India, Sept. 8 -- In the recent controversy about Jauhar, ignited by Swara Bhasker's argument that the depiction of Jauhar in Padmaavat (2018) would make rape victims feel that they are cowards for not committing suicide, almost no one has mentioned Saka. Saka was the ritual by which all the men went to battle when they were outnumbered and sure to be killed.

Jauhar was always accompanied by Saka. The men did not survive the women. This is what Swara and those who agree with her forget. Both Saka and Jauhar were performed to avoid not just rape but capture, enslavement, forced conversion, torture, and death. A very early example, not termed Jauhar at the time but similar to it, was recorded by Greek historians. About 20,000 men and women...