On World Environment Day* Harsh Vardhan talks about the Bishnois, the world's first ecologists

Bishnois respect animals

India: When 363 persons scripted an epoch making conservation-history

5 June 2010

1730-2010: Ever heard, observed, or read?

It took place (on 10th day of Bhadra Shukla) in 1730 AD at a village called Khejreli.

Reason?

The Prime Minister of Jodhpur State ordered felling of trees to be used as fuel to bake lime needed for the creation of a new building. The men appeared in a hurry and started felling ‘green’ trees. Villagers opposed it, arguing that vegetation was significant for their survival. Adamant orderlies wished to complete the assignment. In between trees and axes cropped up people. Challenging them, Amrita Devi led the crusade, and succumbed to sharp-edged attacks on her body…..

Andoit, Virco, Vanial, Chaboji, Udhoji, Kanhoji, Kishnoji, Dayarayaji came one by one to give away their lives….Dami, Cheema and many women did not remain behind. More men, women, and even children followed. And the tally mounted to 363….! Only then the prince of Jodhpur (Maharaja Abhay Singh) realized the drama, he ordered a ban on further felling of ‘green’ trees!

The first en-masse Self Sacrifice thus got scripted in history, as staged by the Bishnoi Community: Martyrdom for trees, an epoch making event. Three such human sacrifices, for trees, had already been executed (prior to Khejreli) :

1. Ramasani Saka: It took place in 1604 AD. Two women – Karma and Gora – gave away their lives. Vilhoji, a Bishnoi saint, wrote about it.

2. Polas Saka : It occurred in 1643 AD. Buchoji gave away his life. The Thakur of Rajod had ordered fthe cutting green trees.

3. Tilwasni Saka : Khivji, Mota and Netu Nain gave away their lives to oppose Kripa Bhati’s action to cut green trees. The poet Vilhoji mentioned it though the year of the sacrifice remains unknown.

Ramasani and Tilwasni are located near Bilara town, about 60 km east of Jodhpur. People recall the incident to this day.

Polas is a tiny village along the Ajmer-Nagaur road and an annual fair is organised to perpetuate the memory of the martyr.

Saka is an act of self sacrifice by a Bishnoi person – man or woman – to protect a tree and/or wild animal like the Indian gazelle or black buck.

The Bishnoi Community is spread all over the Desert belt in Rajasthan, mostly living in scattered hamlets on edges of their agricultural farms which are usually amidst sand dunes.

The entire zone is deficient in monsoon, which became erratic in recent decades. People here prefer to offer a glass of curd than of water, scarcity of potable water marks their daily chores.

They know time-tested ways to survive amidst precarious geo-economic status: leaves, twigs, grasses, shrubs, bushes, trees, are, as per old traditional practices, maintained in situ, and extracted only for own uses in scaled and rotational methods.

No reason why-how the indigenous vegetation survives in rather harsh climatic conditions. It is the reason why age old Khejri trees (Prosopis cineraria) are found intact amidst their fields in undulating terrain. Not all their branches are lopped, some on each tree are left alive. That sustains-rejuvenates the tree. Their ecological based support mechanism is surviving.

Survival of Indian gazelles, blackbucks, hares, peacocks, foxes is, therefore, the best around Bishnoi dwellings. The people keep close watch on intruders in their villages and, at the first meeting, invariably examine the faces to ascertain their objective of arrival. Soon their vehicle is inspected to find out if they carried a gun. Only after the ‘intentions’ of entrants are verified, the element of hospitality is initiated.

The Bishnois owe their origin to a person, considered as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Jambeshwar ji was born in 1452 AD at Peepasar, a village in Nagaur district of today’s Rajasthan. He remained unmarried throughout his life. He passed away at the age of 85 years, and the last rites were performed at Mukam (which is the main shrine denoting the last presence of the Guru; Mukam is 15 km from Nokha in today’s Bikaner district).

The Bishnoi sect was founded in 1486 AD when Jambheshwar ji was 34 years old. He preached throughout his life and laid down 29 Rules, nature-conservation being prominent amongst them. As the rules were 29 (20 + 9), people started calling their followers as Bees-noi (20 + 9).

During his life span Jambheshwar ji had been acclaimed as the Guru (Lord). People accepted him as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Hence their main prayer is: “Vishnu Vishnu tuu bhaj re praani” (Thou shall recite Vishnu, Vishnu).

And their central philosophy is: “Sir saanthe roonkh rahe to bhi sasto jaan” (It shall be cheaper if a green tree is protected at the cost of one’s head).

These people carry forward the conservation-idiom to this day, opposing the felling of green trees, stopping such acts through government’s intervention, catching, often red-handed, poachers, and losing their lives doing so….!

Several Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) plantations (groves) stand in their original form to this day in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh etc, which remind of the save-tree movement as led by Lord Jambheshwar ji and his followers.

Khejreli village is about 25 km south of Jodhpur, wearing presently a different look with a Martyrs’ Memorial (created in cement-concrete), Memorial Plantations, Indian gazelles and peacocks roaming around. The annual Fair is held there (10th of Bhadra Shukla) which in 2010 will be on 4 September. It will be the 280th Anniversary of the Khejreli human-sacrifices for the sake of green trees.

Three events are proposed during 2010 to mark Khejreli’s 280th Anniversary :
(i) At Jodhpur during October (Jai Narayan Vyas Hall, capacity 1,200 persons)
(ii) At Jaipur during November (Indira Gandhi Panchayat Raj Institution Hall, capacity 1,000 persons), and

(iii) At New Delhi during December (WWF – India Hall, capacity 350 persons), in which the President of India will be invited to address on ‘Conservation as led by Bishnois’.

My ten day stay in the desert countryside (Feb – March 2010) was utilised to go round some Bishnoi sites (Peepasar, Khejreli, Jajiwal Dhora, Lohawat, Jamba, Mukam, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Nokha, Phalodi, Bikaner etc). I came across a few poaching incidents (gazelles), felling of green trees and rescue of injured gazelles and their reintroduction in the wild (from the rescue centre at Jodhpur Zoo). A young Bishnoi lady came forward, clad in her best attire and bedecked with gold jewellery, to breast-feed a 24 hour old young of gazelle, who lost his mother the previous day.

The issue is significant in terms of current ‘greening’ initiatives in face of ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ threats.

Welcome to joining hands together?

Harsh Vardhan,
member of the Rajasthan State Wildlife Advisory Board, and advisor for the book Paving The Way For Peace

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* World Environment Day is held each year on June 5. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations (UN) stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment.

Source: Harsh Vardhan, Indian Bird Fair
Author: Bird Fair

Link: Bishnoi mahasabha: The All-India Bishnoi Mahasabha will celebrate World Environment Day at Sri Guru Jambheshwar Sansthan Bhawan, New Delhi, on June 5...
Link: If you are interested in visiting the Bishnoi area, please contact IGT (Individual & Group Tours) for details
Link: More information about the Bishnois
Link: The Bishnois, a community in the Rajasthan state in India, show it is possible for us to live in harmony with nature
Link: The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth


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