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Rajput



 
 
A Rajput is a member of one of the major Hindu Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
 groups of India
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
. The Rajputs trace their roots to Rajputana
Rajputana

Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area....
. They enjoy a reputation as formidable soldiers and it is common to find many of them serving in the Indian Armed Forces
Indian Armed Forces

The Indian Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Republic of India encompassing the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, and various other inter-service institutions....
. The British Government also accepted them and recruited them heavily into their armies. Current-day Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
 is home to most of the Rajputs, although demographically Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found spread through much the subcontinent particularly in north and central India.

Historically, Rajputs rose to prominence during the 9th to 11th centuries, notably the four Agnivanshi clans, namely the Pratihara
Pratihara

The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
s (Pariharas), Solanki
Solanki

The Solanki are a Hindu clan who ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Solanki are a branch of the Chalukya dynasty of whose oldest known area of residence was in present-day Karnataka....
s (Chaulukyas), Paramara
Paramara

Paramara is the name of a prominent Agnivanshi Rajput clan of medieval India, which ruled the Dhar and Ujjaini kingdoms from the 9th century to the 14th century....
s (Parmars), and Chauhan
Chauhan

Chauhan or Chohan - are a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent. The Chauhan gotra Rajputs come from the region around the lakes of Sambhar Lake and Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, near Amber, India and present-day Marwar, Mewar Jaipur....
s (Chahamanas), rose to prominence first. Rajputs ruled more than four hundred of the estimated six hundred princely states at the time of India's independence.






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A Rajput is a member of one of the major Hindu Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
 groups of India
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
. The Rajputs trace their roots to Rajputana
Rajputana

Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area....
. They enjoy a reputation as formidable soldiers and it is common to find many of them serving in the Indian Armed Forces
Indian Armed Forces

The Indian Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Republic of India encompassing the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, and various other inter-service institutions....
. The British Government also accepted them and recruited them heavily into their armies. Current-day Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
 is home to most of the Rajputs, although demographically Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found spread through much the subcontinent particularly in north and central India.

Historically, Rajputs rose to prominence during the 9th to 11th centuries, notably the four Agnivanshi clans, namely the Pratihara
Pratihara

The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
s (Pariharas), Solanki
Solanki

The Solanki are a Hindu clan who ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Solanki are a branch of the Chalukya dynasty of whose oldest known area of residence was in present-day Karnataka....
s (Chaulukyas), Paramara
Paramara

Paramara is the name of a prominent Agnivanshi Rajput clan of medieval India, which ruled the Dhar and Ujjaini kingdoms from the 9th century to the 14th century....
s (Parmars), and Chauhan
Chauhan

Chauhan or Chohan - are a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent. The Chauhan gotra Rajputs come from the region around the lakes of Sambhar Lake and Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, near Amber, India and present-day Marwar, Mewar Jaipur....
s (Chahamanas), rose to prominence first. Rajputs ruled more than four hundred of the estimated six hundred princely states at the time of India's independence. Out of them 121 were Salute states Rajputs ruled 81 of them at the time of independence of India.

Demographics


The 1931 census reported a total of 10.7 million people self-describing as Rajput. Of this population, about 8.6 million people also self-described as being Hindu, about 2.1 million as being Muslim Rajput and about 50,000 as being Sikh Rajput by religion.

The 1931 census reported a total of 10.7 million people self-described as Rajput. The United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh

The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, more commonly the United Provinces, was a province of British India, which existed from 1902 to 1947....
 (being approximately present-day Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh , [often referred to as U.P.] is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,...
 and Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
 combined) reported the largest population of Rajputs, at 3,756,936. The (then united) province of Bihar
Bihar

Bihar is a States and territories of India in East India. Bihar is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size 38,202 square mile and 3rd largest by population....
 & Orissa
Orissa

Orissa , is a states and territories of India located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It was established on 1 April 1936 as a province in British India, and consists, predominantly of Oriya language speakers....
, corresponding to the present-day states of Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand
Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a States and territories of India in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar state on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east....
, reported a Rajput population of 1,412,440. Rajputana
Rajputana

Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area....
, which was almost co-terminus with the present-day state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
, reported a figure of 669,516. The Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar

The Central Provinces and Berar was a Provinces of India of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states....
 reported a figure of 506,087, the princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
 of Gwalior
Gwalior

Gwalior ,, is a city in Madhya Pradesh in India. It lies 76 miles south of Agra and has a population of over 12 lakh . The Gwalior metropolitan area is the 46th most populated area in the country....
 of 393,076, the Central India Agency
Central India Agency

The Central India Agency was a political unit of British India, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. The Central India Agency was made up entirely of princely states, which were under native rulers....
 of 388,942, the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency

The Bombay Presidency was a former province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the British East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula....
 of 352,016, the princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
 of Jammu & Kashmir
Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" referred only to the valley lying between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range; since then, it has been used for a larger area that today includes the Indian administerd state of Jammu and Kashmir consisting of the Kashmir...
 of 256,020, and the Western India States Agency of 227,137 Rajputs. The undivided province of Bengal
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
 (including present-day Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
 reported a figure of 156,978 Rajputs. The princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
s of Baroda and Hyderabad
Hyderabad State

Hyderabad state was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam....
 reported figures of 94,893 and 88,434 respectively. The Rajput population is relatively low in number because of their destruction during ages in wars.

Rajputs typically speak whatever languages are spoken by the general population of the areas in which they live. Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
 and Rajasthani
Rajasthani

Rajasthani is an adjective formed from the proper-noun Rajasthan.It can refer to:* Rajasthani language* Rajasthani architecture* Rajasthani cuisine...
 are the primary languages, as most are situated in the "Hindi-speaking states," but Gujarati
Gujarati

Gujarati may refer to anything of or relating to Gujarat and may refer directly to the following articles:* Gujarati people - Gujaraati* Gujarati language...
is also spoken among Rajputs residing Gujarat
Gujarat

Gujarat is a States and territories of India in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Diu, Daman District, India, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south....
.

Identity and major clans

The Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 word Rajputra is found in the Vedas
Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
. It has been used by Panini. The word Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
 was initially used for the community of warriors and rulers. After the passage of much time there were many Kshatriyas. The rule of primogeniture
Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the common law right of the firstborn son to inherit the entire Estate , to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066....
 allowed only the eldest male offspring of a king to succeed him. The rest were known as Rajputras. The word Rajput is claimed to be a corruption of Rajputra. Gradually it became a caste.

