The Chambal River. Photo by Dr Indira Khurana
By Dr Indira Khurana*
Excerpted from the book Climate Resilient Socioeconomic Growth through Water Conservation: Evidence, Implications. Livelihood, Green GDP, Circular Economy: Villages in the Chambal region, by Indira Khurana, PhD. This book brings a message of hope from the Chambal villages of Rajasthan to the world – A message of climate-resilient green growth that is decentralised, equitable, regenerative and sustainable.
According to folklore the infamous game of dice between the Kauravas and Pandavas was also played out on the banks of the River Chambal. An enraged Draupadi, on finding she had been wagered and lost over a roll of dice, cursed the river for being a mute witness to her humiliation. From that day forward whoever would drink the Chambal waters would be filled with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance.
Although it is impossible to ascertain the veracity of these stories, the legend of Draupadi’s curse grew with the passage of time even as the Chambal behad (ravines) became inextricably linked with baghis (rebels) of every hue and disposition and their relentless search for justice and survival. The Chambal ravines’ labyrinthine maze of deep gullies formed by accelerated erosion, were a natural ally to those seeking to hide or shelter in their folds.
The fall of Delhi and Kannauj in the twelfth century, gave a fillip to the legends, as successive waves of Rajput refugees sought asylum in the Chambal behad (ravines). Ousting the aborigine Meo and Bhil tribes, the Tomar Rajputs settled in vast tracts along the Chambal – territory still known as Tomarghaar (home/land of the Tomar). As the whole Northern country came under Muslim rulers, these Rajput clans were in a perpetual state of war or rebellion. The chronicles of the Sultanate and Mughal period are replete with instances of armies deployed to control yet another uprising. No sooner did the armies crush the rebels and turn back, was the banner of revolt unfurled yet again.
This situation continued into the latter half of the eighteenth century when the armies of the Jats and Marathas further compounded the state of chaos. The British took over in the early nineteenth century and attempted to restore order with a special Thagi and Dakaiti department. The great rebellion of 1857 saw a resurgence of the dacoit gangs with rebellious sepoys and sympathizers taking to the ravines after the major battles had been lost. The problem was never completely resolved and remained a festering wound through British rule in India.
The call of the behad retained a strong hold on peoples’ imagination and the baghi continued to be seen as a victim of the system, a person of honour who had taken up arms as a last recourse against an unjust and unfair enemy. Their survival depended on the sympathy and complicit support of the local population. The emergence of organized gangs, caste-based vendettas and kidnapping for ransom led to an erosion of this support base. The late twentieth century saw several rehabilitation programmes combined with law enforcement. Appeals to surrender by the social activist Vinobha Bhave and Jay Prakash Narayan yielded results and the 1970’s saw mass surrenders by former dacoits. The Chambal behads are largely peaceful today, though their allure remains, more as a part of the historical narrative of this land than as a way of life. In the 1990s, water conservation work in the behads by Tarun Bharat Sangh began and led to a social, ecological and economic transformation of the region and the villages. As bandits voluntarily lay down their arms and took a life of honest labour on their fields, the atmosphere of fear began to be replaced by peace, and shame by self-pride. Groundwater levels rose and streams and nallahs began to flow.
To continue…
*Indira Khurana, PhD is Chief Advisor of Tarun Bharat Sangh, an NGO working since 1975 towards climate change mitigation and adaptation by promoting water conservation, sustainable agriculture and rural development in the arid and semi-arid regions of India.
