A History of the Mahrattas v1.c7.64

v1.c7.64

Yūg]. [V. A. Smith (O.H.I., pp. 172-3) writes: ‘The term Rājput, as applied to a social group, has no concern with race, meaning descent or relationship by blood. It merely denotes a tribe, clan, sept or caste of warlike habits, the members of which claimed aristocratic rank, and were treated by the Brahmans as representing the Kshatriyas (Kshittree) of the old books. The huge group of Rājput clan-castes includes people of the most diverse descent. Many of the clans are descended from the foreigners who entered India during the fifth and sixth centuries, while many others are descended from indigenous tribes now represented, so far as the majority of their members is concerned, either by semi-Hinduized peoples or by inferior castes.’ He then gives examples of the clan-castes of foreign and indigenous descent. This view is also held by W. Crooke in his paper on Rājputs and Mahrattas, printed in J.R. Anth. I., vol. xl, 1910.]