Draft:The Bachhil Rajputs of India

Bachhil Rajput बच्छिल राजपूत
Classification	Kshatriya (Rajput)
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Hindi, Awadhi, Khari Boli, Braj Bhasha
Country	India
Populated states	Uttar Pradesh (Rohilkhand and Awadh)
Related groups	Dynasty: Chandravanshi (Somvanshi) Gotra: Vatsa (Vachha) Rishi: Maharishi Chyavana, Dadhichi, Rishi Vatsa Kuldevi: Maa Jagdamba (Durga, Parvati) Kuldevta: Lord Shiva (Mahadev) Founder: King Vira Varmma & Raja Lalla Bachhil Estates: Garh Gajana, Barkhar, Tilhar, Nigohi, Anogi Garhi

Bachhil (also spelled Bachhal, Vachhil, or Báchhil; Hindi: बच्छिल राजपूत) is an ancient Chandravanshi (Somvanshi or Lunar Dynasty) Kshatriya clan of Northern India. Historically indigenous to the riverine plains and sub-Himalayan Terai of Rohilkhand and Awadh in modern-day Uttar Pradesh, the Bachhils are documented in epigraphic records and British colonial gazetteers as the earliest verifiable Rajput rulers of eastern Rohilkhand and northern Awadh.

Their sovereign rule in the 10th century CE is proven by the 992 CE Dewal Stone Inscription in Pilibhit district, predating the arrival of other Rajput clans in the region by nearly two centuries. Today, the clan is primarily concentrated across the districts of Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Badaun, Hardoi, Aligarh, and Mathura.

Etymology, Gotra, and Dynasty

• Dynasty (Vansh): In the traditional genealogies of the 36 royal Rajput races (Chhattis Rajkul) and the records of their Gotracharya, the Bachhils of Uttar Pradesh are classified as Chandravanshi (Somvanshi / Lunar race), with certain bardic traditions also associating them as an ancient branch of the Tomar (Tanwar) Lunar line.
• Gotra and Sage Descent: The clan belongs to the Vatsa (Vachha) Gotra. Epigraphic evidence from the 10th century explicitly traces their origin to the Vedic sage Maharishi Chyavana (son of Maharishi Bhrigu and grandfather of Rishi Vatsa, son of Maharishi Dadhichi). Linguistically, the clan name Vachhil or Bachhil is a Prakrit and regional vernacular derivative of the Sanskrit Vatsa (वत्स → वच्छ → बच्छिल). Furthermore, General Sir Alexander Cunningham noted a secondary linguistic connection to the root bāchhnā ("to select or choose," signifying the chosen or elite).
• Social Precedence: Practicing strict clan and gotra exogamy, the Chandravanshi Bachhils hold a premier rank among the landed aristocracy of Rohilkhand and Awadh, historically intermarrying on equal terms with the Chauhans, Rathores, Kachhwahas, Tomars, Sombansis, Katehrias, Gaurs, Chandels, and Raghuvanshis.

Chronological History

1. Early Antiquity: Raja Vena and King Virat of Barkhar (Pre-10th Century CE)

Colonial archaeological surveys and district gazetteers record that the Bachhils were the earliest dominant Kshatriya power in eastern Rohilkhand and the Kheri–Sitapur belt, having displaced aboriginal tribes such as the Bhars, Pasis, and Thatheras.

In early clan traditions recorded by Sir Alexander Cunningham and C.W. McMinn (Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh), the Bachhils trace their earliest regional kingship to Raja Vena (Raja Ben) and his son Raja Virat (Bairat).

• The Fortified Jungle Cities: To Raja Vena and the early Bachhils is attributed the construction of massive antique brick forts across the region, including Garhakhera, Sahgarh, and the ruined city of Mati (Matripura) in Shahjahanpur—which spans two miles by one mile and contains 8th-century inscribed bricks, octagonal wells, and ancient shrines to Shiva and Goddess Kali.
• Balmiar Barkhar and Hargam: Raja Virat is credited with founding the fortified citadel of Balmiar Barkhar (Virat Khera) in Muhamdi tehsil of Lakhimpur Kheri, whose ruins measure 1,000 by 600 feet. The eastern frontier outpost of this kingdom extended directly into Sitapur District at Hargam (Hargaon). Archaeological historians identify the traditional Raja Virat with the historical 10th-century Bachhil monarch King Vira Varmma.

