1. _Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of
the Kshatriyas by Parasurama_.
2. _The legend of Parasurama_.
3. _The Panwar dynasty of Dhar and Ujjain_.
4. _Diffusion of the Panwars over India_.
5. _The Nagpur Panwars_.
6. _Subdivisions_.
7. _Marriage customs_.
8. _Widow-marriage_.
9. _Religion_.
10. _Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death_.
11. _Funeral rites_.
12. _Caste discipline_.
13. _Social customs_.
1. Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of the
Kshatriyas by Parasurama
_Panwar_, [370] _Puar_, _Ponwar_, _Pramara Rajput_.--The Panwar or
Pramara is one of the most ancient and famous of the Rajput clans. It
was the first of the four Agnikulas, who were created from the fire-pit
on the summit of Mount Abu after the Kshatriyas had been exterminated
by Parasurama the Brahman. "The fire-fountain was lustrated with
the waters of the Ganges; [371] expiatory rites were performed,
and after a protracted debate among the gods it was resolved that
Indra should initiate the work of recreation. Having formed an image
of _duba_ grass he sprinkled it with the water of life and threw it
into the fire-fountain. Thence on pronouncing the _sajivan mantra_
(incantation to give life) a figure slowly emerged from the flame,
bearing in the right hand a mace and exclaiming, '_Mar, Mar!_' (Slay,
slay). He was called Pramar; and Abu, Dhar, and Ujjain were assigned
to him as a territory."
The four clans known as Agnikula, or born from the fire-pit,
were the Panwar, the Chauhan, the Parihar and the Chalukya or
Solanki. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar adduces evidence in support of the
opinion that all these were of foreign origin, derived from the
Gujars or other Scythian or Hun tribes. [372] And it seems therefore
not unlikely that the legend of the fire-pit may commemorate the
reconstitution of the Kshatriya aristocracy by the admission of these
tribes to Hinduism after its partial extinction during their wars of
invasion; the latter event having perhaps been euphemised into the
slaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama the Brahman. A great number
of Indian castes date their origin from the traditional massacre
of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama, saying that their ancestors were
Rajputs who escaped and took to various occupations; and it would
appear that an event which bulks so largely in popular tradition
must have some historical basis. It is noticeable also that Buddhism,
which for some five centuries since the time of Asoka Maurya had been
the official and principal religion of northern India, had recently
entered on its decline. "The restoration of the Brahmanical religion
to popular favour and the associated revival of the Sanskrit language
first became noticeable in the second century, were fostered by the
satraps of Gujarat and Surashtra during the third, and made a success
by the Gupta emperors in the fourth century. [373] The decline of
Buddhism and the diffusion of Sanskrit proceeded side by side with
the result that by the end of the Gupta period the force of Buddhism
on Indian soil had been nearly spent; and India with certain local
exceptions had again become the land of the Brahman. [374] The Gupta
dynasty as an important power ended about A.D. 490 and was overthrown
by the Huns, whose leader Toramana was established at Malwa in Central
India prior to A.D. 500." [375] The revival of Brahmanism and the Hun
supremacy were therefore nearly contemporaneous. Moreover one of the
Hun leaders, Mihiragula, was a strong supporter of Brahmanism and an
opponent of the Buddhists. Mr. V.A. Smith writes: "The savage invader,
who worshipped as his patron deity Siva, the god of destruction,
exhibited ferocious hostility against the peaceful Buddhist cult,
and remorselessly overthrew the _stupas_ and monasteries, which he
plundered of their treasures." [376] This warrior might therefore
well be venerated by the Brahmans as the great restorer of their
faith and would easily obtain divine honours. The Huns also subdued
Rajputana and Central India and were dominant here for a time until
their extreme cruelty and oppression led to a concerted rising of the
Indian princes by whom they were defeated. The discovery of the Hun
or Scythian origin of several of the existing Rajput clans fits in
well with the legend. The stories told by many Indian castes of their
first ancestors having been Rajputs who escaped from the massacre
of Parasurama would then have some historical value as indicating
that the existing occupational grouping of castes dates from the
period of the revival of the Brahman cult after a long interval of
Buddhist supremacy. It is however an objection to the identification
of Parasurama with the Huns that he is the sixth incarnation of
Vishnu, coming before Rama and being mentioned in the Mahabharata,
and thus if he was in any way historical his proper date should be
long before their time. As to this it may be said that he might have
been interpolated or put back in date, as the Brahmans had a strong
interest in demonstrating the continuity of the Kshatriya caste from
Vedic times and suppressing the Hun episode, which indeed they have
succeeded in doing so well that the foreign origin of several of the
most prominent Rajput clans has only been established quite recently
by modern historical and archaeological research. The name Parasurama
signifies 'Rama with the axe' and seems to indicate that this hero came
after the original Rama. And the list of the incarnations of Vishnu
is not always the same, as in one list the incarnations are nearly
all of the animal type and neither Parasurama, Rama nor Krishna appear.