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"Rajputs" (anonymous, ca. 1860, British Library)
"Rajputs" (anonymous, ca. 1860, British Library)

A Rājput (from the Sanskrit राजपुत्र rāja-putra, "son of a king") is a member of a prominent community who live throughout northern and central India, but primarily in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, which was called Rājputānā until the reorganization of Indian states after independence.

The term Rajput refers to the group's "jati" which is a social hierarchial 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 Hindu, and there are also Sikh minorities. There are Muslims who claim themselves to be Rajputs, but this claim is not recognised and disputed by Hindu and Sikh Rajputs on the grounds that one must belong to Hinduism in order to be part of the jati system, and that once an individual has left Hinduism, they no longer fit into the Varna system and are considered an outcaste, this explains why in the three volume work by Colonel James Tod, The Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, he gives the lineages of many Rajput clans and none of them indicate Muslim descendants. Although a considerable number of Sikhs follow the practices of the caste system, such beliefs are against the central tenets of Sikhism. All the Sikh Royal families (the Phulkian States) claim Rajput ancestry from Jaisalmer (reference:History of the Sikhs by Cunningham).

The Indian census has not recorded caste affiliation since 1931 (except in the case of Backward or Scheduled Castes) and any estimates of those claiming Rajput lineage or caste are necessarily inexact.

Contents

[edit] Definition

The term Rājaputra has been used since the time of Harshavardhana; however, modern usage of the term refers to the descendants of the 36 major clans that ruled western India between the 8th and 13th centuries CE. A listing of rajput clans is available in the Kumarpala Charita of Jayasimha and in the Prithviraj Raso of Chandbardai. There are numerous legends and folklores about Rajputs in India.

The term Rajput ordinarily 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 descendants of the Vedic warrior caste, the Kshatriya varna.

[edit] Controversies

A number of other jatis or sub-castes, claim to be Rajputs. While some of them have a historical basis for that claim, most such claims are efforts by other castes to negotiate a change in caste status for themselves. Such claims are generally not recognized by the main Rajput community[citation needed].

Rajputs in India are mostly Hindu. There are some Rajputs who follow the Sikh path, and they often intermarry with Hindu Rajputs. There are many Muslims in Pakistan, and some also in India, who consider themselves Rajputs (Siddiqui 2004). Some Hindus believe that the Muslim faith is incompatible with the nature of a Rajput, and thus that so called 'Muslim Rajputs' should instead be described as Muslim descendants of Rajputs.

[edit] Clans

The Rajputs are divided into 36 clans, claiming three basic lineages: the Suryavanshi (Solar Race), the Chandravanshi (Lunar Race), and the Agni vanshi (Fire Born). Some scholars also include Rishi vanshi, Nag Vanshi and Vayu Vanshi as separate classes. House of Mewar, Marwar, Amber are Suryavanshi rajputs. Rulers of Bundi, Kotah, Jalore, Sirohi are Agnivanshi. Chandravanshi and Yaduvanshi are from the same line which bifurcated at king yadu when his father banished him from becoming the king. House of Jaisalmer are yaduvanshi rajputs.

The Suryavanshi trace their lineage to the Vedic Sun -Surya( Lord Rama was also born in this lineage) Somvanshi to Som (the vedic deity Soma or Moon ) and Agnivanshi originated from fire. The Yaduvanshi trace there lineage to Lord Krishan.

Each vansha has many cula and each cula has shakha. Rathores are divided into these shakha: Dhandhul, Bhadail, Khokra, Jodha etc. Gehlote cula is subdivided into these shakhas: Aharya (at Doongarpur) , Sisodiya (at Mewar), Peeparra (at Marwar) etc. Chauhan are divided into these shakha: Hada, Kheechee, Deora, Songara etc. Similarly there are various shakha in Kacchwaha, Parihaar and rest of the 12 clans described below.

Each shakha has its Gotra Acharya, a genealogical creed, describing the essential peculiarities, religious tenets and pristine locale of the clan.

Twelve of the 36 clans of Rajputs further subdivide. These 12 are Bargujar, Gehlote, Parmara, Chauhan, Solanki, Rathore, Tuar/Tomar, Parihaar, Jhala, Yadu, Katchwaha, Gor. The remaining 24 clans are 'Eka' and do not divide further. Sengar, Balla, Khurwur, Chawura, Dahima, Dahiya, Byce, Gherwal, Nikumpa, Dewut, Johya, Sikerwal, Dabia, Doda, Mori ,Mokarra, Abhirra, Kalchoruk, Agnipala, Aswariya, Hool, Manutwal, Mallia and Chhahil.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Rajputs
The Chittor fort
The Chittor fort

[edit] Middle Ages

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 Agnivansha 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. Lalitaditya of kashmir defeated Arabs in the 8th century. The Pratiharas rebuffed another Arab invasion in the ninth century. Significant Muslim invasions were then not attempted until the eleventh century. 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.