2. The Golden Age of Rohilkhand and the Dewal Inscription (900–1174 CE)

The sovereign rule of the Chandravanshi Bachhil dynasty in the 10th century CE is established by a primary epigraphic monument: the Dewal Sanskrit Stone Inscription of Vikram Samvat 1049 (992 CE), discovered near the ruined Bachhil capital of Garh Gajana (Illahabas) along the Katni river, 25 kilometers southeast of Pilibhit.

Carved in the Kutila Sanskrit script across 32 verses, the inscription provides a verified historical record of the dynasty:

1. Royal Genealogy in Stone: The inscription records the reign of Raja Lalla Bachhil, who describes himself as the nephew of Maris Chandra Pratapa and the grandson of King Vira Varmma (dating the formal establishment of King Vira Varmma's reign to circa 900 CE). It states that the royal family belonged to the race of Chhindu and descended from the great Vedic Rishi Chyavana.
2. Temples of Devapalli (Dewal): Verse 27 and Verse 32 of the inscription state that Raja Lalla and his queen, Maharani Lakshmi, constructed numerous groves, gardens, lakes, and two grand divine temples (sura-griha / devalaya) dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, who were worshipped together under the title of Devapalli (from which the modern name Dewal is derived).
3. The 160-Kilometer Canal Network & Sovereign Coinage: The inscription records that Raja Lalla excavated an artificial canal from the Nirmala (Mala) river, known as the Katni Nala, to irrigate villages gifted to Brahmins and form a defensive moat around the citadel of Garh Gajana. British engineers confirmed that the Bachhil dynasty excavated two major artificial canals—the Katni (west of the Gomti) and the Kathna (east of the Gomti, flowing past their later capital of Atwa)—totaling approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) in length. During this era, the Bachhil kings also minted their own gold and silver coins.

Up to 1174 CE (Samvat 1231), the Bachhil Rajas remained the undisputed paramount rulers of eastern Rohilkhand beyond the Ramganga river. Following the arrival of the Katehria Rajputs in 1174 CE, the Bachhils gradually retired east of the Deoha (Pilibhit) river, maintaining an unbreakable hold over Nigohi, Kant, Tilhar, Pawayan, Barwar-Anjana (Kheri), and southwest Sitapur, while also expanding under leaders Udai and Tas from Barai Thana (Shahjahanpur) to conquer parts of Pargana Katiari in Hardoi.

3. The Delhi Sultanate Era: Raja Udarana, the Fall of Nigohi, and Tilhar (13th–16th Century CE)

During the 14th century, the Bachhil kingdom centered at Nigohi (Shahjahanpur) bore the brunt of devastating invasions by the Delhi Sultanate. In 1379–1380 CE, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq marched through Rohilkhand and Kheri, laying waste to the countryside and leveling 365 Rajput forts to avenge an uprising in Budaun.

• The Martyrdom of Raja Udarana’s Twelve Sons: During the Sultanate assault on the Bachhil capital of Nigohi, the reigning Bachhil monarch, Raja Udarana (Aorana), defended the citadel to the last. All twelve sons of Raja Udarana were captured and put to death by the Sultan of Delhi; their twelve cenotaphs (chhatris) continued to be preserved at Nigohi for centuries.
• The Guerrilla Campaign of Chhavi Rana (Chhabi Singh): Refusing to submit after the massacre at Nigohi, Chhavi Rana (Raja Chhabi Singh)—the grandson of one of the murdered princes—retreated into the dense Lalchi jungles. From there, he waged such a relentless guerrilla war against imperial convoys that the ruler of Delhi (and subsequently Emperor Akbar) was forced to conciliate him, granting him an official Jagir / Sanad over Nigohi, Kant, and Tilhar.
• Thakur Trilok Chand Bachhil and the Founding of Tilhar: In the 16th century, the prominent Bachhil chieftain Raja Trilok (Tilok) Chand Bachhil founded the town of Tilhar (and the village of Tilokpur) in Shahjahanpur, constructing a large brick fortress in the Dataganj/Hindu Patti quarter and establishing Tilhar as a major center of Rajput military power and bow-making (kaman). The Bachhils also constructed the famous Fort of Jalalabad, whose massive mud-and-brick ramparts stood 25 feet high.

