Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3 - or the Central and Western Rajput States of India

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Title: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3 - or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Author: Tod, James
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Note:

This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.

The text is annotated with numerous footnotes, which were numbered
sequentially on each page. On occasion, a footnote itself is annotated
by a note, using an asterisk as the reference. This distinction is
followed here. Those ‘notes on notes’ are given alphabetic sequence (A,
B., etc.), and are positioned directly following the main note.

Since there are over 1500 notes in this volume, they have been gathered
at each chapter’s end, and resequenced for each chapter, using a dot
notation for chapter and page (e.g. 10.4.2).

The notes are a combination of those of the author, and of the editor of
this edition. The latter are enclosed in square brackets.

Finally, the pagination of the original edition, published in the
1820’s, was preserved by Crooke for ease of reference by including those
page numbers in the text, also enclosed in square brackets.

Crooke’s plan for the renovation of the Tod’s original text, including a
discussion of the transliteration of Hindi words, is given in detail in
the Preface. It should be noted that the use of the macron to guide
pronunciation is very unevenly followed, and there was no intent here to
regularize it.

There are a number of references to a map, sometimes referred to as
appearing in Volume I. In this edition, the map appears at the end of
Volume III.

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Given
the history of the text, it was thought best to leave all orthography as
printed.

Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details
regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its
preparation.

ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
OF RAJASTHAN

[Illustration:

COLONEL JAMES TOD.
(By permission of Lt.-Col. C. D. Blunt-Mackenzie, R.A.)
_Frontispiece._
]

ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
OF
RAJASTHAN

RAJPUT STATES OF INDIA

LIEUT.-COL. JAMES TOD

LATE POLITICAL AGENT TO THE WESTERN RAJPUT STATES

EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

WILLIAM CROOKE, C.I.E.

HON. D.SC. OXON., B.A., F.R.A.I.

LATE OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE

IN THREE VOLUMES

VOL. II

HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY
1920

CONTENTS

PAGE

BOOK IV—_continued_

ANNALS OF MEWAR

CHAPTER 19

Influence of the hierarchy in Rajputana—Emulation of its
princes in grants to the priesthood—Analogy between the
customs of the Hindus, in this respect, and those of the
ancient people—Superstition of the lower orders—Secret
influence of the Brahmans on the higher classes—Their
frauds—Ecclesiastical dues from the land, etc.—The Saivas
of Rajasthan—The worship and shrine of Eklinga—The
Jains—Their numbers and extensive power—The temple of
Nathdwara, and worship of Kanhaiya—The privilege of
Sanctuary—Predominance of the doctrines of Kanhaiya
beneficial to Rajput society 589

CHAPTER 20

The origin of Kanhaiya or Krishna—Sources of a plurality of
gods among the Hindus—Allegories respecting Krishna
elucidated—Songs of Jayadeva celebrating the loves of
Kanhaiya—The Rasmandal, a mystic dance—Govardhana—Krishna
anciently worshipped in caves—His conquest of the ‘Black
serpent’ allegorical of the contests between the Buddhists
and Vaishnavas—Analogies between the legends of Krishna
and Western mythology—Festivals of Krishna—Pilgrimage to
Nathdwara—The seven gods of that temple—Its Pontiff 621

APPENDIX 644

CHAPTER 21

Importance of mythological history—Aboriginal tribes of
India—The Rajputs are conquerors—Solar year of the
Hindus—Opened at the winter solstice—The Vasant, or spring
festival—Birth of the Sun—Common origin assumed of the
Rajputs and Getic tribe of Scandinavia—Surya, the sun-god
of all nations, Thor, Syrus, Sol—Sun-worship—The Aheria,
or spring-hunt, described—Boar-feast—Phalgun festival—The
Rajput Saturnalia—Games on horseback—Rites to the
Manes—Festival of Sitala as guardian of children—Rana’s
birthday—Phuladola, the Rajput Floralia—Festival of
Gauri—Compared with the Diana of Egypt—The Isis or Ertha
of the Suevi—And the Phrygian Cybele—Anniversary of
Rama—Fête of Kamdeva or Cupid—Little Ganggor—Inundation of
the capital—Festival of Rambha or Venus—Rajput and Druidic
rites—Their analogy—Serpent worship—Rakhi, or Festival of
the bracelet 650

CHAPTER 22

Festivals continued—Adoration of the sword: its Scythic
origin—The Dasahra, or military festival: its Scythic
origin—Torans or triumphal arcs—Ganesa of the Rajputs and
Janus of the Romans—Worship of arms: of the magic brand of
Mewar, compared with the enchanted sword, Tyrfing, of the
Edda—Birth of Kumara, the Rajput Mars, compared with the
Roman divinity—Birth of Ganga: her analogy to
Pallas—Adoration of the moon—Worship of Lakshmi, or
Fortune; of Yama, or Pluto—Diwali, or festival of lamps,
in Arabia, in China, in Egypt, and in India—Annakuta and
Jaljatra—Festivals sacred to the Ceres and Neptune of the
Hindus—Festival of the autumnal equinox—Reflections on the
universal worship of the elements, Fire, Light,
Water—Festival sacred to Mithras or Vishnu, as the sun—The
Phallus: its etymology—Rajput doctrine of the
Triad—Symbols Vishnu, as the sun-god: his messenger
Garuda, the eagle: his charioteer Aruna, or the dawn—Sons
of Aruna—Fable analogous to that of Icarus—Rites of Vishnu
on the vernal equinox and summer solstice—Dolayatra, or
festival of the ark, compared with the ark of Osiris, and
Argonautic expedition of the Greeks—Etymology of
Argonaut—Ethiopia the Lanka of the Hindus—Their sea-king,
Sagara—Rama, or Ramesa, chief of the Cushite races of
India—Ramesa of the Rajputs and Rameses of Egypt
compared—Reflections 679

CHAPTER 23

The nicer shades of character difficult to catch—Morals more
obvious and less changeable than manners—Dissimilarity of
manners in the various races of Rajasthan—Rajputs have
deteriorated in manners as they declined in power—Regard
and deference paid to women in Rajasthan—Seclusion of the
Females no mark of their degradation—High spirit of the
Rajput princesses—Their unbounded devotion to their
husbands—Examples from the chronicles and bardic
histories—Anecdotes in more recent times—Their
magnanimity—Delicacy—Courage and presence of mind—Anecdote
of Sadhu of Pugal and Karamdevi, daughter of the Mohil
chief—The seclusion of the females increases their
influence—Historical evidences of its extent 707

CHAPTER 24

Origin of female immolation—The sacrifice of Sati, the wife
of Iswara—The motive to it considered—Infanticide—Its
causes among the Rajputs, the Rajkumars, and the
Jarejas—The rite of Johar—Female captives in war
enslaved—Summary of the Rajput character—Their familiar
habits—The use of opium—Hunting—The use of weapons—Jethis,
or wrestlers—Armouries—Music—Feats of dexterity—Maharaja
Sheodan Singh—Literary qualifications of the
princes—Household economy—Furniture—Dress, etc. 737

PERSONAL NARRATIVE

CHAPTER 25

Valley of Udaipur—Departure for Marwar—Encamp on the heights
of Tus—Resume the march—Distant view of
Udaipur—Deopur—Zalim Singh—Reach Pallana—Ram Singh
Mehta—Manikchand—Ex-raja of Narsinghgarh—False policy
pursued by the British Government in 1817-18—Departure
from Pallana—Aspect and geological character of the
country—Nathdwara ridge—Arrival at the city of
Nathdwara—Visit from the Mukhya of the temple—Departure
for the village of Usarwas—Benighted—Elephant in a
bog—Usarwas—A Sannyasi—March to Samecha—The Shera
Nala—Locusts—Coolness of the air—Samecha—March to Kelwara,
the capital—Elephant’s pool—Murcha—Kherli—Maharaja Daulat
Singh—Kumbhalmer—Its architecture, remains, and
history—March to the ‘Region of Death,’ or Marwar—The
difficult nature of the country—A party of native
horsemen—Bivouac in the glen 760

CHAPTER 26

The Mers or Meras: their history and manners—The Barwatia of
Gokulgarh—Forms of outlawry—Ajit Singh, the chief of
Ghanerao—Plains of Marwar—Chief of Rupnagarh—Anecdote
respecting Desuri—Contrast between the Sesodias of Mewar
and the Rathors of Marwar—Traditional history of the
Rajputs—Ghanerao—Kishandas, the Rana’s envoy—Local
discrimination between Mewar and Marwar—Ancient feuds—The
_aonla_ and the _bawal_—Aspect of Marwar—Nadol—Superiority
of the Chauhan race—Guga of Bhatinda—Lakha of Ajmer: his
ancient fortress at Nadol—Jain relic there—The Hindu
ancient arch or vault—Inscriptions—Antiquities at
Nadol—Indara—Its villages—Pali, a commercial mart—Articles
of commerce—The bards and genealogists the chief
carriers—The ‘Hill of Virtue’—Khankhani—Affray between two
caravans—Barbarous self-sacrifices of the
Bhats—Jhalamand—March to Jodhpur—Reception _en route_ by
the Chiefs of Pokaran and Nimaj—Biography of these
nobles—Sacrifice of Surthan of Nimaj—Encamp at the
capital—Negotiation for the ceremonies of reception at the
Court of Jodhpur 789

CHAPTER 27

Jodhpur: town and castle—Reception by the Raja—Person and
character of Raja Man Singh—Visits to the Raja—Events in
his history—Death of Raja Bhim—Deonath, the high-priest of
Marwar—His assassination—The acts which succeeded
it—Intrigues against the Raja—Dhonkal Singh, a pretender
to the _gaddi_—Real or affected derangement of the
Raja—Associates his son in the government—Recalled to the
direction of affairs—His deep and artful policy—Visit to
Mandor, the ancient capital—Cenotaphs of the
Rathors—Cyclopean architecture of Mandor—Nail-headed
characters—The walls—Remains of the palace—Toran, or
triumphal arch—Than of Thana Pir—Glen of
Panchkunda—Statues carved from the rock—Gardens at
Mandor—An ascetic—Entertainment at the palace—The Raja
visits the envoy—Departure from Jodhpur 820

CHAPTER 28

Nandla—Bisalpur—Remains of the ancient city—Pachkalia, or
Bichkalia—Inscription—Pipar—Inscription confirming the
ancient chronicles of Mewar—Geological details—Legend of
Lake Sampu—Lakha Phulani—Madreo—Bharunda—Badan Singh—His
chivalrous fate—Altar to Partap—Indawar—Jat
cultivators—Stratification of Indawar—Merta—Memory of
Aurangzeb—Dhonkal Singh—Jaimall, the hero of the
Rathors—Tributes to his bravery—Description of the city
and plain of Merta—Cenotaphs—Raja Ajit—His assassination
by his sons—The consequences of this deed the seeds of the
Civil Wars of Marwar—Family of Ajit—Curious fact in the
law of adoption amongst the Rathors—Ram Singh—His
discourtesy towards his chiefs—Civil War—Defection of the
Jarejas from Ram Singh—Battle between Ram Singh and Bakhta
Singh—Defeat of the former, and the extirpation of the
clan of the Mertias—The Mertia vassal of Mihtri—The field
of battle described—Ram Singh invites the Mahrattas into
his territory—Bakhta Singh becomes Raja of Marwar—His
murder by the Prince of Jaipur—His son, Bijai Singh,
succeeds—Jai Apa Sindhia and Ram Singh invade Marwar—They
are opposed by Bijai Singh, who is defeated—He flies to
Nagor, where he is invested—He cuts through the enemy’s
camp—Solicits succour at Bikaner and Jaipur—Treachery of
the Raja of Jaipur—Defeated by the chieftain of
Rian—Assassination of Apa Sindhia 850

CHAPTER 29

Mahadaji Sindhia succeeds Jai Apa—Union of the Rathors and
Kachhwahas, joined by Ismail Beg and Hamdani, against the
Mahrattas—Battle of Tonga—Sindhia defeated—Ajmer retaken,
and tributary engagement annulled—Mahadaji Sindhia
recruits his army, with the aid of De Boigne—The Rajputs
meet him on the frontier of Jaipur—Jealousies of the
allies—The Kachhwahas alienated by a scurrilous
stanza—Battle of Patan—Effects of the Jaipureans’
treachery, in the defeat of the Rathors—Stanza of the
Kachhwaha bard—Suggestion of Bijai Singh: his chiefs
reject it, and the prince prepares for war—Treason of the
Rathor chief of Kishangarh—The Mahrattas invade
Marwar—Resolution of the chiefs of Awa and Asop to conquer
or perish—Rathors encamp on the plains of Merta—Golden
opportunity lost of destroying the Mahratta army—Fatal
compliance of the chiefs with the orders of the civil
minister—Rout of the camp—Heroism of the Rathor clans:
their destruction—Treachery of the Singwi faction—The
chief minister takes poison—Reflections on the Rajput
character, with reference to the protective alliance of
the British Government—Resumption of journey—Jarau—Cross
the field of battle—Siyakot, or Mirage, compared with the
Sarrab of Scripture—Desert of Sogdiana—Hissar—At
sea—Description of Jarau—Cenotaph of Harakarna
Das—Alniawas—Rian—The Mountain Mers—Their descent upon
Rian—Slay its chief—Govindgarh—Chase of a hyaena—Lake of
Pushkar: geological details—Description of the lake—Its
legend—Ajaipal, the founder of Ajmer—Bisaldeva, the
Chauhan king of Ajmer—Places of devotion on the
‘Serpent-rock’—Ajmer—View of Daru-l-Khair—Geological
details—City of Ajmer—Its rising prosperity 875

CHAPTER 30

Ajmer—Ancient Jain Temple—Its architecture
analysed—Resemblances between it and the Gothic and
Saracenic—Fortress of Ajmer—Its lakes—Source of the Luni
River—Relics of the Chauhan kings—Quit Ajmer—Bhinai: its
castle—Deolia—Dabla—Banera—Raja Bhim—Sketch of his
family—His estate—Visit to the castle—Bhilwara—Visit of
the merchants—Prosperity of the town—Mandal—Its lake—Arja,
Pur—Mines of Dariba—Canton of the Purawats—Antiquity of
Pur—The Babas, or infants of Mewar—Rasmi—Reception by the
peasantry of Mewar—The Suhaila and Kalas—Trout of the
Banas River—Merta—Visit to the source of the Berach—The
Udai Sagar—Enter the valley—Appearance of the capital—Site
of the ancient Ahar—Cenotaphs of the Rana’s
ancestry—Traditions regarding Ahar—Destroyed by volcanic
eruption—Remains of antiquity—Oilman’s
Caravanserai—Oilman’s Bridge—Meeting with the Rana—Return
to Udaipur 896

APPENDIX 914

BOOK V

ANNALS OF MARWAR

CHAPTER 1

The various etymons of Marwar—Authorities for its early
history—Yati genealogical roll—The Rathor race, who
inhabit it, descended from the Yavan kings of
Parlipur—Second roll—Nain Pal—His date—Conquers
Kanauj—Utility of Rajput genealogies—The Surya Prakas, or
poetic chronicle of the bard Karnidhan—The Raj Rupak
Akhyat, or chronicle of Ajit Singh’s minority and
reign—The Bijai Vilas—The Khyat, a biographical
treatise—Other sources—The Yavanas and Aswas, or
Indo-Scythic tribes—The thirteen Rathor families, bearing
the epithet Kamdhuj—Raja Jaichand, king of Kanauj—The
extent and splendour of that State before the Muhammadan
conquest of India—His immense array—Title of
Mandalika—Divine honours paid to him—Rite of Swayamvara
undertaken by Jaichand—Its failure and consequences—State
of India at that period—The four great Hindu
monarchies—Delhi—Kanauj—Mewar—Anhilwara—Shihabu-d-din,
king of Ghor, invades India—Overcomes the Chauhan king of
Delhi—Attacks Kanauj—Destruction of that monarchy after
seven centuries’ duration—Death of Jaichand—Date of this
event 929

CHAPTER 2

Emigration of Siahji and Setram, grandsons of Jaichand—Their
arrival in the Western Desert—Sketch of the tribes
inhabiting the desert to the Indus at that epoch—Siahji
offers his services to the chief of Kulumad—They are
accepted—He attacks Lakha Phulani, the famed freebooter of
Phulra, who is defeated—Setram killed—Siahji marries the
Solanki’s daughter—Proceeds by Anhilwara on his route to
Dwarka—Again encounters Lakha Phulani, whom he slays in
single combat—Massacres the Dabhis of Mewa, and the Gohils
of Kherdhar—Siahji establishes himself in ‘the land of
Kher’—The Brahman community of Pali invoke the aid of
Siahji against the mountaineers—Offer him
lands—Accepted—Birth of a son—Siahji massacres the
Brahmans, and usurps their lands—Death of Siahji—Leaves
three sons—The elder, Asvathama, succeeds—The second,
Soning, obtains Idar—Ajmall, the third, conquers
Okhamandala, originates the Vadhel tribe of that
region—Asvathama leaves eight sons, heads of clans—Duhar
succeeds—Attempts to recover Kanauj—Failure—Attempts
Mandor—Slain—Leaves seven sons—Raepal succeeds—Revenges
his father’s death—His thirteen sons—Their issue spread
over Maru—Rao Kanhal succeeds—Rao Jalhan—Rao Chhada—Rao
Thida—Carry on wars with the Bhattis and other
tribes—Conquest of Bhinmal—Rao Salkha—Rao Biramdeo, killed
in battle with the Johyas—Clans, their issue—Rao
Chonda—Conquers Mandor from the Parihar—Assaults and
obtains Nagor from the Imperialists—Captures Nadol,
capital of Godwar—Marries the Princess of Mandor—Fourteen
sons and one daughter, who married Lakha Rana of
Mewar—Result of this marriage—Feud between Aranyakanwal,
fourth son of Chonda, and the Bhatti chieftain of
Pugal—Chonda slain at Nagor—Rao Ranmall succeeds—Resides
at Chitor—Conquers Ajmer for the Rana—Equalizes the
weights and measures of Marwar, which he divides into
departments—Rao Ranmall slain—Leaves twenty-four sons,
whose issue constitute the present frerage of Marwar—Table
of clans 940

CHAPTER 3

Accession of Rao Jodha—Transfers the seat of government from
Mandor to the new capital Jodhpur—The cause—The
Vanaprastha, or Druids of India—Their penances—The
fourteen sons of Jodha—New settlements of Satalmer, Merta,
Bikaner—Jodha dies—Anecdotes regarding him—His personal
appearance—Rapid increase of the Rathor race—Names of
tribes displaced thereby—Accession of Rao Suja—First
conflict of the Rathors with the Imperialists—Rape of the
Rathor virgins at Pipar—Gallantry of Suja—His
death—Issue—Succeeded by his grandson Rao Ganga—His uncle
Saga contests the throne—Obtains the aid of the Lodi
Pathans—Civil War—Saga slain—Babur’s invasion of
India—Rana Sanga generalissimo of the Rajputs—Rao Ganga
sends his contingent under his grandson Raemall—Slain at
Bayana—Death of Ganga—Accession of Rao Maldeo—Becomes the
first amongst the princes of Rajputana—Reconquers Nagor
and Ajmer from the Lodis, Jalor and Siwana from the
Sandhals—Reduces the rebellious allodial vassals—Conquest
from Jaisalmer—The Maldots—Takes Pokaran—Dismantles
Satalmer—His numerous public works—Cantons belonging to
Marwar enumerated—Maldeo resumes several of the great
estates—Makes a scale of rank hereditary in the line of
Jodha—Period favourable to Maldeo’s consolidation of his
power—His inhospitality to the Emperor Humayun—Sher Shah
invades Marwar—Maldeo meets him—Danger of the Imperial
army—Saved by stratagem from destruction—Rathor army
retreats—Devotion of the two chief clans—Their
destruction—Akbar invades Marwar—Takes Merta and
Nagor—Confers them on Rae Singh of Bikaner—Maldeo sends
his second son to Akbar’s court—Refused to pay homage in
person—The emperor gives the farman of Jodhpur to Rae
Singh—Rao Maldeo besieged by Akbar—Defends Jodhpur—Sends
his son Udai Singh to Akbar—His reception—Receives the
title of Raja—Chandarsen maintains Rathor
independence—Retires to Siwana—Besieged, and slain—His
sons—Maldeo witnesses the subjection of his kingdom—His
death—His twelve sons 947

CHAPTER 4

Altered conditions of the Princes of Marwar—Installation of
Raja Udai Singh—Not acknowledged by the most powerful
clans until the death of Chandarsen—Historical
retrospect—The three chief epochs of Marwar history, from
the conquest to its dependence on the empire—Order of
succession changed, with change of capital, in Mewar,
Amber, and Marwar—Branches to which the succession is
confined—Dangers of mistaking these—Examples—Jodha
regulates the fiefs—The eight great nobles of Marwar—These
regulations maintained by Maldeo, who added to the
secondary fiefs—Fiefs perpetuated in the elder
branches—The brothers and sons of Jodha—Various
descriptions of fiefs—Antiquity of the Rajput feudal
system—Akbar maintains it—Paternity of the Rajput
sovereigns not a fiction, as in Europe—The lowest Rajput
claims kindred with the sovereign—The name Udai Singh
fatal to Rajputana—Bestows his sister Jodh Bai on
Akbar—Advantages to the Rathors of this marriage—Numerous
progeny of Udai Singh—Establishes the fiefs of Govindgarh
and Pisangan—Kishangarh and Ratlam—Remarkable death of
Raja Udai Singh—Anecdotes—Issue of Udai Singh—Table of
descent 960

CHAPTER 5

Accession of Raja Sur—His military talents obtain him
honours—Reduces Rao Surthan of Sirohi—Commands against the
King of Gujarat—Battle of Dhanduka gained by the
Raja—Wealth and honours acquired—Gifts to the
bards—Commanded against Amra Balecha—Battle of the
Rewa—Slays the Chauhan—Fresh honours—Raja Sur and his son
Gaj Singh attend the court of Jahangir—The heir of Marwar
invested with the sword by the Emperor’s own
hands—Escalade of Jalor—Raja Gaj attends Prince Khurram
against the Rana of Mewar—Death of Raja Sur—Maledictory
pillar erected on the Nerbudda—The Rathor chiefs’
dissatisfaction at their long detention from their native
land—Raja Sur embellishes Jodhpur—His issue—Accession of
Raja Gaj—Invested with the Raj of Burhanpur—Made Viceroy
of the Deccan—The compliment paid to his contingent—His
various actions—Receives the title of Dalthaman, or
‘barrier of the host’—Causes of Rajput influence on the
Imperial succession—The Sultans Parvez and Khurram, sons
of Rajput Princesses—Intrigues of the Queens to secure the
succession to their immediate offspring—Prince Khurram
plots against his brother—Endeavours to gain Raja Gaj, but
fails—The Prince causes the chief adviser of Raja Gaj to
be assassinated—Raja Gaj quits the royal army—Prince
Khurram assassinates his brother Parvez—Proceeds to depose
his father Jahangir, who appeals to the fidelity of the
Rajput Princes—They rally round the throne, and encounter
the rebel army near Benares—The Emperor slights the Rathor
Prince, which proves nearly fatal to his cause—The rebels
defeated—Flight of Prince Khurram—Raja Gaj slain on the
Gujarat frontier—His second son, Raja Jaswant,
succeeds—Reasons for occasional departure from the rules
of primogeniture amongst the Rajputs—Amra, the elder,
excluded the succession—Sentence of banishment pronounced
against him—Ceremony of Desvata, or ‘exile,’
described—Amra repairs to the Mogul court—Honours
conferred upon him—His tragical death 969

CHAPTER 6

Raja Jaswant mounts the _gaddi_ of Marwar—His mother a
princess of Mewar—He is a patron of science—His first
service in Gondwana—Prince Dara appointed regent of the
empire by his father, Shah Jahan—Appoints Jaswant viceroy
in Malwa—Rebellion of Aurangzeb, who aspires to the
crown—Jaswant appointed generalissimo of the army sent to
oppose him—Battle of Fatehabad, a drawn battle—Jaswant
retreats—Heroism of Rao Ratna of Ratlam—Aurangzeb proceeds
towards Agra—Battle of Jajau—Rajputs overpowered—Shah
Jahan deposed—Aurangzeb, now emperor, pardons Jaswant, and
summons him to the presence—Commands him to join the army
formed against Shuja—Battle of Kajwa—Conduct of
Jaswant—Betrays Aurangzeb and plunders his camp—Forms a
junction with Dara—This prince’s inactivity—Aurangzeb
invades Marwar—Detaches Jaswant from Dara—Appointed
viceroy of Gujarat—Sent to serve in the Deccan—Enters into
Sivaji’s designs—Plans the death of Shaista Khan, the
king’s lieutenant—Obtains this office—Superseded by the
prince of Amber—Reappointed to the army of the
Deccan—Stimulates Prince Muazzam to rebellion—Superseded
by Dalir Khan—Jaswant tries to cut him off—Removed from
the Deccan to Gujarat—Outwitted by the king—Ordered
against the rebellious Afghans of Kabul—Jaswant leaves his
son, Prithi Singh, in charge of Jodhpur—Prithi Singh
commanded to court by Aurangzeb, who gives him a poisoned
robe—His death—Character—The tidings reach Jaswant at
Kabul, and cause his death—Character of Jaswant—Anecdotes
illustrative of Rathor character—Nahar Khan—His exploits
with the tiger, and against Surthan of Sirohi 979

CHAPTER 7

The pregnant queen of Jaswant prevented from becoming
Sati—Seven concubines and one Rani burn with him—The
Chandravati Rani mounts the pyre at Mandor—General grief
for the loss of Jaswant—Posthumous birth of Ajit—Jaswant’s
family and contingent return from Kabul to
Marwar—Intercepted by Aurangzeb, who demands the surrender
of the infant Ajit—The chiefs destroy the females and
defend themselves—Preservation of the infant prince—The
Indhas take Mandor—Expelled—Aurangzeb invades Marwar,
takes and plunders Jodhpur, and sacks all the large
towns—Destroys the Hindu temples, and commands the
conversion of the Rathor race—Impolicy of the
measure—Establishes the Jizya, or tax on infidels—The
Rathors and Sesodias unite against the king—Events of the
war from the Chronicle—The Mertia clan oppose the entire
royal army, but are cut to pieces—The combined Rajputs
fight the Imperialists at Nadol—Bhim, the son of the Rana,
slain—Prince Akbar disapproves the war against the
Rajputs—Makes overtures—Coalition—The Rajputs declare
Akbar emperor—Treachery and death of Tahawwur Khan—Akbar
escapes, and claims protection from the Rajputs—Durga
conducts Prince Akbar to the Deccan—Soning, brother of
Durga, leads the Rathors—Conflict at Jodhpur—Affair at
Sojat—The cholera morbus appears—Aurangzeb offers
peace—The conditions accepted by Soning—Soning’s
death—Aurangzeb annuls the treaty—Prince Azam left to
carry on the war—Muslim garrisons throughout Marwar—The
Rathors take post in the Aravalli hills—Numerous
encounters—Affairs of
Sojat—Charai—Jaitaran—Renpur—Pali—Immense sacrifice of
lives—The Bhattis join the Rathors—The Mertia chief
assassinated during a truce—Further encounters—Siwana
assaulted—The Muslim garrison put to the sword—Nur Ali
abducts the Asani damsels—Is pursued and killed—Muslim
garrison of Sambhar destroyed—Jalor capitulates to the
Rajputs 990

CHAPTER 8

The clans petition to see the young Raja—Durjan Sal of Kotah
joins the Rathor cause—They proceed to Abu—Are introduced
to Ajit, who is conveyed to Awa, and makes a tour to all
the chieftainships—Consternation of Aurangzeb—He sets up a
pretender to Jodhpur—The Rathors and Haras drive the
Imperialists from Marwar—They carry the war abroad—Storm
of Pur Mandal—The Hara prince slain—Durgadas returns from
the Deccan—Defeats Safi Khan, governor of Ajmer, who is
disgraced by the king—Safi Khan attempts to circumvent
Ajit by negotiation—His failure and disgrace—Rebellion in
Mewar—The Rathors support the Rana—Aurangzeb negotiates
for the daughter of Prince Akbar left in Marwar—Ajit again
driven for refuge into the hills—Affair at Bijapur—Success
of the Rathors—Aurangzeb’s apprehension for his
granddaughter—The Rana sends the coco-nut to Ajit, who
proceeds to Udaipur, and marries the Rana’s
niece—Negotiations for peace renewed—Terminate—The
surrender of the princess—Jodhpur restored—Magnanimity of
Durgadas—Ajit takes possession—Ajit again driven from his
capital—Afflictions of the Hindu race—A son born to Ajit,
named Abhai Singh—His horoscope—Battle of Dunara—The
viceroy of Lahore passes through Marwar to Gujarat—Death
of Aurangzeb—Diffuses joy—Ajit attacks
Jodhpur—Capitulation—Dispersion and massacre of the king’s
troops—Ajit resumes his dominions—Azam, with the title of
Bahadur Shah, mounts the throne—Battle of Agra—The king
prepares to invade Marwar—Arrives at Ajmer—Proceeds to
Bhavi Bilara—Sends an embassy to Ajit, who repairs to the
imperial camp—Reception—Treacherous conduct of the
emperor—Jodhpur surprised—Ajit forced to accompany the
emperor to the Deccan—Discontent of the Rajas—They abandon
the king, and join Rana Amra at Udaipur—Triple
alliance—Ajit appears before Jodhpur, which capitulates on
honourable terms—Ajit undertakes to replace Raja Jai Singh
on the _gaddi_ of Amber—Battle of Sambhar, Ajit
victorious—Amber abandoned to Jai Singh—Ajit attacks
Bikaner—Redeems Nagor—The Rajas threatened by the
king—Again unite—The king repairs to Ajmer—The Rajas join
him—Receive farmans for their dominions—Ajit makes a
pilgrimage to Kurukshetra—Reflections on the thirty years’
war waged by the Rathors against the empire for
independence—Eulogium on Durgadas 1007

CHAPTER 9

Ajit commanded to reduce Nahan and the rebels of the Siwalik
mountains—The emperor dies—Civil wars—Ajit nominated
viceroy of Gujarat—Ajit commanded to send his son to
court—Daring attack on the chief of Nagor, who is
slain—Retaliated—The king’s army invades Marwar—Jodhpur
invested—Terms—Abhai Singh sent to court—Ajit proceeds to
Delhi—Coalesces with the Sayyid ministry of the king—Gives
a daughter in marriage to the emperor—Returns to
Jodhpur—Repeal of the Jizya—Ajit proceeds to his
viceroyalty of Gujarat—Settles the province—Worships at
Dwarka—Returns to Jodhpur—The Sayyids summon him to
court—The splendour of his train—Leagues with the
Sayyids—The emperor visits Ajit—Portents—Husain Ali
arrives from the Deccan—Consternation of the opponents of
the Sayyids and Ajit—Ajit blockades the palace with his
Rathors—The emperor put to death—Successors—Muhammad
Shah—He marches against Amber—Its Raja claims sanctuary
with Ajit—Obtains the grant of Ahmadabad—Returns to
Jodhpur—Ajit unites his daughter to the prince of
Amber—The Sayyids assassinated—Ajit warned of his
danger—Seizes on Ajmer—Slays the governor—Destroys the
mosques, and re-establishes the Hindu rites—Ajit declares
his independence—Coins in his own name—Establishes weights
and measures, and his own courts of justice—Fixes the
gradations of rank amongst his chiefs—The Imperialists
invade Marwar—Abhai Singh heads thirty thousand Rathors to
oppose them—The king’s forces decline battle—The Rathors
ravage the Imperial provinces—Abhai Singh obtains the
surname of Dhonkal, or exterminator—Returns to
Jodhpur—Battle of Sambhar—Ajit gives sanctuary to Churaman
Jat, founder of Bharatpur—The emperor puts himself at the
head of all his forces to avenge the defeat of
Sambhar—Ajmer invested—Its defence—Ajit agrees to
surrender Ajmer—Abhai Singh proceeds to the Imperial
camp—His reception—His arrogant bearing—Murder of Ajit by
his son—Infidelity of the bard—Blank leaf of the Raj
Rupaka, indicative of this event—Extract from that
chronicle—Funereal rites—Six queens and fifty-eight
concubines determine to become Satis—Expostulations of the
Nazir, bards, and purohits—They fail—Procession—Rite
concluded—Reflections on Ajit’s life and history 1020

CHAPTER 10

The parricidal murder of Ajit, the cause of the destruction
of Marwar—The parricide, Abhai Singh, invested as Raja by
the emperor’s own hand—He returns from court to
Jodhpur—His reception—He distributes gifts to the bards
and priests—The bards of Rajputana—Karna, the poetic
historian of Marwar—Studies requisite to form a
Bardai—Abhai Singh reduces Nagor—Bestows it in appanage
upon his brother Bakhta—Reduces the turbulent
allodialists—Commanded to court—Makes a tour of his
domain—Seized by the small-pox—Reaches the court—Rebellion
of the viceroy of Gujarat, and of Prince Jangali in the
Deccan—Picture of the Mogul court at this time—The _bira_
of foreign service against the rebels described—Refused by
the assembled nobles—Accepted by the Rathor prince—He
visits Ajmer, which he garrisons—Meeting at Pushkar with
the Raja of Amber—Plan the destruction of the empire—At
Merta is joined by his brother Bakhta Singh—Reaches
Jodhpur—The Kher, or feudal levies of Marwar,
assemble—Consecration of the guns—The Minas carry off the
cattle of the train—Rajput contingents enumerated—Abhai
reduces the Mina strongholds in Sirohi—The Sirohi prince
submits, and gives a daughter in marriage as a
peace-offering—The Sirohi contingent joins Abhai
Singh—Proceeds against Ahmadabad—Summons the viceroy to
surrender—Rajput council of war—Bakhta claims to lead the
van—The Rathor prince sprinkles his chiefs with saffron
water—Sarbuland’s plan of defence—His guns manned by
Europeans—His bodyguard of European musketeers—The
storm—Victory gained by the Rajputs—Surrender of
Sarbuland—He is sent prisoner to the emperor—Abhai Singh
governs Gujarat—Rajput contingents enumerated—Conclusion
of the chronicles, the Raj Rupaka and Surya Prakas—Abhai
Singh returns to Jodhpur—The spoils conveyed from Gujarat 1035

CHAPTER 11

Mutual jealousies of the brothers—Abhai Singh dreads the
military fame of Bakhta—His policy—Prompted by the bard
Karna, who deserts Jodhpur for Nagor—Scheme laid by Bakhta
to thwart his brother—Attack on Bikaner by Abhai
Singh—Singular conduct of his chiefs, who afford supplies
to the besieged—Bakhta’s scheme to embroil the Amber
prince with his brother—His overture and advice to attack
Jodhpur in the absence of his brother—Jai Singh of
Amber—His reception of this advice, which is discussed and
rejected in a full council of the nobles of Amber—The
envoy of Bakhta obtains an audience of the prince of
Amber—Attains his object—His insulting letter to Raja
Abhai Singh—The latter’s laconic reply—Jai Singh calls out
the Kher, or feudal army of Amber—Obtains foreign
allies—One hundred thousand men muster under the walls of
his capital—March to the Marwar frontier—Abhai Singh
raises the siege of Bikaner—Bakhta’s strange
conduct—Swears his vassals—Marches with his personal
retainers only to combat the host of Amber—Battle of
Gangwana—Desperate onset of Bakhta Singh—Destruction of
his band—With sixty men charges the Amber prince, who
avoids him—Eulogy of Bakhta by the Amber bards—Karna the
bard prevents a third charge—Bakhta’s distress at the loss
of his men—The Rana mediates a peace—Bakhta loses his
tutelary divinity—Restored by the Amber prince—Death of
Abhai Singh—Anecdotes illustrating his character 1047

CHAPTER 12

Ram Singh succeeds—His impetuosity of temper—His uncle,
Bakhta Singh, absents himself from the rite of
inauguration—Sends his nurse as proxy—Construed by Ram
Singh as an insult—He resents it, and resumes the fief of
Jalor—Confidant of Ram Singh—The latter insults the chief
of the Champawats, who withdraws from the court—His
interview with the chief bard—Joins Bakhta Singh—The chief
bard gives his suffrage to Bakhta—Civil war—Battle of
Merta—Ram Singh defeated—Bakhta Singh assumes the
sovereignty—The Bagri chieftain girds him with the
sword—Fidelity of the Purohit to the ex-prince, Ram
Singh—He proceeds to the Deccan to obtain aid of the
Mahrattas—Poetical correspondence between Raja Bakhta and
the Purohit—Qualities, mental and personal, of Bakhta—The
Mahrattas threaten Marwar—All the clans unite round
Bakhta—He advances to give battle—Refused by the
Mahrattas—He takes post at the pass of Ajmer—Poisoned by
the queen of Amber—Bakhta’s character—Reflections on the
Rajput character—Contrasted with that of the European
nobles in the dark ages—Judgment of the bards on
crimes—Improvised stanza on the princes of Jodhpur and
Amber—Anathema of the Sati, wife of Ajit—Its
fulfilment—Opinions of the Rajput on such inspirations 1054

CHAPTER 13

Accession of Bijai Singh—Receives at Merta the homage of his
chiefs—Proceeds to the capital—The ex-prince Ram Singh
forms a treaty with the Mahrattas and the
Kachhwahas—Junction of the confederates—Bijai Singh
assembles the clans on the plains of Merta—Summoned to
surrender the _gaddi_—His reply—Battle—Bijai Singh
defeated—Destruction of the Rathor Cuirassiers—Ruse de
guerre—Bijai Singh left alone—His flight—Eulogies of the
bard—Fortresses surrender to Ram Singh—Assassination of
the Mahratta commander—Compensation for the murder—Ajmer
surrendered—Tribute or Chauth established—Mahrattas
abandon the cause of Ram Singh—Couplet commemorative of
this event—Cenotaph to Jai Apa—Ram Singh dies—His
character—Anarchy reigns in Marwar—The Rathor
oligarchy—Laws of adoption in the case of Pokaran
fief—Insolence of its chief to his prince, who entertains
mercenaries—This innovation accelerates the decay of
feudal principles—The Raja plans the diminution of the
aristocracy—The nobles confederate—Gordhan Khichi—His
advice to the prince—Humiliating treaty between the Raja
and his vassals—Mercenaries disbanded—Death of the
prince’s Guru or priest—His prophetic words—Kiryakarma or
funeral rites, made the expedient to entrap the chiefs,
who are condemned to death—Intrepid conduct of Devi Singh
of Pokaran—His last words—Reflections on their defective
system of government—Sacrifice of the law of
primogeniture—Its consequences—Sabhal Singh arms to avenge
his father’s death—Is slain—Power of the nobles
checked—They are led against the robbers of the
desert—Umarkot seized from Sind—Godwar taken from
Mewar—Marwar and Jaipur unite against the Mahrattas, who
are defeated at Tonga—De Boigne’s first appearance—Ajmer
recovered by the Rathors—Battles of Patan and Merta—Ajmer
surrenders—Suicide of the governor—Bijai Singh’s concubine
adopts Man Singh—Her insolence alienates the nobles, who
plan the deposal of the Raja—Murder of the concubine—Bijai
Singh dies 1060

CHAPTER 14

Raja Bhim seizes upon the _gaddi_—Discomfiture of his
competitor, Zalim Singh—Bhim destroys all the other
claimants to succession, excepting Man Singh—Blockaded in
Jalor—Sallies from the garrison for supplies—Prince Man
heads one of them—Incurs the risk of capture—Is preserved
by the Ahor chief; Raja Bhim offends his nobles—They
abandon Marwar—The fief of Nimaj attacked—Jalor reduced to
the point of surrender—Sudden and critical death of Raja
Bhim—Its probable cause—The Vaidyas, or ‘cunning-men,’ who
surround the prince—Accession of Raja Man—Rebellion of
Sawai Singh of Pokaran—Conspiracy of Chopasni—Declaration
of the pregnancy of a queen of Raja Bhim—Convention with
Raja Man—Posthumous births—Their evil consequences in
Rajwara—A child born—Sent off by stealth to Pokaran, and
its birth kept a secret—Named Dhonkal—Raja Man evinces
indiscreet partialities—Alienates the Champawats—Birth of
the posthumous son of Raja Bhim promulgated—The chiefs
call on Raja Man to fulfil the terms of the convention—The
mother disclaims the child—The Pokaran chief sends the
infant Dhonkal to the sanctuary of Abhai Singh of
Khetri—Sawai opens his underplot—Embroils Raja Man with
the courts of Amber and Mewar—He carries the pretender
Dhonkal to Jaipur—Acknowledged and proclaimed as Raja of
Marwar—The majority of the chiefs support the
pretender—The Bikaner prince espouses his cause—Armies
called in the field—Baseness of Holkar, who deserts Raja
Man—The armies approach—Raja Man’s chiefs abandon him—He
attempts suicide—Is persuaded to fly—He gains
Jodhpur—Prepares for defence—Becomes suspicious of all his
kin—Refuses them the honour of defending the castle—They
join the allies, who invest Jodhpur—The city taken and
plundered—Distress of the besiegers—Amir Khan’s conduct
causes a division—His flight from Marwar—Pursued by the
Jaipur commander—Battle—Jaipur force destroyed, and the
city invested—Dismay of the Raja—Breaks up the siege of
Jodhpur—Pays £200,000 for a safe passage to Jaipur—The
spoils of Jodhpur intercepted by the Rathors, and wrested
from the Kachhwahas—Amir Khan formally accepts service
with Raja Man, and repairs to Jodhpur with the four Rathor
chiefs 1077

CHAPTER 15

Amir Khan’s reception at Jodhpur—Engages to extirpate
Sawai’s faction—Interchanges turbans with the Raja—The
Khan repairs to Nagor—Interview with Sawai—Swears to
support the Pretender—Massacre of the Rajput
chiefs—Pretender flies—The Khan plunders Nagor—Receives
£100,000 from Raja Man—Jaipur overrun—Bikaner
attacked—Amir Khan obtains the ascendancy in
Marwar—Garrisons Nagor with his Pathans—Partitions lands
amongst his chiefs—Commands the salt lakes of Nawa and
Sambhar—The minister Induraj and high priest Deonath
assassinated—Raja Man’s reason affected—His
seclusion—Abdication in favour of his son Chhattar
Singh—He falls the victim of illicit pursuits—Madness of
Raja Man increased—Its causes—Suspicions of the Raja
having sacrificed Induraj—The oligarchy, headed by Salim
Singh of Pokaran, son of Sawai, assumes the charge of the
government—Epoch of British universal supremacy—Treaty
with Marwar framed during the regency of Chhattar
Singh—The oligarchy, on his death, offer the _gaddi_ of
Marwar to the house of Idar—Rejected—Reasons—Raja Man
entreated to resume the reins of power—Evidence that his
madness was feigned—The Raja dissatisfied with certain
stipulations of the treaty—A British officer sent to
Jodhpur—Akhai Chand chief of the civil
administration—Salim Singh of Pokaran chief
minister—Opposition led by Fateh Raj—British troops
offered to be placed at the Raja’s disposal—Offer
rejected—Reasons—British Agent returns to Ajmer—Permanent
Agent appointed to the court of Raja Man—Arrives at
Jodhpur—Condition of the capital—Interview’s with the
Raja—Objects to be attained described—Agent leaves
Jodhpur—General sequestrations of the fiefs—Raja Man
apparently relapses into his old apathy—His deep
dissimulation—Circumvents and seizes the faction—Their
wealth sequestrated—Their ignominious death—Immense
resources derived from sequestrations—Raja Man’s thirst
for blood—Fails to entrap the chiefs—The Nimaj chief
attacked—His gallant defence—Slain—The Pokaran chief
escapes—Fateh Raj becomes minister—Raja Man’s speech to
him—Nimaj attacked—Surrender—Raja Man’s infamous violation
of his pledge—Noble conduct of the mercenary
commander—Voluntary exile of the whole aristocracy of
Marwar—Received by the neighbouring princes—Man’s gross
ingratitude to Anar Singh—The exiled chiefs apply to the
British Government, which refuses to mediate—Raja Man
loses the opportunity of fixing the constitution of
Marwar—Reflections 1089

CHAPTER 16

Extent and population of Marwar—Classification of
inhabitants—Jats—Rajputs, sacerdotal, commercial, and
servile tribes—Soil—Agricultural products—Natural
productions—Salt lakes—Marble and limestone quarries—Tin,
lead, and iron mines—Alum—Manufactures—Commercial
marts—Transit trade—Pali, the emporium of Western
India—Mercantile classes—Khadataras and Oswals—Kitars, or
caravans—Imports and exports enumerated—Charans, the
guardians of the caravans—Commercial decline—Causes—Opium
monopoly—Fairs of Mundwa and Balotra—Administration of
justice—Punishments—Raja Bijai Singh’s clemency to
prisoners, who are maintained by private charity—Gaol
deliveries on eclipses, births, and accession of
princes—Sagun, or ordeals: fire, water, burning
oil—Panchayats—Fiscal revenues and regulations—Batai, or
corn-rent—Shahnahs and Kanwaris—Taxes—Anga, or capitation
tax—Ghaswali, or pasturage—Kewari, or door tax; how
originated—Sair, or imposts; their amount—Dhanis, or
collectors—Revenues from the salt-lakes—Tandas, or
caravans engaged in this trade—Aggregate revenues—Military
resources—Mercenaries—Feudal quotas—Schedule of
feoffs—Qualification of a cavalier 1104

BOOK VI

ANNALS OF BIKANER

CHAPTER 1

Origin of the State of Bikaner—Bika, the founder—Condition
of the aboriginal Jats or Getes—The number and extensive
diffusion of this Scythic race, still a majority of the
peasantry in Western Rajputana, and perhaps in Northern
India—Their pursuits pastoral, their government
patriarchal, their religion of a mixed kind—List of the
Jat cantons of Bikaner at the irruption of Bika—Causes of
the success of Bika—Voluntary surrender of the supremacy
of the Jat elders to Bika—Conditions—Characteristic of the
Getic people throughout India—Proofs—Invasion of the
Johyas by Bika and his Jat subjects—Account of the
Johyas—Conquered by Bika—He wrests Bagor from the Bhattis,
and founds Bikaner, the capital, A.D. 1489—His uncle
Kandhal makes conquests to the north—Death of Bika—His son
Nunkaran succeeds—Makes conquests from the Bhattis—His son
Jeth succeeds—Enlarges the power of Bikaner—Rae Singh
succeeds—The Jats of Bikaner lose their liberties—The
State rises to importance—Rae Singh’s connexion with
Akbar—His honours and power—The Johyas revolt and are
exterminated—Traditions of Alexander the Great amongst the
ruins of the Johyas—Examined—The Punia Jats vanquished by
Ram Singh the Raja’s brother—Their subjection
imperfect—Rae Singh’s daughter weds Prince Salim,
afterwards Jahangir—Rae Singh succeeded by his son
Karan—The three eldest sons of Karan fall in the imperial
service—Anup Singh, the youngest, succeeds—Quells a
rebellion in Kabul—His death uncertain—Sarup Singh
succeeds—He is killed—Shujawan Singh, Zorawar Singh, Gaj
Singh, and Raj Singh succeed—The latter poisoned by his
brother by another mother, who usurps the throne, though
opposed by the chiefs—He murders the rightful heir, his
nephew—Civil war—Muster-roll of the chiefs—The usurper
attacks Jodhpur—Present state of Bikaner—Account of
Bidavati 1123

CHAPTER 2

Actual condition and capabilities of Bikaner—Causes of its
deterioration—Extent—Population—Jats—Sarasvati
Brahmans—Charans—Malis and Nais—Chuhras and
Thoris—Rajputs—Face of the country—Grain and vegetable
productions—Implements of husbandry—Water—Salt lakes—Local
physiography—Mineral productions—Unctuous clay—Animal
productions—Commerce and manufactures—Fairs—Government and
revenues—The fisc—Dhuan, or hearth-tax—Anga, or
capitation-tax—Sair, or imposts—Paseti, or
plough-tax—Malba, or ancient land-tax—Extraordinary and
irregular resources—Feudal levies—Household troops 1145

CHAPTER 3

Bhatner, its origin and denomination—Historical celebrity of
the Jats of Bhatner—Emigration of Bersi—Succeeded by
Bhairon—Embraces Islamism—Rao Dalich—Husain Khan, Husain
Mahmud, Imam Mahmud, and Bahadur Khan—Zabita Khan, the
present ruler—Condition of the country—Changes in its
physical aspect—Ruins of ancient buildings—Promising scene
for archaeological inquiries—Zoological and botanical
curiosities—List of the ancient towns—Relics of the
arrow-head character found in the desert 1163

BOOK VII

ANNALS OF JAISALMER

CHAPTER 1

Jaisalmer—The derivation of its name—The Rajputs of
Jaisalmer called Bhattis, are of the Yadu race—Descended
from Bharat, king of Bharatavarsha, or
Indo-Scythia—Restricted bounds of India of modern
invention—The ancient Hindus a naval people—First seats of
the Yadus in India, Prayaga, Mathura, and Dwarka—Their
international wars—Hari, king of Mathura and Dwarka,
leader of the Yadus—Dispersion of his family—His
great-grandsons Nabha and Khira—Nabha driven from Dwarka,
becomes prince of Marusthali, conjectured to be the Maru,
or Merv, of Iran—Jareja and Judbhan, the sons of Khira—The
former founds the Sindsamma dynasty, and Judbhan becomes
prince of Bahra in the Panjab—Prithibahu succeeds to Nabha
in Maru—His son Bahu—His posterity—Raja Gaj founds
Gajni—Attacked by the kings of Syria and Khorasan, who are
repulsed—Raja Gaj attacks Kashmir—His marriage—Second
invasion from Khorasan—The Syrian king conjectured to be
Antiochus—Oracle predicts the loss of Gajni—Gaj
slain—Gajni taken—Prince Salbahan arrives in the
Panjab—Founds the city of Salbahana, S. 72—Conquers the
Panjab—Marries the daughter of Jaipal Tuar of
Delhi—Reconquers Gajni—Is succeeded by Baland—His numerous
offspring—Their conquests—Conjecture regarding the Jadon
tribe of Yusufzai, that the Afghans are Yadus, not
Yahudis, or Jews—Baland resides at Salbahana—Assigns Gajni
to his grandson Chakito, who becomes a convert to Islam
and king of Khorasan—The Chakito Mongols descended from
him—Baland dies—His son Bhatti succeeds—Changes the
patronymic of Yadu, or Jadon, to Bhatti—Succeeded by
Mangal Rao—His brother Masur Rao and sons cross the Gara
and take possession of the Lakhi jungle—Degradation of the
sons of Mangal Rao—They lose their rank as Rajputs—Their
offspring styled Aboharias and Jats—Tribe of Tak—The
capital of Taxiles discovered—Mangal Rao arrives in the
Indian desert—Its tribes—His son, Majam Rao, marries a
princess of Umarkot—His son Kehar—Alliance with the Deora
of Jalor—The foundation of Tanot laid—Kehar succeeds—Tanot
attacked by the Baraha tribe—Tanot completed, S. 787—Peace
with the Barahas—Reflections 1169

CHAPTER 2

Rao Kehar, contemporary of the Caliph Al Walid—His offspring
become heads of tribes—Kehar, the first who extended his
conquests to the plains—He is slain—Tano succeeds—He
assails the Barahas and Langahas—Tanot invested by the
prince of Multan, who is defeated—Rao Tano espouses the
daughter of the Buta chief—His progeny—Tano finds a
concealed treasure—Erects the castle of Bijnot—Tano
dies—Succeeded by Bijai Rae—He assails the Baraha tribe,
who conspire with the Langahas to attack the Bhatti
prince—Treacherous massacre of Bijai Rae and his
kindred—Deoraj saved by a Brahman—Tanot taken—Inhabitants
put to the sword—Deoraj joins his mother in Butaban—Erects
Derawar, which is assailed by the Buta chief, who is
circumvented and put to death by Deoraj—The Bhatti prince
is visited by a Jogi, whose disciple he becomes—Title
changed from Rao to Rawal—Deoraj massacres the Langahas,
who acknowledge his supremacy—Account of the Langaha
tribe—Deoraj conquers Lodorva, capital of the Lodra
Rajputs—Avenges an insult of the prince of Dhar—Singular
trait of patriotic devotion—Assaults Dhar—Returns to
Lodorva—Excavates lakes in Khadal—Assassinated—Succeeded
by Rawal Mund, who revenges his father’s death—His son
Bachera espouses the daughter of Balabhsen, of Patan
Anhilwara—Contemporaries of Mahmud of Ghazni—Captures a
caravan of horses—The Pahu Bhattis conquer Pugal from the
Johyas—Dusaj, son of Bachera, attacks the Khichis—Proceeds
with his three brothers to the land of Kher, where they
espouse the Guhilot chief’s daughters—Important
synchronisms—Bachera dies—Dusaj succeeds—Attacked by the
Sodha prince Hamir, in whose reign the Ghaggar ceased to
flow through the desert—Traditional couplet—Sons of
Dusaj—The youngest, Lanja Bijairae, marries the daughter
of Siddhraj Solanki, king of Anhilwara—The other sons of
Dusaj, Jaisal, and Bijairae—Bhojdeo, son of Lanja
Bijairae, becomes lord of Lodorva on the death of
Dusaj—Jaisal conspires against his nephew Bhojdeo—Solicits
aid from the Sultan of Ghor, whom he joins at Aror—Swears
allegiance to the Sultan—Obtains his aid to dispossess
Bhojdeo—Lodorva attacked and plundered—Bhojdeo
slain—Jaisal becomes Rawal of the Bhattis—Abandons Lodorva
as too exposed—Discovers a site for a new
capital—Prophetic inscription on the Brahmsarkund, or
fountain—Founds Jaisalmer—Jaisal dies, and is succeeded by
Salbahan II. 1190

CHAPTER 3

Preliminary observations—The early history of the Bhattis
not devoid of interest—Traces of their ancient manners and
religion—The chronicle resumed—Jaisal survives the change
of capital twelve years—The heir of Kailan
banished—Salbahan, his younger brother,
succeeds—Expedition against the Kathi—Their supposed
origin—Application from the Yadu prince of Badarinath for
a prince to fill the vacant _gaddi_—During Salbahan’s
absence his son Bijal usurps the _gaddi_—Salbahan retires
to Khadal, and falls in battle against the Baloch—Bijal
commits suicide—Kailan recalled and placed on the
_gaddi_—His issue form clans—Khizr Khan Baloch again
invades Khadal—Kailan attacks him, and avenges his
father’s death—Death of Kailan—Succeeded by Chachak Deo—He
expels the Chana Rajputs—Defeats the Sodhas of Umarkot—The
Rathors lately arrived in the desert become
troublesome—Important synchronisms—Death of Chachak—He is
succeeded by his grandson Karan, to the prejudice of the
elder, Jethsi, who leaves Jaisalmer—Redresses the wrongs
of a Baraha Rajput—Karan dies—Succeeded by Lakhansen—His
imbecile character—Replaced by his son Punpal, who is
dethroned and banished—His grandson, Raningdeo,
establishes himself at Marot and Pugal—On the deposal of
Punpal, Jethsi is recalled and placed on the _gaddi_—He
affords a refuge to the Parihar prince of Mandor, when
attacked by Alau-d-din—The sons of Jethsi carry off the
imperial tribute of Tatta and Multan—The king determines
to invade Jaisalmer—Jethsi and his sons prepare for the
storm—Jaisalmer invested—First assault repulsed—The
Bhattis keep an army in the field—Rawal Jethsi dies—The
siege continues—Singular friendship between his son Ratan
and one of the besieging generals—Mulraj succeeds—General
assault—Again defeated—Garrison reduced to great
extremity—Council of war—Determination to perform the
_sakha_—Generous conduct of the Muhammadan friend of Ratan
to his sons—Final assault—Rawal Mulraj and Ratan and their
chief kin fall in battle—Jaisalmer taken, dismantled, and
abandoned 1206

CHAPTER 4

The Rathors of Mewa settle amidst the ruins of
Jaisalmer—Driven out by the Bhatti chieftain Dudu, who is
elected Rawal—He carries off the stud of Firoz Shah—Second
storm and _sakha_ of Jaisalmer—Dudu slain—Moghul invasion
of India—The Bhatti princes obtain their liberty—Rawal
Gharsi re-establishes Jaisalmer—Kehar, son of
Deoraj—Disclosure of his destiny by a prodigy—Is adopted
by the wife of Rawal Gharsi, who is assassinated by the
tribe of Jaisar—Kehar proclaimed—Bimaladevi becomes
sati—The succession entailed on the sons of
Hamir—Matrimonial overture to Jetha from Mewar—Engagement
broken off—The brothers slain—Penitential act of Rao
Raning—Offspring of Kehar—Soma the elder departs with his
_basai_ and settles at Girab—Sons of Rao Raning become
Muslims to avenge their father’s death—Consequent
forfeiture of their inheritance—They mix with the Aboharia
Bhattis—Kailan, the third son of Kehar, settles in the
forfeited lands—Drives the Dahyas from Khadal—Kailan
erects the fortress of Kara on the Bias or Gara—Assailed
by the Johyas and Langahas under Amir Khan Korai, who is
defeated—Subdues the Chahils and Mohils—Extends his
authority to the Panjnad—Rao Kailan marries into the Samma
family—Account of the Samma race—He seizes on the Samma
dominions—Makes the river Indus his boundary—Kailan
dies—Succeeded by Chachak—Makes Marot his
headquarters—League headed by the chief of Multan against
Chachak, who invades that territory, and returns with a
rich booty to Marot—A second victory—Leaves a garrison in
the Panjab—Defeats Maipal, chief of the Dhundis—Asini-, or
Aswini-Kot—Its supposed position—Anecdote—Feud with
Satalmer—Its consequences—Alliance with Haibat Khan—Rao
Chachak invades Pilibanga—The Khokhars or Ghakkars
described—The Langahas drive his garrison from
Dhuniapur—Rao Chachak falls sick—Challenges the prince of
Multan—Reaches Dhuniapur—Rites preparatory to the
combat—Worship of the sword—Chachak is slain with all his
bands—Kumbha, hitherto insane, avenges his father’s
feud—Birsal re-establishes Dhuniapur—Repairs to
Kahror—Assailed by the Langahas and Baloch—Defeats
them—Chronicle of Jaisalmer resumed—Rawal Bersi meets Rao
Birsal on his return from his expedition in the
Panjab—Conquest of Multan by Babur—Probable conversion of
the Bhattis of the Panjab—Rawal Bersi, Jeth, Nunkaran,
Bhim, Manohardas, and Sabal Singh, six generations 1215

CHAPTER 5

Jaisalmer becomes a fief of the empire—Changes in the
succession—Sabal Singh serves with the Bhatti
contingent—His services obtain him the _gaddi_ of
Jaisalmer—Boundaries of Jaisalmer at the period of Babur’s
invasion—Sabal succeeded by his son, Amra Singh, who leads
the _tika-daur_ into the Baloch territory—Crowned on the
field of victory—Demands a relief from his subjects to
portion his daughter—Puts a chief to death who
refuses—Revolt of the Chana Rajputs—The Bhatti chiefs
retaliate the inroads of the Rathors of Bikaner—Origin of
frontier-feuds—Bhattis gain a victory—The princes of
Jaisalmer and Bikaner are involved in the feuds of their
vassals—Raja Anup Singh calls on all his chiefs to revenge
the disgrace—Invasion of Jaisalmer—The invaders
defeated—The Rawal recovers Pugal—Makes Barmer
tributary—Amra dies—Succeeded by Jaswant—The chronicle
closes—Decline of Jaisalmer—Pugal—Barmer—Phalodi wrested
from her by the Rathors—Importance of these transactions
to the British Government—Khadal to the Gara seized by the
Daudputras—Akhai Singh succeeds—His uncle, Tej Singh,
usurps the government—The usurper assassinated during the
ceremony of Las—Akhai Singh recovers the _gaddi_—Reigns
forty years—Bahawal Khan seizes on Khadal—Rawal
Mulraj—Sarup Singh Mehta made minister—His hatred of the
Bhatti nobles—Conspiracy against him by the heir-apparent,
Rae Singh—Deposal and confinement of the Rawal—The prince
proclaimed—Refuses to occupy the _gaddi_—Mulraj
emancipated by a Rajputni—Resumption of the _gaddi_—The
prince Rae Singh receives the black khilat of
banishment—Retires to Jodhpur—Outlawry of the Bhatti
nobles—Their lands sequestrated and castles
destroyed—After twelve years restored to their lands—Rae
Singh decapitates a merchant—Returns to Jaisalmer—Sent to
the fortress of Dewa—Salim Singh becomes minister—His
character—Falls into the hands of his enemies, but is
saved by the magnanimity of Zorawar Singh—Plans his
destruction, through his own brother’s wife—Zorawar is
poisoned—The Mehta then assassinates her and her
husband—Fires the castle of Dewa—Rae Singh burnt to
death—Murder of his sons—The minister proclaims Gaj
Singh—Younger sons of Mulraj fly to Bikaner—The longest
reigns in the Rajput annals are during ministerial
usurpation—Retrospective view of the Bhatti
history—Reflections 1225

CHAPTER 6

Rawal Mulraj enters into treaty with the English—The Raja
dies—His grandson, Gaj Singh, proclaimed—He becomes a mere
puppet in the minister’s hands—Third article of the
treaty—Inequality of the alliance—Its importance to
Jaisalmer—Consequences to be apprehended by the British
Government—Dangers attending the enlarging the circle of
our political connexions—Importance of Jaisalmer in the
event of Russian invasion—British occupation of the valley
of the Indus considered—Salim Singh’s administration
resumed—His rapacity and tyranny increase—Wishes his
office to be hereditary—Report of the British Agent to his
Government—Paliwals self-exiled—Bankers’ families kept as
hostages—Revenues arising from confiscation—Wealth of the
minister—Border feud detailed to exemplify the
interference of the paramount power—The Maldots of
Baru—Their history—Nearly exterminated by the Rathors of
Bikaner—Stimulated by the minister Salim Singh—Cause of
this treachery—He calls for British
interference—Granted—Result—Rawal Gaj Singh arrives at
Udaipur—Marries the Rana’s daughter—Influence of this lady 1235

CHAPTER 7

Geographical position of Jaisalmer—Its superficial area—List
of its chief towns—Population—Jaisalmer chiefly
desert—Magra, a rocky ridge, traced from Cutch—Sars, or
salt-marshes—Kanod
Sar—Soil—Productions—Husbandry—Manufactures—Commerce—Kitars,
or caravans—Articles of trade—Revenues—Land and transit
taxes—Dani, or Collector—Amount of land-tax exacted from
the cultivator—Dhuan, or hearth-tax—Thali, or tax on
food—Dand, or forced contribution—Citizens refuse to
pay—Enormous wealth accumulated by the minister by
extortion—Establishments—Expenditure—Tribes—Bhattis—Their
moral estimation—Personal appearance and dress—Their
predilection for opium and tobacco—Paliwals, their
history—Numbers, wealth, employment—Curious rite or
worship—Pali coins—Pokharna
Brahmans—Title—Numbers—Singular typical worship—Race of
Jat—Castle of Jaisalmer 1244

ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of Colonel James Tod _Frontispiece_

TO FACE PAGE

Kanhaiya and Rādha 630

Columns of Temples at Chandrāvati 670

Portraits of a Rājputni, a Rājput, a Gūsāīn, etc. 708

Valley of Udaipur 760

Citadel of the Hill Fortress of Kūmbhalmer 776

Jain Temple in the Fortress of Kūmbhalmer 780

Ruins in Kūmbhalmer 782

Koli and Bhīl; Chāran or Bard 788

Jāt Peasant of Mārwār. Rājput Foot Soldier of Mārwār 812

Town and Fort of Jodhpur 820

Rock Sculptures at Mandor; Chāmunda, Kankāli 842

Rock Sculptures at Mandor; Mallināth, Nāthji 844

Rock Sculptures at Mandor; Rāmdeo Rāthor, Pābuji, etc. 846

Rock Sculptures at Mandor; Gūga the Chauhān, Harbuji 848
Sānkhla

Rock Sculptures at Mandor; Mehaji Mangalia 850

Paiks of Mārwār 860

Durga Dās; Mahārāja Sher Singh of Rian 866

The Sacred Lake of Pushkar in Mārwār 892

Ancient Jain Temple at Ajmer 896

Fortress and Town of Ajmer 900

Castle of Bhinai 904

Source of the Berach River, and Hunting Seat of the 910
Rāna

Bridge of Nūrābād 914

The late Mahārāja Sir Sumer Singh, of Jodhpur (_b._ 928
1901; _d._ 1918), and his brother, the present Mahārāja
Ummed Singh (_b._ 1903)

Horoscope of Rāja Abhai Singh _Page 1019_

ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
OF RAJASTHAN

BOOK IV—_Continued_
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, FESTIVALS,
AND CUSTOMS OF MEWĀR

CHAPTER 19

=Influence of the Priesthood.=—In all ages the ascendancy of the
hierarchy is observable; it is a tribute paid to religion through her
organs. Could the lavish endowments and extensive immunities of the
various religious establishments in Rajasthan be assumed as criteria of
the morality of the inhabitants, we should be authorized to assign them
a high station in the scale of excellence. But they more frequently
prove the reverse of their position; especially the territorial
endowments, often the fruits of a death-bed repentance,[4.19.1] which,
prompted by superstition or fear, compounds for past crimes by
posthumous profusion, although vanity not rarely lends her powerful aid.
There is scarcely a State in Rajputana in which one-fifth of the soil is
not assigned for the support of the temples, their ministers, the
secular Brahmans, bards, and [508] genealogists. But the evil was not
always so extensive; the abuse is of modern growth.

=Weighing of Princes against Gold.=—An anecdote related of the Rajas of
Marwar and Amber, always rivals in war, love, and folly, will illustrate
the motives of these dismemberments. During the annual pilgrimage to the
sacred lake of Pushkar, it is the custom for these lords of the earth to
weigh their persons against all that is rare, in gold, gems, and
precious cloths; which are afterwards distributed to the
priests.[4.19.2] The Amber chief had the advantage of a full treasury
and a fertile soil, to which his rival could oppose a more extended sway
over a braver race; but his country was proverbially poor, and at
Pushkar, the weight of the purse ranks above the deeds of the sword. As
these princes were suspended in the scale, the Amber Raja, who was
balanced against the more costly material, indirectly taunted his
brother-in-law on the poverty of his offerings, who would gladly, like
the Roman, have made up the deficiency with his sword. But the Marwar
prince had a minister of tact, at whose suggestion he challenged his
rival (of Amber) to equal him in the magnitude of his gift to the
Brahmans. On the gage being accepted, the Rathor exclaimed, “Perpetual
charity (_sasan_)[4.19.3] of all the lands held by the Brahmans in
Marwar!” His unreflecting rival had commenced the redemption of his
pledge, when his minister stopped the half-uttered vow, which would have
impoverished the family for ever; for there were ten Brahmans in Amber
who followed secular employments, cultivating or holding lands in
usufruct, to one in Marwar. Had these lords of the earth been left to
their misguided vanity, the fisc of each state would have been seriously
curtailed.

=Grants to Brāhmans and Devotees.=—The Brahmans, Sannyasis, and Gosains
are not behind those professional flatterers, the Bards; and many a
princely name would have been forgotten but for the record of the gift
of land. In Mewar, the lands in _sasan_, or religious grants, amount in
value to one-fifth of the revenue of the State, and the greater
proportion of these has arisen out of the prodigal mismanagement of the
last century. The dilapidated state of the country, on the general
pacification in A.D. 1818, afforded a noble opportunity to redeem in
part these alienations, without the penalty of denunciation attached to
the resumer of sacred charities. But death, famine, and exile, which had
left but few of the grantees in a capacity to return and reoccupy the
lands, in vain coalesced to restore the fisc of Mewar. The Rana dreaded
a “sixty thousand [509] years’ residence in hell,” and some of the
finest land of his country is doomed to remain unproductive. In this
predicament is the township of Menal,[4.19.4] with 50,000 bighas (16,000
acres), which with the exception of a nook where some few have
established themselves, claiming to be descendants of the original
holders, are condemned to sterility, owing to the agricultural
proprietors and the rent-receiving Brahmans being dead; and apathy
united to superstition admits their claims without inquiry.

The antiquary, who has dipped into the records of the dark period in
European church history, can have ocular illustration in Rajasthan of
traditions which may in Europe appear questionable. The vision of the
Bishop of Orleans,[4.19.5] who saw Charles Martel in the depths of hell,
undergoing the tortures of the damned, for having stripped the churches
of their possessions, “thereby rendering himself guilty of the sins of
all those who had endowed them,” would receive implicit credence from
every Hindu, whose ecclesiastical economy might both yield and derive
illustration from a comparison, not only with that of Europe, but with
the more ancient Egyptian and Jewish systems, whose endowments, as
explained by Moses and Ezekiel, bear a strong analogy to his own. The
disposition of landed property in Egypt, as amongst the ancient Hindus,
was immemorially vested in the cultivator; and it was only through
Joseph’s ministry in the famine that “the land became Pharaoh’s, as the
Egyptians sold every man his field.”[4.19.6] And the coincidence is
manifest even in the tax imposed on them as occupants of their
inheritance, being one-fifth of the crops to the king, while the maximum
rate among the Hindus is a sixth.[4.19.7] The Hindus also, in
visitations such as that which occasioned the dispossession of the ryots
of Egypt, can mortgage or sell their patrimony (_bapota_). Joseph did
not attempt to infringe the privileges of the sacred order when the
whole of Egypt became crown-land, “except the lands of the priests,
which became not Pharaoh’s”; and these priests, according to Diodorus,
held for themselves and the sacrifices no less than one-third of the
lands of Egypt. But we learn from [510] Herodotus, that Sesostris, who
ruled after Joseph’s ministry, restored the lands to the people,
reserving the customary tax or tribute.[4.19.8]

The prelates of the middle ages of Europe were often completely feudal
nobles, swearing fealty and paying homage as did the lay lords.[4.19.9]
In Rajasthan, the sacerdotal caste not bound to the altar may hold lands
and perform the duties of vassalage:[4.19.10] but of late years, when
land has been assigned to religious establishments, no reservation has
been made of fiscal rights, territorial or commercial. This is, however,
an innovation; since, formerly, princes never granted, along with
territorial assignments, the prerogative of dispensing justice, of
levying transit duties, or exemption from personal service of the feudal
tenant who held on the land thus assigned. Well may Rajput heirs exclaim
with the grandson of Clovis, “our exchequer is impoverished, and our
riches are transferred to the clergy.”[4.19.11] But Chilperic had the
courage to recall the grants of his predecessors, which, however, the
pious Gontram re-established. Many Gontrams could be found, though but
few Chilperics, in Rajasthan: we have, indeed, one in Jograj,[4.19.12]
the Rana’s ancestor, almost a contemporary of the Merovingian king, who
not only resumed all the lands of the Brahmans, but put many of them to
death, and expelled the rest his dominions.[4.19.13]

It may be doubted whether vanity and shame are not sufficient in
themselves to prevent a resumption of the lands of the Mangtas or
mendicants, as they style all those ‘who extend the palm,’ without the
dreaded penalty, which operates very slightly on the sub-vassal or
cultivator, who, having no superfluity, defies their anathemas when they
attempt to wrest from him, by virtue of the crown-grant, any of his
long-established rights. By these, the threat of impure transmigration
is despised; and the Brahman may spill his blood on the threshold of his
dwelling or in the field in dispute, which will be relinquished by the
owner but with his life. The Pat Rani, or chief queen, on the death of
Prince Amra, the heir-apparent, in 1818, bestowed a grant of fifteen
bighas of land, in one of the central districts, on a Brahman who had
assisted in the funeral rites of her son. With grant in hand [511], he
hastened to the Jat proprietor, and desired him to make over to him the
patch of land. The latter coolly replied that he would give him all the
prince had a right to, namely the tax. The Brahman threatened to spill
his own blood if he did not obey the command, and gave himself a gash in
a limb; but the Jat was inflexible, and declared that he would not
surrender his patrimony (_bapota_) even if he slew himself.[4.19.14] In
short, the

ryot of Mewar would reply, even to his sovereign, if he demanded his
field, in the very words of Naboth to Ahab, king of Israel, when he
demanded the vineyard contiguous to the palace: “The Lord forbid it me
that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.”

=Tithes, Temples.=—But the tithes, and other small and legally
established rights of the hierarchy, are still religiously maintained.
The village temple and the village priest are always objects of
veneration to the industrious husbandman, on whom superstition acts more
powerfully than on the bold marauding Rajput, who does not hesitate to
demand salvamenta (_rakhwali_) from the lands of Kanhaiya or Eklinga.
But the poor ryot of the nineteenth century of Vikrama has the same
fears as the peasants of Charlemagne, who were made to believe that the
ears of corn found empty had been devoured by infernal spirits, reported
to have said they owed their feast to the non-payment of
tithes.[4.19.15]

=Political Influence of Brāhmans.=—The political influence of the
Brahmans is frequently exemplified in cases alike prejudicial to the
interests of society and the personal welfare of the sovereign. The
latter is often surrounded by lay-Brahmans as confidential servants, in
the capacities of butler, keeper of the wardrobe, or seneschal,[4.19.16]
besides the Guru or domestic chaplain, who to the duty of ghostly
comforter sometimes joins that of [512] astrologer and physician, in
which case God help the prince![4.19.17] These Gurus and Purohits,
having the education of the children, acquire immense influence, and are
not backward in improving “the greatness thrust upon them.” They are all
continually importuning their prince for grants of land for themselves
and the shrines they are attached to; and every chief, as well as every
influential domestic, takes advantage of ephemeral favour to increase
the endowments of his tutelary divinity. The Peshwas of Satara are the
most striking out of numerous examples.

In the dark ages of Europe the monks are said to have prostituted their
knowledge of writing to the forging of charters in their own favour: a
practice not easily detected in the days of ignorance.[4.19.18] The
Brahmans, in like manner, do not scruple to employ this method of
augmenting the wealth of their shrines; and superstition and indolence
combine to support the deception There is not a doubt that the grand
charter of Nathdwara was a forgery, in which the prince’s butler was
bribed to aid; and report alleges that the Rana secretly favoured an
artifice which regard to opinion prevented him from overtly
promulgating. Although the copper-plate had been buried under ground,
and came out disguised with a coating of verdigris, there were marks
which proved the date of its execution to be false. I have seen charters
which, it has been gravely asserted, were granted by Rama upwards of
three thousand years ago! Such is the origin assigned to one found in a
well at the ancient Brahmpuri, in the valley of the capital. If there be
sceptics as to its validity, they are silent ones; and this copper-plate
of the brazen age [513] is worth gold to the proprietor.[4.19.19] A
census[4.19.20] of the three central districts of Mewar discovered that
more than twenty thousand acres of these fertile lands, irrigated by the
Berach and Banas rivers, were distributed in isolated portions, of which
the mendicant castes had the chief share, and which proved fertile
sources of dispute to the husbandman and the officers of the revenue.
From the mass of title-deeds of every description by which these lands
were held, one deserves to be selected, on account of its being
pretended to have been written and bestowed on the incumbent’s ancestor
by the deity upwards of three centuries ago, and which has been
maintained as a _bona-fide_ grant of Krishna[4.19.21] ever since. By
such credulity and apathy are the Rajput States influenced: yet let the
reader check any rising feeling of contempt for Hindu legislation, and
cast a retrospective glance at the page of European church history,
where he will observe in the time of the most potent of our monarchs
that the clergy possessed one-half of the soil:[4.19.22] and the
chronicles of France will show him Charlemagne on his death-bed,
bequeathing two-thirds of his domains to the church, deeming the
remaining third sufficient for the ambition of four sons. The same dread
of futurity, and the hope to expiate the sins of a life, at its close,
by gifts to the organs of religion, is the motive for these unwise
alienations, whether in Europe or in Asia. Some of these establishments,
and particularly that at Nathdwara, made a proper use of their revenues
in keeping up the Sada-Brat, or perpetual charity, though it is chiefly
distributed to religious pilgrims: but among the many complaints made of
the misapplication of the funds, the diminution of this hospitable right
is one; while, at other shrines, the avarice of the priests is
observable in the coarseness of the food dressed for sacrifice and
offering.

=Tithes levied by Brāhmans.=—Besides the crown-grants to the greater
establishments, the Brahmans received petty tithes from the
agriculturist, and a small duty from the trader, as _mapa_ or metage,
throughout every township, corresponding with the scale of the
village-chapel. An inscription found by the author at the town of
Palod,[4.19.23] and dated nearly seven centuries back, affords a good
specimen of the claims of the village [514] priesthood. The following
are among the items. The _serana_, or a _ser_, in every _maund_, being
the fortieth part of the grain of the _unalu_, or summer-harvest; the
_karpa_, or a bundle from every sheaf of the autumnal crops, whether
_makai_ (Indian corn), _bajra_ or _juar_ (maize) [millet], or the other
grains peculiar to that season.[4.19.24]

They also derive a tithe from the oil-mill and sugar-mill, and receive a
_kansa_ or platter of food on all rejoicings, as births, marriages,
etc., with _charai_, or the right of pasturage on the village common;
and where they have become possessed of landed property they have
_halma_, or unpaid labour in man and beasts, and implements, for its
culture: an exaction well known in Europe as one of the detested
_corvées_ of the feudal system of France,[4.19.25] the abolition of
which was the sole boon the English husbandman obtained by the charter
of Runymede. Both the chieftain and the priest exact _halma_ in
Rajasthan; but in that country it is mitigated, and abuse is prevented,
by a sentiment unknown to the feudal despot of the middle ages of
Europe, and which, though difficult to define, acts imperceptibly,
having its source in accordance of belief, patriarchal manners, and
clannish attachments.

=Privileges of Saivas and Jains.=—I shall now briefly consider the
privileges of the Saivas and Jains—the orthodox and heterodox sects of
Mewar; and then proceed to those of Vishnu, whose worship is the most
prevalent in these countries, and which I am inclined to regard as of
more recent origin.

=Worship of Siva.=—Mahadeva, or Iswara, is the tutelary divinity of the
Rajputs in Mewar; and from the early annals of the dynasty appears to
have been, with his consort Isani, the sole object of Guhilot adoration.
Iswara is adored under the epithet of Eklinga,[4.19.26] and is either
worshipped in his monolithic symbol, or as Iswara Chaumukhi, the
quadriform divinity, represented by a bust with four faces. The sacred
bull, Nandi, has his altar attached to all the shrines of Iswara, as was
that of Mneves or Apis to those of the Egyptian Osiris. Nandi has
occasionally his separate shrines, and there is one in the valley of
Udaipur which has the reputation of being oracular as regards the
seasons. The bull was the steed of Iswara, and [515] carried him in
battle; he is often represented upon it, with his consort Isani, at full
speed. I will not stop to inquire whether the Grecian fable of the rape
of Europa[4.19.27] by the tauriform Jupiter may not be derived, with
much more of their mythology, from the Hindu pantheon; whether that
pantheon was originally erected on the Indus, or the Ganges, or the more
central scene of early civilization, the banks of the Oxus. The bull was
offered to Mithras by the Persian, and opposed as it now appears to
Hindu faith, he formerly bled on the altars of the Sun-god, on which not
only the Baldan,[4.19.28] ‘offering of the bull,’ was made, but human
sacrifices.[4.19.29] We do not learn that the Egyptian priesthood
presented the kindred of Apis to Osiris, but as they were not prohibited
from eating beef, they may have done so.

=The Temple of Eklinga.=—The shrine of Eklinga is situated in a defile
about six [twelve] miles north of Udaipur. The hills towering around it
on all sides are of the primitive formation, and their scarped summits
are clustered with honeycombs.[4.19.30] There are abundant small springs
of water, which keep verdant numerous shrubs, the flowers of which are
acceptable to the deity; especially the _kaner_ or oleander, which grows
in great luxuriance on the Aravalli. Groves of bamboo and mango were
formerly common, according to tradition; but although it is deemed
sacrilege to thin the groves of Bal,[4.19.31] the bamboo has been nearly
destroyed: there are, however, still many trees sacred to the deity
scattered around. It would be difficult to convey a just [516] idea of a
temple so complicated in its details. It is of the form commonly styled
pagoda, and, like all the ancient temples of Siva, its _sikhara_, or
pinnacle, is pyramidal. The various orders of Hindu sacred architecture
are distinguished by the form of the _sikhara_, which is the portion
springing from and surmounting the perpendicular walls of the body of
the temple. The _sikhara_ of those of Siva is invariably pyramidal, and
its sides vary with the base, whether square or oblong. The apex is
crowned with an ornamental figure, as a sphinx, an urn, a ball, or a
lion, which is called the _kalas_. When the _sikhara_ is but the frustum
of a pyramid, it is often surmounted by a row of lions, as at Bijolia.
The fane of Eklinga is of white marble and of ample dimensions. Under an
open-vaulted temple supported by columns, and fronting the four-faced
divinity, is the brazen bull Nandi, of the natural size; it is cast, and
of excellent proportions. The figure is perfect, except where the shot
or hammer of an infidel invader has penetrated its hollow flank in
search of treasure. Within the quadrangle are miniature shrines,
containing some of the minor divinities.[4.19.32] The high-priest of
Eklinga, like all his order, is doomed to celibacy, and the office is
continued by adopted disciples. Of such spiritual descents they
calculate sixty-four since the Sage Harita, whose benediction obtained
for the Guhilot Rajput the sovereignty of Chitor, when driven from
Saurashtra by the Parthians.

The priests of Eklinga are termed Gosain or Goswami, which signifies
‘control over the senses’! The distinguishing mark of the faith of Siva
is the crescent on the forehead:[4.19.33] the hair is braided and forms
a tiara round the head, and with its folds a chaplet of the lotus-seed
is often entwined. They smear the body with ashes, and use garments dyed
of an orange hue. They bury their dead in a sitting [517] posture, and
erect tumuli over them, which are generally conical in form.[4.19.34] It
is not uncommon for priestesses to officiate in the temple of Siva.
There is a numerous class of Gosains who have adopted celibacy, and who
yet follow secular employments both in commerce and arms. The mercantile
Gosains[4.19.35] are amongst the richest individuals in India, and there
are several at Udaipur who enjoy high favour, and who were found very
useful when the Mahrattas demanded a war-contribution, as their
privileged character did not prevent their being offered and taken as
hostages for its payment. The Gosains who profess arms, partake of the
character of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. They live in
monasteries scattered over the country, possess lands, and beg, or serve
for pay when called upon. As defensive soldiers, they are good. Siva,
their patron, is the god of war, and like him they make great use of
intoxicating herbs, and even of spirituous liquors. In Mewar they can
always muster many hundreds of the Kanphara[4.19.36] Jogi, or ‘split-ear
ascetics,’ so called from the habit of piercing the ear and placing
therein a ring of the conch-shell, which is their battle-trumpet. Both
Brahmans and Rajputs, and even =Gujars=, can belong to this order, a
particular account of whose internal discipline and economy could not
fail to be interesting. The poet Chand gives an animated description of
the body-guard of the King of Kanauj, which was composed of these
monastic warriors.

=Priestly Functions of the Mewār Rānas.=—The Ranas of Mewar, as the
diwans, or vicegerents of Siva, when they visit the temple supersede the
high priest in his duties, and perform the ceremonies, which the
reigning prince does with peculiar correctness and grace.[4.19.37]

=Privileges of Jains.=—The shrine of Eklinga is endowed with twenty-four
large villages from the fisc, besides parcels of land from the
chieftains; but the privileges of the tutelary divinity have been waning
since Kanhaiya fixed his residence amongst them; and as the priests of
Apollo complained that the god was driven from the sacred mount [518]
Govardhana, in Vraj, by the influence of those of Jupiter[4.19.38] with
Shah Jahan, the latter may now lament that the day of retribution has
arrived, when propitiation to the Preserver is deemed more important
than to the Destroyer. This may arise from the personal character of the
high priests, who, from their vicinity to the court, can scarcely avoid
mingling in its intrigues, and thence lose in character: even the Ranis
do not hesitate to take mortgages on the estates of Bholanath.[4.19.39]
We shall not further enlarge on the immunities to Eklinga, or the forms
in which they are conveyed, as these will be fully discussed in the
account of the shrine of Krishna; but proceed to notice the privileges
of the heterodox Jains—the Vidyavan[4.19.40] or Magi of Rajasthan. The
numbers and power of these sectarians are little known to Europeans, who
take it for granted that they are few and dispersed. To prove the extent
of their religious and political power, it will suffice to remark that
the pontiff of the Khadatara-gachchha,[4.19.41] one of the many branches
of this faith, has 11,000 clerical disciples scattered over India; that
a single community, the Osi or Oswal,[4.19.42] numbers 100,000 families;
and that more than half [519] of the mercantile wealth of India passes
through the hands of the Jain laity. Rajasthan and Saurashtra are the
cradles of the Buddhist or Jain faith, and three out of their five
sacred mounts, namely, Abu, Palitana,[4.19.43] and Girnar, are in these
countries. The officers of the State and revenue are chiefly of the Jain
laity, as are the majority of the bankers, from Lahore to the ocean. The
chief magistrate and assessors of justice, in Udaipur and most of the
towns of Rajasthan, are of this sect; and as their voluntary duties are
confined to civil cases, they are as competent in these as they are the
reverse in criminal cases, from their tenets forbidding the shedding of
blood. To this leading feature in their religion they owe their
political debasement: for Kumarpal, the last king of Anhilwara of the
Jain faith, would not march his armies in the rains, from the
unavoidable sacrifice of animal life that must have ensued. The strict
Jain does not even maintain a lamp during that season, lest it should
attract moths to their destruction.

=Absence of Intolerance.=—The period of sectarian intolerance is now
past; and as far as my observation goes, the ministers of Vishnu, Siva,
and Buddha view each other without malignity; which feeling never
appears to have influenced the laity of either sect, who are
indiscriminately respectful to the ministers of all religions, whatever
be their tenets. It is sufficient that their office is one of sanctity,
and that they are ministers of the Divinity, who, they say, excludes the
homage of none, in whatever tongue or whatever manner he is sought; and
with this spirit of entire toleration, the devout missionary, or Mulla,
would in no country meet more security or hospitable courtesy than among
the Rajputs. They must, however, adopt the toleration they would find
practised towards themselves, and not exclude, as some of them do, the
races of Surya and Chandra from divine mercy, who, with less arrogance,
and more reliance on the compassionate nature of the Creator, say, he
has established a variety of paths by which the good may attain
beatitude.

Mewar has, from the most remote period, afforded a refuge to the
followers of the Jain faith, which was the religion of Valabhi, the
first capital of the Rana’s ancestors, and many monuments attest the
support this family has granted to its [520] professors in all the
vicissitudes of their fortunes. One of the best preserved monumental
remains in India is a column most elaborately sculptured, full seventy
feet in height, dedicated to Parsvanath, in Chitor.[4.19.44] The noblest
remains of sacred architecture, not in Mewar only, but throughout
Western India, are Buddhist or Jain:[4.19.45] and the many ancient
cities where this religion was fostered, have inscriptions which evince
their prosperity in these countries, with whose history their own is
interwoven. In fine, the necrological records of the Jains bear witness
to their having occupied a distinguished place in Rajput society; and
the privileges they still enjoy, prove that they are not overlooked. It
is not my intention to say more on the past or present history of these
sectarians, than may be necessary to show the footing on which their
establishments are placed; to which end little is required beyond copies
of a few simple warrants and ordinances in their favour.[4.19.46]
Hereafter I may endeavour to add something to the knowledge already
possessed of these deists of Rajasthan, whose singular communities
contain mines of knowledge hitherto inaccessible to Europeans. The
libraries of Jaisalmer in the desert, of Anhilwara, the cradle of their
faith, of Cambay, and other places of minor importance, consist of
thousands of volumes. These are under the control, not of the priests
alone, but of communities of the most wealthy and respectable amongst
the laity, and are preserved in the crypts of their temples, which
precaution ensured their preservation, as well as that of the statues of
their deified teachers, when the temples themselves were destroyed by
the Muhammadan invaders, who paid more deference to the images of Buddha
than those of Siva or Vishnu. The preservation of the former may be
owing to the natural formation of their statues; for while many of
Adinath, of Nemi, and of Parsva have escaped the hammer, there is
scarcely an Apollo or a Venus, of any antiquity, entire, from Lahore to
Rameswaram. The two arms of these theists sufficed for their protection;
while the statues of the polytheists have met with no mercy.

=Grant of Rāna Rāj Singh.=—No. V.[4.19.47] is the translation of a grant
by the celebrated Rana Raj Singh, the gallant and successful opponent of
Aurangzeb in many a battle. It is at once of a general and special
nature, containing a confirmation of the old privileges of the sect, and
a mark of favour to a priest of some distinction, called Mana. It is
well known [521] that the first law of the Jains, like that of the
ancient Athenian lawgiver Triptolemus, is, “Thou shalt not kill,” a
precept applicable to every sentient thing. The first clause of this
edict, in conformity thereto, prohibits all innovation upon this
cherished principle; while the second declares that even the life which
is forfeited to the laws is immortal (_amara_) if the victim but passes
near their abodes. The third article defines the extent of _saran_, or
sanctuary, the dearest privilege of the races of these regions. The
fourth article sanctions the tithes, both on agricultural and commercial
produce; and makes no distinction between the Jain priests and those of
Siva and Vishnu in this source of income, which will be more fully
detailed in the account of Nathdwara. The fifth article is the
particular gift to the priest; and the whole closes with the usual
anathema against such as may infringe the ordinance.

=The Jain Retreat.=—The edicts Nos. VI. and VII.,[4.19.48] engraved on
pillars of stone in the towns of Rasmi and Bakrol, further illustrate
the scrupulous observances of the Rana’s house towards the Jains; where,
in compliance with their peculiar doctrine, the oil-mill and the
potter’s wheel suspend their revolutions for the four months in the year
when insects most abound.[4.19.49] Many others of a similar character
could be furnished, but these remarks may be concluded with an instance
of the influence of the Jains on Rajput society, which passed
immediately under the Author’s eye. In the midst of a sacrifice to the
god of war, when the victims were rapidly falling by the scimitar, a
request preferred by one of them for the life of a goat or a buffalo on
the point of immolation, met instant compliance, and the animal, become
_amara_ or immortal, with a garland thrown round his neck, was led off
in triumph from the blood-stained spot.

=Nāthdwāra.=—This is the most celebrated of the fanes of the Hindu
Apollo. Its etymology is ‘the portal (_dwara_) of the god’ (_nath_), of
the same import as his more ancient shrine of Dwarka[4.19.50] at the
‘world’s end.’ Nathdwara is twenty-two [thirty] miles N.N.E. of Udaipur,
on the right bank of the Banas. Although the principal resort of the
followers of Vishnu, it has nothing very remarkable in its structure or
situation. It owes its celebrity entirely to the image of Krishna, said
to [522] be the same that has been worshipped at Mathura ever since his
deification, between eleven and twelve hundred years before
Christ.[4.19.51] As containing the representative of the mildest of the
gods of Hind, Nathdwara is one of the most frequented places of
pilgrimage, though it must want that attraction to the classical Hindu
which the caves of Gaya, the shores of the distant Dwarka, or the
pastoral Vraj,[4.19.52] the place of the nativity of Krishna, present to
his imagination; for though the groves of Vindra,[4.19.53] in which
Kanhaiya disported with the Gopis, no longer resound to the echoes of
his flute; though the waters of the Yamuna[4.19.54] are daily polluted
with the blood of the sacred kine, still it is the holy land of the
pilgrim, the sacred Jordan of his fancy, on whose banks he may sit and
weep, as did the banished Israelite of old, the glories of Mathura, his
Jerusalem!

It was in the reign of Aurangzeb that the pastoral divinity was exiled
from Vraj, that classic soil which, during a period of two thousand
eight hundred years, had been the sanctuary of his worshippers. He had
been compelled to occasional flights during the visitations of Mahmud
and the first dynasties of Afghan invaders; though the more tolerant of
the Mogul kings not only reinstated him, but were suspected of dividing
their faith between Kanhaiya and the prophet. Akbar was an enthusiast in
the mystic poetry of Jayadeva, which paints in glowing colours the loves
of Kanhaiya and Radha, in which lovely personification the refined Hindu
abjures all sensual interpretation, asserting its character of pure
spiritual love.[4.19.55]

=The Mughals and Krishna Worship.=—Jahangir, by birth half a Rajput, was
equally indulgent to the worship of Kanhaiya: but Shah Jahan, also the
son of a Rajput princess, inclined to the [523] doctrines of Siva, in
which he was initiated by Siddhrup the Sannyasi. Sectarian animosity is
more virulent than faiths totally dissimilar. Here we see Hindu
depressing Hindu: the followers of Siva oppressing those of Kanhaiya;
the priests of Jupiter driving the pastoral Apollo from the Parnassus of
Vraj. At the intercession, however, of a princess of Udaipur, he was
replaced on his altar, where he remained till Aurangzeb became emperor
of the Moguls. In such detestation did the Hindus hold this intolerant
king, that in like manner as they supposed the beneficent Akbar to be
the devout Mukund in a former birth, so they make the tyrant’s body
enclose the soul of Kalyavana the foe of Krishna, ere his apotheosis,
from whom he fled to Dwarka, and thence acquired the name of
Ranchhor.[4.19.56]

=The Image of Krishna removed to Mewār. Founding of Nāthdwāra.=—When
Aurangzeb proscribed Kanhaiya, and rendered his shrines impure
throughout Vraj, Rana Raj Singh “offered the heads of one hundred
thousand Rajputs for his service,” and the god was conducted by the
route of Kotah and Rampura to Mewar. An omen decided the spot of his
future residence. As he journeyed to gain the capital of the Sesodias
the chariot-wheel sunk deep into the earth and defied extrication; upon
which the Saguni (augur) interpreted the pleasure of the god, that he
desired to dwell there. This circumstance occurred at an inconsiderable
village called Siarh, in the fief of Delwara, one of the sixteen nobles
of Mewar. Rejoiced at this decided manifestation of favour, the chief
hastened to make a perpetual gift of the village and its lands, which
was speedily confirmed by the patent of the Rana.[4.19.57] Nathji (_the_
god) was removed from his car, and in due time a temple was erected for
his reception, when the hamlet of Siarh became the town of Nathdwara,
which now contains many thousand inhabitants of all denominations, who,
reposing under the especial protection of the god, are exempt from every
mortal tribunal. The site is not uninteresting, nor devoid of the means
of defence. To the east it is shut in by a cluster of hills, and to the
westward flows the Banas, which nearly bathes the extreme points of the
hills. Within these bounds is the sanctuary (_saran_) of Kanhaiya, where
the criminal is free from pursuit; nor dare the rod of justice appear on
the mount, or the foot of the pursuer pass the stream; neither within it
can blood be spilt, for the pastoral Kanhaiya delights not in offerings
of this kind [524].[4.19.58] The territory contains within its precincts
abundant space for the town, the temple, and the establishments of the
priests, as well as for the numerous resident worshippers, and the
constant influx of votaries from the most distant regions,

From Samarcand, by Oxus, Temir’s throne,
Down to the golden Chersonese,

who find abundant shelter from the noontide blaze in the groves of
tamarind, pipal, and semal,[4.19.59] where they listen to the mystic
hymns of Jayadeva. Here those whom ambition has cloyed, superstition
unsettled, satiety disgusted, commerce ruined, or crime disquieted, may
be found as ascetic attendants on the mildest of the gods of India.
Determined upon renouncing the world, they first renounce the ties that
bind them to it, whether family, friends, or fortune, and placing their
wealth at the disposal of the deity, stipulate only for a portion of the
food dressed for him, and to be permitted to prostrate themselves before
him till their allotted time is expired. Here no blood-stained sacrifice
scares the timid devotee; no austerities terrify, or tedious ceremonies
fatigue him; he is taught to cherish the hope that he has only to ask
for mercy in order to obtain it; and to believe that the compassionate
deity who guarded the lapwing’s nest[4.19.60] in the midst of myriads of
combatants, who gave beatitude to the courtesan[4.19.61] who as the wall
crushed her pronounced the name of ‘Rama,’ will not withhold it from him
who has quitted the world and its allurements that he may live only in
his presence, be fed by the food prepared for himself, and yield up his
last sigh invoking the name of Hari. There [525] have been two hundred
individuals at a time, many of whom, stipulating merely for food,
raiment, and funeral rites, have abandoned all to pass their days in
devotion at the shrine: men of every condition, Rajput merchant, and
mechanic; and where sincerity of devotion is the sole expiation, and
gifts outweigh penance, they must feel the road smooth to the haven of
hope.

=Benefactions to Nāthdwāra.=—The dead stock of Krishna’s shrine is
augmented chiefly by those who hold life “unstable as the dew-drop on
the lotus”; and who are happy to barter “the wealth of Ormuz and of Ind”
for the intercessional prayers of the high priest, and his passport to
Haripur, the heaven of Hari. From the banks of the Indus to the mouths
of the Ganges, from the coasts of the Peninsula to the shores of the Red
Sea, the gifts of gratitude or of fear are lavishly poured in; and
though the unsettled aspect of the last half-century curtailed the
transmission of the more bulky but least valuable benefactions, it less
affected the bills of exchange from the successful sons of commerce, or
the legacies of the dead. The safe arrival of a galleon from Sofala or
Arabia produced as much to the shrine as to the insurance office, for
Kanhaiya is the Saint Nicholas of the Hindu navigator, as was Apollo to
the Grecian and Celtic sailors, who purchased the charmed arrows of the
god to calm the troubled sea.[4.19.62] A storm accordingly yields in
proportion to its violence, or to the nerve of the owner of the vessel.
The appearance of a long-denied heir might deprive him of half his
patrimony, and force him to lament his parent’s distrust in natural
causes; while the accidental mistake of touching forbidden food on
particular fasts requires expiation, not by flagellation or seclusion,
but by the penance of the purse.

There is no donation too great or too trifling for the acceptance of
Krishna, from the baronial estate to a patch of meadowland; from the
gemmed coronet to adorn his image, to the widow’s mite; nor, as before
observed, is there a principality [526] in India which does not diminish
its fisc to add to his revenues. What effect the milder rites of the
shepherd-god have produced on the adorers of Siva we know not, but
assuredly Eklinga, the tutelary divinity of Mewar, has to complain of
being defrauded of half his dues since Kanhaiya transferred his abode
from the Yamuna to the Banas; for the revenues assigned to Kanhaiya, who
under the epithet of ‘Yellow mantle’[4.19.63] has a distinguished niche
in the domestic chapel of the Rana, far exceed those of the Avenger. The
grants or patents of Hindupati,[4.19.64] defining the privileges and
immunities of the shrine, are curious documents.[4.19.65]

=Rights of Sanctuary.=—The extension of the sanctuary beyond the
vicinage of the shrine became a subject of much animadversion; and in
delegating judicial authority over the whole of the villages in the
grant to the priests, the Rana committed the temporal welfare of his
subjects to a class of men not apt to be lenient in the collection of
their dues, which not unfrequently led to bloodshed. In alienating the
other royalties, especially the transit duties, he was censured even by
the zealots. Yet, however important such concessions, they were of
subordinate value to the rights of sanctuary, which were extended to the
whole of the towns in the grant, thereby multiplying the places of
refuge for crime, already too numerous.

=Violation of Sanctuary.=—In all ages and countries the rights of
sanctuary have been admitted, and however they may be abused, their
institution sprung from humane motives. To check the impulse of revenge
and to shelter the weak from oppression are noble objects, and the
surest test of a nation’s independence is the extent to which they are
carried. From the remotest times _saran_ has been the most valued
privilege of the Rajputs, the lowest of whom deems his house a refuge
against the most powerful. But we merely propose to discuss the
sanctuary of holy places, and more immediately that of the shrine of
Kanhaiya. When Moses, after the Exodus, made a division of the lands of
Canaan amongst the Israelites, and appointed “six cities to be the
refuge of him who had slain unwittingly, from the avenger of
blood,”[4.19.66] the intention was not to afford facilities for eluding
justice, but to check the hasty impulse of revenge; for the slayer was
only to be protected “until he stood before the congregation for
judgment, or until the death of the high-priest” [527], which event
appears to have been considered as the termination of revenge.[4.19.67]
The infraction of political sanctuary (_saran torna_) often gives rise
to the most inveterate feuds; and its abuse by the priests is highly
prejudicial to society. Moses appointed but six cities of refuge to the
whole Levite tribe; but the Rana has assigned more to one shrine than
the entire possessions of that branch of the Israelites who had but
forty-two cities, while Kanhaiya has forty-six.[4.19.68] The motive of
sanctuary in Rajasthan may have been originally the same as that of the
divine legislator; but the privilege has been abused, and the most
notorious criminals deem the temple their best safeguard. Yet some
princes have been found hardy enough to violate, though indirectly, the
sacred _saran_. Zalim Singh of Kotah, a zealot in all the observances of
religion, had the boldness to draw the line when selfish priestcraft
interfered with his police; and though he would not demand the culprit,
or sacrilegiously drag him from the altar, he has forced him thence by
prohibiting the admission of food, and threatening to build up the door
of the temple. It was thus the Greeks evaded the laws, and compelled the
criminal’s surrender by kindling fires around the sanctuary.[4.19.69]
The towns of Kanhaiya did not often abuse their privilege; but the
Author once had to interpose, where a priest of Eklinga gave asylum to a
felon who had committed murder within the bounds of his domain of
Pahona. As this town, of eight thousand rupees annual revenue belonging
to the fisc, had been gained by a forged charter, the Author was glad to
seize on the occasion to recommend its resumption, though he thereby
incurred the penalty for seizing church land, namely “sixty thousand
years in hell.” The unusual occurrence created a sensation, but it was
so indisputably just that not a voice was raised in opposition.

=Endowments of Nāthdwāra.=—Let us revert to the endowments of Nathdwara.
Herodotus[4.19.70] furnishes a powerful instance of the estimation in
which sacred offerings were held by the nations of antiquity. He
observes that these were transmitted from the remotest nations of
Scythia to Delos in Greece; a range far less extensive than the
offerings to the [528] Dewal of Apollo in Mewar. The spices of the isles
of the Indian archipelago; the balmy spoils of Araby the blest; the nard
or frankincense of Tartary; the raisins and pistachios of Persia; every
variety of saccharine preparation, from the shakkarkhand (sugar-candy)
of the celestial empire, with which the god sweetens his evening repast,
to the more common sort which enters into the _peras_ of Mathura, the
food of his infancy;[4.19.71] the shawls of Kashmir, the silks of
Bengal, the scarfs of Benares, the brocades of Gujarat,

... the flower and choice
Of many provinces from bound to bound,

all contribute to enrich the shrine of Nathdwara. But it is with the
votaries of the maritime provinces of India that he has most reason to
be satisfied; in the commercial cities of Surat, Cambay, Muskat-mandavi,
etc., etc., where the Mukhyas, or comptrollers deputed by the high
priest, reside, to collect the benefactions, and transmit them as
occasion requires. A deputy resides on the part of the high priest at
Multan, who invests the distant worshippers with the initiative cordon
and necklace. Even from Samarkand the pilgrims repair with their
offerings; and a sum, seldom less than ten thousand rupees, is annually
transmitted by the votaries from the Arabian ports of Muscat, Mocha, and
Jiddah; which contribution is probably augmented not only by the
votaries who dwell at the mouths of the Volga[4.19.72] [529], but by the
Samoyede[4.19.73] of Siberia. There is not a petty retailer professing
the Vishnu creed who does not carry a tithe of his trade to the stores:
and thus caravans of thirty and forty cars, double-yoked, pass twice or
thrice annually by the upper road to Nathdwara. These pious bounties are
not allowed to moulder in the _bhandars_: the apparel is distributed
with a liberal hand as the gift of the deity to those who evince their
devotion; and the edibles enter daily into the various food prepared at
the shrine.

=Food offered to Deities.=—It has been remarked by the celebrated
Goguet[4.19.74] that the custom of offering food to the object of divine
homage had its origin in a principle of gratitude, the repast being
deemed hallowed by presenting the first portion to him who gave it,
since the devotee was unable to conceive aught more acceptable than that
whereby life is sustained. From the earliest period such offerings have
been tendered; and in the burnt-offering (_hom_) of Abel, of the
firstling of the flock, and the first portion of the repast presented by
the Rajput to Annadeva[4.19.75] ‘the nourisher,’ the motive is the same.
But the _parsad_ (such is the denomination of the food sacred to
Kanhaiya) is deemed unlucky, if not unholy; a prejudice arising from the
heterogeneous sources whence it is supplied—often from bequests of the
dead. The Mukhyas [530] of the temple accordingly carry the sacred food
to wheresoever the votaries dwell, which proves an irresistible stimulus
to backward zeal, and produces an ample return. At the same time are
transmitted, as from the god, dresses of honour corresponding in
material and value with the rank of the receiver: a diadem, or fillet of
satin and gold, embroidered; a _dagla_, or quilted coat of gold or
silver brocade for the cold weather; a scarf of blue and gold; or if to
one who prizes the gift less for its intrinsic worth than as a mark of
special favour, a fragment of the garland worn on some festival by the
god; or a simple necklace, by which he is inaugurated amongst the
elect.[4.19.76]

=Lands dedicated to the Shrine.=—It has been mentioned that the lands of
Mewar appropriated to the shrine are equal in value to a baronial
appanage, and, as before observed, there is not a principality in India
which does not assign a portion of its domain or revenue to this object.
The Hara princes of Kotah and Bundi are almost exclusive worshippers of
Kanhaiya, and the regent Zalim Singh is devoted to the maintenance of
the dignity of the establishment. Everything at Kotah appertains to
Kanhaiya. The prince has but the usufruct of the palace, for which
£12,000 are annually transmitted to the shrine. The grand lake east of
the town, with all its finny tenants, is under his especial
protection;[4.19.77] and the extensive suburb adjoining, with its rents,
lands, and transit duties, all belong to the god. Zalim Singh moreover
transmits to the high priest the most valuable shawls, broadcloths, and
horses; and throughout the long period of predatory warfare he
maintained two Nishans,[4.19.78] of a hundred firelocks each, for the
protection of the temple. His favourite son also, a child of love, is
called Gordhandas, the ‘slave of Gordhan,’ one of the many titles of
Kanhaiya. The prince of Marwar went mad from the murder of the high
priest of Jalandhara, the epithet given to Kanhaiya in that State; and
the Raja of Sheopur,[4.19.79] the last of the Gaurs, lost his
sovereignty by abandoning the worship of Har for that of Hari. The
‘slave’ of Radha[4.19.80] (such was the name of this prince) almost
lived in the temple, and used to dance before the statue. Had he upheld
the rights of him who wields [531] the trident, the tutelary deity of
his capital, Sivapur, instead of the unwarlike divinity whose
unpropitious title of Ranchhor should never be borne by the martial
Rajput, his fall would have been more dignified, though it could not
have been retarded when the overwhelming torrent of the Mahrattas under
Sindhia swept Rajwara.[4.19.81]

=Grants to the High Priest.=—A distinction is made between the grants to
the temple and those for the personal use of the pontiff, who at least
affects never to apply any portion of the former to his own use, and he
can scarcely have occasion to do so; but when from the stores of Apollo
could be purchased the spices of the isles, the fruits of Persia, and
the brocades of Gujarat, we may indulge our scepticism in questioning
this forbearance: but the abuse has been rectified, and traffic banished
from the temple. The personal grant (Appendix, No. XI.) to the high
priest ought alone to have sufficed for his household expenditure, being
twenty thousand rupees per annum, equal to £10,000 in Europe. But the
ten thousand towns of Mewar, from each of which he levied a crown, now
exist only in the old rent-roll, and the heralds of Apollo would in vain
attempt to collect their tribute from two thousand villages.

The Appendix, No. XII., being a grant of privileges to a minor shrine of
Kanhaiya, in his character of Muralidhar or ‘flute-player,’ contains
much information on the minutiae of benefactions, and will afford a good
idea of the nature of these revenues.

=Effects of Krishna-worship on the Rājputs.=—The predominance of the
mild doctrines of Kanhaiya over the dark rites of Siva, is doubtless
beneficial to Rajput society. Were the prevention of female immolation
the sole good resulting from their prevalence, that alone would
conciliate our partiality; a real worshipper of Vishnu should forbid his
wife following him to the pyre, as did recently the Bundi prince. In
fact, their tenderness to animal life is carried to nearly as great an
excess as with the Jains, who shed no blood. Celibacy is not imposed
upon the priests of Kanhaiya, as upon those of Siva: on the contrary,
they are enjoined to marry, and the priestly office is hereditary by
descent. Their wives do not burn, but are committed, like themselves, to
the earth. They inculcate tenderness towards all beings; though whether
this feeling influences the mass, must depend on the soil which receives
the seed, for the outward ceremonies of religion cost far less effort
than the practice or essentials. I have often [532] smiled at the
incessant aspirations of the Macchiavelli of Rajasthan, Zalim Singh,
who, while he ejaculated the name of the god as he told his beads, was
inwardly absorbed by mundane affairs; and when one word would have
prevented a civil war, and saved his reputation from the stain of
disloyalty to his prince, he was, to use his own words, “at fourscore
years and upwards, laying the foundation for another century of life.”
And thus it is with the prince of Marwar, who esteems the life of a man
or a goat of equal value when prompted by revenge to take it. Hope may
silence the reproaches of conscience, and gifts and ceremonies may be
deemed atonement for a deviation from the first principle of their
religion—a benevolence which should comprehend every animated thing. But
fortunately the princely worshippers of Kanhaiya are few in number: it
is to the sons of commerce we must look for the effects of these
doctrines; and it is my pride and duty to declare that I have known men
of both sects, Vaishnava and Jain, whose integrity was spotless, and
whose philanthropy was unbounded.

-----

Footnote 4.19.1:

Manu commands, “Should the king be near his end through some incurable
disease, he must bestow on the priests all his riches accumulated from
legal fines: and having duly committed his kingdom to his son, let him
seek death in battle, or, if there be no war, by abstaining from food”
(_Laws_, ix. 323). The annals of all the Rajput States afford
instances of obedience to this text of their divine legislator. [The
injunction to seek death by starvation is an addition by the
commentator, and is not included in the original text.]

Footnote 4.19.2:

[The practice of a devotee weighing himself against gold was common in
ancient Hindu times, was known as _tulāpurushadāna_, and is still
performed by the Mahārāja of Travancore (Thurston, _Tribes and Castes
of S. India_, vii. 202 ff.; _BG_, i. Part ii. 415; Forbes, _Rāsmāla_,
84). Akbar used to have himself weighed against precious substances
twice a year, on his solar and lunar birthdays, the articles being
given to Brāhmans, and Jahāngīr followed the same custom (_Āīn_, i.
266 ff.; Elliot-Dowson v. 307, 453; _Memoirs of Jahāngīr_, trans.
Rogers-Beveridge, 78, 81, 111, 183).]

Footnote 4.19.3:

[Sāsan, a grant by charter of rent-free lands, made in favour of
Brāhmans and devotees. For the formula used in such grants see
Barnett, _Antiquities of India_, 129.]

Footnote 4.19.4:

[Menāl, Mahānāl, ‘the great chasm,’ in the Begun Estate, E. Mewār.]

Footnote 4.19.5:

“Saint Eucher, évêque d’Orléans, eut une vision qui étonna les
princes. Il faut que je rapporte à ce sujet la lettre que les évêques,
assemblés à Reims, écrivent à Louis-le-Germanique, qui étoit entré
dans les terres de Charles le Chauve, parce qu’elle est très-propre à
nous faire voir quel étoit, dans ces temps-là, l’état des choses, et
la situation des esprits. Ils disent que ‘Saint Eucher ayant été ravi
dans le ciel, il vit Charles Martel tourmenté dans l’enfer inférieur
par l’ordre des saints qui doivent assister avec Jésus-Christ au
jugement dernier; qu’il avoit été condamné à cette peine avant le
temps pour avoir dépouillé les églises de leurs biens, et s’être par
là rendu coupable des péchés de tous ceux qui les avoient dotées’”
(Montesquieu, _L’Esprit des Lois_, livre xxxi. chap. xi. p. 460).

Footnote 4.19.6:

Genesis xlvii. 20-26.

Footnote 4.19.7:

Manu, _Laws_, vii. 130.

Footnote 4.19.8:

_Origin of Laws and Government_, vol. i. p. 54, and vol. ii. p. 13.
[Herodotus ii. 109.]

Footnote 4.19.9:

Hallam, _Middle Ages_, vol. ii. p. 212.

Footnote 4.19.10:

“A Brahman unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned
(sacerdotal), may live by the duty of a soldier” (Manu x. 81).

Footnote 4.19.11:

Montesquieu.

Footnote 4.19.12:

[One of the legendary Rānas, twenty-fifth on the list, to whom no date
can be assigned.]

Footnote 4.19.13:

“Le clergé recevoit tant, qu’il faut que, dans les trois races, on lui
ait donné plusieurs fois tous les biens du royaume. Mais si les rois,
la noblesse, et le peuple, trouvèrent le moyen de leur donner tous
leurs biens, ils ne trouvèrent pas moins celui de les leur ôter”
(Montesquieu, _L’Esprit des Lois_, livre xxxi. chap. x.).

Footnote 4.19.14:

These worshippers of God and Mammon, when threats fail, have recourse
to maiming, and even destroying, themselves, to gain their object. In
1820, one of the confidential servants of the Rana demanded payment of
the petty tax called _gugri_, of one rupee on each house, from some
Brahmans who dwelt in the village, and which had always been received
from them. They refused payment, and on being pressed, four of them
stabbed themselves mortally. Their bodies were placed upon biers, and
funeral rites withheld till punishment should be inflicted on the
priest-killer. But for once superstition was disregarded, and the
rights of the Brahmans in this community were resumed. See Appendix to
this Part, No. I [p. 644].

Footnote 4.19.15:

“Mais le bas peuple n’est guère capable d’abandonner ses intérêts par
des exemples. Le synode de Francfort lui présenta un motif plus
pressant pour payer les dîmes. On y fit un capitulaire dans lequel il
est dit que, dans la dernière famine, on avoit trouvé les épis de blé
vides, qu’ils avoient été dévorés par les démons, et qu’on avoit
entendu leurs voix qui reprochoient de n’avoir pas payé la dîme: et,
en conséquence, il fut ordonné à tous ceux qui tenoient les biens
ecclésiastiques de payer la dîme, et, en conséquence encore, on
l’ordonna à tous” (_L’Esprit des Lois_, livre xxxi. chap. xii.).

Footnote 4.19.16:

These lay Brahmans are not wanting in energy or courage; the sword is
as familiar to them as the _mala_ (chaplet). The grandfather of
Ramnath, the present worthy seneschal of the Rana, was governor of the
turbulent district of Jahazpur, which has never been so well ruled
since. He left a curious piece of advice to his successors,
inculcating vigorous measures. “With two thousand men you may eat
_khichri_; with one thousand _dalbhat_; with five hundred _juti_ (the
_shoe_)” _Khichri_ is a savoury mess of pulse, rice, butter, and
spices; _dalbhat_ is simple rice and pulse; _the shoe_ is indelible
disgrace.

Footnote 4.19.17:

Manu, in his rules on government, commands the king to impart his
momentous counsel and entrust all transactions to a learned and
distinguished Brahman (_Laws_, vii. 58). There is no being more
aristocratic in his ideas than the secular Brahman or priest, who
deems the bare name a passport to respect. The Kulin Brahman of Bengal
piques himself upon this title of nobility granted by the last Hindu
king of Kanauj (whence they migrated to Bengal), and in virtue of
which his alliance in matrimony is courted. But although Manu has
imposed obligations towards the Brahman little short of adoration,
these are limited to the “learned in the Vedas”: he classes the
unlearned Brahman with “an elephant made of wood, or an antelope of
leather”; nullities, save in name. And he adds further, that “as
liberality to a fool is useless, so is a Brahman useless if he read
not the holy texts”: comparing the person who gives to such an one, to
a husbandman “who, sowing seed in a barren soil, reaps no gain”; so
the Brahman “obtains no reward in heaven.” These sentiments are
repeated in numerous texts, holding out the most powerful inducements
to the sacerdotal class to cultivate their minds, since their power
consists solely in their wisdom. For such, there are no privileges too
extensive, no homage too great. “A king, even though dying with want,
must not receive any tax from a Brahman learned in the Vedas.” His
person is sacred. “Never shall the king slay a Brahman, though
convicted of all possible crimes,” is a premium at least to unbounded
insolence, and unfits them for members of society, more especially for
soldiers; banishment, with person and property untouched, is the
declared punishment for even the most heinous crimes. “A Brahman may
seize without hesitation, if he be distressed for a subsistence, the
goods of his Sudra slave.” But the following text is the climax: “What
prince could gain wealth by oppressing these [Brahmans], who, if
angry, could frame other worlds, and regents of worlds, and could give
birth to new gods and mortals?” (Manu, _Laws_, ii. iii. vii. viii.
ix.).

Footnote 4.19.18:

Hallam’s _Middle Ages_, vol. i. p. 204.

Footnote 4.19.19:

These forgeries of charters cannot be considered as invalidating the
arguments drawn from them, as we may rest assured nothing is
introduced foreign to custom, in the items of the deeds.

Footnote 4.19.20:

Suggested by the Author, and executed under his superintendence, who
waded through all these documents, and translated upwards of a hundred
of the most curious.

Footnote 4.19.21:

See the Appendix to this Part, No. II [p. 644].

Footnote 4.19.22:

Hallam.

Footnote 4.19.23:

See Appendix to this Part, No. III [p. 645].

Footnote 4.19.24:

Each bundle consists of a specified number of ears, which are roasted
and eaten in the unripe state with a little salt. [A _ser_ or _seer_ =
2·057 lbs. avoirdupois.]

Footnote 4.19.25:

_Dict. de l’Ancien Régime_, p. 131, art. “Corvée.”

Footnote 4.19.26:

That is, with _one_ (_ek_) _lingam_ or phallus—the symbol of worship
being a single cylindrical or conical stone. There are others, termed
_Sahaslinga_ and _Kotiswara_, with a thousand or a million of phallic
representatives, all minutely carved on the monolithic emblem, having
then much resemblance to the symbol of Bacchus, whose orgies, both in
Egypt and Greece, are the counterpart of those of the Hindu Baghis,
thus called from being clad in a tiger’s or leopard’s hide: Bacchus
had the panther’s for his covering. There is a very ancient temple to
Kotiswara at the _embouchure_ of the eastern arm of the Indus; and
here are many to Sahaslinga in the peninsula of Saurashtra. [Bacchus
has no connexion with a Hindu tiger-god.]

Footnote 4.19.27:

It might have appeared fanciful, some time ago, to have given a
Sanskrit derivation to a Greek proper name: but Europa might be
derived from _Surupa_, ‘of the beautiful face’—the initial syllable
_su_ and _eu_ having the same signification in both languages, namely,
_good_—_Rupa_ is ‘countenance.’ [Europa is probably Assyrian _ereb_,
_irib_, ‘land of the rising sun’ (_EB_, ix. 907). Another explanation
is that it is a cult title, meaning ‘goddess of the flourishing
willow-withies’ (A. B. Cook, _Zeus_, 531).]

Footnote 4.19.28:

In this sacrifice four altars are erected, for offering the flesh to
the four gods, Lakshmi-Narayana, Umamaheswar, Brahma, and Ananta. The
nine planets, and Prithu, or the earth, with her ten guardian-deities,
are worshipped. Five _Vilwa_, five _Khadira_, five _Palasha_, and five
_Udumbara_ posts are to be erected, and a bull tied to each post.
Clarified butter is burnt on the altar, and pieces of the flesh of the
slaughtered animals placed thereon. This sacrifice was very common
(Ward, _On the Religion of the Hindus_, vol. ii. p. 263). [Balidāna,
‘an offering to the gods.’]

Footnote 4.19.29:

First a covered altar is to be prepared; sixteen posts are then to be
erected of various woods; a golden image of a man, and an iron one of
a goat, with golden images of Vishnu and Lakshmi, a silver one of
Siva, with a golden bull, and a silver one of Garuda ‘the eagle,’ are
placed upon the altar. Animals, as goats, sheep, etc., are tied to the
posts, and to one of them, of the wood of the _mimosa_, is to be tied
the human victim. Fire is to be kindled by means of a burning glass.
The sacrificing priest, _hota_, strews the grass called _dub_ or
immortal, round the sacred fire. Then follows the burnt sacrifice to
the ten guardian deities of the earth—to the nine planets, and to the
Hindu Triad, to each of whom clarified butter is poured on the sacred
fire one thousand times. Another burnt-sacrifice, to the sixty-four
inferior gods, follows, which is succeeded by the sacrifice and
offering of all the other animals tied to the posts. The human
sacrifice concludes, the sacrificing priest offering pieces of the
flesh of the victim to each god as he circumambulates the altar
(_ibid_, 260).

Footnote 4.19.30:

This is to be taken in its literal sense; the economy of the bee being
displayed in the formation of extensive colonies which inhabit large
masses of black comb adhering to the summits of the rocks. According
to the legends of these tracts, they were called in as auxiliaries on
Muhammadan invasions, and are said to have thrown the enemy more than
once into confusion. [Stories of idols protected from desecration by
swarms of hornets are common (_BG_, viii. 401; Sleeman, _Rambles_,
54).]

Footnote 4.19.31:

See Appendix to this Part, No. IV [p. 645].

Footnote 4.19.32:

In June 1806 I was present at a meeting between the Rana and Sindhia
at the shrine of Eklinga. The rapacious Mahratta had just forced the
passes to the Rana’s capital, which was the commencement of a series
of aggressions involving one of the most tragical events in the
history of Mewar—the immolation of the Princess Krishna and the
subsequent ruin of the country. I was then an _attaché_ of the British
embassy to the Mahratta prince, who carried the ambassador to the
meeting to increase his consequence. In March 1818 I again visited the
shrine, on my way to Udaipur, but under very different
circumstances—to announce the deliverance of the family from
oppression, and to labour for its prosperity. While standing without
the sanctuary, looking at the quadriform divinity, and musing on the
changes of the intervening twelve years, my meditations were broken by
an old Rajput chieftain, who, saluting me, invited me to enter and
adore Baba Adam, ‘Father Adam,’ as he termed the phallic emblem. I
excused myself on account of my boots, which I said I could not
remove, and that with them I would not cross the threshold: a reply
which pleased them, and preceded me to the Rana’s court.

Footnote 4.19.33:

Siva is represented with three eyes: hence his title of Trinetra and
Trilochan, the Triophthalmic Jupiter of the Greeks. From the fire of
the central eye of Siva is to proceed Pralaya, or the final
destruction of the universe: this eye placed vertically, resembling
the flame of a taper, is a distinguishing mark on the foreheads of his
votaries.

Footnote 4.19.34:

I have seen a cemetery of these, each of very small dimensions, which
may be described as so many concentric rings of earth, diminishing to
the apex, crowned with a cylindrical stone pillar. One of the
disciples of Siva was performing rites to the manes, strewing leaves
of an evergreen [probably bel, _Aegle marmelos_] and sprinkling water
over the graves.

Footnote 4.19.35:

For a description of these, vide _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic
Society_, vol. i. p. 217.

Footnote 4.19.36:

[The more usual form is Kanphata, with the same meaning.]

Footnote 4.19.37:

The copy of the _Siva Purana_ which I presented to the Royal Asiatic
Society was obtained for me by the Rana from the temple of Eklinga.

Footnote 4.19.38:

Jiva-pitri, the ‘Father of Life,’ would be a very proper epithet for
Mahadeva, the creative ‘power,’ whose Olympus is Kailas. [Jīva-pitri
means ‘a child whose father is alive.’ Jupiter=Skt. Dyaus-pitā.]

Footnote 4.19.39:

Bholanath, or the ‘Simple God,’ is one of the epithets of Siva, whose
want of reflection is so great that he would give away his own
divinity if asked.

Footnote 4.19.40:

Vidyavan, the ‘Man of Secrets or Knowledge,’ is the term used by way
of reproach to the Jains, having the import of _magician_. Their
opponents believe them to be possessed of supernatural skill; and it
is recorded of the celebrated Amara, author of the _Kosa_ or
dictionary called after him, that he raculously’ “made the full moon
appear on Amavas”—the ides of the month, when the planet is invisible.

Footnote 4.19.41:

Khadatara signifies ‘true’ [?], an epithet of distinction which was
bestowed by that great supporter of the Buddhists or Jains,
Siddharaj, king of Anhilwara Patan, on one of the branches
(_gachchha_), in a grand religious disputation (_badha_) at that
capital in the eleventh century. The celebrated Hemacharya was head
of the _Khadatara-gachchha_; and his spiritual descendant honoured
Udaipur with his presence in his visit to his dioceses in the desert
in 1821. My own Yati tutor was a disciple of Hemacharya, and his
_pattravali_, or pedigree, registered his descent by spiritual
successions from him. [For the Jain gachchhas see Bühler, _The
Indian Sect of the Jainas_, 77 ff. As usual, the author confounds
Jains with Buddhists.] This pontiff was a man of extensive learning
and of estimable character. He was versed in all the ancient
inscriptions, to which no key now exists, and deciphered one for me
which had been long unintelligible. His travelling library was of
considerable extent, though chiefly composed of works relating to
the ceremonies of his religion: it was in the charge of two of his
disciples remarkable for talent, and who, like himself, were
perfectly acquainted with all these ancient characters. The pontiff
kindly permitted my Yati to bring for my inspection some of the
letters of invitation written by his flocks in the desert. These
were rolls, some of them several feet in length, containing pictured
delineations of their wishes. One from Bikaner represented that
city, in one division of which was the school or college of the
Jains, where the Yatis were all portrayed at their various studies.
In another part, a procession of them was quitting the southern gate
of the city, the head of which was in the act of delivering a scroll
to a messenger, while the pontiff was seen with his cortège
advancing in the distance. To show the respect in which these high
priests of the Jains are held, the princes of Rajputana invariably
advance outside the walls of their capital to receive and conduct
them to it—a mark of respect paid only to princes. On the occasion
of the high priest of the _Khadataras_ passing through Udaipur, as
above alluded to, the Rana received him with every distinction.

Footnote 4.19.42:

So called from the town of Osi or Osian, in Marwar [about 30 miles N.
of Jodhpur city].

Footnote 4.19.43:

Palitana, or ‘the abode of the Pali’ [?], is the name of the town at
the foot of the sacred mount Satrunjaya (signifying ‘victorious over
the foe’), on which the Jain temples are sacred to Buddhiswara, or the
‘Lord of the Buddhists’ [?]. I have little doubt that the name of
Palitana is derived from the pastoral (_pali_) Scythic invaders
bringing the Buddhist faith in their train—a faith which appears to me
not indigenous to India [?]. Palestine, which, with the whole of Syria
and Egypt, was ruled by the Hyksos or Shepherd kings, who for a season
expelled the old Coptic race, may have had a similar import to the
_Palitana_ founded by the Indo-Scythic Pali. The Author visited all
these sacred mounts. [The Author describes Pālitāna in _WI_, 274 ff.;
see also _BG_, viii. 603 f. All this confusion between Buddhists and
Jains and the suggested derivation, in which the Author unfortunately
relied on Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, iii. 72 ff., viii. 321), are
out of date.]

Footnote 4.19.44:

[The Kīrtti-Stambha, erected by a merchant named Jīja in the twelfth
century A.D., and dedicated to Ādināth, the first Jain Tīrthakara
(Fergusson, _Hist. Indian Architecture_, ii. 57 ff.; Erskine ii. A.
104).]

Footnote 4.19.45:

[Buddhism and Jainism are again confused. For Buddhist remains in
Rājputāna see _IGI_, xxi. 103.]

Footnote 4.19.46:

See Appendix to this Part [p. 645].

Footnote 4.19.47:

See Appendix to this part [p. 645].

Footnote 4.19.48:

See Appendix to this article [p. 646].

Footnote 4.19.49:

[This is the Pachusan, the four months of Jain retreat, the Vassa or
Vassavāsa of the Buddhists. It was held in the rainy season, during
which travelling was forbidden, in order to avoid injury to the insect
life which abounds at this time (_BG_, ix. Part i. 113 f.; Kern,
_Manual of Indian Buddhism_, 80 f.).]

Footnote 4.19.50:

Dwarka is at the point called Jagat Khunt, of the Saurashtra
peninsula. _Ka_ is the mark of the genitive case [?]: _Dwarkanath_
would be the ‘gate of the god’ [‘Lord of Dvārakā’].

Footnote 4.19.51:

Fifty-seven descents are given, both in their sacred and profane
genealogies, from Krishna to the princes supposed to have been
contemporary with Vikramaditya. The Yadu Bhatti or Shama Bhatti (the
Ahsham Bhatti of Abu-l Fazl) [_Āīn_, ii. 339], draw their pedigree
from Krishna or Yadunath, as do the Jarejas of Cutch.

Footnote 4.19.52:

With Mathura as a centre and a radius of eighty miles, describe a
circle: all within it is Vraj, which was the seat of whatever was
refined in Hinduism, and whose language, the Vraj-bhasha, was the
purest dialect of India. Vraj is tantamount to the land of the
Suraseni, derived from Sursen, the ancestor of Krishna, whose capital,
Surpuri, is about fifty miles south of Mathura on the Yamuna (Jumna).
The remains of this city (Surpuri) the Author had the pleasure of
discovering. The province of the Surseni, or Suraseni, is defined by
Manu [_Laws_, ii. 19, vii. 193, who calls them Surasenakas], and
particularly mentioned by the historians of Alexander.

Footnote 4.19.53:

Vindravana, or the ‘forests of Vindra,’ in which were placed many
temples sacred to Kanhaiya, is on the Yamuna, a few miles above
Mathura. A pilgrimage to this temple is indispensable to the true
votary of Krishna.

Footnote 4.19.54:

This river is called the Kal Yamuna, or black Yamuna, and Kalidah or
the ‘black pool,’ from Kanhaiya having destroyed the hydra Kaliya
which infested it. Jayadeva calls the Yamuna ‘the blue daughter of the
sun.’

Footnote 4.19.55:

[The popular worship of Krishna and Rādha is decidedly erotic.] It
affords an example of the Hindu doctrine of the Metempsychosis, as
well as of the regard which Akbar’s toleration had obtained him, to
mention, that they held his body to be animated by the soul of a
celebrated Hindu gymnosophist: in support of which they say he (Akbar)
went to his accustomed spot of penance (_tapasya_) at the confluence
of the Yamuna and Ganges, and excavated the implements, namely, the
tongs, gourd, and deer-skin, of his anchorite existence. [For the tale
of Akbar and the Brāhman Mukunda see _Asiatic Researches_, ix. 158.]

Footnote 4.19.56:

_Ran_, the ‘field of battle,’ _chhor_, from _chhorna_, ‘to abandon.’
Hence Ranchhor, one of the titles under which Krishna is worshipped at
Dwarka, is most unpropitious to the martial Rajput. Kalyavana, the foe
from whom he fled, and who is figured as a serpent, is doubtless the
Tak, the ancient foe of the Yadus, who slew Janamejaya, emperor of the
Pandus. [Kālyavana has been identified with Gonanda I. of Kashmīr, but
was more probably one of the Bactrian chiefs of the Panjāb (Growse,
_Mathura_, 3rd ed. 56).]

Footnote 4.19.57:

See Appendix to this Part, No. VIII [p. 647].

Footnote 4.19.58:

[The right of sanctuary was maintained until quite recent times
(Erskine ii. A. 120).]

Footnote 4.19.59:

The cotton tree, _Bombax malabaracum_, which grows to an immense
height.

Footnote 4.19.60:

Whoever has unhooded the falcon at a lapwing, or even scared one from
her nest, need not be told of its peculiarly distressing scream, as if
appealing to sympathy. The allusion here is to the lapwing scared from
her nest, as the rival armies of the Kurus and Pandus joined in
battle, when the compassionate Krishna, taking from an elephant’s neck
a war-bell (_viraghanta_), covered the nest, in order to protect it.
When the majority of the feudal nobles of Marwar became self-exiled,
to avoid the almost demoniac fury of their sovereign, since his
alliance with the British Government, Anar Singh, the chief of Ahor, a
fine specimen of the Rathor Rajput, brave, intelligent, and amiable,
was one day lamenting, that while all India was enjoying tranquillity
under the shield of Britain, they alone were suffering from the
caprice of a tyrant; concluding a powerful appeal to my personal
interposition with the foregoing allegory, and observing on the beauty
of the office of mediator: “You are all-powerful,” added he, “and we
may be of little account in the grand scale of affairs; but Krishna
condescended to protect even the lapwing’s egg in the midst of
battle.” This brave man knew my anxiety to make their peace with their
sovereign, and being acquainted with the allegory, I replied with some
fervour, in the same strain, “Would to God, Thakur Sahib, I had the
_viraghanta_ to protect you.” The effect was instantaneous, and the
eye of this manly chieftain, who had often fearlessly encountered the
foe in battle, filled with tears as, holding out his hand, he said,
“At least you listen to our griefs, and speak the language of
friendship. Say but the word, and you may command the services of
twenty thousand Rathors.” There is, indeed, no human being more
susceptible of excitement, and, under it, of being led to any
desperate purpose, whether for good or for evil, than the Rajput.

Footnote 4.19.61:

Chand, the bard, gives this instance of the compassionate nature of
Krishna, taken, as well as the former, from the _Mahabharata_. [On
Krishna worship see J. Kennedy, _JRAS_, October 1907, p. 960 ff.]

Footnote 4.19.62:

Near the town of Avranches, on the coast of Normandy, is a rock
called Mont St. Michel, in ancient times sacred to the Galli or Celtic
Apollo, or Belenus; a name which the author from whom we quote
observes, “certainly came from the East, and proves that the littoral
provinces of Gaul were visited by the Phoenicians.”—“A college of
Druidical priestesses was established there, who sold to seafaring men
certain arrows endowed with the peculiar virtue of allaying storms, if
shot into the waves by a young mariner. Upon the vessel arriving safe,
the young archer was sent by the crew to offer thanks and rewards to
the priestesses. His presents were accepted in the most graceful
manner; and at his departure the fair priestesses, who had received
his embraces, presented to him a number of shells, which afterwards he
never failed to use in adorning his person” (_Tour through France_).

When the early Christian warrior consecrated this mount to his
protector St. Michel, its name was changed from _Mons Jovis_ (being
dedicated to Jupiter) to _Tumba_, supposed from _tumulus_, a mound;
but as the Saxons and Celts placed pillars on all these mounts,
dedicated to the Sun-god Belenus, Bal, or Apollo, it is not unlikely
that _Tumba_ is from the Sanskrit _thambha_, or _sthambha_, ‘a pillar’
[?].

Footnote 4.19.63:

[Pītāmbara.]

Footnote 4.19.64:

_Hindupati_, vulgo _Hindupat_, ‘chief of the Hindu race,’ is a title
justly appertaining to the Ranas of Mewar. It has, however, been
assumed by chieftains scarcely superior to some of his vassals, though
with some degree of pretension by Sivaji, who, had he been spared,
might have worked the redemption of his nation, and of the Rana’s
house, from which he sprung.

Footnote 4.19.65:

See Appendix to this paper, Nos. IX. and X. [p. 647].

Footnote 4.19.66:

Numbers, chap. xxxv. 11, 12.

Footnote 4.19.67:

Numbers, chap. xxxv. 25, and Joshua, chap. xx. 6. There was an ancient
law of Athens analogous to the Mosaic, by which he who committed
‘_chance-medley_’ should fly the country for a year, during which his
relatives made satisfaction to the relatives of the deceased. The
Greeks had _asyla_ for every description of criminals, which could not
be violated without infamy. Gibbon [ed. W. Smith, iv. 377 f.] gives a
memorable instance of disregard to the sanctuary of St. Julian in
Auvergne, by the soldiers of the Frank king Theodoric, who divided the
spoils of the altar, and made the priests captives: an impiety not
only unsanctioned by the son of Clovis, but punished by the death of
the offenders, the restoration of the plunder, and the extension of
the right of sanctuary five miles around the sepulchre of the holy
martyr.

Footnote 4.19.68:

[The chief sanctuaries in Rājputāna are: Nāgor; Barli, a few miles
distant; Chaupāsni; Udaimandir and Mahmandir, close to Jodhpur. The
system is a serious obstacle to the detection of crime (General
Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, i. 122 f., ii. 327 ff.).]

Footnote 4.19.69:

[Smith, _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, 3rd ed. i. 235.]

Footnote 4.19.70:

[iv. 33; L. R. Farnell, _Cults of the Greek States_, iv. 101 ff.]

Footnote 4.19.71:

[_Perā_, a sweetmeat made of cream, sugar and spices, for which
Mathura is famous.]

Footnote 4.19.72:

Pallas gives an admirable and evidently faithful account of the
worship of Krishna and other Hindu divinities in the city of
Astrakhan, where a Hindu mercantile colony is established. They are
termed Multani, from the place whence they migrated—Multan, near the
Indus. This class of merchants of the Hindu faith is disseminated over
all the countries, from the Indus to the Caspian: and it would have
been interesting had the professor given us any account of their
period of settlement on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. In
costume and feature, as represented in the plate given by that author,
they have nothing to denote their origin; though their divinities
might be seated on any altar on the Ganges. The Multanis of Indeskoi
Dvor, or ‘Indian court,’ at Astrakhan, have erected a pantheon, in
which Krishna, the god of all Vaishnava merchants, is seated in front
of Jagannath, Rama, and his brothers, who stand in the background;
while Siva and his consort Ashtabhuja ‘the eight-armed,’ form an
intermediate line, in which is also placed a statue which Pallas
denominates Murali; but Pallas mistook the flute (_murali_) of the
divine Krishna for a rod. The principal figure we shall describe in
his own words. “In the middle was placed a small idol with a very high
bonnet, called Gupaledshi. At its right there was a large black stone,
and on the left two smaller ones of the same colour, brought from the
Ganges, and regarded by the Hindus as sacred. These fossils were of
the species called Sankara, and appeared to be an impression of a
bivalve muscle.” Minute as is the description, our judgment is further
aided by the plate. Gupaledshi is evidently Gopalji, the pastoral
deity of Vraj (from _gao_, a cow, and _pala_, a herdsman). The
head-dress worn by him and all the others is precisely that still worn
by Krishna, in the sacred dance at Mathura: and so minute is the
delineation that even the _pera_ or sugar-ball is represented,
although the professor appears to have been ignorant of its use, as he
does not name it. He has likewise omitted to notice the representation
of the sacred mount of Govardhana, which separates him from the Hindu
Jove and the turreted Cybele (Durga), his consort. The black stones
are the Salagramas, worshipped by all Vaishnavas. In the names of
‘Nhandigana and Gori,’ though the first is called a lion saddled, and
the other a male divinity, we easily recognise Nandi, the
bull-attendant (_Gana_) of Siva and his consort Gauri. Were all
travellers to describe what they see with the same accuracy as Pallas,
they would confer important obligations on society, and might defy
criticism. It is with heartfelt satisfaction I have to record, from
the authority of a gentleman who has dwelt amongst the Hindkis of
Astrakhan, that distance from their ancient abodes has not
deteriorated their character for uprightness. Mr. Mitchell, from whose
knowledge of Oriental languages the Royal Asiatic Society will some
day derive benefit, says that the reputation of these Hindu colonists,
of whom there are about five hundred families, stands very high, and
that they bear a preference over all the merchants of other nations
settled in this great commercial city.

Footnote 4.19.73:

Other travellers besides Pallas have described Hinduism as existing in
the remote parts of the Russian empire, and if nominal resemblances
may be admitted, we would instance the strong analogy between the
_Samoyedes_ and _Tchoudes_ of Siberia and Finland and the Syama Yadus
and Joudes of India [?]. The languages of the two former races are
said to have a strong affinity, and are classed as Hindu-Germanic by
M. Klaproth, on whose learned work, _Asia Polyglotta_, M. Rémusat has
given the world an interesting _critique_, in his _Mélanges
Asiatiques_ (tome i. p. 267), in which he traces these tribes to
Central Asia; thus approaching the land of the Getae or Yuti. Now the
Yutis and Yadus have much in their early history to warrant the
assertion of more than nominal analogy. The annals of the Yadus of
Jaisalmer state that long anterior to Vikrama they held dominion from
Ghazni to Samarkand: that they established themselves in those regions
after the Mahabharata, or great war; and were again impelled, on the
rise of Islamism, within the Indus. As Yadus of the race of Sham or
Syam (a title of Krishna), they would be Sama-Yadus; in like manner as
the _Bhatti_ tribe are called _Shama-bhatti_, the Ahsham Bhatti of
Abu-l Fazl. The race of _Joude_ was existing near the Indus in the
Emperor Babur’s time, who describes them as occupying the mountainous
range in the first Duab, the very spot mentioned in the annals of the
Yadus as their place of halt, on quitting India twelve centuries
before Christ, and thence called Jadu or Yadu-ka-dang, the ‘hills of
Jadu or Yadu.’ The peopling of all these regions, from the Indus to
remote Tartary, is attributed to the race of Ayu or Indu, both
signifying the moon, of which are the Haihayas, Aswas (_Asi_), Yadus,
etc., who spread a common language over all Western Asia. Amongst the
few words of Hindu-Germanic origin which M. Rémusat gives to prove
affinity between the Finnish and Samoyede languages is “_Miel_, _Mod_,
dans le dialecte Caucasien, et _Méd_, en Slave,” and which, as well as
_mead_, the drink of the Scandinavian warrior, is from the Sanskrit
_Madhu_, a bee [honey]. Hence intoxicating beverage is termed
_Madhva_, which supplies another epithet for Krishna, _Madhu_ or
_Madhava_. [These speculations possess no value.]

Footnote 4.19.74:

_Origin of Laws and Government._

Footnote 4.19.75:

Literally ‘the giver of food.’

Footnote 4.19.76:

_Kanhaiya ka kantha bāndhna_, ‘to bind on [the neck] the chaplet of
Kanhaiya,’ is the initiatory step.

Footnote 4.19.77:

I had one day thrown my net into this lake, which abounded with a
variety of fish, when my pastime was interrupted by a message from the
regent, Zalim Singh: “Tell Captain Tod that Kotah and all around it
are at his disposal; but these fish belong to Kanhaiya.” I, of course,
immediately desisted, and the fish were returned to the safeguard of
the deity. [The killing of fish at certain lakes and streams is
forbidden on account of their harmlessness (_ahimsā_), and thus
naturally associated with the cult of a gentle deity like Krishna, and
because they are believed to contain the spirits of the dead (Stein,
_Rājatarangini_, i. 185; Crooke, _Things Indian_, 221 ff.).]

Footnote 4.19.78:

A Nishan, or standard, is synonymous with a company.

Footnote 4.19.79:

Sheopur or Sivapur, the city of Sheo or Siva, the god of war, whose
battle-shout is _Har_; and hence one of Vishnu’s epithets, as Hari is
that of Krishna or Kanhaiya.

Footnote 4.19.80:

Radha was the name of the chief of the Gopis or nymphs of Vraj, and
the beloved of Kanhaiya.

Footnote 4.19.81:

In October 1807 I rambled through all these countries, then scarcely
known by name to us. At that time Sheopur was independent, and its
prince treated me with the greatest hospitality. In 1809 I witnessed
its fall, when following with the embassy in the train of the Mahratta
leader. [It is now included in the Gwalior State (_IGI_, xxii. 271
f.).]

-----

CHAPTER 20

=Krishna.=—Hari, Krishna, familiarly Kanhaiya,[4.20.1] was of the
celebrated tribe of Yadu, the founder of the fifty-six tribes[4.20.2]
who obtained the universal sovereignty of India, and descended from
Yayati, the third son[4.20.3] of Swayambhuva Manu,[4.20.4] or ‘The Man,
Lord of the earth,’ whose daughter Ila[4.20.5] (_Terra_) was espoused by
Budha (Mercury), son of Chandra[4.20.6] (the Moon), whence the Yadus are
styled Chandravansi, or ‘children of the moon.’ Budha was therefore
worshipped as the great [533] ancestor (_Pitrideva_) of the lunar race;
and previous to the apotheosis of Krishna, was adored by all the Yadu
race. The principal shrine of Budha was at Dwarka, where he still
receives adoration as Budha Trivikrama.[4.20.7] Kanhaiya lived towards
the conclusion of the brazen age, calculated to have been about 1100 to
1200 years before Christ.[4.20.8] He was born to the inheritance of
Vraj, the country of the Suraseni, comprehending the territory round
Mathura for a space of eighty miles, of which he was unjustly deprived
in his infancy by his relative Kansa. From its vicinity to Delhi we may
infer either that there was no lord paramount amongst the Yadus of this
period, or that Krishna’s family held as vassals of Hastinapur, then,
with Indraprastha or Delhi, the chief seat of Yadu power. There were two
princes named Surasen amongst the immediate predecessors of Krishna:
one, his grandfather, the other eight generations anterior. Which of
these was the founder of Suryapur on the Yamuna, the capital of the
Yadus,[4.20.9] we know not, but we may assume that the first gave his
name to the region around Mathura, described by Arrian as the country of
the Suraseni. Alexander was in India probably about eight centuries
after the deification of Krishna, and it is satisfactory to find that
the inquiries he instituted into the genealogy of the dynasty then
ruling on the [534] Yamuna correspond very closely with those of the
Yadus of this distant period; and combined with what Arrian says of the
origin of the Pandus, it appears indisputable that the descendants of
this powerful branch of the Yadus ruled on the Yamuna when the
Macedonian erected the altars of Greece on the Indus. That the personage
whose epithets of Krishna-Syam designate his colour as ‘the Black
Prince,’ was in fact a distinguished chief of the Yadus, there is not a
shadow of doubt; nor that, after his death, they placed him among the
gods as an incarnation of Vishnu or the Sun; and from this period we may
induce the Hindu notion of their Trinity. Arrian[4.20.10] enumerates the
names of Boudyas (Βουδύας) and Kradeuas (Κραδεύας) amongst the early
ancestors of the tribe then in power, which would alone convince us that
Alexander had access to the genealogies of the Puranas; for we can have
little hesitation in affirming these to be Budha and Kroshti, ancestors
of Krishna; and that “Mathora and Cleisobora, the chief cities of the
Suraseni,” are the Mathura and Suryapur occupied by the descendants of
Sursen.[4.20.11] Had Arrian afforded as many hints for discussing the
analogy between the Hindu and Grecian Apollos as he has for the Hercules
of Thebes and India, we might have come to a conclusion that the three
chief divinities[4.20.12] of Egypt, Greece, and India had their altars
first erected on the Indus, Ganges, and Jumna.

=Sun and Moon Worship.=—The earliest objects of adoration in these
regions were the sun and moon, whose names designated the two grand
races, Surya and Chandra of Indu. Budha, son of Indu, married Ila, a
grandchild of Surya, from which union sprung the Indu race. They deified
their ancestor Budha, who continued to be the chief object of adoration
until Krishna: hence the worship of Balnath[4.20.13] and Budha[4.20.14]
were coeval. That the Nomadic tribes of Arabia, as well as those of
Tartary and India, adored the same objects, we learn from the earliest
writers; and Job, the probable contemporary of Hasti, the founder of the
first capital of the Yadus on the Ganges, boasts in the midst of his
griefs that he had always remained uncorrupted by the Sabaeism which
surrounded him. “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking
in brightness, and my mouth had kissed my hand, this also were an
iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I should have denied the [535]
God that is above.”[4.20.15] That there were many Hindus who, professing
a pure monotheism like Job, never kissed the hand either to Surya or his
herald Budha, we may easily credit from the sublimity of the notions of
the ‘One God,’ expressed both by the ancients and moderns, by poets and
by princes, of both races;[4.20.16] but more especially by the sons of
Budha, who for ages bowed not before graven images, and deemed it
impious to raise a temple to

The Spirit in whose honour shrines are weak.

Hence the Jains, the chief sect of the Buddhists,[4.20.17] so called
from adoring the spirit (Jina), were untinctured with idolatry until the
apotheosis of Krishna,[4.20.18] whose mysteries superseded the simpler
worship of Budha. Neminath (the deified Nemi) was the pontiff of Budha,
and not only the contemporary of Krishna, but a Yadu, and his near
relation; and both had epithets denoting their complexion; for Arishta,
the surname of Nemi, has the same import as Syam and Krishna, ‘the
black,’ though the latter is of a less Ethiopic hue than Nemi.[4.20.19]
It was anterior to this schism amongst the sons of Budha that the
creative power was degraded under sensual forms, when the pillar rose to
Bal or Surya in Syria and on the Ganges: and the serpent, “subtlest
beast of all the field,” worshipped as the emblem of wisdom (Budha), was
conjoined with the symbol of the creative power, as at the shrine of
Eklinga, where the brazen serpent is wreathed round the lingam.[4.20.20]
Budha’s descendants, the Indus, preserved the Ophite sign of their race,
when Krishna’s followers adopted the eagle as his symbol. These, with
the adorers of Surya, form the three idolatrous classes of India, not
confined to its modern [536] restricted definition, but that of
antiquity, when Industhan or Indu-Scythia extended from the Ganges to
the Caspian. In support of the position that the existing polytheism was
unknown on the rise of Vaishnavism, we may state, that in none of the
ancient genealogies do the names of such deities appear as proper names
in society, a practice now common; and it is even recorded that the
rites of magic, the worship of the host of heaven, and of idols, were
introduced from Kashmir, between the periods of Krishna and Vikrama. The
powers of nature were personified, and each quality, mental and
physical, had its emblem, which the Brahmans taught the ignorant to
adopt as realities, till the pantheon become so crowded that life would
be too short to acquire even the nomenclature of their ‘thirty-three
millions of gods.’[4.20.21] No object was too high or too base, from the
glorious Orb to the Rampi, or paring-knife of the shoemaker. In
illustration of the increase of polytheism, I shall describe the seven
forms under which Krishna is worshipped, whose statues are established
in the various capitals of Rajasthan, and are occasionally brought
together at the festival of Annakuta at Nathdwara.

The international wars of the Suryas and the Yadu races, as described in
the Ramayana and Mahabharata, are lost between allegory and literal
interpretation. The Suryas, or Saivas, were depressed; and the Indus,
who counted ‘fifty-six’ grand tribes, under the appellations of Takshak,
‘serpent,’ Aswa, ‘horse,’ Sasa, ‘hare,’ etc., etc., had paramount sway.
Krishna’s schism produced a new type, that of the eagle, and the wars of
the schismatics were depicted under their respective emblems, the eagle
and serpent, of which latter were the Kauravas and Takshaks,[4.20.22]
the political adversaries of the Pandus, the relatives of Krishna. The
[537] allegory of Krishna’s eagle pursuing the serpent Budha, and
recovering the books of science and religion with which he fled, is an
historical fact disguised: namely, that of Krishna incorporating the
doctrines of Budha with his own after the expulsion of the sect from
India. Dare we further attempt to lift the veil from this mystery, and
trace from the seat of redemption of lost science its original
source?[4.20.23] The Gulf of Cutch, the point where the serpent
attempted to escape, has been from time immemorial to the present day
the entrepôt for the commerce of Sofala, the Red Sea, Egypt, and Arabia.
There Budha Trivikrama, or Mercury, has been and is yet invoked by the
Indian mariners, especially the pirates of Dwarka. Did Budha or Mercury
come from, or escape to the Nile? Is he the Hermes of Egypt to whom the
‘four books of science,’ like the four Vedas[4.20.24] of the Hindus,
were sacred? The statues of Nemi,[4.20.25] the representative of Budha,
exactly resemble in feature the bust of young Memnon.[4.20.26]

I have already observed that Krishna, before his own deification,
worshipped his great ancestor Budha; and his temple at Dwarka rose over
the ancient shrine of the latter, which yet stands. In an inscription
from the cave of Gaya their characters are conjoined: “Hari who is
Budha.” According to Western mythology, Apollo and Mercury exchanged
symbols, the caduceus for the lyre; so likewise in India their
characters intermingle: and even the Saiva propitiates Hari as the
mediator and disposer of the ‘divine spark’ (_jyoti_) to its reunion
with the ‘parent-flame’:—thus, like Mercury, he may be said to be the
conveyer of the souls of the dead. Accordingly in funeral lamentation
his name only is invoked, and _Hari-bol! Hari-bol!_ is emphatically
pronounced by those conveying the corpse to its final abode. The _vahan_
(_qu._ the Saxon _van_?) or celestial car of Krishna, in which the souls
(_ansa_) of the just are conveyed to Suryamandal, the ‘mansion of the
sun,’ is painted like himself, blue (indicative of space, or as
Ouranos), with the eagle’s head; and here he partakes of the Mercury of
the [538] Greeks, and of Oulios, the preserver or saviour, one of the
titles of Apollo at Delos.[4.20.27]

=The Forms of Krishna.=—The Tatar nations, who are all of Indu race,
like the Rajputs and German tribes, adored the moon as a male divinity,
and to his son, Budha, they assign the same character of mediator. The
serpent is alike the symbol of the Budha of the Hindus, the Hermes of
the Egyptians, and the Mercury of Greece: and the allegory of the
dragon’s teeth, the origin of letters, brought by Cadmus from Egypt, is
a version of the Hindu fable of Kanhaiya (Apollo) wresting the Vedas
(secrets) from Budha or wisdom (Hermes), under his sign, the serpent or
dragon. We might still further elucidate the resemblance, and by an
analysis of the titles and attributes of the Hindu Apollo, prove that
from the Yamuna may have been supplied the various incarnations of this
divinity, which peopled the pantheons of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. As
Nomios, who attended the herds of Admetus, we have Nonita,[4.20.28] the
infantine appellation of Kanhaiya, when he pastured the kine of Kesava
in the woods of Vindra, whence the ceremony of the sons of princes
assuming the crook, and on particular days tending the flocks.[4.20.29]
As Muralidhara, or the ‘flute-holder,’ Kanhaiya is the god of music; and
in giving him the shepherd’s reed instead of the _vina_ or lyre, we may
conjecture that the simple bamboo (_bans_) which formed the first flute
(_bansli_) was in use before the _chahtara_,[4.20.30] the Grecian
cithara,[4.20.31] the first invented lyre of Apollo. Thus from the
six-wired instrument of the Hindus we have the Greek cithara, the
English cithern, and the Spanish guitar of modern [539] days. The
Greeks, following the Egyptians, had but six notes, with their lettered
symbols; and it was reserved for the Italians to add a seventh. Guido
Aretine, a monk in the thirteenth century, has the credit of this. I,
however, believe the Hindus numbered theirs from the heavenly bodies—the
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,—hence they had the
regular octave, with its semi-tones: and as, in the pruriency of their
fancy, they converted the ascending and descending notes into _grahas_,
or planetary bodies, so they may have added them to the harmonious
numbers, and produced the _nauragini_, their _nine_ modes of
music.[4.20.32] Could we affirm that the hymns composed and set to music
by Jayadeva, nearly three thousand years ago,[4.20.33] and still chanted
in honour of the Apollo of Vraj, had been handed down with the
sentiments of these mystic compositions (and Sir W. Jones sanctions the
idea), we should say, from their simplicity, that the musicians of that
age had only the diatonic scale; but we have every reason to believe,
from the very elaborate character of their written music, which is
painful and discordant to the ear from its minuteness of subdivision,
that they had also the chromatic scale, said to have been invented by
Timotheus in the time of Alexander, who might have carried it from the
banks of the Indus.

=The Rāsmandal Dance.=—In the mystic dance, the _Rasmandal_, yet
imitated on the annual festival sacred to the sun-god Hari, he is
represented with a radiant crown in a dancing attitude, playing on the
flute to the nymphs encircling him, each holding a musical instrument.

In song and dance about the sacred hill;
Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere
Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels
Resembles nearest; mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most, when most irregular they seem;
And in their motions harmony divine
So smooths her charming tones that God’s own ear
Listens delighted.
MILTON, _Paradise Lost_, Book v. 619-27.

These nymphs are also called the _nauragini_, from _raga_, a mode of
song over which each presides, and _naurasa_, or ‘nine passions,’
excited by the powers [540] of harmony. May we not in this trace the
origin of Apollo and the sacred nine? In the manner described above, the
_rasmandal_ is typical of the zodiacal phenomena; and in each sign a
musical nymph is sculptured in alto-relievo, in the vaulted temples
dedicated to the god,[4.20.34] or in secular edifices by way of
ornament, as in the triumphal column of Chitor. On the festival of the
Janam,[4.20.35] or ‘birth-day,’ there is a scenic representation of
Kanhaiya and the Gopis: when are rehearsed in the mellifluous accents of
the Ionic land of Vraj, the songs of Jayadeva, as addressed by Kanhaiya
to Radha and her companions. A specimen of these, as translated by that
elegant scholar, Sir W. Jones, may not be considered inappropriate here.

=The Songs of Jayadeva.=—I have had occasion to remark
elsewhere,[4.20.36] that the Rajput bards, like the heroic Scalds of the
north, lose no opportunity of lauding themselves; of which Jayadeva, the
bard of the Yadus, has set an eminent example in the opening of ‘the
songs of Govinda.’

“If thy soul be delighted with the remembrance of Hari, or sensible to
the raptures of love, listen to the voice of Jayadeva, whose notes are
both sweet and brilliant.”

[Illustration:

KANHAIYA AND RĀDHA.
_To face page 630._
]

The poet opens the first interview of Krishna and Radha with an animated
description of a night in the rainy season, in which Hari is represented
as a wanderer, and Radha, daughter of the shepherd Nanda, is sent to
offer him shelter in their cot.[4.20.37] Nanda thus speaks to Radha:
“The firmament is obscured by clouds; the woodlands are black with
Tamala trees; that youth who roves in the forest will be fearful in the
gloom of night; go, my daughter, bring the wanderer to my rustic
mansion. Such was the command of Nanda the herdsman, and hence arose the
love of Radha and Madhava.”[4.20.38]

The poet proceeds to apostrophize Hari, which the Hindu bard terms
_rupaka_, or ‘personal description’:

“Oh thou who reclinest on the bosom of Kamala, whose ears flame with
gems, and whose locks are embellished with sylvan flowers; thou, from
whom the [541] day-star derived his effulgence, who slewest the
venom-breathing Kaliya, who beamedst like a sun on the tribe of Yadu,
that flourished like a lotus; thou, who sittest on the plumage of
Garuda, who sippest nectar from the radiant lips of Padma, as the
fluttering chakora drinks the moonbeams; be victorious, O Hari.”

Jayadeva then introduces Hari in the society of the pastoral nymphs of
Vraj, whom he groups with admirable skill, expressing the passion by
which each is animated towards the youthful prince with great warmth and
elegance of diction. But Radha, indignant that he should divide with
them the affection she deemed exclusively her own, flies his presence.
Hari, repentant and alarmed, now searches the forest for his beloved,
giving vent at each step to impassioned grief. “Woe is me! she feels a
sense of injured honour, and has departed in wrath. How will she conduct
herself? How will she express her pain in so long a separation? What is
wealth to me? What are numerous attendants? What the pleasures of the
world? How can I invite thee to return? Grant me but a sight of thee,
oh! lovely Radha, for my passion torments me. O God of love! mistake me
not for Siva. Wound me not again. I love already but too passionately;
yet have I lost my beloved. Brace not thy bow, thou conqueror of the
world! My heart is already pierced by arrows from Radha’s eyes, black
and keen as those of the antelope.”

Radha relents and sends a damsel in quest of Hari, whom she finds in a
solitary arbour on the banks of the Yamuna. She describes her mistress
as animated by the same despair which controls him:

“Her face is like a water-lily veiled in the dew of tears, and her eyes
are as moons eclipsed. She draws thy picture and worships it, and at the
close of every sentence exclaims, ‘O Madhava, at thy feet am I fallen!’
Then she figures thee standing before her: she sighs, she smiles, she
mourns, she weeps. Her abode, the forest—herself through thy absence is
become a timid roe, and love is the tiger who springs on her, like Yama,
the genius of death. So emaciated is her beautiful body, that even the
light garland which waves o’er her bosom is a load. The palm of her hand
supports her aching temple, motionless as the crescent rising at eve.
Thus, O divine healer, by the nectar of thy love [542] must Radha be
restored to health; and if thou refusest, thy heart must be harder than
the thunder-stone.”[4.20.39]

The damsel returns to Radha and reports the condition of Hari, mourning
her absence: “Even the hum of the bee distracts him. Misery sits fixed
in his heart, and every returning night adds anguish to anguish.” She
then recommends Radha to seek him. “Delay not, O loveliest of women;
follow the lord of thy heart. Having bound his locks with forest
flowers, he hastens to yon arbour, where a soft gale breathes over the
banks of Yamuna, and there pronouncing thy name, he modulates his divine
reed. Leave behind thee, O friend, the ring which tinkles on thy
delicate ankle when thou sportest in the dance. Cast over thee thy azure
mantle and run to the shady bower.”

But Radha, too weak to move, is thus reported to Hari by the same fair
mediator: “She looks eagerly on all sides in hope of thy approach: she
advances a few steps and falls languid to the ground. She weaves
bracelets of fresh leaves, and looking at herself in sport, exclaims,
behold the vanquisher of Madhu! Then she repeats the name of Hari, and
catching at a dark blue cloud,[4.20.40] strives to embrace it, saying,
‘It is my beloved who approaches.’”

Midnight arrives, but neither Hari nor the damsel returns, when she
gives herself up to the frenzy of despair, exclaiming: “The perfidy of
my friend rends my heart. Bring disease and death, O gale of Malaya!
receive me in thy azure wave, O sister of Yama,[4.20.41] that the ardour
of my heart may be allayed.”

The repentant Hari at length returns, and in speech well calculated to
win forgiveness, thus pleads his pardon:

“Oh! grant me a draught of honey from the lotus of thy mouth: or if thou
art inexorable, grant me death from the arrows of thine eyes; make thy
arms my chains: thou art my ornament; thou art the pearl in the ocean of
my mortal birth! Thine eyes, which nature formed like blue water-lilies,
are become through thy resentment like petals of the crimson lotus! Thy
silence affects me; oh! speak with the voice of music, and let thy sweet
accents allay my ardour” [543].

“Radha with timid joy, darting her eyes on Govinda while she musically
sounded the rings of her ankles and the bells of her zone,[4.20.42]
entered the mystic bower of her beloved. His heart was agitated by her
sight, as the waves of the deep are affected by the lunar orb.[4.20.43]
From his graceful waist flowed a pale yellow robe,[4.20.44] which
resembled the golden dust of the water-lily scattered over its blue
petals.[4.20.45] His locks interwoven with blossoms, were like a cloud
variegated by the moonbeam. Tears of transport gushed in a stream from
the full eyes of Radha, and their watery glances beamed on her best
beloved. Even shame, which had before taken its abode in their dark
pupils, was itself ashamed,[4.20.46] and departed when the fawn-eyed
Radha gazed on the bright face of Krishna.”

The poet proceeds to describe Apollo’s bower on the sable Yamuna, as
‘Love’s recess’; and sanctifies it as

... The ground
Where early Love his Psyche’s zone unbound.[4.20.47]

In the morning the blue god aids in Radha’s simple toilet. He stains her
eye with antimony “which would make the blackest bee envious,” places “a
circle of musk on her forehead,” and intertwines “a chaplet of flowers
and peacock’s feathers in her dark tresses,” replacing “the zone of
golden bells.” The bard concludes as he commenced, with an eulogium on
the inspirations of his muse, which it is evident were set to music.
“Whatever is delightful in the modes of music, whatever is graceful in
the fine strains of poetry, whatever is exquisite in the sweet art of
love, let the happy and wise learn from the songs of Jayadeva.”

=The Rāsmandal Dance.=—This mystic dance, the _rasmandal_, appears
analogous to the Pyrrhic dance, or the fire-dance of the Egyptians. The
movements of those who personate the deity and his fair companions are
full [544] of grace, and the dialogue is replete with harmony.[4.20.48]
The Chaubes[4.20.49] of Mathura and Vindravana have considerable
reputation as vocalists; and the effect of the modulated and deep tones
of the adult blending with the clear treble of the juvenile performers,
while the time is marked by the cymbal or the soothing monotony of the
tabor, accompanied occasionally by the _murali_ or flute, is very
pleasing.

=Govardhana.=—We have a Parnassus in Govardhana, from which sacred hill
the god derives one of his principal epithets, Gordhan or Gordhannath,
‘God of the mount of wealth.’[4.20.50] Here he first gave proofs of
miraculous power, and a cave in this hill was the first shrine, on his
apotheosis, whence his miracles and oracles were made known to the
Yadus. From this cave (_gupha_) is derived another of his
titles—Guphnath, ‘Lord of the cave,’ distinct from his epithet Gopinath,
‘Lord of the Gopis,’[4.20.51] or pastoral nymphs. On the annual festival
held at Govardhana, the sacred mount is purified with copious oblations
of milk, for which all the cows of the district are in requisition.

=Cave Worship of Krishna.=—The worship of Krishna in ancient days, like
that of Apollo amongst the Greeks, was chiefly celebrated in caves, of
which there were many scattered over India. The most remarkable were
those of Govardhana in Vraj; Gaya in Bihar; Gopnath on the shores of
Saurashtra; and Jalandhara[4.20.52] on the Indus. In these dark and
mysterious retreats superstition had her full influence over the
votaries who sought the commands and deprecated the wrath of the deity:
but, as the Mukhya told the author, “the age of oracles and miracles is
past”; and the new wheel, which was miraculously furnished each
revolving year to supply the place of that which first indicated his
desire to abide at Nathdwara, is no longer forthcoming. The old one,
which was the signal of his wish, is, however, preserved as a relic, and
greatly reverenced. The statue now worshipped at Nathdwara, as the
representative of ‘the god of the mount’ [545], is said to be the
identical image raised in the cave of Govardhana, and brought thence by
the high priest Balba.[4.20.53]

=Krishna a Dragon-Slayer.=—As the destroyer of Kaliyanag, ‘the black
serpent,’ which infested the waters of the Yamuna, Kanhaiya has the
character of the Pythic Apollo. He is represented dragging the monster
from the ‘black stream,’ and bruising him with his foot. He had,
however, many battles with his hydra-foe ere he vanquished him, and he
was once driven by Kalayavana from Vraj to Dwarka, whence his title of
Ranchhor. Here we have the old allegory of the schismatic wars of the
Buddhists and Vaishnavas.

=Parallels to Krishna in other Mythologies.=—Diodorus informs us that
_Kan_ was one of the titles of the Egyptian Apollo as the sun; and
this is the common contraction for Kanhaiya, whose colour is a dark
cerulean blue (_nila_): and hence his name Nilanath, who, like the
Apollo of the Nile, is depicted with the human form and eagle-head,
with a lotus in his hand. S and H are permutable letters in the
Bhakha, and Syam or Sham, the god of the Yamuna, may be the _Ham_ or
Hammon of Egypt. Hari accompanied Rama to Lanka, as did the Egyptian
Apollo, Rameses-Sesostris, on his expedition to India: both were
attended in their expedition by an army of Satyrs, or tribes bearing
the names of different animals: and as we have the Aswas, the
Takshaks, and the Sasas of the Yadu tribes, typified under the horse,
the serpent, and the hare, so the races of Surya, of which Rama was
the head, may have been designated Riksh and Hanuman, or bears and
monkeys. The distance of the Nile from the Indian shore forms no
objection; the sail spread for Ceylon could waft the vessel to the Red
Sea, which the fleets of Tyre, of Solomon, and Hiram covered about
this very time. That the Hindus navigated the ocean from the earliest
ages, the traces of their religion in the isles of the Indian
archipelago sufficiently attest; but on this subject we have already
said enough.

The coincidence between the most common epithets of the Apollos of
Greece and India, as applied to the sun, are peculiarly striking. Hari,
as Bhannath, ‘the lord of beams,’ is Phoebus, and his heaven is Haripur
(Heliopolis), or ‘city of Hari.’[4.20.54] Helios (Ἥλιος) was a title of
Apollo, whence the Greeks had their Elysium, the Haripur or Bhanthan
(the abode of the sun), the highest of the [546] heavens or abodes of
bliss of the martial Rajput. Hence the eagle (the emblem of Hari as the
sun)[4.20.55] was adopted by the western warrior as the symbol of
victory.

The Di Majores of the Rajput are the same in number and title as amongst
the Greeks and Romans, being the deities who figuratively preside over
the planetary system. Their grades of bliss are therefore in unison with
the eccentricity of orbit of the planet named. On this account Chandra
or Indu, the moon, being a mere satellite of Ila, the earth, though
probably originating the name of the Indu race, is inferior in the scale
of blissful abodes to that of his son Budha or Mercury, whose heliacal
appearance gave him importance even with the sons of Vaivasvata, the
sun. From the poetic seers of the martial races we learn that there are
two distinct places of reward; the one essentially spiritual, the other
of a material nature. The bard inculcates that the warrior who falls in
battle in the fulfilment of his duty, “who abandons life through the
wave of steel,” will know no “second birth,” but that the unconfined
spark (_jyotis_) will reunite to the parent orb. The doctrine of
transmigration through a variety of hideous forms may be considered as a
series of purgatories.

The Greeks and Celts worshipped Apollo under the title of
Carneios,[4.20.56] which “selon le scholiaste de Théocrite” is derived
from Carnos, “qui ne prophétisoit que des malheurs aux Héraclides lors
de leur incursion dans le Péloponnèse. Un d’eux appelé _Hippotés, le tua
d’un coup de flèche_.” Now one of the titles of the Hindu Apollo is
Karna, ‘the radiant’; from _karna_, ‘a ray’: and when he led the remains
of the Harikulas in company with Baldeva (the god of strength), and
Yudhishthira, after the great international war, into the Peloponnesus
of Saurashtra, they were attacked by the aboriginal Bhils, one of whom
slew the divine Karna with an arrow. The Bhils claim to be of Hayavansa,
or the race of Haya, whose chief seat was at Maheswar on the Nerbudda:
the assassin of Karna would consequently be Hayaputra, or descendant of
Haya[4.20.57] [547].

The most celebrated of the monuments commonly termed Druidic, scattered
throughout Europe, is at Carnac in Brittany, on which coast the Celtic
Apollo had his shrines, and was propitiated under the title of Karneios,
and this monument may be considered at once sacred to the manes of the
warriors and the sun-god Karneios. Thus the Roman Saturnalia, the
_carnivale_, has a better etymology in the festival to Karneios, as the
sun, than in the ‘adieu to flesh’ during the fast. The character of this
festival is entirely oriental, and accompanied with the licentiousness
which belonged to the celebration of the powers of nature. Even now,
although Christianity has banished the grosser forms, it partakes more
of a Pagan than a Christian ceremony.

=The Annakūta Festival.=—Of the festivals of Krishna the Annakuta is the
most remarkable;[4.20.58] when the seven statues were brought from the
different capitals of Rajasthan, and mountains (_kuta_) of food (_anna_)
piled up for their repast, at a given signal are levelled by the myriads
of votaries assembled from all parts. About eighty years ago, on a
memorable assemblage at the Annakuta, before warfare had devastated
Rajasthan, and circumscribed the means of the faithful disciples of
Hari, amongst the multitude of Vaishnavas of every region were almost
all the Rajput princes; Rana Arsi of Mewar, Raja Bijai Singh of Marwar,
Raja Gaj Singh of Bikaner, and Bahadur Singh of Kishangarh. Rana Arsi
presented to the god a _tora_, or massive golden anklet-chain set with
emeralds: Bijai Singh a diamond necklace worth twenty-five thousand
rupees: the other princes according to their means. They were followed
by an old woman of Surat, with infirm step and shaking head, who
deposited four coppers in the hand of the high-priest, which were
received with a gracious smile, not vouchsafed to the lords of the
earth. “The Rand is in luck,” whispered the chief of Kishangarh to the
Rana. Soon afterwards the statue of Hari was brought forth, when the
same old woman placed at its feet a bill of exchange for seventy
thousand rupees. The mighty were humbled, and the smile of the Gosain
was explained. Such gifts, and to a yet greater amount, are, or were, by
no means uncommon from the sons of commerce, who are only known to
belong to the flock from the distinguishing necklace of the
sect.[4.20.59]

=Interruption of Worship.=—The predatory system which reduced these
countries to a state of the most degraded anarchy, greatly diminished
the number of pilgrimages to Nathdwara [548]; and the gods of Vraj had
sufficient prescience to know that they could guard neither their
priests nor followers from the Pathan and Mahratta, to whom the crown of
the god, or the _nathna_ (nose-jewel) of Radha, would be alike
acceptable: nor would they have scrupled to retain both the deities and
priests as hostages for such imposition as they might deem within their
means. Accordingly, of late years, there had been no congress of the
gods of Vraj, who remained fixtures on their altars till the halcyon
days of A.D. 1818 permitted their liberation.[4.20.60]

=Seven Forms of Krishna.=—The seven statues of Kanhaiya were brought
together by the high-priest Balba, who established the festival of the
Annakuta. They remained in the same sanctuary until the time of
Girdhari, the grandson of Balba, who having seven sons, gave to each a
rupa or statue, and whose descendants continue in the office of priest.
The names and present abodes of the gods are as follows:

Nathji, the god, or Gordhannath, god of the mount Nathdwara.

1. Nonita Nathdwara.
2. Mathuranath Kotah.
3. Dwarkanath Kankroli.[4.20.61]
4. Gokulnath, or Gokulchandrama Jaipur.
5. Yadunath Surat.
6. Vitthalnath[4.20.62] Kotah.
7. Madan Mohana Jaipur.

Nathji is not enumerated amongst the forms; he stands supreme.

Nonita, or Nonanda, the juvenile Kanhaiya, has his altar separate,
though close to Nathji. He is also styled Balamukund, ‘the blessed
child,’[4.20.63] and is depicted as an infant with _pera_[4.20.64] or
comfit-ball in his hand. This image, which was one of the penates of a
former age, and which, since the destruction of the shrines of [549]
Krishna by the Islamites, had lain in the Yamuna, attached itself to the
sacerdotal zone (Janeo) of the high-priest Balba, while he was
performing his ablutions, who, carrying it home, placed it in a niche of
the temple and worshipped it: and Nonanda yet receives the peculiar
homage of the high-priest and his family as their household divinity. Of
the second image, Mathuranath, there is no particular mention: it was at
one time at Khamnor in Mewar, but is now at Kotah.

Balkrishna, the third son, had Dwarkanath, which statue, now at Kankroli
in Mewar, is asserted to be the identical image that received the
adoration of Raja Amaraka, a prince of the solar race who lived in the
Satya Yuga, or silver age. The ‘god of the mount’ revealed himself in a
dream to his high-priest, and told him of the domicile of this his
representative at Kanauj. Thither Balba repaired, and having obtained it
from the Brahman, appointed Damodardas Khatri to officiate at his altar.

The fourth statue, that of Gokulnath, or Gokul Chandrama (_i.e._ the
_moon_ of Gokul), had an equally mysterious origin, having been
discovered in a deep ravine on the banks of the river; Balba assigned it
to his brother-in-law. Gokul is an island on the Jumna,[4.20.65] a few
miles below Mathura, and celebrated in the early history of the pastoral
divinity. The residence of this image at Jaipur does not deprive the
little island of its honours as a place of pilgrimage; for the ‘god of
Gokul’ has an altar on the original site, and his rites are performed by
an aged priestess, who disowns the jurisdiction of the high-priest of
Nathdwara, both in the spiritual and temporal concerns of her shrine;
and who, to the no small scandal of all who are interested in Apollo,
appealed from the fiat of the high-priest to the British court of
justice. The royal grants of the Mogul emperors were produced, which
proved the right to lie in the high-priest, though a long period of
almost undisturbed authority had created a feeling of independent
control in the family of the priestess, which they desired might
continue. A compromise ensued, when the Author was instrumental in
restoring harmony to the shrines of Apollo.

The fifth, Yadunath, is the deified ancestor of the whole Yadu race.
This image, now at Surat, formerly adorned the shrine of Mahaban near
Mathura which was destroyed by Mahmud [550].

The sixth, Vitthalnath, or Pandurang,[4.20.66] was found in the Ganges
at Benares, Samvat 1572 (A.D. 1516), from which we may judge of their
habit of multiplying divinities.

The seventh, Madan Mohana, ‘he who intoxicates with desire,’ the
seductive lover of Radha and the Gopis, has his rites performed by a
female. The present priestess of Mohana is the mother of Damodara, the
supreme head of all who adore the Apollo of Vraj.

=The Pontiff of Nāthdwāra.=—I am not aware of the precise period of
Balba Acharya, who thus collected the seven images of Krishna now in
Rajasthan; but he must have lived about the time of the last of the Lodi
kings, at the period of the conquest of India by the Moguls (A.D. 1526).
The present pontiff, Damodara, as before said, is his lineal descendant;
and whether in addressing him verbally or by letter he is styled
Maharaja or ‘great prince.’[4.20.67]

As the supreme head of the Vishnu sect his person is held to be Ansa, or
‘a portion of the divinity’; and it is maintained that so late as the
father of the present incumbent, the god manifested himself and
conversed with the high-priest. The present pontiff is now about thirty
years of age. He is of a benign aspect, with much dignity of demeanour:
courteous, yet exacting the homage due to his high calling: meek, as
becomes the priest of Govinda, but with the finished manners of one
accustomed to the first society. His features are finely moulded, and
his complexion good. He is about the middle size, though as he rises to
no mortal, I could not exactly judge of his height. When I saw him he
had one only daughter, to whom he is much attached. He has but one wife,
nor does Krishna allow polygamy to his priest. In times of danger, like
some of his prototypes in the dark ages of Europe, he poised the lance,
and found it more effective than spiritual anathemas, against those who
would first adore the god, and then plunder him. Such were the Mahratta
chiefs, Jaswant Rao Holkar and Bapu Sindhia. Damodara accordingly made
the [551] tour of his extensive diocese at the head of four hundred
horse, two standards of foot, and two field-pieces. He rode the finest
mares in the country; laid aside his pontificals for the quilted
_dagla_, and was summoned to matins by the kettle-drum instead of the
bell and cymbal. In this he only imitated Kanhaiya, who often mixed in
the ranks of battle, and “dyed his saffron robe in the red-stained
field.” Had Damodara been captured on one of these occasions by any
marauding Pathan, and incarcerated, as he assuredly would have been, for
ransom, the marauder might have replied to the Rana, as did the
Plantagenet king to the Pope, when the surrender of the captive
church-militant bishop was demanded, “Is this thy son Joseph’s coat?”
But, notwithstanding this display of martial principle, which covered
with a helmet the shaven crown, his conduct and character are amiable
and unexceptionable, and he furnishes a striking contrast to the late
head of the Vishnu establishments in Marwar, who commenced with the care
of his master’s conscience, and ended with that of the State; meek and
unassuming till he added temporal[4.20.68] to spiritual power, which
developed unlimited pride, with all the qualities that too often wait on
“a little brief authority,” and to the display of which he fell a
victim. Damodara,[4.20.69] similarly circumstanced, might have evinced
the same failings, and have met the same end; but though endeavours were
made to give him political influence at the Rana’s court, yet, partly
from his own good sense, and partly through the dissuasion of the Nestor
of Kotah (Zalim Singh), he was not entrained in the vortex of its
intrigues, which must have involved the sacrifice of wealth and the
proper dignity of his station [552].

-----

Footnote 4.20.1:

[Derived, through the Prākrit, from Krishna.]

Footnote 4.20.2:

_Chhappan kula Yadava._

Footnote 4.20.3:

_Qu._ Japhet? [?].

Footnote 4.20.4:

Also called _Vaivaswata Manu_—‘the man, son of the sun.’

Footnote 4.20.5:

Ila, the earth—the Saxon _Ertha_. The Germans chiefly worshipped
Tuisco or Teutates and Ertha, who are the Budha or Ila of the Rajputs
[?].

Footnote 4.20.6:

A male divinity with the Rajputs, the Tatars, and ancient Germans.

Footnote 4.20.7:

‘Triple Energy’ [‘he who strides over the three worlds’], the Hermes
Triplex of the Egyptians. [There is no cult of Budha at Dwārka.]

Footnote 4.20.8:

I shall here subjoin an extract of the rise and progress of
Vaishnavism as written at my desire by the Mukhya of the temple:

“Twenty-five years of the Dwapar (the brazen age) were yet unexpired,
when the incarnation (_avatar_) of Sri Krishna took place. Of these,
eleven were passed at Gokul,[4.20.8.A] and fourteen at Mathura. There
he used to manifest himself personally, especially at Govardhan. But
when the Kaliyug (the iron age) commenced, he retired to Dwarka, an
island separated by the ocean from Bharatkand,[4.20.8.B] where he
passed a hundred years before he went to heaven. In Samvat 937 (A.D.
881) God decreed that the Hindu faith should be overturned, and that
the Turushka[4.20.8.C] should rule. Then the _jizya_, or capitation
tax, was inflicted on the head of the Hindu. Their faith also suffered
much from the Jains and the various infidel (_asura_) sects which
abounded. The Jains were so hostile, that Brahma manifested himself in
the shape of Sankaracharya who destroyed them and their religion at
Benares. In Gujarat, by their magic, they made the moon appear at
Amavas.[4.20.8.D] Sankara foretold to its prince, Siddhraj,[4.20.8.E]
the flood then approaching, who escaped in a boat and fled to Toda, on
which occasion all the Vidyas[4.20.8.F] (magicians) in that country
perished.” [For a more correct version of Krishna’s legend see Growse,
_Mathura_, 3rd ed.; for Vaishnavism, R. G. Bhandarkar, “Vaisnavism,
Saivism and Minor Religious Systems,” in _Grundriss Indo-Arischen
Philologie und Altertumskunde_, 1913.

Footnote 4.20.8.A:

A small town in the Jumna, below Mathura. Hence one of Krishna’s
titles is Gokulnath, ‘Lord of Gokul.’

Footnote 4.20.8.B:

The channel which separates the island of Dwarka from the mainland is
filled up, except in spring tides. I passed it when it was dry.

Footnote 4.20.8.C:

We possess no record of the invasion of India in A.D. 881, by the
Turki tribes, half a century after Mamun’s expedition from Zabulistan
against Chitor, in the reign of Rawal Khuman [?].

Footnote 4.20.8.D:

The ides of the month, when the moon is obscured.

Footnote 4.20.8.E:

He ruled Samvat 1151 (A.D. 1095) to S. 1201 (A.D. 1145).

Footnote 4.20.8.F:

Still used as a term of reproach to the Jains and Buddhists, in which,
and other points, as _Ari_ (the foe, qu. _Aria_?), they bear a strong
resemblance to the followers of the Arian Zardusht, or Zoroaster.
Amongst other peculiarities, the ancient Persian fire-worshipper, like
the present Jain, placed a bandage over the mouth while worshipping.

Footnote 4.20.9:

For an account of the discovery of the remains of this ancient city,
see _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 314.

Footnote 4.20.10:

[Arrian, _Indika_, viii.]

Footnote 4.20.11:

[Growse (_Mathura_, 279) suggests that Cleisobora is Krishnapura,
‘Krishna’s city.’]

Footnote 4.20.12:

Hercules, Mercury, and Apollo; _Balaram_, _Budha_, and _Kanhaiya_.

Footnote 4.20.13:

The ‘God Bal,’ the Vivifier, the Sun [?].

Footnote 4.20.14:

Budha signifies ‘wisdom.’

Footnote 4.20.15:

Job chap. xxxi. 26, 27, 28.

Footnote 4.20.16:

Chand, the bard, after having separately invoked the three persons of
the Hindu triad, says that he who believes them distinct, “hell will
be his portion.”

Footnote 4.20.17:

[The Jains were not a Buddhist sect.]

Footnote 4.20.18:

A very curious cause was assigned by an eminent Jain priest for the
innovation of enshrining and worshipping the forms of the twenty-four
pontiffs: namely, that the worship of Kanhaiya, before and after the
apotheosis, became quite a rage amongst the women, who crowded his
shrines, drawing after them all the youth of the Jains; and that, in
consequence, they made a statue of Neminath to counteract a fervour
that threatened the existence of their faith. It is seldom we are
furnished with such rational reasons for religious changes.

Footnote 4.20.19:

[Neminātha was the twenty-second Jain Tīrthakara or deified saint.
Arishta means ‘unhurt, perfect.’]

Footnote 4.20.20:

It was the serpent (Budha) who ravished Ila, daughter of Ikshwaku, the
son of Manu, whence the distinctive epithet of his descendants in the
East, _Manus_, or men, the very tradition on an ancient sculptured
column in the south of India, which evidently points to the primeval
mystery. In Portici there is an exact _lingam_ entwined with a brazen
serpent, brought from the temple of Isis at Pompeii: and many of the
same kind, in mosaic, decorate the floors of the dwelling-houses. But
the most singular coincidence is in the wreaths of _lingams_ and the
_yoni_ over the door of the minor temple of Isis at Pompeii; while on
another front is painted the rape of Venus by Mercury (Budha and Ila).
The Lunar race, according to the Puranas, are the issue of the rape of
Ila by Budha. _Aphah_ is a serpent in Hebrew. _Ahi_ and _Sarpa_ are
two of its many appellations in Sanskrit. [These speculations are now
obsolete.]

Footnote 4.20.21:

_Taintīs kror devata._

Footnote 4.20.22:

The Mahabharata records constant wars from ancient times amongst the
children of Surya (the sun), and the Tak or Takshak (serpent races).
The horse of the sun, liberated preparatory to sacrifice, by the
father of Rama, was seized by the Takshak Ananta; and Janamejaya, king
of Delhi, grandson of Pandu, was killed by one of the same race. In
both instances the Takshak is literally rendered the _snake_. The
successor of Janamejaya carried war into the seats of this Tak or
serpent race, and is said to have sacrificed 20,000 of them in
revenge; but although it is specifically stated that he subsequently
compelled them to sign tributary engagements (_paenama_), the Brahmans
have nevertheless distorted a plain historical fact by a literal and
puerile interpretation. The Paraitakai (_Mountain-Tak_) of Alexander
were doubtless of this race, as was his ally Taxiles, which
appellation was titular, as he was called Omphis till his father’s
death. It is even probable that this name is the Greek Ὄφις, in which
they recognized the tribe of the Tak or Snake. Taxiles may be
compounded of is, ‘lord or chief,’ _sila_, ‘rock or mountain,’ and
Tak, ‘lord of the mountain Tak,’ whose capital was in the range west
of the Indus. We are indebted to the Emperor Babur for the exact
position of the capital of this celebrated race, which he passed in
his route of conquest. We have, however, an intermediate notice of it
between Alexander and Babur, in the early history of the Yadu Bhatti,
who came in conflict with the Taks on their expulsion from Zabulistan
and settlement in the Panjab. [The Paraitakai or Paraitakenai have no
connexion with Tāk or Takshak, the first part of the name perhaps
representing Skt. _parvata_, ‘a mountain,’ or _pahār_ in the modern
dialect. They lived in the hill country between the rivers Oxus and
Jaxartes (McCrindle, _Alexander_, 57). Omphis represents the Āmbhi,
king of Taxila, a name supposed to mean ‘rock of the Tāk tribe’
(_ibid._ 413; Smith, _EHI_, 60), or, more probably, ‘city of cut
stone.’]

Footnote 4.20.23:

The Buddhists appeared in this peninsula and the adjacent continent
was the cradle of Buddhism, and here are three of the ‘five’ sacred
mounts of their faith, _i.e._ Girnar, Satrunjaya and Abu. The Author
purposes giving, hereafter, an account of his journey through these
classic regions. [He refers to Jains; Buddhism arose in Bihār.]

Footnote 4.20.24:

The Buddhists and Jains are stigmatized as _Vidyavan_, which,
signifying ‘possessed of science,’ is interpreted ‘magician.’

Footnote 4.20.25:

He is called Arishta-Nemi, ‘the black Nemi,’ from his complexion.

Footnote 4.20.26:

[The connexion of Hindu with Egyptian beliefs is no longer admitted.]

Footnote 4.20.27:

The Sun-god (Kan, according to Diodorus) is the Minos of the
Egyptians. The hieroglyphics at Turin represent him with the head of
an ibis, or eagle, with an altar before him, on which a shade places
his offerings, namely, a goose, cakes of bread, and flowers of the
lotus, and awaits in humble attitude his doom. In Sanskrit the same
word means _soul_, _goose_, and _swan_ [?], and the Hindu poet is
always punning upon it; though it might be deemed a levity to
represent the immaterial portion under so unclassical an emblem. The
lotus flowers are alike sacred to the Kan of the Egyptians as to
Kanhaiya the mediator of the Hindus, and both are painted blue and
bird-headed. The claims of Kanhaiya (contracted Kan) as the sun
divinity of the Hindus will be abundantly illustrated in the account
of the festivals. [The above theories are obsolete.]

Footnote 4.20.28:

I do not mean to derive any aid from the resemblance of names, which
is here merely accidental. [Nonīta probably = _Navanīta_, ‘fresh
butter,’ a dairy god (Macdonell-Keith, _Vedic Index_, i. 437).]

Footnote 4.20.29:

When I heard the octogenarian ruler of Kotah ask his grandson,
“Bapalal, have you been tending the cows to-day?” my surprise was
converted into pleasure on the origin of the custom being thus
classically explained.

Footnote 4.20.30:

From _chha_, ‘six,’ and _tar_, ‘a string or wire.’

Footnote 4.20.31:

Strabo says the Greeks consider music as originating from Thrace and
Asia, of which countries were Orpheus, Musaeus, etc.; and that others
“who regard all Asia, as far as India, as a country sacred to Dionysus
(Bacchus), attribute to that country the invention of nearly all the
science of music. We perceive them sometimes describing the cithara of
the Asiatic, and sometimes applying to flutes the epithet of Phrygian.
The names of certain instruments, such as the _nabla_, and others
likewise, are taken from barbarous tongues.” This _nabla_ of Strabo is
possibly the _tabla_, the small tabor of India. If Strabo took his
orthography from the Persian or Arabic, a single point would
constitute the difference between the _N_ (ن) and the _T_ (ﺕ). [The
Arabic _tabl_, _tabla_, has no connexion with Greek νάβλα, Hebrew
_nevel_.]

Footnote 4.20.32:

An account of the state of musical science amongst the Hindus of early
ages, and a comparison between it and that of Europe, is yet a
desideratum in Oriental literature. From what we already know of the
science, it appears to have attained a theoretical precision yet
unknown to Europe, and that at a period when even Greece was little
removed from barbarism. The inspirations of the bards of the first
ages were all set to music; and the children of the most powerful
potentates sang the episodes of the great epics of Valmiki and Vyasa.
There is a distinguished member of the Royal Asiatic Society, and
perhaps the only one, who could fill up this hiatus; and we may hope
that the leisure and inclination of the Right Honourable Sir Gore
Ousely will tempt him to enlighten us on this most interesting point.

Footnote 4.20.33:

[The lyrical drama of Jayadeva, _Gītagovinda_, dates from the twelfth
century A.D. (Macdonell, _Hist. Sanskrit Literature_, 344 f.).]

Footnote 4.20.34:

I have often been struck with a characteristic analogy in the
sculptures of the most ancient Saxon cathedrals in England and on the
Continent, to Kanhaiya and the Gopis. Both may be intended to
represent divine harmony. Did the Asi and Jits of Scandinavia, the
ancestors of the Saxons, bring them from Asia?

Footnote 4.20.35:

[The Janamashtami, Krishna’s birthday, is celebrated on the 8th dark
half of Sāwan (July-August).]

Footnote 4.20.36:

_Trans. Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 146.

Footnote 4.20.37:

[Rādha was daughter of Vrishabhānu.]

Footnote 4.20.38:

_Madho_ in the dialect of Vraj.

Footnote 4.20.39:

We meet with various little philosophical phenomena used as similes in
this rhapsody of Jayadeva. These aërolites, mentioned by a poet the
contemporary of David and Solomon, are but recently known to the
European philosopher. [But one was worshipped at Rome in B.C. 204.]

Footnote 4.20.40:

This is, in allusion to the colour of Krishna, a dark blue.

Footnote 4.20.41:

The Indian Pluto; she is addressing the Yamuna.

Footnote 4.20.42:

Thus the ancient statues do not present merely the sculptor’s fancy in
the zone of bells with which they are ornamented.

Footnote 4.20.43:

This is a favourite metaphor with the bards of India, to describe the
alternations of the exciting causes of love; and it is yet more
important as showing that Jayadeva was the philosopher as well as the
poet of nature, in making the action of the moon upon the tides the
basis of this beautiful simile.

Footnote 4.20.44:

This yellow robe or mantle furnishes another title of the Sun-god,
namely, _Pitambara_, typical of the resplendence which precedes his
rising and setting.

Footnote 4.20.45:

It will be again necessary to call to mind the colour of Krishna, to
appreciate this elegant metaphor.

Footnote 4.20.46:

This idea is quite new.

Footnote 4.20.47:

_Childe Harold_, Canto iii.

Footnote 4.20.48:

The anniversary of the birth of Kanhaiya is celebrated with splendour
at Sindhia’s court, where the author frequently witnessed it, during a
ten years’ residence.

Footnote 4.20.49:

The priests of Kanhaiya, probably so called from the _chob_ or club
with which, on the annual festival, they assault the castle of Kansa,
the tyrant usurper of Krishna’s birthright, who, like Herod, ordered
the slaughter of all the youth of Vraj, that Krishna might not escape.
These _Chaubēs_ are most likely the _Sobii_ of Alexander, who occupied
the chief towns of the Panjab, and who, according to Arrian,
worshipped Hercules (Hari-kul-es, chief of the race of Hari), and were
armed with clubs. The mimic assault of Kansa’s castle by some hundreds
of these robust church militants, with their long clubs covered with
iron rings, is well worth seeing. [The Chaubē Brāhmans of Mathura do
not take their name from _Chob_, ‘a club,’ but from Skt.
_Chaturvedin_, ‘learned in the four Vedas.’ By the Sobii the Author
means the Sibi or Sivaya, inhabiting a district between the Hydaspes
and the Indus (McCrindle, _Alexander_, 366). They have no possible
connexion with the Mathura Chaubēs.]

Footnote 4.20.50:

[Govardhana means ‘nourisher of cattle.’]

Footnote 4.20.51:

[The title Guphanātha is not recorded.]

Footnote 4.20.52:

Jalandhara on the Indus is described by the Emperor Babur as a very
singular spot, having numerous caves. The deity of the caves of
Jalandhara is the tutelary deity of the Prince of Marwar. [When the
body of Daksha was cut up, the breast fell at Jālandhar; the Daitya
king, Jālandhara, was crushed by Siva under the Jawālamukhi hill
(_Āīn_, ii. 314 f.).]

Footnote 4.20.53:

[Cave worship does not seem to be specially connected with the cult of
Krishna. The mention of the cave at Govardhan seems to refer to the
legend of Krishna protecting the people of Braj from a storm sent by
Indra, by holding the hill over them (Growse, _op. cit._ 60). The Gaya
caves are Buddhistic, and have no connexion with Krishna (_IGI_, xii.
198 f.). Guphanāth does not seem to be a Krishna title, and the cave
of Gopnāth in Kāthiāwar is said to derive its name from Gopsinghji, a
Gohil prince, who reigned in the sixteenth century (_BG_, viii. 445).]

Footnote 4.20.54:

“In Hebrew _heres_ signifies the sun, but in Arabic the meaning of the
radical word is to guard, preserve; and of _haris_, guardian,
preserver” (Volney’s _Ruins of Empires_, p. 316). [Needless to say,
Elysium (Ἠλύσιον πεδίον) has no connexion with Ἥλιος, the sun.]

Footnote 4.20.55:

The heaven of Vishnu, Vaikuntha, is entirely of gold, and 80,000 miles
in circumference. Its edifices, pillars, and ornaments are composed of
precious stones. The crystal waters of the Ganges form a river in
Vaikuntha, where are lakes filled with blue, red, and white
water-lilies, each of a hundred and even a thousand petals. On a
throne glorious as the meridian sun resting on water-lilies, is
Vishnu, with Lakshmi or Sri, the goddess of abundance (the Ceres of
the Egyptians and Greeks), on his right hand, surrounded by spirits
who constantly celebrate the praise of Vishnu and Lakshmi, who are
served by his votaries, and to whom the eagle (_garuda_) is
door-keeper (Extract from the Mahabharata—See Ward on the _History and
Religion of the Hindus_, vol. ii. p. 14).

Footnote 4.20.56:

[Apollo Κάρνειος was probably ‘the horned god,’ connected with κέρας,
‘a horn,’ as a deity of herdsmen (Farnell, _Cults of the Greek
States_, iv. 131).]

Footnote 4.20.57:

Supposing these coincidences in the fabulous history of the ancient
nations of Greece and Asia to be merely fortuitous, they must excite
interest; but conjoined with various others in the history of the
Herikulas of India and the Heraclidae of Greece, I cannot resist the
idea that they were connected [?].

Footnote 4.20.58:

[The Annakūta festival, held on the first day of the light half of
Kārttik (Oct.-Nov.). This was the old name of the hill which Krishna
held aloft to protect his people (Growse, _op. cit._ 300).]

Footnote 4.20.59:

Gibbon records a similar offering of 200,000 sesterces to the Roman
church, by a stranger, in the reign of Decius [ed. W. Smith, ii. 199].

Footnote 4.20.60:

I enjoyed no small degree of favour with the supreme pontiff of the
shrine of Apollo and all his votaries, for effecting a meeting of the
seven statues of Vishnu in 1820. In contriving this I had not only to
reconcile ancient animosities between the priests of the different
shrines, in order to obtain a free passport for the gods, but to
pledge myself to the princes in whose capitals they were established,
for their safe return: for they dreaded lest bribery might entice the
priests to fix them elsewhere, which would have involved their loss of
sanctity, dignity, and prosperity. It cost me no little trouble, and
still more anxiety, to keep the assembled multitudes at peace with
each other, for they are as outrageous as any sectarians in contesting
the supreme power and worth of their respective forms (_rupa_). Yet
they all separated, not only without violence, but without even any
attempt at robbery, so common on such occasions.

Footnote 4.20.61:

[Kānkroli, 36 miles N.E. of Udaipur city: the image is said to have
been brought from Mathura A.D. 1669 (Erskine ii. A. 113).]

Footnote 4.20.62:

[The form of Vishnu worshipped at Pāndharpur in Sholapur District. The
name is probably a local corruption of Vishnupati, ‘Lord Vishnu,’
through the forms Bistu or Bittu (_IA_, iv. 361).]

Footnote 4.20.63:

[Said to mean ‘the child, giver of liberation.’]

Footnote 4.20.64:

The _pera_ of Mathura can only be made from the waters of the Yamuna,
from whence it is still conveyed to Nonanda at Nathdwara, and with
curds forms his evening repast.

Footnote 4.20.65:

[Gokul is not an island, but a suburb of Mahāban in Mathura District.]

Footnote 4.20.66:

[Pāndurang is said to mean ‘white-coloured’; but others believe it to
be the Sanskritized form of Pandaraga, that is, ‘belonging to
Pandargē,’ the old name of Pāndharpur (_BG_, xx. 423).]

Footnote 4.20.67:

Gosain is a title more applicable to the _célibataire_ worshippers of
Hara than of Hari—of Jupiter than of Apollo. It is alleged that the
Emperor Akbar first bestowed this epithet on the high-priest of
Krishna, whose rites attracted his regard. They were previously called
Dikshit, ‘one who performs sacrifice,’ a name given to a very numerous
class of Brahmans. The _Gotrācharya_, or genealogical creed of the
high-priest, is as follows: “_Tailang Brahman_, _Bharadwaja
gotra_,[4.20.67.A] _Gurukula_,[4.20.67.B] _Taittari sakha_; _i.e._
Brahman of Telingana, of the tribe of Bharadwaja, of the race of Guru,
of the branch Taittari.”

Footnote 4.20.67.A:

Bhāradwaja was a celebrated founder of a sect in the early ages.

Footnote 4.20.67.B:

Guru is an epithet applied to Vrishapati, ‘Lord of the bull,’ the
Indian Jupiter, who is called the Guru, preceptor or guardian of the
gods. [Brihaspati, ‘Lord of prayer,’ the regent of the planet Jupiter,
is confused with Vrishapati. ‘Lord of the bull,’ an epithet of Siva.]

Footnote 4.20.68:

The high-priest of Jalandharnath used to appear at the head of a
cavalcade far more numerous than any feudal lord of Marwar. A sketch
of this personage will appear elsewhere. These Brahmans were not a jot
behind the ecclesiastical lords of the Middle Ages, who are thus
characterized: “Les seigneurs ecclésiatiques, malgré l’humilité
chrétienne, ne se sont pas montrés moins orgueilleux que les nobles
laïcs. Le doyen du chapitre de Notre Dame du Port, à Clermont, pour
montrer sa grande noblesse, officiait avec toute la pompe féodale.
Étant à l’autel, il avait l’oiseau sur la perche gauche, et on portait
devant lui la hallebarde; on la lui portait aussi de la même manière
pendant qu’on chantait l’évangile, et aux processions il avait
lui-même l’oiseau sur le poing, et il marchait à la tête de ses
serviteurs, menant ses chiens de chasse” (_Dict. de l’Anc. Régime_, p.
380).

