Rohet, a family fort among the Bishnoi villages

Eighty-four wounds and a village

• The garh: the fort beside the village lake was the centre of estate life. Disputes were heard in its courtyard and the harvest share counted in its stores.
• The zenana: the family's women lived in these inner apartments, behind screened windows.
• How estates worked: our journal explains a rawla and a thikana.
• Soldiers and horsemen: the family served the Jodhpur court for centuries.
• Polo: Thakur Dalpat Singh II, the founder's namesake, played polo for Jodhpur in the 1920s, when the state's team was among the most famous in the world.
• After Independence: like all the old nobility, the family lost its estates and income.
• An early heritage hotel: Rohet Garh opened to guests in 1990, one of the first family-run heritage hotels in Rajasthan.
• The first village safari: they began taking visitors to the villages in 1988, and the idea is now copied across the state.
• Still home: the family lives here and runs the house, which gives it its warmth.

Inside Rohet Garh

• No new buildings: the family reused the old ones, so rooms keep the quirks of an old house.
• The details: deep window seats, arched doorways, old furniture, family photographs and paintings, and walls thick enough to keep out the summer.
• The pool: a courtyard pool framed by four chhatris, domed pavilions, one of the loveliest places in Marwar for a hot afternoon.
• Also here: a small spa, sunny breakfast terraces, and a lakeside where cranes and egrets wade in winter.
• Choosing a room: they vary a great deal. Tell us whether you want a suite with history or a bright room by the pool.
• The pace: a ride or village drive in the cool of the morning, drinks on the terrace as the lake turns gold, and very little you have to do in between.

The writers' desk

• The acknowledgement: in City of Djinns, his book about a year in Delhi, he thanks Siddharth and Rashmi Singh for months of hospitality, and says he started the manuscript at the desk where Chatwin wrote The Songlines.
• Months, not days: the family remembers both men staying a long time.
• A place to work: other writers have followed. The days have a gentle shape, the food is very good, the lake is calm, and nothing distracts but the well and the horses.
• Chatwin's last years: he was already ill, and accounts differ on where he finished the book.
• What stayed: the book carries the desert, nomads, herders and endless roads, and Rohet, among Marwar's herders and horsemen, was one of the places it took shape.

The Bishnoi villages

• What they cover: daily cleanliness, honesty, compassion and worship, with a ban on cutting green trees and killing animals.
• Burial: Bishnois traditionally bury their dead rather than cremate them, partly to save wood.
• Khejarli: soldiers came to cut khejri trees for the maharaja. Amrita Devi put her arms around a tree and refused to move, and she was killed.
• The 363: her daughters followed, then villager after villager. By the time the maharaja stopped the cutting, as many as 363 Bishnois had died.
• Its legacy: Khejarli is a place of pilgrimage, and the story inspired later movements to protect India's forests. Read Bishnoi conservation.
• Around Rohet: blackbuck, chinkara and nilgai graze in the fields and around the wells.
• Care for animals: families put out water and grain and nurse injured or orphaned fawns, and there are many photographs of Bishnoi women nursing young deer.
• Homes and dress: round-walled, swept spotless. Men wear white, women deep reds and oranges with gold jewellery.
• How we visit: in small groups, only with families who welcome guests. Read about Bishnoi villages.
• Manners: remove your shoes where asked, never smoke near a Bishnoi home, and never bring meat or leave rubbish.

The village safari, and the people you'll meet

Marwari horses at dawn

• A fine stable: Rohet Garh keeps one of the best Marwari stables in the country.
• The morning ride: sand tracks past fields and villages, through scrub where blackbuck graze.
• Riding safaris: the family organises multi-day rides across western Rajasthan with mobile tented camps, avoiding tarmac entirely.
• At a wedding: the groom rides to the bride's home on a decorated mare at the head of the baraat, the wedding procession, with drums and brass bands.
• Village pride: a well-schooled horse that can dance to the drum.
• In the stables at evening: hands talk to the young horses, groom them and check every hoof. You see why the Rathores trusted them with their lives.
• Plan a ride: our Marwari horse safari journey and Marwari horse safaris.

