Kshatriya

Kshatriya (Sanskrit: क्षत्रिय, romanized: Kṣatriya) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya)^[1] is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy.^[2] 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.^[3]

History

Early Rigvedic tribal monarchy

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.^[4] The king may have been elected in a tribal assembly (called Samiti), which included women.^[5]^[4] 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.^[6]

Later Vedic period

The hymn Purusha Sukta to the Rigveda describes the symbolic creation of the four varna-s through cosmic sacrifice (yajña). Some scholars consider 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.^[7] Since not all Indians were fully regulated under the varna in the Vedic society,^[8] the Purusha Sukta was supposedly composed in order to secure Vedic sanction for the heredity caste scheme.^[7] An alternate explanation is that 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.^[9]

Although the Purusha Sukta uses the term rajanya, not Kshatriya, it is considered the first instance in the extant Vedic texts where four social classes are mentioned for the first time together.^[10] 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,^[10] 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 a specific domain.^[10] The term rajanya unlike the word Kshatriya essentially denoted the status within a lineage. Whereas Kshatra, means "ruling; one of the ruling order".^[11] 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.^[10] Based on the authority of Pāṇini, Patanjali, Kātyāyana and the Mahabharata, Jayaswal believes that Rajanya was the name of political people and that the Rajanyas were, therefore, a democracy (with an elected ruler).^[12] Some examples were the Andhaka and Vrsni Rajanyas who followed the system of elected rulers.^[10] Ram Sharan Sharma details how the central chief was elected by various clan chiefs or lineage chiefs with increasing polarisation between 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.^[13]

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 a territory, and symbolising ownership over clan lands. This later gave rise to the idea of kingship.^[14]

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 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).^[15] The kshatriya were often considered pre-eminent in Buddhist circles.^[16] Even among Hindu societies they were sometimes at rivalry with the Brahmins, but they generally acknowledged the superiority of the priestly class.^[16] The Kshatriyas also began to question the yajnas of the historical Vedic religion, which led to religious ideas developed in the Upanishads.^[17]

Mahajanapadas

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 the assembly at the capital, debated various issues put before the assembly.^[18] Due to the lack of patronage of Vedic Brahmanism, the kshatriyas of the gana sanghas were often patrons of Buddhism and Jainism.^[19] In the Pali canon, Kshatriya is referred as khattiya.^[20]

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.^[21]

After 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.^[22]

Post-Mauryan Kshatriyas

After the collapse of the Maurya Empire, numerous clan-based polities in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan claimed kshatriya status.^[23]

The Shakas and Yavanas were considered to be low-status kshatriyas by Brahmin authors.^[24]

In 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.^[25] During his visit to India in the 7th century, Hieun Tsang noted that kshatriya rulers were ruling the kingdoms like Kabul,^[26] Kosala,^[27] Bhillamala,^[28] Maharashtra^[29] and Vallabhi.^[30]

Emergence of "Puranic" Kshatriyas

In the era from 300 to 700 CE, new royal dynasties were bestowed kshatriya status by Brahmins by linking them to 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 the Deccan.^[31]

Modern era

Though many communities claimed Kshatriya status,^[32] the Rajputs were most successful in attaining it.^[33]

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."^[34]

Symbols

In rituals, the nyagrodha (Ficus indica or India fig or banyan tree) danda, or staff, is assigned to the kshatriya class, along with a mantra, intended to impart physical vitality or 'ojas'.^[35]

Lineage

The Vedas do not mention kshatriya (or varna) of any vamsha (lineage). The lineages of the Itihasa-Purana tradition^[36] are: the Solar dynasty (Suryavamsha);^[36] and the Lunar dynasty (Chandravamsha/Somavamsha).^[36]

There are other lineages, such as Agnivanshi ("fire lineage"), in which an eponymous ancestor is claimed from Agni (fire),^[36] and Nagavanshi (snake-born), claiming descent from the Nāgas, whose description can be found in scriptures such as Mahabharata.^[37]