Footnote 4.20.69:

The first letter I received on reaching England after my long
residence in India was from this priest, filled with anxious
expressions for my health, and speedy return to protect the lands and
sacred kine of Apollo.

-----

APPENDIX

No. I

_Grant of the Rathor Rani, the Queen-Mother of Udaipur, on the death of
her Son, the Heir-Apparent, Prince Amra._

Siddh Sri Bari[a4.20.1] Rathorji to the Patels and inhabitants of
Girwa.[a4.20.2] The four bighas of land, belonging to the Jat Roga, have
been assigned to the Brahman Kishna on the Anta Samya (final epoch) of
Lalji.[a4.20.3] Let him possess the rents thereof.[a4.20.4] The dues for
wood and forage (_khar lakar_) contributions (_barar_) are renounced by
the State in favour of the Brahmans.

Samvat 1875, Amavas 15th of Asoj, A.D. 1819.

------------------

No. II

_Grant held by a Brahman of Birkhera._

“A Brahman’s orphan was compelled by hunger to seek sustenance in
driving an oil-mill; instead of oil the receptacle was filled with
blood. The frightened oilman demanded of the child who he was; ‘A
Brahman’s orphan,’ was the reply. Alarmed at the enormity of his guilt
in thus employing the son of a priest, he covered the palm of his hand
with earth, in which he sowed the tulasi seed,[4.20a.5] and went on a
pilgrimage to Dwarka. He demanded the presence (_darsana_) of the god;
the priests pointed to the ocean, when he plunged in, and had an
interview with Dwarkanath, who presented him with a written order on the
Rana for forty-five bighas of land. He returned and threw the writing
before the Rana, on the steps of the temple of Jagannath. The Rana read
the writing of the god, placed it on his head, and immediately made out
the grant. This is three hundred and fifty years ago, as recorded by an
inscription on stone, and his descendant, Kosala, yet enjoys it.”

(A true Translation.) J. TOD.

No. III

The Palod inscription is unfortunately mislaid; but in searching for it,
another was discovered from Aner, four miles south-west of the ancient
Morwan, where there is a temple to the four-armed divinity
(Chaturbhuja), endowed in Samvat 1570, by Rana Jagat Singh [553]. On one
of the pillars of the temple is inscribed a voluntary gift made in
Samvat 1845, and signed by the village Panch, of the first-fruits of the
harvest, namely, two sers and a half (five pounds weight) from each
_khal_[4.20a.6] of the spring, and the same of the autumnal harvests.

No. IV

Sri Amra Sing (II.) etc., etc.

Whereas the shrine of Sri Pratap-Iswara (the God of Fortune) has been
erected in the meadows of Rasmi, all the groves and trees are sacred to
him; whoever cuts down any of them is an offender to the State, and
shall pay a fine of three hundred rupees, and the _ass_[4.20a.7] shall
be the portion of the officers of government who suffer it.

Pus. 14, Samvat 1712 (A.D. 1656).

No. V

Maharana Sri Raj Singh, commanding.

To the Nobles, Ministers, Patels,[4.20a.8] Patwaris,[4.20a.8] of the ten
thousand [villages] of Mewar (_das sahas Mewar-ra_), according to
your stations—read!

1. From remote times, the temples and dwellings of the Jains have been
authorized; let none therefore within their boundaries carry animals to
slaughter—this is their ancient privilege.

2. Whatever life, whether man or animal, passes their abode for the
purpose of being killed, is saved (_amara_).[4.20a.9]

3. Traitors to the State, robbers, felons escaped confinement, who may
fly for sanctuary (_saran_) to the dwellings (_upasra_)[4.20a.10] of the
Yatis,[4.20a.11] shall not there be seized by the servants of the court.

4. The _kunchi_[4.20a.12] (handful) at harvest, the _mutthi_ (handful)
of _kirana_, the charity lands (_dholi_), grounds, and houses,
established by them in the various towns, shall be maintained.

5. This ordinance is issued in consequence of the representation of the
Rikh[4.20a.13] Mana, to whom is granted fifteen bighas of
_adhan_[4.20a.14] land, and twenty-five of _maleti_.[4.20a.14] The same
quantity of each kind in each of the districts of Nimach and
Nimbahera.—Total in three districts, forty-five bighas of _adhan_, and
seventy-five of _mal_[4.20a.15] [554].

On seeing this ordinance, let the land be measured and assigned, and let
none molest the Yatis, but foster their privileges. Cursed be he who
infringes them—the cow to the Hindu—the hog and corpse to the Musalman.

(By command.)
Samvat 1749, Magh sudi 5th, A.D. 1693. SAH DYAL (Minister).

No. VI

Maharaja Chhattar Singh (one of the Rana’s sons), commanding.

In the town of Rasmi, whoever slays sheep, buffaloes, goats, or other
living thing, is a criminal to the State; his house, cattle, and effects
shall be forfeited, and himself expelled the village.

(By command).
Pus Sudi 14, Samvat 1705, A.D. 1649. The Pancholi DAMAKA DAS.

No. VII

Maharana Jai Singh to the inhabitants of Bakrol; printers, potters,
oilmen, etc., etc., commanding.

From the 11th Asarh (June) to the full moon of Asoj (September), none
shall drain the waters of the lake; no oil-mill shall work, or earthen
vessel be made, during these the four rainy months.[4.20a.16]

No. VIII

Maharana Sri Jagat Singh II., commanding.

The village of Siarh in the hills, of one thousand rupees yearly rent,
having been chosen by Nathji (_the_ god) for his residence, and given up
by Rana Raghude,[4.20a.17] I have confirmed it. The Gosain[4.20a.18] and
his heirs shall enjoy it for ever.

Samvat 1793, A.D. 1737.

No. IX

Siddh Sri Maharaja Dhiraj, Maharana Sri Bhim Singhji, commanding.

The undermentioned towns and villages were presented to Sriji[4.20a.19]
by copper-plate. The revenues (_hasil_), [4.20a.20] contributions
(_barar_), taxes, dues (_lagat-be-lagat_), trees, shrubs, foundations
and boundaries (_nim-sim_), shall all belong to Sriji. If of my seed,
none will ever dispute this [555].

The ancient copper-plate being lost, I have thus renewed it.

Here follows a list of thirty-four entire towns and villages, many from
the fisc, or confirmations of the grants of the chiefs, besides various
parcels of arable land, from twenty to one hundred and fifty bighas, in
forty-six more villages, from chiefs of every class, and patches of
meadowland (_bira_) in twenty more.

No. X

Sri Maharana Bhima Singhji, commanding.

To the towns of Sriji, or to the [personal] lands of the
Gosainji,[4.20a.21] no molestation shall be offered. No warrants or
exactions shall be issued or levied upon them. All complaints, suits, or
matters, in which justice is required, originating in Nathdwara, shall
be settled there; none shall interfere therein, and the decisions of the
Gosainji I shall invariably confirm. The town and transit
duties[4.20a.22] (of Nathdwara and villages pertaining thereto), the
assay (_parkhai_)[4.20a.22] fees from the public markets, duties on
precious metals (_kasoti_),[4.a.22] all brokerage (_dalali_), and dues
collected at the four gates; all contributions and taxes of whatever
kind, are presented as an offering to Sriji; let the income thereof be
placed in Sriji’s coffers.

All the products of foreign countries imported by the
Vaishnavas,[4.20a.23] whether domestic or foreign, and intended for
consumption at Nathdwara,[4.20a.24] shall be exempt from duties. The
right of sanctuary (_saran_) of Sriji, both in the town and in all his
other villages,[4.20a.25] will be maintained: the Almighty will take
cognisance of any innovation. Wherefore, let all chiefs, farmers of
duties, beware of molesting the goods of Nathji (_the_ god), and
wherever such may halt, let guards be provided for their security, and
let each chief convey them through his bounds in safety. If of my blood,
or if my servants, this warrant will be obeyed for ever and for ever.
Whoever resumes this grant will be a caterpillar in hell during 60,000
years.

By command—through the chief butler (_Paneri_) Eklingdas: written by
Surat Singh, son of Nathji Pancholi, Magh sudi 1st, Samvat 1865; A.D.
1809.

No. XI

Personal grant to the high-priest, Damodarji Maharaj. 6000 Swasti Sri,
from the abode at Udaipur, Maharana Sri Bhim Singhji, commanding [556].

To all the chieftains, landholders, managers of the crown and
_deorhi_[4.20a.26] lands, to all Patels, etc., etc., etc. As an offering
to the Sri Gosainji two rupees have been granted in every village
throughout Mewar, one in each harvest—let no opposition be made thereto.
If of my kin or issue, none will revoke this—the _an_ (oath of
allegiance) be upon his head. By command, through Parihara Mayaram,
Samvat 1860, Jeth sudi 5th Mangalwar; A.D. 1804.

At one side of the patent, in the Rana’s own hand, “An offering to Sri
Girdhariji[4.20a.27] Maharaj—If of my issue none will disobey—who dares,
may the Almighty punish!”

No. XII

Maharana Bhim Singh, commanding.

To the Mandir (_minster_) of Sri Murali Manohar (_flute delighting_),
situated on the dam of the lake at Mandalgarh, the following grant has
been made, with all the dues, income, and privileges, viz.:

1. The hamlet called Kotwalkhera, with all thereto appertaining.

2. Three rupees’ worth of saffron monthly from the transit duty
chabutra.[4.20a.28]

3. From the police-office of Mandalgarh:

Three tunics (_baga_) for the idol on each festival, viz.
Ashtami, Jaljatra, and Vasant Panchami.[4.20a.29]

Five rupees’ worth of oil[4.20a.30] on the Jaljatra, and two
and a half in the full moon of Karttik [Oct.-Nov.].

4. Both gardens under the dam of the lake, with all the fruits and
flowers thereof.

5. The _Inch_[4.20a.31] on all the vegetables appertaining to the
prince.

6. _Kunchi_ and _dalali_, or the handful at harvest, and all brokerage.

7. The income arising from the sale of the estates is to be applied to
the repairs of the temple and dam.

Margsir [Nov.-Dec.] Sudi 1, Samvat 1866; A.D. 1810 [557].

-----

Footnote a4.20.1:

The great Rathor queen. There were two of this tribe; she was the
queen-mother.

Footnote a4.20.2:

[The tract in the centre of the State, including Udaipur city.]

Footnote a4.20.3:

An endearing epithet, applied to children, from _larla_, beloved.

Footnote a4.20.4:

It is customary to call these grants to religious orders ‘grants of
land,’ although they entitle only the rents thereof; for there is no
seizin of the land itself, as numerous inscriptions testify, and
which, as well as the present, prove the proprietary right to be in
the cultivator only. The _tamba-pattra_,[a4.20.4.A] or copper-plate
patent (by which such grants are probably designated) of
Yasodharman,[a4.20.4.B] the Pramara prince of Ujjain, seven hundred
years ago, is good evidence that the rents only are granted; he
commands the crown tenants of the two villages assigned to the temple
“to pay all dues as they arise—money-rent—first share of produce,” not
a word of seizing of the soil. See _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic
Society_, vol. i. p. 223.

Footnote a4.20.4.A:

To distinguish them from grants of land to feudal tenants, which
patents (_patta_) are manuscript.

Footnote a4.20.4.B:

[He defeated Mihiragula, leader of the White Huns, about A.D. 528
(Smith, _EHI_, 318).]

Footnote 4.20a.5:

[The sacred basil plant, _Ocymum sanctum_.]

Footnote 4.20a.6:

A _khal_ is one of the heaps after the corn is thrashed out, about
_five maunds_ [400 lbs.].

Footnote 4.20a.7:

The _gadha-ghal_ is a punishment unknown in any but the Hindu code;
the hieroglyphic import appears on the pillar, and must be seen to be
understood.

Footnote 4.20a.8:

Revenue officers.

Footnote 4.20a.9:

Literally ‘immortal,’ from _mara_, ‘death,’ and the privative prefix.

Footnote 4.20a.10:

Schools or colleges of the Yatis.

Footnote 4.20a.11:

Priests of the Jains.

Footnote 4.20a.12:

_Kunchi_ and _mutthi_ are both a ‘handful’; the first is applied to
grain in the stalk at harvest time; the other to such edibles in
merchandise as sugar, raisins, etc., collectively termed _kirana_.

Footnote 4.20a.13:

_Rikh_[_rishi_] is an ancient title applied to the highest class of
priests; _Rikh-Rikhsha-Rikhiswara_, applied to royalty in old times.

Footnote 4.20a.14:

_Adhan_ is the richest land, lying under the protection of the town
walls; _mal_ or _maleti_ land is land not irrigated from wells.

Footnote 4.20a.15:

In all a hundred and twenty bighas, or about forty acres.

Footnote 4.20a.16:

[For the annual Jain retreat see p. 606, above.]

Footnote 4.20a.17:

The chief of Delwara.

Footnote 4.20a.18:

There are other grants later than this, which prove that all grants
were renewed in every new reign. This grant also proves that no chief
has the power to alienate without his sovereign’s sanction.

Footnote 4.20a.19:

Epithet indicative of the greatness of the deity.

Footnote 4.20a.20:

Here is another proof that the sovereign can only alienate the
revenues (_hasil_); and though everything upon and about the grant,
yet _not the soil_. The _nim-sim_ is almost as powerful an expression
as the old grant to the Rawdons—

“From earth to heaven,
From heaven to hell,
For thee and thine
Therein to dwell.”

Footnote 4.20a.21:

The high-priest.

Footnote 4.20a.22:

All these are royalties, and the Rana was much blamed, even by his
Vaishnava ministers, for sacrificing them even to Kanhaiya.

Footnote 4.20a.23:

Followers of Vishnu, Krishna, or Kanhaiya, chiefly mercantile.

Footnote 4.20a.24:

Many merchants, by the connivance of the conductors of the caravans of
Nathji’s goods, contrived to smuggle their goods to Nathdwara, and to
the disgrace of the high-priest or his underlings, this traffic was
sold for their personal advantage. It was a delicate thing to search
these caravans, or to prevent the loss to the State from the evasion
of the duties. The Rana durst not interfere lest he might incur the
penalty of his own anathemas. The Author’s influence with the
high-priest put a stop to this.

Footnote 4.20a.25:

This extent of sanctuary is an innovation of the present Rana’s, with
many others equally unwise.

Footnote 4.20a.26:

Lands for the queens or others of the immediate household.

Footnote 4.20a.27:

Father of the present high-priest, Damodarji.

Footnote 4.20a.28:

[Office, properly ‘a platform.’]

Footnote 4.20a.29:

[Festivals of Krishna’s birthday, the water festival, the spring
festival.]

Footnote 4.20a.30:

Amongst the items of the Chartulary of Dunfermline is the tithe of the
oil of the Greenland whale fisheries.

Footnote 4.20a.31:

A handful of every basket of vegetables sold in the public markets.

-----

CHAPTER 21

=The Importance of Mythology.=—It has been observed by that
philosophical traveller, Dr. Clarke, that, “by a proper attention to the
vestiges of ancient superstition, we are sometimes enabled to refer a
whole people to their original ancestors, with as much, if not more
certainty, than by observations made upon their language; because the
superstition is engrafted upon the stock, but the language is liable to
change.”[4.21.1] Impressed with the justness, as well as the originality
of the remark, I shall adopt it as my guide in the observations I
propose to make on the religious festivals and superstitions of Mewar.
However important may be the study of military, civil, and political
history, the science is incomplete without mythological history; and he
is little imbued with the spirit of philosophy who can perceive in the
fables of antiquity nothing but the extravagance of a fervid
imagination. Did no other consequence result from the study of mythology
than the fact that, in all ages and countries, man has desecrated his
reason, and voluntarily reduced himself below the level of the brutes
that perish, it must provoke inquiry into the cause of this degradation.
Such an investigation would develop, not only the source of history, the
handmaid of the arts and sciences, but the origin and application of the
latter, in a theogony typical of the seasons, their changes, and
products. Thus mythology may be considered the parent of all history.

=The Aboriginal Tribes.=—With regard, however, to the rude tribes who
still inhabit the mountains and fastnesses of India, and who may be
regarded as the aborigines of that country, the converse of this
doctrine is more probable. Not their language only, but [558] their
superstitions, differ from those of the Rajputs: though, from a desire
to rise above their natural condition, they have engrafted upon their
own the most popular mythologies of their civilized conquerors, who from
the north gradually spread themselves over the continent and peninsula,
even to the remote isles of the Indian Ocean. Of the primitive
inhabitants we may enumerate the Minas, the Meras, the Gonds, the Bhils,
the Sahariyas, the Savaras, the Abhiras, the Gujars, and those who
inhabit the forests of the Nerbudda, the Son, the Mahanadi, the
mountains of Sarguja, and the lesser Nagpur; many of whom are still but
little removed from savage life, and whose dialects are as various as
their manners. These are content to be called the ‘sons of the
earth,’[4.21.2] or ‘children of the forest,’[4.21.3] while their
conquerors, the Rajputs, arrogate celestial descent.[4.21.4] How soon
after the flood the Suryas, or sun-worshippers, entered India Proper,
must ever remain uncertain.[4.21.5] It is sufficient that they were
anterior in date to the Indus, or races tracing their descent from the
moon (_Ind_); as the migration of the latter from the central lands of
Indo-Scythia was antecedent to that of the Agnikulas, or
fire-worshippers, of the Snake race, claiming Takshak as their original
progenitor. The Suryas,[4.21.6] who migrated both to the East and West,
as population became redundant in these fertile regions, may be
considered the Celtic, as the Indu-Getae may be accounted the Gothic,
races of India.[4.21.7] To attempt to discriminate these different
races, and mark the shades which once separated them, after a system of
priestcraft has amalgamated the mass, and identified their
superstitions, would be fruitless; but the observer of ancient customs
may, with the imperfect guidance of peculiar rites, discover things, and
even names, totally incongruous with the Brahmanical system, and which
could never have originated within the Indus or Atak,—the Rubicon of
Gangetic antiquaries, who fear to look beyond that stream for the origin
of tribes. A residence amongst the Rajputs would lead to a disregard of
such boundaries, either to the moral or physical man, as the annals of
Mewar abundantly testify.

=Comparative Study of Festivals.=—Sir Wm. Jones remarks, “If the
festivals of the old Greeks, Persians, Romans [559], Egyptians, and
Goths could be arranged with exactness in the same form with the Indian,
there would be found a striking resemblance among them; and an attentive
comparison of them all might throw great light on the religion, and
perhaps on the history, of the primitive world.”

=Analogies to Rājput Customs in Northern Europe.=—In treating of the
festivals and superstitions of the Rajputs, wherever there may appear to
be a fair ground for supposing an analogy with those of other nations of
antiquity, I shall not hesitate to pursue it. The proper names of many
of the martial Rajputs would alone point out the necessity of seeking
for a solution of them out of the explored paths; and where Sanskrit
derivation cannot be assigned, as it happens in many instances, we are
not, therefore, warranted in the hasty conclusion that the names must
have been adopted since the conquests of Mahmud or Shihabu-d-din, events
of comparatively modern date. Let us at once admit the hypothesis of
Pinkerton,—the establishment of an original Indu-Getic or Indo-Scythic
empire, “extending from the Caspian to the Ganges”; or if this
conjecture be too extensive or too vague, let us fix the centre of this
Madhya-Bhumi in the fertile region of Sogdiana;[4.21.8] and from the
lights which modern history affords on the many migrations from this
nursery of mankind, even since the time of Muhammad, let us form an
opinion of those which have not been recorded, or have been conveyed by
the Hindus only in imperfect allegory; and with the aid of ancient
customs, obsolete words, and proper names, trace them to Indo-Scythic
colonies grafted on the parent stock. The Puranas themselves bear
testimony to the incorporation of Scythic tribes with the Hindus, and to
the continual irruptions of the Saka, the Pahlavas, the Yavanas,[4.21.9]
the Turushkas, names conspicuous amongst the races of Central Asia, and
recorded in the pages of the earliest Western historians. Even so early
as the period of Rama, when furious international wars were carried on
between the military and sacerdotal classes for supremacy, we have the
names of these tribes recorded as auxiliaries [560] to the priesthood;
who, while admitting them to fight under the banners of Siva, would not
scruple to stamp them with the seal of Hinduism. In this manner, beyond
a doubt, at a much later period than the events in the Ramayana, these
tribes from the North either forced themselves among, or were
incorporated with, ‘the races of the sun.’ When, therefore, we meet with
rites in Rajputana and in ancient Scandinavia, such as were practised
amongst the Getic nations on the Oxus, why should we hesitate to assign
the origin of both to this region of earliest civilization? When we see
the ancient Asii, and the Iutae, or Jutes, taking omens from the white
steed of Thor, shut up in the temple at Upsala; and in like manner, the
Rajput of past days offering the same animal in sacrifice to the sun,
and his modern descendant taking the omen from his neigh, why are we to
refuse our assent to the common origin of the superstition practised by
the Getae of the Oxus? Again, when we find the ‘homage to the sword’
performed by all the Getic races of antiquity in Dacia, on the Baltic,
as well as by the modern Rajput, shall we draw no conclusion from this
testimony of the father of history, who declares that such rites were
practised on the Jaxartes in the very dawn of knowledge?[4.21.10]
Moreover, why hesitate to give Eastern etymologies for Eastern rites,
though found on the Baltic? The antiquary of the North (Mallet) may thus
be assisted to the etymon of ‘Tir-sing,’ the enchanted sword of
Angantýr, in _tir_, ‘water,’ and _singh_, ‘a lion’; _i.e._ in water or
spirit like a lion; for even _pani_, the common epithet for water, is
applied metaphorically to ‘spirit.’[4.21.11]

It would be less difficult to find Sanskrit derivations for many of the
proper names in the Edda, than to give a Sanskrit analysis of many
common amongst the Rajputs, which we must trace to an Indo-Scythic
root:[4.21.12] such as Eyvorsél, Udila, Attitai, Pujun, Hamira,[4.21.13]
and numerous other proper names of warriors. Of tribes: the Kathi,
Rajpali, Mohila, Sariaspah, Aswaria (_qu._ Assyrian?), Banaphar, Kamari,
Silara, Dahima, etc. Of mountains: Drinodhar, Arbuda, Aravalli,
Aravindha (the root _ara_, or mountain, being Scythic, and the expletive
adjunct Sanskrit), ‘the hill of Budha,’ ‘of strength,’ ‘of limit.’ To
all such as cannot be [561] resolved into the cognate language of India,
what origin can we assign but Scythic?[4.21.14]

=Festivals in Mewār. Naurātri Festival.=—In a memoir prepared for me by
a well-informed public officer in the Rana’s court, on the chief
festivals celebrated in Mewar, he commenced with those following the
autumnal equinox, in the month Asoj or Aswini, opening with the
Nauratri, sacred to the god of war. Their fasts are in general regulated
by the moon; although the most remarkable are solar, especially those of
the equinoxes and solstices, and the Sankrantis, or days on which the
sun enters a new sign. The Hindu solar year anciently commenced on the
winter solstice, in the month Pausha, and was emphatically called ‘the
morning of the gods’; also Sivaratri, or night of Siva, analogous, as
has been before remarked, to the ‘mother night,’ which ushered in the
new year of the Scandinavian Asi, and other nations of Asiatic origin
dwelling in the north.

=The Repose of Vishnu.=—They term the summer solstice in the month of
Asarh, ‘the night of the gods,’ because Vishnu (as the sun) reposes
during the four rainy months on his serpent couch. The lunar year of 360
days was more ancient than the solar, and commenced with the month of
Asoj or Aswini: “the moon being at the full when that name was imposed
on the first lunar station of the Hindu ecliptic.”[4.21.15]

According to another authority, the festivals commenced on Amavas, or
the Ides of Chait, near which the vernal equinox falls, the opening of
the modern solar year; when, in like manner as at the commencement of
the lunar year in Asoj, they [562] dedicate the first nine days of Chait
(also called Nauratri) to Iswara and his consort Isani.

Having thus specified both modes of reckoning for the opening of the
solar and lunar years, I shall not commence the abstract of the
festivals of Mewar with either, but follow the more ancient division of
time, when the year closed with the winter solstice in the month of Pus,
consequently opening the new year with Magh. By this arrangement, we
shall commence with the spring festivals, and let the days dedicated to
mirth and gaiety follow each other; preferring the natural to the
astrological year, which will enable us to preserve the analogy with the
northern nations of Europe, who also reckoned from the winter solstice.
The Hindu divides the year into six seasons, each of two months; namely,
Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sarad, Sisira, Sita; or spring, summer, rainy,
sultry, dewy, and cold.

It is not, however, my intention to detail all the fasts and festivals
which the Rajput of Mewar holds in common with the Hindu nation, but
chiefly those restricted to that State, or such as are celebrated with
local peculiarity, or striking analogies to those of Egypt, Greece, or
Scandinavia. The goddess who presides over mirth and idleness preferred
holding her court amidst the ruins of Udaipur to searching elsewhere for
a dwelling. This determination to be happy amidst calamity, individual
and national, has made the court proverbial in Rajwara, in the adage,
‘_sat bara, aur nau teohara_,’ _i.e._ nine holidays out of seven days.
Although many of these festivals are common to India, and their
maintenance is enjoined by religion, yet not only the prolongation and
repetition of some, but the entire institution of others, as well as the
peculiar splendour of their solemnization, originate with the prince;
proving how much individual example may influence the manners of a
nation.

=Spring Festival, Vasant Panchami.=—By the arrangement we have adopted,
the lovely Vasanti, goddess of the spring, will usher in the festivals
of Mewar. In 1819 her rites were celebrated in the kalends of January,
and even then, on the verge of the tropic, her birth was premature.

The opening of the spring being on the 5th of the month Magha, is thence
called the Vasant panchami, which in 1819 fell on the 30th of January;
consequently the first of Pus (the antecedent month), the beginning of
the old Hindu [563] year, or ‘the morning of the gods,’ fell on the 25th
of December. The Vasant continues forty days after the panchami, or
initiative fifth, during which the utmost license prevails in action and
in speech; the lower classes regale even to intoxication on every kind
of stimulating confection and spirituous beverage, and the most
respectable individuals, who would at other times be shocked to utter an
indelicate allusion, roam about with the groups of bacchanals, reciting
stanzas of the warmest description in praise of the powers of nature, as
did the conscript fathers of Rome during the Saturnalia. In this season,
when the barriers of rank are thrown down, and the spirit of democracy
is let loose, though never abused, even the wild Bhil, or savage Mer,
will leave his forest or mountain shade to mingle in the revelries of
the capital; and decorating his ebon hair or tattered turban with a
garland of jessamine, will join the clamorous parties which perambulate
the streets of the capital. These orgies are, however, reserved for the
conclusion of the forty days sacred to the goddess of nature.

=Bhān Saptami Festival.=—Two days following the initiative fifth is the
Bhan saptami or ‘seventh [day] of the sun,’ also called ‘the birth of
the sun,’ with various other metaphorical denominations.[4.21.16] On
this day there is a grand procession of the Rana, his chiefs and
vassals, to the Chaugan, where the sun is worshipped. At the Jaipur
court, whose princes claim descent from Kusa, the second son of Rama,
the Bhan saptami is peculiarly sacred. The chariot of the sun, drawn by
eight horses, is taken from the temple dedicated to that orb, and moved
in procession: a ceremony otherwise never observed but on the
inauguration of a new prince.

=Sun Worship.=—In the mythology of the Rajputs, of which we have a
better idea from their heroic poetry than from the legends of the
Brahmans, the sun-god is the deity they are most anxious to propitiate;
and in his honour they fearlessly expend their blood in battle, from the
hope of being received into his mansion. Their highest heaven is
accordingly the Bhanuthan or Bhanuloka, the ‘region of the sun’: and
like the Indu-Scythic Getae, the Rajput warrior of the early ages
sacrificed the horse in his honour,[4.21.17] and dedicated to him the
first day of the week, namely, Adityawar, contracted to Itwar, also
called Thawara[4.21.18] [564].

The more we attend to the warlike mythology of the north, the more
apparent is its analogy with that of the Rajputs, and the stronger
ground is there for assuming that both races inherited their creed from
the common land of the Yuti of the Jaxartes. What is a more proper
etymon for Scandinavian, the abode of the warriors who destroyed the
Roman power, than Skanda, the Mars or Kumara of the Rajputs? perhaps the
origin of the Cimbri, derived by Mallet from koempfer, ‘to fight.’

Thor, in the eleventh fable of the Edda, is denominated
Asa-Thor,[4.21.19] the ‘lord Thor,’ called the Celtic Mars by the
Romans. The chariot of Thor is ignobly yoked compared with the car of
Surya; but in the substitution of the he-goats for the seven-headed
horse Saptasva we have but the change of an adjunct depending on clime,
when the Yuti migrated from the plains of Scythia, of which the horse is
a native, to Yutland, of whose mountains the goat was an inhabitant
prior to any of the race of Asi. The northern warrior makes the palace
of the sun-god Thor the most splendid of the celestial abodes, “in which
are five hundred and forty halls”: vying with the Suryamandala, the
supreme heaven of the Rajput. Whence such notions of the Aswa races of
the Ganges, and the Asi of Scandinavia, but from the Scythic Saka, who
adored the solar divinity under the name of ‘Gaeto-Syrus,’[4.21.20] the
Surya of the Sachha Rajput; and as, according to the commentator on the
Edda, “the ancient people of the north pronounced the _th_ as the
English now do _ss_,” the sun-god _Thor_ becomes _Sor_, and is
identified still more with Surya whose worship no doubt gave the name to
that extensive portion of Asia called Συρία, as it did to the small
peninsula of the Sauras, still peopled by tribes of Scythic origin. The
Sol of the Romans has probably the same Celto-Etrurian origin; with
those tribes the sun was the great object of adoration, and their grand
festival, the winter solstice, was called Yule, Hiul, Houl, “which even
at this day signifies the Sun, in the language of Bas-Bretagne and
Cornwall.”[4.21.21] On the conversion of the descendants of these
Scythic Yeuts, who, according to [565] Herodotus, sacrificed the horse
(_Hi_) to the sun (_El_), the name of the Pagan jubilee of the solstice
was transferred to the day of Christ’s nativity, which is thus still
held in remembrance by their descendants of the north.[4.21.22]

=Sun Worship at Udaipur.=—At Udaipur the sun has universal precedence;
his portal (_Suryapol_) is the chief entrance to the city; his name
gives dignity to the chief apartment or hall (_Suryamahall_) of the
palace; and from the balcony of the sun (_Suryagokhra_) the descendant
of Rama shows himself in the dark monsoon as the sun’s representative. A
huge painted sun of gypsum in high relief, with gilded rays, adorns the
hall of audience, and in front of it is the throne. As already
mentioned, the sacred standard bears his image,[4.21.23] as does that
Scythic part of the regalia called the _changi_, a disc of black felt or
ostrich feathers, with a plate of gold to represent the sun in its
centre, borne upon a pole. The royal parasol is termed _kirania_, in
allusion to its shape, like a ray (_kiran_) of the orb. The last day but
one of the month of Magha is called Sivaratri (night of Siva), and is
held peculiarly sacred by the Rana, who is styled the Regent of Siva. It
is a rigid fast, and the night is passed in vigils, and rites to the
phallic representative of Siva.

=The Spring Hunt.=—The merry month of Phalgun is ushered in with the
Aheria, or spring-hunt.[4.21.24] The preceding day the Rana distributes
to all his chiefs and servants either a dress of green, or some portion
thereof, in which all appear habited on the morrow, whenever the
astrologer has fixed the hour for sallying forth to slay the boar to
Gauri, the Ceres of the Rajputs: the Aheria is therefore called the
Mahurat ka shikar, or the chase fixed astrologically. As their success
on this occasion is ominous of future good, no means are neglected to
secure it, either by scouts previously discovering the lair, or the
desperate efforts of the hunters to slay the boar when roused. With the
sovereign and his sons all the chiefs sally forth, each on his best
steed, and all animated by the desire to surpass each other in acts of
prowess and dexterity. It is very rare that in some one of the passes or
recesses of the valley the hog is not found; the spot is then surrounded
by the [566] hunters, whose vociferations soon start the
_dukkara_,[4.21.25] and frequently a drove of hogs. Then each cavalier
impels his steed, and with lance or sword, regardless of rock, ravine,
or tree, presses on the bristly foe, whose knowledge of the country is
of no avail when thus circumvented, and the ground soon reeks with gore,
in which not unfrequently is mixed that of horse or rider. On the last
occasion there occurred fewer casualties than usual; though the
Chondawat Hamira, whom we nicknamed the ‘Red Riever,’ had his leg
broken, and the second son of Sheodan Singh, a near relation of the
Rana, had his neighbour’s lance driven through his arm. The young chief
of Salumbar was amongst the distinguished of this day’s sport. It would
appal even an English fox-hunter to see the Rajputs driving their steeds
at full speed, bounding like the antelope over every barrier—the thick
jungle covert, or rocky steep bare of soil or vegetation,—with their
lances balanced in the air, or leaning on the saddle-bow slashing at the
boar.

The royal kitchen moves out on this occasion, and in some chosen spot
the repast is prepared, of which all partake, for the hog is the
favourite food of the Rajput, as it was of the heroes of Scandinavia.
Nor is the _munawwar piyala_, or invitation cup, forgotten; and having
feasted, and thrice slain their bristly antagonist, they return to the
capital, where fame had already spread their exploits—the deeds done by
the _barchhi_ (lance) of Padma,[4.21.26] or the _khanda_ (sword) blow of
Hamira,[4.21.27] which lopped the head of the foe of Gauri. Even this
martial amusement, the Aheria, has a religious origin. The boar is the
enemy of Gauri of the Rajputs; it was so held of Isis by the Egyptians,
of Ceres by the Greeks, of Freya by the north-man, whose favourite food
was the hog: and of such importance was it deemed by the Franks, that
the second chapter of the Salic law is entirely penal with regard to the
stealers of swine. The heroes of the Edda, even in Valhalla, feed on the
fat of the wild boar Saehrimner, while “the illustrious father of armies
fattens his wolves Geri and Freki, and takes no other nourishment
himself than the interrupted quaffing of wine”: quite the picture of
Har, the Rajput god of war, and his sons the Bhairavas, Krodha, and
Kala, metaphorically called the ‘sons of slaughter.’ We need hardly
repeat that the cup of the Scandinavian god of war, like that of the
Rajputs, is the human skull (_khopra_) [567].[4.21.28]

=The Phāg or Holi Festival.=—As Phalgun advances, the bacchanalian mirth
increases; groups are continually patrolling the streets, throwing a
crimson powder at each other, or ejecting a solution of it from
syringes, so that the garments and visages of all are one mass of
crimson. On the 8th, emphatically called the Phag, the Rana joins the
queens and their attendants in the palace, when all restraint is removed
and mirth is unlimited. But the most brilliant sight is the playing of
the Holi on horseback, on the terrace in front of the palace. Each chief
who chooses to join has a plentiful supply of missiles, formed of thin
plates of mica or talc, enclosing this crimson powder, called _abira_,
which with the most graceful and dextrous horsemanship they dart at each
other, pursuing, caprioling, and jesting. This part of it much resembles
the Saturnalia of Rome of this day, when similar missiles are scattered
at the Carnivâle. The last day or Punon ends the Holi, when the Nakkaras
from the Tripolia summon all the chiefs with their retinues to attend
their prince, and accompany him in procession to the Chaugan, their
Champ de Mars. In the centre of this is a long _sala_ or hall, the
ascent to which is by a flight of steps: the roof is supported by square
columns without any walls, so that the court is entirely open. Here,
surrounded by his chiefs, the Rana passes an hour, listening to the
songs in praise of Holika, while a scurrilous _kavya_ or couplet from
some wag in the crowd reminds him, that exalted rank is no protection
against the license of the spring Saturnalia; though ‘the Diwan of
Eklinga’ has not to reproach himself with a failure of obedience to the
rites of the goddess, having fulfilled the command ‘to multiply,’ more
than any individual in his kingdom.[4.21.29] While the Rana and his
chiefs are thus amused above, the buffoons and itinerant groups mix with
the cavalcade, throw powder in their eyes, or deluge their garments with
the crimson solution. To resent it would only expose the sensitive party
to be laughed at, and draw upon him a host of these bacchanals: so that
no alternative exists between keeping entirely aloof or mixing in the
fray [568].[4.21.30]

On the last day, the Rana feasts his chiefs, and the camp breaks up
with the distribution of _khanda nariyal_, or swords and coco-nuts, to
the chiefs and all “whom the king delighteth to honour.” These
_khandas_ are but ‘of lath,’ in shape like the Andrea Ferrara, or long
cut-and-thrust, the favourite weapon of the Rajput. They are painted
in various ways, like Harlequin’s sword, and meant as a burlesque, in
unison with the character of the day, when war is banished, and the
multiplication,[4.21.31] not the destruction, of man is the behest of
the goddess who rules the spring. At nightfall, the forty days
conclude with ‘the burning of the Holi,’ when they light large fires,
into which various substances, as well as the crimson _abira_, are
thrown, and around which groups of children are dancing and screaming
in the streets like so many infernals. Until three hours after sunrise
of the new month of Chait, these orgies are continued with increased
vigour, when the natives bathe, change their garments, worship, and
return to the rank of sober citizens; and princes and chiefs receive
gifts from their domestics.[4.21.32]

=Chait.=—The first of this month is the Samvatsara (vulg. Chamchari), or
anniversary of the death of the Rana’s father, to whose memory solemn
rites are performed both in the palace and at Ara, the royal cemetery,
metaphorically termed Mahasati, or place of ‘great faith.’ Thither the
Rana repairs, and offers oblations to the _manes_ of his father; and
after purifying in the Gangabheva, a rivulet which flows through the
middle of ‘the abode of silence,’ he returns to the palace.

On the 3rd, the whole of the royal insignia proceeds to Bedla, the
residence of the Chauhan chief (one of the Sixteen), within the valley
of the capital, in order to convey the Rao to court. The Rana advances
to the Ganesa Deori[4.21.33] to receive him; when, after salutation, the
sovereign and his chief return to the great hall of assembly, hand in
hand, but that of the Chauhan above or upon his sovereign’s. In this
ceremony we have another singular memorial of the glorious days of
Mewar, when almost every chieftain established by deeds of devotion a
right to the eternal gratitude of their princes; the decay of whose
[569] power but serves to hallow such reminiscences. It is in these
little acts of courteous condescension, deviations from the formal
routine of reception, that we recognize the traces of Rajput history;
for inquiry into these customs will reveal the incident which gave birth
to each, and curiosity will be amply repaid, in a lesson at once of
political and moral import. For my own part, I never heard the
kettledrum of my friend Raj Kalyan strike at the sacred barrier, the
Tripolia, without recalling the glorious memory of his ancestor at the
Thermopylae of Mewar;[4.21.34] nor looked on the autograph lance, the
symbol of the Chondawats, without recognizing the fidelity of the
founder of the clan;[4.21.35] nor observed the honours paid to the
Chauhans of Bedla and Kotharia, without the silent tribute of applause
to the manes of their sires.

=Sītala’s Festival.=—Chait badi sat, or ‘7th of [the dark fortnight]
Chait,’ is in honour of the goddess Sitala, the protectress of children:
all the matrons of the city proceed with their offerings to the shrine
of the goddess, placed upon the very pinnacle of an isolated hill in the
valley. In every point of view, this divinity is the twin-sister of the
Mater Montana,[4.21.36] the guardian of infants amongst the Romans, the
Grecian or Phrygian Cybele.

=Birthday of the Rana.=—This is also the Rana’s birthday,[4.21.37] on
which occasion all classes flock with gifts and good wishes that “the
king may live for ever”; but it is in the penetralia of the Rawala,
where the profane eye enters not, that the greatest festivities of this
day are kept.

=New Year’s Day. The Festival of Flowers.=—Chait Sudi 1st (15th of the
month) is the opening of the luni-solar year of Vikramaditya.
Ceremonies, which more especially appertain to the Nauratri of Asoj, are
performed on this day; and the sword is worshipped in the palace. But
such rites are subordinate to those of the fair divinity, who still
rules over this the smiling portion of the year. Vasanti has ripened
into the fragrant Flora, and all the fair of the capital, as well as the
other sex, repair to the gardens and groves, where parties assemble,
regale, and swing, adorned with chaplets of roses, jessamine, or
oleander, when the Naulakha gardens may vie with the Tivoli of Paris.
They return in the evening to the city.

=The Festival of Flowers.=—The Rajput Floralia ushers in the rites of
the beneficent Gauri, which continue nine days, the number sacred to the
creative [570] power. These vie with the Cerealia of Rome, or the more
ancient rites of the goddess of the Nile: I shall therefore devote some
space to a particular account of them.[4.21.38]

=Ganggor Festival.=—Among the many remarkable festivals of Rajasthan,
kept with peculiar brilliancy at Udaipur, is that in honour of Gauri, or
Isani, the goddess of abundance, the Isis of Egypt, the Ceres of Greece.
Like the Rajput Saturnalia, which it follows, it belongs to the vernal
equinox, when nature in these regions proximate to the tropic is in the
full expanse of her charms, and the matronly Gauri casts her golden
mantle over the beauties of the verdant Vasanti.[4.21.39] Then the
fruits exhibit their promise to the eye; the koil fills the ear with
melody; the air is impregnated with aroma, and the crimson poppy
contrasts with the spikes of golden grain, to form a wreath for the
beneficent Gauri.

Gauri is one of the names of Isa or Parvati, wife of the greatest of the
gods, Mahadeva or Iswara, who is conjoined with her in these rites,
which almost exclusively appertain to the women. The meaning of Gauri is
‘yellow,’ emblematic of the ripened harvest, when the votaries of the
goddess adore her effigies, which are those of a matron painted the
colour of ripe corn; and though her image is represented with only two
hands, in one of which she holds the lotos, which the Egyptians regarded
as emblematic of reproduction, yet not unfrequently they equip her with
the warlike conch, the discus, and the club, to denote that the goddess,
whose gifts sustain life, is likewise accessary to the loss of it:
uniting, as Gauri and Kali, the characters of life and death, like the
Isis and Cybele of the Egyptians. But here she is only seen as
Annapurna, the benefactress of mankind. The rites commence when the sun
enters Aries (the opening of the Hindu year), by a deputation to a spot
beyond the city, “to bring earth for the image of Gauri.”[4.21.40] When
this is formed, a smaller one of Iswara is made, and they are placed
together; a small trench is then excavated, in which barley is sown; the
ground is irrigated and artificial heat supplied till the grain
germinates, when the females join hands and dance round it, invoking the
blessings of Gauri on their husbands.[4.21.41] The young corn is then
taken up, distributed, and presented by the females to the men, who wear
it in their turbans. Every wealthy family has its image, or at least
every purwa or subdivision of the city. These and other [571] rites
known only to the initiated having been performed for several days
within doors, they decorate the images, and prepare to carry them in
procession to the lake. During these days of preparation, nothing is
talked of but Gauri’s departure from the palace; whether she will be as
sumptuously apparelled as in the year gone by; whether an additional
boat will be launched on the occasion; though not a few forget the
goddess altogether in the recollection of the gazelle eyes
(_mrig-nayani_) and serpentine locks (_nagini-zulf_)[4.21.42] of the
beauteous handmaids who are selected to attend her. At length the hour
arrives, the martial nakkaras give the signal “to the cannonier
without,” and speculation is at rest when the guns on the summit of the
castle of Eklinggarh announce that Gauri has commenced her excursion to
the lake.

=The Bathing of the Goddess.=—The cavalcade assembles on the magnificent
terrace, and the Rana, surrounded by his nobles, leads the way to the
boats, of a form as primitive as that which conveyed the Argonauts to
Colchis. The scenery is admirably adapted for these fêtes, the ascent
being gradual from the margin of the lake, which here forms a fine bay,
and gently rising to the crest of the ridge on which the palace and
dwellings of the chiefs are built. Every turret and balcony is crowded
with spectators, from the palace to the water’s edge; and the ample
flight of marble steps which intervene from the Tripolia, or triple
portal, to the boats, is a dense mass of females in variegated robes,
whose scarfs but half conceal their ebon tresses adorned with the rose
and the jessamine. A more imposing or more exhilarating sight cannot be
imagined than the entire population of a city thus assembled for the
purpose of rejoicing; the countenance of every individual, from the
prince to the peasant, dressed in smiles. Carry the eye to heaven, and
it rests on ‘a sky without a cloud’: below is a magnificent lake, the
even surface of the deep blue waters broken only by palaces of marble,
whose arched piazzas are seen through the foliage of orange groves,
plantain, and tamarind; while the vision is bounded by noble mountains,
their peaks towering over each other, and composing an immense
amphitheatre. Here the deformity of vice intrudes not; no object is
degraded by inebriation: no tumultuous disorder or deafening clamour,
but all await patiently, with eyes directed to the Tripolia, the
appearance of Gauri. At length the procession is seen winding down the
steep, and in the midst [572], borne on a _pat_,[4.21.43] or throne,
gorgeously arrayed in yellow robes, and blazing with ‘barbaric pearl and
gold,’ the goddess appears; on either side the two beauties wave the
silver _chamara_ over her head, while the more favoured damsels act as
harbingers, preceding her with wands of silver: the whole chanting
hymns. On her approach, the Rana, his chiefs and ministers rise and
remain standing till the goddess is seated on her throne close to the
water’s edge, when all bow, and the prince and court take their seats in
the boats. The females then form a circle around the goddess, unite
hands, and with a measured step and various graceful inclinations of the
body, keeping time by beating the palms at particular cadences, move
round the image singing hymns, some in honour of the goddess of
abundance, others on love and chivalry; and embodying little episodes of
national achievements, occasionally sprinkled with _double entendre_,
which excites a smile and significant nod from the chiefs, and an
inclination of the head of the fair choristers. The festival being
entirely female, not a single male mixed in the immense groups, and even
Iswara himself, the husband of Gauri, attracts no attention, as appears
from his ascetic or mendicant form begging his dole from the bounteous
and universal mother. It is taken for granted that the goddess is
occupied in bathing all the time she remains, and ancient tradition says
death was the penalty of any male intruding on these solemnities; but
the present prince deems them so fitted for amusement, that he has even
instituted a second Ganggor. Some hours are thus consumed, while easy
and good-humoured conversation is carried on. At length, the ablutions
over, the goddess is taken up, and conveyed to the palace with the same
forms and state. The Rana and his chiefs then unmoor their boats, and
are rowed round the margin of the lake, to visit in succession the other
images of the goddess, around which female groups are chanting and
worshipping, as already described, with which ceremonies the evening
closes, when the whole terminates with a grand display of fireworks, the
finale of each of the three days dedicated to Gauri.

Considerable resemblance is to be discerned between this festival of
Gauri and that in honour of the Egyptian Diana[4.21.44] at Bubastis, and
Isis at Busiris, within the [573] Delta of the Nile, of which Herodotus
says: “They who celebrate those of Diana embark in vessels; the women
strike their tabors, the men their flutes; the rest of both sexes clap
their hands, and join in chorus. Whatever city they approach, the
vessels are brought on shore; the women use ungracious language, dance,
and indelicately throw about their garments.”[4.21.45] Wherever the
rites of Isis prevailed, we find the boat introduced as an essential
emblem in her worship, whether in the heart of Rajasthan, on the banks
of the Nile, or in the woods of Germany. Bryant[4.21.46] furnishes an
interesting account from Diodorus and Curtius, illustrated by drawings
from Pocock, from the temple of Luxor, near Carnac, in the Thebaid, of
‘the ship of Isis,’ carrying an ark; and from a male figure therein,
this learned person thinks it bears a mysterious allusion to the deluge.
I am inclined to deem the personage in the ark Osiris, husband of Isis,
the type of the sun arrived in the sign of Aries (of which the ram’s
heads ornamenting both the prow and stem of the vessel are typical), the
harbinger of the annual fertilizing inundation of the Nile: evincing
identity of origin as an equinoctial festival with that of Gauri (Isis)
of the Indu-Scythic races of Rajasthan.

The German Suevi adored Isis, and also introduced a ship in her worship,
for which Tacitus[4.21.47] is at a loss to account, and with his usual
candour says he has no materials whence to investigate the origin of a
worship denoting the foreign origin of the tribe. This Isis of the Suevi
was evidently a form of Ertha, the chief divinity of all the Saxon
races, who, with her consort Teutates or Hesus[4.21.48] (Mercury), were
the chief deities of both the Celtic and early Gothic races: the [574]
Budha and Ila of the Rajputs; in short, the earth,[4.21.49] the prolific
mother, the Isis of Egypt, the Ceres of Greece, the Annapurna (giver of
food) of the Rajputs. On some ancient temples dedicated to this Hindu
Ceres we have sculptured on the frieze and pedestal of the columns the
emblem of abundance, termed the _kamakumbha_, or vessel of desire, a
vase of elegant form, from which branches of the palm are gracefully
pendent. Herodotus says that similar water-vessels, filled with wheat
and barley, were carried in the festival of Isis; and all who have
attended to Egyptian antiquities are aware that the god Canopus is
depicted under the form of a water-jar, or Nilometer, whose covering
bears the head of Osiris.

=The Agastya Festival.=—To render the analogy perfect between the
vessels emblematic of the Isis of the Nile and the Ganges, there is a
festival sacred to the sage Agastya, who presides over the star Canopus,
when the sun enters Virgo (_Kanya_). The _kamakumbha_ is then
personified under the epithet _kumbhayoni_, and the votary is instructed
to pour water into a sea-shell, in which having placed white flowers and
unground rice, turning his face to the south, he offers it with this
incantation: “Hail, Kumbhayoni, born in the sight of Mitra and Varuna
(the sun and water divinities), bright as the blossom of the _kusa_
(grass), who sprung from Agni (fire) and the Maruts.” By the prefix of
Ganga (the river) to Gauri, we see that the Ganggor festival is
essentially sacred to a river-goddess, affording additional proof of the
common origin of the rites of the Isis of Egypt and India.

The Egyptians, according to Plutarch, considered the Nile as flowing
from Osiris, in like manner as the Hindu poet describes the fair Ganga
flowing from the head of Iswara, which Sir W. Jones thus classically
paints in his hymn to Ganga:

Above the reach of mortal ken,
On blest Coilasa’s top, where every stem
Glowed with a vegetable gem,
Mahesa stood, the dread and joy of men;
While Parvati, to gain a boon,
Fixed on his locks a beamy moon,
And hid his frontal eye in jocund play,
With reluctant sweet delay;
All nature straight was locked in dim eclipse,
Till Brahmins pure, with hallowed lips
And warbled prayers, restored the day,
When Ganga from his brow, with heavenly fingers prest,
Sprang radiant, and descending, graced the caverns of the west [575].

[Illustration:

COLUMNS OF TEMPLES AT CHANDRĀVATI.
_To face page 670._
]

=The Goddess Ganga.=—Ganga, the river-goddess, like the Nile, is the
type of fertility, and like that celebrated stream, has her source
amidst the eternal glaciers of Chandragiri or Somagiri (the mountains of
the moon); the higher peaks of the gigantic Himalaya, where Parvati is
represented as ornamenting the tiara of Iswara “with a beamy moon.” In
this metaphor, and in his title of Somanatha (lord of the moon), we
again have evidence of Iswara, or Siva, after representing the sun,
having the satellite moon as his ornament.[4.21.50] His Olympus,
Kailasa, is studded with that majestic pine, the cedar; thence he is
called Kedarnath, ‘lord of the cedar-trees.’[4.21.51] The mysteries of
Osiris and those of Eleusis[4.21.52] were of the same character,
commemorative of the first germ of civilization, the culture of the
earth, under a variety of names, Ertha, Isis, Diana, Ceres, Ila. It is a
curious fact that in the terra-cotta images of Isis, frequently
excavated about her temple at Paestum,[4.21.53] she holds in her right
hand an exact representation of the Hindu lingam and yoni combined; and
on the Indian expedition to Egypt, our Hindu soldiers deemed themselves
amongst the altars of their own god Iswara (Osiris), from the abundance
of his emblematic representatives.

=The Aghori Ascetics.=—In the festival of Ganggor, as before mentioned,
Iswara yields to his consort Gauri, and occupies an unimportant position
near her at the water’s edge, meanly clad, smoking intoxicating herbs,
and, whether by accident or design, holding the stalk of an onion in
full blossom as a mace or club—a plant regarded by some of the Egyptians
with veneration, and held by the Hindus generally in detestation: and
why they should on such an occasion thus degrade Iswara, I know not.
Onion-juice is reluctantly taken when prescribed medicinally, as a
powerful stimulant, by those who would reject spirituous liquors; and
there are classes, as the Aghori, that worship Iswara in his most
degraded form, who will not only devour raw flesh, but that of man; and
to whom it is a matter of perfect indifference whether the victim was
slaughtered or died a natural death. For the honour of humanity, such
monsters are few in number; but that they practise [576] these deeds I
can testify, from a personal visit to their haunts, where I saw the cave
of one of these Troglodyte monsters, in which by his own command he was
inhumed; and which will remain closed, until curiosity and incredulity
greater than mine may disturb the bones of the Aghori of Abu.

The ὠμοφαγία, or eating raw flesh with the blood, was a part of the
secret mysteries of Osiris, in commemoration of the happy change in the
condition of mankind from savage to civilized life, and intended to
deter by disgust the return thereto.[4.21.54]

The Buddhists pursued this idea to excess; and in honour of Adiswara,
the First, who from his abode of Meru taught them the arts of
agriculture, they altogether abandoned that type of savage life, the
eating of the flesh of animals,[4.21.55] and confined themselves to the
fruits of the earth. With these sectarian anti-idolaters, who are almost
all of Rajput descent, the beneficent Lakshmi, Sri, or Gauri, is an
object of sincere devotion.

=Affinities of Hindu to other Mythologies.=—But we must close this
digression; for such is the affinity between the mythology of India,
Greece, and Egypt, that a bare recapitulation of the numerous surnames
of the Hindu goddess of abundance would lead us beyond reasonable
limits; all are forms of Parvati or Durga Mata, the Mater Montana of
Greece and Rome, an epithet of Cybele or Vesta (according to Diodorus),
as the guardian goddess of children, one of the characters of the Rajput
‘Mother of the Mount,’ whose shrine crowns many a pinnacle in Mewar; and
who, with the prolific Gauri, is amongst the amiable forms of the
universal mother, whose functions are more varied and extensive than her
sisters of Egypt and of Greece. Like the Ephesian Diana, Durga wears the
crescent on her head. She is also ‘the turreted Cybele,’ the guardian
goddess of all places of strength (_durga_),[4.21.56] and like her she
is drawn or carried by the lion. As Mata Janavi, ‘the Mother of Births,’
she is Juno Lucina: as Padma, ‘whose throne is the lotos,’ she is the
fair Isis of the Nile: as Tripura,[4.21.57] ‘governing the three
worlds,’ and Atmadevi, ‘the Goddess of Souls,’ she is the Hecate
Triformis of the Greeks. In short, her power is manifested under every
form from the birth, and all the [577] intermediate stages until death;
whether Janavi, Gauri, or the terrific Kali, the Proserpine or
Kalligeneia of the West.

Whoever desires to witness one of the most imposing and pleasing of
Hindu festivals, let him repair to Udaipur, and behold the rites of the
lotus-queen Padma, the Gauri of Rajasthan.

Chait (Sudi) 8th, which, being after the Ides, is the 23rd of the month,
is sacred to Devi, the goddess of every tribe; she is called
Asokashtami, and being the ninth night (_nauratri_) from the opening of
their Floralia, they perform the _homa_, or sacrifice of fire. On this
day a grand procession takes place to the Chaugan, and every Rajput
worships his tutelary divinity.

=The Birth of Rāma.=—Chait (Sudi) 9th is the anniversary of Rama, the
grand beacon of the solar race, kept with great rejoicings at Udaipur.
Horses and elephants are worshipped, and all the implements of war. A
procession takes place to the Chaugan, and the succeeding day, called
the Dasahra or tenth, is celebrated in Asoj.

=The Festival of Kamadeva.=—The last days of spring are dedicated to
Kamadeva, the god of love. The scorching winds of the hot season are
already beginning to blow, when Flora droops her head, and “the god of
love turns anchorite”; yet the rose continues to blossom, and affords
the most fragrant chaplets for the Rajputnis, amidst all the heats of
summer. Of this the queen of flowers, the jessamine (_chameli_), white
and yellow, the mogra,[4.21.58] the champaka, that flourish in extreme
heat, the ladies form garlands, which they twine in their dark hair,
weave into bracelets, or wear as pendent collars. There is no city in
the East where the adorations of the sex to Kamadeva are more fervent
than in ‘the city of the rising sun’ (Udayapura). On the 13th and 14th
of Chait they sing hymns handed down by the sacred bards:

“Hail, god of the flowery bow:[4.21.59] hail, warrior with a fish on thy
banner! hail, powerful divinity, who causeth the firmness of the sage to
forsake him!”

“Glory to Madana, to Kama,[4.21.60] the god of gods; to Him by whom
Brahma [578], Vishnu, Siva, and Indra are filled with emotions of
rapture!”—_Bhavishya Purana._[4.21.61]

=Festivals in the month Baisākh: April-May.=—There is but one festival
in this month of any note, when the grand procession denominated the
‘Nakkara ki aswari’ (from the equestrians being summoned, as already
described, by the grand kettledrums from the Tripolia), takes place; and
this is against the canons of the Hindu church, being instituted by the
present Rana in S. 1847, a memorable year in the calendar. It was in
this year, on the 2nd of Baisakh, that he commanded a repetition of the
rites of Gauri, by the name of the Little Ganggor; but this act of
impiety was marked by a sudden rise of the waters of the Pichola, the
bursting of the huge embankment, and the inundation of the lake’s banks,
to the destruction of one-third of the capital: life, property,
mansions, trees, all were swept away in the tremendous rush of water,
whose ravages are still marked by the site of streets and bazaars now
converted into gardens or places of recreation, containing thousands of
acres within the walls, subdivided by hedges of the cactus, the natural
fence of Mewar, which alike thrives in the valley or covers the most
barren spots of her highest hills. But although the superstitious look
grave, and add that a son was also taken from him on this very day, yet
the Rana persists in maintaining the fête he established; the barge is
manned, he and his chiefs circumnavigate the Pichola, regale on ma’ajun,
and terrify Varuna (the water-god) with the pyrotechnic exhibitions.

Although the court calendar of Udaipur notices only those festivals on
which State processions occur, yet there are many minor fêtes, which are
neither unimportant nor uninteresting. We shall enumerate a few, alike
in Baisakh, Jeth, and Asarh, which are blank as to the Nakkara Aswari.

=Savitrivrata Festival.=—On the 29th Baisakh there is a fast common to
India peculiar to the women, who perform certain rites under the sacred
fig-tree (the _vata_ or _pipal_), to preserve them from widowhood; and
hence the name of the fast Savitri-vrata.[4.21.62]

=Festivals in the month Jeth: May-June.=—On the 2nd of Jeth, when the
sun is in the zenith, the Rajput ladies commemorate the birth of the
sea-born goddess Rambha, the queen of the naiads or Apsaras,[4.21.63]
whose birth, like that of Venus, was from the froth of the waters; and
[579] hence the Rajput bards designate all the fair messengers of heaven
by the name of Apsaras, who summon the ‘chosen’ from the field of
battle, and convey him to the ‘mansion of the sun.’[4.21.64]

=The Aranya-Shashthi Festival.=—On the 6th of Jeth the ladies have
another festival called the Aranya Shashthi, because on this day those
desirous of offspring walk in the woods (_aranya_) to gather and eat
certain herbs. Sir W. Jones has remarked the analogy between this and
the Druidic ceremony of gathering the mistletoe (also on the Shashthi,
or 6th day of the moon), as a preservative against sterility.

=Festivals in the month Āsārh: June-July.=—Asarh, the initiative month
of the periodical rains, has no particular festivity at Udaipur, though
in other parts of India the Rathayatra, or procession of the car of
Vishnu or Jagannatha (lord of the universe) is well known: this is on
the 2nd and the 11th, ‘the night of the gods,’ when Vishnu (the sun)
reposes four months.

=Festivals in the month Sāwan: July-August.=—Sawan, classically Sravana.
There are two important festivals, with processions, in this month.

=The Tij.=—The third, emphatically called ‘the Tij’ (third), is sacred
to the mountain goddess Parvati, being the day on which, after long
austerities, she was reunited to Siva: she accordingly declared it holy,
and proclaimed that whoever invoked her on that day should possess
whatever was desired. The Tij is accordingly reverenced by the women,
and the husbandman of Rajasthan, who deems it a most favourable day to
take possession of land, or to reinhabit a deserted dwelling. When on
the expulsion of the predatory powers from the devoted lands of Mewar,
proclamations were disseminated far and wide, recalling the expatriated
inhabitants, they showed their love of country by obedience to the
summons. Collecting their goods and chattels, they congregated from all
parts, but assembled at a common rendezvous to make their entry to the
_bapota_, ‘land of their sires,’ on the Tij of Sawan. On this fortunate
occasion, a band of three hundred men, women, and children, with colours
flying, drums beating, the females taking precedence with brass vessels
of water on their heads, and chanting the _suhaila_ (song of joy),
entered the town of Kapasan, to revisit their desolate dwellings [580],
and return thanks on their long-abandoned altars to Parvati[4.21.65] for
a happiness they had never contemplated.

Red garments are worn by all classes on this day, and at Jaipur clothes
of this colour are presented by the Raja to all the chiefs. At that
court the Tij is kept with more honour than at Udaipur. An image of
Parvati on the Tij, richly attired, is borne on a throne by women
chanting hymns, attended by the prince and his nobles. On this day,
fathers present red garments and stuffs to their daughters.

=The Nāgpanchami Festival: Serpent Worship.=—The 5th is the Nagpanchami,
or day set apart for the propitiation of the chief of the reptile race,
the Naga or serpent. Few subjects have more occupied the notice of the
learned world than the mysteries of Ophite worship, which are to be
traced wherever there existed a remnant of civilization, or indeed of
humanity; among the savages of the savannahs[4.21.66] of America, and
the magi of Fars, with whom it was the type of evil,—their
Ahrimanes.[4.21.67] The Nagas, or serpent-genii of the Rajputs, have a
semi-human structure, precisely as Diodorus describes the snake-mother
of the Scythae, in whose country originated this serpent-worship,
engrafted on the tenets of Zardusht, of the Puranas of the priesthood of
Egypt, and on the fables of early Greece.[4.21.68] Dupuis, Volney, and
other expounders of the mystery, have given an astronomical solution to
what they deem a varied ramification of an ancient fable, of which that
of Greece, ‘the dragon guarding the fruits of Hesperides,’ may be
considered the most elegant version. Had these learned men seen those
ancient sculptures in India, which represent ‘the fall,’ they might have
changed their opinion. The traditions of the Jains or Buddhists
(originating in the land of the Takshaks,[4.21.69] or Turkistan) assert
the creation of the human species in pairs, called _jugal_, who fed off
the ever-fructifying _kalpa-vriksha_, which possesses all the characters
of the Tree of Life, like it bearing

Ambrosial fruit of vegetable gold;

which was termed _amrita_, and rendered them immortal. A drawing,
brought by [581] Colonel Coombs, from a sculptured column in a cave
temple in the south of India, represents the first pair at the foot of
this ambrosial tree, and a serpent entwined among the heavily laden
boughs, presenting to them some of the fruit from his mouth. The tempter
appears to be at that part of his discourse, when

... his words, replete with guile,
Into her heart too easy entrance won:
Fixed on the fruit she gazed.

This is a curious subject to be engraved on an ancient pagan temple; if
Jain or Buddhist, the interest would be considerably enhanced. On this
festival, at Udaipur, as well as throughout India, they strew particular
plants about the threshold, to prevent the entrance of reptiles.

=The Rākhi Festival.=—This festival, which is held on the last day of
Sawan, was instituted in honour of the good genii, when Durvasas the
sage instructed Salono (the genius or nymph presiding over the month of
Sawan) to bind on _rakhis_, or bracelets, as charms to avert evil. The
ministers of religion and females alone are privileged to bestow these
charmed wrist-bands. The ladies of Rajasthan, either by their handmaids
or the family priests, send a bracelet as the token of their esteem to
such as they adopt as brothers, who return gifts in acknowledgement of
the honour. The claims thus acquired by the fair are far stronger than
those of consanguinity: for illustration of which I may refer to an
incident already related in the annals of this house.[4.21.70] Sisters
also present their brothers with clothes on this day, who make an
offering of gold in return.[4.21.71]

This day is hailed by the Brahmans as indemnifying them for their
expenditure of silk and spangles, with which they decorate the wrists of
all who are likely to make a proper return.

=Festivals in the month Bhādon: August-September.=—On the 3rd there is a
grand procession to the Chaugan; and the 8th, or Ashtami, is the birth
of Krishna, which will be described at large in an account of Nathdwara.
There are several holidays in this month, when the periodical [582]
rains are in full descent; but that on the last but one (Sudi 14, or
29th) is the most remarkable.

=Ancestor Worship.=—On this day[4.21.72] commences the worship of the
ancestorial manes (the Pitrideva, or _father-gods_) of the Rajputs,
which continues for fifteen days. The Rana goes to the cemetery at Ara,
and performs at the cenotaph of each of his forefathers the rites
enjoined, consisting of ablutions, prayers, and the hanging of garlands
of flowers, and leaves sacred to the dead, on their monuments. Every
chieftain does the same amongst the altars of the ‘great ancients’
(_bara burha_); or, if absent from their estates, they accompany their
sovereign to Ara.

-----

Footnote 4.21.1:

_Travels in Scandinavia_, vol. i. p. 33.

Footnote 4.21.2:

_Bhumiputra._

Footnote 4.21.3:

_Vanaputra._

Footnote 4.21.4:

Suryas and Induputras.

Footnote 4.21.5:

[For the Vedic cult of Sūrya see Macdonell, “Vedic Mythology,”
_Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde_, 1897, p.
30 ff.]

Footnote 4.21.6:

The Sauromatae or Sarmatians of early Europe, as well as the Syrians,
were most probably colonies of the same Suryavansi who simultaneously
peopled the shores of the Caspian and Mediterranean, and the banks of
the Indus and Ganges. Many of the tribes described by Strabo as
dwelling around the Caspian are enumerated amongst the thirty-six
royal races of India. One of these, the Sakasenae, supposed to be the
ancestors of our own Saxon race, settled themselves on the Araxes in
Armenia, adjoining Albania. [There are no grounds for these
comparisons.]

Footnote 4.21.7:

[There are no grounds for this classification.]

Footnote 4.21.8:

Long after the overthrow of the Greek kingdom of Bactria by the Yuti
or Getes [Sakas] this region was popular and flourishing. In the year
120 before Christ, De Guignes says: “Dans ce pays on trouvait
d’excellens grains, du vin de vigne, plus de cent villes, tant grandes
que petites. Il est aussi fait mention du Tahia situé au midi du
Gihon, et où il y a de grandes villes murées. Le général chinois y vit
des toiles de l’Inde et autres marchandises, etc., etc.” (_Hist. Gén.
des Huns_, vol. i. p. 51).

Footnote 4.21.9:

Yavan or Javan is a celebrated link of the Indu (_lunar_) genealogical
chain; nor need we go to Ionia for it, though the Ionians may be a
colony descended from Javan, the ninth from Yayati, who was the third
son of Ayu, the ancestor of the Hindu as well as of the Tatar
Induvansi. [Yavana is the general term for a foreigner, especially the
non-Hindu tribes of the N.W. Frontier, and those beyond them.] The
Asuras, who are so often described as invaders of India, and which
word has ordinarily a mere irreligious acceptation, I firmly believe
to mean the Assyrians. [This theory was adopted by J. Fergusson, _Cave
Temples of India_, 34.]

Footnote 4.21.10:

[Such analogies of custom do not prove ethnical identity.]

Footnote 4.21.11:

[The theory breaks down, because the name of the sword of Argantýr was
Tyrfing, or better Tyrfingr, the derivation of which word, as Mr. H.
M. Chadwick kindly informs me, according to Vigfússon’s _Icelandic
Dictionary_, is from _tyrfi_, a resinous fir-tree used for kindling a
fire, because the sword flamed like resinous wood.]

Footnote 4.21.12:

See Turner’s _History of Anglo-Saxons_ for Indo-Scythic words.

Footnote 4.21.13:

There were no less than four distinguished leaders of this name
amongst the vassals of the last Rajput emperor of Delhi; and one of
them, who turned traitor to his sovereign and joined Shihabu-d-din,
was actually a Scythian, and of the Gakkhar race, which maintained
their ancient habits of polyandry even in Babur’s time. The Haoli Rao
Hamira was lord of Kangra and the Gakkhars of Pamir.

Footnote 4.21.14:

Turner, when discussing the history of the Sakai, or Sakaseni, of the
Caspian, whom he justly supposes to be the Saxons of the Baltic, takes
occasion to introduce some words of Scythic origin (preserved by
ancient writers), to almost every one of which, without straining
etymology, we may give a Sanskrit origin. [There is no ground for
ascribing a Scythic origin to the proper names in the text.]

Scythic. Sanskrit or Bhakha.

Exampaios sacred ways _Agham_ is the sacred
book; _pai_ and _pada_,
a foot; _pantha_, a
path.

Arimu one _Ad_ is _the first_;
whence _Adima_, or man.

Spou an eye.

Oior a man.

Pata to kill _Badh_, to kill.

Tahiti the chief deity is Vesta Tap is heat or flame; the
type of Vesta.

Papaios ” ” Jupiter Baba, or Bapa,
the universal father.
The Hindu Jiva-pitri, or
_Father_ of Life [?].

Oitosuros ” ” Apollo Aitiswara, or Sun-God,
applicable to Vishnu,
who has every attribute
of Apollo; from _ait_,
contraction of _aditya_,
the sun.

Artimpasa, ” ” Venus Apsaras because born from
or Aripasa the froth or essence,
‘_sara_,’ of the waters,
‘_ap_’ [‘going in the
water’].

Thamimasadus ” ” Neptune Thoenatha; or _God of the
Waters_.

Apia wife of Papaios, or Earth Amba, Ama, Uma, is the
_universal mother_; wife
of ‘Baba Adam,’ as they
term the universal
father.

See Turner’s _History of the Anglo-Saxons_, vol. i. p. 35. [Many of
the identifications are obsolete.]

Footnote 4.21.15:

Sir W. Jones, “On the Lunar Year of the Hindus,” _Asiatic Researches_,
vol. iii. p. 257.

Footnote 4.21.16:

Bhaskara saptami, in honour of the sun, as a form of Vishnu (Varaha
Purana) Makari, from the sun entering the constellation _Makara_
(Pisces), the first of the solar Magha (see _Asiatic Researches_, vol.
iii. p. 273).

Footnote 4.21.17:

See Vol. I. p. 91.

Footnote 4.21.18:

This word appears to have the same import as Thor, the sun-god and war
divinity of the Scandinavians. [? _Thāwar_, Saturday; Skt. _sthāvara_,
‘stationary.’]

Footnote 4.21.19:

Odin is also called _As_ or ‘lord’; the Gauls also called him Oes or
Es, and with a Latin termination Hesus, whom Lucan calls Esus; Edda,
vol. ii. pp. 45-6. The celebrated translator of these invaluable
remnants of ancient superstitions, by which alone light can be thrown
on the origin of nations, observes that Es or Oes is the name for God
with all the Celtic races. So it was with the Tuscans, doubtless from
the Sanskrit, or rather from a more provincial tongue, the common
contraction of Iswara, the Egyptian Osiris, the Persian Syr, the
sun-god. [These words have, of course, no connexion. Syria perhaps
derives its name from the Suri, a north-Euphratian tribe
(_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iv. 4845).]

Footnote 4.21.20:

Which Mallet, from Hesychius, interprets ‘good star.’ [The name
Goetosyrus or Octosyrus (Herodotus iv. 59) is so uncertain in form
that it is useless to propose etymologies for it (E. H. Minns,
_Scythians and Greeks_, 86). Rawlinson (_Herodotus_, 3rd ed. ii. 93)
compares Greek αἴθος, Skt. _sūrya_, in the sense ‘bright, burning
Sun.’]

Footnote 4.21.21:

Mallet’s _Northern Antiquities_, vol. ii. p. 42.

Footnote 4.21.22:

[Much of this is from Sir W. Jones, Wilford and Paterson (_Asiatic
Researches_, i. 253, iii. 141, viii. 48). Herodotus (i. 216) ascribes
the custom of Sun sacrifice to the Massagetae.]

Footnote 4.21.23:

[The Mughal emperors followed the same practice (Manucci i. 98).]

Footnote 4.21.24:

In his delight for this diversion, the Rajput evinces his Scythic
propensity. The grand hunts of the last Chauhan emperor often led him
into warfare, for Prithiraj was a poacher of the first magnitude, and
one of his battles with the Tatars was while engaged in field sports
on the Ravi. The heir of Jenghiz Khan was chief huntsman, the highest
office of the State amongst the Scythic Tatars; as Ajanbahu, alike
celebrated in either field of war and sport, was chief huntsman to the
Chauhan emperor of Delhi, whose bard enters minutely into the subject,
describing all the variety of dogs of chase.

Footnote 4.21.25:

A hog in Hindi; in Persian _khuk_, nearly our _hog_ [?].

Footnote 4.21.26:

Chief of Salumbar.

Footnote 4.21.27:

Chief of Hamirgarh.

Footnote 4.21.28:

[On the slaughter of the boar representing a corn-spirit see Sir J.
Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, 3rd ed. Part v. vol. i. 298 ff.; Robertson
Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, 2nd ed. 290 f.]

Footnote 4.21.29:

He has been the father of more than one hundred children, legitimate
and illegitimate, though very few are living.

Footnote 4.21.30:

That this can be done without any loss of dignity by the _Sahib log_
(a name European gentlemen have assumed) is well known to those who
may have partaken of the hospitalities of that honourable man, and
brave and zealous officer, Colonel James Skinner, C.B., at Hansi. That
his example is worthy of imitation in the mode of commanding, is best
evinced by the implicit and cheerful obedience his men pay to his
instructions when removed from his personal control. He has passed
through the ordeal of nearly thirty years of unremitted service, and
from the glorious days of Delhi and Laswari under Lake, to the last
siege of Bharatpur, James Skinner has been second to none. In
obtaining for this gallant and modest officer the order of the Bath,
Lord Combermere must have been applauded by every person who knows the
worth of him who bears it, which includes the whole army of Bengal.
[James Skinner, 1778-1841. See Compton, _Military Adventurers_, 389
ff.; Buckland, _Dict. Indian Biography_, s.v.]

Footnote 4.21.31:

Evinced in the presentation of the _sriphala_, the fruit of _Sri_,
which is the coco-nut, emblematic of fruitfulness.

Footnote 4.21.32:

Another point of resemblance to the Roman Saturnalia.

Footnote 4.21.33:

A hall so called in honour of Ganesa, or Janus, whose effigies adorn
the entrance. [Janus probably = Dianus: Ganesa, ‘lord of the troops of
inferior deities’ (_gana_).]

Footnote 4.21.34:

See p. 394.

Footnote 4.21.35:

See p. 324.

Footnote 4.21.36:

[See Hastings, _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, viii. 868 f.]

Footnote 4.21.37:

It fell on the 18th March 1819.

Footnote 4.21.38:

[For festivals in honour of Gauri see _IA_, xxxv. (1906) 61.]

Footnote 4.21.39:

Personification of spring.

Footnote 4.21.40:

Here we have Gauri as the type of the earth.

Footnote 4.21.41:

[The Gardens of Adonis, for which see Sir J. Frazer, _Adonis_,
_Attis_, _Osiris_, 3rd ed. i. 236 ff.]

Footnote 4.21.42:

Here the Hindu mixes Persian with his Sanskrit, and produces the
mongrel dialect Hindi.

Footnote 4.21.43:

Takht, Pat, Persian and Sanskrit, alike meaning _board_.

Footnote 4.21.44:

The Ephesian Diana is the twin sister of Gauri, and can have a
Sanskrit derivation in Devianna, ‘the goddess of food,’ contracted
Deanna, though commonly Anna-de or Anna-devi, and Annapurna, ‘filling
with food,’ or the nourisher, the name applied by ‘the mother of
mankind,’ when she places the repast before the messenger of heaven:

“Heavenly Stranger, please to taste
These bounties, which our Nourisher, from whom
All perfect good, unmeasured out, descends,
To us for food and for delight, hath caused
The earth to yield.”
_Paradise Lost_, Bk. v. 397-401.

[Diana is the feminine form of Dianus, Janus.]

Footnote 4.21.45:

ii. 59-64.

Footnote 4.21.46:

_Analysis of Ancient Mythology_, p. 312.

Footnote 4.21.47:

[_Germania_, ix.]

Footnote 4.21.48:

Hesus is probably derived from Iswara, or Isa, _the_ god. Toth was the
Egyptian, and Teutates the Scandinavian, Mercury. I have elsewhere
attempted to trace the origin of the Suevi, Su, or Yeuts of Yeutland
(Jutland), to Yute, Getae, or Jat, of Central Asia, who carried thence
the religion of Buddha into India as well as to the Baltic. There is
little doubt that the races called Jotner, Jaeter, Jotuns, Jacts, and
Yeuts, who followed the Asi into Scandinavia, migrated from the
Jaxartes, the land of the great Getae (Massagetae); the leader was
supposed to be endued with supernatural powers, like the Buddhist,
called Vidiavan, or magician, whose haunts adjoined Aria, the cradle
of the Magi. They are designated Aripunta [?], under the sign of a
serpent, the type of Budha; or Ahriman, ‘the foe of man.’ [Much of
this crude speculation is taken from Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_,
iii. 133).]

Footnote 4.21.49:

The German Ertha, to show her kindred to the Ila of the Rajputs, had
her car drawn by a cow, under which form the Hindus typify the earth
(_prithivi_).

Footnote 4.21.50:

Let it be borne in mind that Indu, Chandra, Soma, are all epithets for
‘the moon,’ or as _he_ is classically styled (in an inscription of the
famous Kumarpal, which I discovered in Chitor), Nisanath, the ruler of
darkness (Nisa).

Footnote 4.21.51:

[Kedārnāth has, of course, no connexion with the _cedar_ tree. The
origin of the name ‘Lord of Kedār’ is unknown; probably Kedār was an
old cult title of Siva.]

Footnote 4.21.52:

I have before remarked that a Sanskrit etymology might be given to
this word in Ila and Isa, _i.e._ ‘the goddess of the earth’ [?] [p.
636, note].

Footnote 4.21.53:

I was informed at Naples that four thousand of these were dug out of
one spot, and I obtained while at Paestum many fragments and heads of
this goddess.

Footnote 4.21.54:

Prichard’s _Researches into the Physical History of Man_, p. 369. [For
a full discussion of ὠμοφαγία see Miss J. E. Harrison, _Prolegomena to
the Study of Greek Religion_, 483 ff.]

Footnote 4.21.55:

The Buddhists of Tartary make no scruple of eating flesh.

Footnote 4.21.56:

_Durga_, ‘a fort’; as Suvarnadurg, ‘the golden castle,’ etc., etc.

Footnote 4.21.57:

Literally _Tripoli_, ‘the three cities,’ _pura_, _polis_.

Footnote 4.21.58:

[The double jasmin (_Michelia champaka_).]

Footnote 4.21.59:

Cupid’s bow is formed of a garland of flowers.

Footnote 4.21.60:

Madana, he who intoxicates with desire (_kama_), both epithets of the
god of love. The festivals on the 13th and 14th are called Madana
trayodasi (the tenth) and Chaturdasi (fourteenth).

Footnote 4.21.61:

_Asiatic Researches_, vol. iii. p. 278.

Footnote 4.21.62:

[Savitri-vrata means ‘the vow to Savitri,’ and has no connexion with
the _vata_ or banyan-tree. But the tree is worshipped in connexion
with it on 15th light or dark fortnight of the month Jeth (_Census
Report, Baroda_, 1901, i. 127).]

Footnote 4.21.63:

_Ap_, ‘water,’ and _sara_, ‘froth or essence.’ [The word means ‘going
in the waters, or between the waters of the clouds.’]

Footnote 4.21.64:

The Romans held the calends of June (generally Jeth) sacred to the
goddess Carna, significant of the sun. Carneus was the sun-god of the
Celts, and a name of Apollo at Sparta, and other Grecian cities. The
Karneia was a festival in honour of Apollo.

Footnote 4.21.65:

The story of the vigils of Parvati, preparatory to her being reunited
to her lord, consequent to her sacrifice as _Sati_, is the counterpart
of the Grecian fable of Cybele, her passion for, and marriage with,
the youth Atys or _Papas_, the _Baba_, or universal father, of the
Hindus.

Footnote 4.21.66:

How did a word of Persian growth come to signify ‘the boundless brake’
of the new world?

Footnote 4.21.67:

_Ari_, ‘a foe’; _manus_, ‘man.’ [Angro Mainyush, ‘destructive
spirit.’]

Footnote 4.21.68:

[There is no reason to believe that snake-worship was not
independently practised in India.]

Footnote 4.21.69:

This is the snake-race of India, the foes of the Pandus.

Footnote 4.21.70:

See p. 364.

Footnote 4.21.71:

I returned from three to five pieces of gold for the _rakhis_ sent by
my adopted sisters; from one of whom, the sister of the Rana, I
annually received this pledge by one of her handmaids; three of them I
have yet in my possession, though I never saw the donor, who is now no
more. I had, likewise, some presented through the family priest, from
the Bundi queen-mother, with whom I have conversed for hours, though
she was invisible to me; and from the ladies of rank of the
chieftains’ families, but one of whom I ever beheld, though they often
called upon me for the performance of brotherly offices in consequence
of such tie. There is a delicacy in this custom, with which the bond
uniting the cavaliers of Europe to the service of the fair, in the
days of chivalry, will not compare.

Footnote 4.21.72:

Sacred to Vishnu, with the title of _Ananta_, or
infinite—_Bhavishyottara_. (See _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iii. p.
291.) Here Vishnu appears as ‘lord of the manes.’

-----

CHAPTER 22

=Khadga Sthapana, Sword Worship.=—The festival in which this imposing
rite occurs is the Nauratri,[4.22.1] sacred to the god of war,
commencing on the first of the month Asoj. It is essentially martial,
and confined to the Rajput, who on the departure of the monsoon finds
himself at liberty to indulge his passion whether for rapine or revenge,
both which in these tropical regions are necessarily suspended during
the rains. Arguing from the order of the passions, we may presume that
the first objects of emblematic worship were connected with war [583],
and we accordingly find the highest reverence paid to arms by every
nation of antiquity. The Scythic warrior of Central Asia, the intrepid
Gete, admitted no meaner representative of the god of battle than his
own scimitar.[4.22.2] He worshipped it, he swore by it; it was buried
with him, in order that he might appear before the martial divinity in
the other world as became his worshipper on earth: for the Gete of
Transoxiana, from the earliest ages, not only believed in the soul’s
immortality, and in the doctrine of rewards and punishments hereafter,
but, according to the father of history, he was a monotheist; of which
fact he has left a memorable proof in the punishment of the celebrated
Anacharsis, who, on his return from a visit to Thales and his brother
philosophers of Greece, attempted to introduce into the land of the Saka
(Sakatai) the corrupted polytheism of Athens.

If we look westward from this the central land of earliest civilization,
to Dacia, Thrace, Pannonia, the seats of the Thyssagetae or western
Getae, we find the same form of adoration addressed to the emblem of
Mars, as mentioned by Xenophon in his memorable retreat, and practised
by Alaric and his Goths, centuries afterwards, in the Acropolis of
Athens. If we transport ourselves to the shores of Scandinavia, amongst
the Cimbri and Getae of Jutland, to the Ultima Thule, wherever the name
of Gete prevails, we shall find the same adoration paid by the Getic
warrior to his sword.

The Frisian Frank also of Gothic race, adhered to this worship, and
transmitted it with the other rites of the Getic warrior of the
Jaxartes; such as the adoration of the steed, sacred to the sun, the
great god of the Massagetae, as well as of the Rajput, who sacrificed it
at the annual feast, or with his arms and wife burnt it on his funeral
pile. Even the kings of the ‘second race’ kept up the religion of their
Scythic sires from the Jaxartes, and the bones of the war-horse of
Chilperic were exhumed with those of the monarch. These rites, as well
as those long-cherished chivalrous notions, for which the Salian Franks
have ever been conspicuous [584], had their birth in Central Asia; for
though contact with the more polished Arab softened the harsh character
of the western warrior, his thirst for glory, the romantic charm which
fed his passion, and his desire to please the fair, he inherited from
his ancestors on the shores of the Baltic, which were colonized from the
Oxus. Whether Charlemagne addressed his sword as Joyeuse,[4.22.3] or the
Scandinavian hero Angantýr as the enchanted blade Tyrfing (Hialmar’s
bane), each came from one common origin, the people which invented the
custom of Khadga Sthapana, or ‘adoration of the sword.’ But neither the
falchion ‘made by the dwarfs for Suafurlama,’ nor the redoubled sword of
Bayard with which he dubbed the first Francis,—not even the enchanted
brand of Ariosto’s hero, can for a moment compare with the double-edged
khanda (scimitar) annually worshipped by the chivalry of Mewar. Before I
descant on this monstrous blade, I shall give an abstract of the
ceremonies on each of the nine days sacred to the god of war.

=The Dasahra Festival.=—On the 1st of Asoj, after fasting, ablution, and
prayer on the part of the prince and his household, the double-edged
khanda is removed from the hall of arms (_ayudhsala_), and having
received the homage (_puja_) of the court, it is carried in procession
to the Kishanpol (gate of Kishan), where it is delivered to the Raj
Jogi,[4.22.4] the Mahants, and band of Jogis assembled in front of the
temple of Devi ‘_the_ goddess,’ adjoining the portal of Kishan.[4.22.5]
By these, the monastic militant adorers of Hara, the god of battle, the
brand emblematic of the divinity is placed[4.22.6] on the altar before
the image of his divine consort. At three in the afternoon the nakkaras,
or grand kettle-drums, proclaim from the Tripolia[4.22.7] the signal for
the assemblage of the chiefs with their retainers; and the Rana and his
cavalcade proceed direct to the stables, when a buffalo is sacrificed in
honour of the war-horse. Thence the procession moves to the temple of
Devi, where the Raja Krishan (_Godi_) has proceeded. Upon this, the Rana
seats himself close to the Raj Jogi, presents two pieces of [585] silver
and a coco-nut, performs homage to the sword (_khadga_), and returns to
the palace.

Asoj 2nd. In similar state he proceeds to the Chaugan, their Champ de
Mars, where a buffalo is sacrificed; and on the same day another buffalo
victim is felled by the nervous arm of a Rajput, near the Toranpol, or
triumphal gate. In the evening the Rana goes to the temple of Amba Mata,
the universal mother, when several goats and buffaloes bleed to the
goddess.

The 3rd. Procession to the Chaugan, when another buffalo is offered; and
in the afternoon five buffaloes and two rams are sacrificed to Harsiddh
Mata.[4.22.8]

On the 4th, as on every one of the nine days, the first visit is to the
Champ de Mars: the day opens with the slaughter of a buffalo. The Rana
proceeds to the temple of Devi, when he worships the sword, and the
standard of the Raj Jogi, to whom, as the high-priest of Siva, the god
of war, he pays homage, and makes offering of sugar, and a garland of
roses. A buffalo having been previously fixed to a stake near the
temple, the Rana sacrifices him with his own hand, by piercing him from
his travelling throne (raised on men’s shoulders and surrounded by his
vassals) with an arrow. In the days of his strength, he seldom failed
almost to bury the feather in the flank of the victim; but on the last
occasion his enfeebled arm made him exclaim with Prithiraj, when,
captive and blind, he was brought forth to amuse the Tartar despot, “I
draw not the bow as in the days of yore.”

On the 5th, after the usual sacrifice at the Chaugan, and an elephant
fight, the procession marches to the temple of Asapurna (Hope); a
buffalo and a ram are offered to the goddess adored by all the Rajputs,
and the tutelary divinity of the Chauhans. On this day the lives of some
victims are spared at the intercession of the Nagar-Seth, or
chief-magistrate,[4.22.9] and those of his faith, the Jains.

On the 6th, the Rana visits the Chaugan, but makes no sacrifice. In the
afternoon, prayers and victims to Devi; and in the evening the Rana
visits Bhikharinath, the chief of the Kanphara Jogis, or split-ear
ascetics.

The 7th. After the daily routine at the Chaugan, and sacrifices to Devi
(the goddess of destruction), the chief equerry is commanded to adorn
the steeds with their new caparisons, and lead them to be bathed in the
lake. At night, the sacred fire (_hom_) is kindled, and a buffalo and a
ram are sacrificed to Devi; the Jogis [586] are called up and feasted on
boiled rice and sweetmeats. On the conclusion of this day, the Rana and
his chieftains visit the hermitage of Sukharia Baba, an anchorite of the
Jogi sect.

8th. There is the _homa_, or fire-sacrifice in the palace. In the
afternoon, the prince, with a select cavalcade, proceeds to the village
of Samina, beyond the city walls, and visits a celebrated
Gosain.[4.22.10]

9th. There is no morning procession. The horses from the royal stables,
as well as those of the chieftains, are taken to the lake, and bathed by
their grooms, and on returning from purification they are caparisoned in
their new housings, led forth, and receive the homage of their riders,
and the Rana bestows a largess on the master of the horse, the
equerries, and grooms. At three in the afternoon, the nakkaras having
thrice sounded, the whole State insignia, under a select band, proceed
to Mount Matachal, and bring home the sword. When its arrival in the
court of the palace is announced, the Rana advances and receives it with
due homage from the hands of the Raj Jogi, who is presented with a
khilat; while the Mahant, who has performed all the austerities during
the nine days, has his _patra_[4.22.11] filled with gold and silver
coin. The whole of the Jogis are regaled, and presents are made to their
chiefs. The elephants and horses again receive homage, and the sword,
the shield, and spear are worshipped within the palace. At three in the
morning the prince takes repose.

The 10th, or Dasahra,[4.22.12] is a festival universally known in India,
and respected by all classes, although entirely military, being
commemorative of the day on which the deified Rama commenced his
expedition to Lanka for the redemption of Sita;[4.22.13] the ‘tenth of
Asoj’ is consequently deemed by the Rajput a fortunate day for warlike
enterprise. The day commences with a visit from the [587] prince or
chieftain to his spiritual guide. Tents and carpets are prepared at the
Chaugan or Matachal mount, where the artillery is sent; and in the
afternoon the Rana, his chiefs, and their retainers repair to the field
of Mars, worship the _khejra_ tree,[4.22.14] liberate the _nilkanth_ or
jay (sacred to Rama), and return amidst a discharge of guns.

11th. In the morning, the Rana, with all the State insignia, the
kettledrums sounding in the rear, proceeds towards the Matachal mount,
and takes the muster of his troops, amidst discharges of cannon,
tilting, and display of horsemanship. The spectacle is imposing even in
the decline of this house. The hilarity of the party, the diversified
costume, the various forms, colours, and decorations of the turbans, in
which some have the heron plume, or sprigs from some shrub sacred to the
god of war; the clusters of lances, shining matchlocks, and black
bucklers, the scarlet housings of the steeds, and waving pennons, recall
forcibly the glorious days of the devoted Sanga, or the immortal Partap,
who on such occasions collected round the black _changi_ and crimson
banner of Mewar a band of sixteen thousand of his own kin and clan,
whose lives were their lord’s and their country’s. The shops and bazaars
are ornamented with festoons of flowers and branches of trees, while the
costliest cloths and brocades are extended on screens, to do honour to
their prince; the _toran_ (or triumphal arch) is placed before the tent,
on a column of which he places one hand as he alights, and before
entering makes several circumambulations. All present offer their
_nazars_ to the prince, the artillery fires, and the bards raise ‘the
song of praise,’ celebrating the glories of the past; the fame of Samra,
who fell with thirteen thousand of his kin on the Ghaggar; of Arsi and
his twelve brave sons, who gave themselves as victims for the salvation
of Chitor; of Kumbha, Lakha, Sanga, Partap, Amra, Raj, all descended of
the blood of Rama, whose exploits, three thousand five hundred years
before, they are met to celebrate. The situation of Matachal is well
calculated for such a spectacle, as indeed is the whole ground from the
palace through the Delhi portal to the mount, on which is erected one of
the several castles commanding the approaches to the city. The fort is
dedicated to Mata, though it would not long remain stable (_achal_)
before a battery of thirty-six pounders. The guns are drawn up about the
termination of the slope of the natural glacis; the Rana and his court
remain on horseback [588] half up the ascent; and while every chief or
vassal is at liberty to leave his ranks, and “witch the world with noble
horsemanship,” there is nothing tumultuous, nothing offensive in their
mirth.

The steeds purchased since the last festival are named, and as the
cavalcade returns, their grooms repeat the appellations of each as the
word is passed by the master of the horse; as Baj Raj, ‘the royal
steed’; Hayamor, ‘the chief of horses’; Manika, ‘the gem’; Bajra, ‘the
thunderbolt,’ etc., etc. On returning to the palace, gifts are presented
by the Rana to his chiefs. The Chauhan chief of Kotharia claims the
apparel which his prince wears on this day, in token of the fidelity of
his ancestor to the minor, Udai Singh, in Akbar’s wars. To others, a
fillet or _balaband_ for the turban is presented; but all such
compliments are regulated by precedent or immediate merit.

=The Toran Arch.=—Thus terminates the Nauratri festival sacred to the
god of war, which in every point of view is analogous to the autumnal
festival of the Scythic warlike nations, when these princes took the
muster of their armies, and performed the same rites to the great
celestial luminary.[4.22.15] I have presented to the antiquarian reader
these details, because it is in minute particulars that analogous
customs are detected. Thus the temporary _toran_, or triumphal arch,
erected in front of the tent at Mount Mataehala would scarcely claim the
least notice, but that we discover even in this emblem the origin of the
triumphal arches of antiquity, with many other rites which may be traced
to the Indo-Scythic races of Asia. The _toran_ in its original form
consisted of two columns and an architrave, constituting the number
three, sacred to Hara, the god of war. In the progress of the arts the
architrave gave way to the Hindu arch, which consisted of two or more
ribs without the keystone, the apex being the perpendicular junction of
the archivaults; nor is the arc of the _toran_ semicircular, or any
segment of a circle, but with that graceful curvature which stamps with
originality one of the arches of the Normans, who may have brought it
from their ancient seats on the Oxus, whence it may also have been [589]
carried within the Indus. The cromlech, or trilithic altar in the centre
of all those monuments called Druidic, is most probably a _toran_,
sacred to the Sun-god Belenus, like Har, or Balsiva, the god of battle,
to whom as soon as a temple is raised the _toran_ is erected, and many
of these are exquisitely beautiful.

=Gates.=—An interesting essay might be written on portes and _torans_,
their names and attributes, and the genii presiding as their guardians.
Amongst all the nations of antiquity, the portal has had its peculiar
veneration: to pass it was a privilege regarded as a mark of honour. The
Jew Haman, in the true Oriental style, took post at the king’s gate as
an inexpugnable position. The most pompous court in Europe takes its
title from its _porte_, where, as at Udaipur, all alight. The Tripolia,
or triple portal, the entry to the magnificent terrace in front of the
Rana’s palace, consists, like the Roman arcs of triumph, of three
arches, still preserving the numeral sacred to the god of battle, one of
whose titles is Tripura, which may be rendered Tripoli, or lord of the
three places of abode, or cities, but applied in its extensive sense to
the three worlds, heaven, earth, and hell. From the Sanskrit _Pola_ we
have the Greek πύλη, _a gate_, or pass; and in the guardian or _Polia_,
the πυλωρός or porter; while to this _langue mère_ our own language is
indebted, not only for its portes and porters, but its doors
(_dwara_).[4.22.16] Pylos signified also a pass; so in Sanskrit these
natural barriers are called _Palas_, and hence the poetical epithet
applied to the aboriginal mountain tribes of Rajasthan, namely, Palipati
and Palindra, ‘lords of the pass.’[4.22.17]

=Ganesa.=—One of the most important of the Roman divinities was Janus,
whence Januae, or portals, of which he was the guardian.[4.22.18] A
resemblance between the Ganesa of the Hindu pantheon and the Roman Janus
has been pointed out by Sir W. Jones, but his analogy extended little
beyond nominal similarity. The fable of the birth of Ganesa furnishes us
with the origin of the worship of Janus, and as it has never been given,
I shall transcribe it from the bard Chand. Ganesa is the chief of the
genii[4.22.19] attendant on the god of war, and was expressly formed by
Uma, the Hindu Juno, to guard the entrance of her caverned retreat in
the [590] Caucasus, where she took refuge from the tyranny of the lord
of Kailasa (Olympus), whose throne is fixed amidst eternal snows on the
summit of this peak of the gigantic Caucasus (_Koh-khasa_).[4.22.20]

“Strife arose between Mahadeo and the faithful Parvati: she fled to the
mountains and took refuge in a cave. A crystal fountain tempted her to
bathe, but shame was awakened; she dreaded being seen. Rubbing her
frame, she made an image of man; with her nail she sprinkled it with the
water of life, and placed it as guardian at the entrance of the cave.”
Engrossed with the recollection of Parvati,[4.22.21] Siva went to
Karttikeya[4.22.22] for tidings of his mother, and together they
searched each valley and recess, and at length reached the spot where a
figure was placed at the entrance of a cavern. As the chief of the gods
prepared to explore this retreat, he was stopped by the Polia. In a rage
he struck off his head with his discus (_chakra_), and in the gloom
discovered the object of his search. Surprised and dismayed, she
demanded how he obtained ingress: “Was there no guardian at the
entrance?” The furious Siva replied that he had cut off his head. On
hearing this, the mountain-goddess was enraged, and weeping, exclaimed,
“You have destroyed my child.” The god, determined to recall him to
life, decollated a young elephant, replaced the head he had cut off, and
naming him Ganesa, decreed that in every resolve his name should be the
first invoked.

_Invocation of the Bard to Ganesa._

“Oh, Ganesa! thou art a mighty lord; thy single tusk[4.22.23] is
beautiful, and demands the tribute of praise from the Indra of
song.[4.22.24] Thou art the chief of the human race; the destroyer of
unclean spirits; the remover of fevers, whether daily or tertian. Thy
bard sounds thy praise; let my work be accomplished!”

Thus Ganesa is the chief of the Di minores of the Hindu pantheon, as the
etymology of the word indicates,[4.22.25] and like Janus, was entrusted
with the gates of heaven [591]; while of his right to preside over peace
and war, the fable related affords abundant testimony. Ganesa is the
first invoked and propitiated[4.22.26] on every undertaking, whether
warlike or pacific. The warrior implores his counsel; the banker indites
his name at the commencement of every letter; the architect places his
image in the foundation of every edifice; and the figure of Ganesa is
either sculptured or painted at the door of every house as a protection
against evil. Our Hindu Janus is represented as four-armed, and holding
the disk (_chakra_), the war-shell, the club, and the lotos. Ganesa is
not, however, _bifrons_, like the Roman guardian of portals. In every
transaction he is _adi_, or the first, though the Hindu does not, like
the Roman, open the year with his name. I shall conclude with remarking
that one of the portes of every Hindu city is named the Ganesa Pol, as
well as some conspicuous entrance to the palace: thus Udaipur has its
Ganesa dwara, who also gives a name to the hall, the Ganesa deori; and
his shrine will be found on the ascent of every sacred mount, as at Abu,
where it is placed close to a fountain on the abrupt face about twelve
hundred feet from the base. There is likewise a hill sacred to him in
Mewar called Ganesa Gir, tantamount to the Mons Janiculum of the eternal
city. The companion of this divinity is a rat, who indirectly receives a
portion of homage, and with full as much right as the bird emblematic of
Minerva.[4.22.27]

We have abandoned the temple of the warlike divinity (Devi), the sword
of Mars, and the triumphal _toran_, to invoke Ganesa. It will have been
remarked that the Rana aids himself to dismount by placing his hand on
one of the columns of the _toran_, an act which is pregnant with a
martial allusion, as are indeed the entire ceremonials of the “worship
of the sword.”

=Analogies to Western Customs. Oaths by the Sword.=—It might be deemed
folly to trace the rites and superstitions of so remote an age and
nation to Central Asia; but when we find the superstitions of the
Indo-Scythic Getae prevailing within the Indus, in Dacia, and on the
shores of the Baltic, we may assume their common origin; for although
the worship of arms has prevailed among all warlike tribes, there is a
peculiar respect paid to the sword amongst the Getic races. The Greeks
and Romans paid devotion to their arms, and swore by them. The Greeks
brought their habits from ancient Thrace, where the custom existed of
presenting as the greatest gift that peculiar kind of sword called
_acinaces_,[4.22.28] which we dare not derive from the Indo-Scythic or
Sanskrit _asi_, a [592] sword. When Xenophon,[4.22.29] on his retreat,
reached the court of Seuthes, he agreed to attach his corps to the
service of the Thracian. His officers on introduction, in the true
Oriental style, presented their _nazars_, or gifts of homage, excepting
Xenophon, who, deeming himself too exalted to make the common offering,
presented his sword, probably only to be touched in recognition of his
services being accepted. The most powerful oath of the Rajput, next to
his sovereign’s throne (_gaddi ka an_), is by his arms, _ya silah ka
an_, ‘by this weapon!’ as, suiting the action to the word, he puts his
hand on his dagger, never absent from his girdle. _Dhal, tarwar, ka an_,
‘by my sword and shield!’ The shield is deemed the only fit vessel or
salver on which to present gifts; and accordingly at a Rajput court,
shawls, brocades, scarfs, and jewels are always spread before the guest
on bucklers.[4.22.30]

In the Runic “incantation of Hervor,” daughter of Angantýr, at the tomb
of her father, she invokes the dead to deliver the enchanted brand
Tyrfing, or “Hjalmr’s bane,” which, according to Getic custom, was
buried in his tomb; she adjures him and his brothers “by all their arms,
their shields, etc.” It is depicted with great force, and, translated,
would deeply interest a Rajput, who might deem it the spell by which the
_Khanda_ of Hamira, which he annually worships, was obtained.

INCANTATION

_Hervor_—“Awake, Angantýr! Hervor, the only daughter of thee and Suafu,
doth awaken thee. Give me out of the tomb the tempered sword which the
dwarfs made for Suafurlama.

“Can none of Eyvors’[4.22.31] sons speak with me out of the habitations
of the dead? Hervardur,[4.22.31] Hurvardur?”[4.22.31]

The tomb at length opens, the inside of which appears on fire, and a
reply is sung within:

_Angantýr_—“Daughter Hervor, full of spells to raise the dead, why dost
thou call so? I was not buried either by father or friends; two who
lived after me got Tyrfing, one of whom is now in possession thereof
[593].”

_Hervor_—“The dead shall never enjoy rest unless Angantýr deliver me
Tyrfing, that cleaveth shields, and killed Hjalmr.”[4.22.32]

_Angantýr_—“Young maid, thou art of manlike courage, who dost rove by
night to tombs, with spear engraven with magic spells,[4.22.33] with
helm and coat of mail, before the door of our hall.”

_Hervor_—“It is not good for thee to hide it.”

_Angantýr_—“The death of Hjalmr[4.22.34] lies under my shoulders; it is
all wrapt up in fire: I know no maid that dares to take this sword in
hand.”

_Hervor_—“I shall take in hand the sharp sword, if I may obtain it. I do
not think that fire will burn which plays about the site of deceased
men.”[4.22.35]

_Angantýr_—“Take and keep Hjalmr’s bane: touch but the edges of it,
there is poison in them both;[4.22.36] it is a most cruel devourer of
men.”[4.22.37]

=The Magic Sword of Mewār.=—Tradition has hallowed the two-edged sword
(_khanda_) of Mewar, by investing it with an origin as mysterious as
“the bane of Hjalmr.” It is supposed to be the enchanted weapon
fabricated by Viswakarma,[4.22.38] with which the Hindu Proserpine
girded the founder of the race, and led him forth to the conquest of
Chitor.[4.22.39] It remained the great heirloom of her princes till the
sack of Chitor by the Tatar Ala, when Rana Arsi and eleven of his brave
sons devoted themselves at the command of the guardian goddess of their
race, and their capital falling into the hands of the invader, the last
scion of Bappa became a fugitive amidst the mountains of the west. It
was then the Tatar inducted the Sonigira Maldeo [594], as his
lieutenant, into the capital of the Guhilots. The most celebrated of the
poetic chronicles of Mewar gives an elaborate description of the
subterranean palace in Chitor, in one of whose entrances the dreadful
sacrifice was perpetuated to save the honour of Padmini and the fair of
Chitor from the brutalized Tatars.[4.22.40] The curiosity of Maldeo was
more powerful than his superstition, and he determined to explore these
hidden abodes, though reputed to be guarded by the serpent genii
attendant on Nagnaicha, the ancient divinity of its Takshak
founders.[4.22.41] Whether it was through the identical caverned
passage, and over the ashes of those martyred Kaminis,[4.22.42] that he
made good his way into those rock-bound abodes, the legend says not; but
though

In darkness, and with dangers compassed round,
And solitude,

the intrepid Maldeo paused not until he had penetrated to the very
bounds of the abyss, where in a recess he beheld the snaky sorceress and
her sister crew seated round a cauldron, in which the materials of their
incantation were solving before a fire that served to illume this abode
of horror. As he paused, the reverberation of his footsteps caused the
infernal crew to look athwart the palpable obscure of their abode, and
beholding the audacious mortal, they demanded his intent. The valiant
Sonigira replied that he did not come as a spy,

With purpose to explore or to disturb
The secrets of their realm,

but in search of the enchanted brand of the founder of the Guhilots.
Soon they made proof of Maldeo’s hardihood. Uncovering the cauldron, he
beheld a sight most appalling: amidst divers fragments of animals was
the arm of an infant. A dish of this horrid repast was placed before
him, and a silent signal made for him to eat. He obeyed, and returned
the empty platter: it was proof sufficient of his worth to wear the
enchanted blade, which, drawn forth from its secret abode, was put into
the hand of Maldeo, who bowing, retired with the trophy [595].

Rana Hamira recovered this heirloom of his house, and with it the throne
of Chitor, by his marriage with the daughter of the Sonigira, as related
in the annals.[4.22.43] Another version says it was Hamira himself who
obtained the enchanted sword, by his incantations to Charani Devi, or
the goddess of the bards, whom he worshipped.

=The Birth of Kumāra.=—We shall conclude this account of the military
festival of Mewar with the birth of Kumara, the god of war, taken from
the most celebrated of their mythological poems, the Ramayana, probably
the most ancient book in the world.[4.22.44] “Mena, daughter of Meru,
became the spouse of Himavat, from whose union sprung the beauteous
Ganga, and her sister Uma. Ganga was sought in marriage by all the
celestials; while Uma, after a long life of austerity, was espoused by
Rudra.”[4.22.45] But neither sister was fortunate enough to have
offspring, until Ganga became pregnant by Hutasana (regent of fire), and
“Kumara, resplendent as the sun, illustrious as the moon, was produced
from the side of Ganga.” The gods, with Indra at their head, carried him
to the Krittikas[4.22.46] to be nursed, and he became their joint care.
“As he resembled the fire in brightness, he received the name of Skanda,
when the immortals, with Agni (fire) at their head, anointed him as
general of the armies of the gods.”[4.22.47]—“Thus (the bard Valmiki
speaks), oh! Rama, have I related the story of the production of Kumar.”

This is a very curious relic of ancient mythology, in which we may trace
the most material circumstances of the birth of the Roman divinity of
war. Kumara (Mars) was the son of Jahnavi (Juno), and born, like the
Romans, without sexual intercourse, but by the agency of Vulcan (regent
of fire). Kumara has the peacock (sacred to Juno likewise) as his
companion; and as the Grecian goddess is feigned to have her car drawn
by peacocks, so Kumara (the evil-striker)[4.22.48] has a peacock for his
steed [596]. Ganga, ‘the river goddess,’ has some of the attributes of
Pallas, being like the Athenian maid (Ganga never married) born from the
head of Jove. The bard of the silver age makes her fall from a glacier
of Kailasa (Olympus) on the head of the father of the gods, and remain
many years within the folds of his tiara (_jata_), until at length being
liberated, she was precipitated into the plains of Aryavarta. It was in
this escape that she burst her rocky barrier (the Himalaya), and on the
birth of Kumara exposed those veins of gold called _jambunadi_, in
colour like the jambu fruit, probably alluding to the veins of gold
discovered in the rocks of the Ganges in those distant ages.

=The Winter Season.=—The last day of the month Asoj ushers in the Hindu
winter (_sarad rit_). On this day, nothing but white vestments and
silver (_chandi_) ornaments are worn, in honour of the moon (Chandra),
who gives his[4.22.49] name to the

Pale and common drudge
’Tween man and man.

This year there was an entire intercalary month: such are called
_Laund_. There is a procession of all the chiefs to the Chaugan; and on
their return, a full court is held in the great hall, which breaks up
with ‘obeisance to the lamp’ (_jot ka mujra_), whose light each
reverences; when the candles are lit at home, every Rajput, from the
prince to the owner of a “skin (_charsa_) of land,” seated on a white
linen cloth, should worship his tutelary divinity, and feed the priests
with sugar and milk.

=Karttika.=—This month is peculiarly sacred to Lakshmi, the goddess of
wealth, the Juno Moneta of the Romans. The 13th is called the Dhanteras,
or thirteenth [day] of wealth, when gold and silver coin are worshipped,
as the representatives of the goddess, by her votaries of all classes,
but especially by the mercantile [597]. On the 14th, all anoint with
oil, and make libations thereof to Yama, the judge of departed spirits.
Worship (_puja_) is performed to the lamp, which represents the god of
hell, and is thence called Yamadiwa, ‘the lamp of Pluto’; and on this
day partial illumination takes place throughout the city.

=The Diwāli, or Festival of Lamps.=—On the Amavas, or Ides of Karttik,
is one of the most brilliant fètes of Rajasthan, called the Diwali, when
every city, village, and encampment exhibits a blaze of splendour. The
potters’ wheels revolve for weeks before solely in the manufacture of
lamps (_diwa_), and from the palace to the peasant’s hut every one
supplies himself with them, in proportion to his means, and arranges
them according to his fancy. Stuffs, pieces of gold, and sweetmeats are
carried in trays and consecrated at the temple of Lakshmi, the goddess
of wealth, to whom the day is consecrated. The Rana on this occasion
honours his prime minister with his presence to dinner; and this chief
officer of the State, who is always of the mercantile caste, pours oil
into a terra-cotta lamp, which his sovereign holds; the same libation of
oil is permitted by each of the near relations of the minister. On this
day, it is incumbent upon every votary of Lakshmi to try the chance of
the dice, and from their success in the Diwali, the prince, the chief,
the merchant, and the artisan foretell the state of their coffers for
the ensuing year.

Lakshmi, though on this festival depicted under the type of riches, is
evidently the beneficent Annapurna in another garb, for the agricultural
community place a corn-measure filled with grain and adorned with
flowers as her representative; or, if they adorn her effigies, they are
those of Padma, the water-nymph, with a lotos in one hand, and the
_pasa_ (or fillet for the head) in the other. As Lakshmi was produced at
“the Churning of the Ocean,” and hence called one of the “fourteen
gems,” she is confounded with Rambha, chief of the Apsaras, the Venus of
the Hindus. Though both were created from the froth (_sara_) of the
waters (_ap_),[4.22.50] they are as distinct as the representations of
riches and beauty can be. Lakshmi became the wife of Vishnu, or
Kanhaiya, and is placed at the feet of his marine couch when he is
floating on the chaotic waters. As his consort, she merges into the
character of Sarasvati, the goddess of eloquence, and here we have the
combination of Minerva and Apollo. As of Minerva, the owl [598] is the
attendant of Lakshmi;[4.22.51] and when we reflect that the Egyptians,
who furnished the Grecian pantheon, held these solemn festivals, also
called “the feast of lamps,” in honour of Minerva at Sais, we may deduce
the origin of this grand Oriental festival from that common
mother-country in Central Asia, whence the Diwali radiated to remote
China, the Nile, the Ganges, and the shores of the Tigris; for the
Shab-i-barat of Islam is but “the feast of lamps” of the Rajputs. In all
these there is a mixture of the attributes of Ceres and Proserpine, of
Plutus and Pluto. Lakshmi partakes of the attributes of both the first,
while Kuvera,[4.22.52] who is conjoined with her, is Plutus: as Yama is
Pluto, the infernal judge. The consecrated lamps and the libations of
oil are all dedicated to him; and “torches and flaming brands are
likewise kindled and consecrated, to burn the bodies of kinsmen who may
be dead in battle in a foreign land, and light them through the shades
of death to the mansion of Yama.”[4.22.53]

=Festival of Yama.=—To the infernal god Yama, who is “the son of the
sun,” the second day following the Amavas, or Ides of Karttika, is also
sacred; it is called the Bhratri dvitiya, or ‘the brothers’ second,’
because the river-goddess Yamuna on this day entertained her brother
(_bhratri_) Yama, and is therefore consecrated to fraternal affection.
At the hour of curfew (_godhuli_),[4.22.54] when the cattle return from
the fields, the cow is worshipped, the herd having been previously
tended. From this ceremony no rank is exempted on the preceding day,
dedicated to Krishna: prince and peasant all become pastoral attendants
on the cow, as the form of Prithivi,[4.22.55] or the earth.

=The Annakūta Festival.=—The 1st (Sudi), or 16th of Karttika, is the
grand festival of Annakuta, sacred to the Hindu Ceres, which will be
described with its solemnities at Nathdwara. There is a State
procession, horse-races, and elephant-fights at the Chaugan; the evening
closes with a display of fireworks.

=The Jaljātra Festival.=—The 14th (Sudi), or 29th, is another solemn
festival in honour of Vishnu. It is called the Jaljatra, from being
performed on the water (_jal_). The Rana, chiefs, ministers, and
citizens go in procession to the lake, and adore the “spirit of the
waters,” on which floating lights are placed, and the whole surface is
illuminated by a grand display of pyrotechny. On this day “Vishnu rises
from his slumber of four [599] months”;[4.22.56] a figurative expression
to denote the sun’s emerging from the cloudy months of the periodical
flood.

=The Makara Sankrānti Festival.=—The next day (the Punim, or last day of
Karttika), being the Makara sankranti, or autumnal equinox, when the sun
enters the zodiacal sign Makara,[4.22.57] or Pisces, the Rana and chiefs
proceed in state to the Chaugan, and play at ball on horseback. The
entire last half of the month Karttika, from Amavas (the Ides) to the
Punim, is sacred to Vishnu; who is declared by the Puranas to represent
the sun, and whose worship, that of water, and the floating-lights
placed thereon—all objects emblematic of fecundity—carry us back to the
point whence we started—the adoration of the powers of nature: clearly
proving all mythology to be universally founded on an astronomical
basis.

=Mitra Saptami, Bhāskara Saptami Festivals.=—In the remaining months of
Aghan, or Margsir, and Pus, there are no festivals in which a state
procession takes place, though in each there are marked days, kept not
only by the Rajputs, but generally by the Hindu nation; especially that
on the 7th of Aghan, which is called Mitra Saptami, or 7th of Mithras,
and like the Bhaskara Saptami or the 7th of Magha, is sacred to the sun
as a form of Vishnu. On this seventh day occurred the descent of the
river-goddess (Ganga) from the foot of Vishnu; or the genius of
fertilization, typified under the form of the river-goddess, proceeding
from the sun, the vivifying principle, and impended over the head of
Iswara, the divinity presiding over generation, in imitation of which
his votary pours libations of water (if possible from the sacred river
Ganga) over his emblem, the lingam or phallus: a comparison which is
made by the bard Chand in an invocation to this god, for the sake of
contrasting his own inferiority “to the mighty bards of old.”

“The head of Is[4.22.58] is in the skies; on his crown falls the
ever-flowing stream (Ganga); but on his statue below, does not his
votary pour the fluid from his _patra_?”

=Phallicism.=—No satisfactory etymology has ever been assigned for the
phallic emblem of generation, adored by Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and even
by the Christian, which may be from the same primeval language that
formed the Sanskrit.

Phalisa is the ‘fructifier,’ from _phala_, ‘fruit,’ and _Isa_, ‘the
god.’[4.22.59] Thus the type of Osiris can have a definite
interpretation, still wanting to the lingam of Iswara [600]. Both
deities presided over the streams which fertilized the countries in
which they received divine honours: Osiris over the Nile, from ‘the
mountains of the moon,’ in Ethiopia,[4.22.60] Iswara over the
Indus[4.22.61] (also called the Nil), and the Ganges from Chandragiri,
‘the mountains of the moon,’ on a peak of whose glaciers he has his
throne.

=Siva and the Sun.=—Siva occasionally assumes the attributes of the
sun-god; they especially appertain to Vishnu, who alone is styled
“immortal, the one, creator, and uncreated”; and in whom centre all the
qualities (_gunan_), which have peopled the Hindu pantheon with their
ideal representatives. The bard Chand, who has embodied the theological
tenets of the Rajputs in his prefatory invocation to every divinity who
can aid his intent, apostrophizes Ganesa, and summons the goddess of
eloquence (Sarasvati) “to make his tongue her abode”; deprecates the
destroying power, “him whom wrath inhabits,” lest he should be cut off
ere his book was finished; and lauding distinctly each member of the
triad (_trimurti_), he finishes by declaring them one, and that “whoever
believes them separate, hell will be his portion.” Of this One the sun
is the great visible type, adored under a variety of names, as Surya,
Mitra, Bhaskar, Vivasvat, Vishnu, Karna, or Kana, likewise an Egyptian
epithet for the sun.[4.22.62]

The emblem of Vishnu is Garuda, or the eagle,[4.22.63] and the Sun-god
both of the Egyptians and Hindus is typified with the bird’s head. Aruna
(the dawn), brother of Garuda, is classically styled the charioteer of
Vishnu, whose two sons, Sampati and Jatayu, attempting in imitation of
their father to reach the sun, the wings of the former were burnt and he
fell to the earth: of this the Greeks may have made their fable of
Icarus.[4.22.64]

=Festivals in Honour of Vishnu.=—In the chief zodiacal phenomena,
observation will discover that Vishnu is still the object of worship.
The Phuladola,[4.22.65] or Floralia, in the vernal equinox, is so called
from the image of Vishnu being carried in a _dola_, or ark, covered with
garlands of flowers (_phula_). Again, in the month of Asarh, the
commencement of [601] the periodical rains, which date from the summer
solstice, the image of Vishnu is carried on a car, and brought forth on
the first appearance of the moon, the 11th of which being the solstice,
is called “the night of the gods.” Then Vishnu reposes on his
serpent-couch until the cessation of the flood on the 11th of Bhadon,
when “he turns on his side.”[4.22.66]

The 4th is also dedicated to Vishnu under his infantine appellation Hari
(Ἥλιος), because when a child “he hid himself in the moon.” We must not
derogate from Sir W. Jones the merit of drawing attention to the analogy
between these Hindu festivals on the equinoxes, and the Egyptian, called
the entrance of Osiris into the moon, and his confinement in an ark. But
that distinguished writer merely gives the hint, which the learned
Bryant aids us to pursue, by bringing modern travellers to corroborate
the ancient authorities: the drawings of Pocock from the sun temple of
Luxor to illustrate Plutarch, Curtius, and Diodorus. Bryant comes to the
same conclusion with regard to Osiris enclosed in the ark, which we
adopt regarding Vishnu’s repose during the four months of inundation,
the period of fertilization. I have already, in the rites of Annapurna,
the Isis of the Egyptians, noticed the crescent form of the ark of
Osiris, as well as the ram’s-head ornaments indicative of the vernal
equinox, which the Egyptians called Phamenoth, being the birthday of
Osiris, or the sun; the Phag, or Phalgun month of the Hindus; the
Phagesia of the Greeks, sacred to Dionysus.[4.22.67]

=The Argonauts.=—The expedition of Argonauts in search of the golden
fleece is a version of the arkite worship of Osiris, the Dolayatra of
the Hindus: and Sanskrit etymology, applied to the vessel of the
Argonauts, will give the sun (_argha_) god’s (_natha_) entrance into the
sign of the Ram. The Tauric and Hydra foes, with which Jason had to
contend before he obtained the fleece of Aries, are the symbols of the
sun-god, both of the Ganges and the Nile; and this fable, which has
occupied almost every pen of antiquity, is clearly astronomical, as the
names alone of the Arghanath, sons of Apollo, Mars, Mercury, Sol, Arcus
or Argus,[4.22.68] Jupiter, Bacchus, etc., sufficiently testify, whose
voyage is entirely celestial.

=Egyptian Influence on Hindu Mythology.=—If it be destined that any
portion of the veil which covers these ancient mysteries [602],
connecting those of the Ganges with the Nile, shall be removed, it will
be from the interpretation of the expedition of Rama, hitherto deemed
almost as allegorical as that of the Arghanaths. I shall at once assume
an opinion I have long entertained, that the western coast of the Red
Sea was the Lanka of the memorable exploit in the history of the Hindus.
If Alexander from the mouths of the Indus ventured to navigate those
seas with his frail fleet of barks constructed in the Panjab, what might
we not expect from the resources of the King of Kosala, the descendant
of Sagara, emphatically called the sea-king, whose “60,000 sons” were so
many mariners, and who has left his name as a memorial of his marine
power at the island (_Sagar_) at the embouchure of the main arm of the
Ganges, and to the ocean itself, also called Sagara? If the embarkation
of Ramesa and his heroes for the redemption of Sita had been from the
Gulph of Cutch, the grand emporium from the earliest ages, the voyage of
Rama would have been but the prototype of that of the Macedonians; but
local tradition has sanctified Rameswaram, the southern part of the
peninsula, as the rendezvous of his armament. The currents in the
Straits of Manar, curiosity, or a wish to obtain auxiliaries from this
insular kingdom, may have prompted the visit to Ceylon; and hence the
vestiges there found of this event. But even from this “utmost isle,
Taprobane,” the voyage across the Erythrean Sea is only twenty-five
degrees of longitude, which with a flowing sail they would run down in
ten or twelve days. The only difficulty which occurs is in the
synchronical existence of Rama and the Pharaoh[4.22.69] of Moses, which
would tend to the opposite of my hypothesis, and show that India
received her Phallic rites, her architecture, and symbolic mythology
from the Nile, instead of planting them there.

“Est-ce l’Inde, la Phénicie, l’Éthiopie, la Chaldée, ou l’Égypte,
qui a vu naître ce culte? ou bien le type en a-t-il été fourni aux
habitans de ces contrées, par une nation plus ancienne encore?” asks
an ingenious but anonymous French author, on the origin of the
Phallic worship.[4.22.70] Ramesa, chief of the Suryas, or sun-born
race, was king of the city designated from his mother, Kausalya, of
which Ayodhya was the capital. His sons were Lava and Kusa, who
originated the races we may term the Lavites and Kushites, or
Kushwas of India.[4.22.71] Was then Kausalya [603] the mother of
Ramesa, a native of Aethiopia,[4.22.72] or Kusadwipa, ‘the land of
Cush’? Rama and Krishna are both painted blue (_nila_), holding the
lotus, emblematic of the Nile. Their names are often identified.
Ram-Krishna, the bird-headed divinity, is painted as the messenger
of each, and the historians of both were contemporaries. That both
were real princes there is no doubt, though Krishna assumed to be an
incarnation of Vishnu, as Rama was of the sun. Of Rama’s family was
Trisankha,[4.22.73] mother of the great apostle of Buddha, whose
symbol was the serpent; and the followers of Buddha assert that
Krishna and this apostle, whose statues are facsimiles of those of
Memnon, were cousins. Were the Hermetic creed and Phallic rites
therefore received from the Ethiopic Cush? Could emblematic relics
be discovered in the caves of the Troglodytes, who inhabited the
range of mountains on the Cushite shore of the Arabian straits, akin
to those of Ellora and Elephanta,[4.22.74] whose style discloses
physical, mythological, as well as architectural affinity to the
Egyptian, the question would at once be set at rest.

I have derived the Phallus from Phalisa, the chief fruit. The Greeks,
who either borrowed it from the Egyptians or had it from the same
source, typified the Fructifier by a pineapple, the form of which
resembles the Sitaphala,[4.22.75] or fruit of Sita, whose rape by Ravana
carried Rama from the Ganges over many countries ere he recovered
her.[4.22.76] In like manner Gauri, the Rajput Ceres, is typified under
the coco-nut, or sriphala,[4.22.77] the chief of fruit, or fruit sacred
to Sri, or Isa (Isis), whose other elegant emblem of abundance, the
kamakumbha, is drawn with branches of the palmyra,[4.22.78] or
coco-tree, gracefully pendent from the vase (_kumbha_).

The Sriphala[4.22.79] is accordingly presented to all the votaries of
Iswara and Isa on the conclusion of the spring-festival of Phalguna, the
Phagesia of the Greeks, the [604] Phamenoth of the Egyptian, and the
Saturnalia of antiquity; a rejoicing at the renovation of the powers of
nature; the empire of heat over cold—of light over darkness.[4.22.80]

The analogy between the goddess of the spring Saturnalia, Phalguni, and
the Phagesia of the Greeks, will excite surprise; the word is not
derived from (φαγεῖν) eating, with the Rajput votaries of Holika, as
with those of the Dionysia of the Greeks; but from _phalguni_,
compounded of _guna_, ‘quality, virtue, or characteristic,’ and _phala_,
‘fruit’; in short, the fructifier. From φαλλός,[4.22.81] to which there
is no definite meaning, the Egyptian had the festival Phallica, the
Holika of the Hindus. _Phula_ and _phala_, flower and fruit, are the
roots of all, Floralia and Phalaria, the Phallus of Osiris, the Thyrsus
of Bacchus, or Lingam of Iswara, symbolized by the _Sriphala_, or
_Ananas_, the ‘food of the gods,’[4.22.82] or the Sitaphala of the Helen
of Ayodhya.

From the existence of this worship in Congo at this day, the author
already quoted asks if it may not have originated in Ethiopia, “qui,
comme le témoignent plusieurs écrivains de l’antiquité, a fourni ses
dieux à l’Égypte.“ On the first of the five complementary days called
”ἠπαγόμεναι ἡμέραι” preceding New Year’s Day, the Egyptians celebrated
the birth of the sun-god Osiris, in a similar manner as the Hindus do
their solstitial festival, “the morning of the gods,” the Hiul of
Scandinavia; on which occasion, “on promenait en procession une figure
d’Osiris, dont le Phallus était triple”; a number, he adds, expressing
“la pluralité indéfinie.” The number three is sacred to Iswara, chief of
the Trimurti or Triad, whose statue adorns the junction (_sangam_) of
all triple streams; hence called Triveni, who is [605] Trinetra, or
‘three-eyed,’ and Tridanta, or ‘god of the trident’; Triloka, ‘god of
the triple abode, heaven, earth, and hell’; Tripura, of the triple city,
to whom the Tripoli or triple gates are sacred, and of which he has made
Ganesa the Janitor, or guardian. The grotesque figure placed by the
Hindus during the Saturnalia in the highways, and called Nathurama (the
god Rama), is the counterpart of the figure described by Plutarch as
representing Osiris, “ce soleil printanier,” in the Egyptian Saturnalia
or Phamenoth. Even Ramisa and Ravana may, like Osiris and Typhon, be
merely the ideal representatives of light and darkness; and the chaste
Sita, spouse of the Surya prince, the astronomical Virgo, only a
zodiacal sign.[4.22.83]

=Wide Extension of Hindu Mythology.=—That a system of Hinduism pervaded
the whole Babylonian and Assyrian empires, Scripture furnishes abundant
proofs, in the mention of the various types of the sun-god Balnath,
whose pillar adorned “every mount” and “every grove”; and to whose other
representative, the brazen calf (_nandi_), the 15th of each month
(_amavas_)[4.22.84] was especially sacred. It was not confined to these
celebrated regions of the East, but was disseminated throughout the
earth; because from the Aral to the Baltic, colonies were planted from
that central region,[4.22.85] the cradle of the Suryas and the Indus,
whose branches (_sakha_),[4.22.86] the Yavan, the Aswa, and the Meda,
were the progenitors of the Ionians, the Assyrians, and the
Medes;[4.22.87] while in later times, from the same teeming region, the
Galati and Getae,[4.22.88] the Kelts and Goths, carried modifications of
the system to the shores of Armorica and the Baltic, the cliffs of
Caledonia, and the remote isles of the German Ocean. The monumental
circles sacred to the sun-god Belenus at once existing in that central
region,[4.22.89] in India,[4.22.90] and throughout Europe, is
conclusive. The apotheosis of the patriarch Noah, whom the Hindu styles
Manu-Vaivaswata, ‘_the_ man, son of the sun,’ may have originated the
Dolayatra of the Hindus, the ark of Osiris [606], the ship of Isis
amongst the Suevi, in memory of “the forty days” noticed in the
traditions of every nation of the earth.

The time may be approaching when this worship in the East, like the
Egyptian, shall be only matter of tradition; although this is not likely
to be effected by such summary means as were adopted by Cambyses, who
slew the sacred Apis and whipped his priests, while their Greek and
Roman conquerors adopted and embellished the Pantheon of the
Nile.[4.22.91] But when Christianity reared her severe yet simple form,
the divinities of the Nile, the Pantheon of Rome, and the Acropolis of
Athens, could not abide her awful majesty. The temples of the
Alexandrian Serapis were levelled by Theophilus,[4.22.92] while that of
Osiris at Memphis became a church of Christ. “Muni de ses pouvoirs, et
escorté d’une foule de moines, il mit en fuite les prêtres, brisa les
idoles, démolit les temples, ou y établit des monastères.”[4.22.93] The
period for thus subverting idolatry is passed: the religion of Christ is
not of the sword, but one enjoining peace and goodwill on earth. But as
from him “to whom much is given,” much will be required, the good and
benevolent of the Hindu nations may have ulterior advantages over those
Pharisees who would make a monopoly even of the virtues; who “see the
mote in their neighbour’s eye, but cannot discern the beam in their
own.” While, therefore, we strive to impart a purer taste and better
faith, let us not imagine that the minds of those we would reform are
the seats of impurity, because, in accordance with an idolatry coeval
with the flood, they continue to worship mysteries opposed to our own
modes of thinking [607].

-----

Footnote 4.22.1:

Nauratri may be interpreted the nine days’ festival, or the ‘new
night’ [?].

Footnote 4.22.2:

“It was natural enough,” says Gibbon, “that the Scythians should adore
with peculiar devotion the god of war; but as they were incapable of
forming either an abstract idea, or a corporeal representation, they
worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol of an iron cimeter. If
the rites of Scythia were practised on this solemn occasion,[4.22.2.A]
a lofty altar, or rather pile of faggots, three hundred yards in
length and in breadth, was raised in a spacious plain; and the sword
of Mars was placed erect on the summit of this rustic altar, which was
annually consecrated by the blood of sheep, horses, and of the
hundredth captive” (Gibbon’s _Roman Empire_, ed. W. Smith, iv. 194
f.).

Footnote 4.22.2.A:

Attila dictating the terms of peace with the envoys of Constantinople,
at the city of Margus, in Upper Moesia.

Footnote 4.22.3:

St. Palaye, _Memoirs of Ancient Chivalry_, p. 305.

Footnote 4.22.4:

Raj Jogi is the chief of the ascetic warriors; the Mahants are
commanders [the term being usually applied to the abbot of a
monastery]. More will be said of this singular society when we discuss
the religious institutions of Mewar.

Footnote 4.22.5:

The god Krishna is called Kishan in the dialects.

Footnote 4.22.6:

This is the _sthapana_ of the sword, literally its inauguration or
induction, for the purposes of adoration.

Footnote 4.22.7:

Tripolia, or triple portal.

Footnote 4.22.8:

[The chief centres of worship of Harsiddh Māta are Gāndhari and
Ujjain. It is said that her image stood on the sea-shore, and that she
used to swallow all the vessels that passed by (R. E. Enthoven,
_Folklore Notes Gujarāt_, 5; _BG_, ix. Part i. 226).]

Footnote 4.22.9:

[Formerly an important personage, but his authority has now much
decreased (_BG_, ix. Part i. 96).]

Footnote 4.22.10:

On this day sons visit and pay adoration to their fathers. The diet is
chiefly of vegetables and fruits. Brahmans with their unmarried
daughters are feasted, and receive garments called _chunri_ from their
chiefs. [This is a kind of cloth dyed by partly tying it in knots,
which escape the action of the dye.]

Footnote 4.22.11:

The Jogi’s _patra_ is not so revolting as that of their divinity Hara
(the god of war), which is the human _cranium_; this is a hollow
gourd.

Footnote 4.22.12:

From _das_, the numeral _ten_; _the_ tenth. [It means ‘the feast that
removes ten sins.’]

Footnote 4.22.13:

In this ancient story we are made acquainted with the distant maritime
wars which the princes of India carried on. Even supposing Ravana’s
abode to be the insular Ceylon, he must have been a very powerful
prince to equip an armament sufficiently numerous to carry off from
the remote kingdom of Kosala the wife of the great king of the Suryas.
It is most improbable that a petty king of Ceylon could wage equal war
with a potentate who held the chief dominion of India; whose father,
Dasaratha, drove his victorious car (_ratha_) over every region
(_desa_), and whose intercourse with the countries beyond the
Brahmaputra is distinctly to be traced in the Ramayana. [Dasaratha has
no connexion with _desa_: the name means ‘he who possesses ten
(_dasa_) chariots (_ratha_).’]

Footnote 4.22.14:

[_Prosopis spicigera._]

Footnote 4.22.15:

“A la première lune de chaque année, tous ces officiers, grands et
petits, tenoient une assemblée générale à la cour du Tanjou, et y
faisoient un sacrifice solennel: à la cinquième lune, ils
s’assembloient à Lumtching, où ils sacrifioient au ciel, à la terre,
aux esprits, et aux ancêtres. Il se tenoit encore une grande assemblée
à Tai-lin dans l’automne, parce qu’alors les chevaux étoient plus
gras, et on y faisoit en même-tems le dénombrement des hommes et des
troupeaux; mais tous les jours le Tanjou sortoit de son camp, le matin
pour adorer le soleil, et le soir la lune. Sa tente étoit placée à
gauche, comme le côté le plus honorable chez ces peuples, et regardoit
le couchant” (_Avant J.-C. 209; L’Histoire Générale des Huns_, vol. i.
p. 24).

Footnote 4.22.16:

[There is no Skt. word _pola_, ‘gate’; the Hindi _pol_, _paul_ is Skt.
_pura dvāra_, ‘city entrance.’]

Footnote 4.22.17:

[The words _pol_ and _pāl_ are not connected.]

Footnote 4.22.18:

Hence may be found a good etymology of _janizary_, the guardian of the
_serai_, a title left by the lords of Eastern Rome for the Porte.
[Turkish _yeni-tsheri_, ‘new soldiery.’]

Footnote 4.22.19:

In Sanskrit _gana_ (pronounced as _gun_), the _jinn_ of the Persians,
transmuted to _genii_; here is another instance in point of the
alternation of the initial, and softened by being transplanted from
Indo-Scythia to Persia, as _Ganes_ was _Janus_ at Rome. [_Gana_ and
_Jinn_, _Ganesa_ and _Janus_, have no connexion.

Footnote 4.22.20:

The _Casius Mons_ of Ptolemy. [The derivation of the word Caucasus is
unknown.]

Footnote 4.22.21:

Parvati, ‘the mountain goddess,’ was called Sati, or ‘the faithful,’
in her former birth. She became the mother of Jahnavi, the river
(_Ganga_) goddess.

Footnote 4.22.22:

Karttikeya, the son of Siva and Parvati, the Jupiter and Juno of the
Hindu theogony, has the leading of the armies of the gods, delegated
by his father; and his mother has presented to him her peacock, which
is the steed of this warlike divinity. He is called Karttikeya from
being nursed by six females called Krittika, who inhabit six of the
seven stars composing the constellation of the Wain, or Ursa Major.
Thus the Hindu Mars, born of Jupiter and Juno, and nursed by Ursa
Major, is, like all other theogonies, an astronomical allegory. There
is another legend of the birth of Mars, which I shall give in the
text.

Footnote 4.22.23:

This elephant-headed divinity has but one tusk.

Footnote 4.22.24:

The bard thus modestly designates himself.

Footnote 4.22.25:

Chief (_isa_) of the gana (_genii_) or attendants on Siva.

Footnote 4.22.26:

So he was at Rome, and his statue held the keys of heaven in his right
hand, and, like Ganesa, a rod (the _ankus_) in his left.

Footnote 4.22.27:

[The rat is the emblem of Ganesa probably because, like Apollo
Smintheus, he protects the crops from vermin (Frazer, _The Golden
Bough_, 3rd ed. Part v. vol. ii. 282 f.).]

Footnote 4.22.28:

[Persian _āhanak_, ‘a sword of steel.’]

Footnote 4.22.29:

[_Anabasis_, vii. 2.]

Footnote 4.22.30:

The Gothic invaders of Italy inaugurated their monarch by placing him
upon a shield, and elevating him on their shoulders in the midst of
his army.

Footnote 4.22.31:

All these proper names might have Oriental etymologies assigned to
them; Eyvor-sail is the name of a celebrated Rajput hero of the Bhatti
tribe, who were driven at an early period from the very heart of
Scythia, and are of Yadu race.

Footnote 4.22.32:

This word can have a Sanskrit derivation from _haya_, ‘a horse’;
_marna_, ‘to strike or kill’; _Hjalmr_, ‘the horse-slayer.’ [These
theories are of no value.]

Footnote 4.22.33:

The custom of engraving incantations on weapons is also from the East,
and thence adopted by the Muhammadan, as well as the use of
phylacteries. The name of the goddess guarding the tribe is often
inscribed, and I have had an entire copy of the Bhagavadgita taken
from the turban of a Rajput killed in action: in like manner the
Muhammadans place therein the Koran.

Footnote 4.22.34:

The metaphorical name of the sword Tyrfing.

Footnote 4.22.35:

I have already mentioned these fires (see p. 89), which the
northern nations believed to issue from the tombs of their heroes, and
which seemed to guard their ashes; them they called Hauga Elldr, or
‘the sepulchral fires,’ and they were supposed more especially to
surround tombs which contained hidden treasures. These supernatural
fires are termed Shihaba by the Rajputs. When the intrepid
Scandinavian maiden observes that she is not afraid of the flame
burning her, she is bolder than one of the boldest Rajputs, for
Sri-kishan, who was shocked at the bare idea of going near these
sepulchral lights, was one of the three non-commissioned officers who
afterwards led thirty-two firelocks to the attack and defeat of 1500
Pindaris.

Footnote 4.22.36:

Like the Rajput Khanda, Tyrfing was double-edged; the poison of these
edges is a truly Oriental idea.

Footnote 4.22.37:

This poem is from the Hervarer Saga, an ancient Icelandic history. See
Edda, vol. ii. p. 192.

Footnote 4.22.38:

The Vulcan of the Hindus.

Footnote 4.22.39:

For an account of the initiation to arms of Bappa, the founder of the
Guhilots, see p. 264 [Vol. I.].

Footnote 4.22.40:

See p. 311 [Vol. I.].

Footnote 4.22.41:

The Mori prince, from whom Bappa took Chitor, was of the Tak or
Takshak race [?], of whom Nagnaicha or Nagini Mata was the mother,
represented as half woman and half serpent; the sister of the mother
of the Scythic race, according to their legends; so that the deeper we
dive into these traditions, the stronger reason we shall find to
assign a Scythic origin to all these tribes. As Bappa, the founder of
the Guhilots, retired into Scythia and left his heirs to rule in
India, I shall find fault with no antiquary who will throw overboard
all the connexion between Kanaksen, the founder of the Valabhi empire,
and Sumitra, the last of Rama’s line. Many rites of the Rama’s house
are decidedly Scythic.

Footnote 4.22.42:

[Lovely maidens.]

Footnote 4.22.43:

See p. 317 [Vol. I.].

Footnote 4.22.44:

[“The kernel of the Rāmāyana was composed before 500 B.C., while the
more recent portions was probably not added till the second century
B.C., and later” (Macdonell, _Hist. Sanskrit Literature_, 309).]

Footnote 4.22.45:

One of the names of the divinity of war, whose images are covered with
vermilion in imitation of blood. (_Qy._ the German _roodur_,
‘red’)[596]. [Rudra, ‘the roarer,’ originally “god of storms.”]

Footnote 4.22.46:

The Pleiades.

Footnote 4.22.47:

The festival of the birth of this son of Ganga, or Jahnavi, is on the
10th of Jeth. Sir W. Jones gives the following couplet from the
Sancha: “On the 10th of Jyaishtha, on the bright half of the month, on
the day of Mangala,[4.22.47.A] son of the earth, when the moon was in
Hasta, this daughter of Jahnu brought from the rocks, and ploughed
over the land inhabited by mortals.”

Footnote 4.22.47.A:

Mangala is one of the names (and perhaps one of the oldest) of the
Hindu Mars (Kumara), to whom the Wodens-dag of the Northmen, the Mardi
of the French, the Dies Martis of the Romans, are alike sacred.
Mangala also means ‘happy,’ the reverse of the origin of Mongol, said
to mean ‘sad’ [‘brave’]. The juxtaposition of the Rajput and
Scandinavian days of the week will show that they have the same
origin:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rajput Scandinavian and Saxon.
Suryavar Sun-day.
Som, or Induvar Moon-day.
Budhvar Tuis-day.
Mangalvar Wodens-day.
Brihaspativar[a] Thors-day.
Sukravar[b] Frey-day.
Sani, or } -var Satur-day[c]
Sanichara }

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(_a_) Brihaspati, ‘he who rides on the bull’; the steed of the Rajput
god of war [probably ‘lord of prayer,’ or ‘of increase,’ confounded in
the original note with Vrishapati, ‘Lord of the bull,’ a title of
Siva.]]

(_b_) Sukra is a Cyclop, regent of the planet Venus.]

(_c_) [See Max Müller, _Selected Essays_, 1881, ii. 460 ff.]]

Footnote 4.22.48:

[Kumāra probably means ‘easily dying.’]

Footnote 4.22.49:

It will be recollected that the moon with the Rajputs as with the
Scandinavians is a male divinity. The Tatars, who also consider him a
male divinity, pay him especial adoration in this autumnal month.

Footnote 4.22.50:

[Apsaras means ‘going in the waters, or in the waters of the clouds.’]

Footnote 4.22.51:

[The owl is a bird of ill omen, and does not seem to be associated
with Lakshmi except in Bengal.]

Footnote 4.22.52:

The Hindu god of riches.

Footnote 4.22.53:

Yamala is the great god of the Finlanders (Clarke).

Footnote 4.22.54:

From _go_, ‘a cow’ [_dhūli_, ‘the dust raised by them as they return
to the stall’].F

Footnote 4.22.55:

See anecdote in Chap. 21, which elucidates this practice of princes
becoming herdsmen.

Footnote 4.22.56:

Matsya Purana. [Vishnu is generally said to wake on the Deothān, 11th
light half of Kārttik.]

Footnote 4.22.57:

[Makara, a kind of shark or sea-monster, marks the 10th sign of the
Zodiac, Capricorn.]

Footnote 4.22.58:

Iswara, Isa, or as pronounced, Is.

Footnote 4.22.59:

[Monier-Williams in his _Sanskrit Dict._ records no such form as
_phalīsa_. φαλλός = Lat. _palus_, English _pole_, _pale_. The Author
follows Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, iii. 135 f.).]

Footnote 4.22.60:

‘The land of the sun’ (_aditya_). [This is impossible. The true
derivation is unknown; to the Greeks the word meant ‘swarthy-faced.’]

Footnote 4.22.61:

Ferishta calls the Indus the Nilab, or ‘blue waters’; it is also
called Abusin, the ‘father of streams.’

Footnote 4.22.62:

According to Diodorus Siculus. [Rudra-Siva has a benign side to his
character, and may be associated with the Sun (R. G. Bhandarkar,
_Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems_, 105). But the
Author, in his constant references to “Bāl”-Siva, has pressed this
conception to an excessive length.]

Footnote 4.22.63:

The vulture and crane, which soar high in the heavens, are also called
_garuda_, and vulgarly _gidh_. The ibis is of the crane or heron kind.

Footnote 4.22.64:

Phaeton was the son of Cephalus and Aurora. The former answers to the
Hindu bird-headed messenger of the sun. Aruna is the Aurora of the
Greeks, who with more taste have given the dawn a female character.

Footnote 4.22.65:

Also called Dolayatra.

Footnote 4.22.66:

Bhagavat and Matsya Puranas. See Sir W. Jones on the lunar year of the
Hindus, _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iii. p. 286.

Footnote 4.22.67:

[Mr. F. Ll. Griffith tells me that this comes from a French
translation of Plutarch, _De Iside et Osiride_, cap. xii. (birth of
Osiris on the first of the epagomenal days). This entry of Osiris into
the moon seems to mean his conception rather than his birth. Φαμενώθ
is the name of the seventh month, about 25th February.]

Footnote 4.22.68:

_Arka_, ‘the sun,’ in Sanskrit. [This is due to Wilford (_Asiatic
Researches_, iii. 134) and is, of course, impossible.]

Footnote 4.22.69:

Pha-ra is but a title, ‘the king.’ [Egyptian Pro, ‘the great house.’]

Footnote 4.22.70:

_Des divinités génératives: ou du culte du Phallus chez les anciens et
les modernes_ (Paris).

Footnote 4.22.71:

Of the former race the Ranas of Mewar, of the latter the princes of
Narwar and Amber, are the representatives.

Footnote 4.22.72:

Aethiopia, ‘the country of the sun’; from _Ait_, contraction of
Aditya. Aegypt may have the same etymology, _Aitia_ [see p. 699
above].

Footnote 4.22.73:

[The Author may refer to Pārsvanātha, 23rd Jain Tīrthakara, whose
symbol was his serpent; but his mother was Vāmadevi. Trisala was
mother of the 24th Tīrthakara, Mahāvira or Vardhamāna, but his
cognizance was a lion.]

Footnote 4.22.74:

It is absurd to talk of these being modern; decipher the characters
thereon, and then pronounce their antiquity. [Ellora, 5th to 9th or
10th centuries A.D.; Elephanta, 8th to 10th (_IGI_, xii. 22, 4).]

Footnote 4.22.75:

Vulg. _Sharifa_.

Footnote 4.22.76:

Rama subjected her to the fiery ordeal, to discover whether her virtue
had suffered while thus forcibly separated.

Footnote 4.22.77:

Vulg. _Nariyal_.

Footnote 4.22.78:

Palmyra is Sanskrit corrupted, and affords the etymology of Solomon’s
city of the desert, Tadmor. The ﺙ p, by the retrenchment of a single
diacritical point, becomes ت t; and the ل (_l_) and د (_d_) being
permutable, Pal becomes Tad, or Tal—the Palmyra, which is the Mor, or
chief of trees; hence Tadmor, from its date-trees [?].

Footnote 4.22.79:

The Jayaphala, ‘the fruit of victory,’ is the nutmeg; or, as a native
of Java, Javuphala, ‘fruit of Java,’ is most probably derived from
Jayadiva, ‘the victorious isle.’ [The nutmeg is Jātiphala: Java is
_yavadwīpa_, ‘island of barley.’]

Footnote 4.22.80:

The Kamari of the Saura tribes, or sun-worshippers of Saurashtra,
claims descent from the bird-god of Vishnu (who aided Rama[4.22.80.A]
to the discovery of Sita), and the Makara[4.22.80.B] or crocodile, and
date the monstrous conception from that event, and their original
abode from Sankodra Bet, or island of Sankodra. Whether to the
Dioscorides at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf this name was given,
evidently corrupted from Sankhadwara to Socotra, we shall not stop to
inquire. Like the isle in the entrance of the Gulf of Cutch, it is the
_dwara_ or portal to the Sinus Arabicus, and the pearl-shell
(_sankha_) there abounds. This tribe deduce their origin from Rama’s
expedition, and allege that their Icthyiopic mother landed them where
they still reside. Wild as is this fable, it adds support to this
hypothesis. [The Sanskrit name of Bet Island (“Bate” in the text) is
Sankhuddhāra, from the conch fishery. Socotra is Dwīpa Sukhadāra,
‘island of pleasure’ (not Sakhādāra, as in _EB_, xxv. 355) (Yule,
_Marco Polo_, 1st ed. ii. 342).]

Footnote 4.22.80.A:

Rama and Vishnu interchange characters.

Footnote 4.22.80.B:

It is curious that the designation of the tribe Kamar is a
transposition of Makar, for the final letter of each is mute.

Footnote 4.22.81:

See Lempriere, arts. _Phagesia_ and _Phallica_. “L’Abbé Mignot pense
que le _Phallus_ est originaire de l’Assyrie et de la Chaldée, et que
c’est de ce pays que l’usage de consacrer ce symbole de la génération
a passé en Égypte. Il croit, d’après le savant Le Clerc, que le nom de
ce symbole est phénicien: qu’il dérive de _Phalou_ qui, dans cette
langue, signifie une _chose secrète_ et _cachée_, et du verbe _phala_,
qui veut dire _être tenu secret_.”[4.22.81.A]

Footnote 4.22.81.A:

_Des divinités génératives._

Footnote 4.22.82:

_Anna_, ‘food,’ and _asa_ or _isa_, ‘the god.’ [Ananas comes from
Brazilian _Nana_ or _Nanas_ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 25).]

Footnote 4.22.83:

[It is unnecessary to discuss these theories, which are based on
incorrect assumptions and obsolete etymologies.]

Footnote 4.22.84:

The Hindus divide the month into two portions called _pakh_ or
fortnights. The first is termed _badi_, reckoning from the 1st to the
15th, which day of partition is called _amavas_, answering to the Ides
of the Romans, and held by the Hindus as it was by the Jews in great
sanctity. The last division is termed _sudi_, and they recommence with
the initial numeral, thence to the 30th or completion, called _punim_;
thus instead of the 16th, 17th, etc., of the month, they say _Sudi
ekam_ (1st), _Sudi duj_ (3rd).

Footnote 4.22.85:

Sogdiana and Transoxiana.

Footnote 4.22.86:

Hence the word Saka [?].

Footnote 4.22.87:

See Genealogical Table No. 2 for these names. The sons of the three
Midas, pronounced Mede, founded kingdoms at the precise point of time,
according to calculation from the number of kings, that Assyria was
founded.

Footnote 4.22.88:

The former were more pastoral, and hence the origin of their name,
corrupted to Keltoi. The Getae or Jats pursued the hunter’s
occupation, living more by the chase, though these occupations are
generally conjoined in the early stages of civilization.

Footnote 4.22.89:

Rubruquis and other travellers.

Footnote 4.22.90:

Colonel Mackenzie’s invaluable and gigantic collection.

Footnote 4.22.91:

Isis and Osiris, Serapis and Canopus, Apis and Ibis, adopted by the
Romans, whose temples and images, yet preserved, will allow full scope
to the Hindu antiquary for analysis of both systems. The temple of
Serapis at Pozzuoli is quite Hindu in its ground plan.

Footnote 4.22.92:

In the reign of Theodosius.

Footnote 4.22.93:

_Du Culte_, etc., etc., p. 47.

-----

CHAPTER 23

=The Character of the Rājput. Influence of Custom.=—The manners of a
nation constitute the most interesting portion of its history, but a
thorough knowledge of them must be the fruit of long and attentive
observation: an axiom which applies to a people even less inaccessible
than the Rajputs. The importance and necessity of such an illustration
of the Rajput character, in a work like the present, call for and
sanction the attempt, however inadequate the means. Of what value to
mankind would be the interminable narrative of battles, were their moral
causes and results passed by unheeded? Although both the Persian and
Hindu annalists not unfrequently unite the characters of moralist and
historian, it is in a manner unsuitable to the subject, according to the
more refined taste of Europe. In the poetic annals of the Rajput, we see
him check his war-chariot, and when he should be levelling his javelin,
commence a discourse upon ethics; or when the battle is over, the Nestor
or Ulysses of the host converts his tent into a lyceum, and delivers
lectures on morals or manners. But the reflections which should follow,
and form the corollary to each action, are never given; and even if they
were, though we might comprehend the moral movements of a nation, we
should still be unable to catch the minute shades of character that
complete the picture of domestic life, and which are to be collected
from those familiar sentiments uttered in social intercourse, when the
mind unbends and nature throws aside the trammels of education and of
ceremony. Such a picture would represent the manners, which are
continually undergoing modifications, in contradistinction to the morals
of society; the latter, having a fixed creed for their basis, are
definite and unchangeable. The _chal_ of the Rajput, like the _mores_ of
the Romans, or _costumi_ of modern Italy, is significant alike of mental
and external habit. In the moral point of view it is the path chalked
out for him by the sages of antiquity [608]; in the personal, it is that
which custom has rendered immutable. _Kaisi buri chal men chalta_, ‘in
what a bad path does he march!’ says the moralist: _Bap, Dada ki chal
chhori_, ‘he abandons the usages of his ancestors,’ says the stickler
for custom, in Rajasthan.[4.23.1]

=Rājput Morals.=—The grand features of morality are few, and nearly the
same in every nation not positively barbarous. The principles contained
in the Decalogue form the basis of every code—of Manu and of Muhammad,
as well as of Moses. These are grand landmarks of the truth of divine
history; and are confirmed by the less important traits of personal
customs and religious rites, which nations the most remote from each
other continue to hold in common. The Koran we know to have been founded
on the Mosaic law; the Sastra of Manu, unconsciously, approaches still
more to the Jewish Scriptures in spirit and intention; and from its
pages might be formed a manual of moral instruction, which, if followed
by the disciples of the framer, might put more favoured societies to the
blush.

=Variety of Customs due to Environment.=—As it has been observed in a
former part of this work, the same religion governing all must tend to
produce a certain degree of mental uniformity. The shades of moral
distinction which separate these races are almost imperceptible: while
you cannot pass any grand natural barrier without having the
dissimilarity of customs and manners forced upon your observation.
Whoever passes from upland Mewar, the country of the Sesodias, into the
sandy flats of Marwar, the abode of the Rathors, would feel the force of
this remark. Innovations proceeding from external causes, such as
conquest by irreligious foes, and the birth of new sects and schisms,
operate important changes in manners and customs. We can only pretend,
however, to describe facts which are obvious, and those which history
discloses, whence some notions may be formed of the prevailing traits of
character in the Rajput; his ideas of virtue and vice, the social
intercourse and familiar courtesies of Rajasthan, and their recreations,
public and private.

“The manners of a people,” says the celebrated Goguet, “always bear a
proportion to the progress they have made in the arts and sciences.” If
by this test we trace the analogy between past and existing manners
amongst the Rajputs, we must conclude at once that they have undergone a
decided deterioration. Where can we look for sages like those whose
systems of philosophy were the [609] prototypes of those of Greece: to
whose works Plato, Thales, and Pythagoras were disciples? Where shall we
find the astronomers, whose knowledge of the planetary system yet
excites wonder in Europe, as well as the architects and sculptors, whose
works claim our admiration, and the musicians, “who could make the mind
oscillate from joy to sorrow, from tears to smiles, with the change of
modes and varied intonation.”[4.23.2] The manners of those days must
have corresponded with this advanced stage of refinement, as they must
have suffered from its decline: yet the homage paid by Asiatics to
precedent has preserved many relics of ancient customs, which have
survived the causes that produced them.

[Illustration:

A RAJPOOTNI,
Returned from Batlang in the Jumna.
]

[Illustration: DARAB KHAN, MEWATTI.]

[Illustration: BUDDUN SING, RAHTORE.]

[Illustration: SUDRAM GOSAEN.]

PORTRAITS OF A RĀJPUTNI, A RĀJPUT, A MEWĀTI AND GUSĀĪN. _To face page
708._

=Treatment of Women by the Rājputs.=—It is universally admitted that
there is no better criterion of the refinement of a nation than the
condition Of the fair sex therein. As it is elegantly expressed by Comte
Ségur, “Leur sort est une boussole sûre pour le premier regard d’un
étranger qui arrive dans un pays inconnu.”[4.23.3] Unfortunately, the
habitual seclusion of the higher classes of females in the East
contracts the sphere of observation in regard to their influence on
society; but, to borrow again from our ingenious author, “les hommes
font les lois, les femmes font les mœurs”; and their incarceration in
Rajasthan by no means lessens the application of the adage to that
country. Like the magnetic power, however latent, their attraction is
not the less certain. “C’est aux hommes à faire des grandes choses,
c’est aux femmes à les inspirer,” is a maxim to which every Rajput
cavalier would subscribe, with whom the age of chivalry is not fled,
though ages of oppression have passed over him. He knows there is no
retreat into which the report of a gallant action will not penetrate,
and set fair hearts in motion to be the object of his search. The bards,
those chroniclers of fame, like the Jongleurs of old, have everywhere
access, to the palace as to the hamlet; and a brilliant exploit travels
with all the rapidity of a comet, and clothed with the splendid
decorations of poetry, from the Indian desert to the valley of the
Jumna. If we cannot paint the Rajput dame as invested with all the
privileges which Ségur assigns to the first woman, “compagne de l’homme
et son égale, vivant par lui, pour lui, associée à son bonheur, à ses
plaisirs, à la puissance qu’il exerçait sur ce vaste univers,” she is
far removed from the condition which demands commiseration [610].

=The Seclusion of Women.=—Like the ancient German or Scandinavian, the
Rajput consults her in every transaction; from her ordinary actions he
draws the omen of success, and he appends to her name the epithet of
_devi_, or ‘godlike.’ The superficial observer, who applies his own
standard to the customs of all nations, laments with an affected
philanthropy the degraded condition of the Hindu female, in which
sentiment he would find her little disposed to join. He particularly
laments her want of liberty, and calls her seclusion imprisonment.
Although I cordially unite with Ségur, who is at issue with his
compatriot Montesquieu on this part of discipline, yet from the
knowledge I do possess of the freedom, the respect, the happiness, which
Rajput women enjoy, I am by no means inclined to deplore their state as
one of captivity. The author of the _Spirit of Laws_, with the views of
a closet philosopher, deems seclusion necessary from the irresistible
influence of climate on the passions; while the chivalrous Ségur, with
more knowledge of human nature, draws the very opposite conclusion,
asserting all restraints to be injurious to morals. Of one thing we are
certain, seclusion of females could only originate in a moderately
advanced stage of civilization. Amongst hunters, pastors, and
cultivators, the women were required to aid in all external pursuits, as
well as internal economy. The Jews secluded not their women, and the
well, where they assembled to draw water, was the place where marriages
were contracted, as with the lower classes in Rajputana. The inundations
of the Nile, each house of whose fertile valleys was isolated, is said
to have created habits of secluding women with the Egyptians; and this
argument might apply to the vast valleys of the Indus and Ganges first
inhabited, and which might have diffused example with the spread of
population. Assuredly, if India was colonized from the cradle of
nations, Central Asia, they did not thence bring these notions within
the Indus; for the Scythian women went to the opposite extreme, and were
polyandrists.[4.23.4] The desire of eradicating those impure habits,
described by Herodotus, that the slipper at the tent-door should no
longer be a sign, may have originated the opposite extreme in a life of
entire seclusion. Both polygamy and polyandry originated in a mistaken
view of the animal economy, and of the first great command to people the
earth: the one was general amongst all the nations [611] of antiquity;
the other rare, though to be found in Scythia, India, and even amongst
the Natchez, in the new world; but never with the Rajput, with whom
monogamy existed during the patriarchal ages of India, as amongst the
Egyptians.[4.23.5] Of all the nations of the world who have habituated
the female to a restricted intercourse with society, whether Grecian,
Roman, Egyptian, or Chinese, the Rajput has given least cause to provoke
the sentiment of pity; for if deference and respect be proofs of
civilization, Rajputana must be considered as redundant in evidence of
it. The uxoriousness of the Rajput might be appealed to as indicative of
the decay of national morals; “chez les barbares (says Ségur) les femmes
ne sont rien: les mœurs de ces peuples s’adoucissent-t’-elles, on
compte les femmes pour quelque chose: enfin, se corrompent-elles, les
femmes sont tout”; and whether from this decay, or the more probable and
amiable cause of seeking, in their society, consolation for the loss of
power and independence, the women are nearly everything with the Rajput.

It is scarcely fair to quote Manu as an authority for the proper
treatment of the fair sex, since many of his dicta by no means tend to
elevate their condition. In his lengthened catalogue of things pure and
impure he says, however, “The mouth of a woman is constantly
pure,”[4.23.6] and he ranks it with the running waters and the sunbeam;
he suggests that their names should be “agreeable, soft, clear,
captivating the fancy, auspicious, ending in long vowels, resembling
words of benediction.”[4.23.7]

“Where females are honoured” (says Manu), “there the deities are
pleased; but where dishonoured, there all religious rites become
useless”: and he declares, “that in whatever house a woman not duly
honoured pronounces an imprecation, that house, with all that belongs to
it, shall utterly perish.”[4.23.8] “Strike not, even with a blossom, a
wife guilty of a hundred faults,”[4.23.9] says another sage: a sentiment
so delicate, that Reginald de Born, the prince of troubadours, never
uttered any more refined.

However exalted the respect of the Rajput for the fair, he nevertheless
holds that

Nothing lovelier can be found
In woman, than to study household good [612].

=The Chief of Sādri and his Wife.=—In the most tempestuous period of the
history of Mewar, when the Ranas broke asunder the bonds which united
them to the other chiefs of Rajasthan, and bestowed their daughters on
the foreign nobles incorporated with the higher class of their own kin,
the chief of Sadri, so often mentioned, had obtained a princess to wife.
There was a hazard to domestic happiness in such unequal alliance, which
the lord of Sadri soon experienced. To the courteous request,
“Ranawatji, fill me a cup of water,” he received a contemptuous refusal,
with the remark, that “The daughter of a hundred kings would not become
cup-bearer to the chieftain of Sadri.”—“Very well,” replied the plain
soldier, “you may return to your father’s house, if you can be of no use
in mine.” A messenger was instantly sent to the court, and the message,
with every aggravation, was made known; and she followed on the heels of
her messenger. A summons soon arrived for the Sadri chief to attend his
sovereign at the capital. He obeyed; and arrived in time to give his
explanation just as the Rana was proceeding to hold a full court. As
usual, the Sadri chief was placed on his sovereign’s right hand, and
when the court broke up, the heir-apparent of Mewar, at a preconcerted
sign, stood at the edge of the carpet, performing the menial office of
holding the slippers of the chief. Shocked at such a mark of extreme
respect, he stammered forth some words of homage, his unworthiness,
etc.; to which the Rana replied, “As my son-in-law, no distinction too
great can be conferred: take home your wife, she will never again refuse
you a cup of water” [613].[4.23.10]

Could authority deemed divine ensure obedience to what is considered a
virtue in all ages and countries, the conjugal duties of the Rajputs are
comprehended in the following simple text: “Let mutual fidelity continue
to death; this, in few words, may be considered as the supreme law
between husband and wife.”[4.23.11]

=Devotion of Rājput Women.=—That this law governed the Rajputs in past
ages, as well as the present, in as great a degree as in other stages of
society and other countries, we cannot doubt. Nor will the annals of any
nation afford more numerous or more sublime instances of female
devotion, than those of the Rajputs; and such would never have been
recorded, were not the incentive likely to be revered and followed. How
easy would it be to cite examples for every passion which can actuate
the human mind! Do we desire to see a model of unbounded devotion,
resignation, and love, let us take the picture of Sita, as painted by
the Milton of their silver age, than which nothing more beautiful or
sentimental may be culled even from Paradise Lost. Rama was about to
abandon his faithful wife for the purpose of becoming a Vana-prastha or
hermit, when she thus pours out her ardent desire to partake of his
solitude.

A woman’s bliss is found, not in the smile
Of father, mother, friend, nor in herself:
Her husband is her only portion here,
Her heaven hereafter. If thou indeed
Depart this day into the forest drear,
I will precede, and smooth the thorny way.

A gay recluse
On thee attending, happy shall I feel
Within the honey-scented grove to roam,
For thou e’en here canst nourish and protect;
And therefore other friend I cannot need.
To-day most surely with thee will I go,
And thus resolved, I must not be deny’d.
Roots and wild fruit shall be my constant food;
Nor will I near thee add unto thy cares,
Nor lag behind, nor forest-food refuse,
But fearless traverse every hill and dale.

Thus could I sweetly pass a thousand years;
But without thee e’en heaven would lose its charms [614].

Pleased to embrace thy feet, I will reside
In the rough forest as my father’s house.
Void of all other wish, supremely thine,
Permit me this request—I will not grieve,
I will not burden thee—refuse me not.
But shouldst thou, Raghuvu, this prayer deny
Know, I resolve on death.

_Vide_ Ward, _On the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindus_,
ed. 1815, ii. p. 308 ff. [Cp. Manu, vi. 2 ff.]

The publication of Mr. Wilson’s specimens of the Hindu drama has put the
English public in possession of very striking features of ancient Hindu
manners, amongst which conjugal fidelity and affection stand eminently
conspicuous. The Uttara Rama Charitra, the Vikrama and Urvasi, and the
Mudra Rakshasa, contain many instances in point. In the latter piece
occurs an example, in comparatively humble life, of the strong affection
of a Hindu wife. Chandana Das, like Antonio in the _Merchant of Venice_,
is doomed to die, to save his friend. His wife follows him to the scene
of execution, with their only child, and the succeeding dialogue ensues:

_Chand._ Withdraw, my love, and lead our boy along.

_Wife._ Forgive me, husband,—to another world

Thy steps are bound, and not to foreign realms,

Whence in due time thou homeward wilt return;

No common farewell our leave-taking now

Admits, nor must the partner of thy fate

Leave thee to trace thy solitary way.

_Chand._ What dost thou mean?

_Wife._ To follow thee in death.

_Chand._ Think not of this—our boy’s yet tender years

Demand affectionate and guardian care.

_Wife._ I leave him to our household gods, nor fear

They will desert his youth:—come, my dear boy,

And bid thy sire a long and last farewell.

=The Tale of Dewaldai.=—The annals of no nation on earth record a more
ennobling or more magnanimous instance of female loyalty than that
exemplified by Dewaldai, mother of the Bannaphar brothers, which will at
once illustrate the manners of the Rajput fair, and their estimation and
influence in society.

The last Hindu emperor of Delhi, the chivalrous Prithiraj of the Chauhan
race, had abducted the daughter of the prince of Sameta. Some of the
wounded who had covered his retreat were assailed and put to death by
Parmal, the Chandel prince of Mahoba.[4.23.12] In order to avenge this
insult, the emperor had no sooner conveyed his bride to Delhi than he
invaded the territory of the Chandel, whose troops were cut to pieces at
Sirswa,[4.23.13] the advanced post of his kingdom. While [615] pursuing
his success, the Chandel called a council, and by the advice of his
queen Malandevi demanded a truce of his adversary, on the plea of the
absence of his chieftains Alha and Udala. The brother of the bard of
Mahoba was the envoy, who found the Chauhan ready to cross the Pahuj. He
presented his gifts, and adjured him, “as a true Rajput, not to take
them at such disadvantage.” The gifts were accepted, and the Chauhan
pledged himself, “albeit his warriors were eager for the fight,” to
grant the truce demanded; and having dismissed the herald, he inquired
of his own bard, the prophetic Chand, the cause of the disaffection
which led to the banishment of the Bannaphar; to which he thus replies:
“Jasraj was the leader of the armies of Mahoba when his sovereign was
defeated and put to flight by the wild race of Gonds; Jasraj repulsed
the foe, captured Garha their capital, and laid his head at his
sovereign’s feet. Parmal returning with victory to Mahoba, in gratitude
for his service, embraced the sons of Jasraj, and placed them in his
honours and lands, while Malandevi the queen made no distinction between
them and her son.” The fief of the young Bannaphar[4.23.14] chieftains
was at the celebrated fortress Kalanjar, where their sovereign happening
to see a fine mare belonging to Alha, desired to possess her, and being
refused, so far forgot past services as to compel them to abandon the
country. On retiring they fired the estates of the Parihara chief who
had instigated their disgrace. With their mother and families they
repaired to Kanauj, whose monarch received them with open arms,
assigning lands for their maintenance. Having thus premised the cause of
banishment, Chand conducts us to Kanauj, at the moment when Jagnakh the
bard was addressing the exiles on the dangers of Mahoba.

=War with Prithirāj.=—“The Chauhan is encamped on the plains of Mahoba;
Narsingh and Birsingh have fallen, Sirswa is given to the flames, and
the kingdom of Parmal laid waste by the Chauhan. For one month a truce
has been obtained: while to you I am sent for aid in his griefs. Listen,
O sons of Bannaphar; sad have been the days of Malandevi since you left
Mahoba! Oft she looks towards Kanauj; and while she recalls you to mind,
tears gush from her eyes and she exclaims, ‘The fame of the Chandel is
departing’; but when gone, O sons of Jasraj, great will be your
self-accusing sorrow: yet, think of Mahoba.”

“Destruction to Mahoba! Annihilation to the Chandel who, without fault
[616], expelled us our home: in whose service fell our father, by whom
his kingdom was extended. Send the slanderous Parihara—let him lead your
armies against the heroes of Delhi. Our heads were the pillars of
Mahoba; by us were the Gonds expelled, and their strongholds Deogarh and
Chandbari added to his sway. We maintained the field against the Jadon,
sacked Hindaun,[4.23.15] and planted his standard on the plains of
Katehr.[4.23.16] It was I (continued Alha) who stopped the sword of the
conquering Kachhwaha[4.23.17]—The amirs of the Sultan fled before us.—At
Gaya we were victorious, and added Rewa[4.23.18] to his kingdom.
Antarved[4.23.19] I gave to the flames, and levelled to the ground the
towns of Mewat.[4.23.20] From ten princes did Jasraj bring spoil to
Mahoba. This have we done; and the reward is exile from our home! Seven
times have I received wounds in his service, and since my father’s death
gained forty battles; and from seven has Udala conveyed the record of
victory[4.23.21] to Parmal. Thrice my death seemed inevitable. The
honour of his house I have upheld—yet exile is my reward!”

The bard replies—“The father of Parmal left him when a child to the care
of Jasraj. Your father was in lieu of his own; the son should not
abandon him when misfortune makes him call on you. The Rajput who
abandons his sovereign in distress will be plunged into hell. Then place
on your head the loyalty of your father. Can you desire to remain at
Kanauj while he is in trouble, who expended thousands in rejoicings for
your birth? Malandevi (the queen), who loves you as her own, presses
your return. She bids me demand of Dewaldai fulfilment of the
oft-repeated vow, that your life and Mahoba, when endangered, were
inseparable. The breaker of vows, despised on earth, will be plunged
into hell, there to remain while sun and moon endure.”

Dewaldai heard the message of the queen. “Let us fly to Mahoba,” she
[617] exclaimed. Alha was silent, while Udala said aloud, “May evil
spirits seize upon Mahoba!—Can we forget the day when, in distress, he
drove us forth?—Return to Mahoba—let it stand or fall, it is the same to
me; Kanauj is henceforth my home.”

“Would that the gods had made me barren,” said Dewaldai, “that I had
never borne sons who thus abandon the paths of the Rajput, and refuse to
succour their prince in danger!” Her heart bursting with grief, and her
eyes raised to heaven, she continued: “Was it for this, O universal
lord, thou mad’st me feel a mother’s pangs for these destroyers of
Bannaphar’s fame? Unworthy offspring! the heart of the true Rajput
dances with joy at the mere name of strife—but ye, degenerate, cannot be
the sons of Jasraj—some carl must have stolen to my embrace, and from
such ye must be sprung.” The young chiefs arose, their faces withered in
sadness. “When we perish in defence of Mahoba, and covered with wounds,
perform deeds that will leave a deathless name; when our heads roll in
the field—when we embrace the valiant in fight, and treading in the
footsteps of the brave, make resplendent the blood of both lines, even
in the presence of the heroes of the Chauhan, then will our mother
rejoice.”

The envoy having, by this loyal appeal of Dewaldai, attained the object
of his mission, the brothers repair to the monarch of Kanauj,[4.23.22]
in order to ask permission to return to Mahoba; this is granted, and
they are dismissed with magnificent gifts, in which the bardic herald
participated;[4.23.23] and the parting valediction was “preserve the
faith of the Rajputs.” The omens during the march were of the worst
kind: as Jagnakh expounded them, Alha with a smile replied, “O bard,
though thou canst dive into the dark recesses of futurity, to the brave
all omens are happy,[4.23.24] even though our heroes shall fall, and the
fame of the Chandel must depart; thus in secret does my soul assure me.”
The saras[4.23.25] was alone on the right—the eagle as he flew dropped
his prey—the chakwa[4.23.26] “separated from his mate—drops fell from
the eyes of the warlike steed—the siyal[4.23.27] sent forth sounds of
lamentation; spots were seen on the disc of the sun” [618]. The
countenance of Lakhan fell;[4.23.28] these portents filled his soul with
dismay: but Alha said, “though these omens bode death, yet death to the
valiant, to the pure in faith, is an object of desire not of sorrow. The
path of the Rajput is beset with difficulties, rugged, and filled with
thorns; but he regards it not, so it but conducts to battle.”—“To carry
joy to Parmala alone occupied their thoughts: the steeds bounded over
the plain like the swift-footed deer.” The brothers, ere they reached
Mahoba, halted to put on the saffron robe, the sign of “no quarter” with
the Rajput warrior. The intelligence of their approach filled the
Chandela prince with joy, who advanced to embrace his defenders, and
conduct them to Mahoba; while the queen Malandevi came to greet
Dewaldai, who with the herald bard paid homage, and returned with the
queen to the city. Rich gifts were presented, gems resplendent with
light. The queen sent for Alha, and extending her hands over his head,
bestowed the _asis_[4.23.29] (blessing) as kneeling he swore his head
was with Mahoba, and then waved a vessel filled with pearls over his
head, which were distributed to his followers.[4.23.30]

The bardic herald was rewarded with four villages. We are then
introduced to the Chauhan camp and council, where Chand the bard is
expatiating on the return of the Bannaphars with the succours of Kanauj.
He recommends his sovereign to send a herald to the Chandel to announce
the expiration of the truce, and requiring him to meet him in the field,
or abandon Mahoba. According to the bard’s advice, a dispatch was
transmitted to Parmal, in which the cause of war was recapitulated—the
murder of the wounded; and stating that, according to Rajput faith, he
had granted seven days beyond the time demanded, “and although so many
days had passed since succour had arrived from Kanauj, the lion-horn had
not yet sounded (_singhnad_)”: adding, “if he abandon all desire of
combat, let him proclaim his vassalage to Delhi, and abandon Mahoba.”

Parmal received the hostile message in despair; but calling his warriors
around him, he replied to the herald of the Chauhan, that “on the day of
the sun, the first of the month, he would join him in strife” [619].

“On the day sacred to Sukra (Friday), Prithiraj sounded the shell, while
the drums thrice struck proclaimed the truce concluded.[4.23.31] The
standard was brought forth, around which the warriors gathered; the cup
circulated, the prospect of battle filled their souls with joy. They
anointed their bodies with fragrant oils, while the celestial Apsaras
with ambrosial oils and heavenly perfumes anointed their silver forms,
tinged their eyelids, and prepared for the reception of heroes.[4.23.32]
The sound of the war-shell reached Kailas; the abstraction of Iswara was
at an end—joy seized his soul at the prospect of completing his chaplet
of skulls (_mundamala_). The Yoginis danced with joy, their faces
sparkled with delight, as they seized their vessels to drink the blood
of the slain. The devourers of flesh, the Palankashas, sung songs of
triumph at the game of battle between the Chauhan and Chandel.”

In another measure, the bard proceeds to contrast the occupations of his
heroes and the celestials preparatory to the combat, which descriptions
are termed _rupaka_. “The heroes gird on their armour, while the
heavenly fair deck their persons. They place on their heads the helm
crowned with the war-bell (_viragantha_), these adjust the corset; they
draw the girths of the war-steed, the fair of the world of bliss bind
the anklet of bells; nets of steel defend the turban’s fold, they braid
their hair with golden flowers and gems; the warrior polishes his
falchion—the fair tints the eyelid with _anjan_;[4.23.33] the hero
points his dagger, the fair paints a heart on her forehead; he braces on
his ample buckler—she places the resplendent orb in her ear; he binds
his arms with a gauntlet of brass—she stains her hands with the henna.
The hero decorates his hand with the tiger-claw[4.23.34]—the Apsaras
ornaments with rings and golden bracelets; the warrior shakes the
ponderous lance—the heavenly fair the garland of love[4.23.35] to
decorate those who fall in the fight; she binds on a necklace of pearls,
he a _mala_ of the tulasi.[4.23.36] The warrior strings his bow—the fair
assume their killing [620] glances. Once more the heroes look to their
girths, while the celestial fair prepare their cars.”

After the bard has finished his _rupaka_, he exclaims, “Thus says Chand,
the lord of verse; with my own eyes have I seen what I describe.” It is
important to remark, that the national faith of the Rajput never
questions the prophetic power of their chief bard, whom they call
Trikala, or cognoscent of the past, the present, and the future—a
character which the bard has enjoyed in all ages and climes; but Chand
was the last whom they admitted to possess supernatural vision.

We must now return to Mahoba, where a grand council had assembled at a
final deliberation; at which, shaded by screens, the mother of the
Bannaphars, and the queen Malandevi, were present. The latter thus opens
the debate: “O mother of Alha, how may we succeed against the lord of
the world?[4.23.37] If defeated, lost is Mahoba; if we pay tribute, we
are loaded with shame.” Dewaldai recommends hearing _seriatim_ the
opinions of the chieftains, when Alha thus speaks: “Listen, O mother, to
your son; he alone is of pure lineage who, placing loyalty on his head,
abandons all thoughts of self, and lays down his life for his prince; my
thoughts are only for Parmal. If she lives she will show herself a
woman, or emanation of Parvati.[4.23.38] The warriors of Sambhar shall
be cut in pieces. I will so illustrate the blood of my fathers, that my
fame shall last for ever. My son Indal, O prince! I bequeath to you, and
the fame of Dewaldai is in your keeping.”

The queen thus replies: “The warriors of the Chauhan are fierce as they
are numerous; pay tribute, and save Mahoba.” The soul of Udala inflamed,
and turning to the queen, “Why thought you not thus when you slew the
defenceless? but then I was unheard. Whence now your wisdom? thrice I
beseeched you to pardon. Nevertheless, Mahoba is safe while life remains
in me, and in your cause, O Parmal! we shall espouse celestial brides.”

“Well have you spoken, my son,” said Dewaldai, “nothing now remains but
to make thy parent’s milk resplendent by thy deeds. The call of the
peasant driven [621] from his home meets the ear, and while we
deliberate, our villages are given to the flames.” But Parmal replied:
“Saturn[4.23.39] rules the day, to-morrow we shall meet the foe.” With
indignation Alha turned to the king: “He who can look tamely on while
the smoke ascends from his ruined towns, his fields laid waste, can be
no Rajput—he who succumbs to fear when his country is invaded, his body
will be plunged into the hell of hells, his soul a wanderer in the world
of spirits for sixty thousand years; but the warrior who performs his
duty will be received into the mansion of the sun, and his deeds will
last for ever.”

But cowardice and cruelty always accompany each other, nor could all the
speeches of the brothers “screw his courage to the sticking place.”
Parmal went to his queen, and gave fresh vent to his lamentation. She
upbraided his unmanly spirit, and bid him head his troops and go forth
to the fight. The heroes embraced their wives for the last time, and
with the dawn performed their pious rites. The Bannaphar offered
oblations to the nine planets, and having adored the image of his
tutelary god, he again put the chain round his neck;[4.23.40] then
calling his son Indal, and Udala his brother, he once more poured forth
his vows to the universal mother “that he would illustrate the name of
Jasraj, and evince the pure blood derived from Dewaldai, whene’er he met
the foe.”—“Nobly have you resolved,” said Udala, “and shall not my
_kirwan_[4.23.41] also dazzle the eyes of Sambhar’s lord? shall he not
retire from before me?”—“Farewell, my children,” said Dewaldai, “be true
to your salt, and should you lose your heads for your prince, doubt not
you will obtain the celestial crown.” Having ceased, the wives of both
exclaimed, “What virtuous wife survives her lord? for thus says
Gauriji,[4.23.42] ‘the woman, who survives her husband who falls in the
field of battle, will never obtain bliss, but wander a discontented
ghost in the region of unhallowed spirits.’”

This is sufficient to exhibit the supreme influence of women, not only
on, but also in society.

The extract is taken from the Bardic historian, when Hindu customs were
pure, and the Chauhan was paramount sovereign of India. It is worth
while to compare it with another written six centuries after the
conquest by the Muhammadans; although six dynasties—namely, Ghazni,
Ghor, Khilji [622], Sayyid, Lodi, and Mogul, numbering more than thirty
kings, had intervened, yet the same uncontrollable spirit was in full
force, unchangeable even in misfortune. Both Hindu and Persian
historians expatiate with delight on the anecdote; but we prefer the
narrative of the ingenuous Bernier, under whose eye the incident
occurred.

=Jaswant Singh and his Wife.=—In the civil war for empire amongst the
sons of Shah Jahan, when Aurangzeb opened his career by the deposal of
his father and the murder of his brothers, the Rajputs, faithful to the
emperor, determined to oppose him. Under the intrepid Rathor Jaswant
Singh, thirty thousand Rajputs, chiefly of that clan, advanced to the
Nerbudda, and with a magnanimity amounting to imprudence, they permitted
the junction of Murad with Aurangzeb, who, under cover of artillery
served by Frenchmen, crossed the river almost unopposed. Next morning
the action commenced, which continued throughout the day. The Rajputs
behaved with their usual bravery; but were surrounded on all sides, and
by sunset left ten thousand dead on the field.[4.23.43] The Maharaja
retreated to his own country, but his wife, a daughter of the Rana of
Udaipur, “disdained (says Ferishta) to receive her lord, and shut the
gates of the castle.”

Bernier, who was present, says, “I cannot forbear to relate the fierce
reception which the daughter of the Rana gave to her husband Jeswunt
Singh [Jessom Seingue], after his defeat and flight. When she heard he
was nigh, and had understood what had passed in the battle; that he had
fought with all possible courage; that he had but four or five hundred
men left; and at last, no longer able to resist the enemy, had been
forced to retreat; instead of sending some one to condole him in his
misfortunes, she commanded in a dry mood to shut the gates of the
castle, and not to let this infamous man enter; that he was not her
husband; that the son-in-law of the great Rana could not have so mean a
soul; that he was to remember, that being grafted into so illustrious a
house, he was to imitate its virtue; in a word, he was to vanquish, or
to die. A moment after, she was of another humour; she commands a pile
of wood to be laid, that she might burn herself; that they abused her;
that her husband must needs be dead; that it could not be otherwise. And
a little while after, she was seen to change countenance, to [623] fall
into a passion, and break into a thousand reproaches against him. In
short, she remained thus transported eight or nine days, without being
able to resolve to see her husband, till at last her mother coming,
brought her in time to herself, composed by assuring her that as soon as
the Raja had but refreshed himself he would raise another army to fight
Aurangzeb, and repair his honour. By which story one may see,” says
Bernier, “a pattern of the courage of the women in that country”; and he
adds this philosophical corollary on this and the custom of satis, which
he had witnessed: “There is nothing which opinion, prepossession,
custom, hope, and the point of honour, may not make men do or
suffer.”[4.23.44]

=The Tale of Sanjogta.=—The romantic history of the Chauhan emperor of
Delhi abounds in sketches of female character; and in the story of his
carrying off Sanjogta, the princess of Kanauj, we have not only the
individual portrait of the Helen of her country, but in it a faithful
picture of the sex. We see her, from the moment when, rejecting the
assembled princes, she threw the “garland of marriage” round the neck of
her hero, the Chauhan, abandon herself to all the influences of
passion—mix in a combat of five days’ continuance against her father’s
array, witness his overthrow, and the carnage of both armies, and
subsequently, by her seductive charms, lulling her lover into a neglect
of every princely duty. Yet when the foes of his glory and power invade
India, we see the enchantress at once start from her trance of pleasure,
and exchanging the softer for the sterner passions, in accents not less
strong because mingled with deep affection, she conjures him, while
arming him for the battle, to die for his fame, declaring that she will
join him in “the mansions of the sun.” Though it is difficult to
extract, in passages sufficiently condensed, what may convey a just idea
of this heroine, we shall attempt it in the bard’s own language,
rendered into prose. He announces the tidings of invasion by the medium
of a dream, which the Chauhan thus relates:

“‘This night, while in the arms of sleep, a fair, beautiful as Rambha,
rudely seized my arm; then she assailed you, and while you were
struggling, a mighty elephant,[4.23.45] infuriated, and hideous as a
demon, bore down upon me. Sleep fled—nor Rambha nor demon remained—but
my heart was panting, and [624] my quivering lips muttering _Har!
Har!_[4.23.46] What is decreed the gods only know.’

“Sanjogta replied, ‘Victory and fame to my lord! O, sun of the Chauhans,
in glory, or in pleasure, who has tasted so deeply as you? To die is the
destiny not only of man but of the gods: all desire to throw off the old
garment; but to die well is to live for ever. Think not of self, but of
immortality; let your sword divide your foe, and I will be your
_ardhanga_[4.23.47] hereafter.’

“The king sought the bard, who expounded the dream, and the Guru wrote
an incantation, which he placed in his turban. A thousand brass vessels
of fresh milk were poured in libations to the sun and moon. Ten
buffaloes were sacrificed to the supporters of the globe, and gifts were
made to all. But will offerings of blood or libations of milk arrest
what is decreed? If by these man could undo what is ordained, would Nala
or the Pandus have suffered as they did?”

While the warriors assemble in council to consult on the best mode of
opposing the Sultan of Ghazni, the king leaves them to deliberate, in
order to advise with Sanjogta. Her reply is curious:

“Who asks woman for advice? The world deems their understanding shallow;
even when truths issue from their lips, none listen thereto. Yet what is
the world without woman? We have the forms of Sakti[4.23.48] with the
fire of Siva; we are at once thieves and sanctuaries; we are vessels of
virtue and of vice—of knowledge and of ignorance. The man of wisdom, the
astrologer, can from the books calculate the motion and course of the
planets; but in the book of woman he is ignorant: and this is not a
saying of to-day, it ever has been so: our book has not been mastered,
therefore, to hide their ignorance, they say, in woman there is no
wisdom! Yet woman shares your joys and your sorrows. Even when you
depart from the mansion of the sun, we part not. Hunger and thirst we
cheerfully partake with you; we are as the lakes, of which you are the
swans; what are when absent from our bosoms?”

The army having assembled, and all being prepared to march against the
Islamite, in the last great battle which subjugated India, the fair
Sanjogta armed her lord for the encounter. In vain she sought the rings
of his corslet; her eyes were [625] fixed on the face of the Chauhan, as
those of the famished wretch who finds a piece of gold. The sound of the
drum reached the ear of the Chauhan; it was as a death-knell on that of
Sanjogta: and as he left her to head Delhi’s heroes, she vowed that
henceforward water only should sustain her. “I shall see him again in
the region of Surya, but never more in Yoginipur.”[4.23.49] Her
prediction was fulfilled: her lord was routed, made captive and slain;
and, faithful to her vow, she mounted the funeral pyre.

=The Queen of Ganor.=—Were we called upon to give a pendant for
Lucretia, it would be found in the queen of Ganor.[4.23.50] After having
defended five fortresses against the foe, she retreated to her last
stronghold on the Nerbudda, and had scarcely left the bark, when the
assailants arrived in pursuit. The disheartened defenders were few in
number, and the fortress was soon in possession of the foe, the founder
of the family now ruling in Bhopal. The beauty of the queen of Ganor was
an allurement only secondary to his desire for her country, and he
invited her to reign over it and him. Denial would have been useless,
and would have subjected her to instant coercion, for the Khan awaited
her reply in the hall below; she therefore sent a message of assent,
with a complimentary reflection on his gallant conduct and determination
of pursuit; adding, that he merited her hand for his bravery, and might
prepare for the nuptials, which should be celebrated on the terrace of
the palace. She demanded two hours for unmolested preparation, that she
might appear in appropriate attire, and with the distinction her own and
his rank demanded.

Ceremonials, on a scale of magnificence equal to the shortness of the
time, were going on. The song of joy had already stifled the discordant
voice of war, and at length the Khan was summoned to the terrace. Robed
in the marriage garb presented to him by the queen, with a necklace and
aigrette of superb jewels from the coffers of Ganor, he hastened to obey
the mandate, and found that fame had not done justice to her charms. He
was desired to be seated, and in conversation full of rapture on his
side, hours were as minutes while he gazed on the beauty of the queen.
But presently his countenance fell—he complained of heat; punkas and
water were brought, but they availed him not, and he began to tear the
bridal garments from his frame, when the queen thus addressed him [626]:
“Know, Khan, that your last hour is come; our wedding and our death
shall be sealed together. The vestments which cover you are poisoned;
you had left me no other expedient to escape pollution.” While all were
horror-struck by this declaration, she sprung from the battlements into
the flood beneath. The Khan died in extreme torture, and was buried on
the road to Bhopal; and, strange to say, a visit to his grave has the
reputation of curing the tertian of that country.[4.23.51]

=Rāja Jai Singh and his Wife.=—We may give another anecdote illustrative
of this extreme delicacy of sentiment, but without so tragical a
conclusion. The celebrated Raja Jai Singh of Amber had espoused a
princess of Haraoti, whose manners and garb, accordant with the
simplicity of that provincial capital, subjected her to the badinage of
the more refined court of Amber, whose ladies had added the imperial
costume to their own native dress. One day being alone with the prince,
he began playfully to contrast the sweeping jupe of Kotah with the more
scanty robe of the belles of his own capital; and taking up a pair of
scissors, said he would reduce it to an equality with the latter.
Offended at such levity, she seized his sword, and assuming a
threatening attitude, said, “that in the house to which she had the
honour to belong, they were not habituated to jests of this nature; that
mutual respect was the guardian, not only of happiness but of virtue”;
and she assured him, that if he ever again so insulted her, he would
find that the daughter of Kotah could use a sword more effectively than
the prince of Amber the scissors; adding, that she would prevent any
future scion of her house from being subjected to similar disrespect, by
declaring such intermarriages _talak_, or forbidden, which interdict I
believe yet exists.[4.23.52]

=A Courageous Rājput Woman.=—I will append an anecdote related by the
celebrated Zalim Singh, characteristic of the presence of mind,
prowess, and physical strength of the Rajput women. To attend and aid
in the minutiae of husbandry is by no means uncommon with them, as to
dress and carry the meals of their husbands to the fields is a general
practice. In the jungle which skirts the knolls of Pachpahar, a huge
bear assaulted a Rajputni as she was carrying her husband’s dinner. As
he approached with an air of gallantry upon his hind-legs, doubting
whether the food or herself [627] were the intended prey, she
retreated behind a large tree, round the trunk of which Bruin, still
in his erect attitude, tried all his powers of circumvention to seize
her. At length, half exhausted, she boldly grasped his paws, and with
so vigorous a hold that he roared with pain, while in vain, with his
short neck, did he endeavour to reach the powerful hand which fixed
him. While she was in this dilemma, a Pardesi (a foreign soldier of
the State) happened to be passing to the garrison of Gagraun, and she
called out to him in a voice of such unconcern to come and release her
for a time, that he complied without hesitation. She had not retired,
however, above a dozen yards ere he called loudly for her return,
being scarcely able to hold his new friend; but laughingly
recommending perseverance, she hastened on, and soon returned with her
husband, who laid the monster prostrate with his matchlock, and
rescued the Pardesi from his unpleasing predicament.[4.23.53]

Such anecdotes might be multiplied _ad infinitum_; but I will conclude
with one displaying the romantic chivalry of the Rajput, and the
influence of the fair in the formation of character; it is taken from
the annals of Jaisalmer, the most remote of the States of Rajasthan, and
situated in the heart of the desert, of which it is an oasis.

=The Wedding of Sādhu.=—Raningdeo was lord of Pugal, a fief of
Jaisalmer; his heir, named Sadhu, was the terror of the desert, carrying
his raids even to the valley of the Indus, and on the east to Nagor.
Returning from a foray, with a train of captured camels and horses, he
passed by Aurint, where dwelt Manik Rao, the chief of the Mohils, whose
rule extended over 1440 villages. Being invited to partake of the
hospitality of the Mohil, the heir of Pugal attracted the favourable
regards of the old chieftain’s daughter:

She loved him for the dangers he had passed;

for he had the fame of being the first riever of the desert. Although
betrothed to the heir of the Rathor of Mandor, she signified her wish to
renounce the throne to be the bride of the chieftain of Pugal; and in
spite of the dangers he provoked, and contrary to the Mohil chief’s
advice, Sadhu, as a gallant Rajput, dared not reject the overture, and
he promised “to accept the coco,”[4.23.54] if sent in form to Pugal
[628]. In due time it came, and the nuptials were solemnized at Aurint.
The dower was splendid; gems of high price, vessels of gold and silver,
a golden bull, and a train of thirteen _dewadharis_,[4.23.55] or damsels
of wisdom and penetration.

Arankanwal, the slighted heir of Mandor, determined on revenge, and with
four thousand Rathors planted himself in the path of Sadhu’s return,
aided by the Sankhla Mehraj, whose son Sadhu had slain. Though entreated
to add four thousand Mohils to his escort, Sadhu deemed his own gallant
band of seven hundred Bhattis sufficient to convey his bride to his
desert abode, and with difficulty accepted fifty, led by Meghraj, the
brother of the bride.

The rivals encountered at Chondan, where Sadhu had halted to repose; but
the brave Rathor scorned the advantage of numbers, and a series of
single combats ensued, with all the forms of chivalry. The first who
entered the lists was Jaitanga, of the Pahu clan, and of the kin of
Sadhu. The enemy came upon him by surprise while reposing on the ground,
his saddle-cloth for his couch, and the bridle of his steed twisted
round his arm; he was soon recognized by the Sankhla, who had often
encountered his prowess, on which he expatiated to Arankanwal, who sent
an attendant to awake him; but the gallant Panch Kalyan (for such was
the name of his steed) had already performed this service, and they
found him upbraiding white-legs[4.23.56] for treading upon him. Like a
true Rajput, “_toujours prêt_,” he received the hostile message, and
sent the envoy back with his compliments, and a request for some _amal_
or opium, as he had lost his own supply. With all courtesy this was
sent, and prepared by the domestics of his antagonist; after taking
which he lay down to enjoy the customary siesta. As soon as he awoke, he
prepared for the combat, girt on his armour, and having reminded Panch
Kalyan of the fields he had won, and telling him to bear him well that
day, he mounted and advanced. The son of Chonda admiring his sang-froid,
and the address with which he guided his steed, commanded Jodha Chauhan,
the leader of his party, to encounter the Pahu. “Their two-edged swords
soon clashed in combat”; but the gigantic Chauhan fell beneath the
Bhatti, who, warmed with the fight, plunged amidst his foes,
encountering all he deemed worthy of his assault.

The fray thus begun, single combats and actions of equal parties
followed, the [629] rivals looking on. At length Sadhu mounted: twice he
charged the Rathor ranks, carrying death on his lance; each time he
returned for the applause of his bride, who beheld the battle from her
car. Six hundred of his foes had fallen, and nearly half his own
warriors. He bade her a last adieu, while she exhorted him to the fight,
saying, “she would witness his deeds, and if he fell, would follow him
even in death.” Now he singled out his rival Arankanwal,[4.23.57] who
was alike eager to end the strife, and blot out his disgrace in his
blood. They met: some seconds were lost in a courteous contention, each
yielding to his rival the first blow, at length dealt out by Sadhu on
the neck of the disappointed Rathor. It was returned with the rapidity
of lightning, and the daughter of the Mohil saw the steel descend on the
head of her lover. Both fell prostrate to the earth: but Sadhu’s soul
had sped; the Rathor had only swooned. With the fall of the leaders the
battle ceased; and the fair cause of strife, Karamdevi, at once a
virgin, a wife, and a widow, prepared to follow her affianced. Calling
for a sword, with one arm she dissevered the other, desiring it might be
conveyed to the father of her lord—“tell him such was his daughter.” The
other she commanded to be struck off, and given, with her marriage
jewels thereon, to the bard of the Mohils. The pile was prepared on the
field of battle; and taking her lord in her embrace, she gave herself up
to the devouring flames. The dissevered limbs were disposed of as
commanded; the old Rao of Pugal caused the one to be burnt, and a tank
was excavated on the spot, which is still called after the heroine, “the
lake of Karamdevi.”

This encounter took place in S. 1462, A.D. 1406. The brunt of the battle
fell on the Sankhlas, and only twenty-five out of three hundred and
fifty left the field with their leader, Mehraj, himself severely
wounded. The rejected lover had four brothers dangerously hurt; and in
six months the wounds of Arankanwal opened afresh: he died, and the
rites to the manes of these rivals in love, the _chhamasa_[4.23.58] of
Sadhu, and the _duadasa_[4.23.59] of Arankanwal, were celebrated on the
same day.

Without pausing to trace the moral springs of that devotion which
influenced the Mohila maiden, we shall relate the sequel to the story
(though out of place)[4.23.60] in illustration of the prosecution of
feuds throughout Rajasthan. The fathers [630] now took up the quarrel of
their sons; and as it was by the prowess of the Sankhla vassal of Mandor
that the band of Sadhu was discomfited, the old Rao, Raningdeo, drew
together the lances of Pugal, and carried destruction into the fief of
Mehraj. The Sankhlas yield in valour to none of the brave races who
inhabit the “region of death”; and Mehraj was the father of Harbuji
Sankhla, the Palladin of Marudes, whose exploits are yet the theme of
the erratic bards of Rajasthan. Whether he was unprepared for the
assault, or overcome by numbers, three hundred of his kin and clan
moistened the sand-hills of the Luni with their blood. Raningdeo,
flushed with revenge and laden with spoil, had reached his own frontier,
when he was overtaken by Chonda of Mandor, alike eager to avenge the
loss of his son Arankanwal, and this destructive inroad on his vassal. A
desperate conflict ensued, in which the Rao of Pugal was slain; and the
Rathor returned in triumph to Mandor.

Unequal to cope with the princes of Mandor, the two remaining sons of
Raningdeo, Tana and Mera, resolved to abandon their faith, in order to
preserve the point of honour, and “to take up their father’s
feud.”[4.23.61] At this period the king, Khizr Khan,[4.23.62] was at
Multan; to him they went, and by offers of service and an open apostacy,
obtained a force to march against Chonda, who had recently added Nagor
to his growing dominions. While the brothers were thus negotiating, they
were joined by Kilan, the third son of their common sovereign, the Rawal
of Jaisalmer, who advised the use of _chal_, which with the Rajput means
indifferently stratagem or treachery, so that it facilitates revenge.
With the ostensible motive of ending their feuds, and restoring
tranquillity to their borderers, whose sole occupation was watching,
burning, and devastating, Kilan offered a daughter in marriage to
Chonda, and went so far as to say, that if he suspected aught unfair, he
would, though contrary to custom and his own dignity, send the Bhatti
princess to Nagor. This course being deemed the wisest, Chonda
acquiesced in his desire “to extinguish the feud (_wair bujhana_).”

=Nāgor taken by Stratagem.=—Fifty covered chariots were prepared as the
nuptial cortège, but which, instead of the bride and her handmaids,
contained the bravest men of Pugal.[4.23.63] These were preceded by a
train of horses led by Rajputs, of whom seven hundred also attended the
camels laden with baggage, provisions, and gifts, while a small armed
[631] retinue brought up the rear. The king’s troops, amounting to one
thousand horse, remained at a cautious distance behind. Chonda left
Nagor to meet the cavalcade and his bride, and had reached the chariots
ere his suspicions were excited. Observing, however, some matters which
little savoured of festivity, the Rathor commenced his retreat. Upon
this the chiefs rushed from their chariots and camels, and the royal
auxiliaries advancing, Chonda was assailed and fell at the gate of
Nagor; and friend and foe entering the city together, a scene of general
plunder commenced.

Once more the feud was balanced; a son and a father had fallen on each
side, and the petty Rao of Pugal had bravely maintained the _wair_
against the princes of Mandor. The point of honour had been carried to
the utmost bound by both parties, and an opportunity of reconciliation
was at hand, which prevented the shadow of disgrace either to him who
made or him who accepted the overture. The Rathors dreaded the loss of
the recent acquisition, Nagor, and proposed to the Bhattis to seal their
pacification with the blood of their common foe. United, they fell on
the spoil-encumbered Tatars, whom they slew to a man.[4.23.64] Their
father’s feud thus revenged, the sons of Raningdeo (who, as apostates
from their faith, could no longer hold Pugal in fief, which was retained
by Kilan, who had aided their revenge) retired amongst the Aboharia
Bhattis, and their descendants are now styled Momin Musalman Bhatti.

From such anecdotes it will be obvious wherein consists the point of
honour with the Rajputs; and it is not improbable that the very cause
which has induced an opinion that females can have no influence on the
lords of the creation, namely, their seclusion, operates powerfully in
the contrary way.

