Originally posted by: abhi_arshilover
Thank u so much. But, what is jowhar?
Jauhar and Saka refer
to the ancient Indian Rajput Hindu tradition of honorary
self-immolation of women and subsequent march of men to the battlefield
(against any odds) to end their life with respect. It was followed by
the Rajput clans in order to avoid capture and dishonour at the hands of muslim invaders.
Jauhar
(also spelled jowhar) was originally the voluntary death on a funeral
of the queens and female royals of Rajput kingdoms defeated by Muslim
rulers. The term is extended to describe the occasional practice of mass suicide carried out in medieval times by Rajput women and men. Mass self-immolation by women was called jauhar.
This was usually done before or at the same time their husbands,
brothers, fathers and sons rode out in a charge to meet their attackers
and certain death. The upset caused by the knowledge that their women
and younger children were dead, no doubt filled them with rage in this
fight to the death called saka.
- PRACTICE:- Jauhar
is often described in terms of the women and children alone, but should
correctly be understood as including the death of the men on the
battlefield. Jauhar and saka involved:-
A defending Hindu army being besieged inside a fortification by an invading Iranic or Muslim enemy army.- The realization by the defenders that defeat was both imminent and inescapable.
- The realization by the defenders that the enemy army would capture women and children.
- The immolation, en masse, of women and young children to avoid dishonour of being captured by the invading army;
- The men of the besieged army riding out to a certain death on the battlefield. It
was considered proper for the men to fight to the last breath when
defeat became certain in a war but jauhar was committed to avoid capture
and dishonour of royal women. When defeat at the hands of a more
powerful enemy was imminent, the women, dressed in wedding finery,
immolated themselves, then the men, bearing Kesariya Bana (saffron
coloured dress), attacked the enemy. For men who had been raised their
whole life as warriors, nothing was considered more honourable for the
Rajput male than to fight and die on the battlefield. Though they might
occur at different times jauhar and saka were always performed
together. Despite occasional confusion, this practice is not related to sati.
While both practices have been most common historically in the
territory of modern Rajasthan, sati was a custom performed by widowed
women only, while jauhar and saka were committed while both the partners
were living and only at a time of war. The practice of jauhar by the
royal women may have led to rise of social practices like sati in the ensuing centuries where woman were forced to die on their husband's funeral pyre.
- OCCURENCE:- Jauhar and Saka were limited to the Hindu Kshatriya caste Rajputs who formed the nobility and ruling classes and castes ofRajasthan and northern India. There is extensive glorification of the practice in the local ballads and folk-histories of Rajasthan.There are many instances of jauhar (and saka), but these are not well recorded. Maharani Samyukta, wife of Prithviraj Chauhan the last Hindu king
to rule Delhi, along with her ladies committed jauhar rather than
surrendering to the Afghan invaders. King Vijaipal's wife may have
committed jauhar at the fort of Bayana, but this is based on ambiguous information from the fort of Timan Garh, now in the Karauli district of Rajasthan. The women-folk of the family of Silhadi, the military power-broker committed Jauhar led by his queen who was the daughter of Mewar's King Rana Sanga.There are a number of other instances of jauhar on record, especially in the Khilji and Tughlaq times. Jauhar was committed during the Tughlaq campaign against the state of Kampili in the Raichur Doab and the siege of Anegondi - later to be famous as Vijayanagar.
Searching for other instances of jauhar would help us to understand
whether Jauhar was a Rajput prerogative or was practiced by other
military peoples as well. The jauhar at Anegondi may have been committed
only by a particular Rajput contingent in the fort, as after the
battle, the besiegers took many prisoners from amongst the Rajput ruling
and fighting classes and sent them to Delhi.The best known cases of
Jauhar are the three occurrences at the fort of Chittaur (Chittaurgarh, Chittorgarh), in Rajasthan, in 1303 AD, 1535 AD, and in 1568 AD. Jaisalmer has witnessed two occurrences of Jauhar, one in the year 1294 AD during the reign of Alauddin Khilji and second in the year 14 AD during the reign of Ferozshah Tuglaq. Another occurrence was in Chanderi.