[edit] Islamic invasion of India

Main article: Rajputs and Invasions of India

In his New History of India, Stanley Wolpert wrote "The Rajputs were the vanguard of Hindu India in the face of the Islamic onslaught." 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 and 12th century, and conquering Marwar in the 13th. The Rajputs were infighting during the 11th and 12th 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 defeated 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) by bribing generals in Hammir Deo Chauhan's army, 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.

[edit] Mughal Empire

Image:Maharanapratap.jpg
Maharana Pratap of Udaipur

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 managed to bribe a general in Sanga's army and 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 marriages 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.

Mehrangarh fort, Jodhpur
Mehrangarh fort, Jodhpur

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.

[edit] British Raj

Rajputana Agency and Ajmer-Merwara province, 1909
Rajputana Agency and Ajmer-Merwara province, 1909

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

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).

[edit] 20th century

Some of the Muslim Rajput groups like Thakurais of East Champaran in Bihar, and some other Muslims of Rajput extraction are notable among Indian Muslims for their descent from a prestigious Hindu caste. Their marginality is sometimes self-imposed as they want to retain their exclusivity by deciding not to marry among other Muslims and preserve their distinction (Siddiqui 2004).

[edit] Prominent Rajput clans & their main centers

For further details see Rajput Clans

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Kasturi, Malavika, Embattled Identities Rajput Lineages, Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0-19-565787-X
  • Saran, Richard D. (trans.) The Mertiyo Rathors of Merto, Rajasthan; Select Translations Bearing on the History of a Rajput Family, 1462-1660, Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia 51, University of Michigan Press (2001). ISBN 0-89148-085-4
  • Har Bilas Sarda, Maharana Kumbha, sovereign, soldier, scholar (1917) ISBN 81-291-0033-9
  • Dasharatha Sharma, Early Chauhan dynasties: a study of Chauhan political history, Chauhan political institution, and life in the Chauhan dominions, from 800 to 1316 A.D., Motilal Banarsidas; 2nd rev. ed. (1975). ISBN 0-8426-0618-1
  • M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities In India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004) (review)

[edit] Suggested reading

  • Bhattacharyya, Sukum, Rajput States and the East India Company ISBN 1-141-87209-9
  • DeWitt, C. Ellinwood, Jr, Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21: Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur, Hamilton Books (2005), ISBN 0-7618-3113-4
  • Dirk H. A. Kolff, Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy : The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850, University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, Cambridge University Press; (2002), ISBN 0-521-52305-2
  • Hallissey, Robert C, Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb: A Study of the Mughal Empire in Seventeenth-Century India University of Missouri Press (1977) ISBN 0-8262-0222-5
  • Kshatriya Vamshavali, Thakur Udainarain Simha, Khemaraj Shrikrishnadas, 1976.
  • Jati Bhaskara, Jwalaprasad Mishra, Pub. Khemaraj Shrikrishnadas, 1914.
  • Lindsey Harlan, Religion and Rajput Women: The Ethic of Protection in Contemporary Narratives, University of California Press (1992), ISBN 0-520-07339-8
  • Pauline Van Lynden, Rajasthan, Assouline (2003), ISBN 2-84323-446-8
  • Dowager Maharani of Couch Behar, The Rajput Princesses, Aryan Books (1997) ISBN 81-7305-025-2
  • Leigh Minturn, Swaran Kapoor, Sita's Daughters: Coming Out of Purdah-the Rajput Women of Khalapur Revisited Oxford University Press (1993), ISBN 0-19-507823-3
  • Denzil Ibbetson, Tribes and Castes of Punjab and NWFP (1892) ISBN 81-206-0505-5
  • Upendra Thakur, Some Aspects of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Popular Prakashan (1972), ASIN B0006C8HP2
  • Tod, Annals and antiquities of Rajasthan (1829) ISBN 81-7069-128-1
  • Anthony Kennedy Warder , An introduction to Indian historiography, Monographs of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, University of Toronto, Popular Prakashan (1972), ASIN B0006C8HP2
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