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3  1822  00719  8260 


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LIBRARY 

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CALIFORNIA 
SAN  OlEdO 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  00719  8260 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 

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ANNALS   AND   ANTIQUITIES 
OF   RAJASTHAN 


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COIXJNEl.    TOD   AM)    HIS   .IAIN    (!UKU. 
(From  a  iiainting  said  to  be  Uu;  work  of  tin:  Author's  native  artist,  Ohfisi.) 

Vroniisp'mcc 


ANNALS    AND    ANTIQUITIES 


OF 


RAJASTHAN 

OR  THE  CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN 
RAJPUT  STATES  OF  INDIA 


BY 


LiEUT.-CoL.  JAMES  JOD 

LATE    POLITICAL    AGENT    TO    THE    WESTERN     RAJPUT    STATES 


EDITED  WITH   AN  INTRODUCTION  AND   NOTES   BY 

WILLIAM  CROOKE,  CLE. 

HON.    D.SC.    OXON.,     B.A.,    F.R.A.I. 
LATE    OF    THE    INDIAN    CIVIL    SERVICE 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES 
VOL.  Ill 


HUMPHREY  MILFORD 
OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON      EDINBURGH       GLASGOW      NEW  YORK 

TORONTO     MELBOURNE     BOMBAY 

1920 


CONTENTS 

BOOK  VIII 
SKETCH   OF   THE   INDIAN   DESERT 

CHAPTER   1 

PAGE 

General  aspect — Boundaries  and  divisions  of  the  desert — Probable 
etymology  of  the  Greek  oasis — Absorption  of  the  Ghaggar 
river — The  Luni,  or  salt-river — The  Rann,  or  Ran — Distinc- 
tion of  thai  and  rui — Thai  of  the  Luni— Jalor — Siwanclii — 
Maehola  and  Morsin — Bhinnial  and  Sanchor — Bhadrajun — 
Mewa — Balotra  and  Tilwara — Indhavati — Gugadeo-ka-thal 
— Thai  of  Tararoi — Thai  of  Khawar — ^Mallinath-ka-thal,  or 
Barnier — Kherdhar — Juna  Chhotan — Nagar  Gura      .  .   1257 


CHAPTER   2 

Chauhan  Raj— Antiquity  and  nobility  of  the  Chauhans  of  the 
desert — Dimensions  and  population  of  the  Raj — Nagar — 
Bakhasar — Tharad — Face  of  the  Chauhan  Raj — Water — 
Productions — Inhabitants — Kolis  and  Bhils — Pitals — Thais 
of  Dhat  and  Umrasumra — Depth  of  wells — Anecdote — City 
of  Aror,  the  ancient  capital  of  Sind — Dynasties  of  the  Sodha, 
the  Sumra,  and  the  Samma  princes — Their  antiquity — In- 
ferred to  be  the  opponents  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
Menander — Lieutenant  of  Walid  takes  Aror — Umarkot  :  its 
history — Tribes  of  Sind  and  the  desert — Diseases — Narua  or 
Guinea-worm — Productions,  animal  and  vegetable,  of  the 
desert — Daudputra — Itinerary     .....   1275 


vi  CONTENTS 

BOOK   IX 
ANNALS   OF  AMBER,   OR   DIIUNDHAR 

CHAPTER   1 

PAfiE 

Designations  given  by  Europeans  to  the  principalities  of  Raj- 
putana — DIuindhar  known  by  the  name  of  its  cajMtals, 
Amber  or  Jaipur — The  country  of  the  Kaclihwahas  an  aggre- 
gate of  concjuests  by  the  race  so  called — Etymology  of 
Dhundhar — Origin  of  the  Kaclihwahas — Raja  Nal  founds 
Narwar — Dhola  Rae  expelled,  and  founds  Dhundhar — • 
Romantic  legend  of  Dhola  Rae — His  treachery  to  his  bene- 
factor, the  Mina  lord  of  Khoganw — Marries  a  daughter  of  a 
Bargujar  chief,  and  becomes  his  heir— Augments  his  terri- 
tories, and  transfers  his  government  to  Ramgarh — Marries  a 
daughter  of  the  prince  of  Ajmcr — Is  killed  in  battle  with  the 
Minas — His  son  Kankhal  conquers  Dhundhar — Medal  Rae 
conquers  Amber,  and  other  places — Conquests  of  Hundeo — 
Of  Kuntal — Accession  of  Pajun — Reflections  on  the  aboriginal 
tribes  at  this  period — The  Mina  race — ^Pajun  marries  the 
sister  of  Pritliiraj  of  Dellii — His  military  j)rowess — Is  killed 
at  the  rape  of  the  princess  of  Kanauj — Malesi  succeeds — His 
successors — Pritliiraj  creates  the  Barah-kothris,  or  twelve 
great  fiefs  of  Amber— He  is  assassinated — Baharmall — The 
first  to  wait  on  the  Muhammadan  power— Bhagwandas  the 
first  Rajput  to  give  a  daughter  to  the  imperial  house — His 
daughter  marries  Jahangir,  and  gives  birth  to  Khusru — 
Accession  to  Man  Singh — His  power,  intrigues,  and  death — 
Rao  Bhao — Maha — Mirza  liaja  Jai  Singh,  brother  of  Raja 
Man,  succeeds — liepairs  the  disgraces  of  his  two  predecessors, 
and  renders  immense  services  to  the  empire — Is  poisoned  by 
liis  son — Ram  Singh — Bishan  Singh       ....   1327 


CHAPTER   2 

Sawai  Jai  Singh  succeeds — Joins  the  party  of  Azam  Shah — Amber 
sequestrated — Jai  Singh  expels  the  imperial  garrison — His 
character — His  astronomical  knowledge — His  conduct  during 
the  troubles  of  the  empire — Anecdote  illustrative  of  the  evils 
of  polygamy — Limits  of  the  raj  of  Amber  at  the  accession  of 
Jai  Singh — The  new  city  of  Jaipur — Conquest  of  Rajor  and 
Deoti — Incidents  illustrative  of  Rajput  character — Jai  Singh's 
habit  of  inebriation — The  ^'irtucs  of  his  character — Con- 
templates the  rite  of  Aswamcdha — Disj^ersion  of  his  valuable 
manuscripts — His  death — Some  of  his  wives  and  concubines 
become  Satis  on  his  pyre  .....    1841 


\ 


CONTENTS  vii 


CHAPTER   3 


PAGE 


The  Rajput  league — Aggrandizement  of  Amber — Isari  Singh 
succeeds — Intestine  troubles  produced  by  polygamy — Madho 
Singh — The  Jats — Their  Kajas — Violation  of  the  Amber  terri- 
tory by  the  Jats — Battle — Rise  of  JNIacheri — Decline  of  the 
Kachhwaha  power  after  the  death  of  Madho  Singh — Prithi 
Singh — Partap  Singh — Intrigues  at  Ills  court — The  strata- 
gems of  Khushhaliram,  and  the  Macheri  chief — -Death  of 
Firoz  the  Filban,  paramour  of  the  Patrani — Broils  with  the 
Mahrattas — Partap  attains  majority,  and  gains  the  victory 
of  Tonga — His  difficulties — Exactions  of  the  Mahrattas — 
Jagat  Singh — His  follies  and  despicable  character — 3Iakes 
Raskapur,  his  concubine,  queen  of  half  Amber — Project  to 
depose  him  prevented  by  a  timely  sacrifice — Mohan  Singh 
elected  his  successor  ......   1356 


CHAPTER   4 

Jaipur  the  last  of  the  Rajput  States  to  embrace  the  proffered 
alliance  of  the  British — Procrastination  habitual  to  the 
Rajputs,  as  to  all  Asiatics — Motives  and  considerations  which 
influenced  the  Jaipur  court  in  declining  our  alliance — A  treaty 
concluded — Death  of  Jagat  Singh — Effects  of  our  interferenc  e 
in  the  intrigues  respecting  the  succession — Law  of  primo- 
geniture— The  evils  attending  an  ignorance  of  Rajput 
customs — Violation  of  the  law  of  succession  in  the  placing  of 
Mohan  Singh  on  the  gaddi — Reasons  for  departing  from  the 
rule  of  succession — Conduct  of  the  British  authorities — The 
title  of  Mohan  Singh  disjjuted  by  the  legal  heir-presumptive 
— Dilemma  of  the  Nazir  and  his  faction — The  threatened  dis- 
orders prevented  by  the  unexpected  pregnancy  of  one  of  the 
queens  of  Jagat  Singh — Birth  of  a  posthumous  son   .  .    1366 


SHAIKHAWAT  FEDERATION 
CHAPTER  5 

Origin  of  the  Shaikliavati  federation — Its  constitution — Descent 
of  the  chiefs  from  Balaji  of  Amber — Mokalji — Miraculous 
birth  of  his  son — Shaikhji — Aggrandizes  his  territory — 
Raemall — Suja — Raesal — His  heroism — Obtains  grants  from 
Akbar — Gets  possession  of  Khandela  and  Udaipur — His 
exploits  and  character — Girdharji — Is  cut  off  by  assassina- 
tion— Dwarkadas — His  extraordinary  feat  with  a  lion — Falls 
by  Khan  Jahan  Lodi — Birsinghdeo — His  authority  usurped 
by  his  son — Bahadur  Singh — Aurangzeb  directs  the  demoli- 
tion of  the  temple  of  KJiandela — Bahadur  deserts  his  capital 
— Shujawan  Singh  Raesalot  flies  to  its  defence — He  is  slain, 

VOL.  Ill  b 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

the  temple  razed,  and  the  city  garrisoned — Kesari — Partition 
of  the  territory  between  Kesari  and  Fateli  Singh — Fateh 
Singh  assassinated — Kesari  resists  the  regal  authority — Is 
deserted  in  the  field  and  slain — His  son  Udai  Singh  taken  to 
Ajmer — ^Khandela  retaken,  and  restored  to  Udai  Singh,  who 
is  liberated — He  resolves  to  punish  the  Manoharpur  chief — ^Is 
baffled  by  that  chief's  intrigues — Is  besieged  by  Jai  Singli  of 
Amber — Khandela  becomes  tributary  to  Amber         .  .    i;J78 


CHAPTER   6 

Bindrabandas  adheres  to  Madho  Singii  in  tlie  civil  wars  of  Amber 
— ^Partition  of  lands  annulled  —  Self-immolation  of  the 
Brahmans — Consequences  to  Bindraban,  in  his  contest  with 
Indar  Singh,  the  other  chief  of  Khandela — Civil  war — 
Prodigal  expiatory  sacrifice  of  Bindraban — He  abdicates— 
Govind  Singh  —  Is  assassinated  —  Narsinghdas  —  Rise  and 
devastations  of  the  Mahrattas — Siege  of  Khandela — Terms  of 
redemption — Murder  of  deputies  by  the  Mahrattas — Indar 
Singh  perishes  in  the  attempt  to  avenge  them — Partap  Singh 
— Rise  of  the  Sikar  chief — Transactions  between  Partap  and 
Narsingh,  his  co-partner  —  Partap  obtains  the  whole  of 
Khandela — Narsingh  recovers  by  stratagem  his  share  of 
Khandela — Domestic  broils  and  feuds — General  assembly  of 
the  Sadhani  and  Raesalot  chiefs,  to  counteract  the  encroach- 
ments of  Amber — Treaty  between  the  Shaikhawats  and  the 
court  of  Amber — Violated  by  the  latter — The  confederacy 
assault  the  town  of  the  Haldia  faction — Narsingh  refuses 
tribute  to  the  court,  and  Khandela  is  sequestrated — -Narsingh 
and  Partap  treacherously  made  captive,  and  conveyed  to 
Jaipur — Khandela  annexed  to  the  fisc  ....    ];J95 


CHAPTER   7 

Bagh  Singh  opposes  the  faithless  court  of  Amber — He  is  joined  by 
the  celebrated  George  Thomas  —  Desperate  action  —  Bagh 
Singh  |)hucd  intlu'  fortified  palace  at  Khandela — His  garrison, 
with  ills  brother,  slain  by  Hanwant  Singh,  son  of  Partap — - 
Bagh  regains  the  i)alace — The  lands  of  Khandela  farmed  by 
Amber  to  two  Brahmans — They  are  exi)elled  by  the  feudatory 
Barwatias,  who  resist  the  court — They  become  a  banditti — 
Sangram  Singh,  cousin  to  Partaj),  their  leader — He  avoids  the 
treachery  of  the  court — -His  death — The  confederacy  imite 
in  the  league  against  .Jodiipur — -New  treaty  with  the  Amber 
court — Liberation  of  Partaj)  and  Narsingh — Grand  union  of 
the  Shaikhawats — Abhai  Singh  succeeds  in  Khandela — 
Treachery  of  the  court  — Hanwant  regains  (iovindgarh, 
Khandela,  etc. — Restoration  of  Khushhaliram  to  the  ministry 
of  Jaipur — New  investitures  granted  to  the  feudatories  of 
Khandela — Abhai  and  Partap  inducted  into  their  ancestral 
abodes — Incident  illustrative  of  the  defects  of  the  Rajput 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


feudal  system — Khandela  assailed  by  Lachhman  Singh,  chief 
of  Sikar— Gallant  defence  of  Hanwant — His  death — Sur- 
render of  Khandela  to  Lachhman  Singh — The  co-heirs 
exiled — Power  and  influence  of  Lachhman  Singh — P^oils  the 
designs  of  the  Purohit — Present  attitude  of  Lachhman  Singh 
— Subordinate  branches  of  the  Shaikhawats — The  Sadhanis  — 
Their  territories  wi'ested  from  the  Kaimkhanis  and  Rajputs 
— The  Khetri  branch  of  the  family  of  Sadhu  attains  superiority 
— Bagh  Singh  of  Khetri  murders  his  own  son — Tiie  Larkhanis 
— Revenues  of  Shaikhavati  .....    1408 


CHAPTER   8 

Reflections — Statistics  of  Amber — Boundaries— Extent — Popula- 
tion— Number  of  townships — Classification  of  inhabitants — 
Soil  —  Husbandry  —  Products  —  Revenues — Foreign  army — 
The  feudallevies     .......   ]428 


BOOK   X 

ANNALS   OF   HARAVATI 

BUNDI 
CHAPTER   1 

Haravati  defined — Fabulous  origin  of  the  Agnikula  races — Mount 
Abu— The  Chauhans  obtain  Mahishvati,  Golkonda,  and  the 
Konkan  —  Found  Ajmer  —  Ajaipal — ^Manika  Rae  —  First 
Islamite  invasion — Ajmer  taken — Sambhar  founded  ;  its 
salt  lake — Offspring  of  Manik  Rae — Establishments  in  Raj- 
putana — Contests  with  the  Muhammadans — -Bilandeo  of 
Ajmer  ;  Guga  Chauhan  of  Mahra  ;  both  slain  by  Mahmiid — 
Bisaldeo  Generalissimo  of  the  Rajput  nations  ;  his  period 
fixed  ;  his  column  at  Delhi  ;  his  alliances — Origin  of  the 
Hara  tribe — Anuraj  obtains  Asi — Dispossessed — Ishtpal 
obtains  Asir — Rao  Hamir — Rao  Chand  slain — Asir,  Alau-d- 
din — Prince  Rainsi  escapes  to  Chitor  ;  settles  at  Bhainsror, 
in  Mewar — His  son  Kolan  declared  lord  of  the  Pathar  .    1441 

CHAPTER   2 

Recapitulation  of  the  Hara  princes  from  the  founder  Anuraj  to 
Rae  Dewa — He  erects  Bundi — Massacre  of  the  Usaras — 
Dewa  abdicates — Ceremony  of  Yugaraj,  or  abdication — 
Succeeded  by  Samarsi — Extends  his  sway  east  of  the  Chambal 
— Massacre  of  the  Kotia  Bliils — Origin  of  Kotah — Napuji 
succeeds — Feud  mth  the  Solanki  of  Toda — Assassination  of 
Napuji — Singular  Sati — Hamu  succeeds — The  Rana  asserts 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

his  right  over  the  Patar — llaniu  demuis,  defies,  and  attacks 
him — Anecdote — Birsingli  —  liini — Rao  Banda — Famine — 
Anecdote — Banda  expelled  by  his  brothers  ;  converts  to 
Muhammadanism — Narayandas  ])uts  his  uncles  to  death,  and 
recovers  his  patrimony — Anecdotes  of  Narayandas — Aids 
the  Rana  of  Chitor— Gains  a  victory — Espouses  the  niece  of 
Rana  Raemall — His  passion  for  opium — Death- — Rao  Suraj- 
mall — Marries  a  princess  of  Chitor — Fatal  result — Aheria  or 
Spring-hunt — Assassination  of  the  Rao — His  revenge — Two- 
fold sati — Rao  Surlhan — His  cruelty,  deposal,  and  banish- 
ment— Rao  Arjun  elected — Romantic  death— Rao  Surjan 
succeeds       ........    146G 


CHAPTER   3 

Rao  Surjan  obtains  Ranthambhor — Is  besieged  by  Akbar — The 
Bundi  prince  surrenders  tlie  castle — Becomes  a  vassal  of  the 
empire — Magnanimous  sacrifice  of  Sawant  Hara — Akbar 
bestows  the  title  of  Rao  Raja  on  the  Hara  prince — He  is  sent 
to  reduce  Gondwana — His  success  and  honours — Rao  Bhoj 
succeeds — Akbar  reduces  Gujarat — Gallant  conduct  of  the 
Haras  at  Surat  and  Ahmadnagar — Amazonian  band — Dis- 
grace of  Rao  Bhoj — Cause  of  Akbar's  death — Rao  Ratan — 
Rebellion  against  the  emperor  Jahangir — The  Hara  prince 
defeats  the  rebels  —  Partition  of  Haraoti  —  RIadho  Singh 
obtains  Kotah — Rao  Ratan  slain — His  heir  Gopinath  killed — 
Partition  of  fiefs  in  Haraoti — Rao  Chhattarsal  succeeds — Ap- 
pointed governor  of  Agra — Services  in  the  Deccan — Escalades 
Daulatabad — Kalburga — Damauni — Civil  war  amongst  the 
sons  of  Shah  Jahan — Character  of  Aurangzeb  by  the  Bundi 
prince — Fidelity  of  the  Hara  princes-^Battles  of  Ujjain  and 
Dholpur — Heroic  valour  of  Chhattarsal — Is  slain,  with  twelve 
princes  of  Hara  blood — Rao  Bhao  succeeds — Bundi  invaded 
— Imj)erialists  defeated^ — Rao  Bhao  restored  to  favour — 
Appointed  to  Aurangabad — Succeeded  by  Rao  Aniruddh — 
A|)pointed  to  Lahore — His  death — Rao  Budh — Battle  of 
Jajau — The  Hara  princes  of  Kotah  and  Bundi  opposed  to 
each  other — Kotah  prince  slain — Gallantry  of  Rao  Budh — 
Obtains  the  victory  for  Bahadur  Shah-^Fidelity  of  the  liundi 
prince — Compelled  to  fly — Feud  with  the  jtrince  of  Amber — 
Its  cause — Ambitious  views  of  Aml)er — Its  political  con- 
dition— Treachery  of  Amber — Desperate  conflict — Rao  Budh 
driven  from  Bundi — Bundi  territory  curtailed — Rao  Budh 
dies  in  exile — His  sons      ......    1480 


CHAPTER   4 

Rao  Ummeda  defeats  the  troo|)s  of  Amber — Conflict  at  Dablana — 
Ummeda  defeated  and  obliged  to  lly— Death  of  Hanja,  his 
steed — Takes  refuge  amidst  the  ravines  of  the  Chambal — 
Redeems  liis  capital — Is  again  expelled  from  it— Interview 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

with  the  widow  of  his  father  ;  she  solicits  aid  from  Holkar  to 
reinstate  Ummeda— The  Amber  prince  forced  to  acknowledge 
the  claims  of  Ummeda — He  recovers  Bundi — Suicide  of  the 
Amber  prince — First  alienation  of  land  to  the  Mahrattas — 
Madho  Singh  of  Amber  asserts  supremacy  over  Haraoti — 
Origin  of  tributary  demands  thereon — Zalim  Singh — jMahratta 
encroachments — Ummeda's  revenge  on  the  chief  of  Indargarh; 
its  cause  and  consequences — Ummeda  abdicates — Ceremony 
of  Yugaraj,  or  abdication — Installation  of  Ajit — Ummeda 
becomes  a  pilgrim  ;  his  wanderings  ;  cause  of  their  interrup- 
tion— Ajit  assassinates  the  liana  of  Mewar — Memorable  Sati 
imprecation — Awful  death  of  Ajit — Fulfilment  of  ancient 
prophecy — Rao  Bishan  Singh  succeeds — Ummeda's  distrust 
of  his  grandson  ;  their  reconciliation — Ummeda's  death — 
British  army  retreats  through  Haraoti,  aided  by  Bundi — 
Alliance  with  the  English — Benefits  conferred  on  Bundi — 
Bishan  Singh  dies  of  the  cholera  morbus  ;  forbids  the  rite  of 
Sati — His  character  ;  constitutes  the  Author  guardian  of  his 
son,  tlie  Rao  Raja  Ram  Singh    .....    1499 

KOTAH 
CHAPTER   5 

Separation  of  Kotah  from  Bundi— The  Kotah  Bhils — Madho 
Singh,  first  ])rince  of  Kotah — Its  division  into  fiefs — The 
Madhani — Raja  Mukimd — Instance  of  devotion — He  is  slain 
with  four  brothers — Jagat  Singh — Pern  Singh— Is  deposed — 
Kishor  Singh — Is  slain  at  Arcot — Law  of  primogeniture  set 
aside — Ram  Singh — Is  slain  at  Jajau — Bhira  Singh — 
Chakarsen,  king  of  the  Bhils — His  power  is  annihilated  by 
Raja  Bhim — Umat  triJjc — Origin  of  the  claims  of  Kotah 
thereon  —  Raja  Bhim  attacks  the  Nizamu-1-muIk,  and  is 
slain — Character  of  Raja  Bhim — His  enmity  to  Bundi — 
Anecdote — Title  of  Maharao  bestowed  on  Raja  Bhim — Rao 
Arjun — Civil  contest  for  succession — Shyam  Singh  slain — 
Maharao  Durjansal — First  irruption  of  the  Mahrattas — 
League  against  Kotah,  which  is  besieged  —  Defended  by 
Himmat  Singh  Jhala — Zalim  Singh  born — Siege  raised — 
Kotah  becomes  tributary  to  the  Mahrattas — Death  of 
Durjansal — His  character — His  hiuiting  expeditions — His 
queens — Bravery  of  the  Jhala  chief — Order  of  succession  re- 
stored— Maharao  Ajit — Rao  Chhattarsal — Madho  Singh  of 
Amber  claims  supremacy  over  the  Hara  princes,  and  invades 
Haraoti — Battle  of  Bhatwara — Zahm  Singh  Jhala — The 
Haras  gain  a  victory — Flight  of  the  Amber  army,  and  capture 
of  the  '  five-coloured  banner ' — Tributary  claims  on  Kotah 
renounced — Death  of  Chhattarsal  .  .  .  .    1521 


CHAPTER   6 

Maharao  Guman  Singh — Zalim  Singh — His  birth,  ancestry,  and 
progress  to  power — Office  of  Faujdar  becomes  hereditary  in 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

his  family — His  ofTice  and  estate  resumed  by  Guman  Singh — 
He  abandons  Kotah — Proceeds  to  JNIewar — Performs  services 
to  the  Rana,  and  receives  the  title  of  Raj  Rana,  and  estates 
— Serves  against  the  Mahrattas — Is  wounded  and  made 
prisoner — Returns  to  Kotah — Mahratta  invasion — Storm  of 
Bakliani — Its  glorious  defence — Sacrifice  of  a  clan — Garrison 
of  Sohet  destroyed — Zaiim  Singh  em])loyed — His  successful 
negotiation — Restoration  to  power — Rao  Gimian  constitutes 
Zalim  guardian  of  his  son  lammed  Singh,  who  is  proclaimed — 
The  Tika-daur,  or  '  raid  of  accession  ' — Capture  of  Kelwara — 
Difficulties  of  the  Protector's  situation — Cabal  against  his 
power — Destruction  of  the  conspirators — Exile  of  the  nobles 
— Sequestration  of  estates — Conspiracy  of  Aton — Predatory 
bands — Aton  surrenders — Exile  of  the  Hara  nobles — Curtail- 
ment of  the  feudal  interests — Conspiracy  of  Mohsen — Plan  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Regent  and  family — Mohsen  chief  takes 
sanctuary  in  the  temple — Is  dragged  forth  and  slain — Maha- 
rao's  brothers  implicated  in  the  plot — Their  incarceration 
and  death — Numerous  projects  against  the  life  of  the  regent 
— Female  conspiracy — How  defeated — The  Regent's  pre- 
cautions       ........    1534 


CHAPTER  7 

Zalim  regarded  as  a  legislator — His  political  views  on  Mewar — 
Kotah  sacrificed  thereto — His  tyranny — His  superstition — 
Makes  a  tour  of  his  dominions — Establishes  a  permanent 
camp — Trains  an  army — Adopts  European  arms  and  dis- 
cipline— Revises  the  revenue  system  of  Haraoti — The  Patel 
system  described — Coimcil  of  I'our — Extent  of  jurisdiction — 
The  Bohras  descril)cd — Their  utility  in  the  old  farming  system 
of  India — Patels  usurp  their  influence — Depression  of  the 
peasantry — Patels  circumvented,  imprisoned,  and  fined — ■ 
Patel  system  destroyed — Return  to  the  old  system — Moral 
estimation  of  the  ])casant  of  Rajputana — Modes  of  realizing 
the  land  revenue  described — Advantages  and  disadvantages  1547 


CHAPTER   8 

Farming  system  of  Zalim  Singh — I<^xtent  to  which  it  has  been 
carried — ^Its  prosjurity,  fallacious  and  transitory — Details  of 
the  system — Soil  of  Kotah — The  Regent  introduces  foreign 
ploughs — Area  cultivated — Net  produce — Value — (irain-pits 
— Prices,  in  plenty  and  famine — Zalim  sells  in  one  year  grain 
to  the  amomil  of  a  million  sterling — Monopoly — The  tithe,  or 
new  tax  on  exported  grain — The  Jagatya,  or  tax-gatherer — 
Impolicy  of  this  tax — Gross  revenue  of  Kotah — Opium 
monopoly — -Tax  on  widows — On  the  mendicant — ^(Jourd-tax 
— Rrooni-tax — The  Regent  dcteslcd  by  the  bards — Province 
of  Kotah  at  this  jjcriod,  and  at  assumption  of  the  government, 
contrasted — Question  as  to  the  moral  result  of  his  improve- 
ments ........    1559 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   9 

PAGE 

Political  system  of  the  Regent — -His  foreign  policy — His  pre- 
eminent influence  in  Rajwara — His  first  connexion  with  the 
English  Government — ^Monson's  retreat — Gallant  conduct 
and  death  of  the  Hara  chief  of  Koila — Aid  given  by  the 
Regent  involves  him  with  Holkar — Holkar  comes  to  Kotah — 
Preparations  to  attack  the  capital — -Singular  interN-iew  with 
Zalim — Zalim's  agents  at  foreign  courts — Alliance  with  Amir 
Khan,  and  the  Pindari  chiefs — Characteristic  anecdotes — 
Zalim's  offensive  policy — His  domestic  policy — Character  of 
Maharao  Ummed  Singh — Zalim's  conduct  towards  him — 
Choice  of  ministers — Bishan  Singh  Faujdar — Dalil  I\Jian 
Pathan — Circumvallation  of  Kotah — Foundation  of  the  city 
Jlialrapatan — Mihrab  Khan,  commander  of  the  forces  .    1569 


CHAPTER   10 

The  Rajput  States  invited  to  an  alliance  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment— Zalim  Singh  the  first  to  accept  it — Marquess  of  Hast- 
ings sends  an  agent  to  his  court — Confederation  against  the 
Pindaris — The  Regent's  conduct  during  the  war — Approba- 
tion and  reward  of  his  services — Peace  throughout  India — 
Death  of  Maharao  Ummed  Singh — Treaty  and  supplemental 
articles — Sons  of  Maharao  Ummed  Singh — Their  characters 
— Sons  of  the  Regent — State  of  parties — The  Regent  leaves 
the  Chhaoni  for  Kotah — He  proclaims  Kishor  Singh  as  suc- 
cessor of  the  late  prince — His  letter  to  the  British  agent,  who 
repairs  to  Kotah — ^Dangerous  illness  of  the  Regent — ^Plots  to 
overturn  the  order  of  succession — The  Regent's  ignorance 
thereof — Intricate  position  of  the  British  Government — Argu- 
ments in  defence  of  the  supplemental  articles — Recognition 
of  all  rulers  de  facto  the  basis  of  our  treaties — Kislior  Singh 
refuses  to  acknowledge  the  supplemental  articles — Conse- 
quences— The  Regent  blockades  the  Prince,  and  demands 
the  surrender  of  his  son  Gordhandas — The  Maharao  breaks 
through  the  blockade — The  British  agent  interposes — Sur- 
render and  exile  of  Gordhandas — Reconciliation  of  the 
Maharao  and  the  Regent — Coronation  of  the  Maharao — 
Mutual  covenants  executed — The  Regent  prohibits  dand 
throughout  Kotah — ^Reflections  .....    1577 


CHAPTER   11 

Banishment  of  Gordhandas,  the  natural  son  of  the  Regent — His 
reappearance  in  Malwa — Consequent  renewal  of  dissensions 
at  Kotah — The  troops  mutiny  and  join  the  Maharao — -The 
Regent  assaults  the  castle — Flight  of  the  Maharao  and  party- 
Reception  at  Bundi — The  Maharao's  second  brother  joins  the 
Regent — Gordhandas'  attempt  to  join  the  Maharao  frustrated 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

— The  Maharao  leaves  Bundi — General  sympathy  for  him — 
He  arrives  at  Brindaban — Intrigues  of  Gordhandas  and 
superior  native  officers  of  the  British  Government,  who 
deceive  the  Maharao — Beturns  to  Kotah  at  the  head  of  a 
force — Summons  the  Haras  to  his  standard — His  demands — 
Supplemental  article  of  the  treaty  considered — Embarrassing 
conduct  of  the  Begent — The  Maharao  refuses  all  mediation 
— His  ultimatum — British  troops  march — Junction  with  the 
Regent — Attack  the  Maharao — His  defeat  and  flight — Death 
of  his  brother  Pirthi  Singh — Singular  combat — Amnesty  pro- 
claimed— The  Hara  chiefs  return  to  their  families — The 
Maharao  retires  to  the  temple  of  Krishna  in  Mewar — Negotia- 
tion for  his  return — Satisfactory  termination — Reflections  on 
these  civil  wars — Character  and  death  of  Zalim  Singh  1595 


BOOK   XI 

PERSONAL   NARRATIVE:   UDAIPUR   TO 
KHERODA 

CHAPTER   1 

Departure  from  the  valley  of  Udaipiu- — Lake  of  Kheroda — 
Ancient  temple  of  Mandcswar — Bhartewar — Its  Jain  temples 
— Kheroda — Connected  with  the  history  of  tlie  feuds  of 
Mewar — -Exploits  of  Sangrani  Singh — He  obtains  Ivlieroda 
— Curious  predicament  of  Jai  Singh,  the  adopted  heir  of 
Sangram — Calmness  with  which  political  negotiations  are 
managed  in  the  East — The  agricultural  economy  of  Kheroda 
— Precarious  nature  of  sugar-cultivation — Hinta — Large  pro- 
portion of  land  alienated  as  religious  grants — Hinta  and 
Dundia  established  on  church-lands — Mandhata  Raja — 
Traditions  of  him — Performed  the  Aswamedha — His  grant  of 
Mainar  to  the  Rishis — Grant  inscribed  on  a  jjillar — Exi)loit 
of  Raj  Singh  against  the  Mahrattas — Morwan,  boundary  of 
the  Mewar  territory — Reflections  on  that  State — The  Author's 
policy  during  his  official  residence  there  .  .  •    1621 

CHAPTER  2 

The  chief  of  Hinta— Difficulty  of  arranging  the  sei)aration  of 
Hinta  from  the  fisc — Anonialoas  ciiaracter  of  its  present  chief, 
Man  Singh  Saktawat — His  history — Lalji  Rawat  of  Nethara 
— Origin  of  the  Dudia  family — Adventure  of  Sangram  Singh, 
tlic  J{ana  of  Mewar— His  son,  ChandrabliMn,  and  Bana  Raj — 
Extraordinary  maimer  in  wiiicii  he  acipiircd  Lawa — Decline 
of  tiie  family — Form  of  deed  of  conveyance  of  lands  fronv  the 
lord  i);iramount. — Address  of  Man  Singh— Atrocious  murder 
of  a  l^athor  boy — Its  singular  sequel      ....    IC'JS 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   3 

PAOE 

Morwan — The  solitude  of  this  fine  district — Caused  by  the 
Mahrattas  and  their  mercenaries — Inipohey  of  our  conduct 
towards  the  Mahrattas — Antiquities  of  Morwan — Tradition 
of  the  foundation  and  destruction  of  the  ancient  city — 
Inscriptions — Jain  temple — Gaine — Attack  by  a  tiger — 
Sudden  change  of  the  weather — ^Destructive  frost — Legend 
of  a  temple  of  Mama-devi — Important  inscription^ — -Distress 
of  the  peasantry — Gratitude  of  the  people  to  the  author — 
Nikumbh — Oppression  of  the  peasants — Maria — -Inhabited 
by  Charans — Reception  of  the  Autiior — -Curious  privilege  of 
the  Charanis — Its  origin — Traditional  account  of  the  settle- 
ment of  this  colony  in  Mev/ar — Imprecation  of  Satis — The 
tandas,  or  caravans — Their  immunity  from  plunder  and  ex- 
tortion— Nimbahera— Ranikhera — Indignity  committed  by 
a  scavenger  of  Laisrawan — Sentence  upon  the  culprit — 
Tablet  to  a  Silpi — Reception  at  Nimbahera    .  .  .    1640 


CHAPTER  4  • 

The  Patar  or  Table-land  of  Central  India — View  from  thence — 
Project  of  a  canal — Its  advantages  to  Mewar — Utility  of 
fiu-ther  works  to  the  people — Traces  of  superstition  in  the 
Pathar — Temple  of  Sukhdeo — The  Daitya-ka-har,  or  *  Giant's 
bone  ' — ^The  Vira-jhamp,  or  '  Warrior's  Leap  ' — Proprietor- 
ship of  the  Patar  —  Its  products — The  poppy — Pernicious 
effects  of  its  increased  cultivation — Account  of  the  introduc- 
tion and  mode  of  culture  of  opium — Original  spot  of  its 
cultivation — The  manufacture  of  opiimi  kept  pace  with  the 
depopulation  of  Mewar — Process  of  cultivation,  and  of  manu- 
facture— Its  fluctuation  of  price — Adulterated  opium  of 
Kanthal — Evil  consequences  of  the  use  of  opium — Duty  of 
the  paramount  power  to  restrict  the  culture — Practicability 
of  such  a  measure — Distribution  of  crops — Im]jolicy  of  our 
Government  in  respect  to  the  opium  monopoly  .  .    1660 


CHAPTER   5 

Dhareswar — Ratangarh  Kheri — Colony  of  Charans — Little  Atoa 
— Inscription  at  Paragarh — Dungar  Singh — Sheo  Singh — 
Law  of  adoption — Kala  Megh — Uinmedpura  and  its  chief 
— Singoli — Temple  of  Bhavani — Tablet  of  Rana  Mokal — 
Traditionary  tales  of  the  Haras — Alu  Hara  of  Bumbaoda — 
Dangarmau — Singular  effects  produced  by  the  sun  on  the 
atmosphere  of  the  Patar  .....    1672 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   6 

PAOE 

Bhainsrorgaih — Cairn  of  a  llajput — Raghunath  Singh  of  Bliains- 
ror^ — Castle  of  Bhainsror — Passage  forced  by  the  Cluunbal 
through  tlie  Phitcau — Origin  and  etymology  of  Bliainsror — 
— Charans,  the  carriers  of  Rajwara — The  young  chief  of 
INIewa  l)ecomes  the  chanijiion  of  Mewar — Avenges  the  Rana's 
feud  with  Jaisahner,  ancl  obtains  Bhainsror — Tragical  death 
of  his  Thakurani,  niece  of  the  Rana — He  is  banished — The 
Pramar  chiefs  of  Bhainsror — Cause  of  their  expulsion — Lai 
Singh  Chondawat  obtains  Bhainsror — ^Assassinates  his  friend 
the  Rana's  uncle — Man  Singh,  his  son,  succeeds — Is  taken 
prisoner — Singular  escaj^c — Reflections  on  the  policy  of  the 
British  Government  towards  these  people — Antiquities  and 
inscriptions  at  Bhainsror — Dabhi — View  from  the  pass  at 
Nasera — Rajput  cairns — Tomb  of  a  bard — Sentiments  of  the 
pcoi)le  on  the  effects  of  our  interference — Their  gratitude 
— Cairn  of  a  Bhatti  chief — Karipur — Depopulated  state  of  the 
country — Inscriptions  at  Sontra — Bhil  temple — Ruins — The 
Holi  festival — Kotah,  its  appearance      ....    1687 


CHAPTER   7 

Unhcallhincss  of  the  season  at  Kotah — Eventful  character  of  the 
period  of  the  Author's  residence  there — The  cuckoo — Descrip- 
tion of  the  encampment — Cenotaphs  of  the  Haras— Severe 
tax  upon  the  curiosity  of  travellers  in  Kotah — General  in- 
salubrity of  Kotah — Wells  infected — Productive  of  fever — 
Taking  leave  of  the  Maharao  and  liegent — The  Regent's 
sorrow — Cross  the  Chaml)al — Restive  elephant — Kanari — 
Regent's  patrimonial  estate — Nanta — Author's  reception  by 
Madho  Singh — Rajput  music — The  Panjabi  tappa — Scene  of 
the  early  recreations  of  Zalim  Singh — Talera — Nawagaon — 
Approach  of  the  Raja  of  Bundi — Splendour  of  the  cortege — 
Bundi — The  castellated  palace,  or  Bundi  ka  mahall — Visit  to 
the  Raja — Illness  of  our  |)arty — Quit  Bundi — Cenotaphs  in 
the  village  of  Satur — The  tutelary  deity,  Asapurna — Temi)le 
of  Bhavani — Banks  of  the  iMcj — ^Thana — Inscriptions — 
Jahazpur — Resj)eetable  suite  of  the  Basai  chief  .  .    1704 


CHAPTER   8 

I'^xtraordinary  attack  of  illness  in  the  Author — Susjiicion  of  |)oison 
— Journey  to  Mandalgarh — The  Karar — Tranquil  state  of 
the  country — The  Minas  subsiding  into  peaceful  subjects — 
Scenery  in  the  route — Sasan,  or  ecclesiastical  lands — Castle 
of  Amargarh — -Kachaura — Its  ancient  importance — Our  true 
l)olicy  with  regard  to  the  feudatories  in  these  |)arts  — Damnia 
— Maiii)ura — Signs  of  reviving  prosperity — Arrival  at  Mandal- 
garh—The  Dasahra— Sickness  of  the  Jtarty  left  behind — 
Assembly  of  the  Bhumias  and  Patels— Description  of  Mandal- 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

garh — Rebuilt  by  one  of  the  Takshak  race — Legend  of 
Mandalgarli — Genealogical  tablet  of  stone — Pedigrees  of  the 
tribes — Mandalgarh  granted  to  the  Rathors  by  Aurangzeb — 
Recovered  by  the  Rana — Taxes  imposed — Lavish  grants — ■ 
Baghit — The  Author  rejoins  his  party — Barslabas — Akola — 
Desolation  of  the  country  —  Inscriptions  —  Hamirgarh — • 
Siyana — Sujierb  landscape — Mirage — Testimony  of  gratitude 
from  the  elders  of  Pur — Thriving  state  of  Marauli — Rasmi — 
Antiquities  —  Curious  law — Jasma^- Waste  country — In- 
scriptions— Copper  mines — Sanwar — Tribeni,  or  point  of 
junction  of  three  rivers — Tem{)le  of  Parsvanath — Deserted 
state  of  the  country — Karera — Maoli — Barren  country — 
Hunting  seat  of  Nahra-]\fagra — Heights  of  Tus  and  Merta — 
End  of  second  journey      .  .  .  .  .  .1716 


CHAPTER   9 

The  Author  obliged  to  take  a  journey  to  Bundi — Cause  of  the 
journey — Sudden  death  of  the  Rao  Raja,  who  left  his  son  to 
the  Author's  care — The  cholera  morbus,  or  tiinri — Its  ravages 
— Curious  expedient  to  exclude  it  from  Kotah  and  Bundi — - 
Bad  weather — Death  of  the  Author's  elephant — -Pahona — 
Bhilwara — ^Gratifj^ing  reception  of  the  Author— -State  of  the 
town  contrasted  with  its  former  condition — Projects  for  its 
furtlier  improvement — Reflections  on  its  rise — -Jahazpur — 
Difficulties  of  the  road — Arrival  at  Bundi— The  aspect  of  the 
court — -Interview  with  the  young  Rao  Raja — Attentions  paid 
to  the  Author  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1732 


CHAPTER   10 

Ceremony  of  Rajtilak,  or  inauguration — Personal  qualities  of  the 
Rao  Raja  and  his  brothers — The  installation — The  tilak  first 
made  by  the  Author,  as  representative  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment —  Ceremonies  —  ^lessage  from  the  queen  -  mother — 
Balwant  Rao,  of  Gotra — The  Bohra,  or  chief  minister — Power 
and  disposition  of  these  two  officers — Arrangements  made  by 
the  Author — Interview  and  conversation  with  the  Rani — 
Literary  and  historical  researches  of  the  Author — Revenues  of 
Bundi— Its  prospects — Departure  for  Kotah — Condition  of 
the  junior  branches  of  the  Haras — Rauta — Grand  hunts  in 
Haraoti         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   1740 


CHAPTER   11 

Pass  of  Mukunddarra — View  from  the  summit  of  the  pass  into 
Pachel — Marks  set  up  by  the  Banjaras — Monastery  of  Atits, 
or  Jogis — Their  savage  aspect — The  author  elected  a  chela — 
The  head  of  the  establishment — His  legend  of  the  origin  of 
the  epithet  Sesodia — ^The  grand  temple  of  Barolli — Conjecture 
as  to  its  founder — Barolli  .....    1750 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    12 


PAGE 


The  Clmlis,  or  whirlpools  of  the  Chambal — Grandeur  of  the  scene — 
Description  of  the  falls  and  rocks  of  the  Chambal  in  this  part 
— The  remarkable  narrowness  of  its  bed — The  roris,  or  stones 
found  in  the  whirl [lools — Visit  to  Gangabheva — Its  magnifi- 
cent temple  and  shrines — The  details  of  their  architecture — 
The  main  temple  more  modern  than  the  shrines  around  it — 
Dilapidation  of  these  fine  specimens  of  art — Effects  of  vege- 
tation—The gigantic  amarvcla  —  Naoli  —  Takaji-ka-kund, 
or  fountain  of  the  snake-king — Fragments  of  sculpture — 
Mausoleum  of  Jaswant  Rao  Holkar — Holkar's  horse — His 
elephant — Bhanpura — Tranquillity  and  prosperity  of  these 
parts — Garot — Traces  of  King  Satal  Fatal,  of  the  era  of  the 
Pandus — Agates  and  cornelians — The  caves  of  Dhumnar — 
Description  of  the  caves  and  temples — Explanation  of  the 
figures — Jain  symbols  on  one  side  of  the  caves,  Brahman 
on  the  other — Statues  of  the  Jain  pontiffs — Bhim's  bazar    .    1764 


CHAPTER   13 

Route  over  the  ground  of  3Ionson's  retreat — Battle  of  Pipli — 
Heroism  of  Amar  Singh  Hara,  chief  of  Koila — Conduct  of 
General  Monson — Pachpahar — Kanwara — Thriving  aspect 
of  the  country — Jhalrapatan — Temples — Commercial  im- 
munities of  the  city — Judicious  measures  of  the  IJcgent  in 
establishing  this  mart — Public  visit  of  the  community  of 
Patau — The  ancient  city — Legends  of  its  foundation — Pro- 
fusion of  ancient  ruins — Fine  sculpture  and  architecture  of 
the  temples — Inscriptions — Cross  the  natural  boui'daiy  of 
Haraoti  and  Malwa — The  Chhaoni  of  the  Kotah  Regent  — 
Chliaoni  of  the  Pindaris— Gagraun — Narayanpur — Mukund- 
darra  Pass — Inscriptions — Anecdotes  of  the  '  Lords  of  the 
Pass'— The  Chaori  of  Bhim^ — Ruins — Ordinances  of  the 
Hara  i)rinces — Return  to  Kotah — Field  sjjorts — Author 
attacked  by  a  bear — Ruins  of  Ekclgarh  .  .  .    1777 


CHAPTER   14 

Visit  to  Mcnal — Definition  of  the  servile  condition  termed  basai — 
Bijolia — Inscriptions^ — Ancient  history  of  Bijolli — Evidence 
that  the  Chauhans  wrested  the  throne  of  Delhi  from  the  Tuars 
— Jain  tcm|)les — Inscriptions — Saiva  temples — Prodigious 
extent  of  ruins — The  Bijolli  chief — His  daughter  a  Sati — 
Menal,  or  Mahanal — Its  i)icturcs(iue  site — Records  of  Pri- 
thiraj,  the  Chauhan — Inscriptions — Synchronism  in  an 
enigmatical  date — March  to  Begun — Binnbaoda,  the  castle 
of  Alu  Hara — Legends  of  that  chief — Imprecation  of  the 
virgin  Sati — Recollections  of  the  Haras  still  associated  with 
their  ancient  traditions — Quit  Bumbaoda  and  arrive  at  Begun  1796 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    15 

PAGE 

Begun — Serious  accident  to  the  Author — Affecting  testimony  of 
the  gratitude  of  the  Rawat — Expulsion  of  the  Mahrattas  from 
Begun — The  estates  of  the  Rawat  sequestrated — Restored^ 
Basai — Cliitor  — '  Akbar's  Lamp'  —  Reflections  upon  the 
Ruins  of  Chitor — Description  of  the  city,  from  the  Khuman 
Raesa,  and  from  observation — Tour  of  the  city — Origin  of 
the  Bagrawat  class — Inscriptions — Aged  Fakii' — Return  to 
Udaipur— Conclusion         ......    1810 


APPENDIX 1828 

INDEX     .........    1837 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Colonel  Tod  aud  his  Jain  Guru     ....      Frontispiece 

TO    FACE    PAGE 

Raghublr  Singh,  Maharao  Raja  of  Bundi               .              .              .  1441 

City  of  Kotah  from  the  East          .....  1521 

Country  Seat  of  the  Kotah  Prince             ....  1530 

Palace  and  Fortress  of  Bundi         .....  1710 

Fragment  from  the  Ruins  of  Barolli          ....  1752 

Outline  of  a  Temple  to  Mahadeva  at  Barolli         .              .              .  1754 

Sculptured  Niche  on  the  Exterior  of  the  Temple  at  Barolli         .  1756 

Ceiling  of  the  Portico  of  Temple  at  Barolli          .             .             .  1758 

Remains  of  an  Ancient  Temple  at  Barolli,  near  the  Chambal      .  J760 

Temples  of  Ganga  Bheva  in  the  Forest  of  Pachail  in  Mewar       .  1766 

Smaller  Group  of  Temples  of  Ganga  Bheva           .              .              .  1768 

Image  of  the  Snake  King  at  the  Fountain  of  the  Amjar  .             .  1770 

Cave  Temples  of  Dhamnar             .....  1776 

Entrance  to  the  Sanctuary  of  a  Temple  at  Chandravati  .              .  1784 

Sculptured  Foliage  in  Chandravati  Temple           .              .              .  1786 

Sculptured  Ceilings  of  Temple  at  Chandravati     .             .             .  1788 

Columns  of  Chandravati  Temples              ....  1790 

Entrance  to  tlie  Sanctuary  of  a  Temple  at  Chandravati  .             .  1792 

Ruins  of  Bhlm's  Chaori  in  the  Mukunddara  Pass              .              .  1794 

Ancient  Columns  in  the  Mukunddara  Pass          .             .             .  1796 

Temples  of  Menal  in  Mewar          .....  1800 

Second  Group  of  Temples  of  Menal  in  Mewar      .             .             .  1802 

Jaistambha,  Pillar  of  Victory        .....  1820 

Columns  in  the  Fortress  of  Chitor             ....  1822 

xxi 


ANNALS  AND  ANTIQUITIES 
OF  RAJASTHAN 

BOOK  VIII 

SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

CHAPTER  1 

Having  never  penetrated  personally  farther  into  the  heart  of 
the  desert  than  Mandor,  the  ancient  capital  of  all  Marusthali,  the 
old  castle  of  Hissar  on  its  north-eastern  frontier,  and  Abu,  Nahr- 
wala,  and  Bhuj,  to  the  south,  it  may  be  necessary,  before  entering 
upon  the  details,  to  deprecate  the  charge  of  presumption  or  in- 
competency, by  requesting  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that  my 
parties  of  discovery  have  traversed  it  in  every  direction,  adding  to 
their  journals  of  routes  living  testimonies  of  their  accuracy,  and 
bringing  to  me  natives  of  every  thai  from  Bhatner  to  Umarkot, 
and  from  Abu  to  Aror.^  I  wish  it,  however,  to  be  clearly  under- 
stood, that  I  look  upon  this  as  a  mere  outline,  which,  by  showing 
w^hat  might  be  done,  may  stimulate  further  research  ;  but  in  the 
existing  dearth  of  information  on  the  subject  I  have  not  hesitated 
to  send  it  forth,  with  its  almost  inevitable  errors,  as  (I^rust)  a 
pioneer  to  more  extended  and  accurate  knowledge. 

After  premising  thus  much,  let  us  commence  with  details, 
which,  but  for  the  reasons  already  stated,  should  have  been 
comprised  in  the  geographical  portion  of  the  work,  and  which, 
though  irrelevant  to  the  historical  part,  are  too  important  to 

^  The  journals  of  all  these  routes,  with  others  of  Central  and  Western 
India,  form  eleven  moderate-sized  folio  volumes,  from  which  an  itinerary 
of  these  regions  might  be  constructed.  It  was  my  intention  to  have  drawn 
up  a  more  perfect  and  detailed  map  from  these,  but  my  health  forbids  the 
attempt.  They  are  now  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Company,  and 
may  serve,  if  judiciously  used,  to  fill  up  the  only  void  in  the  great  map  of 
India,  executed  by  their  commands. 

VOL.  Ill  1257  B 


1258  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

be  [290]  thrown  into  notes.  I  may  add,  that  the  conclusions 
formed,  partly  from  personal  observation,  but  chiefly  from  the 
resources  described  above,  have  been  confirmed  by  the  picture 
drawn  by  Mr.  Elphinstone  of  his  passage  through  the  northern 
desert  in  the  embassy  to  Kabul,  which  renders  perfectly  satis- 
factory to  me  the  views  I  before  entertained.  It  may  be  well,  at 
this  stage,  to  mention  that  some  slight  repetitions  must  occur  as 
we  proceed,  having  incidentally  noticed  many  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  desert  in  the  Annals  of  Bikaner,  which  was  im- 
avoidable  from  the  position  of  that  State 

Description  of  the  Desert. — The  hand  of  Nature  has  defined,  in 
the  boldest  characters,  the  limits  of  the  great  desert  of  India,  and 
we  only  require  to  follow  minutely  the  line  of  demarcation  ; 
though,  in  order  to  be  distinctly  understood,  we  mxist  repeat  the 
analysis  of  the  term  Marusthali,  the  emphatic  appellation  of  this 
'  region  of  death.'  The  word  is  compounded  of  the  Sanskrit  mri, 
'  to  die,'  and  sthala, '  arid  or  dry  land,'  which  last,  in  the  corrupted 
dialect  of  those  countries,  becomes  thai,  the  converse  of  the  Greek 
oasis,  denoting  tracts  particularly  sterile.  Each  thai  has  its 
distinct  denomination,  as  the  '  thai  of  Kawa,'  the  '  thai  of  Guga,' 
etc. ;  and  the  cultivated  spots,  compared  with  these,  either  as  to 
number  or  magnitude,  are  so  scanty,  that  instead  of  the  ancient 
Roman  simile,  which  likened  Africa  to  the  leopard's  hide,  reckon- 
ing the  spots  thereon  as  the  oases,  I  would  compare  the  Indian 
desert  to  that  of  the  tiger,  of  which  the  long  dark  stripes  would 
indicate*  the  expansive  belts  of  sand,  elevated  upon  a  plain 
only  less  sandy,  and  over  whose  surface  numerous  thinly-peopled 
towns  and  hamlets  arc  scattered. 

Boundaries  of  the  Desert. — Marusthali  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  flat  skirting  the  Ghara  ;  on  the  south  by  that  grand  salt- 
marsh,  the  Ran,  and  Koliwara  ;  on  the  east  by  the  Aravalli  ;  and 
on  the  west  by  the  valley  of  Sind.  The  two  last  boundaries  are 
the  most  conspicuous,  especially  the  Aravalli,  but  for  which  im- 
pediment Central  India  would  be  submerged  in  sand  ;  nay,  lofty 
and  continuous  as  is  this  chain,  extending  almost  from  the  sea  to 
Delhi,  wherever  there  are  passages  or  depressions,  these  floating 
sand-clouds  are  wafted  through  or  over,  and  form  a  little  thai  even 
in  the  bosom  of  fertility.  Whoever  has  crossed  the  Banas  near 
Tonk,  where  the  sand  for  some  miles  resembles  waves  of  the 
sea,  will  comprehend  this  remark.     Its  western  boundary  is  alike 


NATURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  DESERT         1259 

defined,  and  will  recall  to  the  English  traveller,  who  may  be 
destined  to  journey  up  the  valley  of  Bind,  the  words  of  Napoleon 
on  the  Libyan  desert  :  "  Nothing  so  much  resembles  the  sea  as 
the  desert ;  or  a  coast,  as  the  valley  of  the  Nile  "  :  for  this  substi- 
tute 'Indus'  [291],  whence  in  journeying  northward  along  its 
banks  from  Haidarabad  to  Uchh,  the  range  of  vision  will  be 
bounded  to  the  east  by  a  bulwark  of  sand,  which,  rising  often  to 
the  height  of  two  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river,  leads 
one  to  imagine  that  the  chasm,  now  forming  this  rich  valley,  must 
have  originated  in  a  sudden  melting  of  all  the  glaciers  of  Caucasus, 
whose  congregated  waters  made  this  break  in  the  continuity  of 
Marusthali,  which  would  otherwise  be  united  with  the  deserts  of 
Arachosia 

We  may  here  repeat  the  tradition  illustrating  the  geography 
of  the  desert,  i.e.  that  in  remote  ages  it  was  ruled  by  princes  of 
the  Panwar  (Pramara)  race,  which  the  sloka,  or  verse  of  the  bard, 
recording  the  names  of  the  nine  fortresses  (Nau-koti  Maru-ki),  so 
admirably  adapted  by  their  position  to  maintain  these  regions  in 
subjection,  further  corroborates.  We  shall  divest  it  of  its  metrical 
form,  and  begin  with  Pugal,  to  the  north  ;  Mandor,  in  the  centre 
of  all  Maru  ;  Abu,  Kheralu,  and  Parkar,  to  the  south  ;  Chhotan, 
Umarkot,  Aror,  and  Lodorva,  to  the  west  ;  the  possession  of 
which  assuredly  marks  the  sovereignty  of  the  desert.  The 
antiquity  of  this  legend  is  supported  by  the  omission  of  all  modern 
cities,  the  present  capital  of  the  Bhattis  not  being  mentioned. 
Even  Lodorva  and  Aror,  cities  for  ages  in  ruins,  are  names  known 
only  to  a  few  who  fi'cquent  the  desert  ;  and  Chhotan  and  Kheralu, 
but  for  the  traditional  stanzas  which  excited  our  research,  might 
never  have  appeared  on  the  map. 

Natural  Divisions  of  the  Desert. — ^We  purpose  to  follow  the 
natural  divisions  of  the  country,  or  those  employed  by  the  natives, 
who,  as  stated  above,  distinguish  them  as  ihals ;  and  after 
describing  these  in  detail,  with  a  summary  notice  of  the  principal 
towns  whether  ruined  or  existing,  and  the  various  tribes,  conclude 
with  the  chief  lines  of  route  diverging  from,  or  leading  to 
Jaisalmer. 

The  whole  of  Bikaner,  and  that  part  of  Shaikhavati  north  of 
the  Aravalli,  are  comprehended  in  the  desert.     If  the  reader  will 
refer  to  the  map,  and  look  for  the  town  of  Kanod,^  within  the 
1  [Kanod  Mohindargarh  in  Patiala  State  (IGI,  xvii.  385).] 


1260  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

British  frontier,  he  will  see  what  Mr.  Elphinstone  considered  as 
the  commencement  of  the  desert,  in  his  interesting  expedition  to 
Kabul. ^  "  From  Delly  to  Canound  (the  Kanorh  of  my  map),  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  miles  is  through  the  British  dominions, 
and  need  not  be  described.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  country 
is  sandy,  though  not  ill  cultivated.  On  approaching  Canound,  we 
had  the  first  specimen  of  the  desert,  to  wliich  we  were  looking 
forward  with  anxious  curiosity.  Three  miles  before  reaching 
that  place  we  came  to  sand-hills,  which  at  first  were  [292]  covered 
with  bushes,  but  afterwards  were  naked  piles  of  loose  sand,  rising 
one  after  another  like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  marked  on  the 
surface  by  the  wind  like  drifted  snow.  There  were  roads  through 
them,  made  solid  by  the  treading  of  animals  ;  but  off  the  road 
our  horses  sunk  into  the  sand  above  the  knee."  Such  was  the 
opening  scene  ;  the  route  of  the  embassy  was  by  Singhana, 
Jhunjhunu,  to  Churu,  when  they  entered  Bikaner.  Of  Shaikha- 
vati,  which  he  had  just  left,  Mr.  Elphinstone  says  :  "  It  seems  to 
lose  its  title  to  be  included  in  the  desert,  when  compared  with  the 
two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  between  its  western  frontier  and 
Bahawulpoor,  and,  even  of  this,  only  the  last  hundred  miles  is 
absolutely  destitute  of  inhabitants,  water,  or  vegetation.  Our 
journey  from  Shekhavati  to  Poogul  was  over  hills  and  valleys  of 
loose  and  heavy  sand.  The  hills  were  exactly  like  those  which 
are  sometimes  formed  by  the  wind  on  the  seashore,  but  far 
exceeding  them  in  height,  which  was  from  tM'cnty  to  a  hundred 
feet.  They  are  said  to  shift  their  position  and  alter  their  shapes 
according  as  they  are  affected  by  the  wind  ;  and  in- summer  the 
passage  is  rendered  dangerous  by  the  clouds  of  moving  sand  ;  but 
when  I  saw  the  hills  (in  winter),  they  seemed  to  have  a  great 
degree  of  permanence,  for  they  bore  grass,  besides  phoke,  the 
hahool,  and  hair  or  jujube,  Avhich  altogether  give  them  an  appear- 
ance that  sometimes  amounted  to  verdure.  Amongst  the  most 
dismal  hills  of  sand  one  occasionally  meets  with  a  village,  if  such 
a  name  can  be  given  to  a  few  round  huts  of  straw,  with  low  walls 
and  conical  roofs,  like  little  stacks  of  corn."  This  description  of 
the  northern  portion  of  the  desert,  by  an  author  whose  great 
characteristics  are  accuracy  and  simplicity,  will  enable  the  reader 
to  form  a  more  correct  notion  of  what  follows.^ 

1  It  left  Delhi  October  13,  1808. 

2  "  Our  marches,"  says  Mr.  Elphinstone,  "  were  seldom  very  long.     The 


NATURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  DESERT         1261 

With  these  remarks,  and  bearing  in  mind  what  has  already 
been  said  of  the  pliysiography  of  these  regions,  we  proceed  to 
particularize  the  various  thals  and  oases  in  this  '  region  of  death.' 
It  will  be  convenient  to  disregard  the  ancient  Hindu  geographical 
division,  which  makes  Mandor  the  capital  of  MarusthaU,  a  distinc- 
tion both  from  its  character  and  position  better  suited  to  Jaisalmer, 
being  nearly  in  the  centre  of  what  may  be  termed  entire  desert. 
It  is  in  fact  an  oasis,  everywhere  insulated  by  immense  masses  of 
thai,  some  of  which  are  forty  miles  in  breadth,  without  the  trace 
of  man,  or  aught  that  could  subsist  him.  From  Jaisalmer  we 
shall  pass  to  Marwar,  and  without  crossing  the  Luni,  describe 
Jalor  and  Siwanchi  ;  then  conduct  the  [293]  reader  into  the 
almost  unknown  Raj  of  Parkar  and  Virawah,^  governed  by 
princes  of  the  Chauhan  race,  with  the  title  of  Rana.  Thence 
skirting  the  political  limits  of  modern  Rajputana,  to  the  regions 
of  Dhat  and  Umra-sumra,  now  within  the  dominion  of  Bind,  we 
shall  conclude  with  a  very  slight  sketch  of  Daudputra,  and  the 
valley  of  the  Indus.  These  details  will  receive  further  illustration 
from  the  remarks  made  on  every  town  or  hamlet  diverging  from 
the  '  hill  of  Jaisal '  (Jaisalmer).  Could  the  beholder,  looking 
westward  from  this  '  triple-peaked  hill,'  ^  across  this  sandy  ocean 
to  the  blue  waters  (Nilab)  *  of  the  Indus,  embrace  in  his  vision 
its  whole  course  from  Haidarabad  to  Uchh,  he  would  perceive, 
amidst  these  valleys  of  sand-hills,  little  colonies  of  animated 
beings,  congregated  on  every  spot  which  water  renders  habitable. 
Throughout  this  tract,  from  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  miles 
in  longitudinal  extent,  and  from  one  himdred  to  two  hundred 
of  diagonal  breadth,  are  little  hamlets,  consisting  of  the  scattered 
huts  of  the  shepherds  of  the  desert,  occupied  in  pasturing  their 

longest  was  twenty-six  miles,  and  the  shortest  fifteen  ;  but  the  fatigue 
which  our  people  suffered  bore  no  proportion  to  the  distance.  Our  line, 
when  in  the  closest  order,  was  two  miles  long.  The  path  by  which  we 
travelled  wound  much,  to  avoid  the  sand-hills.  It  was  too  narrow  to  allow 
of  two  camels  going  abreast ;  and  if  an  animal  stepped  to  one  side,  it  sunk 
in  the  sand  as  in  snow,"  etc.  etc. — Account  of  the  Kingdom  of  Caubul,  ed. 
1842,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 

^  [In  Sind,  on  the  N.  shore  of  the  Great  Rann,  about  10  miles  from 
Nagar-Parkar.] 

^  Trikuia,  the  epithet  bestowed  on  the  rock  on  which  the  castle  of 
Jaisalmer  is  erected. 

*  A  name  often  given  by  Ferishta  to  the  Indus. 


1262  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

flocks  or  cultivating  these  little  oases  for  food.  He  may  discern 
a  long  line  of  camels  (called  kitar,  a  name  better  known  than  either 
kafila  or  karwan),  anxiously  toiling  through  the  often  doubtful 
path,  and  the  Charan  conductor,  at  each  stage,  tying  a  knot  on 
the  end  of  his  turban.  He  may  discover,  lying  in  ambush,  a 
band  of  Sahariyas,  the  Bedouins  of  our  desert  {sahra),^  either 
mounted  on  camels  or  horses,  on  the  watch  to  despoil  the  caravan, 
or  engaged  in  the  less  hazardous  occupation  of  driving  off  the 
flocks  of  the  Rajar  or  Mangalia  shepherds,  peacefully  tending 
them  about  the  tars  or  bawas,  or  hunting  for  the  produce  stored 
amidst  the  huts  of  the  ever-green  jhal,'-  which  serve  at  once  as 
grain-pits  and  shelter  from  the  sun.  A  migratory  band  may  be 
seen  flitting  with  their  flocks  from  ground  which  they  have 
exliausted,  in  search  of  fresh  pastures  : 

And  if  the  following  day  they  chance  to  find 

A  new  repast,  or  an  untasted  spring. 

Will  bless  their  stars,  and  think  it  luxury  ! 

Or  they  may  be  seen  preparing  tlie  rabri,  a  mess  quite  analogous  to 
the  kouskous  of  their  Numidian  brethren,  or  quenching  their 
thirst  from  the  Wah  of  their  little  oasis,  of  which  they  maintain 
sovereign  possession  so  long  as  the  pasture  lasts,  or  till  they  come 
in  conflict  with  some  more  powerful  community. 

Oasis. — We  may  here  pause  to  consider  whether  in  the  bah, 
bawa,  or  wah,  of  the  Indian  desert,  may  not  be  found  the  oasis 
of  the  Greeks,  corrupted  by  them  from  el-wah,  or,  as  written  by 
Belzoni  (in  his  account  of  the  Libyan  desert,  while  searching  for 
the  [294]  temple  of  Anuiion),  Elloah.  Of  the  numerous  terms 
used  to  designate  water  in  these  arid  regions,  as  par,  rar,  tar,  dah 
or  daha,  bah,  bawa,  wah,  all  but  the  latter  are  chiefly  applicable 
to  springs  or  pools  of  water,  while  the  last  (wah),  though  used 
often  in  a  like  sense,  applies  more  to  a  water-course  or  stream. 
El-wah,  under  whatever  term,  means — '  the  water.^  Again,  daha 
or  dah  is  a  term  in  general  use  for  a  pool,  even  not  unfrequently 
in  running  streams  and  large  rivers,  which,  ceasing  to  flow  in 

*  [As  has  been  already  stated,  Sahariya  has  no  connexion  with  Arabic 
Sahra,  '  desert.'] 

^  [Jhal,  of  which  there  are  two  varic^ties,  large  and  small,  Salvadora 
persica  and  S.  oleoides.] 


OASIS  :  THE  LOST  RIVER  OF  THE  DESERT     1263 

dry  weather,  leave  large  stagnant  masses,  always  called  dah. 
There  are  many  of  the  streams  of  Rajputana,  having  such  pools, 
particularized  as  haiki-dah,  or  '  elephant-pool,'  denoting  a  suffi- 
ciency of  water  even  to  drown  that  animal.  Now  the  word  dah 
or  daha,  added  to  the  generic  term  for  water,  noah,  would  make 
wadi  (pool  of  water),  the  Arabian  term  for  a  running  stream,  and 
commonly  used  by  recent  travellers  in  Africa  for  these  habitable 
spots.  If  the  Greeks  took  the  word  wadi  from  any  MS.,  the 
transposition  would  be  easily  accounted  for  :  wadi  would  be 
written  thus  ^^!o,  and  by  the  addition  of  a  point  ^^\j,,  wazi, 
easily  metamorphosed,  for  a  euphonous  termination,  into  oasis} 

At  the  risk  of  somewhat  of  repetition,  we  must  here  point  out 
the  few  grand  features  which  diversify  this  sea  of  sand,  and  after 
defining  the  difference  between  rui  and  thai,  which  will  frequently 
occur  in  the  itinerary,  at  once  plunge  in  medias  res. 

The  Lost  River  of  the  Desert. — We  have  elsewhere  mentioned 
the  tradition  of  the  absorption  of  the  Ghaggar  river,  as  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  comparative  depopulation  of  the  northern  desert. 
The  couplet  recording  it  I  could  not  recall  at  the  time,  nor  any 

^  When  I  penned  this  conjectural  etymology,  I  was  not  aware  that  any 
speculation  had  been  made  upon  this  word  :  I  find,  however,  the  late 
M.  Langles  suggested  the  derivation  of  oasis  (variously  written  by  the  Greeks 
aiiacrts,  latrts  and  vaais,  oaais,  [ai'airis  is  the  only  other  recognized  form])  from 
the  Arabic  ^  u  :   and  Dr.  Wait,  in  a  series  of  interesting  etymologies  (see 

Asiatic  Journal,  May  1830),  suggests  "^'T?,  vasi  from  ^^,  vas,  'to  inhabit.' 
Vasi  and  uao-is  quasi  vasis  are  almost  identical.     My  friend.  Sir  W.  Ouseley, 

gave  me  nearly  the  same  signification  of  ^_5-^'j>  Wadi,  as  appears  in  John- 
son's edition  of  Richardson,  namely,  a  valley,  a  desert,  a  channel  of  a  river — 
a  river ;  jf;-'^'^  l  ^^^ij,  wadi-al-habir,  'the  great  river,'  corrupted  into  Guadal- 

•quiver,  which  example  is  also  given  in  d'Herbelot  (see  Vadi  Gehennem),  and 
by  Thompson,  who  traces  the  word  water  through  all  the  languages  of 
Europe — the  Saxon  waefer,  the  Greek  vdup,  the  Islandic  udr,  the  Slavonic 
wod  (whence  ivoder  and  oder,  '  a  river  ')  :  all  appear  derivable  from  the 
Arabic  wad,  '  a  river  ' — or  the  Sanskrit  wah  ;  and  if  Dr.  W.  will  refer  to 
p.  1322  of  the  Itinerary,  he  will  find  a  singular  confirmation  of  his  etymology 
in  the  word  bas  (classically  vas)  appHed  to  one  of  these  habitable  spots.  The 
word  basti,  also  of  frequent  occurrence  therein,  is  from  basna,  to  inhabit ; 
vasi,  an  inhabitant ;  or  vas,  a  habitation,  perhaps  derivable  from  wah, 
indispensable  to  an  oasis  !  [The  Neiv  English  Diet,  gives  Lat.  oasis,  Greek 
oatTis,  apparently  of  Egyptian  origin  ;  cf.  Coptic  ouahe  (whence  Egyptian 
Arabic  wah),  'dwelling-place,  oasis,'  from  ouih,  '  to  dwell.'] 


1264  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

record  of  the  Sodha  prince  Hamir,  in  whose  reign  this  phenomenon 
is  said  to  have  happened.  But  the  utiUty  of  tliese  ancient 
traditional  couplets,  to  which  I  have  frequently  drawn  the 
reader's  attention,  has  again  been  happily  illustrated,  for  the 
name  of  Haniir  has  been  incidentally  discovered  from  the  trivial 
circumstance  of  an  intermarriage  related  in  the  Bhatti  annals. 
His  contemporary  of  Jaisalmer  was  Dusaj,  who  succeeded  in 
S.  1100  or  [295]  a.d.  1044,  so  that  we  have  a  precise  date  assigned, 
supposing  this  to  be  the  Hamir  in  question.  The  Ghaggar,  which 
rises  in  the  Siwalik,  passes  Hansi  Hissar,  and  flowed  under  the 
walls  of  Bhatner,  at  which  place  they  yet  have  their  wells  in  its 
bed.  Thence  it  passed  Rangmahall,  Balar,  and  Phulra,  and 
through  the  flats  of  Khadal  (of  which  Derawar  is  the  capital), 
emptying  itself  according  to  some  below  Uclih,  but  according  to 
Abu-Barakat  (whom  I  sent  to  explore  in  1809,  and  who  crossed 
the  dry  bed  of  a  stream  called  the  Khaggar,  near  Shahgarh)^ 
between  Jaisalmer  and  Rori-Bakhar.  If  this  could  be  authentic- 
ated, we  should  say  at  once  that,  united  with  the  branch  from 
Dara,  it  gave  its  name  to  the  Sangra,  which  unites  with  the  Luni, 
enlarging  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Delta  of  the  Indus.' 

