The Origin of Rajputs & Agnikula Legend

The term Rajput starts coming in use from the 6th Century AD. They rose to prominence from the 6th century till 12th century and kept ruling in different parts of the country from Sultanate to Mughal Era and as rulers of the princely states till the departure of British from the country in 1947. Several theories exist about the origin of the Rajputs. They important theories are as follows:

Foreign origin of Rajputs

This theory says that the Rajputs are descendents of the races like Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas etc. This theory was put forward by Col. James Todd, the celebrated author of Annals and Antiques of Rajasthan. He has detailed the history of Rajputana and Central India. The main argument of James Todd behind the foreign origin of the Rajputs was that these people worshipped Fire and Fire was the main deity of the Sakas and Hunas.

Kashtriya Heroes theory

This theory says that the Rajputs are NOT from the foreign origin and they are descendents of the mythological Aryan Heroes like Rama. They worship fire as the Aryans did and worship of fire was not the tradition of the Foreigners only.

Mixed Origin Theory

This theory as put forward by V A Smith says that Rajput is a mixed race. Some of them were descendents of the Aryans while some of them were from the foreign races such as Hunas, Sakas etc.

Agnikula Thoery

This theory comes from the Prithvirajraso of Chandarbardai. The Rajputs descended from Agni. The theory is based upon the Agnikula Legend of Bhavishyapurana which says like this:

• “There will be Bindusara
• “Like the father, there will be Asoka and his sons who will rule
• “At that time there will be a Brahmin in Kanyakubja Clan
• “He will do Brah-hom at Mount Abu
• “Four Kstariyas will be Born from the Influence of the Mantras
• “Parmara from Samved, Chaphani from Yajurveda
• “From Three vedas there will be Chu
• “from Atharvaveda there will be Pariharak.

Basically, this theory says that the forefathers of the Rajputs were born at Mount Abu. The four Rajput clans from Agnikunda are Chauhans, Chalukyas, Parmaras and Pratiharas.