=Influence of Women on Rājput Society.=—In spite of this seclusion, the
knowledge of their accomplishments and of their personal perfections,
radiates wherever the itinerant bard can travel. Though invisible
themselves, they can see; and accident often favours public report, and
brings the object of renown within the sphere of personal observation:
as in the case of Sadhu and the Mohila maiden. Placed behind screens,
they see the youths of all countries, and there are occasions when
permanent impressions are made, during tournaments and other martial
exercises. Here we have just seen that the passion of the [632] daughter
of the Mohil was fostered at the risk of the destruction not only of her
father’s house, but also that of her lover; and as the fourteen hundred
and forty towns, which owned the sway of the former, were not long after
absorbed into the accumulating territory of Mandor, this insult may have
been the cause of the extirpation of the Mohils, as it was of the
Bhattis of Pugal.

The influence of women on Rajput society is marked in every page of
Hindu history, from the most remote periods. What led to the wars of
Rama? the rape of Sita. What rendered deadly the feuds of the Yadus? the
insult to Draupadi. What made prince Nala an exile from Narwar? his love
for Damayanti. What made Raja Bhartari abandon the throne of Avanti? the
loss of Pingali. What subjected the Hindu to the dominion of the
Islamite? the rape of the princess of Kanauj. In fine, the cause which
overturned kingdoms, commuted the sceptre to the pilgrim’s staff, and
formed the groundwork of all their grand epics, is woman. In ancient,
and even in modern times, she had more than a negative in the choice of
a husband, and this choice fell on the gallant and the gay. The fair
Draupadi was the prize of the best archer, and the Pandu Bhima
established his fame, and bore her from all the suitors of Kampila. The
princess of Kanauj, when led through ranks of the princes of Hind, each
hoping to be the object of her choice, threw the marriage-garland
(_barmala_) over the neck of the effigy of the Chauhan, which her father
in derision had placed as porter at the gate. Here was incense to fame
and incentive to gallantry![4.23.65]

In the same manner, as related in another part of this work, did the
princess of Kishangarh invite Rana Raj Singh to bear her from the
impending union with the emperor of the Moguls; and abundant other
instances could be adduced of the free agency of these invisibles.

It were superfluous to reason on the effects of traditional histories,
such as these, on the minds and manners of the females of Rajasthan.
They form the amusement of their lives, and the grand topic in all their
conversaziones; they read them with the Purohit, and they have them sung
by the itinerant bard or Dholi minstrel [633], who disseminates them
wherever the Rajput name extends. The Rajput mother claims her full
share in the glory of her son, who imbibes at the maternal fount his
first rudiments of chivalry; and the importance of this parental
instruction cannot be better illustrated than in the ever-recurring
simile, “make thy mother’s milk resplendent”; the full force of which we
have in the powerful, though overstrained expression of the Bundi
queen’s joy on the announcement of the heroic death of her son: “the
long-dried fountain at which he fed, jetted forth as she listened to the
tale of his death, and the marble pavement, on which it fell, rent
asunder.” Equally futile would it be to reason on the intensity of
sentiment thus implanted in the infant Rajput, of whom we may say
without metaphor, the shield is his cradle, and daggers his playthings;
and with whom the first commandment is, “avenge thy father’s feud”; on
which they can heap text upon text, from the days of the great Pandu
moralist Vyasa to the not less influential bard of their nation, the
Trikala Chand.

-----

Footnote 4.23.1:

[“The custom handed down in regular succession since time immemorial
among the four chief castes and the mixed races of that country, is
called the conduct of virtuous men” (Manu, _Laws_, ii. 18).]

Footnote 4.23.2:

So says Valmiki, the author of the oldest epic in existence, the
Ramayana [see p. 693 above].

Footnote 4.23.3:

_Les Femmes, leur condition et leur influence dans l’ordre social_,
vol. i. p. 10.

Footnote 4.23.4:

So are some of the Hindu races in the mountainous districts about the
Himalaya, and in other parts of India. This curious trait in ancient
manners is deserving of investigation: it might throw some light on
the early history of the world. [“Each man has but one wife, yet all
the women are held in common: for this is a custom of the Massagetae,
and not of the Scythians, as the Greeks wrongly say” (Herodotus i.
216). For polyandry in India see Risley, _The People of India_, 2nd
ed. 206 ff.]

Footnote 4.23.5:

[Polygamy does to some extent prevail (_Census Report, Rājputāna_,
1911, i. 157 f.)]

Footnote 4.23.6:

_Laws_, v. 130.

Footnote 4.23.7:

_Ibid._ ii. 33.

Footnote 4.23.8:

_Digest of Hindu Law_, Colebrooke, vol. ii. p. 209 [Manu iii. 55-8].

Footnote 4.23.9:

Of all the religions which have diversified mankind, whatever man
might select, woman should choose the Christian. This alone gives her
just rank in the scale of creation, whether arising from the demotic
principle which pervades our faith, or the dignity conferred on the
sex in being chosen to be the mother of the Saviour of man. In turning
over the pages of Manu we find many mortifying texts, which I am
inclined to regard as interpolations; as the following, so opposed to
the beautiful sentiment above quoted: “A wife, a son, a servant, a
pupil, and a younger brother, may be corrected when they commit faults
with a rope, or the small thong of a cane” [viii. 299]. Such texts
might lead us to adopt Ségur’s conclusions, that ever since the days
of the patriarchs women were only brilliant slaves—victims, who
exhibited, in the wreaths and floral coronets which bedecked them, the
sacrifices to which they were destined. In the patriarchal ages their
occupations were to season the viands, and bake the bread, and weave
cloth for the tents: their recreations limited to respire the fresh
evening air under the shade of a fig tree, and sing canticles to the
Almighty. Such a fate, indeed, must appear to a Parisian dame, who
passes her time between the Feydeau and Tivoli, and whose daily
promenade is through the Champs Élysées, worse than death: yet there
is no positive hardships in these employments, and it was but the fair
division of labour in the primitive ages, and that which characterizes
the Rajputni of the present day.

Footnote 4.23.10:

Manu lays down some plain and wholesome rules for the domestic conduct
of the wife; above all, he recommends her to “preserve a cheerful
temper,” and “frugality in domestic expenses” [_Laws_, v. 150]. Some
of his texts savour, however, more of the anchorite than of a person
conversant with mankind; and when he commands the husband to be
reverenced as a god by the virtuous wife, even though enamoured of
another woman, it may be justly doubted if ever he found obedience
thereto; or the scarcely less difficult ordinance, “for a whole year
let a husband bear with his wife who treats him with aversion,” after
which probation he is permitted to separate [ix. 77]. It is very
likely the Rajputs are more in the habit of quoting the first of these
texts than of hearing the last: for although they have a choice at
home, they are not ashamed to be the avowed admirers of the Aspasias
and Phrynes of the capital; from the same cause which attracted
Socrates and made Pericles a slave and which will continue until the
united charms of the dance and the song are sanctioned to be practised
by the _légitimes_ within.

Footnote 4.23.11:

Manu ix. 101.

Footnote 4.23.12:

Parmāl or Paramardi Chandel (A.D. 1165-1203). He was defeated by
Prithirāj Chauhān in 1182.]

Footnote 4.23.13:

On the Pahuj, and now belonging to the Bundela prince of Datia. The
author has been over this field of battle.

Footnote 4.23.14:

[On the Bannāphar sept, from which sprang the heroes Alha and Udal,
see Crooke, _Tribes and Castes North-West Provinces_, i. 137 ff.;
their bravery forms the subject of numerous ballads (_ASR_, ii. 455
ff.).]

Footnote 4.23.15:

Hindaun was a town dependent on Bayana, the capital of the Jadons,
whose descendants still occupy Karauli and Sri Mathura.

Footnote 4.23.16:

[The modern Rohilkhand Division.]

Footnote 4.23.17:

Rao Pajun of Amber, one of the great vassals of the Chauhan, and
ancestor of the present Raja of Jaipur.

Footnote 4.23.18:

In the original, “the land of the Baghel to that of the Chandel.” Rewa
is capital of [or leading State in] Baghelkhand, founded by the
Baghela Rajputs, a branch of the Solanki kings of Anhilwara.

Footnote 4.23.19:

Antarved, the Duab, or Mesopotamia of the Jumna and Ganges.

Footnote 4.23.20:

A district S.W. of Delhi, notorious for the lawless habits of its
inhabitants: a very ancient Hindu race, but the greater part forced
proselytes to the faith of Islam. In the time of Prithiraj the chief
of Mewat was one of his vassals.

Footnote 4.23.21:

_Jayapattra_, or ‘bulletin of victory.’

Footnote 4.23.22:

Jaichand was then king of this city, only second to Delhi. He was
attacked in 1193 (A.D.) by Shihabu-d-din, after his conquest of the
Chauhan, driven from his kingdom, and found a watery grave in the
Ganges. [The battle was fought at Chandāwar in the Etāwa District,
A.D. 1194 (Smith, _EHI_, 385).]

Footnote 4.23.23:

Jagnakh had two villages conferred upon him, besides an elephant and a
dress.

Footnote 4.23.24:

[Compare _Iliad_, xii. 237 ff.]

Footnote 4.23.25:

The phenicopteros. [The great crane, _Grus antigone_.]

Footnote 4.23.26:

A large red duck, the emblem of fidelity with the Rajputs. [The
Brahmani duck, _Anas casarca_.]

Footnote 4.23.27:

The jackal.

Footnote 4.23.28:

Commander of the succours of Kanauj.

Footnote 4.23.29:

_Asis_ is a form of benediction only bestowed by females and priests:
it is performed by clasping both hands over the person’s head, and
waving a piece of silver or other valuable over him, which is bestowed
in charity [the object being to disperse evil influence].

Footnote 4.23.30:

This is a very ancient ceremony, and is called _Nicharavali_ [or
_ārti_. The Author has frequently had a large salver filled with
silver coin waved over his head, which was handed for distribution
amongst his attendants. It is most appropriate from the fair, from
whom also he has had this performed by their proxies, the family
priest or female attendants.

Footnote 4.23.31:

The sankh, or war-shell, is thrice sounded, and the nakkaras strike
thrice, when the army is to march; but should it after such
proclamation remain on its ground, a scape-goat is slain in front of
the imperial tent.

Footnote 4.23.32:

This picture recalls the remembrance of Hacon and the heroes of the
north; with the Valkyries or choosers of the slain; the celestial
maids of war of Scandinavia.

Footnote 4.23.33:

[Collyrium.]

Footnote 4.23.34:

Baghnakh or Naharnakh. [This weapon is best known by its use by Sivaji
when he slew Afzu-l Khān in 1659 at Pratāpgarh (Grant Duff, _Hist.
Mahrattas_, 78). Four specimens in the Indian Museum are described,
with an illustration, by Hon. W. Egerton (_Illustrated Handbook of
Indian Arms_, 115).]

Footnote 4.23.35:

Barmala.

Footnote 4.23.36:

_Mala_, a necklace. The _tulasi_ [the plant _Olymum sanctum_] or
_rudraksha_ [the nuts of _Elaeocarpus ganitrus_, the former worn by
Vaishnavas, the latter by Saivas] had the same estimation amongst the
Hindus that the mistletoe had amongst the ancient Britons, and was
always worn in battle as a charm.

Footnote 4.23.37:

Prithiraj.

Footnote 4.23.38:

A Rajput never names his wife. Here it is evidently optional to the
widow to live or die, though Alha shows his wish for her society
above. See chapter on Satis, which will follow.

Footnote 4.23.39:

Sanichar.

Footnote 4.23.40:

It was a _jantar_ or phylactery of Hanuman the monkey deity; probably
a magical stanza, with his image.

Footnote 4.23.41:

A crooked scimitar.

Footnote 4.23.42:

One of the names of Mena or Parvati. This passage will illustrate the
subject of Satis in a future chapter.

Footnote 4.23.43:

“’Tis a pleasure (says Bernier) to see them with the fume of opium in
their heads, embrace each other when the battle is to begin, and give
their mutual farewells, as men resolved to die.” [Ed. 1914, p. 40. The
battle of Dharmāt was fought on the banks of the river Sipra (_IGI_,
xxi. 14 f.) on 15th April, 1658. Manucci was not present, but gives an
account derived from Aurangzeb’s artillery officers of the battle at
Dharmātpur, about 14 miles from Ujjain (i. 259 f., and see Jadunath
Sarkar, _Life of Aurangzeb_, ii. 1 ff.). The latter (ii. 20 f.) speaks
highly of the valour of Jaswant Singh, but Khāfi Khan (Elliot-Dowson
vii. 219) says that he acted in a cowardly way. The account quoted by
the author is not in the original work of Ferishta, but in Dow’s
continuation (ed. 1812, iii. 206 f).].

Footnote 4.23.44:

Bernier’s _History of the Late Revolution of the Empire of the Mogul_,
fol. p. 13, ed. 1684 [ed. 1914, p. 40 f., where a somewhat different
version is given].

Footnote 4.23.45:

It is deemed unlucky to see this emblem of Ganesa in sleep.

Footnote 4.23.46:

The battle-shout of the Rajput. [Hara, a title of Siva.]

Footnote 4.23.47:

‘Half-body,’ which we may render, in common phraseology, ‘other half.’

Footnote 4.23.48:

[The impersonation of the female energy.]

Footnote 4.23.49:

Delhi [“the city of the witch or sorceress”].

Footnote 4.23.50:

[The “Ganore” of the text possibly represents the town of Ganora in
the Bānswāra State. There is another place of the same name in
Gwalior.]

Footnote 4.23.51:

[Several of our best authorities—Sir Lauder Brunton, Sir G. Birdwood,
Professors A. Keith and A. Doran of the Royal College of Surgeons—have
kindly investigated the question of death by poisoned robes, of which
various instances are reported in this work. The general result is
that it is doubtful if any known poison could be used in this way. Sir
Lauder Brunton remarks that a paste of the seeds of _Abrus
precatorius_ is used for killing animals. Dr. N. Chevers (_Manual of
Medical Jurisprudence in India_, p. 299) writes: “Any one who has
noticed how freely a robust person in India perspires through a thin
garment can understand that, if a cloth were thoroughly impregnated
with the cantharidine of that very powerful vesicant, the _Telini_,
the result would be as dangerous as an extensive burn.” For _telini_
(_Mylabris punctum_), used as a substitute for _Cantharis
vesicatoria_, see Sir G. Watt (_Dict. Economic Products of India_, v.
309). Manucci (i. 149) says that Akbar placed such poisons in charge
of a special officer. The stock classical case is that of Herakles
killed by an ointment made from the blood of Nessus. An old writer, W.
Ramesey (_Of Poisons_ (1660), p. 14 f.) speaks of poisoning done in
this way: but he regards some of “these and the like storeyes to be
merely Fabulous ... and rather to be attributed to the Subtilty,
Craft, and Malice of the Devill” (12 series, _Notes and Queries_, i.
(1916) p. 417).]

Footnote 4.23.52:

The physician (unless he unite with his office that of ghostly
comforter) has to feel the pulse of his patient with a curtain between
them, through a rent, in which the arm is extended. [See the amusing
account by Fryer (_New Account of E. India and Persia_, Hakluyt
Society, ed. i. 326 f.).]

Footnote 4.23.53:

[This is a stock story (Risley, _The People of India_, 2nd ed. 179 f.;
Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 220; cf. Herodotus v. 12).]

Footnote 4.23.54:

Sriphala.

Footnote 4.23.55:

Literally ‘lamp-holders’; such is the term applied to these handmaids;
who invariably form a part of the _daeja_ or ‘dower.’ [The custom of
sending handmaids with the bride, the girls often becoming concubines
of the bridegroom, is common (Russell, _Tribes and Castes Central
Provinces_, i. 63, ii. 77). In Gujarāt they are known as Goli or
Vadhāran, and are sometimes married to the Khawās, or male slaves of
the harem (_BG_, ix. Part i. 147, 235).]

Footnote 4.23.56:

Panch Kalyan is generally, if not always, a chestnut, having four
white legs, with a white nose and list or star.

Footnote 4.23.57:

_Arankanwal_, ‘the lotos of the desert,’ from _aranya_ (Sanskrit), ‘a
waste,’ and _kamala_ (pronounced _kanwal_), ‘a lotos’: classically it
should be written _aranykamala_; I write it as pronounced.

Footnote 4.23.58:

The rites to the manes on the completion of the ‘sixth month.’

Footnote 4.23.59:

The rites to the manes on the ‘twelfth day.’

Footnote 4.23.60:

The greater portion of these anecdotes, the foundation of national
character, will appear in the respective annals.

Footnote 4.23.61:

_Bap ra wair lena._

Footnote 4.23.62:

[Khizr Khān, of the Sayyid dynasty of Delhi, was left in charge by
Timūr, and died A.D. 1421.]

Footnote 4.23.63:

[For this legend see Vol. I. p. 308 above.]

Footnote 4.23.64:

Khizr Khan succeeded to the throne of Delhi in A.D. 1414 [or rather,
was left in charge of Delhi by Timūr, and died A.D. 1421], and
according to the Jaisalmer annals the commencement of these feuds was
in A.D. 1406.

Footnote 4.23.65:

The Samnite custom, so lauded by Montesquieu as the reward of youthful
virtue, was akin in sentiment to the Rajput, except that the fair
Rajputni made herself the sole judge of merit in her choice. It was
more calculated for republican than aristocratic society: “On
assembloit tous les jeunes gens, et on les jugeoit; celui qui était
déclaré le meilleur de tout prenoit pour sa femme la fille qu’il
vouloit: l’amour, la beauté, la chastité, la vertu, la naissance, les
richesses même, tout cela était, pour ainsi dire, la dot de la vertu.”
It would be difficult, adds Montesquieu, to imagine a more noble
recompense, or one less expensive to a petty State, or more
influential on the conduct of both sexes (_L’Esprit des Lois_, chap.
xvi. livre vii.).

-----

CHAPTER 24

=The Immolation of Women.=—We now proceed to consider another trait of
Rajput character, exemplified in the practice of female immolation, and
to inquire whether religion, custom, or affection has most share in such
sacrifice. To arrive at the origin of this rite, we must trace it to the
recesses of mythology, where we shall discover the precedent in the
example of Sati, who to avenge an insult to Iswara, in her own father’s
omission to ask her lord to an entertainment, consumed herself in the
presence of the assembled gods. With this act of fealty (_sati_) the
name of Daksha’s daughter has been identified; and her regeneration and
reunion to her husband, as the mountain-nymph Mena, or Parvati, furnish
the incentive to similar [634] acts. In the history of these celestial
beings, the Rajputni has a memorable lesson before her, that no domestic
differences can afford exemption from this proof of faith: for Jupiter
and Juno were not more eminent examples of connubial discord than Mena
and Siva, who was not only alike unfaithful, but more cruel, driving
Mena from his Olympus (Kailas), and forcing her to seek refuge in the
murky caverns of Caucasus. Female immolation, therefore, originated with
the sun-worshipping Saivas, and was common to all those nations who
adored this the most splendid object of the visible creation. Witness
the Scythic Gete or Jat warrior of the Jaxartes, who devoted his wife,
horse, arms, and slaves, to the flames; the “giant Gete” of Scandinavia,
who forgot not on the shores of the Baltic his Transoxianian habits; and
the Frisian Frank and Saxon descended from him, who ages after omitted
only the female. Could we assign the primary cause of a custom so
opposed to the first law of nature with the same certainty that we can
prove its high antiquity, we might be enabled to devise some means for
its abolition. The chief characteristic of Satiism is its expiating
quality: for by this act of faith, the Sati not only makes atonement for
the sins of her husband, and secures the remission of her own, but has
the joyful assurance of reunion to the object whose beatitude she
procures. Having once imbibed this doctrine, its fulfilment is
powerfully aided by that heroism of character inherent to the Rajputni;
though we see that the stimulant of religion requires no aid even in the
timid female of Bengal, who, relying on the promise of regeneration,
lays her head on the pyre with the most philosophical composure.

Nothing short of the abrogation of the doctrines which pronounce such
sacrifices exculpatory can be effectual in preventing them; but this
would be to overturn the fundamental article of their creed, the notion
of metempsychosis. Further research may disclose means more attainable,
and the sacred Shastras are at once the surest and the safest. Whoever
has examined these is aware of the conflict of authorities for and
against cremation; but a proper application of them (and they are the
highest who give it not their sanction) has, I believe, never been
resorted to. Vyasa, the chronicler of the Yadus, a race whose manners
were decidedly Scythic, is the great advocate for female sacrifice: he
(in the Mahabharata) pronounces the expiation perfect. But Manu
inculcates no such doctrine [635]; and although the state of widowhood
he recommends might be deemed onerous by the fair sex of the west, it
would be considered little hardship in the east. “Let her emaciate her
body, by living voluntarily on pure flowers, roots, and fruit; but let
her not, when her lord is deceased, even pronounce the name of another
man.” Again he says, “A virtuous wife ascends to heaven, if, after the
decease of her lord, she devote herself to pious austerity; but a widow,
who slights her deceased husband by marrying again, brings disgrace on
herself here below, and shall be excluded from the seat of her
lord.”[4.24.1]

These and many other texts, enjoining purity of life and manners to the
widow, are to be found in this first authority, but none demanding such
a cruel pledge of affection. Abstinence from the common pursuits of
life, and entire self-denial, are rewarded by “high renown in this
world, and in the next the abode of her husband”; and procure for her
the title of “_sadhwi_, or the virtuous.” These are deemed sufficient
pledges of affection by the first of sages.[4.24.2] So much has been
written on this subject that we shall not pursue it further in this
place; but proceed to consider a still more inhuman practice,
infanticide.

Although custom sanctions, and religion rewards, a Sati, the victim to
marital selfishness, yet, to the honour of humanity, neither
traditionary adage nor religious text can be quoted in support of a
practice so revolting as infanticide. Man alone, of the whole animal
creation, is equal to the task of destroying his offspring [636]: for
instinct preserves what reason destroys. The wife is the sacrifice to
his egotism, and the progeny of her own sex to his pride; and if the
unconscious infant should escape the influence of the latter, she is
only reserved to become the victim of the former at the period when life
is most desirous of extension. If the female reasoned on her destiny,
its hardships are sufficient to stifle all sense of joy, and produce
indifference to life. When a female is born, no anxious inquiries await
the mother—no greetings welcome the newcomer, who appears an intruder on
the scene, which often closes in the hour of its birth. But the very
silence with which a female birth is accompanied forcibly expresses
sorrow; and we dare not say that many compunctious visitings do not
obtrude themselves on those who, in accordance with custom and imagined
necessity, are thus compelled to violate the sentiments of nature.
Families may exult in the Satis which their cenotaphs portray,[4.24.3]
but none ever heard a Rajput boast of the destruction of his infant
progeny.

=The Origin of Infanticide.=—What are the causes, we may ask,
sufficiently powerful to induce the suppression of a feeling which every
sentient being has in common for its offspring? To suppose the Rajput
devoid of this sentiment would argue his deficiency in the ordinary
attributes of humanity: often is he heard to exclaim, “Accursed the day
when a woman child was born to me!” The same motive which studded Europe
with convents, in which youth and beauty were immured until liberated by
death, first prompted the Rajput to infanticide: and, however revolting
the policy, it is perhaps kindness compared to incarceration. There can
be no doubt that monastic seclusion, practised by the Frisians in
France, the Langobardi in Italy, and the Visigoths in Spain, was brought
from Central Asia, the cradle of the Goths.[4.24.4] It is, in fact, a
modification of the same feeling which characterizes the Rajput and the
ancient German warrior—the dread of dishonour to the fair: the former
raises the poniard to the breast of his wife rather than witness her
captivity, and he gives the opiate to the infant, whom, if he cannot
portion and marry to her equal, he dare not see degraded [637].

=Infanticide.=—Although religion nowhere authorizes this barbarity, the
laws which regulate marriage amongst the Rajputs powerfully promote
infanticide. Not only is intermarriage prohibited between families of
the same clan (_khanp_), but between those of the same tribe (_got_);
and though centuries may have intervened since their separation, and
branches thus transplanted may have lost their original patronymic, they
can never be regrafted on the original stem: for instance, though eight
centuries have separated the two grand subdivisions of the Guhilots, and
the younger, the Sesodia, has superseded the elder, the Aharya, each
ruling distinct States, a marriage between any of the branches would be
deemed incestuous: the Sesodia is yet brother to the Aharya, and regards
every female of the race as his sister. Every tribe has therefore to
look abroad, to a race distinct from its own, for suitors for the
females. Foreign war, international feuds, or other calamities affect
tribes the most remote from each other; nor can war or famine thin the
clans of Marwar, without diminishing the female population of Amber:
thus both suffer in a twofold degree. Many virtuous and humane princes
have endeavoured to check or mitigate an evil, in the eradication of
which every parental feeling would co-operate. Sumptuary edicts alone
can control it; and the Rajputs were never sufficiently enamoured of
despotism to permit it to rule within their private dwellings. The plan
proposed, and in some degree followed by the great Jai Singh of Amber,
might with caution be pursued, and with great probability of success. He
submitted to the prince of every Rajput State a decree, which was laid
before a convocation of their respective vassals, in which he regulated
the _daeja_ or dower, and other marriage expenditure, with reference to
the property of the vassal, limiting it to one year’s income of the
estate. This plan was, however, frustrated by the vanity of the
Chondawat of Salumbar, who expended on the marriage of his daughter a
sum even greater than his sovereign could have afforded; and to have his
name blazoned by the bards and genealogists, he sacrificed the
beneficent views of one of the wisest of the Rajput race. Until vanity
suffers itself to be controlled, and the aristocratic Rajput submit to
republican simplicity,[4.24.5] the evils arising from nuptial profusion
will not cease. Unfortunately, those who could check it find their
interest in stimulating it, namely, the whole class of Mangtas [638]
(mendicants), bards, minstrels, jugglers, Brahmans who assemble on these
occasions, and pour forth their epithalamiums in praise of the virtue of
liberality. The Bardais are the grand recorders of fame, and the volume
of precedent is always recurred to, in citing the liberality of former
chiefs; while the dread of their satire (_visarva_, literally
‘poison’)[4.24.6] shuts the eyes of the chiefs to consequences, and they
are only anxious to maintain the reputation of their ancestors, though
fraught with future ruin. “The Dahima emptied his coffers” (says Chand,
the pole-star of the Rajputs) “on the marriage of his daughter with
Prithiraj; but he filled them with the praises of mankind.” The same
bard retails every article of these _daejas_ or ‘dowers,’ which thus
become precedents for future ages; and the “_lakh pasarna_,”[4.24.7]
then established for the chief bardai, has become a model to posterity.
Even now the Rana of Udaipur, in his season of poverty, at the recent
marriage of his daughters bestowed “the gift of a lakh” on the chief
bard; though the articles of gold, horses, clothes, etc., were included
in the estimate, and at an undue valuation, which rendered the gift not
quite so precious as in the days of the Chauhan. Were bonds taken from
all the feudal chiefs, and a penal clause inserted, of forfeiture of
their fief by all who exceeded a fixed nuptial expenditure, the axe
would be laid to the root, the evil would be checked, and the heart of
many a mother (and we may add father) be gladdened, by preserving at
once the point of honour and their child. When ignorance declaims
against the gratuitous love of murder amongst these brave men, our
contempt is excited equally by its short-sighted conclusions, and the
affected philanthropy which overlooks all remedy but the “_sic volo_.”
Sir John Shore,[4.24.8] when acting on the suggestions of the benevolent
Duncan for the suppression of this practice amongst the Rajkumars,
judged more wisely as a politician, and more charitably in his estimate
of human motives. “A prohibition,” says he, “enforced by the
denunciation of the severest temporal penalties, would have had little
efficacy in abolishing a custom which existed in opposition to the
feelings of humanity and natural affection”; but “the sanction of that
religion which the Rajkumars professed was appealed to in aid of the
ordinances of civil authority; and an engagement binding themselves to
desist from the barbarous practice was prepared, and circulated for
signature amongst the Rajkumars.” It may well be doubted how far this
influence could extend, when the root of the evil [639] remained
untouched, though not unseen, as the philanthropic Duncan pointed out in
the confession of the Rajkumars: “all unequivocally admitted it, but all
did not fully acknowledge its atrocity; and the only reason they
assigned for the inhuman practice was the great expense of procuring
suitable matches for their daughters, if they allowed them to grow up.”
The Rajkumar is one of the Chauhan sakha, chief of the Agnikulas, and in
proportion to its high and well-deserved pretensions on the score of
honour, it has more infanticides than any other of the “thirty-six royal
races.” Amongst those of this race out of the pale of feudalism, and
subjected to powers not Rajput, the practice is fourfold greater, from
the increased pressure of the cause which gave it birth, and the
difficulty of establishing their daughters in wedlock. Raja Jai Singh’s
enactment went far to remedy this. Conjoin his plan with Mr. Duncan’s,
provide dowers, and infanticide will cease. It is only by removing the
cause that the consequences can be averted.[4.24.9]

As to the almost universality of this practice amongst the Jarejas, the
leading cause, which will also operate to its continuance, has been
entirely overlooked. The Jarejas were Rajputs, a subdivision of the
Yadus; but by intermarriage with the Muhammadans, to whose faith they
became proselytes, they lost their caste. Political causes have
disunited them from the Muhammadans, and they desire again to be
considered as pure Rajputs; but having been contaminated, no Rajput will
intermarry with them. The owner of a hyde of land, whether Sesodia,
Rathor, or Chauhan, would scorn the hand of a Jareja princess. Can the
“_sic volo_” be applied to men who think in this fashion?

=Johar.=—Having thus pointed out the causes of the sacrifice of widows
and of infants, I shall touch on the yet more awful rite of Johar, when
a whole tribe may become extinct, of which several instances have been
recorded in the annals of Mewar. To the fair of other lands the fate of
the Rajputni must appear one of appalling hardship. In each stage of
life death is ready to claim her; by the poppy at its dawn, by the
flames in riper years; while the safety of the interval depending on the
uncertainty of war, at no period is her existence worth a twelve-month’s
purchase. The loss of a battle, or the capture of a city, is a signal to
avoid captivity and its horrors, which to the Rajputni are worse than
death. To the doctrines of Christianity Europe owes the boon of
protection to the helpless and the fair, who are [640] comparatively
safe amidst the vicissitudes of war; to which security the chivalry of
the Middle Ages doubtless contributed. But it is singular that a nation
so refined, so scrupulous in its ideas with regard to females, as the
Rajput, should not have entered into some national compact to abandon
such proof of success as the bondage[4.24.10] of the sex. We can enter
into the feeling, and applaud the deed, which ensured the preservation
of their honour by the fatal johar, when the foe was the brutalized
Tatar. But the practice was common in the international wars of the
Rajputs; and I possess numerous inscriptions (on stone and on brass)
which record as the first token of victory the captive wives of the
foeman. When “the mother of Sisera looked out of the window, and cried
through the lattice, Why tarry the wheels of his chariot—have they not
sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or
two?”[4.24.11] we have a perfect picture of the Rajput mother expecting
her son from the foray.

The Jewish law with regard to female captives was perfectly analogous to
that of Manu; both declare them “lawful prize,” and both Moses and Manu
establish rules sanctioning the marriage of such captives with the
captors. “When a girl is made captive by her lover, after a victory over
her kinsman,” marriage “is permitted by law.”[4.24.12] That forcible
marriage in the Hindu law termed Rakshasa, namely, “the seizure of a
maiden by force from her house while she weeps and calls for assistance,
after her kinsman and friends have been slain in battle,”[4.24.13] is
the counterpart of the ordinance regarding the usage of a captive in the
Pentateuch,[4.24.14] excepting the “shaving of the head,” which is the
sign of complete slavery with the Hindu.[4.24.15] When Hector,
anticipating his fall, predicts the fate which awaits Andromache, he
draws a forcible picture of the misery of the Rajput; but the latter,
instead of a lachrymose and enervating harangue as he prepared for the
battle with the same chance of defeat, would have spared her the pain of
plying the “Argive loom” by her death. To prevent such degradation, the
brave [641] Rajput has recourse to the johar, or immolation of every
female of the family: nor can we doubt that, educated as are the females
of that country, they gladly embrace such a refuge from pollution. Who
would not be a Rajput in such a case? The very term widow (_rand_) is
used in common parlance as one of reproach.[4.24.16]

Manu commands that whoever accosts a woman shall do so by the title of
“sister,”[4.24.17] and that “way must be made for her, even as for the
aged, for a priest, a prince, or a bridegroom”; and in the admirable
text on the laws of hospitality, he ordains that “pregnant women,
brides, and damsels shall have food before all the other
guests”[4.24.18]; which, with various other texts, appears to indicate a
time when women were less than now objects of restraint; a custom
attributable to the paramount dominion of the Muhammadans, from whose
rigid system the Hindus have borrowed. But so many conflicting texts are
to be found in the pages of Manu, that we may pronounce the compilation
never to have been the work of the same legislator: from whose dicta we
may select with equal facility texts tending to degrade as to exalt the
sex. For the following he would meet with many plaudits: “Let women be
constantly supplied with ornaments at festivals and jubilees, for if the
wife be not elegantly attired, she will not exhilarate her husband. A
wife gaily adorned, the whole house is embellished.”[4.24.19] In the
following text he pays an unequivocal compliment to her power: “A female
is able to draw from the right path in this life, not a fool only, but
even a sage, and can lead him in subjection to desire or to wrath.” With
this acknowledgment from the very fountain of authority, we have some
ground for asserting that _les femmes font les mœurs_, even in
Rajputana; and that though immured and invisible, their influence on
society is not less certain than if they moved in the glare of open day.

=Position of Rājput Women.=—Most erroneous ideas have been formed of the
Hindu female from the pictures drawn by those who never left the banks
of the Ganges. They are represented [642] as degraded beings, and that
not one in many thousands can even read. I would ask such travellers
whether they know the name of Rajput, for there are few of the lowest
chieftains whose daughters are not instructed both to read and write;
though the customs of the country requiring much form in epistolary
writing, only the signature is made to letters. But of their intellect,
and knowledge of mankind, whoever has had to converse with a Rajputni
guardian of her son’s rights, must draw a very different
conclusion.[4.24.20] Though excluded by the Salic law of India from
governing, they are declared to be fit regents during minority; and the
history of India is filled with anecdotes of able and valiant females in
this capacity.[4.24.21]

=Rājput Character.=—The more prominent traits of character will be found
disseminated throughout the annals; we shall therefore omit the
customary summaries of nationalities, those fanciful debtor and creditor
accounts, with their balanced amount, favourable or unfavourable
according to the disposition of the observer; and from the anecdotes
through these pages leave the reader to form his own judgement of the
Rajput. High courage, patriotism, loyalty, honour, hospitality, and
simplicity are qualities which must at once be conceded to them; and if
we cannot vindicate them from charges to which human nature in every
clime is obnoxious; if we are compelled to admit the deterioration of
moral dignity, from the continual inroads of, and their consequent
collision with, rapacious conquerors; we must yet admire the quantum of
virtue which even oppression and bad example have failed to banish. The
meaner vices of deceit and falsehood, which the delineators of national
character attach to the Asiatic without distinction, I deny to be
universal with the Rajputs, though some tribes may have been obliged
from position to use these shields of the weak against continuous
oppression. Every court in Rajasthan has [643] its characteristic
epithet; and there is none held more contemptible than the affix of
_jhutha darbar_, ‘the lying court,’ applied to Jaipur; while the most
comprehensive measure of praise is the simple epithet of
_sachha_,[4.24.22] ‘the truth-teller.’ Again, there are many shades
between deceit and dissimulation: the one springs from natural
depravity; the other may be assumed, as with the Rajput, in
self-defence. But their laws, the mode of administering them, and the
operation of external causes, must be attentively considered before we
can form a just conclusion of the springs which regulate the character
of a people. We must examine the opinions of the competent of past days,
when political independence yet remained to the Rajputs, and not found
our judgment of a nation upon a superficial knowledge of individuals. To
this end I shall avail myself of the succinct but philosophical remarks
of Abu-l-fazl, the wise minister of the wise Akbar, which are equally
applicable to mankind at large, as to the particular people we are
treating of. “If,” he says, speaking of the Hindus, “a diligent
investigator were to examine the temper and disposition of the people of
each tribe, he would find every individual differing in some respect or
other. Some among them are virtuous in the highest degree, and others
carry vice to the greatest excess. They are renowned for wisdom,
disinterested friendship, obedience to their superiors, and many other
virtues: but, at the same time, there are among them men whose hearts
are obdurate and void of shame, turbulent spirits, who for the merest
trifle will commit the greatest outrages.”[4.24.23]

Again: “The Hindus are religious, affable, courteous to strangers,
cheerful, enamoured of knowledge, lovers of justice, able in business,
grateful, admirers of truth, and of unbounded fidelity in all their
dealings. Their character shines brightest in adversity. Their soldiers
(the Rajputs) know not what it is to fly from the field of battle; but
when the success of the combat becomes doubtful, they dismount from
their horses, and throw away their lives in payment of the debt of
valour.”[4.24.24]

I shall conclude this chapter with a sketch of their familiar habits,
and a few of their indoor and outdoor recreations.

=Introduction of Melons, Grapes, Tobacco, Opium: the Use of Opium.=—To
Babur, the founder of the Mogul dynasty, India is indebted for the
introduction [644] of its melons and grapes; and to his grandson
Jahangir for tobacco.[4.24.25] For the introduction of opium we have no
date, and it is not even mentioned in the poems of Chand.[4.24.26] This
pernicious plant has robbed the Rajput of half his virtues; and while it
obscures these, it heightens his vices, giving to his natural bravery a
character of insane ferocity, and to the countenance, which would
otherwise beam with intelligence, an air of imbecility. Like all
stimulants, its effects are magical for a time; but the reaction is not
less certain: and the faded form or amorphous bulk too often attest the
debilitating influence of a drug which alike debases mind and body. In
the more ancient epics we find no mention of the poppy-juice as now
used, though the Rajput has at all times been accustomed to his _madhava
ra piyala_, or ‘intoxicating cup.’ The essence,[4.24.27] whether of
grain, of roots, or of flowers, still welcomes the guest, but is
secondary to the opiate. _Amal lar khana_, ‘to eat opium together,’ is
the most inviolable pledge; and an agreement ratified by this ceremony
is stronger than any adjuration. If a Rajput pays a visit, the first
question is, _amal khaya_? ‘have you had your opiate?’—_amal khao_,
‘take your opiate.’ On a birthday, when all the chiefs convene to
congratulate their brother on another ‘knot to his years,’ the large cup
is brought forth, a lump of opiate put therein, upon which water is
poured, and by the aid of a stick a solution is made, to which each
helps his neighbour, not with a glass, but with the hollow of his hand
held to his mouth. To judge by the wry faces on this occasion, none can
like it, and to get rid of the nauseous taste, comfit-balls are handed
round. It is curious to observe the animation it inspires; a Rajput is
fit for nothing without his _amal_, and I have often dismissed their men
of business to refresh their intellects by a dose, for when its effects
are dissipating they become mere logs [645].[4.24.28] Opium to the
Rajput is more necessary than food, and a suggestion to the Rana to tax
it highly was most unpopular. From the rising generation the author
exacted promises that they would resist initiation in this vice, and
many grew up in happy ignorance of the taste of opium. He will be the
greatest friend to Rajasthan who perseveres in eradicating the evil. The
valley of Udaipur is a poppy garden, of every hue and variety, whence
the Hindu Sri may obtain a coronet more variegated than ever adorned the
Isis of the Nile.

=Pledge by eating Opium.=—A pledge once given by the Rajput, whether
ratified by the “eating opium together,” “an exchange of turbans,” or
the more simple act of “giving the right hand,” is maintained inviolable
under all circumstances.

=Hunting and other Sports.=—Their grand hunts have been described. The
Rajput is fond of his dog and his gun. The former aids him in pulling
down the boar or hare, and with the stalking-horse he will toil for
hours after the deer. The greater chieftains have their _ramnas_ or
preserves, where poaching would be summarily punished, and where the
slaughter of all kinds of beasts, elk, hog, hyena, tiger, boar, deer,
wild-dog, wolf, or hare, is indiscriminate. Riding in the ring with the
lance in tournaments, without the spike, the point being guarded;
defence of the sword against the lance, with every variety of “noble
horsemanship,” such as would render the most expert in Europe an easy
prey to the active Rajput, are some of the chief exercises. Firing at a
mark with a matchlock, in which they attain remarkable accuracy of aim;
and in some parts of the country throwing a dart or javelin from
horseback, are favourite amusements. The practice of the bow is likewise
a main source of pastime, and in the manner there adopted it requires
both dexterity and strength[4.24.29] [646]. The Rajput is not satisfied
if he cannot bury his arrow either in the earthern target, or in the
buffalo, to the feather. The use of the bow is hallowed; Arjuna’s bow in
the “great war,” and that of the Chauhan king, Prithiraj, with which the
former gained Draupadi and the latter the fair Sanjogta, are
immortalized like that of Ulysses. In these martial exercises the
youthful Rajput is early initiated, and that the sight of blood may be
familiar, he is instructed, before he has strength to wield a sword, to
practise with his boy’s scimitar on the heads of lambs and kids. His
first successful essay on the animals ‘_ferae naturae_’ is a source of
congratulation to his whole family.[4.24.30] In this manner the spirit
of chivalry is continually fed, for everything around him speaks of arms
and strife. His very amusements are warlike; and the dance and the song,
the burthen of which is the record of his successful gallantry, so far
from enervating, serve as fresh incitements to his courage.

=Wrestling.=—The exhibition of the Jethis, or wrestlers,[4.24.31] is
another mode of killing time. It is a state concern for every prince or
chief to entertain a certain number of these champions of the glove.
Challenges are sent by the most celebrated from one court to another;
and the event of the _akhara_, as the arena is termed, is looked to with
great anxiety.

=Armouries.=—No prince or chief is without his _silah-khana_, or
armoury, where he passes hours in viewing and arranging his arms. Every
favourite weapon, whether sword, matchlock, spear, dagger, or bow, has a
distinctive epithet. The keeper of the armoury is one of the most
confidential officers about the person of the prince. These arms are
beautiful and costly. The _sirohi_,[4.24.32] or slightly curved blade,
is formed like that of Damascus, and is the greatest favourite of all
the variety of sabres throughout Rajputana. The long cut-and-thrust,
like the Andrea Ferrara, is not uncommon; nor the _khanda_, or
double-edged sword. The matchlocks both of Lahore and the country are
often highly finished and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold: those of
Bundi are the best. The shield of the rhinoceros-hide offers the best
resistance, and is often ornamented with animals, beautifully painted,
and enamelled in gold and silver. The bow is of buffalo-horn, and the
arrows of reed, and barbed in a variety of fashions, as the crescent,
the trident, the snake’s tongue, and other fanciful forms.

=Sheodān Singh. Music.=—The Maharaja Sheodan Singh (whose family are
heirs presumptive to the throne) was one of my constant visitors; and
the title of ‘adopted brother,’ which he conferred upon me, allowed him
to make his visits unreasonably long. The Maharaja had many excellent
qualities. He was the best shot in Mewar; he was well read in the
classic literature of his nation; deeply versed in the secrets of the
chronicles, not only of Mewar but of all Rajwara; conversant with all
the mysteries of the bard, and could improvise on every occasion. He was
a proficient in musical science [647], and could discourse most fluently
on the whole theory of Sangita, which comprehends vocal and instrumental
harmony. He could explain each of the _ragas_, or musical modes, which
issued from the five mouths of Siva and his consort Mena, together with
the almost endless variations of the _ragas_, to each of which are
allotted six consorts or _raginis_. He had attached to his suite the
first vocalists of Mewar, and occasionally favoured me by letting them
sing at my house. The chief cantatrice had a superb voice, a contralto
of great extent, and bore the familiar appellation of ‘Catalani.’ Her
execution of all the _basant_ or ‘spring-songs,’ and the _megh_ or
‘cloud-songs’ of the monsoon, which are full of melody, was perfect. But
she had a rival in a singer from Ujjain, and we made a point of having
them together, that emulation might excite to excellence. The chieftain
of Salumbar, the chief of the Saktawats, and others, frequently joined
these parties, as well as the Maharaja: for all are partial to the dance
and the song, during which conversation flows unrestrained. Saadatu-lla,
whose execution on the guitar would have secured applause even at the
Philharmonic, commanded mute attention when he played a _tan_ or
symphony, or when, taking any of the simple _tappas_ of Ujjain as a
theme, he wandered through a succession of voluntaries. In summer these
little parties were held on the terrace or the house-top, where carpets
were spread under an awning, while the cool breezes of the lake gave
life after the exhaustion of a day passed under 96° of Fahrenheit. The
subjects of their songs are various, love, glory, satire, etc. I was
invited to similar assemblies by many of the chiefs; though none were so
intellectual as those of the Maharaja. On birthdays or other festivals
the chief Bardai often appears, or the bard of any other tribe who may
happen to be present. Then all is mute attention, broken only by the
emphatic “_wah, wah!_” the measured nod of the head, or fierce curl of
the moustache, in token of approbation or the reverse.[4.24.33]

The Maharaja’s talents for amplification were undoubted, and by more
than one of his friends this failing was attributed to his long
residence at the court of Jaipur, whose cognomen will not have been
forgotten. He had one day been amusing us with feats of his youth, his
swimming from island to island, and [648] bestriding the alligators for
an excursion.[4.24.34] Like Tell, he had placed a mark on his son’s head
and hit it successfully. He could kill an eagle on the wing, and divide
a ball on the edge of a knife, the knife itself unseen. While running on
in this manner, my features betraying some incredulity, he insisted on
redeeming his word. A day was accordingly appointed, and though
labouring under an ague, he came with his favourite matchlocks. The more
dangerous experiment was desisted from, and he commenced by dividing the
ball on the knife. This he placed perpendicularly in the centre of an
earthen vessel filled with water; and taking his station at about twenty
paces, perforated the centre of the vessel, and allowed you to take up
the fragments of the ball; having previously permitted you to load the
piece, and examine the vessel, which he did not once approach himself.
Another exhibition was striking an orange from a pole without
perforating it. Again, he gave the option of loading to a bystander, and
retreating a dozen paces, he knocked an orange off untouched by the
ball, which, according to a preliminary proviso, could not be found: the
orange was not even discoloured by the powder. He was an adept also at
chess[4.24.35] and chaupar, and could carry on a conversation by
stringing flowers in a peculiar manner. If he plumed himself upon his
pretensions, his vanity was always veiled under a demeanour full of
courtesy and grace; and Maharaja Sheodan Singh would be esteemed a
well-bred and well-informed man at the most polished court of Europe.

Every chief has his band, vocal and instrumental; but Sindhia, some
years since, carried away the most celebrated vocalists of Udaipur. The
Rajputs are all partial to music. The tappa is the favourite measure.
Its chief character is plaintive simplicity; and it is analogous to the
Scotch, or perhaps still more to the Norman.[4.24.36]

The Rana, who is a great patron of the art, has a small band of
musicians, whose only instrument is the _shahna_, or hautboy. They
played their national [649] tappas with great taste and feeling; and
these strains, wafted from the lofty terrace of the palace in the
silence of the night, produced a sensation of delight not unmixed with
pain, which its peculiarly melancholy character excites. The Rana has
also a few flute or flageolet players, who discourse most eloquent
music. Indeed, we may enumerate this among the principal amusements of
the Rajputs; and although it would be deemed indecorous to be a
performer, the science forms a part of education.[4.24.37]

Who that has marched in the stillness of night through the mountainous
regions of Central India, and heard the warder sound the _turai_ from
his turreted abode, perched like an eyrie on the mountain-top, can ever
forget its graduated intensity of sound, or the emphatic _ham! ham!_
“all’s well,” which follows the lengthened blast of the cornet
reverberating in every recess.[4.24.38]

=Bagpipes.=—A species of bagpipe, so common to all the Celtic races of
Europe, is not unknown to the Rajputs. It is called the
_mashak_,[4.24.39] but is only the rudiment of that instrument whose
peculiar influence on the physical, through the moral agency of man, is
described by our own master-bard. They have likewise the double
flageolet; but in the same ratio of perfection to that of Europe as the
_mashak_ to the heart-stirring pipe of the north. As to their lutes,
guitars, and all the varieties of tintinnabulants (as Dr. Johnson would
call them), it would fatigue without interesting the reader to enumerate
them.

=Literature among the Rajputs. Observatories.=—We now come to the
literary attainments of the lords of Rajasthan, of whom there is none
without sufficient clerkship to read his grant or agreement for
_rakhwali_ or blackmail; and none either so ignorant, or so proud, as
the boasted ancestral wisdom of England, whose barons could not even
sign their names to the great charter of their liberties. The Rana of
Udaipur has unlimited command of [650] his pen, and his letters are
admirable; but we may say of him nearly what was remarked of Charles the
Second—“he never wrote a foolish thing, and seldom did a wise one.” The
familiar epistolary correspondence of the princes and nobles of
Rajasthan would exhibit abundant testimony of their powers of mind: they
are sprinkled with classical allusions, and evince that knowledge of
mankind which constant collision in society must produce. A collection
of these letters, which exist in the archives of every principality,
would prove that the princes of this country are upon a par with the
rest of mankind, not only in natural understanding, but, taking their
opportunities into account, even in its cultivation. The prince who in
Europe could quote Hesiod and Homer with the freedom that the Rana does
on all occasions Vyasa and Valmiki, would be accounted a prodigy; and
there is not a divine who could make application of the ordinances of
Moses with more facility than the Rana of those of their great lawgiver
Manu. When they talk of the wisdom of their ancestors, it is not a mere
figure of speech. The instruction of their princes is laid down in rules
held sacred, and must have been far more onerous than any system of
European university education, for scarcely a branch of human knowledge
is omitted. But the cultivation of the mind, and the arts of polished
life, must always flourish in the ratio of a nation’s prosperity, and
from the decline of the one, we may date the deterioration of the other
with the Rajput. The astronomer has now no patron to look to for reward;
there is no Jai Singh to erect such stupendous observatories as he built
at Delhi, Benares, Ujjain, and at his own capital;[4.24.40] to construct
globes and armillary spheres, of which, according to their own and our
system, the Kotah prince has two, each three feet in diameter. The same
prince (Jai Singh) collated De la Hire’s tables with those of Ulugh Beg,
and presented the result to the last emperor of Delhi, worthy the name
of the Great Mogul. To these tables he gave the name of _Zij Muhammad
Shahi_. It was Jai Singh who, as already mentioned, sought to establish
sumptuary laws throughout the nation, to regulate marriages, and thereby
prevent infanticide; and who left his name to the capital he founded,
the first in Rajasthan.

But we cannot march over fifty miles of country without observing traces
of the genius, talent, and wealth of past days: though—whether the more
abstruse sciences, or the lighter arts which embellish life—all are now
fast disappearing [651]. Whether in the tranquillity secured to them by
the destruction of their predatory foes, these arts and sciences may
revive, and the nation regain its elevated tone, is a problem which time
alone can solve.

=Household Furniture.=—In their household economy, their furniture and
decorations, they remain unchanged during the lapse of a thousand years.
No chairs, no couches adorn their sitting apartments, though the painted
and gilded ceiling may be supported by columns of serpentine, and the
walls one mass of mirrors, marble, or china;—nothing but a soft carpet,
hidden by a white cloth, on which the guests seat themselves according
to rank. In fine, the quaint description of the chaplain to the first
embassy which England sent to India, more than two hundred years ago,
applies now, as it probably will two hundred years hence. “And now for
the furniture the greatest men have in them [their houses], it is _curta
supellex_, very little, they (the rooms) being not beautified with
hangings, nor with anything besides to line their walls; for they have
no chairs, stools, couches, tables, beds enclosed with canopies, or
curtains, in any of their rooms. And the truth is, that if they had
them, the extreme heat would forbid the use of many of them; all their
bravery is upon their floors, on which they spread most excellent
carpets.”[4.24.41]

=Dress.=—It were useless to expatiate on dress, either male or female,
the fashion varying in each province and tribe, though the texture and
materials are everywhere the same: cotton in summer, and quilted chintz
or broadcloth in winter. The ladies have only three articles of
_parure_; the _ghaghra_, or ‘petticoat’; the _kanchuli_, ‘or corset’;
and the _dopatta_, or ‘scarf,’ which is occasionally thrown over [652]
the head as a veil. Ornaments are without number. For the men, trousers
of every shape and calibre, a tunic girded with a ceinture, and a scarf,
form the wardrobe of every Rajput. The turban is the most important part
of the dress, and is the unerring mark of the tribe; the form and
fashion are various, and its decorations differ according to time and
circumstances. The _balaband_, or ‘silken fillet,’ was once valued as
the mark of the sovereign’s favour, and was tantamount to the courtly
“orders” of Europe. The colour of the turban and tunic varies with the
season; and the changes are rung upon crimson, saffron, and purple,
though white is by far the most common. Their shoes are mere slippers,
and sandals are worn by the common classes. Boots are yet used in
hunting or war, made of chamois leather, of which material the warrior
often has a doublet, being more commodious, and less oppressive, than
armour. The dagger or poniard is inseparable from the girdle.

=Cookery, Medicine.=—The culinary art will be discussed elsewhere,
together with the medical, which is very low, and usurped by empyrics,
who waste alike the purse and health of the ignorant by the sale of
aphrodisiacs, which are sought after with great avidity. Gums, metals,
minerals, all are compounded, and for one preparation, while the author
was at Udaipur, 7000 rupees (nearly £1000) were expended by the
court-physician.

=Superstitions.=—Their superstitions, incantations, charms, and
phylacteries against danger, mental or bodily, will appear more
appropriately where the subject is incidently introduced [653].

[Illustration:

VALLEY OF UDAIPUR.
_To face page 760._
]

-----

Footnote 4.24.1:

Manu, _Laws_, v. 157, 160, 161.

Footnote 4.24.2:

Were all Manu’s maxims on this head collected, and with other good
authorities, printed, circulated, and supported by Hindu missionaries,
who might be brought to advocate the abolition of Satiism, some good
might be effected. Let every text tending to the respectability of
widowhood be made prominent, and degrade the opponents by enumerating
the weak points they abound in. Instance the polyandry which prevailed
among the Pandus, whose high priest Vyasa was an illegitimate branch;
though above all would be the efficacy of the abolition of polygamy,
which in the lower classes leaves women destitute, and in the higher
condemns them to mortification and neglect. Whatever result such a
course might produce, there can be no danger in the experiment. Such
sacrifices must operate powerfully on manners; and, barbarous as is
the custom, yet while it springs from the same principle, it ought to
improve the condition of women, from the fear that harsh treatment of
them might defeat the atonement hereafter. Let the advocate for the
abolition of this practice by the hand of power read attentively Mr.
Colebrooke’s essay, “On the Duties of a Faithful Hindu Widow,” in the
fourth volume of the _Asiatic Researches_ [_Essays on the Religion and
Philosophy of the Hindus_, ed. 1858, p. 70 ff.], to correct the notion
that there is no adequate religious ordinance for the horrid
sacrifice. Mr. C. observes (p. 220): “Though an alternative be
allowed, the Hindu legislators have shown themselves disposed to
encourage widows to burn themselves with their husband’s corpse.” In
this paper he will find too many authorities deemed sacred for its
support; but it is only by knowing the full extent of the prejudices
and carefully collecting the conflicting authorities, that we can
provide the means to overcome it. Jahangir legislated for the
abolition of this practice by successive ordinances. At first he
commanded that no woman, being mother of a family, should under any
circumstances be permitted, however willing, to immolate herself; and
subsequently the prohibition was made entire when the slightest
compulsion was required, “whatever the assurances of the people might
be.” The royal commentator records no reaction. We might imitate
Jahangir, and adopting the partially prohibitive ordinance, forbid the
sacrifice where there was a family to rear. [The early texts on the
subject of Sati have been collected by H. H. Wilson, _Essays and
Lectures chiefly on the Religion of the Hindus_, 1881, ii. 270 ff.
Also see Max Müller, _Selected Essays on Language, Mythology, and
Religion_, 1881, i. 332 ff.

Footnote 4.24.3:

[On Sati shrines and records of their deaths at Bikaner see General G.
Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, i. 209 f., 238 ff.]

Footnote 4.24.4:

The Ghakkars, a Scythic race inhabiting the banks of the Indus, at an
early period of history were given to infanticide. “It was a custom
among them,” says Ferishta, “as soon as a female child was born, to
carry her to the market-place and there proclaim aloud, holding the
child in one hand and a knife in the other, that any person who wanted
a wife might now take her; otherwise she was immediately put to death.
By this means they had more men than women, which occasioned the
custom of several husbands to one wife. When this wife was visited by
one of her husbands, she set up a mark at the door, which being
observed by any of the others who might be coming on the same errand,
he immediately withdrew till the signal was taken away.”

[This quotation from Ferishta is taken from Dow (2nd ed. i. 138 f.).
Compare Briggs’ trans., i. 183 f. This account is denied by the
present members of the tribe (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 275). Much that is
said about them refers to the Khokhar tribe (Elliot-Dowson v. 166,
note).]

Footnote 4.24.5:

Could they be induced to adopt the custom of the ancient Marsellois,
infanticide might cease: “Marseille fut la plus sage des républiques
de son temps: les dots ne pourraient passer cents écus en argent, et
cinq en habits, dit Strabon” (_De l’Esprit des Lois_, chap. xv. liv.
v. 21).

Footnote 4.24.6:

[Dr. L. P. Tesitori writes that the true form of this word is _visar_,
‘satire,’ which has no connexion with _vis_, ‘poison.’]

Footnote 4.24.7:

[This term and the custom of extravagant gifts at marriages still
prevail. _Pasārna_ means ‘to scatter, display’ (Russell, _Tribes and
Castes Central Provinces_, ii. 256).]

Footnote 4.24.8:

[_Asiatic Researches_, iv. 353 f.; _Calcutta Review_, i. 377.]

Footnote 4.24.9:

[For recent measures proposed for reduction of marriage expenses, see
Risley, _The People of India_, 2nd ed. 195 ff.]

Footnote 4.24.10:

_Banda_ is ‘a bondsman’ in Persian; _Bandi_, ‘a female slave’ in
Hindi. [These words have no connexion with “bondage.”]

Footnote 4.24.11:

Judges v. 28-30.

Footnote 4.24.12:

Manu, _Laws_, iii. 26.

Footnote 4.24.13:

Manu, _Laws_, iii. 33.

Footnote 4.24.14:

“When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy
God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them
captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a
desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; then thou
shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and
pare her nails; and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from
off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and
her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and
be her husband, and she shall be thy wife” (Deut. xxi. 10, 11, 12,
13).

Footnote 4.24.15:

[On head-shaving as a mark of slavery see _Jātaka_, Cambridge trans.,
v. 125; Anantha Krishna Iyer, _Tribes and Castes of Cochin_, ii. 337;
_BG_, ix. Part i. 232.]

Footnote 4.24.16:

I remember in my subaltern days, and wanderings through countries then
little known, one of my Rajput soldiers at the well, impatient for
water, asked a woman for the rope and bucket by the uncivil term of
_rand_: “_Main Rajputni che_,” ‘I am a Rajputni,’ she replied in the
Hara dialect, to which tribe she belonged, “_aur Rajput ki ma cho_,”
‘and the mother of Rajputs.’ At the indignant reply the hands of the
brave Kalyan were folded, and he asked her forgiveness by the
endearing and respectful epithet of “mother.” It was soon granted, and
filling his brass vessel, she dismissed him with the epithet of “son,”
and a gentle reproof. Kalyan was himself a Rajput, and a bolder lives
not, if he still exists; this was in 1807, and in 1817 he gained his
sergeant’s knot, as one of the thirty-two firelocks of my guard, who
led the attack, and defeated a camp of fifteen hundred Pindaris.

Footnote 4.24.17:

_Laws_, ii. 129.

Footnote 4.24.18:

_Ibid._ iii. 114.

Footnote 4.24.19:

_Ibid._ iii. 57, 60, 61, 62, 63.

Footnote 4.24.20:

I have conversed for hours with the Bundi queen-mother on the affairs
of her government and welfare of her infant son, to whom I was left
guardian by his dying father. She had adopted me as her brother; but
the conversation was always in the presence of a third person in her
confidence, and a curtain separated us. Her sentiments showed
invariably a correct and extensive knowledge, which was equally
apparent in her letters, of which I had many. I could give many
similar instances.

Footnote 4.24.21:

Ferishta in his history [ii. 217 ff.] gives an animated picture of
Durgavati, queen of Garha, defending the rights of her infant son
against Akbar’s ambition. Like another Boadicea, she headed her army,
and fought a desperate battle with Asaf Khan, in which she was wounded
and defeated; but scorning flight, or to survive the loss of
independence, she, like the antique Roman in such a predicament, slew
herself on the field of battle. [For Durgāvati see Badaoni, trans. W.
H. Lowe, ii. 65; Elliot-Dowson v. 169, 288, vi. 118 ff.; Sleeman,
_Rambles_, 190 f.

Whoever desires to judge of the comparative fidelity of the
translations of this writer, by Dow [ii. 224 ff.] and Briggs, cannot
do better than refer to this very passage. The former has clothed it
in all the trappings of Ossianic decoration: the latter gives “a plain
unvarnished tale,” which ought to be the aim of every translator.

Footnote 4.24.22:

_Sachha_ is very comprehensive; in common parlance it is the opposite
of ‘untrue’; but it means ‘loyal, upright, just.’

Footnote 4.24.23:

[_Āīn_, iii. 114.]

Footnote 4.24.24:

[_Ibid._ iii. 8.]

Footnote 4.24.25:

The autobiography of both these noble Tatar princes are singular
compositions, and may be given as standards of Eastern intellectual
acquirement. They minutely note the progress of refinement and luxury.
[The sweet melon was probably introduced from Persia, but some
varieties of the plant seem to be indigenous. India, however, has a
strong claim to ancient cultivation of the vine. Doubtless to the
Portuguese may be assigned the credit of having conveyed both the
tobacco plant and the knowledge of its properties to India and China
(Watt, _Econ. Dict._ ii. 626, 628, vi. Part iv. 263, v. 361; _Id.
Comm. Prod._ 437 f., 796, 1112; Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 924
ff.)].

Footnote 4.24.26:

[If the Greeks discovered opium, the Arabs were chiefly concerned in
disseminating in the East the knowledge of the plant and its uses
(Watt, _Econ. Dict._ vi. Part i. 24 ff.; _Comm. Prod._ 846).]

Footnote 4.24.27:

_‘Araq_, ‘essence’; whence _arrack_ and _rack_.

Footnote 4.24.28:

Even in the midst of conversation, the eye closes and the head nods as
the exciting cause is dissipating, and the countenance assumes a
perfect vacuity of expression. Many a chief has taken his siesta in
his chair while on a visit to me: an especial failing of my good
friend Raj Kalyan of Sadri, the descendant of the brave Shama, who won
“the right hand” of the prince at Haldighat. The lofty turban worn by
the Raj, which distinguishes this tribe (the Jhala), was often on the
point of tumbling into my lap, as he unconsciously nodded. When it is
inconvenient to dissolve the opium, the chief carries it in his
pocket, and presents it, as we would a pinch of snuff in Europe. In my
subaltern days the chieftain of Senthal, in Jaipur, on paying me a
visit, presented me with a piece of opium, which I took and laid on
the table. Observing that I did not eat it, he said he should like to
try the _Farangi ka amal_, ‘the opiate of the Franks.’ I sent him a
bottle of powerful Schiedam, and to his inquiry as to the quantity of
the dose, I told him he might take from an eighth to the half, as he
desired exhilaration or oblivion. We were to have hunted the next
morning; but having no sign of my friend, I was obliged to march
without ascertaining the effect of the barter of _aphim_ for the
waters of Friesland; though I have no doubt that he found them quite
Lethean. [The Rājputs ascribed a divine power to opium owing to the
mental exhilaration caused by the drug: hence the taking of it with a
chief was a form of solemn communion, and a renewal of the pledge of
loyalty (Russell, _Tribes and Castes, Central Provinces_, i. 170, iii.
164, iv. 425). For opium drinking among Rājputs see Malcolm, _Memoir,
Central India_, 2nd ed. ii. 146 f.; Forbes, _Rāsmāla_, 557).]

Footnote 4.24.29:

[The use of the bow has now disappeared except among forest tribes.
For its use in Mogul times see Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_,
91 ff.]

Footnote 4.24.30:

The author has now before him a letter written by the queen-mother of
Bundi desiring his rejoicings on Lalji, ‘the beloved’s,’ _coup
d’essai_ on a deer, which he had followed most pertinaciously to the
death. On this occasion a court was held, and all the chiefs presented
offerings and congratulations.

Footnote 4.24.31:

[For the Jethi wrestlers in S. India see Thurston, _Tribes and
Castes_, ii. 456 ff.]

Footnote 4.24.32:

[It takes its name from the town where they were made. The blade is
slightly curved, one specimen being rather narrower and lighter than
the ordinary sword (_talwār_), (Egerton, _Handbook of Indian Arms_,
1880, p. 105; Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 76 f.).]

Footnote 4.24.33:

Poetic impromptus pass on these occasions unrestricted by the fear of
the critic, though the long yawn now and then should have given the
hint to my friend the Maharaja that his verses wanted Attic. But he
had certainly talent, and he did not conceal his light, which shone
the stronger from the darkness that surrounded him: for poverty is not
the school of genius, and the trade of the schoolmaster has ever been
the least lucrative in a capital where rapine has ruled.

Footnote 4.24.34:

There are two of these alligators quite familiar to the inhabitants of
Udaipur, who come when called “from the vasty deep” for food; and I
have often exasperated them by throwing an inflated bladder, which the
monsters greedily received, only to dive away in angry disappointment.
It was on these that my friend affirmed he had ventured.

Footnote 4.24.35:

_Chaturanga_, so called from imitating the formation of an army. The
‘four’ (_chatur_) ‘bodied’ (_anga_) array; or elephants, chariots,
horse, and foot. His chief antagonist at chess was a blind man of the
city. [_Chaupar_ is played with oblong dice on a board with two
transverse bars in the form of a cross, like _chausar_ and _pachīsī_.]

Footnote 4.24.36:

The _tappa_ belongs to the very extremity of India, being indigenous
as far as the Indus and the countries watered by its arms; and though
the peculiar measure is common in Rajasthan, the prefix of _panjabi_
shows its origin. I have listened at Caen to the viola or hurdy-gurdy,
till I could have fancied myself in Mewar.

Footnote 4.24.37:

Chand remarks of his hero, the Chauhan, that he was “master of the
art,” both vocal and instrumental. Whether profane music was ever
common may be doubted; but sacred music was a part of early education
with the sons of kings. Rama and his brothers were celebrated for the
harmonious execution of episodes from the grand epic, the Ramayana.
The sacred canticles of Jayadeva were set to music, and apparently by
himself, and are yet sung by the Chaubes. The inhabitants of the
various monastic establishments chant their addresses to the deity;
and I have listened with delight to the modulated cadences of the
hermits, singing the praises of Pataliswara from their pinnacled abode
of Abu. It would be injustice to touch incidentally on the merits of
the minstrel Dholi, who sings the warlike compositions of the sacred
Bardai of Rajasthan.

Footnote 4.24.38:

The _turai_ is the sole instrument of the many of the trumpet kind
which is not dissonant. The Kotah prince has the largest band,
perhaps, in these countries; instruments of all kinds—stringed, wind,
and percussion. But as it is formed by rule, in which the sacred and
shrill conch-shell takes precedence, it must be allowed that it is
anything but harmonious.

Footnote 4.24.39:

[_Mashak_ is the name of the leather water-bag. One of the late Rājas
of Jind in the Panjāb had a bagpipe band, the musicians wearing kilts
and pink leggings to make them look like their Highland originals. The
Yanādis, a forest tribe in Madras, play the bagpipe (Thurston, _Tribes
and Castes_, vii. 431).]

Footnote 4.24.40:

[For these observatories see A. ff. Garrett, Pandit Chandradhar
Guleri, _The Jaipur Observatory and its Builder_, Allahabad, 1902;
Fanshawe, _Delhi Past and Present_, 247 f.; M. A. Sherring, _The
Sacred City of the Hindus_, 131 ff.; _Asiatic Researches_, v. 177 ff.]

Footnote 4.24.41:

[E. Terry, _A Voyage to East India_, ed. 1777, p. 185.] Those who wish
for an opinion “of the most excellent moralities which are to be
observed amongst the people of these nations” cannot do better than
read the 14th section of the observant, intelligent, and tolerant
chaplain, who is more just, at least on one point, than the modern
missionary, who denies to the Hindu filial affection. “And here I
shall insert another most needful particular to my present purpose
which deserves a most high commendation to be given unto that people
in general, how poor and mean soever they be; and that is, the great
exemplary care they manifest in their piety to their parents, that
notwithstanding they serve for very little, but five shillings a moon
for their whole livelihood and subsistence, yet if their parents be in
want, they will impart, at the least, half of that little towards
their necessities, choosing rather to want themselves than that their
parents should suffer need.” It is in fact one of the first precepts
of their religion. The Chaplain thus concludes his chapter “On the
Moralities of the Hindu” [232 f.]: “O! what a sad thing is it for
Christians to come short of Indians, even in moralities; come short of
those, who themselves believe to come short of heaven!” The Chaplain
closes his interesting and instructive work with the subject of
Conversion, which is as remote from accomplishment at this day as it
was at that distant period. “Well known it is that the Jesuits there,
who, like the Pharisees that would ‘compass sea and land to make one
proselyte’ (Matt. xxiii. 15), have sent into Christendom many large
reports of their great conversions of infidels in East India. But all
these boastings are but reports; the truth is, that they have there
spilt the precious water of Baptism upon some few faces, working upon
the necessity of some poor men, who for want of means, which they give
them, are contented to wear crucifixes; but for want of knowledge in
the doctrine of Christianity are only in name Christians.”[4.24.41.A]

Footnote 4.24.41.A:

_A Voyage to East India_, 427.

-----

PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 25

=Leaving Udaipur.=—_October 11, 1819._—Two years had nearly sped since
we entered the valley of Udaipur, the most diversified and most romantic
spot on the continent of India. In all this time none of us had
penetrated beyond the rocky barrier which formed the limit of our
horizon, affording the vision a sweep of six miles radius. Each hill and
dale, tower and tree, had become familiar to us; every altar, cenotaph,
and shrine had furnished its legend, till tradition was exhausted. The
ruins were explored, their inscriptions deciphered, each fantastic
pinnacle had a name, and the most remarkable chieftains and servants of
the court had epithets assigned to them, expressive of some quality or
characteristic. We had our ‘Red Reaver,’ our ‘Roderic Dhu,’ and a
‘Falstaff,’ at the court; our ‘Catalani,’ our ‘Vestris,’ in the song or
the ballet. We had our palace in the city, our cutter on the lake, our
villa in the woods, our fairy-islands in the waters; streams to angle
in, deer to [654] shoot, much, in short, to please the eye and gratify
the taste:—yet did ennui intrude, and all panted to escape from the
“happy valley,” to see what was in the world beyond the mountains. In
all these twenty moons, the gigantic portals of Debari, which guard the
entrance of the Girwa,[4.25.1] had not once creaked on their hinges for
our egress; and though from incessant occupation I had wherewithal to
lessen the _taedium vitae_, my companions not having such resources, it
was in vain that, like the sage Imlac, I urged them not to feel dull in
this “blissful captivity”: the scenery had become hideous, and I verily
believe had there been any pinion-maker in the capital of the Sesodias,
they would have essayed a flight, though it might have terminated in the
lake. Never did Rasselas sigh more for escape. At length the day
arrived, and although the change was to be from all that constitutes the
enchantments of vision, from wood and water, dale and mountain, verdure
and foliage, to the sterile plains of the sandy desert of Marwar, it was
sufficient that it was change. Our party was composed of Captain Waugh,
Lieutenant Carey, and Dr. Duncan, with the whole of the escort,
consisting of two companies of foot and sixty of Skinner’s Horse, all
alike delighted to quit the valley where each had suffered more or less
from the prevalent fevers of the monsoon, during which the valley is
peculiarly unhealthy, especially to foreigners, when the wells and
reservoirs overflow from the springs which break in, impregnated with
putrid vegetation and mineral poisons, covering the surface with a
bluish oily fluid. The art of filtrating water to free it from
impurities is unknown to the Rajputs, and with some shame I record that
we did not make them wiser, though they are not strangers to the more
simple process, adopted throughout the desert, of using potash and alum;
the former to neutralize the salt and render the water more fit for
culinary purposes; the latter to throw down the impurities held
suspended. They also use an alkaline nut in washing, which by simply
steeping emits a froth which is a good substitute for soap.[4.25.2]

On the 12th October, at five A.M., our trumpet sounded to horse, and we
were not slow in obeying the summons; the “yellow boys” with their old
native commandant looking even more cheerful than usual as we joined
them. Skinner’s Horse[4.25.3] wear a jamah or tunic of yellow
broadcloth, with scarlet turbans and cincture. Who [655] does not know
that James Skinner’s men are the most orderly in the Company’s service,
and that in every other qualification constituting the efficient
soldier, they are second to none? On another signal which reverberated
from the palace, where the drums announced that the descendant of Surya
was no sluggard, we moved on through the yet silent capital towards the
gate of the sun, where we found drawn up the quotas of Bhindar, Delwara,
Amet, and Bansi, sent as an honorary guard by the Rana, to escort us to
the frontiers. As they would have been an incumbrance to me and an
inconvenience to the country, from their laxity of discipline, after
chatting with their leader, during a sociable ride, I dismissed them at
the pass, with my respects to the Rana and their several chieftains. We
reached the camp before eight o’clock, the distance being only thirteen
miles. The spot chosen (and where I afterwards built a residence) was a
rising ground between the villages of Merta and Tus, sprinkled with
trees, and for a space of four miles clear of the belt of forest which
fringes the granite barriers of the valley. It commanded an entire view
of the plains in the direction of Chitor, still covered, excepting a
patch of cultivation here and there, with jungle. The tiger-mount, its
preserves of game, and the mouldering hunting-seats of the Rana and his
chieftains, were three miles to the north; to the south, a mile distant,
we had the Berach River, abounding in trout; and the noble lake whence
it issues, called after its founder the Udai Sagar, was not more than
three to the west. For several reasons it was deemed advisable to choose
a spot out of the valley; the health of the party, though not an
unimportant, was not a principal motive for choosing such a distance
from the court. The wretchedness in which we found it rendered a certain
degree of interference requisite, and it was necessary that they should
shake this off, in order to preserve their independence. It was dreaded
lest the aid requested by the Rana, from the peculiar circumstances on
our first going amongst them, might be construed as a precedent for the
intrusion of advice on after occasions. The distance between the court
and the agent of the British Government was calculated to diminish this
impression, and obliged them also to trust to their own resources, after
the machine was once set in motion. On the heights of Tus our tents were
pitched, the escort paraded, and St. George’s flag displayed. Here
camels, almost wild, were fitted for the first time with the
pack-saddle, lamenting in discordant gutturals the [656] hardship of
their fate, though luckily ignorant of the difference between grazing
whither they listed in the happy valley, and carrying a load in “the
region of death,” where they would only find the thorny mimosa or
prickly _phog_[4.25.4] to satisfy their hunger.

=Pallāna.=—_October 13._—There being no greater trial of patience than
the preparations for a march after a long halt, we left the camp at
daybreak amidst the most discordant yells from the throats of a hundred
camels, which drowned every attempt to be heard, while the elephants
squeaked their delight in that peculiar treble which they emit when
happy. There was one little fellow enjoying himself free from all
restraints of curbs or pack-saddles, and inserting his proboscis into
the sepoy’s baggage, whence he would extract a bag of flour, and move
off, pursued by the owner; which was sure to produce shouts of mirth to
add to the discord. This little representative of Ganesa was only eight
years old, and not more than twelve hands high. He was a most agreeable
pet, though the proofs he gave of his wisdom in trusting himself amidst
the men when cooking their dinners, were sometimes disagreeable to them,
but infinitely amusing to those who watched his actions. The rains
having broken up unusually late, we found the boggy ground, on which we
had to march, totally unable to bear the pressure of loaded cattle; even
the ridges, which just showed their crests of quartz above the surface,
were not safe. Our route was over a fine plain well wooded and watered,
soil excellent, and studded with numerous large villages; yet all
presenting uniformly the effects of warfare and rapine. The landscape,
rendered the more interesting by our long incarceration in the valley,
was abstractedly pleasing. On our left lay the mountains enclosing the
capital, on one of whose elevated peaks are the ruins of Ratakot,
overlooking all around; while to the east the eye might in vain seek for
a boundary. We passed Deopur, once a township of some consequence, and
forming part of the domain of the Bhanej,[4.25.5] Zalim Singh, the heir
of Marwar, whose history, if it could be given here, would redeem the
nobles of Rajputana from the charge of being of uncultivated intellect.
In listening to [657] his biography, both time and place were unheeded;
the narrator, my own venerable Guru,[4.25.6] had imbibed much of his
varied knowledge from this accomplished chieftain, to whom arms and
letters were alike familiar. He was the son of Raja Bijai Singh and a
princess of Mewar: but domestic quarrels made it necessary to abandon
the paternal for the maternal mansion, and a domain was assigned by the
Rana, which put him on a footing with his own children. Without
neglecting any of the martial amusements and exercises of the Rajput, he
gave up all those hours, generally devoted to idleness, to the
cultivation of letters. He was versed in philosophical theology,
astronomy, and the history of his country; and in every branch of poesy,
from the sacred canticles of Jayadeva to the couplets of the modern
bard, he was an adept. He composed and improvised with facility, and his
residence was the rendezvous for every bard of fame. That my respected
tutor did not overrate his acquirements, I had the best proof in his
own, for all which (and he rated them at an immeasurable distance
compared with the subject of his eulogy) he held himself indebted to the
heir of Marwar, who was at length slain in asserting his right to the
throne in the desert.

=Rām Singh and the Rāja of Narsinghgarh. The Oswāl Mahājans.=—After a
four hours’ march, picking our way amidst swamps and treacherous bogs,
we reached the advanced tents at Pallana. Like Deopur, it presented the
spectacle of a ruin, a corner of which held all its inhabitants; the
remains of temples and private edifices showed what it had once been.
Both towns formerly belonged to the fisc of the Rana, who, with his
usual improvidence, on the death of his nephew included them in the
grant to the temple of Kanhaiya. I found at my tents the minister’s
right hand, Ram Singh Mehta; Manikchand, the Diwan or factotum of the
chieftain of Bhindar; and the ex-Raja of Narsinghgarh, now an exile at
Udaipur.[4.25.7] The first was a fine specimen of the non-militant class
of these countries, and although he had seldom passed the boundaries of
Mewar, no country could produce a better specimen of a courteous
gentleman: his figure tall, deportment easy, features regular and
handsome, complexion fair, with a fine slightly-curled beard and
mustachios jet black. Ram Singh, without being conceited, is aware that
nature has been indulgent to him, and without any foppery he pays great
attention to externals. He is always elegantly attired, and varies with
good taste the colours of his turban and ceinture, though his loose
tunics are always white; the aroma of the _itr_ is the only mark of the
dandy about him: and this forms no criterion [658], as our red coats
attest, which receive a sprinkling at every visit. With his dagger and
pendent tassel, and the _balaband_ or purple cordon (the Rana’s gift)
round his turban, behold the servant “whom the king delighteth to
honour.” As he has to support himself by paying court to the Rana’s
sister, the queens, and other fair influentials behind the curtain, his
personal _attraits_ are no slight auxiliaries. He is of the Jain faith,
and of the tribe of Osi, which now reckons one hundred thousand
families, all of Rajput origin, and descendants of the Agnikula stock.
They proselytized in remote antiquity, and settling at the town of Osi
in Marwar, retain this designation, or the still more common one of
Oswal. It was from the Pramara and Solanki branches of the Agnikula race
that these assumed the doctrines of Buddha or Jaina: not however from
the ranks of the Brahmans, but, as I firmly believe, from that faith,
whatever it was, which these Scythic or Takshak tribes brought from
beyond the Indus. In like manner we found the Chauhan (also an Agnikula)
regenerated by the Brahmans on Mount Abu; while the fourth tribe, the
Parihara (ancient sovereigns of Kashmir), have left traces in the
monuments of their capital, Mandor, that they espoused the then
prevailing faith of Rajasthan, namely, that of Buddha.[4.25.8]

=Mānikchand.=—Manikchand, also of the Jain faith, but of a different
tribe (the Sambhari), was in all the reverse of Ram Singh. He was tall,
thin, rather bent, and of swarthy complexion, and his tongue and his
beads were in perpetual motion. He had mixed in all the intrigues of the
last quarter of a century, and, setting Zalim Singh of Kotah aside, had
more influenced events than any individual now alive. He was the organ
of the Saktawats, and the steward and counsellor of the head of this
clan, the Bhindar chief; and being accordingly the irreconcilable foe of
the Chondawats, had employed all the resources of his talents and his
credit to effect their humiliation. To this end, he has leagued with
Sindis, Pathans, and Mahrattas, and would not have scrupled to coalesce
with his Satanic Majesty, could he thereby have advanced their revenge:
in pursuance of which he has been detained in confinement as a hostage,
put to torture from inability to furnish the funds he would
unhesitatingly promise for aid, and all the while sure of death if he
fell into the hands of his political antagonists. His talent and general
information made him always a welcome guest: which was wormwood to the
Chondawats, who laid claim to a monopoly of patriotism, and stigmatized
the Saktawats as the destroyers [659] of Mewar, though in truth both
were equally blind to her interests in their contests for supremacy. He
was now beyond fifty, and appeared much older; but was cheerful,
good-humoured, and conversant in all the varied occurrences of the
times. He at length completely established himself in the Rana’s good
graces, who gave his elder son a confidential employment. Had he lived,
he would have been conspicuous, for he had all the talent of his father,
with the personal adjuncts possessed by Ram Singh; but being sensitive
and proud, he swallowed poison, in consequence it was said of the
severity of an undeserved rebuke from his father, and died generally
regretted. I may here relate the end of poor Manika. It was on the
ground we had just quitted that he visited me for the last time, on my
return from the journey just commenced. He had obtained the contract for
the whole transit duties of the State, at the rate of 250,000 rupees per
annum. Whether from the corruption of his numerous deputy collectors,
his own cupidity, or negligence, he professed his inability to fulfil
the contract by nearly a sixth of the amount, though from his talents
and promises, a perfect establishment of this important department,
which had been taken from others on his account, was expected. It was
difficult to judge charitably of his assertions, without giving occasion
to his enemies to put a wrong construction on the motives. He pitched
his tent near me, and requested an interview. He looked very
disconsolate, and remarked, that he had seven several times left his
tent, and as often turned back, the bird of omen having each time passed
him on the adverse side; but that at length he had determined to
disregard it, as having forfeited confidence, he was indifferent to the
future. He admitted the profligacy of his inferiors, whom he had not
sufficiently superintended, and took his leave, promising by assiduity
to redeem his engagements, though his past character for intrigue made
his asseverations doubtful. Again failing to make good his promises, or,
as was surmised, having applied the funds to his own estate, he took
_saran_ with the Raja of Shahpura; where, mortified in all probability
by the reflection of the exultation of his rivals over his disgrace, and
having lost the confidence of his own chief when he obtained that of the
Rana, he had recourse to the usual expedient of these countries when
“perplexed in the extreme,”—took poison and died.

=The Rāja of Narsinghgarh.=—The last of the trio of visitors on this
occasion, the Raja of Narsinghgarh, is now, as before stated, in exile.
He is of the tribe of Umat, one of thirty-six divisions [660] of the
Pramaras,[4.25.9] settled during fifteen generations in Central India,
and giving the name of Umatwara to the petty sovereignty of which
Narsinghgarh is the capital. Placed in the very heart of the predatory
hordes, the Pindaris and Mahrattas occupied almost every village that
owned their sway, and compelled him to the degradation of living under
Holkar’s orange standard, which waved over the battlements of his abode.
To one or other of the great Mahratta leaders, Sindhia and Holkar, all
the petty princes were made tributary dependents, and Umatwara had early
acknowledged Holkar, paying the annual sum of eighty thousand rupees:
but this vassalage did not secure the Raja from the ravages of the other
spoliators, nor from the rapacity of the myrmidons of his immediate lord
paramount. In 1817, when these countries, for the first time in many
centuries, tasted the blessings of peace, Umatwara was, like Mewar, a
mass of ruins, its fertile lands being overgrown with the thorny
_mimosa_ or the useful _kesula_. The Raja partook of the demoralization
around him; he sought refuge in opium and arak from his miseries, and
was totally unfitted to aid in the work of redemption when happier days
shone upon them. His son Chain Singh contrived to escape these snares,
and was found in every respect competent to cooperate in the work of
renovation, and through the intervention of the British agent (Major
Henley), an arrangement was effected by which the Raja retired on a
stipend and the son carried on the duties of government in his
name.[4.25.10]

It was unfortunate for these ancient races, that on the fortunate
occasion presented in 1817-18, when both Sindhia and Holkar aimed at the
overthrow of our power (the one treacherously cloaking his views, the
other disclosing them in the field), our policy did not readily grasp
it, to rescue all these States from ruin and dependence. Unfortunately,
their peculiar history was little known, or it would have been easily
perceived that they presented the exact materials we required between us
and the entire occupation of the country. But there was then a strong
notion afloat of a species of balance of power, and it was imagined that
these demoralized and often humiliated Mahrattas were the fittest
materials to throw into the scale—against I know not what, except
ourselves: for assuredly the day of our reverses will be a jubilee to
them, and will level every spear that they can bring against our
existence. They would merit contempt if they acted [661] otherwise. Can
they cease to remember that the orange flag which waved in triumph from
the Sutlej to the Kistna has been replaced by the cross of St. George?
But the snake which flutters in tortuous folds thereon, fitting crest
for the wily Mahratta, is only scathed, and may yet call forth the lance
of the red cross knight to give the coup de grace.[4.25.11] Let it then
be remembered that, both as regards good policy and justice, we owe to
these States—independence.

To what does our interference with Umatwara tend, but to realize the
tribute of Holkar; to fix a millstone round their necks, which,
notwithstanding the comparative happiness they enjoy, will keep them
always repining, and to secure which will make our interference eternal.
Had a due advantage been taken of the hostilities in 1817, it might have
obviated these evils by sending the predatory sovereign of half a
century’s duration to a more restricted sphere. It may be said that it
is easy to devise plans years after the events which immediately called
for them: these not only were mine at the time, but were suggested to
the proper authorities; and I am still disposed to think my views
correct.

After chatting some time with the two chiefs described, and presenting
them with _itr_ and _pan_,[4.25.12] they took leave.

=Nāthdwāra.=—_October 14._—Marched at daybreak, and found the route
almost impracticable for camels, from the swampy nature of the soil. The
country is much broken with irregular low ridges of micaceous schist, in
the shape of a chine or hog’s back, the crest of which has throughout
all its length a vein of quartz piercing the slate, and resembling a
back-bone; the direction of these veins is uniformly N.N.E., and the
inclination about 75° to the east. Crossed the Nathdwara ridge, about
four hundred feet in height, and, like the hills encircling the valley,
composed of a brown granite intersected with protruding veins of quartz,
incumbent on blue compact slate. The ascent was a mile and a half east
of the town, and on the summit, which is table-land, there are two small
lakes, whence water-courses conduct streams on each side of the road to
supply the temple and the town. There are noble trees planted on either
side of these rivulets, forming a delightful shade. As we passed through
the town to our encampment on the [662] opposite side of the Banas
River, the inhabitants crowded the streets, shouting their grateful
acknowledgments to the power which had redeemed the sacred precincts of
Kanhaiya from the scenes of turpitude amidst which they had grown up.
They were all looking forward with much pleasure to the approaching
festival of Annakuta.

_October 15._—Halted to allow the baggage to join, which, partly from
the swamps and partly from the intractable temper of the cattle, we have
not seen since we parted company at Merta. Received a visit from the
Mukhya of the temple, accompanied by a pilgrim in the person of a rich
banker of Surat. A splendid quilted cloak of gold brocade, a blue scarf
with a deep border of gold, and an embroidered band for the head, were
brought to me as the gift of the god through his high-priest, in
testimony of my zeal. I was also honoured with a tray of the sacred
food, which consisted of all the dried fruits, spices, and aromatics of
the East. In the evening I had a portion of the afternoon repast,
consisting of a preparation of milk; but the days of simplicity are
gone, and the Apollo of Vraj has his curds adulterated with rose-water
and amber. Perhaps, with the exception of Lodi, where is fabricated the
far-famed Parmesan, whose pastures maintain forty thousand kine, there
is no other place known which possesses more than the city of the Hindu
Apollo, though but a tenth of that of Lodi. But from the four thousand
cows, the expenditure of milk and butter for the votaries of Kanhaiya
may be judged. I was entertained with the opinions of the old banker on
the miraculous and oracular power of the god of Nathdwara. He had just
been permitted to prostrate himself before the car which conveyed the
deity from the Yamuna, and held forth on the impiety of the age, in
withholding the transmission of the miraculous wheels from heaven, which
in former days came once in six months. The most devout alone are
permitted to worship the chariot of Kanhaiya. The garments which
decorate his representative are changed several times a day, to imitate
the different stages of his existence, from the youthful Bala to the
conqueror of Kansa; or, as the Surat devotee said in broken English,
“Oh, sir, he be much great god; he first of all; and he change from de
balak, or child, to de fierce chief, with de bow and arrow a hees
hands”; while the old Mukhya, whose office it is to perambulate the
whole continent of India as one of the couriers of Kanhaiya, lifted up
his eyes as he ejaculated, “Sri Krishna! Sri Krishna!” I gave him a
paper [663] addressed to all officers of the British Government who
might pass through the lands of the church, recommending the protection
of the peacocks and pipal trees, and to forbear polluting the precincts
of the god with the blood of animals. To avoid offending against their
prejudices in this particular, I crossed the river, and killed our fowls
within our own sanctuary, and afterwards concealed the murder by burying
the feathers.

=Sagacity of Elephants. Usarwās.=—_October 16._—There is nothing so
painful as sitting down inactive when the mind is bent upon an object.
Our escort was yet labouring in the swamps, and as we could not be worse
off than we were, we deemed it better to advance, and accordingly
decamped in the afternoon, sending on a tent to Usarwas; but though the
distance was only eight miles we were benighted, and had the comfort to
find old Fateh, “the victorious,” floundering with his load in a bog,
out of which he was picking his way in a desperate rage. It is generally
the driver’s fault when such an accident occurs: for if there be but a
foot’s breadth of sound footing, so sensible is the animal, that he is
sure to avoid danger if left to his own discretion and the free use of
his proboscis, with which he thumps the ground as he cautiously proceeds
step by step, giving signals to his keeper of the safety or the reverse
of advancing, as clearly as if he spoke. Fateh’s signals had been
disregarded, and he was accordingly in a great passion at finding
himself abused, and kept from his cakes and butter, of which he had
always thirty pounds’ weight at sunset. The sagacity of the elephant is
well known, and was in no instance better displayed than in the
predicament above described. I have seen the huge monster in a position
which to him must have been appalling; but, with an instinctive reliance
on others, he awaited in tolerable patience the arrival of materials for
his extrication, in the shape of fascines and logs of wood, which being
thrown to him, he placed deliberately in front, and making a stout
resistance with head, teeth, and foot, pressing the wood, he brought up
one leg after the other in a most methodical and pioneer-like manner,
till he delivered himself from his miry prison. Fateh did not require
such aid; but, aware that the fault was not his, he soon indignantly
shook the load off his back, and left them to get it out in any manner
they chose.

=Wolves.=—Waited to aid in reloading, and it being already dusk, pushed
on with my dog Belle, who, observing a couple of animals, darted off
into the jungles, and led me after her as fast as the devious paths in
such a savage scene would permit. But I [664] soon saw her scampering
down the height, the game, in the shape of two huge wolves, close at her
heels, and delighted to find rescue at hand. I have no doubt their
retreat from my favourite greyhound was a mere _ruse de guerre_ to lead
her beyond supporting distance, and they had nearly effected their
object: they went off in a very sulky and leisurely manner. In my
subaltern days, when with the subsidiary force in Gohad, I remember
scouring the tremendous ravines near the Antri Pass to get a spear at a
wolf, my companion (Lieut. now Lieut.-Col. T. D. Smith) and myself were
soon surrounded by many scores of these hungry animals, who prowled
about our camp all night, having carried off a child the night before.
As we charged in one direction, they gave way; but kept upon our
quarters without the least fear, and seemingly enjoyed the fun. I do not
recollect whether it excited any other feeling than mirth. They showed
no symptom of ferocity, or desire to make a meal of us; or a retreat
from these ravines, with their superior topographical knowledge, would
doubtless have been difficult.

=The Banās River. The Fairy Gift Legend.=—We passed the Banas River,
just escaping from the rock-bound barriers, our path almost in contact
with the water to the left. The stream was clear as crystal, and of
great depth; the banks low and verdant, and fringed with wood. It was a
lovely, lonely spot, and well deserved to be consecrated by legendary
tale. In ancient times, ere these valleys were trod by the infidel
Tatar, coco-nuts were here presented to the genius of the river, whose
arm appeared above the waters to receive them; but ever since some
unhallowed hand threw a stone in lieu of a coco-nut, the arm has been
withdrawn.[4.25.13] Few in fact lived, either to supply or keep alive
the traditions which lend a charm to a journey through these wild
scenes, though full of bogs and wolves. We reached our journey’s end
very late, and though no tents were up, we had the consolation to spy
the cook in a snug corner with a leg of mutton before some blazing logs,
round which he had placed the wall of a tent to check the force of the
mountain air. We all congregated round the cook’s fire, and were
infinitely happier in the prospect before us, and with the heavens for
our canopy, than with all our accustomed conveniences and fare. Every
one this day had taken his own road, and each had his adventure to
relate. Our repast was delicious; nor did any favourable account reach
us of tents or other luxuries to mar our enjoyments, till midnight, when
the fly of the doctor’s tent arrived, of which we availed ourselves as a
protection against the heavy dews of [665] the night; and though our
bivouac was in a ploughed field, and we were surrounded by wild beasts
in a silent waste, they proved no drawbacks to the enjoyment of repose.

Halted the 17th, to collect the dislocated baggage; for although such
scenes, seasoned with romance, might do very well for _us_, our
followers were ignorant of the name of Ann Radcliffe or other
conjurers; and though admirers of tradition, like myself, preferred it
after dinner. Usarwas is a valuable village, but now thinly inhabited.
It was recently given by the Rana, with his accustomed want of
reflection, to a Charan bard, literally for an old song. But even this
folly was surpassed on his bestowing the township of Sesoda,[4.25.14]
in the valley in advance, the place from which his tribe takes its
appellation, on another of the fraternity, named Kishna, his master
bard, who has the art to make his royal patron believe that
opportunity alone is wanting to render his name as famed as that of
the illustrious Sanga, or the immortal Partap. I received and returned
the visit of an ascetic Sannyasi, whose hermitage was perched upon a
cliff not far from our tents. Like most of his brethren, he was
intelligent, and had a considerable store of local and foreign legends
at command. He was dressed in a loose orange-coloured anga or tunic,
with a turban of the same material, in which was twisted a necklace of
the lotus-kernel;[4.25.15] he had another in his hand, with which he
repeated the name of the deity at intervals. He expressed his own
surprise and the sentiments of the inhabitants at the tranquillity
they enjoyed, without any tumultuary cause being discoverable; and
said that we must be something more than human. This superstitious
feeling for a while was felt as well by the prince and the turbulent
chief, as by the anchorite of Usarwas.

=Samecha.=—_October 18._—Marched at daybreak to Samecha, distance twelve
miles. Again found our advanced elephant and breakfast-tent in a swamp:
halted to extricate him from his difficulties. The road from Nathdwara
is but a footpath, over or skirting a succession of low broken ridges,
covered with prickly shrubs, as the Khair, the Karil, and
Babul.[4.25.16] At the village of Gaon Gura, midway in the morning’s
journey, we entered the alpine valley called the Shera Nala. The village
of Gura is placed in the opening or break in the range through which the
river flows, whose serpentine meanderings indicate the only road up this
majestic valley. On the banks, or in its bed, which we frequently
crossed, lay [666] the remainder of this day’s march. The valley varies
in breadth, but is seldom less than half a mile, the hills rising boldly
from their base; some with a fine and even surface covered with mango
trees, others lifting their splintered pinnacles into the clouds. Nature
has been lavish of her beauties to this romantic region. The _gular_ or
wild fig, the _sitaphal_ or custard-apple, the peach or _aru badam_
(almond-peach),[4.25.17] are indigenous and abundant; the banks of the
stream are shaded by the withy, while the large trees, the useful mango
and picturesque tamarind, the sacred pipal and bar, are abundantly
scattered with many others, throughout. Nor has nature in vain appealed
to human industry and ingenuity to second her intents.

=Terrace Cultivation.=—From the margin of the stream on each side to the
mountain’s base they have constructed a series of terraces rising over
each other, whence by simple and ingenious methods they raise the waters
to irrigate the rich crops of sugar-cane, cotton, and rice, which they
cultivate upon them. Here we have a proof that ingenuity is the same,
when prompted by necessity, in the Jura or the Aravalli. Wherever soil
could be found, or time decomposed these primitive rocks, a barrier was
raised. When discovered, should it be in a hollow below, or on the
summit of a crag, it is alike greedily seized on: even there water is
found, and if you leave the path below and ascend a hundred feet above
the terraces, you will discover pools or reservoirs dammed in with
massive trees, which serve to irrigate such insulated spots, or serve as
nurseries to the young rice-plants. Not unfrequently, their labour is
entirely destroyed, and the dykes swept away by the periodical
inundations; for we observed the high-water mark in the trees
considerably up the acclivity. The rice crop was abundant, and the
_juar_ [millet] or maize was thriving, but scanty; the standard autumnal
crop which preceded it, the _makai_, or ‘Indian corn,’ had been entirely
devoured by the locust. The sugar-cane, by far the most valuable product
of this curious region, was very fine but sparingly cultivated, from the
dread of this insect, which for the last three years had ravaged the
valley. There are two species of locusts, which come in clouds,
darkening the air, from the desert: the _pharka_ and the _tiri_ are
their names;[4.25.18] the first is the great enemy of our incipient
prosperity. I observed a colony some time ago proceeding eastward with a
rustling, rushing sound, like a distant torrent, or the wind in a forest
at the fall of the leaf. We have thus to struggle against natural and
artificial obstacles to the rising energies of the country; and dread of
the _pharkas_ deters speculators [667] from renting this fertile tract,
which almost entirely belongs to the fisc. Its natural fertility cannot
be better demonstrated than in recording the success of an experiment,
which produced five crops, from the same piece of ground, within
thirteen months. It must, however, be understood that two of these are
species of millet, which are cut in six weeks from the time of sowing. A
patch of ground, for which the cultivator pays six rupees rent, will
produce sugar-cane six hundred rupees in value: but the labour and
expense of cultivation are heavy, and cupidity too often deprives the
husbandman of the greater share of the fruits, ninety rupees having been
taken in arbitrary taxes, besides his original rent.

The air of this elevated region gave vigour to the limbs, and appetite
to the disordered stomach. There was an exhilarating _fraîcheur_, which
made us quite frantic; the transition being from 96° of Fahrenheit to
English summer heat. We breakfasted in a verdant spot under the shade of
a noble fig-tree fanned by the cool breezes from the mountains.

=Samecha Town. Rājpūt Bhūmias.=—Samecha consists of three separate
hamlets, each of about one hundred houses. It is situated at the base of
a mountain distinctively termed Rana Pag, from a well-known path, by
which the Ranas secured their retreat to the upland wilds when hard
pushed by the Moguls. It also leads direct to the capital of the
district, avoiding the circuitous route we were pursuing. Samecha is
occupied by the Kumbhawats, descendants of Rana Kumbha, who came in a
body with their elders at their head to visit me, bringing the famed
_kakri_[4.25.19] of the valley (often three feet in length), curds, and
a kid as gifts. I rose to receive these Rajaputras, the Bhumias or
yeomen of the valley; and though undistinguishable in dress from the
commonest cultivator, I did homage to their descent. Indeed, they did
not require the auxiliaries of dress, their appearance being so striking
as to draw forth the spontaneous exclamation from my friends, “what
noble-looking fellows!” Their tall and robust figures, sharp aquiline
features, and flowing beards, with a native dignity of demeanour (though
excepting their chiefs, who wore turbans and scarfs, they were in their
usual labouring dresses, immense loose breeches and turbans), compelled
respect and admiration. Formerly they gave one hundred matchlocks for
garrison duty at Kumbhalmer; but the Mahrattas have pillaged and
impoverished them. These are the real allodial tenants of the land,
performing personal local service, and paying an annual quit-rent. I
conciliated their good opinion by [668] talking of the deeds of old
days, the recollection of which a Rajput never outlives. The assembly
under the fig-tree was truly picturesque, and would have furnished a
good subject for Gerard Dow. Our baggage joined us at Samecha; but many
of our camels were already worn out by labouring through swamps, for
which they are by nature incapacitated.

_October 19._—Marched to Kelwara, the capital of this mountainous
region, and the abode of the Ranas when driven from Chitor and the
plains of the Banas; on which occasion these valleys received and
maintained a great portion of the population of Mewar. There is not a
rock or a stream that has not some legend attached to it, connected with
these times. The valley presents the same features as already described.
Passed a cleft in the mountain on the left, through which a stream
rushes, called the “elephant’s pool”; a short cut may be made by the
foot passenger to Kelwara, but it is too intricate for any unaccustomed
to these wilds to venture. We could not ascertain the origin of the
“elephant’s pool,” but it is most likely connected with ancient warfare.
Passed the village of Murcha, held by a Rathor chieftain. On the margin
of a small lake adjoining the village, a small and very neat sacrificial
altar attracted my regard; and not satisfied with the reply that it was
_sati ka makan_, ‘the place of faith,’ I sent to request the attendance
of the village seer. It proved to be that of the ancestor of the
occupant: a proof of devotion to her husband, who had fallen in the wars
waged by Aurangzeb against this country; when, with a relic of her lord,
she mounted the pyre. He is sculptured on horseback, with lance at rest,
to denote that it is no churl to whom the record is devoted.

[Illustration:

CITADEL OF THE HILL FORTRESS OF KŪMBHALMER.
_To face page 776._
]

Near the “elephant’s pool,” and at the village of Kherli, two roads
diverge: one, by the Bargula _nal_ or pass, conducts direct to
Nathdwara; the other, leading to Rincher, and the celebrated shrine of
the four-armed god,[4.25.20] famed as a place of pilgrimage. The range
on our left terminating abruptly, we turned by Uladar to Kelwara, and
encamped in a mango-grove, on a tableland half a mile north of the town.
Here the valley enlarges, presenting a wild, picturesque, and rugged
appearance. The barometer indicated about a thousand feet of elevation
above the level of Udaipur, which is about two thousand above the sea:
yet we were scarcely above the base of the alpine cliffs which towered
around us on all sides. It was the point of divergence for the waters,
which, from the numerous fountains in [669] these uplands, descended
each declivity, to refresh the arid plains of Marwar to the west, and to
swell the lakes of Mewar to the east. Previous to the damming of the
stream which forms that little ocean, the Kankroli lake, it is asserted
that the supply to the west was very scanty, nearly all flowing
eastward, or through the valley; but since the formation of the lake,
and consequent saturation of the intermediate region, the streams are
ever flowing to the west. The spot where I encamped was at least five
hundred feet lower than Aret pol, the first of the fortified barriers
leading to Kumbhalmer, whose citadel rose more than seven hundred feet
above the _terre-pleine_ of its outworks beneath.

=Kūmbhalmer Fort. Mahārāja Daulat Singh.=—The Maharaja Daulat Singh, a
near relative of the Rana, and governor of Kumbhalmer, attended by a
numerous suite, the crimson standard, trumpets, kettledrums, seneschal,
and bard, advanced several miles to meet and conduct me to the castle.
According to etiquette, we both dismounted and embraced, and afterwards
rode together conversing on the affairs of the province, and the
generally altered condition of the country. Daulat Singh, being of the
immediate kin of his sovereign, is one of the Babas or infants of Mewar,
enumerated in the tribe called Ranawat, with the title of Maharaja.
Setting aside the family of Sheodan Singh, he is the next in succession
to the reigning family. He is one of the few over whom the general
demoralization has had no power, and remains a simple-minded
straightforward honest man; blunt, unassuming, and courteous. His rank
and character particularly qualify him for the post he holds on this
western frontier, which is the key to Marwar. It was in February 1818
that I obtained possession of this place (Kumbhalmer), by negotiating
the arrears of the garrison. Gold is the cheapest, surest, and most
expeditious of all generals in the East, amongst such mercenaries as we
had to deal with, who change masters with the same facility as they
would their turban. In twenty-four hours we were put in possession of
the fort, and as we had not above one-third of the stipulated sum in
ready cash, they without hesitation took a bill of exchange, written on
the drum-head, on the mercantile town of Pali in Marwar: in such
estimation is British faith held, even by the most lawless tribes of
India! Next morning we saw them winding down the western declivity,
while we quietly took our breakfast in an old ruined temple. During this
agreeable employment, we were joined by Major Macleod, of the artillery,
sent by General Donkin to report on the facilities of reducing the place
by siege, and [670] his opinion being, that a gun could not be placed in
position in less than six weeks, the grilling spared the European force
in such a region was well worth the £4000 of arrears. My own escort and
party remained in possession for a week, until the Rana sent his
garrison. During these eight days our time was amply occupied in
sketching and deciphering the monumental records of this singularly
diversified spot. It would be vain to attempt describing the intricacies
of approach to this far-famed abode, whose exterior is delineated by the
pencil. A massive wall, with numerous towers and pierced battlements,
having a strong resemblance to the Etruscan, encloses a space of some
miles extent below, while the pinnacle or _sikhara_ rises, like the
crown of the Hindu Cybele, tier above tier of battlements, to the
summit, which is crowned with the Badal Mahall, or ‘cloud-palace’ of the
Ranas. Thence the eye ranges over the sandy deserts and the chaotic mass
of mountains, which are on all sides covered with the cactus, which
luxuriates amidst the rocks of the Aravalli. Besides the Aret[4.25.21]
pol, or barrier thrown across the first narrow ascent, about one mile
from Kelwara, there is a second called the Halla[4.25.22] pol,
intermediate to the Hanuman[4.25.23] pol, the exterior gate of the
fortress, between which and the summit there are three more, viz. the
gate of victory, the sanguinary gate, and that of Rama, besides the
last, or Chaugan[4.25.24] pol. The barometer stood, at half-past seven
A.M., 26° 65´; thermometer 58° Fahr. at the Aret pol: and on the summit
at nine, while the thermometer rose to 75°, the barometer had only
descended 15´, and stood at 26° 50´,[4.25.25] though we had ascended
full six hundred feet.

=A Jain Temple.=—Admitting the last range as our guide, the peak of
Kumbhalmer will be 3353[4.25.26] feet above the level of the ocean.
Hence I laid down the positions of many towns far in the desert. Here
were subjects to occupy the pencil at least for a month; but we had only
time for one of the most interesting views, the Jain temple before the
reader, and a sketch of the fortress itself, both finished on the spot.
The design of this temple is truly classic. It consists only of the
sanctuary, which has a vaulted dome and colonnaded portico all round.
The architecture is undoubtedly Jain, which is as distinct in character
from the Brahmanical as their religion. There is a chasteness and
simplicity in this specimen of monotheistic worship, affording a wide
contrast to the elaborately sculptured shrines of the Saivas, and [671]
other polytheists of India. The extreme want of decoration best attests
its antiquity, entitling us to attribute it to that period when Samprati
Raja, of the family of Chandragupta, was paramount sovereign over all
these regions (two hundred years before Christ);[4.25.27] to whom
tradition ascribes the most ancient monuments of this faith, yet
existing in Rajasthan and Saurashtra. The proportions and forms of the
columns are especially distinct from the other temples, being slight and
tapering instead of massive, the general characteristic of Hindu
architecture; while the projecting cornices, which would absolutely
deform shafts less slight, are peculiarly indicative of the Takshak
architect.[4.25.28] Samprati was the fourth prince in descent from
Chandragupta, of the Jain faith, and the ally of Seleucus, the Grecian
sovereign of Bactriana. The fragments of Megasthenes, ambassador from
Seleucus, record that this alliance was most intimate; that the daughter
of the Rajput king was married to Seleucus, who, in return for elephants
and other gifts, sent a body of Greek soldiers to serve Chandragupta. It
is curious to contemplate the possibility, nay the probability, that the
Jain temple now before the reader may have been designed by Grecian
artists, or that the taste of the artists among the Rajputs may have
been modelled after the Grecian. This was our temple of Theseus in
Mewar. A massive monolithic emblem of black marble of the Hindu
Pitrideva had been improperly introduced into the shrine of the
worshippers of the “spirit alone.” Being erected on the rock, and
chiselled from the syenite on which it stands, it may bid defiance to
time. There was another sacred structure in its vicinity, likewise Jain,
but of a distinct character; indeed, offering a perfect contrast to that
described. It was three stories in height; each tier was decorated with
numerous massive low columns, resting on a sculptured panelled parapet,
and sustaining the roof of each story, which, being very low, admitted
but a broken light to break the pervading gloom. I should imagine that
the sacred architects of the East had studied effect equally with the
preservers of learning and the arts in the dark period of Europe, when
those monuments, which must ever be her pride, arose on the ruins of
paganism. How far the Saxon or Scandinavian pagan contributed to the
general design of such structures may be doubted; but that their
decorations, especially the grotesque, have a powerful resemblance to
the most ancient Hindu-Scythic, there is no question, as I shall
hereafter more particularly point out [672].

[Illustration:

JAIN TEMPLE.
In the Fortress of Kūmbhalmer.
_To face page 780._
]

Who, that has a spark of imagination, but has felt the indescribable
emotion which the gloom and silence of a Gothic cathedral excites? The
very extent provokes a comparison humiliating to the pigmy spectator,
and this is immeasurably increased when the site is the mountain
pinnacle, where man and his works fade into nothing in contemplating the
magnificent expanse of nature. The Hindu priest did not raise the temple
for heterogeneous multitudes: he calculated that the mind would be more
highly excited when left to its solitary devotions, amidst the silence
of these cloistered columns, undisturbed save by the monotony of the
passing bell, while the surrounding gloom is broken only by the flare of
the censer as the incense mounts above the altar.

=Temple of Māma Devi.=—It would present no distinct picture to the eye
were I to describe each individual edifice within the scope of vision,
either upwards towards the citadel, or below. Looking down from the Jain
temple towards the pass, till the contracting gorge is lost in distance,
the gradually diminishing space is filled with masses of ruin. I will
only notice two of the most interesting. The first is dedicated to Mama
Devi, ‘the mother of the gods,’ whose shrine is on the brow of the
mountain overlooking the pass. The goddess is placed in the midst of her
numerous family, including the greater and lesser divinities. They are
all of the purest marble, each about three feet in height, and tolerably
executed, though evidently since the decline of the art, of which very
few good specimens exist executed within the last seven centuries. The
temple is very simple and primitive, consisting but of a long hall,
around which the gods are ranged, without either niche or altar.

The most interesting portion of this temple is its court, formed by a
substantial wall enclosing a tolerable area. The interior of this wall
had been entirely covered with immense tables of black marble, on which
was inscribed the history of their gods, and, what was of infinitely
greater importance, that of the mortal princes who had erected the
tablets in their honour. But what a sight for the antiquary! Not one of
the many tables was entire; the fragments were strewed about, or placed
in position to receive the flesh-pots of the sons of Ishmael, the
mercenary Rohilla Afghan [673].[4.25.29]

=Memorial of Prithirāj and Tāra Bāi.=—On quitting the temple of Mama
Devi, my attention was attracted by a simple monumental shrine on the
opposite side of the valley, and almost in the gorge of the pass. It was
most happily situated, being quite isolated, overlooking the road
leading to Marwar, and consisted of a simple dome of very moderate
dimensions, supported by columns, without any intervening object to
obstruct the view of the little monumental altar arising out of the
centre of the platform. It was the Sybilline temple of Tivoli in
miniature. To it, over rock and ruin, I descended. Here repose the ashes
of the Troubadour of Mewar, the gallant Prithiraj and his heroine wife,
Tara Bai, whose lives and exploits fill many a page of the legendary
romances of Mewar.

[Illustration:

RUINS IN KŪMBHALMER.
_To face page 782._
]

This fair ‘star’ (_tara_) was the daughter of Rao Surthan, the chieftain
of Badnor. He was of the Solanki tribe, the lineal descendant of the
famed Balhara kings of Anhilwara. Thence expelled by the arms of Ala in
the thirteenth century, they migrated to Central India, and obtained
possession of Tonk-Toda and its lands on the Banas, which from remote
times had been occupied (perhaps founded) by the Taks, and hence bore
the name of Taksilanagar, familiarly Takatpur and Toda.[4.25.30] Surthan
had been deprived of Toda by Lila the Afghan, and now occupied Badnor at
the foot of the Aravalli, within the bounds of Mewar. Stimulated by the
reverses of her family, and by the incentives of its ancient glory, Tara
Bai, scorning the habiliments and occupations of her sex, learned to
guide the war-horse, and throw with unerring aim the arrow from his
back, even while at speed. Armed with the bow and quiver, and mounted on
a fiery Kathiawar, she joined the cavalcade in their unsuccessful
attempts to wrest Toda from the Afghan. Jaimall, the third son of Rana
Raemall, in person made proposals for her hand. “Redeem Toda,” said the
star of Badnor, “and my hand is thine.” He assented to the terms: but
evincing a rude determination to be possessed of the prize ere he had
earned it, he was slain by the indignant father. Prithiraj, the brother
of the deceased, was then in exile in Marwar; he had just signalized his
valour, and ensured his father’s forgiveness, the redemption of
Godwar,[4.25.31] and the [674] catastrophe at Badnor determined him to
accept the gage thrown down to Jaimall. Fame and the bard had carried
the renown of Prithiraj far beyond the bounds of Mewar; the name alone
was attractive to the fair, and when thereto he who bore it added all
the chivalrous ardour of his prototype, the Chauhan, Tara Bai, with the
sanction of her father, consented to be his, on the simple asseveration
that “he would restore to them Toda, or he was no true Rajput.” The
anniversary of the martyrdom of the sons of Ali was the season chosen
for the exploit.[4.25.32] Prithiraj formed a select band of five hundred
cavaliers, and accompanied by his bride, the fair Tara, who insisted on
partaking his glory and his danger, he reached Toda at the moment the
_ta’aziya_ or bier containing the martyr-brothers was placed in the
centre of the _chauk_ or ‘square.’ The prince, Tara Bai, and the
faithful Sengar chief, the inseparable companion of Prithiraj, left
their cavalcade and joined the procession as it passed under the balcony
of the palace in which the Afghan was putting on his dress preparatory
to descending. Just as he had asked who were the strange horsemen that
had joined the throng, the lance of Prithiraj and an arrow from the bow
of his Amazonian bride stretched him on the floor. Before the crowd
recovered from the panic, the three had reached the gate of the town,
where their exit was obstructed by an elephant. Tara Bai with her
scimitar divided his trunk, and the animal flying, they joined their
cavalcade, which was close at hand.

The Afghans were encountered, and could not stand the attack. Those who
did not fly were cut to pieces; and the gallant Prithiraj inducted the
father of his bride into his inheritance. A brother of the Afghans, in
his attempt to recover it, lost his life. The Nawab Mallu Khan then
holding Ajmer determined to oppose the Sesodia prince in person; who,
resolved upon being the assailant, advanced to Ajmer, encountered his
foe in the camp at daybreak, and after great slaughter entered Garh
Bitli, the citadel, with the fugitives. “By these acts,” says the
chronicle, “his fame increased in Rajwara: one thousand Rajputs,
animated by the same love of glory and devotion, gathered round the
_nakkaras_ of Prithiraj. Their swords shone in the heavens, and were
dreaded on the earth; but they aided the defenceless.”

Another story is recorded and confirmed by Muhammadan writers as to the
result, though they are ignorant of the impulse which prompted the act.
Prithiraj on some [675] occasion found the Rana conversing familiarly
with an ahadi[4.25.33] of the Malwa king, and feeling offended at the
condescension, expressed himself with warmth. The Rana ironically
replied: “You are a mighty seizer of kings; but for me, I desire to
retain my land.” Prithiraj abruptly retired, collected his band, made
for Nimach, where he soon gathered five thousand horse, and reaching
Dipalpur, plundered it, and slew the governor. The king on hearing of
the irruption left Mandu at the head of what troops he could collect;
but the Rajput prince, in lieu of retreating, rapidly advanced and
attacked the camp while refreshing after the march. Singling out the
royal tent, occupied by eunuchs and females, the king was made captive,
and placed on an express camel beside the prince, who warned the
pursuers to follow peaceably, or he would put his majesty to death;
adding that he intended him no harm, but that after having made him
“touch his father’s feet,” he should restore him to liberty. Having
carried him direct to Chitor and to his father’s presence, he turned to
him saying, “Send for your friend the ahadi, and ask him who this is?”
The Malwa king was detained a month within the walls of Chitor, and
having paid his ransom in horses, was set at liberty with every
demonstration of honour.[4.25.34] Prithiraj returned to Kumbhalmer, his
residence, and passed his life in exploits like these from the age of
fourteen to twenty-three, the admiration of the country and the theme of
the bard.

It could not be expected that long life would be the lot of one who thus
courted distinction, though it was closed neither by shot nor sabre, but
by poison, when on the eve of prosecuting his unnatural feud against his
brother Sanga, the place of whose retreat was made known by his marriage
with the daughter of the chieftain of Srinagar, who had dared to give
him protection in defiance of his threats.

At the same time he received a letter from his sister, written in great
grief, complaining of the barbarous treatment of her lord, the Sirohi
prince, from whose tyranny she begged to be delivered and to be restored
to the paternal roof; since whenever he had indulged too freely in the
‘essence of the flower,’ or in opium, he used to place her under the
bedstead, and leave her to sleep on the floor. Prithiraj instantly
departed, reached Sirohi at midnight, scaled the palace, and interrupted
the repose of Pabhu Rao by placing his poniard at his throat. His wife,
notwithstanding his cruelty, complied with his humiliating appeal for
mercy, and begged his life, which was granted on condition of his
standing as a suppliant with his wife’s [676] shoes on his head, and
touching her feet, the lowest mark of degradation. He obeyed, was
forgiven, and embraced by Prithiraj, who became his guest during five
days. Pabhu Rao was celebrated for a confection, of which he presented
some to his brother at parting. He partook of it as he came in sight of
Kumbhalmer; but on reaching the shrine of Mama Devi was unable to
proceed. Here he sent a message to the fair Tara to come and bid him
farewell; but so subtle was the poison, that death had overtaken him ere
she descended from the citadel. Her resolution was soon formed; the pyre
was erected, and with the mortal remains of the chivalrous Prithiraj in
her embrace, she sought “the regions of the sun.” Such the end of the
Sesodia prince, and the star of Badnor. From such instances we must form
our opinion of the manners of these people. But for the poisoned
confection of the chief of Sirohi, Prithiraj would have had the glory of
opposing himself to Babur, instead of his heroic brother and successor,
Sanga.[4.25.35] Whether, from his superior ardour of temperament, and
the love of military glory which attracted similarly constituted minds
to his fortunes, he would have been more successful than his brother, it
is futile to conjecture.

=The Frontier of Mārwār.=—_October 20._—Halted till noon, that the men
might dress their dinners, and prepare for the descent into “the region
of death,” or Marwar. The pass by which we had to gain it was
represented as terrific; but as both horse and elephant, with the aid of
the hatchet, will pick their way wherever man can go, we determined to
persevere. Struck the camp at noon, when the baggage filed off, halting
ourselves till three; the escort and advanced tents, and part of the
cuisine being ordered to clear the pass, while we designed to spend the
night midway, in a spot forming the natural boundary of Mewar and
Marwar, reported to be sufficiently capacious. Rumour had not magnified
the difficulties of the descent, which we found strewed with our
baggage, arresting all progress for a full hour. For nearly a mile there
was but just breadth sufficient to admit the passage of a loaded
elephant, the descent being at an angle of 55° with the horizon, and
streams on either side rushing with a deafening roar over their rugged
beds. As we gained a firmer footing at the base of this first descent,
we found that the gallant Manika, the gift of my friend the Bundi
prince, had missed his footing and rolled down the steep, breaking the
cantle of the saddle; a little farther appeared the cook, hanging in
dismay over the scattered implements of his art, his camel remonstrating
against the [677] replacing of his _kajavas_ or panniers. For another
mile it became more gentle, when we passed under a tower of Kumbhalmer,
erected on a scarped projection of the rock, full five hundred feet
above us. The scenery was magnificent; the mountains rising on each side
in every variety of form, and their summits, as they caught a ray of the
departing sun, reflecting on our sombre path a momentary gleam from the
masses of rose-coloured quartz which crested them. Noble forest trees
covered every face of the hills and the bottom of the glen, through
which, along the margin of the serpentine torrent which we repeatedly
crossed, lay our path. Notwithstanding all our mishaps, partly from the
novelty and grandeur of the scene, and partly from the invigorating
coolness of the air, our mirth became wild and clamorous: a week before
I was oppressed with a thousand ills; and now I trudged the rugged path,
leaping the masses of granite which had rolled into the torrent.

There was one spot where the waters formed a pool or _dah_. Little Carey
determined to trust to his pony to carry him across, but deviating to
the left, just as I was leaping from a projecting ledge, to my horror,
horse and rider disappeared. The shock was momentary, and a good ducking
the only result, which in the end was the luckiest thing that could have
befallen him. On reaching the Hathidarra, or ‘barrier of the elephant’
(a very appropriate designation for a mass of rock serving as a rampart
to shut up the pass), where we had intended to remain the night, we
found no spot capacious enough even for a single tent. Orders
accordingly passed to the rear for the baggage to collect there, and
wait the return of day to continue the march. The shades of night were
fast descending, and we proceeded almost in utter darkness towards the
banks of the stream, the roar of whose waters was our guide, and not a
little perplexed by the tumultuous rush which issued from every glen, to
join that we were seeking. Towards the termination of the descent the
path became wider, and the voice of the waters of a deeper and hoarser
tone, as they glided to gain the plains of Marwar. The vault of heaven,
in which there was not a cloud, appeared as an arch to the perpendicular
cliffs surrounding us on all sides, and the stars beamed with peculiar
brilliancy from the confined space through which we viewed them. As we
advanced in perfect silence, fancy busily at work on what might befall
our straggling retinue from the ferocious tiger or plundering
mountaineer, a gleam of light suddenly flashed upon us on emerging from
the brushwood, and disclosed a party of dismounted cavaliers seated
round their night-fires under some magnificent fig-trees [678].[4.5.36]

=Meeting with the Mers.=—Halted, and called a council of war to
determine our course: we had gained the spot our guides had assigned as
the only fitting one for bivouac before we reached the plains beyond the
mountains; it afforded shade from the dews, and plenty of water. The
_munitions de bouche_ having gone on was a good argument that we should
follow; but darkness and five miles more of intricate forest, through a
path from which the slightest deviation, right or left, might lead us
into the jaws of a tiger, or the toils of the equally savage Mer,
decided us to halt. We now took another look at the group
above-mentioned. Though the excitement of the morning was pretty well
chilled by cold and hunger (poor sharpeners of the imagination), it was
impossible to contemplate the scene before us without a feeling of the
highest interest. From twenty-five to thirty tall figures, armed at all
points, were sitting or reposing in groups round their watch-fires,
conversing and passing the pipe from hand to hand, while their long
black locks, and motley-fashioned turbans, told that they belonged to
Marudesa. A rude altar, raised in honour of some “gentle blood” shed by
the murky mountaineer, served as a place of rest for the chief of the
party, distinguished by the gold band in his turban, and his deer-skin
doublet. I gave the usual salutation of “Rama, Rama,” to the chief and
his party, and inquired after the health of their chieftain of Ghanerao,
to whose courtesy I found I owed this mark of attention. This was the
boundary between the two States of Marwar and Mewar, since the district
of Godwar was lost by the latter about fifty years ago. The spot has
been the scene of many a conflict, and a closer approach disclosed
several other altars raised in honour of the slain; each represented a
cavalier mounted on his war-steed, with his lance poised, denoting that
in such attitude he fell in defending the pass, or redeeming the cattle
from the plundering mountain Mer. A square tablet placed on each
contained the date on which he gained “the mansions of the sun.”
Midnight being past, and bringing no hope of our appetites growing by
what they might feed upon, Dr. Duncan and Captain Waugh took the _jhul_,
or broadcloth-housing, from the elephant, and rolling themselves in it,
followed the example of the chieftain and reposed upon the ashes of the
brave, on an altar adjoining the one he occupied. I soon left them in
happy forgetfulness of tigers, Meras, hunger, and all the fatigues of
the day, and joined the group to listen to the tale with which they
enlivened the midnight hour. This I can repeat, but it would have
required the pencil of a master to paint the scene. It was a subject for
Salvator Rosa; though I should [679] have been perfectly satisfied with
one of Captain Waugh’s delineations, had he been disposed at that moment
to exert the pictorial art. Several of my friends had encountered the
mountaineer on this very spot; and these humble cenotaphs, covering the
ashes of their kin, recalled events not likely to be repeated in these
halcyon days, when the names of Bhil and Mer cease to be the synonyms of
plunderer. As there may be no place more appropriate for a sketch of the
mountaineers, the reader may transport himself to the glen of
Kumbhalmer, and listen to the history of one of the aboriginal tribes of
Rajasthan [680].

[Illustration: KOLI AND BHIL.]

[Illustration: CHĀRAN OR BARD.]

(The Foresters of Rājputana.)
_To face page 788._

-----

Footnote 4.25.1:

The amphitheatre, or circle. [The valley of Udaipur.]

Footnote 4.25.2:

_Sabun_, in the lingua franca of India, signifies ‘soap.’ [The
soap-nut tree (_sapindus mukorossi_), the fruit of which is used for
washing clothes and the hair (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 979).]

Footnote 4.25.3:

[Raised by James Skinner (1778-1841), known as “The Yellow Boys,” in
1823; 1st Irregular Cavalry (Skinner’s Horse), 1840; 1st Bengal
Cavalry, 1861 (F. G. Cardew, _Sketch of the Services of the Bengal
Native Army to the Year 1895_).]

Footnote 4.25.4:

[_Calligonum polygonoides_, a shrub on which camels live for the
greater part of the year.]

Footnote 4.25.5:

_Bhanej_, or ‘nephew,’ a title of courtesy enjoyed by every chieftain
who marries a daughter or immediate kinswoman of the Rana’s house.
[When Bhīm Singh succeeded in 1793, his first act was to drive his
uncle, Zālim Singh, the son of a Mewār princess, from Jodhpur. He took
refuge in Udaipur, and passed the rest of his days in literary
pursuits. He was a man of charm and ability, a gallant soldier, no
mean poet. He died in the prime of life in British Merwāra in 1799
(Erskine iii. A. 70).]

Footnote 4.25.6:

My guide or instructor, Yati Gyanchandra, a priest of the Jain sect,
who had been with me ten years. To him I owe much, for he entered into
all my antiquarian pursuits with zeal.

Footnote 4.25.7:

[A chiefship in Central India under the Bhopāl Agency. In 1819 Subhāg
Singh becoming imbecile was replaced by his son Chain Singh, after
whose death in 1824 he was restored (_IGI_, xviii. 353).]

Footnote 4.25.8:

[As usual, Jainism and Buddhism are confounded.]

Footnote 4.25.9:

One of the four Agnikulas. [The Umats were not a distinguished tribe
until Achal Singh, Dīwān of Narsinghgarh, married his son to a near
relation of the Mahārāna of Udaipur, and since this alliance many of
the principal Mālwa families eat with the Rājas of Umatwāra (Malcolm,
_Memoir of Central India_, 2nd ed. ii. 130 f.). For a full and
slightly different account see _IGI_, xviii. 382 ff.]

Footnote 4.25.10:

[Chain Singh quarrelled with the Political Agent, attacked the British
forces at Sehore, and was killed in the battle in 1824 (_IGI_, xviii.
383).]

Footnote 4.25.11:

Sindhia’s flag is a snake _argent_ on an _orange_ field.

Footnote 4.25.12:

_Pān_, ‘the leaf’; _parna_ and _pattra_, the Sanskrit for ‘a leaf’;
and hence _panna_, ‘a leaf or sheet of paper’; and _patra_, ‘a plate
of metal or sacrificial cup,’ because these vessels were first made of
leaves. I was amused with the coincidence between the Sanskrit and
Tuscan _panna_. That lovely subject by Raphael, the “Madonna
impannata,” in the Pitti Palace at Florence, is so called from the
subdued light admitted through the window, the panes of which are of
paper. [The words have no connexion.]

Footnote 4.25.13:

[A variant of the well-known Fairy Gift legend (Crooke, _Popular
Religion and Folklore of N. India_, 2nd ed. i. 287 ff.).]

Footnote 4.25.14:

[The home of the Rāna branch of Guhilots, who take the name of Sesodia
from it, while Chitor was the capital of the Rāwal branch of the
ruling house (Erskine ii. A. 15).]

Footnote 4.25.15:

[Lotus nuts are used for necklaces, but Sannyāsis usually wear those
of the _rudrāksha_ (_Elaeocarpus ganitrus_) (Watt, _Econ. Dict._ v.
345; _Comm. Prod._ 511).]

Footnote 4.25.16:

[_Acacia catechu_, _Capparis aphylla_, _Acacia arabica_.]

Footnote 4.25.17:

[_Ficus glomerata_, _Annona squamosa_, _Prunus persica_.]

Footnote 4.25.18:

[Our knowledge of Indian locusts is still imperfect, the best-known
varieties being the Bombay and the North-West (Watt, _Econ. Dict._ vi.
Part i. 154 f.; _Comm. Prod._ 686).]

Footnote 4.25.19:

[A kind of cucumber, _Cucumis utilissimus_ (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 439).]

Footnote 4.25.20:

[Chaturbhuja Vishnu.]

Footnote 4.25.21:

[‘The Barrier.’]

Footnote 4.25.22:

[‘The Onset.’]

Footnote 4.25.23:

[‘That of the monkey god,’ a common guardian of forts.]

Footnote 4.25.24:

[Chaugān, ‘the Parade Ground.’]

Footnote 4.25.25:

At four o’clock P.M., same position, thermometer 81°; barometer, 26°
85´.

Footnote 4.25.26:

[3658 feet.]

Footnote 4.25.27:

[Samprati was grandson of Asoka, and he is credited with the erection
of many Jain buildings (Smith, _EHI_, 192 f.; _BG_, i. Part i. 15).
From the picture of the temple given by the author, and from an
inscription of the reign of Rāna Sangrām Singh (A.D. 1508-27), it
could not have been more than three centuries old when he saw it
(_IA_, ii. 205). There are two temples, one consisting of a square
sanctuary with a vaulted dome, and surrounded by a colonnade of
elegant pillars: the second is of peculiar design, having three
stories, each tier being decorated with massive low columns (Erskine
ii. A. 116).]

Footnote 4.25.28:

See note, p. 37, above.

Footnote 4.25.29:

These people assert their Coptic origin: being driven from Egypt by
one of the Pharaohs, they wandered eastwards till they arrived under
that peak of the mountains west of the Indus called Sulaiman-i-koh, or
‘Hill of Solomon,’ where they halted. Others draw their descent from
the lost tribes. They are a very marked race, and as unsettled as
their forefathers, serving everywhere. They are fine gallant men, and,
when managed by such officers as Skinner, make excellent and orderly
soldiers; but they evince great contempt for the eaters of swine, who
are their abomination. [The Rohillas, ‘Highlanders,’ are a Pathān
tribe which occupied Rohilkhand after the death of Aurangzeb, A.D.
1707 (Crooke, _Tribes and Castes N.W.P. and Oudh_, iv. 165 f.).]

Footnote 4.25.30:

From the ruins of its temples, remnants of Takshak architecture, the
amateur might speedily fill a portfolio. This tract abounds with
romantic scenery: Rajmahall on the Banas, Gokaran, and many others.
Herbert calls Chitor the abode of Taxiles, the ally of Alexander. The
Taks were all of the race of Puru, so that Porus is a generic, not a
proper name. This Taksilanagar has been a large city. We owe thanks to
the Emperor Babur, who has given us the position of the city of
Taxiles, where Alexander left it, west of the Indus. [The Tāk tribe
had no connexion with Chitor.]

Footnote 4.25.31:

See p. 344 [Vol. I.].

Footnote 4.25.32:

[The Muharram festival.]

Footnote 4.25.33:

[Ahadi, ‘single, alone,’ like our warrant-officer, a gentleman trooper
in the Mughal service, so called because they offered their services
singly, and did not attach themselves to any chief (_Āīn_, i. 20,
note; Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 43).]

Footnote 4.25.34:

[This is the Rājput story which lacks confirmation from Muhammadan
sources. The captive may have been Ghiyāsū-d-dīn of Mālwa, or Muzaffar
Shāh of Gujarāt; but it is probably fiction invented by the Mewār
bards (Erskine ii. A. 18).]

Footnote 4.25.35:

See Annals, p. 353.

Footnote 4.5.36:

The bar or banyan tree, _Ficus Indica_.

-----

CHAPTER 26

=The Mer Tribe.=—The Mer or Mera is the mountaineer of Rajputana, and
the country he inhabits is styled Merwara, or ‘the region of hills.’ The
epithet is therefore merely local, for the Mer is but a branch of the
Mina or Maina, one of the aborigines of India. He is also called Merot
and Merawat; but these terminations only more correctly define his
character of mountaineer.[4.26.1] Merwara is that portion of the
Aravalli chain between Kumbhalmer and Ajmer, a space of about ninety
miles in length, and varying in breadth from six to twenty. The general
character of this magnificent rampart, in the natural and physical
geography of Rajputana, is now sufficiently familiar. It rises from
three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and abounds with
a variety of natural productions. In short, I know no portion of the
globe which would yield to the scientific traveller more abundant
materials for observation than the alpine Aravalli. The architectural
antiquary might fill his portfolio, and natural history would receive
additions to her page in every department, and especially in botany and
zoology.[4.26.2] I [681] should know no higher gratification than to be
of a scientific party to anatomize completely this important portion of
India. I would commence on the Gujarat, and finish on the Shaikhawat
frontier. The party should consist of a skilful surveyor, to lay down on
a large scale a topographical chart of the mountains; several gentlemen
thoroughly versed in natural history; able architectural and landscape
draughtsmen, and the antiquary to transcribe ancient inscriptions, as
well as to depict the various races. The “Aravalli delineated,” by the
hand of science, would form a most instructive and delightful work.

A minute account of the Mer, his habits and his history, would be no
unimportant feature: but as this must be deferred, I will, in the
meanwhile, furnish some details to supply the void.

The Mers are a branch of the Chitas, an important division of the
Minas.[4.26.3] I shall elsewhere enter at large into the history of this
race, which consists of as many branches as their conquerors, the
Rajputs. All these wild races have the vanity to mingle their pedigree
with that of their conquerors, though in doing so they stigmatize
themselves. The Chita-Minas accordingly claim descent from a grandson of
the last Chauhan emperor of Delhi. Anhul and Anup were the sons of
Lakha, the nephew of the Chauhan king. The coco-nut was sent from
Jaisalmer, offering princesses of that house in marriage: but an
investigation into their maternal ancestry disclosed that they were the
issue of a Mina concubine: and their birth being thus revealed, they
became exiles from Ajmer, and associates with their maternal relatives.

Anhul espoused the daughter of a Mina chieftain, by whom he had Chita,
whose descendants enjoy almost a monopoly of power in Merwara. The sons
of Chita, who occupied the northern frontier near Ajmer, became
Muhammadans about fifteen generations ago, when Duda, the sixteenth from
the founder of the race, was created Dawad Khan by the Hakim of Ajmer;
and as Hathun was his residence, the “Khan of Hathun” signified the
chief of the Merots. Chang, Jhak, and Rajosi are the principal towns
adjoining Hathun. Anup also took a Mina wife, by whom he had Barar,
whose descendants have continued true [682] to their original tenets.
Their chief places are Barar, Berawara, Mandila, etc. Though the progeny
of these Minas may have been improved by the infusion of Rajput blood,
they were always notorious for their lawless habits, and for the
importance attached to them so far back as the period of Bisaldeo, the
celebrated prince of Ajmer, whom the bard Chand states to have reduced
them to submission, making them “carry water in the streets of Ajmer.”
Like all mountaineers, they of course broke out whenever the hands of
power were feeble. In the battle between the Chauhans of Ajmer and the
Parihars of Mandor, a body of four thousand Mer bowmen served Nahar Rao,
and defended the pass of the Aravalli against Prithiraj in this his
first essay in arms. Chand thus describes them:[4.26.4] “Where hill
joins hill, the Mer and Mina thronged. The Mandor chief commanded that
the pass should be defended—four thousand heard and obeyed, each in form
as the angel of death—men who never move without the omen, whose arrow
never flies in vain—with frames like India’s bolt—faithful to their
word, preservers of the land and the honour[4.26.5] of Mandor; whose
fortresses have to this day remained unconquered—who bring the spoils of
the plains to their dwellings. Of these in the dark recesses of the
mountains four thousand lay concealed, their crescent-formed arrows
beside them. Like the envenomed serpent, they wait in silence the
advance of the foe.

=Prithirāj attacks the Mers.=—“Tidings reached the Chauhan that the
manly Mina, with bow in hand, stood in the mountain’s gorge. Who would
be bold enough to force it? his rage was like the hungry lion’s when he
views his prey. He called the brave Kana, and bade him observe those
wretches as he commanded him to clear the pass. Bowing he departed, firm
as the rock on which he trod. He advanced, but the mountaineer (Mer) was
immovable as Sumeru. Their arrows, carrying death, fly like Indra’s
bolts—they obscure the sun. Warriors fall from their steeds, resounding
in their armour as a tree torn up by the blast. Kana quits the steed;
hand to hand he encounters the foe; the feathery shafts, as they strike
fire, appear like birds escaping from the flames. The lance flies
through the breast, appearing at the back [683], like a fish escaping
through the meshes of a net. The evil spirits dance in the mire of
blood. The hero of the mountain[4.26.6] encountered Kana, and his blow
made him reel; but like lightning it was returned, and the mountaineer
fell: the crash was as the shaking of Sumeru. At this moment Nahar
arrived, roaring like a tiger for his prey: he called aloud to revenge
their chief, his brother,[4.26.7] and fresh vigour was infused into
their souls. On the fall of the mountain-chief, the Chauhan commanded
the ‘hymn of triumph’[4.26.8] to be sounded; it startled the
mountaineer, but only to nerve his soul afresh. In person the Chauhan
sought his foe. The son of Somesa is a bridegroom. His streaming
standards flutter like the first falls of rain in Asarh, and as he steps
on the bounds which separate Mandor from Ajmer, ‘Victory! victory!’ is
proclaimed. Still the battle rages. Elephants roar, horses neigh, terror
stalks everywhere. The aids of Girnar[4.26.9] and of Sind now appeared
for Mandor, bearing banners of every colour, varied as the flowers of
the spring. Both arrays were clad in mail; their eyes and their
finger-nails alone were exposed; each invoked his tutelary protector as
he wielded the _dodhara_.[4.26.10] Prithiraj was refulgent as Indra; the
Parihar’s brightness was as the morning star; each was clad in armour of
proof, immovable as gods in mortal form. The sword of the Chauhan
descended on the steed of the Parihar; but as he fell, Nahar sprung
erect, and they again darted on each other, their warriors forming a
fortress around the persons of their lords. Then advanced the standards
of the Pramar, like a black rolling cloud, while the lightnings flashed
from his sword. Mohana, the brother of Mandor, received him; they first
examined each other—then joining in the strife, the helm of the Pramar
was cleft in twain. Now advanced Chawand, the Dahima; he grasped his
iron lance,[4.26.11]—it pierced the Parihar, and the head appeared like
a serpent looking through the door in his back. The flame (_jyot_)
united with the fire from which it sprung, while the body fell on its
parent earth. By his devotion the sins of his life were forgiven. Nobly
did the tiger (Nahar) of Mandor meet the lion of the world. He called
aloud, ‘Hold your ground as did Bal Raja of old.’ Again the battle
rages—Durga gluts herself with blood [684]—the air resounds with the
clash of arms and the rattling of banners—the Aswar[4.26.12] rains on
the foe—Khetrpal[4.26.13] sports in the field of blood—Mahadeva fills
his necklace—the eagle gluts itself on the slain—the mien of the
warriors expands as does the lotos at the sunbeam—the war-song
resounds—with a branch of the tulasi on the helm, adorned in the saffron
robe, the warriors on either side salute each other.” The bard here
exclaims, “But why should I enlarge on this encounter?”—but as this
digression is merely for breathing time, we shall not follow him, the
object being to introduce the mountain Mer, whom we now see _hors de
combat_.

=Character of the Mers.=—Admitting the exaggeration of the poet, the Mer
appears to have been in the twelfth century what he is in the
nineteenth, a bold, licentious marauder. He maintained himself
throughout the whole of the Mogul domination, alternately succumbing and
depredating; and since the Mahrattas crippled these countries, the Mer
had regained all his consequence, and was rapidly encroaching upon his
Rajput suzerain. But when in 1821 their excesses made it imperative to
reduce their holds and fastnesses, they made no stand against the three
battalions of sepoys sent against them, and the whole tract was
compelled to obedience; not, however, till many of the descendants of
Chita and Barar had suffered both in person and property.[4.26.14] The
facility with which we reduced to entire subjection this extensive
association of plunderers, for centuries the terror of these countries,
occasioned no little astonishment to our allies. The resistance was
indeed contemptible, and afforded a good argument against the prowess of
those who had tolerated the existence of a gang at once so mischievous
and weak. But this was leaping to a conclusion without looking beneath
the surface, or to the moral and political revolution which enervated
the arms of Mer and Mahratta, Pindari and Pathan. All rose to power from
the common occupation of plunderers, aided by the national jealousies of
the Rajputs. If the chieftains of Mewar leagued to assault the
mountaineers, they found refuge and support in Marwar; and as their
fortresses at all times presented a sanctuary, their Rawats or leaders
obtained consequence amongst all parties by granting it. Every Mer
community, accordingly, had a perfect understanding with the chieftain
whose lands were contiguous to their own, and who enjoyed rights granted
by the Rana over these nominal subjects. These rights were all of a
feudal nature, as _rakhwali_ or ‘blackmail’ [685], and those petty
proofs of subordination, entitled in the feudal law of Europe “petit
serjanterie.” The token might be a colt, a hawk, or a bullock, and a
_nazarana_, or pecuniary acknowledgement, perhaps only of half-a-crown
on the chieftain’s birthday, or on the Rajput Saturnalia, the Holi. But
all these petty causes for assimilation between the Rajput and the
lawless Mer were overlooked, as well as the more powerful one which
rendered his arms of no avail. Every door was hermetically sealed
against him; wherever he looked he saw a foe—the magical change
bewildered him; and when their Khan and his adherents were assailed
while in fancied security, and cut off in a midnight attack, his
self-confidence was annihilated—he saw a red-coat in every glen, and
called aloud for mercy.

=The Merwāra Battalion.=—A corps of these mountaineers, commanded by
English officers, has since been formed, and I have no doubt may become
useful.[4.26.15] Notwithstanding their lawless habits, they did not
neglect agriculture and embanking, as described in the valley of Shera
Nala, and a district has been formed in Merwara which in time may yield
a lakh of rupees annually to the state.

=Marriage Customs.=—Some of their customs are so curious, and so
different from those of their lowland neighbours, that we may mention a
few. Leaving their superstitions as regards omens and auguries, the most
singular part of their habits, till we give a detailed sketch of the
Minas hereafter, I will notice the peculiarity of their notions towards
females. The Mer, following the customary law handed down from his rude
ancestry, and existing long before the written law of Manu, has no
objection to a widow as a wife. This contract is termed _nata_, and his
civilized master levies a fine or fee of a rupee and a quarter for the
licence, termed _kagli_. On such marriage the bridegroom must omit in
the _maur_, or nuptial coronet, the graceful palmyra leaf, and
substitute a small branch of the sacred pipal wreathed in his turban.
Many of the forms are according to the common Hindu ritual. The
_sat-phera_, or seven perambulations round the jars filled with grain,
piled over each other—the _ganth-jora_, or uniting the garments—and the
_hathleva_, or junction of hands of bride and bridegroom, are followed
by the Mers. Even the northern clans, who are converts to Islam, return
to their ancient habits on this occasion, and have a Brahman priest to
officiate. I discovered, on inquiring into the habits of the Mers, that
they are not the only race which did not refuse to wed a widow, and that
both Brahmans and Rajputs have from ancient times been accustomed not to
consider it derogatory [686].[4.26.16] Of the former, the sacerdotal
class, the Nagda[4.26.17] Brahmans, established at this town long before
the Guhilots obtained power in Mewar. Of the Rajputs, they are all of
the most ancient tribes, now the allodial vassals or Bhumias of
Rajputana, as the Chinana, Kharwar, Uten, Daya, names better known in
the mystic page of the chronicle than now, though occasionally met with
in the valleys of the Aravalli. But this practice, so little known,
gives rise to an opinion, that many of the scrupulous habits regarding
women are the inventions of the priests of more modern days. The
facilities for separation are equally simple. If tempers do not
assimilate, or other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a
shred from his turban, which he gives to his wife, and with this simple
bill of divorce, placing two jars filled with water on her head, she
takes whatever path she pleases, and the first man who chooses to ease
her of her load becomes her future lord. This mode of divorce is
practised not only amongst all the Minas, but by Jats, Gujars, Ahirs,
Malis, and other Sudra tribes. _Jehar le aur nikali_, ‘took the jar and
went forth,’ is a common saying amongst the mountaineers of Merwara.

=Oaths, Food, Omens.=—Their invocations and imprecations are peculiar.
The Chita or northern Mer, since he became acquainted with the name of
the prophet, swears by ‘Allah,’ or by his first proselyte ancestor,
‘Duda Dawad Khan,’ or the still more ancient head of the races, ‘_Chita,
Barar ka an_‘. The southern Mers also use the latter oath: “By my
allegiance to Chita and Barar”; and they likewise swear by the sun,
‘_Suraj ka Sagun_,’ and ‘_Nath ka Sagun_’; or their ascetic priest,
called the Nath. The Muhammadan Mer will not now eat hog; the southron
refuses nothing, though he respects the cow from the prejudices of those
around him, and to please the Nath or Jogi, his spiritual guide. The
partridge and the _maloli_,[4.26.18] or wag-tail, are the chief birds of
omen with him, and the former ‘clamouring’ on the left, when he
commences a foray, is a certain presage of success. To conclude;
colonies of the Mers or Meras will be found as far north as the Chambal,
and even in the peninsula of Saurashtra. Merwara is now in subjection to
the Rana of Mewar, who has erected small forts amidst the most
influential communities to overawe them. The whole tract has been
assessed; the chiefs of the districts being brought to the Rana’s
presence presented _nazarana_, swore fidelity, and received according to
their rank gold bracelets or turbans. It was an era in the annals of
Mewar to see the accumulated arms of Merwara piled upon the [687]
terrace of the palace at the capital; but these measures were subsequent
to our sojourn in the glen of Kumbhalmer, from which we have yet to
issue to gain Marwar.

=The Chief of Gokulgarh.=—_October 21._—All hailed the return of
daylight with reverence. Captain Waugh and the Doctor uncoiled from the
elephant’s _jhul_, and I issued from my palki, which had proved a
welcome retreat against the chills of the night air. By thirst and
hunger our appetite for the picturesque was considerably abated, and the
contemplation of the spot where we had bivouaced in that philosophical
spirit of silence, which all have experienced who have made a long march
before breakfast, lost much of its romantic interest. Nevertheless,
could I have consulted merely my own wishes, I would have allowed my
friends and escort to follow the canteen, and have pursued an intricate
path which branched off to the right, to have had the chance of an
interview with the outlaw of Gokulgarh.

This petty chieftain, who enjoyed the distinctive epithet of outlaw
(_barwatia_), was of the Sonigira clan (a branch of the Chauhans), who
for centuries were the lords of Jalor. He was a vassal of Marwar, now
sovereign of Jalor, and being expelled for his turbulence by his prince,
he had taken post in the old ruined castle of Gokulgarh, on a cliff of
the Aravalli, and had become the terror of the country. By his knowledge
of the intricacies of the mountains, he eluded pursuit; and his misdeeds
being not only connived at, but his spoils participated by the chief of
Deogarh, in whose fief was his haunt, he was under no apprehension of
surprise. Inability either to seize the Barwatia, or drive him from his
retreat, formed a legitimate excuse for the resumption of Gokulgarh, and
the dues of ‘blackmail’ he derived from its twelve dependent villages.
The last act of the Sonigira was most flagrant; he intercepted in the
plains of Godwar a marriage procession, and made captives the bridegroom
and bride, whom he conveyed to Gokulgarh, where they long languished for
want of ransom. A party was formed to lie in wait for him; but he
escaped the snare, and his retreat was found empty. Such was the state
of society in these districts. The form of outlawry is singular in this
country, where the penal laws are satisfied with banishment, even in
cases of treason, instead of the sanguinary law of civilization. The
criminal against whom the sentence of exile is pronounced being called
into his prince’s presence, is clad in black vestments, and placed upon
a black steed, his arms and shield all of the same sombre hue of
mourning and [688] disgrace; he is then left to gain the frontier by
himself. This custom is very ancient: the Pandu brothers were
‘Barwatias’[4.26.19] from the Jumna three thousand years ago. The
Jaisalmer annals relate the solemnity as practised towards one of their
own princes; and the author, in the domestic dissensions of Kotah,
received a letter from the prince, wherein he demands either that his
rights should be conceded, or that the government would bestow the
“black garment,” and leave him to his fate.

=The Chief of Ghānērāo.=—Conversing on these and similar subjects with
my Marwari friends, we threaded our way for five miles through the
jungles of the pass, which we had nearly cleared, when we encountered
the chieftain of Ghanerao at the head of his retinue, who of his own
accord, and from a feeling of respect to his ancient sovereign the Rana,
advanced thus far to do me honour. I felt the compliment infinitely the
more, as it displayed that spirit of loyalty peculiar to the Rajput,
though the step was dangerous with his jealous sovereign, and ultimately
was prejudicial to him. After dismounting and embracing, we continued to
ride to the tents, conversing on the past history of the province, of
his prince, and the Rana, after whom he affectionately inquired. Ajit
Singh is a noble-looking man, about thirty years of age, tall, fair, and
sat his horse like a brave Rathor cavalier. Ghanerao is the chief town
of Godwar, with the exception of the commercial Pali, and the
garrison-post Desuri. From this important district the Rana could
command four thousand Rathors holding lands on the tenure of service, of
whom the Ghanerao chief, then one of the sixteen nobles of Mewar, was
the head. Notwithstanding the course of events had transferred the
province, and consequently his services, from the Rana of Udaipur to the
Raja of Jodhpur, so difficult is it to eradicate old feelings of loyalty
and attachment, that the present Thakur preferred having the sword of
investiture bound on him by his ancient and yet nominal suzerain, rather
than by his actual sovereign. For this undisguised mark of feeling,
Ghanerao was denuded of its walls, which were levelled to the ground; a
perpetual memento of disgrace and an incentive to vengeance: and
whenever the day arrives that the Rana’s herald may salute him with the
old motto, “Remember Kumbhalmer,” he will not be deaf to the call. To
defend this post was the peculiar duty of his house, and often have his
ancestors bled in maintaining it against the Mogul. Even now [689], such
is the inveteracy with which the Rajput clings to his honours, that
whenever the Ghanerao chief, or any of his near kin, attend the Rana’s
court, he is saluted at the porte, or at the champ de Mars, by a silver
mace-bearer from the Rana, with the ancient war-cry, “Remember
Kumbhalmer,” and he still receives on all occasions of rejoicing a
khilat from that prince. He has to boast of being of the Rana’s blood,
and is by courtesy called “the nephew of Mewar.” The Thakur politely
invited me to visit him; but I was aware that compliance would have
involved him in difficulties with his jealous prince, and made excuses
of fatigue, and the necessity of marching next morning, the motives of
which he could not misunderstand.

Our march this morning was but short, and the last two miles were in the
plains of Marwar, with merely an occasional rock. Carey joined us,
congratulating himself on the ducking which had secured him better fare
than we had enjoyed in the pass of Kumbhalmer, and which fastened both
on Waugh and myself violent colds. The atmospheric change was most
trying: emerging from the cold breezes of the mountains to 96° of
Fahrenheit, the effect was most injurious: it was 58° in the morning of
our descent into the glen. Alas! for my surviving barometer! Mahesh, my
amanuensis, who had been entrusted with it, joined us next day, and told
me the quicksilver had contrived to escape; so I lost the opportunity of
comparing the level of the desert with the plains of Marwar.

=The Chief of Rūpnagar.=—_October 27._—Halted to collect the scattered
baggage, and to give the men rest; the day was nearly over before the
whole came up, each party bringing lamentable reports of the disastrous
descent. I received a visit from the chief of Rupnagar, who, like the
Thakur of Ghanerao, owes a divided allegiance to the courts on each side
the mountains. His castle, which gives him rank as one of the most
conspicuous of the second grade of the Rana’s nobles, was visible from
the camp, being placed on the western face of the mountains, and
commanding a difficult passage across them. From thence he looks down
upon Desuri and his ancient patrimony, now transferred with Godwar to
the Rathor prince; and often has he measured his lance with the present
occupants to retain his ancient _bhum_, the right derived from the
cultivating proprietor of the soil. The chief of Rupnagar is of the
Solanki race, a lineal descendant of the sovereigns of Nahrwala, and the
inheritor [690] of the war-shell of the celebrated monarch
Siddhraj,[4.26.20] one of the most powerful who ever sat on an eastern
throne, and who occupied that of Anhilwara from A.D. 1094, during half a
century, celebrated as a patron of literature and the arts. When in the
thirteenth century this State was destroyed, the branches found refuge,
as already described, in Mewar; for the ancestor of Rupnagar was brother
to the father of “the star of Badnor,” and was invested with the estate
and lands of Desuri by the same gallant prince who obtained her hand by
the recovery of her father’s estates. The anecdote is worthy of
relation, as showing that the Rajput will stop at nothing “to obtain
land.” The intestine feuds amongst Rana Raemall’s sons, and his constant
warfare with the kings of Delhi and Malwa, made his authority very
uncertain in Godwar. The Mina and Mer possessed themselves of lands in
the plains, and were supported by the Madrecha descendant of the once
independent Chauhan sovereigns of Nadol, the ancient capital of this
region. Sand, the Madrecha, had obtained possession of Desuri, the
garrison town. To expel him, the prince had recourse to Sada, the
Solanki, whose son was married to the daughter of the Madrecha. The
bribe for the reward of this treachery was to be the grant in perpetuity
of Desuri and its lands. Sada’s son readily entered into the scheme; and
to afford facilities for its execution he went with his wife to reside
at Desuri. It was long before an opportunity offered; but at length the
marriage of the young Madrecha to the daughter of Sagra the Balecha was
communicated to the Solanki by his son; who told his father “to watch
the smoke ascending from the tower of Desuri,” as the signal for the
attempt to get possession. Anxiously did Sand watch from his castle of
Sodhgarh the preconcerted sign, and when the volume of black smoke
ascended, he rushed down from the Aravalli at the head of his retainers.
The mother-in-law of the young Solanki sent to know why he should make a
smoke as if he were burning a corpse, when her son must be returning
with his bride. Soon she heard the clash of arms; the Solankis had
entered and fired the town, and the bridal party appeared before success
was attained. Spears and swords were plied. “’Ware the bull!” (_sand_),
said the Madrecha, as he encountered his foe. “My name is the lion
(_singh_) who will [691] devour the bull,” replied the Solanki. The
contest was fierce, but the Madrechas were slain, and in the morn
Prithiraj was put in possession of Desuri. He drew out a grant upon the
spot, inserting in it a curse against any of Sesodia blood who might
break the bond which had restored the Rathor authority in Godwar.
Although seventeen generations have passed since this event, the feud
has continued between the descendants of the lion of Sodhgarh and the
bull of Desuri, though the object of dissension is alienated from both.

=The Chief of Ghānērāo. The Rājputs of Mewār and Mārwār compared.=—I
could well have dispensed with visits this day, the thermometer being
96°; I was besides devoured with inflammatory cold; but there was no
declining another polite visit of the chieftain of Ghanerao. His retinue
afforded a good opportunity of contrasting the Sesodia Rajput of fertile
Mewar with the Rathors of Marwar, and which on the whole would have been
favourable to the latter, if we confined our view to those of the valley
of Udaipur, or the mountainous region of its southern limit, where
climate and situation are decidedly unfavourable. There the Rajput may
be said not only to deteriorate in muscular form and strength, but in
that fairness of complexion which distinguishes him from the lower
orders of Hindus. But the danger of generalizing on such matters will be
apparent when it is known that there is a cause continually operating to
check and diminish the deteriorating principle arising from the climate
and situation (or, as the Rajput would say, from the _hawa pani_, ‘air
and water’) of these unhealthy tracts; namely, the continual influx of
the purest blood from every region in Rajputana: and the stream which
would become corrupt if only flowing from the commingling of the
Chondawats of Salumbar and the Jhalas of Gogunda (both mountainous
districts), is refreshed by that of the Rathors of Godwar, the Chauhans
of Haraoti, or the Bhatti of the desert. I speak from conviction, the
chieftains above mentioned affording proofs of the evil resulting from
such repeated intermarriages; for, to use their own adage, “a raven will
produce a raven.” But though the personal appearance of the chieftain of
Gogunda might exclude him from the table of the sixteen barons of Mewar,
his son by a Rathor mother may be exhibited as a redeeming specimen of
the Jhalas, and one in every way favourable of the Rajput of Mewar. On
such occasion, also, as a formal visit, both chieftain and retainers
appear under every advantage of dress and decoration; for even the form
of the turban may improve the contour of the face, though [692] the
Mertias of Ghanerao have nothing so decidedly peculiar in this way as
those of other clans.

After some discourse on the history of past days, with which, like every
respectable Rajput, I found him perfectly conversant, the Ghanerao chief
took his leave with some courteous and friendly expressions. It is after
such a conversation that the mind disposed to reflection will do justice
to the intelligence of these people: I do not say this with reference to
the baron of Ghanerao, but taking them generally. If by history we mean
the relation of events in succession, with an account of the leading
incidents connecting them, then are all the Rajputs versed in this
science; for nothing is more common than to hear them detail their
immediate ancestry or that of their prince for many generations, with
the events which have marked their societies. It is immaterial whether
he derives this knowledge from the chronicle, the chronicler, or both:
it not only rescues him from the charge of ignorance, but suggests a
comparison between him and those who constitute themselves judges of
nationalities by no means unfavourable to the Rajput.

=Godwār.=—_October 28._—Marched at daybreak. The Thakur sent a
confidential vassal to accompany me through his domain. We could now
look around us, as we receded from the Alpine Aravalli, with nothing to
obstruct the vision, over the fertile plains of Godwar. We passed near
Ghanerao, whose isolated portals, without tower or curtain to connect
them, have a most humiliating appearance. It is to Raja Bhim, some
twenty years ago, that their chieftains owe this degradation, in order
to lessen their ability to recover the province for its ancient master
the Rana. It was indeed one of the gems of his crown, as it is the only
dazzling one in that of Marwar. While we marched over its rich and
beautiful plains, well watered, well wooded, and abounding in fine
towns, I entered into conversation with the Rana’s envoy, who joined me
on the march. Kishandas has already been mentioned as one of the few men
of integrity and wisdom who had been spared to be useful to his country.
He was a mine of ancient lore, and his years, his situation, and his
character gave force to his sentiments of determined independence. He
was as quick as touchwood, which propensity occasionally created a wordy
war between me and my friend, who knew my respect for him. “Restore us
Godwar,” was his abrupt salutation as he joined me on the march: to
which, being a little vexed, as the point could not be agitated by our
government, I said in reply, “Why did you [693] let them take it?—where
has the Sesodia sword slept this half century?” Adding, “God Almighty
never intended that the region on this side the mountains should belong
to Mewar;—nature’s own hand has placed the limit between you.” The old
envoy’s blood was roused as he exclaimed, “Even on this principle Godwar
is ours, for nature has marked our limit by stronger features than
mountains. Observe, as you advance, and you will find to the further
limit of the province every shrub and flower common to Mewar; pass that
limit but a few yards, and they are lost:

“Ānwal, ānwal Mewār:
Bāwal, bāwal Mārwār.

“Wherever the anwal puts forth its yellow blossoms, the land is of right
ours; we want nothing more. Let them enjoy their stunted babuls, their
karil, and the ak; but give us back our sacred pipal, and the anwal of
the border.”[4.26.21] In truth, the transition is beyond credence
marked: cross but a shallow brook, and you leave all that is magnificent
in vegetation; the pipal, bar, and that species of the mimosa resembling
the cypress, peculiar to Godwar, are exchanged for the prickly shrubs,
as the wild caper, jawas, and many others, more useful than ornamental,
on which the camel browses.[4.26.22] The argument was, however, more
ingenious than just, and the old envoy was here substituting the effect
for the cause; but he shall explain in his own words why Flora should be
permitted to mark the line of demarcation instead of the rock-enthroned
(_Durga_) Cybele. The legend now repeated is historical, and the leading
incidents of it have already been touched upon;[4.26.23] I shall
therefore condense the Pancholi’s description into a summary analysis of
the cause why the couplet of the bard should be deemed “confirmation
strong” of the bounds of kingdoms. These traditionary couplets, handed
down from generation to generation, are the most powerful evidence of
the past, and they are accordingly employed to illustrate the Khyats, or
annals, of Rajputana. When, towards the conclusion of the fourteenth
century, the founder of the Chondawats repaid the meditated treachery of
Ranmall of Mandor by his death, he took possession of that capital and
the entire country of the Rathors (then but of small extent), which he
held for several years. The heir of Mandor became a fugitive, concealing
himself in the fastnesses of the Aravalli, with little hope that [694]
his name (Jodha) would become a patronymic, and that he would be
honoured as the second founder of his country: that Mandor itself should
be lost in Jodhpur. The recollection of the feud was almost extinct; the
young Rana of Chitor had passed the years of Rajput minority, and Jodha
continued a fugitive in the wilds of Bhandak-parao, with but a few horse
in his train, indebted to the resources of some independents of the
desert for the means of subsistence. He was discovered in this retreat
by a Charan or bard, who, without aspiring to prophetic powers, revealed
to him that the intercession of the queen-mother of Chitor had
determined the Rana to restore him to Mandor. Whether the sister of
Jodha, to give éclat to the restoration, wished it to have the
appearance of a conquest, or whether Jodha, impatient for possession,
took advantage of circumstances to make his entrance one of triumph, and
thereby redeem the disgrace of a long and humiliating exile, it is
difficult to decide; for while the annals of Mewar make the restoration
an act of grace, those of Marwar give it all the colours of a triumph.
Were the point worthy of discussion, we should say both accounts were
correct. The Rana had transmitted the recall of Chonda from Mandor, but
concealed from him the motive, and while Jodha even held in his
possession the Rana’s letter of restoration, a concatenation of
circumstances, in which “the omen” was predominant, occurred to make him
anticipate his induction by a measure more consonant to the Rajput, a
brilliant _coup de main_. Jodha had left his retreat in the Run[4.26.34]
to make known to Harbuji Sankhla, Pabuji, and other rievers of the
desert, the changes which the bard had communicated. While he was there,
intelligence was brought that Chonda, in obedience to his sovereign’s
command, had proceeded to Chitor. That same night “the bird of omen
perched on Jodha’s lance, and the star which irradiated his birth shone
bright upon it.” The bard of Mandor revealed the secret of heaven to
Jodha, and the heroes in his train: “Ere that star descends in the west,
your pennon will wave on the battlements of Mandor.” Unless, however,
this “vision of glory” was merely mental, Jodha’s star must have been
visible in daylight; for they could never have marched from the banks of
the Luni, where the Sankhla resided, to Mandor, between its rising and
setting. The elder son of Chonda had accompanied his father, and they
had proceeded two coss in their [695] journey, when a sudden blaze
appeared in Mandor: Chonda pursued his route, while his son Manja
returned to Mandor. Jodha was already in possession; his _an_ had been
proclaimed, and the two other sons of Chonda had fallen in its defence.
Manja, who fled, was overtaken and slain on the border. These tidings
reached Chonda at the pass of the Aravalli; he instantly returned to
Mandor, where he was met by Jodha, who showed him the letters of
surrender for Mandor, and a command that he should fix with him the
future boundary of each State. Chonda thought that there was no surer
line of demarcation than that chalked out by the hand of nature; and he
accordingly fixed that wherever the “yellow blossom” was found, the land
should belong to his sovereign, and the bard was not slow in
perpetuating the decree. Such is the origin of

Ānwal, ānwal Mewār:
Bāwal, bāwal Mārwār.

The brave and loyal founder of the Chondawats, who thus sacrificed his
revenge to his sovereign’s commands, had his feelings in some degree
propitiated by this arrangement, which secured the entire province of
Godwar to his prince: his son Manja fell, as he touched the region of
the anwalas, and this cession may have been in ‘_mundkati_,’ the
compromise of the price of blood. By such traditional legends, not less
true than strange, and to which the rock sculptures taken from Mandor
bear evidence, even to the heroes who aided Jodha in his enterprise, the
anwal of the Rajputs has been immortalized, like the humble broom of the
French, whose planta-genesta has distinguished the loftiest name in
chivalry, the proudest race emblazoned on the page of heraldry.

Notwithstanding the crops had been gathered, this tract contrasted
favourably with Mewar, although amidst a comparative prosperity we could
observe the traces of rapine; and numerous stories were rehearsed of the
miseries inflicted on the people by the rapacious followers of Amir
Khan. We crossed numerous small streams flowing from the Aravalli, all
proceeding to join the “Salt River,” or Luni. The villages were large
and more populous; yet was there a dulness, a want of that hilarity
which pervaded the peasantry of Mewar, in spite of their misfortunes.
The Rajputs partook of the feeling, the cause of which a little better
acquaintance with their headquarters soon revealed. Mewar had passed
through the period [696] of reaction, which in Marwar was about to
display itself, and was left unfortunately to its own control, or with
only the impulse of a long suppressed feeling of revenge in the bosom of
its prince, and the wiles of a miscreant minister, who wished to keep
him in durance, and the country in degradation.

=Nādol.=—It creates a refreshing sensation to find the camp pitched in a
cool and shaded spot; and at Nadol[4.26.35] we had this satisfaction.
Here again there was no time for recreation, for there was abundant,
nay, overwhelming matter both for the pen and the pencil; but my readers
must be satisfied with the imperfect delineations of the first. Nadol is
still a place of some consequence, though, but for its temples, we
should not have supposed it to have been the capital of a province. With
its neighbour, Narlai, five miles to the westward, it was the abode of a
branch of the Chauhans of Ajmer, established at a very early period.
From Nadol sprung the Deoras of Sirohi, and the Sonigiras of Jalor. The
former still maintain their ground, in spite of all attempts of the
Rathors; but the Sonigira, who was immortalized by his struggle against
the second Ala, is blotted from the list of independent States; and this
valuable domain, consisting of three hundred and sixty towns, is now
incorporated with Jodhpur.

There is no spot in Rajputana that does not contain some record of the
illustrious Chauhan; and though every race has had its career of glory,
the sublimity of which, the annals of the Sesodias before the reader
sufficiently attest, yet with all my partiality for those with whom I
long resided, and with whose history I am best acquainted, my sense of
justice compels me to assign the palm of martial intrepidity to the
Chauhan over all the “royal races” of India. Even the bards, to whatever
family they belong, appear to articulate the very name as if imbued with
some peculiar energy, and dwell on its terminating nasal with peculiar
complacency. Although they had always ranked high in the list of
chivalry, yet the seal of the order was stamped on all who have the name
of Chauhan, since the days of Prithiraj, the model of every Rajput, and
who had a long line of fame to maintain. Of the many names familiar to
the bard is Guga of Bhatinda, who with forty-seven sons “drank of the
stream of the sword” on the banks of the Sutlej, in opposing
Mahmud.[4.26.36] This conqueror proceeded through the desert to the
attack of Ajmer, the chief abode of this race, where his arms were
disgraced, the invader wounded, and forced to relinquish his enterprise
[697]. In his route to Nahrwala and Somnath he passed Nadol,[4.26.37]
whose prince hesitated not to measure his sword even with Mahmud. I was
fortunate enough to obtain an inscription regarding this prince, the
celebrated Lakha, said to be the founder of this branch from Ajmer, of
which it was a fief—its date S. 1039 (A.D. 983).[4.26.38] The fortress
attributed to Lakha is on the declivity of a low ridge to the westward
of the town, with square towers of ancient form, and built of a very
curious conglomerate of granite and gneiss, of which the rock on which
it stands is composed. There was a second inscription, dated S. 1024
(A.D. 968), which made him the contemporary of the Rana’s ancestor,
Sakti Kumar of Aitpur, a city also destroyed, more probably by the
father of Mahmud. The Chauhan bards speak in very lofty terms of Rao
Lakha, who “collected transit dues from the further gate of Anhilwara,
and levied tribute from the prince of Chitor.”

=Remains at Nādol.=—It is impossible to do full justice to the
architectural remains, which are well worthy of the pencil. Here
everything shows that the Jain faith was once predominant, and that
their arts, like their religion, were of a character quite distinct from
those of Siva. The temple of Mahavira, the last of their twenty-four
apostles, is a very fine piece of architecture. Its vaulted roof is a
perfect model of the most ancient style of dome in the East; probably
invented anterior to the Roman. The principle is no doubt the same as
the first substitute of the arch, and is that which marked the genius of
Caesar in his bridge over the Rhone, and which appears over every
mountain torrent of the ancient Helvetii, from whom he may have borrowed
it.[4.26.39] The principle is that of a horizontal instead of a
radiating pressure. At Nadol the stones are placed by a gradual
projection one over the other, the apex being closed by a circular
key-stone. The angles of all these projections being rounded off, the
spectator looking up can only describe the vault as a series of
gradually diminishing amulets or rings converging to the apex. The
effect is very pleasing, though it furnishes a strong argument that the
Hindus first became acquainted with the perfect arch through their
conquerors. The _toran_, in front of the altar of Mahavira, is
exquisitely sculptured, as well as several statues of marble, discovered
about one hundred and fifty years ago in the bed of the river, when it
changed its course. It is not unlikely that they were buried during
Mahmud’s invasion. But [698] the most singular structure of Nadol is a
reservoir, called the _chana ki baoli_, from the cost of it being paid
by the return of a single grain of pulse (_chana_). The excavation is
immense; the descent is by a flight of grey granite steps, and the sides
are built up from the same materials by piling blocks upon blocks of
enormous magnitude, without the least cement.

=Inscriptions and Coins.=—My acquisitions here were considerable.
Besides copies of inscriptions made by my Sanskrit scribes, I obtained
two originals on brass. Of one of these, dated S. 1218, the memorial of
Alandeva, I append a translation,[4.26.40] which may be considered
curious as a formula of endowment of the Jains. I likewise procured
several isolated MS. leaves of very great value, relative to the
thirty-six royal races, to the ancient geography of India, and to the
founding of ancient cities; also a catalogue of longevity of plants and
animals, and an extract from a work concerning the descendants of
Srenika and Samprati, the potent princes of the Jain faith between
Mahavira and Vikrama. However meagre these fragments may be, I have
incorporated their contents into my mosaic. I also made valuable
additions to my collection of medals, for I obtained coins of Mahmud,
Balban, and Ala, surnamed Khuni, or ‘the sanguinary’; and another of a
conqueror equally meriting that title, Nadir Shah. But these were of
little consequence compared with what one of my envoys brought from
Narlai—a small bag full of curious hieroglyphical (if I may so use the
term) medals of the Chauhan princes.[4.26.41] One side represents a
warrior on horseback, compounded out of a character to which I have
applied the above term; on some there was a bull; while others,
retaining the original reverse, have on the obverse the titles of the
first Islamite conquerors, in the same manner as the currency of France
bears the effigies of Louis XVI. and the emblems of the Republic.
Whoever will pay a visit to Nadol will find his labour amply rewarded; I
had only leisure to glean a few of these relics, which yet formed a rich
harvest. Narlai, Bali, Desuri, Sadri, all ancient seats of the Jains,
will yield medals, MSS., and rare specimens of the architectural art.
From Abu to Mandor, the antiquary might fill many portfolios, and
collect matter for volumes of the ancient history of this people, for
this is the cradle of their faith. That I was enabled to obtain so much
during a rapid march through the country arose partly from previous
[699] knowledge, partly from the extent of my means, for I had flying
detachments to the right and left of my route, consisting of intelligent
natives of each city, accompanied by pandits for deciphering, and others
for collecting whatever was the object of research; who, at the close of
each day, brought me the fruits of their inquiries. When any remarkable
discovery was made, I followed it up in person, or by sending those in
whom I could confide. This is not mentioned from a spirit of egotism,
but to incite others to the pursuit by showing the rewards which await
such research.

=Indara.=—_October 29._—Camp at Indara, eleven miles. This small town,
placed on the north bank of one of the nameless feeders of the ‘salt
river,’ is the boundary of Godwar; here the reign of the yellow anwal
terminates, and here commences Marusthali, or ‘the region of death.’ The
transition is great. We can look back upon fertility, and forward on
aridity, which does not, however, imply sterility: for that cunning
artist, nature, compensates the want of verdure and foliage to the
inhabitants of the desert by many spontaneous bounties. An entire race
of cucurbitaceous plants is the eleemosynary equivalent for the mango
and exotics of the central lands of Rajputana; while indigenous poverty
sends forth her commercial sons from Osi, Pali, and Pokaran, to bring
wealth from the Ganges and the Kistna, to the Luni, or to the still more
remote oasis, Jaisalmer. From Indara everything assumed a new character:
the sand, of which we had before scarcely a sprinkling, became
occasionally heavy; the shallow beds of the numerous streams were white
with saline incrustations; and the vegetable creation had been gradually
diminishing, from the giant race of the sacred fig-tree with leaf “broad
as Amazonian targe,” to the dwarfish shrubs of the desert. At once the
satiric stanza of the bard of a more favoured region was brought to my
mind, and as I repeated it to my old friend the Rana’s envoy, he enjoyed
the confession, and afresh urged his wish that nature should decide the
question of their boundaries:

_Āk ra jhonpra,
Phog ra vār,
Bājra ri roti,
Motham hari dāl,
Dekho ho Raja, teri Marwar._

‘Huts of the āk,
Barriers of thorns,
Bread of maize,
Lentils of the vetch,
Behold Raja, your Marwar!’ [700].

=Construction of Villages.=—The villages are of a construction totally
distinct from anything we have seen, and more approaching the wigwam of
the western world. Every commune is surrounded with a circumvallation of
thorns, _kanta ka kot_, and the stacks of _bhus_, or ‘chaff,’ which are
placed at intervals, give it the appearance of a respectable
fortification. These _bhus_ stacks are erected to provide provender for
the cattle in scanty rainy seasons, when the parched earth denies grass,
or full crops of maize. They are erected to the height of twenty or
thirty feet, coated with a cement of earth and cow-dung, and with a
sprinkling of thorns, to prevent the fowls of the air from reposing in
them. In this manner, with a little fresh coating, they will exist ten
years, being only resorted to on emergencies, when the kine may be said
to devour the village walls. Their appearance is a great relief to the
monotony of the march through the desert; which, however, cannot
strictly be said to commence till you cross the Luni.

=Pāli.=—_October 30._—A long march of twenty-one miles, in which there
was little to record, brought us to Pali, the great commercial mart of
western Rajwara. Like everything else in these regions it bore the marks
of rapine; and as in the civil wars of this State its possession was of
great importance to either party, the fortifications were razed at the
desire of the inhabitants, who did not admire the noise of war within
their gates. From the same feeling, when it was proposed to gird the
sister mart, Bhilwara, with walls, the opposition to it was universal.
The remnants of the walls lend it an air of desolation.[4.26.42] The
town is overrated at ten thousand houses. As an emporium its reputation
is of ancient date: and, politically, it is connected with the
establishment of the reigning family in these regions. A community of
Brahmans then held Pali in grant from the princes of Mandor: whence
comes a numerous class, termed Paliwal, who follow mercantile pursuits.
It was in S. 1212 (A.D. 1156) that Siahji, the founder of the Rathor
dynasty and son to the emperor of Kanauj, passed Pali on his return from
a pilgrimage from Dwarka to the Ganges. The Brahmans sent a deputation
to relieve them from two great enemies to their repose, namely, the
Minas of the Aravalli, and the lions, which had become very numerous.
Siahji relieved them from both; but the opportunity “to acquire land”
was too good to be lost, and on the festival of the Holi he put the
leading Brahmans to death, and took possession of Pali.

=The Commerce of Pāli.=—Commerce, in these regions, is the basis of
liberty: even despotism is [701] compelled to leave it unrestrained.
Pali, like Bhilwara, Jhalrapatan, Rani, and other marts, enjoys the
right of electing its own magistrates, both for its municipal
regulations, and the arbitration of all matters connected with
commercial pursuits. It was commerce which freed Europe from the bondage
of feudality; and the towns above cited only require the same happy
geographical position, to play the part of the Hanse towns of Europe.
Like Bhilwara, Pali has its own currency, which, amidst universal
deterioration, it has retained undebased. From remote times, Pali has
been the connecting link between the sea-coast and northern India.
Commercial houses established at Muskat-Mandavi, Surat, and Navanagar
transmit the products of Persia, Arabia, Africa, and Europe, receiving
those of India and Thibet. To enumerate all the articles, it would be
necessary to name the various products of each: from the coast,
elephants’ teeth, rhinoceros’ hides, copper, tin, pewter, dates dried
and moist,[4.26.43] of which there is an immense consumption in these
regions; gum-arabic, borax, coco-nuts, broad-cloths, striped silks,
called _patang_; various dyes, particularly the _kermes_ or crimson;
drugs, especially the oxides of arsenic and quicksilver; spices,
sandal-wood, camphor, tea, _momiai_ or mummy,[4.26.44] which is much
sought after in medicine, and green glass (_kanch_). From Bahawalpur,
soda (_sajji_),[4.26.45] the dyes called _al_[4.26.46] and
_majith_,[4.26.47] matchlocks, dried fruits, asafoetida, Multan
chintzes, and wood for household furniture. From Kotah and Malwa, opium
and chintzes. From Jaipur, various cloths and sugars. From Bhuj, swords
and horses.

[Illustration: JĀT PEASANT OF MĀRWĀR.]

[Illustration: RĀJPUT FOOT-SOLDIER OF MĀRWĀR.]

_To face page 812._

The exports of home production are the two staple articles of salt and
woollens; to which we may add coarse cotton cloths, and paper made in
the town of Pali. The _lois_, or blankets, are disseminated throughout
India, and may be had at from four to sixty rupees per pair; scarfs and
turbans are made of the same material, but not for exportation. But salt
is the chief article of export, and the duties arising therefrom equal
half the land revenue of the country. Of the _agars_, or ‘salt lakes,’
Pachbhadra, Phalodi, and Didwana are the principal, the first being
several miles in circuit [702].

The commercial duties of Pali yielded 75,000 rupees annually, a large
sum in a poor country like Marwar.

=Chāran and Bhāt Carriers.=—The Charans and Bhats, or bards and
genealogists, are the chief carriers of these regions: their sacred
character overawes the lawless Rajput chief; and even the savage Koli
and Bhil, and the plundering Sahariya of the desert, dread the anathema
of these singular races, who conduct the caravans through the wildest
and most desolate regions. The traveller avails himself of such convoy
who desires to proceed to the coast by Jalor, Bhinmal, Sanchor, and
Radhanpur, whence he may pursue his route to Surat, or Muskat-Mandavi.

=Pungiri Temple.=—To the east of Pali about ten miles, there is an
isolated hill, called Pungiri, ‘the hill of virtue,’ which is crowned
with a small temple, said to have been conveyed by a Buddhist magician
from Palitana in Saurashtra. Wherever this ancient and numerous sect
exists, magical skill is always asserted. Here we found our old friend,
Gough, who had been rambling to the south-west amongst Sahariya,
Khosas,[4.26.48] and all the wild beings of these uncivilized tracts, in
search of new breeds of horses. Halted to enjoy his society.

Kairla, 30th.

Rohat, 31st.

=Khānkāni.=—_November 1._—Khankani, on the north bank of the Luni. There
was nothing to arrest attention between Pali and the Luni: all is flat
and lonely in the thirty miles which intervene. Our halts were at
Kairla, which has two small salt lakes, whence its name; in fact, this
superabundant product, _khar_, or salt, gives its name to streams and
towns. Both Kairla and Rohat, the intermediate places of halt, are
feudal estates, and both chiefs had been involved in the recent civil
dissensions: Rohat was under the ban.

=Bhāt Customs. Coercion by Threat of Human Sacrifice.=—Here I had an
exemplification of the vulgar adage, “two of a trade,” etc. Pema Naik,
the leader of one of the largest _tandas_, or caravans, which frequent
the desert for salt, had left his convoy, and with his brethren came
to exhibit his wounds and fractures received in a fray with the
leaders of another caravan. Both were Bhats; Pema was the head of the
Bamania Bhats, so called from the place of their abode, and he counted
forty thousand beasts of burthen under his control. Shama had no
distinctive epithet: he had no home separate from [703] his _tanda_.
His little State when not in motion was on the highways; hence those
who dwell entirely with their cattle are styled _upapanti_, ‘on the
road.’ Shama had taken advantage of the greater portion of Pema’s
caravan being detached to revenge an ancient feud; and had shown
himself quite an adept in club-law, as the broken heads of his
opponents disclosed. To reconcile them was impossible; and as the case
was to be decided, not by the scales of abstract justice but by
calculating which contributed most in duties, Pema by this summary
process, more than from sympathy to his wounded honour, gained a
victory by the exclusion of his rival. As before observed, these
classes take advantage of their sacred character amongst the Rajputs
to become the general carriers of the country: but the advantage which
might result to the State from the respect paid to them is neutralized
by their avarice and constant evasion of the payment of all
established duties. A memorable example of this kind occurred during
the reign of Amra the First with the ancestor of this same Pema. The
Rana would not submit to the insolent demands of the Bhats, when they
had recourse to one of the most sanguinary sacrifices ever
recorded—the threat alone of which is generally sufficient to extort
acquiescence and concession. But the firmness of Amra has been
recorded: and he braved them. Collecting the elder portion of their
community, men, women, and youths of both sexes, they made a sacrifice
to the number of eighty souls with their daggers in the court of the
palace. The blood of the victims was on the Rana’s head.[4.26.49] It
was a species of excommunication, which would have unsettled a weaker
reason; for the Rajput might repose after the murder of a Brahman, but
that of the prophetic Vates would rise against him here and hereafter.
For once they encountered a mind too strong to be shaken; Amra
banished the whole fraternity of Bamania Bhats from his dominions, and
the town of Bamani reverted to the fisc. The edict remained
uncancelled until these days, when amongst the industrious of all
classes whom the proclamations[4.26.50] brought once more to Mewar,
came Pema and his brethren. Although tradition had preserved the
causes of their exile, it had made no alteration in their sentiments
and opinions, and the dagger was always at hand, to be sheathed in
their own flesh whenever provocation called it from the girdle. Pema
beset the Rana in all his rides, demanding a reduction [704] or rather
abolition of duties for his _tanda_; and at length he took up a
position on the terrace fronting the ‘balcony of the sun,’ threatening
a _chandni_,[4.26.51] for such is the term applied to this suicidal
revenge. The Rana, who had not the nerve of his ancestor, sent to me
to beseech my interference: with his messenger, one from me returned
to invite the Bhats to a settlement. They came, as fine, robust,
intrepid a set as I ever saw. We soon came to issue: I urged that
duties must be paid by all who chose to frequent the passes of Mewar,
and that they would get nothing by their present silly mode of
endeavouring to obtain remission; that if they would give a written
agreement to abide by the scale of duties laid down, they should
receive exemption for five hundred out of the forty thousand bullocks
of their _tanda_, and be reinducted into Bamani; if not, there were
daggers (showing them some on the table), and they might begin as soon
as they pleased. I added that, in addition to Rana Amra’s penalty of
banishment, I would recommend confiscation of their entire caravan.
Pema was no fool: he accepted Bamani, and the _muafi_ for five
hundred, and that day received his gold bracelets and clothes of
investiture for Bamani from the Rana.

=Jhālamand.=—_November 2._—Jhalamand, ten miles. Although within one
march of Jodhpur, we were obliged to make an intermediate halt, in order
to arrange the ceremonials of reception; a grave matter with all the
magnates of the East, who regulate all such affairs by slavish precedent
and ancestral wisdom. On such a novel occasion as the reception of an
English envoy at this desert court, they were a good deal puzzled how to
act. They could very well comprehend how an ambassador direct from
majesty should be received, and were not unfamiliar with the formula to
be observed towards a viceregal legation. But the present case was an
anomaly: the Governor of all India, of course, could appear only as the
first servant of a commercial body, which, with whatever privileges
invested, never could be made to rank with royalty or its immediate
emanation. Accordingly, this always proved a clog to our diplomatic
missions, until the diffusion of our power from the Indus to the ocean
set speculation at rest on the formalities of reception of the Company’s
ambassadors. On the other hand, the eternal rotation of military
adventurers enjoying ephemeral power, such as the commanders of the
myrmidons of Sindhia and Holkar, compelled all the Rajput princes to
forgo much of their dignity; and men like Amir Khan, Jean Baptiste, or
Bapu Sindhia, who but a [705] short time ago would have deemed
themselves honoured with a seat in the ante-chamber, claimed equality of
reception with princes. Each made it a subject for boasting, how far he
had honoured himself by the humiliation of the descendant of the emperor
of Kanauj, or the scion of Rama. At the same time, as the world is
always deceived by externals, it was difficult to concede a reception
less distinguished than that granted to the leader of a Mahratta horde;
and here their darling precedent was available. To what distance did the
Raja send the _istikbal_ to meet Amir Khan? what was the rank of the
chieftains so deputed? and to what point did the “offspring of the sun”
condescend to advance in person to receive this “lord of the period”?
All these, and many similar questions, were propounded through the
Wakil, who had long been with me, to his sovereign, to whose presence he
proceeded in order that they might be adjusted, while I halted at
Jhalamand, only five miles from the capital. However individually we may
despise these matters, we have no option, as public servants, but to
demand the full measure of honour for those we represent. As the present
would also regulate future receptions, I was compelled to urge that the
Raja would best consult his own dignity by attending to that of the
government I represented, and distinctly signified that it could never
be tolerated that he should descend to the very foot of his castle to
honour Amir Khan, and await the English envoy almost on the threshold of
his palace. It ended, as such matters generally do in those countries,
by a compromise: it was stipulated that the Raja should receive the
mission in his _palki_ or litter, at the central barrier of
descent.[4.26.52] These preliminaries being arranged, we left Jhalamand
in the afternoon, that we might not derange the habits of slumber of
those who were to conduct us to the capital. About half-way we were met
by the great feudatory chieftains of Pokaran and Nimaj, then lords of
the ascendant, and the joint advisers of their sovereign. We dismounted,
embraced, complimented each other in the customary phraseology; then
remounted, and rode together until we reached the tents, where, after I
had requested them to be the bearers of my homage to their sovereign, we
mutually saluted and parted.

=The Chief of Pokaran.=—Salim Singh[4.26.53] was the name of the lord of
Pokaran, the most wealthy and the [706] most powerful of all the
baronies of Marwar. His castle and estate (wrested from Jaisalmer) are
in the very heart of the desert; the former is strong both by position
and art. It is a family which has often shaken the foundation of the
throne of Marwar. During four generations have its bold and turbulent
chiefs made the most resolute of these monarchs tremble. Deo Singh, the
great grandfather of the present chief, used to sleep in the hall of the
royal palace, with five hundred of his Champawats, of which clan he is
the chief. “The throne of Marwar is within the sheath of my dagger,” was
the boast, as elsewhere mentioned, of this haughty noble to his
sovereign. His son, Sabal Singh, followed his father’s steps, and even
dethroned the great Bijai Singh: a cannon-shot relieved the prince from
this terror of his reign. Sawai Singh, his son and successor, acted the
same part towards Raja Bhim, and was involved in the civil wars which
commenced in 1806, when he set up the pretender, Dhonkal Singh. The
catastrophe of Nagor, in which Amir Khan acted the assassin of the
Champawat and all his associates, relieved Raja Man from the evil genius
of his house; and the honours this prince heaped on the son of the
Champawat, in giving him the first office in the State, were but a trap
to ensnare him. From this he escaped, or his life and the honours of
Pokaran would have been lost together. Such is a rapid sketch of the
family of the chief who was deputed to meet me. He was about thirty-five
years of age; his appearance, though not prepossessing, was dignified
and commanding. In person he was tall, but more powerful than athletic;
his features were good, but his complexion was darker than in general
amongst the chieftains of Marwar.

=The Chief of Nīmāj.=—His companion, and associate in the councils of
his prince, was in every point of personal appearance the reverse of
this portrait. Surthan Singh was chief of the Udawats, a clan which can
muster four thousand swords, all residing on the land skirting the
Aravalli; and of which his residence Nimaj,[4.26.54] Raepur, and
Chandawal are the principal fiefs. Surthan was a fine specimen of the
Rajput; his figure tall and graceful; his complexion fair; his
deportment manly and mild; in short, he was a thorough gentleman in
appearance, understanding, and manners.

It would be impossible to relate here all the causes which involved him
in the catastrophe from which his coadjutor escaped. It was the
misfortune of Surthan to have been associated with Salim Singh; but his
past services to his prince amply counterbalanced this party bias. It
was he who prevented his sovereign from [707] sheathing a dagger in his
heart on the disgraceful day at Parbatsar; and he was one of the four
chieftains of all Marwar who adhered to his fortunes when beset by the
united force of Rajputana. He was also one of the same four who redeemed
the spoils of their country from the hands of the multitudinous array
which assaulted Jodhpur in 1806, and whose fate carried mourning into
every house of Rajasthan.[4.26.55] The death of Surthan Singh was a
prodigal sacrifice, and caused a sensation of universal sorrow, in which
I unfeignedly participated. His gallant bearing was the theme of
universal admiration; nor can I give a better or a juster idea of the
chivalrous Rajput than by inserting a literal translation of the letter
conveying the account of his death, about eight months after my visit to
Jodhpur.

“Jodhpur, 2d Asarh, or 28th June 1820.

“On the last day of Jeth (the 26th June), an hour before daybreak, the
Raja sent the Aligols,[4.26.56] and all the quotas of the chiefs, to the
number of eight thousand men, to attack Surthan Singh. They blockaded
his dwelling in the city, upon which for three watches they kept up a
constant fire of great guns and small arms. Surthan, with his brother
Sur Singh, and his kindred and clan, after a gallant defence, at length
sallied forth, attacked the foreigners sword in hand, and drove them
back. But who can oppose their prince with success? The odds were too
great, and both brothers fell nobly. Nagoji and forty of the bravest of
the clan fell with the Thakur brothers, and forty were severely wounded.
Eighty, who remained, made good their retreat with their arms to
Nimaj.[4.26.57] Of the Raja’s troops, forty were killed on the spot, and
one hundred were wounded. Twenty of the townsfolk suffered in the fray.

“The Pokaran chief, hearing of this, saddled; but the Maharaja sent
Sheonath Singh of Kuchaman, the chief of Bhadrajan, and others, to give
him confidence, and induce him to stay; but he is most anxious to get
away. My nephew and fifteen of my followers were slain on this occasion.
The Nimaj chief fell as became a Rathor. The world exclaims ‘applause,’
and both Hindu and Turk say he met [708] his death nobly. Sheonath
Singh, Bakhtawar Singh, Rup Singh, and Anar Singh,[4.26.58] performed
the funeral rites.”

Such is the Rajput, when the point of honour is at stake! Not a man of
his clan would have surrendered while their chief lived to claim their
lives; and those who retreated only preserved them for the support of
the young lord of the Udawats [709]!

-----

Footnote 4.26.1:

_Meru_ is ‘a [fabulous] mountain’ in Sanskrit; Merawat and Merot, ‘of
or belonging to the mountain.’ I have before remarked that the name of
the Albanian mountaineer, Mainote, has the same signification. I know
not the etymology of _Mina_, of which the Mer is a branch. [Needless
to say, whatever the meaning of the title Mer may be, it has no
connexion with Mt. Meru. The traditions of the Mers point to Mīna
ancestry. For the Mīna tribe see Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 102 ff.;
Watson, _Rajputāna Gazetteer_, i. A. 29 ff.]

Footnote 4.26.2:

I had hoped to have embodied these subjects with, and thereby greatly
to have increased the interest, of my work; but just as Lord Hastings
had granted my request, that an individual eminently qualified for
those pursuits should join me, a Higher Power deemed it fit to deny
what had been long near my heart.

The individual, John Tod, was a cousin of my own, and possessed an
intellect of the highest order. He was only twenty-two years of age
when he died, and had only been six months in India. He was an
excellent classical scholar, well versed in modern languages and every
branch of natural history. His manners, deportment, and appearance
were all in unison with these talents. Had it pleased the Almighty to
have spared him, this work would have been more worthy of the public
notice. [An officer named Tod was murdered at Nāhar Magra, near
Udaipur, in May 1804 (Malcolm, _Memoir Central India_, 2nd ed. i.
237).]

Footnote 4.26.3:

[The Mers are supposed to be a foreign tribe, like the Gurjaras and
Mālavas, which passed into Kāthiāwār through the Panjāb, Sind, and N.
Gujarāt (_BG_, i. Part i. 136 ff.; Elliot-Dowson i. 519 ff.).]

Footnote 4.26.4:

I cannot discover by what part of the range the invasion of Mandor was
attempted; it might have been the pass we are now in, for it is
evident it was not from the frontier of Ajmer.

Footnote 4.26.5:

_Laj_ is properly ‘shame,’ which word is always used in lieu of
honour: _laj rakho_, ‘preserve my shame,’ _i.e._ my honour from shame.

Footnote 4.26.6:

Parbat Vira.

Footnote 4.26.7:

The Parihar prince bestowed this epithet merely in compliment.

Footnote 4.26.8:

_Sindhu Raga._

Footnote 4.26.9:

[The sacred Jain mountain in Kāthiāwār.]

Footnote 4.26.10:

With two (_do_) edges (_dhara_).

Footnote 4.26.11:

_Sang_ is the iron lance, either wholly of iron, or having plates for
about ten feet; these weapons are much used in combats from camels in
the Desert.

Footnote 4.26.12:

‘Sword’—_Aswar_ in the dialect.

Footnote 4.26.13:

[The field guardian deity.]

Footnote 4.26.14:

[For an account of the Mer rebellion in 1820 and its suppression see
Watson, _Rājputāna Gazetteer_, i. A. 14.]

Footnote 4.26.15:

[The 44th Merwāra Infantry, formerly known as the Merwāra Battalion,
formed in 1822, did good service in the Mutiny of 1857, and in the
Afghān campaign of 1878 (Watson, _Gazetteer_, i. A. 119 ff.; Cardew,
_Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army_, 338 ff.)].

Footnote 4.26.16:

[No class of Brāhmans or Rājputs, claiming respectability, now permits
widow marriage.]

Footnote 4.26.17:

[Nāgda, near the shrine of Eklingji, one of the most ancient places in
Mewār.]

Footnote 4.26.18:

[Elsewhere known as Khanjarīt or Khanjan, a well-known bird of omen.]

Footnote 4.26.19:

This term is a compound of _bāhar_ and _watan_, literally ‘ex patria.’

Footnote 4.26.20:

He ruled from A.D. 1094 to 1143.

Footnote 4.26.21:

[_Ānwal_, _āonla_, _Phyllanthus emblica_; _bāwal_, _babūl_, _Acacia
arabica_; _karīl_, _Capparis aphylla_; _āk_, _Calotropis gigantea_;
_pīpal_, _Ficus religiosa_.]

Footnote 4.26.22:

[_Bar_, _Ficus bengalensis_; _jawās_, _Hedysarum alhagi_.]

Footnote 4.26.23:

See p. 325.

Footnote 4.26.34:

An alp, or spot in these mountainous regions, where springs, pasture,
and other natural conveniences exist.

Footnote 4.26.35:

[About seventy miles south-south-west of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 4.26.36:

[Bhatinda, now Govindgarh, in the Patiāla State (_IGI_, xii. 343). The
author’s accounts of Gūga or Gugga are contradictory (see Index,
_s.v._). For this famous saga see Temple, _Legends of the Panjāb_, i.
121 ff., iii. 261 ff. The cult of the hero has passed as far south as
Gujarāt, his festival being held on 9th dark half of Bhādon
(Aug.-Sept.), known as Gūga navami (_BG_, ix. Part i. 524 f.).]

Footnote 4.26.37:

Ferishta, or his copyist, by a false arrangement of the points, has
lost Nadole in Buzule, using the ب for the ن and the ذ for the د. [It
was Kutbu-d-dīn who, on his way to Gujarāt, passed the forts of “Tilli
and Buzule” (Dow, ed. 1812, i. 147). Briggs (Ferishta i. 196) writes
“Baly and Nadole.” In the _Tāju-l-Ma-āsir_ of Hasan Nizāmi the names
are given as “Pāli and Nandūl” (Elliot-Dowson ii. 229). This
illustrates the difficulty of tracing place names in the Muhammadan
historians.]

Footnote 4.26.38:

[Towards the end of the tenth century, Lākhan or Lakshman Singh, a
younger brother of Wākpatirāj, the Chauhān Rāja of Sāmbhar, settled at
Nādol, and his descendants ruled the territory till their defeat by
Kutbu-d-dīn Ibak in 1206-10 (Erskine iii. A. 181 f.).]

Footnote 4.26.39:

[The temple of Mahāvīra contains three inscriptions, dated A.D. 1609,
recording its construction from charitable funds. Garrett disputes the
author’s reference to Caesar, as the buildings are not superior to
many others in Rājputāna (_ASR_, xxiii. (1887) 93).]

Footnote 4.26.40:

See Appendix, No. VII.]

Footnote 4.26.41:

These will appear more appropriately in a disquisition on Hindu medals
found by me in India, in the _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic
Society_. [The well-known “Bull and Horseman” type (_IGI_, ii. 142
f.).]

Footnote 4.26.42:

[All traces of those walls have disappeared, but in Jūna or ‘Old’ Pāli
there are some fine temples (_ASR_, xxiii. (1887) 86 ff.).]

Footnote 4.26.43:

The _kharak_ and _pind khajūr_. [_Kharak_ is the stage when the date
becomes red or yellow, according to variety; _pind_, when it is quite
ripe (Watt, _Econ. Dict._ vi. Part i. 205).]

Footnote 4.26.44:

_Mom_ in the language of Egypt signifies ‘wax,’ says some ancient
authority: so it is the usual name of that article in Persian. _Mummy_
is probably thence derived. I remember playing a trick on old Silu,
our _khabardar_ [spy] at Sindhia’s camp, who had been solicited to
obtain a piece of _momiai_ for a chieftain’s wife. As we are supposed
to possess everything valuable in the healing art, he would take no
refusal; so I substituted a piece of indiarubber. [For the virtues of
_momiāi_ see Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of N. India_, ii.
176 ff.]

Footnote 4.26.45:

[Barilla, Watt, _Econ. Prod._ 112 f.]

Footnote 4.26.46:

[_Morinda citrifolia_, _ibid._ 783 f.]

Footnote 4.26.47:

[Madder, _Rubia cordifolia_, _ibid._ 926 f.]

Footnote 4.26.48:

[The Khosa is a Baloch tribe, many of them found in Sind, where, it is
said, they were given lands by the Emperor Humāyūn (_Census Report,
Baluchistan_, 1901, i. 95 f.).]

Footnote 4.26.49:

[Numerous instances of this custom among Bhāts will be found in _BG_,
ix. Part i. 209 ff.]

Footnote 4.26.50:

See Vol. I. p. 561.

Footnote 4.26.51:

[Platts (_Hindustāni Dict._, _s.v._) gives _chāndni_, ‘moonlight’;
_chāndni mār-jāna_, ‘to be moonstruck, paralysed by a stroke of the
moon’; _chāndni karan_, ‘the practice of Brāhmans and others wounding
themselves in order to extort the payment of a debt.’ Here the threat
is fear of the ghost of the man who took his life. Sir G. Grierson
notes that in Gujarāti and Marāthi _chāndi karan_ means ‘to reduce to
white ashes,’ hence ‘to ruin or destroy completely.’ Here _chāndi_,
usually meaning ‘silver,’ means ‘anything white,’ and hence ‘white
ashes.’ This, he suggests, seems to be a more probable explanation
than ‘moonstruck.’]

Footnote 4.26.52:

Mr. Wilder, the superintendent of Ajmer, was deputed by General Sir D.
Ochterlony, in December 1818, to the court of Jodhpur, and was very
courteously received by the Raja.