The  Luni  River. — The  next,  and  perhaps  most  remarkable 
feature  in  the  desert,  is  the  Luni,  or  Salt  River,  which,  with  its 
numerous  feeders,  has  its  source  in  the  springs  of  the  Aravalli. 
Of  Marwar  it  is  a  barrier  between  the  fertile  lands  and  the  desert ; 
and  as  it  leaves  this  country  for  the  thai  of  the  Chauhans,  it 
divides  that  community,  and  forms  a  geographical  demarcation  ; 
the  eastern  portion  being  called  the  Raj  of  Suigam  ;  and  the 
western  part,  Parkar,  or  beyond  the  Khar,  or  Luni.- 

The  Rann  of  Cutch. — We  shall  hereafter  return  to  the  country 
of  the  Chauhans,  which  is  bounded  to  the  south  by  that  singular 
feature  in  the  physiognomy  of  the  desert,  the  Rann,  or  Ran, 
already  slightly  touched  upon  in  the  geographical  sketch  prefixed 
to  this  work.  This  immense  salt-marsh,  upwards  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  breadth,  is  formed  chiefly  by  the  Luni,  which, 
like  the  Rhone,  after  forming  Lake  Leman,  resumes  its  name  at 
its  further  outlet,  and  ends  as  it  conunences  with  a  sacred  char- 

1  [Sen  lOI,  xii.  212  f.  ;  E.  H.  Aitken,  Gazetteer  of  Sivd,  4;  Calcutta 
J!evieu),  1874  ;   JRAS,  xxv.  49  if.] 

*  [The  derivation  of  Parkar  is  unknown  ;  that  suggested  in  the  text  is 
impossible.] 


THAL,  RtJI :  THAL  OF  THE  LUNI  1265 

acter,  having  the  temple  of  Narayan  ^  at  its  embouchure,  where 
it  mingles  with  the  ocean,  and  that  of  Brahma  at  its  source  of 
Pushkar.  The  Rann,  or  Ran,  is  a  corruption  of  Aranya,  or  '  the 
waste ' ;  ^  nor  can  anything  in  nature  be  more  dreary  in  the  dry 
weather  than  this  parched  desert  of  salt  and  mud,  the  peculiar 
abode  of  the  khar-gadha,  or  wild-ass,  whose  love  of  solitude  has 
been  commemorated  by  an  immortal  pen.^  That  this  enormous 
depository  of  salt  is  of  no  recent  formation  we  are  informed  by  the 
Greek  writers,  whose  notice  it  did  not  escape,  and  who  have 
preserved  in  Erinos  a  nearer  approximation  to  the  original 
Aranya  than  exists  in  our  Ran  or  Rann.  Although  mainly 
indebted  to  the  Luni  for  its  salt,  whose  bed  and  that  of  its  feeders 
are  covered  with  saline  deposits,  it  is  also  supplied  by  the  over- 
flowings of  the  Indus,  to  which  grand  stream  it  may  be  indebted 
for  its  volume  of  water.  We  have  here  another  strong  point  of 
physical  resemblance  between  the  valleys  of  the  Indus  and  the 
Nile,  which  Napoleon  [296]  at  once  referred  to  the  sunple  opera- 
tions of  nature  ;  I  allude  to  the  origin  of  Lake  Moeris,  a  design 
too  vast  for  man.* 

Thai,  Riii. — As  the  reader  will  often  meet  with  the  words  thai 
and  rui,  he  should  be  acquainted  with  the  distinction  between 
them.  The  first  means  an  arid  and  bare  desert  ;  the  other  is 
equally  expressive  of  desert,  but  implies  the  presence  of  natural 
vegetation  ;  in  fact,  the  jungle  of  the  desert. 

Thai  of  the  Luni. — This  embraces  the  tracts  on  both  sides  of 
the  river,  forming  Jalor  and  its  dependencies.  Although  the 
region  south  of  the  stream  cannot  be  included  in  the  thai,  yet  it 

^  [Narayansar,  an  important  place  of  pilgrimage,  with  interesting 
temples,  is  situated  at  the  Kori  entrance  of  the  W.  Rann  {BG,  v.  245  ff.).] 

-  [Or  irina.  Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  774.] 

^  [Eqtcus  hemionus  (Blanford,  Mammalia  of  India,  470  f.  ;  Job  xxxix. 
5  ff.).] 

*  "  The  greatest  breadth  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile  is  four  leagues,  the 
least,  one  "  ;  so  that  the  narrowest  portion  of  the  valley  of  Sind  equals  the 
largest  of  the  Nile.  Egypt  alone  is  said  to  have  had  eight  millions  of 
inhabitants ;  what  then  might  Sind  mamtain  !  The  condition  of  the 
peasantry,  as  described  by  Bourrienne,  is  exactly  that  of  Rajputana  ;  "  The 
villages  are  fiefs  belonging  to  any  one  on  whom  the  prince  may  bestow 
them  ;  the  peasantry  pay  a  tax  to  their  superior,  and  are  the  actual  pro- 
prietors of  the  soil ;  amidst  all  the  revolutions  and  commotions,  their 
privileges  are  not  infringed."  This  right  (still  obtaining),  taken  away  by 
Joseph,  was  restored  by  Sesostris. 


1266  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

is  so  intimately  connected  with  it,  that  we  shall  not  forego  the 
only  opportunity  we  may  have  of  noticing  it. 

Jalor. — This  tract  is  one  of  the  most  important  divisions  of 
]\Iarwar.  It  is  separated  from  Siwanchi  by  the  Sukri  and  Khari,^ 
which,  with  many  smaller  streams,  flow  through  them  from  the 
Aravalli  and  Abu,  aiding  to  fertilize  its  three  hundred  and  sixty 
towns  and  villages,  forming  a  part  of  the  fiscal  domains  of  Marwar. 
Jalor,  according  to  the  geographical  stanza  so  often  quoted,  was 
one  of  the  '  nine  castles  of  Maru,'  when  the  Pramar  held  para- 
mount rule  in  Marusthali.  When  it  was  wrested  from  them  we 
have  no  clue  to  discover  ;  -  but  it  had  long  been  held  by  the 
Chauhans,  whose  celebrated  defence  of  their  capital  against 
Alau-d-din,  in  a.d.  1301,  is  recorded  by  Ferishta,  as  well  as  in  the 
chronicles  of  their  bards.  This  branch  of  the  Chauhan  race  was 
called  Mallani,  and  will  be  again  noticed,  both  here  and  in  the 
annals  of  Haraoti.  It  formed  that  portion  of  the  Chauhan 
sovereignty  called  the  Hapa  Raj,  whose  capital  was  Juna-Chhotan, 
connecting  the  sway  of  tliis  race  in  the  countries  along  the  Luni 
from  Ajmer  to  Parkar,  which  would  appear  to  have  crushed  its 
Agnikula  brother,  the  Pramar,  and  possessed  all  that  region 
marked  by  the  course  of  the  '  Salt  River  '  to  Parkar. 

Sonagir,  the  '  golden  mount,'  is  the  more  ancient  name  of  this 
castle,  and  was  adopted  by  the  Chauhans  as  distinctive  of  their 
tribe,  when  the  older  term,  Mallani,  was  dropped  for  Sonigira. 
Here  they  enshrined  their  tutelary  divinity,  Mallinath,  '  god  of 
the  Malli,'  who  maintained  his  position  until  the  sons  of  Siahji 
entered  these  regions,  when  the  name  of  Sonagir  was  exchanged 
for  that  of  Jalor,  contracted  from  Jalandharnath,  whose  shrine 
is  about  a  coss  Avest  of  the  castle.  Whether  Jalandharnath  [297], 
the  '  divinity  of  Jalandhar,'  was  imported  from  the  Ganges,  or 
left  as  well  as  the  god  of  tiic  Malli  by  the  ci-dcvant  Mallanis,  is 
uncertain  :  but  should  this  prove  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  foes  of 
Alexander,  driven  by  him  from  Multan,^  its  probability  is  increased 

^  Another  salt  river. 

^  [The  Chauhan  Rao  Kirttipal  took  it  froju  tlie  iVamaras  towards  the 
end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  Kanardco  Chauhan  lost  it  to  Aliiu-d-din 
(Erskine  iii.  A.  109  f.).  In  Briggs'  translation  of  Ferishta  (i.  370)  the  place 
is  called  Jalwar,  and  the  King  Nahardeo.  ] 

*  Multan  and  Juna  (Chliotan,  qii.  Chaulian-tan  ?)  have  the  same  significa- 
tion, '  the  ancient  abode,'  and  both  were  occujjicd  by  the  tribe  of  Malli  or 
Mallani,  said  to  be  of  Chauhan  race  ;    and  it  is  curious  to  find  at  Jalor 


JALOR  1267 

by  the  caves  of  Jalandhar  (so  celebrated  as  a  Hindu  pilgrimage 
even  in  Babur's  time)  being  in  their  vicinity.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  Rathors,  hke  the  Roman  conquerors,  have  added  these  indi- 
genous divinities  to  their  own  pantheon.  The  descendants  of 
the  expatriated  Sonigiras  now  occupy  the  lands  of  Chitalwana, 
near  thefurca  of  the  Luni. 

Jalor  comprehends  the  inferior  districts  of  Siwanchi,  Bhinmal, 
Sanchor,  Morsin,  all  attached  to  the  khalisa  or  fisc  ;  besides  the 
great  pattayats,  or  chieftainships,  of  Bhadrajan,  Mewa,  Jasola, 
and  Sindari — a  tract  of  ninety  miles  in  length,  and  nearly  the 
same  in  breadth,  with  fair  soil,  water  near  the  surface,  and 
requiring  only  good  government  to  make  it  as  productive  as  any 
of  its  magnitude  in  these  regions,  and  sufficient  to  defray  the 
whole  personal  expenses  of  the  Rajas  of  Jodhpur,  or  about  nine 
lakhs  of  rupees  ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  anarchy  of  the  capital, 
the  corruption  of  the  managers,  and  the  raids  of  the  Sahariyas 
of  the  desert  and  the  Minas  of  Abu  and  the  Aravalli,  it  is  deplorably 
deteriorated.  There  are  several  ridges  (on  one  of  which  is  the 
castle)  traversing  the  district,  but  none  uniting  with  the  table-land 
of  Mewar,  though  with  breaks  it  may  be  traced  to  near  Abu.  In 
one  point  it  shows  its  affinity  to  the  desert,  i.e.  in  its  vegetable 
productions,  for  it  has  no  other  timber  than  the  jhal,  the  babul, 
the  karil,  and  other  shrubs  of  the  thai. 

The  important  fortress  of  Jalor,  guarding  the  southern  frontier 
of  Marwar,  stands  on  the  extremity  of  the  range  extending  north 
to  Siwana.  It  is  from  three  to  four  himdred  feet  in  height, 
fortified  with  a  wall  and  bastions,  on  some  of  which  cannon  are 
mounted.  It  has  four  gates  ;  that  from  the  town  is  called  the 
Suraj-pol,  and  to  the  north-west  is  the  Bal-pol  ('  the  gate  of  Bal,' 
the  sun-god),  where  there  is  a  shrine  of  the  Jain  pontiff,  Pars- 
vanath.  There  are  many  wells,  and  two  considerable  baoris,  or 
reservoirs  of  good  water,  and  to  the  north  a  small  lake  formed  by 
damming  up  the  streams  from  the  hills ;  but  the  water  seldom 
lasts  above  half  the  year.     The  town  [298],  which  contains  three 


(classically  Jalandhar)  the  same  divinities  as  in  their  haunts  in  the  Panjab, 
namely,  Mallinath,  Jalandharnath,  and  Balnath.  Abu-1  Fazl  says,  "  The 
cell  of  Balnath  is  in  the  middle  of  Sindsagar  "  ;  and  Babur  (EUiot-Dowson 
ii.  450,  iv.  240,  415,  v.  114,  Aln,  ii.  315)  places  "  Balnath-jogi  below  the  hill 
of  Jud,  five  marches  east  of  the  Indus,"  the  very  spot  claimed  by  the  Yadus, 
when  led  out  of  India  by  their  deified  leader  Baldeo,  or  Balnath. 


1268 


SIvETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 


thousand  and  seventeen  houses,  extends  on  the  north  and  eastern 
side  of  the  fort,  having  the  Sukri  flowing  about  a  mile  east  of  it. 
It  has  a  circumvallation  as  well  as  the  castle,  having  guns  for  its 
defence  ;  and  is  inhabited  by  every  variety  of  tribe,  though, 
strange  to  say,  there  are  only  five  families  of  Rajputs  in  its  motley 
population.  The  following  census  was  made  by  one  of  my 
parties,  in  a.d.  1813  : 


Malis,  or  gardeners  . 

TeUs,  or  oilmen,  here  called  Ghanchi 

Kumhars,  or  potters 

Thatheras,  or  braziers 

Chhipis,  or  printers  . 

Bankers,  merchants,  and  shopkeepers 

Musalman  families   . 

Khatiks,  or  butchers 

Nais,  or  barbers 

Kalals,  or  spirit-distillers  . 

Weavers  .... 

Silk  weavers    .... 

Yatis  (Jain  priests)  . 

Brahmans        .... 

Gujars    ..... 

Rajputs  ..... 

Bhojaks  ^  .  .  .  . 

Minas      ..... 

Bhils 

Sweetmeat  shops 

Ironsmiths  and  carpenters  {Lohars  and  Si 

Churiwalas,  or  bracelet-manufacturers 


tars) 


Houses. 

140 

100 

60 

30 

20 

1156 

936 

20 

16 

20 

100 

15 

2 

100 
40 

5 
20 
60 
15 

8 
14 

4 


The  general  accuracy  of  this  census  was  confirmed. 

Siwana. — Siwanchi  is  the  tract  between  the  I^uni  and  Sukri, 
of  which  Siwana,  a  strong  castle  placed  on  the  extremity  of  the 
same  range  with  Jalor,  is  the  capital.  The  country  requires  no 
particular  description,  being  of  the  same  nature  as  that  just 
depicted.  In  former  times  it  constituted,  together  with  Nagor, 
the  appanage  of  the  heir-apparent  of  Marwar  ;    but  since  the 

^  [Bhojak,  '  a  feeder,'  a  term  usually  applied  to  those  Brahmans  who  are 
fed  after  a  death,  in  order  to  pass  on  the  food  to  the  spirit.] 


DIVISIONS  OF  THE  DESERT  1269 

setting-up  of  the  pretender,  Dhonkal  Singh,  both  have  been 
attached  to  the  fisc  :  in  fact,  there  is  no  heir  to  Maru  !  Ferishta 
mentions  the  defence  of  Siwana  against  the  arms  of  Alau-d-din.^ 

Machola,  Morsin. — Macliola  and  Morsin  are  the  two  principal 
dependencies  of  Jalor  within  the  Luni,  the  former  having  a  strong 
castle  guarding  its  south-east  frontier  against  the  [299]  depreda- 
tions of  the  Minas  ;  the  latter,  Avhich  has  also  a  fort  and  town  of 
jfive  hundred  houses,  is  on  the  western  extremity  of  Jalor. 

Bhinraal,  Sanchor. — Bhinmal  and  Sanchor  are  the  two  prin- 
cipal subdivisions  to  the  south,  and  together  nearly  equal  the 
remainder  of  the  province,  each  containing  eighty  villages.  These 
towns  are  on  the  high-road  to  Cutch  and  Gujarat,  which  has  given 
them  from  the  most  remote  times  a  commercial  celebrity.  Bhin- 
mal is  said  to  contain  fifteen  hundred  houses,  and  Sanchor  about 
half  the  number.^  Very  wealthy  Mahajans,  or  '  merchants,'  used 
to  reside  here,  but  insecurity  both  within  and  without  has  much 
injured  these  cities,  the  first  of  which  has  its  name,  Mai  (not  Mahl, 
as  in  the  map),  from  its  wealth  as  a  mart.*  There  is  a  temple  of 
Baraha  (Varaha,  the  incarnation  of  the  hog),  with  a  great  sculp- 
tured boar.  Sanchor  possesses  also  a  distinct  celebrity  from  being 
the  cradle  of  a  class  of  Brahmans  called  Sanchora,  who  are  the 
officiating  priests  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  temples  in  these 
regions,  as  that  of  Dwarka,  Mathura,  Pushkar,  Nagar-Parkar, 
etc.*  The  name  of  Sanchor  is  corrupted  from  Satipura,  Sati,  or 
Suttee's  town,  said  to  be  very  ancient. 

Bhadrajan. — A  slight  notice  is  due  to  the  principal  fiefs  of 
Jalor,  as  well  as  the  fiscal  towns  of  this  domain.  Bhadrajan  is  a 
town  of  five  hundred  houses  (three-fourths  of  which  are  of  the 
Mina  class),  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  cluster  of  hills,  having  a 
small  fort.  The  chief  is  of  the  Jodha  clan  ;  his  fief  connects 
Jalor  with  Pali  in  Godwar. 

Mewa. — Mewa  is  a  celebrated  little  tract  on  both  banks  of  the 
Luni,  and  one  of  the  first  possessions  of  the  Rathors.     It  is, 

^  [Ferishta  (i.  369)  calls  the  Raja  Sitaldeo  ;  Amir  Khusru  ( Elliot -Dowson 
iii.  78,  550,  v.  186)  Sutaldeo.] 

^  [The  population  of  these  towns  is  now  respectively  4545  and  2066.] 

*  [The  old  narae  was  Srimal  or  BhiUamala,  which  Erskine  (iii.  A.  194) 
identifies  with  Pi-lo-mo-lo  of  Hiuen  Tsiaug.  But  Beal  {Buddhist  Records 
of  the  Western  World,  ii.  270)  transliterates  this  name  as  Balmer  or  Barmer.] 

*  [For  the  Sachora  or  Sanchora  Brahmans  see  BG,  ix.  Part  i.  18  ;  Erskine 
iii.  A.  84.] 


1270  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

properly  speaking,  in  Siwanchi,  to  which  it  pays  a  tribute,  besides 
service  when  required.  The  chief  of  Mewa  has  the  title  of  Rawal, 
and  his  usual  residence  is  the  town  of  Jasol.  Surat  Singh  is  the 
present  chief ;  his  relative,  Surajmall,  holds  the  same  title,  and 
the  fief  and  castle  of  Sandri,  also  on  the  Luni,  twenty-two  miles 
south  of  Jasol.  A  feud  reigns  between  them  ;  they  claim  co-equal 
rights,  and  the  consequence  is  that  neither  can  reside  at  Mewa, 
the  capital  of  the  domain.  Both  chiefs  deemed  the  profession  of 
robber  no  disgrace,  when  this  memoir  was  written  (1813)  ;  but  it 
is  to  be  hoped  they  have  seen  the  danger,  if  not  the  error,  of  their 
ways,  and  will  turn  to  cultivating  the  fertile  tracts  along  the 
'  Salt  River,'  which  yield  wheat,  juar,  and  bajra  in  abundance. 

Balotra,  Tilwara. — Balotra,  Tilwara,  are  two  celebrated  names 
in  the  geography  of  this  region,  and  have  an  annual  fair,  as  re- 
nowned in  Rajputana  as  that  of  Leipsic  in  Germany.  Though 
called  the  Balotra  mela  (literally,  'an  assemblage,  or  [300]  concourse 
of  people  '),  it  was  held  at  Tilwara,  several  miles  south, ^  near  an 
island  of  the  Luni,  which  is  sanctified  by  a  shrine  of  Mallinath, 
'  the  divinity  of  the  Malli,'  who,  as  already  mentioned,  is  now  the 
patron  god  of  the  Rathors.  Tilwara  forms  the  fief  of  another 
relative  of  the  Mewa  family,  and  Balotra,  which  ought  to  belong 
to  the  fisc,  did  and  may  still  belong  to  Awa,  the  chief  noble  of 
Marwar.  But  Balotra  and  Sandri  have  other  claims  to  distinction, 
having,  with  the  original  estate  of  Dunara,  formed  the  fief  of 
Durgadas,  the  first  character  in  the  annals  of  Maru,  and  whose 
descendant  yet  occupies  Sandri.  The  fief  of  Mewa,  which  includes 
them  all,  was  rated  at  fifty  thousand  rupees  annually.  The 
Pattayats  with  their  vassalage  occasionally  go  to  court,  but  hold 
themselves  exempt  from  service  except  on  emergencies.  The 
call  upon  them  is  chiefly  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier,  of  which 
they  are  the  Simiswara,  or  lord-marchers. 

Indhavati. — This  tract,  which  has  its  name  from  the  Rajput 
tribe  of  Indha,  the  chief  branch  of  the  Parihars  (the  ancient 
sovereigns  of  Mandor),  extends  from  Balotra  north,  and  west  of 
the  capital,  Jodhpur,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  thai  of 
Guga.  The  thai  of  Indhavati  embraces  a  space  of  about  thirty 
eoss  in  circumference. 

Giigadeo  ka  Thai. — -The  thai  of  Guga,  a  name  celebrated  in  the 
hercjic  history  of  the  Chauhans,  is  immediately  north  of  Indhavati, 
1  [Tilwara  is  al>()ut  10  miles  W.  of  Balotra.] 


DIVISIONS  OF  THE  DESERT  1271 

and  one  description  will  suit  both.  The  sand-ridges  (thal-ka-tiba) 
are  very  lofty  in  all  this  tract  ;  very  thinly  inhabited  ;  few 
villages  ;  water  far  from  the  surface,  and  having  considerable 
jungles.  Tob,  Phalsund,  and  Bimasar  are  the  chief  towns  in  this 
rui.  They  collect  rain-water  in  reservoirs  called  tanka,  which 
they  are  obliged  to  use  sparingly,  and  often  while  a  mass  of 
corruption,  producing  that  peculiar  disease  in  the  eyes  called 
rataundha  (corrupted  by  us  to  rotunda)  or  night-blindness,^  for 
with  the  return  of  day  it  passes  off. 

Tararoi. — The  thai  of  Tararoi  intervenes  between  that  of 
Gugadeo  and  the  present  frontier  of  Jaisalmer,  to  which  it  for- 
merly belonged.'  Pokaran  is  the  chief  town,  not  of  Tararoi  only, 
but  of  all  the  desert  interposed  between  the  two  chief  capitals  of 
Marusthali.  The  southern  part  of  tWs  thai  does  not  differ  from 
that  described,  but  its  northern  portion,  and  more  especially  for 
sixteen  to  twenty  miles  around  the  city  of  Pokaran,  are  low 
disconnected  ridges  of  loose  rock,  the  continuation  of  that  on 
which  stands  the  capital  of  the  Bhattis,  which  give,  as  we  have 
already  said,  to  this  oasis  the  epithet  of  Mer,  or  rocky.  The  name 
of  Tararoi  is  derived  from  tar,  which  signifies  moisture,  humidity 
[301]  from  springs,  or  the  springs  themselves,  which  rise  from 
this  rui.  Pokaran,  the  residence  of  Salim  Singh  (into  the  history 
of  whose  family  we  have  so  fully  entered  in  the  Annals  of  Marwar), 
is  a  town  of  two  thousand  houses,  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall, 
and  having  a  fort,  moimting  several  guns  (jn  its  eastern  side. 
Under  the  west  side  of  the  town,  the  inhabitants  have  the  unusual 
sight  in  these  regions  of  running  water,  though  only  in  the  rainy 
season,  for  it  is  soon  absorbed  by  the  sands.  Some  say  it  comes 
from  the  Sar  of  Kanod,  others  from  the  springs  in  the  ridge  ;  at 
all  events,  they  derive  a  good  and  plentiful  supply  of  water  from 
the  wells  excavated  in  its  bed.  The  chief  of  Pokaran,  besides  its 
twenty-four  villages,  holds  lands  between  the  Luni  and  Bandi 
rivers  to  the  amount  of  a  lakh  of  rupees.  Dunara  and  Manzil, 
the  fief  of  the  loyal  Durgadas,  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the  traitor 

^  It  is  asserted  by  the  natives  to  be  caused  by  a  small  thread-like  worm, 
which  also  forms  in  the  eyes  of  horses.  I  have  seen  it  in  the  horse,  moving 
about  with  great  velocity.  They  puncture  and  discharge  it  with  the  aqueous 
humour. 

^  [The  name  Tararoi  seems  to  have  disappeared  from  the  maps,  the 
tract  being  now  known  as  Sankra.] 


1272  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Salim.  Three  coss  to  the  north  of  Pokaran  is  the  village  of 
Ramdcora,  so  named  from  a  shrine  to  Ramdeo,  one  of  the  Paladins 
of  the  desert,  and  which  attracts  people  from  all  quarters  to  the 
Mela,  or  fair,  held  in  the  rainy  month  of  Bhadon.^  Merchants 
from  Karachi-bandar,  Tatta,  Multan,  Shikarpur,  and  Cutch  here 
exchange  the  produce  of  various  countries  :  horses,  camels,  and 
oxen  used  also  to  be  reared  in  great  nxmibers,  but  the  famine  of 
1813,  and  anarchy  ever  since  Raja  Man's  accession,  added  to 
the  interminable  feuds  between  the  Bhattis  and  Rathors,  have 
checked  all  this  desirable  intercourse,  which  occasionally  made 
the  very  heart  of  the  desert  a  scene  of  joy  and  activity. 

Khawar. — This  thai,  lying  between  Jaisalmer  and  Barmer,  and 
abutting  at  Girab  into  the  desert  of  Dhat,  is  in  the  most  remote 
angle  of  Marwar.  Though  thinly  inhabited,  it  possesses  several 
considerable  places,  entitled  to  the  name  of  towns,  in  this  '  abode 
of  death.'  Of  these,  Sheo  and  Kotra  are  the  most  considerable, 
the  first  containing  three  hundred,  the  latter  five  hundred  houses, 
situated  upon  the  ridge  of  hills,  which  may  be  traced  from  Bhuj 
to  Jaisalmer.  Both  these  towns  belong  to  chiefs  of  the  Rathor 
family,  who  pay  a  nominal  obedience  to  the  Raja  of  Jodhpur. 
At  no  distant  period,  a  smart  trade  used  to  be  carried  on  between 
Anhilwara  Patan  and  this  region  ;  but  the  lawless  Sahariyas 
plundered  so  many  kafilas,  that  it  is  at  length  destroyed.  They 
find  pasture  for  numerous  flocks  of  sheep  and  buffaloes  in  this 
thai.  ^ 

Mallinath,  Barmer. — The  whole  of  this  region  was  formerly 
inhabited  by  a  tribe  called  Malli  or  Mallani,  who,  "although 
asserted  by  some  to  be  Rathor  in  origin,  are  assuredly  Chauhan, 
and  of  the  same  stock  as  the  ancient  lords  of  Juna  Chhotan. 
Barmer  was  reckoned,  before  the  last  famine,  to  contain  one 
[302]  thousand  two  hundred  houses,  inhabited  by  all  classes, 
one-fourth  of  whom  were  Sanchora  Brahmans.*  The  town  is 
situated  in  the  same  range  as  Sheo-Kotra,  here  two  to  three 
hundred  feet  in  height.     From  Sheo  to  Barmer  there  is  a  good 

^  [Ramdeora  is  12  miles  N.  of  Pokaran.  The  saint  is  commonly  called 
Ramdeo ji  or  Ramsah  Pir.] 

'  [Barmer,  the  ancient  name  of  which  is  said  to  be  Bahadamer,  '  hill  fort 
of  Bahada,'  is  130  miles  W.  of  Jodhpur  city;  its  present  population  is 
G064.  Mallinath  was  son  of  R^o  Salkha,  ciglith  in  descent  from  Siahji, 
founder  of  Marwar  State.] 


KHERDHAR  1273 

deal  of  flat  intermingled  v\  ith  low  tibas  of  r.and,  which  in  favour- 
able seasons  produces  enough  food  for  consumption.  Padam 
Singh,  the  BarmeT  chief,  is  of  the  same  stock  as  those  of  Sheo 
Kotra  and  Jasol  ;  from  the  latter  they  all  issue,  "and  he  calculates 
thirty-four  villages  in  his  feudal  domain.  Formerly,  a  dani 
(which  is,  literally  rendered,  douanier)  resided  here  to  collect  the 
transit  duties  ;  but  the  Sahariyas  have  rendered  this  office  a 
sinecure,  and  the  chief  of  Barmer  takes  the  little  it  realizes  to 
himself.  They  find  it  more  convenient  to  be  on  a  tolerably  good 
footing  with  the  Bhattis,  from  whom  this  tract  was  conquered, 
than  with  their  own  head,  whose  officers  they  very  often  oppose, 
especially  when  a  demand  is  made  upon  them  for  dayid  ;  on  which 
occasion  they  do  not  disdain  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  their 
desert  friends,  the  Sahariyas.  Throughout  the  whole  of  this 
region  they  rear  great  numbers  of  the  best  camels,  which  find  a 
ready  market  in  every  part  of  India. 

Kherdhar. — '  The  land  of  Kher  '  ^  has  often  been  mentioned  in 
the  annals  of  these  States.  It  was  in  this  distant  nook  that  the 
Rathors  first  established  themselves,  expelling  the  Gohil  tribe, 
which  migrated  to  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  and  are  now  lords  of 
Gogha  and  Bhavnagar  ;  and  instead  of  steering  '  the  ship  of  the 
desert '  in  their  piracies  on  the  kafllas,  plied  the  Great  Indian 
Ocean,  even  "  to  the  golden  coast  of  Sofala,"  in  the  yet  more 
nefarious  trade  of  slaves.  It  is  difficult  to  learn  what  latitude 
they  affixed  to  the  '  land  of  Kher,'  wliich  in  the  time  of  the 
Gohils  approximated  to  the  Luni  ;  nor  is  it  necessary  to  perplex 
ourselves  with  such  niceties,  as  we  only  use  the  names  for  the 
pui-pose  of  description.  In  all  probability  it  comprehended  the 
whole  space  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Mallani  or  Chauhans,  who 
founded  Juna-Chhotan,  etc.,  which  we  shall  therefore  include  in 
Kherdhar.     Kheralu,  the  chief  town,  was  one  of  the  '  nine  castles 

^  Named  in  all  probability,  from  the  superabundant  tree  of  the  desert 
termed  Khair,  and  dhar,  '  land.'  It  is  also  called  Kheralu,  but  more  pro- 
perly Kherala,  '  the  abode  of  Khair '  ;  a  shrub  of  great  utility  in  these 
regions.  Its  astringent  pods,  similar  in  appearance  to  those  of  the  laburnum, 
they  convert  into  food.  Its  gum  is  collected  as  an  article  of  trade  ;  the 
camels  browse  upon  its  twigs,  and  the  wood  makes  their  huts.  [Kher  is  a 
ruined  village,  not  far  from  Jasol,  at  the  point  where  the  Luni  River  turns 
eastward.  Kheralu  has  disappeared  from  modem  maps,  if  it  be  not  a 
mistake  for  Keradu,  where  there  are  interesting  temples  {ASR,  West  Circle, 
March  31,  1907,  pp.  40-43  ;  Erskine  iu.  A.  201).] 

VOL.  IIT  C 


1274  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

of  Maru,'  when  the  Pramar  was  its  sovereign  lord.  It  has  now 
dwindled  into  an  insignificant  village,  containing  no  more  than 
forty  houses,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  hills  "  of  a  black  colour," 
part  of  the  same- chain  from  Bhuj. 

Juna  Chhotan. — Juna  Chhotan,  or  the  '  ancient '  Chhotan, 
though  always  conjoined  in  name,  are  two  [303]  distinct  places, 
said  to  be  of  very  great  antiquity,  and  capitals  of  the  Hapa 
sovereignty.  But  as  to  what  this  Hapa  Raj  was,  beyond  the  bare 
fact  of  its  princes  being  Chauhan,  tradition  is  now  mute.  Both 
still  present  the  vestiges  of  large  cities,  more  especially  Juna, 
'  the  ancient,'  which  is  enclosed  in  a  mass  of  hills,  having  but  one 
inlet,  on  the  east  side,  where  there  are  the  ruins  of  a  small  castle 
which  defended  the  entrance.  There  are  likewise  the  remains 
of  two  more  on  the  summit  of  the  range.  The  mouldering 
remnants  of  mandirs  (temples),  and  baoris  (reservoirs),  now  choked 
up,  all  bear  testimony  to  its  extent,  which  is  said  to  have  included 
twelve  thousand  habitable  dwellings  !  Now  there  are  not  above 
two  hundred  huts  on  its  site,  while  Chhotan  has  shrunk  into  a 
poor  hamlet.  At  Dhoriman,  which  is  at  the  farther  extremity  of 
the  range  in  which  are  Juna  and  Chhotan,  there  is  a  singular  place 
of  worship,  to  which  the  inhabitants  flock  on  the  Hj,  or  third  day 
of  Sawan  of  each  year.  The  patron  saint  is  called  Alandeo, 
through  whose  means  some  grand  victory  was  obtained  by  the 
Mallani.  The  immediate  objects  of  veneration  are  a  number  of 
brass  images  called  Aswamukhi,  from  having  the  '  heads  of 
horses  '  ranged  on  the  top  of  a  mountain  called  Alandeo.  Wliether 
these  may  further  confirm  the  Scythic  ancestry  of  the  Mallani, 
as  a  branch  of  the  Asi,  or  Aswa  race  of  Central  Asia,  can  at  present 
be  only  matter  of  conjecture. 

Nagar  Gurha. — Between  Barmer  and  Nagar-Gurha  on  the 
Luni  is  one  immense  continuous  thai,  or  rather  rui,  containing 
deep  jungles  of  khair,  or  kher,  khejra,  karil,  khep,  phog,^  whose 
gums  and  berries  are  turned  to  account  by  the  Bhils  and  Kolis  of 
the  southern  districts.  Nagar  and  Gurha  are  two  large  towns  on 
the  Luni  (described  in  the  itinerary),  on  the  borders  of  the  Chauhan 
raj  of  Suigam,  and  formerly  part  of  it. 

Here  terminate  our  remarks  on  the  thals  of  western  Marwar, 
which,  sterile  as  it  is  by  the  hand  of  Nature,  had  its  miseries 

*  [Khair,  Acacia  catechu ;  Khejra,  Prosopia  apicigera ;  Karil,  Capparia 
aphylla  :  Khep,  Orotolaria  burhia  ;  Phog,  Calligonum  poh/gonoidea.'] 


THE  CHAUHAN  raj  1275 

completed  by  the  famine  that  raged  generally  throughout  these 
regions  in  S.  1868  (a.d.  1812),  and  of  which  this  ^  is  the  third  year. 
The  disorders  which  we  have  depicted  as  prevailing  at  the  seat  of 
government  for  the  last  tliirty  years,  have  left  these  remote 
regions  entirely  to  the  mercy  of  the  desert  tribes  [304],  or  their 
own  scarce  less  lawless  lords  :  in  fact,  it  only  excites  our  astonish- 
ment how  man  can  vegetate  in  such  a  land,  which  has  nothing 
but  a  few  sars,  or  salt-lakes,  to  yield  any  profit  to  the  proprietors, 
and  the  excellent  camel  pastures,  more  especially  in  the  southern 
tracts,  which  produce  the  best  breed  in  the  desert. 


CHAPTER   2 

The  Chauhan  Raj. — This  sovereignty  {raj)  of  the  Chauhans 
occupies  the  most  remote  corner  of  Rajputana,  and  its  existence 
is  now  for  the  first  time  noticed.  As  the  quality  of  greatness  as 
well  as  goodness  is,  in  a  great  measure,  relative,  the  Raj  of  the 
Chauhans  may  appear  an  empire  to  the  lesser  chieftains  of  the 
desert.  Externally,  it  is  en\aroned,  on  the  north  and  east,  by  the 
tracts  of  the  Marwar  State  we  have  just  been  sketching.  To  the 
south-east  it  is  bounded  by  KoUwara,  to  the  south  hemmed-in 
by  the  Rann,  and  to  the  west  by  the  desert  of  Dhat.  Internally, 
it  is  partitioned  into  two  distinct  governments,  the  eastern  being 
termed  Virawah,  and  the  western  from  its  position  '  across  the 
Luni,'  Parkar  ;  ^    which  appellation,  conjoined  to  Nagar,  is  also 

^  That  is,  1814.  I  am  transcribing  from  my  journals  of  that  day,  just 
after  the  return  of  one  of  my  parties  of  discovery  from  these  regions,  bringing 
with  them  natives  of  Dhat,  who,  to  use  their  own  simple  but  expressive 
phraseology,  "  had  the  measure  of  the  desert  in  the  palm  of  their  hands  "  ; 
for  they  had  been  employed  as  kasids,  or  messengers,  for  thirty  years  of 
their  lives.  Two  of  them  afterwards  returned  and  brought  away  their 
families,  and  remained  upwards  of  five  years  in  my  service,  and  were  faithful, 
able,  and  honest  in  the  dutieS  I  assigned  them,  as  jamadars  of  daks,  or 
supermtendents  of  posts,  which  were  for  many  years  under  my  charge  when 
at  Sindhia's  court,  extending  at  one  time  from  the  Ganges  to  Bombay, 
through  the  most  savage  and  Httle-known  regions  in  India.  But  with  such 
men  as  I  drilled  to  aid  in  these  discoveries,  I  found  nothmg  insurmountable. 
[The  famine  of  1812-13  was  the  most  calamitous  of  the  earlier  visitations 
(Erskine  iii.  A.  125).] 

^  From  par,  '  beyond,'  and  kar  or  kliar,  synonymous  with  Luni,  the 
'  salt-river.'     We  have  several  Khari  Nadis,  or  salt-rivulets,  in  Rajputana, 


1276  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

applied  to  the  capital,  with  the  distinction  of  Srinagar,  or 
metropolis.  This  is  the  Negar-Parker  of  the  distinguished 
Rennel,  a  place  visited  at  a  very  early  stage  of  our  inter- 
course with  these  regions  by  an  enterprising  Englishman,  named 
Whittington.^ 

History  of  the  Chauhans.— The  Chauhans  of  this  desert  boast 
the  great  antiquity  of  their  settlement,  as  well  as  the  nobility  of 
their  blood  :  they  have  only  to  refer  to  Manik  Rae  and  Bisaldeo  of 
Ajmer,  and  to  Prithiraj,  the  last  Hindu  sovereign  of  Delhi,  to 
establish  the  latter  fact  ;  but  the  first  we  must  leave  to  conjecture 
and  their  bards,  though  we  may  [805]  fearlessly  assert  that  they 
were  posterior  to  the  Sodhas  and  other  branches  of  the  Pramar 
race,  who  to  all  appearance  were  its  masters  when  Alexander 
descended  the  Indus.  Neither  is  it  improbable  that  the  Malli  or 
Mallani,  whom  he  expelled  in  that  corner  of  the  Panjab,  wrested 
'  the  land  of  Kher  '  from  the  Sodhas.  At  all  events,  it  is  certain 
that  a  chain  of  Chauhan  principalities  extended,  from  the  eighth 
to  the  thirteenth  century,  from  Ajmer  to  the  frontiers  of  Sind, 
of  which  Ajmer,  Nadol,  Jalor,  Sirohi,  and  Juna-Chhotan  were 
the  capitals  ;  and  though  all  of  these  in  their  annals  claim  to  be 
ihdependent,  it  may  be  assumed  that  some  kind  of  obedience  was 
paid  to  Ajmer.  We  possess  inscriptions  which  justify  this  asser- 
tion. Moreover,  each  of  them  was  conspicuous  in  Muslim  history, 
from  the  time  of  the  conqueror  of  Ghazni  to  that  of  Alau-d-din, 
surnamed  '  the  second  Alexander.'  Mahmud,  in  his  twelfth 
expedition,  by  Multan  to  Ajmer  (whose  citadel,  Ferishta  says, 
"  he  was  compelled  to  leave  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  "),-  passed 
and  sacked  Nadol  (transliterated  Buzule)  ;  ^  and  the  traditions  of 
the  desert  have  preserved  the  recollection  of  his  visit  to  Juna- 
Chhotan,  and  they  yet  point  out  the  mines  by  which  its  castle 


though  only  one  Luni.  The  sea  is  frequently  called  the  Luna-pani,  *  the 
salt-water,'  or  Khara-pani,  metamorphosed  into  Kala-pani,  or  '  the  black 
water,'  which  is  by  no  means  insignificant.  [The  proposed  etymology  of 
Parkar  is  impossible,  and  Khara,  '  saline,'  has  no  connexion  with  Kala, 
'  black.'] 

^  [An  account  of  the  travels  of  Withington  or  Whithington  is  given  in 
Purchaa  his  Pilgrimes,  ed.  1625,  i.  483.  Mr.  W.  Foster,  who  is  engaged  on 
a  new  edition,  describes  the  story  as  interesting,  but  muddled  in  history  and 
geography.] 

*  [Briggs'  trans,  i.  69,  but  compare  Elliot-Dowson  iv.  180.] 

3  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  807.] 


CHIEF  TOWNS  1277 

on  the  rock  was  destroyed.  Whether  tliis  was  after  his  visitation 
and  destruction  of  Nahrvala  (Anhilwara  Patan),  or  while  on  his 
joi^ney,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  ;  but  when  we  recollect 
that  in  this  his  last  invasion,  he  attempted  to  return  by  Sind,  and 
nearly  perished  with  all  his  army  in  the  desert,  we  might  fairly 
suppose  his  determination  to  destroy  Juna-Chhotan  betrayed  him 
into  this  danger  :  for  besides  the  all-ruling  motive  of  the  conver- 
sion or  destruction  of  the  '  infidels,'  in  aU  likelihood  the  expatriated 
princes  of  Nahrvala  had  sought  refuge  with  the  Chauhans  amidst 
the  sandhills  of  Klierdhar,  and  may  thus  have  fallen  into  his 
grasp. 

Although  nominally  a  single  principality,  the  chieftain  of 
Parkar  pays  little,  if  any,  submission  to  his  superior  of  Virawah. 
Both  of  them  have  the  ancient  Hindu  title  of  Rana,  and  are  said 
at  least  to  possess  the  quality  of  hereditary  valour,  which  is 
synonymous  with  Chauhan.  It  is  minecessary  to  particularize 
the  extent  in  square  miles  of  thai  in  this  raj,  or  to  attempt  to 
number  its  population,  which  is  so  fluctuating  ;  but  we  shall 
subjoin  a  brief  account  of  the  chief  towns,  which  wiU  aid  in 
estimating  the  population  of  Marusthali.  We  begin  with  the 
first  division. 

Chief  Towns. — The  principal  towns  in  the  Chauhan  raj  are 
Suigam,  Dharanidhar,^  Bakhasar,  Tharad,  Hotiganv,  and  Chital- 
wana.  Rana  Narayan  Rao  resides  alternately  at  Sui  and  Bah, 
both  large  towns  surrounded  by  an  ahhatis,  chiefly  of  the  babul 
and  other  thorny  trees,  called  in  these  regions  kantha-ka-kot, 
which  has  given  these  simple,  but  very  [306]  efficient  fortifications 
the  term  of  kantha-ka-kot,  or  '  fort  of  thorns.'  The  resources  of 
Narayan  Rao,  derived  from  this  desert  domain,  are  said  to  be 
three  lakhs  of  rupees,  of  which  he  pays  a  triennial  tribute  of  one 
lakh  to  Jodhpur,  to  which  no  right  exists,  and  which  is  rarely 
realized  without  an  army.  The  tracts  watered  by  the  Luni  yield 
good  crops  of  the  richer  grains  ;  and  although,  in  the  dry  season, 
there  is  no  constant  stream,  plenty  of  sweet  water  is  procured  by 
excavating  wells  in  its  bed.  But  it  is  asserted  that,  even  when 
not  continuous,  a  gentle  current  is  perceptible  in  those  detached 
portions  or  pools,  filtrating  under  the  porous  sand  :    a  pheno- 

"^  [Dharanidhar,  the  Kurrna  or  tortoise,  '  supporter  of  the  earth,'  the 
second  incarnation  of  Vishnu.  At  Dhema  in  Tharad  a  fair  is  held  in  honour 
of  Dharanidharji  {BG,  v.  300,  342).] 


1278  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

menon  remarked  in  the  bed  of  the  Kunwari  River  (in  the  district 
of  Gwalior),  where,  after  a  perfectly  dry  space  of  several  niiles, 
we  have  observed  in  the  next  portion  of  water  a  very  percept^le 
current.^ 

Nagar  Parkar. — Nagar,  or  Srinagar,  the  capital  of  Parkar,  is  a 
town  containing  fifteen  hundred  houses,  of  which,  in  1814,  one- 
half  were  inhabited.  There  is  a  small  fort  to  the  south-west  of 
the  town  on  the  ridge,  which  is  said  to  be  about  two  hmidred  feet 
liigh.  There  are  wells  and  beras  (reservoirs)  in  abundance.  The 
river  Luni  is  called  seven  coss  south  of  Nagar,  from  which  we 
may  infer  that  its  bed  is  distinctly  to  be  traced  through  the  Rann. 
The  chief  of  Parkar  assumes  the  title  of  Rana,  as  well  as  his 
superior  of  Virawah  whose  allegiance  he  has  entirely  renounced, 
though  we  are  ignorant  of  the  relation  in  which  they  ever  stood 
to  each  other  :  all  are  of  the  same  family,  the  Hapa-Raj,  of  which 
Juna-Chhotan  was  the  capital. 

Bakhasar. — Bakhasar  ranks  next  to  Srinagar.  It  was  at  no 
distant  period  a  large  and,  for  the  desert,  a  flourisliing  town  ;  but 
now  (1814)  it  contains  but  three  hundred  and  sixty  inliabited 
dwellings.  A  son  of  the  Nagar  chief  resides  here,  who  enjoys,  as 
well  as  his  father,  the  title  of  Rana.  We  shall  make  no  further 
mention  of  the  inferior  towns,  as  they  will  appear  in  the  itinerary. 

Tharad. — Tharad  is  another  subdivision  of  the  Chauhans  of 
the  Luni  whose  cliief  town  of  the  same  name  is  but  a  few  coss  to 
the  east  of  Suigam,  and  which  like  Parkar  is  but  nominally 
dependent  upon  it.  With  this  we  shall  conclude  the  subject  of 
Virawah,  which,  we  repeat,  may  contain  many  errors. 

Face  of  the  Chauhan  Raj. — As  the  itinerary  will  point  out  in 
detail  the  state  of  the  country,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  attempt 
a  more  minute  description  here.  The  same  sterile  ridge,  already 
described  as  passing  through  Chhotan  to  Jaisalmer,  is  to  be  [307] 
traced  two  coss  west  of  Bakhasar,  and  thence  to  Nagar,  in  de- 
tached masses.  The  tracts  on  both  banks  of  the  Luni  yield  good 
crops  of  wheat  and  the  richer  grains,  and  Virawah,  though 
enclosing  considerable  thai,  has  a  good  portion  of  flat,  especially 
towards    Radhanpur,   seventeen    coss    from    Sui.      Beyond    the 

^  One  of  my  journals  mentions  that  a  branch  of  the  Luni  passes  by  Sui, 
the  capital  of  Virawah,  where  it  is  four  hundred  and  twelve  paces  in  breadth  : 
an  error,  1  imagine.  [Suigam  is  on  the  E.  shore  of  the  Kann,  and  the  Liini 
does  not  pass  by  it  or  by  Virawah.] 


WATER  PRODUCTION:  INHABITANTS  1279 

Luni,  the  llial  rises  into  lofty  tibas  :  and  indeed  from  Chhotan  to 
Bakhasar,  all  is  sterile,  and  consists  of  lofty  sandhills  and  broken 
ridges  often  covered  by  the  sands. 

Water  Production. — Throughout  the  Chauhan  raj,  or  at  least 
its  most  habitable  portion,  water  is  obtained  at  a  moderate 
distance  from  the  surface,  the  wells  being  from  ten  to  twenty 
pursas,^  or  about  sixty-five  to  a  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  depth  ; 
nothing,  when  compared  with  those  in  Dhat,  sometimes  near 
seven  hundred.  Besides  wheat,  on  the  Luni,  the  oil-plant  (til), 
mung,  moth,  and  other  pulses,  with  bajra,  are  produced  in  sufficient 
quantities  for  internal  consumption  ;  but  plunder  is  the  chief 
pursuit  throughout  this  land,  in  which  the  lordly  Chauhan  and 
the  Koli  menial  vie  in  dexterity.  Wherever  the  soil  is  least 
calculated  for  agriculture,  there  is  often  abundance  of  fine  pasture, 
especially  for  camels,  which  browse  upon  a  variety  of  thorny 
shrubs.  Sheep  and  goats  are  also  in  great  numbers,  and  bullocks 
and  horses  of  a  very  good  description,  which  find  a  ready  sale  at 
the  Tilwara  fair. 

Inhabitants. — We  must  describe  the  descendants,  whether  of 
the  Malli,  foe  of  Alexander,  or  of  the  no  less  heroic  Prithiraj,  as  a 
community  of  thieves,  who  used  to  carry  their  raids  into  Sind, 
Gujarat,  and  Marwar,  to  avenge  themselves  on  private  property 
for  the  wrongs  they  suffered  irom  the  want  of  all  government,  or 
the  oppression  of  those  (Jodhpur)  who  asserted  supremacy  over, 
and  the  right  to  plunder  them.  All  classes  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Chauhan  raj  :  but  those  predominate,  the  names  of  whose  tribes 
are  synonyms  for  '  robber,'  as  the  Sahariya,  Khosa,  Koli,  Bhil. 
Although  the  Chauhan  is  lord-paramount,  a  few  of  whom  are  to 
be  found  in  every  village,  yet  the  Koli  and  Bhil  tribe,  with  another 
class  called  Pital,-  are  the  most  numerous  :  the  last  named, 
though  equally  low  in  caste,  is  the  only  industrious  class  in  this 
region.  Besides  cultivation,  they  make  a  trade  of  the  gums, 
which  they  collect  in  great  quantities  from  the  various  trees 
whose   names   have   been   already   mentioned.     The   Chauhans, 

^  Pursa,  the  standard  measure  of  the  desert,  is  here  from  six  to  seven 
feet,  or  the  average  height  of  a  man,  to  the  tip  of  his  finger,  the  hand  being 
raised  vertically  over  the  head.     It  is  derived  from  purush,  '  man.' 

^  [Pital  is  another  name  for  the  Kalbi  farming  caste,  Kalbi  being  appar- 
ently the  local  form  of  the  name  Kanbi  or  Kunbi  (Census  Report,  Mancdr, 
1891,  ii.  343).  The  caste  does  not  appear  in  the  1911  Census  Report  of 
Rajputana.] 


1280  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

like  most  of  these  remote  Rajput  tribes,  dispense  with  the  zunnar  * 
or  janeo,  the  distinctive  tlu-ead  of  a  '  twice-born  tribe,'  and  are 
altogether  free  from  [308]  the  prejudices  of  those  whom  associa- 
tion with  Brahmans  has  bound  down  with  chains  of  iron.  But 
to  make  amends  for  tliis  laxity  in  ceremonials,  there  is  a  material 
amendment  in  their  moral  character,  in  comparison  with  the 
Chaulians  of  the  purab  (east)  ;  for  here  the  unnatural  law  of 
infanticide  is  unknown,  in  spite  of  the  examples  of  their  neigh- 
bours, the  Jarejas,  amongst  whom  it  prevails  to  the  most  frightful 
extent.  In  eating,  they  have  no  prejudices  ;  they  make  no 
chauka,  or  fireplace  ;  their  cooks  are  generally  of  the  barber  (Nai) 
tribe,  and  what  is  left  at  one  meal,  they,  contrary  to  all  good 
manners,  tie  up  and  eat  at  the  next. 

Kolis  and  Bhils. — The  first  is  the  most  numerous  class  in  these 
regions,  and  may  be  ranked  with  the  most  degraded  portion  of  the 
hvunan  species.  Although  they  puja  all  the  symbols  of  Hindu 
worship,  and  chiefly  the  terrific  Mata,  they  scoff  at  all  laws, 
hmnan  or  divine,  and  are  little  superior  to  the  brutes  of  their  own 
forests.  To  them  every  thmg  edible  is  lawful  food  ;  cows, 
buffaloes,  the  camel,  deer,  hog  ;  nor  do  they  even  object  to  such 
as  have  died  a  natural  death.  Like  the  other  debased  tribes, 
they  affect  to  have  Rajput  blood,  and  call  themselves  Chauhan 
Koli,  Rathor  Koli,  Parihar  Koli,  etc.,  wliich  only  tends  to  prove 
their  illegitimate  descent  from  the  aboriginal  Koli  stock.  Almost 
all  the  cloth-weavers  throughout  India  are  of  the  Koli  class, 
though  they  endeavour  to  conceal  their  origin  under  the  term 
Julaha,  which  ought  only  to  distinguish  the  Muslim  weaver." 
The  Bhils  partake  of  all  the  vices  of  the  Kolis,  and  perhaps 
descend  one  step  lower  in  the  scale  of  humanity  ;  for  they  will 
feed  on  vermin  of  any  kind,  foxes,  jackals,  rats,  guanas,^  and 
snakes  ;  and  although  they  make  an  exception  of  the  camel 
and  the  pea-fowl,  the  latter  being  sacred  to  Mata,  the  goddess 
they  propitiate,  yet  in  moral  degradation  their  fellowship  is  com- 
plete. The  Kolis  and  Bhils  have  no  matrimonial  intercourse,  nor 
will  they  even  eat  with  eacR  other — such  is  caste  !     The  bow 

1  [Arabic  zunnar,  probably  Greek  i-uvapLov-  The  Hindi  janeo  is  Skt. 
yajnopavila,  the  investiture  of  youths  with  the  sacred  thread,  and  later  the 
thread  itself.] 

2  [For  a  full  account  of  the  Kolis  see  BO,  ix.  Part  i.  237  If.] 

3  [Iguanas  (Yule,  Uobaon-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  379  f.] 


DHAT  and  UMRASClVmA  1281 

and  arrow  form  their  arms,  occasionally  swords,  but  rarely  the 
matchlock. 

Pital  is  the  chief  husbandman  of  this  region,  and,  with  the 
Bania,  the  only  respectable  class.  They  possess  flocks,  and  are 
also  cultivators,  and  are  said  to  be  almost  as  numerous  as  either 
the  Bhils  or  Kolis.  The  Pital  is  reputed  synonymous  with  the 
Kurmi  of  Hindustan  and  the  Kulambi  of  Malwa  and  the  Deccan. 
There  are  other  tribes,  such  as  the  Rabari,  or  rearer  of  camels, 
who  will  be  described  with  the  classes  appertaining  to  the  whole 
desert. 

Dhat  and  Umrasumra. — We  now  take  leave  of  Rajputana,  as  it 
is,  for  the  desert  depending  upon  Sind,  or  that  space  between  the 
frontier  of  Rajputana  to  the  valley  [309]  of  the  Indus,  on  the 
west,  and  from  Daudputra  north,  to  Baliari  on  the  Rann.^  Tliis 
space  measures  about  two  himdred  and  twenty  miles  of  longitude, 
and  its  greatest  breadth  is  eighty  ;  it  is  one  entire  thai,  having 
but  few  villages,  though  there  are  many  hamlets  of  shepherds 
sprinkled  over  it,  too  ephemeral  to  have  a  place  in  the  map.  A 
few  of  these  puras  and  vas,  as  they  are  termed,  where  the  springs 
are  perennial,  have  a  name  assigned  to  them,  but  to  multiply 
them  would  only  mislead,  as  they  exist  no  longer  than  the  vegeta- 
tion. The  whole  of  this  tract  may  be  characterized  as  essentially 
desert,  having  spaces  of  fifty  miles  without  a  drop  of  water,  and 
without  great  precaution,  impassable.  The  sandhills  rise  into 
little  mountains,  and  the  wells  are  so  deep,  that  with  a  large 
kafila,  many  might  die  before  the  thirst  of  all  could  be  slaked. 
The  enumeration  of  a  few  of  these  will  put  the  reader  in  possession 
of  one  of  the  difficulties  of  a  journey  through  Maru  ;  they  range 
from  eleven  to  seventy-five  pursa,  or  seventy  to  five  hvmdred  feet 
in  depth.  One  at  Jaisinghdesar,  fifty  pursa ;  Dhot-ki-basti, 
sixty  ;  Girab,  sixty  ;  Hamirdeora,  seventy  ;  Jinjiniah,  seventy- 
five  ;   Chailak,  seventy-five  to  eighty. 

The  Horrors  of  Humayiin's  March. — In  what  vivid  colours 
does  the  historian  Ferishta  describe  the  miseries  of  the  fugitive 
emperor,  Ilumayun,  and  his  faithful  followers,  at  one  of  these 
wells  !  "  The  country  through  which  they  fled  being  an  entire 
desert  of  sand,  the  Moguls  were  in  the  utmost  distress  for  water  : 
some  ran  mad  ;    others  fell  down  dead.     For  three  whole  days 

^  [That  is  to  say,  from  Bahawalpur  ou  the  N.  to  Baliari  on  the  N.  shore 
of  the  Rami  of  Cutch,  a  distance,  as  the  crow  flies,  of  some  380  miles.] 


1282  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

there  was  no  water  ;  on  the  fourth  day  they  came  to  a  well,  which 
was  so  deep  that  a  drum  was  beaten,  to  give  notice  to  the  man 
driving  the  bullocks,  that  the  bucket  had  reached  the  top  ;  but 
the  unhappy  followers  were  so  impatient  for  drink,  that,  so  soon 
as  the  first  bucket  appeared,  sevei-al  threw  themselves  upon  it, 
before  it  had  quite  reached  the  surface,  and  fell  in.  The  next 
day,  they  arrived  at  a  brook,  and  the  camels,  which  had  not 
tasted  water  for  several  days,  were  allowed  to  quench  their  thirst  ; 
but,  having  drunk  to  excess,  several  of  them  died.  The  king, 
after  enduring  unheard-of  miseries,  at  length  reached  Omurkote 
with  only  a  few  attendants.  The  Raja,  who  has  the  title  of 
Rana,  took  compassion  on  his  misfortunes,  and  spared  notliing 
that  could  alleviate  liis  sufferings,  or  console  him  in  his  distress." — 
Briggs'  Ferishta,  vol.  ii.  p.  93.^ 

We  are  now  in  the  very  region  where  Humayun  suffered  these 
miseries,  and  in  its  chief  town,  Umarkot,  Akbar,  the  greatest 
monarch  India  ever  knew,  first  saw  the  light.  Let  us  throw  aside 
the  veil  which  conceals  the  history  of  the  race  of  Humayim's 
protector,  and  notwithstanding  he  is  now  but  nominal  sovereign 
of  Umarkot,  and  lord  [310]  of  the  village  of  Chor,^  give  him  "  a 
local  habitation  and  a  name,"  even  in  the  days  of  the  Macedonian 
invader  of  India. 

Dhat. — Dhat,^  of  which  Umarkot  is  the  capital,  was  one  of  the 
divisions  of  Marusthali,  which  from  time  immemorial  was  subject 
to  the  Pramar.  Amongst  the  thirty-five  tribes  of  this  the  most 
numerous  of  the  races  called  Agnikula,  were  the  Sodha,  the 
Umar,  and  the  Sumra  ;  *  and  the  conjunction  of  the  two  last  has 
given  a  distinctive  appellation  to  the  more  northern  thai,  still 
known  as  Umarsumra,  though  many  centuries  have  fled  since 
they  possessed  any  power. 

Aror,  Umarsumra. — Aror,  of  which  we  have  already  narrated 

^  [The  original  is  condensed.  "  The  lands  of  the  Rathor,  who  rules 
nine  districts,  are  for  the  most  part  all  sand  ;  they  have  little  or  no  water. 
The  wells  in  some  places  are  so  deep  that  the  water  is  drawn  with  the  help 
of  oxen.  When  water  is  to  be  dBfcwn,  those  wlm  set  the  animals  to  work 
beat  a  drum  as  a  warning  that  tlio  pot  is  at  the  mouth  of  tlio  well,  and  they 
are  about  to  draw  water  "  (Manucci  ii.  4.32).] 

-  [About  15  miles  N.  of  Umarkot.     See  Elliot-Dowson  i.  .032.] 

•''  [The  name  Dhat  has  disappeared  from  modem  maps,  and  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  IGL] 

*  See  table  of  tribes,  and  sketch  of  the  Pramaras,  Vol.  i.  pp.  98  and  107. 


AROR  1283 

the  discovery,  and  -which  is  laid  down  in  the  map  about  six  miles 
east  of  Bakhar  on  the  Indus,  was  in  the  region  styled  Umarsumra, 
wliich  may  once  have  had  a  much  wider  acceptation,  when  a 
dynasty  of  thirty-six  princes  of  the  Sumra  tribe  ruled  all  these 
countries  during  five  hundred  years. ^  On  the  extinction  of  its 
power,  and  the  restoration  of  their  ancient  rivals,  the  Sind-Samma 
princes,  who  in  their  turn  gave  way  to  the  Bhattis,  this  tract 
obtained  the  epithet  of  Bhattipoh  ;  but  the  ancient  and  more 
legitimate  name,  Umarsuinura,  is  yet  recognized,  and  many 
hamlets  of  shepherds,  both  of  Umars  and  Sumras,  are  still  existing 
amidst  its  sandhills.  To  them  we  shall  return,  after  discussing 
their  elder  brethren,  the  Sodhas.  We  can  trace  the  colonization 
of  the  Bhattis,  the  Chawaras,  and  the  Solankis,  the  Guhilots,  and 
the  Rathors,  throughout  all  these  countries,  both  of  central  and 
western  Rajputana  ;  and  wherever  we  go,  whatever  new  capital 
is  founded,  it  is  always  on  the  site  of  a  Pramar  establishment. 
Pirthi  tain  na  Pramar  ka,  or  '  the  world  is  the  Pramars,'  ^  I  may 
here  repeat,  is  hardly  hyperboUcal  when  apphed  to  the  Rajput 
world. 

Aror. — ^Aror,  or  Alor  as  written  by  Abu-1  Fazl,  and  described  by 
that  celebrated  geographer,  Ibn-Haukal,  as  "  rivalling  Multan  in 
greatness,"  was  one  of  the  '  nine  divisions  of  Maru  '  governed  by 
the  Pramar,  of  which  we  must  repeat,  one  of  the  chief  branches  was 
the  Sodha.  The  islandic  Bakliar,  or  Mansura  (so  named  by  the 
lieutenant  of  the  KhaUf  Al-Mansur),  a  few  miles  west  of  Aror,  is 
considered  as  the  capital  of  the  Sogdoi,  when  Alexander  sailed 
down  the  Indus,^  and  if  we  couple  the  similarity  of  name  to  the 
well-authenticated  fact  of  immemorial  sovereignty  over  this 
region,  it  might  not  be  drawing  too  largely  on  credulity  to  suggest 
that  the  Sogdoi  and  Soda  are  one  and  [311]  the  same.*     The  Sodha 

1  Ferishta  [iv.  411],  Abu-1  Fazl  [Ai7i,  ii.  337,  340  ff.]. 

^  [A  better  version  runs  : 

"  Pirthi  bard  Panwar,  Pirthi  Panwdrdn  tdni  ; 
Ek  Ujjaini  Dhdr,  duje  Abu  baithno.^'' 
"  The  Panwar  the  greatest  on  earth,  and  the  world  belongs  to  the  Panwars. 
Their  early  seats  were  Ujjain,  Dhar,  and  Mount  Abu  "   {Census  Report, 
Marwar,  1891,  ii.  29).] 

^  [St.  Martin  fixes  the  capital  of  the  Sogdoi  at  Alor  or  Aror,  but  Cunning- 
ham would  place  it  higher  up  stream,  about  midway  between  Alor  and 
Uchh,  at  the  village  of  Sirwahi  (McCrindle,  Alexander,  354).] 

*  To  convince  the  reader  I  do  not  build  upon  nominal  resemblance,  when 


1284  SIOiTCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

princes  were  the  patriarchs  of  the  desert  when  the  Bhattis  immi- 
grated thither  from  the  north  :  but  whether,  they  deprived  them 
of  Aror  as  well  as  Lodorva,  the  chronicle  does  not  intimate.  It  is 
by  no  means  unlikely  that  the  Umars  and  Sumras,  instead  of  being 
coequal  or  coeval  branches  with  the  Sodha,  may  be  merely  sub- 
divisions of  them. 

We  may  follow  Abu-1  Fazl  and  Ferishta  in  their  summaries  of 
the  history  of  ancient  Sind,  and  these  races.  The  former  says  : 
"  In  former  times,  there  lived  a  Raja  named  Siharas,  whose  capital 
was  Alor.  His  sway  extended  eastward,  as  far  as  Kashmir  and 
towards  the  sea  to  Mekran,  while  the  sea  confined  it  on  the  south 
and  the  mountains  to  the  north.  An  invading  army  entered  the 
country  from  Persia,  in  opposing  which  the  Raja  lost  his  life. 
The  invaders,  contenting  themselves  with  devastating  part  of  the 
territory,  returned.     Rae  Sahi,^  the  Raja's  son,  succeeded  his 


localities  do  not  bear  me  out,  he  is  requested  to  call  to  mind,  that  we  have 
elsewhere  assigned  to  the  Yadus  of  the  Panjab  the  honour  of  furnishing  the 
well-known  king  named  Porus  ;  although  the  Puar,  the  usual  pronunciation 
of  Praraar,  would  afford  a  more  ready  solution.  [This  is  doubtful  (Smith, 
EHI,  40  note).] 

^  Colonel  Briggs,  in  his  translation  [iv.  406],  writes  it  Hully  Sa,  and  in 
this  very  place  remarks  on  the  "  mutilation  of  Hindu  names  by  the  early 
Mahomedan  writers,  which  are  frequently  not  to  be  recognized  "  ;  or,  we 
might  have  learned  that  the  adjunct  Sa  to  Hully  {qu.  Heri),  the  son  of 
Sehris,  was  the  badge  of  his  tribe.  Soda.  The  Roy-sahy,  or  Rao-sa  of 
AbuHazil,  means  '  Prince  Sa  '  or  '  Prince  of  the  Sodas.'  Of  the  same  family 
was  Dahir,  whose  capital,  in  a.h.  99,  was  (says  Abu-1  fazil)  "  Alore  or  Debeil," 
in  which  this  historian  makes  a  geographical  mistake  :  Alore  or  Arore  being 
the  capital  of  Upper  Sinde,  and  Debeil  (correctly  Dewul,  the  temple),  or 
Tatta,  the  capital  of  Lower  Sinde.  In  all  probabUitj^  Dahir  held  both.  We 
have  already  dilated,  in  the  Annals  of  Mewar,  on  a  foreign  prince  named 
"  Dahir  Despati,"  or  the  sovereign  prince,  Dabir,  being  amongst  her  de- 
fenders, on  the  first  Mooslem  invasion,  which  we  conjectured  must  have 
been  that  of  Mahomed  Kasim,  after  he  had  subdued  Sinde.  Bappa,  the 
lord  of  Chectore,  was  nephew  of  Raja  Maim  Mori,  shewing  a  double  motive 
iu  the  exiled  son  of  Dahir  to  support  Cheetore  against  his  own  enemy  Kasim. 
The  Moris  and  Sodas  were  alike  branches  of  the  Pramar  (sec  Vol.  I.  p.  1 1 1 ). 
It  is  also  worth  while  to  draw  attention  to  the  remark  elsewhere  made 
(p.  2S(i)  on  the  stir  made  by  Hejauje  of  Khorasan  (who  sent  Kasim  to  Sinde) 
among.'it  the  Hindu  princes  of  ZabuHst'han  :  dislocated  facts,  all  demon- 
strating one  of  great  importance,  namely,  tlie  wide  doininion  of  the  Rajpoot 
race,  previous  to  the  appearance  of  Mahomed.  Oriental  literature  sustained 
a  loss  which  can  scarcely  be  repaired,  by  the  destruction  of  the  valuable 
MSS.  amassed  by  Colonel  Briggs,  during  many  years,  for  the  purpose  of  a 


AROR  1285 

father,  by  whose  enlightened  wisdom  and  the  aid  of  his  intelligent 
minister  Ram,  justice  was  universally  administered  and  the  repose 
of  the  country  secured.  ...  In  the  caliphate  of  Walld  bin  Abdu'l 
Malik,  when  Hajjaj  was  governor  of  Irak,  he  dispatched  on  his 
own  authority  Muhammad  Kasim,  his  cousin  and  son-in-law,  to 
Sind,  who  fought  Daliir  in  several  engagements.  .  .  .  After 
Muhammad  Kasim's  death,  the  sovereignty  of  this  country  de- 
volved on  the  descendants  of  the  Banu  Tamim  Ansari.  They 
were  succeeded  by  the  Sumrah  race,  who  established  their  rule,  and 
were  followed  by  the  Sammas,  who  asserted  their  descent  from 
Jamshid,  and  each  of  them  assumed  the  name  of  Jam."  ^ 

Ferishta  gives  a  similar  version.  "  On  the  death  of  Mahomed 
Kasim,  a  tribe  who  trace  their  origin  from  the  Ansarias  established 
a  government  in  Sind  ;  after  which  the  zamindars  [lords  of  the 
soil  or  indigenous  chiefs],  denominated  in  their  country  Soomura, 
usurped  the  power,  and  held  independent  rule  over  the  kingdom 
of  Sinde  for  the  space  of  five  hundred  years.  These  [312],  the 
Soomuras,  subverted  the  country  of  another  dynasty  caUed 
Soomuna  [the  Samma  of  Abu-1  Fazl],  whose  chief  assumed  the 
title  of  Jam."  ^ 

The  difficulty  of  establishing  the  identity  of  these  tribes  from 
the  cacography  of  both  the  Greek  and  Persian  writers,  is  well 
exemplified  in  another  portion  of  Ferishta,  treating  of  the  same 
race,  called  by  him  Soomuna,  and  Samvia  by  Abu-1  Fazl.  "  The 
tribe  of  Sahna  appears  to  be  of  obscure  origin,  and  originally  to 
have  occupied  the  tract  lying  between  Bekher  and  Tatta  in  Sinde, 
and  pretend  to  trace  their  origin  from  Jemshid."  We  can  pardon 
his  spelling  for  his  exact  location  of  the  tribe,  which,  whether 
written  Soomuna,  Sehna,  or  Seemeh,  is  the  Summa  or  Samma 
tribe  of  the  great  Yadu  race,  whose  capital  was  Summa-ka-kot,  or 
Sammanagari,  converted  into  Minnagara,  and  its  princes  into 
Sambas,  by  the  Greeks.*     Thus  the  Sodhas  appear  to  have  ruled 

general  history  of  the  early  transactions  of  the  Mahomedans.  [This  note 
has  been  reprinted  as  it  stands  in  the  original  text.  Many  statements  must 
be  received  with  caution.     See  EUiot-Dowson  i.  120  £f.] 

^  Of  the  latter  stock  he  gives  us  a  list  of  seventeen  princes.  Gladwin's 
translation  of  Ayeen  Alcberi,  vol.  ii.  p.  122.  [This  has  been  replaced  by  that 
of  Jarrett,  Am,  ii.  343  fl.] 

^  See  Briggs'  Ferishta,  vol.  iv.  pp.  411  and  422. 

^  [For  Minnagara  see  Vol.  T.  p.  255  ] 


1286  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

at  Aror  and  Bakhar,  or  Upper  Sind,  and  the  Sammas  in  the  lower,^ 
when  Alexander  passed  through  this  region.  The  Jarejas  and 
Jams  of  Navanagar  inSaurashtra  claim  descent  from  the  Sammas, 
hence  called  elsewhere  by  Abu-1  Fazl  "  the  Sind-Samma  djmasty  "  ; 
but  having  been,  from  their  amalgamation  with  the  '  faithfid,' 
put  out  of  the  pale  of  Hinduism,  they  desired  to  conceal  their 
Sanmia-Yadu  descent,  which  they  abandoned  for  Jamshid,  and 
Samma  was  converted  into  Jam." 

We  may,  therefore,  assume  that  a  prince  of  the  Sodha  tribe  held 
that  division  of  the  great  Puar  sovereignty,  of  which  Aror,  or  the 
insular  Bakhar,  was  the  capital,  when  Alexander  passed  down  the 
Indus  :  nor  is  it  improbable  that  the  anny,  styled  Persian  by 
Abu-1  Fazl,  which  invaded  Aror,  and  slew  Raja  Siharas,  was  a 
Graeco-Bactrian  army  led  by  Apollodotus,  or  Menander,  who  tra- 
versed this  region,  "  ruled  by  Sigertides  "  (qu.  Raja  Siharas  ?)  even 
to  "  the  country  of  the  ^wpa,""  or  Saurashtra,^'  where,  according  to 
their  historian,  their  medals  were  existent  when  he  wrote  in  the 
second  century.*  The  histories  so  largely  quoted  give  us  decided 
proof  that  Dahir,  and  his  son  [313]  Raesa,  the  victims  of  the  first 
Islamite  invasion  led  by  Kasim,  were  of  the  same  lineage  as  Raja 

^  The  four  races  called  Agnikula  (of  which  the  Pramar  was  the  most 
numerous),  at  eveiy  step  of  ancient  Hindu  history  are  seen  displacing  the 
dynasty  of  Yadu.  Here  the  struggle  between  them  is  corroborated  by  the 
two  best  Muhammadan  historians,  both  borrowing  from  the  same  source, 
the  more  ancient  histories,  few  of  which  have  reached  us.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  Sodhas,  the  Umars,  the  Suraras,  were  Pramars 
(vulg.  Puar) ;  while  the  Sammas  were  Yadus,  for  whose  origin  see  Annals 
of  Jaisalnier,  p.  1185  above. 

