| TAXAK / TAKSHAK Taxak : Takshak, Tokas, Tokas, Togas, Taksham
Location : Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan
Country : India, Pakistan
Languages : Haryanvi, Punjabi, Rajasthani
Taxakeshwar temple in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh
Statue of Taxak at Taxakeshwar temple in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh Taxak, Takshak, Tokas, Tokas, Togas, Taksham Jat Gotra, who are found in India, Pakistan and Central Asia. They are found in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan states in India. James Tod places it in the list of Thirty Six Royal Races. The Takshaks or Takiuks of Scythia, invaded India about six centuries before Christ.
Origin
:
Genealogy of Suryavansh They are said to be descended from Nagvanshi king named Taxak.
Branches of Nagvansh are - 1. Vasati/Bains 2. Taxak 3. Aulak 4. Kalkal 5. Kala/ Kalidhaman/ Kalkhande 6. Meetha 7. Bharshiv 8. Bharaich.
Regarding the origin of the Taxak Jats various theories have been propounded by the authors of history. They are summarized herein under. Alexander Cunningham states:
“According to the Mahabharat and the Purans, the Takshaks were the descendants of the Takshak, one of the many sons of Kashyap by his Nag wife Kadru. Other sons were called Nag, Karkotak, Vasuki, Shesh, Mahapadma, &c., all of whom were equally regarded as kings of the serpents, while their names are used quite indiscriminately to designate the ophite race. Thus Nags Karkotaks, and Takshaks are all names of but one and the same people. As descendants of Kadru, they are also called Kudravas and Kadraveyas. This name I find upon three very old cast coins in my own possession, given in its pali form as Kadas. The coins are of two different types, but in all the specimens the name is accompanied by the figure of a snake. This pictorial illustration of the name seems to me quite sufficient to prove that these coins must belong to the ophiolatrous race of Kadravas, and as the coins were obtained in the Western Punjab, while the characters are similar to those of Ashok’s inscriptions, they may be attributed with much confidence to the early Takkas of Takka-desh.”
History
:
Ram Swarup Joon writes In the Sabha Parv, Mahabharat/Book II Chapter 48, while describing various Kings who attended a ceremony in the Darbar (court) of Maharaj Yudhisthir, seventeen names are mentioned which are today found as Jat gotras. These are Malhia, Mylaw, Sindhar, Gandhar, Mahity, Mahe, Savi, Bath, Dharan, Virk, Dard, Shaly, Matash, Kukar (Khokar) Kak, Takshak, Sand, Bahik (Bathi) Bije (Bijenia), Andhra, Sorashtra (Rathi) Mann, Ar, Sohat, Kukat, Othiwal (Othval).
The
Shavi dynasty :
History of the Jats, End of Page-30
Pandavs. A Takshak warrior killed king Parikshit, a grandson of Yudhishtir. These facts are mentioned in Adi Parv of Mahabharat.
At present, there are five villages of Takshak Jats in this area viz. Mohammed Pur, Manirk, Shahpur, Haus Khas and Katwari.
On being driven out of Khanduban, the Takshaks drifted North west and made their new capital at Takshal or Taxila (Takshashila), This view is confirmed in ‘A Guide to Taxila’. The Takshaks also founded Takshkand later known as Tashkand or Tashkent and Takshasthan later known as Turkistan. The Takshaks of Taxila later adopted the abbreviated title of Taki and are still found in that area as Muslim Jats of Taki Gotra or clan. When Mudrak Raja Subhagsen of Ghazni was driven east by the Iranians, he also had to fight a battle with Takis of Taxila.
The rulers of Magdh of the Shesh Nag Dynasty were Takshak Jats. Todd writes that they ruled Mugdha for six hundred years.
Todd writes that Chittor, then known as Jattor was the capital of Mori branch of Takshaks. Gehlot Jats later occupied it.
Ram Swarup Joon writes that Shavi was the son of the king Ushinar. He was a Yogi and an ascetic. He was married to, Sati the daughter of king Daksh. After her death he married Parvati. His seat of tapasya was on the Gangotri Mountain. He had two sons, Smokartik and Ganpati (Ganesh).
