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Rajasthan, is modern India's largest state, extending over more than 340,000 sq. kilometres. Roughly divided into two parts, the west comprises the shifting dunes and scrublands of the Thar Desert, the easternmost part of the Saharan-Arabian desert zone. The heart of this desert is locally known as the Marusthali — the land of the dead. Over vast areas of the Thar ruled the Maharajas of Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer. Protecting the south and eastern part of the state from the advance of the desert is the ancient mountain range whose name, Aravalli, literally means an obstacle in the way. Temperatures vary from almost freezing in winter to above 50 degrees centigrade in summer. Brief monsoon rains can be torrential and transform arid areas into tapestries of green. A quarter of India's livestock is to be found in Rajasthan. This amounts to 55 million animals including 12 million cattle, 14 million sheep, 17 million goats, 24,000 horses, and 70,000 camels.
Nurturing the wild side Of the local communities
that actively protect these animals, the most celebrated are the
Bishnois. The Bishnois are for the most part an agricultural
community. They follow Guru Jambheshwar, affectionately known as
Jambhoji, who lived between 1451 and 1536 in an era when saints across
northern India were espousing true human values and devotion to God.
Jambhoji was born into an affluent Rajput family. When he was a young
man he witnessed a severe drought. His neighbours felled trees
indiscriminately and hunted wild animals for meat. Retreating from the
world he spent years in meditation before he had the spiritual
experience that also convinced him that, in the words of one scholar,
"Humans will have to sustain the environment in order for nature
to sustain humans." Pouring scorn on the hypocrisy he saw in the
outwardly pious Brahmins, Muslims Shifting boundaries
Much of Rajasthan's
recorded history is the story of ever-shifting territorial boundaries,
as clans and rulers struggled to increase their territories and force
other powers to accept their supremacy. From the early eighth century,
conflict began with Arabs whose base was in neighbouring Sindh, and
continued through the dynasties of the Delhi Sultans and the Mughal
Empire. But, says Rima Hooja, it would be a mistake to judge the
kingdoms of those times by the standards of modern nation states or
see the conflicts between rulers through the modern prism, which
reduces everything to a simplistic Hindu/Muslim divide. The truth was
far more complex and related to pragmatic politics. Muslims loyally
served Hindu kings in many capacities, and Hindu rulers allied with
Muslims. All traditional architecture is attuned to the climate. In
arid Rajasthan, urban stone houses have long shared walls and tiny
windows to protect them from the sun. Air and light are
—Excerpted with
permission from Rajasthan Under the Desert Sky by Rajesh Bedi.
Roli Books. Pages 207.
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and Jains around him, he founded a
new community based on 29 tenets. "Bishnoi" is Rajasthani
for 29 and that is how the community gets its name. Among these tenets
were directions to respect and preserve animal life and trees. Rajesh
found that the beliefs of the Bishnoi appeared unshaken by modernity
and modern education. In fact, they may have been strengthened by the
widespread recognition and acclaim they have received for their
environmental activism. They still mark the day in 1730 when, we are
told, 363 Bishnois, men and women, laid down their lives to stop the
troops of the Maharaja of Jodhpur from felling a forest of khejri
trees.
provided by
courtyards which naturally serve as the focus of the home. In the
windswept sands beyond Jaisalmer, Rajesh was fascinated to discover
the bare bones of the courtyard houses and wide parallel streets of
deserted villages belonging to the prosperous Paliwal Brahmins, who
were both merchants and subsistence farmers. In the nineteenth
century, in protest against the high taxes being demanded of them,
they left the state en masse never to return. The Marwari business
community of Shekhawati to the east also left their homes though not
in protest but in search of new opportunities. They went on to
establish leading business houses like those of the Birlas, Goenkas,
and Singhanias. Their original mansions still stand, and a few
carefully restored their richly painted walls. Rajesh found himself
drawn to remote villages and their simplicity and beauty.
