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==History== === History of Rajput Kingdoms=== {{See also|List of Rajput dynasties and states}} [[File:Bikaner fort view 08.jpg|thumb|During their centuries-long rule, the Rajputs constructed several palaces. Shown here is the [[Junagarh Fort]] in [[Bikaner]], Rajasthan, which was built by the [[Rathore (Rajput clan)|Rathore]] Rajput rulers (see ''[[Rajput architecture]]'').]] [[File:A royal Rajput procession.jpg|thumb|A royal Rajput procession, depicted on a mural at the [[Mehrangarh Fort]] in Jodhpur<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/media/full/147427|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109235632/http://www.britannica.com/media/full/147427|title=Rajput procession, Encyclopædia Britannica|archive-date=9 November 2014}}</ref> (see ''[[Rajput painting]]'')]] Scholars stage emergence of Rajput clans as early as seventh century AD. when they start to make themselves lords of various localities and dominate region in current day [[Northern India]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Hermann Kulke]] & [[Dietmar Rothermund]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V73N8js5ZgAC|title=A History of India|date=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-32920-0|page=116|quote="When Harsha shifted the centre of north Indian history to Kanauj in midst of Ganga-Yamuna Doab the tribes living to the west of this new centre also became more important for further courses of Indian history They were first and foremost the Rajputs who now emerged into the limelight of Indian history"|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Sailendra Nath Sen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC|title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization|date=1999|publisher=New Age International|isbn=978-81-224-1198-0|page=307|quote="The anarchy and confusion which followed Harsha's death is the transitional period of history. This period was marked by the rise of the Rajput clans who begun to play a conspicuous part in the history of northern and western India from the eight century AD. onwards"|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Alain Danielou|author-link=Alain Danielou|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlwoDwAAQBAJ|title=A Brief History of India|date=2003|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-59477-794-3|page=Chapter 15|language=en|quote="The role of the Rajputs in the history of northern and eastern India is considerable, as they dominated the scene between the death of Harsha and establishment of Muslim empire"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21SgAAAAMAAJ|title=Studying Early India: Archaeology, Texts and Historical Issues|date=2006|publisher=Anthem|isbn=978-1-84331-132-4|page=116|quote=The period between the seventh and the twelfth century witnessed gradual rise of a number of new royal-lineages in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which came to constitute a social-political category known as 'Rajput'. Some of the major lineages were the Pratiharas of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and adjacent areas, the Guhilas and Chahamanas of Rajasthan, the Caulukyas or Solankis of Gujarat and Rajasthan and the Paramaras of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Satish Chandra|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAkVclcWWeUC|title=Historiography, Religion, and State in Medieval India|date=1996|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|page=115|quote="In north India, the dominant features of the period between 7th and 12th centuries have been identified as the growing weakness of state; the growth of the power of local landed elites and their decentralising authority by acquiring greater administrative, economic and political roles; the decline of towns, the setback to trades, especially long distance trade and the alientation of land to the brahmans in larger proportions then ever before. The period is also noted for the rise of the Rajputs|isbn=978-81-241-0035-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Sara R. Farris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nf5AAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA140|title=Max Weber's Theory of Personality: Individuation, Politics and Orientalism in the Sociology of Religion|date=2013-09-05|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-25409-1|page=145|language=en|quote="In about the eighth century B.C. the Rajput thus began to perform the functions that had formerly belonged to the Kshatriya, assuming their social and economic position and substituting them as the new warrior class}}</ref><ref name="EV2012"/><ref name="Ludden2013">{{cite book|author=David Ludden|title=India and South Asia: A Short History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79|year=2013|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-78074-108-6|pages=64–65|quote= By contrast in Rajasthan a single warrior group evolved called Rajput (from Rajaputra-sons of kings): they rarely engaged in farming, even to supervise farm labour as farming was literally beneath them, farming was for their peasant subjects. In the ninth century separate clans of Rajputs Cahamanas (Chauhans), Paramaras (Pawars), Guhilas (Sisodias) and Caulukyas were splitting off from sprawling Gurjara Pratihara clans...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Peter Robb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ-2VH1LO_EC|title=A History of India|date=2011-06-21|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-0-230-34549-2|language=en|pages=58–59|quote=From around 1000 ce, notable among these regional powers were various Rajput dynasties in the west and north}}</ref> These dynasties were the [[Gurjara-Pratiharas]],<ref>{{cite book|series=Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages|title=The Heritage Of Rajputs|volume=1|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2008|first1=R.K.|last1=Gupta|first2=S.R.|last2= Bakshi|publication-place=New Delhi|isbn=9788176258418|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHNoU2zcDnIC|chapter=Origin of Rajputs|quote=The Gurjara-Pratiharas were chronologically the earliest, and historically the most important of the Rajput dynasties.|page=3}}</ref> Chahamanas (of [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Shakambhari]], [[Chahamanas of Naddula|Nadol]] and [[Chahamanas of Jalor|Jalor]]), the [[Tomara dynasty|Tomaras of Delhi]], the [[Chaulukya]]s, the [[Paramara dynasty|Paramara]]s, the [[Gahadavala]]s, [[Chandela]], [[Sisodias of Mewar|Sisodia]]s, [[Guhila dynasty|Guhila]]s etc. However, term "Rajput" has been used as an [[anachronism|anachronistic]] designation for leading martial lineages of 11th and 12th centuries that confronted the [[Ghaznavid]] and [[Ghurid]] invaders, although the Rajput identity for a lineage did not exist at this time, these lineages were classified as aristocratic Rajput clans in the later times.