A group of Oraon women attired as men hit the Ranchi streets in hunting gear. Picture by Arun Kumar Thakur

Ranchi, March 19: The 1960s might have marked the rise of feminism in sociological discourse, but the hinterlands of Jharkhand witnessed the upsurge of the feminine power about 500 years ago, when Oraon women weathered an onslaught of the Mughal military might.

The legend has given birth to a tribal festival, Jani Shikar, which takes place every 12 years, where Oraon women leave their homes on a hunting spree to commemorate their victory against the Mughals.

The narrative dates back to around 1610, when the Mughals, emperors of the then Bharat, had launched an attacked on an Oraon settlement at Rohtasgarh around Aurangabad, now in Bihar. But, quite shockingly, the local people had put up a stiff resistance to the attack, which led the rulers to approach a local spy for help.

The spy, in turn, advised the Mughals to come back on the morning after Sarhul, when the menfolk would be in deep slumber after their night-long revelry.

But this time too the Mughals failed to conquer the Oraon bastion. When the rulers hauled up the spy blaming him of misleading them, he led them to the secret of the Oraon success. The tribals women had, in fact, dressed up as men, who were all fast asleep, and put up the ?unique resistance?, as Som Singh Munda of the Tribal Research Centre put it.

Since then, every 12 years, Oraon females dress up as males and indulge in a hunting drive. While the festival was slotted for May and June this year, it has already begun in some parts of the state with tribal women being spotted in hunting gears.

Does this festival pose a threat to the animal population in the state? Chief conservator of forests (wildlife) U.R. Biswas does not think so. ?It?s more of a ritual than actual hunting. It is alright if they symbolically kill goats and hens. But they will not be allowed to hunt in the jungles,? Biswas said.

However, like other social customs, Jani Shikar has also borne the stamps of time. While the womenfolk these days are often attired in trousers, shirts, caps and shades instead of the traditional dhoti and pagris, the hunt for animals has also, to a certain extent, been transformed into a more material hunt for cash and poultry.