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C.T.A.E. College (Udaipur): see COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING.
Carans (court poets): see CHARANS.
Castes of Mewar. India's caste system began with the prehistoric Vedic division of Aryan society into four 'honourable' classes with rules of conduct and behaviour: priests (Brahmans), nobles and warriors (Kshatriyas), and the common people as distinguished from the nobility (Vaisyas), which included both farmers and artisans. These were augmented by the slaves or servants (Sudras); a fifth group were the Untouchables who had no caste, and performed the most menial and degrading jobs. Mahatma Gandhi tried to bring the Untouchables into society by renaming them Harijans (Children of God). At one time, to have an Untouchable use the same temple as a high caste Hindu, or to touch him, even to have his shadow cast across the high caste's path, was considered to be a pollution and involved a rigorous series of rituals for the victim to be cleansed. Progressive evolution of caste may be traced to a desire of priests and nobles to make their own superior position more permanent. Later it was extended by invading Aryans who felt themselves superior to indigenous pre-Aryan Indians. Among the higher ranks were Rajputs, Jains, and Brahmans, who were (and still are) prominent in business, administration and politics. Among the lower ranks were the tribals: the native Bhils, Meenas, and Garasias. Although caste division was made illegal in 1947 when India became independent, discrimination still exists in many areas, particularly among those who have little education.
Celebration of Festivals, part of the Commercial Division of the MAHARANA MEWAR INSTITUTION TRUST. It supplies equipment and supplies for festivals that are celebrated within the City Palace complex.
chabutra, (Hindi) a platform or an altar, often of stone. The most famous chabutra in Mewar is that of Chetak, Maharana Pratap Singh I's noble steed, beside the road leading into the pass where the Battle of HALDIGHATI was fought. This chabutra commemorates the spot where Chetak died, after carrying his master out of danger. (A chhatri is a pillared canopy on the chabutra.)
Chabutra of Sain Das (Chittorgarh): see SAIN DAS.
Chacha (co-assassin of Maharana Mokal): see CHACHA AND MERA.
Chacha and Mera, illegitimate sons of Maharana KSHETRA SINGH (1366-1382) and a carpenter's daughter (one of Kshetra's concubines, Rani Khatan), thus stepbrothers of Maharana LAKHA (1382-1421), and distant uncles of Lakha's son, Maharana MOKAL (1421-1433). According to evidence, they were a rather dissolute pair and the villains in this legend of misinterpretation, though many believe it was the inauguration of a conspiracy to overthrow the throne. One day, the teenage Maharana Mokal was resting with the two uncles in a wooded grove near their stronghold of Madri on the western border with Marwar. Curious about a nearby tree, he asked them, quite innocently, "What tree is that?" Chacha and Mera, so the story goes, considered he had insulted them, sarcastically alluding to their lower-caste 'woody' origins. Later that day, while the 24-year-old king was in the middle of his daily devotions, they felled him with their swords. Thinking one of them might now claim the Mewar throne, the brothers rode back to Chittor, only to find the gates closed upon their ambition. The traitors quickly retreated to the scene of the crime, their fortification at Madri. Mokal's son, KUMBHA, also a minor, came to the throne. Meanwhile, plans had already been set in motion to apprehend his father's assassins. Renewing the alliance between the two kingdoms, the Mewar court called upon the Rao of Marwar for help, Madri being near their common frontier. The Rathore complied and sent a force, led by his son, to Madri. Pre-warned, the depraved brothers fled to a mountain fortress in the Pali district, kidnapping a young virgin along the way. She was the daughter of a Chauhan named Suja, who managed to trace his daughter's whereabouts, and informed the Marwar cavalry. They overran the fort and avenged Mokal's death, swiftly and surely.
Chakasen Dhundera, Prince, of BUNDI. When Bahadur Shah of Gujarat marched on Chittor (see CHITTOR, 2ND SACK), a council convened in the fort determined to save the infant son of the late Maharana SANGRAM SINGH I from the imminent peril. The council sent the infant Udai Singh for safety to his uncle, the Prince of Bundi, Chakasen Dhundera, brother of the boy's mother, Rajmata KARMAVATI.
Chakravarti, (Hindi) King of Kings, Universal Lord, an Emperor; one of the titles the Paramara nobles of Chittor gave to BAPPA RAWAL (734-753) when he became the new king of Chittor and established the Mewar Dynasty.
Chamars, untouchables who lived on the outskirts of a village and skinned dead animals. They were not allowed to drink water from the village well or go to the temples. See also BALAHI.
Chambal River: see NATURAL FEATURES OF MEWAR.
Chamunda Devi, a manifestation of the goddess DURGA. A temple to the goddess is near the seventh gate into Kumbhalgarh, Nimbu Pol (Lemon Gate).
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