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country from its tyrant, the king Pumvrao. Such are the Jakhs4. They are treated like gods. Their legend is known only thanks to bardic tales because the Jakhs are responsible for the failure of the first attempt of the Samma Rajputs from Sind to rule over Kutch, through ruining Pumvrao, nephew of Lākhā Phulāņi (at the end of the 10th century). Several tales are available. A.Burnes in 1826 provided the first ones and L.F. Rushbrook Williams has summed up the state of the question in 19586. According to the legends, seven holy men had come from somewhere near Byzantium ; called Rikhis (Rşi) or Samghar, they are said to have worshipped their god Jakh on a hill not far from the fort of Pumvrao, Padhargadh. The fact that they were able to heal sterility is said to have been of interest to the queen of Pumvrao who is said either to have given them access to the palace through an underground passage or to have been offended because having been treated by them like an ordinary woman. Pumvrao is said to have had them arrested and condemned to winnow grain on a ground covered with nails. A compassionate barber is said to have freed one of them who from the top of a hill had then called for the help of his God. Jakh is said to have arrived from Byzantium in company of his 70 brothers and one sister. As Pumvrao refused to liberate the prisoners, they are said to have killed Pumvrao after a lot of vicissitudes and put a curse on Padhargadh which was ruined and abandoned two years after having been built. Later on the 71 Jakhs and their sister were divinized and worshipped astride on their horses.
Another miracle was required in the 18th century to convince Rao Desalji (1716-1751) of the fact that the Jakhs actually existed : they appeared from the sky on their horses near the gold market (soni bazār) at Bhuj. A shrine commemorates the event, it is called Jakh Jar or Jakh Mandir; it is not much visited nowadays but well kept: 24 completely whitewashed niches are aligned on a platform surrounded by constructions, each providing shelter to three manuscript scrolls, doubtlessly standing for the 72 Jakhs ; two Jakh statues stand
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