Footnote 4.26.53:

The sibilant is the _Shibboleth_ of the Rajput of Western India, and
will always detect him. The ‘lion’ (_singh_) of Pokaran is degraded
into ‘asafoetida’ (_hing_); as _Halim Hing_. [Pokaran, 85 miles N.W.
of Jodhpur city, held by the premier noble of the Champāwat clan of
Rāthors.]

Footnote 4.26.54:

[Nīmāj, about 60 miles E.S.E. of Jodhpur city, fief of a noble of the
Udāwat Rāthors.]

Footnote 4.26.55:

See Vol. I. p. 539 for the murder of the princess of Udaipur, one
of its results.

Footnote 4.26.56:

The mercenary Rohilla battalions, who are like the Walloons and
independent companies which formed the first regular armies of Europe.
[‘Alīgol, ‘noble troop’ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 15).]

Footnote 4.26.57:

Which they afterwards nobly defended during many months.

Footnote 4.26.58:

The last, a brave and excellent man, was the writer of this letter.
He, who had sacrificed all to save his prince, and, as he told me
himself, supported him, when proscribed by his predecessor, by the
sale of all his property, even to his wife’s jewels, yet became an
exile, to save his life from an overwhelming proscription. To the
anomalous state of our alliances with these States is to be ascribed
many of these mischiefs.

-----

[Illustration:

TOWN AND FORT OF JODHPUR.
(From the south-east.)
_To face page 820._
]

CHAPTER 27

=City and Fort of Jodhpur.=—The sand, since we crossed the Luni, had
become gradually heavier, and was quite fatiguing as we approached the
capital of “the region of death”; but the Marwaris and the camels
appeared to move through it as briskly as our men would on the plains of
the Ganges. The view before the reader will give a more correct idea of
the ‘city of Jodha’ than the most laboured description. The fort is
erected on a mole projecting from a low range of hills, so as to be
almost isolated, while, being higher than the surrounding objects, it is
not commanded. This table-ridge (mountain we can scarcely term it, since
its most elevated portion is not more than three hundred feet in height)
is a curious feature in these regions of uninterrupted aridity. It is
about twenty-five miles in length, and, as far as I could determine from
a bird’s-eye view and from report, between two and three in breadth, the
capital being placed on the highest part at the southern extremity, and
may be said to be detached from it. The northern point, which is the
highest, and on which the palace is built, is less than three hundred
feet. Everywhere it is scarped, but especially at this point, against
which the batteries of the League[4.27.1] were directed in 1806, at
least a hundred and twenty feet of perpendicular height. Strong walls
and numerous round and square towers encircle the crest of the hill,
encompassing a space of great extent, as may be judged from the
dimensions of the base, said to be four miles in circuit. Seven barriers
are thrown across the circuitous ascent, each having immense portals and
their separate guards. There are two small lakes under the walls: the
Rani Talab, or ‘Queen’s Lake,’ to the east; and the Gulab Sagar, or
‘Rose-water Sea,’ to the south, from [710] which the garrison draws up
water in buckets. There is also inside a _kund_, or reservoir, about
ninety feet in depth, excavated from the rock, which can be filled from
these tanks; and there are likewise wells within, but the water is
brackish. Within are many splendid edifices, and the Raja’s residence is
a succession of palaces, each prince since the founder having left
memorials of his architectural taste. The city to the eastward of the
citadel is encompassed by a strong wall, three coss, or nearly six
miles, in extent, on which a hundred and one bastions or towers are
distributed; on the rampart are mounted several _rahkalas_[4.27.2] or
swivels. There are seven gates to the capital, each bearing the name of
the city to which it leads. The streets are very regular, and adorned
with many handsome edifices of freestone, of which the ridge is
composed. The number of families some years ago was stated to be 20,000,
probably 80,000 souls, an estimate far too great for the present
day.[4.27.3] The Gulab Sagar is the favourite lounge of the inhabitants,
who recreate amongst its gardens; and, strange to say, the most
incomparable pomegranates (_anar_) are produced in it, far superior even
to those of Kabul, which they resemble in the peculiarity of being
_be-dana_,

‘without grain’: rather a misnomer for a fruit, the characteristic of
which is its granulations; but this is in contradistinction to those of
India, which are all grain and little pulp. The _anars_ of the
Kagli-ka-bagh, or ‘Ravens’ Garden,’ are sent to the most remote parts as
presents. Their beautiful ruby tint affords an abundant resource for
metaphor to the Rajput bard, who describes it as “sparkling in the
ambrosial cup.”[4.27.4]

=Reception by the Rāja.=—On the 4th the Raja received us with due form,
advancing beyond the second gate of descent; when, after salutations and
greetings, he returned according to etiquette. Giving him time to make
his arrangements, we advanced slowly through lines of his clansmen to
the upper area, where a display of grandeur met our view for which we
were totally unprepared, and far eclipsing the simple and unostentatious
state of the Rana. Here everything was imitative of the imperial court
of Delhi, where the Rathor, long pre-eminent, had “the right hand of the
king of the world.” Lines of gold and silver mace-bearers deafened us
with the titles of “Raj-Raj-Iswara!” ‘the king, the lord of kings!’ into
whose presence, through mazes of intricate courts filled with his
chivalry, all hushed into that mysterious silence which is invariably
observed on such occasions, we were at length ushered [711].

=Rāja Mān Singh.=—The King of Maru arose from his throne, and advanced a
few paces, when he again courteously received the envoy and suite, who
were here introduced. The hall of reception was of great extent: from
its numerous square columns it is styled Sahas stambha, ‘the
thousand-columned hall.’ They were more massive than elegant; and being
placed in parallel rows, at not more than twelve feet from each other,
they gave an air of cumbrous, if not clumsy grandeur to an immense
apartment, the ceiling of which was very low. About the centre, in a
niche or recess, the royal _gaddi_ or ‘cushion’ was placed, over which
was raised a richly embroidered canopy, supported by silver-gilt
columns. On the Rana’s right hand were placed those whom the king
honoured, the chieftains of Pokaran and Nimaj, who would have been less
at their ease had they known that all the distinctions they then enjoyed
were meshes to ensnare them. Several other chieftains and civil
officers, whose names would but little interest the reader, were placed
around. The wakil, Bishan Ram, was seated near me, almost in front of
the Raja. The conversation was desultory and entirely complimentary;
affording, however, abundant opportunity to the Raja to display his
proficiency in that mixed language, the Hindustani, which he spoke with
great fluency and much greater purity than those who resided about the
court at Delhi. In person the Raja is above the common height,
possessing considerable dignity of manner, though accompanied by the
stiffness of habitual restraint. His demeanour was commanding and
altogether princely; but there was an entire absence of that natural
majesty and grace which distinguished the prince of Udaipur, who won
without exertion our spontaneous homage. The features of Raja Man are
good: his eye is full of intelligence; and though the ensemble of his
countenance almost denotes benevolence, yet there is ever and anon a
doubtful expression, which, with a peculiarly formed forehead, gave a
momentary cast of malignity to it. This might have been owing to that
deep dissimulation, which had carried him through a trial of several
years’ captivity, during which he acted the maniac and the religious
enthusiast, until the assumed became in some measure his natural
character.

The biography of Man Singh would afford a remarkable picture of human
patience, fortitude, and constancy, never surpassed in any age or
country. But in this school of adversity he also took lessons of
cruelty: he learned therein to master or rather disguise his passions;
and though he showed not the ferocity of the tiger, he acquired [712]
the still more dangerous attribute of that animal—its cunning. At that
very time, not long after he had emerged from his seclusion, while his
features were modelled into an expression of complaisant self-content,
indicative of a disdain of human greatness, he was weaving his web of
destruction for numberless victims who were basking in the sunshine of
his favour. The fate of one of them has been already related.[4.27.5]

=Descent of the Rāthors.=—The Rathor, like many other dynasties not
confined to the East, claims celestial descent. Of their Bhat, we may
say what Gibbon does of the Belgic genealogist who traced the
illustrious house of Este from Romulus, that “he riots in all the lust
of fiction, and spins from his own bowels a lineage of some thousand
years.” We are certain that there were sovereigns of Kanauj in the fifth
century, and it is very probable that they ruled there prior to the era
of Christianity. But this is accounted nothing by these lovers of
antiquity, who never stop short of Swayambhuva,[4.27.6] and the ark, in
which the antediluvian records of the Rathors may have been preserved
with those of the De Courcys. But we will not revert to those “happy
times, when a genealogical tree would strike its root into any soil, and
the luxuriant plant could flourish and fructify without a seed of
truth.” Then the ambition of the Rathor for a solar pedigree could be
gratified without difficulty.

But it requires neither Bhat nor bard to illustrate its nobility: a
series of splendid deeds which time cannot obliterate has emblazoned the
Rathor name on the historical tablet. Where all these races have gained
a place in the temple of fame, it is almost invidious to select; but
truth compels me to place the Rathor with the Chauhan, on the very
pinnacle. The names of Chonda and Jodha are sufficient to connect
Siahji, the founder, a scion of Kanauj, with his descendant, Raja
Man:[4.27.7] the rest

Were long to tell; how many battles fought;
How many kings destroyed, and kingdoms won.

Let us, therefore, put forth our palm to receive the itr from his august
hand, and the pan, acknowledged by a profound salaam, and bringing the
right hand to my cocked hat, which etiquette requires we should “apply
to the proper use:—’tis for the head,” even in the presence. At all the
native courts the head is covered, and the _en bas_ left bare. It would
be sadly indecorous to walk in soiled boots over their [713] delicate
carpets, covered with white linen, the general seat. The slippers are
left at the door, and it is neither inconvenient nor degrading to sit in
your socks. The Raja presented me with an elephant and horse
caparisoned, an aigrette, necklace, brocades, and shawls, with a portion
according to rank to the gentlemen who accompanied me.

On the 6th I paid the Raja another visit, to discuss the affairs of his
government. From a protracted conversation of several hours, at which
only a single confidential personal attendant of the prince was present,
I received the most convincing proofs of his intelligence, and minute
knowledge of the past history, not of his own country alone, but of
India in general. He was remarkably well read; and at this and other
visits he afforded me much instruction. He had copies made for me of the
chief histories of his family, which are now deposited in the library of
the Royal Asiatic Society. He entered deeply into the events of his
personal history, and recounted many of the expedients he was obliged to
have recourse to in order to save his life, when, in consequence of the
murder of his Guru (not only his spiritual but his temporal guide,
counsellor, and friend), he relinquished the reins of power, and
acquiesced in their assumption by his son. The whole transaction is
still involved in mystery, which the Raja alone can unravel. We must
enter so far into the State secrets of the court as to disclose the
motive for such an act as the destruction of the brave Surthan, and
introduce to the reader another high priest of the Rajputs as a pendant
for the oracle of the Apollo of Nathdwara.

The parricidal murder of Raja Ajit has been the destruction of Marwar,
and even “unto the third and fourth generation” Providence would seem to
have visited the act with its vengeance. The crown, which in a few years
more would have been transmitted by nature’s law, was torn from the brow
of this brave prince, who has redeemed his lost inheritance from
Aurangzeb, by the unhallowed arm of his eldest son Abhai Singh;
instigated thereto by an imperial bribe of the viceroyalty of Gujarat.
His brother, Bakhta Singh, was made almost independent in Nagor by the
concession of Abhai and the sanad and titles of his sovereign; and the
contests between their issue have moistened the sands of Marwar with the
richest blood of her children. Such is the bane of feudal dominion—the
parent of the noblest deeds and the deepest crimes.

=Deonāthji, the High Priest.=—Raja Man, accordingly, came to the throne
with all the advantages and [714] disadvantages of such a state of
things; and he was actually defending his existence in Jalor against his
cousin and sovereign, when an unexpected event released him from his
perils, and placed him on the throne. Bhim Singh had destroyed almost
every branch of the blood-royal, which might have served as a nucleus
for those intestine wars which desolated the country, and young Man, the
sole intervening obstacle to the full accomplishment of his wishes, was
reduced to the last extremity, and on the eve of surrendering himself
and Jalor to this merciless tyrant, when he was relieved from his
perilous situation. He attributed his escape to the intercession of the
high priest of Marwar, the spiritual leader of the Rathors. This
hierarch bore the title of divinity, or Nathji: his praenomen of Deo or
Deva was almost a repetition of his title; and both together, Deonath,
cannot be better rendered than by ‘Lord God.’ Whether the intercession
of this exalted personage was purely of a moral nature, as asserted, or
whether Raja Bhim was removed from this vain world to the heaven of
Indra by means less miraculous than prayer is a question on which
various opinions are entertained; but all agree that nothing could have
been better timed for young Man, the sole victim required to fill up the
measure of Bhim’s sanguinary policy. When suicide was the sole
alternative to avoid surrender to the fangs of this Herod of the Desert,
the high priest, assuming the mantle of prophecy, pronounced that no
capitulation was inscribed in the book of fate—whose page revealed
brighter days for young Man. Such prophets are dangerous about the
persons of princes, who seldom fail to find the means to prevent their
oracles from being demented. A dose of poison, it is said, was deemed a
necessary adjunct to render efficacious the prayers of the pontiff; and
they conjointly extricated the young prince from a fate which was deemed
inevitable, and placed him on the regal cushion of Marwar. The gratitude
of Raja Man had no limits—no honours, no grants were sufficient to mark
his sense of obligation. The royal mantle was hallowed by the tread of
this sainted being; and the throne itself was exalted when Deonath
condescended to share it with his master, who, while this proud priest
muttered forth his mysterious benedictions, with folded hands stood
before him to receive the consecrated garland. Lands in every district
were conferred upon the Nath, until his estates, or rather those of the
church of which he was the head, far exceeded in extent those of the
proudest nobles of the land, his income [715] amounting to a tenth of
the revenues of the State. During the few years he held the keys of his
master’s conscience, which were conveniently employed to unlock the
treasury, he erected no less than eighty-four mandirs, or places of
worship, with monasteries adjoining them, for his well-fed lazy chelas
or disciples, who lived at free quarters on the labour of the
industrious. Deonath was a striking example of the identity of human
nature, under whatever garb and in whatever clime; whether under the
cowl or the coronet, in the cold clime of Europe, or in the deserts of
India. This Wolsey of Marudes exercised his hourly-increasing power to
the disgust and alienation of all but his infatuated prince. He leagued
with the nominal minister, Induraj, and together they governed the
prince and country. Such characters, when exceeding the sphere of their
duties, expose religion to contempt. The degradation which the haughty
grandees of Marwar experienced made murder in their eyes a venial
offence, provoked as they were by the humiliations they underwent
through the influence of this arrogant priest, whose character may be
given in the language of Gibbon, merely substituting Deonath of Marwar
for Paul of Samosata: “His ecclesiastical jurisdiction was venal and
rapacious; he extorted frequent contributions from the most opulent of
the faithful, and converted to his own use a considerable part of the
public revenue. His council chamber and his throne, the splendour with
which he appeared in public, the suppliant crowd who solicited his
attention, and the perpetual hurry of business in which he was involved,
were circumstances much better suited to the state of a civil magistrate
than to the humility of a primitive bishop.”[4.27.8] But his “full-blown
pride” at length burst under him. Sequestrations from the estates of the
chief barons of Maru became frequent in order to swell his rent-roll for
the support of his establishments; his retinue on ordinary occasions
surpassed that of any chieftain, and not unfrequently he was attended by
the whole insignia of the State—the prince attending on such ceremonies.
On these occasions the proud Rajput felt that he folded his hands, not
to his sovereign, but to his sovereign’s sovereign; to a vindictive and
vainglorious priest, who, amidst the mummeries and artifices of
religious rites, gratified an inordinate vanity, while he mortified
their pride and diminished their revenues. The hatred of such men is
soon followed by their vengeance; and though they would not dye their
own daggers in his blood, they soon found agents in a race who know not
mercy, the myrmidons of [716] that villain Amir Khan, under whose steel,
and within the precincts of the palace, Deonath fell a victim. It has
been surmised that Raja Man was privy to the murder; that if he did not
command or even sanction it, he used no means to prevent it. There are
but two in this life who can reveal this mystery—the Raja, and the
_bourreau en chéf_ of Rajasthan, the aforesaid Amir Khan.

The murder of the high priest was but a prolongation of the drama, in
which we have already represented the treacherous destruction of the
chieftain of Pokaran and his kindred; and the immolation of Krishna
Kunwari, the Helen of Rajasthan. The attack on the gallant Surthan, who
conducted us from Jhalamand to the capital, sprung from the seed which
was planted so many years back; nor was he the last sacrifice: victim
after victim followed in quick succession until the Caligula of the
Desert, who could “smile and stab,” had either slain or exiled all the
first chieftains of his State. It would be a tedious tale to unravel all
these intrigues; yet some of them must be told, in order to account for
the ferocity of this man, now a subordinate ally of the British
Government in the East.

=Accession of Rāja Mān Singh.=—It was in A.D. 1804[4.27.9] that Raja Man
exchanged the defence of Jalor for the throne of Jodhpur. His
predecessor, Raja Bhim, left a widow pregnant; she concealed the
circumstance, and when delivered, contrived to convey the child in a
basket to Sawai Singh of Pokaran. During two years he kept the secret:
he at length convened the Marwar chieftains, with whose concurrence he
communicated it to Raja Man, demanding the cession of Nagor and its
dependencies as a domain for this infant, named Dhonkal Singh, the
heir-apparent of Marwar. The Raja promised compliance if the mother
confirmed the truth of the statement. Whether her personal fears
overcame her maternal affection, or the whole was an imposture of
Pokaran, she disclaimed the child. The chiefs, though not satisfied,
were compelled to appear contented with the result of this appeal; and
for some years the matter seemed at rest. But this calm was only the
presage of a storm, which shook to its base the political edifice of
Marwar, and let loose upon her cities a torrent of predatory foes; it
dethroned her prince, and, what the planner could not have contemplated,
involved his own destruction. The effects of this treachery have for
ever destroyed all confidence between the chief and the entire feudal
interest. The Pokaran chief, after failing to establish the [717] claims
of Dhonkal Singh as pretender to the throne, sent him for safety to the
Shaikhawat chief of Khetri,[4.27.10] one of the independent nobles of
the Jaipur family. Here he left him till an opportunity again arrived to
bring him upon the scene, which was afforded by the contest between the
princes of Marwar and Jaipur for the hand of the Rana’s daughter. This
rivalry, the effects of which are already related, and which brought
into conflict all the northern powers of India, was, in fact, only the
under-plot of the deep-laid policy of Sawai. When once the gauntlet was
thrown down for the hand of this fair lady, the Pokaran chief stepped in
with the pretended son of Raja Bhim, whose cause, from the unpopularity
of Raja Man, soon brought to his standard almost all the feudality of
Marwar. The measures which followed, and the catastrophe, the death of
Krishna Kunwari, have already been related.[4.27.11] The assassination
of the chief of Pokaran was simultaneous with these events; and it was
shortly after that the murder of the pontiff Deonath took place.

=Insanity of Rāja Mān Singh.=—After being relieved from all external
foes by his own strength of mind, and the aid of a few friends whom no
reverse could estrange from him, Raja Man either fell, or affected to
fall, into a state of mental despondency bordering on insanity.
Suspicious of every one, he would only eat from the hands of his wife,
who prepared his food herself; he became sullen and morose; he neglected
public business; and finally withdrew entirely from the world. The
attempt to rouse him from this real or pretended stupor was fruitless;
he did nothing but lament the death of Deonath, and pour forth prayers
to the deity. In this state, he was easily induced to associate his son
in the government, and he bestowed upon him with his own hand the _tika_
of command. Chhattar Singh was the name of the prince, who was still in
his minority; thoughtless, and of dissolute habits, he soon gave himself
up to the guidance of a junta of the chiefs, who proclaimed Akhai Chand,
of the mercantile caste, the chief civil minister of the State.

=British Control of Mārwār. Restoration and Policy of Rāja Mān
Singh.=—Such was the condition of Marwar from A.D. 1809 to 1817. At this
period the progress of events made the English arbiters of the destinies
of Rajasthan. The regent of Marwar sent an ambassador to treat; but
before the treaties were ratified and exchanged the young regent was
dead. Various causes were assigned [718] for his death: by some his
dissolute habits, occasioning premature decay; by others, with more
probability, the dagger of an indignant Rajput, the honour of whose
daughter he had clandestinely attempted. Upon this event, and the change
of political circumstances, the chiefs had no alternative but to turn to
the secluded prince. If but one half is true that I have heard, and from
authority of high credit, the occupations of the years which the Raja
passed between the murder of the priest and the death of his son might
be deemed an atonement for the deepest crimes. When messengers announced
the fate of his son, and that State necessity recalled him to the helm
of affairs, he appeared unable to comprehend them. He had so long acted
the maniac that he had nearly become one: his beard was never touched,
and his hair, clotted and foul, gave him an expression of idiocy; yet
throughout these long years he was resolutely tenacious of life. The
party who governed the son and the State had their own menials to wait
upon him, and many were the attempts to poison him by their means; in
avoiding which his simulated madness was so perfect that they deemed he
had “a charmed life.” But he had one faithful servant, who throughout
this dreadful trial never forsook him, and who carried him food in his
turban to replace that which was suspected. When by degrees he was led
to understand the emergency, and the necessity of leaving his prison, he
persevered in his apparent indifference to everything earthly, until he
gathered information and the means for a terrible reaction. The treaty
with the English put the ball at his foot: he very soon perceived that
he might command a force to put down disorder—such was even volunteered;
but with admirable penetration he trusted to the impression of this
knowledge amongst his chiefs, as a sufficient auxiliary. By
disseminating it, he paralysed that spirit which maintained rights in
the soil of Marwar nearly concurrent with those of the sovereign. No
higher compliment could be paid to British ascendancy than the
sentiments of Raja Man and his nobles; and no better illustration is on
record of the opinion of our power than that its name alone served the
Raja’s purpose in subjugating men, who, scarcely knowing fear, yet
reposing partly on our justice, though mainly on the utter hopelessness
of resisting us, were deprived of all moral courage.

In refusing the aid of a mere physical force, the Raja availed himself
of another weapon; for by this artifice he threw the chiefs off their
guard, who confided in his [719] assumed desire to forget the past.
Intrigues for power and patronage seemed to strengthen this confidence;
and Salim Singh of Pokaran, the military Maire du palais or Bhanjgarh,
and Akhai Chand, retained as civil prime minister, were opposed by
Jodhraj Singwi, who headed the aspirants to supplant them. The Raja
complained of their interested squabbles, but neither party dreamed that
they were fostered by him to cloak his deep-laid schemes. Akhai Chand
had been minister throughout the son’s administration; the political and
pecuniary transactions of the State were known chiefly to him; to cut
him off would have been poor revenge, and Raja Man was determined not
only to extract from him all the knowledge of State matters transacted
during his seclusion, but to make himself master of his coffers, and
neither would have been attained by simple murder. Akhai Chand was not
blind to the dangers of his position; he dreaded the _appui_ his
sovereign derived from the English, and laboured to inspire the Raja
with distrust of their motives. It suited his master’s views to flatter
this opinion; and the minister and his adherents were lulled into a
fatal security.

=Maladministration of Rāja Mān Singh.=—Such were the schemes concocting
when I visited this court, which were revealed by succeeding events. At
this time the Raja appeared in a state of mental depression, involved in
difficulties, cautious, fearful of a false step, and surrounded by the
satellites of the miscreant Akhai Chand, who, if he could no longer
incarcerate his person, endeavoured to seal up the mind of his prince
from all communication with those who might stimulate him to exertion.
But all his arts only served to entangle him in the web then weaving for
his life. The Raja first made him the means of destroying the most
powerful of his chieftains, Surthan being the primary sacrifice to his
sanguinary proscription; many others followed, until the best of the
feudal chieftains sought refuge from his fury in exile, and found the
saran (sanctuary) they sought in the surrounding States, the majority in
Mewar. The day of vengeance at length arrived, and the minister and his
partisans were transferred from their position at the helm of the State
to a dungeon. Deceived with hopes of life, and compelled by the
application of some summary methods of torture, Akhai Chand gave in a
schedule of forty lakhs of property, of which the Raja realized a large
portion, and then dismissed him to the other world. Nagoji, the
kiladar,[4.27.12] and Mulji Dandal, both favourites and advisers of the
Raja’s [720] late son, returned on the strength of a general amnesty,
and forgot they had been traitors. The wealth which prodigality had
heaped upon them, consisting of many of the crown jewels, being
recovered, their worldly accounts were settled by a cup of poison, and
their bodies thrown over the battlements. Success, and the taste of
blood, whetted rather than appeased the appetite of Raja Man. He was
well seconded by the new minister, Fateh Raj, the deadly opponent of
Akhai Chand, and all the clan of Champawats, whom he deemed the authors
of the murder of his brother Induraj, slain at the same time with
Deonath. Each day announced a numerous list of victims, either devoted
to death, or imprisoned and stripped of their wealth. The enormous sum
of a crore of rupees has been stated as the amount of the confiscations.

All these atrocities occurred within six months after my visit to this
court, and about eighteen from the time it was received into protective
alliance with the British Government. The anomalous condition of all our
connexions with the Rajput States has already been described: and if
illustration of those remarks be required, it is here in awful
characters. We had tied up our own hands: “internal interference” had
been renounced, and the sequestration of every merchant’s property, who
was connected with the Mehta faction, and the exile of the nobles, had
no limit but the will of a bloodthirsty and vindictive tyrant. The
objects of his persecution made known everywhere the unparalleled
hardships of their case, and asserted that nothing but respect for the
British Government prevented their doing themselves justice. In no part
of the past history of this State could such proscription of the
majority of the kin and clan of the prince have taken place. The dread
of our intervention, as an umpire favourable to their chief, deprived
them of hope; they knew that if we were exasperated there was no saran
to protect them. They had been more than twelve months in this
afflicting condition when I left the country; nor have I heard that
anything has been done to relieve them, or to adjust these intestine
broils. It is abandoning them to that spirit of revenge which is a
powerful ingredient in their nature, and held to be justifiable by any
means when no other hope is left them. In all human probability, Raja
Man will end his days by the same expedient which secured him from the
fury of his predecessor.[4.27.13]

=Interview with Rāja Mān Singh.=—Having lifted the mantle which veiled
the future, my reader must forget all that [721] has been said to the
disadvantage of Raja Man, and see only the dignified, the courteous, and
the well-instructed gentleman and prince. I cannot think that the Raja
had coolly formed to himself the plan of the sanguinary measures he
subsequently pursued, and which it would require a much more extended
narrative to describe. We discoursed freely on past history, in which he
was well read, as also in Persian, and his own native dialects. He
presented me with no less than six metrical chronicles of his house; of
two, each containing seven thousand stanzas, I made a rough translation.
In return, I had transcribed and sent to him Ferishta’s great _History
of the Mahomedan Power in India_, and _Khulasatu-t-tawarikh_,[4.27.14] a
valuable epitome of the history of Hindustan. I little imagined that I
should then have to exhibit him otherwise than his demeanour and
instructive discourse made him appear to me. In our graver conversation
I was amused with a discourse on the rules of government, and
instructions for the guidance of ambassadors, which my better
acquaintance with Chand discovered to be derived from that writer. He
carried me, accompanied by a single domestic, to various apartments in
the palace, whence he directed my view across the vast plains of the
desert, whose monarch I envied not. The low hills in the vicinity alone
broke the continuity of this arid region, in which a few isolated nim
trees were thinly scattered, to remind one of the absence of all that is
grand in vegetation. After a visit of several hours, I descended to my
tent, and found my friends, Captain Waugh and Major Gough, just returned
from a successful chase of an antelope, which, with the aid of some
Rohilla greyhounds, they had run down. I attributed their success to the
heavy sands, on which I have witnessed many pulled down by dogs of
little speed; but the secret was revealed on this animal being sent to
the _cuisinier_. On depriving him of his hide, between it and the flesh
the whole carcase was covered with a large, inert, amorphous white
maggot. The flesh was buried in the sands, and no venison appeared again
on my table while in India.[4.27.15]

=Mandor. Rāthor Cenotaphs.=—_November 8._—I set out early this morning
to ramble amidst the ruins of the ancient capital, Mandor, an important
link in the chain of archaeological research, before the _panchranga_,
or ‘five-coloured banner’ of Maru was prostrated to the crescent.
Attended by an escort provided by the Raja, I left the perambulator
behind; but as the journey occupied an hour and a quarter, and at a very
slow pace, the distance must be under five miles. I proceeded through
the Sojat gate, to [722] gain the road leading to Nagor; shortly after
which I passed the Maha Mandir, or ‘Grand Minster,’ the funds for the
erection of which were provided by Raja Man on his escape from ruin at
Jalor. I skirted the range, gradually decreasing in height for three
miles, in a N.N.E. direction. We then altered our course to N.N.W., and
entered the gorge of the mountains which envelop all that is hallowed of
the relics of the princes of this house. The pass is narrow; the cliffs
are almost perpendicular, in which are numerous caves, the abodes of
ascetics. The remains of fortifications thrown across, to bar the
entrance of the foe to the ancient capital of the Pariharas, are still
visible: a small stream of pure and sweet water issues from this
opening, and had a watercourse under an archway. After proceeding a
little farther, the interval widened, and passing through the village,
which does not exceed two hundred houses, our attention was attracted by
a line of lofty temples, rising in graduated succession. These proud
monuments proved to be the cenotaphs of the Rathors, erected on the
spots where the funeral pyre consumed the crowned heads of Maru, who
seldom burnt alone, but were accompanied by all that made life agreeable
or poisoned its enjoyment. The small brook already mentioned flows past
the southern extremity of the chief line of monuments, which extend from
south to north. At the former point stands that of Rao Maldeo, the
gallant opponent of Sher Shah, the brave usurper of the throne of the
Moguls. The farther point terminates with that of Maharaja Ajit Singh;
while the princes in regular succession, namely, Sur Singh, Udai Singh,
Gaj Singh, and Jaswant Singh, fill up the interval.

These dumb recorders of a nation’s history attest the epochs of Marwar’s
glory, which commenced with Maldeo, and ended with the sons of Ajit. The
temple-monument of Maldeo, which yet throws into shade the still more
simple shrines of Chonda, and Jodha, contrasted with the magnificent
mausoleum of Raja Ajit, reads us a lesson on the advancement of
luxurious pomp in this desert State. The progression is uniform, both in
magnitude and elegance, from Maldeo’s who opposed on equal terms the
Afghan king (whose memorable words, “I had nearly lost the throne of
India for a handful of barley,”[4.27.16] mark at once the gallantry and
the poverty of those whom he encountered), to the last great prince
Ajit. Even that of Raja Gaj is plain, compared to his successor’s. These
monuments are all erected of a very close-grained freestone, of a dark
brown or red [723] tint, with sufficient hardness to allow the sculptor
to indulge his fancy. The style of architecture, or rather the
composition, is mixed, partaking both of the Saivite and the Buddhist;
but the details are decidedly Jain, more especially the columns, which
are of the same model as those in Kumbhalmer. I speak more especially of
those of Rajas Jaswant and Ajit, drawings of which, on a large scale,
executed by the Raja’s chief architect, I brought to Europe; but which
it would be too expensive to have engraved. They are raised on immense
terraces, faced with large blocks of well-polished freestone. That of
Jaswant is somewhat ponderous and massive; but Ajit’s rises with great
elegance and perfect symmetry of proportion.

On ascending the terrace you enter through a lofty vaulted porch
supported by handsome columns to the sanctum, which is a pyramidal
temple, four stories in height, in the Saivite style, crowned by the
_sikhar_ and _kalas_, elsewhere described. The sculptural ornaments are
worthy of admiration, both for their design and effect; and the numerous
columns on the basement, and different stages of ascent, give an air of
so much majesty that one might deem these monuments more fitting
sepulture for the Egyptian Cheops than a shrine—over what? not even the
ashes of the desert king, which were consigned in an urn to the bosom of
the Ganges. If the foundations of these necrological monuments have been
equally attended to with the superstructure, they bid fair to convey to
remote posterity the recollection of as conspicuous a knot of princely
characters as ever followed each other in the annals of any age or
country. Let us place them in juxtaposition with the worthies of Mewar
and the illustrious scions of Timur, and challenge the thrones of Europe
to exhibit such a contemporaneous display of warriors, statesmen, or
scholars.

Mewar. Marwar. Delhi.

Rana Sanga Rao Maldeo Babur and Sher Shah.
┌──────────┐
│ │ Rao Sur Singh Humayun.
└──────────┘
Rana Partap Raja Udai Singh Akbar.

Rana Amra I. ┐ Raja Gaj Singh ┌ Jahangir and
Rana Karan ┘ └ Shah Jahan.

Rana Raj Raja Jaswant Singh Aurangzeb.
┌ All the competitors
Rana Jai Singh ┐ Raja Ajit Singh ┤ for the throne after
Rana Amra II. ┘ └ Farrukhsiyar [724].

From Maldeo to Udai _le gros_ the first _Raja_ (hitherto _Raos_) of
Marwar, and the friend of Akbar, to Jaswant, the implacable foe of
Aurangzeb, and Ajit, who redeemed his country from oppression, all were
valiant men and patriotic princes.

“Where were the lions’ cubs,” I asked of my conductor, “the brave sons
of Ajit, who erected this monument to his manes, and who added provinces
to his dominions?” He pointed to two sheds, where the _kriya
karma_[4.27.17] was performed; there was

No funeral urn
To mark their obsequies:

but these lowly sheds told, in more forcible, more emphatic language,
the cause of this abrupt transition from grandeur to humility than pen
ever wrote; and furnished the moral epilogue to the eventful drama of
the lives of these kings of the desert. Abhai Singh’s parricidal hand
bereft his father of life; yet though his career was one splendid tissue
of success and honour, leaving his dominions more than doubled, the
contentions of his issue with that of his brother Bakhta Singh, alike
accessory, it is said, to the crime, have entailed endless misery upon
Marwar, and left them not the power, if they had the inclination, to
house his ashes. In the same line with the parricide and his brave
brother is the humble monument of the great Bijai Singh, whose life till
towards its close was a continued tide of action. I could not avoid an
exclamation of surprise: “Shame to the country,” I said, “that has
neglected to enshrine the ashes of a name equal to the proudest!” His
three sons, amongst them Zalim Singh, with the sketch of whom this
narrative opened, have their shrines close to his; and but a few yards
removed are those of Raja Bhim, and his elder brother Guman (who died in
his minority), the father of the reigning prince, Raja Man. The last,
which closed the line, pertained to Chhattar Singh, who, in all
probability, was saved by death from the murder of his parent. I passed
it in disgust, asking who had been so foolish as to entomb his ashes
better than those of some of the worthies of his race? I found that it
was the act of maternal fondness.

=Ancestor Worship. Sati.=—The Amavas (the Ides) and the Sankrantis (when
the sun enters a new sign of the Zodiac) of every month are sacred to
the Pitrideva, on which days it is incumbent on the reigning prince to
“give water” to his ancestors. But the ignorance of my conductor
deprived me of much information which I anticipated [725]; and had I not
been pretty well read in the chronicles of the Rathors, I should have
little enjoyed this visit to a “nation’s dust.” They related one fact,
which was sufficient to inspire horror. No less than sixty-four females
accompanied the shade of Ajit to the mansion of the sun. But this is
twenty short of the number who became Satis when Raja Budh Singh of
Bundi was drowned! The monuments of this noble family of the Haras are
far more explicit than those of the Rathors, for every such Sati is
sculptured on a small altar in the centre of the cenotaph: which speaks
in distinct language the all-powerful motive, vanity, the principal
incentive to these tremendous sacrifices. Budh Singh was a contemporary
of Ajit, and one of the most intrepid generals of Aurangzeb; the period
elapsed is about one hundred and twenty years. Mark the difference! When
his descendant, my valued friend, the Rao Raja Bishan Singh, died in
1821, his last commands were that none should give such a proof of their
affection. He made me guardian of his infant heir;—in a few days I was
at Bundi, and his commands were religiously obeyed.

In this account are enumerated the monumental relics below the fort.
Upon the mountain, and beyond the walls of the fortress of Mandor, are
the _dewals_ of Rao Ranmall, Rao Ganga, and Chonda, who conquered Mandor
from the Parihars. Within a hundred yards of this trio of worthies of
this house is a spot set apart for the queens who die natural deaths.
But this is anticipating; let me in form conduct my readers step by step
from the cemetery of the Rathors to the Cyclopean city of the Parihars.

Whoever has seen Cortona, Volterra, or others of the ancient Tuscan
cities can form a correct idea of the walls of Mandor, which are
precisely of the same ponderous character. It is singular that the
ancient races of India, as well as of Europe (and whose name of Pali is
the synonym of Galati or Keltoi) should, in equal ignorance of the
mechanical arts, have piled up these stupendous monuments, which might
well induce their posterity to imagine “there were giants in those
days.” This western region, in which I include nearly all Rajputana and
Saurashtra, has been the peculiar abode of these “pastor kings,” who
have left their names, their monuments, their religion and sacred
character as the best records of their supremacy. The Rajpali, or ‘Royal
Pastors,’ are enumerated as one of the thirty-six royal races of ancient
days: the city of Palitana, ‘the abode of the Pali,’ in Saurashtra
(built [726] at the foot of Mount Satrunjaya, sacred to Buddha), and
Pali in Godwar, are at once evidences of their political consequence and
the religion they brought with them; while the different nail-headed
characters are claimed by their descendants, the sectarian Jains of the
present day.[4.27.18] There is scarcely an ancient city in Rajputana
whence I have not obtained copies of inscriptions from columns and
rocks, or medals, gold, silver, and copper, bearing this antique
character. All are memorials of these races, likewise termed Takshak,
the Scythic conquerors of India, ancestors of many of the Rajputs, whose
history the antiquary will one day become better acquainted with. The
Parihara, it will be recollected, is one of the four Agnikulas: races
who obtained a footing in India posterior to the Suryas and Indus. I
omitted, however, to mention, in the sketch of the Pariharas, that they
claim Kashmir as the country whence they migrated into India: the period
is not assigned, but it was when the schismatic wars between the
Saivites and Buddhists were carrying on; and it would appear that the
former found proselytes and supporters in many of these Agnikulas. But
of the numerical extent of the followers of this faith we have this
powerful evidence, namely, that three-fourths of the mercantile classes
of these regions are the descendants of the martial conquerors of India,
and that seven out of the ten and a half niyats or tribes, with their
innumerable branches, still profess the Jain faith, which, beyond
controversy, was for ages paramount in this country.

=The Walls of Mandor.=—Let us now ascend the paved causeway to this
gigantic ruin, and leave the description of the serpentine Nagda, which
I threaded to its source in the glen of Panchkunda, till our return.
Half-way up the ascent is a noble _baoli_, or ‘reservoir,’ excavated
from the solid rock, with a facing of cut stone and a noble flight of
steps: on which, however, two enormous _gulars_[4.27.19] or wild
fig-trees have taken root, and threaten it with premature destruction.
This memorial bears the name of Nahar Rao, the last of the
Parihars.[4.27.20] As I looked up to the stupendous walls,

Where time hath leant his hand, but broke his scythe,

I felt the full force of the sentiment of our heart-stricken Byron:

there is a power
And magic in the ruined battlement,
For which the palace of the present hour
Must yield its pomp, and wait till ages are its dower.

Ages have rolled away since these were raised, and ages will yet roll
on, and find [727] them immovable, unchanged. The immense blocks are
piled upon, and closely fitted to, each other without any cement, the
characteristic of all the Etruscan cities termed Cyclopean. We might
indeed smuggle a section of Mandor into the pages of Micali,[4.27.21]
amongst those of Todi or Volterra, without fear of detection. The walls,
following the direction of the crest of the ridge, are irregular; and
having been constructed long before artillery was thought of, the
Parihar or Pali engineer was satisfied with placing the palace on the
most commanding eminence, about the centre of the fortress. The bastions
or towers are singularly massive, and like all the most antique, their
form is square. Having both fever and ague upon me, I was incapable of
tracing the direction of the walls, so as to form any correct judgement
of the space they enclose; but satisfied with gaining the summit, I
surveyed the ruin from the site of the palace of the Parihars. The
remains, though scanty, are yet visible; but the materials have been
used in the construction of the new capital Jodhpur, and in the
cenotaphs described. A small range of the domestic temples of the
palace, and some of the apartments, are yet distinctly to be traced; the
sculptured ornaments of their portals prove them to have been the work
of a Takshak or Buddhist architect. Symbolical figures are frequently
seen carved on the large blocks of the walls, though probably intended
merely as guides to the mason. These were chiefly Buddhist or Jain: as
the quatre-feuille, the cross; though the mystic triangle, and triangle
within a triangle ✡[4.27.22] (a sign of the Saivites, only, I believe),
was also to be seen. The chief memorials of the Parihara are a gateway
and magnificent Toran, or triumphal arch, placed towards the south-east
angle of the castle. It is one mass of sculpture; but the pencil was
wanting, and I had not leisure even to bring away a rude resemblance of
this memento of some victory of the ancient lords of Mandor.

=Thāna Pir.=—A little distance to the northward of my position is the
Than or ‘station’ of a Muhammadan saint, a disciple of the celebrated
Khwaja Kutab, whose shrine at Ajmer is celebrated. This of Thana
Pir,[4.27.23] as they call him, was a place of great resort to the
unsanctified Kafirs, the mercenary Sindis and Afghans, who long prowled
about these regions in quest of [728] prey, or plunder, or both. Nearly
in the same direction, beyond the walls, are the cenotaphs of the early
Rathors and the Satis already mentioned; but tradition’s voice is mute
as to the spot which contains the ashes of the Parihars. To the east and
north-east, nature has formed at once a barrier to this antique castle,
and a place of recreation for its inhabitants; a lengthened chasm in the
whole face, appearing like a dark line, were it not for the superb
foliage of gular, mango, and the sacred bar and pipal, which rise above
the cleft, planted about the fountain and perpendicular cliffs of the
Nagda, and which must have proved a luxurious retreat to the princes of
Mandor from the reverberation of the sun’s rays on the rock-built
palace; for there is but a scanty brushwood scattered over the surface,
which is otherwise destitute of all vegetation.

Let us now descend by the same causeway to the glen of Panchkunda, where
there is much to gratify both the lover of the picturesque and the
architectural antiquary. At the foot of the causeway, terminated by a
reservoir of good water, are two gateways, one conducting to the gardens
and their palaces erected by the Rathors; the other, to the statues of
the Paladins of the desert. Leaving both for a moment, I pursued the
‘serpentine’ rivulet to its fountain, where

Couched among fallen columns, in the shade
Of ruined walls that had survived the names
Of those who reared them,

I reposed in meditative indolence, overwhelmed with the recollections
such scenes inspire. In a recess or cave is a rude altar sanctified by
the name of Nahar Rao, the famed king of Mandor, who met in equal combat
the chivalrous Chauhan in the pass of the Aravalli.[4.27.24] A Nai, or
barber, performs worship to the manes of this illustrious Rajput, in
whose praise Chand is most eloquent. Whence the choice of a barber as a
priest I know not; but as he has the universal care of the material
portion of the Rajput, being always chosen as the cook, so there may be
reasons for his having had an interest in the immaterial part in olden
days, the tradition of which may have been lost. There is a piece of
sculpture containing nine figures, said to represent Ravana, who came
from “th’utmost isle Taprobane,”[4.27.25] to marry the daughter of the
sovereign of Mandor. There was a lengthened legend to account for the
name of Nagda, or, ‘serpentine,’ being applied to the [729] rivulet, but
it is too long to relate. We must therefore quit the fountain, where the
gallant Prithiraj and his fair bride, the cause of strife between the
Chauhans and Pariharas, may have reposed, and visit the most remarkable
relic within the precincts of this singular place.

[Illustration:

CHĀMUNDA. KANKĀLI.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 842._
]

=Images of Heroes.=—A short distance from the foot of the causeway, an
archway opens into an enclosed court or area, in the retired part of
which, and touching the mountain, is an extensive saloon; the roof is
supported by a triple row of columns, of that light form peculiar to the
Jains. Here are displayed, in all “the pomp and circumstance of war,”
the statues of the knights-errant of the desert, armed cap-à-pie,
bestriding steeds whose names are deathless as their riders’, all in the
costume of the times in which they lived. They are cut out of the rock,
but entirely detached from it, and larger than life. Though more
conspicuous for strength than symmetry, the grim visages of these
worthies, apparently frowning defiance, each attended by his pandu or
squire, have a singularly pleasing effect. Each chieftain is armed with
lance, sword, and buckler, with quiver and arrows, and poniard in his
girdle. All are painted; but whether in the colours they were attached
to, or according to the fancy of the architect, I know not. Before,
however, entering this saloon, we pass a huge statue of Ganesa, placed
as the guardian of the portal, having on each side the two Bhairavas,
sons of the god of war. Then appears the statue of Chamunda (the goddess
of destruction), and that of the terrific mother, Kankali, treading on
the black demon Bhainsasur, in whose flank her tiger-courser has buried
his bloodthirsty tongue: in each of her eight arms she holds a weapon of
destruction. The black Bhairon (son of Time), with a sable flag, bearing
argent a horse courant, marshals the way through the field of blood to
his mother. Between her and the heroes whose lives passed “in devotion
to the sword,” is a statue of the Nathji, or ‘spiritual guide’ of the
Rathors: in one hand he holds his _mala_ or ‘chaplet’; in the other his
_chhari_ or ‘patriarchal rod,’ for the guidance of his flock.
Mallinath[4.27.26] heads the procession, mounted on a white charger,
with a lance over his shoulder, to which is attached a flag; his quiver
resting on his horse’s right flank, and his mistress, Padmavati, with a
platter of food welcoming him from the raid, and who accompanied him
when slain to Suryaloka, or ‘the mansion of the sun.’

Then follows Pabuji,[4.27.27] mounted on his famous charger ‘Black
Caesar’ (Kesar [730] Kali), whose exploits are the theme of the
itinerant bard and showman, who annually goes his round, exhibiting in
pictorial delineations, while he recites in rhyme, the deeds of this
warrior to the gossiping villagers of the desert.

Next comes Ramdeo[4.27.28] Rathor, a name famed in Marudesa, and in
whose honour altars are raised in every Rajput village in the country.

Then we have the brave Harbuji Sankhla,[4.27.29] to whom Jodha was
indebted for protection in his exile, and for the redemption of Mandor
when seized by the Rana of Chitor.

Guga,[4.27.30] the Chauhan, who with his forty-seven sons fell defending
the passage of the Sutlej on Mahmud’s invasion. Mehaji Mangalia brings
up the rear, a famous chieftain of the Guhilot race. It would be tedious
to relate any of the exploits of these worthies.

=Taintīs Kula Devata Ra Thān.=—Another saloon, of similar architecture
and still greater dimensions, adjoins that just described; it is termed
Taintis kula[4.27.31] devata ra than, or ‘abode of the (tutelary)
divinities of the thirty-three races’: in short, the Pantheon of the
Rajputs. The statues are of gypsum, or stone covered with that
substance; they are of large proportions. First, is the creator, Brahma;
then Surya, ‘the sun-god,’ with his seven-headed steed; then the
monkey-faced deity, Hanuman; Rama, and his beloved Sita; Kanhaiya, in
the woods of Vraj, surrounded by the Gopis; and a most grave figure of
Mahadeva, with a bull in his hand. These six, with the goddesses of life
and death, and of wisdom, constitute the eight chief divinities of the
Hindus; whose qualities and attributes, personified, form an assemblage
for which St. Peter’s and the Vatican to boot would be a confined
dwelling.

[Illustration:

MALLINĀTH. NĀTHJI.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 844._
]

=Palace and Gardens.=—I now retired to the palace and gardens built by
Raja Ajit; of which, however superb, it is impossible for the pen to
give a definite idea. Suites of colonnaded halls, covered with sculpture
of easy and even graceful execution, some with screens of lattice-work
to secure the ladies from the public gaze, are on the lower range; while
staircases lead to smaller apartments intended for repose. The gardens,
though not extensive, as may be supposed, being confined within the
adamantine walls reared by the hand of Nature, must be delightfully cool
even in summer. Fountains, reservoirs, and water-courses, are everywhere
interspersed; and though [731] the thermometer in the open air was
86°,[4.27.32] the cold within doors (if this be not a solecism,
considering that there were no doors) was excessive. Some attention was
paid to its culture; besides many indigenous shrubs, it boasted of some
exotics. There was the golden champa,[4.27.33] whose aroma is
overpowering, and if laid upon the pillow will produce headache; the
pomegranate, at once “rich in flower and fruit”; the apple of Sita, or
Sitaphala, which, from similitude of taste, we call the custard-apple; a
delicious species of the plantain, whose broad, verdant, glossy leaf
alone inspires the mind with the sensation of coolness; the
mogra;[4.27.34] the chameli, or jessamine; and the queen of flowers, the
barahmasha,[4.27.35] literally the ‘twelve-month,’ because it flowers
throughout the year. It is a delightful spot, and I felt a peculiar
interest in it. Let the reader imagine the picture of a solitary
Englishman scribbling amidst the ruins of Mandor: in front a group of
venerable mango-trees; a little further an enormous isolated tamarind,
“planted by the hand of a juggler in the time of Nahar Rao, the last of
the Pariharas, before whom he exhibited this proof of legerdemain,” and,
as the legend goes, from whose branches the juggler met his
death:[4.27.36] amidst its boughs the long-armed tribe, the allies of
Rama, were skipping and chattering unmolested; while beneath, two Rathor
Rajputs were stretched in sleep, their horses dozing beside them,
standing as sedately as the statue of ‘Black Caesar’: a grenadier Sepoy
of my escort parading by a camp-basket, containing the provender of the
morning, completes the calm and quiet scene.

=An Atīt Hermit.=—On the summit of the rock, across the narrow valley,
several _guphas_, or caves, the abode of the hermit Atit,[4.27.37] were
in sight. How the brains of these ascetics can stand the heat and
confined air is a wonder, though, if they possessed any portion of that
which is supposed to be necessary to the guidance of the machine, they
would scarcely occupy such a position, nor consequently, the world’s
attention. _Mais tout est vanité_, a cause which has produced ten times
the number of saints that piety has, and ten times of ten these
troglodyte philosophers. Having walked out on the terrace or house-top
of the palace, to catch a sunbeam and scare away an ague which tormented
me, I discovered one of these animals coiled up on a heap of bat’s dung
[732], in a corner of an apartment of the palace. He was dreadfully
emaciated, and but for the rolling of a pair of eyes in a visage covered
with hair, there was nothing which betokened animation, much less
humanity. There was none but the bat to dispute his reign, or “the
spider which weaves its web in this palace of the Caesars.” I had no
inclination to disturb the process of ratiocination, or to ask to which
sect of philosophers belonged this Diogenes of Mandor, who might, if he
had utterance, have desired me to walk downstairs, and not intercept the
sunbeam for whose warmth we were competitors. The day was now nearly
departed, and it was time for me to return to my friends in camp. I
finished the evening by another visit to the knights of the desert; and
inscribing my name on the foot of ‘Black Caesar,’ bade adieu to the
ancient Mandor.

[Illustration:

RĀMDEO RĀTHOR. PĀBUJI, MOUNTED ON KESAR KĀLI.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 846._
]

_November 13._—The Raja having invited us to a dinner at the palace, we
sallied forth, belted and padded, to partake of Rajput hospitality. He
had made a request which will appear somewhat strange—that we would send
our cuisine, as the fare of the desert might prove unpalatable; but this
I had often seen done at Sindhia’s camp, when joints of mutton, fowls,
and fricassees would diversify the provender of the Mahratta. I
intimated that we had no apprehension that we should not do justice to
the gastronomy of Jodhpur; however, we sent our tables, and some claret
to drink long life to the king of Marudes. Having paid our respects to
our host, he dismissed us with the complimentary wish that appetite
might wait upon us, and, preceded by a host of gold and silver sticks,
we were ushered into a hall, where we found the table literally covered
with curries, pillaus, and ragouts of every kind, in which was not
forgotten the _haria mung Mandor ra_, the ‘green pulse of Mandor,’ the
favourite dish, next to _rabri_ or maize-porridge, of the simple Rathor.
Here, however, we saw displayed the dishes of both the Hindu and
Musulman, and nearly all were served in silver. The curries were
excellent, especially those of the vegetable tribes made of the pulses,
the kakris or cucumbers, and of a miniature melon not larger than an
egg, which grows spontaneously in these regions, and is transported by
kasids, or runners, as presents, for many hundreds of miles around. The
hall was an entire new building, and scarcely finished; it is erected on
the northern projection of the rock, where the escarpment is most
abrupt, and looks down upon the site of the batteries of the league of
1806. It is called the Man mahall [733], and, like the hall of audience,
its flat roof is supported by numerous massive hewn columns. The view
from it to the east is extensive, and we were told that the pinnacle of
Kumbhalmer, though eighty miles distant, has been seen, in those clear
days of the monsoon when the atmosphere is purified, after heavy
showers, from the sand which is held suspended. Great care was taken
that our meal should be uninterrupted, and that we should not be the
lions to an hour’s amusement of the court. There was but one trivial
occurrence to interrupt the decorum and attention of all present, and
that was so slight that we only knew it after the entertainment was
over. One of the menials of the court, either from ignorance or design,
was inclined to evince contumely or bad breeding. It will be considered
perhaps a singular circumstance that the Hindu should place before a
European the vessels from which he himself eats: but a little fire
purifies any metallic vessels from all such contamination; and on this
point the high-blooded Rajput is less scrupulous than the bigoted
Muhammadan, whom I have seen throw on the ground with contempt a cup
from which his officer had drunk water on a march. But of earthenware
there can be no purification. Now there was a handsome china bowl, for
which some old dowager fancier of such articles would have almost become
a supplicant, which having been filled with curds to the Sudra Farangis
could no longer be used by the prince, and it was brought by this
menial, perhaps with those words, to my native butler. Kali Khan, or, as
we familiarly called him, ‘the black lord,’ was of a temper not to be
trifled with; and as the domestic held it in his hand, saying, “Take it,
it is no longer of any use to us,” he gave it a tap with his hand which
sent it over the battlements, and coolly resuming his work, observed,
“That is the way in which all useless things should be served”; a hint
which, if reported to Raja Man, he seems to have acted on: for not many
months after, the minister, Akhai Chand, who dreaded lest European
influence should release his master from his faction and thraldom, was
treated by him in the same manner as the china bowl by Kali Khan.

=The Rāja visits the Author.=—_November 16._[4.27.38]—This day had been
fixed for the Raja’s visits to the envoy. In order to display his
grandeur, he sent his own suite of tents, which were erected near mine
[734]. They were very extensive, modelled in every way after those of
the Emperors of Delhi, and lined throughout with the royal colour,
crimson: but this is an innovation, as will appear from the formulas yet
preserved of his despatches, “from the foot of the throne, Jodhpur.” The
tent, in fact, was a palace in miniature, the whole surrounded by walls
of cloth, to keep at a distance the profane vulgar. The _gaddi_, or
royal cushion and canopy, was placed in the central apartment. At three,
all was noise and bustle in the castle and town; nakkaras were
reverberating, trumpets sounding the alarm, that the King of Maru was
about to visit the Farangi Wakil. As soon as the flags and pennant were
observed winding down ‘the hill of strife’ (Jodhagir), I mounted, and
with the gentlemen of my suite proceeded through the town to meet the
Raja. Having complimented him _en route_, we returned and received him
at the tents. The escort drawn up at the entrance of the tent presented
arms, the officers saluting; a mark of attention which gratified him, as
did the soldier-like appearance of the men. Hitherto, what he had seen
of regulars belonging to the native powers was not calculated to give
him a favourable impression of foot-soldiers, who are little esteemed by
the equestrian order of Rajputana. His visit continued about an hour,
when the shields were brought in, with jewels, brocades, shawls, and
other finery, in all nineteen trays, being two less than I presented to
the Rana of Udaipur. I likewise presented him with some arms of English
manufacture, a telescope, and smaller things much valued by the Rajputs.
After the final ceremony of perfumes, and itr-pan (which are admirable
hints when you wish to get rid of a tiresome guest, though not so in
this instance), the exterior wall was removed, and showed the
caparisoned elephant and horses, which were part of the khilat. At the
door of the tent we made our salaam, when the Raja gave me his hand,
which, by the by, was his first salutation on receiving me. It is an
ancient Rajput custom, and their bards continually allude to extending
the right hand—“dextra extenta.”

[Illustration:

GŪGA THE CHAUHĀN. HARBUJI SĀNKHLA.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 848._
]

=Taking Leave of the Rāja.=—_November 17._[4.27.39]—I went to take leave
of the Raja: I had a long and interesting conversation on this our last
interview. I left him in the full expectation that his energy of
character would surmount the difficulties by which he was surrounded,
though not without a struggle, and condign punishment to some of the
miscreants, the misleaders of his son, the assassins of his minister and
high priest, and consequently the authors of his humiliating and
protracted incarceration [735]. Whether the first gratification of
vengeance provoked his appetite, or whether the torrent of his rage,
once impelled into motion, became too impetuous to be checked, so that
his reason was actually disturbed by the sufferings he had undergone, it
is certain he grew a demoniac; nor could any one, who had conversed with
the bland, the gentlemanly, I might say gentle, Raja Man, have imagined
that he concealed under this exterior a heart so malignant as his
subsequent acts evinced. But the day of retribution must arrive; the men
who wrote that dignified remonstrance, which is given in another
place,[4.27.40] will not tamely bear their wrongs, and as they dare not
levy war against their prince, who reposes under British protection, the
dagger will doubtless find a way to reach him even in “the
thousand-columned hall” of Jodhpur.

Besides the usual gifts at parting, which are matter of etiquette, and
remain untouched by the individual, I accepted as a personal token of
his favour, a sword, dagger, and buckler, which had belonged to one of
his illustrious ancestors. The weight of the sword, which had often been
“the angel of death,” would convince any one that it must have been a
nervous arm which carried it through a day. With mutual good wishes, and
a request for a literary correspondence, which was commenced but soon
closed, I bade adieu to Raja Man and the capital of Marwar [736].

-----

Footnote 4.27.1:

[Of Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Amīr Khān.]

Footnote 4.27.2:

[_Rahkala_ is properly the carriage on which a field-piece is mounted:
then, a swivel-gun (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 140).]

Footnote 4.27.3:

[The population of the city in 1911 was 79,756.]

Footnote 4.27.4:

_Amrit ra piyala._

Footnote 4.27.5:

See p. 820.

Footnote 4.27.6:

[‘The self-existent.’]

Footnote 4.27.7:

[The Rāthor dynasty of Kanauj is a myth (Smith, _EHI_, 385, note 1).]

Footnote 4.27.8:

[_Decline and Fall_, ed. W. Smith, ii. 262.]

Footnote 4.27.9:

The date of his accession is the 5th of the month Margsir, S. 1860
[A.D. 1803].

Footnote 4.27.10:

[About 80 miles N. of Jaipur city.]

Footnote 4.27.11:

Vol. I. page 535.

Footnote 4.27.12:

Commandant of the fortress [_qil’adār_].

Footnote 4.27.13:

[In 1839, in consequence of the misgovernment of Mān Singh, a force
was sent by the British Government and Jodhpur was occupied. He
entered into a treaty securing a cessation of his tyrannical acts. He
died on September 5, 1843.]

Footnote 4.27.14:

[An abstract of the _Khulāsatu-t-tawārīkh_ of Subhān Rāe is given in
Elliot-Dowson viii. 5 ff.]

Footnote 4.27.15:

[Professor E. B. Poulton kindly sends a note from Colonel J. W.
Yerbury, who writes: “Although no record exists of the occurrence of
Hypoderma in Hindustan, I think there is no doubt that the maggots are
the larvae of either _H. diaua_ or _H. acteon_. They have been found
in antelopes—_Antelope saiga_—and _dorcas_ brought to Italy from the
East.”]

Footnote 4.27.16:

[Sher Shāh, after his victory over Rāja Māldeo in A.D. 1544, said that
“for a handful of millet (_juār_) he had almost lost the empire of
India” (Ferishta ii. 123; Manucci i. 117). The author quotes this
saying twice later on.]

Footnote 4.27.17:

[Funeral rite.]

Footnote 4.27.18:

[There is no evidence that the name Pālitāna is connected with a Pāli
tribe.]

Footnote 4.27.19:

[_Ficus glomerata._]

Footnote 4.27.20:

[Near the cave an inscription of Kakka Parihār, probably tenth century
A.D., has recently been found (Erskine iii. A. 196).]

Footnote 4.27.21:

_L’Italie avant la domination des Romains._

Footnote 4.27.22:

Amongst ancient coins and medals, excavated from the ruins of Ujjain
and other ancient cities, I possess a perfect series with all the
symbolic emblems of the twenty-four Jain apostles. The compound
equilateral triangle is amongst them: perhaps there were masons in
those days amongst the Pali. It is hardly necessary to state that this
Trinitarian symbol (the double triangle) occurs on our (so-called)
Gothic edifices, _e.g._ the beautiful abbey gate of Bury St. Edmunds,
Suffolk, erected about A.D. 1377. [See Count Goblet D’Alviella, _The
Migration of Symbols_, 185 ff.]

Footnote 4.27.23:

[Erskine (iii. A. 197) calls him Tanna Pīr; the shrine was built in
the time of Mahārāja Mān Singh, and is held in high estimation.]

Footnote 4.27.24:

See p. 793.

Footnote 4.27.25:

_Tapu Ravana_, ‘the isle of Ravana,’ wherever that may be. [Taprobane
represents the river Tāmraparni, ‘the copper-coloured leaf’ (_IGI_,
xxiii. 215).]

Footnote 4.27.26:

[Eldest son of Rāo Salkha, one of the early traditional ancestors of
the Jodhpur chiefs, after whom the Mallāni district is named.]

Footnote 4.27.27:

[A Rāthor chief, who first brought the camel into use, and was noted
for protecting cows.]

Footnote 4.27.28:

[A Tonwar or Tuar Rājput, of the family of Anangpāl of Delhi, now
worshipped under the name of Rāmsāh Pīr.]

Footnote 4.27.29:

[A Panwār Rājput, of Bengti, near Phalodi, where his cart is still
worshipped.]

Footnote 4.27.30:

[Gūgaji or Guggaji, already mentioned (p. 807 above), said to have
been killed in battle with Fīroz Shāh of Delhi, at the end of the
thirteenth century A.D.]

Footnote 4.27.31:

I imagine the word _kula_, or ‘race,’ of which, as often remarked,
there are not thirty-three but thirty-six, has given rise to the
assertion respecting the thirty-three crore or millions of gods of
Hindustan [more probably only an indefinite number].

Footnote 4.27.32:

Thermometer 55°, 72°, 86°, 80° at daybreak, ten, two, and at sunset;
on the 3rd November, the day of our arrival, the variations were 50°,
72°, 80°, and 75° at those hours.

Footnote 4.27.33:

[_Michelia champaka._]

Footnote 4.27.34:

[The double jasmine, _Jasminum zambak_.]

Footnote 4.27.35:

[Sir D. Prain, who has kindly investigated this flower, identifies it
with a species of _Bauhinia_. He remarks that “_B. acuminata_, which
differs from _B. purpurea_ and _B. variegata_, both in being a smaller
plant and in beginning to flower when _B. variegata_ does, goes on
flowering all through the rains, and still continues to flower when
_B. purpurea_ is in blossom. It does not flower all the year round in
Bengal, and I doubt if it does so in Rājputāna, though Balfour in his
_Cyclopaedia_ suggests that it does so. My idea is that the term
_bārah-māsha_ in Upper India should not be taken too literally, and
that it is only a figurative way of saying that the particular
_Bauhinia_ is in flower alongside of both the others when flowering
seasons are separated by half the year.”]

Footnote 4.27.36:

See the Autobiography of Jahangir, translated by that able Oriental
scholar, Major Price [p. 96 f.], for the astonishing feats these
jugglers perform in creating not only the tree but the fruit.

Footnote 4.27.37:

[The Atīt is a mendicant follower of Siva, and the term is usually
equivalent to Sannyāsi.]

Footnote 4.27.38:

Thermometer 59°, 82°, 85°, 79°.

Footnote 4.27.39:

Thermometer 59°, 73°, 89°, 82°; at six, ten, two, and sunset.

Footnote 4.27.40:

See Vol. I. p. 228.

-----

CHAPTER 28

=Nāndla.=—_November 19._—We broke ground for Nandla, distant six miles.
The first two miles from the capital was through deep sand; for the
remainder of the journey the red sandstone protruded, which gives some
relief to the footing of the traveller. About half-way we passed a small
sheet of water, called after the mother of the pretender, Dhonkal Singh,
the Shaikhawat Talao. This lady has constructed a dharmsala, or ‘hall
for travellers,’ on its bank, where she has erected a statue of Hanuman,
and a pillar to commemorate her own good works. Not a shrub of any
magnitude occurs, for even the stunted khair[4.28.1] is rare in this
plain of sand; which does not, however, appear unfavourable to the
moth,[4.28.2] a vetch on which they feed the cattle. Near the village we
crossed the Jogini, the same stream which we passed between Jhalamand
and the capital, and which, joined by the Nagda from Mandor, falls into
the Luni. The only supply of water for Nandla is procured from two wells
dug on the margin of the stream. The water is abundant, and only four
feet from the surface, but brackish. There are a hundred and twenty-five
houses in Nandla, which is in the fief of the chieftain of Ahor. A few
cenotaphs are on the banks of a tank, now dry. I went to look at them,
but they contained names “unknown to fame.”

=Bīsalpur.=—Bisalpur, the next place, is distant six estimated coss of
the country, and [737] thirteen miles one furlong by the perambulator:
heavy sand the whole way. Nevertheless we saw traces of the last
autumnal crop of bajra and juar, two species of millet, which form the
chief food of the people of the desert; and the vetch was still in
heaps. Bisalpur is situated on a rising ground; the houses are uniform
in height and regularly built, and coated with a compost of mud and
chaff, so that its appearance is picturesque. It is protected by a
circumvallation of thorns, the _kanta-ka-kot_ and the stacks of chaff,
as described at Indara. They are pleasing to the eye, as is everything
in such a place which shows the hand of industry. There was an ancient
city here in former days, which was engulfed by an earthquake, though
part of a gateway and the fragment of a wall still mark its site. No
inscriptions were observed. The water is obtained from a lake.

[Illustration:

MEHAJI MANGALIA.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 850._
]

=Pachkalia, Bīchkalia.=—_November 21._—Pachkalia, or Bichkalia, five
coss (11 miles 5 furlongs): crossed and encamped on the Jojri. The soil
improving, of a brown sandy texture. Wheat and barley of excellent
quality are grown on the banks of the river. It was a relief to meet
once more a babul or a nim tree; even our Godwar cypress reared its head
on the margin of the Jojri. Although now only containing a hundred
houses, this was once a place of some importance. I found a defaced
inscription, in which “the son of Sonang, S. 1224,” was still legible;
but the mercenary Pathans have ruined the harvest of the antiquary. The
village is a grant in fee to a Bhatti chieftain. Water is obtained from
wells excavated on the margin of the river.

=Pīpār.=—_November 22._—Pipar, four coss (8 miles 2 furlongs). Pursued
the course of the river, the most extended arm of the Luni, coming from
the hills near Parbatsar, on the frontiers of Jaipur. Its course is
marked by the trees already mentioned. The soil, a mixture of black
earth and sand, is termed _dhamani_. Pipar is a town of 1500 houses,
one-third of which are inhabited by the Oswals of the Jain faith, the
chief merchants of all their country. There are also about two hundred
families of Mahesris, or merchants of the Saiva caste. Pipar carries on
a considerable traffic, and has a chintz manufactory, which employs
thirty families. It is in the grant of the feudal chief of Nimaj, whose
death has been already related. A cenotaph, dedicated to one of his
ancestors, has been half destroyed by the Goths of India. Pipar is
celebrated in the traditions of the desert as one of the cities [738]
founded by Gandharvasen, the Pramara monarch of Avanti, prior to the
Christian era.[4.28.3] The only inscription I discovered was in a temple
of the sea-goddess Lakshmi. It bore the names of Bijai Singh and
Delanji, Rajputs of the Guhilot race, with the ancient title of Rawal.
It was a happy confirmation of the most ancient chronicle of Mewar,
which divides the Guhilots into twenty-four _sakha_ or branches, of
which one is called ‘Piparia,’ doubtless from their having conquered
this tract from the Takshak Pramara.

There is an abundance of wells, from sixty to eighty feet in depth. Of
one recently excavated, I obtained the following details of the strata,
which may be gratifying to the geologist. The first twenty feet are
composed entirely of that kind of earth called _dhamani_, chiefly
decomposed sandstone with a mixture of black earth, in which occurs a
stratum of bluish clay mixed with particles of quartz: this earth is
called _morar_ in Marwar, and _morand_ in Jaipur. It was then necessary
to cut through a rock of red granite[4.28.4] for thirty feet; then
several feet of an almost milk-white steatite, succeeded by stalactitic
concretions of sandstone and quartz.

=Legend of the Sāmpu Lake.=—Good water is also obtained from a lake
called the Sampu, which is connected with the tradition of the
foundation of Pipar. A Brahman of the Pali tribe, whose name was Pipa,
was in the habit of carrying milk to a deity of the Serpent (Takshak)
race, whose retreat was on the banks of this lake, and who deposited two
pieces of gold in return for the Paliwal’s offering. Being compelled to
go to Nagor, he gave instructions to his son to perform his charitable
office; but the youth, deeming it a good opportunity to become master of
the treasure, took a stick with him, and when the serpent issued forth
for his accustomed fare, he struck him violently; but the snake being
“scotched, not killed,” retreated to his hole. The young Brahman related
his adventure to his mother; when the good woman, dreading the vengeance
of the serpentine deity, prepared a servant and bullock to convey her
son to his father at Nagor. But what was her horror in the morning, when
she went to call the youth, to find, instead of him, the huge serpent
coiled up in his bed! Pipa, on his return, was inconsolable; but
stifling his revenge, he propitiated the serpent with copious libations
of milk. The scaly monster was conciliated, and revealed the stores he
guarded to Pipa, commanding him to raise a monument which would transmit
a knowledge of the event to future ages [739]. Hence Pipar arose from
Pipa the Pali, and the name of the lake Sampu, from his benefactor the
‘serpent’ (sampa). All these allegorical tales regard the Takshak races,
the followers of the religion of Buddha or Jaina, and their feuds with
the Brahmanical sects. It is evident that Pipa the Pali worshipped both;
and the very name induces a belief that the whole Paliwal caste are
converts from Buddhism.[4.28.5]

=Lākha Phulāni.=—There is a kund or fountain, called after Lakha
Phulani, who ruled in ancient times at Phulra, in the farther corner of
the desert, but carried his arms even to the ocean. Wherever I have
travelled, tradition is loud in praise of Phulani, from the source of
the Luni to its embouchure in the Delta of the Indus.[4.28.6]

=Mādreo.=—_November 23._—Madreo, five coss (10 miles 2 furlongs). Roads
good; soil as yesterday, but the country very desolate; only stunted
shrubs since we removed from the margin of the river. This is a
moderate-sized village, with a tank of good water.

=Bharūnda.=—_November 24._—Bharunda, four coss, or eight miles. The face
of the country now changes materially; our route was over a low
undulating ridge of sandstone, in which the stunted shrubs of this
region find a bed. At one time the elevation was sufficiently great to
allow the chasm through which the road passed to be dignified with the
name of the Ghasuria Pass, in which a party of the Raja’s men is posted
for defence, and the levy of transit duties. Bharunda is in the fief of
Gopal Singh, the chief of Kuchaman, one of the most conspicuous of the
Mertia clan. It consists of one hundred and fifty houses; the
cultivators are Jats, as are those of all the preceding villages.

I paid a visit to the humble cenotaphs of Bharunda; one of them bore the
name of Badan Singh, a sub-vassal of Kuchaman, who was slain in the
heroic charge against De Boigne’s brigades, in the patriot field of
Merta. His name claims the admiration of all who esteem loyalty and
patriotism, the inherent virtues of the chivalrous Rajput. Raja Bijai
Singh had resumed Bharunda, when the Thakur [740] retired to the
adjacent court of Jaipur, where he was well received according to the
hospitable customs of the Rajput, and had risen to favour at the period
when the Mahrattas invaded his _bapota_, ‘the land of his fathers.’
Resentment was instantly sacrificed at the altar of patriotism; he put
himself at the head of one hundred and fifty horse, and flew to his
sovereign’s and his country’s defence. Unhappily, the whole Mahratta
army interposed between him and his countrymen. To cut their way through
all impediments was the instant resolve of Badan and his brave
companions. They fell sword in hand upon a multitude; and, with the
exception of a few, who forced their way (amongst whom was the chief
whose monument is referred to), they were cut to pieces. Badan Singh
lived to reach his ancient estate, which was restored to his family in
token of his sovereign’s gratitude for the gallant deed. It is valued at
seven thousand rupees annual rent, and has attached to it, as a
condition, the service of defending this post. There was another small
altar erected to the manes of Partap, who was killed in the defence of
this pass against the army of Aurangzeb.

=Indāwar.=—_November 25._—Indawar, five coss (10 miles 2 furlongs). This
place consists of two hundred houses; the cultivators are Jats. I have
said little of these proprietors of the soil, a sturdy, independent,
industrious race, who “venerate the plough,” and care little about the
votaries of Mars or their concerns, so that they do not impose excessive
taxes on them. They are a stout, well-built, though rather murky race.
The village is assigned to the ex-prince of Sind, who derives his sole
support from the liberality of the princes of Marwar. He is of the tribe
called Kalhora,[4.28.7] and claims descent from the Abbassides of
Persia. His family has been supplanted by the Talpuris, a branch of the
Numris (the foxes) of Baluchistan, who now style themselves Afghans, but
who are in fact one of the most numerous of the Getae or Jat colonies
from Central Asia. But let us not wander from our subject.

I will beg the reader to descend seventy or eighty feet with me to view
the stratification of Indawar. First, three feet of good soil; five feet
of red sandy earth, mixed with particles of quartz; six feet of an
unctuous indurated clay;[4.28.8] [741]—then follows a sand-rock, through
which it was necessary to penetrate about sixty feet; this was succeeded
by twenty feet of almost loose sand, with particles of pure quartz
embedded; nodules and stalactitic concretions of sandstone, quartz, and
mica, agglutinated together by a calcareous cement. The interior of the
well throughout this last stratum is faced with masonry: the whole depth
is more than sixty-five cubits, or forty yards. At this depth a spring
of excellent water broke in upon the excavators, which supplies Indawar.

=Merta.=—_November 26._—Merta, four coss (9 miles 1 furlong). The whole
march was one extended plain; the Aravalli towering about twenty-five
miles to our right. To the west a wide waste, consisting of plains
gently undulating, and covered with grass and underwood. Natural
sterility is not the cause of this desert aspect, for the soil is rich;
but the water is far beneath the surface, and they cannot depend upon
the heavens. Juar, moth, and sesamum were cultivated to a considerable
extent in the immediate vicinity of the villages, but the product had
this season been scanty. The appearance of the town is imposing, its
site being on a rising ground. The spires of the mosque which was
erected on the ruins of a Hindu temple by the tyrant Aurangzeb overtop
the more ponderous and unaspiring mandirs which surround it.
Notwithstanding, this monarch was the object of universal execration to
the whole Hindu race, more especially to the Rathors (whose sovereign,
the brave Jaswant, together with his elder son, he put to death by
poison, and kept Ajit twenty long years from his birthright, besides
deluging their fields with the richest blood of his nobles); still, such
is Hindu toleration, that a marble is placed, inscribed both in Hindi
and Persian, to protect the mosque from violence. This mark of
liberality proceeded from the pretender Dhonkal Singh, as if with a view
of catching golden opinions from the demoralized Pathans, by whose aid
he hoped to regain his rights. But how was he deceived! His advances
were met by the foul assassination, at one fell swoop, of all his party,
by the chief of these mercenaries, Amir Khan.

Merta was founded by Rao Duda of Mandor, whose son, the celebrated
Maldeo, erected the castle, which he called Malkot.[4.28.9] Merta, with
its three hundred and sixty townships, became the appanage of his son
Jaimall, and gave its name of Mertia to the bravest of the brave clans
of the Rathors. Jaimall [742] was destined to immortalize his name
beyond the limits of Maru. Distrusted by his father, and likely to be
deserving of suspicion, from the very ruse to which Sher Shah
acknowledged he owed his safety, he was banished from Marwar. He was
hospitably received by the Rana, who assigned to the heir of Mandor the
rich district of Badnor, equalling his own in extent, and far richer in
soil than the plains he had abandoned. How he testified his gratitude
for this reception, nobler pens than mine have related. The great Akbar
claimed the honour of having with his own hand sealed his fate: he
immortalized the matchlock with which he effected it, and which was also
the theme of Jahangir’s praise, who raised a statue in honour of this
defender of Chitor and the rights of its infant prince.[4.28.10]
Abu-l-fazl, Herbert, the chaplain to Sir T. Roe, Bernier, all honoured
the name of Jaimall; and the chivalrous Lord Hastings, than whom none
was better able to appreciate Rajput valour, manifested his respect by
his desire to conciliate his descendant, the present brave baron of
Badnor.[4.28.11]

The town of Merta covers a large space of ground, and is enclosed with a
strong wall and bastions, composed of earth to the westward, but of
freestone to the east. All, however, are in a state of decay, as well as
the town itself, which is said to contain twenty thousand houses. Like
most Hindu towns, there is a mixture of magnificence and poverty; a
straw or mud hut adjoins a superb house of freestone, which “shames the
meanness” of its neighbour. The castle is about a gun-shot to the
south-west of the town, and encloses an area of a mile and a half. Some
small sheets of water are on the eastern and western faces. There are
plenty of wells about the town, but the water has an unpleasant taste,
from filtering through a stiff clay. There are but two strata before
water is found, which is about twenty-five feet from the surface: the
first a black mould, succeeded by the clay, incumbent on a loose sand,
filled with quartzose pebbles of all hues, and those stalactitic
concretions which mark, throughout the entire line from Jodhpur to
Ajmer, the stratum in which the springs find a current. There are many
small lakes around the town, as the Dudasar, or ‘lake (_sar_) of Duda’;
the Bejpa, the Durani, the Dangolia, etc.

=The Battlefield.=—The plain of Merta is one continuous sepulchre,
covered with altars to the manes of the warriors who, either in the
civil wars which have distracted this State [743], or in the more
patriotic strife with the southron Goths, have drenched it with their
blood. It is impossible to pass over this memorable field without a
reference to these acts; but they would be unintelligible without going
to the very root of dissension, which not only introduced the Mahratta
to decide the intestine broils of the Rajput States, but has entailed a
perpetuity of discord on that of Marwar. I have already succinctly
related the parricidal murder of Raja Ajit, which arose out of the
politics of the imperial court, when the Sayyids of Barha[4.28.12]—the
Warwicks of the East—deposed the Emperor Farrukhsiyar, and set up a
puppet of their own. With his daughter (whose marriage with the emperor
originated, as already recorded, the first grant of land to the
East-India Company), he retired to his dominions, leaving his son Abhai
Singh at court, and refusing his sanction to the nefarious schemes of
the Sayyids. They threatened destruction to Marwar, declaring to the son
of Ajit that the only mode of averting its ruin was his own elevation,
and his subservience to their views, which object could only be obtained
by his father’s deposal and death. Even the reasoning resorted to, as
well as the dire purpose of the miscreants, is preserved, and may serve
as an illustration of Rajput feeling. When Abhai Singh refused or
hesitated, he was asked, “_Ma bap ka sakha, ya zamin ka sakha?_” which,
though difficult to render with accuracy, may be translated: “Are you a
branch (_sakha_) of the land or of your parents?” As before said, land
is all in all to the Rajput; it is preferred to everything: Abhai’s
reply may therefore be inferred. Immediate installation was to be the
reward of his revenging the Sayyids. That nature could produce from the
same stock two such monsters as the brothers who effected the deed, is,
perhaps, hardly conceivable, and would, probably, not be credited, were
not the fact proved beyond doubt. I should desire, for the honour of the
Rajput race, whose advocate and apologist I candidly avow myself, to
suppress the atrocious record: but truth is dearer even than Rajput
character. Of the twelve sons of Ajit, Abhai Singh and Bakhta Singh were
the two elder; both were by the same mother, a princess of Bundi. To
Bakhta Singh, who was with his father, the eldest brother wrote,
promising him the independent sovereignty of Nagor (where they then
were), with its five hundred and fifty-five townships, as the price of
murdering their common sire. Not only was the wretch unstartled by the
proposition, but he executed the deed with his own hands, under
circumstances of unparalleled atrocity. His [744] mother always dreaded
the temperament and disposition of Bakhta, who was bold, haughty,
impetuous, with a perpetual thirst for action; and she cautioned her
husband never to admit him into his presence after dusk, or when
unattended. But the Raja, whose physical strength was equal to his
bravery, ridiculed her fears, observing, “Is he not my child? Besides, a
slap on the face from me would annihilate the stripling.” Upon receiving
the note from his brother, Bakhta, after taking leave of his father,
concealed himself in a chamber adjoining that where his parents reposed.
When all was still the murderer stole to the bed in which lay the
authors of his existence, and from a pallet, on which were placed the
arms of Ajit, he seized his sword, and coolly proceeded to exhaust those
veins which contained the same blood that flowed in his own. In order
that nothing might be wanting to complete the deed of horror, the mother
was awakened by the blood of her lord moistening her bosom. Her cries
awoke the faithful Rajputs who lay in the adjacent apartments, and who,
bursting into the chamber, discovered their prince and father dead:
“Treason had done its worst.” The assassin fled to the roof of the
palace, barring the gates behind him, which resisted all attempts to
force them until morning, when he threw into the court below the letter
of his brother, exclaiming, “This put the Maharaja to death, not I.”
Abhai Singh was now their sovereign; and it is the actual occupant of
the throne whom the Rajput deems entitled to his devotion. Eighty-four
Satis took place on this dire occasion, the parent of these unnatural
regicidal and parricidal sons leading the funeral procession. So much
was Ajit beloved, that even men devoted themselves on his pyre. Such was
the tragical end of the great Ajit, lamented by his chiefs, and
consecrated by the bard, in stanzas in honour of him and in execration
of the assassins; which afford proof of the virtuous independence of the
poetic chronicler of Rajasthan.

_Bakhta, Bakhta, bāhira,
Kyūn māryo Ajmāl[4.28.13]
Hindwāni ro sevro
Turkāni ka sāl?_

“Oh Bakhta, in evil hour
Why slew you Ajmāl,
The pillar of the Hindu,
The lance of the Turk?” [745][4.28.14]

=The Sons of Ajīt Singh.=—Bakhta Singh obtained Nagor; and Abhai Singh
was rewarded with the viceroyalty of Gujarat, which gift he repaid by
aiding in its partition, and annexing the rich districts of Bhinmal,
Sanchor, and others, to Marwar; on which occasion he added Jalor to the
domain of his brother Bakhta, or, as the bard styles him, _bad-bakhta_,
‘the unfortunate.’ This additional reward of parricide has been the
cause of all the civil wars of Marwar.

We may slightly notice the other sons of Ajit, whose issue affected the
political society of Rajputana. Of these,

Devi Singh was given for adoption to Maha Singh, head of the Champawat
clan, he having no heirs. Devi Singh then held Bhinmal, but which he
could not retain against the Koli tribes around him, and Pokaran was
given in exchange. Sabal Singh, Sawai Singh, and Salim Singh (whose
escape from the fate of the chieftain of Nimaj has been noticed) are the
lineal issue of this adoption.

Anand Singh, another son of Ajit, was in like manner adopted into the
independent State of Idar, and his issue are heirs-presumptive to the
throne of Marwar.

=Effects of Adoption.=—From these races we derive the knowledge of a
curious fact, namely, that the issue of the younger brother maintains a
claim, though adopted into a foreign and independent State; while all
such claims are totally extinguished by adoption into a home clan. Under
no circumstances could the issue of Devi Singh sit on the _gaddi_ of
Marwar; when adopted into the Champawat clan, he surrendered all claims
derived from his birth, which were merged into his vassal rank. Still
the recollection must give weight and influence; and it is evident from
the boast of the haughty Devi Singh, when his head was on the block,
that there is danger in these adoptions.

Abhai Singh died, leaving a memorial of his prowess in the splendid
additions he made to his territories from the tottering empire of Delhi.
He was succeeded by his son Ram Singh, on whose accession his uncle
Bakhta sent his aged foster-mother, an important personage in Rajwara,
with the _tika_ and gifts, and other symbols of congratulation. Ram
Singh, who had all the impetuosity of his race, received the
lady-ambassador with no friendly terms, asking her if his uncle had no
better messenger to salute his new sovereign. He refused the gifts, and
commanded her to tell his uncle to surrender Jalor. The offended dame
[746] extenuated nothing of the insolence of the message. The reply was,
however, courteous, implying that both Jalor and Nagor were at his
disposal. The same sarcastic spirit soon precipitated matters between
them in the following manner.

Kusal Singh of Awa, the premier noble of Marwar, and of all the clans of
Champawat, more brave than courtly, was short in stature, sturdy,
boorish, and blunt; he became the object of his young sovereign’s
derision, who used to style him the _gurji gandhak_, or ‘turnspit dog,’
and who had once the audacity to say, “Come, gurji”; when he received
the laconic reproof: “Yes; the gurji that dare bite the lion.”

[Illustration:

PAIKS OF MĀRWĀR
_To face page 860._
]

Brooding over this merited retort, he was guilty of another sarcasm,
which closed the breach against all reconciliation. Seated one day in
the garden of Mandor, he asked the same chief the name of a tree. “The
champa,” was the reply, “and the pride of the garden, as I am of your
Rajputs.” “Cut it down instantly,” said the prince; “root it out;
nothing which bears the name of champa shall exist in Marwar.”

Kaniram of Asop, the chief of the next most powerful clan, the Kumpawat,
was alike the object of this prince’s ridicule. His countenance, which
was not “cast in nature’s finest mould,” became a butt for his wit, and
he would familiarly say to him, ‘_ao budha bandar_,’ “Come along, old
monkey.” Boiling with rage, the chief observed, “When the monkey begins
to dance, you will have some mirth.” Leaving the court, with his brother
chieftain of Awa, they collected their retainers and families, and
marched to Nagor. Bakhta Singh was absent, but being advised by his
locum tenens of his visitors, and of their quarrel with his nephew, he
lost no time in joining them. It is said he expostulated with them, and
offered himself as mediator; but they swore never again to look in the
face of Ram Singh as their sovereign. They offered to place Bakhta Singh
on the _gaddi_ of Jodha; and threatened, if he refused, to abandon
Marwar. He played the part of our Richard for a short time; but the
habitual arrogance of his nephew soon brought matters to a crisis. As
soon as he heard that the two leaders of all his vassals were received
by his uncle, he addressed him, demanding the instant surrender of
Jalor. Again he had the courtly reply: “He dare not contend against his
sovereign; and if he came to visit him, he would meet him with a vessel
of water.”[4.28.15] War, a [747] horrid civil war, was now decided on;
the challenge was given and accepted, and the plains of Merta were fixed
upon to determine this mortal strife, in which brother was to meet
brother, and all the ties of kin were to be severed by the sword. The
Mertia clans, the bravest, as they are the most loyal and devoted, of
all the brave clans of Maru, united to a man under the sovereign’s
standard; the chiefs of Rian, Budsa, Mihtri, Kholar, Bhorawar, Kuchaman,
Alniawas, Jusari, Bokri, Bharunda, Irwa, Chandarun, collected around
them every vassal who could wield a brand. Most of the clans of Jodha,
attracted by the name of _swamidharma_, ‘fidelity to their lord,’ united
themselves to the Mertias; though a few, as Ladnun, Nimbi, were on the
adverse side; but the principal leaders, as Khairwa, Govindgarh, and
Bhadrajun, were faithful to their salt. Of the services of others, Ram
Singh’s insolence deprived him. Few remained neuter. But these
defections were nothing to the loss of a body of five thousand Jareja
auxiliaries, whom his connexion with a daughter of the prince of Bhuj
brought to his aid. When the tents were moved outside the capital, an
incident occurred which, while it illustrates the singular character of
the Rajput, may be regarded as the real cause of the loss of sovereignty
to Ram Singh. An inauspicious raven had perched upon the _kanat_, or
wall of the tent in which was the Jareja queen, who, skilled in the art
of the _suguni_[4.28.16] (augur), determined to avert it. Like all
Rajputnis, who can use firearms on occasion, she seized a matchlock at
hand, and, ere he “thrice croaked,” she shot him dead. The impetuous
Raja, enraged at this instance of audacity and disrespect, without
inquiry ordered the culprit to be dragged before him; nor was his anger
assuaged when the name of the Rani was given. He reviled her in the
grossest terms: “Tell the Rani,” he said, “to depart my dominions, and
to return from whence she came.” She entreated and conjured him, by a
regard to his own safety, to revoke the decree; but all in vain; and
with difficulty could she obtain a short interview, but without
effecting any change in her obdurate lord. Her last words were, “With my
exile from your presence, you will lose the crown of Marwar.” She
marched that instant, carrying with her the five thousand auxiliaries
whose presence must have ensured his victory.

The Udawat clans, led by their chiefs of Nimaj, Raepur, and Raus, with
all [748] the Karansots under the Thakur of Khinwasar, united their
retainers with the Champawats and Kumpawats under the banners of Bakhta
Singh.

=Battle between Bakhta Singh and Rāja Rām Singh, A.D. 1752.=—Ram Singh’s
array fell far short of his rival’s since the defection of the Jarejas;
yet, trusting to the name of sovereign as “a tower of strength,” he
boldly marched to the encounter, and when he reached the hostile field
encamped near the Ajmer gate of Merta. His rival was not long behind,
and marshalled his clans within three miles of the northern portal,
called the gate of Nagor. The spot he chose had a sacred character, and
was called Mataji ka Than, where there was a shrine of the Hindu Hecate,
with a fountain said to have been constructed by the Pandavas.

Bakhta Singh commenced the battle. Leaving his camp standing, he
advanced against his nephew and sovereign, whom he saluted with a
general discharge of his artillery. A vigorous cannonade was continued
on both sides throughout the day, without a single man seeking a closer
encounter. It is no wonder they paused ere the sword was literally
drawn. Here was no foreign foe to attack; brother met brother, friend
encountered friend, and the blood which flowed in the veins of all the
combatants was derived from one common fountain. The reluctance
proceeded from the στοργή, the innate principle of natural affection.
Evening advanced amidst peals of cannon, when an incident, which could
only occur in an army of Rajputs, stopped the combat. On the banks of
the Bejpa lake, the scene of strife, there is a monastery of Dadupanti
ascetics, built by Raja Sur Singh. It was nearly midway between the
rival armies, and the shot fell so thick amidst these recluses that they
fled in a body, leaving only the old patriarch. Baba (father) Kishandeo
disdained to follow his disciples, and to the repeated remonstrances
from either party to withdraw, he replied, that if it was his fate to
die by a shot he could not avert it; if not, the balls were innoxious:
but although he feared not for himself, yet his gardens and monastery
were not “charmed,” and he commanded them to fight no longer on that
ground. The approach of night, and the sacred character of the old abbot
Dadupanti, conspired to make both parties obey his commands, and they
withdrew to their respective encampments.

The dawn found the armies in battle-array, each animated with a deadly
determination. It was Raja Ram’s turn to open this day’s combat, and he
led the van against his uncle. Burning with the recollection of the
indignities he had [749] suffered, the chief of Awa, determined to show
that “the cur could bite,” led his Champawats to the charge against his
sovereign. Incited by loyalty and devotion “to the gaddi of Marwar,”
reckless who was its occupant, the brave Mertias met his onset steel in
hand. The ties of kin were forgotten, or if remembered, the sense of the
unnatural strife added a kind of frenzy to their valour, and confirmed
their resolution to conquer or die. Here the Mertia, fighting under the
eye of this valiant though intemperate prince, had to maintain his
ancient fame, as “the first sword of Maru.” There his antagonist, the
Champawat, jealous of this reputation, had the like incentive, besides
the obligation to revenge the insults offered to his chief. The conflict
was awful: the chieftains of each valiant clan met hand to hand,
singling out each other by name. Sher Singh, chief of all the Mertias,
was the first who sealed his devotion by his death. His place was soon
filled by his brother, burning for vengeance. Again he cheered on his
Mertias to avenge the death of their lord, as he propelled his steed
against the chief of the Champawats. They were the sons of two sisters
of the Jaipur house, and had hitherto lived in amity and brotherly love,
now exchanged for deadly hate. They encountered, when the “cur” bit the
dust, and was borne from the field. The loss of their leaders only
inflamed the vassals on both sides, and it was long before either
yielded a foot of ground. But numbers, and the repeated charges of
Bakhta Singh who led wherever his nephew could be found, at length
prevailed; though not until the extinction of the clan of Mertia, who,
despising all odds, fought unto the death. Besides their head of Rian,
there fell the sub-vassals of Irwa, Sewara, Jusari, and Mithri, with his
three gallant sons, and almost all their retainers.

=The Death of the Mīthri Chief.=—There is nothing more chivalrous in the
days of Edward and Cressy than the death of the heir of Mithri, who,
with his father and brothers, sealed his fealty with his blood on this
fatal field. He had long engaged the hand of a daughter of a chief of
the Narukas, and was occupied with the marriage rites, when tidings
reached him of the approach of the rebels to Merta. The knot had just
been tied, their hands had been joined—but he was a Mertia—he unlocked
his hand from that of the fair Naruki, to court the Apsaras in the field
of battle. In the bridal vestments, with the nuptial coronet (_maur_)
encircling his forehead, he took his station with his clan in the second
day’s fight, and “obtained a bride in Indra’s [750] abode.”[4.28.17] The
bards of Maru dwell with delight on the romantic glory of the youthful
heir of Mithri, as they repeat in their Doric verse,

Kānān moti bulbula
Gal sonē ki māla
Assi kos khariya āya
Kunwar Mīthriwala.[4.28.18]

The paraphernalia here enumerated are very foreign to the cavalier of
the west: “with pearls shining in his ears, and a golden chaplet round
his neck, a space of eighty coss came the heir of Mithri.”

The virgin bride followed her lord from Jaipur, but instead of being met
with the tabor and lute, and other signs of festivity, wail and
lamentation awaited her within the lands of Mithri, where tidings came
of the calamity which at once deprived this branch of the Mertias of all
its supporters. Her part was soon taken; she commanded the pyre to be
erected; and with the turban and _tora_[4.28.19] which adorned her lord
on this fatal day, she followed his shade to the mansions of the sun. I
sought out the cenotaph of this son of honour in the blood-stained
field; but the only _couronne immortelle_ I could wreathe on the sandy
plain was supplied by the Bardai, whose song is full of martial fire as
he recounts the gallantry of Kunwar Mithriwala.

The Mertias, and their compeers on the side of the prince, made sad
havoc amongst their opponents; and they still maintain that it was owing
to the artillery alone that they were defeated. Their brave and loyal
leader, Sher Singh of Rian, had fruitlessly endeavoured to recall his
brother-in-law from the path of treason, but ineffectually; he spoke
with sarcasm of his means to supplant Ram Singh by his uncle. The reply
of the old baron of Awa is characteristic: “At least I will turn the
land upside down”; to which Sher Singh rejoined, angrily, he would do
his best to prevent him. Thus they parted; nor did they meet again till
in arms at Merta.

In surveying this field of slaughter, the eye discerns no _point
d’appui_, no village or key of position, to be the object of a struggle:
nothing to obstruct the doubly-gorged falconet, which has no terrors for
the uncontrollable valour of the Rathor; it perceives but a level plain,
extended to the horizon, and now covered with the memorials of this
day’s strife. Here appears the colonnaded mausoleum, with its airy
cupola; there the humble altar, with its simple record of the name,
clan, and _sakha_ of him whose ashes repose beneath, with the date of
the event [751], inscribed in rude characters. Of these monumental
records I had copies made of about a score; they furnish fresh evidence
of the singular character of the Rajput.

Ram Singh retired within the walls of the city, which he barricaded; but
it being too extensive to afford the chance of defence against the
enemy, he formed the fatal resolution of calling to his aid the
Mahrattas, who were then rising into notice. At midnight he fled to the
south; and at Ujjain found the Mahratta leader, Jai Apa Sindhia, with
whom he concerted measures for the invasion of his country. Meantime his
uncle being master of the field, repaired, without loss of time, to the
capital, where he was formally enthroned; and his _an_ was proclaimed
throughout Marwar. As skilful as he was resolute, he determined to meet
on his frontier the threatened invasion, and accordingly advanced to
Ajmer, in order to interpose between the Mahrattas and Jaipur, whose
prince, Isari Singh,[4.28.20] was father-in-law to his rival. He wrote
him a laconic epistle, requiring him either instantly to unite with him
in attacking the Mahrattas, or declare himself his foe. The Jaipur
prince had many powerful reasons for not supporting Raja Bakhta, but he
at the same time dreaded his enmity. In this extremity, he had recourse
to an expedient too common in cases of difficulty. Concerting with his
wife, a princess of Idar (then ruled by one of the sons of Ajit), the
best mode of extrication from his difficulties, he required her aid to
revenge the foul murder of Ajit, and to recover his son’s right. “In
either case,” said he, “the sword must decide, for he leaves me no
alternative: against him I have no hopes of success; and if I march to
the aid of an assassin and usurper, I lose the good opinion of mankind.”
In short, he made it appear that she alone could rescue him from his
perils. It was therefore resolved to punish one crime by the commission
of another. Isari Singh signified his assent; and to lull all suspicion,
the Rathorni was to visit her uncle in his camp on the joint frontier of
the three States of Mewar, Marwar, and Amber. A poisoned robe was the
medium of revenge. Raja Bakhta, soon after the arrival of his niece, was
declared in a fever; the physician was summoned: but the man of secrets,
the Vaidya, declared he was beyond the reach of medicine, and bade him
prepare for other scenes. The intrepid Rathor, yet undismayed, received
the tidings even with a jest: “What, Suja,” said he, “no cure? Why do
you take my lands and eat their produce, if you cannot combat my
maladies? What is your art good for?” The Vaidya excavated a [752] small
trench in the tent, which he filled with water; throwing into it some
ingredient, the water became gelid. “This,” said he, “can be effected by
human skill; but your case is beyond it: haste, perform the offices
which religion demands.” With perfect composure he ordered the chiefs to
assemble in his tent; and having recommended to their protection, and
received their promise of defending the rights of his son, he summoned
the ministers of religion into his presence. The last gifts to the
church, and these her organs, were prepared; but with all his firmness,
the anathema of the Satis, as they ascended the funeral pyre on which
his hand had stretched his father, came into his mind; and as he
repeated the ejaculation, “May your corpse be consumed in foreign land!”
he remembered he was then on the border. The images which crossed his
mental vision it is vain to surmise: he expired as he uttered these
words; and over his remains, which were burnt on the spot, a cenotaph
was erected, and is still called Bura Dewal, the ‘Shrine of Evil.’

[Illustration:

(1) DURGA DAS. (2) MAHARAJA SHER SINGH OF RIAN.
_To face page 866._
]

But for that foul stain, Raja Bakhta would have been one of the first
princes of his race. It never gave birth to a bolder; and his wisdom was
equal to his valour. Before the commission of that act, he was adored by
his Rajputs. He was chiefly instrumental in the conquests made from
Gujarat; and afterwards, in conjunction with his brother, in defeating
the imperial viceroy, Sarbuland.[4.28.21] His elevation could not be
called a usurpation, since Ram Singh was totally incapacitated, through
his ungovernable passions, for sovereign sway; and the brave barons of
Marwar, “all sons of the same father with their prince,” have always
exercised the right of election, when physical incapacity rendered such
a measure requisite. It is a right which their own customary laws, as
well as the rules of justice, have rendered sacred. According to this
principle, nearly all the feudality of Maru willingly recognized, and
swore to maintain, the claims of his successor, Bijai Singh. The Rajas
of Bikaner and Kishangarh, both independent branches of this house, gave
in their assent. Bijai Singh was accordingly proclaimed and installed at
Marot, and forthwith conducted to Merta.

The ex-prince, Ram Singh, accompanied Jai Apa to the siege of Kotah, and
subsequently through Mewar, levying contributions as they passed to
Ajmer. Here a dispute occurred between the brave Rathor and Sindhia,
whose rapacious spirit for plunder received a severe reproof:
nevertheless they crossed the frontier [753], and entered Marwar. Bijai
Singh, with all the hereditary valour of his race, marched to meet the
invaders, at the head of nearly all the chivalry of Maru, amounting to
200,000 men.

=Battle of Merta, about A.D. 1756.=—The first day both armies
encountered, they limited their hostility to a severe cannonade and
partial actions, the inhabitants of Merta supplying the combatants with
food, in which service many were killed; even the recluse Dadupantis ran
the risk in this patriotic struggle, and several of the old patriarch’s
disciples suffered. The second day passed in the same manner, with many
desperate charges of cavalry, in which the Mahrattas invariably
suffered, especially from a select body of 5000 select horse, all cased
in armour, which nothing could withstand. The superior numerical
strength of Ram Singh and his allies compelled Bijai Singh not to
neglect the means of retreat. Throughout the first and second days’
combat, the cattle of the train had been kept yoked; on the third, they
had carried them to a small rivulet in the rear to water. It was at the
precise moment of time when the legion of cuirassiers were returning
from a charge which had broken to pieces the Mahratta line, as they
approached their friends, the word ‘_daga_’ spread like wildfire; they
were mistaken for Ram Singh’s adherents, and a murderous shower of grape
opened upon the flower of their own army, who were torn to pieces ere
the fatal error was discovered. But such was the impression which this
band of heroes had just made on the Mahrattas, that they feared to take
advantage of this disaster. A feeling of horror pervaded the army of
Bijai Singh, as the choice of their chivalry conveyed the slain and the
wounded to the camp. A council of war was summoned, and the aid of
superstition came to cool that valour which the Mahrattas, in spite of
their numbers, could never subdue. The Raja was young—only twenty years
of age; and being prudent as well as brave, he allowed experience to
guide him. The Raja of Bikaner, of the same kin and clan, took the lead,
and advised a retreat. In the accident related, he saw the hand of
Providence, which had sent it to serve as a signal to desist. The Raja
had a great stake to lose, and doubtless deemed it wise to preserve his
auxiliaries for the defence of his own dominions. It was a case which
required the energy of Bakhta: but the wavering opinion of the council
soon spread throughout the camp, and was not unobserved by the enemy;
nor was it till Bikaner marched off with his aid, towards the close of
the day, that any advantage was taken of it [754]. Then Ram Singh at the
head of a body of Rajputs and Mahrattas poured down upon them, and
‘_sauve qui peut_’ became the order of the day. To gain Merta was the
main object of the discomfited and panic-struck Rathors; but many chiefs
with their vassals marched direct for their estates. The guns were
abandoned to their fate, and became the first proud trophy the Mahrattas
gained over the dreaded Rajputs. The Raja of Kishangarh, also a Rathor,
followed the example of his brother prince of Bikaner, and carried off
his bands. Thus deserted by his dispirited and now dispersed barons, the
young prince had no alternative but flight, and at midnight he took the
route of Nagor. In the darkness he mistook the road, or was misled into
that of Rain, whose chieftain was the companion of his flight. Calling
him by name, Lal Singh, he desired him to regain the right path; but the
orders of a sovereign at the head of a victorious army, and those of a
fugitive prince, are occasionally received, even amongst Rajputs, with
some shades of distinction. The chief begged permission, as he was near
home, to visit his family and bring them with him. Too dignified to
reply, the young prince remained silent and the Thakur of Rain[4.28.22]
loitered in the rear. The Raja reached Kajwana, with only five of his
cuirassiers (_silahposh_) as an escort. Here he could not halt with
safety; but as he left the opposite barrier, his horse dropped down
dead. He mounted another belonging to one of his attendants, and gained
Deswal, three miles farther. Here the steeds, which had been labouring
throughout the day under the weight of heavy armour, in addition to the
usual burden of their riders, were too jaded to proceed; and Nagor was
still sixteen miles distant. Leaving his worn-out escort, and concealing
his rank, he bargained with a Jat to convey him before break of day to
the gate of Nagor for the sum of five rupees. The peasant, after
stipulating that the coin should be bijaishahis,[4.28.23] ‘the new
currency,’ which still remains the standard, the common car of husbandry
was brought forth, on which the king of Maru ascended, and was drawn by
a pair of Nagori oxen. The royal fugitive was but little satisfied with
their exertions, though their pace was good, and kept continually urging
them, with the customary cry of “_hank! hank!_“ The honest Jat,
conscious that his cattle did their best, at length lost all temper.
Repeating the sounds ”_hank! hank!_” “Who are you,” asked he, “that are
hurrying on at this rate? It were more becoming [755] that such a sturdy
carl should be in the field with Bijai Singh at Merta, than posting in
this manner to Nagor. One would suppose you had the southrons
(_dakkhinis_) at your heels. Therefore be quiet, for not a jot faster
shall I drive.” Morning broke, and Nagor was yet two miles distant: the
Jat, turning round to view more attentively his impatient traveller, was
overwhelmed with consternation when he recognized his prince. He leaped
from the vehicle, horror-struck that he should have been sitting ‘on the
same level’ with his sovereign, and absolutely refused to sin any longer
against etiquette. “I pardon the occasion,” said the prince mildly;
“obey.” The Jat resumed his seat, nor ceased exclaiming _hank! hank!_
until he reached the gate of Nagor. Here the prince alighted, paid his
price of conveyance, and dismissed the Jat of Deswal, with a promise of
further recompense hereafter. On that day the enemy invested Nagor, but
not before Bijai Singh had dispatched the chief of Harsor to defend the
capital, and issued his proclamations to summon the ban of Marwar.

=Resistance of Bijai Singh.=—During six months he defended himself
gallantly in Nagor, against which the desultory Mahrattas, little
accustomed to the operations of a siege, made no impression, while they
suffered from the sallies of their alert antagonist. Encouraged by their
inactivity, the young prince, imbued with all the native valour of his
race, and impelled by that decisive energy of mind which characterized
his father, determined upon a step which has immortalized his memory. He
resolved to cut his way through the enemy, and solicit succours in
person. He had a dromedary corps five hundred strong. Placing on these a
devoted band of one thousand Rajputs, in the dead of night he passed the
Mahratta lines unobserved, and made direct for Bikaner. Twenty-four
hours sufficed to seat him on the same _gaddi_ with its prince, and to
reveal to him the melancholy fact, that here he had no hopes of succour.
Denied by a branch of his own house, he resorted to a daring experiment
upon the supporter of his antagonist. The next morning he was on his
way, at the head of his dromedary escort, to the capital of the
Kachhwahas, Jaipur. The “ships of the desert” soon conveyed him to that
city. He halted under the walls, and sent a messenger to say that in
person he had come to solicit his assistance.

Isari Singh, the son and successor of the great Sawai Jai Singh, had
neither the talents of his father, nor even the firmness which was the
common inheritance [756] of his race. He dreaded the rival Rathor; and
the pusillanimity which made him become the assassin of the father,
prompted him to a breach of the sacred laws of hospitality (which, with
courage, is a virtue almost inseparable from a Rajput soul), and make a
captive of the son. But the base design was defeated by an instance of
devotion and resolution, which will serve to relieve the Rajput
character from the dark shades which the faithful historian is sometimes
forced to throw into the picture. Civil war is the parent of every
crime, and severs all ties, moral and political; nor must it be expected
that Rajputana should furnish the exception to a rule, which applies to
all mankind in similar circumstances. The civil wars of England and
France, during the conflicts of the White and Red Roses, and those of
the League, will disclose scenes which would suffice to dye with the
deepest hues an entire dynasty of the Rajputs. Let such deeds as the
following be placed on the virtuous side of the account, and the crimes
on the opposite side be ascribed to the peculiarities of their
condition.

=Devotion of the Mertias.=—The devoted sacrifice of Sher Singh, the
chief of the Mertia clan, has already been recorded. When victory
declared against the side he espoused, the victorious Bakhta Singh
resumed the estates of Rian from his line, and conferred them on a
younger branch of the family. Jawan Singh was the name of the
individual, and he was now with the chosen band of the son of his
benefactor, soliciting succour from the king of the Kachhwahas. He had
married the daughter of the chief of Achrol, one of the great vassals of
Jaipur, who was deep in the confidence of his sovereign, to whom he
imparted his design to seize the person of his guest and suppliant at
the interview he had granted. Aware that such a scheme could not be
effected without bloodshed, the Achrol chieftain, desirous to save his
son-in-law from danger, under an oath of secrecy revealed the plot, in
order that he might secure himself. The Jaipur prince came to the
‘Travellers’ hall’ (_dharmsala_), where the Rathor had alighted; they
embraced with cordiality, and seated themselves on the same _gaddi_
together. While compliments were yet passing, the faithful Mertia, who,
true to his pledge, had not even hinted to his master the danger that
threatened him, placed himself immediately behind the Jaipur prince,
sitting, as if accidentally, on the flowing skirt of his robe. The Raja,
turning round to the leader of “the first of the swords of Maru,”
remarked “Why, Thakur, have you taken a seat in the background to-day?”
“The day requires it, Maharaja” [757], was the laconic reply: for the
post of the Mertias was the sovereign’s right hand. Turning to his
prince, he said, “Arise, depart, or your life or liberty is endangered.”
Bijai Singh arose, and his treacherous host made an attempt to follow,
but felt his design impeded by the position the loyal chief had taken on
his garment, whose drawn dagger was already pointed to his heart, where
he threatened to sheathe it if any hindrance was offered to the safe
departure of his sovereign, to whom he coolly said, as the prince left
the astonished assembly, “Send me word when you are mounted.” The brave
Bijai Singh showed himself worthy of his servant, and soon sent to say,
“He now only waited for him”: a message, the import of which was not
understood by the treacherous Kachhwaha. The leader of the Mertias
sheathed his dagger—arose—and coming in front of the Raja, made him a
respectful obeisance. The Jaipur prince could not resist the impulse
which such devotion was calculated to produce; he arose, returned the
salutation, and giving vent to his feelings, observed aloud to his
chiefs, “Behold a picture of fidelity! It is in vain to hope for success
against such men as these.”

=Bijai Singh returns to Nāgor.=—Foiled in all his endeavours, Bijai
Singh had no resource but to regain Nagor, which he effected with the
same celerity as he quitted it. Six months more passed away in the
attempt to reduce Nagor; but though the siege was fruitless, not so were
the efforts of his rival Ram Singh in other quarters, to whom almost all
the country had submitted: Marot, Parbatsar, Pali, Sojat had received
his flag; and besides the capital and the town he held in person, Jalor,
Siwana, and Phalodi were the only places which had not been reduced. In
this extremity, Bijai Singh listened to an offer to relieve him from
these multiplied difficulties, which, in its consequences, alienated for
ever the brightest gem in the crown of Marwar.

=The Assassination of Jai Āpa Sindhia, A.D. 1759.=—A Rajput and an
Afghan, both foot-soldiers on a small monthly pay, offered, if their
families were provided for, to sacrifice themselves for his safety by
the assassination of the Mahratta commander. Assuming the garb of
camp-settlers, they approached the headquarters, feigning a violent
quarrel. The simple Mahratta chief was performing his ablutions at the
door of his tent, and as they approached they became more vociferous,
and throwing a bundle of statements of account on the ground, begged he
would decide between them. In this manner they came nearer and nearer,
and as he listened to their story, one plunged his dagger in his side,
exclaiming, “This for Nagor!” and “This for Jodhpur!” said his companion
[758], as he repeated the mortal blow. The alarm was given; the Afghan
was slain; but the Rajput called out “Thief!” and mingling with the
throng, escaped by a drain into the town of Nagor.[4.28.24] Though the
crime was rewarded, the Rathor refused to see the criminal. The siege
continued, but in spite of every precaution, reinforcements both of men
and provisions continued to be supplied. It ill suited the restless
Mahratta to waste his time in these desert regions, which could be
employed so much more profitably on richer lands: a compromise ensued,
in which the cause of Ram Singh was abandoned, on stipulating for a
fixed triennial tribute, and the surrender of the important fortress and
district of Ajmer in full sovereignty to the Mahratta, in _mundkati_, or
compensation for the blood of Jai Apa. The monsoon was then approaching;
they broke up, and took possession of this important conquest, which,
placed in the very heart of these regions, may be called the key of
Rajputana.

The cross of St. George now waves over the battlements of
Ajmer,[4.28.25] planted, if there is any truth in political
declarations, not for the purpose of conquest, or to swell the revenues
of British India, but to guard the liberties and the laws of these
ancient principalities from rapine and disorder. It is to be hoped that
this banner will never be otherwise employed, and that it may never be
execrated by the brave Rajput.

The deserted Ram Singh continued to assert his rights with the same
obstinacy by which he lost them; and for which he staked his life in no
less than eighteen encounters against his uncle and cousin. At length,
on the death of Isari Singh of Jaipur, having lost his main support, he
accepted the Marwar share of the Salt Lake of Sambhar, and Jaipur
relinquishing the other half, he resided there until his death [759].

-----

Footnote 4.28.1:

[_Acacia catechu._]

Footnote 4.28.2:

[The aconite-leaved kidney-bean, _Phaseolus aconitifolius_.]

Footnote 4.28.3:

[See p. 913, below.]

Footnote 4.28.4:

Specimens of all these I brought home.

Footnote 4.28.5:

[This seems to be merely an instance of serpent-worship.]

Footnote 4.28.6:

The traditional stanzas are invaluable for obtaining a knowledge both
of ancient history and geography:

“Kasyapgarh, Surajpura,
Basakgarh, Tako,
Udhanigarh, Jagrupura,
Jo Phulgarh, i Lakho.”

In this stanza we have the names of six ancient cities in the desert,
which belonged to Lakha, the Tako, Tak, or Takshak, _i.e._ of the race
figuratively called the ‘serpent.’ [Many tales are told of Lākha
Phulāni, who by one account was a Rāo of Cutch, slain fighting in
Kāthiāwār (_BG_, v. 133, viii. 111 note). Others identify him with
Lakha, son of Phulada, who defeated the Chaulukya king, Mūlarāja, in
the eleventh century (_ibid._ i. Part i. 160). By another account, he
was father-in-law of the great Siddharāja (Tod, _WI_, 179). He is
mentioned twice later on. He was probably a powerful king of the
desert, round whom many legends have collected.]

Footnote 4.28.7:

[The Kalhoras, closely allied to the Dāūdputras, rose to power in the
Lower Indus valley at the end of the seventeenth century A.D. They
trace their origin to Abbās, uncle of the Prophet. They were expelled
by Fateh Ali of Tālpur, and the last of the Kalhoras fled to Jodhpur,
where his descendants now hold distinguished rank (_IGI_, xxii. 397
ff.).]

Footnote 4.28.8:

Mr. Stokes, of the Royal Asiatic Society, pronounces it to be a
steatite.

Footnote 4.28.9:

Rao Duda had three sons, besides Maldeo; namely: First, Raemall;
second, Birsingh, who founded Amjera in Malwa, still held by his
descendants; third, Ratan Singh, father of Mira Bai, the celebrated
wife of Kumbha Rana.

Footnote 4.28.10:

[See Vol. I. p. 382, above.]

Footnote 4.28.11:

See Vol. I. p. 567.

Footnote 4.28.12:

[See Vol. I. p. 467, above.]

Footnote 4.28.13:

The bards give adjuncts to names in order to suit their rhymes: Ajit
is the ‘invincible’; Ajmāl, a contraction of Ajayamāl, ‘wealth
invincible.’

Footnote 4.28.14:

[Major Luard’s Pandit gives the word in the third line as _sihara_ or
_sihra_, the veil worn by the bridegroom to avert the Evil Eye.]

Footnote 4.28.15:

This reply refers to a custom analogous to the Scythic investiture, by
offering “water and soil.” [The Kols and other forest tribes deliver a
handful of soil to a purchaser of a piece of land (Macpherson,
_Memorials of Service_, 64).]

Footnote 4.28.16:

_Sugun pherna_ means to avert the omen of evil.

Footnote 4.28.17:

[The authority quoted by Compton (_Military Adventurers_, 61) speaks
of the “serd kopperah wallas” (_zard kaprawāla_, ‘those wearing yellow
wedding garments’), as the forlorn hope in the battle.]

Footnote 4.28.18:

[Major Luard’s Pandit reads in the first line _bhalbhala_, ‘a lustre,’
and in the third _kharoho_, ‘rode hard.’]

Footnote 4.28.19:

[A neck ornament.]

Footnote 4.28.20:

[Isari Singh, Mahārāja of Jaipur, A.D. 1742-60.]

Footnote 4.28.21:

[Nawāb Mubārizu-l-mulk, Governor of Gujarāt under Muhammad Shāh, from
which office he was removed because he consented to pay blackmail
(_chauth_) to the Marāthas. He refused to give up his post, and fell
into disgrace. He was afterwards Governor of Allāhābād, and died A.D.
1745 (Beale, _Dict. Oriental Biog._ _s.v._; _BG_, i. Part i. 304
ff.).]

Footnote 4.28.22:

Or _Rahin_ in the map, on the road to Jahil from Merta.

Footnote 4.28.23:

[Coins made in the reign of Bijai Singh (A.D. 1753-93), (Webb,
_Currencies of the Hindu States of Rājputāna_, 40).]

Footnote 4.28.24:

[According to Grant Duff (_Hist. Mahrattas_, 310), Bijai Singh,
following the infamous example of his father in regard to Pīlaji
Gāēkwār, engaged two persons who, on the promise of a rent-free estate
(_jāgīr_), went to Jai Āpa as accredited envoys, and assassinated him.
Hari Charan Dās (Elliot-Dowson viii. 210) says that the Rājput leader
warned Jai Āpa to leave Mārwār. Jai Āpa abused him, and the Rājput
killed him by a blow with his dagger. Three of the Rājput party were
killed, and three, in spite of their wounds, escaped.]

Footnote 4.28.25:

[Surrendered to the British by Daulat Rāo Sindhia by treaty of June
25, 1818, and occupied by the Agent, Mr. Wilder, on July 28 of the
same year.]

-----

CHAPTER 29

=Mahādaji Sindhia, A.D. 1759-94. Battle of Lālsot, A.D. 1787.=—Mahadaji
Sindhia succeeded to the command of the horde led by his relation, Jai
Apa. He had the genius to discover that his southron horse would never
compete with the Rajputs, and he set about improving that arm to which
the Mahrattas finally owed success. This sagacious chief soon perceived
that the political position of the great States of Rajasthan was most
favourable to his views of establishing his power in this quarter. They
were not only at variance with each other, but, as it has already
appeared, were individually distracted with civil dissensions. The
interference of the Rana of Udaipur had obtained for his nephew, Madho
Singh, the _gaddi_ of Jaipur; but this advantage was gained only through
the introduction of the Mahrattas, and the establishment of a tribute,
as in Marwar. This brave people felt the irksomeness of their chains,
and wished to shake them off. Madho Singh’s reign was short; he was
succeeded by Partap, who determined to free himself from this badge of
dependence.[4.29.1] Accordingly, when Mahadaji Sindhia invaded his
country, at the head of a powerful army, he called on the Rathors for
aid. The cause was their own; and they jointly determined to redeem what
had been lost. As the bard of the Rathors observes, they [760] forgot
all their just grounds of offence[4.29.2] against the Jaipur court, and
sent the flower of their chivalry under the chieftain of Rian, whose
fidelity has been so recently recorded. At Tonga (the battle is also
termed that of Lalsot), the rival armies encountered. The celebrated
Mogul chiefs, Ismail Beg and Hamdani, added their forces to those of the
combined Rajputs, and gained an entire victory, in which the Rathors had
their full share of glory. The noble chief of Rian formed his Rathor
horse into a dense mass, with which he charged and overwhelmed the
flower of Sindhia’s army, composed of the regulars under the celebrated
De Boigne.[4.29.3] Sindhia was driven from the field, and retired to
Mathura; for years he did not recover the severity of this day. The
Rathors sent a force under the Dhaibhai, which redeemed Ajmer, and
annulled their tributary engagement.

=Battle of Pātan, June 20, 1790.=—The genius of General Comte de Boigne
ably seconded the energetic Sindhia. A regular force was equipped, far
superior to any hitherto known, and was led into Rajputana to redeem the
disgrace of Tonga. The warlike Rathors determined not to await the
attack within their own limits, but marched their whole force to the
northern frontier of Jaipur, and formed a junction with the Kachhwahas
at the town of Patan (_Tuarvati_).[4.29.4] The words of the war-song,
which the inspiring bards repeated as they advanced, are still current
in Marwar; but an unlucky stanza, which a juvenile Charan had composed
after the battle of Tonga, had completely alienated the Kachhwahas from
their supporters, to whom they could not but acknowledge their
inferiority:

_Ūdhalti Amber né rākhi Rāthorān._

“The Rathors guarded the petticoats of Amber.”[4.29.5]

This stanza was retained in recollection at the battle of Patan; and if
universal [761] affirmation may be received as proof, it was the cause
of its loss, and with it that of Rajput independence. National pride was
humbled: a private agreement was entered into between the Mahrattas and
Jaipurians, whereby the latter, on condition of keeping aloof during the
fight, were to have their country secured from devastation. As usual,
the Rathors charged up to the muzzles of De Boigne’s cannon, sweeping
all before them: but receiving no support, they were torn piecemeal by
showers of grape and compelled to abandon the field. Then, it is
recorded, the brave Rathor showed the difference between fighting on
_parbhum_, or ‘foreign land,’ and on his own native soil. Even the
women, it is averred, plundered them of their horses on this disastrous
day; so heart-broken had the traitorous conduct of their allies rendered
them. The Jaipurians paid dearly for their revenge, and for the couplet
which recorded it:

_Ghoro, joro, pagri,
Mūcham Khag Mārwār,
Pānch rakam mel līdha
Pātan men Rāthor.[4.29.6]_

Verbatim:

“Horse, shoes, turban,
Mustachio, sword [of] Marwar,
Five things surrendered were
At Patan by the Rathor.”

Both these “ribald strains” are still the taunt of either race: by such
base agencies are thrones overturned, and heroism rendered abortive!

When the fatal result of the battle of Patan was communicated to Raja
Bijai Singh, he called a council of all his nobles, at which the
independent branches of his family, the Rajas of Bikaner, Kishangarh,
and Rupnagarh, assisted, for the cause was a common one. The Raja gave
it as his own opinion, that it was better to fulfil the terms of the
former treaty, on the murder of Jai Apa, acknowledge the cancelled
tribute, and restore Ajmer, which they had recovered by a _coup de
main_. His valorous chieftains opposed the degrading suggestion, and
unanimously recommended that they should again try the chances of war
ere they signed their humiliation. Their resolution swayed the prince,
who issued his summons to every Rathor in his dominions to assemble
under their Raja’s banner, once more planted on the ensanguined plains
of Merta. A fine army was embodied; not a Rathor who could wield a sword
but brought it for service in the cause of his country; and full thirty
thousand men assembled on the 10th September 1790, determined to efface
the recollections of Patan [762].

=Battle of Merta, September 1790 A.D.=—There was one miscreant of Rathor
race, who aided on this occasion to rivet his country’s chains, and his
name shall be held up to execration—Bahadur Singh, the chief of
Kishangarh. This traitor to his suzerain and race held, jointly with his
brother of Rupnagarh, a domain of two hundred and ten townships: not a
fief emanating from Marwar, but all by grant from the kings; still they
received the _tika_, and acknowledged the supremacy of the head of
Jodhpur. The brothers had quarrelled; Bahadur despoiled his brother of
his share, and being deaf to all offers of mediation, Bijai Singh
marched and re-inducted the oppressed chief into his capital, Rupnagarh.
The fatal day of Patan occurred immediately after; and Bahadur, burning
with revenge, repaired to De Boigne, and conducted him against his
native land. Rupnagarh, it may be supposed, was his first object, and it
will afford a good proof of the efficiency of the artillery of De
Boigne, that he reduced it in twenty-four hours. Thence he proceeded to
Ajmer, which he invested: and here the proposal was made by the Raja for
its surrender, and for the fulfilment of the former treaty. Mahadaji in
person remained at Ajmer, while his army, led by Lakwa, Jiwa-dada,
Sudasheo Bhao, and other Mahratta leaders of horse, with the brigades of
De Boigne and eighty pieces of cannon, advanced against the Rathors. The
Mahrattas, preceding by one day’s march the regulars under De Boigne,
encamped at Natria. The Rathor army was drawn out on the plains of
Merta, one flank resting on the village of Dangiwas. Five miles
separated the Rathors from the Mahrattas; De Boigne was yet in the rear,
his guns being deep sunk in the sandy bed of the Luni. Here a golden
opportunity was lost, which could never be regained, of deciding ‘horse
to horse’ the claims of supremacy; but the evil genius of the Rathor
again intervened: and as he was the victim at Patan to the jealousy of
the Kachhwaha, so here he became the martyr to a meaner cause, the
household jealousies of the civil ministers of his prince. It is
customary in all the Rajput States, when the sovereign does not command
in person, to send one of the civil ministers as his representative. Him
the feudal chiefs will obey, but not one of their own body, at least
without some hazard of dissension. Khub Chand Singwi, the first
minister, was present with the Raja at the capital: Gangaram Bhandari
and Bhimraj Singwi were with the army. Eager to efface the disgrace of
Patan, the two great Rathor leaders, Sheo Singh of Awa, and Mahidas of
Asop, who had sworn to free their country or die in the [763] attempt,
demanded a general movement against the Mahrattas. This gallant
impatience was seconded by all the other nobles, as well as by a
successful attack on the foragers of the enemy, in which the Mahrattas
lost all their cattle. But it was in vain they urged the raging ardour
of their clans, the policy of taking advantage of it, and the absence of
De Boigne, owing to whose admirable corps and well-appointed park the
day at Patan was lost; Bhimraj silenced their clamour for the combat by
producing a paper from the minister Khub Chand commanding them on their
allegiance not to engage until the junction of Ismail Beg, already at
Nagor. They fatally yielded obedience. De Boigne extricated his guns
from the sands of Alniawas, and joined the main body. That night the
Bikaner contingent, perceiving the state of things, and desirous to
husband their resources to defend their own altars, withdrew. About an
hour before day-break, De Boigne led his brigade to the attack, and
completely surprised the unguarded Rajputs.[4.29.7] They were awoke by
showers of grape-shot, which soon broke their position: all was
confusion; the resistance was feeble. It was the camp of the irregular
infantry and guns which broke, and endeavoured to gain Merta; and the
civil commanders took to flight. The alarm reached the more distant
quarters of the brothers-in-arms, the chiefs of Awa and Asop. The latter
was famed for the immense quantity of opium he consumed; and with
difficulty could his companion awake him, with the appalling tidings,
“The camp has fled, and we are left alone!” “Well, brother, let us to
horse.” Soon the gallant band of both was ready, and twenty-two chiefs
of note drank opium together for the last time. They were joined by the
leaders of other clans; and first and foremost the brave Mertias of
Rian, of Alniawas, Irwa, Chanod, Govindgarh; in all four thousand
Rathors. When mounted and formed in one dense mass, the Awa chieftain
shortly addressed them: “Where can we fly, brothers? But can there be a
Rathor who has ties stronger than shame (_laj_)? If any one exist who
prefers his wife and children to honour, let him retire.” Deep silence
was the only reply to this heroic appeal; and as the hand of each
warrior was raised to his forehead, the Awa chief gave the word
“Forward!” They soon came up with De Boigne’s brigade, well posted, and
defended by eighty pieces of cannon. “Remember Patan!” was the cry, as,
regardless of showers of grape, this heroic band charged up to the
cannon’s mouth, driving everything before them, cutting [764] down the
line which defended the guns, and passing on to assault the Mahrattas,
who were flying in all directions to avoid their impetuous valour. Had
there been a reserve at this moment, the day of Merta would have
surpassed that of Tonga. But here the skill of De Boigne, and the
discipline of his troops, were an overmatch for valour unsustained by
discipline and discretion. The Rathor band had no infantry to secure
their victory; the guns were wheeled round, the line was re-formed, and
ready to receive them on their return. Fresh showers of shot and grape
met their thinned ranks; scarcely one of the four thousand left the
field. The chiefs of Asop, Irwa, Chanod, Govindgarh, Alniawas, Morira,
and others of lesser note, were among the slain; and upon the heaps of
wounded, surrounded by his gallant clan, lay the chief of Awa, pierced
with seven-and-twenty wounds. He had lain insensible twenty-four hours,
when an old servant, during the night, searched for and found him on the
field. A heavy shower had fallen, which increased the miseries of the
wounded. Blind and faint, the Thakur was dragged out from the bodies of
the slain. A little opiate revived him; and they were carrying him off,
when they were encountered by Lakwa’s harkaras in search of chiefs of
note; the wounded Thakur was conveyed to the headquarters at Merta.
Lakwa sent a surgeon to sew up his wounds; but he disdained the
courtesy, and refused all aid, until the meanest of his wounded vassals
was attended to. This brave man, when sufficiently recovered, refused
all solicitation from his sympathizing foes that the usual rejoicing
might be permitted, and that he would shave and perform the ablutions
after sickness, till he could see his sovereign. The Raja advanced from
his capital to meet him, and lavished encomiums on his conduct. He now
took the bath, preparatory to putting on the honorary dress; but in
bathing his wounds opened afresh, and he expired.

Bhimraj Singwi received at Nagor, whither he had fled, a letter of
accusation from his sovereign, on which he swallowed poison; but
although he was indirectly the cause of the defeat, by his supineness,
and subsequent disgraceful flight, it was the minister at the capital
whose treason prevented the destruction of the Mahrattas: Khub Chand was
jealous of Bhimraj; he dreaded being supplanted by him if he returned
from Merta crowned with success; and he therefore penned the dispatch
which paralysed their energies, enjoining them to await the junction of
Ismail Beg [765].

Thus, owing to a scurrilous couplet of a bard, and to the jealousy of a
contemptible court-faction, did the valiant Rathors lose their
independence—if it can be called lost—since each of these brave men
still deems himself a host, when “his hour should come” to play the
hero. Their spirit is not one jot diminished since the days of Tonga and
Merta.[4.29.8]

=British Policy towards the Rajputs.=—By a careful investigation of the
circumstances which placed those brave races in their present political
position, the paramount protecting power may be enabled to appreciate
them, either as allies or as foes; and it will demonstrate more
effectually than mere opinions, from whatever source, how admirably
qualified they are, if divested of control, to harmonize, in a very
important respect, with the British system of government in the East. We
have nothing to dread from them, individually or collectively; and we
may engage their very hearts’ blood in our cause against whatever foes
may threaten us, foreign or domestic, if we only exert our interference
when mediation will be of advantage to them, without offence to [766]
their prejudices. Nor is there any difficulty in the task; all honour
the peacemaker, and they would court even arbitration if once assured
that we had no ulterior views. But our strides have been rapid from
Calcutta to Rajputana, and it were well if they credit what the old
Nestor of India (Zalim Singh of Kotah) would not, who, in reply to all
my asseverations that we wished for no more territory, said, “I believe
you think so; but the time will come when there will be but one
_sikka_[4.29.9] throughout India. You stepped in, Maharaj, at a lucky
time, the _phut_[4.29.10] was ripe and ready to be eaten, and you had
only to take it bit by bit. It was not your power, so much as our
disunion, which made you sovereigns, and will keep you so.” His
reasoning is not unworthy of attention, though I trust his prophecy may
never be fulfilled.

=Jharāu.=—_November 28._—Camp at Jharau, five coss (11 miles). On
leaving Merta, we passed over the ground sacred to “the four thousand,”
whose heroic deeds, demonstrating at once the Rajput’s love of freedom
and his claim to it, we have just related. We this day altered our
course from the N.N.E., which would have carried us, had we pursued it,
to the Imperial city, for a direction to the southward of east, in order
to cross our own Aravalli and gain Ajmer. The road was excellent, the
soil very fair; but though there were symptoms of cultivation near the
villages, the wastes were frightfully predominant; yet they are not void
of vegetation: there is no want of herbage or stunted shrubs. The
Aravalli towered majestically in the distant horizon, fading from our
view towards the south-east, and intercepted by rising grounds.

=The Mirage.=—We had a magnificent mirage this morning: nor do I ever
recollect observing this singularly grand phenomenon on a more extensive
scale, or with greater variety of form. The morning was desperately
cold; the thermometer, as I mounted my horse, a little after sunrise,
stood at 32°, the freezing-point, with a sharp biting wind from the
north-east. The ground was blanched with frost, and the water-skins, or
_bihishtis mashaks_, were covered with ice at the mouth. The slender
shrubs, especially the milky _ak_, were completely burnt up; and as the
weather had been hitherto mild, the transition was severely felt, by
things animate and inanimate [767].

It is only in the cold season that the mirage is visible; the sojourners
of Maru call it the _siya-kot_, or ‘castles in the air.’[4.29.11] In the
deep desert to the westward, the herdsmen and travellers through these
regions style it _chitram_, ‘the picture’; while about the plains of the
Chambal and Jumna they term it _disasul_, ‘the omen of the quarter.’
This optical deception has been noticed from the remotest times. The
prophet Isaiah alludes to it when he says, “and the parched ground shall
become a pool”;[4.29.12] which the critic has justly rendered, “and the
_shārāb_h[4.29.13] shall become real water.” Quintus Curtius, describing
the mirage in the Sogdian desert, says that “for the space of four
hundred furlongs not a drop of water is to be found, and the sun’s heat,
being very vehement in summer, kindles such a fire in the sands, that
everything is burnt up. There also arises such an exhalation, that the
plains wear the appearance of a vast and deep sea”; which is an exact
description of the _chitram_ of the Indian desert. But the _shārābh_ and
_chitram_, the true mirage of Isaiah, differ from that illusion called
the _siya-kot_; and though the traveller will hasten to it, in order to
obtain a night’s lodging, I do not think he would expect to slake his
thirst there.

When we witnessed this phenomenon at first, the eye was attracted by a
lofty opaque wall of lurid smoke, which seemed to be bounded by, or to
rise from, the very verge of the horizon. By slow degrees the dense mass
became more transparent, and assumed a reflecting or refracting power:
shrubs were magnified into trees; the dwarf _khair_ appeared ten times
larger than the gigantic _amli_ of the forest. A ray of light suddenly
broke the line of continuity of this yet smoky barrier; and, as if
touched by the enchanter’s wand, castles, towers, and trees were seen in
an aggregated cluster, partly obscured by magnificent foliage. Every
accession of light produced a change in the _chitram_, which from the
dense wall that it first exhibited had now faded into a thin transparent
film, broken into a thousand masses, each mass being a huge lens; until
at length the [768] too vivid power of the sun dissolved the vision:
castles, towers, and foliage melted, like the enchantment of Prospero,
into “thin air.”

I had long imagined that the nature of the soil had some effect in
producing this illusory phenomenon; especially as the _chitram_ of the
desert is seen chiefly on those extensive plains productive of the
_sajji_, or alkaline plant, whence by incineration the natives produce
soda,[4.29.14] and whose base is now known to be metallic. But I have
since observed it on every kind of soil. That these lands, covered with
saline incrustations, tend to increase the effect of the illusion, may
be concluded.[4.29.15] But the difference between the _sarāb_ or
_chitram_, and the _siya-kot_ or _disasul_ is, that the latter is never
visible but in the cold season, when the gross vapours cannot rise; and
that the rarefaction, which gives existence to the other, destroys this,
whenever the sun has attained 20° of elevation. A high wind is alike
adverse to the phenomenon, and it will mostly be observed that it covets
shelter, and its general appearance is a long line which is sure to be
sustained by some height, such as a grove or village, as if it required
support. The first time I observed it was in the Jaipur country; none of
the party had ever witnessed it in the British provinces. It appeared
like an immense walled town with bastions, nor could we give credit to
our guides, when they talked of the _siya-kot_, and assured us that the
objects were merely “castles in the air.” I have since seen, though but
once, this panoramic scene in motion, and nothing can be imagined more
beautiful.

It was at Kotah, just as the sun rose, whilst walking on the terraced
roof of the garden-house, my residence. As I looked towards the low
range which bounds the sight to the south-east, the hills appeared in
motion, sweeping with an undulating or rotatory movement along the
horizon. Trees and buildings were magnified, and all seemed a kind of
enchantment. Some minutes elapsed before I could account for this
wonder; until I determined that it must be the masses of a floating
mirage, which had attained its most attenuated form, and being carried
by a gentle current of air past the tops and sides of the hills, while
it was itself imperceptible, made them appear in motion.

But although this was novel and pleasing, it wanted the splendour of the
scene of this morning, which I never saw equalled but once. This
occurred at Hissar, where I went to visit a beloved friend—gone, alas!
to a better world [769],—whose ardent and honourable mind urged me to
the task I have undertaken. It was on the terrace of James Lumsdaine’s
house, built amidst the ruins of the castle of Firoz, in the centre of
one extended waste, where the lion was the sole inhabitant, that I saw
the most perfect specimen of this phenomenon: it was really sublime. Let
the reader fancy himself in the midst of a desert plain, with nothing to
impede the wide scope of vision, his horizon bounded by a lofty black
wall encompassing him on all sides. Let him watch the first sunbeam
break upon this barrier, and at once, as by a touch of magic, shiver it
into a thousand fantastic forms, leaving a splintered pinnacle in one
place, a tower in another, an arch in a third; these in turn undergoing
more than kaleidoscopic changes, until the “fairy fabric” vanishes. Here
it was emphatically called Harchand Raja ki puri, or ‘the city of Raja
Harchand,’ a celebrated prince of the brazen age of India.[4.29.16] The
power of reflection shown by this phenomenon cannot be better described
than by stating that it brought the very ancient Agroha,[4.29.17] which
is thirteen miles distant, with its fort and bastions, close to my view.

The difference then between the mirage and the _siya-kot_ is, that the
former exhibits a horizontal, the latter a columnar or vertical
stratification; and in the latter case, likewise, a contrast to the
other, its maximum of translucency is the last stage of its existence.
In this stage, it is only an eye accustomed to the phenomenon that can
perceive it at all. I have passed over the plains of Meerut with a
friend who had been thirty years in India, and he did not observe a
_siya-kot_ then before our eyes: in fact so complete was the illusion,
that we only saw the town and fort considerably nearer. Monge gives a
philosophical account of this phenomenon in Napoleon’s campaign in
Egypt; and Dr. Clarke perfectly describes it in his journey to Rosetta,
when “domes, turrets, and groves were seen reflected on the glowing
surface of the plain, which appeared like a vast lake extending itself
between the city and travellers.” It is on reviewing this account that a
critic has corrected the erroneous translation of the Septuagint; and
further dilated upon it in a review of Lichtenstein’s travels in
Southern Africa,[4.29.18] who exactly describes our _siya-kot_, of the
magnifying and reflecting powers of which he gives a [770] singular
instance. Indeed, whoever notices, while at sea, the atmospheric
phenomena of these southern latitudes, will be struck by the deformity
of objects as they pass through this medium: what the sailors term a
fog-bank is the first stage of our _siya-kot_. I observed it on my
voyage home; but more especially in the passage out. About six o’clock
on a dark evening, while we were dancing on the waste, I perceived a
ship bearing down with full sail upon us so distinctly, that I gave the
alarm, in expectation of a collision; so far as I recollect, the helm
was instantly up, and in a second no ship was to be seen. The laugh was
against me—I had seen the “flying Dutchman,”[4.29.19] according to the
opinion of the experienced officer on deck; and I believed it was really
a vision of the mind: but I now feel convinced it was either the
reflection of our own ship in a passing cloud of this vapour, or a more
distant object therein refracted. But enough of this subject: I will
only add, whoever has a desire to see one of the grandest phenomena in
nature, let him repair to the plains of Merta or Hissar, and watch
before the sun rises the fairy palace of Harchand, infinitely grander
and more imposing than a sunrise upon the alpine Helvetia, which alone
may compete with the _chitram_ of the desert.

=Cenotaph of a Thākur.=—Jharau is a thriving village appertaining to a
sub-vassal of the Mertia chief of Rian. There was a small sheet of water
within a musket-shot to the left of the village, on whose margin,
peeping through a few nims and the evergreen jhal,[4.29.20] was erected
an elegant, though small _chhatri_, or cenotaph, of an ancestor of the
possessor. The Thakur is sculptured on his charger, armed at all points;
and close beside him, with folded hands, upon the same stone, his
faithful partner, who accompanied the warrior to Indra’s abode. It bore
the following epitaph: “On the 2d Margsir, S. 1689 (A.D. 1633), Maharaja
Jaswant Singh attacked the enemy’s (Aurangzeb’s) army, in which battle
Thakur Harankarna Das, of the Mertia clan, was slain. To him was erected
this shrine, in the month of Margsir, S. 1697.”

Water from wells is about thirty-five cubits from the surface; the
strata as follows: four cubits of mixed sand and black earth; five of
kankar, or calcareous concretions; twenty of stiff clay and sand; six of
indurated clay, with particles of quartz and mica [771].

=Alniawās.=—_November 29._—Alniawas, five coss. Half-way, passed the
town of Rian, so often mentioned as the abode of the chief of the Mertia
clan. It is large and populous, and surrounded by a well-constructed
wall of the calcareous concrete already described, here called _morar_,
and which resists the action of the monsoon. The works have a most
judicious slope. The Thakur’s name is Badan Singh, one of the eight
great barons of Maru. The town still bears the name of _Sher Singh ka
Rian_, who so gallantly defended to the death the rights of his young
sovereign Ram Singh against his uncle. A beautiful landscape is seen
from the high ground on which the town stands, in the direction of the
mountains; the intermediate space being filled with large villages,
relieved by foliage, so unusual in these regions. Here I had a proof of
the audacity of the mountaineers of the Aravalli, in an inscription on a
cenotaph, which I copied: “On Monday the 3d Magh, S. 1835 (A.D. 1779),
Thakur Bhopal Singh fell at the foot of his walls, defending them
against the Mers, having first, with his own hand, in order to save her
honour, put his wife to death.”[4.29.21] Such were the Mers half a
century ago, and they had been increasing in boldness ever since. There
was scarcely a family on either side the range, whose estates lay at its
foot, whose cenotaphs do not bear similar inscriptions, recording the
desperate raids of these mountaineers; and it may be asserted that one
of the greatest benefits we conferred on Rajputana was the conversion of
this numerous banditti, occupying some hundred towns, into peaceful,
tax-paying subjects. We can say, with the great Chauhan king,
Bisiladeva, whose monument still stands in Firoz’s palace at Delhi, that
we made them “carry water in the streets of Ajmer”; and, still more,
deposit their arms on the Rana’s terrace at Udaipur. We have, moreover,
metamorphosed a corps of them from breakers, into keepers, of the public
peace.

Between Rian and Alniawas we crossed a stream, to which the name of the
Luni[4.29.22] is also given, as well as to that we passed subsequently.
It was here that De Boigne’s guns are said to have stuck fast.

The soundings of the wells at Rian and Alniawas presented the same
results as [772] at Jharau, with the important exception that the
substratum was steatite, which was so universal in the first part of my
journey from Jodhpur.

Alniawas is also a fief of a Mertia vassal. It is a considerable town,
populous, and apparently in easy circumstances. Here again I observed a
trait of devotion, recorded on an altar “to the memory of Suni Mall,”
who fell when his clan was exterminated in the charge against the rival
Champawats, at Merta, in the civil wars.

=Govindgarh.=—_November 30._—Govindgarh, distance three coss, or six
miles. The roads generally good, though sometimes heavy; the soil of a
lighter texture than yesterday. The castle and town of Govinda belong to
a feudatory of the Jodha clan; its founder, Govind, was grandson to Udai
_le gros_; or, as Akbar dubbed him, the “Mota Raja,” from his great
bulk. Of this clan is the chief of Khairwa, having sixteen townships in
his fief: Banai, and Masuda, with its “fifty-two townships,” both now in
Ajmer; having for their present suzerain the “Sarkar Company Bahadur”;
though in lapses they will still go to Jodhpur, to be made “belted
knights.” These places are beyond the range; but Pisangan, with its
twelve villages; Bijathal, and other fiefs west of it, also in Ajmer,
might at all events be restored to their ancient princes, which would be
considered as a great boon. There would be local prepossessions to
contend with, on the part of the British officers in charge of the
district; but such objections must give way to views of general good.

=Fox-hunting: Hyaenas.=—This was another desperately cold morning; being
unprovided with a great-coat, I turned the _dagla_, or ‘quilted brocade
tunic,’ sent me by the high priest of Kanhaiya, to account. We had some
capital runs this morning with the foxes of Maru, which are beautiful
little animals, and larger than those of the provinces. I had a
desperate chase after a hyaena on the banks of the Luni, and had fully
the speed of him; but his topographical knowledge was too much for me,
and he at length led me through a little forest of reeds or rushes, with
which the banks of the river are covered for a great depth. Just as I
was about giving him a spear, in spite of these obstacles, we came upon
a blind nullah or ‘dry rivulet,’ concealed by the reeds; and Bajraj (the
royal steed) was thrown out, with a wrench in the shoulder, in the
attempt to clear it: the _jhirak_ laughed at us.

We crossed a stream half a mile west of Govindgarh, called the Sagarmati
[773], which, with another, the Sarasvati, joining it, issues from the
Pushkar lake. The Sagarmati is also called the Luni; its bed is full of
micaceous quartzose rock. The banks are low, and little above the level
of the country. Though water is found at a depth of twelve cubits from
the surface, the wells are all excavated to the depth of forty, as a
precautionary measure against dry seasons. The stratification here
was—one cubit sand; three of sand and soil mixed; fifteen to twenty of
yellow clayish sand; four of morar, and fifteen of steatite and
calcareous concretions, with loose sand, mixed with particles of quartz.

=Pushkar Lake.=—_December 1._—Lake of Pushkar, four coss: the
thermometer stood at the freezing-point this morning:—heavy sands the
whole way. Crossed the Sarasvati near Nand; its banks were covered
with bulrushes, at least ten feet in height—many vehicles were lading
with them for the interior, to be used for the purposes of
thatching—elephants make a feast among them. We again crossed the
Sarasvati, at the entrance of the valley of Pushkar, which comes from
Old (_burha_) Pushkar, four miles east of the present lake, which was
excavated by the last of the Pariharas of Mandor. The sand drifted
from the plains by the currents of air has formed a complete bar at
the mouth of the valley, which is about one mile in breadth;
occasionally the _tibas_, or sand-hills, are of considerable
elevation. The summits of the mountains to the left were sparkling
with a deep rose-coloured quartz, amidst which, on the peak of Nand,
arose a shrine to ‘the Mother.’ The hills preserve the same character:
bold pinnacles, abrupt sides, and surface thinly covered. The
stratification inclines to the west; the dip of the strata is about
twenty degrees. There is, however, a considerable difference in the
colour of the mountains: those on the left have a rose tint; those on
the right are of greyish granite, with masses of white quartz about
their summits.

Pushkar is the most sacred lake in India; that of Mansarovar in Tibet
may alone compete with it in this respect. It is placed in the centre of
the valley, which here becomes wider, and affords abundant space for the
numerous shrines and cenotaphs with which the hopes and fears of the
virtuous and the wicked amongst the magnates of India have studded its
margin. It is surrounded by sand-hills of considerable magnitude,
excepting on the east, where a swamp extends to the very base of the
mountains. The form of the lake may be called an irregular ellipse.
Around its margin, except towards the marshy outlet, is a display of
[774] varied architecture. Every Hindu family of rank has its niche
here, for the purposes of devotional pursuits when they could abstract
themselves from mundane affairs. The most conspicuous are those erected
by Raja Man of Jaipur, Ahalya Bai, the Holkar queen, Jawahir Mall of
Bharatpur, and Bijai Singh of Marwar. The cenotaphs are also numerous.
The ashes of Jai Apa, who was assassinated at Nagor, are superbly
covered; as are those of his brother Santaji, who was killed during the
siege of that place.

=The Brahma Temple.=—By far the most conspicuous edifice is the shrine
of the creator Brahma, erected, about four years ago, by a private
individual, if we may so designate Gokul Parik, the minister of Sindhia;
it cost the sum of 130,000 rupees (about £15,000), though all the
materials were at hand, and labour could be had for almost nothing. This
is the sole tabernacle dedicated to the ONE GOD which I ever saw or have
heard of in India.[4.29.23] The statue is quadrifrons; and what struck
me as not a little curious was that the _sikhar_, or pinnacle of the
temple, is surmounted by a cross. Tradition was here again at work.
Before creation began, Brahma assembled all the celestials on this very
spot, and performed the _Yajna_; around the hallowed spot walls were
raised, and sentinels placed to guard it from the intrusion of the evil
spirits. In testimony of the fact, the natives point out the four
isolated mountains, placed towards the cardinal points, beyond the lake,
on which, they assert, rested the _kanats_, or cloth-walls of inclosure.
That to the south is called Ratnagir, or ‘the hill of gems,’ on the
summit of which is the shrine of Savitri. That to the north is Nilagir,
or ‘the blue mountain.’ East, and guarding the valley, is the
Kuchhaturgir; and to the west, Sonachaura, or ‘the golden.’ Nandi, the
bull-steed of Mahadeva, was placed at the mouth of the valley, to keep
away the spirits of the desert; while Kanhaiya himself performed this
office to the north. The sacred fire was kindled: but Savitri, the wife
of Brahma, was nowhere to be found, and as without a female the rites
could not proceed, a young Gujari took the place of Savitri; who, on her
return, was so enraged at the indignity, that she retired to the
mountain of gems, where she disappeared. On this spot a fountain gushed
up, still called by her name; close to which is her shrine, not the
least attractive in the precincts of Pushkar. During these rites,
Mahadeva, or, as he is called, Bholanath, represented always in a state
of stupefaction from the use of intoxicating [775] herbs, omitted to put
out the sacred fire, which spread, and was likely to involve the world
in combustion; when Brahma extinguished it with the sand, and hence the
_tibas_ of the valley. Such is the origin of the sanctity of Pushkar. In
after ages, one of the sovereigns of Mandor, in the eagerness of the
chase, was led to the spot, and washing his hands in the fountain, was
cured of some disorder. That he might know the place again, he tore his
turban into shreds, and suspended the fragments to the trees, to serve
him as guides to the spot—there he made the excavation. The Brahmans
pretend to have a copper-plate grant from the Parihara prince of the
lands about Pushkar; but I was able to obtain only a Persian translation
of it, which I was heretical enough to disbelieve. I had many grants
brought me, written by various princes and chiefs, making provision for
the prayers of these recluses at their shrines.

[Illustration:

THE SACRED LAKE OF PUSHKAR IN MARWĀR.
_To face page 892._
]

The name of Bisaladeva, the famed Chauhan king of Ajmer, is the most
conspicuous here; and they still point out the residence of his great
ancestor, Ajaipal, on the Nagpahar, or ‘serpent-rock,’ directly south of
the lake, where the remains of the fortress of the Pali or Shepherd-king
are yet visible. Ajaipal was, as his name implies, a goatherd, whose
piety, in supplying one of the saints of Pushkar with daily libations of
goats’ milk, procured him a territory. Satisfied, however, with the
scene of his early days, he commenced his castle on the serpent-mount;
but his evil genius knocking down in the night what he erected in the
day, he sought out another site on the opposite side of the range: hence
arose the far-famed Ajamer.[4.29.24] Manika Rae is the most conspicuous
connecting link of the Chauhan Pali kings, from the goatherd founder to
the famed Bisaladeva.[4.29.25] Manika was slain in the first century of
the Hijra, when “the arms of Walid conquered to the Ganges”; and
Bisaladeva headed a confederacy of the Hindu kings, and chased the
descendants of Mahmud from Hindustan, the origin of the recording column
at Delhi. Bisaladeva, it appears from inscriptions, was the contemporary
of Rawal Tejsi, the monarch of Chitor, and grandfather of the Ulysses of
Rajasthan, the brave Samarsi, who fell with 13,000 of his kindred in aid
of the last Chauhan Prithiraj, who, according to the genealogies of this
race, is the fourth in descent from Bisaladeva. If this is not
sufficient proof of the era of this king, be it known that Udayaditya,
the prince of the Pramaras (the period of [776] whose death, or A.D.
1096, has now become a datum),[4.29.26] is enumerated amongst the
sovereigns who serve under the banners of the Chauhan of Ajmer.

=Bhartrihari.=—The ‘serpent-rock’ is also famed as being one of the
places where the wandering Bhartrihari, prince of Ujjain, lived for
years in penitential devotion; and the slab which served as a seat to
this royal saint has become one of the objects of veneration. If all the
places assigned to this brother of Vikrama were really visited by him,
he must have been one of the greatest tourists of antiquity, and must
have lived to an antediluvian old age. Witness his castle at Sehwan, on
the Indus; his cave at Alwar; his _thans_ at Abu, and at Benares. We
must, in fact, give credit to the couplet of the bards, “the world is
the Pramara’s.” There are many beautiful spots about the serpent-mount,
which, as it abounds in springs, has from the earliest times been the
resort of the Hindu sages, whose caves and hermitages are yet pointed
out, now embellished with gardens and fountains. One of the latter
issuing from a fissure in the rock is sacred to the Muni Agastya, who
performed the very credible exploit of drinking up the ocean.

St. George’s banner waved on a sand-hill in front of the cross on
Brahma’s temple, from which my camp was separated by the lake; but
though there was no defect of legendary lore to amuse us, we longed to
quit “the region of death,” and hie back to our own lakes, our cutter,
and our gardens.

=Ajmer.=—_December 2._—Ajmer, three coss. Proceeded up the valley, where
lofty barriers on either side, covered with the milky thor
(_cactus_),[4.29.27] and the “yellow anwla of the border,” showed they
were but the prolongation of our own Aravalli. Granite appeared of every
hue, but of a stratification so irregular as to bid defiance to the
geologist. The higher we ascended the valley, the loftier became the
sand-hills, which appeared to aspire to the altitude of their granitic
neighbours. A small rill poured down the valley; there came also a cold
blast from the north, which made our fingers tingle. Suddenly we changed
our direction from north to east, and ascending the mountain, surveyed
through a gap in the range the far-famed Daru-I-Khair. The view which
thus suddenly burst upon us was magnificent. A noble plain, with trees,
and the expansive lake of Bisaladeva, lay at our feet, while ‘the
fortress of the goatherd’ crowned the crest of a majestic isolated hill.
The point of descent affords a fine field for the mineralogist; on [777]
each side, high over the pass, rise peaks of reddish granite, which are
discovered half-way down the descent to be reposing on a blue micaceous
slate, whose inclination is westward, at an angle of about 25° with the
horizon. The formation is the same to the southward, but the slate there
is more compact, and freer from mica and quartz. I picked up a fragment
of black marble; its crystals were large and brilliant.

Passed through the city of Ajmer, which, though long a regal abode, does
not display that magnificence we might have expected, and, like all
other towns of India, exhibits poverty and ease in juxtaposition. It was
gratifying to find that the finest part was rising, under the auspices
of the British Government and the superintendent of the province, Mr.
Wilder. The main street, when finished, will well answer the purpose
intended—a place of traffic for the sons of commerce of Rajasthan, who,
in a body, did me the honour of a visit: they were contented and happy
at the protection they enjoyed in their commercial pursuits. With the
prosperity of Bhilwara, that of Ajmer is materially connected; and
having no interests which can clash, each town views the welfare of the
other as its own: a sentiment which we do not fail to encourage.

Breakfasted with Mr. Wilder,[4.29.28] and consulted how we could best
promote our favourite objects—the prosperity of Ajmer and Bhilwara
[778].

-----

Footnote 4.29.1:

[Mādho Singh, A.D. 1760-78: Prithi Singh II. was succeeded within a
year by Partāp Singh, 1778-1803.]

Footnote 4.29.2:

_Pat rakhi Partāp ki
No koti ka nāth.
Gunha agla bagasnē
Abē pakriyo hāth._

“The lord of the nine castles preserved the honour of Partāp. He
forgave former offences, and again took him by the hand.” [In the
third line Major Luard’s Pandit reads _bakhas di_, ‘forgave.’]

Footnote 4.29.3:

“A la gauche la cavalerie rhatore, au nombre de dix mille hommes,
fondit sur les bataillons de M. de Boigne malgré le feu des batteries
placées en avant de la ligne. Les pièces bien servies opéraient avec
succès; mais les Rhatores, avec le courage opiniâtre qui les
caractérise, s’acharnaient à poursuivre l’action, et venaient tuer les
artilleurs jusques sur leurs pièces. Alors, les bataillons
s’avancèrent, et les Rhatores, qui avaient perdu beaucoup de monde,
commencèrent à s’ébranler. M. de Boigne, les voyant se retirer en
désordre, réclama l’aide du centre; mais les prières et les menaces
furent également inutiles: les vingt-cinq bataillons mogols, restés
inactifs pendant toute la journée, et simples spectateurs du combat,
demeurèrent encore immobiles dans ce moment décisif. Les deux armées
se retirèrent après cette action sanglante, qui n’eut aucun résultat.”

Footnote 4.29.4:

[There is some doubt about the exact date. Grant Duff (_Hist.
Mahrattas_, 497) fixes it on June 20, 1790. See Erskine’s note (iii.
A. 68), which is followed in the margin. For the battle see Compton,
_Military Adventurers_, 51 ff.]

Footnote 4.29.5:

[The translation in the text seems to be wrong. The best authorities
translate: “But for the Rāthors Amber would have run away.”]

Footnote 4.29.6:

[In this version the first and third lines do not scan. According to
Dr. Tessitori, a better text runs:

_Ghoro, joro, pāgri,
Mūcham tāni maror,
Yān pānchām gun agli,
Rājpūti Rāthor._

Footnote 4.29.7:

[See the graphic account in Keene, _Fall of the Mogul Empire_, 205 f.]

Footnote 4.29.8:

Three years ago I passed two delightful days with the conqueror of the
Rajputs, in his native vale of Chambéry. It was against the _croix
blanche_ of Savoy, not the _orange flag_ of the Southron, that four
thousand Rajputs fell martyrs to liberty; and although I wish the
Comte long life, I may regret he had lived to bring his talents and
his courage to their subjugation. He did them ample justice, and when
I talked of the field of Merta, the remembrance of past days flitted
before him, as he said “all appeared as a dream.” Distinguished by his
prince, beloved by a numerous and amiable family, and honoured by his
fellow-citizens, the years of the veteran, now numbering more than
fourscore, glide in agreeable tranquillity in his native city, which,
with oriental magnificence, he is beautifying by an entire new street
and a handsome dwelling for himself. By a singular coincidence, just
as I am writing this portion of my narrative I am put in possession of
a _Mémoire_ of his life, lately published, written under the eye of
his son, the Comte Charles de Boigne. From this I extract his account
of the battle of Merta. It is not to be supposed that he could then
have been acquainted with the secret intrigues which were arrayed in
favour of the “white cross” on this fatal day.

“Les forces des Rajepoutes se composaient de trente mille cavaliers,
de vingt mille hommes d’infanterie régulière, et de vingt-cinq pièces
de canon. Les Marhattes avaient une cavalerie égale en nombre à celle
de l’ennemi, mais leur infanterie se bornait aux bataillons de M. de
Boigne, soutenus, il est vrai, par quatre-vingts pièces d’artillerie.
Le général examina la position de l’ennemi, il étudia le terrain et
arrêta son plan de bataille.

“Le dix, avant le jour, la brigade reçut l’ordre de marcher en avant,
et elle surprit les Rajepoutes pendant qu’ils faisoient leurs
ablutions du matin. Les premiers bataillons, avec cinquante pièces de
canon tirant à mitraille, enfoncèrent les lignes de l’ennemi et
enlevèrent ses positions. Rohan, qui commandait l’aile droite, à la
vue de ce premier avantage, sans avoir reçu aucun ordre, eut
l’imprudence de s’avancer hors de la ligne du combat, à la tête de
trois bataillons. La cavalerie Rathore profitant de cette faute,
fondit à l’instant sur lui et faillit lui couper sa retraite sur le
gros de l’armée, qu’il ne parvint à rejoindre qu’avec les plus grandes
difficultés. Toute la cavalerie ennemie se mit alors en mouvement, et
se jetant avec impétuosité sur la brigade, l’attaqua sur tous les
côtés à la fois. Elle eût été infailliblement exterminée sans la
présence d’esprit de son chef. M. de Boigne, s’étant aperçu de
l’erreur commise par son aile droite et prévoyant les suites qu’elle
pouvait entraîner, avait disposé sur-le-champ son infanterie en carré
vide (hollow square); et par cette disposition, présentant partout un
front à l’ennemi, elle opposa une résistance invincible aux charges
furieuses des Rathores, qui furent enfin forcés de lâcher prise.
Aussitôt l’infanterie reprit ses positions, et s’avançant avec son
artillerie, elle fit une attaque générale sur toute la ligne des
Rajepoutes. Déjà sur les neuf heures, l’ennemi était complètement
battu; une heure après, les Marhattes prirent possession de son camp
avec tous ses canons et bagages; et pour couronner cette journée, à
trois heures après midi la ville de Mirtah fut prise d’assaut”
(_Mémoire sur la carrière militaire et politique de M. le Général
Comte De Boigne_, _Chambéry_, 1829).

Footnote 4.29.9:

[‘Seal,’ ‘coinage.’]

Footnote 4.29.10:

_Phūt_ is a species of pumpkin, or melon, which bursts and flies into
pieces when ripe. [_Cucumis mormodica_, Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 438 f.] It
also means _disunion_; and Zalim Singh, who always spoke in parables,
compared the States of India to this fruit.

Footnote 4.29.11:

Literally, ‘the cold-weather castles.’

Footnote 4.29.12:

Isaiah xxxv. 7.

Footnote 4.29.13:

_Sahra_ is ‘desert’; Arabic _sarāb_, Hebrew _shārābh_, ‘the water of
the desert,’ a term which the inhabitants of the Arabian and Persian
deserts apply to this optical phenomenon. The 18th verse, chap. xli.
of Isaiah is closer to the critic’s version: “I will make the
wilderness (_sahra_) a pool of water.“ Doubtless the translators of
Holy Writ, ignorant that this phenomenon was called _shārābh_, ‘water
of the waste,’ deemed it a tautological error; for translated
literally, “and the water of the desert shall become real water,”
would be nonsense: they therefore lopped off the _āb_, water, and read
_sahra_ instead of _shārābh_, whereby the whole force and beauty of
the prophecy is not merely diminished, but lost. [The Author is
mistaken, the words _shārābh_ and _sahra_ having no connexion. See
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, i. 1077. The mirage in Sanskrit is called
_mrigatrish_, ‘deer’s thirst.’ Another name is _Gandharvapura_, ‘city
of the heavenly choristers.’]

Footnote 4.29.14:

Properly a carbonate of soda [barilla, Watt, _Econ. Prod._ 112 f.].

Footnote 4.29.15:

[Mirage is due to variations in the refractive index of the
atmosphere, caused by sporadic variations of temperature (_EB_, 11th
ed. xviii. 573).]

Footnote 4.29.16:

[For the tale of the sufferings of the righteous Harischandra see J.
Muir, _Original Sanskrit Texts_, i. 88 ff.; Dowson, _Classical Dict._
_s.v._ For the mirage city compare “The City of Brass” (Burton,
_Arabian Nights_, iii. 295).]

Footnote 4.29.17:

This is in the ancient province of Hariana, and the cradle of the
Agarwal race, now mercantile, and all followers of Hari or Vishnu. It
might have been the capital of Aggrames, whose immense army threatened
Alexander; with Agra it may divide the honour, or both may have been
founded by this prince, who was also a Porus, being of Puru’s race.
[For Xandrames or Aggrames see Smith, _EHI_, 40; McCrindle,
_Alexander_, 409. His capital is supposed to have been Pātaliputra,
the modern Patna.]

Footnote 4.29.18:

See _Edinburgh Review_, vol. xxi. pp. 66 and 138.

Footnote 4.29.19:

This phenomenon is not uncommon; and the superstitious sailor believes
it to be the spectre of a Dutch pirate, doomed, as a warning and
punishment, to migrate about these seas.

Footnote 4.29.20:

[_Jhāl_, _Salvadora persica._]

Footnote 4.29.21:

A second inscription recorded a similar end of Sewa, the Baori, who
fell in another inroad of the Mers, in S. 1831.

Footnote 4.29.22:

I must deprecate criticism in respect to many of my geographical
details. I find I have omitted this branch; but my health totally
incapacitated me from reconstructing my map, which has been composed
by the engraver from my disjointed materials. It is well known to all
practical surveyors and geographers that none can do this properly but
their author, who knows the precise value of each portion. [It is the
main stream of the Lūni river.]

Footnote 4.29.23:

[At least three other temples of Brahma are known: at Khed Brahma in
Mahikāntha (_BG_, v. 437 f.); Cebrolu and Māla in S. India (Oppert,
_Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa_, 288 ff.). The Author mentions
one at Chitor (Vol. I. p. 322).]

Footnote 4.29.24:

[“The name probably suggested the myth [that he was a goatherd,
Ajapāla = ‘goatherd’], and it is more reasonable to suppose that the
appellation was given to him when, at the close of his life, he became
a hermit, and ended his days at the gorge in the hills about ten miles
from Ajmer, which is still venerated as the shrine of Ajaipāl. It has
been shown, however, by more recent research that Aja or Ajāya
flourished about A.D. 1000, and that the foundation of Ajmer must be
attributed to this period” (Watson, _Gazetteer_, i. A. 9).]

Footnote 4.29.25:

Classically, Visaladeva. [Cunningham remarks that the date of Manik
Rāē is fixed by a memorial verse in Sambat 741 or 747, but of what era
is uncertain. Tod adopts the Vikrama era, and fixes his date twenty
years before the invasion of Muhammad bin Kāsim, A.D. 712. He seems to
have reigned in the beginning of the ninth century (_ASR_, ii. 253).
Visaladeva lived in the middle of the twelfth century (Smith, _EHI_,
386). Tej Singh is mentioned in inscriptions A.D. 1260-67 (Erskine ii.
B. 10).]

Footnote 4.29.26:

See _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 223.

Footnote 4.29.27:

[_Euphorbia neriifolia._]

Footnote 4.29.28:

[Mr. Wilder was in charge of Ajmer, 1818-24.]

-----

CHAPTER 30

=Ajmer.=—Ajmer has been too long the haunt of Moguls and Pathans, the
Goths and Vandals of Rajasthan, to afford much scope to the researches
of the antiquary. Whatever time had spared of the hallowed relics of
old, bigotry has destroyed, or raised to herself altars of materials,
whose sculptured fragments serve now as disjointed memorials of two
distinct and distant eras: that of the independent Hindu, and that of
the conquering Muhammadan, whose idgahs and mosques, mausoleums and
country-seats, constructed from the wrecks of aboriginal art, are fast
mouldering to decay. The associations they call forth afford the only
motive to wish their preservation; except one “relic of nobler days and
noblest arts,” which, though impressed with this double character, every
spectator must desire to rescue from the sweeping sentence—the edifice
before the reader, a visit to which excited these reflections. Let us
rather bless than execrate the hand, though it be that of a Turk, which
has spared, from whatever motive, one of the most perfect, as well as
the most ancient, monuments of Hindu architecture. It is built on the
western declivity of the fortress, and called Arhai din ka jhonpra, or,
‘the shed of two and a half days,’ from its having occupied (as
tradition tells) its magical builders only this short period. The skill
of the Pali or Takshak architect, the three sacred mounts of these
countries abundantly attest: nor had he occasion for any mysterious
arts, besides those of masonry, to accomplish them. In discussing the
cosmogony of the Hindus, we have had occasion to convert their years
into days; here we must reverse the method, and understand (as in [779]
interpreting the sacred prophecies of Scripture) their days as meaning
years. Had it, indeed, been of more humble pretensions, we might have
supposed the monotheistic Jain had borrowed from the Athenian legislator
Cecrops, who ordained that no tomb should consist of more work than ten
men could finish in three days; to which Demetrius, the Phalerian,
sanctioned the addition of a little vessel to contain the ghost’s
victuals.[4.30.1]

[Illustration:

ANCIENT JAIN TEMPLE AT AJMER.
_To face page 896._
]

=Arhāi din ka jhonpra Mosque.=—The temple is surrounded by a superb
screen of Saracenic architecture, having the main front and gateway to
the north. From its simplicity, as well as its appearance of antiquity,
I am inclined to assign the screen to the first dynasty, the Ghorian
sultans, who evidently made use of native architects. The entrance arch
is of that wavy kind, characteristic of what is termed the Saracenic,
whether the term be applied to the Alhambra of Spain, or the mosques of
Delhi; and I am disposed, on close examination, to pronounce it
Hindu.[4.30.2] The entire façade of this noble entrance, which I regret
I cannot have engraved, is covered with Arabic inscriptions. But, unless
my eyes much deceived me, the small frieze over the apex of the arch
contained an inscription in Sanskrit,[4.30.3] with which Arabic has been
commingled, both being unintelligible. The remains of a minaret still
maintain their position on the right flank of the gate, with a door and
steps leading to it for the muazzin to call the faithful to prayers. A
line of smaller arches of similar form composes the front of the screen.
The design is chaste and beautiful, and the material, which is a compact
limestone of a yellow colour, admitting almost of as high a polish as
the _jaune antique_, gave abundant scope to the sculptor. After
confessing and admiring the taste of the Vandal architect, we passed
under the arch to examine the more noble production of the Hindu. Its
plan is simple, and consonant with all the more ancient temples of the
Jains. It is an extensive saloon, the ceiling supported by a quadruple
range of columns, those of the centre being surmounted by a range of
vaulted coverings; while the lateral portion, which is flat, is divided
into compartments of the most elaborate sculpture. But the columns are
most worthy of attention; they are unique in design, and with the
exception of the cave-temples, probably amongst the oldest now existing
in India. On examining them, ideas entirely novel, even in Hindu [780]
art, are developed. Like all these portions of Hindu architecture, their
ornaments are very complex, and the observer will not fail to be struck
with their dissimilarity; it was evidently a rule in the art to make the
ornaments of every part unlike the other, and which I have seen carried
to great extent. There may be forty columns but no two are alike. The
ornaments of the base are peculiar, both as to form and execution; the
lozenges, with the rich tracery surmounting them, might be transferred,
not inappropriately, to the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. The projections
from various parts of the shaft (which on a small scale may be compared
to the corresponding projections of the columns in the Duomo at Milan),
with the small niches still containing the statues, though occasionally
mutilated, of the Pontiffs of the Jains, give them a character which
strengthens the comparison, and which would be yet more apparent if we
could afford to engrave the details.[4.30.4] The elegant Kamakumbha, the
emblem of the Hindu Ceres, with its pendent palmyra-branches, is here
lost, as are many emblematical ornaments, curious in design and elegant
in their execution. Here and there occurs a richly carved corbeille,
which still further sustains the analogy between the two systems of
architecture; and the capitals are at once strong and delicate. The
central vault, which is the largest, is constructed after the same
fashion as that described at Nadol; but the concentric annulets, which
in that are plain, in this are one blaze of ornaments, which with the
whole of the ceiling is too elaborate and complicated for description.
Under the most retired of the compartments, and nearly about the centre,
is raised the mimbar, or pulpit, whence the Mulla enunciates the dogma
of Muhammad, “there is but one God”: and for which he dispossessed the
Jain, whose creed was like his own, the unity of the Godhead. But this
is in unison with the feeling which dictated the external metamorphosis.
The whole is of the same materials as already described, from the
quarries of the Aravalli close at hand, which are rich in every mineral
as well as metallic production:—

I ask’d of _Time_ for whom _those_ temples rose,
That prostrate by his hand in silence lie;
His lips disdain’d the myst’ry to disclose,
And borne on swifter wing, he hurried by!
The broken columns _whose_? I ask’d of _Fame_:
(Her kindling breath gives life to works sublime;)
With downcast looks of mingled grief and shame,
She heaved the uncertain sigh, and follow’d _Time_ [781].
Wrapt in amazement o’er the mouldering pile,
I saw _Oblivion_ pass with giant stride;
And while his visage wore _Pride’s_ scornful smile,
Haply _thou know’st_, then tell me, _whose_ I cried,
_Whose_ these vast domes that ev’n in ruin shine?
I _reck not whose_, he said: they _now are mine_.

Shall we abandon them to cold ‘oblivion’; or restore them to a name
already mentioned, Samprati, or Swampriti, the Shah Jahan[4.30.5] of a
period two centuries before the Christian era, and to whom the shrine in
Kumbhalmer is ascribed? Of one thing there is no doubt, which is, that
both are Jain, and of the most ancient models: and thus advertised, the
antiquary will be able to discriminate between the architectural systems
of the Saivas and the Jains, which are as distinct as their religions.

Having alluded to the analogy between the details in the columns and
those in our Gothic buildings (as they are called), and surmised that
the Saracenic arch is of Hindu origin; I may further, with this temple
and screen before us, speculate on the possibility of its having
furnished some hints to the architects of Europe. It is well known that
the Saracenic arch has crept into many of those structures called
Gothic, erected in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when a more
florid style succeeded to the severity of the Saxon or Romans; but I
believe it has been doubted whence the Saracens obtained their model;
certainly it was neither from Egypt nor Persia. The early caliphs of
Baghdad, who were as enlightened as they were powerful, kept alive the
light of science when Europe was in darkness; and the most accomplished
noble who accompanied our Cœur de Lion, though “brave as his sword,”
was a clown compared to the infidel Saladin, in mind as well as manners.
The influence of these polished foes on European society it would be
superfluous to descant upon. The lieutenants of these caliphs, who
penetrated from the Delta of the Indus to the Ganges from four to five
centuries prior to this event, when Walid’s arms triumphed
simultaneously on the Indus and the Ebro, produced no trifling results
to the arts. This very spot, Ajmer, according to traditional couplets
and the poetic legends of its ancient princes, the Chauhans, was visited
by the first hostile force which Islam sent across the Indus, and to
which Manika Rae fell a sacrifice. What ideas might not this Jain temple
have afforded to [782] “the Light of Ali,” for Roshan Ali is the name
preserved of him who, “in ships landing at Anjar,” marched through the
very heart of India, and took Garh Bitli, the citadel of Ajmer, by
assault. The period is one of total darkness in the history of India,
save for the scattered and flickering rays which emanate from the
chronicles of the Chauhans and Guhilots. But let us leave the temple,
and slightly describe the castle of Manika Rae, on whose battlements an
infidel’s arrow of Roshan’s army reached the heir of the Chauhan; since
which Lot, for such was his name, has been adopted amongst the lares and
penates of this celebrated race. This was the first Rajput blood which
the arms of conversion shed, and the impression must have been strong to
be thus handed down to posterity.

The mind, after all, retires dissatisfied: with me it might be from
association. Even the gateway, however elegant, is unsuitable to the
genius of the place. Separately considered, they are each magnificent;
together, it is as if a modern sculptor were (like our actors of the
last age) to adorn the head of Cato with a peruke. I left this precious
relic, with a malediction upon all the spoilers of art—whether the Thane
who pillaged Minerva’s portico at Athens, or the Turk who dilapidated
the Jain temple at Ajmer.[4.30.6]

[Illustration:

FORTRESS AND TOWN OF AJMER.
_To face page 900._
]

=Ajmer Fort.=—The reader will see as much of this far-famed fortress as
I did: for there was nothing to induce me to climb the steep, where the
only temple visible was a modern-looking whitewashed mosque, lifting its
dazzling minarets over the dingy antique towers of the Chauhan: “he who
seven times captured the sultan, and seven times released him.” The hill
rises majestically from its base to the height of about eight hundred
feet; its crest encircled by the ancient wall and towers raised by
Ajaipal—

There was a day when they were young and proud,
Banners on high, and battles passed below;
But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,
And those which waved are shredless dust ere now,
And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow;[4.30.7]

unless the Cossack should follow the track of Roshan Ali or Mahmud, and
try to tear the British flag from the _kunguras_ of Ajmer. On the north
side a party of the superintendent’s were unlocking the latent treasures
in the bowels of the mountain. The vein is of lead; a sulphuret, or
galena [783].[4.30.8]

=The Bīsal Tālāb.=—I have already mentioned the lake, called after the
excavator, the Bisal Talab. It is about eight miles in circumference,
and besides the beauty it adds to the vale of Ajmer, it has a source of
interest in being the fountain of the Luni, which pursues its silent
course until it unites with the eastern arm of the Delta of the Indus:
the point of outlet is at the northern angle of the Daulat Bagh, ‘the
gardens of wealth,’ built by Jahangir for his residence when he
undertook to conquer the Rajputs. The water is not unwholesome, and
there are three outlets at this fountainhead for the escape of the water
fitting its periodical altitudes. The stream at its parent source is
thence called the Sagarmati. It takes a sweep northward by Bhaonta and
Pisangan, and close to where we crossed it, at Govindgarh, it is joined
by the Sarasvati from Pushkar; when the united waters (at whose
_sangam_, or confluence, there is a small temple to the manes) are
called the Luni.

The gardens erected on the embankment of the lake must have been a
pleasant abode for “the king of the world,” while his lieutenants were
carrying on the war against the Rana: but the imperial residence of
marble, in which he received the submissions of that prince, through his
grandson, and the first ambassador sent by England to the Mogul, are now
going fast to decay. The walks on which his majesty last paraded, in the
state-coach sent by our James the First, are now overgrown with shrubs.

The stratification of the rock, at the point of outlet, would interest
the geologist, especially an extensive vein of mica, adjoining another
of almost transparent quartz.

=Anasāgar Lake.=—Eastward of this lake about a mile is another named the
Anasagar, after the grandson of Bisaldeo, who has left the reputation of
great liberality, and a contrast with Visala. The vestiges of an island
are yet seen in the lake, and upon its margin; but the materials have
been carried away by the Goths. There are two small buildings on the
adjacent heights, called “the annulets of Khwaja Kutb,” and some other
saint.

Such are the wonders in the environs of Daru-l-Khair, “celebrated in the
history of the Moguls, as well as of the Hindus.” But my search for
inscriptions to corroborate the legends of the Chauhans proved
fruitless. I was, however, fortunate enough to add to my numismatic
treasures some of the currency of these ancient kings, which give
interest to a series of the same description, all appertaining [784] to
the Buddhists or Jains. The inscription occupying one side is in a most
antique character, the knowledge of which is still a desideratum: the
reverse bears the effigies of a horse, the object of worship to the
Indo-Scythic Rajput.[4.30.9] It is not improbable that the Agnikula
Chauhan may have brought these letters with him from higher Asia.
Researches in these countries for such monuments may yet discover how
far this conjecture is correct. At Pushkar I also found some very
ancient coins. Had the antiquary travelled these regions prior to the
reign of Aurangzeb he would have had a noble field to explore: many
coins were destroyed by this bigot, but many were buried underground,
which time or accident may disclose. He was the great foe of Rajput
fame; and well might the bard, in the words of the Cambrian minstrel,
bid

Ruin seize thee, ruthless king.

They did repay his cruelties by the destruction of his race. In one
short century from this tyrant, who grasped each shore of the peninsula,
the Mogul power was extinct; while the oppressed Rajputs are again on
the ascendant. But the illiterate and mercenary Afghan, “the descendant
of the lost tribes of Israel,”[4.30.10] if we credit their traditions,
may share the iniquity with Aurangzeb: for they fulfilled literally a
duty which their supposed forefathers pertinaciously refused, and made
war against every graven image. Had they even spared us a few of the
monsters, the joint conceptions of the poet and the sculptor, I might
have presented some specimens of griffins (_gras_)[4.30.11] and demons
almost of a classical taste: but the love of mischief was too strong
even to let these escape: the shoe was applied to the prominent features
of everything which represented animation.

By a medium of several meridian observations, I made the latitude of
Ajmer 26° 19´ north; its longitude, by time and measurement from my
fixed meridian, Udaipur, 74° 40´, nearly the position assigned to it by
the father of Indian geography, the justly celebrated Rennell.[4.30.12]

=Return March to Udaipur.=—_December 5._—At daybreak we left the towers
of Manika Rae, enveloped in mist, and turned our horses’ heads to the
southward, on our return to Udaipur. While at Ajmer, I received accounts
of the death of the prince of Kotah, and did intend to proceed direct to
that capital, by Shahpura and Bundi; but my presence was desired by the
Rana to repair the dilapidations which only two months’ absence had
[785] occasioned in the political fabric which I had helped to
reconstruct. Other interesting objects intervened: one, a visit to the
new castle of Bhimgarh, erecting in Merwara to overawe the Mers; the
other to compose the feuds which raged between the sectarian merchants
of the new mart, Bhilwara, and which threatened to destroy all my
labour. We made two marches to Bhinai, in which there was nothing to
record. Bhinai is the residence of a Rathor chieftain, whose position is
rather peculiar. Being placed within the district of Ajmer, and paying
an annual quit-rent to the British, he may consider the Company as his
sovereign; but although this position precludes all political
subordination to the chief of the race, the tie would be felt and
acknowledged, on a lapse, in the anxiety for the usual _tika_ of
recognition to his successor, from the Raja of Marwar. I argue on
knowledge of character and customs; though it is possible this
individual case might be against me.

The castle of Bhinai is a picturesque object in these level plains; it
is covered with the cactus, or prickly pear, so abundant on the east
side of the Aravalli. This was anciently the residence of a branch of
the Parihara princes of Mandor, when held as a fief of the Chauhans of
Ajmer; and from it originated a numerous mixed class, called the
Parihara Minas, a mixture of Rajput and aboriginal blood.

=Deolia.=—_December 6._—Deolia, near the northern bank of the Khari, the
present boundary of Ajmer and Mewar. From Ajmer to Deolia the direction
of the road is S.S.E., and the distance forty miles. This important
district in the political geography of Rajputana, which, with the posts
of Nimach and Mhow, is the connecting link between the British dominions
on the Jumna and in the Deccan, was obtained by cession from Sindhia in
1818. A glance at the map is sufficient to show its importance in our
existing connexion with Rajputana. The greatest breadth of the district
is between the Aravalli west and the Banas east, and measures about
eight miles. The greatest length is between the city of Ajmer and Jhak,
a post in Merwara, measuring about forty miles. The narrowest portion is
that where we now are, Deolia, whence the Kishangarh frontier can be
seen over a neck of land of about twelve miles in extent. Within these
bounds a great portion of the land is held by feudal chieftains paying a
quit-rent, which I believe is fixed. I had to settle a frontier dispute
at Deolia, regarding the right of cultivating in the bed of the Khari,
which produces very good melons. The soil of Ajmer cannot [786] be
called rich, and is better adapted for the lighter than the richer
grains. Marks of war and rapine were visible throughout.

[Illustration:

CASTLE OF BHINAI.
_To face page 904._
]

=Dābla.=—_December 7._—This town was a sub-fee of Banera; but the
vassal, a Rathor, had learned habits of insubordination during Mahratta
influence, which he could not or would not throw aside. In these he was
further encouraged by his connexion by marriage with the old ruler of
Kotah, who had exemplified his hostility to the Dabla vassal’s liege
lord by besieging his castle of Banera. Having so long disobeyed him,
his Rajput blood refused to change with the times; and though he
condescended, at the head of his twenty retainers, to perform homage on
stated days, and take his allotted position in the Banera darbar, he
refused to pay the quit-rent, to which numerous deeds proved his
suzerain had a right. Months passed away in ineffectual remonstrances;
it was even proposed that he should hold the inferior dependencies free
of quit-rent, but pay those of Dabla. All being in vain, the demand was
increased to the complete surrender of Dabla; which elicited a truly
Rajput reply: “His head and Dabla were together.” This obstinacy could
not be tolerated; and he was told that though one would suffice, if
longer withheld both might be required. Like a brave Rathor, he had
defended it for months against a large Mahratta force, and hence Dabla
was vauntingly called “the little Bharatpur.” Too late he saw his error,
but there was no receding; and though he at length offered a nazarana,
through the mediation of the Kotah wakil, of 20,000 rupees, to obtain
the Rana’s investiture, it was refused and a surrender was insisted on.
Being an important frontier-post, it was retained by the Rana, and
compensation was made to Banera. Every interest was made for him through
the Nestor of Kotah, but in vain; his obstinacy offered an example too
pernicious to admit of the least retrocession, and Dabla was forthwith
incorporated with the appanage of the heir-apparent, Jawan Singh.

Almost the whole of this, the Badnor division, of 360 townships, is
occupied by Rathors, the descendants of those who accompanied Jaimall to
Mewar: the proportion of feudal to fiscal land therein is as three to
one. It is a rich and fertile tract, and it is to be hoped will maintain
in ease and independence the brave men who inhabit it, and who have a
long time been the sport of rapine.

I received a visit from the chief vassal of the Badnor chief, then at
the capital; and as I found it impossible to visit Merwara, I
subsequently deputed Captain [787] Waugh who was hospitably received and
entertained at Badnor. He hunted, and played the Holi with the old
baron, who shows at all times the frankness of his race: but it being
the period of the Saturnalia, he was especially unreserved; though he
was the greatest stickler for etiquette amongst my many friends, and was
always expatiating on the necessity of attending to the gradations of
rank.

=Banera.=—_December 8._—The castle of Banera is one of the most imposing
feudal edifices of Mewar, and its lord one of the greatest of its
chieftains. He not only bears the title of Raja, but has all the
state-insignia attached thereto. His name happens to be the same as that
of his sovereign—his being Raja Bhim, the prince’s Rana Bhim,—to whom he
is nearly related, and but for blind chance might have been lord of all
the Sesodias. It may be recollected that the chivalrous antagonist of
Aurangzeb, the heroic Rana Raj, had two sons, twins, if we may so term
sons simultaneously born, though by different mothers. The incident
which decided the preference of Jai Singh to Bhim has been
related;[4.30.13] the circumstance of the latter’s abandoning his
country to court fortune under the Imperial standard—his leading his
Rajput contingent amongst the mountains of Kandahar—and his death by
dislocation of the spine, through urging his horse at speed amongst the
boughs of a tree. The present incumbent of Banera is the descendant of
that Raja Bhim, who was succeeded in the honours of his family by his
son Suraj, killed whilst heading his contingent at the storm of Bijapur.
The infant son of Suraj had four districts assigned to him, all taken
from his suzerain, the Rana. In such esteem did the emperor hold the
family, that the son of Suraj was baptized Sultan. He was succeeded by
Sardar Singh, who, on the breaking up of the empire, came under the
allegiance of his rightful sovereign the Rana. Rae Singh and Hamir Singh
complete the chain to my friend Raja Bhim, who did me the honour to
advance two miles from Banera to welcome and conduct me to his castle.
Here I had a good opportunity of observing the feudal state and manners
of these chiefs within their own domains during a visit of three hours
at Banera. I was, moreover, much attached to Raja Bhim, who was a
perfectly well-bred and courteous gentleman, and who was quite
unreserved with me. From his propinquity to the reigning family, and
from his honours and insignia being the gift of the king’s, he had been
an object of jealousy to the court, which tended much to retard the
restoration [788] of his authority over his sub-vassals of Banera; the
chief of Dabla is one instance of this. I found little difficulty in
banishing the discord between him and his sovereign, who chiefly
complained of the Banera kettle-drums beating, not only as he entered
the city, but as far as the Porte—the sacred Tripolia; and the use of
Chamar[4.30.14] in his presence. It was arranged that these emblems of
honour, emanating from the great foes of Mewar, should never be obtruded
on the eye or ear of the Rana; though within his own domain the Banera
chieftain might do as he pleased. This was just; and Raja Bhim had too
much good sense not to conciliate his “brother and cousin,” Rana Bhim,
by such a concession, which otherwise might have been insisted upon. The
estate of Banera is in value 80,000 rupees of annual rent, one-half of
which is in subinfeudations, his vassals being chiefly Rathors. The only
service performed by Raja Bhim is the contributing a quota for the
commercial mart of Bhilwara, with the usual marks of subordination,
personal duty and homage to the Rana. His estate is much impoverished
from its lying in the very track of the freebooters; but the soil is
excellent, and time will bring hands to cultivate it, if we exercise a
long and patient indulgence.

The ‘velvet cushion’ was spread in a balcony projecting from the main
hall of Banera; here the Raja’s vassals were mustered, and he placed me
by his side on the _gaddi_. There was not a point of his rural or
domestic economy upon which he did not descant, and ask my advice, as
his “adopted brother.” I was also made umpire between him and my old
friend the baron of Badnor, regarding a marriage settlement, the
granddaughter of the latter being married to the heir of Banera. I had,
besides, to wade through old grants and deeds to settle the claims
between the Raja and several of his sub-vassals; a long course of
disorder having separated them so much from each other as to obliterate
their respective rights. All these arbitrations were made without
reference to my official situation, but were forced upon me merely by
the claims of friendship; but it was a matter of exultation to be
enabled to make use of my influence for the adjustment of such disputes,
and for restoring individual as well as general prosperity. My friend
prepared his gifts at parting; I went through the forms of receiving,
but waived accepting them: which may be done without any offence to
delicacy. I have been highly gratified to read the kind reception he
gave to the respected Bishop Heber, in his tour through Mewar. I wonder,
however, that this discerning and elegant-minded man did not [789]
notice the peculiar circumstance of the Raja’s teeth being fixed in with
gold wire, which produces rather an unpleasant articulation.[4.30.15]

Banera adjoins the estates of the Rathors, and is no great distance from
those of the Sangawats and Jagawats, which lie at the base of the
Aravalli. All require a long period of toleration and unmolested
tranquillity to emerge from their impoverished condition. My friend
accompanied me to my tents, when I presented to him a pair of pistols,
and a telescope with which he might view his neighbours on the
mountains: we parted with mutual satisfaction, and I believe, mutual
regret.

=Bhīlwāra.=—_December 9._—I encamped about half-a-mile from _our_ good
town of Bhilwara, which was making rapid strides to prosperity,
notwithstanding drawbacks from sectarian feuds; with which, however, I
was so dissatisfied, that I refused every request to visit the town
until such causes of retardation were removed. I received a deputation
from both parties at my tents, and read them a lecture for their
benefit, in which I lamented the privation of the pleasure of witnessing
their unalloyed prosperity. Although I reconciled them to each other, I
would not confide in their promises until months of improvement should
elapse. They abided by their promise, and I fulfilled mine when the
death of the Bundi prince afforded an opportunity, _en route_ to that
capital, to visit them. My reception was far too flattering to describe,
even if this were the proper place. The sentiments they entertained for
me had suffered no diminution when Bishop Heber visited the town. But
his informant (one of the merchants), when he said it ought to have been
called Tod-ganj, meant that it was so intended, and actually received
this appellation: but it was changed, at my request, and on pain of
withdrawing my entire support from it. The Rana, who used to call it
himself in conversation “_Tod Sahib ki basti_,” would have been
gratified; but it would have been wrong to avail myself of his
partiality. In all I was enabled to do, from my friendship, not from my
official character, I always feared the dangers to his independence from
such precedent for interference.[4.30.16]

=Māndalgarh.=—_December 10._—I deviated from the direct course
_homewards_ (to Udaipur) to visit this beautiful spot, formerly the head
of a flourishing district; but all was dilapidated. The first revenue
derived from Mandal was expended on the repairs of the dam of its lake,
which irrigates a great extent of rice-land. The Goths had felled [790]
most of the fine trees which had ornamented its dam and margin; and
several garden-houses, as well as that on the island in the lake, were
in ruins. Not many years ago a column of victory, said to have been
raised by Bisaladeva of Ajmer, in consequence of a victory over the
Guhilots, graced this little isle. Mandal is now rising from its ruins,
and one of the exiles was so fortunate as to find a vessel containing
several pieces of gold and ornaments, in excavating the ruins of his
ancient abode, though not buried by him. It involved the question of
manorial rights, of which the Rana waived the enforcement, though he
asserted them. To-day I passed between Pansal and Arja, the former still
held by a Saktawat, the latter now united to the fisc. I have already
related the feud between the Saktawats and the Purawats in the struggle
for Arja, which is one of the most compact castles in Mewar, with a
domain of 52,000 bighas, or 12,000 acres, attached to it, rendering it
well worth a contest; but the Saktawat had no right there, say the
Purawats; and in fact it is in the very heart of their lands.

=Pur.=—_December 11._—This is one of the oldest towns of Mewar, and if
we credit tradition, anterior in date to Vikrama. We crossed the
Kotasari to and from Mandal, passing by the tin and copper mines of
Dariba, and the Purawat estate of Pitawas. Pur means, _par eminence_,
‘the city,’ and anciently the title was admissible; even now it is one
of the chief fiscal towns. It is in the very heart of the canton,
inhabited by the Babas, or ‘infants’ of Mewar, embracing a circle of
about twenty-five miles diameter. The broken chain of mountains, having
Banera on the northern point and Gurla to the south, passes transversely
through this domain, leaving the estate of Bagor, the residence of
Sheodan Singh, west, and extending to the S.E. to Mangrop, across the
Berach. The policy which dictated the establishment of an isolated
portion of the blood-royal of Mewar in the very centre of the country
was wise; for the Babas rarely or ever mix with the politics of the
feudatory chieftains, home or foreign. They are accordingly entrusted
with the command of all garrisons, and head the feudal quotas as the
representative of their sovereign. They have a particular seat at court,
the Baba ka Ol being distinct from the chieftains’, and in front. Though
they inhabit the lands about Pur, it is not from these they derive their
name, but as descendants from Puru, one of the twenty-five sons of Rana
Udai Singh, that blot in the scutcheon of Mewar [791].

=Garnets.=—About a mile east of Pur there is an isolated hill of blue
slate, in which I found garnets embedded. I have no doubt persevering
adventurers would be rewarded; but though I tried them with the hammer,
I obtained none of any value. They are also to be obtained on the
southern frontier of Kishangarh and Ajmer, about Sarwar. I received the
visits of the ‘infants’ of Gurla and Gadarmala, both most respectable
men, and enjoying good estates, with strong castles, which I passed the
next day.

=Rāsmi, on the Banās River.=—_December 12._—We had a long march through
the most fertile lands of Mewar, all belonging to the Rana’s personal
domain. The progress towards prosperity is great; of which Rasmi, the
head of a tappa or subdivision of a district, affords evidence, as well
as every village. On our way we were continually met by peasants with
songs of joy, and our entrance into each village was one of triumph. The
Patels and other rustic officers, surrounded by the ryots, came out of
the villages; while the females collected in groups, with brass vessels
filled with water gracefully resting on their heads, stood at the
entrance, their scarfs half covering their faces, chaunting the
_suhela_; a very ancient custom of the Hindu cultivator on receiving the
superior, and tantamount to an acknowledgment of supremacy. Whether
vanity was flattered, or whether a better sentiment was awakened, on
receiving such tokens of gratitude, it is not for me to determine: the
sight was pleasing, and the custom was general while I travelled in
Mewar. The females bearing the _kalas_ on their heads, were everywhere
met with. These were chiefly the wives and daughters of the cultivators,
though not unfrequently those of the Rajput sub-vassals. The former were
seldom very fair, though they had generally fine eyes and good persons.
We met many fragments of antiquity at Rasmi. Captain Waugh and the
doctor were gratified with angling in the Banas for trout; but as the
fish would not rise to the fly, I set the net, and obtained several
dozens: the largest measured seventeen inches, and weighed seventy
rupees, or nearly two pounds.

[Illustration:

SOURCE OF THE BERACH RIVER, AND HUNTING SEAT OF THE RĀNA.
_To face page 910._
]

=Merta.=—_December 16._—After an absence of two months we terminated our
circuitous journey, and encamped on the ground whence we started, all
rejoiced at the prospect of again entering “the happy valley.” We made
four marches across the _duab_, watered by the Berach and Banas rivers;
the land naturally rich, and formerly boasting some large towns, but as
yet only disclosing the germs of [792] prosperity. There is not a more
fertile tract in India than this, which would alone defray the expenses
of the court if its resources were properly husbanded. But years must
first roll on, and the peasant must meet with encouragement, and a
reduction of taxation to the lowest rate; and the lord-paramount must
alike be indulgent in the exaction of his tribute. Our camels were the
greatest sufferers in the march through the desert, and one-half were
rendered useless. I received a deputation conveying the Rana’s
congratulation on my return ‘home,’ with a letter full of friendship and
importunities to see me; but the register of the heavens—an oracle
consulted by the Rajput as faithfully as Moore’s Almanack by the British
yeoman—showed an unlucky aspect, and I must needs halt at Merta, or in
the valley, until the signs were more favourable to a re-entry into
Udaipur. Here we amused ourselves in chalking out the site of our
projected residence on the heights of Tus, and in fishing at the source
of the Berach. Of this scene I present the reader with a view; and if he
allows his imagination to ascend the dam which confines the waters of
the lake, he may view the Udaisagar, with its islets; and directing his
eye across its expanse, he may gain a bird’s-eye view of the palace of
the Kaisar of the Sesodias. The dam thrown across a gorge of the
mountains is of enormous magnitude and strength, as is necessary,
indeed, to shut in a volume of water twelve miles in circumference. At
its base, the point of outlet, is a small hunting-seat of the Rana’s,
going to decay for want of funds to repair it, like all those on the
Tiger Mount and in the valley. Nor is there any hope that the revenues,
burthened as they are with the payment of a clear fourth in tribute, can
supply the means of preventing further dilapidation.

_December 19._—Tired of two days’ idleness, we passed through the
portals of Debari on our way to Ar, to which place the Rana signified
his intention of advancing in person, to receive and conduct me ‘home’:
an honour as unlooked-for and unsolicited as it was gratifying. Udaipur
presents a most imposing appearance when approached from the east. The
palace of the Rana, and that of the heir-apparent, the great temple, and
the houses of the nobles, with their turrets and cupolas rising in airy
elegance, afford a pleasing contrast with the heavy wall and pierced
battlements of the city beneath. This wall is more extensive than solid.
To remedy this want of strength, a chain of fortresses has [793] been
constructed, about gunshot from it, commanding every road leading
thereto, which adds greatly to the effect of the landscape. These
castellated heights contain places of recreation, one of which belongs
to Salumbar; but all wear the same aspect of decay.

=Ahār.=—Ar, or Ahar,[4.30.17] near which we encamped, is sacred to the
manes of the princes of Udaipur, and contains the cenotaphs of all her
kings since the valley became their residence; but as they do not
disdain association, either in life or death, with their vassals, Ar
presents the appearance of a thickly crowded cemetery, in which the
mausoleums of the Ranas stand pre-eminent in “the place of great
faith.”[4.30.18] The renowned Amra Singh’s is the most conspicuous; but
the cenotaphs of all the princes, down to the father of Rana Bhim, are
very elegant, and exactly what such structures ought to be; namely,
vaulted roofs, supported by handsome columns raised on lofty terraces,
the architraves of enormous single blocks, all of white marble, from the
quarries of Kankroli. There are some smaller tombs of a singularly
elaborate character, and of an antiquity which decides the claims of Ar
to be considered as the remains of a very ancient city. The ground is
strewed with the wrecks of monuments and old temples, which have been
used in erecting the sepulchres of the Ranas. The great city was the
residence of their ancestors, and is said to have been founded by
Asaditya upon the site of the still more ancient capital of
Tambavatinagari, where dwelt the Tuar ancestors of Vikramaditya, before
he obtained Avinti, or Ujjain. From Tambavatinagari its name was changed
to Anandpur, ‘the happy city,’ and at length to Ahar, which gave the
patronymic to the Guhilot race, namely, Aharya. The vestiges of immense
mounds still remain to the eastward, called the Dhul-kot, or ‘fort,’
destroyed by ‘ashes’ (_dhul_) of a volcanic eruption. Whether the lakes
of the valley owe their origin to the same cause which is said to have
destroyed the ancient Ahar, a more skilful geologist must determine. The
chief road from the city is cut through this mound; and as I had
observed fragments of sculpture and pottery on the excavated sides, I
commenced a regular opening of the mound in search of medals, and
obtained a few with the effigies of an animal, which I fancied to be a
lion, but others the _gadha_, or ass, attributed to Gandharvasen, the
brother of Vikrama, who placed this impress on his coins, the reason of
which is given in a long legend.[4.30.19] My impious intentions were
soon checked by some designing knaves about the Rana, and I would not
offend [794] superstition. But the most superficial observer will
pronounce Ar to have been an ancient and extensive city, the walls which
enclose this sepulchral abode being evidently built with the sculptured
fragments of temples. Some shrines, chiefly Jain, are still standing,
though in the last stage of dilapidation, and they have been erected
from the ruins of shrines still older, as appears from the motley
decorations, where statues and images are inserted with their heads
reversed, and Mahavira and Mahadeva come into actual contact: all are in
white marble. Two inscriptions were obtained; one very long and
complete, in the nail-headed character of the Jains; but their
interpretation is yet a desideratum. A topographical map of this curious
valley would prove interesting, and for this I have sufficient
materials. The Teli-ki-Sarai would not be omitted in such a map, as
adding another to the many instances I have met with, among this
industrious class, to benefit their fellow-citizens. The ‘Oilman’s
Caravanserai’ is not conspicuous for magnitude; but it is remarkable,
not merely for its utility, but even for its elegance of design. It is
equi-distant from each of the lakes. The Teli-ka-Pul, or ‘Oilman’s
Bridge,’ at Nurabad, is, however, a magnificent memorial of the trade,
and deserves preservation; and as I shall not be able now to describe
the region (Gwalior) where it stands, across the Asan, I will substitute
it for the Sarai, of which I have no memorial.[4.30.20] These Telis
(oilmen) perambulate the country with skins of oil on a bullock, and
from hard-earned pence erect the structures which bear their name. India
owes much to individual munificence.

