The origins of the Rajput Clans are one shrouded in mystery, blurred of religious Hindu belief and the historical developments of Northern India. What remains certain is that they held no single ancestry that united them, be it in legend or history.
According to the Rajputs themselves, theirs is a people divided into 36 or so clans, each belonging to one of three basic divine lineages:
- The Suryavanshi lineage, claiming descent from Surya, the Hindu Sun-god.
- The Chandravanshi lineage, claiming descent from Chandra, the Hindu Moon-god.
- The Agnivanshi lineage, claiming descent from Agni, the Hindu god of fire. Four Rajput clans are considered to be Agnivanshi.They are Chauhans,Chalukyas,Ghosh,Paramara and Pratiharas.
Be it not from the Heavens, then most would conclude the origins of the Rajputs to be with the Scythian (Saka), or Hepthalites (or White Huns). Even their arrival into historical prominence is uncertain, their emergence coinciding with the chaotic Dark ages of the Indian Subcontinent.
While the first Rajput kingdoms would be attested to the 6th Century AD, it would be in the 9th and 10th that they would take to the role of guardians of Hinduism against the growing pressures of Islam as it spilled forth across the Sindh and Punjab. While the Suryavanshi and Chadravanshi Rajput Clans would rise to prominence first, it would be the Agnivanshi Rajputs which now stand as the premier of the Rajput Clans. In the North the Chauhan Kingdom reigns supreme, ruled from Delhi by an ancestor of Agni named Prithviraj III, while the Islamic Soomro Rajputs of the Paramara clan hold Sindh with a sovereignty threatened by their fellow Muslims.
With the Ghaznavid's attacks upon India growing mild, the concern is now with the arrival of Muhammad of Ghor's armies, and whether the States of the Rajputs will face him divided or united.