According to the Hindu code of Manu, a Kshatriya is a member of the military or kingly order and are generally considered the Arya. The priest king Manu, the law giver had over 50 sons. Since Manu himself is king and brahmin (priest-king), his children (and thus all of humanity since humanity is named after him) are all highborn. However, due to differences in jobs, end up as different jatis and caste. Those sons who studied the Vedas became known as brahmins, those sons who took up kingship became the Aryans. The word "Aryan" itself is related to the Aristocracy and initially only related to the kings and nobles and later applied to the priests (Brahmins) and businessmen (Vaishya).

Etymology

In Sanskrit, it is pronounced kṣatriya and is derived from kṣatra "dominion, power, government" and ultimately from a root kṣi "to rule, govern, possess".

Kshatra is God's divine creative energy which descends upon those who are righteous, as the Ahuna Vairya prayer of the Zoroastrians says:

and the Kshatra of Ahura (descends) indeed upon him who becomes a shepard to the meek.

In the early Vedic civilization, the warrior caste was called rājanya rather than kṣatriya, an adjective to rājan "ruler, king" from a root rāj "to rule", cognate to Latin rex "king" and German Reich "empire".

Holy Warriors

The Aryas are more than just an aristocracy - they were the first divine warriors. The Aryan king and his warriors, are protectors of the Dharma or truth. As those who are the most righteous, they are imbibed with the power of God to serve humanity as administrators. The Aryan king is Dharma Raja, a divine savior, who leads his subjects to heavenly realms and ultimate spiritual liberation by his just and enlightened rule. This can be clearly seen by the following from the Rig Veda:

praja arya jyotiragrah. RV, VII. 33.17

People ruled by Aryans are led by the Divine light.

In other words, those peoples led by Aryans are led by the light of God.

King Rama of Ayodhya is considered the greatest of the Dharma Raja of the Aryans:

arya sarva samascaiva sadaiva priyadarsanah

Arya, who worked for the equality of all, was dear to everyone.

King of Kings

It is only the true Aryan king who is known as the "King of Kings", Raja-adhi-raj of

Ramayana said:

Like the ancient monarch Manu, father of the human race,

Dasa-ratha ruled his people with a father's loving grace,

Background

In India, the period after the Epic Age or the Later Vedic Age (roughly 1000 BC to 600 BC) was marked by the rise of numerous small kingdoms. The rising popularity and aspirations of the Brahmin priests began to collide with the authority of the Kshatriyas, who formed the ruling class of each kingdom. The struggle involved the Kshatriya nobility and the Brahman clergy in all the Indo-Aryan regions from Iran to northern India.

In the initiation samskaras/rituals, the nyagrodha (Ficus Indica or Sacred Fig tree) danda is assigned to the Kshatriya class.

The nyagrodha or banyan tree, with its bending branches which take root in the ground, was regarded as a resembling form of the Kshatriya:

The nyagrodha is the kshatra power of trees, and the Kshatriya is the kshatra power , for the Kshatriya here dwells fastened, as it were, to the kingdom, and supported . And the nyagrodha is fastened to the ground, as it were, by its downward growths, and supported . (Aiteraya Brahmana, 7.31; see also Satapatha Brahmana 5.3.5.13]

The staff made of this wood is taken by the Kshatriya initiate with a mantra imparting physical vitality or ojas."

Also related to this article on the Kshatriya are the Satraps.

satrap: c.1380, "governor of a province of ancient Persia," from L. satrapes, from Gk. satrapes, from O.Pers. kshathrapavan-, lit. "guardian of the realm," from kshathra- "realm, province" (related to kshayathiya- "king," cognate with Skt. kshatra; cf. shah) + pavan- "guardian," from pa- "to protect." Indo-European dher ("hold firmly, support") ==> dharma, affirm, throne, Darius, jemadar. Indo-European ksei ("to rule") ==> kshatriya, Shah, satrap, Xerxes

Kshatriya descendants

Kshatriya clans

Names

Gurjar,Yadav, Khatri, Marathas, Kurmi/Kunbi, Lohanas, Jats, Sakas, Yavanas, Nambiars, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Paradas, Thampuran,Gurkhas, Rajputs.

In modern India, caste is determined by familial inheritance, but not all present members of Kshatriya castes are necessarily descended from the Vedic Kshatriyas. The caste system spread, along with Hinduism, throughout India and into southeast Asia, but not necessarily by immigration; peoples with non-Vedic origins may have adopted the vedic castes as they acculturated into Hinduism.

Others say that many of the non-Vedic kshatriyas were in fact, once Indian Vedic Kshatriyas, who had established kingdoms outside of India and had returned to India reclaim their kshatriya status.

The Manusmriti, written about 200 CE, groups the Shakas with the Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Kiratas and the Daradas etc.., and addresses them all as degraded warriors, or Kshatriyas (X/43-44). Anushasanaparava of the Mahabharata also views the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas etc. in the same light. Patanjali in his Mahabhasya regards the Shakas and Yavanas as pure Shudras (II.4.10).

