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: Rajputs are descendents of the races like Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas etc. This theory was put forward by Col. James Todd.
  
  • Col. James Todd was 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: 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 AryansMeaning of Veda यः समिधा य आहुती यो वेदेन ददाश मर्तो अग्नये | यो नमसा सवध्वरः || The above Shloka from Rig-Veda 8.19.5 was translated by many scholars. The first ..... did and worship of fire was not the tradition of the Foreigners only.
  
• Mixed Origin: 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 AgniAgni, the god of Fire, is one of the most prominent of the deities of the Vedas. With the single exception of Indra, more hymns ...... The theory is based upon the Agnikula Legend of Bhavishyapurana which says
  • "There will be BindusaraChandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara. His other name is Amitraghata which means destroyer of foes. The Greek scholars write him as "Amitrachates" .....
    
  • "Like the father, there will be AsokaAshokavardhana or Asoka was governor of Taxila and Ujjain during the reign of his father Bindusara. The Sri Lankan texts represent Asoka as "wading through ..... 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 Bron from the Infleunce of the Mantras
    
  • "Parmara from Samved, Chaphani from Yajurveda"Yajus" means "sacrificial formula" and Yajurveda is the book of sacrificial prayers. It contains the rituals of the Yajnas. It is estimated to have .....
    
  • "From Three vedas there will be Chu
    
  • "from Atharva VedaThe four Vedas come under the Shruti category and are considered sacred scriptures. Later texts like the various shastras and the itihaasas form Smruti. Rig-VedaRig-Veda is known as the oldest religious text in the world. It is also known as "First testament" of mankind. It was composed around 1700 ..... Rig-Veda ..... there will be Pariharak.
    

So, 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.