Dr Etee Bahadur
Rao Bika was the sixth son of Rao Jodha, of Marwar, the founder of Jodhpur. The city of Bikaner was founded by Bika in Samvat 1545 and as an old couplet testifies and is quoted in Percy. William. Powlett Gazetteer of Bikaner state (1874). “Baisakh , the month the day second fifteen four five the year and the sixth day of the week when Bika founded Bikaner”. Bika as Powlett writes in the Gazetteer of Bikaner state (1874), had on reaching Deshnok, south of Bikaner,paid his respect to a Charan woman called Karniji, who was known to be gifted with supernatural powers. It was her supernatural powers writes Powlett, which secured the territory of Bikaner to Bika and his descendants. She it is quoted, said to him, “your destiny is higher than your father and many servants will touch your feet”. The Karni Mata temple at Deshnok is located thirty kilometres South of Bikaner, Rajasthan. The temple of Deshnok, is as old as the state and is therefore the chief shrine in Bikaner. The worship of Karniji, a Charan woman who is an incarnation of the Devi, is the chief religious deity of the court and as represented on stones or on gold and silver charms worn around the neck holds a ‘trisul’ or trident in her hand writes Powlett.
It is after subordinating the Jats, that the Rajputs had established themselves in these areas. The process of subordination involved both physical conquest and diplomatic negotiations. Prior to the advent of Rathore in this part of the desert, Goiya herdsmen and Jat clans had been occupying it. The Jat clans were little republics, “Cantons”, as Tod puts it who constantly indulged in mutual feuds. After negotiating with one of the “Cantons”, Rao Bika made an entry in this part of the desert. The spot, which Bika selected for his capital, belonged to a “Jit” named Nira or Nera. It is the Godara Jat who placed Tika to every new occupant of the Bikaner Gaddi writes Powlett. According to James Todd, the Jit (Jat) were residents of the Multan, who had fled to Bikaner after the attack of Mahmud Ghazni in 1026 A.D in large numbers. Govind Aggarwal in, Churu Mandal ka Shrodhpura Ithi has writes, that it was after the decline of the Chauhan dynasty in the middle of the sixteenth century that the Jat Jatis were able to establish themselves in the region politically, till the advent of the Rathores in the Western part of Rajasthan. The Settlement Report of the Bikaner State by P.G.Fagon (1891)tells us that they were organized into communities till then practicing agriculture and cattle-rearing and lived in joint or landlord villages.
Govind Agarawal tells us that by the middle of the sixteenth century the Jats Jati’s began to form their own Janpads (districts). According to the history of the Jats most of the Janpads were small in size, some even belonging to their individual Kul, however there were still a few which were much bigger in size, In the local parlance the Jat Janpads were known as “Bhumia chara ka Rajya”
The Jasnathi Siddh and the Jasnathi Sampradaya/ Panth, have been a part of the Bikaner region of Western Rajasthan with its main seat at Kathriasar (a village close to Bikaner). Jasnath is identified with the peasant as he himself belonged to the peasant community of the Jat cultivators. The traditional hagiography tells us that Lunkaran Rathore, (son of Bika) was blessed by Guru Jasnath. Lunkaran Rathore, it is said, would rule as long as the preaching of Guru Jasnath was followed in the region as stated in Report Mardum Shumari Raj Marawar.(1891).The Gaddis of the Jasnathis are located at Bhamblu, Likhmadesar, Pundasar and Panchla, while the main seat of the Jasnathi Sampradaya is at Kathriarsar. According to Jasnathi saying: ‘Five Dhams, twelve Dhams, eighty-four Baris, hundred and eight sthapnasand the rest are Bhavnas’. The twelve dhams are sacred places located in Bikaner, Nagaur, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and are said to have been established by the twelve disciples of Siddh Rustamji.
The seventeenth century Siddh Rustamji who had entered the fire and had emerged out of it with millet (bajra) and a melon had obtained a boon which gave the Jasnathi Siddh the power to dance on burning embers.
They continue to do this dance till today as, they put the embers in their mouths, which they spit out soon. The fire dance agninrtya is performed by the Jasnathi Siddhs of Bikaner. The Baris, which are eighty-four in number, are sacred places where a Jasnathi Sadhu, Sevak (disciples) or Sati have taken a living Samadhi under a Jal (Pilu tree, Salavadora Persica). The ‘manual of conduct’ is arranged in the form of a poem (Sabad Granth).
Among the teachings of the Jasnath are mentioned the protection of animals as selling of the goat and calves of cows and buffalos is not permitted ; Bhu Sammadi (burial in the earth) not cremation for the dead was to be adopted ; to bathe and stay clean before having food ; and to the use of Dhoop (incense) during prayers, has also been mentioned. TheJasnathji Bari is synonymous with the Pilu tree, as it is revered by the people of the Jasnathi Samparadaya of Bikaner. The thath and the Orans gave direction to the tradition of protected forests, sustainable living, animal care as the practice of conservation and the protection of forests had originated with the teachings of Guru Jasnath in the region.
(The author is a social historian, she teaches at the Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)
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