The Shavi dynasty prospered well. The Descendants of his dynasty are famous as Takshak, Bachak, Bharhaich, Nags etc. Shavi founded the country of Shavisthan (Siestan) in Iran and also the Island of Jatoli. They also founded kingdoms of Turkistan and Scandinavia. The Shavi rulers constructed the Shorkot fort in Jhang.
In Iran there is a Mausoleum of prophet Shish. Hieun T-sang and Fahien have also called Iran as Shavi country.
Ram Swarup Joon writes about Takshak, It is mentioned in the "Vishnu Puran' that before the Pandavs, the Takshaks ruled the earth. Takshaks belong to the Shavi dynasty. In the 29th generation of king Shavi, one of the six sons of king Sototi was Takshak. According to genealogical tables of the Yayati dynasty King Satoti is considered by the Tartars to be their ancestor. Takshak, Bachak etc. are also called the Nags. There are ample references to these people in local and foreign histories. According to Mahabharat 'Adi Parv', before the Pandavs, Khandoban (Indraprasth) was the capital of the Takshak rulers. They created obstacles in the way of construction of the capital by Pandavs. Finally, these people were defeated, rendered homeless and driven out.
They went and settled down in Taxila (Takshashila). In the battle of Mahabharat they joined the Kauravs and killed king Parikshit. They founded Takshakkhad (Tashkand) and Takshaksthan (Turkistan).
At present Takshal and Tokas gotras are found among the Jats in five villages near Delhi. The Takshak Jats is found spread all over Northern India, Pakistan and Central Asia. (Tokas is found also in Romania).
Tartar
and Nag connection :
The
Takshak of Punjab :
As a matter of fact, totem tradition was a peculiarity of indigenous people of ancient India. As such these Takshakas or Nagas used to worship serpents and at certain occasions wore artificial hoods of cobra on their heads, hence were called serpents or Nagas. These people, in origin were inhabitants of Panjab or Indus Valley. Still three parts of this land are known as Taka, Majha (Madra) and Malava, which were ruled by three royal families or blood relatives of the same names. Malava is Southern part of Satluj river, land between Beas and Jhelam in general, is known as Majha and whole North-Western part beyond Jhelam or present Pakistan is known as Taka. This Taka is named after the name of royal family of Taka. One province of Afghanistan is still called Takhar. Name of their tribe was Andhra.
The name of Takshak Nag first appears in the Mahabharat as opponent of Pandavs. Hence, this seems to be one of the most ancient royal families of Naga race, who gave birth to the most of the Naga royal families of ancient India. Their capital was Taka-shar (Taki or Takka-war) near Sialkot. Cunningham mentions other names of this city as Taki and Asurar (of Assyrians). Their ancient traditional capital was Takshashila. H. L. Kosare after Mahabharat informs that Aratts had their three branches Takka, Vahika and Jertika.
In Mahabharat, the family Gotra of Takas has been given Karpati and among them, along with the Malavas of Rajasthan and Panjab, Panch-karpatis also have been included. These were people of republic society. It seems that they were relatives of their nearest neighbourers, the Malavas. These Malavas used to worship Karkota Nag, hence Takas were also believed to be worshipers of above deity. They later shifted from Panjab to Rajasthan and settled there in the east. It is clear that Takas were republicans or guild or Sangh people. They had their two other families or blood relatives Malavas and Madras and their Gotra was Karpati.
Madras were called Vahik and Jertik. Hemchandra, in his Abhidhan Chintamani (lV-25) has equated Vahiks with Takas. These Takas were Vahika Nagas, therefore Vahikas, Jertikas and Madras were also Nagas and all the four Naga tribes were blood relatives of Aratts . There was a tribal confederacy of Taka Nagas in Panjab that is why the Panjab was known as Taka-Mulka or Taka-country as mentioned by Hieuntsang. It is obvious that Vahikas were from Taka family.
Some scholars think these Jertikas were Jats. Taka or Takshaks and Vahiks appear in the Mahabharat period (950 B.C.) where as Kushans, the progenitors of Jats appear on the horizon of history about 1000 ears later, as invaders from North. On the other hand Jat is the name of a gotra of Taka kshatriyas. Dr Naval Viyogi hence on this basis concludes that above Jat is not related to Jat caste or Kushans but Takas. Jat in the Nagavansh were already there on the Indian soil. This is also confirmed from presence of large number of Jat Gotras originated from Nagavansh.
