their neck; and having cased themselves in armour and put on the
saffron robe, they bound the marriage crown around their heads and
embraced each other for the last time. Thus they awaited the hour
of battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, their faces red
with wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs." In this account the
preparation for the Johar as if for a wedding is clearly brought out,
and it seems likely that husbands and wives looked on it as a bridal
preparatory to the resumption of their life together in heaven.

Colonel Tod gives the following account of a Rajput's arms: [491]
"No prince or chief is without his _silla-khana_ or armoury, where he
passes hours in viewing and arranging his arms. Every favourite weapon,
whether sword, dagger, spear, matchlock or bow, has a distinctive
epithet. The keeper of the armoury is one of the most confidential
officers about the person of the prince. These arms are beautiful and
costly. The _sirohi_ or slightly curved blade is formed like that of
Damascus, and is the greatest favourite of all the variety of weapons
throughout Rajputana. The long cut-and-thrust sword is not uncommon,
and also the _khanda_ or double-edged sword. The matchlocks, both of
Lahore and the country, are often highly finished and inlaid with
mother-of-pearl and gold; those of Boondi are the best. The shield
of the rhinoceros-hide offers the best resistance, and is often
ornamented with animals beautifully painted and enamelled in gold and
silver. The bow is of buffalo-horn, and the arrows of reed, which
are barbed in a variety of fashions, as the crescent, the trident,
the snake's tongue, and other fanciful forms." It is probable that
the forms were in reality by no means fanciful, but were copied from
sacred or divine objects; and similarly the animals painted on the
shields may have been originally the totem animals of the clan.

15. Occupation

The traditional occupation of a Rajput was that of a warrior and
landholder. Their high-flown titles, Bhupal (Protector of the earth),
Bhupati (Lord of the earth), Bhusur (God of the earth), Bahuja (Born
from the arms), indicate, Sir H. Risley says, [492] the exalted
claims of the tribe. The notion that the trade of arms was their
proper vocation clung to them for a very long time, and has retarded
their education, so that they have perhaps lost status relatively to
other castes under British supremacy. The rule that a Rajput must
not touch