November 2023
Our eyes opened, in the land of sand dunes, to the enchanting sound of kamancha, the traditional stringed instrument, and the mysterious song of the Rajasthani bards carried by the desert winds from afar.
‘Mathura, Kashi, Pragvad, Gajni aru Bhatner,
Digam, Derawal, Lodravo, nammo Jaisalmer’
These are not just random places on the map, but echoes of a vanished civilization, a tribute to the human spirit’s endurance. I would learn their meaning much later, when I would discover that the mystery of Jaisalmer is connected to Gandhari’s curse and that some of Lord Krishna’s descendants became Mongols. That was quite a surprise. But for now, our aim was to have fun in the dunes, following the footsteps of Feluda and our new favorite, Eken babu.
This was a relaxing trip unlike most of our other trips. We had a whole week in Sam dunes with plenty of time to unwind. Day-1 we arrive at Karma Golden camp resort after driving through the dark desert highways. The newly built castle-like resort in the middle of the Thar desert felt like Hotel California. But it was not like we were in a hurry to leave.
The large tent rooms were inviting. But what we enjoyed most was the small splash pool attached to each room, painted in blue. We spent most of that day in the pool, surrounded by yellow wasps buzzing everywhere. That was the only day we used the pool, the rest of the days we gave that space to the angry wasps that kept multiplying every day. They were probably drawn by the food in the resort and the cool water of the pool. It was fun to watch them from our big glass window. Wasps-watching became a new hobby for me in the next few days.
Bees and wasps can be fatal if more than 30-40 of them bite you. These wasps are very different from bees. They can sting multiple times, making them fiercer. Bees would perish after stinging, and hence they would only do it as a last resort. Wasps have no such restriction. But they are also loners and hence group attacks are uncommon. They are mostly occupied with fighting each other for mates. Since winter was approaching, this was their last hurrah of the year, before most of them succumb to the cold desert.
We enjoyed the Rajasthani folk songs, dancing and the fire-trick man’s show in the evening. The folk songs are rich and diverse. They sing of love’s victory, or complex bonds between mother and children, or songs that invite you to Rajasthan and tell you the stories of the land’s heroes.
The main heroes of Jaisalmer are the Bhatti clan, who claim to be Yaduvanshi, or descendants of Lord Krishna. The Bhatti dynasty was the historical ruler of Jaisalmer. The more I learned about the Bhatti’s the more I was intrigued. But I had to be patient till I visited Jaisalmer fort to learn more.
We had Dal-Bati-Churma, the specialty of Rajasthan, that night. The three of us shared two plates, and also ordered chicken fry. We were so stuffed that we could barely move. It makes sense that Dal-Bati was a meal for soldiers in war. According to legend, it was created by Bappa Rawal. Soldiers would just break off small pieces of dough and bury them in the sand. The sun would bake the dough. Once roasted the soldiers would dip it in ghee and eat it with butter milk. Easy, delicious, and filling enough to sustain them for the day’s fight.
The next day, we walked around our resort, but saw hardly any signs of life. Instead, I was fascinated by some rocks that I saw. I picked up a piece of rock. These rocks were proof that this place was once under the sea. It was hard to believe, looking at the barren landscape and knowing that the closest sea was almost 500kms away. But if you went back to the Paleocene, about 60 million years ago, you would find yourself on the edge of a shallow sea teeming with fishes and other creatures. There would be no humans yet, as they had not evolved.
It was rare for the sea to advance so far inland, but these were extraordinary times. The dinosaurs had just died out as the Deccan Basalts covered most of Western India, and the Indian continent was moving north and colliding with the Eurasian (Europe to China) plate. The Tethys Sea, which used to be between the two continents, was shrinking because of the collision, pushing the sea further into all of North India. The collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate would eventually form the Himalayas, but the impact of the birth of the giant was felt in Jaisalmer. The evidence of this historic event was now in my small hand.
