Palace of Clouds

by Rajyashree Kumari Bikaner

  The word ‘Sati’ literally means immortal or truthful. In ancient times, the practise of sati was not so common, but it came into prominence in medieval Rajasthani culture. The very first thing that one passes on entering the Junagarh Fort is a section of a wall bearing the hand prints of my female ancestors, the Ranis and Maharanis of Bikaner who preferred to plunge into the funeral pyres of their dead husbands rather than live on as widows. On their way out from the Fort to the family cremation grounds at Devi Kund Sagar, their last act was to dip their hands in watered-down vermillion powder, and leave behind an imprint on the fort wall, which was later incised into the stone, leaving behind a poignant and permanent legacy. Even today ‘puja’ or religious rituals are performed here.

  In modern times, the concept of Sati is impossible to fathom. Therefore, it is important to view this in perspective of the times that these women lived in. They were brought up to believe that their only role in life was to be a dutiful wife and bear their husbands many sons, and when he died, so did all their reasons for existence. It must also be remembered that Rajputs at the time considered widows to be unlucky and did not treat them with a great deal of compassion. In many cases, the act of Sati was voluntary but like any practise it was also open to abuse, and in many cases in order to deny the widows their property rights, they were forced to perform Sati.

  From our state records, it appears that Maharaja Zorawar Singh, the thirteenth Maharaja of Bikaner, who died in 1746, had the largest number of women committing sati on his funeral pyre. In Colonel Powlett’s gazetteer of the Bikaner state, it is recorded that upon his death, his two queens and at least nineteen other ladies comprising his mistresses and ladies of similar description, many of their maid- servants and even some slave girls, all became Sati on his funeral pyre. The strange incident recorded here seems to have been that of a cook, a Mandlawat Rathore Rajput who was employed in the establishment of one of the mistresses who also chose to commit Sato, the male equivalent of Sati.

  The last incident of Sati in the Bikaner family concerned Maharaja Surat Singh’s daughter-in-law, a Sisodia Princess named Deep Kanwar from Udaipur, who was married to his second son, Maharaj Kumar Moti Singh. He died very young at the age of twenty-three and despite much dissuading by the Maharaja, her father-in-law and other members of the family, she committed Sati in 1825. At Devi Kund Sagar, the family cremation grounds of the Maharajas of Bikaner and their families, Maharaja Surat Singh built a large cenotaph in the memory of Princess Deep Kanwar. She has over the years come to be known as ‘Sati Mata’ in Bikaner and annually there is a ‘mela’ or fair that takes place there. Though I am normally sceptical about miracles, I must confess my surprise and astonishment when I visited Devi Kund Sagar recently, to see the water tank adjacent to it set ablaze with pink lotuses—there in the desert country, in the middle of nowhere. Though there are several such water tanks scattered around Bikaner, only here can one behold such a sight. Lord William Bentick played a vital role in outlawing Sati in India, and it was Maharaja Sardar Singh, the nineteenth Maharaja of Bikaner, who finally outlawed the practise in 1864 in his state.

  As I write this, there is grave controversy surrounding a Bollywood film based on the life of a queen of Mewar, it has caused deep distress not merely to her direct descendants but to the entire community as well. These ladies happen to be our ancestors and quite frankly, we revere their memory and heroism, to see them depicted as dancing and singing in a movie is not surprisingly abhorrent to us. It might have been a prudent move on the part of those making the film to have first consulted the historians and direct descendants of the person being depicted to give a true and proper historic perspective to the facts they are trying to represent. Distorting historic facts only leads to deeply felt anger and hurts ferverently held sentiments.

  Realising the importance of educating Rajput women, my great grandfather Maharaja Ganga Singh, as far back as the 1930s, established the Lady Elgin Girl’s School and the Maharani Girl’s School in Bikaner, which were the first schools for girls established in Bikaner. My grandfather Maharaja Sadul Singh was equally committed to promote girls’ education and founded the Maharani Sudarshana College in 1944, named after my grandmother, for providing higher education for girls. My great grandmother, Maharani Bhatayani, played a key role in urging and encouraging the local nobility and Thakurs to permit their daughters to go to school. It was a revolutionary idea for families, which had until then kept their wives and daughters under strict ‘purdah’. A school bus with curtains affixed at the windows was provided so that the girls could travel to school in privacy. It started with a trickle but on realising what a good idea this was, more and more joined in till these schools became flourishing centres of education for Rajput women in Bikaner.

