History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s2.1

v3.c41.s2.1

Going on to consider the next chief caste of the Kshatriyas, we find that it also subdivided during this sub-period though not into numerous sub-sects. It could not, for obvious reasons, subdivide on the basis of town or country of residence. It had already divided itself into two main sections viz. those who cultivated and those who did not. The former were naturally considered lower in grade and the latter who were rulers of kingdoms, at least heads of villages or districts, were considered to be higher in grade. These latter were now called by distinction Rajputs a word used in inscriptions of this period to denote the ruling Kshatriyas generally (e.g. E. I. XIV p. 159 Ballālasena insc. जहिर राजपुत्राः). They were first looked upon as even higher than Brahmins, as shown in Vol. II (p. 178). This higher status of the Rajputs described by Arab travellers of the preceding century is not mentioned by Al-Beruni who, as often stated before, speaks more from Hindu law books than from actual observation. Or it may be that during the period of Mahomedan invasions many of the Panjab Rajput ruling families were destroyed; and when the Gāhadavāla king Chandra drove the Mahomedan oppressors out of northern India and reconstituted the Kshatriya caste, it naturally assumed its position as defined in the Hindu Śāstras, viz. next to that of the Brahmins. Yet they were considered equal to the Brahmins in all respects as Al-Beruni himself admits that their degree is not much below that of the Brahmins. Thus they were allowed to study the Vedas and did study Veda and Śāstra and we have already seen how noted kings such as Bhoja and Govindachandra were as learned in the sacred and profane lore as the most learned Brahmins.