History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s2.7

v3.c41.s2.7

In the Panjab itself the Kshatriyas of the western parts were mostly forcibly converted to Mahomedanism in the days of Mahmud and of Shihabuddin and these do not now use or even like the name Rajput, though they still preserve old Kshatriya clan names of Mahābhārata or Greek days such as Yaudheyas (Johiyas), Anavas (Janjuas) etc. and still observe certain Hindu customs such as calling a Brahmin at the birth of a child or at marriage. In the eastern parts, Rajputs are still found but they are immigrants from lands further east and south in Mahomedan times, as they use the orthodox clan names from the list of the 36 royal clans such as Paramāra, Chauhan, Tuar, Rathod, Kachhwāhe, &c.; and these have still marriage relations with the Rajputs of Delhi and Rajputana. The Panjab and the land of the Sarasvatī as also Pānchāla was the ancient land of Brahmins and Kshatriyas and all Brahmins and Kshatriyas in the east and south of India came originally from this region. It, therefore, follows that Paramāras and Chauhans, Rathods and Kachhwāhas are clan-names which originally must have come from the Panjab itself in ancient times. Or these names which do not find a mention in the Mahābhārata may have come into existence in the south and the east, in the middle land and in Rajputana, in the sixth century or later, among Kshatriya clans driven out of or leaving the Panjab under stress of Kushan and Hūṇa invasions. Certain it is that most of the names of clans in the list of 36 are not found in the Mahābhārata; and as they are found in the eastern parts of the Panjab at the present day, these Rajputs must have gone from the south. Local tradition also supports this inference as the Rajputs of Eastern Panjab believe that they came there from the Delhi region and from Rajputana in Mahomedan times. These Rajputs, therefore, cannot be treated as a separate group and must be included in the Rajputana group.