The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume IV of IV

R >> R.V. Russell >> The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume IV of IV

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Raghuvansi

1. Historical notice

_Raghuvansi, Raghvi._--A class of Rajputs of impure descent, who have
now developed in the Central Provinces into a caste of cultivators,
marrying among themselves. Their first settlement here was in the
Nerbudda Valley, and Sir C. Elliott wrote of them: [453] "They are
a queer class, all professing to be Rajputs from Ajodhia, though on
cross-examination they are obliged to confess that they did not come
here straight from Ajodhia, but stopped in Bundelkhand and the Gwalior
territory by the way. They are obviously of impure blood as they marry
only among themselves; but when they get wealthy and influential they
assume the sacred thread, stop all familiarity with Gujars and Kirars
(with whom they are accustomed to smoke the huqqa and to take water)
and profess to be very high-caste Rajputs indeed." From Hoshangabad
they have spread to Betul, Chhindwara and Nagpur and now number 24,000
persons in all in the Central Provinces. Chhindwara, on the Satpura
plateau, is supposed to have been founded by one Ratan Raghuvansi,
who built the first house on the site, burying a goat alive under
the foundations. The goat is still worshipped as the tutelary deity
of the town. The name Raghuvansi is derived from Raja Raghu, king of
Ajodhia and ancestor of the great Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. In
Nagpur the name has been shortened to Raghvi, and the branch of the
caste settled here is somewhat looked down upon by their fellows
in Hoshangabad. Sir R. Craddock [454] states that their religion
is unorthodox and they have _gurus_ or priests of their own caste,
discarding Brahmans. Their names end in Deo. Their origin, however,
is still plainly discernible in their height, strength of body and
fair complexion. The notice continues: "Whatever may happen to other
classes the Raghvi will never give way to the moneylender. Though he
is fond of comfort he combines a good deal of thrift with it, and the
clannish spirit of the caste would prevent any oppression of Raghvi
tenants by a landlord or moneylender of their own body." In Chhindwara,
Mr. Montgomerie states, [455] they rank among the best cultivators,
and formerly lived in clans, holding villages on _bhaiachari_ or
communal tenure. As malguzars or village proprietors, they are very
prone to absorb tenant land into their home-farms.

2. Social customs

The Raghuvansis have now a set of exogamous groups of the usual
low-caste type, designated after titles, nicknames or natural
objects. They sometimes invest their sons with the sacred thread
at the time of marriage instead of performing the proper thread
ceremony. Some discard the cord after the wedding is over. At
a marriage the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur combine the
Hindustani custom of walking round the sacred pole with the Maratha one
of throwing coloured rice on the bridal couple. Sometimes they have
what is known as a _gankar_ wedding. At this, flour, sugar and _ghi_
[456] are the only kinds of food permissible, large cakes of flour
and sugar being boiled in pitchers full of _ghi_, and everybody being
given as much of this as he can eat. The guests generally over-eat
themselves, and as weddings are celebrated in the hot weather, one or
two may occasionally die of repletion. The neighbours of Raghuvansis
say that the host considers such an occurrence as evidence of the
complete success of his party, but this is probably a libel. Such a
wedding feast may cost two or three thousand rupees. After the wedding
the women of the bride's party attack those of the bridegroom's
with bamboo sticks, while these retaliate by throwing red powder
on them. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted, but a widow
must be taken from the house of her own parents or relatives, and
not from that of her first husband or his parents. In fact, if any
members of the dead husband's family meet the second husband on the
night of the wedding they will attack him and a serious affray may
follow. On reaching her new house the woman enters it by a back door,
after bathing and changing all her clothes. The old clothes are given
away to a barber or washerman, and the presentation of new clothes
by the second husband is the only essential ceremony. No wife will
look on a widow's face on the night of her second marriage, for fear
lest by doing so she should come to the same position. The majority of
the caste abstain from liquor, and they eat flesh in some localities,
but not in others. The men commonly wear beards divided by a shaven
patch in the centre of the chin; and the women have two body-cloths,
one worn like a skirt according to the northern custom. Mr. Crooke
states [457] that "in northern India a tradition exists among them
that the cultivation of sugar is fatal to the farmer, and that the
tiling of a house brings down divine displeasure upon the owner;
hence to this day no sugar is grown and not a tiled house is to be
seen in their estates." These superstitions do not appear to be known
at all in the Central Provinces.

