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The Rajputs (from the Sanskrit tatpurusha compound rājaputra, "son of a king") are a prominent social group belonging to the northern part of the Indian sub-continent. In the Hindi and Gujarati languages, those belonging to the Kshatriya caste of Hindus are generally referred to as "Rajputs" (alternately: "Thakurs").

The term rājaputra is first found in the 7th century AD. It evidently originated in the areas that form the present-day states of Rajasthan and Gujarat and spread only gradually to other Hindi-speaking areas; the Kshatriyas of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh still do not generally self-describe as rajputs. The association of this term with Rajasthan and Gujarat is definite; even in areas where the term is used widely, the people referred to as "Rajputs" tend to ascribe an origin in those areas to themselves.

Rajput dynasties played a prominent role in the history of northern India. They developed an ethos of warlike chivalry that served as the benchmark for other Indian communities as the latter ascended to regional dominance. This martial ethos did not preclude patronage of the arts: distinctive forms of painting and architecture developed under the aegis of rajput courts, and classical music found support. Thus, the rajputs have contributed directly and indirectly to many facets of the Indian crasis.

Demographics

The 1931 census of undivided India was the last to record caste affiliation in a manner that provides reliable information on rajput demographics. That census reported a total of more than 11 million people self-describing as rajputs. Of this population, around 9 million people also self-described as Hindus, about 50,000 as Sikhs, and 2.1 million as Muslims. These census figures attest to a substantial number of non-Hindus choosing to describe themselves as being rajputs, a claim contested by others. Information on several such communities are detailed in subsequent sections.

The successor-states of the British Raj have chosen not to record caste affiliation. Present-day estimates of those claiming Rajput heritage are therefore necessarily inexact; they range in the vicinity of 40 million people. Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and dialects thereof are among the languages mainly spoken by the Rajputs.

Origins

The traditional occupations of the rajput are war and agriculture. As many scholars have pointed out, these areas lend themselves uniquely to the ingress of groups that were not formerly affiliated with those professions. The gradual accommodation of the new entrants into the social and family circle of the traditional community is the essential quid pro quo of the Sanskritization that the aspirant community essays. This phenomenon of gradual inclusion has indubitably obtained in the case of the Rajputs, with certain Jat and Maratha dynasties being among the most recent to venture the claim of affiliation with the rajput community. In view of this, to seek a single and common, definitive origin for every present-day rajput is widely recognised as being an exercise in futility. We however present both traditional legends and some scholarly speculations made by researchers on the origin of the rajputs.

Traditional legends

As Kshatriyas, the rajputs regard themselves as being descended from the vedic warrior class. Legend ascribes to the Rajputs an origin springing from certain Hindu deities; every rajput must eventually belong to one of three great patrilineages, being:

• the Agnivanshi lineage, claiming descent from Agni, the Hindu Fire-god;
• the Suryavanshi lineage, claiming descent from Surya, the Hindu Sun-god;
• the Chandravanshi lineage, claiming descent from Chandra, the Hindu Moon-god.

Some scholars also count Nagavanshi, Rishivanshi and Vayuvanshi as traditional lineages. The Yaduvanshi lineage, claiming descent from the Hindu god Krishna, are in fact a major sept of the Chandravanshi lineage.

The aforementioned three patrilineages (vanshas) sub-divide into 36 main clans (kulas), which in turn divide into numerous branches (shakhas) to create the intricate clan system of the rajputs. The principle of patrilineage is staunchly adhered to in determining one's place in the system and a strong consciousness of clan and lineage is an essential part of the Rajput character. Authoritative listings of the 36 rajput clans are to be found in the Kumārpāla Charita of Jayasimha and the Prithvirāj Rāso of Chandbardai.

Scholarly speculations

Among the origin-legends mentioned above, the one which addresses the origin of the Agnivanshi rajputs is particularly interesting, not least because they were the earliest to rise to political prominence. This legend begins with the puranic legend wherein the traditional kshatriyas of the land were exterminated by Parashurama, an avatara of Vishnu. Later, the legend says, sage Vasishta performed a great Yagya or fire-sacrifice, to seek from the gods a provision for the defense of righteousness on earth. In answer to his prayer, a youth arose from the very flames of the sacrifice -- the first Agnivanshi rajput. In some versions of the legend, all the rajput lineages rose from the sacred flames in this manner.

