02-11-2007, 01:14 AM
I think Rajput as an endogamous jati came later than the epic period, Rajaputra literally means the Son of a Raja in Sanskrit (or Telugu for that matter), there are a few legends about the origins of Rajputs including the Agnikunda legend which is taken as evidence of their foreign origin by colonialists but going by the available records some of today's Rajput clans like the Rathores and Solankis were originally from the Deccan and Karnataka.
The best analogy I can give is the Gurkhas, the Gurkhas as a jati claim descent from Bappa Rawal of Mewar, so here we have an example of the slow development of an endogamous group, I think the same holds true for Rajputs as well but I don't know how long ago they became a separate group.
For that to be confirmed, we have to search for the first mention of the word Rajput and see if it's used in the sense of referring to a group like the Jats are mentioned in Chachnama.
In AP, there is some speculation that Kammas, Velamas and Kapus etc had a common origin but became separate groups later on, so formation of new groups has been going on through out history.
The best analogy I can give is the Gurkhas, the Gurkhas as a jati claim descent from Bappa Rawal of Mewar, so here we have an example of the slow development of an endogamous group, I think the same holds true for Rajputs as well but I don't know how long ago they became a separate group.
For that to be confirmed, we have to search for the first mention of the word Rajput and see if it's used in the sense of referring to a group like the Jats are mentioned in Chachnama.
In AP, there is some speculation that Kammas, Velamas and Kapus etc had a common origin but became separate groups later on, so formation of new groups has been going on through out history.