36-567: The Khanzada or Khan Zadeh are a cluster community of Muslim Rajputs found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan . A notable community is the Khanzadas of Mewat , the descendants of Raja Nahar Khan , who are a sub-clan of Jadaun . They refer to themselves as Muslim Rajputs. After the Partition of India in 1947, many members of this community migrated to Pakistan, forming
72-699: A Muslim Rajput dynasty who were notable for ruling the Fatehpur - Jhunjhunu region in Rajasthan from the 1300s to the 1700s. They were descended from Hindu Chauhan Rajputs, though as also stated by the historian Dirk Kolff the Qaimkhani have Turkic origins. The Mayi clan were the chieftains of the Narhat-Samai (Hisua) chieftaincy in modern-day Nawada district in South Bihar . The founder of
108-487: A land owning community, but those especially in Balrampur , Gonda and Bahraich are now simply agricultural labourers. The community are also divided on sectarian lines, with the majority being Sunni , while a minority, mainly the ex-taluqdar families being Shia . Like other Indian Muslims , there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their villages containing madrasas . The madrasas have also facilitated
144-623: A part of the Muhajir community. The term Khanzada or Khan Zadeh is a literal Persian translation of the Hindi word Rajput , which originates from the Sanskrit word rājaputra ( Sanskrit : राजपुत्र ; literally "son of a king"). The Sankrit term finds mention in some ancient Hindu scriptures like the Rigveda , Ramayana and Mahabharata . The term khanzada originally applied to
180-526: A rebellion against the Mughal authorities and was subsequently defeated and executed. His son, Toral Mal, was made to convert to Islam and renamed as Roz Afzun . Roz Afzun was a loyal Commander to the Emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan and Jahangir referred to him as his "favourite" commander in the empire. Another prominent chieftain of this dynasty was Tahawar Singh who played an active role in
216-517: A specific domain. The term rajanya unlike the word Kshatriya essentially denoted the status within a lineage. Whereas Kshatra , means "ruling; one of the ruling order". Jaiswal points out the term Brahman rarely occurs in the Rig-veda with the exception of the Purusha Sukta and may not have been used for the priestly class. Based on the authority of Pāṇini , Patanjali , Kātyāyana and
252-597: A territory, and symbolising ownership over clan lands. This later gave rise to the idea of kingship. In the period of the Brahmanas (800 BCE to 700 BCE) there was ambiguity in the position of the varna. In the Panchavimsha Brahmana (13,4,7), the Rajanya are placed first, followed by Brahmana then Vaishya. In Shatapatha Brahmana 13.8.3.11 , the Rajanya are placed second. In Shatapatha Brahmana 1.1.4.12
288-470: A tribal assembly (called Samiti), which included women. The Rajan protected the tribe and cattle; was assisted by a priest; and did not maintain a standing army, though in the later period the rulership appears to have risen as a social class . The concept of the fourfold varna system is not yet recorded. The hymn Purusha Sukta to the Rigveda describes the symbolic creation of the four varna-s through cosmic sacrifice (yajña). Some scholars consider
324-578: Is assigned to the kshatriya class, along with a mantra, intended to impart physical vitality or 'ojas'. The Vedas do not mention kshatriya (or varna) of any vamsha (lineage). The lineages of the Itihasa - Purana tradition are: the Solar dynasty (Suryavamsha); and the Lunar dynasty (Chandravamsha/Somavamsha). There are other lineages, such as Agnivanshi ("fire lineage"), in which an eponymous ancestor
360-472: Is associated with the warrior aristocracy . The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin , kshatriya, vaishya , and shudra . The administrative machinery in the Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called a Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary. The king may have been elected in
396-502: Is traditionally applied to the original Suryavanshi , Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi clans, who claimed to be Kshatriya in the Hindu varna system. Upon their conversion from Hinduism to Islam, many Muslim Rajputs maintained many of their Hindu customs, and hence retained their Cultural Hindu identity. Muslim Rajputs also often retained common social practices, such as purdah (seclusion of women), with Hindu Rajputs. Despite
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#1732780491252432-567: The Mahabharata , Jayaswal believes that Rajanya was the name of political people and that the Rajanyas were, therefore, a democracy (with an elected ruler). Some examples were the Andhaka and Vrsni Rajanyas who followed the system of elected rulers. Ram Sharan Sharma details how the central chief was elected by various clan chiefs or lineage chiefs with increasing polarisation between
468-668: The 24 Parganas and Midnapore districts, particularly near the towns of Barrackpur and Kharagpur . They migrated to Bengal from Kanpur five centuries ago and are descended from Amar Singh Rathore, a Rajput nobleman from Jhansi who converted to Islam . They are divided into several clans; Rathore, Dogar, Chauhan, Khelari, Tatar, Lehar, Nahar and Maidul. In the Punjab province of British India , comprising Punjab and some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in modern Pakistan as well Punjab , Haryana , Chandigarh , Delhi , and some parts of Himachal Pradesh in modern India, in 1921, 70.7% of