It has been observed, that ancient inscriptions in the Pali or Buddhist character have been discovered in various parts of Rajasthan of the race called Tastas , Takshak and Tak relating to the tribes, the Mori (or Maurya) Parmar their descendants. Nagas and Takshakas are synonymous appellation in Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshak is the celebrated Nagavansh of the early heroic history of India. The Mahabharat describes in its usual allegorical style the war between the Pandavs of Indraprasth and the Takshak of the North. The assassination of Parikshit by the Takshak and the exterminating warfare carried on against them by his son and successor, Janmejay, who at last compelled them to sign tributary engagements, divested of its allegory, is plain historical fact. Their warfare lasted for a longer period, ultimately progeny of Pandavs had to leave Hastinapur while the city was washed away in a terrible flood of the river Ganga at about 800 B.C. Later on it was taken over by the Nagas.
"In the Bhavishya Puran." According to James Tod "Prince Sahastra-Arjun is termed as Chakravartin or paramount sovereign. It is said that he conquered Karkotak of the Takshak, Turushka or snake race and brought with him the population of Mahishmati and founded Hemnagar in the North India, on his expulsion from his dominions on the Narbud. Traditional legends of this prince yet remain on the Narbud, where he is styled "Sahastrabahu or with a thousand arms," figurative of his numerous progeny. The Takshak or snake race, here alluded to, will engage our attention. The name of animals in early time, planets and things inanimate, all furnished symbolic appellations for various races."
It is evident that race of Takshak, being at the entry gate of India in North West not only suffered at the hand of invaders from North and West but also those from South.
From the Mahabharat account, Son of Takshak was Ashwasen who was saved by Indra, while Khandvavan was put into flame by Pandav Arjun (1000 BC-950 BC).
It seems that there was also possession of Nagas over Gandhar country in the time of Parshvanath, because Nagjit or Naget, the king of Gandhar, has been said to be the follower of Parashwanath. Perhaps this Naga king Nagjit would have been related to Takshak since country of Gandhar or Takshashila was their main centre of rule from remote past. We know that the primogenitor of Naga, according to Mahabharat was Rajrishi Kashyap, who was national guru of Parswanath also.
During the life time of Buddh (567-487 BC), Takshashila was the capital of Gandhar country or the modern Kandhar. Then, the king of Gandhar was Pukkusati, who is said to have sent an embassy and a letter to king Bimbisara of Magadh. He was a follower of Buddh. He died in his old age on his first and last trip to Magadh, a week after his meeting with Buddh.
Like Nand dynasty, Taka family also suffered at the hands of Puranic Chronicles. Contemporary Purans have ignored pedigree and chronology of this family in general. However we have traced out a very handful names from different sources; when Alexander invaded India (325 BC) he found the Paraitakai, the mountain (Pahar) Tak, inhabiting the Paropamisos range; nor is it by any means unlikely that Taxiles [Arrian says that his name was Omphis (Ambhi)]. Hence, perhaps (from Tak), the name of Indus Attok, not Atak or forbidden according to modern signification the ally of the Macedonian king, was the chief of the Takas; and in the early history of the Bhatti prince of Jaisalmer, when driven from Zabulistan, they dispossessed the Takas on the Indus, and established themselves in their land the capital of which was called Salivahanpur. It is by no means unlikely that Salivahan or Salbhan (who was a Takshak) the conqueror of the Tuar Vikram, was of the very family dispossessed by the Bhattis who compelled them to migrate to the South.
These Taks or Takshaks, whose chief was Omphis or Ambhi, was a snake worshiper tribe as noted by the Greek historian M.C. Crindle. He reproduces as such,
"They
found in many of them besides other animals, a snake, which the
Indians regarding as sacred, kept in a cave and worshiped with much
devotion. The Indians accordingly with every kind of entreaty implored
Alexander to let no one molest the animal, and he consented to this
(Strabo XV-1-28). Now when the army was marching past the cave the
snake heard the sound that arose (that kind of animal being very
sharp both of hearing and sight) and hissed so loud and emitted
such gusts of rage that everyone was terrified and quite confounded.
