Introduction

This webpage is not about me, Ramachandra Rao Sahib Arni or about my immediate family. It is about our ancestry. I ( and my two brothers, Venkata Rao Sahib Arni, the eldest, and Ranganatha Rao Sahib Arni, the youngest) were destined to be a product of two dynasties to which our parents directly belonged. The ancestry on my fathers side, the Arni Jagir dates back to 1640 when its founder Vedaji Bhaskar Pant was granted the Arni Jagir from the great Mahratta leader Shahjee ( father of Shivaji ) for services in war rendered in his campaign to the Carnatic. The History of our family starts even earlier. It starts with Sri Tuko Punth ( or Pant) who was the founder of Punths ( Pants) in the year 1502 . Sri Tuko Pant's grand son Sri Rajaji Pant had three children, Vedaji Bhasker Pant , Govind Vallabh Pant and Appa Sahib Pant. The Family tree or the Vamsa Vriksha revealed later will also show the linkage. Here we concentrate only on the lineage of Vedaji Bhaskar Pant.

About the same period my mother's ancestor Purnaiah, also a brahmin Maharashrian served as the Dewan to Hyder Ali and later to his son Tippu Sultan. He went on to become the Dewan to the Maharaja of Mysore and for his services , was granted the Jagir of Yelandur. I will first concentrate on the Arni ancestry .( Note: there is a hyperlink to the Purnaiahs in the homepage.)

The Jagir of Arni was situated in the district of North Arcot in the then Presidency of Madras. Its extent was 211 square miles and comprised of 192 villages. The city of Arni is about 20 miles from Vellore. The direct lineage of Arni Jagirdars after Vedaji Bhaskar Pant were usually named A.Srinivasa Rao Sahib, A. Thirumal Rao Sahib or A.Venkata Rao Sahib. My father, A. Srinivasa Rao Sahib was the the twelvth in sucession.The Family Tree (Vamsa Vriksha) is revealed under a hyperlink "History of Arni Jagir". The Jagir was abolished ( after India became free and enacted the Zamindar Abolition Bill 1948) as the first amendment to the Constitution. It is as a result of this that we amended our names such that Arni became our surname.The annual revenue of the Jagir at the time of abolition was around 2.5 lakhs.

The Motto on the emblem "Per Deum et Ferrum obtinui" translates to "By God and my sword I have obtained." True figher Brahmins !!

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Note: Arni in earlier history is Arnee. Also spelt Arani. There is no connection between "Arni Silk House" and ourselves.