- JAUHAR of JAISALMER:- Bhatnair, Tanot and Jaisalmer,
capitals of Bhati Rajputs witnessed the scene of Jauhar thrice, the
last time men did not have enough time to build the pyre and hence slit
the throats of Women and hence it is considered half Jauhar.[3] In
the time of Maharawal Jait Singh, Alauddin Khilji besieged the fort of
Jaisalmer and after 7 months, the women committed Jauhar. Jaisalmer paid
a huge price for saving the family of Pratihar King of Mandore after
Khilji attacked Mandore.
- FIRST JAUHAR of CHITTOR:- In 1303 AD, Ala-ud-din Khilji, the Muslim Sultan of Delhi besieged Chittor fort, which was under the control of Rana Rawal Ratan Singh. The Rana allowed Khilji one glimpse of his wife, Rani Padmini,
in a mirror, before he was at the gates and held hostage for Padmini.
Padmini sent misleading information that she would join Ala-ud-din, but
she was to come with 700 women as befitted her status. The Rajputs were
thus able to infiltrate about 2000 men into Ala-ud-din's camp. Each Palaqi Palanquin contained two Rajput soldiers and four men to lift it. Gora and Badal were
leading this team. Ala-ud-din allowed Padmini one final meeting with
her husband, which allowed the Rajputs to whisk Ratan Singh out from
under the Khilji king's nose. Beaten, Ala-ud-din returned to Delhi, only
to come back better equipped early the next year. The Rajput defence
failed as a result of this second attack and, to a man, perished on the
battlefield while their womenfolk, led by Maharani Padmini, performed
Jauhar.The siege of Chittor, its brave defence by the Guhilas, the saga
of Rani Padmini and
the Jauhar she led are legendary. This incident has had a defining
impact upon the Rajput character and is detailed in a succeeding
section.
- SECOND JAUHAR of CHITTOR:- Rana Sanga died in 1528 AD after the Battle of Khanua. Shortly afterwards, Mewar and Chittor came under the regency of his widow,Rani Karnavati. The kingdom was menaced by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat,
who besieged Chittorgarh. Without relief from other forces and facing
defeat, the Rani committed Jauhar with other women on March 8, 1535 A.D.
while the Rajput army sallied out to meet the besieging Muslim army and
committed saka.According to one legend of dubious veracity, Karnavati
importuned the assistance of Humayun the son of Babur, her late husband's foe, by sending him a Rakhi and
a request for his help as a brother. The help arrived too late. This is
the occasion for the second of the three Jauhars performed at Chittor.
- THIRD JAUHAR of CHITTOR:- Emperor Akbar besieged the fort of Chittor in September 1567. Changing the strategy,Rana Udai Singh II, his sons and the royal women, using secret routes, escaped soon after the siege began. The fort was left under Jaimal Rathore and Patta Sisodiya's
command. One morning Akbar found Jaimal inspecting repairs to the fort
which had been damaged by explosives, and killed him. That same day the
Rajputs realized that defeat was certain. The Rajput women committed
Jauhar in the night of February 22, 1568 AD, and the next morning, the
Rajput men committed saka. (Abul Faz'l has given a true account of the event as seen by Akbar in his biography in 1568 AD.)
- JAUHAR of GWALIOR and RAISEEN:- Salivahan Purabiya, a Tomar king, was a close confidante of Maharana Sanga and
related to him by marriage. He treacherously deviated to Babur and this
resulted in the loss of Rajput confederacy against Babur at the
battlefields of Khanwa. Later Babur forced him to surrender as well, but
his brother Lakshman singh and ladies of the house which included a
daughter of Rana Sanga refused the order and self immolated themselves. A few members of royal family were smuggled out and given shelter at Mewar.
- PHOTO:-
The Burning of the Rajput women, during the siege of Chitor:-
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