| TAANK KINGDOM
Taank Kingdom shown in violet in the north of the Indian subcontinent circa 700 AD Capital
: Shekilo (modern day Sialkot) Takin or Takkáwar
(possibly)
Taunk also spelled Taank / Tank/ Tak is a surname found in people and diaspora of Indian sub-continent.
Taank clan comes under khastriya castes like Rajput, 96 kul maratha, khandayat, vellalar also in Darbar and Thakur of Uttar Pradesh.
Taank is also called as Tak Rajput in rajasthan. It is also included in Sikh Khukhrain and Sood Khatris. Taank is also found in Jaat caste. Taank clan also ruled afghanistan.
Taank are also Brahmins who previously belonged to Takshashila.
Taank Kingdom (also known as Takka, Tanka, or Taki) was a kingdom based in Punjab, in 6th and 7th centuries, obtained from the chronicles of Xuanzang and other sources. The country was located south of Kashmir and east of Zunbil dynasty, extending from the Indus river in the west to the Beas river in the east, centered around modern day Sialkot.
Etymology
:
Takin, Tafan, Tafak, Taffa, Takas, and Takishar, are various readings of the original form which is Taki or Takin. M. Reinaud gives another spelling, Tában.
History
:
Ram Swarup Joon writes about the Taank: These people are said to have originated from Shergarh in Multan. They plundered the richly laden camels of the army of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni for which Mahmud invaded them two years later and almost annihilated them. They are included among 36 royal dynasties mentioned by James Tod. According to him the names of some of the rulers were Ratapat, Bahurpal, Sahajpal and Madanpal.
During Xuanzang's visit, the neighboring state of Bofadou was a vassal (or province) of Taank. He also noted Mihirakul's capital to have been at Sagal (modern-day Sialkot, Pakistan) within Taank. Despite an illustrious Buddhist heritage as evident from three colossal stups, Buddhism was in decline and was sparsely practiced except in about ten monasteries; Brahminism was the primary religion and there were hundreds of dev shrines. He visited Lahore in 630 AD during Taank rule and described it as a great Brahmin city.
"The country of Takka is south of Kashmir, extending from the Indus river to its west and Vipash river to its east. They produce abundant quantities of non-sticky rice and wheat, also gold, brass, iron and other metals. They do not believe in Buddhism, and pray in several hundred Dev Temples. This country has ten Buddhist monasteries left." There were many more before, states Xuanzang.
Location of the Taank Kingdom, and neighbouring South Asian polities circa 600 CE, after the retreat of the Alchon Huns Taank as per Jatland :
Taank Kingdom in 565 AD Taank, Tank, Tak, is a Gotra of Jat. James Tod places it in the list of Thirty Six Royal Races.
Taank Kingdom in 565 AD
Origin
:
(Recognised by the Tartars as their ancestors)
Association
with present Jat gotras :
History
:
Buras and Sirohis are at present found in Rajasthan, Karmach, Burhakhera, Jind and Karnal, and 12 other villages like Khosra, Bhador, and Girana. In addition they have six villages in Patiala, one village Saidpur, and 8 other villages in Bulandshahr District of UP. Sagroha is a derivative of the word 'Saroha" and exists as a separate gotra.
Ram Swarup Joon writes about Tank or Tak: These people are said to have originated from Shergarh in Multan. They plundered the richly laden
History of the Jats, End of Page-104
camels of the army of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni for which Mahmud invaded them two years later and almost annihilated them.
Then they made Rath village their capital. That dynasty is included among 36 royal dynasties, according to Todd's Rajasthan the names of some of the rulers were Ratapat, Bahurpal, Sahajpal and Madanpal. They have 12 villages near Sonepat.
Dr. Kashi Prashad Jaiswal has mentioned, in his book India of the Dark Age that this gotra is branch of Bharshiva Nag. Their capital was Padmavati. They were called Tank.
Their ancestor was Raja Gaj Baktar.
B S Dahiya writes: Tanks or Taks are mentioned by Col. Tod as one of the Thirty –six royal houses of Indian Kshatriyas, but he said about them that they have disappeared from history owing to their conversion to Islam in the Thirteenth Century. But this is not true because they have not disappeared completely as yet; it is true a large number of Tanks are now followers of Islam but there still exist many Tanks among the Hindu Jats also.