^  [This  is  very  doubtful.    See  Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  447.] 

^  [Sora  is  supposed  to  represent  the  Chola  Kingdom  in  S.  India  (McCrindle, 
Ptolemy,  64  f.).] 

*  Of  these,  the  author  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  one  of  Menander 
and  three  of  Apollodotus,  whose  existence  had  heretofore  been  questioned  : 
the  Grst  of  the  latter  from  the  wreck  of  Suryapura,  the  capital  of  the  Sura- 
senakas  of  Manu  {Laws,  ii.  19,  vii.  193]  and  Arrian  ;  another  from  the 
ancient  Avanti,  or  Ujjain,  whose  monarch,  according  to  Justin,  held  a 
correspondence  with  Augustus  ;  and  the  third,  in  comjiany  with  a  whole 
jar  of  Hindu-Scythic  and  Baetrian  medals,  at  Agra,  which  was  dug  up 
several  years  since  in  excavating  the  site  of  the  more  ancient  city.  This,  I 
have  elsewhere  surmised,  might  have  been  the  abode  of  Aggrames,  Agra- 
gram-eswar,  the  "lord  of  the  city  of  Agra,"  mentioned  by  Arrian  as  the 
most  potent  monarch  in  the  north  of  India,  who,  after  the  death  of  Porus, 
was  ready  to  oppose  the  further  progress  of  Alexander.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  Panjab  may  yet  afford  us  another  peep  into  the  past.  For  an  account  of 
these  medals,  see  Trnvsactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  313. 


UMARKOT  1287 

Siharas  ;  and  the  Bhatti  annals  prove  to  demonstration,  that  at 
this,  the  very  period  of  their  setthng  in  the  desert,  the  Sodha  tribe 
was  paramount  (see  p.  1185)  ;  which,  together  with  the  strong 
analogies  in  names  of  places  and  princes,  affords  a  very  reasonable 
ground  for  the  conclusion  we  have  come  to,  that  the  Sodha  tribe 
of  Puar  race  was  in  possession  of  Upper  Sind,  when  the  Macedonian 
passed  down  the  stream  ;  and  that,  amidst  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
fortune,  it  has  continued  (contesting  possession  with  its  ancient 
Yadu  antagonist,  the  Samma)  to  maintain  some  portion  of  its 
ancient  sovereignty  imto  these  days.  Of  this  portion  we  shall  now 
instruct  the  reader,  after  hazarding  a  passing  remark  on  the  almost 
miraculous  tenacity  which  has  preserved  this  race  in  its  desert 
abode  during  a  period  of  at  least  two  thousand  two  hundred 
years, ^  bidding  defiance  to  foreign  foes,  whether  Greek,  Bactrian, 
or  Muhammadan,  and  even  to  those  visitations  of  nature,  famines, 
pestilence,  and  earthquakes,  which  have  periodically  swept  over 
the  land,  and  at  length  rendered  it  the  scene  of  desolation  it  now 
presents  ;  for  in  this  desert,  as  in  that  of  Eg;^npt,  tradition  records 
that  its  increase  has  been  and  still  is  progressive,  as  well  in  the 
valley  of  the  Indus  as  towards  the  Jumna. 

Umarkot. — This  stronghold  (kot)  of  the  Umars,  until  a  very 
few  years  back,  was  the  capital  of  the  Sodha  Raj,  which  extended, 
two  centuries  ago,  into  the  valley  of  Sind,  and  east  to  the  Luni  ; 
but  the  Rathors  of  Marwar,  and  the  family  at  present  ruling  Sind, 
have  together  reduced  the  sovereignty  of  the  Sodhas  to  a  very 
confined  spot,  and  thrust  out  of  Umarkot  (the  last  of  the  nine 
castles  of  Maru)  the  descendant  of  Siharas,  who,  from  Aror,  held 
dominions  extending  from  Kashmir  to  the  ocean.  Umarkot  has 
sadly  fallen  from  its  ancient  grandeur,  and  instead  of  the  five 
thousand  houses  it  contained  during  the  opulence  of  the  Sodha 
princes,  it  hardly  reckons  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  or  rather 
huts.*     The  old  castle  is  to  the  north-west  of  the  town.     It  is 

[Aggrames,  King  of  the  Gangaridae  and  Prasii,  also  known  as  Xandrames, 
probably  the  Hindu  Chandra,  belonged  to  the  Nanda  dynasty  (Smith, 
EHI,  40  ;   McCrmdIe,  Ancient  India  in  Classical  Literature,  43).] 

^  Captain,  now  Colonel,  Pottinger,  in  his  interesting  work  on  Sind  and 
Baluchistan,  in  extracting  from  the  Persian  work  Mu'jamu-1  Waridat, 
calls  the  ancient  capital  of  Sind,  Ulaor,  and  mentions  the  overthrow  of  the 
djTiasty  of  '  Sahir '  (the  Siharas  of  Abu-1  Fazl),  whose  ancestors  had 
governed  Sind  for  two  thousand  years. 

*  [The  present  population  is  4924.] 


1288  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

built  of  brick,  and  the  bastions,  said  to  be  eighteen  in  number,  are 
of  stone.  It  has  an  inner  citadel,  or  rather  a  fortified  palace. 
There  is  an  old  canal  to  the  north  of  the  fort,  in  which  water  still 
lodges  part  of  the  year.  When  Raja  Man  [314]  had  possession 
of  Umarkot,  he  founded  several  villages  thereunto,  to  keep  up  the 
communication.  The  Talpuris  then  found  it  to  their  interest,  so 
long  as  they  had  any  alarms  from  their  own  lord  paramount  of 
Kandahar,  to  court  the  Rathor  prince  ;  but  when  civil  war 
appeared  in  that  region,  as  well  as  in  Marwar,  the  cessation  of  all 
fears  from  the  one,  banished  the  desire  of  paying  court  to  the 
other,  and  Umarkot  was  unhappily  placed  between  the  Kalhoras 
of  Sind  and  the  Rathors,  each  of  whom  looked  upon  this  frontier 
post  as  the  proper  limit  of  his  sway,  and  contended  for  its 
possession.  We  shall  therefore  give  an  account  of  a  feud  between 
these  rivals,  which  finally  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Sodha  prince,  and 
which  may  contribute  something  to  the  history  of  the  ruling 
family  of  Sind,  still  imperfectly  known. 

The  Fate  of  the  Sodha  Tribe.  Assassination  of  Mir  Bijar. — 
When  Bijai  Singh  ruled  Marwar,  Miyan  Nur  Muhammad,  Kalhora, 
governed  Sind  ;  but  being  expelled  by  an  army  from  Kandahar, 
he  fled  to  Jaisalmer,  where  he  died.  The  eldest  son,  Antar  Khan, 
and  his  brothers,  found  refuge  with  Bahadur  Khan  Khairani  ; 
while  a  natural  brother,  named  Ghulam  Shah,  born  of  a  common 
prostitute,  foimd  means  to  establish  himself  on  the  masnad  at 
Haidarabad.  The  chiefs  of  Daudputra  espoused  the  cause  of 
Antar  Khan,  and  prepared  to  expel  the  usurper.  Bahadur  Khan, 
Sabzal  Khan,  Ali  Murad,  Muhammad  Khan,  Kaim  Khan,  Ali 
Khan,  chiefs  of  the  Khairani  tribe,  united,  and  marched  with 
Antar  Khan  to  Haidarabad.  Ghulam  Shah  advanced  to  meet 
him,  and  the  brothers  encountered  at  Ubaura  ^  (see  map)  ;  but 
legitimacy  failed  :  the  Khairani  chiefs  almost  all  perished,  and 
Antar  Khan  was  made  prisoner,  and  confined  for  life  in  Gaja-ka- 
kot,  an  island  in  the  Indus,  seven  coss  south  of  Haidarabad. 
Ghulam  Shah  transmitted  his  masnad  to  his  son  Sarfaraz,  who, 
dying  soon  after,  was  succeeded  by  Abdul  Nabi.  At  the  town  of 
Abhaipura,  seven  coss  cast  of  Sheodadpur  (a  town  in  Lohri  Sind), 
resided  a  chieftain  of  the  Talpuri  tribe,  a  branch  of  the  Baloch, 
named  Goram,  who  had  two  sons,  named  Bijar  and  Sobhdan. 
Sarfaraz  demanded  Goram's  daughter  to  wife  ;  he  was  refused, 
^  [In  Shikarpiir,  Sind,  near  the  frontier  f)f  Bahawalpur.] 


ASSASSINATION  OF  MiR  BIJAR  1289 

and  the  whole  family  was  destroyed.  Bijar  Khan,  who  alone 
escaped  the  massacre,  raised  his  clan  to  avenge  him,  deposed  the 
tyrant,  and  placed  himself  upon  the  masnad  of  Haidarabad.  The 
Kalhoras  dispersed  ;  but  Bijar,  who  was  of  a  violent  and  imperious 
temperament,  became  involved  in  hostilities  with  the  Rathors 
regarding  the  possession  of  Umarkot.  It  is  asserted  that  he  not 
only  demanded  tribute  from  Marwar,  but  a  daughter  of  the 
Rathor  prince,  to  wife,  setting  forth  as  a  precedent  his  grandfather 
Ajit,  who  bestowed  a  wife  on  Farrukhsiyar.  This  insult  led  to  a 
pitched  battle,  fought  at  Dugara,  five  coss  from  Dharnidhar,  in 
which  the  Baloch  [315]  army  was  fairly  beaten  from  the  field  by  the 
Rathor  ;  but  Bijai  Singh,  not  content  with  his  victory,  determined 
to  be  rid  of  this  thorn  in  his  side.  A  Bhatti  and  Chondawat 
offered  their  services,  and  lands  being  settled  on  their  families, 
they  set  out  on  this  perilous  enterprise  in  the  garb  of  ambassadors. 
When  introduced  to  Bijar,  he  arrogantly  demanded  if  the  Raja 
had  thought  better  of  his  demand,  when  the  Chondawat  referred 
him  to  his  credentials.  As  Bijar  rapidly  ran  his  eye  over  it, 
muttering  "  no  mention  of  the  dola  (bride),"  the  dagger  of  the 
Chondawat  was  buried  in  his  heart.  "  This  for  the  dola,''''  he 
exclaimed  ;  and  "  this  for  the  tribute,"  said  his  comrade,  as  he 
struck  another  blow.  Bijar  fell  lifeless  on  his  cushion  of  state, 
and  the  assassins,  who  knew  escape  was  hopeless,  plied  their 
daggers  on  all  around  ;  the  Chondawat  slaying  twenty-one,  and 
the  Bhatti  five,  before  they  were  hacked  to  pieces.^  The  nephew 
of  Bijar  Khan,  by  name  Fateh  Ali,  son  of  Sobhdan,  was  chosen 
his  successor,  and  the  old  family  of  Kalhora  was  dispersed  to 
Bhuj,  and  Rajputana,  while  its  representative  repaired  to  Kanda- 
har. There  the  Shah  put  him  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  with  which  he  reconquered  Sind,  and  com- 
menced a  career  of  unexampled  cruelty.  Fateh  Ali,  who  had 
fled  to  Bhuj,  reassembled  his  adherents,  attacked  the  army  of  the 
Shah,  which  he  defeated  and  pursued  with  great  slaughter  beyond 
Shikarpur,  of  which  he  took  possession,  and  returned  in  triumph 
to  Haidarabad.  The  cruel  and  now  humbled  Kalhora  once  more 
appeared  before  the  Shah,  who,  exasperated  at  the  inglorious 
result  of  his  arms,  drove  him  from  his  presence  ;  and  after  wander- 

^  [By  another  story,  Abdu-n-nabi  Khan,  brother  of  Ghulam  Nabi  Khan, 
prmce  of  Sind,  assassinated  his  too  successful  general,  Mir  Bijar,  in  a.d.  1781 
(/(?/,  xxii.  399).] 

VOL.  Ill  D 


1290  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

ing  about,  he  passed  from  Multan  to  Jaisalmer,  settling  at  length 
at  Pokaran,  where  he  died.  The  Pokaran  chief  made  himself  his 
heir,  and  it  is  from  the  great  wealth  (chiefly  in  jewels)  of  the  ex- 
prince  of  Sind  that  its  chiefs  have  been  enabled  to  take  the  lead 
in  Marwar.  The  tomb  of  the  exile  is  on  the  north  side  of  the 
town  [316].^ 

This  episode,  which  properly  belongs  to  the  history  of  Marwar, 
or  to  Sind,  is  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  influence 
of  the  latter  on  the  destinies  of  the  Sodha  princes.  It  was  by 
Bijar,  who  fell  by  the  emissaries  of  Bijai  Singh,  that  the  Sodha 
Raja  was  driven  from  Umarkot,  the  possession  of  which  brought 
the  Sindis  into  immediate  collision  with  the  Bhattis  and  Rathors. 
But  on  his  assassination  and  the  defeat  of  the  Sind  army  on  the 
Rann,  Bijai  Singh  reinducted  the  Sodha  prince  to  his  gaddi  of 
Umarkot ;  not,  however,  long  to  retain  it,  for  on  the  invasion  from 
Kandahar,  this  poor  country  underwent  a  general  massacre  and 
pillage  by  the  Afghans,  and  Umarkot  was  assaulted  and  taken. 
When  Fateh  Ali  made  head  against  the  army  of  Kandahar,  which 
he  was  enabled  to  defeat,  partly  by  the  aid  of  the  Rathors,  he 

1  The  memoir  adds  :  Fateh  Ali  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  the  present 
Ghulam  Ali,  and  he  by  his  son,  Karam  Ali.  The  general  correctness  of  this 
outline  is  proved  by  a  very  interesting  work  (which  has  only  fallen  into  my 
hands  in  time  to  make  this  note),  entitled  Narrative  of  a  Visit  to  the  Court 
of  Sinde,  by  Dr.  Burnes.  Bijar  Khan  was  minister  to  the  Kalhora  rulers  of 
Sind,  whose  cruelties  at  length  gave  the  government  to  the  family  of  the 
minister.  As  it  is  scarcely  to  be  supposed  that  Raja  Bijai  Singh  would 
furnish  assassins  to  the  Kalhora,  who  could  have  little  difficulty  in  finding 
them  in  Sind,  the  insult  which  caused  the  fate  of  Bijar  may  have  proceeded 
from  his  master,  though  ho  may  have  been  made  the  scapegoat.  It  is  much 
to  be  regretted  that  the  author  of  the  Visit  to  Sinde  did  not  accompany  the 
Amirs  to  Sehwan  (of  which  I  shall  venture  an  account  obtained  nearly 
twenty  years  ago).  With  the  above  memoir  and  map  (by  his  brother, 
Lieut.  Burnes)  of  the  Rann,  a  new  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  history  and 
geography  of  this  most  interesting  and  important  portion  of  India.  It  is 
to  be  desired  that  to  a  gentleman  so  well  prepared  inay  be  entrusted  the 
examination  of  this  still  little-known  region.  I  had  long  entertained  the 
hope  of  passing  through  the  desert,  by  Jaisalmer  to  Uchh,  and  thence, 
sailing  down  to  Mansura,  visiting  Aror,  Sehwan,  Sammanagari,  and  Baman- 
wasa.  The  rupture  with  Sind  in  1820  gave  me  great  expectations  of  accom- 
plisliing  this  object,  and  I  drew  up  and  transmitted  to  Lord  Hastings  a  plan 
of  marching  a  force  through  the  desert,  and  planting  the  cross  on  the  insular 
capital  of  the  Sogdoi ;  but  peace  was  the  order  of  the  day.  I  was  then  in 
communication  with  Mir  Sohrab,  governor  of  Upper  Sind,  who,  1  have 
little  doubt,  would  liavc  come  over  to  our  views. 


CHOR  1291 

relinquished,  as  the  price  of  this  aid,  the  claims  of  Sind  upon 
Umarkot,  of  which  Bijai  Singh  took  possession,  and  on  whose 
battlements  the  flag  of  the  Rathors  waved  until  the  last  civil  war, 
when  the  Sindis  expelled  them.  Had  Raja  Man  known  how  to 
profit  by  the  general  desire  of  his  chiefs  to  redeem  this  distant 
possession,  he  might  have  got  rid  of  some  of  the  unquiet  spirits 
by  other  means  than  those  which  have  brought  infamy  on  his 
name. 

Chor. — Since  Umarkot  has  been  wrested  from  the  Sodhas,  the 
expelled  prince,  who  still  preserves  his  title  of  Rana,  resides  at  the 
town  of  Chor,  fifteen  miles  north-east  of  his  former  capital.  The 
descendant  of  the  princes  who  probably  opposed  Alexander, 
Menander,  and  Kasim,  the  lieutenant  of  Walid,  and  who  sheltered 
Humayun  when  driven  from  the  throne  of  India,  now  subsists  on 
the  eleemosynary  gifts  of  those  with  whom  he  is  connected  by 
marriage,  or  the  few  patches  of  land  of  his  own  desert  domain  left 
him  by  the  rulers  of  Sind.  He  has  eight  brothers,  who  are  hardly 
pushed  for  a  subsistence,  and  can  only  obtain  it  by  the  supplement 
to  all  the  finances  of  these  States,  plunder. 

The  Sodha,  and  the  Jareja,  are  the  connecting  links  between 
the  Hindu  and  the  Muslim  ;  for  although  the  farther  west  we  go 
the  greater  is  the  laxity  of  Rajput  prejudice,  yet  to  something 
more  than  mere  locality  must  be  attributed  the  denationalized 
sentiment  which  allows  the  Sodha  to  intermarry  with  a  Sindi  : 
this  cause  is  hunger  ;  and  there  are  few  zealots  who  will  deny  that 
its  influence  is  more  potent  than  the  laws  of  Manu.  Every  third 
year  brings  famine,  and  those  who  have  not  stored  up  against  it 
fly  to  their  neighbours,  and  chiefly  to  the  valley  of  the  Indus. 
The  [317]  connexions  they  then  form  often  end  in  the  union  of 
their  daughters  with  their  protectors  ;  but  they  still  so  far  adhere 
to  ancient  usage  as  never  to  receive  back  into  the  family  caste  a 
female  so  allied.^  The  present  Rana  of  the  Sodhas  has  set  the 
example,  by  giving  daughters  to  Mir  Ghulam  Ali  and  Mir  Sohrab, 
and  even  to  the  IChosa  chief  of  Dadar  ;  and  in  consequence,  his 
brother  princes  of  Jaisalmer,  Bah  and  Parkar,  though  they  will 

^  [The  chief  connexion  of  the  Sodhas  with  Cutch  is  through  the  marriage 
of  their  daughters  with  leading  Jareja  and  Musalman  families.  Their 
women  are  of  great  natural  ability,  but  ambitious  and  intriguing,  not 
scrupling  to  make  away  with  their  husbands  in  order  that  their  sons  may 
obtain  the  estate  {BG,  v.  67).] 


1292  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

accept  a  Sodha  princess  to  wife  (because  they  can  depend  on  the 
purity  of  her  blood),  yet  will  not  bestow  a  daughter  on  the  Rana, 
whose  offspring  might  perhaps  grace  the  harem  of  a  Baloch.  But 
the  Rathors  of  Marwar  will  neither  give  to  nor  receive  daughters 
of  Dhat.  The  females  of  this  desert  region,  being  reputed  very 
handsome,  have  become  almost  an  article  of  matrimonial  traffic  ; 
and  it  is  asserted,  that  if  a  Sindi  hears  of  the  beauty  of  a  Dhatiani, 
he  sends  to  her  father  as  much  grain  as  he  deems  an  equivalent, 
and  is  seldom  refused  her  hand.  We  shall  not  here  further  touch 
on  the  manners  or  other  peculiarities  of  the  Sodha  tribe,  though 
we  may  revert  to  them  in  the  general  outline  of  the  tribes,  with 
which  we  shall  conclude  the  sketch  of  the  Indian  desert. 

Tribes. — The  various  tribes  inhabiting  the  desert  and  valley  of 
the  Indus  would  alone  form  an  ample  subject  of  investigation, 
which  would,  in  all  probability,  elicit  some  important  truths. 
Amongst  the  converts  to  Islam  the  inquirer  into  the  pedigree  of 
nations  would  discover  names,  once  illustrious,  but  which,  now 
hidden  imder  the  mantle  of  a  new  faith,  might  little  aid  his  re- 
searches into  the  history  of  their  origin.  He  would  find  the  Sodha, 
the  Kathi,  the  Mallani,  affording  in  history,  position,  and  nominal 
resemblance  grounds  for  inferring  that  they  are  the  descendants 
of  the  Sogdoi,  Kathi,  and  Malloi,  who  opposed  the  Macedonian  in 
his  passage  down  the  Indus  ;  besides  swarms  of  Getae  or  Yuti, 
many  of  whom  have  assumed  the  general  title  of  Baloch,  or  retain 
the  ancient  specific  name  of  Numri  ;  while  others,  in  that  of 
Zj'at  [Jat],  preserve  almost  the  primitive  appellation.  We  have 
also  the  remains  of  those  interesting  races  the  Johyas  and  Dahyas, 
of  which  much  has  been  said  in  the  Annals  of  Jaisalmer,  and  else- 
where ;  who,  as  well  as  the  Getae  or  .Tats,  and  Huns,  hold  places 
amongst  the  "  Thirty-six  Royal  Races  "  of  ancient  India. ^  These, 
with  the  Barahas  and  the  I^ohanas,  tribes  who  swarmed  a  few 
centuries  ago  in  the  Panjab,  will  now  only  be  discerned  in  small 
luimbers  in  "  the  region  of  death,"  which  has  even  preserved  the 
illustrious  name  of  Kaurava,  Krishna's  foe  in  the  Bharat.  The 
Sahariya,  or  great  robber  of  our  western  desert,  would  alone  afford 
:i  text  for  discussion  on  his  habits  [818]  and  his  raids,  as  the 
enemy  of  all  society.  But  we  shall  begin  with  those  who  yet 
retain  any  pretensions  to  the  name  of  Hindu  (distinguishing  them 
from  the  proselytes  to  Islam),  and  afterwards  descant  upon  their 
^  See  sketch  of  the  tribes,  Vol.  I.  p.  98. 


TRIBES  :  THE  NAYYADS  1293 

peculiarities.  Bhatti,  Rathor,  Jodha,  Chauhan,  Mallani,  Kaurava, 
Johya,  Sultana,  Lohana,  Arora,  Khumra,  Sindhal,  Maisuri, 
Vaishnavi,  Jakhar,  Asaich,  Punia. 

Of  the  Muhammadan  there  are  but  two,  Kalhora  and  Sahariya, 
concerning  whose  origin  any  doubt  exists,  and  all  those  we  are 
about  to  specify  are  Nayyads,^  or  proselytes  chiefly  from  Rajput 
or  other  Hindu  tribes  : 

Zjat ;  Rajar  ;  Umra  ;  Sunira ;  Mair,  or  Mer  ;  Mor,  or  Mohor  ; 
Baloch  ;  Lumria,  or  Luka  ;  Samaicha.  ;  Mangalia  ;  Bagria  ; 
Dahya  ;  Johya  ;  Kairui  ;  Jangaria  ;  Undar  ;  Berawi ;  Bawari  ; 
Tawari ;  Charandia  ;  Khosa  ;  Sadani  ;  Lohanas. 

The  Nayyads. — Before  we  remark  upon  the  habits  of  these 
tribes,  we  may  state  one  prominent  trait  which  characterizes  the 
Nayyad,  or  convert  to  Islam,  who,  on  parting  with  his  original 
faith,  divested  himself  of  its  chief  moral  attribute,  toleration,  and 
imbibed  a  double  portion  of  the  bigotry  of  the  creed  he  adopted. 
Whether  it  is  to  the  intrinsic  quality  of  the  Muhammadan  faith 
that  we  are  to  trace  this  moral  metamorphosis,  or  to  a  sense  of 
degradation  (which  we  can  hardly  suppose)  consequent  on  his 
apostasy,  there  is  not  a  more  ferocious  or  intolerant  being  on  the 
earth  than  the  Rajput  convert  to  Islam.  In  Sind,  and  the  desert, 
we  find  the  same  tribes,  bearing  the  same  name,  one  still  Hindu, 
the  other  Muhammadan  ;  the  first  retaining  his  primitive  manners, 
while  the  convert  is  cruel,  intolerant,  cowardly,  and  inhospitable. 
Escape,  with  life  at  least,  perhaps  a  portion  of  property,  is  possible 
from  the  hands  of  the  Maldot,  the  Larkhani,  the  Bhatti,  or  even 
the  Tawaris,  distinctively  called  "  the  sons  of  the  devil "  ;  but 
from  the  Khosas,  the  Sahariyas,  or  Bhattis,  there  would  be  no 
hope  of  salvation.  Such  are  their  ignorance  and  brutality,  that 
should  a  stranger  make  use  of  the  words  rassa,  or  rasta  (rope,  and 
road),  he  will  be  fortimate  if  he  escape  with  bastinado  from  these 
beings,  who  discover  therein  an  analogy  to  rasul,  or '  the  prophet '  : 
he  must  for  the  former  use  the  words  kilhar,  randori,  and  for  the 
latter,  dagra,  or  dag.^     It  will  not  fail  to  strike  those  who  have 

^  Nayyad  is  the  noviciate,  literally  new  {naya),  or  original  converts,  I 
suppose.     [In  other  parts  of  India  they  are  known  as  Naumuslim.] 

*  Dagra  is  very  common  in  Rajputana  for  a  '  path-way  ' ;  but  the 
substitute  here  used  for  rassa,  a  rope,  I  am  not  acquainted  with.  [For  a 
large  collection  of  similar  taboo  names  for  persons,  animals,  and  things  see 
Sir  J.  Frazcr,  The  Golden  Bough,  "  Taboo  and  Perils  of  the  Soul,"  318  ff.] 


1294  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

perused  the  heart-thrilling  adventures  of  Park,  Denham,  and 
Clapperton — names  wliieli  will  live  for  ever  in  the  annals  ul  dis- 
covery— how  completely  the  inoffensive,  kind,  and  hospitable 
negro  resembles  in  these  qualities  the  Rajput,  who  is  transformed 
into  a  wild  beast  the  moment  he  can  repeat,  "  Ashhadu  an  lu 
ilalia  ilia  allah  !  [319j  Ashhadu  anna  Muhammad  rasulu-Uah," 
"  there  is  but  one  God,  and  Muhammad  is  the  prophet  of  God  "  : 
while  a  remarkable  change  has  taken  place  amongst  the  Tatar 
tribes,  since  the  anti-destructive  doctrines  of  Buddha  (or  Hinduism 
purified  of  polytheism)  have  been  introduced  into  the  regions  of 
Central  Asia. 

On  the  Bhattis,  the  Rathors,  the  Chauhans,  and  their  offset 
the  Mallani,  we  have  sufficiently  expatiated,  and  likewise  on  the 
Sodha  ;  but  a  few  peculiarities  of  this  latter  tribe  remain  to  be 
noticed. 

The  Sodha  Tribe. — The  Sodha,  who  has  retained  the  name  of 
Hindu,  has  yet  so  far  discarded  ancient  prejudice,  that  he  will 
druik  from  the  same  vessel  and  smoke  out  of  the  same  hukka 
with  a  Musahiian,  laying  aside  only  the  tube  that  touches  the 
mouth.  With  his  poverty,  the  Sodha  has  lost  his  reputation 
for  courage,  retairung  only  the  merit  of  being  a  dexterous  thief, 
and  joining  the  hordes  of  Sahariyas  and  Ivhosas  who  prowl  from 
Daudputra  to  Gujarat.  The  arms  of  the  Sodhas  are  chiefly  the 
sword  and  shield,  with  a  long  knife  in  the  girdle,  which  serves 
either  as  a  stiletto  or  a  carver  for  his  meat :  few  have  matchlocks, 
but  the  primitive  sling  is  a  general  weapon  of  offence,  and  they 
are  very  expert  in  its  use.  Their  dress  partakes  of  the  Bhatti 
and  Muhammadan  costume,  but  the  turban  is  pecidiar  to  them- 
selves, and  by  it  a  Sodlia  may  always  be  recognized.  The 
Sodha  is  to  be  found  scattered  over  the  desert,  but  there  are 
offsets  of  his  tribe,  now  more  numerous  than  the  parent  stock, 
of  which  the  Samecha  is  the  most  conspicuous,  whether  of  those 
who  are  still  Hindu,  or  who  have  become  converts  to  Islam. 

The  Kaurava  Tribe. — This  singular  tribe  of  Rajputs,  whose 
habits,  even  in  the  midst  of  pillage,  are  entirely  nomadic,  is  to  be 
found  chiefly  in  the  thai  of  Dhat,  though  in  no  great  nimibers.^ 
They  have  no  fixed  habitations,  but  move  about  with  their  Hocks, 
and  encamp  wherever  they  find  a  spring  or  pasture  for  their 
cattle ;  and  there  construct  temporary  huts  of  the  wide-spreading 
^  [The  name  cannot  be  traced  in  recent  Census  Reports.] 


KAURAVA  AND  DHATI  TRIBES  1295 

pilu,^  by  interlacing  its  living  branches,  covering  the  top  with 
leaves,  and  coating  the  inside  with  clay  :  in  so  skUful  a  manner 
do  they  thus  shelter  themselves  that  no  sign  of  human  habitation 
is  observable  from  without.  Still  the  roaming  Sahariya  is  always 
on  the  look-out  for  these  sylvan  retreats,  in  which  the  shepherds 
deposit  their  little  hoards  of  grain,  raised  from  the  scanty  patches 
around  them.  The  restless  disposition  of  the  Kauravas,  who 
even  among  their  ever-roaming  brethren  enjoy  a  species  of  fame 
in  this  respect,  is  attributed  (said  my  Dhati)  to  a  curse  entailed 
upon  them  from  remote  ages.  They  rear  camels,  cows,  buffaloes, 
and  goats,  which  they  sell  to  the  Charans  and  other  merchants. 
They  are  altogether  a  singularly  peaceable  race  ;  and  like  all  their 
Rajput  brethren,  can  at  will  [320]  people  the  desert  with  palaces 
of  their  own  creation,  by  the  delightfid  amal-pani,  the  universal 
panacea  for  ills  both  moral  and  physical. 

The  Dhati  Tribe. — ^Dhat,  or  Dhati,  is  another  Rajput,  inhabit- 
ing Dhat,  and  in  no  greater  numbers  than  the  Kauravas,  whom 
they  resemble  in  their  habits,  being  entirely  pastoral,  cultivating 
a  few  patches  of  land,  and  trusting  to  the  heavens  alone  to  bring 
it  forward.  They  barter  the  ghi  or  clarified  butter,  made  from 
the  produce  of  their  flocks,  for  grain  and  other  necessaries  of  life. 
Rabri  and  chhachh,  or  '  porridge  and  buttermilk,'  form  the  grand 
fare  of  the  desert.  A  couple  of  sers  of  flour  of  bajra,  juar,  and 
khejra  is  mixed  with  some  sers  of  chhachh,  and  exposed  to  the 
fire,  but  not  boiled,  and  this  mess  will  suffice  for  a  large  family. 
The  cows  of  the  desert  are  much  larger  than  those  of  the  plains 
of  India,  and  give  from  eight  to  ten  sers  (eight  or  ten  quarts)  of 
milk  daily.  The  produce  of  four  cows  will  amply  subsist  a  family 
of  ten  persons  from  the  sale  of  ghi  ;  and  their  prices  vary  with 
their  productive  powers,  from  ten  to  fifteen  rupees  each.  The 
rabri,  so  analogous  to  the  kouskous  of  the  African  desert,  is  often 
made  with  camel's  milk,  from  which«g/ii  cannot  be  extracted, 
and  which  soon  becomes  a  living  mass  when  put  aside.  Dried 
fish,  from  the  valley  of  Sind,  is  conveyed  into  the  desert  on  horses 
or  camels,  and  finds  a  ready  sale  amongst  all  classes,  even  as  far 
east  as  Barmer.  It  is  sold  at  two  dukras  (coppers)  a  ser.  The 
puras,  or  temporary  hamlets  of  the  Dhatis,  consisting  at  most  of 
ten  huts  in  each,  resemble  those  of  the  Kauravas. 

The  Lohana  Tribe. — This  tribe  is  numerous  both  in  Dhat  and 
^  \_Salvadora  oleoides  or  persica  (Watt,  Econ.  Diet.  vi.  Part  ii.  447  ff.).] 


1296  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Talpura  :  formerly  they  were  Rajputs,  but  betakins:  themselves 
to  commerce,  have  fallen  into  the  third  class.  They  are  scribes 
and  shopkeepers,  and  object  to  no  occupation  that  will  bring  a 
subsistence  ;  and  as  to  food,  to  use  the  expressive  idiom  of  this 
region,  where  hunger  spurns  at  law,  "  excepting  their  cats  and 
their  cows,  they  will  eat  anything."  ^ 

The  Arora  Tribe. — This  class,  like  the  former,  apply  themselves 
to  every  pursuit,  trade,  and  agriculture,  and  fdl  many  of  the 
inferior  offices  of  government  in  Sind,  being  shrewd,  industrious, 
and  intelligent.  With  the  thrifty  Arora  and  many  other  classes, 
flour  steeped  in  cold  water  suffices  to  ajjpease  hunger.  Whether 
this  class  has  its  name  from  being  an  inhabitant  of  Aror,  we 
know  not." 

The  Bhatia  Tribe. — Bhatia  is  also  one  of  the  equestrian  order 
converted  into  the  commercial,  and  the  exchange  has  been  to  his 
advantage.  His  habits  are  like  those  of  the  Arora,  next  to  whom 
he  ranks  as  to  activity  and  wealth.  The  Aroras  and  Bhatias 
have  commercial  houses  at  Shikarpur,  Haidarabad,  and  even  at 
Surat  and  Jaipur  [321].^ 

Brahmans. — Bishnoi  is  the  most  common  sect  of  Brahmans 
in  the  desert  and  Sind.  The  doctrines  of  Manu  with  them  go  for 
as  much  as  they  are  worth  in  the  desert,  where  "  they  are  a  law 
unto  themselves."  They  wear  the  janeo,  or  badge  of  their  tribe, 
but  it  here  ceases  to  be  a  mark  of  clerical  distinction,  as  no  drones 
are  respected  ;  they  cultivate,  tend  cattle,  and  barter  their  super- 
fluous ghi  for  other  necessaries.  They  are  most  numerous  in 
Dhat,  having  one  hundred  of  their  order  in  Chor,  the  residence  of 
the  Sodha  Rana,  and  several  houses  in  Umarkot,  Dharnas,  and 
Mitti.*  They  do  not  touch  fish  or  smoke  tobacco,  but  will  eat 
food  dressed  by  the  hands  of  a  Mali  (gardener),  or  even  a  Nai 
(barber  caste) ;  nor  do  they  use  the  chauka,  or  fireplace,  reckoned 
« 

1  [In  Cutch  they  claim  to  bo  llathors  fnjin  Multaii,  and  are  said  to  have 
been  driven  by  the  Muhainniadans  from  the  Panjab  into  Cutch.  In  Gujarat 
they  are  Vaishnavas,  and  are  particular  about  their  food  and  drink,  but  in 
Sind  thoy  arc  more  lax  {BCI,  v.  54  ff.,  ix.  Part  i.  122 ;   Burton,  Sindh,  314).] 

*  [They  are  numerous  in  S.W.  Panjab,  where  Rose  {Glossary,  ii.  16  ff.) 
gives  a  full  account  of  them.] 

^  [On  their  connexion  with  the  Bhatti  Rajputs  see  Crooke,  Tribes  and 
Castes  N.  W.F.  and  Oudh,  ii.  37  ;  Russell,  Tribes  and  Castes  Central  Provinces, 
i.  380  ;   BG,  V.  37  f.] 

*  [About  45  miles  S.  of  Umarkot.] 


BRAHMANS  :  RABARI  AND  JAT  TRIBES         1297 

indispensable  in  more  civilized  regions.  Indeed,  all  classes  of 
Hindus  throughout  Sind  will  partake  of  food  dressed  in  the  sarai, 
or  inn,  by  the  hands  of  the  Bhathiyarin.  They  use  indiscrimin- 
ately each  other's  vessels,  without  any  process  of  purification 
but  a  little  sand  and  water.  They  do  not  even  burn  their  dead, 
but  bury  them  near  the  threshold  ;  and  those  who  can  afford  it, 
raise  small  chabutras,  or  altars,  on  which  they  place  an  image  of 
Siva,  and  a  ghara,  or  jar  of  water.  The  jaiieo,  or  thread  which 
marks  the  sacerdotal  character  in  Hindustan,  is  common  in  these 
regions  to  all  classes,  with  the  exception  of  Kolis  and  Lohanas. 
This  practice  originated  with  their  governors,  in  order  to  dis- 
criminate them  from  those  who.  have  to  perform  the  most  servile 
duties.^ 

The  Rabari  Tribe. — This  term  is  known  throughout  Hindustan 
only  as  denoting  persons  employed  in  rearing  and  tending  camels, 
who  are  there  always  Muslims.  Here  they  are  a  distinct  tribe, 
and  Hindus,  employed  entirely  in  rearing  camels,  or  in  stealing 
them,  in  which  they  evince  a  peculiar  dexterity,  uniting  with  the 
Bhattis  in  the  practice  as  far  as  Daudputra.  When  they  come 
upon  a  herd  grazing,  the  boldest  and  most  experienced  strikes 
his  lance  into  the  first  he  reaches,  then  dips  a  cloth  in  the  blood, 
which  at  the  end  of  his  lance  he  thrusts  close  to  the  nose  of  the 
next,  and  wheeling  about,  sets  off  at  speed,  followed  by  the  whole 
herd,  lured  by  the  scent  of  blood  and  the  example  of  their  leader.^ 

Jat  Tribes. — Jakhar,  Asaich,  Punia  are  all  denominations  of 
the  Jat  race,  a  few  of  whom  preserve  under  these  ancient  sub- 
divisions their  old  customs  and  religion  ;  but  the  greater  part 
are  among  the  converts  to  Islam,  and  retain  the  generic  name, 
pronounced  Zjat.  Those  enumerated  are  harmless  and  in- 
dustrious, and  are  found  both  in  the  desert  and  vaUey.  There 
are  besides  these  a  few  scattered  families  of  ancient  tribes  [322], 
as  the  Sultana  ^  and  Khumra,  of  whose  history  we  are  ignorant, 

^  [These  desert  Biahmans,  v/hose  laxity  of  custom  is  notorious,  have  no 
connexion  with  other  orthodox  Brahmans,  and  are  probably  priests  or 
medicine-men  who  now  claim  that  rank.] 

2  [Census  Report,  Bombay,  1911,  i.  298.] 

'  Abu-1  Fazl,  in  describing  the  province  of  Bajaur,  inhabited  by  the 
Yusufzais,  says  :  "  The  whole  of  the  tract  [Swat]  of  hUl  and  plain  is  the 
domain  of  the  Yiisufzai  clan.  In  the  time  of  Mirza  Ulugh  Beg  of  Kabul, 
they  migrated  from  Kabul  to  this  territorj^  and  wrested  it  from  the  Sultans 
who  affected  to  be  descendants  of  Alexander  Bicornutus  "  {Aln,  ii.  392  f.). 
Mr.  Elphinstone  inquired  in  vain  for  this  offspring  of  Alexander  the  Great. 


1298  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Johyas,   Sindhals,   and  others,  whose  origin  has  already  been 
noticed  in  the  Annals  of  Manisthali. 

We  shall  now  leave  this  general  account  of  the  Hindu  tribes, 
who  throughout  Sind  are  subservient  to  the  will  of  the  Muhamma- 
dan,  who  is  remarkable,  as  before  observed,  for  intolerance. 
The  Hindu  is  always  second  :  at  the  well,  he  must  wait  patiently 
until  his  tyrant  has  filled  his  vessel ;  or  if,  in  cooking  his  dinner, 
a  Muslim  should  require  fire,  it  must  be  given  forthwith,  or  the 
shoe  would  be  applied  to  the  Hindu's  head. 

The  Sahariya  Tribe. — The  Sahariya  is  the  most  numerous  of 
the  Muhammadan  tribes  of  the  desert,  said  to  be  Hindu  in  origin, 
and  descendants  of  the  ancient  dynasty  of  Aror  ;  but  whether 
his  descent  is  derived  from  the  dynasty  of  Siharas  (written  Sahir 
by  Pottinger),  or  from  the  Arabic  word  sahra,  '  a  desert,'  of 
which  he  is  the  terror,  is  of  very  little  moment.^ 

The  Khosa  Tribe. — The  Kosas  or  Khosas,  etc.,  are  branches 
of  the  Sahariya,  and  their  habits  are  the  same.  They  have 
reduced  their  mode  of  rapine  to  a  system,  and  established  kuri, 
or  blackmail,  consisting  of  one  rupee  and  five  daris  of  grain  for 
every  plough,  exacted  even  from  the  hamlets  of  the  shepherds 
throughout  the  thai.  Their  bands  are  chiefly  mounted  on  camels, 
though  some  are  on  horseback  ;  their  arms  are  the  sel  or  sang 
(lances  of  bamboo  or  iron),  the  sword  and  shield,  and  but  few 
firearms.  Their  depredations  used  to  be  extended  a  hundred 
coss  around,  even  into  Jodhpur  and  Daudputra,  but  they  eschew 
coming  in  contact  with  the  Rajput,  who  says  of  a  Sahariya, 
"  he  is  sure  to  be  asleep  when  the  battle  nakkara  beats."  Their 
chief  abode  is  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  desert  ;  and  about 
Nawakot,  Mitti,  as  far  as  Baliari.-  Many  of  them  used  to  find 
service  at  Udaipur,  Jodhpur,  and  Suigam,  but  they  are  cowardly 
and  faithless. 

The  Samaicha  Tribe. — Samaicha  is  one  of  the  nayyad,  or 
proselytes  to  Islam  from  the  Sodha  race,  and  luunerous  both  in 
the  thai  and  the  valley,  where  they  have  many  puras  or  hamlets. 
They  resemble  the  Dhatis  in  their  habits,  but  many  of  them 
associate  with  the  Sahariyas,  and  plunder  their  brethren.     They 

^  [These  derivations  are  impossible  ;  the  name  is  possibly  connected 
with  that  of  the  Savara  tribe.] 

'  [Nawakot  and  Mitti  in  the  interior  of  'I'liar-Parkar  ;  iialiari  on  the 
shore  of  the  Great  llann.] 


THE  TRIBES  OF  THE  DESERT  1299 

never  shave  or  touch  the  hair  of  their  heads,  and  consequently 
look  more  hke  brutes  than  human  beings.  They  allow  no  animal 
to  die  of  disease,  but  kill  it  when  they  think  there  are  no  hopes  of 
recovery.  The  Samaicha  women  have  the  reputation  of  being 
great  scolds,  and  never  veil  their  faces  [323], 

The  Bajar  Tribe. — They  are  said  to  be  of  Bhatti  descent,  and 
confine  their  haunts  to  the  desert,  or  the  borders  of  Jaisalmer, 
as  at  Ramgarh,  Kiala,  Jarela,  etc.  ;  and  the  thai  between  Jaisalmer 
and  Upper  Sind  :  they  are  cultivators,  shepherds,  and  thieves, 
and  are  esteemed  amongst  the  very  worst  of  the  converts  to 
Muhammadanism.^ 

The  Umar  Siimra  Tribe. — Umars  and  Sumras  are  from  the 
Pramar  or  Puar  race,  and  are  now  chiefly  in  the  ranks  of  the 
faithful,  though  a  few  are  to  be  found  in  Jaisalmer  and  in 
the  thai  called  after  them  ;  of  whom  we  have  already  said 
enough.^ 

The  Kalhora,  Talpuri  Tribes. — Kalhora  and  Talpuri  are  tribes 
of  celebrity  in  Sind,  the  first  having  furnished  the  late,  and  the 
other  its  present,  dynasty  of  rulers  ;  and  though  the  one  has  dared 
to  deduce  its  origin  from  the  Abbasides  of  Persia,  and  the  other 
has  even  advanced  pretensions  to  descent  from  the  Prophet,  it  is 
asserted  that  both  are  alike  Baloch,  who  are  said  to  be  essentially 
Jat  or  Gete  in  origin.  The  Talpuris,  who  have  their  name  from 
the  town  {pura)  of  palms  {tal  or  tar),  are  said  to  amount  to  one- 
fourth  of  the  population  of  Lori  or  Little  Sind,  which  misnomer 
they  affix  to  the  dominion  of  Haidarabad.  There  are  none  in 
the  thai. 

Niimri,  Lumri,  or  Luka  Tribe. — This  is  also  a  grand  subdivision 
of  the  Baloch  race,  and  is  mentioned  by  Abu-1  Fazl  as  ranking 
next  to  the  Kulmani,  and  being  able  to  bring  into  the  field  three 
hundred  cavalry  and  seven  thousand  infantry.  Gladwin  has 
rendered  the  name  Nomurdy,  and  is  followed  by  Rennel.^  The 
Nmnris,  or  Lumris,  also  styled  Luka,  a  still  more  familiar  term 
for  fox,*  are  likewise  affirmed  to  be  Jat  in  origin.  What  is  the 
etymology  of  the  generic  term  Baloch,  which  they  have  assumed? 

^  [The  Rajar  are  recorded  as  a  section  of  the  Saman,  an  aboriginal  tribe 
in  Sind  (Census  Report,  Bombay,  1911,  i.  233).] 
2  [See  Elliot-Dowson  i.  489.] 
'  (The  true  reading  is  Nohmardi  (Ain,  ii.  337).] 
*  [Cf.  Hindi  lokri  or  lokhri.] 


1300  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

or  whether  thej'  took  it  from,  or  gave  it  to,  Baluchistan,  some 
future  inquirer  into  these  subjects  may  discover.^ 

The  Zott  ^  or  Jat  Tribe. — This  very  original  race,  far  more 
numerous  than  perhaps  all  the  Rajput  tribes  put  together,  still 
retains  its  ancient  appellation  throughout  Llic  whole  of  Sind, 
from  the  sea  to  Daudputra,  but  there  are  few  or  none  in  the  thai. 
Their  habits  differ  little  from  those  who  surround  them.  They 
are  amongst  the  oldest  converts  to  Islam. 

The  Mer,  Mair  Tribe. — We  should  scarcely  have  expected  to 
find  a  mountaineer  (niera)  in  the  valley  of  Sind,  but  their  Bhatti 
origin  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  term,  as  Jaisalmer  is  termed 
Mer.8 

The  Mor,  Mohor  Tribe. — Said  to  be  also  Bhatti  in  origin.* 

The  Tawari,  Thori,  or  Tori  Tribe. — These  engross  the  distinctive 
epithet  of  bli^it,  or  '  evil  spirits,'  and  the  yet  more  emphatic  title 
of  '  sons  of  the  devil.'  Their  origin  is  doubtful,  but  [324]  they 
rank  with  the  Bawariyas,  Khengars,  and  other  professional  thieves 
scattered  over  Rajputana,  who  will  bring  you  either  your  enemy's 
head  or  tlie  turban  from  it.  They  are  found  in  the  thols  of 
Daudputra,  Bijnot,  Nok,  Nawakot,  and  Udar.  They  are  pro- 
prietors of  camels,  M'^hich  they  hire  out,  and  also  find  employment 
as  convoys  to  caravans. 

Johya,  Dahya,  Mangalia  Tribes. — Once  found  amongst  the 
Rajput  tribes,  now  proselytes  to  Islam,  but  few  in  number  either 
in  the  valley  or  the  desert.  There  are  also  Bairawis,  a  class  of 
Baloch,  Khairawis,  Jangrias,  Undars,  Bagrias,  descended  from 
the  Pramar  and  Sankhla  Rajputs,  but  not  possessing,  either  in 
respect  to  numbers  or  other  distinctive  marks,  any  claims  on  our 
attention. 

Daudputra,  Bahawalpur  State. — ^This  petty  State,  though 
beyond  the  pale  of  Hinduism,  yet  being  but  a  recent  formation 

^  [Max  Miiller  derived  Baloch  from  Skt.  mUchchJia,  '  a  barbarian,'  but 
this  is  doubtful.] 

*  [Zott  is  the  Arabic  fr)rm  of  Jat  or  Jat  (Sykcs,  Hist,  of  Persia,  ii.  79).] 

^  [The  ascription  of  Bhatti  origin  to  tiie  Mere  is  obviously  intended  to 
correspond  with  the  assertion  that  they  arc  a  branch  of  the  Mina  or  Maina 
tribe  (Elliot-Dowson  i.  523  f.).] 

*  [In  the  Panjab  Mor  is  the  name  of  a  Jat  sept  which  worship  the  peacock 
{mor)  because  it  is  said  to  have  saved  their  ancestor  from  a  snake  (Rose, 
Glossary,  iii.  129).  There  was  a  settlement  of  this  tribe  at  Sarangpur  on  the 
Kali  Sind  River  {ASR,  ii.  228).] 


DADDPUTRA,  BAHAWALPUR  state     1301 

out  of  the  Bhatti  State  of  Jaisalmer,  is  strictly  within  the  Umits 
of  Marusthah.  Little  is  known  regarding  the  family  who  founded 
it,  and  we  shall  therefore  confine  ourselves  to  this  point,  which 
is  not  adverted  to  by  Mr.  Elphinstone,  who  may  be  consulted  for 
the  interesting  description  of  its  prince,  and  his  capital,  Bahawal- 
pur,  during  the  halt  of  the  embassy  to  Kabul. ^ 

Daud  Khan,  the  founder  of  Daudputra,  was  a  native  of 
Shikarpur,  west  of  the  Indus,  where  he  acquired  too  much  power 
for  a  subject,  and  consequently  drew  upon  himself  the  arms  of 
his  sovereign  of  Kandahar.  Unable  to  cope  with  them,  he 
abandoned  his  native  place,  passed  his  family  and  effects  across 
the  Indus,  and  followed  them  into  the  desert.  The  royal  forces 
pursued,  and  coming  up  with  him  at  Sutiala,  Daud  had  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  surrender,  or  destroy  the  families  who  impeded  his 
flight  or  defence.  He  acted  the  Rajput,  and  faced  his  foes  ;  who, 
appalled  at  this  desperate  act,  deemed  it  unwise  to  attack  him, 
and  retreated.  *  Daud  Khan,  with  his  adherents,  then  settled  in 
the  kachhi,  or  flats  of  Sind,  and  gradually  extended  his  authority 
into  the  thai.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mubarik  Khan  ;  he,  by  his 
nephew  Bahawal  Khan,  whose  son  is  Sadik  Muhammad  Ivhan, 
the  present  lord  of  Bahawalpur,  or  Daudputra,  a  name  applied 
both  to  the  country  and  to  its  possessors, "  the  children  of  David."  ^ 
It  was  Mubarik  who  deprived  the  Bhattis  of  the  district  called 
Khadal,  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Annals  of  Jaisalmer,  and  whose 
chief  town  is  Derawar,  founded  by  Rawal  Deoraj  in  the  eighth 
century  ;  and  where  the  successor  of  Daud  established  his  abode. 
Derawar  was  at  that  time  inhabited  by  a  branch  of  the  Bhattis, 
broken  off  at  a  very  early  period,  its  chief  holding  the  title  of 
Rawal,  and  whose  family  since  their  expulsion  have  resided  at 
Ghariala,  belonging  to  Bikaner,  on  [325]  an  allowance  of  five 
rupees  a  day,  granted  by  the  conqueror.  The  capital  of  the 
"  sons  of  David  "  was  removed  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Gara 
by  Bahawal  Khan  (who  gave  it  his  name),  to  the  site  of  an  old 

^  [Account  of  the  Kingdom  of  Caubul,  2nd  ed.  (1842)  i.  22  ff.  For  a 
full  account  of  the  Abbasi  Daudputras  of  Bahawalpur  see  the  State  Gazetteer 
by  Malik  Muhammad  Din  (1908),  i.  47  ff.)-] 

2  [The  succession  runs:  Bahawaf  Khan  II.  (a.d.  1772-1809);  Sadik 
Muhammad  Khan  (1809-25) ;  Muhammad  Bahawal  Khan  III.  (1825-52) ; 
Sadik  Muhammad  Khan  II.  (1853-58) ;  Muhammad  Bahawal  Khan  IV. 
(1858-66) ;   Sadik  Muhammad  Khan  III.,  a  minor,  installed  in  1879.] 


1302  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Bhatti  city,  whose  name  I  could  not  learn.  About  thirty  years 
ago  ^  an  army  from  Kandahar  invaded  Daudputra,  invested  and 
took  Derawar,  and  compelled  Bahawal  Khan  to  seek  protection 
with  the  Bhattis  at  Bikampur,  A  negotiation  for  its  restoration 
took  place,  and  he  once  more  pledged  his  submission  to  the 
Abdali  king,  and  having  sent  his  son  Mubarik  Khan  as  a  hostage 
and  guarantee  for  the  liquidation  of  the  imposition,  the  army 
withdrew.  Mubarik  continued  three  years  at  Kabul,  and  was 
at  length  restored  to  liberty  and  made  Khan  of  Bahawalpur,  on 
attempting  which  he  was  imprisoned  by  his  father,  and  confined 
in  the  fortress  of  Khangarh,  where  he  remained  nearly  until 
Bahawal  Khan's  death.  A  short  time  previous  to  this,  the 
principal  chiefs  of  Daudputra,  namely,  Badera  Khairani,  chief 
of  Mozgarh,  Khudabakhsh  of  Traihara,  Ikhtiyar  Khan  of  Garhi, 
and  Haji  Khan  of  Uchh,  released  Mubarik  Khan  from  Khangarh 
and  they  had  reached  Murara,  when  tidings  arrived  of  the  death 
of  Bahawal  Khan.  He  continued  his  route  to  tbe  capital  ;  but 
Nasir  Khan,  son  of  Alam  Khan,  Gurgecha  (Baloch),  having 
formerly  injured  him  and  dreading  punishment,  had  him  assassin- 
ated, and  placed  his  brother,  the  present  chief,  Sadik  Muhammad, 
on  the  masnad  :  who  immediately  shut  up  his  nephews,  the  sons 
of  Mubarik,  together  with  his  younger  brothers,  in  the  fortress 
of  Derawar.  They  escaped,  raised  a  force  of  Rajputs  and  Purbias, 
and  seized  upon  Derawar  ;  but  Sadik  escaladed  it,  the  Purbias 
made  no  defence  [326],  and  both  his  brothers  and  one  nephew  were 
slain.  The.  other  nephew  got  over  the  wall,  but  was  seized  by  a 
neighbouring  chief,  surrendered,  and  slain  ;  and  it  is  conjectured 
the  whole  was  a  plot  of  Sadik  Khan  to  afford  a  pretext  for  their 
death.  Nasir  Khan,  by  whose  instigation  he  obtained  the 
masnad,  was  also  put  to  death,  being  too  powerful  for  a  subject. 
But  the  Khairani  lords  have  always  been  plotting  against  their 
liege  ;  an  instance  of  which  has  been  given  in  the  Annals  of 
Bikaner,  when  Traihara  and  Mozgarh  were  confiscated,  and  the 
chiefs  sent  to  the  castle  of  Khangarh,  the  State  prison  of  Daud- 
jmtra.  Garhi  still  belongs  to  Abdulla,  son  of  Haji  Khan,  but  no 
territory  is  annexed  to  it.  Sadik  Muhammad  has  not  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  father,  whom  Bijai  Singh,  of  Marwar,  used  to  style  his 
brother.  The  Daudputras  are  much  at  variance  amongst  each 
other,  and  detested  by  the  Bhattis,  from  whom  they  have  hitherto 
1  This  memorandum  was  written,  I  think,  in  1811  or  1812. 


DISEASES  IN  THE  DESERT  1303 

exacted  a  tribute  to  abstain  from  plunder.  The  fear  of  Kandahar 
no  longer  exists  at  Bahawalpur,  whose  chief  is  on  good  terms 
with  his  neighbour  of  Upper  Sind,  though  he  is  often  alarmed  by 
the  threats  of  Ranjit  Singh  of  Lahore,  who  asserts  supremacy- 
over  "  the  children  of  David." 

Diseases. — Of  the  numerous  diseases  to  which  the  inhabitants 
of  the  desert  are  subjected,  from  poor  and  unwholesome  diet,  and 
yet  more  unwholesome  drink,  rataundha  or  night-blindness,  the 
tiarua  or  Guinea-worm,  and  varicose  veins,  are  the  most  common. 
The  first  and  last  are  mostly  confined  to  the  poorer  classes,  and 
those  who  are  compelled  to  walk  a  great  deal,  when  the  exertion 
necessary  to  extricate  the  limbs  from  deep  sand,  acting  as  a 
constant  drag  upon  the  elasticity  of  the  fibres,  occasions  them 
to  become  ruptured.  Yet  such  is  the  force  of  habit  that  the 
natives  of  Dhat  in  my  service,  who  had  all  their  lives  been  plying 
their  limbs  as  kasids,  or  carriers  of  dispatches,  between  all  the 
cities  on  the  Indus  and  in  Rajputana,  complained  of  the  firmer 
footing  o£  the  Indian  plains,  as  more  fatiguing  than  that  of  their 
native  sandhills.  But  I  never  was  a  convert  to  the  Dhati's 
reasoning  ;  with  all  his  simplicity  of  character,  even  in  this  was 
there  vanity,  for  his  own  swelled  veins,  which  could  be  compared  to 
nothing  but  rattans  twisted  round  the  calf  of  his  limbs,  if  they  did 
not  belie  his  assertion,  at  least  proved  that  he  had  paid  dearly  for 
his  pedestrianism  in  the  desert  [327].  From  the  narua,  or  Guinea- 
worm,  there  is  no  exemption,  from  the  prince  to  the  peasant,  and 
happy  is  the  man  who  can  boast  of  only  one  trial.  The  disease  is 
not  confined  to  the  desert  and  western  Rajputana,  being  far  from 
uncommon  in  the  central  States  ;  but  beyond  the  Aravalli  the 
question  of  "  How  is  your  narua  ?  "  is  almost  a  general  form  of 
greeting,  so  numerous  are  the  sufferers  from  this  malady.  It 
generally  attacks  the  limbs  and  the  integuments  of  the  joints, 
when  it  is  excruciating  almost  past  endurance.  Whether  it  arises 
from  animalculae  in  sand  or  water,  or  porous  absorption  of  minute 
particles  imbued  with  the  latent  vital  principle,  the  natives  are 
not  agreed.  But  the  seat  of  the  disease  appears  immediately 
under  and  adhesive  to  the  skin,  on  which  it  at  first  produces  a 
small  speck,  which,  gradually  increasing  and  swelling,  at  length 
reaches  a  state  of  inflammation  that  affects  the  whole  system. 
The  worm  then  begins  to  move,  and  as  it  attains  the  degree  of 
vitality  apparently  necessary  for  extricating  itself,  its  motions 


1304  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

are  unceasing,  and  night  and  day  it  gnaws  the  unhappy  patient, 
who  only  exists  in  the  hope  of  daily  seeing  the  head  of  his  enemy 
pierce  the  cuticle.  This  is  the  moment  for  action  :  the  skilful 
narua-docior  is  sent  for,  who  seizes  upon  the  head  of  the  worm, 
and  winding  it  round  a  needle  or  straw,  employs  it  as  a  windlass, 
which  is  daily  set  in  motion  at  a  certain  hour,  when  they  wind  out 
as  much  line  as  they  can  without  the  risk  of  breaking  it.  Unhappy 
the  wretch  whom  this  disaster  befalls,  when,  happening  to  fall 
into  a  feverish  slumber,  he  kicks  the  windlass,  and  snajis  the 
living  thread,  which  creates  tenfold  inflammation  and  suppuration. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  by  patience  and  skill  it  is  extracted  entire, 
he  recovers.  I  should  almost  imagine,  when  the  patriarch  of 
Uz  exclaims,  "  My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms  :  my  skin  is  broken 
and  become  loathsome.  When  I  lie  down,  I  say,  when  shall  I 
arise  and  the  night  be  gone  ?  "  that  he  must  have  been  alflicted 
with  the  narua,  than  which  none  of  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to 
can  be  more  agonizing.^ 

They  have  the  usual  infantine  and  adult  diseases,  as  in  the  rest 
of  India.  Of  these  the  sitala,  or  '  smallpox,'  and  the  tijari,  or 
'  tertian,'  are  the  most  common.  For  the  first,  they  merely 
recommend  the  little  patient  to  Sitala  Mata  ;  and  treat  the  other 
with  astringents  in  which  infusion  of  the  rind  of  the  pomegranate 
is  always  (when  procurable)  an  ingredient.  The  rich,  as  in  other 
countries,  are  under  the  dominion  of  empirics,  who  entail  worse 
diseases  by  administering  mineral  poisons,  of  whose  effects  they  are 
ignorant.  Enlargement  of  the  spleen  imder  tlie  influence  of  these 
fevers  is  very  common,  and  its  cure  is  mostly  the  actual  cautery. 

Famines. — Famine  is,  however,  the  grand  natural  disease  of 

^  My  friend  Dr.  Joseph  Duncan  (attached  to  the  Residency  when  I  was 
Political  Agent  at  Udaipur)  was  attacked  by  the  narua  in  a  very  aggravated 
form.  It  fixed  itself  in  the  ankle-jouit,  and  being  broken  in  the  attempt  to 
extricate  it,  was  attended  by  all  the  evil  results  1  have  described,  endnig  in 
lameness,  and  generally  impaired  health,  which  obliged  him  to  visit  the 
Cape  for  recovery,  where  I  saw  hira  on  my  way  home  eighteen  montLs  after, 
but  he  had  even  then  not  altogether  recovered  from  the  lameness.  [Guinea- 
worm  (Dracontiasis),  a  disease  duo  to  the  Filaria  medinensis  or  Dracunculus, 
known  in  Persia  as  rishtah,  infests  the  Persian  Gulf  and  many  parts  of 
India.  See  Curzon,  Per.sta,  ii.  234  ;  Fryer,  Netv  Accoutit  of  Eusl  India  and 
Persia,  ed.  1912,  i.  175;  Sleeman,  Bambles,  76;  Asiatic  Researches,  vi. 
58  ff.  ;  EB,  11th  ed.  xix.  361.  The  disease  from  which  Job  suffered  (Job 
ii.  7)  is  generally  believed  to  be  elephantiasis  (A.  B.  Davidson,  The  Book 
of  Job,  13).] 


DISEASES  IN  THE  DESERT  1305 

these  regions,  whose  legendary  stanzas  teem  with  records  of  visita- 
tions of  Bhukhi  Mata,  the  '  famished  mother,'  from  the  remotest 
times.  Tliat  which  is  best  authenticated  in  the  traditions  of 
several  of  these  States,  occurred  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  con- 
tinued during  twelve  years  !  It  is  erroneously  connected  with 
the  name  of  Lakha  Phulani,  who  was  the  personal  foe  of  Siahji, 
the  first  Rathor  emigrant  from  Kanauj,  and  who  slew  this  Robin 
Hood  of  the  desert  in  S.  1268  (a.d.  1212).  Doubtless  the  desicca- 
tion of  the  Ghaggar  River,  in  the  time  of  Hamir  Sodha,  nearly  a 
century  before,  must  have  been  the  cause  of  this.  Every  third 
year  they  calculate  upon  a  partial  visitation,  and  in  1812  one 
commenced  which  lasted  three  or  four  years,  extending  even  to 
the  central  States  of  India,  when  flocks  of  poor  creatures  found 
their  way  to  the  provinces  on  the  Ganges,  selling  their  infants,  or 
parting  with  their  own  liberty,  to  sustain  existence.^ 

Productions,  Animal  and  Vegetable. — The  camel,  '  the  ship  of 
the  desert,'  deserves  the  first  mention.  There  he  is  indispensable  ; 
he  is  yoked  to  the  plough,  draws  water  from  the  well  [328],  bears 
it  for  his  lordly  master  in  mashaks,  or  '  skins,'  in  the  passage  of 
the  desert,  and  can  dispense  with  it  himself  altogether  during 
several  days.  This  quality,  the  formation  of  his  hoof,  which  has 
the  property  of  contracting  and  expanding  according  to  the  soil, 
and  the  induration  of  his  mouth,  into  which  he  draws  by  his 
tongue  the  branches  of  the  babul,  the  khair,  and  jawas,  with  their 
long  thorns,  sharp  and  hard  as  needles,  attest  the  beneficence  of 
tlie  Supreme  Artist.  It  is  singular  that  the  Arabian  patriarch, 
who  so  accurately  describes  the  habits  of  various  animals,  domestic 
and  ferocious,  and  who  was  himself  lord  of  three  thousand  camels, 
should  not  have  mentioned  the  peculiar  properties  of  the  camel, 
though  in  alluding  to  the  incapacity  of  the  unicorn  (rhinoceros) 
for  the  plough,  he  seems  indirectly  to  insinuate  the  use  of  others 
besides  the  ox  for  tliis  purpose.  The  camels  of  the  desert  are  far 
superior  to  those  of  the  plains,  and  those  bred  in  the  thals  of  Dhat 
and  Barmer  are  the  best  of  all.  The  Rajas  of  Jaisalmer  and 
Bikaner  have  corps  of  camels  trained  for  war.^     That  of  the 

^  [Since  this  was  written  Rajputana  has  suffered  from  terrible  famines 
in  1868-69,  1877-78,  1891-92,  and  1899-1900,  besides  several  seasons  of 
scarcity.] 

2  [These  camel  corps  have  been  placed  at  the  service  of  the  Indian 
Government,  and  have  done  excellent  service  in  several  recent  campaigns.] 
VOL.  Ill  B 


1306  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

former  State  is  two  hundred  strong,  eighty  of  which  belong  to  the 
prince  ;  the  rest  arc  the  quotas  of  his  chiefs  ;  but  how  they  are 
rated,  or  in  what  ratio  to  the  horsemen  of  tlie  otlicr  principahties, 
I  never  tliought  of  inquiring.  Two  men  are  mounted  on  each 
camel,  one  facing  the  head,  the  other  the  rear,  and  they  are 
famous  in  a  retreating  action  :  but  when  compelled  to  come  to 
close  quarters,  they  make  the  camel  kneel  down,  tie  his  legs,  and 
retiring  behind,  make  a  breastwork  of  his  body,  resting  the  match- 
lock over  the  pack-saddle.  There  is  not  a  shrub  in  the  desert  that 
does  not  serve  the  camel  for  fodder. 

The  Wild  Ass. — Khar-gadha,  Gorkhar,  or  the  wild  ass,^  is  an 
inhabitant  of  the  desert,  but  most  abounds  in  the  southern  part, 
about  Dhat,  and  the  deep  rui  which  extends  from  Barmer  to 
T?ankasar  and  Baliari,  along  the  north  bank  of  the  great  Rann,  or 
'  salt  desert.' 

Rojh  or  Nilgae,  Lions,  etc. — The  noble  species  of  the  deer,  the 
nilgae,  is  to  be  met  with  in  numerous  parts  of  the  desert ;  and 
although  it  enjoys  a  kind  of  immunity  from  the  Rajput  of  the 
plains,  who  may  hunt,  but  do  not  eat  its  flesh,  here,  both  for  food 
and  for  its  hide,  it  is  of  great  use.^  Of  the  other  wild  animals 
common  to  India  they  have  the  tiger,  fox,  jackal,  hare,  and  also 
the  nobler  animal,  the  lion. 

Domestic  Animals. — Of  domestic  animals,  as  horses,  oxen,  cows, 
sheep,  goats,  asses,  there  is  no  want,  and  even  the  last  mentioned 
is  made  to  go  in  the  plough. 

Flocks  (here  termed  chang)  of  goats  and  sheep  are  pastured  in 
vast  numbers  in  the  desert.  It  is  asserted  that  the  goat  can 
subsist  without  water  from  the  month  of  Karttik  to  the  middle  of 
Chait,  the  autumnal  to  the  spring  equinox  [329] — apparently  an 
impossibility :  though  it  is  well  known  that  they  can  dispense 
with  it  during  six  weeks  when  the  grasses  are  abundant.  In  the 
tfials  of  Daudputra  and  Bhattipo,  they  remove  to  the  flats  of 
Sind  in  the  commencement  of  the  hot  weather.     The  shepherds, 

^  [The  wild  ass  (Equus  hemionus)  seems  to  have  almost  entirely  disap- 
peared in  Jaisalmer.  It  is  seldom  seen  in  Marwar,  and  no  specimen  has 
appeared  in  Bikaner  for  many  years  (Erskine  iii.  A.  7,  50,  311  ;  Blanford, 
Mammalia  of  India,  470  f.)-  Herodotus  (vii.  86)  says  that  the  Indian 
chariots  in  the  army  of  Xerxes  were  drawn  by  horses  or  wild  asses.] 

*  [Nilgae,  Boselaphus  tragocamelus,  is  not  a  deer,  but  belongs  to  the  ordep 
Bovidae  (Blanford,  517  ff.).] 


ANIMALS  :  VEGETABLE  PRODUCTIONS  1307 

like  their  flocks,  go  without  water,  but  find  a  substitute  in  the 
chhachh,  or  buttermilk,  after  extracting  the  butter,  which  is  made 
into  ghi,  and  exchanged  for  grain,  or  other  necessaries.  Those 
who  pasture  camels  also  live  entirely  upon  their  milk,  and  the 
wild  fruits,  scarcely  ever  tasting  bread. 

Shrubs  and  Fruits. — We  have  often  had  occasion  to  mention 
the  kliair  or  karil ;  the  khejra,  whose  pod  converted,  when  dried, 
into  flour,  is  called  sangri  ;  the  jhal,  which  serves  to  hut  the 
shepherds,  and  in  Jeth  and  Baisakh  affords  them  fruit  ;  the  pilu, 
used  as  food  ;  ^  the  babul,  which  yields  its  medicinal  gum  ;  the 
ber,  or  jujube,  which  also  has  a  pleasant  fruit  ;  all  of  which  serve 
the  camel  to  browse  on,  and  are  the  most  common  and  most  useful 
of  the  shrubs  :  the  jazvas,  whose  expressed  juice  yields  a  gum 
used  in  medicine  ;  the  phog,  with  whose  twigs  they  line  their 
wells  ;  and  the  alkaline  plant,  the  sajji,  which  they  burn  for  its 
ashes.  Of  these,  the  first  and  last  are  worthy  of  a  more  detailed 
notice. 

The  karil,  or  khair  (the  capparis,  or  caper-bush),  is  well  known 
both  in  Hindustan  and  the  desert  :  there  they  use  it  as  a  pickle, 
but  here  it  is  stored  up  as  a  culinary  article  of  importance.  The 
bush  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  spreading  very  wide  ; 
there  are  no  leaves  on  its  evergreen  twig-like  branches,  which  bear 
a  red  flower,  and  the  fruit  is  about  the  size  of  a  large  black  currant. 
When  gathered,  it  is  steeped  for  twenty-four  hours  in  water,  which 
is  then  poured  off,  and  it  undergoes,  afterwards,  two  similar 
operations,  when  the  deleterious  properties  are  carried  off  ;  they 
are  then  boiled  and  eaten  with  a  little  salt,  or  by  those  who  can 
afford  it,  dressed  in  ghi  and  eaten  with  bread.  Many  families 
possess  a  stock  of  twenty  maunds. 