4. The Mughal Wars: The Ain-i-Akbari, Chinaur, and Raja Chhipi Khan (1555–1707 CE)

Throughout the Mughal era, the Bachhil territories between Bareilly, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Kheri, and Sitapur formed an autonomous military zone. After rebelling in 1555 CE against Akbar's general Ali Quli Khan and resisting the governor Husain Khan Tukriya (c. 1568–1576 CE), the Bachhils were officially recorded in Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari (1590 CE) as the dominant Zamindars across the Sarkar of Budaun and the Sarkar of Khairabad:

Mughal Mahal (Pargana)	Modern District / Region	Recorded Proprietors (1590 CE)	Standing Bachhil Military Levy
Kant	Shahjahanpur & Tilhar	Bachhil Rajputs	300 Cavalry, 2,000 Infantry
Gola	Nigohi, Pawayan, Pilibhit, Kheri	Bachhils & Dewaks	100 Cavalry, 1,000 Infantry
Khairigarh	Nighasan, Palia, Dhaurahra (Kheri)	Bachhils, Bais, Bisens	300 Cavalry, 1,500 Infantry
Basara	Kheri–Sitapur Border	Bachhil Rajputs	200 Infantry
Machhrehta	Misrikh Tehsil (Sitapur)	Bachhil Rajputs (Brick Fort)	30 Cavalry, 2,000 Infantry

• The Risauli Principality (Badaun): By the 17th century, a western branch of the Bachhils established a 12-village principality centered at Risauli (near Ujhani, Badaun), encompassing Risauli, Bara, Abdullaganj, Rauli, Jamrauli, Allahpur, Niranjanpur, Barsuma, Kathauli, Pusganwa, Gathuna Garhi, and Sanjarpur (which was gifted in dowry when two Risauli Bachhil princesses married scions of the royal Anangpal Tomar dynasty of Delhi).
• The 1647 Kant Treasury Raid & The Battle of Chinaur (13,000 Martyrs): In 1647 CE, during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan, the Bachhil Rajputs (joined by the Gaurs) ambushed and plundered an imperial Mughal treasury convoy passing through Kant. Shah Jahan dispatched his Afghan generals Diler Khan and Bahadur Khan with a massive imperial army to crush the clan. In a pitched battle fought at Chinaur (near Shahjahanpur), approximately 13,000 Rajputs—predominantly Bachhil warriors—were martyred, while 1,100 Mughal soldiers were killed. To permanently contain the Bachhils, Shah Jahan ordered Diler Khan to build the fort and city of Shahjahanpur and garrison it with 52 tribes of Afghans.
• Raja Chhipi Khan ("Beta Chhipi") and the 18-Month Siege of Kamp: During the reign of Shah Jahan, the paramount chief of the eastern Bachhils (ruling Barwar-Anjana, Muhamdi, Kamp-Dhaurahra, Bhur, and tracts in Sitapur/Unnao) was Thakur Dulnaran Singh Bachhil. Dispatched by Shah Jahan to crush a rebellion in Karra Manikpur, the Hindu Bachhil warlord annihilated the rebels and rode directly into the imperial court at Delhi with his garments still soaked in the blood of battle. Impressed by his ferocity, Emperor Shah Jahan bestowed upon him the title "Beta Chhipi Khan" ("My son, you gore-besprinkled chief").
  • During the reign of Aurangzeb (Alamgir), Chhipi Khan defied imperial authority from his high river-bluff fortress at Kamp (Kanp) overlooking the Chauka river and the dense forests of Khairigarh. Besieged by an imperial army led by the Chauhan chief Chitrgupt, Chhipi Khan and his garrison—aided by his companion who held a western redoubt and smuggled supplies—withstood an 18-month blockade. The Mughals finally ran an underground mine into the fort at night, slaughtering the sleeping garrison and killing Raja Chhipi Khan in combat.

5. The 18th & 19th Centuries: Raja Bahadur Singh, Thakur Bhagwant Singh, and the 1857 Myau Martyrs

During the Rohilla rule (1749–1774 CE), the Rohilla regent Hafiz Rahmat Khan found himself unable to subdue the Bachhils of Shahjahanpur and chose to conciliate rather than coerce them, leaving their estates practically independent.

