DEFINITION OF RAJPUTS

Rajputs (Rajaputra) are a sub-group of hindu Kshatriya varna. They have a hindu Jati (an endogamous group within the Hindu social system). Rajputs are literally sons-of-kings. They are divided into 36 major clans, names of which are recorded in several texts including the Kumarpala Charita of Jayasimha, and Prithviraj Raso of Chandbardai.

The Rig Veda is the first and most important of the four Vedas and rajput rishis (rajrishi) are mentioned in it. To each of its hymns the name of the seer or Rishi to whom it was revealed is prefixed. It thus becomes evident on the authority of these very names (such as Vasishta, Viswamitra, Agastya, etc.), all of which belong to men born in various manvantaras, that centuries, and perhaps millenniums, must have elapsed between the dates of their composition. The Gayatri, the most sacred hymn of the Rig Veda, is taken from the third of the ten cycles of hymns, the cycle of the Rajaputra Sage Viswamitra.

राजपुत्रौ कुशलिनौ भ्रातरौ रामलक्ष्मणौ ।
सर्वशाखामर्गेन्द्रेण सुग्रीवेणािभपालितौ ।।