Bhilala


The Bhilala are an aboriginal community in the Indian states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, traditionally believed to have originated from the marital union of Rajput warriors and the daughters of Bhil chieftains. They are classified as a Scheduled Tribe in India's system of affirmative action.
Systematic anthropological research of Bhilala communities began in the 1960s with a study of two of their regional subgroups, the Rathwa Bhilala and Barela Bhilala. although they had been recorded as early as 1832. In that year, John Malcolm used the term Bhilala to describe people of Bhil-Rajput descent and his usage has persisted, although in 1908 Michael Kennedy, another colonial administrator, preferred a more refined classification of such people as being any one of Baria, Dangi, Parmar and Rathod. The co-mingling probably has its origins in the medieval period when Rajputs fleeing southwards from the Muslim invasion of India took control of Bhil settlements and married Bhil women.

Chauhan Bhilala

Ater the Ghurid invasion around 200,000 Chauhans migrated to Mewar and after Alauddin Khalji's invasion many fled to the Vindhya hills and married Bhil women. These Chauhans lost their caste and were called Bhilala's. The Chauhan Bhilala's gained importance during the Pindari raids in Central India by enlisting under the Holkar rulers, one of the famous Chauhan Bhilala's during this period was Nadir Singh, the Bhumia of Jamnia.