The principal deity of the Rajputs is the goddess Devi or Durga in her
more terrible form as the goddess of war. Their swords were sacred to
her, and at the Dasahra festival they worshipped their swords and other
weapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protected
the virtue of the Rajput women and caused to be enacted the terrible
holocausts, not infrequent in Rajput history, when some stronghold
was besieged and could hold out no longer. A great furnace was then
kindled in the citadel and into this the women, young and old, threw
themselves, or else died by their husbands' swords, while the men,
drunk with _bhang_ and wearing saffron-coloured robes, sallied out to
sell their lives to the enemy as dearly as possible. It is related
that on one occasion Akbar desired to attempt the virtue of a queen
of the Sesodia clan, and for that purpose caused her to lose herself
in one of the mazes of his palace. The emperor appeared before her
suddenly as she was alone, but the lady, drawing a dagger, threatened
to plunge it into her breast if he did not respect her, and at the same
time the goddess of her house appeared riding on a tiger. The baffled
emperor gave way and retired, and her life and virtue were saved.
The Rajputs also worship the sun, whom many of them look upon as
their first ancestor. They revere the animals and trees sacred to the
Hindus, and some clans show special veneration to a particular tree,
never cutting or breaking the branches or leaves. In this manner the
Bundelas revere the _kadamb_ tree, the Panwars the _nim_ [473] tree,
the Rathors the pipal [474] tree, and so on. This seems to be a relic
of totemistic usage. In former times each clan had also a tribal god,
who was its protector and leader and watched over the destinies of
the clan. Sometimes it accompanied the clan into battle. "Every royal
house has its palladium, which is frequently borne to battle at the
saddle-bow of the prince. Rao Bhima Hara of Kotah lost his life and
protecting deity together. The celebrated Khichi (Chauhan) leader
Jai Singh never took the field without the god before him. 'Victory
to Bujrung' was his signal for the charge so dreaded by the Maratha,
and often has the deity been sprinkled with his blood and that of
the foe." [475] It is said that a Rajput should always kill a snake
if he sees one, because the snake, though a prince among Rajputs,
is an enemy, and he should not let it live. If he does not kill it,
the snake will curse him and bring ill-luck upon him. The same rule
applies, though with less binding force, to a tiger.