{{sfn|Cynthia Talbot|2015|p=33}}<ref name="Peabody2003">{{cite book|last=Peabody|first=Norbert|title=Hindu Kingship and Polity in Precolonial India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YZvuz6EGgcC&pg=PA38|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-46548-9|pages=38–|quote=As Dirk Kolff has argued, it was privileged, if not initially inspired, only in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by Mughal perceptions of Rajputs which, in a pre-form of orientalism, took patrilineal descent as the basis for Rajput social Organization and consequently as the basis for their political inclusion into the empire. Prior to the Mughals, the term ‘Rajput’ was equally an open-ended, generic name applied to any ‘“horse soldier”, “trooper”, or “headman of a village”’ regardless of parentage, who achieved his status through his personal ability to establish a wide network of supporters through his bhaibandh (lit. ‘ie or bond of brothers’; that is, close collateral relations by male blood) or by means of naukari (military service to a more powerful overlord) and sagai (alliance through marriage). Thus the language of kinship remained nonetheless strong in this alternative construction of Rajput identity but collateral and affinal bonds were stressed rather than those of descent. During the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Peter|title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC&pg=PA9|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-54329-3|pages=9–|quote=Confronting the Ghurid ruler now were a number of major Hindu powers, for which the designation 'Rajput' (not encountered in the Muslim sources before the sixteenth century) is a well-established anachronism. Chief among them was the Chahamana (Chawhan) kingdom of Shakambhari (Sambhar), which dominated present-day Rajasthan from its capital at Ajmer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Behl|first=Aditya|editor=[[Wendy Doniger]]|title=Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379-1545|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PK7riKO6IN8C&pg=PA364|year=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514670-7|pages=364–|quote=The term ''Rajput'' is a retrospective invention, as most of the martial literature of resistance to Turkish conquest dates only from the mid-fifteenth century onward. As Dirk Kolff has noted in his ''Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market in Hindustan, 1450-1850 ''(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), the invention of “Rajput” identity can be dated to the sixteenth-century narratives of nostalgia for lost honor and territory.}}</ref><ref name="Bayly2001">{{cite book|last=Bayly|first=Susan|author-link=Susan Bayly|title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&pg=PA32|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-79842-6|pages=32–35|quote= [32]In the arid hill country what is now Rajasthan, located southwest to the Mughal original strongholds in gangetic plain, powerful lords had been calling themselves as Rajputs, a title derived from the Sanskrit (rajaputra, king's son), as far back as thirteenth century and possibly very much earlier[33]In both the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, Mughal armies fought bloody battles in this strategic frontier region, and through a mixture of force and coalition, its kingdoms were loosely absorbed into loosely textured Mughal political order. At this time, these armed elites had strong memories of the earlier clan chiefs who had made their mark in turbulent times by adopting known marks of lordship and exalted desent.[34]Yet the varna archetype of the Kshatriya-like man of prowess did become a key reference point for rulers and their subjects under the Mughals and their immediate successors. The chiefs and warriors whom the Mughals came to honor as Rajput lords in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may not even have been descendants of Rajasthan’s earlier pre-Mughal elites. What mattered instead was that for both[] these titles and the markers of refined faith and social life which accompanied them, spoke in recognizable terms of exalted blood and ancestry.}}</ref> The Rajput ruled kingdoms repelled early invasions of Arab commanders after [[Muhammad ibn Qasim]] [[Umayyad conquest of Sindh|conquered Sindh]] and executed last Hindu king of the kingdom, [[Raja Dahir]]. [[Kingdom of Mewar|Rajput family of Mewar]] under [[Bappa Rawal]] and later under Khoman fought off invasions by Arab generals and restricted them only until the border of Rajasthan but failed to recapture Sindh.<ref>{{harvnb|André Wink|1990|p=208}} "The Rajputs repelled Arabs from "Stravani and Valla", probably the area North of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, and the invasion of Malwa but were ultimately defeated by Bappa Rawal and Nagabhata I in 725 AD near Ujjain. Arab rule was restricted to the west of Thar desert."</ref> By the first quarter of 11th century, Turkic conqueror [[Mahmud Ghaznavi]] launched several successful military expeditions in the territories of Rajputs, defeating them everytime and by 1025 A.D, he demolished and looted the famous [[Somnath Temple]] and its Rajput ruler Bhimdev Solanki fled his capital.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=44-45}} Rajput rulers at Gwalior and Kalinjar were able to hold off assaults by Maḥmūd, although the two cities did pay him heavy tribute.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA224 |pages=19–24|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One |first=Satish |last=Chandra |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5}}</ref> By last quarter of 12th century, [[Muhammad of Ghor]] expelled the [[Ghaznawids]] from their last bastion in [[Siege of Lahore (1186)|Lahore in 1186]], thereby securing the strategic route of [[Khyber Pass]]. After capturing the northwest frontier, he invaded Rajput domain. In 1191, [[Prithviraj Chauhan]] of [[Ajmer]] led a coalition of Rajput kings and [[First Battle of Tarain|defeated Ghori]] near [[Taraori]]. However, he returned a year later with an army of [[Turkish archery|mounted archers]] and crushed Rajput forces on the [[Second Battle of Tarain|same battlefield of Taraori]], Prithviraj fled the battlefield but was caught near Sirsa and was executed by Ghurids.<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Sugata Bose]] & [[Ayesha Jalal]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ihNtzxy5GEC&q=Rajput|title=Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy|date=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-30786-4|page=21|quote=It was a similar combination of political and economic imperatives which led Muhmmad Ghuri, a Turk, to invade India a century and half later in 1192. His defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, a Rajput chieftain, in the strategic battle of Tarain in northern India paved the way for the establishment of the first Muslim sultanate|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Romila Thapar|author-link=Romila Thapar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBXLCQAAQBAJ |title=The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 |date=2015-06-01 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-93-5214-118-0|quote=An attack was launched on the Rajput kingdoms controlling the watershed and the western Ganges plain, now beginning to be viewed as the frontier. The Rajputs gathered together as best as they could not forgetting internal rivalries and jealousies. Prithviraja defeated Muhmmad Ghori at First battle of Tarain north of Delhi, in 1191, a second battle was fought at the same place, Prithviraj was defeated and kingdom of Delhi fell to Muhmmad, who pressed on and concentrated on capturing capital of Rajput kingdoms with the assistance of his General, Qutub-ud-din Aibak|language=en}}</ref> Following the battle, the Delhi Sultanate became prominent in the Delhi region.<ref name="Chandra 2004 224">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA224 |page=224 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One |first=Satish |last=Chandra |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5}}</ref> The Rajputs fought against Sultans of Delhi from Rajasthan and other adjoining areas. By first quarter of 14th century, [[Alauddin Khalji]] sacked key Rajput fortresses of [[Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)|Chittor (1303)]], [[Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Ranthambore|Ranthambor (1301)]] and other Rajput ruled kingdoms like [[Siege of Siwana|Siwana]] and [[Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Jalore|Jalore]]. However, Rajputs resurgence took place under [[Rana Hammir]] who defeated [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughlaq army]] of [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]] in [[Battle of Singoli|Singoli in 1336 CE]] and recaptured Rajasthan from Delhi sultanate.