History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s5.3.1

v3.c34.s5.3.1

But the strongest reason which appears to prove to our mind conclusively, that Gāhadavāla was not the clan name of the family, is that this name does not appear in the list of the 36 royal clans of India accepted throughout the Rajput world. When this list was made and the number 36 fixed can be surmised with tolerable certainty. We have already shown in Volume II (p. 22) that Kalhaṇa who wrote his Rājatarangiṇī in 1154 A. D. mentions the number 36 of the royal clans of Rajputs. The list must have been made before this date. Secondly as the list contains the name of the Kachhawāhas who came to the front about the end of the 10th century, it is clear that the enumeration was made in the 11th century A. D. Why such an enumeration was made we shall have to discuss later on when describing the social condition of India in this sub-period; but we may state here that while in the preceding sub-period (800-1000) caste was fluid and intermarriages between the Indian castes on Anuloma basis took place (Vol. II p. 179), such intermarriages ceased in the third sub-period (1000-1200) and every caste began to consolidate itself and introduced rigid rules of marriage. It was natural that the Rajputs also should consolidate their sub-caste at this time and we are, therefore, doubly sure that this enumeration of 36 clans was made during the 11th century. Nay we even surmise from the very interesting verse noted later on in one of these inscriptions of Govindachandra (I. A. XVII p.