118 
Oy THE ORIGIN^AL IXHABITAXTS 
Vahni, fire. Agiii, the god of fire, is connected with the 
regal office, as kings hold in their hands the firewheel or 
Agneijacalcra, and the Vanniyar urge in support of their 
name the regal descent they claim, for they contend that the 
Pandya kings belonged to their race. In the north of India 
four races — the Caulidn, Cdluhya (Solanki), Praindra, and 
Parihara — similarly claim to originate from Agni, and are 
called Agnikulas. 
The existence of these Fire-races, Agnikula or VaJuu'k'i.h 
(Vanniyan), in North and South India is a remarkable fact. 
No one can refuse to a scion of a Non- Aryan wanior tribe the 
title of Rdjaputra, but in so doing we establish at once Aiyan 
and Non-Ai-yan Rajaputras or Rajputs. The Vanniyan of 
South India may be accepted as a representative of the Xon- 
Aryan Rajput element. Yet, if we thus admit a Turanian 
element among the Rajputs, the question arises, how far does 
it extend ? The modern Rajputs of Northern India are in 
most cases the offspring of mixed parentage, for even Aryan 
warriors of pure extraction did not scorn in bye-gone times 
to take as wives by peaceful or violent means the alien 
daughters of the soil.^^ 
The legend goes that after Parasurama had swept the 
Ksatriya race from the surface of the earth, ignorance and 
infidelity began to spread again in the land, and the Brah- 
mans were prevented by impious races — Asui-as, Daityas, 
and Danavas— fi'om fulfilling their sacred rites. Vasistha, ot 
according to others his great rival Visvdmitra, took compas- 
sion on the oppressed, and with Indra, Brahma, Siva, Yisnu 
and the other gods repaired to the Agnikunda, /.c, the hollow 
which contained the consecrated fire, on Mount Ahu, the 
celebrated peak of Rajasthau. There the hermits pi'ayed 
and purified the fire fountain with the sacred water of the 
Granges. Indra first formed a figiu'e of grass and sprinkling on 
Gomparo p. 73 ou the geueiilogies of the Rajputs. 