<ref name="BVB_1960">{{cite book |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Delhi Sultanate |edition=2nd |editor=R. C. Majumdar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XKVFAQAAMAAJ |year=1960 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=70}}</ref> In the 15th century, the Muslim sultans of [[Malwa Sultanate|Malwa]] and [[Gujarat Sultanate|Gujarat]] put a joint effort to overcome the Mewar ruler [[Rana Kumbha]] but both the sultans were defeated.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF0FvjG3GWEC&pg=PA95 |page=95 |title=The Rajputs of Rajputana: A Glimpse of Medieval Rajasthan |first=M.S |last=Naravane |publisher=APH Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=978-81-7648-118-2}}</ref> Kumbha's grandson renowned [[Rana Sanga]] inherited a troubling kingdom after death of his brothers but through his capable rule turned traditional kingdom of Mewar into one of the greatest power in northern India during the early 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book|author=V.S Bhatnagar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plFuAAAAMAAJ|title=Life and Times of Sawai Jai Singh, 1688-1743|date=1974|publisher=Impex India|language=en|page=6|quote=From 1326, Mewar's grand recovery commenced under Lakha, and later under Kumbha and Sanga, till it became one of the greatest powers in northern India during the first quarter of the sixteenth century.}}</ref> Sanga defeated Sultans of [[Gujarat Sultanate|Gujarat]], [[Malwa Sultanate|Malwa]] and [[Lodhi dynasty|Delhi]] several times in various battles and expanded his kingdom. Sanga led a grand alliance of Rajput rulers and defeated the Mughal forces of [[Babur]] in [[Battle of Bayana|early combat]] but was defeated at [[Battle of Khanwa|Khanwa]] through Mughal's use of Gunpowder which was unknown in Northern India at the time. His fierce rival Babur in his autobiography acknowledged him as the greatest Hindu king of that time along with [[Krishnadevaraya]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Giles Tillotson|author-link=Giles Tillotson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ApDrAAAAMAAJ |title=Mughal India |date=1991 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-011854-4 |pages=4|language=en|quote=He was immediately challenged by assembled Rajput forces under Rana Sanga of Chittor who was reckoned by Babur as one of the two greatest Hindu rulers}}</ref><ref name="Chandra 2004 224"/><ref name="Maharana">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRBDAAAAYAAJ |page=1 |title=Maharana Sāngā, the Hindupat: The Last Great Leader of the Rajput Race |first=Har Bilas |last=Sarda |publisher=Kumar Bros. |year=1970}}</ref> After a few years [[Maldev Rathore]] of [[Marwar]] rose in power controlling almost whole portion of western and eastern [[Rajasthan]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II|date=2005|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|isbn=978-81-241-1066-9|pages=79–80|language=en|quote=The conquest of Malwa and Chanderi was a prelude to the conquest of Marwar where Maldeo had ascended the gaddi in 1531. He had steadily augmented his power till it comprised almost the whole of western and eastern Rajasthan including Sambhal and Narnaul in Shekhawati. His armies were also said to have been seen near Hindaun and Bayana on the outskirts of Agra.}}</ref> From 1200 CE, many Rajput groups moved eastwards towards the [[Indo-Gangetic plains|Eastern Gangetic plains]] forming their own chieftaincies.<ref name="Bayly1988">{{cite book |author=C. A. Bayly |title=Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA18 |date=19 May 1988 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-31054-3 |pages=18–19}}</ref> These minor Rajput kingdoms were dotted all over the Gangetic plains in modern-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.{{sfn|Barbara N. Ramusack|2004|p=14,15}} During this process, petty clashes occurred with the local population and in some cases, alliances were formed.<ref name="Bayly1988" /> Among these Rajput chieftaincies were the [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] zamindars<ref name="Chatterjee1996">{{cite book |author=Kumkum Chatterjee |title=Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733–1820 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUeqQ2buQ80C&pg=PA35 |year=1996 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-10303-1 |pages=35–36}}</ref> and the [[Taluqdar|taluks]] of [[Awadh]].{{sfn|Richard Gabriel Fox|1971|p=68,69}} The immigration of Rajput clan chiefs into these parts of the Gangetic plains also contributed the agricultural appropriation of previously forested areas, especially in South Bihar.<ref name="Prakash2003">{{cite book|author=Gyan Prakash |title=Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQFvks7lahoC&pg=PA64 |date=30 October 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52658-6 |pages=64–66}}</ref> Some have linked this eastwards expansion with the onset of [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurid invasion]] in the West.<ref name="Prakash2003" /> From as early as the 16th century, [[Purbiya]] Rajput soldiers from the eastern regions of [[Bihar]] and [[Awadh]], were recruited as mercenaries for Rajputs in the west, particularly in the [[Malwa]] region.<ref>{{cite book |title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism |editor1-first=Waltraud |editor1-last=Ernst |editor2-first=Biswamoy |editor2-last=Pati |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-134-11988-2 |first=Amar |last=Farooqui |chapter=The Subjugation of the Sindia State |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eKbW3ukh9oC&pg=PA57 |page=57}}</ref> The [[Rajput kingdoms]] were disparate: loyalty to a clan was more important than allegiance to the wider Rajput social grouping, meaning that one clan would fight another. This and the internecine jostling for position that took place when a clan leader (raja) died meant that Rajput politics were fluid and prevented the formation of a coherent Rajput empire.{{sfn|Pradeep Barua|2005|p=25}} === Mughal period === Rajputs played an important role in the [[Mughals|Mughal]] history. From Akbar's rule, Rajput leaders were integrated into the Mughal ruling elite through court appointments and matrimonial alliances.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EsMVDAAAQBAJ&dq=Mughal+Rajput+marriage+became+common&pg=PA475 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions |page=475 |publisher=OUP |year=2006 |editor=Mark Juergensmeyer|quote=From the time of Akbar, local Rajput Hindu rulers were absorbed into the Mughal ruling class through court promotion and marriage.}}</ref> Mughal emperors like [[Jahangir]] and [[Shah Jahan]] were born from Rajput mothers. Due to the presence of princes born to Rajput mothers in the Mughal harem as well as Rajput officers serving in the Mughal army, the Rajput values got diffused into the Mughal imperial system.