Dahiya (Jat clan)

:"For the eponymous Rajput clan, see Dahia (Rajput clan). For the Beirut neighborhood, see Dahieh."

Dahiya, classically called the Dimures (IPA2|dɨˈmjʊrz; _el. "Dimouroi"), is a gotra of jats found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are solar race kshatriyas. They are descendants of Dadhichi Rishi. According to James Tod Dahiyas had a war with Alexander the Great. At that time they were settled on the banks of Sindhu and Sutlej rivers.This is a major branch of Puru. The Dahiya clan took part in the Mahabharata. At that time they were living in the Southern part of China. According to Todd's Rajasthan (based upon the writings of Justin and Herodotus), thousands of years before Christ, the Dahiya Mahajati tribe lived on the eastern bank of the River Sihun (Oxus). The Heir, Bhullar and Sihag sub-tribes lived in the adjoining country. The Dahiya Jats took part in the battle between Darius and Alexander.

There is mention of Dahiyas in Vishnu Puran. The Chinese historians mentioned them as Ta-Hia.

An inscription of year 999 AD, in the temple of Kevay Goddess, at village Kinsaria near Jodhpur shows that Dahiyas have originated from Dadhichi Rishi. The chronology of the rulers of Dahiya clan is as under: Dadhichi, Vimal Raja, Sivar, Kulkhat, Atar, Ajayvah, Vijayvah, Susal, Shalivahan, Narwad, Choohad, Deoraj, Gunrang, Kadavarao, Kirti Singh, Bairi Singh, Chachcha Rana.

The above temple was constructed by Chachcha Rana and inscription engraved on it on 22 April 969. The second inscription was by Rana Jagdhar in memory of his father Rana Vikram Singh and mother Naila on pillar near Matamandir dated 9 June 1243. The third inscription dated 26 April 1215 was by Jayant Singh son of Param Singh Dahiya and grandson of Mahamandaleshwar Rana Karhwa Rao Dahiya at village Salana near Bharaut in Jodhpur state. The descendants of Rana Karhwa Rao are known as Karhwasra.

Regarding the place of origin of Dahiyas Muhnot Nainsi has mentioned Dahiyas to be native of Thal Nergarh, Sachaur, Vali, Pali, Jaswantpur, Malani villages on the banks of Godavari near Nasik Trimbak.

Presently Dahiyas inhabit Harsare, Maroth, Parbatsar and Deravar villages in Jodhpur region. Dahiyas constructed the Jalaur fort in princely state of Jodhpur. Majlis Singh founded Dahiyabhar village in Jodhpur.

They ruled over Rajgarh territory. Some Dahiya Jats who lived in Rajasthan mixed up with the Rajputs and was therefore called Rajputs. They have 12 villages near Rupar. Some of them became coverts to Islam but were still called Rajputs, and some living in the Rohtak district have been by mistake called Chauhans by their bards.

According to 'bhats' (meaning-bards; the people/caste who keep the genealogy records of Jats, Rajputs), Dahiyas are descendants of one of the four son of Prithviraj Chauhan.The writer of these lines, Rahul Dahiya, has met the bhaats and has seen their records personally. He saw , names , right from his name backtracking to Prithviraj Chauhan's name in the bhaat records. Incidentally , the bhaats' records are considered very reliable and trusted even to solve disputes related to wealth inheritance.

The 'bhaats' have carried this tradition for ages and keep on updating their records every year by visiting their patrons' homes. The bhaats further tell that Dahiyas are based in 50 villages in Haryana and another 50 in Uttar Pradesh. They arrived from Rajasthan to Haryana in/around the 12th century A.D. and thereafter scattered around in different villages in the vicinity. (Above statements can be verified by meeting the 'bhaats' in Haryana.)

There are 40 villages of Dahiyas in Sonipat district in Haryana. Dahiyas are known as ‘Rana Dahiya Badshah’ here. Barauna kheda village of Dahiyas is the oldest one from where Dahiyas spread to other places. In Rohtak/sonipat districts Sidhauli, Narabhari, Halalpur,Nahra,Nahri,Susana,Pipli, Gopalpur, Kidauli, Prahladpur, Mandaura, Mandauri, Thana, Bhadana, Sehat, Kakrai,etc villages are of Dahiya.

In Uttar Pradesh Vana Jhijhokar, Bhojpur villages of Meerut district, Lakkhuwala, Niyampur, Timirpur, Sikanderpur, Mirjapur, Jasmaura, Prithvipur villages of Bijnor district, Noonangali of Muzaffarnagar district, Nawada of Saharanpur district, village Rajpur near Saudhara of Ambala district are Dahiya villages.

Bhim Singh Dahiya, the Indian Historian, has established that the Indian word Dahiya or Dahia is written as Ta-Hia in Chinese language. Ta-Hia, or Daxia is the name given in antiquity by the Chinese to the territory of Bactria. The name Ta-Hia appears in Chinese from the 3rd century BCE to designate a mythical kingdom to the West, possibly a consequence of the first contacts with the expansion of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and then is used by the explorer Zhang Qian in 126 BCE to designate Bactria. They describe an important urban civilization of about one million people, living in walled cities under small city kings or magistrates. Ta-Hia was an affluent country with rich markets, trading in an incredible variety of objects, coming as far as Southern China. By the time Zhang Xian visited Ta-Hia, there were no longer a major king, and the Bactrian were suzerains to the nomadic Yuezhi, who were settled to the north of their territory beyond the Oxus.

Today's modern expression Tajik probably originated from the Chinese words Ta-Hia and Ta-Yuan.

ee also

*Dhangar