In the 16th century, Madhusudana Saraswati of Bengal organised a section of the Naga tradition of armed sannyasi in order to protect Hindus from the intolerant Mughal rulers. Although generally said to abide by the principle of non-violence (ahimsā), these Dashanami monks had long been forming akhara for the practice of both yoga and martial arts. Such warrior-ascetics have been recorded from 1500 to as late as the 18th century, although tradition attributes their creation to the 8th-century philosopher Sankaracharya. They began as a stratum of Rajput warriors who would gather after harvest and arm peasants into militarised units, effectively acting as a self-defense squad. Prevalent in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bengal, they would give up their occupations and leave their families to live as mercenaries. Naga sadhu today rarely practice any form of fighting other than wrestling, but still carry trishula, swords, canes and spears. To this day their retreats are called chhauni or armed camps, and they have been known to hold mock jousts among themselves. As recently as the 1950s, it was not unusual for Naga sadhu to strike to kill someone over issues of honour.
