Rise of rajputas and nature

Of the state

Bhavanipur education society

college

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INTRODUCTION
A Rajput (from Sanskrit raja-putra, “son of a king”) is a
member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central,
northern India and some parts of Pakistan. They are
descendants of ruling Hindu warrior classes of North India.
Rajputs rose to prominence during the 6th to 12th
centuries. Until the 20th century, Rajputs ruled in the
“overwhelming majority” of the princely states of
Rajasthan and Saurashtra, where the largest number of
princely states were found. The Rajput population and the
former Rajput states are found spread through much of the
subcontinent, particularly in north, west and central India.
Populations are found in Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Uttar
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
There are several major subdivisions of Rajputs, known as
vansh or vamsha, the step below the super-division jati.
These vansh delineate claimed descent from various
sources, and the Rajput are generally considered to be
divided into three primary vansh: Suryavanshi denotes
descent from the solar deity Surya, Chandravanshi from
the lunar deity Chandra, and Agnivanshi from the fire deity
Agni. Lesser-noted vansh include Udayvanshi, Rajvanshi,
and Rishivanshi.

Well,There is a great deal of controversy among scholars

about the origin of rajputs. Many of the rajput clans trace
their genealogy to solar and lunar families of kshatriyas
which are mentioned in the mahabharata.
Some others trace their ancestary ack to a sacrificial fire
said to have been held at mt. Abu by saint vasistha we
cannot deend on these traditions because some of them
such as the legend of sacrificial fire at mt. Abu from which
some of the rajput clans such as pratihara,paramara,
chauhana and solanki mentioned for a first time in the
later bardic traditions we can deduce from traditions only
that different clans have different origins.
Some scholars both foreign and indian think that the
numer of these clans descended from scythians and
hunans who settled in india after harsha while a numer of
others elong to indigenous tribes.at various times
brahmana and vaishya families ruled in the country in
adddition to kshatriyas.
it will be seen that caste (jatis) is not as rigid as sometimes
been believed individuals and group can rise in the varna
scale.an instance of this is the kayastha caste,which begins
to e mentioned more prominently from this period.it
seems that originally from different castes including
rahmans and shudra who worked in the royal
estalishments were called kayastha.in course of time they
emerged as a distinct state.hinduism was expanding
rapidly during the period.it not only asored large numer of
buddhists and jain within its fold ,but many indigenous
tribes and foreigners were also hinduised.
these new section formed new castes and subcaste and
often continued their own customs rituals of marriage
 ceromony and even their on tribal gods and goddesses
Thus society and religion became more and more complex

Though all the above mentioned theories have some truth,

still no single theory completely satisfies the historians.
Historians like V.A. Smith conclude that, “Rajput is a mixed
race.” Some Rajput castes were the descendants of foreign
aggressors like Saka, Kushans and Huns and some were the
descends of ancient Kshatriya clans who could wield sword
efficiently and fought in the battle field with extraordinary
courage, began to be called as Rajputs transformed into a
social group were the Rajputs.

