Rajput rulers of Jaipur attacked Rewari, but they were defeated by Rao Mitrasen and suffered heavy losses from a strategic point of view.He Also Faught The Battle Of Mandan at Jhunjunu, Rajasthan.

Rao Ram Singh

After Ruda Singh, his son Rao Ram Singh (Ramoji) took over the throne of Rewari. There was an atmosphere of fear and discontent in his kingdom due to bandits and robbers. Ram Singh built a fort at Bolni and deployed soldiers on it for security. He was a fearless warrior so after a long struggle he was able to neutralize the criminals. He arrested two famous bandits and handed them over to Emperor Akbar.

Rao Shahbaz Singh

Rao Ram Singh was followed by his son and successor, Shahbaz Singh, who was a contemporary of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.

Rao Nandram Singh and Rao Man Singh

Shahbaz Singh was succeeded by his eldest son, Nandram. Aurangzeb edited the title of his jagir and awarded him the title of "Chowdhary". He shifted his headquarters from Bolni to Rewari. The water collector named Nand Sagar in Rewari is still a testimony of his memory.

Rao Bal Kishan

Balkishan was killed while in Aurangzeb's military service on 24 February 1739 while fighting against Nadir Shah in the Karnal War. Pleased with his bravery, Mohammad Shah gave the title of "Rao Bahadur" to Balkishan's brother Gujarmal and gave a headship of 5000. By expanding the boundary of his kingdom, 52 villages of Hisar district and 52 villages of Narnaul were added to it. His jagir included major cities like Rewari, Jhajjar, Dadri, Hansi, Hisar, Kanaud, and Narnaul. In the year 1743, some more villages with mansabdari of Rs 2,00,578 were also added.

Rao Gujarmal Singh

Baloch Raja of Farrukhnagar and Bahadur Singh of Ghasera, a descendant of Hathi Singh, were both fierce enemies of Rao Gujarmal. Bahadur Singh was ruling independent from the Jat king Surajmal of Bharatpur. Then Rao Gujarmal along with Surajmal gave a befitting reply to him. Gujarmal also had friendly relations with Todarmal of Neemrana, father-in-law of Bahadur Singh. In 1750, Todarmal invited Rao Gujarmal at the behest of Bahadur Singh and killed him by deceit.

Rao Bhavani Singh

Rao Gujarmal's son Bhavani Singh became the king after him. Bhavani Singh proved to be lazy. Many parts of his kingdom were captured by the Baloch Nawab of Farrukhnagar, the Nawab of Jhajjar and the Raja of Jaipur and only 22 villages remained with Bhavani Singh. A chieftain of his own kingdom killed him in 1758.

Rao Tej Singh

The next Raja Hira Singh was also rejected and the control of Raj Kaj was taken over by a local businessman Jauki Ram. Najaf Quli Khan, a rebel Sardar of Delhi had captured the Gokulgarh Fort. Shah Alam II, the Emperor of Delhi, along with Begum Samru, decided to punish her. On 12 March 1788, Shah Alam camped in Bhadawas and attacked Najaf Quli during the night, in which Najaf Quli was badly damaged. The effect of Begum Samru's artillery forced Quli Khan to compromise.

Rao Tula Ram

Ahirwal King Rao Tula Ram

Raja Rao Tula Ram Singh (9 December 1825 – 1863), was an Ahir ruler, He was the chief hero of the independence revolution of 1857 in Haryana.[16] Temporary British rule took root in the southwest of the present day. The credit for overthrowing Haryana and helping the revolutionaries of Delhi with body, mind and money is given to Tularam only. After the revolution of 1857, he left India and sought the help of the rulers of Afghanistan, Iran and the Tsars of Russia for the war of independence of India. But his plan failed due to his death on 23 September 1863 at the age of 38.

Rao Gopaldev Singh

Rao Gopal Dev, Rewari

Rao Gopaldev Singh was a 19th-century revolutionary in Rewari, who, along with his cousin Rao Tularam Singh, took on the British in the Revolution of 1857.

Rao Kishan Gopal

Rao Kishan Gopal was the commander of his army of revolting army of meerut. He was also an officer in the British East India Company. He was the one who killed General Timley in the war.

Pran Sukh Yadav

Pran Sukh Yadav (1802–1888) was a military commander from Behror in Alwar district of Rajasthan. He was a participant revolutionary in the Revolution of 1857. He was a close friend of Hari Singh Nalwa and the famous Punjab ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In his earlier times, he fought on the side of the Sikh Khalsa army. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he participated in the first and second British-Sikh conflicts.

In his early career he trained Sikh Khalsa Army. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he fought in both the First and Second Anglo-Sikh wars, due to his hatred towards Britishers. He also started giving military training to the farmers of Ahirwal Region.

Related pages

• Battle of Nasibpur
• Rao Sahab
• Grand Trunk Road