Myths and Legends
Introduction
Although it is fairly well founded to believe that our ancestors
were living in the town of Mandsaur during
12th-13th century. However it is not well understood
for how long they had been living there. Mandsaur (Mandsor) and the surrounding region of
Chambal Valley and Bhanpura has a long history. It has been a cradle of civilization. There is documented
evidence of an organized civilization there as early as year 400 AD. Recent
digs
around Bhanpura reveal pre-historic
anthropological origins of the region. It is not clear when our
ancestors settled in Mandsaur. They could have been original residents of
the area or immigrated there at some point in time.
One of the
acceptable beliefs is that around the year 532ADthe king of Mandsaur
Yashodharman invited the Prashnora Nagars from Junagarh to
participate and conduct a great Yagna Ceremony and then invited some of the
priests to settle down. (There appear to be inscriptions indicating that
Yagna was performed to commemorate the victoy over huns). Which gives some
credibility to the story about Prashnora Nagrars (our ancestors)
performing in those ceremonies). It is believed that Prashnora Nagars and their descendents
Dashoras continued to live there and advise the Kings for next 800
years. tHis would suggest that Dashora thus are decedents of those residents of Vishnagar/ Junagarh who migrated to Mandsaur.
We have not been able to find any connections between present day Prashnora
Nagars claiming their decadency in Gujrat and the present day Dashora
Community with their origins in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan yet.
Other myths and legends
provide some indications to the pre-Mandsaur/Gujrat origins. The little evidence
we have seen to support
any of the theories is not conclusive. Some of these are theories are outlined below. Someday future genetic research may
answer the questions our true origins.
Gujrat Origin
The most generally accepted belief is that our ancestors
were decedents of Nagar Brahmins
Historians claim the origin of Nagars to be purely Aryan, having come to
India from Southern Europe and Central Asia. They migrated through the Hindu
Kush to either Trivishtapa or Tibet; later through Kashmir and settled
around Kurukshetra. Current research speculates the Aryan origin to be Hatak,
where the predominant deity is Hatak, Hatkesh or Hatkeshwar. According to
the Skandapurana, the land of Hatkeshwar was a gift from Lord Shiva for the
Nagars to colonize. This after Lord Shiva created Nagars to celebrate his
marriage to Uma.
It is also believed that before Nagars first came to Gujarat in 404 A.D.,
prior to that they lived in Sindh.
After King Vishaldev conquered Gujarat (around A.C.E. 1040), the
King of Ajmer established the cities of Vishnagar (formerly Vishalnagar),
Chitrod (or Chitakutpati), Prashnipur, Krashnor, and Sathod (or Shatpad). He
offered these cities to the Brahmins who were descendants or an offshoot of
the Nagars from Vadnagar. It is believed that in the 10th century our
ancestors were living in Vishnagar near Junagadh in Gujarat
Province and were advisers to the royalty. The fled Gujarat when
Ghazni attacked Gujrat and the
Somnath Temple around the
year 1069. Like other Nagar Brahmins Dashoras worship Hatkeshwar Mahadev
(The Hatkeshwar Mahedev Temple is located in
Vadnagar Gujrat).
Legend has it, this land (along with money) was awarded to the
Nagars by King Chamatkar of Anarta for having saved his life.
According to the story, the King was out on a hunt when he
killed a deer suckling her young. The deer placed a curse on the
King. As a result of the curse, the King developed leukoderma.
In the area, lived a small village of Brahmins, who, with the
use of herbs, cured the King of his illness. King Chamatkar was
thankful and offered them, as a reward, money and land. The
Brahmins were men of high principle and believed in austere
living; they refused the Kings offerings. The queen then went to
the village and spoke with the wives of the Brahmin. She
persuaded 68 of the 72 into accepting the offer. The four who
refused, left the village for the Himalayas with their family.
Those who remained are called the founders of the Nagar family
descendant identity or "Gotra".
Another version of the legend
claims the King of Anarta rebuilt an abandoned city,
Chamatkarpur, and consecrated a temple to Hatkeshwar to show his
gratitude to the Brahmins.
Through the years, and many name changes, the town is
currently known as Vadnagar. The inhabitants of the city were
known as Nagars.
As time passed, the city of Vadnagar was invaded on more than
one occasion. Nagars sought refuge in the nearby areas of
Saurashtra and Rajasthan. During this time, they did their best
to observe and preserve the code, to guard their identity.
