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A Rajput (from Sanskrit rāja-putra, "son of a king") is a member of a prominent caste who live throughout northern and central India, primarily in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. They are thought to number about 12 million.

Definition

The term Rajput refers to the group's "jati" which is a social hierarchical status found within the caste system of Hinduism, which developed out of the Vedic varna system. The Rajputs consider themselves the original descendants of the Vedic warrior (Kshatriya) varna. Although all members of a warrior caste, Rajputs vary in profession from aristocrats to farmers. Rajputs are followers of all four major religions of the sub-continent Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism.

Brief history

The Rajputs are divided into 36 clans, claiming three basic lineages: the Surya Vansi (Solar Race), the Chandra Vansi (Lunar Race), and the Agni kula (Fire Born). One version of the story of Agni kula origins is that four warriors, Agnikul, Yadaukul, Suryakul and Odak, whose names are given to the Rajput clans, sprang from the sacred fire (Agni-kunda) in a ceremony performed by Sage Vashishtha near Mount Abu. Historically the Rajputs refuse to accept the social authority of Brahmin priestly caste, however Rajputs do have their own family priests, known as Purohits, which do come from the Brahmin caste. Also, many Rajputs have Brahmin Gurus. Some scions of their noble families even officiate as priests in their Hindu temples; for example, the Sesodia kings of Mewar consider themselves regents of Eklingji, a manifestation of Shiva, and serve as the high priest of the deity as well as ruler of the state.

The Rajput ethos is martial in spirit, fiercely proud, and emphasizes lineage and tradition. Rajput patriotism is legendary, an ideal they embodied with a sometimes fanatical zeal, often choosing death before dishonour. Rajput warriors were often known to fight until the last man. The practice of jauhar and saka was followed only in rajput communities. When the outcome of a battle was against the Rajputs, jauhar would be commited by Rajput women and children in the night and next morning men would commit saka. Brahmin priests would chant Vedic mantras and Rajput women wearing their marriage dresses, along with their young children, would embrace sandalwood flames. The next morning after taking a bath, the men would wear kesariya and apply the ash from the maha samadhi of their wives and children on their foreheads and put a tulsi leaf in their mouth. Then the palace gates would be opened and men would ride out for complete annhiliation of the enemy or themselves. The practices of Johar and Saka were, however not universal amongst all the Rajput clans and even among the same clan during different periods of time.

Rajasthan, which is believed to be the birthplace of Rajputs has a very high concentration of Rajputs. In his New History of India, Stanley Wolpert wrote "The Rajputs were the vanguard of Hindu India in the face of the Islamic onslaught."

Detailed history

The first Rajputs kingdoms are attested in the 6th century, and the Rajputs rose to prominence in Indian history in the ninth and tenth centuries. The four Agni kula clans, the Pratiharas (Pariharas), Chauhans (Chahamanas), Solankis (Chaulukyas), and Paramaras (Parmars), rose to prominence first. The Pratiharas established the first Rajput kingdom in Marwar in southwestern Rajasthan, with the Chauhans at Ajmer in central Rajasthan, the Solankis in Gujarat, and the Paramaras in Malwa. The Rajput Rai dynasty ruled Sind during the 6th and 7th centuries. Sind was conquered by an Arab Muslim army of the Califate, led by Bin Qasim, in the 8th century. Bin Qasim attacked Chittorgarh, and was defeated by Bappa Rawal Guhila. The Pratiharas rebuffed another Arab invasion in the ninth century. Significant Muslim invasions were then not attempted until the eleventh century, largely due to the formidable reputation of the Rajput clans. The Pratiharas later established themselves at Ujjain and ruled Malwa, and afterwards at Kanauj in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, from which they ruled much of northern India, from Kathiawar in the west to Magadha in the east, in the ninth century. Clans claiming descent from the Solar and Lunar races, who were originally vassals of the other clans, later established independent states. The Guhilas (later called the Sisodias) established the state of Mewar (later Udaipur), under Bappa Rawal, who ruled at Chittorgarh, which was given in dowry to Bappa in 734 for his bravery. The Kachwaha clan came to rule Dhundhar, with their capital at Amber, and later Jaipur. The Chandela clan ruled Bundelkhand after the tenth century, occupying the fortress-city of Kalinjar and building the famous temple-city of Khajuraho. The Tomaras established a state in Haryana, founding the city of Dhiliki (later Delhi) in 736. The Kachwahas, Chandelas, and Tomaras were originally vassals of the Pratihara kingdom.

In the early 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni conquered the Hindu Shahi kingdom in the Punjab, and his raids into northern India weakened the Pratihara kingdom, which was drastically reduced in size and came under the control of the Chandelas. Mahmud sacked temples across northern India, including the temple at Somnath in Gujarat, but his permanent conquests were limited to the Punjab, and Somnath was rebuilt after the raid. The early 11th century also saw the reign of the polymath king Bhoj, the Paramara ruler of Malwa.

