Jauhar and Sati a glory or an affliction

Some words on Jauhar and Sati either glory or an affliction

By @Kurt

Rajasthan, famous for its glorious historical past. Past that tells about many wars and was ruled by Rajpoots. Rajpoots, who were famous to fight in battles to save their kingdom till they die. Rajasthan has seen many fights and battlegrounds in its past. Thousands of men died in those battles and their wifes performed sati and sometimes these ladies performed mass self-immolation also known as Jauhur. Although there is a difference between performing Sati and Jauhar.

To understand Jauhar you can imagine a lady, who leaves all her belongings and relatives, just to immolate herself on her husband's funeral pyre, to perform sati. She accepts the pain of being burned alive into the fire. We can say while performing sati she must be thinking about the moments that life had given her, the moments she spent with her husband. Now she is performing sati, only because her lord, her husband is no more.

The Sati was started by the ladies who cannot think a future without their husbands. There can be many reasons for a lady to perform sati. It was said that to serve her husband more in the other world that's why she is performing sati.

Now the question arises that what exactly are the sati and Jauhar ritual? The sati is a funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her husband's pyre. On the other hand, Jauhar is also a ritual in which the ladies of the men who died in battle performs mass self-immolation. Although the reason behind both of the rituals is different.

A Jauher is performed when all the men of the ruling family die in the battleground, then all the women of that house self-destroy themselves by jumping in a pit of fire, just to avoid being captured and abused by the enemy in the face of inescapable military defeat and capture.

Although the Jauhar ritual is related to sati ritual and sometimes referred as "Jauhar sati".  The most famous Jauhars ever came in human's knowledge occurred during the wars between the Hindu Rajput kingdoms in Rajasthan and the Muslim armies.

The Jauhar ritual was also observed in many other parts of India. One such was the Jauhar performed by the royal ladies of the Kampili kingdom of northern Karnataka when it fell in 1327 to Delhi Sultanate armies. Many Jauhars are documented by the  Islamic historians of the Delhi Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire, these Jauhars were performed by the queens of Hindu kingdoms.

"Even just thinking about these rituals gives one strong goosebump, imagine many people saw these rituals from their eyes."  

"I personally respect those women who performed these rituals, but I don't support these rituals. I don't want to harm someone's sentiments. It's just what I feel."