Rajputs regard themselves as being descended from the vedic warrior class known as the Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
s. To differentiate them from ordinary Kshatriyas the word Rajput was used, which literally means "son of a King." Rajputs belong to one of three great patrilineages, which are:
  • The Suryavanshi
    Suryavanshi

    The Sun Dynasty or Solar Dynasty or Suryavansha is one of the most prominent dynasties in the history of Hinduism, along with the "Chandravansha" or Lunar Dynasty....
     lineage, claiming descent from Surya
    Surya

    In Hinduism, Surya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pitar . The term "Surya" also refers to the Sun, in general....
    . The Sun Dynasty is oldest among Kshatriyas. The first person of this dynasty was "Vivaswan," who by the meaning of his name is considered to be "Surya." Ikshvaku
    Ikshvaku

    Ikshvaku was the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty and founder of the Solar Dynasty of Kshatriyas in Vedic civilization in ancient India....
     was the first important king of this dynasty. Other important kings were Kakutsth Harishchandra
    Harishchandra

    Harishchandra, in Hindu religious texts is the 28th king of the Solar Dynasty. His legend is very popular and often told as a benchmark for an ideal life....
    , Sagar, Dileepa
    Dileepa

    Dillipa in Hindu mythology is said to have been one of the most righteous and chivalrous emperors that the Solar Dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty, had ever produced....
    , Bhagiratha
    Bhagiratha

    Bhagiratha was a great king in Hindu mythology who brought the River Ganga in Hinduism to Earth....
    , Raghu
    Raghu

    Emperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name in Sanskrit translates to the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities....
     Dashratha and Rama
    RAMA

    Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Microsoft Windows 95....
    . The poet Kalidasa
    Kalidasa

    Kalidasa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta Empire, probably in the 4th century BC or 5th century or 6th century....
     wrote the great epic Raghuvamsa
    Raghuvamsa

    Raghuvamsa is believed to be a lineage of warrior kings tracing its ancestry to Surya. Kalidasa's famous work, Raghuvamsha describes the greatness of this race....
     about the dynasty of Raghu
    Raghu

    Emperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name in Sanskrit translates to the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities....
     including the great king born in the Sun Dynasty.
  • The Chandravanshi lineage, claiming descent from Som which literally means "Moon." This Lunar Dynasty
    Lunar Dynasty

    In Hindu mythology, the Lunar Dynasty is one of the two principal houses of the Kshatriya varna in Hinduism, or ruling caste. The Lunar Dynasty claims descent from the Moon , while the other principal house, the Suryavanshi claims descent from the Sun ....
     is also old but younger than the Sun Dynasty. Som was the first king of this dynasty. Other important kings were Pururawa, Nahush, Yayati
    Yayati

    Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti....
    , Dushyant, Bharata
    Bharata

    Bharata ??? may refer to:*a name of Agni*a name of Rudra*a name of Manu , according to the Vishnu Purana*Bharata , a celebrated hero and monarch of India, first of twelve Cakravartins ...
    , Kuru, Shantanu and Yudhishthir. Yadu
    Yadu

    Yadu is the name of one of the five Aryan clans mentioned in the Rig Veda. The epic Mahabharata and Puranas refer to Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati....
     was the eldest son of Yayati
    Yayati

    Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti....
     and Yadav
    Yadav

    Yadav or Yadava is an Indian caste system that claims descent from Yadu. Yadavas have been mentioned as one of the panchjanya tribes in ancient Vedic Sanskrit texts....
    s claim descent from Yadu
    Yadu

    Yadu is the name of one of the five Aryan clans mentioned in the Rig Veda. The epic Mahabharata and Puranas refer to Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati....
    . Krishna
    Krishna

    Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
     was also born in this dynasty of Yadu
    Yadu

    Yadu is the name of one of the five Aryan clans mentioned in the Rig Veda. The epic Mahabharata and Puranas refer to Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati....
    . Harivamsa
    Harivamsa

    The Harivamsha is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shloka, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila to the Mahabharata and traditionally ascribed to Vyasa....
     gives details of this dynasty.
  • The Agnivanshi lineage claims descent from four persons who were born from fire or by the influence of Ved Mantras." According to Puranic legend, as found in Bhavishya Purana
    Bhavishya Purana

    The Bhavishya Purana is one of the eighteen major Hindu Puranas. It is written in Sanskrit and attributed to Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas....
    , a yagna was held at Mount Abu, at the time of emperor Ashoka
    Ashoka

    Ashoka was an Indian emperor, of the Maurya Empire who ruled from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. Often cited as one of India's as well as world's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests....
    's sons. From the influence of
    Mantras of the four Vedas, four Kshatriyas were born. They were: 1. Pramar (Paramara
    Paramara

    Paramara is the name of a prominent Agnivanshi Rajput clan of medieval India, which ruled the Dhar and Ujjaini kingdoms from the 9th century to the 14th century....
    ), 2.Chaphani (Chauhan
    Chauhan

    Chauhan or Chohan - are a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent. The Chauhan gotra Rajputs come from the region around the lakes of Sambhar Lake and Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, near Amber, India and present-day Marwar, Mewar Jaipur....
    ); 3.Chu (Chalukya); 4.Pariharak (Pratihara
    Pratihara

    The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
    ). But since fire cannot produce warriors, it should be understood that these four persons were either reconverted into Hinduism or revitalized to fight against invaders. They could not be of foreign origin because India was fighting against Indo-Greek kings at that time. Pusyamitra Sunga
    Pusyamitra Sunga

    Pusyamitra Sunga was the founder and first King of the Sunga Dynasty in Northern India.Pusyamitra Sunga was originally a Senapati of the Mauryan empire....
     and his son Agnimitra
    Agnimitra

    Agnimitra was the second King of the Sunga Dynasty of Northern India. He succeeded his father, Pusyamitra Sunga, in 149 BCE. According to Kalidasa in the Malavikagnimitram , Agnimitra belonged to the Baimbika family ....
     were Brahmin
    Brahmin

    Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
    s. They are known for reviving Hinduism. This theory of origin has produced much controversy; however, only four clans out of many Rajput clans
    Rajput clans

    The Rajputs are a community of Hindus belonging to the Kshatriya or warrior Varna in Hinduism. Apart from being an important factor in the social life of the rajputs themselves, their clan system is also of interest for certain other reasons: land tenure studies in the Indian state of Rajasthan and tracing of ancient population shifts are only two...
     are considered to be Agnivanshi. Some scholars also count
    Nagavanshi
    Nagavanshi

    The Nagavanshi dynasty is one of the Kshatriya dynasties of India. It includes a number of Jat people clans, but is dominant in Kerala. The group of people developed their Vansha according to their system of worship....
    and Rishivanshi. One of the most important clans of the Rishivans is Dhakare. It was believed that the origin of the Dhakare Rajput was when Raja Bali the king of Patal lok was injured during war with Raja Indra, king of Devta. Then his blood was collected on the leaf of a Dhakh and his guru Sukracharya make one man, by his mantras, whose name was Dhakare, fight against Devtas. The traditional lineages of Dhakare Rajput presently live in Agra (UP) and near the river Chambal. The Yaduvanshi lineage, claiming descent from the Hindu god Krishna
    Krishna

    Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
    , are in fact a major sect of the Chandravanshi.