The Rathores, as the Gahadvala dynasty, reestablished the kingdom of Kannauj, ruling the Ganges plain from the late 11th through the 12th century, and conquering Marwar in the 13th. The Rajputs fought each other in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Prithiviraj III, ruler of Delhi, crushed Muhammad of Ghor in 1191 at the First Battle of Tarain and Ghori was captured. After Ghori begged for life he was let go despite strong resistance by Prithviraj's generals. Ghori managed to defeat Prithviraj the following year at the Second Battle of Tarain, and the attacks of Muhammad's armies brought down the Gahadvala kingdom of Kannauj in 1194. The Delhi Sultanate was founded by Qutb ud din Aybak, Muhammad of Ghor's successor, in first decade of the 13th century.

The Chauhans reestablished themselves at Ranthambore, led by Govinda, grandson of Prithviraj III. Jalore was ruled by another branch of Chauhans, the Songaras. Another branch of the Chauhans, the Hadas, established a kingdom in Hadoti in the mid-13th century.

Sultan Ala ud din Khilji (1296–1316) conquered Gujarat (1297) and Malwa (1305), and captured the fortresses of Ranthambore (1301), Mewar's capital Chittorgarh (1303) and Jalor (1311) after long sieges with fierce resistance from their Rajput defenders. Mewar resestablished there supremacy within 50 years of the sack of Chittor under Maharana Hammir. Hammir defeated Muhammad Tughlaq and captured him. Tughlaq had to pay huge ransom and relenquish all of Mewar's lands. After this Sultanate did not attack Chittor for a few hundred years. Rajputs reestablished their independence, and the Rajput states were established as far east as Bengal and north into the Punjab. The Tomaras established themselves at Gwalior, and the ruler Man Singh built the fortress which still stands there. Mewar emerged as the leading Rajput state, and Rana Kumbha expanded his kingdom at the expense of the sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat. The Delhi Sultanate recovered somewhat under the Lodhi dynasty, and Rana Sangha of Mewar convinced Babur to challenge Ibrahim Lodi for control of the Delhi Sultanate, hoping that the struggle between Muslim rivals would allow the Rajputs to reclaim Delhi. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526, and the Rana Sangha rallied a Rajput army to challenge Babur. Babur barely managed to defeat the Rajputs at the Battle of Khanua on March 16, 1527. The Rajput rulers agreed to pay tribute to Babur, but most retained control of their states, and struggles between Babur's successor Humayun and the Suri Dynasty for control of the Sultanate preoccupied the Muslims for several decades.

Humayun's successor Akbar consolidated control of the empire and sought to expand it by realising that wars with Rajputs will not allow him to rule India and he used marriage diplomacy. Kachwahas were the first to give a daughter to Akbar. This prompted Maharana Pratap to ban marraiges between his loyal rajputs with other rajputs of rajasthan. The Kachwaha rulers of Jaipur and Rathore rulers of Marwar became tributaries of the empire. The Sisodias of Mewar and their vassals, the Hadas of Bundi, continued to refuse Mughal hegemony, and Akbar invaded Mewar, capturing Chittorgarh in 1568 after a long siege. The Sesodias of Mewar moved the capital to the more defensible location of Udaipur and carried on fighting the Mughals. Akbar respected the martial prowess of the Rajputs, and he married a Rajput princess, and Rajput generals, particularly the Kachwahas of Jaipur, commanded some Mughal armies.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who was far less tolerant of Hinduism than his predecessors, put a muslim on the throne of Marwar when Maharaja Jaswant Singh, ruler of Marwar, died without a child. This enraged the rathores. Ajit Singh, Jaswant Singh's son was born after his death. Marwar nobles asked Aurangzeb to give the throne back to Ajit but Aurangzeb refused and instead tried to kill the infant Ajit. Durgadas Rathore and others smuggled Ajit out of Delhi and did not let pursuing Mughals capture them and reached Jaipur safely. This started the 30 year rajput rebellion against Aurangzeb. This cemented all the Rajput clans into a bond of union, and a triple alliance was formed by the three states of Marwar, Mewar, and Jaipur, to throw off the Mughal yoke. One of the conditions of this alliance was that the rulers of Jodhpur and Jaipur should regain the privilege of marriage with the ruling Sesodia dynasty of Mewar, which they had forfeited by contracting alliances with the Mughal emperors, on the understanding that the offspring of Sesodia princesses should succeed to the state in preference to all other children. The quarrels arising from this stipulation lasted through many generations, and led to the invitation of Maratha help from the rival aspirants to power, and finally to the subjection of all the Rajput states to the Marathas. Jodhpur was conquered by Sindhia, who levied a tribute of 60,000 rupees, and took from it the fort and town of Ajmer. Internecine disputes and succession wars disturbed the peace of the early years of the century, and the Rajput princes asked for British protection from the Marathas during the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-1818. At the conclusion of the war in 1818, 18 states in the Rajputana region, of which 15 were ruled by Rajputs, became princely states of the British Raj, while the British took direct control of Ajmer, which became the province of Ajmer-Merwara. A number of other Rajput states in central India, including Rewa, Ajaigarh, Barwani, Chhatarpur, Datia, Orchha, and Ratlam, became princely states as well, and were placed under the authority of the Central India Agency. Rajput rulers of Rajputana and Central India acceded to newly-independent India after 1947, and Rajputana, renamed Rajasthan, became an Indian state in 1950.

Genetics

The Rajputs are genetically similar to other upper castes and North Indians. See Aryan Invasion Theory.

Prominent Rajput clans

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