The capital of Sindh was pilloried to the last brick. Sixty thousand people including several women of princely families were taken as slaves. Dahar’s wife Rani Bai decided to defend the fortress of Raor with about 15,000 warriors, but eventually gave up.35 As documented by Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya, Qasim molested and forcefully married one of Dahar’s wives Ladi,36 while Rani Bai immolated herself along with several Rajput women after failing to protect the fortress—perhaps the first instance of jauhar in India where royal women gave up their lives to prevent themselves from falling into the
...more