Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c10.13

c10.13

To be brief, many Zamindars and peasants escaped into the forests because of fear of defeat and enslavement, but in course of time they were reduced to the position of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. For example, many Parihars and Parmars, once upon a time belonging to the proud Rajput castes, are now included in lower castes. So are the Rajputs counted as Backward Classes in South India. Take the case of the Thaaru women in the Tarai region as described by Hugh and Colleen Gantzer. Once upon a time a group of beautiful Sisodia Rajput princesses were spirited out of their kingdom by their loving father. Though the old man was prepared to die in the battlefield, with all honour, he could not bear the thought of all his beautiful daughters dying in the fiery selfimmolation pit of *Jauhar*. He therefore summoned some of his bravest old retainers, charged them with the task of guarding the princesses, gave them a posse of Bhil warriors, and sent them to the safety of a remote Himalayan kingdom with which he had ties of blood. Sadly, on their arduous journey the old retainers succumbed to malaria and the other debilitating diseases that the Tarai produces. Eventually when the last old Rajput male had died, the princesses realised that they could go no further: neither they nor their posse of Bhils knew the way and delirium had struck the old retainers too swiftly to permit them to speak coherently They were young women, full of life. They didnt want to die. So they made an agreement with their Bhils that they would settle down there, in a clearing in the fertile Tarai, marry them but on one condition. From that day on their female descendants would always be superior to their males. They would cook their food. Yes, for that is the tradition, and they would have to cook food for themselves any way. So they would cook their food but they would not serve them. And that is the way it still is. Thaaru women cook their mens food. But then they place the *thali* on the floor and kick it towards their men They had a trace of the high cheek bones and almond eyes But the most striking thing about the women were the extraordinary bright, embroidered skirts and backless *cholis* they wear. Also the columns of metal bangles they carried on their arms and ankles [which points to their Rajput ancestry] These women were not the docile, subservient (type) we had often encountered in northern Indian villages: they were proud (and) independent¹⁶