Gandhavariya
{{Short description|Rajput Clan in Bihar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
The Gandhavariya (also known as Gandhawariya and Gandhawaria) are a Rajput clan based in northern Bihar. In past they ruled over parts of Madhepura district{{Cite book|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/1011_PART_B_DCHB_MADHEPURA.pdf|title=District Census Handbook, Madhepura|publisher=Directorate of Census Operations, Bihar|year=2011|pages=11}} and Saharsa district during medieval times after the decline of the Oiniwar Dynasty.{{Cite book|url=http://lrc.bih.nic.in/Gazetteer/Saharsa/chapter-II.pdf|title=History- General|page=35|access-date=21 October 2018|archive-date=22 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022071940/http://lrc.bih.nic.in/Gazetteer/Saharsa/chapter-II.pdf|url-status=dead}}
==Origin==
One of the theories put forward about the origins of the Gandhavariyas is that they originate from a branch of the Karnat dynasty of Mithila that remained in the region after the Karnat king, Harisimhadeva fled to Kathmandu following the invasion of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.{{cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283324/page/n567 | title=Origin of the Gandhavaria Rajputs of Mithila | author=P. Pathak | journal=The Journal of the Bihar Puravid Parisad | year=1983 | volume= Vii And Viii | pages=406–420}}
History
The writer Jyotirishwar Thakur recorded the existence of the Gandhavariyas Rajaputas in his 14th century book Varṇa Ratnākara and detailed how they held sway over much of North Bihar.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108178/page/n159 | title=Mithila In The Age Of Vidyapati | publisher=Chaukhambha Orientalia | access-date=14 January 2019 | author=Radhakrishna Choudhary | pages= 131–132}} The traditions of the Gandhavariyas record that prior to their ascendancy in the region, they were engaged in a war with the Bhar who the Gandhavariyas claim to have finished.{{cite book|author=Radhakrishna Choudhary|title=History of Muslim rule in Tirhut, 1206-1765, A.D.|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfMuslimRuleInTirhut|year=1970|publisher=Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfMuslimRuleInTirhut/page/n130 116]}}
The zamindari estate of Sonbarsa Raj was established by Raja Ranjit Singh who belonged to the Gandhavariya clan. They also controlled Baruari and Barail.