Alha

Who is Alha?

Alha of the Banaphar Rajput clan was the famous general of the great Chandel king Paramdidev, or Parmal, who fought Prithviraj Chauhan in 1182 CE. Alha's mother, Devaki, was a member of the Ahir caste.

In the Puranas, when Mahpati states that Ahlada has come to be of "low family", it is because his mother is an Arya Abhiri Here, however the story is foundational and told not at this point in Alhda's courtship but in connection with the girl's own marriage. The two maidens are indeed Ahiris, daughters of Gopalak king Dalvahana and accustomed to daily tethering of buffaloes. They seize two buffaloes not in forest but in front of many kings during great Chandika homa performed by their father, when the assembled kings themselves find the buffaloes too much to handle. Dalvahana, at the command of Durga, then gives the older daughter Devaki to Desaraja and the younger daughter Brahmi to Vatsaraja