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
Rajput clans

The Rajputs are a community of Hindus belonging to the Kshatriya or warrior Varna in Hinduism. Apart from being an important factor in the social life of the rajputs themselves, their clan system is also of interest for certain other reasons: land tenure studies in the Indian state of Rajasthan and tracing of ancient population shifts are only two...
 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. As the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica states, this tradition of common ancestry permits an indigent Rajput yeoman to consider himself as well-born as any powerful landholder of his clan, and superior to any high official of the professional classes. Authoritative listings of the 36 Rajput clans are to be found in the Kumarpala Charita of Jayasimha and the Prithviraj Raso
Prithviraj Raso

The Prithviraj Raso or Prithvirajaraso is an epic poem composed by Prithviraj's court poet on the life of Prithviraj III Chauhan, a Rajput king who ruled Ajmer and Delhi between 1165 and 1192....
 of Chandbardai.

Among the legends mentioned above, the one which addresses the origin of the Agnivanshi Rajputs is particularly disputed not least because they were the earliest to rise to political prominence. This legend begins with the puranic
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
 legend wherein the traditional kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
s
of the land were exterminated by Parashurama
Parashurama

Parashurama , a Brahmin, the sixth avatar of Vishnu, belongs to the Treta yuga, and is the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. Parashu means axe, hence his name literally means Rama-of-the-axe....
, an avatara of Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
. Later, the legend says, sage Vasishta performed a great Yajna, 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. According to Bhavishya Purana
Bhavishya Purana

The Bhavishya Purana is one of the eighteen major Hindu Puranas. It is written in Sanskrit and attributed to Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas....
 an yagna was held at Mount Abu
Mount Abu

Mount Abu is the highest peak in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan state in western India. It is located in Sirohi District. Mount Abu is 58 Km from Palanpur....
 during the time of Ashoka
Ashoka

Ashoka was an Indian emperor, of the Maurya Empire who ruled from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. Often cited as one of India's as well as world's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests....
's sons. This produced four warriors and an elephant. The Agnikunda legend is explained in Agnivansha
Agnivansha

The Agnivanshi are people belonging to the Agnivansha. According to legend, they are descended from Agni, the Vedic God of Fire.The Agnivanshi lineage is one of the three lineages into which the Kshatriya caste of Hindus is divided, the other two races being the Suryavanshi and the Chandravanshi, descended from Chandra, the Hindu Moon...
. Ashoka and his sons were Buddhists but the general of last Mauryan empereor was a staunch Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
.

History

Pritam Niwas With

Early History (6th to 8th c.)

The Rai Dynasty
Rai Dynasty

The Rai Dynasty rulers of Sindh were patrons of Buddhism even though they also established a huge temple of Shiva in present-day Sukkur, derived from original Shankar, close to their capital in Alor ....
, who ruled Sindh
Sindh

Sindh is one of the four Subdivisions of Pakistan of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence....
 in the 6th and 7th centuries and were displaced by an Arab army led by Bin Qasim
Bin Qasim

Bin Qasim can refer to either:* Muhammad bin Qasim the eighth-century Syrian general.* Bin Qasim Town in Karachi which is named after Muhammad bin Qasim...
, is sometimes held to have been Rajputs. According to some sources, Bin Qasim
Bin Qasim

Bin Qasim can refer to either:* Muhammad bin Qasim the eighth-century Syrian general.* Bin Qasim Town in Karachi which is named after Muhammad bin Qasim...
, an Arab who invaded Sindh
Sindh

Sindh is one of the four Subdivisions of Pakistan of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence....
 in the 8th century, also attacked Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh is an ancient town in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas River, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgharh District and a former capital of the Sisodia clans of Rajput and of Mewar....
, and was defeated by Bappa Rawal
Bappa Rawal

Bappa Rawal , eighth ruler of the Guhilot Dynasty and founder of the Mewar Dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India. Bappa Rawal was one of the most powerful and famous rulers of the Mewar Dynasty....
. Certain other invasions by marauding "Yavvanas" are also recorded in this era. By this time, the appellation "Yavvana" (literally: "Ionian/Greek") was used in connection to any tribe that emerged from the west and north-west of present-day Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. These invasions may therefore have been a continuation of the usual invasions into India by warlike but less civilized tribes from the north-west, and not a reference to the Greeks or Indo-Greeks. Lalitaditya
Lalitaditya Muktapida

Lalitaditya Muktapida was the emperor of Kashmir from 724 to 760 under the Dynasties of ancient Kashmir. During his reign, he conquered most of North India and Central Asia....
 of Kashmir
Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" referred only to the valley lying between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range; since then, it has been used for a larger area that today includes the Indian administerd state of Jammu and Kashmir consisting of the Kashmir...
 defeated one such Yavvana invasion in the 8th century and the Pratiharas rebuffed another in the 9th century.

Rajput kingdoms (8th to 11th c.)

The first Rajput kingdoms are atested to in the 7th century
7th century

The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era/Common Era....
 and it was during the 9th to 11th centuries that the Rajputs rose to prominence in the Indian history
History of India

The known history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c....
. The four Agnivanshi clans, namely the Pratihara
Pratihara

The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
s (Pariharas), Solanki
Solanki

The Solanki are a Hindu clan who ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Solanki are a branch of the Chalukya dynasty of whose oldest known area of residence was in present-day Karnataka....
s (Chaulukyas), Paramara
Paramara

Paramara is the name of a prominent Agnivanshi Rajput clan of medieval India, which ruled the Dhar and Ujjaini kingdoms from the 9th century to the 14th century....
s (Parmars), and Chauhan
Chauhan

Chauhan or Chohan - are a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent. The Chauhan gotra Rajputs come from the region around the lakes of Sambhar Lake and Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, near Amber, India and present-day Marwar, Mewar Jaipur....
s (Chahamanas), rose to prominence first. But there were other Rajputs also who rose to prominence.

The Guhilote or Gehlot dynasty of Chittor established their rule in 8th century CE. Bappa Rawal
Bappa Rawal

Bappa Rawal , eighth ruler of the Guhilot Dynasty and founder of the Mewar Dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India. Bappa Rawal was one of the most powerful and famous rulers of the Mewar Dynasty....
 of this dynasty established his rule in 734 CE at Chittor. Chittor, ( Sanskrit name Chitrakuta) was then ruled by the Mori
MORI

Ipsos MORI is the second largest survey research organisation in the UK, formed by two of the UK's leading companies in October 2005. MORI , was originally founded in 1969 by Robert Worcester, and was the largest independent research organisation in the United Kingdom....
 clan of Rajputs. Maan Mori was their last king at Chittor. It is believed the word Mori is a corruption of Maurya, the famous dynasty. Rajput is believed to be a corruption of Rajputra."

The Kachwaha
Kachwaha

The Kachwaha are a Suryavanshi Rajput clan who ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states in India such as Alwar, Maihar, Talcher, while the largest kingdom was Jaipur which was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727....
 or Kacchapghata dynasty
established their rule in Narwar
Narwar

Narwar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shivpuri district in the Indian States and territories of India of Madhya Pradesh. It is a historic town and fort just east of the Kali Sindh River and is situated at a distance of 41 km from Shivpuri....
 in 8th century.One of their descendant Dulah Rai established his rule in Dhundhar
Dhundhar

Dhundhar is an historical list of regions of India of Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the districts of Jaipur District, Dausa District, Sawai Madhopur District, and Tonk District and the northern part of Karauli District....
 in 11th century.

