Note 8 — CHAPTER 6
Reading edition
[Sir G. Grierson informs me that Johar or Jauhar is derived from Jatugriha, ‘a house built of lac or other combustibles,’ in allusion to the story in the Mahābhārata (i. chap. 141-151) of the attempted destruction of the Pāndavas by setting such a building on fire. For other examples of the rite see Ferishta i. 59 f.; Elliot-Dowson i. 313, 536 f., iii. 426, 433, iv. 277, 402, v. 101; Forbes, Rās Māla, 286; Malcolm, Memoir Central India, 2nd ed. i. 483. For recent cases Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 242; Punjab Notes and Queries, iv. 102 ff.]