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Condition of women
As in the earlier period,women were generally considered
to be mentally inferior.their duty was to obey their
husbands blindly.a writer illustrates the wifes duty of
personal service towards her husand by saying that she
shall shampoo his feet and render him such other services
as befits a servant.ut he adds the condition that the
husand should follow the righteous path and should be
free from hatred as well as jealousy towards the wife.the
matasya purana authorises the husband to beat his erring
wife (though not on the head or the breasts)with rope or a
split bamboo.when continued to denied the right to study
the vedas.furthermore the marriageable age for girls was
lowered,theiry destroying their opportunities for higher
education.the ommission of all reference to women
teachers in the dictionaries written during the period
shows the poor state of higher education among
women.however some dramatic works of the period ,we
find the court ladies and even the queens maids in waiting
were capable of composing excellent sanskrit and prakrit
verse.various stories point to the skill of princess in the fine
arts especially in painting and music.daughter of high
officials,courtesans and concubines are also supposed to
be highly skilled in various arts including poetry.
As for marriage the smriti writers that girls were to be
given away by their parents between the age of six and
eight or between their eight year and attaining
puberty.remarriage was allowed under certain conditions
when the husand had deserted or died,or adopted the life
of a recluse,or was impotent or had ecome an outcaste.
In general women were distrusted they were to e kept in
seclusion and their life was regulated y male
relations-father rother husband and son.however within
the home they were honoured.If a husand abandoned a
guilty wife,she was to e given maintenance.with the
growth of property rights in land ,the proerty rights of
women also increased.in order to preserve the property of
a family, women were given the right to inherit the
property of their male relations. With some reservation ,a
woman was entitled to the entire state of husband if he
died sonless.daughters also had right to succeed to the
properties of a widow.thus, the growth of feudal society
strengthened the concept of private property . The
concept of sti was made obligatory by some writers, but
condemned y others.according to an ara writer,sulaiman
wives of kings sometimes burnt themselves on the funeral
pyre of their husands,but it was for them to exercise their
option in the matter . It appears that with the growth of
the practice of large numer of women eing maintained by
the chiefs and with the resultant disputes about
property,there was a tendency for the rite of sati to spread.
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Pattern of living
There were no significant changes in the style of dress of
men and women during the period,the dhoti and the sari
remaining the normal dress for men and women..in
addition ,in north india,men used the jacket and women
the bodice.
According to Rajtarangini harsha introduced into kashmir a
general dress befitting a king .woolen blankets were used
in winter.while cotton was the material most commonly
used , the upper class also used silk and muslin.
The arab travelers testify to the fondness of men and
women for wearing ornaments.
Another famous traveller marco polo tells us that in
malabar men and women wore only a loin cloth.the king
being no exception and that the profession of the tailor
was unknown.
As far food is concerned ,while vegetarianism appeared to
have been rule in many areas and sections of the
population, the leading writer of the times describes at
great length the occasions on which the eating of meat
was lawful.from this it appears that the peacock, the horse
the wild ass the wild cock and the eild pig were regarded
as lawful food. Wine were also a popular drink at that
time,basically wine was drunk on ceremonial occasions.

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Religious movements and
beliefs

The period is marked by a revival and expansion of

hinduism,and a continued decline of buddhism and jainism
not only were the tenets of buddhism and jainism
challenged at the intellectual level, ut an occasions the
uddhist and jain monks were persecuted .in some
instances their temples were also taken over.thus the
temple of puri was once a uddhist temple . The temple
near qutub minar had once een a jain temple then
converted into a vishnu temple.howcer they were not part
of a misplaced religious philosophy of temple destruction
as in the case of the early ara and turkish invaders later on.
During this period , buddhism was gradually confined to
eastern india. The pala rulers were patrons of buddhism in
the area,but even more serious were the internal
developments in buddhism many corrupt practice invade
buddhism.
Jainism continued to be popular particulary among the
trading communities.the chalukyan rulers of gujrat
patronized jainism.it was during this time that some of the
most magnificent temple such as dilwara temples. At mt.
Abu were built. The paramar rulers of malwa also built
huge images of jain saints and of mahavira who began to
be worshipped as a god . In south india jainism attained
their highmarks during the ninth and tenth century.the
revival and expansion of hinduism took many forms .shiva
and vishnu became the chief gods and magnificent
temples were built to proclaim their supremacy in the
process ,many local gods and goddesses of trials who had
been hinduized,became subordinate.

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 conclusion

Rajputs were the powerful dynasty that ruled upon

delhi for the long period in compare to the other
dynasties,but they follow ethics.

as we know after defeating the muhhamad ghur in 1st

battle of terrain 1191,prithiviraj pardon him that
cause to the extinct of rajputa dynasty
Again the 2nd battle of terrain happened and
prithiviraj chauhan was defeated.
 bibliography
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