Many scholars view this legend as suggesting, in an allegorical manner, the possibility that people who were not hitherto regarded as kshatriyas/rajputs could come to be regarded as such after the customary fire-sacrifice based purificatory rituals. This legend has been used as the basis for many scholarly speculations on the origin of the rajputs. James Tod uses this legend as a basis for speculating upon a Scythian origin for the Rajputs. He suggests that Scythian (Saka, Huna) tribes which invaded India in the 6th century AD and disappeared into the population soon afterwards were the forbears of present-day rajputs.

Political history

Rajput history, being a part of broader north Indian history, can be classified easily into several distinct periods.

Early history (7th-11th centuries AD)

The first Rajputs kingdoms are attested to in the 7th century and the Rajputs rose to prominence in ] in the 9th and 10th centuries. The four Agnivanshi clans, namely, 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 Rai Dynasty, who ruled Sindh in the 6th and 7th centuries and were displaced by an arab army led by Bin Qasim, are sometimes held to have been rajputs. According to some sources, Bin Qasim, an arab who invaded Sindh in the 8th century, also attacked Chittorgarh, and was defeated by Bappa Rawal. Certain other invasions by murauding "Yavvanas" are also recorded in this era. By this time, the appelation "Yavvana" (literally: "Ionian/Greek") was used in connection to any tribe that emerged from the west and north-west of present-day Pakistan. These may have been the continuation of the usual invasions into India by warlike but less civilized tribes from the north-west, a phenomenon amounting almost to a tradition. Lalitaditya of Kashmir defeated one such invasion in the 8th century and the Pratiharas rebuffed another in the 9th century. The Pratiharas initially established themselves at Ujjain and ruled Malwa. Later, they established themselves at Kannauj, from which they ruled much of northern India, from Kathiawar in the west to Magadha in the east, in the 9th century.

Early kingdoms: The Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi rajputs, who were originally vassals of the Agnivanshi clans, later established independent states. The Guhilots (later known as the Sisodias) established the state of Mewar in the 8th century. This state was founded by Bappa Rawal, who ruled from Chittorgarh. The Kachwaha clan came to rule Dhundhar, with their capital at Amber, and later Jaipur. The Chandela clan ruled Bundelkhand after the 10th century, occupying the fortress of Kalinjar; they later built the famous temples at Khajuraho. The Tomara clan established a state in present-day Haryana. They founded (c.736) the city of Dhiliki, later known as Delhi. The Kachwahas, Chandelas, and Tomaras were all originally vassals of the Pratihara kingdom.

The organization of Rajput clan finally crystallized in this period. Intermarriage among the Rajput clans interlinked the various regions of India, facilitating the flow of trade and scholarship. Archaeological evidence and contemporary texts suggest that Indian society achieved significant prosperity during this era. The literature composed in this period, both in Sanskrit and in the Apabhramshas, constitutes a substantial segment of classical Indian literature. The early 11th century saw the reign of the polymath king Bhoja, Paramara ruler of Malwa. He was not only a patron of literature and the arts but was himself a distinguished writer. His Samarangana-sutradhara deals with architecture and his Raja-Martanda is a famous commentary on the Yoga-sutras.

Islamic invasions (11th-16th c.)

The fertile and prosperous plains of northern India had always been the destination of choice for streams of invaders coming from the north-west. Incidentally, the last of these waves of invasions were of tribes who had previously converted to Islam. Due to geographic reasons, rajput-ruled states suffered the brunt of aggression from various Mongol-Turkic-Afghan warlords who repeatedly invaded the subcontinent.

Within 15 years of the death of the prophet, the caliph Usman sent a sea expedition to raid Thana and Broach on the Bombay coast. Other unsuccessful raiding expeditions to Sindh took place in 662 and 664. Indeed, within a hundred years after Muhammad's death, muslim armies had overrun much of Asia as far as the Hindu Kush. However, it was not until c.1000 AD that they could establish any foothold in India.

