Rajputs are one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups from India. After the death of Harsha, northern India was completely disintegrated. This period was marked by the ascendancy of the Kshatriya clan, Rajputs. Several small kingdoms sprang up under the Rajputs. Those small provincial kingdoms were continuously at war with each other. This period has been conveniently termed as the Rajput period by the historians. Though the origin of the Rajputs had not yet been discovered, the historians have opined that there were several dynasties belonging to the Rajput house proper. The Pratiharas and the Chauhans rose in ascendancy in the Rajput Period. The Rajputs were the warrior clan and during this period they captured the whole of northern India under their supremacy. The victory in the Tripartite Struggle established the suzerainty of the Pratiharas in northern, India. However the Pratihara supremacy declined under the successors of Mahipala Pratihara. The Rajput power again revived under the Chauhans by Prithviraj Chauhan.

Origin of the Pratiharas - The Pratiharas were believed to be the descendant of the Gurjara tribe. Thus the Pratiharas were often identified as the Gurjara- Pratihara. However the Pratiharas claimed themselves of the solar origin. The Pratiharas came in the politics of northern India when the Gurjara kingdom was established by Harichandra.

Political History of the Pratiharas - The political history of the Pratiharas determined them as one of the important dynasty in ancient India. They consolidated major parts of northern India. Their victory in the Tripartite Struggle determined them as the supreme power in the northern India.