Jauhar - Practice

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 Rajput army being besieged inside a fortification by an invading Islamic 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.