Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word Rajput literally translates to son of a king, yet the majority of this vast community were never royalty. They were common agricultural laborers whose primary source of income was farming, not warfare. Modern scholars agree that almost all Rajput clans originated from semi-nomadic pastoralists of the Indian north and northwest.
The hereditary nature of the Rajput class was largely a fabrication that solidified between the 16th and 17th centuries. It was not until the consolidation of the Mughal Empire that the membership of the Rajput class became largely inherited rather than acquired through military achievements. This shift made hereditary prestige more important, leading to the fabrication of genealogies linking Rajput families to ancient dynasties.
The defeat of a Rajput coalition by Babur in the Battle of Khanwa in the early 16th century is considered a turning point in the history of North India. This event marked the end of independent Rajput dominance and occurred after the Rajput rulers at Gwalior and Kalinjar held off assaults by Mahmud. The battle took place in the early 16th century following the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan by Muhammad of Ghor.
Akbar accomplished 40 marriages for himself, his sons, and grandsons, out of which 17 were Rajput-Mughal alliances. His successors, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, were born from Rajput mothers, diffusing Rajput values into the imperial system. These alliances integrated Rajput leaders into the Mughal ruling elite through court appointments and matrimonial alliances.
In 1988, the total Rajput population was estimated at roughly 38 million, with 30 million being Hindus. Nearly 8 million were Muslims and slightly less than 200,000 were Sikhs. Today, Rajputs form 0.16% of Nepal's population, while in India, they comprise 35% of Uttarakhand's population and 28% of Himachal Pradesh's population.
The most famous case is that of Roop Kanwar, where 40,000 Rajputs gathered on the street of Jaipur in October 1987 to support her Sati. There have been several cases of Sati in Rajasthan from 1943 to 1987, with Rajput widows accounting for 19 cases. The act VIII of 1870 was introduced to curb the practice, but practical application faced hurdles, and the act was abolished in 1912.