How did the Bishnoi community get the name? How are they associated with Blackbucks and Chinkara? What is their relationship with environmental conservation? Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your knowledge nugget for today.

 

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique was allegedly shot dead by the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang on 12th October 2024. This gang has been involved in high-profile cases that include the murder of Punjabi musician Sidhu Moosewala in May 2022, the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai house on April 14 this year, and the firing at the house in Canada of musician A P Dhillon in early September.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Bishnois are a Hindu religious sect residing in the Western Thar desert and some northern states of India. They trace their origins to the teachings of Guru Jambhesvara who was born to a Panwar Rajput family in 1451 AD at Peepasar village of Nagore district in Western Rajasthan.

2. Jambhesvara is known to have been influenced by Vaishnava traditions and his followers regard him as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. As per Bishnoi mythological tradition, when Jambhesvara was 25, a severe decade-long drought struck Western Rajasthan. Due to the shortage of water and food, people cut down large trees and hunted down a large number of chinkaras and blackbucks for meat.

3. Jambhesvara was deeply moved by the disaster and pondered overtime to come up with a solution. Finally, at the age of 34, he had a spiritual revelation to reform society along the lines of environmental sustenances. Jambhesvara came out with a list of 29 rules meant to be staunchly followed by his community of followers to lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

4. The 29 rules laid down by the founder, are what gives the community its name- bish (20), noi (9). Out of the 29 rules, eight were about protecting the environment including the non-sterilisation of bulls, the prohibition against the killing of animals, prohibition against cutting down trees. The other rulers were about social behaviour and personal hygiene.

5. In addition to the 29 rules, his teachings are preserved in the form of 120 statements known as sabdas. The 29 rules along with the 120 sabdas define the religious duty of the Bishnoi, or what is known as their ‘Dharma’. Many of these sabdas criticised both Hindus and Muslims for practices in the name of religion that were harmful to the environment.

6. The most celebrated among the instances of Bishnoi protection of flora and fauna is the Khejri massacre dating back to 1730 AD when Amrita Devi along with her daughters lay down their lives, contesting the decision of Maharaja Abhay Singh to cut down Khejri trees in Khejari village of Rajasthan for the sake of building his palace. Legend has it that a total of 363 people died protecting the trees from the saws of the ruler and his men.

7. In 1978, the community protested against the hunting of the Great Indian Bustard in Jaisalmer by Arab sheiks, reacting to which the Indian government managed to save the bird from total extinction.

8. In 1998, Salman Khan along with four others — Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bhendre and Neelam Kothari — were accused of poaching Chinkara and Blackbuck in Rajasthan during the shoot of the film ‘Hum saath saath hain’. The eyewitness accounts of Poonamchand Bishnoi and Chhogaram Bishnoi are what led to the conviction of Khan in the poaching case. However, the verdict on this case is still due.

1. Blackbucks are found only in the Indian subcontinent. Males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, while females are fawn-coloured. The animals are mainly seen in three broad clusters across India-northern, southern, and eastern regions. Due to conservation efforts, IUCN was able to relax the blackbuck’s status to ‘Least Concern’ in 2017. It is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Hunting and poaching blackbucks is a non-bailable offence and can invite a jail term of up to six years. It is worshipped by the Bishnoi community.

2. The chinkara or Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) is an antelope endemic to the Indian subcontinent. It is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act and is listed under Schedule 1. It is listed as least concern in the IUCN Red List. It is the state animal of Rajasthan.

3. The Great Indian Bustard is a large bird found only in India. It is known to be a key indicator species of the grassland habitat, which means its survival also signals the health of grassland habitats. Over the past four decades, its population has declined steadily from being in the range of 700 individuals to less than 150 as of today, as per the Rajasthan Forest Department. It is considered a “critically endangered” bird in the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

Previous Knowledge Nugget:Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences 2024

(Source: Original Research piece- Bishnoi community vs Salman Khan, Blackbucks (IE), Critically endangered Great Indian Bustards)

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