The kshatriyas were
the second most powerful of the four main social groupings in ancient Hindu
social philosophy (varnas).
The kshatriyas' role was to rule, defend, and maintain
social order in order for the other varnas to carry out their duties.
This picture is represented in the Purusha Sukta, a creation
narrative.
The kshatriyas are said to have been produced from the
shoulders of the Primeval Man and are associated with strength and power.
In actuality, the kshatriya varna may have been the most
permeable of all, since anybody with the authority to govern was sometimes
granted de facto kshatriya rank, which could be maintained in subsequent
generations by a fictional genealogy.
The Rajputs (“king's sons”), who governed wide swaths of northern and western India at various periods, but whose roots are hazy and ambiguous, are perhaps the clearest illustration of this phenomenon.
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