The Imperial Pratihara
Pratihara

The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
s established their rule over Malwa and ruled from Bhinmal
Bhinmal

Bhinmal , also known as Shrimal, is a town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is 72 km south of Jalore town. The name Bhinmal is derived from the word Shrimal....
 and afterwords Ujjaini in the 8th & 9th century. One branch of the clan established a state in Mandore
Mandore

Mandore , is a town located 9 km north of Jodhpur city, in the Indian state of Rajasthan....
, Marwar
Marwar

Marwar is a list of regions in India of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area....
 in 6th and 7th century, where they held sway until they were supplanted by the Rathore
Rathore

The Rathore In India, their native languages are Hindi language and its dialects ** SHYAM SINGH 1532-1562 A.D....
s in the 14th century. Around 816 AD, the Pratiharas of Ujjaini conquered Kannauj
Kannauj

Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India of Uttar Pradesh....
, from this city they ruled much of northern India for a century. They went into decline after Rashtrakuta
Rashtrakuta

The Rashtrakuta Dynasty was a Royal family Indian dynasty ruling large parts of southern, central and northern India between the sixth and the thirteenth centuries....
 invasions in the early 10th century. The Kachwahas were originally from Bihar
Bihar

Bihar is a States and territories of India in East India. Bihar is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size 38,202 square mile and 3rd largest by population....
; they founded Gwailior in the 8th century. The Chandela
Chandela

The Chandelas are a Rajput clan found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, a dynasty, who ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD....
 clan ruled Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand is a geographic List of regions in India of central India. The region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lying in the latter....
 after the 10th century, occupying the fortress of Kalinjar
Kalinjar

Kalinjar is a fortress-city in the Bundelkhand region of central India. Kalinjar is located in Banda District of Uttar Pradesh state, near the temple-city and World Heritage Site of Khajuraho....
; they later built the famous temples at Khajuraho
Khajuraho

Khajuraho is a village in the States and territories of India of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about 385 miles southeast of Delhi, the capital city of India....
.

The organization of Rajput clan
Rajput clans

The Rajputs are a community of Hindus belonging to the Kshatriya or warrior Varna in Hinduism. Apart from being an important factor in the social life of the rajputs themselves, their clan system is also of interest for certain other reasons: land tenure studies in the Indian state of Rajasthan and tracing of ancient population shifts are only two...
 finally crystallized in this period. Intermarriage among the Rajput clans interlinked the various regions of India and Pakistan, 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
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 and in the Apabhramsha
Apabhramsha

Apabhra?sa is a terminology used by Sanskrit grammarians since Pata?jali to refer to dialects of North India that deviate from the norm of Sanskrit grammar....
s, constitutes a substantial segment of classical Indian literature. The early 11th century saw the reign of the polymath
Polymath

A polymath is a person whose knowledge is not restricted to one subject area. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable....
 King Bhoja
Bhoja

Bhoja was a philosopher king and polymath of medieval India. He ruled the kingdom of Malwa in central India from about 1010 to 1060.The name means "bountiful, liberal" and appears as the name of a tribe, the descendants of Mahabhoja, in the Mahabharata....
, Paramara ruler of Malwa. He was not only a patron of literature and the arts but was himself a distinguished writer. His
Samarangana-sutradhara
Samarangana-sutradhara

Samarangana Sutradhara is an encyclopedic work on classical Indian architecture written by Paramara King Bhoja of Dhar .In 83 chapters, subjects treated are town planning, house architecture, temple architecture and sculptural arts together with Mudras , the canons of painting, and a chapter on the art of mechanical contrivances, the yant...
deals with architecture and his Raja-Martanda is a famous commentary on the Yoga
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
-sutra
Sutra

Sutra , literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism , or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual....
s. Many major monuments of northern and central India, including those at Khajuraho, date from this period.

Islamic invasions (11th to 12th c.)

The fertile and prosperous plains of northern India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
 had always been the destination of choice for streams of invaders coming from the north-west. 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
Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia, and who mostly speak languages belonging to the Turkic languages....
-Afghan
Demographics of Afghanistan

The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. This reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South Asia and Southwest Asia....
 warlords who repeatedly invaded the subcontinent. In his
New History of India',' Stanley Wolpert
Stanley Wolpert

Stanley Wolpert is an American historian who specializes in the history of India and Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania....
 wrote, "The Rajputs were the vanguard of Hindu India in the face of the Islamic onslaught."

Within 15 years of the death of the Muhammad
Muhammad

Muhammad Patronymic#Arabic Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib , is the founder of the Major religious groups of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a Rasul and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets....
, the caliph Usman
Uthman

?Uthman ibn ?Affan was one of the sahaba . An early convert to Islam, he played a major role in early Muslim history, most notably as the third Caliph of the Rashidun Empire and in the compilation of the Qur'an....
 sent a sea expedition to raid Thana
Thana

Thana may refer to the following:*The term is used in South Asian countries and is synonymous with police station or precinct.*Thana, Maharashtra, India....
 and Broach
Broach

Broach may mean:*Broach A metalworking tool with a series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel.*Broach A sudden instability in the heading of a sailboat when sailing downwind....
 on the Bombay coast. Other unsuccessful raiding expeditions to Sindh
Sindh

Sindh is one of the four Subdivisions of Pakistan of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence....
 took place in 662
662

Events*The regent Grimuald usurps the kingship of the Lombards, driving Perctarit into exile and killing Godepert.*Emperor Tenji of Japan orders Abe no Hirafu to escort Buyeo Pung to Baekje, where he is made to take up the succession to the dignity....
 and 664
664

EventsBy PlaceAsia* Arab armies conquer Kabul. * Kuo Wu Tsung of Tang comes to Japan and spends 7 months there.By Topic...
 CE. Indeed, within a hundred years after Muhammad's death, Muslim armies had overrun much of Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 as far as the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is a mountain range located in eastern and central Afghanistan, northwestern Pakistan and northeastern India.The origin of the name Hindu Kush is disputed, despite its coinage apparently dating back no further than c.1330....
; however, it was not until c.1000 CE that they could establish any foothold in India.