504-593: The Bais or the Gautam , the Gautamanas or Gautam Thakurs as they like to call themselves being the largest such group in the Fatehpur district , where they number around 100,000. Kshatriya Traditional Kshatriya ( Sanskrit : क्षत्रिय , romanized : Kṣatriya ) (from Sanskrit kṣatra , "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya ) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and
540-441: The rajanya (aristocracy helping the ruler) and the vis (peasants) leading to a distinction between the chiefs as a separate class ( raja, rajanya, kshatra, kshatriya ) on one hand and vis (clan peasantry) on the other hand. The term kshatriya comes from kshatra and implies temporal authority and power which was based less on being a successful leader in battle and more on the tangible power of laying claim to sovereignty over
576-703: The yajnas of the historical Vedic religion , which led to religious ideas developed in the Upanishads . The Kshatriyas studied Vedas, gave gifts and performed fire sacrifice. The gaṇa sangha form of government was an oligarchic republic during the period of the Mahajanapadas (c. 600–300 BCE), that was ruled by Kshatriya clans. However, these kshatriyas did not follow the Vedic religion, and were sometimes called degenerate Kshatriyas or Shudras by Brahmanical sources. The kshatriyas served as representatives in
612-603: The Bachgoti Rajput family of the Rajahs of Hasanpur . They were said to have converted to Islam during the rule of Sher Shah Suri . This family claimed descent from Bariar Singh, a Bachgoti Rajput, who said to have emigrated from Sultanpur in the 13th century. The Bachgoti had started off as a clan of the Chauhan Rajputs of Mainpuri . Bariar Singh's grandson, Tilok Chand is said to have converted to Islam, and
648-592: The Deccan. Writing in the context of how the jajmani system operated in the 1960s, Pauline Kolenda noted that the "caste function of the Kshatriya is to lead and protect the village, and with conquest to manage their conquered lands. The Kshatriyas do perform these functions today to the extent possible, by distributing food as payments to kamins and providing leadership." In rituals, the nyagrodha ( Ficus indica or India fig or banyan tree) danda , or staff,
684-609: The Mahajanapada period, most of the prominent royal dynasties in northern India were not kshatriyas. The Nanda Empire , whose rulers were stated to be shudras, destroyed many kshatriya lineages. After the collapse of the Maurya Empire , numerous clan-based polities in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan claimed kshatriya status. The Shakas and Yavanas were considered to be low-status kshatriyas by Brahmin authors. In
720-627: The Mayi clan was Nuraon Khan who arrived in Bihar in the 17th century. His descendants were Azmeri and Deyanut who were granted zamindari rights over six parganas by the Mughal authorities. Deyanut's son was Kamgar Khan who expanded his land by attacking and plundering neighbouring zamindars. Kamgar Khan also led numerous revolts against the Mughals and attempted to assert the Mayi's independence. His descendant
756-1067: The Mughal expedition against the nearby Cheros of Palamu . Mewat was a kingdom in Rajputana with its capital at Alwar ruled by a Khanzada Mewati Rajput dynasty during the period of the Delhi Sultanate in India . Raja Hassan Khan Mewati was represented the Meo Khanzada in Battle of Khanwa . Mewat was covered over a wide area, it included Hathin tehsil, Nuh district , Tijara , Gurgaon , Kishangarh Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh Tehsils Aravalli Range in Alwar district and Pahari, Nagar, Kaman tehsils in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and also some part of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. The last ruler of Mewat, Hasan Khan Mewati
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#1732780491252792-767: The Punjabi Rajputs were Muslims while 27.7% were Hindus, with the highest percentage of Rajputs found in Rawalpindi , with 21%. In Pakistan's Punjab province, the Rajputs are dominant in the Potohar plateau through its politics and military. As per the 2017 Pakistan census , Rajputs numbered around 5% of Lahore 's population, their population amounting to some 550,000 individuals out of Lahore's total population of around 11 million. In India's Uttar Pradesh , many Rajput communities have embraced Islam, such as
828-520: The Purusha Sukta to be a late interpolation into the Rigveda based on the neological character of the composition, as compared to the more archaic style of the Vedic literature. Since not all Indians were fully regulated under the varna in the Vedic society, the Purusha Sukta was supposedly composed in order to secure Vedic sanction for the heredity caste scheme. An alternate explanation is that
864-575: The assembly at the capital, debated various issues put before the assembly. Due to the lack of patronage of Vedic Brahmanism, the kshatriyas of the gana sanghas were often patrons of Buddhism and Jainism . In the Pali canon , Kshatriya is referred as khattiya . In the kingdoms of the Mahajanapadas, the king claimed kshatriya status through the Vedic religion. While kings claimed to be kshatriya, some kings came from non-kshatriya origins. After