The  sajji  is  a  low,  bushy  plant,  chiefly  produced  in  the  northern 
desert,  and  most  abundant  in  those  tracts  of  Jaisalmer  called 
Khadal,  now  subject  to  Daudputra.  From  Pugal  to  Derawar, 
and  thence  by  Muridkot,  Ikhtyar  Khan-ki-garhi,  to  Khairpur 
(Dair  Ali),  is  one  extensive  thai,  or  desert,  in  which  there  are  very 
considerable  tracts  of  low,  hard  flat,  termed  chittram,^  formed  by 

^  [The  fruits  or  small  red  berries  of  the  pilu  {Salvadora  persica)  have  a 
strong  aromatic  smell  and  a  pungent  taste,  like  mustard  or  garden  cress, 
while  the  shoots  and  leaves  are  eaten  as  a  salad  (Watt,  Econ.  Diet.  vi.  Part  ii. 
449  ;   Bumes,  Trai^els  into  Bokhara,  iii.  122).] 

^  Chitlram,  the  name  applied  to  these  flats  of  hard  soil  (which  Mr.  Elphin- 


1308  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

the  lodgment  of  water  [330]  after  rain,  and  in  these  spots  only  is 
the  sajji  plant  produced.  The  salt,  which  is  a  sub-carbonate  of 
soda,  is  obtained  by  incineration,  and  the  process  is  as  follows  : 
Pits  are  excavated  and  fiUed  with  the  plant,  which,  when  fired, 
exudes  a  liquid  substance  that  falls  to  the  bottom.  While  burn- 
ing, they  agitate  the  mass  with  long  poles,  or  throw  on  sand  if  it 
burns  too  rapidly.  When  the  virtue  of  the  plant  is  extracted, 
the  pit  is  covered  with  sand,  and  left  for  three  days  to  cool  ;  the 
alkali  is  then  taken  out,  and  freed  from  its  impurities  by  some 
process.  The  purer  product  is  sold  at  a  rupee  the  ser  (two  pounds 
weight)  ;  of  the  other  upwards  of  forty  sers  are  sold  for  a  rupee. 
Both  Rajputs  and  Muhammadans  })ursue  this  employment,  and 
pay  a  duty  to  the  lord  paramount  of  a  copper  pice  on  every 
rupee's  worth  they  sell.  Charans  and  others  from  the  towns  of 
Marwar  purchase  and  transport  this  salt  to  the  different  marts, 
whence  it  is  distributed  over  all  parts  of  India.  It  is  a  consider- 
able article  of  commerce  with  Sind,  and  entire  caravans  of  it  are 
carried  to  Bakhar,  Tatta,  and  Cutch.  The  virtue  of  the  soda  is 
well  imderstood  in  culinary  purposes,  a  little  sajji  added  to  the 
hard  water  soon  softening  the  mess  of  pulse  and  rice  preparing  for 
their  meals  ;  and  the  tobacconists  use  considerable  quantities  in 
their  trade,  as  it  is  said  to  have  the  power  of  restoring  the  lost 
virtues  of  the  plant. 

Grasses. — Grasses  are  numerous,  but  unless  accompanied  by 
botanical  illustration,  their  description  would  possess  little  in- 
terest. There  is  the  gigantic  siwan,  or  siun,  classically  known  as 
the  kusn,  and  said  to  have  originated  the  name  of  Kusa,  the 
second  son  of  Rama,  and  his  race  the  Kachhwalia.  It  is  often 
eight  feet  in  height  ;  when  yoimg,  it  serves  as  provender  for 
animals,  and  when  more  mature,  as  thatch  for  the  huts,  while  its 
roots  supply  a  fibre,  converted  by  the  weavers  into  brushes  indis- 
pensable to  their  trade.  There  is  likewise  the  sarkanda,  the 
dhaman,  the  duba,  and  various  others  ;    besides  the  gokhru,  the 


stone  happily  describes,  by  saying  that  it  rings  under  the  horses'  hoofs  in 
marching  over  it),  is  literally  '  the  picture,'  from  the  circumstance  of  such 
spots  almost  constantly  presenting  the  mirage,  here  termed  chitlram.  How 
far  the  soil,  so  deeply  impregnated  with  alkaluie  matter,  maj'  tend  to 
heighten,  if  not  to  cause  this,  we  have  elsewhere  noted  in  a  general  account 
(if  this  optical  phenomenon  in  various  parts  of  northern  India. 


ITINERARY  1309 

papri,  and  the  hliarut,  which  adhering  to  their  garments,  are  the 
torment  of  travellers.^ 

Melons. — Of  the  cucurbitaceous  genus,  indigenous  to  the  desert, 
they  have  various  kinds,  from  the  gigantic  kharbuza  and  the 
chitra,  to  the  dwarf  guar.  The  tomato,  whose  Indian  name  I  have 
not  preserved,  is  also  a  native  of  these  regions,  and  well  known  in 
other  parts  of  India.-  We  shall  trespass  no  further  with  these 
details,  than  to  add,  that  the  botanical  names  of  all  such  trees, 
shrubs,  or  grains,  as  occur  in  this  work,  will  be  given  with  the 
general  Index,  to  avoid  unnecessary  repetition  [331]. 


ITINERARY  ^ 


Jaisalmer  to  Sehwan,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Indus,  and 
Haidarabad,  and  return  by  Umarkot  to  Jaisalmer 

Kuldra  (5  coss). — A  village  inhabited  by  Paliwal  Brahmans  ;  two 
hundred  houses  ;   wells. 

Gajia-ki-basti  (2  do.). — Sixty  houses  ;   chiefly  Brahmans  ;  wells. 

Khaba  (3  do.). — Three  hundred  houses  ;  chiefly  Brahmans  ;  a 
small  fort  of  four  bastions  on  low  hills,  having  a  garrison  of 
Jaisalmer. 

Kanohi  (5  do.).)  — An  assemblage  of  hamlets  of  four  or  five  huts 

Sum  (5  do.)./  on  one  spot,  about  a  mile  distant  from  each 
other,  conjointly  called  Sum,  having  a  burj  or  tower  for  de- 
fence, garrisoned  from  Jaisalmer  ;  several  large  wells,  termed 
beria  ;  inhabitants,  chiefly  Sindis  of  various  tribes,  pasture 
their  flocks,  and  bring  salt  and  khara  (natron)  from  Deo 
Chandeswar,  the  latter  used  as  a  mordant  in  fixing  colours, 
exported  to  all  parts.  Half-way  between  Sum  and  Mulana 
is  the  boundary  of  Jaisalmer  and  Sind. 

^  [Sarkanda,  Saccharum  sara  or  arundinaceum ;  dhaman,  Pennisetum 
cenchroides ;  dub,  Cynodon  dactylon  ;  gokhru,  Tribulus  lancigenosus  ;  bharut, 
Cenchrus  catharticus.] 

^  [The  tomato,  introduced  in  modern  times  into  India,  generally  called 
wildyati  baingan,  '  the  foreign  egg-plant.'] 

*  [Manj'  of  the  places  named  in  this  Itinerary  are  merely  temporary 
halting-places  in  the  desert,  which  do  not  appear  in  modem  maps.  Hence, 
in  several  cases,  the  transliteration  is  conjectural,  and  depends  on  the 
method  of  the  Author  in  the  case  of  well-known  locaUties.  A  series  of 
similar  routes  is  given  by  Lieut.  A.  H.  E.  Boileau,  Narrative  of  a  Tour 
through  Rajwara  in  1835  (Calcutta,  1837),  p.  192  ff.] 


1310 


SKEtCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 


Mulana  ^  (24  coss). — A  hamlet  of  fen  huts  ;  chiefly  Sindis  ;  situ- 
ated amidst  lofty  sandhills.  From  Sum,  the  lirst  half  of  the 
journey  is  over  alternate  sandhills,  rocky  ridges  (termed 
rnagra),  and  occasionally  plain  ;  for  the  next  three,  rocky 
ridges  and  sandhills  without  any  flats,  and  the  remaining  nine 
coss  a  succession  of  lofty  tibas.  In  all  this  space  of  twenty- 
four  coss  there  are  no  wells,  nor  is  a  drop  of  water  to  be  had 
but  after  rain,  when  it  collects  in  some  old  tanks  or  reservoirs, 
called  nadi  and  taba,  situated  half-way,  where  in  past  times 
there  was  a  town. 

It  is  asserted,  that  before  the  Muhammadans  conquered 
Sind  and  these  regions,  the  valley  and  desert  belonged  to 
Rajput  princes  of  the  Pramar  and  Solanki  tribes  ;  that  the 
whole  thai  (desert)  was  more  or  less  inhabited,  and  the  remains 
of  old  tanks  and  temples,  notwithstanding  the  drifting  of  the 
sands,  attest  the  fact.  Tradition  records  a  famine  of  twelve 
years'  duration  during  the  time  of  Lakha  Pliulani,  in  the 
twelfth  century,  which  depopulated  the  country,  when  the 
survivors  of  the  thai  fled  to  the  kachhi,  or  flats  of  the  Sind. 
There  are  throughout  still  many  oases  or  cultivated  patches, 
designated  by  the  local  terms  from  the  [332]  indispensable 
element,  water,  which  whether  springs  or  rivulets,  are  called 
ivah,  bah,  beria,  rar,  tar,  prefixed  by  the  tribe  of  those  pastur- 
ing, whether  Sodhas,  Rajars,  or  Samaichas.  The  inliabitants 
of  one  hamlet  will  go  as  far  as  ten  miles  to  cultivate  a  patch. 


Bhor  (2  do.). 
Palri  (8  do.). 
Rajar-ki-basti 

(2  do.). 
Hamlet  of  Rajars 

(2  do.). 


These  are  all  hamlets  of  about  ten  huts,  m- 
habited  by  Rajars,  who  cultivate  patches  of 
land  or  pasture  their  flocks  of  buffaloes, 
-  cows,  camels,  goats,  amidst  the  thai ;  at 
each  of  these  hamlets  there  are  plenty  of 
springs  ;  at  Rajar-ki-basti  there  is  a  pool 
called Mahadeo-ka-dah.  (Seep.  1263 above.) 
Deo  Chandcswar  Mahadco  (2  do.). — When  the  Sodha  princes  held 
sway  in  these  regions,  there  was  a  town  here,  and  a  temple  to 
Mahadeo,  the  ruins  of  which  still  exist,  erected  over  a  spring 
called  Suraj  kund,  or  fountain  of  the]  Sun.  The  Islamite 
destroyed  the  temple,  and  changed  the  name  of  the  spring  to 

^  There  are  two  routes  from  Mulana  to  Sehwan.     The  Dhati  went  the 
longest  on  account  of  water.     The  other  is  by  Sakrand,  as  follows  : 


Coss. 

Coss. 

Palri 

.       5 

Sakrand 

.        31 

Padshah-ki-basti 

G 

Nala  . 

.       OJ)  This 

Udani 

.      r> 

]\[akrand 

.       4 

appears 

Mitrao 

.      10 

Koka-ki-basti 

0 

■very 

Mir-ki-khoi 

(') 

The  Sind      . 

.      10 

circuit- 

Supari 

f) 

Sehwan 

.       OjJ 

ous. 

Kambhar-ka 

nala 

.       9 

Town  high  road  from  Upper  to  Lower  Sind. 


itlNERARY  1311 

Dinbawa,  or  '  wtttfers  of  the  faith.'  The  kund  is  small,  faced 
with  brick,  and  has  its  margin  planted  with  date  trees  and 
pomegranates,  and  a  Mulla,  or  priest  from  Sind,  resides  there 
and  receives  tribute  from  the  faithful.  For  twelve  coss 
around  this  spot  there  are  numerous  springs  of  water,  where 
the  Rajars  find  pasture  for  their  flocks,  and  patches  to  culti- 
vate. Their  huts  are  conical  like  the  wigwams  of  the  African, 
and  formed  by  stakes  tied  at  the  apex  and  covered  with  grass 
and  leaves,  and  often  but  a  large  blanket  of  camel's  hair 
stretched  on  stakes. 

Chandia-ki-basti  (2  coss). — Hamlet  inhabited  by  Muslims  of  the 
Chandia  tribe,  mendicants  who  subsist  on  the  charity  of  the 
traveller. 

Rajar-ki-basti     (2  do.).    ^ 

Samaicha-ki-do  (2  do.).       Purwas,  or  hamlets  of  shepherds,  Sa- 

Rajar         do.      (1  do.).  maichas,    Rajars,    and   others,    who 

Do.         do.      (2  do.).  are  all  migratory,  and  shift  with  their 

Do.         do.      (2  do.).  flocks  as  they  consume  the  pastures. 

Do.         do.      (2  do.).  There  is  plenty  of  water  in  this  space 

Do.         do.      (2  do.).  for  all  their  wants,  chiefly  springs. 

Do.'        do.      (2  do.).    ' 

Udhania  (7  do.).— Twelve  huts  ;  no  water  between  it  and  the  last 
hamlet. 

Nala  (5  do.). — Descent  from  the  thai  or  desert,  which  ceases  a  mile 
east  of  the  nala  or  stream,  said  to  be  the  same  which  issues 
from  the  Indus  at  Dara,  above  Rohri-Bakhar  ;  thence  it 
passes  east  of  Sohrab's  Khairpur,  and  by  Jinar  to  Bersia-ka- 
rar,  whence  there  is  a  canal  cut  to  Umarkot  and  Chor. 

Mitrao  (4  do.). — Village  of  sixty  houses,  inhabited  by  Baloch  ;  a 
thana,  or  post  here  from  Haidarabad  ;  occasional  low  sand- 
hills. 

MJr-ki-kui  (6  do.). — Three  detached  hamlets  of  ten  huts  each, 
inhabited  by  Aroras. 

Sheopuri  (3  do.).— One  hundred  and  twenty  houses,  chiefly 
Aroras  :  small  fort  of  six  bastions  to  the  south-east,  gar- 
risoned from  Haidarabad. 

Kamera-ka-Nala  (6  do.). — Tliis  nala  issues  from  the  Indus  between 
Kakar-ki-basti  and  Sakrand,  and  passes  eastward  ;  probably 
the  bed  of  an  old  canal,  with  which  the  country  is  everywhere 
intersected. 

Sakrand  (2  do.). — One  hundred  houses,  one-third  of  which  are 
Hindus  ;  patches  of  cultivation  ;  numerous  watercourses 
neglected  ;  everywhere  overgrown  with  jungle,  chiefly  jhau 
and  [333]  khejra  (tamarisk  and  acacia).  Cotton,  indigo,  rice, 
wheat,  barley,  peas,  grain,  and  maize  grow  on  the  banks  of 
the  watercourses. 

Jatui  (2  do.).— Sixty  houses  ;   a  nala  between  it  and  Jatui. 

Kazi-ka-Shahr  (4  do.). — Four  hundred  houses  ;  two  nalas 
intervene. 


1312  SIvETCII  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Miikeni  (4  coss). — Sixty  houses  ;   a  nala  between  it  and  Jatui. 

Kakar-ki-basti  (6  do.). — Sixteen  houses  ;  half-way  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  fortress  ;  three  canals  or  nalas  intervening  ;  the 
village  placed  upon  a  mound  four  miles  from  the  Indus,  whose 
waters  overflow  it  during  the  periodic  monsoon. 

Pura  or  Hamlet  (1  do.). — A  ferry. 

The  Indus  (1  do.).^ — Took  boat  and  crossed  to 

Sewan  or  Sehwan  (1^  do.). — A  town  of  twelve  hundred  houses  on 
the  right  bank,  belonging  to  Haidarabad  ^  [334.]. 

^  Sehwan  is  erected  on  an  elevation  witliin  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the 
river,  having  many  clumiis  of  trees,  especially  to  the  south.  The  houses  are 
built  of  clay,  often  three  stories  high,  with  wooden  pillars  supporting  the 
floors.  To  the  north  of  the  town  are  the  remains  of  a  very  ancient  and 
extensive  fortress,  sixty  of  its  bastions  being  still  visible  ;  and  in  the  centre 
the  vestiges  of  a  palace  still  known  as  Raja  Bhartrihari-ka-Mahall,  who  is 
said  to  have  reigned  here  when  driven  from  Ujjain  by  his  brother  Vikrama- 
ditya.  Although  centuries  have  flown  since  the  Hindus  had  any  power  in 
these  regions,  their  traditions  have  remained.  They  relate  that  Bhartrihari, 
the  eldest  son  of  Gandharap  Sen,  was  so  devoted  to  his  wife,  that  he  neglected 
the  affairs  of  government,  which  made  his  brother  expostulate  with  him. 
This  coming  to  his  wife's  ears,  she  insisted  on  the  banishment  of  Vikrama. 
Soon  after  a  celebrated  ascetic  reached  his  court,  and  pres(^nted  to  Bhartri- 
hari the  Amarphul,  or  '  fruit  of  immortality,'  the  reward  of  years  of  austere 
devotion  at  the  shrine  of  Mahadeo.  Bhartrihari  gave  it  to  his  wife,  who 
bestowed  it  on  an  elephant-driver,  her  paramour ;  he  to  a  comnion  prosti- 
tute, his  mistress  ;  who  expecting  to  be  highljr  rewarded  for  it,  carried  it 
to  the  raja.  Incensed  at  such  a  decided  proof  of  infidelity,  Bhartrihari, 
presenting  himself  before  his  queen,  asked  for  the  prize — she  had  lost  it. 
Having  produced  it,  she  was  so  overwhelmed  with  shame  that  she  rushed 
from  his  presence,  and  precipitating  herself  from  the  walls  of  the  palace, 
was  dashed  to  pieces.  Raja  Bhartrihari  consoled  himself  with  another 
wif(^  Rani  Pingula,  to  whoso  charms  he  in  like  manner  became  enslaved  ; 
but  experience  had  taught  him  suspicion.  Having  one  day  gone  a-hunting, 
his  huntsman  shot  a  deer,  whoso  doe  coming  to  the  spot,  for  a  short  tinio 
contemplated  the  body,  then  threw  herself  on  his  antlers  and  died.  The 
Shikari,  or  huntsman,  who  had  fallen  asleep,  was  killed  by  a  huge  snake. 
His  wife  came  to  seek  him,  supposing  him  still  asleep,  but  at  length  seeing 
he  was  dead,  she  collected  leaves,  dried  roods,  and  twigs,  and  having  made 
a  pyre,  placed  the  body  under  it ;  after  the  usual  perambulations  she  set 
fire  to,  and  perished  with  it.  The  raja,  who  witnessed  these  proceedings, 
went  home  and  conversed  witli  Pingulani  on  thes(>  extraordinary  Satis, 
especially  the  Shikari's,  which  he  called  unjiaralleled.  Pingulani  disputed 
the  point,  and  said  it  was  the  sacrifice  of  passion,  not  of  love  ;  had  it  been 
the  latter,  grief  would  have  required  no  pyre.  Some  time  after,  having 
again  gone  a-hunting,  Bhartrihari  recalled  this  conversation,  and  having 
slain  a  deer,  he  dij)ped  his  clothes  in  the  blood,  and  sent  them  by  a  confi- 
dential messenger  to  report  his  death  in  combat  with  a  tiger.  Pingulani 
heard  the  details ;  she  wept  not,  neither  did  she  sjieak,  but  prostrating 
herself  before  the  sun,  ceased  to  exist.     The  pyre  was  raised,  and  her 


ITINERARY  1313 


Sehwan  to  Haidarabad 

Jat-ki-basti  (2  coss). — The  word, /a/  or  jat  is  here  pronounced  Zjat. 
This  hamlet  '  basti,'  is  of  thirty  huts,  half  a  mile  from  the 
Indus  :  hills  close  to  the  village. 

reniains  were  consuming  outside  the  city  as  the  raja  returned  from  his 
excursion.  Hastening  to  the  spot  of  lamentation,  and  learning  the  fatal 
issue  of  his  artifice,  he  threw  off  the  trappings  of  sovereignty,  put  on  the 
pilgrim's  garb,  and  abandoned  Ujjam  to  Vikrama.  The  only  word  which 
he  uttered,  as  he  wandered  to  and  fro,  was  the  name  of  his  faithful  Pingulani ! 
"  Hae  Pmgula  !  Hae  Pingula  !  "  The  royal  pilgrim  at  length  fixed  his 
abode  at  Sehwan  ;  but  although  they  point  out  the  ruins  of  a  palace  still 
known  even  to  the  Islamite  as  the  Am-khass  of  Raja  Bhartrihari,  it  is  ad- 
mitted that  the  fortress  is  of  more  ancient  date.  There  is  a  mandir,  or 
shrine,  to  the  south  of  the  town,  also  called,  after  him,  Bhartri-ka-mandir. 
In  this  the  Islamite  has  deposited  the  mortal  remams  of  a  saint  named 
Lai  Pir  Shahbaz,  to  whom  they  attribute  their  victorious  possession  of 
Smd.^  The  cenotaph  of  this  saint,  who  has  the  character  of  a  proselyte 
Hindu,  is  in  the  centre  of  the  mandir,  and  surrounded  by  wooden  stakes. 
It  is  a  curious  spectacle  to  see  both  Islamite  and  Hindu  paying  their  devo- 
tions ui  the  same  place  of  worship ;  and  although  the  first  is  prohibited 
from  approaching  the  sacred  enceinte  of  the  Pir,  yet  both  adore  a  large 
salagram,  that  verniiculated  fossil  sacred  to  Vishnu,  placed  in  a  niche  in 
the  tomb.  The  fact  is  a  curious  one,  and  although  these  Islamite  adorers 
are  the  scions  of  conversion,  it  perhaps  shows  in  the  strongest  manner  that 
this  conversion  was  of  the  sword,  for,  generally  speaking,  the  converted 
Hindu  makes  the  most  bigoted  and  intolerant  Musalman.  My  faithful  and 
intelligent  emissaries,  Madari  Lai  and  the  Dhati,  brought  me  a  brick  from 
the  ruins  of  this  fortress  of  Sehwan.  It  was  about  a  cubit  in  length,  and  of 
symmetrical  breadth  and  thickness,  uncommonly  well  burnt,  and  rang  like 
a  beU.  They  also  brought  me  some  charred  wheat,  from  pits  where  it  had 
been  burned.  The  grams  were  entire  and  reduced  to  a  pure  carbon.  Tradi- 
tion is  again  at  work,  and  asserts  its  having  lam  there  for  some  thousand 
years.  There  is  very  little  doubt  that  this  is  the  site  of  one  of  the  antagonists 
of  the  Macedonian  conqueror,  perhaps  Mousikanos,^  or  Mukh-Sehwan,  the 
chief  of  Sehwan.  The  passage  of  the  Grecian  down  the  Indus  was  marked 
by  excesses  not  inferior  to  those  of  the  Ghaznavede  king  in  later  times,  and 
doubtless  they  fired  all  they  could  not  plunder  to  carry  to  the  fleet.  There 
is  also  a  Nanak-bara,  or  place  of  worship  sacred  to  Nanak,  the  great  apostle  of 
the  Sikhs,  placed  between  the  fortress  and  the  river.  Sehwan  is  mhabited 
by  Hindus  and  Islamites  in  equal  proportions  :  of  the  former,  the  mercantile 

^  [The  reference  is  to  Lai  Shahbaz,  Qalandar,  head  of  the  Jalali  order, 
who  died  at  Sehwan,  a.d.  1274.  For  a  full  account  see  R.  F.  Burton, 
Sindh,  2\l  f.] 

^  [Mousikanos  was  the  stiif-necked  king  of  Alor  or  Aror  who  opposed 
Alexander,  was  captured  and  executed  (Smith,  EHI,  100  f . ;  McCrindle, 
Alexander,  395).] 


1314  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Samaicha-ki-basti  (2|  coss). — Small  village. 

Lakhi  (2  J  do.). — Sixty  houses  ;    one  mile  and  a  half  from  the 

river  :    canal  on  the  north  side  of  the  village  ;    banks  well 

cultivated.     In  the  hills,  two  miles  west,  is  a  spot  sacred 

to  Parbati  and  Mahadeo,  where  are  several  springs,  three 

of  which  are  hot.^ 
Umri  (2  do.). — Twenty-five  houses,  half  a  mile  from  River  ;   the 

hills  not  lofty,  a  coss  west. 
Sumri  (3  do.). — Fifty  houses,  on  the  River  hills  ;   one  and  a  half 

coss  west. 
Sindu  or  San  (4  do.). — Two  hundred  houses  and  a  bazar,  two 

hundred  yards  from  the  River  ;  hills  one  and  a  half  coss  west. 
Manjhand  (4|  do.). — On  the  River  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses, 

considerable  trade  ;  hills  two  coss  west. 
Umar-ki-basti  (3  do.). — A  few  huts,  near  the  river. 
Sayyid-ki-basti  (3  do.). 
Shikarpur  (4  do.). — On  the  river  ;  crossed  to  the  east  side. 

tribe  of  Mahesri  from  Jaisalraer,  is  the  most  numerous,  and  have  been  fixed 
here  for  generations.-  There  are  also  many  Brahmans  of  the  Pokhania  ^ 
caste,  Siinars  or  goldsmiths,  and  other  Hindu  artisans  ;  of  the  Muslims  the 
Sayyid  is  said  to  be  the  most  numerous  class.  The  Hindus  are  the  monied 
men.  Cotton  and  indigo,  and  great  quantities  of  rice  in  the  husk  (paddy), 
grown  in  the  vicmage  of  Sehwan,  are  exported  to  the  ports  of  Tatta  and 
Karachi  Bandar  by  boats  of  considerable  burthen,  manned  entirely  by 
Muhammadans.  The  Hakim  of  Sehwan  is  sent  from  Haidarabad.  The 
range  of  mountains  which  stretch  from  Tatta  nearly  parallel  with  the  Indus, 
approaches  within  three  miles  of  Sehwan,  and  there  turns  otf  to  the  ngrth- 
west.  All  these  hills  are  inhabited  as  far  as  the  shrme  of  Hinglaj  Mata  ^ 
on  the  coast  of  Mekran  (placed  in  the  same  range)  by  the  Lumri,  or  Numri 
tribe,  who  though  styling  themselves  Baloch,  are  Jats  in  origin.* 

^  These  springs  are  frequented,  despite  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
the  route  from  the  savage  Numri,  by  numerous  Hmdu  pilgrims.  Two  of 
them  are  hot,  and  named  Suryakund  and  Chandrakund,  or  fountains  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  imbued  with  especial  virtues  ;  but  before  the  pilgrim 
can  reap  any  advantage  by  purification  in  their  waters,  he  must  undergo 
the  rite  of  confession  to  the  attendant  priests,  who,  through  intercession 
with  Mahadeo,  have  the  power  of  granting  absolution.  Should  a  sinner  bo 
so  hardened  as  to  plunge  in  without  undergoing  this  preparatory  ordeal,  he 
comes  out  covered  with  boils  !  !  !  This  is  a  curious  confirmation  that  the 
confessional  rite  is  one  of  very  ancient  usage  amongst  the  Hindus,  even  in 
the  days  of  Rama  of  Kosala. — See  Vol.  I.  p.  94. 


^  See  Annals  of  Jaisalmer,  Vol.  [I.  p.  1 250. 

^  This  famous  shrine  of  the  Hmdu  Gybele,  yet  frequented  by  numeroiis 
votaries,  is  nine  days'  journey  from  Tatta  by  Karachi  Bandar,  and  about 
nine  miles  from  the  seashore. 

3  These  are  the  Nomurdies  of  Rennel.     [See  p.  129!)  above.] 


ITINERARY  1315 

Haidarabad  (3  coss). — One  and  a  half  coss  from  the  river  Indus. 
Haidarabad  to  Nasarpur,  nine  coss  ;  to  Sheodadpur,  eleven 
do.  ;  to  Sheopuri,  seventeen  do.  ;  to  Rohri-Bakhar,  six 
do. — total  forty-three  coss. 

Haidarabad  via  Umarkot,  to  Jaisalmer 

Sindu  Khan  ki-basti  (3  do.). — West  bank  of  Phuleli  river. 

Tajpur  (3  do.). — Large  town,  north-east  of  Haidarabad  [335]. 

Katrel  {1^  do.). — A  hundred  houses, 

Nasarpur  (IJ  do.).— East  of  Tajpur,  large  town. 

Alahyar-ka-Tanda  (4  do.). — A  considerable  town  built  by  Alahyar 
Khan,  brother  of  the  late  Ghulam  Ali,  and  lying  south-east 
of  Nasarpur.  Two  coss  north  of  the  town  is  the  Sangra  Nala 
or  Bawa,^  said  to  issue  from  the  Indus  between  Hala  and 
Sakrand  and  passing  Jandila. 

Mirbah  (5  do.). — Forty  houses  ;  Bah,  Tanda,  Got,  Purwa,  are  all 
synonymous  terms  for  habitations  of  various  degrees. 

Sunaria  (7  do.). — Forty  houses. 

Dangana  (4  do.). — To  this  hamlet  extend  the  flats  of  Sind. 
Sandhills  five  and  six  miles  distant  to  the  north.  A  small 
river  runs  under  Dangana. 

Karsana  (7  do.). — A  hundred  houses.  Two  coss  east  of  Karsana 
are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  city  ;  brick  buildings  still 
remaining,  with  well  and  reservoirs.  Sandhills  two  to  three 
coss  to  the  northward.^ 

Umarkot  (8  do.). — There  is'one  continued  plain  from  Haidarabad 
to  Umarkot,  which  is  built  on  the  low  ground  at  the  very 
extremity  of  the  thai  or  sand-hills  of  the  desert,  here  com- 
mencing. In  all  this  space,  estimated  at  forty-four  kachha 
coss,  or  almost  seventy  miles  of  horizontal  distance,  as  far 
as  Sunaria  the  soil  is  excellent,  and  plentifully  irrigated  by 
bawahs,  or  canals  from  the  Indus.  Around  the  villages 
there  is  considerable  cultivation  ;  but  notwithstanding  the 
natural  fertility,  there  is  a  vast  quantity  of  jungle,  chiefly 
babul  {Mimosa  arabica),  the  evergreen  jhal,  and  jhau  or 
tamarisk.  From  Sunaria  to  Umarkot  is  one  continued 
jungle,  in  which  there  are  a  few  cultivated  patches  dependent 
on  the  heavens  for  irrigation ;  the  soil  is  not  so  good  as  the 
first  portion  of  the  route. 

Katar  (4.  do.). — -A  mile  east  of  Umarkot  commences  the  thai  or 
sandhills,  the  ascent  a  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
feet.     A  few  huts  of  Samaichas  who  pasture  ;  two  wells. 

Dhat-ki-basti  (4  do.). — A  few  huts  ;  one  well ;  Dhats,  Sodhas, 
and  Sindis  cultivate  and  pasture. 

^  This  is  the  Saiikra  of  Nadir  Shah's  treaty  with  Muhammad  Shah  of 
India,  which  the  conqueror  made  the  boundary  between  India  and  Persia, 
by  which  he  obtained  the  whole  of  that  fertile  portion  of  the  valley  of  Sind, 
east  of  that  stream.     Others  say  it  issues  from  Dara,  above  Rohri  Bakhar. 


1316  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Dharnas  (8  coss).— A  hundred  houses,  chiefly  I'ukharna  Brahmans 
and  lianias,  who  purchase  up  the  glii  from  the  pastoral 
tribes,  which  they  export  to  Bhuj  and  the  valiey.  It  is  also 
an  entrepot  for  trade ;  caravans  from  the  cast  exchange 
their  goods  for  the  ghi,  here  very  cheap,  from  the  vast  flocks 
pastured  in  the  Rui. 

Kherlu-ka-Par  (3  do.). — Numerous  springs  {par)  and  hamlets 
scattered  throughout  this  tract. 

Lanela  {l^  do.). — A  hundred  houses  ;  water  brackish  ;  conveyed 
by  camels  from  Kherlu. 

Bhoj-ka-Par  (3  do.). — Huts  ;    wells  ;   patches  of  cultivation. 

Bhu  (6  do.).— Huts. 

Garara  (10  do.). — A  small  town  of  three  hundred  houses,  belong- 
ing to  Sawai  Singh  Sodha,  with  several  puras  or  hamlets 
attached  to  it.  This  is  the  boundary  between  Dhat  or  the 
Sodha  raj  and  Jaisalmer.  Dhat  is  now  entirely  incorporated 
in  Sind.  A  dani,  or  collector  of  the  transit  duties,  resides 
here. 

Plarsani  (10  do.). — Three  hundred  houses,  chiefly  Bhattis.  It 
belongs  to  a  Rajput  of  this  tribe,  now  dependent  on  Marwar 
[336]. 

Jinjiniali  (10  do.). — Three  hundred  houses.  This  is  the  fief  of 
the  chief  noble  of  Jaisalmer  ;  his  name  Ketsi,^  Bhatti.  It 
is  the  border  town  of  Jaisalmer.  There  is  a  small  mud 
fortress,  and  several  talaos,  or  sheets  of  water,  which  contain 
water  often  during  three-fourths  of  the  year  ;  and  con- 
siderable cultivation  in  the  little  valleys  formed  by  the 
tibns,  or  sand-ridges.  About  two  miles  north  of  Jinjiniali 
there  is  a  village  of  Charans. 

Gaj  Singh-ki-basti  (2  do.). — Thirty-five  houses.  Water  scarce, 
brought  on  camels  from  the  Charan  village. 

Hamirdeora  (5  do.). — Two  hundred  houses.  There  are  several 
beras  or  pools,  about  a  mile  north,  whither  water  is  brought 
on  camels,  that  in  the  village  being  saline.  The  ridge  of 
rocks  from  Jaisalmer  here  terminates. 

Chelak  (5  do.). — Eighty  houses  ;  wells  ;   Chelak  on  the  ridge. 

Bhopa  (7  do.). — Forty  houses  ;    wells  ;    small  talao  or  pool. 

Bhao  (2  do.). — Two  hundred  houses  ;  pool  to  the  west ;  small 
wells. 

Jaisalmer  (.5  do.). — Eighty-five  and  a  half  coss  from  Umarkot 
to  Jaisalmer  by  this  route,  which  is  circuitous.  That  by 
Jinjiniali  20  coss,  Girab  7,  Nilwa  12,  Umarkot  25 — in  all  70 
pakka  coss,  or  about  1.50  miles.  Caravans  or  kitars  of 
camels  pass  in  four  days,  kasids  or  messengers  in  three  and 
a  half,  travelling  night  and  day.  The  last  25  coss,  or  50 
miles,  is  entire  desert :  add  to  this  41<  short  coss  from  Haidara- 
bad  to  Umarkot,  making  a  total  of  129J  coss.     The  most 

^  See  Annals  of  Jaisalmer  for  an  account  of  tlio  murder  of  this  chieftain, 
Vol  II.  p.  1233. 


ITINERARY  1317 

direct  road  is  estimated  at  105  pakka  coss,  which,  allowing 
for  sinuosities,  is  equal  to  about  195  English  miles. 
Total  of  this  route,  85|  coss. 


Jaisalmer  to  Haidarabad,  by  Baisnau 

Kuldar  (5  coss). 

Khaba  (5  do.). 

Lakha-ka-ganw  (30  do.). — Desert  the  whole  way  ;    no  hamlets 

or  water. 
Baisnau  (8  do.). 
Bersia-ka-Rar  (16  do.). — Wells. 
Thipra  (3  do.). 

Mata-ka-dher  (7  do.). — Umarkot  distant  20  coss. 
Jandila  (8  do.). 
Alahyar-ka  Tanda  (10  do.). — Sankra,  or  Sangra  nala. 

In  the  former  route  the  distance  from 

Tajpur  (4  do.),  Alahyar-ka-Tanda,    by    the    town    of 

Jam-ka-Tanda  (2  do.).         Nasarpur,   is   called   13   coss,   or  two 

Haidarabad  (5  do.).  more  than  this.     There  are  five  nalas 

V     or  canals  in  the  last  five  coss. 

Total  of  this  route,  108  coss. 


Jaisalmer,  by  Shahgarh,  to  Kliairpur  of  Mir  Sohrab 

Anasagar  (2  do.). 

Chonda  (2  do.). 

Pani-ka-tar  (3  do.). — Tar  or  Tir,  Springs  [337]. 

Pani-ki-kuchri  (7  do.). — No  village. 

Kuriala  (4  do.). 

Shahgarh  (20  do.^). — Rui  or  waste  all  this  distance.     Shahgarh 

is  the  boundary  ;    it  has  a  small  castle  of  six  bastions,  a 

post  of  Mir  Sohrab,  governor  of  Upper  Sind. 
Garsia  (6  do.). 
Garhar  (28  do.). — Rui  or  desert  the  whole  way  ;    not  a  drop  of 

water.     There  are  two  routes  branching  off  from  Garhar, 

one  to  Khairpur,  the  other  to  Ranipur. 

fatathi:S'.?L<t1  (tio.).  }Han«s  of  Baloch  and  Samaiohas. 
Nala  (2  do.). — The  same  stream  which  flows  from  Dara,   and 

through  the  ancient  city  of  Alor  ;   it  marks  the  boundary  of 

the  desert. 

^  Shaikh  Abu-1-barakat  makes  the  distance  only  nine  coss  from  Shahgarh 
to  Kuriala,  and  states  the  important  fact  of  crossing  the  dry  bed  of  the 
Ghaggar,  five  coss  west  of  Kuriala  ;  water  found  plentifully  by  digging  in 
the  bed.     Numerous  herns,  to  which  the  shepherds  drive  their  flocks. 


1318  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Khairpur  ^  (18  coss). — Mir  Sohrab,  governor  of  Upper  Sind,  and 
brother  of  tlie  prince  of  Haidarabad,  resides  here.  He  has 
erected  a  stone  fortress  of  twelve  bastions,  called  Nawakot 
or  New-castle.  The  18  coss  from  the  nala  to  Khairpur  is 
flat,  and  marks  the  breadth  of  the  valley  here.  The  follow- 
ing towns  are  of  consequence. 

Khairpur  to  Larkhana. — Twenty  coss  west  of  the  Indus,  held  by 
Karam  Ali,  son  of  the  ])rince  of  Haidarabad. 

Khairpur  to  Lakhi. — Fifteen  coss,  and  five  from  Shikarpur. 

Khairpur  to  Shikarpur  (20  do.). 

Garhar  to  Ranipur 

Pharara  (10  do.). — A  village  of  fifty  houses,  inhabited  by  Sindis 
and  Karars  ;  several  hamlets  around.  A  dani,  or  collector 
of  transit  dues,  resides  here  on  the  part  of  Mir  Sohrab,  the 
route  being  travelled  by  kitars  or  caravans  of  camels.  The 
nala  from  Dara  passes  two  coss  east  of  Pharara,  which  is  on 
the  extremity  of  the  desert.  Commencement  of  the  ridge 
called  Takar,  five  coss  west  of  Pharara,  extending  to  Rohri 
Bakhar,  sixteen  coss  distant  from  Pharara.  From  Pharara 
to  the  Indus,  eighteen  coss,  or  thirty  miles  breadth  of  the 
valley  here. 

Ranipur 2  (18  do.). 

Jaisalmer  to  Rohri  Bakhar 

Kuriala  (18  do.). — See  last  route. 

Banda  (4  do.). — A  tribe  of  Muslims,  called  Undar,  dwell  here. 

Gotru   (16  do.). — Boundary  of  Jaisalmer  and   Upper  Sind.     A 

small  castle  and  garrison  of  Mir  Sohrab's  ;    two  wells,  one 

inside  ;  and  a  hamlet  of  thirty  huts  of  Samaichas  and  Undars  ; 

tibcis  heavy. 
Udat  (32  do.). — Thirty  huts  of  shepherds  ;   a  small  mxid  fortress. 

Rui,  a  deep  and  entire  desert,  throughout  all  this  space  ; 

no  water  [838]. 
Sankram  or  Sangram  (IG  do.). — Half  the  distance  sand-hills,  the 

rest  numerous  temporary  hamlets  constructed  of  the  juar, 

or  maize  stalks  ;  several  water-courses. 
Nala-Sangra  {\  do.). — This  nala  or  stream  is  from  Dara,  on  the 

Sind,  two  coss  and  a  half  north  of  Rohri  Bakhar  ;    much 

cultivation  ;   extremity  of  the  sand-hills. 
Targatia   {\   do.). — A   large   town  ;     Bankers   and   Banias,   here 

termed  Karar  and  Samaichas. 
Low  ridge  of   hills,  called   Takar  (4  do.). — This  little  chain  of 

1  [/(?/,  XV.  215  f.] 

2  Considerable  town  on  the  high  road  from  Upper  to  Lower  Sind.     See 
Bubaequent  route. 


ITINERARY  1319 

silicious  rocks  runs  north  and  south  ;    Nawakot,  the  New- 
castle of  Sohrab,  is  at  the  foot  of  them  ;  they  extend  beyond 
Pharara,  which  is  sixteen  coss  from  Rohri  Bakhar.     Gumat  is 
six  coss  from  Nawakot. 
Rohri  (4  coss).    ^  On  the  ridge,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Indus. 
Bakhar  (J  do.).    -     Crossed    over   to    Bakhar  ;     breadth    of   the 
Sakhar  (J  do.),   j      river  near  a  mile.     Bakhar  is  an  island,  and 
the  other  branch  to  Sakhar  is  almost  a  mile 
over  also.     This  insulated  rock  is  of  silex,  specimens  of  which 
I  possess.     There  are  the  remains  of  the  ancient  fortress  of 
Mansura,  named  in  honour  of  the  Caliph  Al-Mansur,  whose 
lieutenants  made  it  the  capital  of  Sind  on  the  opening  of 
their  conquests.     It  is  yet  more  famed  as  the  capital  of  the 
Sogdoi   of  Alexander  ;    in   all  probability   a   corruption   of 
Sodha,  the  name  of  the  tribe  which  has  ruled  from  immemorial 
ages,  and  who  till  verj'  lately  held  Umarkot. 

N.B. — Kasids  or  messengers  engage  to  carry  despatches 
from  Jaisalmer  to  Rohri  Bakhar  in  four  days  and  a  half  ; 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  coss. 

Bakhar  to  Shikarpur 

Lakhi,  also  called  Lakhisar  (12  do.). 
Sindu  Nala  (3^  do.). 
Shikarpur  (J  do.). 

Total  of  this  route,  16  do. 
Bakhar  to  Larkhana  (28  do.). 
Shikarpur  to  Larkhana  (20  do.). 

Jaisalmer  to  Dahir  Ali  Khairpur 

Kuriala  (18  do.). 

Khara  (20  do.). — Rui  or  desert  all  the  way.  This  is  the  dohadd, 
or  mutual  boundary  of  Upper  Sind  and  Jaisalmer,  and  there 
is  a  small  mitti-ka-kot  or  mud  fort,  jointly  held  by  the 
respective  troops  ;  twenty  huts  and  one  well. 

Sutiala  (20  do.). — Rui  all  the  way.  A  dani  for  the  collection  of 
duties  ;  six  wells. 

Khairpur  (Dahir  Ali)  (20  do.). — Rui,  and  deep  jungle  of  the  ever- 
greens called  lawa  and  jhal,  from  Sutiala  to  Khairpur. 
Total  of  this  route,  78  do. 

Khairpur  (Dahir  Ali)  to  Ahmadpur 

Ubaura  (6  do.). — Considerable  town  ;   Indus  four  coss  west. 

Sabzal-ka-kot  (8  do.). — Boundary  of  Upper  Sind  and  Daudputra. 
This  frontier  castle,  often  disputed,  was  lately  taken  by  Mir 
Sohrab  from  Bahawal  Khan.  Numerous  hamlets  and  water- 
courses [339]. 


1320 


SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 


Ahinadpur  (8  coss). — Considerable  garrison  town  of  Daudputra  ; 
two  battalions  and  sixteen  guns. 
Total  of  this  route,  22  coss. 

Khairpur  (Dahir  Ali)  to  Haidarabad 

Mirpur  (8  do.). — Foiu'  coss  from  the  Indus. 

Matela  (5  do.). — Four  coss  from  the  Indus. 

Gotki  (7  do.). — Two  coss  from  the  Indus. 

Dadla  (8  do.). — Two  coss  from  the  Indus. 

Rohri    Bakhar    (20    do.). — Numerous    hamlets    and    temporary 

villages,  with  many  water-courses  for  cultivation  in  all  this 

space. 

Coss. 
Khairpur        .   )  8 

(Sohrab-k:i-) ) 
Gumat  .  .      8 

Ranipur  .      2 

(See  route  to  it  from 
Garhar). 
Hingor .  .      5 

Bhirana])ur  .  5 
Haliani  .      1 

Kan  jar  a  .     ;i 

Naushahra  .  8 
Mora     .  .     7 

Shahpura  .  8 
Daulatpur      .      '.i 

Miqiur  .  .      3 

Kazi-ka-Got  .  9 
Sakrand .  .11 
Hala  .  .  7 
Khardao  .  4 
Matari  .  .  4 
Haidarabad    .     6 


Six  coss  from  the  Indus. 


The  coss  in  this  distance  seems  a  mediimi 
between  the  pakka  of  two  coss  and  the 
kachha  of  one  and  a  half.  The  medium  of 
one  and  three  quarter  miles  to  each  coss, 
deducting  a  tenth  for  windings,  appears, 
after  numerous  comparisons,  to  be  just. 
This  is  alike  applicable  to  all  Upper  Sind. 


/  On    the    Indus.     Here    Madari    crossed 
^      Sehwan,  and  retiu'ned  to  Mirpur. 


to 


The  coss  about  two  miles  each  ;  which,  de- 
ducting one  in  ten  for  windings  of  the  road, 
may  be  protracted. 


Total  145  coss. 


Jaisalmer  to  Ikhtyar  Khan-ki-Garhi 


rThese  villages  are  all  inhabited  by  Paliwal 
Brahmans,    and   are   in   the   tract   termed 
I      Kandal  or  Khadal,  of  which  Katori,  eight 
I      coss  north  of  Jaisalmer,  is  the  cliief  town  of 
about  forty  villages. —  AM?.  All  towns  with 
'-     the  aflix  of  snr  have  pools  of  water. 
Nohar-ki-Garhi  (2.5  do.). —  Riii  or  desert  throughout  this  space. 
Tlie  castle  of  Nohar  is  of  brick,  and  now  belongs  to  Daud- 
putra, who  captured  it  from  the  BhatLis  of  Jaisalmer.     About 


Brahmsar  (4  coss) 
Mordesar  (  3do.)  . 
Gugadeo  (.3  do.)  . 
Kaimsar  (5  do.)  . 


ITINERARY  1321 

forty  huts  and  little  cultivation.     It  is  a  place  of  toll  for  the 
kitars  or  caravans  ;   two  rupees  for  each  [340]  camel-load  of 
ghi.  and  four  for  one  with  sugar  ;  half  a  rupee  for  each  camel, 
and  a  third  for  an  ox  laden  with  grain. 
Murid  Kot  (24  coss). — Rui  or  desert.     Rangarh  is  four  coss  east 

of  this. 
Ikhtyar-ki-Garhi  (15  do.). — Rui  until  the  last  four  coss,  or  eight 
miles.     Thence  the  descent  from  the  tibas  or  sand-hills  to  the 
valley  of  the  Indus. 
Total  of  this  route,  79  coss.         Ikhtyar  to  Ahmadpur     18  coss 

,,  Klianpur    .     5     „ 

,,  Sultanpur  .     8     ,, 


Jaisalmer  to  Sheo-Kotra,  Kheralu,  Chhotan,  Nagar-Parkar, 
Mitti,  and  return  to  Jaisalmer. 

Dabla  (3  do.). — Thirty  houses,  Pokhama  Brahmans. 

Akali  (2  do.). — Thirty  houses,  Chauhans,  well  and  small  talao. 

Chor  (5  do.). — Sixty  houses,  mixed  classes. 

Devikot  (2  do.). — A  small  town  of  two  hundred  houses  ;  belongs 
to  the  Jaisalmer  fisc  or  khalisa.  There  is  a  little  fort  and 
garrison.  A  talao  or  pool  excavated  by  the  Paliwals,  in 
which  water  remains  throughout  the  year  after  much  rain, 

Sangar  (6  do.). —  N.B.  This  route  is  to  the  east  of  that  (following) 
by  Chincha,  the  most  direct  road  to  Balotra,  and  the  one 
usually  travelled  ;   but  the  villages  are  now  deserted. 

Biasar  (2  do.). — Forty  houses,  and  talao.  Bhikarae  2  coss 
distant. 

Mandai  (frontier)  (2J  do.). — Two  hundred  and  fifty  houses. 
Sahib  Khan  Sahariya  with  a  hundred  horse  is  stationed 
here  ;  the  town  is  khalisa  and  the  last  of  Jaisalmer.  The 
ridge  from  Jaisalmer  is  close  to  all  the  places  on  this  route 
to  Mandi. 

Gunga  (4 J  do.). —  Thana,  or  post  of  Jodhpur. 

Sheo  (2  do.). — A  large  town  of  three  hundred  houses,  but  many 
deserted,  some  through  famine.  Chief  of  a  district.  A 
Hakim  resides  here  from  Jodhpur  ;  collects  the  transit  dues, 
and  protects  the  country  from  the  depredations  of  the 
Sahariyas. 

Kotra  (3  do.). — Town  of  five  hundred  houses,  of  which  only  two 
hundred  are  now  inhabited.  On  the  north-west  side  is  a 
fort  on  the  ridge.  A  Rathor  chief  resides  here.  The  district 
of  Sheo  Kotra  was  taken  from  the  Bhattis  of  Jaisalmer  by 
the  Rathors  of  Jodhpur. 

Vesala  (6  do.). — In  ancient  times  a  considerable  place  ;  now 
only  fifty  houses.  A  fort  on  the  ridge  to  the  south-west, 
near  two  hundred  feet  high  ;  connected  with  the  Jaisalmer 
ridge,  but  often  covered  by  the  lofty  tibas  of  sand. 

VOL.  Ill  F 


1322  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

Klieralu  (7  coss). — Capital  of  Kherdhai",  one  of  the  ancient  divi- 
sions of  Marusthali.  Two  coss  south  of  Vesala  crossed  a 
pass  over  the  hills. 

Chhotan  (10  do.). — An  ancient  city,  now  in  ruins,  having  at 
present  only  about  eighty  houses,  inhabited  by  the  Sahariyas 
[341]. 

Bankasar  (11  do.).  Formerly  a  large  city,  now  only  about 
three  hundred  and  sixty  hoxises. 

Bhil-ki-basti  (5  do.)  I  J         .^^        J 

Chauhan-ka-pura  (G  do.)  j 

Nagar  (3  do.). — A  large  town,  capital  of  Parkar,  containing  one 
thousand  five  hundred  houses,  of  which  one-half  are  in- 
habited. 

Kaim  Khan  Sahariya-ki-basti  (18  do.). — Thirty  houses  in  the 
thai ;  wells,  with  water  near  the  surface  ;  three  coss  to  the 
east  the  boundary  of  Sind  and  the  Chauhan  Raj. 

Dhat-ka-pura  (15  do.). — A  hamlet  ;  Rajputs,  Bhils,  and  Saha- 
riyas. 

Mitti  or  Mittri-ka-kot  (3  do.). — A  town  of  six  hundred  houses  in 
Dhat,  or  the  division  of  Umarkot  belonging  to  Haidarabad  ; 
a  relative  of  whose  prince,  with  the  title  of  Nawab,  resides 
here  ;  a  place  of  great  commerce,  and  also  of  transit  for  the 
caravans  ;  a  fortified  mahall  to  the  south-west.  Wlien  the 
Shah  of  Kabul  used  to  invade  Sind,  the  Haidarabad  jirince 
always  took  refuge  here  with  his  family  and  valuables.  The 
sand-hills  are  immensely  high  and  formidable. 

Chailasar  (10  do.). — Four  hundred  houses,  inhabited  by  Sahariyas, 
Brahmans,  Bijaranis,  and  Banias  ;  a  place  of  great  import- 
ance to  the  transit  trade. 

Samaicha-ki-basti  (10  do.). —  Thai  from  Chailasar. 

Nur  Ali,  Pani-ka-Tar  (9  do.). — Sixty  houses  of  Charans,  Sultana 
Rajputs  and  Kauravas  (qu.  the  ancient  Kauravas  ?)  water 
{pani-ka-tar)  plenty  in  the  thai. 

Rual  (5  do.). — Twelve  hamlets  termed  has,  scattered  roimd  a 
tract  of  several  coss,  inhabited  by  different  tribes,  after 
whom  they  are  named,  as  Sodha,  Sahariya,  Kaurava,  Brah- 
man, Bania  and  Sutar,  as  Sodha-ka-bas,  Sahariya-ka-bas,  or 
habitations  of  the  Sodhas  ;  of  the  Sahariyas,  etc.  etc.  (see 
p.  1263). 

Deli  (7  do.).  —  One  htmdred  houses;  a  dani,  or  collector  of 
duties,  resides  here. 

Garara  (10  do.). — Described  in  route  from  Umarkot  to  Jaisalmcr. 

Raedana  (11  do.). — Forty  houses  ;  a  lake  formed  by  damming  up 
the  water.      Agar,  or  salt-pans. 

Kotra  (9  do.). 

Sheo  (3  do.). — The  whole  space  from  Nagar  to  Shco-Kotra  is  a 
continuous  mass  of  lofty  sand-hills  (thal-ka-tiba),  scattered 
with  hamlets  {purwas),  in  many  parts  affording  abundant 
pasture  for  flocks  of  sheep,  goats,  buffaloes,  and  camels  ; 


ITINERARY  1323 

the  thai  extends  south  to  Nawakot  and  Balwar,  about  ten 
coss  south  of  the  former  and  two  of  the  latter.  To  the  left 
of  Nawakot  are  the  fiats  of  Talpura,  or  Lower  Sind. 


Jaisalmer  to  Sheo  Kotra,  Barmer,  Nagar-Gura  and  Suigam. 

Dhana  (5  coss). — Two  hundred  houses  of    Paliwals  ;    pool  and 

wells  ;    ridge  two  to  three  hundred  feet  high,   cultivation 

between  the  ridges. 
Chincha  (7  do.). — Small  hamlet  ;    Sara,  half  a  coss  east  ;    ridge, 

low  thai,  cultivation. 
Jasrana   (2   do.). — Thirty  houses  of  Paliwals,  as   before  ;    Kita 

to  the  right  half  a  coss. 
Unda  (1  do.). — Fifty  houses  of  Paliwals  and  Jain  Rajputs  ;   wells 

and  pools  ;   country  as  before  [342]. 
Sangar  (2  do.). — Sixty  houses  ;    only  fifteen  inhabited,  the  rest 

fled  to  Sind  during  the  famme  of  1813  ;    Charans.     Grand 

thai  commences. 
Sangar-ka-talao  (|  do.). — Water  remaiiis  generally  eight  months 

in  the  talao  or  pool,  sometimes  the  whole  year. 

r Between  is  the  sanclh  or  boundary  of  Jaisal- 
Bhikarae  (1|-  do.)  |  mer  and  Jodhpur.  Bhikarae  has  one 
Kharel  (4  do.)  j      hundred  and  twenty  houses  of  Paliwals  ; 

I     wells  and  pools  at  both  places. 
Rajarel  (1  do.). — Seventy  houses  ;  most  deserted  since  famine. 
Gonga  (4  do.). — Hamlet  of  twenty  huts  ;  beras,  or  small  wells  and 

pools ;  to  this  the  ridge  and  thai  intermingle. 
Sheo  (2  do.). — Capital  of  the  district. 
Nimla  (4  do.). — Forty  houses  ;    deserted. 
Bhadka  (2  do.). — Four  hundred  houses  ;  deserted.     This  is  "  the 

third  year  of  famine  !  " 
Kapulri  (3  do.). — Thirty  huts,  deserted  ;   wells. 
Jalepa  (3  do.). — Twenty  huts  ;   deserted. 
Nagar  (Gurha)  (20  do.). — This  is  a  large  town  on  the  west  bank 

of  the  Lvmi  River,  of  four  to  five  hundred  houses,  but  many 

deserted  since  the  famine,  which  has  almost  depopulated 

this  region.      In  1813  the  inhabitants  were  flying  as  far  as 

the  Ganges,  and  selling  themselves  and  offspring  into  slavery 
to  save  life. 
Barmer  (6  do.). — A  town  of  twelve  hundred  houses. 
Guru  (2  do.). — West  side  of  the  Luni  ;    town  of  seven  hundred 
houses  ;   the  chief  is  styled  Ran  a,  and  of  the  Chauhan  tribe. 
Bata  (3  do.). — West  side  of  river. 
Patarna  (1  do.)   ^  ^         ..       ,    . 
Gadla  (1  do.)      /^^st  sme  oi  river. 

Ranas  (3  do.). — East  side  of  river. 

Charani  (2  do.). — Seventy  houses  ;   east  side. 

Chitalwana  (2  do.).— Town  of  three  hundred  houses  ;    east  side 


1324  SKETCH  OF  THE  INDIAN  DESERT 

of  river  ;  belonging  to  a  Chauhan  chief,  styled  Rana.   Sanchor 

seven  coss  to  the  south. 
Ratra  (2  coss). — East  side  of  river  ;   deserted. 
Ilotiganw  (2  do.). — South  side  of  river  ;   temple  to  Phulmukhes- 

war  Maliadeo. 
Dl    t     ^2  d    \    fNorth  side.     On  the  west  side  the  thai  is  very 
™  ^H  ^_^  ,    ^''         heavy  :    east  side  is  plain  ;    both  sides  well 
Tapi(2do.)       ^     cultivated. 
Lalpura  (2  do.). — West  side. 
Surpura  (1  do.). — Crossed  river. 
Sanloti  (2  do.). — Eighty  houses,  east  side  of  river. 
Butera  (2  do.). — East  side  ;   relation  of  the  Rana  resides  here. 
Narke  (4  do.). — South  side  river  ;    Bhils  and  Sonigiras. 
Karoi  (4  do.). — Sahariyas  [343]. 
Pitlana  (2  do.). — Large  village  ;   Kolis  and  Pitals. 
Dharanidhar  (3  do.). — Seven    or   eight    hundred    houses,  nearly 

deserted,  belonging  to  Suigam. 
Bah  (4  do.).— Capital  of  Rana  Narayan  Rao,  Chauhan  prince  of 

Virawah. 
Luna  (5  do.). — One  hundred  houses. 
Sui  (7  do.). — Residence  of  Chauhan  chief. 

Balotra  on  the  Luni  River  to  Pokaran  and  Jaisalmer. 

Panchbhadra  (3  do.). — Balotra  fair  on  the  11th  Magh — continues 
ten  days.  Balotra  has  four  to  five  hundred  houses  in  the 
tract  called  Siwanchi  ;  the  ridge  unites  with  Jalor  and 
Siwana.  Panchbhadra  has  two  hiuidred  houses,  almost  all 
deserted  since  the  famine.  Here  is  the  celebrated  Agar,  or 
salt-lake,  yielding  considerable  revenue  to  the  government. 
Gopti  (2  coss). — Forty  houses  ;   deserted  ;   one  coss  north  of  this 

the  deep  thai  commences. 
Patod  (4  do.). — A  considerable  commercial  mart ;    four  hundred 

houses  ;   cotton  produced  in  great  quantities. 
Sivai  (4  do.). — Two  hundred  houses,  almost  deserted. 
Serara  (1   do.). — Sixty  houses.     To  Patod  the  tract  is  termed 
Siwanchi  ;    from  thence  Indhavati,  from  the  ancient  lords 
of  the  Indha  tribe. 

|-Bungara  has  seventy  houses,  Solankitala  four 
hundred,  and  Pongali  sixty.  Throughout 
sand-hills.  This  tract  is  called  Thalecha, 
and  the  Rathors  who  inhabit  it,  Thalecha 
Rathors.  There  are  many  of  the  Jat  or 
Jat  tribe  as  cultivators.  Pongali  a  Charan 
community. 

Bakri  {5  do.). — One  hundred  houses  ;   inhabited  by  Charans. 
Dholsar  (4  do.). — Sixty  houses,  inhabited  by  Paliwal  Brahmans. 
Pokaran  (4  do.). — From  Bakri  commences  the  Pokaran  district  ; 
all  flat,  and  though  sandy,  no  tibas  or  hills. 


Bungara  (3  do.) 
Solankitala  (4  do.) 
Pongali  (.5  do.) 


I 


ITINERARY  1325 

Udhania  (6  coss). — Fifty  houses  ;   a  pool  the  south  side. 

Lahti  (7  do.). — Three  hundred  houses  ;   PaUwal  Bralunans. 

«  /iv.  L       (o  A    \i  Sodhakur  has  thirty  houses  and  Chandan  fifty  ; 

^odtiakur  ^-  ao.;j      p^Uwals.     Dry  nala  at  the   latter;    water 

Channda  (4  do.)   [     obtained  by  digging  in  its  bed. 

Bhojka  (3  do.). — One  coss  to  the  left  is  the  direct  road  to  Basanki, 
seven  coss  from  Chandan.  r    . 

Basanki-talao  (5  do.). — One  hundred  houses  ;   PaUwals. 

Moklet  (IJ  do.). — Twelve  houses  ;   Pokharna  Brahmans. 

Jaisalmer  (4  do.). — From  Pokaran  to  Udhania,  the  road  is  over  a 
low  ridge  of  rocks  ;  thence  to  Lahti  is  a  well-cultivated  plain, 
the  ridge  being  on  the  left.  A  small  thai  intervenes  at 
Sodhakur,  thence  to  Chandan,  plain.  From  Chandan  to 
Basanki  the  road  again  traverses  the  low  ridge,  increasing 
in  height,  and  with  occasional  cultivation,  to  Jaisalmer  [344]. 


Bikaner  to  Ikhtyar  lOian-ki  Garhi,  on  the  Indus. 

Nai-ki-basti  (4  do.) , 

Gajner  (5  do.)  Sandy  plains  ;    water  at  all  these  villages. 

Gurha  (5  do.)  |      From  Girajsar,  the  Jaisalmer  frontier,  the 

Bitnok  (5  do.)  tibas,  or  sand-hills  commence,   and  con- 

Girajsar  (8  do.)  tinue  moderate  to  Bikampur. 

Narai  (4  do.)  J 

T,.,               (Q  d  ^     [Bikampur  to  Mohangarh,  rui  or  desert  all 

A/r  I  u/i^j    \i      the   way,   having   considerable   sand-hills 

Mohangarh  (16  do.)  ^  •        i 

^        ^  ''I     and  jmigle. 

Nachna  (16  do.).— Tibas,  or  sand-hills  throughout  this  space. 

Narai  (9  do.). — A  Brahman  village. 

Nohar-ki-Garhi    (24    do.). — Deep    rui    or    desert ;     the    frontier 

garrison  of  Sind  ;   the  garhi,  or  castle,  held  by  Haji  Khan. 

Murid  Kot  (24  coss). — Rui,  high  sand-hills. 

Garhi  Ikhtyar  Khan-ki  (18  do.) — The  best  portion  of  this  through 

the  Kachhi,  or  flats  of  the  valley.     Garhi  on  the  Indus. 

Total  147  coss,  equal  to  220J  miles,  the  coss  being  about  a 

mile  and  a  half  each  ;    200  English  miles  of  horizontal 

distance  to  be  protracted  [345]. 


BOOK  IX 

ANNALS  OF  AMBER,i  OR  DHUNDHAR 

CHAPTER  1 

By  some  conventional  process,  Europeans  in  India  have 
adopted  the  habit  of  designating  the  principahties  of  Rajputana 
by  the  names  of  their  respective  capitals,  instead  of  those  of 
the  countries.  Thus  Marwar  and  Mewar  are  recognized  under 
the  titles  of  their  chief  cities,  Jodhpur  and  Udaipur  ;  Kotah  and 
Bundi  are  denominations  indiscriminately  applied  to  Ilaravati, 
the  general  term  of  the  region,  which  is  rarely  mentioned  ;  and 
Dhundhar  is  hardly  known  by  that  denomination  to  Europeans, 
who  refer  to  the  State  only  by  the  names  of  its  capitals.  Amber 
or  Jaipur,  the  last  of  which  is  now  universally  used  to  designate 
the  region  inhabited  by  the  Kachhwahas  [346]. 

Boundaries  of  Jaipur  State. — The  map  defines  the  existing 
boundaries  of  this  principality,  to  which  I  shall  indiscriminately 
apply  the  terms  (as  is  the  practice  of  the  natives)  of  Dhundhar, 
Amber,  and  Jaipur. 

Etymology  of  Dhiindhar. — Like  all  the  other  Rajput  States, 
the  country  of  the  Kachhwahas  is  an  assemblage  of  communities, 

^  This  account  of  the  Amber  or  Jaipur  State  is  nearly  what  I  communi- 
cated to  the  Marquess  of  Hastings  in  1814-15.  Amidst  the  multiplicity  of 
objects  which  subsequently  engaged  my  attention,  I  had  deemed  myself 
absolved  from  the  necessity  of  enlarging  upon  it,  trusting  that  a  more 
competent  pen  would  have  superseded  this  essay,  there  having  been  several 
political  authorities  at  that  court  since  it  was  written.  Being,  however, 
unaware  that  anything  has  been  done  to  develop  its  historical  resources, 
v/hich  are  more  abundant  than  those  of  any  other  court  of  India,  I  think  it 
right  not  to  suppress  this  sketch,  however  imperfect. 

1327 


1328  ANNALS  OF  AAIBER  OR  JAIPUR 

the  territories  of  which  have  been  wrested  from  the  aboriginal 
tribes,  or  from  independent  chieftains,  at  various  periods  ;  and 
therefore  the  term  Dhundhar,  which  was  only  one  of  their  earUest 
acquisitions,  had  scarcely  a  title  to  impose  its  name  upon  the 
aggregate.  The  etymology  of  Dhundhar  is  from  a  once  cele- 
brated sacrificial  mount  {dhundh)  on  the  western  frontier,  near 
Kalakli  Jobner.^ 

The  Kachhwaha  Tribe. — The  Kachhwaha  or  Kachhwa  race 
claims  descent  from  Kusa,  the  second  son  of  Rama,  Iving  of 
Kosala,  whose  capital  was  Ayodhya,  the  modern  Oudh.  Kusa, 
or  some  of  his  immediate  offsprmg,  is  said  to  have  migrated  from 
the  parental  abode,  and  erected  the  celebrated  castle  of  Rohtas, 
or  Roliitas,-  on  the  Son,  whence,  in  the  lapse  of  several  genera- 
tions, another  distinguished  scion.  Raja  Nal,  migrated  westward, 
and  in  S.  351,  or  a.d.  295,  founded  the  kingdom  and  city  of  Narwar, 
or  classically,  Naishadha.^     Some  of  the  traditional  chronicles 

^  The  traditioual  history  of  the  Chauhans  asserts,  that  this  mount  was 
the  place  of  penance  {tapasya)  of  their  famed  kuig  Bisaldeo  of  Ajmer,  who, 
for  his  oppression  of  his  svibjects,  was  transformed  into  a  Raksbasa,  or 
Demon,  in  which  condition  he  continued  the  evil  work  of  his  former  existence, 
"  devouring  liis  subjects  "  (as  hterally  expressed),  until  a  grandchild  offered 
bimself  as  a  victim  to  appease  his  insatiable  appetite.  The  language  of 
innocent  allection  made  its  way  to  the  heart  of  the  Kakshasa,  who  recognized 
his  offspring,  and  wmged  his  flight  to  the  Jumna.  It  might  be  worth  while 
to  excavate  the  dhundh  of  the  transformed  Chauhan  king,  which  I  have 
some  notion  will  jjrove  to  be  his  sepulchi-e.  [Accordmg  to  Cunningham 
(ASE,  ii.  251)  there  is  no  mound  of  this  kind  at  Jobncr.  He  derives  the 
name  of  the  territory  from  the  river  Dhundhu — Dhundhwar,  or  Dhundhar, 
meaning  the  land  by  the  river  Dhiindhu — the  river  having  obtained  its 
name  from  the  demon-kmg  Dhiindhu  (see  lOI,  xiii.  385).] 

^  Were  this  celebrated  abode  searched  for  insrt'iptions,  they  might  throw 
light  on  the  history  of  the  descendants  of  Kama.  [For  Rohtasgarh  in 
fcjliahabad  District,  liengal,  see  IGI,  xxi.  322  f.J 

^  PrcHxed  to  a  descriptive  sketch  of  the  city  of  Narwar  (which  I  may 
append),  the  year  fcj.  351  is  given  for  its  foundation  by  Kaja  Nal,  but  whether 
obtained  from  an  inscription  or  historical  legend,  1  know  not.  It,  however, 
corroborates  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  number  of  descents  from  Nal  to 
Dhola  Kae,  namely,  thirty-thiee,  which,  calculated  accorduig  to  the  best 
data  (see  Vol.  I.  p.  W),  at  twenty-two  years  to  a  reign,  will  make  72(i  years, 
which  subtracted  from  1023,  the  era  of  Dhola  Rae's  migration,  leaves  297, 
a  difference  of  only  hfty-four  years  between  the  computed  and  settled  eras  ; 
and  if  we  allowed  only  twenty-one  years  to  a  reign,  instead  of  twenty-two, 
as  proposed  in  all  long  lines  above  twenty-five  generations,  the  difference 
would  be  trilluig.  [The  story  is  legendary.  The  eighth  in  descent  from 
Vajradamau,  the  first  historical  chief  of  Gwalior,  who  captured  that  fortress 


ORIGIN  OF  JAIPUR  STATE  1329 

record  intermediate  places  of  domicile  prior  to  the  erection  of 
tliis  famed  city  :  first,  the  town  of  Lahar,  in  the  heart  of  a  tract 
yet  named  Kachhwahagar,  or  region  (gar)  of  the  Kachhwahas  ;  ^ 
and  secondly,  that  of  Gwalior.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  descendants 
of  Raja  Nal  adopted  the  affix  of  Pal  (which  appears  to  be  the  dis- 
tinguishing epithet  of  all  the  early  Rajput  tribes),  until  Sora  Singh 
(thirty-third  in  descent  from  Nal),  whose  son,  Dhola  Rae,  was 
expelled  the  paternal  abode,  and  in  S.  1023,  a.d.  967,  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  State  of  Dhundhar  [347]. 

A  family,  which  traces  its  lineage  from  Rama  of  Kosala,  Nala 
of  Naishadha,  and  Dhola  the  lover  of  Maroni,  may  be  allowed 
'  the  boast  of  heraldry  '  ;  and  in  remembrance  of  tliis  descent, 
the  Kachliwahas  of  India  celebrate  with  great  solemnity  '  the 
annual  feast  of  the  sun,'  on  which  occasion  a  stately  car,  called 
the  chariot  of  the  sun  (Surya  ratha),  drawn  by  eight  horses,  is 
brought  from  the  temple,  and  the  descendant  of  Rama,  ascending 
therein,  perambulates  his  capital. 

Origin  o£  Jaipur  State.  Dhola  Rae. — A  case  of  simple  usurpa- 
tion originated  the  Kaclihwaha  State  of  Amber  ;  but  it  would 
be  contrary  to  precedent  if  this  event  were  untinged  with  romance. 
As  the  episode,  while  it  does  not  violate  probability,  illustrates 
the  condition  of  the  aboriginal  tribes,  we  do  not  exclude  the 
tradition.  On  the  death  of  Sora  Singh,  prince  of  Narwar,  his 
brother  usurped  the  government,  depriving  the  infant,  Dhola 
Rae,  of  his  inlieritance.  His  mother,  clothing  herself  in  mean 
apparel,  put  the  infant  in  a  basket,  which  she  placed  on  her  head, 
and  travelled  westward  until  she  reached  the  town  of  lOioganw 

from  Vijayapala  of  Kanauj  (c.  a.d.  955-90)  was  Tej  Karan,  otherwise 
known  as  DuLha  Rae,  the  Dhola  Rae  of  the  text,  who  left  Gwalior  about 
A.D.  1128  (Smith,  EH  I,  381  ;  IGI,  xiii.  384).] 

We  may  thus,  without  hesitation,  adopt  the  date  351,  or  a.d.  295,  for  the 
period  of  Raja  Nal,  whose  history  is  one  of  the  grand  sources  of  delight  to 
the  bards  of  Raj pu tana.  The  poem  rehearsing  his  adventures  under  the 
title  of  Nala  and  Damayanti  (fam.  Nal-Daman)  was  translated  into  Persian 
at  Akbar's  command,  by  Faizi,  brother  of  Abu-1  Fazl,  and  has  since  been 
made  known  to  the  admirers  of  Sanskrit  liteiature  by  Professor  Bopp  of 
Berlin  [Ain,  i.  106  ;  Macdonell,  Hist.  Sanskrit  Literature,  296  ff.]. 

