Jauhar

Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar,[1][2] was the Hindu custom of mass
self-immolation by women in parts of the Indian subcontinent, to avoid capture, enslavement and
rape by any foreign invaders, when facing certain defeat during a war.[3][4][5] This practice was
historically observed in northwest regions of India, with most famous Jauhars in recorded
history occurring during wars between Hindu Rajput kingdoms in Rajasthan and the Muslim
armies.[6][7][8] Jauhar is related to sati, and sometimes referred in scholarly literature as jauhar
sati.[4]

According to Veena Oldenburg, the roots of this practice "almost certainly" lie in the internecine
warfare among different Rajput kingdoms.[9] In contrast, according to Kaushik Roy, the jauhar
custom was observed only during Hindu-Muslim wars, but not during internecine Hindu-Hindu
wars among the Rajputs.[10]

The term jauhar sometimes connotes with both jauhar-immolation and saka ritual. During the
Jauhar, Rajput women committed suicide with their children and valuables in massive fire, to
avoid capture and abuse in the face of inescapable military defeat and capture.[4][11] The Rajput ceremony of Jauhar,
Simultaneously or thereafter, the men would ritually march to the battlefield expecting certain 1567, as depicted by Ambrose
death, which in the regional tradition is called saka.[1] Dudley in Hutchinsons History of the
Nations, c.1910
Jauhar by Hindu kingdoms has been documented by Islamic historians of the Delhi Sultanate,
and the Mughal Empire.[11][12][13] Among the oft cited example of jauhar has been the mass
suicide committed in 1303 CE by Rani Padmavati and her 16000 padminis of Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan, faced with invading army of Khalji
dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.[14][15] The jauhar phenomenon was also observed in other parts of India, such as in the Kampili kingdom of
northern Karnataka when it fell in 1327 to Delhi Sultanate armies.[13]

Contents
Etymology
Practice
Occurrence
Jauhar-like suicide of the Agalassoi: Alexander
Jauhar of Sindh: Muhammad bin Qasim
Jauhar of Gwalior: Iltutmish
Jauhar of Ranthambore: Alauddin Khilji
First Jauhar of Chittor: Alauddin Khilji
Jauhar of Kampili: Muhammad bin Tughluq
Jauhar of Chanderi: Babur
Second Jauhar of Chittor: Bahadur Shah
Third Jauhar of Chittor: Akbar
Three Jauhars of Raisen: Humayun
Jauhar of Bundelkhand: Aurangzeb

See also
References
Bibliography
External links
Etymology
The word jauhar is connected to Sanskrit jatugr̥ha ʻ house plastered with lac and other combustible materials for burning people alive inʼ.[16]

Practice
This practice is culturally related to Sati with both a form of suicide by women, although it occurred for different reasons.[9] Sati was a custom of
a widow to commit suicide by self-immolation on her dead husband's funeral pyre, while Jauhar was collective self-immolation by women to
escape abuse and rape, when they expected certain defeat at the hands of enemies.[9][4]

Scholars disagree about the roots of this custom. Veena Oldenburg states that the roots of this practice "almost certainly" lie in the internecine
Rajput warfare.[9] Kaushik Roy states, in contrast, that the jauhar custom was observed only during Hindu-Muslim wars, but not during
internecine Hindu-Hindu wars among the Rajputs.[10]

The phenomenon of jauhar has been reported by Hindus and Muslims differently. In the Hindu traditions, jauhar was a heroic act by a community
facing certain defeat and abuse by the enemy.[4][17] For some Muslim historians, it was unwilling and a throwing away of lives.[1] But Amir
Khusrau described it, states Arvind Sharma – a professor of Comparative Religion, as "no doubt magical and superstitious; nevertheless they are
heroic".[18]