The planets were adverse to my happy conjunction with the Sun of the
Hindus: and it was determined that I should pass another day amongst the
tombs of Ahar; but I invoked upon my own devoted head all the evil
consequences, as in this case I was the only person who was threatened.
To render this opposition to the decree less noxious, it was agreed that
I should make my _entrée_ by the southern, not by the eastern porte,
that of the sun. The Rana came, attended by his son, his chiefs, his
ministers, and, in fact, all the capital in his train. The most hearty
welcomes were lavished upon us all. “_Rama! Rama! Tod Sahib!_” (the
Hindu greeting) resounded from a thousand throats, while I addressed
each chief by name. It was not a meeting of formality, but of
well-cemented friendship. My companions, Captain Waugh and Dr. Duncan,
were busy interchanging smiles and cordial greetings, when the Rana,
requesting our presence at the palace next day [795], bade us adieu. He
took the direct road to his palace, while we, to avoid evil spirits,
made a detour by the southern portal, to gain our residence, the garden
of Rampiyari.

[Illustration:

BRIDGE OF NŪRĀBĀD.
_To face page 914._
]

-----

Footnote 4.30.1:

See Archbishop Potter’s _Archaeologia_, vol. i. p. 192. [Cicero, _De
Legibus_, ii. 25, 26; Grote, _Hist. of Greece_, ed. 1869, xii. 184.]

Footnote 4.30.2:

[Fergusson (_Hist. Indian Arch._ ii. 210 f.) says it was begun in A.D.
1200, and completed during the reign of Iyaltimish (1211-36). The
temple may have been originally Jain, but it had been altered by
Hindus.]

Footnote 4.30.3:

[Cunningham searched in vain for the Sanskrit inscription. “I am
inclined to believe that Tod may have mistaken some of the square
Cufic writing for ancient Sanskrit. It is, indeed, possible that the
square Cufic inscription which records the building of the mosque in
A.H. 596 (A.D. 1200) may once have occupied the position described by
Tod over the apex of the central arch” (_ASR_, ii. 262 f.).]

Footnote 4.30.4:

[“It is certain that they are not Jain pillars, as I found many
four-armed figures sculptured on them, besides a single figure of the
skeleton goddess, Kāli” (_ibid._ 259).]

Footnote 4.30.5:

Both epithets imply ‘Lord of the Universe,’ [?] and of which the name
of Prithiraj, that of the last Chauhan emperor, is another version.

Footnote 4.30.6:

Chance obtained me the drawing of this temple; I wish it had also
given me the name of its author to grace the page.

Footnote 4.30.7:

_Childe Harold_, Canto iii. [47].

Footnote 4.30.8:

[The Tāragarh hill is rich in lead, and iron and copper mines have
been worked, but did not pay expenses. The lead is purer than European
pig lead, but lack of fuel and cheap transport have driven it from the
market. (Watson i. A. 60 f.)]

Footnote 4.30.9:

[Probably the “Bull and Horseman” type, see p. 809, above. The
inscription is in Hindi characters.]

Footnote 4.30.10:

They claim Ishmael as their common ancestor.

Footnote 4.30.11:

[The _grāsda_ or _sārdūla_, a figure of a horned lion or panther
(Fergusson-Burgess, _Cave Temples of India_, 439).]

Footnote 4.30.12:

[He was nearly right—Ajmer, 26° 27´ N. lat., 74° 37´ E. long.;
Udaipur, 24° 35´ N. lat., 73° 42´ E. long.]

Footnote 4.30.13:

See Vol. I. p. 456.

Footnote 4.30.14:

[The yak tail, one of the insignia of royalty.]

Footnote 4.30.15:

[Bishop Heber writes: “He was an elderly man, and had lost many teeth,
which made it very difficult for me to understand him” (_Narrative of
a Journey_, ed. 1861, ii. 55).]

Footnote 4.30.16:

See Vol. I. p. 562.

Footnote 4.30.17:

[See p. 924.]

Footnote 4.30.18:

[The Mahāsati.]

Footnote 4.30.19:

[These rude Indo-Sassanian coins, also known as Tātariya dirhams, are
popularly called Gadhiya paisa, or “ass copper money,” because the
worn-down representation of a fire temple was believed to be the head
of an ass (Cunningham, _Ancient Geography_, 313; Elliot-Dowson i. 3,
note; _BG_, i. Part i. 469, note). Gandharvasen, as a punishment for
offending Indra, was condemned to assume the form of an ass during the
day: he consorted with a princess, and their offspring was
Vikramāditya (_Asiatic Researches_, vi. 35 f.; W. Ward, _The Hindoos_,
2nd ed. i. 22).]

Footnote 4.30.20:

[Nūrābād is on the old road from Agra to Gwalior, 63 miles S. of the
former, and 15 miles N. of the latter. “There is a fair sketch of the
bridge in Tod’s ‘Rajasthan,’ which, however, scarcely does justice to
it, as it is deficient in those architectural details which form the
most pleasing part of the structure” (_ASR_, ii. 397).]

-----

----------------------------

APPENDIX

_Translations of Inscriptions, chiefly in the Nail-headed character
of the Takshak Races and Jains, fixing eras in Rajput history._[4.30a.1]

No. I

Memorial of a Gete or Jit prince of the fifth century, discovered 1820,
in a temple at Kunswa, near the Chumbul river, south of Kotah.

May the Jit’ha be thy protector! What does this Jit’h resemble? which is
the vessel of conveyance across the waters of life, which is partly
white, partly red? Again, what does it resemble, where the
hissing-angered serpents dwell? What may this Jit’ha be compared to,
from whose root the roaring flood descends? Such is the Jit’ha; by it
may thou be preserved (1).

The fame of RAJA JIT I now shall tell, by whose valour the lands of
SALPOORA (2) are preserved. The fortunes of Raja Jit are as flames of
fire devouring his foe. The mighty warrior JIT SALINDRA (2) is beautiful
in person, and from the strength of his arm esteemed the first amongst
the tribes of the mighty; make resplendent, as does the moon the earth,
the dominions of SALPOORI. The whole world praises the JIT prince, who
enlarges the renown of his race, sitting in the midst of haughty
warriors, like the lotos in the waters, the moon of the sons of men. The
foreheads of the princes of the earth worship the toe of his foot. Beams
of light irradiate his countenance, issuing from the gems of his arms of
strength. Radiant is his array; his riches abundant; his mind generous
and profound as the ocean. Such is he of SARYA (3) race, a tribe
renowned amongst the tribes of the mighty, whose princes were ever foes
to treachery, to whom the earth surrendered her fruits, and who added
the lands of their foes to their own. By sacrifice, the mind of this
lord of men has been purified; fair are his territories, and fair is the
FORTRESS OF TAK’HYA (4). The string of whose bow is dreaded, whose wrath
is the reaper of the field of combat; but to his dependents he is as the
pearl on the neck; who makes no account of the battle, though streams of
blood run through the field. As does the silver lotos bend its head
before the fierce rays of the sun, so does his foe stoop to him, while
the cowards abandon the field [796].

From this lord of men (_Narpati_) SALINDRA sprung DEVANGLI, whose deeds
are known even at _this remote period_.

From him was born SUMBOOKA, and from him DEGALI, who married two wives
of YADU race (5), and by one a son named VIRA NARINDRA, pure as a flower
from the fountain.

Amidst groves of _amba_, on whose clustering blossoms hang myriads of
bees, that the wearied traveller might repose, was this edifice erected.
May it, and the fame of its founder, continue while ocean rolls, or
while the moon, the sun, and hills endure. Samvat 597.—On the extremity
of MALWA, this minster (MINDRA) was erected, on the banks of the river
TAVELI, by SALICHANDRA (6), son of VIRACHANDRA.

Whoever will commit this writing to memory, his sins will be
obliterated. Carved by the sculptor SEVANARYA, son of DWARASIVA, and
composed by BUTENA, chief of the bards.

_Note 1._—In the prologue to this valuable relic, which superficially
viewed would appear a string of puerilities, we have conveyed in mystic
allegory the mythological origin of the Jit or Gete race. From the
members of the chief of the gods ISWARA or Mahadeva, _the god of
battle_, many races claim birth: the warrior from his arms; the Charun
from his spine; the prophetic Bhat (_Vates_) from his tongue; and the
Gete or Jit derive theirs from his tiara, which, formed of his own hair,
is called _Jit’ha_. In this tiara, serpents, emblematic of TIME (kal)
and DESTRUCTION, are wreathed; also implicative that the _Jits_, who are
of _Takshac_, or the serpent race, are thereby protected. The “roaring
flood” which descends from this _Jit’ha_ is the river goddess, Ganga,
daughter of Mena, wife of Iswara. The mixed colour of his hair, which is
partly white, partly of reddish (_panduranga_) hue, arises from his
character of ARD’HNARI, or Hermaphroditus. All these characteristics of
the god of war must have been brought by the Scythic Gete from the
Jaxartes, where they worshipped him as the Sun (_Balnat’h_) and as
XAMOLSCIS (_Yama_, vulg. _Jama_) the infernal divinity.

The 12th chapter of the Edda, in describing BALDER the second son of
Odin, particularly dwells on the beauty of his hair, whence “the
_whitest of all vegetables is called the eyebrow of Balder, on the
columns of whose temples there are verses engraved, capable of recalling
the dead to life_.”

How perfectly in unison is all this of the Jits of Jutland and the Jits
of Rajast’han. In each case the hair is the chief object of admiration;
of Balnath as Balder, and the magical effect of the Runes is not more
powerful than that attached by the chief of the Scalds of our Gete
prince at the end of this inscription, fresh evidences in support of my
hypothesis, that many of the Rajpoot races and Scandinavians have a
common origin—that origin, Central Asia.

_Note 2._—Salpoora is the name of the capital of this Jit prince, and
his epithet of Sal-indra is merely titular, as the Indra, or lord of
Sal-poori, ‘the city of Sal,’ which the fortunate discovery of an
inscription raised by Komarpal, king of Anhulwarra (_Nehrwalla_ of
D’Anville), dated S. 1207, has enabled me to place “at the base of the
Sewaluk Mountains.” In order to elucidate this point, and to give the
full value to this record of the Jit princes of the Punjab, I append
(No. V.) a translation of the Nehrwalla conqueror’s inscription, which
will prove beyond a doubt that these JIT princes of SALPOORI in the
_Punjab_ were the leaders of that very colony of the Yuti from the
Jaxartes, who in the fifth century, as recorded by De Guignes, crossed
the Indus and possessed themselves of the Punjab; and strange to say,
have again risen to power, for the Sikhs (_disciples_) of Nanuk are
almost all of Jit origin.

_Note 3._—Here this Jit is called of SARYA SAC’HA, _branch_ or
_ramification_ of the _Saryas_: a very ancient race which is noticed by
the genealogists synonymously with the SARIASPA, one of the thirty-six
royal races, and very probably the same as the SARWYA of the Komarpal
Charitra, with the distinguished epithet “the flower of the martial
races” (_Sarwya c’shatrya tyn Sar_).

_Note 4._—“The fortress of Takshac.” Whether this TAKSHACNAGARI, or
castle of the Tâk, is the [797] stronghold of SALPOORI, or the name
given to a conquest in the environs of the place, whence this
inscription, we can only surmise, and refer the reader to what has been
said of Takitpoora. As I have repeatedly said, the Tâks and Jits are one
race.

_Note 5._—As the Jits intermarried with the Yadus at this early period,
it is evident they had forced their way amongst the thirty-six royal
races, though they have again lost this rank. No Rajpoot would give a
daughter to a Jit, or take one from them to wife.

_Note 6._—Salichandra is the sixth in descent from the first-named
prince, JIT SALINDRA, allowing twenty-two years to each descent = 132—S.
597, date of ins. = S. 465-56 = A.D. 409; the period of the colonization
of the Punjab by the Getes, Yuti, or Jits, from the Jaxartes.[4.30a.2]

-----

Footnote 4.30a.1:

[The Inscriptions quoted in this appendix have been reprinted as they
stand in the original text: partly, because it would have been
necessary to discard the Author’s versions, and to replace them by the
translations of recent scholars; partly, as an example of the Author’s
methods of translation and annotation. With the help of Mr. Vincent A.
Smith and Pandit Gaurishankar Ojha of the Rājputāna Museum, Ajmer,
references have been added to modern translations of the
Inscriptions.]

Footnote 4.30a.2:

[This Inscription is on a stone built into a wall of a temple of
Mahādeva, at Kanaswa, near Kotah. The Author’s “Jit prince” of Sālpur
is due to a misunderstanding, and in all probability owes its origin
to the words _Sambhor-jjatā_, ‘the matted hair of Sambhu,’ a title of
Siva, in line 2 of the Inscription. The Inscription begins with verses
in honour of Siva as Sambhu and Sthānu, and glorifies the Maurya race,
and a king of that race named Dhavala. Dhavala had as his friend a
prince of the Brāhman caste, named Sankuha, whose wife, Degini, bore
to him the prince Sivagana, who built a temple to Siva, and endowed it
with the revenues of two villages. The date is A.D. 738-9 (_IA_, xix.
55 ff.).]

-----

No. II

Translation of an inscription in the Nail-headed character relative to
the Jit race, discovered at Ram Chundrapoora, six miles east of
Boondee, in digging a well. It was thence conveyed, and deposited by
me in the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society.

To my foe, salutation! This foe of the race of JIT, CATHIDA (1), how
shall I describe, who is resplendent by the favour of the round bosom of
ROODRANI (2), and whose ancestor, the warrior TUKHYA (3), formed the
garland on the neck of Mahadeva. Better than this foe on the earth’s
surface, there is none; therefore to him I offer salutation. The
sparkling gems on the coronets of kings irradiate the nail of his foot.

Of the race of BOTENA (4) RAJA T’HOT was born; his fame expanded through
the universe.

Pure in mind, strong in arm, and beloved by mankind, such was CHANDRASEN
(5). How shall he be described, who broke the strength of his foe, on
whom when his sword swims in fight, he appears like a magician. With his
subjects he interchanged the merchandise of liberality, of which he
reaped the fruits. From him whose history is fair, was born KRITIKA, the
deeds of whose arm were buds of renown, forming a necklace of praise in
the eyes of mankind. His queen was dear to him as his own existence—how
can she be described? As the flame is inseparable from the fire, so was
she from her lord—she was the light issuing from the sun—her name
GOON-NEWASA (6), and her actions corresponded with her name. By her he
had two sons, like gems set in bracelets, born to please mankind. The
eldest was named SOOKUNDA, the younger DERUKA. Their fortunes consumed
their foes: but their dependents enjoyed happiness. As the flowers of
Calp-vricsha are beloved by the gods, so are these brothers by their
subjects, granting their requests, and increasing the glory of the race,
whence they sprung.—[A useless descriptive stanza left out (7).]

DERUKA had a son, KUHLA, and his was DHUNIKA, whose deeds ascended
high—who could fathom the intentions of mankind—whose mind was deep as
the ocean—whose ever-hungry faulchion expelled from their mountains and
forests the MEENA tribes, leaving them no refuge in the three wolds,
levelling their retreats to the ground. His quiver was filled with
crescent-formed arrows—his sword the climber (_vela_) (8), of which
pearls are the fruit. With his younger brother Dewaka he reverences gods
and Brahmins—and with his own wealth perfumed a sacrifice to the sun
[798].

For the much-beloved’s (his wife) pleasure this was undertaken. Now the
river of ease, life and death, is crossed over, for this abode will
devour the body of the foe, into which the west wind wafts the fragrant
perfume from the sandal-covered bosom of Lacshmi (9); while from
innumerable lotos the gale from the east comes laden with aroma, the hum
of the bees as they hang clustering on the flowers of the _padhul_ is
pleasing to the ear.

So long as Soomeru stands on its base of golden sands, so long may this
dwelling endure. So long as the wind blows on the _koonjeris_ (10),
supporters of the globe, while the firmament endures, or while Lacshmi
(11) causes the palm to be extended, so long may his praise and this
edifice be stable. KUHLA (12) formed this abode of virtue, and east
thereof a temple to Iswara. By ACHIL, son of the mighty prince
YASOOVERMA (13), has its renown been composed in various forms of
speech.

_Note 1._—_Qu._ if this Jit is from (_da_, the mark of the genitive
case) Cathay? the land of the _Cat’hae_ foes of Alexander, and probably
of the Cathi of the Saurashtra peninsula, alike Scythic as the Jit, and
probably the same race originally?

_Note 2._—Roodrani, an epithet of the martial spouse of Harar-Siva, the
god of war, whom the Jit in the preceding inscription invokes.

_Note 3._—Here we have another proof of the Jit being of Takshac race;
this at the same time has a mythological reference to the serpent
(_takhya_), which forms the garland of the warlike divinities.

_Note 4._—Of this race I have no other notice, unless it should mean the
race (_cula_) was from _Butan_.

_Note 5._—Chandrasen is celebrated in the history of the Pramaras as the
founder of several cities, from two of which, _Chandrabhaga_, at the
foot of the central plateau of India, in Northern Malwa, and
CHANDRAVATI, the ruins of which I discovered at the foot of the Aravulli
near Aboo, I possess several valuable memoria, which will, ere long,
confirm the opinions I have given of the _Takshac_ architect.

_Note 6._—The habitation of virtues.

_Note 7._—This shows these foresters always had the same character.

_Note 8._—Vela is the climber or ivy, sacred to Mahadeva.

_Note 9._—Lacshmi, the _apsara_ or sea-nymph, is feigned residing
amongst the waters of the lotos-covered lake. In the hot weather the
Rajpoot ladies dip their corsets into an infusion of sandal-wood, hence
the metaphor.

_Note 10._—Koonjiris are the elephants who support the eight corners of
the globe.

_Note 11._—Lacshmi is also dame Fortune, or the goddess of riches,
whence this image.

_Note 12._—Kuhl is the fifth in descent from the _opponent_ of the Jit.

_Note 13._—Without this name this inscription would have been but of
half its value. Fortunately various inscriptions on stone and copper,
procured by me from Oojein, settled the era of the death of this prince
in S. 1191, which will alike answer for Achil, his son, who was most
likely one of the chieftains of KUHLA, who appears to have been of the
elder branch of the Pramaras, the foe of the Jit invaders [799].

No. III

Inscription in the Nail-headed character of the Mori Princes of
Cheetore, taken from a column on the banks of the lake Mansurwur,
near that city.

By the lord of waters may thou be protected! What is there which
resembles the ocean? on whose margin the red buds of honey-yielding
trees are eclipsed by swarms of bees, whose beauty expands with the
junction of numerous streams. What is like the ocean, inhaling the
perfume of the Paryata (1), who was compelled to yield as tribute, wine,
wealth, and ambrosia (2)? Such is the ocean!—may he protect thee.

Of a mighty gift, this is the memorial. This lake enslaves the minds of
beholders, over whose expanse the varied feathered tribe skim with
delight, and whose banks are studded with every kind of tree. Falling
from the lofty-peaked mountain, enhancing the beauty of the scene, the
torrent rushes to the lake. The mighty sea-serpent (3), o’erspent with
toil in the churning of the ocean, repaired to this lake for repose.

On this earth’s surface was Maheswara (4), a mighty prince, during whose
sway the name of foe was never heard; whose fortune was known to the
eight quarters (5); on whose arm victory reclined for support. He was
the light of the land. The praises of the race of TWAST’HA (6) were
determined by Brahma’s own mouth.

Fair, filled with pride, sporting amidst the shoals of the lotos, is the
swan fed by his hand, from whose countenance issue rays of glory: such
was RAJA BHEEM (7), a skilful swimmer in the ocean of battle, even to
where the Ganges pours in her flood (8) did he go, whose abode is
_Avanti_ (9). With faces resplendent as the moon, on whose lips yet
marked with the wound of their husband’s teeth, the captive wives of his
foes, even in their hearts does Raja Bheem dwell. By his arm he removed
the apprehensions of his enemies; he considered them as errors to be
expunged. He appeared as if created of fire. He could instruct even the
navigator (10) of the ocean.

From him was descended RAJA BHOJ (11). How shall he be described; he,
who in the field of battle divided with his sword the elephant’s head,
the pearl from whose brain (12) now adorns his breast; who devours his
foe as does RAHOO (13) the sun or moon, who to the verge of space
erected edifices in token of victory?

From him was a son whose name was MAUN, who was surcharged with good
qualities, and with whom fortune took up her abode. One day he met an
aged man: his appearance made him reflect that his frame was as a
shadow, evanescent; that the spirit which did inhabit it was like the
seed of the scented _Kadama_ (14); that the riches of royalty were
brittle as a blade of grass; and that man was like a lamp exposed in the
light of day. Thus ruminating, for the sake of his race who had gone
before him, and for the sake of good works, he made this lake, whose
waters are expansive and depth unfathomable. When I look on this
ocean-like lake, I ask myself, if it may not be this which is destined
to cause the final doom (15).

The warriors and chiefs of RAJA MAUN (16) are men of skill and
valour—pure in their lives and faithful. RAJA MAUN is a heap of
virtues—the chief who enjoys his favour may court all the gifts of
fortune. When the head is inclined on his lotos foot, the grain of sand
which adheres becomes an ornament thereto. Such is the lake, shaded with
trees, frequented by birds, which the man of fortune, SRIMAN RAJA MAUN,
with great labour formed. By the name of its lord (_Maun_), that of the
lake (_surwur_) is known to the world. By him versed in the _alankara_,
PUSHHA, the son of NAGA BHUT, these stanzas have been framed. _Seventy
had elapsed beyond seven hundred years_ (_Samvatisir_), when the lord of
men, the KING OF MALWA (17) formed this lake. By SEVADIT, grandson of
KHETRI KARUG, were these lines cut [800].

_Note 1._—The Paryata is also called the Har-singar, or ‘_ornament of
the neck_,’ its flowers being made into collars and bracelets. Its aroma
is very delicate, and the blossom dies in a few hours.

_Note 2._—_Imrita_, the food of the immortals, obtained at the churning
of the ocean. The contest for this amongst the gods and demons is well
known. _Vrishpati_, or Sookra, regent of the planet Venus, on this
occasion lost an eye; and hence this Polyphemus has left the nickname of
_Sookracharya_ to all who have but one eye.

_Note 3._—His name _Matolae_.

_Note 4._—A celebrated name in the genealogies of the TAKSHAC _Pramara_,
of which the _Mori_ is a conspicuous _Sac’ha_ or branch. He was the
founder of the city of _Maheswar_, on the southern bank of the
Nehrbudda, which commands the ford leading from _Awinti_ and _Dhar_ (the
chief cities of the Mori Pramaras) to the Dekhan.

_Note 5._—The ancient Hindu divided his planisphere into eight quarters,
on which he placed the Koonjerries or elephants, for its support.

_Note 6._—TWASTHA, or Takshac, is the celebrated _Nagvansa_ of
antiquity. All are _Agniculas_. Cheetore, if erected by the Takshac
artist, has a right to the appellation Herbert has so singularly
assigned it, namely, _Tacsila_, built by the Tâk; it would be the
_Tâk-sillā-nagar_, the ‘stone fort of the Takshac,’ alluded to in No. 1.

_Note 7._—Raja Bheem, the lord of _Avanti_ or Oojein, the king of Malwa,
is especially celebrated in the Jain annals. A son of his led a numerous
colony into Marwar, and founded many cities between the Looni river and
the Aravulli mountains. _All became proselytes to the Jain faith_, and
their descendants, who are amongst the wealthiest and most numerous of
these mercantile sectarians, are proud of their Rajpoot descent; and it
tells when they are called to responsible offices, when they handle the
sword as well as the pen.

_Note 8._—_Ganga-Sagur_, or the Island at the mouth of the Ganges, is
specified by name as the limit of Bheem’s conquests. His memoria may yet
exist even there.

_Note 9._—_Avanti-Nat’h_, Lord of Avanti or Oojein.

_Note 10._—_Paryataca_, a navigator.

_Note 11._—Raja BHOJ. There is no more celebrated name than this in the
annals and literature of the Rajpoots; but there were three princes of
the Pramara race who bore it. The period of the last Raja Bhoj, father
of Udyadit, is now fixed, by various inscriptions discovered by me, A.D.
1035, and the dates of the two others I had from a leaf of a very
ancient Jain MS., obtained at the temple of Nadole, namely, S. 631 and
721, or A.D. 575 and 665. Abulfazil gives the period of the first Bhoj
as S. 545; but, as we find that valuable MS. of the period of the last
BHOJ confirmed by the date of this inscription of his son MAUN, namely,
S. 770, we may put perfect confidence in it, and now consider the
periods of the three, namely, S. 631, 721, and 1091—A.D. 567, 665, and
1035—as fixed points in Rajpoot chronology.

_Note 12._—In the head of that class of elephants called Bhadra, the
Hindoo says, there is always a large pearl.

_Note 13._—The monster Rahoo of the Rajpoot, who swallows the sun and
moon, _causing eclipses_, is _Fenris_, the wolf of the Scandinavians.
The _Asi_ carried the same ideas West, which they taught within the
Indus.

_Note 14._—Kadama is a very delicate flower, that decays almost
instantaneously.

_Note 15._—_Maha-pralaya!_

_Note 16._—The MS. annals of the Rana’s family state that their founder,
Bappa, conquered Cheetore from MAUN MORI. This inscription is therefore
invaluable as establishing the era of the conquest of [801] Cheetore by
the Gehlotes, and which was immediately following the first irruption of
the arms of Islam, as rendered in the annals of Mewar.

_Note 17._—As RAJA MAUN is called _King of Malwa_, it is evident that
Cheetore had superseded both Dhar and Awinti as the seat of power. A
palace of _Maun Mori_ is still shown as one of the antiquities in
Cheetore.[4.30a.3]

-----

Footnote 4.30a.3:

[For this Inscription see _ASR_, Progress Report West Circle, 1903-4
p. 56.]

-----

------------------

No. IV

Inscription in the Devanagari character, discovered in January 1822 in
Puttun Somnat’h, on the coast of the Saurashtra peninsula, fixing
the era of the sovereigns of BALABHI, the ‘_Balhara kings of
Nehrwalla_.’

Adoration to the Lord of all, to _the light of the universe_(1).
Adoration to the form indescribable; Him! at whose feet all kneel.

In the year of Mohummud 662, and in that of Vicrama 1320, and that of
Srimad Balabhi 945, and the Siva-Singa Samvat 151, Sunday, the 13th
(_badi_) of the month Asar (2).

The chiefs of Anhulpoor Patun obeyed by numerous princes (here a string
of titles), Bhataric Srimad Arjuna Deva (3), of Chauluc race, his
minister Sri Maldeva, with all the officers of government, together with
_Hormuz of Belacool_, of the government of _Ameer Rookn-oo-Din_, and of
_Khwaja Ibrahim_ of _Hormuz_, son of the Admiral (_Nakhoda_)
_Noor-oo-Din Feeroz_, together with the CHAURA chieftains Palookdeva,
Ranik Sri Someswadeva, Ramdeva, Bheemsing, and all the Chauras and other
tribes of rank being assembled (4);

NANSI RAJA, of the Chaura race, inhabiting _Deo Puttun_ (5), assembling
all the merchants, established ordinances for the repairs and the
support of the temples, in order that flowers, oil, and water should be
regularly supplied to _Rutna-iswara_ (6), _Choul-iswara_ (7), and the
shrine of _Pulinda Devi_ (8), and the rest, and for the purpose of
erecting a wall round the temple of Somnat’h, with a gateway to the
north. Keelndeo, son of Modula, and Loonsi, son of Johan, both of the
Chaura race, together with the two merchants, Balji and Kurna, bestowed
the weekly profits of the market for this purpose. While sun and moon
endure, let it not be resumed. Feeroz is commanded to see this order
obeyed, and that the customary offerings on festivals are continued, and
that all surplus offerings and gifts be placed in the treasury for the
purposes afore-named. The Chaura chiefs present, and the Admiral
Noor-oo-Din, are commanded to see these orders executed on all classes.
Heaven will be the lot of the obedient; hell to the breaker of this
ordinance.[4.30a.4]

---

_Note 1._—The invocation, which was long, has been omitted by me. But
this is sufficient to show that BAL-NAT’H, the deity worshipped in
PUTTUN SOMNAT’H, ‘the city of the lord of the Moon,’ was the sun-god
_Bal_. Hence the title of the dynasties which ruled this region,
BAL-CA-RAE, ‘the princes of Bal,’ and hence the capital BALICAPOOR, ‘the
city of the sun,’ familiarly written _Balabhi_, whose ruins, as well as
this inscription, rewarded a long journey. The Rana’s ancestors, the
_Suryas_, or ‘sun-worshippers,’ gave their name to the peninsula
Saurashtra, or Syria, and the dynasties of CHAURA, and CHAULUC, or
SOLANKI, who succeeded them on their expulsion by the Parthians,
retained the title of BALICARAES, corrupted by Renaudot’s Arabian
travellers into BALHARA [802].

_Note 2._—The importance of the discovery of these _new eras_ has
already been descanted on in the annals. S. 1320-945, the date of this
inscription = 375 of Vicrama for the first of the Balabhi era; and
1320-151 gives S. 1169 for the establishment of the _Sevasinga_
era—established by the Gohils of the island of Deo, of whom I have
another memorial, dated 927 Balabhi Samvat. The Gohils, Chauras, and
Gehlotes are all of one stock.

_Note 3._—Arjuna-Deva, _Chaluc_, was prince of Anhulpoor or Anhulwarra,
founded by Vanraj Chaura in S. 802—henceforth the capital of the
Balica-raes after the destruction of Balabhi.

_Note 4._—This evinces that Anhulwarra was still the emporium of
commerce which the travellers of Renaudot and Edrisi describe.

_Note 5._—From this it is evident that the Islandic Deo was a dependent
fief of Anhulwarra.]

_Note 6._—The great temple of Somnath.

_Note 7._—The tutelary divinity of the Chauluc race.

_Note 8._—The goddess of the Bhil tribes.

------------------

No. V

Inscription from the ruins of Aitpoor.[4.30a.6]

In Samvatsir 1034, the 16th of the month Bysak, was erected this
dwelling[4.30a.7] of Nanukswami.

From Anundpoor came he of Brahmin[4.30a.8] race (may he flourish), Muhee
Deva Sri Goha Dit, from whom became famous on the earth the Gohil tribe:

2. Bhoj.

3. Mahindra.

4. Naga.

5. Syeela.

6. Aprajit.

7. Mahindra, no equal as a warrior did then exist on the earth’s
surface.

8. Kalbhoj was resplendent as the sun.[4.30a.9]

9. Khoman, an unequalled warrior; from him

10. Bhirtrpad, the Tiluk of the three worlds; and from whom was

11. Singji; whose Ranee Maha Lakmee, of the warlike race of Rashtra
(Rahtore), and from her was born:

12. Sri Ullut. To him who subdued the earth and became its lord, was
born Haria Devi: her praise was known in Hurspoora; and from her was
born a mighty warrior in whose arm victory reposed; the Khetri of the
field of battle, who broke the confederacy of his foes, and from the
tree of whose fortune riches were the fruit: an altar of learning; from
him was

13. Nirvahana. By the daughter of Sri Jaijah, of Chauhana race, was born

14. Salvahana.

Such were their (the princes whose names are given) fortunes which I
have related. From him was born [803],

15. Secti Koomar. How can he be described?—He who conquered and made his
own the three qualifications (_sacti_);[4.30a.10] whose fortunes
equalled those of Bhirtrpad. In the abode of wealth Sri Aitpoor, which
he had made his dwelling, surrounded by a crowd of princes; the
_kulpdroom_ to his people; whose foot-soldiers are many; with vaults of
treasure—whose fortunes have ascended to heaven—whose city derives its
beauty from the intercourse of merchants; and in which there is but one
single evil, the killing darts from the bright eyes of beauty, carrying
destruction to the vassals of the prince.[4.30a.11]

-----

Footnote 4.30a.4:

[See _IA_, xi. 242 f.]

Footnote 4.30a.6:

[This name is wrongly transliterated. It is Ātapura, now Ād, Āhad or
Āhar, 2 miles E. of Udaipur (_IA_, xxxix., 1910, p. 186 ff.).]

Footnote 4.30a.7:

Aitun.

Footnote 4.30a.8:

Vipra cula.

Footnote 4.30a.9:

Ark.

Footnote 4.30a.10:

1. ┐
Pribhoo.

2. │ Three
Ootchha. Sactis.

3. Muntri. ┘

Footnote 4.30a.11:

[Erskine, who obtained a correct copy of this Inscription from Pandit
Gaurishankar H. Ojha, writes: “In his translation Tod left out several
names, namely, Mattat, Khumān II., Mahāyak, Khumān III., and Bhartari
Bhat II.; but with the help of a copy recently discovered at Māndal in
the house of a descendant of the Pandit whom Tod employed, it has been
possible to supply the omissions, and it may be added that these names
are confirmed by other inscriptions” (ii. A. 14). Erskine gives a
corrected list of the Chiefs of Mewār in ii. B. 8 ff.]

-----

No. VI

Inscription of Kumar Pal Solanki, in the Mindra of Brimha, in Cheetore,
recording his conquest of Salpoori, in the Punjab.

To him who takes delight in the abode of waters; from whose braided
locks ambrosial drops continually descend; even this Mahadeva, may he
protect thee!

He of Chaulac tribe, having innumerable gems of ancestry, flowing from a
sea of splendour, was Moolraj, sovereign of the earth.

What did he resemble, whose renown was bright as a fair sparkling gem,
diffusing happiness and ease to the sons of the earth? Many mighty
princes there were of his line; but none before had made the great
sacrifice.

Generations after him, in the lapse of many years, was Sid Raj, a name
known to the world; whose frame was encased in the riches of victory,
and whose deeds were sounded over the curtain of the earth; and who, by
the fire of his own frame and fortune, heaped up unconsumable wealth.

After him was Kumar Pal Deo. What was he like, who by the strength of
his invincible mind crushed all his foes; whose commands the other
sovereigns of the earth placed on their fore-heads; who compelled the
lord of Sacambhari to bow at his feet: who in person carried his arms to
Sewaluk, making the mountain lords to bow before him, even in the city
of Salpoori?

On the mountain Chutterkote ... ar, the lord of men, in sport placed
this [writing] amidst the abode of the gods: even on its pinnacle did he
place it. Why? That it might be beyond the reach of the hands of fools!

As Nissa-Nath, the lord who rules the night, looking on the faces of the
fair Kamunis below, feels envious of their fairness, and ashamed of the
dark spots on his own countenance, even so does Chutterkote blush at
seeing this (Prasishta) on her pinnacle.

_Samvat_ 1207 (month and day broken off) [804].[4.30a.12]

-----

Footnote 4.30a.12:

[See _Epigraphia Indica_, ii. 422 ff.]

-----

------------------

No. VII

Inscriptions on copper-plates found at Nadole relative
to the Chohan princes.

The treasury of knowledge of the Almighty (JINA) cuts the knots and
intentions of mankind. Pride, conceit, desire, anger, avarice. It is a
partition to the three[4.30a.13] worlds. Such is MAHAVIRA:[4.30a.14] may
he grant thee happiness!

In ancient times the exalted race of Chohan had sovereignty to the
bounds of ocean; and in NADOLE swayed Lacshman, Raja. He had a son named
LOHIA; and his BULRAJ, his VIGRAHA PAL; from him sprung MAHINDRA DEVA;
his son was SRI ANHULA, the chief amongst the princes of his time, whose
fortunes were known to all. His son was SRI BAL PRESAD; but having no
issue, his younger brother, JAITR RAJ, succeeded. His son was PRITHWI
PAL, endued with strength and fiery qualities; but he having no issue,
was succeeded by his younger brother JUL; he by his brother MAUN RAJA,
the abode of fortune. His son was ALANDEVA.[4.30a.15] When he mounted
the throne, he reflected this world was a fable: that this frame,
composed of unclean elements, of flesh, blood, and dust, was brought to
existence in pain. Versed in the books of faith, he reflected on the
evanescence of youth, resembling the scintillation of the
fire-fly;[4.30a.16] that riches were as the dew-drop on the lotos-leaf,
for a moment resembling the pearl, but soon to disappear. Thus
meditating, he commanded his servants, and sent them forth to his
chieftains, to desire them to bestow happiness on others, and to walk in
the paths of faith.

In Samvat 1218, in the month of Sawun the 29th,[4.30a.17] performing the
sacrifice to fire, and pouring forth libations to the dispeller of
darkness, he bathed the image of the omniscient, the lord of things
which move and are immovable, Sudasiva, with the _panchamrit_[4.30a.18]
and made the gifts of gold, grain, and clothes to his spiritual teacher,
preceptor, and the Brahmins to their hearts’ desire. Taking _til_ in his
hand, with rings on his finger of the _cusa_ (grass), holding water and
rice in the palm of his hand, he made a gift of five _moodras_ monthly
in perpetuity to the _Sandera Gatcha_[4.30a.19] for saffron,
sandal-wood, and ghee for the service of the temple of MAHAVIRA in the
white market (_mandra_) of the town. Hence this copper-plate. This
charity which I have bestowed will continue as long as the SANDERA
GATCHA exist to receive, and my issue to grant it.

To whoever may rule hereafter I touch their hands, that it may be
perpetual. Whoever bestows charity will live sixty thousand years in
heaven; whoever resumes it, the like in hell!

Of Pragvavansa,[4.30a.20] his name Dhurnidhur, his son Kurmchund being
minister, and the _sastri_ Munorut Ram, with his sons Visala and
Sridhara, by writing this inscription made his name resplendent. By SRI
ALAN’S own hand was this copper-plate bestowed. Samvat 1218
[805].[4.30a.21]

TREATY between the Honourable the English East-India Company and
Maharana Bheem Sing, Rana of Oudeepoor, concluded by Mr. Charles
Theophilus Metcalfe on the part of the Honourable Company, in virtue
of full powers granted by his Excellency the Most Noble the Marquis
of Hastings, K.G., Governor-General, and by Thakoor Ajeet Sing on
the part of the Maharana, in virtue of full powers conferred by the
Maharana aforesaid.

_First Article._—There shall be perpetual friendship, alliance, and
unity of interests between the two states, from generation to
generation, and the friends and enemies of one shall be the friends and
enemies of both.

_Second Article._—The British Government engages to protect the
principality and territory of Oudeepoor.

_Third Article._—The Maharana of Oudeepoor will always act in
subordinate co-operation with the British Government, and acknowledge
its supremacy, and will not have any connection with other chiefs or
states.

_Fourth Article._—The Maharana of Oudeepoor will not enter into any
negotiation with any chief or state without the knowledge and sanction
of the British Government; but his usual amicable correspondence with
friends and relations shall continue.

_Fifth Article._—The Maharana of Oudeepoor will not commit aggressions
upon any one; and if by accident a dispute arise with any one, it shall
be submitted to the arbitration and award of the British Government.

_Sixth Article._—One-fourth of the revenue of the actual territory of
Oudeepoor shall be paid annually to the British Government as tribute
for five years; and after that term three-eighths in perpetuity. The
Maharana will not have connection with any other power on account of
tribute, and if any one advance claims of that nature, the British
Government engages to reply to them.

_Seventh Article._—Whereas the Maharana represents that portions of the
dominions of Oudeepoor have fallen, by improper means, into the
possession of others, and solicits the restitution of those places: the
British Government from a want of accurate information is not able to
enter into any positive engagement on this subject; but will always keep
in view the renovation of the prosperity of the state of Oudeepoor, and
after ascertaining the nature of each case, will use its best exertions
for the accomplishment of the object, on every occasion on which it may
be proper to do so. Whatever places may thus be restored to the state of
Oudeepoor by the aid of the British Government, three-eighths of their
revenues shall be paid in perpetuity to the British Government.

_Eighth Article._—The troops of the state of Oudeepoor shall be
furnished according to its means, at the requisition of the British
Government.

_Ninth Article._—The Maharana of Oudeepoor shall always be absolute
ruler of his own country, and the British jurisdiction shall not be
introduced into that principality.

_Tenth Article._—The present treaty of ten articles having been
concluded at Dihlee, and signed and sealed by Mr. Charles Theophilus
Metcalfe and Thakoor Ajeet Sing Buhadoor [806], the ratifications of the
same, by his Excellency the Most Noble the Governor-General, and
Maharana Bheem Sing, shall be mutually delivered within a month from
this date.

Done at Dihlee, this thirteenth day of January, A.D. 1818.

(_Signed_) C. T. METCALFE (L.S.).
THAKOOR AJEET SING (L.S.)

[Illustration:

THE LATE MAHĀRĀJA SIR SUMER SINGH, OF JODHPUR (_b._ 1901; _d._ 1918),
AND HIS BROTHER, THE PRESENT MAHĀRĀJA UMMED SINGH (_b._ 1903).
_To face page 928._
]

-----

Footnote 4.30a.13:

Tribhawun-loca; or Patala, Mirtha, Swerga.

Footnote 4.30a.14:

_Mahavira_, to whom the temple was thus endowed by the Chohan prince,
follower of Siva, was the last of the twenty-four Jinas, or apostles
of the Jains.

Footnote 4.30a.15:

The prince being the twelfth from Lacshman, allowing twenty-two years
to a reign, 264-1218; date of inscription, S. 954, or A.D. 898, the
period of Lacshman.

Footnote 4.30a.16:

_Kudheata._

Footnote 4.30a.17:

_Sudi choudus._

Footnote 4.30a.18:

Milk, curds, clarified butter, honey, butter, and sugar.

Footnote 4.30a.19:

One of eighty-four divisions of Jain tribes.

Footnote 4.30a.20:

Poorval, a branch of the Oswal race of Jain laity.

Footnote 4.30a.21:

[See _Epigraphia Indica_ ii. 422 ff.]

-----

BOOK V
ANNALS OF MĀRWĀR

CHAPTER 1

=Etymology of Mārwār.=—Marwar is a corruption of Maruwar, classically
Marusthali or Marusthan, ‘the region of death.’ It is also called
Marudesa, whence the unintelligible Mardes of the early Muhammadan
writers. The bards frequently style it Mordhar, which is synonymous with
Marudesa, or, when it suits their rhyme, simply Maru. Though now
restricted to the country subject to the Rathor race, its ancient and
appropriate application comprehended the entire ‘desert,’ from the
Sutlej to the ocean.

=The Rāthors.=—A concise genealogical sketch of the Rathor rulers of
Marwar has already been given;[5.1.1] we shall therefore briefly pass
over those times “when a genealogical tree would strike root in any
soil”; when the ambition of the Rathors, whose branches (_sakha_) spread
rapidly over ‘the region of death,’ was easily gratified with a solar
[2] pedigree. As it is desirable, however, to record their own opinions
regarding their origin, we shall make extracts from the chronicles
(hereafter enumerated), instead of fusing the whole into one mass, as in
the Annals of Mewar. The reader will occasionally be presented with
simple translations of whatever is most interesting in the Rathor
records.

=Authorities.=—Let us begin with a statement of the author’s
authorities; first, a genealogical roll of the Rathors, furnished by a
Yati, or Jain priest, from the temple of Narlai.[5.1.2] This roll is
about fifty feet in length, commencing, as usual, with a theogony,
followed by the production of the ‘first Rathor from the spine (_rahat_)
of Indra,’[5.1.3] the nominal father being ‘Yavanaswa, prince of
Parlipur.’ Of the topography of Parlipur, the Rathors have no other
notion than that it was in the north; but in the declared race of their
progenitor, a Yavan prince, of the Aswa or Asi tribe,[5.1.4] we have a
proof of the Scythic origin of this Rajput family.

The chronicle proceeds with the foundation of Kanyakubja,[5.1.5] or
Kanauj, and the origin of Kama-dhwaja[5.1.6] (_vulgo_ Kamdhuj), the
titular appellation of its princes, and concludes with the thirteen
great Sakha, or ramifications of the Rathors, and their Gotracharya, or
genealogical creed.[5.1.7]

Another roll, of considerable antiquity, commences in the fabulous age,
with a long string of names, without facts; its sole value consists in
the esteem in which the tribe holds it. We may omit all that precedes
Nain Pal, who, in the year S. 526 (A.D. 470[5.1.8]), conquered Kanauj,
slaying its monarch Ajaipal; from which period the race was termed
Kanaujia Rathor. The genealogy proceeds to Jaichand, the last monarch of
Kanauj; relates the emigration of his nephew Siahji, or Sivaji, and his
establishment in the desert (Maruwar), with a handful of his brethren (a
wreck of the mighty kingdom of Kanauj); and terminates with the death of
Raja Jaswant Singh in S. 1735 (A.D. 1679), describing every branch and
scion, until we see them spreading over Maru [3].

Genealogy ceases to be an uninteresting pursuit when it enables us to
mark the progress of animal vegetation, from the germ to the complete
development of the tree, until the land is overshadowed with its
branches; and bare as is the chronicle to the moralist or historian, it
exhibits to the observer of the powers of the animal economy, data which
the annals of no other people on earth can furnish. In A.D. 1193 we see
the throne of Jaichand overturned; his nephew, with a handful of
retainers, taking service with a petty chieftain in the Indian desert.
In less than four centuries we find the descendants of these exiles of
the Ganges occupying nearly the whole of the desert; having founded
three capitals, studded the land with the castles of its feudality, and
bringing into the field fifty thousand men, _ek bap ka beta_, ‘the sons
of one father,’ to combat the emperor of Delhi. What a contrast does
their unnoticed growth present to that of the Islamite conquerors of
Kanauj, of whom five dynasties passed away in ignorance of the renovated
existence of the Rathor, until the ambition of Sher Shah brought him
into contact with the descendants of Siahji, whose valour caused him to
exclaim “he had nearly lost the crown of India for a handful of barley,”
in allusion to the poverty of their land![5.1.9]

What a sensation does it not excite when we know that a sentiment of
kindred pervades every individual of this immense affiliated body, who
can point out, in the great tree, the branch of his origin, whilst not
one is too remote from the main stem to forget its pristine connexion
with it! The moral sympathies created by such a system pass unheeded by
the chronicler, who must deem it futile to describe what all sensibly
feel, and which renders his page, albeit little more than a string of
names, one of paramount interest to the ‘sons of Siahji.’

The third authority is the Suraj Prakas (Surya Prakasa), composed by the
bard Karnidhan, during the reign and by command of Raja Abhai Singh.
This poetic history, comprised in 7500 stanzas, was copied from the
original manuscript, and sent to me by Raja Man, in the year
1820.[5.1.10] As usual, the Kavya (bard) commences with the origin of
all things, tracing the Rathors from the creation down to Sumitra; from
whence is a blank until he recommences with the name of Kamdhuj, which
appears to have been the title assumed by Nain Pal, on his conquest of
Kanauj. Although Karnidhan must have taken his facts from the [4] royal
records, they correspond very well with the roll from Narlai. The bard
is, however, in a great hurry to bring the founder of the Rathors into
Marwar, and slurs over the defeat and death of Jaichand. Nor does he
dwell long on his descendants, though he enumerates them all, and points
out the leading events until he reaches the reign of Jaswant Singh,
grandfather of Abhai Singh, who “commanded the bard to write the Suraj
Prakas.”

The next authority is the Raj Rupak Akhyat, or ‘the royal relations.’
This work commences with a short account of the Suryavansa, from their
cradle at Ajodhya; then takes up Siahji’s migration, and in the same
strain as the preceding work, rapidly passes over all events until the
death of Raja Jaswant; but it becomes a perfect chronicle of events
during the minority of his successor Ajit, his eventful reign, and that
of Abhai Singh, to the conclusion of the war against Sarbuland Khan,
viceroy of Gujarat. Throwing aside the meagre historical introduction,
it is professedly a chronicle of the events from S. 1735 (A.D. 1679) to
S. 1787 (A.D. 1734), the period to which the Suraj Prakas is brought
down.

A portion of the Bijai Vilas, a poem of 100,000 couplets, also fell into
my hands: it chiefly relates to the reign of the prince whose name it
bears, Bijai Singh, the son of Bakhta Singh. It details the civil wars
waged by Bijai Singh and his cousin Ram Singh (son of Abhai Singh), and
the consequent introduction of the Mahrattas into Marwar.

From a biographical work named simply Khyat, or ‘Story,’ I obtained that
portion which relates to the lives of Raja Udai Singh, the friend of
Akbar; his son Raja Gaj, and grandson Jaswant Singh. These sketches
exhibit in true colours the character of the Rathors.

Besides these, I caused to be drawn up by an intelligent man, who had
passed his life in office at Jodhpur, a memoir of transactions from the
death of Ajit Singh, in A.D. 1629, down to the treaty with the English
Government in A.D. 1818. The ancestors of the narrator had filled
offices of trust in the State, and he was a living chronicle both of the
past and present.

From these sources, from conversations with the reigning sovereign, his
nobles, his ambassadors, and subjects, materials were collected for this
sketch of the Rathors—barren, indeed, of events at first, but redundant
of them as we advance.

A genealogical table of the Rathors is added, showing the grand offsets,
whose [5] descendants constitute the feudal frèrage of the present day.
A glance at this table will show the claims of each house; and in its
present distracted condition, owing to civil broils, will enable the
paramount power to mediate, when necessary, with impartiality, in the
conflicting claims of the prince and his feudatories.

=Rāthor Origins.=—We shall not attempt to solve the question, whether
the Rathors are, or are not, Ravi-vansa, ‘Children of the Sun’; nor
shall we dispute either the birth or etymon of the first Rathor (from
the _rahat_ or spine of Indra), or search in the north for the kingdom
of the nominal father; but be content to conclude that this celestial
interference in the household concerns of the Parlipur prince was
invented to cover some disgrace. The name of Yavana, with the adjunct
Aswa or Asi, clearly indicates the Indo-Scythic ‘barbarian’ from beyond
the Indus. In the genealogy of the Lunar races descended of Budha and
Ila (Mercury and the Earth—see Table I. Vol. I.), the five sons of
Bajaswa are made to people the countries on and beyond the Indus; and in
the scanty records of Alexander’s invasion mention is made of many
races, as the Assasenae and Assakenoi, still dwelling in these regions.

This period was fruitful in change to the old-established dynasties of
the Hindu continent, when numerous races of barbarians, namely, Huns,
Parthians, and Getae, had fixed colonies on her western and northern
frontiers.[5.1.11]

“In S. 526 (A.D. 470) Nain Pal obtained Kanauj, from which period the
Rathors assumed the title of Kamdhuj. His son was Padarath,[5.1.12] his
Punja, from whom sprung the thirteen great families, bearing the
patronymic Kamdhuj, namely:

“1st. Dharma Bambo: his descendants styled Danesra Kamdhuj.

“2nd. Banuda, who fought the Afghans at Kangra, and founded Abhaipur:
hence the Abhaipura Kamdhuj.

“3rd. Virachandra, who married the daughter of Hamira Chauhan, of
Anhilpur Patan; he had fourteen sons, who emigrated to the Deccan: his
descendants called Kapolia Kamdhuj.

“4th. Amrabijai, who married the daughter of the Pramara prince of
Koragarh[5.1.13] on the Ganges;—slew 16,000 Pramaras, and took
possession of Kora, whence the Kora Kamdhuj[5.1.14] [6].

“5th. Sujan Binod: his descendants Jarkhera Kamdhuj.

“6th. Padma, who conquered Orissa, and also Bogilana,[5.1.15] from Raja
Tejman Yadu.

“7th. Aihar, who took Bengal from the Yadus: hence Aihara Kamdhuj.

“8th. Bardeo; his elder brother offered him in appanage Benares, and
eighty-four townships; but he preferred founding a city, which he called
Parakhpur:[5.1.16] his descendants Parakh Kamdhuj.

“9th. Ugraprabhu, who made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Hinglaj
Chandel,[5.1.17] who, pleased with the severity of his penance, caused a
sword to ascend from the fountain, with which he conquered the southern
countries touching the ocean:[5.1.18] his descendants Chandela Kamdhuj.

“10th. Muktaman, who conquered possessions in the north from Bhan Tuar:
his descendants Bira Kamdhuj.

“11th. Bharat, at the age of sixty-one, conquered Kanaksar, under the
northern hills, from Rudrasen of the Bargujar tribe: his descendants
styled Bhariau Kamdhuj.

“12th. Alankal founded Khairoda; fought the Asuras (Muslims) on the
banks of the Attock: his descendants Kherodia Kamdhuj.

“13th. Chand obtained Tarapur in the north. He married a daughter of the
Chauhan of Tahera,[5.1.19] a city well known to the world: with her he
came to Benares.

“And thus the race of Surya multiplied.

“Bambo,[5.1.20] or Dharma-Bambo, sovereign of Kanauj, had a son,
Ajaichand.[5.1.21] For twenty-one generations they bore the titles of
Rao; afterwards that of Raja. Udaichand, Narpati, Kanaksen, Sahassal,
Meghsen, Birabhadra, Deosen, Bimalsen, Dansen, Mukund, Budha, Rajsen,
Tirpal, Sripunja, Bijaichand,[5.1.22] his son Jaichand, who became the
Naik of Kanauj, with the surname Dal Pangla.”

=Jaichand.=—Nothing is related of the actions of these princes, from the
conquest of Kanauj [7] by Nain Pal, in A.D. 470, and the establishment
of his thirteen grandsons in divers countries, until we reach Jaichand,
in whose person (A.D. 1193) terminated the Rathor sovereignty on the
Ganges; and we have only twenty-one names to fill up the space of seven
centuries, although the testimony on which it is given[5.1.23] asserts
there were twenty-one princes bearing the title of Rao prior to the
assumption of that of Raja. But the important information is omitted as
to who was the first to assume this title. There are names in the Yati’s
roll that are not in the Suraj Prakas, which we have followed; and one
of these, Rangatdhwaj, is said to have overcome Jasraj Tuar, king of
Delhi, for whose period we have correct data: yet we cannot incorporate
the names in the Yati’s roll with that just given without vitiating
each; and as we have no facts, it is useless to perplex ourselves with a
barren genealogy. But we can assert that it must have been a splendid
dynasty, and that their actions, from the conqueror Nain Pal to the last
prince, Jaichand, were well deserving of commemoration. That they were
commemorated in written records there cannot be a doubt; for the trade
of the bardic chroniclers in India has flourished in all ages.

=The City of Kanauj.=—Although we have abundant authority to assert the
grandeur of the kingdom of Kanauj[5.1.24] at the period of its
extinction, both from the bard Chand and the concurrent testimony of
Muhammadan authors, yet are we astonished at the description of the
capital, attested not only by the annals of the Rathors, but by those of
their antagonists, the Chauhans.

The circumvallation of Kanauj covered a space of more than thirty miles;
and its numerous forces obtained for its prince the epithet of ‘Dal
Pangla,’ meaning that the mighty host (_Dal_) was lame or had a halt in
its movements owing to its numbers, of which Chand observes that in the
march “the van had reached their ground ere the rear had moved off.” The
Suraj Prakas gives the amount of this army, which in numbers might
compete with the most potent which, in ancient or modern times, was ever
sent into the field. “Eighty thousand men in armour; thirty thousand
horse covered with _pakhar_, or quilted mail; three hundred thousand
Paiks or infantry; and of bow-men and battle-axes two hundred thousand;
besides a cloud of elephants bearing warriors” [8].

This immense army was to oppose the Yavana beyond the Indus; for, as the
chronicle says, “The king of Gor and Irak crossed the Attock. There Jai
Singh met the conflict, when the Nilab changed its name to
Surkhab.[5.1.25] There was the Ethiopic (_Habshi_) king, and the skilful
Frank learned in all arts,[5.1.26] overcome by the lord of Kanauj.”

The chronicles of the Chauhans, the sworn foe of the Rathors, repeat the
greatness of the monarch of Kanauj, and give him the title of
“Mandalika.”[5.1.27] They affirm that he overcame the king of the
north,[5.1.28] making eight tributary kings prisoners; that he twice
defeated Siddhraj, king of Anhilwara, and extended his dominions south
of the Nerbudda, and that at length, in the fulness of his pride, he had
divine honours paid him in the rite Swayamvara.[5.1.29] This
distinction, which involves the most august ceremony, and is held as a
virtual assumption of universal supremacy, had in all ages been attended
with disaster. In the rite of Swayamvara every office, down to the
scullion of the Rasora, or banquet-hall, must be performed by royal
personages; nor had it been attempted by any of the dynasties which
ruled India since the Pandu: not even Vikrama, though he introduced his
own era, had the audacity to attempt what the Rathor determined to
execute. All India was agitated by the accounts of the magnificence of
the preparations, and circular invitations were despatched to every
prince, inviting him to assist at the pompous ceremony, which was to
conclude with the nuptials of the raja’s only daughter, who, according
to the customs of those days, would select her future lord from the
assembled chivalry of India. The Chauhan bard describes the revelry and
magnificence of the scene: the splendour of the Yajnasala, or ‘hall of
sacrifice,’ surpassing all powers of description; in which were
assembled all the princes of India, “save the lord of the Chauhans, and
Samara of Mewar,” who, scorning this assumption of supremacy, Jaichand
made their effigies in gold, assigning to them the most servile posts;
that of the king of the Chauhans being Poliya, or ‘porter of the hall.’
Prithiraj, whose life was one succession of feats of arms and gallantry,
had a double motive for action—love and revenge. He determined to enjoy
both, or perish in the attempt; “to spoil the sacrifice and bear away
the fair of Kanauj from its halls, though beset [9] by all the heroes of
Hind.” The details of this exploit form the most spirited of the
sixty-nine books of the bard. The Chauhan executed his purpose, and,
with the élite of the warriors of Delhi, bore off the princess in open
day from Kanauj. A desperate running-fight of five days took place. To
use the words of the bard, “he preserved his prize; he gained immortal
renown, but he lost the sinews of Delhi.” So did Jaichand those of
Kanauj; and each, who had singly repelled all attacks of the kings, fell
in turn a prey to the Ghori Sultan,[5.1.30] who skilfully availed
himself of these international feuds, to make a permanent conquest of
India.

=The Great States of North India.=—We may here briefly describe the
state of Hindustan at this epoch, and for centuries previous to the
invasions of Mahmud.

There were four great kingdoms, namely—

1. Delhi, under the Tuars and Chauhans.
2. Kanauj, under the Rathors.
3. Mewar, under the Guhilots.
4. Anhilwara, under the Chauras and Solankis.

To one or other of these States the numerous petty princes of India
paid homage and feudal service. The boundary between Delhi and Kanauj
was the Kalinadi, or ‘black stream’; the Kalindi of the Greek
geographers.[5.1.31] Delhi claimed supremacy over all the countries
westward to the Indus, embracing the lands watered by its arms, from
the foot of the Himalaya,—the desert—to the Aravalli chain. The
Chauhan king, successor to the Tuars, enumerated one hundred and eight
great vassals, many of whom were subordinate princes.

The power of Kanauj extended north to the foot of the Snowy mountains;
eastward to Kasi (Benares); and across the Chambal to the lands of the
Chandel (now Bundelkhand); on the south its possessions came in contact
with Mewar.

Mewar, or Madhyawar, the ‘central region,’[5.1.32] was bounded to the
north by the Aravalli, to the south by the Pramaras of Dhar (dependent
on Kanauj), and westward by Anhilwara, which State was bounded by the
ocean to the south, the Indus on the west, and the desert to the north.

There are records of great wars amongst all these princes. The Chauhans
and Guhilots, whose dominions were contiguous, were generally allies,
and the Rathors and Tuars (predecessors of the Chauhans), who were only
divided by the Kalinadi, often dyed it with their blood. Yet this
warfare was never of an [10] exterminating kind; a marriage quenched a
feud, and they remained friends until some new cause of strife arose.

If, at the period preceding Mahmud, the traveller had journeyed through
the courts of Europe, and taken the line of route, in subsequent ages
pursued by Timur, by Byzantium, through Ghazni (adorned with the spoils
of India), to Delhi, Kanauj, and Anhilwara, how superior in all that
constitutes civilization would the Rajput princes have appeared to
him!—in arts immeasurably so; in arms by no means inferior. At that
epoch, in the west, as in the east, every State was governed on feudal
principles. Happily for Europe, the democratical principle gained
admittance, and imparted a new character to her institutions; while the
third estate of India, indeed of Asia, remained permanently excluded
from all share in the government which was supported by its labour,
every pursuit but that of arms being deemed ignoble. To this cause, and
the endless wars which feudality engendered, Rajput nationality fell a
victim when attacked by the means at command of the despotic kings of
the north.

=The Invasion of Shihābu-d-dīn.=—Shihabu-d-din, king of Ghor, taking
advantage of these dissensions, invaded India. He first encountered
Prithiraj, the Chauhan king of Delhi, the outwork and bulwark of India,
which fell. Shihabu-d-din then attacked Jaichand, who was weakened by
the previous struggle. Kanauj put forth all her strength, but in vain;
and her monarch was the last son of “the Yavana of Parlipur” who ruled
on the banks of the Ganges. He met a death congenial to the Hindu, being
drowned in the sacred stream in attempting to escape.[5.1.33]

This event happened in S. 1249 (A.D. 1193), from which period the
overgrown, gorgeous Kanauj ceased to be a Hindu city, when the
“thirty-six races” of vassal princes, from the Himalaya to the Vindhya,
who served under the banners of Bardai Sena,[5.1.34] retired to their
patrimonial estates. But though the Rathor name ceased to exist on the
shores of the Ganges, destiny decreed that a scion should be preserved,
to produce in a less favoured land a long line of kings; that in
thirty-one generations his descendant, Raja Man, “Raj, Rajeswara,” ‘the
king, the lord of kings,’ should be as vainglorious of the sceptre of
Maru as either Jaichand when he commanded divine honours, or his still
more remote ancestor Nain Pal fourteen [11] centuries before, when he
erected his throne in Kanauj. The Rathor may well boast of his pedigree,
when he can trace it through a period of 1360 years, in lineal descent
from male to male; and contented with this, may leave to the mystic page
of the bard, or the interpolated pages of the Puranas, the period
preceding Nain Pal.

-----

Footnote 5.1.1:

See Vol. I. p. 105.

Footnote 5.1.2:

An ancient town in Marwar [about 80 miles S.E. of Jodhpur city].

Footnote 5.1.3:

[A folk etymology, the name being derived from Rāshtrakūta, which may
mean the chief, as opposed to the rank and file of the Ratta dynasty;
but it has also been connected with Reddi, a Dravidian caste in S.
India (_BG_, i. Part i. 119, Part ii. 22 note, 178, 383 ff.).]

Footnote 5.1.4:

One of the four tribes which overturned the Greek kingdom of Bactria.
The ancient Hindu cosmographers claim the Aswa as a grand branch of
their early family, and doubtless the Indo-Scythic people, from the
Oxus to the Ganges, were one race.

Footnote 5.1.5:

From _kubja_ (the spine) of the virgin (_kanya_) [referring to the
legend of the hundred daughters of Kusanābha rendered crooked by
Vāyu].

Footnote 5.1.6:

Kama-dhwaja, ‘the banner of Cupid.’

Footnote 5.1.7:

Gotama Gotra, Mardwandani Sakha, Sukracharya Guru, Garapatya Agni,
Pankhani Devi.

Footnote 5.1.8:

It is a singular fact, that there is no available date beyond the
fourth century for any of the great Rajput families, all of whom are
brought from the north. This was the period of one of the grand
irruptions of the Getic races from Central Asia, who established
kingdoms in the Panjab and on the Indus. Pal or Pali, the universal
adjunct to every proper name, indicates the pastoral race of these
invaders [?]. [The reason why the Rājput genealogies do not go back to
an early date is that many of them were recruited from Gurjara and
other foreign tribes. The tale of the origin of the Rāthors from
Kanauj is a myth, as the dynasty of that place belonged to the
Gahadvāla or Gaharwār clan. The object of the story was to affiliate
the tribe to the heroic Jaichand (Smith, _EHI_, 385).]

Footnote 5.1.9:

[See p. 835.]

Footnote 5.1.10:

This manuscript is deposited in the library of the Royal Asiatic
Society.

Footnote 5.1.11:

Cosmas. Annals of Mewār. Getae or Jat Inscription, Appendix, Vol. I.

Footnote 5.1.12:

Called Bharat in the Yati’s roll; an error of one or other of the
authorities in transcribing from the more ancient records.

Footnote 5.1.13:

[In the Fatehpur District (_IGI_, xv. 398).]

Footnote 5.1.14:

An inscription given in the _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic
Society_ (vol. ix. p. 440), found at Kora, relates to a branch of the
Kanauj family.

Footnote 5.1.15:

[? Bāglān in Nāsik District, Bombay (_IGI_, vi. 190).]

Footnote 5.1.16:

_Qu._ Parkar, towards the Indus?

Footnote 5.1.17:

On the coast of Mekran.

Footnote 5.1.18:

If we can credit these legends, we see the Rathor Rajputs spreading
over all India. I give these bare facts _verbatim_, as some traces may
yet remain of the races in those countries. [These are pure legends,
see Smith, _EHI_, 377 ff.]

Footnote 5.1.19:

[Bahra] a city often mentioned by Ferishta [i. Introd. lxxii.] in the
early times of the Muhammadans.

Footnote 5.1.20:

Naīn Pal must have preceded Dharma-Bambo by five or six generations.

Footnote 5.1.21:

Called Abhaichand, in the Suraj Prakas.

Footnote 5.1.22:

Also styled Bijaipal; classically Vijayapala, ‘Fosterer of Victory.’

Footnote 5.1.23:

The Suraj Prakas.

Footnote 5.1.24:

See Inscriptions of Jaichand, Vijayachand, and Kora, in the 9th and
14th vols. of the _Asiatic Researches_.

Footnote 5.1.25:

The Nilab, or ‘blue water,’ the Indus, changed its name to the
‘Redstream’ (Surkhab), or ‘ensanguined.’

Footnote 5.1.26:

It is singular that Chand likewise mentions the Frank as being in the
army of Shihabu-d-din, in the conquest of his sovereign Prithiraj. If
this be true, it must have been a desultory or fugitive band of
crusaders.

Footnote 5.1.27:

[Ruler of a district (_mandal_).]

Footnote 5.1.28:

They thus style the kings west of the Indus.

Footnote 5.1.29:

[The “Seonair” of the text seems to represent _swayamvara_, the rite
of selection of her husband by a maiden.]

Footnote 5.1.30:

[Shihābu-d-dīn, A.D. 1175-1206.]

Footnote 5.1.31:

[The Kālindi River, the name of which was corrupted into Kālinadi,
rises in the Muzaffarnagar District, and joins the Ganges near Kanauj,
310 miles from its source (_IGI_, xiv. 309).]

Footnote 5.1.32:

[The word Mewār represents the original Medapāta, “land of the Med
tribe.” The bulk of the army of Chashtana, the Western Satrap, appears
to have consisted of Mevas or Medas, from whose settlement in Central
Rājputāna the province seems to have received its present name, Mewāda
(_BG_, i. Part i. 33).]

Footnote 5.1.33:

[His corpse was recognized by his false teeth, “a circumstance which
throws some light on the state of manners” (Elphinstone 365).]

Footnote 5.1.34:

Another title of the monarch of Kanauj, “the bard of the host,” from
which we are led to understand he was as well versed in the poetic art
as his rival, the Chauhan prince of Delhi.

-----

CHAPTER 2

=Migration of the Rāthors into Rājputāna.=—In S. 1268 (A.D. 1212),
eighteen years subsequent to the overthrow of Kanauj, Siahji and Setram,
grandsons of its last monarch, abandoned the land of their birth, and
with two hundred retainers, the wreck of their vassalage, journeyed
westward to the desert, with the intent, according to some of the
chronicles, of making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Dwarka;[5.2.1] but
according to others, and with more probability, to carve their fortunes
in fresh fields, unscathed by the luxuries in which they had been tried,
and proud in their poverty and sole heritage, the glory of Kanauj [12].

=The Tribes of Rājputāna.=—Let us rapidly sketch the geography of the
tribes over whom it was destined these emigrants of the Ganges should
obtain the mastery, from the Jumna to the Indus, and the Gara River to
the Aravalli hills. First, on the east, the Kachhwahas, under Malesi,
whose father, Rao Pajun, was killed in the war of Kanauj. Ajmer,
Sambhar, and the best lands of the Chauhans fell rapidly to the
Islamite—though the strongholds of the Aravalli yet sheltered some, and
Nadol continued for a century more to be governed by a descendant of
Bisaldeo. Mansi, Rana of the Indha[5.2.2] tribe, a branch of the
Parihars, still held Mandor, and the various Bhumias around paid him a
feudal subjection as the first chief of the desert. Northward, about
Nagor, lived the community of the Mohils (a name now extinct), whose
chief place was Aurint, on which depended 1440 villages. The whole of
the tracts now occupied by Bikaner to Bhatner were partitioned into
petty republics of Getae or Jats, whose history will hereafter be
related. Thence to the Gara River, the Johyas, Dahyas, Kathis, Langahas,
and other tribes whose names are now obliterated, partly by the sword,
partly by conversion to Islamism. The Bhattis had for centuries been
established within the bounds they still inhabit, and little expected
that this handful of Rathors was destined to contract them. The Sodha
princes adjoined the Bhattis south, and the Jarejas occupied the valley
of the Indus and Cutch. The Solankis intervened between them and the
Pramaras of Abu and Chandravati, which completed the chain by junction
with Nadol. Various chieftains of the more ancient races, leading a life
of fearless independence, acknowledging an occasional submission to
their more powerful neighbours, were scattered throughout this space;
such as the Dabhis of Idar and Mewa; the Gohils of Kherdhar; the Deoras
of Sanchor; and Sonigiras of Jalor; the Mohils of Aurint; the Sankhlas
of Sandli, etc.; all of whom have either had their birthright seized by
the Rathor, or the few who have survived and yet retain them are
enrolled amongst their allodial vassals.

=The Exploits of Siāhji.=—The first exploit of Siahji was at Kulumad
(twenty miles west of the city of Bikaner, not then in existence), the
residence of a chieftain of the Solanki tribe. He received the royal
emigrants with kindness, and the latter repaid it by the offer of their
services to combat his enemy, the Jareja chieftain of Phulra, well known
in all the annals of the period, from the Sutlej to the ocean, as Lakha
Phulani, the most celebrated riever of Maru, whose castle of Phulra
stood amidst the almost inaccessible [13] sandhills of the desert. By
this timely succour the Solanki gained a victory over Lakha, but with
the loss of Setram and several of his band. In gratitude for this
service, the Solanki bestowed upon Siahji his sister in marriage, with
an ample dower; and he continued his route by Anhilwara Patan, where he
was hospitably entertained by its prince, to the shrine of Dwarka. It
was the good fortune of Siahji again to encounter Lakha, whose wandering
habits had brought him on a foray into the territory of Anhilwara.
Besides the love of glory and the ambition of maintaining the reputation
of his race, he had the stimulus of revenge, and that of a brother’s
blood. He was successful, though he lost a nephew, slaying Lakha in
single combat, which magnified his fame in all these regions, of which
Phulani was the scourge.

Flushed with success, we hear nothing of the completion of Siahji’s
pilgrimage; but obedient to the axiom of the Rajput, “get land,” we find
him on the banks of the Luni, exterminating, at a feast, the Dabhis of
Mewa,[5.2.3] and soon after the Gohils of Kherdhar,[5.2.4] whose chief,
Maheshdas, fell by the sword of the grandson of Jaichand. Here, in the
“land of Kher,” amidst the sandhills of the Luni (the salt-river of the
desert), from which the Gohils were expelled, Siahji planted the
standard of the Rathors.

At this period a community of Brahmans held the city and extensive lands
about Pali, from which they were termed Paliwal;[5.2.5] and being
greatly harassed by the incursions of the mountaineers, the Mers and
Minas, they called in the aid of Siahji’s band, which readily undertook
and executed the task of rescuing the Brahmans from their depredations.
Aware that they would be renewed, they offered Siahji lands to settle
amongst them, which were readily accepted; and here he had a son by the
Solankani, to whom he gave the name of Asvatthama. With her, it is
recorded, the suggestion originated to make himself lord of Pali; and it
affords another example of the disregard of the early Rajputs for the
sacred order, that on the Holi, or Saturnalia, he found an opportunity
to “obtain land,” putting to death the heads of this community, and
adding the district to his conquests [14]. Siahji outlived his treachery
only twelve months, leaving his acquisitions as a nucleus for further
additions to his children. He had three sons, Asvatthama, Soning, and
Ajmall.

=Asvatthāma.=—One of the chronicles asserts that it was Asvatthama, the
successor of Siahji, who conquered “the land of Kher” from the Gohils.
By the same species of treachery by which his father attained Pali, he
lent his aid to establish his brother Soning in Idar. This small
principality, on the frontiers of Gujarat, then appertained, as did
Mewa, to the Dabhi race; and it was during the _matam_, or period of
mourning for one of its princes, that the young Rathor chose to obtain a
new settlement. His descendants are distinguished as the
Hathundia[5.2.6] Rathors. The third brother, Aja, carried his forays as
far as the extremity of the Saurashtra peninsula, where he decapitated
Bikamsi, the Chawara chieftain of Okhamandala,[5.2.7] and established
himself. From this act his branch became known as the ‘Vadhel’;[5.2.8]
and the Vadhels are still in considerable number in that furthest track
of ancient Hinduism called the “World’s End.”

Asvatthama died, leaving eight sons, who became the heads of clans,
namely, Duhar, Jopsi, Khampsao, Bhopsu, Dhandhal, Jethmall, Bandar, and
Uhar; of which, four, Duhar, Dhandhal, Jethmall, and Uhar, are yet
known.

=Duhar or Dhūhada.=—Duhar succeeded Asvatthama. He made an unsuccessful
effort to recover Kanauj; and then attempted to wrest Mandor from the
Parihars, but “watered their lands with his blood.” He left seven sons,
namely, Raepal, Kiratpal, Behar, Pital, Jugel, Dalu, and Begar.

=Rāēpāl, Chhada, Thīda, Salkha, Biramdeo, Chonda.=—Raepal succeeded, and
revenged the death of his father, slaying the Parihar of Mandor, of
which he even obtained temporary possession. He had a progeny of
thirteen sons, who rapidly spread their issue over these regions. He was
succeeded by his son Kanhal [or Kānpāl], whose successor was his son
Jalhan; he was succeeded by his son Chhada, whose successor was his son
Thida. All these carried on a desperate warfare with, and made conquests
from, their neighbours. Chhada and Thida are mentioned as very
troublesome neighbours in the annals of the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, who
were compelled to carry the war against them into the “land of Kher.”
Rao Thida took the rich district of Bhinmal from the Sonigira, and made
other additions to his territory from the Deoras and Balechas [15]. He
was succeeded by Salakh or Salkha. His issue, the Salkhawats, now
Bhumias, are yet numerous both in Mewa and Rardara. Salkha was succeeded
by his son Biramdeo, who attacked the Johyas of the north, and fell in
battle. His descendants, styled Biramot and Bijawat, from another son
Bija, are numerous at Setru, Siwana, and Dechu. Biramdeo was succeeded
by his son Chonda, an important name in the annals of the Rathors.
Hitherto they had attracted notice by their valour and their raids,
whenever there was a prospect of success; but they had so multiplied in
eleven generations that they now essayed a higher flight. Collecting all
the branches bearing the name of Rathor, Chonda assaulted Mandor, slew
the Parihar prince, and planted the banners of Kanauj on the ancient
capital of Maru.

So fluctuating are the fortunes of the daring Rajput, ever courting
distinction and coveting _bhum_, ‘land,’ that but a short time before
this success, Chonda had been expelled from all the lands acquired by
his ancestors, and was indebted to the hospitality of a bard of the
Charan tribe, at Kalu; and they yet circulate the _kabit_, or quatrain,
made by him when, in the days of his greatness, he came and was refused
admittance to “the lord of Mandor”; he took post under the balcony, and
improvized a stanza, reminding him of the Charan of Kalu: “_Chonda nahīn
āwē chit, Khichar Kalu tanna? Bhup bhaya bhay-bhit, Mandawar ra mālya?_”
“Does not Chonda remember the porridge of Kalu, now that the lord of the
land looks so terrific from his balcony of Mandawar?” Once established
in Mandor, he ventured to assault the imperial garrison of Nagor. Here
he was also successful. Thence he carried his arms south, and placed his
garrison in Nadol, the capital of the province of Godwar. He married a
daughter of the Parihar prince,[5.2.9] who had the satisfaction to see
his grandson succeed to the throne of Mandor. Chonda was blessed with a
progeny of fourteen sons, growing up to manhood around him. Their names
were Ranmall,[5.2.10] Satta, Randhir, Aranyakanwal,[5.2.11] Punja, Bhim,
Kana, Ajo, Ramdeo, Bija, Sahasmall, Bagh, Lumba, Seoraj.

Chonda had also one daughter named Hansa, married to Lakha Rana of Mewar
[16], whose son was the celebrated Kumbha. It was this marriage which
caused that interference in the affairs of Mewar, which had such fatal
results to both States.[5.2.12]

The feud between his fourth son, Aranyakanwal, and the Bhatti prince of
Pugal, being deemed singularly illustrative of the Rajput character, has
been extracted from the annals of Jaisalmer, in another part of this
work.[5.2.13] The Rathor chronicler does not enter into details, but
merely states the result, as ultimately involving the death of
Chonda—simply that “he was slain at Nagor with one thousand Rajputs”;
and it is to the chronicles of Jaisalmer we are indebted for our
knowledge of the manner. Chonda acceded in S. 1438 (A.D. 1382), and was
slain in S. 1465 [A.D. 1408-9].

=Ranmall killed A.D. 1444.=—Ranmall succeeded. His mother was of the
Gohil tribe. In stature he was almost gigantic, and was the most
athletic of all the athletes of his nation. With the death of Chonda,
Nagor was again lost to the Rathors. Rana Lakha presented Ranmall with
the township of Darla and forty villages upon his sister’s marriage,
when he almost resided at Chitor, and was considered by the Rana as the
first of his chiefs. With the forces of Mewar added to his own, under
pretence of conveying a daughter to the viceroy of Ajmer, he introduced
his adherents into that renowned fortress, the ancient capital of the
Chauhans, putting the garrison to the sword, and thus restored it to
Mewar. Khemsi Pancholi, the adviser of this measure, was rewarded with a
grant of the township of Kata, then lately captured from the
Kaimkhanis.[5.2.14] Ranmall went on a pilgrimage to Gaya, and paid the
tax exacted for all the pilgrims then assembled.

The bard seldom intrudes the relation of civil affairs into his page,
and when he does, it is incidentally. It would be folly to suppose that
the princes of Maru had no legislative recorders; but with these the
poet had no bond of union. He, however, condescends to inform us of an
important measure of Rao Ranmall, namely, that he equalized the weights
and measures throughout his dominions, which he divided as at present.
The last act of Ranmall, in treacherously attempting to usurp the throne
of the infant Rana of Mewar, was deservedly punished, and he was slain
by the faithful Chonda, as related in the annals of that State.[5.2.15]
This feud originated the line of demarcation of the two States,[5.2.16]
and which remained [17] unaltered until recent times, when Marwar at
length touched the Aravalli. Rao Ranmall left twenty-four sons, whose
issue, and that of his eldest son, Jodha, form the great vassalage of
Marwar. For this reason, however barren is a mere catalogue of names, it
is of the utmost value to those who desire to see the growth of the
frèrage of such a community.[5.2.17]

Names. Clans. Chieftainships or Fiefs.
1. Jodha (succeeded) Jodha.
2. Kandal ┌ Kandalot, conquered ┐
└ lands in │ Bikaner.
│ Awa, Kata, Palri,
3. Champa Champawat ├ Harsola, Rohat,
│ Jawala, Satlana,
┘ Singari.
┐ ┌ Asop, Kantalia,
4. Akhairaj │ Kumpawat │ Chandawal, Siryari,
had seven sons: ├ ┤ Kharla, Harsor, Balu,
1st Kumpa │ │ Bajoria, Surpura,
┘ └ Dewaria.
5. Mandla Mandlot Sarunda.
6. Patta Pattawat ┌ Kurnichari, Bara, and
└ Desnokh.[5.2.18]
7. Lakha Lakhawat ——
8. Bala Balawat Dunara.
9. Jethmall Jethmallot Palasni.
10. Karna Karnot Lunawas.
11. Rupa Rupawat Chutila.
12. Nathu Nathawat Bikaner.
13. Dungra Dungrot ┐
14. Sanda Sandawat │
15. Manda Mandot │
16. Biru Birot │
17. Jagmall Jagmallot │ Estates not mentioned;
18. Hampa [18] Hampawat ├ their descendants have
19. Sakta Saktawat │ become dependent on the
20. Karimchand —-—- │ greater clanships.
21. Arival Arivalot │
22. Ketsi Ketsiot │
23. Satrasal Satrasalot │
24. Tejmall Tejmallot ┘

-----

Footnote 5.2.1:

[The date of Siha or Siāhji, the traditional founder of the Mārwār
dynasty, was until recently uncertain. An inscription on a memorial
stone gives the date as Vikrama Sambat 1330, A.D. 1387, and for his
grandson, Dhūhada V.S. 1336, A.D. 1393. He is called the eldest son of
Asvatthāma mentioned in the text (_IA_, xi. 301). The tradition is
vitiated by the fact that this was not the first appearance of Rāthors
in Rājputāna. An inscription at Bījapur states that five of this clan
ruled at Hathūndi (Hastikūndi) in the tenth century (Erskine iii. A.
54; _IGI_, vi. 247 f.).]

Footnote 5.2.2:

[The Indhas occupy the W. tract of Mārwār; will not eat the flesh of
the boar; believe that no member of the clan can be struck by
lightning, owing to the prediction of Khākhaji, one of their
ancestors; no epidemic ever breaks out in their territory as it is
under the protection of their goddess, Chāwanda Māta (_Census Report,
Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 31).]

Footnote 5.2.3:

The Dabhi was one of the thirty-six royal races; and this is almost
the last mention of their holding independent possessions. See Vol. I.
p. 138, and the map for the position of Mewa at the bend of the
Luni. [Kher is now a ruined village near Jasol, about 60 miles S.W. of
Jodhpur city, on the left bank of the Lūni.]

Footnote 5.2.4:

In my last journey through these regions, I visited the chief of the
Gohils at Bhavnagar, in the Gulf of Cambay. I transcribed their
defective annals, which trace their migration from ‘Kherdhar,’ but in
absolute ignorance where it is! See Vol. I. p. 137.

Footnote 5.2.5:

[Pāli, 45 miles S.S.E. of Jodhpur city. The Pāliwāls have some
remarkable customs; they do not observe the Rākhi festival because of
a tradition that on the day the town was sacked by Shihābu-d-dīn, the
sacred cords of the men slain and the bangles of those women who
immolated themselves weighed respectively 9 and 84 maunds. Compare the
story of Chitor (Vol. I. p. 383) (_Census Report, Mārwār_, 1891,
ii. 79).]

Footnote 5.2.6:

[Who take their name from their capital, Hathūndi, now ruined, near
Bījapur in S.E. Mārwār.]

Footnote 5.2.7:

On the western coast of the Saurashtra peninsula. [The Okhamandal
legend calls the Rāthor leaders Virāval and Bījal, who overcame the
Chāwaras, and abandoning the name Rāthor, called themselves Vādhel,
‘slayers’ (_BG_, v. 590 f.).]

Footnote 5.2.8:

From _badh_, _vadh_, ‘to slay.’

Footnote 5.2.9:

He was of the Indha branch of the Parihars, and his daughter is called
the Indhavatni.

Footnote 5.2.10:

The descendants of those numbering 1, 2, 4, 7 still exist.

Footnote 5.2.11:

This is the prince mentioned in the extraordinary feud related (p.
731) from the annals of Jaisalmer. Incidentally, we have frequent
synchronisms in the annals of these States, which, however slight, are
of high import.

Footnote 5.2.12:

See Vol. I. p. 323.

Footnote 5.2.13:

See p. 730.

Footnote 5.2.14:

[The Kāim or Qāimkhānis were originally Chauhāns, converted to Islām
in the time of Fīroz Shāh. They are said to derive their name from the
first famous convert. It is a rule with them not to use wooden planks
in their doorways (_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 37 f.; Rose,
_Glossary_, iii. 257).]

Footnote 5.2.15:

See Vol. I. p. 327.

Footnote 5.2.16:

See Vol. I. p. 328.

Footnote 5.2.17:

It is only by the possession of such knowledge that we can exercise
with justice our right of universal arbitration.

Footnote 5.2.18:

Brave soldiers, but, safe in the deep sands, they refuse to serve
except on emergencies.

-----

CHAPTER 3

=Jodha, A.D. 1444-88. The Foundation of Jodhpur.=—Jodha was born at
Danla, the appanage of his father in Mewar, in the month Baisakh, S.
1484. In 1511 he obtained Sojat, and in the month Jeth, 1515 (A.D. 1459)
laid the foundation of Jodhpur, to which he transferred the seat of
government from Mandor. With the superstitious Rajput, as with the
ancient Roman [19], every event being decided by the omen or the augur,
it would be contrary to rule if so important an occasion as the change
of capital, and that of an infant State, were not marked by some
propitious prestige, that would justify the abandonment of a city won by
the sword, and which had been for ages the capital of Maru. The
intervention, in this instance, was of a simple nature; neither the
flight of birds, the lion’s lair, or celestial manifestation; but the
ordinance of an anchorite, whose abode, apart from mankind, was a cleft
of the mountains of Bakharchiriya. But the behests of such ascetics are
secondary only to those of the divinity, whose organs they are deemed.
Like the Druids of the Celts, the Vanaprastha Jogi,[5.3.1] from the
glades of the forest (_vana_) or recess in the rocks (_gupha_), issue
their oracles to those whom chance or design may conduct to their
solitary dwellings. It is not surprising that the mandates of such
beings prove compulsory on the superstitious Rajput: we do not mean
those squalid ascetics, who wander about India, and are objects
disgusting to the eye; but the genuine Jogi, he who, as the term
imports, mortifies the flesh, till the wants of humanity are restricted
merely to what suffices to unite matter with spirit; who has studied and
comprehended the mystic works, and pored over the systems of philosophy,
until the full influence of Maya (illusion) has perhaps unsettled his
understanding; or whom the rules of his sect have condemned to penance
and solitude; a penance so severe, that we remain astonished at the
perversity of reason which can submit to it.[5.3.2] To these, the Druids
of India, the prince and the chieftain would resort for instruction.
They requested neither lands nor gold: to them “the boasted wealth of
Bokhara” was as a particle of dust. Such was the ascetic who recommended
Jodha to erect his castle on ‘the Hill of Strife’ (Jodhagir), hitherto
known as Bakharchiriya, or ‘the bird’s nest,’ a projecting elevation of
the same range on which Mandor was placed, and about four miles south of
it. Doubtless its inaccessible position seconded the recommendation of
the hermit, for its scarped summit renders it almost impregnable [20],
while its superior elevation permits the sons of Jodha to command, from
the windows of their palace, a range of vision almost comprehending the
limits of their sway. In clear weather they can view the summits of
their southern barrier, the gigantic Aravalli; but in every other
direction it fades away in the boundless expanse of sandy plains.
Neither the founder, nor his monitor, the ascetic, however, were
engineers, and they laid the foundation of this stronghold without
considering what an indispensable adjunct to successful defence was good
water; but to prevent any slur on the memory of Jodha, they throw the
blame of this defect on the hermit. Jodha’s engineer, in tracing the
line of circumvallation, found it necessary to include the spot chosen
as his hermitage, and his remonstrance for undisturbed possession was
treated with neglect; whether by the prince as well as the chief
architect, the legend says not. The incensed Jogi pronounced an
imprecation, that the new castle should possess only brackish water, and
all the efforts made by succeeding princes to obtain a better quality,
by blasting the rock, have failed. The memory of the Jogi is sanctified,
though his anger compelled them to construct an apparatus, whereby water
for the supply of the garrison is elevated from a small lake at the foot
of the rock, which, being entirely commanded from the walls, an
assailant would find difficult to cut off. This was the third grand
event in the fortunes of the Rathors, from the settlement of
Siahji.[5.3.3]

Such was the abundant progeny of these princes, that the limits of their
conquests soon became too contracted. The issue of the three last
princes, namely, the fourteen sons of Chonda, the twenty-four of
Ranmall, and fourteen of Jodha, had already apportioned amongst them the
best lands of the country, and it became necessary to conquer “fresh
fields in which to sow the Rathor seed.”

Jodha had fourteen sons, namely—

Names of Chiefs. Clans. Fiefs or Remarks.

Chieftainships.
1. Santal, or ┐ —— Satalmer ┌ Three coss from
Satal ┘ └ Pokaran.
2. Suja (Suraj) —— —— Succeeded Jodha.
3. Gama [21] —— —— No issue.
┌ Duda took Sambhar
│ from the
│ Chauhans. He
│ had one son,
4. Duda [Dhuhada] Mertia Merta ┤ Biram, whose
│ two sons Jaimall
│ and Jagmall
│ founded the
│ clans Jaimallot
└ and Jagmallot.
5. Birsingh Birsinghgot Nolai In Malwa.
6. Bika Bikayat Bikaner Independent State.
7. Baharmall Baharmallot Bai Bhilara ——
8. Sheoraj Sheorajot Dunara On the Luni.
9. Karamsi Karamsot Khinwasar ——
10. Raemall Raemallot —— ——
11. Savantsi Savantsiot Dawara ——
12. Bida Bidawat Bidavati In Nagor district.
13. Banhar —— —— ┐ Clans and fiefs not
14. Nimba —— —— ┘ mentioned.

=Sāntal, Sātal, 1488-91.=—The eldest son, Santal, born of a female of
Bundi, established himself in the north-west corner, on the lands of the
Bhattis, and built a fort, which he called Satalmer, about five miles
from Pokaran.[5.3.4] He was killed in action by a Khan of the Sahariyas
(the Saracens of the Indian desert), whom he also slew. His ashes were
burnt at Kasma, and an altar was raised over them, where seven of his
wives became satis.

The fourth son, Duda [or Dhūhada], established himself on the plains of
Merta, and his clan, the Mertia, is numerous, and has always sustained
the reputation of being the “first swords” of Maru. His daughter was the
celebrated Mira Bai, wife of Rana Kumbha,[5.3.5] and he was the
grandsire of the heroic Jaimall, who defended Chitor against Akbar, and
whose descendant, Jeth Singh of Badnor, is still one of the sixteen
chief vassals of the Udaipur court.

The sixth son, Bika, followed the path already trod by his uncle Kandal,
with whom he united, and conquered the tracts possessed by the six Jat
communities. He erected a city, which he called after himself, Bikaner,
or Bīkaner.

=Death of Rāo Jodha, A.D. 1488.=—Jodha outlived the foundation of his
new capital thirty years, and beheld his [22] sons and grandsons rapidly
peopling and subjugating the regions of Maru. In S. 1545, aged
sixty-one, he departed this life, and his ashes were housed with those
of his fathers, in the ancestral abode of Mandor. This prince, the
second founder of his race in these regions, was mainly indebted to the
adversities of early life for the prosperity his later years enjoyed;
they led him to the discovery of worth in the more ancient, but
neglected, allodial proprietors displaced by his ancestors, and driven
into the least accessible regions of the desert. It was by their aid he
was enabled to redeem Mandor, when expelled by the Guhilots, and he
nobly preserved the remembrance thereof in the day of his prosperity.
The warriors whose forms are sculptured from the living rock at Mandor
owe the perpetuity of their fame to the gratitude of Jodha; through them
he not only recovered, but enlarged his dominions.[5.3.6] In less than
three centuries after their migration from Kanauj, the Rathors, the
issue of Siahji, spread over a surface of four degrees of longitude and
the same extent of latitude, or nearly 80,000 miles square, and they
amount at this day, in spite of the havoc occasioned, by perpetual wars
and famine, to 500,000 souls.[5.3.7] While we thus contemplate the
renovation of the Rathor race, from a single scion of that magnificent
tree, whose branches once overshadowed the plains of Ganga, let us
withdraw from oblivion some of the many noble names they displaced,
which now live only in the poet’s page. Well may the Rajput repeat the
ever-recurring simile, “All is unstable; life is like the scintillation
of the fire-fly; house and land will depart, but a good name will last
for ever!” What a list of noble tribes could we enumerate now erased
from independent existence by the successes of ‘the children of Siva’
(_Siva-putra_)![5.3.8] Pariharas, Indhas, Sankhlas, Chauhans, Gohils,
Dabhis, Sandhals, Mohils, Sonigiras, Kathis, Jats, Huls, etc., and the
few who still exist only as retainers of the Rathor.

=Sūja or Surajmall, A.D. 1491-1516.=—Suja[5.3.9] (Surajmall) succeeded,
and occupied the _gaddi_ of Jodha during twenty-seven years, and had at
least the merit of adding to the stock of Siahji.

=The Rape of the Virgins.=—The contentions for empire, during the
vacillating dynasty of the Lodi kings of Delhi, preserved the sterile
lands of Maru from their cupidity; and a second dynasty, the Shershahi,
intervened ere “the sons of Jodha” were summoned to measure swords with
the Imperialists. But in S. 1572 (A.D. 1516), a desultory [23] band of
Pathans made an incursion during the fair of the Tij,[5.3.10] held at
the town of Pipar, and carried off one hundred and forty of the maidens
of Maru. The tidings of the rape of the virgin Rajputnis were conveyed
to Suja, who put himself at the head of such vassals as were in
attendance, and pursued, overtook, and redeemed them, with the loss of
his own life, but not without a full measure of vengeance against the
“northern barbarian.” The subject is one chosen by the itinerant
minstrel of Maru, who, at the fair of the Tij, still sings the rape of
the one hundred and forty virgins of Pipar, and their rescue by their
cavalier prince at the price of his own blood.

Suja had five sons, namely: 1. Bhaga, who died in non-age: his son Ganga
succeeded to the throne. 2. Uda, who had eleven sons: they formed the
clan Udawat, whose chief fiefs are Nimaj, Jaitaran, Gundoj, Baratia,
Raepur, etc., besides places in Mewar. 3. Saga, from whom descended the
clan Sagawat; located at Barwa. 4. Prayag, who originated the Prayaggot
clan. 5. Biramdeo, whose son, Naru, receives divine honours as the Putra
of Maru, and whose statue is worshipped at Sojat. His descendants are
styled Narawat Jodha, of whom a branch is established at Pachpahar, in
Haraoti.

=Rāo Ganga, A.D. 1516-32.=—Ganga, grandson of Suja, succeeded his
grandfather in S. 1572 (A.D. 1516); but his uncle, Saga, determined to
contest his right to the _gaddi_, invited the aid of Daulat Khan Lodi,
who had recently expelled the Rathors from Nagor. With this auxiliary a
civil strife commenced, and the sons of Jodha were marshalled against
each other. Ganga, confiding in the rectitude of his cause, and
reckoning upon the support of the best swords of Maru, spurned the offer
of compromise made by the Pathan, of a partition of its lands between
the claimants, and gave battle, in which his uncle Saga was slain, and
his auxiliary, Daulat Khan, ignominiously defeated.

=Rāthors join Mewār against Bābur, A.D. 1527.=—Twelve years after the
accession of Ganga, the sons of Jodha were called on to unite their
forces to Mewar to oppose the invasion of the Moguls from Turkistan.
Sanga Rana, who had resumed the station of his ancestors amongst the
princes of Hind, led the war, and the king of Maru deemed it no
degradation to acknowledge his supremacy, and send his quotas to fight
under the standard of Mewar, whose chronicles do more justice to the
Rathors than those of their own bards. This, which was the last
confederation made by the Rajputs for national independence [24], was
defeated, as already related, in the fatal field of Bayana, where, had
treachery not aided the intrepid Babur, the Rathor sword would have had
its full share in rescuing the nation from the Muhammadan yoke. It is
sufficient to state that a Rathor was in the battle, to know that he
would bear its brunt; and although we are ignorant of the actual
position of the Rana, we may assume that their post was in the van. The
young prince Raemall (grandson of Ganga), with the Mertia chieftains
Kharto and Ratna, and many others of note, fell against the Chagatai on
this eventful day.

Ganga died[5.3.11] four years after this event, and was succeeded by

=Rāo Māldeo, A.D. 1532-62, or 1568-69.=—Maldeo in S. 1588 (A.D.
1532),[5.3.12] a name as distinguished as any of the noble princes in
the chronicles of Maru. The position of Marwar at this period was
eminently excellent for the increase and consolidation of its resources.
The emperor Babur found no temptation in her sterile lands to divert him
from the rich plains of the Ganges, where he had abundant occupation;
and the districts and strongholds on the emperor’s frontier of Maru,
still held by the officers of the preceding dynasty, were rapidly
acquired by Maldeo, who planted his garrisons in the very heart of
Dhundhar. The death of Sanga Rana, and the misfortunes of the house of
Mewar, cursed with a succession of minor princes, and at once beset by
the Moguls from the north, and the kings of Gujarat, left Maldeo to the
uncontrolled exercise of his power, which, like a true Rajput, he
employed against friend and foe, and became beyond a doubt the first
prince of Rajwara, or, in fact, as styled by the Muhammadan historian
Ferishta, “the most potent prince in Hindustan.”[5.3.13]

The year of Maldeo’s installation he redeemed the two most important
possessions of his house, Nagor and Ajmer. In S. 1596 he captured Jalor,
Siwana, and Bhadrajan from the Sandhals; and two years later
dispossessed the sons of Bika of supreme power in Bikaner. Mewa, and the
tracts on the Luni, the earliest possessions of his house, which had
thrown off all dependence, he once more subjugated, and compelled the
ancient allodial tenantry to hold of him in chief, and serve with their
quotas. He engaged in war with the Bhattis, and conquered Bikampur,
where a branch of his family remained, and are now incorporated with the
Jaisalmer State, and, under the name of Maldots,[5.3.14] have the credit
of being the most daring robbers of the desert. He even established
branches of [25] his family in Mewar and Dhundhar, took, and fortified
Chatsu, not twenty miles south of the capital of the Kachhwahas. He
captured and restored Sirohi from the Deoras, from which house was his
mother. But Maldeo not only acquired, but determined to retain, his
conquests, and erected numerous fortifications throughout the country.
He enclosed the city of Jodhpur with a strong wall, besides erecting a
palace, and adding other works to the fortress. The circumvallations of
Merta and its fort, which he called Malkot, cost him £24,000. He
dismantled Satalmer, and with the materials fortified Pokaran, which he
took from the Bhattis, transplanting the entire population, which
comprehended the richest merchants of Rajasthan. He erected forts at
Bhadrajan, on the hill of Bhimlod, near Siwana, at Gundoj, at Rian,
Pipar, and Dunara. He made the Kundalkot at Siwana, and greatly added to
that of Phalodi, first made by Hamira Nirawat. He also erected that
bastion in Garh Bitli (the citadel of Ajmer) called the Kotburj, and
showed his skill in hydraulics by the construction of a wheel to bring
water into the fort. The chronicler adds, that “by the wealth of
Sambhar,” meaning the resources of this salt lake, he was enabled to
accomplish these works, and furnishes a list of the possessions of
Jodhpur at this period, which we cannot exclude: Sojat, Sambhar, Merta,
Khata, Badnor, Ladnun, Raepur, Bhadrajan, Nagor, Siwana, Lohagarh,
Jaikalgarh, Bikaner, Bhinmal, Pokaran, Barmer, Kasoli, Riwaso, Jajawar,
Jalor, Baoli, Malar, Nadol, Phalodi, Sanchor, Didwana, Chatsu, Lawen,
Malarna, Deora, Fatehpur, Amarsar, Khawar, Baniapur, Tonk, Toda, Ajmer,
Jahazpur, and Pramar-ka-Udaipur (in Shaikhavati); in all thirty-eight
districts, several of which, as Jalor, Ajmer, Tonk, Toda, and Badnor,
comprehended each three hundred and sixty townships, and there were none
which did not number eighty. But of those enumerated in Dhundhar, as
Chatsu, Lawen, Tonk, Toda, and Jahazpur in Mewar, the possession was but
transient; and although Badnor, and its three hundred and sixty
townships, were peopled by Rathors, they were the descendants of the
Mertias under Jaimall, who became one of the great vassals of Mewar, and
would, in its defence, at all times draw their swords against the land
which gave them birth.[5.3.15] This branch of the house of Jodha had for
some time been too powerful [26] for subjects, and Merta was resumed. To
this act Mewar was indebted for the services of this heroic chief. At
the same time the growing power of others of the great vassalage of
Marwar was checked by resumptions, when Jaitaran from the Udawats, and
several other fiefs, were added to the fisc. The feudal allotments had
never been regulated, but went on increasing with the energies of the
State, and the progeny of its princes, each having on his birth an
appanage assigned to him, until the whole land of Maru was split into
innumerable portions. Maldeo saw the necessity for checking this
subdivision, and he created a gradation of ranks, and established its
perpetuity in certain branches of the sons of Ranmall and Jodha, which
has never been altered.

=Inhospitable Conduct of Rāo Māldeo to Humāyūn, A.D. 1542.=—Ten years of
undisturbed possession were granted Maldeo to perfect his designs, ere
his cares were diverted from these to his own defence. Babur, the
founder of the Mogul dynasty, was dead, and his son and successor had
been driven from his newly conquered throne by his provincial
lieutenant, Sher Shah: so rapidly do revolutions crowd upon each other
where the sword is the universal arbitrator. We have elsewhere related
that the fugitive monarch sought the protection of Maldeo, and we
stigmatized his conduct as unnational; but we omitted to state that
Maldeo, then heir-apparent, lost his eldest, perhaps then only son
Raemall in the battle of Bayana, who led the aid of Marwar on that
memorable day, and consequently the name of Chagatai, whether in fortune
or in flight, had no great claims to his regard. But little did Maldeo
dream how closely the fortunes of his house would be linked with those
of the fugitive Humayun, and that the infant Akbar, born in this
emergency, was destined to revenge this breach of hospitality. Still
less could the proud Rathor, who traced his ancestry on the throne of
Kanauj one thousand years before the birth of the “barbarian” of
Ferghana, deem it within the range of probability, that he should
receive honours at such hands, or that the first title of Raja,
Rajeswar, or ‘raja, lord of rajas,’ would be conferred on his own son by
this infant, then rearing amidst the sandhills at the extremity of his
desert dominion! It is curious to indulge in the speculative inquiry,
whether, when the great Akbar girded Udai Singh with the sword of
honour, and marked his forehead with the unguent of Raja-shah, he
brought to mind the conduct of Maldeo, which doomed his birth to take
place in the dismal castle of Umarkot, instead of in the splendid halls
of Delhi [27].

=Attack on Mārwār by Sher Shāh, A.D. 1544.=—Maldeo derived no advantage
from his inhospitality; for whether the usurper deemed his exertions
insufficient to secure the royal fugitive, or felt his own power
insecure with so potent a neighbour, he led an army of eighty thousand
men into Marwar. Maldeo allowed them to advance, and formed an army of
fifty thousand Rajputs to oppose him. The judgment and caution he
exercised were so great, that Sher Shah, well versed in the art of war,
was obliged to fortify his camp at every step. Instead of an easy
conquest, he soon repented of his rashness when the admirable
dispositions of the Rajputs made him dread an action, and from a
position whence he found it impossible to retreat. For a month the
armies lay in sight of each other, every day the king’s situation
becoming more critical, and from which he saw not the slightest chance
of extrication. In this exigence he had recourse to one of those
stratagems which have often operated successfully on the Rajput, by
sowing distrust in his mind as to the fidelity of his vassals. He penned
a letter, as if in correspondence with them, which he contrived to have
dropped, as by accident, by a messenger sent to negotiate. Perhaps the
severity of the resumptions of estates seconded this scheme of Sher
Shah; for when the stipulated period for the attack had arrived, the
raja countermanded it. The reasons for this conduct, when success was
apparent, were soon propagated; when one or two of the great leaders, in
order to demonstrate their groundlessness, gave an instance of that
devotion with which the annals of these States abound. At the head of
twelve thousand, they attacked and forced the imperial entrenched camp,
carrying destruction even to the quarters of the emperor; but multitudes
prevailed, and the patriotic clans were almost annihilated. Maldeo, when
too late, saw through the stratagem which had made him doubt the loyalty
of his vassals. Superstition and the reproaches of his chieftains for
his unworthy suspicions, did the rest; and this first _levée en masse_
of the descendants of Siahji, arrayed in defence of their national
liberties, was defeated. With justice did the usurper pay homage to
their gallantry, when he exclaimed, on his deliverance from this peril,
“he had nearly lost the empire of Hindustan for a handful of
barley.”[5.3.16]

=Attack by Akbar, A.D. 1558-62.=—Maldeo was destined to outlive the
Shershahi dynasty, and to see the imperial crown of India once more
encircle the brows of the fugitive Humayun.[5.3.17] It had [28] been
well for the Rathors had his years been lengthened; for his mild
disposition and natural indolence of character gave them some chance
that these qualities would be their best advocate. But he did not long
survive the restoration. Whether the mother of his successor, prince
Akbar, not yet fifteen, stimulated by the recollection of her
misfortunes, nursed his young animosity against Maldeo for the miseries
of Umarkot, or, whether it was merely an act of cautionary policy to
curb the Rajput power, which was inconsistent with his own, in S. 1617
(A.D. 1561) he invaded Marwar, and laid siege to Malakot or Merta, which
he took after an obstinate and sanguinary defence, part of the garrison
cutting their way through his host, and making good their retreat to
their prince.[5.3.18] The important castle of Nagor was also captured;
and both these strongholds and their lands were conferred by Akbar on
the younger branch of the family, Rae Singh, prince of Bikaner, now
established in independence of the parent State, Jodhpur.

In 1625 (A.D. 1569), Maldeo succumbed to necessity; and in conformity
with the times, sent his second son, Chandarsen,[5.3.19] with gifts to
Akbar, then at Ajmer, which had become an integral part of the monarchy;
but Akbar was so dissatisfied with the disdainful bearing of the desert
king, who refused personally to pay his court, that he not only
guaranteed the free possession of Bikaner to Rae Singh, but presented
him with the farman for Jodhpur itself, with supremacy over his race.
Chandarsen appears to have possessed all the native pride of the Rathor,
and to have been prepared to contest his country’s independence, in
spite of Akbar and the claims of his elder brother, Udai Singh, who
eventually was more supple in ingratiating himself into the monarch’s
favour. At the close of life the old Rao had to stand a siege in his
capital, and after a brave but fruitless resistance,[5.3.20] was obliged
to yield homage, and pay it in the person of his son Udai Singh, who,
attending with a contingent, was enrolled amongst the commanders of ‘one
thousand’; and shortly after was invested with the title of Mota Raja,
or ‘the fat Raja,’ by which epithet alone he is designated in the annals
of that period.[5.3.21]

Chandarsen, with a considerable number of the brave vassals of Maru,
determined to cling to independence and the rude fare of the desert,
rather than servilely follow in the train of the despot. When driven
from Jodhpur, they took post in Siwana, in the western extremity of the
State, and there held out to the death. For seventeen years he
maintained his title to the _gaddi_, and divided the allegiance of [29]
the Rathors with his elder brother Udai Singh (though supported by the
king), and stood the storm in which he nobly fell, leaving three sons,
Ugarsen, Askaran, and Rao Singh, who fought a duel with Rao Surthan, of
Sirohi, and was slain, with twenty-four of his chiefs,[5.3.22] near the
town of Datani.

Maldeo, though he submitted to acknowledge the supremacy of the emperor,
was at least spared the degradation of seeing a daughter of his blood
bestowed upon the opponent of his faith; he died soon after the title
was conferred on his son, which sealed the dependence of Maru. His
latter days were a dismal contrast to those which witnessed his
conquests in almost every part of Rajputana, but he departed from this
world in time to preserve his own honour untarnished, with the character
of the most valiant and energetic Rajput of his time. Could he have
added to his years and maintained their ancient vigour, he might, by a
junction with Partap of Mewar, who single-handed commenced his career
just as Maldeo’s closed, have maintained Rajput independence against the
rising power of the Moguls.[5.3.23]

Maldeo, who died S. 1625 (A.D. 1569), had twelve sons:

1. Ram Singh, who was banished, and found refuge with the Rana of Mewar; he
had seven sons, the fifth of whom, Keshodas, fixed at Chuli Maheshwar.
2. Raemall, who was killed in the battle of Bayana.
3. Udai Singh, Raja of Marwar.
4. Chandarsen, by a wife of the Jhala tribe; had three sons, the eldest,
Ugarsen, got Binai; he had three sons, Karan, Kanji, and Kahan.
5. Askaran; descendants at Junia.
6. Gopaldas; killed at Idar.
7. Prithiraj; descendants at Jalor.
8. Ratansi; descendants at Bhadrajun.
9. Bheraj; descendants at Ahari.
10. Bikramajit ┐
11. Bhan ├ No notice of them [30].
12. —— ┘

-----

Footnote 5.3.1:

[The Vanaprastha or anchorite stage (_āsrama_) of a Brāhman’s life
(Manu, _Laws_, vi. 1 ff.).]

Footnote 5.3.2:

We have seen one of these objects, self-condemned never to lie down
during forty years, and there remained but three to complete the term.
He had travelled much, was intelligent and learned; but far from
having contracted the moroseness of the recluse, there was a benignity
of mien, and a suavity and simplicity of manner in him, quite
enchanting. He talked of his penance with no vainglory, and of its
approaching term without any sensation. The resting position of this
Druid (_vanaprastha_) was by means of a rope suspended from the bough
of a tree, in the manner of a swing, having a cross-bar, on which he
reclined. The first years of this penance, he says, were dreadfully
painful; swollen limbs affected him to that degree, that he expected
death; but this impression had long since worn off. “Even in this, is
there much vanity,” and it would be a nice point to determine whether
the homage of man or the approbation of the Divinity most sustains the
energies under such appalling discipline.

Footnote 5.3.3:

Pali did not remain to Siahji’s descendants, when they went westward
and settled on the Luni: the Sesodias took it with other lands from
the Parihar of Mandor. It was the feud already adverted to with Mewar
which obtained for him the fertile districts of Pali and Sojat, by
which his territories at length touched the Aravalli, and the fears of
the assassin of Rana Kumbha made his parricidal son relinquish the
provinces of Sambhar and Ajmer (see Vol. I. p. 339).

Footnote 5.3.4:

[Now in ruins, about 85 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city, containing a large
Jain temple and monuments of the Chief’s family.]

Footnote 5.3.5:

See Vol. I. p. 337.

Footnote 5.3.6:

See p. 842.

Footnote 5.3.7:

[The present area of Mārwār is 34,963 square miles; population
2,057,776, of which Rājputs form 27·9 per cent.]

Footnote 5.3.8:

Siahji is the Bhakha for Siva;—the _ji_ is merely an adjunct of
respect.

Footnote 5.3.9:

One of the chronicles makes Satal occupy the _gaddi_ after Jodha,
during three years; but this appears a mistake—he was killed in
defending Satalmer.

Footnote 5.3.10:

For a description of this festival see p. 675.

Footnote 5.3.11:

The Yati’s roll says Ganga was poisoned; but this is not confirmed by
any other authority.

Footnote 5.3.12:

[The dates are doubtful. See the legend of the marriage of Rāo Māldeo
to Uma, daughter of the Bhatti Chief of Jaisalmer (_IA_, iii. 96
ff.).]

Footnote 5.3.13:

[“The most powerful of the Hindu princes who still retained their
independence,” trans. Briggs, ii. 121.]

Footnote 5.3.14:

Mr. Elphinstone apprehended an attack from the Maldots on his way to
Kabul.

Footnote 5.3.15:

Such is the Rajput’s notion of _swamidharma_, or “fidelity to him
whose salt they eat,” their immediate lord, even against their king.

Footnote 5.3.16:

In allusion to the poverty of the soil, as unfitted to produce richer
grains [Ferishta ii. 123; see pp. 835, 931 above].

Footnote 5.3.17:

There is a biographical account of this monarch, during his exile in
Persia, written by his Abdar, or ‘cup-bearer,’ in the library of Major
W. Yule, of Edinburgh, and which, when translated, will complete the
series of biography of the members of the house of Timur. [The
_Tazkirātu-l-wāki‘āt_ of Jauhar, extracts from which are translated in
Elliot-Dowson v. 136 ff.]

Footnote 5.3.18:

[The capture of Merta in 1562 by Sharafu-dīn Husain Mirza is described
in _Akbarnāma_, trans. H. Beveridge, ii. 247 f.; Smith, _Akbar_, 59.]

Footnote 5.3.19:

[The statement that Chandarsen was second son of Māldeo rests on the
Author’s account, and is not mentioned in the _Akbarnāma_.]

Footnote 5.3.20:

[For the capture of Jodhpur, “the strongest fort in that country,” by
Husain Kuli Khān see _Akbarnāma_, ii. 305.]

Footnote 5.3.21:

[See _Āīn_, i. 429 f. Erskine (iii. A. 587) suggests that Mota means
‘good, potent’.]

Footnote 5.3.22:

It was fought with a certain number on each side, Rathors against
Deoras, a branch of the Chauhans, the two bravest of all the Rajput
races. It reminds us of some of the duels related by Froissart.

Footnote 5.3.23:

See Vol. I. 385 ff.

-----

CHAPTER 4

=Vassalage of Mārwār to the Mughals.=—The death of Maldeo formed an
important epoch in the annals of the Rathors. Up to this period the will
had waited upon the wish of the gallant descendants of Siva; but now the
vassals of Maru acknowledged one mightier than they. The banner of the
empire floated pre-eminent over the _panchranga_, the five-coloured
flag, which had led the Rathors from victory to victory, and waved from
the sandhills of Umarkot to the salt-lake of Sambhar; from the desert
bordering the Gara to the peaks of the Aravalli. Henceforward, the
Rathor princes had, by their actions or subservience, to ascend by
degrees the steps to royal favour. They were required to maintain a
contingent of their proud vassals, headed by the heir, to serve at the
Mogul’s pleasure. Their deeds won them, not ignobly, the grace of the
imperial court; but had slavish submission been the sole path to
elevation, the Rathor princes would never have attained a grade beyond
the first mansab,[5.4.1] conferred on Udai Singh. Yet though streams of
wealth enriched the barren plains of Maru; although a portion of the
spoils of Golkonda and Bijapur augmented its treasures, decorated its
palaces, and embellished its edifices and mausoleums; although the
desert kings took the ‘right hand’ of all the feudality of Hind, whether
indigenous or foreign—a feudal assemblage of no less than seventy-six
petty kingdoms—yet the Rathor felt the sense of his now degraded
condition, and it often burst forth even in the presence of the
suzerain.

=Rāo Udai Singh, A.D. 1581-95.=—Maldeo’s death occurred in S.
1625;[5.4.2] but the chronicles do not admit of Udai [31] Singh’s
elevation until the death of his brother Chandarsen, from which period
we may reckon that he was, though junior, the choice both of his father
and the nobles, who did not approve of Udai Singh’s submission to Akbar.
In fact, the Raja led the royal forces against the most powerful of his
vassals, and resumed almost all the possessions of the Mertias, and
weakened the others.

Before we proceed to trace the course pursued by Udai Singh, who was
seated upon the cushion of Maldeo in S. 1640 (A.D. 1584), let us cast a
short retrospect over the annals of Maru, since the migration of the
grandson of the potentate of Kanauj, which, compared with the ample page
of western history, present little more than a chronicle of hard names,
though not destitute of facts interesting to political science.

=Retrospect of Mārwār History.=—In the table before the reader, aided by
the explanations in the text, he will see the whole process of the
conquest, peopling, and settlement of an extensive region, with its
partition or allotments amongst an innumerable frèrage (_bhayyad_),
whose children continue to hold them as vassals of their king and
brother, the descendant of their mutual ancestor Siahji.

We may divide the annals of Marwar, from the migration of Siahji from
Kanauj to the accession of Udai Singh, into three distinct epochs:

1. From the settlement of Siahji in the land of Kher, in A.D. 1212, to
the conquest of Mandor by Chonda, in A.D. 1381.

2. From the conquest of Mandor to the founding of Jodhpur, in A.D. 1459;
and

3. From the founding of Jodhpur to the accession of Udai Singh in A.D.
1584, when the Rathors acknowledged the supremacy of the empire.

The two first epochs were occupied in the subjugation of the western
portion of the desert from the ancient allodiality; nor was it until
Chonda conquered Mandor, on the decline of the Chauhans of the east,
that the fertile lands on either side of the Luni were formed into fiefs
for the children of Ranmall and Jodha. A change of capital with the
Rajput is always productive of change in the internal organisation of
the State; and not unfrequently the race changes its appellation with
its capital. The foundation of Jodhpur was a new era, and henceforth the
throne of Maru could only be occupied by the tribe of Jodha, and from
branches not constituting the vassals of the crown, who were cut off
from succession. This is a peculiar [32] feature in Rajput policy, and
is common to the whole race, as will be hereafter more distinctly
pointed out in the annals of Ajmer.

=Feudalism in Mārwār.=—Jodha, with all the ambition of the founder of a
State, gave a new form to the feudal institutions of his country.
Necessity, combined with pride, led him to promulgate a statute of
limitation of the sub-infeudations of Maru. The immense progeny of his
father Ranmall, twenty-four sons, and his own, of fourteen, almost all
of whom had numerous issue, rendered it requisite to fix the number and
extent of the fiefs; and amongst them, henceforward constituting
permanently the frèrage of Maru, the lands were partitioned, Kandhal
having emigrated and established his own numerous issue, the Kandhalots,
in Bikaner. The two brothers next to Jodha, namely, Champa and Kumpa,
with his two sons, Duda and Karamsi, and his grandson, Uda, were
declared the heads of the feudal association under their names, the
Champawats, Kumpawats, Mertias (sons of Duda), Karamsots, and Udawats,
and continue to be “the pillars of Maru.” Eight great estates, called
the _ath thakurat_, or ‘eight lordships’ of Marwar, each of the nominal
annual value of fifty thousand rupees (£5000), were settled on these
persons, and their immense influence has obtained many others for
younger branches of their clans. The title of the first noble of Maru
was given to Champa and his issue, who have often made its princes
tremble on their thrones. Besides these, inferior appanages were settled
on the junior branches, brothers, sons, and grandsons of Jodha, which
were also deemed hereditary and irresumable; to use their own phrase,
their _bat_,[5.4.3] or ‘allotment,’ to which they consider their title
as sacred as that of their prince to his throne, of whom they say, “When
our services are acceptable, then is he our lord; when not, we are again
his brothers and kin, claimants, and laying claim to the land.”[5.4.4]

Rao Maldeo confirmed this division of Jodha, though he increased the
secondary fiefs, and as the boundaries of Marwar were completed in his
reign, it was essentially necessary to confirm the limitation. The
feudal States of Marwar are, therefore, perpetuated in the offspring of
the princes from Jodha to Maldeo, and a distinction exists between them
and those subsequently conferred; the first, being [33] obtained by
conquest, are deemed irrevocable, and must be perpetuated by adoption on
the failure of lineal issue; whereas the other may, on lapses, be
resumed and added to the fisc whence it emanated. The fiscal domain of
the Rajput princes cannot, says their traditionary lore, be alienated
for more than a life-interest; but this wise rule, though visible in
anecdotes of past days, has been infringed with their general
disorganization. These instances, it may be asserted, afford the
distinctions of allodial and feudal lands. Of the numerous clans, the
issue of Siahji to Jodha, which are spread over the northern and western
parts of the State, some, partly from the difficulty of their position,
partly from a feeling of respect to their remote ancestry, enjoy almost
entire independence. Yet they recognize the prince of Maru as their
liege lord when his crown is endangered, and render homage on his
accession or any great family event. These clans hold without grant or
fine, and may properly be called the allodial chieftains. Of this number
we may enumerate the lordships of Barmer, Kotra, Sheo, Phulsund, etc.
Others there are who, though less independent, may also be styled the
allodiality of Marwar, who are to furnish their quotas when demanded,
and perform personal homage on all great days of rejoicing; of these are
Mewa, Sindari, etc. The ancient clans scattered over the land, or
serving the more modern chieftains, are recognized by their patronymic
distinctions, by those versed in the chronicles; though many hear the
names of Duharka, Mangalia, Uhar, and Dhandal, without knowing them to
be Rathor. The mystic page of the bard is always consulted previous to
any marriage, in order to prevent a violation of the matrimonial canons
of the Rajputs, which are stricter than the Mosaic, and this keeps up
the knowledge of the various branches of their own and other races,
which would otherwise perish.

Whatever term may be applied to these institutions of a martial race,
and which for the sake of being more readily understood we have
elsewhere called, and shall continue to designate, “feudal,” we have not
a shadow of doubt that they were common to the Rajput races from the
remotest ages, and that Siahji conveyed them from the seat of his
ancestors, Kanauj. A finer picture does not exist of the splendour of a
feudal array than the camp of its last monarch, Jaichand, in the contest
with the Chauhan. The annals of each and every State bear evidence to a
system strictly parallel to that of Europe; more especially Mewar,
where, thirteen hundred years ago, we see the entire feudatories of the
State throwing up their grants, giving their liege lord defiance, and
threatening him with their [34] vengeance. Yet, having “eaten his salt,”
they forbore to proceed to hostilities till a whole year had elapsed, at
the expiration of which they deposed him.[5.4.5] Akbar, who was partial
to Hindu institutions, borrowed much from them, in all that concerned
his own regulations.

In contrasting these customs with analogous ones in the West, the reader
should never lose sight of one point, which must influence the analogy,
namely, the patriarchal form which characterizes the feudal system in
all countries; and as, amongst the Rajputs, all their vassalage is of
their own kin and blood (save a slight mixture of foreign nobles as a
counterpoise), the paternity of the sovereign is no fiction, as in
Europe; so that from the son of Champa, who takes the right hand of his
prince, to the meanest vassal, who serves merely for his _peti_[5.4.6]
(rations), all are linked by the tie of consanguinity, of which it is
difficult to say whether it is most productive of evil or good, since it
has afforded examples as brilliant and as dark as any in the history of
mankind. The devotion which made twelve thousand, out of the fifty
thousand, “sons of Jodha” prove their fidelity to Maldeo has often been
emulated even to the present day.

The chronicles, as before stated, are at variance with regard to the
accession of Udai Singh: some date it from the death of Maldeo, in S.
1625 (A.D. 1569); others from that of his elder brother Chandarsen,
slain in the storm of Siwana. The name of Udai appears one of evil
portent in the annals of Rajasthan.[5.4.7] While “Udai, the fat,” was
inhaling the breeze of imperial power, which spread a haze of prosperity
over Maru, Partap of Mewar, the idol of the Rajputs, was enduring every
hardship in the attempt to work out his country’s independence, which
had been sacrificed by his father, Udai Singh. In this he failed, but he
left a name hallowed in the hearts of his countrymen, and immortalized
in the imperishable verse of the bard.

On the union of the imperial house with that of Jodhpur, by the marriage
of Jodh Bai to Akbar,[5.4.8] the emperor not only restored all the
possessions he had wrested from Marwar, with the exception of Ajmer, but
several rich districts in Malwa, whose revenues doubled the resources of
his own fiscal domain. With the aid of his imperial brother-in-law, he
greatly diminished the power of the feudal aristocracy [35], and clipped
the wings of almost all the greater vassals, while he made numerous
sequestrations of the lands of the ancient allodiality and lesser
vassals; so that it is stated, that, either by new settlement or
confiscation, he added fourteen hundred villages to the fisc. He resumed
almost all the lands of the sons of Duda, who, from their abode, were
termed Mertia; took Jaitaran from the Udawats, and other towns of less
note from the sons of Champa and Kumpa.

Udai Singh was not ungrateful for the favours heaped upon him by the
emperor, for whom his Rathors performed many signal services: for the
raja was latterly too unwieldy for any steed to bear him to battle. The
“king of the Desert” (the familiar epithet applied to him by Akbar) had
a numerous progeny; no less than thirty-four legitimate sons and
daughters, who added new clans and new estates to the feudal association
of Maru: of these the most conspicuous are Govindgarh and Pisangan;
while some obtained settlements beyond its limits which became
independent and bear the name of the founders. Of these are Kishangarh
and Ratlam in Malwa.

=Death of Rāo Udai Singh.=—Udai Singh died thirteen years after his
inauguration on the cushion of Jodha, and thirty-three after the death
of Maldeo. The manner of his death, as related in the biographical
sketches termed Khyat, affords such a specimen of superstition and of
Rajput manners that it would be improper to omit it. The narrative is
preceded by some reflections on the moral education of the Rathor
princes, and the wise restraints imposed upon them under the vigilant
control of chiefs of approved worth and fidelity; so that, to use the
words of the text, “they often passed their twentieth year, ignorant of
woman.” If the “fat raja” had ever known this moral restraint, in his
riper years he forgot it; for although he had no less than twenty-seven
queens, he cast the eye of desire on the virgin-daughter of a subject,
and that subject a Brahman.

=Brāhman sacrifices his Daughter.=—It was on the raja’s return from
court to his native land that he beheld the damsel, and he determined,
notwithstanding the sacred character of her father and his own
obligations as the dispenser of law and justice, to enjoy the object of
his admiration. The Brahman was an Ayapanthi,[5.4.9] or votary of
Ayamata, whose shrine is at Bhavi-Bhilara. These sectarians of Maru,
very different from the abstinent Brahmans of Bengal, eat flesh, drink
wine, and share in all the common enjoyments of life with the martial
spirits around them. Whether the scruples of the [36] daughter were
likely to be easily overcome by her royal tempter, or whether the raja
threatened force, the Khyat does not inform us; but as there was no
other course by which the father could save her from pollution but by
her death, he resolved to make it one of vengeance and horror. He dug a
sacrificial pit, and having slain his daughter, cut her into fragments,
and mingling therewith pieces of flesh from his own person, made the
Homa, or burnt sacrifice to Ayamata, and as the smoke and flames
ascended he pronounced an imprecation on the raja: “Let peace be a
stranger to him! and in three pahars,[5.4.10] three days, and three
years, let me have revenge!” Then exclaiming, “My future dwelling is the
Dabhi Baori!” sprung into the flaming pit. The horrid tale was related
to the raja, whose imagination was haunted by the shade of the Brahman;
and he expired at the assigned period, a prey to unceasing remorse.

Superstition is sometimes made available for moral ends; and the shade
of the Ayapanthi Brahman of Bhilara has been evoked, in subsequent ages,
to restrain and lead unto virtue libidinous princes, when all other
control has been unavailing. The celebrated Jaswant Singh, the
great-grandson of Udai, had an amour with the daughter of one of his
civil officers, and which he carried on at the Dabhi Baori.[5.4.11] But
the avenging ghost of the Brahman interposed between him and his wishes.
A dreadful struggle ensued, in which Jaswant lost his senses, and no
effort could banish the impression from his mind. The ghost persecuted
his fancy, and he was generally believed to be possessed with a wicked
spirit, which, when exorcised, was made to say he would only depart on
the self-sacrifice of a chief equal in dignity to Jaswant. Nahar Khan,
“the tiger lord,” chief of the Kumpawat clan, who led the van in all his
battles, immediately offered his head in expiation for his prince; and
he had no sooner expressed this loyal determination, than the holy men
who exorcised the spirit caused it to descend into a vessel of water,
and having waved it thrice round his head, they presented it to Nahar
Khan, who drank it off, and Jaswant’s senses were instantly restored.
This miraculous transfer of the ghost is implicitly believed by every
chief of Rajasthan, by whom Nahar was called “the faithful of the
faithful.” Previous to dying, he called his son, and imposed on him and
his descendants, by the solemnity of an oath, the abjuration of the
office of Pardhan, or hereditary premier of Marwar, whose dignity
involved such a sacrifice [37]; and from that day the Champawats of Awa
succeeded the Kumpawats of Asop, who renounced the first seat on the
right for that on the left of their princes.

We shall conclude the reign of Udai Singh with the register of his issue
from “the Book of Kings.” It is by no means an unimportant document to
such as are interested in these singular communities, and essentially
useful to those who are called upon to interfere in their national
concerns. Here we see the affinities of the branch (_sakha_) to the
parent tree, which in one short century has shaded the whole land; and
to which the independents of Kishangarh, Rupnagarh, and Ratlam, as well
as the feudal chiefs of Govindgarh, Khairwa, and Pisangan, all issues
from Udai Singh, look for protection.

Issue of Raja Udai Singh:—

1. Sur Singh, succeeded.
2. Akhairaj.
3. Bhagwandas; had issue Bala, Gopaldas, Govinddas, who founded
Govindgarh.
4. Narardas ┐
5. Sakat Singh ├ had no issue attaining eminence.
6. Bhopat ┘
7. Dalpat had four sons: 1. Maheshdas, whose son, Ratna, founded
Ratlam;[5.4.12] 2. Jaswant Singh; 3. Partap Singh; 4. Kaniram.
8. Jeth had four sons: 1. Har Singh; 2. Amra; 3. Kaniram; 4. Premraj,
whose descendants held lands in the tract called Balati and
Khairwa.
9. Kishan, in S. 1669 (A.D. 1613), founded Kishangarh; he had three
sons, Sahasmall, Jagmall, Biharmall, who had Hari Singh, who had
Rup Singh, who founded Rupnagarh.
10. Jaswant, his son Man founded Manpura, his issue called Manpura
Jodha.
11. Kesho founded Pisangan.
12. Ramdas. ┐
13. Puranmall. │
14. Madhodas. ├ No mention of them.
15. Mohandas. │
16. Kirat Singh. │
17. —— ┘

And seventeen daughters not registered in the chronicle [38].

-----

Footnote 5.4.1:

[Rank, prescribing precedence and gradation of pay (Irvine, _Army of
the Indian Moghuls_, 3 ff.).]

Footnote 5.4.2:

[The dates are uncertain; those in the margin follow Erskine (iii. B.
25).]

Footnote 5.4.3:

From _batna_, ‘to divide, to partition.’

Footnote 5.4.4:

See the remonstrance of the vassal descendants of these chiefs,
expelled their patrimony by their prince, to the English enemy, Vol.
I. p. 230.

Footnote 5.4.5:

See Vol. I. p. 266.

Footnote 5.4.6:

Literally, ‘a bellyful.’

Footnote 5.4.7:

Instead of being, as it imports, the ‘ascending,’ (Skt. _udaya_), it
should for ever, in both the houses of Maru and Mewar, signify
‘setting’; the pusillanimity of the one sunk Mewar, that of the other
Marwar.

Footnote 5.4.8:

[There has been some controversy about Jodh Bāī, but it is clear that
she was wife of Jahāngīr, not of Akbar (_Āīn_, i. 619).]

Footnote 5.4.9:

[This is one of the Jogi orders (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 9). The Author
(_Western India_, 136) says that Ayāmāta is tutelary goddess of the
Koli tribe. One branch of the Lohānas specially worship her (_Census
Report, Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 139).]

Footnote 5.4.10:

A pahar is a watch of the day, about three hours.

Footnote 5.4.11:

A reservoir excavated by one of the Dabhi tribe. [This is a mistake.
The proper name is Tāpi Bāori or ‘pit of fire’ (_Census Report,
Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 65). For similar ghost stories see Crooke, _Popular
Religion and Folklore of N. India_, i. 193 ff. The original name of
Nāhar Khān, before his conversion to Islām, was Mukunddās.]

Footnote 5.4.12:

Ratlam, Kishangarh, and Rupnagarh are independent, and all under the
separate protection of the British Government.

-----

CHAPTER 5

=Rāja Sūr Singh, A.D. 1595-1620=.—Sur Singh succeeded in S. 1651 (A.D.
1595). He was serving with the Imperial forces at Lahore, where he had
commanded since S. 1648, when intelligence reached him of his father’s
death. His exploits and services were of the most brilliant nature, and
had obtained for him, even during his father’s life, the title of “Sawai
Raja,”[5.5.1] and a high grade amongst the dignitaries of the empire. He
was commanded by Akbar to reduce the arrogant prince of Sirohi, who,
trusting to the natural strength of his mountainous country, still
refused to acknowledge a liege lord. This service well accorded with his
private views, for he had a feud (_wair_) with Rao Surthan, which,
according to the chronicle, he completely revenged. “He avenged his feud
with Surthan and plundered Sirohi. The Rao had not a pallet left to
sleep upon, but was obliged to make a bed for his wives upon the earth.”
This appears to have humbled the Deora, “who, in his pride, shot his
arrows at the sun for daring to shine upon him.”

=Campaign in Gujarāt.=—Surthan accepted the imperial [39] farman in
token of submission, and agreed to serve with a contingent of his hardy
clansmen in the war then entrusted to Raja Sur against the king of
Gujarat, whose success we shall relate in the simple language of the
chronicle: “The Raja took the _pan_ against the king Muzaffar, with the
title of viceroy of Gujarat. The armies met at Dhandhuka,[5.5.2] where a
terrible conflict ensued. The Rathors lost many valiant men, but the
Shah was defeated, and lost all the insignia of his greatness. He sent
the spoil of seventeen thousand towns to the king, but kept a crore of
_drabs_[5.5.3] for himself, which he sent to Jodhpur, and therewith he
enlarged the town and fort. For this service Akbar increased his
_mansab_, and sent him a sword, with a khilat, and a grant of fresh
lands.”

Raja Sur, it appears in the sequel, provided liberally for the bards;
for no less than “six lords of verse,” whose names are given, had in
gift £10,000 each of the spoils of Gujarat, as incentives to song.

On the conquest of Gujarat, Raja Sur was ordered to the Deccan. “He
obeyed, and with thirteen thousand horse, ten large guns, and twenty
elephants, he fought three grand battles. On the Rewa (Nerbudda) he
attacked Amra Balecha,[5.5.4] who had five thousand horse, whom he slew,
and reduced all his country. For this service the king sent him a
_naubat_ (kettle-drum), and conferred on him Dhar and its domain.”

On Akbar’s death and the accession of Jahangir, Sur Singh attended at
court with his son and heir, Gaj Singh, whom the king with his own hands
invested with the sword, for his bravery in the escalade of Jalor, which
had been conquered by the monarch of Gujarat and added to his domain.
The poet thus relates the event: “Gaj[5.5.5] was commanded against
Bihari Pathan; his war-trump sounded; Arbuda [Abu] heard and trembled.
What took Alau-d-din years, Gaj accomplished in three months; he
escaladed Jalandhara[5.5.6] sword in hand; many a Rathor of fame was
killed, but he put to the sword seven thousand Pathans, whose spoils
were sent to the king.”

Raja Sur, it would appear, after the overthrow of the dynasty of
Gujarat, remained at the capital, while his son and heir, Gaj Singh,
attended the king’s [40] commands, and, soon after the taking of Jalor,
was ordered with the Marwar contingent against Rana Amra of Mewar: it
was at the very moment of its expiring liberties,[5.5.7] for the
chronicle merely adds, “Karan agreed to serve the king, and Gaj Singh
returned to Taragarh.[5.5.8] The king increased both his own _mansab_
(dignity) and that of his father, Raja Sur.”

Thus the Rajput chronicler, solicitous only to record the fame of his
own princes, does not deem it necessary to concern himself with the
agents conjoined with them, so that a stranger to the events of the
period would imagine, from the high relief given to their actions,
that the Rathor princes commanded in all the great events described;
for instance, that just mentioned, involving the submission of the
Rana, when Raja Gaj was merely one of the great leaders who
accompanied the Mogul heir-apparent, Prince Khurram, on this memorable
occasion. In the Diary of Jahangir, the emperor, recording this event,
does not even mention the Rathor prince, though he does those of Kotah
and Datia, as the instruments by which Prince Khurram carried on the
negotiation;[5.5.9] from which we conclude that Raja Gaj merely acted
a military part in the grand army which then invaded Mewar.

=Death of Rāja Sūr Singh, A.D. 1620: his Character.=—Raja Sur died in
the Deccan, in S. 1676 (A.D. 1620). He added greatly to the lustre of
the Rathor name, was esteemed by the emperor, and, as the bard expresses
it, “His spear was frightful to the Southron.” Whether Raja Sur
disapproved of the exterminating warfare carried on in these regions, or
was exasperated at the unlimited service he was doomed to, which
detained him from his native land, he, in his last moments, commanded a
pillar to be erected with a curse engraven thereon, imprecated upon any
of his race who should once cross the Nerbudda. From his boyhood he had
been almost an alien to his native land: he had accompanied his father
wherever he led the aid of Maru, was serving at Lahore at the period of
his accession, and died far from the monuments of his fathers, in the
heart of the peninsula. Although the emperor was not ungrateful in his
estimate of these services,—for Raja Sur held by patent no less than
“sixteen [41] grand fiefs”[5.5.10] of the empire, and with the title of
Sawai raised above all the princes, his associates at court,—it was
deemed no compensation for perpetual absence from the hereditary domain,
thus abandoned to the management of servants. The great vassals, his
clansmen, participated in this dissatisfaction, separated from their
wives, families, and estates; for to them the pomp of imperial
greatness, or the sunshine of court-favour, was as nothing when weighed
against the exercise of their influence within their own cherished
patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to the Rathor than
all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turned from with
disgust to the recollection of “the green pulse of Mandawar,” or his
favourite _rabri_, or ‘maize porridge,’ the prime dish with the Rathor.
These minor associations conjoined with greater evils to increase the
_mal de pays_, of whose influence no human being is more susceptible
than the brave Rajput.

Raja Sur greatly added to the beauty of his capital, and left several
works which bear his name; amongst them, not the least useful in that
arid region, is the lake called the Sur Sagar, or ‘Warrior’s Sea,’ which
irrigates the gardens on its margin. He left six sons and seven
daughters, of whose issue we have no account, namely, Gaj Singh, his
successor; Sabal Singh, Biramdeo, Bijai Singh, Partap Singh, and Jaswant
Singh.

=Rāja Gaj Singh, A.D. 1620-38.=—Raja Gaj, who succeeded his father in
A.D. 1620, was born at Lahore, and the _tika_ of investiture found him
in the royal camp at Burhanpur. The bearer of it was Darab Khan, the son
of the Khankhanan,[5.5.11] or premier noble of the emperor’s court, who,
as the imperial proxy, girt Raja Gaj with the sword. Besides the “nine
castles” (_Naukoti Marwar_), his patrimony, his patent contained a grant
of “seven divisions” of Gujarat, of the district of Jhalai in Dhundhar;
and what was of more consequence to him, though of less intrinsic value,
that of Masuda in Ajmer, the heirloom of his house. Besides these marks
of distinction, he received the highest proof of confidence in the
elevated post of viceroy of the Deccan; and, as a special testimony of
imperial favour, the Rathor cavaliers composing his contingent were
exempted from the _dagh_,[5.5.12] that is, having their steeds branded
with the imperial signet. His elder son, Amra Singh, served with [42]
his father in all his various battles, to the success of which his
conspicuous gallantry on every occasion contributed. In the sieges and
battles of Kirkigarh, Golkonda, Khelna, Parnala, Gajangarh, Asir and
Satara, the Rathors had their full share of glory, which obtained for
their leader the title of Dalthaman, or ‘barrier of the host.’ We have
already[5.5.13] remarked the direct influence which the Rajput princes
had in the succession to the imperial dignity, consequent upon the
inter-marriage of their daughters with the crown, and the various
interests arising therefrom. Sultan Parvez, the elder son and heir of
Jahangir, was the issue of a princess of Marwar,[5.5.14] while the
second son, Khurram, as his name imports, was the son of a
Kachhwaha[5.5.15] princess of Amber. Being the offspring of polygamy and
variously educated, these princes were little disposed to consider
consanguinity as a bond of natural union; and their respective mothers,
with all the ambition of their race, thought of nothing but obtaining
the diadem for the head of their children. With either of these rival
queens, the royal children who were not her own had no affinity with her
or hers, and these feelings were imparted from the birth to their issue,
and thus it too often happened that the heir of the throne was looked
upon with an envious eye, as a bar to be removed at all hazards. This
evil almost neutralized the great advantages derived from intermarriage
with the indigenous races of India; but it was one which would have
ceased with polygamy.

=Death of Parvez, A.D. 1626.=—Khurram felt his superiority over his
elder brother, Parvez, in all but the accidental circumstance of birth.
He was in every respect a better man, and a braver and more successful
soldier; and, having his ambition thus early nurtured by the stimulants
administered by Bhim of Mewar, and the intrepid Mahabat,[5.5.16] he
determined to remove this barrier between him and the crown. His views
were first developed whilst leading the armies in the Deccan, and he
communicated them to Raja Gaj of Marwar, who held the post of honour
next the prince, and solicited his aid to place him on the throne.
Gratitude for the favours heaped upon him by the king, as well as the
natural bias to Parvez, made the Raja turn a deaf ear to his
application. The prince tried to gain his point through Govinddas, a
Rajput of the Bhatti tribe, one of the foreign nobles of Maru, and
confidential adviser of his prince; but, as the annals say, “Govinddas
reckoned no one but his master and the [43] king.” Frustrated in this,
Khurram saw no hopes of success but by disgusting the Rathors, and he
caused the faithful Govinddas to be assassinated by Kishan
Singh;[5.5.17] on which Raja Gaj, in disgust, threw up his post, and
marched to his native land. From the assassination of Parvez, which soon
followed,[5.5.18] the deposal of his father appeared but a step; and
Khurram had collected means, which he deemed adequate to the design,
when Jahangir appealed to the fidelity of the Rajputs, to support him
against filial ingratitude and domestic treason; and, in their general
obedience to the call, they afforded a distinguished proof of the
operation of the first principle, Gaddi-ka-an, allegiance to the throne,
often obeyed without reference to the worth of its occupant. The princes
of Marwar, Amber, Kotah, and Bundi put themselves at the head of their
household retainers on this occasion, which furnishes a confirmation of
a remark already made, that the respective annals of the States of
Rajasthan so rarely embrace the contemporaneous events of the rest, as
to lead to the conclusion that by the single force of each State this
rebellion was put down. This remark will be further exemplified from the
annals of Bundi.

=Offence given to the Rāthors.=—Jahangir was so pleased with the zeal of
the Rathor prince—alarmed as he was at the advance of the rebels—that he
not only took him by the hand, but what is most unusual, kissed it. When
the assembled princes came in sight of the rebels, near Benares, the
emperor gave the _harawal_, or vanguard, to the Kachhwaha prince, the
Mirza raja of Amber. Whether this was a point of policy, to secure his
acting against prince Khurram, who was born of this race, or merely, as
the Marwar annals state, because he brought the greater number into the
field, is immaterial; but it was very nearly fatal in its consequences:
for the proud Rathor, indignant at the insult offered to him in thus
bestowing the post of honour, which was his right, upon the rival race
of Amber, furled his banners, separated from the royal army, and
determined to be a quiet spectator of the result. But for the impetuous
Bhim of Mewar, the adviser of Khurram, he might that day have been
emperor of India. He sent a taunting message to Raja Gaj, either to join
their cause or “draw their swords.” The Rathors overlooked the neglect
of the king in the sarcasm of one of their own tribe; and Bhim was
slain, Govinddas avenged, the rebellion quelled, and Khurram put to
flight, chiefly by the Rathors and Haras [44].

=Death of Rāja Gaj Singh, A.D. 1638.=—In S. 1694 (A.D. 1638), Raja Gaj
was slain in an expedition into Gujarat;[5.5.19] but whether in the
fulfilment of the king’s commands, or in the chastisement of freebooters
on his own southern frontier, the chronicles do not inform us. He left a
distinguished name in the annals of his country, and two valiant sons,
Amra and Jaswant, to maintain it: another son, Achal, died in infancy.

=Rāja Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1638-78.=—The second son, Jaswant, succeeded,
and furnishes another of many instances in the annals of Rajputana, of
the rights of primogeniture being set aside. This proceeded from a
variety of motives, sometimes merely paternal affection, sometimes
incapacity in the child “to head fifty thousand Rathors,” and sometimes,
as in the present instance, a dangerous turbulence and ever-boiling
impetuosity in the individual, which despised all restraints. While
there was an enemy against whom to exert it, Amra was conspicuous for
his gallantry, and in all his father’s wars in the south was ever
foremost in the battle. His daring spirit collected around him those of
his own race, alike in mind, as connected by blood, whose actions, in
periods of peace, were the subjects of eternal complaint to his father,
who was ultimately compelled to exclude Amra from his inheritance.

=Amra, Amar Singh excluded from the Succession.=—In the month of
Baisakh, S. 1690 (A.D. 1634), five years before the death of Raja Gaj,
in a convocation of all the feudality of Maru, sentence of exclusion
from the succession was pronounced upon Amra, accompanied by the solemn
and seldom practised rite of Desvata or exile. This ceremony, which is
marked as a day of mourning in the calendar, was attended with all the
circumstances of funereal pomp. As soon as the sentence was pronounced,
that his birthright was forfeited and assigned to his junior brother,
and that he ceased to be a subject of Maru, the khilat of banishment was
brought forth, consisting of sable vestments, in which he was clad; a
sable shield was hung upon his back, and a sword of the same hue girded
round him; a black horse was then led out, being mounted on which, he
was commanded, though not in anger, to depart whither he listed beyond
the limits of Maru.

Amra went not alone; numbers of each clan, who had always regarded him
as their future lord, voluntarily partook of his exile. He repaired to
the imperial court; and although the emperor approved and sanctioned his
banishment, he employed him. His gallantry soon won him the title of Rao
and the mansab of a leader of three thousand, with the grant of Nagor as
an independent domain, to be held directly from the crown. But the same
arrogant and uncontrollable spirit [45] which lost him his birthright,
brought his days to a tragical conclusion. He absented himself for a
fortnight from court, hunting the boar or the tiger, his only
recreation. The emperor (Shah Jahan) reprimanded him for neglecting his
duties, and threatened him with a fine. Amra proudly replied that he had
only gone to hunt, and as for a fine, he observed, putting his hand upon
his sword, that was his sole wealth.

=Amra, Amar assassinates Salābat Khān.=—The little contrition which this
reply evinced determined the king to enforce the fine, and the
paymaster-general, Salabat Khan,[5.5.20] was sent to Amra’s quarters to
demand its payment. It was refused, and the observations made by the
Sayyid not suiting the temper of Amra, he unceremoniously desired him to
depart. The emperor, thus insulted in the person of his officer, issued
a mandate for Amra’s instant appearance. He obeyed, and having reached
the Amm-khass, or grand divan, beheld the king, “whose eyes were red
with anger,” with Salabat in the act of addressing him. Inflamed with
passion at the recollection of the injurious language he had just
received, perhaps at the king’s confirmation of his exclusion from
Marwar, he unceremoniously passed the Omrahs of five and seven thousand,
as if to address the king; when, with a dagger concealed in his sleeve,
he stabbed Salabat to the heart. Drawing his sword, he made a blow at
the king, which descending on the pillar, shivered the weapon in pieces.
The king abandoned his throne and fled to the interior apartments. All
was uproar and confusion. Amra continued the work of death, indifferent
upon whom his blows fell, and five Mogul chiefs of eminence had fallen,
when his brother-in-law, Arjun Gaur, under pretence of cajoling him,
inflicted a mortal wound, though he continued to ply his dagger until he
expired. To avenge his death, his retainers, headed by Balu Champawat
and Bhao Kumpawat, put on their saffron garments, and a fresh carnage
ensued within the Lal kila.[5.5.21] To use the words of their native
bard, “The pillars of Agra bear testimony to their deeds, nor shall they
ever be obliterated from the record of time: they made their obeisance
to Amra in the mansions of the sun.” The faithful band was cut to
pieces; and his wife, the princess of Bundi, came in person and [46]
carried away the dead body of Amra, with which she committed herself to
the flames. The Bokhara gate by which they gained admission was built
up, and henceforward known only as “Amra Singh’s gate”; and in proof of
the strong impression made by this event,[5.5.22] it remained closed
through centuries, until opened in 1809 by Capt. Geo. Steell, of the
Bengal engineers.[5.5.23]

-----

Footnote 5.5.1:

[Sawāi means ‘a quarter better than any one else.’]

Footnote 5.5.2:

[Dhandhuka about 40 miles W. of Cambay; the account in the text is
possibly a confused reference to the insurrection of Muzaffar Husain
Mīrza, which began in 1577 and ended in the suicide of the rebel in
1591-92 (_BG_, i. Part i. 268 ff.).]

Footnote 5.5.3:

[Coins, perhaps gold mohurs (Skt. _dravya_, ‘wealth’)].

Footnote 5.5.4:

Balecha is one of the Chauhan tribes. [It does not appear in recent
lists.]

Footnote 5.5.5:

_Gaj_, ‘the elephant.’

Footnote 5.5.6:

Classical appellation of Jalor.

Footnote 5.5.7:

The chronicle says, “In S. 1669 (A.D. 1613), the king formed an army
against the Rana”; which accords exactly with the date in the
emperor’s own memoirs.

Footnote 5.5.8:

Ajmer, of which the citadel is styled Taragarh.

Footnote 5.5.9:

See Annals of Mewār, Vol. I. p. 418.

Footnote 5.5.10:

Of these, nine were the subdivisions of his native dominions, styled
“The Nine Castles of Maru”; for on becoming one of the great
feudatories of the empire, he made a formal surrender of these,
receiving them again by grant, renewed on every lapse, with all the
ceremonies of investiture and relief. Five were in Gujarat, one in
Malwa, and one in the Deccan. We see that thirteen thousand horse was
the contingent of Marwar for the lands thus held.

Footnote 5.5.11:

[Mirza Abdu-r-rahīm, son of Bairām Khān (_Āīn_, i. 334 ff.).]

Footnote 5.5.12:

[For this branding system see _Āīn_, i. 139 f.; Irvine, _Army of the
Indian Moghuls_, 45 ff.]

Footnote 5.5.13:

See Vol. I. p. 435.

Footnote 5.5.14:

[Parvez or Parvīz was son of Sāhib Jamāl, daughter of Khwāja Hasan,
uncle of Zain Khān Koka; but this is not quite certain (_Āīn_, i. 310;
_Tuzuk-i-Jahāngīri_, trans. Rogers-Beveridge, 19; Beale, _Oriental
Biographical Dict._ s.v.).]

Footnote 5.5.15:

Kachhua and Khurram are synonymous terms for the race which rules
Amber—the Tortoises of Rajasthan. [This is an extraordinary
misapprehension. _Khurram_ is a Persian word, meaning ‘pleased, glad’;
the Author confuses it with Skt. _Kūrma_, ‘a tortoise.’ The mother of
Khurram, Balmati or Jagat Gosāīn, was daughter of Udai Singh of
Mārwār; see _Tuzuk_, 19; Beale, s.v. _Shāh Jahān_.]

Footnote 5.5.16:

A Rajput of the Rana’s house, converted to _the faith_. [Mahābat Khān,
Khānkhānān, Sipāhsālār Zamāna Beg, was not a Rājput, but son of Ghiyās
Beg, Kābuli (Manucci i. 167; Elliot-Dowson vi. 288).

Footnote 5.5.17:

This was the founder of Kishangarh; for this iniquitous service he was
made an independent Raja in the town which he erected. His descendant
is now an ally by treaty with the British Government. [Kishan Singh,
born A.D. 1575, founded Kishangarh, a State in the centre of
Rājputāna, in 1611, died 1615 (_IGI_, xv. 311).]

Footnote 5.5.18:

[Parvez died at Burhānpur in 1626. “He was first attacked with colic,
then he became insensible, and after medical treatment fell into a
heavy sleep.... His illness was attributed to excessive drinking”
(Elliot-Dowson vi. 429).]

Footnote 5.5.19:

[By another account he died at Agra (Erskine iii. A, 59).]

Footnote 5.5.20:

Salabat Khan Bakhshi, he is called. The office of Bakhshi is not only
one of paymaster (as it implies), but of inspection and audit. We can
readily imagine, with such levies as he had to muster and pay, his
post was more honourable than secure, especially with such a band as
was headed by Amra, ready to take offence if the wind but displaced
their moustache. The annals declare that Amra had a feud (_vair_) with
Salabat; doubtless for no better reason than that he fulfilled the
trust reposed in him by the emperor. [The title Khān implies that
Salābat Khān was a Pathān, not a Sayyid, whose title would be Mīr.]

Footnote 5.5.21:

The palace within the citadel (_kila_), built of red (_lal_)
freestone. [This tragedy occurred on August 5, 1644 (Beale, _Oriental
Biographical Dict._ s.v. “Salābat Khān,” gives July 25, 1644).
European writers of the period give varying accounts of what seems to
have been the same event. Tavernier (ed. Ball, ii. 219) says that the
victim was “the Grand Master of the King’s house,” and that it
occurred in 1642. Manucci states that the officer who was assassinated
was the Wazīr, Wazīr Khān (i. 207 f.). It forms the subject of a
popular song, still sung by the bards (Temple, _Legends of the
Panjāb_, ii. 242 ff.). Though the assassination occurred at Agra, a
mark is still shown on a pillar in the Dīwān-i-‘Āmm at Delhi, possibly
marking the same occurrence, where a prince of Chitor is said to have
stabbed one of the ministers (Sleeman, _Rambles_, 515). The tomb of
Bakhshi Salābat Khān stands between Agra and Sikandra (Syad Muhammad
Latif, _Agra_, 77, 195).]

Footnote 5.5.22:

It may be useful to record such facts, by the way of contrast with the
state policy of the west, and for the sake of observing that which
would actuate the present paramount power of India should any of its
tributary princes defy them as Amra did that of the universal
potentate of that country. Even these despots borrowed a lesson of
mercy from the Rajput system, which does not deem treason hereditary,
nor attaints a whole line for the fault of one unworthy link. Shah
Jahan, instead of visiting the sins of the father on the son,
installed him in his fief of Nagor. This son was Rae Singh; and it
devolved to his children and grandchildren,[5.5.22.A] until Indar
Singh the fourth in descent, was expelled by the head of the Rathors,
who, in the weakness of the empire, reannexed Nagor to Jodhpur. But
perhaps we have not hitherto dared to imitate the examples set us by
the Mogul and even by the Mahratta; not having sufficient hold of the
affections of the subjected to venture to be merciful; and thence our
vengeance, like the bolt of heaven, sears the very heart of our
enemies. Witness the many chieftains ejected from their possessions;
from the unhallowed league against the Rohillas, to that last act of
destruction at Bharatpur, where, as arbitrators, we acted the part of
the lion in the fable. Our present attitude, however, is so
commanding, that we can afford to display the attribute of mercy; and
should, unfortunately, its action be required in Rajputana, let it be
ample, for there its grateful influence is understood, and it will
return, like the dews of heaven, upon ourselves. But if we are only to
regulate our political actions by the apprehension of danger, it must
one day recoil upon us in awful retribution. Our system is filled with
evil to the governed, where a fit of bile in ephemeral political
agents, may engender a quarrel leading to the overthrow of a dominion
of ages.

Footnote 5.5.22.A:

Namely, Hathi Singh, his son Anup Singh, his son Indar Singh, his son
Mokham Singh. This lineal descendant of Raja Gaj, and the rightful
heir to the “cushion of Jodha,” has dwindled into one of the petty
Thakurs, or lords of Marwar. The system is one of eternal
vicissitudes, amidst which the germ of reproduction [47] never
perishes.

Footnote 5.5.23:

Since these remarks were written, Captain Steell related to the author
a singular anecdote connected with the above circumstance. While the
work of demolition was proceeding, Captain Steell was urgently warned
by the natives of the danger he incurred in the operation, from a
denunciation on the closing of the gate, that it should thenceforward
be guarded by a huge serpent—when suddenly, the destruction of the
gate being nearly completed, a large cobra-de-capello rushed between
his legs, as if in fulfilment of the anathema. Captain Steell
fortunately escaped without injury. [The south gate of the Agra Fort
is known as that of Amar Singh.]

-----

CHAPTER 6

=Rāja Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1638-78.=—Raja Jaswant, who obtained, by the
banishment of Amra, the “cushion” of Marwar, was born of a princess of
Mewar; and although this circumstance is not reported to have influenced
the change of succession, it will be borne in mind that, throughout
Rajputana, its princes regarded a connexion with the Rana’s family as a
primary honour.

“Jaswant (says the Bardai) was unequalled amongst the princes of his
time. Stupidity and ignorance were banished; and science flourished
where he ruled: many were the books composed under his auspices.”[5.6.1]

The south continued to be the arena in which the martial Rajput sought
renown, and the emperor had only rightly to understand his character to
turn the national emulation to account. Shah Jahan, in the language of
the chronicler, “became a slave to the seraglio,” and sent his sons, as
viceroys, to govern the grand divisions of the empire. The first service
of Jaswant was in the war of Gondwana, when he led a body composed of
“twenty-two different contingents” in the army under Aurangzeb.[5.6.2]
In this and various other services (to enumerate which would be to go
[48] over the ground already passed),[5.6.3] the Rathors were
conspicuous. Jaswant played a comparatively subordinate part, until the
illness of the emperor, in A.D. 1658, when his elder son Dara was
invested with the powers of regent.[5.6.4] Prince Dara increased the
mansab of Jaswant to a leader of “five thousand,” and nominated him his
viceroy in Malwa.

=The War of Succession.=—In the struggle for empire amongst the sons of
Shah Jahan, consequent upon this illness, the importance of the Rajput
princes and the fidelity we have often had occasion to depict, were
exhibited in the strongest light. While Raja Jai Singh was commanded to
oppose prince Shuja, who advanced from his viceroyalty of Bengal,
Jaswant was entrusted with means to quash the designs of Aurangzeb, then
commanding in the south, who had long cloaked, under the garb of
hypocrisy and religion, views upon the empire.

=Campaign against Aurangzeb, A.D. 1657-58—The Battle of Dharmātpur.=—The
Rathor prince was declared generalissimo of the army destined to oppose
Aurangzeb, and he marched from Agra at the head of the united
contingents of Rajputana, besides the imperial guards, a force which, to
use the hyperbole of the bard, “made Shesnag[5.6.5] writhe in agony.”
Jaswant marched towards the Nerbudda, and had encamped his army in a
position fifteen miles south of Ujjain, when tidings reached him of his
opponent’s approach. In that field on which the emperor erected a town
subsequently designated Fatehabad, or ‘abode of victory,’ Jaswant
awaited his foes.[5.6.6] The battle which ensued, witnessed and so
circumstantially related by Bernier, as has been already noticed in this
work,[5.6.7] was lost by the temerity of the Rathor commander-in-chief,
who might have crushed the rebellious hopes of Aurangzeb, to whom he
purposely gave time to effect a junction with his brother Murad, from
the vainglorious desire “to conquer two princes at once.” Dearly did he
pay for his presumption; for he had given time to the wily prince to sow
intrigues in his camp, which were disclosed as soon as the battle
joined, when the Mogul horse deserted and left him at the head of his
thirty thousand Rajputs, deemed, however, by their leader and
themselves, sufficient against any odds. “Jaswant, spear in hand,
mounted his steed Mahbub, and charged the imperial brothers; ten
thousand Muslims fell in the onset, which cost seventeen hundred Rathors
[49], besides Guhilots, Haras, Gaurs, and some of every clan of Rajwara.
Aurang and Murad only escaped because their days were not yet numbered.
Mahbub and his rider were covered with blood; Jasa looked like a
famished lion, and like one he relinquished his prey.” The bard is fully
confirmed in his relation of the day, both by the Mogul historian and by
Bernier, who says, that notwithstanding the immense superiority of the
imperial princes, aided by a numerous artillery served by Frenchmen,
night alone put a stop to the contest of science, numbers, and
artillery, against Rajput courage. Both armies remained on the field of
battle, and though we have no notice of the anecdote related by the
first translator of Ferishta, who makes Jaswant “in bravado drive his
car round the field,”[5.6.8] it is certain that Aurangzeb was too
politic to renew the combat, or molest the retreat which took place next
day towards his native dominions. Although, for the sake of
alliteration, the bard especially singles out the Guhilots and Gaurs,
the tribes of Mewar and Sheopur, all and every tribe was engaged; and if
the Rajput ever dared to mourn the fall of kindred in battle, this day
should have covered every house with the emblems of grief; for it is
stated by the Mogul historian that fifteen thousand fell, chiefly
Rajputs. This was one of the events glorious to the Rajput, showing his
devotion to whom fidelity (_swamidharma_) had been pledged—the aged and
enfeebled emperor Shah Jahan, whose “salt they ate”—against all the
temptations offered by youthful ambition. It is forcibly contrasted with
the conduct of the immediate household troops of the emperor, who, even
in the moment of battle, worshipped the rising sun, whilst the Rajput
sealed his faith in his blood; and none more liberally than the brave
Haras of Kotah and Bundi. The annals of no nation on earth can furnish
such an example, as an entire family, six royal brothers, stretched on
the field, and all but one in death.[5.6.9]

Of all the deeds of heroism performed on this day, those of Ratna of
Ratlam, by universal consent, are pre-eminent, and “are wreathed into
immortal rhyme by the bard” in the Raesa Rao Ratna.[5.6.10] He also was
a Rathor, the great-grandson of Udai Singh, the first raja of Maru; and
nobly did he show that the Rathor blood had not degenerated on the
fertile plains of Malwa. If aught were wanting to complete the fame of
this memorable day, which gave empire to the scourge of Rajputana [50],
it is found in the conduct of Jaswant’s queen, who, as elsewhere
related,[5.6.11] shut the gates of his capital on her fugitive lord,
though he “brought back his shield” and his honour.

=Battle of Jājau.=—Aurangzeb, on Jaswant’s retreat, entered the capital
of Malwa in triumph, whence, with all the celerity requisite to success,
he pursued his march on the capital. At the village of Jajau, thirty
miles south of Agra, the fidelity of the Rajputs again formed a barrier
between the aged king and the treason of his son; but it served no other
purpose than to illustrate this fidelity. The Rajputs were overpowered,
Dara was driven from the regency, and the aged emperor deposed.[5.6.12]

=Battle of Khajwa.=—Aurangzeb, soon after usurping the throne, sent,
through the prince of Amber, his assurances of pardon to Jaswant, and a
summons to the presence, preparatory to joining the army forming against
his brother Shuja, advancing to vindicate his claims to empire. The
Rathor, deeming it a glorious occasion for revenge, obeyed, and
communicated to Shuja his intentions. The hostile armies met at Khajwa,
thirty miles north of Allahabad.[5.6.13] On the first onset, Jaswant,
wheeling about with his Rathor cavaliers, attacked the rearward of the
army under prince Muhammad, which he cut to pieces, and plundering the
imperial camp (left unprotected), he deliberately loaded his camels with
the most valuable effects, which he despatched under part of the force,
and leaving the brothers to a contest, which he heartily wished might
involve the destruction of both, he followed the cortège to Agra. Such
was the panic on his appearance at that capital, joined to the rumours
of Aurangzeb’s defeat, which had nearly happened, that the wavering
garrison required only a summons to have surrendered, when he might have
released Shah Jahan from confinement, and with this “tower of strength”
have rallied an opposition fatal to the prince.

=Policy of Jaswant Singh.=—That this plan suggested itself to Jaswant’s
sagacity we cannot doubt; but besides the manifest danger of locking up
his army within the precincts of a capital, if victory was given to
Aurangzeb, he had other reasons for not halting at Agra. All his designs
were in concert with prince Dara, the rightful heir to the throne, whom
he had instructed to hasten to the scene of action; but while Jaswant
remained hovering in the rear of Aurangzeb, momentarily expecting the
junction of the prince, the latter loitered on the southern frontier of
Marwar, and thus lost, for [51] ever, the crown within his grasp.
Jaswant continued his route to his native dominions, and had at least
the gratification of housing the spoils, even to the regal tents, in the
castle of Jodha. Dara tardily formed a junction at Merta; but the
critical moment was lost, and Aurangzeb, who had crushed Shuja’s force,
rapidly advanced, now joined by many of the Rajput princes, to overwhelm
this last remnant of opposition. The crafty Aurangzeb, however, who
always preferred stratagem to the precarious issue of arms, addressed a
letter to Jaswant, not only assuring him of his entire forgiveness, but
offering the vice-royalty of Gujarat, if he would withdraw his support
from Dara, and remain neuter in the contest. Jaswant accepted the
conditions, and agreed to lead the Rajput contingents, under prince
Muazzam, in the war against Sivaji, bent on reviving the independence of
Maharashtra. From the conduct again pursued by the Rathor, we have a
right to infer that he only abandoned Dara because, though possessed of
many qualities which endeared him to the Rajput, besides his title to
the throne, he wanted those virtues necessary to ensure success against
his energetic brother. Scarcely had Jaswant reached the Deccan when he
opened a communication with Sivaji, planned the death of the king’s
lieutenant, Shaista Khan, on which he hoped to have the guidance of the
army, and the young viceroy. Aurangzeb received authentic intelligence
of this plot, and the share Jaswant had in it; but he temporized, and
even sent letters of congratulation on his succeeding to the command in
chief. But he soon superseded him by Raja Jai Singh of Amber, who
brought the war to a conclusion by the capture of Sivaji.[5.6.14] The
honour attending this exploit was, however, soon exchanged for disgrace;
for when the Amber prince found that the tyrant had designs upon the
life of his prisoner, for whose safety he had pledged himself, he
connived at his escape.[5.6.15] Upon this, Jaswant was once more
declared the emperor’s lieutenant, and soon inspired prince Muazzam with
designs, which again compelled the king to supersede him, and Diler Khan
was declared general-in-chief. He reached Aurangabad, and the night of
his arrival would have been his last, but he received intimation and
rapidly retreated, pursued by the prince and Jaswant to the Nerbudda.
The emperor saw the necessity of removing Jaswant from this dangerous
post, and he sent him the farman as viceroy of Gujarat, to which he
commanded him to repair without delay. He obeyed, reached Ahmadabad, and
found the king had outwitted him and his [52] successor in command; he
therefore continued his course to his native dominions, where he arrived
in S. 1726 (A.D. 1670).

The wily tyrant had, in all these changes, used every endeavour to
circumvent Jaswant, and, if the annals are correct, was little
scrupulous as to the means. But the Raja was protected by the fidelity
of his kindred vassalage. In the words of the bardic chronicler, “The
Aswapati,[5.6.16] Aurang, finding treachery in vain, put the collar of
simulated friendship round his neck, and sent him beyond the Attock to
die.”

The emperor saw that the only chance of counteracting Jaswant’s
inveterate hostility was to employ him where he would be least
dangerous. He gladly availed himself of a rebellion amongst the Afghans
of Kabul; and with many promises of favour to himself and his family,
appointed him to the chief command,[5.6.17] to lead his turbulent
Rajputs against the equally turbulent and almost savage Afghans. Leaving
his elder son, Prithi Singh, in charge of his ancestral domains, with
his wives, family, and the chosen bands of Maru, Jaswant departed for
the land of the “barbarian,” from which he was destined never to return.

=Treatment of Prithi Singh by Aurangzeb.=—It is related, in the
chronicles of Maru, that Aurangzeb having commanded the attendance at
court of Jaswant’s heir, he obeyed, and was received not only with the
distinctions which were his due, but with the most specious courtesy;
that one day, with unusual familiarity, the king desired him to advance,
and grasping firmly his folded hands (the usual attitude of deference)
in one of his own, said, “Well, Rathor, it is told me you possess as
nervous an arm as your father; what can you do now?” “God preserve your
majesty!” replied the Rajput prince, “when the sovereign of mankind lays
the hand of protection on the meanest of his subjects, all his hopes are
realized; but when he condescends to take both of mine, I feel as if I
could conquer the world.” His vehement and animated gesture gave full
force to his words, and Aurangzeb quickly exclaimed, “Ah! here is
another Khatan”[5.6.18] (the term he always applied to Jaswant); yet,
affecting to be pleased with the frank boldness of his speech, he
ordered him a splendid dress, which, as customary, he put on, and,
having made his obeisance, left the presence in the certain assurance of
exaltation.

That day was his last!—he was taken ill soon after reaching his
quarters, and [53] expired in great torture, and to this hour his death
is attributed to the poisoned robe of honour presented by the
king.[5.6.19]

Prithi Singh was the staff of his father’s age, and endowed with all the
qualities required to lead the swords of Maru. His death, thus reported,
cast a blight on the remaining days of Jaswant, who, in this cruel
stroke, saw that his mortal foe had gone beyond him in revenge. The
sacrifice of Prithi Singh was followed by the death of his only
remaining sons, Jagat Singh and Dalthamman, from the ungenial climate of
Kabul, and grief soon closed the existence of the veteran Rathor. He
expired amidst the mountains of the north, without an heir to his
revenge, in S. 1737 (A.D. 1681), having ruled the tribes of Maru for
two-and-forty years. In this year, death released Aurangzeb from the
greatest terrors of his life; for the illustrious Sivaji and Jaswant
paid the debt to nature within a few months of each other.[5.6.20] Of
the Rathor, we may use the words of the biographer of his contemporary,
Rana Raj Singh of Mewar: “Sighs never ceased flowing from Aurang’s heart
while Jaswant lived.”

=Character of Jaswant Singh.=—The life of Jaswant Singh is one of the
most extraordinary in the annals of Rajputana, and a full narrative of
it would afford a perfect and deeply interesting picture of the history
and manners of the period. Had his abilities, which were far above
mediocrity, been commensurate with his power, credit, and courage, he
might, with the concurrent aid of the many powerful enemies of
Aurangzeb, have overturned the Mogul throne. Throughout the long period
of two-and-forty years, events of magnitude crowded upon each other,
from the period of his first contest with Aurangzeb, in the battle of
the Nerbudda, to his conflicts with the Afghans amidst the snows of
Caucasus. Although the Rathor had a preference amongst the sons of Shah
Jahan, esteeming the frank Dara above the crafty Aurangzeb, yet he
detested the whole race as inimical to the religion and the independence
of his own; and he only fed the hopes of any of the brothers, in their
struggles for empire, expecting that they would end in the ruin of all.
His blind [54] arrogance lost him the battle of the Nerbudda, and the
supineness of Dara prevented his reaping the fruit of his treachery at
Khajwa. The former event, as it reduced the means and lessened the fame
of Jaswant, redoubled his hatred to the conqueror. Jaswant neglected no
opportunity which gave a chance of revenge. Impelled by this motive,
more than by ambition, he never declined situations of trust, and in
each he disclosed the ruling passion of his mind. His overture to Sivaji
(like himself the implacable foe of the Mogul), against whom he was sent
to act; his daring attempt to remove the imperial lieutenants, one by
assassination, the other by open force; his inciting Muazzam, whose
inexperience he was sent to guide, to revolt against his father, are
some among the many signal instances of Jaswant’s thirst for vengeance.
The emperor, fully aware of this hatred, yet compelled from the force of
circumstances to dissemble, was always on the watch to counteract it,
and the artifices this mighty king had recourse to in order to
conciliate Jaswant, perhaps to throw him off his guard, best attest the
dread in which he held him. Alternately he held the vice-royalty of
Gujarat, of the Deccan, of Malwa, Ajmer, and Kabul (where he died),
either directly of the king, or as the king’s lieutenant, and second in
command under one of the princes. But he used all these favours merely
as stepping-stones to the sole object of his life. Accordingly, if
Jaswant’s character had been drawn by a biographer of the court, viewed
merely in the light of a great vassal of the empire, it would have
reached us marked with the stigma of treachery in every trust reposed in
him; but, on the other hand, when we reflect on the character of the
king, the avowed enemy of the Hindu faith, we only see in Jaswant a
prince putting all to hazard in its support. He had to deal with one who
placed him in these offices, not from personal regard, but because he
deemed a hollow submission better than avowed hostility, and the raja,
therefore, only opposed fraud to hypocrisy, and treachery to superior
strength. Doubtless the Rathor was sometimes dazzled by the baits which
the politic king administered to his vanity; and when all his brother
princes eagerly contended for royal favour, it was something to be
singled out as the first amongst his peers in Rajputana. By such
conflicting impulses were both parties actuated in their mutual conduct
throughout a period in duration nearly equal to the life of man; and it
is no slight testimony to Aurangzeb’s skill in managing such a subject,
that he was able to neutralize the hatred and the power of Jaswant
throughout this lengthened [55] period. But it was this vanity, and the
immense power wielded by the kings who could reward service by the
addition of a vice-royalty to their hereditary domains, that made the
Rajput princes slaves; for, had all the princely contemporaries of
Jaswant—Jai Singh of Amber, the Rana Raj of Mewar, and Sivaji—coalesced
against their national foe, the Mogul power must have been extinct.
Could Jaswant, however, have been satisfied with the mental wounds he
inflicted upon the tyrant, he would have had ample revenge; for the
image of the Rathor crossed all his visions of aggrandizement. The cruel
sacrifice of his heir, and the still more barbarous and unrelenting
ferocity with which he pursued Jaswant’s innocent family, are the surest
proofs of the dread which the Rathor prince inspired while alive.

=The Tale of Nāhar Khān.=—Previous, however, to entering on this and the
eventful period which followed Jaswant’s death, we may record a few
anecdotes illustrative of the character and manners of the vassal
chieftains, by whose aid he was thus enabled to brave Aurangzeb. Nor can
we do better than allow Nahar Khan, chief of the Kumpawats and premier
noble, to be the representative portrait of the clans of Maru. It was by
the vigilance of this chief, and his daring intrepidity, that the many
plots laid for Jaswant’s life were defeated; and in the anecdote already
given, when in order to restore his prince from a fit of mental
delusion,[5.6.21] he braved the superstitions of his race, his devotion
was put to a severer test than any which could result from personal
peril. The anecdote connected with his _nom de guerre_ of Nahar
(_tiger_) Khan, exemplifies his personal, as the other does his mental,
intrepidity. The real name of this individual, the head of the Kumpawat
clan, was Mukunddas. He had personally incurred the displeasure of the
emperor, by a reply which was deemed disrespectful to a message sent by
the royal Ahadi,[5.6.22] for which the tyrant condemned him to enter a
tiger’s den, and contend for his life unarmed. Without a sign of fear he
entered the arena, where the savage beast was pacing, and thus
contemptuously accosted him: “Oh, tiger of the Miyan,[5.6.23] face the
tiger of Jaswant”; exhibiting to the king of the forest a pair of eyes,
which anger and opium had rendered little less inflamed than his own.
The animal, startled by so unaccustomed a salutation, for a moment
looked at his visitor, put down his head, turned round and [56] stalked
from him. “You see,” exclaimed the Rathor, “that he dare not face me,
and it is contrary to the creed of a true Rajput to attack an enemy who
dares not confront him.” Even the tyrant, who beheld the scene, was
surprised into admiration, presented him with gifts, and asked if he had
any children to inherit his prowess. His reply, “How can we get
children, when you keep us from our wives beyond the Attock?” fully
shows that the Rathor and fear were strangers to each other. From this
singular encounter he bore the name of Nahar Khan, ‘the tiger lord.’

On another occasion, from the same freedom of speech, he incurred the
displeasure of the Shahzada, or prince-royal, who, with youthful levity,
commanded the ‘tiger lord’ to attempt a feat which he deemed
inconsistent with his dignity, namely, gallop at speed under a
horizontal branch of a tree and cling to it while the steed passed on.
This feat, requiring both agility and strength, appears to have been a
common amusement, and it is related in the Annals of Mewar that the
chief of Banera broke his spine in the attempt; and there were few who
did not come off with bruises and falls, in which consisted the sport.
When Nahar heard the command, he indignantly replied, he “was not a
monkey”; that “if the prince wished to see his feats, it must be where
his sword had play”; on which he was ordered against Surthan, the Deora
prince of Sirohi, for which service he had the whole Rathor contingent
at his disposal. The Deora prince, who could not attempt to cope against
it in the field, took to his native hills; but while he deemed himself
secure, Mukund, with a chosen band, in the dead of night, entered the
glen where the Sirohi prince reposed, stabbed the solitary sentinel,
bound the prince with his own turban to his pallet, while, environing
him with his clansmen, he gave the alarm. The Deoras starting from their
rocky beds, collected round their prince, and were preparing for the
rescue, when Nahar called aloud, “You see his life is in my hands; be
assured it is safe if you are wise; but he dies on the least opposition
to my determination to convey him to my prince. My sole object in giving
the alarm was that you might behold me carry off my prize.” He conveyed
Surthan to Jaswant, who said he must introduce him to the king. The
Deora prince was carried to court, and being led between the proper
officers to the palace, he was instructed to perform that profound
obeisance, from which none were exempted. But the haughty Deora replied,
“His life was in the king’s hands, his [57] honour in his own; he had
never bowed the head to mortal man, and never would.” As Jaswant had
pledged himself for his honourable treatment, the officers of the
ceremonies endeavoured by stratagem to obtain a constrained obeisance,
and instead of introducing him as usual, they showed him a wicket, knee
high, and very low overhead, by which to enter, but putting his feet
foremost, his head was the last part to appear.[5.6.24] This stubborn
ingenuity, his noble bearing, and his long-protracted resistance, added
to Jaswant’s pledge, won the king’s favour; and he not only proffered
him pardon, but whatever lands he might desire. Though the king did not
name the return, Surthan was well aware of the terms, but he boldly and
quickly replied, “What can your majesty bestow equal to Achalgarh? let
me return to it is all I ask.” The king had the magnanimity to comply
with his request; Surthan was allowed to retire to the castle of
Abu,[5.6.25] nor did he or any of the Deoras ever rank themselves
amongst the vassals of the empire; but they have continued to the
present hour a life of almost savage independence.

From such anecdotes we learn the character of the tiger lord of Asop;
and his brother Rathors of Marwar; men reckless of life when put in
competition with distinction and fidelity to their prince, as will be
abundantly illustrated in the reign we are about to describe.

-----

Footnote 5.6.1:

[See Grierson, _Vernacular Literature of Hindustān_, Index sv.
“Jaswant Singh.”]

Footnote 5.6.2:

[The Bundela Campaign of 1635 against Jujhār Singh (Jadunāth Sarkar,
_Life of Aurangzib_, i. 14 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.3:

The new translation of Ferishta’s _History_, by Lieut.-Col. Briggs, a
work much wanted, may be referred to by those who wish to see the
opinion of the Muhammadan princes of their Rajput vassalage.

Footnote 5.6.4:

[It is a mistake to call him Dāra, his name being Dāra Shukoh,
‘majesty like that of Darius.’ He was appointed regent in 1657, when
Shāh Jahān fell ill (_ibid._ i. 304 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.5:

[The serpent which upholds the world.]

Footnote 5.6.6:

[The battle fought at Dharmātpur, 14 miles S.W. of Ujjain, April 15 or
25, 1658. See a full account by Jadunāth Sarkar, ii. 3 ff., who
remarks that the description in Bernier (p. 36 ff.) is untrustworthy,
while Tod “merely records the wild fictions of the Rajput bards” (ii.
13 note). Fatehābād was the name given to Samūgarh, fought June 8,
following.]

Footnote 5.6.7:

p. 724.

Footnote 5.6.8:

[Dow, 2nd ed. iii. 206.]

Footnote 5.6.9:

See Kotah annals, which state that that prince and five brothers all
fell in this field of carnage.

Footnote 5.6.10:

Amongst the MSS. presented by the author to the Royal Asiatic Society,
is this work, the Raesa Rao Ratna. [“To Ratan Singh of Ratlam a noble
monument was raised by his descendants on the spot where his corpse
was burnt. Time overwhelmed it, but in 1909 its place was taken by a
lofty structure of white marble, decorated with relief-work of a bold
but conventional type, and surmounted with a stone horse” (Jadunāth
Sarkar ii. 27).]

Footnote 5.6.11:

See p. 724.

Footnote 5.6.12:

[The battle of Samūgarh, nine miles E. of Agra, fought June 8, 1658,
or, according to Jadunāth Sarkar (ii. 32) on May 29, 1658.]

Footnote 5.6.13:

[The battle of Khajwa or Khajuha, in the Fatehpur District, nearly 100
miles N.W. of Allāhābād, on January 14, 1659, or, according to
Jadunāth Sarkar, on January 4-5, 1659. The dates fixed by Irvine
(_IA_, xl. 69 ff.) are probably correct, and have been followed in the
notes.]

Footnote 5.6.14:

[June 23, 1665.]

Footnote 5.6.15:

[Jai Singh seems to have had no direct part in the escape of Sivaji
from Delhi, August 29, 1666 (Grant Duff, _Hist. Mahrattas_, 96).]

Footnote 5.6.16:

The common epithet of the Islamite emperors, in the dialect of the
bard, is _Aspat_, classically _Aswapati_, ‘lord of horses.’

Footnote 5.6.17:

[He was appointed Faujdār of Jamrūd at the mouth of the Khaibar Pass.]

Footnote 5.6.18:

[A near relation by marriage.]

Footnote 5.6.19:

This mode of being rid of enemies is firmly believed by the Rajputs,
and several other instances of it are recorded in this work. Of
course, it must be by porous absorption; and in a hot climate, where
only a thin tunic is worn next the skin, much mischief might be done,
though it is difficult to understand how death could be accomplished.
[See p. 728. ] That the belief is of ancient date we have only to
recall the story of Hercules put into doggerel by Pope:

——“He, whom Dejanire
Wrapp’d in th’ envenom’d shirt, and set on fire.”

[“The Wife of Bath,” 380-1. The tragical death of Prithi Singh is
still the subject for songs of the bards (Temple, _Legends of the
Panjāb_, iii. 252 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.20:

[This is an error. Jaswant Singh died December 18, 1678 (Irvine’s note
on Manucci ii. 233, _IA_, xl. 77). Sivaji died probably on April 17,
1680 (Fryer, _New Account of East India and Persia_, ed. Hakluyt
Society, iii. 167).]

Footnote 5.6.21:

See p. 967.

Footnote 5.6.22:

[See p. 784.]

Footnote 5.6.23:

_Miyān_ is a term used by the Hindu to a Muslim, who himself generally
applies it to a pedagogue: the village schoolmaster has always the
honourable epithet of _Miyān-ji_!

Footnote 5.6.24:

[This is a common legend, told of the Nikumbh Rājputs of the United
Provinces (Crooke, _Tribes and Castes_, iv. 87); by Bernier of Shāh
Jahān and the Persian ambassador (p. 151 f.); of the Hatkars of the
Deccan (_BG_, xvi. 56 note; Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central
Provinces_, i. 37 f.).]

Footnote 5.6.25:

Achalgarh, or ‘the immovable castle,’ is the name of the fortress of
the Deora princes of Abu and Sirohi, of which wonderful spot I purpose
in another work to give a detailed account [58].

-----

CHAPTER 7

=Fate of the Family of Jaswant Singh.=—“When Jaswant died beyond the
Attock, his wife, the (future) mother of Ajit, determined to burn with
her lord, but being in the seventh month of her pregnancy, she was
forcibly prevented by Uda Kumpawat. His other queen and seven Patras
(concubines) mounted the pyre; and as soon as the tidings reached
Jodhpur, the Chandravati queen, taking a turban of her late lord,
ascended the pile at Mandor. The Hindu race was in despair at the loss
of the support of their faith. The bells of the temple were mute; the
sacred shell no longer sounded at sunrise; the Brahmans vitiated their
doctrines and learned the Muslim creed.”[5.7.1]

=Birth of Ajīt Singh.=—The queen was delivered of a boy, who received
the name of Ajit. As soon as she was able to travel, the Rathor
contingent, with their infant prince, his mother, the daughters, and
establishment of their late sovereign, prepared to return to their
native land. But the unrelenting tyrant, carrying his vengeance towards
Jaswant even beyond the grave, as soon they reached Delhi, commanded
that the infant should be surrendered to his custody. “Aurang offered to
divide Maru amongst [59] them if they would surrender their prince; but
they replied, ‘Our country is with our sinews, and these can defend both
it and our Lord.’ With eyes red with rage, they left the Amm-khass.
Their abode was surrounded by the host of the Shah. In a basket of
sweetmeats they sent away the young prince, and prepared to defend their
honour; they made oblations to the gods, took a double portion of opium,
and mounted their steeds. Then spoke Ranchhor, and Govind the son of
Jodha, and Chandarbhan the Darawat, and the son of Raghu, on whose
shoulders the sword had been married at Ujjain, with the fearless
Baharmall the Udawat, and the Sujawat, Raghunath. ‘Let us swim,’ they
exclaimed, ‘in the ocean of fight. Let us root up these Asuras, and be
carried by the Apsaras to the mansions of the sun.’ As thus each spoke,
Suja the bard took the word: ‘For a day like this,’ said he, ‘you enjoy
your fiefs (_pattas_), to give in your lord’s cause your bodies to the
sword, and in one mass to gain _swarga_ (heaven). As for me, who enjoyed
his friendship and his gifts, this day will I make his salt resplendent.
My father’s fame will I uphold, and lead the death in this day’s fight,
that future bards may hymn my praise.’ Then spake Durga, son of Asa:
‘The teeth of the Yavans are whetted, but by the lightning emitted from
our swords, Delhi shall witness our deeds; and the flame of our anger
shall consume the troops of the Shah.’ As thus the chiefs communed, and
the troops of the king approached, the Rajloka[5.7.2] of their late lord
was sent to inhabit Swarga. Lance in hand, with faces resembling
Yama,[5.7.3] the Rathors rushed upon the foe. Then the music of swords
and shields commenced. Wave followed wave in the field of blood.
Sankara[5.7.4] completed his chaplet in the battle fought by the
children of Duhar in the streets of Delhi. Ratna contended with nine
thousand of the foe; but his sword failed, and as he fell, Rambha[5.7.5]
carried him away. Dila the Darawat made a gift of his life;[5.7.6] the
salt of his lord he mixed with the water of the field.[5.7.7]
Chandarbhan was conveyed by the [60] Apsaras to Chandrapur.[5.7.8] The
Bhatti was cut piecemeal and lay on the field beside the son of Surthan.
The faithful Udawat appeared like the crimson lotus; he journeyed to
Swarga to visit Jaswant. Sanda the bard, with a sword in either hand,
was in the front of the battle, and gained the mansion of the
moon.[5.7.9] Every tribe and every clan performed its duty in this day’s
pilgrimage to the stream of the sword, in which Durgadas ground the foe
and saved his honour.”[5.7.10]

=The Johar.=—When these brave men saw that nothing short of the
surrender of all that was dear to a Rajput was intended by the
fiend-like spirit of the king, their first thought was the preservation
of their prince; the next to secure their own honour and that of their
late master. The means by which they accomplished this were terrific.
The females of the deceased, together with their own wives and
daughters, were placed in an apartment filled with gunpowder, and the
torch applied—all was soon over. This sacrifice accomplished, their sole
thought was to secure a niche in that immortal temple, which the Rajput
bard, as well as the great minstrel of the west, peoples with “youths
who died, to be by poets sung.” For this, the Rajput’s anxiety has in
all ages been so great, as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge,
his object being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assured
that his name would never perish, but, preserved in “immortal rhyme” by
the bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds. Accordingly,
“the battle fought by the sons of Duharia[5.7.11] in the streets of
Delhi” is one of the many themes of everlasting eulogy to the Rathors;
and the seventh of Sravan, S. 1736 (the second month of the Monsoon of
A.D. 1680), is a sacred day in the calendar of Maru.

In the midst of this furious contest, the infant prince was saved. To
avoid suspicion the heir of Maru, concealed in a basket of sweetmeats,
was entrusted to a Muslim, who religiously executed his trust and
conveyed him to the appointed spot, where he was joined by the gallant
Durgadas with the survivors who had cut their way through all
opposition, and who were doomed often to bleed for the prince thus
miraculously preserved. It is pleasing to find that if to “the leader
[61] of the faithful,” the bigoted Aurangzeb, they owed so much misery,
to one (and he of humble life), of the same faith, they owed the
preservation of their line. The preserver of Ajit lived to witness his
manhood and the redemption of his birthright, and to find that princes
are not always ungrateful; for he was distinguished at court, was never
addressed but as _Kaka_, or uncle, by the prince; and to the honour of
his successors be it told, the lands then settled upon him are still
enjoyed by his descendants.

=The Youth of Ajīt Singh. Campaign of Aurangzeb in Mārwār.=—With the
sole surviving scion of Jaswant, the faithful Durga and a few chosen
friends repaired to the isolated rock of Abu, and placed him in a
monastery of recluses. There the heir of Maru was reared in entire
ignorance of his birth. Still rumours prevailed, that a son of Jaswant
lived; that Durga and a few associates were his guardians; and this was
enough for the loyal Rajput, who, confiding in the chieftain of Dunara,
allowed the mere name of Dhani (lord) to be his rallying-word in the
defence of his rights. These were soon threatened by a host of enemies,
amongst whom were the Indhas, the ancient sovereigns of Maru, who saw an
opening for the redemption of their birthright, and for a short time
displayed the flag of the Parihars on the walls of Mandor. While the
Indhas were rejoicing at the recovery of their ancient capital, endeared
to them by tradition, an attempt was made by Ratna,[5.7.12] the son of
Amra Singh (whose tragical death has been related), to obtain the seat
of power, Jodhpur. This attempt, instigated by the king, proved futile;
and the clans, faithful to the memory of Jaswant and the name of Ajit,
soon expelled the Indhas from Mandor, and drove the son of Amra to his
castle of Nagor. It was then that Aurangzeb, in person, led his army
into Maru; the capital was invested; it fell and was pillaged, and all
the great towns in the plains, as Merta, Didwana, and Rohat, shared a
similar fate. The emblems of religion were trampled under foot, the
temples thrown down, mosques were erected on their site, and nothing
short of the compulsory conversion to the tenets of Islam of every
Rajput in Marwar would satisfy his revenge.[5.7.13] The consequences of
this fanatical and impolitic conduct recoiled not only upon the emperor
but his whole race, for it roused an opposition to this iron yoke, which
ultimately broke it in pieces. The emperor promulgated that famous
edict, the Jizya, against the whole Hindu race, which cemented into one
compact union all who cherished either patriotism or religion. It was at
this period of time, when the Rathors and Sesodias united [62] against
the tyrant, that Rana

Raj Singh indited that celebrated epistle, which is given in a preceding
part of this work.[5.7.14]

“Seventy thousand men,” says the bard,[5.7.15] “under Tahawwur Khan,
were commanded to destroy the Rajputs, and Aurang followed in person to
Ajmer. The Mertia clan assembled, and advanced to Pushkar to oppose him.
The battle was in front of the temple of Varaha, where the swords of the
Mertias, always first in the fight, played the game of destruction on
the heads of the Asuras. Here the Mertias were all slain on the 11th
Bhadon, S. 1736.

“Tahawwur continued to advance. The inhabitants of Murdhar fled to the
mountains. At Gura the brothers Rupa and Kumbha took post with their
clan to oppose him; but they fell with twenty-five of their brethren. As
the cloud pours water upon the earth, so did Aurang pour his barbarians
over the land. He remained but five days at Ajaidurg (Ajmer), and
marched against Chitor. It fell: it appeared as if the heavens had
fallen. Ajit was protected by the Rana, and the Rathors led the van in
the host of the Sesodias. Seeing the strength of the Yavans, they shut
up the young prince, like a flame confined in a vessel. Delhipat (the
king of Delhi) came to Debari,[5.7.16] at whose pass he was opposed by
Kumbha, Ugarsen, and Uda, all Rathors. While Aurangzeb attacked Udaipur,
Azam was left at Chitor. Then the king learned that Durgadas had invaded
Jalor; he abandoned his conquest, and returned to Ajmer, sending
Mukarrab Khan to aid Bihari at Jalor; but Durga had raised contributions
[63] (_dand_), and passed to Jodhpur, alike forced to contribute; for
the son of Indar Singh, on the part of the king, now commanded in
Trikuta (triple-peaked mount). Aurang Shah measured the heavens; he
determined to have but one faith in the land. Prince Akbar was sent to
join Tahawwur Khan. Rapine and conflagration spread over the land. The
country became a waste; fear stalked triumphant. Providence had willed
this affliction. The Indhas were put in possession of Jodhpur; but were
encountered at Ketapur and put to the sword by the Champawats. Once more
they lost the title of Raos of Murdardes, and thus the king’s intentions
of bestowing sovereignty on the Parihars were frustrated on the 13th day
of Jeth, S. 1736.

=Retreat of the Rathors.=—“The Aravalli gave shelter to the Rathors.
From its fastnesses they issued, and mowed down entire harvests of the
Muslim, piling them in _khallas_.[5.7.17] Aurang had no repose. Jalor
was invaded by one body, Siwana by another of the faithful chiefs of
Ajit, whose _an_[5.7.18] daily increased, while Aurang’s was seldom
invoked. The king gave up the war against the Rana to send all his
troops into Maru; but the Rana, who provoked the rage of Aurang from
granting refuge to Ajit, sent his troops under his own son, Bhim, who
joined the Rathors, led by Indarbhan and Durgadas in Godwar. Prince
Akbar and Tahawwur Khan advanced upon them, and a battle took place at
Nadol. The Sesodias had the right. The combat was long and bloody.
Prince Bhim fell at the head of the Mewaris: he was a noble bulwark to
the Rathors.[5.7.19] Indarbhan was slain, with Jeth the Udawat,
performing noble deeds; and Soning Durga did wonders on that day, the
14th Asoj, S. 1737” (the winter of A.D. 1681).

=The Rebellion of Prince Akbar, A.D. 1681.=—The gallant bearing of the
Rajputs in this unequal combat, their desperate devotion to their
country and prince, touched the soul of Prince Akbar, who had the
magnanimity to commiserate the sufferings he was compelled to inflict,
and to question the policy of his father towards these gallant vassals.
Ambition came to the aid of compassion for the sufferings of the
Rathors, and the persecution of the minor son of Jaswant. He opened his
mind to Tahawwur Khan, and exposed the [64] disgrace of bearing arms in
so unholy a warfare, and in severing from the crown such devoted and
brave vassals as the Rathors. Tahawwur was gained over, and an embassy
sent to Durgadas offering peace, and expressing a wish for a conference.
Durga convened the chiefs, and disclosed the overture; but some
suspected treachery in the prince, others selfish views on the part of
Durga. To prevent the injurious operation of such suspicions, Durga
observed, that if assent were not given to the meeting, it would be
attributed to the base motive of fear. “Let us proceed in a body,” said
he, “to this conference; who ever heard of a cloud being caught?” They
met; mutual views were developed; a treaty was concluded, and the
meeting ended by Akbar waving the umbrella of regality over his
head.[5.7.20] He coined in his own name; he established his own weights
and measures. The poisoned intelligence was poured into Aurang’s ear at
Ajmer; his soul was troubled; he had no rest; he plucked his beard in
grief when he heard that Durga and Akbar had united. Every Rathor in the
land flocked to Akbar’s standard. The house of Delhi was divided, and
Govind[5.7.21] again supported the Hindu faith.

The dethronement of the tyrant appeared inevitable. The scourge of the
Rajputs was in their power, for he was almost alone and without the hope
of succour. But his energies never forsook him; he knew the character of
his foes, and that on an emergency his grand auxiliary, stratagem, was
equal to an army. As there is some variation both in the Mogul
historian’s account of this momentous transaction and in the annals of
Mewar and Marwar,[5.7.22] we present the latter _verbatim_ from the
chronicle.

“Akbar, with multitudes of Rajputs, advanced upon Ajmer. But while
Aurang prepared for the storm, the prince gave himself up to women and
the song, placing everything in the hands of Tahawwur Khan. We are the
slaves of fate; puppets that dance as it pulls the strings. Tahawwur
allowed himself to dream of treason; it was whispered in his ear that if
he could deliver Akbar to his father, high rewards would follow. At
night he went privily to Aurangzeb, and thence wrote to the Rathors: ‘I
was the bond of union betwixt you and Akbar, but the dam which separated
the waters has broken down. Father and son again are one. Consider the
pledges, given and received, as restored, and depart for your own
lands.’ Having sealed this with his signet, and dispatched a messenger
to the Rathors, he appeared before Aurangzeb to receive the fruit of his
service. But his treason met its [65] reward, and before he could say,
the imperial orders were obeyed, a blow of the mace from the hand of the
monarch sent his soul to hell. At midnight the Dervesh messenger reached
the Rathor camp; he put the letter into their hand, which stated father
and son were united; and added from himself that Tahawwur Khan was
slain. All was confusion; the Rathors saddled and mounted, and moved a
coss from Akbar’s camp. The panic spread to his troops, who fled like
the dried leaves of the sugar-cane when carried up in a whirlwind, while
the prince was attending to the song and the wiles of the wanton.”

=The Rāthors abandon Akbar.=—This narrative exemplifies most strongly
the hasty unreflecting character of the Rajput, who always acts from the
impulse of the moment. They did not even send to Akbar’s camp, although
close to their own, to inquire the truth or falsehood of the report, but
saddled and did not halt until they were twenty miles asunder. It is
true, that in these times of peril they did not know in whom to confide;
and being headed by one of their own body, they could not tell how far
he might be implicated in the treachery.

The next day they were undeceived by the junction of the prince, who,
when made acquainted with the departure of his allies, and the treason
and death of Tahawwur Khan, could scarcely collect a thousand men to
abide by his fortunes. With these he followed his panic-struck allies,
and threw himself and his family upon their hospitality and
protection—an appeal never made in vain to the Rajput. The poetic
account, by the bard Karnidhan, of the reception of the prince by the
chivalry of Maru, is remarkably minute and spirited:—the warriors and
senators enter into a solemn debate as to the conduct to be pursued to
the prince now claiming _saran_ (sanctuary), when the bard takes
occasion to relate the pedigree and renown of the chiefs of every clan.
Each chief delivers his sentiments in a speech full of information
respecting their national customs and manners. It also displays a good
picture of “the power of the swans, and the necessity of feeding them
with pearls,” to enable them to sing with advantage. The council breaks
up with the declaration of its determination to protect Akbar at all
hazards, and Jetha, the brother of the head of the Champawats, is
nominated to the charge of protector of Akbar’s family. The gallant
Durga, the Ulysses of the Rathors, is the manager of this dramatic
convention, the details of which are wound up with an eulogy in true
oriental hyperbole, in the Doric accents of Maru: [66]—

_Māi chā pūt jin,
Jehā Durgādās,
Band Murdhara rakhiyo
Vin thāmbhā ākās._[5.7.23]

“O mother! produce such sons as Durgadas, who first supported the dam of
Murdhara, and then propped the heavens.”

=Character of Durgadās.=—This model of a Rajput, as wise as he was
brave, was the saviour of his country. To his suggestion it owed the
preservation of its prince, and to a series of heroic deeds, his
subsequent and more difficult salvation. Many anecdotes are extant
recording the dread Aurangzeb had of this leader of the Rathors, one of
which is amusing. The tyrant had commanded pictures to be drawn of two
of the most mortal foes to his repose, Sivaji and Durga: “Siva was drawn
seated on a couch; Durga in his ordinary position, on horseback,
toasting _bātis_ or barley-cakes, with the point of his lance, on a fire
of maize-stalks. Aurangzeb, at the first glance, exclaimed, ‘I may
entrap that fellow (meaning Sivaji), but this dog is born to be my
bane.s’”

Durga at the head of his bands, together with young Akbar, moved towards
the western extremity of the State, in hopes that they might lead the
emperor in pursuit amongst the sandhills of the Luni; but the wily
monarch tried other arts, and first attempted to corrupt Durga. He sent
him eight thousand gold mohurs,[5.7.24] which the Rajput instantly
applied to the necessities of Akbar, who was deeply affected at this
proof of devotion, and distributed a portion of it amongst Durga’s
retainers. Aurangzeb, seeing the futility of this plan, sent a force in
pursuit of his son, who, knowing he had no hope of mercy if he fell into
his father’s hands, was anxious to place distance between them. Durga
pledged himself for his safety, and relinquished all to ensure it.
Making over the guardianship of young Ajit to his elder brother, Soning,
and placing himself at the head of one thousand chosen men, he turned
towards the south. The bard enumerates the names and families of all the
chieftains of note who formed the bodyguard of prince Akbar in this
desperate undertaking. The Champawats were the most numerous, but he
specifies several of the home clans, as the Jodha and Mertia, and
amongst the foreign Rajputs, the Jadon, Chauhan, Bhatti, Deora,
Sonigira, and Mangalia [67].

=Escape of Prince Akbar.=—“The king followed their retreat: his troops
surrounded the Rathors; but Durga with one thousand chosen men left the
north on their backs, and with the speed of the winged quitted the camp.
Aurang continued the pursuit to Jalor, when he found he had been led on
a wrong scent, and that Durga, with the prince, keeping Gujarat on his
right, and Chappan[5.7.25] on his left, had made good his retreat to the
Nerbudda. Rage so far got the better of his religion, that he threw the
Koran at the head of the Almighty. In wrath, he commanded Azam to
exterminate the Rathors, but to leave Udaipur on one side,[5.7.26] and
every other design, and first secure his brother. The deeds of
Kamunda[5.7.27] removed the troubles of Mewar, as the wind disperses the
clouds which shade the brightness of the moon. In ten days after Azam
marched, the emperor himself moved, leaving his garrisons in Jodhpur and
Ajmer. Durga’s name was the charm which made the hosts of locusts quit
their ground.[5.7.28] Durga was the sea-serpent; Akbar the mountain with
which they churned the ocean Aurang, and made him yield the fourteen
gems, one of which our religion regained, which is Lakshmi, and our
faith, which is Dhanwantari[5.7.29] the sage.

