On May 20, 2018, for our series Voices on Art, Art This Week Productions filmed this talk by author Robert Elgood, a world authority in the field of Arms and Armor, titled Warriors, Weapons, Honor, and Tigers: The Rajput World of Cultural Obligations at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This talk is the fifth of five talks we are filming in collaboration with the MFAH as part of the annual Ruth K. Shartle lecture series and in conjunction with the exhibition, Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India on view at the museum through August 19, 2018.
From the MFAH website–“India’s Rajput warriors (kshastriya) belong to small, tight-knit clans that claimed descent from the Sun, Moon, and Fire divinities. For warriors, to die in bed was a disgrace, so they took care to avoid this fate, believing death in battle would ensure warrior heaven.
As the exhibition Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India shows, Rajputs delighted in hunting, horses, music, and art relating to romantic and religious love. But their real passion was war and honor.
Robert Elgood explores how all Rajput warrior activities were subordinate to battle, the greatest moment in a man’s life. The Charans, a caste of poets who glorified the achievements of warriors entering court, had the duty of establishing correct Rajput behavior (Rajput dharm), illustrated through heroic stories setting standards of war, love, duty, and self-sacrifice—absolute obligations applicable to Rajput men and women.”
Thanks to Robert and the MFAH for allowing us to film the talk.
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