Chāraṇ (plural Charans; Hindi:चारण; Gujarati:ચારણ) is the term for a caste living in the Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. Members of this caste are highly revered for their unflinching readiness for martyrdom, bravery in war, high literary sense and deep loyalty to patrons.Ain-e-akbari states that Charans were good poets and better soldiers .The caste is also identified with the surnames “Adha”,”Gadan”, Kaviraj, Barhath and Gadhavi. Members of this caste are considered to be divine by a large section of society. Women of the caste are adored as mother goddesses by other major communities of this region including Rajput Kings The goddesses Karani, Bahuchra, Hinglaj (whose main temple is now in Baluchistan), Khodiyar and Sonal are well-known examples of it. This is one of the reasons that Charan men are often addressed as Deviputra, which literally means “son of goddess”. In the medieval era, it was considered a matter of prestige and pride for a king to have a Charan in his court.

Rajput (Hindi: राजपूत) is a member of one of the major groups of the Hindu Kshatriya varna (social order) in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India. They enjoy a reputation as soldiers; many of them serve in the Indian Armed Forces. During the British Raj, the Government accepted them and recruited many (primarily non-aristocratic) Rajputs into their armies. Current-day Rajasthan is home to most of the Rajputs, although demographically the Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found spread through much the subcontinent, particularly in North India and central India. Populations are found in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
There is no mention of the term Rajput in the historical record as pertaining to a social group prior to the 6th century AD. Rajputs rose to prominence during the 6th to 12th centuries, and until the 20th century Rajputs ruled in the “overwhelming majority” of the princely states of Rajasthan and Saurashtra, where the largest number of princely states were found. They are divided into three major lineages. The four Agnivanshi clans, namely the Pratiharas (Pariharas), Solankis (Chaulukyas), Paramaras (Parmars) and Chauhans (Chahamanas), rose to prominence first.