Jadeja
The Jadeja (also spelled Jarejo) (Gujarati: ) is a Gujarati Rajput clan who claim to be descended from the legendary Jamshed of Iran. They also claim descent from Lord Krishna. They originated from pastoral communities and laid a claim on the Rajput identity after marriages with Sodha Rajput women by adopting a process called Rajputisation. History. Oral sources place the emergence of the Jadejas as being in the late 9th century when kingdoms were established in parts of Kutch and Saurashtra by Lakho Ghuraro and Lakho Phulani who in turn were descendents of Jam Jada, the progenitor of the clan . However, available written sources place the emergence of the Jadejas in the 14th century. After the Arab conquest of Sindh, various migrant communities from Sindh as well as Arab merchants settled in Kutch. Historian Anisha Saxena suggests that the Jadejas were Hindu branches of the Samma dynasty of Sindh whose leaders, like other Sammas, had adopted the title of Jam, and had settled in Kutch. This view is also advanced by Rushbrooke, who also suggests that Sammas were Hindu and might have migrated to resist conversion to Islam. An alternative view is that the Sammas were a pastoral community from  which the Jadejas originated. Sociologist Lyla Mehta argues, that the Jadeja were the Hindu descendants of a Muslim tribe that had migrated from Sindh to Kutch. Once the Jadejas gained political power, they started "modelling themselves" after the Rajputs of Rajasthan and even married Rajput women in the process and adopted the Rajput customs. Jadeji Rani Kamabai, the sister of Jam Khengarji I of Kutch, was married to Sultan Mahmud Shah I (Bhegada). Khengar was raised to the title of Rao, and was granted the state of Morvi, later in 1538, by the Sultan of Gujarat. Mujahid Khan II, the  ruler of Palanpur was married to a Jadeja lady Manbai. This mixture of Muslim and Rajput blood among the rulers of Palanpur was the reason behind the popularity enjoyed by them. He then constructed a Mansarovar tank, named after her. A Jadeja dynasty ruled the princely state of Kutch between 1540 and 1948, at which time India became a republic. This state had been formed by king Khengarji I, who gathered under him twelve Jadeja noble landowning families, who were also related to him, as well as two noble families of the Waghela tribe. Khengarji and his successors retained the  allegiance of these "Bhayat" (chieftains) until the mid-18th century. They claimed legendary descent from Krishna. However, historians state that such claims of illustrious descent though common among Rajput clans have no historical basis. Among other territories or princely states ruled by Jadeja before independence of India, were Dhrol, Malia, Morvi, Rajkot, Nawanagar, and Virpur. Culture. Social Norms. Although British officials found the tradition distasteful, the Jadeja's high social status and the rigid caste system that forbade intermarriage with lower social groups contributed to the community's tradition of female infanticide because it was difficult and costly to arrange suitable  marriages for female offspring, with substantial dowries often being required. The Jadejas believed that a Rajput man could only marry a woman from a Rajput clan below him, and a Rajput father could only give his daughter's hand in marriage to a Rajput caste above him. To intermarry within the clan was considered incest. Since the Jadejas were the highest Rajput clan in Saurashtra and Kutch, they had no Rajput clans to give their daughters to and thus practiced female infanticide. When the British outlawed female infanticide, Jadeja chiefs began letting their daughters live and married them to other  Rajput chiefs of equal status. The practice continues to some degree today, although where modern facilities are available it may take the form of female foeticide. Layla Mehta, a sociologist, who made studies in Kutch in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, noticed a trend in Jadejas that was unusual for other communities. In gender-based labour such as fetching water, while other communities sent women and girls to fetch the water, the Jadeja men fetched the water from the well and exercised clout at the wells and intimidated many women and girls there. This exception of men fetching  the water for the household was due to the custom of "ojjal", which barred Jadeja women from being in public. German scholar Helene Basu claims that the Jadeja Rajputs of Gujarat were labelled as 'half Muslim' and the cooks who worked in their homes were slaves from the Siddi community. Religion. The principal deity of the Jadejas was Ashapura Mata (Hope-Giving Mother).