<ref>{{cite book|title=India in the Persianate Age 1000- 1765 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIF6DwAAQBAJ&dq=akbar+born+in+rajput&pg=PP179 |page=257 |author=Richard M. Eaton |publisher=University of California Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |quote=The diffusion of Rajput institutions in Mughal culture is partly explained by the incorporation of Rajput women in the Mughal harem and Rajput youths in Mughal households, which had begun in the early decades of Akbar’s reign. Children born of Rajput women in the imperial harem were treated as full members of the Mughal dynasty and eligible for inheriting the throne. This meant that, although Jahangir’s paternal grandfather was Humayun, his maternal grandfather was Raja Bharmal, leader of the Kachwaha Rajput lineage... Jahangir himself, then, was biologically half Rajput... His son Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, was born of one of these Rajputs – Jagat Gosain Begum, the daughter of Udai Singh of Jodhpur. Shah Jahan was therefore three-quarters Rajput by blood. Since Rajput mothers imparted their inherited culture to their offspring, the Mughal harem became a site for the diffusion of Rajput values at the heart of the imperial system. The Mughal connection with Rajputs, then, was more than political. It was biological and cultural, as Rajput institutions, introduced at the upper end of the Mughal order, percolated downwards, gradually diffusing among the officer corps. In addition, many officers and troopers in Mughal service were themselves Rajputs, which also served to lend a Rajput ethos to imperial armies.}}</ref> ====Babur's period==== The defeat of a Rajput coalition by [[Babur]] in the [[Battle of Khanwa]] is considered a turning point in the history of North India.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Andre |last=Wink|author-link=Andre Wink|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zhu9DwAAQBAJ|title=Akbar|date=2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-78074-209-0|page=27|quote="The victory of Mughals at khanua can be seen as a landmark event in Mughal conquest of North India as the battle turned out to be more historic and eventful than one fought near Panipat. It made Babur undisputed master of North India while smashing Rajput powers. After the victory at khanua, the centre of Mughal power became Agra instead of Kabul and continue to remain till downfall of the Empire after Aalamgir's death.|language=en}}</ref> ====Humayun's period==== Rajput ruler Rana Prasad of [[Amarkot]] gave refuge to Humayun and his pregnant wife when they were fleeing from India, and, it was in his fortress that young [[Akbar]] was born.<ref>{{cite journal|quote=While fleeing from Hindustan, Humayun and his wife Hamida Begum, who was pregnant at the time, were given refuge by the Hindu ruler, Rana Prasad in Amarkot, Rajputana (present day Umarkot, Sindh province, Pakistan). Akbar was born inside the Amarkot fort on 15 October, 1542. |year=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |url=https://www.aup-online.com/content/papers/10.5117/9789048557820/ICAS.2022.015 |title=Birth Images of Ghazan and Timur: Vessels of Memory for the Mughals |author=Dipanwita Donde |journal=The Twelfth International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12) |page=135|doi=10.5117/9789048557820/ICAS.2022.015 |isbn=978-90-485-5782-0 |doi-access=free }}</ref> After returning to India, Humayun tried to make good relations with zamindars, both Hindu as well as Muslim. His attempts to foster positive connections with the Rajputs are viewed as a strategy aimed at engaging the local ruling classes of the country.<ref>{{cite book|quote=After returning to India, Humayun embarked upon a policy of conciliating and winning over the zamindars — a term used in official documents to include the autonomous rajas, both Hindu and Muslim...The attempt to establish special relations with the Rajputs was, thus, part of a broader policy towards the zamindars or the indigenous ruling sections in the country. |author=Satish Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&dq=Satish+chandra+special+relations+with+rajputs+humayun&pg=PA111 |page=111 |year=2005 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II |publisher=Har-Anand Publications}}</ref> ==== Akbar's period ==== {{See also|Political marriages in India}} [[File:Maharana Pratap cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Rana Pratap]], the Rana of [[Kingdom of Mewar|Mewar]], was popularly known for his role in battles against the Mughal Empire ]] [[File:Raja Man Singh the Great , Of Amer.jpg|thumb|[[Man Singh I]], an important Rajput official of [[Akbar]]. ]] After the mid-16th century, many Rajput rulers formed close relationships with the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperors]] and served them in different capacities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Richards |first=John F.|author-link=John F. Richards|title=The Mughal Empire |date=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-25119-8 |pages=22–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bhadani |first=B. L. |title=The Profile of Akbar in Contemporary Literature |journal=Social Scientist |date=1992 |volume=20 |issue=9/10 |pages=48–53 |doi=10.2307/3517716 |jstor=3517716| issn = 0970-0293 }}</ref> It was due to the support of the Rajputs that Akbar was able to lay the foundations of the Mughal empire in India.<ref name="Chaurasia" /> Some Rajput nobles gave away their daughters in marriage to Mughal emperors and princes for political motives.{{sfn|Dirk H. A. Kolff|2002|p=132}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&pg=PA656 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Bonnie G. |last=Smith |year=2008 |page=656 |isbn=978-0-19-514890-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA23 |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |first=John F. |last=Richards |year=1995 |page=23 |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8NJ41GiXvsC&pg=PA174 |title=Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |first=Ruby |last=Lal |year=2005 |page=174 |isbn=978-0-521-85022-3}}</ref> For example, [[Akbar]] accomplished 40 marriages for himself, his sons and grandsons, out of which 17 were Rajput-Mughal alliances.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5upAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176 |title=Interrogating International Relations: India's Strategic Practice and the Return of History War and International Politics in South Asia |publisher=Routledge |first=Jayashree |last=Vivekanandan |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-70385-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Anthony |editor-last1=Reid |editor-first2=David O. |editor-last2=Morgan |year=2010 |title=The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3, The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries |page=213 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781316184363 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ANiaBAAAQBAJ&dq=rajput+cambridge&pg=PT437}}</ref> Akbar's successors as Mughal emperors, his son [[Jahangir]] and grandson [[Shah Jahan]] had Rajput mothers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Waldemar |title=The peacock throne : the drama of Mogul India |date=1972 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |isbn=978-81-208-0225-4 |pages=12, 34 |edition=1. Indian ed., repr.}}</ref> Although Rajput rulers provided the brides to the Mughals, neither Akbar nor his successors provided brides to the Rajput rulers. For example, Akbar got this sisters and daughters married to [[Timurid Empire|Timurids]] and prominent Muslims from central and west Asia. Historian [[Michael H. Fisher|Michael Fisher]] states that the bards and poets patronized by the Rajput rulers who served Akbar raised Akbar to a "semi-divine" status and gives an example of Akbar being projected as a "divine master" in the "Hindu cosmic order". The writer also finds correlation between the increasing numbers of Hindu Rajput wives in Akbar's household and Hindu Rajputs as well as non-Rajput Hindus in his administration to the religious and political policy followed by him towards non-Muslims which included ending the prohibition on the construction of new temples of non -Muslim faiths like Hindu, Jain etc. In 1564 AD, Akbar had also stopped collection of ''[[jaziya]]'' from non-Muslims, a tax considered as discriminatory by several non-Muslims which also consisted of his Hindu Rajput officials.