In the early 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni

'Mahmud of Ghazni Province' , also known as , was the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire, which he ruled from 997 until his death. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India....
 conquered the Hindu Shahi
Shahi

The Shahi , Sahi , also called Shahiya dynasties ruled portions of the Kabul and the old province of Gandhara from the decline of the Kushan Empire in third century to the early ninth century ....
 kingdom in the Punjab
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
. His raids into northern India weakened the Pratihara
Pratihara

The Pratiharas , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries....
 kingdom, which was drastically reduced in size and came under the control of the Chandela
Chandela

The Chandelas are a Rajput clan found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, a dynasty, who ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD....
s. In 1018 CE, Mahmud sacked the city of Kannauj
Kannauj

Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India of Uttar Pradesh....
, seat of the Pratihara kingdom, but withdrew immediately to Ghazni, being interested in booty rather than empire. In the ensuing chaos, the Gahadvala
Gahadvala

The Gahadvala or Gaherwar are a Hindu Rajput dynasty who ruled the kingdom of Kannauj for around a hundred years beginning the late 11th century....
 dynasty established a modest state centered around Kannauj, ruling for about a hundred years. They were defeated by Muhammad of Ghor
Muhammad of Ghor

Muhammad Shahab-ud-Din Ghori , also spelled Mohammad Ghauri, originally named Mu'izzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam but famously known as Muhammad of Ghor , was a governor and general under the Ghurids....
 in 1194 CE, when the city was sacked by the latter.

Meanwhile, a nearby state centered around present-day Delhi
Delhi

Delhi , sometimes referred to as Dilli , is the List of most populous cities in India metropolis in India and, with over 11 million residents, the List of metropolitan areas by population....
 was ruled successively by the Tomara and Chauhan
Chauhan

Chauhan or Chohan - are a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent. The Chauhan gotra Rajputs come from the region around the lakes of Sambhar Lake and Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, near Amber, India and present-day Marwar, Mewar Jaipur....
 clans. Prithiviraj III, ruler of Delhi, defeated Muhammad of Ghor
Muhammad of Ghor

Muhammad Shahab-ud-Din Ghori , also spelled Mohammad Ghauri, originally named Mu'izzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam but famously known as Muhammad of Ghor , was a governor and general under the Ghurids....
 at the First Battle of Tarain
First Battle of Tarain

The First Battle of Tarain, also known as the First Battle of Taraori, was fought in 1191 at the town of Tarain , near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi....
 (1191 CE). Muhammad returned the following year and defeated Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain
Second Battle of Tarain

The Second Battle of Tarain, also known as the Second Battle of Taraori, was fought in 1192 at Tarain , the site of the First Battle of Tarain a year earlier....
 (1192 AD). In this battle, as in many others of this era, rampant internecine conflict among Rajput kingdoms facilitated the victory of the invaders.
Mehrangarh Fort
Chittorgarh
Jaipur Is Called the Pink City
Hawa Mahal Inside, Jaipur

Medieval Rajput States (12th to 16th c.)

Prithviraj Chauhan proved to be the last Rajput ruler of Delhi
Delhi

Delhi , sometimes referred to as Dilli , is the List of most populous cities in India metropolis in India and, with over 11 million residents, the List of metropolitan areas by population....
. The Chauhans, led by Govinda, grandson of Prithviraj, later established a small state centered around Ranthambore in present-day Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
. The Songara
Songara

Sonigara or Songara is the name of a branch of the Chauhan clan of suryavanshi but known with Agnivanshis Rajputs. They had their seat of power at Jalore in the Indian state of Rajasthan....
 sect of the Chauhan clan later ruled Jalore
Jalore

'Jalor, also known as Jalore , is a city in Rajasthan state of western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalor District....
, while and Hada
Hada

Hada is the name of a clan of Rajputs. They are in fact a branch of the Chauhan clan of Agnivanshi rajputs. They ruled the states of Bundi and Kotah in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan for several centuries until 1947....
 sect of the same clan established their rule over the Hadoti
Hadoti

Hadoti , is a List of regions in India of Rajasthan state in western India. The bigest cities are Bundi and Kota, Rajasthan.It includes the districts of Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Kota, Rajasthan, and is bounded on the west by the Mewar, on the northwest by Ajmer region regions of Rajasthan, and on the south by the Malwa, on the east by th...
 region in the mid-13th century. The Rever
Rêver

"R?ver" is a 1995 song recorded by the France artist Myl?ne Farmer. Fifth Single from her fourth album Anamorphos?e, it was released on November 16, 1996....
 Maharaja Ranavghansinh ruled Taranga, in the 11th century. The Tomaras later established themselves at Gwalior
Gwalior

Gwalior ,, is a city in Madhya Pradesh in India. It lies 76 miles south of Agra and has a population of over 12 lakh . The Gwalior metropolitan area is the 46th most populated area in the country....
, and the ruler Man Singh built the fortress which still stands there. Muhammad's armies brought down the Gahadvala kingdom of Kannauj in 1194 CE. Some surviving members of the Gahadvala dynasty are said to have refugeed to the western desert, formed the Rathore
Rathore

The Rathore In India, their native languages are Hindi language and its dialects ** SHYAM SINGH 1532-1562 A.D....
 clan, and later founded the state of Marwar
Marwar

Marwar is a list of regions in India of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area....
. The Kachwaha
Kachwaha

The Kachwaha are a Suryavanshi Rajput clan who ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states in India such as Alwar, Maihar, Talcher, while the largest kingdom was Jaipur which was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727....
 clan came to rule Dhundhar
Dhundhar

Dhundhar is an historical list of regions of India of Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the districts of Jaipur District, Dausa District, Sawai Madhopur District, and Tonk District and the northern part of Karauli District....
 (later Jaipur
Jaipur

Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan States and territories of India, India. Historically rendered as Jeypore, Jaipur is the former capital of the princely state of Jaipur State....
) with their capital at Amber
Amber, India

Amber was a city of Rajasthan states and territories of India, India, it is now part of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation. Founded by the Meenas Raja Alan singh , Amber was a flourishing settlement as far back as 967 AD....
.

Other relocations surmised to have occurred in this period include the emigration of Rajput clans to the Himalayas. The Katoch
Katoch

Katoch is the name of a Rajput clan belonging to the chandravanshi lineage. Their traditional areas of residence was Trigarta Kingdom, Jalandhar i.e....
 clan, the Chauhans of Chamba and certain clans of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
 and Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
 are counted among this number.

Conflict with the Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate refers to the many Muslim countries that ruled in Hindustan from 1206 to 1526. Several Turkic peoples and Pashtun people dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk Sultanate , the Khilji dynasty , the Tughlaq dynasty , the Sayyid dynasty , and the Lodhi dynasty ....
 was founded by Qutb ud din Aybak, Muhammad of Ghor's successor, in the early 13th century. Sultan Alauddin Khilji) conquered Gujarat
Gujarat

Gujarat is a States and territories of India in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Diu, Daman District, India, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south....
 (1297), Malwa (1305), Ranthambore (1301), Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh is an ancient town in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas River, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgharh District and a former capital of the Sisodia clans of Rajput and of Mewar....
 (1303) Jalore
Jalore

'Jalor, also known as Jalore , is a city in Rajasthan state of western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalor District....
, and Bhinmal
Bhinmal

Bhinmal , also known as Shrimal, is a town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is 72 km south of Jalore town. The name Bhinmal is derived from the word Shrimal....
 (1311). All were conquered after long sieges and fierce resistance from their Rajput defenders.