References

Citations

^
- Upinder Singh (2017). Political Violence in Ancient India. Harvard University Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780674975279.
- John McLeod (2002). The History of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 207. ISBN 9780313314599.
^ Thapar 2004, p. 63.
^ Bujor Avari (2007). India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200, p. 89
^ ^a ^b Renou, Louis (1957). Vedic India. p. 130.
^ Shori, Maj Gen A. K. "Fifth Shade : Rama as A King". Seven Shades of Rama. Notion Press. ISBN 978-93-84391-74-4.
^ Sharma, Ram Sharan (2005). India's ancient past. the University of Michigan: Oxford University Press. pp. 110–112. ISBN 9780195667141.
^ ^a ^b Jamison, Stephanie W.; Brereton, Joel P. (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
^ David Kean (2007). Caste-based Discrimination in International Human Rights Law, p. 26. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
^ Jayantanuja Bandyopadhyaya (2007). Class and Religion in Ancient India, pp. 37–47. Anthem Press.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kumkum Roy (2011). Insights and Interventions: Essays in Honour of Uma Chakravarti, p. 148. Primus Books.
^ Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley; Dorothy Rivers Turner (January 2006) [1962]. A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages (Accompanied by three supplementary volumes: indexes, compiled by Dorothy Rivers Turner: 1969. – Phonetic analysis: 1971. – Addenda et corrigenda: 1985. ed.). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 189–190. Retrieved 23 October 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Radhakrishna Choudhary (1964). The Vrātyas in Ancient India, Volume 38 of Chowkhamba Sanskrit studies, p. 125. Sanskrit Series Office.
^ Ram Sharan Sharma (1991). Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, p. 172. Motilal Banarsidass Publications.
^ Reddy (2005). General Studies History 4 Upsc. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 78, 79, 33, 80, 27, 123. ISBN 9780070604476.
^ Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, p. 202. Pearson Education India.
^ ^a ^b Jeanne Auboyer (1965). Daily Life in Ancient India. Phoenix Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 1-84212-591-5.
^ Thapar 2004, p. 129, 131.
^ Thapar 2004, pp. 146–150.
^ Thapar 2004, p. 170.
^ Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of The Awakened One. Hachette UK. 2011. ISBN 978-1849169233.
^ Thapar 2004, pp. 150–151.
^ Thapar 2004, pp. 155–156.
^ Thapar 2004, p. 211.
^ Thapar 2004, p. 227.
^ Thapar 2004, pp. 228–229.
^ Devi Dayal Aggarwal (2017). India Ever Independent. Balboa Press. ISBN 978-1504391702.
^ Mishra, Patit Paban (2005). Cultural rapprochement between India and Southeast Asia. National Book Organisation. pp. 5–6. ISBN 8187521171. Hsuan Tsang mentions the existence of kshatriya rulers by stating that the ruler of Kosala was a kshatriya and follower of Buddhism.
^ K.K Sehgal (1973). Rajasthan District Gazetteers: Jalor. Hiuen Tsang , who visited Bhillamala in about 641 A.D. refers to it as the capital of the Gurjara kingdom . According to him the king of this place was a Kshatriya , a profound believer in Buddhism and a man of exceptional abilities.
^ K.A Acharya (1978). Maratha-Rajput Relations from 1720 to 1795 A.D. University of California. p. 4. Hiuen – Tsang ( first half of seventh century ) speaks Pulakeshi ( Pu – lo – ki – she ) as the great kshatriya king of Maharashtra.
^ Vincent A. Smith (1999). The Early History of India. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 325. ISBN 9788171566181. Sīlāditya , the former Raja of Valabhi and Mo - la - p'o , was considered to be a Kshatriya
^ Thapar 2004, p. 320, 324, 341, 370.
^ Ashok K. Pankaj, Ajit K. Pandey, ed. (2018). Dalits, Subalternity and Social Change in India. Routledge. By the 1990s, OBCs in North India had acquired education, government jobs, land and economic resources and political power that edged them towards "sanskritization". Many of them started claiming Kshatriya status and looked for a social and religious identity closer to that of the upper caste Hindus.
^
- "Jati". Britannica encyclopaedia. Retrieved 6 November 2024. In different parts of India, certain caste groups have sought respectability within the varna system by claiming membership in a particular varna. Typical and most successful was the claim of the Rajputs that they were the Kshatriyas, or nobles, of the second varna
- Amod Jayant Lele (2001). Hindutva and Singapore Confucianism as Projects of Political Legitimation. Cornell University Press. p. 133. Many jatis have tried to claim Kshatriya status, with varying degrees of success, the most successful being the Rajputs.
- Luna Sabastian (2022). "Women, Violence, Sovereignty:"Rakshasa" Marriage by Capture in Modern Indian Political Thought". Modern Intellectual History. Cambridge University Press: 769. doi:10.1017/S1479244321000391. It was duly observed among the Rajputs, India's most successful claimants to Kshatriya status in the present age, to the point where "Rajput" even came to appropriate the meaning and assimilative function of "Kshatriya."
- Mayer, A. (2023). Caste and Kinship in Central India: A Village and its Region. University of California Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-520-31349-1. Retrieved 7 November 2024. The Rajputs, of course, are the prime Kshatriya caste. Some maintain that they are descendants of the only people who did not deny their true Kshatriya status and managed to escape from Parasurama; others say that they changed their name to Rajput to deceive Parasurama, but alone of the Kshatriyas kept on with their martial occupation. They appear in any case to have the strongest claim to Kshatriya status.
- Hira Singh (2014). Recasting Caste: From the Sacred to the Profane. SAGE Publications. p. 108. ISBN 8132119800. One, the decline of the Vaishyas and two, the emergence of the Rajputs, originally a diverse group who successfully claimed the Kshatriya identity, with the compliance of the Brahmans in return for land grants and other material gains.
- Carl Skutsch, ed. (2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Routledge. p. 600. ISBN 1135193959. During this time, the Rajputs of Rajasthan were a major force in medieval Indian society and politics. Their origin are not known, but it is thought that they came from abroad. In either case they acquired lunar and solar connections and kshatriya status.
- Abraham Eraly (2011). The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin UK. ISBN 8184755694. Numerous ruling families all over the subcontinent were thus invested with the Kshatriya status over the centuries. In North India, many of the migrants and tribesmen who became Kshatriyas by this process came to be known as Rajputs, a people entirely unknown before the sixth century CE, but who, by the early medieval times, came to be regarded as the very epitome of the Kshatriya varna. These people were evidently metamorphosed as Kshatriyas by Brahminical rites.
- Kaushik Roy (2021). A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: Before the Rise of the West, 10,000 BCE–1500 CE. Routledge. ISBN 1000432122. Rajput- Originally known as thakurs, who were high caste landowners and became the hereditary warrior community. They acquired Kshatriya status (second highest caste in the fourfold Hindu hierarchical varna system).
^ Kolenda, Pauline Mahar (Spring 1963). "Toward a Model of the Hindu Jajmani System". Human Organization. 22 (1): 11–31. doi:10.17730/humo.22.1.x01162046g995q1j. JSTOR 44124164.
^ Brian K. Smith. Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual, and Religion, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1998
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Indian History: Ancient and medieval, p. 22. Volume 1 of Indian History, Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt. Ltd, 2003.
^ Omacanda Hāṇḍā. Naga Cults and Traditions in the Western Himalaya, p. 251. [1]

Bibliography

Thapar, Romila (2004). History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. University of California Press. ISBN 0520242254.