Rajjhar

1. General notice

_Rajjhar, Rajbhar, Lajjhar._--A caste of farmservants found in the
northern Districts. In 1911 they numbered about 8000 persons in the
Central Provinces, being returned principally from the Districts
of the Satpura plateau. The names Rajjhar and Rajbhar appear to be
applied indiscriminately to the same caste, who are an offshoot of
the great Bhar tribe of northern India. The original name appears
to have been Raj Bhar, which signifies a landowning Bhar, like
Raj-Gond, Raj-Korku and so on. In Mandla all the members of the
caste were shown as Rajbhar in 1891, and Rajjhar in 1901, and the
two names seem to be used interchangeably in other Districts in the
same manner. Some section or family names, such as Bamhania, Patela,
Barhele and others, are common to people calling themselves Rajjhar
and Rajbhar. But, though practically the same caste, the Rajjhars
seem, in some localities, to be more backward and primitive than the
Rajbhars. This is also the case in Berar, where they are commonly
known as Lajjhar and are said to be akin to the Gonds. A Gond will
there take food from a Lajjhar, but not a Lajjhar from a Gond. They
are more Hinduised than the Gonds and have prohibited the killing or
injuring of cows by some caste penalties. [458]

2. Origin and subdivisions

The caste appears to be in part of mixed origin arising from the
unions of Hindu fathers with women of the Bhar tribe. Several of
their family names are derived from those of other castes, as Bamhania
(from Brahman), Sunarya (from Sunar), Baksaria (a Rajput sept), Ahiriya
(an Ahir or cowherd), and Bisatia from Bisati (a hawker). Other names
are after plants or animals, as Baslya from the _bans_ or bamboo,
Mohanya from the _mohin_ tree, Chhitkaria from the _sitaphal_ or
custard-apple tree, Hardaya from the banyan tree, Richhya from the
bear, and Dukhania from the buffalo. Members of this last sept will not
drink buffalo's milk or wear black cloth, because this is the colour
of their totem animal. Members of septs named after other castes have
also adopted some natural object as a sept totem; thus those of the
Sunarya sept worship gold as being the metal with which the Sunar is
associated. Those of the Bamhania sept revere the banyan and pipal
trees, as these are held sacred by Brahmans. The Bakraria or Bagsaria
sept believe their name to be derived from that of the _bagh_ or tiger,
and they worship this animal's footprints by tying a thread round them.

3. Marriage

The marriage of members of the same sept, and also that of first
cousins, is forbidden. The caste do not employ Brahmans at their
marriage and other ceremonies, and they account for this somewhat
quaintly by saying that their ancestors were at one time accustomed
to rely on the calculations of Brahman priests; but many marriages
which the Brahman foretold as auspicious turned out very much the
reverse; and on this account they have discarded the Brahman, and now
determine the suitability or otherwise of a projected union by the
common primitive custom of throwing two grains of rice into a vessel
of water and seeing whether they will meet. The truth is probably that
they are too backward ever to have had recourse to the Brahman priest,
but now, though they still apparently have no desire for his services,
they recognise the fact to be somewhat discreditable to themselves, and
desire to explain it away by the story already given. In Hoshangabad
the bride still goes to the bridegroom's house to be married as among
the Gonds. A bride-price is paid, which consists of four rupees,
a _khandi_ [459] of juari or wheat, and two pieces of cloth. This
is received by the bride's father, who, however, has in turn to
pay seven rupees eight annas and a goat to the caste _panchayat_
or committee for the arrangement and sanction of the match. This
last payment is known as _Skarab-ka-rupaya_ or liquor-money, and
with the goat furnishes the wherewithal for a sumptuous feast to the
caste. The marriage-shed must be made of freshly-cut timber, which
should not be allowed to fall to the ground, but must be supported
and carried off on men's shoulders as it is cut. When the bridegroom
arrives at the marriage-shed he is met by the bride's mother and
conducted by her to an inner room of the house, where he finds the
bride standing. He seizes her fist, which she holds clenched, and
opens her fingers by force. The couple then walk five times round the
_chauk_ or sacred space made with lines of flour on the floor, the
bridegroom holding the bride by her little finger. They are preceded
by some relative of the bride, who walks round the post carrying a
pot of water, with seven holes in it; the water spouts from these
holes on to the ground, and the couple must tread in it as they go
round the post. This forms the essential and binding portion of the
marriage. That night the couple sleep in the same room with a woman
lying between them. Next day they return to the bridegroom's house,
and on arriving at his door the boy's mother meets him and touches
his head, breast and knees with a churning-stick, a winnowing-fan and
a pestle, with the object of exorcising any evil spirits who may be
accompanying the bridal couple. As the pair enter the marriage-shed
erected before the bridegroom's house they are drenched with water by
a man sitting on the roof, and when they come to the door of the house
the bridegroom's younger brother, or some other boy, sits across it
with his legs stretched out to prevent the bride from entering. The
girl pushes his legs aside and goes into the house, where she stays
for three months with her husband, and then returns to her parents for
a year. After this she is sent to her husband with a basket of fried
cakes and a piece of cloth, and takes up her residence with him. When
a widow is to be married, the couple pour turmeric and water over each
other, and then walk seven times round in a circle in an empty space,
holding each other by the hand. A widow commonly marries her deceased
husband's younger brother, but is not compelled to do so. Divorce is
permitted for adultery on the part of the wife.