^  [Kachhwahagar  or  Kachhwahagarh,  the  former  meaning  the  '  water- 
soaked  land,'  the  latter  the  '  fort,'  of  the  Kachhwahas,  is  a  tract  between 
the  Sind  and  Pahuj  Rivers,  ceded  to  the  British  by  the  Gwahor  State  in 
payment  of  a  British  contmgent  (Elliot,  Supplementary  Glossary,  237,  283, 
note).] 


1330  ANNALS  OB^  MIBER  OR  JAIPUR 

(within  five  miles  of  the  modern  Jaipur),  then  inhabited  by  the 
Minas.  Distressed  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  she  had  placed  her 
precious  burden  on  the  ground,  and  was  plucking  some  wild 
berries,  when  she  observed  a  hooded  serpent  rearing  its  form 
over  the  basket.^  She  uttered  a  shriek,  which  attracted  an 
itinerant  Brahman,  who  told  her  to  be  under  no  alarm,  but  rather 
to  rejoice  at  this  certain  indication  of  future  greatness  in  the 
boy.  But  the  emaciated  parent  of  the  founder  of  Amber  replied, 
"  What  may  be  in  futurity  I  heed  not,  while  I  am  sinking  with 
hunger  "  ;  on  which  the  Brahman  put  her  in  the  way  of  Khoganw, 
where  he  said  her  necessities  would  be  relieved.  Taking  up  the 
basket,  she  reached  the  town,  which  is  encircled  by  hills,  and 
accosting  a  female,  who  happened  to  be  a  slave  of  the  Mina 
chieftain,  begged  any  menial  employment  for  food.  By  direc- 
tion of  the  Mina  Rani,  she  was  entertained  with  the  slaves.  One 
day  she  was  ordered  to  prepare  dinner,  of  which  Ralansi,  the 
Mina  Raja,  partook,  and  found  it  so  superior  to  his  usual  fare, 
that  he  sent  for  the  cook,  who  related  her  story .^  As  soon  as 
the  Mina  chief  discovered  the  rank  of  the  illustrious  fugitive,  he 
adopted  her  as  his  sister,  and  Dhola  Rae  as  his  nephew.  When 
the  boy  had  attained  the  age  of  Rajput  manhood  (fourteen),  he 
was  sent  to  Delhi, ^  with  the  tribute  of  Khoganw,  to  attend  in- 
stead of  the  Mina.  The  young  Kachhwaha  remained  there  five 
years,  when  he  conceived  the  idea  of  usurping  his  benefactor's 
authority.  Having  consulted  the  Mina  Dharhi,*  or  bard,  as  lo 
I  he  best  means  of  executing  his  plan,  he  recommended  [348]  him 
to  take  advantage  of  the  festival  of  the  Diwali,  when  it  is 
customary  to  perform  the  ablutions  en  masse,  in  a  tank.  Having 
brought  a  few  of  his  Rajput  brethren  from  Delhi,  he  aceoni- 
plislied  his  object,  filling  the  reservoirs  in  which  the  Minas  bathed 
with  their  dead  bodies.  The  treacherous  bard  did  not  escape; 
Dhola  Rae  put  him  to  death  Avith  his  own  hands,  observing, 
"  He  who  had  proved    unfaithful   to  one  master  could  not  be 

^  [Fur  the  talo  of  a  serpent  identifying  the  heir  see  Vol.  I.  p.  342.] 

*  [The  hero  in  folk-tales  often  wins  recognition  by  his  skill  in  the  kitchen, 
as  in  the  story  of  yhanis-al-Din  in  the  Arabian  Nights  ;  see  Tawney,  Kaiha- 
earil-sufjara,  i.  507.] 

^  The  Tiiar  trihc  were  then  supreme  lords  of  India. 

^  Dharhi,  Dholi,  Dom,  Jaga  are  all  terms  for  the  bards  or  minstrels  of  the 
Mina  tribes. 


DHOLA  RAE  1331 

trusted  by  another."  He  then  took  possession  of  Khoganw. 
Soon  after  he  repaired  to  Dausa,^  a  castle  and  district  ruled 
by  an  independent  chief  of  the  Bargujar  tribe  of  Rajputs,  whose 
daughter  he  demanded  in  marriage.  "  How  can  this  be,"  said 
the  Bargujar,  "  when  we  are  both  Suryavansi,  and  one  hundred 
generations  have  not  yet  separated  us  ?  "  "  But  being  con- 
vinced that  the  necessary  number  of  descents  had  intervened, 
the  nuptials  took  place,  and  as  the  Bargujar  had  no  male  issue, 
he  resigned  his  power  to  his  son-in-law.  With  the  additional 
means  thus  at  his  disposal,  Dhola  determined  to  subjugate  the 
Sira  3  tribe  of  Minas,  whose  chief,  Rao  Nata,  dwelt  at  Machh. 
Again  he  was  victorious,  and  deeming  his  new  conquest  better 
adapted  for  a  residence  than  Khoganw,  he  transferred  his  infant 
government  thither,  changing  the  name  of  Machh,  in  honour  of 
his  great  ancestor,  to  Ramgarh. 

Dhola  subsequently  married  the  daughter  of  the  prince  of 
Ajmer,  whose  name  was  Maroni.*  Returning  on  one  occasion 
with  her  from  visiting  the  shrine  of  Jamwahi  Mata,*  the  whole 
force  of  the  Minas  of  that  region  assembled,  to  the  number  of 
eleven  thousand,  to  oppose  his  passage  through  their  country. 
Dhola  gave  them  battle  :  but  after  slaying  vast  numbers  of 
his  foes,  he  was  himself  killed,  and  his  followers  fled.  Maroni 
-escaped,  and  bore  a  posthiunous  child,  who  was  named  Kankhal, 
and  who  conquered  the  country  of  Dhundhar.     His  son,  Maidal 

^  See  Map  for  Dausa  (written  Daunsa),  on  the  Banganga  River,  about 
tliiity  miles  east  of  Jaipur. 

*  The  Bargujar  tribe  claims  descent  from  Lava  or  Lao,  the  elder  son  of 
Rama.  As  they  trace  fifty-six  descents  from  Rama  to  Vikrama,  and  thirty- 
three  from  Raja  Nala  to  Dhola  Rae,  we  have  only  to  calculate  the  number 
of  generations  between  Vikrama  and  Nal,  to  ascertam  whether  Dhola's 
genealogist  went  on  good  groiuids.  It  was  in  S.  351  that  Raja  Nal  erected 
Nar-war,  which,  at  twenty-two  years  to  a  reign,  gives  sixteen  to  be  added 
to  fifty-six,  and  this  added  to  thirty-three  is  equal  to  one  hundred  and 
five  generations  from  Rama  to  Dhola  Rae.  [The  traditional  dates  are 
worthless.] 

*  [See  Rose,  Glossary,  iii.  103.] 

*  [The  tale  of  the  love  of  Duiha  or  Dhola  Rae  for  Marwan,  the  Maroni  of 
the  text,  daughter  of  Raja  Piiigal  of  Pingalgarh  in  Sinhaladwipa,  or  Ceylon, 
as  sung  by  the  Panjab  bards,  is  told  m  Temple,  Legends  of  the  Panjdb,  ii. 
276  ff.,  iii.  97.] 

*  [The  family  deity  of  the  Kachhwaha  tribe,  whose  shruie  is  in  the  gorge 
of  the  river  Banganga,  in  Jaipur  State  {Census  Report,  Marivar,  1891,  ii.  28  ; 
liajpuiana  Gazetteer,  1880,  iii.  212).] 


1332  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Rao,  made  a  conquest  of  Amber  from  the  Susawat  Minas,  the 
residence  of  their  cliief,  named  Bhato,  who  had  the  title  of  Rao, 
and  was  head  of  the  iVIina  confederation.  He  also  subdued  the 
Nandla  JNIinas,  and  added  the  district  of  Gatur-Ghati  to  his 
territory. 

Hiindeo,  Kuntal. — ^Hundeo  succeeded,  and,  like  his  predecessors, 
continued  the  warfare  against  the  Minas,  He  was  succeeded 
by  Kimtal,  whose  sway  extended  over  all  the  hill-tribes  romid 
his  capital.  Having  determined  to  proceed  to  Bhatwar,  where 
a  Chauhan  prince  resided,  in  order  to  marry  his  daughter,  his 
Mina  subjects,  remembering  the  [349]  former  fatality,  collected 
from  all  quarters,  demanding  that,  if  he  went  beyond  the  borders, 
he  should  leave  the  standards  and  nakkaras  of  sovereignty  in 
their  custody.  Kuntal  refusing  to  submit,  a  battle  ensued,  in 
which  the  Minas  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter,  which 
secured  his  rule  throughout  Dhundhar. 

Pajiin. — Kuntal  was  succeeded  by  Pajun,  a  name  well  known 
to  the  chivalrous  Rajput,  and  immortaUzed  by  Chand,  in  the 
poetic  liistory  (Raesa)  of  the  emperor  Prithiraj.  Before,  how- 
ever, we  proceed  further,  it  may  be  convenient  to  give  a  sketch 
of  the  power  and  numbers  of  the  indigenous  tribes  at  this  period. 

The  Mina  Tribe. — We  have  already  had  frequent  occasion  to  ob- 
serve the  tendency  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  to  emerge  from  bondage 
and  depression,  which  has  been  seen  in  Mewar,  Kotah,  and  Bundi, 
and  is  now  exemplified  in  the  rise  of  the  Kachhwahas  in  Dhundhar. 
The  original,  jjure,  immixed  race  of  Minas,  or  Mainas,  of  Dhundhar, 
were  styled  Pachwara,  and  subdivided  into  five  grand  tribes. 
Their  original  home  was  in  the  range  of  mountains  called  Kalikoh, 
extending  from  Ajmer  nearly  to  the  Jumna,  where  they  erected 
Amber,  consecrated  to  Amba,  the  universal  mother,^  or,  as  the 
Minas  style  her,  Ghata  Rani,  '  Queen  of  the  pass.'  In  this  range 
were  Klioganw,  Machh,  and  many  other  large  towns,  the  chief 
cities  of  communities.  But  even  so  late  as  Raja  Baharmall 
Kachhwaha,  the  contemporary  of  Babur  and  Ilumayun,  the 
Minas  had  retained  or  regained  great  power,  to  the  mortification 
of  their  Rajput  superiors.     One  of  these  independent  communities 

'  [Anibor  is  said  to  derive  it.-  name  from  Siva  Ambikeswara,  or  from 
Aiiibamha,  son  of  Matidhata  and  king  of  Ayodhya.  It3  original  name  ia 
said  to  be  Arabarikanera,  that  is  '  town  (nera,  fc>kt.  ■nagara)  of  Ambarlsha  ' 
(IGI,  V.  290).] 


THE  MlNA  TRIBE  1333 

was  at  the  ancient  city  of  Nain,  destroyed  by  Baharmall,  no 
doubt  with  the  aid  of  his  Mogul  connexions.  An  old  historical 
distich  thus  records  the  power  of  the  Mina  princes  of  Nain  : 

Baivan  kot,  chhappan  darvdja, 
Mina  mard,  Nain  kd  rdjd, 
Vado  rdj  Nain  ko  bhago. 
Jab  bhus-hi  men  vdmto  mdgo. 

That  is,  '  There  were  fifty-two  strongholds,^  and  fiftj'-six  gates 
belonging  to  the  manly  Mina,  the  Raja  of  Nain,  whose  sovereignty 
of  Nain  was  extinct,  when  even  of  chaff  (bhus)  he  took  a  share.' 
If  this  is  not  an  exaggeration,  it  would  appear  that,  during  the 
distractions  of  the  first  Islamite  dynasties  of  Delhi,  the  Minas 
had  attained  their  primitive  importance.  Certainly  from  Pajiui, 
the  vassal  chieftain  of  Prithiraj  [350],  to  Baharmall,  the  con- 
temporary of  Babur,  the  Kachhwahas  had  but  little  increased 
their  territory.  When  this  latter  prince  destroyed  the  Mina 
sovereignty  of  Nain,  he  levelled  its  half  hundred  gates,  and 
erected  the  town  of  Lohwan  (now  the  residence  of  the  Rajawat 
chief)  on  its  ruins. 

A  distinction  is  made  in  the  orthography  and  pronunciation 
of  the  designation  of  this  race  :  Maina,  meaning  the  asl,  or  '  un- 
mixed class,'  of  which  there  is  now  but  one,  the  Usara  ;  while 
Mina  is  that  applied  to  the  mixed,  of  which  they  reckon  barah 
pal,^  or  twelve  communities,  descended  from  Rajput  blood,  as 
Chauhan,  Tuar,  Jadon,  Parihar,  Kaclihwaha,  Solanki,  Sankhla, 
Guhilot,  etc.,  and  these  are  subdivided  into  no  less  than  five 
thousand  two  hundred  distinct  clans,  of  which  it  is  the  duty  of 

^  Kot  is  '  a  fortress  ' ;  but  it  may  be  applied  simply  to  the  number  of 
bastions  of  Nain,  which  in  the  number  of  its  gates  might  rival  Thebes. 
Lohwan,  buUt  on  its  ruins,  contains  three  thousand  houses,  and  has  eighty- 
four  townships  dependent  on  it.  [In  the  third  line  of  the  verse  Major 
Luard's  Pandit  reads  for  vado,  dUbo,  '  annihilated  ' ;  in  the  fourth  for 
vdmto,  he  gives  muttha,  '  a  handful.'] 

2  Pal  is  the  term  for  a  community  of  any  of  the  aboriginal  mountain 
races  ;  its  import  is  a  '  defile,'  or  '  vaUey,'  fitted  for  cultivation  and  defence. 
It  is  probable  that  Poligar  may  be  a  corruption  of  Paligar,  or  the  region. (grar) 
of  these  Pals.  Palita,  BhUita,  PhiUta  are  terms  used  by  the  learned  for 
the  Bhil  tribes.  Maina,  Maira,  Mairot  all  designate  mountaineers,  from 
Mair,  or  Mer,  a  hill.  [The  '  Palita '  of  the  note  is  possibly  from  a  vague 
recollection  of  the  Phyllitai  or  '  leaf -clad  '  applied  to  some  aboriginal  tribes 
by  Ptolemy  (vii.U.  66)  (McCrindle,  Ptolemy,  159  f.).] 


1334  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

the  Jaga,  Dholi,  or  Dom,  their  genealogists,  to  keep  account. 
The  unmixed  Usara  stock  is  now  exceedingly  rare,  while  the 
mixed  races,  spread  over  all  the  hilly 'and  intricate  regions  of 
central  and  western  India,  boast  of  their  descent  at  the  expense 
of  '  legitimacy.'  These  facts  all  tend  strongly  to  prove  that 
the  Rajputs  were  conquerors,  and  that  the  mountaineers,  whether 
Kolis,  Bhils,  Minas,  Gonds,  Savaras  or  Sarjas,  are  the  indigenous 
inhabitants  of  India.  This  subject  will  be  fully  treated  here- 
after, in  a  separate  chapter  devoted  to  the  Mina  tribes,  their 
religion,  manners,  and  customs. 

Death  of  Pajun. — Let  us  return  to  Pajvm,  the  sixth  in  descent 
from  the  exile  of  Narwar,  who  was  deemed  of  sufficient  conse- 
quence to  obtain  in  marriage  the  sLster  of  Prithiraj,  the  Chauhan 
emperor  of  Delhi,  an  honour  perhaps  attributable  to  the  splendour 
of  Pajun's  descent,  added  to  his  great  personal  merit.  The 
chivalrous  Chauhan,  who  had  assembled  around  him  one  hundred 
and  eight  chiefs  of  the  highest  rank  in  India,  assigned  a  con- 
spicuous place  to  Pajun,  who  commanded  a  division  of  that 
monarch's  armies  in  many  of  his  most  important  battles.  Pajun 
twice  signalized  himself  in  invasions  from  the  north,  in  one  of 
which,  when  he  commanded  on  the  frontier,  he  defeated  Shihabu- 
d-din  in  the  Khaibar  Pass,  and  pursued  him  towards  Ghazni.^ 
His  valour  mainly  contributed  to  the  conquest  of  Mahoba,  the 
country  of  the  Chandels,  of  which  he  was  left  governor  ;  and  he 
was  one  of  the  sixty-four  chiefs  who,  with  a  chosen  body  of  their 
retainers,  enabled  Prithiraj  to  carry  off  the  princess  of  Kanauj. 
In  this  service,  covering  [351]  the  retreat  of  iiis  liege  lord,  Pajun 
lost  his  life,  on  the  first  of  the  five  days'  continuous  battle.  Pajun 
was  conjoined  with  Govind  Guhilot,  a  chief  of  the  Mewar  house  ; 
— both  fell  together.  Chand,  the  bard,  thus  describes  the  last 
hours  of  the  Kachhwaha  prince  :  "  When  Govind  fell,  the  foe 
danced  with  joy  :  then  did  Pajun  thunder  on  the  curtain  of 
fight :  with  both  hands  he  plied  the  khadga  (sword)  on  the  heads 
of  the  barbarian.  Four  hundred  rushed  upon  him  ;  but  the 
five  brothers  in  arms,  Kchari,  Pipa,  and  Boho,  with  Narsingh 
anil*  Kachra,  supported  him.  Spears  and  daggers  are  plied — 
heads  roll  on  the  plain — blood  flows  in  streams.     Pajun  assailed 

*  [This  is  jirobably  a  fiction  of  tho  bards,  based  on  the  defeat  of  tShihril)u- 
d-dln  by  lihlnidco  of  Nahrwala  in  a.d.  1178  (Klliot-Uowson  ii.  294  ;  Kcrishta 

i.  170).J 


MALASI  1335 

Itimad  ;  but  as  his  head  rolled  at  his  feet,  he  received  the  Khan's 
lance  in  his  breast  ;  the  Kunna  ^  fell  in  the  field,  and  the  Apsaras 
disputed  for  the  hero.  Whole  lines  of  the  northmen  strew  the 
plain  :  many  a  head  did  Mahadeo  add  to  his  chaplet.^  When 
Pajini  and  Govind  fell,  one  watch  of  the  day  remained.  To 
rescue  his  kin  came  Palhan,  like  a  tiger  loosed  from  his  chain. 
The  array  of  Kanauj  fell  back  ;  the  cloudlike  host  of  Jaichand 
turned  its  head.  The  brother  of  Pajun,  with  his  son,  performed 
deeds  like  Kama  :  ^  but  both  fell  in  the  field,  and  gained  the 
secret  of  the  sun,  whose  chariot  advanced  to  conduct  them  to 
his  mansion. 

"  Ganga  shrunk  with  affright,  the  moon  quivered,  the  Dikpals  * 
howled  at  their  posts  :  checked  was  the  advance  of  Kanauj,  and 
in  the  pause  the  Kurma  performed  the  last  rites  to  his  sire  (Pajun), 
who  broke  in  pieces  the  shields  of  Jaichand.  Pajun  was  a  buckler 
to  his  lord,  and  numerous  his  gifts  of  the  steel  to  the  heroes  of 
Kanauj  :  not  even  by  the  bard  can  his  deeds  be  described.  He 
placed  his  feet  on  the  head  of  Sheslonag,''  he  made  a  waste  of  the 
forest  of  men,  nor  dared  the  sons  of  the  mighty  approach  him. 
As  Pajun  fell,  he  exclaimed,  '  One  hundred  years  are  the  limit  of 
man's  life,  of  which  fifty  are  lost  in  night,  and  half  this  in  child- 
hood ;  but  the  Almighty  taught  me  to  wield  the  brand.'  As 
he  spoke,  even  in  the  arms  of  Yama,  he  beheld  the  arm  of  his  boy 
playing  on  the  head  of  the  foeman.  His  parting  soul  was  satisfied  : 
seven  wounds  from  the  sword  had  Malasi  received,  whose  steed 
was  covered  with  wounds  :  mighty  were  the  deeds  performed 
by  the  son  of  Pajun." 

Malasi. — This  Malasi,  in  whose  praise  the  bard  of  PriLliiraj 
is  so  lavish,  succeeded  (according  to  the  chronicle)  his  father 
Pajun  in  the  Raj  of  Amber.  There  is  little  said  of  him  in  the 
transcript  in  my  possession.  There  are,  however,  abundance  of 
traditional  couplets  to  prove  that  the  successors  of  Pajun  were 
not  wanting  in  the  chief  duties  of  the  Rajput  [352],  the  exercise 

^  Kurma,  or  Kachhua,  are  synonymous  terms,  and  indiscriminately 
applied  to  the  Rajputs  of  Ajmer  ;   meaning  '  tortoise.' 

2  The  chaplet  of  the  god  of  war  is  of  skulls  ;  his  drinking-cup  a  semi- 
craniura. 

3  [The  hero  of  the  Mahabharata.] 

*  [Ganga,  the  Ganges ;  Dikpals,  regents  of  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heavens.] 

*  [The  serpent  which  supports  the  world.] 


1336  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

of  his  sword.  One  of  these  mentions  his  having  gained  a  victory 
at  Rutrahi  over  the  prince  of  Mandu.^ 

We  shall  pass  over  the  intermediate  princes  from  Malasi  to 
Prithiraj,  the  eleventh  in  descent,  with  a  bare  enumeration  of 
their  names  :  namely,  Malasi,  Bijal,  Rajdeo,  Kilan,  Kuntal, 
Junsi,  Udaikaran,  Narsingh,  Banbir,  Udharan,  Chandrasen, 
Prithiraj . 

Prithiraj. — Prithiraj  had  seventeen  sons,  twelve  of  whom 
reached  man's  estate.  To  them  and  their  successors  in  perpetuity 
he  assigned  appanages,  styled  the  Barah  Kothri,  or  '  twelve 
chambers  '  of  the  Kachhwaha  house.  The  portion  of  each  was 
necessarily  very  limited  ;  some  of  the  descendants  of  this  here- 
ditary aristocracy  now  hold  estates  equal  in  magnitude  to  the 
principality  itself  at  that  period.  Preiaous,  however,  to  this 
perpetual  settlement  of  Kachhwaha  fiefs,  and  indeed  inter- 
mediately between  Malasi  and  Prithiraj,  a  disjunction  of  the 
junior  branches  of  the  royal  family  took  place,  which  led  to  the 
foundation  of  a  power  for  a  long  time  exceeding  in  magnitude 
the  parent  State.  This  was  in  the  time  of  Udaikaran,  whose 
son  Baloji  left  his  father's  house,  and  obtained  the  town  and 
small  district  of  Amritsar,  which  in  time  devolved  on  his  grand- 
son Shaikhji,  and  became  the  nucleus  of  an  extensive  and  singular 
confederation,  known  by  the  name  of  the  founder,  Shaikhavati, 

^  I  give  this  ohiofly  for  the  concluding  couplet,  to  see  how  the  Rajputs 
applied  the  word  Khotan  to  the  lands  beyond  Kabul,  Avhere  the  great  Raja 
Man  commanded  as  Akbar's  lieutenant : 

"  Pdlan,  Pajun  jite, 
Mnhoba,  Kanauj  lare, 
Mandu  Malasi  jUe, 
Rdr  Rutrahi  led  ; 
Raj  Bliagwdndas  jite, 
Mavdsi  lar. 
Raja  Man  Singh  jite,^'^ 
Khotan  phnuj  dabdi" 

"  Palan  and  Pajun  were  victorious  ; 
Fought  at  Mahoba  and  Kanauj  ; 
Malasi  conquered  Mandu  ; 
Tn  the  battle  of  Rutrahi, 
Raja  Bhagwandas  vanquished. 
Tn  the  Mawasi  (fastnesses,  probably,  of  Mewat), 
Raja  Man  Singh  was  victorious  ; 
Subjugating  the  army  of  Khotan." 


BHAGWANDAS  1337 

at  this  day  covering  an  area  of  nearly  ten  thousand  square  miles. 
As  this  subject  will  be  discussed  in  its  proper  place,  we  shall  no 
longer  dwell  on  it,  but  proceed  with  the  posterity  of  Prithiraj, 
amongst  the  few  incidents  of  whose  life  is  mentioned  his  meritori- 
ous pilgrimage  to  Dewal,^  near  the  mouth  of  the  Indus.  But 
[353]  even  this  could  not  save  him  from  foul  assassination,  and 
the  assassin  was  his  own  son,  Bhim,  "  whose  countenance  (says 
the  chronicle)  was  that  of  a  demon."  The  record  is  obscure, 
but  it  would  appear  that  one  parricide  was  punished  by  another, 
and  that  Askaran,  the  son  of  Bhim,  was  instigated  by  his  brethren 
to  put  their  father  to  death,  and  "  to  expiate  the  crime  by  pil- 
grimage." 2  In  one  list,  both  these  monsters  are  enumerated 
amongst  the  '  anointed '  of  Amber,  but  they  are  generally 
omitted  in  the  genealogical  chain,  doubtless  from  a  feeling  of 
disgust. 

Bahar  or  Bihari  Mall,  c  a.d.  1548-75. — Baharmall  was  the 
first  prince  of  Amber  who  paid  homage  to  the  Muhammadan 
power.  He  attended  the  fortunes  of  Babur,  and  received  from 
Humayun  (previous  to  the  Pathan  usurpation),  the  mansab  of 
five  thousand  as  Raja  of  Amber.* 

Bhagwandas,  c.  a.d.  1575-92. — Bhagwandas,  son  of  Baharmall, 
became*  still  more  intimately  allied  with  the  Mogul  dynasty. 
He  was  the  friend  of  Akbar,  who  saw  the  full  value  of  attaching 
such  men  to  his  throne.  By  what  arts  or  influence  he  overcame 
the  scruples  of  the  Kachhwaha  Rajput  we  know  not,  unless  by 
appealing  to  his  avarice  or  ambition  ;  but  the  name  of  Bhag- 
wandas is  execrated  as  the  first  who  sullied  Rajput  purity  by 
matrimonial  alliance  with  the  Islamite.*     His  daughter  espoused 

^  '  The  temple  '  ;  the  Debal  of  the  Muhammadan  tribes  :  the  Rajput 
seat  of  power  of  the  Rajas  of  Sind,  when  attacked  by  the  caliphs  of  Bagdad 
[Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  320.] 

2  The  chronicle  says  of  this  Askaran,  that  on  his  return,  the  king  (Babur 
or  Humayun)  gave  him  the  title  of  Raja  of  Narwar.  These  States  have 
continued  occasionally  to  furnish  representatives,  on  the  extinction  of  the 
line  of  either.  A  very  conspicuous  instance  of  this  occurred  on  the  death 
of  Raja  Jagat  Singh,  the  last  prince  of  Amber,  who  dymg  without  issue,  an 
intrigue  was  set  on  foot,  and  a  son  of  the  ex-prince  of  Narwar  was  placed 
on  the  gaddi  of  Amber. 

'  [This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  grading  of  Mansabdars  (Smith,  Akbar, 
the  Great  MogMil,  362).  For  Raja  Biharimall  and  his  son  Bhagwandas,  see 
Ain,  i.  328,  333  ;   Akbarnama,  trans.  Beveridge  ii.  244.] 

*  [Akbar  had  married  the  daughter  of  Baharmall.] 
VOL.  Ill  O 


1338  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Prince  Salim,  afterwards  Jahangir,  and  the  fruit  of  the  marriage 
was  the  unfortunate  Khusru.^ 

Man  Singh,  c.  a.d.  1592-1614.  —  Man  Singh,  nephew"  and 
successor  of  Bhagwandas,  was  the  most  brilhant  character  of 
Akbar's  court.  As  the  emperor's  hcutenant,  he  was  entrusted 
with  the  most  arduous  duties,  and  added  conquests  to  the  empire 
from  Khotan  to  the  ocean.  Orissa  was  subjugated  by  him,* 
Assam  humbled  and  made  tributary,  and  Kabul  maintained  in 
her  allegiance.  He  held  in  succession  the  governments  of  Bengal 
and  Behar,^  the  [354]  Deccan  and  Kabid.  Raja  Man  soon  proved 
to  Akbar  that  his  policy  of  strengthening  his  throne  by  Rajput 
alliances  was  not  without  hazard  ;  these  alliances  introducing 
a  direct  influence  in  the  State,  which  frequently  thwarted  the 
views  of  the  sovereign.  So  powerful  was  it,  that  even  Akbar, 
in  the  zenith  of  his  power,  saw  no  other  method  of  diminishing 
its  force,  than  the  execrable  but  common  expedient  of  Asiatic 
despots — poison  :  it  has  been  already  related  how  the  emperor's 
attempt  recoiled  upon  him  to  his  destruction.^ 

^  It  is  pleasing  to  find  almost  all  these  outlines  of  Rajput  history  con- 
firmed by  Muharamadan  writers.  It  was  in  a.h.  093  (a.d.  1586)  that  tliis 
marriage  took  place.  Three  generations  of  Kaclihwahas,  namely,  Bhag- 
wandas, his  adopted  son  Raja  Man,  aiid  grandson,  were  all  serving  in  the 
imperial  army  with  great  distinction  at  this  time.  Raja  Man,  though  styled 
Kunwar,  or  heir-apparent,  is  made  the  most  conspicuous.  He  quelled  a 
rebellion  headed  by  the  emperor's  brother,  and  while  Bhagwandas  com- 
manded under  a  prince  of  the  blood  against  Kaslntiir,  IMan  Singh  overcame 
an  insurrection  of  the  Afghans  at  Khaibar  ;  and  his  son  was  made  viceroy 
of  Kabul. — f-'i'C  l^riggs'  Ferishta,  vol.  ii.  p.  258  et  seq. 

2  Bhagwandas  had  three  brothers,  Surat  Singh,  Madho  Singh,  and  Jagat 
Singh  ;  Man  Singh  was  son  of  the  last. 

*  Ferishta  confirms  this,  saying  he  sent  one  hundred  and  twenty  elephants 
to  the  king  on  this  occasion. — Briggs'  Ferishta,  vol.  ii.  p.  268. 

*  Ferishta  confirms  this  likewise.  According  to  this  historian,  it  was 
while  Man  was  yet  only  Kunwar,  or  heir-apparent,  that  he  was  invested  with 
the  governments  of  "  Behar.  Hajipoor,  and  Patna,"  the  same  year  (a.d. 
1589)  that  his  uncle  Bhagwandas  died,  and  that  following  the  birth  of  Prince 
Khusru  by  the  daughter  of  the  Kachhwaha  prince,  an  event  celebrated  (says 
Ferishta)  with  great  rejoicings.  Sec  Briggs'  Ferishta,  vol.  ii.  p.  261.  Col. 
Briggs  has  allowed  the  similarity  of  the  names  Khusru  and  Khurravi  to 
betray  him  into  a  slight  error,  in  a  note  on  the  former  prince.  It  was  not 
Khusru,  but  Khurram,  who  succeeded  his  father  Jahangir,  and  was  father 
to  the  monster  Aurangzeb  (note,  p.  261).  Khusru  was.  put  to  death  by 
Khurram,  afterwards  Shall  Jahan. 

^  Annals  of  lUtjasthan,  Vol.  I.  p.  -108. 


RAJAS  BHAO  SINGH  AND  MAHA  SINGH         1339 

Akbar  was  on  his  death-bed  when  Raja  Man  commenced  an 
intrigue  to  alter  the  succession  in  favour  of  his  nephew,  Prince 
Khusru,  and  it  was  probably  in  this  predicament  that  the  monarch 
had  recourse  to  the  only  safe  policy,  that  of  seeing  the  crown  fixed 
on  the  head  of  Salim,  afterwards  Jahangir.  The  conspiracy  for 
the  time  was  quashed,  and  Raja  Man  was  sent  to  the  government 
of  Bengal ;  but  it  broke  out  again,  and  ended  in  the  perpetual 
imprisonment  of  Khusru,^  and  a  dreadful  death  to  his  adherents. 
Raja  Man  was  too  wise  to  identify  himself  with  the  rebellion, 
though  he  stimulated  his  nephew,  and  he  was  too  powerful  to  be 
openly  punished,  being  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  Rajputs  ; 
but  the  native  chronicle  mentions  that  he  Avas  amerced  by  Ja- 
hangir in  the  incredible  sum  of  ten  crores,  or  millions  sterling. 
According  to  the  Muhammadan  historian,  Raja  Man  died  in 
Bengal,*  a.h.  1024  (a.d.  1615)  ;  while  the  chronicle  says  he  was 
slain  in  an  expedition  against  the  Khilji  tribe  in  the  north  two 
years  later.^ 

Bhao  Singh,  c.  a.d.  1615-21. — Rao  Bhao  Singh  succeeded  his 
father,  and  was  invested  by  the  emperor  with  the  Panjhazari,  or 
dignity  of  a  legionary  chief  of  five  thousand.  He  was  of  weak 
intellect,  and  ruled  a  few  years  without  distinction.  He  died  in 
A.H.  1030  of  excessive  drinking. 

Maha  Singh,  c.  a.d.  1621-25. — Maha  succeeded,  and  in  like 
manner  died  from  dissipated  habits.  These  unworthy  successors 
of  Raja  Man  allowed  the  princes  of  Jodhpur  to  take  the  lead  at 
the  imperial  court.  At  the  instigation  of  the  celebrated  Jodha  Bai 
(daughter  of  Rae  Singh  of  Bikaner),  the  Rajputni  wife  of  Jahangir, 
Jai  Singh,  grandson  of  Jagat  Singh  (brother  of  Man),  was  raised  to 
the  throne  of  Amber,  to  the  no  small  jealousy,  says  [355]  the 
chronicle,  of  the  favourite  queen,  Nur  Jahan.     It  relates  that  the 

1  Re  was  afterwards  assassinated  by  order  of  Shah  Jahan  ["  under  the 
walls  of  Azere  "  (Aslrgarh)].  See  Dew's  Ferishta,  ed.  1812,  vol.  iii.  p.  56. 
[Elphinstone  (p.  563)  calls  his  death  suspicious,  but  refuses  to  believe  that 
Shah  Jahan  procured  his  death.  He  died  from  colic  in  the  Deocan  on 
January  16,  1622.] 

2  Dow.  ed.  1812,  vol.  iii.  p.  42  ;  the  chronicle  says  in  S.  1699,  or  a.d.  1613. 
[He  died  a  natural  death  in  July  1614,  while  he  was  on  service  in  the  Deccan, 
and  sixty  of  his  fifteen  hundred  women  are  said  to  have  burned  themselves 
on  his  pvre  {Ain,  i.  341  ;  Memoirs  of  Jahangir,  trans.  Rogers-Beveridge 
266).] 

*  An  account  of  the  life  of  Raja  Man  would  fill  a  volume  ;  there  are 
ample  materials  at  Jaipur. 


1340  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

succession  was  settled  by  the  emperor  and  the  Rajputni  in  a  con- 
ference at  the  balcony  of  the  seraglio,  where  the  emperor  sainted 
the  youth  below  as  Raja  of  Amber,  and  commanded  him  to  make 
his  salaam  to  Jodha  Bai,  as  the  source  of  this  honour.  But  the 
customs  of  Rajwara  could  not  be  broken  :  it  was  contrary  to 
etiquette  for  a  Rajput  chief  to  salaam,  and  he  replied  :  "  I  will  do 
this  to  any  lady  of  your  majesty's  family,  but  not  to  Jodha 
Bai  "  ;  upon  which  she  good-natin-edly  laughed,  and  called  out, 
"  It  matters  not  ;   I  give  you  the  raj  of  Amber." 

Jai  Singh,  Mirza  Raja,  c.  a.d.  1625-67. — Jai  Singh,  the  Mirza 
Raja,  the  title  by  which  he  is  best  known,  restored  by  his  conduct 
the  renown  of  the  Kachhwaha  name,  which  had  been  tarnished  by 
the  two  unworthy  successors  of  Raja  Man.  He  performed  great 
services  to  the  empire  during  the  reign  of  Aurangzeb,  who  be- 
stowed upon  him  the  mansab  of  six  thousand.  He  made  prisoner 
the  celebrated  Sivaji,  whom  he  conveyed  to  court,  and  afterwards, 
on  finding  that  his  pledge  of  safety  was  likely  to  be  broken,  was 
accessary  to  his  liberation.  But  this  instance  of  magnanimity  was 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  his  treachery  to  Dara,  in  the  war 
of  succession,  which  crushed  the  hopes  of  that  brave  prince. 
These  acts,  and  their  consequences,  produced  an  imconquerable 
haughtiness  of  demeanour,  which  determined  the  tyrannical 
Aurangzeb  to  destroy  him.  The  chronicle  says  he  had  twenty- 
two  thousand  Rajput  cavalry  at  his  disposal,  and  twenty-two 
great  vassal  chiefs,  who  commanded  under  him  ;  that  he  would 
sit  with  them  in  darbar,  holding  two  glasses,  one  of  which  he 
called  Delhi,  the  other  Satara,  and  dashing  one  to  the  ground, 
would  exclaim,  "  There  goes  Satara  ;  the  fate  of  Dellii  is  in  my 
right  hand,  and  this  with  like  facility  I  can  cast  away."  These 
vaunts  reaching  the  emperor's  ear,  he  had  recourse  to  the  same 
diabolical  expedient  which  ruined  Marwar,  of  makiug  a  son  the 
assassin  of  his  father.  He  promised  the  succession  to  the  gaddi  of 
Amber  to  Kirat  Singh,  younger  son  of  the  Raja,  to  the  prejudice 
of  his  elder  brother  Ram  Singh,  if  he  effected  the  horrid  deed.* 
The  wretch  having  perpetrated  the  crime  by  mixing  poison  in  his 
father's  opium,  returned  to  claim  the  investiture  :  but  the  king 
only  gave  him  the  district  of  Kama.  From  this  period,  says  the 
chronicle,  Amber  declined. 

*  [Jai  Singh  died,  aged  about  sixty,  at  Burhanpur,  July  12, 1667  (Manucci 
ii.  152).J 


RAJA  SAWAl  JAI  SINGH  1341 

Ram  Singh,  Bishan  Singh. — Ram  Singh,  who  succeeded,  had 
tlie  mansab  of  four  thousand  conferred  upon  him,  and  was  sent 
against  the  Assamese.^  Upon  his  death,  Bishan  Singh,  whose 
mansab  was  further  reduced  to  the  grade  of  three  thousand,  suc- 
ceeded ;  but  he  enjoyed  the  dignity  only  a  short  period  [356]. 


CHAPTER   2 

Sawai  Jai  Singh,  c.  a.d.  1693-1743.— Jai  II.,  better  known  by 
the  title  of  Sawai  Jai  Singh,  in  contradistinction  to  the  first 
prince  of  this  name,  entitled  the  '  IVIirza  Raja,'  succeeded  in 
S.  1755  (a.d.  1699),^  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  Aurangzeb's 
reign,  and  within  six  years  of  that  monarch's  death.  He  served 
with  distinction  in  the  Deccan,  and  in  the  war  of  succession 
attached  himself  to  the  prince  Bedar  Bakht,  son  of  Azam  Shah, 
declared  successor  of  Aurangzeb  ;  and  with  these  he  fought  the 
battle  of  Dholpur,  which  ended  in  their  death  and  the  elevation 
of  Shah  Alam  Bahadur  Shah.  For  this  opposition  Amber  was 
sequestrated,  and  an  imperial  governor  sent  to  take  possession  ; 
but  Jai  Singh  entered  his  estates,  sword  in  hand,  drove  out  the 
king's  garrisons,  and  formed  a  league  with  Ajit  Singh  of  Marwar 
for  their  mutual  preservation. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  pursue  this  celebrated  Rajput  through 
his  desultory  military  career  during  the  forty-four  years  he 
occupied  the  gaddi  of  Amber  ;  enough  is  already  known  of  it 
from  its  combination  with  the  Annals  of  Mewar  and  Bundi,  of 
which  house  he  was  the  implacable  foe.  Although  Jai  Singh 
mixed  in  all  the  troubles  and  warfare  of  this  long  period  of  anarchy, 
when  the  throne  of  Timur  was  rapidly  crumbUng  into  dust,  his 
reputation  as  a  soldier  would  never  have  handed  down  his  name 

^  [According  to  Manucci  (ii.  153),  Ram  Singh,  as  a  piece  of  revenge  for 
the  flight  of  Sivaji,  was  sent  to  Assam  in  the  hope  that,  like  Mir  Jumla,  he 
would  die  there  ;  but  on  an  appeal  being  made  to  Aurangzeb,  the  order  was 
cancelled,  and  he  was  banished  beyond  the  river  Indus.  The  real  fact  is 
that  Ram  Suigh  was  appointed  to  the  Command  in  Assam  in  December 
1667,  and  arrived  there  in  February  1669.  After  desultory  and  unsuccessful 
fighting  he  was  allowed  to  leave  Bengal,  and  reached  the  Imperial  Court  in 
June  1676  (Jadunath  Sarkar,  History  of  Aurangzib,  iii.  212  fE.).] 

^  [The  dates  of  the  Rajas  of  Jaipur  are  uncertain.  Those  in  the  margin 
are  given  on  the  authority  of  Beale,  Oriental  Biographical  Diet.  193).] 


1342  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

with  honour  to  posterity  ;  on  the  contrary,  his  courage  had 
none  of  the  fire  which  is  requisite  to  make  a  Rajput  hero  ;  though 
his  talents  for  civil  government  and  court  intrigue,  in  which  he  was 
the  MachiavelU  of  his  day,  were  at  that  period  far  more  notable 
auxiliaries. 

The  Building  of  Jaipur :  Work  in  Astronomy. — As  a  statesman, 
legislator,  and  man  of  science,  the  character  of  Sawai  Jai  Singh  is 
worthy  of  an  ample  delineation,^  which  would  correct  our  opinion 
of  the  genius  and  [357]  capacity  of  the  princes  of  Rajputana,  of 
whom  we  are  apt  to  form  too  low  an  estimate.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  new  capital,  named  after  him  Jaipur  or  Jainagar, 
which  became  the  seat  of  science  and  art,  and  eclipsed  the  more 
ancient  Amber,  with  which  the  fortifications  of  the  modern  city 
unite,  although  the  extremity  of  the  one  is  six  miles  from  the 
other.  Jaipur  is  the  only  city  in  India  built  upon  a  regular 
plan,  with  streets  bisecting  each  other  at  right  angles.^  The 
merit  of  the  design  and  execution  is  assigned  to  Vidyadhar,  a 
native  of  Bengal,  one  of  the  most  eminent  coadjutors  of  the 
prince  in  all  his  scientific  pursuits,  both  astronomical  and  historical. 
Almost  all  the  Rajput  princes  have  a  smattering  of  astronomy, 
or  rather  of  its  spurious  relation,  astrology  ;  but  Jai  Singh  went 
deep,  not  only  into  the  theorj%  but  the  practice  of  the  science,  and 
was  so  esteemed  for  his  knowledge,  that  he  was  entrusted  by  the 
emperor  Muhammad  Shah  with  the  reformation  of  the  calendar. 
He  had  erected  observatories  with  instruments  of  his  own  in- 
vention at  Delhi,  Jaipur,  Ujjain,  Benares,  and  Mathura,  upon  a 
scale  of  Asiatic  grandeur  ;  and  their  results  were  so  correct  as 
to  astonish  the  most  learned.^     He  had  previously  used  such 

^  For  such  a  sketch,  the  materials  of  the  Amber  court  arc  abundant ;  to 
instance  only  the  Kalpadruma,  a  miscellaneous  diary,  in  which  everything 
of  note  was  written,  and  a  collection  entitled  Ek  sad  nau  gun  Jai  Singh  ke, 
or  '  the  one  hundred  and  nine  actions  of  Jai  Singh  '  of  which  I  have  heard 
several  narrated  and  noted.  Hia  voluminous  correspondence  with  all  the 
princes  and  chiefs  of  his  time  would  alone  repay  the  trouble  of  translation, 
and  would  throw  a  more  perfect  light  on  the  manners  and  feelings  of  his 
countrymen  than  the  most  laborious  lucubrations  of  any  European.  I 
possess  an  autograph  letter  of  this  prince,  on  one  of  the  most  important 
events  of  Indian  history  at  this  period,  the  deposal  of  Farrukhsiyar.  It  was 
addressed  to  the  Rana. 

^  [For  a  graphic  account  of  Jaipur  city  see  Rudyard  Kipling,  From  Sea 
to  Sea,  chap,  ii.] 

*  [For  those  observatories  see  A.  fl.  Garrett  and  Pandit  Chandradhar 


THE  BUILDING  OF  JAIPUR  1343 

instruments  as  tliose  of  Ulugh  Beg  (the  royal  astronomer  of  Samar- 
kand), which  failed  to  answer  his  expectations.^  From  the 
observations  of  seven  years  at  the  various  observatories,  he  con- 
structed a  set  of  tables.  While  thus  engaged,  he  learned  through 
a  Portuguese  missionary,  Padre  Manuel,  the  progress  which  his 
favourite  pursuit  was  making  in  Portugal,  and  he  sent  "  several 
skUful  persons  along  with  him  "  ^  to  the  court  of  Emanuel.  The 
king  of  Portugal  dispatched  Xavier  de  Silva,  who  communicated 
to  the  Rajput  prince  the  tables  of  De  la  Hire.'  "  On  examining 
and  comparing  the  calculations  of  these  tables  (says  the  Rajput 
prince)  with  actual  observation,  it  appeared  there  was  an  error  in 
the  former,  in  assigning  the  moon's  place,  of  half  a  degree  ; 
although  the  error  in  the  other  planets  was  not  so  great,  yet  the 
times  of  solar  and  lunar  eclipses  he  *  found  to  come  out  later  or 
earlier  than  the  truth  by  the  fourth  part  of  a  ghari,  or  fifteen  pals 
(six  minutes  of  time)."  In  like  manner,  as  he  found  fault  with 
the  instruments  of  brass  used  by  the  Turki  astronomer,  and  which 
he  conjectures  must  have  been  such  as  were  used  by  Hipparchus 
and  Ptolemy,  so  he  attributes  the  inaccuracies  of  De  la  Hire's 
tables  [358]  to  instruments  of  "  inferior  diameters."  The  Rajput 
prince  might  justly  boast  of  his  instruments.  With  that  at  Delhi, 
he,  in  a.d.  1729,  determined  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  to  be 
23°  28' ;  within  28"  of  what  it  was  determined  to  be,  the  year 
following,  by  Godin,  His  general  accuracy  was  further  put  to 
the  test  in  a.u.  1793  by  our  scientific  countryman.  Dr.  W.  Hunter, 
who  compared  a  series  of  observations  on  the  latitude  of  Ujjain 
with  that  established  by  the  Rajput  prince.     The  difference  was 


Guleri,  The  Jaipur  Observatory  and  its  Builder,  Allahabad,  1902  ;  Fanshawe, 
Delhi  Past  and  Present,  247  f. ;  Sherring,  The  Sacred  City  of  the  Hindus, 
131  ff.  The  observatory  at  Mathura  was  in  the  Fort,  but  it  has  disappeared; 
at  Ujjain  only  scanty  remains  exist  (Growse,  Mathura,  3rd  ed.  140  ;  lOI, 
xviii.  73,  xxiv.  113).] 

^  [Ulugh  Beg,  son  of  Shah  Rukh  and  grandson  of  Amir  Timvir,  succeeded 
his  father  a.d.  1447,  and  was  put  to  death  by  his  son,  Mirza  Abdul  Latif,  in 
1449.  His  astronomical  tables  were  published  in  Latin  by  John  Gregory, 
Professor  of  Astronomy  at  Oxford,  and  were  edited  by  Thomas  Hyde  in 
1665  (Sykes,  Hist,  of  Persia,  ii.  218  ;  EB,  11th  ed.  xxvii.  573  f.).] 

^  It  would  be  worth  ascertainhig  whether  the  archives  of  Lisbon  refer  to 
this  circumstance. 

*  Second  edition,  published  in  a.d.  1702.  Jai  Singh  finished  his  in 
A.D.  1728. 

*  Jai  Singh  always  speaks  of  hiiriscLf  in  the  third  person. 


1344  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

24'  ;  and  Dr.  Hunter  does  not  depend  on  his  own  observations 
within  15  .  Jai  Singh  made  the  latitude  23°  10'  N.  ;  Dr.  Hunter, 
23°  10'  24"  N. 

From  the  results  of  his  varied  observations,  Jai  Singh  drew  up 
a  set  of  tables,  which  he  entitled  Zij  Muhammadshahi,  dedicated 
to  that  monarch  ;  by  these,  all  astronomical  computations  are 
yet  made,  and  almanacks  constructed.  It  would  be  wrong — ■ 
while  considering  these  labours  of  a  prince  who  caused  Euclid's 
Elements,  the  treatises  on  plain  and  spherical  trigonometry, 
'  Don  Juan,'  Napier  on  the  construction  and  use  of  logarithms, 
to  be  translated  into  Sanskrit — to  omit  noticing  the  high  strain 
of  devotion  with  which  he  views  the  wonders  of  the  "  Supreme 
Artificer  "  ;  recalling  the  line  of  one  of  our  own  best  poets :  ^ 

An  undevout  astronomer  is  mad. 

The  Rajput  prince  thus  opens  his  preface  :  "  Praise  be  to  God, 
such  that  the  minutely  discerning  genius  of  the  most  profound 
geometers,  in  uttering  the  smallest  particle  of  it,  may  open  the 
mouth  in  confession  of  inability  ;  and  such  adoration,  that  the 
study  and  accuracy  of  astronomers,  who  measure  the  heavens, 
may  acknowledge  their  astonishment,  and  utter  insufficiency  ! 
Let  us  devote  ourselves  at  the  altar  of  the  King  of  Kings,  hallowed 
be  his  name  !  in  the  book  of  the  register  of  whose  power  the  lofty 
orbs  of  heaven  are  only  a  few  leaves  ;  and  the  stars,  and  that 
heavenly  courser  the  sun,  small  pieces  of  money,  in  the  treasury 
of  the  empire  of  the  Most  High. 

■  "  From  inability  to  comprehend  the  all-encompassing  benefi- 
cence of  his  power,  Hii^parchus  is  an  ignorant  clown,  who  '^^Tings 
the  hands  of  vexation  ;  and  in  the  contemplation  of  his  exalted 
majesty,  Ptolemy  is  a  bat,  who  can  never  arrive  at  the  sun  of 
truth  :  the  demonstrations  of  Euclid  are  an  imperfect  sketch  of 
the  forms  of  his  contrivance. 

"  But  since  the  well-wisher  of  the  works  of  creation,  and  the 
admiring  spectator  of  the  works  of  infinite  wisdom,  Sawai  Jai 
Singli,  from  the  first  dawning  of  reason  in  his  mind,  and  during 
its  progress  towards  maturity,  Avas  entirely  devoted  to  the  study 
[359]  of  mathematical  science,  and  the  bent  of  his  mind  was  con- 
stantly directed  to  the  solution  of  its  most  difficult  problems  ;   by 

'  [Young,  Nig/U  Thoughts,  ix.  771. J 


ASSASSINATION  OF  FARRUKHSIYAR  1345 

the  aid  of  the  Supreme  Artificer,  lie  obtained'a  thorough  knowledge 
of  its  principles  and  rules,"  etc.^ 

Besides  the  construction  of  these  objects  of  science,  he  erected, 
at  his  own  expense,  caravanserais  for  the  free  use  of  travellers  in 
many  of  the  provinces.  How  far  vanity  may  have  mingled  with 
benevolence  in  this  act  (by  no  means  uncommon  in  India),  it 
were  uncharitable  to  inquire  :  for  the  Hindu  not  only  prays  for 
all  those  "  who  travel  by  land  or  by  water,"  but  aids  the  traveller 
by  serais  or  inns,  and  wells  dug  at  his  own  expense,  and  in  most 
capitals  and  cities,  under  the  ancient  princes,  there  were  public 
charities  for  necessitous  travellers,  at  which  they  had  their  meals, 
and  then  passed  on. 

Assassination  of  Farrukhsiyar,  May  16,  1719. — When  we  con- 
sider that  Jai  Singh  carried  on  his  favourite  pursuits  in  the  midst 
of  perpetual  wars  and  court  intrigues,  from  whose  debasing 
influence  he  escaped  not  untainted  ;  when  amidst  revolution, 
the  destruction  of  the  empire,  and  the  meteoric  rise  of  the  Mah- 
rattas,  he  not  only  steered  through  the  dangers,  but  elevated 
Amber  above  all  the  principalities  around,  we  must  admit  that 
he  was  an  extraordinary  man.  Aware  of  the  approaching  down- 
fall of  the  Mogul  empire,  and  determined  to  aggrandize  Amber 
from  the  wreck,  he  was,  nevertheless,  not  unfaithful  to  his  lord- 
paramount  ;  for,  on  the  conspiracy  which  deprived  Farrukhsiyar 
of  empire  and  of  life,  Jai  Singh  was  one  of  the  few  princes  who 
retained  their  fideUty,  and  would  have  stood  by  him  to  the  last, 

^  See  "  Account  of  the  Astronomical  Labours  of  Jya  Sing,  Raja  of 
Amber,"  by  Dr.  W.  Hunter  [Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  v.  p.  177),  to  whom  I 
refer  the  reader  for  the  description  of  the  instruments  used  by  the  Raja. 
The  Author  has  seen  those  at  Delhi  and  Mathura.  There  is  also  an  equi- 
noctial dial  constructed  on  the  terrace  of  the  palace  of  Udaipur,  and  various 
mstruments  at  Kotah  and  Bundi,  especially  an  armillary  sphere,  at  the 
former,  of  about  five  feet  diameter,  aU  in  brass,  got  up  under  the  scholars 
of  .Jai  Singh.  Dr.  Hunter  gives  a  most  interesting  account  of  a  young 
pandit,  whom  he  found  at  Ujjain,  the  grandson  of  one  of  the  coadjutors  of 
Jai  Singh,  who  held  the  oifice  of  Jyotishrae,  or  Astronomer-Royal,  and  an 
estate  of  five  thousand  rupees  annual  rent,  both  of  which  (title  and  estate) 
descended  to  this  young  man  ;  but  science  fled  with  Jai  Singh,  and  the 
barbarian  Mahrattas  had  rendered  his  estate  desolate  and  unproductive. 
He  possessed,  says  Dr.  H.,  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Hindu  astro- 
nomical science  contained  in  the  various  Siddhantas,  and  that  not  confined 
to  the  mechanical  practice  of  rules,  but  founded  on  a  geometrical  knowledge 
of  their  demonstration.  This  inheritor  of  the  mantle  of  Jai  Singh  died  at 
Jaipur,  soon  after  Dr.  Hunter  left  Ujjain,  in  a.d.  1793. 


1346  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

if  he  had  possessed  a  particle  of  the  valour  which  belonged  to  the 
descendants  of  Timur.^ 

Enough  has  been  said  of  his  public  life,  in  that  portion  of  the 
Annals  of  Me  war  with  which  he  was  so  closely  connected,  both  by 
political  and  family  ties.  The  Sayyids,  who  succeeded  to  power 
on  the  murder  of  their  sovereign  Farrukhsiyar,  were  too  wise  to 
raise  enemies  unnecessarily  ;  and  Jai  Singh,  when  he  left  the 
unhappy  monarch  to  his  fate,  retired  to  his  hereditary  dominions, 
devoting  himself  to  his  favourite  pursuits,  astronomy  and  history. 
He  appears  to  have  enjoyed  three  years  of  uninterrupted  quiet, 
taking  no  part  in  the  struggles,  which  terminated,  in  a.d.  1721, 
with  Muhammad  Shah's  defeat  of  his  rivals,  and  the  destruction 
of  the  Sayyids  [360].  At  this  period  Jai  Singh  was  called  from 
his  philosophical  pursuits,  and  appointed  the  king's  lieutenant  for 
the  provinces  of  Agra  and  Malwa  in  succession  :  and  it  was  during 
this  interval  of  comparative  repose,  that  he  erected  those  monu- 
ments which  irradiate  this  dark  epoch  of  the  history  of  India.* 
Nor  was  he  blind  to  the  interests  of  his  nation  or  the  honour  of 
Amber,  and  his  important  olTice  was  made  subservient  to  obtain- 
ing the  repeal  of  that  disgraceful  edict,  the  jizya,  and  authority 
to  repress  the  infant  power  of  the  Jats,  long  a  thorn  in  the  side 
of  Amber.  But  when,  in  a.d.  1732,  the  Raja,  once  more  lieutenant 
for  Malwa,  saw  that  it  was  in  vain  to  attempt  to  check  the  Mah- 
ratta  invasion,  or  to  prevent  the  partition  of  the  empire,  he 
deemed  himself  justified  in  consulting  the  welfare  of  his  own  house. 
We  know  not  what  terms  Jai  Singh  entered  into  with  the  Mahratta 
leader,  Bajirao,  wlio  by  his  influence  was  appointed  Subahdar 
of  Mahva  ;  we  may,  however,  imagine  it  was  from  some  more 
powerful  stimulant  than  the  native  historian  of  this  period 
assigns,  namely,  "  a  similarity  of  religion."  By  this  conduct, 
Jai  Singh  is  said  emphatically,  by  his  own  countrymen,  to  have 
given  the  key  of  Hindustan  to  the  Southron.  The  influence  his 
character  obtained,  however,  with  the  Mahrattas  was  even  useful 

^  J.  Scott,  iu  his  excellent  history  of  the  successors  of  Aurangzeb  [ed. 
1794,  ii.  156  tl.],  gives  a  full  account  of  this  tragical  event,  on  which  I  have 
already  touched  in  Vr>l.  I.  p.  474  of  this  work  ;  where  I  have  given  a  literal 
translation  of  the  autfigraph  letter  of  Kaja  Jai  Singh  on  the  occasion. 

^  The  Raja  says  he  finished  his  tables  in  a.d.  1728,  and  that  he  had  occu- 
pied himself  seven  years  previously  in  the  necessary  observations  ;  in  fact, 
the  first  quiet  years  of  Muhammad  Shah's  reign,  or  indeed  that  India  had 
known  for  centuries. 


THE  REBELLION  OF  BIJAI  SINGH  1347 

to  his  sovereign,  for  by  it  he  retarded  their  excesses,  which  at 
length  reached  the  capital.  In  a  few  years  more  (a.d.  1739), 
Nadir  Shah's  invasion  took  place,  and  the  Rajputs,  Avisely  alive 
to  their  own  interests,  remained  aloof  from  a  cause  which  neither 
valour  nor  wisdom  could  longer  serve.  They  respected  the 
emperor,  but  the  system  of  government  had  long  alienated  these 
gallant  supporters  of  the  throne.  We  may  exemplify  the  trials 
to  which  Rajput  fidelity  was  exposed,  by  one  of  "  the  hundred 
and  nine  deed's  of  Jai  Singh  "  which  will  at  the  same  time  serve 
further  to  illustrate  the  position,  that  half  the  political  and  moral 
evils  which  have  vexed  the  royal  houses  of  Rajputana,  take  their 
rise  from  polygamy. 

Rebellion  of  Bijai  Singh. — Maharaja  Bishan  Singh  had  two 
sons,  Jai  Singh  and  Bijai  Singh.  The  mother  of  Bijai  Singh, 
doubtful  of  his  safety,  sent  him  to  her  own  family  in  Khichiwara.^ 
When  [361]  he  had  attained  man's  estate,  he  was  sent  to  court, 
and  by  bribes,  chiefly  of  jewels  presented  by  his  mother,  lie 
obtained  the  patronage  of  Kamaru-d-din  Khan,  the  wazir.^  At 
first  his  ambition  was  limited  to  the  demand  of  Baswa,^  one  of 
the  most  fertile  districts  of  Amber,  as  an  appanage  ;  which  being 
acceded  to  by  his  brother  and  sovereign,  Jai  Singh,  he  was 
stimulated  by  his  mother  to  make  still  higher  demands,  and  to 
offer  the  sum  of  five  crores  of  rupees  and  a  contingent  of  five 
thousand  horse,  if  he  might  supplant  his  brother  on  the  throne  of 
Amber.  The  wazir  mentioned  it  to  the  emperor,  who  asked  what 
security  he  had  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract ;  the  wazir 
offered  his  own  guarantee,  and  the  sanads  of  Amber  were  actually 
preparing,  which  were  thus  to  unseat  Jai  Singh,  when  his  pagri 
hadal  bhai,  Khandauran  Khan,*  informed  Kirparam,  the  Jaipur 
envoy  at  court,  of  what  was  going  on.  The  intelligence  pro- 
duced consternation  at  Amber,  since  Kamaru-d-din  was  all- 
powerful.  Jai  Singh's  dejection  became  manifest  on  reading  the 
letter,  and  he  handed  it  to  the  confidential  Nazir,  who  remarked 
"  it  was  an  affair  in  which  force  could  not  be  used,  in  which  wealth 

1  [In  Malwa  {IGI,  xxi.  34).] 

^  [Kamaru-d-din,  Mir  Muhammad  Fazil,  son  of  Itmadu-d-daula, 
Muhammad  Amin  Khan  Wazir,  was  appointed  to  that  office  a.d.  1724  : 
killed  at  Sarhind,  March  11,  1728.] 

'  [Forty-five  miles  N.N.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 

*  ['  Brother  by  exchange  of  turbans.'  Khandauran  Khan,  Abdu-1- 
Samad  Khan,  governor  of  Lahore  and  Multan,  died  a.d.  1739.] 


1348  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

■was  useless,  and  wliieh  must  be  decided  by  stratagem  *  alone  ; 
and  that  the  conspiracy  could  be  defeated  only  through  the  con- 
spirator." At  the  Nazir's  recommendation  he  convened  his 
principal  chiefs,  Mohan  Singh,  chief  of  the  Nathawats ;  *  Dip 
Singh,  Khumbani,  of  Bansko  ;  Zorawar  Singh,  Sheobaranpota  ; 
Himmat  Singh,  Naruka  ;  Kusal  Singh  of  Jhalai ;  Bhojraj  of 
Mozabad,  and  Fateh  Singh  of  Maoli  ;  and  thus  addressed  them  on 
the  difficulties  of  his  position  :  "  You  placed  me  on  the  gaddi 
of  Amber  ;  and  my  brother,  who  would  be  satisfied  with  Baswa, 
has  Amber  forced  upon  him  by  the  Nawab  Kamaru-d-din."  They 
advised  him  to  be  of  good  cheer,  and  they  would  manage  the 
affair,  provided  he  was  sincere  in  assigning  Baswa  to  his  brother, 
lie  made  out  the  grant  at  the  moment,  ratified  it  with  an  oath, 
and  presented  it  with  full  powers  to  the  chiefs  to  act  for  him. 
The  Panch  (coimcil)  of  Amber  sent  their  ministers  to  Bijai  Singh 
provided  with  all  the  necessary  arguments  ;  but  the  prince 
replied,  he  had  no  confidence  in  the  promises  or  protestations  of 
his  brother.  For  themselves,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Barah 
kothri  Amber  ki  (the  twelve  great  families),  they  gave  their  sita- 
ram,''  or  security ;  adding  that  if  Jai  Singh  swerved  [362]  from 
his  engagements,  they  were  his,  and  would  themselves  place  him 
on  the  gaddi  of  Amber. 

He  accepted  their  interposition  and  the  grant,  which  being 
explained  to  his  patron,  he  was  by  no  means  satisfied  ;  never- 
theless he  ordered  Khandauran  and  Kirparam  to  accompany 
him,  to  see  him  inducted  in  his  new  appanage  of  Baswa.  The 
chiefs,  anxious  to  reconcile  the  brothers,  obtained  Bijai  Singh's 
assent  to  a  meeting,  and  as  he  declined  going  to  Amber,  Chaumun 
was  proposed  and  agreed  to,  but  was  afterwards  changed  to  the 
town  of  Sanganer,  six  miles  south-west  of  Jaipur,  -where  Bijai 
Singh  pitclied  his  tents.  As  Jai  Singh  was  quitting  the  darbar 
to  give  his  brother  the  meeting,  the  Nazir  entered  with  a  message 

'  The  Nazir  is  here  harping  on  three  of  the  four  predicaments  which 
(borrowed  originally  from  Mann  [Laws,  viii.  159,  165,  1G8],  and  repeated 
hy  the  great  Rajput  oracle,  the  bard  Chaiid)  govern  all  hinnan  events,  sliam, 
dan,  bhed,  dand,  '  arguments,  gifts,  slratagem,  force.' 

^  He  is  the  hereditary  premier  noble  ?if  this  house  (as  ia  Salumbar  of 
i\re\var,  and  the  Awa  chief  of  Marwar),  and  is  familiarly  called  the  '  Patel 
of  Amber.'  His  residence  is  Chaumun,  which  is  the  j)lace  of  rendezvous  of 
the  feudality  of  Ainber,  whenever  they  league  against  the  sovereign. 

'  [An  appeal  to  the  deities  Rama  and  his  wife  Sita.] 


BTJAI  SINGH  ENTRAPPED  1349 

from  the  queen-mother,  to  know  "  why  her  eyes  should  not  be 
blessed  with  witnessing  the  meeting  and  reconciliation  of  the 
two  Laljis."  ^  The  Raja  referred  the  request  to  the  chiefs,  who 
said  there  could  be  no  objection. 

The  Nazir  prepared  the  mahadol,-  with  three  hundred  chariots 
for  the  females  ;  but  instead  of  the  royal  litter  containing  the 
queen-mother,  it  was  occupied  by  Ugar  Sen,  the  Bhatti  chief, 
and  each  covered  chariot  contained  two  chosen  Silahposhians, 
or  men  at  arms.  Not  a  soul  but  the  Nazir  and  his  master  were 
aware  of  the  treachery.  The  procession  left  the  capital ;  money 
was  scattered  with  profusion  by  the  attendants  of  the  supposed 
queen-mother,  to  the  people  who  thronged  the  highways,  rejoic- 
ing at  the  approaching  conclusion  of  these  fraternal  feuds. 

Bijai  Singh  entrapped. — A  messenger  having  brought  the 
intelligence  that  the  queen-mother  had  arrived  at  the  palace  of 
Sanganer,  the  Raja  and  his  chiefs  mounted  to  join  her.  The 
brothers  first  met  and  embraced,  when  Jai  Singh  presented  the 
grant  of  Baswa,  saying,  with  some  warmth,  that  if  his  brother 
preferred  ruling  at  Amber,  he  would  abandon  his  birthright  and 
take  Baswa,  Bijai  Singh,  overcome  with  this  kindness,  replied, 
that  "  all  his  wants  were  satisfied."  When  the  time  to  separate 
had  arrived,  the  Nazir  came  into  the  court  with  a  message  from 
the  queen-mother,  to  say,  that  if  the  chiefs  would  withdraw  she 
would  come  and  see  her  children,  or  that  they  might  come  to  her 
apartment.  Jai  Singh  referred  his  mother's  wish  to  the  chiefs, 
saying  he  had  no  will  but  theirs.  Having  advised  the  brothers 
to  wait  on  the  queen-mother,  they  proceeded  hand  in  hand  to 
the  interior  of  the  mahall.  When  arrived  at  the  door,  Jai  Singh, 
taking  his  dagger  from  his  girdle,  delivered  it  to  an  eunuch,  saying, 
"  What  occasion  for  this  here  ?  "  [363]  and  Bijai  Singh,  not  to 
be  outdone  in  confidence,  followed  his  example.  As  the  Nazir 
closed  the  door,  Bijai  Singh  found  himself,  not  in  the  embrace 
of  the  queen-mother,  but  in  the  iron  grip  of  the  gigantic  Bhatti, 
who  instantly  bound  him  hand  and  foot,  and  placing  him  in  the 
mahadol,  the  mock  female  procession  with  their  prisoner  returned 
to  Amber.  In  an  hour,  tidings  were  conveyed  to  Jai  Singh  of 
the  prisoner  being  safely  lodged  in  the  castle,  when  he  rejoined 

^  Lalji  is  an  epithet  of  endearment  used  by  all  classes  of  Hindus  towards 
their  children,  from  the  Sanskrit  lal,  lad,  '  to  sport.' 

^  [A  state  litter,  generally  used  by  ladies  of  the  Court.] 


1350  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

the  conclave  of  his  chiefs  ;  who  on  seeing  him  enter  alone,  attended 
l)y  some  of  the  '  men  at  arms,'  stared  at  each  other,  and  asked 
"  What  had  become  of  Bijai  Singh  ?  " — "  Hamare  pet  men,'"'' 
'  in  my  bellj^ ' !  was  the  reply.  "  We  are  both  the  sons  of  Bishan 
Singh,  and  I  the  eldest.  If  it  is  your  wish  that  he  should  rule, 
then  slay  me  and  bring  him  forth.  For  you  I  have  forfeited  my 
faith,  for  should  Bijai  Singh  have  introduced,  as  he  assuredly 
would,  your  enemies  and  mine,  you  must  have  perished."  Hear- 
ing this,  the  chiefs  were  amazed  ;  but  there  was  no  remedy,  and 
they  left  the  palace  in  silence.  Outside  were  encamped  six 
thousand  imperial  horse,  furnished  by  the  wazir  as  the  escort  of 
Bijai  Singh,  whose  commander  demanded  what  had  become  of 
their  trust.  Jai  Singh  replied,  "  It  was  no  affair  of  theirs,"  and 
desired  them  to  be  gone,  "  or  he  would  request  their  horses  of 
them,"  They  had  no  alternative  but  to  retrace  their  steps,  and 
thus  was  Bijai  Singh  made  prisoner.^ 

Whatever  opinion  the  moralist  may  attach  to  this  specimen 
of  '  the  hundred  and  nine  gun  '  of  the  I'oyal  astronomer  of 
Amber,  which  might  rather  be  styled  giina  ^  (vice)  than  gun 
(virtue),  no  one  will  deny  that  it  was  done  in  a  most  masterly 
manner,  and  where  dial  or  stratagem  is  a  necessary  expedient, 
did  honour  to  the  talents  of  Jai  Singh  and  the  Nazir,  who  alone, 
says  the  narrative,  were  accessory  to  the  plot.  In  this  instance, 
moreover,  it  was  perfectly  justifiable  ;  for  with  the  means  and 
influence  of  the  wazir  to  support  him,  Bijai  Singh  must,  sooner  or 
later,  have  supplanted  his  brother.  The  fate  of  Bijai  Singh  is 
noL  stated. 

Services  of  Jai  Singh  to  Jaipur  State. — The  Kachhwaha  State, 
as  well  as  its  capital,  owes  everything  to  Jai  Singh  :  before  his 
time,  it  had  little  political  weight  beyond  that  which  it  acquired 
from  the  personal  character  of  its  princes,  and  their  estimation 
at  the  Mogul  court.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  intimate  connexion 
which  existed  between  the  Amber  Rajas  and  the  imperial  family, 
from  Babur  to  Aurangzeb,  their  patrimonial  estates  had  been  very 
little  enlarged  since  Pajim,  the  contemporary  of  the  last  Rajput 
emperor  of  Delhi.     Nor  was  it  till  [.364]  the  troubles  which  ensued 

*  I  have  made  a  verbatim  Iran.slation  of  this  gun. 

2  This  is  a  singular  instance  of  making  the  privative  an  affix  instead  of 
prefix;  a-gun,  'without  virtue,'  would  be  the  common  form.  [(?)  guna 
may  mean  '  virtue,'  or  the  reverse  (Monior-Williams,  SavsJcrit  Diet.  s.v. ; 
Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,  4th  ed.  30).] 


LIMITS  OF  JAIPUR  AT  JAI  SINGH'S  ACCESSION    1351 

on  the  demise  of  Aurangzeb,  when  the  empire  was  eventually 
partitioned,  that  Amber  was  entitled  to  the  name  of  a  raj.  Dur- 
ing those  troubles,  Jai  Singh's  power  as  the  king's  lieutenant  in 
Agra,  which  embraced  his  hereditary  domains,  gave  him  ample 
opportunity  to  enlarge  and  consolidate  his  territory.  The  manner 
in  which  he  possessed  himself  of  the  independent  districts  of 
Deoti  and  Rajor,^  affords  an  additional  insight  into  the  national 
character,  and  that  of  this  prince. 

