NAGAR BRAHHMIN HISTORY COLLECTION

Nagar History                                      

Nagars are believed to be one of the oldest of the Brahmin groups.Historians claim the origin of Nagars to be purely Aryan, having come to India from Southern Europe and Central Asia.

They migrated through the Hindu Kush to either Trivishtapa or Tibet; later through Kashmir and settled around Kurukshetra.

 Current research speculates the Aryan origin to be Hatak, where the predominant deity is Hatak, Hatkesh or Hatkeshwar.

 According to the Skandapurana, the land of Hatkeshwar was a gift from Lord Shiva for the Nagars to colonize.

 This after Lord Shiva created Nagars to celebrate his marriage to Uma.

Legend has it, this land (along with money) was awarded to the Nagars by King Chamatkar of Anarta for having saved his life.

 According to the story, the King was out on a hunt when he killed a deer suckling her young.

The deer placed a curse on the King. As a result of the curse, the King developed leukoderma. In the area, lived a small village of Brahmins, who, with the use of herbs, cured the King of his illness.

 King Chamatkar was thankful and offered them, as a reward, money and land. The Brahmins were men of high principle and believed in austere living; they refused the Kings offerings.

The queen then went to the village and spoke with the wives of the Brahmin

She persuaded 68 of the 72 into accepting the offer. The four who refused, left the village for the Himalayas with their family. Those who remained are called the founders of the Nagar family descendant identity or “Gotra”.

Another version of the legend claims the King of Anarta rebuilt an abandoned city, Chamatkarpur, and consecrated a temple to Hatkeshwar to show his gratitude to the Brahmins.

Through the years, and many name changes, the town is currently known as Vadnagar. The inhabitants of the city were known as Nagars.

As time passed, the city of Vadnagar was invaded on more than one occasion. Nagars sought refuge in the nearby areas of Saurashtra and Rajasthan. During this time, they did their best to observe and preserve the code, to guard their identity.

After King Vishaldev conquered Gujarat (around A.C.E. 1040), the King of Ajmer established the cities of Vishnagar (formerly Vishalnagar), Chitrod (or Chitakutpati), Prashnipur, Krashnor, and Sathod (or Shatpad). He offered these cities to the Brahmins who were descendants or an offshoot of the Nagars from Vadnagar.

 “Nagar Samaj”

In mythology, the origin of Nagars is linked to the marriage of Lord Shiv to Uma. Lord Shiva created a sect of Brahmins to perform his marriage with Uma and asked these Brahmins to settle in the Hatkeshwar kshetra.
Another tale depicting the origin of Nagars goes telling the story of a Brahmin boy Kratha who was once roaming about Nag Lok-Nag Tirth the abode of Nags (Serpents) and while roaming he happen into a confrontation with Rudamal - the Nag prince.
Rudamal was killed in the confrontation. Enraged by the killing of his son, the Nag King vowed to destroy the entire community of the killer of his son and in the process invaded the town, which is believed to be the present day Vadnagar, where Kratha- the Brahmin boy, lived. Several of the Brahmin families living in the town were killed and several families fled the town.
The fleeing Brahmin families took refuge with Trijat, a great saint and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Trijat advised the Brahmins to worship and please Lord Shiva, which they did. Lord Shiva, however, expressed his inability in destroying the Nags as they were also his devotees.
 He however, blessed the Brahmins with the powers with the help of which the Brahmins could nullify the poison of the Nags.

 The Brahmins returned to their town with the blessings of Lord Shiva and were called Nagars - Na-Gar, i.e. without any poison. (The Nagar community is therefore also revered as the most sacred among the Brahmins as they do not possess any poison in them in the form of any evils.) However, when the Brahmins returned to their town they had grown very old (vriddha) and therefore the town was known as Vriddha Nagar or the city of the old. The name later became Vadnagar. Incidentally, Lord Krishna was also referred to as Nag-Har since he destroyed Kaliya in the river Yamuna.

Another similar story says that the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur were frequently persecuted by the community of Naags. It is believed^[ that a child widow named Bhattika was kidnapped by them. This led to a bitter fight between the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur and Naags.
It happened during the reign of King Prabhanjna. A son was born in his house at an inauspicious time. At his request, the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur performed a sacrifice for “shanty” (peace) but all they got in return was an epidemic. The Brahmins came to learn from the fire god that some one among them was not pure. One Prabhavdatta wore the cap, went to the forest, practiced penance and propitiated Lord Shiv.

 The Brahmins of Chamatkarpur who were persecuted by Naag community sought shelter from Prabhavdatta, who had now the blessings of Lord Shiv. Lord Shiv gave them the Nagara Mantra by which the Naags could be subdued. The Brahmins of Chamatkarpur thereafter once again fought the Naags and defeated them. They accepted Prabhavdatta as their leader and since then Prabhavdatta is known as Bhartiyajna.
Manshankar Pitamberdas Mehta identifies Prabhanjna of Anarta country with the Kshatrapa ruler of Gujarat, King Rudradaman-II.

 He comes to the conclusion that the fight of the Vadnagara Nagar Brahmins with the Naag community took place in AD 347 and that Vadnagar was regained by the Nagars in AD 348. Hence the significance of the Samvat Year 404 corresponding to AD 348 is invariably referred to by the Vadnagar Nagar Brahmins in the Uptamani, which is read at the end of the Marriage ceremony. It is said  that a man of a very low caste once impersonated a Nagar and married a Nagar girl. When the truth came to the knowledge of the girl, she burnt herself to death. 

After this incident, Prabhavdatta of Bhartiyajna, who had by then laid down special rules and regulations for the benefit of Nagars, declared that no one should have his daughter married without making proper enquiries and thus the custom of reading the Uptamani (the names of the leading members of the two families and other members of the community) came into existence - from Samvat year 404 or AD 348.