4. Social Customs

The caste bury their dead with the head pointing to the west. This
practice is peculiar, and is also followed, Colonel Dalton states, by
the hill Bhuiyas of Bengal, who in so doing honour the quarter of the
setting sun. When a burial takes place, all the mourners who accompany
the corpse throw a little earth into the grave. On the same day some
food and liquor are taken to the grave and offered to the dead man's
spirit, and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. This concludes
the ceremonies of mourning, and the next day the relatives go about
their business. The caste are usually petty cultivators and labourers,
while they also collect grass and fuel for sale, and propagate the lac
insect. In Seoni they have a special relation with the Ahirs, from whom
they will take cooked food, while they say that the Ahirs will also eat
from their hands. In Narsinghpur a similar connection has been observed
between the Rajjhars and the Lodhi caste. This probably arises from
the fact that the former have worked for several generations as the
farm-servants of Lodhi or Ahir employers, and have been accustomed to
live in their houses and partake of their meals, so that caste rules
have been abandoned for the sake of convenience. A similar intimacy
has been observed between the Panwars and Gonds, and other castes
who stand in this relation to each other. The Rajjhars will also
eat _katcha_ food (cooked with water) from Kunbis and Kahars. But
in Hoshangabad some of them will not take food from any caste, even
from Brahmans. Their women wear glass bangles only on the right hand,
and a brass ornament known as _mathi_ on the left wrist. They wear
no ornaments in the nose or ears, and have no breast-cloth. They
are tattooed with dots on the face and patterns of animals on the
right arm, but not on the left arm or legs. A _liaison_ between
a youth and maiden of the caste is considered a trifling matter,
being punished only with a fine of two to four annas or pence. A
married woman detected in an intrigue is mulcted in a sum of four
or five rupees, and if her partner be a man of another caste a lock
of her hair is cut off. The caste are generally ignorant and dirty,
and are not much better than the Gonds and other forest tribes.

Rajput

[The following article is based mainly on Colonel Tod's classical
_Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan_, 2nd ed., Madras, Higginbotham,
1873, and Mr. Crooke's articles on the Rajput clans in his _Tribes and
Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_. Much information as to
the origin of the Rajput clans has been obtained from inscriptions and
worked up mainly by the late Mr. A.M.T. Jackson and Messrs. B.G. and
D.R. Bhandarkar; this has been set out with additions and suggestions
in Mr. V.A. Smith's _Early History of India_, 3rd ed., and has been
reproduced in the subordinate articles on the different clans. Though
many of the leading clans are very weakly represented in the Central
Provinces, some notice of them is really essential in an article
treating generally of the Rajput caste, on however limited a scale, and
has therefore been included. In four cases, Panwar, Jadum, Raghuvansi
and Daharia, the original Rajput clans have now developed into separate
cultivating castes, ranking well below the Rajputs; separate articles
have been written on these as for independent castes.]

List of Paragraphs

1. _Introductory notice_.
2. _The thirty-six royal races_.
3. _The origin of the Rajputs_.
4. _Subdivisions of the clans_.
5. _Marriage customs_.
6. _Funeral rites_.
7. _Religion_.
8. _Food_.
9. _Opium_.
10. _Improved training of Rajput chiefs_.
11. _Dress_.
12. _Social customs_.
13. _Seclusion of women_.
14. _Traditional character of the Rajputs_.
15. _Occupation_.

