Jauhar

A mass suicide in which women and
children threw themselves on a bonfire
to protect the family from dishonor
when the men were defeated or killed in
battle. Jauhar was considered the
women’s counterpart to death in combat. If their husbands and fathers were
heavily outnumbered and faced certain
death in battle, women would perform a
mass suicide after the men left their
fortresses. This phenomenon was most
closely associated with the desert state
of Rajasthan, which has strong martial
traditions and a great stress on the
importance of family honor. It is particularly associated with the Rajasthani
city of Chittorgarh, where jauhars
occurred in 1303, 1535, and 1568.