That night, we went to a secluded spot in the desert for star gazing. The moon was not in sight when we went. Instead, we saw Jupiter, Saturn, different stars, Andromeda Galaxy and various constellations like Cepheus and Cassiopia around the North-Star.
We tend to think that the North Star is always in the same place. Well, it is not fixed or the brightest star. The earth spins on an axis. If we extend that axis in space until it hits a star, that star would be the North Star as it would appear fixed in the sky. For now, that star is Polaris. But the Earth’s axis of rotation changes over about 26,000 years. If you went back 14,000 years, Vega would be our North Star, not Polaris.
I must thank Nayann Saigall for being our guide to stargazing. If you too are interested you can contact him at 88757 24417.
We returned from star gazing that night, thinking that the night could not get any better. But it did. We had a candle-light dinner on the hotel’s terrace under the clear starry night, with our own waiter. We had the whole terrace to ourselves. The main dish was laal maas and rice. There was actually a 4-course wide menu. But we only cared about the main dish.
Laal maas dates back to the 10th century, and was eaten as camp food and part of any Rajasthani feast, especially during royal hunting trips. It used to be made with locally hunted wild boar, deer or jungle fowl, but now it is made with goat meat. The ingredients are simple, since it was mostly prepared in camps away from home. The main ingredients were just yoghurt, garlic, rationed water and lots of chilies.
We slept well that night.
Day-3 was reserved for Dune Safari. Our jeep drove us to the heart of the dunes, over the crests and troughs. Then we mounted the single-humped Dromedarian camels, feeling like Jatayu from Sonar Kella. I was tempted to ask the camel owner if camels removed the thorns before eating cactus (“Oont ki kata bechhe khaye”). It took some effort to control my strong urge.
The camels made this desert their own. Looking at how comfortable they are here it is hard to believe that their ancestors once migrated all the way from America, crossing the Bering Strait, during a glacial period. They were later domesticated by the people of Indus Valley. We were riding one of the descendants of these domesticated camels.
After lots of activities, we came back to our resort tired. The only thing we did not like about Sam was that it is too crowded and very touristy. The charm it had 15 years back, when we came here for the first time, was lost. You can’t even walk on the sand without being honked by a dude in a dune bike.
We needed to take a good rest before another long day.
We took car from Kuldip Jaisalmer Taxi. The car was clean and it was a very friendly service. You can get in touch with him in the number 098289 98875.
We went to Kuldhara, the haunted village, the next morning. This village was founded in the 13th century and was home to Paliwal Brahmins. In fact it was a collection of 84 villages. The residents were mainly farmers, bankers and traders. But they left the village quickly by the end of the 19th century. What happened to them?
The local legends say that Salim Singh, the minister of Jaisalmer, was smitten by a beautiful Paliwal Brahmin girl. Salim, a baniya, was known for being wicked. He asked to marry the girl, but her father and the villagers said no. Salim threatened them with dire consequences if they did not agree. The legend says that the entire 84 villages fled Kuldhara in one night, cursing the village that no one would ever live there again. The villagers moved to Jodhpur.
The locals think that the ghosts of the Paliwal Brahmins’ ancestors still haunt the place, and no one is allowed to go there after dark. Gaurav Tiwari of Indian Paranormal Society ‘apparently’ confirmed the paranormal activity when he and his team spent the night there in 2010.
We got there just after sunrise. There is a small temple in the center of the place. This is the same temple that Eken Babu visited in the film The Eken — Ruddhaswas Rajasthan. The place where Eken Babu found the duplicate statue was blank. The original statue is still missing.
We also peeped into the room of a churail, whose ceiling is full of bats. We walked along the lanes and the ruined abandoned village houses, each with a story of their own.
Scientific research suggests that the village was not deserted in one night, but over time because of an earthquake, or lack of drinking water along with the challenges of high taxes imposed by Salim Singh. We were the only living beings wandering around the haunted place since we got there early in the morning. We left Kuldhara with a creepy feeling. Our next destination was Jaisalmer Fort.