List of Subordinate Articles

1. Baghel.
2. Bagri.
3. Bais.
4. Baksaria.
5. Banaphar.
6. Bhadauria.
7. Bisen.
8. Bundela.
9. Chandel.
10. Chauhan.
11. Dhakar.
12. Gaharwar, Gherwal.
13. Gaur, Chamar-Gaur.
14. Haihaya, Haihaivansi, Kalachuri.
15. Huna, Hoon.
16. Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha.
17. Nagvansi.
18. Nikumbh.
19. Paik.
20. Parihar.
21. Rathor, Rathaur.
22. Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia.
23. Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya.
24. Somvansi, Chandravansi.
25. Surajvansi.
26. Tomara, Tuar, Tunwar.
27. Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon.

1. Introductory notice

_Rajput, Kshatriya, Chhatri, Thakur._--The Rajputs are the
representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior class, the second
of the four main castes or orders of classical Hinduism, and were
supposed to have been made originally from the arms of Brahma. The old
name of Kshatriya is still commonly used in the Hindi form Chhatri,
but the designation Rajput, or son of a king, has now superseded
it as the standard name of the caste. Thakur, or lord, is the common
Rajput title, and that by which they are generally addressed. The total
number of persons returned as Rajputs in the Province in 1911 was about
440,000. India has about nine million Rajputs in all, and they are most
numerous in the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Bihar and Orissa,
Rajputana returning under 700,000 and Central India about 800,000.

The bulk of the Rajputs in the Central Provinces are of very impure
blood. Several groups, such as the Panwars of the Wainganga Valley,
the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur, the Jadams of Hoshangabad and
the Daharias of Chhattisgarh, have developed into separate castes and
marry among themselves, though a true Rajput must not marry in his own
clan. Some of them have abandoned the sacred thread and now rank with
the good cultivating castes below Banias. Reference may be made to the
separate articles on these castes. Similarly the Surajvansi, Gaur or
Gorai, Chauhan, and Bagri clans marry among themselves in the Central
Provinces, and it is probable that detailed research would establish
the same of many clans or parts of clans bearing the name of Rajput in
all parts of India. If the definition of a proper Rajput were taken,
as it should be correctly, as one whose family intermarried with clans
of good standing, the caste would be reduced to comparatively small
dimensions. The name Dhakar, also shown as a Rajput clan, is applied
to a person of illegitimate birth, like Vidur. Over 100,000 persons,
or nearly a quarter of the total, did not return the name of any clan
in 1911, and these are all of mixed or illegitimate descent. They are
numerous in Nimar, and are there known as _chhoti-tur_ or low-class
Rajputs. The Bagri Rajputs of Seoni and the Surajvansis of Betal marry
among themselves, while the Bundelas of Saugor intermarry with two
other local groups, the Panwar and Dhundhele, all the three being of
impure blood. In Jubbulpore a small clan of persons known as Paik or
foot-soldier return themselves as Rajputs, but are no doubt a mixed
low-caste group. Again, some landholding sections of the primitive
tribes have assumed the names of Rajput clans. Thus the zamindars of
Bilaspur, who originally belonged to the Kawar tribe, call themselves
Tuar or Tomara Rajputs, and the landholding section of the Mundas
in Chota Nagpur say that they are of the Nagvansi clan. Other names
are returned which are not those of Rajput clans or their offshoots
at all. If these subdivisions, which cannot be considered as proper
Rajputs, and all those who have returned no clan be deducted, there
remain not more than 100,000 who might be admitted to be pure Rajputs
in Rajputana. But a close local scrutiny even of these would no doubt
result in the detection of many persons who have assumed and returned
the names of good clans without being entitled to them. And many
more would come away as being the descendants of remarried widows. A
Rajput of really pure family and descent is in fact a person of some
consideration in most parts of the Central Provinces.

2. The thirty-six royal races

Traditionally the Rajputs are divided into thirty-six great clans
or races, of which Colonel Tod gives a list compiled from different
authorities as follows (alternative names by which the clan or
important branches of it are known are shown in brackets):

1. Ikshwaka or Surajvansi.
2. Indu, Somvansi or Chandravansi.
3. Gahlot or Sesodia (Raghuvansi).
4. Yadu (Bhatti, Jareja, Jadon, Banaphar).
5. Tuar or Tomara.
6. Rathor.
7. Kachhwaha (Cutchwaha).
8. Pramara or Panwar (Mori).
9. Chauhan (Hara, Khichi, Nikumbh, Bhadauria).
10. Chalukya or Solankhi (Baghel).
11. Parihar.
12. Chawara or Chaura.
13. Tak or Takshac (Nagvansi, Mori).
14. Jit or Gete.
15. Huna.
16. Kathi.
17. Balla.
18. Jhalla.
19. Jaitwa or Kamari.
20. Gohil.
21. Sarweya.
22. Silar.
23. Dhabi.
24. Gaur.
25. Doda or Dor.
26. Gherwal or Gaharwar (Bundela).
27. Badgujar.
28. Sengar.
29. Sikarwal.
30. Bais.
31. Dahia.
32. Johia.
33. Mohil.
34. Nikumbh.
35. Rajpali.
36. Dahima.