“In fidelity who excelled the Khichis Sheo Singh and Mukund, who never
left the person of Ajit, when his infancy was concealed in the mountains
of Arbud? to them alone, and the faithful Sonigira, did Durga confide
the secret of his retreat. The vassals of the Nine Castles of Maru knew
that he was concealed; but where or in whose custody all were ignorant.
Some thought he was at Jaisalmer; others at Bikampur; others at Sirohi.
The eight divisions nobly supported the days of their exile; their
sinews sustained the land of Murdhar. Raos, Rajas, and Ranas applauded
their deeds, for all were alike enveloped in the net of destruction. In
all the nine thousand [towns] of Murdhar, and the ten thousand of
Mewar,[5.7.30] inhabitants there were none. Inayat Khan was left with
ten thousand men to preserve Jodhpur; but the Champawat is the
Sumer[5.7.31] of Maru, and without fear was Durga’s brother, Soning.
With Khemkaran the Karanot, and Sabhal the Jodha, Bijmall the Mahecha,
Jethmall Sujot, Kesari Karanot, and the Jodha brethren Sheodan and Bhim,
and many more collected their clans and kin, and as soon as they heard
that the king was within four coss of Ajmer they blockaded the Khan [68]
in the city of Jodha; but twenty thousand Moguls came to the rescue.
Another dreadful conflict ensued at the gates of Jodhpur, in which the
Jadon Kishor, who led the battle, and many other chiefs were slain, yet
not without many hundreds of the foe; the 9th Asarh, S. 1737.

“Soning carried the sword and the flame into every quarter. Aurang could
neither advance nor retreat. He was like the serpent seizing the
musk-rat, which, if liberated, caused blindness; but if swallowed, was
like poison. Harnath and Kana Singh took the road to Sojat. They
surrounded and drove away the cattle, which brought the Asurs to the
rescue. A dreadful strife ensued; the chief of the Asurs was slain, but
the brothers and all their kin bedewed the land with their blood. This,
the _sakha_ of Sojat, was when 1737 ended and 1738 commenced, when the
sword and the pestilence (_mari_[5.7.32]) united to clear the land.

“Soning was the Rudra of the field; Agra and Delhi trembled at his
deeds; he looked on Aurang as the waning moon. The king sent an embassy
to Soning; it was peace he desired. He offered the mansab of Sat Hazari
for Ajit,[5.7.33] and what dignities he might demand for his
brethren—the restoration of Ajmer, and to make Soning its governor. To
the engagement was added, ‘the panja is affixed in ratification of this
treaty, witnessed by God Almighty.’[5.7.34] The Diwan, Asad Khan, was
the negotiator, and the Aremdi,[5.7.35] who was with him, solemnly swore
to its maintenance. The treaty concluded, the king, whose thoughts could
not be diverted from Akbar, departed for the Deccan. Asad Khan was left
at Ajmer, and Soning at Merta [69]. But Soning was a thorn in the side
of Aurangzeb; he bribed the Brahmans, who threw pepper into the Homa
(burnt sacrifice) and secured for Soning a place in Suraj Mandala (the
mansion of the sun). The day following the treaty, by the incantations
of Auranga, Soning was no more.[5.7.36] Asoj the 6th, S. 1738.

“Asad sent the news to the king. This terror being removed, the king
withdrew his _panja_ from his treaty, and in joy departed for the
Deccan. The death of Soning shed gloom and grief over the land. Then
Mukund Singh Mertia, son of Kalyan, abandoned his mansab and joined his
country’s cause. A desperate encounter soon followed with the troops of
Asad Khan near Merta, in which Ajit, the son of Bitaldas, who led the
fight, was slain, with many of each clan, which gave joy to the Asurs,
but grief to the faithful Rajput; on the second day of the bright half
of the moon of Kartik, S. 1738.

“Prince Azam was left with Asad Khan; Inayat at Jodhpur; and their
garrisons were scattered over the land, as their tombs (_gor_)
everywhere attest. The lord of Chandawal, Shambhu Kumpawat, now led the
Rathors with Udang Singh Bakhshi, and Tejsi, the young son of Durga, the
bracelet on the arm of Mahadeva, with Fateh Singh and Ram Singh, just
returned from placing Akbar safely in the Deccan, and many other valiant
Rathors.[5.7.37] They spread over the country even to Mewar, sacked
Pur-Mandal, and slew the governor Kasim Khan.”

These desultory and bloody affrays, though they kept the king’s troops
in perpetual alarm and lost them myriads of men, thinned the ranks of
the defenders of Maru, who again took refuge in the Aravalli. From
thence, watching every opportunity, they darted on their prey. On one
occasion they fell upon the garrison of Jaitaran, which they routed and
expelled, or as the chronicle quaintly says, “with the year 1739 they
also fled.” At the same time, the post of Sojat was carried by Bija
Champawat, while the Jodhawats, under Ram Singh, kept their foes in play
to the northward, and led by Udaibhan attacked the Mirza Nur Ali at
Charai: “the contest lasted for three hours; the dead bodies of the
Yavans lay in heaps in the Akhara; who even abandoned their
Nakkaras.”[5.7.38]

“After the affair of Jaitaran, when Udai Singh Champawat and Mohkam
Singh Mertia were the leaders, they made a push for Gujarat, and had
penetrated to [70] Kheralu,[5.7.39] when they were attacked, pursued,
and surrounded in the hills at Renpur, by Sayyid Muhammad, the Hakim of
Gujarat. All night they stood to their arms. In the morning the sword
rained and filled the cars of the Apsaras. Karan and Kesari were slain,
with Gokuldas Bhatti, with all their civil officers, and Ram Singh
himself renounced life on this day.[5.7.40] But the Asurs pulled up the
reins, having lost many men. Pali was also attacked in the month of
Bhadon this year 1739; then the game of destruction was played with Nur
Ali, three hundred Rathors against five hundred of the king’s troops,
which were routed, losing their leader, Afzal Khan, after a desperate
struggle.

“Bala was the hero who drove the Yavan from this post. Udaya attacked
the Sidi at Sojat. Jaitaran was again reinforced. In Baisakh, Mohkam
Singh Mertia attacked the royal post at Merta, slew Sayyid Ali, and
drove out the king’s troops.”

=Assistance given by the Bhattis.=—The year 1739 was one of perpetual
conflict, of captures and recaptures, in which many parties of twenty
and thirty on each side fell. They afford numerous examples of heroic
patriotism, in which Rathor blood was lavishly shed; but while to them
each warrior was a loss not to be replaced, the despot continued to feed
the war with fresh troops. The Bhattis of Jaisalmer came forward this
year, and nobly shed their blood in seconding the efforts of the Rathors
in this patriotic warfare.

“In S. 1740, Azam and Asad Khan joined the emperor in the Deccan, and
Inayat Khan was left in command at Ajmer—being enjoined not to relax the
war in Marwar, even with the setting in of the rains. Merwara afforded a
place of rendezvous for the Rathors, and security for their families.
Here eleven thousand of the best troops of Inayat invaded the hills to
attack the united Jodhas and Champawats, who retaliated on Pali, Sojat,
and Godwar. The ancient Mandor, which was occupied by a garrison under
Khwaja Salah, was attacked by the Mandecha Bhatti and driven out. At
Bagri, a desperate encounter took place in the month of Baisakh, when
Ram Singh and Samant Singh, both Bhatti chiefs, fell, with two hundred
of their vassals, slaying one thousand of the Moguls. The Karamsots and
Kumpawats, under Anup Singh, scoured the banks of the Luni, and put to
the sword the garrisons of Ustara and Gangani. Mohkam, with his Mertias,
made a descent on his patrimonial lands, and drew upon him the whole
force of its [71] governor, Muhammad Ali. The Mertias met him on their
own native plains. The Yavan proposed a truce, and at the interview
assassinated the head of the Mertias, tidings of whose death rejoiced
the Shah in the Deccan.

“At the beginning of 1741, neither strife nor fear had abated. Sujan
Singh led the Rathors in the south, while Lakha Champawat and Kesar
Kumpawat, aided by the Bhattis and Chauhans, kept the garrison of
Jodhpur in alarm. When Sujan was slain, the bard was sent to Sangram,
who held a mansab and lands from the king; he was implored to join his
brethren; he obeyed, and all collected around Sangram.[5.7.41]
Siwancha[5.7.42] was attacked, and with Bhalotra and Panchbhadra were
plundered; while the blockaded garrisons were unable to aid. An hour
before sunset every gate of Maru was shut. The Asurs had the strongholds
in their power; but the plains resounded with the An[5.7.43] of Ajit.
Udaibhan, with his Jodhawats, appeared before Bhadrajun; he assaulted
the foe and captured his guns and treasure. An attempt from Jodhpur made
to recapture the trophies, added to the triumph of the Jodha.

=Abduction of the Asāni Girls.=—“Purdil Khan[5.7.44] held Siwana; and
Nahar Khan Mewati, Kunari. To attack them, the Champawats convened at
Mokalsar. Their thirst for vengeance redoubled at the tidings that Nur
Ali had abducted two young women of the tribe of Asani. Ratna led the
Rathors; they reached Kunari and engaged Purdil Khan, who was put to the
sword with six hundred of his men. The Rathors left one hundred in the
field that day, the ninth of Chait. The Mirza[5.7.45] no sooner heard of
this defeat than he fled towards Toda, with the Asani damsels, gazing on
the mangoes as they ripened, and having reached Kuchal, he encamped.
Subhal Singh, the son of Askaran, heard it; he took his opium, and
though the Mirza was surrounded by pillars, the dagger of Askaran’s son
reached his heart; but the Bhatti[5.7.46] was cut in pieces. The roads
were now impassable; the Thanas[5.7.47] of the Yavans were reduced to
great straits [72].

“The year 1742 commenced with the slaughter of the king’s garrison at
Sambhar by the Lakhawats and Asawats;[5.7.48] while from Godwar the
chiefs made incursions to the gates of Ajmer. A battle took place at
Merta, where the Rathors were defeated and dispersed; but in revenge
Sangram burned the suburbs of Jodhpur, and then came to Dunara, where
once more the clans assembled. They marched, invested Jalor, when
Bihari, left without succour, was compelled to capitulate, and the gate
of honour (_dharmadwara_) was left open to him. And thus ended 1742.”

-----

Footnote 5.7.1:

[Erskine (iii. A, 62) gives the story from local sources; also see
Elliot-Dowson vii. 297 f.]

Footnote 5.7.2:

A delicate mode of naming the female part of Jaswant’s family; the
‘royal abode’ included his young daughters, sent to inhabit heaven
(_swarga_).

Footnote 5.7.3:

Pluto.

Footnote 5.7.4:

‘The lord of the shell,’ an epithet of Siva, as the god of war; his
war-trump being a shell (_sankh_); his chaplet (_mala_), which the
Rathor bard says was incomplete until this fight, being of human
skulls. [Sankara, a title of Siva, means ‘causing happiness,’ and has
no connexion with _sankh_, ‘a shell.’]

Footnote 5.7.5:

Queen of the Apsaras, or celestial nymphs.

Footnote 5.7.6:

Pope makes Sarpedon say:

“The life that others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe.”

Footnote 5.7.7:

_I.e._ blood.

Footnote 5.7.8:

“The city of the moon.”

Footnote 5.7.9:

The lunar abode seems that allotted for all bards, who never mention
Bhanloka, or the ‘mansion of the sun,’ as a place of reward for them.
Doubtless they could assign a reason for such a distinction.

Footnote 5.7.10:

This is but a short transcript of the poetic account of this battle,
in which the deeds, name, and tribe of every warrior who fell are
related. The heroes of Thermopylae had not a more brilliant theme for
the bard. [Compare the more matter-of-fact accounts of Khāfi Khān,
Elliot-Dowson (vii. 296 f.), and of Manucci (ii. 233 f.).]

Footnote 5.7.11:

Here is another instance of the ancient patronymic being brought in by
the bards, and it is thus they preserve the names and deeds of the
worthies of past days. Rao Duhar was one of the earliest Rathor kings
of Marwar.

Footnote 5.7.12:

[According to Musalmān authorities, the name of the son of Amar Singh
was Indar Singh, not Ratan Singh (Jadunath Sarkar, _Life of
Aurangzib_, iii. 369).]

Footnote 5.7.13:

[In 1679 Khān Jahān arrived from Jodhpur, bringing several cartloads
of idols pillaged from Hindu temples. It was ordered that some should
be cast away into the out-offices, and the remainder to be placed
beneath the steps of the Great Mosque, there to be trampled under foot
(Elliot-Dowson vii. 187; Jadunath Sarkar iii. 323).]

Footnote 5.7.14:

Vol. I. p. 442.

Footnote 5.7.15:

It may be well to exhibit the manner in which the poetic annalist of
Rajputana narrates such events, and to give them in his own language
rather than in an epitome, by which not only the pith of the original
would be lost, but the events themselves deprived of half their
interest. The character of historic fidelity will thus be preserved
from suspicion, which could scarcely be withheld if the narrative were
exhibited in any but its native garb. This will also serve to sustain
the Annals of Marwar, formed from a combination of such materials, and
dispose the reader to acknowledge the impossibility of reducing such
animated chronicles to the severe style of history. But more than all,
it is with the design to prove what, in the preface of this work, the
reader was compelled to take on credit; that the Rajput kingdoms were
in no ages without such chronicles: and if we may not compare them
with Froissart, or with Monstrelet, they may be allowed to compete
with the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and they certainly surpass those of
Ulster. But we have stronger motives than even legitimate curiosity,
in allowing the bard to tell his own tale of the thirty years’ war of
Rajputana; the desire which has animated this task from its
commencement, to give a correct idea of the importance of these
events, and to hold them up as a beacon to the present governors of
these brave men. How well that elegant historian, Orme, appreciates
their importance, as bearing on our own conduct in power, the reader
will perceive by reference to his _Fragments_ [ed. 1782, note i.],
where he says, “There are no states or powers on the continent of
India, with whom our nation has either connexion or concern, which do
not owe the origin of their present condition to the reign of
Aurangzebe, or to its influence on the reigns of his successors.” It
behoves us, therefore, to make ourselves acquainted with the causes as
well as the characters of those who occasioned the downfall of our
predecessors in the sovereignty of India. With this object in view,
the bard shall tell his own tale from the birth of Ajit, in S. 1737,
to 1767, when he had vanquished all opposition to Aurangzeb, and
regained the throne of Maru.

Footnote 5.7.16:

The cenotaph of these warriors still marks the spot where they fell,
on the right on entering the portals.

Footnote 5.7.17:

The heaps of grain thrashed in the open field, preparatory to being
divided and housed, are termed _khallas_.

Footnote 5.7.18:

Oath of allegiance.

Footnote 5.7.19:

The Mewar chronicle claims a victory for the combined Rajput army, and
relates a singular stratagem by which they gained it; but either I
have overlooked it, or the Raj Vilas does not specify that Prince
Bhim, son of the heroic Rana Raj, fell on this day, so glorious in the
annals of both States. See Vol. I. p. 448. [According to Manucci
(ii. 234) the Rāja “was obliged to cede to Aurangzeb a province and
the town of Mairtha.” According to another story, Aurangzeb offered
the succession to Ajīt Singh on condition that he was converted to
Islām. The Emperor kept a counterfeit Ajīt Singh in ward, and brought
him up as a Musalmān, called him Muhammadi Rāj, and on his death he
was buried as a Musalmān (Jadunath Sarkar iii. 374).]

Footnote 5.7.20:

On Akbar’s rebellion see Jadunath Sarkar iii. 402 ff.]

Footnote 5.7.21:

Krishna.

Footnote 5.7.22:

[Orme, _Fragments_, ed. 1782, 142 ff.; Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson
vii. 298 ff.]

Footnote 5.7.23:

[The reading in the text is that of Dr. Tessitori. Major Luard’s
Pandit, questioning the Author’s translation, says that the words
_Band Murdharā ra rakhyo_ mean ‘governed Mārwār well,’ and that _bin
thāmbh ākās_, ‘the heavens without a prop,’ refers to the ruler who
was a minor.]

Footnote 5.7.24:

The Mewar chronicle says forty thousand.

Footnote 5.7.25:

[The hill tract about Siwāna, in S. Mewār.]

Footnote 5.7.26:

That is, dropped all schemes against it at that moment.

Footnote 5.7.27:

The Kamdhuj; epithet of the Rathors.

Footnote 5.7.28:

Charms and incantations, with music, are had recourse to, in order to
cause the flight of these destructive insects from the fields they
light on.

Footnote 5.7.29:

[The physician of the gods, born at the churning of the ocean.]

Footnote 5.7.30:

The number of towns and villages formerly constituting the
arrondissement of each State.

Footnote 5.7.31:

[Meru, the sacred mountain.]

Footnote 5.7.32:

_Mari_, or ‘death’ personified, is the name for that fearful scourge
the spasmodic cholera morbus, which has caused the loss of so many
lives for the last thirteen years throughout India. It appears to have
visited India often, of which we have given a frightful record in the
Annals of Mewar in the reign of Rana Raj Singh (see Vol. I. p.
454), in S. 1717 or A.D. 1661 (twenty years prior to the period
we treat of); and Orme [_Fragments_, ed. 1782, p. 200] describes it as
raging in the Deccan in A.D. 1684. They had likewise a visitation of
it within the memory of many individuals now living.

Regarding the nature of this disease, whether endemic, epidemic, or
contagious, and its cure, we are as ignorant now as the first day of
our experience. There have been hundreds of conflicting opinions and
hypotheses, but none satisfactory. In India, nine medical men out of
ten, as well as those not professional, deny its being contagious. At
Udaipur, the Rana’s only son, hermetically sealed in the palace
against contact, was the first seized with the disorder; a pretty
strong proof that it was from atmospheric communication. He was also
the last man in his father’s dominions likely, from predisposition, to
be attacked, being one of the most athletic and prudent of his
subjects. I saw him through the disorder. We were afraid to administer
remedies to the last heir of Bappa Rawal, but I hinted to Amarji, who
was both bard and doctor, that strong doses of musk (12 grs. each)
might be beneficial. These he had, and I prevented his having cold
water to drink, and also checking the insensible perspiration by
throwing off the bedclothes. Nothing but his robust frame and youth
made him resist this tremendous assailant.

Footnote 5.7.33:

[A command of 7000 troops.]

Footnote 5.7.34:

See Vol. I. p. 419, for an explanation of the _panja_—and the
treaty which preceded this, made by Rana Raj Singh, the fourth article
of which stipulates for terms to the minor son of Jaswant.

Footnote 5.7.35:

I know not what officer is meant by the Aremdi, sent to swear to the
good faith of the king.

Footnote 5.7.36:

His death was said to be effected by incantations, most probably
poison.]

Footnote 5.7.37:

Many were enumerated by the bardic chronicler, who would deem it
sacrilege to omit a single name in the page of fame.

Footnote 5.7.38:

[_Akhāra_, ‘a place of wrestling,’ rhyming with _nakkāra_, ‘a
kettle-drum.’]

Footnote 5.7.39:

[In Baroda State, about 63 miles N. of Ahmadābād.]

Footnote 5.7.40:

He was one of the gallant chiefs who, with Durga, conveyed prince
Akbar to the sanctuary with the Mahrattas.

Footnote 5.7.41:

We are not informed of what clan he was, or his rank, which must have
been high.

Footnote 5.7.42:

The tract so called, of which Siwana is the capital [in S. Mewār].

Footnote 5.7.43:

Oath of allegiance.

Footnote 5.7.44:

It is almost superfluous to remark, even to the mere English reader,
that whenever he meets the title Khan, it indicates a Muhammadan [and
a Pathān]; and that of Singh (lion) a Rajput.

Footnote 5.7.45:

Nur Ali. Mirza is a title only applied to a Mogul.

Footnote 5.7.46:

As a Bhatti revenged this disgrace, it is probable the Asani damsels,
thus abducted by the Mirza, were of his own race.

Footnote 5.7.47:

Garrisons and military posts.

Footnote 5.7.48:

These are of the most ancient vassalage of Maru.

-----

CHAPTER 8

=Ajīt Singh produced to the Rāthors, A.D. 1686.=—“In the year 1743, the
Champawats, Kumpawats, Udawats, Mertias, Jodhas, Karamsots, and all the
assembled clans of Maru, became impatient to see their sovereign. They
sent for the Khichi Mukund, and prayed that they might but [73] behold
him; but the faithful to his trust replied: ‘He,[5.8.1] who confided him
to me, is yet in the Deccan.’—‘Without the sight of our Lord, bread and
water have no flavour.’ Mukund could not withstand their suit. The Hara
prince Durjan Sal, having come to their aid with one thousand horse from
Kotah,[5.8.2] they repaired to the hill of Abu, when on the last day of
Chait 1743 they saw their prince. As the lotus expands at the sunbeam,
so did the heart of each Rathor at the sight of their infant sovereign;
they drank his looks, even as the papiha in the month Asoj sips drops of
amrita (ambrosia) from the Champa.[5.8.3] There were present, Udai
Singh, Sangram Singh, Bijaipal, Tej Singh, Mukund Singh, and Nahar son
of Hari, all Champawats; Raj Singh, Jagat Singh, Jeth Singh, Samant
Singh, of the Udawats; Ram Singh, Fateh Singh, and Kesari, Kumpawats.
There was also the Uhar chief of pure descent,[5.8.4] besides the Khichi
Mukund, the Purohit, the Parihar, and the Jain priest, Yati Gyan, Bijai.
In a fortunate hour, Ajit became known to the world. The Hara Rao first
made his salutation; he was followed by all Marwar with offerings of
gold, pearls, and horses.

“Inayat conveyed the tidings to Aurang Shah; the Asur chief said to the
king, ‘If without a head so long they had combated him, what could now
be expected?’ He demanded reinforcements.

=Ajīt Singh installed.=—“In triumph they conveyed the young Raja to Awa,
whose chief made the _badhava_[5.8.5] with pearls, and presented him
with horses; here he was entertained, and here they prepared the _tika
daur_.[5.8.6] Thence, taking Raepur, Bilara, and Barunda in his way, and
receiving the homage and nazars of their chiefs, he repaired to Asop,
where he was entertained by the head of the Kumpawats. From Asop he went
to the Bhatti fief of Lawera; thence to Rian, the chief abode of the
Mertias; thence to Khinwasar, of the Karamsots. Each chief entertained
their young lord, around whom all the clans gathered. Then he repaired
to Kalu, the abode of Pabhu Rao Dhandal,[5.8.7] who came forth with all
his bands; and at length [74] he reached Pokaran, where he was joined by
Durgadas from the Deccan, the 10th of Bhadon 1744.

“Inayat Khan was alarmed. He assembled a numerous array to quell this
fresh tumult, but death pounced upon him. The king was afflicted
thereat. He tried another stratagem, and set up a pretended son of
Jaswant, styled Muhammad Shah, and offered Ajit the mansab of five
thousand to submit to his authority.[5.8.8] The pretender also died as
he set out for Jodhpur, and Shujaat Khan[5.8.9] was made the governor of
Marwar in place of Inayat. Now the Rathors and Haras united, having
cleared Maru of their foes, attacked them in a foreign land. The
garrisons of Malpura and Pur Mandal were put to the sword, and here the
Hara prince was killed by a cannon shot in leading the storm. Here they
levied eight thousand mohurs in contribution and returned to Marwar,
while the civil officers and Purohits made collections in his country;
and thus passed 1744.

“The year 1745 commenced with proposals from Shujaat Khan to hold Marwar
in farm; he promised one-fourth of all transit duties if the Rathors
would respect foreign commerce: to this they agreed. The son of Inayat
left Jodhpur for Delhi; he had reached Renwal, but was overtaken by the
Jodha Harnath, who released him both of wives and wealth. The Khan fled
to the Kachhwahas for shelter. Suja Beg, who left Ajmer to release him,
fared no better: he was attacked, defeated, and plundered by Mukunddas
Champawat.

=War with the Mughals.=—“In 1747, Safi Khan was Hakim of Ajmer: Durga
determined to attack him. The Hakim took post in the pass which defends
the road; there Durga assailed him, and made him fly to Ajmer. The
tidings reached the king; he wrote to the Khan, if he discomfited
Durgadas, he would raise him over all the Khans of the empire; if he
failed, he should send him bracelets,[5.8.10] and order Shujaat from
Jodhpur to supersede him. Safi, before abandoning his trust, tried to
retain his honours by the circumvention of Ajit. He addressed a letter
to him, saying he held the imperial sanad for the restoration of his
paternal domains, but that, as the king’s representative, he must come
and receive it. Ajit marched at the head of twenty thousand Rathors,
sending in advance Mukund Champawat to observe whether any treachery was
contemplated. The snare was discovered and reported to Ajit, as he
arrived at the foot of the pass beyond the mountains. ‘Let us, however,
have [75] a sight of Ajaidurg as we are so near,’ said the young prince,
‘and receive the compliments of the Khan.’ They moved on towards the
city, and Safi Khan had no alternative but to pay his obeisance to Ajit.
To enjoy his distress, one said, ‘Let us fire the city.’ The Hakim sat
trembling for its safety and his own; he brought forth jewels and horses
which he presented to Ajit.

“In 1748, the troubles recommenced in Mewar. Prince Amra rebelled
against his father, Rana Jai Singh, and was joined by all his chiefs.
The Rana fled to Godwar, and at Ghanerao collected a force, which Amra
prepared to attack. The Rana demanded succour of the Rathors, and all
the Mertias hastened to relieve him; and soon after Ajit sent Durgadas
and Bhagwan, with Ranmall Jodha, and ‘the eight ranks of Rathors,’ to
espouse the father’s cause. But the Chondawats and Saktawats, the Jhalas
and Chauhans, rather than admit foreign interference in their quarrel,
thought it better to effect a reconciliation between father and son; and
thus the Rana was indebted to Marwar for the support of his throne.

=Aurangzeb negotiates about Akbar’s Daughter.=—“The year 1749 passed in
negotiation to obtain the daughter of prince Akbar, left in charge of
Durgadas, for whose honour Aurangzeb was alarmed, as Ajit was reaching
manhood; Narayandas Kulumbi was the medium of negotiation, and Safi Khan
caused all hostilities to cease while it lasted.

“In 1750, the Muslim governors of Jodhpur, Jalor, and Siwana combined
their forces against Ajit, who was again compelled to retreat to the
mountains. Akha, the Bala, received their attack, but was defeated in
the month of Magh. Another combat was hastened by the wanton slaughter
of a _sand_,[5.8.11] when the Hakim of Chank, with all his train, were
made prisoners at Mokalsar by the Champawat Mukanddas.

“To such straits were the Muslims put in 1751, that many districts paid
chauth, others tribute, and many, tired of this incessant warfare, and
unable to conquer their bread, took service with the Rathors. This year,
Kasim Khan and Lashkar Khan marched against Ajit, who took post at
Bijaipur. Durga’s son led the onset, and the Khan was defeated. With
each year of Ajit grew the hopes of the Rathors; while Aurangzeb was
afflicted at each month’s growth of his granddaughter. He wrote to
Shujaat, the Hakim of Jodhpur, to secure his honour at whatever cost;
his applications for Akbar’s daughter were unwearied [76].

=Ajīt Singh marries a Princess of Mewar.=—“This year the coco-nut
studded with gems,[5.8.12] two elephants and ten steeds, all richly
caparisoned, were sent by the Rana to affiance the daughter of his
younger brother, Gaj Singh, to Ajit. The present was accepted, and in
the month of Jeth, the prince of the Rathors repaired to Udaipur, where
the nuptials were solemnized. In Asarh he again married at
Deolia.[5.8.13]

“In 1753, negotiations were renewed through Durgadas, and the protracted
restoration of the Sultani obtained the seat of his ancestors for the
Jodhani. Durga was offered for himself the mansab of five thousand,
which he refused; he preferred that Jalor, Siwanchi, Sanchor, and
Tharad[5.8.14] should revert to his country. Even Aurang admired the
honourable and distinguished treatment of his granddaughter.

“In Pus 1757,[5.8.15] Ajit regained possession of his ancestral abode:
on his reaching Jodhpur he slew a buffalo at each of its five
gates.[5.8.16] The Shahzada Sultan led the way, Shujaat being
dead.[5.8.17]

“In 1759, Azam Shah again seized on Jodhpur, and Ajit made Jalor his
abode. Some of his chiefs now served the foe, some the Rana whose hopes
were on Eklinga alone; while the lord of Amber served the king in the
Deccan. The enormities of the Asurs had reached their height; the sacred
kine were sacrificed even at Mathura, Prayag, and Okhamandal; the Jogis
and Bairagis invoked heaven for protection, but iniquity prevailed as
the Hindu strength decayed. Prayers were everywhere offered up to heaven
to cleanse the land from the iniquities of the barbarians.[5.8.18] In
this year, the month of Magh 1759, the Mithun Lagan (the ‘sun in
Gemini’), a son was born of the Chauhani, who was called Abhai Singh.
(See end of this chapter, p. 1019, for the Horoscope of Abhai Singh.)

“In 1761, Yusuf was superseded by Murshid Kuli as Hakim of Jodhpur. On
his arrival he presented the royal sanad for the restoration of Merta to
Ajit. Kusal Singh, the Mertia Sarmor, with the Dhandhal Govinddas, were
ordered to [77] take the charge, which incensed the son of Indar (Mohkam
Singh), who deemed his faithful service during his minority overlooked
by this preference. He wrote to the king to nominate him to the command
of Marwar, and that he would fulfil his charge to the satisfaction both
of Hindu and Muslim.

“In 1761 the star of the foe began to decline. Murshid Kuli, the Mogul,
was relieved by Jaafar Khan. Mohkam’s letter was intercepted. He had
turned traitor to his prince, and joined the king’s troops. Ajit marched
against them; he fought them at Dunara; the king’s troops were defeated,
and the rebel Indhawat was slain. This was in 1762.

=Death of Aurangzeb, March 3, 1707.=—“In 1763, Ibrahim Khan, the king’s
lieutenant[5.8.19] at Lahore, passed through Marwar to relieve Azam in
the vice-royalty of Gujarat. On the second day of Chait, the obscure
half of the moon, the joyful tidings arrived of the death of the
king.[5.8.20] On the fifth, Ajit took to horse; he reached the town of
Jodha, and sacrificed to the gates, but the Asurs feared to face him.
Some hid their faces in fear, while others fled. The Mirza came down,
and Ajit ascended to the halls of his ancestors. The wretched Yavans,
now abandoned to the infuriated Rajputs smarting under twenty-six years
of misery, found no mercy. In hopeless despair they fled, and the wealth
which they had amassed by extortion and oppression returned to enrich
the proprietor. The barbarians, in turn, were made captive; they fought,
were slaughtered and dispersed. Some sought _saran_ (sanctuary), and
found it; even the barbarian leader himself threw fear to the winds in
the unconcealed sanctuary of the Kumpawat. But the triumph of the Hindu
was complete, when, to escape from perdition, their flying foes invoked
Sitaram and Hargovind, begging their bread in the day, and taking to
their heels at night. The chaplet of the Mulla served to count the name
of Rama, and a handful of gold was given to have their beards
removed.[5.8.21] Nothing but the despair and flight of the Mlechchha was
heard throughout Murdhar. Merta was evacuated, and the wounded Mohkam
fled to Nagor. Sojat and Pali were regained, and the land returned to
the Jodhani. Jodhgarh was purified from the contaminations of the
barbarian with the water of the Ganges and the sacred Tulasi, and Ajit
received the tilak of sovereignty.

“Then Azam marched from the south and Muazzam from the north. At Agra a
[78] mighty battle for empire took place between the two Asurs, but
Alam[5.8.22] prevailed and got the throne. The tidings soon reached the
king, that Ajit had plundered his armies in Maru and taken possession of
the ‘cushion’ of his fathers.

=Campaign of Bahādur Shāh.=—“The rainy season of 1764 had vanished, the
king had no repose; he formed an army and came to Ajmer. Then Haridas,
the son of Bhagwan, with the Uhar and Mangalia chiefs,[5.8.23] and Ratna
the leader of the Udawats, with eight hundred of their clan, entered the
castle and swore to Ajit, that whatever might be his intentions, they
were resolved to maintain the castle to the death. The royal army
encamped at Bhavi Bilara, and Ajit prepared for the storm; but the king
was advised to try peaceful arts, and an overture was made, and the
messenger was sent back to the king accompanied by Nahar Khan. The
embassy returned bearing the royal farman to Ajit; but before he would
accept it, he said he would view the royal army, and on the first day of
Phalgun he left the hill of Jodha and reached Bisalpur. Here he was
received by a deputation from the king, headed by Shujaat Khan, son of
the Khankhanan accompanied by the Raja of the Bhadaurias and Rao Budh
Singh of Bundi—the place of meeting was Pipar. That night passed in
adjusting the terms of the treaty.[5.8.24] The ensuing morn he marched
forward at the head of all the men of Maru; and at Anandpur the eyes of
the king of the barbarians (Mlechchha) fell on those of the lord of the
earth. He gave him the title of Tegh Bahadur.[5.8.25] But fate decreed
that the city of Jodha was coveted by the king; by stealth he sent
Mahrab Khan to take possession, accompanied by the traitor Mohkam. Ajit
burned with rage when he heard of this treachery, but he was compelled
to dissimulate and accompany Alam to the Deccan, and to serve under
Kambakhsh. Jai Singh of Amber[5.8.26] was also with the king, and had a
like cause for discontent, a royal garrison being placed in Amber, and
the _gaddi_ of the Raja bestowed on his younger brother, Bijai Singh.
Now the army rolled on like a sea overflowing its bounds. As soon as the
king crossed the Nerbudda,[5.8.27] the Rajas executed their designs,
and, without saying a word, at the head of their vassals retrograded to
Rajwara. They repaired to Udaipur, and were received by Rana Amra with
rejoicing and distinction [79], who advanced to conduct them to his
capital. Seated together, the _chaunri_ waving over their heads, they
appeared like the Trianga,[5.8.28] Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesa. From this
hour the fortunes of the Asurs sunk, and virtue again began to show
herself.[5.8.29] From Udaipur the two Rajas passed to Marwar. They
reached Awa, and here the Champawat Sangram, son of Udaibhan, spread the
foot-carpet (_pagmanda_) for his lord.

“The month of Sawan 1765 set in, and the hopes of the Asur expired.
Mahrab was in consternation when he heard that Ajit had returned to his
native land. On the 7th the hall of Jodha was surrounded by thirty
thousand Rathors. On the 12th the gate of honour was thrown open to
Mahrab; he had to thank the son of Askaran[5.8.30] for his life. He was
allowed an honourable retreat, and Ajit once more entered the capital of
Maru.

“Jai Singh encamped upon the banks of the Sur Sagar; but a prince
without a country, he was unhappy. But as soon as the rains were passed,
Ajmall, the sanctuary of the Kachhwaha, proposed to reinstate him in
Amber. When conjoined they had reached Merta, Agra and Delhi trembled.
When they arrived at Ajmer its governor sought _saran_ with the
saint,[5.8.31] and paid the contributions demanded. Then, like the
falcon, Ajit darted upon Sambhar; and here the vassals of Amber repaired
from all quarters to the standard of their lord. With twelve thousand
men, the Sayyid advanced along the edge of the salt lake, to encounter
Ajmall. The Kumpawat led the charge; a desperate battle ensued; Husain,
with six thousand men, lay on the field, while the rest took to flight
and sought refuge in the castle.[5.8.32] His lieutenant, the Parihar,
chief Pandu,[5.8.33] here fell into the hands of Ajit; he then felt he
had recovered Mandor. On intelligence of this history, the Asurs
abandoned Amber, and having placed a garrison in Sambhar, in the month
of Margsir, Ajit restored Jai Singh to Amber, and prepared to attack
Bikaner. Ajit committed the administration of all civil affairs to the
faithful Raghunath Bhandari, with the [80] title of Diwan. He was well
qualified, both from his experience in civil affairs and from his valour
as a soldier.

=Death of Prince Kāmbakhsh.=—“In Bhadon of the year 1766, Aurangzeb put
to death Kambakhsh,[5.8.34] and Jai Singh entered into negotiations with
the king. Ajit now went against Nagor; but Indar Singh being without
resource, came forth and embraced Ajit’s feet, who bestowed Ladnun upon
him as a heritage. But this satisfied not him who had been the lord of
Nagor, and Indar carried his complaints to Delhi.[5.8.35] The king was
enraged—his threats reached the Rajas, who deemed it safe again to
reunite. They met at Kolia near Didwana, and the king soon after reached
Ajmer. Thence he sent his firmans and the panja as terms of friendship
to the Rajas: Nahar Khan, Chela of the king, was the bearer. They were
accepted, and on the 1st Asarh both the Rajas repaired to Ajmer. Here
the king received them graciously, in the face of the world; to Ajit he
presented the sanad of the Nine Castles of Maru, and to Jai Singh that
of Amber. Having taken leave of the king, the two Rajas went on the
_parab_[5.8.36] to the sacred lake of Pushkar. Here they separated for
their respective domains, and Ajit reached Jodhpur in Sawan 1767. In
this year he married a Gaur Rani, and thus quenched the feud caused by
Arjun, who slew Amra Singh in the Ammkhass.[5.8.37] Then he went on a
pilgrimage to Kurukshetra, the field of battle of the Mahabharata, and
made his ablutions in the fountain of Bhishma.[5.8.38] Thus 1767 passed
away” [81].

=Eulogy of Durgadās.=—Here let us, for a while, suspend the narrative of
the chronicler, and take a retrospective glance at the transactions of
the Rathors, from the year 1737 [A.D. 1680], the period of Raja
Jaswant’s death at Kabul, to the restoration of Ajit, presenting a
continuous conflict of thirty years’ duration. In vain might we search
the annals of any other nation for such inflexible devotion as marked
the Rathor character through this period of strife, during which, to use
their own phrase, “hardly a chieftain died on his pallet.” Let those who
deem the Hindu warrior void of patriotism read the rude chronicle of
this thirty years’ war; let them compare it with that of any other
country, and do justice to the magnanimous Rajput. This narrative, the
simplicity of which is the best voucher for its authenticity, presents
an uninterrupted record of patriotism and disinterested loyalty. It was
a period when the sacrifice of these principles was rewarded by the
tyrant king with the highest honours of the state; nor are we without
instances of the temptation being too strong to be withstood; but they
are rare, and serve only to exhibit, in more pleasing colours, the
virtues of the tribe which spurned the attempts at seduction. What a
splendid example is the heroic Durgadas of all that constitutes the
glory of the Rajput! Valour, loyalty, integrity, combined with prudence
in all the difficulties which surrounded him, are qualities which
entitle him to the admiration which his memory continues to enjoy. The
temptations held out to him were almost irresistible: not merely the
gold, which he and thousands of his brethren would alike have spurned,
but the splendid offer of power in the proffered mansab of five
thousand, which would at once have lifted him from his vassal condition
to an equality with the [82] princes and chief nobles of the land. Durga
had, indeed, but to name his reward; but, as the bard justly says, he
was _amol_, beyond all price, _anokha_, unique. Not even revenge, so
dear to the Rajput, turned him aside from the dictates of true honour.
The foul assassination of his brother, the brave Soning, effected
through his enemies, made no alteration in his humanity whenever the
chance of war placed his foe in his power; and in this, his policy
seconded his virtue. His chivalrous conduct, in the extrication of
prince Akbar from inevitable destruction had he fallen into his father’s
hands, was only surpassed by his generous and delicate behaviour towards
the prince’s family, which was left in his care, forming a marked
contrast to that of the enemies of his faith on similar occasions. The
virtue of the granddaughter of Aurangzeb, in the sanctuary (_saran_) of
Dunara,[5.8.39] was in far better keeping than in the trebly-walled
harem of Agra. Of his energetic mind, and the control he exerted over
those of his confiding brethren, what a proof is given, in his
preserving the secret of the abode of his prince throughout the six
first years of his infancy! But, to conclude our eulogy in the words of
their bard: he has reaped the immortality destined for good deeds; his
memory is cherished, his actions are the theme of constant praise, and
his picture on his white horse, old, yet in vigour, is familiar amongst
the collections of portraits of Rajputana.[5.8.40]

But there was not a clan, or family, that did not produce men of worth
in this protracted warfare, which incited constant emulation; and the
bards of each had abundant materials to emblazon the pages of their
chronicles. To the recollection of these, their expatriated descendants
allude in the memorial[5.8.41] of their hardships from the cruel policy
of the reigning chief, the last lineal descendant of the prince, whose
history has just been narrated. We now resume the narrative in the
language of the chronicle [83].

HOROSCOPE OF RAJA ABHAI SINGH

In the Janampatri, or horoscope of Abhai Singh (referred to in p. 1011),
the 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th houses denote the destinies of
the heir of Ajit. In the 4th we have the monster Rahu, the author of
eclipses. Of the 7th, or house of heirs, the Moon and Venus have taken
possession; of the 8th, or house of strife, the Sun and Mercury. In the
10th is Ketu, brother of Rahu, both signs of evil portent. Mars rides in
the house of fate, while Saturn and Jupiter are together in the abode of
sovereignty. Like that of every man living, the horoscope of the heir of
Maru is filled with good and evil: could the Jotishi or astrological
seer have put the parricidal sign in the house of destiny, he might have
claimed some merit for superior intelligence. Those who have ever
consulted any works on this foolish pursuit will observe that the
diagrams of the European astrologers are exact copies of the Hindu, in
proof of which I have inserted this; to trace darkness as well as light
from the East!

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│╲ ╱╲ ╱│
│ ╲ 4 ╱ ╲ 2 ╱ │
│ ╲ RĀHU. ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ (ascending node) ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ 5 ╳ 3 ╳ 1 │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ 12 ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ RĀJ-BHAWAN ╲ │
│╱ ╲╱ Abode of Sovereignty. ╲│
│╲ 6 ╱╲ ╱│
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♃ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♄ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │
│ 7 ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ 11 │
│ House of ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ House of │
│ Heirs ╳ ╳ Destiny │
│ ╱ ╲ 9 ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ☿ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♂ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │
│☽ ╱ 8 ╲ ╱ 10 ╲ │
│ ╱ House of Enmity. ╲ ╱ KETU. ╲ │
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ (descending node) ╲ │
│╱ ☉ ȣ ╲╱ \│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

[84].

-----

Footnote 5.8.1:

Meaning Durgadas.

Footnote 5.8.2:

His principal object was to marry the daughter of Shujāwan Singh
Champawat, the sister of the brave Mukund Singh, often mentioned in
the chronicle. The Kotah prince dared not, according to every Rajput
maxim of gallantry, refuse his aid on such occasion; but the natural
bravery and high mind of Durjan Sal required no stimulus.

Footnote 5.8.3:

The Hindu poet says the Papiha bird [the cuckoo] becomes intoxicated
with the flowers [of the Champa (_Michelia champaka_)].

Footnote 5.8.4:

A name now lost.

Footnote 5.8.5:

Waving a brass vessel, filled with pearls, round his head.

Footnote 5.8.6:

[The inauguration foray. See Vol. I. p. 315.]

Footnote 5.8.7:

Pabhu Rao Rathor is immortalized by the aid of his lance on this
occasion; he was of the ancient chivalry of Maru, and still held his
allodial domain.

Footnote 5.8.8:

[See p. 997 above.]

Footnote 5.8.9:

[His original name was Kārtalab Khān, and he served as viceroy of
Surat and Gujarāt (Manucci ii. 259, iv. 247).]

Footnote 5.8.10:

A mark of contempt.

Footnote 5.8.11:

One of those pampered bulls, allowed to wander at liberty and fed by
every one.

Footnote 5.8.12:

The coco, the symbol of a marriage offer.

Footnote 5.8.13:

Partabgarh Deolia, a small principality grown out of Mewar [_IGI_, xx.
14].

Footnote 5.8.14:

[In the Pālanpur Agency, Bombay Presidency (_IGI_, xix. 346).]

Footnote 5.8.15:

I cannot now call to mind whether this break of four years in the
chronicle of the bard Karnidhan occurs in the original, or that in
translating I left the hiatus from there being nothing interesting
therein. The tyrant was now fully occupied in the Deccan wars, and the
Rajputs had time to breathe.

Footnote 5.8.16:

[To propitiate the gate spirit.]

Footnote 5.8.17:

This Shahzada must have been prince Azam, who was nominated viceroy of
Gujarat and Marwar.

Footnote 5.8.18:

This record of the manifold injuries, civil and religious, under which
the Hindu nation groaned is quite akin to the sentiments of the letter
of remonstrance addressed by Rana Raj Singh to Aurangzeb. See Vol. I.
p. 442.

Footnote 5.8.19:

He is called the samdhi, or ‘son-in-law of the king.’ [There is no
record of his marriage to a daughter of Aurangzeb (_IA_, xl. 83). It
is the fathers of a bride and bridegroom who stand in the relation of
_samdhi_ to each other.]

Footnote 5.8.20:

5th Chait S. 1763. The 28th Zu-lqa’ada [March 3, 1707].

Footnote 5.8.21:

The Rajputs gave up beards the better to distinguish them from the
Muslims.

Footnote 5.8.22:

Shah Alam, who assumed the title of Bahadur Shah on mounting the
throne. [The battle in which Azam was defeated was fought on June 7,
1707.]

Footnote 5.8.23:

The Mangalia is a branch of the Guhilots, severed from the original
stem in the reign of Bappa Rawal eleven centuries ago.

Footnote 5.8.24:

[According to Khāfi Khān, the submission of Ajīt Singh was complete;
he even asked that the mosque at Jodhpur should be rebuilt, temples
destroyed, and the law about the summons to prayer and the killing of
cows enforced—concessions he would not have been likely to make unless
he was reduced to extremities (Elliot-Dowson vii. 405).]

Footnote 5.8.25:

‘The warrior’s sword.’

Footnote 5.8.26:

This is the Mirza Raja, Jai Singh—the posterior Jai Singh had the
epithet _Sawai_ [see Vol. II. p. 969].

Footnote 5.8.27:

The Muslim historian mentions in Vol. I. p. 464, that Bahadur was
then _en route_ to Lahore.

Footnote 5.8.28:

Trianga, the triple-bodied, or _trimurti_.

Footnote 5.8.29:

The bard of Maru passes over the important fact of the intermarriage
which took place on this occasion of the Rajput triple alliance. See
Vol. I. p. 465.

Footnote 5.8.30:

Durgadas, who recommended the acceptance of the proffered
capitulation.

Footnote 5.8.31:

The shrine of Khwaja Kutb.

Footnote 5.8.32:

Although the Marwar chronicler takes all the credit of this action, it
was fought by the combined Rajputs of the alliance. Vol. I. p.
466.

Footnote 5.8.33:

Pandu is the squire, the shield-bearer, of the Rajputs.

Footnote 5.8.34:

Kambakhsh was the child of the old age of the tyrant Aurangzeb, by a
Rajput princess. He appears to have held him in more affection than
any of his other sons, as his letter on his death-bed to him
testifies. See Vol. I. p. 439. [Kāmbakhsh was son of Bāi
Udaipuri, who was probably a dancing girl, but one account states that
she was a Georgian Christian, formerly in Dāra Shukoh’s harem; she
died in June 1707. Kāmbakhsh, born March 6, 1667, died from wounds
received in battle with his brother Muazzam, fought near Haidarābād,
Deccan, January 13, 1709.]

Footnote 5.8.35:

Indar Singh was the son of Amra, the eldest brother of Jaswant, and
the father of Mohkam, who, being disappointed of the government of
Merta, deserted to the king.

Footnote 5.8.36:

[The day on which the sun enters a new sign of the zodiac.]

Footnote 5.8.37:

This is another of the numerous instances of contradictory feelings in
the Rajput character. Amra, elder brother of Jaswant, was banished
Marwar, lost his birthright, and was afterwards slain at court, as
already related. His son, Indar Singh and grandson Mohkam, from Nagor,
which they held in separate grants from the king, never forgot their
title as elder branch of the family, and eternally contested their
claim against Ajit. Still, as a Rathor, he was bound to avenge the
injuries of a Rathor, even though his personal foe.—Singular
inconsistency!

Footnote 5.8.38:

There is an anecdote regarding the fountain of this classic field of
strife, the Troad of Rajasthan, which well exemplifies the
superstitious belief of the warlike Rajput. The emperor Bahadur Shah
was desirous to visit this scene of the exploits of the heroes of
antiquity, stimulated, no doubt, by his Rajputni queen, or his mother,
also of this race. He was seated under a tree which shaded the sacred
fount, named after the great leader of the Kauravas, his queen by his
side, surrounded by _kanats_ to hide them from profane eyes, when a
vulture perched upon the tree with a bone in its beak, which falling
in the fountain, the bird set up a scream of laughter. The king looked
up in astonishment, which was greatly increased when the vulture
addressed him in human accents, saying “that in a former birth she was
a Jogini, and was in the field of slaughter of the Great War, whence
she flew away with the dissevered arm of one of its mighty warriors,
with which she alighted on that very tree, that the arm was encumbered
with a ponderous golden bracelet, in which, as an amulet, were set
thirteen brilliant symbols of Siva, and that after devouring the
flesh, she dropped the bracelet, which fell into the fountain, and it
was this awakened coincidence which had caused the scream of
laughter.” We must suppose that this, the _palada_ of the field of
slaughter, spoke Sanskrit or its dialect, interpreted by his Rajput
queen. Instantly the pioneers were commanded to clear the fountain,
and behold the relic of the Mahabharata, with the symbolic emblems of
the god all-perfect! and so large were they, that the emperor remarked
they would answer excellently well for “slaves of the
carpet.”[5.8.38.A] The Hindu princes then present, among whom were the
Rajas Ajit and Jai Singh, were shocked at this levity, and each
entreated of the king one of the phallic symbols. The Mirza Raja
obtained two, and both are yet at Jaipur, one in the Temple of Silah
Devi,[5.8.38.B] the other in that of Govinda. Ajit had one, still
preserved and worshipped at the shrine of Girdhari at Jodhpur. My old
tutor and friend, the Yati Gyanchandra, who told the story while he
read the chronicles as I translated them, has often seen and made
homage to all the three relics. There is one, he believed, at Bundi or
Kotah, and the Rana by some means obtained another. They are of pure
rock crystal, and as each weighs some pounds, there must have been
giants in the days of the Bharat, to have supported thirteen in one
armlet. Homer’s heroes were pigmies to the Kauravas, whose bracelet we
may doubt if Ajax could have lifted. My venerable tutor, though
liberal in his opinions, did not choose to dissent from the general
belief, for man, he said, had beyond a doubt greatly degenerated since
the heroic ages, and was rapidly approximating to the period, the
immediate forerunner of a universal renovation, when only dwarfs would
creep over the land.

Footnote 5.8.38.A:

[The weights which keep it down.]

Footnote 5.8.38.B:

The goddess of arms, their Pallas.

Footnote 5.8.39:

Durga’s fief on the Luni.

Footnote 5.8.40:

See Vol. I. p. 451.

Footnote 5.8.41:

See Vol. I. p. 228.

-----

CHAPTER 9

=Ajīt Singh attacks Nāhan.=—“In 1768 Ajit was sent against Nahan[5.9.1]
and the chiefs of the snowy mountains, whom he reduced to obedience.
Thence he went to the Ganges, where he performed his ablutions, and in
the spring he returned to Jodhpur.

“In 1769 Shah Alam[5.9.2] went to heaven. The torch of discord was
lighted by his sons, with which they fired their own dwelling.
Azim-ush-shan was slain,[5.9.3] and the umbrella of royalty waved over
the head of Muizzu-d-din.[5.9.4] Ajit sent the Bhandari Kaimsi to the
presence, who returned with the sanad of the vice-royalty of Gujarat. In
the month of Margsir 1769, he prepared an army to take possession of the
_Sattra-sahas_,[5.9.5] when fresh dissensions broke out in the house of
the Chagatai. The Sayyids slew Muizzu-d-din, and Farrukhsiyar became
king.[5.9.6] Zulfikar Khan was [85] put to death,[5.9.7] and with him
departed the strength of the Moguls. Then the Sayyids became headstrong.
Ajit was commanded to send his son, Abhai Singh, now seventeen years of
age, with his contingent, to court; but Ajit having learned that the
traitor Mukund was there and in great favour, sent a trusty band, who
slew him even in the middle of Delhi. This daring act brought the Sayyid
with an army to Jodhpur.[5.9.8] Ajit sent off the men of wealth to
Siwanah, and his son and family to the desert of Rardarra.[5.9.9] The
capital was invested, and Abhai Singh demanded as a hostage for the
conduct of Ajit, who was also commanded to court. To neither was the
Raja inclined, but the advice of the Diwan and still more of Kesar the
bard, who gave as a precedent the instance of Rao Ganga when invaded by
the Lodi, Daulat Khan, who entrusted his affairs to his son Maldeo, was
unanimously approved.[5.9.10] Abhai Singh was recalled from Rardarra,
and marched with Husain Ali to Delhi, the end of Asarh 1770. The heir of
Maru received the mansab of five thousand from the king.

“Ajit followed his son to the court, then held at Delhi. There the sight
of the altars raised over the ashes of chiefs who had perished to
preserve him in his infancy, kindled all his wrath, and he meditated
revenge on the whole house of Timur. Four distinct causes for
displeasure had Ajmall:—

“1. The Nauroza.[5.9.11]

“2. The compulsory marriage of their daughters with the king.

“3. The killing of kine.

“4. The Jizya, or capitation tax.”[5.9.12]

=Ajit Singh marries his Daughter to Farrukhsīyar, A.D. 1716.=—Here we
must interrupt the narrative, in order to supply an important omission
of the bard, who slurs over the hardest of the conditions demanded of
Ajit on the invasion of the Sayyid, namely, the giving a daughter to
Farrukhsiyar, the important political results of which are already
related in the first part of this work.[5.9.13] This compulsory marriage
only aggravated Ajit’s desire of vengeance, and he entered into the
views of the Sayyids with the true spirit of his father; obtaining
meanwhile, as the price of coalition, the compliance with the specified
demands, besides others of less moment, such as “that the bell for
prayer should be allowed to toll in the [86] quarters of the city
allotted to the Rajputs, and that their temples should be held sacred;
and last, but not least, the aggrandisement of his hereditary
dominions.” Let us again recur to the chronicle.

“In Jeth 1771, having secured all his wishes, Ajit left the court, and
with the renewed patent as viceroy of Gujarat, returned to Jodhpur.
Through Kaimsi, his minister, the jizya was repealed. The Hindu race
owed eternal obligation to the Mor (crown) of Murdhar, the sanctuary of
princes in distress.

=Ajīt Singh, Viceroy of Gujarāt, A.D. 1715-16.=—“In 1772, Ajit prepared
to visit this government: Abhai Singh accompanied his father. He first
proceeded to Jalor, where he passed the rainy season. Thence he attacked
the Mewasa:[5.9.14] first Nimaj, which he took, when the Deoras paid him
tribute. Firoz Khan advanced from Palanpur to meet him. The Rao of
Tharad paid a lakh of rupees. Cambay was invested and paid; and the Koli
chief, Kemkaran, was reduced. From Patan, Sakta the Champawat, with Bija
Bhandari, sent the year preceding to manage the province, came forth to
meet him.

“In 1773, Ajit reduced the Jhala of Halwad, and Jam of Nawanagar, who
paid as tribute three lacs of rupees, with twenty-five choice
steeds;[5.9.15] and having settled the province, he worshipped at
Dwarka, and bathed in the Gomati.[5.9.16] Thence he returned to Jodhpur,
where he learned that Indar Singh had regained Nagor; but he stood not
before Ajit.

=Ajīt Singh visits Delhi.=—“The year 1774 had now arrived. The Sayyids
and their opponents were engaged in civil strife. Husain Ali was in the
Deccan, and the mind of Abdulla was alienated from the king. Paper on
paper came, inviting Ajit. He marched by Nagor, Merta, Pushkar, Marot,
and Sambhar, whose garrisons he strengthened, to Delhi. From Marot he
sent Abhai Singh back to take care of Jodhpur. The Sayyid advanced from
Delhi to meet the Dhani (lord) of Marwar, who alighted at Allahwirdi’s
sarai. Here the Sayyid and Ajit formed a league to oppose Jai Singh and
the Moguls, while the king remained like a snake coiled up in a closed
vessel. To get rid of their chief opponent, Zu-l-faqar Khan, was first
determined [87].

“When the king heard that Ajit had reached Delhi, he sent the Hara Rao
Bhim of Kotah, and Khandauran Khan to introduce him to the presence.
Ajit obeyed. Besides his own Rathors, he was accompanied by Rao Bishan
Singh of Jaisalmer, and Padam Singh of Derawar, with Fateh Singh, a
noble of Mewar, Man Singh, Rathor, chief of Sita Mhau, and the
Chandarawat, Gopal of Rampura, besides Udai Singh of Kandela, Sakat
Singh of Manoharpur, Kishan of Kalchipur, and many others.[5.9.17] The
meeting took place at the Moti Bagh. The king bestowed the mansab of
Haft Hazari (seven thousand horse) on Ajit, and added a crore of dams to
his rent-roll. He presented him with the insignia of the Mahi
Muratib,[5.9.18] with elephants and horses, a sword and dagger, a
diamond aigrette (_sarpech_) and plume, and a double string of pearls.
Having left the presence, Ajit went to visit Abdulla Khan. The Sayyid
advanced to meet him, and his reception, with his attendants, was
distinguished. They renewed their determination to stand or fall
together. Their conference caused dismay to the Moguls, who lay in
ambush to put Ajit to death.

“On the second day of the bright moon of Pus, 1775 [A.D. 1718], the king
honoured Ajit with a visit. Ajit seated the king on a throne formed of
bags of rupees to the amount of one lakh,[5.9.19] and presented
elephants, horses, and all that was precious. In the month of Phalgun,
Ajit and the Sayyid went to visit the king; and after the conference
wrote to Husain Ali revealing their plans, and desiring his rapid march
to unite with them from the Deccan. Now the heavens assumed portentous
appearances; the Disasul[5.9.20] was red and fiery; jackasses brayed
unusually; dogs barked; thunder rolled without a cloud; the court, late
so gay, was now sad and gloomy; all were forebodings of change at Delhi.
In twenty days, Husain reached Delhi; his countenance was terrific; his
drum, which now beat close to the palace, was the knell of falling
greatness. He was accompanied by myriads of horse. Delhi was enveloped
in the dust raised by his hostile steeds. They encamped in the north of
the city, and Husain joined Ajit and his brother. The trembling king
sent congratulations and gifts; the Mogul chiefs kept aloof in their
abodes; even as the quail cowers in the grass when the falcon hovers
over it, so did the Moguls when Husain reached Delhi.[5.9.21] The lord
of Amber was like a lamp left without oil [88].

=The Revolution at Delhi.=—“On the second day, all convened at Ajit’s
tents, on the banks of the Jumna, to execute the plans now determined
upon. Ajit mounted his steed; at the head of his Rathors he marched
direct to the palace, and at every post he placed his own men: he looked
like the fire destined to cause _pralaya_.[5.9.22] When the sun appears
darkness flies; when the oil fails the lamp goes out: so is it with
crowns and kings, when good faith and justice, the oil that feeds their
power, is wanting. The crash which shivered the umbrella of Delhi
reverberated throughout the land. The royal treasures were plundered.
None amidst the Moguls came forward to rescue their king (Farrukhsiyar),
and Jai Singh fled from the scene of destruction. Another king was set
up, but in four months he was seized with a distemper and died. Then
Daula[5.9.23] was placed on the throne. But the Moguls at Delhi set up
Neko Shah[5.9.24] at Agra, and Husain marched against them, leaving Ajit
and Abdulla with the king.[5.9.25]

=Muhammad Shah, Emperor, A.D. 1719-48.=—“In 1776, Ajit and the Sayyid
moved from Delhi; but the Moguls surrendered Neko Shah, who was confined
in Salimgarh. At this time the king died, and Ajit and the Sayyids made
another, and placed Muhammad Shah on the throne. Many countries were
destroyed, and many were made to flourish, during the dethronement of
kings by Ajit. With the death of Farrukhsiyar Jai Singh’s views were
crushed, and the Sayyids determined to punish him. The lord of Amber was
like water carried in a platter.[5.9.26] The king reached the Dargah at
Sikri, in progress to Amber, and here the chieftains sought the _saran_
(sanctuary) of Ajit. They said the Kurma[5.9.27] was lost if he
protected them not against the Sayyids. Even as Krishna saved Arjun in
the Bharat, so did Ajit take Jai Singh under his protection. He sent the
chiefs of the Champawats and his minister to dispel his fears; they
returned with the lord of Amber, who felt like one who had escaped the
doom (_pralaya_). Ajit placed one monarch on the throne, and saved
another from destruction. The king bestowed upon him the grant of
Ahmadabad, and gave him permission to visit his home. With Jai Singh of
Amber, and Budh Singh Hara of Bundi, he marched for Jodhpur, and in the
way contracted a marriage with the daughter of the Shaikhavat [89] chief
of Manoharpur. In the month of Asin he reached Jodhagir, when the lord
of Amber encamped at Sur Sagar, and the Hara Rao north of the town.

=Ajīt Singh marries his Daughter to Jai Singh.=—“The cold season had
fled; the spring (_basant)_ approached. The peacock was intoxicated with
the nectar-drops distilled from the sweet-blossomed _amba_ (mango); the
rich sap exuded; the humming-bees clustered round the flowers; new
leaves budded forth; songs of joy resounded; the hearts of gods, men,
and women expanded with mirth. It was then the lord of Amber was
bedecked in saffron robes, to espouse the ‘virgin of the sun’ (Surya
Kumari), the child of Ajit. On this he had consulted the Champawats, and
according to ancient usage, the Ad-Pardhan, or chief minister, the
Kumpawat: likewise the Bhandari Diwan, and the Guru. But were I to dwell
on these festivities, this book would become too large; I therefore say
but little!

=The Assassination of the Sayyids. Ajīt Singh asserts his
Independence.=—“The rains of 1777 set in, and Jai Singh and Budh Singh
remained with Ajit, when a messenger arrived with tidings that the
Moguls had assassinated the Sayyids, and were now on the watch for
Ajit.[5.9.28] He drew his sword, and swore he would possess himself of
Ajmer. He dismissed the lord of Amber. In twelve days after Ajit reached
Merta. In the face of day he drove the Muslim from Ajmer and made it his
own. He slew the king’s governor and seized on Taragarh.[5.9.29] Once
more the bell of prayers was heard in the temple, while the
_bang_[5.9.30] of the Masjid was silent. Where the Koran was read, the
Puran was now heard, and the Mandir took the place of the Mosque. The
Kazi made way for the Brahman, and the pit of burnt sacrifice (_homa_)
was dug, where the sacred kine were slain. He took possession of the
salt lakes of Sambhar and Didwana, and the records were always moist
with inserting fresh conquests. Ajit ascended his own throne; the
umbrella of supremacy he waved over his head. He coined in his own name,
established his own _gaz_ (measure), and _ser_ (weight), his own courts
of justice, and a new scale of rank for his chiefs, with nalkis and
mace-bearers, naubats and standards, and every emblem of sovereign rule.
Ajmall in Ajmer was equal to Aspati in Delhi.[5.9.31] The intelligence
spread over the land; it reached even Mecca [90] and Iran, that Ajit had
exalted his own faith, while the rites of Islam were prohibited
throughout the land of Maru.

=Imperialist Attack on Ajmer.=—“In 1778 the king determined to regain
Ajmer. He gave the command to Muzaffar, who in the rains advanced
towards Marwar. Ajit entrusted the conduct of this war to his son, the
‘shield of Maru,’ the ‘fearless’ (Abhai), with the eight great vassals,
and thirty thousand horse; the Champawats on the right, the Kumpawats on
the left, while the Karamsots, Mertias, Jodhas, Indhas, Bhattis,
Sonigiras, Deoras, Khichis, Dhondals and Gogawats,[5.9.32] composed the
main body. At Amber, the Rathors and imperialists came in sight; but
Muzaffar disgraced himself, and retired within that city without risking
an encounter. Abhai Singh, exasperated at this display of pusillanimous
bravado, determined to punish the king. He attacked Shahjahanpur, sacked
Narnol, levied contributions on Patan (Tuarvati) and Rewari.[5.9.33] He
gave the villages to the flames, and spread conflagration and
consternation even to Allahwirdi’s Sarai. Delhi and Agra trembled with
affright; the Asurs fled without their shoes at the deeds of Abhai, whom
they styled Dhonkal, ‘the exterminator.’ He returned by Sambhar and
Ludhana, and here he married the daughter of the chief of the
Narukas.[5.9.34]

=Muhammad Shah attacks Ajīt Singh.=—“In 1779, Abhai Singh remained at
Sambhar, which he strengthened, and hither his father Ajit came from
Ajmer. The meeting was like that between ‘Kasyapa and Surya’;[5.9.35]
for he had broken the bow of Muzaffar and made the Hindu happy. The king
sent his Chela, Nahar Khan, to expostulate with Ajit; but his language
was offensive, and the field of Sambhar devoured the tiger lord (Nahar
Khan) and his four thousand followers. The son of Churaman the
Jat[5.9.36] now claimed sanctuary with Ajit. Sick of these dissensions,
the unhappy Muhammad Shah determined to abandon his crown and retire to
Mecca. But, determined to revenge the death of Nahar Khan, he prepared a
formidable army. He collected [the contingents of] the twenty-two
Satraps[5.9.37] of the empire, and placed at their head Jai Singh of
Amber, Haidar Kuli, Iradat Khan Bangash, etc. In the month of Sawan
(July), Taragarh was invested; Abhai Singh marched out and left its
defence to [91] Amra Singh. It had held out four months, when through
the prince of Amber (Jai Singh), Ajit listened to terms, which were
sworn to on the Koran by the nobles of the king; and he agreed to
surrender Ajmer.[5.9.38] Abhai Singh then accompanied Jai Singh to the
camp. It was proposed that in testimony of his obedience he should
repair to the presence. The prince of Amber pledged himself; but the
Fearless (Abhai) placed his hand on his sword, saying, ‘This is my
surety!’”

=Ajīt Singh’s Heir received at the Imperial Court.=—The heir of Marwar
was received by the king with the utmost honour; but being possessed of
a double portion of that arrogance which forms the chief characteristic
of his race (more especially of the Rathor and Chauhan, from which he
sprang), his reception nearly produced at Delhi a repetition of the
scene recorded in the history of his ancestor Amra at Agra. Knowing that
his father held the first place on the king’s right hand, he considered
himself, as his representative, entitled to the same honour; and little
heeding the unbending etiquette of the proudest court in the world, he
unceremoniously hustled past all the dignitaries of the State, and had
even ascended a step of the throne, when, checked by one of the nobles,
Abhai’s hand was on his dagger, and but for the presence of mind of the
monarch, “who threw his own chaplet round his neck” to restrain him, the
Divan would have been deluged with blood.

=The Murder of Ajīt Singh, A.D. 1724.=—We shall now drop the chronicles,
and in recording the murder of Ajit, the foulest crime in the annals of
Rajasthan, exemplify the mode in which their poetic historians gloss
over such events. It was against Ajit’s will that his son went to court,
as if he had a presentiment of the fate which awaited him, and which has
been already circumstantially related.[5.9.39] The authors from whose
records this narrative is chiefly compiled, were too polite to suffer
such a stigma to appear in their chronicles, “written by desire” and
under the eye of the parricide, Ajit’s successor. The Surya Prakas
merely says, “at this time Ajit went to heaven”; but affords no
indication of the person who sent him there. The Raj Rupaka, however,
not bold enough to avow the mysterious death of his prince, yet too
honest altogether to pass it over, has left an expressive blank leaf at
this part of his chronicle, certainly not accidental, as it intervenes
between Abhai Singh’s reception at court, and the incidents following
his father’s death, which I translate verbatim, as they present an
excellent picture of the results of a Rajput potentate’s demise [92].

“Abhai, a second Ajit, was introduced to the Aspati; his father heard
the news and rejoiced. But this world is a fable—a lie. Time will sooner
or later prey on all things. What king, what raja can avoid the path
leading to extinction? The time allotted for our sojourn here is
predetermined; prolong it we cannot. The decree penned by the hand of
the Creator is engraven upon each forehead at the hour of birth. Neither
addition nor subtraction can be made. Fate (honhar) must be fulfilled.
It was the command of Govinda[5.9.40] that Ajit (the Avatar of Indra)
should obtain immortality, and leave his renown in the world beneath.
Ajit, so long a thorn in the side of his foe, was removed to
Parloka.[5.9.41] He kept afloat the faith of the Hindu, and sunk the
Muslim in shame. In the face of day, the lord of Maru took the road
which leads to Paradise (_Vaikuntha_). Then dismay seized the city; each
looked with dread in his neighbour’s face as he said, ‘Our sun has set!’
But when the day of Yamaraj[5.9.42] arrives, who can retard it? Were not
the five Pandus enclosed in the mansion of Himala?[5.9.43] Harchand
escaped not the universal decree; nor will gods, men, or reptiles avoid
it, not even Vikrama or Kama; all fall before Yama. How then could Ajit
hope to escape?

“On Asarh, the 13th, the dark half of the moon of 1780, seventeen
hundred warriors of the eight ranks of Maru, for the last time marched
before their lord.[5.9.44] They placed his body in a boat,[5.9.45] and
carried him to the pyre,[5.9.46] made of sandal-wood and perfumes, with
heaps of cotton, oil, and camphor. But this is a subject of grief: how
can the bard enlarge on such a theme? The Nazir went to the
Rawala[5.9.47] and as he pronounced the words ‘Rao siddhi āyē,’ the
Chauhani queen, with sixteen damsels in her suite, came forth: ‘This
day,’ said she, ‘is one of joy; my race shall be illustrated; our lives
have passed together, how then can I leave him?’[5.9.48]

=The Sati.=—“Of noble race was the Bhattiani queen, a scion (_sakha_) of
Jaisal, and daughter of Birjang. She put up a prayer to the Lord who
wields the discus.[5.9.49] ‘With joy [93] I accompany my lord; that my
fealty (_sati_) may be accepted, rests with thee.’ In like manner did
the Gazelle (Mrigavati) of Derawal,[5.9.50] and the Tuar queen of pure
blood,[5.9.51] the Chawara Rani,[5.9.52] and her of Shaikhavati, invoke
the name of Hari, as they determined to join their lord. For these six
queens death had no terrors; but they were the affianced wives of their
lord: the curtain wives of affection, to the number of fifty-eight,
determined to offer themselves a sacrifice to Agni.[5.9.53] ‘Such
another opportunity,’ said they, ‘can never occur, if we survive our
lord; disease will seize and make us a prey in our apartments. Why then
quit the society of our lord, when at all events we must fall into the
hands of Yama, for whom the human race is but a mouthful? Let us leave
the iron age (_Kaliyuga_) behind us.’ ‘Without our lord, even life is
death,’ said the Bhattiani, as she bound the beads of Tulsi[5.9.54]
round her neck, and made the _tilak_ with earth from the Ganges. While
thus each spoke, Nathu, the Nazir,[5.9.55] thus addressed them: ‘This is
no amusement; the sandal-wood you now anoint with is cool: but will your
resolution abide, when you remove it with the flames of Agni? When this
scorches your tender frames, your hearts may fail, and the desire to
recede will disgrace your lord’s memory. Reflect, and remain where you
are. You have lived like Indrani,[5.9.56] nursed in softness amidst
flowers and perfumes; the winds of heaven never offended you, far less
the flames of fire.’ But to all his arguments they replied: ‘The world
we will abandon, but never our lord.’ They performed their ablutions,
decked themselves in their gayest attire, and for the last time made
obeisance to their lord in his car. The ministers, the bards, the family
priests (_Purohits_), in turn, expostulated with them. The chief queen
(_Patrani_) the Chauhani, they told to indulge her affection for her
sons, Abhai and Bakhta; to feed the poor, the needy, the holy, and lead
a life of religious devotion. The queen replied: ‘Kunti, the wife of
Pandu, did not follow her lord; she lived to see the greatness of the
five brothers, her sons; but were her expectations realized?[5.9.57]
This life is a vain shadow; this dwelling one of sorrow; let us
accompany our lord to that of fire, and there close it.’

“The drum sounded; the funeral train moved on; all invoked the name of
[94] Hari.[5.9.58] Charity was dispensed like falling rain, while the
countenances of the queens were radiant as the sun. From heaven
Uma[5.9.59] looked down; in recompense of such devotion she promised
they should enjoy the society of Ajit in each successive transmigration.
As the smoke, emitted from the house of flame, ascended to the sky, the
assembled multitudes shouted Kaman! Kaman! ‘Well done! Well done!’ The
pile flamed like a volcano; the faithful queens laved their bodies in
the flames, as do the celestials in the lake of Manasarovar.[5.9.60]
They sacrificed their bodies to their lord, and illustrated the races
whence they sprung. The gods above exclaimed, ‘Dhan Dhan[5.9.61] Ajit!
who maintained the faith, and overwhelmed the Asuras.’ Savitri, Gauri,
Sarasvati, Ganga, and Gomati[5.9.62] united in doing honour to these
faithful queens. Forty-five years, three months, and twenty-two days,
was the space of Ajit’s existence, when he went to inhabit Amarapura, an
immortal abode!”

=Character of Ajīt Singh.=—Thus closed the career of one of the most
distinguished princes who ever pressed the ‘cushion’ of Maru; a career
as full of incident as any life of equal duration. Born amidst the snows
of Kabul, deprived at his birth of both parents, one from grief, the
other by suicidal custom; saved from the Herodian cruelty of the king by
the heroism of his chiefs, nursed amidst the rocks of Abu or the
intricacies of the Aravalli until the day of danger passed, he issued
forth, still an infant, at the head of his brave clans, to redeem the
inheritance so iniquitously wrested from him. In the history of mankind
there is nothing to be found presenting a more brilliant picture of
fidelity than that afforded by the Rathor clans in their devotion to
their prince, from his birth until he worked out his own and his
country’s deliverance. It is one of those events which throw a gleam of
splendour upon the dark picture of feudalism, more prolific perhaps in
crime than in virtue. That of the Rajputs, indeed, in which
consanguinity is superadded to the other reciprocal [95] ties which bind
a feudal body, wears the more engaging aspect of a vast family. How
affecting is the simple language of these brave men, while daily
shedding their blood for a prince whom, until he had attained his
seventh year, they had never beheld! “Without the sight of our lord,
bread and water have no flavour.” And how successfully does the bard
portray the joy of these stern warriors, when he says, “As the lotus
expands at the sunbeam, so did the heart of each Rathor at the sight of
their infant sovereign; they drank his looks even as the _papiha_ in the
month of Asoj sips the drops of _amrita_ (ambrosia) from the _Champa_.”

The prodigality with which every clan lavished its blood, through a
space of six-and-twenty years, may in part be learned from the
chronicle; and in yet more forcible language from the cenotaphs
scattered over the country, erected to the manes of those who fell in
this religious warfare. Were other testimony required, it is to be found
in the annals of their neighbours and their conquerors; while the
traditional couplets of the bards, familiar to every Rajput, embalm the
memory of the exploits of their forefathers.

Ajit was a prince of great vigour of mind as well as of frame. Valour
was his inheritance; he displayed this hereditary quality at the early
age of eleven, when he visited his enemy in his capital, displaying a
courtesy which can only be comprehended by a Rajput. Amongst the
numerous desultory actions, of which many occurred every year, there
were several in which the whole strength of the Rathors was led by their
prince. The battle of Sambhar, in S. 1765, fought against the Sayyids,
which ended in a union of interests, was one of these; and, for the rest
of Ajit’s life, kept him in close contact with the court, where he might
have taken the lead had his talent for intrigue been commensurate with
his boldness. From this period until his death, Ajit’s agency was
recognized in all the intrigues and changes amongst the occupants of
Timur’s throne, from Farrukhsiyar to Muhammad. He inherited an
invincible hatred to the very name of Muslim, and was not scrupulous
regarding the means by which he was likely to secure the extirpation of
a race so inimical to his own. Viewing the manifold reasons for this
hatred, we must not scrutinize with severity his actions when leagued
with the Sayyids, even in the dreadful catastrophe which overwhelmed
Farrukhsiyar, to whom he owed the twofold duty of fealty and
consanguinity.

=His Conduct to Durgadās.=—There is one stain on the memory of Ajit
which, though unnoticed in the chronicle [96], is too well ascertained
to be omitted in a summary of his character, more especially as it
illustrates that of the nation and of the times, and shows the loose
system which holds such governments together. The heroic Durgadas, the
preserver of his infancy, the instructor of his youth, the guide of his
manhood, lived to confirm the proverb, “Put not thy faith in princes.”
He, who, by repeated instances of exalted self-denial, had refused
wealth and honours that might have raised himself from his vassal
condition to an equality with his sovereign, was banished from the land
which his integrity, wisdom, and valour had preserved. Why, or when,
Ajit loaded himself with this indelible infamy was not known; the fact
was incidentally discovered in searching a collection of original
newspapers written from the camp of Bahadur Shah,[5.9.63] in one of
which it was stated, that “Durgadas was encamped with his household
retainers on the banks of the Pichola Lake at Udaipur, and receiving
daily five hundred rupees for his support from the Rana; who when called
on by the king (Bahadur Shah) to surrender him, magnanimously refused.”
Imagining that Ajit had been compelled to this painful sacrifice, which
is not noticed in the annals, the compiler mentioned it to a Yati deeply
versed in all the events and transactions of this State. Aware of the
circumstance, which is not overlooked by the bards, he immediately
repeated the couplet composed on the occasion—

_Durgo desām kādhiyo
Golām Gāmgāni!_

Durga was exiled, and Gamgani given to a slave.[5.9.64]

Gamgani, on the north bank of the Luni, was the chief town of the
Karanot fief, of which clan Durga was the head. It is now attached to
the Khalisa, or fisc, but whether recently, or ever since Durga, we know
not. The Karanots still pay the last rites to their dead at Gamgani,
where they have their cenotaphs (_chhatris_). Whether that of the noble
Durga stands there to serve as a memorial of princely ingratitude, the
writer cannot say; a portrait of the hero, in the autumn of his days,
was given to him by the last lineal descendant of Ajit, as the reader is
already aware.[5.9.65] Well may we repeat, that the system of feudality
is the parent of the most brilliant virtues and the darkest crimes.
Here, a long life of uninterrupted fidelity could not preserve Durga
from the envenomed breath of slander, or the serpent-tooth [97] of
ingratitude: and whilst the mind revolts at the crime which left a blank
leaf in the chronicle, it is involuntarily carried back to an act less
atrocious, indeed, than one which violates the laws of nature, but which
in diminishing none of our horror for Abhai Singh, yet lessens our
sympathy for the persecutor of Durgadas.

-----

Footnote 5.9.1:

[Now known as Sirmūr, a Hill State in the Panjāb, on the W. bank of
the Jumna, and E. of Simla (_IGI_, xxiii. 3).]

Footnote 5.9.2:

[Kutbu-d-dīn Shāh ‘Alam, Bahādur Shah I., died at Lahore, February 17,
1712.]

Footnote 5.9.3:

[Azīmu-sh-shān was drowned in the river Rāvi, after the battle between
Jahāndār Shāh and his other brothers, in February 1712.]

Footnote 5.9.4:

[Muizzu-d-dīn Jahāndār Shāh, crowned Emperor at Lahore, April 10,
1712, was murdered in 1713, and was buried at Humāyūn’s tomb, Delhi.]

Footnote 5.9.5:

The “seventeen thousand” towns of Gujarat.

Footnote 5.9.6:

[On January 9, 1713.]

Footnote 5.9.7:

[Zulfikār Khān, Nasrat Jang, was strangled in January 1713.]

Footnote 5.9.8:

[The chronicler is reticent about this campaign which was carried out
by Husain Ali Khān and the emperor’s maternal uncle Shāista Khān. It
was caused by the expulsion of Mughals from Mārwār by Ajīt Singh
(Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson vii. 446 f.).]

Footnote 5.9.9:

The tract west of the Luni.

Footnote 5.9.10:

They slur over the most important demand—a daughter to wife to the
king—it is at this Ajit hesitates, and for which the precedent is
given.

Footnote 5.9.11:

See Vol. I. p. 400.

Footnote 5.9.12:

Described Vol. I. p. 441.

Footnote 5.9.13:

Vol. I. p. 468.

Footnote 5.9.14:

Mewasa is a term given to the fastnesses in the mountains, which the
aboriginal tribes, Kolis, Minas, and Mers, and not unfrequently the
Rajputs, make their retreats; and in the present instance the bard
alludes to the Mewasa of the Deoras of Sirohi and Abu, which has
annoyed the descendants of Ajit to this hour, and has served to
maintain the independence of this Chauhan tribe.

Footnote 5.9.15:

[Tharād in Pālanpur Agency, Bombay (_IGI_, xix. 346); Halwad in
Kāthiāwār (_ibid._ viii. 13); Nawanagar in Kāthiāwar, the ruler, known
as the Jām (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 447), being a Jādeja Rājput (_IGI_,
xviii. 419 ff.).]

Footnote 5.9.16:

This is all in the district of Okha (Okhamandala), where the Vadhels
fixed themselves on the migration of Siahji from Kanauj. It would have
been instructive had the bard deigned to have given us any account of
the recognition which this visit occasioned, and which beyond a doubt
caused the “books of Chronicles and Kings” to be opened and referred
to.

Footnote 5.9.17:

This list well exemplifies the tone now assumed by the Rathors; but
this grand feudal assemblage was in virtue of his office of viceroy of
Gujarat. Each and all of these chieftainships the author is as
familiar with as with the pen he now holds.

Footnote 5.9.18:

[The fish symbol, for which see Sleeman, _Rambles_, 137 f. James
Skinner, who recovered Mahādāji Sindhia’s order in a fight with the
Rājputs, speaks of it as “a brass fish with two chources (_chaunri_,
horse-hair or yak tails) hanging to it like mustachios” (Irvine, _Army
of the Indian Moghuls_, 33).]

Footnote 5.9.19:

£10,000 to £12,000.

Footnote 5.9.20:

Omen of the quarter.

Footnote 5.9.21:

[For an account of these transactions see Keene, _Sketch of the
History of Hindustan_, 287 ff.]

Footnote 5.9.22:

The final doom.

Footnote 5.9.23:

[Farrukhsīyar was murdered in prison, and two sickly youths were
placed in succession on the throne by the Sayyids—Rafiu-d-darajāt and
Rafiu-d-daula—the first of whom died on May 31, the second on
September 6, 1719.]

Footnote 5.9.24:

[Nekosīyar, son of Muhammad Akbar, youngest son of Aurangzeb, who was
defeated and taken prisoner by the Sayyids (Keene, _op. cit._ 299).]

Footnote 5.9.25:

This is both minutely and faithfully related, and fully as much so as
the Muhammadan record of this black deed. We have already (Vol. I. p.
475) described it, and given a translation of an autograph letter
of the prince of Amber, written on this memorable day. The importance
of the transaction, as well as the desire to show the Bardic version,
will justify its repetition.

Footnote 5.9.26:

In allusion to his vacillation, for which the Mirza Rāja was
notorious.

Footnote 5.9.27:

[That is to say, the Kachhwāha Rāja.]

Footnote 5.9.28:

[For this revolution see Elliot-Dowson vii. 474 ff.]

Footnote 5.9.29:

The _Star Fort_, the castle of Ajmer.

Footnote 5.9.30:

The call to prayer of the Muslim.

Footnote 5.9.31:

This exact imitation of the manners of the imperial court is still
strictly maintained at Jodhpur. The account of the measures which
followed the possession of Ajmer is taken from the chronicle Surya
Prakas; the only part not entirely translated from the Raj Rupak
Akhyat. Ajmall is a licence of the poet, where it suits his rhyme, for
Ajit. Aspati, ‘lord of steeds,’ is the common epithet applied to the
emperors of Delhi. It is, however, but the second degree of paramount
power—Gajpati, ‘lord of elephants,’ is the first.

Footnote 5.9.32:

The two latter tribes are amongst the most ancient of the allodial
chieftains of the desert: the Dhondals being descendants of Rao Gango;
the Gogawats, of the famous Goga [or Gūga] the Chauhan, who defended
the Sutlej in the earliest Muslim invasion recorded. Both Goga and his
steed Jawadia are immortal in Rajasthan. The Author had a chestnut
Kathiawar, called Jawadia; he was perfection, and a piece of living
fire when mounted, scorning every pace but the antelope’s bounds and
curvets.

Footnote 5.9.33:

[Pātan in Jaipur State; Narnol in Patiāla; Rewāri in Gurgaon District,
Panjāb.]

Footnote 5.9.34:

One of the great clans of Amber; of whom more hereafter.

Footnote 5.9.35:

[The tortoise (Kachhwāha) and the sun (the sun-born tribes).]

Footnote 5.9.36:

Founder of the Bharatpur State.

Footnote 5.9.37:

The Bāīsa, or ‘twenty-two’ viceroys of India.

Footnote 5.9.38:

[This was in 1723. The chronicler disguises the defeat of Ajīt Singh.]

Footnote 5.9.39:

See p. 857.

Footnote 5.9.40:

The sovereign judge of mankind [Krishna].

Footnote 5.9.41:

‘The other world’; lit. ‘another place.’

Footnote 5.9.42:

‘Lord of hell.’

Footnote 5.9.43:

_Hima_, ‘ice,’ and _ālaya_, ‘an abode.’

Footnote 5.9.44:

Both head and feet are uncovered in funeral processions.

Footnote 5.9.45:

_Id est_, a vehicle formed like a boat, perhaps figurative of the sail
crossing the Vaitarani, or Styx of the Hindu.

Footnote 5.9.46:

For the mode of conveying princes to their final abode, I refer the
reader to a description at vol. i. p. 152, _Trans. Royal Asiatic
Society_.

Footnote 5.9.47:

The queen’s palace.

Footnote 5.9.48:

This is the lady whom Ajit married in his non-age, the mother of the
parricide.

Footnote 5.9.49:

Krishna [Chakrāyudha, Krishna, or Vishnu].

Footnote 5.9.50:

Ancient capital of the Bhattis.

Footnote 5.9.51:

Descended from the ancient dynasty of the Hindu kings of Delhi.

Footnote 5.9.52:

Tribe of the first dynasty of Anhilwara Patan.

Footnote 5.9.53:

The fire.

Footnote 5.9.54:

[The sacred basil, _Ocymum sanctum_.]

Footnote 5.9.55:

The Nazir (a Muslim epithet) has the charge of the harem.

Footnote 5.9.56:

The queen of heaven.

Footnote 5.9.57:

[Kunti escaped the fire and protected the children of Mādri, the other
wife of Pāndu, who was burnt with him.]

Footnote 5.9.58:

Hari Krishna is the mediator and preserver of the Hindu Triad; his
name alone is invoked in funeral rites (see p. 621). The following
extract from Dr. Wilkins’ translation of the _Gīta_ will best disclose
his attributes:—Krishna speaks: “I am the journey of the good; the
comforter; the creator; the witness; the resting-place; the asylum;
and the friend. I am generation and dissolution; the place where all
things are deposited, and the inexhaustible soul of all nature. I am
death and immortality; I am never-failing time; the preserver, whose
face is turned on all sides. I am all grasping death; and I am the
resurrection of those who are about to die.”

Footnote 5.9.59:

A name of Durga, the Hindu Juno.

Footnote 5.9.60:

The sacred lake in Tibet. [See C. A. Sherring, _Western Tibet and the
British Borderlands_, 259 ff.]

Footnote 5.9.61:

_Dhan_ is ‘riches,’ but is here used in the sense of glory; so that
riches and glory are synonymous in term with the Hindu, as in practice
in the west; the one may always command the other, at least that
species of it for which nine-tenths of mankind contend, and are
satisfied with obtaining.

Footnote 5.9.62:

Celestial queens.

Footnote 5.9.63:

Discovered by the author amongst the Rana’s archives.

Footnote 5.9.64:

[Dr. Tessitori writes that the correct version is:

“_Mahārāja Ajmāl ri
Jad parkha jāni.
Durgo Saphara dāgajē,
Golām Gāmgāni._”

“The mind of Mahārāja Ajīt Singh then became known (when he saw)
Durgadās burned on the banks of the Sipra River and Gāmgāni bestowed
on slaves.” According to tradition, the exiled Durgadās died at
Ujjain, near which the Sipra flows.]

Footnote 5.9.65:

Vol. I. p. 451.

-----

CHAPTER 10

=Mahārāja Abhai Singh, A.D. 1724-50.=—The parricidal murder of Ajit is
accounted the germ of destruction, which, taking root in the social
edifice of Marwar, ultimately rent it asunder. Bitter has been the fruit
of this crime, “even unto the third and fourth generation” of his
unnatural sons, whose issue, but for this crime, would in all human
probability have been the most potent princes in India, able
single-handed to have stopped Mahratta aggrandisement.

“It was in 1781 (says the bard) Ajit went to heaven. With his own hand
did the emperor Muhammad Shah put the _tika_ on the forehead of Abhai
Singh, girded him with the sword, bound the _turah_[5.10.1] on his head,
placed a dagger set with gems [98] in his girdle, and with Chaunris,
Naubats, and Nakkaras,[5.10.2] and many valuable gifts, invested the
young prince in all the dignities of his father. Even Nagor was resumed
from the son of Amra and included in his sanad. With these marks of
royal favour, he took leave of the court, and returned to his paternal
dominions. From village to village, as he journeyed homeward, the
_kalas_ was raised on the head.[5.10.3] When he reached Jodhpur, he
distributed gifts to all his chiefs, and to the Bardais (bards and
Charans), and lands to the family priests (_Purohits_).”

A day at the court of the desert king, related in the phraseology of the
chronicle, would be deemed interesting as a picture of manners. It would
also make the reader more familiar with Karna, the most celebrated bard
in the latter days of Rajput independence: but this must be reserved for
an equally appropriate vehicle,[5.10.4] and we shall at present rest
satisfied with a slight sketch of the historian of Maru.

=Karan, the Bard.=—Karna-Kavya, or simply Karna, who traced his descent
from the last household bard of the last emperor of Kanauj, was at once
a politician, a warrior, and a scholar, and in each capacity has left
ample proofs of his abilities. In the first he took a distinguished part
in all the events of the civil wars; in the second, he was one of the
few who survived a combat almost without parallel in the annals even of
Rajput chivalry; and as a scholar, he has left us, in the introduction
to his work,[5.10.5] the most instructive proof, not only of his
inheriting the poetic mantle of his fathers, but of the course he
pursued for the maintenance of its lustre. The bare enumeration of the
works he had studied evinces that there was no royal road to Parnassus
for the Rajput Kaviswar,[5.10.6] but that, on the contrary, it was beset
with difficulties not a little appalling. The mere nomenclature of works
on grammar and historical epics, which were to be mastered ere he could
hope for fame, must have often made Kama exclaim, “How hard it is to
climb the steeps” on which from afar he viewed her temple. Those who
desire to see, under a new aspect, an imperfectly known but interesting
family of the human race, will be made acquainted with the
qualifications of our bardic historians, and the particular course of
studies which [99] fitted Karna “to sit in the gate[5.10.7] of
Jodhagir,” and add a new book to the chronicles of its kings.

These festivities of the new reign were not of long duration, and were
succeeded by warlike preparations against Nagor, which, during the
contentions between Ajit and the emperor, had been assigned to the
descendant of the ancient princes of Mandor.

“When Ajmer was invested by the collective force of the empire,[5.10.8]
Iradat Khan (Bangash), collector of the Jizya,[5.10.9] took the Indha by
the arm, and seated him in Nagor.[5.10.10] But as soon as the
Holi[5.10.11] was past, the ‘Avatars of Jawalamukhi’[5.10.12] were
consecrated: goats were sacrificed, and the blood, with oil and
vermilion, was sprinkled upon them. The tents were moved out. Hearing
this, Rao Indra produced the imperial patent, with the personal
guarantee of Jai Singh of Amber. Abhai heeded not, and invested Nagor;
but Indra left his honour and his castle to the Fearless,[5.10.13] who
bestowed it on Bakhta his brother. He received the congratulations of
Mewar, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, and Amber, and returned to his capital amidst
the rejoicings of his subjects. This was in S. 1781.

“In S. 1782 he was employed in restraining the turbulent Bhumias on the
western frontiers of his dominions; when the Sindhals, the Deoras, the
Balas, the Boras, the Balechas, and the Sodhas were compelled to
servitude.

=Abhai Singh summoned to Delhi, A.D. 1726.=—“In S. 1783 a farman of
summons arrived, calling the prince to attend the Presence at Delhi. He
put it to his head, assembled all his chiefs, and on his passage to
court made a tour of his dominions, examining his garrisons, redressing
[100] wrongs, and adjusting whatever was in disorder. At
Parbatsar[5.10.14] he was attacked by the small-pox: the nation called
on Jagrani[5.10.15] to shield him from evil.

“In 1784 the prince reached Delhi. Khandauran, the chief noble of the
empire, was deputed by the emperor to conduct him to the capital; and
when he reached the Presence, his majesty called him close to his
person, exclaiming, ‘Welcome, _Khushbakht_,[5.10.16] _Maharaja
Rajeswar_,[5.10.17] it is long since we met; this day makes me happy;
the splendour of the Ammkhass is redoubled.’ When he took leave, the
king sent to his quarters, at Abhaipur, choice fruits of the north,
fragrant oils, and rose-water.”

The prince of Maru was placed at the head of all the nobility. About the
end of S. 1784, Sarbuland Khan’s rebellion broke out,[5.10.18] which
gave ample scope for the valour of the Rathors and materials for the
bard, who thus circumstantially relates it:

“The troubles in the Deccan increased. The Shahzada Jangali[5.10.19]
rebelled, and forming an army of sixty thousand men, attacked the
provincial governors of Malwa, Surat, and Ahmadpur, slaying the king’s
lieutenants, Girdhar Bahadur, Ibrahim Kuli,[5.10.20] Rustam Ali, and the
Mogul Shujaat.

=Rebellion of Sarbuland Khan. Scene at the Imperial Court.=—“Hearing
this, the king appointed Sarbuland Khan to quash the rebellion. He
marched at the head of fifty thousand men, having a crore of rupees for
their subsistence; but his advanced army of ten thousand men being
defeated in the first encounter, he entered into terms with the rebels,
and agreed to a partition of the country.”

It was at this time the prince of Marwar begged permission to retire to
his hereditary dominions. The bard’s description of the court, and of
the emperor’s distress on this occasion, though prolix, deserves
insertion:

“The king was seated on his throne, attended by the seventy-two grand
Omras of the empire, when tidings reached him of the revolt of
Sarbuland. There was the wazir Kamaru-din Khan, Itimadu-Daula,
Khandauran, commander-in-chief [101] (Mir Bakhshi), Samsamu-d-daula, the
Amiru-Umara, Mansur Ali, Roshanu-d-daula, Tura Baz Khan, the Lord
Marcher (_Sim ka Bakhshi_); Rustam Jang, Afghan Khan, Khwaja
Sayyidu-d-din, commandant of artillery (_Mir Atish_); Saadat
Khan,[5.10.21] grand chamberlain (_Darogha Khawass_), Burhanu-l-Mulk,
Abdul Samad Khan, Dalil Khan, Zafariyab Khan, governor of Lahore, Dalel
Khan, Mir Jumla, Khankhanan; Zafar Jang, Iradat Khan, Murshid Kuli Khan,
Ja’far Khan, Allahwirdi Khan,[5.10.22] Muzaffar Khan, governor of Ajmer.
Such and many more were assembled in the Presence.

“It was read aloud that Sarbuland had reduced Gujarat, and proclaimed
his own _an_; that he had ground the Kolis to dust; that he had
vanquished the Mandalas, the Jhalas, the Chudasamas, the Baghels, and
the Gohils, and had nearly exterminated the Balas; that Halar had agreed
to pay tribute, and that such was the fire of this Yavan, that the
Bhumias of themselves abandoned their strongholds to seek sanctuary with
him whom the ‘seventeen thousand’[5.10.23] now called sovereign; that he
had set himself up a king in Ahmadabad, and made a league with the
‘Southron.’

“The emperor saw that if this defection was not quelled, all the
viceroys would declare themselves independent. Already had Jagaria Khan
in the north, Saadat Khan in the east, and the Mlechchha Nizamu-l-mulk
in the south, shown the blackness of their designs. The _tap_ (verve) of
the empire had fled.

“The _bira_ was placed on a golden salver, which the Mir Tajik bore in
his extended arms, slowly passing in front of the nobles ranged on
either side of the throne, mighty men, at the sight of whose faces the
rustic would tremble: but in vain he passed both lines; no hand was
stretched forth; some looked awry; some trembled; but none cast an eye
upon the _bira_.

“The ‘almighty monarch’ (_Parameswar Padshah_), who could make the
beggar an Omra of twelve thousand, and the noble of twelve thousand a
beggar, was without resource. ‘Who,’ said one, ‘would grasp the forked
lightning, let him engage Sarbuland!’ Another exclaimed, ‘Who would
seize the vessel, and plunge with her in the whirlpool, he may contend
with Sarbuland.’ And a third, ‘Whoever [102] dare seize the forked
tongue of the serpent, let him engage Sarbuland.’ The king was troubled;
he gave a sign to the Mir Tajik to return the _bira_ to him.

“The Rathor prince saw the monarch’s distress, and as he was about to
leave the Ammkhass, he stretched forth his hand, and placed the _bira_
in his turban, as he said, ‘Be not cast down, O king of the world; I
will pluck down this Sarbuland:[5.10.24] leafless shall be the boughs of
his ambition, and his head (_sar_) the forfeit of his arrogant
exaltation (_buland_).’

“When Abhai Singh grasped the _bira_, the breasts of the mighty were
ready to burst with the fulness of envy, even like the ripe pomegranate,
as the king placed the grant of Gujarat into the hands of the Rathor.
The Shah’s heart was rejoiced, as he said, ‘Thus acted your ancestors in
support of the throne; thus was quelled the revolt of Khurram and Bhim
in the time of Jahangir; that of the Deccan settled; and in like manner
do I trust that by you the honour and the throne of Muhammad Shah will
be upheld.’

“Rich gifts, including seven gems of great price, were bestowed upon the
Rathor; the treasury was unlocked and thirty-one lakhs of coin were
assigned for the troops. The guns were taken from the arsenals, and with
the patent of the vice-royalties of Ahmadabad and Ajmer, in the month of
Asarh (1786), Abhai took leave of the king.”[5.10.25]

=Abhai Singh starts for Gujarat, A.D. 1730.=—The political
arrondissement of Marwar dates from this period; for the rebellion of
Sarbuland was the forerunner of the disintegration of the empire. It was
in June A.D. 1730 that the prince of Marwar left the court of Delhi. He
had a double motive in proceeding direct to Ajmer, of which province he
was viceroy; first, to take possession of his stronghold (the key not
only of Marwar but of every State in Rajputana); and second, to consult
with the prince of Amber on the affairs of that critical conjuncture.
What was the cause of Jai Singh’s presence at Ajmer the chronicle says
not; but from circumstances elsewhere related, it may be conjectured
that it was for the purpose of celebrating “the rites of the Pitrideva”
(manes of his ancestors) at Pushkar. The bard gives a most prolix
account of the meeting, even to the _pagtar_, ‘or foot-clothes’ spread
for “the kings of the Hindus” to walk on, “who feasted together, and
together plotted the destruction of the [103] empire”: from which we
perceive that Karna, the bard, had a peep behind the curtain.

Having installed his officers in Ajmer, Abhai Singh proceeded to Merta,
when he was met by his brother, Bakhta Singh, on which occasion the
grant of Nagor was bestowed upon the latter. The brothers continued
their route to the capital, when all the chiefs were dismissed to their
homes with injunctions to assemble their vassals for the ensuing
campaign against Sarbuland. At the appointed time, the Kher (feudal
array) of Marwar assembled under the walls of Jodhpur. The occasion is a
delightful one to the bard, who revels in all “the pomp and circumstance
of war”: from the initiatory ceremony, the moving out the tents, to the
consecration of the ‘mighty tubes’ (_balwannal_), the ‘volcanos of the
field,’ or, as he terms them, the ‘crocodile-mouths’ (_magarmukhan_),
‘emblems of Yama,’ which were sprinkled abundantly with the blood of
goats slain under their muzzles. He describes each clan as it arrives,
their steeds, and caparisons.

=Abhai Singh attacks Sirohi.=—Instead, however, of proceeding direct to
the main object of the war, Abhai Singh took advantage of the immense
army thus placed under his command, as viceroy of Gujarat, to wreak his
own vengeance upon his neighbour, the gallant prince of Sirohi, who,
trusting to his native strength, had spurned every compromise which
involved his independence. This resolution he maintained by his natural
position, strengthened by alliances with the aboriginal races who hemmed
his little State on all sides, excepting that towards Marwar.

These Minas, the mountaineers of the Aravalli, had given offence to
Abhai Singh; for while the prince, between his arrival at Jodhpur and
the assemblage of the Kher, gave himself up to indolence and opium, they
carried off the whole cattle of the train to the mountains. When this
was reported to Abhai Singh, he coolly said, “Let them go, they knew we
were short of forage, and have only taken them to their own pastures in
the mountains.” Strange to say, they did return them, and in excellent
condition, as soon as he prepared to march. When he heard of this, he
observed, “Did I not tell you these Minas were faithful subjects?”

The order to march was now given, when the bard enumerates the names and
strength of the different Rajput princes, whose contingents formed this
array, in which there were only two Muhammadan leaders of distinction:
“The Haras of Kotah and Bundi; the Khichis of Gagraun; the Gaurs of
Sheopur; the Kachhwahas of [104] Amber, and [even] the Sodhas of the
desert, under their respective princes or chiefs, were under the command
of the Marwar prince. His native retainers, the united clans of Marwar,
formed the right wing of the whole army, headed by his brother Bakhta.

“On the 10th Chait (Sudi) S. 1786, Abhai marched from Jodhpur, by
Bhadrajun and Malgarh, Siwana and Jalor. Rewara was assaulted; the
swords of the enemy showered, and the Champawat fell amidst heaps of
slain. The Deoras abandoned the hill and fled. The trees were levelled
to the summit; a garrison was posted, and the array moved on to Pusalia.
Then Abu shook with affright. Affliction seized Sirohi; its prince was
in despair when he heard Rewara and Pusalia were destroyed.[5.10.26] The
Chauhan preferred decking his daughter in the bridal vestments to
arraying his army to oppose Abhaimall.”

=Submission of Sirohi to Abhai Singh.=—Rao Narayan Das, through the
intervention of a Rajput chieftain, named Mayaram, of the Chawara tribe,
made overtures to the Rathor, proposing his niece (daughter of Man Singh
his predecessor) in marriage.[5.10.27] “In the midst of strife ‘the
coco-nut,’ with eight choice steeds and the price of four elephants,
were sent and accepted. The drum of battle ceased; the nuptials were
solemnized, and in the tenth month Ram Singh was born at Jodhpur.” The
bard, however, lets us into the secret, and shows that the Rajputs had
‘secret articles,’ as well as the more polished diplomacy of Europe; for
besides the fair Chauhani, the Rao consented to pay Peshachchanni a
‘concealed tribute.’

The Deora chiefs united their contingents to the royal army, for the
subjugation of Sarbuland, and the march recommenced by Palanpur and
Siddhpur, or the Sarasvati. Here they halted, and “an envoy was
dispatched to Sarbuland, summoning him to surrender the imperial
equipments, cannons, and stores; to account for the revenues, and to
withdraw his garrisons from Ahmadabad and all the strongholds of the
province.” The reply was laconic and dignified; “that he himself was
king, and his head was with Ahmadabad” [105].

A grand council of war was convened in the Rajput camp, which is
described _con amore_ by the bard. The overture and its reception were
communicated, and the debates and speeches which ensued thereon, as to
the future course of proceeding, are detailed. The bard is, however,
satisfied with recording the speeches of ‘the chiefs of the eight grades
of Maru.’

“First spoke the chief of the children of Champa, Kusal, son of Harnath
of Awa, whose seat is on the right of the throne. Then Kanairam of Asop,
leader of the Kumpawats, whose place is on the left: ‘let us, like the
Kilkila,[5.10.28] dive into the waters of battle.’ He was followed by
Kesari, the Mertia Sarmor—then by the veteran who led the Udawats: old
and brave, many a battle had he seen. Then the chief of Khanua, who led
the clan of Jodha, protested he would be the first to claim the immortal
garland from the hand of the Apsaras:[5.10.29] ‘Let us stain our
garments with saffron, and our lances with crimson, and play at ball
with this Sarbuland.’[5.10.30] Fateh the Jethawat, and Karnavat
Abhaimall, re-echoed his words. All shouted ‘battle!’ ‘battle!’ while
some put on the coloured garments, determined to conquer Bhanuloka.
Kama, the Champawat, said aloud, ‘With sparkling cup the Apsaras will
serve us in the mansion of the sun.’[5.10.31] Every clan, every chief,
and every bard re-echoed ‘battle!’

“Then Bakhta stood up to claim the onset, to lead the van in battle
against Sarbuland, while his brother and prince should await the result
in his tents. A jar of saffron-water was placed before the prince, with
which he sprinkled each chief, who shouted, ‘They would people
Amarapur.’”[5.10.32]

The bard then describes the steeds of the Rajput chivalry, in which the
Bhimthadi [106][5.10.33] of the Deccan takes precedence; he is followed
by the horses of Dhat and Rardara in Marwar, and the Kathiawar of
Saurashtra.

=The Battle with Sarbuland.=—Sarbuland’s plans of defence are minutely
detailed. At each gate he posted two thousand men and five guns, “manned
by Europeans,” of whom he had a body of musketeers round his person. The
cannonade had been kept up three days on both sides, in which the son of
Sarbuland was killed. At length, Bakhta led the storm, when all the
_ots_ and _awats_ performed prodigies of valour. The Champawat Kusal was
the first to be carried to the “immortal abode”; but though “the sun
stood still to see the deeds of the son of Harnath” we cannot
particularize the bard’s catalogue of heroes transferred to
Suryaloka[5.10.34] on this day, when the best blood of Rajputana was
shed on the walls of Ahmadabad. Both the princely brothers had their
share in “the play of swords,” and each slew more than one leader of
note. Amra, who had so often defended Ajmer, slew five chiefs of the
grades of two and three thousand horse.

“Eight gharis of the day remained, when Sarbuland fled; but Aliyar, the
leader of his vanguard, made a desperate resistance, until he fell by
the hand of Bakhta Singh. The drum of victory sounded. The Nawab left
his _pani_ in the Rankund.[5.10.35] The ‘would-be-king’ was wounded; his
elephant showed the speed of the deer. Four thousand four hundred and
ninety-three were slain, of whom one hundred were Palkinishins, eight
Hathinishins,[5.10.36] and three hundred entitled to the Tazim on
entering the Diwan-i-amm.[5.10.37]

“One hundred and twenty of Abhai Singh’s chieftains of note, with five
hundred horse, were slain, and seven hundred wounded.

“The next morning, Sarbuland surrendered with all his effects. He was
escorted towards Agra, his wounded Moguls dying at every stage; but the
soul of the ‘Fearless’ was sad at the loss of his kin.[5.10.38]
Abhaimall ruled over the seventeen [107] thousand towns of Gujarat, and
the nine thousand of Marwar, besides one thousand elsewhere. The princes
of Idar, of Bhuj, of Parkar, of Sind, and of Sirohi, the Chalukya Ran of
Fatehpur, Jhunjunu, Jaisalmer, Nagor, Dungarpur, Banswara, Lunawara,
Halwad, every morning bowed the head to Abhaimall.

“Thus, in the enlightened half of the moon, on the victorious
tenth[5.10.39] (S. 1787, A.D. 1731), the day on which Ramachandra
captured Lanka, the war against Sarbuland, an Omrah (lord) of twelve
thousand, was concluded.”[5.10.40]

Having left a garrison of seventeen thousand men for the duties of the
capital and province, Abhai Singh returned to Jodhpur with the spoils of
Gujarat, and there he deposited four crores of rupees, and one thousand
four hundred guns of all calibres, besides military stores of every
description. With these, in the declining state of the empire, the
desert king strengthened his forts and garrisons, and determined, in the
general scramble for dominion, not to neglect his own interests [108].

-----

Footnote 5.10.1:

[A plumed crest worn on the turban.]

Footnote 5.10.2:

[Fly-flappers, bands of music, kettledrums.]

Footnote 5.10.3:

The _kalas_ is a brazen vessel, of household use. A female of each
family, filling one of these with water, repairs to the house of the
head of the village, when, being all convened, they proceed in a body
to meet the person to whom they render honour, singing the _suhaila_,
or ‘song of joy.’ The presenting water is a token of homage and
regard, and one which the author has often had paid to him, especially
in Mewar, where every village met him in this way.

Footnote 5.10.4:

I hope some day to present a few of the works of the great bard Chand,
with a dissertation on the Bardais, and all the ‘sons of song.’ [Karan
flourished about A.D. 1730: see Grierson, _Modern Vernacular
Literature of Hindustan_, 98.]

Footnote 5.10.5:

Entitled the _Surya Prakas_, of 7500 stanzas.

Footnote 5.10.6:

_Kāvīswar_, or _kāvya-īswara_, ‘lord of verse,’ from _kāvya_, ‘poesy,’
and _īswara_, ‘lord.’

Footnote 5.10.7:

The portal of the palace appears to have been the bard’s post. Pope
gives the same position to his historic bards in ‘the Temple of Fame’:

“Full in the passage of each spacious gate,
The sage Historians in white garments wait;
Grav’d o’er their seats the form of Time was found,
His scythe revers’d, and both his pinions bound.” [l. 145-8.]

Footnote 5.10.8:

In the original, “by the _bāīsa_,” the ‘twenty-two,’ meaning the
collective force of the twenty-two _subahdars_, ‘or satraps of the
provinces.’

Footnote 5.10.9:

Capitation tax.

Footnote 5.10.10:

The poet calls it by its classic appellation, _Nāgadurga_, the ‘castle
of the serpent’ [rather Nāgapura, capital of the Nāga sept of
Rājputs].

Footnote 5.10.11:

For this festival see p. 661.

Footnote 5.10.12:

Jawalamukhi, the ‘mouth of flame,’ the cannon, which are thus
consecrated before action. They are called _avatars_, or
‘incarnations’ of Jawalamukhi, the Etna of India, at the edge of whose
crater the Hindu poet very properly places the temple of Jawali Rani,
‘the terrific’ Kali Ma, the Hindu Hecate. [Jawālamukhi in the Kāngra
District, Panjāb (_IGI_, xiv. 86 f.).]

Footnote 5.10.13:

_Abhai_, the name of the prince, means ‘fearless,’ from _bhai_,
‘fear,’ and privative prefix.

Footnote 5.10.14:

[On the Kishangarh border, N.E. of Jodhpur State.]

Footnote 5.10.15:

_Jagrani_ (I write all these phrases exactly as pronounced in the
western dialect), ‘Queen of the world.’ Sitala Mata is the common name
for the goddess who presides over this scourge of infancy.

Footnote 5.10.16:

‘Of happy fortune.’

Footnote 5.10.17:

Mahārāja-Rājeswar, the pompous title of the kings of Maru; ‘great
Raja, lord of Rajas.’

Footnote 5.10.18:

[Sarbuland Khān was Governor of Gujarāt, A.D. 1724, and was removed
from office in 1730 because he consented to pay _Chauth_ or blackmail
to the Marāthas. He opposed the installation of Abhai as his
successor, and defeated him at Adālaj (Beale, _Dict. Oriental
Biography_, s.v.; Grant Duff 217).]

Footnote 5.10.19:

In none of the Muhammadan histories of this period is it mentioned,
that there was an imperial prince at the head of the first Mahratta
irruption; probably he was a mere tool for the purposes of others.
[The ‘Boorish Prince,’ as the name implies, was a nickname of Hāmid
Khān Bahādur, uncle of Nizāmu-l-mulk, Āsaf Jāh (Grant Duff 217; _BG_,
i. Part i. 303 ff.).]

Footnote 5.10.20:

[Girdhar Bahādur was a Nāgar Brāhman; Ibrāhīm Kuli, son of Shujā’at
Khān.]

Footnote 5.10.21:

Afterwards Wazir of Oudh, a State founded and maintained by consummate
treason.

Footnote 5.10.22:

Nawab of Bengal, another traitor.

Footnote 5.10.23:

This number of cities, towns, and villages constituted the kingdom of
Gujarat under its ancient sovereigns.

Footnote 5.10.24:

_Sar_, ‘the head,’ _buland_, ‘exalted, high, arrogant.’ I write the
name _Sirbullund_, being the orthography long known.

Footnote 5.10.25:

In the original, the emperor is called the _Aspati_, ‘lord of swords,’
or perhaps _Aswapati_, ‘lord of steeds.’

Footnote 5.10.26:

Both these places are famous in the Mewasa, or fastnesses of Sirohi,
and gave the Author, who was intrusted with its political affairs,
much trouble. Fortunately for the Deora prince, descendant of Rao
Narayan Das, the Author knew their history, and was enabled to
discriminate the claims which Jodhpur asserted over her in virtue of
such attacks as this; in short, between the claims of ‘the princes of
Marwar,’ and the king’s lieutenants of Gujarat. In these negotiations
wherein Jodhpur advanced its pretensions to _suzeraineté_ over Sirohi,
which as stoutly denied the right, he clearly distinguished the claims
of the princes of Jodhpur, in their capacities of viceroys of the
empire, and argued that claims conceded by Sirohi in that character
guaranteed none to them, in their individual capacity, as chiefs of
Marwar, a distinction which they affected not to comprehend, but which
was at length fully recognized and acted on by the paramount power.
Sirohi is maintained in its ancient independence, which but for this
previous knowledge must have been inevitably lost.

Footnote 5.10.27:

[It was Rāo Mān Singh III. (A.D. 1705-49) who gave his daughter in
marriage to Abhai Singh. The Sirohi records contain no mention of a
Rāo named Nārāyan Dās (Erskine iii. A. 243).]

Footnote 5.10.28:

The _kilkila_ is the bird we call the kingfisher.

Footnote 5.10.29:

The maids of war, the Valkyries of Rajput mythology.

Footnote 5.10.30:

Another _jeu-de-mots_ on the name Sarbuland, with whose head (_sar_)
the Jodha chief proposes to play at ball.

Footnote 5.10.31:

The young chieftain of Salumbar, the first of the nobles of Mewar, was
sitting with me, attentively listening as I was translating the war
against Sarbuland, read by my old tutor. His family possess an
hereditary aversion to ‘the cup,’ which is under solemn prohibition
from some cause which I forget, and so far did his grandfather carry
his antipathy, that a drop falling upon him at an entertainment, he
cut out the contaminated part with his dagger. Aware of this, I turned
round to the young chief and said: “Well, Rawatji, would you accept
the cup from the hand of the Apsaras or would you refuse the
_munawwar_ (pledge)?” “Certainly I would take it; these are very
different cups from ours,” was his reply. “Then you believe that the
heavenly fair carry the souls of those who fall in battle to the
Mandal of Surya?” “Who dare doubt it? When my time comes, I will take
_that_ cup!” a glorious creed for a soldier! He sat for hours
listening to my old tutor and friend; for none of their bards
expounded like him the _bhujanga_ (serpentine verse) of the poet. I
have rated the Rawat for being unable to repeat the genealogy of his
house from Chonda to himself; but the family bard was dead and left no
progeny to inherit his mantle. This young chief is yet (A.D. 1820) but
twenty-two, and promises to be better prepared.

Footnote 5.10.32:

‘The city of immortality.’

Footnote 5.10.33:

[The Bhīmthadi or Bhīvarthadi horses, which take their name from a
division of the Poona District in the valley of the Bhīma River, were
highly esteemed by the Marāthas, being middle-sized, strong,
good-looking, generally dark bay with black legs (_BG_, xviii. Part i.
61). It was on a horse of this breed that Mahādāji Sindhia escaped
after the battle of Pānīpat (Elliot-Dowson viii. 156).]

Footnote 5.10.34:

The abode of heroes, the Valhalla of the Rajput mythology.

Footnote 5.10.35:

Rankund is the ‘fountain of battle,’ and _pāni_ is applied, as we use
the word water, to the temper or spirit of a sword: a play on words.

Footnote 5.10.36:

Chiefs entitled to ride in palkis and on elephants.

Footnote 5.10.37:

A long list of names is given, which would only fatigue the reader;
but amongst them we select a singular one, Nolakh Khan Anglez, ‘Nolakh
the Englishman.’

Footnote 5.10.38:

The bard enumerates with the meed of praise each vassal who fell,
whether Rathor or of the contingents of the other principalities
serving under the prince of Marwar. The Champawats bore the brunt, and
lost Karan of Pali, Kishan Singh of Sandri, Gordhan of Jalor, and
Kalyan. The Kumpawats lost also several leaders of clans, as Narsingh,
Surthan Singh, Padma, son of Durjan. The Jodha tribe lost three
leaders, namely, Hayatmall, Guman, and Jogidas. The brave Mertias also
lost three: Bhum Singh, Kusal Singh, and Gulab, son of Hathi. The
allodial chieftains, the Jadons, the Sonigiras, the Dhondals, and
Khichis, had many brave men “carried to Bhanuloka,” and even bards and
purohits were amongst the slain.

Footnote 5.10.39:

_Vijaya daswin._

Footnote 5.10.40:

With this battle the _Raj Rupaka_ and _Surya Prakas_ terminate. [All
the rhetoric of the bard cannot disguise what was really a Rājput
defeat. Their force advanced to Adālaj, about eight miles from
Ahmadābād, and was defeated. Abhai Singh took up a new position, and a
still more bloody engagement followed, in which each side tried to
kill the opposing commander; but as both Mubārizu-l-mulk, who was
known as Sarbuland Khān, and Abhai Singh fought in disguise, neither
party succeeded. The Rāthors were finally pursued as far as Sarkhej,
and it was only on Mubārizu-l-mulk receiving a lakh of rupees (£6666)
that he was induced to go to Agra. See Khāli Khan’s account in
Elliot-Dowson vii. 530, and _BG_, i. Part i. 310 f.]

-----

CHAPTER 11

=Jealousy of Abhai Singh to Bakht Singh.=—The tranquillity which for a
while followed the campaign in Gujarat was of no long duration. The love
of ease and opium, which increased with the years of Abhai Singh, was
disturbed by a perpetual apprehension of the active courage and military
genius of his brother, whose appanage of Nagor was too restricted a
field for his talents and ambition. Bakhta was also aware that his
daring nature, which obtained him the suffrages, as it would the swords,
of his turbulent and easily excited countrymen, rendered him an object
of distrust, and that without great circumspection, he would be unable
to maintain himself in his _imperium in imperio_, the castle and three
hundred and sixty townships of Nagor. He was too discreet to support
himself by foreign aid, or by fomenting domestic strife; but with the
aid of the bard he adopted a line of policy, the relation of which will
develop new traits in the Rajput character, and exemplify its
peculiarities. Karna, after finishing his historical chronicle,
concluding with the war against Sarbuland, abandoned “the gate of
Jodhpur for that of Nagor.” Like all his tribe, the bard was an adept in
intrigue, and his sacred character forwarded the secret means of
executing it. His advice was to embroil their common sovereign with the
prince of Amber, and an opportunity was not long wanting [109].

=Abhai Singh attacks Bīkaner.=—The prince of Bikaner,[5.11.1] a junior
but independent branch of Marwar, had offended his yet nominal suzerain
Abhai Singh, who, taking advantage of the weakness of their common liege
lord the emperor, determined to resent the affront, and accordingly
invested Bikaner, which had sustained a siege of some weeks, when Bakhta
determined to make its release subserve his designs; nor could he have
chosen a better expedient. Although the prince of Marwar had led his
united vassalage against Bikaner, they were not only lukewarm as to the
success of their own arms, but, anomalous as it must appear in the
annals even of feudal warfare, they furnished the besieged with the
means of defence, who, but for the supplies of opium, salt, and
ammunition, would soon have been compelled to surrender. We can account
for this: Bikaner was of their own kin, a branch of the great tree of
which Siahji was the root, and to which they could cling in emergency;
in short, Bikaner balanced the power between themselves and their head.

The scheme being approved, its execution and mode of development to Jai
Singh were next canvassed. “Touch his pride,” said Karna; “tell him the
insult to Amber, which your ancestor invested, has never been balanced,
and that he will never find a time like the present to fling a few shot
at Jodhpur.”

=Bakht Singh intrigues to cause War with Jaipur.=—Bakhta addressed a
letter to Jai Singh, and at the same time sent instructions to the envoy
of Bikaner at his court how to act.

The prince of Amber, towards the close of his career, became partial to
‘the cup’; but, aware of the follies it involved him in, an edict
prohibited all official intercourse with him while he was under its
influence. The direct overture of Bakhta was canvassed, and all
interference between the kindred belligerents was rejected in a full
council of the chiefs of Amber. But the envoy had a friend in the famous
Vidyadhar,[5.11.2] the chief civil minister of the State, through whose
means he obtained permission to make ‘a verbal report, standing.’
“Bikaner,” he said, “was in peril, and without his aid must fall, and
that his master did not consider the sovereign of Marwar, but of Amber,
as his suzerain.” Vanity and wine did the rest. The prince took up the
pen and wrote to Abhai Singh, “That they all formed one great family; to
forgive Bikaner and raise his batteries”: and as he took another cup,
and [110] curled his moustache, he gave the letter to be folded.
“Maharaja,” said the envoy, “put in two more words: ‘or, my name is Jai
Singh.’” They were added. The overjoyed envoy retired, and in a few
minutes the letter was on transit to its destination by the swiftest
camel of the desert. Scarcely had the envoy retired, when the chief of
Bansko,[5.11.3] the Mentor of Jai Singh, entered. He was told of the
letter, which “would vex his Saga.”[5.11.4] The old chief remonstrated;
he said, “Unless you intend to extinguish the Kachhwahas, recall this
letter.” Messenger after messenger was sent, but the envoy knew his
duty. At the dinner hour all the chiefs had assembled at the (_Rasora_)
banquet-hall, when the spokesman of the vassalage, old Dip Singh, in
reply to the communication of his sovereign, told him he had done a
cruel and wanton act, and that they must all suffer for his imprudence.

The reply, a laconic defiance, was brought back with like celerity; it
was opened and read by Jai Singh to his chiefs: “By what right do you
dictate to me, or interfere between me and my servants? If your name is
‘Lion of Victory’ (Jai Singh), mine is ‘the Lion without Fear’ (Abhai
Singh).”[5.11.5]

The ancient chief, Dip Singh, said: “I told you how it would be; but
there is no retreat, and our business is to collect our friends.” The
Kher, or ‘levy _en masse_,’ was proclaimed: Every Kachhwaha was
commanded to repair to the great standard planted outside the capital.
The home-clans came pouring in, and aid was obtained from the Haras of
Bundi, the Jadons of Karauli, the Sesodias of Shahpura, the Khichis, and
the Jats, until one hundred thousand men were formed beneath the castle
of Amber. This formidable array proceeded, march after march, until they
reached Gangwana, a village on the frontier of Marwar.[5.11.6] Here they
encamped, and, with all due courtesy, awaited the arrival of the
‘Fearless Lion.’

=Battle of Gangwāna.=—They were not long in suspense. Mortally offended
at such wanton interference, which compelled him to relinquish his
object on the very eve of attainment, Abhai Singh raised his batteries
from besieging Bikaner and rapidly advanced to the encounter.

Bakhta now took alarm. He had not calculated the length to which his
intrigues would involve his country; he had sought but to embroil the
border princes, but [111] had kindled a national warfare. Still his
fears were less for the discovery of his plot than for the honour of
Marwar, about to be assailed by such odds. He repaired to his brother
and liege lord, and implored him not to raise the siege; declaring
that he alone, with the vassals of Nagor, would receive the
Bhagatia’s[5.11.7] battle, and, by God’s blessing, would give a good
account of him. Abhai Singh, not averse to see his brother punished
for his conduct, though determined to leave him to the brunt of the
battle, rejected with scorn the intriguing proposition.

The Nakkara sounded the assembly for the chivalry of Nagor. Bakhta took
post on the balcony over the Delhi gate, with two brazen vessels; in the
one was an infusion of opium, in the other saffron-water. To each Rajput
as he entered he presented opium, and made the impress of his right hand
on his heart with the saffron-water. Having in this manner enrolled
eight thousand Rajputs, sworn to die with him, he determined to select
the most resolute; and marching to the edge of an extensive field of
luxuriant Indian corn[5.11.8] (_bajra_), he halted his band, and thus
addressed them: “Let none follow me who is not prepared for victory or
death: if there be any amongst you who desire to return, let them do so
in God’s name.” As he spoke, he resumed the march through the luxuriant
fields, that it might not be seen who retired. More than five thousand
remained, and with these he moved on to the combat.

The Amber prince awaited them at Gangwana: soon as the hostile lines
approached, Bakhta gave the word, and, in one dense mass, his gallant
legion charged with lance and sword the deepened lines of Amber,
carrying destruction at every pass. He passed through and through this
host; but when he pulled up in the rear, only sixty of his band remained
round his person. At this moment the chief of Gajsinghpura, head of all
his vassals, hinted there was a jungle in the rear: “And what is there
in front,” said the intrepid Rathor, “that we should not try the road we
came?” and as he espied the Panchranga, or five-coloured flag, which
denoted the headquarters of Amber, the word again was given. The
cautious Kumbhani[5.11.9] advised his prince to avoid the charge: with
some difficulty he was made to leave the field, and as a salvo to his
honour, by a flank movement towards Kandela north, that it might not be
said he turned his back on his foe. As he [112] retreated, he exclaimed,
“Seventeen battles have I witnessed, but till this day never one decided
by the sword.” Thus, after a life of success, the wisest, or at least
the most learned and most powerful prince of Rajwara, incurred the
disgrace of leaving the field in the face of a handful of men,
strengthening the adage “that one Rathor equalled ten Kachhwahas.”

Jai Singh’s own bards could not refrain from awarding the meed of valour
to their foes, and composed the following stanzas on the occasion: “Is
it the battle cry of Kali, or the war-shout of Hanumanta, or the hissing
of Seshnag, or the denunciation of Kapaliswar? Is it the incarnation of
Narsingh, or the darting beam of Surya? or the death-glance of the
Dakini?[5.11.10] or that from the central orb of Trinetra?[5.11.11] Who
could support the flames from this volcano of steel, when Bakhta’s sword
became the sickle of Time?”

But for Karna the bard, one of the few remaining about his person,
Bakhta would a third time have plunged into the ranks of the foe; nor
was it till the host of Amber had left the field that he was aware of
the extent of his loss.[5.11.12] Then, strange inconsistency! the man,
who but a few minutes before had affronted death in every shape, when he
beheld the paucity of survivors, sat down and wept like an infant. Still
it was more the weakness of ambition than humanity; for, never imagining
that his brother would fail to support him, he thought destruction had
overtaken Marwar; nor was it until his brother joined and assured him he
had left him all the honour of the day, that he recovered his port. Then
“he curled his whiskers and swore an oath, that he would yet drag the
‘Bhagat’ from his castle of Amber.”

Jai Singh, though he paid dear for his message, gained his point, the
relief of Bikaner; and the Rana of Udaipur mediated to prevent the
quarrel going further, which was the less difficult since both parties
had gained their ends, though Jai Singh obtained his by the loss of a
battle.

=Marriage of a God.=—It is related that the tutelary deity of Bakhta
Singh fell into the hands of the Amber prince, who carried home the sole
trophy he could boast, married the Rathor deity to a female divinity of
Amber, and returned him with his compliments to Bakhta. Such were the
courteous usages of Rajput chivalry. The triple alliance [113] of the
chief Rajput princes followed this battle, cemented by the union of the
rival houses to daughters of Mewar. There they met, attended by their
vassalage, and, in the nuptial festivities and the ‘cup,’ forgot this
bitter strife, while enmity and even national jealousy were banished by
general courtesy. Such is the Rajput, who can be judged after no known
standard: he stands alone in the moral history of man.[5.11.13]

=Death and Character of Abhai Singh.=—This is the last conspicuous act
of Abhai Singh’s life on record. He died in S. 1806 (A.D. 1750) at
Jodhpur. His courage, which may be termed ferocious, was tempered only
by his excessive indolence, regarding which they have preserved many
amusing anecdotes; one of these will display the exact character of the
man. The chronicle says: “When Ajit went to marry the Chauhani, he found
two lions in his path—the one asleep, the other awake. The
interpretation of the Saguni (augur) was, that the Chauhani would bear
him two sons; that one would be a _soti kan_ (sluggard), the other an
active soldier.” Could the augur have revealed that they would imbrue
their hands in a father’s blood, he might have averted the ruin of his
country, which dates from this black deed.

The Rathors profess a great contempt for the Kachhwahas as soldiers; and
Abhai Singh’s was not lessened for their prince, because he happened to
be father-in-law to the prince of Amber, whom he used to mortify, even
in the ‘Presence,’ with such sarcasm as, “You are called a Kachhua, or
properly Kuswa, from the Kusa; and your sword will cut as deep as one of
its blades”:[5.11.14] alluding to the grass thus called. Irritated, yet
fearing to reply, he formed a plan to humble his arrogance in his only
vulnerable point, the depreciation of his personal strength. While it
was the boast of Jai Singh to mingle the exact sciences of Europe with
the more ancient of India, Abhai’s ambition was to be deemed the first
swordsman of Rajwara. The scientific prince of Amber gave his cue to
Kirparam, the paymaster-general, a favourite with the king, from his
skill at chess, and who had often the honour of playing with him while
all the nobles were standing. Kirparam praised the Rathor prince’s
dexterity in smiting off a buffalo’s head; on which the king called out,
“Rajeswar, I have heard much of your skill with the sword.” “Yes,
Hazrat, I can use it on an occasion.” A huge animal [114] was brought
into the area, fed in the luxuriant pastures of Hariana. The court
crowded out to see the Rathor exhibit; but when he beheld the enormous
bulk, he turned to the king and begged permission to retire to his post,
the imperial guardroom, to refresh himself. Taking a double dose of
opium, he returned, his eyes glaring with rage at the trick played upon
him, and as he approached the buffalo they fell upon Jai Singh who had
procured this monster with a view to foil him. The Amber chief saw that
mischief was brewing, and whispered his majesty not to approach too near
his son-in-law. Grasping his sword in both hands, Abhai gave the blow
with such force that the buffalo’s head “dropped upon his knees,” and
the raja was thrown upon his back. All was well; but, as the chronicle
says, “the king never asked the raja to decollate another buffalo.”

=Invasion of Nādir Shāh.=—It was during the reign of Abhai Singh that
Nadir Shah[5.11.15] invaded India; but the summons to the Rajput
princes, to put forth their strength in support of the tottering throne
of Timur, was received with indifference. Not a chief of note led his
myrmidons to the plains of Karnal; and Delhi was invested, plundered,
and its monarch dethroned, without exciting a sigh. Such was their
apathy in the cause, when the imbecility of Muhammad Shah succeeded to
the inheritance of Aurangzeb, that with their own hands these puppets of
despotism sapped the foundations of the empire.

Unfortunately for Rajputana, the demoralization of her princes prevented
their turning to advantage this depression of the empire, in whose
follies and crimes they participated.

With the foul and monstrous murder of the Raja Ajit (A.D. 1750)
commenced those bloody scenes which disgrace the annals of Marwar; yet
even in the history of her crimes there are acts of redeeming virtue,
which raise a sentiment of regret that the lustre of the one should be
tarnished by the presence of the other. They serve, however, to
illustrate that great moral truth, that in every stage of civilization
crime will work out its own punishment; and grievously has the
parricidal murder of Ajit been visited on his race and country. We shall
see it acting as a blight on that magnificent tree, which, transplanted
from the native soil of the Ganges, took root and flourished amidst the
arid sands of the desert, affording a goodly shade for a daring race,
who acquired fresh victories with poverty—we shall see its luxuriance
checked, and its numerous and widely spread branches, as if [115]
scorched by the lightnings of heaven, wither and decay; and they must
utterly perish, unless a scion, from the uncontaminated stem of
Idar,[5.11.16] be grafted upon it: then it may revive, and be yet made
to yield more vigorous fruit.

-----

Footnote 5.11.1:

[Sujān Singh (A.D. 1700-35) served in the Deccan from 1707 to 1719.]

Footnote 5.11.2:

Vidyadhar was a Brahman of Bengal, a scholar and man of science. The
plan of the modern city of Amber, named Jaipur, was his: a city as
regular as Darmstadt. He was also the joint compiler of the celebrated
genealogical tables which appear in the first volume of this work.

Footnote 5.11.3:

[One of the twelve kothris or houses of Jaipur, the Kumbhāni.]

Footnote 5.11.4:

_Saga_ is a term denoting a connexion by marriage [more generally a
blood relation].

Footnote 5.11.5:

I write the names as pronounced, and as familiar to the readers of
Indian history. _Jaya_, in Sanskrit, is ‘victory,’ _Abhai_,
‘fearless.’

Footnote 5.11.6:

[Now in Ajmer District, about 8 miles N.N.W. of Ajmer city.]

Footnote 5.11.7:

_Bhagatia_ is ‘a devotee’: the term is here applied reproachfully to
Jai Singh, on account of his very religious habits.

Footnote 5.11.8:

[Rather millet, _Pennisetum typhoideum_.]

Footnote 5.11.9:

The clan of the Bansko chief.

Footnote 5.11.10:

The witch of India is termed _Dakini_.

Footnote 5.11.11:

A title of Siva, god of destruction, the ‘three-eyed.’

Footnote 5.11.12:

Though the bard does not state, it is to be supposed that the main
body came up and caused this movement.

Footnote 5.11.13:

This singular piece of Rajput history, in the Annals of Mārwār, is
confirmed by every particular in the “one hundred and nine acts” of
the Great Jai Singh of Amber. The foe does ample justice to Rathor
valour.

Footnote 5.11.14:

[A pun on Kachhwāha, _Kachhua_, ‘a tortoise,’ and the sacred _Kusa_,
grass, _poa cynosuroides_.]

Footnote 5.11.15:

[Nādir Shāh, King of Persia, invaded India and defeated the forces of
the Emperor, Muhammad Shāh, at Karnāl, near the historic field of
Pānīpat on February 13, 1739; entered Delhi, which was sacked and a
terrible massacre perpetrated, and returned home with the Peacock
Throne and immense treasures.]

Footnote 5.11.16:

The heir of Idar is heir presumptive to the _gaddi_ of Marwar.

-----

CHAPTER 12

=Rāja Rām Singh, A.D. 1750-52.=—Ram Singh succeeded at that dangerous
age when parental control is most required to restrain the turbulence
of passion. Exactly twenty years had elapsed since the nuptials at
Sirohi, when Hymen extinguished the torch of discord, and his mother
was the bearer of the olive branch to Abhai Singh, to save her house
from destruction. The Rajput, who attaches everything to pedigree, has
a right to lay an interdict on the union of the race of Agni,[5.12.1]
with the already too fiery blood of the Rathor. Ram Singh inherited
the arrogance of his father, with all the impetuosity of the Chauhans;
and the exhibition of these qualities was simultaneous with his
coronation. We are not told why his uncle, Bakhta Singh, absented
himself from the ceremony of his prince’s and nephew’s installation,
when the whole kin and clans of Maru assembled to ratify their
allegiance by their presence. As the first in blood and rank, it was
his duty to make the first mark of inauguration on the [116] forehead
of his prince. The proxy he chose on the occasion was his Dhai, or
‘nurse,’ a personage of no small importance in those countries.
Whether by such a representative the haughty warrior meant to
insinuate that his nephew should yet be in leading strings, the
chronicle affords us no hint; but it reprehends Ram Singh’s conduct to
this venerable personage, whom, instead of treating, according to
usage, with the same respect as his mother, he asked, “if his uncle
took him for an ape, that he sent an old hag to present him with the
_tika_?” and instantly dispatched an express desiring the surrender of
Jalor. Ere his passion had time to cool, he commanded his tents to be
moved out, that he might chastise the insult to his dignity. Despising
the sober wisdom of the counsellors of the state, he had given his
confidence to one of the lowest grade of these hereditary officers, by
name Amia, the Nakkarchi,[5.12.2] a man headstrong like himself. The
old chief of the Champawats, on hearing of this act of madness,
repaired to the castle to remonstrate; but scarcely had he taken his
seat before the prince assailed him with ridicule, desiring “to see
his frightful face as seldom as possible.” “Young man,” exclaimed the
indignant chief, as with violence he dashed his shield reversed upon
the carpet, “you have given mortal offence to a Rathor, who can turn
Marwar upside down as easily as that shield.” With eyes darting
defiance, he arose and left the Presence, and collecting his
retainers, marched to Mundiavar.[5.12.3] This was the residence of the
Pat-Bardai, or ‘chief bard,’ the lineal descendant of the Bardai
Roera, who left Kanauj with Siahji. The esteem in which his sacred
office was held may be appreciated by his estate, which equalled that
of the first noble, being one lakh of rupees (£10,000) of revenue.

The politic Bakhta, hearing of the advance of the chief noble of Maru on
the border of his territory, left Nagor, and though it was midnight,
advanced to welcome him. The old chief was asleep; Bakhta forbade his
being disturbed, and placed himself quietly beside his pallet. As he
opened his eyes, he called as usual for his pipe (_hukka_), when the
attendant pointing to the prince, the old chief scrambled up. Sleep had
cooled his rage, and the full force of his position rushed upon him; but
seeing there was now no retreat, that the Rubicon was crossed, “Well,
there is my head,” said he; “now it is yours.” The bard, who was present
at the interview, was sounded by being requested to bring the chief’s
wife and family from [117] Awa to Nagor; and he gave his assent in a
manner characteristic of his profession: “farewell to the gate of
Jodhpur,” alluding to the station of the bard. The prince immediately
replied, “there was no difference between the gate of Jodhpur and Nagor;
and that while he had a cake of _bajra_ he would divide it with the
bard.”

=Civil War between Rām Singh and Bakht Singh.=—Ram Singh did not allow
his uncle much time to collect a force; and the first encounter was at
Kherli. Six actions rapidly followed; the last was at Lunawas, on the
plains of Merta, with immense loss of life on both sides. This
sanguinary battle has been already related,[5.12.4] in which Ram Singh
was defeated, and forced to seek safety in flight; when Jodhpur was
surrendered, and Bakhta invested with the Rajtilak and sword by the
hands of the Jethawat chief of Bagri, whose descendants continue to
enjoy this distinction, with the title of Marwar ka bar Kewar, ‘the bar
to the portal of Marwar.’

=Accession of Bakht Singh, A.D. 1752-53.=—With the possession of the
seat of government, and the support of a great majority of the clans,
Bakhta Singh felt secure against all attempts of his nephew to regain
his lost power. But although his popularity with his warlike kindred
secured their suffrages for his maintenance of the throne which the
sword had gained him, there were other opinions which Bakhta Singh was
too politic to overlook. The adhesion of the hereditary officers of the
State, especially those personal to the sovereign, is requisite to cloak
the crime of usurpation, in which light only, whatever the extent of
provocation, Bakhta’s conduct could be regarded. The military premier,
as well as the higher civil authorities, were won to his cause, and of
those whose sacred office might seem to sanctify the crime, the chief
bard had already changed his post “for the gate of Nagor.” But there was
one faithful servant, who, in the general defection, overlooked the
follies of his prince, in his adherence to the abstract rules of
fidelity; and who, while his master found refuge at Jaipur, repaired to
the Deccan to obtain the aid of the Mahrattas, the mercenaries of
Rajputana. Jaga was the name of this person; his office, that of
Purohit, the ghostly adviser of his prince and tutor to his children.
Bakhta, at once desirous to obtain his suffrage, and to arrest the
calamity of foreign invasion, sent a couplet in his own hand to the
Purohit:

“The flower, O bee, whose aroma regaled you, has been assailed by the
blast; not a leaf of the rose-tree is left; why longer cling to the
thorns?” [118]

The reply was in character: “In this hope does the bee cling to the
denuded rose-tree; that spring may return, and fresh flowers bud
forth.”[5.12.5]

Bakhta, to his honour, approved the fidelity which rejected his
overtures.

=Intervention of Mahādaji Sindhia.=—There was a joyousness of soul about
Bakhta which, united to an intrepidity and a liberality alike unbounded,
made him the very model of a Rajput. To these qualifications were
superadded a majestic mien and Herculean frame, with a mind versed in
all the literature of his country, besides poetic talent of no mean
order; and but for that one damning crime, he would have been handed
down to posterity as one of the noblest princes Rajwara ever knew. These
qualities not only riveted the attachment of the household clans, but
secured the respect of all his exterior relations, so that when the
envoy of the expatriated prince obtained Sindhia’s aid for the
restoration of Ram Singh, the popularity of Bakhta formed an army which
appalled the “Southron,” who found arrayed against him all the choice
swords of Rajwara. The whole allodial power of the desert, “the sons of
Siahji” of every rank, rose to oppose this first attempt of the
Mahrattas to interfere in their national quarrels, and led by Bakhta in
person, advanced to meet Mahadaji, the Patel.[5.12.6] But the Mahratta,
whose object was plunder rather than glory, satisfied that he had little
chance of either, refused to measure his lance (_barchhi_) with the
_sang_ and _sirohi_[5.12.7] of the Rajput.

=Bakht Singh Poisoned.=—Poison effected what the sword could not
accomplish. Bakhta determined to remain encamped in that vulnerable
point of access to his dominions, the passes near Ajmer. Hither, the
Rathor queen of Madho Singh, prince of Amber, repaired to compliment her
relative, and to her was entrusted the task of removing the enemy of her
nephew, Ram Singh. The mode in which the deed was effected, as well as
the last moments of the heroic but criminal Bakhta, have been already
related.[5.12.8] He died in S. 1809 (A.D. 1753), leaving a disputed
succession, and all the horrors of impending civil strife, to his son,
Bijai Singh.

=Repression of Islām.=—During his three years of sovereignty, Bakhta had
found both time and resources to strengthen and embellish the
strongholds of Marwar. He completed the fortifications [119] of the
capital, and greatly added to the palace of Jodha, from the spoils of
Ahmadabad. He retaliated the injuries on the intolerant Islamite, and
threw down his shrines and his mosques in his own fief of Nagor, and
with the wrecks restored the edifices of ancient days. It was Bakhta
also who prohibited, under pain of death, the Islamite’s call to prayer
throughout his dominions, and the order remains to this day unrevoked in
Marwar. Had he been spared a few years to direct the storm then
accumulating, which transferred power from the haughty Tatar of Delhi to
the peasant soldier of the Kistna, the probability was eminently in
favour of the Rajputs resuming their ancient rights throughout India.
Every principality had the same motive for union in one common cause,
the destruction of a power inimical to their welfare: but crimes, moral
and political, rendered an opportunity, such as never occurred in their
history, unavailing for their emancipation from temporal and spiritual
oppression.

=Rājput Morals compared with those of Europe in the Middle Ages.=—We
will here pause, and anticipating the just horror of the reader, at
finding crime follow crime—one murder punished by another—prevent his
consigning all the Rajput dynasties to infamy, because such foul stains
appear in one part of their annals. Let him cast his eyes over the page
of western history; and commencing with the period of Siahji’s
emigration in the eleventh century, when the curtain of darkness was
withdrawn from Europe, as it was simultaneously closing upon the Rajput,
contrast their respective moral characteristics. The Rajput chieftain
was imbued with all the kindred virtues of the western cavalier, and far
his superior in mental attainments. There is no period on record when
these Hindu princes could not have signed their names to a charter; many
of them could have drawn it up, and even invested it, if required, in a
poetic garb; and although this consideration perhaps enhances, rather
than palliates, crime, what are the instances in these States, we may
ask, compared to the wholesale atrocities of the ‘Middle Ages’ of
Europe?

The reader would also be wrong if he leaped to the conclusion that the
bardic chronicler passed no judgment on the princely criminal. His
“empoisoned stanzas” (_vishwa sloka_), transmitted to posterity by the
mouth of the peasant and the prince, attest the reverse. One couplet has
been recorded, stigmatizing Bakhta for the murder of his father; there
is another of the chief bard, improvised while his prince Abhai Singh
and Jai Singh of Amber were passing the period devoted [120] to
religious rites at the sacred lake of Pushkar. These ceremonies never
stood in the way of festivity; and one evening, while these princes and
their vassals were in the height of merriment, the bard was desired to
contribute to it by some extemporaneous effusion. He rose, and
vociferated in the ears of the horror-struck assembly the following
quatrain:—

_Jodhāno Āmber ē
Donon thāp uthāp;
Kuram māryo dīkro,
Kāmdhaj māryo bāp._

“[The princes of] Jodhpur and Amber can dethrone the enthroned. But the
Kurma[5.12.9] slew his son; the Kamdhaj[5.12.10] murdered his father.”

The words of the poetic seer sank into the minds of his hearers, and
passed from mouth to mouth. They were probably the severest vengeance
either prince experienced in this world, and will continue to circulate
down to the latest posterity. It was the effusion of the same undaunted
Karna, who led the charge with his prince against the troops of Amber.

=The Curse of a Sati.=—We have also the anathema of the prophetic Sati,
wife of Ajit, who, as she mounted the pyre with her murdered lord,
pronounced that terrific sentence to the ears of the patriotic Rajput:
“May the bones of the murderer be consumed out of Maru.”[5.12.11] In the
value they attach to the fulfilment of the prophecy, we have a
commentary on the supernatural power attached to these self-devoted
victims. The record of the last moments of Bakhta, in the dialogue with
his doctor,[5.12.12] is a scene of the highest dramatic and moral
interest; and, if further comment were required, demonstrates the
operations of the hell within, as well as the abhorrence the Rajput
entertains for such crimes [121].

-----

Footnote 5.12.1:

The Deora of Sirohi is a branch of the Chauhans, one of the four
Agnikulas, a race sprung from fire. See Vol. I. p. 112.

Footnote 5.12.2:

The person who summons the nobles by beat of the state _nakkara_, or
‘great kettledrum.’

Footnote 5.12.3:

[Mūndwa, about 90 miles N.E. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 5.12.4:

See p. 862.

Footnote 5.12.5:

That beautiful simile of Ossian, or of Macpherson, borrowed from the
canticles of the Royal Bard of Jerusalem, will be brought to mind in
the reply of the Purohit—“I was a lovely tree in thy presence, Oscar,
with all my branches around me,” etc.

Footnote 5.12.6:

[Mahādāji Sindhia used the title of Patel or village headman to mark
his assumed deference to the Peshwa (Grant Duff 212).]

Footnote 5.12.7:

_Sang_ is a lance about ten feet long, covered with plates of iron
about four feet above the spike. The _sirohi_ is the sword made at the
city, whence its name, and famous for its temper.

Footnote 5.12.8:

See p. 867.

Footnote 5.12.9:

Kurma or Kachhua (the tribe of the princes of Amber) slew his son,
Sheo Singh.

Footnote 5.12.10:

Kamdhaj, it must be remembered, is a titular appellation of the Rathor
kings, which they brought from Kanauj.

Footnote 5.12.11:

See p. 867.

Footnote 5.12.12:

_Ibid._

-----

CHAPTER 13

=Rāja Bijai Singh, A.D. 1753-93.=—Bijai Singh, then in his twentieth
year, succeeded his father, Bakhta. His accession was acknowledged not
only by the emperor, but by all the princes around him, and he was
inaugurated at the frontier town of Marot,[5.13.1] when proceeding to
Merta, where he passed the period of _matam_ or mourning. Hither the
independent branches of his family, of Bikaner, Kishangarh, and
Rupnagarh, came simultaneously with their condolence and
congratulations. Thence he advanced to the capital, and concluded the
rites on death and accession with gifts and charities which gratified
all expectations.

=Rām Singh invites Marātha Aid.=—The death of his uncle afforded the
ex-prince, Ram Singh, the chance of redeeming his birthright; and in
conjunction with the prince of Amber, he concluded a treaty[5.13.2] with
the Mahrattas, the stipulations of which were sworn to by their leaders.
The “Southrons” advanced by Kotah and Jaipur, where Ram Singh [122],
with his personal adherents and a strong auxiliary band of Amber, united
their forces, and they proceeded to the object in view, the dethronement
of Bijai Singh.

=The Battle of Merta.=—Bijai Singh was prepared for the storm, and led
his native chivalry to the plains of Merta, where, animated with one
impulse, a determination to repel foreign interference, they awaited the
Mahrattas, to decide the rival claims to the throne of the
desert.[5.13.3] The bard delights to enumerate the clans who mustered
all their strength; and makes particular allusion to the allodial
Pattawats, who were foremost on this occasion. From Pushkar, where the
combined army halted, a summons was sent to Bijai Singh “to surrender
the gaddi of Maru.” It was read in full convention and answered with
shouts of “Battle! Battle!” “Who is this Hapa,[5.13.4] thus to scare us,
when, were the firmament to fall, our heads would be pillars of support
to preserve you?” Such is the hyperbole of the Rajput when excited, nor
does his action fall far short of it. The numerical odds were immense
against the Rathors; but they little esteemed the Kachhwahas, and their
courage had very different aliment to sustain it, from the mercenary
Southron. The encounter was of the most desperate description, and the
bard deals out a full measure of justice to all.

Two accidents occurred during the battle, each sufficient to turn
victory from the standard of Bijai Singh, on the very point of fruition.
One has elsewhere been related,[5.13.5] namely, the destruction of the
“Silahposhians,” or cuirassiers, the chosen cohort of the Rathors, when
returning from a successful charge, who were mistaken for the foe, and
mowed down with discharges of grape-shot. This error, at a moment when
the courage of the Mahrattas was wavering, might have been retrieved,
notwithstanding the superstitious converted the disaster into an omen of
evil. Sindhia had actually prepared to quit the field, when another turn
of the wheel decided the event in his favour: the circumstance exhibits
forcibly the versatile character of the Rajput.

=Treachery of Sardār Singh of Kishangarh.=—The Raja of Kishangarh had
deprived his relative of Rupnagar of his estates; both were junior
branches of Marwar, but held direct from the emperor. Sawant Singh,
chieftain of Rupnagar, either from constitutional indifference or [123]
old age, retired to the sanctuary of Brindaban on the Jumna, and, before
the shrine of the Hindu Apollo, poured forth his gratitude for “his
escape from hell,” in the loss of his little kingdom. But it was in vain
he attempted to inspire young Sardar with the like contempt of mundane
glory; to his exhortations the youth replied, “It is well for you,
Sire,[5.13.6] who have enjoyed life, to resign its sweets so tranquilly;
but I am yet a stranger to them.” Taking advantage of the times, he
determined to seek a stronger auxiliary for the recovery of his rights
than the poetic homilies of Jayadeva. Accordingly, he joined the envoy
of Ram Singh, and returned with the Mahratta army, on whose successful
operations his hope of reconquering his patrimony rested. It was at that
moment of doubt that Apa, the Mahratta commander, thus addressed young
Sardar: “Your star, young man, is united to Ram Singh’s, which fortune
does not favour; what more is to be done before we move off?”
Inexperienced as he was, Sardar knew his countrymen, and their
vacillation when touched by superstition; and he obtained permission to
try a ruse, as a last resort. He dispatched a horseman of his own clan
to the division which pressed them most, who, coming up to the Mainot
minister, as if of his own party, asked “what they were fighting for, as
Bijai Singh lay dead, killed by a cannon-shot in another part of the
field?” Like the ephemeral tribe of diplomacy, the Mainot saw his sun
was set. He left the field, followed by the panic-struck clans, amongst
whom the report circulated like wildfire. Though accustomed to these
stratagems, with which their annals teem, the Rajputs are never on their
guard against them; not a man inquired into the truth of the report, and
Bijai Singh,—who, deeming himself in the very career of victory, was
coolly performing his devotions amidst the clash of swords,—was left
almost alone, even without attendants or horses. The lord of Marwar,
who, on that morning, commanded the lives of one hundred thousand
Rajputs, was indebted for his safety to the mean conveyance of a cart
and pair of oxen.[5.13.7]

Every clan had to erect tablets for the loss of their best warriors; and
as in their civil wars each strove to be foremost in devotion, most of
the chieftains of note [124] were amongst the slain.[5.13.8] The bard
metes out a fair measure of justice to their auxiliaries, especially the
Saktawats of Mewar, whose swords were unsheathed in the cause of the
son-in-law of their prince. Nor is the lance of the Southron passed over
without eulogy, to praise which, indeed, is to extol themselves.

=Results of Rāthor Defeat.=—With the loss of this battle and the
dispersion of the Rathors, the strongholds rapidly fell. The cause of
Ram Singh was triumphing, and the Mahrattas were spreading over the land
of Maru, when foul assassination checked their progress.[5.13.9] But the
death of Jai Apa, which converted his hordes from auxiliaries to
principals in the contest, called aloud for vengeance, that was only to
be appeased by the cession of Ajmer, and a fixed triennial tribute on
all the lands of Maru, both feudal and fiscal. This arrangement being
made, the Mahrattas displayed the virtue common to such mercenary
allies: they abandoned Ram Singh to his ‘evil star,’ and took possession
of this stronghold, which, placed in the very heart of Rajasthan,
perpetuated their influence over its princes.

With this gem, thus rudely torn from her diadem, the independence of
Marwar from that hour has been insecure. She has struggled on, indeed,
through a century of invasions, rebellions, and crimes, all originating,
like the blank leaf on her annals, from the murder of Ajit. In the words
of the Doric stanza of the hostile bards on this memorable chastisement:

_Yād ghana din āvasi,
Āpawāla hel;
Bhāga tinon bhupati,
Māl khajāna mel._[5.13.10]

“For many a day will they remember the time (_hel_) of Apa, when the
three sovereigns fled, abandoning their goods and treasures”: alluding
to the princes of Marwar, Bikaner, and Kishangarh, who partook in the
disasters and disgrace of that day [125].

The youthful heir of Rupnagar claimed, as he justly might, the victory
to himself; and going up to Apa to congratulate him, said, in the
metaphorical language of his country, “You see I sowed mustard-seed in
my hand as I stood”: comparing the prompt success of his stratagem to
the rapid vegetation of the seed. But Sardar was a young man of no
ordinary promise; for when Sindhia, in gratitude, offered immediately to
put him in possession of Rupnagar, he answered, “No; that would be a
retrograde movement,” and told him to act for his master Ram Singh,
“whose success would best insure his own.” But when treachery had done
its worst on Jai Apa, suspicion, which fell on every Rajput in the
Mahratta camp, spared not Sardar: swords were drawn in every quarter,
and even the messengers of peace, the envoys, were everywhere assailed,
and amongst those who fell ere the tumult could be appeased, was Rawat
Kabir Singh, the premier noble of Mewar, then ambassador from the Rana
with the Mahrattas.[5.13.11] With his last breath, Jai Apa protected and
exonerated Sardar, and enjoined that his pledge of restoration to his
patrimony should be redeemed. The body of this distinguished commander
was burned at the Taussar, or ‘Peacock pool,’ where a cenotaph was
erected, and in the care which the descendants even of his enemies pay
to it, we have a test of the merits of both victor and vanquished.

=Death of Rām Singh.=—This was the last of twenty-two battles, in which
Ram Singh was prodigal of his life for the recovery of his honours. The
adversity of his later days had softened the asperity of his temper, and
made his early faults be forgotten, though too late for his benefit. He
died in exile at Jaipur in A.D. 1773. His person was gigantic; his
demeanour affable and courteous; and he was generous to a fault. His
understanding was excellent and well cultivated, but his capricious
temperament, to which he gave vent with an unbridled vehemence,
disgusted the high-minded nobles of Maru, and involved him in exile and
misery till his death. It is universally admitted that, both in exterior
and accomplishments, not even the great Ajit could compare with Ram
Singh, and witchcraft, at the instigation of the chieftain of Asop, is
assigned to account for his fits of insanity, which might be better
attributed to the early and immoderate use of opium. But in spite of his
errors, the fearless courage he displayed, against all odds, kept some
of the [126] most valiant of the clans constant to his fortunes,
especially the brave Mertias, under the heroic Sher Singh of Rian, whose
deeds can never be obliterated from the recollections of the Rathor. Not
the least ardent of his adherents was the allodial chief Rup Singh, of
the almost forgotten clan, Pattawat; who held out in Phalodi against all
attempts, and who, when provisions failed, with his noble associates,
slew and ate their camels. The theme is a favourite one for the
Kamarya[5.13.12] minstrel of Maru, who sings the fidelity of Rupa and
his band to the notes of his rabab,[5.13.13] to their ever attentive
descendants.

=The Character of Rāja Rām Singh.=—We may sum up the character of Ram
Singh in the words of the bard, as he contrasts him with his rival.
“Fortune never attended the stirrup of Bijai Singh, who never gained a
battle, though at the head of a hundred thousand men; but Ram Singh, by
his valour and conduct, gained victories with a handful.”

The death of Ram Singh was no panacea to the griefs of Marwar or of its
prince. The Mahrattas, who had now obtained a _point-d’appui_ in
Rajwara, continued to foster disputes which tended to their advantage,
or when opportunity offered, to scour the country in search of pay or
plunder. Bijai Singh, young and inexperienced, was left without
resources; ruinous wars and yet more ruinous negotiations had dissipated
the hoards of wealth accumulated by his predecessors. The crown-lands
were uncultivated, the tenantry dispersed; and commerce had diminished,
owing to insecurity and the licentious habits of the nobles, who
everywhere established their own imposts, and occasionally despoiled
entire caravans. While the competitor for the throne was yet living, the
Raja was compelled to shut his eyes on these inroads upon his proper
power, which reduced him to insignificance even in his own palace.

=Power of the Aristocracy of Mārwār.=—The aristocracy in Marwar has
always possessed more power than in any of the sister principalities
around. The cause may be traced to their first settlement in the desert;
and it has been kept in action by the peculiarities of their condition,
especially in that protracted struggle for the rights of the minor Ajit,
against the despotism of the empire. There was another cause, which, at
the present juncture, had a very unfortunate influence on the increase
of this preponderance, and which arose out of the laws of adoption.

=The Pokaran Fief.=—The fief of Pokaran, the most powerful (although a
junior) branch of the Champawat clan, adopted a son of Raja Ajit as
their chief; his name was Devi Singh [127]. The right of adoption, as
has been already explained, rests with the widow of the deceased and the
elders of the clan. Why they exercised it as they did on this occasion
does not appear; but not improbably at the suggestion of the dying
chief, who wished to see his sovereign’s large family provided for,
having no sons of his own: or, the immediate claimants may not have
possessed the qualities necessary to lead a clan of Maru. Although the
moment such adoption takes place, when “the turban of the late incumbent
encircled the new lord of Pokaran,” he ought to forget he had any other
father than him he succeeded, yet we can easily imagine that, in the
present case, his propinquity to the throne, which under other
circumstances he might soon have forgotten, was continually forced upon
his recollection by the contentions of his parricidal brothers and their
offspring for the ‘cushion’ of Marwar. It exemplifies another feature in
Rajput institutions, which cut off this son (guiltless of all
participation in the treason) from succession, because he was identified
with the feudality; while the issue of another, and junior brother, at
the same period adopted into the independent house of Idar,[5.12.14]
were heirs presumptive to Marwar; nay, must supply it with a ruler on
failure of heirs, though they should have but one son and be compelled
to adopt in his room.[5.12.15]

=Mercenaries enrolled.=—The Champawats determined to maintain their
influence over the sovereign and the country; and Devi Singh leagued
with Awa and the other branches of this clan to the exclusion of all
competitors. They formed of their own body a guard of honour for the
person of the prince, one half remaining on duty in the castle, the
other half being in the town below. While the Raja would lament the
distracted state of his country, the inroads of the hill tribes, and the
depredations of his own chiefs, Devi Singh of Pokaran would reply, “Why
trouble yourself about Marwar? it is in the sheath of my dagger.” The
young prince used to unburthen his griefs to his foster-brother Jaga, a
man of caution and experience, which qualities he instilled into his
sovereign. By dissimulation, and an apparent acquiescence in their
plans, he not only eluded suspicion, but, availing himself of their
natural indolence of character, at length obtained leave not only to
entertain some men of Sind as guards for the town, but to provide
supplies for their subsistence: the first approximation towards a
standing mercenary force, till then unknown in their annals [128]. We do
not mean that the Rajput princes never employed any other than their own
feudal clans; they had foreign Rajputs in their pay, but still on the
same tenure, holding lands for service; but never till this period had
they soldiers entertained on monthly stipend. These hired bands were
entirely composed of infantry, having a slight knowledge of European
tactics, the superiority of which, even over their high-minded
cavaliers, they had so severely experienced in their encounters with the
Mahrattas. The same causes had operated on the courts of Udaipur and
Jaipur to induce them to adopt the like expedient; to which, more than
to the universal demoralization which followed the breaking up of the
empire, may be attributed the rapid decay of feudal principles
throughout Rajputana. These guards were composed either of
Purbia[5.12.16] Rajputs, Sindis, Arabs, or Rohillas. They received their
orders direct from the prince, through the civil officers of the State,
by whom they were entrusted with the execution of all duties of
importance or dispatch. Thus they soon formed a complete barrier between
the prince and his vassals, and consequently became objects of jealousy
and of strife. In like manner did all the other States make approaches
towards a standing army; and though the motive in all cases was the
same, to curb, or even to extinguish, the strength of the feudal chiefs,
it has failed throughout, except in the solitary instance of Kotah,
where twenty well-disciplined battalions, and a hundred pieces of
artillery, are maintained chiefly from the feudal sequestrations.

To return: the Dhabhai, having thus secured a band of seven hundred men,
and obtained an aid (which we may term scutage) from the chiefs for
their maintenance, gradually transferred them from their duties above to
the gates of the castle. Somewhat released from the thraldom of faction,
the Raja concerted with his foster-brother and the Diwan, Fateh Chand,
the means of restoring prosperity and order. So destitute was the prince
of resources, that the Dhabhai had recourse to threats of suicide to
obtain 50,000 rupees from his mother, acquired as the nurse (_dhai_) of
his sovereign; and so drained was the country of horses, that he was
compelled to transport his cavaliers (who were too proud to walk) on
cars to Nagor. There, under the pretence of curbing the hill tribes, he
formed an army, and dismounting the guns from the walls of the town,
marched an ill-equipped force against the border-mountaineers, and being
successful he attacked on his return [129] the castle of Silbakri. This
was deemed a sufficient indication of his views; the whole feudality of
Maru took alarm, and united for mutual safety at Bisalpur, twenty miles
east of the capital.

=Gordhan Singh negotiates with the Chiefs.=—There was a foreign Rajput,
whose valour, fidelity, and conduct had excited the notice and regard of
Bakhta Singh, who, in his dying hour, recommended him to the service of
his son. To Gordhan, the Khichi, a name of no small note in the
subsequent history of this reign, did the young Raja apply in order to
restrain his chiefs from revolt. In the true spirit of Rajput sentiment,
he advised his prince to confide in their honour, and, unattended, to
seek and remonstrate with them, while he went before to secure him a
good reception. At daybreak, Gordhan was in the camp of the
confederates; he told them that their prince, confiding in their
loyalty, was advancing to join them, and besought them to march out to
receive him. Deaf, however, to entreaty and to remonstrance, not a man
would stir, and the prince reached the camp uninvited and unwelcomed.
Decision and confidence are essential in all transactions with a Rajput.
Gordhan remained not a moment in deliberation, but instantly carried his
master direct to the tent of the Awa chief, the premier noble of Marwar.
Here the whole body congregated, and silence was broken by the prince,
who demanded why his chiefs had abandoned him?

“Maharaja,” replied the Champawat, “our bodies have but one pinnacle;
were there a second, it should be at your disposal.” A tedious
discussion ensued; doubts of the future, recriminations respecting the
past; till wearied and exhausted, the prince demanded to know the
conditions on which they would return to their allegiance, when the
following articles were submitted:

1. To break up the force of the Dhabhai;

2. To surrender to their keeping the records of fiefs (_pattabahi_);

3. That the court should be transferred from the citadel to the town.

There was no alternative but the renewal of civil strife or compliance;
and the first article, which was a _sine qua non_, the disbanding of the
obnoxious guards, that anomalous appendage to a Rajput prince’s person,
was carried into immediate execution. Neither in the first nor last
stipulation could the prince feel surprise or displeasure; but the
second sapped the very foundation of his rule, by depriving the crown of
its dearest prerogative, the power of dispensing favour. This shallow
reconciliation being effected, the malcontent nobles dispersed, some to
their estates [130], and the Chondawat oligarchy to the capital with
their prince, in the hope of resuming their former influence over him
and the country.

=Massacre of the Chiefs.=—Thus things remained, when Atmaram, the Guru
or ‘ghostly comforter’ of Bijai Singh, fell sick, and as he sedulously
attended him, the dying priest would tell him to be of good cheer, for
when he departed, he “would take all his troubles with him.” He soon
died, and his words, which were deemed prophetic, were interpreted by
the Dhabhai. The Raja feigned immoderate grief for the loss of his
spiritual friend, and in order to testify his veneration, an ordinance
was issued commanding that the Kiryakarma, or ‘rites for the dead,’
should be performed in the castle, while the queens, on pretence of
paying their last duty to his remains, descended, carrying with them the
guards and retainers as their escort. It was an occasion on which
suspicion, even if awake, could not act, and the chiefs ascended to join
in the funeral rites to the saint. As they mounted the steps cut out of
the rock which wound round the hill of Jodha, the mind of Devi Singh
suddenly misgave him, and he exclaimed that “the day was unlucky”; but
it passed off with the flattering remark, “you are the pillar of Maru;
who dare even look at you?” They paced slowly through the various
barriers, until they reached the Alarum Gate.[5.12.17] It was shut!
“Treachery!” exclaimed the chief of Awa, as he drew his sword, and the
work of death commenced. Several were slain; the rest were overpowered.
Their captivity was a sufficient presage of their fate; but, like true
Rajputs, when the Dhabhai told them they were to die, their last request
was, “that their souls might be set at liberty by the sword, not by the
unsanctified ball of the mercenary.” The chronicle does not say whether
this wish was gratified, when the three great leaders of the Champawats,
with Jeth Singh of Awa; Devi Singh of Pokaran; the lord of Harsola;
Chhattar Singh, chief of the Kumpawats; Kesari Singh of Chandren; the
heir of Nimaj; and the chief of Ras,[5.12.18] then the principal fief of
the Udawats, met their fate. The last hour of Devi Singh was marked with
a distinguished peculiarity. Being of the royal line of Maru, they would
not spill his blood, but sent him his death-warrant in a jar of opium.
On receiving it, and his prince’s command to make his own departure from
life, “What!” said the noble spirit, as they presented the jar, “shall
Devi [131] Singh take his _amal_ (opiate) out of an earthen vessel? Let
his gold cup be brought, and it shall be welcome.” This last vain
distinction being denied, he dashed out his brains against the walls of
his prison. Before he thus enfranchised his proud spirit, some
ungenerous mind, repeating his own vaunt, demanded, “where was then the
sheath of the dagger which held the fortunes of Marwar?” “In Subhala’s
girdle at Pokaran,” was the laconic reply of the undaunted Chondawat.

This was a tremendous sacrifice for the maintenance of authority, of men
who had often emptied their veins in defence of their country. But even
ultra patriotism, when opposed to foreign aggression, can prove no
palliative to treason or mitigate its award, when, availing themselves
of the diminished power of the prince, an arrogant and imperious
oligarchy presumes to enthral their sovereign. It is the mode in which
vengeance was executed at which the mind recoils, and which with other
instances appears to justify the imputation of perfidy amongst the
traits of Rajput character. But if we look deeply into it, we shall find
reason to distrust such conclusion. The Rajput abhors, in the abstract,
both perfidy and treason; but the elements of the society in which he
lives and acts, unfortunately too often prompt the necessity of
sacrificing principles to preservation: but this proceeds from their
faulty political constitution; it is neither inculcated in their moral
code, nor congenial to their moral habits.

=Right of Primogeniture.=—The perpetual struggle between the aristocracy
and the sovereign, which is an evil inherent in all feudal associations,
was greatly aggravated in Marwar, as well as in Mewar, by the sacrifice
of that corner-stone even of constitutional monarchy, the rights of
primogeniture. But in each case the deviation from custom was a
voluntary sacrifice of the respective heirs-apparent to the caprices of
parental dotage. In no other country in the world could that article of
the Christian decalogue, “Honour thy father and thy mother,” be better
illustrated than in Rajputana, where, if we have had to record two
horrid examples of deviation from, we have also exhibited splendid
proofs of, filial devotion, in Chonda of Mewar, and Champa of Marwar,
who resigned the “rods” they were born to wield; and served, when they
should have swayed, to gratify their father’s love for the fruit of
their old age. These are instances of self-denial hardly to be credited;
from such disinterested acts, their successors claimed an importance
which, though natural, was totally unforeseen, and which the extent of
compensation contributed [132] to foster. They asserted the right, as
hereditary premiers of the State, to be the advisers, or rather the
tutors, of their sovereigns, more especially in non-age, and in allusion
to this surrender of their birthright, arrogantly applied the well-known
adage, _Pat ka malik main ho, Raj ka malik uha_, ‘He is sovereign of the
State, but I am the master of the Throne’; and insisted on the privilege
of being consulted on every gift of land, and putting their autograph
symbol to the deed or grant.[5.12.19] These pretensions demanded the
constant exertions of the sovereign to resist them; for this purpose, he
excited the rivalry of the less powerful members of the federated
vassalage, and thus formed a kind of balance of power, which the
monarch, if skilful, could always turn to account. But not even the
jealousies thus introduced would have so depreciated the regal influence
in Marwar, nor even the more recent adoption of a son of the crown into
the powerful fief of Pokaran, had not the parricidal sons of Ajit
degraded the throne in the eyes of their haughty and always overreaching
vassals, who, in the civil strife which followed, were alternately in
favour or disgrace, as they adhered to or opposed the successful
claimant for power. To this foul blot, every evil which has since
overtaken this high-minded race may be traced, as well as the
extirpation of that principle of devoted obedience which, in the
anterior portion of these annals, has been so signally recorded. To this
hour it has perpetuated dissensions between the crown and the oligarchy,
leading to deposal and violence to the princes, or sequestration,
banishment, and death to the nobles. To break the bonds of this
tutelage, Ram Singh’s intemperance lost him the crown, which sat uneasy
on the head of his successor, who had no other mode of escape but by the
severity which has been related. But though it freed him for a time, the
words of the dying chief of Pokaran continued to ring in his ears; and
“the dagger left in the girdle of his son” disturbed the dreams of his
rest throughout a long life of vicissitudes, poisoning the source of
enjoyment until death itself was a relief.

The nuncupatory testament of the Champawat was transmitted across the
desert to his son at Pokaran, and the rapidity of its transmission was
only equalled by the alacrity of Sabhala, who at the head of his vassals
issued forth to execute the vengeance thus bequeathed. First, he
attempted to burn and pillage the mercantile town of Pali; foiled in
which, he proceeded to another wealthy city of the fisc [133], Bhilwara
on the Luni; but here terminated both his life and his revenge. As he
led the escalade, he received two balls, which hurled him back amongst
his kinsmen, and his ashes next morning blanched the sandy bed of the
Luni.

=Suppression of Aristocratic Influence.=—For a time the feudal interest
was restrained, anarchy was allayed, commerce again flourished, and
general prosperity revived: to use the words of the chronicle, “the
subject enjoyed tranquillity, and the tiger and the lamb drank from the
same fountain.” Bijai Singh took the best means to secure the fidelity
of his chiefs, by finding them occupation. He carried his arms against
the desultory hordes of the desert, the Khosas and Sahariyas, which
involved him in contests with the nominal sovereign of Sind, and ended
in the conquest of Umarkot, the key to the valley of the Indus, and
which is now the most remote possession of Marwar. He also curtailed the
territories of Jaisalmer, on his north-west frontier. But more important
than all was the addition of the rich province of Godwar, from the Rana
of Mewar. This tract, which nearly equals in value the whole fiscal
domain of Maru, was wrested from the ancient princes of Mandor, prior to
the Rathors, and had been in the possession of the Sesodias for nearly
five centuries, when civil dissension made the Rana place it for
security under the protection of Raja Bijai Singh; since which it has
been lost to Mewar.

=Rājput Confederation against the Marāthas. Battle of Tonga A.D. 1787.
Battles of Pātan and Merta, 20th June, 10th, 12th September
1790.=—Marwar had enjoyed several years of peace, when the rapid strides
made by the Mahrattas towards universal rapine, if not conquest,
compelled the Rajputs once more to form an union for the defence of
their political existence. Partap Singh, a prince of energy and
enterprise, was now on the _gaddi_ of Amber. In S. 1843 (A.D. 1787), he
sent an ambassador to Bijai Singh, proposing a league against the common
foe, and volunteering to lead in person their conjoined forces against
them. The battle of Tonga ensued, in which Rathor valour shone forth in
all its glory. Despising discipline, they charged through the dense
battalions of De Boigne, sabring his artillerymen at their guns, and
compelling Sindhia to abandon not only the field, but all his conquests
for a time.[5.12.20] Bijai Singh, by this victory, redeemed the castle
of Ajmer, and declared his tributary alliance null and void. But the
genius of Sindhia, and the talents of De Boigne, soon recovered this
loss; and in four years the Mahratta marched with a force such as Indian
warfare was stranger to, to redeem that day’s disgrace. In S. 1847 (A.D.
1791), the murderous [134] battles of Patan and Merta took place, in
which Rajput courage was heroically but fruitlessly displayed against
European tactics and unlimited resources, and where neither intrigue nor
treason was wanting. The result was the imposition of a contribution of
sixty lakhs of rupees, or £600,000; and as so much could not be drained
from the country, goods and chattels were everywhere distrained, and
hostages given for the balance.

=Ajmer lost to Mārwār.=—Ajmer, which had revolted on the short-lived
triumph of Tonga, was once more surrendered, and lost for ever to
Marwar. When invested by De Boigne, the faithful governor, Damraj,
placed in the dilemma of a disgraceful surrender, or disobedience to his
prince’s summons, swallowed diamond-powder.[5.12.21] “Tell the raja,”
said this faithful servant, “thus only could I testify my obedience; and
over my dead body alone could a Southron enter Ajmer.”[5.12.22]

=Influence of Court Morals.=—The paramount influence which the morals
and manners of a court exert upon a nation, is everywhere admitted. In
constitutional governments, there is a barrier even to court influence
and corruption, in the vast portion of wealth and worth which cannot be
engulphed in their vortex. But in these petty sovereignties no such
check is found, and the tone of virtue and action is given from the
throne. The laws of semi-barbarous nations, which admit of licentious
concubinage, have ever been peculiar to orientals, from the days of the
wise king of the Jews to those of Bijai Singh of Marwar; and their
political consequence has been the same, the sacrifice of the rights of
lawful inheritance to the heirs of illicit affection. The last years of
the king of Maru were engrossed by sentimental folly with a young beauty
of the Oswal tribe, on whom he lavished all the honours due only to his
legitimate queens. Scandal affirms that she frequently returned his
passion in a manner little becoming royal dignity, driving him from her
presence with the basest of missiles—her shoes. As the effects of this
unworthy attachment completed the anarchy of Marwar, and as its
consequences on deviating from the established rules of succession have
entailed a perpetuity of crime and civil war, under which this
unfortunate State yet writhes, we shall be minute, even to dullness, in
the elucidation [135] of this portion of their annals, to enable those
who have now to arbitrate these differences to bring back a current of
uncontaminated blood to sway the destinies of this still noble race.

Raja Ajit had fourteen sons:
┌───────────┬────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ │ │ │ │
Abhai Singh. Bakht Singh. Anand Singh, Rasa, Devi Singh,
│ │ adopted into the adopted into adopted into
│ │ Idar house. Jhabua Pokaran.
Ram Singh. Bijai Singh. (in Malwa).
│
┌─────────┬───┴─┬─────────┬─────────┬────────┬──────────┐
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
Fateh Singh, │ Sawant Singh. │ Bhum Singh. │ Sardar Singh,
died of smallpox │ │ Sher Singh. │ Guman Singh. killed by
in infancy. │ Sur Singh. │ Bhim Singh. │ Bhim.
│ adopted │ Man Singh.
Zalim Singh, Man Singh. │
of Mewar, the │
rightful heir of Dhonkal Singh
by a princess (Pretender).
of Mewar, the
rightful heir of
Bijai Singh.

=Influence of his Concubine on Bijai Singh.=—So infatuated was Bijai
Singh with the Pasbani[5.12.23] concubine, that on losing the only
pledge of their amours, he ‘put into her lap’ (adopted) his own
legitimate grandchild, Man Singh. To legalize this adoption, the
chieftains were ordained to present their _nazars_ and congratulations
to the declared heir of Marwar; but the haughty noblesse refused ‘to
acknowledge the son of a slave’ as their lord, and the Raja was
compelled to a fresh adoption to ensure such token of sanction. Content
at having by this method succeeded in her wishes, the Pasbani sent off
young Man to the castle of Jalor; but fearing lest the experience of
Sher Singh, his adopted father, might prove a hindrance to her control,
he was recalled, and her own creatures left to guide the future
sovereign of Marwar. The dotage of Bijai Singh, and the insolence of his
concubine, produced fresh discord, and the clans assembled at
Malkosni[5.12.24] to concert his deposal.

=Rebellion of the Clansmen against Bijai Sīngh.=—Recollecting the
success of his former measures to recall them to their duty, Bijai Singh
proceeded to their camp; but while he was negotiating, and as he
supposed successfully, the confederates wrote to the chieftain of Ras,
whose tour of duty was in the castle, to descend with Bhim Singh. The
chief acquainted the Pasbani that her presence was required at the camp
by the Raja, and that a guard of honour was ready to attend her. She was
thrown off her guard, and at the moment she entered her litter, a blow
from an unseen hand ended her existence. Her effects were instantly
confiscated, and the chief of Ras descended with Bhim, whose tents were
pitched at the Nagor barrier of the city. If, instead of encamping
there, they had proceeded to the camp of the confederates, his arrival
and the dethronement of Bijai Singh would have been simultaneous: but
the Raja received the intelligence as soon as the chiefs. Hastening
back, he obtained the person of the young aspirant, to whom, to
reconcile him to his disappointment, he gave in appanage the districts
of Sojat and Siwana, and sent him off to the latter stronghold; while to
restrain the resentment of his eldest son, Zalim Singh, whose birthright
he had so unworthily sacrificed, he enfeoffed him with the rich district
of Godwar, giving him private orders to attack his brother Bhim, who,
though apprised of the design in time to make head against his uncle,
was yet defeated and compelled to fly. He found refuge at Pokaran,
whence he went to Jaisalmer.

=Death of Rāja Bijai Singh.=—In the midst of this conflict, his
dominions curtailed, his chiefs in rebellion, his sons and grandsons
mutually opposed to each other, and the only object which attached him
to life thus violently torn from him, Bijai Singh died, in the month
Asarh S. 1850, after a reign of thirty-one years [136].

-----

Footnote 5.13.1:

[On the N. frontier of Jodhpur.]

Footnote 5.13.2:

This treaty is termed _haldi_, or _balpatra_, ‘a strong deed’ [_haldi_
means ‘turmeric,’ with which the hand-marks on the treaty were made].
The names of the chiefs who signed it were Jankoji Sindhia, Santoji
Bolia, Danto Patel, Rana Bhurtiya, Ato Jaswant Rae, Kano, and Jiwa,
Jadons; Jiwa Punwar, Piluji and Satwa, Sindhia Malji, Tantia Chitu,
Raghu Pagia, Ghusalia Jadon, Mulla Yar Ali, Firoz Khan; all great
leaders amongst the ‘Southrons’ of that day.

Footnote 5.13.3:

[The date of the battle is uncertain. According to Erskine (iii. A.
66) it was fought “about 1756”.]

Footnote 5.13.4:

The _A_, to the Rajput of the north-west, is as great a Shibboleth as
to the Cockney—thus _Apa_ becomes _Hapa_.

Footnote 5.13.5:

See p. 868.

Footnote 5.13.6:

_Bapji._

Footnote 5.13.7:

The anecdote is related, p. 870. The Bijai Vilas states that the
prince rewarded the peasant with five hundred bighas of land in
perpetuity, which his descendants enjoy, saddled with the petite
serjanterie of “curds and bajra cakes,” in remembrance of the fare the
Jat provided for his prince on that emergency.

Footnote 5.13.8:

Rae Singh, chief of the Kumpawats, the second noble in rank of Marwar;
Lal Singh, head of the Sisawats, with the leader of the Kutawats, are
especially singled out as sealing their fidelity with their blood; but
all the _ots_ and _awats_ of the country come in for a share of glory.

Footnote 5.13.9:

This occurrence has been related in the Personal Narrative, p. 873,
but it is more amply narrated in the chronicle, the Bijai Vilas, from
which I am now compiling. In this it is said that Jai Apa, during the
siege, having fallen sick, the Rathor prince sent his own physician,
Surajmall, to attend him; that the doctor at first refused the
mission, saying, “You may “On the contrary,” ur, and I shall favour
you”; but what was far more strange, Apa objected not, took the
medicines of the _baid_, and recovered.

Footnote 5.13.10:

[_Hel_, _halla_, ‘onset,’ the Marātha invasion.]

Footnote 5.13.11:

I have many original autograph letters of this distinguished Rajput on
the transactions of this period; for it was he who negotiated the
treaty between Raja Madho Singh, of Jaipur, the ‘nephew of Mewar,’ and
the Mahrattas. At this time, his object was to induce Jai Apa to raise
the siege of Nagor.

Footnote 5.13.12:

[A class of minstrels and buffoons (_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii.
178).]

Footnote 5.13.13:

[_Rabāb_, ‘a viol’.]

Footnote 5.12.14:

It will be remembered that Idar was conquered by a brother of
Siahji’s.

Footnote 5.12.15:

We shall explain this by a cutting of the genealogical tree: it may be
found useful should we be called on to arbitrate in these matters.

Footnote 5.12.16:

Purbias, ‘men of the east,’ as the Maghrabis are ‘of the west.’

Footnote 5.12.17:

The Nakkara Darwaza, where the grand kettledrum is stationed, to give
the alarm or summons to the chieftains to repair to the Presence. To
this gate Raja Man advanced to meet the Author, then the
representative of the Governor-General of India.

Footnote 5.12.18:

[Rās, 70 miles E. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 5.12.19:

See Vol. I. p. 235.

Footnote 5.12.20:

See p. 875 for the details of this battle.

Footnote 5.12.21:

[It is commonly believed in India that diamond dust is poisonous
(Chevers, _Manual of Medical Jurisprudence in India_, 289 ff.).
Powdered glass is used in the same way, as in a recent case at Agra
(_The Times_, 19th December 1912; Labanés, _Les Curiosities de la
Medicine_, 146 ff.).]

Footnote 5.12.22:

Damraj was not a Rajput, but of the Singhi tribe, one of the civil
officers; though it is a curious and little-known fact, that almost
all the mercantile tribes of Western India are of Rajput origin, and
sank the name and profession of arms when they became proselytes to
Jainism, in the reign of Raja Bhim Pramar. The Chitor inscription (see
p. 919 and note 7, p. 921) records the name of this prince. He was
ancestor of Raja Man, whose date S. 770 (A.D. 714) allows us to place
this grand conversion prior to A.D. 650. [The Singhis were originally
Brāhmans converted to Jainism (_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii.
116).]

Footnote 5.12.23:

[Pāsbāni, meaning ‘guarding, protecting,’ is a synonym for Gola, the
hereditary slave class, illegitimate offspring by Rājputs of women
attendants in the Zanāna; they are also known as Dārogha, Khawāss, or
Chela (_Census Report, Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 181).]

Footnote 5.12.24:

[In the Bhīlāra Hakūmat, in the centre of Jodhpur State.]

-----

CHAPTER 14

=Rāja Bhīm Singh, A.D. 1793-1803.=—The intelligence of Bijai Singh’s
death was conveyed by express to his grandson Bhim, at Jaisalmer. In
“twenty-two hours” he was at Jodhpur, and ascending directly to the
citadel, seated himself upon the _gaddi_, while his rival, Zalim Singh,
the rightful heir, little expecting this celerity, was encamped at the
Merta gate, awaiting the “lucky hour” to take possession. That hour
never arrived; and the first intelligence of Bhim being on “the cushion
of Jodha,” was conveyed to the inhabitants by the nakkaras of his rival
on his retreat from the city, who was pursued to Bhilara, attacked,
defeated, and forced to seek shelter at Udaipur, where, with an ample
domain from the Rana, he passed the rest of his days in literary
pursuits. He died in the prime of life: attempting to open a vein with
his own hand, he cut an artery and bled to death. He was a man of great
personal and mental qualifications; a gallant soldier, and no mean
poet.[5.14.1] [137]

=Rāja Bhīm disposes of his Rivals.=—Thus far successful, Raja Bhim
determined to dismiss “compunctious visitings,” and be a king _de facto_
if not _de jure_. Death had carried off three of his uncles, as well as
his father, previous to this event; but there were still two others,
Sher Singh, his adopted father, and Sardar Singh, who stood in his way:
the last was put to death; the former had his eyes put out; and, soon
after, the unfortunate prince released himself from life by dashing out
his brains. Sur Singh, the favourite of all Bijai Singh’s descendants,
remained. His superior claims were fatal to him and his life fell a
sacrifice with the others.

A single claimant alone remained of all the blood royal of Maru to
disturb the repose of Bhim. This was young Man, the adopted son of the
concubine, placed beyond his reach within the walls of Jalor. Could
Bhim’s dagger have reached him, he would have stood alone, the last
surviving scion of the parricide,

With none to bless him,
None whom he could bless:

an instrument, in the hand of divine power, to rid the land of an
accursed stock. Then the issue of Abhai Singh would have utterly
perished, and their ashes might have been given to the winds, and no
memorial of them left. Idar must then have supplied an heir,[5.14.2] and
the doubtful pretensions of Dhonkal,[5.14.3] the posthumous and reputed
son of the wholesale assassin Bhim, to sit upon the _gaddi_ of Ajit,
would never have been brought forward to excite another murderous
contest amongst the sons of Jodha.

=Escape of Mān Singh.=—Having sacrificed all those within his reach who
stood between him and the [139] throne, Bhim tried to secure the last
sole claimant in Jalor. But the siege of such a stronghold with his
feudal levies, or loose mercenary bands, was a tedious operation, and
soon became an imperfect blockade, through which young Man not
unfrequently broke, and by signal formed a junction with his adherents,
and plundered the fiscal lands for support. One of these excursions,
however, an attempt to plunder Pali, had nearly proved fatal to him;
they were attacked on their return, and young Man, whose secluded
education had confined him more to mental than to personal
accomplishments, was unhorsed, and would have been captured, but for the
prowess of the chief of Ahor, who took him up behind him and bore him
off in safety. Nothing but the turbulence of the chiefs who supported
Raja Bhim saved young Man’s life. A disputed succession has always
produced an odious faction; and Bhim, who was not disposed to bend to
this oligarchy, appears to have had all the imprudence of the dethroned
Ram Singh: he threatened those entrusted with the siege to give them
“oxen to ride instead of horses.” The chiefs fired at the insult, and
retired to Ghanerao, the principal fief in Godwar; but, disgusted with
both parties, instead of obeying the invitation of young Man, they
abandoned their country altogether, and sought an asylum in the
neighbouring States. Many fiefs were sequestrated, and Nimaj, the chief
seat of the Udawats, was attacked, and after a twelve months’ defence,
taken; its battlements were ignominiously destroyed, and the victors,
chiefly foreign mercenaries, reinforced the blockade of Jalor.

=Siege of Jālor. Death of Rāja Bhīm Singh.=—With the exile of his
partisans and daily diminishing resources, when the lower town was
taken, there appeared no hope for young Man. A small supply of
millet-flour was all the provision left to his half-famished garrison,
whose surrender was now calculated upon, when an invitation came from
the hostile commander for Man to repair to his camp, and adding “he was
now the master; it was his duty to serve.” On that day (the 2nd Kartik
S. 1860, Dec. 1804), after eleven years of defence, his means exhausted,
his friends banished, and death from starvation or the sword inevitable,
intelligence came of Raja Bhim’s demise! This event, as unlooked-for as
it was welcome, could scarcely at first be credited; and the tender of
the homage of the commander to Man as his sovereign, though accompanied
by a letter from the prime minister Induraj, was disregarded till the
Guru Deonath returned from the camp with confirmation of the happy news,
that “not a moustache [140] was to be seen in the camp.”[5.14.4] Thither
the prince repaired, and was hailed as the head of the Rathors.

It is said that the successor of the Guru Atmaram, “who carried all
the troubles of Bijai Singh with him to heaven,” had predicted of
young Man Singh, when at the very zero of adversity, that “his
fortunes would ascend.” What were the means whereby the ghostly
comforter of Raja Bhim influenced his political barometer, we know
not; but prophetic Gurus, bards, astrologers, physicians, and all the
Vaidyas or ‘cunning-men,’[5.14.5] who beset the persons of princes,
prove dangerous companions when, in addition to the office of
compounders of drugs and expounders of dreams, they are invested with
the power of realizing their own prognostications.

=Rāja Mān Singh, A.D. 1803-43.=—On the 5th of Margsir, 1860 (A.D. 1804),
Raja Man, released from his perils, succeeded to the honours and the
feuds of Bijai Singh. He had occupied the ‘cushion of Maru’ but a very
short period, when the Pokaran chief “took offence,” and put himself in
hostility to his sovereign. The name of this proud vassal, the first in
power though only of secondary rank amongst the Champawats, was Sawai
Singh, with whom now remained “the sheath of the dagger which held the
fortunes of Maru.” If the fulfilment of vengeance be a virtue, Sawai was
the most virtuous son on earth. The dagger of Devi Singh, bequeathed to
Sabhala, was no imaginary weapon in the hands of his grandson Sawai, who
held it suspended over the head of Raja Man from his enthronement to his
death-hour. Soon after Raja Man’s accession, Sawai retired with his
partisans to Chopasni, a spot about five miles from the capital, where
the conspiracy was prepared. He told the chiefs that the wife of Raja
Bhim was pregnant, and prevailed on them to sign a declaration, that if
a son was born, he should be installed on the _gaddi_ of Jodha. They
returned in a body to the capital, took the pregnant queen from the
castle, and placed her in a palace in the city, under their own
protection. Moreover, they held a council, at which the Raja was
present, who agreed to recognise the infant, if a male, as the
heir-apparent of Maru, and to enfeoff him in the appanage of Nagor and
Siwana; and that if a female, she should be betrothed to a prince of
Dhundhar [141].

=Dangers from Posthumous Births.=—Posthumous births are never-failing
germs of discord in these States; and the issue is inevitably branded by
one party with the title of ‘supposititious.’ It is likewise a common
saying, almost amounting to a proverb, that a male child is the uniform
result of such a position. In due course, a male infant was born; but,
alarmed for its safety, the mother concealed both its birth and sex, and
placing it in a basket, conveyed it by a faithful servant from the city,
whence it soon reached Sawai Singh at Pokaran. He bestowed upon it the
inauspicious name of Dhonkal, that is, one born to tumult and strife. It
is said that during two years he kept the birth a profound secret, and
it is even added, that it might have remained so, had Raja Man forgot
the history of the past, and dispensed even-handed justice. Wanting,
however, the magnanimity of the Fourth Henry of France, who scorned “to
revenge the wrongs of the prince of Navarre,” he reserved his favours
and confidence for those who supported him in Jalor, whilst he evinced
his dislike to others who, in obedience to their sovereign, served
against him. Of these adherents, only two chiefs of note were of his kin
and clan; the others were Bhatti Rajputs, and a body of those religious
militants called Bishanswamis, under their Mahant, or leader,
Kaimdas.[5.14.6]

=Sawāi Singh supports Dhonkal Singh.=—At the expiration of two years,
Sawai communicated the event to the chiefs of his party, who called upon
Raja Man to redeem his promise and issue the grant for Nagor and Siwana.
He promised compliance if, upon investigation, the infant proved to be
the legitimate offspring of his predecessor. Personal fear overcame
maternal affection, and the queen, who remained at Jodhpur, disclaimed
the child. Her reply being communicated to the chiefs, it was for a time
conclusive, and the subject ceased to interest them, the more especially
as her concealed accouchement had never been properly accounted for.

Though Sawai, with his party, apparently acquiesced, his determination
was taken; but instead of an immediate appeal to arms, he adopted a
deeper scheme of policy, the effects of which he could not have
contemplated, and which involved his own destruction, and with it the
independence of his country, which was transferred to [142] strangers,
their very antipodes in manners, religion, and every moral quality. His
first act was to procure a more powerful protection than Pokaran
afforded; and under the guarantee of Chhattar Singh Bhatti, he was sent
to the saran (sanctuary) of Abhai Singh of Khetri.[5.14.7] Having so far
succeeded, he contrived an underplot, in which his genius for intrigue
appears not below his reputation as a soldier.

=Krishna Kunwāri.=—The late prince Bhim had made overtures to the Rana
of Mewar for the hand of his daughter, but he died before the
preliminaries were adjusted. This simple circumstance was deemed
sufficient by the Champawat for the groundwork of his plot. He contrived
to induce the voluptuous Jagat Singh, the prince of Jaipur, to put
himself in the place of Raja Bhim, and to propose for the fair hand of
Krishna. This being accomplished, and nuptial presents, under a guard of
four thousand men, being dispatched to Udaipur, Sawai intimated to Raja
Man that he would be eternally disgraced if he allowed the prince of
Amber to carry off “the betrothed”; that “it was to the throne of Maru,
not its occupant, she was promised.” The bait was greedily swallowed,
and the summons for the Kher (or levy _en masse_) of the Rathors was
immediately proclaimed. Man instantly assembled three thousand horse,
and joining to them the mercenary bands of Hira Singh then on the
frontier of Mewar, he intercepted the nuptial gifts of Amber. Indignant
at this outrage, Jagat Singh took to arms, and the muster-book was
declared open to all who would serve in the war which was formally
declared against Maru.

=Attack by Rāja Jagat Singh of Jaipur on Mārwār. Treachery of Jaswant
Rāo Holkar.=—Having thus opened the drama, Sawai threw off the mask, and
repaired to Khetri, whence he conveyed the pretender, Dhonkal, to the
court of Jagat Singh at Jaipur. Here his legitimacy was established by
being admitted ‘to eat from the same platter’ with its prince; and his
claims, as the heir of Marwar, were publicly acknowledged and advocated,
by his ‘placing him in the lap of his aunt,’[5.14.8] one of the wives of
the deceased Raja Bhim. His cause thus espoused, and being declared the
nephew of Amber, the nobles of Marwar, who deemed the claims of the
pretender superior to those of Raja Man, speedily collected around his
standard. Amongst these was the prince of Bikaner, whose example (he
being the most powerful of the independents of this house) at once
sanctioned the justice of Dhonkal’s cause, and left that of Raja Man
almost without support. Nevertheless, with the hereditary [143] valour
of his race, he advanced to the frontiers to meet his foes, whose
numbers, led by the Jaipur prince and the pretender, exceeded one
hundred thousand men! This contest, the ostensible object of which was
the princess of Mewar, like the crusades of ancient chivalry, brought
allies from the most remote parts of India. Even the cautious Mahratta
felt an unusual impulse in this rivalry, beyond the stimulants of pay
and plunder which ordinarily rouse him, and corps after corps left their
hordes to support either cause. The weightier purse of Jaipur was the
best argument for the justice of his cause and that of the pretender;
while Raja Man had only the gratitude of Holkar to reckon upon for aid,
to whose wife and family he had given sanctuary when pursued by Lord
Lake to the Attock. But here Sawai again foiled him; and the Mahratta,
then only eighteen miles from Man, and who had promised to join him next
day, made a sudden movement to the south. A bribe of £100,000, in bills
upon Kotah, to be paid on Holkar’s reaching that city, effected this
desertion; which being secured, Jagat Singh and the pretender advanced
to overwhelm their antagonist, who was posted at Gingoli. As the armies
approached each other, Raja Man’s chiefs rode up to salute him,
preparatory, as he thought, to head their clans for the combat; but it
was their farewell obeisance. The cannonade opened, they rallied under
the standard of the pretender, and on Sawai advancing on the right of
the allied line, so entire was the defection, that even the Mertia clan,
whose virtue and boast it is “to adhere to the throne, whoever is the
occupant,” deserted, with the Champawats, Jethawats, and minor chiefs.
Four chieftains alone abided the evil hour of Raja Man, namely,
Kuchaman, Ahor, Jalor, and Nimaj; and with their quotas alone, and the
auxiliary bands of Bundi, he would have rushed into the battle. Hindered
from this, he attempted his own life: but the design was frustrated by
Sheonath of Kuchaman, who dismounted him from his elephant, and advised
his trusting to the fleetness of his steed, while they covered his
flight. The Raja remarked, he was the first of his race who ever
disgraced the name of Rathor by showing his back to a Kachhwaha. The
position he had taken that morning was favourable to retreat, being a
mile in advance of the pass of Parbatsar:[5.14.9] this was speedily
gained, and nobly defended by the battalions of Bundi, and those of
Hindal Khan, in the pay of Raja Man, which retarded the pursuit, headed
by the Rao of Uniara. Raja Man reached Merta in safety; but deeming it
incapable of long [144] resistance, he continued his flight by Pipar to
the capital, which he reached with a slender retinue, including the four
chiefs, who still shared his fortunes. The camp of Raja Man was
pillaged. Eighteen guns were taken by Bala Rao Inglia, one of Sindhia’s
commanders, and the lighter effects, the tents, elephants, and baggage,
were captured by Amir Khan; while Parbatsar, and the villages in the
neighbourhood, were plundered.

=Rāja Mān Singh defends Jodhpur.=—Thus far, the scheme of Sawai and the
pretender advanced with rapid success. When the allied army reached
Merta, the prince of Jaipur, whose object was the princess of Mewar,
proposed to Sawai to follow up their good fortune, while he repaired to
Udaipur, and solemnized the nuptials. But even in the midst of his
revenge, Sawai could distinguish “between the cause of Man Singh and the
_gaddi_ of Marwar”; and to promote the success of Jaipur, though he had
originated the scheme to serve his own views, was no part of his plan.
He was only helped out of this dilemma by another, which he could not
anticipate. Not dreaming that Raja Man would hold out in the capital,
which had no means of defence, but supposing he would fly to Jalor, and
leave Jodhpur to its fate and to the pretender, Sawai, desirous to avoid
the further advance of the allies into the country, halted the army for
three days at Merta. His foresight was correct: the Raja had reached
Bisalpur in full flight to Jalor, when, at the suggestion of Gyanmall
Singhi, a civil officer in his train, he changed his intention. “There,”
said the Singhi, “lies Jodhpur only nine coss to the right, while Jalor
is sixteen further; it is as easy to gain the one as the other, and if
you cannot hold out in the capital, what chance have you elsewhere?
while you defend your throne your cause is not lost.” Raja Man followed
the advice, reached Jodhpur in a few hours, and prepared for his
defence. This unexpected change, and the halt of the allied army, which
permitted the dispersed bands to gain the capital, defeated the schemes
of Sawai.

=The Siege of Jodhpur.=—With a body of three thousand men, selected from
Hindal Khan’s brigade, the corps of Bishanswamis, under Kaimdas, and one
thousand foreign Rajputs, consisting of Chauhans, Bhattis, and Indhas
(the ancient lords of Mandor), Raja Man formed a garrison of five
thousand men, on whom he could depend. So ample did he deem this number,
that he dispatched strong garrisons from Hindal’s brigade, with some
Deora Rajputs, to garrison Jalor, and preserve the distant castle of
Umarkot from surprise by the Sindis. Having thus provided against the
storm [145] he fearlessly awaited the result. But so alienated was his
mind from his kindred, that he would not even admit to the honour of
defending his throne the four faithful chieftains who, in the general
desertion, had abided by his fortunes. To all their entreaties to be
received into the castle, that “they might defend the _kunguras_
(battlements) of Jodha,” he replied, they might defend the city if they
pleased; and disgusted with such a return for their fidelity, they
increased the train of his opponents, who soon encompassed Jodhpur.

The town, little capable of defence, was taken and given up to
unlicensed plunder; and with the exception of Phalodi, which was
gallantly defended for three months, and given to Bikaner as the reward
of its alliance, the _an_ of the pretender was proclaimed throughout
Marwar, and his allies only awaited the fall of the capital, which
appeared inevitable, to proclaim him king. But a circumstance occurred,
which, awakening the patriotism of the Rathors, thwarted these fair
prospects, relieved Raja Man from his peril, and involved his
adversaries in the net of destruction which they had woven for him.

