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Maharani Mahansar Heritage Liquor is the modern manifestation of a nine-generation family tradition that has spanned monarchy, colonization, and independence in India’s northern state of Rajasthan. The Shekhawat family descended from a prominent baron—or thikanedar—of Jaipur State in the early 1700s, began distilling liquor in 1768. Now, for the first time since Indian independence, the family has returned to distilling old recipes in their ancestral village of Mahansar. Not only do these heritage liquors contain the spiced aromas of India, they also hold lessons in the history of power in Rajasthan.

The earliest renditions of Rajasthan’s liquors would not have been liquors at all, but fermented herbal infusions used for dosing Ayurvedic natural medicines called asava. But by the 15th and 16th centuries, Rajasthan’s ruling class was largely from the Rajput caste system, which allowed drinking alcohol (whereas elites in other regions were often of the Brahmin caste, which discouraged the practice). As a result, royal physicians who served the local maharajas concocted new herbaceous medicines in high-proof spirits, which they came to call asaav. Reserved only for the ruling class, intriguing medicinal recipes called for potent ingredients like mutton, rabbit’s blood, and fluid from the skulls of male sparrows.

As distinct liquors emerged, the operation of darukhana, or distilleries, was outsourced to a class of feudal lords known as jagirdars and thikanedars. Surendra Pratap Singh Shekhawat’s ancestors were among these noble distillers to the kings. “It was quite old and traditional, using clay pots and fermenting with ingredients like jaggery,” says Shekhawat, who now serves as managing director of the Shekhawati Heritage Herbal private distillery, which makes Maharani Mansar’s liquor. “You add your different ingredients depending on your recipe and you ferment it for so many days, and then you distill it, and you distill it again, and you distill it again to bring out the finest form of liquor.” Only then was it ready for the royal families. In Mahansar, his family produced spirits on behalf of rulers in Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer (and kept some for themselves).

The spirits they distilled would have had concentrations of alcohol that rival today’s absinthe, around 80 percent. Tales suggest that a cotton ball dipped in the liquor could get anyone drunk. According to Anil K. Singh, the former general manager of Rajasthan’s official state-run distillery and author of a forthcoming book on Heritage Liquors, the recipes ranged from a minimum of 20 to over 75 herbs and spices. These flavors encompassed traditional Indian staples like cardamom and fennel, as well as more distinct aromatics such as safed musli root and sandalwood.

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A fresco from a mansion, or haveli, depicting the sharing of a drink. In Rajput culture, the munawwar piyala meaning “cup of request” is liquor offered to guests during gatherings, especially marriages. All Photos by Author Unless Otherwise Noted

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