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 (Parhars or Pratihars), 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.[citation needed]
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 AD.[2][page needed]
The Agnikunda story was first given in Nava-sahasanka-charita of Padmagupta, a fictional romance where the hero is identifiable as Sindhuraj. In Nava-sahasanka-charita the progenitor Paramara is created from fire by Vashishtha.[citation needed]
References
Notes
- ↑ There are numerous variant spellings of these clan names.
Citations
Further reading
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
