Early Rigvedic tribal monarchy The administrative machinery in Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called a Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary. The king may have been elected in a tribal assembly (called a Samiti), which included women.
Later Vedic period The hymn
Purusha Sukta in the
Rigveda describes the symbolic creation of the four varnas through cosmic sacrifice (yajña). Some scholars consider the
Purusha Sukta to be a late interpolation into the
Rigveda based on the neological character of the composition, as compared to the more archaic style of the Vedic literature. Since not all Indians were fully regulated under varna paradigm in Vedic society, the
Purusha Sukta was supposedly composed to secure Vedic sanction for the hereditary caste scheme. Although the
Purusha Sukta uses the term
rajanya, not
Kshatriya, it is considered the first instance in the extant Vedic texts where four social classes are mentioned for the first time together. Usage of the term
Rajanya possibly indicates the 'kinsmen of the Rajan' (i.e., kinsmen of the ruler) had emerged as a distinct social group then, Jaiswal points out the term
Brahman rarely occurs in the
Rigveda with the exception of the
Purusha Sukta and may not have been used for the priestly class. Some examples were the
Andhaka and
Vrsni Rajanyas who followed the system of elected rulers. The term
kshatriya comes from
kshatra and implies temporal authority and power which was based less on being a successful leader in battle and more on the tangible power of laying claim to sovereignty over a territory, and symbolising ownership over clan lands. This later gave rise to the idea of kingship. In the period of the
Brahmanas (800 BCE to 700 BCE) there was ambiguity in the position of the varna. In the
Panchavimsha Brahmana (13,4,7), the Rajanya are placed first, followed by Brahmana then Vaishya. In
Shatapatha Brahmana 13.8.3.11, the Rajanya are placed second. In
Shatapatha Brahmana 1.1.4.12 the order is—Brahmana, Vaishya, Rajanya, Shudra. The order of the Brahmanical tradition—Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—became fixed from the time of
dharmasutras (450 BCE to 100 BCE). The kshatriya were often considered pre-eminent in Buddhist circles. Even among Hindu societies they were sometimes at rivalry with the Brahmins, but they generally acknowledged the superiority of the priestly class. In the kingdoms of the Mahajanapadas, the king claimed kshatriya status through the Vedic religion. While kings claimed to be kshatriya, some kings came from non-kshatriya origins. After the Mahajanapada period, most of the prominent royal dynasties in northern
India were not kshatriyas. The
Nanda Empire, whose rulers were stated to be shudras, destroyed many kshatriya lineages.
Post-Mauryan Kshatriyas After the collapse of the
Maurya Empire, numerous clan-based polities in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan claimed kshatriya status. The
Shakas and
Yavanas were considered to be low-status kshatriyas by Brahmin authors. In the third to fourth centuries CE, kingdoms in the
Krishna and
Godavari rivers claimed kshatriya status and performed
Vedic rituals to legitimate themselves as rulers. During his visit to India in the 7th century,
Hieun Tsang noted that
kshatriya rulers were ruling the kingdoms like Kabul, Kosala, Bhillamala, Maharashtra and Vallabhi.
Emergence of "Puranic" Kshatriyas In the era from 300 to 700 CE, new royal dynasties were bestowed kshatriya status by Brahmins by linking them to the kshatriyas of the epics and Puranas. Dynasties began affiliating themselves with the
Solar and
Lunar dynasties and this gave them legitimation as rulers. In return the newly christened kshatriyas would patronize and reward the Brahmins. The Sanskritic culture of the kshatriyas of this period was heavily influential for later periods and set the style that kshatriyas of later periods appealed to. This process took place both in North India and the Deccan.
Modern era Writing in the context of how the
jajmani system operated in the 1960s, Pauline Kolenda noted that the "caste function of the Kshatriya is to lead and protect the village, and with conquest to manage their conquered lands. The Kshatriyas do perform these functions today to the extent possible, by distributing food as payments to
kamins and providing leadership." ==Symbols==