Something more about Maratha Gujjars from the autobiography of famous Social and political worker PK Anna Patil. This Lav Kush theory ( Lewa Gujjar are the descendents of Lav and Khari Gujjars are descendents of Kush the eleder brother and hence sometimes called Badgujjars and today they write a raghav as surname).
See the link.
www.pkannapatil.com/Shri Purushottambhai Kalubhai Patil alias P. K. Anna is now counted as the social and political worker of constructive ideas, a well educated and cultured person from the Gurjar community in the country. He is at present President of the All India Gurjar Community. In different parts of the country Lewa, Lewa Patidar, Kanabi and Kadawa Gujar are the labels given to this community. In Maharashtra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, we come across this community. In Gujrat, Kanabi or Patidar is the label given to this community
Some consider the etymology of the word Lewa as coming from "Luv", the son of Rama from the time of the Ramayana. The wandering poets, as described Bhat, go on narrating the historical pedigree of this Gurjar community all over the states such as Maharashtra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Whatever such wandering poets have compiled in their records about the Gurjar community is the only historical information available today to us about the Gurjars. This record is the only source - Bakhar - to understand the ancestral information of the community. Such records are very important records to understand this community, its traditions and customs, its progress, its believes and blind believes, its various under currents.
This community has two sub-casts such as Lewagujar and Budgujar. In Maharashtra, this community has surnames like Patil, Chaudhari, Patel, Mahajan, etc. It would be worth noting here that the great person who made the independent India one integrated nation and who is rightly known as the Iron Man of India; Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel belongs to this community. Rajesh Pilot and Ramchandra Vikal who have made the most important contribution to the field of agriculture in the independent India and who are the noted politicians belong to this community.
"What is the origin of this Gurjar community? Where does it originally belong?" are the important questions and let us try to solve them first.
In the ancient past on the border of Europe and Asia - which is known as Eurasia - lived a community, which was called as "Khargar". They might have migrated to India with the "Shweta Hunas". Perhaps they might have come to India in the 5th century B.C. via Kabul through the Khaibar pass via North West Province. The noted researcher of the Oriental culture Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar maintains that the Khargars are the Gurjars only. The well-known European historian of the Indian studies Prof. Smith also agrees with this view of Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar. Every one in India accepts Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar's studied views on the Indian history.
Bharatacharya Shri C. V. Vaidya, who is the noted researcher of the Mahabharata, states that the Gurjar community is originally closely related with the descendents of the Aryas. Shri Munshi and Shri Oza agree with this view of Shri Vaidya. This historical conclusion reiterates the statement of Dr. Bhandarkar.
The historian Goatz says that the people called as Rathis, Ranas, Thakurs from Brahmapur in the Chanda state might be originally of the Gurjar community. The second historian Ibetson maintains that the communities like Ahir, Jaat and Gurjar might have developed from the one and the same race.
Shri Dhanaji Jayram Joshi of Jalgaon has a record of the pedigree of the Lewa Gujar community. The caste names of the Gujars recorded in those anal have become later on the surnames in this community. The Lewa Gujars who have come to Maharashtra originally from Gujrat and settled in different places here are known today as the residents - gaokar - of that place. In Maharashtra we find in every community the surnames formed by adding the morpheme "kar" to the name of the village where the community resides. For example . . . Madgul + kar = Madgulkar, Niphad + kar = Niphadkar, Velan + kar = Velankar, etc.
In the same way, the Muchhaldevas came from Muchhaldev and settled at the village Nalave. The Punashas came from the village Punasha to Khandesh and settled at Surasamala in Nemad.
We come across several names in the Gurjar community like Chhaloga, Botha, Thapkari, Chachnya, Dugaya, Vatsavya, Saurashya, Sakharya, Patalya, Samatsalya, Piladarya, Chalotrya, Ajawya, Bharadya Lewa, Vatogadarya, Salotrya, Chalotra, Rajaveray, Gahedar, Bhatanya, Surajvansha, Kanhava, Kasaba, Chaudharya, Laterya, Bhamorya, Samalya, Unhalya, Ratadya, Khatarya, Tokarya, Shemosarya, Malgaya, Thepadya, Bavedya, Patvarya, Mokati, Lambdadhya, Aavya, Kardava, Malavya. In Gujrat we find several villages today also having such names. Several of the names in the above have the ending as "rya". It needs further research to ascertain whether this "rya" in the Gurjari language is identical with the Marathi suffix "kar".
As this ancestral record of the Gurjar community is the only available record today, the Marathi book "Lewapuran" is the only written work available on this Gurjar community. This book was printed in 1918 in the press Induprakash at Bombay and it has 236 pages. Shri Vithhal Keshav Kanhave, Utrankar Maharaj has translated it in to Marathi with the prior permission of the Dunkeshwar Merchants' Union of Dakor. This "Lewapuran" has been further modified by adding to it the information about the Gurjar community as its last part. The Vaidik Pandit Govind Parshuram Shastri Raverkar has rectified the original "Lewapuran" and has made it up-to-date.
There are four sections in this "Lewapuran". As per the information available in this work, the Lewa Gurjar Community seems to be originally belonging to Gujrat state. It might have migrated to the East Khandesh and Nemad before thousands of years from Gujrat.
We come across the following lines in the book "Shrigovindmaharaj" compiled by Totarammaharaj in 1860:
"Brahmins have become modest
The Somavansha bhatas have praised them,
Blessings have been given,
All have been glorified by that!"
From the phrase "Somavansha wakhanile", it can be easily inferred that the Lewa Gurjars might be the descendents of the "Chandravanshis". According to the Mahabharata, even Kauravas and Pandavas reciding in the valley of the Ganga and Yamuna i.e. Brahmavarta are also the "Chandravanshiyas".
As far as the standard reference works are concerned, the 'Puranas' are treated as the reference books of secondary importance. Most of the 'Puranas' are full of religious rituals and imaginary Hindu sanskaras. As such, this "Lewapuran" should also be taken with maximum care as the reference book to understand the origin of the Gurjar community, especially to write and understand the biography of Shri P. K. Anna. As this "Lewapuran" mentions, the Gurjar community has the gotras like Parashar, Prag, Bharadwaj, Gautam, Vasishtha, Mandavya, Harita, Aatreya, Kashyapa, etc.