It was said to be seventy cubits long, and yet the whole of it was
not seen, except its head that projected from the cave its eyes,
moreover are reported to have equaled the size of the large round
Mecedonian shield."
The ancient inscriptions in the Pali Buddhist character have been discovered in various parts of Rajasthan of the race of Taxak or Tak, relating to the tribe Mori and Parmar are their descendants. Taxak Mori was the lord of Chittor from very early period.
The Huna Kingdom of Sialkot (of Mihir Kula 515-540 AD), destroyed by Yashodharman, was subsequently seized by a new dynasty of kshatriyas called Tak or Taxaka. The Taxak Mori as being lords of Chittor from very early period and few generations after the Guhilots supplanted the Moris, this palladium of Hindu liberty was assailed by the arms of Islam. (725-35) we find amongst the numerous defenders who appear to have considered the cause of Chittor their own the Tak from Asirgarh. This race appears to have retained possession of Asirgarh for at least two centuries after this event as its chieftain was one of the most conspicuous leaders in the array of Prithvi Raj. In the poems of Chandar he is called the "Standard, bearer, Tak of Asir."
Tokas
in world history :
In
Rajatarangini :
Taxak
and Jats :
Ram Sarup Joon quotes Todd, who writes that the Chauhan King Anhal I, who ruled 39 generations before Prithvi Raj was a Takshak.
James
Tod on Taxak :
Tak
or Takshak :
Abulghazi makes Taunak1 the son of Turk or Targetai, who appears to be the Turushk of the Purans, the Tukyuks of the Chinese historians, the nomadic Tokhari of Strabo, who aided to overturn the Greek kingdom of Bactria, and gave their name to
1
Abulghazi [Hist, of the Turks, Moguls, and Tartars, 1730, i. 5 f
.] says, when Noah left the ark he divided the earth amongst his
three sons : Shem had Iran : Japhet, the country of ' Kuttup Shamach,'
the name of the regions between the Caspian Sea and India. There
he lived two hundred and fifty years. He left eight sons, of whom
Turk was the elder and the seventh Camari, supposed the Gomer of
Scripture. Turk had four sons ; the eldest of whom was Taunak, the
fourth from whom was Mogul, a corruption of Mongol, signifying sad,
whose successors made the Jaxartes their winter abode. [The word
means ' brave ' (Howorth, Hist, of the Mongols, i. 27).] Under his
reign no trace of the true religion remained : idolatry reigned
everywhere. Aghuz Khan succeeded. The ancient Cimbri, who went west
with Odin's horde of Jats, Chattis, and Su , were probably the tribes
descended from Camari, the son of Turk.
It has been already observed, that ancient inscriptions in the Pali or Buddhist character have been discovered in various parts of Rajasthan, of the race called Tasta, Takshak, and Tak, relating to the tribes, the Mori or Maurya, Pramar, their descendants.
Naga and Takshak are synonymous appellations in Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshak is the celebrated Nagvansh of the early heroic history of India. The Mahabharat describes, in its usual allegorical style, the wars between the Pandavs of Indraprasth and the Takshaks of the north. The assassination of Parikshit by the Takshak, and the exterminating warfare carried on against them by his son and successor, Janamejaya, who at last compelled them to sign tributary engagements, divested of its allegory,3 is plain historical fact.
1.
Tacash continued to be a proper name with the great Khans of Kharizm
(Chorasmia) until they adopted the faith of Muhammad. The father
of Jala, the foe of Jenghiz Khan, was named Tacash. Tashkent on
the [Jaxartes], the capital of Turkistan, may be derived from the
name of the race. Bayer says, "Tocharistan was the region of
the Tochari, who were the ancient Tochari, or Tacharoi." Amraianus
Marcellinus says, "many nations obey the Bactrians, whom the
Tochari surpass" (Hist. Beg. Bad. p. 7).
