Provenance

  • Before the muslim invasion, the kShatriya varNa was widespread - even in south India.
  • vIra ballALa the hoysala, famously told malik kafur that he is willing to give up everything except his sacred thread.
  • chulavamsha clearly describes the buddhist sinhalese king parAkrama bAhu of lanka undergoing upanayanam (MT, GB).
  • the kadamba-s of karNATaka were famously brAhmaNa-s converted to kShatriya-s.
  • Many dynasties of India, including south Indian ones such as chAlukya, pANDya and choLa kings conducted vedic yAga-s allowed for kShatriya-s such as rAjasUya and ashvamedha.
    • Some images, supposedly of these kings, show a yajJNOpavIta (NVP_F, IMG), while others don’t (simhaviShNu-pallava IMG, IMG2).
  • It is quite possible that the vijayanagara kings were not invested with the yajnopavIta - they’re not known to have performed the vedic sacrifices. (This despite their great scholarship in sanskrit, patronage of temples etc..)
  • Names ending with “varma” try to claim ceremonial (not just de-facto) kShatriya status - that suffix is prescribed by the dharmashAstra-s for kShatriya-s. mArtANDa-varma, narasimhavarma pallava etc..