rooke states that
some are said to be emigrants from the banks of the Nerbudda; but
the main body say they came from Ajmer in the sixteenth century. They
were notorious in the eighteenth century for their lawlessness, and
gave the imperial Mughal officers much trouble in the neighbourhood
of Agra, rendering the communications between that city and Etawah
insecure. In the Mutiny they broke out again, and are generally a
turbulent, ill-conducted sept, always ready for petty acts of violence
and cattle-stealing. They are, however, recognised as Rajputs of good
position and intermarry with the best clans. [522]

In the Central Provinces the Dhakars are found principally in
Hoshangabad, and it is doubtful if they are proper Rajputs.

Rajput, Gaharwar

_Rajput, Gaharwar, Gherwal_.--This is an old clan. Mr. V.A. Smith
states that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong and
Chhatarpur before the Parihars in the eighth century. The Parihar
kings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. In
their practice of building embankments and constructing lakes the
Chandels were imitators of the Gaharwars, who are credited with the
formation of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand. [523]
And in A.D. 1090 a Raja of the Gaharwar clan called Chandradeva seized
Kanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and established his
authority certainly over Benares and Ajodhia, and perhaps over the
Delhi territory. Govindachandra, grandson of Chandradeva, enjoyed a
long reign, which included the years A.D. 1114 and 1154. His numerous
land grants and widely distributed coins prove that he succeeded to a
large extent in restoring the glories of Kanauj, and in making himself
a power of considerable importance. The grandson of Govindachandra
was Jayachandra, renowned in the popular Hindu poems and tales of
northern India as Raja Jaichand, whose daughter was carried off by
the gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi Raj of Ajmer. Kanauj was finally
captured and destroyed by Shihab-ud-Din in 1193, when Jaichand retired
towards Benares but was overtaken and slain. [524] His grandson,
Mr. Crooke says, [525] afterwards fled to Kantit in the Mirzapur
District and, overcoming the Bhar Raja of that place, founded the
family of the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit Bijaypur, which was recently
still in existence. All the other Gaharwars trace their lineage to
Benares or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharwars in Kantit and
in a lar