The "First Jauhar," in particular the siege of Chittor (1303), its brave defence by the Guhilas, the saga of Rani Padmini
Rani Padmini

Rani Padmini was the Queen regnant of Chittor and the wife of King Rawal Ratan Singh.The Indian Helen, as she is also known, Padmini is considered to be the epitome of Indian woman-hood and a personification of sacrifice and valour....
, and the Jauhar
Jauhar

Jauhar and Saka refer to the voluntary deaths of men and women of the Rajput clan in order to avoid capture and dishonour at the hands of their enemies....
, 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
Jalore

'Jalor, also known as Jalore , is a city in Rajasthan state of western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalor District....
. Maldeo Songara was soon displaced by his son-in-law Hammir, a scion of the lately displaced Guhila clan, who re-established the state of Mewar
Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara District, Chittorgarh District, Rajsamand District and Udaipur District....
 c.1326 CE. 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
Gujarat

Gujarat is a States and territories of India in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Diu, Daman District, India, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south....
.

Mughal Era (16th-18th c.)

The Delhi sultanate was extinguished when Babur
Babur

Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal Empire of Indian subcontinent....
 defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat
First battle of Panipat

The first battle of Panipat took place in North India India, and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. This was one of the earliest battles involving gunpowder warfare firearms and field artillery....
 in 1526. Rana Sanga
Rana Sanga

Maharana Sangram Singh was the ruler of Mewar state, a region lying within the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, between 1509 and 1527. He was a scion of the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs.He fought 86 fights in his life and never defeated by enemy....
, ruler of Mewar, rallied an army to challenge Babur. He was betrayed by one of his Rajput generals and was defeated by Babur
Babur

Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal Empire of Indian subcontinent....
 at the Battle of Khanua on March 16, 1527; however, it was not until the reign of Akbar that the structure of relations between the Mughal imperium and the Rajput states took definitive shape.

During the Second Jauhar Rana Sanga died soon after the battle of Khanua. 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, but too late; Chittor was reduced by Bahadur Shah. This is the occasion for the second of the three Jauhar
Jauhar

Jauhar and Saka refer to the voluntary deaths of men and women of the Rajput clan in order to avoid capture and dishonour at the hands of their enemies....
s
performed at Chittor. Karmavati led the ladies of the citadel into death by fire, while the menfolk sallied out to meet the besieging Muslim army in a hopeless fight to the death.

Mughal-Rajput Alliance
Babur's son Humayun was a ruler who was forced to spend long periods in exile. His son Akbar; however, was made of a different mettle. Akbar consolidated his inheritance 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 extend matrimonial alliances with 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
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
 to Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
, to the Deccan. Indeed, two successive Mughal emperors, Jehangir and Shah Jehan
Shah Jehan

Shah Jehan may refer to:*Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor*Shah Jahan ...
, 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.

Maharana Pratap
During the "Third Jauhar" these relations were not universally approbated. Mewar
Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara District, Chittorgarh District, Rajsamand District and Udaipur District....
, which justly enjoys a unique position in the Rajput mind, held out and valiantly gave battle to Akbar. After a brave struggle, Mewar's chief citadel of Chittor finally fell to Akbar in 1568. The third (and last) Jauhar of Chittor transpired on this occasion. vWhen the fall of the citadel became imminent, the ladies of the fort committed collective self-immolation and the men sallied out of the fort to meet the invading Muslim army in a hopeless fight to an honorable death.

Prior to this event, Mewar's ruler, Rana Udai Singh II, had retired to the nearby hills, where he founded a new town Udaipur named it after himself. He was succeeded while in exile by his son Rana Pratap as head of the Sisodia
Sisodia

The Sisodia are a Rajput clan who ruled the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan. Before Rana Hamir the clan was known as Gehlot or Guhilot. In 1303 CE Alla-ud-din Khilji attacked Chittor.In the war all Rajputs in the fort were killed and Rani Padmini committed Jauhar.Some of their kinsmen survived, who were outside the fort....
 clan. Even in exile, the Sisodias did not rest; under the able leadership of Rana Pratap Singh, 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. Some historians say that he was defeated at the battle of Haldighati
Haldighati

Haldighati is a mountain pass in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan in western India. It connects Rajsamand District and Pali District districts, 40 kilometres from Udaipur, Rajasthan....
 but Mughals never invaded in Udaipur on June 21, 1576 but were forced to withdraw to the Aravalli ranges; however, he carried out a relentless guerilla struggle from his hideout in those hills, and never gave in to the Mughal power. By the time of his death, Rana Pratap Singh had reconquered nearly all of his kingdom from the Mughals, except for the fortress of Chittor and Mandal Garh. He died in 1597 CE. After Pratap's death, his son Rana Amar Singh continued the struggle for 18 years, and faced constant attacks from Mughals. He faced 18 wars during this period. Finally he entered into a peace treaty with the Mughals but with certain exemptions. The exemptions granted to him and the rulers of Mewar
Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara District, Chittorgarh District, Rajsamand District and Udaipur District....
 were: 1. Rana of Mewar shall not attend the Mughal court personally but the crown prince shall attend the court. 2. It was not necessary for Rana and Sisodia
Sisodia

The Sisodia are a Rajput clan who ruled the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan. Before Rana Hamir the clan was known as Gehlot or Guhilot. In 1303 CE Alla-ud-din Khilji attacked Chittor.In the war all Rajputs in the fort were killed and Rani Padmini committed Jauhar.Some of their kinsmen survived, who were outside the fort....
s to enter into a marriage alliance with Mughals. The treaty was signed by Rana Amar Singh and prince "Khurram" (later Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan

Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I , was the ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent from 1628 until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "King of the World." He was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir....
) in 1615 CE at Gogunda
Gogunda

Gogunda is a small town located about 35 km from Udaipur, Rajasthan in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated on a high mountain in Aravalli hills and is reached by crossing a difficult mountain pass....
. He thus regained control of his state as a vassal of the Mughals.

The Sisodias, rulers of Mewar, were famously the last Rajput dynasty to enter into an alliance with the Mughals. The Rajput states, thereafter, remained loyal to the Mughal Empire for over two centuries, until it was supplanted by the British Raj
British Raj

British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule....
. Indeed, even as late as the early 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.

Shivaji was formally crowned Chhatrapati ("Chhatrapati= Chief, head or King of Kshatriyas", representing the protection he bestowed on his people) on June 6, 1674 at the Raigad fort, and given the title Kshatriya Kulavantas Sinhasanadheeshwar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Pandit Ganga Bhatt, a renown Brahmin from Varanasi, officially presided over the ceremony declaring that Shivaji's ancestor's were truly Kshatriyas who descended from the solar line of the Ranas of Mewar. The actual date of Shivaji's birth was under controversy but now settled on date as 19 February 1627. Shivaji's grandfather Maloji Bhonsle claimed descent from the Sisodia clan of Rajputs.

Maratha and British Suzerainty (late 18th to mid 20th c.)