The credibility to this is in the fact that Dashoras do worship Hatkeshwar Mahadev
as their principal deity.
Greek Origin
The most widely accepted belief is that the Dashora are decendents
Prashnora Nagars. Historians claim the
origin of Nagars
to be purely Aryan, having come to India from Southern Europe and Central Asia.
They migrated through the Hindu Kush to either Trivishtapa or Tibet; later
through Kashmir and settled around Kurukshetra. A belief, which also explains
the superiority of Nagar community against most Brahmins, is that when Alexander
invaded India, his army came through the present day Kashmir. When Alexander
went back, some of the Greek soldiers stayed back and married girls of Kashmiri
Pundits. Reference of such marriage is found as “In 303 BCE, Seleucus I (A
commander in Alexanders Army) led an army to the Indus in India, where he
encountered Chandragupta. The confrontation ended with a peace treaty, and "an
intermarriage agreement", meaning either a dynastic marriage or a more general
agreement for intermarriage between Indians and Greeks. Accordingly, Seleucus
ceded to Chandragupta his northwestern territories as far as Arachosia and
received 500 war elephants (which played a key role in the victory of Seleucus
at the Battle of Ipsus)".Nagars are believed to be the Progeny of this liaison
and have therefore acquired the physical features and strength of the Greek
soldiers and the intelligence of the Kashmiri Pundits. Another interesting and
more convincing account about the origin of Nagars has been given by Shri
Shambhuprasad Desai of Junagadh, according to whom Nagars first came from
Greece, Macedonia, Syria or regions surrounding these places.
Afterwards, Nagars migrated to other
parts of the country. Nagars and Greeks are considered similar even today so far
as their physical appearance is concerned.
Historians claim the origin of Nagars to be purely Aryan,
having come to India from Southern Europe and Central Asia. They migrated
through the Hindu Kush to either Trivishtapa or Tibet; later through Kashmir and
settled around Kurukshetra. Current research speculates the Aryan origin to be
Hatak, where the predominant deity is Hatak. Dashoras and Nagars consider
Hatkeshwar to be their principal deity.
Egyptian Origin
One disputed and not commonly accepted hypothesis proposed by Ramesh Vaidhya
suggests that our ancestors originated in Egypt (Misr). It is suggested that
this may be the origin of our name "Mishra". The theory proposes that they were (Telies)
involved in production of food oils. Some of the ambitious people with
nomadic spirit and who were not satisfied with their conditions
availed the opportunity to migrate to India by sea and set forth on a
journey from the west coast. These original
thinkers were intellectually gifted people and possessed superior learning and
discussion skills. They were able
to merge and mix well with the Brahmins, who were already settled in India.
Thus our ancestors
became part of the Brahmin Class and practiced teaching philosophy and
medicine and providing spiritual advice. They were able to attract royal
families as their clients and served as the keepers of knowledge ("Upadhyaya
and Bhatt"), priests, doctors ("Vaidhya") and fortune tellers (Jyotishis)
("Joshi"). The evidence of this hypothesis may be
found in some of the unique customs and
traditions that they brought along with them and are still maintained
by the Dashoras to this day - the very customs and rituals that make the Dashoras
a distinct community from other (main-line) Brahmin Communities.
Nomadic Origin
Another hypothesis (source unknown) proposes that our ancestors were nomads. These people were traveling
extensively, engaging in religious preaching, discourses and discussions. They provided
advice,
spiritual guidance and medical expertise. They were frequently consulted by the Indian Royal Families. A
legend further suggests that an ancient Central Indian King was so moved by
their help in curing his sickness that he offered them large parcel of land to settle
down.
However rather than accepting land ownership they established one of the
first democratic region in Central India. It is possible that this may be
associated with the Mandsaur settlement where there is historical evidence of organized
political and democratic social infrastructure. May be our ancestors are to
be credited with assisting in the establishment of a democratic society
there. There is no proof to validate
this legend though. Of course there is evidence to prove
that Dashoras, who settled in Rajasthan and
Indore in the 14th to the last century, were given honor and land by the Mewad and Holker Royalty.
The 10 Family Legend
Another more accepted belief suggests that our ancestor "Dashoras" are
one of
the 10 distinct Dashora Families. But this seems to be a derivation of
Mandsaur origin as modified by "word of mouth" propagation of
the story of Muslim invasion.
May be one day there will be enough data to point and authenticate our
true origins!
