| Other Name: | House of Amber |
| Coat Of Arms: | Jaipur State CoA - colourised.svg |
| Coat Of Arms Size: | 200px |
| Parent House: | Kachchhapaghata dynasty |
| Country: | Khoh Jaipur State Alwar State Shekhawati Kohra Estate |
| Founded: | 1028 |
| Founder: | Dulha Rai |
| Current Head: | Padmanabh Singh |
| Final Ruler: | Man Singh II |
| Titles: | Raja of Khoh Maharaja of Amber Raja of Jaipur Raja of Alwar Maharaja of Sirmaur Maharaja of Maihar Maharao of Shekhawati Raja of Talcher Babu of Kohra Subahdar of Bengal Subahdar of Lahore Subahdar of Kabul |
The Kachhwaha, or Kachhawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India.[1] [2]
According to Cynthia Talbot, the meaning of word Kachhwaha is tortoise.[3]
There are numerous theories on the origin of the Kachhwahas. Prominent of those theories are of claiming scion from the Suryavansh and the Kurma Avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Suryavansh Dynasty or Ikshwaku Dynasty or Raghuvansh Dynasty : Kachwaha (Kushwaha) claim descent from Kusha, a son of the avatar of Vishnu, Rama, as expressed by them citing historical documents during the Supreme court of India proceedings on Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.[4] Ish Devji a Kachhwaha Raja of outstanding merit, with his capital at Gwalior, is recorded to have died in 967 A.D. Brahmin genealogists place him as being the three hundred & third generation after Ikshwaku. The Kachhwahas of Amber are descendants of Ish Devji. According to Rima Hooja, the Kachhwahas initially called themselves "Kachhapaghata", "Kachwaha" and "Katsawaha". "Kachawa" word became popular in the late 16th century during the reign of Raja Man Singh. There are many inscriptions and manuscripts which prove this theory, like the ones found in Balvan, Chatsu, Sanganer and Rewasa.[5]
Kachhwaha established their kingdoms in the Dhundhar region of modern Rajasthan in the 11th century. One Kachhwaha Dulha Rai conquered most of the Dhundhar area from Bargujars.[6] [7]
After Dulherai, his son Kakil Deo defeated the Meenas of Amer and made Amer the capital of Dhundhar after Khoh.[8] [9] He also defeated the Ahirs of Dhundhar region and annexed their territories in the battles of Med and Bairath. Bairath is the corrupted name of Viratnagar which has a great significance in Mahabharata.
Raja Pajawan helped Prithviraj Chauhan in his most of the campaigns and conquests. In total, he is credited to have fought 64 battles in his career. He was married to a cousin of Prithviraj Chauhan. He died before the popular Battle of Tarain.
Kachhwaha King Prithviraj Singh I fought along with Rana Sanga at battle of Khanwa. He was married to the daughter of Rao Lunkarna of Bikaner, with all his wives summed to nine, giving birth to 18 sons. One of his sons, Purnamal died fighting with Humayun's brother Hindal in a battle that occurred in 1539 AD.
He was one of the most trusted noble of Akbar. He was the supreme commander of the Mughal forces. He built the Amer Fort. He built and saved a number of Hindu temples.
He built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Benaras, Mathura and Ujjain. He also established Govind Dev Ji temple at Jaipur.