The siege had lasted five months without any diminution of the ardour of
the defenders; and although the defences of the north-east angle were
destroyed, the besiegers, having a perpendicular rock of eighty feet to
ascend before they could get to the breach, were not nearer their
object, and, in fact, without shells, the castle of Jodha would laugh a
siege to scorn. The numerous and motley force under the banners of
Jaipur and the pretender, became clamorous for pay; the forage was
exhausted, and the partisan horse were obliged to bivouac in the distant
districts to the south. Availing himself of their separation from the
main body, Amir Khan, an apt pupil of the Mahratta school, began to
raise contributions on the fiscal lands, and Pali, Pipar, Bhilara, with
many others, were compelled to accede to his demands. The estates of the
nobles who espoused the cause of the pretender, fared no better, and
they complained to the Xerxes of this host of the conduct of this
unprincipled commander.

=Amir Khān supports Mān Singh. Defeat of the Jaipur Army A.D. 1806.=—The
protracted defence having emptied the treasury of Amber, the
arch-intriguer of Pokaran was called upon to contribute towards
satisfying the clamour of the troops. Having exhausted the means of his
own party, he applied to the four chieftains who had been induced to
join the cause of the pretender by the suspicions of Raja Man, to
advance a sum of money. This appeal proved a test of [146] their zeal.
They abandoned the pretender, and proceeded direct to the camp of Amir
Khan. It required no powerful rhetoric to detach him from the cause and
prevail upon him to advocate that of Raja Man; nor could they have given
him better counsel towards this end, than the proposal to carry the war
into the enemy’s country: to attack and plunder Jaipur, now left
unguarded. At this critical moment, the Jaipur prince, in consequence of
the representation of the Marwar chiefs, had directed his
commander-in-chief, Sheolal, to chastise Amir Khan for his lawless
conduct. Sheolal put a stop to their deliberations, attacked and drove
them across the Luni, surprised them at Govindgarh, again in a night
attack at Harsuri, and pursued the Khan to Phaggi,[5.14.10] at the very
frontier of Jaipur. Astonished at his own success, and little aware that
the chase was in the direction projected by his enemy, Sheolal deemed he
had accomplished his orders in driving him out of Marwar; halted, and
leaving his camp, repaired to Jaipur to partake of its festivities. The
Khan, who with his allies had reached Pipla near Tonk, no sooner heard
of this, than he called to his aid the heavy brigades of Muhammad Shah
Khan and Raja Bahadur (then besieging Isarda[5.14.11]), and availed
himself of the imprudent absence of his foe to gain over the Haidarabad
Rasala, a legion well known in the predatory wars of that period. Having
effected this object, he assailed the Jaipur force, which,
notwithstanding this defection and the absence of its commander, fought
with great valour, the battalions of Hira Singh being nearly cut to
pieces. The action ended in the entire defeat of the Jaipurians, and the
capture of their camp, guns, and equipage. Prompted by the Rathor
chieftains, whose valour led to this result, Amir Khan rapidly followed
up his success, and Jaipur was dismayed by the presence of the victor at
her gates. The generalship of the Khan was the salvation of Raja Man; it
dissolved the confederacy, and fixed the doom of Sawai, its projector.

=The Confederacy against Jodhpur dissolved.=—The tempest had been some
time gathering; the Rajas of Bikaner and Shahpura had already withdrawn
from the confederacy and marched home, when, like a clap of thunder, the
effeminate Kachhwaha, who had in the outset of this crusade looked to a
full harvest both of glory and of love, learned that his army was
annihilated, and his capital invested by the Khan and a handful of
Rathors. Duped by the representations of Sawai, Rae Chand, Diwan or
prime minister of Jaipur, concealed for some days these disasters from
his sovereign, who received the intelligence by a special messenger sent
by the queen-mother. Enraged, perplexed, and alarmed [147] for his
personal safety, he broke up the siege, and sending on in advance the
spoils of Jodhpur (including forty pieces of cannon), with his own
chieftains, he sent for the Mahratta leaders,[5.14.12] and offered them
£120,000 to escort him in safety to his capital; nay, he secretly
bribed, with a bond of £90,000 more, the author of his disgrace, Amir
Khan, not to intercept his retreat, which was signally ignominious,
burning his tents and equipage at every stage, and at length with his
own hand destroying his favourite elephant, which wanted “speed for the
rapidity of his flight.”

=Jodhpur Booty recovered.=—But the indignities he had to suffer were not
over. The chieftains whose sagacity and valour had thus diverted the
storm from Raja Man, determined that no trophies of Rathor disgrace
should enter Jaipur, united their clans about twenty miles east of
Merta, on the line of retreat, appointing Induraj Singhi their leader.
This person, who had held the office of Diwan under two predecessors of
Raja Man, was driven to a temporary defection from the same suspicions
which made the chiefs join the pretender. But they resolved to wash away
the stain of this brief alienation from Raja Man with the blood of his
enemies, and to present as a token of returning fidelity the recaptured
trophies. The encounter took place on the joint frontier. It was short,
but furious; and the Kachhwahas, who could not withstand the Rathors,
were defeated and dispersed, and the spoils of the spoiler, including
the forty cannon, were safely lodged in Kuchaman. Flushed with success,
the victors addressed the Raja of Kishangarh, who, though a Rathor, had
kept aloof, to advance funds to secure the continuance of Amir Khan’s
aid. Two lakhs of rupees (£20,000) effected this object; and the Khan,
pledging himself to continue his support to Raja Man, repaired to
Jodhpur. The four chiefs who had thus signalized themselves, preceded
him, and were received with open arms: their offences were forgiven, and
their estates restored, while Induraj was appointed Bakhshi or commander
of the forces [148].

-----

Footnote 5.14.1:

My own venerable tutor, Yati Gyanchandra, who was with me for ten
years, said he owed all his knowledge, especially his skill in
reciting poetry (in which he surpassed all the bards at Udaipur), to
Zalim Singh. [He died at Kāchbali in the British District of Merwāra
in 1799 (Erskine iii. A. 70).]

Footnote 5.14.2:

[138] Amongst the numerous autograph correspondence of the princes of
Rajputana with the princes of Mewar, of which I had the free use, I
selected one letter of S. 1784, A.D. 1728, written conjointly by Jai
Singh of Amber and Abhai Singh of Jodhpur, regarding Idar, and which
is so curious, that I give a verbatim translation in the Appendix (No.
I.). [See end of Vol. III.] I little thought at the time how
completely it would prove Abhai Singh’s determination to cut off all
but his own parricidal issue from the succession. An inspection of the
genealogy (p. 1075) will show that Anand Singh, of Idar, who was not
to be allowed “to escape alive,” was his younger brother, adopted into
that house.

Footnote 5.14.3:

Dhonkal Singh, the posthumous issue of Bhim, the last of the
parricidal line, whether real or supposititious, must be set aside,
and the pure current of Rathor blood, derived from Siahji, Jodha,
Jaswant, and Ajit, be brought from Idar, and installed on “the gaddi
of Jodha.” This course of proceeding would meet universal approbation,
with the exception of some selfish miscreants about the person of this
pretended son of Bhim, or the chieftain of Pokaran, in furtherance of
his and his grandfather’s yet unavenged feud. A sketch of the events,
drawn from their own chronicles, and accompanied by reflections,
exposing the miseries springing from an act of turpitude, would come
home to all, and they would shower blessings on the power which, while
it fulfilled the duties of protector, destroyed the germ of internal
dissension, and gave them a prince of their own pure blood, whom all
parties could honour and obey. If a doubt remained of the probable
unanimity of such policy, let it be previously submitted to a
_panchayat_, composed of the princes of the land, namely, of Mewar,
Amber, Kotah, Bundi, Jaisalmer, etc., leaving out whichever may be
influenced by marriage connexions with Dhonkal Singh.

Footnote 5.14.4:

This mark of mourning is common to all India. Where this evidence of
manhood is not yet visible, the hair is cut off; often both.

Footnote 5.14.5:

_Vaidya_, or ‘learned man’; the term _veda_ is also used to denote
cunning, magic, or knowledge of whatever kind.

Footnote 5.14.6:

They follow the doctrines of Vishnu (Bishan). They ate termed Gosains,
as well as the more numerous class of church militants, devoted to
Siva. Both are _célibataires_, as Gosain imports, from mastery
(_sain_) over the sense (_go_). They occasionally come in contact,
when their sectarian principles end in furious combats. At the
celebrated place of pilgrimage, Haridwar (Hardwar), on the Ganges, we
are obliged to have soldiers to keep the peace, since a battle
occurred, in which they fought almost to extirpation, about twenty
years ago. They are the Templars of Rajasthan. [Gosāīn, Skt.
_gosvāmin_, ‘master of cows: one who is master of his organs of
sense.’ The Bishan or Vishnuswāmis are a group of Bairāgi ascetics,
who are said to have come to Mārwār about A.D. 1779, in the reign of
Bijai Singh. Some of them are now employed as State sepoys (_Census
Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 86). In 1760 the rival mobs of Gosāīns and
Bairāgis fought a battle, in which 1800 are said to have perished
(_IGI_, xiii. 53).]

Footnote 5.14.7:

One of the principal chiefs of the Shaikhawat confederation. [Khetri
is about 80 miles N. of Jaipur city (_IGI_, xv. 276).]

Footnote 5.14.8:

[_Godlenā_, ‘to take on the lap,’ the technical form of adoption, or
of recognition of legitimacy.]

Footnote 5.14.9:

[About 110 miles N.E. of Jodhpur city, S.W. of the Sāmbhar Lake.]

Footnote 5.14.10:

[About 32 miles S. of Jaipur city.]

Footnote 5.14.11:

[About 60 miles S.S.W. of Jaipur city.]

Footnote 5.14.12:

Bapu Sindkia, Bala Rao Inglia, with the brigade of Jean Baptiste, all
Sindhia’s dependents. This was early in 1806. The author was then in
Sindhia’s camp and saw these troops marched off; and in 1807, in a
geographical tour, he penetrated to Jaipur, and witnessed the wrecks
of the Jaipur army. The sands round the capital were white with the
bones of horses, and the ashes of their riders, who had died in the
vain expectation of getting their arrears of pay.

-----

CHAPTER 15

=Amīr Khān received at Jodhpur.=—Amir Khan was received by Raja Man with
distinguished honours; a palace in the castle was assigned as his
residence; valuable gifts were presented to him and great rewards held
in perspective, if, through his agency, the rebellion should be
completely subdued. He swore to extirpate Sawai’s faction, and in token
of identity of views with Raja Man, he was admitted to the honour of
that last proof of devotion to his cause, “an interchange of turbans,”
with an advance of three lakhs, or £30,000, for the immediate payment of
his bonds.

On the raising of the siege of Jodhpur, Sawai conducted the pretender to
the appanage of the heirs of Marwar, the city of Nagor. There they were
deliberating as to their future plans, when a message was brought from
Amir Khan from [149] Mundiawar,[5.15.1] ten miles distant, begging
permission to perform his devotions at the shrine of the Muslim saint,
Pir Tarkin, the sole relic of the Islamite, which Bakhta Singh had
spared. His request being complied with, he with a slight cavalcade left
his camp, and having gone through the mummeries of devotion, paid his
respects to Sawai. When about to take leave, he threw out hints of Raja
Man’s ungrateful return for his services, and that his legions might
have been better employed. Sawai greedily caught at the bait; he desired
the Khan to name his terms, and offered £200,000 on the day that Dhonkal
should possess the _gaddi_ of Jodhpur. The Khan accepted the conditions
and ratified the engagement on the Koran, and to add to the solemnity of
the pledge, he exchanged turbans with Sawai. This being done, he was
introduced to the pretender, received the usual gifts, pledged his life
in his cause, took leave, and returned to his camp, whither he invited
the prince and his chiefs on the following day to accept of an
entertainment.

=Amīr Khān massacres the Chiefs.=—On the morning of the 19th of Chait,
S. 1864 (A.D. 1808), Sawai, attended by the chief adherents of the
pretender and about five hundred followers, repaired to the camp of the
Khan, who had made every preparation for the more effectual perpetration
of the bloody and perfidious deed he meditated. A spacious tent was
pitched in the centre of his camp for the reception of his guests, and
cannon were loaded with grape ready to be turned against them. The
visitors were received with the most distinguished courtesy; turbans
were again exchanged; the dancing-girls were introduced, and nothing but
festivity was apparent. The Khan arose, and making an excuse to his
guests for a momentary absence, retired. The dancing continued, when at
the word ‘_dhaga_,’ pronounced by the musicians, down sunk the tent upon
the unsuspicious Rajputs, who fell an easy prey to the ferocious
Pathans. Forty-two chieftains were thus butchered in the very sanctuary
of hospitality, and the heads of the most distinguished were sent to
Raja Man. Their adherents, taken by surprise, were slaughtered by the
soldiery, or by cannon charged with grape, as they fled. The pretender
escaped from Nagor, which was plundered by the Khan, when not only all
the property of the party, but the immense stores left by Bakhta Singh,
including three hundred pieces of cannon, were taken, and sent to
Sambhar and other strongholds held by the Khan. Having thus fulfilled
his instructions, he repaired to Jodhpur, and received ten lakhs or
£100,000, and [150] two large towns, Mundiawar and Kuchilawas, of thirty
thousand rupees annual rent, besides one hundred rupees daily for
table-allowance, as the reward of his signal infamy.

Thus, by the murder of Sawai and his powerful partisans, the confederacy
against Raja Man was extinguished; but though the Raja had thus,
miraculously as it were, defeated the gigantic schemes formed against
him, the mode by which it was effected entailed upon him and upon his
country unexampled miseries. The destruction of the party of the
pretender was followed by retaliation on the various members of the
league. The Jaipur territory was laid waste by the troops of Amir Khan,
and an expedition was planned against Bikaner. An army consisting of
twelve thousand of Raja Man’s feudal levies, under the command of
Induraj, with a brigade of Amir Khan, and that of Hindal Khan with
thirty-five guns, marched against the chief of the independent Rathors.
The Bikaner Raja formed an army little inferior in numbers, and gave his
suzerain the meeting at Bapri; but after a partial encounter, in which
the former lost two hundred men, he fell back upon his capital, pursued
by the victors, who halted at Gajner.[5.15.2] Here terms were offered;
two lakhs as the expenses of the war, and the surrender of the bone of
contention, the town of Phalodi, which had been assigned to Bikaner as
the price of joining the confederacy.

=Amīr Khān rules Mārwār.=—The Khan was now the arbiter of Marwar. He
stationed Ghafur Khan with a garrison in Nagor, and partitioned the
lands of Merta amongst his followers. He likewise placed his garrison in
the castle of Nawa, which gave him the command of the salt-lakes of Nawa
and Sambhar. Induraj and the high-priest Deonath were the only
counsellors of Raja Man, and all the oppressions which the chieftains
suffered through this predominant foreign interference, were attributed
to their advice. To cut them off the chiefs in their turn applied to
Amir Khan, who for seven lakhs (£70,000), readily consented to rid them
of their enemies. A plot was laid, in which some of his Pathans, under
pretence of quarrelling with Induraj for their arrears, put this
minister and the high-priest to death.

=Insanity of Mān Singh.=—The loss of Deonath appeared to affect the
reason of Raja Man. He shut himself up in his apartments, refused to
communicate with any one, and soon omitted every duty, whether political
or religious, until at length he was recommended to name his only son
Chhattar Singh as his successor. To this he acceded [151], and with his
own hand made the mark of inauguration on his forehead. But youth and
base panders to his pleasure seduced him from his duties, and he died,
some say the victim of illicit pursuits, others from a wound given by
the hand of one of the chieftains, whose daughter he attempted to
seduce.

The premature death of his only son, before he had attained the years of
majority, still more alienated the mind of Raja Man from all State
affairs, and his suspicions of treacherous attempts on his person
extended even to his wife. He refused all food, except that which was
brought by one faithful menial. He neglected his ablutions, allowed his
face to be covered with hair, and at length either was, or affected to
be insane. He spoke to no one, and listened with the apathy of an idiot
to the communications of the ministers, who were compelled to carry on
the government. By many it is firmly believed that the part he thus
acted was feigned, to escape the snares laid for his life; while others
think that it was a melancholy mania, arising from remorse at having
consented to the murder of Induraj, which incidentally involved that of
the Guru.[5.15.3] In short, his alliance with the atrocious Khan exposed
him to the suspicion of a participation in his crimes, which the bent of
his policy too much favoured. In this condition—the government being
managed by an oligarchy headed by Salim Singh (son of Sawai)—did Raja
Man remain, until the tide of events carried the arms of Britain even to
the desert of Maru.

=British Intervention. Restoration of Mān Singh.=—When, in 1817, we
invited the Rajputs to disunite from the predatory powers, and to join
us in establishing order throughout India, the young son of Raja Man, or
rather his ministers, sent envoys to Delhi. But ere the treaty was
ratified, this dissipated youth was no more. On this event, the Pokaran
faction, dreading Raja Man’s resumption of the government, made an
application to Idar for a son to adopt as their sovereign. But splendid
as was the offer, the Raja, who had but one son, rejected it, unless the
demand were sustained by the unanimous suffrages of the nobles.
Unanimity being unattainable, the faction had no alternative save the
restoration of Raja Man; but it was in vain they explained the new
position of Marwar, the alliance with the English, which awaited his
sanction, and the necessity that he, as the last prop of the royal
family, should resume the reins of power. He listened to all with the
most apathetic indifference [152]. But although he saw in this new
crisis of the political condition of his country, motives for effecting
his escape from bondage, his mind was so tutored by bitter experience
that he never for an instant betrayed its workings. When at length he
allowed himself to comprehend the full nature of the changes which made
even the faction desire his egress from solitude, so far from expressing
any joy, he even disapproved of part of the treaty, and especially the
article relating to the armed contingent of his vassals to be at the
disposal of the protecting power, in which he wisely saw the germ of
discord, from the certainty of interference it would lead to.

=Treaty with the British.=—It was in December 1817 that the
treaty[5.15.4] was negotiated at Delhi by a Brahman named Byas Bishan
Ram, on the part of the regent prince, and in December 1818, an officer
of the British government[5.15.5] was deputed to report on its actual
condition. Notwithstanding the total disorganization of the government,
from the combination of causes already described, the court had lost
nothing of its splendour or regularity; the honour of all was concerned
in preserving the dignity of the _gaddi_, though its incumbent was an
object of distrust and even detestation. The ministry at this period was
conducted by Akhai Chand (Diwan), and Salim Singh of Pokaran, as the
representative of the aristocracy, with the title of Bhanjghar. All the
garrisons and offices of trust throughout the country were held by the
creatures of a junto, of which these were the heads. There was, however,
already the nucleus of an opposition in the brother of the murdered
minister, named Fateh Raj, who was entrusted with the care of the city.
The instructions of the agent were to offer the aid of the British
government towards the settlement of Raja Man’s affairs; and at a
private interview, three days after the agent’s arrival, troops were
offered to be placed at his disposal. But the wariness of his character
will be seen in the use he made of this offer. He felt that the lever
was at hand to crush faction to the dust; and with a Machiavellian
caution, he determined that the existence of this engine should suffice;
that its power should be felt, but never seen; that he should enjoy all
the advantages this influence would give, without risking any of its
dangers if called into action. Thus, while he rejected, though with
thanks, the essential benefit tendered, qualifying his refusal with a
sufficient reason—“reliance on himself to restore his State to order”—he
failed not to [153] disseminate the impression amongst his chiefs, which
was enough for his purpose, and which besides checked the dictation and
interference that uniformly result from such unequal alliances.

Energetic counsels and rapid decision are unknown to Asiatic
governments, whose subjects are ever prone to suspicion whenever unusual
activity is visible; and Raja Man had been schooled into circumspection
from his infancy. He appeared anxious to bury the past in oblivion, by
choosing men of both parties for the inferior duties of the ministry;
and the blandness of his manners and his conciliatory address lulled the
most suspicious into security. After a short residence, the Agent
returned to Ajmer, having in vain tried to convince Raja Man that his
affairs were irretrievable without the direct aid of the paramount
power, which he persisted in repudiating, assigning as his reason that
he felt convinced, from “the measures then in train,” he should
accomplish the task himself: of these measures conciliation appeared to
be the basis.

=The Author appointed Envoy to Jodhpur.=—At this period[5.15.6] an envoy
was appointed, with powers direct from the Governor-General to Raja Man,
but he was for some months prevented from proceeding to his court, from
various causes.[5.15.7]

=Demoralization at Jodhpur.=—The Agent, who reached Jodhpur early in the
month of November, found matters [154] in nearly the same state as on
his predecessor’s departure in February. The same faction kept the
prince and all the officers of government at their disposal. The Raja
interfered but little with their measures, except to acquiesce in or
confirm them. The mercenary bands of Sindis or Pathans were in miserable
plight and clamorous for their pay, not having been accounted with for
three years; and they were to be seen begging in the streets of the
capital, or hawking bundles of forage on their heads to preserve them
from starvation. On the approach of the Agent of the British Government,
the forms of accounts were gone through, and they gave in acquittances
in full of demands, on condition of receiving 30 per cent of their
arrears; but this was only a form, and with his departure (in about
three weeks), they despaired even of that.

The name of justice was unknown:—though, in allusion to the religion of
the men in power, it was common to hear it said, “You may commit murder
and no one will notice it; but woe to him who beats or maims a brute,
for dogs are publicly fed while the soldier starves.” In short, the sole
object of the faction was to keep at a distance all interposition that
might lead the prince to emancipate himself from their control. During
the Agent’s stay of nearly three weeks, he had several private
interviews with Raja Man. The knowledge he had of the history of his
ancestry and his own situation, and of the causes which had produced it,
failed not to beget a corresponding confidence; and these interviews
were passed in discussions on the ancient history of the country as well
as on his own immediate affairs. The Agent took leave with these words:
“I know all the perils through which you have passed; I am aware how you
surmounted them. By your resolution, your external enemies are now gone:
you have the British Government as a friend; rely upon it with the same
fortitude, and, in a very short time, all will be as you could desire.”

Raja Man listened eagerly to these observations. His fine features,
though trained to bear no testimony to the workings within, relaxed with
delight as he rapidly replied, “In one twelve-months, my affairs will be
as friendship could wish.” To which the Agent rejoined, “In half the
time, Maharaja, if you are determined”: though the points to which he
had to direct his mind were neither few nor slight, for they involved
every branch of government; as

=Reforms in Mārwār.=—1. Forming an efficient administration [155].

2. Consideration of the finances; the condition of the crown lands; the
feudal confiscations, which, often unjust, had caused great discontent.

3. The reorganization and settlement of the foreign troops, on whose
service the Raja chiefly depended.

4. An effective police on all the frontiers, to put down the wholesale
pillage of the Mers in the south, the Larkhanis in the north, and the
desert Sahariyas and Khosas in the west; reformation of the tariff, or
scale of duties on commerce, which were so heavy as almost to amount to
prohibition; and at the same time to provide for its security.

Scarcely had the Agent left Jodhpur, before the faction, rejoiced at the
removal of the only restraint on their narrow-minded views, proceeded in
the career of disorder. Whether the object were to raise funds, or to
gratify ancient animosities, the course pursued by the Diwan and his
junto was the same. Ghanerao, the chief fief of Godwar, was put under
sequestration, and only released by a fine of more than a year’s
revenue. All the minor chiefs of this rich tract suffered in the same
manner, besides the indignity of having their lands placed under the
control of a brother of the minister. Chandawal[5.15.8] was put under
sequestration, and only released on a very heavy fine. At length the
Diwan had the audacity to put his hand on Awa, the chief fief of Marwar;
but the descendant of Champa replied, “My estate is not of to-day, nor
thus to be relinquished.” Gloom, mistrust, and resentment pervaded the
whole feudal body. They saw a contemptible faction sporting with their
honour and possessions, from an idea they industriously propagated, that
an unseen but mighty power was at hand to support their acts, given out
as those of the prince. If the Raja did dictate them, he took especial
care it should not be seen; for in the absence of the British Agent, he
once more resumed his sequestered habits, and appeared to take no
interest in the government further than to promote a coalition between
Akhai Chand and Fateh Raj, who was supported by a strong party of the
chiefs, and the influence of the favourite queen. But Akhai Chand, who
commanded, through his creatures, all the resources of the country, and
its strongholds, even to the castle of Jodhpur, rejected these
overtures, and feigning that there were plots against his personal
safety, left the city; and the better to exclude his adversaries from
the prince, resided entirely in the citadel.

=Cruelty of Rāja Mān Singh.=—Six months had thus fled. The fiat of Akhai
Chand was supreme; he alone was [156] visible; his orders alone were
obeyed. Raja Man was only heard of as an automaton, moving as the Diwan
pleased. But while the latter was thus basking in the full sunshine of
prosperity, enriching himself and his dependents, execrated by the
nobles and envied by his fellow-citizens, they heard of his fall! Then,
the insanity of his master proved to be but a cloak to the intensity of
his resentment. But a blind revenge would not have satisfied Raja Man.
The victims of his deep dissimulation, now in manacles, were indulged
with hopes of life, which, with the application of torture, made them
reveal the plunder of prince and subject. A schedule of forty lakhs, or
£400,000, was given in by the Diwan and his dependents, and their
accounts being settled in this world, they were summarily dismissed to
the other, with every mark of ignominy which could add to the horrors of
death. Nagji, the Kiladar,[5.15.9] and misleader of the late regent
prince, with Mulji Dandal, one of the old allodial stock, had each a cup
of poison, and their bodies were thrown over the ‘Gate of Victory’
(Fateh Pol). Jivaraj, a brother of the Dandal, with Biharidas Khichi,
and the tailor, had their heads shaved, and their bodies were flung into
the cascade beneath. Even the sacred character of “expounder of the
Vedas,” and that of “revealer of the secrets of heaven,” yielded no
protection; and Byas Sheodas, with Srikishan, Jotishi, the astrologer,
were in the long list of proscriptions. Nagji, commandant of the
citadel, and Mulji, had retired on the death of the regent-prince; and
with the wealth they had accumulated, while administering to his
follies, had erected places of strength. On the restoration of Raja Man,
and the general amnesty which prevailed, they returned to their ancient
offices in the castle, rose into favour, and forgot they had been
traitors. Having obtained their persons, Man secured the ancient jewels
of the crown, bestowed on these favourites during the ephemeral sway of
his son. Their condemnation was then passed, and they were hurled over
the battlements of the rock which it was their duty to guard. With such
consummate skill was the plot contrived, that the creatures of the
minister, in the most remote districts, were imprisoned simultaneously
with himself. Of the many subordinate agents thus confined, many were
liberated on the disclosure of their wealth; and by these
sequestrations, Raja Man obtained abundant supplies. The enormous sum of
a crore, or near one million sterling, was stated; but if they yielded
one-half (and this was not unlikely), they gave the means, which he was
not slow to use, for the prosecution of what he termed a just
punishment, though it [157] better deserves the name of a savage
revenge. Had he been satisfied with inflicting the last penalty of the
law on the nefarious Akhai Chand, and some of the household officers
whose fidelity ought ever to be firm, and with the sequestration of the
estates of some two or three of the vassals whose power had become
dangerous, or their treason too manifest to be overlooked, he would have
commanded the services of the rest, and the admiration of all conversant
with these events. But this first success added fuel to his revenge, and
he sought out more noble victims to glut it. His circumspection and
dissimulation were strengthened, not relaxed, by his success. Several of
the chiefs, who were marked out for death, had received, only a few days
before, the highest proof of favour in additional lands to their
rent-roll, and accident alone prevented a group of the most conspicuous
from falling into the snare which had inveigled Akhai Chand. Salim Singh
of Pokaran, and his constant associate Surthan of Nimaj, with Anar Singh
of Ahor, and the minors of their clans, whose duty daily carried them to
the court, as the chief advisers of the prince, formed a part of the
administration of the Diwan, and they naturally took alarm upon his
confinement. To obviate this, a deputation was sent by the prince to
tranquillize them by the assurance that, in the confinement of the
minister, whose rapacity and misconduct deserved punishment, the Raja
had attained all his ends. Thus, in order to encompass the destruction
of the Pokaran chief, he would not have scrupled to involve all the
rest. The prince, with his own mouth, desired the confidential servant
of Anar Singh, who was his personal friend, to attend with the others.
Their distrust saved him. The same night, the mercenary bands, to the
number of eight thousand men, with guns, attacked Surthan Singh in his
dwelling. With one hundred and eighty of his clan, he defended himself
against great guns and small arms, as long as the house was tenable, and
then sallied out sword in hand, and, with his brother and eighty of his
kin, fell nobly in the midst of his foes. The remainder retreated with
their arms to defend Nimaj and their infant chief. This gallant defence,
in which many of the townspeople were slain, prevented a repetition of
the attempt against the Pokaran chief, who remained on the defensive;
until, seeing an opportunity, he fled to his asylum in the desert, or he
would that day have renounced “the sheath of the dagger which held the
fortunes of Marwar,” and which now contained the accumulated revenge of
four generations: of Deo Singh, of Sabhala, of Sawai, and his own. His
death would have terminated this branch of Ajit’s issue, adopted into
the house of [158] Pokaran, in the history of which we have a tolerable
picture of the precariousness of existence in Marwar.[5.15.10]

What better commentary can be made on Raja Man’s character, than the few
recorded words addressed to Fateh Raj, whom he sent for to the Presence,
on the day succeeding these events? “Now you may perceive the reasons
why I did not sooner give you office.” This individual, the brother of
the late Induraj, was forthwith installed in the post of Diwan; and with
the sinews of war provided by the late sequestrations, the troops were
satisfied, while by the impression so sedulously propagated and
believed, that he had only to call on the British power for what aid he
required, the whole feudal body was appalled: and the men, who would
have hurled the tyrant from his throne, now only sought to avoid his
insidious snares, more dangerous than open force.

Nimaj was besieged and nobly defended; but at length the son of Surthan
capitulated, on receiving the sign-manual of his prince promising pardon
and restoration, guaranteed by the commander of the mercenary bands. To
the eternal disgrace of the Raja, he broke this pledge, and the boy had
scarcely appeared in the besieging camp, when the civil officer produced
the Raja’s mandate for his captivity and transmission to the Presence.
If it is painful to record this fact, it is pleasing to add, that even
the mercenary commander spurned the infamous injunction. “No,” said he;
“on the faith of my pledge (_bachan_) he surrendered; and if the Raja
breaks his word, I will maintain mine, and at least place him in
security.” He kept his promise, and conveyed him to the Aravalli
mountains, whence he passed over to, and received protection in Mewar.

=Estrangement of the Chiefs.=—This and similar acts of treachery and
cold-blooded tyranny completely estranged all the chiefs. Isolated as
they were, they could make no resistance against the mercenary
battalions, amounting to ten thousand men, exclusive of the quotas; and
they dared not league for defence, from the dreaded threat held over
them, of calling in the British troops; and in a few months the whole
feudal association of [159] Marwar abandoned their homes and their
country, seeking shelter in the neighbouring States from the Raja’s
cruel and capricious tyranny. To his connexion with the British
Government alone he was indebted for his being able thus to put forth
the resources of his policy, which otherwise he never could have
developed either with safety or effect; nor at any former period of the
history of Marwar could the most daring of its princes have undertaken,
with any prospect of success, what Raja Man accomplished under this
alliance.

These brave men found asyla in the neighbouring States of Kotah, Mewar,
Bikaner, and Jaipur. Even the faithful Anar Singh, whose fidelity no
gratitude could ever repay, was obliged to seek refuge in exile. He had
stood Man’s chief shield against the proscription of Raja Bhim, when
cooped up in Jalor, and sold his wife’s ornaments, “even to her
nose-ring,” to procure him the means of subsistence and defence. It was
Anar Singh who saved him when, in the attempt upon Pali, he was unhorsed
and nearly made prisoner. He was among the four chiefs who remained by
his fortunes when the rest deserted to the standard of the pretender;
and he was one of the same body, who rescued the trophies of their
disgrace from the hands of their enemies when on the road to Jaipur.
Last of all, he was mainly instrumental in the Raja’s emancipation and
in his resumption of the reins of government. Well might the fury of his
revenge deserve the term of madness! In A.D. 1821, the greater
chieftains of Marwar, thus driven into exile, were endeavouring to
obtain the mediation of the British authorities; but another year had
elapsed without the slightest advance to accommodation. Their conduct
has been exemplary, but their degrading position, dependent on the
scanty resources of others, must of itself work a cure. Their manly
remonstrance addressed to the British functionary is already before the
reader.[5.15.11] He did not hesitate to tell them, that if in due time
no mediation was held out, they must depend on themselves for redress!

Such was the political condition of Marwar until the year 1823. Had a
demoniacal spirit of revenge not blinded Raja Man, he had a fine
opportunity to lay the principles of order on a permanent basis, and to
introduce those reforms necessary for his individual welfare as well as
for that of the State. He had it in his power to modify the
institutions, to curb without destroying the feudal chiefs, and [160] to
make the whole subservient to the altered condition of affairs. Instead
of having the glory of fixing the constitution of his country, he has
(reposing on external protection) broken up the entire feudal
association, and rendered the paramount power an object of hatred
instead of reverence.

=Retrospect of Mārwār History.=—Having thus rapidly sketched the history
of this interesting branch of the Rajput race, from the destruction of
their ancient seat of empire, Kanauj, and their settlement in the Indian
desert more than six centuries ago, to the present day, it is impossible
to quit the subject without a reflection on the anomalous condition of
their alliance with the British Government, which can sanction the
existence of such a state of things as we have just described. It
illustrates the assertions made in an early part of this work,[5.15.12]
of the ill-defined principles which guide all our treaties with the
Rajputs, and which, if not early remedied, will rapidly progress to a
state of things full of misery to them, and of inevitable danger to
ourselves. These “men of the soil,” as they emphatically designate
themselves, cling to it, and their ancient and well-defined privileges,
with an unconquerable pertinacity; in their endeavours to preserve them,
whole generations have been swept away, yet has their strength increased
in the very ratio of oppression. Where are now the oppressors? the
dynasties of Ghazni, of Ghor, the Khiljis, the Lodis, the Pathans, the
Timurs, and the demoralizing Mahratta? The native Rajput has flourished
amidst these revolutions, and survived their fall; and but for the vices
of their internal sway, chiefly contracted from such association, would
have risen to power upon the ruin of their tyrants. But internal
dissension invited the spoiler; and herds of avaricious Mahrattas and
ferocious Pathans have reaped the harvest of their folly. Yet all these
faults were to be redeemed in their alliances with a people whose
peculiar boast was, that wisdom, justice, and clemency were the
corner-stones of their power: seeking nothing from them beyond the means
for their defence, and an adherence to the virtues of order. How far the
protecting power has redeemed its pledge, in allowing years to pass away
without some attempt to remedy the anarchy we have described, the reader
is in a condition to judge. If it be said that we have tied up our hands
by leaving them free agents in their internal administration, then let
no offer of support be given to the head, for the oppression of the
vassal and his rights, co-equal with those of the sovereign [161]; and
if our mediation cannot be exerted, let us withdraw altogether the
checks upon the operation of their own system of government, and leave
them free agents in reality. A wiser, more humane, and liberal policy
would be, to impose upon ourselves the task of understanding their
political condition, and to use our just influence for the restoration
of their internal prosperity, and with it the peace, present as well as
prospective, of an important part of our empire. The policy which such
views would suggest, is to support the opinion of the vast majority of
the Rathors, and to seize the first opportunity to lend at least our
sanction to an adoption, from the Idar branch, of Rathor blood, not only
uncontaminated, but heirs-presumptive to Jodha, and exclude the
parricidal line which will continue to bring misery on the country. If,
however, we apply only our own monarchical, nay, despotic principles to
this feudal society, and interfere but to uphold a blind tyranny, which
must drive these brave chiefs to despair, it will be well to reflect and
consider, from the acts we have related, of what they are capable. Very
different, indeed, would be the deeds of proscribed Rajputs from those
of vagabond Pindaris, or desultory Mahrattas; and what a field for
aggression and retreat! Rumour asserts that they have already done
themselves justice; and that, driven to desperation, and with no power
to mediate, the dagger has reached the heart of Raja Man! If this be
true, it is a retribution which might have been expected; it was the
only alternative left to the oppressed chiefs to do themselves justice.
It is also said, that the ‘pretended’ son of Raja Bhim is now on the
_gaddi_ of Jodha. This is deeply to be lamented. Raja Dhonkal will see
only the party who espoused his pretensions, and the Pokaran chief and
faction will hold that place in the councils of his sovereign, which of
right belongs to the head of his clan, the Champawat chief of Awa, an
exile in Mewar.[5.15.13] Jealousy, feuds, and bloodshed will be the
consequence, which would at once be averted by an adoption from Idar.
Were a grand council of Rajputs to be convened, in order to adjust the
question, nine-tenths would decide as proposed; the danger of
interference would be neutralized, and peace and tranquillity would be
the boon bestowed upon thousands, and, what is of some consequence,
future danger to ourselves would be avoided [162].

-----

Footnote 5.15.1:

[Mūndwa.]

Footnote 5.15.2:

[Nineteen miles S.W. of Bikaner city.]

Footnote 5.15.3:

For the character of this priest, see p. 825.

Footnote 5.15.4:

See treaty, Appendix No. II. [See end of Vol. III.]

Footnote 5.15.5:

Mr. Wilder, superintendent of the district of Ajmer.

Footnote 5.15.6:

In February 1819, the Author had the political duties of Marwar added
to those of the States of Udaipur, Kotah, Bundi, and Sirohi.

Footnote 5.15.7:

One of these was an unpleasant altercation, which took place between
the townspeople of the Commercial Mart of Pali and an English
gentleman, sent unofficially to feel his way as to the extension of
commercial enterprise, carrying specimens of the staple commodities of
our trade. This interference with the very fountain-head of their
trade alarmed the monopolists of Pali, who, dreading such competition,
created or took advantage of an incident to rid themselves of the
intruder. The commercial men of these regions almost all profess the
Jain religion, whose first rule of faith is the preservation of life,
in beast as in man. By them, therefore, the piece-goods, the
broad-cloths and metals of the Christian trader, were only less
abhorred than his flesh-pots, and the blood of the goats sworn to have
been shed by his servants within the bounds of Pali, rose in judgment
against their master, of whom a formal complaint was laid before Raja
Man. It lost none of its acrimony in coming through the channel of his
internuncio at Udaipur, the Brahman, Bishan Ram. Mr. Rutherford
rebutted the charge, and an investigation took place at the capital on
oath, upon which, as the merchants and the governor of Pali (a nephew
of the minister) could not substantiate their charge, the latter was
severely reprimanded for his incivility. But whether the story was
true or false, it was quite enough for their purpose. The interdict
between Mr. Rutherford and the inhabitants of Pali was more effectual
than the sanitary cordon of any prince in Christendom. The feeling of
resentment against him reached the Agent of government, who was
obliged to support what appeared the cause of truth, even according to
the deposition made before their own judgment-seat, and he was
consequently deemed inimical to the prince and the faction which then
guided his councils. Mr. Rutherford proceeded afterwards to Kotah, to
exhibit the same wares; but he was there equally an object of
jealousy, though from letters of recommendation from the Agent, it was
less strongly manifested. It furnished evidence that such interference
would never succeed. It is well his mission did not appear to be
sanctioned by the government. What evil might not be effected by
permitting unrestricted and incautious intercourse with such people,
who can, and do obtain all they require of our produce without the
presence of the producers, who, whether within or without the pale of
the Company’s service, will not, I trust, be prematurely forced on
Rajputana, or it will assuredly hasten the day of inevitable
separation!

Footnote 5.15.8:

[Fifty-five miles S.W. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 5.15.9:

[Commander of the fort.]

Footnote 5.15.10:

In a letter addressed to the Government on these events, dated July 7,
1820, I observed, “The danger is, that success may tempt him to go
beyond the line of necessity, either for the ends of justice or
security. If he stops with the Pokaran chief, and one or two inferior,
concerned in the coalition of 1806 and the usurpation of his son, with
the condign punishment of a few of the civil officers, it will afford
a high opinion of his character; but if he involves Awa, and the other
principal chiefs, in these proscriptions, he may provoke a strife
which will yet overwhelm him. He has done enough for justice, and even
for revenge, which has been carried too far as regards Surthan Singh,
whose death (which I sincerely regret) was a prodigal sacrifice.”

Footnote 5.15.11:

Vol. I. p. 228.

Footnote 5.15.12:

Vol. I. p. 146.

Footnote 5.15.13:

He was so when the author left India in 1823. [In 1827 Dhonkal Singh
raised forces in Jaipur for the invasion of Mārwār. Mān Singh demanded
aid from the British Government, which was refused. “At the same time,
the Jaipur State was considered to have acted in breach of its
engagements with Government by having allowed an armed confederacy to
form against Jodhpur within its territory, and strong remonstrances
were addressed to the Darbār; lastly, Dhonkal Singh was required to
withdraw from the confederacy, and the nobles settled their
differences among themselves” (Erskine iii. A. 72). In 1839 the
misgovernment of Mān Singh led to British military intervention. He
died on 5th September 1843.]

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CHAPTER 16

=Extent of Mārwār.=—The extreme breadth of Marwar lies between two
points in the parallel of the capital, namely, Girab, west, and
Shamgarh, on the Aravalli range, east. This line measures two hundred
and seventy British miles. The greatest length, from the Sirohi frontier
to the northern boundary, is about two hundred and twenty miles.[5.16.1]
From the remote angle, N.N.E., in the Didwana district, to the extremity
of Sanchor, S.W., the diagonal measurement is three hundred and fifty
miles. The limits of Marwar are, however, so very irregular, and present
so many salient angles and abutments into other States, that without a
trigonometrical process we cannot arrive at a correct estimate of its
superficial extent: a nicety not, indeed, required.

=Physical Features, Population.=—The most marked feature that
diversifies the face of Maru is the river Luni, which, rising on her
eastern frontier at Pushkar, and pursuing a westerly course, nearly
bisects the country, and forms the boundary between the fertile and
sterile lands of Maru. But although the tracts south of this stream,
between it and the Aravalli, are by far the richest part of Marwar, it
would be erroneous to describe all the northern part as sterile. An
ideal line, passing through Nagor and Jodhpur, to Balotra, will mark the
just distinction. South of this line will lie the districts of Didwana,
Nagor, Merta, Jodhpur, Pali, Sojat, Godwar, Siwana, Jalor, Bhinmal, and
Sanchor, most of which are fertile and populous; and we may [163] assign
a population of eighty souls to the square mile. The space north of this
line is of a very different character, but this requires a subdivision;
for while the north-east portion, which includes a portion of Nagor, the
large towns of Phalodi, Pokaran, etc., may be calculated at thirty, the
remaining space to the south-west, as Gugadeo-ka-thal, or ‘desert of
Guga,’ Sheo, Barmer, Kotra, and Chhotan, can scarcely be allowed ten. In
round numbers, the population of Marwar may be estimated at two millions
of souls.[5.16.2]

=Classes of Inhabitants.=—Of this amount, the following is the
classification of the tribes. The Jats constitute five-eighths, the
Rajputs two-eighths,[5.16.3] while the remaining classes,
sacerdotal,[5.16.4] commercial, and servile, make up the integral
number. If this calculation be near the truth, the Rajputs, men, women,
and children, will amount to five hundred thousand souls, which would
admit of fifty thousand men capable of bearing arms, especially when we
recollect that the Jats or Jāts are the industrious class.

=The Rāthors.=—It is superfluous to expatiate on the peculiarities of
the Rathor character, which we have endeavoured to extract from their
own actions. It stands deservedly high in the scale of the “Thirty-six
Tribes,” and although debased by one besetting sin (the use of opium),
the Rathor is yet a noble animal, and requires only some exciting cause
to show that the spirit, which set at defiance the resources of the
empire in the zenith of its prosperity, is dormant only, not extinct.
The reign of the present prince has done more, however, than even the
arms of Aurangzeb, to deteriorate the Rathors. Peace would recruit their
thinned ranks, but the mistrust sown in every house by unheard-of
duplicity, has greatly demoralized the national character, which until
lately stood higher than that of any of the circumjacent tribes. A
popular prince, until within these very few years, could easily have
collected a magnificent army, _ek bap ke bete_, ‘the sons of one
father,’ round the ‘_gaddi_ of Jodha’: in fact, the _panchas hazar
tarwar Rathoran_, meaning the ‘fifty thousand Rathor swords,’ is the
proverbial phrase to denote the muster of Maru, of which they estimated
five thousand cavalry. This was exclusive of the household and foreign
troops supported on the fiscal lands. The Rathor cavalry was the best in
India. There were several horse-fairs, especially those of Balotra and
Pushkar where the horses of [164] Cutch and Kathiawar, the Jungle, and
Multan, were brought in great numbers. Valuable horses were also bred on
the western frontier, on the Luni, those of Rardara being in high
estimation. But the events of the last twenty years appear to have dried
up every source of supply. The breeding studs of Rardara, Cutch, and the
Jungle are almost extinct, and supplies from the west of the Indus are
intercepted by the Sikhs.[5.16.5] The destruction of the predatory
system, which created a constant demand, appears to have lessened the
supply. So much for the general peace which the successes of Britain
have produced.

In periods of civil commotion, or when the safety of the State was
perilled, we hear of one clan (the Champawat) mustering four thousand
horse. But if ever so many of “the sons of Champa” were congregated at
one time, it is an extraordinary occurrence, and far beyond the demand
which the State has upon their loyalty. To estimate what may be demanded
of them, we have only to divide the rent-roll by five hundred rupees,
the qualification for a cavalier in Maru, and to add, for each horse,
two foot-soldiers. A schedule of the greater feudal estates shall be
appended.

=Soil, Agriculture, Products.=—The following is the classification of
the different heads of soil in Marwar: Bekal, Chikni, Pīla, and Safed.
The first (whose etymology I know not) pervades the greater part of the
country, being a light sand, having little or no earthy admixture, and
only fit to produce _bajra_ (millet), _mung_, _moth_ (pulse), _til_
(sesamum), melons and _gawar_.[5.16.6] Chikni (fat), a black earth,
pervades the district of Didwana, Merta, Pali, and several of the feudal
lands in Godwar. Wheat and grain are its products. The Pīla (yellow) is
a sandy clay, chiefly about Khinwasar[5.16.7] and the capital, also
Jalor and Balotra, and portions of other districts. It is best adapted
for barley, and that kind of wheat called _pattagehun_ (the other is
_kathagehun_);[5.16.8] also tobacco, onions, and other vegetables: the
staple millets are seldom grown in this. The Safed (white) is almost
pure silex, and grows little or nothing, but after heavy falls of
rain.[5.16.9]

The districts south of the Luni, as Pali, Sojat, and Godwar, fertilized
by the numerous petty streams flowing from the Aravalli, produce
abundantly every species of grain with the exception of _bajra_, which
thrives best in a sandy soil; and in Nagor and Merta considerable
quantities of the richer grains are raised by irrigation from wells. The
extensive western divisions of Jalor, Sanchor, and Bhinmal, containing
[165] five hundred and ten towns and villages, which are Khalisa, or
‘fiscal land,’ possess an excellent soil, with the advantage of the
rills from Abu, and the great southern barrier; but the demoralized
government of Raja Man never obtains from them one-third of their
intrinsic capability, while the encroachment of the Sahariyas, and other
robbers from the Sindi desert, encroach upon them often with impunity.
Wheat, barley, rice, _juar_ (millet), _mung_ (pulse), _til_ (sesamum),
are the chief products of the richer lands; while amidst the sandy
tracts they are confined to _bajra_, _mung_, and _til_. With good
government, Marwar possesses abundance of means to collect stores
against the visitations which afflict these northern regions: but
prejudice steps in to aid the ravages of famine, and although water is
near the surface in all the southern districts, the number of wells
bears no proportion to those in Mewar. The great district of Nagor, of
five hundred and sixty towns and villages, the appanage of the
heirs-apparent of Maru, in spite of physical difficulties, is, or has
been made, an exception; and the immense sheet of sandstone, on which a
humid soil is embedded, has been pierced throughout by the energies of
ancient days, and contains greater aids to agriculture than many more
fertile tracts in the country.

=Natural Productions.=—Marwar can boast of some valuable productions of
her sterile plains, which make her an object of no little importance in
the most distant and more favoured regions of India. The salt lakes of
Pachbhadra, Didwana, and Sambhar, are mines of wealth, and their produce
is exported over the greater part of Hindustan; while to the marble
quarries of Makrana (which gives its name to the mineral), on her
eastern frontier, all the splendid edifices of the imperial cities owe
their grandeur. The materials used in the palaces of Delhi, Agra, their
mosques, and tombs, have been conveyed from Marwar.[5.16.10] The
quarries, until of late years, yielded a considerable revenue; but the
age for palace-building in these regions is no more, and posterity will
ask with surprise the sources of such luxury. There are also limestone
quarries near Jodhpur and Nagor; and the concrete called _kankar_ is
abundant in many of the districts, and chiefly used for mortar. Tin and
lead are found at Sojat; alum about Pali, and iron is obtained from
Bhinmal and the districts adjoining Gujarat.

=Manufactures.=—The manufactures of Marwar are of no great importance in
a commercial point of view. Abundance of coarse cotton cloths, and
blankets, are [166] manufactured from the cotton and wool produced in
the country, but they are chiefly used there. Matchlocks, swords, and
other warlike implements are fabricated at the capital and at Pali; and
at the latter place they make boxes of iron, tinned, so as to resemble
the tin boxes of Europe. Iron platters for culinary purposes are in such
great demand as to keep the forges constantly going.

=Commercial Marts.=—None of these States are without traffic; each has
her mart, or entrepôt; and while Mewar boasts of Bhilwara, Bikaner of
Churu, and Amber of Malpura (the city of wealth), the Rathors claim
Pali, which is not only the rival of the places just mentioned, but may
make pretensions to the title of emporium of Rajputana. These
pretensions we may the more readily admit, when we recollect that
nine-tenths of the bankers and commercial men of India are natives of
Marudes, and these chiefly of the Jain faith. The laity of the Khadatara
sect send forth thousands to all parts of India, and the Oswals, so
termed from the town of Osian, near the Luni, estimate one hundred
thousand families whose occupation is commerce. All these claim a Rajput
descent, a fact entirely unknown to the European enquirer into the
peculiarities of Hindu manners. The wealth acquired in foreign lands,
from the Sutlej to the ocean, returns chiefly to their native soil; but
as neither primogeniture nor _majorats_ are sanctioned by the Jain
lawgivers, an equal distribution takes place amongst all the sons,
though the youngest (as amongst the Getae of Asia, and the Jutes of
Kent), receives often a double portion. This arises when the division
takes place while the parent is living, being the portion set apart for
his own support, which ultimately falls to the youngest, with whom he
probably resides. It would be erroneous to say this practice is
extensive; though sufficient instances exist to suppose it once was a
principle.[5.16.11] The bare enumeration of the tribes following
commerce would fill a short chapter. A priest of the Jains [167] (my own
teacher), who had for a series of years devoted his attention to form a
catalogue, which then amounted to nearly eighteen hundred classes,
renounced the pursuit, on obtaining from a brother priest, from a
distant region, one hundred and fifty new names to add to his list.

Pali was the entrepôt for the eastern and western regions, where the
productions of India, Kashmir, and China, were interchanged for those of
Europe, Africa, Persia, and Arabia. Caravans (_kitars_), from the ports
of Cutch and Gujarat, imported elephants’ teeth, copper, dates,
gum-arabic, borax, coco-nuts, broadcloths, silks, sandal-wood, camphor,
dyes, drugs, oxide and sulphuret of arsenic, spices, coffee, etc. In
exchange, they exported chintzes, dried fruits, _jira_,[5.16.12]
asafoetida from Multan, sugar, opium (Kotah and Malwa), silks and fine
cloths, potash, shawls, dyed blankets, arms, and salt of home
manufacture.

=Caravans.=—The route of the caravans was by Suigam,[5.16.13] Sanchor,
Bhinmal, Jalor to Pali, and the guardians of the merchandise were almost
invariably Charans, a character held sacred by the Rajput. The most
desperate outlaw seldom dared to commit any outrage on caravans under
the safeguard of these men, the bards of the Rajputs. If not strong
enough to defend their convoy with sword and shield, they would threaten
the robbers with the _chandni_, or ‘self-immolation’;[5.16.14] and
proceed by degrees from a gash in the flesh to a death-wound, or if one
victim was insufficient a whole body of women and children was
sacrificed (as in the case of the Bamaniya Bhats), for whose blood the
marauder is declared responsible hereafter.

=Decay of Commerce. The Opium Trade.=—Commerce has been almost
extinguished within these last twenty years; and paradoxical as it may
appear, there was tenfold more activity and enterprise in the midst of
that predatory warfare, which rendered India one wide arena of conflict,
than in these days of universal pacification. The torpedo touch of
monopoly has had more effect on the Kitars than the spear of the desert
Sahariya, or Barwatia (outlaw) Rajput—against its benumbing qualities
the Charan’s dagger would fall innocuous; it sheds no blood, but it
dries up its channels. If the products of the salt-lakes of Rajputana
were preferred, even at Benares, to the sea-salt of Bengal, high impost
duties excluded it from the market. If the opium of Malwa and Haraoti
competed in the China market with our Patna monopoly, again we
intervened, not with high export duties, which we were competent to
impose, but by laying our shackles upon it at the fountain-head. “_Aut
Caesar, aut nullus_,” is our maxim [168] in these regions; and in a
country where our Agents are established only to preserve political
relations and the faith of treaties, the basis of which is
non-interference in the internal arrangement of their affairs—albeit we
have not a single foot of land in sovereignty—we set forth our
_parwanas_, as peremptory as any Russian ukase, and command that no
opium shall leave these countries for the accustomed outlets, under pain
of confiscation. Some, relying on their skill in eluding our vigilance,
or tempted by the high price which these measures produce, or perhaps
reckoning upon our justice, and upon impunity if discovered, tried new
routes, until confiscation brought them to submission.

We then put an arbitrary value upon the drug, and forced the grower to
come to us, and even take credit to ourselves for consulting his
interests. Even admitting that such price was a remunerating one,
founded upon an average of past years, still it is not the less
arbitrary. No allowance is made for plentiful or bad seasons, when the
drug, owing to a scarcity, will bear a double price. Our legislation is
for “all seasons and their change.” But this virtual infraction of the
faith of treaties is not confined to the grower or retailer; it affects
others in a variety of ways; it injures our reputation and the welfare
of those upon whom, for benevolent purposes, we have forced our
protection. The transit duties levied on opium formed an item in the
revenues of the princes of Rajputana; but confiscation guards the passes
of the Aravalli and Gujarat, and unless the smuggler wrap up his cargo
in ample folds of deceit, the Rajput may go without his _amal-pani_, the
infusion of this poison, dearer to him than life. It is in vain to urge
that sufficient is allowed for home consumption. Who is to be the judge
of this? or who is so blind as not to see that any latitude of this kind
would defeat the monopoly, which, impolitic in its origin, gave rise in
its progress to fraud, gambling, and neglect of more important
agricultural economy. But this policy must defeat itself: the excess of
quantity produced will diminish the value of the original (Patna)
monopoly, if its now deteriorated quality should fail to open the eyes
of the quick-sighted Chinese, and exclude it from the market
altogether.[5.16.15]

=Fairs.=—There were two annual fairs in his country, Mundwa and Balotra;
the first chiefly for cattle. The merchandise of various countries was
exposed [169] and purchased by the merchants of the adjoining States. It
commenced with the month of Magh, and lasted during six weeks. The other
was also for cattle of all kinds, horses, oxen, camels, and the
merchandise enumerated amongst the imports and exports of Pali. Persons
from all parts of India frequented them; but all these signs of
prosperity are vanishing.[5.16.16]

=Administration of Justice.=—The administration of justice is now very
lax in these communities; but at no time were the customary criminal
laws of Rajputana sanguinary, except in respect to political crimes,
which were very summarily dealt with when practicable. In these feudal
associations, however, such crimes are esteemed individual offences, and
the whole power of the government is concentrated to punish them; but
when they are committed against the community, justice is tempered with
mercy, if not benumbed by apathy. In cases even of murder, it is
satisfied with fine, corporal punishment, imprisonment, confiscation, or
banishment. Inferior crimes, such as larcenies, were punished by fine
and imprisonment, and, when practicable, restitution; or, in case of
inability to pay, corporal punishment and confinement. But under the
present lax system, when this impoverished government has to feed
criminals, it may be supposed that their prisons are not overstocked.
Since Raja Bijai Singh’s death, the judgment-seat has been vacant. His
memory is held in high esteem for the administration of justice, though
he carried clemency to excess. He never confirmed a sentence of death;
and there is a saying of the criminals, yet extant, more demonstrative
of his humanity than of good policy: “When at large we cannot even get
_rabri_ (porridge), but in prison we eat _laddu_ (sweetmeat).” Here, as
at Jaipur, confined criminals are maintained by individual charity; and
it is a well-known fact, that at the latter place, but for the humanity
of the mercantile classes, especially those of the Jain persuasion, they
might starve. Perhaps it is the knowledge of this circumstance, which
holds back the hand of the government, or its agents, who may apply to
their own uses the prison-fare. When once confined, the criminals are
little thought of, and neglect answers all the ends of cruelty. They
have, however, a source of consolation unknown to those who have passed
“the bridge of sighs,” or become inmates of the oubliettes of more
civilized regions. That fortitude and resignation which religion alone
can bestow on the one is obtained through superstition by the other; and
the prayers of the prison are poured forth for one of those visitations
of Providence [170], which, in humbling the proud, prompts acts of mercy
to others in order to ensure it to themselves.[5.16.17] The celestial
phenomena of eclipses, whether of the sun or moon, although predicted by
the Pandits, who for ages have possessed the most approved theory for
calculation, are yet looked upon with religious awe by the mass, and as
“foreboding change to princes.” Accordingly, when darkness dims the
beams of Surya or Chandra, the face of the prisoner of Maru is lighted
up with smiles; his deliverance is at hand, and he may join the crowd to
hoot and yell, and frighten the monster Rahu[5.16.18] from his hold of
the “silver-moon.”[5.16.19] The birth of a son to the prince, and a new
reign, are events likewise joyful to him.

=Trial by Ordeal.=—The trial by _sagun_, literally ‘oath of purgation,’
or ordeal, still exists, and is occasionally had recourse to in Maru, as
in other parts of Rajputana; and, if fallen into desuetude, it is not
that these judgments of God (as they were styled in the days of European
barbarism) are less relied on, but that society is so unhinged that even
these appeals to chance find no subjects for practice, excepting by
Zalim Singh; and he to the last carried on his antipathy to the Dakins
(witches) of Haraoti, who were always submitted to the process by
‘water.’ Trial by ordeal is of very ancient date in India: it was by
‘fire’ that Rama proved the purity of Sita, after her abduction by
Ravana, and in the same manner as practised by one of our Saxon kings,
by making her walk over a red-hot ploughshare.[5.16.20] Besides the two
most common tests, by fire and water, there is a third, that of washing
the hands in boiling oil. It should be stated, that, in all cases, not
only the selection but the appeal to any of these ordeals is the
voluntary act of the litigants, and chiefly after the Panchayats, or
courts of arbitration, have failed. Where justice is denied, or bribery
shuts the door, the sufferer will dare his adversary to the _sagun_, or
submission to the judgment of God; and the solemnity of the appeal
carries such weight, that it brings redress of itself, though cases do
occur where the challenge is accepted, and the author has conversed with
individuals who have witnessed the operation of each of the
ordeals.[5.16.21]

=Panchayats.=—The Panchayats arbitrate in civil cases. From these courts
of equity, there is an appeal to the Raja; but as unanimity is required
in the judges, and a fee or fine must be paid by the appellant, ere his
case can come before the prince [171], litigation is checked. The
constitution of this court is simple. The plaintiff lays his case before
the Hakim of the district, or the Patel of the village where he resides.
The plaintiff and defendant have the right of naming the villages (two,
each), from whence the members of the Panchayat are to be drawn.
Information is accordingly sent to the Patels of the villages specified,
who, with their respective Patwaris (Registers), meet at the Atai or
‘village-court.’ Witnesses are summoned and examined on oath, the most
common of which is the _gaddi-ki-an_, ‘allegiance to the throne,’
resembling the ancient adjuration of the Scythians as recorded by
Herodotus.[5.16.22] This oath is, however, more restricted to Rajputs;
the other classes have various forms based upon their religious notions.
When the proceedings are finished, and judgment is given, the Hakim puts
his seal thereto, and carries it into effect, or prepares it for appeal.
It is affirmed that, in the good times of Rajputana, these simple
tribunals answered every purpose.

=Fiscal Revenues.=—The fiscal revenues of Marwar are derived from
various sources; the principal are—

1. The Khalisa, or ‘crown-lands.’
2. The salt lakes.
3. Transit and impost duties.
4. Miscellaneous taxes, termed Hasil.

The entire amount of personal revenue of the princes of Marwar does not
at present exceed ten lakhs of rupees (£100,000 sterling), though in the
reign of Bijai Singh half a century ago, they yielded full sixteen
lakhs, one-half of which arose from the salt lakes alone. The aggregate
revenue of the feudal lands is estimated as high as fifty lakhs, or
£500,000. It may be doubted whether at present they yield half this
sum.[5.16.23] The feudal contingents are estimated at five thousand
horse, besides foot, the qualification being one cavalier and two
foot-soldiers for every thousand rupees of income.[5.16.24] This low
estimate is to keep up the nominal value of estates, notwithstanding
their great deterioration; for a ‘knight’s fee’ of Marwar was formerly
estimated at five hundred rupees.

The sum of ten lakhs, mentioned as the gross income of the prince, is
what is actually realized by the treasury, for there are many public
servants provided for out of the crown-lands, whose estates are not
included.

=Methods of Revenue Collection.=—The revenues are collected from the
ryots in kind. A corn-rent, the only one recognized in ancient India,
and termed Batai, or ‘division,’ is apportioned equally [172] between
the prince and the husbandman: a deviation from the more lenient
practice of former times, which gave one-fourth, or one-sixth to the
sovereign. Besides this, the cultivator has to pay the expense of
guarding the crops, and also those who attend the process of division.
An assessment of two rupees is made on every ten maunds,[5.16.25] which
more than covers the salaries paid to the Shahnas (watchmen), and
Kanwaris,[5.16.26] and leaves a surplus divided by the Patel and village
register (Patwari). A cart-load of _karbi_ (the stalks of _juar_ and
_bajra_) is exacted from every cultivator as fodder for the prince’s
cattle; but this is commuted for a rupee, except in seasons of scarcity,
when it is stored up. The other officers, as the Patwaris and Patels,
are paid out of the respective shares of the farmer and the crown,
namely, one-fourth of a ser each, from every maund of produce, or an
eightieth part of the gross amount. The cultivators of the Pattawats or
feudal chiefs are much better off than those of the Khalisa: from them
only two-fifths are exacted; and in lieu of all other taxes and charges,
a land-tax of twelve rupees is levied on every hundred bighas of land
cultivated. The cultivators repay this mild assessment by attachment to
the chiefs.

=Poll Tax.=—Anga is a poll-tax (from _anga_, ‘the body’) of one rupee,
levied on adults of either sex throughout Marwar.

=Cattle Tax.=—Ghasmali is a graduated tax on cattle, or, as the term
imports, the right of pasture. A sheep or goat is estimated at one anna
(one-sixteenth of a rupee); a buffalo eight annas, or half a rupee; and
each camel, three rupees.

=Door Tax.=—Kewari is a tax on doors (_kewar_), and is considered
peculiarly oppressive. It was first imposed by Bijai Singh, when,
towards the latter end of his reign, his chiefs rebelled, and retired in
a body to Pali to concert schemes for deposing him. Thither he
fruitlessly followed in order to pacify them, and on his return found
the gates (_kewar_) of his capital shut in his face, and Bhim Singh
placed upon the _gaddi_. To supply the pecuniary exigencies consequent
upon this embarrassing situation, he appealed to his subjects, and
proposed a ‘benevolence,’ in aid of his necessities, of three rupees for
each house, giving it a denomination from the cause whence it
originated. Whether employed as a punishment of those who aided his
antagonist, or as a convenient expedient of finance, he converted this
temporary contribution into a permanent tax, which continued until the
necessities of the confederacy against the [173] present prince, Raja
Man, and the usurpation of the fiscal lands by the Pathans, made him
raise it to ten rupees on each house. It is, however, not equally
levied; the number of houses in each township being calculated, it is
laid on according to the means of the occupants, and the poor man may
pay two rupees, while the wealthy pays twenty. The feudal lands are not
exempted, except in cases of special favour.

=Sāīr.=—In estimating the amount of the sair, or imposts of Marwar, it
must be borne in mind that the schedule appended represents what they
have been, and perhaps might again be, rather than what they now are.
These duties are subject to fluctuation in all countries, but how much
more in those exposed to so many visitations from predatory foes, civil
strife, and famine! There is no reason to doubt that, in the “good old
times” of Maru, the amount, as taken from old records, may have been
realized:—

Jodhpur Rs. 76,000
Nagor 75,000
Didwana 10,000
Parbatsar 44,000
Merta 11,000
Kolia 5,000
Jalor 25,000
Pali 75,000
Jasol and Balotra fairs 41,000
Bhinmal 21,000
Sanchor 6,000
Phalodi 41,000
—-——
TOTAL 430,000

The Danis, or collectors of the customs, have monthly salaries at the
large towns, while the numerous petty agents are paid by a percentage on
the sums collected. The sair, or imposts, include all those on grain,
whether of foreign importation, or the home-grown, in transit from one
district to another.

The revenue arising from the produce of the salt lakes has deteriorated
with the land and commercial revenues; and, though affected by political
causes, is yet the most certain branch of income. The following schedule
exhibits what has been derived from this lucrative source of wealth
[174]:—

Pachbhadra Rs.
200,000

Phalodi 100,000

Didwana 115,000

Sambhar 200,000

Nawa 100,000

—-—-—

TOTAL 715,000

=Banjāras: Salt Trade.=—This productive branch of industry still employs
thousands of hands, and hundreds of thousands of oxen, and is almost
entirely in the hands of that singular race of beings called Banjaras,
some of whose _tandas_, or caravans, amount to 40,000 head of oxen. The
salt is exported to every region of Hindustan, from the Indus to the
Ganges, and is universally known and sold under the title of Sambhar
Lun, or ‘salt of Sambhar,’ notwithstanding the quality of the different
lakes varies, that of Pachbhadra, beyond the Luni, being most
esteemed.[5.16.27] It is produced by natural evaporation, expedited by
dividing the surface into pans by means of mats of the Sarkanda
grass,[5.16.28] which lessens the superficial agitation. It is then
gathered and heaped up into immense masses, on whose summit they burn a
variety of alkaline plants, such as the _sajji_,[5.16.29] by which it
becomes impervious to the weather.

habits of secreting money. A very large treasure was discovered in Nagor
by Bijai Singh, when demolishing some old buildings.

=Military Forces.=—It only remains to state the military resources of
the Rathors, which fluctuate with their revenues. The Rajas maintain a
foreign mercenary force upon their fiscal revenues to overawe their own
turbulent vassalage. These are chiefly Rohilla and Afghan infantry,
armed with muskets and matchlocks; and having cannon and sufficient
discipline to act in a body, they are formidable to the Rajput
cavaliers. Some years ago, Raja Man had a corps of three thousand five
hundred foot, and fifteen hundred horse, with twenty-five guns,
commanded by Hindal Khan, a native of Panipat. He has been attached to
the family ever since the reign of Bijai Singh, and is (or was)
familiarly addressed _kaka_, or ‘uncle,’ by the prince. There was also a
brigade of those monastic militants, the Bishanswamis, under their
leader, Kaimdas, consisting of seven hundred foot, three hundred horse,
and an establishment of rockets (_bhan_), a very ancient instrument of
Indian warfare, and mentioned long before gunpowder was used in Europe.
At one period, the Raja maintained a foreign force amounting to, or at
least mustered as, eleven thousand men, of which number two thousand
five hundred were cavalry, with fifty-five guns, and a rocket
establishment. Besides a monthly pay, lands to a considerable amount
were granted to the commanders of the different legions. By these
overgrown establishments, to maintain a superiority over the feudal
lords which has been undermined by the causes related, the
demoralization and ruin of this country have been accelerated. The
existence of such a species of force, opposed in moral and religious
sentiment to the retainers of the State, has only tended to widen the
breach between them and their head, and to destroy every feeling of
confidence.

In Mewar there are sixteen great chiefs; in Amber, twelve; in Marwar,
eight. The following table exhibits their names, clans, residences, and
rated revenue. The contingent required by their princes may be estimated
by the qualification of a cavalier, namely, one for every five hundred
rupees of rent [176].

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Names of │Clans. │Places of │ Revenue.│Remarks.
Chiefs. │ │Abode. │ │
───────────────────┴──────────┴─────────────┴──────────┴────────────────────
FIRST CLASS.

1. Kesari Singh │Champawat │Awa │ 100,000│Premier noble of
2. Bakhtawar │Kumpawat │Asop │ 50,000│Marwar. Of this
Singh │ │ │ │sum, half is the
│ │ │ │original grant: the
│ │ │ │rest is by
│ │ │ │usurpation
│ │ │ │of the inferior
│ │ │ │branches of his
│ │ │ │clan.
3. Salim Singh │Champawat │Pokaran │ 100,000│The Pokaran
│ │ │ │chief is by far the
│ │ │ │most powerful in
│ │ │ │Marwar.
4. Surthan │Udawat │Nimaj │ 50,000│The fief of Nimaj
Singh │ │ │ │is now under
│ │ │ │sequestration,
│ │ │ │since the last
│ │ │ │incumbent was put to
│ │ │ │death by the Raja.
5. .. │Mertia │Rian │ 25,000│The Mertia is deemed
│ │ │ │the bravest of all
│ │ │ │the Rathor clans.
6. Ajit Singh │Mertia │Ghanerao │ 50,000│This feoff formed
│ │ │ │one
│ │ │ │of the sixteen great
│ │ │ │feoffs of Mewar.
7. .. │Karamsot │Khinwasar │ 40,000│The town, which is
│ │ │ │large, has been
│ │ │ │dismantled, and
│ │ │ │several
│ │ │ │villages
│ │ │ │sequestrated.
8. .. │Bhatti │Khejarla │ 25,000│The only foreign
│ │ │ │chief
│ │ │ │in the first grade
│ │ │ │of
│ │ │ │the nobles of
│ │ │ │Marwar.

SECOND CLASS.

1. Sheonath Singh │Udawat │Kuchaman │ 50,000│A chief of
│ │ │ │considerable power.
2. Surthan Singh │Jodha │Khari-ka-dewa│ 25,000│
3. Prithi Singh │Udawat │Chandawal │ 25,000│
4. Tej Singh │ Do. │Khada │ 25,000│
5. Anar Singh │Bhatti │Ahor │ 11,000│In exile.
6. Jeth Singh │Kumpawat │Bagori │ 40,000│
7. Padam Singh │ Do. │Gajsinghpura │ 25,000│
8. .. │Mertia │Mehtri │ 40,000│
9. Kartan Singh │Udawat │Marot │ 15,000│
10. Zalim Singh │Kumpawat │Rohat │ 15,000│
11. Sawai Singh │Jodha │Chaupar │ 15,000│
12. .. │ .. │Budsu │ 20,000│
13. Sheodan Singh │Champawat │Kaota (great)│ 40,000│
14. Zalim Singh │ Do. │Harsola │ 10,000│
15. Sawal Singh │ Do. │Degod │ 10,000│
16. Hukm Singh │ Do. │Kaota │ 11,000│
│ │(little) │ │
───────────────────┴──────────┴─────────────┴──────────┴────────────────────

These are the principal chieftains of Marwar, holding lands on the
tenure of service. There are many who owe allegiance and service on
emergencies, the allodial vassals of Marwar, not enumerated in this
list; such as Barmer, Kotra, Jasol, Phulsund, Birganw, Bankaria,
Kalindri, Barunda, who could muster a strong numerical force if their
goodwill were conciliated, and the prince could enforce his requisition.
The specified census of the estates may not be exactly correct. The
foregoing is from an old record, which is in all probability the best
they have; for so rapid are the changes in these countries, amidst the
anarchy and rebellion we have been describing, that the civil officers
would deem it time thrown away, to form, as in past times, an exact
_pattabahi_, or ‘register’ of feoffs. The ancient qualification was one
horseman and two foot soldiers, “when required,” for each five hundred
rupees in the rental; but as the estates have been curtailed in extent
and diminished in value, in order to keep up their nominal amount, one
thousand is now the qualification [178].[5.16.30]

BOOK VI
ANNALS OF BĪKANER

CHAPTER 1

Bikaner holds a secondary rank amongst the principalities of Rajputana.
It is an offset of Marwar, its princes being scions of the house of
Jodha, who established themselves by conquest on the northern frontier
of the parent State; and its position, in the heart of the desert, has
contributed to the maintenance of their independence.

=Rāo Bīka, A.D. 1465-1504.=—It was in S. 1515 (A.D. 1459), the year in
which Jodha transferred the seat of government from Mandor to Jodhpur,
that his son Bika,[6.1.1] under the guidance of his uncle Kandhal, led
three hundred of the sons of Siahji to enlarge the boundaries of Rathor
dominion amidst the sands of Maru. Bika was stimulated to the attempt by
the success of his brother Bida, who had recently subjugated the
territory inhabited by the Mohils for ages.

Such expeditions as that of Bika, undertaken expressly for conquest,
were almost [179] uniformly successful. The invaders set out with a
determination to slay or be slain; and these forays had the additional
stimulus of being on “fated days,” when the warlike creed of the Rajputs
made the abstraction of territory from foe or friend a matter of
religious duty.

Bika, with his band of three hundred, fell upon the Sankhlas[6.1.2] of
Janglu, whom they massacred. This exploit brought them in contact with
the Bhattis of Pugal,[6.1.3] the chief of which gave his daughter in
marriage to Bika, who fixed his headquarters at Kuramdesar, where he
erected a castle, and gradually augmented his conquests from the
neighbourhood.

=The Conquest of the Jats.=—Bika now approximated to the settlements of
the Jats or Getae, who had for ages been established in these arid
abodes; and as the lands they held form a considerable portion of the
State of Bikaner, it may not be uninteresting to give a sketch of the
condition of this singular people prior to the son of Jodha establishing
the feudal system of Rajwara amongst their pastoral commonwealths.

Of this celebrated and widely spread race we have already given a
succinct account.[6.1.4] It appears to have been the most numerous as
well as the most conspicuous of the tribes of ancient Asia, from the
days of Tomyris and Cyrus to those of the present Jat prince of Lahore,
whose successor, if he be endued with similar energy, may, on the reflux
of population, find himself seated in their original haunts of Central
Asia, to which they have already considerably advanced.[6.1.5] In the
fourth century we find a Yuti or Jat kingdom established in the
Panjab;[6.1.6] but how much earlier this people colonized those regions
we are ignorant. At every step made by Muhammadan power in India it
encountered the Jats. On their memorable defence of the passage of the
Indus against Mahmud, and on the war of extirpation waged against them
by Timur, both in their primeval seats in Mawaru-l-nahr,[6.1.7] as well
as east of the Sutlej, we have already enlarged; while Babur, in his
Commentaries, informs us that, in all his irruptions into India, he was
assailed by multitudes of Jats[6.1.8] during his progress through the
Panjab, the peasantry of which region, now proselytes to Islam, are
chiefly of this tribe; as well as the [180] military retainers, who, as
sectarian followers of Nanak, merge the name of Jat, or Jāt, into that
of Sikh or ‘disciple.’[6.1.9]

In short, whether as Yuti, Getae, Jats, Juts, or Jāts, this race far
surpassed in numbers, three centuries ago, any other tribe or race in
India; and it is a fact that they now constitute a vast majority of the
peasantry of western Rajwara, and perhaps of northern India.

At what period these Jats established themselves in the Indian desert,
we are, as has been already observed, entirely ignorant; but even at the
time of the Rathor invasion of these communities their habits confirmed
the tradition of their Scythic origin. They led chiefly a pastoral life,
were guided, but not governed by the elders, and with the exception of
adoration to the ‘universal mother’ (Bhavani), incarnate in the person
of a youthful Jatni, they were utter aliens to the Hindu theocracy. In
fact, the doctrines of the great Islamite saint, Shaikh Farid,[6.1.10]
appear to have overturned the pagan rites brought from the Jaxartes; and
without any settled ideas on religion, the Jats of the desert jumbled
all their tenets together. They considered themselves, in short, as a
distinct class, and, as a Punia Jat informed me, “their _watan_ was far
beyond the Five Rivers.” Even in the name of one of the six communities
(the Asaich), on whose submission Bika founded his new State, we have
nearly the Asi, the chief of the four tribes from the Oxus and Jaxartes,
who overturned the Greek kingdom of Bactria.[6.1.11]

The period of Rathor domination over these patriarchal communities was
intermediate between Timur’s and Babur’s invasion of India. The former,
who was the founder of the Chagatai dynasty, boasts of the myriads of
Jat souls he “consigned to perdition” on the desert plains of India, as
well as in Transoxiana; so we may conclude that successive migrations of
this people from the great “storehouse of nations” went to the lands
east of the Indus, and that the communities who elected Bika as their
sovereign had been established therein for ages. The extent of their
possessions justifies this conclusion; for nearly the whole of the
territory forming the boundaries of Bikaner was possessed by the six Jat
cantons, namely—

1. Punia.
2. Godara.
3. Saharan.
4. Asaich.
5. Beniwal [or Bhanniwal].
6. Johya, or Joiya [181].

though this last is by some termed a ramification of the Yadu-Bhatti: an
affiliation by no means invalidating their claims to be considered of
Jat or Yuti origin.[6.1.12]

Each canton bore the name of the community, and was subdivided into
districts. Besides the six Jat cantons, there were three more
simultaneously wrested from Rajput proprietors; namely, Bagor, the
Kharipatta, and Mohila. The six Jat cantons constituted the central and
northern, while those of the Rajputs formed the western and southern
frontiers.

_Disposition of the Cantons at that period._

Cantons. No. of Districts.
Villages.
1. Punia 300 Bahaduran, Ajitpur, Sidmukh,

Rajgarh, Dadrewa, Sanku, etc.
2. Beniwal [or 150 Bhukarka, Sondari, Manoharpur,
Bhanniwāl]
Kui, Bai, etc.
3. Johya 600 Jethpur, Kumbhana, Mahajan,

Pipasar, Udaipur, etc.
4. Asaich 150 Rawatsar, Barmsar, Dandusar,

Gandeli.
5. Saran 300 Kejar, Phog, Buchawas, Sawai,

Badinu, Sirsila, etc.
6. Godara 700 Pundrasar, Gosainsar (great),

Shaikhsar Garsisar, Gharibdesar,

Rangesar, Kalu, etc.
Total in the six 2200
Jat cantons
7. Bagor 300 Bikaner, Nal, Kela, Rajasar,

Satasar, Chhattargarh, Randasar,

Bitnokh, Bhavanipur, Jaimallsar,
etc.
8. Mohila 140 Chaupar (capital of Mohila), Sonda,

Hirasar, Gopalpur, Charwas,
Bidasar,
Ladnun, Malsasar,
Kharbuza-ra-kot.
9. Kharipatta, or 30
salt district
———
GRAND TOTAL 2670

With such rapidity were States formed in those times, that in a few
years after Bika left his paternal roof at Mandor he was lord over 2670
villages, and by a title far stronger and more legitimate than that of
conquest—the spontaneous election of the cantons. But although three
centuries have scarcely passed since their amalgamation [182] into a
sovereignty, one-half of the villages cease to exist; nor are there now
1300 forming the _raj_ of Surat Singh, the present occupant and lineal
descendant of Bika.[6.1.13]

The Jats and Johyas of these regions, who extended over all the northern
desert even to the Gara, led a pastoral life, their wealth consisting in
their cattle, which they reared in great numbers, disposing of the
superfluity, and of the _ghi_ (butter clarified) and wool, through the
medium of Sarsot (Sarasvati) Brahmans (who, in these regions, devote
themselves to traffic), receiving in return grain and other conveniences
or necessaries of life.

=Bīda conquers the Mohil Clan.=—A variety of causes conspired to
facilitate the formation of the State of Bikaner, and the reduction of
the ancient Scythic simplicity of the Jat communities to Rajput feudal
sway; and although the success of his brother Bida over the Mohils in
some degree paved the way, his bloodless conquest could never have
happened but for the presence of a vice which has dissolved all the
republics of the world. The jealousy of the Johyas and Godaras, the two
most powerful of the six Jat cantons, was the immediate motive to the
propitiation of the “son of Jodha”; besides which, the communities found
the band of Bida, which had extirpated the ancient Mohils when living
with them in amity, most troublesome neighbours. Further, they were
desirous to place between them and the Bhattis of Jaisalmer a more
powerful barrier; and last, not least, they dreaded the hot valour and
“thirst for land” which characterized Bika’s retainers, now contiguous
to them at Janglu. For these weighty reasons, at a meeting of the
“elders” of the Godaras, it was resolved to conciliate the Rathor.

Pandu was the patriarchal head of the Godaras; his residence was at
Shaikhsar.[6.1.14] The ‘elder’ of Ronia was next in rank and estimation
to Pandu, in communities where equality was as absolute as the
proprietary right to the lands which each individually held: that of
pasture being common.

The elders of Shaikhsar and Ronia were deputed to enter into terms with
the Rajput prince, and to invest him with supremacy over their
community, on the following conditions:—

_First._ To make common cause with them, against the Johyas and other
cantons, with whom they were then at variance.

_Second._ To guard the western frontier against the irruption of the
Bhattis [183].

_Third._ To hold the rights and privileges of the community inviolable.

On the fulfilment of these conditions they relinquished to Bika and his
descendants the supreme power over the Godaras; assigning to him, in
perpetuity, the power to levy _dhuan_, or a ‘hearth tax,’ of one rupee
on each house in the canton, and a land tax of two rupees on each
hundred bighas of cultivated land within their limits.

Apprehensive, however, that Bika or his descendants might encroach upon
their rights, they asked what security he could offer against such a
contingency? The Rajput chief replied that, in order to dissipate their
fears on this head, as well as to perpetuate the remembrance of the
supremacy thus voluntarily conferred, he would solemnly bind himself and
his successors to receive the _tika_ of inauguration from the hands of
the descendants of the elders of Shaikhsar and Ronia, and that the
_gaddi_ should be deemed vacant until such rite was administered.

In this simple transfer of the allegiance of this pastoral people we
mark that instinctive love of liberty which accompanied the Getae in all
places and all conditions of society, whether on the banks of the Oxus
and the Jaxartes, or in the sandy desert of India; and although his
political independence is now annihilated, he is still ready even to
shed his blood if his Rajput master dare to infringe his inalienable
right to his _bapota_, his paternal acres.

=Former Owners conferring Titles on their Successors.=—It is seldom that
so incontestable a title to supremacy can be asserted as that which the
weakness and jealousies of the Godaras conferred upon Bika, and it is a
pleasing incident to find almost throughout India, in the observance of
certain rites, the remembrance of the original compact which transferred
the sovereign power from the lords of the soil to their Rajput
conquerors. Thus, in Mewar, the fact of the power conferred upon the
Guhilot founder by the Bhil aborigines is commemorated by a custom
brought down to the present times. (See Vol. I. p. 262.) At Amber
the same is recorded in the important offices retained by the Minas, the
primitive inhabitants of that land. Both Kotah and Bundi retain in their
names the remembrance of the ancient lords of Haraoti; and Bika’s
descendants preserve, in a twofold manner, the recollection of their
bloodless conquest of the Jats. To this day the descendant of Pandu
applies the unguent of royalty to the forehead of the successors of
Bika; on which occasion the prince places ‘the fine of relief,’
consisting of twenty-five pieces of gold, in the hand of the Jat.
Moreover, the spot which he selected for his capital was the birthright
of a Jat, who would only concede it for this purpose on the condition
that his name should be linked in perpetuity with its surrender. Naira,
or Nera [184], was the name of the proprietor, which Bika added to his
own, thus composing that of the future capital, Bikaner.[6.1.15]

Besides this periodical recognition of the transfer of power, on all
lapses of the crown, there are annual memorials of the rights of the
Godaras, acknowledged not only by the prince, but by all his Rajput
vassal-kin, quartered on the lands of the Jat; and although ‘the sons of
Bika,’ now multiplied over the country, do not much respect the ancient
compact, they at least recognize, in the maintenance of these formulae,
the origin of their power.

On the spring and autumnal[6.1.16] festivals of the Holi and Diwali, the
heirs of the patriarchs of Shaikhsar and Ronia give the _tika_ to the
prince and all his feudality. The Jat of Ronia bears the silver cup and
platter which holds the ampoule of the desert, while his compeer applies
it to the prince’s forehead. The Raja in return deposits a _nazarana_ of
a gold mohur, and five pieces of silver; the chieftains, according to
their rank, following his example. The gold is taken by the Shaikhsar
Jat, the silver by the elder of Ronia.

=Conquest of the Johya Tribe.=—To resume our narrative: when the
preliminaries were adjusted, by Bika’s swearing to maintain the rights
of the community which thus surrendered their liberties to his keeping,
they united their arms, and invaded the Johyas. This populous community,
which extended over the northern region of the desert, even to the
Sutlej, reckoned eleven hundred villages in their canton; yet now, after
the lapse of little more than three centuries, the very name of Johya is
extinct. They appear to be the Janjuha of Babur, who, in his irruption
into India, found them congregated with the Juds, about the cluster of
hills in the first _duaba_ of the Panjab, called ‘the mountains of Jud’;
a position claimed by the Yadus or Jadons in the very dawn of their
history, and called Jadu ka dang, ‘the Jadu hills.’[6.1.17] This
supports the assertion that the Johya is of Yadu race, while it does not
invalidate its claims to Yuti or Jat descent, as will be further shown
in the early portion of the annals of the Yadu-Bhattis.[6.1.18]

The patriarchal head of the Johyas resided at Bharopal;[6.1.19] his name
was Sher Singh [185]. He mustered the strength of the canton, and for a
long time withstood the continued efforts of the Rajputs and the
Godaras; nor was it until “treason had done its worst,” by the murder of
their elder, and the consequent possession of Bharopal, that the Johyas
succumbed to Rathor domination.

=Foundation of Bīkaner, A.D. 1455-88.=—With this accession of power,
Bika carried his arms westward and conquered Bagor from the Bhattis. It
was in this district, originally wrested by the Bhattis from the Jats,
that Bika founded his capital, Bikaner, on the 15th Baisakh, S. 1545
(A.D. 1489), thirty years after his departure from the parental roof at
Mandor.

When Bika was thus firmly established, his uncle Kandhal, to whose
spirit of enterprise he was mainly indebted for success, departed with
his immediate kin to the northward, with a view of settling in fresh
conquests. He successively subjugated the communities of Asaich,
Beniwal, and Saran, which cantons are mostly occupied by his
descendants, styled Kandhalot Rathors, at this day, and although they
form an integral portion of the Bikaner State, they evince, in their
independent bearing to its chief, that their estates were “the gift of
their own swords, not of his patents”; and they pay but a reluctant and
nominal obedience to his authority. When necessity or avarice imposes a
demand for tribute, it is often met by a flat refusal, accompanied with
such a comment as this: “Who made this Raja? Was it not our common
ancestor, Kandhal? Who is he, who presumes to levy tribute from us?”
Kandhal’s career of conquest was cut short by the emperor’s lieutenant
in Hissar; he was slain in attempting this important fortress.

=Death of Bīka. Nūnkaran or Lūnkaran, A.D. 1504-26.=—Bika died in S.
1551 (A.D. 1495), leaving two sons by the daughter of the Bhatti chief
of Pugal, namely, Nunkaran, who succeeded, and Garsi, who founded
Garsisar and Arsisar. The stock of the latter is numerous, and is
distinguished by the epithet Garsot Bika, whose principal fiefs are
those of Garsisar and Gharibdesar, each having twenty-four villages
depending on them.[6.1.20]

=Jeth Singh, A.D. 1526-41.=—Nunkaran made several conquests from the
Bhattis, on the western frontier. He had four sons; his eldest desiring
a separate establishment in his lifetime, for the fief of Mahajan and
one hundred and forty villages, renounced his right of primogeniture in
favour of his brother Jeth, who succeeded in S. 1569. His brothers had
each appanages assigned to them. He had three sons: (1) Kalyan Singh,
(2) Siahji, and (3) Aishpal [186]. Jethsi reduced the district of Narnot
from some independent Girasia chiefs, and settled it as the appanage of
his second son, Siahji. It was Jethsi also who compelled ‘the sons of
Bida,’ the first Rathor colonists of this region, to acknowledge his
supremacy by an annual tribute, besides certain taxes.

=Kalyān Singh, A.D. 1541-71.=—Kalyan Singh succeeded in S. 1603. He had
three sons: (1) Rae Singh, (2) Ram Singh, and (3) Prithi Singh.

=Rāē Singh, A.D. 1571-1611. Bīkaner subject to the Mughals. Akbar’s
Marriage.=—Rae Singh succeeded in S. 1630 (A.D. 1573). Until this reign
the Jats had, in a great degree, preserved their ancient privileges.
Their maintenance was, however, found rather inconvenient by the now
superabundant Rajput population, and they were consequently dispossessed
of all political authority. With the loss of independence their military
spirit decayed, and they sunk into mere tillers of the earth. In this
reign also Bikaner rose to importance amongst the principalities of the
empire, and if the Jats parted with their liberties to the Rajput, the
latter, in like manner, bartered his freedom to become a Satrap of
Delhi. On his father’s death, Rae Singh in person undertook the sacred
duty of conveying his ashes to the Ganges. The illustrious Akbar was
then emperor of India. Rae Singh and the emperor had married sisters,
princesses of Jaisalmer.[6.1.21] This connexion obtained for him, on his
introduction to court by Raja Man of Amber, the dignity of a leader of
four thousand horse, the title of Raja, and the government of Hissar.
Moreover, when Maldeo of Jodhpur incurred the displeasure of the king,
and was dispossessed of the rich district of Nagor, it was given to Rae
Singh. With these honours, and increased power as one of the king’s
lieutenants, he returned to his dominions, and sent his brother Ram
Singh against Bhatner,[6.1.22] of which he made a conquest. This town
was the chief place of a district belonging to the Bhattis, originally
Jats[6.1.23] of Yadu descent, but who assumed this name on becoming
proselytes to the faith of Islam.

=Subjugation of the Johyas.=—Ram Singh at the same time completely
subjugated the Johyas, who, always troublesome, had recently attempted
to regain their ancient independence. The Rajputs carried fire and sword
into this country, of which they made a desert. Ever since it has
remained desolate: the very name of Johya is lost, though the vestiges
of considerable towns bear testimony to a remote antiquity.

=Traditions of Greek Settlements.=—Amidst these ruins of the Johyas, the
name of Sikandar Rumi (Alexander the Great) [187] has fixed itself, and
the desert retains the tradition that the ruin called Rangmahall, the
‘painted palace,’ near Dandusar, was the capital of a prince of this
region punished by a visitation of the Macedonian conqueror. History
affords no evidence of Alexander’s passage of the Gara, though the scene
of his severest conflict was in that nook of the Panjab not remote from
the lands of the Johyas. But though the chronicler of Alexander does not
sanction our indulging in this speculation, the total darkness in which
we appear doomed to remain with regard to Bactria and the petty Grecian
kingdoms on the Indus, established by him, does not forbid our surmise,
that by some of these, perhaps the descendants of Python, such a
visitation might have happened.[6.1.24] The same traditions assert that
these regions were not always either arid or desolate, and the living
chronicle alluded to in the note repeated the stanza elsewhere given,
which dated its deterioration from the drying up of the Hakra river,
which came from the Panjab, and flowing through the heart of this
country, emptied itself into the Indus between Rohri Bhakkar and Uchh.

The affinity that this word (Hakra) has both to the Ghaggar, and
Sankra,[6.1.25] would lead to the conclusion of either being the stream
referred to. The former we know as being engulphed in the sands about
the Hariana confines, while the Sankra is a stream which, though now
dry, was used as a line of demarcation even in the time of Nadir Shah.
It ran eastward, parallel with the Indus, and by making it his boundary,
Nadir added all the fertile valley of the Indus to his Persian kingdom.
(See map.) The only date this legendary stanza assigns for the
catastrophe is the reign of the Sodha prince, Hamir.

Ram Singh, having thus destroyed the power of future resistance in the
Johyas, turned his arms against the Punia Jats, the last who preserved
their ancient liberty. They were vanquished, and the Rajputs were
inducted into their most valuable possessions. But the conqueror paid
the penalty of his life for the glory of colonizing the lands of the
Punias. He was slain in their expiring effort to shake off the yoke of
the stranger; and though the Ramsinghgots add to the numerical strength,
and enlarge the territory of the heirs of Bika, they, like the
Kandhalots, little increase the power [188] of the State, to which their
obedience is nominal. Sidmukh and Sanku are the two chief places of the
Ramsinghgots.

Thus, with the subjugation of the Punias, the political annihilation of
the six Jat cantons of the desert was accomplished: they are now
occupied in agriculture and their old pastoral pursuits, and are an
industrious tax-paying race under their indolent Rajput masters.

=Rāē Singh in Akbar’s Service.=—Raja Rae Singh led a gallant band of his
Rathors in all the wars of Akbar. He was distinguished in the assault of
Ahmadabad, slaying in single combat the governor, Mirza Muhammad
Husain.[6.1.26] The emperor, who knew the value of such valorous
subjects, strengthened the connexion which already subsisted between the
crown and the Rathors, by obtaining for prince Salim (afterwards
Jahangir) Rae Singh’s daughter to wife. The unfortunate Parvez was the
fruit of this marriage.

=Karan Singh, A.D. 1631-69.=—Rae Singh was succeeded by his only son,
Karan, in S. 1688 (A.D. 1632).[6.1.27]

Karan held the ‘mansab of two thousand,’ and the government of
Daulatabad, in his father’s lifetime. Being a supporter of the just
claims of Dara Shukoh, a plot was laid by the general of his antagonist,
with whom he served, to destroy him, but which he was enabled to defeat
by the timely intelligence of the Hara prince of Bundi. He died at
Bikaner, leaving four sons: (1) Padma Singh, (2) Kesari Singh, (3) Mohan
Singh, and (4) Anup Singh.

This family furnishes another example of the prodigal sacrifice of
Rajput blood in the imperial service. The two elder princes were slain
in the storm of Bijapur, and the tragical death of the third, Mohan
Singh, in the imperial camp, forms an episode in _Ferishta’s History of
the Dekhan_ [189].[6.1.28]

=Anūp Singh, A.D. 1669-98.=—Anup Singh succeeded in S. 1730 (A.D. 1674).
For the services of his family he had the castle and lands of
Adoni[6.1.29] conferred upon him, with ‘the mansab of five thousand,’
and the governments of Bijapur and Aurangabad. Anup Singh led his clans
with the head of his race, the prince of Jodhpur, to quell a rebellion
amongst the Afghans of Kabul, which having effected, he returned to the
peninsula. Ferishta and the native annals are at variance on his death;
the former asserting that he died in the Deccan, while the latter say
that he left that country, disgusted with the imperial commander’s
interference about his ground of encampment, and that he died at
Bikaner.[6.1.30] He left two sons, Sarup Singh and Sujan Singh.

=Sarūp Singh, A.D. 1698-1700.=—Sarup, who succeeded in S. 1765 (A.D.
1709), did not long enjoy his honours, being killed in attempting to
recover Adoni, which the emperor had resumed on his father’s leaving the
army.[6.1.31]

=Sujān Singh, A.D. 1700-1735.=—Sujan Singh, his successor, did nothing.

=Zorāwar Singh, A.D. 1735-45.=—Zorawar Singh became raja in S. 1793
(A.D. 1737). The domestic incidents of this, as of the preceding reigns,
are without interest.

=Gaj Singh, A.D. 1745-88.=—Gaj Singh succeeded in S. 1802 (A.D. 1746).
Throughout a long reign of forty-one years, this prince carried on
border strife with the Bhattis and the Khan of Bahawalpur. From the
former he took Rajasar, Kela, Raner, Satasar, Banipura, Mutalai, and
other villages of inferior note; and from the Khan he recovered the
important frontier castle of Anupgarh.

He laid waste, filling up the wells, a considerable tract of country
west of the frontier post of Anupgarh, to prevent the incursions of the
Daudputras.[6.1.32]

Raja Gaj had some celebrity from the number of his offspring, having had
sixty-one children, though all but six were the ‘sons of love.’ The
legitimates were, Chhattar Singh, who died in infancy; Raj Singh, who
was poisoned by the mother of Surat Singh, the reigning prince; Surthan
Singh and Ajib Singh, both of whom fled the paternal roof to escape the
fate of their elder brother, and are now at Jaipur; Surat Singh, Raja of
Bikaner; and Shyam Singh, who enjoys a small appanage in Bikaner.

=Rāj Singh, A.D. 1788.=—Raj Singh succeeded his father, S. 1843 (A.D.
1787), but he enjoyed the dignity only thirteen days, being removed by a
dose of poison by the mother[6.1.33] of Surat Singh, the fifth son of
Raja Gaj. The crown thus nefariously obtained, this worthy son [190] of
such a parent determined to maintain his authority by like means, and to
leave no competitor to contest his claims. He has accordingly removed by
death or exile all who stood between him and the ‘_gaddi_ of Bika.’

=Partāp Singh, A.D. 1788. Usurpation of Sūrat Singh.=—Raj Singh left two
sons, Partap Singh and Jai Singh. On the death of Raj Singh, the office
of regent, a word of ominous import in these regions, was assumed by
Surat Singh, who, during eighteen months, conducted himself with great
circumspection, and by condescension and gifts impressed the chiefs in
his favour. At length he broke his plans to the chiefs of Mahajan and
Bahaduran, whose acquiescence in his usurpation he secured by additions
to their estates. The faithful Bakhtawar Singh, whose family during four
generations had filled the office of Diwan, discovered the scheme,
though too late to counteract it, and the attempt was punished by
imprisonment. Prepared for the last step, the regent collected foreign
troops from Bhatinda[6.1.34] and other parts, sufficient to overcome all
opposition. The infant prince was kept secluded, and at length the
regent issued the warrant in his own name for the nobles to assemble at
the capital. Except the two traitors enumerated, they to a man refused;
but instead of combining to oppose him, they indolently remained at
their castles. Collecting all his troops, the usurper passed to Nohar,
where he enticed the chief of Bhukarka to an interview, and lodged him
in the fortress of Nohar.[6.1.35] Thence he passed to Ajitpura, which he
plundered; and advancing to Sankhu, he attacked it in form. Durjan Singh
defended himself with valour, and when reduced to extremity, committed
suicide. His heir was put in fetters, and a fine of twelve thousand
rupees was levied from the vassals of Sankhu. The commercial town of
Churu was next attacked; it held out six months, when the confined chief
of Bhukarka, as the price of his own freedom, treacherously offered to
put the tyrant in possession. He effected this, and a fine of nearly two
lakhs of rupees (£20,000) was offered to spare the town from plunder.

By this act of severity, and the means it furnished, Surat returned to
Bikaner, determined to remove the only bar between him and the crown,
his prince and nephew. In this he found some difficulty, from the virtue
and vigilance of his sister, who never lost sight of the infant.
Frustrated in all attempts to circumvent her, and not daring to blazon
the murder by open violence, he invited the needy Raja of Narwar to make
proposals for his sister’s hand. In vain she urged her advanced period
of life; and in order to deter the suitor, that she had already been
affianced to Rana Arsi of Mewar. All his scruples vanished at the dower
of three lakhs, which the regent offered [191] the impoverished scion of
the famous Raja Nala.[6.1.36] Her objections were overruled and she was
forced to submit; though she not only saw through her brother’s anxiety
for her removal, but boldly charged him with his nefarious intentions.
He was not content with disavowing them, but at her desire gave her the
most solemn assurances of the child’s safety. Her departure was the
signal of his death; for not long after he was found strangled, and it
is said by the regent’s own hands, having in vain endeavoured to obtain
the offices of the Mahajan chieftain as the executioner of his
sovereign.

=Sūrat Singh, A.D. 1788-1828.=—Thus, in one short year after the death
of Raja Raj, the _gaddi_ of Bika was dishonoured by being possessed by
an assassin of his prince. In S. 1857 (A.D. 1801), the elder brothers of
the usurper, Surthan Singh and Ajib Singh, who had found refuge in
Jaipur, repaired to Bhatner and assembled the vassals of the disaffected
nobles and Bhattis in order to dethrone the tyrant. But the recollection
of his severities deterred some, while bribes kept back others, and the
usurper did not hesitate to advance to meet his foes. The encounter,
which took place at Bigor, was obstinate and bloody, and three thousand
Bhattis alone fell. This signal victory confirmed Surat’s usurpation. He
erected a castle on the field of battle, which he called Fatehgarh, ‘the
fort of victory.’

Flushed with this brilliant success, Surat Singh determined to make his
authority respected both at home and abroad. He invaded his turbulent
countrymen, the Bidawats, and levied fifty thousand rupees from their
lands. Churu,[6.1.37] which had promised aid to the late confederacy,
was once more invested and mulcted, and various other places were
attacked ere they could join. But one solitary castle was successfully
defended, that of Chhani, near Bahaduran. Here the usurper was foiled,
and, after six months’ fruitless siege, compelled to return to his
capital.

Shortly after, he eagerly availed himself of an opportunity to punish
the excesses of the Daudputras, and to withdraw attention from himself,
by kindling a popular war against these powerful and turbulent
neighbours. The occasion was the Kirani chief of Tirhara demanding his
aid against his liege lord, Bahawal Khan. As these border feuds are not
extinguished even in these days of universal peace, it may not be
uninteresting to see the feudal muster-roll of the desert chiefs on such
occurrences, as well as the mode in which they carry on hostilities. It
was very shortly before that victory had preponderated on the side of
the Rathors by a gallant _coup-de-main_ of [192] the lord marcher of
Bikaner, who carried the castle of Mozgarh[6.1.38] in a midnight
assault. The hero on this occasion was not a Rathor, but a Bhatti chief,
in the service of Bikaner, named Hindu Singh, who gained ‘immortality’
by the style in which he scaled the walls, put Muhammad Maaruf Kirani,
the governor, and the garrison to the sword, and brought away captive to
Bikaner the governor’s wife, who was afterwards ransomed for five
thousand rupees and four hundred camels.

The outlaw who sought _saran_ at Bikaner, on this occasion, was of the
same tribe, Kirani, his name Khudabakhsh (‘gift of God’), chief of
Tirhara, one of the principal fiefs of the Daudputras. With all his
retainers, to the amount of three hundred horse and five hundred foot,
he threw himself on the protection of Surat Singh, who assigned him
twenty villages, and one hundred rupees daily for his support. The
Kiranis were the most powerful vassals of Bahawal Khan, who might have
paid dear for the resumption of Tirhara, whose chief promised the Rajput
nothing less than to extend his conquests to the Indus. Allured by this
bait, the Kher was proclaimed and the sons of Bika assembled from all
quarters.

Horse. Foot. Guns.
Abhai Singh, chief of Bhukarka 300 2000
Rao Ram Singh, of Pugal 100 400
Hathi Singh, of Raner 8 150
Karan Singh, of Satasar 9 150
Anup Singh Jasara 40 250
Khet Singh Jamansar 60 350
Beni Singh, of Janglu 9 250
Bhum Singh, of Bithnok 2 61
——— ———
Feudal retainers 528 3611
Park under Maji Parihar — 21
Foreign Brigade ┌ Khas Paiga, or household troop 200 —
in the ┤ Camp of Ganga Singh 200 1500 4
Raja’s service. └ Do. of Durjan Singh 60 600 4
┌ Anoka Singh ┐ 300 —
│ Lahori Singh ├ Sikh chieftains 250 —
Auxiliary ┤ Budh Singh ┘ 250 —
Levies. │ Sultan Khan ┐ Afghans 400 —
└ Ahmad Khan ┘
——— ——— ———
TOTAL 2188 5711 29
——— ——— ———
[193].

=Attack on Bahāwalpur.=—The command-in-chief of this brilliant array was
conferred on Jethra Mahto, son of the Diwan. On the 13th of Magh 1856
(spring of 1800) he broke ground, and the feudal levies fell in on the
march by Kanasar, Rajasar, Keli, Raner, and Anupgarh, the last point of
rendezvous. Thence he proceeded by Sheogarh,[6.1.39] Mozgarh, and
Phulra, all of which were taken after a few weeks’ siege, and from the
last they levied a lakh and a quarter of rupees, with other valuables,
and nine guns. They advanced to Khairpur,[6.1.40] within three miles of
the Indus, when being joined by other refractory chiefs, Jethra marched
direct on the capital, Bahawalpur, within a short distance of which he
encamped preparatory to the attack. The Khan, however, by this delay,
was enabled to detach the most considerable of his nobles from the
Rajput standard: on which the Bikaner Diwan, satisfied with the honour
of having insulted Bahawalpur, retreated with the spoils he had
acquired. He was received by the usurper with contempt, and degraded for
not fighting.

=Bhatti Invasion of Bīkaner.=—The Bhattis, smarting with the
recollection of their degradation, two years after the battle of Bigor
attempted the invasion of Bikaner, but were again repulsed with loss;
and these skirmishes continued until S. 1861 (A.D. 1805), when Raja
Surat attacked the Khan of the Bhattis in his capital, Bhatner. It
capitulated after a siege of six months, when Zabita Khan, with his
garrison and effects, was permitted to retire to Rania, since which this
place has remained an appanage of Bikaner.

=Attack on Jodhpur.=—The coalition against Jodhpur was ruinous to Surat,
who supported the cause of the pretender, on which the usurper expended
twenty-four lakhs of rupees, nearly five years’ revenue of this desert
region. On this occasion, he led all his troops in person against
Jodhpur, and united in the siege, which they were however compelled to
abandon with dishonour, and retrograde to their several abodes. In
consequence of this, the usurper fell sick, and was at the last
extremity; nay, the ceremonies for the dead were actually commenced; but
he recovered, to the grief and misery of his subjects. To supply an
exhausted treasury, his extortions know no bounds; and having cherished
the idea that he might compound his past sins by rites and gifts to the
priests, he is surrounded by a group of avaricious Brahmans, who are
maintained in luxury at the expense of his subjects. His cruelty keeps
pace with his avarice and his fears. The chief of Bhukarka he put to
death, notwithstanding his numerous services. Nahar Singh of Sidmukh,
Gyan Singh and Guman Singh of Gandeli, amongst the chief [194]
feudatories of the State, shared the same fate. Churu was invested a
third time, and with its chief, fell into the tyrant’s hands.

With this system of terror, his increasing superstition, and diminished
attention to public duties, the country is annually deteriorating in
population and wealth; and as if they had not misery enough within, they
have not had a single good season for years.[6.1.41] Owing to the
disobedience of the northern chiefs, and the continual incursions of the
Rahats, or ‘Bhatti robbers,’ who sweep the land of cattle, and often cut
and carry off entire crops, the peasant Jat, the ancient lord of the
soil, is often left to the alternative of starvation or emigration. Many
have consequently sought shelter in the British frontier territories, in
Hansi and Hariana, where they are kindly received. Since the English
have occupied Sirsa and the lands belonging to the Bhatti Bahadur Khan,
the misfortunes of the cultivators of the northern parts of Bikaner have
been doubled by the inroads of a band left without resource. In some
parts, the Jats combine to protect themselves against these inroads:
every hamlet has its post of defence, a tower of earth, on which is
perched a watchman and kettledrum, to beat the alarm, which is taken up
from village to village, and when an enemy is discovered, all are in
arms to defend their property. The unfortunate Jat is obliged to plough
his fields under the load of shield and _sang_, or heavy iron lance; so
that, at no distant period, the whole of this region must become as
desolate as the tracts once possessed by the Johyas.[6.1.42]

Such, at the end of three hundred and twenty-three years, is the change
which a Rajput usurper has effected in the once comparatively populous
communities of the Jats. From the founder, Bika, to the present
tyrannical governor, there have been only eleven descents though
thirteen reigns, giving an average of thirty years for the one, and
twenty-five for the other: a fact which speaks forcibly for the general
morality of the descendants of Bika.

=Bīdāvati.=—Before we enter on the physical aspect of the country, we
must make mention of Bidavati, the lands of ‘the sons of Bida,’ now an
integral portion of Bikaner.[6.1.43] It will be borne in mind that Bida,
the brother of Bika, led the first Rajput colony from Mandor, in search
of a fresh establishment. His first attempt was in the province of
Godwar, then belonging to the Rana: but his reception there was so warm,
that [195] he moved northward, and was glad to take service with the
chief of the Mohils. This ancient tribe is by some termed a branch of
the Yadus, but is by others considered a separate race, and one of the
‘Thirty-six Royal Races’: all are agreed as to its antiquity. The
residence of the Mohil chief was Chhapar,[6.1.44] where, with the title
of Thakur, he ruled over one hundred and forty townships. Bida deemed
circumvention better than open force to effect his purposes; and as,
according to the Rajput maxim, in all attempts ‘to obtain land,’ success
hallows the means, he put in train a scheme which, as it affords the
least cause for suspicion, has often been used for this object. Bida
became the medium of a matrimonial arrangement between the Mohil chief
and the prince of Marwar; and as the relation and natural guardian of
the bride, he conveyed the nuptial train unsuspected into the castle of
the Mohils, whose chiefs were assembled to honour the festivities. But
instead of the Rathor fair and her band of maidens, the valorous sons of
Jodha rushed sword in hand from the litters and covered vehicles, and
treacherously cut off the best men of Mohila. They kept possession of
the inner fortress until tidings of their success brought reinforcements
from Jodhpur. For this aid, Bida assigned to his father Ladnun and its
twelve villages, now incorporated with Jodhpur. The son of Bida, Tej
Singh, laid the foundation of a new capital, which he called after his
father, Bidesar.[6.1.45] The community of the Bidawats is the most
powerful in Bikaner, whose prince is obliged to be satisfied with almost
nominal marks of supremacy, and to restrict his demands, which are
elsewhere unlimited. The little region of the Mohilas, around the
ancient capital Chhapar, is an extensive flat, flooded in the periodical
rains from the surrounding _tibas_ or ‘sandhills,’ the soil of which is
excellent, even wheat being abundantly produced. This Oasis, as it is
entitled to be termed, may be twenty-five miles (twelve cos) in extreme
length, by about six in breadth. We cannot affirm that the entire
Bidawat district of one hundred and forty villages, and to which is
assigned a population of forty thousand to fifty thousand souls,
one-third being Rathors, ‘the sons of Bida,’ is within this flat. It is
subdivided into twelve fiefs, of which five are pre-eminent. Of the
ancient possessors, the indigenous Mohils, there are not more than
twenty families throughout the land of Mohila; the rest are chiefly Jat
agriculturists and the mercantile castes.

We do the sons of Bida no injustice when we style them a community of
plunderers. Like the sons of Esau, “their hand is against every man”:
and they are too powerful to fear retaliation. In former times they used
to unite with the Larkhanis [196], another horde of robbers, and carry
their raids into the most populous parts of Jaipur. In these habits,
however, they only partake of the character common to all who inhabit
desert regions. What nature has denied them, they wrest from those to
whom she has been more bountiful. But it is to the absence of good
government more than to natural sterility that we must attribute the
moral obliquity of the Rajaputras, ‘the offspring of regality,’ spread
over these extensive regions, who little discriminate between _meum_ and
_tuum_, in all that refers to their neighbours.

-----

Footnote 5.16.1:

[At present greatest length about 320 miles, greatest breadth 170
miles.]

Footnote 5.16.2:

[In 1911 the population was 2,057,553.]

Footnote 5.16.3:

[In 1911 respectively 125 and 279 per mille.]

Footnote 5.16.4:

The district of Sanchor is almost entirely Brahman, forming a distinct
tribe, called the Sanchora Brahmans.

Footnote 5.16.5:

[At present the horses of Mallāni are most esteemed. By the “Jungle,”
the Lākhi Jangal is meant.]

Footnote 5.16.6:

[Gawār, the horse bean, _Dolichus biflorus_.]

Footnote 5.16.7:

[In Nāgor district, N.W. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 5.16.8:

[This variety is grown without irrigation (Erskine iii. A. 103).]

Footnote 5.16.9:

[The varieties of soil now recognized are: _matiyāli_, clayey loam;
_bhūri_, brown-coloured, and with less clay than _matiyāli_; _retla_,
fine sand without clay; _magra_ or _tharra_, on the slopes of hills,
hard and containing pebbles (_ibid._ iii. A. 99).]

Footnote 5.16.10:

[Makrāna is 12 miles W. of Sāmbhar Lake. For its marbles see Sleeman,
_Rambles_, 318; Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, i. 100. The best
marbles in Rājputāna are found at Makrāna, Tonkra in Kishangarh,
Kharwar in Ajmer, and Raiālu in Jaipur; see Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 715.]

Footnote 5.16.11:

There is nothing which so much employs the assessors of justice, in
those tribunals of arbitration, the Panchayats, as the adjudication of
questions of property. The highest compliment ever paid to the Author
was by the litigants of property amounting to half a million sterling,
which had been going the rounds of various Panchayats and appeals to
native princes, alike unsatisfactory in their results. They agreed to
admit as final the decision of a court of his nomination. It was not
without hesitation I accepted the mediation propounded through the
British superintendent of Ajmer (Mr. Wilder); but knowing two men,
whose integrity as well as powers of investigation were above all
encomium, I could not refuse. One of these had given a striking
instance of independence in support of the award his penetration had
led him to pronounce, and which award being set aside on appeal,
through favouritism, he abjured every future call as an arbitrator. He
was not a wealthy man, but such was the homage paid to his integrity
and talents, that the greatest despot in India found it politic to
reassemble the court, have the case reconsidered, and permit justice
to take its course. In like manner, his demand was, that, before he
agreed to devote his time to unravelling all the intricacies of the
case, both litigants should sign a _muchalka_, or ‘bond,’ to abide by
the award. I have no recollection how it terminated.

Footnote 5.16.12:

[Cumin, _Cuminum cyminum_ (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 442).]

Footnote 5.16.13:

[Suigām in Pālanpur State, near the Ran of Cutch (_BG_, v. 348).]

Footnote 5.16.14:

[See p. 815.]

Footnote 5.16.15:

The Author learns that important modifications of this system have
been made by the legislative authorities at home: of their extent he
is ignorant, except that remuneration to chiefs for the loss of
transit duties has not been omitted. This is as it should be! [The
opium question is still in a state of transition. Exports to China
were closed in 1913, and, owing to the loss of revenue, compensation
has been awarded to the Native States by the Government of India. For
the trade up to 1911 see _IGI_, iv. 242 ff.; Watt, _Comm. Prod._
(1908), 845 ff.]

Footnote 5.16.16:

[For these fairs see Erskine iii. A. 206, 208.]

Footnote 5.16.17:

[The State jails have been reorganized, and humane treatment of
prisoners is enforced (Erskine iii. A. 163 ff.).]

Footnote 5.16.18:

The Rajputs and Hindus in general hold precisely the same idea, of the
cause of eclipses, as the Getae of Scandinavia. [This is a form of
sympathetic magic: as prisoners are released, so will the sun and moon
be freed from the demon.]

Footnote 5.16.19:

Chandrama. The moon is represented by silver, which is called after
her (or him) _chandi_.

Footnote 5.16.20:

[According to the more common story, she walked through a pile of
burning wood.]

Footnote 5.16.21:

[Since the reorganization of the Courts of Justice and the
introduction of criminal codes, trial by ordeal has been prohibited
(Erskine iii. A. 132 ff.). In 1854 Sir H. Lawrence made a treaty with
Mewār which provided that “no person be seized on the plea of sorcery,
witchcraft, or incantations” (Lee Warner, _Native States of India_,
ed. 1910, p. 305).]

Footnote 5.16.22:

[The most solemn oath among the Scythians was by the royal hearth
(Herodotus iv. 68).]

Footnote 5.16.23:

[The normal revenue of the State at the present time is about 56, and
the expenditure 42 lakhs of rupees (Erskine iii. A. 140 ff.).]

Footnote 5.16.24:

[The State now maintains two regiments of Imperial Service Lancers,
1210 men, the whole force, including local troops, being about 2700
(_ibid._ iii. A. 158 ff.).]

Footnote 5.16.25:

The maund is about seventy-five lbs. weight.

Footnote 5.16.26:

_Kan_, ‘corn.’

Footnote 5.16.27:

The average selling price at Jodhpur is two rupees the maund; four at
Sambhar and Didwana, and five at Pachbhadra, Phalodi, and Nawa. Why
the price at the capital is 50 per cent lower than elsewhere, I know
not, even if this statement is correct. [On the Rājputāna salt trade
see Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 968 f. The present State income is now about
15 lakhs of rupees _per annum_ (Erskine iii. A. 150 f.).]

Footnote 5.16.28:

[_Saccharum sara._]

Footnote 5.16.29:

[On the production of barilla (_sajji khar_) see Watt, _op. cit._ 112
ff.]

We may recapitulate what the old archives state of the aggregate
fiscal revenues in past times, amounting to nearly thirty lakhs of
rupees. It would be hazardous to say to what extent the amount was
overrated:

1. Khalisa, or fiscal land, from 1484 towns Rs.
and villages 1,500,000

2. Sair or imposts 430,000

3. Salt lakes 715,000

4. Hasil, or miscellaneous taxes; 300,000
fluctuating and uncertain; not less
than

—-—-——

Total 2,945,000

Feudal and ministerial estates 5,000,000

—-—-——

GRAND TOTAL 7,945,000

Thus the united fiscal and feudal revenues of Marwar are said to have
amounted almost to eighty lakhs of rupees (£800,000). If they ever did
reach this sum [175], which may be doubted, we do not err in affirming
that they would not be overrated at half that amount. Large fortunes
are said to centre in the families of the ex-ministers, especially the
Singhi family, reported to be immensely rich. Their wealth is
deposited in foreign capitals. But much bullion is lost to the
currency of these countries by the

Footnote 5.16.30:

[At the present time the estates and septs of the Rāthor clan to which
the twelve nobles belong are: Pokaran, Awa—Champāwat; Rian,
Alniawās—Mertia; Rāēpur, Rās, Nīmāj, Agewa—Udāwat; Kharwa,
Bhadrājan—Jodha. At a Darbār the Champāwats and Kūmpāwats sit to the
right and the Jodhas, Mertias, and Udāwats to the left of the Mahārāja
(Erskine iii. B. 40).]

Footnote 6.1.1:

[According to Erskine (iii. B. 85) Bika was born in 1439; left
Jodhpur, 1465; founded Bikaner city, 1488.]

Footnote 6.1.2:

[The Sānkhlas are said to be a Panwār clan, but this is not certain
(_Census Report, Rājputāna_, 1911, i. 256). Jānglu is about 20 miles
S. of Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 6.1.3:

[About 120 miles N. of Bīkaner city: the ruler at present is one of
the leading nobles of the State.]

Footnote 6.1.4:

Vol. I. p. 127, History of the Rajput Tribes—_Article_, Jats or
Getae.

Footnote 6.1.5:

Ranjit has long been in possession of Peshawar, and entertained views
on Kabul, the disorganized condition of which kingdom affords him a
favourable opportunity of realizing them.

Footnote 6.1.6:

See Inscription, p. 914.

Footnote 6.1.7:

[The land beyond the Oxus.]

Footnote 6.1.8:

“On Friday the 14th (Dec. 29, A.D. 1525), of the first Rabi, we
arrived at Sialkot. Every time that I have entered Hindustan, the Jats
and Gujars have regularly poured down in prodigious numbers from their
hills and wilds, in order to carry off oxen and buffaloes”
[Elliot-Dowson iv. 24]. The learned commentator draws a distinction
between the Jat inhabitants of the Panjab and of India, which is not
maintainable.

Footnote 6.1.9:

“It is worthy of remark,” says Colonel Pitman (who accompanied Mr.
Elphinstone to Kabul), “that in the two first Doabehs (return of the
embassy) we saw very few Sikhs, the Jat cultivators of the soil being
in general Moosulmauns, and in complete subjugation to the Sikhs.”

Footnote 6.1.10:

[Shaikh Farīd, known as Shakkarganj, ‘sugar-store,’ on account of his
supposed miraculous power of transmuting dust or salt into sugar, was
disciple of the famous Saint, Kutbu-d-dīn Bakhtyār Kāki. His life is
supposed to have extended from A.D. 1173 to 1265. His tomb at Ajūdhan
in the Montgomery District is a scene of pilgrimage.]

Footnote 6.1.11:

[He perhaps refers to the Asioi of Strabo (xi. 8. 2), who cannot be
identified (Smith, _EHI_, 226). They have no connexion, except
resemblance of name, with the Asaich.]

Footnote 6.1.12:

The Jats of the Agra province consider themselves illegitimate
descendants of the Yadus of Bayana, and have a tradition that their
_watan_ [home] is Kandahar.

Footnote 6.1.13:

[Mahārāja Sūrat Singh reigned A.D. 1788-1828.]

Footnote 6.1.14:

This town is named after the Islamite saint, Shaikh Farid of
Pakpattan, who has a _dargah_ here. He was greatly esteemed by the
Jats, before the Bona Dea assumed the shape of a Jatni, to whom, under
the title of Kirani Mata, ‘a ray of the mother,’ all bend the head.
[Her shrine is at Deshnok, about 25 miles S. of Bīkaner city, and is a
sanctuary (Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, i. 139).]

Footnote 6.1.15:

[This is a folk etymology. The name is derived from Hindi _ner_, Skt.
_nagara_, ‘city’—the ‘city of Bīka.’]

Footnote 6.1.16:

_Vide_ pp. 661, 695 for an account of these festivals.

Footnote 6.1.17:

[Elliot-Dowson iv. 232; the connexion of the mountains of Jūd, to
which the Author constantly refers, with the Yādavas is incorrect.]

Footnote 6.1.18:

I presented a work on this race, entitled _The Book of the Johyas_
(sent me by the prime minister of Jaisalmer) to the Royal Asiatic
Society. Having obtained it just before leaving Rajputana, I never had
leisure to examine it, or to pronounce on its value as an historical
document; but any work having reference to so singular a community can
scarcely fail to furnish matter of interest. [The Joiya or Johya tribe
represent the ancient Yaudheya or ‘warlike’ peoples. It is incorrect
to say that the name is extinct, because they are found on the banks
of the Sutlej down to its confluence with the Indus; in Bīkaner in the
old bed of the Ghaggar River below Bhatner, their ancient seat; in
Lahore, Fīrozpur, the Derajāt, Multān, and the Salt Range (Cunningham,
_Ancient Geography_, i. 65; Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 410 ff.).]

Footnote 6.1.19:

[One hundred and ten miles N.N.E. of Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 6.1.20:

To the few who will peruse these annals of the desert tribes it will
be interesting to observe the development of families, and the
maintenance, by such distinctive patronymics, of their origin. In the
annals of this remote State I shall not enter at any length into the
history of their wars, which are, with a change of names and scene,
all pretty much alike; but confine myself, after a succinct and
connected genealogical relation, to the manners of the people, the
aspect, productions, and government of the country. [Abu-l Fazl
(_Akbarnāma_, i. 375) calls him Rāē Lonkaran. According to Erskine
(iii. A. 316) the second chief of Bīkaner was Naro or Naruji, son of
Bīka, who succeeded A.D. 1504, and died childless after a reign of
four months.]

Footnote 6.1.21:

[For Rāē Singh see Rogers-Beveridge, _Memoirs of Jahāngīr_, 130 f.
According to the _Akbarnāma_ (ii. 518) Akbar’s wife was the daughter
of Kahān, brother of Kalyānmall, Rāē of Jaisalmer. The _Tuzuk_ (_Āīn_,
i. 477) says that her father was Rāwal Bhīm, elder brother of Kalyān.
Ferishta (ii. 234) says that Kalyānmall was her father, and this
statement is accepted by Erskine (iii. A. 316) see Elliot-Dowson v.
336.]

Footnote 6.1.22:

[Now known as Hanumāngarh, 144 miles N.E. of Bīkaner city (_IGI_,
xiii. 38).]

Footnote 6.1.23:

In the Annals of Jaisalmer the number of offsets from the Yadu-Bhatti
tribe, which assumed the name of Jat, will be seen; an additional
ground for asserting that the Scythic Yadu is in fact the Yuti.

Footnote 6.1.24:

My informant of this tradition was an old inhabitant of Dandusar, and
although seventy years of age, had never left the little district of
his nativity until he was brought to me, as one of the most
intelligent living records of the past. [General Hervey (_Some Records
of Crime_, i. 209) says that a trace of Greek art may be found in the
Grecian ram’s head on the hilt of weapons in Bīkaner. For traditions
of descent from Alexander based on the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom see
Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_, i. 256.]

Footnote 6.1.25:

The natives of these regions cannot pronounce the sibilant; so that,
as I have already stated, the _s_ is converted into _h_. I gave as an
example the name Jahilmer, which becomes ‘the hill of fools’ instead
of ‘the hill of Jaisal.’ Sankra, in like manner, becomes Hankra. [Uchh
in the Bahāwalpur State (_IGI_, xxiv. 82). For the Hakra depression
see Malik Muhammad Din (_Bahāwalpur State Gazetteer_, i. 3 ff.). The
Ghaggar, once an affluent of the Indus, is lost in the sands near
Hanumāngarh or Bhatner (_IGI_, xii. 212 f.).]

Footnote 6.1.26:

[His services are described in _Āīn_, i. 357 ff. Ferishta (ii. 243)
says that Rāē Singh killed Muhammad Husain after he was captured.
According to another account, Akbar spoke kindly to his captive, and
gave him into Rāē Singh’s custody (Elliot-Dowson v. 367).]

Footnote 6.1.27:

[According to Erskine (iii. A. 319, iii. B. 83) Dalpat Singh and Sūr
Singh were Rāos between Rāē Singh and Karan Singh. For these Chiefs
see _Āīn_, i. 359. Karan Singh, according to Musalmān authorities,
died in 1666-7 (Manucci ii. 22). In 1660 Aurangzeb sent a force under
Amīr Khān to bring him to reason for his insolence in refusing to
attend the Emperor’s Court (Jadunath Sarkar, _Life of Aurangzib_, iii.
29 f.).]

Footnote 6.1.28:

[J. Scott, _Ferishta’s History of the Dekkan_, ii. 30.] The young
desert chieftain, like all his tribe, would find matter for quarrel in
the wind blowing in his face. Having received what he deemed an insult
from the brother-in-law of the Shahzada, in a dispute regarding a
fawn, he appealed to his sword, and a duel ensued even in the
presence-chamber, in which young Mohan fell. The fracas was reported
to his brother Padma, at no distance from the scene. With the few
retainers at hand, he rushed to the spot, and found his brother bathed
in his blood. His antagonist, still hanging over his victim, when he
saw the infuriated Rathor enter, with sword and shield, prepared for
dreadful vengeance, retreated behind one of the columns of the Āmm
Khass (_Divan_). But Padma’s sword reached him, and avenged his
brother’s death; as the record says, “he felled him to the earth,
cleaving at the same place the pillar in twain.” Taking up the dead
body of his brother, and surrounded by his vassals, he repaired to his
quarters, where he assembled all the Rajput princes serving with their
contingents, as Jaipur, Jodhpur, Haraoti, and harangued them on the
insult to their race in the murder of his brother. They all agreed to
abandon the king’s army, and retire to their own homes. A noble was
sent to expostulate by Prince Muazzam; but in vain. He urged that the
prince not only forgave, but approved the summary vengeance taken by
the Rathor; they refused to listen, and in a body had retired more
than twenty miles, when the prince in person joined them, and
concessions and expostulations overcoming them, they returned to the
camp. It was subsequent to this that the two elder brothers were
slain. It is recorded of the surviving brother, that he slew an
enormous lion in single combat. For this exploit, which thoroughly
entitled him to the name he bore (Kesari), ‘the Lion,’ he received an
estate of twenty-five villages from the king. He also obtained great
renown for slaying a Habshi or Abyssinian chief, who commanded for one
of the southern princes.

Footnote 6.1.29:

[Adoni in the Bellary District, Madras (_IGI_, v. 24 ff.).]

Footnote 6.1.30:

[He died at Adoni in 1698 (Erskine iii. A. 322).]

Footnote 6.1.31:

[According to Erskine (iii. B. 86) he died of smallpox in the Deccan.]

Footnote 6.1.32:

‘The children of David,’ the designation of the tract and inhabitants
subject to the State of Bahawalpur, from its founder, Daud Khan, a
native of Seistan. [For the Dāūdputra clan see Rose, _Glossary_, ii.
224 f. Their history is fully given by Malik Muhammad Din, _Bahāwalpur
State Gazetteer_, i. 47 ff.]

Footnote 6.1.33:

She was the sister of the Jhalai chief, heir presumptive to the
_gaddi_ of Jaipur, on failure of lineal issue.

Footnote 6.1.34:

[In the Patiāla State, Panjāb.]

Footnote 6.1.35:

[Nohar and Bhukārka are about 120 miles N.E. of Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 6.1.36:

The story of Nala and Damayanti (or Nal Daman, as it is familiarly
called in these regions) is well known in oriental literature. From
Nal the famed castle of Narwar is named, of which this suitor for the
hand of the Bīkaner princess was deprived by Sindhia. [The famous tale
of Nala and Damayanti from the _Mahābhārata_ is perhaps best known
from Dean Milman’s version. Narwar is now in Gwalior State.]

Footnote 6.1.37:

[Churu, about 100 miles N.E.E. of Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 6.1.38:

[Possibly Mojarh, about 40 miles S.E. of Bahāwalpur city.]

Footnote 6.1.39:

Its former name was Balar, one of the most ancient cities of the
desert, as is Phulra, a Johya possession.

Footnote 6.1.40:

[Not the Khairpur in Sind; 38 miles N.E. of Bahāwalpur city.]

Footnote 6.1.41:

This account was drawn up in 1814.

Footnote 6.1.42:

While putting this to the press, rumour says that the chiefs of
Bikaner are in open rebellion against the Raja, who has applied, but
without success, to the British Government for support. This, if true,
is as it should be. [This rebellion occurred in 1815, and the Mahārāja
invoked British aid. A treaty was signed on March 9, 1818, by which
Sūrat Singh and his successors became subordinate to the British
Government. A force under Brigadier-General Arnold restored order
(Erskine iii. A. 326).]

Footnote 6.1.43:

[Bīdāvati, now Sūjangarh, bounded on S. by Jodhpur, and E. by
Shaikhāwati (_ibid._ iii. A. 390 f.).]

Footnote 6.1.44:

[On S. frontier of the State.]

Footnote 6.1.45:

[Bidesar or Bidāsar is 64 miles S.S.W. of Bīkaner city.]

-----

CHAPTER 2

=Geography of Bīkaner.=—This region is but little known to Europeans, by
whom it has hitherto been supposed to be a perfect desert, unworthy of
examination. Its present condition bears little comparison with what
tradition reports it to have been in ancient times; and its
deterioration, within three centuries since the Rajputs supplanted the
Jats, almost warrants our belief of the assertion, that these deserts
were once fertile and populous; nay, that they are still capable
(notwithstanding the reported continual increase of the sand) to
maintain an abundant population, there is little room to doubt. The
princes of Bikaner used to take the field at the head of ten thousand of
their kindred retainers; and although they held extraordinary grants
from the empire for the maintenance of these contingents, their ability
to do so from their proper resources was undoubted. To other causes than
positive sterility must be attributed the wretched condition of this
State. Exposed to the continual attacks of organized bands of robbers
from without, subjected internally to the never-ending demands of a
rapacious government, for which they have not a shadow of advantage in
return, it would be strange if aught but progressive decay and
wretchedness were the consequence. In three centuries [197], more than
one-half of the villages, which either voluntarily or by force submitted
to the rule of the founder, Bika, are now without memorial of their
existence, and the rest are gradually approximating to the same
condition. Commercial caravans, which passed through this State and
enriched its treasury with the transit duties, have almost ceased to
frequent it from the increasing insecurity of its territory. Besides the
personal loss to the prince the country suffers from the deterioration
of the commercial towns of Churu, Rajgarh, and Rani, which, as
entrepôts, supplied the country with the productions of Sind and the
provinces to the westward, or those of Gangetic India. Nor is this
confined to Bikaner; the same cause affects Jaisalmer, and the more
eastern principalities, whose misgovernment, equally with Bikaner,
fosters the spirit of rapine: the Maldots of Jaisalmer and the Larkhanis
of Jaipur are as notorious as the Bidawats of Bikaner; and to these may
be added the Sahariyas, Khosas, and Rajars, in the more western desert,
who, in their habits and principles, are as demoralized as the Bedouins
of Arabia.

=Extent, Population, Soil, Tibas or Sandhills.=—The line of greatest
breadth of this State extends from Pugal to Rajgarh, and measures about
one hundred and eighty miles; while the length from north to south,
between Bhatner and Mahajan, is about one hundred and sixty miles: the
area may not exceed twenty-two thousand miles.[6.2.1] Formerly they
reckoned two thousand seven hundred towns, villages, and hamlets
scattered over this space, one-half of which are no longer in existence.

=Population.=—An estimate of the population of this arid region, without
presenting some data, would be very unsatisfactory. The tract to the
north-west of Jethpur is now perfectly desolate, and nearly so from that
point to Bhatner: to the north-east the population is but scanty, which
observation also applies to the parts from the meridian of Bikaner to
the Jaisalmer frontier; while internally, from these points, it is more
uniform, and equals the northern parts of Marwar. From a census of the
twelve principal towns, with an estimate, furnished by well-informed
inhabitants, of the remainder, we may obtain a tolerably accurate
approximation on this point:

Chief Towns. Number of Houses.
Bikaner 12,000
Nohar 2,500
Bahaduran 2,500
Reni 1,500
Rajgarh 3,000
Churu 3,000 [198]
Mahajan 800
Jethpur 1,000
Bidesar 500
Ratangarh 1,000
Desmukh 1,000
Senthal 50
—-—-
28,850
—-—-
100 villages, each having 200 houses 20,000
100 ” ” 150 ” 15,000
200 ” ” 100 ” 20,000
800 hamlets ” 30 each 24,000
—-——
Total number of houses 107,850
—-——

Allowing five souls to each house, we have a total of 539,250 souls,
giving an average of twenty-five to the square mile, which I cannot
think exaggerated, and making the desert regions depending on Bikaner
equal, in the density of population, the highlands of Scotland.[6.2.2]

Of this population, full three-fourths are the aboriginal Jats; the rest
are their conquerors, descendants of Bika, including the Saraswat
Brahmans,[6.2.3] Charans, Bards, and a few of the debased classes, whose
numbers, conjointly, are not one-tenth of the Rajputs.

=Jats.=—The Jats are the most wealthy as well as the most numerous
portion of the community. Many of the old Bhumia landlords,
representatives of their ancient communal heads, are men of substance;
but their riches are of no use to them, and to avoid the rapacity of
their government, they cover themselves with the cloak of poverty, which
is thrown aside only on nuptial festivities. On these occasions they
disinter their hoards, which are lavished with unbounded extravagance.
They even block up the highways to collect visitors, whose numbers form
the measure of the liberality and munificence of the donor of the fête.

=Sarsūt=, =Saraswat Brāhman=.—Sarsut (properly Sarasvati) Brahmans are
found in considerable numbers throughout this tract. They aver that they
were masters of the country prior to the Jat colonists. They are a
peaceable, industrious race, and without a single prejudice of ‘the
order’; they eat meat, smoke tobacco, cultivate the soil, and trade even
in the sacred kine, notwithstanding their descent from Sringi Rishi, son
of Brahma.

=Charans.=—The Charans are the sacred order of these regions; the
warlike tribes esteem [199] the heroic lays of the bard more than the
homily of the Brahman. The Charans are throughout reverenced by the
Rathors, and hold lands, literally, on the tenure of ‘an old song.’ More
will be said of them in the Annals of Jaisalmer.

=Mālis=, =Nāis=.—Malis, Nais, gardeners and barbers, are important
members of every Rajput family, and to be found in all the villages, of
which they are invariably the cooks.

=Chuhras=, =Thoris=.—Chuhras, Thoris, are actually castes of
robbers:[6.2.4] the former, from the Lakhi Jungle; the latter, from
Mewar. Most of the chieftains have a few in their pay, entertained for
the most desperate services. The Bahaduran chief has expelled all his
Rajputs, and retains only Chuhras and Thoris. The Chuhras are highly
esteemed for fidelity, and the barriers and portals throughout this
tract are in their custody. They enjoy a very singular perquisite, which
would go far to prove their being the aborigines of the country; namely,
a fee of four copper coins on every dead subject, when the funeral
ceremonies are over.

=Rājputs.=—The Rathors of Bikaner are unchanged in their martial
qualifications, bearing as high a reputation as any other class in
India; and whilst their brethren of Marwar, Amber, and Mewar have been
for years groaning under the rapacious visitations of Mahrattas and
Pathans, their distance and the difficulties of the country have saved
them from such afflictions; though, in truth, they have had enough to
endure at home, in the tyranny of their own lord. The Rathors of the
desert have fewer prejudices than their more eastern brethren; they will
eat food, without enquiring by whom it was dressed, and will drink
either wine or water, without asking to whom the cup belonged. They
would make the best soldiers in the world if they would submit to
discipline, as they are brave, hardy, easily satisfied, and very
patient; though, on the other hand, they have imbibed some qualities,
since their migration to these regions, which could only be eradicated
in the rising generation: especially the inordinate use of opium, and
smoking intoxicating herbs, in both which accomplishments ‘the sons of
Bika’ are said to bear the palm from the rest of the Chhattis rajkula,
the Thirty-six Royal Tribes of India. The _piyala_, or ‘cup,’ is a
favourite with every Rajput who can afford it, and is, as well as opium,
a panacea for ennui, arising from the absence of all mental stimulants,
in which they are more deficient, from the nature of the country, than
most of their warlike countrymen.

=Face of the Country.=—The whole of this principality, with the
exception of a few isolated spots, or oases, scattered here and there,
consists more or less of sand. From the eastern to the western boundary,
in the line of greatest breadth, it is one continuous [200] plain of
sand, though the _tibas_, or sandhills, commence in the centre of the
country, the principal chain running in the direction of Jaisalmer, and
shooting forth subordinate branches in every direction; or it might be
more correct to designate this main ridge, originating in the tracts
bordering the eastern valley of the Indus, as terminating its elevations
about the heart of Bikaner. On the north-east quarter, from Rajgarh to
Nohar and Rawatsar, the soil is good, being black earth, slightly mixed
with sand, and having water near enough to the surface for irrigation;
it produces wheat, gram, and even rice, in considerable quantities. The
same soil exists from Bhatner to the banks of the Gara. The whole of the
Mohila tract is a fertile oasis, the _tibas_ just terminating their
extreme offsets on its northern limit: being flooded in the periodical
rains, wheat is abundantly produced.

=Products of the Desert.=—But exclusive of such spots, which are “few
and far between,” we cannot describe the desert as a waste where “no
salutary plant takes root, no verdure quickens”; for though the poverty
of the soil refuses to aid the germination of the more luxuriant grains,
Providence has provided a countervailing good, in giving to those it can
rear a richness and superiority unknown to more favoured regions. The
bajra of the desert is far superior to any grown in the rich loam of
Malwa, and its inhabitant retains an instinctive partiality, even when
admitted to revel in the luxurious repasts of Mewar or Amber, for the
_vatis_ or _batis_ or ‘bajra cakes,’ of his native sandhills, and not
more from association than from their intrinsic excellence. In a
plentiful season they save enough for two years’ consumption. The grain
requires not much water, though it is of the last importance that this
little should be timely.

Besides bajra we may mention moth and til;[6.2.5] the former a useful
pulse both for men and cattle; the other the oil-plant, used both for
culinary purposes and burning. Wheat, gram, and barley are produced in
the favoured spots described, but in these are enumerated the staple
products of Bikaner.

Cotton is grown in the tracts favourable for wheat.[6.2.6] The plant is
said to be septennial, even decennial, in these regions. As soon as the
cotton is gathered, the shoots are all cut off, and the root alone left.
Each succeeding year, the plant increases in strength, and at length
attains a size unknown where it is more abundantly cultivated.

Nature has bountifully supplied many spontaneous vegetable products for
the use of man, and excellent pasture for cattle. Guar, Kachri, Kakri,
all of the cucurbitaceous family, and water-melons of a gigantic size,
are produced in great plenty.[6.2.7] The latter is most valuable; for
being cut in slices and dried in the sun, it is stored up [201] for
future use when vegetables are scarce, or in times of famine, on which
they always calculate. It is also an article of commerce, and much
admired even where vegetables are more abundant. The copious mucilage of
the dried melon is extremely nourishing; and deeming it valuable as an
anti-scorbutic in sea voyages, the Author sent some of it to Calcutta
many years ago for experiment.[6.2.8] Our Indian ships would find no
difficulty in obtaining a plentiful supply of this article, as it can be
cultivated to any extent, and thus be made to confer a double benefit on
our seamen and the inhabitants of those desert regions. The superior
magnitude of the water-melons of the desert over those of interior India
gives rise to much exaggeration, and it has been gravely asserted by
travellers in the sand _tibas_,[6.2.9] where they are most abundant,
that the mucilage of one is sufficient to allay the thirst both of a
horse and his rider.

In these arid regions, where they depend entirely on the heavens for
water, and where they calculate on a famine every seventh year, nothing
that can administer to the wants of man is lost. The seeds of the wild
grasses, as the _bharut_, _baru_, _harara_, _sawan_, are collected, and,
mixed with bajra-flour, enter much into the food of the poorer classes.
They also store up great quantities of the wild _ber_, _khair_, and
_karel_ berries; and the long pods of the _khejra_, astringent and
bitter as they are, are dried and formed into a flour. Nothing is lost
in these regions which can be converted into food.

=Trees.=—Trees they have none indigenous (mangoes and tamarind are
planted about the capital), but abundant shrubs, as the _babul_, and
ever-green _pilu_, the _jhal_, and others yielding berries. The
Bidawats, indeed, apply the term ‘tree’ to the _rohira_, which sometimes
attains the height of twenty feet, and is transported to all parts for
house-building; as likewise is the _nima_, so well known throughout
India. The _phog_ is the most useful of all these, as with its twigs
they frame a wicker-work to line their wells, and prevent the sand from
falling in.

The _ak_, a species of euphorbia, known in Hindustan as the _madar_,
grows to an immense height and strength in the desert; from its fibres
they make the ropes in general use throughout these regions, and they
are reckoned superior, both in substance and durability, to those formed
of _munj_ (hemp), which is however cultivated in the lands of the
Bidawats.

Their agricultural implements are simple and suited to the soil. The
plough is one [202] of single yoke, either for the camel or ox: that
with double yoke being seldom required, or chiefly by the Malis
(gardeners), when the soil is of some consistence. The drill is
invariably used, and the grains are dropped singly into the ground, at
some distance from each other, and each sends forth a dozen to twenty
stalks. A bundle of bushes forms their harrow. The grain is trodden out
by oxen; and the moth (pulse), which is even more productive than the
bajra, by camels.

=Water.=—This indispensable element is at an immense distance from the
surface throughout the Indian desert, which, in this respect, as well as
many others, differs very materially from that portion of the great
African Desert in the same latitudes. Water at twenty feet, as found at
Mourzook by Captain Lyon, is here unheard of, and the degree of cold
experienced by him at Zuela, on the winter solstice, would have “burnt
up” every natural and cultivated production of our Hindu Sahara. Captain
Lyon describes the thermometer in lat. 26°, within 2° of zero of
Reaumur. Majors Denham and Clapperton never mark it under 40° of
Fahrenheit, and mention ice, which I never saw but once, the thermometer
being 28°; and then not only the mouths of our _mashaks_, or
‘water-skins,’ were frozen, but a small pond, protected from the wind (I
heard, for I saw it not), exhibited a very thin pellicle of ice. When at
30° the cold was deemed intense by the inhabitants of Maru in the tracts
limiting the desert, and the useful _ak_, and other shrubs, were
scorched and withered; and in north lat. 25°, the thermometer being 28°,
desolation and woe spread throughout the land. To use their own phrase,
the crops of gram and other pulses were completely “burnt up, as if
scorched by the lightnings of heaven”; while the sun’s meridian heat
would raise it 50° more, or up to 80°, a degree of variability at least
not recorded by Captain Lyon.

At Deshnokh,[6.2.10] near the capital, the wells are more than two
hundred cubits, or three hundred feet, in depth; and it is rare that
water fit for man is found at a less distance from the surface than
sixty, in the tracts decidedly termed _thal_, or ‘desert’: though some
of the flats, or oases, such as that of Mohila, are exceptions, and
abundance of brackish water, fit for cattle, is found throughout at half
this depth, or about thirty feet. All the wells are lined with
basket-work made of _phog_ twigs, and the water is generally drawn up by
hand-lines [203].[6.2.11]

=Sar, or ‘Salt Lakes.’=—There are a few salt lakes, which, throughout
the whole of the Indian desert, are termed _sar_, though none are of the
same consequence as those of Marwar. The largest is at the town of
Sar,[6.2.12] so named after the lake, which is about six miles in
circumference. There is another at Chhapar about two miles in length,
and although each of them frequently contains a depth of four feet of
water, this entirely evaporates in the hot winds, leaving a thick sheet
of saline incrustation. The salt of both is deemed of inferior quality
to that of the more southerly lakes.

=Physiography of the Country.=—There is little to vary the physiography
of this region, and small occasion to boast either of its physical or
moral beauties; yet, strange to say, I have met with many whose love of
country was stronger than their perceptions of abstract veracity, who
would dwell on its perfections, and prefer a mess of _rabri_, or
porridge made of bajra, to the greater delicacies of more civilized
regions. To such, the _tibas_, or ‘sand-ridges,’ might be more important
than the Himalaya, and their diminutive and scanty brushwood might
eclipse the gigantic foliage of this huge barrier. Verdure itself may be
abhorrent to eyes accustomed to behold only arid sands; and a region
without _tufans_ or ‘whirlwinds’; or armies of locusts rustling like a
tempest, and casting long shadows on the lands, might be deemed by the
prejudiced, deficient in the true sublime. Occasionally the sandstone
formation rises above the surface, resembling a few low isolated hills;
and those who dwell on the boundaries of Nagor, if they have a love of
more decided elevations than their native sandhills afford, may indulge
in a distant view of the terminations of the Aravalli.

=Mineral Productions.=—The mineral productions of this country are
scanty. They have excellent quarries of freestone in several parts,
especially at Hasera, thirteen coss to the north-east of the capital,
which yield a small revenue estimated at two thousand rupees annually.
There are also copper mines at Biramsar and Bidesar; but the former does
not repay the expense of working, and the latter, having been worked for
thirty years, is nearly exhausted.

An unctuous clay is excavated from a pit, near Kolait, in large
quantities, and exported as an article of commerce, besides adding
fifteen hundred rupees annually to the treasury. It is used chiefly to
free the skin and hair from impurities, and the Cutchi ladies are said
to eat it to improve their complexions.[6.2.13]

=Animal Productions.=—The kine of the desert are highly esteemed; as are
the camels, especially those used for expedition and the saddle, which
bear a high price,[6.2.14] and are [204] considered superior to any in
India. They are beautifully formed, and the head possesses much blood
and symmetry. Sheep are reared in great abundance, and find no want of
food in the excellent grasses and shrubs which abound. The _phog_,
_jawas_,[6.2.15] and other prickly shrubs, which are here indigenous,
form the dainties of the camel in other regions. The Nilgae, or elk, and
deer of every kind, are plentiful; and the fox of the desert is a
beautiful little animal. Jackals and hyaenas are not scarce, and even
lions are by no means unknown in Bikaner.

=Commerce and Manufactures.=—Rajgarh[6.2.16] was the great commercial
mart of this country, and the point of rendezvous for caravans from all
parts. The produce of the Panjab and Kashmir came formerly direct by
Hansi-Hisar—that of the eastern countries by Delhi, Rewari, Dadri, etc.,
consisting of silks, fine cloths, indigo, sugar, iron, tobacco, etc.;
from Haraoti and Malwa came opium, which supplied all the Rajput States;
from Sind, via Jaisalmer, and by caravans from Multan and Shikarpur,
dates, wheat, rice, _lungis_ (silk vestments for women), fruits, etc.;
from Pali, the imports from maritime countries, as spices, tin, drugs,
coco-nuts, elephants’ teeth, etc. Much of this was for internal
consumption, but the greater part a mere transit trade, which yielded
considerable revenue.

=Woollens.=—The wool of the sheep pastured in the desert is, however,
the staple commodity both of manufacture and trade in this region. It is
worked into every article of dress, both male and female, and worn by
all, rich and poor. It is produced from the loom, of every texture and
quality, from the coarse _loi_ or ‘blanket,’ at three rupees per pair
(six shillings), to thirty rupees. The quality of these last is very
fine, of an intermediate texture between the shawl and camlet, and
without any nap; it is always bordered with a stripe of chocolate brown
or red. Of this quality are the _dopattas_ or ‘scarfs’ for the ladies.
Turbans are also manufactured of it, and though frequently from forty to
sixty-one feet in length, such is the fineness of the web, that they are
not bulky on the head.

From the milk of the sheep and goats as well as kine, _ghi_ or
‘clarified butter’ is made, and forms an important article of trade.

=Manufactures in Iron.=—The Bikaneris work well in iron, and have shops
at the capital and all the large towns for the manufacture of sword
blades, matchlocks, daggers, iron lances, etc. The sword-handles, which
are often inlaid with variegated steel, or burnished, are in high
request, and exported to various parts of India. They have also expert
artists in ivory, though the articles are chiefly such as are worn by
females, as _churis_, or ‘bracelets’ [205].

Coarse cotton cloths, for internal consumption, are made in considerable
quantities.

=Fairs.=—Annual fairs were held, in the months of Karttik and Phalgun,
at the towns of Kolait and Gajner,[6.2.17] and frequented by the
merchants of the adjacent countries. They were celebrated for cattle,
chiefly the produce of the desert, camels, kine, and horses from Multan
and the Lakhi Jungle,[6.2.18] a breed now almost extinct. These fairs
have lost all their celebrity; in fact, commerce in these regions is
extinct.

=Government Revenues.=—The personal revenues of the Raja were derived
from a variety of sources: from the Khalisa, or ‘crown-lands’ imposts,
taxes on agriculture, and that compendious item which makes up the
deficiencies in all oriental budgets, _dand_, or ‘contribution.’ But
with all these “appliances and means to boot,” the civil list of this
desert king seldom exceeded five lakhs of rupees, or about £50,000 per
annum.[6.2.19] The lands of the feudality are more extensive
proportionally in this region than in any other in Rajputana, arising
out of the original settlement, when the Bidawats and Kandhalots, whose
joint acquisitions exceeded those of Bika, would not admit him to hold
lands in their territory, and made but a slight pecuniary acknowledgment
of his supremacy. The districts in which the crown-lands lie are
Rajgarh, Reni, Nohar, Gharib, Ratangarh, Rania, and more recently Churu.

The following are the items of the revenue: (1) Khalisa, or fiscal
revenue; (2) Dhuan; (3) Anga; (4) Town and transit duties; (5) Paseti,
or ‘plough-tax’; (6) Malba.

=Khālisa Lands.=—1. The fisc. Formerly this branch of revenue yielded
two lakhs of rupees; but with progressive superstition and prodigality,
the raja has alienated almost two-thirds of the villages from which the
revenue was drawn. These amounted to two hundred; now they do not exceed
eighty, and their revenue is not more than one lakh of rupees. Surat
Singh is guided only by caprice; his rewards are uniform, no matter what
the service or the object, whether a Brahman or a camel-driver. The
Khalisa is the only source which he considers he has merely a
life-interest in. To supply the deficiencies, he has direct recourse to
the pockets of his subjects.

=Hearth-Tax.=—2. Dhuan may be rendered hearth-tax, though literally it
is a smoke (_dhuan_) tax. All must eat; food must be dressed; and as
they have neither chimneys nor glass windows on which to lay the tax,
Surat Singh’s chancellor of the exchequer makes the smoke pay a transit
duty ere it gets vent from the various orifices of the edifice. It only
amounts to one rupee on each house or family, but would form an
important item if not evaded by the powerful chiefs; still it yields a
lakh of rupees. The town [206] of Mahajan, which was settled on Ratan
Singh, son of Raja Nunkaran, on the resignation of his right of
primogeniture and succession, enjoys exemption from this tax. It is less
liable to fluctuation than other taxes, for if a village becomes
half-deserted, those who remain are saddled with the whole. Dhuan is
only known to the two western States, Bikaner and Jaisalmer.

=Poll-Tax.=—3. _Anga._ This is not a capitation but a body tax (from
_anga_, the body), and was established by Raja Anup Singh. It might
almost be termed a property-tax, since it embraced quadrupeds as well as
bipeds of every sex and age, and was graduated according to age and sex
in the human species, and according to utility in the brute. Each male
adult was assessed one _anga_, fixed at four annas (about sixpence), and
cows, oxen, buffaloes, were placed upon a level with the lord of the
creation. Ten goats or sheep were estimated as one _anga_; but a camel
was equivalent to four _angas_, or one rupee, which Raja Gaj Singh
doubled. This tax, which is by far the most certain in a country perhaps
still more pastoral than agricultural, is most providently watched, and
though it has undergone many changes since it was originally imposed, it
yet yields annually two lakhs of rupees.

4. _Sāīr_, or ‘imposts.’ This branch is subject to much fluctuation, and
has diminished greatly since the reign of Surat Singh. The duties levied
in the capital alone formerly exceeded what is collected throughout the
whole of his dominions; being once estimated at above two lakhs, and now
under one. Of this amount, half is collected at Rajgarh, the chief
commercial mart of Bikaner. The dread of the Rahats, who have cut off
the communications with the Panjab, and the want of principle within,
deter merchants from visiting this State, and the caravans from Multan,
Bahawalpur, and Shikarpur, which passed through Bikaner to the eastern
States, have nearly abandoned the route. The only duties of which he is
certain are those on grain, of four rupees on every hundred maunds sold
or exported, and which, according to the average sale price of these
regions, may be about two per cent.

=Paseti.=—5. Paseti is a tax of five[6.2.20] rupees on every plough used
in agriculture. It was introduced by Raja Rae Singh, in commutation of
the corn-tax, or levy in kind, which had long been established at
one-fourth of the gross produce. The Jats were glad to compound, and get
rid of the agents of corruption, by the substitution of the plough-tax.
It formerly yielded two lakhs of rupees, but with decreasing agriculture
has fallen, like every other source, to a little more than one-half, but
still yields a lakh and a quarter.

=Malba.=—6. Malba[6.2.21] is the name of the original tax which the Jat
communities imposed [207] upon themselves, when they submitted to the
sway in perpetuity of Bika and his successors. It is the
land-tax[6.2.22] of two rupees on each hundred bighas of land cultivated
in Bikaner. It is now unproductive, not realizing fifty thousand rupees,
and it is said that a composition has been effected, by which it has
been, or will be, relinquished: if so, Surat Singh gives up the sole
legitimate source of revenue he possesses.

_Recapitulation_

1. Khalisa, or fisc[6.2.23] Rs. 100,000
2. Dhuan 100,000
3. Anga 200,000
4. Sair, imposts[6.2.24] 75,000
5. Paseti, plough-tax 125,000
6. Malba, land-tax 50,000
—-——
TOTAL 650,000
—-——

Besides this, the fullest amount arising to the prince from annual
taxation, there are other items which occasionally replenish the
treasure of Surat Singh.

=Datoi.=—Datoi is a triennial tax of five rupees levied on each
plough.[6.2.25] It was instituted by Raja Zorawar Singh. The whole
country is liable to it, with the exception of fifty villages in
Asaichwati, and seventy of the Beniwals, conditionally exempted, to
guard the borders. It is now frequently evaded by the feudal chieftains,
and seldom yields a lakh of rupees.

In addition to these specific expedients, there are many arbitrary
methods of increasing the “ways and means” to satisfy the necessities or
avarice of the present ruler, and [208] a train of dependent harpies,
who prey upon the cultivating peasantry, or industrious trader. By such
shifts, Surat Singh has been known to double his fixed revenue.

=Dand, Khushhali.=—The terms Dand and Khushhali, though etymologically
the antipodes of each other—the first meaning a ‘compulsory
contribution,’ the other a ‘benevolence, or voluntary,’[6.2.26]—have a
similar interpretation in these regions, and make the subjects of those
parts devoutly pray that their prince’s house may be one rather of
mourning than rejoicing, and that defeat rather than victory may be
attendant on his arms.

The term dand is coeval with Hindu legislation. The bard Chand describes
it, and the chronicler of the life of the great Siddhraj of Anhilwara,
“who expelled the seven Daddas,” or ‘great evils,’ whose initial letter
was _d_, enumerates dand as one of them, and places it with the Dholis
and Dakins, or minstrels and witches, giving it precedence amongst the
seven plagues which his ancestors and tyrant custom had inflicted on the
subject. Unhappily, there is no Siddhraj to legislate for Rajputana; and
were there fourteen Daddas by which Surat Singh could swell his budget,
he would retain them all for the oppression of the impoverished Jats,
who, if they could, would be happy to expel the letter _S_ from amongst
them. But it is from the chieftain, the merchant, and the banker that
the chief sums are realized; though indirectly the poor peasant
contributes his share. There are fourteen collectors of dand,[6.2.27]
one to every _chira_ or division, and these are furnished with arbitrary
schedules according to the circumstances, actual or supposed, of each
individual. So unlimited are these exactions, that the chief of Gandeli
for two years offered the collector of his quarter ten thousand rupees
if he would guarantee him against any further demand during even twelve
months; and being refused, he turned the collector out, shut the gates
of his castle, and boldly bid his master defiance.

One of his expedients to levy a khushhali, or ‘benevolence,’ is worth
relating: it was on the termination of his expedition against Bhatner,
which added this celebrated desert and castle to his territory, and in
which he was attended by the entire feudal army of Bikaner. On his
return, “flushed with conquest,” he demanded from each house throughout
his dominions the sum of ten rupees to cover the expenses of the war. If
the tyrant-ridden subjects of Surat Singh thus rejoice in his successes,
how must they feel for his defeats! To them both are alike ominous, when
every [209] artifice is welcomed, every villainy practised, to
impoverish them. Oppression is at its height, and must work out its own
cure.

=Feudal Levies.=—The disposable force of all these feudal principalities
must depend on the personal character of the Raja. If Surat Singh were
popular, and the national emergencies demanded the assemblage of the
Kher, or _levée en masse_, of the “sons of Bika,” he might bring ten
thousand Rajputs into the field, of whom twelve hundred might be good
horse, besides the foreign troops and park; but under present
circumstances, and the rapid deterioration of every branch of society,
it may be doubted whether one-half could be collected under his
standard.

The household troops consist of a battalion of foreign infantry, of five
hundred men with five guns, and three squadrons of horse, about two
hundred and fifty in number; all under foreign leaders. This is
independent of the garrison of the capital, whose commandant is a Rajput
of the Parihar tribe, who has twenty-five villages assigned for the
payment of his troops.[6.2.28]

_Schedule exhibiting the Fiefs of Bikaner._

─────────────────┬───────────┬───────────┬────────┬────────────────┬─────
│ │ │ │ Retainers: │
Names of │ Clans. │Places of │Revenue.│ │ │Remarks.
Chieftains. │ │ Abode. │ │ Foot. │Horse. │
─────────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────┼────────┼───────┼─────
Behri Sal │Bika │Mahajan │ 40,000│ 5,000│ 100 │[A]
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
Abhai Singh │Benirot │Bhukarka │ 25,000│ 5,000│ 200 │
Anup Singh │Bika │Jasana │ 5,000│ 400│ 40 │
Pem Singh │ Do. │Bai │ 5,000│ 400│ 25 │
Chain Singh │Benirot │Sawa │ 20,000│ 2,000│ 300 │
Himmat Singh │Rawat │Rawatsar │ 20,000│ 2,000│ 300 │
Sheo Singh │Benirot │Churu │ 25,000│ 2,000│ 200 │
Ummed Singh ┐│Bidawat ┌│Bidesar ┐│ 50,000│ 10,000│2,000 │[B]
Jeth Singh ┘│ └│Sondwa ┘│ │ │ │
Bahadur Singh ┐│ ┌│Mainsar ┐│ │ │ │
Suraj Mall ├│Narnot ┤│Tendesar ├│ 40,000│ 4,000│ 500 │
Guman Singh ││ ││Katar ││ │ │ │
Atai Singh ┘│ └│Kachor ┘│ │ │ │
Sher Singh │Narnot │Nimbaj │ 5,000│ 500│ 125 │
Devi Singh ┐│ ┌│Sidmukh ┐│ │ │ │
Ummed Singh ├│Narnot ┤│Karipura ├│ 20,000│ 5,000│ 400 │
Surthan Singh ││ ││Ajitpura ││ │ │ │
Karnidhan ┘│ └│Beasar ┘│ │ │ │
Surthan Singh │Kachhwaha │Nainawas │ 4,000│ 150│ 30 ┐│[C]
Padam Singh │Panwar │Jethsisar │ 5,000│ 200│ 100 ├│
Kishan Singh │Bika │Hayadesar │ 5,000│ 200│ 50 ┘│
Rao Singh │Bhatti │Pugal[29] │ 6,000│ 1,500│ 40 │[D]
Sultan Singh │ Do. │Rajasar │ 1,500│ 200│ 50 │
Laktir Singh │ Do. │Raner │ 2,000│ 400│ 75 │
Karnai Singh │ Do. │Satasar │ 1,100│ 200│ 9 │
Bhum Singh │ Do. │Chakara │ 1,500│ 60│ 4 │
│ │ │ │ │ │
Four Chieftains, │ │ │ │ │ │
[30] viz. │ │ │ │ │ │
1. Bhoni Singh │Bhatti │Bichnok │ 1,500│ 60│ 6 │
2. Zalim Singh │ Do. │Gariala │ 1,100│ 40│ 4 │
3. Sardar Singh │ Do. │Surjara │ 800│ 30│ 2 │
4. Khet Singh │ Do. │Randisar │ 600│ 32│ 2 │
│ │ │ │ │ │
Chand Singh │Karamsot │Nokha │ 11,000│ 1,500│ 500 ┐│
Satidan │Rupawat │Badila │ 5,000│ 200│ 25 ├│[E]
Bhum Singh │Bhatti │Janglu │ 2,500│ 400│ 9 ┘│
Ketsi │ Do. │Jaminsar │ 15,000│ 500│ 150 │[F]
Isari Singh │Mandla │Sarunda │ 11,000│ 2,000│ 150 │
Padam Singh │Bhatti │Kudsu │ 1,500│ 60│ 4 │
Kalyan Singh │ Do. │Nainea │ 1,000│ 40│ 2 │
│ │ │ —————│ —————│ ———— │
│ │TOTAL │ 332,100│ 44,072│5,402 │[210]
─────────────────┴───────────┴───────────┴────────┴────────┴───────┴─────

Footnote 29:

Pugal Patta.

Footnote 30:

These chiefs are called Sardars of Khari Patta, one of the original
conquests of the founder, Bika.

Remarks:

Footnote A:

One hundred and forty villages, attached to this fief, settled on the
heir of Raja Nunkaran, who consequently forfeited the _gaddi_. The
first of the chiefs of Bikaner.

Footnote B:

One hundred and forty _kothri_ (families, lit. _chambers_) of this
class.

Footnote C:

These two fiefs are held by foreign nobles of the house of Amber, and
the ancient Pramara (_vulg._ Panwar).

Footnote D:

The fief of Pugal was wrested from the Bhattis of Jaisalmer.

Footnote E:

Twenty-seven villages dependent on this family from Jodhpur, and
settled here eleven years.

Footnote F:

Twenty-seven villages.

-----

If ever the whole feudal array of Bikaner amounted to this, it would
assuredly be found difficult now, were the ban proclaimed, to assemble
one-fourth of this number [211].

_Foreign Troops_

Foot. Horse. Guns.
Sultan Khan — 200 —
Anokha Singh, Sikh — 250 —
Budh Singh Dewara — 200 —
Durjan Singh’s Battalion 700 4 4
Ganga Singh’s Battalion 1000 25 6
—— —- ——
Total Foreigners 1700 679 10
Park — — 21
—— —— ——
1700 679 31
—— —— ——

-----

Footnote 6.2.1:

[Bīkaner is bounded on N. and W. by Bahāwalpur; S.W. by Jaisalmer; S.
by Mārwār; S.E. by Shaikhāwati of Jaipur; E. by Lohāru and Hissār;
total area 23,311 square miles (_IGI_, viii. 202).]

Footnote 6.2.2:

[In 1911 the population was 573,501, 4·79 souls per house.]

Footnote 6.2.3:

[For the Saraswat or Sarsūt Brāhmans see Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 122
ff.]

Footnote 6.2.4:

[The Chuhras are the criminal branch of the Panjāb sweepers (Rose,
_Glossary_, ii. 182 ff.). The Thoris are said to be connected with the
Aheris, a well-known criminal tribe (_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_,
ii. 194). In Bahāwalpur they resemble the Dhedh outcastes, who eat the
flesh of dead animals (Malik Muhammad Din, _Gazetteer_, i. 155).]

Footnote 6.2.5:

[_Moth_, _phaseolus aconitifolius_; _til_, _sesamum indicum_.]

Footnote 6.2.6:

[Only a few acres of cotton are now grown.]

Footnote 6.2.7:

[_Guār_, _dolichos biflorus_; water-melons are known as _matīra_;
_kakri_, a coarse variety of melon.]

Footnote 6.2.8:

I sent specimens to Mr. Moorcroft so far back as 1813, but never
learned the result.—See Article “On the Preservation of Food,” _Edin.
Review_, No. 45, p. 115.

Footnote 6.2.9:

Mr. Barrow, in his valuable work on Southern Africa, describes the
water-melon as self-sown and abundant.

Footnote 6.2.10:

[Twenty miles S. of Bīkaner city, containing a temple of Karniji, the
guardian deity of the Mahārāja’s family.]

Footnote 6.2.11:

Water is sold, in all the large towns, by the Malis, or ‘gardeners,’
who have the monopoly of this article. Most families have large
cisterns or reservoirs, called _tankas_, which are filled in the rainy
season. They are of masonry, with a small trap-door at the top, made
to exclude the external air, and having a lock and key affixed. Some
large _tankas_ are established for the community, and I understand
this water keeps sweet for eight and twelve months’ consumption. [The
proper form of the word seems to be _tānkh_, _tānkha_ (Yule,
_Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 898 f.; H. Beveridge, _The Academy_, xlvi.
174).]

Footnote 6.2.12:

[About 40 miles N.W. of Bīkaner city. The chief salt lakes are at
Chhāpar and Lūnkaransar (Erskine iii. A. 350).]

Footnote 6.2.13:

[Multāni mitti, fuller’s earth, found near Madh in the S. of the
State, and sometimes eaten (Erskine iii. A. 251; Watt, _Econ. Prod._
329 f.).]

Footnote 6.2.14:

One thousand rupees have been given for one; one hundred is the
average value.

Footnote 6.2.15:

[The camel thorn, _Alhagi maurorum_.]

Footnote 6.2.16:

[N.W. of Bīkaner city, near the Panjāb frontier.]

Footnote 6.2.17:

[These towns are respectively 25 miles S.W. and 19 miles S.W. of
Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 6.2.18:

[The tract S. of the Sutlej, having its E. limits at Ludhiāna and
Sunām; to the S. of it lay the Bhāti desert (Manucci i. 320, iv. 426).
Its importance is shown by Aurangzeb appointing Muhammad Muizzu-d-dīn,
eldest son of Sultān Muazzam, Faujdār of the Lākhi Jungle, in A.D.
1706 (Bilimoria, _Letters of Aurangzeb_, 75.)]

Footnote 6.2.19:

[At present the normal revenue of the State is about 32 lakhs of
rupees, or £213,000.]

Footnote 6.2.20:

[_Pānch_, from which the tax derives its name.]

Footnote 6.2.21:

[Malba properly means ‘sweepings, rubbish,’ then miscellaneous
revenue.]

Footnote 6.2.22:

_Mal_ is the term for land which has no irrigation but from the
heavens.

Footnote 6.2.23:

Nohar district 84 villages Revenue Rs. 100,000
Reni 24 ” ” 10,000
Rania 44 ” ” 20,000
Jaloli 1 ” ” 5,000
—-——
Total original Fiscal Lands 135,000
—-——

since Rajgarh, Churu, and other places recovered.

Footnote 6.2.24:

Impost Duties in old times, namely:

Town of Nunkaran Rs. 2,000
Rajgarh 10,000
Shaikhsar 5,000
Capital—Bīkaner 75,000
From Churu and other towns 45,000
—-——
137,000
—-——

Footnote 6.2.25:

[_Dānt_, _dānta_, ‘a tooth,’ then ‘a ploughshare.’]

Footnote 6.2.26:

_Khush_ means ‘happiness, pleasure, volition’; _ap ki khushi_, ‘at
your pleasure.’ [hāl = ‘circumstances.’]

Footnote 6.2.27:

This was written in 1813.

Footnote 6.2.28:

[The State now supports for Imperial service the well-known Camel
Corps, called the Ganga Risāla.]

Footnote 6.2.29:

Pugal Patta.

Footnote 6.2.30:

These chiefs are called Sardars of Khari Patta, one of the original
conquests of the founder, Bika.

-----

CHAPTER 3

=Bhatner.=—Bhatner, which now forms an integral part of Bikaner, was
anciently the chief abode of another Jat community, so powerful as at
one time to provoke the vengeance of kings, and at others to succour
them when in distress. It is asserted that its name is in nowise
connected with the Bhattis, who colonized it, but derived from the
Bardai, or Bhat, of a powerful prince, to whom the lands were granted,
and who, desirous to be the founder of a poetic dynasty, gave his
professional title to the abode. In the annals of Jaisalmer, it will be
seen that there is another story accounting for the appellation, which
recalls the founding of Carthage or Byrsa. Both legends are improbable;
and the Bhatti annals confirm what might have been assumed without
suspicion, that to a colony of this race Bhatner owes its name, though
not its existence. The whole of the northern part is called Ner in the
ancient geographical nomenclature of Marusthali; and when some of the
Bhatti clans became proselytes to Islam, they changed the vowel _a_ to
_u_, to distinguish them from the parent stock, namely [212], Bhati for
Bhatti.[6.3.1] We shall, however, furnish evidence by and by, in the
annals of the original race, that in all probability the Yadu-Bhatti is
the original Yuti colony from Central Asia; and that “the Jat prince of
Salpur,” whose inscription is in the first volume of this work, was the
predecessor of these very races.

Neither the tract depending on Bhatner, nor that north of it to the Gara
River, presented formerly the scene of absolute desolation they now
exhibit, and I shall append a list of towns, to which a high antiquity
is assigned, whose vestiges still remain, and from which something might
perhaps be gleaned to confirm or overturn these deductions.

Bhatner has attained great historical celebrity from its position, being
in the route of invasion from Central Asia to India. It is more than
probable that the Jats, who resisted the advance of Mahmud of Ghazni in
a naval warfare on the Indus, had long before that period established
themselves in the desert as well as in the Panjab; and as we find them
occupying a place amongst the Thirty-six Royal Tribes, we may infer that
they had political power many centuries before that conqueror. In A.D.
1205, only twelve years after the conquest of India by Shihabu-d-din,
his successor, Kutb, was compelled to conduct the war in person against
the Jats of the northern desert, to prevent their wresting the important
post of Hansi from the empire;[6.3.2] and when the unfortunate and
intrepid queen Raziyah, the worthy heiress of the great Firoz, was
compelled to abandon her throne to a usurper, she sought and found
protection amongst the Jats, who, with their Scythic brethren, the
Gakkhars, assembled all their forces and marched, with their queen at
their head, like Tomyris of old, to meet her foes.[6.3.3] She was not
destined to enjoy the same revenge, but gained a glorious death in the
attempt to overturn the Salic law of India.[6.3.4] Again, in A.D. 1397,
when Timur invaded India, Bhatner was attacked for “having distressed
him exceedingly on his invasion of Multan,” when he “in person scoured
the country, and cut off a tribe of banditti called Jats.”[6.3.5] In
short, the Bhattis and Jats were so intermingled that distinction was
impossible. Leaving this point, therefore, to be adjusted in the annals
of the Bhattis, we proceed to sketch the history of the colony which
ruled Bhatner when subjugated by the Rathors.

=The Bhatti Migration.=—It was shortly after Timur’s invasion that a
colony of Bhattis migrated from Marot and Phulra, under their leader
Bersi, and assaulted and captured Bhatner from a [213] Muhammadan chief;
but whether one of Timur’s officers, or a dependent of Delhi, remains
unknown, though most probably the former. His name, Chaghat Khan, almost
renders this certain, and they must have made a proper name out of his
tribe, Chagatai, of which he was a noble. This Khan had conquered
Bhatner from the Jats, and had acquired a considerable territory, which
the Bhatti colony took advantage of his return to invade and conquer.
Sixteen generations have intervened since this event, which, bringing it
to the period of Timur’s invasion, furnishes an additional reason for
concluding the Khan of Bhatner to have been one of his nobles, whom he
may have left entrusted with this important point of communication,
should he meditate further intercourse with India.

Bersi ruled twenty-seven years, and was succeeded by his son Bhairon,
when the sons of Chaghat Khan, obtaining aid from the Delhi monarch,
invaded Bhatner, and were twice repulsed with great loss. A third army
succeeded; Bhatner was invested and reduced to great straits, when
Bhairon hung out a flag of truce, and offered to accept any conditions
which would not compromise his castle. Two were named: to embrace
Islamism, or seal his sincerity by giving his daughter to the king. He
accepted the first alternative, and from that day, in order to
distinguish these proselytes, they changed the name of Bhati to Bhatti.
Six chiefs intervened between Bhairon and

Rao Dalich, surnamed Hayat Khan, from whom Rae Singh of Bikaner wrested
Bhatner, and Fatehabad became the future residence of the Bhatti Khans.
He was succeeded by

Husain Khan (the grandson of Hayat), who recaptured Bhatner from Raja
Shujawan Singh, and it was maintained during the time of Husain Mahmud
and Imam Mahmud, until Surat Singh made the final conquest of it from
Bahadur Khan, father to the present titular head of the Bhattis,[6.3.6]

Zabita Khan, who resides at Reni, having about twenty-five villages
dependent thereon.[6.3.7] Reni was founded by Rae Singh of Bikaner, and
named after his queen (_Rani_), to whom it was assigned. It was taken by
Imam Mahmud. The Bhatti Khan is now a robber by profession, and his
revenues, which are said to have sometimes amounted to three lakhs of
rupees, are extorted by the point of his lance. These [214] depredations
are carried to a frightful extent, and the poor Jats are kept eternally
on the alert to defend their property. The proximity of the British
territory preventing all incursions to the eastward, they are thrown
back upon their original haunts, and make the whole of this northern
region their prey. To this circumstance is attributed the desertion of
these lands, which once reared cattle in abundance, and were highly
valued. It is asserted that from the northern boundary of Bhatner to the
Gara there are many tracts susceptible of high cultivation, having water
near the surface, and many large spaces entirely free from _thal_, or
‘sandhills.’ To the drying up of the Hakra, or Ghaggar, many centuries
ago, in conjunction with moral evils, is ascribed the existing
desolation. According to tradition, this stream took a westerly
direction, by Phulra, where it is yet to be traced, and fell into the
Indus below Uchh. The couplet recording its absorption by the sands of
Ner has already been given, in the time of Rao Hamir, prince of Dhat. If
the next European traveller who may pass through the Indian desert will
seek out the representative of the ancient Sodha princes at Chor, near
Umarkot, he may learn from their bard (if they retain such an appendage)
the date of this prince, and that of so important an event in the
physical and political history of their regions. The vestiges of large
towns, now buried in the sands, confirm the truth of this tradition, and
several of them claim a high antiquity; such as the Rangmahall, already
mentioned, west of Bhatner, having subterranean apartments still in good
preservation. An aged native of Dandusar (twenty-five miles south of
Bhatner) replied, to my inquiry as to the recollections attached to this
place, that “it belonged to a Panwar prince who ruled once all these
regions, when Sikandar Rumi attacked them.”

An excursion from Hansi Hissar, our western frontier, into these
regions, would soon put the truth of such traditions to the test, as far
as these reported ruins are concerned; though what might appear the
remains of palaces of the Pramaras, the Johyas, and the Jats of ancient
days, to the humble occupant of a hut in the desert, may only prove the
foundations of some castellated building. But the same traditions are
circulated with regard to the more western desert, where the same kind
of vestiges is said to exist, and the annals make mention of capitals,
the sites of which are now utterly unknown. Considering the safety, and
comparative ease, with which such a journey can be made, one cannot
imagine a more agreeable pursuit than the prosecution of archaeological
inquiries in the northern deserts of Rajputana, where traditions abound,
and where the existing manners, amongst such a diversity of tribes,
would furnish ample materials [215] for the portfolio, as well as for
memoirs. Its productions, spontaneous or cultivated, though its
botanical as well as zoological specimens may be limited, we know to be
essentially different from those of Gangetic India, and more likely to
find a parallel in the natural productions and phenomena of the great
African desert. The Bhattis, the Khosas, the Rajars, the Sahariyas, the
Mangalias, the Sodhas, and various other nomadic tribes, present a wide
field for observation; and the physiologist, when tired of the habits of
man, may descend from the nobler animal to the lion, the wild ass, every
kind of deer, the flocks of sheep which, fed on the succulent grasses,
touch not water for six weeks together, while the various herbs,
esculent plants and shrubs, salt lakes, natron beds, etc., would give
abundant scope for commentary and useful comparison. He will discover no
luxuries, and few signs of civilization; the _jhonpra_ (hut) constructed
of poles and twigs, coated inside with mud and covered with grass, being
little better than the African’s dwelling.

=Ancient Cities.=—We shall conclude this imperfect sketch of Bikaner and
the desert with the names of several of their ancient towns, which may
aid the search of the traveller in the regions on its northern border:
Abohar; Banjara ka Nagar; Rangmahall; Sodal, or Soratgarh; Machotal;
Ratibang; Kalibang; Kalyansar; Phulra; Marot; Tilwara; Gilwara; Bani;
Manikkhar; Sursagar; Bamani; Koriwala; Kal-Dherani.[6.3.8]

Some names in this list may be unimportant, but if two, or even one,
should be the means of eliciting some knowledge of the past, the record
will not be useless.

Phulra and Marot have still some importance: the first is very ancient,
and enumerated amongst the ‘Nau-koti Maru-ki,’ in the earliest periods
of Pramara (vulg. Panwar) dominion. I have no doubt that inscriptions in
the ornamental nail-headed character belonging to the Jains will be
found here, having obtained one from Lodorva in the desert, which has
been a ruin for nine centuries. Phulra was the residence of Lakha
Phulani, a name well known to those versed in the old traditions of the
desert. He was cotemporary with Siddh Rae of Anhilwara, and Udayaditya
of Dhar [216].

-----

Footnote 6.3.1:

[Bhatner, Bhatti-nagara, ‘town of the Bhattis,’ the Po-to-lu-lo or
Bhatosthala of the Buddhist pilgrims (Cunningham, _Ancient Geography_,
147; _ASR_, xxiii. (1887), 4 f.).]

Footnote 6.3.2:

[Kutbu-d-dīn [=I]bak (A.D. 1206-10). The leader of the Hindu revolt
was Jatwān, who was defeated and slain on the borders of Bāgar (‘the
land of the Bāgri, or warriors,’ or according to others, from _bāgar_,
‘a thorn hedge’), a name still applied to a tract in the Sirsa and
Hissār Districts of the Panjāb (Cunningham, _Ancient Geography_, 247;
_IGI_, xiii. 149 f.). For the revolt see _Tabaqāt-i-Nasiri_, trans.
Raverty, 516 f.; Elliot-Dowson ii. 217 ff.; Ferishta i. 191 f., who
calls the leader Jīwan Rāī, general of the forces of Nahrwāla in
Gujarāt.]

Footnote 6.3.3:

[Sultān Razīyah (A.D. 1236-40) was supported in her attack on Delhi by
a force of Gakkhars and Jats (Ferishta i. 221).]

Footnote 6.3.4:

I presented to Mr. Marsden a unique coin of this ill-fated queen.

Footnote 6.3.5:

[For Timūr’s attack on Bhatner and on the Jats see Elliot-Dowson iii.
420 ff., 487 ff., 428 f., 492 f.]

Footnote 6.3.6:

In S. 1857 (A.D. 1801) the celebrated George Thomas, for the sum of
three lakhs, put the Bhattis into the temporary possession of Bhatner;
but the succeeding year it was again taken from them by the Rathors.

Footnote 6.3.7:

This memoir was written in 1813-14, and may contain many inaccuracies,
from its very remote situation, and the difficulty of obtaining
correct information. [Reni is 120 miles N.E. of Bīkaner city, and is
said to take its name from a legendary Rāja Renpāl.]

Footnote 6.3.8:

[Few of these names are traceable on modern maps.]

-----

BOOK VII
ANNALS OF JAISALMER

CHAPTER 1

=Limits of Jaisalmer.=—Jaisalmer is the modern name of a tract of
country comprehended, according to ancient geography, in Marusthali, the
desert of India. It is termed Mer in the traditional nomenclature of
this region, from being a rocky (mer) oasis in the heart of the sandy
desert, interesting both from its physical features and its position as
the Ultima Thule of independent Hinduism. Yet, however entitled to
regard from its local peculiarities or its products, the history of the
tribe which inhabits it presents a still more engrossing subject for
investigation.

=The Bhatti Tribe.=—This tribe is the Bhatti, a branch of the Yadu or
Jadon race, whose power was paramount in India three thousand years ago;
and the prince now governing this distant [217] corner of India claims
descent from those Yadu kings who ruled from the Yamuna to the ‘world’s
end,’[7.1.1] at that remote period.

It were preposterous to expect to find, in the annals of a people so
subject to the vicissitudes of fortune, an unbroken series of historical
evidence in support of this ancestry; but they have preserved links of
the chain which indicate original affinities. In tracing the Yadu-Bhatti
history, two hypotheses alternately present themselves to our minds,
each of which rests upon plausible grounds; the one supposing the
Bhattis to be of Scythic, the other of Hindu origin. This incongruity
may be reconciled by presuming the co-mixture of the two primitive
races; by enlarging our views, and contemplating the barrier, which in
remote ages separated Scythia and India, as ideal; and admitting that
the various communities, from the Caspian to the Ganges, were members of
one grand family, having a common language and common faith,[7.1.2] in
that ancient central empire whose existence has been contended for and
denied by the first names in science;[7.1.3] the Bharatavarsha of the
Hindus, the Indo-Scythic empire of king Bharat, son of Budha, the
ancestor of the Yadu-Bhattis, now confined to a nook of the
desert.[7.1.4]

It would be vain to speculate upon the first colonization of India
proper by the Rajkula, or ‘royal tribes.’ It appears to have possessed
an indigenous population prior to the races of Surya, or Indu, though
the genealogies which give the origin of these degraded races of
Kabas,[7.1.5] Bhils, Meras, Gonds, etc., assert that they were all from
the same stem, and that their political debasement was the effect of
moral causes. But as there is no proof of this, we must attribute the
fable to the desire of the Brahman [218] archaeologist to account for
the origin of all things. Modern inquiries into these matters have been
cramped by an erroneous and contracted view of the power of this ancient
people, and the direction of that power. It has been assumed that the
prejudices originating in Muslim conquests, which prevented the Hindu
chieftain from crossing the forbidden waters of the Attock, and still
more from “going down to the sea in ships,” had always existed. But were
it not far more difficult to part with erroneous impressions than to
receive new and correct views, it would be apparent that the first of
these restrictions is of very recent origin, and on the other hand, that
the Hindus of remote ages possessed great naval power, by which
communication must have been maintained with the coasts of
Africa,[7.1.6] Arabia, and Persia, as well as the Australian
Archipelago.[7.1.7] It is ridiculous,

Since Mr. M. wrote, the revelation of the architectural antiquities in
these isles, consequent to British conquests, establishes the fact that
they were colonized by the Suryas, whose mythological and heroic history
is sculptured in their edifices and maintained in their writings. Nor
should we despair that similar discoveries may yet disclose the link
which of yore connected India with Egypt, and to which Ceylon was but
the first stepping-stone. That Rama possessed great naval means is
beyond doubt, inherited from his ancestor Sagara ‘the sea-king,’ twenty
generations before the hero of Lanka, which place I have long imagined
to be Ethiopia; whence ancient writers assert Egypt to have had her
institutions, and that the Ethiopians were of Indian origin. Cuvier,
quoting Syncellus, even assigns the reign of Amenophis as the epoch of
the colonization of Ethiopia from India.—P. 180 of his ‘_Discours_,’
etc. [For early Hindu voyages to Java and the neighbouring region see
Smith, _HFA_, 259 ff.; _BG_, i. Part i. 489 ff.]] with all the knowledge
now in our possession, to suppose that the Hindus always confined
themselves within their gigantic barriers, the limits of modern India.
The cosmography of the Puranas, imperfect and puerile as it is, and some
of the texts of Manu, afford abundant evidence of an intimate
intercourse between the countries from the Oxus to the Ganges; and even
in their allegories, we trace fresh streams of knowledge flowing into
India from that central region, stigmatized in latter days as the land
of the Barbarian (Mlechchha). Manu corroborates the Puranas, from which
we infer the fact that in distant ages one uniform faith extended from
Sakadvipa, the continent of the Sakae, to the Ganges.[7.1.8] These
observations [219] it is necessary to premise before we attempt, by
following the tide of Yadu migration during the lapse of thirty
centuries, to trace them from Indraprastha, Suryapura, Mathura, Prayaga,
Dwarka, Jadu-ka-dang (the mountains of Jud), Bahra, Gajni in Zabulistan;
and again refluent into India, at Salbahana or Salpura in the Panjab,
Tanot, Derawar, Lodorva in the desert, and finally Jaisalmer, founded in
S. 1212, or A.D. 1156.

Having elsewhere descanted at length on the early history of the
Yadus,[7.1.9] we may refer those who are likely to take an interest in
this discussion to that paper, and proceed at once to glean what we can
from the native annals before us, from the death of their leader,
Hari-Krishna, to the dispersion of the Yadus from India. The bare fact
of their migration altogether out of India proper proves that the
original intercourse, which conducted Budha, the patriarch of the Yadu
race, into India[7.1.10] (where he espoused Ila, a princess of the Surya
race, and by whom his issue was multiplied), was not forgotten, though
fifty generations had elapsed from the patriarchal Budha to Hari—to whom
and the chronicle we return.

=Early Legends.=—“Prayaga[7.1.11] is the cradle of the Yadus who are
Somavansa (of the lunar race). Thence Mathura founded by Pururavas
remained for ages the seat of power. The name of Jadon (Yadu), of whom
there were fifty-six tribes,[7.1.12] became famous in the world, and of
this race was the mighty Hari-Krishna, who founded Dwarka.”

The grand international conflicts amongst the “fifty-six Yadu tribes,”
at Kurukshetra, and subsequently at Dwarka, are sufficiently known to
the reader of Hindu history [220], and may be referred to
elsewhere.[7.1.13] These events are computed to have happened about 1100
years before Christ. On the dispersion of these races many abandoned
India, and amongst these, two of the many sons of Krishna. This deified
leader of the Yadus had eight wives, and the offspring of the first and
seventh, by a singular fate, now occupy what may be termed the outposts
of Hinduism.[7.1.14]

Rukmini was the senior of these wives; and the eldest of her sons was
Pradyumna, who was married to a princess of Vidarbha; she bore him two
sons, Aniruddha and Vajranabha, and from the latter the Bhattis claim
descent. Vajra had two sons, Sankhanabha and Khira.[7.1.15]

“When the Jadons were exterminated in the conflict at Dwarka, and Hari
had gone to heaven, Vajra was on his way from Mathura to see his father,
but had only marched twenty coss (forty miles), when he received
intelligence of that event, which had swept away his kindred. He died
upon the spot, when Nabha was elected king and returned to Mathura, but
Khira pursued his journey to Dwarka.

“The thirty-six tribes of Rajputs hitherto oppressed by the Yadus, who
had long held universal dominion, now determined to be revenged. Nabha
was compelled to fly the holy city [Dwarka]; he became prince of
Marusthali in the west.

“Thus far from the Bhagavat” (says the Bhatti chronicler), and I
continue the history of the Bhattis, by the Brahman Sukhdharma of
Mathura.

“Nabha had issue Prithibahu.

“Khira had two sons, Jareja and Judhbhan.[7.1.16]

“Judhbhan was on a pilgrimage; the goddess heard his vows; she awoke him
from his sleep, and promised whatever he desired. ‘Give me land that I
may inhabit,’ said the youth; ‘Rule in these hills,’ replied the
goddess, and disappeared. When Judhbhan awoke, and was yet pondering on
the vision of the night, a confused noise assailed him; and looking out,
he discovered that the prince of the country had just died without
issue, and they were disputing who should succeed him. The prime
minister said, ‘he dreamed that a descendant of Krishna had arrived at
Bahra,’[7.1.17] and proposed [221] to seek him out and invest him as
their prince. All assented, and Judhbhan was elected king. He became a
great prince, had a numerous progeny, and the place of their abode was
henceforth styled Jadu-ka-dang, ‘the mountains of Jadu.’

“Prithibahu (‘the arm of the earth’), son of Nabha, prince of
Marusthali, inherited the insignia of Sri-Krishna with the regal
umbrella (_chhatri_) made by Viswakarma. He had a son Bahubal (‘strong
arm’), who espoused Kamalavati, daughter of Vijaya Singh, prince of
Malwa, who gave in dower (_daeja_)[7.1.18] one thousand horses of
Khorasan, one hundred elephants, pearls, gems, and gold innumerable, and
five hundred handmaids, with chariots and bedsteads of gold. The Puar
(Pramar) Kamalavati became the chief queen and bore her lord one son,

“Bahu, killed by a fall from his horse; he left one son,

“Subahu, who was poisoned by his wife, a daughter of Mand Raja, Chauhan
of Ajmer; he left a son,

“Rajh, who reigned twelve years. He was married to Subhag Sundari,
daughter of Ber Singh, prince of Malwa. Having, when pregnant, dreamed
that she was delivered of a white elephant, the astrologers, who
interpreted this as an indication of greatness, desired he might be
named Gaj:[7.1.19] as he approached manhood, the coco-nut came from
Judhbhan, prince of Purabdes (the eastern), and was accepted. At the
same time tidings arrived that from the shores of the ocean, the
barbarians (Mlechchha), who had formerly attacked Subahu,[7.1.20] were
again advancing, having Farid Shah of Khorasan at [222] the head of four
lakhs of horse, from whom the people fled in dismay. The Raja sent
scouts to obtain accurate intelligence, and marched to Hariau to meet
him; while the foe encamped two coss from Kunjshahr.[7.1.21] A battle
ensued, in which the invader was defeated with the loss of thirty
thousand men, and four thousand on the part of the Hindus. But the
foeman rallied, and Raja Rajh, who again encountered him, was wounded
and died just as prince Gaj returned with Hansavati, his bride, daughter
of Judhbhan of the east. In two battles the king of Khorasan was
vanquished, when he obtained an auxiliary in the king of Rum
(Romi-pati), to establish the Koran and the law of the prophet in
infidel lands. While the armies of the Asuras were thus preparing their
strength, Raja Gaj called a council of ministers. There being no
stronghold of importance, and it being impossible to stand against
numbers, it was determined to erect a fortress amidst the mountains of
the north. Having summoned his friends to his aid, he sought counsel of
the guardian goddess of his race; who [223] foretold that the power of
the Hindus was to cease, but commanded him to erect a fort and call it
Gajni. While it was approaching completion, news came that the kings of
Rum and Khorasan were near at hand:

_Rūmī-pat, Khorāsān-pat, haya, gaya, pākhar, pāī,
Chinta teri, chit lagi; sūna Jadpat Rāē._[7.1.22]

The stick wounded the drum of the Jadon prince; the army was formed,
gifts were distributed, and the astrologers were commanded to assign
such a moment for marching as might secure the victory.

“Thursday (Brihaspati) the 13th of Magh, the enlightened half of the
moon, when one ghari[7.1.23] of the day had fled, was the auspicious
hour; and the drum of departure sounded. That day he marched eight coss,
and encamped at Dulapar. The combined kings advanced, but in the night
the Shah of Khorasan died of indigestion. When it was reported to the
king of Rum (Shah Sikandar Rumi) that Shah Mamrez was dead, he became
alarmed and said, ‘while we mortals have grand schemes in hand, He above
has other views for us.’ Still his army advanced like waves of the
ocean; caparisons and chains clank on the backs of elephants, while
instruments of war resound through the host. Elephants move like walking
mountains; the sky is black with clouds of dust; bright helms reflect
the rays of the sun. Four coss (eight miles) separated the hostile
armies. Raja Gaj and his chieftains performed their ablutions, and
keeping the Joginis[7.1.24] in their rear, advanced to the combat. Each
host rushed on like famished tigers; the earth trembled; the heavens
were overcast; nor was aught visible in the gloom but the radiant helm.
War-bells resound; horses neigh; masses of men advance on each other,
like the dark rolling clouds of Bhadon. Hissing speeds the feathered
dart; the lion roar of the warriors is re-echoed; the edge of the sword
deluges the ground with blood; on both sides the blows resound on the
crackling bones. Here was Judhrae, there the Khans and Amirs, as if Time
had encountered his fellow. Mighty warriors strew the earth; heroes fall
in the cause of their lords. The army of the Shah fled; he left
twenty-five thousand souls entangled in the net of destruction; he
abandoned elephants and horses, and even his throne. Seven thousand
Hindus lay dead on the field. The drum of victory resounded, and the
Jadon returned triumphant to his capital [224].

“On Sunday, the 3rd of Baisakh, the spring season (Vasant), the Rohini
Nakshatra, and Samvat Dharmaraja (Yudhishthira) 3008,[7.1.25] seated on
the throne of Gajni, he maintained the Jadon race. With this victory his
power became firm: he conquered all the countries to the west, and sent
an ambassador to Kashmir to call its prince Kandrapkel[7.1.26] to his
presence. But the prince refused the summons: he said the world would
scoff at him if he attended the stirrup of another without being first
worsted in fight. Raja Gaj invaded Kashmir; and married the daughter of
its prince, by whom he had a son, called Salbahan.

“When this child had attained the age of twelve, tidings of another
invasion came from Khorasan. Raja Gaj shut himself up for three entire
days in the temple of Kuladevi:[7.1.27] on the fourth day the goddess
appeared and revealed to him his destiny; the Gajni would pass from his
hands, but that his posterity would reinherit it, not as Hindus but as
Muslims; and directed him to send his son Salbahan amongst the Hindus of
the east, there to erect a city to be named after him. She said that he
would have fifteen sons, whose issue would multiply; ‘that he (Raja Gaj)
would fall in the defence of Gajni, but would gain a glorious reward
hereafter.’

“Having heard his fate revealed Raja Gaj convened his family and kin,
and on pretence of a pilgrimage to Juala-mukhi,[7.1.28] he caused them
to depart, with the prince Salbahan, for the east.

“Soon after the foe approached within five coss of Gajni. Leaving
therein his uncle Sahideo for its defence, Raja Gaj marched to meet him.
The king of Khorasan divided his army into five divisions; the Raja
formed his into three: a desperate conflict ensued, in which both the
king and the Raja were slain. The battle lasted five _pahars_,[7.1.29]
and a hundred thousand Mirs and thirty thousand Hindus strewed the
field. The king’s son invested Gajni; for thirty days it was defended by
Sahideo, when he performed the Sakha,[7.1.30] and nine thousand valiant
men gave up their lives.

=Sālivāhana.=—“When tidings of this fatal event were conveyed to
Salbahan, for twelve days the ground became his bed.[7.1.31] He at
length reached the Panjab, where he fixed on a spot with abundance of
water, and having collected his clansmen around him, he laid the
foundation of a city which he named after himself, Salbahanpur. The
surrounding [225] Bhumias attended, and acknowledged his supremacy.
Seventy-two years of the era of Vikrama had elapsed when Salbahanpur was
founded, upon Sunday, the 8th of the month of Bhadon.[7.1.32]

“Salbahan conquered the whole region of the Panjab. He had fifteen sons,
who all became Rajas: namely, Baland, Rasalu, Dharmangad, Vacha, Rupa,
Sundar, Lekh, Jaskaran, Nema, Mat, Nipak, Gangau, Jagau; all of whom, by
the strength of their own arms, established themselves in independence.

“The coco-nut from Raja Jaipal Tuar was sent from Delhi, and
accepted.[7.1.33] Baland proceeded to Delhi, whose prince advanced to
meet him. On his return with his bride, Salbahan determined to redeem
Gajni from the foe and avenge his father’s death. He crossed the Attock
to encounter Jalal, who advanced at the head of twenty thousand men.
Crowned with victory, he regained possession of Gajni, where he left
Baland, and returned to his capital in the Panjab; he soon after died,
having ruled thirty-three years and nine months.

=Bāland.=—“Baland succeeded. His brothers had now established themselves
in all the mountainous tracts of the Panjab. But the Turks[7.1.34] began
rapidly to increase, and to subjugate all beneath their sway, and the
lands around Gajni were again in their power. Baland had no minister,
but superintended in person all the details of his government. He had
seven sons: Bhatti, Bhupati, Kalar, Janj,[7.1.35] Sarmor, Bhainsrekha,
Mangreo. The second son Bhupati (_i.e._ lord of the earth) had a son,
Chakito, from whom is descended the Chakito (Chagatai) tribe
[226].[7.1.36]

“Chakito had eight sons, namely, Deosi, Bharu, Khemkhan, Nahar,
Jaipal,[7.1.37] Dharsi, Bijli Khan, Shah Samand.

“Baland, who resided at Salbahanpur, left Gajni to the charge of his
grandson Chakito; and as the power of the barbarian (Mlechchha)
increased, he not only entertained troops of that race, but all his
nobles were of the same body. They offered, if he would quit the
religion of his fathers, to make him master of Balkh, Bokhara, where
dwelt the Usbek race, whose king had no offspring but one daughter.
Chakito married her, and became king of Balkh, Bokhara, and lord of
twenty-eight thousand horse. Between Balkh and Bokhara runs a mighty
river, and Chakito was king of all from the gate of Balakhshan to the
face of Hindustan; and from him is descended the tribe of Chakito
Mongols.[7.1.38]

“Kalar, third son of Baland, had eight sons, whose descendants are
designated Kalar.[7.1.39] Their names were, Sheodas, Ramdas, Aso,
Kistna, Sama, Ganga, Jassa, Bhaga; almost all of whom became Musalmans.
They are a numerous race, inhabiting the mountainous countries west of
the river,[7.1.40] and notorious robbers.

“Janj, the fourth son, had seven sons: Champa, Gokul, Mehraj, Hansa,
Bhadon, Rasa, Jaga, all whose issue bore the name of Janj;[7.1.41] and
in like manner did the other sons become the patriarchs of tribes.

=Bhatti.=—“Bhatti succeeded his father Baland. He conquered fourteen
princes, and added [227] their fortunes to his own. Among his effects he
reckoned twenty-four thousand mules[7.1.42] laden with treasure, sixty
thousand horse, and innumerable foot. As soon as he mounted the _gaddi_,
he assembled all his forces at Lahore preparatory to the
_tika-daur_[7.1.43] destined against Birbhan Baghel, lord of Kanakpur.
Birbhan fell in the battle which ensued, at the head of forty thousand
men.

“Bhatti had two sons, Mangal Rao and Masur Rao. With Bhatti, the
patronymic was changed, and the tribe thenceforth was distinguished by
his name.

=Mangal.=—“Mangal Rao succeeded, but his fortune was not equal to that
of his fathers. Dhundi, king of Ghazni, with a mighty force, invaded
Lahore;[7.1.44] nor did Mangal Rao oppose him, but with his eldest son
fled into the wilds on the banks of the river. The foe then invested
Salbahanpur, where resided the family of the Raja; but Masur Rao escaped
and fled to the Lakhi Jungle.[7.1.45] There being only a cultivating
peasantry in this tract, he overcame them, and became master of the
country. Masur Rao had two sons, Abhai Rao and Saran Rao. The elder,
Abhai Rao, brought the whole Lakhi Jungle under his control, and his
issue, which multiplied, became famous as the Aboharia Bhattis.[7.1.46]
Saran quarrelled with and separated from his brother, and his issue
descended to the rank of cultivators, and are well known as the Saran
Jats.[7.1.47]

“Mangal Rao, the son of Bhatti, and who abandoned his kingdom, had six
sons: Majam Rao, Kalarsi, Mulraj, Sheoraj, Phul, Kewala.