As I could guess, it must be one of the Bhatti rulers who built the fort.
One of the Bhatti rulers, King Bhoja Deva (not to be confused with Raja Bhoja who lived a hundred years before him), died while protecting Bhatti capital of Lodrava from Muhammad of Ghor around 1176-1177CE. His uncle Jaisal became the king after Bhoj’s death. He expanded his kingdom and built a fortress capital called Jaisalmer on top of Trikuta Hills. This was the new capital of Bhattis.
Jaisal chose to build the fort here to fulfil an old prophecy that he learned from a priest named Eesul. The legends say that Lord Krishna and Bhima came to this hill for a ritual, when Krishna told Bhima that one of his descendants would one day rule this place. Eesul showed Jaisal the spring where Krishna talked to Bhima and the prophecy engraved in rock. Jaisal, a descendent of Krishna, took the prophecy seriously. The rock is still kept safe in the fort.
Jaisal’s son Shalivahana finished the fort before 1187CE. He strengthened the kingdom after the troubled times of Dhoride attacks. This is one of the few forts in the world where people still live. The king let all the people stay inside the fort for security. But as the population increased, people began to live outside the fort walls from around 17th century.
That solved part of our original riddle.Mathura, Kashi, Pragvad was the journey from Mathura to Dwarka. Thousands of years ago the curse of Gandhari manifested and Yadava’s capital city of Dwarka was destroyed and swallowed by the Arabian Sea. Lork Krishna had also died.
The Gulf of Cambay is known for earthquakes. The geology was such that the coastal landmasses could easily get uplifted or sink below the sea, along with any civilization that might have been there at that time. Such events have happened in the historical past. Clear evidence of rivers under the seabed indicates that the area was definitely above sea level at some point in time. There might have been a tsunami or an earthquake that has submerged the coastal area that mythology remembers as the curse of Gandhari. The rise of sea level in the Holocene due to global warming is an additional factor that could have flooded the coasts.
The last two places in the lore were Lodravo, whose king was Bhoja Deva and finally Jaisal who settle in the nineth spot, Jaisalmer. The mystery that remained was what happened in between, in Gajni, Bhatner, Digam, and Derawal. Inspired by Feluda and Eken Babu, I now have my own little mystery to solve. But all in good time.
The Jaisalmer fort is made of local yellow limestone and sandstone which give it the golden color. So, it is also called the golden fort, or more famously as, Sonar Kella. Sonar Kella was not a tourist spot until the Bengali movie of the same name by the legendary director Satyajit Ray made it popular. Our guide told us that the people here were poor before the movie came out. It is the Bengalis who gave jobs to the people of Jaisalmer, and so they have a special affection for Bengalis. His house was just beside Mukul’s house.
As we walked along the narrow colorful lanes we reached the spot where Mukul’s house was. While all the houses around have been changed, this place is still the same. It is the magic of this place that draws Bengalis from all over the world to this very spot where Mukul, Feluda, Topshe and Jotayu were. You could still hear Mukul’s laughter as the Dushtu Lok was taken away.
We walked around the city and admired the Havelis with intricate carvings: Patwaon ki Haveli, Nathmal ki Haveli, and the less ornate Salem Singh ki Haveli. We had heard about the last one in the story of Kuldhara.
On Day-4, we visited these places: Gadisar Lake, Vyas Chhatri, Lodurva Parshwanatha Jain temple, Mandir Palace, and Bada Bagh.
Day-5 was for greeting our neighbors in Pakistan.
We left early that day. Our first destination was Ranau Sand Dunes, Sam minus the crowd. This was the final village before Tanot. The dunes were beautiful, and perfect for some pictures. And, most importantly, we were the only tourists there. We had the entire dune for ourselves.
We drove through the heart of Thar desert and arrived at Tanot Mata Temple.
The local folklore says that a man named Mamadji Charan went to Hinglaj Mata barefoot to pray for children. Hinglaj Mata appeared in his prayers and asked if he wanted a son or a daughter. Mamadji Charan asked the goddess to be his child. The girl who was born was Tanot Mata.
