Palace of Clouds

by Rajyashree Kumari Bikaner

  I was born into a Rajput family that hails from the former princely state of Bikaner, which was founded by my ancestor, Rao Bika, in 1488. We belong to the Rathore clan. Bikaner is situated in the north-west of India, in the present state of Rajasthan. No story of my life could be considered complete without first mentioning my ancestors; it is their history and achievements that set the foundations and make me the person I am. My historical inheritance is fabulously rich and the glories achieved by the Maharajas of Bikaner in various battles fought in medieval India continue to shine even today.

  My family is descended from the Kshatriyas who are historically regarded as the warrior class. To understand this more fully one needs to revert to the Hindu caste system, which, unfortunately, has been prevalent since ancient times. Hindu society is grouped according to Brahiminical texts under four main caste categories. At the very pinnacle are the Brahmins or the scholars and the priestly order, who undertake the study of all religious texts, carry out various rituals, and without whom social customs such as marriages, festivals or religious celebrations cannot be conducted. They are indispensable even in death, as they conduct the last rites for all Hindus.

  Then there are the Kshatriyas, or the martial class who are supposed to participate in warfare and were historically the warriors and administrators. The vast majority of Indian princes of the pre-Independence period before 1947 belonged to this group. In a translation by Juan Mascaro of the Bhagvad Gita (‘The Divine Song’ or the holy book of Hinduism), verse 43 describes the role of a Kshatriya thus: ‘these are the works of a Kshatriya—a heroic mind, inner fire, constancy, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and noble leadership’.

  Next in line are the traders, the Vaishyas—historically the business community; and lastly, the Shudras or the artisans. Those who were excluded from the caste system were considered the untouchables, or those who in earlier times performed the more menial tasks in society, those that the higher castes felt were beneath their dignity to perform. They were generally those who were the night soil bearers and those who cleaned and worked in tanneries and other such professions, which were considered unsavoury and traditionally viewed as the lowest in the social order.

  In past generations, family members continued in the same profession as their forefathers—however, during the British rule, these rigidities were relaxed and it was now possible to get their classification altered according to their change of profession. Post Independence, the caste system diluted to a great extent; however, it still exists insidiously. On reading the matrimonial columns in the Indian newspapers every weekend, it will become apparent to the reader that grooms and brides being sought even today are strictly according to their caste or religion. Since 1950, India has enacted and implemented many laws to protect and improve the socio-economic lives of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and in a report in 2003 it revealed that inter-caste marriages are on the rise in urban India, which is a heartening fact. The Government of India ensures a strict quota system in virtually all departments so that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribal community are afforded equal opportunities in employment, positions in colleges, hospitals, Government posts and many other fields.

  The Rajputs are a martial race and fall under the bracket of ‘Kshatriyas’or martial race under the ‘Varna’ or social order of India. The Sanskrit name, ‘Raj Putra’, literally means the son of Kings. The origins of the Rajputs have been a matter of debate. It is considered that the various invaders in India spanning from the Greeks to the Huns in the sixth century led to their integration with the population of northern India, and it is more than likely that the Aryan Rajputs are the descendants of such unions. They rose to prominence in the sixth century and most of the kingdoms of north and central India were under their domain. The Rajputs are a patrilineal clan, taking their ancestry from their male ancestors and are mainly divided into three groups or ‘Vansh’—the ‘Suryavanshis’, who claim their descent from the Sun; the ‘Chandravanshis’, who claim their descent from the moon; and then there are the ‘Agnivanshis’ who claim that they are descended from the fire deity, ‘Agni’.

  There are more than thirty-six clans of Rajputs, divided further into sub-groups, and over the centuries there has been much infighting among the various clans, resulting in a direct destabilisation of their kingdoms. This often permitted invaders, such as the Mughals, to get a firm foothold in India. The Mughals themselves appreciated and respected the valour and principles of the Rajputs and more often than not, made them their trusted allies. The Rajputs rose to prominence in the Mughal courts and went on to become able administrators and generals in their armies, the principal ones being Raja Man Singh of Amber and my ancestor, Raja Rai Singh of Bikaner, the sixth Maharaja of Bikaner, during the time of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. This tradition continued till the reign of Aurangzeb.