• Raja Bahadur Singh Bachhil of Ujhani: In the late 18th century, Thakur Jorawar Singh Bachhil of Abdullaganj (Badaun) served under Nawab Abdullah Khan and the Nawabs of Awadh. His son, Bahadur Singh Bachhil—born after the blessing of the mystic Saint Reta Shah—raided a British East India Company treasury convoy bound for Sahaswan at the age of twelve, slaying four of the five British soldiers sent to arrest him, and subsequently routing a full British military contingent at Ghuiyan Wale Bagh in Ujhani. Because Bahadur Singh had earlier captured and chivalrously spared the life of a British Colonel at the Battle of Kamona (who later became the Commissioner of Bareilly), the grateful Commissioner executed a namesake criminal in his stead and officially recognized him as Raja Bahadur Singh, ruler of the Ujhani estate.
• Thakur Bhagwant Singh and the Forest Lords of Atwa Piparia (1841 CE): In Lakhimpur Kheri and Hardoi, the descendants of Raja Chhipi Khan's eleven Hindu brothers established a fortified stronghold at Atwa Piparia along the ancient Kathna canal. Operating as an autonomous military confederacy known as the Gohar (where every surrounding village turned out with arms at the sound of a gunshot), their last great chieftain was Thakur Bhagwant Singh Bachhil. Asserting his ancestral royal rights against the Nawabs of Oudh, Bhagwant Singh levied tribute from the Kathna to Sandila. On July 3, 1841, when British forces under Captain Hollings marched from Nimkhar (Naimisharanya) and attacked his camp at Ahrori at midnight, Bhagwant Singh’s Gohar militia counter-attacked through the forest all night, inflicting 15 casualties and routing the British detachment. Undefeated in battle, Bhagwant Singh was later treacherously assassinated by his host at Ahrori.
• The Myau Martyrs of 1857 (Sumer Singh and Khan Chand Singh): During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, two brothers from the Risauli Bachhil lineage—Thakur Sumer Singh Bachhil and Thakur Khan Chand Singh Bachhil—were at Myau village (Badaun) protecting their maternal relatives, the Rankwar Rajputs. When the rebel leaders Bakhtawar Singh and Kandhari Singh of Bela Dandi marched into Myau clad in iron chain mail armor and set the Bachhil house on fire, Sumer Singh and Khan Chand Singh leaped into battle alone while the rest of the village hid indoors. Striking with such force that their swords became lodged in their enemies' chain mail, both brothers were decapitated; local folk ballads record that their headless bodies (kabandha) continued wielding their swords and slaying enemies until their legs were severed.
• Colonial Estates in Shahjahanpur: Throughout the British Raj, the Bachhils remained the largest Rajput clan in Shahjahanpur tahsil (numbering 7,988 in the district), led by the taluqdars and zamindars of Kakrauwa (Thakur Ewaz Singh and Thakur Baldeo Singh, sons of Thakur Khuman Singh, holding 9,837 acres across Tilhar, Kant, Pawayan, Jalalabad, Kheri, and Mainpuri), Bari, and Banthara.

The Sitapur Stronghold: Pargana Machhrehta and Anogi Garhi

In Sitapur District, the Bachhil Rajputs established a permanent historical footprint in Pargana Machhrehta and Misrikh Tehsil, immediately adjoining the sacred forest of Naimisharanya (Nimkhar) and the ascetic tank of Maharishi Dadhichi at Misrikh.

Historical Foundation in Machhrehta

As recorded in the Ain-i-Akbari (1590 CE) and the Sitapur District Gazetteer (1905), Pargana Machhrehta (which then included neighboring Gundlamau) in the Mughal Sarkar of Khairabad was the proprietary domain of Bachhil Rajputs, who maintained a brick fort at the Machhrehta headquarters and fielded a standing military force of 30 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. Following the reign of Raja Chhipi Khan (Thakur Dulnaran Singh) in the 17th century, his descendants further consolidated their hold across the Misrikh and Machhrehta tracts.

Establishment of Anogi Garhi

In the 19th century, the fortified mud-and-brick estate of Anogi Garhi (Anoghi Garhi, Village Anogi) was established in Pargana Machhrehta by Thakur Dal Ganjan Singh Bachhil, son of Thakur Basti Singh. Constructed as a traditional Awadhi Garhi (fortified manor) to exercise local judicial and military authority, the estate’s proprietary rights and Zamindari / Pattidari shares were subsequently consolidated and formally recorded during the British Regular Settlement of Sitapur in the Khewat and Shajra Nasab by his grandson and successor, Thakur Chokhe Singh Bachhil (son of Thakur Pohop Singh).

