Agrasen
Maharaja
PredecessorMaharaja Vallabh
SuccessorShail
ConsortNandini
IssueVibhu
HouseRaghuvansham
Dynasty
FatherMaharaja Vallabh
MotherBagwati Devi

Agrasen was a legendary Indian king of Agroha, a city of traders. He is one of the descendants of the Hindu deity, Shri Ramchandra's elder son, Kusha. He is credited with the establishment of a kingdom of traders in North India named Agroha, and is known for his compassion in refusing to slaughter animals in yajnas. Goddess Mahalakshmi was the Kul Devi (prime goddess) of the Kshatriya king and she also gave her word of bestowing prosperity there for him and his descendants.

The Government of India issued a postage stamp in honour of Agrasen in 1976.[1][2]

Agrasen ki Baoli in Delhi. The current structure was built in the 14th century by the Agrawal community, which traces its origin to King Agrasen.[3] It is believed that the original structure was built by the king Agrasen[4] during the Mahabharat epic era.

Origin of the legend

The Agrasen legend can be traced to Agarwalon ki Utpatti ("Origin of the Agarawals and Agrahari"), an 1871 essay written by Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885), a noted Agrawal author and poet. He claimed to have compiled the legend from "tradition" and "ancient writings", especially a text called Sri Mahalakshmi Vrat Ki Katha. He stated that Sri Mahalakshmi Vrat Ki Katha was contained in the Bhavishya Purana, which exists in several recensions. However, independent researchers have been unable to find the legend in any version of Bhavishya Purana.[5]

In 1976, the Agrawal historian Satyaketu Vidyalankar published a copy of the Mahalakshmi Vrat Ki Katha in his Agrwal Jati Ka Prachin Itihas ("Ancient History of the Agrawal caste"). He stated that he had found this copy in the personal library of Bharatendu Harishchandra. However, the text does not contain any clue about its origin.[5]

Aggarwal gotras

According to Bharatendu Harishchandra's narrative, the Agrawals are divided into seventeen and a half gotras (exogamous clans), which came into being from seventeen and a half sacrifices performed by Agrasen. The last sacrifice is considered "half" because it was abandoned after Agrasen expressed remorse for the violent animal sacrifices. Bharatendu also mentions that Agrasen had 17 queens and a junior queen, but does not mention any connection between these queens and the formation of the gotras. Neither does he explain how sacrifices led to the formation of the gotras.[6]

Historically, there has been no unanimity regarding number and names of these seventeen and a half gotras, and there are regional differences between the list of gotras. In 1983, The Akhil Bhartiya Agrawal Sammelan, a major organization of Agrawals, created a standardized list of gotras by vote, but this list has been controversial.[7] Because the classification of any particular gotra as "half" is considered insulting, the Sammelan provides a list of following 18 gotras:[8]

  1. Bansal
  2. Goyal
  3. Kucchal
  4. Kansal
  5. Bindal
  6. Dharan
  7. Singhal
  8. Jindal
  9. Mittal
  10. Tingal
  11. Tayal
  12. Garg
  13. Bhandal
  14. Nangal
  15. Mangal
  16. Airan
  17. Madhukul
  18. Goyan
Gotra Original Gotra Lord Sage (Rishi) Veda Branch Sutra
Airan/Aeron Aurva Indramal Atri/Aaurva Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayni
Bansal Vatsya Virbhan Vashishth/Vatsa Samaveda Kouthmi/Kauttham Gobhil
Bindal or Vindal Vashishth Vrinddev Yavasya or Vashishtha Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Bhandal Dhoumya Vasudev Bhardwaj Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Dharan or Deran Dhanyas Dhavandev Bhekaar or Ghaumya Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Garg or Gargeya Gargasya Pushpadev Gargacharya or Garg Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Goyal, Goel or Goenka Gomil Gendumal Gautam or Gobhil Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Goyan, Gangal Gautam Godhar Purohit or Gautam Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Jindal Jaimini Jaitrasangh Bruhaspati or Jaimini Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Kansal Kaushik Manipal Kaushik Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Kuchhal, Kuchchal Kashyap Karanchand Kush or Kashyap Samaveda Kosami or Kauttham Komaal
Madhukul/ Mudgal Mudgal Madhavsen Aashvalayan/Mudgal Rigveda/Yajurveda Saalaya/Sakalya Aslayin
Mangal Maandav Amritsen Mudragal/Mandavya Rigveda/Yajurveda Sakalya Asusai
Mittal Maitreya Mantrapati Vishwamitra/Maitreya Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayni
Nangal/Nagal Nagendra Narsev Kaudalya/Nagendra Samaveda Kouthmi/Kauttham Aslayin
Singhal/Singla Shandalya Sindhupati Shringi/Shandilya Samaveda Koyumi/Kauttham Gobhil
Tayal Taitireya Tarachand Saakal/Taitireya Yajurveda/Kri Madhyadini/Aausthambh Kaatyayni
Tingal/Tunghal Taandav Tambolkarna Shandilya/Tandya Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayn

[9]

The existence of all the gotras mentioned in the list is controversial, and the list does not include several existing clans such as Kotrivala, Pasari, Mudgal, Tibreval, and Singhla.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Maharaja Agrasen Dak Ticket Samaroh ki kuchh Yaden, Omprakash Agrawal, Agradhara, Sept 2016, p. 32" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "KCR Praises Vaisyas to Skies, Says The Community Knows Art of Life".
  3. ↑ "Agrasen Ki Baoli". AgrasenKiBaoli.com. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Mittal, J.P. (2006), History of Ancient India (4250 BC to 637 AD) page 675, ISBN 978-81-269-0616-1 (This author considers King Agrasen an actual historical figure)
  5. 1 2 Lawrence A. Babb 2004, p. 199.
  6. ↑ Lawrence A. Babb 2004, pp. 201–202.
  7. ↑ Lawrence A. Babb 2004, pp. 193–194.
  8. ↑ Lawrence A. Babb 2004, p. 192.
  9. ↑ https://aggarwalsamaj.co.in/page/cast/
  10. ↑ Lawrence A. Babb 2004, p. 193.

Bibliography

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