The Vartika of the

The Mahabharata also associates the Shakas with the Yavanas, Gandharas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Tusharas, Sabaras, Barbaras etc and addresses them all as the Barbaric tribes of Uttarapatha. In another verse, the epic groups the Shakas Kambojas and Khashas and addresses them as the tribes from Udichya i.e north division (5/169/20). Also, the Kishkindha Kanda of the Ramayana locates the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas and Paradas in the extreme north-west beyond the Himavat (i.e. Hindukush) (43/12).

The Udyogaparava of the Mahabharata (5/19/21-23) tells us that the composite army of the Kambojas, Yavanas and Shakas had participated in the Mahabharata war under the supreme command of Sudakshina Kamboja. The epic repeatedly applauds this composite army as being very fierce and wrathful.

Agricultural Connections of Kshatriyas

The agrarian or farmers were the original source of all martial traditions and the original source of kings of Bharat. The word which means earth in sanskrit, "Prithvi" itself is named after King Prithu, who tamed the earth to make it fertile. King Janaka and Buddha's father both performed ceremonies dealing with farming. Sita, the wife of King Rama of Ayodhya, literally means freshly plowed earth.Due to some infighting amongst kshatriyas and brahmins, many kshatriyas no longer were initiated in the upanayanam and so were not recognized by brahmins. However, identity of kshatriyas survived within the histories of the clans themselves as it was required in marriage ceremonies.

Indian Vedic Kshatriya Lineages

Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis

The Vedic kshatriyas are only those who are true Suryavanshis or Chandravanshis and are mentioned in the Vedas and under whose sponsorship the Vedas were compiled by the clergy. Major surviving clans of Suryavanshis includes the Kachwaha, the Rathore and the Sisodia.

Both the Khatris and Kurmis/Kunbis divide themselves into suryavanshi and chandravanshi sects of kshatriyas.Marathas are divided into 96 royal clans originated from panchjanya of Rigveda. The Yadavs are another clan of chandravanshi kshatriyas found throughout India.

Marathas emerged from the Kunbi King Shivaji, found in Maharashtra are one of the earliest Kshatriya tribes.

Lohanas are Suryavanshis and are found in Afghanistan, Balochistan and Sindh in Pakistan, and Gujarat in India.

Indian Non-Vedic Kshatriya lineages

Agnivanshi

By myth these kshatriyas were born from fire and were called Agnivanshi. They were outsiders initiated into Vedic religion and called themselves Rajputs and were initiated as kshatriyas at Mt. Abu in western India where the word was first used. Many of them were the descendants of the White Huns whom after the defeat of Mihirakula converted. Another tribe of Rajputs were the Gurjara tribes from Afghanistan. The Gurjara Pratihara dynasty was the earliest Rajput dynasty which held power in Rajasthan. This origin of the Rajputs is supported by the Agni Purana which contends that the Rajputs were born from the fire which resides in Mt. Abu in Northwestern India after the supposed "destruction of ancient Kshatriyas".

There has been a lot of confusion on the Rajputs. It is believed that Rajputs are the descendants of Indo-Scythian tribes as opposed to the others who are Indo-Aryan. The Scythian roots of the Rajputs have been genetically and historically proved. This word was never before used by any Indian kshatriya before the fall of Harshavardhana's empire well after 600 A.D. It was first used in the northwest of India by neo-kshatriya clans who claimed to be agnivanshi kshatriyas, Hinduized at Mt. Abu. So, the term "Rajput"s should ideally be used by Agnivanshi kshatriyas ONLY. However, in western India, some Vedic kshatriyas ignorant of the origins of the Rajputs started using this designation for themselves. So there might be some Vedic kshatriya clans in the Northwest who mistakenly call themselves Rajputs in order to justify their rule during the period internal strife, following the collapse of Harsha's empire.

Other clans

Jats are another huge group who were warriors and only found in western India. The origins of the Jats is obscure, some say they are a northwestern Indian branch of the Yadavs, others say they are of Indo-Scythian origins.

Certain clans of Dravida according to the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon is :m. N. of a people (regarded as degraded Kshatriyas and said to be "' descendants of Dravid2a , sons of Vr2ishabha-sva1min S3atr.)So Dravidians in fact are recorded as "degraded kshatriyas", or kshatriyas who no longer are initiated into the sacred thread.

The Nairs are a Dravida kshatriya group. Even before the Aryanization of Kerala they were feudal lords called Nakas. They mixed with the Namboodiri Brahmins and have their own martial arts called Kalaripayattu. The kings of Kerala are Nairs and they have a distinct Matriarchal culture with various special traditions not seen in any other castes in India.

Many historical rulers came from other castes, or were descended from non-Hindu foreign conquerers, and were either granted de facto Kshatriya status by virtue of the power they held, or they created fictionalized family histories to connect themselves to past Kshatriya rulers. For instance, the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Paradas etc were foreign invaders from north-west but were finally assimilated into the Indian community as Kshatriyas.

Non-Indian Kshatriyas

Some Persian tribes Persian Empire, Middle eastern tribes Mitanni.

Links

Satrap Article

Resources

History and Culture of Indian People, The Vedic Age, p 313-314

history of Gurjara Rajputs:

See also

• Jat or Jatt
• Kambojas or Kamboj
• Maratha
• Gurjar
• Varnas
• Khatri
• Rajput
• Lohana
• Kurmi or Kunbi
• Kuruba
• Perumpadapu Swaroopam