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Prithvi Raj Chauhan

Chauhan, Chouhan or Chohan is a clan that ruled parts of northern India in the medieval period. Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi, was a member of this community.

Origins[link]

Rajput bardic accounts describe the Chauhans as one of the four Agnikula Rajput clans which claims to have originated from a sacrificial fire-pit (agnikunda) at Mount Abu to fight against the Asuras or demons whereas in context Agnikula is considered as another branch of Suryavanshi Rajput descent.^[4][5]

Descendants of these Chauhan Rajput ruled princely states in Western and Northern India until the pre-independence era.^[6]

Manik Rai (AD 685), progenitor of Chauhan dynasty^[7] was lord of Ajmer and Sambhar in Western Rajwara.

History[link]

Harsraj[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Harsraj Chauhan reigned about 812 - 827 VS (756 AD), his authority stretching from Aravalli to Abu to Chambal. He fell to the Muslim invaders from Sind. A Chauhan king ruled from Lahore and sought the help of his sovereign, the king of Ajmer, who sent forward a force of 5,000 of the finest Chauhan horsemen to aid the Chauhan king of Lahore. Lahore king's brother led the forces, and fought as many as 70 battles with the forces of Ghor, Gajni and Kabul.

Harsraj was followed by his son Doojgundeo Chauhan. His outpost was Bhatnair and from there he once defeated Nusruddin also called Subaktegin, son of Aleptegin and who was the father of Md. Gajni who later raided India. From this ruler, Doojungdeo collected 1,200 horses.

Ajay Raj (Anuraj)[link]

Chauhans^[8] later asserted their independence from the Gurjara Pratiharas, and in the early eleventh century, the Sakhambari king Ajaya-Raja founded the city of Ajayameru (Ajmer)^[9] in the southern part of their kingdom.

Bisaldeo[link]

His son was the famous Chauhan King Bisaldeo who was famous for repulsing Chaluka attacks and that of western powers and one time led an army of Indian Rajput Kings,^{[10][dubious – discuss]} his contemporaries were: Jeypal Tuar of Delhi, Durlabh and Bhim Solanki of Patun-Gujarat, Parmara Raja Bhoj and Udaydit of Dhar and Padamsi and Tejsi of Mewar.

Bisaldev Chauhan fights Chaluk of Patan[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In 936 V.S. (993 A.D.) he reduced Abu, Jalor on way to destroy the Solanki (Chaluk) of Patan - Bhim Singh 'Baluk', with a force that was 70,000 strong with all the allies.^[11] Further he took land of Girnar, Wagar and Sorath and total 56 cities and molested common people, a sin for warrior in those days. The Chaluka King Baluka (Bhim) Rai had 17000 strong army at Patan and 30000 Horsemen from Lar, he came to Abu for fight.

Someshwar defeats Kamdhuj of Kannauj[link]

Raja Vijaychand Kamdhuj attacked the Anangpal Tuar of Delhi and at that time, Raja Someshwar of Ajmer forged an alliance with Anangpal Tuar of Delhi.^{[12][dubious – discuss]} At Kalindi River (Kalinadi-Black River) Vijaychand formed army in Sarpa (vyuha). Chauhan was the victor of the ensuing battle.

Samantas[link]

Mukut Bandh and Mandaleshwar are traditionally the two type of samanta (a title for noble vassals) accorded by Chauhans. The Mukut Bandh owned land but accepted the suzerainty of the Chauhans, while Mandaleshwar were granted jagirs by Chauhan rulers.^[13]

Culture[link]

Religion[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In India, Chauhans are predominantly Hindu.^{[citation needed]}

Some Chauhan Rajputs of the Doab region of Punjab also adopted Sikhism and are called Sikh Rajputs, not to be confused with Jat Chohans of the Punjab (who happen to write the transliteration of their name in English differently).

There are some villages in Haryana (Distt. Ambala, Yamuna Nagar) which contain heavy population of chauhans. They have a mix population of Hindu and Sikh Rajputs.

Chohan/Chauhans belong to a select group of clans that are Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.

Famous Chauhan rulers of Ajmer, Rajasthan[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Ajay Pal - founded the city Ajaymeru which came to be called as Ajmer in the modern times.
• Prithviraja I
• Jagdeva
• Vigraharaja IV
• Apara Gangeya
• Prithviraja II
• Someshwara

Notable people[link]

• Manik Rai, Founder of Chauhan Dynasty
• Prithvi Raj Chauhan, Ruler of Ajmer and Delhi
• Hammir Dev Chauhan, Ruler of Ranathambore
• Kanhad Dev Sonigara, Ruler of Jalor
• Ashish Chauhan, Founder of National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Deputy CEO Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
• Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, poetess of "Jhansi ki Rani"
• Yashwantrao Chavan, Former Deputy Prime Minister of India
• Shankarrao Chavan, Former CM of Maharashtra & former Home Minister of India
• Jagjit Singh Chauhan, Founder of the Khalistan movement
• Dalel Singh Chauhan, Arjuna Award winner, Indian Volleyball team Captain in 1980s, Village Amin

References[link]

Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan at the launch of Indian Idol 6.
Background information
Birth name	Nidhi Chauhan
Born	(1983-08-14) 14 August 1983 (age 28) New Delhi, India
Genres	playback singing, Indipop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1996–present

Sunidhi Chauhan (born Nidhi Chauhan^[1] on 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films .^[2]

Chauhan began to sing at the age of four^[3] and was discovered by a local TV anchor.^[4] She won recognition through a televised singing contest, Meri Awaz Suno, which she won, and made her entrance into playback singing with the Hindi film Shastra.^[4]

Her breakthrough was Ram Gopal Varma's film Mast, in which she sang the hit song, "Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi."^[4] She has been nominated for fourteen Filmfare Awards, winning it on three occasions. She has won two Star Screen Awards, two IIFA Awards and one Zee Cine Award.

Early career[link]

Sunidhi Chauhan family hail from Uttar Pradesh. She started her singing career as a child, giving her first performance at the age of four, in a local temple in Delhi.^[3] Thereafter, she began to participate in, and sing for, competitions and local gatherings. When local TV anchor, Tabassum, spotted her talent, her family shifted to Mumbai in a bid to further develop the young singer's skills, and Chauhan became the lead singer in Kalyanji's 'Little Wonders' troupe.^[4]

Recognition first met her in 1996, through the music show Meri Aawaz Suno — the first such televised contest in India — which was broadcast through the Indian national television channel, Doordarshan. She won the competition and bagged the top prize of recording an album, Aira Ghaira Nathu Khaira, with HMV.^[4]

Unluckily for Chauhan, Aira Ghaira Nathu Khaira was promoted as a children's album and failed to get the recognition it deserved.^[4] In 2002, Chauhan herself observed this in an interview:

"My first song and the contest did not help me much. Nothing happened for a while. But by then, I had made up my mind that I will pursue singing as a career."^[5]

Chauhan stepped into the world of playback singing with the 1996 Bollywood film, Shastra,^[2][4] after Aadesh Srivastava asked her to lend her voice to the song "Larki Deewaani Dekho, Ladka Deewaana."^[5] She followed it with work in films like Gang, Veergati, Dahek, Bade Dilwala, Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat and Samar. By the age of nineteen, Chauhan had already lent her voice to over 350 songs.^[5]

Breakthrough and later work[link]