Kshatriya (Hindi: क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warriorhood. The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.

The administrative machinery in the Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called Rajan whose position was not hereditary. The king was elected in a tribal assembly (called Samiti) which included women. The Rajan protected the tribe and cattle; was assisted by a priest; and did not maintain a standing army, though in the later period the rulership appears to have risen as a class. The concept of the fourfold varna system is not yet recorded.

Writing in the context of how the jajmani system operated in the 1960s, Pauline Kolenda noted that the "caste function of the Kshatriya is to lead and protect the village, and with conquest to manage their conquered lands. The Kshatriyas do perform these functions today to the extent possible, by distributing food as payments to kamins and providing leadership."

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