Occurrence
Among the more cited cases of Jauhar are the three occurrences at the fort of Chittaur (Chittaurgarh, Chittorgarh), in Rajasthan, in 1303,[19] 1535,
and 1568 CE.[20] Jaisalmer has witnessed two occurrences of Jauhar, one in the year 1295 CE during the reign of the Khalji dynasty, and another
during the reign of the Tughlaq dynasty in 1326.[21][22] Jauhar and saka were considered heroic acts and the practice was glorified in the local
ballads and folklore of Rajasthan.[23]

Jauhar-like suicide of the Agalassoi: Alexander

The mass self-immolation by the Agalassoi tribe of northwest India is mentioned in Book 6 of The Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian's 2nd-century
CE military history of Alexander the Great between 336 and 323 BCE. Arrian mentions Alexander's army conquering and enslaving peoples of
the northwest Indian subcontinent. During a war that killed many in the Macedonian and Agalossoi armies, the civilians despaired of defeat.
Some 20,000 men, women and children of an Agalossoi town set fire to the town and cast themselves into the flames.[24][25]

Jauhar of Sindh: Muhammad bin Qasim

In 712, Muhammed bin Qasim with his army attacked kingdoms of western regions of the Indian subcontinent. He laid siege to the capital of
Dahir, then the Hindu king in a part of Sind. After Dahir had been killed, the queen coordinated the defense of the capital for several months. As
the food supplies ran out, she and the women of the capital refused to surrender, lit pyres and committed jauhar. The remaining men walked out
to their death at the hands of the invading army.[26][27]

Jauhar of Gwalior: Iltutmish

Shams ud-Din Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate attacked Gwalior in 1232, then under control of the Rajputs. The Rajput women committed jauhar
instead of submitting to Iltutmish's army. The place where the women committed mass suicide is known as Jauhar-tal (or Johar kund, Jauhar Tank)
in the northern end of the Gwalior fort.[28][29][30]

Jauhar of Ranthambore: Alauddin Khilji

In 1301, Alauddin Khilji of Delhi Sultanate besieged and conquered the Ranthambore fort. When faced with a certain defeat, the defending ruler
Hammiradeva decided to fight to death with his soldiers, and his minister Jaja supervised the organization of a jauhar. The queens, daughters
and other female relatives of Hammiradeva committed suicide in this jauhar.[31] The jauhar at Ranthambore has been described by Alauddin's
courtier Amir Khusrau,[32] which makes it the first jauhar to be described in a Persian language text.[33]
First Jauhar of Chittor: Alauddin Khilji
According to many scholars, the first jauhar of Chittorgarh occurred during the 1303 siege of the
Chittor fort.[34][35][36] This jauhar became a subject of legendary Rajasthani poems, with Rani
Padmini the main character, wherein she and other Rajput women commit jauhar to avoid being
captured by Alauddin Khilji of Delhi Sultanate.[34]

The historicity of the first jauhar of Chittor is based on Rajasthani traditional belief as well as
Sufi Islamic literature such as by Malik Muhammed Jayasi.[37] However, Kalika Qanungo states
Sultan Alau'd Din put to Flight;
that like most of Indian history and the historic claims on Hindu social practices, this evidence is
Women of Ranthambhor commit
not certain. Padmini may be mythical, states Qanungo, a queen who never existed but her love
Jauhar. Indian, Pahari style painting
story and willingness to die for her values inspired many.[38] The Rajput tradition believes that
from c. 1825
there were three sacks of the Chittor fortress with jauhar, states Lindsey Harlan, and this has
been remembered in Rajasthan with an annual festival of Jauhar Mela.[39]

Jauhar of Kampili: Muhammad bin Tughluq

The Hindu women of the Kampili kingdom of northern Karnataka committed jauhar when it fell in 1327 to Delhi Sultanate armies of Muhammad
bin Tughluq.[13]

Jauhar of Chanderi: Babur

The Hindu king Medini Rao ruled over Chanderi in northern Madhya Pradesh in early 16th
century. He tried to help Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanua against the Muslim armies of Babur,
the founder of the Mughal Empire. In January 1528 CE, his fort was overwhelmed by the
invading forces of Babur. The women and children of the Chanderi fort committed jauhar, the
men dressed up in saffron garments and walked the ritual of saka on 29 January.[40]

