Savitriputra is the name of an ancient Hindu community, whose origin is traced to Savitri, daughter of King Aswapati of the Madra country and wife of the Salva prince, Satyavan. Savitri Putras, or sons of Savitri, were 100 in number.
Panini has referred to about thirty ayudha jivi sanghas (tribes living by the profession of arms) under the three groups of Damnyadi, Parsavadi and Yaudheyadi. The Savitri Putras figure in the Damnyadi group.
The story of Satyavan and Savitri is given in detail in the Mahabharata, Devi Bhagavata, Matsya, Vishnudharmottara and Brahmavaivarta Puranas.
Being issueless for long period, King Aswapati of Madra Desha undertook an eighteen-year-long Savitri Vrata (an austerity resolve), at the end of which Goddess Savitri pleased with his austerities, gave him the boon of a virtuous daughter who would bear Her name.
When eighteen, Savitri chose Satyavan, the son of the banished and blind Salva king Dyumatsena, as her bridegroom, even after knowing through Sage Narada’s forecast that he would die just after one year. When Yama, the God of death, appeared and snatched away Satyavan’s atma, Savitri pursued him. Pleased by her devotion and steadfastness, Yama granted her three boons – a hundred brothers, restoration of sight and kingdom of her father-in-law and a hundred sons to herself. The last boon required Satyavan be brought back to life. Caught in a trap as it were, Yama had to give up the atma of Satyavan.
The hundreds son of Savitri is known as Savitri Putras.