  Rajput women today have come a very long way from their medieval past. Most Rajput women whom I meet now are well educated, smart, and capable—many of them are employed, and all of them multi-task and raise families while running schools, hotels and thriving businesses. The emancipation of Rajput women from medieval Rajasthan to the twenty-first century has been a long and arduous journey; however, being the stalwarts they are, they have survived, in my opinion, very successfully so, and for that they all have my unreserved admiration.

  The safest form of address for a young Rajput man is ‘Bana’ and for women, ‘Baisa’, where one does not know their name or designation. The Bana, though quite undeservedly, has become rather a caricature over a period of time. The stereotypical Ana is recognised by the diamond ear studs with which he adorns his ears, the larger the size of the diamond, the higher his social status in the pecking order of Rajput hierarchy. They are usually seen wearing Ray Ban shades and driving an old-fashioned jeep. They are very active on social media, prefer Facebook above all other platforms and their pages are adorned and embellished with family crests and old black and white photographs of their ancestors. The crests are, however, not merely limited to Facebook, but are used to adorn their cars as well. The Baisas, on the other hand, evade any such characterisation, though they are famous for being dressed in chiffon saris and pearls, and as my nephew Raviraj put it succinctly—they are collectively referred to as the ‘chiffon brigade’! They are in most part, highly educated and hard working.

  We Rathores are Suryavanshi Rajputs, and we are further circumscribed by various other sub- clans such as Jodhas, Bikas, Rupawat, Mertiya, Kumpawat and many others. The history of the Rathores goes as far back as the eighth century. Known as the ‘Rashtrakutas’, they had established their supremacy in the Deccan. In ancient times, their kingdoms were in northern Hindustan at Indraprastha, Kanauj, Ayodhya and Patliputra. Later, circumstances were such that they retreated to a region in western Hindustan known as Rajasthan. Raja Jai Chand was a powerful Rathore King of Kanauj till such time that his rivalry with a fellow ruler, Raja Prithviraj Chauhan, led to calamitous results. The invasion by Shahabuddin Ghori in 1194, unfortunately, led to the ruin of the Kanauj Empire. One branch of the family left with the idols of the family deities and emblems of imperial power and wandered north-west into the desert lands of Rajputana. It was at the start of the fifteenth century that Rao Jodha founded the state of Jodhpur.

  I recently received a letter from my cousin Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of our common ancestor, Rao Jodha in March 2012, where he expressed far more eloquently the history of the founder of our parental state than I can:

  ‘Rao Jodha, born on Viasakh Vadi 4, Samvat 1472, (29 March, 1415), was the fifteenth Chief of the Rathore clan who, along with his descendents, established nine kingdoms of Rathores. He founded Jodhpur city in 1459 AD. A courageous, benevolent and spiritual ruler, all communities prospered and the city of Jodhpur flourished under his long reign. He laid a strong foundation for a rich cultural heritage and virtues, which have been followed and nourished by successive Maharajas of Marwar; and so, Jodhpur came to be known as the cultural capital of Rajasthan. The people of Jodhpur
owe this to their founder, Rao Jodha. On the eve of the five hundred and fiftieth Foundation Day of Jodhpur, on the 12 May, 2008, they pledge to install an equestrian statue of Rao Jodha on a hillock between Mehrangarh Fort and Jaswant Thada’.

  From Jodhpur many members of the family and their companions over a period of time left to establish their own kingdoms and fiefdoms across India. There are nine main branches of the Rathores that spread from Jodhpur; they branched out to Bikaner, Kishangarh, Sitamau, Jhabwa, Ratlam, Sailana, Idar and Jubbal. Rathore Rajputs are to be found in most Indian states besides Rajasthan; Sitamau, for instance is located in Madhya Pradesh, and the princely state of Idar is situated in Gujarat.