Second Jauhar of Chittor: Bahadur Shah

Rana Sanga died in 1528 CE after the Battle of Khanwa. Shortly afterwards, Mewar and Chittor
came under the regency of his widow, Rani Karnavati. The kingdom was besieged by Bahadur
Shah of Gujarat. Rani committed Jauhar with other women on 8 March 1535, while the Rajput
army rallied out to meet the besieging Muslim army and committed saka.[41]

As Chittorgarh faced an imminent attack from the Sultan of Gujarat, Karnavati sought the
assistance of the Mughal emperor Humayun by sending him a rakhi. Before Humayun could
reach Chittorgarh, Bahadur Shah sacked the fort for the second time. Rani Karnavati with 13,000
women shut themselves with gunpowder, lit it and thus committed mass suicide.[42]

Third Jauhar of Chittor: Akbar The self-immolation (jauhar) of the

The armies of Mughal Emperor Akbar besieged the Rajput fort of Chittor in September 1567.[43] hindu women, during the Siege of
After his army conquered Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, Hindu women committed jauhar in spring of Chittorgarh in 1568
1568 CE, and the next morning, thousands of Rajput men walked the saka ritual.[44][45] The
Mughal army killed all the Rajputs who walked out the fort.[45] Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, who
was not an immediate witness, gave a hearsay account of the event as seen by Akbar and his army. Abu'l-Fazl states that the women were victims
of Rajput men and unwilling participants, and these Rajputs came out walking to die, throwing away their lives.[1] According to David Smith,
when Akbar entered the Chittorgarh fort in 1568, it was "nothing but an immense crematorium".[46]

According to Lindsey Harlan, the jauhar of 1568 is a part of regional legend and is locally remembered on the Hindu festival of Holi as a day of
Chittorgarh massacre by the Akbar army, with "the red color signifying the blood that flowed on that day".[45]
Three Jauhars of Raisen: Humayun
Raisen in Madhya Pradesh was repeatedly attacked by the Mughal Army in the early 16th century. In 1528, the first jauhar was led by Queen
Chanderi.[47] After the Mughal army left, the kingdom refused to accept orders from Delhi. After a long siege of Raisen fort, that exhausted all
supplies within the fort, Rani Durgavati and 700 Raisen women committed the second jauhar in 1532, the men led by Lakshman Tuar committed
saka.[48] This refusal to submit to Mughal rule repeated, and in 1543 the third jauhar was led by Queen Ratnavali.[47]

Jauhar of Bundelkhand: Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb with three army battalions lay siege of Bundela in Madhya Pradesh in December 1634 CE. The resident women committed jauhar as
the fort fell. Aurangzeb's army entered the fort. Those who had not completed the ritual and survived the jauhar in progress were forced into the
harem, men were forced to convert to Islam, those who refused were executed.[49][50]

See also
Honor suicide
Akbarnama
Puputan
Religious violence in India

References
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/books?id=OJJZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA285). Oxford University Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-19-513599-2.
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(https://books.google.com/books?id=7HLrPYOe38gC&pg=PA160). University of California Press. pp. 160 footnote 8.
ISBN 978-0-520-07339-5., Quote: "In this she resembles the sati who dies in jauhar. The jauhar sati dies before and while her
husband fights what appears to be an unwinnable battle. By dying, she frees him from worry about her welfare and saves
herself from the possible shame of rape by triumphant enemy forces."
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Bibliography
Dasharatha Sharma (1959). Early Chauhān Dynasties (https://books.google.com/books?id=n4gcAAAAMAAJ). S. Chand /
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Kishori Saran Lal (1950). History of the Khaljis (1290-1320) (https://books.google.com/books?id=2XXqAQAACAAJ).
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External links
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