RAJPUT REALMS 29

Narcissus, says the Greek legend, became enamoured
of his own reflection in the water and, unable to possess
himself of the shadow, died of grief. According to the
lore of Eajputana, Allah-nd-din Khiiji, Sultan of Delhi,
on seeing her reflection in a mirror, fell in love with
the peerlessly beautiful Padmini, a Ohohan princess and
the wife of the Eegenfc of Chifcor. Infatuated with her
beauty, Allah-ud-din invested the fort of Ohitorgarh and
demanded the hand of fair Padmini as his price for
raising the siege. But the Chohan princess, loyal wife
and true to her Eajpufc tradition, preferred, to perish in
the flames, while her husband fell fighting on the field
of battle. Two tragediea in legend and. lore, it seems,
can be claimed by a mere reflection; but, in its grim,
bloody and ruthless sequel, the Hindu tale far out-beats
its legendary G-reek parallel.

The tales of Eajputana tell of the lighting of the
sacrificial pyre, of the warriors of Ohitor watching their
womenfolk, headed by Padmini, marching fearlessly
into the flames, and how " the Eana ordered the gates
of Chitor to be thrown open and, calling his clans around
him, descended^fco the plains, where he, and every man
with him hurled himself against the foe, and slew until
he himself was slain." When the Sultan entered
Chitorgarh, writes a historian, he found nothing hub a
silent and deserted town over which still hung a cloud
of foetid smoke arising from the vaults where all that he
had coveted lay smouldering. In his rage he destroyed
the whole city, sparing only the palace of PadminL

In the reign of Udai Singh, the last of his line
to rule in Chitorgarh, the last and deadliest siege took
place; it was u the most famous and dramatic military