Agnivansha

In Indian culture, the Agnivanshi Rajputs are people who claim descent from Agni, the Vedic god of fire. The Agnivanshi lineage or Agnivansha is one of the three lineages into which the Rajput clans are divided, the others being the Suryavanshi (descended from Surya, the sun god) and the Chandravanshi (descended from Chandra, the moon god). There are four clans claiming Agnivanshi descent, being the Chauhans (Chahamanas), Parihars (Pratiharas), Parmars (Paramaras) and Solankis (Chalukyas).[1][lower-alpha 1]

Legend

The Agnikunda legend, of which there are several versions, gives an account of the origin of the Agnivanshi Rajputs.

The Bhavishya Purana version of the legend begins with the puranic legend wherein Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu, exterminated the traditional Rajputs of the land. Later, the legend says, sage Vasishta performed a great Yajna or fire-sacrifice, to seek from the gods a provision for the defense of righteousness on earth. In answer to his prayer, a youth arose from the Agnikunda or fire-altar—the first Agnivanshi Rajput. According to different versions of the legend, Rajput clans originated from the Agnikunda.

The Pratiharas established the first Rajput kingdom in Marwar in southwestern Rajasthan in the 6th century the greatest kingdom after Ashoka and Harshvardhan, the Chauhans at Ajmer in central Rajasthan, the Solankis in Gujarat, and the Paramaras in Malwa Rahevar "Rever" Tarangagadh - Rajasthan.

The Bhavishya Purana text, as available today, is regarded to have later additions, some as late as 1850 CE.[2]

The earliest known source to mention the Agnikunda story is the Nava-sahasanka-charita of the Paramara court poet Padmagupta Parimala. The Sanskrit-language epic was composed during the reign of Sindhuraja (ca. 997-1010).[3] The work is based on the life of Sindhuraja, but is of little historical value.[4]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ There are numerous variant spellings of these clan names.

Citations

  1. ↑ Jaswant Lal Mehta (1980), Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, pp. 34–, ISBN 978-81-207-0617-0
  2. ↑ Bhavishya Purana, B.K. Chaturvedi, Diamond Books (P) Ltd.
  3. ↑ Alf Hiltebeitel (2009). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics. University of Chicago Press. p. 444. ISBN 9780226340555.
  4. ↑ Siba Pada Sen, ed. (1979). Historical biography in Indian literature. Institute of Historical Studies. p. 30.

Further reading

External links

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