The calculated period of the invasion of the Takshaks, or Nagvansh, under Sheshnag, is about six or seven centuries before the Christian era, at which very period the Scythic invasion of Egypt and Syria, " by the sons of Togarmah riding on horses " (the Ashwas, or Asi), is alike recorded by the prophet Ezekiel and Diodorus. The Abu Mahatma calls the Takshaks " the sons of Himachal," all evincing Scythic descent ; and it was only eight reigns anterior to this change in the Lunar dynasties of India, that Parsvanath, the twenty-third Buddha [Jain Tirthankar], introduced his tenets into India, and fixed his abode in the holy mount Sarnet.
2. amidst the ravines of the Chambal, the tract called Gujargarh, a district inhabited by the Gujar tribe. Turbulent and independent, like the sons of Esau, their hand against every man and every man's hand against them, their nominal prince, Surajmall, the Jat chief of Bharatpur, pursued exactly the same plan towards the population of these villages, whom they captured in a night attack, that Janamejay did to the Takshaks : he threw them into pits with combustibles, and actually thus consumed them ! This occurred not three-quarters of a century ago.
1.
Arrian says that his name was Omphis [Ambhi], and that his father
dying at this time, he did homage to Alexander, who invested him
with the title and estates of his father Taxiles. Hence, perhaps
(from Tak), the name of the Indus, Attak; [?] not Atak, or ' forbidden,'
according to modern signification, and which has only been given
since the Muhammadan religion for a time made it the boundary between
the two faiths. [All these speculations are valueless.]
This ancient race, the foe of Janamejaya and the friend of Alexander, closed its career in a blaze of splendour. The celebrity of the kings of Gujarat will make amends for the obscurity of the Taks of modern times, of whom a dynasty of fourteen kings followed each other in succession, commencing and ending with the proud title of Muzaffar. It was in the reign of Muhammad, 3 son of the first Tughlak, that an accident to his nephew Firoz proved the dawn of the fortunes of the Tak ; purchased, however, with the change of name and religion. Saharan the Tak was the first apostate of his line, who, under the name of Wajihu-1-mulk, concealed both his origin and tribe. His son, Zafar Khan, was raised by his patron Firoz to the government of Gujarat, about the period when Timur invaded India. Zafar availed himself of the weakness of his master and the distraction of the times, and mounted the throne of Gujarat under the name of Muzaffar. 4 He was assassinated by the hand of his grandson, Ahmad, who changed the ancient capital, Anhilwara, for the city founded by himself, and called Ahmadabad, one of the most splendid in the east. With the apostasy of the Tak,5 the name appears to have
1.
This is the celebrated fortress in Khandesh, now in the possession
of the British.
Inscriptions
about Takshak and Jats by Col Tod :
Taxak
Khap :
Tokas
Bhat :
Distribution
in Haryana :
He was also an Education Inspector with Birla Institute Pilani. He starting Basic Education Schools with help of Birla Trust in every village of Luharu- Jind state now parts of new district Bhiwani.
He was Education minister in PEPSU Patiala State in Sardar Gyan Singh Radewala Ministry. He done a great job in the field of Rural Education. He founded Birhi teacher training school and Art craft teacher training in Arya Hindi Maha Vidyalaya Charkhi Dadri. Takshak or Tokas also live in village Chhapar teh. & distt. Jhajjar.
They are also in Silanigaon, Lahiki Hasanpur (Near Hodal) on Palwal to Sohan Road. They are in villages Tawadu, Dudholi Village Tehsil Punhana, Gudda-Guddi (Nihalgarh), Shekhpur, Vasi, Pataudi Goyal, Rawat, Ambarhai, Galampur, Munda, Kheda, Jhad Setli, Dhul Siras, (Nazafgarh Kharkhadi Raund), Safiabad, Kharkhaud, Sonipat.
Villages
in Jhajjar District :
Villages
in Palwal District :
Villages
in Mewat District :
Villages
in Sonipat District :
Villages
in Rewari District :
Budoli, Teekla.
Villages
in Bhiwani District :
Distribution
in Rajasthan :
Ambabari (Jaipur), Murlipura Jaipur, Chhapra Khurd (250).
Villages
in Alwar district :
Villages
in Jodhpur district :
Villages
in Bharatpur district :
Villages
in Bundi district :
Villages
in Nagaur district :
Khur Khura Kalan, Kurdaya, Marwar Mundwa.
Villages
in Pali district :
Digarna (200)
Distribution
in Madhya Pradesh :
Source :
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