Agnikula legend
Also called: Agnivanshi Rajputs · Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Agnikula ('fire-family') legend is a story about where some Rajput clans came from. It says four clans were born from a sacrificial fire pit on Mount Abu in Rajasthan. The four clans are the Pratiharas, Chaulukyas (Solankis), Paramaras and Chahamanas (Chauhans). Historians treat it as a later myth. It gave these new ruling families a noble, Kshatriya (warrior-caste) origin.
Example
The best-known telling comes from the Prithviraj Raso, a later poem in praise of Prithviraja III. Its author is believed to be the court poet Chand Bardai. In the story, the sage Vasishtha lights a sacred fire at Mount Abu, and the four heroes rise out of it to fight demons.
Don't confuse with
- Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi: these are claims of descent from the Sun and Moon families of the epics. The Agnikula clans claimed to come from fire instead.
Related concepts
- Paramaras
- Raja Bhoja
- Bhojeshwar temple
- Bhojshala
- Samarangana Sutradhara
- Chandela dynasty
- Khajuraho group of monuments
- Kandariya Mahadeva temple
- Chaulukya dynasty
- Modhera Sun temple