“When Mangal Rao fled from the king, his children were secreted in the
houses of his subjects. A Bhumia named Satidas, of the tribe of
Tak,[7.1.48] whose ancestors had been reduced from power and wealth by
the ancestors of the Bhatti prince, determined to avenge himself, and
informed the king that some of the children were concealed in [228] the
house of a banker (_sahukar_). The king sent the Tak with a party of
troops, and surrounded the house of Sridhar, who was carried before the
king, who swore he would put all his family to death if he did not
produce the young princes of Salbahana. The alarmed banker protested he
had no children of the Raja’s, for that the infants who enjoyed his
protection were the offspring of a Bhumia, who had fled, on the
invasion, deeply in his debt. But the king ordered him to produce them;
he demanded the name of the village, sent for the Bhumias belonging to
it, and not only made the royal infants of Salbahana eat with them, but
marry their daughters. The banker had no alternative to save their lives
but to consent: they were brought forth in the peasant’s garb, ate with
the husbandmen (Jats), and were married to their daughters. Thus the
offspring of Kalarrae became the Kalhora Jats; those of Mundraj and
Sheoraj, the Mudna and Seora Jats; while the younger boys, Phul and
Kewala, who were passed off as a barber (Nai) and a potter (Kumhar),
fell into that class.[7.1.49]

“Mangal Rao, who found shelter in the wilds of the Gara, crossed that
stream and subjugated a new territory. At this period, the tribe of
Baraha[7.1.50] inhabited the banks of the river; beyond them were the
Buta Rajputs of Butaban.[7.1.51] In Pugal dwelt the Pramara;[7.1.52] in
Dhat the Sodha[7.1.53] race; and the Lodra[7.1.54] Rajputs in Lodorva.
Here Mangal Rao found security, and with the sanction of the Sodha
prince, he fixed his future abode in the centre of the lands of the
Lodras, the Barahas, and the Sodhas.[7.1.55] On the death of Mangal Rao,
he was succeeded by

“Majam Rao, who escaped from Salbahanpur with his father. He was
recognized by all the neighbouring princes, who sent the usual presents
on his accession, and the [229] Sodha prince of Umarkot made an offer of
his daughter in marriage, which was accepted, and the nuptials were
solemnized at Umarkot. He had three sons, Kehar, Mulraj,[7.1.56] and
Gogli.

=Kehar Rāo.=—“Kehar became renowned for his exploits. Hearing of a
caravan (kafila) of five hundred horses going from Aror[7.1.57] to
Multan, he pursued them with a chosen band disguised as camel merchants,
and came up with his prey across the Panjnad,[7.1.58] where he attacked
and captured it, and returned to his abode. By such exploits he became
known, and the coco-nut (_nariyal_) was sent to Majam Rao, and his two
elder sons, by Alansi Deora, of Jalor.[7.1.59] The nuptials were
celebrated with great splendour, and on their return Kehar laid the
foundation of a castle, which he named Tanot in honour of Tana [or
Tanuja] Devi. Ere it was completed, Rao Majam died.

=Kehar Rāo.=—“Kehar succeeded. On his accession, Tanot was attacked by
Jasrath, chief of the Barahas,[7.1.60] because it was erected on the
bounds of his tribe; but Mulraj defended it, and the Barahas were
compelled to retire.

“On Mangalwar (Tuesday), the full-moon of Magh, S. 787[7.1.61] (A.D.
731), the fortress of Tanot was completed, and a temple erected to
Tana-Mata. Shortly after a treaty of peace was formed with the Barahas,
which was concluded by the nuptials of their chief with the daughter of
Mulraj [230].”

Having thus fairly fixed the Yadu Bhatti chieftain in the land of Maru,
it seems a proper point at which to close this initiatory chapter with
some observations on the diversified history of this tribe, crowded into
so small a compass; though the notes of explanation, subjoined as we
proceeded, will render fewer remarks requisite, since with their help
the reader may draw his own conclusions as to the value of this portion
of the Bhatti annals, which may be divided into four distinct epochs:

=Recapitulation of Bhatti History.=—1. That of Hari, the ancestor of the
Yadu race.

2. Their expulsion, or the voluntary abandonment of India by his
children, with their relations of the Harikula and Pandu races, for the
countries west of the Indus; their settlements in Marusthali; the
founding of Gajni, and combats with the kings of Rum and Khorasan.

3. Their expulsion from Zabulistan, colonization of the Panjab, and
creation of the new capital of Salbahanpur.

4. Their expulsion from the Panjab, and settlement in Mer, the rocky
oasis of Maru, to the erection of Tanot.

It is the more unnecessary to enter into greater details on these
outlines of the early Yadu history, since the subject has been in part
treated elsewhere.[7.1.62] A multiplicity of scattered facts and
geographical distinctions fully warrants our assent to the general truth
of these records, which prove that the Yadu race had dominion in central
Asia, and were again, as Islamism advanced, repelled upon India. The
obscure legend of their encounters with the allied Syrian and Bactrian
kings would have seemed altogether illusory, did not evidence exist that
Antiochus the Great was slain in these very regions by an Indo-Scythian
prince, called by the Greek writers Sophagasenas: a name in all
probability compounded from Subahu and his grandson Gaj (who might have
used the common affix of _sena_), the Yadu princes of Gajni, who are
both stated to have had conflicts with the Bactrian (Khorasan) kings.

Sistan (the region of cold, _siya_)[7.1.63] and both sides of the valley
were occupied in the earliest periods by another branch of the Yadus;
for the Sind-Samma dynasty was descended from Samba (which like Yadu
became a patronymic)—of which the Greeks made Sambos—and one of whose
descendants opposed Alexander in his progress down the Indus. The
capital of this dynasty was Samma-ka-kot, or Samanagari, yet existing on
the lower Indus, and which was corrupted into Minnagara by the Greeks
[231].[7.1.64]

=Ancient Sites in Jaisalmer.=—It is an interesting hypothesis, that
would make the Chagatais descendants of the Yadus.[7.1.65] In like
manner, Bappa, the ancestor of the Ranas of Mewar, abandoned Central
India after establishing his line in Chitor, and retired to Khorasan.
All this proves that Hinduism prevailed in these distant regions, and
that the intercourse was unrestricted between Central Asia and India. We
have undiscovered fields of inquiry in Transoxiana, and in the still
more accessible region of the Panjab, where much exists to reward the
archaeologist; Salbahanpur, Kampilanagari, Bahra, the hill of Jud,
perhaps Bucephalia,[7.1.66] the seven towns of Uchh, but, above all, the
capital of Taxiles. Let us hope that, in this age of enterprise, these
suggestions may be followed up; we can promise the adventurer a very
different result from that which tempts the explorer of barbarous
Africa, for here he would penetrate into the first haunts of
civilization, and might solve one of the great problems which still
distract mankind [232].

-----

Footnote 7.1.1:

Jagat Khunt, the point of land beyond Dwarka, the last stronghold of
the Yadus when their power was extinguished.

Footnote 7.1.2:

Manu says: “But in consequence of the omission of the sacred rites,
and of their not consulting Brāhmanas, the following tribes of
Kshatriyas have gradually sunk in the world to the condition of
Sūdras: viz. the Paundrakas, the Kodas, the Dravidas, the Kāmbogas,
the Yavanas, the Sākas, the Pāradas, the Pahlavas, the Kīnas, the
Kirātas, and the Daradas” (_Laws_, x. 43-44, trans. G. Bühler, _Sacred
Books of the East_, xxv. 412).

It is a great mistake to suppose the Bactrian Greeks are these
Yavanas, who are descended from Yavan, fifth son of Yayati, third son
of the patriarchal Nahustha, though the Ionians may be of this race.
The Sakas are the Sakae, the races of Central Asia (the Sakha Rajput);
the Pahlavas, the ancient Persians, or Guebres; the Chinas, the
inhabitants of China; and the Chasas, inhabitants of the great snowy
mountains (_koh_), whence Kohchasa (the Casia montes of Ptolemy),
corrupted to Caucasus [?].

Footnote 7.1.3:

The illustrious Cuvier questions the existence of an ancient central
kingdom, because “ni Moïse, ni Homère, ne nous parlait d’un grand
empire dans la Haute-Asie” (_Discours sur les révolutions de la
surface du globe_, p. 206). Who, then, were “the sons of Togarmah”
(mentioned by Ezekiel [xxvii. 14]) who conquered and long held Egypt?
[Togarmah was N. Assyria (Hastings, _Dict. Bible_, iv. 789 f.).]

Footnote 7.1.4:

[Bharata, from whom the Kauravas and Pāndavas, more especially the
latter, were called Bhāratas, was a prince of the Puru branch of the
Lunar race, son of Dushyanta and Sakuntala.]

Footnote 7.1.5:

The Kaba race is almost extinct; it was famed, even in the days of
Krishna, as the savage inhabitants of Saurashtra. When the forester
Bhil, who mortally wounded Krishna, was expressing his contrition for
the unintentional act, he was forgiven, with the remark that it was
only retributive justice, as “in a former birth,” as the godlike Rama,
Krishna had slain him. Thus Rama appears as the subjugator and
civilizer of these indigenous tribes, of whom the Kabas are described
as plundering Krishna’s family after his decease. [The Kābas, now
extinct, were regarded as savage inhabitants of Saurāshtra in the
Krishna tradition, and are said to be the ancestors of the modern
Vāghers (_BG_, viii. 271, 587).]

Footnote 7.1.6:

Whence the Hindu names of towns at the estuaries of the Gambia and
Senegal Rivers, the Tambaconda and other _kondas_, already mentioned?

Footnote 7.1.7:

Mr. Marsden, at an early period of his researches into Hindu
literature, shares the merit of discovering with Sir W. Jones that the
Malayan language, disseminated throughout the Archipelago, and
extending from Madagascar to Easter Island, a space of 200 degs. of
longitude, is indebted to the Sanskrit for a considerable number of
its terms, and that the intercourse which effected this was many
centuries previous to their conversion to the Muhammadan religion. He
is inclined to think that the point of communication was from Gujarat.
The legends of these islanders also abound with allusions to the
Mahabharata and Ramayana. (See _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iv. p. 226,
second edition.) [_EB_, xvii. 475 ff.

Footnote 7.1.8:

The cosmography of the Agni Purana divides the world then known to the
Hindus into seven _dwipas_, or continents: one of these is “Sakadvipa,
whose inhabitants, descended from Bhavya, are termed Sakeswara (_i.e._
Sakae-lords).” His (Bhavya’s) offspring or descendants were Jalad,
Sukamara, Manivaka, Kusumada, Mandaki, Mahadruma, each of whom gave
his name to a _khand_, or division (_qu._ Sukmarkhand?). The chief
ranges of mountains were Jaldas, Raivat, Syama, Indak, Amki, Rim, and
Kesari. “There were seven grand rivers, namely, Mag, Magad, Arvarna,
etc. The inhabitants worship the sun.”

Slight as this information is, we must believe that this Sakadvipa or
Sakatai is the Scythia of the Ancients; and the Sakeswara (the Sakas
of Manu), the Sakae so well known to western history, the progenitors
of the Parthians, whose first (_adi_) king was Arsaka. The sun-worship
indicates the adorer of Mithras, the Mitra or Surya of the Hindu; the
Arvarna recalls the Araxes applied to the Jaxartes; while Jalad, the
proper name of the son of the first king of Sakadvipa, appears to be
the Yulduz of the Tatar historian Abulghazi, who uses the same term as
does the Hindu, to designate a range of mountains. Whence this
identity between Puranic and Tatar cosmography? [These speculations
possess no value.]

“A chief of the twice-born tribe (_i.e._ Brahmans) was brought by
Vishnu’s eagle from Sakadvipa, and thus have Sakadvipa Brahmans become
known in Jambudwipa” (India). Mr. Colebrooke on Indian Classes,
_Asiatic Researches_, vol. v. p. 53. And Manu says that it was only on
their ceasing to sanction Brahmans residing amongst them, that the
inhabitants of these remote western regions became ‘Mlechchha,’ or
barbarians: testimonies which must be held conclusive of perfect
intercourse and reciprocity of sentiment between the nations of
Central Asia and India at periods the most remote.

Footnote 7.1.9:

_Vide_ “Essay on the Hindu and Theban Hercules,” _Transactions of the
Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii.

Footnote 7.1.10:

The Bhagavat says: “Budha (a wise man—a patriarch) came to Bharatkhand
to perform penitential rites, and espoused Ila, by whom he had
Pururavas (founder of Mathura), who had six sons, namely, Ayu, etc.,
who carried on the lunar (Indu) races in India.” Now this Ayu is
likewise the patriarch of the Tatars, and in that language signifies
the moon, a male divinity both with Tatars and Rajputs. Throughout
there are traces of an original identity, which justifies the
application of the term Indo-Scythic to the Yadu race.—_Vide_
Genealogical table, Vol. I.

Footnote 7.1.11:

Prayaga is the modern Allahabad, at the confluence of the Jumna and
Ganges, the capital of the Prasioi of Megasthenes. [Their capital was
Pātaliputra, Patna.]

Footnote 7.1.12:

This is alternately called Chhappan Kula and Chhappan Kror, “fifty-six
tribes,” and “fifty-six millions,” of Yadus. As they were long supreme
over India, this number is not inadmissible.

Footnote 7.1.13:

_Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii. _Vide_ paper
entitled “Comparison of the Hindu and Theban Hercules.”

Footnote 7.1.14:

Jambuvati was the name of the seventh wife, whose eldest son was
called Samba; he obtained possession of the tracts on both sides the
Indus, and founded the Sind-Samma dynasty, from which the Jarejas are
descended. There is every probability that Sambus, of Sambanagari
(Minnagara), the opponent of Alexander, was a descendant of Samba, son
of Krishna [?]. The Jareja chronicles, in ignorance of the origin of
this titular appellation, say that their “ancestors came from Sham, or
Syria.” [These speculations possess no value.]

Footnote 7.1.15:

[This name does not appear in the Vishnu Purāna list.]

Footnote 7.1.16:

Jad, Jud, Jadon, are the various modes of pronouncing Yadu in the
Bhakha, or spoken dialects of the west. Judh-bhan, ‘the rocket of the
Yadus,’ would imply the knowledge of gunpowder at a very remote period
[?].

Footnote 7.1.17:

The precise knowledge of the topography of these regions, displayed in
the Bhatti annals, is the most satisfactory proof of their
authenticity. In the present day, it would be in vain to ask any
native of Jaisalmer the position of the “hill of Jud,” or the site of
Bahra; and but for the valuable translation of Babur’s _Memoirs_, by
Mr. Erskine, we should have been unable to adduce the following
testimony. Babur crossed the Indus the 17th February 1519, and on the
19th, between that river and one of its great towns, the Behat, he
reached the very tract where the descendant of Krishna established
himself twenty-five centuries before. Babur says, “Seven kos from
Behreh to the north there is a hill. This hill in the Zefer Nameh
(History of Timoor), and other books, is called the Hill of Jud. At
first I was ignorant of the origin of its name, but afterwards
discovered that in this hill there were two races of men descended of
the same father. One tribe is called Jud, the other Jenjuheh. From old
times they have been the rulers and lords of the inhabitants of this
hill, and of the Ils and Uluses (political divisions) between Nilab
and Behreh. Their power is exerted in a friendly and brotherly way.
They cannot take from them whatever they please. They take as their
share a portion that has been fixed from very remote times. The Jud is
divided into various branches or families, as well as the Jenjuheh.
The chief man amongst them gets the name of Rae.”—Erskine’s _Baber_,
p. 254.

Here is a decided confirmation that this Hindu colony preserved all
their original manners and customs even to Babur’s day. The tribe of
Janjuhahs, beyond a doubt, is the tribe of Johya, so celebrated in the
region skirting the Sutlej, and which will be noticed hereafter. I
presented a small work entirely relating to their history to the Royal
Asiatic Society. As Babur says they are of the same family as the
Juds, they are probably the descendants of Janj, the brother of
Bhatti, who changed the family patronymic from Jadu or Judu to Bhatti;
and thus it appears that when the elder branch was driven from Gajni,
they retreated amongst their relations of the hills of Jud. Babur was
quite enamoured with the beauty of the hill of Jud, which, with its
lake and valleys, he describes as a miniature Kashmir.—P. 255.

Footnote 7.1.18:

The Pramars were formerly the most powerful potentates of Central
India. Handmaids, and bedsteads of gold, were always a part of the
_daeja_ or dower of Hindu princesses.

Footnote 7.1.19:

Abulfazl [? Abulghazi] mentions Joga as prince of Gasmien and Kashmir,
who was slain by Aghuz Khan, the Patriarch of the Tatar tribes.

Footnote 7.1.20:

In this early portion of the annals there is a singular mixture of
historical facts, and it appears that the Yadu scribes confound their
connexions with the Syrian and Bactrian Greeks, and with the first
Muslim conquerors. Imperfect as is this notice of Subahu, his son
Rajh, and grandson Gaj, who were thus assailed by Farid of Khorasan
(Bactria), and his auxiliary, the king of Rum (Syria), we have a
powerful allusion to Antiochus the Great, who, two hundred and four
years before Christ, invaded Bactria and India. Amongst the few facts
left of this expedition is his treaty with Sophagasenas, the Indian
monarch, in which the Syrian king stipulated for a tribute in
elephants. There are, even in this medley of incidents, grounds for
imagining that Sophagasenas is the Yadu prince of Gajni. Whether, out
of Subahu and Gaj, the Greeks manufactured their Sophagasenas, or
whether prince Gaj could have been entitled Subhagsen, in compliment
to his mother, Subhag-Sundari, of Malwa, must be left for the
speculative to decide. It is not unlikely that the nature of the
tribute, said to have been elephants, which the Indian agreed to
furnish to the Greek prince, may have originated with the name of
_Gaj_, which means ‘elephant.’ [Sophagasenas, mentioned by Polybius
(xi. 34) was probably an Indian king, Subhāgasena, who ruled in the
Kābul valley.]

There is at the same time much that refers to the early progress of
Islam in these regions of Central Asia. Price, in his excellent
history, extracting from the Khulasatu-l-Akhbar, says, “Hejauge was
entrusted with the government of Khorasan, and Obaidoolah with
Seistan, who had orders from Hejauge, his superior, to invade Caubul,
whose prince was Reteil or Retpeil, whom the Author supposes either a
Tatar or Hindoo prince. Artfully retiring, he drew the Mohamedan army
into the defiles, and blocking up the rear, cut off their retreat, and
Obaidoolah was compelled to purchase his liberation by the payment of
seven hundred thousand dirhems.” [See Elliot-Dowson ii. 417; “Retpeil”
is possibly Ratnapāla.]

This was the seventy-eighth year of the Hegira, or A.D. 697. Conjoined
to what follows, it appears to have reference to Rajh, father of Gaj.
Again,

“Obaidoolah and Abdoorehman invaded Seistan with forty thousand men.
The prince of Caubul tried the same manœuvre, but was outwitted by
the Mohamedan, who conquered a great part of Caubul and acquired great
booty, with which he returned to Seistan, to the great displeasure of
Hejauge; and Abdoorehman entered into a confederacy with Retpeil to
attack Hejauge, and absolve Caubul from tribute. Moghairah was the
successor of Abdoorehman in Khorasan, while his father, Mohilel, was
employed beyond the Jehoon, but died at Meru of a burning diarrhoea,
bequeathing his government to Yezzid.”

This account of Mughaira’s (the governor of Khorasan) death, while
carrying on war against the Hindu “Retpeil” of Kabul, has much analogy
to the sudden death of Mamrez, the foe of Rajh of Zabulistan. One
thing is now proved, that princes of the Hindu faith ruled over all
these regions in the first ages of Islamism, and made frequent
attempts, for centuries after, to reconquer them. Of this fact, Babur
gives us a most striking instance in his description of Gajni, or, as
he writes, Ghazni. He says, “I have seen, in another history, that
when the Rai of Hind besieged Subaktegin in Ghazni, Subaktegin ordered
dead flesh and other impurities to be thrown into the fountain, when
there instantly arose a tempest and hurricane, with rain and snow, and
by this device he drove away the enemy.” Babur adds, “I made then
inquiry in Ghazni for this well, but nobody could give me the
slightest information regarding it” (p. 150). Doubtless, when Babur
conquered India, and became better acquainted with the Hindu warriors,
he would have got to the bottom of this anecdote, and have seen that
the success of the ruse of Sabuktegin arose out of the religion of his
foes, who could not use water thus contaminated by the flesh of the
sacred kine. The celebrated Valabhi was reduced by the same stratagem.

Footnote 7.1.21:

Neither of these towns appears in any map. “There is a Koonj Reshak in
Khorasan, and a Penjher in Balk.” Sir W. Ouseley’s _Ebn Haukal_, pp.
213-223.

Footnote 7.1.22:

“The king of Rum and the king of Khorasan, with horse (_haya_),
elephants (_gaya_ or _gaj_), caparisons (_pākhar_), and foot-soldiers
(_pāē_ or _pāyik_) [are at hand]. Beware, let it enter your mind, O
Rāē, Lord of the Jadus!“

Footnote 7.1.23:

[A _ghari_ = 24 minutes.]

Footnote 7.1.24:

The unclean spirits of Rajput martial mythology, who feed on the
slain.

Footnote 7.1.25:

This date is circumstantial, and might be fixed or disproved by
calculation; if the heterogeneous mixture of such widely separated
incidents as those in Syro-Macedonian and Muhammadan history did not
deter us from the attempt.

Footnote 7.1.26:

No such name appears in Wilson’s _Raj Taringini_. [Nor in Stein’s
Index.]

Footnote 7.1.27:

Tutelary goddess, or “of the race (_kula_).”

Footnote 7.1.28:

This volcano [or rather jets of combustible gas] is a well-known place
of pilgrimage in the Siwalik mountains [in the Kāngra District,
Panjāb].

Footnote 7.1.29:

A pahar is one-fourth of the day.

Footnote 7.1.30:

For a description of this rite see Vol. I. pp. 85, 309.

Footnote 7.1.31:

In conformity with the Hindu ordinances of _matam_, or mourning.

Footnote 7.1.32:

Here is another circumstantial date, S. 72, or A.D. 16, for the
foundation of Salbahana in the Panjab, by the fugitive Yadu prince
from Gajni. Of its exact position we have no means of judging, but it
could not have been remote from Lahore. It may be deemed a fortunate
coincidence that I should discover that ancient inscription (p. 914)
of this capital, styled Salpur, governed by a Gete or Jat in the
fourth century; which suggested the idea (which many facts tend to
prove), whether these Yadus (whose illegitimate issue, as will appear
in the sequel, are called Jats) may not be the Yuti or Getes from
Central Asia. The coincidence of the date of Salbahan-Yadu with that
of the Saka Salivahan, the Tak, will not fail to strike the inquirer
into Hindu antiquities: and it is not the least curious circumstance,
that these Yadus, or Yuti, displaced the Takshak, or Tak, from this
region, as will appear immediately. In further corroboration, see
notes 2 and 4, p. 916 f., and Inscriptions II. p. 917 and VI. p. 925.]

Footnote 7.1.33:

At every page of these annals, it is evident that they have been
transcribed by some ignoramus, who has jumbled together events of
ancient and modern date. The prince of Delhi might have been Jaipal,
but if we are to place any faith in the chronology of the Tuar race,
no prince of this family could be synchronous with the Yadu Salbahan.
I am inclined to think that the emigration of Salbahan’s ancestors
from Gajni was at a much later period than S. 72, as I shall note as
we proceed. [As will be seen later on, the whole story swarms with
anachronisms.]

Footnote 7.1.34:

Turk is the term in the dialects which the Hindus apply to the races
from central Asia, the Turushka of the Puranas.

Footnote 7.1.35:

Doubtless the ancestor of the Johya race, termed the Janjuha by Babur,
and who dwelt with the Juds in the hills of Jud, the Jadu-ka-dang of
the Bhatti MSS.

Footnote 7.1.36:

However curious this assertion, of the Chagatais being descended from
the Yadus, it ought not to surprise us: I repeat, that all these
tribes, whether termed Indo-Scythic or Tatar, prior to Islamism
professed a faith which may be termed Hinduism.

Footnote 7.1.37:

As it is evident the period has reference to the very first years of
Islamism, and it is stated that the sons of Gaj were to be proselytes,
it is by no means improbable that this is Jaipal, the infidel prince
of Khwarizm.—See Price’s _Mahomedan History_.

Footnote 7.1.38:

This is a most important admission of the proselytism of the ancient
Indo-Scythic Yadu princes to the faith of Islam, though there can be
no reasonable doubt of it. Temugin, better known by his _nomme de
guerre_, Jangiz, the father of Chagatai, according to the Muhammadan
historians, is termed an infidel, and so was Takash, the father of
Muhammad of Khwarizm: the one was of the Getic or Yuti race; the
other, as his name discloses, of the Tak or Takshak, the two grand
races of Central Asia. The insertion of this pedigree in this place
completely vitiates chronology; yet for what purpose it could have
been interpolated, if not founded on some fact, we cannot surmise.

Footnote 7.1.39:

We can, by means of the valuable translation of the Commentaries of
Babur, trace many of these tribes.

Footnote 7.1.40:

It has already been stated that the fifteen brothers of Baland
established themselves in the mountainous parts of the Panjab, and
that his sons inherited those west of the Indus, or Daman. The Afghan
tribes, whose supposed genealogy from the Jews has excited so much
curiosity, and who now inhabit the regions conquered by the sons of
Salbahan, are possibly Yadus, who, on conversion, to give more éclat
to their antiquity, converted Yadu into Yahudi or Jew, and added the
rest of the story from the Koran. That grand division of Afghans
called the Yusufzai, or ‘Sons of Joseph,’ whose original country was
Kabul and Ghazni, yet retain the name of Jadon (vulgar of Yadu) as one
of their principal subdivisions; and they still occupy a position in
the hilly region east of the Indus, conquered by the sons of Baland.
It would be a curious fact could we prove the Afghans not Yahudis but
Yadus [?].

Footnote 7.1.41:

Doubtless the junction of Janj with that of Johya, another numerous
tribe, formed the Janjuha of Babur; the Johyas of the Bhatti annals,
now known only by name, but whose history forms a volume. The sons of
Janj have left numerous traces—Janjian on the Gara; Jinjiniali in the
desert, etc.

Footnote 7.1.42:

Even the mention of an animal unknown in the desert of India evinces
the ancient source whence these annals are compiled. Had the Yadu
colony at this period obtained a footing in the desert, south of the
Sutlej, the computation would have been by camel-loads, not by mules.

Footnote 7.1.43:

See Vol. I. p. 315, for an account of this military foray.

Footnote 7.1.44:

This would almost imply that Lahore and Salbahana were one and the
same place, but from what follows, the intervening distance could not
have been great between the two cities. There is a Sangala, south of
Lahore, near the altars of Alexander, and a Sialkot in our modern
maps. Salbahana, Salbahanpur, or simply Salpura, may have been erected
on the ruins of Kampilanagari. We may hope that researches in that yet
untouched region, the Panjab, will afford much to the elucidation of
ancient history. [Sālbahanpur is usually identified with Siālkot
(Cunningham, _ASR_, ii. 21).]

Footnote 7.1.45:

The Lakhi Jungle is well known in India for its once celebrated breed
of horses, extinct within the last twenty years.

Footnote 7.1.46:

[They take their name from the old town of Abohar in the Firozpur
District, Panjāb (_IGI_, v. 2). Compare the local legend with that
from Hissār (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 103 f.).]

Footnote 7.1.47:

Thus it is that the most extensive agricultural races spread all over
India, called Jāts or Jats, have a tradition that they are descended
from the Yadu race (_qu._ Yuti?), and that their original country is
Kandahar. Such was stated to me as the origin of the Jats of Bayana
and Bharatpur. Why the descendants of Saran assumed the name of Jats
is not stated.

Footnote 7.1.48:

This incidental mention of the race of Tak, and of its being in great
consideration on the settlement of the Yadus in the Panjab, is very
important. I have given a sketch of this tribe (Vol. I. p. 123),
but since I wrote it I have discovered the capital of the Tak, and on
the very spot where I should have expected the site of Taxila, the
capital of Taxiles, the friend of Alexander. In that sketch I
hesitated not to say that the name was not personal, but arose from
his being the head of the Takshak or Naga tribe, which is confirmed.
It is to Babur, or rather to his translator, that I am indebted for
this discovery. In describing the limits of Banu, Babur thus mentions
it: “And on the west is Dasht, which is also called Bazar and Tak”; to
which the erudite translator adds, “Tak is said long to have been the
capital of Daman.” In Mr. Elphinstone’s map, Bazar, which Babur makes
identical with Tak, is a few miles north of the city of Attok. There
is no question that both the river and city were named after the race
of Tak or Takshak, the Nagas, Nagvansi, or snake race, who spread over
India. Indeed, I would assume that the name of Omphis, which young
Taxiles had on his father’s death, is Ophis, the Greek version of Tak,
the ‘serpent.’ The Taks appear to have been established in the same
regions at the earliest period. The Mahabharata describes the wars
between Janamejaya and the Takshaks, to revenge on their king the
death of his father Parikshit, emperor of Indraprastha, or Delhi.
[These theories have no foundation. Omphis is the Greek form of Skt.
Āmbhi, and has no connexion with a snake cult (Smith, _EHI_, 60).]

Footnote 7.1.49:

[This is a series of folk etymologies intended to explain the
intermixture of these tribes. For the Kalhora tribe see Rose,
_Glossary_, ii. 440 ff.]

Footnote 7.1.50:

The names of these Rajput races, several of which are now blotted from
the page of existence, prove the fidelity of the original manuscript.
The Barahas are now Muhammadans.

Footnote 7.1.51:

The Buta is amongst the extinct tribes.

Footnote 7.1.52:

Pugal from the most remote times has been inhabited by the Pramar
race. It is one of the Nau-koti Maru-ki, the nine castles of the
desert.

Footnote 7.1.53:

The Sodhas of Umarkot have inhabited the desert from time immemorial,
and are in all probability the Sogdoi of Alexander. See Vol. I. p.
111.

Footnote 7.1.54:

Lodorva will be described hereafter.

Footnote 7.1.55:

[The above series of legends of the Bhatti settlement in the desert is
a mass of fiction. “We are told that Sālivāhan founded the city of
Sālbāhanpur in Vikrama Sambat 72, or about A.D. 16; that the third in
succession to him, Mangal Rāo, was driven southward into the desert,
and that Mangal Rāo’s grandson, Kehar, laid the foundations of a
castle called Tanot (still in Jaisalmer territory), which was
completed in A.D. 731; or, in other words, that Sālivāhan and his five
immediate successors reigned for more than seven hundred years. Again,
it is said that in Sālivāhan’s time the coconut, an offer of marriage,
came from Rāja Jaipāl Tonwar of Delhi, whereas the Tonwar dynasty
ruled at Delhi for just a century from about A.D. 1050.” This
Sālivāhana cannot be the hero who is said to have conquered the
Indo-Scythians, but some of the many legends connected with him may
have suggested the fictions of the Bhatti bards (Erskine iii. A. 96).]

Footnote 7.1.56:

Mulraj had three sons, Rajpal, Lohwa, and Chubar. The elder son had
two sons, Rana and Giga; the first of whom had five sons, Dhukur,
Pohor, Budh, Kulru, Jaipal, all of whom had issue, and became heads of
clans. The descendants of Giga bore the name of Khengar (_qu._ chiefs
of Girnar?). The annals of all these States abound with similar minute
genealogical details, which to the Rajputs are of the highest
importance in enabling them to trace the affinities of families, but
which it is imperative to omit, as they possess no interest for the
European reader. I have extracted the names of the issue of Mulraj to
show this. The Khengars were famed in the peninsula of Surashtra—nine
of them ruled in Junagarh Girnar; and but for this incidental
relation, their origin must have ever remained concealed from the
archaeologist, as the race has long been extinct. On some future day I
hope to present a sketch of Khengar’s palace, on the sacred mount
Girnar, to the public. [The famous well, at least, is attributed to
Rāo Khengār II. (A.D. 1098-1125) (_BG_, viii. 444).]

Footnote 7.1.57:

The remains of this once famous town, the ancient capital of the upper
valley of the Indus, I had the happiness to discover by means of one
of my parties, in 1811. It is the Alor of Abu-l-fazl, the capital of
Raja Siharas, whose kingdom extended north to Kashmir, and south to
the ocean; and the Azour of D’Anville, who, on the authority of Ebn
Haukal, says, “Azour est presque comparable à Multan pour la
grandeur.” He adds, that Azizi places it “trente parasanges de
Mansora.” If Mansura is the ancient Bakhar (capital of the Sogdoi), we
should read three instead of thirty. See Map, Vol. I.[Mansūra was near
Bāhmanābād.]

Footnote 7.1.58:

Panjnad is the name which the Indus bears immediately below the point
of confluence of the five streams (panj-nadi). The mere mention of
such terms as the Panjnad, and the ancient Aror, stamps these annals
with authenticity, however they may be deformed by the interpolations
and anachronisms of ignorant copyists. Of Aror, or the Panjnad,
excepting the regular kasids, or messengers, perhaps not an individual
living in Jaisalmer could not speak.

Footnote 7.1.59:

[This is another anachronism. The Deora sept of the Chauhāns, of which
the Rāja of Sirohi is head, did not come into existence until the
thirteenth century, and Jālor was then held by the Paramāras, who kept
possession till they were ousted by the Chauhāns at the end of the
twelfth century (Erskine iii. A. 10).]

Footnote 7.1.60:

This shows that the Baraha tribe was of the same faith with the Yadu
Bhatti; in fact ‘the star of Islam’ did not shine in these regions for
some time after, although Umar, in the first century, had established
a colony of the faithful at Bakhar, afterwards Mansura. The Barahas
are mentioned by Pottinger in his travels in Balochistan.

Footnote 7.1.61:

There are but six descents given from Salbahan, the leader of the Yadu
colony from Zabulistan into the Panjab, and Kehar, the founder of
their first settlement in the desert of India. The period of the first
is S. 72, of the other S. 787. Either names are wanting, or the period
of Salbahan is erroneous. Kehar’s period, namely, S. 787, appears a
landmark, and is borne out by numerous subsequent most valuable
synchronisms. Were we to admit one hundred years to have elapsed
between Salbahan and Kehar, it would make the period of expulsion from
Zabulistan about S. 687, which is just about the era of Muhammad.

Footnote 7.1.62:

See “Essay on the Hindu and Theban Hercules,” _Transactions of the
Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii.

Footnote 7.1.63:

[Sīstān is Sakastēnē, “The Saka country”.]

Footnote 7.1.64:

[The capital of Sambos was Sindimana, probably Sihwān (Smith, _EHI_,
101).]

Footnote 7.1.65:

Mr. Wilson discovered the name of Pandu in Ptolemy’s _Geography of
Sogdiana_; and according to Ebn Haukal, the city of Herat is also
called Hari. This adjoins Maru, or Merv, and to Marusthali the Pandu
and Harikula races retired on their exile from India. If ever these
remote regions are searched for ancient inscriptions, we may yet
ascend the ladder of Time. What was that Hamiri language, inscribed on
the gate of Samarkand? (Ouseley, _Ebn Haukal_, p. 254). The lamented
death of that enterprising traveller, Mr. Brown, when he was about
visiting Transoxiana, leaves a fine field to the adventurous. The
Buddhist colossal sculptures and caves at Bamian, with such
inscriptions as they may contain, are of the highest importance; and I
have little doubt, will be found of the same character as those
discovered in the cave temples of India, attributed to the Pandus.
[The author depended on Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, vi. 462 ff.).
For Bamiān see _EB_, 11th ed. iii. 304 f.]

Footnote 7.1.66:

In a portion of the essay “On the Theban and Hindu Hercules,” which I
suppressed as better suited to an intended dissertation “On the
Sepulchral Monuments of the Rajpoots,” where I trace a close analogy
between their customs and those of the Scythic and Scandinavian
Warriors, my particular attention was drawn to that singular monument
discovered by Elphinstone, called the “Tope Manikiala.” I had before
(_Trans. R.A.S._ vol. i. p. 330) conjectured it to be one of the many
mausoleums erected to Menander, but on observing the geography of St.
Croix, in his _Examen Critique des Historiens d’Alexandre_, who places
the city of Bucephalus on the very spot where the monument found by
Mr. E. exists, I gave up Menander for Alexander’s horse, and this,
long anterior to its reported excavation by the Chev. Ventura, for
whose subsequent observations we impatiently wait. [Mānikiāla, in the
Rāwalpindi District; the Stūpa marks the spot where Gautama Buddha
offered his body to appease the hunger of seven tiger cubs (_IGI_,
xvii. 182 f.). The site of Boukephala is practically identical with
the modern Jihlam (Smith, _EHI_, 71).]

-----

CHAPTER 2

=Question of Dates.=—The dates of the varied events related in the
preceding chapter may be of doubtful accuracy, but we have at length
arrived on the _terra firma_ of Bhatti chronology. We may distrust the
date, 3008 of Yudishthira’s era, for the victory obtained by the Jadon
prince of Gajni over the kings of Rum and Khorasan;[7.2.1] as well as
that of S. 72 assigned for the exode of Salbahan and his Yadus from
Zabulistan, and their colonization of the Panjab;[7.2.2] but their
settlements in the desert, and the foundation of [233] Tanot, their
first seat of power, in S. 787 (A.D. 731), are corroborated by
incontrovertible synchronisms in almost every subsequent reign of these
annals.

=Rāo Kehar I.=—Kehar, a name highly respected in the history of the
Bhatti race, and whose exploit has been already recorded, must have been
the cotemporary of the celebrated Caliph Al Walid,[7.2.3] the first
whose arms extended to the plains of India, and one of whose earliest
conquests and chief positions was Aror, the capital of Upper Sind.

=Rāo Tano or Tanuji.=—Kehar[7.2.4] had five sons; namely, Tano, Utirao,
Chanar, Kaphrio, Them. All of them had offspring,[7.2.5] who became the
heads of clans, retaining the patronymic. All were soldiers of fortune,
and they conquered the lands of the Chana Rajputs;[7.2.6] but the latter
revenged themselves upon Kehar, whom they attacked and slew as he was
hunting.

Tano succeeded. He laid waste the lands of the Barahas,[7.2.7] and those
of the Langaha of Multan. But Husain Shah advanced with the Langaha
Pathans,[7.2.8] clothed in armour with iron helms, with the men of
Dudi,[7.2.9] of Khichi[7.2.10] the Khokhar;[7.2.11] the Mogul, the
Johya,[7.2.12] the Jud,[7.2.12] and Sayyid, all mounted on horses, to
the number of ten thousand men, to attack the Jadon. They reached the
territory of the Barahas, who [234] joined them, and there they
encamped. Tano collected his brethren around him, and prepared for
defence. During four days they defended the castle; and on the fifth the
Rao ordered the gates to be thrown open, and with his son, Bijairae,
sallied out sword in hand, and attacked the besiegers. The Barahas were
the first to fly, and they were soon followed by the rest of the Asurs.
The victors carried the spoils of the field into Tanot. As soon as the
armies of Multan and Langaha were driven off, the coco-nut came from
Jiju, chief of the Butas of Butaban,[7.2.13] and an alliance offensive
and defensive was formed against the prince of Multan.

Tano had five sons, Bijairae, Makar, Jaitang, Alan, and Rakecha. The
second son, Makar, had issue Maipa, who had two sons, Mohola and Dakao,
the latter of whom excavated the lake known by his name. His issue
became carpenters (Sutar), and are to this day known as the Makar
Sutar.[7.2.14]

The third son, Jaitang, had two sons, Ratansi and Chohar. The first
repaired the ruined city of Bikampur.[7.2.15] Chohar had two sons, Kola
and Girraj, who founded the towns of Kolasar and Girrajsar.[7.2.15]

The fourth son, Alan, had four sons, Deosi, Tirpal, Bhaoni, and Rakecha.
The descendants of Deosi became Rabaris (who rear camels),[7.2.16] and
the issue of Rakecha became merchants (Banias), and are now classed
amongst the Oswal tribe.[7.2.17]

Tano having, by the interposition of the goddess Bijaiseni, discovered a
hidden treasure, erected a fortress, which he named Bijnot;[7.2.18] and
in this he placed a statue of the goddess, on the 13th, the enlightened
part of the month Margsir, the Rohini Nakshatra, S. 813 (A.D. 757). He
died after ruling eighty years.

=Bijairāē.=—Bijairae succeeded in S. 870 (A.D. 814). He commenced his
reign with the _tika-daur_ against his old enemies, the Barahas, whom he
defeated and plundered. In S. 892, he had a son by the Buta queen, who
was called Deoraj. The Barahas and Langahas once more united to attack
the Bhatti prince; but they were defeated [235] and put to flight.
Finding that they could not succeed by open warfare, they had recourse
to treachery. Having, under pretence of terminating this long feud,
invited young Deoraj to marry the daughter of the Baraha chief, the
Bhattis attended, when Bijairae and eight hundred of his kin and clan
were massacred. Deoraj escaped to the house of the Purohit (of the
Barahas, it is presumed), whither he was pursued. There being no hope of
escape, the Brahman threw the Brahmanical thread round the neck of the
young prince, and in order to convince his pursuers that they were
deceived as to the object of their search, he sat down to eat with him
from the same dish.[7.2.19] Tanot was invested and taken, and nearly
every soul in it put to the sword, so that the very name of Bhatti was
for a while extinct.

=Rāo Deorāj.=—Deoraj remained for a long time concealed in the territory
of the Barahas; but at length he ventured to Buta, his maternal abode,
where he had the happiness to find his mother, who had escaped the
massacre at Tanot. She was rejoiced to behold her son’s face, and “waved
the salt over his head,” then threw it into the water, exclaiming, “Thus
may your enemies melt away!” Soon tired of a life of dependence, Deoraj
asked for a single village, which was promised; but the kin of the Buta
chief alarmed him, and he recalled it, and limited his grant to such a
quantity of land as he could encompass by the thongs cut from a single
buffalo’s hide; and this, too, in the depth of the desert. For this
expedient he was indebted to the architect Kaikeya, who had constructed
the castle of Bhatner.[7.2.20] Deoraj immediately commenced erecting a
[236] place of strength, which he called after himself Deogarh, or
Derawar,[7.2.21] on Monday, the 5th of the month Magh (sudi), the Pushya
Nakshatra, S. 909.

Soon as the Buta chief heard that his son-in-law was erecting, not a
dwelling, but a castle, he sent a force to raze it. Deoraj despatched
his mother with the keys to the assailants, and invited the leaders to
receive the castle and his homage; when the chief men, to the number of
a hundred and twenty, entered, they were inveigled, under pretence of
consultation, ten at a time, and each party put to death and their
bodies thrown over the wall. Deprived of their leaders, the rest took to
flight.

Soon after, the prince was visited by his patron, the Jogi who had
protected him amongst the Barahas, and who now gave him the title of
Siddh.[7.2.22] This Jogi, who possessed the art of transmuting metals,
lodged in the same house where Deoraj found protection on the massacre
of his father and kindred. One day, the holy man had gone abroad,
leaving his jarjarikakantha, or ‘tattered doublet,’ in which was the
Raskumbha, or ‘elixir-vessel,’ a drop of which having fallen on the
dagger of Deoraj and changed it to gold, he decamped with both, and it
was by the possession of this he was enabled to erect Derawar. The Jogi
was well aware of the thief whom he now came to visit; and he confirmed
him in the possession of the stolen property, on one condition, that he
should become his chela and disciple, and, as a token of submission and
fidelity, adopt the external symbols of the Jogi. Deoraj assented, and
was invested with the Jogi robe of ochre.[7.2.23] He placed the
mudra[7.2.24] in his ear, the little horn round his neck, and [237] the
bandage (langota) about his loins; and with the gourd (khopra) in his
hand, he perambulated the dwellings of his kin, exclaiming, Alakh!
Alakh![7.2.25] The gourd was filled with gold and pearls; the title of
Rao was abandoned for that of Rawal;[7.2.26] the tika was made on his
forehead; and exacting a pledge that these rites of inauguration should
be continued to the latest posterity, the Baba Rata (for such was the
Jogi’s name) disappeared.

Deoraj determined to wreak his revenge on the Barahas, and he enjoyed it
even “to stripping the scarfs from the heads of their females.” On his
return to Derawar, he prepared for an attack on Langaha, the heir of
which was then on a marriage expedition at Alipur. There, Deoraj
attacked and slew a thousand of them, the rest henceforth acknowledged
his supremacy. The Langahas were gallant Rajputs.

=The Langāha Tribe.=—As the tribe of Langaha, or Langa, will from this
period go hand in hand, in all the international wars of the
Yadu-Bhattis, from their expulsion from the Panjab to their final
settlement in the Indian desert, it is of some interest to trace its
origin and destiny. It is distinctly stated that, at this epoch, the
Langahas were Rajputs; and they are in fact a subdivision of the Solanki
or Chalukya race, one of the four Agnikula; and it is important to
observe that in their gotracharya, or ‘genealogical tree,’ they claim
Lohkot in the Panjab as their early location; in all probability prior
to their regeneration on Mount Abu, when they adopted Brahmanical
principles. From the year S. 787 (A.D. 731), when the castle of Tanot
was erected by the leader of the Bhatti colony, down to S. 1530 (A.D.
1474), a period of seven hundred and forty-three years, perpetual
border-strife appears to have occurred between the Bhattis and Langahas,
which terminated in that singular combat, or duel, of tribe against
tribe, during the reign of Rawal Chachak, in the last-mentioned period.
Shortly after this, Babur conquered India, and Multan became a province
of the empire, when the authority of tribes ceased. Ferishta, however,
comes to our aid and gives us an account of an entire dynasty of this
tribe as kings of Multan. The first of this line of five kings began his
reign A.H. 847 (A.D. 1443), or thirty years anterior to the death of
Rawal Chachak. The Muslim historian (see Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. iv. p.
379) says that when Khizr Khan Sayyid[7.2.27] was emperor of Delhi, he
sent Shaikh Yusuf as his lieutenant to Multan, who gained the esteem of
the surrounding princes; amongst whom was Rae Sahra, chief of Sivi, head
of the tribe of Langaha [238], who came to congratulate him, and to
offer his services and a daughter in marriage. The offer was accepted;
constant communication was kept up between Sivi and Multan, till at
length Rae Sahra disclosed the object of all this solicitude; he threw
aside the mask, confined the Shaikh, sent him off to Delhi, and crowned
himself king of Multan, under the title of Kutbu-d-din.

Ferishta[7.2.28] calls Rae Sahra and his tribe of Langaha, Afghans; and
Abu-l-fazl says, the inhabitants of Sivi were of the Numri (fox) tribe,
which is assuredly one of the most numerous of the Jat or Gete race,
though they have all, since their conversion, adopted the distinctive
term of Baloch. The Bhatti chronicle calls the Langahas in one page
Pathan, and in another Rajput, which are perfectly reconcilable, and by
no means indicative that the Pathan or Afghan of that early period, or
even in the time of Rae Sahra, was a Muhammadan. The title of Rae is
sufficient proof that they were even then Hindus. Mr. Elphinstone scouts
the idea of the descent of the Afghans from the Jews; and not a trace of
the Hebrew is found in the Pushtu, or language of this tribe, although
it has much affinity to the Zend and Sanskrit. I cannot refrain from
repeating my conviction of the origin of the Afghans from the Yadu,
converted into Yahudi, or ‘Jew.’ Whether these Yadus are or are not
Yuti, or Getae, remains to be proved.[7.2.29]

To the south of Derawar dwelt the Lodra Rajputs; their capital was
Lodorva,[7.2.30] an immense city, having twelve gates. The family
Purohit, having been offended, took sanctuary (saran) with Deoraj, and
stimulated him to dispossess his old masters of their territory. A
marriage was proposed to Nripbhan, the chief of the Lodras, which being
accepted, Deoraj, at the head of twelve hundred chosen horse, departed
for Lodorva. The gates of the city were thrown open as the bridegroom
approached; but no sooner had he entered with his suite, than swords
were drawn, and Deoraj made himself master of Lodorva.[7.2.31] He
married the chief’s daughter, left a garrison in Lodorva, and returned
to Derawar. Deoraj was now lord of fifty-six thousand horse, and a
hundred thousand camels [239].[7.2.32]

At this period, a merchant of Derawar, named Jaskaran, having gone to
Dharanagari, was imprisoned by its prince, Brajbhan Puar, and compelled
to pay a ransom for his liberty. On his return to Derawar, he showed the
mark of the iron-collar to his sovereign, who, indignant at the
dishonour put upon his subject, swore he would not drink water until he
had avenged the insult. But he had not calculated the distance between
him and his foe; in order, however, to redeem his pledge, a _Dhar_ of
clay (_gar-ra-dhar_) was constructed, on which he was about to wreak his
vengeance, but there were Pramars in his army, who were at their post
ready to defend their mock capital; and, as their astonished prince
advanced to destroy it, they exclaimed—

_Jān Puār tan Dhār hai
Aur Dhār tān Puār
Dhār bina Puār nahīn
Aur nahīn Puār bina Dhār_,

which may be thus translated:

“Wherever there is a Puar, there is a Dhar; and where there is a Dhar,
there is a Puar. There is no Dhar without a Puar; neither is there a
Puar without a Dhar.”[7.2.33]

Under their leaders, Tejsi and Sarang, they protected the mock Dhar, and
were cut to pieces to the number of one hundred and twenty.[7.2.34]
Deoraj approved their valour, and provided for their children. Being
thus released from his oath, he proceeded towards Dhar, reducing those
who opposed his progress. Brajbhan defended Dhar during five days, and
fell with eight hundred of his men; upon which Deoraj unfurled the flag
of victory and returned to his late conquest, the city of Lodorva.

Deoraj had two sons, Mund and Chedu; the last, by a wife of the Baraha
tribe, had five sons, whose descendants were styled Cheda Rajputs.
Deoraj excavated several large lakes in the territory of Khadal (in
which Derawar is situated); one at Tanot is called Tanosar; another,
after himself, Deosar. Having one day gone to hunt, slightly attended,
he was attacked by an ambush of the Chana Rajputs, and slain with
twenty-six of his attendants, after having reigned fifty-five years. His
kin and clans shaved their locks and moustaches, excepting[7.2.35]

Mund, who succeeded, and performed all the ceremonies during the twelve
days. Having made his ablutions with the water from sixty-eight
different wells, in which [240] were immersed the leaves of one hundred
and eight different shrubs and trees, a female of spotless virtue waved
the burning frankincense over his head. Before him was placed the
panjamrit, consisting of curds, milk, butter, sugar, and honey; likewise
pearls, gems, the royal umbrella, the grass called dub, various flowers,
a looking-glass, a young virgin, a chariot, a flag or banner, the _vela_
flower, seven sorts of grain, two fish, a horse, a _nakhank_
(unknown),[7.2.36] a bullock, a shell, a lotus, a vessel of water, the
tail of the wild ox (_chaunri_), a sword, a female calf, a litter,
yellow clay, and prepared food. Then, seated on the lion’s hide—(on
which were painted the seven dwipas or continents of Hindu cosmography,
apparelled in the dress of the Jogi, and covered with ashes (_bhabut_),
with the _mudra_ in his ears)—the white _chaunri_ (ox-tail) was waved
over his head, and he was inaugurated on the _gaddi_ of Deoraj, while
the Purohit and chiefs presented their offerings. The _tika-daur_ was
against the assassins of his father, who had congregated for defence,
eight hundred of whom were put to death. Rawal Mund had one son, who was
called Bachera. When about fourteen years of age the coco-nut came from
Balabhsen Solanki, Raja of Patan.[7.2.37] He forthwith proceeded to
Patan, where he married the Solanki princess, and died not long after
his father.

=Rāwal Bachera or Wachuji.=—Bachera succeeded on Saturday the 12th
Sravan, S. 1035.[7.2.38] The same rites of installation were performed;
the Kanphara (split-eared) Jogi was the first to put the regal _tilak_
on his forehead, and “his hand upon his back.” Rawal Bachera had five
sons, Dusaj, Singh, Bapi Rao, Ankho, and Malpasao; all of whom had
issue, forming clans.

A merchant came to Lodorva with a caravan of horses, of which there was
one of a race so superior that a lakh of rupees was fixed as his price;
the breed belonged to a Pathan chief, west of the Indus. To obtain it,
Dusaj and his son Ankho put themselves at the head of a band, crossed
the Indus, slew Ghazi Khan, the Pathan chief, and carried off his stud
[241].

Singh had a son, Sachharae; his son was Bala, who had two sons, Ratan
and Jaga; they attacked the Parihar prince Jagannath of Mandor, and
carried off five hundred camels: their descendants are styled Singhrao
Rajputs.

Bapi Rao had two sons, Pahu and Mandan. Pahu had likewise two, Biram and
Tular, whose numerous issue were styled the Pahu Rajputs. The Pahus
issued from their abode of Bikampur, and conquered the lands of the
Johyas, as far as Devijhal; and having made Pugal[7.2.39] their capital,
they dug numerous wells in the _thal_, which still go by the name of the
Pahu wells.

Near Khata, in the Nagor district of Marwar, there dwelt a warrior of
the Khichi tribe, named Jadra, who often plundered even to the gates of
Pugal, slaying many of the Jaitang Bhattis. Dusaj prepared a kafila
(‘caravan’) under pretence of making a pilgrimage to the Ganges, invaded
unawares the Khichi chief’s territory, and slew him, with nine hundred
of his men.

Dusaj, with his three brothers, went to the land of Kher, where dwelt
Partap Singh, chief of the Guhilots,[7.2.40] whose daughters they
espoused. “In the land of Kher, the Jadon showered gold, enriching it.”
In the _daeja_ (dower) with his daughter, the Guhilot gave fifteen
Dewadharis, or ‘virgin lamp-holders.’ Soon after, the Balochs made an
inroad into the territory of Khadal; a battle ensued, in which five
hundred were killed, and the rest fled beyond the river. Bachera died,
and was succeeded by

=Rāwal Dusaj.=— Dusaj, in the month of Asarh, S. 1100. Hamir, prince of
the Sodhas,[7.2.41] made an incursion into his territories, which he
plundered. Dusaj having unavailingly remonstrated, reminding him of
ancient ties, he marched into Dhat, and gained a victory. Dusaj had two
sons, Jaisal and Bijairaj, and in his old age a third son, by a Ranawat
princess of the house of Mewar, called Lanja Bijairae, who, when Dusaj
died, was placed on the throne by the nobles and civil officers of the
State. Previous to his elevation, he had espoused a daughter of Siddhraj
Jai Singh, Solanki. During the nuptial ceremonies, as the mother of the
bride was marking the forehead of the bridegroom [242] with the _tilak_,
or ‘inauguration mark,’ she exclaimed, “My son, do thou become the
portal of the north—the barrier between us and the king, whose power is
becoming strong.”[7.2.42] By the princess of Patan he had a son, who was
named Bhojdeo, and who, by the death of his father when he attained the
age of twenty-five, became lord of Lodorva. The other sons of Dusaj were
at this time advanced in manhood, Jaisal being thirty-five, and Bijairaj
thirty-two years of age.

Some years before the death of Dusaj, Raedhawal Puar, son (or
descendant) of Udayaditya of Dhar, had three daughters, one of whom he
betrothed to Jaipal (Ajaipal) Solanki, son of Siddhraj;[7.2.43] another
to Bijairaj Bhatti, and the third to the Rana of Chitor. The Bhatti
prince left Lodorva for Dhar at the head of seven hundred horse, and
arrived at the same time with the Sesodia and Solanki princes. On his
return to Lodorva, he erected a temple to Seshalinga, close to which he
made a lake. By the Puar princess he had a son named Rahar, who had two
sons, Netsi and Keksi.

Bhojdeo had not long occupied the _gaddi_ of Lodorva, when his uncle
Jaisal conspired against him; but being always surrounded by a guard of
five hundred Solanki Rajputs, his person was unassailable. At this time
the prince of Patan was often engaged with the king’s troops from Tatta.
Jaisal, in pursuance of his plan, determined to coalesce with the king,
and cause an attack on Patan (Anhilwara), by which alone he could hope
for the departure of the Solanki body-guard. Jaisal, with his chief kin,
escorted by two hundred horse, marched to the Panjnad, where he saw the
king of Ghor, who had just overcome the king of Tatta,[7.2.44] and
placed his own garrison there [243],[7.2.45] and he accompanied him to
Aror, the ancient capital of Sind. There he unfolded his views, and
having sworn allegiance to the king, he obtained a force to dispossess
his nephew of his territory. Lodorva was encompassed, and Bhojdeo slain
in its defence. In two days the inhabitants were to carry off their
effects, and on the third the troops of Ghor were permitted the license
of plunder. Lodorva was sacked, and Karim Khan departed for Bakhar with
the spoils.

=The Foundation of Jaisalmer, _c._ A.D. 1156.=—Jaisal thus obtained the
_gaddi_ of Lodorva; but it being open to invasion, he sought a spot
better adapted for defence, and he found one only five coss (ten miles)
from Lodorva. Upon the summit of a rocky ridge, he discovered a Brahman,
whose solitary hermitage adjoined the fountain of Brahmsar. Having paid
homage, and disclosed the purport of his visit, the recluse related the
history of the triple-peaked hill, which overlooked his hermitage. He
said that in the Treta, or ‘silver age,’ a celebrated ascetic called
Kak, or Kaga, resided at this fountain, after whom the rivulet which
issued thence had its name of Kaga; that the Pandu Arjun, with Hari
Krishna, came there to attend a great sacrifice, on which occasion
Krishna foretold that, in some distant age, a descendant of his should
erect a town on the margin of that rivulet, and should raise a castle on
Trikuta, the triple-peaked mount.[7.2.46] While Krishna thus prophesied,
it was observed to him by Arjun that the water was bad, when Krishna
smote the rock with his chakra (discus), whereupon a sweet spring
bubbled up, and on its margin were inscribed the prophetic stanzas which
the hermit Isal now pointed out to the Bhatti prince, who read as
follows:

“Oh prince of Jadu-vansa! come into this land, and on this mountain’s
top erect a triangular castle.

“Lodorva is destroyed, but only five coss therefrom is Jasana, a site
of twice its strength.

“Prince, whose name is Jaisal, who will be of Yadu race, abandon
Lodorpura; here erect thy dwelling.”

The hermit Isal alone knew the existence of the fountain on whose margin
these lines were engraved. All that he stipulated for himself was that
the fields to the [244] westward of the castle should retain his name,
“the fields of Isal.” He foretold that the intended castle should twice
and a half times be sacked; that rivers of blood would flow, and that
for a time all would be lost to his descendants.

On Rabiwar, ‘the day of the sun’ (a favourite day for commencing any
grand undertaking with all these tribes), the 12th of Sravan, the
enlightened half of the moon, S. 1212 (A.D. 1156), the foundation of
Jaisalmer was laid, and soon the inhabitants, with all that was
valuable, abandoned Lodorva,[7.2.47] and began to erect new habitations.
Jaisal had two sons, Kelan and Salbahan. He chose his chief ministers
and advisers from the children of Sodal, of the Pahu tribe, who became
too powerful. Their old enemies, the Ghana Rajputs, again invaded the
lands of Khadal; but they suffered for their audacity. Jaisal survived
this event five years, when he died, and was succeeded by his youngest
son, Salbahan the Second [245].

-----

Footnote 7.2.1:

The emperor Babur tells us, in his _Commentaries_, that the people of
India apply the term Khorasan to all the regions west of the Indus.

Footnote 7.2.2:

Notwithstanding the lapse of eleven hundred years since the expulsion
of the Bhattis from the Panjab, and in spite of the revolutions in
laws, language, and religion, since the descendants of Salbahan
abandoned that region, yet, even to this day, there is abundant
testimony in its geographical nomenclature that the Bhattis had
dominion there. We have Pindi Bhattia-ka, Bhatti-ka-chak, in the very
position where we should look for Salbahanpur.—See Elphinstone’s Map.
[Sālbāhanpur is generally identified with Siālkot (_ASR_, ii. 21).]

Footnote 7.2.3:

[Walīd I., seventh Caliph of the house of Ummaya (A.D. 705-14).]

Footnote 7.2.4:

Although I omit the inverted commas indicative of translation, the
reader is to understand that what follows is a free interpretation of
the original chronicle.

Footnote 7.2.5:

Utirao had five sons, Sorna, Sahasi, Jiva, Chako, and Ajo; their issue
had the generic term of Utirao. It is thus their clans and tribes are
multiplied _ad infinitum_, and since the skill of the genealogist
(Bhat) is required to keep them clear of incestuous marriages, even
such uninteresting details have some value, as they stamp their annals
with authenticity.

Footnote 7.2.6:

The tribe of Chana is now extinct.

Footnote 7.2.7:

These Indo-Scythic tribes were designated by the names of animals. The
Barahas are the hogs; the Numris, the foxes; Takshaks, the snakes;
Aswas or Asi, the horses, etc. [possibly an indication of totemism].

Footnote 7.2.8:

These Langaha Pathans were proselytes from the Solanki Rajputs, one of
the four Agnikula races. Probably they inhabited the district of
Lamghan, west of the Indus. It is curious and interesting to find that
the Solanki gotracharya, or ‘genealogical creed,’ claims Lohkot as
their settlement. The use of the word Pathan by no means precludes
their being Hindus. [The Langāhs, originally Afghāns, are now
agriculturists (Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 30 f.).]

Footnote 7.2.9:

Babur, in his valuable _Autobiography_, gives us the names of all the
tribes he met in his passage into India, and this enumeration goes far
to prove the authenticity of the early annals of the Bhattis. Babur
does not mention “the men of Dudi.”

Footnote 7.2.10:

The introduction of the name of this tribe here is highly important,
and very interesting to those who have studied, in the Rajput bards,
their early history. The bards of the Khichis give them this northern
origin, and state that all Sindsagar, one of the duabs of the Panjab,
belonged to them.

Footnote 7.2.11:

The Khokhar is most probably the Ghakkar. Babur writes the name Gakar,
a singular race, and decidedly Scythic in their habits even in his
day. [The Khokhar and Ghakkar tribes are often confused (Rose ii.
554).]

Footnote 7.2.12:

Of the Judis and Johyas we have already spoken as inhabiting the range
called in the native annals Jadu-ka-dang, and by Babur “the hill of
Jud,” skirting the Behat. The position of Bahara is laid down in that
monument of genius and industry, the Memoir of Rennel (who calls it
Bheera), in 32° N. and 72° 10´ E.; and by Elphinstone in 32° 10´, but
a whole degree further to the east, or 73° 15´. This city, so often
mentioned in the Yadu-Bhatti annals as one of their intermediate
places of repose, on their expulsion from India and migration to
Central Asia, has its position minutely pointed out by the Emperor
Babur (p. 259), who, in his attack on the hill tribes of Jats, Gujars,
Ghakkars, etc., adjoining Kashmir, “expelled Hati Guker from Behreh,
on the Behut River, near the cave temples of Gar-kotri at Bikrum,” of
which the able annotator remarks, that as well as those of But Bamian,
they were probably Buddhist. Babur (p. 294) also found the Jats
masters of Sialkot, most likely the Salpur of the Inscription (p. 916
above), conquered from a Jat prince in the twelfth century by the
Patan prince, and presumed to be the Salbahanpur founded by the
fugitive Yadu prince of Gajni [see p. 1183 above].

Footnote 7.2.13:

Butaban, probably from _vana_, pronounced in the dialect _ban_, the
‘wild’ or ‘forest’ of Buta.

Footnote 7.2.14:

Illegitimate children can never overcome this natural defect amongst
the Rajputs. Thus we find among all classes of artisans in India, some
of royal but spurious descent. [This is a good instance of high-caste
blood in artisan castes; see Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central
Provinces_, ii. 200.]

Footnote 7.2.15:

These towns and lakes are well known, but have been seized by Bikaner.
See Map. [Bīkampur, 95 miles N.E. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.2.16:

[The Rabāris say that they were created by Siva to take care of the
first camel which Pārvati formed for her amusement (_Census Report,
Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 157). Rose (_Glossary_, iii. 269) writes Rahbāri,
probably Persian _rahwār_, ‘active.’]

Footnote 7.2.17:

The Oswal is the richest and most numerous of the eighty-four
mercantile tribes of India, and is said to amount to one hundred
thousand families. They are called ‘Oswal’ from their first
settlement, the town of Osian. They are all of pure Rajput birth, of
no single tribe, but chiefly Puars, Solankis, and Bhattis. All profess
the Jain tenets, and it is a curious fact, though little known, that
the pontiffs of that faith must be selected from the youth of Osian.
The wealthy bankers and merchants of these regions scattered
throughout India, are all known under one denomination, Marwari, which
is erroneously supposed to apply to the Jodhpur territory, whereas, in
fact, it means belonging to the desert. It is singular that the wealth
of India should centre in this region of comparative sterility.

Footnote 7.2.18:

See Map.

Footnote 7.2.19:

[Such tales are common, and generally imply a flaw in the pedigree.]

Footnote 7.2.20:

This deception practised by the Bhatti chief to obtain land on which
to erect a fortress is not unknown in other parts of India, and in
more remote regions. Bhatner owes its name to this expedient, from the
division (_bantna_) of the hide. The etymology of Calcutta is the
same, but should be written Khalkata, from the cuttings of the hide
(_khal_). Byrsa, the castle of Carthage, originates from the same
story. If there existed any affinity between the ancient Pali
languages of India and the Punic or Phoenician (as the names of its
princes and their adjuncts of _bal_ would indicate), and the letters B
and Ch were as little dissimilar in Punic as in Sanskrit, then Byrsa
would become charsa, ‘hide’ or ‘skin,’ which might have originated the
capital of the African Mauritania, as of the Indian Maruthan. Thus
Marocco may be from Maruka, of or belonging to Maru, the desert, also
probably the origin of the Merv of Iran. The term Moor may likewise be
corrupted from Mauri, an inhabitant of Maruka, while the Sahariya of
our Indian desert is the brother in name and profession of the Saracen
of Arabia, from Sahra, a desert, and zadan, to assault. The Nomadic
princes of Mauritania might therefore be the Pali or shepherd kings of
Maruthan, the great African desert. And who were these Philita or Pali
kings of Barbary and Egypt? It is well known that the Berbers who
inhabited Abyssinia and the south coast of the Red Sea, migrated to
the northern coast, not only occupying it, as well as Mount Atlas, but
pushing their tribes far into the grand _sahra_, or desert. To those
colonists, that coast owes its name of Barbary. From the days of
Solomon and his contemporary Shishak, an intimate communication
subsisted between the eastern coast of Africa and India; and I have
already hazarded the opinion, that we must look to this coast of
Aethiopia and Abyssinia for the Lanka of the Rameses (Rameswar) of
India; and from the former country the most skilful archaeologists
assert that Egypt had her mythology, and more especially that
mystery—the prominent feature of both systems—the Phallic rites, or
worship of the lingam. Berber, according to Bruce, means a shepherd,
and as _ber_ is a sheep in the language of India, Berber is a shepherd
in the most literal sense, and consequently the synonym of Pali. It
has been asserted that this race colonized these coasts of Africa from
India about the time of Amenophis, and that they are the Hyksos, or
‘shepherd-kings,’ who subjugated Egypt. On this account a comparison
of the ancient architectural remains of Abyssinia and Aethiopia with
those of the ancient Hindus is most desirable. It is asserted, and
with appearance of truth, that the architecture of the Pyramids is
distinct from the Pharaonic, and that they are at once Astronomic and
Phallic. In India, the symbolic pinnacle surmounting the temples of
the sun-god are always pyramidal. If the forthcoming history of the
Berbers should reveal the mystery of their first settlements in
Abyssinia, a great object would be attained; and if search were made
in the old cave-temples of that coast, some remains of the characters
they used might aid in tracing their analogy to the ancient Pali of
the East; an idea suggested by an examination of the few characters
found in the grand desert inhabited by the Tuaregs, which have a
certain resemblance to the Punic, and to the unknown characters
attributed to the Indo-Scythic tribes of India, as on their coins and
cave-temples. Wide asunder as are these regions, the mind that will
strive to lessen the historical separation may one day be successful,
when the connexion between Aethiopia (_qu._ from _aditya_ and
contracted _ait_, the Sun?) and Surashtra, ‘the land of the Sun,’ or
Syria of India, may become more tangible. Ferishta (_vide_ Briggs’
translation, vol. iv. p. 402), quoting original authorities, says,
“the inhabitants of Selandip, or the island of Ceylon, were accustomed
to send vessels to the coast of Africa, to the Red Sea, and Persian
Gulf, from the earliest ages, and Hindu pilgrims resorted to Mecca and
Egypt for the purpose of paying adoration to the idols. It is related
also that this people trading from Ceylon became converts to the true
faith at so early a period as the first caliphs”; all which confirms
the fact of early intercourse between Egypt and India.—See Vol. II. p.
702. [It is unnecessary to criticize in detail the etymologies
suggested in this note, a good instance of the Author’s manner. The
etymology of Calcutta is unknown, the most recent suggestion being
that it is _Khālkata_, ‘a place where a flood cut a creek’ (Yule,
_Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 146; Hoernle, _JASB_, 1898, p. 48 f.; K.
Blechynden, _Calcutta Past and Present_, 1905, p. 5). Bhatner means
‘city of the Bhattis.’ Berber is either Greek βάρβαροι, or a tribal
term, Barabara; that of Aethiopia is unknown (_EB_, 11th ed. iii. 764,
ix. 845). The story of fixing the limits of a territory by riding
round it or by encircling it with strips of hide, as in the story of
Carthage, is common in India (Bradley-Birt, _Chota Nagpore_, 16 f.;
Brett, _Chhattisgarh Gazetteer_, i. 192; _BG_, xiii. Part i. 169, and
many others).]

Footnote 7.2.21:

Deorawal is in the map; it was one of the points of halt in
Elphinstone’s mission to Kabul. This discloses to us the position of
the Buta territory, and as astronomical data are given, those inclined
to prove or disprove the Bhatti chronology have ample means afforded.

Footnote 7.2.22:

[‘One who has attained beatitude.’]

Footnote 7.2.23:

Called _geru_; garments coloured with this dye are worn by all classes
of mendicants.

Footnote 7.2.24:

The mudra is a round prickly seed worn by the ascetics as ear-rings.

Footnote 7.2.25:

The Supreme Being; the universal and One God.

Footnote 7.2.26:

Rawal [_rājakula_, ‘of the royal house’] is still the title of the
princes of Jaisalmer, as it once was that of the Mewar house.

Footnote 7.2.27:

[Khizr Khān was left in charge of Delhi after the sack of that city by
Timūr in A.D. 1398; possessed little power, and died in 1421.]

Footnote 7.2.28:

[iv. 380, 383 f. Abu-l-fazl (_Āīn_, ii. 337) calls them Nohmardi; see
_Census Report, Baluchistan_, 1911, i. 171.]

Footnote 7.2.29:

[The theory of the Jewish descent of the Afghāns is not now accepted
by any serious student. They are probably of Aryan origin, though the
Yadu theory in the text is not supported by good evidence. They link
India on the east with Persia on the west (Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_,
ii. 306; Bellew, _Races of Afghanistan_, 15 ff.).]

Footnote 7.2.30:

[Lodorwa, 10 miles N. of Jaisalmer. For its temples see Erskine iii.
A. 17.]

Footnote 7.2.31:

We are not told of what race (_kula_) was the Lodra Rajput; in all
probability it was Pramara, or Puar, which at one time occupied the
whole desert of India. Lodorva, as will be seen, became the capital of
the Bhattis, until the founding of their last and present capital,
Jaisalmer; it boasts a high antiquity, though now a ruin, occupied by
a few families of shepherds. Many towns throughout the desert were
formerly of celebrity, but are now desolate, through the conjoined
causes of perpetual warfare and the shifting sands. I obtained a
copper-plate inscription of the tenth century from Lodorva, of the
period of Bijairaj, in the ornamental Jain character; also some clay
signets, given to pilgrims, bearing Jain symbols. All these relics
attest the prevailing religion to have been Jain.

Footnote 7.2.32:

A gross exaggeration of the annalist, or a cypher in each added by the
copyist.

Footnote 7.2.33:

Dhar, or Dharanagari, was the most ancient capital of this tribe, the
most numerous of the Agnikula races. See a sketch of the Puars, or
Pramaras, Vol. I. p. 107. [The proverb is repeated by Forbes,
_Rāsmāla_, 115.]

Footnote 7.2.34:

[The story reads like a piece of sympathetic or imitative magic.]

Footnote 7.2.35:

There is no interregnum in Rajwara; the king never dies.

Footnote 7.2.36:

[? _Nikhang_, ‘a quiver.’]

Footnote 7.2.37:

This affords a most important synchronism, corroborative of the
correctness of these annals. Raja Valabhsen of Patan (Anhilwara)
immediately followed Chamund Rae, who was dispossessed of the throne
by Mahmud of Ghazni, in the year A.D. 1011, or S. 1067. [Valabhsen
Durlabha, A.D. 1010-22.] Valabhsen died the year of his installation,
and was succeeded by Durlabh, whose period has also been
synchronically fixed by an inscription belonging to the Pramaras.—See
_Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 223. [The
annalist seems to have confounded Anhilwāra Pātan in Gujarāt with
Patan Munām, also called Fatan or Patanpur, five miles from Rahīmyār
Railway Station, on E. bank of the Indus, locally called Sej (Malik
Muhammad Dīn, _Bahāwalpur State Gazetteer_, A. 376 f.).]

Footnote 7.2.38:

This date, S. 1035, is evidently an error of the copyist. Bachera
married Balabhsen’s daughter in S. 1067, and he died in S. 1100; so
that it should be either S. 1055 or 1065. It is important to clear
this point, as Rawal Bachera was the opponent of Mahmud of Ghazni in
his invasion of India, A.H. 303, A.D. 1000, = S. 1056 or S. 1066, the
Samvat era being liable to a variation of ten years (Colebrooke). If
we are right, a passage of Ferishta, which has puzzled the
translators, should run thus: “Mahmud directed his march against the
Bhatti, and passing Multan arrived at Bahra, a Bhatti city.”—Compare
Dow, vol. i. p. 39 (2nd ed.), and Briggs, vol. i. p. 38.

Footnote 7.2.39:

See Map. This was one of the points touched at in Mr. Elphinstone’s
journey. [The town is about 48 miles N.W. of Bīkaner city.]

Footnote 7.2.40:

The chief of the Guhilots is now settled at Bhavnagar, at the estuary
of the Mahi; where I visited him in 1823. The migration of the family
from Kherdhar occurred about a century after that period, according to
the documents in the Rao’s family. And we have only to look at the
opening of the Annals of Marwar to see that from its colonization by
the Rathors the Gohil community of Kherdhar was finally extinguished.
To the general historian these minute facts may be unimportant, but
they cease to be so when they prove the character of these annals for
fidelity.

Footnote 7.2.41:

If this is the Hamira alluded to in the Annals of Bikaner, in whose
time the Ghaggar River ceased to flow in these lands, we have another
date assigned to a fact of great physical importance.

Footnote 7.2.42:

Here we have another synchronism. In the Kumarpal Charitra, or history
of the kings of Anhilwara Patan, the reign of Siddhraj was from S.
1150 to S. 1201, or A.D. 1094 to 1145 [1094-1143]; the point of time
intermediate between the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni and the final
conquest of India by Shihabu-d-din, during which there were many
irruptions into India by the lieutenants of the monarchs of Ghazni.
There was one in the reign of Masud, in A.H. 492 (A.D. 1098), four
years after the accession of Siddhraj; another in A.D. 1120, in the
reign of Bairam Shah, during which, according to Ferishta, the
Ghaznevide general, Balin, rebelled and assailed the Hindu Rajas from
Nagor, where he established himself. [His real name was Muhammad
Bahlīm (Ferishta i. 151).] In all probability this is the event
alluded to by the queen of Patan, when she nominated the Bhatti prince
as her champion.

Footnote 7.2.43:

[Siddharāja Jayasingha had no son, and he was succeeded by Kumārapāla;
and Ajayapāla, who succeeded in A.D. 1174, was son of Mahipāla,
brother of Kumārapāla (_BG_, i. Part i. 194).] The mention of these
simultaneous intermarriages in three of the principal Rajput
monarchies of that day, namely, Dhar, Patan, and Chitor, is important,
not only as establishing fresh synchronisms, but as disclosing the
intercourse between the Bhattis and the more ancient princely families
of India. The period of Udayaditya Pramar has been established beyond
cavil (see _Trans. R.A.S._ vol. i. p. 223), and that of Siddhraj,
likewise, whose son and successor, Ajaipal, had but a short reign when
he was deposed by Kumarpal, whose date is also found from
inscriptions. It is a singular fact that all the Rajput dynasties of
these regions were established about the same epoch, namely, Patan by
the Chawaras, Chitor by the Guhilots, Delhi, refounded by the Tuars,
and the Bhatti principality by the descendant of Salbahan. This was in
the middle of the eighth century of Vikramaditya, when the older Hindu
governments were broken up. The admission of the Bhatti to intermarry
with their families proves one of two facts: either that they were
considered Rajputs, notwithstanding their being inhabitants of the
regions beyond the Indus; or, that the families mentioned, with which
they intermarried, were Indo-Scythic like themselves.

Footnote 7.2.44:

At every step we see, however meagre may be the outline, the
correctness of this historical sketch. It was, according to Ferishta,
in A.H. 555 (A.D. 1159 [1150], or S. 1215) that the prince of Ghor
conquered Ghazni, and immediately after overran Multan and Sind (see
Briggs, vol. i. p. 153); and doubtless it was on this occasion that
the Bhatti prince swore allegiance to Shihabu-d-din, and obtained the
force which drove his nephew from Lodorva, which being sacked by his
auxiliaries, he founded Jaisalmer in S. 1212. The three years’
discrepancy between the Muhammadan and Hindu dates is of little
consequence; but even this could be remedied, when we recollect that
the Samvat, according to Mr. Colebrooke, is liable to a variation of
ten years.

Footnote 7.2.45:

Tatta was not then in existence. It was founded about the middle of
the fifteenth century.

Footnote 7.2.46:

If there were no better support for the assumed descent of the Bhatti
founder of Jaisalmer from the Yadus of the Bharat than this prophecy,
we should be confirmed in our suspicion that they are a colony of the
Yuti, and that the Brahmans took advantage of the nominal resemblance
to incorporate them in the Chhattis Rajkula, or Thirty-six Royal
Races.

Footnote 7.2.47:

Lodorva remains in ruins; a journey thither might afford
subject-matter for the antiquary, and enable him to throw light upon
the origin of the Bhatti tribe. I omitted to place it in the Map; it
is ten miles N.W. of the present capital.

-----

CHAPTER 3

Having thus epitomized the Bhatti annals, from the expulsion of the
tribe from the Panjab, and the establishment of Tanot in the Indian
desert, in A.D. 731, to the foundation of the existing capital,
Jaisalmer, in A.D. 1156, we shall continue the sketch to the present
day, nearly in the language of the chronicle, adding explanatory notes
as we proceed.

=Retrospect of Bhatti History.=—The interval between the erection of the
castle of Tanot and the present time is exactly eleven hundred years;
during which the historical narrative, whatever may be its value, is at
least continuous, and the events recorded are corroborated, even in the
darkest period, by numerous synchronisms in the annals of the other
States; and viewed synoptically, it presents matter of deep interest to
the explorer of Indian history. The period of four hundred and
twenty-five years, embraced in the preceding chapter, is full of
incidents. It is a record of a people who once deemed their consequence
and their fame imperishable. And even were it less diversified by
anecdotes descriptive of manners, it would still possess claims to
interest as a simple relation of the gradual peopling of a great portion
of the Indian desert. We see tribes and cities disappearing; new races
and new capitals taking their place; and although not a syllable is
written which [246] bears directly upon religion, we can see,
incidentally, the analogy of these Indo-Scythic tribes, from Zabulistan
and Salbahana, with the Hindu, confirming what Manu says, that the
Sakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, and the Khasas[7.3.1] of Central Asia, were
all Chhattris or Rajputs. We now proceed with the chronicle.

Jaisal, the founder of Jaisalmer, survived the change of capital only
twelve years. His elder son, Kailan, having given displeasure to the
Pahu minister, was expelled, and his younger brother placed upon the
_gaddi_.

=Rāwal Sālivāhan I.=—Salbahan, a name of celebrity in the annals,
renewed in the son of Jaisal, succeeded in S. 1224 (A.D. 1168). His
first expedition was against the Kathi tribe, who, under their leader,
Jagbhan, dwelt between the city of Jalor and the Aravalli.[7.3.2] The
Kathi Rao was killed, and his horses and camels were carried to
Jaisalmer. The fame of this exploit exalted the reputation of Salbahan.
He had three sons, Bijar, Banar, and Haso.

=Embassy from Badarināth.=—In the mountains of Badarinath, there was a
State whose princes were of the Jadon (Yadu) race, descended from the
first Salbahan at the period of the expulsion from Gajni.[7.3.3] At this
time, the prince of this State dying without issue, a deputation came to
Jaisalmer to obtain a prince to fill the vacant _gaddi_. Haso was
accordingly sent, but died just as he arrived. His wife, who was
pregnant, was taken with the pains of labour on the journey, and was
delivered of a son under the shade of a _palas_ tree, whence the child
was called Palasia. This infant succeeding, the _raj_ (principality) was
named after him Palasia.[7.3.4]

Proposals of marriage came from Mansi Deora of Sirohi.[7.3.5] The Rawal
left Jaisalmer [247] to the care of his eldest son Bijal. Soon after his
departure, the foster-brother (Dhabhai) of the young prince propagated
the report of the Rawal’s death in an encounter with a tiger, and
prompted Bijal to assume the dignity. Salbahan, on his return, finding
his seat usurped, and having in vain expostulated with his traitorous
son, proceeded to Khadal, of which Derawar is the capital, where he was
slain, with three hundred of his followers, in repelling an irruption of
the Balochs. Bijal did not long enjoy the dignity; having in a fit of
passion struck the Dhabhai, the blow was returned, upon which, stung
with shame and resentment, he stabbed himself with his dagger.

=Rāwal Kailan, _c._ A.D. 1200-19.=—Kailan, the elder brother of
Salbahan, who was expelled by the Pahus, was now (A.D. 1200) recalled,
and installed at the age of fifty. He had six sons, Chachakdeo, Palhan,
Jaichand, Pitamsi, Pitamchand, and Asrao. The second and third had
numerous issue, who are styled Jaser and Sihana Rajputs.

Khizr Khan Baloch, with five thousand men, at this time again crossed
the Mihran (Indus), and invaded the land of Khadal, which was the second
irruption since he slew Salbahan. Kailan marched against him at the head
of seven thousand Rajputs, and, after a severe engagement, slew the
Baloch leader and fifteen hundred of his men. Kailan ruled nineteen
years.

=Rāwal Chāchakdeo I., _c._ A.D. 1219-41.=—Chachakdeo succeeded, in S.
1275 (A.D. 1219). Soon after his accession, he carried on war against
the Chana Rajputs (now extinct), of whom he slew two thousand, capturing
fourteen thousand cows, and compelling the tribe to take refuge with the
Johyas. Soon after, the Rawal invaded the lands of Rana Armsi, prince of
the Sodhas, who, though taken by surprise, assembled four thousand
horse; but was defeated, and forced to fly for shelter to the walls of
his capital, Umarkot. The Puar was glad to obtain the absence of his foe
by the offer of his daughter in marriage.[7.3.6]

The Rathors, recently established in the land of Kher, had become
troublesome [248] neighbours; Chachak obtained the aid of the Sodha
troops to chastise them, and he proceeded to Jasal and Bhalotra, where
they were established; but Chhadu and his son Thida averted his wrath by
giving him a daughter to wife.[7.3.7]

Rawal Chachak ruled thirty-two years. He had only one son, Tej Rao, who
died at the age of forty-two, from the smallpox, leaving two sons,
Jethsi and Karan. To the youngest the Rawal was much attached; and
having convened the chiefs around his death-bed, he entreated they would
accede to his last wish, that his youngest grandson might be his
successor.

=Rāwal Karan Singh I., A.D. 1241-71.=—Karan having succeeded, his elder
brother, Jethsi, abandoned his country, and took service with the
Muhammadans in Gujarat. About this time, Muzaffar Khan, who occupied
Nagor with five thousand horse, committed great outrages. There was a
Bhumia of the Baraha tribe, named Bhagawatidas, who resided fifteen coss
from Nagor, and was master of one thousand five hundred horse. He had an
only daughter, who was demanded by the Khan, and being unwilling to
comply, and unable to resist, he resolved to abandon the country. For
this purpose he prepared carriages, in which he placed his family and
chattels, and at night proceeded towards Jaisalmer; but the Khan,
gaining intelligence of his motions, intercepted the convoy. A battle
ensued, in which four hundred of the Barahas were killed, and his
daughter and other females were carried off. The afflicted Baraha
continued his route to Jaisalmer, and related his distress to Rawal
Karan, who immediately put himself at the head of his followers,
attacked the Khan, whom he slew, with three thousand of his people, and
re-inducted the Bhumia in his possessions. Karan ruled twenty-eight
years, and was succeeded, in S. 1327, by his son,

=Rāwal Lākhansen, A.D. 1271-75.=—He was so great a simpleton, that when
the jackals howled at night, being told that it was from being cold, he
ordered quilted dresses (_daglas_) to be prepared for them. As the
howling still continued, although he was assured his orders had been
fulfilled, he commanded houses to be built for the animals in the royal
preserves (_ramna_), many of which yet remain. Lakhan was the
contemporary of Kanirdeo Sonigira, whose life was saved by his
(Lakhan’s) wife’s knowledge of omens. Lakhan was ruled by this Rani, who
was of the Sodha tribe. She invited her brethren from Umarkot; but the
madman, her husband, put [249] them to death, and threw their bodies
over the walls. He was allowed to rule four years, and was then replaced
by his son,

=Rāwal Pūnpāl, A.D. 1275-76.=—This prince was of a temper so violent
that the nobles dethroned him, and recalled the exiled Jethsi from
Gujarat. Punpal had a residence assigned him in a remote quarter of the
State. He had a son, Lakamsi, who had a son called Rao Raningdeo, who by
a stratagem pointed out by a Kharal[7.3.8] Rajput, took Marot from the
Johyas, and Pugal from the Thoris, thieves by profession, whose chief,
styled Rao, he made captive; and in Pugal he settled his family. Rao
Raning had a son called Sadul, who alternately bathed in the sea of
pleasure, and struggled in that of action: to their retreat the father
and son conveyed the spoils seized from all around them.

=Rāwal Jeth Singh I., A.D. 1276-94.=—Jethsi obtained the _gaddi_ in S.
1332 (A.D. 1276). He had two sons, Mulraj and Ratansi. Deoraj, the son
of Mulraj, espoused the daughter of the Sonigira chief of Jalor.
Muhammad [Khuni][7.3.9] Padshah invaded the dominions of Rana Rupsi, the
Parihar prince of Mandor,[7.3.10] who, when defeated, fled with his
twelve daughters, and found refuge with the Rawal, who gave him
Baru[7.3.11] as a residence.

=Alāu-d-din attacks Jaisalmer.=—Deoraj, by his Sonigira wife, had three
sons, Janghan, Sarwan, and Hamir. This Hamir was a mighty warrior, who
attacked Kumpa Sen of Mewa,[7.3.12] and plundered his lands. He had
issue three sons, Jetha, Lunkaran, and Mairu. At this period, Ghori
Alau-d-din commenced the war against the castles of India. The tribute
of Tatta and Multan, consisting of fifteen hundred horses and fifteen
hundred mules laden with treasure and valuables, was at Bakhar in
progress to the king at Delhi. The sons of Jethsi determined to lay an
ambush and capture the tribute. Disguised as grain-merchants, with seven
thousand horse and twelve hundred camels, they set out on their
expedition, and on the banks of the Panjnad found the convoy, escorted
by four hundred Mogul and the like number of Pathan horse. The Bhattis
encamped near the convoy; and in the night they rose upon and slew the
escort, carrying the treasure to Jaisalmer. The survivors carried the
news to the king, who prepared to punish this insult. When tidings
reached Rawal Jethsi that the king was encamped on the Anasagar at
Ajmer, he prepared Jaisalmer for defence. He laid in immense stores of
grain, and deposited all round the ramparts of the fort large round
stones to hurl on the besiegers. All the aged, the infirm, and his
female grandchildren were [250] removed into the interior of the desert,
while the country around the capital for many miles was laid waste, and
the towns made desolate. The Rawal, with his two elder sons and five
thousand warriors, remained inside for the defence of the castle, while
Deoraj and Hamir formed an army to act against the enemy from without.
The sultan in person remained at Ajmer and sent forward an immense force
of Khorasanis and Kuraishes, cased in steel armour, “who rolled on like
the clouds in Bhadon.” The fifty-six bastions were manned, and three
thousand seven hundred heroes distributed amongst them for their
defence, while two thousand remained in reserve to succour the points
attacked. During the first week that the besiegers formed their
entrenchments, seven thousand Musalmans were slain, and Mir Muhabbat and
Ali Khan remained on the field of battle. For two years the invaders
were confined to their camp by Deoraj and Hamir, who kept the field,
after cutting off their supplies, which came from Mandor, while the
garrison was abundantly furnished from Khadal, Barmer, and Dhat. Eight
years[7.3.13] had the siege lasted, when Rawal Jethsi died, and his body
was burnt inside the fort.

During this lengthened siege, Ratansi had formed a friendship with the
Nawab Mahbub Khan, and they had daily friendly meetings under a
khejra[7.3.14] tree, between the advanced posts, each attended by a few
followers. They played at chess together, and interchanged expressions
of mutual esteem. But when duty called them to oppose each other in
arms, the whole world was enamoured with their heroic courtesy. Jethsi
had ruled eighteen years when he died.

=Rāwal Mūlrāj III., A.D. 1294-95.=—Mulraj III., in S. 1350 (A.D. 1294),
ascended the _gaddi_ surrounded by foes. On this occasion, the customary
rejoicings on installation took place at the moment when the two
friends, Ratansi and Mahbub Khan, had met, as usual, under the khejra
tree. The cause of rejoicing being explained to the Nawab, he observed
that the Sultan had heard of, and was offended with, these meetings, to
which he attributed the protracted defence of the castle, and acquainted
Ratansi that next day a general assault was commanded, which he should
lead in person. The attack took place; it was fierce, but the defence
was obstinate, and the assailants were beaten back with the loss of nine
thousand men. But the foe obtained reinforcements, and towards the
conclusion of the year the garrison was reduced to the greatest
privations, and the blockade being perfect, Mulraj assembled his kinsmen
and thus addressed them: “For so many years [251] we have defended our
dwellings; but our supplies are expended, and there is no passage for
more. What is to be done?” The chiefs, Sahar and Bikamsi, replied, “A
_sakha_ must take place; we must sacrifice ourselves”: but that same day
the royal army, unaware of the distress of the besieged, retreated.

=The Sati: Johar.=—The friend of Ratansi had a younger brother, who, on
the retreat of the royal forces, was carried inside the fort, when,
seeing the real state of things, he escaped and conveyed intelligence of
it, upon which the siege was renewed. Mulraj reproached his brother as
the cause of this evil, and asked what was fit to be done? to which
Ratansi replied, “There is but one path open: to immolate the females,
to destroy by fire and water whatever is destructible, and to bury what
is not; then open wide the gates, and sword in hand rush upon the foe,
and thus attain Swarga.” The chiefs were assembled; all were unanimous
to make Jaisalnagar resplendent by their deeds, and preserve the honour
of the Jadon race. Mulraj thus replied: “You are of a warlike race, and
strong are your arms in the cause of your prince; what heroes excel you,
who thus tread in the Chhatri’s path? In battle, not even the elephant
could stand before you. For the maintenance of my honour the sword is in
your hands; let Jaisalmer be illumined by its blows upon the foe.”
Having thus inspired the chiefs and men, Mulraj and Ratan repaired to
the palace of their queens. They told them to take the _sohag_,[7.3.15]
and prepare to meet in heaven, while they gave up their lives in defence
of their honour and their faith. Smiling, the Sodha Rani replied, “This
night we shall prepare, and by the morning’s light we shall be
inhabitants of Swarga” (heaven); and thus it was with the chiefs and all
their wives. The night was passed together for the last time in
preparation for the awful morn. It came; ablutions and prayers were
finished, and at the Rajdwara[7.3.16] were convened _bala_, _praurha_,
and _briddhu_.[7.3.17] They bade a last farewell to all their kin; the
Johar commenced, and twenty-four thousand females, from infancy to old
age, surrendered their lives, some by the sword, others in the volcano
of fire. Blood flowed in torrents, while the smoke of the pyre ascended
to the heavens: not one feared to die, every valuable was consumed with
them, not the worth of a straw was preserved for the foe. This work
done, the brothers looked upon the spectacle with horror. Life was now a
burden, and they prepared to quit it. They purified themselves with
water, paid adoration to the divinity, made gifts [252] to the poor,
placed a branch of the Tulsi[7.3.18] in their casques, the
Salagram[7.3.18] round their neck; and having cased themselves in armour
and put on the saffron robe, they bound the _mor_[7.3.19] (crown) around
their heads, and embraced each other for the last time. Thus they
awaited the hour of battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, with
faces red with wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs.

Ratansi had two sons, named Gharsi and Kanar, the eldest only twelve
years of age. He wished to save them from the impending havoc, and
applied to his courteous foeman. The Muslim chief swore he would protect
them, and sent two confidential servants to receive the trust; to whom,
bidding them a last farewell, their father consigned them. When they
reached the royal camp they were kindly welcomed by the Nawab, who,
putting his hand upon their heads, soothed them, and appointed two
Brahmans to guard, feed, and instruct them.

On the morrow, the army of the Sultan advanced to the assault. The gates
were thrown wide, and the fight began. Ratan was lost in the sea of
battle; but one hundred and twenty Amirs fell before his sword ere he
lay in the field. Mulraj plied his lance on the bodies of the
barbarians: the field swam in blood. The unclean spirits were gorged
with slaughter; but at length the Jadon chief fell, with seven hundred
of the choice of his kin. With his death the battle closed; the victors
ascended the castle, and Mahbub Khan caused the bodies of the brothers
to be carried from the field and burned. The _sakha_ took place in S.
1351, or A.D. 1295. Deoraj, who commanded the force in the field, was
carried off by a fever. The royal garrison kept possession of the castle
during two years, and at length blocked up the gateways, and dismantled
and abandoned the place, which remained long deserted, for the Bhattis
had neither means to repair the _kunguras_ (battlements) nor men to
defend them [253].

-----

Footnote 7.3.1:

[Manu, _Laws_, x. 44, which does not name the Khasas.] There is a race
in the desert, now Muhammadan, and called Khosas. Elphinstone mentions
the Khasa-Khel. Kashgar is ‘the region of the Khasas,’ the Casia Regia
of Ptolemy [?]. [The Khosas are a Muhammadan tribe, driven from Sind
in A.D. 1786, who lived beside the Rann of Cutch, and levied blackmail
on their neighbours. They are believed to be a branch of the Rind, and
it is improbable that they can be connected with the Khasas of Manu
(_Laws_, x. 22).]

Footnote 7.3.2:

We can scarcely refuse our assent to the belief that the Kathi or
Katti tribe, here mentioned, is the remnant of the nation which so
manfully opposed Alexander. It was then located about Multan, at this
period occupied by the Langahas. The colony attacked by the Bhatti was
near the Aravalli, in all probability a predatory band from the region
they peopled and gave their name to, Kathiawar, in the Surashtra
peninsula. [The Kāthis were probably a nomadic Central Asian tribe,
driven down the valley of the Indus by the tide of early Muhammadan
invasions. Their appearance in Jaisalmer at the end of the twelfth
century A.D. probably marks a stage in their southerly progress.
Thence they seem to have moved into Mālwa, thence to Cutch, and
finally to Kāthiāwār (_BG_, ix. Part i. 252 ff., viii. 128).]

Footnote 7.3.3:

Mr. Elphinstone enumerates the Jadon as a subdivision of the
Yusufzais, one of the great Afghan tribes, who were originally located
about Kabul and Ghazni. I could not resist surmising the probability
of the term Jadon, applied to a subdivision of the Afghan race,
originating from the Hindu-Scythic Jadon, or Yadu; whence the boasted
descent of the Afghans from Saul, king of the Jews (Yahudis). The
customs of the Afghans would support this hypothesis: “The Afghans
(says the Emperor Babur, p. 159), when reduced to extremities in war,
come into the presence of their enemy with grass between their teeth,
being as much as to say, ‘I am your ox.’” This custom is entirely
Rajput, and ever recurring in inscriptions recording victories. They
have their bards or poets in like manner, of whom Mr. Elphinstone
gives an interesting account. In features, also, they resemble the
Northern Rajputs, who have generally aquiline noses, or, as Mr.
Elphinstone expresses it in the account of his journey through the
desert, “Jewish features”; though this might tempt one to adopt the
converse of my deduction, and say that these Yadus of Gajni were, with
the Afghans, also of Yahudi origin: from the lost tribes of Israel.
[The Jadūn, as Rose writes their name, are not Yūsufzais, but live S.
of them, and have no connexion with the Rājput Jādons (_Glossary_, ii.
272 f., iii. 254).]

Footnote 7.3.4:

See Mr. Elphinstone’s map for the position of the Jadon branch of the
Yusufzais at the foot of the Siwalik hills.

Footnote 7.3.5:

[“If this is correct, the date of the foundation of Jaisalmer must be
wrong, for Mān Singh’s father is known to have been alive in 1249.
Moreover the Deora sept did not exist, as it took the name from Mān
Singh’s son Deoraj” (Erskine iii. A. 11).]

Footnote 7.3.6:

In this single passage we have revealed the tribe (_got_), race
(_kula_), capital, and proper name of the prince of Dhat. The Sodha
tribe, as before stated, is an important branch of the Pramara (Puar)
race, and with the Umras and Sumras gave dynasties to the valley of
Sind from the most remote period. The Sodhas, I have already observed,
were probably the Sogdoi of Alexander, occupying Upper Sind when the
Macedonian descended that stream. The Sumra dynasty is mentioned by
Ferishta from ancient authorities, but the Muhammadan historians knew
nothing, and cared nothing, about Rajput tribes. It is from such
documents as these, scattered throughout the annals of these
principalities, and from the ancient Hindu epic poems, that I have
concentrated the “Sketches of the Rajput Tribes,” introductory to the
first volume, which, however slight they appear, cost more research
than the rest of the book. I write this note chiefly for the
information of the patriarch of oriental lore on the Continent, the
learned and ingenious De Sacy. If this mentor ask, “Where are now the
Sodhas?” I reply, the ex-prince of Umarkot, with whose ancestors
Humayun took refuge—in whose capital in the desert the great Akbar was
born—and who could on the spur of the moment oppose four thousand
horse to invasion, has only one single town, that of Chor, left to
him. The Rathors, who, in the time of Armsi Rana and Rawal Chachak,
were hardly known in Marudes, have their flag waving on the
battlements of the ‘immortal castle’ (Amarkuta), and the Amirs of Sind
have incorporated the greater part of Dhat with their State of
Haidarabad. [Umarkot is not the ‘immortal castle,’ but the fort of
Umar, chief of the Sūmra tribe (_IGI_, xxiv. 118).]

Footnote 7.3.7:

To those interested in the migration of these tribes, it must be
gratifying to see these annals thus synchronically corroborating each
other. About two centuries before this, in the reign of Dusaj, when
the Bhatti capital was at Lodorva, an attack was made on the land of
Kher, then occupied by the Guhilots, who were, as related in the
Annals of Marwar, dispossessed by the Rathors. None but an inquirer
into these annals of the desert tribes can conceive the satisfaction
arising from such confirmation.

Footnote 7.3.8:

This tribe is unknown to Central India. [They are a branch of the
Parihārs.]

Footnote 7.3.9:

[Alāu-d-dīn.]

Footnote 7.3.10:

The title, tribe, and capital of this race show that the Bhattis were
intimately connected with the neighbouring States.

Footnote 7.3.11:

[About 100 miles N.N.E. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 7.3.12:

[In Mallāni, the ‘cradle of the Rāthors.’]

Footnote 7.3.13:

This can mean nothing more than that desultory attacks were carried on
against the Bhatti capital. It is certain that Ala never carried his
arms in person against Jaisalmer. [It is impossible to reconcile the
dates, and this siege is not mentioned by Muhammadan historians. It is
said to have lasted from A.D. 1286 to 1295. Balban reigned
1266-1286-7, and Alāu-d-dīn did not ascend the throne till 1296. Much
of the narrative is a fiction of the Bhatti bards.]

Footnote 7.3.14:

[_Prosopis spicigera._]

Footnote 7.3.15:

Sohagan, one who becomes Sati previous to her lord’s death; Duhagan,
who follows him after death.

Footnote 7.3.16:

Literally, ‘the royal gate’; an allusion to the female apartments, or
Rajloka.

Footnote 7.3.17:

_Bala_, is under sixteen; _praurha_, middle-aged; _briddhu_, when
forty.

Footnote 7.3.18:

The funereal qualities of the tulsi plant, and the emblematic
Salagram, or stone found in the Gandak River, have been often
described.

Footnote 7.3.19:

On two occasions the Rajput chieftain wears the _mor_ [_maur_], or
‘coronet’: on his marriage, and when going to die in battle; symbolic
of his nuptials with the Apsaras, or ‘fair of heaven.’

-----

CHAPTER 4

=Rāthor Settlement at Jaisalmer. Dūda Rāwal, A.D. 1295-1306.=—Some years
subsequent to this disastrous event in the Bhatti annals, Jagmall, son
of Maloji Rathor, chief of Mewa, attempted a settlement amidst the ruins
of Jaisalmer, and brought thither a large force, with seven hundred
carts of provisions. On hearing this, the Bhatti chiefs, Dudu and
Tilaksi, the sons of Jaisar, assembled their kinsmen, surprised the
Rathors, drove them from the castle, and captured the supplies. Dudu,
for this exploit, was elected Rawal, and commenced the repairs of
Jaisalmer. He had five sons. Tilaksi, his brother, was renowned for his
exploits. He despoiled the Baloch, the Mangalea, the Meawa, and the
Deoras and Sonagiras of Abu and Jalor felt his power. He even extended
his raids to Ajmer, and carried off the stud of Firoz Shah from the
Anasagar (lake), where they were accustomed to be watered.[7.4.1] This
indignity provoked another attack upon Jaisalmer, attended with the same
disastrous results. Again the _sakha_ was performed, in which sixteen
thousand [254] females[7.4.2] were destroyed; and Dudu, with Tilaksi and
seventeen hundred of the clan, fell in battle, after he had occupied the
_gaddi_ ten years.

=Gharsi Rāwal, A.D. 1306-35. Jaisalmer restored.=—On the death of Rawal
Dudu, in S. 1362 (A.D. 1306), the young princes, Gharsi and Kanar, by
the death of their patron Mahbub, were left to the protection of his
sons, Zulfikar and Ghazi Khan. Kanar went privately to Jaisalmer, and
Gharsi obtained leave to proceed westward to the Mewa tract, where he
married Bimaladevi, a widow, sister to the Rathor, who had been
betrothed[7.4.3] to the Deora. While engaged in these nuptials, he was
visited by his relation Soningdeo, a man of gigantic strength, who
agreed to accompany him on his return to Delhi. The king made trial of
his force, by giving him to string an iron bow sent by the king of
Khorasan, which the nervous Bhatti not only bent but broke. The invasion
of Delhi by Timur Shah[7.4.4] having occurred at this time, the services
of Gharsi were so conspicuous that he obtained a grant of his hereditary
dominions, with permission to re-establish Jaisalmer. With his own
kindred, and the aid of the vassals of his friend Jagmall of Mewa, he
soon.restored order, and had an efficient force at command. Hamir and
his clansmen gave their allegiance to Gharsi, but the sons of Jaisar
were headstrong.

=The Adoption of Kehar. Rāwal Gharsi assassinated.=—Deoraj, who married
the daughter of Rupra, Rana of Mandor, had a son named Kehar, who, when
Jaisalmer was about to be invested by the troops of the Sultan, was
conveyed to Mandor with his mother. When only twelve years of age, he
used to accompany the cow-herds of the old Rao’s kine, and his favourite
amusement was penning up the calves with twigs of the _ak_, to imitate
the picketing of horses. One day, tired of this occupation, young Kehar
fell asleep upon the hole of a serpent, and the reptile issuing
therefrom, arose and spread its hood over him as he slept. A Charan
(bard, or genealogist), passing that way, reported the fact and its
import immediately to the Rana, who, proceeding to the spot, found it
was his own grandson whom fate had thus pointed out for
sovereignty.[7.4.5] Gharsi, having no offspring by Bimaladevi, proposed
to her to adopt a son. All the Bhatti youth were assembled, but none
equalled Kehar, who [255] was chosen. But the sons of Jaisar were
displeased, and conspired to obtain the _gaddi_. At this time, Rawal
Gharsi was in the daily habit of visiting a tank, which he was
excavating, and they seized an occasion to assassinate him; whereupon,
in order to defeat their design, Bimaladevi immediately had Kehar
proclaimed. The widowed queen of Gharsi, with the view of securing the
completion of an object which her lord had much at heart, namely,
finishing the lake Gharsisar, as well as to ensure protection to her
adopted son Kehar, determined to protract the period of self-immolation;
but when six months had elapsed, and both these objects were attained,
she finished her days on the pyre. Bimaladevi named the children of
Hamir as the adopted sons and successors of Kehar. These sons were Jetha
and Lunkaran.

The coco-nut was sent by Kumbha, Rana of Chitor, to Jetha. The Bhatti
prince marched for Mewar, and when within twelve coss of the Aravalli
hills, was joined by the famous Sankhla Miraj, chief of Salbahni. Next
morning, when about to resume the march, a partridge began to call from
the right; a bad omen, which was interpreted by the brother-in-law of
the Sankhla, deeply versed in the science of the Suguni and the language
of birds.[7.4.6] Jetha drew the rein of his horse, and to avert the
evil, halted that day. Meanwhile, the partridge was caught and found to
be blind of an eye, and its ovary quite filled. The next morning, as
soon as they had taken horse, a tigress began to roar, and the Suguni
chieftain was again called upon to expound the omen. He replied that the
secrets of great houses should not be divulged, but he desired them to
dispatch a youth, disguised as a female Nai (barber class), to
Kumbhalmer, who there would learn the cause. The youth gained admission
to ‘the ruby of Mewar’ (Lala Mewari), who was anointing for the
nuptials. He saw things were not right, and returning made his report;
upon hearing which, the Bhatti prince married Marad, the daughter of the
Sankhla chief. The Rana was indignant at this insult, but a sense of
shame prevented his resenting it; and instead of proclaiming the slight,
he offered his daughter’s hand to the famous Khichi prince, Achaldas of
Gagraun, and it was accepted.[7.4.7] Jetha met his death, together with
his brother Lunkaran, and his brother-in-law, in an attempt to surprise
Pugal: he fell with a hundred and twenty followers. When the old Rao,
Raningdeo, discovered against whom he had thus successfully defended
himself, he clad himself in black garments [256], and in atonement
performed pilgrimage to all the shrines in India.[7.4.8] On his return,
he was forgiven and condoled with by Kehar.

=Lachhman Rāwal, _c._ A.D. 1402.=—Kehar had eight sons: (1) Somaji, who
had a numerous offspring, called the Soma-Bhattis; (2) Lachhman;[7.4.9]
(3) Kailan, who forcibly seized Bikampur, the appanage of his elder
brother Soma, who departed with all his _basai_,[7.4.10] and settled at
Girab; (4) Kilkaran; (5) Satal, who gave his name to an ancient town,
and called it Satalmer. The names of the rest were Bija, Tana, and
Tejsi.

When the sons of Raningdeo became converts to Islam, in order to avenge
their father’s feud with the Rathor prince of Nagor, they forfeited
their inheritance of Pugal and Marot, and thenceforward mixed with the
Aboharia Bhattis, and their descendants are termed Mumin Musalman
Bhatti. On this event, Kailan, the third son of the Rawal, took
possession of the forfeited lands, and besides Bikampur, regained
Derawar, which had been conquered by their ancient foes, the Dahya
Rajputs.

Kailan built a fort on the Bias, called, after his father, Kara, or
Karor, which again brought the Bhattis into collision with the Johyas
and Langahas, whose chief, Amir Khan Korai, attacked him, but was
defeated. Kailan became the terror of the Chahils,[7.4.11] the
Mohils,[7.4.11] and Johyas,[7.4.11] who lived in this quarter, and his
authority extended as far as the Panjnad. Kailan married into the Samma
family of Jam,[7.4.12] and [257] arbitrated their disputes on
succession, which had caused much bloodshed. Shujaat Jam, whom he
supported, accompanied him to Marot, on whose death, two years after,
Kailan possessed himself of all the Samma territory, when the Sind River
became the boundary of his dominion. Kailan died at the age of
seventy-two, and was succeeded by[7.4.13]

=Chāchakdeo Rāwal, _c._ A.D. 1448.=—Chachakdeo made Marot his
headquarters, to cover his territories from the attacks of Multan, which
took umbrage at the return of the Bhattis across the Gara. The chief of
Multan united in a league all the ancient foes of the Bhattis, the
Langahas, the Johyas, the Khichis, and all the tribes of that region.
Chachak formed an army of seventeen thousand horse and fourteen thousand
foot, and crossed the Bias to meet his foes. The encounter was
desperate; but the Bhattis were victorious, and returned with rich spoil
to Marot. In the year following another battle took place, in which
seven hundred and forty Bhattis were slain, and three thousand of the
men of Multan. By this success, the conquests of Chachak were extended,
and he left a garrison (_thana_) under his son in Asinikot, beyond the
Bias, and returned to Pugal. He then attacked Maipal, chief of the
Dhundis,[7.4.14] whom he defeated. After this victory he repaired to
Jaisalmer, to visit his brother Lachhman, reserving the produce of the
lands dependent on Asinikot[7.4.15] for his expenses at court. On his
return home by Baru, he was accosted by a Janjua Rajput,[7.4.16]
pasturing an immense flock of goats, who presented the best of his
flock, and demanded protection against the raids of Birjang Rathor. This
chief had wrested the celebrated fortress of Satalmer,[7.4.17] the abode
of wealthy merchants, from a Bhatti chief, and extended his forays far
into the desert, and the Janjua was one of those who had suffered by his
success [258]. Not long after Rao Chachak had passed by the pastures of
the Janjua, he received a visit from him, to complain of another inroad,
which had carried off the identical goat, his offering. Chachak
assembled his kinsmen, and formed an alliance with Shumar Khan, chief of
the Seta tribe,[7.4.18] who came with three thousand horse. It was the
custom of the Rathors of Satalmer to encamp their horse at a tank some
distance from the city, to watch, while the chief citizens used daily to
go abroad. Chachak surprised and made prisoners of the whole. The
bankers and men of wealth offered large sums for their ransom; but he
would not release them from bondage, except on condition of their
settling in the territory of Jaisalmer. Three hundred and sixty-five
heads of families embraced this alternative, and hence Jaisalmer dates
the influx of her wealth. They were distributed over the principal
cities, Derawar, Pugal, Marot, etc.[7.4.19] The three sons of the Rathor
were also made prisoners; the two youngest were released, but Mera, the
eldest, was detained as a hostage for his father’s good conduct. Chachak
dismissed his ally, the Seta chief, whose granddaughter, Sonaldevi, he
married. The father of the bride, Haibat Khan,[7.4.20] gave with her in
_daeja_ (dower) fifty horses, thirty-five slaves, four palkis, and two
hundred female camels, and with her Chachak returned to Marot.

=War with the Khokhars.=—Two years after this, Chachak made war on
Tharraj Khokhar, the chief of Pilibanga,[7.4.21] on account of a horse
stolen from a Bhatti. The Khokhars were defeated and plundered; but his
old enemies the Langahas, taking advantage of this occasion, made head
against Chachak, and drove his garrison from the new possession of
Dhuniapur.[7.4.22] Disease at length seized on Rawal Chachak, after a
long course of victorious warfare, in which he subdued various tracts of
country, even to the heart of the Panjab. In this state he determined to
die as he had lived, with arms in his hands; but having [259] no foe
near with whom to cope, he sent an embassy to the Langaha prince of
Multan, to beg, as a last favour, the Juddhdan, or ‘gift of battle,’
that his soul might escape by the steel of his foeman, and not fall a
sacrifice to slow disease.[7.4.23] The prince, suspecting treachery,
hesitated; but the Bhatti messenger pledged his word that his master
only wished an honourable death, and that he would only bring five
hundred men to the combat. The challenge being accepted, the Rawal
called his clansmen around him, and on recounting what he had done,
seven hundred select Rajputs, who had shared in all his victories,
volunteered to take the last field, and make Sankalp (oblation) of their
lives with their leader. Previous to setting forth, he arranged his
affairs. His son Gaj Singh, by the Seta Rani, he sent with her to her
father’s house. He had five other sons, namely, Kumbha, Barsal, Bhimdeo
(by Lala Rani, of the Sodha tribe), Rata and Randhir, whose mother was
Surajdevi, of Chauhan race. Barsal, his eldest son, he made heir to all
his dominions, except the land of Khadal (whose chief town is Derawar),
which he bestowed upon Randhir, and to both he gave the _tika_, making
them separate States. Barsal marched to Kahror,[7.4.24] his capital, at
the head of seventeen thousand men.

=Heroic Death of Rāwal Chachakdeo.=—Meanwhile, Rawal Chachak marched to
Dhuniapur, “to part with life.” There he heard that the prince of Multan
was within two coss. His soul was rejoiced; he performed his ablutions,
worshipped the sword[7.4.25] and the gods, bestowed charity, and
withdrew his thoughts from this world.

The battle lasted four gharis (two hours), and the Jadon prince fell
with all his kin after performing prodigies of valour. Two thousand
Khans fell beneath their swords; rivers of blood flowed in the field;
but the Bhatti gained the abode of Indra, who shared his throne with the
hero. The king crossed the Bias, and returned to Multan.

While Randhir was performing at Derawar the rites of the twelve days of
_matam_, or ‘mourning,’ his elder brother, Kumbha, afflicted with
insanity, rushed into the assembly and swore to avenge his father’s
death. That day he departed, accompanied by a single slave, and reached
the prince’s camp. It was surrounded by a [260] ditch eleven yards wide,
over which the Bhatti leaped his horse in the dead of night, reached the
harem, and cut off the head of Kalu Shah, with which he rejoined his
brethren at Derawar. Barsal re-established Dhuniapur, and then went to
Kahror. His old foes, the Langahas, under Haibat Khan, again attacked
him, but they were defeated with great slaughter. At the same time,
Husain Khan Baloch invaded Bikampur.[7.4.26]

=Rāwal Bersi, _c._ A.D. 1436-40.=—Rawal Bersi,[7.4.27] who at this time
occupied the _gaddi_ of Jaisalmer, went forth to meet Rao Barsal on his
return from his expedition in the Panjab. In S. 1530 (A.D. 1474) he made
the gates and palace of Bikampur.

We may, in this place, desert the literal narrative of the chronicle;
what follows is a record of similar border-feuds and petty wars, between
‘the sons of Kailan’[7.4.28] and the chiefs of the Panjab, alternately
invaders and invaded, which is pregnant with mighty words and gallant
deeds, but yielding no new facts of historical value. At length the
numerous offspring of Kailan separated, and divided amongst them the
lands on both sides of the Gara; and as Sultan Babur soon after this
period made a final conquest of Multan from the Langahas, and placed
therein his own governor, in all probability the Bhatti possessors of
Kahrorkot and Dhuniapur, as well as Pugal and Marot (now Muhammadans),
exchanged their faith (sanctioned even by Manu) for the preservation of
their estates.[7.4.29] The bard is so much occupied with this Pugal
branch that the chronicle appears almost devoted solely to them.

He passes from the main stem, Rawal Bersi, to Rawals Jeth, Nunkaran,
Bhim, Manohardas, to Sabal Singh, five generations, with little further
notice than the mere enumeration of their issue. With this last prince,
Sabal Singh, an important change occurred in the political condition of
the Bhattis [261].

-----

Footnote 7.4.1:

[If the dates are approximately correct, this was Jalālu-d-dīn Fīroz
Shāh, Sultān of Delhi, A.D. 1290-96.]

Footnote 7.4.2:

The Rajputs, by their exterminating _sakhas_, facilitated the views of
the Muhammadans. In every State we read of these horrors.

Footnote 7.4.3:

The mere act of being betrothed disqualifies from a second marriage;
the affianced becomes a _rand_ (widow), though a _kumari_ (maid).

Footnote 7.4.4:

Even these anachronisms are proofs of the fidelity of these Annals.
Ignorant native scribes, aware but of one great Moghul invasion,
consider the invader to be Timur; but there were numerous Moghul
invasions during the reign of Alau-d-din. In all probability that for
which the services of the Bhatti prince obtained him the restoration
of his dominions was that of Ibak Khan, general of the king of
Transoxiana, who invaded India in A.H. 705 (A.D. 1305), and was so
signally defeated that only three thousand out of fifty-seven thousand
horse escaped the sword, and these were made prisoners and trod to
death by elephants, when pillars of skulls were erected to commemorate
the victory.—See Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. i. p. 363 f. [Elliot-Dowson
iii. 199.]

Footnote 7.4.5:

[Another version of a common folk-tale (Vol. I. 342).]

Footnote 7.4.6:

It is scarcely necessary to repeat that this is a free translation of
the chronicle.

Footnote 7.4.7:

The Khichi prince, we may suppose, had no follower skilled in
omens—they lived very happily, as appears by the Khichi chronicle, and
she bore him a son, who was driven from Gagraun. The scandal
propagated against the ‘ruby of Mewar’ was no doubt a ruse of the
Sankhla chief, as the conclusion shows. However small the intrinsic
worth of these anecdotes, they afford links of synchronisms, which
constitute the value of the annals of all these States.

Footnote 7.4.8:

Sadhu was the son and heir of Raningdeo, and it was from this portion
of the Bhatti annals I extracted that singular story, related at p.
730, to illustrate the influence which the females of Rajputana have
on national manners. The date of this tragical event was S. 1462,
according to the Bhatti annals; and Rana Mokal, the contemporary of
Rawal Jeth and Rao Raningdeo, was on the throne of Mewar from S. 1454
to S. 1475. The annals of this State (Vol. I. p. 331) notice the
marriage of the ‘Ruby’ to Dhiraj, son of Achaldas, but say nothing on
the other point. A vague recollection of some matrimonial insult being
offered evidently yet prevails, for when a marriage was contracted in
A.D. 1821, through the Author’s intervention, between the Rana of
Udaipur’s daughter and the present Rawal Gaj Singh of Jaisalmer, it
was given out that there was no memorial of any marriage-alliance
between the two houses. After all, it may be a vainglorious invention
of the Bhatti annalist.

Footnote 7.4.9:

[The date of Lachhman Rāwal is uncertain. Inscriptions at Jaisalmer
mention him as reigning in A.D. 1402 and 1416 (Erskine iii. B. 9).]

Footnote 7.4.10:

The term _basai_ has been explained in Vol. I. p. 206. The Basai
is a slave in the mildest sense; one who in distress sells his
liberty. His master cuts the _choti_, or lock of hair, from the centre
of the head, as a mark of bondage. They are transferable, like cattle.
This custom prevails more in the desert States than in central
Rajwara; there every great man has his Basai. Shyam Singh Champawat of
Pokaran had two hundred when he fled to Jaipur, and they all fell with
him fighting against the Mahrattas. All castes, Brahmans and Rajputs,
become Basais; they can redeem their liberty by purchase.

Footnote 7.4.11:

These three tribes are either extinct, or were lost on becoming
proselytes to Islam.

Footnote 7.4.12:

The Sama or Samma tribe, which is well known in Muhammadan history, as
having given a dynasty to Sind in modern times, is a great branch of
the Yadus, and descended from Samba, son of Krishna; and while the
other branch colonized Zabulistan, maintaining the original name of
Yadus, the sons of Samba made his name the patronymic in Seistan and
the lower valley of the Indus. Samma-ka-kot, or Sammanagari, was the
capital, which yet exists, and doubtless originated the Minnagara of
the Greeks. Sambos, the opponent of Alexander, it is fair to infer,
was the chief of the Samma tribe. Samba, meaning ‘of, or belonging to,
Sham or Syama’ (an epithet of Krishna, from his dark complexion), was
son of Jambuvati, one of the eight wives of this deified Yadu. The
Jarejas of Cutch and Jams of Sind and Saurashtra are of the same
stock. The Sind-Samma dynasty, on the loss of their faith and coming
into contact with Islam, to which they became proselytes, were eager
to adopt a pedigree which might give them importance in the eyes of
their conquerors; _Sam_ was transformed into _Jam_, and the Persian
king, Jamshīd, was adopted as the patriarch of the Sammas, in lieu of
the legitimate Samba. Ferishta gives an account of this dynasty, but
was ignorant of their origin. He says, “The Zemindars of Sinde were
originally of two tribes or families, Somuna and Soomura; and the
chief of the former was distinguished by the appellation of
Jam.”—Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. iv. p. 424. The historian admits they
were Hindus until A.H. 782 (A.D. 1380, S. 1436); a point of little
doubt, as we see the Bhatti prince intermarrying with this family
about twenty years subsequent even to the date assigned by Ferishta
for their proselytism. I may here again state, once for all, that I
append these notes in order not to interfere with the text, which is
abridged from the original chronicle.

Footnote 7.4.13:

It is said that Ranmall succeeded; but this was only to the northern
portion, his appanage: he lived but two months.

Footnote 7.4.14:

Probably a branch of the Panwārs (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 240).

Footnote 7.4.15:

Position unknown, unless it be the Tchin-kot of D’Anville at the
confluence of the river of Kabul with the Indus. There is no doubt
that this castle of the Bhatti prince was in the Panjab; and coupled
with his alliance with the chief of Sehat or Swat, that it is the
Tchin-kot, or Ashnagar of that celebrated geographer, whence the
Acesines of the Greeks. [The Acesines or Chīnāb is the Vedik Asikni.]

Footnote 7.4.16:

I may here repeat that the Janjūa or Janjūba and Johya were no doubt
branches of the same race; the Janjūha of Babur, who locates them
about the mountains of Jud. [(Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 353 f.; _ASR_, ii.
17).]

Footnote 7.4.17:

Now belonging to Marwar, and on its north-western frontier; but I
believe in ruins. [Near Pokaran, 85 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city. It is
in ruins.]

Footnote 7.4.18:

Most likely the Swatis, or people of Swat, described by Mr.
Elphinstone (Vol. I. p. 506) as of Indian origin, and as
possessing a kingdom from the Hydaspes to Jalalabad, the Souastene of
Ptolemy. [Souastēnē is the basin of the Souastos, the river of Swāt,
the original form of the name being Subhavastu, which, by the usual
mode of contraction, becomes Subhāstu or Suvāstu (McCrindle,
_Ptolemy_, 106 f.). It seems hardly likely that this tribe interfered
in the politics of the Indian desert.]

Footnote 7.4.19:

It must not be forgotten that Satalmer was one of the Bhatti castles
wrested from them by the Rathors, who have greatly curtailed their
frontiers.

Footnote 7.4.20:

From this and many other instances we come to the conclusion that the
Tatar or Indo-Scythic title of Khan is by no means indicative of the
Muhammadan faith. Here we see the daughter of the prince of Swat, or
Suvat, with a genuine Hindi name.

Footnote 7.4.21:

The position of Pilibanga is unknown; in all probability it has
undergone a metamorphosis with the spread of ‘the faith’ over these
regions. As before mentioned, I believe this race called Khokhar to be
the Gakkhar, so well known to Babur, and described as his inveterate
foes in all his irruptions into India. Their manners, especially that
distinctive mark, polyandry, mentioned by Ferishta, mark the Ghakkars
as Indo-Scythic. The names of their chiefs are decidedly Hindu. They
were located with the Judis in the upper part of the Panjab, and,
according to Elphinstone, they retain their old position, contiguous
to the Yusufzai Jadons. [See Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 540. They have no
connexion with the Rājput Jādons.]

Footnote 7.4.22:

Dhuniapur is not located.

Footnote 7.4.23:

In this chivalrous challenge, or demand of the Juddhdan, we recognize
another strong trait of Scythic manners, as depicted by Herodotus. The
ancient Getae of Transoxiana could not bear the idea of dying of
disease; a feeling which his offspring carried with them to the shores
of the Baltic, to Yeut-land, or Jutland! [?]

Footnote 7.4.24:

This fortress, erected by Rao Kailan, is stated to be twenty-two coss,
about forty miles, from Bahawalpur; but though the direction is not
stated, there is little doubt of its being to the northward, most
probably in that _duab_ called Sind-Sagar. [Probably Kahror in Multān
District, about 20 miles from Bahāwalpur.]

Footnote 7.4.25:

Couple this martial rite with the demand of Juddhdan, and there is an
additional reason for calling these Yadus Indo-Scythic. See p. 680 for
an account of the worship of the sword, or Khadga-sthapna.

Footnote 7.4.26:

The foregoing (from p. 1219), including the actions of Kailan,
Chachak, and Barsal, must be considered as an episode, detailing the
exploits of the Raos of Pugal, established by Kailan, third son of
Rawal Kehar of Jaisalmer. It was too essential to the annals to be
placed in a note.

Footnote 7.4.27:

[Rāwal Bersi, son of Lachhman, son of Kehar, is mentioned in
inscriptions as Chief of Jaisalmer, A.D. 1436, and 1440 (Erskine iii.
B. 9)].]

Footnote 7.4.28:

Rao Kailan had established his authority over nine castles, heads of
districts, namely, Asini, or Aswinikot, Bikampur, Marot, Pugal,
Derawar, Kahror (twenty-two coss, or about forty miles, from
Bahawalpur), Guman, Bahan, Nadno, and Matela, on the Indus.

Footnote 7.4.29:

There never was anything so degrading to royalty as the selfish
protection guaranteed to it by this Lycurgus of the Hindus, who says,
“Against misfortune, let him preserve his wealth; at the expense of
his wealth, let him preserve his wife; but let him at all events
preserve himself, even at the hazard of his wife and riches.”—Manu,
_Laws_, vii. 213. The entire history of the Rajputs shows they do not
pay much attention to such unmanly maxims.

-----

CHAPTER 5

=Jaisalmer a Mughal Fief.=—We have now reached that period in the Bhatti
annals when Shah Jahan was emperor of India. Elsewhere, we have minutely
related the measure which the great Akbar adopted to attach his Rajput
vassalage to the empire; a policy pursued by his successors. Sabal
Singh, the first of the princes of Jaisalmer who held his dominions as a
fief of the empire, was not the legitimate heir to the ‘_gaddi_ of
Jaisal [262].’[7.5.1] Manohardas had obtained the _gaddi_ by the
assassination of his nephew, Rawal Nathu, the son and heir of Bhim, who
was returning from his nuptials at Bikaner, and had passed the day at
Phalodi,[7.5.2] then a town of Jaisalmer, when poison was administered
to him by the hands of a female. But it was destined that the line of
the assassin should not rule, and the dignity fell to Sabal Singh, the
third in descent from Maldeo, second son of Rawal Nunkaran.

=Rāwal Sabal Singh, A.D. 1651-61.=—The good qualities of young Sabal,
and the bad ones of Ramchand, son of the usurper, afforded another
ground for the preference of the former. Moreover, Sabal was nephew to
the prince of Amber, under whom he held a distinguished post in the
government of Peshawar, where he saved the royal treasure from being
captured by the Afghan mountaineers. For this service, and being a
favourite of the chiefs who served with their contingents, the king gave
Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur command to place him on the _gaddi_. The
celebrated Nahar Khan Kumpawat[7.5.3] was entrusted with this duty, for
the performance of which he received the city and domain of Pokaran,
ever since severed from Jaisalmer.

=Pokaran lost to Jaisalmer.=—This was the first considerable abstraction
from the territories which had been progressively increased by Rawal
Jaisal and his successors, but which have since been woefully curtailed.
A short time before Babur’s invasion, the dependencies of Jaisalmer
extended on the north to the Gara River,[7.5.4] west to the Mihran or
Indus; and on the east and south they were bounded by the Rathors of
Bikaner and Marwar who had been gradually encroaching for two centuries,
and continue to do so to this day. The entire _thal_ of Barmer and
Kotra,[7.5.5] in the south, were Bhatti chieftainships, and eastward to
the site of Bikaner itself.

=Rāwal Amār Singh, A.D. 1661-1702.=—Amra Singh, son of Sabal, succeeded.
He led the _tika-daur_ against the Balochs, who had invaded the western
tracts, and was installed on the field of victory. Soon after, he
demanded aid from his subjects to portion his daughter, and being
opposed by his Rajput minister, Raghunath, he put him to death. The
Chana Rajputs, from the north-east, having renewed their old raids, he
in person attacked and compelled them to give bonds, or written
obligations, for their future good conduct.

Provoked by the daily encroachments of the Kandhalot Rathors, Sundardas
and Dalpat, chiefs of Bikampur, determined to retaliate: “let us get a
name in the [263] world,” said Dalpat, “and attack the lands of the
Rathors.” Accordingly, they invaded, plundered, and fired the town of
Jaju, on the Bikaner frontier. The Kandhalots retaliated on the towns of
Jaisalmer, and an action took place, in which the Bhattis were
victorious, slaying two hundred of the Rathors. The Rawal partook in the
triumph of his vassals. Raja Anup Singh[7.5.6] of Bikaner was then
serving with the imperial armies in the Deccan. On receiving this
account, he commanded his minister to issue a summons to every Kandhalot
capable of carrying arms to invade Jaisalmer, and take and raze
Bikampur, or he would consider them traitors. The minister issued the
summons; every Rathor obeyed it, and he added, as an auxiliary, a Pathan
chief with his band from Hissar. Rawal Amra collected his Bhattis around
him, and instead of awaiting the attack, advanced to meet it; he slew
many of the chiefs, burnt the frontier towns, and recovered Pugal,
forcing the Rathor chiefs of Barmer and Kotra to renew their engagements
of fealty and service.

Amra had eight sons, and was succeeded by Jaswant, the eldest, in S.
1758 (A.D. 1702), whose daughter was married to the heir-apparent of
Mewar.

* * * * *

Here ends the chronicle, of which the foregoing is an abstract: the
concluding portion of the annals is from a MS. furnished by a living
chronicler, corrected by other information. It is but a sad record of
anarchy and crime.

Soon after the death of Rawal Amra, Pugal, Barmer, Phalodi, and various
other towns and territories in Jaisalmer, were wrested from this State
by the Rathors.[7.5.7]

The territory bordering the Gara was taken by Daud Khan, an Afghan
chieftain from Shikarpur, and it became the nucleus of a State called
after himself, Daudputra.[7.5.8]

=Rāwal Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1702-22.=—Jaswant Singh succeeded. He had
five sons, Jagat Singh, who committed suicide, Isari Singh, Tej Singh,
Sardar Singh, and Sultan Singh. Jagat Singh had three sons, Akhai Singh,
Budh Singh, and Zorawar Singh.

=Rāwal Akhai Singh, A.D. 1722-62.=—Akhai Singh succeeded. Budh Singh
died of the smallpox; Tej Singh, uncle to the Rawal, usurped the
government, and the princes fled to Delhi to save their lives. At this
period, their grand-uncle, Hari Singh (brother of Rawal Jaswant), was
serving the king, and he returned in order to displace the usurper. It
is customary for the [264] prince of Jaisalmer to go annually in state
to the lake Gharsisar, to perform the ceremony of _Las_, or clearing
away the accumulation of mud and sand.[7.5.9] The Raja first takes out a
handful, when rich and poor follow his example. Hari Singh chose the
time when this ceremony was in progress to attack the usurper. The
attempt did not altogether succeed; but Tej Singh was so severely
wounded that he died, and was succeeded by his son,

Sawai Singh, an infant of three years of age. Akhai Singh collected the
Bhattis from all quarters, stormed the castle, put the infant to death,
and regained his rights.

Akhai Singh ruled forty years. During this reign, Bahawal Khan, son of
Daud Khan, took Derawar, and all the tract of Khadal, the first Bhatti
conquest, and added it to his new State of Bahawalpur, or Daudputra.

=Rāwal Mūlrāj, A.D. 1762-1820. Conspiracy against Mūlrāj.=—Mulraj
succeeded in S. 1818 (A.D. 1762). He had three sons, Rae Singh, Jeth
Singh, and Man Singh. The unhappy choice of a minister by Mulraj
completed the demoralization of the Bhatti principality. This minister
was named Sarup Singh, a Bania of the Jain faith and Mehta family,
destined to be the exterminators of the laws and fortunes of the ‘sons
of Jaisal.’ The cause of hatred and revenge of this son of commerce to
the Bhatti aristocracy arose out of a disgraceful dispute regarding a
Bakhtan, a fair frail one, a favourite of the Mehta, but who preferred
the Rajput, Sardar Singh, of the tribe of Aef.[7.5.10] The Bhatti chief
carried his complaint of the minister to the heir-apparent, Rae Singh,
who had also cause of grievance in the reduction of his income. It was
suggested to the prince to put this presumptuous minister to death; this
was effected by the prince’s own hand, in his father’s presence; and as
the Mehta, in falling, clung to Mulraj for protection, it was proposed
to take off Mulraj at the same time. The proposition, however, was
rejected with horror by the prince, whose vengeance was satisfied. The
Rawal was allowed to escape to the female apartments; but the
chieftains, well knowing they could not expect pardon from the Rawal,
insisted on investing Rae Singh, and if he refused, on placing his
brother on the _gaddi_. The _an_ of Rae Singh was proclaimed; but no
entreaty or threat would induce him to listen to the proposal of
occupying the throne; in lieu of which he used a pallet (khat). Three
months and five days had passed since the deposal and bondage of Mulraj,
when a female resolved to emancipate him: this female was the wife of
the chief conspirator, and confidential adviser of the regent prince.
This noble dame, a Rathor Rajputni, of the Malecha clan, was the wife of
Anup Singh of Jinjiniali, the premier noble of Jaisalmer, and who,
wearied with the tyranny of the minister and the weakness of his [265]
prince, had proposed the death of the one and the deposal of the other.
We are not made acquainted with any reason, save that of Swamidharma, or
‘fealty,’ which prompted the Rathorni to rescue her prince even at the
risk of her husband’s life; but her appeal to her son Zorawar, to
perform his duty, is preserved, and we give it verbatim: “Should your
father oppose you, sacrifice him to your duty, and I will mount the pyre
with his corpse.” The son yielded obedience to the injunction of his
magnanimous parent, who had sufficient influence to gain over Arjun, the
brother of her husband, as well as Megh Singh, chief of Baru. The three
chieftains forced an entrance into the prison where their prince was
confined, who refused to be released from his manacles, until he was
told that the Mahechi had promoted the plot for his liberty. The sound
of the grand nakkara, proclaiming Mulraj’s repossession of the _gaddi_,
awoke his son from sleep; and on the herald depositing at the side of
his pallet the sable _saropa_,[7.5.11] and all the insignia of exile—the
black steed and black vestments—the prince, obeying the command of the
emancipated Rawal, clad himself therein, and accompanied by his party,
bade adieu to Jaisalmer and took the road to Kotra. When he arrived at
this town, on the southern frontier of the State, the chiefs proposed to
“run the country”; but he replied, “the country was his mother, and
every Rajput his foe who injured it.” He repaired to Jodhpur, but the
chieftains abided about Sheo Kotra and Barmer, and during the twelve
years they remained outlaws, plundered even to the gates of Jaisalmer.
In the first three years they devastated the country, their castles were
dismantled, the wells therein filled up, and their estates sequestrated.
At the end of the twelve, having made the _talak_, or oath against
further plunder, their estates were restored, and they were readmitted
into their country.

The banished prince remained two years and a half with Raja Bijai Singh,
who treated him like a son. But he carried his arrogant demeanour with
him to Jodhpur; for one day, as he was going out to hunt, a Bania, to
whom he was indebted, seized his horse by the bridle, and invoking the
_an_ of Bijai Singh, demanded payment of his debt. The prince, in turn,
required him, with the invocation “by Mulraj!” to unloose his hold. But
the man of wealth, disregarding the appeal, insolently replied, “What is
Mulraj to me?” It was the last word he spoke; the sword of Rae Singh was
unsheathed, and the Bania’s head rolled on the ground: then, turning his
horse’s [266] head to Jaisalmer, he exclaimed, “Better be a slave at
once than live on the bounty of another.” His unexpected arrival outside
his native city brought out the entire population to see him. His
father, the Rawal, sent to know what had occasioned his presence, and he
replied that it was merely preparatory to pilgrimage. He was refused
admittance; his followers were disarmed, and he was sent to reside at
the fortress of Dewa, together with his sons Abhai Singh and Dhonkal
Singh, and their families.

=Sālim Singh, Prime Minister.=—Salim Singh, who succeeded his father as
prime minister of Jaisalmer, was but eleven years of age at the time of
his murder. His young mind appears, even at that early age, to have been
a hotbed for revenge; and the seeds which were sown soon quickened into
a luxuriance rarely equalled even in those regions, where human life is
held in little estimation. Without any of that daring valour which
distinguishes the Rajput, he overcame, throughout a long course of
years, all who opposed him, uniting the subtlety of the serpent to the
ferocity of the tiger. In person he was effeminate, in speech bland;
pliant and courteous in demeanour; promising, without hesitation, and
with all the semblance of sincerity, what he never had the most remote
intention to fulfil. Salim, or, as he was generally designated by his
tribe, the Mehta, was a signal instance of a fact of which these annals
exhibit too many examples, namely, the inadequacy of religious
professions, though of a severe character, as a restraint on moral
conduct; for though the tenets of his faith (the Jain) imperatively
prescribe the necessity of “hurting no sentient being,” and of sitting
in the dark rather than, by luring a moth into the flame of a lamp,
incur the penalty attached to the sin of insect-murder, this man has
sent more of ‘the sons of Jassa’ to Yamaloka[7.5.12] than the sword of
their external foes during his long administration. He had scarcely
attained man’s estate when the outlawed chiefs were restored to their
estates by a singular intervention. Raja Bhim Singh had acceded to the
_gaddi_ of Marwar, and the Mehta was chosen by the prince of Jaisalmer,
as his representative, to convey his congratulations, and the _tika_ of
acknowledgment on his succession, to Raja Bijai Singh. On his return
from this mission, he was waylaid and captured by the outlawed
chieftains, who instantly passed sentence of death upon the author of
their miseries. The sword was uplifted, when, “placing his turban at the
feet of Zorawar Singh,” he implored his protection—and he found it! Such
is the Rajput—an anomaly amongst his species; his character a compound
of the opposite and antagonistical qualities which impel mankind to
virtue and to crime. Let me recall to the mind of the reader that the
protector of this vampire [267] was the virtuous son of the virtuous
Rajputni who, with an elevation of mind equal to whatever is recorded of
Greek or Roman heroines, devoted herself, and a husband whom she loved,
to the one predominant sentiment of the Rajput, Swamidharma, or ‘fealty
to the sovereign.’ Yet had the wily Mehta effected the disgrace of this
brave chief, to whom the Rawal owed his release from bondage and
restoration to his throne, and forced him to join the outlaws amidst the
sand-hills of Barmer. Nothing can paint more strongly the influence of
this first of the Bhatti chiefs over his brethren than the act of
preserving the life of their mortal foe, thus cast into their hands; for
not only did they dissuade him from the act, but prophesied his
repentance of such mistaken clemency. Only one condition was stipulated,
their restoration to their homes. They were recalled, but not admitted
to court: a distinction reserved for Zorawar alone.

=Death of Rāe Singh.=—When Rae Singh was incarcerated in Dewa, his
eldest son, Abhai Singh, Rajkumar, ‘heir-apparent,’ with the second son,
Dhonkal, were left at Barmer, with the outlawed chiefs. The Rawal,
having in vain demanded his grandchildren, prepared an army and invested
Barmer. It was defended during six months, when a capitulation was
acceded to, and the children were given up to Mulraj on the bare pledge
of Zorawar Singh, who guaranteed their safety; and they were sent to the
castle of Dewa, where their father was confined. Soon after, the castle
was fired, and Rae Singh and his wife were consumed in the flames. On
escaping this danger, which was made to appear accidental, the young
princes were confined in the fortress of Ramgarh, in the most remote
corner of the desert, bordering the valley of Sind, for their security
and that of the Rawal (according to the Mehta’s account), and to prevent
faction from having a nucleus around which to form. But Zorawar, who
entertained doubts of the minister’s motives, reminded the Rawal that
the proper place for the heir-apparent was the court, and that his
honour stood pledged for his safety. This was sufficient for the Mehta,
whose mind was instantly intent upon the means to rid himself of so
conscientious an adviser. Zorawar had a brother named Ketsi, whose wife,
according to the courtesy of Rajwara, had adopted the minister as her
brother. Salim sounded his adopted sister as to her wish to see her
husband become lord of Jinjiniali. The tempter succeeded: he furnished
her with poisoned comfits, which she administered to the gallant
Zorawar; and her lord was inducted into the estates of Jinjiniali.
Having thus disposed of the soul of the Bhatti nobility, he took off in
detail the chiefs of Baru, Dangri, and many others, chiefly by the same
means, though some by [268] the dagger. Ketsi, who, whether innocent or
a guilty participant in his brother’s death, had benefited thereby, was
marked in the long list of proscription of this fiend, who determined to
exterminate every Rajput of note. Ketsi knew too much, and those
connected with him shared in this dangerous knowledge: wife, brother,
son, were therefore destined to fall by the same blow. The immediate
cause of enmity was as follows. The minister, who desired to set aside
the claims of the children of Rae Singh to the _gaddi_, and to nominate
the youngest son of Mulraj as heir-apparent, was opposed by Ketsi, as it
could only be effected by the destruction of the former; and he replied,
that “no co-operation of his should sanction the spilling of the blood
of any of his master’s family.” Salim treasured up the remembrance of
this opposition to his will, though without any immediate sign of
displeasure. Soon after, Ketsi and his brother Sarup were returning from
a nuptial ceremony at Kanera, in the district of Balotra. On reaching
Bhikarai, on the Jaisalmer frontier, where the ministers of the Mehta’s
vengeance were posted, the gallant Zorawar and his brother were
conducted into the castle, out of which their bodies were brought only
to be burnt. Hearing of some intended evil to her lord, Ketsi’s wife,
with her infant son, Megha, sought protection in the minister’s own
abode, where she had a double claim, as his adopted sister, to sanctuary
and protection. For five days, the farce was kept up of sending food for
herself and child; but the slave who conveyed it remarking, in coarse,
unfeeling language, that both her husband and her brother were with
their fathers, she gave a loose to grief and determined on revenge. This
being reported to the Mehta, he sent a dagger for her repose.

The princes, Abhai Singh and Dhonkal Singh, confined in the fortress of
Ramgarh, soon after the murder of Ketsi were carried off, together with
their wives and infants, by poison. The murderer then proclaimed Gaj
Singh, the youngest but one of all the posterity of Mulraj, as
heir-apparent. His brothers sought security in flight from this
fiend-like spirit of the minister, and are now refugees in the Bikaner
territory. The following slip from the genealogical tree will show the
branches so unmercifully lopped off by this monster:

Mulraj.
│
┌─────────────────┼─────────────────────┐
│ │ │
Rae Singh, Jeth Singh (_kana_), Man Singh,
poisoned. living. killed by a fall from his horse.
│ │ │
├───────┐ │ ┌───────┬─────┼────────┐
Abhai Singh, │ Maha Singh, │ Devi Singh, │ Fateh Singh,
poisoned. │ blind. │ in exile. │ in exile.
│ │ │
Dhonkal Singh, Tej Singh, Gaj Singh,
poisoned. in exile. reigning prince.

[269.]

Maha Singh, being blind of one eye[7.5.13] (_kana_), could not succeed;
and Man Singh being killed by a fall from his horse, the Mehta was saved
the crime of adding one more “mortal murther to his crown.”

=Long Reigns of Rājput Princes.=—It is a singular fact, that the longest
reigns we know of in Rajwara occurred during ministerial usurpations.
The late Maharao of Kotah occupied the _gaddi_ upwards of half a
century, and the Rawal Mulraj swayed the nominal sceptre of this _oasis_
of the desert upwards of fifty-eight years. His father ruled forty
years, and I doubt whether, in all history, we can find another instance
of father and son reigning for a century.[7.5.14] This century was
prolific in change to the dynasty, whose whole history is full of
strange vicissitudes. If we go back to Jaswant Singh, the grandfather of
Mulraj, we find the Bhatti principality touching the Gara on the north,
which divided it from Multan; on the west it was bounded by the Panjnad,
and thus included a narrow slip of the fertile valley of Sind; and we
have seen it stretch, at no remote period, even to the ancient capital
Mansura, better known to the Hindu as Rori-Bakhar,[7.5.15] the islandic
capital of the Sogdoi (Sodha) of Alexander. To the south, it rested on
Dhat, including the castles of Sheo, Kotra, and Barmer, seized on by
Marwar; and in the east embraced the districts of Phalodi, Pokaran, and
other parts, also in the possession of Marwar or Bikaner. The whole of
the State of Bahawalpur is formed out of the Bhatti dominion, and the
Rathors have obtained therefrom not a small portion of their western
frontier. This abstraction of territory will account for the
heartburnings and border-feuds which continually break out between the
Bhattis and Rathors, and ‘the children of David (Daudputras).’

Could the same prophetic steel which carved upon the pillar of Brahmsar
the destinies of the grandson of the deified Hari, eleven hundred years
before Christ, have subjoined to that of Jaisal the fate which awaited
his descendant Mulraj, he would doubtless have regarded the prophecy as
conveying a falsehood too gross for belief. That the offspring of the
deified prince of Dwarka, who founded Ghazni, and fought the [270]
united kings of Syria and Bactria, should, at length, be driven back on
India, and compelled to seek shelter under the sign of the cross, reared
amidst their sand-hills by a handful of strangers, whose ancestors, when
they were even in the maturity of their fame, were wandering in their
native woods, with painted bodies, and offering human sacrifices to the
sun-god—more resembling Balsiva than Balkrishna—these would have seemed
prodigies too wild for faith.

-----

Footnote 7.5.1:

Nunkaran had three sons, Harraj, Maldeo, and Kalyandas; each had
issue. Harraj had Bhim (who succeeded his grandfather Nunkaran).
Maldeo had Ketsi, who had Dayaldas, father of Sabal Singh, to whom was
given in appanage the town of Mandila, near Pokaran. The third son,
Kalyandas, had Manohardas, who succeeded Bhim. Ramchand was the son of
Manohardas. A slip from the genealogical tree will set this in a clear
light.

1. Nunkaran
│
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
│ │ │
Harraj. Maldeo. Kalyandas.
| | │
2. Bhim. Ketsi. 3. Manohardas.
│ │ │
Nathu. Dayaldas. Ramchand.
│
4. Sabal Singh.

Footnote 7.5.2:

[About 75 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 7.5.3:

Another synchronism (see Annals of Marwar for an account of Nahar
Khan) of some value, since it accounts for the first abstraction of
territory by the Rathors from the Bhattis.

Footnote 7.5.4:

The Gara is invariably called the Bias in the chronicle. Gara, or
Ghara, is so called, in all probability, from the mud (_gar_)
suspended in its waters. The Gara is composed of the waters of the
Bias and Sutlej. [See _IGI_, vii. 139, xxiii. 179.]

Footnote 7.5.5:

[About 60 miles S. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.5.6:

[A.D. 1669-95.]

Footnote 7.5.7:

The most essential use to which my labours can be applied is that of
enabling the British Government, when called upon to exercise its
functions, as protector and arbitrator of the international quarrels
of Rajputana, to understand the legitimate and original grounds of
dispute. Here we perceive the germ of the border-feuds, which have led
to so much bloodshed between Bikaner and Jaisalmer, in which the
former was the first aggressor; but as the latter, for the purpose of
redeeming her lost territory, most frequently appeals as the agitator
of public tranquillity, it is necessary to look for the remote cause
in pronouncing our award.

Footnote 7.5.8:

[Bahāwalpur.]

Footnote 7.5.9:

[Lāsa, ‘anything clammy,’ like mud. This is a common pious act,
performed at sacred tanks, and by some castes, like the Idaiyans of
Madras, at marriages (_North Indian Notes and Queries_, ii. 111;
Thurston, _Tribes and Castes of S. India_, i. 360 f.).]

Footnote 7.5.10:

[This tribe has not been traced.]

Footnote 7.5.11:

_Saropa_ is the Rajput term for khilat, and is used by those who, like
the Rana of Udaipur, prefer the vernacular dialect to the corrupt
jargon of the Islamite. _Sar-o-pa_ (from ‘head,’ _sar_, to ‘foot,’
_pa_) means a complete dress; in short, _cap-à-pied_. [See Yule,
_Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 808.]

Footnote 7.5.12:

Pluto’s realm.

Footnote 7.5.13:

A person blind of one eye is incompetent to succeed, according to
Hindu law. Kana is the nickname given to a person labouring under this
personal defect, which term is merely an anagram of _ânka_, ‘the eye.’
[This is wrong. It is derived from Skt. _kāna_, ‘one-eyed’.] The loss
of an eye does not deprive an occupant of his rights—of which we had a
curious example in the siege of the imperial city of Delhi, which gave
rise to the remark, that the three greatest men therein had only the
complement of one man amongst them: the emperor had been deprived of
both eyes by the brutality of Ghulam Kadir; the besieging chief Holkar
was kana, as was the defender, Sir D. Ochterlony. Holkar’s name has
become synonymous with kana, and many a horse, dog, and man, blind of
an eye, is called after this celebrated Mahratta leader. The Hindus,
by what induction I know not, attach a degree of moral obliquity to
every individual kana, and appear to make no distinction between the
natural and the acquired defect; though to all kanas they apply
another and more dignified appellation, Sukracharya [the regent of the
planet Venus], the Jupiter of their astromythology, which very grave
personage came by his misfortune in no creditable way—for, although
the Guru, or spiritual head of the Hindu gods, he set as bad a moral
example to them as did the classical Jupiter to the tenants of the
Greek and Roman Pantheon.

Footnote 7.5.14:

[Ummed Singh of Kotah, A.D. 1771-1819; Mūlrāj of Jaisalmer, 1762-1820;
Akhai Singh of Jaisalmer, 1722-62.]

Footnote 7.5.15:

Mansura was many miles south of Bakhar.

-----

CHAPTER 6

=Treaty with the British.=—It was in the Samvat (era) of Vikrama,
1818,[7.6.1] that Rawal Mulraj was inaugurated on the throne of Jaisal;
and it was in the year of our Lord 1818, that a treaty of “perpetual
friendship, alliance, and unity of interests” was concluded between the
Honourable East-India Company and Maha Rawal Mulraj, the Raja of
Jaisalmer, his heirs and successors, the latter agreeing “to act in
subordinate co-operation with the British Government, and with
submission to its supremacy.”[7.6.2] This was almost the last act of
Rawal Mulraj, who had always been a mere puppet in the hands of Mehta
Salim Singh or his father. He died A.D. 1820, when his grandson, Gaj
Singh, was proclaimed.

=Maharāwal Gaj Singh, A.D. 1820-46.=—Rawal Gaj Singh was fitted, from
his years, his past seclusion, and the examples which had occurred
before his eyes, to be the submissive pageant Salim Singh required.
Isolated, in every sense, from intercourse with the rest of mankind, by
the [271] policy of the minister, he had no community of sympathy with
them, and no claim upon their aid. Surrounded by the creatures of Salim
Singh, who, even to their daily dole, ascribe everything to this man’s
favour, each word, each gesture, is watched and reported. The prince
himself, his wives and family, are alike dependents on the minister’s
bounty, often capriciously exercised. If he requires a horse, he must
solicit it; or if desirous of bestowing some recompense, he requests to
be furnished with the means, and deems himself fortunate if he obtain a
moiety of his suit.

It will be observed from the date of this treaty (Dec. 1818), that
Jaisalmer was the last of the States of India received under the
protection of the British Government. Its distance made it an object of
little solicitude to us; and the minister, it is said, had many long and
serious consultations with his oracles before he united his destiny with
ours. He doubted the security of his power if the Rawal should become
subordinate to the British Government; and he was only influenced by the
greater risk of being the sole State in Rajwara without the pale of its
protection, which would have left him to the mercy of those enemies whom
his merciless policy had created around him. The third and most
important article of the treaty[7.6.3] tranquillized his apprehensions
as to external foes; with these apprehensions all fear as to the
consequences arising from ministerial tyranny towards the princely
exiles was banished, and we shall presently find that this alliance,
instead of checking his rapacity and oppression, incited them. But it is
necessary, in the first place, to bestow a few remarks on the policy of
the alliance as regards the British Government.

=The Treaty of Alliance.=—Its inequality requires no demonstration; the
objects to be attained by it to the respective parties having no
approximation to parity. The advantages to Jaisalmer were immediate; and
to use the phraseology of the treaty, were not only of “great
magnitude,” but were vitally important. From the instant the treaties
were exchanged, her existence as a permanent State, which was not worth
half a century’s purchase, was secured. Her power had been gradually
declining, and reign after reign was narrowing her possessions to the
vicinity of the capital. One State, Bahawalpur, had been formed from her
northern territory; while those of Sind, Bikaner, and Jodhpur, had been
greatly aggrandized at her expense; and all were inclined, as occasion
arose, to encroach upon her feebleness. The faithless character of the
minister, Salim Singh [272], afforded abundant pretexts for quarrel, and
the anarchy of her neighbours proved her only safeguard during the later
years of her independent existence. Now, the British Government having
pledged itself to exert its power for the protection of the
principality, in the event of any “serious invasion,” her fears either
of Sindis, Daudputras, or of Rathors, are at rest. The full extent of
this pledge may not have been contemplated when it was given; like all
former alliances, it is the base of another step in advance. Instead of
restricting the vast circle of our political connexions, it at once
carried us out of India, placing us in actual contact and possible
collision with the rulers of Sind and the people beyond the Indus.
Marwar and Bikaner being already admitted to our alliance, the power of
settling their feuds with the Bhattis is comparatively simple; but with
Daudputra we have no political connexions, and with Sind, only those of
“perpetual friendship and mutual intercourse”; but no stipulation
ensuring respect to our remonstrances in case of the aggression of their
subjects on our Bhatti ally. Are we then to push our troops through the
desert to repel such acts, or must we furnish pecuniary subsidies (the
cheapest mode), that she may entertain mercenaries for that object? We
must view it, in this light, as an event, not only not improbable, but
of very likely occurrence. Our alliance with Cutch involved us in this
perplexity in 1819. Our armies were formed and moved to the frontier,
and a declaration of war was avoided only by accepting a tardy _amende_
in no way commensurate with the insult of invading, massacring, and
pillaging our allies.[7.6.4] In this instance, our means of chastisement
were facilitated by our maritime power of grappling with the enemy; but
if the insult proceeds from the government of Upper Sind (only nominally
dependent on Haidarabad), or from Bahawalpur, how are we to cope with
these enemies of our ally? Such wars might lead us into a _terra
incognita_ beyond the Indus, or both the spirit and letter of the treaty
will be null.

=The Strategical Importance of Jaisalmer.=—What, therefore, are the
advantages we can hold out to ourselves for the volunteer of our amity
and protection to this oasis of the desert? To have disregarded the
appeal of Jaisalmer for protection, to have made her the sole exception
in all Rajputana from our amicable relations, would have been to consign
her to her numerous enemies, and to let loose the spirit of rapine and
revenge, which it was the main object [273] of all these treaties to
suppress; the Bhattis would have become a nation of robbers, the
Bedouins of the Indian desert. Jaisalmer was the first link in a chain
of free States, which formerly united the commerce of the Ganges with
that of the Indus, but which interminable feuds had completely severed;
the possibility of reunion depending upon a long continuance of
tranquillity and confidence. This object alone would have warranted our
alliance with Jaisalmer. But if we look to futurity, to the possible
invasion of India, which can be best effected through the maritime
provinces of Persia, the valley of the Indus will be the base of the
invader’s operations. The possession of Jaisalmer would then be of vital
importance, by giving us the command of Upper Sind, and enabling us to
act against the enemy simultaneously with our armies east of the Delta,
the most practicable point of advance into India. We may look upon
invasion by the ancient routes pursued by Alexander, Mahmud, and Timur,
as utterly visionary, by an army encumbered with all the _matériel_
necessary to success, and thus the valley of Sind presents the only
practicable route. But it would be a grand error, both in a political
and military point of view, to possess ourselves of this valley, even if
an opportunity were again to occur. It is true, the resources of that
fertile region, so analogous to Egypt, would soon, under our management,
maintain an army sufficient to defend it; and this would bring us at
once into contact with the power (Persia) which clings to us for
support, and will be adverse to us only when rendered subservient to
Russia. It were well to view the possible degradation and loss of power
to Russia, in Europe, as likely to afford a fresh stimulant to her
ancient schemes of oriental aggrandizement. By some these schemes are
looked upon as Quixotic, and I confess myself to be of the number. The
better Russia is acquainted with the regions she would have to pass, the
less desire will she evince for an undertaking, which, even if
successful in the outset, would be useless; for if she conquered, she
could not maintain India.[7.6.5] But, to me, it still appears imperative
that this power should formally renounce such designs; the state of
perpetual preparation rendered necessary by her menacing position, being
so injurious to our finances, is worse than the actual attempt, which
would only entail upon her inevitable loss. We lost, through our unwise
economy, a noble opportunity of maintaining an ascendancy at the court
of Kabul, which would have been easily prevailed upon, for our pecuniary
aid, to make over to us the sovereignty of Sind (were this desirable),
which is still considered a grand division of Kabul.

But setting the political question aside, and considering our possession
of the [274] valley of Sind only in a military point of view, our
occupation of it would be prejudicial to us. We should have a long line
to defend, and rivers are no barriers in modern warfare. Whilst an
impassable desert is between us, and we have the power, by means of our
allies, of assailing an enemy at several points, though we are liable to
attack but from one, an invader could not maintain himself a single
season. On this ground, the maintenance of friendship with this remote
nook of Rajput civilization is defensible, and we have the additional
incitement of rescuing the most industrious and wealthy commercial
communities in India from the fangs of a harpy; to whom, and the
enormities of his government, we return.

=Effect of the Treaty on the Policy of Sālim Singh.=—No language can
adequately represent the abuse of power with which the treaty has armed
the rapacious minister of Jaisalmer, and it is one of the many instances
of the inefficacy of our system of alliances to secure prosperity, or
even tranquillity to these long-afflicted regions; which, although
rescued from external assailants, are still the prey of discord and
passion within. It will not be difficult, at the proper time and place,
to make this appear.[7.6.6] The Mehta felt the advantages which the
treaty gave him, in respect to neighbouring States; but he also felt
that he had steeped himself too deeply in the blood of his master’s
family, and in that of his noblest chieftains, to hope that any
repentance, real or affected, could restore to him the confidence of
those he had so outraged. With commercial men, with the industrious
husbandman or pastoral communities, he had so long forfeited all claim
to credit, that his oath was not valued at a single grain of the sand of
their own desert dominion.

The bardic annalist of Rajputana, when compelled to record the acts of a
tyrant, first announces his moral death; then comes the
metempsychosis—the animating his frame with the spirit of a demon. In
this manner is delineated the famed Bisaldeo, the Chauhan king of Ajmer.
Whether the Bhatti minister will obtain such a posthumous apology for
his misdeeds, a future historian will learn; but assuredly he is never
mentioned, either in poetry or prose, but as a vampire, draining the
life-blood of a whole people. For a short time after the treaty was
formed, he appeared to fall in with the march of universal reformation;
but whether it was that his crimes had outlawed him from the sympathies
of all around, or that he could feel no enjoyment but in his habitual
crimes, he soon gave indulgence to his rapacious spirit. The cause of
his temporary forbearance was attributed to his anxiety to have [275] an
article added to the treaty, guaranteeing the office of prime minister
in his family, perhaps with a view to legalize his plunder; but seeing
no hope of fixing an hereditary race of vampires on the land, his
outrages became past all endurance, and compelled the British agent, at
length, to report to his government (on December 17, 1821), that he
considered the alliance disgraceful to our reputation, by countenancing
the idea that such acts can be tolerated under its protection.
Representations to the minister were a nullity; he protested against
their fidelity; asserted in specious language his love of justice and
mercy; and recommenced his system of confiscations, contributions, and
punishments, with redoubled severity.

=Misgovernment of Sālim Singh.=—All Rajwara felt an interest in these
proceedings, as the bankers of Jaisalmer, supported by the capital of
that singular class, the Paliwals, are spread all over India. But this
rich community, amounting to five thousand families, are nearly all in
voluntary exile, and the bankers fear to return to their native land
with the fruits of their industry, which they would renounce for ever,
but that he retains their families as hostages. Agriculture is almost
unknown, and commerce, internal or external, has ceased through want of
security. The sole revenue arises from confiscation. It is asserted that
the minister has amassed no less than _two crores_, which wealth is
distributed in the various cities of Hindustan, and has been obtained by
pillage and the destruction of the most opulent families of his country
during the last twenty years. He has also, it is said, possessed himself
of all the crown-jewels and property of value, which he has sent out of
the country. Applications were continually being made to the British
agent for passports (_parwanas_), by commercial men, to withdraw their
families from the country. But all have some ties which would be
hazarded by their withdrawing, even if such a step were otherwise free
from danger; for while the minister afforded passports, in obedience to
the wish of the agent, he might cut them off in the desert. This makes
many bear the ills they have.[7.6.7]

=A Border Feud.=—We shall terminate our historical sketch of Jaisalmer
with the details of a border feud, which called into operation the main
condition of the British alliance—the right of universal arbitration in
the international quarrels of Rajputana. The predatory habits of the
Maldots of Baru originated a rupture, which threatened to involve the
two States in war, and produced an invasion of the Rathors, sufficiently
serious to warrant British interference. It will hardly be credited that
this aggression, which drew down upon the Maldots the vengeance of
Bikaner, was covertly stimulated by the minister, for the express
purpose of their extirpation, for reasons which will [276] appear
presently; yet he was the first to complain of the retaliation. To
understand this matter, a slight sketch of the Maldot tribe is
requisite.

=The Maldot Tribe.=—The Maldots, the Kailans, the Birsangs, the Pohars,
and Tejmalots, are all Bhatti tribes; but, from their lawless habits,
these names have become, like those of Bedouin, Kazzak, or Pindari,
synonymous with ‘robber.’ The first are descended from Rao Maldeo, and
hold the fief (_patta_) of Baru, consisting of eighteen villages,
adjoining the tract called Kharipatta, wrested from the Bhattis by the
Rathors of Bikaner, who, to confess the truth, morally deserve the
perpetual hostility of this Bhatti lord-marcher, inasmuch as they were
the intruders, and have deprived them (the Bhattis) of much territory.
But the Rathors, possessing the right of the strongest, about
twenty-five years ago exercised it in the most savage manner; for,
having invaded Baru, they put almost the entire community to the sword,
without respect to age or sex, levelled the towns, filled up the wells,
and carried off the herds and whatever was of value. The survivors took
shelter in the recesses of the desert, and propagated a progeny, which,
about the period of connexion with the British, reoccupied their
deserted lands. The minister, it is asserted, beheld the revival of this
infant colony with no more favourable eye than did their enemies of
Bikaner, whom, it is alleged, he invited once more to their destruction.
The lawless habits of this tribe would have been assigned by the
minister as his motive for desiring their extermination; but if we look
back (p. 1232), we shall discover the real cause in his having incurred
the lasting enmity of this clan for the foul assassination of their
chief, who had been a party to the views of the heir-apparent, Rae
Singh, to get rid of this incubus on their freedom. The opportunity
afforded to take vengeance on the Maldots arose out of a service
indirectly done to the British Government. On the revolt of the Peshwa,
he sent his agents to Jaisalmer to purchase camels. One herd, to the
number of four hundred, had left the Bhatti frontiers, and whilst
passing through the Bikaner territory, were set upon by the Maldots, who
captured the whole and conveyed them to Baru. It is scarcely to be
supposed that such an aggression on the independence of Bikaner would
have prompted her extensive armament, or the rapidity with which her
troops passed the Bhatti frontier to avenge the insult, without some
private signal from the minister, who was loud in his call for British
interference; though not until Nokh[7.6.8] and Baru, their principal
towns, were levelled, the chief killed, the wells filled up, and the
victorious army following up its success by a rapid march on Bikampur,
in which the fiscal lands began to suffer. The minister then discovered
he had overshot the mark, and claimed [277] our interference,[7.6.9]
which was rapid and effectual; and the Bikaner commander the more
willingly complied with the request to retire within his own frontier,
having effected more than his object.

The tortuous policy, the never-ending and scarcely-to-be-comprehended
border feuds of these regions, must, for a long while, generate such
appeals. Since these associated bands attach no dishonour to their
predatory profession, it will be some time before they acquire proper
notions; but when they discover there is no retreat in which punishment
may not reach them, they will learn the benefits of cultivating the arts
of peace, of whose very name no trace exists in their history.

We have lost sight of the Rawal, the title of the prince of Jaisalmer,
in the prominent acts of his minister. Gaj Singh, who occupies the
_gaddi_ of Jaisal, to the prejudice of his elder brothers, who are still
in exile in Bikaner, appears very well suited to the minister’s purpose,
and to have little desire beyond his horses, and vegetating in quiet.
The physiognomists of Jaisalmer, however, prognosticate the development
of moral worth in due season; a consummation devoutly to be wished, and
the first symptom of which must be the riddance of his minister by
whatever process. The artful Salim deemed that it would redound to his
credit, and bolster up his interest, to seek a matrimonial alliance with
the Rana’s family of Mewar. The overture was accepted, and the
coco-symbol transmitted to the Rawal, who put himself at the head of the
Bhatti chivalry to wed and escort his bride through the desert. The
Rathor princes of Bikaner and Kishangarh, who were at the same time
suitors for the hands of another daughter and a granddaughter of the
Rana, simultaneously arrived at Udaipur with their respective cortèges;
and this triple alliance threw a degree of splendour over the capital of
the Sesodias, to which it had long been a stranger. Gaj Singh lives very
happily with his wife, who has given him an heir to his desert domain.
The influence of high rank is seen in the respect paid to the Ranawatji
(the title by which she is designated), even by the minister, and she
exerts this influence most humanely for the amelioration of her
subjects[7.6.10] [278].

-----

Footnote 7.6.1:

[A.D. 1762.]

Footnote 7.6.2:

See Appendix No. III. for a copy of this treaty. [See end of Vol.
III.]

Footnote 7.6.3:

Art. III. “In the event of any serious invasion directed towards the
overthrow of the principality of Jessulmer, or other danger of great
magnitude occurring to that principality, the British Government will
exert its power for the protection of the principality, provided that
the cause of the quarrel be not ascribable to the Raja of Jessulmer.”

Footnote 7.6.4:

The attitude assumed by the energetic governor of Bombay, Mr.
Elphinstone, on that occasion, will for a long time remain a lesson to
the triumvirate government of Sind. To the Author it still appears a
subject of regret, that, with the adequate preparation, the season,
and everything promising a certainty of success, the pacific tone of
Lord Hastings’ policy should have prevented the proper assertion of
our dignity, by chastising an insult, aggravated in every shape. A
treaty of amity and mutual intercourse was the result of this
armament; but although twelve years have since elapsed, our
intercourse has remained _in statu quo_; but this is no ground for
quarrel. [Rāo Bharmall of Cutch, on account of his disloyalty to the
British Government, was coerced by a force commanded by Captain
MacMurdo, the Resident, which, on 25th March 1819, escaladed the fort
of Bhuj, and compelled the Rāo to surrender (_BG_, v. 162).

Footnote 7.6.5:

[This prediction has been fulfilled by recent events.]

Footnote 7.6.6:

It is my intention (if space is left) to give a concise statement of
the effects of our alliances, individually and collectively, in the
States of Rajwara, with a few hints towards amending the system, at
the conclusion of this volume. [This was not done.]

Footnote 7.6.7:

[“Up to 1823 Sālim Singh constantly urged, in the name of his master,
claims to the territories of other chiefs, but these were rejected as
the investigation of them was inconsistent with the engagements
subsisting between the British Government and other States. In 1824
Sālim Singh was wounded by a Rājput, and as there was some fear that
the wound might heal, his wife gave him poison.” Some support was
given for the succession of his eldest son as prime minister, but the
British Government declined to interfere in the appointment or
punishment of a minister, on which all parties returned to their
allegiance, and Rāwal Gaj Singh assumed personal charge of the
administration (Erskine iii. A. 15 f.).]

Footnote 7.6.8:

[Nokh, 96 miles N.E. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.6.9:

The Author has omitted to mention that he was political agent for
Jaisalmer; so that his control extended uninterruptedly, almost from
Sind to Sind; _i.e._ from the Indus, or great Sindh, to the
Chhota-Sindh, or little river (see map). There are several streams
designated Sindh, in Central India, a word purely Tatar, or Scythic.
Abusin, ‘the Father-river,’ is one of the many names of the Indus.
[Sindhu is a Sanskrit word, probably connected with the root _syand_,
‘to flow.’]

Footnote 7.6.10:

I had the honour of receiving several letters from this queen of the
desert, who looked to her father’s house and his friends, as the best
objects for support, whilst such a being as Sālim was the master of
her own and her husband’s destiny. [Gaj Singh earned the special
thanks of the British Government for his services in supplying camel
transport in the Afghān war of 1838-39; and in 1844, after the
conquest of Sind, the forts of Shāhgarh, Gharsia, and Ghotāru, which
had formerly belonged to Jaisalmer, were restored to that State. Gaj
Singh died without issue in 1846, and his widow adopted his nephew,
Ranjīt Singh, who died without an heir in 1864 (Erskine iii. A. 16).]

-----

CHAPTER 7

=Geography of Jaisalmer.=—The country still dependent on the Rawal
extends between 70° 30´ and 72° 30´ E. long., and between the parallels
of 26° 20´ and 27° 50´ N. lat., though a small strip protrudes, in the
N.-E. angle, as high as 28° 30´. This irregular surface may be roughly
estimated to contain fifteen thousand square miles.[7.7.1] The number of
towns, villages, and hamlets, scattered over this wide space, does not
exceed two hundred and fifty; some estimate it at three hundred, and
others depress it to two hundred; the mean cannot be wide of the truth.
To enable the reader to arrive at a conclusion as to the population of
this region, we subjoin a calculation, from data furnished by the
best-informed natives, which was made in the year 1815: but we must add,
that from the tyranny of the minister, the population of the capital
(which is nearly half of the country), has been greatly diminished.

──────────┬──────────┬─────────┬────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────
│ Fiscal │Number │ Number │
│ and │ of │ of │ Remarks.
│ Feudal. │Houses. │Inhabitants.│
──────────┼──────────┼─────────┼────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────
Jaisalmer │ Capital │ 7,000 │ 35,000│
│ │ │ │┌ The chief has the title of Rao,
Bikampur │ Pattayat │ 500 │ 2,000││ and twenty-four villages
│ │ │ ││ dependent, not included in
│ │ │ │└ this estimate.
Sirara │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┌ Kelan Bhatti: the Kelan
│ │ │ │└ tribe extends to Pugal.
Nachna │ Do. │ 400 │ 1,600│ Rawalot chief.
Katori │ Fiscal │ 300 │ 1,200│
Kaba │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│
Kuldaro │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│
Satta │ Pattayat │ 300 │ 1,200│ [279]
Jinjiniali│ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┌ Rawalot: first noble of
│ │ │ │└ Jaisalmer.
Devi-Kot │ Fiscal │ 200 │ 800│
Bhap │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│
Balana │ Pattayat │ 150 │ 600│
Satiasa │ Do. │ 100 │ 400│
│ │ │ │┌ Maldot: has eighteen
Baru │ Do. │ 200 │ 800││ villages attached, not
│ │ │ │└ included in this.
Chaun │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│
Loharki │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│┐
Noantala │ Do. │ 150 │ 600││ All of the Rawalot clan.
Lahti │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┘
Dangari │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│
Bijorai │ Fiscal │ 200 │ 800│
Mandai │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│
Ramgarh │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│
Birsalpur │ Pattayat │ 200 │ 800│
Girajsar │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│
│ │ │ ————│
│ │ │ 56,400│
│ │ │ │
Two hundred and twenty-five ┐│ │
villages and hamlets, from ││ │
four to fifty houses each; ││ │
say, each average twenty, ││ 18,000│
at four inhabitants to each ┘│ │
│ ————│
TOTAL │ 74,400│
───────────────────────────────┴────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────

According to this census, we have a population not superior to one of
the secondary cities of Great Britain, scattered over fifteen thousand
square miles; nearly one-half, too, belonging to the capital, which
being omitted, the result would give from two to three souls only for
each square mile.

=Face of the Country.=—The greater part of Jaisalmer is _thal_, or
_rui_, both terms meaning ‘a desert waste.’ From Lohwar, on the Jodhpur
frontier, to Khara, the remote angle touching Sind, the country may be
described as a continuous tract of arid sand, frequently rising into
lofty _tibas_ (sand-hills), in some parts covered with low jungle. This
line, which nearly bisects Jaisalmer, is also the line of demarcation of
positive sterility and comparative cultivation. To the north is one
uniform and naked waste; to the south are ridges of rock termed _magra_,
_rui_, and light soil [280].

The ridge of hills is a most important feature in the geology of this
desert region.[7.7.2] It is to be traced from Cutch Bhuj, strongly or
faintly marked, according to the nature of the country. Sometimes it
assumes, as at Chhotan, the character of a mountain; then dwindles into
an insignificant ridge scarcely discernible, and often serves as a
bulwark for the drifting sands, which cover and render it difficult to
trace it at all. As it reaches the Jaisalmer country it is more
developed; and at the capital, erected on a peak about two hundred and
fifty feet high, its presence is more distinct, and its character
defined. The capital of the Bhattis appears as the nucleus of a series
of ridges, which diverge from it in all directions for the space of
fifteen miles. One branch terminates at Ramgarh, thirty-five miles
north-west of Jaisalmer; another branch extends easterly to Pokaran (in
Jodhpur), and thence, in a north-east direction, to Phalodi; from
whence, at intervals, it is traceable to Gariala, nearly fifty miles due
north. It is a yellow-coloured sandstone, in which ochre is abundantly
found, with which the people daub their houses.

These barren ridges, and the lofty undulating _tibas_ of sand, are the
only objects which diversify the almost uniform sterility of these
regions. No trees interpose their verdant foliage to relieve the eye, or
shelter the exhausted frame of the traveller. It is nearly a boundless
waste, varied only by a few stunted shrubs of the acacia or mimosa
family, some succulent plants, or prickly grasses, as the
_bharut_[7.7.3] or burr, which clings to his garment and increases his
miseries. Yet compared with the more northern portion, where “a sea of
sand without a sign of vegetation”[7.7.4] forms the prospect, the
vicinity of the capital is a paradise.

There is not a running stream throughout Jaisalmer; but there are many
temporary lakes or salt-marshes, termed _sar_, formed by the collection
of waters from the sand-hills, which are easily dammed in to prevent
escape. They are ephemeral, seldom lasting but a few months; though
after a very severe monsoon they have been known to remain throughout
the year. One of these, called the Kanod Sar, extends from Kanod[7.7.5]
to Mohangarh, covering a space of eighteen miles, and in which some
water remains throughout the year. When it overflows, a small stream
issues from the Sar, and pursues an easterly direction for thirty miles
before it is absorbed; its existence [281] depends on the parent lake.
The salt which it produces is the property of the crown, and adds
something to the revenue.

=Soil, Husbandry, and Products.=—Notwithstanding the apparent poverty of
this desert soil, nature has not denied it the powers of production; it
is even favourable to some grains, especially the bajra, which prefers a
light sand. In a favourable season they grow sufficient for the
consumption of two and even three years, and then they import only wheat
from Sind. When those parts favourable for bajra have been saturated
with two or three heavy showers, they commence sowing, and the crops
spring up rapidly. The great danger is that of too much rain when the
crops are advanced, for, having little tenacity, they are often washed
away. The _bajra_ of the sand-hills is deemed far superior to that of
Hindustan, and prejudice gives it a preference even to wheat, which does
not bear a higher price, in times of scarcity. Bajra, in plentiful
seasons, sells at one and a half maunds for a rupee;[7.7.6] but this
does not often occur, as they calculate five bad seasons for a good one.
Juar is also grown, but only in the low flats. Cotton is produced in the
same soil as the bajra. It is not generally known that this plant
requires but a moderate supply of water; it is deteriorated in the
plains of India from over-irrigation; at least such is the idea of the
desert-farmer, who perhaps does not make sufficient allowance for the
cooler substratum of his sand-hills, compared with the black loam of
Malwa. A variety of pulses grows on the sheltered sides of the _tibas_,
as _mung_, _moth_, etc.; also the oil-plant (_til_) and abundance of the
_gawar_, a diminutive melon, not larger than a hen’s egg, which is sent
hundreds of miles, as a rarity. Around the capital, and between the
ridges where soil is deposited or formed, and where they dam up the
waters, are grown considerable quantities of wheat of very good quality,
turmeric, and garden-stuffs. Barley and gram are, in good seasons,
reared in small quantities, but rice is entirely an article of import
from the valley of Sind.

=Implements of Husbandry.=—Where the soil is light, it will be concluded
that the implements are simple. They have two kinds of plough, for one
or two oxen, or for the camel, which animal is most in requisition. They
tread out the grain with oxen, as in all parts of India, and not
unfrequently they yoke the cattle to their hakerries,[7.7.7] or carts,
and pass the whole over the grain.

=Manufactures.=—There is little scope for the ingenuity of the mechanic
in this tract. They make coarse cotton cloths, but the raw material is
almost all exported. Their grand article of manufacture is from the wool
of the sheep pastured in the desert [282], which is fabricated into
_lois_, or blankets, scarfs,[7.7.8] petticoats, turbans, of every
quality. Cups and platters are made from a mineral called _abrak_, a
calcareous substance, of a dark chocolate ground, with light brown
vermiculated stripes;[7.7.9] female ornaments of elephants’ teeth, and
arms of an inferior quality. These comprehend the artificial productions
of this desert capital.

=Commerce.=—Whatever celebrity Jaisalmer possesses, as a commercial
mart, arises from its position as a place of transit between the eastern
countries, the valley of the Indus, and those beyond that stream, the
Kitars (the term for a caravan of camels) to and from Haidarabad,
Rori-Bakhar, Shikarpur and Uchh, from the Gangetic provinces, and the
Panjab, passing through it. The indigo of the Duab, the opium of Kotah
and Malwa, the famed sugar-candy of Bikaner, iron implements from
Jaipur, are exported to Shikarpur[7.7.10] and lower Sind; whence
elephants’ teeth (from Africa), dates, coco-nuts, drugs, and
chandan,[7.7.11] are imported, with pistachios and dried fruits from
Bahawalpur.

=Revenues and Taxes.=—The personal revenue of the princes of
Jaisalmer[7.7.12] is, or rather was, estimated at upwards of four lakhs
of rupees, of which more than one lakh was from the land.[7.7.13] The
transit duties were formerly the most certain and most prolific branch
of the fiscal income; but the bad faith of the minister, the predatory
habits of the Bhatti chiefs proceeding mainly from thence, and the
general decrease of commerce, have conspired nearly to annihilate this
source of income, said at one time to reach three lakhs of rupees. These
imposts are termed _dan_, and the collector _dani_, who was stationed at
convenient points of all the principal routes which diverge from the
capital.

=Land-tax.=—From one-fifth to one-seventh of the gross produce of the
land is set aside as the tax of the crown, never exceeding the first nor
falling short of the last.[7.7.14] It is paid in kind, which is
purchased on the spot by the Paliwal Brahmans, or Banias, and the value
remitted to the treasury [283].

=Dhuan.=—The third and now the most certain branch of revenue is the
_dhuan_, literally ‘smoke,’ and which we may render ‘chimney or
hearth-tax,’ though they have neither the one nor the other in these
regions. It is also termed _thali_, which is the brass or silver platter
out of which they eat, and is tantamount to a table-allowance. It never
realizes above twenty thousand rupees annually, which, however, would be
abundant for the simple fare of Jaisalmer. No house is exempt from the
payment of this tax.

=Dand.=—There is an arbitrary tax levied throughout these regions,
universally known and detested under the name of _dand_, the make-weight
of all their budgets of ways and means. It was first imposed in
Jaisalmer in S. 1830 (A.D. 1774), under the less odious appellation of
‘additional _dhuan_ or _thali_,’ and the amount was only two thousand
seven hundred rupees, to be levied from the monied interest of the
capital. The Mahesris[7.7.15] agreed to pay their share, but the Oswals
(the two chief mercantile classes) holding out, were forcibly sent up to
the castle, and suffered the ignominious punishment of the bastinado.
They paid the demand, but immediately on their release entered into a
compact on oath, never again to look on the Rawal’s (Mulraj’s) face,
which was religiously kept during their mutual lives. When he passed
through the streets of his capital, the Oswals abandoned their shops and
banking-houses, retiring to the interior of their habitations in order
to avoid the sight of him. This was strenuously persevered in for many
years, and had such an effect upon the prince, that he visited the
principal persons of this class, and ‘spreading his scarf’ (_pala
pasarna_),[7.7.16] intreated forgiveness, giving a writing on oath never
again to impose _dand_, if they would make the _dhuan_ a permanent tax.
The Oswals accepted the repentance of their prince, and agreed to his
terms. In S. 1841 and 1852, his necessities compelling him to raise
money, he obtained by loan, in the first period, twenty-seven thousand,
and in the latter, forty thousand rupees, which he faithfully repaid.
When the father of the present minister came into power, he endeavoured
to get back the bond of his sovereign abrogating the obnoxious _dand_,
and offered, as a bait, to renounce the _dhuan_. The Oswals placed more
value on the virtue of this instrument than it merited, for in spite of
the bond, he in S. 1857 levied sixty thousand, and in 1863, eighty
thousand rupees. A visit of the Rawal to the Ganges was seized upon as a
fit opportunity by his subjects to get this oppression redressed, and
fresh oaths were made by the prince, and broken by the minister, who has
bequeathed his rapacious spirit to his son [284].

Since the accession of Gaj Singh, only two years ago,[7.7.17] Salim
Singh has extorted fourteen lakhs (£140,000). Bardhman, a merchant of
great wealth and respectability, and whose ancestors are known and
respected throughout Rajwara as Sahukars, has been at various times
stripped of all his riches by the minister and his father, who, to use
the phraseology of the sufferers, “will never be satisfied while a rupee
remains in Jaisalmer.”

=Establishments, Expenditure.=—We subjoin a rough estimate of the
household establishment, etc., of this desert king:

Rupees.

Bar[7.7.18] 20,000

Rozgar Sardar[7.7.19] 40,000

Sihbandis or Mercenaries[7.7.20] 75,000

Household horse, 10 elephants, 200 camels, and 36,000
chariots

—-——

Carry forward 171,000

Brought forward 171,000

500 Bargir[7.7.21] horse 60,000

Rani’s or queen’s establishment 15,000

The wardrobe 5,000

Gifts 5,000

The kitchen 5,000

Guests, in hospitality 5,000

Feasts, entertainments 5,000

Annual purchase of horses, camels, oxen, etc. 20,000

—-—-—

TOTAL Rs.
291,000

—-—-—

The ministers and officers of government receive assignments on the
transit-duties, and some have lands. The whole of this State-expenditure
was more than covered, in some years, by the transit-duties alone; which
have, it is asserted, amounted to the almost incredible sum of three
lakhs, or £30,000.

=Tribes.=—We shall conclude our account of Jaisalmer with a few remarks
on the [285] tribes peculiar to it; though we reserve the general
enumeration for a sketch of the desert.

Of its Rajput population, the Bhattis, we have already given an outline
in the general essay on the tribes.[7.7.22] Those which occupy the
present limits of Jaisalmer retain their Hindu notions, though with some
degree of laxity from their intercourse with the Muhammadans on the
northern and western frontiers; while those which long occupied the
north-east tracts, towards Phulra and the Gara, on becoming proselytes
to Islam ceased to have either interest in or connexion with the parent
State. The Bhatti has not, at present, the same martial reputation as
the Rathor, Chauhan, or Sesodia, but he is deemed at least to equal if
not surpass the Kachhwaha, or any of its kindred branches, Naruka or
Shaikhavat. There are occasional instances of Bhatti intrepidity as
daring as may be found amongst any other tribe; witness the feud between
the chiefs of Pugal and Mandor. But this changes not the national
characteristic as conventionally established; though were we to go back
to the days of chivalry and Prithiraj, we should select Achalesa Bhatti,
one of the bravest of his champions, for the portrait of his race. The
Bhatti Rajput, as to physical power, is not perhaps so athletic as the
Rathor, or so tall as the Kachhwaha, but generally fairer than either,
and possessing those Jewish features which Mr. Elphinstone remarked as
characteristic of the Bikaner Rajputs. The Bhatti intermarries with all
the families of Rajwara, though seldom with the Ranas of Mewar. The late
Jagat Singh of Jaipur had five wives of this stock, and his posthumous
son, real or reputed, has a Bhattiani for his mother.[7.7.23]

=Dress.=—The dress of the Bhattis consists of a _jama_, or tunic of
white cloth or chintz reaching to the knee; the _kamarband_, or
ceinture, tied so high as to present no appearance of waist; trousers
very loose, and in many folds, drawn tight at the ankle, and a turban,
generally of a scarlet colour, rising conically full a foot from the
head. A dagger is stuck in the waistband; a shield is suspended by a
thong of deer-skin from the left shoulder, and the sword is girt by a
belt of the same material. The dress of the common people is the
_dhoti_, or loin-robe, generally of woollen stuff, with a piece of the
same material as a turban. The dress of the Bhattianis, which
discriminates the sex, consists of a _ghaghra_, or petticoat, extending
to thirty feet in width, made generally of the finer woollen, dyed a
brilliant red, with a scarf of the same material. The grand ornament of
rich and poor, though varying in the materials, is the _churi_, or rings
of ivory or bone, with which they cover their arms from the shoulder to
[286] the wrist.[7.7.24] They are in value from sixteen to thirty-five
rupees a set, and imported from Maskat-Mandavi, though they also
manufacture them at Jaisalmer. Silver _karis_ (massive rings or anklets)
are worn by all classes, who deny themselves the necessaries of life
until they attain this ornament. The poorer Rajputnis are very
masculine, and assist in all the details of husbandry.

=Use of Opium.=—The Bhatti is to the full as addicted as any of his
brethren to the immoderate use of opium. To the _amalpani_, or
‘infusion,’ succeeds the pipe, and they continue inhaling mechanically
the smoke long after they are insensible to all that is passing around
them; nay, it is said, you may scratch or pinch them while in this
condition without exciting sensation. The _hukka_ is the dessert to the
_amalpani_; the panacea for all the ills which can overtake a Rajput,
and with which he can at any time enjoy a paradise of his own creation.
To ask a Bhatti for a whiff of his pipe would be deemed a direct insult.

=Pāliwāls.=—Next to the lordly Rajputs, equalling them in numbers and
far surpassing them in wealth, are the Paliwals. They are Brahmans, and
denominated Paliwal from having been temporal proprietors of Pali, and
all its lands, long before the Rathors colonized Marwar. Tradition is
silent as to the manner in which they became possessed of this domain;
but it is connected with the history of the Pali, or pastoral tribes,
who from the town of Pali to Palitana, in Saurashtra, have left traces
of their existence;[7.7.25] and I am much mistaken if it will not one
day be demonstrated, that all the ramifications of the races
figuratively denominated Agnikula, were Pali in origin; more especially
the Chauhans, whose princes and chiefs for ages retained the distinctive
affix of _pal_.

These Brahmans, the Paliwals, as appears by the Annals of Marwar, held
the domain of Pali when Siahji, at the end of the twelfth century,
invaded that land from Kanauj, and by an act of treachery first
established his power.[7.7.26] It is evident, however, that he did not
extirpate them, for the cause of their migration to the desert of
Jaisalmer [287] is attributed to a period of a Muhammadan invasion of
Marwar, when a general war-contribution (_dand_) being imposed on the
inhabitants, the Paliwals pleaded caste, and refused. This exasperated
the Raja; for as their habits were almost exclusively mercantile, their
stake was greater than that of the rest of the community, and he threw
their principal men into prison. In order to avenge this, they had
recourse to a grand _chandni_, or ‘act of suicide’; but instead of
gaining their object, he issued a manifesto of banishment to every
Paliwal in his dominions. The greater part took refuge in Jaisalmer,
though many settled in Bikaner, Dhat, and the valley of Sind. At one
time their number in Jaisalmer was calculated to equal that of the
Rajputs. Almost all the internal trade of the country passes through
their hands, and it is chiefly with their capital that its merchants
trade in foreign parts. They are the Metayers of the desert, advancing
money to the cultivators, taking the security of the crop; and they buy
up all the wool and _ghi_ (clarified butter), which they transport to
foreign parts. They also rear and keep flocks. The minister, Salim
Singh, has contrived to diminish their wealth, and consequently to lose
the main support of the country’s prosperity. They are also subject to
the visits of the Maldots, Tejmallots, and other plunderers; but they
find it difficult to leave the country owing to the restrictive cordon
of the Mehta. The Paliwals never marry out of their own tribe; and,
directly contrary to the laws of Manu,[7.7.27] the bridegroom gives a
sum of money to the father of the bride. It will be deemed a curious
incident in the history of superstition, that a tribe, Brahman by name,
at least, should worship the bridle of a horse. When to this is added
the fact that the most ancient coins discovered in these regions bear
the Pali character and the effigies of the horse, it aids to prove the
Scythic character of the early colonists of these regions, who, although
nomadic (Pali), were equestrian. There is little doubt that the Paliwal
Brahmans are the remains of the priests of the Pali race, who, in their
pastoral and commercial pursuits, have lost their spiritual
power.[7.7.28]

=Pokharna Brāhmans.=— Another singular tribe, also Brahmanical, is the
Pokharna, of whom it is calculated there are fifteen hundred to two
thousand families in Jaisalmer. They are also numerous in Marwar and
Bikaner, and are scattered over the desert and valley of the Indus. They
follow agricultural and pastoral pursuits chiefly, having little or no
concern in trade. The tradition of their origin is singular; it is said
that they were Beldars, and excavated the sacred lake of Pushkar or
Pokhar, for which act they obtained the favour of the deity and the
grade of Brahmans, with the title of Pokharna. Their chief object of
emblematic worship, the _kudala_, a kind of pick-axe used in digging,
seems to favour this tradition [288].[7.7.29]

=Jats or Jāts.=—The Jats here, as elsewhere, form a great part of the
agricultural population; there are also various other tribes, which will
be better described in a general account of the desert.

=Castle of Jaisalmer.=—The castle of this desert king is erected on an
almost insulated peak, from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in
height, a strong wall running round the crest of the hill. It has four
gates, but very few cannon mounted. The city is to the north, and is
surrounded by a _shahrpanah_, or circumvallation, encompassing a space
of nearly three miles, having three gates and two wickets. In the city
are some good houses belonging to rich merchants, but the greater part
consists of huts. The Raja’s palace is said to possess some pretension
to grandeur, perhaps comparative.[7.7.30] Were he on good terms with his
vassalage, he could collect for its defence five thousand infantry and
one thousand horse, besides his camel-corps; but it may be doubted
whether, under the oppressive system of the monster who has so long
continued to desolate that region, one half of this force could be
brought together [289].[7.7.31]

-----

Footnote 7.7.1:

[The State, according to later surveys, lies between 26° 4´ and 28°
23´ N. lat. and 69° 30´ and 72° 42´ E. long., with an area of 16,062
square miles. In 1911 the population amounted to 80,891, that of the
capital, Jaisalmer, being 7420. There were 471 villages in the State,
the average population of which was even lower than of those in
Bikaner.]

Footnote 7.7.2:

[Rocks of Jurassic age, such as sandstone, shales, and limestone, crop
up beneath the sand, and a large area of Nummulitic rock occurs to the
N.W. of the capital (_IGI_, xiv. 1).]

Footnote 7.7.3:

[_Cenchrus catharticus._]

Footnote 7.7.4:

So Mr. Elphinstone describes the tract about Pugal, one of the
earliest possessions of the Bhattis, and one of the Naukotī Maru-ki,
or ‘nine castles of the desert,’ around whose sand-hills as brave a
colony was reared and maintained as ever carried lance. Rao Raning was
lord of Pugal, whose son originated that episode given on p. 733. Even
these sand-hills which in November appeared to Mr. Elphinstone without
a sign of vegetation, could be made to yield good crops of bajra.

Footnote 7.7.5:

[About 20 miles N.W. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.7.6:

About a hundredweight for two shillings.

Footnote 7.7.7:

[Hindustāni _chhakra_, ‘a cart’ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 407
f.).]

Footnote 7.7.8:

I brought home several pairs of these, with crimson borders,
sufficiently fine to be worn as a winter shawl in this country.

Footnote 7.7.9:

[Commonly known as soapstone or potstone, a soft magnesian or talcose
mineral (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 1049 f.).]

Footnote 7.7.10:

Shikarpur, the great commercial mart of the valley of Sind, west of
the Indus.

Footnote 7.7.11:

Chandan is a scented wood for _malas_, or ‘chaplets.’ [Sandalwood,
_Pterocarpus santalinus_ (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 909).]

Footnote 7.7.12:

I have no correct data for estimating the revenues of the chieftains.
They are generally almost double the land-revenue of the princes in
the other States of Rajwara; perhaps about two lakhs, which ought to
bring into the field seven hundred horse.

Footnote 7.7.13:

[The normal revenue at present is about one lakh of rupees. The
transit duties have been largely reduced.]

Footnote 7.7.14:

This, if strictly true and followed, is according to ancient
principles; Manu ordains the sixth. I could have wished Colonel Briggs
to have known this fact, when he was occupied on his excellent work on
_The Land-tax of India_; but it had entirely escaped my recollection.
In this most remote corner of Hindustan, in spite of oppression, it is
curious to observe the adherence to primitive custom. These notes on
the sources of revenue in Jaisalmer were communicated to me so far
back as 1811, and I laid them before the Bengal Government in 1814-15.

Footnote 7.7.15:

[The Mahesri trading class, which derive their name from that of their
caste deity, Mahesh, ‘the great lord,’ a title of Siva or Mahādeo,
claim descent from Chauhān, Parihār, or Solanki Rājputs (_Census
Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 131).]

Footnote 7.7.16:

_Pala pasārna_, or ‘to spread the cloth or scarf,’ is the figurative
language of entreaty, arising from the act of spreading the garment,
preparatory to bowing the head thereon in token of perfect submission.

Footnote 7.7.17:

This was written in 1821-22.

Footnote 7.7.18:

The _Bar_ includes the whole household or personal attendants, the
guards, and slaves. They receive rations of food, and make up the rest
of their subsistence by labour in the town. The _Bar_ consists of
about 1000 people, and is estimated to cost 20,000 rupees annually.

Footnote 7.7.19:

Rozgar-Sardar is an allowance termed _kansa_, or ‘dinner,’ to the
feudal chieftains who attend the Presence. Formerly they had an order
upon the Danis, or collectors of the transit-duties; but being
vexatious, Pansa Sah, minister to Rawal Chaitra, commuted it for a
daily allowance, varying, with the rank of the person, from half a
silver rupee to seven rupees each, daily. This disbursement is
calculated at 40,000 rupees annually.

Footnote 7.7.20:

Sihbandis are mercenary soldiers in the fort, of whom 1000 are
estimated to cost 75,000 rupees annually. [The word seems to mean
‘persons paid quarterly’ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 805).]

Footnote 7.7.21:

[A man riding his own horse was called Silahdār, ‘equipment-holder’;
one riding a horse belonging to the State or to some one else was
Bārgīr, ‘burden-taker’ (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 37).]

Footnote 7.7.22:

Vol. I. p. 102.

Footnote 7.7.23:

[Bhatti women have a reputation for strength and beauty. One of them
was the mother of Fīroz Shāh Tughlak (Elliot-Dowson iii. 272).]

Footnote 7.7.24:

The churi of ivory, bone, or shell is the most ancient ornament of the
Indo-Scythic dames, and appears in old sculpture and painting. [For
bangles made of conch-shell, see J. Hornell, _The Sacred Chank of
India_, Madras, 1914.] I was much struck with some ancient sculptures
in a very old Gothic church at Moissac, in Languedoc. The porch is the
only part left of this most antique fane, attributed to the age of
Dagobert. It represents the conversion of Clovis, and when the subject
was still a matter of novelty. But interesting as this is, it is as
nothing when compared to some sculptured figures below, of a totally
distinct age; in execution as far superior as they are dissimilar in
character, which is decidedly Asiatic; the scarf, the _champakali_ or
necklace, representing the buds of the jessamine (_champa_), and
_churis_, such as I have been describing. To whom but the Visigoths
can we ascribe them?—and does not this supply the connecting link of
this Asiatic race, destined to change the moral aspect of Europe? [?]
I recommend all travellers, who are interested in tracing such
analogies, to visit the church at Moissac, though it is not known as
an object of curiosity in the neighbourhood.

Footnote 7.7.25:

[There is no evidence in support of this suggestion.]

Footnote 7.7.26:

See p. 942.

Footnote 7.7.27:

[_Laws_, iii. 31.]

Footnote 7.7.28:

[For the Pāliwāl Brāhmans see J. Wilson, _Indian Caste_, ii. 119;
_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 79 f.]

Footnote 7.7.29:

[See _Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 61 ff.]

Footnote 7.7.30:

[The Mahārāvali palace, the top of which is 987 feet above sea-level,
surmounts the main entrance of the fort, and is “an imposing pile
crowned by a huge umbrella of metal, a solid emblem of dignity of
which the Bhatti chiefs are justly proud; but the interior is
ill-arranged, and space is frittered away in numberless small
apartments” (Erskine iii. A. 38).]

Footnote 7.7.31:

It has been reported that the dagger has since rid the land of its
tyrant. The means matter little, if the end is accomplished. Even
assassination loses much of its odious character when resorted to for
such a purpose. [Gaj Singh died in his bed in 1846.]

-----

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcriber’s Note

There are references to Genealogical Tables in Volume I, which were not
reprinted in this Crooke edition.

The spelling of names and places is variable, as noted in the Editor’s
introduction to Volume I, as the system of transliteration underwent
many changes in the intervening century. The use of macrons was not yet
introduced in James Tod’s day. This text, with very few exceptions,
follows the text as printed.

Hyphenation of compound words follows the text, with the rare exception
of when it occurs on a line break and the preponderance of other
instances provides clear guidance.

On p. 703, Tod’s note 28 gives the Persian character ﺙ as ‘p’. The
character pe (پ) has the three points below, not above.

Where punctuation is suspect, the correct solution was sought in the
text of Tod’s original edition.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted here.

This list contains issues in the main text. References are to the page
and line in the original.

618.25 for the protection of the temple[.] Added.

656.38 may [i]nfluence the manners of a nation. Inserted.

664.15 the glorious [of memory/memory of] his Words
ancestor transposed.

672.2 died a natural death[.] Added.

682.20 or split-ear ascetics[.] Added.

709.18 Leur sort est un[e] boussole sûr[e] pour le Added.
premier regard

719.8 [“]separated from his mate Added.

719.26 _asis_ (blessing[)] Added.

726.14 [“]The king sought the bard Added.

727.8 [“]In vain she sought the rings of his corslet Removed.

755.16 [‘/“]all’s well,” Replaced.

860.20 with the _tika_ and gifts, [and gifts, ]and Removed.
other symbols

866.23 was father-in[ /-]law to his rival Replaced.

895.34 which we do not fail to encourage[.] Added.

898.19 there occurs a ri[g/c]hly carved corbeille Replaced.

915.3 Such is the Jit’h[a] Added.

933.25 see [Table I. Vol. I.] Not
reprinted.

959.22 every part o[f] Rajputana Added.

964.2 which would otherwise perish[.] Added.

1035.10 for the persecutor of Durgadas[.] Added.

1060.13 out of Maru[:/.] Replaced.

1113.29 or courts o[r/f] arbitration Replaced.

The following list contains issues corrected or noted in the footnote
text. The reference is to the original page, the resequenced note
number, and the line within the note.

602.4.5 that he m[i]raculously Restored.

725.1.1 History of the Late Revolution o[f] the Empire Restored.

750.1.24 _Rāsmāla_, 557[)]. Removed.

819.3.3 (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 15[)]. Added.

884.3.13 ‘city of the heavenly choristers.[’] Added.

839.2.2 (Erskine iii. A. 196[)]. Added.

934.1.1 (_IGI_, xv. 398[)]. Added.

935.4.1 classically Vijayapala, ‘Fosterer of Added.
Victory.[’]

948.2.12 [“]Even in this, is there much vanity,” Added.

1037.4.2 rather Nāgapura[./,] capital of the Nāga sept Replaced.

1084.2.1 [Nineteen miles S.W. of Bikaner city.[]] Added.

1118.3.1 see Watt, _op. cit._ 112 ff.[).] Removed.

1134.1.7 see Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_, i. 257[)]. Removed.

1136.1.1 Ferishta’s History of the Dek[h/k]an Replaced.

1156.1.5 (Bilimoria, _Letters of Aurangzeb_, 75.[)] Added.

1186.3.9 See Map, Vol. I. Actually,
Vol. III.

1194.1.70 and many others[)]. Added.

1197.37 Rae S[e/a]hra and his tribe of Langaha Replaced.

1221.1.3 [(]Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 353 f.; _ASR_, ii. Added.
17).

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3 - or the Central and Western Rajput States of India" ***

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