900-559: The difference in religious faith, where the question has arisen of common Rajput honour, there have been instances where both Muslim and Hindu Rajputs have united together against threats from external ethnic groups. There are recorded instances of recent conversions of Rajputs to Islam in Western Uttar Pradesh , Khurja tahsil of Bulandshahr . The Kharagpur Raj was a Muslim Kindwar Rajput chieftaincy in modern-day Munger district of Bihar . Raja Sangram Singh led
936-620: The family took the name Khanzada. In northern Awadh, a region comprising roughly Barabanki District in south east to Lakhimpur Kheri District in the north west, the Khanzada have a followed a slightly different path, with a stronger identification with Islam. In a recent study of a Chauhan Khanzada village in Raisenghat Tehsil of Barabanki District , this particular community was seen to be strongly identifying with neighbouring muslim rajput of Uttar Pradesh communities, and there
972-541: The first instance in the extant Vedic texts where four social classes are mentioned for the first time together. Usage of the term Rajanya possibly indicates the 'kinsmen of the Rajan' (i.e., kinsmen of the ruler) had emerged as a distinct social group then, such that by the end of the Vedic period, the term rajanya was replaced by Kshatriya ; where rajanya stresses kinship with the Rajan and Kshatriya denotes power over
1008-662: The growth of Urdu , with it beginning to replace the Awadhi dialect they traditionally spoke. Muslim Rajputs Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who generally are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan . Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan . They are further divided into different clans. The term Rajput
1044-549: The guidance of Ibrahim Danishmand and became known as Sulaiman Khan. Bhagirath's grandson, Isa Khan , grew to become the chief of Bengal's Baro-Bhuiyan confederacy which posed as a threat to the Mughals who wanted to conquer Bengal. The diwans of Mymensingh and Dhaka during the 19th-century were said to be the descendants of Muslim Rajputs. Another Bengali Rajput community are the Ghosi , who can predominantly be found in
1080-570: The kshatriyas of the epics and Puranas. Dynasties began affiliating themselves with the Solar and Lunar dynasties and this gave them legitimation as rulers. In return the newly christened kshatriyas would patronize and reward the Brahmins. The Sanskritic culture of the kshatriyas of this period was heavily influential for later periods and set the style that kshatriyas of later periods appealed to. This process took place both in North India and
1116-565: The order is—Brahmana, Vaishya, Rajanya, Shudra. The order of the Brahmanical tradition—Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—became fixed from the time of dharmasutras (450 BCE to 100 BCE). The kshatriya were often considered pre-eminent in Buddhist circles. Even among Hindu societies they were sometimes at rivalry with the Brahmins, but they generally acknowledged the superiority of the priestly class. The Kshatriyas also began to question
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1152-520: The third to fourth centuries CE, kingdoms in the Krishna and Godavari rivers claimed kshatriya status and performed Vedic rituals to legitimate themselves as rulers. During his visit to India in the 7th century, Hieun Tsang noted that kshatriya rulers were ruling the kingdoms like Kabul, Kosala, Bhillamala, Maharashtra and Vallabhi. In the era from 300 to 700 CE, new royal dynasties were bestowed kshatriya status by Brahmins by linking them to
1188-466: The word 'Shudra' does not occur anywhere else in the Rig-veda except the Purusha Sukta , leading some scholars to believe the Purusha Sukta was a composition of the later Rig-vedic period itself to denote, legitimize and sanctify an oppressive and exploitative class structure that had already come into existence. Although the Purusha Sukta uses the term rajanya , not Kshatriya , it is considered
1224-883: Was Iqbal Ali Khan who took part in the 1781 revolt in Bihar against the British however his revolt failed and Mayi's lost much of their land. Rajput communities began settling in Bengal during the Sultanate period where they were given high ranks in the Bengal government. One notable example is of Bhagirath of Ayodhya , who belonged to the Hindu Bais clan, who was appointed as the Dewan of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah . His son, Kalidas Gajdani embraced Sunni Islam through
1260-457: Was increasingly intermarriage between the two groups. There economic condition in this region is also been affected, with a dwindling in the size of their farms, especially in Shravasti and Balrampur districts. Many are now, in fact, landless agricultural labourers. The Khanzada, however have been badly affected by abolition of the zamindari system, with many now destitute. They still remain
1296-520: Was killed in the battle of Khanwa against the Mughal emperor Babur. The Meo Khanzadas were descended from Hindu Yadu Rajputs. The Lalkhanis are a Muslim Rajput community and a sub-clan of the Bargujars . They were the Nawabs of various estates in Western Uttar Pradesh . These included Chhatari and neighbouring regions including parts of Aligarh and Bulandshahr . The Qaimkhanis were
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