<ref name="Fisher2015">{{cite book | author = Michael Fisher | date = 1 October 2015 | title = A Short History of the Mughal Empire | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | pages = 88–90 | isbn = 978-0-85772-976-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ldOLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88}}</ref> The ruling [[Sisodia Dynasty|Sisodia]] Rajput family of [[Mewar]] made it a point of honour not to engage in matrimonial relationships with Mughals and thus claimed to stand apart from those Rajput clans who did so.{{sfn|Barbara N. Ramusack|2004|pp=18–19}} [[Rana Pratap]] is renowned as a "Rajput icon" for firmly fighting with Akbar's forces for the cause of Mewar's freedom.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfn1DwAAQBAJ&dq=Rajput+icon+pratap&pg=PT138|title=Caste, State and Society: Degrees of Democracy in North India|author=Jagmal Singh|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2020|isbn=9781000196061}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Goddesses' Henchmen- Gender in Indian Hero Worship|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Lindsey Harlan|year=2003|isbn=9780195348347|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmbRCwAAQBAJ&dq=rana+pratap+rajput+hero&pg=PA46|page=46}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bQwEAAAQBAJ&dq=rana+pratap+rajput+hero&pg=PA337|page=337|title=The Temple Road Towards a Great India|author=Marta Kudelska, Dorota Kamińska-Jones, Agnieszka Sylwia Staszczyk, Agata Świerzowska|isbn=9788323399865|publisher=Jagiellonian University Press|year=2019}}</ref> Once Mewar had submitted and alliance of Rajputs reached a measure of stability, matrimonial between leading Rajput states and Mughals became rare.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Satish|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part-II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&q=satish+chandra+rajput+mughal+marriage&pg=PA124 |date=2007 |publisher=Har Anand Publications |page=124|isbn=9788124110669}}</ref> ==== Shah Jahan's period ==== Under Shah Jahan, the Bundela Rajputs were embroiled in internal strife and imperial intervention. [[Jhujhar Singh]], son of the Bundela leader [[Vir Singh Deo]], rebelled in 1627-28 and again in 1635. Shah Jahan skilfully exploited the divisions within the Bundela clan by deploying loyal Bundela chiefs such as Bhagwan Das, Bharat Shah, and Pahar Singh to suppress the rebellion. Although the first uprising concluded with a pardon, the second prompted a response led by Aurangzeb with support from Bundela nobles like Debi Singh, who was rewarded with the title of Raja of Orchha. However, Champat Rai Bundela, a staunch supporter of Jhujhar Singh’s surviving son, Prithviraj, opposed Debi Singh's appointment. The resulting unrest undermined Debi Singh’s authority, leading to his removal in 1637. Shah Jahan then placed Orchha under direct Mughal administration before appointing Pahar Singh, descendant of Vir Singh Deo, as ruler in 1642, a move which helped diminish Champat Rai’s local support. Throughout Shah Jahan’s reign, the Mughal court repeatedly capitalised on Bundela feuds to assert control over Bundelkhand, the Bundela Rajputs' ancestral land.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ahmad |first=Amir |title=The Bundela Revolts During the Mughal Period: A Dynastic Affair |date=2005 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44145860 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=66 |pages=438–445 |jstor=44145860 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> ==== Aurangzeb's period ==== {{See also|Rajput War (1679–1707)}} Aurangzeb had banned all Hindus from carrying weapons and riding horses but exempted the Rajputs.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Aurangzeb and The Decline of the Mughals|author=Sayan Lodh |journal=AltraLANG Journal|year=2019|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Aurangzeb+and+The+Decline+of+the+Mughals+Sayan+lodh&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1723713142121&u=%23p%3DHCScHg5r2qwJ|publisher=Presidency University, Kolkata|pages=134|quote=In 1679, Aurangzeb revived the jizya or poll tax on non-Muslims. He also dismissed many non- Muslim clerks. All Hindus except the Rajput, were forbidden to carry weapons.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=A Note on Conception of Aurangzeb Alamgir Religious Policy|author=Aqib Yousuf Rather |journal=Journal of Psychology and Political Science |year=2022|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=A+Note+on+Conception+of+Aurangzeb+Alamgir++Religious+Policy&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1723713611986&u=%23p%3Dg5td9ORhlMoJ|publisher=JIPIRS|pages=34|quote=Aurangzeb issued orders barring all Hindus, with the exception of Rajputs, from riding elephants, horses, or palanquins.}}</ref> Akbar's diplomatic policy regarding the Rajputs was later damaged by the intolerant rules introduced by his great-grandson [[Aurangzeb]]. A prominent example of these rules included the re-imposition of [[Jaziya]], which had been abolished by Akbar.<ref name="Chaurasia" /> However, despite imposition of Jaziya Aurangzeb's army had a high proportion of Rajput officers in the upper ranks of the imperial army and they were all exempted from paying Jaziya.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bayly |first1=Susan |title=Caste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |location=Cambridge [u.a.] |isbn=9780521798426 |page=35 |edition=1. Indian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&q=rajput+caste&pg=PR6}}</ref> The Rajputs then revolted against the Mughal empire. Aurangzeb's conflicts with them, which commenced in the early 1680s, henceforth became a contributing factor towards the downfall of the Mughal empire.<ref name=EB>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/490157/Rajput |title=Rajput |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=27 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="Chaurasia">{{cite book |last=Chaurasia |first=Radhey Shyam |title=History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D |date=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0123-4 |pages=272–273}}</ref> ====Under Maratha influence==== Historian Lynn Zastoupil states that the Mughal Emperors had manipulated the appointment of the successor of the Rajput rulers earlier. However, in the early 18th century, when the Mughal power declined, Rajput states enjoyed a brief period of independence. But soon the [[Maratha empire]] started collecting tribute from and harassing some Rajput states.<ref>{{cite book | date = July 1994 | title = John Stuart Mill and India | author =Lynn Zastoupil|publisher = Stanford University Press | pages = 120–121 | isbn = 978-0-8047-6617-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=42f1jD7L_wcC&pg=PA121|quote=Maratha incursions into Rajasthan grew steadily in the second half of the century, however, and soon the Rajput states were subject to the tribute, and sometimes plunder, of competing Maratha polities.}}</ref> The internal governance and political structures of the various Rajput kingdoms were weakened as a result of Maratha interference in dynastic succession disputes.<ref>{{harvnb|Rima Hooja|2006|p=658}} "Maratha interference in dynastic succession disputes would lead to the weakening of the internal governance and political structures of the several affected kingdoms..."</ref> Some Rajput states, in 1800s, appealed to the British [[East India Company]] for assistance against the Marathas but their requests for assistance were denied at the time.