A Tak kingdom is mentioned by Hiuen-Tsang (631-643 A.D.) It is mentioned by him as situated towards east of Gandhara. Hiuen-Tasng gives its name as Tekka, and the History of Sindh, Chach-Nama, mentions it as Tak. Its capital was Shekilo (Sakala, modern Sialkot) and formerly King Mihiragula was ruling from this place. In seventh century A.D. its people were not preeminently Buddhists, but worshiped the sun, too. Abhidhana Chintamani says that Takka is the name of Vahik country (Punjab). For what follows, we are indebted to Chandrashekhar Gupta for his article on Indian coins. The Tanks must have come to India, Prior to fourth century A.D. i.e. with the Kushana. And with the Kushanas, they must have spread up to Bengal and Orissa, like the Manns and Kangs who spread into southern Maharashtra and the Deccan. In Orissa, the Tanks, had their rule in Orissa proper, Mayurbhanj, Singbhoom, Ganjam, and Balasore Districts. They are called by historians as “ Puri Kushans” or Kushanas of Puri (Orissa). Their coins have been found at Bhanjakia and Balasore (Chhota Nagpur) and these coins have the legend Tanka written in Brahmi script of the fourth century A.D. Allan suggested the reading Tanka as the name of a tribe “ and others generally accepted the reading Tanka as correct. Allan placed them in the third or early fourth century A.D., while V.A. Smith placed them in the fourth or fifth century A.D. ; R.D. Bannerji called them “ Puri Kushans”
According to Dr Naval Viyogi, It seems from the aforesaid evidence of coins that some branch Tanka of Taka royal family owing to attack of Kushans up to Magadh, reached Mayurbhanj, Singhbhumi, Ganjam and Balasore and established colonies there, where remains of their offshoot, the royal family of Dhavaldev is still existing at Dalbhumigarh near Kharagpur.
The Dhauli hills located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Orissa (India also supports this view. It gets name from Dhaulya clan of Jats. It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill. Dhauli hill is presumed to be the area where Kaling War was fought.
As for the proof that they were Jats, we invite attention to the fact that they still exist as such. Their association with the Kushans (Kasvan Jats) further supports it. Their central Asian origin is proved by the fact that Niya Khrosthi documents from Central Asia refer to coin denomination as Tangumule. Here the word Tang is the same as Tanka, and Muli meant “Price” in Central Asia.
Jain literature refers to the Tanks and the fact that they are termed “Malechhs” shows their foreign. The Jain works say that the Tanks were invincible (cf Chandragomin of Jats and Thucydies’ remarks for Gatae.) They were the inhabitants of Uttarapatha (N.W. India) and they traded with the Dakshinpath (South Deccan) in valuable commodities like gold and ivory.
To conclude, in the words of C.S. Gupta “ the legend Tanka
has no other satisfactory explanation than this, viz. that these
coins were struck by the tribe of the Tankan (Takka) in the name
of their community like those of the Yaudheya and Malava. It appears
that the name inscribed by these people on their coins, gradually
came to denote the name of the coin. This is the origin of the Taka
used even now for coins. The Coins of Mahmud Ghazni bears the Sanskrit
legend . Allaudin Khilji as well as Akbar, Later issued Takkas.
The Rewa stone inscription of Malaya Simha, of 1193 A.D. shows that
Khilji spent 1500 Takkas for constructing a water Tank, near Rewa.
In popular Parlance, the Tank Sarohas are mentioned together (Like the Dahiya-Dabas and Siddhu - Brar combination) The Cities of Tonk, Sirohi are named after them. At one time, the entire Punjab was called Tank Desa. The reports of The Chinese pilgrims confirm this fact. Originally they were worshippers of the Snake-Garlanded form of Shiv. Hence they were called Nagas also.