Modern Democratic Leadership and Genealogical Succession

Through the 20th century, the ancestral estate of Anogi Garhi was preserved through the patriarchal line descending from Thakur Chokhe Singh. Following the abolition of the Zamindari system in Uttar Pradesh in 1952, the Bachhil family of Anogi Garhi transitioned its traditional authority into democratic governance in Machhrehta:

• Thakur Ram Prasad Singh (son of Thakur Kallu Singh and grandson of Thakur Chokhe Singh) served as the Vice Block Head (Up-Pramukh) of Machhrehta Block, as officially recorded in The Gazette of India — Government of Uttar Pradesh (1962).
• Thakur Abhay Kumar Singh ("Barkat") (son of Thakur Shivmangal Singh, grandson of Thakur Harihar Singh, and great-grandson of Thakur Munnu Singh) serves as the current patriarch and head of Anogi Garhi.
• Thakur Praveen Kumar Singh (elder son of Thakur Abhay Kumar Singh and Smt. Shanti Singh; born October 10, 1975, at Anogi, Sitapur; educated at Sitapur and Lucknow University) continued the clan's 400-year legacy of leadership over the pargana by being elected as an independent candidate and serving as the Block Pramukh of Machhrehta Block from 2011 to 2015, before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2024.

Verified Pedigree (Vanshavali) of Anogi Garhi, Sitapur

Thakur Basti Singh Bachhil
 └── Thakur Dal Ganjan Singh (19th-Century Founder of Anogi Garhi, Pargana Machhrehta, Sitapur)
      ├── Thakur Parvan Singh
      ├── Thakur Bhagauti Singh
      └── Thakur Pohop Singh
           ├── Thakur Kalika Singh
           ├── Thakur Baldev Singh
           └── Thakur Chokhe Singh (Consolidated Zamindari in the British Regular Settlement)
                ├── Thakur Gajraj Singh
                ├── Thakur Kallu Singh
                │    └── Thakur Ram Prasad Singh (Vice Block Head, Machhrehta, UP Gazette 1962)
                └── Thakur Munnu Singh
                     ├── Thakur Ram Narayan Singh
                     ├── Thakur Babu Singh
                     ├── Thakur Putai Singh
                     └── Thakur Harihar Singh
                          ├── Thakur Mahaveer Singh
                          └── Thakur Shivmangal Singh
                               ├── Thakur Vijay Kumar Singh
                               │    └── Anshuman Singh Vats
                               └── Thakur Abhay Kumar Singh [Barkat] (Current Head of Anogi Garhi; m. Smt. Shanti Singh, Raghuvanshi Clan)
                                    ├── Thakur Praveen Kumar Singh (b. 1975; Block Pramukh, Machhrehta 2011–2015; m. Smt. Kammo Singh in 2007)
                                    │    ├── Kshitij Singh Vats (b. Feb 1, 2008)
                                    │    └── Devansh Singh Vats
                                    └── Thakur Amit Kumar Singh (Agriculturist; m. Smt. Soni Singh in 2010)
                                         ├── Gauransh Singh Vats
                                         └── Shaanvi Singh Vats

Religion and Deities (Kuldevi and Kuldevta)

As proven by Verse 27 and Verse 32 of the 992 CE Dewal Inscription—which records that Raja Lalla Bachhil dedicated his royal temple to Lord Shiva while Queen Lakshmi dedicated hers to Goddess Parvati—and corroborated by the Oudh Gazetteer accounts of the Bachhils of Atwa Piparia offering forest oblations to Maa Bhavani, the clan’s religious traditions have remained unchanged for over a millennium:

• Kuldevi: Maa Jagdamba (worshipped in her forms as Maa Durga Bhavani, Maa Parvati, and Maa Chamunda Devi).
• Kuldevta: Lord Shiva (Mahadev).
• Ritual Observances: The clan observes traditional Shastra and Shaastra Poojan (Ayudha Puja) during Mahanavami and Vijayadashami (Dussehra).