<ref name="Zastoupil1994">{{cite book | date = July 1994 | title = John Stuart Mill and India | author =Lynn Zastoupil|publisher = Stanford University Press | pages = 120–121 | isbn = 978-0-8047-6617-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=42f1jD7L_wcC&pg=PA121}}</ref><ref name="Sreenivasan2017">{{cite book | author = Ramya Sreenivasan | date = 1 May 2017 | title = The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen: Heroic Pasts in India, c. 1500-1900 | publisher = University of Washington Press | pages = 126– | isbn = 978-0-295-99785-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QXQkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaurasia |first1=R.S. |title=History of the Marathas. |date=2004 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist. |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=81-269-0394-5 |pages=23,178,185 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_v3Y7hns8QC&q=+rajput+tribute&pg=PR3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Jadunath Sarkar]]| year=1994|title= A History of Jaipur 1503–1938|chapter=The British alliance|pages=315–330|publisher=Orient Longman|isbn=81-250-0333-9}}</ref> ===British colonial period=== [[File:Charles Shepherd and Arthur Robertson01.jpg|thumb|Chauhan Rajputs, Delhi (1868)]] In the late eighteenth century, despite the request from two Rajput rulers for British support, the British East India company initially refused to support the Rajput states in Rajputana region as they had the policy of non-interference and considered the Rajput states to be weak. In the early nineteenth century, British administrator [[Warren Hastings]] realised how alliance with the Rajputs had benefited the Mughals and believed that a similar alliance may give the East India company political advantage in India. In his journal, in January 1815, he noted that Rajput states - [[Jaipur]], [[Jodhpur]] and [[Udaipur]] had been "devastated" by the [[Scindia]], [[Holkars]], [[Pindari]], [[Amir Khan (Nawab of Tonk)|Ameer Khan]] and Muhammad Shah Khan and that the Rajput rulers made multiple petitions to him requesting British protection. Moreover, the Rajput rulers had argued that "British had replaced the Mughal Empire as the supreme power of India and therefore had the responsibility to protect weaker states from aggressive ones". [[Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe|Charles Metcalfe]] agreed with this reasoning. One by one, many Rajput states in Rajputana came under British protection and became their allies - [[Kota State|Kota]], [[Udaipur]], [[Bundi]], [[Kishangarh]], [[Bikaner]], [[Jaipur]], [[Pratapgarh, Rajasthan|Pratapgarh]], [[Banswara]], [[Dungarpur]], [[Jaisalmer]] by 1817-18 and [[Sirohi]] by 1823. The British promised to protect the Rajput states from their adversaries and not interfere in internal affairs in exchange for tribute. However, [[David Ochterlony]], who was in charge of the Rajput states broke the promise to not interfere as in his view interferences would save the states from "ruin". In 1820, the British removed him from his position and replaced him with Charles Metcalfe. For several decades, "non-interference" in internal affairs remained the official policy. However, according to the historian Lynn Zastoupil, the "British never found it possible or desirable to completely withdraw from interference in Rajput affairs".<ref name="Sen2010">{{cite book | author = Sailendra Nath Sen | date = 2010 | title = An Advanced History of Modern India | publisher = Macmillan | pages = 73– | isbn = 978-0-230-32885-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PA73}}</ref><ref name="Zastoupil1994"/> The medieval bardic chronicles (''[[kavya]]'' and ''[[masnavi (poetic form)|masnavi]]'') glorified the Rajput past, presenting warriorhood and honour as Rajput ideals. This later became the basis of the British reconstruction of the Rajput history and the nationalist interpretations of Rajputs' struggles with the Muslim invaders.{{sfn|Tanuja Kothiyal|2016|pp=9–10}} [[James Tod]], a British colonial official, was impressed by the military qualities of the Rajputs but is today considered to have been unusually enamoured of them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tod |first=James |publisher=Higginbotham & Co |year=1873 |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsantiquitie02jame |quote=What nation on earth could have maintained the semblance of civilization, the spirit or the customs of their forefathers, during so many centuries of overwhelming depression, but one of such singular character as the Rajpoot. |title=Annals and Antiquities of Rajast'han |page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsantiquitie02jame/page/217 217]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Freitag |first1=Jason |title=Serving empire, serving nation: James Tod and the Rajputs of Rajasthan |date=2009 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-17594-5 |pages=3–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiewCQAAQBAJ&dq=Jason+Freitag+tod&pg=PR3 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> Although the group venerate him to this day, he is viewed by many historians since the late nineteenth century as being a not particularly reliable commentator.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKJiBUFrmfoC&pg=PA31 |title=Cultural contours of India: Dr. Satya Prakash felicitation volume |last=Srivastava |first=Vijai Shankar |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-391-02358-1 |editor1-last=Prakash |editor1-first=Satya |page=120 |chapter=The story of archaeological, historical and antiquarian researches in Rajasthan before independence |access-date=9 July 2011 |editor2-last=Śrivastava |editor2-first=Vijai Shankar}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |year=1981 |title=Forest and Cave: Temples at Candrabhāgā and Kansuāñ |journal=Archives of Asian Art |volume=34 |pages=56–73 |jstor=20111117}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Jason Freitag, his only significant biographer, has said that Tod is "manifestly biased".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ib93BhAu43gC |title=Serving empire, serving nation: James Tod and the Rajputs of Rajasthan |last=Freitag |first=Jason |publisher=BRILL |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-04-17594-5 |pages=3–5}}</ref> As per the historian [[Thomas R. Metcalf]], Rajput Taluqdars in [[Awadh|Oudh]] provided a large numbers of leaders to the revolt of 1857 in that region. [[Kunwar Singh]], a Rajput Zamindar was an important leader in Bihar region in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Metcalf |first=Thomas R. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ByTWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |title=Aftermath of Revolt: India 1857-1970 |date=2015-12-08 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7664-8 |pages=299 |language=en}}</ref> Historian Robert Stern points out that in [[Rajputana]], although there were some revolts in the soldiers commanded by British officers the "Rajpur durbar muskeeters and feudal cavalrymen" did not participate in the 1857 revolt at all.<ref name="Stern1988">{{cite book | author = Robert W. Stern | date = 1988 | title = The Cat and the Lion: Jaipur State in the British Raj | publisher = BRILL | pages = 108 | isbn = 978-90-04-08283-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NK1MhWq-9VkC&pg=PA108}}</ref> But Crispin Bates is of the opinion that Rajput officers had soft corner for the rebels of 1857 fleeing Delhi who were entering into interior areas of then Rajasthan region. He gives examples of rebels who easily found safe havens in villages of Chittor without arrests.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bates |first=Crispin |title=Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Volume VI: Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of the Indian Uprising |date=2014-10-16 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5150-457-3 |language=en|quote=This suggests that those who fled Delhi had taken asylum in the villages of Chittor, implying that Rajput officers had sympathy with the rebels, otherwise they could have been arrested at the entry point into Rajasthan. However, they travelled safely through Rajasthan, up to Chittor.