Sisodia

2021-08-24T20:50:53Z

2402:8100:386C:911F:1:2:6A12:5F62:

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}

[[File:Rana kumbha Birla mandir edited.jpg|thumb|[[Maharana Kumbha]], one of the most notable Sisodia rulers|alt=]]
The '''Sisodia''' is an Indian [[Rajput]] clan who belong to [[Suryavansha|Suryavanshi]] lineage. A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled over the kingdom of [[Mewar]] in [[Rajasthan]].<ref>For a map of their territory see: {{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=147, map XIV.4 (e)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=186}}</ref> The name of the clan is also transliterated as ''Sesodia'', ''Shishodia'', ''Sishodia'', ''Shishodya'', ''Sisodya'',''Sisodiya'',
''Sisodia''(Ranawat Rajput).

== Origins ==

The Sisodia dynasty traced its ancestry to Rahapa, a son of the 12th century [[Guhila dynasty|Guhila]] king Ranasimha. The main branch of the Guhila dynasty ended with their defeat against the [[Khalji dynasty]] at the [[Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)]]. In 1326, [[Rana Hammir]] who belonged to a cadet branch of that clan; however reclaimed control of the region, re-established the dynasty, and also became the propounder of the Sisodia dynasty clan, a branch of the Guhila dynasty, to which every succeeding Maharana of Mewar belonged, the Sisodias regain control of the former Guhila capital [[Chittor Fort|Chittor]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Rima Hooja |title=A history of Rajasthan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tosMAQAAMAAJ |year=2006 |publisher=Rupa |oclc=80362053 |pages=328–329 |isbn=9788129108906 }}</ref><ref name="Naravane">''The Rajputs of Rajputana: a glimpse of medieval Rajasthan'' by M. S. Naravane {{ISBN|81-7648-118-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Manoshi|first=Bhattacharya|title=The Royal Rajputs|isbn=9788129114013|pages=42–46}}</ref>

According to the ''Rajprashasti'' genealogy, one of these – Samar Singh – married Prithi, the sister of [[Prithviraj Chauhan]]. His grandson Rahapa adopted the title [[Rana (title)|Rana]] (monarch). Rahapa's descendants spent some time at a place called Sisoda, and therefore, came to be known as "Sisodia".<ref name="SRS_1971">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEycu_8H5qkC&pg=PA10 |title=Maharana Raj Singh and His Times |author=Sri Ram Sharma |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1971 |isbn=9788120823983 |pages=2–12 }}</ref>

[[File:Coat of arms of Udaipur State.png|thumb|The Sisodia coat of arms after Udaipur city was built]]
<ref>{{cite book|author=Wessly Lukose|title=Contextual Missiology of the Spirit: Pentecostalism in Rajasthan, India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ccBNAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|year=2013|publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-62032-894-1|page=50 }}</ref>

== History ==
{{Mewari Rana}}
The most notable Sisodia rulers were [[Hammir Singh|Rana Hamir]] (r. 1326-64), [[Kumbha of Mewar|Rana Kumbha]] (r. 1433-68), [[Rana Sanga]] (r.1508–1528) and [[Maharana Pratap|Rana Pratap]] (r. 1572-97). The [[Bhonsle]] clan, to which the [[Maratha empire]]'s founder [[Shivaji]] belonged, also claimed descent from a branch of the royal Sisodia family.<ref name="S1998">{{cite book|author=Singh K S|title=India's communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lZuAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 |page=2211}}</ref> Similarly, [[Rana dynasty]] of Nepal also claimed descent from Ranas of Mewar.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVDIvLQDGckC&pg=PA319&dq=ranas+nepal+rajput&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kM_GUdfdKorkrAfMuIDQDA&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ranas%20nepal%20rajput&f=false Greater Game: India's Race with Destiny and China by David Van Praagh]</ref>

According to the Sisodia Chronicals, when the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultan]] [[Alauddin Khalji]] attacked Chittorgarh in 1303, the Sisodia men performed ''saka'' (fighting to the death), while their women committed ''[[jauhar]]'' (self-immolation in preference to becoming enemy captives). This was repeated twice: when [[Bahadur Shah of Gujarat]] besieged Chittorgarh in 1535, and when the [[Mughal empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Akbar]] conquered it in 1567.<ref name="MBB_2015"/>

Frequent skirmishes with the Mughals greatly reduced the Sisodia power and the size of their kingdom. The Sisodias ultimately accepted the Mughal suzerainty, and some even fought in the Mughal army. However, the art and literary works commissioned by the subsequent Sisodia rulers emphasized their pre-Mughal past.<ref name="MBB_2015"/> The Sisodias were the last Rajput dynasty to ally with the Mughals, and unlike other Rajput clans, never intermarried with the Mughal imperial family. Women from other Rajput clans that had marital relations with the Mughals were disallowed from marrying with the Sisodias.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dR0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |title=Royal Umbrellas of Stone |author=Melia Belli Bose |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |page=37|isbn=9789004300569 }}</ref> The Sisodias cultivated an elite identity distinct from other Rajput clans through the poetic legends, eulogies and visual arts commissioned by them. [[James Tod]], an officer of the [[British East India Company]], relied on these works for his book ''Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the central and western Rajpoot states of India'' (1829-1832). His widely read work further helped spread the views of the Sisodias as a superior Rajput clan in colonial and post-colonial India.<ref name="MBB_2015">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dR0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA248 |title=Royal Umbrellas of Stone |author=Melia Belli Bose |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |pages=248–251 |isbn=9789004300569 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Serving empire, serving nation: James Tod and the Rajputs of Rajasthan |first=Jason |last=Freitag |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-04-17594-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ib93BhAu43gC |access-date=2011-07-27 |pages=3–5, 49}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Rajput clans]]
* [[Shaktawat]]
* [[Chundawat]]
* [[Ranawat]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further readings==
*{{Cite book|author=Gopinath Sharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIs9AAAAMAAJ|title=Mewar & the Mughal Emperors (1526-1707 A.D.)|date=1954|publisher=S.L. Agarwala|language=en}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/search/Seesodia Sisodia materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)]

{{Rajput Groups of India}}

[[Category:Rajput clans of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Mewar dynasty]]
[[Category:Indian surnames]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Suryavansha]]

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Sisodia