  During the period of the Raj, the British in India created specific designations for the various castes and clans that existed in India at the time. The Rajputs were classified under the ‘martial clan’, thus recognising that they were fit for fighting; and others as ‘non-martial’ or unfit for fighting. The British, like the Mughals before them, befriended the various Rajput Maharajas and Rajas and struck agreements and treaties with them, which made them allies and friends and helped a great deal in the peaceful British governance of India. Maharaja Surat Singh, the seventeenth Maharaja of Bikaner, was the first among my ancestors to strike a treaty with the British.

  The romance and chivalry of the valorous Rajputs have over the centuries, inspired many poets, bards and authors to write of their heroic deeds, which have enshrined them deeply into the romance and history of this mighty country. Many Rajputs have risen to positions of prominence in recent times, such as my great uncle, Maharaj Dr. Nagendra Singh of Dungarpur, who was a respected judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague; the first Rajput and lady President of India, Shirmati Pratibha Patil; Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Vice President of India; and the young Maharaja of Alwar, Jitendra Singh, who was a minister in the former Congress Government when Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.

  While Rajput men were formidable and adventurous, the women folk did not lag far behind! They were equally feisty, brave and honourable. Legends abound all over Rajasthan of the valorous and self-sacrificing acts of these amazing women. Every Rajput child knows the popular legend of Hadi Rani, a very beautiful woman whose husband was undoubtedly in love with her. On one occasion, he was called away to battle but during the course of the fight he was distracted, his mind continuously returning home to his lovely wife. When she was informed of this situation she is said to have taken a sword and cut off her own hand and sent it with a message to her husband, ‘Keep your mind on what you are facing, if not, the next gift I will send you is my head.’

  Then there is the episode of the unbelievable bravery of the women of Mewar when their Fort at Chittor was besieged by Alauddin Khilji. Knowing full well that the situation was absolutely hopeless, all the Rajput men wore saffron turbans and went out fighting to their death, while the women, to protect their honour from the hands of the enemy, lit a large fire and committed ‘johar’ or mass self immolation. Every State, ‘Thikana’ and Rajput household has some tale to recount about their female ancestors. However, there was also a dark side to the life of these women, as they coped with practices ranging from female infanticide, child marriages and of course the practise of ‘Sati’, where in medieval times the widow either willingly or forcibly, immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband.

  Rajput women—both past and present—whether they came from aristocratic backgrounds or more ordinary ones, essentially faced similar problems in their lives. Birth was the first and biggest hurdle; whether the female child survived or not largely depended on her father, his financial and social status and general mindset. Female infanticide was rife in medieval times and regrettably, still continues to some extent, in many parts of no
rth-west Rajasthan even today. Particularly in areas around Jaiselmer and Barmer, it was a well-known fact that the birth of a girl was considered a great misfortune and rather than being burdened with her care and dowry later in life, it was thought best to extinguish her life at birth. The normal practise was to administer an overdose of opium to the female infant or even more shocking, put her in an earthenware pot and bury her alive. Besides the elements of ignorance and illiteracy there was another underlying reason for this barbaric act. Much was expected from the parents of the girl at the time of marriage. The curse of ‘Tyag’ or the dowry system was the main reason for this; more often than not then, for all practical purposes, a girl child born in a financially secure family stood a better chance of facing this first challenge than those unfortunately born in poorer families.

  It was a custom in the Rajput community, that the parents had to incur substantial expense during the marriages of their daughters—they had to offer expensive gifts, such as jewellery, clothes and if financially possible, to also gift animals such as horses and cows and in the case of princely families even elephants, as dowry to the groom’s family. To meet this heavy expenditure they had to borrow money, which they could not repay to their creditors for the rest of their lives. Not to spend heavily on the occasion of their daughter’s marriage would mean that they would face social ostracism and as a result lose face in their community. Interestingly enough, a person I met recently told me that in the villages of Rajasthan even today, Rajputs are born in debt, live their entire lives paying of their loans and eventually die in debt, though strictly speaking this is not because of their daughters or their marriages alone.