The Maratha
Maratha

The Marathas are Indo Aryans speaking castes of Hindu warriors and peasants hailing mostly from the present-day state of Maharashtra, who created the expansive Maratha Empire, covering a major part of Indian subcontinent, in the late 17th and 18th centuries....
s of the Deccan rose to power in the late 18th century. They conquered the major portion of India during this period, including the Rajput states of central and western India. Jodhpur
Jodhpur

Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, also known as Marwar....
 was conquered by Sindhia, who annexed the fort and town of Ajmer
Ajmer

This article is about a city in central Rajasthan, for the historical region, see Ajmer region.'Ajmer' is a city in Ajmer District in India's Rajasthan states and territories of India....
 and levied a tribute of 60,000 rupees. James Tod, whose personal observation pertains to this period, records that internecine disputes, succession wars and the relentless exaction of levies by the Marathas left the Rajput states immiserated, and that some Rajput states repeatedly petitioned the British administration for protection. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War
Third Anglo-Maratha War

The Third Anglo-Maratha War was a final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India, which left the Company in control of most of India....
, (1817-1818), 18 states in the Rajputana
Rajputana

Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area....
 region, of which 15 were ruled by Rajputs, entered into subsidiary alliance
Subsidiary alliance

A subsidiary alliance is an alliance between a dominant nation and a nation that it dominates....
 with the HEIC and became princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
s under the British Raj
British Raj

British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule....
. The British took direct control of Ajmer, which became the province of Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara

Ajmer-Merwara is a former province of British Raj in the historical Ajmer region. The territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25, 1818....
. A vast number of other Rajput states in central and western India made a similar transition. Most of them were placed under the authority of the Central India Agency
Central India Agency

The Central India Agency was a political unit of British India, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. The Central India Agency was made up entirely of princely states, which were under native rulers....
 and the various states' agencies of Kathiawar
Kathiawar

Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India. It is part of Gujarat state, bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on the southeast and east by the Gulf of Cambay....
.

The British colonial officials in general were very impressed by the military qualities of the Rajputs. In his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan James Tod
James Tod

Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod , a United Kingdom officer, historian of Rajasthan and numismatist, was born on March 20 1782. He went to India as a cadet in the Bengal army of the British East India Company in 1799....
 writes:

"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...."


When India gained its independence in 1947, the Rajput states acceded unto the dominion of India
Dominion of India

The Union of India sometimes known as the Dominion of India, was an independent state that existed between 15 August, 1947 and 26 January, 1950....
 and dominion of Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. They were all merged into the union of India before 1950.

Culture and Ethos


The Rajputs were designated by the British as a "Martial Race
Martial Race

Martial Race or Martial Races Theory is an ideology based on the assumption that certain ethnic groups are inherently more wiktionary:martial inclined than others....
." They also were the first group in India who originally used the surname Singh
Singh

Singh is derived from the Sanskrit word Si?ha meaning "Asiatic Lion". It is a common title, middle name, or surname in North India originally used by Hindu Rajputs, in 1699 it was also adopted by the Sikhs as per the wish of Guru Gobind Singh....
. The martial race was a designation created by officials of British India to describe "races" (peoples) that were thought to be naturally warlike and aggressive in battle
Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment....
 and to possess qualities like courage
Courage

Courage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, Risk, uncertainty, or intimidation....
, loyalty
Loyalty

Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause....
, self sufficiency, physical strength
Physical strength

Physical Strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using skeletal muscle. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training....
, resilience
Resilience

Resilience is the property of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed Elasticity and then, upon unloading to have this energy recovered....
, orderliness, a hard working nature, a fighting tenacity, and military strategy
Military strategy

Military strategy is a policy implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal s. Derived from the Greek language strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops....
. The British recruited heavily from these "martial races" for service in the colonial army.

The Rajput ethos is martial, in spirit, and 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.

All recorded instances of Jauhar
Jauhar

Jauhar and Saka refer to the voluntary deaths of men and women of the Rajput clan in order to avoid capture and dishonour at the hands of their enemies....
 and "Saka" have featured Rajput defenders of a fort, resisting the invasion of a Muslim force. On several occasions when defeat in such an engagement became certain. The Rajput defenders of the fort scripted a final act of heroism that rendered the incident an immortal inspiration and afforded the invaders only an exceedingly hollow, inglorious victory. In such incidents, the ladies of the fort would commit collective self-immolation. Wearing their wedding dresses, and holding their young children by the hand, the ladies would commit their chastity to the flames of a massive, collective pyre, thereby escaping molestation and dishonour at the hands of the invading army. As the memorial of their heroic act, the ladies would leave only the imprint of the palm of their right hands on wet clay, which have become objects of veneration. This immolation would occur during the night, to the accompaniment of Vedic chants. Early the next morning, after taking a bath, the men would wear saffron-colored garments, apply the ash from the pyres of their wives and children on their foreheads and put a tulsi
Tulsi

Ocimum tenuiflorum is an aromatic plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is an erect, much branched subshrub 30-60cm tall, with simple opposite green or purple leaves that are strongly scented, and hairy stems....
 leaf in their mouth. Then the gates would be opened and men would ride out for one final, heroic, hopeless battle, dying gloriously on the field of honor. This fight until death of men is called "Saka." The historic fort of Chittor, the seat of the Sisodia
Sisodia

The Sisodia are a Rajput clan who ruled the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan. Before Rana Hamir the clan was known as Gehlot or Guhilot. In 1303 CE Alla-ud-din Khilji attacked Chittor.In the war all Rajputs in the fort were killed and Rani Padmini committed Jauhar.Some of their kinsmen survived, who were outside the fort....
 kingdom of Mewar
Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara District, Chittorgarh District, Rajsamand District and Udaipur District....
, was the site of the three most famous Jauhars recorded in history.

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 a popular weapon among the Rajputs of that era. On special occasions, a primary chief would break up a meeting of his vassal chiefs with khanda nariyal, the distribution of daggers and coconuts. The Karga Shapna ritual, performed during the annual Navaratri festival, was another affirmation of the Rajput's reverence for his sword.

By the late 19th century, there was a shift from 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 are indeed the timeless values of the Rajput community, as the Encyclopedia Britannica (1911 edition) affirms in its resume of the contemporary social values of the community in India.

The tradition of common ancestry permits a poor Rajput yeoman to consider himself as well born as any powerful landholder of his clan, and superior to any high official of the professional classes. No race in India can boast of finer feats of arms or brighter deeds of chivalry, and they form one of the main recruiting fields for the Indian army of the day. They consider any occupation other than that of arms or government derogatory to their dignity, and consequently during the long period of peace which has followed the establishment of the British rule in India, they have been content to stay idle at home instead of taking up any of the other professions in which they might have come to the front.

