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.