It cannot be said that the Rajput is content to shine in the reflected glory of the past. In ancient times he devoted his life to making epic history, and in these days this serves him for an ever-present tradition from which he will draw the necessary material to add another volume to that history. Let him dream of the past achievements of his race, his ancient glory in war; let him sing the songs that he has made, and shake off the sloth of peace, and so rush into battle; for out of such dreams and stirring songs springs all human greatness.
There is no questioning the bravery and stamina of the Rajput. Under a good commander who knows how to appeal to him, the Rajput will face death in any grim form. He has a spirit so fierce and dauntless that naturally it is tinctured with the changing tides of strong emotion, which at times may have its drawbacks; but he is, even more than the Gurkha, a soldier fit for a special task; indeed, his dash and heroism are so remarkable that even the Gurkha will sometimes claim to be directly descended from the Rajput.
There is no history to record of the Rajput as a race, for each Rajput state and clan--and there are a large number of them--has its own history. Roughly, they may be described as more or less pure-blooded, modern Hindu (Brahminical) representatives of the early Aryan emigrants into India.
... "The mild Hindu Of far-off Rajputana, (Who) smiles to think how very few Will ever reach Nirvana,"
is not the Rajput. It is a mistake to suppose that the Rajputs are the inhabitants of the province bearing their name. They form but a small part of the population of that province, nor are they by any means restricted to it, being found in large numbers from the Indus to Benares. A large section of the Rajputs of the Punjab, having been converted to Mahomedanism, have thereby lost their distinctive character of Rajputs, who, retaining the religion of their forefathers, are essentially Hindu. And among them are seers and philosophers of the highest degree--men whose feet Nietzsche and Treitschke are not worthy to kiss. And in the Rajput's championship of the higher things he is instinct with the wisdom of India, who sends him westward; India, who through the mouth of her sublimest poet says, from a platform undreamed of by the Teutonic philosopher,