In the early 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni conquered the Hindu Shahi kingdom in the Punjab. His raids into northern India weakened the Pratihara kingdom, which was drastically reduced in size and came under the control of the Chandelas. In 1018 AD, Mahmud sacked the city of Kannauj, seat of the Pratihara kingdom, but withdrew immediately to Ghazni, being interested in booty rather than empire. In the ensuing chaos, the Gahadvala dynasty established a modest state centered around Kannauj, ruling for about a hundred years. They were defeated by Muhammad of Ghor in 1194 AD, when the city was sacked by the latter.

Meanwhile, a nearby state centered around present-day Delhi was ruled successively by the Tomara and Chauhan clans. Prithiviraj III, ruler of Delhi, defeated Muhammad of Ghor in 1191 AD at the First Battle of Tarain. The latter returned the following year and defeated Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain (1192 AD). In this battle, as in many others of this era, rampant internecine conflict among rajput kingdoms became a primary cause for the victories gained by the invaders.

Important relocations

Prithviraj Chauhan proved to be the last rajput ruler of Delhi. The Chauhans, led by Govinda, grandson of Prithviraj, later established a small state centered around Ranthambore in present-day Rajasthan. The Songara sept of the Chauhan clan later ruled the town of Jalore, while and Hada sept of the same clan established their rule over the Hadoti region in the mid-13th century. The Tomaras later established themselves at Gwalior, and the ruler Man Singh built the fortress which still stands there. As we have seen, Muhammad's armies later brought down the Gahadvala kingdom of Kannauj in 1194 AD. Some surviving members of the Gahadvala family are said to have refugeed to the western desert, where they formed the Rathore clan and founded the state of Marwar. Other relocations surmised to have occured in this period include the emigration of rajput clans to the Himalayas. The Katoch clan, the Chauhans of Chamba and certain rajput clans of Nepal are counted among this number.

Conflict with the Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate was founded by Qutb ud din Aybak, Muhammad of Ghor's successor, in the early 13th century. Sultan Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316) conquered Gujarat (1297), Malwa (1305), Ranthambore (1301), Chittorgarh (1303) and Jalor (1311), all after long sieges and fierce resistance from their Rajput defenders.

First Jauhar: In particular, the seige of Chittor (1303), its brave defence by the Guhilas, the saga of Rani Padmini and the Jauhar she led are the stuff of immortal legend. This incident has had a defining impact upon the rajput character and is detailed in a succeeding section.

Ala-ud-din Khilji delegated the administration of the newly conquered areas to his principal rajput collaborator, Maldeo Songara, ruler of Jalore; the latter was soon displaced by his son-in-law Hammir, a scion of the lately displaced Guhila clan, who re-established the state of Mewar some time after 1326 AD. Mewar was to emerge as a leading Rajput state, after Rana Kumbha expanded his kingdom at the expense of the sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat.

Mughal era (16th-18th c.)

The Delhi sultanate was extinguished when Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Rana Sanga rallied an army to challenge Babur. He was betrayed by one of his rajput generals and was defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanua on March 16, 1527. While the rajput rulers had to submit to Babur, they retained control of their states.

Second Jauhar: Rana Sanga died soon after the battle; shortly afterwards, Mewar came under the regency of his widow, Rani Karmavati. The kingdom was menaced by Bahadur Shah, ruler of Gujarat. According to one romantic legend of dubious veracity, Karmavati importuned the assistance of Humayun, son of her late husband's foe. The help arrived too late; Chittor as reduced by Bahadur Shah. This is the occasion for the second of the three Jauhars performed at Chittor. Karmavati led the ladies of the citadel into death by fire, while the menfolk sallied out to meet the beseiging muslim army in a hopeless fight to the death.

