räjpoots [Sanskrit,=son of a king], dominant people of Rajputana, an historic region now almost coextensive with the state of Rajasthan, NW India. The Rajputs are mainly Hindus (although there are some Muslim Rajputs) of the warrior caste; traditionally they have put great value on etiquette and the military virtues and take great pride in their ancestry. Of these exogamous clans, the major ones were Rathor, Kachchwaha, Chauhan, and Sisodiya. Their power in Rajputana grew in the 7th cent., but by 1616 all the major clans had submitted to the Mughals. With the decline of Mughal power in the early 18th cent., the Rajputs expanded through most of the plains of central India, but by the early 19th cent. they had been driven back by the Marathas, Sikhs, and British. Under the British, many of the Rajput princes maintained independent states within Rajputana, but they were gradually deprived of power after India attained independence in 1947.

From Rajputana our family migrated to Kashmir from where in the second half of the 19th Century we moved to Kunjuh district Gujrat in Punjab. Most of the members of the family are/were civil servants.

Aftab and Nuzhat Rathore

• Aftab Iqbal Rathore : After schooling at Central Model School, joined Govt. College Lahore, from where he did his masters in Political Science in 1962. He followed this up with another masters in History from Punjab University Lahore after which he taught at FC College Lahore for some time and then in 1966 joined the Income Tax Dept. During his stay with the Income Tax Dept he attended Harvard where he read for his LLM in 1985. After working as D.G Inspection and member Audit CBR he retired in March 2000.

• Nuzhat Rathore : Did her schooling at Queen Mary College Lahore, where she was elected Miss Q.M.C in 1966. She read for her masters in Education at Home Economics College Lahore in 1972 and was elected headgirl in 1970. She is now a house wife with three children.

Maryam Haroon and Fahd Rathore