The Rohet table

• Safed maas: in a sauce of cream and nuts.
• From the hunt: game-style dishes, now made with mutton or chicken.
• The vegetarian side: ker sangri, gatte and kadhi, with bajra rotis, white butter and jaggery.
• Desserts: churma, lapsi or a Rajput rice pudding with saffron.
• Special meals: a royal picnic carried out to a dune or the lakeside, or dinner in the style of the old shikar camps under the stars.
• Breakfast: on the terrace, the lake below, the horses coming back from their ride and a hot paratha on your plate.

Birds and wildlife

• Scrub and farmland: larks, bee-eaters, rollers, peafowl and grey francolin.
• Outings: birdwatching on foot or by bicycle with local guides.
• Antelope: blackbuck most often near Bishnoi villages, with chinkara and nilgai in the scrub.
• At dusk: desert foxes and jackals.
• Our rule: keep our distance and never chase animals for a photograph. See ethical animal encounters.

Seasons and festivals at Rohet

• Summer: fierce heat, with riding only in the first hours after dawn.
• Monsoon: quiet, green in patches and full of birdsong.
• Gangaur at the fort: images of Gauri and Isar, as Parvati and Shiva are known here, are displayed for five evenings in the zenana courtyard.
• Ghoomar: women of the family and the village sing and dance around them. Read about Gangaur.
• Check your dates: if you travel in March or April, ask us whether you'll catch Gangaur.
• Holi and Diwali: celebrated warmly with the village.

Staying in a family's house

• The greeting: khamma ghani, with your hands joined, goes a long way.
• Dinner is the heart of the day: in the courtyard or on the terrace, and family members may join to tell stories of the estate, the horses and the writers.
• Dress and linger: simple but neat clothes for dinner, and take your time. Conversation is part of the experience here.
• Tipping: once, at the end, through the common staff box, so the kitchen and laundry teams are included. See money and tipping.
• Say yes: if the family invites you to a festival evening or village celebration. Those are the nights you will remember.

What most visitors to Rohet miss

• Dalrymple's start: his first book, In Xanadu, followed Marco Polo's route across Asia, and City of Djinns won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
• Amrita Devi remembered: India's national award for wildlife protection carries her name, the Amrita Devi Bishnoi award.
• From Khejarli to Chipko: the Bishnoi tree-huggers are often cited as forerunners of the Chipko movement of the 1970s in the Himalaya.
• Mukam: Guru Jambheshwar's resting place, near Nokha in Bikaner district, is the faith's holiest site, with a great fair in the month of Phalgun.
• The law catches up: blackbuck are now listed in Schedule I of India's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the highest level of protection, but Bishnoi villages guarded them long before.
• Ghoomar's roots: the whirling women's dance you may see at Gangaur is a Rajput court dance with roots in Bhil tradition.

Before you go to Rohet

• Plan the kitchen: cooking lessons and special picnics are easier to arrange before you arrive.
• Bring binoculars: for the winter birds on the lake and the antelope near the villages.
• Pair it well: Jodhpur before, Ranakpur or Jawai after, or Mihir Garh for a night in the open desert.

Where to stay, and what to combine

Getting to Rohet

• From Jaipur: often broken in Jodhpur or Pushkar.
• Planning drives: our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we plan around the best light.
• Our journeys: Village Rajasthan, of rawlas, forts and farms, and Mewar and Marwar.

Two days at Rohet

What we tell friends before Rohet

• Bishnoi villages: never smoke, never bring meat, and keep well back from the animals.
• Ask before photographing: especially women, and accept tea if it is offered.
• No gifts to children: if you want to help, ask us or the family about local schools.
• A shawl: for winter evenings on the terrace and early rides.
• Who it suits: lovers of countryside, animals and good conversation. For grand palaces and nightlife, stay in Jodhpur and come here for a day.