Mughal-rajput alliance

Babur's son Humayun was an ineffectual ruler who perforce spend long periods in exile. His son was made of a different mettle; Akbar consolidated his inheritence and expanded what had been the "Delhi sultanate" into a wide empire. A main factor in this success was indubitably his co-option of native rajput chiefs into his empire-building project; his reign countenanced, for the first time, the involvement of Hindus in the affairs of the empire. The rajput chiefs collaborated with alacrity, an alliance cemented by marriage, with numerous rajput noblewomen being wed to mughal grandees. The Kachwahas were the first to give a daughter to Akbar; they pioneered a trend that soon turned pervasive and played no small role in extending rajput influence across the Indian sub-continent, from Bengal to Afghanistan to the Deccan. Indeed, two successive mughal emperors, Jehangir and Shah Jehan, were born to rajput mothers.

Rajput chiefs served as mughal officers and administrators across the mughal empire and enjoyed much influence in the government. In this period, the aristocratic image of the rajputs can be said to have finally crystallized; consequently, caste-divisions became rigid. The trend of political relations between rajput states and the central power was the precursor for similar relations between them and the british.

Rana Pratap

Third Jauhar: However, these relations were not universally approbated. Mewar, which justly enjoys a unique position in the rajput mind, held out and valiantly gave battle to Akbar. After a brave struggle, during which the ladies of the fort perfomed Jauhar for the third and last time in its history, Chittor finally fell to Akbar in 1568.

Mewar's ruler, Udai Singh, had retired to the nearby hills prior to this event; he was succeeded, while in exile, by his son Rana Pratap as head of the Sisodia clan. Even in exile, the Sisodias did not rest; they harassed the mughal administrators of the land enough to cause them to make accommodatory overtures. Rana Pratap, a present-day rajput icon, rebuffed every such overtures of friendship from Akbar, and rallied an army to meet the mughal forces. He was defeated at the battle of Haldighati on June 21, 1576 and was forced to withdraw to the Aravalli ranges. However, he carried out a relentless guerilla struggle from his hideout in those hills.

Although Rana Pratap never gave in to the mughal power, his son Amar Singh entered into the vassalage of the mughals and thus regained control of his state. The rajputs thereafter remained loyal to the mughal dynasty and empire for over two centuries, until that empire disintegrated. Indeed, even as late as in the 19th century, rajput courts rarely failed to formally affirm their loyalty to the (by now entirely powerless) mughal emperor in all their official communiques and documents.

Maratha and British suzerainty (18th-20th c.)

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 19th 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.

The British colonial officials as a rule were very impressed by the military qualities of the Rajputs. In his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan James Tod wrote.

"What nation on earth could have maintained the semblance of civilization, the spirit or the customs of their forefathers, during so many centuries of overwhelming depression, but one of such singular character as the Rajpoot? . . . Rajast’han exhibits the sole example in the history of mankind, of a people withstanding every outrage barbarity could inflict, or human nature sustain, from a foe whose religion commands annihilation; and bent to the earth, yet rising buoyant from the pressure, and making calamity a whetstone to courage. . . . Not an iota of their religion or customs have they lost. . . ".

Rajput rulers of Rajputana and Central India acceded to newly-independent India after 1947, and Rajputana, renamed Rajasthan, became an Indian state in 1950.

Culture and ethos

The Rajput ethos is martial in spirit, fiercely proud and independent, 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 committed 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 saffron-coloured garments and apply the ash from the pyres 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. Rajput men and women could not be captured alive. When Hindus fought against other Hindus there were never any johars or saka because the defeated were treated with dignity. However, history records very few instances wherein a Rajput king sued for peace after a battle reversal and the Muslims initially agreed to the peace terms, only for the Rajputs, and their women and children, to be slaughtered upon surrender and once the pols or gates of their mighty fortresses were opened. One example of this is war between Puran Mal of Raisina and Sher Shah Suri. Rajputs honour their word more then their life and are renowned for their loyalty.

Rajasthan, which has a very high concentration of Rajputs, is located in northwestern India, near the Khyber Pass route used by most foreign invasions of India, including the Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Mughals, and other Islamic invaders of the Middle Ages. In his New History of India, Stanley Wolpert wrote "The Rajputs were the vanguard of Hindu India in the face of the Islamic onslaught."

