The Rajputs are the representatives of the ancient Kshatriyas or second caste, though the existing Rajput clans are probably derived from the Hun, Gujar and other invaders of the period before and shortly after the commencement of the Christian era, and in some cases from the indigenous or non-Aryan tribes.

It does not seem possible to assert in the case of a single one of the present Rajput clans that any substantial evidence is forthcoming in favour of their descent from the Aryan Kshatriyas, and as regards most of the clans there are strong arguments against such a hypothesis.

Nevertheless the Rajputs have succeeded to the status of the Kshatriyas, and an alternative name for them, Chhatri, is a corruption of the latter word.

They are commonly identified with the second of the four classical castes, but a Hindu law-book gives Rajaputra as the offspring of a Kshatriya father and a mother of the Karan or writer caste.

[45] This genealogy is absurd, but may imply the opinion that the Rajputs were not the same as the Aryan Kshatriyas.