paliwal.co.in

...The amazing story of the Paliwal Brahmins of Jaisalmer. To hear this tale, travel 18 km west of Jaisalmer to the medieval village of Kuldhara, and speak to Sumar Lal, the Bhil guard you will meet at the gate.
As you enter, the stone remains of a string of ruined houses greet you. Built in 1291 with a great sense of geometry and urban planning, Kuldhara was the biggest of the 84 villages of the Paliwal Brahmins of Jaisalmer, who had come from Pali, just south of Jodhpur. The industrious nature of the Paliwals was matched only by their brilliance. Their immense prosperity—even the kings relied on taxes collected from Paliwals—was based primarily on agriculture and livestock.
Agriculture? Yes. Here in the heart of the desert! And they used to grow water-intensive crops like wheat. They did so for more than 600 years. The key to their prosperity was the ability to identify areas with a layer of gypsum rock running under the surface. They would build their villages around such areas. Their agriculture relied not on surface water or groundwater but a third category of water: sand water. The gypsum would prevent rainwater from percolating into the ground. The Paliwals used this moisture to grow bumper crops. Much of the skills of water management in Jaisalmer came from the Paliwals. This kind of genius has made the Thar the most densely populated desert in the world, in terms of both humans and livestock. If you go to any former Paliwal village, you will notice that the rainwater doesn’t disappear in the sand. It stays. But there are no hands today to take this bounty and make foodgrain and gold out of it. Why?

The Paliwals’ prosperity was too much for Salim Singh to bear. He began troubling them. Some say it was unfair taxation, others say the dewan became lecherous. Whatever the reason, the village chiefs met at a function one day in 1825. They decided self-respect was more important than land. With salt and water in their palms, they swore to leave Jaisalmer for good. Overnight, all 84 villages were abandoned. All that the Paliwals took with them was what they could carry.
Standing in the middle of what must have been a bustling town, I tried to imagine what it would have been like. Beautiful houses. Wealth. Magnificent cattle and camels. Thousands of everyday articles that make a household. I stood there, immobilised. A people who could make gold from the ‘infertile’ sand knew that they could prosper in another land. It is said that the Paliwals left a curse on the land. The rain gods went away with them, and Jaisalmer slowly lost all its prosperity. Till about 30-40 years ago, the 84 villages stood just as they had been left. Neighbouring villagers refused to set foot in these cursed villages. Then the government started distributing permits to take away the carved stones from the houses. Some Australian tourists were apprehended with gold they’d dug out of Kuldhara. A region that prospered due to Paliwals and Patwas today survives on tourism.....