  Eventually, in Bikaner, it was my ancestor Maharaja Ratan Singh, the eighteenth Maharaja of Bikaner, who was enlightened enough to put an end to the practise of lavish dowries in his state. In 1844, the British Government sent the Maharaja a ‘kharita’ or proclamation asking him to stop the practise of excessive expenditure at the time of marriage. Following that, the Maharaja passed a law according to which the nobles were encouraged to spend only as per their financial ability and not beyond that. Later, the Maharaja together with several hundred followers, set off on a pilgrimage to Gaya and it was there that he made the nobles of his court take a solemn vow never to kill their infant daughters and warned them that should they do so, they would face confiscation of their Jagirs or estates. It was a very progressive and radical reform, judging by the times that he lived in. It seems that Maharaja Ratan Singh was the first Indian ruler to introduce and take effective measures to suppress the twin evils of excessive dowries and female infanticide in his state.

  To give an example of some royal trousseaus in the past in our family, Princess Gulab Kanwar, daughter of Maharaja Ratan Singh of Bikaner was married to Maharana Sardar Singhji of Udaipur in 1840. Old records indicate that the dowry given to her included elephants, horses, palanquins, chariots, beds made of silver and gold, jewellery and ornaments of precious stones, poshaks or traditional clothes made with real gold and silver thread and even the Charans or bards accompanying the Maharana were gifted an elephant each.

  More recently, upon the occasion of the wedding of my bhua or paternal aunt, Princess Sushil Kanwar with Maharaj Kumar Bhagwat Singhji of Udaipur in 1940, my great grandfather Maharaja Ganga Singhji who absolutely adored his granddaughter (she also happened to be the first among his grandchildren to get married), showered her with a lavish trousseau. Records show that besides much jewellery, she was given a ‘bajot’ or a square stool weighing some 2,000 tolas (approximately2 kg)of gold, a ‘thal’ or large tray made of a further 2 kg of solid gold, gold gulabdanis or rosewater sprinklers and four ornate bed legs made up of four tolas or some forty-seven grams of gold each, besides many other objects made of silver and precious metals to include a ‘chopar’ (Indian board game) set in which the pieces were made of solid silver.

  Fortunately in our case, my father was a very enlightened man and one of the few Rajput princes who actually wanted a daughter and was absolutely delighted at my birth. He gave my sister and me exactly the same opportunities, education and exposure as he did to our brother. We were indeed the fortunate few.

  Historically, matrimonial alliances had great political and diplomatic significance in Rajasthan. To stabilise, defend and to strengthen their regimes, shrewd rulers used matrimonial relations with their contemporaries to buy peace and gain influence or allies during times of war and peace. Unfortunately, the Rajput women here became mere pawns in most of these alliances, irrespective of their personal feelings, which were rarely—if ever—taken into consideration. In some cases, young girls were married off to men much older than themselves. Once married, they were ushered into the Zenana Mahal (female quarters) in their husband’s home and their prime duty was to fit into their husband’s family as best as they could and produce as many male children as quickly as possible.

  The wings of the forts and palaces of Rajasthan where the royal ladies lived are known by various names such as Zenana Mahal, Raniwas and Rawla. The rulers had several wives who lived in various palaces specially built for their accommodation. Women of varying status lived in the Zenana palaces such as Ranis, Rajmatas, Rajkumaris—the wives, mother and daughters of the Maharaja—all of whom were looked after by their sizable retinues of staff. Certain cash grants known as ‘Jagirs’ was earmarked for such purposes so as to finance the security, expenditure and general administration of the Zenana palaces and attendants. The person in charge of the security of the Zenana was known as a ‘Daroga’ who was normally a man of noble lineage and one who enjoyed the full confidence of the Maharaja. Each of the royal ladies had a special official called ‘kamdar’ or accountant at their disposal. He was in-charge of their financial affairs. The royal ladies communicated with their respective kamdars through their maid-servants. In fact, looking after the Zenana meant providing employment for many hundreds of people. In Bikaner, there are records of various female ancestors using their cash grants towards religious and philanthropic purposes—they built temples and contributed towards the digging of wells and sponsored the marriages of poor Rajput girls.