Surnames

Common Rajput surnames include:
Hada, Jaswal, Janjua (Janjuah), Sulehri, Thakur
Thakur

*Thakur *Thakore*Thakur *Thakur one of the scheduled tribes of India.Thakur may refer to*Hindu Gods: In Bengali, deities are refer to as Thakur....
, Tomar
Tomar

Tomar , also known in English as Thomar, is a city of some 20,000 and also a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 351.0 km? and a total population of 43,007 inhabitants....
, (Tanwar), Chauhan,Pathni/Pathani [????], Pokhariya
Pokhariya

Ref: History of Kumaun by B.D. Pant...
, Gahlaut or Gehlot or Rana
Rana

Rana may refer to* Rana, Norway* Rana dynasty, European, Italian, Asian, Indian and British Raj.* Rana , a variation on Raja, a Hindu princely title of royalty...
, Rathore
Rathore

The Rathore In India, their native languages are Hindi language and its dialects ** SHYAM SINGH 1532-1562 A.D....
, (Rathod), Ranawat, Pundir
Pundir

The most powerful military vassals of the Chauhan Empire of Delhi, the Pundir are a Suryavanshi branch of Rajputs, one of the thirty six royal rajput clans....
, Parmar (Panwar), Jadaon, Jadeja [??????], Kushwaha or Kachwaha
Kachwaha

The Kachwaha are a Suryavanshi Rajput clan who ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states in India such as Alwar, Maihar, Talcher, while the largest kingdom was Jaipur which was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727....
, Bhatti or Bhati
Bhati

Bhati / Bhatti is a Rajput caste and is one of the largest tribes among Rajputs.It is also a prominent Bargujar and gujjar people and Jat peoplegotra....
, Deora
Deora

Deora is the name of a branch of the Chauhan clan of rajputs in India. Rao Deoraj, a patrilineal descendant of Prithviraj Chauhan, was the progenitor of the clan....
, Papola, Bisht
Bisht

Bisht refers to the title of Rajputs in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. Bisht was a title given by Kumaon and Garhwal Kings to nobles....
, Digari, Rautela, Sirari, Manral, Minhas
Minhas

Minhas or Manhas or Minhas-Dogra is a Suryavanshi Rajput clan from the Punjab region and Jammu & Kashmir in India and Pakistan. It is an off-shoot of Jamwal-Dogra Rajputs, the founders of the city and state of Jammu and its rulers from ancient times to 1948 C.E....
 (Manhas), Khurmi, Katoch, Parihar (Prihar, Parhar), Shekhawat
Shekhawat

Shekhawat is a sub-clan of Kachwaha Rajputs found mainly in Rajasthan, India. The Shekhawat clan claims descent from the great rajput warrior Maharao Shekha Ji....
, Bhadoria, Rawal, Rawat, Sikarwar
Sikarwar

Sikarwar Rajputs are an old clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs and are among one of the 36 original Rajput clans. They draw their name from Sikar district , the district that was allocated to Swarup Rao Sikarwar to rule....
, Surwar, Sankhla, Sarna, Solanki, Chandel
Chandela

The Chandelas are a Rajput clan found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, a dynasty, who ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD....
, Shahdeo, Pawar, Dhakare, Kanwar, Zala, Dangi, Madadh, Lodhi, Singraul.


See also

  • List of Rajputs
    List of Rajputs

    This is only a partial list of famous Rajputs, members of the Rajput community of Northern India and Pakistan....
  • Battle of Rajasthan
    Battle of Rajasthan

    The Battle of Rajasthan is a battle where the Hindu Rajput clans defeated the Muslim Arab invaders in 738 CE. It should be noted that while all sources agree on the broad outline of the conflict and the result, there is no detailed information on the actual battle/s....
  • Charan
    Charan

    Chara? is the term for a caste living in the Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. Members of this caste are highly revered for their unflinching readiness for martyrdom, bravery in war, high literary sense and deep loyalty to patrons....
  • Rajput clans
    Rajput clans

    The Rajputs are a community of Hindus belonging to the Kshatriya or warrior Varna in Hinduism. Apart from being an important factor in the social life of the rajputs themselves, their clan system is also of interest for certain other reasons: land tenure studies in the Indian state of Rajasthan and tracing of ancient population shifts are only two...
  • Meo
    Meo

    Meo is a prominent Muslim Rajput tribe from North-Western India some of whom migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India....
  • Karadiya Rajputs
    Karadiya Rajputs

    A brave clan of Rajputs, mostly living in Gujarat with a high concentration in Saurashtra peninsula. In the book Karmi Karadia you can find more description about its culture and origin....
  • History of Rajputs
    History of Rajputs

    The Rajputs are a social group of North India and Gujarat. In the Hindi and Gujarati language languages, those belonging to the Kshatriya Varna of Hindus are generally referred to as "Rajputs"....
  • List of Rajputs
    List of Rajputs

    This is only a partial list of famous Rajputs, members of the Rajput community of Northern India and Pakistan....
  • Rajoa
    Rajoa

    Rajoa is a EXCLUSIVE village in Dadyal Tehsil, Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir]. Like much of Mirpur, Rajoa has deep ties with the UK. Many people originally from Rajoa have settled in Birmingham and its surrounding areas....
  • Rajput Regiment
    Rajput Regiment

    The Rajput regiment is a regiment in the Indian Army that is composed primarily of the Rajput clans from India. The British designated the Rajputs as a martial race and subsequently employed large numbers of these warriors in the British Indian Army....
  • Rawat
    Rawat Rajputs

    Rawat Rajputs are people who reside in Ajmer, Rajsamand, Bhilwara and Pali districts of Rajasthan as well as Uttarakhand. They claim their descent from Chauhan Rajputs belonging to Chauhan dynasty....
  • Forward Castes
  • Rajputs and Zoroastrianism
  • Rajputs and Buddhism
  • Muslim Rajputs
    Muslim Rajputs

    Muslim Rajputs are the Rajputs that converted to Islam. The Raj-Put were ruling royal warrior clans of South Asia from ancient times has a long and well documented history of warrior kings and a strong martial reputation....
  • Sikh Rajputs
    Sikh Rajputs

    Sikh Rajputs are the followers of Sikhism belonging to the Rajput social group. Sikh Rajputs have a long-standing tradition in Punjab and in Sikh history....


Further reading

  • .
  • Kasturi, Malavika, Embattled Identities Rajput Lineages, Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0-19-565787-X
  • M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities In India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004)
  • .
  • W.W. Hunter, The Indian empire, its people, history and products. First published: London, Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill, 1886. ISBN 81-206-1581-6.
  • Dasharatha Sharma
    Dasharatha Sharma

    Professor Dasharatha Sharma was an Indologist and a noted expert in the history of the Rajasthan region in India. He was born in the Rajasthani city of Churu and studied at Churu, the city of Bikaner in Rajasthan and at the University of Delhi....
     Rajasthan through the Ages a comprehensive and authentic history of Rajasthan, prepared under the orders of the Government of Rajasthan. First published 1966 by Rajasthan Archives.


External links

  • The Historic Mandore of the Pratihara (Parihar)
  • Columbia Encyclopedia
    Columbia Encyclopedia

    The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its important relationship with the Columbia University, the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is the sixth, printed in 2000....
    , Sixth Edition; 2005
  • Encyclopedia Britannica; 1911