Limits  of  Jaipur  State. — At  the  accession  of  Jai  Singh,  the  raj 
of  Amber  consisted  only  of  three  parganas  or  districts  of  Amber, 
Daosa,  and  Baswa  ;  the  western  tracts  had  been  sequestrated, 
and  added  to  the  royal  domains  attached  to  Ajmer.  The  Shaikh- 
avati  confederation  was  superior  to,  and  independent  of,  the 
parent  State,  whose  boundaries  were  as  follows.  The  royal 
thana  (garrison)  of  Chatsu,^  to  the  south  ;  those  of  Sambhar  to 
the  west,  and  Hastina  to  the  north-west  ;  while  to  the  east, 
Daosa  and  Baswa  formed  its  frontier.  The  Kothribands,  as 
they  denominate  the  twelve  great  feudalities,  possessed  but 
very  slender  domains,  and  were  held  cheap  by  the  great  vassals 
of  Mewar,  of  whom  the  Salumbar  chief  was  esteemed,  even  by 
the  first  Peshwa,  as  the  equal  of  the  prince  of  the  Kachh- 
wahas. 

Rajor. — Rajor  was  a  city  of  great  antiquity,  the  capital  of  a 
petty  State  called  Deoti, ^  ruled  by  a  chief  of  the  Bargujar  tribe, 
descended,  like  the  Kachhwahas,  from  Rama,  but  through  Lava, 
the  elder  son.  The  Bargujars  of  Rajor  had  obtained  celebrity 
amongst  the  more  modern  Rajputs,  by  their  invincible  repug- 
nance to  matrimonial  alliance  with  the  Muhammadans  ;  and 
while  the  Kachhv/ahas  set  the  degrading  example,  and  by  so 
doing  eventually  raised  themselves  to  affluence,  the  Bargujar 
'  conquered  renown  in  the  song  of  the  bard,'  by  performing  the 
sokha  in  defence  of  his  honour.  Wliile,  therefore,  Sawai  Jai 
Singh  ruled  as  a  viceroy  over  kingdoms,  the  Bargujar  was  serving 
with  his  contingent  with  the  Baisi,*  and  at  the  period  in  question, 

^  [Both  now  in  Macheri  of  the  Alwar  State.] 

^  [Thirty  miles  E.  of  Jaipur  city.] 

^  [Now  in  Macheri,  Alwar  State.] 

*  ['  The  twenty-two,'  a  term  originally  applied  to  the  Mughal  army, 
because  it  was  supposed  to  contain  twenty-two  lakhs  of  men.  The  twenty- 
two  nobles  of  Jaipur  were  a  later  creation.] 


1352  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

in  Anupshahr,  on  the  Ganges.  When  absent  on  duty,  the  safety 
of  Rajor  depended  on  his  younger  brother.  One  day,  while  pre- 
paring for  the  eliase  of  the  wild  boar,  he  became  so  impatient  for 
his  dinner,  that  his  sister-in-law  remarked,  "  One  would  suppose 
you  were  going  to  throw  a  lance  at  Jai  Singh,  you  are  in  such  a 
hurry."  This  was  touching  a  tender  subject,  for  it  will  be  re- 
collected that  the  first  territory  in  the  plains  obtained  by  the 
Kachhwahas,  on  their  migration  from  Narwar,  was  Daosa,  a 
Bargujar  possession.  "  By  Thakurji  (the  Lord),  I  shall  do  so, 
ere  I  eat  from  your  hands  again,"  was  the  fierce  reply.  With  ten 
horsemen  he  left  Rajor,  and  took  post  [365]  under  the  Dhulkot, 
or  '  mud  walls,'  of  Amber. 

Attempted  Assassination  of  Jai  Singh. — But  weeks  and  months 
fled  ere  he  found  an  opportunity  to  execute  his  threat ;  he  gradu- 
ally sold  all  his  horses,  and  was  obliged  to  dismiss  his  attendants. 
Still  he  lingered,  and  sold  his  clothes,  and  all  his  arms,  except  his 
spear  ;  he  had  been  three  days  without  food,  when  he  sold  half 
his  turban  for  a  meal.  That  day  Jai  Singh  left  the  castle  by  the 
road  called  mora,  a  circuitous  path  to  avoid  a  hill.  He  was  in  his 
sukhasan ;  ^  as  he  passed,  a  spear  was  delivered,  which  lodged  in 
the  corner  of  the  litter.  A  hundred  swords  flew  out  to  slay  the 
assassin  ;  but  the  Raja  called  aloud  to  take  him  alive,  and  carry 
him  to  Amber.  When  brought  before  him  and  asked  who  he  was, 
and  the  cause  of  such  an  act,  he  boldly  replied,  "  I  am  the  Deoti 
Bargujar,  and  threw  the  spear  at  you  merely  from  some  words 
with  my  Bhabhi  ;  ^  either  kill  or  release  me."  He  related  how 
long  he  had  lain  in  wait  for  him,  and  added  that  "  had  he  not  been 
four  days  without  food,  the  spear  would  have  done  its  duty." 
Jai  Singh,  with  politic  magnanimity,  freed  him  from  restraint, 
gave  him  a  horse  and  dress  of  honour  {khilat),  and  sent  him^ 
escorted  by  fifty  horse,  in  safety  to  Rajor.  Having  told  his 
adventure  to  his  sister-in  law,  she  replied,  "  You  have  wounded 
the  envenomed  snake,  and  have  given  water  to  the  State  of 
Rajor."  She  knew  that  a  pretext  alone  was  wanting  to  Jai  Singh 
and  this  was  now  unhappily  given.  With  the  advice  of  the  elders, 
the  females  and  children  were  sent  to  the  Raja  at  Anupshahr,^ 
and  the  castles  of  Deoti  and  Rajor  were  prepared  for  the  storm. 

•  A  litter,  literally  '  seat  {asan)  of  ease  (swM).'    . 

^  [Bhubhi,  '  sister-in-law.'] 

'  The  descendants  of  this  chieftain  still  occupy  lands  at  Anupshahr. 


ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  JAI  SINGH     1353 

On  the  third  da}'^  after  the  occurrence,  Jai  Singh,  in  a  full 
meeting  of  his  chiefs,  related  the  circumstance,  and  held  out  the 
bira  ^  against  Deoti  ;  but  jNIohan  Singh  of  Chaumun  ^  warned  his 
prince  of  the  risk  of  such  an  attempt,  as  the  Bargujar  cliief  was 
not  only  estimated  at  court,  but  then  served  with  his  contingent. 
This  opinion  of  the  chief  noble  of  Amber  alarmed  the  assembly, 
and  none  were  eager  to  seek  the  dangerous  distinction.  A  month 
passed,  and  war  against  Deoti  was  again  proposed  ;  but  none  of 
the  Kothribands  seeming  inclined  to  oppose  the  opinion  of  their 
ostensible  head,  Fateh  Singh  Banbirpota,  the  chieftain  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  vassals,  accepted  the  bira,  when  five  thousand 
horse  were  ordered  to  assemble  under  his  command.  Hearing 
that  the  Bargujar  had  left  Raj  or  to  celebrate  the  festival  of 
Ganggor,^  he  moved  towards  him,  sending  on  some  messengers 
witJi  "  the  compliments  of  Fateh  Singh  Banbirpota,  and  that 
he  was  at  hand."  The  young  Bargujar  who,  little  expecting 
[866]  any  hostile  visitation,  was  indulging  during  this  festive 
season,  put  the  heralds  to  death,  and  with  his  companions,  com- 
pletely taken  by  surprise,  was  in  turn  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Jaipur 
troops.  The  Rani  of  Raj  or  was  the  sister  of  the  Kachhwaha  chief 
of  Chaumun  :  she  was  about  gi\dng  a  pledge  of  affection  to  her 
absent  lord,  when  Rajor  was  surprised  and  taken.  Addressing  the 
victor,  Fateh  Singh,  she  said,  "  Brother,  give  me  the  gift  (dan) 
of  my  womb  "  ;  but  suddenly  recollecting  that  her  own  unwise 
speech  had  occasioned  this  loss  of  her  child's  inheritance,  exclaim- 
ing, "  Why  should  I  preserve  life  to  engender  feuds  ?  "  she 
sheathed  a  dagger  in  her  bosom  and  expired.  The  heads  of  the 
vanquished  Bargujars  were  tied  up  in  handkerchiefs,  and  sus- 
pending them  from  their  saddle-horses,  the  victors  returned  to 
their  prince,  who  sent  for  that  of  his  intended  assassin,  the 
yoimg  Bargujar  chieftain.  As  soon  as  Mohan  Singh  recognized 
the  features  of  his  kinsman,  the  tears  poured  down  his  face. 
Jai  Singh,  recollecting  the  advice  of  this,  the  first  noble  of  his 
court,  which  delayed  his  revenge  a  whole  month,  called  his 
grief  treason,  and  upbraided  him,  saying,  "  When  the  spear 
was  levelled  for  my  destruction,  no  tear  fell."  He  sequestrated 
Chaumun,  and  banished  him  from  Dhundhar  :  the  chief  found 
refuge  with  the  Rana  at  Udaipur.     "  Thus  (says  the  manuscript), 

^  [The  betel  leaf  eaten  before  battle.] 

2  [About  20  miles  N.  of  Jaipur  city.]  '•'  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  665.] 

VOL.  Ill  ii 


1354  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

did  Jai  Singh  dispossess  the  Bargujar  of  Deoti  and  Rajor,  which 
were  added  to  his  dominions  :  they  embraced  all  the  tract  now 
called  Maeheri."  ^ 

Amongst  the  foibles  of  Jai  Singh's  character  was  his  partiality 
to  '  strong  drink.'  What  this  beverage  was,  whether  the  juice 
of  the  madhu  (mead),  or  the  essence  (arak)  of  rice,  the  traditional 
chronicles  of  Amber  do  not  declare,  though  they  mention  frequent 
appeals  from  Jai  Singh  drunk,  to  Jai  Singh  sober  ;  one  anecdote 
has  already  been  related.- 

In  spite  of  his  manj^  defects,  Jai  Singh's  name  is  destined  to 
descend  to  posterity  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his 
age  and  nation. 

Erection  ot  Buildings. — Until  Jai  Singh's  time,  the  palace  of 
Amber,  built  by  the  great  Raja  Man,  inferior  to  many  private 
houses  in  the  new  city,  was  the  chief  royal  residence.  The  Mirza 
Raja  made  several  additions  to  it,  but  these  were  trifles  compared 
with  the  edifice  added '  by  Sawai  Jai  Singh,  which  has  made  the 
residence  of  the  Kachhwaha  princes  [367]  as  celebrated  as  those 
of  Bundi  or  Udaipur,  or,  to  borrow  a  more  appropriate  comparison, 
the  Kremlin  at  Moscow.  It  was  in  S.  1784  (A.n.  1728)  that  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  Jaipur.  Raja  Mall  was  the  Musahib,* 
Kirparam  the  stationary  wakil  at  Delhi,  and  Budh  Singh  Khum- 
bani,  with  the  urdu,  or  royal  camp,  in  the  Deccan  :  all  eminent 
men.  The  position  he  chose  for  the  new  capital  enabled  him  to 
connect  it  with  the  ancient  castle  of  Amber,  situated  upon  a 
peak  at  the  apex  of  the  re-entering  angle  of  the  range  called 
Kalikoh  ;  a  strong  circumvallation  enclosed  the  gorge  of  the 
mountain,  and  was  carried  over  the  crest  of  the  hills,  on  either 
side,  to  unite  with  the  castle,  whilst  all  the  adjoining  passes  were 
strongly  fortified. 

Sumptuary  Laws  :  Tolerance. — The  sumptuary  laws  which  he 

^  Rajor  is  esteemed  a  place  of  great  antiquity,  and  the  chief  seat  of  the 
Bargujar  tribe  for  ages,  a  tribe  mentioned  with  high  respect  in  the  works  of 
the  bard  Chand,  and  celebrated  in  the  wars  of  Prithiraj.  I  sent  a  party  to 
Rajor  in  1813. 

*  Annals  of  Marwar,  Vol.  II.  p.  1048. 

^  The  jnannscript  says,  "  On  the  spot  where  the  first  Jai  Singh  erected 
the  three  mahalla,  and  excavated  the  tank  called  the  Talkatora,  ho  erected 
other  edifices."  As  Hindu  princes  never  throw  down  the  works  of  their 
predecessors,  this  means  that  he  added  greatly  to  the  old  palace. 

*  [Aide-de-camp.] 


THE  ASVAMEDHA  1355 

endeavoured  to  establish  throughout  Rajputana  for  the  regula- 
tion of  marriages,  in  order  to  check  those  lavish  expenses  that 
led  to  infanticide  and  satis,  will  be  again  called  forth  when  the 
time  is  ripe  for  the  abolition  of  all  such  unhallowed  acts.  For 
this  end,  search  should  be  made  for  the  historical  legends  called 
the  '  hundred  and  nine  acts,'  in  the  archives  of  Jaipur,  to  which 
ready  access  could  be  obtained,  and  which  should  be  ransacked 
for  all  the  traces  of  this  great  man's  mind.^  Like  all  Hindus,  he 
was  tolerant ;  and  a  Brahman,  a  Muhanunadan,  or  a  Jain,  were 
alike  certain  of  patronage.  The  Jains  enjoyed  his  peculiar  estima- 
tion, from  the  superioi'ity  of  their  knowledge,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  been  thoroughly  conversant  both  in  their  doctrines  and 
their  histories.  Vidyadhar,  one  of  his  chief  coadjutors  in  his 
astronomical  pursuits,  and  whose  genius  planned  the  city  of  Jaipur, 
was  a  Jain,  and  claimed  spiritual  descent  from  the  celebrated 
Hemacharya,  of  Nahrvala,  minister  and  spiritual  guide  of  his 
namesake,  the  great  Siddhraj  Jai  Singh  .^ 

The  Asvamedha. — Amongst  the  vanities  of  the  founder  of 
Amber,  it  is  said  that  he  intended  to  get  up  the  ceremony  of  the 
Asvamedha  yajna,  or  '  sacrifice  of  the  horse,'  a  rite  which  his  re- 
search into  the  traditions  of  his  nation  must  have  informed  him  had 
entailed  destruction  on  all  who  had  attempted  it,  from  the  days 
of  Janamejaya  the  Pandu,  to  Jaichand,  the  last  Rajput  monarch 
of  Kanauj .  It  was  a  virtual  assumption  of  universal  supremacy  ; 
and  although,  perhaps,  in  virtue  of  his  office,  as  the  satrap  of 
Delhi,  the  horse  dedicated  to  the  sun  might  have  wandered  un- 
molested on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  he  would  most  assuredly 
have  found  his  way  into  a  Rathor  stable  had  he  roamed  in  the 
direction  of  the  desert  :  or  at  the  risk  both  of  jiva  and  gaddi 
(Ufe  and  throne),  the  Hara  [368]  would  have  seized  him,  had  he 
fancied  the  pastures  of  the  Chambal.^     He  erected  a  sacrificial 

^  By  such  researches  we  should  in  all  probability  recover  those  sketches 
of  ancient  history  of  the  various  djmasties  of  Rajputana,  which  he  is  said 
to  have  collected  with  great  pains  and  labour,  and  the  genealogies  of  the  old 
races,  under  the  titles  of  Rajavali  and  Rajatarangini ;  besides,  the  astro- 
nomical works,  either  original  or  translations,  such  as  were  collected  by  Jai 
Singh,  would  be  a  real  gift  to  science. 

2  He  ruled  from  S.  1150  to  S.  1201,  a.d.  1094-1143.  [Hemacharya,  or 
Hemachandra,  was  a  famous  scholar  who  flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Siddha- 
raja  Jayasingha  and  Kumarapala,  He  is  said  to  have  been  converted  to 
Islam  (BG,  i.  Part  i.  180  f.,  182  f.,  ix.  Part  ii.  26,  note.] 

*  See  Vol.  I.  p.  91,  for  a  description  of  the  rite  of  Asvamedha. 


1356  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPLTR 

hall  of  much  beauty  and  splendour,  whose  columns  and  ceilinjTS 
were  covered  with  plates  of  silver  ;  nor  is  it  improbable  that  the 
steed,  emblematic  of  Surya,  may  have  been  led  round  the  hall, 
and  afterwards  sacrificed  to  the  solar  divinity.  The  Yajnasala 
of  Jai  Singh,  one  of  the  great  ornaments  of  the  city,  was,  how- 
ever, stripped  of  its  rich  decoration  by  his  profligate  descendant, 
the  late  Jagat  Singh,  who  had  not  the  grace  even  of  Rehoboam, 
to  replace  them  with  inferior  ornaments  ;  and  the  noble  treasures 
of  learning  which  Jai  Singh  had  collected  from  every  quarter,  the 
accumulated  results  of  his  own  reseiarch  and  that  of  his  pre- 
decessors, were  divided  into  two  portions,  and  one-half  was  given 
to  a  common  prostitute,  the  favourite  of  the  day.  The  most 
remarkable  MSS.  were,  till  lately,  hawking  about  Jaipur. 

Sawai  Jai  Singh  died  in  S.  1799  (a.d.  1743),  having  ruled  forty- 
four  years.  Three  of  his  wives  and  several  concubines  ascended 
his  funeral  pj're,  on  which  science  expired  with  him. 


CHAPTER  3 

The  Rajput  League. — The  league  formed  at  this  time  by  the 
three  chief  powers  of  Rajputana  has  already  been  noticed  in  the 
Annals  of  Mewar.  It  was  one  of  self-preservation  ;  and  while 
the  Rathors  added  to  Marwar  from  Gujarat,  the  Kachhwahas 
consolidated  all  the  districts  in  their  neighboin-hood  under  Amber. 
The  Shaikhavati  federation  was  compelled  to  become  tributary, 
and  but  for  the  rise  of  the  .Jats,  the  State  of  .Jaipur  would  have 
extended  from  the  lake  of  Sambhar  to  the  Jumna  [369]. 

Isari  Singh,  a.d.  -1743-60. — Isari  Singh  succeeded  to  a  well- 
defined  territoiy,  heaps  of  treasure,  an  efficient  ministry,  and  a 
good  army  ;  but  the  seeds  of  destruction  lurked  in  the  social 
edifice  so  lately  raised,  and  polygamy  was  again  the  immediate 
agent.  Isari  Singh  was  the  successor  of  Jai  Singh,  according  to 
the  fixed  laws  of  primogeniture  ;  but  Madho  Singh,  a  younger 
son,  born  of  a  princess  of  Mewar,  possessed  conventional  rights 
which  vitiated  those  of  birth.  These  have  already  been  discussed, 
as  well  as  their  disastrous  issue  to  the  unfortimate  Isari  Singh, 
who  was  not  calculated  for  the  times,  beting  totally  deficient  in 
that  nervous  energy  of  character,  without  which  a  Rajput  prince 
can  enforce  no  respect.     His  conduct  on   the   Abdali   invasion 


ISARI  SINGH  AND  MADHO  SINGH  1357 

admitted  the  construction  of  cowardice,  thougli  his  retreat  from 
the  field  of  battle,  when  the  commander-in-chief,  Kamaru-d-din 
Khan,  was  killed,  might  have  been  ascribed  to  political  motives, 
were  it  not  recorded  that  his  own  wife  received  him  with  gibes 
and  reproaches.  There  is  every  appearance  of  Jai  Singh  having 
repented  of  his  engagement  on  obtaining  the  hand  of  the  Sesodia 
prmcess,  namely,  that  her  issue  should  succeed,  as  he  had  in  his 
lifetime  given  an  appanage  unusually  large  to  Madho  Singh, 
namely,  the  four  parganas  of  Tonk,  Rampura,  Phaggi,  and 
Alalpura.^  The  Rana  also,  who  supported  his  nephew's  claims, 
assigned  to  hun  the  rich  fief  of  Rampura  Bhanpura  in  Mewar,^ 
which  as  well  as  Tonk  Rampura,  constituting  a  petty  sovereignty, 
were,  with  eighty-four  lakhs  (£840,000  sterling),  eventually  made 
over  to  Holkar  for  supportmg  his  claims  to  the  '  cushion '  of 
Jaipur.  The  consequence  of  this  barbarous  intervention  in  the 
international  quarrels  of  the  Rajputs  annihilated  the  certain 
prospect  they  had  of  national  independence,  on  the  breaking  up 
of  the  empire,  and  subjected  them  to  a  thi-aidom  still  more 
degrading,  from  which  a  change  of  redemption  is  now  offered  to 
them. 

MadiiO  Singh,  a.d.  1760-78. — ^Madiio  Smgh,  on  his  accession, 
displayed  great  vigour  of  mind,  and  though  faithful  to  his  engage- 
ments, he  soon  showed  the  Mahrattas  he  would  admit  of  no  pro- 
tracted interference  in  his  affairs  ;  and  had  not  the  rising  power 
of  the  Jats  distracted  his  attention  and  divided  his  resoiuces,  he 
would,  had  his  hfe  been  prolonged,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Rathors,  have  completely  humbled  their  power.  But  this  near 
enemy  embarrassed  all  his  plans.  Although  the  history  of  the 
Jats  is  now  well  known,  it  may  not  be  impertinent  shortly  to 
conunemorate  the  rise  of  a  power,  wltich,  from  a  rustic  condition, 
in  httle  more  than  half  a  century  was  able  to  baffle  the  armies 
of  Britain,  led  by  the  most  popular  commander  it  ever  had  in 
the  East ;  for  till  the  siege  of  Bharatpur  the  name  of  Lake  was 
always  coupled  with  victory  [370] . 

The  Jats  of  Bharatpur. — The  Jats  ^  are  a  branch  of  the  great 

^  [Tonk  now  in  the  State  of  that  name ;   Rampura  65  miles  E.,  Phaggi 
32  mUes  E.,  Malpura  about  50  miles  S.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 
^  [Now  lost  to  Mewar,  being  included  in  Indore  State*] 
^  It  has  been  seen  how  the  Yadu-Bhatti  pruices,  when  thej'^  feUfrom  their 
rank  of  Rajputs,  assumed  that  of  Jats,  or  Jats,  who  are  assuredly  a  mixture 


1358  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Getic  race,  of  which  enough  has  been  said  in  various  parts  of  this 
work.  Though  reduced  from  the  rank  they  once  had  amongst  the 
'  Thirty-six  Royal  Races,'  they  appear  never  to  have  renounced 
the  love  of  independence,  which  they  contested  with  Cyrus  in 
their  original  haunts  in  Sogdiana.  The  name  of  the  Cincinnatus 
of  the  Jats,  who  abandoned  his  plough  to  lead  his  countrymen 
against  their  tyrants,  was  Churaman»  Taking  advantage  of  the 
sanguinary  civil  wars  amongst  the  successors  of  Aurangzeb,  they 
erected  petty  castles  in  the  villages  (whose  lands  they  cultivated) 
of  Thun  and  Sansani,^  and  soon  obtained  the  distinction  of 
Kazaks,  or  '  robbers,'  a  title  which  they  were  not  slow  to  merit, 
by  their  inroads  as  far  as  the  royal  abode  of  Farruldisiyar.  The 
Sayyids,  then  in  power,  commanded  Jai  Singh  of  Amber  to  attack 
them  m  their  strongholds,  and  Thmi  and  Sansani  were  smiul- 
taneously  invested.  But  the  Jats,  even  in  the  very  infancy  of 
tlieir  power,  evinced  the  same  obstinate  skiU  in  defending  mud 
walls,  wliich  in  later  times  gained  them  so  much  celebrity.  The 
royal  astronomer  of  Amber  was  foiled,  and  after  twelve  months 
of  toil,  was  ingloriously  compelled  to  raise  both  sieges. 

Not  long  after  this  event,  Badan  Singh,  the  younger  brother 
of  Churaman,  and  a  joint  proprietor  of  the  land,  was  for  some 
misconduct  placed  in  restraint,  and  had  remained  so  for  some 
years,  when,  through  j^the  intercession  of  Jai  Singh  and  the 
guarantee  of  the  other  Bhumia  Jats,  he  was  liberated.  His  lirst 
act  was  to  lly  to  Amber,  and  to  bring  its  prince,  at  the  head  of 
an  army,  to  invest  Thun,  wliich,  after  a  gallant  defence  of  six 
months,  surrendered  and  was  razed  to  the  ground.  Churaman 
and  his  son,  Mohkain  Singh,  effected  their  escape,  and  Badan 
Singh  was  pruelaimed  ciiicf  of  the  Jats,  and  installed,  as  Raja, 
by  Jai  Singh  in  the  town  of  Dig,  destined  also  in  after  times  to 
have  its  share  of  fame. 

Badan  Singh  had  a  numerous  progeny,  and  four  of  his  sons 
obtained  notoriety,  namely,  Surajmall,  Sobharam,  Tartap  Singh, 
and   Birnarayan.    Badan  Singh  subjected  several  of  the  royal 


of  the  Rajput  and  Yuti,  Jat  or  Gete  races.  See  Vol.  I.  p.  127.  [The  Author 
possibly  refers  to  the  attack  of  Cyrus  on  the  Massagetae,  whose  connexion 
with  the  Jats  is  not  supported  by  evidence  (Herodotus  i.  204  il.).] 

^  [Sansani  about  10  miles  N.W.  of  Bharatpur  city  :  Thun  12  miles  W.  of 
Sausani.  For  the  sieges  of  Thun  by  Jai  Singh  in  1710  and  1722,  see  Irvme, 
Army  of  the  Indian  Moghuls,  285  li. ;  for  Sansani,  Mauucci  ii.  320  f.  iv.  242.] 


THE  JATS  OF  BHARATPUR  1359 

districts  to  his  authority.  He  abdicated  his  power  in  favour  of 
his  elder  son,  Surajmall,  having  in  the  first  instance  assigned  the 
district  of  Wer,^  on  which  he  had  constructed  a  fort,  to  his  son 
Partap. 

Surajmall  inlierited  all  the  turbulence  and  energy  requisite 
to  carry  on  the  plans  of  his  predecessors.  His  first  act  was  to 
dispossess  a  relative,  named  Kaima,  of  the  castle  [371]  of  Bharat- 
pur,  afterwards  the  celebrated  capital  of  the  Jats.^  In  the  year 
S.  1820  (a.d.  1764),  Surajmall  carried  his  audacity  so  far  as  to 
make  an  attempt  upon  the  imperial  city  ;  but  here  his  career  was 
cut  short  by  a  party  of  Baloch  horse,  who  slew  him  while  enjoying 
the  chase.  He  had  five  sons,  namely,  Jawahir  Singh,  Ratan 
Singh,  Newal  Singh,  Nahar  Singh,  Ranjit  Singh,  and  also  an 
adopted  son,  named  Hardeo  Baldish,  picked  up  while  hunting. 
Of  these  five  sons,  the  first  two  were  by  a  wife  of  the  Kurmi  ^ 
tribe  ;  the  third  was  by  a  wife  of  the  Malin,  or  horticultural  class  ; 
wliile  the  others  were  by  Jatnis  or  women  of  his  own  race. 

Jawahir  Singh,  who  succeeded,  was  the  contemporary  of  Raja 
Madho  Singh,  whose  reign  in  Jaipur  we  have  just  reached  ;  and 
to  the  Jat's  determination  to  measure  swords  with  him  were  owing, 
not  only  the  frustration  of  his  schemes  for  humbling  the  Mahratta, 
but  the  dismemberment  of  the  country  by  the  defection  of  the 
chief  of  Macheri.  Jawahir  Singh,  in  A.n.  1182,  having  in  vain 
solicited  the  district  of  Kamona,  manifested  his  resentment  by 
instantly  marching  through  the  Jaipur  territories  to  the  sacred 
lake  of  Pushkar,  without  any  previous  intimation.  He  there 
met  Raja  Bijai  Singh  of  Marwar,  who,  in  spite  of  his  Jat  origin, 
condescended  to  '  exchange  turbans,'  the  sign  of  friendsliip  and 
fraternal  adoption.  At  this  period,  Madho  Singh's  health  was 
on  the  decline,  and  his  counsels  were  guided  by  two  brothers, 
named  Harsahai  and  Gursahai,  who  represented  the  insulting 
conduct  of  the  Jat  and  required  instructions.  They  were  com- 
manded to  address  him  a  letter  warning  him  not  to  return  through 
the  territories  of  Amber,  and  the  chiefs  were  desired  to  assemble 

^  [About  28  miles  S.W.  of  Bharatpur  city.] 

2  [In  1761  he  captured  Agra,  which  the  Jats  held  till  they  were  ousted 
by  the  Marathas  in  1770  {WI,  v.  83).] 

*  The  Kurmi  (the  Kulumbi  of  the  Deccan)  is  perhaps  the  most  numerous, 
next  to  the  Jats,  of  all  the  agricultural  classes.  [In  1911  there  were  7 
miUiou  Jats  and  31  million  Kurmis  in  India.] 


1360  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

their  retainers  .in  order  to  punish  a  repetition  of  the  insult.  But 
the  Jat,  who  had  determined  to  abide  the  consequences,  paid  no 
regard  to  the  letter,  and  returned  homewards  by  the  same  route. 
Tliis  was  a  justifiable  ground  of  quarrel,  and  the  united  Kothri- 
bands  marched  to  the  encounter,  to  maintain  the  pretensions  of 
their  equestrian  order  against  the  plebeian  Jat.  A  desperate 
conflict  ensued,  which,  though  it  terminated  in  favour  of  the 
Kachhwahas  and  in  the  flight  of  the  leader  of  the  Jats,  proved 
destructive  to  Amber,  in  the  loss  of  almost  every  chieftain  of 
note  1  [372J. 

Separation  o£  Macheri  or  Alwar  State,  a.d.  1771-76. — This 
battle  was  the  indirect  cause  of  the  formation  of  Maeheri  into 
an  independent  State,  which  a  few  words  will  explain.  Partap 
Singh,  of  the  Naruka  clan,  held  the  fief  of  Macheri  ;  for  some 
fault  he  was  banished  the  country  by  Madho  Singh, ^nd  fled  to 
Jawahir  Singh,  from  whom  he  obtained  saran  (sanctuary),  and 
lands  for  his  maintenance.  The  ex-chieftain  of  Macheri  had,  as 
conductors  of  his  household  affairs  and  his  agents  at  court,  two 
celebrated  men,  Khushhaliram "  and  Nandram,  who  now  shared 
his  exile  amongst  the  Jats.  Though  enjoying  protection  and 
hospitality  at  Bharatpur,  they  did  not  the  less  feel  the  national 
insult,   in   that  the   Jat   should   dare   thus   unceremoniously   to 

^  Having  given  a  slight  sketch  of  the  origin  of  the  Jats,  1  iiuiy  hero  con- 
clude it.  Rataii  Singh,  the  brother  of  Jawahir,  succeeded  him.  He  was 
assassinated  by  a  Gosain  Brahman  from  J3indrabaii,  who  had  undertaken 
to  teach  the  Jat  jmnce  the  transmutation  of  metals,  and  had  obtained  con- 
siderable sums  on  pretence  of  preparing  the  process.  Finding  the  day  arrive 
on  which  ho  was  to  commence  operations,  and  which  would  reveal  his 
inipostmc,  he  had  no  way  of  escape  but  by  applying  the  knife  to  his  dupe. 
Kesari  Singh,  an  infant,  succeeded,  mider  the  guardiansliip  of  his  uncle, 
Newal  Singh.  Ranjit  Singh  succeeded  him,  a  name  renowned  for  the 
defence  of  Bharatpur  against  Loid  Lake.  Ho  died  a.d.  1805,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  eldest  of  four  sons,  namely,  llandhir  Singh,  Baldeo  Singli, 
Hardeo  Singh,  and  Laohhman  Singh.  The  infant  son  of  Randhir  succeeded, 
under  the  tutelage  of  his  uncle  ;  to  remove  whom  the  British  army  destroyed 
Bharatpur,  and  plundered  it  of  its  wealth,  both  public  and  private.  [The 
son  of  Randhir  Singlj  was  Balwant  Singli,  who  was  cast  into  ])rison  by  his 
cousin,  Durjansal.  Ho  was  captured  by  Jjord  Comberniei'c  when  l\o  stormed 
Bharatpur  in  1826.  Balwant  Singh  was  restored,  and  dying  in  1853,  was 
succeeded  by  Jaewant  Singh,  who  died  in  1893,  and  was  succeeded  bj^  his 
son  Ram  Singh,  deposed  for  misconduct  in  1900,  and  succeeded  by  his  son 
Kishan  Singh,  bom  in  1899  (lOI,  viii.  74  fl).] 

^  Father  of  two  men  scarcely  less  celebrated  than  himself,  Chhatarbhuj 
and  Daula  Ram. 


PRITHI  SINGH  II.  1361 

traverse  their  country.  Whether  the  chief  saw  in  this  juncture 
an  opening  for  reconcihation  with  his  hege  lord,  or  that  a  pure 
sjiirit  of  patriotism  alone  influenced  him,  he  abandoned  the  place 
of  refuge,  and  ranged  himself  at  his  old  post,  under  the  standard 
of  Amber,  on  the  eve  of  the  battle,  to  the  gaining  of  which  he 
contributed  not  a  little  For  this  opportune  act  of  loyalty  his 
past  errors  were  forgiven,  and  Madho  Singh,  who  only  survived 
that  battle  four  days,  restored  him  to  his  favour  and  his  fief  of 
Macheri. 

Madho  Singh  died  of  a  dysentery,  after  a  rule  of  seventeen  years. 
Had  he  been  spared,  in  all  human  probability  he  would  have 
repaired  the  injurious  effects  of  the  contest  which  gave  him  the 
gaddi  of  Amber  ;  but  a  minority,  and  its  accustomed  anarchy, 
made  his  death  the  point  from  which  the  Kachhwaha  power 
declined.  He  built  several  cities,  of  which  that  called  after  him 
Madhopur,  near  the  celebrated  fortress  of  Ranthanibhor,  the 
most  secure  of  the  commercial  cities  of  Rajwara,  is  the  most  re- 
markable. He  inherited  no  small  portion  of  his  father's  love  of 
science,  which  continued  to  make  Jaipur  the  resort  of  learned 
men,  so  as  to  eclipse  even  the  sacred  Benares. 

Prithi  Singh  II.,  a.d.  1778. — Prithi  Singh  II.,  a  minor,  succeeded, 
luider  the  guardianship  of  the  mother  of  his  yomiger  brother, 
Partap.  The  queen-regent,  a  Chondawatni,  was  of  an  ambitious 
and  resolute  character,  but  degraded  by  her  paramour,  Firoz, 
a  Filban,  or  '  elephant-driver,'  whom  she  made  member  of  her 
council,  which  disgusted  the  chiefs,  who  alienated  themselves 
from  court  and  remained  at  their  estates.  Determined,  however, 
to  dispense  with  their  aid,  she  entertained  a  mercenary  army 
under  the  celebrated  Ambaji,  with  which  she  enforced  the  collec- 
tion of  the  revenue.  Arath  Ram  was  at  [373]  this  period  the 
Diwan,  or  prime  minister,  and  Khushhaliram  Bohra,  a  name  after- 
wards conspicuous  in  the  politics  of  this  court,  was  associated  in 
the  ministry.  But  though  these  men  were  of  the  highest  order 
of  talent,  their  influence  was  neutralized  by  that  of  the  Filban, 
who  controlled  both  the  regent  Rani  and  the  State.  Matters 
remained  in  this  humiliating  posture  during  nine  years,  when 
Prithi  Singh  died  through  a  fall  from  his  horse,  though  not  without 
suspicions  that  a  dose  of  poison  accelerated  the  vacancy  of  the 
gaddi,  which  the  Rani  desired  to  see  occupied  by  her  own  son. 
The  scandalous  chronicle  of  that  day  is  by  no  means  tender  of  the 


1362  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

reputation  of  Madho  Singh's  widow.  Having  a  direct  interest 
in  the  death  of  Prithi  Singh,  the  laws  of  common  sense  were 
violated  in  appointing  her  guardian,  notwithstanding  her  claims 
as  Patrani,  or  chief  queen  of  the  deceased.  Prithi  Singh,  though 
he  never  emerged  from  the  trammels  of  minority  and  the  tutelage 
of  the  Chondawatni,  yet  contracted  two  marriages,  one  with 
Bikaner,  the  other  with  Kishangarh.  By  the  latter  he  had  a  son, 
Man  Singh.  Every  court  in  Rajputana  has  its  pretender,  and 
young  Man  was  long  the  bugbear  to  the  court  of  Amber.  He  was 
removed  secretly,  on  his  father's  death,  to  the  maternal  roof  at 
Kishangarh  ;  but  as  this  did  not  offer  sufficient  security,  he  was 
sent  to  Sindhia's  camp,  and  has  ever  since  lived  on  the  bounty  of 
the  Mahratta  chief  at  Gwalior.^ 

Partap  Singh,  a.d.  1778-1803. — Partap  Singh  -  was  immediately 
placed  upon  the  gaddi  by  the  queen-regent,  his  mother,  and  her 
council,  consisting  of  the  Filban,  and  Khushhaliram,  who  had 
now  received  the  title  of  Raja,  and  the  rank  of  prime  minister. 
He  employed  the  power  thus  obtained  to  supplant  his  rival  Firoz, 
and  the  means  he  adopted  established  the  independence  of  his 
old  master,  the  chief  of  Macheri.  This  chief  was  the  only  one  of 
note  who  absented  himself  from  the  ceremony  of  the  installation 
of  his  sovereign.  He  was  countenanced  by  the  minister,  whose 
plan  to  get  rid  of  his  rival  was  to  create  as  much  confusion  as 
possible.  In  order  that  distress  might  reach  the  court,  he  gave 
private  instructions  that  the  zemindars  should  withhold  their 
payments  ;  ])ut  these  minor  stratagems  would  have  been  unavail- 
ing, had  he  not  associated  in  his  schemes  the  last  remnants  of 
power  about  the  Mogul  tlirone.  Najaf  Khan  ■'  was  at  this  time 
the  imperial  connnandcr,  who,  aided  by  the  Mahrattas,  proceeded 
to  expel  the  [374]  Jats  from  the  city  of  Agra.     He  then  attacked 

^  Two  or  tliice  times  he  had  a  cluiiico  of  being  placed  on  the  gaddi  (vide 
letter  of  Resident  with  Sindhia  to  Governnicnt,  March  27,  1812),  which 
assuredly  ought  to  bo  his:  onco,  about  1810,  when  the  nobles  of  Jaipur 
were  disgusted  with  the  libertine  Jagat  Singh  ;  and  again,  upon  the  death 
of  this  dissolute  prince,  in  1820.  The  last  occasion  presented  a  fit  occasion 
for  his  accession  ;  but  the  British  (Jovernnient  were  then  the  arbitrators, 
and  1  doubt  inucli  if  his  claims  were  disclosed  to  it,  or  uiidcrstood  by  those 
who  had  the  (hxision  of  the  question,  whi(:h  nearly  terminated  in  a  civil  war. 

*  I  The  Author's  dates  do  not  agree  with  those  of  Prinsep  {Useful  Tables, 
ed.  1834,  p.  112)  which  arc  given  in  the  margin.] 

^  [Najaf  Khan,  Amiru-1-Umara,  Zulfikaru-d-daula,  died  a.d.  1782.] 


PARTAP  SINGH  1363 

them  in  their  stronghold  of  Bharatpur.  Nawal  Singh  was  then 
the  chief  of  the  Jats.  The  Macheri  chief  saw  in  the  last  act  of 
expiring  vigour  of  the  imperialists  an  opening  for  the  furtherance 
of  his  views,  and  he  united  his  troops  to  those  of  Najaf  Khan. 
This  timely  succour,  and  his  subsequent  aid  in  defeating  the  Jats, 
obtained  for  him  the  title  of  Rao  Raja,  and  a  sanad  for  Macheri, 
to  hold  direct  of  the  crown.  lihushlialiram,  who,  it  is  said, 
chalked  out  this  course,  made  his  old  master's  success  the  basis  of 
his  own  operations  to  supplant  the  Filban.  Affecting  the  same 
zeal  that  he  recommended  to  the  chief  of  Macheri,  he  volimtcered 
to  join  the  imperial  standard  with  all  the  forces  of  Amber.  The 
queen-regent  did  not  oppose  the  Bohra's  plan,  but  determined 
out  of  it  still  higher  to  exalt  her  favourite  :  she  put  him  at  the 
head  of  the  force,  which  post  the  minister  had  intended  for  him- 
self. This  exaltation  proved  his  ruin.  Firoz,  in  command  of 
the  Amber  army,  met  the  Rao  Raja  of  Macheri  on  equal  terms 
in  the  tent  of  the  imperial  commander.  Foiled  in  these  schemes 
of  attaining  the  sole  control  of  affairs,  through  the  measure 
adopted,  the  Macheri  chief,  at  the  instigation  of  his  associate, 
resolved  to  accomplish  his  objects  by  less  justifiable  means.  He 
sought  the  friendship  of  the  Filban,  and  so  successfully  ingratiated 
himself  in  his  confidence  as  to  administer  a  dose  of  poison  to  hun, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  Bohra  succeeded  to  the  charge  of 
the  government  of  Amber.  The  regent  queen  soon  followed 
the  Filban,  and  Raja  Partap  was  yet  too  young  to  guide  the 
state  vessel  without  aid.  The  Rao  Raja  and  the  Bohra,  alike 
ambitious,  soon  quarrelled,  and  a  division  of  the  imperialists, 
under  the  celebrated  Hamidan  Khan,  was  called  in  by  the  Bohra. 
Then  followed  those  interminable  broils  which  brought  in  the 
Mahrattas.  Leagues  were  formed  with  them  against  the  im- 
periaUsts  one  day,  and  dissolved  the  next  ;  and  this  went  on 
until  the  majority  of  Partap,  who  determined  to  extricate  himself 
from  bondage,  and  formed  that  league,  elsewhere  mentioned, 
which  ended  in  the  glorious  victory  of  Tonga,  and  for  a  time 
the  expvdsion  of  all  their  enemies,  whether  imperial  or  Mahrattas. 
To  give  a  full  narrative  of  the  events  of  this  reign,  would  be 
to  recount  the  history  of  the  empire  in  its  expiring  moments. 
Throughout  the  twenty-five  years'  rule  of  Partap,  he  and  his 
country  underwent  many  vicissitudes.  He  was  a  gallant  prince, 
and    not    deficient    in    judgment  ;    but   neither   gallantry    nor 


1364  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

prudence  could  successfully  apply  the  resources  of  iiis  petty  State 
against  its  numerous  predatory  foes  and  its  internal  dissensions. 
The  defection  of  Macheri  was  a  serious  blow  to  Jaipur,  and  the 
necessary  subsidies  soon  lightened  the  hoards  accumulated  by 
his  predecessors.  Two  payments  [375J  to  the  Mahrattas  took 
away  eighty  laldis  of  rupees  (£800,000)  ;  yet  such  was  the  mass  of 
treasure,  notwithstanding  the  enormous  smiis  lavished  by  Madho 
Singh  for  the  support  of  his  claims,  besides  those  of  the  regency, 
that  Fartap  expended  in  charity  alone,  on  the  victory  of  Tonga, 
A.D.  1789,  the  sum  of  twenty-four  lakhs,  or  a  quarter  of  a  million 
sterhng. 

In  A.D.  1791,  after  the  subsequent  defeats  at  Patau,  and  the 
disruption  of  the  alliance  witii  the  llathors,  Tukaji  Holkar  in- 
vaded Jaipur,  and  extorted  an  annual  tribute,  which  was  after- 
wards transferred  to  Amir  Khan,  and  continues  a  permanent  in- 
cumbrance on  the  resouKies  of  Jaipur.  From  this  period  to 
A.D.  1803,  tlie  year  of  Paitap's  death,  his  country  was  alternately 
desolated  by  Sindhia's  armies,  under  De  Boigne  or  Perron,  and 
the  other  hordes  of  robbers,  who  frequently  contested  with  each 
other  the  possession  of  the  spoils.' 

Jagat  Singh,  a.d.  1803-18. — Jagat  Singh  succeeded  in  a.d. 
1803,  and  ruled  for  seventeen  [liftecn]  years,  with  the  disgrace- 
ful distinction  of  being  the  most  dissolute  jjrince  of  his  race  or 
of  his  age.  The  events  with  which  his  reign  is  crowded  would 
lill  volumes  were  they  worthy  of  being  recorded.  Foreign  in- 
vasions, cities  besieged,  capitulations  and  war-contributions, 
occasional  acts  of  heroism,  when  the  invader  forgot  the  point  of 
honour,  court  intrigues,  diversihed,  not  unfrequcntly,  by  an 
apj>eal  to  the  sword  or  dagger,  even  in  the  precincts  of  the  court. 
Sometimes  the  daily  journals  {akftbars)  disseminated  the  scandal 
of  the  llawala  (female  apartments),  the  follies  of  the  libertine 
prince  with  his  concubine  Kaskafur,  or  even  less  worthy  objects, 
who  excluded  from  the  nuptial  couch  his  lawful  mates  of  the 
noble  blood  of  Jodha,  or  Jaisal,  the  Rathors  and  Bhattis  of  the 
desert.  We  shall  not  disgrace  these  annals  with  the  history  of 
'  a  life  which  discloses  not  one  redeejning  virtue  amidst  a  cluster  of 
effeminate  vices,  including  the  rankest,  in  the  opinion  of  a  Rajput 
— cowardice.     The  black  transaction  respecting  the  princess  of 

'  [For  these  campaigns  see  Comptoii,  European  Military  Adventurers, 
145  II.,  237  tf.J 


JACAT  SINGH  1365 

Udaipur,  has  already  been  related  (Vol.  I.  p.  536),  which  covered 
him  with  disgrace,  and  inflicted  a  greater  loss,  in  his  estimation 
even  than  that  of  character — a  million  sterling.  The  treasures 
of  the  Jai  Mandir  were  rapidly  dissipated,  to  the  grief  of  those 
faithful  hereditary  guardians,  the  Minas  of  Kalikoh,  some  of 
whom  committed  suicide  rather  than  see  these  sacred  deposits 
squandered  on  their  prince's  unworthy  pursuits.  The  lofty  walls 
which  surrounded  the  beautiful  city  of  Jai  Singh  were  insulted 
by  every  marauder  ;  commerce  was  interrupted,  and  agriculture 
rapidly  declined,  partly  from  insecurity,  but  still  more  from  the 
perpetual  exactions  of  his  minions  [376].  One  day  a  tailor  ^ 
ruled  the  councils,  the  next  a  Bania,  who  might  be  succeeded 
by  a  Brahman,  and  each  had  in  turn  the  honour  of  elevation  to 
the  donjon  keep  of  Nahargarh,  the  castle  where  criminals  are 
confined,  overlooking  the  city.  The  feodal  chiefs  held  both  his 
authority  and  his  person  in  utter  contempt,  and  the  pranks  he 
played  with  the  '  Essence  of  Camphor '  (ras-kafur),^  at  one  time 
led  to  serious  thoughts  of  deposing  him  ;  which  project,  when 
near  maturity,  was  defeated  by  transferring  "  this  queen  of  half 
of  Amber,"  to  the  prison  of  Nahargarh.  In  the  height  of  his 
passion  for  this  Islamite  concubine,  he  formally  installed  her  as 
queen  of  half  his  dominions,  and  actually  conveyed  to  her  in 
gift  a  moiety  of  the  personality  of  the  crown,  even  to  the  invalu- 
able library  of  the  illustrious  Jai  Singh  which  was  despoiled,  and 
its  treasures  distributed  amongst  her  base  relations.  The  Raja 
even  struck  coin  in  her  name,  and  not  only  rode  with  her  on  the 
same  elephant,  but  demanded  from  his  chieftains  those  forms 
of  reverence  towards  her  which  were  paid  only  to  his  legitimate 
queens.  This  their  pride  could  not  brook,  and  though  the  Diwan 
or  prime  minister,  Misr  Sheonarayan,  albeit  a  Brahman,  called  her 
'  daughter,'  the  brave  Chand  Singh  of  Duni  ^  indignantly  refused 
to  take  part  in  any  ceremony  at  which  she  was  present.  This 
contumacy  was  punished  by  a  mulct  of  £20,000,  nearly  four 
years'  revenue  of  the  fief  of  Duni ! 

^  Rorji  Khawass  was  a  tailor  by  birth,  and,  I  believe,  had  in  earty  life 
exercised  the  trade.  He  was,  liowever,  amongst  the  Musahibs,  or  privy 
councillors  of  Jagat  Singh,  and  (I  think)  one  of  the  ambassadors  sent  to  treat 
with  Lord  Lake. 

-  Ras-Karpur  or  Kapur,  I  am  aware,  means  '  corrosive  sublimate,'  but 
it  may  also  be  interpreted  '  essence  of  camphor  '  [Kafur]. 

^  [About  75  miles  S.  of  Jaipur  cit}'.] 


1366  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Death  of  Jagat  Singh. — Manu  allows  that  sovereigns  may  be 
deposed,^  and  the  aristocracy  of  Amber  had  ample  justification 
for  snch  an  act.  But  unfortimately  the  design  became  known, 
and  some  judicious  friend,  as  a  salvo  for  the  Raja's  dignity,  pro- 
pagated a  report  injurious  to  the  fair  fame  of  his  Aspasia,  which 
he  affected  to  believe  ;  a  mandate  issued  for  the  sequestration 
of  her  property,  and  her  incarceration  in  the  castle  allotted  to 
criminals.  There  she  was  lost  sight  of,  and  Jagat  continued  to 
dishonour  the  gnddi  of  Jai  Singh  until  his  death,  on  a  day  held 
especially  sacred  by  the  Rajput,  the  21st  of  December  1818,  the 
winter  solstice,  when,  to  use  their  own  metaphorical  language, 
'*  the  door  of  heaven  is  reopened." 

Raja  Jagat  Singh  left  no  issue,  legitimate  or  illegitimate,  and 
no  provision  had  been  made  for  a  successor  during  his  life.  But 
as  the  laws  of  Rajputana,  political  or  religious,  admit  of  no 
interregnum,  and  the  funereal  pyre  must  be  lit  by  an  adopted 
child  if  there  be  no  natural  issue,  it  was  necessary  at  once  to 
inaugurate  a  successor  [377]  ;  and  the  choice  fell  on  Mohan 
Singh,  son  of  the  ex-prince  of  Narwar.  As  this  selection,  in 
opposition  to  the  established  rules  of  succession,  would,  but  for 
a  posthumous  birth,  have  led  to  a  civil  war,  it  may  be  proper 
to  touch  briefly  upon  the  subject  of  heirs-presumptive  in 
Rajputana,  more  especially  those  of  Jaipur  :  the  want  of  exact 
knowledge  respecting  this  point,  in  those  to  whom  its  political 
relations  with  tis  were  at  that  time  entrusted,  might  have  had 
the  most  injurioxis  effects  on  the  British  character.  To  set  this 
in  its  proper  light,  we  shall  explain  the  principles  of  the  alliance 
which  rendered  .Jaipur  a  tributary  of  Britain. 


CHAPTER   4 

The  British  Alliance,  a.d.  1818. — Jaipur  was  the  last  of  the 
principalities  of  Rajputana  to  accept  the  protection  tendered 
by  the  government  of  British  India.  To  the  latest  moment,  she 
delayed  her  sanction  to  a  system  which  was  to  banish  for  ever 
the  enemies  of  order.     Our  overtures  and  expostulations  were 

1  [The  reference  is  possibly  to  tlie  text :  "  That  king  who  through  folly 
rashly  oppresses  the  kingdom  will,  with  his  relations,  ere  long  be  deprived 
of  his  life  and  of  his  kingdmii  "  {Laws,  vii.  HI)- J 


HESITATION  TO   ACCEPT  THE  TREATY         1367 

rejected,  until  the  predatory  powers  of  India  had  been,  one  after 
another,  laid  prostrate  at  our  feet.  The  Pindaris  were  annihil- 
ated ;  the  Peshwa  was  exiled  from  Poona  to  the  Ganges  ;  the 
Bhonsla  was  humbled  ;  Sindhia  palsied  by  his  fears  ;  and  Holkar^ 
who  had  extensive  lands  assigned  him,  besides  a  regular  tribute 
from  Jaipur,  had  received  a  death-blow  to  his  power  in  the  field 
of  Mahidpur.^ 

Procrastination  is  the  favourite  expedient  of  all  Asiatics  ;  and 
the  Rajput,  though  a  fatalist,  often,  by  protracting  the  irresistible 
honhar  (destiny),  works  out  his  deliverance.  Amir  Khan,  the 
lieutenant  of  Holkar,  who  held  the  lands  and  tribute  of  Jaipur 
in  jaedad,  or  assignment  for  his  troops,  was  the  sole  enemy  of 
social  order  left  to  operate  on  the  fears  of  Jaipur,  and  to  urge 
her  to  take  refuge  in  our  alliance  ;  and  even  he  was  upon  the 
point  of  becoming  one  of  the  illustrious  allies,  who  were  to  enjoy 
the  "  perpetual  friendship  "  of  Great  Britain.  The  Khan  was 
at  that  very  moment  [378]  battering  Madhorajpura,  a  town  almost 
within  the  sound  of  cannon-shot  of  Jaipur,  and  we  were  compelled 
to  make  an  indirect  use  of  this  incident  to  hasten  the  decision  of 
the  Kachhwaha  prince.  The  motives  of  his  backwardness  will 
appear  from  the  following  details. 

Hesitation  to  accept  the  Treaty. — Various  considerations  com- 
bined to  check  the  ardour  with  which  we  naturally  expected  our 
offer  of  protection  would  be  embraced.  The  Jaipur  court  retained 
a  lively,  but  no  grateful  remembrance,  of  the  solemn  obligations 
we  contracted  with  her  in  1803,  and  the  facility  with  which  we 
extricated  ourselves  from  them  when  expediency  demanded, 
whilst  we  vainly  attempted  to  throw  the  blame  of  violating  the 
treaty  upon  our  ally.  To  use  the  words  of  one  who  has  been 
mixed  up  with  all  the  political  transactions  of  that  eventful 
period,  with  reference  to  the  letter  delivered  by  the  envoy  at  the 
Jaipur  court  from  our  viceroy  in  the  East,  notifying  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  alliance  :  "  The  justice  of  these  grounds  was  warmly 
disputed  by  the  court,  which,  under  a  lively  sense  of  that  im- 
minent danger  to  which  it  had  become  exposed  from  this  measure, 
almost  forgot  for  a  moment  the  temper  and  respect  which  it  owed 
to  the  EngUsh  nation."  But  the  native  envoy  from  Jaipur, 
attending  the  camp  of  the  gallant  Lake,  took  a  still  higher  tone, 

^  [Mahldpur,  in  the  Indore  State,  24  miles  N.  of  Ujjain,  when  Sir  John 
Malcohu  defeated  the  Marathas  on  December  21,  1817.] 


1868  ANNALS  OF  AMBKR  OR  JAIPUR 

and  with  a  manly  indignation  observed,  that  "  tliis  was  the  first 
time,  since  the  English  government  was  established  in  India, 
that  it  had  been  known  to  make  its  faith  subservient  to  its  con- 
venience "  :  a  reproach  the  more  bitter  and  unpalatable  from 
its  truth. ^ 

The  enlarged  and  prophetic  views  of  Marquess  Wellesley, 
which  suggested  the  policy  of  uniting  all  these  regular  govern- 
ments ifi  a  league  against  the  predatory  powers,  were  counter- 
acted by  the  timid,  temporizing  policy  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  who 
could  discover  nothing  but  weakness  in  this  extension  of  our 
influence.^  What  misery  would  not  these  States  have  been 
spared,  had  those  engagements,  executed  through  the  noble 
Lake  (a  name  never  mentioned  in  India,  by  European  or  native, 
without  reverence),  been  maintained  ;  for  the  fifteen  years  which 
intei*vened  between  the  two  periods  produced  more  mischief  to 
Rajwara  than  the  preceding  half  century,  and  half  a  century 
more  will  not  repair  it  ! 

A  circumstance  that  tended  to  increase  this  distrust  was  our 
tearing  Wazir  Ali  from  his  sanctuary  at  Jaipur,  which  has  cast 
an  indelible  stain  upon  the  Kachhwaha  name.^  We  have  else- 
where *  explained  the  privileges  of  saran,  or  '  sanctuary,'  which, 
when  claimed  by  the  unfortunate  -or  criminal,  is  sacred  in  the 
eye  of  the  Rajput  [379].  This  trust  we  forced  the  Jaiptir  State 
to  violate,  though  she  was  then  independent  of  us.  It  was  no 
excuse  for  the  act  that  the  fugitive  was  a  foul  assassin  :  we  had 
no  right  to  demand  his  surrender.* 

^   Vide  Malcolm's  Political  Hiatory  of  India,  p.  434. 

^  [Tho  Author,  an  (inthusiastic  political  officer,  ignores  the  considerations 
based  on  the  state  of  the  finances  of  India  and  the  danger  of  tho  political 
sitnation  in  Europe  which  suggested  a  cautious  policy  in  India.  See  J.  Mill, 
Hist,  of  British  India,  ed.  18I7,  iii.  702  ;  Seton-Karr,  2Vie  Marquess  Corn- 
wallis, 178  fF.  ;  J.  W.  Kaye,  Life  of  Lord  Metcalfe,  1.  326  ff.  On  the  negotia- 
tions with  Jaipur  see  Kaye,  op.  cit.  i.  348  if.] 

'  [WazIr  Ali,  the  deposed  Nawab  of  Oudh,  murdered  Mr.  Cherry,  the 
British  Resident  at  Benares,  on  January  14,  1799.  He  took  refuge  in  Jaipur, 
and  the  Rfija,  having  made  terms  with  the  British,  "  treacherouslj'  delivered 
him  up."  He  was  confined  in  Fort  William,  Calcutta,  where  he  died  in 
1817  (J.  Mill,  op.  cit.  iii.  469  ff).] 

*  Vol.  II.  p.  613. 

'  A  better  commentary  on  the  opinions  held  by  the  natives  upon  this 
subject  could  not  be  given  than  the  speech  of  Holkar's  envoy  to  the  agent 
of  the  Governor-General  of  India,  then  with  Lord  Lake  :   "  Holcar's  vakeel 


DISPUTED  SUCCESSION  1369 

There  were  other  objections  to  the  proffered  treaty  of  no  small 
weight.  The  Jaipur  court  justly  deemed  one-fifth  (eight  lakhs) 
of  the  gross  revenues  of  the  crown,  a  high  rate  of  insurance  for 
protection  ;  but  when  we  further  stipulated  for  a  prospective 
increase  ^  of  nearly  one-third  of  all  surplus  revenue  beyond  forty 
lakhs,  they  saw,  instead  of  the  generous  Briton,  a  sordid  trafficker 
of  mercenary  protection,  whose  rapacity  transcended  that  of  the 
Mahratta. 

Independent  of  these  state  objections,  there  were  abundance 
of  private  and  individual  motives  arrayed  in  hostility  to  the 
British  offer.  For  example  :  the  ministers  dreaded  the  sur- 
veillance of  a  resident  agent,  as  obnoxious  to  their  authority  and 
influence  ;  and  the  chieftains,  whom  rank  and  ancient  usage 
kept  at  court  as  the  counsellors  of  their  prince,  saw  in  prospect 
the  surrender  of  crown-larftls,  which  fraud,  favour,  or  force  had 
obtained  for  them.  Such  Avere  the  principal  causes  which  im- 
peded the  alliance  between  Amber  and  the  Government-general 
of  British  India  ;  but  it  would  have  marred  the  uniformity  of 
Lord  Hastings'  plan  to  have  left  a  gap  in  the  general  protective 
system  by  the  omission  of  Jaipur.  The  events  rapidly  happening 
around  them — the  presence  of  Amir  Khan — the  expulsion  of 
the  orange  flag  of  the  Mahratta,  and  the  substitution  of  the 
British  banner  on  the  battlements  of  Ajmer — at  length  produced 
a  tardy  and  ungracious  assent,  and,  on  the  2nd  of  April  1818,  a 
treaty  of  ten  articles  was  concluded,  which  made  the  Kachhwaha 
princes  the  friends  and  tributaries  in  perpetuity  of  Great  Britain. 

Disputed  Succession. — On  the  21  st  of  December  of  the  same 
year,  Jagat  Singh  died,  and  the  choice  of  a  successor  speedily 
evinced  to  the  ministers  the  impracticability  of  their  exercising,  as 
in  days  of  yore,  that  "  absolute  power  over  their  country  and 

demanded,  with  no  slight  degree  of  pertinacity,  the  cession  of  the  Jeipoor 
and  Boondi  tributes  ;  and  one  of  them,  speaking  of  the  former,  stated,  that 
he  no  doubt  would  continue  to  enjoy  the  friendship  of  the  English,  as  he 
had  disgraced  himself  to  please  that  nation,  by  giving  up  Vizier  AUi  (who 
had, sought  his  protection)  to  their  vengeance.  The  vakeel  was  severely 
rebuked  by  the  agent  (Colonel,  now  Sir  John  Malcolm)  for  this  insolent 
reflection  on  the  conduct  of  an  ally  of  the  British  Government,  who  had 
delivered  up  a  murderer  whom  it  would  have  been  infamy  to  shelter  "  ; 
though  the  author  of  the  Political  History  of  India  might  have  added — but 
whom  it  was  still  greater  infamy,  according  to  their  code,  to  surrender. 
See  Malcolm's  Political  History  oj  India,  p.  432. 
^  See  Article  6  of  the  Treaty,  Appendix,  No.  V. 
VOL.  IIT  I 


1370  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

dependants,"  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  treaty.^  Our  ofTicc  of 
arbitrating  the  differences  between  the  Raja  and  [380]  his  vassals 
on  the  subject  of  the  usurpations  from  the  crown-lands,  was  easy, 
and  left  no  unpleasant  feeling  ;  but  when  Ave  intermeddled  with 
the  intrigues  respecting  the  succession,  our  ignorance  of  estab- 
lished rights  and  usage  rendered  the  interference  offensive,  and 
made  the  Jaipur  chiefs  repent  the  alliance  which  temporary  policy 
had  induced  their  prince  to  accept. 

Law  o£  Succession  in  Rajputana. — It  may  be  of  use  in  future 
negotiations,  to  explain  the  usages  which  govern  the  different 
States  of  Rajputana  in  respect  to  succession.  The  law  of  primo- 
geniture prevails  in  all  Rajput  sovereignties  ;  the  rare  instances 
in  which  it  has  been  set  aside,  are  only  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
The  inconclusive  dicta  of  Manu,  on  this  as  on  many  other  points, 
are  never  appealed  to  by  the  Rajputs  of  modern  days.-  Ctistom 
and  precedent  fix  the  right  of  succession,  whether  to  the  gaddi 
of  the  State,  or  to  a  fief,  in  the  eldest  son,  who  is  stj'^led  Rajkumar, 
Patkumar,  or  simply  Kumarji,  '  the  prince  '  ;  while  his  brothers 
have  their  proper  names  affixed,  as  Kumar  Jawan  Singh,  '  Prince 
Jawan.'  Seniority  is,  in  fact,  a  distinction  pervading  all  ranks 
of  life,  whether  in  royal  families  or  those  of  chieftains  ;  all  have 
their  Patkumar,  and  Patrani,  or  '  head  child,'  and  '  head  queen.' 
The  privileges  of  the  Patrani  are  very  considerable.  In  minori- 
ties, she  is  the  guardian,  by  custom  as  well  as  nature,  of  her  child  ; 
and  in  Me  war  (the  oldest  sovereignty  in  India),  she  is  publicly 
enthroned  with  the  Rana.  Seniority  in  marriage  bestows  the 
title  of-  Patrani,  but  as  soon  as  an  heir  is  given  to  the  State,  the 
queen-mother  assumes  this  title,  or  that  of  Maji,  simply  '  the 
mother.'  *  In  the  duties  of  guardian,  she  is  assisted  by  the  chiefs 
of  certain  families,  who  with  certain  ofTicers  of  the  household 
enjoy  this  as  an  established  hereditary  distinction. 

On  the  demise  of  a  prince  without  lawful  issue  of  his  body,  or 
that  of  near  kindred,  brothers  or  cousins,  there  are  certain  families 
in  every  principality  {raj)  of  Rajwara,  in  whom  is  vested  the 

^  See  Article  8  of  the  Treaty. 

^  [Laws,  IX.  105  ff.  On  the  general  question  see  Baden-Powell,  The 
Indian  Village  Community,  305  f.] 

'  In  Mewar,  simply  Maji ;  at  Jaipur,  where  they  have  long  used  the 
language  and  manners  of  Delhi,  they  affix  the  Persian  word  Sq,hibah,  or 
'  lady  mother.' 


LAW  OF  SUCCESSION  IN  RAJPUTANA  1371 

right  of  presumptive  heirship  to  the  gaddi.  In  order  to  restrict 
the  circle  of  claimants,  laws  have  been  established  in  every  State 
limiting  this  right  to  the  issue  of  a  certain  family  in  each  prin- 
cipality. Thus,  in  Mewar,  the  elder  of  the  Ranawat  clans,  styled 
Babas,  or  '  the  infants,'  possesses  the  latent  right  of  heir-pre- 
sumptive. In  Marwar,  the  independent  house  of  Idar,  of  the 
family  of  Jodha  ;  in  Bundi,  the  house  of  Dagari,^  in  Kotah,  the 
Apjis  of  Pulaitha^;  in  Bikaner,  the  family  of  [381]  Mahajan'; 
and  in  Jaipur,  the  branch  Rajawat  (according  to  seniority)  of 
the  stock  of  Raja  Man.  Even  in  this  stock  there  is  a  distinc- 
tion between  those  prior,  and  those  posterior,  to  Raja  Madho 
Singh ;  the  former  are  styled  simply  Rajawat,  or  occasionally 
conjoined,  Mansinghgot  ;  the  other  Madhani.  The  Rajawats 
constitute  a  numerous  frerage,  of  which  the  Jhalai  house  takes 
the  lead  ;  and  in  which,  provided  there  are  no  mental  or 
physical  disabilities,  the  right  of  furnishing  heirs  to  the  gaddi 
of  Jaipur  is  a  long-established,  incontrovertible,  and  inalienable 
privilege. 

We  have  been  thus  minute,  because,  notwithstanding  the 
expressed  wish  of  the  government  not  to  prejudge  the  question, 
the  first  exercise  of  its  authority  as  lord-paramount  was  to  justify 
a  proceeding  by  which  these  established  usages  were  infringed, 
in  spite  of  the  eighth  article  of  the  treaty  :  "  The  Maharaja  and 
his  heirs  and  successors  shall  remain  absolute  rulers  of  their 
country  and  dependants  according  to  long-established  usage," 
etc.  "  C^est  le  premier  pas  qui  cojite  "  ;  and  this  first  step,  being 
va  wrong  one,  has  involved  an  interference  never  contemplated, 
and  fully  justifying  that  wariness  on  the  part  of  Jaipur,  which 
made  her  hesitate  to  link  her  destiny  with  ours. 

Both  the  sixth  and  seventh  articles  contain  the  seeds  of  dis- 
union, whenever  it  might  suit  the  chicanery  or  bad  faith  of  the 
protected,  or  the  avarice  of  the  protector.  The  former  has  already 
been  called  into  operation,  and  the  '  absolute  rulers  '  of  Jaipur 
have  been  compelled  to  unfold  to  the  resident  Agent  the  whole 
of  their  financial  and  territorial  arrangements,  to  prove  that  the 
revenues  did  not  exceed  the  sum  of  forty  lakhs,  as,  of  the  sum 

^  [Dagari  or  Dugari,  about  20  miles  N.  of  Bundi  city,  with  a  picturesque 
palace  {Rdjputana  Gazetteer,  1879,  i.  216.] 
*  [A  short  distance  S.  of  Kotah  city.] 
'  [Mahajan,  about  50  miles  N.N.W.  of  Bikaner  city.] 


1372  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

in  excess  (besides  the  stipulated  tributary  fifth),  our  share  was 
to  be  three-sixteenths.^ 

While,  therefore,  we  deem  ourselves  justified  in  interfering 
in  the  two  chief  branches  of  government,  the  succession  and 
finances,  how  is  it  possible  to  avoid  being  implicated  in  the  acts 
of  the  government-functionaries,  and  involved  in  the  partj^  views 
and  intrigues  of  a  court,  stigmatised  even  by  the  rest  of  Rajwara 
with  the  epithet  oi  jhiithn  darbar,  the  '  lying  court '  ?  While  there 
is  a  resident  Agent  at  Jaipur,  whatever  [382]  his  resolves,  he  will 
find  it  next  to  impossible  to  keep  aloof  from  the  vortex  of  intrigue. 
The  purest  intentions,  the  highest  talents,  will  scarcely  avail  to 
counteract  this  systematic  vice,  and  with  one  party  at  least,  but 
eventually  with  all,  the  reputation  of  his  government  will  be 
compromised. 

This  brings  us  back  to  the  topic  which  suggested  these  remarks, 
the  installation  of  a  youth  upon  the  gaddi  of  Jaipur.  We  shall 
expose  the  operation  of  this  transaction  by  a  literal  translation 
of  an  authentic  document,  every  word  of  which  was  thoroughly 
substantiated.  As  it  presents  a  curious  picture  of  manners,  and  is 
valuable  as  a  precedent,  we  shall  give  it  entire  in  the  Appendix,  and 
shall  here  enter  no  further  into  details  than  is  necessary  to  unravel 
the  intrigue  which  violated  the  established  laws  of  succession. 

The  Installation  oJ  Mohan  Singh. — The  youth,  named  Mohan 
Singh,  who  was  installed  on  the  gaddi  of  Jaipur,  on  the  morning 
succeeding  Jagat  Singh's  decease,  was  the  son  of  Manohar  Singh, 

^  Mewar  was  subjected  to  the  same  premium  on  her  reviving  prosperity. 
The  Author  unsuccessfully  endeavoured  to  have  a  limit  fixed  to  the  demand  ; 
l)ut  he  has  hoard  with  joy  that  some  important  modifications  have  since  been 
made  in  these  tributary  engagements  both  with  Mcwar  and  Amber  :  they 
cannot  bo  made  too  light.  Discontent  in  Rajputana  will  not  bo  appeased 
by  a  few  lakhs  of  extra  expenditure.  I  gave  my  opinions  fearlessly  when 
I  had  everything  at  stake  ;  I  will  not  suppress  them  now,  when  I  have 
nothing  either  to  hope  or  to  fear  but  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  British  power 
in  these  regions,  and  the  revival  of  the  hapi)ine3S  and  independence  of  those 
who  have  sought  our  protection.  He  will  prove  the  greatest  enemy  to  hie 
country,  who,  in  ignorance  of  the  true  position  of  the  Rajputs,  may  aim  at 
further  trenching  upon  their  indopondencc.  Read  the  thirty  years'  war 
between  Aurangzeb  and  the  Rathors  !  where  is  the  dynasty  of  their  tyrant  ? 
Look  at  the  map  :  a  desert  at  their  back,  the  Aravaili  in  front ;  no  enemies 
to  harass  or  disturb  them  !  Ifow  difi'erent  wouhl  a  Rajput  foe  prove  from 
a  contemptible  Mahratta,  or  the  mercenary  array  of  traitorous  Nawabs, 
whom  we  have  always  fo\md  easy  conquests  !  Cherish  the  native  army  : 
roncibato  tlio  Rajputs  ;    then,  laugh  at  foes  ! 


THE  INSTALLATION  OF  MOHAN  SINGH         1373 

the  ex-Raja  of  Narwar,  who  was  chased  Irom  his  throne  and 
country  by  Sindhia.  We  have  stated  that  the  Jaipur  family 
sprung  from  that  of  Narwar  eight  centuries  ago  ;  but  the  parent 
State  being  left  without  direct  lineage,  they  applied  to  Amber 
and  adopted  a  son  of  Prithiraj  I.,  from  whom  the  boy  now  brought 
forward  was  fourteen  generations  in  descent.  This  course  of 
proceeding  was  in  direct  contravention  of  usage,  which  had  fixed, 
as  already  stated,  the  heirs-presmnptive,  on  failure  of  Imeal  issue 
to  the  gaddi  of  Amber,  in  the  descendants  of  Raja  Man,  and  the 
branch  Madhani,  generally  styled  Rajawat,  of  whom  the  first 
claimant  was  the  chief  of  Jhalai,^  and  supposing  his  incompetency, 
Kama,  and  a  dozen  other  houses  of  the  '  infantas  '  of  Jaipur. 

