Alha
Alha was a legendary Ahir[1][2][3] general of the Chandel king Paramardideva (also known as Parmal), who fought Prithviraj Chauhan in 1182 CE, immortalised in the Alha-Khand ballad. The Alha and Udal of the Ahir/Yadava clan of Mahoba, are said to have defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in 52 battles.[source?][4][5][6][7] The Alha and Udal ballads sing of Ahir bravery in the medieval age.[8][9]
Origin change
Alha and Udal were children of the Dasraj, a successful commander of the army of Chandel king Parmal. They belonged to the Ahir/Yadav community.[source?]
According to Bhavishya Purana, a text with several interpolated sections that cannot be reliably dated, Alha's mother, Devaki, was a member of the Ahir caste.[10]
Folklore change
Alha is an oral epic, the story is also found in a number of medieval manuscripts of the Prithviraj Raso and the Bhavishya Purana. There is also a belief that the story was originally written by Jagnik, bard of Mahoba, but no manuscript has yet been found.[11]
H.A. Rose wrote in his book, "Some Indian Folklore in the Lay of Alha":
The lay of Alha (Alhakhand) is one of those indian poems which are mainly of values for the light they caste on Indian ideas. While not altogether historically worthless, in that it uses historical men, and perhaps women too as its Dramatis personae, it is patently a tendencious compilation, inculcating inter alia the proper way to behave to Jogis. But, its dominating theme is burning social question of the status to be allowed to the Banaphar (Ahir) family as Kshatriya.[12]
References change
- ↑ Survavanshi, Bhagwansingh (1962). Abhiras Their History And Culture.
The continuity of Abhira settlements of the Sindhu and the Sarasvati cannot be traced today. The absence of these settlements in the Puranic records shows that the Abhiras abandoned these places sometimes before the compilation of the Puranas. The Abhiras after being migrated from these regions moved towards east and south-east and settled in U.P. and Madhya Pradesh. Some of them got settled possibly on the bank of the hilly river which is called Sindhu today. This Sindhu emerges from the spurs of the Vindhyas, 10 miles to the north of Sironj and passing through the whole hilly track, falls into the river Yamuna near Jalaun. The Ahirs (Abhiras) occupy a prominent status there. The Ahir legends found throughout the ravines of this Sindhu throw light on the unrecorded history of the Abhiras. The famous balled Alhakhanda even in its modern form, though projected to reveal the glorious feats of the heroes Alha and Udala, yet could not refrain to acknowledge the turbulence of the people of Sindhu and Betwa who offered them many ferocious battles. The whole bed of the river Sindhu has thus stored numerous legends of strong Ahir-rule over the area. A tributary of the river Sindhu is called Ahirpat or Airavati, which meets Sindhu to the 15 miles south-
- ↑ Archaeological Survey of India: Reports 1862-1884. Governement Press. 1885.
The first building mentioned is commonly called Alha-ka Baitka, after the famous warrior Alha , whose achievements are sung all over these parts , and the tale extant regarding the Ahir chiefs, Alha and Udal, with their master Parmal, are almost without number.
- ↑ Price, Pamela; Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2012-07-26). Power and Influence in India: Bosses, Lords and Captains. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-19798-7.
The symbolic equation between physical strength and political capacity is continuously expressed by informants with the aid of metaphors, parables and mythic narratives. Local Yadavs emphasise that their ancestor Krishna was a skilful Wrestler and a democratic politician and that Yadav kings were also wrestlers or patrons of dangals (wrestling tournaments). Alha and Udal, the protagonists of a popular regional martial oral epic, are described as belonging to the Yadav caste and as being skilful wrestlers. Alha is often described as an incarnation of Balram, Krishna's brother, and Udal as an incarnationof Krishna. The wrestling ground of the Mahadev Ghat is said to be used in the night by these two heroes.
- ↑ Khem Raj Shri Krishna Lal, Shri Venkateshwar Steam Press. Bhavishya Maha Puran, 1959 Khem Raj Shri Krishna Lal, Shri Venkateshwar Steam Press, Mumbai.
इति श्रत्वा स भगवान्कृष्णः प्राह बिहस्य तम्। भो कले तब रक्षार्थ जनिष्ये महाबतीम॥१९॥ ममांशो भूमिमासाद्य क्षयिष्यति महाबलात्। म्लेच्छवंशस्य भूपालान्स्थापयिष्यति भूतले॥२०॥ इत्युक्त्वा भगवान्साक्षात्तत्रेवान्तरधीयत। कलिस्तु म्लेच्छया साधे परमानंदमाप्तवान्॥२१॥ एरतास्मन्नन्तरे विग्र यथा जात श्रृणुष्व तत्। आभीरी वाक्सरे ग्रामे व्रतपा नाम विश्वुता॥२२॥ नवदुगांव्रत श्रेष्ठ नववर्ष चकार ह। प्रसन्ना चंडिका प्राह परं वरय शोभने॥२३॥ साह तां यदि मे मातरो देयस्त्वयेश्वरि। रामकृष्णसमी बालौ भवेयातां ममान्बये॥२४॥ तथेत्युक्त्वा तु सा देवी तत्रैवान्तरधीयत। बसुमान्नाम नृपतिस्तस्या रूपेण मोहितः॥२५॥ उद्वाह्य धमतो भूपः स्वगेहे तामवासयत्। तस्यां जातौ तृपातपुत्रौ देशराजस्तु तद्वरः॥२६॥ आवार्यो वत्सराजश्च शतहर्तिसमो बले। जित्वा तौ मागधान्देशान्राज्यवंतौ बभूवतुः॥२७॥
- ↑ Sharma, Dr. Ganga Sahai (2009-02-15). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics - Draupadi Among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226340555.
DeSaraja and Vatsaraja are born to a beautiful Abhiri(Ahir or Cowherd) named Vratapa from the village of Vaksara, whose nine-year-long nine-Durga-vow (Navadurgavrata) secured a boon from the goddess Candika of two sons like Rama and Krsna. "A king named Vasumant," whose name means "Rich" and is otherwise unknown, was struck by her beauty and married her, and their sons, DeSaraja and Vatsaraja, then conquered Magadha and became kings (4.22-30).
- ↑ Michelutti, Lucia (2020-11-29). The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-08400-9.
Ahir/Yadavs are the protagonists of two famous regional martial oral epics: the epic of Alha and Udal and of Lorik. These epics, in particular Alha, rethink the classical pan-Indian Mahabharata.
- ↑ Hiltebeitel, Alf (2009-02-15). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-34055-5.
Russell and Hira Lai [1916] 1993, 4:437 identify Banaphars as Yadavas, and thus of Lunar Dynasty origins, which may be pertinent to the connections of Alha, Udal, and Dhewa with the Lunar Dynasty Pandavas.
- ↑ Chopra, Pran Nath (1982). Religions and Communities of India. Vision Books. ISBN 978-0-391-02748-0.
In the annals of Indian military history there is sufficient proof of Ahir bravery that is immortalised in the ballads of Alah and Udal of Bundel-khand.
- ↑ Praval, K. C. (1976). Valour Triumphs: A History of the Kumaon Regiment. Thomson Press (India).
- ↑ Alf Hiltebeitel (2009). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. pp. 132–133. ISBN 9780226340555.
- ↑ Peter J. Claus; Sarah Diamond; Margaret Ann Mills (2003). South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka Special -Reference. Taylor & Francis. p. 12. ISBN 9780415939195.
- ↑ H. A. Rose (1925). "Some Indian Folklore in the Lay of Alha". Folklore. 36 (1). Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.: 101–106. JSTOR 1256383.