Palace of Clouds: A Memoir

By Rajyashree Kumari Bikaner

This book evokes the romance of the rugged desert kingdom of Bikaner and its Rajput royal family. It is a richly woven tapestry encompassing five generations of an aristocratic family's past and present. Tales of valour, battles and coronations, the splendour of the royal courts, the culture and traditions that made this Rathore state preeminent in the world, all set against the backdrop of imposing palaces, rugged forts and hunting lodges, the magnificence of the gilded age of the Maharajas.
The author describes her formative years during the sixties when seismic changes in the world were taking place and which were to take her on an adventurous journey from her home in Bikaner to life in London. The author brings to life a treasure trove of anecdotes and introduces us to a world of elegance, sportsmanship and cosmopolitan culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jun 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9789386950635

Book preview

Bikaner.

1

It is indeed a desirable thing to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.

-Plutarch

I

n June of 2011 the collection of Stuart Carey Welch came up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. Carey, who died in Japan in 2008, was a well- known and respected American scholar and curator of Indian and Islamic art. During his lifetime, he had collected many important Indian miniature paintings and other oriental art and artefacts of great merit. This was going to be a very important sale, in anticipation of which, collectors, curators and art gallery owners from around the globe had gathered in great numbers in London. My friend, Javed Abdulla, who also happened to be in London at the time, mentioned to me over lunch one afternoon, that one of the miniatures in the forthcoming auction was that of my ancestor and suggested that I go and see it while it was still on display at the Bond Street gallery. The miniature painting in question turned out to be an exquisite pencil sketch of Raja Karan Singh, the ninth Maharaja of Bikaner, who was one of the most prominent and noble Maharajas of Bikaner, and I may add one of my absolute favourites. A great sense of pride in my family overcame me as I studied the beautiful drawing on that lovely sunny afternoon.

Carey Welch had also been a great friend and advisor to my father Maharaja Karni Singh and often visited Bikaner. My father had inherited numerous miniature paintings handed down through the many generations of the Bikaner family. Miniature paintings had little or no value in those days and it was a routine matter for court artists to prepare and present the successive Maharajas of Bikaner with miniatures paintings as gifts on important occasions such as birthdays and other prominent festivals like Holi (festival of colours) and Diwali (festival of lights). In fact, they were akin to modern day greeting cards, albeit exquisite hand painted ones. I recall my father telling me that when Maharaja Ganga Singh, his grandfather, became the Maharaja, he found several thousand miniature paintings lying about in a haphazard fashion, scattered around in dusty corners of the old Junagarh Fort. Great grandfather had the foresight to realise the value of these beautiful paintings and immediately ordered that they be collected and brought to Lallgarh Palace where they were properly catalogued and kept safely in the old Mahekmakhas wing of the Palace. Eventually, it was my father who, with the help of Carey Welch, managed to separate the important paintings from the more mundane ones.

The Bikaner miniature paintings were also part of an exhibition in 1950, which was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Herman Goetz, the renowned art historian wrote a beautifully illustrated book on ‘The Art and Architecture of Bikaner State’. This book had lavish illustrations of a number of paintings that had been sent to London for the exhibition along with many others from our collection. Sadly, the book is now out of print, though as an essential reference book there is still a huge demand for it. Goetz visited India with his wife in 1936 on a grant from the Kern Institute, and besides publishing the definitive work on Bikaner art, he also advised the Maharaja of Baroda, Siyaji Rao Gaekwad, and his imposing wife, Maharani Chimnabai, on conserving his private collection of European art. Goetz was generally considered responsible for raising awareness in India of the urgent need to preserve and maintain valuable paintings and other objects d’art in museums of the highest standards, to showcase the rich history and culture of Indian art to its best advantage.

The ‘ustas’ or court artists in Bikaner, accompanied my ancestor Maharaja Anup Singh, the ninth Maharaja of Bikaner, from the Deccan where he was engaged in military campaigns in the seventeenth century on behalf of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Anup Singh was an exceptional personality in that, not only was he a warrior but also a scholar and a great patron of the arts; it was during his reign that art and culture flourished in Bikaner. The Muslim ‘ustas’, who came with him settled down in Bikaner and over the centuries, created the most beautiful miniature paintings. A prominent court artist of the time was Hamid Rukun ud Din, whose miniatures are regarded as the very epitome of the Bikaner school of miniature painting and quite naturally, today they are highly prized and sell for many thousands of dollars at art auctions around the world. The ‘Rasik Priya’ style of painting was developed by Rukun ud-Din who went on to train many young artists such as Muhammed Ustad Baq and Nur Muhammed who were his assistants at his Bikaner atelier. The old master Rukun ud Din is said to have died or retired around 1696, whereupon Hassan replaced him as head of the court studio. Their beautiful miniature paintings were a skilful melding of Rajput and Mughal styles, which was distinctive of the Bikaner school of miniature painting.

The Bikaner school of miniature painting developed during the time of Maharaja Anup Singh, and the descendants of those medieval artists even today continue to practise this art, though not so much in painting miniatures but in repairs and restoration of the most delicate and exquisite kind in the old Junagarh Fort. The Bikaner Fort is an absolute jewel, embellished with frescoes, aged mirrors and lacquer work on the walls. The Fort is close to five centuries old and like any old building has seen its share of wear and tear over the centuries. The artists work tirelessly in teams to restore the damage that water seepage and age has done to these beautiful rooms and durbar halls. Their work is intricate and flawless and when completed, it is impossible to tell where the ancient paintwork ends and the restoration work begins. The title of my book is drawn from perhaps one of our most famous rooms in the old Fort, ‘The Badal Mahal’ or Palace of Clouds. In itself a relatively small room, it is a surreal, almost Daliesque vision of thunder and lightning in the deserts of Bikaner. The monsoon scene has been copied many times in different variations and colour schemes over the years and continues to inspire even today. In fact, I have my own tiny Badal Mahal copied in the entrance lobby of my Delhi apartment, and it unfailingly reminds me of Bikaner. It goes without saying that it was painted by one of the descendants of the original ustas who had painted the original one in the Fort many centuries ago.

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 north-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.

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.

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 of 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,