The  causes  of  departure  from  the  recognized  rule,  in  tliis 
respect,  were  the  following.  At  the  death  of  Jagat  Singh,  the 
reins  of  power  were,  and  had  been  for  some  time,  in  the  hands 
of  the  chief  emiuch  of  the  rawala  (seragho),  whose  name  was 
Mohan  Nazir,^  a  man  of  considerable  vigour  of  understandmg, 
and  not  wdthout  the  reputation  of  good  intention  ui  his  adminis- 
tration of  affairs,  although  the  system  of  chicanery  and  force,* 
by  which  he  attempted  to  carry  his  object,  savoured  more  of 
self-interest  than  of  loyalty.  The  youth  was  but  nine  years  of 
age  ;  and  a  long  minority,  with  the  exclusive  possession  of  power, 
suggests  the  true  motives  of  the  Nazir.  His  principal  coadjutor, 
amongst  the  great  vassals  of  the  State,  was  Megh  Singh  of  Diggi,* 
a  chief  who  [383]  had  contrived  by  fraud  and  force  to  double 
his  hereditary  fief  by  usurpations  from  the  crown-lands,  to  retain 
which  he  sui^ported  the  views  of  the  Nazir  with  all  the  influence 
oi  his  clan  (the  Ivhangarot),  the  most  powerful  of  the  twelve 
great  families  of  Amber.^     The  personal  servants  of  the  crown, 

^  [Jhalai,  about  42  miles  S.S.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 

^  Nazir  is  the  official  name,  a  Muhammadan  one,  denoting  his  capacity, 
as  emasculated  guardian  of  the  seraglio.  Jaipur  and  Bundi  are  the  only 
two  of  the  Rajput  principaUties  who,  adopting  the  Muslim  custom,  have  con- 
taminated the  palaces  of  their  queens  with  the  presence  of  these  creatures. 

^  See  "  Surhmary  of  Transactions,"  Appendix,  No.  V.  [The  Author 
omitted  to  print  this  jjaper  owmg  to  its  length.] 

*  [Forty  miles  S.8.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 

*  The  Khangarot  clan  enumerates  twenty-two  hef  s,  whose  united  rent-rolls 
amount  to  -402,806  rupees  annually,  and  theii-  vmited  quotas  for  the  service 
of  the  State,  six  hundred  and  forty-three  horse.  Megh  Smgh,  by  his  tur- 
bulence and  iiitelhgence,  though  only  the  sixth  or  seventh  in  the  scale  of  rank 
oi  this  body,  had  taken  the  lead,  and  become  the  organ  of  his  clan  at  court. 


1374.  ANNALS  Ol^^  iUIBER  OR  JAIPUR 

such  as  the  Purohits,  Dhabhais  (domestic  chaplains  and  foster- 
brothers),  and  all  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  household,  con- 
sidered the  Nazir's  cause  as  their  own  :  a  minority  and  his  favour 
guaranteed  their  places,  which  might  be  risked  by  the  election  of  a 
prince  who  could  judge  for  himself,  and  had  friends  to  provide  for. 
Objections  raised  by  the  Government  of  India.— A  reference  to 
the  "  Summary  of  Transactions  "  (in  the  Appendix)  will  show 
there  was  no  previous  consultation  or  concert  amongst  the 
military  vassals,  or  the  queens  ;  on  the  contrary,  acting  entirely 
on  his  own  responsibility,  the  Nazir,  on  the  morning  succeeding 
the  death  of  his  master,  placed  young  Mohan  in  '  the  car  of  the 
sun,'  to  lead  the  funeral  procession,  and  light  the  pyre  of  his 
adopted  sire.  Scarcely  were  the  ablutions  and  necessary  purifica- 
tions from  this  rite  concluded,  when  he  received  the  congratulations 
of  all  present  as  lord  of  the  Kachhwahas,  under  the  revived  name 
of  Man  Singh  the  Second.  The  transactions  which  followed,  as 
related  in  the  diary,  until  the  final  denouement,  distinctly  show, 
that  having  committed  himself,  the  Nazir  was  anxious  to  obtain 
through  the  resident  agents  of  the  chieftains  at  court,  their 
acquiescence  in  the  measure  under  their  signs-manual.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  communications  were  received  and  replied  to  in 
that  cautious,  yet  courteous  manner,  which  pledged  the  WTiter 
to  nothing,  and  gained  him  time  for  the  formation  of  a  deliberate 
ojiinion  :  the  decision  was  thus  suspended  ;  all  eyes  were  directed 
to  the  paramount  power  ;  and  the  Nazir,  whose  first  desire  was 
to  propitiate  this,  entreated  the  British  functionary  at  Delhi  to 
send  his  confidential  Munshi  to  Jaipur  without  delay.  This 
agent  reached  Jaipur  from  Delhi  six  days  after  the  death  of  Jagat. 
lie  was  the  bearer  of  instructions,  "  reqiuring  a  full  account  of 
the  reasons  for  jjlacing  the  son  of  the  Narwar  Raja  on  the  masnad  ; 
of  his  family,  lineage,  right  of  succession,  and  by  whose  counsels 
the  measure  was  adopted."  On  the  1 1  th  of  January  this  requisition 
was  reiterated  ;  and  it  was  further  asked,  whether  the  measure 
had  the  assent  of  tlie  queens  and  chiefs,  and  a  declaration  to  this 
efleet,  under  Llieir  signalurcs,  was  required  to  be  forwarded. 
Nolhiiig  euuld  be  more  explicit,  or  more  judicious,  than  the  tenor 
of  these  instcuetions  [JiSiJ. 

The  replies  of  the  Nazir  and  confidential  Mimshi  were  such,  that 
on  the  7th  of  February  the  receipt  of  letters  of  congratulation  from 
the  British  Agent,  accompanied  by  one  from  the  supreme  authority. 


OBJECTIONS  BY  GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA      1375 

was  formally  announced,  which  letters  being  read  in  lull  court, 
"  the  naubat  (kettledrum)  again  sovmded,  and  young  Man  Singh 
was  conducted  to  the  Partap  Mahall,  and  seated  on  the  masnad." 
On  this  formal  recognition  by  the  British  government,  the  agents 
of  the  cliieftains  at  tbeir  sovereign's  court,  m  reply  to  the  Nazir's 
demand,  "  to  know  the  opinions  of  the  chiefs,"  answered  that 
"  if  he  called  them,  they  were  ready  to  obey  "  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  they  rested  their  adhesion  on  that  of  the  chief  queen,  sister 
of  the  Raja  of  Jodhpur,  who  breathed  nothing  but  open  defiance 
of  the  Nazir  and  his  jvmta.  Early  in  March,  public  discontent 
became  more  manifest  :  and  the  Rajawat  chief  of  Jhalai  deter- 
mined to  appeal  to  arms  in  support  of  his  rights  as  heir-pre- 
sumptive, and  was  soon  joined  by  the  chiefs  of  Sarwar  and  Isarda,^ 
junior  but  powerful  branches  of  the  same  stock. 

Another  party  seemed  inclined,  on  this  emergency,  to  revive 
the  rights  of  that  posthumous  son  of  Prithi  Singh,  whom  we 
have  already  described  as  living  in  exile  at  Gwalior,  on  the  bounty 
of  Sindhia  ;  and  nothing  but  the  unfavourable  report  of  his 
intellect  and  debased  habits  prevented  the  elder  branch  of  the 
sons  of  Madho  Singh  recovering  their  lost  honours. 

While  the  paramount  authority  was  thus  deluded,  and  the 
chieftains  were  wavering  amidst  so  many  conflicting  opinions, 
the  queens  continued  resolute,  and  the  Rajawats  were  arming — 
and  the  Nazir,  in  this  dilemma,  determined  as  a  last  resource, 
to  make  Raja  Man  of  Jodhpur  the  umpire,  hoping  by  this  appeal 
to  his  vanity,  to  obtain  his  influence  over  his  sister  to  an  acquies- 
cence in  the  irremediable  step,  which  had  been  taken  "  in 
obedience  (as  he  pretended)  to  the  will  of  the  deceased  prince." 
Raja  Man's  reply  is  important  :  "  That  there  could  be  no  occasion 
for  his  or  his  sister's  signature  to  the  required  declaration  on  the 
right  of  succession  to  the  masnad  of  Jaipur,  wliich  depended  upon, 
and  was  vested  in,  the  elders  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Kachhwahas  ; 
that  if  they  approved  and  signed  the  declaration,  the  queen  his 
sister,  and  afterwards  himself,  would  sign  it,  if  requisite." 

The  Nazir  and  his  faction,  though  aided  by  the  interposition 
of  the  Munshi,  were  now  in  despair,  and  in  these  desperate  cir- 
cumstances, he  attempted  to  get  up  a  marriage  between  the 
puppet  he  had  enthroned  and  the  granddaughter  of  the  Rana  of 

^  [Sarwar,  45  miles  S.  of  Ajmer  ;  Isarda,  60  miles  S.S.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


1876  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Mewar.  It  was  well  contrived,  and  not  ill  received  by  the  Rana  ; 
but  there  was  an  influence  at  his  court  which  at  once  extinguished 
the  plot,  though  supported  at  [385]  Delhi  by  the  Rana's  most 
influential  agent.  It  was  proposed  that,  at  the  same  time,  the 
Rana  should  consummate  his  nuptials  with  the  Jaipur  Raja's 
sister,  the  preliminaries  of  which  had  been  settled  a  dozen  years 
back.  Money  in  abundance  was  offered,  and  the  Rana's  passion 
for  pageantry  and  profusion  would  have  jirevented  any  objection 
to  his  proceeding  to  the  Jaipur  capital.  To  receive  the  chief  of 
the  universal  Hindu  race  with  due  honour,  the  whole  nobility 
of  Amber  would  have  left  their  estates,  which  would  have  been 
construed  into,  and  accepted  as,  a  voluntary  acquiescence  in  the 
rights  of  the  Nazir's  choice,  which  the  marriage  would  have  com- 
pletely cemented.  Foiled  in  this  promising  design,  the  knot, 
which  the  precipitate  and  persevering  conduct  of  the  Nazir  had 
rendered  too  indissoluble  even  for  his  skill  to  undo,  was  cut  by  the 
annunciation  of  the  advanced  pregnancy  of  the  Bhattiani  queen. 
Birth  of  a  Posthumous  Heir. — This  timely  interposition  of  Mata 
Janami  (the  Juno  Lucina  of  Rajwara)  might  well  be  regarded  as 
miraculous  ;  and  though  the  sequel  of  this  event  was  conducted 
with  such  publicity  as  almost  to  choke  the  voice  of  slander,  it 
still  found  utterance.^  It  was  deemed  a  sort  of  prodigy,  that  an 
event,  which  would  have  caused  a  jubilee  throughout  Dhundhar, 
should  have  been  kept  secret  until  three  months  after  the  Raja's 
death.-  The  mysteries  of  the  Rawalas  of  Rajput  princes  find 
their  way  to  the  public  out  of  doors  ;  and  in  Udaipur,  more 
especially,  are  the  common  topics  of  conversation.  The  variety 
of  character  within  its  walls,  the  like  variety  of  comnnmicants 
without,  the  conflicting  interests,  the  diversified  objects  of  con- 
tention of  these  little  worlds,  render  it  utterly  in)possible  that 
any  secret  can  long  be  maintained,  far  less  one  of  such  magnitude 
as  the  pregnancy  of  the  queen  of  a  prince  without  issue.  That 
this  event  should  be  revealed  to  the  Nazir,  the  superintendent  of 

'  The  publicity,  on  this  occasion,  is  precisely  of  the  saiiio  character  as 
marked  the  accouchement  of  the  Duchess  de  Bcrri,  wlio,  it  is  said,  not  only 
had  the  usual  witnesses  to  silence  the  voice  of  doubt,  but  absolutely  insisted 
on  tlie  Marcchaux  as  well  as  the  Mart'chalcs  of  France  being  in  the  room  at 
the  moment  of  parturition. 

-  Raja  .Tagat  Singh  died  December  21,  1818,  and  the  announcement  of 
the  Bhattiani  being  in  "  the  eighth  month  of  her  pregnane}-,"  was  on  March 
24,  1819. 


BIRTH  OF  A  POSTHUMOUS  HEIR  1377 

the  queen's  palace,  with  all  the  formality  of  a  new  discovery, 
three  months  after  Jagat  Singh's  death,  must  excite  surprise  ;  since 
to  have  been  the  bearer  of  such  joyful  intelligence  to  Ills 
master,  to  whom  he  was  much  attached,  must  have  riveted  his 
influence  [386]. 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  1st  of  April,  a  council  of  sixteen  queens, 
the  widows  of  the  late  prince,  and  the  wives  of  all  the  great  vassals 
of  the  State,  "  assembled  to  ascertain  the  fact  of  pregnancy," 
whilst  all  the  great  barons  awaited  in  the  antechambers  of  the 
Zanana  Deori  the  important  response  of  this  council  of  matrons. 
^Vhen  it  annoimced  that  the  Bhattiani  queen  was  pregnant  beyond 
a  doubt,  they  consulted  until  seven,  when  they  sent  in  a  written 
declaration,  avov^ang  their  unanimous  belief  of  the  fact ;  and 
that  "  should  a  son  be  born,  they  would  acknowledge  him  as 
their  lord,  and  to  none  else  pledge  allegiance."  A  transcript  of 
this  was  given  to  the  Nazir,  who  was  recommended  to  forward 
an  attested  copy  to  the  British  Agent  at  Delhi.  From  these 
deliberations,  from  which  there  was  no  appeal,  the  Nazir  was 
excluded  by  express  desire  of  the  Rathor  queen.  He  made  an 
ineffectual  effort  to  obtain  from  the  chiefs  a  declaration,  that 
the  adoption  of  the  Narwar  youth  was  in  conformity  to  the  desire 
of  the  deceased  prince,  their  master  ;  but  this  attempt  to  obtain 
indemnity  for  his  illegal  acts  was  defeated  immediately  on  the 
•ground  of  its  untruth.^ 

By  this  lawful  and  energetic  exertion  of  the  powers  directly 
vested  in  the  queen-mother  and  the  great  council  of  the  chiefs, 
the  tongue  of  faction  was  rendered  mute  ;  but  had  it  been  other- 
wise, another  queen  was  pronounced  to  be  in  the  same  joyfid  con- 
dition.^ On  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  April,  four  months  and  four 
days  after  Jagat  Singh's  death,  a  son  was  ushered  into  the  world 
with  the  usual  demonstrations  of  joy,  and  received  as  the  Auto- 
crat of  the  Kachhwahas  ;  while  the  infant  interloper  was  removed 

^  Deeming  a  record  of  these  transactions  useful,  not  only  as  descriptive 
of  manners,  but  as  a  precedent,  inasmuch  as  they  show  the  powers  and 
position  of  the  different  authorities  composmg  a  Rajput  State  in  cases  of 
succession,  I  have  inserted  it  in  the  Appendix.  [As  before  stated,  the  Author 
omitted  this  paper.] 

2  No  notice,  that  I  am  aware  of,  was  ever  taken  of  this  seconid  annuncia- 
tion. [The  posthumous  son  of  .Jagat  Singh,  Jai  Singh  III.,  who  succeeded, 
hved  till  183.5,  during  which  period  the  State  was  a  scene  of  misgovernment 
and  corruption.     He  was  succeeded  by  Maharaja  Ram  Singh  (a.d.  1835-80). 


1378  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

iroin  tlie  gaddi,  and  thrust  back  to  his  original  obscurity.  Thus 
terminated  an  affair  which  involved  all  Rajwara  in  discussion, 
and  at  one  time  threatened  a  very  serious  result.  That  it  was 
disposed  of  in  this  mamier  was  fortunate  for  all  parties,  and  not 
least  for  the  protecting  power. 

Having  thus  given  a  connected,  though  imperfect,  sketch  of 
the  history  of  the  Jaipur  State,  from  its  foundation  to  the  present 
time,  before  proceeding  with  any  account  of  its  resources,  or  the 
details  of  its  internal  administration,  we  shall  delineate  the  rise, 
progress,  and  existing  condition  of  the  Shaikhavati  federation, 
which  has  risen  out  of,  and  almost  to  an  equality  with,  the  parent 
State  [387]. 


SHAIKHAWAT  FEDERATION 
CHAPTER  5 

We  proceed  to  sketch  the  history  of  the  Shaikhawat  confedera- 
tion, which,  springing  from  the  redundant  feodality  of  Amber, 
through  the  influence  of  age  and  circumstances,  has  attained  a 
power  and  consideration  almost  equalling  that  of  the  parent 
State  ;  and  although  it  possesses  neither  written  laws,  a  permanent 
congress,  nor  any  visible  or  recognized  head,  subsists  by  a  sense 
of  common  interest.  It  must  not  be  su])posed,  however,  that 
no  system  of  poUcy  is  to  be  found  in  this  confederation,  because 
the  springs  are  not  always  visible  or  in  action  ;  the  moment  any 
common  or  individual  interest  is  menaced,  the  grand  council  of 
the  Barons  of  Shaikliavati  assembles  at  Udaipur  ^  to  decide  the 
course  of  action  to  be  pursued. 

The  Origin  of  the  Shaikhawats. — The  Shaikhawat  chieftains  are 
descended  from  Balaji,  the  third  son  of  Raja  Udaikaran,  who 
succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Amber  in  S.  1445,  a.d.  1389.  At  this 
period,  if  we  look  back  to  the  political  state  of  society,  we  find 
that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  tracts,  which  now  obey  the  Shaik- 

His  adopted  son,  Kaim  Singh,  succeeded  under  the  title  of  Sawai  Madho 
Singh  II.,  and  has  administered  the  State  with  conspicuouB  ability.] 

*  [This  Udaipur  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  capital  of  Mewar  :  it 
ia  about  00  mrles  N.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SHAIIvHAWATS  1379 

havati  federation,  were  parcelled  out  amongst  numerous  chieftains 
of  the  Chauhan  or  Tuar  tribes,^  the  descendants  of  the  ancient 

^  The  lovers  of  antiquity  have  only  to  make  the  search  to  find  an  abundant 
harvest,  throughout  all  these  countries,  of  ancient  capitals  and  cities,  whose 
names  are  hardly  known  even  to  the  modem  inhabitants.  Of  the  ancient 
Rajor  I  have  already  spoken,  and  I  now  draw  the  attention  of  my  country- 
men to  Abhaner,  which  boasts  a  very  remote  antiquity ;  and  from  an  old 
stanza,  we  might  imagine  that  its  princes  were  connected  with  the  Kaian 
dynasty  of  Persia.  I  copied  it,  some  twenty  years  ago,  from  an  itinerant 
bard,  who  had  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  it  himself,  and  I  have  doubtless 
made  it  more  so,  but  it  is  still  sufficiently  intelligible  to  point  at  a  remarkable 
coincidence  : 

Rdjd  Ghand-hd  Abhaner 

Biahah  Sanjog,  ayo  Girndr. 

Dekh  Bharat  liyo  buldi. 

Kiyo  bidit,  man  bikasdi. 

Bydo  Sanjog,  Parmald  bari. 

Kos  sdth-so  man  chit  dhari  ; 

"  Tu  beti  Kaikum  ki, 

Ndm  Parmald  ^  ho. 

Lekhd  hud  Kartdr  ko. 

Yd  jdna  sabb  ko"  ^  [388] 

[For  the  above  version  of  the  corruj^t  lines  in  the  original,  the  Editor  is 
indebted  to  Sir  G.  Grierson,  who  remarks  that  the  meaning  is  not  clear,  and 
that  in  the  original  more  than  one  dialect  is  used.  He  offers  the  following 
tentative  translation  :  "  Sanjog  [dwelt]  in  the  midst  of  Abhaner  of  Raja 
Chand.  He  came  to  Gimar.  When  Bharat  saw  him  he  summoned  him. 
He  [Sanjog]  made  known  [his  object],  and  his  [Bharat's]  heart  expanded. 
Sanjog  married,  he  chose  Parmala  for  his  bride.  From  a  distance  of  sixty 
kos  his  heart  and  mind  had  attracted  her.  [He  said  to  her]  '  Thou  art  the 
daughter  of  Kaikum.  Thy  name  is  Parmala  [i.e.  "  fairy  garland  "].  It  was 
the  writing  of  the  Creator  [i.e.  "  it  was  so  fated  "],  this  every  one  knew.'  " 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  lady  was  a  Persian.] 

This  is  a  fragment  of  a  long  poem  relative  to  the  rivalry  of  Raja  Chand  of 
Abhaner,  and  Raja  Sursen  of  Indrapuri,  who  was  betrothed  to  Parmala, 
daughter  of  Kaikum,  and  had  gone  to  Gimer,  or  Girnar,  to  espouse  her, 
when  the  Abhaner  prince  abducted  her.  Raja  Sursen  of  Indrapuri  (Delhi), 
if  the  ancestor  of  the  Suraseni,  and  founder  of  Surpuri,  existed  probably 
twelve  hundred  years  before  Christ.  That  sun-worshippers  had  established 
themselves  in  the  peninsula  of  Saurashtra  (whose  capital  was  Junagarh- 
Girnar),  its  appellation,  in  the  days  of  the  Greeks  of  Bactria,  as  now,  proves 
(see  Strabo,  Justui,  etc.),  but  whether  Kaikum,  the  father  of  Parmala,  is 
the  Kaiomurs  of  Firdausi,  we  shall  not  stop  to  iuquiie.  The  connexion 
between  this  peninsula  and  Persia  was  intimate  in  later  tiiues,  so  as  even  to 
give  rise  to  the  assertion  that  the  Ranas  of  Mewar  were  descended  from  the 
Sassanian  kings.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  discover  Surpuri,  on  the 
Jumna,  the  residence  of  the  rival  of  Chand  of  Abhaner,  which  city  I  leave 

1  Pari-mdld  means  '  fairy  garland.' 


1380  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Hindu  emperors  of  Delhi,  who  evinced  no  more  submission  than 
the  sword  ai^d  their  Islamite  successors  exacted  from  them. 

•Balaji,  who  was  the  actual  founder  of  the  numerous  families 
now  designated  by  the  more  distinguished  name  of  Shaikhji,  his 
grandson,  obtained  as  an  appanage  the  district  of  Amritsar/  but 
whether  by  his  own  prowess  or  by  other  means,  is  not  mentioned. 
He  had  three  sons  :  Mokalji,  Khemraj,  and  Kharad.  The  first 
succeeded  to  the  patrimony  of  Amritsar  ;  the  second  had  a  numer- 
ous issue  styled  Balapota,  one  of  whom  was  adopted  into  the 
twelve  chambers  (barahkolJiri)  of  Kachhwahas.  The  third  had 
a  son  called  Kaman,  whose  descendants  were  styled  Kamawat, 
but  are  now  early  extinct. 

Shaikhji. — Mokal  had  a  son  who  was  named  Shaikhji,  in  com- 
pliment to  a  miracle-working  Islamite  saint,  to  whose  prayers 
the  childless  chief  was  indebted  for  a  son  destined  to  be  the  patri- 
arch of  a  numerous  race,  occupying,  under  the  term  Shaikhawat, 
an  important  [389J  portion  of  the  surface  of  Rajputana.  Shaikh 
Burhan  was  the  name  of  this  saint,  whose  shrine  (still  existing) 
was  about  six  miles  from  Achrol,  and  fourteen  from  the  residence 
of  Mokal.  As  the  period  of  time  was  shortly  after  Timur's  in- 
vasion, it  is  not  unlikely  he  was  a  pious  missionary,  who  remained 
behind  for  the  conversion  of  the  warlike  but  tolerant  Rajput, 

to  some  ono  imbued  with  similar  taste  to  visit,  and  merely  add,  ho  will  lind 
there  an  inscription  in  a  kund  or  fountain  dedicated  to  the  Sun.  The  dis- 
tance, however,  seven  lunidred  coss  {kos  salh  so),  whether  from  Indrapuri  or 
Abhancr,  to  Girnar,  even  admitting  tliem  to  be  gao  cons,  would  be  too  much. 
1  believe  this  would  make  it  eight  hundred  miles,  and  certainly,  as  the  crow 
Hies,  it  is  not  seven  hundred.  Interwoven  with  the  story  there  is  mucli 
about  Raja  Ciiambha,  prince  of  Jajnagar,  a  city  of  great  antiquity  in  Orissa, 
and  containing  some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  sculpture  1  ever  saw.  There 
is  also  mention  of  a  Raja  Saer  (qu.  Sahir  or  Siharas  of  Aror)  of  Parman.  In 
180i,  I  passed  through  Jajnagar,  after  the  conquest  of  the  province  of 
Cuttack,  with  my  regiment.  At  Jajnagar,  my  earliest  friend,  the  late 
Captain  Bellet  Sealy,  cmpluyed  his  pencil  for  several  daj's  with  the  sculp- 
tured remains.  These  drawings  were  sent  to  the  authorities  at  Calcutta  : 
perhaps  this  notice  may  rescue  from  oblivion  the  remains  of  Jajnagar,  and 
of  my  deceased  friend's  talent,  for  Captain  Bellet  Sealy  was  an  ornament 
equally  to  private  life  and  to  his  profession.  He  fell  a  victim  to  the  fever 
contracted  in  the  Nopal  war.  The  ruins  of  Abhaner  are  on  the  Banganga, 
throe  coss  east  of  Lalsont.  [The  speculations  in  this  note  are  of  no  value. 
For  the  town  of  Jajpur  in  Cuttack,  see  a  full  account  by  Sir  W.  Hunter, 
Orissa,  i.  2G5  f.  ;   IGI,  xiv.  10  f.] 

^  [About  15  miles  U.K.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


SHATKHJI  1381 

with  whom,  even  if  he  should  fail  in  his  purpose,  he  was  certain 
of  protection  and  hospitality.  The  Shaikh  in  one  of  his  peregrina- 
tions had  reached  the  confines  of  Amritsar,  and  was  passing  over 
an  extensive  meadow,  in  which  was  Mokalji.  The  Mangta 
(mendicant)  approached  with  the  usual  salutation,  "  Have  you 
anything  for  me  ?  "  "  Whatever  you  please  to  have,  Babaji 
(sire),"  was  the  courteous  reply.  The  request  was  limited  to  a 
draught  of  milk,  and  if  our  faith  were  equal  to  the  Shaikhawat's, 
we  should  believe  that  Shaikh  Burhan  drew  a  copious  stream 
from  the  exhausted  udder  of  a  female  buffalo.  This  was  sufficient 
to  convince  the  old  chief  that  the  Shaikh  could  work  other  miracles; 
and  he  prayed  that,  through  his  means,  he  might  no  longer  be 
childless.  In  due  time  he  had  an  heir,  who,  according  to  the  in- 
junctions of  Burhan,  was  styled,  after  his  own  tribe,  Shaikh. 
He  directed  that  he  should  wear  the  baddhiya,^  which,  when  laid 
aside,  was  to  be  suspended  at  the  saint's  dargah  ;  and  further, 
that  he  should  assume  the  blue  tunic  and  cap,  abstain  from  hog's 
flesh,  and  eat  no  meat  "  in  which  the  blood  remained."  He  also 
ordained  that  at  the  birth  of  every  Shaikhawat  male  infant  a  goat 
should  be  sacrificed,  the  Kalima  (Islamite  creed)  read,  and  the 
child  sprinkled  with  the  blood.  Although  four  centuries  have 
passed  away  since  these  obligations  were  contracted  by  Mokal, 
they  are  still  religiously  maintained  by  the  little  nation  of  his 
descendants,  occupying  a  space  of  ten  thousand  square  iniles. 
The  wild  hog,  which,  according  to  immemorial  usage,  should  be 
eaten  once  a  year  by  every  Rajput,  is  rarely  even  hunted  by  a 
Shaikhawat  ;  and  though  they  have  relaxed  in  that  ordinance, 
which  commanded  the  suspension  of  the  baddhiyas  at  the  shrine 
of  Burhan,  still  each  infant  wears  them,  as  well  as  the  blue  tunic 
and  cap,  for  two  years  after  his  birth  ;  and  a  still  greater  mark 
of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  saint  is  evinced  in  the  blue  pennon 
which  surmounts  the  yellow  banner,  or  national  flag,  of  the 
Shaikhawats.  It  is  even  gravely  asserted  that  those  who,  from 
indolence,  distance,  or  less  justifiable  motives,  have  neglected 
the  least  important  injunction,  that  of  depositing  the  initiatory 
strings  or  baddhiyas,  have  never  prospered.  But  a  still  stronger 
proof  is  furnished  of  the  credulity,  the  toleration,  and  yet  [390] 

'  ^  Strings,  or  threads,  worn  crossways  by  Muhammadan  children.     [See 
Herklots,  Qunoon-e-Islam,  ISfi,  15S.] 


13S2         '       ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPITR 

immutability  of  the  Rajput  character,  in  the  fact,  that,  although 
Amritsar,^  and  the  lands  around  the  dargah,  are  annexed  to 
the  fisc  of  Amber,  yet  the  shrine  of  Shaikh  Burhan  continues  a 
sarati  (sanctuary),  while  lands  are  assigned  to  almost  a  hundred 
families,  the  descendants  of  the  saint,  who  reside  in  the  adjacent 
town  of  Tala. 

Shaikhji,  when  he  attained  man's  estate,  greatly  augmented 
the  territory  left  by  his  father,  and  had  consolidated  three  hundred 
and  sixty  villages  under  his  sway,  by  conquest  from  his  neigh- 
bours, when  his  reputation  and  power  attracted  the  jealous 
notice  of  the  lord  paramount  of  Amber.  He  was  attacked  ;  but 
by  the  aid  of  the  Panni  Pathans  -  he  successfully  withstood  the 
reiterated  assaults  of  his  suzerain.  Up  to  this  period,  they  had 
acknowledged  the  Amber  princes  as  liege  lords,  and  in  token  of 
alliance  paid  as  tribute  all  the  colts  reared  on  the  original  estate.^ 
A  dispute  on  this  point  was  the  ostensible  cause  (though  subordin- 
ate to  their  rapid  prosperity),  which  occasioned  a  total  separation 
of  the  Shaikhawat  colonies  from  the  parent  State,  imtil  the  reign 
of  Sawai  Jai  Singh  who,  with  his  means  as  lieutenant  of  the  empire, 
compelled  homage,  submission,  and  pecTmiary  relief  from  them. 
Shaikhji  left  a  well-established  authority  to  his  son,  Raemall,  of 
whom  nothing  is  recorded.  Raemall  was  followed  by  Suja,  who 
had  three  sons,  namely,  Nunkaran,  Raesal,  and  Gopal.  The 
elder  succeeded  to  the  patrimony  of  Amritsar  and  its  three 
hundred  and  sixty  townships,  while  to  his  brothers,  the  fiefs  of 

^  The  town  of  Amritsar  and  forty-five  villages  are  still  left  to  the  Manohar- 
pur  branch. 

*  The  Pannis  are  a  tribe  of  Duranis,  regarding  whom  Mr.  Elphinstonc's 
aocount  of  Kabul  may  be  consulted.  In  after  times,  there  was  a  cliioftain  of 
this  tribe  so  celebrated  for  his  generosity  and  hospitality,  that  his  name  has 
become  proverbial : 

Bane,  to  bane 

Nahin,  Daud  Klian  Panni  ; 

that  is,  if  they  failed  elsewhere,  there  was  always  Daud  Khan  in  reserve. 
His  gallant  bearing,  and  death  in  Farrukhsiyar's  reign,  are  related  in  Scott's 
excellent  Ilistory  of  the  Dekhnn.  [Ed.  1794,  ii.  140  ff.  The  Panni  are  a 
sept  of  the  Kakar  or  Ghurghusthi  Pathans  ;  see  Rose,  Glossary,  iii.  198,  223.] 
'  This  will  recall  to  the  reader's  recollection  a  similar  custom  in  the 
ancient  Persian  empire,  where  the  tribute  of  the  distant  Satrapies  was  of 
the  same  kind.  Armenia,  according  to  Herodotus,  alone  gave  an  annual 
tribute  of  twenty  thousand  colts.  [The  statement  is  made  by  Strabo 
p.  529.] 


SHAIKH  JI  1383 

Lambi  and  Jharli  ^  were  respectively  assigned.  With  the  second 
brother,  Raes^l,  the  fortunes  of  the  Shaikhawats  made  a  rapid 
stride,  from  an  occurrence  in  wliich  the  Rajput  appears  in  the 
position  we  desire  to  see  him  occupy. 

Nunkaran,  tlie  chief  of  the  Shaikliawats,  had  a  minister  named 
Devidas,  of  the  Bania  or  mercantile  caste,  and,  hke  thousands  of 
that  caste,  energetic,  shrewd,  and  inteUigent.  He  one  day  held 
an  argument  with  his  lord  (which  the  result  proves  he  maintained 
with  independence),  that  "  genius  with  good  fortune  was  the 
first  gift  of  heaven,  and  to  be  far  more  prized  than  a  man's  mere 
inheritance."  Nunkaran  warmly  disputed  the  point,  which 
ended  by  his  telling  the  minister  he  might  go  to  I^ambi  [391]  and 
make  experiment  of  the  truth  of  his  argument  on  his  brother 
Raesal.  Devidas  lost  no  time,  on  this  polite  dismissal  from  his 
office,  in  proceeding  with  his  family  and  property  to  Lambi.  He 
was  received  with  the  usual  hospitality  ;  but  soon  discovered  that 
Raesal's  means  were  too  confined  to  bear  an  additional  burden, 
and  that  the  field  was  too  restricted  to  enable  him  to  demonstrate 
the  truth  of  the  argument  which  lost  him  his  place.  He  made 
known  his  determination  to  proceed  to  the  imperial  city,  and 
advised  Raesal  to  accompany  him,  and  try  his  luck  at  court. 
Raesal,  who  was  valiant  and  not  without  ambition,  could  only 
equip  twentj^  horse,  with  which  he  arrived  at  Delhi  just  as  an 
army  was  forming  to  oppose  one  of  those  Afghan  invasions,  so 
common  at  that  period.  In  the  action  which  ensued,  Raesal  had 
the  good  fortune  to  distinguish  himself  by  cutting  down  a  leader 
of  the  enemy,  in  the  presence  of  the  imperial  general,  which  had 
a  decided  influence  on  the  event  of  the  day.  Inquiries  were 
made  for  the  brave  unknown,  who  had  performed  this  heroic 
deed  ;  but  as,  for  reasons  which  will  be  perceived,  he  kept  aloof 
from  the  quarters  of  his  countrymen,  the  argument  of  Devidas 
would  never  have  been  illustrated,  had  not  the  imperial  commander 
determined  to  seek  out  and  reward  merit.  He  ordered  a  grand 
ziyafat,  or  '  entertainment '  to  be  prepared  for  the  chiefs  of  every 
grade  in  the  army,  who  were  commanded  afterwards  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  general.  As  soon  as  Raesal  appeared,  he  was 
recognized  as  the  individual  of  whom  they  were  in  search.  His 
name  and  family  being  disclosed,  his  brother,  Nunkaran,  who 

^  [Jharli  is  about  40  miles  N.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


1384  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

was  serving  witli  liis  quota,  was  called,  whose  anger  was  per- 
emptorily expressed  at  his  presuming  to  appear  at  court  without 
his  permission  ;  but  this  ebullition  of  jealousy  was  of  little  avail. 
Raesal  was  at  once  introduced  to  the  great  Akbar,  who  bestowed 
upon  him  the  title  of  Raesal  Darbari/  and  a  more  substantial 
mark  of  royal  favour,  in  a  grant  of  the  districts  of  Rewasa  and 
Khasali,  then  belonging  to  the  Chandela  Rajputs.  This  was  but 
the  opening  of  Raesal's  career,  for  scarcely  had  he  settled  his 
new  possessions,  when-  he  was  recalled  to  court  to  take  part  in 
an  expedition  against  Bhatner.  Fresh  services  obtained  new 
favours,  and  he  received  a  grant  of  Khandela  and  Udaipm*,  then 
belonging  to  the  Nirwan  Rajputs,  who  disdained  to  pay  allegiance 
to  the  empire,  and  gave  themselves  up  to  unlicensed  rapine. 

Khandela,  the  Shalkhawat  Capital. — Raesal,  finding  it  would 
be  a  work  of  dinieulty  to  expel  the  brave  Nirwans  from  [392]  their 
ancient  bapota  (patrimony),  had  recourse  to  stratagem  to  effect 
his  object.  Previous  to  the  expedition  to  Bhatner,  Raesal  had 
esjjoused  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Khandela,  and  it  is  related 
that  a  casual  expression,  dropped  on  that  occasion,  suggested  his 
desire  to  obtain  it  for  himself.  Being  dissatisfied  with  the  dower 
(daeja)  given  with  his  bride,  he,  with  no  commendable  taste, 
pertinaciously  insisted  upon  an  increase  ;  upon  which  the  Nirwan 
chief,  losing  patience,  hastily  replied,  "  We  have  nothing  else  to 
give,  unless  you  take  the  stones  of  the  hill."  The  attendant 
Sagimi  (augur),  immediately  turning  to  Raesal,  said,  in  an 
undertone,  "  Tie  a  knot  on  the  skirt  of  your  garment  in  remem-' 
brance  of  this."  An  expression  like  this  from  a  })rophetic  tongue 
gave  birth  to  the  wish  to  ))e  lord  of  Khandela  ;  while  his  services 
to  the  king,  and  the  iml)ecility  of  its  Nirwan  possessor,  conspired 
to  fulfil  it.  Watching  his  opportunity,  he  marched  against  the 
place,  and  being  in  all  probability  supported  by  his  liege  lord, 
it  was  abandoned  wilhout  defence,  and  the  inhabitants  tendered 
their  subnn'ssion  to  him.     Henceforth,  Khandela  was  esteemed 

^  Tt  Ih  always  af;rcca1)l('  U>  (iml  llio  truth  of  these  simple  annals  onrrohor- 
atod  in  the  liistorical  rornaiiis  of  the  conquerors  of  the  Rajputs.  The  name 
of  Raesal  Darbari  will  bo  found,  in  the  Ain-i-Akbari,  amongst  the  nian- 
sabdars  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  horse  ;  a  rank  of  high  importance,  being 
equivalent  to  that  conferred  on  the  sons  of  potent  Rajas.  [In  Ain  (i.  419) 
he  is  calh^d  Rao  Sal  Darbari,  son  of  Raemall,  Shalkhawat.  The  Author 
represents  him  to  be  son  of  >Suja,  and  apparently  grandson  of  Raemall.  He 
is  m(^nticined  in  the  Akfinrufnua  (trans.  H.  lieveridge  ii.  .''.90).] 


RAESAL  DARBARI.  SHAIKHAWAT 


1385 


the  principal  city  of  the  Shaikhawat  confederation  ;  and  the 
descendants  of  Raesal,  nsinjj  his  name  as  a  patronymic,  are  styled 
Raesalot,  occupying  all  southern  Shaikhavati  ;  while  another 
branch  of  later  origin,  called  Sadhani,  holds  the  northern  tracts. 
Immediately  after  the  occupation  of  Khandela,  Raesal  obtained 
possession  of  Udaipur,  formerly  called  Kausambi,  also  belonging 
to  the  Nirwans.^ 

Raesal  accompanied  his  proper  liege  lord,  the  great  Raja  Man 
of  Amber,  against  the  heroic  Rana  Partap  of  Mewar.  He  was 
also  in  the  expedition  to  Kabul,  against  the  Afghans  of  Kohistan, 
in  all  of  which  enterprises  he  obtained  fresh  distinctions.  Regard- 
ing his  death,  there  is  no  record  ;  *  but  his  history  is  another 
illustration  of  the  Rajput  character,  whilst  it  confirms  the  position 
of  tlie  Bania,  that  "  genius  and  good  fortune  are  far  superior  to 
inheritance." 

Raesal,  at  his  death,  had  a  compact  and  well-managed  territory, 
out  of  which  he  assigned  appanages  to  his  seven  sons,  from  whom 
are  descended  the  various  families,  who,  with  relative  distinctive 
patronjonies,  Bhojansi  Sadhanis,  Larkhanis,  Tajkhanis,  Parasu- 
rampotas,  Harrampotas,  are  recognized  throughout  Rajwara  by 
the  generic  name  of  Shaikhawat  [393]. 

1.  Girdhar   .  .  .     Had  Khandela  and  Rewasa. 


2.  Larkhan 

3.  Bhojraj    . 

4.  Tirmall  Rao 

5.  Parasuram 

6.  Harramji 

7.  Taj  khan 


Kachriawas. 

Udaipur. 

Kasli  and  eighty- four  villages. 

Bai. 

Mundari. 

No  appanage. 


We  shall  not  break  the  thread  of  the  narrative  of  the  elder 
branch  of  Khandela,  "  chief  of  the  sons  of  Shaikhji,"  to 
treat    of   the   junior   line,    though    the    issue    of    Bhojraj    have 

^  The  Nirwaii  is  a  sakha,  or  ramification  of  the  Chauhan  race.  They  had 
long  held  possession  of  these  regions,  of  which  Kes,  or  Kausambi,  now 
Udaipur,  was  the  capital,  the  city  where  the  grand  council  of  the  confedera- 
tion always  meets  on  great  occasions.  This  may  throw  light  on  the  Kau- 
sambi mentioned  on  the  triumphal  pillar  at  Delhi ;  the  Nirwan  capital  is 
more  likely  to  be  the  town  alluded  to  than  Kausambi  on  the  Ganges. 
[The  inscription  refers  to  the  city  in  the  United  Provinces,  of  which  the  site 
is  uncertain  (V.  A.  Smith,  JRA8,  1898,  p.  503).] 

^  [He  died,  at  an  advanced  age,  in  the  Deccan  (Ain,  i.  419).] 
VOL.  Ill  K 


1386  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

eclipsed,  both  in  population  and  property,  the  senior  descendants 
of  Raesal. 

Girdharji  Shaikhawat. — Girdharji  succeeded  to  the  prowess, 
the  energy,  and  the  estates  of  his  father,  and  for  a  gallant  action 
obtained  from  the  emperor  the  title  of  Raja  of  Khandela.  At 
this  period,  the  empire  was  in  a  most  disordered  state,  and  the 
mountainous  region,  called  Mewat,  was  inhabited  by  a  daring 
and  ferocious  banditti,  called  Meos,  who  pillaged  in  gangs  even 
to  the  gates  of  the  capital.  The  task  of  taking,  dead  or  alive, 
the  leader  of  this  banditti,  was  assigned  to  the  chief  of  Khandela, 
who  performed  it  with  signal  gallantry  and  success.  Aware  that, 
by  the  display  of  superior  force,  his  enemy  would  remain  in  his 
lurking  places,  Girdhar  put  himself  on  terms  of  equality  with  his 
foe,  and  Avith  a  small  but  select  band  hunted  the  Mewati  leader 
down,  and  in  the  end  slew  him  in  single  combat.  The  career  of 
Girdhar,  short  as  it  was  brilliant,  was  terminated  by  assassina- 
tion, while  bathing  in  the  Jumna.  The  anecdote  is  descriptive 
of  the  difference  of  manners  between  the  rustic  Rajput  and  the 
debauched  retainer  of  the  court. 

Assassination  of  Girdharji.— One  of  the  Khandela  chiefs  men 
was  waiting,  in  a  blacksmith's  shop,  while  his  sword  Avas  repaired 
and  sharpened.  A  Muslim,  passing  by,  thought  he  might  have 
his  jest  with  the  unpolished  Rajput,  and  after  asking  some 
impertinent  questions,  and  laughing  at  the  imintelligible  replies 
in  the  Bhakha  of  Rajwara,  slipped  a  heated  cinder  in  the  turban 
of  the  soldier  :  the  insult  was  borne  with  great  coolness,  which 
increased  the  mirth  of  the  Musalman,  and  at  length  the  turban 
took  fire.  The  sword  was  then  ready,  and  the  Thakur,  after 
feeling  the  edge,  with  one  blow  laid  the  jester's  head  at  his  feet. 
He  belonged  to  one  of  the  chief  nobles  of  the  court,  who  im- 
mediately led  his  retainers  to  the  Khandela  chief's  quarters, 
and  thence  to  where  he  was  performing  his  religious  ablutions  in 
the  Jumna,  and  whilst  engaged  in  which  act,  unarmed  and  almost 
unattended,  basely  murdered  him.  Girdhar  left  several  children 
[394 1 . 

Dwarkadas. — Dwarkadas,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded,  and  soon 
after  his  accession  nearly  fell  a  victim  to  the  jealousy  of  (he  Mano- 
harpur  chief,  the  representative  of  the  elder  branch  of  the  family, 
being  the  lineal  descendant  of  Nunkaran.  The  emperor  had 
caught  a  lion  in  the  toils,  and  gave  out  a  grand  hunt,  when  the 


DWARKADAS  :  BTRSTNGHDEO  1387 

Manoharpur  chief  observed  that  his  relative,  the  Raesalot,  who 
was  a  votary  of  Naharsingh/  was  the  proper  person  to  engage 
the  king  of  the  forest.  Dwarkadas  saw  through  his  relative's 
treachery,  but  cheerfully  accepted  the  proposal.  Having  bathed 
and  prayed,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  king  and  court,  he  entered 
the  arena  unarmed,  with  a  brazen  platter  containing  the  various 
articles  used  in  puja  (worship),  as  grains  of  rice,  curds,  and  sandal 
ointment,  and  going  directly  up  to  the  monster,  made  the  tilak 
on  his  forehead,  put  a  chaplet  round  his  neck,  and  prostrated 
him.self  in  the  usual  attitude  of  adoration  before  the  lion  ;  when, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  spectators,  the  noble  beast  came  gently 
up,  and  with  his  tongue  repeatedly  licked  his  face,  permitting  him 
to  retire  without  the  least  indication  of  anger.  The  emperor, 
who  concluded  that  his  subject  must  "  wear  a  charmed  life," 
desired  the  Khandela  chief  to  make  any  request,  with  the 
assurance  of  compliance  ;  when  he  received  a  delicate  reproof, 
in  the  desire  "  that  his  majesty  would  never  place  another 
person  in  the  same  predicament  from  which  he  had  happily 
escaped." 

Dwarkadas  was  slain  by  the  greatest  hero  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived,  the  celebrated  Khan  Jahan  Lodi,^  who,  according  to 
the  legends  of^the  Shaikhawats,  also  fell  by  the  hand  of  their 
lord  ;  and  they  throw  an  air  of  romance  upon  the  transaction, 
which  would  grace  the  annals  of  chivalry  in  any  age  or  country. 
Klian  Jahan  and  the  chieftain  of  Khandela  were  sworn  friends, 
and  when  nothing  but  the  life  of  the  gallant  Lodi  would  satisfy 
the  king,  Dwarka  gave  timely  notice  to  his  friend  of  the  hateful 
task  imposed  upon  him,  advising  either  submission  or  flight. 
His  fate,  which  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  episodes  in 
Ferishta's  history,^  involved  that  of  the  Shaikhawat  chief. 

Birsinghdeo. — He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Birsinghdeo,  who 
served  with  his  contingent  in  the  conquest  of  the  Deccan,  and 
was  made  governor  of  Parnala,  which  he  had  materially  assisted 

1  [Narasinha,  the  man-lion  incarnation  of  Visluiu.] 

^  [Khan  Jahan  Lodi,  an  Afghan,  commanded  in  the  Deccan  under  Prince 
Parvez.  In  1628,  suspected  of  disloyalty,  he  took  refuge  in  Baglan,  the  head- 
men of  which  place  refused  to  surrender  him.  But  he  was  obliged  to  fiy 
and,  with  his  son,  was  killed  by  the  royal  troops  on  January  28,  1631  (Beale, 
Diet.  Oriental  Biography,  s.v.  ;  BO,  i.  Part  ii.  624  f.  ;  EUiot-Dowson  vii. 
20  &.).] 

3  [Not  in  Ferishta,  but  in  Dow's  continuation  (ed.  1812,  iii.  112  ff.)  ] 


1388  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

in  reducing.^  The  Khandela  annalist  is  desirous  to  make  it 
appear  that  his  ser\nce  was  independent  of  his  liege  lord  of  Amber  ; 
but  the  probability  is  that  he  was  under  the  immediate  command 
of  the  Mirza  Raja  Jai  Singh,  at  that  period  the  most  distinguished 
general  of  his  nation  or  of  the  court. 

Birsinghdeo  had  seven  sons,  of  whom  the  heir-apparent, 
Bahadur  Singh,  remained  at  [395]  Khandela  ;  while  estates  were 
assigned  to  his  brothers,  namely,  Amar  Singh,  Shyam  Singh, 
Jagdeo,  Bhopal  Singh,  Mukri  Singh,  and  Pem  Singh,  who  all 
increased  the  stock  of  Raesalots.  While  the  Raja  was  performing 
his  duties  in  the  Decean,  intelligence  reached  him  that  his  son  at 
home  had  usurped  his  title  and  authority  ;  upon  which,  with 
only  four  horsemen,  he  left  the  army  for  his  capital.  When 
within  two  coss  of  Khandela,  he  alighted  at  the  house  of  a  Jatni, 
of  whom  he  requested  refreshment,  and  begged  especial  care  of 
his  wearied  steed,  lest  he  should  be  stolen  ;  to  which  she  sharply 
replied,  "  Is  not  Bahadur  Singh  ruler  here  ?  You  may  leave  gold 
in  the  highway,  and  no  one  dare  touch  it."  The  old  chieftain 
was  so  delighted  with  this  testimony  to  his  son's  discharge  of  a 
prince's  duties,  that,  without  disclosing  himself  or  his  suspicions, 
he  immediately  returned  to  the  Decean,  where  he  died. 

Bahadur  Singh. — Bahadur  Singh  succeeded,  and  on  his  father's 
death  repaired  to  the  armies  in  the  south,  commanded  by 
Aurangzeb  in  person.  Being  insulted  by  a  Muslim  chief  bearing 
the  same  name  with  himself,  and  obtaining  no  redress  from  the 
bigoted  prince,  he  left  the  army  in  disgust,  upon  which  his  name 
was  erased  from  the  list  of  mansabdars.  It  was  at  this  time  the 
tyrant  issued  his  mandate  for  the  capitation-tax  on  all  his  Hindu 
subjects,  and  for  the  destruction  of  their  temples.* 

^  [Pamala  or  Panhala  in  the  Kolhapur  District,  taken  in  1701  (Manucci 
iii.  257  ;    BO,  xxiv.  314.] 

2  The  numerous  ruined  shrines  and  mutilated  statues  in  every  town  and 
village,  still  attest  the  zeal  with  which  the  bigot's  orders  were  obeyed  ;  nor 
is  there  an  image  of  any  antiquity  with  an  entire  set  of  features  (except 
in  spots  impervious  to  his  myrmidons),  from  Lahore  to  Cape  Comorin. 
Omkarji,  whose  temple  is  on  a  small  island  of  the  Nerbudda,  alone,  it  is  said, 
supported  his  dignity  in  the  indiscriminate  attack  on  the  deities  of  Hind. 
"  If  they  are  gods  (said  the  tyrannical  but  witty  iconoclast),  let  them  evince 
their  power,  and  by  some  miracle  resist  my  commands."  Omkarji  received 
the  first  blow  on  his  head,  as  if  imbued  with  mortal  feeling,  for  the  blood 
gushed  from  his  nose  and  mouth,  which  prevented  a  re])etitioii  of  the  injury  ! 
This  sensibility,  though  without  the  power  of  avenging  himself,   made 


GALLANTRY  OF  SHUJAWAN  SINGH  1389 

Gallantry  of  Shujawan  Singh.— To  the  personal  enemy  of  the 
Shaikhawat  was  intrusted  the  twofold  duty  of  exacting  tribute, 
and  the  demohtion  of  the  temple,  the  ornament  of  Khandela, 
whose  chief,  degrading  the  name  of  Bahadur  (warrior),  abandoned 
his  capital ;  and  the  royal  army  had  arrived  within  two  coss 
without  the  appearance  of  opposition.  The  news  spread  over 
the  lands  of  the  confederacy,  that  Bahadur  had  fled  from  Khandela, 
and  that  the  Turk  was  bent  on  the  destruction  of  its  shrines.  It 
reached  the  ear  of  Shujawan  Singh,  the  cliieftain  of  Chapauh,  a 
descendant  of  Bhojraj,  the  second  son  of  Raesal.  Imbued  with 
all  the  spirit  of  this  hero,  the  brave  Bhojani  resolved  to  devote 
himself  to  the  protection  of  the  temple,  or  perish  in  its  defence. 
At  the  moment  the  tidings  reached  him,  he  was  solemnizing 
his  nuptials  on  the  Marwar  frontier.  Hastening  home  with  his 
bride,  he  left  her  with  liis  mother,  and  bade  both  a  solemn  [o96j 
farewell.  In  vain  his  kindred,  collecting  round  him,  dissuaded 
him  from  liis  design,  urging  that  it  was  Bahadur  Singh's  affair, 
not  his.  "  Am  not  I,"  he  said,  "  also  of  Raesal's  stock,  and  can 
I  allow  the  Turk  to  destroy  the  dwelling  of  the  Thakur  (lord), 
and  not  attempt  to  save  it  V  Would  this  be  acting  the  part  of 
a  Rajput  ?  "  As  their  entreaties  were  vain,  they,  to  the  nmnber 
of  sixty,  resolved  to  accompany  lum,  and  share  his  fate.  They 
were  joined  by  a  party  of  Bahadur's  adlierents,  and  succeeded 
in  entering  Khandela.  The  imperial  commander,  to  whom  this 
unlooked-for  opi^osition  was  reported,  well  aware  of  what  a  Rajput 
is  capable  when  excited  to  action,  and  perhaps  moved  by  a 
generous  feeling  at  seeing  a  handful  of  men  oppose  an  army, 
requested  that  two  of  their  number  might  be  deputed  to  his  camp 
to  confer  with  him.  He  told  them,  that  notwithstanding  it  was 
the  king's  conunand  that  he  should  raze  the  temple  to  the  ground, 
he  would  be  satisfied  (if  accompanied  by  proper  submission)  with 
taking  off  the  kalas,  or  golden  ball  which  surmounted  its  pimiacle. 
They  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  ;  offered  money  to  the  utmost 

Omkar's  shrine  doubly  respected,  and  it  continues  to  be  one  of  the  best 
frequented  and  most  venerated  in  these  regions.  [Numerous  accounts  of 
the  destruction  of  Hindu  temples  by  Aurangzeb  have  been  collected  by 
Jadunath  Sarkar  {History  0/  Aurangzib,  ill.  319  ff.).  The  Oinkar  temple 
at  Mandhata  in  the  Nimar  District,  Central  Provinces,  is  served  by  a  priest 
of  the  Bhilala  caste,  half  Bhil,  half  Rajput,  illustrating  the  mode  by  which 
aboriginal  deities  have  been  imported  into  Hinduism  {IGl,  xvii.  152  ; 
Russell,  Tribes  and  Castes  Central  Frovinces,  ii.  294).] 


1390  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

possible  amount  of  tJieir  means  ;  but  the  answer  was,  "■  The 
kalas  must  come  down."  One  of  these  noble  delegates,  no  longer 
able  to  contain  himself,  exclaimed,  "Break  down  the  kalas!" 
as  with  some  moist  clay  at  his  feet  he  moulded  a  ball,  which  he 
placed  on  a  little  mound  before  him :  and  drawing  his  sword, 
repeated,  "  Break  down  the  kalas  !  I  dare  you  even  to  break  this 
ball  of  clay  !  "  The  intrepidity  of  this  action  gained  the  applause 
even  of  the  foe,  and  they  had  safe  -  conduct  to  rejoin  their 
brethren,  and  prepare  them  for  the  worst. 

The  Siege  of  Khandela. — At  this  time,  Khandela  had  no  forti- 
fications ;  there  was,  however,  a  gateway  half-way  up  the  hill  in 
the  route  of  ascent,  which  led  to  the  place  of  residence  of  its 
chieftains,  adjoining  which  was  the  temple.  One  party  w^as 
stationed  in  the  gateway,  while  Shujawan  reserved  for  himself 
the  defence  of  the  temple,  in  which  he  took  post  with  his  kinsmen. 
^\'hen  the  mercenaries  of  the  tyrant  advanced,  the  defenders  of 
the  gateway,  after  dealing  many  a  distant  death,  marched  upon 
them  sword  in  hand,  and  perished.  When  they  pushed  on  to 
the  chief  object  of  attack,  the  band  issued  forth  in  small  detached 
parties,  having  first  made  their  obeisances  to  the  image,  and 
carried  destruction  along  with  them.  Shujawan  was  the  last 
who  fell.  The  temple  was  levelled  to  the  earth,  the  idol  broken 
in  pieces,  and  the  fragments  thrown  into  the  foundation  of  a 
mosque  erected  on  its  ruins.  There  is  hardly  a  town  of  note  in 
Rajwara  that  has  not  to  relate  a  similar  talc  of  desperate  valour 
ill  the  defence  of  their  household  gods  against  the  iniquitous  and 
impolitic  Aurangzeb.  Khandela  received  a  royal  garrison  ;  but 
tile  old  ollieers,  both  territorial  and  financial,  were  retained  by 
the  conqueror  [397J. 

Bahadur  Singh  eoidiiiucd  to  reside  in  an  adjacent  townshi]), 
^nd  tluougli  his  Diwaii  obtained  a  certain  share  of  the  crops  and 
transit  duties,  namely,  a  ser  out  of  every  maund  of  the  former, 
and  one  pice  in  every  rupee  of  the  latter.  In  process  of  time  the 
family  residence  and  gardens  were  given  up  to  him,  and  when  the 
Sayyids  obtained  power  he  regained  his  country,  though  a  garrison 
of  the  royal  troops  was  retained,  whose  expenses  he  paid.  He  left 
three  sons,  namely,  Kcsari  Singh,  Fateli  Singh,  and  Udai  Singh. 

Kesari  Singh. — Kesari,  solicitous  to  hold  his  lands  on  the  same 
terms  as  his  ancestors,  namely,  service  to  the  lord-paramount, 
assembled   his  adherents,   and   with  his  second  brother,   Fateh 


KESARI  SINGH  1391 

Singh,  departed  for  the  imperial  camp,  to  proffer  his  service. 
The  Manoharpur  chief,  the  elder  branch  of  the  family,  was  in 
the  royal  camp,  and  having  regained  his  lost  consequence  by  the 
depression  of  Khandela,  was  by  no  means  willing  again  to  part 
with  it.  He  intrigued  with  the  second  brother,  Fateh  Singh, 
to  whom  he  proposed  a  division  of  the  lands  ;  the  latter  lent  him- 
self to  the  intrigue,  and  the  Diwan,  seeing  that  a  family  quarrel 
would  involve  the  destruction  of  them  all,  repaired  to  Khandela, 
and  through  the  mother,  a  Gavir  Rajputni,  he  advocated  the  parti- 
tion. A  census  was  accordingly  made  of  the  population,  and  a 
measurement  of  the  lands,  of  which  two  portions  were  assigned 
to  Fateh  Singh,  and  the  three  remaining  to  the  Raja,  The  town 
itself  was  partitioned  in  the'  same  manner.  Henceforth,  the 
bi-others  held  no  intercourse  with  each  other,  and  Kesari  preferred 
Khatu  ^  as  his  residence,  though  whenever  he  came  to  Khandela, 
Fateh  Singh  withdrew.  Things  remained  in  this  state  until  the 
Diwan  prompted  his  master  to  get  rid  of  the  agreement  which 
had  secured  the  ascendancy  of  Manoharpur  in  the  Shaikliawat 
federation,  by  destroying  his  brother.  The  Diwan  arranged  a 
friendly  meeting  at  Khatu  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  reconcilia- 
tion, when  Fateh  Singh  fell  a  victim  to  assassination  ;  but  the 
instigator  to  the  crime  met  his  proper  reward,  for  a  sphnter  of 
the  sword  which  slew  Fateh  Singh  entered  his  neck,  and  was  the 
occasion  of  his  death. 

Kesari  Singh,  having  thus  recovered  all  his  lost  authority, 
from  the  contentions  at  court  conceived  he  might  refuse  the 
tribute  of  Rewasa,  hitherto  jjaid  to  the  Ajmer  treasury,  while 
that  of  Khandela  went  to  Narnol.^  Sayyid  AbduUa,^  then 
wazir,  found  leisure  to  resent  this  insult,  and  sent  a  force  against 
Khandela.  Every  Raesalot  in  the  country  assembled  to  resist 
the  Turk,  and  even  his  foe  of  Manoharpur  sent  his  quota,  led  by 
the  Dhabhai  (foster-brother),  to  aid  the  national  cause.  Thus 
strengthened,  Kesari  determined  to  oppose  the  royal  forces  hand 
to  hand  in  the  plain,  and  [398]  the  rival  armies  encountered  at 
the  border  town  of  Deoli.*     While  victory  manifested  a  wish  to 

^  [This  is  probably  the  "  Kaotah  "  of  the  text.] 
2  [Now  in  the  Patiala  State,  Paujab.] 

2  [Sayyid  AbduUa  of  Barha  became  wazir  of  Farrukhsiyar  in  a.d.  1713, 
and  died  in  prison  in  1723.] 

*  [About  70  miles  S.W.  of  Ajmer.] 


1392  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

side  with  the  confederated  Shaikhawats,  the  old  jealousies  of 
Manoharpur  revived,  and  he  withdrew  liis  quota  from  the  field, 
at  the  same  moment  that  tlie  KasU  chief,  on  whom  much  depended, 
was  slam.  To  crown  these  misfortunes,  the  Larkliani  cliief  of 
Danta,  basely  deeming  this  an  opportunity  to  consult  his  own 
interest,  abandoned  the  field,  to  take  possession  of  Rewasa. 
The  '  lion  '  of  Ivhandela  (Kesari),  observing  these  defections, 
when  the  shout  of  ^^Jai!  jai!'''  (victory,  victory),  already  rang 
in  his  ears,  could  not  help  exclaiming,  in  the  bitterness  of  despair, 
■'  Had  Fateh  Singh  been  here,  he  would  not  have  deserted  me." 
He  disdained,  however,  to  give  way,  and  prepared  to  meet  his 
fate  like  a  true  Raesalot.  Sending  to  where  the  battle  yet  raged 
for  his  youngest  brother,  Udai  Singh,  he  urged  him  to  save  him- 
self ;  but  the  young  Rajput  scorned  obedience  to  such  a  behest, 
until  Kesari  made  known  his  determination  not  to  quit  the  field, 
adding  that  if  he  also  were  slain,  there  would  be  an  end  of  his 
line.  Others  joined  their  persuasions,  and  even  attempted  to 
turn  Kesari  from  his  purpose.  "  No,"  replied  the  chief,  "  1  have 
no  desire  for  life  ;  two  black  deeds  press  upon  me  ;  the  murder 
of  my  brother,  and  the  curse  of  the  Charans  of  Bikauer,  whom 
1  neglected  at  the  distribution  of  the  nuptial  gifts.  I  will  not 
add  a  tliird  by  dastardly  flight."  As  Udai  Singh  reluctantly 
obeyed,  while  the  swords  rang  around  him,  Kesari  made  a  hasty 
sacrifice  to  Avanimata  (mother  earth),  of  which  llesh,  blood,  and 
earth  are  the  ingredients.  He  cut  pieces  from  his  own  body, 
but  as  scarcely  any  blood  flowed,  his  own  uncle,  Molikam  Singh 
of  Aloda,  parted  with  some  of  his,  for  so  grand  an  obligation  as 
the  retention  of  Khandela.  Mixing  his  own  llesh,  and  his  uncle's 
blood,  with  a  portion  of  his  own  sandy  soil,  he  formed  small  balls 
in  dan  (gift),  for  the  maintenance  of  the  land  to  his  posterity. 
The  Dom  (bard),  who  repeated  the  incantations,  pronounced 
the  sacrilice  accepted,  and  that  seven  generations  of  his  hne  should 
rule  in  Khandela.^  The  brave  Kesari  was  slain,  the  town  taken, 
and  Udai  Singh  carried  to  Ajmer,  where  he  remained  three  years 
in  captivity.  At  this  time,  the  chiefs  of  Udaipur  and  Kasli 
determined   to   cut   off   the   royal   garrison    in   Ivliandela ;     but 

*  The  fifth,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  has  been  exj)ellod,  and  authority 
usurped  by  the  Kasli  branch  of  the  family,  and  unless  some  fortunate  change 
should  occur,  the  devotion  of  Kesari  was  useless,  and  the  prophecy  must 
fall  to  the  ground. 


UDAI  SINGH :  SUPREMACY  OF  JAIPUR  1393 

apprehensive  of  the  danger  it  might  occasion  to  tlieir  chief,  they 
sent  a  special  messenger  to  Ajmer,  to  acquaint  the  viceroy  of 
their  scheme,  previous  to  its  execution,  to  prevent  his  being 
impUcated.  Khandela  was  surprised,  and  Deonath  and  three 
hundred  Turks  put  to  the  sword.  The  viceroy  [399],  desirous  to 
recover  the  place,  consulted  his  prisoner,  who  offered  to  reinstate 
him  if  he  granted  him  liberty.  The  Nawab  demanded  a  hostage, 
but  the  young  Rajput  said  he  knew  of  none  but  his  own  mother, 
who  wilhngly  became  the  pledge  for  her  son.  He  fulfilled  his 
agreement,  and  the  viceroy  was  so  pleased  with  liis  frank  and 
loyal  conduct,  that  on  paying  a  large  nazarana,  he  restored  him 
to  his  capital. 

Udai  Singh. — Udai  Singh's  first  act  was  to  assemble  liis  brethren, 
in  order  to  punish  Manoharpur,  whose  treachery  had  caused  them 
so  much  misery.  The  foster-brother,  who  coimiianded  on  that 
occasion,  was  again  entrusted  with  the  conuiiand  ;  but  he  fled 
after  a  sharp  encounter,  and  Manoharpur  was  invested.  Seeing 
he  had  no  chance  of  salvation,  he  had  again  recourse  to  chal 
(stratagem).  There  were  two  feudatories  of  Nunkaran's  line, 
joint-holders  of  KliajroU,  who  had  long  been  at  variance  with 
Dip  Singh  of  Kasli,  the  principal  adviser  of  the  young  Raja  of 
Ivliandela.  They  were  gained  over  to  the  purpose  of  the  Mano- 
harpur chief,  who  sent  them  with  a  private  message  to  Dip  Singh, 
that  no  sooner  should  Manoharpur  fall  than  he  would  be  deprived 
of  Kash.  These  treacherous  proceedings  were  but  too  common 
amongst  'the  sons  of  Shaikhji.'  Dip  Singh  fell  into  the  snare, 
and  at  break  of  day,  when  the  trumpets  sounded  for  the  assault, 
the  drums  of  the  Kasli  chief  were  heard  in  full  march  to  his 
estate.  Udai  Singh,  thus  deprived  of  his  revenge,  followed  Dip 
Singh  who,  aware  of  his  inability  to  cope  with  his  immediate 
chief,  fled  for  succour  to  Jaipur,  and  Kasli  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the 
artifices  which  preserved  Manoharpur.  The  great  Jai  Singh 
then  ruled  Amber  ;  he  received  the  supphant  chief,  and  promised 
him  ample  redress,  on  his  swearing  to  become  his  vassal  and 
tributary.  Dip  Singh  swore  allegiance  to  the  gaddi  of  Jai  Singh, 
and  signed  a  tributary  engagement  of  four  thousand  rupees 
annually  ! 

Supremacy  of  Jaipur  in  Shaikhawati.— Thus  recoimnenced  the 
supremacy  of  Amber  over  the  confederated  Shaikhawats,  which 
had  been  thrown  off  ever  since  the  dispute  regarding  the  colts 


1394  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

of  Amritsar,  the  ancient  mark  of  homage,  when  '  the  sons  of 
Shaikhji'  consisted  only  of  a  few  hundred  armed  men.  Shortly 
after  this  transaction,  Jai  Singh  proceeded  to  the  Ganges  to  fuUii 
certain  rites  upon  an  eclipse,  and  while  performing  his  ablutions 
in  the  sacred  stream,  and  the  gifts  for  distribution  to  the  priests 
being  collected  on  the  bank,  he  inquired  "  who  was  present  to 
receive  dan  that  day  ?  "  The  Kasli  chief,  spreading  out  the 
skirt  of  his  garment,  replied,  he  was  an  applicant.  Such  dan 
(gifts)  being  only  given  to  mangtas,  or  mendicants,  in  which  class 
they  put  priests,  poets,  and  [400]  the  poor,  the  Raja  asked,  laugh- 
ing, "  What  is  your  desire,  Thakur  ?  "  To  which  Dip  Singh 
repUed,  that  through  liis  intercession  the  son  of  Fateh  Singh 
might  obtain  his  father's  share  of  Khandela  ;  wliich  request  was 
complied  with. 

This  occurrence  was  in  a.d.  1716,  when  the  Jats  were  rising 
into  power,  and  when  all  the  minor  Rajas  served  with  their  con- 
tingents under  the  great  Jai  Singh,  as  lieutenant  of  the  emperor. 
Along  with  the  princes  of  Karauli,  Bhadauria,  Sheopur,  and 
many  others  of  the  third  rank,  was  Udai  Singh  of  Khandela. 
During  the  siege  of  Thun,  the  Shaikhawat  chief  was  reprimiuidcd 
for  neglect  of  duty,  and  although  he  owed  a  double  allegiance  to 
Jai  Singh,  as  his  natural  liege  lord  and  lieutenant  of  the  king,  he 
would  not  brook  the  censure  from  one  of  his  own  race,  and  in- 
dignantly withdrew  from  the  siege.  Churaman  the  Jat,  having 
contrived  to  make  his  peace  with  the  Say y id  wazir,  when  Thun 
was  upon  the  eve  of  surrender,  and  Udai  Singh  being  implicated 
in  this  intrigue,  .Jai  Singh,  who  was  mortified  at  an  occurrence 
which  prevented  the  gratification  of  a  long-chcrishcd  resentment 
against  the  upstart  Jats,  determined  that  the  Khandela  chief 
should  suffer  for  his  audacity.  Attended  by  the  imperialists 
under  Bazid  Khan,  and  all  his  home  clans,  he  laid  siege  to  the 
citadel  called  Udaigarh.  Udai  Singh  held  out  a  month  in  this 
castle  he  had  constructed  and  called  by  his  own  name,  when  his 
resources  failing,  he  lied  to  Naru  ^  in  Marwar,  and  his  son,  Sawai 
Singh,  presented  the  keys,  throwing  himself  on  the  clemency  of 
the  conqueror.  He  was  well  received,  and  pardoned,  on  condition 
of  becoming  tributary  to  Amber.  He  followed  the  example  of 
the  Kasli  chief,  and  signed  an  engagement  to  pay  annually  one 
lakh  of  rupees.     From  this  a  deduction  of  fifteen  thousand  was 

^  [About  25  miles  N.W.  of  Jodhpur  city.] 


SUPREJMACY  OF  JAIPUR :  BINDRABANDAS      1395 

subsequently  made,  and  in  time  being  reduced  twenty  thousand 
more,  sixty-fi^■e  thousand  continued  to  be  the  tribute  oi'  Khandela, 
mitil  the  decay  of  both  the  parent  State  and  its  scion,  when  the 
weakness  of  the  former,  and  the  merciless  outrages  of  the  pre- 
datory powers,  Pathan  and  Mahratta,  rendered  its  amount  un- 
certain and  difiicult  to  realize.  Moreover,  recaUing  his  promise 
to  Dip  Singh,  he  restored  the  division  of  the  lands  as  existing 
prior  to  the  murder  of  Fateh  Singh,  namely,  three  shares  to  Sawai 
Singh,  with  the  title  of  chief  of  the  Shaikhawats,  and  two  to  Dhir 
Singh,  son  of  Fateh  Singh.  The  young  cousm  chieftains,  now 
joint-holders  of  Khandela,  attended  their  liege  lord  with  their 
contingent ;  and  Udai  Singh,  taking  advantage  of  their  absence, 
with  the  aid  of  a  band  of  outlawed  Larkhanis,  surprised  and  took 
Khandela.  Attended  by  the  Jaipur  troops,  the  son  performed 
the  dutiful  task  of  expelling  his  father  from  his  inheritance,  who 
again  fled  to  Naru,  where  he  resided  [401]  upon  a  pension  of  five 
rupees  a  day,  given  by  his  son,  mi  til  his  death.  He,  however, 
outlived  Sawai  Singh,  who  left  three  sons  :  Bindraban,  who 
succeeded  to  Ivliandela  ;  Shambhu,  who  had  the  appanage  of 
Ranauli ;   and  Kusal,  having  that  of  Piprauli. 