  The ‘purdah’ system, whereby the women members of the family remained within the Zenana area of the house and only immediate male family members were permitted direct access to them, became prevalent in north India with the coming of the Muslim invaders. This was, strictly speaking, observed in most Rajput households for many centuries. It prevailed in Bikaner till the time of my paternal grandmother Rajmata Sudarshan Kumari, who was a Princess of Rewa state in Madhya Pradesh. Though she was traditional in many ways, she had a very modern outlook on life and even drove her own car within Bikaner city, her only concession to purdah was to ensure that the windows of the car were tinted so she could have some privacy. Most evenings Dadisa, as my grandmother was referred to, used to drive down to her estate at the Vallabh Gardens. It was a beautiful lodge set within verdant gardens and surrounded by a snaking serpentine pond. Maharaja Sadul Singh, my grandfather, was really fond of this estate. He had seen a similar serpentine in Austria during his visit there and had it replicated both at Vallabh Gardens as well as in our country estate in Gajner. On the demise of my grandfather, my father gifted this beautiful property to his mother.

  As soon as Dadisa was ready to come downstairs from her first floor apartment in Laxmi Niwas, the sliding doors would close around the porch to give her privacy, letting her get into the car unobserved. On the few occasions that she travelled by train, a screen was put up at the station to allow her to board the train, out of the intrusive sight of strangers. My father maintained her standards of living exactly as they had been during the time of my grandfather. Though not formally educated, she was very well read and deeply interested in politics—which was unusual for a lady of her status at the time. A contemporary of Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, she played a key role in all my father’s election campaigns and her judgements were, as far as I have witnessed it, of great value to him.<
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  The word ‘Zenana’ derives from the Persian word ‘zan’ meaning woman. It is a complete fallacy to assume that just because it was an area inhabited by women, all was serene and harmonious within its precincts. The Zenana was not free of its own set of intrigues and power play, which were carried on fervently behind the discreet red sand stone screens where these women lived. Whenever the question of succession to the royal ‘gaddi’ (throne) arose, the ladies of the Zenana vociferously campaigned to nominate their own favourite as the future heir. The most desired title in the female royal household was that of the ‘Patrani’ or the chief queen, which was more or less the equivalent of the ‘The Great Royal Wife’ in ancient Egypt, where the Pharaohs, who also had many wives, concubines and slaves, chose one woman over the others to be their official consort on formal occasions and for ceremonial purposes. The Patrani was in an undisputed position to exercise a considerable measure of real power, which was not confined to the Zenana alone, but also extended its influence over the Maharaja and his court.

  It was not always just the wives, but very often the mother of the Maharaja who also played an active role in influencing the court. It is said that the mother of Maharaja Sardar Singhji the nineteenth Maharaja of Bikaner, had both a strong and calming influence over her son who was said to have had a formidable temper and was quick to hand out punishments, including the death penalty without the slightest hesitation. The Rajmata was the last port of call for the family members seeking clemency and it seems that she would threaten her son with an indefinite hunger strike if the person concerned was not pardoned immediately and more often than not, the Maharaja would bow before his mother’s wishes.

  Rani Chandrawat, the mother of my great grandfather Maharaja Ganga Singh, became a widow when her son was just seven years old. She was a formidable lady and exercised a strong influence over her son till the time that she died. Since Maharaja Ganga Singh was a minor, a Regency Council was appointed. It was his mother who insisted that the young Maharaja be sent to Mayo College in Ajmer so that he could have a well-rounded, modern education. From the records of the time, it appears that at some point the Regency Council demanded funds from the dowager Rani Chandrawat to cover various expenses concerning her minor son. She argued, quite logically, that these were her personal funds left to her by her late husband Maharaj Lall Singh, and that since her son was a Maharaja, his expenses should be borne by the state of Bikaner. It appears that when he came of age, Maharaja Ganga Singh returned to his mother all the funds that she had spent on his behalf during his minor years, with interest.