There are several major subdivisions of Rajputs, known as vansh or vamsha, the step below the super-division jāti[16] These vansh delineate claimed descent from various sources, and the Rajput are generally considered to be divided into three primary vansh:[17] Suryavanshi denotes descent from the solar deity Surya, Chandravanshi from the lunar deity Chandra, and Agnivanshi from the fire deity Agn
i.[18] The four prominent clans in the post-Gupta period - Chauhans, Paramaras, Pratiharas and Solankis — all claimed their mythological origin to have been from a sacrificial fire at Mount Abu.[5]
Lesser-noted vansh include Udayvanshi, Rajvanshi,[19] and Rishivanshi.[20] The histories of the various vanshs were later recorded in documents known as vamshāavalīis; André Wink counts these among the "status-legitimizing texts".[21]
Beneath the vansh division are smaller and smaller subdivisions: kul, shakh ("branch"), khamp or khanp ("twig"), and nak ("twig tip").[22] Marriages within a kul are generally disallowed (with some flexibility for kul-mates of different gotra lineages). The kul serves as primary identity for many of the Rajput clans, and each kul is protected by a family goddess, the kuldevi. Lindsey Harlan notes that in some cases, skakhs have become powerful enough to be functionally kuls in their own right.[23]
