Social hierarchy

Rajputs supported Brahmins as scholars and priests. However, Rajputs had their own family priests, known as the Purohits. Some scions of noble Rajput families would officiate themselves as priests in their Hindu temples.The Bargujar and Gaur Brahmins(the highest catogory of Brahmins), were considered equal in status ,and have common roots, as per Ibbetson. Other example, the Sisodia kings of Mewar considered themselves as the regents of the Eklingji, a manifestation of Shiva, and serve as the high priest of the deity as well as ruler of the state. Rajput is a name employed in two ways: to indicate members of the Ksatriya (warrior) Hindu caste; ; to denote particularly inhabitants of Rajputana (roughly corresponding to the Indian province of Rajasthan). From the 7th to the 12th centuries Rajput chiefs ruled much of northern and western India until they were subdued by Muslim invaders c. ad 1200. Under the Mughals a modus vivendi was struck and many Hindu Rajputs served in the Mughal army. Rajputs were recruited to the East India Company's sepoy forces as infantry and cavalry from an early period and Rajputs (and Brahmins) from Bihar and Oudh, because of their fine physique, became the principal recruits sought by the Bengal army prior to the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Many were also recruited by the Bombay army. After the mutiny the emphasis shifted away from these traditional sources of recruits towards the Punjab but Rajputs were still recruited, especially those from the Himalayan region, notably the Garhwal, Kumaon, and Dogra hills. The hillmen usually found their way into the 17th Dogra Regiment, the 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles, the 19th Hyderabad (Kumaon) Regiment, and into Dogra companies in Punjabi regiments. Rajputs from Rajasthan usually entered the 6th Rajputana Regiment (which included battalions from the old Bombay army) and the 7th Rajput Regiment (which also recruited in the traditional areas of Bihar and Oudh and which embraced the debris of many of the regiments of the old Bengal army). Recruitment was conducted with great care: the Dogra recruitment handbook lists 420 subdivisions of Rajputs suitable for recruitment ranked in four grades. Many Rajputs also served in the armies of princely states; cavalrymen from these forces served with the British and Indian army forces in many campaigns, especially during the two world wars.