Sengar

Sengar are a clan of Rajputs.

'Sengar' Sengar are a clan of Rajputs mainly found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh states of India. One of the 36 clan Rajput Kshatriya. They originated around Sagar and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and are currently found in Bareh (Etawah), Jalaun, Lakhnesar, Ruru or Rudu (U.P.) and Datia (M.P.). Some Sengar clan consider 'The Raja Saheb of Jagmanpur is the hereditary head of all Sengar Rajputs'. According to historical texts on Rajputs, they are the Rishivanshi Rajputs. Rajputs.,

Origin: There are several theories regarding the origin of the Sengar Rajputs, According to A. H. Bingley, Caste, tribes & culture of Rajputs, Ess Ess Publications, 1978 which is also subtantiated by the folklore narratives of Sengar's that they are the descendants of the Rishi (Saint) Shringa and his wife Shanta's. As per the folk traditions Shanta was from Raghuvansha clan and was princess of Raghukul, therefore, the son of Rishi Shringa and Shanta became a Rishivansha Kshtriya. Henceforth, 'Sengar' clan of Rajputs which is of 'Shringya' or its further dileanation into 'Sengar', thus, 'Sengar'are considered to be Rishivanshi Kshtriyas.

Another Rajput tradition believes that Sengar come from Gautam gotra, where rishi Gautam who is one of the seven Saptarishi was their ancestor, therefore, Sengar claim to have Gautam gotra.,

According to the Medieval Chroniclers, Sengar were a warrior clan which geographically occupied the Central terrain of Bundelkhand region of North Indian Gangetic plains. This community being active in the tributary region of Central and Northern India lived besides a river which they call Sengar River, besides the catchment area of the river there were/are four royal seats of Sengar Rajput Clan namely; Jagmanpur, Kursi, Ruruganj and Jalaun. Thus, with their geographical location ancestral tales they are known as Sengar.

Historical Traditions: References of Sengar's are found in Puranas, Awadhi, Persian and English sources. They are said to be, dominating the region of Central UP and Northern MP, Eastern parts of UP in Baliya and few parts of Western UP in Agra, Aligarh and Etawah regions. Predominately their ancestral lands and former jagirdari families could be found in Etawah, Jalaun, Auraiya and Baliya districts of UP and in Jhansi, Datia, Gwalior and Morena districts of M.P.

According to certain records, Sengar's also ruled in the Burdwan area during the reign of Pala and later Afghan dynasties in Bengal.

Sengar's reference as warring rajput comes in Lodi era when they safeguarded their territories against Delhi sultunate and fought against Babur's military campaigns.They also remained one important segment of population when land reforms were carried out by Emperor Akbar in the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India.,

They also fought against Britishers while maintaining their land rights and territorial regime in areas of Lakhnesar or Baliya in nineteenth century,

In what is now Uttar Pradesh, the principal town of the Lakhnesar pargana during the medieval period was Rasra. When the Sengars opposed British activities in 1812, Colonel Martindell came with a troupe of sepoys to quell them, but the Sengars attacked the marching sepoys on Great Deccan Road and several sepoys were killed. The Sengars then plundered the area. This act of attacking British forces by Sengars is categorised as a part of freedom movement.

In eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Bundelkhand, an area that is now split between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the Sengars were among those communities that practised infanticide and, in particular, female infanticide.

More Research Awaited: Unfortunately a serious research exclusively on the Sengar community is awaited, the folk traditions and genaology histories give their complete account, however, a formal academic research is awaited although qualitative reference about this clan is available in reliable references. Certain attempts for their history is made through the publications and internet logs, but a good standard work is awaited.

At present Sengar's are found all over South Asian continent and some of their families are living in European and American continents as well. Hence, a scholarly work on natives and diaspora cultures of Sengar will be worth doing. Specially when Sengar's have created their name in almost all field of human excellence.

Further reading

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1. Ram Chandra Tiwari, Settlement system in rural India: a case study of the lower Ganga-Yamuna doab, Allahabad Geographical Society, 1984 2.Saiyad Hasan Ansari, Evolution and Spatial Organization of Clan Settlements: A Case Study of Middle Ganga Valley, Concept Publishing Company, 1986 3. Subhash Chandra Malik, Dissent, Protest, and Reform in Indian Civilization, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1977 4. Ramanand Vidya Bhawan, The Indian Historical Quarterly, Volume 3, Issues 1-2, 1985 5. A. H. Bingley, Caste, tribes & culture of Rajputs, Ess Ess Publications, 1978 6.Dewayne Rocky Aloysius, Sengar, Populpublishing, 2012 7. A. H. Bingley, Handbook on Rajputs, Asian Educational Services, 01-Dec-1996 8. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier,Trans. by By Valentine Ball, Travels in India, Volume 1, P.114-115 9. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 47, By Asiatic Society (Kolkata, India), Asiatic Society of Bengal-1878, P.377

Internet Sources: 1. http://www.we-indians.com/2010/09/13/history-of-sengar-rajputs/ 2. http://www.indianrajputs.com/view/jagmanpur 3. http://rajputwada.hpage.co.in/sengar-rajputs-history_91620928.html 6. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5739264&fileId=S0035869X00026848 7. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25208129?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents