Deora (occasionally Devda, Devra, Devre) is the name of a branch of the Songara Chauhan clan of rajputs in India. Sonegara Chauhans ruled Jalore (the mountain on which the fort is located is called as Swarngiri-the mountain of gold and hence the Chauhans took the name Sonegara) and surrounding areas. Sonegara Chauhans are known for their valour against the ferocious sultan of Delhi Allauddin Khilji. Rao Deoraj was the progenitor of the Devra clan. In ages past, the rulers of Chandravati, Sirohi belonged to the Deora clan.

History

The Deora or Devda, according to their ancestral texts, are descendants of Rao Lakhan of Nadol in the Marwar area of Rajasthan. It is written in the texts that the queen of Rao Lakhan was beautiful, kind and generous like a Devi, or goddess, so her sons were called Devi-ra, meaning goddesses or Devi’s sons. This Devi-ra later became Deora, Devra and Devda. So Devda’s Kuldevi is Ashapuri Maa in Nadol. The Devdas of Sirohi have a glorious past and have a respected place in the 36 Rajput clans. The Chauhans ruled Delhi, Ajmer and surrounding areas during the era of Prithviraj Chauhan. Due to persecution at the hands of Muslim invaders, they later dispersed to many places across northern India. One group of Chauhans moved southwards to the area around the border, in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan. The towns of Jalore and Chandravati (the latter situated on the Banas River) became centers of the Sonegara Chauhan clan at an early date. A semi-legendary figure named Rao Deoraj, about whom little is known, was born into a Chauhan family of this region. All members of the Deora clan claim patrilineage with him. Rao Lumba, grandson of Rao Deoraj and a scion of the younger branch of the Chauhan rulers of Jalore, seized the town of Abu in 1311 AD. He thus founded a dynasty that was to rule the surrounding area until India gained its independence in 1947. Rao Rarmal, a descendant of Rao Deoraj, founded the settlement of old Sirohi c.1347 AD. He was the progenitor of the Lakhawat, Dungrawat, Tejawat and Bajawat branches of the Deora clan. Members of this caste are well known for their unflinching readiness for martyrdom and bravery in war. In 1405 AD, Rarmal’s son Rao Sobhaji founded a town, Shivpuri, on the eastern slope of the Siranwa hills in the area known as Khuba. Sobhaji’s son Rao Sahasmal abandoned this settlement, which now lies in ruins. He built the fort of Sirohi on the Western slope of the same hills and made that his capital. Later, the area under the rule of the Deora clan came to form the state of Sirohi.