>Anil Bishnoi munjasar at 07:18, 7 March 2021

2021-03-07T07:18:00Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Khejarli
| native_name = '''खेजड़ली'''
| native_name_lang ejri =
| other_name =
| nickname = dham
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline = Khejarli Massacre Temple.JPG
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Bishnoi temple commemorating the [[Khejarli massacre]]
| pushpin_map = India Rajasthan#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Rajasthan, India
| coordinates = {{coord|26.15|N|73.15|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Rajasthan]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Jodhpur district|Jodhpur]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Marwari language|Marwari]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = [http://www.postpincode.in/check-post-office-pincode/342802.html 342802]
| registration_plate =
| website =
| footnotes = Coordinates are from [http://wikimapia.org/8997915/Khejarli-Talab Wikimapia]
}}

'''Khejarli''' or '''Khejadli''' is a village in [[Jodhpur district]] of [[Rajasthan]], [[India]], {{convert|26|km|mi}} south-east of the city of [[Jodhpur]]. The name of the town is derived from [[Khejri]] (''[[Prosopis cineraria]])'' trees that were once abundant in the village.

In this village 363 [[Bishnois]] sacrificed their lives in 1730 AD while protecting green Khejri that are considered sacred by the community. The incident was a forebear of the 20th-century [[Chipko Movement]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AGOLbvBL0zEC&pg=PA160&dq=Chipko+movement#PPA159,M1 Bhishnois: Defenders of the Environment] ''This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment'', by Roger S. Gottlieb. Published by Routledge, 1996. {{ISBN|0-415-91233-4}}. ''Page 159 ''.</ref><ref>[http://unep.org/geo/geo2000/pacha/forests/forests3.htm Panchnama - Chipko Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.is/20120729105618/http://unep.org/geo/geo2000/pacha/forests/forests3.htm |date=29 July 2012 }} [[United Nations Environment Programme]] ([[UNEP]]).</ref>

==History==
Thakur Surat Singh, of Kharda thikana, a small estate in Jodhpur[[pargana]]. was granted the estate of Khejarli in the same pargana, by Maharaja [[Abhai Singh of Marwar]] in 1726 AD, and he became the first 'Thakur of Khejarli'.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

=== Khejarli Massacre ===
{{Main|Khejarli massacre}}
[[File:Cenotaph of Khejarli.jpg|thumb|[[Cenotaph]] commemorating the Bishnoi people who died in 1730 AD protecting trees]]
Khejarli was the site of a forebear of the Chipko movement. In 28 August 1730, a royal party led by ''Giridhar Bhandari'', a minister of the [[maharajah]] of [[Marwar]], arrived at the village with the intention of felling some Khejri trees that were sacred to the villagers. The trees were to be burned to produce [[lime (material)|lime]] for the construction of a new palace.

A local woman called '''[[Amrita Devi Bishnoi]]''' protested against the tree-felling because such acts were prohibited by the [[Bishnoi]]'s religion. The feudal party said that they would only cease if she paid them a bribe, which she refused to do because she saw that as ignominious and an insult to her faith. She said that she would rather give away her life to save the trees. She and her three daughters (Asu, Ratni and Bhagu) were then killed by the party.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/bishnoi-villagers-sacrifice-lives-save-trees-1730|title=Bishnoi villagers sacrifice lives to save trees, 1730 {{!}} Global Nonviolent Action Database|website=nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-08-20}}</ref>

News of the deaths spread and summons to a meeting were sent to 84[[Bishnoi]] villages. The meeting determined that one [[Bishnoi]] volunteer would sacrifice their [[life]] for every [[tree]] that was cut down. Older people began hugging the trees that were intended to be cut and many were killed.

These efforts failed to have the desired impact and Bhandari claimed that the [[Bishnoi]]s were sacrificing ageing people whom they no longer saw as useful to society. In response to this, young men, women and children began to follow the example of the old.

The development shocked the tree-felling party. The group left for Jodhpur with their mission unfulfilled and the Maharaja [[Abhai Singh of Marwar]] subsequently ordered that no more trees should be felled. 363 [[Bishnoi]]s died in the incident.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/forestry/bisnoi.htm|title=The Bishnois|website=edugreen.teri.res.in|access-date=2017-08-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VU69BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180&dq=khejarli&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHhpvw8eXVAhVKp48KHQdlC6QQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=khejarli&f=false|title=Faunal Heritage of Rajasthan, India: General Background and Ecology of Vertebrates|last=Sharma|first=B. K.|last2=Kulshreshtha|first2=Seema|last3=Rahmani|first3=Asad R.|date=2013-09-14|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781461408000|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent |first=Valmik |last=Thapar |publisher=University of California Press |year=1997 |isbn=9780520214705 |url=https://archive.org/details/landoftigernatur00thap |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/landoftigernatur00thap/page/179 179]}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

[[Category:Social history of India]]
[[Category:History of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Villages in Jodhpur district]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Jodhpur district]]

Khejarli - Revision history

>Anil Bishnoi munjasar at 07:18, 7 March 2021