In former times the Gosains often became soldiers and entered the
service of different military chiefs. The most famous of these fighting
priests were the Naga Gosains of the Jaipur State of Rajputana, who
are said to have been under an obligation from their guru or religious
chief to fight for the Raja of Jaipur whenever required. They received
rent-free lands and pay of two pice (1/2d.) a day, which latter was
put into a common treasury and expended on the purchase of arms and
ammunition whenever needed for war. They would also lend money, and if
a debtor could not pay would make him give his son to be enrolled in
the force. The 7000 Naga Gosains were placed in the vanguard of the
Jaipur army in battle. Their weapons were the bow, arrow, shield,
spear and discus. The Gosain proprietor of the Deopur estate in
Raipur formerly kept up a force of Naga Gosains, with which he used
to collect the tribute from the feudatory chiefs of Chhattisgarh on
behalf of the Raja of Nagpur. It is said that he once invaded Bastar
with this object, where most of the Gosains died of cholera. But after
they had fasted for three days, the goddess Danteshwari appeared to
them and promised them her protection. And they took the goddess away
with them and installed her in their own village in Raipur. Forbes
records that in Gujarat an English officer was in command of a troop
known as the Gosain's wife's troops. These Naga Gosains wore only a
single white garment, like a sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees,
and hence it is said that they were called naked. The Gosains and
Bairagis, or adherents of Siva and Vishnu, were often engaged in
religious quarrels on the merits of their respective deities, and
sometimes came to blows. A favourite point of rivalry was the right
of bathing first in the Ganges on the occasion of one of the great
religious fairs at Allahabad or Hardwar. The Gosains claim priority of
bathing, on the ground that the Ganges flows from the matted locks of
Siva; while the Bairagis assert that the source of the river is from
Vishnu's foot. In 1760 a pitched battle on this question ended in the
defeat of the Bairagis, of whom 1800 were slain. Again in 1796 the
Gosains engaged in battle with the Sikh pilgrims and were defeated
with the loss of 500 men. [110] During the reign of Akbar a combat
took place in the Emperor's presence between the two Sivite sects
of Gosains, or Sanniasis and Jogis, having been apparently arranged
for his edification, to decide which sect had the best ground for
its pretensions to supernatural power. The Jogis were completely
defeated. [111]