Rajasthan royal family breaks centuries-old tradition, names girl as successor

JAIPUR: A royal family in Rajasthan, which had followed a tradition of giving inheritance rights only to male members for generations, has made history by passing the legacy to a girl for the first time. Thirteen-year-old Tejasvi Kumari Jodha was named the heir of the Kherwagarh royal family after the death of her father.

With this, Tejasvi became the first girl to be the centre of the traditional ‘Paag Ka Dastoor’ ceremony, which was earlier reserved only for male heirs of the family. The ceremony was held at Kherwagarh Fort in the presence of a large gathering as part of her father’s post-death rituals. Amid the chanting of Vedic prayers, Tejasvi received the royal family’s traditional red turban.

The red turban represents the end of the mourning period and marks the transfer of responsibility and inheritance to the next heir. It was sent to the village through a representative of former Jodhpur-Marwar ruler Gaj Singh Maharaja. As part of the centuries-old tradition, the village royal priest cuts his hand with the tip of a sword and applies his blood as a tilak on the heir’s forehead. This ritual has been followed for generations as a symbol of succession in the Rajput community.

In many Rajput villages, the tradition of placing the turban on the successor after the death of the family head continues to this day. The ceremony holds deep cultural significance, symbolising the transfer of family responsibilities, honour, and legacy from one generation to the next. However, for centuries, this custom was traditionally reserved only for male heirs. The Kherwagarh royal family had not conducted this ceremony for nearly 65 years because there were no male successors in the family. This time, the elders of the community recognised the deceased head of the family’s only daughter, 13-year-old Tejasvi, as the next heir.

According to a local belief, the Kherwagarh royal family was cursed by a man named Jorji Champawat. Local folklore says that he was killed after being betrayed and, before his death, he cursed the family, saying that it would never have any male heirs. The absence of male successors in the family since the late 19th century further strengthened this belief among the locals. It was against this backdrop that Tejasvi Jodha was chosen as the next heir of the Kherwagarh royal family.