H.A. Rose writes that The Hindu Chhimbas are divided into two sub-castes, Tank and Rhilla. The following legend explains the origin of these two sub-castes :— At Pindlapur in the Deccan lived one Bamdeo, who one night entertained Krishna and Udhoji, but, as the latter was a leper, the villagers ejected them. They were in mayavi form, and at midnight both of them vanished, leaving Bamdeo and his wife asleep. Udhoji hid in a shell (sipi), and when Bamdeo went to wash clothes he found the shell and placed it in the sun. It produced the child Namdeo who was fostered by Bamdeo's wife. Namdeo taught his son Tank, and Rhilla, his daughter's son, the arts of dyeing, printing and washing clothes. Mention of Tak - James Tod writes that This incidental mention of the race of Tak in Annals of Jaisalmer, and of its being in great consideration on the settlement of the Yadus in the Punjab, is very important. I have given a sketch of this tribe (Vol. I, p. 93), but since I wrote it, I have discovered the capital of the Tak, and on the very spot where I should have expected the site of Taxila, the capital of Taxiles, the friend of Alexander. In that sketch I hesitated not to say, that the name was not personal, but arose from his being the head of the Takshac or Naga tribe, which is confirmed. It is to Babar, or rather to his translator, that I am indebted for this discovery. In describing the limits of Banu, Babar thus mentions it : "And on the west is Desht, which is also called Bazar and Tak ;" to which the erudite translator adds, "Tak is said long to have been the capital of Daman." In Mr. Elphinstone's map, Bazar, which Baber makes identical with Tak, is a few miles north of the city of Attoc. There is no question that both the river and city were named after the race of Tak or Takshac, the Nagas, Nagavansi, or 'snake race', who spread over India. Indeed, I would assume that the name of Omphis, which young Taxiles had on his father's death, is Ophis, the Greek version of Tak, the 'serpent' The Taks appear to have been established in the same region at the earliest period. The Mahabharata describes the wars between Janamejaya and the Takshacs, to revenge on their king the death of his father Parikshita, emperor of Indraprastha, or Dehli.
Rajatarangini mentions that Bhagik, Sharadbhasi, Mummuni, Mungat, Kalash and other men of the king's party harassed the enemies. Kamalaya, son of Lavaraj king of Takka, took the king's side in this war in 1121 AD. (VIII,p.93)
Rajatarangini writes .... on death of Avantivarman all the members of the family of Utpal aspired to the throne. But Ratnavardhan the Royal guard raised Shankaravarmma, son of the late king, to the throne. The minister Karnapavinnap became envious, and raises Sukhavarmma the son of Suravarmma to the dignity of heir-apparent and so the king and the heir-apparent became enemies to each other, and consequently the kingdom was frequently disturbed by their quarrels. Shivshakti and other warriors refused offers of wealth, honor, &c, from the opposite party, and remained faithful to their master, and died for him. Honorable men never desert their party. After much trouble the king prevailed at last. He defeated Samaravarmma and others, on several occasions, and acquired great fame.
Having thus beaten and subjugated his own relatives, he made preparations for foreign conquests. Though the country was weak in population, he was able to set out with nine hundred thousand foot, three hundred elephants, and one hundred thousand horse. He, whose command had been ill obeyed in his own kingdom a short while before, now began to pass orders on kings.
[p.116]: His army was joined by the forces of tributary kings, and increased as he went on. On his approach the king of Darvabhisar fled in terror and there was no fighting. The Kashmirian army caught several lions and confined them in a fort, a sort of abode in which they had never lived before. The king then marched for the conquest of Gurjjar. Prithivi-chandra the king of Trigart hid himself, but his son Bhuvanchandra, on whom the king of Kashmir had bestowed wealth before, came to pay homage. But when he saw the large army of Kashmir, he became afraid of being captured, and accordingly turned and fled. The king of Kashmir, whom the historians describe as a very handsome man, was regarded by other kings as Death. Shankaravarmma easily defeated Alakhan king of Gurjjar who ceded Takka a part of his kingdom to his conqueror. The king of the Thakkiyak family took service as guard under the king of Kashmir. The latter caused the kingdom of the Thakkiya king which had been usurped by the king of Bhoj to be restored to him. The king of the country which lay between Darat and Turushka, (as the Aryavart lies between Himalaya and Vindhya,) Lalliya Shahi by name, who was among kings even as the sun is among stars, and was also lord over Alakhan, did not submit to the king of Kashmir, on which the latter drove him out of his country.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
https://www.jatland.com/home/Taank |
