History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c29.s2.181

v2.c29.s2.181

name. It is not necessary to give many instances of this, for they occur in almost every grant. Brahmins were, therefore, then known and distinguished by their gotras and their Śākhā (or branches of Vedic ritual or Sūtras) and not known as Gujarati or Deccani though their place of residence is usually mentioned. Thus in the grant of Karkarāja dated 812 A.D. (J. Bengal VIII p. 292) चातुर्विद्यसामान्य वात्स्यायनसगोत्र माध्यंदिनसब्रह्मचारिणे is the description of the donee. A Brahmin from Valabhi in Kathiawad who had gone to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king in Malkhed might well have been described as a Lāṭa or Saurāṣṭra Brahmin. So the donee in the Sangli grant (I. A. XII) is a Brahmin from Paundravardhana; but he is not called a Guad Brahmin, but is as usual described as कौशिकसगोत्र वाजिकाण्वसब्रह्मचारि. It seems certain that the modern distinctions had not yet arisen and that the Brahmins of India formed one caste throughout India*. The same may be said of the second caste viz., the Kshatriyas. They too formed one caste without distinction of Khatri or Rajput, Bais or Maratha and freely intermarried throughout the whole country. The Kshatriyas no doubt ceased during this period to mention their gotras in their inscriptions. Whereas in the preceding centuries we find the Chālukyas of the Deccan taking pride in describing themselves as Mānavyasagotra and the Pallavas of Kānchi as Bhāradvājasagotra, the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Malkhed in the same Deccan nowhere mention their gotra in their records and the same may be said of the Kshatriya families of the north. Thus the inscriptions of the Pratihāras of Kanauj nowhere mention their gotra, nor those of the Guhilots of Mewad. The gotra of the Chāhamānas appears incidentally in their records while the Vasistha gotra of the Paramāras also is not mentioned usually but only in the legend of the origin of the Paramāras. So also the gotra of the Chālukyas of the north is only incidentally mentioned in the legend of their origin. Probably the kula of the Kshatriyas became important from this time and began to assume importance which it holds to-day.