HISTORY, LEGENDS & MYTHOLOGY

When tribal women started hunt for King Aurangzeb's
Army in forests in Jharkhand
by GS Ojha

     Bero (Jharkhand): In many rural parts of the country, men are believed to have had the right to go on hunting in the wild due to their well-known machismo. But in a rare event many tribal women from Jharkhand reversed roles with men and went on a mock hunt across forests and villages this week. All this happened as a part of the ritual, held once in 12 years and is held to commemorate an 18th century battle against the Mughal King Aurangzeb by brave and bold tribal women. The otherwise tribal community remembers the bravery of those women and allows all teenaged girls and wives to go on the mock hunt once in twelve years. "In earlier times, a Mughal army had been chased away by women. This ritual is observed every 12 years as a symbolic tribute to their courage. We dress up as men and do a mock hunt," Jyotsna Lakra, a woman hunter from the Bero village. Legend has it that Aurangzeb's Armed Forces repeatedly tried to acquire the forests of their ancestors but had to taste failure miserably in the wake of overwhelming and fierce guerrilla warfare of the tribals. The Mughal Army then plotted an overthrow during an annual harvest festival when all the men were heavily drunk on locally- brewed rice beer. But the community's alert women, who took little amount of it, surprised the attackers they donned the clothes and arms of their husbands and fathers and foiled the attempt. Thus, to commemorate that day of victory and the exhibition of incomparable chivalry, the tribal women dress themselves as modern-day men in trousers and shirts and catch wild cows, dear and goats, who are released in the forests a day later.
-Mar 14, 2006    

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