  Our ancestor and the founder of Bikaner, Rao Bika was one of the sons of Rao Jodha of Jodhpur. The Raja had many sons and he encouraged them to establish fiefdoms for themselves. It was a well known fact among large Rajput families with many sons that in due course, they would inevitably struggle over property and succession. To discourage this, Rao Jodha pointed out that there was more than enough land for all of them if they so desired, provided they had the courage and ability to tame the nomadic tribes that inhabited these areas. It was the responsibility of the father to settle his younger sons in his lifetime; this was usually done by the grant of Jagirs and villages to them so that they could be provided with an annual income. It was usually assumed that the eldest son would inherit the title and ‘gaddi’ (throne) of their father, but this was an inexact science and in many cases the constant warfare led to the death of the inheritors. Therefore, who would succeed to the gaddi was a fluid line, which changed virtually from one day to the next.

  Rao Kandhal, one of the younger brothers of Rao Jodha, was very close to his nephew Rao Bika; legend has it that one day nephew and uncle entered the durbar (royal court) and sat at the rear, talking in whispers. Observing this, Rao Jodha is said to have jestingly remarked, ‘What are nephew and uncle discussing? Can it be plans to capture a new kingdom?’ It was an irresistible challenge and both uncle and nephew stood up and declared before the assembled Court that that was precisely what they intended to do. Rao Bika had been chafing a bit for some time now and wanted an independent fiefdom of his own. Rao Jodha must have been greatly relieved to hear this as he already had several more sons waiting in line. With Rao Bika out of the way, it would make the question of succession easier for him. He immediately gave Bika his blessings and asked Rao Kandhal to accompany him and granted them permission to take the soldiers and horses he required to embark on his quest.

  On 13 September, 1465, Rao Bika left his parental state of Jodhpur along with his brother Bida, his Uncles Rao Kandhal, Rao Rupo and Rao Mandalo together with several others and some 100 horsemen and 500 soldiers and headed towards Janglu, the territory that his friend Napo Sankhla had told him was ready for occupation. This territory contained only some scattered tribes at the time, which were constantly warring among themselves. Rao Bika proceeded steadily on his way; pausing every now and then to consolidate the new lands he was conquering. In an age where women played very little part in the making of Rajput history, ironically it was a Charan lady called Karniji who was to guide Bika in his quest. Karniji was the daughter of Meha Charan and lived in the little village of Deshnoke. When Bika camped at Deshnoke, many locals called on him and told him about Karniji and her supernatural powers and encouraged him to seek her blessings in his quest. Intrigued, Bika went to meet her.

  Karniji greeted him warmly and made many predications, ‘You, Bika, have a great future ahead of you! You will go on to found a greater kingdom than your father’s in Jodhpur. ‘She gave Bika her blessings and assured him that she would always remain with him in spirit. Much strengthened by this encounter, Bika proceeded on his way.

  Karni Mata, as she is known, became Rao Bika’s strength and stay through all the hardships that he was to encounter in consolidating his new territory. She continued to influence not just Bika but generations of the Bikaner family to the present day. At Deshnoke is the famous rat temple dedicated to her memory. Within the precincts of the temple wander thousands of rats, which are regarded as sacred. Although there are no barriers to confine them, they never stray from the temple precincts, nor have they been the cause of plague in the temple as well as in the little town of Deshnoke. This temple is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year, especially during the nine days of ‘Navratra’ sacred to all Rajputs.

  Rao Bika continued with his conquests and soon had a sizeable kingdom under his control. He finally laid the foundation of the city of Bikaner on 12 April, 1488, the land chosen by him belonged to a Godara Jat called Ner who willingly gave his land to Bika on the condition that his name be linked in perpetuity with the new found kingdom, to which Bika readily agreed and thus, Bikaner was founded. Since that time, it is the Godara Jats that have the privilege of anointing each successive Maharaja of Bikaner at his coronation. It is said that the marriage between Rao Bika and Rang Kanwar, the daughter of Rao Sekha, the ruler of Pugal, was arranged by Karni Mata herself; an alliance, which brought the powerful Bhati clan to accept the suzerainty of Rao Bika’s rule, though not without resistance. Rao Bika promptly made his father-in-law a nobleman, proving himself as a skillful diplomat along with being the gallant soldier he was. The prophecy made by Karni Mata was coming true; Rao Bika was one of the very few who was coronated during the lifetime of his own father.