}}</ref> The Rajput practices of [[Female infanticide in India|female infanticide]] and ''[[Sati (practice)|sati]]'' (widow immolation) were other matters of concern to the British. It was believed that the Rajputs were the primary adherents to these practices, which the British Raj considered savage and which provided the initial impetus for British [[Ethnography|ethnographic]] studies of the subcontinent that eventually manifested itself as a much wider exercise in [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Concept of Race in South Asia |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Delhi |year=1995 |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Robb |first=Crispin |last=Bates |chapter=Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: the early origins of Indian anthropometry |isbn=978-0-19-563767-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PwNkQgAACAAJ |page=227 |access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> During the British rule their love for pork, i.e. wild boar, was also well known and the British identified them as a group based on this.<ref>{{cite book |title=Shifting Ground: People, Animals, and Mobility in India's Environmental History |editor1=Mahesh Rangarajan, K |editor2=Sivaramakrishnan |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIM8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85 |quote=The British defined Rajputs as a group in part by their affinity for wild pork. |page=85 |isbn=9780199089376 |date=6 November 2014}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason = Why would muslim Rajputs eat Pork? Is it not forbidden in Islam?|date=November 2024}} The Rajputs were classified as one of the farming and landowning communities by the British in the 1931 census.<ref name="Singh_2935">{{cite book | last=Singh | first=K. S. | title=India's Communities | volume=6|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India | date=1998 | isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHQMAQAAMAAJ|page=2935|quote= In the 1931 census, the Rajput were grouped under landowning and cultivating classes. Their total population in India was about 10,743,091.}}</ref> Some unrelated communities tried to change their status to Rajput during the Colonial era. [[William L. Rowe|William Rowe]], discusses an example of a Shudra caste - the Noniyas (caste of salt makers)- from [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bihar]]. A large section of this caste that had "become" "Chauhan Rajputs" over three generations in the [[British Raj]] era. The more wealthy or advanced Noniyas started by forming the ''Sri Rajput Pacharni Sabha'' (Rajput Advancement Society) in 1898 and emulating the Rajput lifestyle. They also started wearing of [[Upanayana|Sacred thread]]. Rowe states that at a historic meeting of the caste in 1936, every child in this Noniya section "knew" about their "Rajput heritage".{{sfn|Lloyd Rudolph|1967|p=127}} Similarly, Donald Attwood and Baviskar give and example of a caste of shepherds who were formerly Shudras changed their status to Rajput in the Raj era and started wearing the Sacred thread. They are now known as [[Sagar Rajput]]s. The scholars consider this example as a case among thousands.<ref name="BaviskarAttwood2013">{{cite book|author1=B. S. Baviskar|author2=D. W. Attwood|title=Inside-Outside: Two Views of Social Change in Rural India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVQtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA389|date=30 October 2013|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-81-321-1865-7|pages=389–|quote= As one example among thousands, a small caste living partly in the Nira Valley was formerly known as Shegar Dhangar and more recently as Sagar Rajput}}</ref><ref name="Frykenberg1984">{{cite book|author=Robert Eric Frykenberg|title=Land Tenure and Peasant in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOLSAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Manohar|page=197|quote=Another example of castes' successful efforts to raise their sacred status to twice-born are the Sagar Rajputs of Poona district. Previously they were considered to be Dhangars—shepherds by occupation and Shudras by traditional varna. However, when their economic strength increased and they began to acquire land, they found a genealogist to trace their ancestry back to a leading officer in Shivaji's army, changed their names from Dhangars to Sagar Rajputs, and donned the sacred thread.}}</ref> ===Post Independence=== ====India==== On [[Partition of India|India's independence]] in 1947, the princely states, including those of the Rajput, were given three options: join either India or Pakistan, or remain independent. Rajput rulers of the 22 princely states of [[Rajputana]] acceded to newly independent India, amalgamated into the new state of Rajasthan in 1949–1950.<ref name="Markovits2002">{{cite book |date=2002 |orig-year=First published 1994 as ''Histoire de l'Inde Moderne'' |editor-first=Claude |editor-last=Markovits |title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C&pg=PA406 |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Anthem Press |page=406 |isbn=978-1-84331-004-4 |quote=The twenty-two princely states that were amalgamated in 1949 to form a political entity called Rajasthan...}}</ref> Initially the maharajas were granted funding from the [[privy purse in India|Privy purse]] in exchange for their acquiescence, but a series of land reforms over the following decades weakened their power, and their privy purse was cut off during [[Indira Gandhi]]'s administration under the 1971 [[List of amendments of the Constitution of India|Constitution 26th Amendment Act]]. The estates, treasures, and practices of the old Rajput rulers now form a key part of Rajasthan's tourist trade and cultural memory.<ref name="Larson2001">{{cite book |author=Gerald James Larson |title=Religion and Personal Law in Secular India: A Call to Judgment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGV3noHZ1QMC&pg=PA206 |access-date=24 August 2013 |year=2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21480-5 |pages=206–}}</ref> The Rajput [[Dogra dynasty|Dogra ruler]] of [[Kashmir and Jammu (princely state)|Kashmir and Jammu]] [[Instrument of Accession|acceded to India]] in 1947,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/167993/Dogra-dynasty |title=Dogra dynasty |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> while retaining his title until the monarchy was abolished in 1971 by the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm |title=The Constitution (26 Amendment) Act, 1971 |publisher=Government of India |work=indiacode.nic.in |year=1971 |access-date=30 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206041333/http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm |archive-date=6 December 2011}}</ref> Before the zamindari abolition, the Rajputs in [[Awadh|Oudh]] formed the major Taluqdars and had controlled over 50 percent of the land in the most districts of the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brass |first=Paul R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KulsjpUIxeUC |title=Factional Politics in an Indian State: The Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh |date=1966 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=16–17 |language=en |quote=The agricultural castes must be further subdivided into the traditional landowning castes, the cultivating castes, and the castes which provide field laborers. Among the traditional landowning castes, the Thakurs and Rajputs are by far the most important. Before zamindari abolition, Rajputs and Thakurs owned the largest share of the land in most of the districts in Uttar Pradesh; in Oudh, Rajputs were the most prominent talukdars and owned more than 50 percent of the land in most districts. Rajputs and Thakurs are associated with traditional Kshatriya class, the ruling class in the classical Hindu order.