AUDICHYA SAHASTRA

Audichya Brahmins :

The history of Audichya Brahmins can be traced from around the year 950 AD. It was in the year 942 AD that Mulraj Solanki captured the throne of Anhilpur Patan after murdering his maternal uncle Samant Sinh Chawda, the then ruling king.

Shrimali Brahmins priests had come to Gujarat along with the Chawada kings, from Shrimal/Bhinmal situated in the southern part of present day state of Rajasthan. The Shrimali Brahmins were the official priests of the kingdom. Their function included Dharma & justice. They refused to give blessings to Mulraj and to annunciate him as the king. No amount of persuading, cajoling, coxing or threatening had any effect on those Brahmins. If the priests coroneted him as a king, Mulraj was ready to perform a Rudra Yagna and also to build Rudramahal, a huge temple of Rudra (Shiv) as atonement. But the priests would not budge. It was also important for Mulraj to be coroneted as a king since, if the throne was left vacant for a long time there would be a chaos. Several Chawdas had already started pressing their claim to the throne. The enemies of the kingdom on the border had started preparations for conquest of Gujarat. An immediate action was needed if the kingdom was to be retained. But the Shrimali priests, even after explaining the circumstances, were practically unanimous in not accepting Mulraj’s reasons and credentials. Mulraj had to find another way to overcome this situation.

Mulraj & his minister Madhav came upon a brilliant idea. Chawda kings had come from Shrimal & their priests were Shrimali Brahmins. Mulraj was from Kanyakubja (Kanauj) located in the fertile lands of Ganga & Yamuna rivers, so if priests from that area could be persuaded to come and enthrone Mulraj as a king, perform Rudra Yagna and stay in Gujarat as the kingdom’s priests, two birds could be killed with a single stone. First Mulraj would now be a legitimate king and secondly the influence of Shrimali Brahmins would be curtailed and even nullified. It was decided to import and lure learned & intelligent Brahmin families in large numbers, offering them land and positions as the official kingdom priests. They immediately set to work. Several ministers under the leadership of Madhav were sent to the various important cities and areas in plains of rivers Ganga & Yamuna where there were educated & prominent Brahmins who could be persuaded to come to Gujarat for permanent settlement. To avoid a conspiracy, they also ensured that Brahmins came from different places and not from a single place.

These trusted ministers are named as :

No.
Ministers
1. Chakrapani 
2.  Suranandi
3. Varyaksha
4. Nandivardhan
5. Vakranetra
6. Mahanand
7. Jayant
8.   Vijay
9.  Jaisen
10. Jaidhwaj
11.  Nadishen
12. Jai
13. Halketan
14.  Kaitavadhiya

When this big caravan of 1037 Brahmin families reached Siddhpur Patan, they were royally received by the king and his people. In India in those days, gradually Brahmins had started being known by the place of their stay or origin, and not by the Gotras as in the past. So this big group of Brahmins consisting of various Gotras was officially named Audichya Brahmins. In Sanskrit, Audichya (Udichi) means from the northern direction. The list of Gotras, place of origin and places donated to Brahmin families by King Mulraj Solanki after their arrival at Shri Sthal, subsequently known as Siddhpur Patan, is as under.

Number of families Place of original stay of families Places donated Gotra :

No.
Places of original stay
1.
105 Planes of rivers Ganga & Yamuna From Sihore & Siddhpur areas: Jamdagni, Vatsas, Bhargav (Bhrigu), Droan Dalabhya, Mandavya, Maunash, Gangayan, Shankruti, Pulatsya, Vashishth and Upmanu.
2. 
100 Chyavan Ashram Total Udvahak, Parashar, Laudhkshi and Kashyap.
3.
100 Sarayu river planes Two Bhardwaj, Kaudinya, Garg and Vishvamitra.
4.
100 Kanyakubja Hundred Kaushik, Indrakaushik, Shantatap and Atri.
5.
100 from Kashi Kshetra.
6.
100 Hardwar area And Audalak, Krushnaatri, Shwetaatri and Chandraatri.
7.
100 Naimisharanya Seventy Atri, kaushik, Gautam, Autathya, Krutsas and Angiras.
8.   
200 Kurukshetra Four Shandilya, Gaubhil, Piplad and Agastya.
9. 
132 Pushkar area villages (Agastya, Mahendra) Not in Audichyas.

On arrival at Siddhpur Patan, they were visited by Shrimali Brahmins (Ex Rajya Gurus) who explained their reason for boycotting Mulraj’s coronation. Out of 1037 families, 37 families saw the truth in the reasoning of the Shrimali Brahmins and decided not to participate in the king’s plans. They went in a group and intimated their decision & reason to Mulraj. Since they went about in a Group they were known as Tolakiya Audichya Brahmins. The rest came to be known as Audichya Sahastra Brahmins, since they were 1000 in numbers.It might appear that only greed dominated these 1000 Brahmin families but on the other side i.e. King Mulraj Solanki’s view, explained to Brahmins, and should also not be over looked. A strong kingdom was imperative to maintain & stabilize Dharma and civilization as well as trade & prosperity of the nation. It is a well known fact that under slavery, Dharma, civilization, prosperity decline, making the nation poor and a laughing stock. History proved this to be true as the Solanki kingdom flourished for nearly three hundred years. Gujarat was the last and well fought bastion of Hindu kings, to fall against the Islamic onslaught of India in 1297. With the conquest by Delhi Islamic hordes, the prosperity not only of Solankis & Audichya Brahmins but of entire Gujarat was lost. Perhaps it will not be out of place at this juncture to explain the word Gotra which has been predominantly used in the above history of Audichya Brahmins Jamdagni, Bharadwaj, Vishwamitra, Gautam, Vashishth, Kashyap, Agastya, Bhrugu all being descendents of Angira rishi are considered to be of the same gotra as Audichya Brahmins.

Source :

http://maavarahitemplechanasma.org

http://www.audichyabrahmansamaj.in/home/about_us