The Rajput lifestyle was designed to foster a martial spirit. Tod (1829) describes at length the bond between the Rajputs and their swords. The double-edged scimitar known as the khanda was the favorite weapon of the Rajput. On special occasions, a primary chief would break up a meeting of his chiefs with khanda nareal, or a distribution of swords and coconuts (453). In order to attain a greater bond with one's sword, Rajputs revered their swords and conducted the ritual of Karga Shapna during the annual festival of Navratri.

Clan and kinship

By the late nineteenth century, there was a shift from an emphasis on questions regarding the political relations amongst the Rajputs to a concern with kinship (Kasturi 2002:2). According to Harlan (1992:27), many Rajputs of Rajasthan are nostalgic about their past and keenly conscious of their genealogy, emphasizing a Rajput ethos that is martial in spirit, with a fierce pride in lineage and tradition. These lineages were linked to different networks, both sacred and profane. Branches on a stratified lineage could be either Hindu or Muslim (Kasturi 2002:2).

Cognate communities

The main rajput community comprises, as we have seen, of Hindus belonging to the Kshatriya caste and hailing from certain specific regions of India. Several other communities self-describe as being rajputs. These communities typically claim to be of partial rajput descent, are are found even in religious groups other than Hinduism.

• Cognate Hindu communities: Certain Hindu communites claim partial descent from the rajput community while holding social identities that set them apart from the main communion. The Girasia Scheduled tribe of the Aravalli hills are among these. Many rajputs perforce fled to the hills at various points in history, where they are said to have occasionally intermarried with the Bhils; the Girasia community claim to be descended from such intermarriage. Some sections of the Gaddi scheduled tribe of Himachal Pradesh ascribe to themselves a similar heritage. Certain specific sections of the Jain and Marwari communities also hold themselves to be of part-rajput descent.

• Sikh Rajputs: The census of 1931 recorded the existance of 50,000 people who claimed to be both Rajput and Sikh. Occasional instances of inter-marriage between them and Hindu rajputs are recorded.

• Muslim Rajputs: The census of 1931 records as many as 2.1 million people claiming to be "Muslim-Rajputs". The community claims to be partially descended from rajputs who converted to Islam (Siddiqui 2004). Traditionally, there is no inter-marriage between muslim-rajputs and rajputs of other religions; however, the former generally intermarry with muslims of every provenance. This may account for the fact that many who claim to be muslim-rajputs hold surnames associated with the Jat and other subaltern castes. However, some sections of the community, such as the Thakurais of East Champaran district in Bihar, are known to confine matrimony to other muslim-rajputs (Siddiqui 2004). It is interesting to note that by their own definition, every mughal emperor beginning with Jehangir, the fourth of that numerous dynasty, were muslim-rajput. Detailed information on the community is available at the Muslim Rajputs page.

Famous Rajput people

The rajputs have contributed to many facets of Indian life, both historically and in the modern age. A few rajput stalwarts are mentioned here.

Historical heroes

• Bappa Rawal
• Prithviraj Chauhan
• Rani Padmini
• Rana Sanga
• Rana Pratap
• Mirabai

Modern era

• Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Prime Minister of India (Dec.2, 1989-Nov.10, 1990)
• Chandra Shekhar, Prime Minister of India (Nov.10, 1990-June 21, 1991)
• Jaswant Singh, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
• Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice-president of India.
• Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, olympic silver medalist

See also

• History of Rajputs
• Muslim Rajputs
• Rajputs and Zoroastrianism
• Rajputs and Buddhism
• Rajput painting

References

• Template:Harvard reference .
• Kasturi, Malavika, Embattled Identities Rajput Lineages, Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 01956-5787-x
• M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities In India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004) (review)
• Template:Harvard reference.
• W.W. Hunter, The Indian empire, its people, history and products. First published: London, Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill, 1886. ISBN 81-206-1581-6.

External links

• Rajputs Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition; 2005
• Rajput Encyclopedia Britannica; 1911
• British Association of Rajputs

Further reading

• Rajputs
• Military history of India
• Demographic history of India