}}</ref> Historian Thomas R. Metcalf explains that in the province of Uttar Pradesh, majority of the Taluqdars with moderate to large estates were composed of Rajput caste. He also mentions that Rajputs were only next to Brahmins in the ritual hierarchy and also gave the secular elite of the state. According to him, the community controlled most of the best agricultural land in the region and this also helped the Rajput Taluqdars who were usually the head of the local Rajput clan to gather support over non-Rajput rival in the electoral politics of the state.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Metcalf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVBuAAAAMAAJ |title=Forging the Raj: Essays on British India in the Heyday of Empire |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |last3=Metcalf |first3=Professor of History and Sarah Kailath Professor of India Studies Thomas R. |last4=Kailath |first4=Sarah |date=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-566709-7 |pages=84 |language=en |quote=The bulk of the taluqdars, including almost all the Hindu holders of moderate to large estates, are of the Rajput caste. A ritually high caste, second only to the Brahmins, Rajputs have traditionally provided the secular elite of the province. Not only as large Landlords, but as petty zamindars and substantial peasant cultivators, Rajputs control most of the productive agricultural land and have long dominated the village ''panchayats'' and other local government institutions. The mere existence of such a large group of influential caste fellows scattered throughout the countryside gives the taluqdar a substantial advantage over a non-Rajput rival in gathering electoral support. But the taluqdar is usually more than just a Rajput; he is also the head of the local Rajput lineage or clan.}}</ref> =====Affirmative Action===== The Rajputs, in most of the states, are considered a [[Forward Caste|General caste]] (forward caste) in India's system of [[Reservation in India|positive discrimination]]. This means that they have no access to reservations. But they are classified as an [[Other Backward Class]] by the [[National Commission for Backward Classes]] in the state of [[Karnataka]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLsThxqt53NPf0ggPwu7BzPqgy3u3lupJmQLsT8%2fMjBlhiG%2fb0Het9uX |title=Central List of OBCs – State : Karnataka |website= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Writereaddata/note27635288560842543245.pdf |title=12015/2/2007-BCC dt. 18/08/2010 |website= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Reservational Justice to Other Backward Classes (Obcs): Theoretical and Practical Issues |author=A.Prasad |publisher=Deep and Deep Publications |year=1997 |page=69 |quote=(continued list of OBC classes) 7.Rajput 120.Karnataka Rajput}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJxY9IWzGewC |title=Villages, Women, and the Success of Dairy Cooperatives in India: Making Place for Rural Development |first=Pratyusha |last=Basu |publisher=Cambria Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60497-625-0 |page=96}}</ref> Some Rajputs in various states, as with other agricultural castes, demand reservations in Government jobs.<ref> {{cite news |title=Rajput youths rally for reservations |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Rajput-youths-rally-for-reservations/articleshow/48908796.cms |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=The Times of India}} </ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mudgal |first1=Vipul |title=The Absurdity of Jat Reservation |url=http://thewire.in/2016/02/22/the-absurdity-of-jat-reservation-22396/ |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=The Wire |date=22 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530212402/http://thewire.in/2016/02/22/the-absurdity-of-jat-reservation-22396/ |archive-date=30 May 2016}} </ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rajputs demanding reservation threaten to disrupt chintan shivir |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajputs-demanding-reservation-threaten-to-disrupt-chintan-shivir/article4313115.ece |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=The Hindu |date=16 January 2013 |language=en-IN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=After Jats, Rajputs of western UP want reservation in govt posts |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/noida/now-rajputs-of-western-uttar-pradesh-want-reservation-in-government-jobs/story-FBbtkNPRFjULRaHA30BHdN.html |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=Hindustan Times |date=28 April 2016}}</ref> In 2016, Sikh Rajputs were added under Backward Classes in [[Punjab]]<ref>{{cite web | author=The Tribune India | title=Rajput body condemns govt for putting Sikh Rajputs in 'backward classes' | website=Tribuneindia News Service | date=2016-12-20 | url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/jalandhar/rajput-body-condemns-govt-for-putting-sikh-rajputs-in-backward-classes-334515}}</ref> but after protest by the community, the government announced that they will be again put under General Category.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-15 |title=Rajputs to be accorded back general status, as per demand, says Punjab CM Channi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/others/rajputs-to-be-accorded-back-general-status-as-per-demand-says-punjab-cmchanni-101636994782914.html |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> ====Pakistan==== In [[West Punjab]], the Muslim Rajputs, Jats and Arains are the three dominant agricultural castes, out of which, Rajputs are considered to be at the top of social hierarchy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y5jTh7DA598C&pg=PA118&dq=Rajput+different+from+other+castes |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1975 |author=Richard F. Nyrop |title=Area Handbook for Pakistan|quote=The agricultural tribes are usually castes with a common mythic ancestor whose traditional occupation is agriculture. The three most important Muslim castes are the Jats, Rajputs and Arains. In terms of social precedence, the Rajputs come first.|page=118}}</ref> In [[Azad Kashmir]], they are distributed across the territory and have higher presence in politics.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ethnic Knowledge and Perspectives of Medicinal Plants |page=198 |publisher=Apple Academic Press |year=2023 |editor=Francisco Martín Huerta-Martínez |quote=Rajputs are distributed all over AJK with higher involvement in political activities form the basis of AJKs politics. Respected group alone has half million population in AJK.|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=mKAIEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA198&dq=Rajputs+are+distributed+all+over+AJK+with+higher+involvement+in+political+activities+form+the+basis+of+AJKs+politics}}</ref> They are among the largest components of Pakistan's army.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y5jTh7DA598C&pg=PA118&dq=Rajput+different+from+other+castes |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1975 |author=Richard F. Nyrop |title=Area Handbook for Pakistan|quote=The Muslim Rajputs are believed to stem from local aristocrats who converted to Islam during the Mughal period and who held positions of honor in the army and administration. Under the British, they contributed large number of excellent soldiers to the Indian army, and they continue to be the largest element in the army of Pakistan. |page=118,119}}</ref>
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