Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s1.141

c7.s1.141

2. *Jauhar*.—The account of funeral and posthumous rites would be incomplete without a reference to the custom of Jauhar which can be better explained than defined.⁴ The custom of *Jauhar* was more or less confined to the Rajputs, though other cases are not wanting.¹ When a Rajput chief and his warriors were reduced to despair in an engagement, they usually killed their women and children or locked them inside an underground enclosure and set fire to the building. Then, sword in hand, they sallied forth to court a certain but heroic death. The code of Rajput warfare did not know of surrender, and could not reconcile them to a defeat. It guided only to victory or annihilation.