History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c8.s1.21

v1.c8.s1.21

Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar's other arguments adduced in his paper need not be scrutinized, as they do not pertain to historical considerations. We need not stop to see whether Gurjara, the Sanskrit word, has been coined from Gujar by Sanskritists though apparently there is no reason why they should have done so, for they could have pronounced Gujar as well as Gurjara, or whether Gujar, Gūjar, Gurjara names still surviving are the natural Prakrit forms coming out of an original Sanskrit word Gurjara. But it is necessary to examine his opinion carefully whether Gujars being known as foreigners could have, owing to their success in conquest, been admitted by Hindus to the rank of Kshatriyas. Hiuen Tsang distinctly mentions that the king of Gurjara (Bhinmāl) was a Kshatriya. "This is interesting" observes Mr. Bhandarkar "that as early as the first half of the seventh century i. e. about a century after their coming into India the Gujars had become Hindus and had actually acquired the rank of Kshatriyas" Ordinarily the inference should have been the opposite of this viz. that the Gujars could not have been foreigners as they could not have succeeded in gaining the status of Kshatriyas within a hundred years of their coming into India. For we are historically certain that caste was not so fragile in the sixth and seventh centuries A. D. The inscriptions of the Guptas and even of Harsha's father show that kings were particular in preserving the purity of caste (see Varṇavyavasthāpanapara applied to Prabhākara Vardhana Ep. In. Vol. V. p. 200.) Mr. Bhandarkar similarly twists a third fact into an argument in support of his theory, though it is in reality an argument against him. The Gujara Gauda Brahmins are also foreigners according to Mr. Bhandarkar. The argument that foreigners becoming kings could enter the Kshatriya caste might be plausible though even that is weak but they could not become Brahmins for there could not have been any incentive to admit them as Brahmins. Moreover the Khazars do not appear to have had castes among them. Hence why should some Khazars become Brahmins? The fact that there is an ancient class of Brahmins called Gujar Gaud is an argument for holding that the Gujars were an Aryan people with their usual four castes. This also explains how there are Gujar Bānias and Gujar cultivators or Gujar Sutārs (carpenters) and so on. The existence of a Gujar Karhada Brahmin family is also of no importance as it may have got that name by even residence in Gujar country as the addition of the surname पटवर्धन suggests.