And two extra, Hul and Daharia.

Several of the above races are extinct or nearly so, and on the other
hand some very important modern clans, as the Gautam, Dikhit and Bisen,
and such historically important ones as the Chandel and Haihaya,
are not included in the thirty-six royal races at all. Practically
all the clans should belong either to the solar and lunar branch,
that is, should be descended from the sun or moon, but the division,
if it ever existed, is not fully given by Colonel Tod. Two special
clans, the Surajvansi and Chandra or Somvansi, are named after the sun
and moon respectively; and a few others, as the Sesodia, Kachhwaha,
Gohil, Bais and Badgujar, are recorded as being of the solar race,
descended from Vishnu through his incarnation as Rama. The Rathors also
claimed solar lineage, but this was not wholly conceded by the Bhats,
and the Dikhits are assigned to the solar branch by their legends. The
great clan of the Yadavas, of whom the present Jadon or Jadum and
Bhatti Rajputs are representatives, was of the lunar race, tracing
their descent from Krishna, though, as a matter of fact, Krishna was
also an incarnation of Vishnu or the sun; and the Tuar or Tomara,
as well as the Jit or Gete, the Rajput section of the modern Jats,
who were considered to be branches of the Yadavas, would also be of
the moon division, The Gautam and Bisen clans, who are not included in
the thirty-six royal races, now claim lunar descent. Four clans, the
Panwar, Chauhan, Chalukya or Solankhi, and Parihar, had a different
origin, being held to have been born through the agency of the gods
from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu. They are hence known
as Agnikula or the fire races. Several clans, such as the Tak or
Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, were considered by Colonel Tod to
be the representatives of the Huns or Scythians, that is, the nomad
invading tribes from Central Asia, whose principal incursions took
place during the first five centuries of the Christian era.

At least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Doda
or Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel Tod's time,
and others were represented only by small settlements in Rajputana and
Surat. On the other hand, there are now a large number of new clans,
whose connection with the thirty-six is doubtful, though in many
cases they are probably branches of the old clans who have obtained
a new name on settling in a different locality.