The temple was built by Bhatti Rajput King Tanu Rao in 828 AD. The Pakistani army attacked the temple during the 1965 war. Locals say that 3,000 bombs were aimed at the temple, but none of them hit or exploded. After the war, BSF took over the temple.
You need a permit (border pass) to go to the border and a special permit to see pillar 609. Visit before 2 pm and remember to bring your IDs. We got the permission and drove to the border. From the Indian side, you can see a mosque with Pakistan flag. Apart from that, and as expected, both sides of the border look alike.
We came back from the border and drove to Longewala war museum which is open from 8 am to 6 pm. This place shows the bravery and sacrifice of Indian Army who protects us. Longewala, a key location, was nearly taken by Pakistan army in the 1971 war, but for the courage of a small Indian contingent army. They were outmatched and outgunned by the huge Pakistan infantry and tanks. Under the leadership of Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the small army did not give up despite the heavy losses. They kept the Pakistan Army at bay until Indian Airforce arrived and cleared the area. The Airforce’s precission strike blew up all the tanks and the Pakistan army had to flee to their country, but not before they poisoned most of the wells that the villagers drank from. Some of the wells are still poisoned. Many people who watched the movie Border would know the story. But being there in person, seeing the real tanks and airplanes, made me shiver, my hair rise and my heart beat faster.
On your way back, you can take a detour and visit the Boha geoglyphs. They are about 48kms long within a 3.5km by 1.7km area, the largest geoglyph in the world, bigger than the Nazca lines of Peru. They are probably only 150 years old and made by a plow-type tool, maybe pulled by camel on loose soil.
The road we were travelling on, back to our resort, was lined with the spiky, bean-like mesquite. The locals call it baavlia, or the mad one. The British brought these plants from Mexico to curb the desertification of the Thar desert. The plants thrived in the foreign environment. They even grew on rocks with hardly any soil, and are very difficult to eradicate. But more alarmingly, the mad one displaced all the native plants in the area. Only the mad one can grow, nothing else. They are now expanding beyond the desert and destroying the nearby grasslands. It was a blunder, and now efforts are underway to remove these invaders and restore the native plants. There has been some progress, but there is still a lot to do.
Day-6 was mostly rest and research. In between that we went to a local oasis that had a temple on its muddy bank. You can also visit the innovative Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School. Its unique oval shape and ventilation keeps the interior cool even at 50 degrees Celsius.
My research took me to the origin of Bhatti clan. Balund, a Yaduvamsi king, moved his capital to Shalbhanpur. His eldest son Bhatti became the king after his death. The Bhatti or Bhatti clan is named after king Bhatti. The Bhattika Samvat era begins from 623CE. He established Bhatner, now called Hanumangarh.
Balund’s grandson Chakito was the ruler of Gujni. He married the daughter of Uzbek king Balkh-Bokhara and converted to Islam. His descendants were known as Chagtai Mongols. It was strange that Krishna’s descendants became Genghis Khan’s descendants. Who would have guessed.
Dhundhi, the ruler of Gujni, drove out King Bhatti’s older son Mangal Rao from his capital. Their family escaped and settled in Thar-Parkar desert. Bhatti’s another son, Masoor Rao, took refuge in Lakhi jungle. Three of Mangal’s sons were the ancestors of Kullorea, Moodna and Seora Jats. His eldest son Abhey ruled the area as Abohar line of Bhatti’s descendants, and his younger son Sarun was the ancestor of Sarun/Saran Jats. The Bhatti’s moved from Punjab to Rajasthan and controlled Jaisalmer, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar, Barmer, and Bikaner districts by 11-12th centuries.
The Bhattis competed with other communities and groups already in the area. After years of conflicts, Shalbhanpur Bhattis became dominant in most of the region, especially Tanot, Digam, Derawal and Lodrava. Raja Bhoja Deva, who we met earlier, was a descendant from this line of Bhatti kings.