  Soon after, Rao Jodha and Rao Bika formed an alliance to fight Sarang Khan, the Subedar of Hissar who had recently, in a fierce encounter, killed Rao Kandhal who was the brother of the former and the uncle of the latter. Father and son fought side by side successfully and avenged Rao Kandhal. Satisfied with the outcome, father and son parted ways but not before they forged a pact between them. Rao Jodha asked of his son that he be satisfied with his new kingdom and not make any claim on the parental state of Jodhpur, but to leave the gaddi and title to his younger brothers. The second request was that he had for long desired the village of Ladno, which now fell in Rao Bika’s territory and asked his son to cede the same to him. Rao Bika readily agreed to both these requests but made one demand of his own. He was at the time the eldest surviving son of Rao Jodha and so he asked that upon the death of Rao Jodha the Rathore heirlooms and other symbols of power as well as the idols of the family deities be sent to him in Bikaner. The old man agreed to this request and they parted ways harmoniously.

  Shortly thereafter, Rao Jodha died in 1491 and Rao Bika, as per the agreement with his father dispatched Bela Parihar, the Master of the Horse, to Jodhpur to claim the Rathore heirlooms and idols of the family deities that were promised to him. Meanwhile, in Jodhpur a number of quick successions had taken place with Rao Suja ascending the gaddi upon the demise of Rao Jodha, but only for a very short time, after which he was swiftly succeeded by his brother Rao Satal. It was the latter who refused to hand over the heirlooms to Bela Parihar who then returned empty-handed to Bikaner. Angered by his brother’s unaccommodating response, Rao Bika immediately gathered together a sizable army and marched on Jodhpur. The two armies met some two miles outside the city and the Jodhpur battalions were soon routed. Bika then marched on to Jodhpur city and laid siege to his ancestral Mehrangarh Fort.

  Over the course of the next few weeks, the situation inside the fort became grave as they were deprived of fresh supplies of food and water. Finally Jasmadeiji, the mother of Rao Satal, asked to meet with Rao Bika, a request to which he readily acceded. She requested him to lift the siege and return to Bikaner. Rao Bika showed his readiness to comply with her request provided that she was willing to honour his late father’s promise and hand over to him the heirlooms and emblems of Rathore sovereignty. This was agreed to, and shortly thereafter the emblems of imperial power, the idols of the deities and the Rathore sandalwood throne were handed over to Rao Bika, who immediately lifted the siege and left for Bikaner.

  It must be made clear at this point that at no stage did Rao Bika harbour any intention of taking over the throne o
f Jodhpur—had that been his intention, he could have easily done so when the city was in a vulnerable state, but he honoured the promise made to his father that he would leave the gaddi of Jodhpur to his younger brother. Rao Bika was merely interested in claiming the heirlooms promised to him by his father and having received them, immediately departed for Bikaner.

  The heirlooms today are on display in the old Junagarh Fort in Bikaner. The idols of the family deities are placed in various temples within the Fort and around the city. The ceremonial sandalwood throne, now a very fragile item, has been used successively over the past twenty-four generations for the coronation ceremony of the Rajas and Maharajas of Bikaner. The last coronation was that of my brother Maharaja Narendra Singh in 1988. As predicted by Karni Mata, Rao Bika grew in power and stature, and many Rajput noblemen flocked to his court to support him and seek his favour. At the end of his reign, he had secured some 40,000 square miles of land. Rao Bika died on 11 September, 1504, leaving behind him a considerably large, stable and united state. He was an exceptionally hardy and courageous man and faced adversity with great fortitude. Despite numerous hazards, he established and consolidated his rule over a vast new stretch of desert land.