LaverneHenry at 19:55, 11 April 2026

2026-04-11T19:55:19Z

New page

{{Short description|1730 massacre in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Khejarli Massacre
| subtitle = September 1730, 363 [[Bishnois]] were killed while trying to peacefully protect a grove of [[Prosopis cineraria|Khejri trees]].
| partof =
| image = 363 Bishnoi Sacrifice Memorial.jpg
| image_alt = Memorial
| caption = A memorial Commemorating 363 Bishnois died for saving Green Trees Near [[Khejarli]], [[Jodhpur]], [[Rajasthan]], India
| date = early-mid September 1730, likely on 11 September
| place = [[Khejarli]], [[Rajasthan]]
| coordinates = {{coord|26|10|00.0|N|73|9|32.8|E|region:IN-RJ_type:event|display=title,inline}}
| causes = felling of trees by the [[Kingdom of Marwar]]
| goals =
| methods =
| status =
| result = 363 [[Bishnois]] killed, tree harvesting halted and outlawed in the village
| side1 = Khejarli villagers '''Supported by'''<br/> [[Bishnoi]] practitioners
| side2 = [[File:Flag of Jodhpur.svg|25px]] Soldiers and labourers of the [[Kingdom of Marwar]]
| side3 =
| leadfigures1 = [[Amrita Devi]], Bishnoi elders
| leadfigures2 = Giridhar Bhandari
| leadfigures3 =
| howmany1 = Several hundred Bishnoi practitioners
| howmany2 = "Party" of soldiers and labourers
| howmany3 =
| casualties1 = 363 Bishnois villagers
| casualties2 = none
| casualties3 =
| fatalities = 363
| injuries =
| arrests =
| detentions =
| charged =
| fined =
| casualties_label =
| notes =
| sidebox =
| Fair =
}}
The '''Khejarli massacre''' occurred in September 1730 in Northern India, when 363 [[Bishnoi]]s were killed while trying to peacefully protect a grove of [[Khejri]] trees from being chopped down on the orders of the Maharaja of Marwar, [[Abhai Singh of Marwar|Abhai Singh]]. Abhai Singh had sent his soldiers to cut the trees in the village of [[Khejarli]] to provide wood for a new palace. The killings were carried out on the orders of his minister, Giridhar Bhandari. The effort had a long-term impact on environmental advocacy, and the massacre later became known as a precursor to the 20th-century [[Chipko movement]]. Due to the sacrifice of the protesters, the ruler took back his earlier order of felling trees.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://theviewspaper.net/nature-conservation-is-my-religion/|title=Nature Conservation is my Religion|last=Mehra|first=Satya Prakash|date=31 December 2008|website=The Viewspaper|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602063517/http://theviewspaper.net/nature-conservation-is-my-religion/|archive-date=2 June 2015|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref>

== History ==

In 1730, Abhai Singh dispatched one of his ministers, Giridhar Bhandari, to collect wood to be used in the construction of a new palace; some sources report that the wood was needed to build the palace,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/landoftigernatur00thap|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/landoftigernatur00thap/page/179 179]|title=Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent|last=Thapar|first=Valmik|date=1997|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520214705|language=en}}</ref> while others note the Marwars intended to burn the trees to create [[Lime (material)|lime]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Regardless of intended purpose, Bhandari and his entourage of soldiers arrived in Khejarli, where they demanded access to the village's trees. Led by a woman named [[Amrita Devi Bishnoi|Amrita Devi]] , the villagers refused to surrender their trees to the Raj's soldiers. Amrita stated that the Khejri trees were sacred to the [[Bishnoi]]s, and her faith prohibited her from allowing the trees to be cut down.<ref name=":2">Gottlieb, Roger S. "Bishnois: Defenders of the Environment." This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. Psychology Press, 1996. pp. 159-160</ref>