We had our last day with the dunes on Day-7. We had to board our train from Jaisalmer in the late afternoon. We decided to get to Jaisalmer early and walk around the small, crowded lanes. We also had some shopping to do.
Near Patwaon ki Haveli, we found Sree Ganesha stone, art and handicraft shop. This is the same shop that Eken Babu visited in the film Ruddhaswas Rajasthan. The owner greeted us and told us about the film, and how he was in it too. You can buy the famous ‘sonar pathor bati’, the bowl made of golden stone (fossiliferous Jaisalmer Limestone). This bowl helped Feluda find the clue he needed in Sonar Kella. We also went to some handloom shops, ate Bengali chicken thali in Hotel Prince, and then went to the station.
If you have time, you can also see the Jurassic Akai fossil park, about 20 minutes from Jaisalmer. The area has huge, fossilized tree trunks and gastropod shells from the Early Jurassic period.
Before I sign off, let me end this by solving our original puzzle.
‘Mathura, Kashi, Pragvad, Gajni aru Bhatner,
Digam, Derawal, Lodravo, nammo Jaisalmer’
The people of Dwarka left in large numbers after its destruction. They went west through the mountains of Jud, Behera and Gujni in Zabulisthan.
King Yadubhan (Jud-bhan), the leader of the descendants of the tribe that left Dwarka, was the king of Behera in present-day Afghanistan. His successor, King Subahu, faced constant attacks from Khorasan’s ruler Farid Shah. King Subahu’s son Ruj defeated Farid Shah and ruled for 12 years in the 6th century. Ruj’s son Guj inherited the throne after Ruj’s death. They built a fort in their capital and called it Gujni, which later became Gajni and now Ghazni.
Guj attacked Kashmir and married a Kashmiri princess. They had a son named Shalivahan. When Khorasan attacked Guj again, Raja Guj locked himself for 3 days in the temple of Culadevi. The goddess told him in a vision on the fourth day that he would lose Gujni, but his descendants would rule it as Muslims. The goddess also told him to send his son Shalivahan to the Hindus of the East and build a city after him. Gujni was lost to Khorasan and Guj died. It is interesting to think that some of the Muslim rulers of Ghazni may have had Yaduvamsi blood.
Shalivahan founded Shalbhanpur (Sailkot) in modern-day Pakistan. The powerful king conquered all of Punjab, took back Gujni, made his son Balund the king of Gujni and went back to Shalbhanpur. He died after 33 years of rule. Balund moved his capital to Shalbhanpur later.
You now know the rest of the story that began with Balund’s son Bhatti, whose descendants built Jaisalmer. After many centuries, the tribes of original Yaduvamsis came back to India, closer to their original home. The long journey of generations ended in Jaisalmer, the ninth place. Thanks to the bards, the journey was never forgotten.
Shalivahana completed the construction of Jaisalmer Fort before 1187CE. He was followed by a cruel usurper Vaijal Tod or Beejal. Beejal ruled for a short time and was killed. Kailan, Shalivahana’s younger brother, (1200-1218 CE) became the new king. After him, Chachiga-deva, Karan Singh (1283CE), Lakshman Singh, Punyapal, and Jait Singh ruled successively. But their rule was not a peaceful one. They were under constant attack.
Jaisalmer survived most attacks except twice.
The first time was when Allaudin Khilji besieged the fort. Bhattis fought for 8 years until they had no supplies left. In 1294, the first Jauhar of Jaisalmer took place when 24000 women killed themselves and 3800 men charged to their death.
The second Jauhar was in the late 14th century, when Firuz Shah Tughluq attacked. 16,000 women ended their lives and 1700 warriors died.
Despite the attacks, Battis always returned and regained the fort. Later it became part of British Raj and Jaisalmer became a Princely State. Despite the ups and downs, the people of Jaisalmer kept staying inside the fort, and they do that to this day.
That solves the mystery of Jaisalmer.
It is time to part ways. See you on another trip!