3. The origin of the Rajputs

It was for long the custom to regard the Rajputs as the direct
descendants and representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior
class of the Indian Aryans, as described in the Vedas and the great
epics. Even Colonel Tod by no means held this view in its entirety,
and modern epigraphic research has caused its partial or complete
abandonment Mr. V.A. Smith indeed says: [460] "The main points to
remember are that the Kshatriya or Rajput caste is essentially an
occupational caste, composed of all clans following the Hindu ritual
who actually undertook the act of government; that consequently people
of most diverse races were and are lumped together as Rajputs, and
that most of the great clans now in existence are descended either
from foreign immigrants of the fifth or sixth century A.D. or from
indigenous races such as the Gonds and Bhars." Colonel Tod held three
clans, the Tak or Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, to be descended
from Scythian or nomad Central Asian immigrants, and the same origin
has been given for the Haihaya. The Huna clan actually retains the
name of the White Huns, from whose conquests in the fifth century it
probably dates its existence. The principal clan of the lunar race,
the Yadavas, are said to have first settled in Delhi and at Dwarka in
Gujarat. But on the death of Krishna, who was their prince, they were
expelled from these places, and retired across the Indus, settling in
Afghanistan. Again, for some reason which the account does not clearly
explain, they came at a later period to India and settled first in
the Punjab and afterwards in Rajputana. The Jit or Jat and the Tomara
clans were branches of the Yadavas, and it is supposed that the Jits
or Jats were also descended from the nomad invading tribes, possibly
from the Yueh-chi tribe who conquered and occupied the Punjab during
the first and second centuries. [461] The legend of the Yadavas, who
lived in Gujarat with their chief Krishna, but after his defeat and
death retired to Central Asia, and at a later date returned to India,
would appear to correspond fairly well with the Saka invasion of the
second century B.C. which penetrated to Kathiawar and founded a dynasty
there. In A.D. 124 the second Saka king was defeated by the Andhra
king Vilivayakura II. and his kingdom destroyed. [462] But at about
the same period, the close of the first century, a fresh horde of the
Sakas came to Gujarat from Central Asia and founded another kingdom,
which lasted until it was subverted by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
about A.D. 390. [463] The historical facts about the Sakas, as given
on the authority of Mr. V.A. Smith, thus correspond fairly closely
with the Yadava legend. And the later Yueh-chi immigrants might
well be connected by the Bhats with the Saka hordes who had come
at an earlier date from the same direction, and so the Jats [464]
might be held to be an offshoot of the Yadavas. This connection of
the Yadava and Jat legends with the facts of the immigration of the
Sakas and Yueh-chi appears a plausible one, but may be contradicted
by historical arguments of which the writer is ignorant. If it were
correct we should be justified in identifying the lunar clans of
Rajputs with the early Scythian immigrants of the first and second
centuries. Another point is that Buddha is said to be the progenitor
of the whole Indu or lunar race. [465] It is obvious that Buddha
had no real connection with these Central Asian tribes, as he died
some centuries before their appearance in India. But the Yueh-chi or
Kushan kings of the Punjab in the first and second centuries A.D. were
fervent Buddhists and established that religion in the Punjab. Hence
we can easily understand how, if the Yadus or Jats and other lunar
clans were descended from the Saka and Yueh-chi immigrants, the
legend of their descent from Buddha, who was himself a Kshatriya,
might be devised for them by their bards when they were subsequently
converted from Buddhism to Hinduism. The Sakas of western India, on the
other hand, who it is suggested may be represented by the Yadavas,
were not Buddhists in the beginning, whether or not they became
so afterwards. But as has been seen, though Buddha was their first
progenitor, Krishna was also their king while they were in Gujarat,
so that at this time they must have been supposed to be Hindus. The
legend of descent from Buddha arising with the Yueh-chi or Kushans
might have been extended to them. Again, the four Agnikula or fire-born
clans, the Parihar, Chalukya or Solankhi, Panwar and Chauhan, are
considered to be the descendants of the White Hun and Gujar invaders
of the fifth and sixth centuries. These clans were said to have been
created by the gods from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu for
the re-birth of the Kshatriya caste after it had been exterminated
by the slaughter of Parasurama the Brahman. And it has been suggested
that this legend refers to the cruel massacres of the Huns, by which
the bulk of the old aristocracy, then mainly Buddhist, was wiped out;
while the Huns and Gujars, one at least of whose leaders was a fervent
adherent of Brahmanism and slaughtered the Buddhists of the Punjab,
became the new fire-born clans on being absorbed into Hinduism. [466]
The name of the Huns is still retained in the Huna clan, now almost
extinct. There remain the clans descended from the sun through Rama,
and it would be tempting to suppose that these are the representatives
of the old Aryan Kshatriyas. But Mr. Bhandarkar has shown [467] that
the Sesodias, the premier clan of the solar race and of all Rajputs,
are probably sprung from Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat, and hence from the
Gujar tribes; and it must therefore be supposed that the story of solar
origin and divine ancestry was devised because they were once Brahmans,
and hence, in the view of the bards, of more honourable origin than
the other clans. Similarly the Badgujar clan, also of solar descent,
is shown by its name of _bara_ or great Gujar to have been simply an
aristocratic section of the Gujars; while the pedigree of the Rathors,
another solar clan, and one of those who have shed most lustre on the
Rajput name, was held to be somewhat doubtful by the Bhats, and their
solar origin was not fully admitted. Mr. Smith gives two great clans
as very probably of aboriginal or Dravidian origin, the Gaharwar
or Gherwal, from whom the Bundelas are derived, and the Chandel,
who ruled Bundelkhand from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, and
built the fine temples at Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajaraho as well as
making many great tanks. This corresponds with Colonel Tod's account,
which gives no place to the Chandels among the thirty-six royal
races, and states that the Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to his
brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood to
mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their
fellowship. [468] Similarly the Kathi clan may be derived from the
indigenous Kathi tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar. And the
Surajvansi, Somvansi and Nagvansi clans, or descendants of the sun,
moon and snake, which are scarcely known in Rajputana, may represent
landholding sections of lower castes or non-Aryan tribes who have been
admitted to Rajput rank. But even though it be found that the majority
of the Rajput clans cannot boast a pedigree dating farther back than
the first five centuries of our era, this is at any rate an antiquity
to which few if any of the greatest European houses can lay claim.