Burdak

Burdak (बुरडक) is a surname found in the countries of Eurasia, Australia and United States. In India, Burdak is a clan of the Jat people and Bishnois.

History

Burdak is a surname of the Jat community in India, found primarily in northwest Rajasthan, which indicates membership in the Burdak Gotra. Jats of the Burdak Gotra trace their lineage from the Rajput family Chauhan which in turn descends from the "Agni kula" ("Fire Born") lineage. According to Dr Mahendra Singh Arya and others, Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudi, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar, Adhunik Jat Itihasa, Agra 1998] they are considered to be the descendants of Maharaja Wardak (वरडक). The records of Kushan ruler Huvishka (140-183 CE) have been unearthed at Wardak, to the west of Kabul. [RC Majumdar: An Advanced History of India, Page 116, ISBN 0333 90298 X] The existence of Wardak province and Chaki Wardak District in Afghanistan, probably, indicates their migration from Afghanistan to India.

Hathigumpha inscription is about king Kharavela at Bhubaneswar. At the same place there is one minor inscription in "Manchapuri cave inscription 'B' (Lower storey)" . This inscription has been engraved on the right wall of Veranda, to the :right of the entrance to the right-hand side chamber of the main wing, consisting of one line. This inscription is probably about a Burdak prince. The text is presented below in Devanagari script:

कुमारो वडुखस लेणं. Translation - [This is] the cave of Prince Vaḍukha.

The Burdak gotra of Jats are probably related with Virudhaka. Virudhaka (विरूढक) (IAST: Virūḍhaka, Pali: Viḍūḍabha) was son of Raja Prasenjit and king of Kashi. Soon after usurping the prosperous kingdom built up by his father Bimbisara, the parricide Ajatashatru went to war with his aged uncle Prasenjit, and gained complete control of Kashi. Just after this Prasenjit, like Bimbisara, was deposed by his son Virudhaka, and died. The new king, Virūḍhaka (in Pali Viḍūḍabha), then attacked and virtually annihilated the little autonomous tribe of Shakyas, in Himalyan foothills, and we hear no more of the people which produced the greatest of Indians, the Buddha. [A.L. Batham, The Wonders that was India, 1967, p. 47] Probably Virudhaka, like Ajatashatru of Magadha, had ambitions of empire, and wished to embark on a career of conquest after bringing the outlying peoples, who had paid loose homage to his father, more directly under the control of the centre; but his intentions were unfulfilled, for we hear no more of him except an unreliable legend that he was destroyed by a miracle soon after his massacre of Shakyas. A little later his kingdom was incorporated in Magadha. [A.L. Batham, The Wonders that was India, 1967, p. 47]

Alexander Cunningham found a sculpture of Virudhaka at Bharhut stupa in Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. [Alexander Cunningham, The Stupa of Bharhut : A Buddhist Monument Ornamented with Numerous Sculptures Illustrative of Buddhist Legend and History in the Third Century B.C. Reprint. First published in 1879, London. 1998] There is an inscription in a scene at Bharhut which reads as under::Vadukokatha dohati nadode pavate - This long label inscription shows a curious scene but could not be made out by historians. In fact Vaduko has been used for Vardak in prakrit language.

The name "Burdak" derives from a legend of Parashurama. Upon this deity's apparent destruction of the entire Kshatriya "varna", a single boy-child survived as a result of a Jat woman's hiding the boy by burying him, covering him in sand. The boy's name in Hindi, "Burdak", derives from a combination of the words "Bura" and "Dhaka", meaning "buried" and "covered", respectively. All Burdaks are said to descend from this single male.

With the defeat of Prithiviraj Chauhan in the Second Battle of Tarain (1192) and establishment of Muslim rule in North India in the form of the Delhi Sultanate, Jats moved to the countryside and started tilling the land. As part of this Jat exodus, Burdaks moved out from Delhi with 50 horses and founded the village of Sarnau near Jeenmata in Sikar Rajasthan. All modern-day Burdaks in Rajasthan are descendants of a single child born of a Kharra Gotra woman, the sole survivor of the massacre of Burdaks by members of Dhakas Gotra in Sarnau.

Burdak in tree protection movement

Maharaja Abhay Singh, Ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur) state wanted to fell green Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) trees at village Khejarli to burn lime for the construction of his new palace. Since, there was a lot of greenery in the Bishnoi villages even in the middle of Thar desert, they protested to protect the trees and 363 Bishnois were massacred in the process. Out of these martyrs 3 persons were from Burdak clan. This incidence is considered to be the origin of Chipko movement. It was on Tuesday 10th day of the bright fortnight of the month Bhadrapad (Indian lunar Calendar) in 1730 A.D. The brave Bishnoi lady Amrita Devi played a historical role in this incidence.

Gotra wise number of these martyrs was as under:
Achara (1), Badaderi (1), Badiyani (1), Chotiya (1), Degipal (1), Dudan (1), Geela (1), Goyal (1), Janwar (1), Javalia (1), Juriya (1), Kalirani (1), Khavi (1), Khichar (1), Kupasiya (1), Lamba (1), Maal (1), Rinwa (1), Seegar (1)
Tadi (1), Vaasu (1), Adeena (2), Bhadiawas (2), Bola (2), Jhangu (2), Manjhu (2), Punia (2), Thalod (2), Bhanwal (3), Burdak (3), Chahar (3), Dhatarwal (3), Potalia (3), Rahad (3), Siyol (3), Badiya (4), Dhayal (4), Isram (4), Karhwasra (4), Bhangarwas (5), Dukia (5), Khava (6), Khileri (6), Lol (6), Nain (6), dn|Sahu (6), Sinwar (6), Dhaka (8), Dara (10), Dudi (10), Kaswan (10), Khod (10), Khokhar (10), Panwar (10), Asiagh (13), Not clear (22), Jani (15), Saran (18), Babal (22), Beniwal (25),

Geographical distribution

Countries where the Burdak surname is found include
Afghanistan,
Australia,
Belarus,
Bulgaria,
Canada,
Denmark,
England,
Galicia,
Germany,
Hungary,
India,
Latvia,
Lebanon,
Lithuania,
Moldavia,
Poland,
Romania,
Russia,
Slovakia,
Turkey,
Ukraine,
United States,
Yugoslavia

Variants

Variants of the Burdak surname include

Buldak,Burdács,Burdak,Burdák,Burdakas,Burdakevich,
Burdakin,Burdakoff,Burdakov,
Burdakova,Burdán,Burdáts,Burdavkiné,dn|Burdick,
Burdik,
Burdock,
Burjak,
Burrak,
Burraq,Buryat,
Spin Buldak,
Buldick,
Buldock,
Buldok,
Bardak,
Vardak,
Wardak

Notable persons from this clan

*Arvind Kumar Burdak - Recipient of Shaurya Chakra award.
*Harji Ram Burdak - Politician and leader of Indian National Congress
*Narayan Singh Burdak - Politician and leader of Indian National Congress

External links

* [http://www.bishnoi.org/list.html List of Khejarli martyrs]

References