The situation escalated, and the Marwan party offered to leave the village's Khejri trees alone in exchange for a bribe. However, this was seen as a grievous insult to the Bishnoi values, and Amrita announced that she would rather die than allow the trees to be cut down. She and her family began [[Tree hugging|hugging]] the Khejris, shielding the trees with their bodies. Angered by the rebuke, the Marwans beheaded Amrita and three of her daughters before beginning to cut down the trees.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Kevin Desmond">{{cite book|author=Kevin Desmond |year=2017 |title=Planet Savers: 301 Extraordinary Environmentalists|publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=18|isbn=9781351280310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGRQDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Khejarli%22+massacre+%22Amrita+Devi%22+}}</ref>

News of the ongoing desecration of Jehnad's trees quickly spread among Rajasthan's Bishnoi population. In all, Bishnois from 83 villages began to travel to Jehnad in an attempt to save the trees,<ref name=":2" /> and a council was convened to determine what could be done about the situation. The council's decision was that each Bishnoi volunteer would lay down their life to defend one of the threatened trees. Older people went forward first, with many of them being killed as they hugged the Khejris. Seeing this as an opportunity, Giridhar Bhandari claimed that the Bishnoi were only sending forward people who they thought were useless to be killed. In response, younger men, women, and children began to hug the trees, resulting in many of them being killed as well.<ref name=":2" /> In all, 363 Bishnois were killed while protecting the trees.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://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=26 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">Reichert A. (2016) Transformative Encounters: Destabilising Human/Animal and Nature/Culture Binaries Through Cross-Cultural Engagement.</ref>

Shocked by the passive resistance of the Bishnois, Abhai Singh recalled his men and personally travelled to the village to apologise for his minister's actions.<ref name=":1" /> He decreed that the village would never again be compelled to provide wood for the kingdom. The village was later renamed Khejarli, and the site of the massacre became a place of pilgrimage for the Bishnoi faith.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

== Legacy ==
[[File:Bishnoi Temple at Khejarli Massacre Memorial Site..jpg|thumb|left|alt=Bishnoi Temple at Khejarli Massacre Memorial Site.|Bishnoi Temple at Khejarli Massacre Memorial Site.]]
The Khejarli Massacre was an inspiration for the 20th-century environmentalist [[Chipko movement]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ecologise.in/2017/05/28/the-bishnois-indias-original-environmentalists-who-inspired-the-chipko-movement/|title=The Bishnois, India's original environmentalists, who inspired the Chipko movement - Ecologise|date=28 May 2017|work=Ecologise|access-date=26 October 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref> Several temples and a [[cenotaph]] in Khejarli commemorate the massacre, and the village is the site of an annual Bishnoi ceremony held in honour of the event.<ref name=":5" /> A fair is organised every year on Shukla Dashmi of Bhadrapad (Hindu month) in September at Khejarli, Jodhpur, to pay homage to the victims.<ref name=":6" />

The Government of India has also instituted the [[Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award|Amrita Devi Bishnoi Environment Protection Award]], recognising the sacrifice of Amrita Devi.<ref name=":6" /> In 2013, the [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change|Ministry of Environment]] declared the day of the massacre (11 September) as National Forest Martyrs Day.<ref>{{cite news |title=National Forest Martyrs Day: History, significance and theme |url=https://www.cnbctv18.com/environment/sept-11-india-national-forest-martyrs-day-history-significance-14675441.htm |access-date=13 September 2022 |work=cnbctv18.com |date=11 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/join-hands-forest-conservation-692319.html|title=Join hands for forest conservation, says DCF|date=11 September 2018|website=Deccan Herald|language=en|access-date=14 July 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Tiladi massacre]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commonscat|Khejarli massacre}}

[[Category:Massacres in India]]
[[Category:Environmental protests]]
[[Category:History of Jodhpur]]
[[Category:History of forestry in India]]
[[Category:1730 in India]]
[[Category:1730s crimes]]

Khejarli massacre - Revision history

LaverneHenry at 19:55, 11 April 2026