Rathodરાઠોડ

The account

The Rathods came over to Saurashtra from Rajputana towards the close of the twelfth century. The first Rathod prince to gain a foothold — in Okhamandal — was Ajaymal, grandson of Jeychand Rathod of Kanauj, who served under Bhimdev Solanki of Anhilwar Patan and married the princess of the Chavada chieftain of Dwarka.

In time the Rathods took the chieftainship of the land to themselves. Those who cut off the Chavadas were called Vadhels, while another group, who subjugated the Brahmin chief of Una near Somnath, styled themselves Vajas after their leader Vejalji.

The Vaja Rajputs occupy the coastal region in two groups — ten or twelve villages of Nagher in Sorath, and the Kalsar-Zanzmer tract of Gohilwad. A palia stone at Zanzmer, dated Samvat 1513 (A.D. 1457), records a Vaja chief who fell fighting against the Mughals; about a hundred and fifty families of Vaja Rajputs still people the villages around Zanzmer. The Vadhels, with the Vaghers, remain concentrated in Okhamandal, the land of their early settlement.

In North Gujarat, the elder Marwar line of the Rathods established sovereignty over the formidable mountain kingdom of Idar, set amidst the granitic ridges of the Aravallis. Ruling with the style of Maharaja with a 15-gun salute, Idar held sway over 884 villages across Ahmednagar (Himatnagar), Vadali, and Bayad, while cadet branches established sovereign Fifth Class seats including Valasna (10 villages along the Sabarmati), Malpur, Pol, and Magodi.