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The Suryavanshi Rajputs of Gaur are descendants of the Rajput Pala Dynasty which ruled ancient Bengal, then known as Gaur. Its capital was Lakshmanabati, named after the Pala king Lakshman Pal, under whose patronage the first literary work in Bengali, “Geet Govindam”, was composed by the Bengali poet Jayadeva (circa 1200 AD). Some old texts of the British raj refer to the Pala rajputs as Gour or Gaur Rajputs. Government gazettes of the British era have references to Gaur Zamindars in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Gotra:

Bhardwaj

Ved:

Yajurved

Kuldevi:

Mahakali

Ishta:

Hridradev

Colonel Tod remarks of this tribe : " The Gaur tribe was once respected in Rajasthan, though it never there attained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal were of this race, and gave their name to the capital, Lakhnauti." This town in Bengal, and the kingdom of which it was the capital, were known as Gauda, and it has been conjectured that the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs were named after it. Sir H. M. Elliot and Mr. Crooke, however, point out that the home of the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs and a cultivating caste, ^ Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Gaharwar. '^ See art. Rajput, Bundela.

the Gaur Tac^as, is in the centre and west of the United rrovinces, far removed from Bengal ; the Gaur Brahmans now reside principally in the Meerut Division, and between them and Bengal is the home of the Kanaujia Brfdimans. General Cunningham suggests that the country comprised in the present Gonda District round the old town of Sravasti, was formerly known as Gauda, and was hence the origin of the caste name.^ The derivation from Gaur in Bengal is perhaps, however, more probable, as the name was best known in connection with this tract.

The Gaur Rajputs do not make much figure in history. " Repeated mention of them is found in the wars of Prithwi Raj as leaders of considerable renown, one of whom founded a small state in the centre of India. This survived through seven centuries of Mogul domination, till it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of the British over the Marathas, when Sindhia in 1809 annihilated the power of the Gaur and took possession of his capital, Supur." " In the United Provinces the Gaur Rajputs are divided into three groups, the Bahman, or Brahman, the Bhat, and the Chamar Gaur. Of these the Chamar Gaur, curiously enough appear to rank the highest, which is accounted for by the following story : When trouble fell upon the Gaur family, one of their ladies, far advanced in pregnane}^ took refuge in a Chamar's house, and was so grateful to him for his disinterested protection that she promised to call her child by his name