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Mer, Maher or Mehar (Gujarati: ISO 15919: Mēr, Mahēr, Mēhar Sanskrit: मेर, महेर, मेहर; Gujarati: મેર, મહેર, મેહર; IPA: mer, məher, mehər) is a kshatriya jāti from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in India. They are largely based in the Porbandar district, comprising the low-lying, wetland Ghēḍ and highland Barḍā areas, and they speak a dialect of the Gujarati language. The Mers of the Ghēḍ and Barḍā form two groups of the jāti and together they are the main cultivators in the Porbandar District. Historically, the men served the Porbandar State as a feudal militia, led by Mer leaders. In the 1881 Gazette of the Bombay Presidency, the Mers were recorded numbering at 23,850. The 1951 Indian Census recorded 50,000 Mers. As of 1980 there were estimated to be around 250,000 Mers.

Origin
Mers were once associated with the Maitraka dynasty.[4][15] Sinha suggests that the word Maitraka is an adaption from Mihir, which is in turn an adaption from Mer and does not rule out the possibility that the ruling families of the Maitrakas originated from the Mers.[16]

History
A Mer dynasty existed in Eastern Saurashtra, as noted by an inscription from discovered in Timana in 1207 CE. The ruler Jagamal was a vassal of Bhima II of the Chaulukyas. A further inscription from Mahuva, dated to 1215 CE mentions a Mer king named Ranasimha, proposed to be a successor of Jagamal, in the same area.[2] The Hatasni inscription from 1328 describes the construction of a stepwell by Kuntaraja for the Mer ruler Thepak, who wanted to build a stepwell in his own name as his maternal ancestor Khengar had done. Thepak of the Vakhala family was the son of Rupa, the daughter of Mandalik I had been appointed to rule over Talaja by a Chudasama ruler named Mahisa.[17][18] The Sīsodiyā branch of Mers was formed when the Sisodia Hati Rajputs came from Mewar in Rajasthan to Saurashtra as mercenary warriors and settled at Malia Hatina (Malia of the Hatis) and intermarried with the local Ahirs and Mers.[19]

Clans

 * 1) Sisodiya
 * 2) Keshwala
 * 3) Odedra
 * 4) Rajshakha
 * 5) Vaghela
 * 6) Chauhan
 * 7) Singh
 * 8) Solanki
 * 9) Parmar
 * 10) Chandela
 * 11) Jadav

Society and culture
Bharwads of Jamkhirasara near Bhanvad.[23] Mers keep a variety of weapons including battleaxes, swords, lances, guns and shields. In particular the battleaxe is used as an purpose instrument and is seen as an emblem of manhood.[53]

Religion
Ancient Maher tribes used to practice Buddhism. But later in the medieval period,they started practising Hinduism.

Notable people