History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c28.s1.73

v2.c28.s1.73

पार्टासूत्रित तत्र गोत्रे । अभवदवनिवर्मा विश्वविख्यातकर्मा. Then again the Chāhamānas were of the Vatsa gotra and the legend given in one of their inscriptions is that they were born from a Brahmin of the Vatsa gotra (विप्रः श्रीवत्सगोत्रेऽभूदिहच्छत्रपुरे पुरा । सामन्तोनन्त सामन्त पूर्णतलो-नृपस्ततःः). In another inscription the first Chāhamāna is said to have been born from the eyes of the Vatsa Rishi himself. These instances will suffice to prove that in the 9th and 10th centuries no such idea was entertained as is done by Vijñāneśvara. These stories of the birth of warriors from the fire of Vasiṣṭha or the handful of Bhāradvāja are plainly myths but they clearly are based on the fact that the Paramāras and the Chālukyas in the 10th and 11th centuries were reputed to be of Vasiṣṭha and Bhāradvāja gotra by descent and not by discipleship. Thus gotra even for Kshatriyas meant descent from the gotra ancestor and hence the poetic bards invented some stories showing the descent of these clans from these ancestors. Thus interpreted these inscriptions clearly prove that in centuries preceding the Mitākṣarā, Rajputs and Kshatriyas were certainly believed to have gotras of their own, gotras which indicated descent. It seems probable that at the time of the Mitākṣarā, Kshatriyas in the south had begun to forget their gotras; and that Brahmin orthodoxy was not willing to accept as Kshatriyas those who during Buddhistic times had entirely lost touch with Aryan ceremonies and were being now received back into Hinduism. Having forgotten their own gotras in Buddhistic times they were held to belong to the gotras of their Purohitas. Vijñāneśvara interpreted the sūtra पुरोहित-प्रवरो राज्ञाम् in a convenient manner and propounded the theory that Kshatriyas had no gotras of their own but had according to Vedic precept to take the gotras of their Purohitas or preceptors.