Chaluk or Solanki

The Solanki is a royal Rajput clan that ruled over parts of western and central India from the 10th to the 13th centuries.

History of Solanki

It is said that Brahma created a young man from fire, who held a sword in one hand and the Vedas in the other. This man came to be known as 'Chilonki,' a name derived from the belief that Brahma created the human form and threw it into the fire, where the man was born. Over time, the name was corrupted to 'Milonki' and later to 'Solanki.' Another theory suggests that their original name was Chaluka, meaning 'formed in the palm' (chalu) of Brahma's hand. Though not very prominent in Rajputana, the Solankis were well-known in the Deccan region.

In the Deccan, they were commonly referred to as Chalukya, while in northern India, the name Solanki is more prevalent. As early as AD 350, Pulakesin I, from the Chalukya dynasty, captured the town of Vatapi (modern-day Badami in Bijapur District) and founded a powerful dynasty in southern India, which lasted for two centuries. This dynasty was eventually overthrown by the Rashtrakutas. One of the Chalukya kings successfully defended against an invasion by Harsha Vardhana, the emperor of Kannauj, who sought to conquer all of India.

The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled for two centuries, and in AD 973, Tailapa II, a descendant of the Chalukyas, restored his ancestral family’s glory by founding the Chalukya dynasty of Kalyan, which lasted for over two centuries until AD 1190. In the 10th century, another branch of the Chalukya clan migrated from Rajputana to Gujarat, where they established a new dynasty. This migration led to the region of Lata becoming known as Gujarat. The most prominent king of this dynasty was Sidh Raj Solanki, whose legacy is well-known in tradition. From the Chalukya or Solanki rulers of Gujarat, the Baghel clan emerged, later migrating to Rewah. Today, the Solankis can also be found in small numbers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Salunkhes are descendants of the Solanki Dynasty of Gujarat, which ruled over the region more than 900 years ago. The Solankis are traced back to the Chalukyas of Karnataka, who ruled from Badami during the 6th to 8th centuries AD. Another branch of the Chalukyas ruled from Kalyan (covering areas of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh) from AD 973 to 1186. The Chalukyas were Jains, and this tradition was also maintained by the Solankis.