We are all familiar with the medieval warriors in Europe. The knights are vary famous all around the world. They became symbolic for power and aristocracy.
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| Rajput Warrior |
However, many people know that they were not unbeatable. In number of occasions other armies would stop the knights and made them to retrieve. Unfortunately, we do not know that much about warriors which ruled big areas in today’s India and they are pretty much still there today – the Rajputs.
The the word “rajput” comes from “rajaputra” or “son of kings”. These people, according to the scientists, were not originally from India. It is said that they came from central Asia, from the tribes of Huns, Kushans etc. They invaded the north of India and ruled it for centuries before the Turks to come and invade their lands.
One of the first of the Rajput's kings was Akhnad Pratap Singh who came to Rajasthan and established Bathinda – among the oldest cities in India.
When they came to rule, the Rajput kings started to marry high caste girls. These marriages helped them to establish and to settle their power. In 9th century the empire of these people extended from lower Gang valley to Sind and from Himalayas to Narmada River. They built many castles as Mehrangarh Fort for example.
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| Mehrangarh Fort |
This tribe, however, was mostly popular because of its warrior's origins. They had a full body armour which had several layers. The first part, the one that was worn on the clothes was made of metal rings. On it, different protections were worn – one for the stomach and the chest, for the arms and the legs. The warriors had small shields and two main weapons – a straight sward and an urumi (a flexible metal blade). These men were very well trained in the art of fighting and were very mobile. This, added to the light armour and long urumi, gave them the chance to hit from a distance and therefore to win many battles.
At the moment there are several million Rajputs in India as they are mainly in the state of Rajasthan (which was named after them).