CHAPTER   6 

Biudrabandas. — Bindrabandas  steadfastly  adhered  to  Madlio 
Singh  in  the  civil  wars  which  ensued  for  the  gaddi  of  Amber, 
and  the  latter,  when  success  attended  his  cause,  wished  to  reward 
the  important  services  of  his  feudatory.  At  his  request,  he 
consented  that  the  partition  of  the  lands  which  had  caused  so 
much  bloodshed  should  be  annulled,  and  that  Bindraban  should 
rule  as  sole  lord  of  KJiandela.  Five  thousand  men  were  placed 
under  his  command  for  the  expulsion  of  the  minor,  Indar  Singh, 
grandson  of  Deo  Singh,  who  made  a  stout  resistance  for  many 
months  ;  but  at  length  his  Uttle  castle  was  no  longer  tenable, 
and  he  fled  to  Parsoli,  where  he  again  defended  himself,  and  was 
again  on  the  point  of  surrender,  when  an  unexpected  accident 
not  only  saved  liim  from  exile,  but  restored  him  to  his  rights. 

Brahmans  commit  Suicide. — The  mercenaries  were  supported 
at  the  sole  charge  of  Bindraban,  and  as  liis  ancestors  left  no 
treasury,  he  was  compelled  to  resort  to  the  contribution  called 


1396  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

dand  ironi  his  subjects,  not  even  exempting  the  hierarchy.  Piqued 
at  tiiis  unusual  demand,  some  of  the  wealthiest  Brahiuans  ex- 
postulated with  the  Raja  on  this  indignity  to  the  order.  But 
their  appeals  were  disregarded  by  their  cliief,  whose  existence 
depended  on  supphes.  The  loss  of  influence  as  well  as  wealth 
being  the  fruit  of  this  [402]  disregard  of  their  remonstrance,  they 
had  recourse  to  that  singular  species  of  revenge  termed  chandni, 
or  self-immolation,  and  poignarded  themselves  m  his  presence, 
pouring  maledictions  on  his  head  with  their  last  breath.  The 
blood  of  Brahmans  now  rested  on  the  head  of  Bindraban  ;  even 
amongst  his  personal  friends  he  laboured  under  a  species  of  ex- 
conununication,  and  liis  Mege  lord,  Madho  Singh  of  Amber,  in 
order  to  expiate  his  indirect  share  in  the  guilt,  recalled  liis  troops, 
and  distributed  twenty  thousand  rupees  to  the  Brahmans  of 
his  own  capital.  Indar  Singh  had  thus  time  to  breathe,  and 
having  collected  all  his  retainers,  wisely  joined  the  Jaipur  army 
assembling  under  the  command  of  the  celebrated  Khushhaliram 
Bohra  to  chastise  the  Rao  of  Macheri,  who  was  expelled  and 
obliged  to  seek  refuge  with  the  Jats.  In  this  service  Indar  Singh 
so  much  distinguished  himself,  that,  on  the  payment  of  a  nazarana 
of  lifty  thousand  rupees,  he  recovered  his  lost  share  of  Khandela, 
by  a  xagnlav  palta,  or  grant,  of  the  Raja. 

Tribal  Feuds. — Perpetual  feuds,  however,  raged  between  these 
two  kings  of  Ivliandela,  each  of  whom  had  his  castle,  or  fortified 
palace.  Each  day  "  there  was  war  even  in  the  gates  "  of  Khan- 
dela, and  at  the  hazard  of  prolixity  we  shall  state  how  it  was  con- 
ducted, ciiallcnging  the  records  of  any  civil  war  to  produce  an 
instance  in  which  all  the  ties  of  blood  and  kindred  were  more 
disregarded  than  in  lliis  hdlum  plusquum  civile. 

Indar  Singh  had  popularity  on  his  side  to  balance  the  other's 
superior  power,  and  he  was  briskly  pushing  an  attack  on  Udaigarh, 
the  castle  of  his  opponent,  when  he  was  joined  by  Raghunath 
Singh,  the  younger  son  of  iiis  loeman.  This  jouth,  who  had  the 
t(jwnship  of  Kuchor  in  appanage,  helped  himself  to  three  more, 
to  retain  which  he  sided  witli  his  father's  foe.  Bindraban,  in 
order  to  create  a  diversion,  sallied  out  to  attack  Kuchor ;  to 
oppose  wliich,  his  son,  together  with  his  nephew,  Prithi  Singh  of 
Ranoli  and  liis  retainers,  withdrew  from  the  batteries  to  defend 
it.  But  Llie  attack  on  Kuchor  had  already  failed,  and  Bindraban 
was  on  his  retreat  to  regain  Khandela  when  he  was  intercepted. 


TRTBAI.  FEUDS  1397 

The  battle  took  place  oiitside  the  city,  whose  gates  were  shut 
against  friend  and  foe,  to  prevent  a  pell-mell  entry.  At  the  same 
time,  the  siege  of  Udaigarh  was  not  slackened  ;  it  was  defended 
by  Govind  Singh,  the  eldest  son  of  Bindraban,  while  the  batteries 
against  it  were  commanded  by  another  near  kinsman,  Nahar 
Singh  of  Cherana.  For  several  days  daily  combats  ensued,  in 
which  were  to  be  seen  father  and  son,  uncles  and  nephews,  and 
cousins  within  every  degree  of  affinity,  destroying  each  other. 
At  length,  both  parties  were  exhausted  and  a  compromise  ensued, 
in  which  Indar  Singh  obtained  the  rights  he  had  so  manfully 
vindicated  [403]. 

Attack  by  Najaf  Kuli  Khan.  —  At  this  time,  a  dying  and 
desultory  effort  to  regain  his  lost  power  was  made  by  Najaf  Kuli 
Khan,  at  the  head  of  the  imperialists,  who,  conducted  by  the 
traitorous  Macheri  Rao,  led  the  royal  army  into  the  lands  of  the 
confederacy  to  raise  contributions,  for  which  he  was  cordially 
and  laudably  detested.  Nawal  Singh  of  Nawalgarh,  Bagh  Singh 
of  Khetri,  Surajmall  of  Baswa,^  all  chieftains  of  the  Sadhanis, 
unable  to  comply  with  the  requisitions,  were  carried  off,  and 
retained  captive  till  ransomed  for  many  lakhs  of  rupees  ;  all 
eventually  raised  upon  the  impoverished  husbandman  and 
industrious  merchant. 

The  din  of  civil  war  having  ended,  the  ministers  of  religion 
never  ceased  pouring  into  the  ears  of  Bindraban  the  necessity 
of  expiation  and  oblations  for  the  murder  of  their  brethren,  and 
he  was  daily  sacrificing  the  birthright  of  his  children,  in  grants 
of  the  best  lands  of  Khandela,  to  these  drones  of  society,  when 
Govind,  the  heir-apparent,  remonstrated,  which  was  followed 
by  the  abdication  of  Bindraban,  who,  appropriating  five  town- 
ships and  the  impost  duties  of  Khandela  for  his  support,  left 
the  cares  of  government  to  his  son.^ 

JAbdication  of  Bindraban  :  Govind  Singh  succeeds. — GoAdnd 
Singh  did  not  long  enjoy  the  honours  of  chief  of  the  Raesalots. 
The  year  of  his  elevation  having  produced  an  unfavourable 
harvest,  at  the  request  of  his  vassal  of  Ranoli  he  proceeded  to 
inspect  the  crops  preparatory  to  a  reduction  in  the  assessment. 
Less  superstitious  than  his  father,  he  persevered  in  spite  of  the 

^  [Nawalojarh,  about  30  miles  N.W.  of  Khandela ;    Khetri,  about  the 
same  distance  N.E.  ;   Baswa,  about  85  miles  N.N.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 
*  His  second  son,  Raghunath,  had  Kuchor  in  appanage. 


1398  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

predictions  of  the  astrologer,  wlio  told  him,  "  to  beware  the 
ides  (amavas)  of  Pus,"  ^  and  not  to  go  abroad  that  day.  In  the 
course  of  the  excursion,  one  of  his  personal  attendants,  a  Rajput 
of  Kajroli,  had  lost  some  valuable  article  entrusted  to  his  charge, 
and  the  impetuous  chief  broadly  taxed  him  with  theft.  His  pro- 
testations of  innocence  were  unavailing,  and  considering  himself 
dishonoured  bj'  the  imputation,  which  might  possibly  be  followed 
by  some  disgTaceful  punishment,  he  determined  to  anticipate  his 
chief,  and  murdered  him  that  night.  Go\ind  left  five  sons, 
Narsingh,  Surajmall  (who  had  Dodia),  Bagh  Singh,  Jawan  Singh, 
and  Ranjit,  all  of  whom  had  families. 

Murder  of  Govind  Singh  :  Narsinghdas  succeeds. — Narsinghdas, 
his  eldest  son,  succeeded.  In  spite  of  internal  dissensions, 
occasional  chastisement,  and  pecuniary  exactions  from  the 
imperial  armies,  or  those  of  their  immediate  liege  lord  of  Amber, 
the  confederated  frerage  of  Shaikhavati  had  increased  their 
territory  and  population.  Only  the  shadow  of  a  name  now 
remained  to  the  empire  of  the  Great  Mogul  ;  and  their  own  lord- 
paramount,  satisfied  with  a  certain  degree  of  homage,  tribute, 
and  service  on  emergencies,  was  little  inclined  to  trench  [404.] 
further  upon  their  national  independence.  But  a  new  enemy 
had  now  arisen,  and  though  of  their  own  faith,  far  more  destruc- 
tive than  even  the  tolerant  Islamite.  Happy  were  the  inhabitants 
of  the  desert  who  had  an  ocean  of  sand  between  them  and  this 
scourge  of  India,  the  insatiable  Mahratta.  After  the  fatal  day 
of  Merta,  where  the  evil  genius  of  Rajputana  enabled  De  Boigue 
to  give  the  last  blow  to  her  independence,  the  desultory  hordes 
roved  in  bands  through  the  lands  of  the  confederation,  plundering, 
murdering,  and  carrying  off  captive  the  princij)al  chiefs  or  their 
children,  as  hostages  for  contributions  they  could  not  realise. 
These  were  dragged  about  after  their  armies,  until  the  hardships 
and  indignities  they  underwent  made  them  sell  every  article  of 
value,  or  until  the  charge  of  keeping,  or  the  trouble  of  guarding 
them,  rendered  their  prolonged  captivity  burdensome  to  the 
wandering  Southrons. 

*  [The  Araavafi,  or  last  day  of  the  month,  is  unlucky  for  all  undertakings, 
and  ia  kept  as  a  day  of  rest  by  traders,  shopkeepers,  and  craftsmen.  If  the 
last  day  falls  on  a  Monday,  it  is  specially  taboo,  and  people  bathe  in  a  river 
or  pool  and  make  gifts  to  Brahmans  (BO,  ix.  Part  i.  397).  Pua  falls  in 
January  and  February.] 


MARATHA  inroads  1399 

Maratha  Inroads. — Let  us  follow  the  path  of  the  barbarians, 
and  trace  only  one  day's  acts  of  outrage.  WTien  the  Mahrattas 
entered  the  lands  of  the  federation,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Merta, 
they  first  attacked  Bai.^  The  inhabitants,  knowing  that  they 
had  no  hope  of  mercy  from  these  marauders,  fled,  carrying  away 
all  the  effects  they  could  to  the  larger  towns,  while  a  garrison 
of  eighty  Rajputs  took  post  in  the  little  castle,  to  defend  the 
point  of  honour  against  this  new  assailant.  Bai  was  stormed  ; 
not  one  Rajput  would  accept  of  quarter,  and  all  were  put  to  the 
sword.  The  enemy  proceeded  to  Khandela,  the  route  marked 
by  similar  tracks  of  blood.  When  within  two  coss  of  the  town, 
the  horde  halted  at  Hodiganw,  and  a  Pandit  ^  was  sent  to  Rao 
Indar  Singh  to  settle  the  contribution,  which  was  fixed  at  twenty 
thousand  rupees,  besides  three  thousand  in  ghus '  (bribe),  for  the 
Brahman  negotiator.  The  two  chiefs,  who  negotiated  on  the 
part  of  the  joint  Rajas  of  Khandela,  proceeded  with  the  Pandit 
to  the  enemy's  camp  ;  their  names  were  Nawal  and  Dalil.  As 
it  was  out  of  their  power  to  realise  so  large  a  sum,  they  were 
accompanied  by  the  joint  revenue  officers  of  Khandela  as  ol, 
or  hostage,  when  to  their  dismay,  the  Southron  commander 
demurred,  and  said  they  themselves  must  remain.  One' of  the 
chieftains,  with  the  sang-froid  which  a  Rajput  never  loses,  coolly 
replied,  that  should  not  be,  and  taking  his  hukka  from  his  attend- 
ant, began  unceremoniously  to  smoke,  when  a  rude  Deccani 
knocked  the  pipe  from  his  hand  [405].  The  Thakur's  sword  was 
unsheathed  in  an  instant,  but  ere  he  had  time  to  use  it  a  pistol- 
ball  passed  through  his  brain.  Dalil  Singh's  party,  attempting 
to  avenge  their  companion,  were  cut  off  to  a  man  ;  and  Indar 
Singh,  who  had  left  Khandela  to  learn  how  the  negotiations  sped, 
arrived  just  in  time  to  see  his  clansmen  butchered.  He  was  ad- 
vised to  regain  Khandela :  "  No,"  replied  the  intrepid  Raesalot ; 

'  [Close  to  the  Jodhpur  frontier,  about  40  miles  N.W.  of  Jaipur  city.] 
2  The  ministers  of  religion  were  the  only  clerks  amongst  this  race  of 
depredators,  and  they  were  not  behind  the  most  illiterate  in  cupidity,  and 
to  say  the  truth,  courage,  when  required  ;  and  as  for  skill  in  negotiation, 
a  Mahratta  Brahman  stands  alone  ;  keen,  skilful,  and  imperturbable,  he 
would  have  baffled  MachiaveUi  himself. 

*  Gfms  is  literally  '  a  bribe  ' ;  and  no  treaty  or  transaction  was  ever 
carried  on  without  this  stipvdation.  So  sacred  was  the  gJius  held,  from 
tyrant  usage,  that  the  Peshwa  ministers,  when  they  ruled  the  destinies  of 
their  nation,  stipulated  that  the  ghus  should  go  to  the  privy  purse  ! 


1400  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

"  better  that  I  shotild  fall  before  the  gates  of  Khandela  than  enter 
them  after  such  diswrace,  without  avenging  my  kinsmen."  Dis- 
mounting from  his  horse,  he  turned  him  loose,  his  adherents 
following  his  example  ;  and  sword  in  hand  they  rushed  on  the 
host  of  assassins  and  met  their  fate.  Indar  Singh  was  stretched 
beside  his  vassals,  and,  strange  to  say,  Dalil  was  the  only  sur\'ivor  : 
though  covered  with  wovmds,  he  was  taken  up  alive,  and  carried 
to  the  hostile  camp. 

Such  was  the  opening  scene  of  the  lengthened  tragedy  enacted 
in  Shaikhavati,  when  Mahratta  actors  succeeded  to  Pathans  and 
Moguls  :  heirs  to  their  worst  feelings,  without  one  particle  of 
their  magnanimity  or  courtesy.  But  the  territory  of  the  con- 
federacy was  far  too  narrow  a  stage  ;  even  the  entire  plain  of 
India  appeared  at  one  time  too  restricted  for  the  hydra-headed 
banditti,  nor  is  there  a  principality,  district,  or  even  township, 
from  the  Sutlej  to  the  sea,  where  similar  massacres  have  not  been 
known,  and  but  for  our  interposition,  such  scenes  would  have 
continued  to  the  present  hour. 

Partap  Singh.^ — Partap  Singh,  who  succeeded  his  brave  father 
in  his  share  of  the  patrimony,  was  at  this  crisis  with  his  mother 
at  Sikfai,  a  strong  fort  in  the  hills,  ten  miles  from  Khandela. 
To  save  the  town,  the  principal  men  dug  up  the  grain-pits,  selling 
their  property  to  release  their  minor  chief  from  further  trouble. 
Having  obtained  all  they  could,  the  enemy  proceeded  to  the  lands 
of  the  Sadhanis.  Udaipur  was  the  first  assaulted,  taken,  and 
sacked  ;  the  walls  were  knocked  down,  and  the  floors  dug  up  in 
search  of  treasure.  After  four  days'  havoc,  they  left  it  a  ruin, 
and  marched  against  the  northern  chieftains  of  Singhana,  Jliun- 
jhunu,  and  Khetri.  On  the  departure  of  the  foe,  young  Partap 
and  his  kinsman,  Narsingh,  took  up  their  abode  in  Khandela  ; 
but  scarcely  had  they  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  Deccani 
incursion,  before  demands  were  made  by  their  liege  lord  of  Amber 
for  the  tribute.  Partap  made  his  peace  by  assigning  a  fourth 
of  the  harvest ;  but  Narsingh,  in  the  procrastinating  and  haughty 
spirit  of  his  ancestors,  despised  an  arrangement  which,  he  said 
(and  with  justice),  would  reduce  him  to  the  level  of  a  common 
Bhumia  landholder. 

Devi  Singh. — At  this  period,  a  remote  branch  of  the  Khandela 
Shaikhawats  began  to  disclose  a  spirit  that  afterwards  gained 
him  distinction.     Devi  Singh,  chieftain  of  Sikar,  a  [406]  descend- 


MARATHA  inroads  1401 

ant  of  Rao  Tirmall  of  Kasli,  had  added  to  his  patrimony  by  the 
usurpation  of  no  less  than  twenty-five  large  townships,  as  Loha- 
garha,  Koh,  etc.  ;  and  he  deemed  this  a  good  opportunity,  his 
chief  being  embroiled  with  the  court,  to  make  an  attack  on 
Rewasa  ;  but  death  put  a  stop  to  the  ambitious  \iews  of  the 
Sikar  chieftain.  Having  no  issue,  he  had  adopted  Lachhman 
Singh,  son  of  the  Shahpura  Thakur  ;  but  the  Jaipur  court,  which 
had  taken  great  umbrage  at  these  most  unjustifiable  assaults 
of  the  Sikar  chief  on  his  weaker  brethren,  commanded  Nandram 
Haldia  (brother  of  the  prime  minister  Daulat  Ram),  collector  of 
the  Shaikhawat  tribute,  to  attack  and  humble  him.  No  sooner 
were  the  orders  of  the  court  promulgated,  than  all  the  Barwatias  ^ 
gathered  round  the  standard  of  the  collector,  to  aid  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  their  patrimonies  wrested  from  them  by  Sikar.  Besides 
the  Khandela  chief  in  person,  there  were  the  Pattawats  of  Kasli, 
Bilara,  and  others  of  Tirmall's  stock  ;  and  even  the  Sadhanis, 
who  little  interfered  in  the  affairs  of  the  Raesalots,  repaired  with 
joy  with  their  tribute  and  their  retainers  to  the  camp  of  the  Jaipur 
commander,  to  depress  the  Sikar  chief,  who  was  rapidly  rising 
over  them  all.  Nearly  the  whole  troops  of  the  confederacy  were 
thus  assembled.  Devi  Singh,  it  may  be  imagined,  was  no  common 
character,  to  have  excited  such  universal  hatred  ;  and  his  first 
care  had  been  to  make  strong  friends  at  court,  in  order  to  retain 
what  he  had  acquired.  He  had  especially  cultivated  the  minister's 
friendship,  which  was  now  turned  to  account.  A  deputation, 
consisting  of  a  Chondawat  chief,  the  Diwan  of  Sikar,  and  that 
important  character  the  Dhabhai,  repaired  to  the  Haldia,  and 
implored  him  in  the  name  of  the  deceased,  not  to  give  up  his 
infant  son  to  hungry  and  revengeful  Barwatias.  The  Haldia  said 
there  was  but  one  way  by  which  he  could  avoid  the  fulfilment  of 
his  court's  command,  which  was  for  them,  as  he  approached  the 
place,  to  congregate  a  force  so  formidable  from  its  numbers,  as 
to  exonerate  him  from  all  suspicion  of  collusion.  With  the 
treasury  of  Devi  Singh,  overflowing  from  the  spoliation  of  the 
Kaimkhani  of  Fatehpur,  it  was  easy  to  afford  such  indemnity 
to  the  Haldia,  at  whose  approach  to  Sikar  ten  thousand  men 

^  Barwatia  is  '  one  expatriated,'  from  '  bar  '  \bahir']  '  out  of,'  and  watan, 
'  a  country,'  and  it  means  either  an  exile  or  an  outlaw,  according  to  the 
measure  of  crime  which  caused  his  banishment  from  his  country.  [See 
Vol.  IT.  p.  797.] 

VOL.  Ill  I, 


1402  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

appeared  to  oppose  him.  ITavinoj  made  a  show  of  investing 
Sikar,  and  expended  a  good  deal  of  ammimition,  he  addressed 
his  eonrt,  where  his  brother  was  minister,  stating  he  could  make 
nothing  of  Sikar  without  great  loss,  both  of  time,  men,  and 
money,  and  advising  an  acceptance  of  the  proffered  snbmission. 
Without  waiting  a  rejjly,  he  took  two  laklss  as  a  fine  for  his  [407] 
sovereign,  and  a  present  of  one  for  himself.  The  siege  was  broken 
up,  and  Sikar  was  permitted  to  prosecute  his  schemes  ;  in  which 
he  was  not  a  little  aided  by  the  continued  feuds  of  the  co-partner 
chiefs  of  Khandela.  Partap  took  advantage  of  Narsingh's  non- 
compliance with  the  court's  requisition,  and  his  consequent  dis- 
grace, to  settle  the  feud  of  their  fathers,  and  unite  both  shares 
in  his  OAvn  person  ;  and  stipulated  in  j-eturn  to  be  responsible  for 
the  whole  tribute,  be  ready  with  his  contingent  to  serve  the  court, 
and  pay  besides  a  handsome  nazarana  or  investiture.  The 
Haldia  was  about  to  comply,  when  Rawal  Indar  Singh  of  Samod,' 
chief  of  the  Nathawat  clan,  interceded  for  Narsingh,  and  inviting 
Iiim  on  his  own  responsibility  to  the  camp,  acquainted  him  with 
the  procedure  of  his  rival,  in  whose  name  the  patent  for  Khandela 
was  actually  made  out  ;  "  but  even  now,"  said  this  noble  chief, 
"  I  will  stay  it  if  you  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  court."  But 
Narsingh  either  would  not,  or  could  not,  and  the  Samod  chief 
urged  his  immediate  departui-e  ;  adding  that  as  he  came  under 
Ills  guarantee,  he  was  desirous  to  see  him  safe  back,  for  "  such 
were  the  crooked  ways  of  the  Amber  house,"  that  if  he  prolonged 
his  stay,  he  might  be  involved  in  ruin  in  his  desire  to  protect  him. 
Accordingly,  at  dusk,  with  sixty  of  his  own  retainers,  he  escorted 
him  to  Nawalgarli,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  in  his  castle  of 
Govindgarh.  The  precautions  of  the  Samod  chief  were  not  vain, 
and  he  was  reproached  and  threatened  with  the  court's  dis- 
pleasure, for  permitting  Narsingh's  departine  ;  but  he  noblj' 
replied,  "  he  had  performed  the  duty  of  a  Rajput,  and  would 
abide  the  consequences."  As  the  sequel  will  further  exemplify 
the  corruptions  of  courts,  and  (he  base  passions  of  kindred,  under 
a  s\'stem  of  feudal  government,  we  shall  trespass  on  the  reader's 
patience  by  recording  tlie  ro'sidt. 

Quarrel  between  Samod  and  Chaumun. — Samod  and  Chaumun 
are  tiie  chief  houses  of  the  Nathawat  clan  ;    the  elder  branch 

'  [About  20  inilcH  N.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


QUARREL  BETWEEN  SAMOD  AND  CHAUMON  1403 

enjojnng  the  title  of  Rawal,  with  supremacy  over  the  numerous 
vassalage.  But  these  two  families  had  often  contested  the  lead, 
and  their  feuds  had  caused  much  bloodshed.  On  the  disgrace  of 
Indar  Singh,  as  already  related,  his  rival  of  Chaumun  repaired 
to  court,  and  offered  so  large  a  nazarana  as  to  be  invested  with 
rights  of  seniority.  Avarice  and  revenge  were  good  advocates  : 
a  warrant  was  made  out  and  transmitted  to  Indar  Singh  (still 
serving  with  the  collector  of  the  tribute)  for  the  sequestration 
of  Samod.  Placing,  like  a  dutiful  subject,  the  warrant  to  his 
forehead,  he  instantly  departed  for  Samod,  and  commanded 
the  removal  of  his  family,  his  goods  and  chattels,  from  the  seat 
of  his  ancestors,  and  went  into  exile  in  Marwar.  In  after  times, 
his  Rani  had  a  grant  of  the  village  of  Piplai,  to  which  the  mag- 
nanimous, patriotic  [408],  and  loyal  Indar  Singh,  when  he  found 
the  hand  of  death  upon  him,  repaired,  that  he  might  die  in  the 
hands  of  the  Kachhwahas,  and  have  his  ashes  buried  amongst  his 
fathers.  This  man,  who  was  naturally  brave,  acted  upon  the 
abstract  principle  of  swainidharma,  or  '  fealty,'  which  is  not  even 
now  exploded,  in  the  midst  of  corruption  and  demoralization. 
Indar  Singh  would  have  been  fully  justified,  according  to  all  the 
principles  which  govern  these  States,  in  resisting  the  iniquitous 
mandate.  Such  an  act  might  have  been  deemed  rebellion  by 
those  who  look  only  at  the  surface  of  things  ;  but  let  the  present 
lords-paramount  go  deeper,  when  they  have  to  decide  between 
a  Raja  and  his  feudatories,  and  look  to  the  origin  and  condition 
of  both,  and  the  ties  which  alone  can  hold  such  associations 
together. 

Partap  Singh  secures  Possession  of  Khandela. — To  return  : 
Partap  Singh,  having  thus  obtained  the  whole  of  Khandela, 
commenced  the  demolition  of  a  fortified  gate,  whence  during  the 
feuds  his  antagonist  used  to  play  some  swivels  against  his  castle. 
While  the  work  of  destruction  was  advancing,  an  omen  occurred, 
foreboding  evil  to  Partap.  An  image  of  Ganesa,  the  god  of 
wisdom  and  protector  of  the  arts  (more  especially  of  architecture), 
was  fixed  in  the  wall  of  this  gate,  which  an  ill-fated  and  un- 
intentional blow  knocked  from  its  elevated  position  to  the  earth, 
and  being  of  terra-cotta,  his  fragments  lay  dishonoured  and 
scattered  on  the  pavement.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  demoli- 
tion was  completed,  and  the  long  obnoxious  gatewaj''  levelled 
with  the  earth.     Partap,  having  adjusted  affairs  in  the  capital, 


1404  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

proceeded  against  Rewasa,  which  he  reduced,  and  then  laid  siege 
to  Govindgarh,^  aided  by  a  detachment  of  the  Ilaldia.  Having 
encamped  at  Gura,  two  coss  from  it,  and  twice  that  distance  from 
Ranoli,  its  chief,  who  still  espoused  the  cause  of  his  immediate 
head,  the  unfortunate  Narsingh,  sent  his  minister  to  the  Haldia, 
offering  not  only  to  be  responsible  for  all  arrears  due  by  Narsingh, 
but  also  a  handsome  douceur,  to  restore  him  to  his  rights.  He 
repaired  to  Khandela,  stationed  a  party  in  the  fortified  palace 
of  Narsingh,  and  consented  that  they  should  be  expelled,  as  if 
by  force  of  his  adherents,  from  Govindgarh.  Accordingly, 
Surajmall  and  Bagh  Singh,  the  brothers  of  Narsingh,  in  the 
dead  of  night,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  followers,  made  a 
mock  attack  on  the  Haldia's  followers,  expelled  them,  and  made 
good  a  lodgment  in  their  ancient  dwelling.  Partap  was  liighly 
exasperated  ;  and  to  render  the  acquisition  useless,  he  ordered 
the  possession  of  a  point  which  commanded  the  mahall  ;  but 
here  he  was  anticipated  by  his  opponent,  whose  party  now 
poured  into  Khandela.  He  then  cut  off  their  supplies  of  water, 
by  fortifying  the  reservoirs  and  wells,  and  this  brought  matters 
to  a  crisis.  An  action  ensued,  in  which  many  were  killed  on  each 
side,  when  [409]  the  traitorous  Haldia  interposed  the  five-coloured 
banner,  and  caused  the  combat  to  cease.  Narsingh,  at  this 
juncture,  joined  the  combatants  in  person,  from  his  castle  of 
Govindgarh,  and  a  treaty  was  forthwith  set  on  foot,  which  left 
the  district  of  Rewasa  to  Partap,  and  restored  to  Narsingh  his 
share  of  Khandela. 

These  domestic  broils  continued,  however,  and  occasions  were 
perpetually  recurring  to  bring  the  rivals  in  collision.  The  first 
was  on  the  festival  of  the  Ganggor  ;  ^  the  next  on  the  Ranoli  chief 
placing  in  durance  a  vassal  of  Partap,  which  produced  a  general 
gathering  of  the  clans  :  both  ended  in  an  appeal  to  the  lord-para- 
mount, who  soon  merged  the  office  of  arbitrator  in  that  of  dictator. 

The  Sadhanis,  or  chieftains  of  northern  Shaikhavati,  began 
to  feel  the  bad  effects  of  these  feuds  of  the  Raesalots,  and  to 
express  dissatisfaction  at  the  progressive  advances  of  the  Jaipur 
court  for  the  establishment  of  its  supremacy.  Until  this  period 
they  had  escaped  any  tributary  engagements,  and  only  recognized 
their  connexion  with  Amber  by  marks  of  homage  and  fealty  on 

^  [About  30  miles  N.  of  Jaipur*city.] 
*  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  665,  for  an  account  of  this  festival.] 


I 


TRIBAL  FEUDS :  TREATY  WITH  JAIPUR        1405 

lapses,  wliich  belonged  more  to  kindred  than  political  superiority. 
But  as  the  armies  of  the  court  were  now  perpetually  on  the 
frontiers,  and  might  soon  pass  over,  they  deemed  it  necessary  to 
take  measures  for  their  safety.  The  township  of  Tui,  appertain- 
ing to  Nawalgarh,  had  already  been  seized,  and  Ranoli  Avas 
battered  for  the  restoration  of  the  subject  of  Partap,  These 
were  grievances  which  affected  all  the  Sadhanis,  who,  perceiving 
they  could  no  longer  preserve  their  neutrality,  determined  to 
abandon  their  internal  dissensions,  and  form  a  system  of  general 
defence.  Accordingly,  a  general  assembly  of  the  Sadhani  lords, 
and  as  many  of  the  Raesalots  as  chose  to  attend,  was  announced 
at  the  ancient  place  of  rendezvous,  Udaipur.  To  increase  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and  to  banish  all  suspicion  of  treachery, 
as  well  as  to  extinguish  ancient  feuds,  and  reconcile  chiefs  who 
had  never  met  but  in  hostility,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that 
the  most  sacred  pledge  of  good  faith,  the  Nundab,^  or  dipping 
the  hand  in  the  salt,  should  take  place. 

The  entire  body  of  the  Sadhani  lords,  with  all  their  retainers, 
met  at  the  appointed  time,  as  did  nearly  all  the  Raesalots,  except- 
ing the  joint  chieftains  of  Khandela,  too  deeplj^  tainted  with 
mutual  distrust  to  take  part  in  this  august  and  national  congress 
of  all  'the  children  of  Shaikhji.'  It  was  decided  in  this  grand 
council,  that  all  internal  strife  should  cease  ;  and  that  for  the 
future,  whenever  it  might  occur,  there  should  [410]  be  no  appeals 
to  the  arbitration  of  Jaipur  ;  but  that  on  all  such  occasions,  or 
where  the  general  interests  were  endangered,  a  meeting  should 
take  place  at  'the  Pass  of  Udaipur,'  to  deliberate  and  decide, 
but  above  all  to  repel  by  force  of  arms,  if  necessary,  the  further 
encroachments  of  the  court.  This  unusual  measure  alarmed  the 
court  of  Amber,  and  when  oppression  had  generated  determined 
resistance,  it  disapproved  and  disowned  the  proceedings  of  its 
lieutenant,  who  was  superseded  by  Rora  Ram,  with  orders  to 
secure  the  person  of  his  predecessor.  His  flight  preserved  him 
from  captivity  in  the  dungeons  of  Amber,  but  his  estates,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  minister  his  brother,  were  resumed,  and  all  their 
property  was  confiscated. 

Treaty  between  the  Shaikhawats  and  Jaipur. — The  new  com- 

^  Nun  or  iTin,  'salt,'  and  dabna,  '  to  dip,  bespatter,  or  sprinkle.'  [Salt, 
apparently  from  its  power  of  checking  deca}%  is  used  in  magical  rites,  and 
is  believed  to  be  efficacious  for  scaring  evil  spirits.] 


1406  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

mander,  who  was  a  tailor  by  caste,  was  ordered  to  follow  the 
Haldia  to  the  last  extremity  ;  Jtor,  in  these  regions,  displaced 
ministers  and  rebels  arc  identical.  It  was  expected,  if  they  did 
not  lose  their  heads,  to  see  them  in  opposition  to  the  orders  of 
their  sovereign  lord,  whose  slaves  they  had  so  lately  proclaimed 
themselves  :  in  fact,  a  rebel  minister  in  Rajwara  is  like  an  ex- 
Tory  or  ex-Whig  elsewhere,  nor  does  restoration  to  the  councils 
of  his  sovereign,  perhaps  in  a  few  short  months  after  he  carried 
arms  against  liim,  plundered  his  subjects,  and  carried  conflagra- 
tion in  his  townSj  excite  more  than  transient  emotion.  The  new 
commander  was  eager  to  obtain  the  services  of  the  assembled 
Shaikliawats  against  the  Haldias,  but  experience  had  given  them 
wisdom  ;  and  they  not  only  exacted  stipulations  befitting  their 
position,  as  the  price  of  this  aid,  but,  what  was  of  more  con- 
sequence, negotiated  the  conditions  of  their  future  connexion 
with  the  lord-paramount. 

The  first  article  was  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  townships 
which  the  Haldia  had  seized  upon,  as  Tui,  Gwala,  etc. 

The  second,  that  the  court  should  disavow  all  pretensioift  to 
exact  tribute  beyond  what  they  had  volmitarily  stipulated,  and 
which  they  would  remit  to  the  capital. 

Third,  that  on  no  account  should  the  armies  of  the  court 
enter  the  lands  of  the  confederation,  the  consequences  of  which 
had  been  so  strongly  marked  in  the  atrocities  at  Khandela. 

Fourth,  that  the  confederacy  woidd  furnish  a  contingent  for 
the  service  of  the  court,  which  should  be  paid  by  the  court  while 
so  employed. 

The  treaty  being  ratified  through  the  intervention  of  the  new 
commander,  and  having  received  in  advance  10,000  rupees  for 
their  expenses,  the  chiefs  with  their  retainers  repaired  to  the 
capital,  and  after  paying  homage  to  their  liege  lord,  zealously 
set  to  work  to  execute  its  orders  on  the  Haldia  faction,  who  were 
dispossessed  of  their  [411]  estates.  But,  as  observed  in  the 
annals  of  the  parent  State,  Jaipur  had  obtained  the  distinction 
of  the  jhutha  darbar,  or  '  lying  court,'  of  the  justness  of  which 
epithet  it  afforded  an  illustration  in  its  conduct  to  the  confederated 
chieftains,  who  soon  discovered  the  difl'erence  between  promises 
and  performance.  They  had  done  their  duty,  but  they  obtained 
not  one  of  the  advantages  for  which  they  agreed  to  serve  the 
court  ;    and  they  had  the  mortification  to  see  they  had  merely 


TREACHEROUS  ARREST  OF  NARSINGH         1407 

displaced  the  garrisons  of  the  Haldia  for  those  of  Rora  Ram. 
After  a  short  consultation,  they  determined  to  seek  themselves 
the  justice  that  was  denied  them  ;  accordingly,  they  assaulted 
in  succession  the  towns  occupied  by  Rora  Ram's  myrmidons, 
drove  them  out,  and  made  them  over  to  their  original  proprietors. 

Treacherous  Arrest  of  Narsingh  and  other  Chiefs. — At  the  same 
time,  the  court  having  demanded  the  usual  tribute  from  Narsingh- 
das,  which  was  always  in  arrear,  he  had  the  imprudence  to  stone 
the  agent,  who  was  a  relation  of  the  minister.  He  hastened  to 
the  Presence,  "  threw  his  turban  at  the  Raja's  feet,"  saying, 
he  was  dishonoured  for  ever.  A  mandate  was  instantaneously 
issued  for  the  sequestration  of  I^andela  and  the  capture  of 
Narsingh,  who  bade  his  liege  lord  defiance  from  his  castle  of 
Govindgarh  :  but  his  co-partner,  Partap  Singh,  having  no  just 
cause  of  apprehension,  remained  in  Khandela,  which  was  en- 
vironed by  the  Jaipur  troops  under  Asaram.  His  security  was 
his  ruin  ;  but  the  wily  Bania  (Asaram),  who  wished  to  seize  at 
once  the  joint  holders  of  the  estate,  offered  no  molestation  to 
Partap,  while  he  laid  a  plot  for  the  other.  He  invited  his  return, 
on  the  hachan,  or  '  pledge  of  safety,'  of  the  Manoharpur  chief. 
Narsingh  did  nr)t  hesitate,  for  rank  as  was  the  character  of  his 
countrymen  in  these  degenerate  days,  no  Rajput  had  ever 
incurred  the  epithet  of  Bachanchuk,  tenfold  more  odious  than 
that  of  murderer,  and  which  no  future  action,  however  brilliant, 
could  obliterate,  even  from  his  descendants  to  the  latest  posterity. 
On  the  faith  of  this  bachan,  Narsingh  came,  and  a  mock  negotia- 
tion was  carried  on  for  the  arrears  of  tribute,  and  a  time  fixed  for 
payment.  Narsingh  returned  to  Khandela,  and  Asaram  broke 
up  his  camp  and  moved  away.  The  crafty  Bania,  having  thus 
successfully  thrown  him  off  his  guard,  on  the  third  day  rapidly 
retraced  his  steps,  and  at  midnight  surrounded  Narsingh  in 
his  abode,  who  was  ordered  to  proceed  forthwith  to  the  camp. 
Burning  with  indignation,  he  attempted  self-destruction,  but 
was  withheld  ;  and  accompanied  by  a  few  Rajputs  who  swore 
to  protect  or  die  with  him,  he  joined  Asaram  to  see  the  issue. 

A  simple  plan  was  adopted  to  secure  Partap,  and  he  fearlessly 
obeyed  the  summons.  Both  parties  remained  in  camp  ;  the  one 
was  amused  with  a  negotiation  for  [412]  his  liberation  on  the 
payment  of  a  fine  ;  the  other  had  higher  hopes  ;  and  in  the 
indulgence  of  both,  their  vassals  relaxed  in  vigilance.     While 


1408  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

they  weif  at  dinner,  a  party  planted  in  ambuscade  rushed  out, 
and  before  tliey  could  seize  their  arms,  made  captive  both  the 
chiefs'.  They  were  pinioned  hke  felons,  put  into  a  covered 
carriage,  despatched  under  the  guard  of  Ave  hundred  men  to  the 
capital,  and  found  apartments  ready  for  them  in  the  state-]jrison 
of  Amber.  It  is  an  axiom  with  these  people,  that  the  end  sanctifies 
the  means  ;  and  the  prince  and  his  minister  congratulated  each 
other  on  the  complete  success  of  the  scheme.  Khandela  was 
declared  khalisa  (fiscal),  and  garrisoned  by  five  hundred  men  from 
the  camp,  while  the  inferior  feudatories,  holding  estates  detached 
from  the  capital,  were  received  on  terms,  and  even  allowed  to 
hold  their  fiefs  on  the  promise  that  they  did  not  disturb  the 
sequestrated  lands. 

CHAPTER  7 

Dinaram  Bohra  organizes  an  Attack  on  the  Sadhanis. — Dinaram 
Bohra  was  now  (a.d.  1798-9)  prime  minister  of  Jaipur,  and  he 
no  sooner  heard  of  the  success  of  Asaram,  than  he  proceeded  to 
join  liim  in  person,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  tribute  due 
by  the  Sadhani  chiefs.  Having  formed  a  junction  with  Asaram 
at  Udaipur,  they  marched  to  Parasurampur,  a  town  in  the  heart 
of  the  Sadhanis,  whence  they  issued  commands  for  the  tribute 
to  be  brought ;  [413]  to  expedite  which,  the  ministers  sent  dhus^ 
to  all  the  townships  of  the  confederacy.  This  insulting  process 
irritated  the  Sadhanis  to  such  a  degree  that  they  wrote  to  Dinaram 
to  withdraw  his  parties  instantly,  and  retrace  his  steps  to  Jhun- 
jhimu,  or  abide  the  consequences  ;  declaring,  if  he  did  so,  that 
the  collective  tribute,  of  which  ten  thousand  was  then  ready, 
would  be  forthcoming.  All  had  assented  to  this  arrangement 
but  Bagh  Singh,  brother  of  the  captive  prince  of  Khandela,  who 
was  so  incensed  at  the  faithless  conduct  of  the  court,  after  the 
great  services  they  had  so  recently  performed,  that  he  determined 
to  oppose  by  force  of  arms  this  infraction  of  their  charter,  which 
declared  the  inviolability  of  the  territory  of  the  confederation 

^  Dhua  is  an  expedient  to  hasten  the  compliance  of  a  tleniand  from  a 
dependent.  A  party  of  horse  proceeds  to  the  township,  and  arc  commanded 
to  receive  so  much  per  day  till  the  exaction  is  complied  with.  If  the  dhua 
is  refused,  it  is  considered  tantamount  to  an  a])peal  to  arms.  \^Dhusna 
means  '  to  butt  Hke  an  ox,'  hence  '  to  coerce. 'J 


BATTLE  OF  FATEHPUR  1409 

so  lOng  as  the  tribute  was  paid.  He  was  joined  by  five  hundred 
men  of  Khetri,  with  which  having  levied  contributions  at  Singh- 
hana  and  Fatehjiur  from  the  traitorous  lord  of  Sikar,  he  invited 
to  their  aid  the  celebrated  George  Thomas,  then  carving  out  his 
fortunes  amongst  these  discordant  political  elements. 

Battle  of  Fatehpur,  Defeat  of  Jaipur  Army  by  George  Thomas, 
A.D.  1799. — Nearly  the  whole  of  the  Jaij^ur  mercenary  and  feudal 
army  was  embodied  on  this  occasion,  and  although  far  superior 
in  numbers  to  the  confederation,  yet  the  presence  of  Thomas  and 
his  regulars  more  than  counterpoised  their  numerical  inferiority. 
The  attack  of  Thomas  was  irresistible  ;  the  Jaipur  lines  led  by 
Rora  Ram  gave  way,  and  lost  several  pieces  of  artillery.  To 
redeem  what  the  cowardice  and  ill-conduct  of  the  general-in-chief 
had  lost,  the  chieftain  of  Chaumun  formed  a  gol  or  dense  band 
of  the  feudal  chivalry,  which  he  led  in  person  against  Thomas's 
brigade,  charging  to  the  mouths  of  his  guns.  His  object,  the 
recovery  of  the  guns,  was  attained  with  great  slaughter  on  each 
side.  The  Chaumun  cliief  (Ranjit  Singh)  was  desperately  wounded, 
and  Bahadur  Singh,  Pahar  Singh,  chiefs  of  the  I^angarot  clans, 
with  many  others,  were  slain  by  discharges  of  grape  ;  the  guns 
were  retrieved,  and  Thomas  and  his  auxiliaries  were  deprived  of 
a  victory,  and  ultimately  compelled  to  retreat.^ 

The  captive  chiefs  of  Khandela  deemed  this  revolt  and  union 
of  their  countrymen  favourable  to  their  emancipation,  and 
addressed  them  to  this  effect.  A  communication  was  made  to 
the  discomfited  Rora  Ram,  who  promised  his  influence,  provided 
an  efficient  body  of  Raesalots  joined  his  camp,  and  by  their  services 
seconded  their  [414]  requests.  Bagh  Singh  was  selected  ;  a 
man  held  in  high  esteem  by  both  parties,  and  even  the  court 
manager  of  Khandela  foimd  it  necessary  to  retain  his  services, 
as  it  was  by  his  influence  only  over  his  unruly  brethren  that  he 
was  enabled  to  make  anything  of  the  new  fiscal  lands.  For  this 
purpose,  and  to  preserve  the  point  of  honour,  the  manager  per- 
mitted Bagh  Singh  to  remain  in  the  fortified  palace  of  Khandela, 

^  Franklin,  in  his  Life  of  George  Thomas,  describes  this  battle  circum- 
stantially ;  but  makes  it  appear  an  affair  of  the  Jaipur  court,  with  Thomas 
and  the  Mahrattas,  in  which  the  Shaikhawats  are  not  mentioned.  Thomas 
gives  the  Rajput  chivalry  full  praise  for  their  gallant  bearing. — Memoir  of 
George  Thomas,  p.  109.  [The  battle  was  fought  early  in  1799  at  Fatehpur, 
about  145  mUes  N.W.  of  Jaipur  city  (Compton,  European  Military  Adven- 
turers, 146  £f.).] 


1410  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

with  a  small  party  of  his  brethren  ;  but  on  being  selected  to  lead 
the  quotas  of  his  countrymen  Avith  the  court  commander,  he  left 
his  younger  brother,  Lachhman  Singh,  as  his  deputy. 

Haawant  Singh  captures  Khaudela. — No  sooner  did  it  reach 
the  cars  of  Hanwant  Singh  of  Saledi,  son  of  the  captive  Partap, 
that  Bagli  Singh  had  joined  the  army,  than,  in  the  true  spirit  of 
these  relentless  feuds,  he  determined  to  attempt  the  castle.  As 
soon  as  the  darkness  of  night  favoured  his  design,  he  hastened  its 
accompUshment,  escaladed  it,  and  put  the  unprepared  garrison 
to  the  sword.  Intelligence  of  this  event  reached  Bagh  Singh 
at  Ranoli,  who  instantly  countermarched,  and  commenced  the 
assault,  into  Avhich  even  the  townspeople  entered  heartily,  in- 
si)ired  as  they  were  with  indignation  at  the  atrocious  murder  of 
the  young  chief.  The  day  was  extremely  hot ;  the  defendants 
fought  for  their  existence,  for  their  leader  could  not  hope  for 
mercy.  The  assailants  were  served  with  the  best  food  ;  such 
was  the  enthusiasm,  that  even  the  women  forgot  their  fears, 
and  cheered  them  on  as  the  ladders  were  planted  against  the 
last  point  of  defence.  Then  the  white  flag  was  displayed,  and 
the  gate  opened,  but  the  murderer  had  fled. 

|Manjidas  succeeded  Dinaram  as  minister  of  Jaipur  ;  and  Rora 
Ram,  notwithstanding  his  disgraceful  defeat  and  the  lampoons 
of  the  bards,  continued  to  be  collector  of  the  Shaikhawat  tribute, 
and  farmed  the  fiscal  lands  of  Ivliandela  to  a  Brahman  for  twenty 
thousand  rupees  annually.  This  Brahman,  in  conjunction  with 
another  speculative  brother,  had  taken  a  lease  of  the  Mapa 
Rahdari,  or  town  and  transit  duties  at  Jaipur,  which  having  been 
proh table,  they  now  agreed  to  take  on  lease  the  sequestrated  lands 
of  Khandcla.  Having  not  only  fulfilled  their  contract  the  first 
year,  but  put  money  in  their  pocket,  they  renewed  it  for  two 
more.  Aided  by  a  party  of  the  Silahposliians  ^  of  the  court, 
the  minister  of  religion  showed  he  was  no  messenger  of  peace, 
and  determined  to  make  the  most  of  his  ephemeral  power,  he  not 
only  levied  contributions  on  the  yet  independent  feudatories, 
but  attacked  those  who  resisted,  and  carried  several  of  their 
castles  sword  in  hand.  The  brave  'sons  of  Raesal'  could  not 
bear  this  new  mark  of  contumely  and  bad  faith  of  the  court, — 
"  to  be  made  the  sport  of  a  tailor  and  a  Brahman," — and  having 
received  intimation  from  the  captive  [415]  chiefs  that  there  was 

^  [Men  clad  in  armour  (Irvine,  Army  of  the  Indian  Moghuls,  lOi).] 


RESISTANCE  OF  THE  SHAIKHAWATS  TO  JAIPUR    1411 

no  hope  of  their  liberty,  the^  at  once  threw  away  the  scabbard 
and  commenced  a  scene  of  indiscriminate  vengeance,  which  the 
Rajput  often  has  recourse  to  when  urged  to  despair.  They  at 
once  assailed  KJiandela,  and  in  spite  of  the  resistance  of  seven 
thousand  Dadupanthis,^  dispossessed  the  Purohit,  and  sacked  it. 
Then  advancing  within  the  Jaipur  domains,  they  spread  terror 
and  destruction,  pillaging  even  the  estates  of  the  queen.  Fresh 
troops  were  sent  against  them,  and  after  many  actions  the  con- 
federacy was  broken  up.  The  RanoU  chief  and  others  of  the 
elder  branches  made  their  peace,  but  the  younger  branches  fled 
the  country,  and  obtained  saran  (sanctuary)  and  subsistence  in 
Marwar  and  Bikaner  :  Sangram  Singh  of  Sujawas  (cousin  to 
Partap)  sought  the  former,  Bagh  Singh  and  Suraj  Singh  the 
latter,  whose  prince  gave  them  lands.  There  they  abode  in 
tranqmlUty  for  a  time,  looking  to  that  justice  from  the  prince 
which  tributary  collectors  knew  not ;  but  when  apathy  and 
neglect  mistook  the  motive  of  this  patient  suffering,  he  was 
aroused  from  his  indifference  to  the  fate  of  the  brave  Barwatias, 
by  the  tramp  of  their  horses'  feet  even  at  the  gates  of  his  capital. 
Sangram  Singh  headed  the  band  of  exiles,  which  spread  fear 
and  desolation  over  a  great  portion  of  Dhundhar.  In  many 
districts  they  established  rakhwali  ;  ^  and  wherever  they  succeeded 
in  surprising  a  thana  (garrison)  of  their  hege  lord,  they  cut  it  up 
without  mercy.  They  sacked  the  town  of  Koh,  within  a  few  nules 
of  the  city  of  Jaipur,  from  under  whose  walls  they  carried  off 
horses  to  mount  their  gang.  Animated  by  successful  revenge, 
and  the  excitement  of  a  life  so  suited  to  the  Rajput,  Sangram 
became  the  leader  of  a  band  of  several  hundred  horse,  bold 
enough  to  attempt  anything.  Complaints  for  redress  poured  in 
upon  the  court  from  all  quarters,  to  which  a  deaf  ear  might  have 
been  turned,  had  they  not  been  accompanied  with  applications 
for  reduction  of  rent.  The  court  at  length,  alarmed  at  this  daring 
desperado,  made  overtures  to  him  through  Shyam  Singh  Sadhani, 
the  chief  of  Baswa,  on  whose  bachan  (pledge)  Sangram  consented 
to  appear  before  his  Uege  lord.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  under  the 
walls  of  the  city,  his  cavalcade  was  surrounded  by  all  classes, 
but  particularly  the  Sikh  mercenaries,  all  of  whom  recognized 

1  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  863.] 

*  The  salvamenta,  or  blackmail  of  our  own  feudal  system.     See  Vol.  I. 
p.  203. 


1412  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

their  property,  some  a  horse,  some  a  camel,  others  arms,  etc.  ; 
but  none  durst  advance  a  claim  to  their  own,  so  daring  was  their 
attitude  and  so  guarded  their  conduct.  The  object  of  the  minister 
was  to  secure  the  person  of  Sangram,  regardless  of  the  infamy 
which  would  attach  to  the  chief  who,  at  his  desire,  had  pledged 
himself  for  his  safety.  But  Shyam  Singh  [416],  who  had  heard 
of  the  plot,  gave  Sangram  warning.  In  forty-eight  hours,  in- 
telligence reached  the  court  that  Sangram  was  in  Tuarvati,^ 
and  that,  joined  by  the  Tuars  and  Larkhanis,  he  was  at  the  head 
of  one  thousand  horse.  He  now  assailed  the  large  fiscal  towns 
of  his  prince  ;  contributions  were  demanded,  and  if  they  could 
not  be  complied  with,  he  carried  off  in  ol  (hostage)  the  chief 
citizens,  who  were  afterwards  ransomed.  If  a  delay  occurred 
in  furnishing  either,  the  place  was  instantly  given  over  to  pillage, 
which  was  placed  upon  a  body  of  camels.  The  career  of  this 
determined  Barwatia  was  at  length  closed.  He  had  surrounded 
the  town  of  Madhopur,  the  estate  of  one  of  the  queens,  when  a 
ball  struck  hmi  in  the  head.  His  body  was  carried  to  Ranoli 
and  burnt,  and  he  had  his  cenotaph  amongst  the  Jujhars  ^  (those 
slain  in  battlie)  of  his  fathers.  The  son  of  Sangram  succeeded  to 
the  conmiand  and  the  revenge  of  his  father,  and  he  continued  the 
same  daring  course,  until  the  court  restored  his  patrimony  of 
Sujawas.  Such  were  the  tumultuous  proceedings  in  Shaikhavati, 
when  an  event  of  such  magnitude  occurred  as  to  prove  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  Rajputana,  and  which  not  only  was  like  oil 
elfused  upon  their  afflictions,  but  made  them  prominent  to  their 
own  benefit  in  the  transaction. 

The  War  on  account  of  Krishna  Kunwari. — That  grand  inter- 
national war,  ostensibly  for  the  hand  of  the  Helen  of  Rajwara, 
was  on  the  point  of  bursting  forth.  The  opening  scene  was  in 
Shaikhavati,  and  the  actors  chiefly  Sadhanis.  It  will  be  recol- 
lected, that  though  this  was  but  the  underplot  of  a  tragedy, 
chiefly  got  up  for  the  deposal  of  Raja  Man  of  Jodhpur,  in  favour 
of  Dhonkal  Singh,  Raechand  was  then  Diwan,  or  prime  minister, 
of  Jaipur  ;  and  to  forward  his  master's  views  for  the  hand  of 
Krishna,  supported  the  cause  of  the  pretender. 

New    Treaty    with   Jaipur. — The    minister   sent    his    nephew, 

1  [Hee  Vol.  II.  p.  870.] 

*  [Such  cenotaphs,  known  as  paliya,  are  conunon  in  Gujarat  (Forbes, 
Ma  Mala,  691  ;  Tod,  Western  India,  301).] 


THE  SHATKHAWATS  JOIN  THE  WAR  1413 

Kirparam,  to  obtain  the  aid  of  the  Shaikhawats,  who  appointed 
Kishan  Singh  as  interpreter  of  their  wishes,  while  the  Kher  ^ 
assembled  at  '  the  Pass  of  Udaipur.'  There  a  new  treaty 
was  formed,  the  main  article  of  which  was  the  liberation  of  their 
chieftains,  the  joint  Rajas  of  Khandela,  and  the' renewal  of  the 
ancient  stipulations  regarding  the  non-interference  of  the  court 
in  their  internal  arrangements,  so  long  as  they  paid  the  regulated 
tribute.  Kishan  Singh,  the  organ  of  the  confederation,  together 
with  Kirparam,  left  the  assembly  for  the  capital,  where  they  soon 
returned  with  the  ratification  of  their  wishes.  On  these  condi- 
tions ten  thousand  of  the  sons  of  Shaikhji  were  embodied,  and 
ready  to  accompany  their  lord-paramount  wherever  he  might 
lead  them,  receiving  peti,  or  subsistence,  while  out  of  their  own 
lands. 

These  preliminaries  settled,  Shj^am  Singh  Champawat  (nephew 
of  the  Pokaran  [417]  chief),  with  Kirparam  repaired  to  Khetri, 
whence  they  conveyed  the  young  pretender,  Dhonkal  Singh,  to 
the  camp  of  the  confederates.  They  were  met  by  a  deputation 
headed  by  the  princess  Anandi  Kunwar  (daughter  of  the  late 
Raja  Partap,  and  one  of  the  widows  of  Raja  Bhim  of  Marwar, 
father  of  the  pretender),  who  received  the  boy  in  her  arms  as  the 
child  of  her  adoption,  and  forthwith  returned  to  the  capital, 
where  the  army  was  forming  for  the  invasion  of  Marwar. 

It  moved  to  Khatu,  ten  coss  from  lOiandela,  where  they 
waited  the  junction  of  the  Bikaner  Raja  and  other  auxiliaries. 
The  Shaikhawat  lords  here  sent  in  their  imperative  demand  for 
the  liberation  of  the  sons  of  Raesal,  "  that  they  might  march 
under  a  leader  of  their  own,  equal  in  celebrity  to  the  proudest  of 
that  assembled  host."  Evasion  was  dangerous  ;  and  in  a  few 
days  their  chiefs  were  formally  delivered  to  them.  Even  the 
self-abdicated  Bindraban  could  not  resist  this  general  appeal  to 
arms.  The  princes  encamped  in  the  midst  of  their  vassals,  nor 
was  there  ever  such  a  convocation  of  '  the  sons  of  Shaildiji '  : 
Raesalots,  Sadhanis,  Bhojanis,  Larkhanis,  and  even  the  Bar- 
watias,  flocked  around  the  '  yellow  banner  of  Raesal.'  The 
accounts  of  the  expedition  are  elsewhere  narrated,^  and  we  shall 
only  add  that  the  Shaikhawats  participated  in  all  its  glory  and 
all  its  disgrace,  and  lost  both  Rao  Narsingh  and  his  father  ere 
they  returned  to  their  own  lands. 

1  [Tribal  levy.]  «  [Vol.  H.  p.  1095.] 


1414  AN>fALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

Abhai  Singh. — Abliai  Singli,  the  son  of  Narsingh,  succeeded, 
and  conducted  the  contingent  of  his  countrymen  until  the  ill- 
starred  expedition  broke  up,  when  they  returned  to  Khandela. 
But  the  faithless  court  had  no  intention  of  restoring  the  lands  of 
Khandela.  Compelled  to  look  about  for  a  subsistence,  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  horse,  they  went  to  Raja  Bakhtawar  Singh  of 
Macheri  ;  but  he  performed  the  duties  of  kindred  and  hospitality 
so  meanly,  that  they  only  remained  a  fortnight.  In  this  exigence, 
Partap  and  his  son  repaired  to  the  Maliratta  leader,  Bajju  Sindhia, 
at  Dausa,^  while  Hanwant,  in  the  ancient  spirit  of  his  race,  deter- 
mined to  attempt  Govindgarh.  In  disguise,  he  obtained  the 
necessary  information,  assembled  sixty  of  his  resolute  clansmen, 
whom  he  concealed  at  dusk  in  a  ravine,  whence,  as  soon  as  silence 
proclaimed  the-  hour  was  come,  he  issued,  ascended  the  well- 
known  path,  planted  his  ladders,  and  cut  down  the  sentinels  ere 
the  garrison  was  alarmed.  It  was  soon  mastered,  several  being 
killed  and  the  rest  turned  out.  The  well-known  beat  of  the 
Raesalot  nakkaras  awoke  the  Larkhanis,  Minas,  and  all  the 
Rajputs  in  the  vicinity,  who  immediately  repaired  to  the  castle. 
In  a  few  weeks  the  gallant  Hanwant  was  at  the  head  of  two 
thousand  men,  prepared  to  act  offensively  against  [418]  his 
faithless  liege  lord.  Khandela  and  all  the  adjacent  towns  sur- 
rendered, their  garrisons  flying  before  the  victors,  and  Khushhal 
Daroga,  a  name  of  note  in  all  the  intrigues  of  the  darbar  of  that 
day,  carried  to  court  the  tidings  of  his  own  disgrace,  which,  his 
enemies  took  care  to  proclaim,  arose  from  his  cupidity  :  for 
though  he  drew  pay  and  rations  for  a  garrison  of  one  hundred 
men,  he  only  had  thirty.  Accompanied  by  Ratan  Chand,  with 
two  battalions  and  guns,  and  the  reproaches  of  his  sovereign,  he 
was  commanded  at  his  peril  to  recover  Khandela.  The  gallant 
Hanwant  disdained  to  await  the  attack,  but  advanced  outside 
the  city  to  meet  it,  drove  Khushhal  back,  and  had  he  not  in  the 
very  moment  of  victory  been  wounded,  while  the  l^arkhanis  hung 
behind,  would  have  totally  routed  them.  Hanwant  was  com- 
])elled  to  retreat  within  the  walls,  where  he  stood  two  assaults, 
in  one  of  which  he  slew  thirty  Silahposh,  or  men  in  armour,  the 
body-guard  of  the  prince  ;  but  the  only  water  of  the  garrison 
being  from  tnnkhas  (reservoirs),  he  was  on  the  point  of  surrender- 

*  [Twenty-five  miles  E.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


ABHAI  SINGH  1415 

ing  at  discretion,  when  an  off^-  of  five  townships  being  made,  he 
accepted  the  towns. 

Another  change  took  place  in  the  ministry  of  Amber  at  this 
period  ;  and  KhushhaHram,  at  the  age  of  fourscore  and  four  years, 
was  Uberated  from  the  state-prison  of  Amber,  and  once  more 
entrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  government.  This 
hoary-headed  pohtician,  who,  during  more  than  half  a  century, 
had  alternately  met  the  frowns  and  the  smiles  of  his  prince,  at 
this  the  extreme  verge  of  existence,  entered  with  all  the  alacrity 
of  youth  into  the  tortuous  intrigues  of  office,  after  witnessing  the 
removal  of  two  prime  ministers,  his  rivals,  who  resigned  power  and 
life  together.  Khushhaliram  had  remained  incarcerated  since  the 
reign  of  Raja  Partap,  who,  when  dying,  left  three  injunctions  ; 
the  first  of  which  was,  that  '  the  Bohra  '  (his  caste)  should  never 
be  enfranchised  ;  but  if  in  evil  hour  his  successor  should  be  induced 
to  liberate  him  "  he  should  be  placed  uncontrolled  at  the  head  of 
affairs."  ^ 

When  this  veteran  politician,  whose  biography  would  fill  a 
volume,^  succeeded  to  the  helm  at  Jaipur,  a  solemn  deputation  of 
the  principal  Shaikhawat  chieftains  repaired  to  the  capital,  and 
begged  that  through  his  intercession  they  might  be  restored  to 
the  lands  of  their  forefathers.  The  Bohra,  who  had  always  kept 
up,  as  well  from  [419]  sound  principle  as  from  personal  feeling,  a 
good  understanding  with  the  feudality,  willingly  became  their 
advocate  with  his  sovereign,  to  whom  he  represented  that  the 
defence  of  the  State  lay  in  a  willing  and  contented  vassalage  : 
for,  notwithstanding  their  disobedience  and  turbulence,  they 
were  always  ready,  when  the  general  weal  was  threatened,  to 
support  it  with  all  their  power.  He  appealed  to  the  late  expedi- 
tion, when  ten  thousand  of  the  children  of  Shaikhji  were  embodied 

^  The  second  injunction  was  to  keep  the  ofiice  of  Faujdar,  or  commander 
of  the  forces,  in  the  family  of  Shambhu  Singh,  Gugawat,  a  tribe  always  noted 
for  their  fidelity,  and  like  the  Mertias  of  Marwar,  even  a  blind  fidelity,  to 
the  gaddi  whoever  was  the  occupant.  The  third  injunction  is  left  blank 
in  my  manuscript. 

^  His  first  act,  after  his  emancipation  from  the  dungeons  of  Amber,  was 
tlie  delicate  negotiation  at  Dhani,  the  castle  of  Chand  Suigh,  Gugawat.  He 
died  at  Baswa,  April  22,  1812,  on  his  return  from  Macheri  to  Jaipur,  where 
he  had  been  unsuccessfully  attempting  a  reconciliation  between  the  courts. 
It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  the  independence  of  the  Naruka  chief  m  Macheri 
had  been  mainly  achieved  by  the  Bohra,  who  was  originally  the  homme 
d'affaires  of  the  traitorous  Naruka. 


lilfi  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

in  his  cause,  and  what  was  a  better  argument,  he  observed,  the 
IMahrattas  had  only  been  able  to  prevail  since  their  dissensions 
amongst  themselves.     The  Bohra  was  commanded  to  follow  his 
own  goodwill  and  pleasm-e  ;   and  having  exacted  an  engagement, 
by  which  the  future  tribute  of  the  Raesalots  was  fixed  at  sixty 
thousand   rupees   annually,    and   the   immediate   payment   of  a 
nazarana  of  forty  thousand,  fresh  ■pattas  of  investiture  were  made 
out  for  Khandela  and  its  dependencies.      There  are  so  many 
conflicting  interests  in  all  these  courts,  that  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  obedience  runs  on  the  heels  of  command  ;   even  though  the 
orders  of  the  prince  were   countersigned  by  the  minister,   the 
Nagas,^  who  formed  the  garrison  of  Khandela,  and  the  inferior 
fiefs,  showed  no  disposition  to  comply.     The  gallant  Hanwant, 
justly  suspecting  the  Bohra's  good  faith,  proposed  to  the  joint 
rajas  a  coup  de  main,  which  he  volunteered  to  lead.      They  had 
five  hundred  retainers  amongst  them  ;  of  these  Hanwant  selected 
twenty  of  the  most  intrepid,  and  repaired  to  Udaigarh,  to  which 
he  gained  admission  as  a  messenger  from  himself ;   twenty  more 
were  at  his  heels,  who  also  got  in,  and  the  rest  rapidly  following, 
took  post  at  the  gateway.     Hanwant  then  disclosed  himself,  and 
presented  the  fresh  patia  of  Khandela  to  the  Nagas,  who  still 
hesitating  to  obey,  he  drew  his  sword,  when  seeing  that  he  was 
determined  to  succeed  or  perish,  they  reluctantly  withdrew,  and 
Abhai  and  Partap  were  once  more  inducted  into  the  dilapidated 
abodes  of  their  ancestors.     The  adversity  they  had  undergone, 
added  to  their  youth  and  inexperience,  made  them  both  yield  a 
ready  acquiescence  to  the  advice  of  their  kinsman,  to  whose 
valour  and  conduct  they  owed  the  restoration  of  their  inheritance, 
and  the  ancient  feuds,  which  were  marked  on  every  stone  of  their 
castellated  mahalls,  were  apparently  appeased. 

The  Shaikhawats  attack  Amir  Khan.  —  Shortly  after  this 
restoration,  the  Shaikhawat  contingents  were  called  out  to  serve 
against  the  common  enemy  of  Rajputana,  the  notorious  Amir 
Khan,  whose  general,  Muhammad  Shah  Khan,  was  closely 
blockaded  in  the  fortress  of  Bhumgarh,  near  Tonk,  by  the  whole 
strength  of  Jaipur,  commanded  by  Rao  Chand  Singh  of  Dhani 

*  [These  corps  of  militant  devotees  were  ooimnonly  employed  in  Indian 
Native  armies  in  the  eighteenth  century  (Trvino,  Army  of  the  Indian  Moghuls, 
163;  Brouf^hton,  Letters  from  a  Mahratla  Camj),  06,  lOG,  123;  Russell, 
Tribes  mid  Castes  of  the  Central  Provinces,  iii.  IT)?).] 


THE  SHAIKHAWATS  ATTACK  AMiR  KHAN      1417 

An  incident  occurred,  while  the  siege  was  approaching  a  successful 
conclusion,  which  [420]  well  exemplifies  the  incorrigible  imperfec- 
tions of  the  feudal  system,  either  for  offensive  or  defensive  opera- 
tions. This  incident,  trivial  as  it  is  in  its  origin,  proved  a  death- 
blow to  these  unfortunate  princes,  so  long  the  sport  of  injustice, 
and  appears  destined  to  falsify  the  Dom,  who  prophesied,  on  the 
acceptance  of  his  self-sacrifice,  that  seven  successive  generations 
of  his  issue  should  occupy  the  gaddi  of  Khandela.  In  the  dis- 
orderly proceedings  of  this  feudal  array,  composed  of  all  the 
quotas  of  Amber,  a  body  of  Shaikhawats  had  sacked  one  of  the 
townships  of  Tonk,  in  which  a  Gugawat  inhabitant  was  slain,  and 
his  property  plundered,  in  the  indiscriminate  pell-mell.  The 
son  of  the  Gugawat  instantly  carried  his  complaints  to  the  be- 
sieging general,  Chand  Singh,  the  head  of  his  clan^^  who  gave  him 
a  party  of  the  Silahposh  (men  in  armour)  to  recover  his  property. 
The  Shaikhawats  resisted,  and  reinforced  their  party  ;  Chand 
Singh  did  the  same  ;  the  Khandela  chiefs  repaired  in  person, 
accompanied  by  the  whole  confederacy  with  the  exception  of 
Sikar  :  and  the  Gugawat  chief,  who  had  not  only  the  ties  of 
clanship,  but  the  dignity  of  commander-in-chief,  to  sustain,  sent 
every  man  he  could  spare  from  the  blockade.  Thus  nearly  the 
whole  feudal  array  of  Amber  was  collected  round  a  few  hackeries  ^ 
(carts),  ready  to  cut  each  other  to  pieces  for  the  point  of  honour  : 
neither  would  relinquish  the  claim,  and  swords  were  already 
drawn,  when  the  Khangarot  chief  stepped  between  them  as 
peacemaker,  and  proposed  an  expedient  which  saved  the  honour 
of  both,  namely,  that  the  plundered  property  should  be  permitted 
to  proceed  to  its  destination,  the  Khandela  prince's  quarters, 
who  should  transmit  it,  "  of  his  own  accord,"  to  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army.  The  Shaikhawats  assented  ;  the  havoc 
was  prevented  ;  but  the  pride  of  Chand  Singh  was  hurt,  who 
saw  in  this  a  concession  to  the  commander  of  the  army,  but  none 
to  the  leader  of  the  Gugawats. 

Lachhman  Singh,  the  chief  of  Sikar,  who,  as  before  stated, 
was  the  only  Shaikhawat  who  kept  aloof  from  the  affray,  saw  the 
moment  was  arrived  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  long-con- 
cealed desire  to  be  lord  of  Kliandela.  The  siege  of  Bhumgarh 
being  broken  up,  in  consequence  of  these  dissensions  and  the 
defection   of  the  confederated 'Shaikhawats,  the  Sikar  chief  no 

^  [A  corruption  of  Hindi  chhakra  (Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  407  ,f.).] 
VOL.  Ill  M 


1418  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

sooner  saw  them  move  by  the  circuitous  route  of  the  capital, 
than  he  marched  directly  for  his  estates,  and  throwing  aside  all 
disguise,  attacked  Sisa,  which  by  an  infamotis  stratagem  he 
secured,  by  inveigling  the  commandant,  the  son  of  the  late  Bohra 
minister.  Then  making  overtures  to  the  enemy,  against  whom 
he  had  just  been  fighting,  for  the  sum  of  two  lakhs  of  rupees,  he 
obtained  a  brigade  of  the  mercenary  Pathans,  under  their  leaders 
Manu  and  Mahtab  Khan  [421],  the  last  of  whom,  but  a  few  days 
before,  had  entered  into  a  solemn  engagement  with  Hanwant,  as 
manager  for  the  minor  princes,  to  support  whose  cause,  and  to 
abstain  from  molesting  their  estates,  he  had  received  fifty  thousand 
rupees  !  Such  nefarious  acts  were  too  common  at  that  period 
even  to  occasion  remark,  far  less  reprehension. 

Siege  of  Khandela. — The  gallant  Hanwant  now  prepared  for 
the  defence  of  the  lands  which  his  valour  had  redeemed.  His 
foeman  made  a  lavish  application  of  the  wealth  which  his  selfish 
policy  had  acquired,  and  Rewasa  and  other  fiefs  were  soon  in  his 
possession.  The  town  of  Khandela,  being  open,  soon  followed, 
but  the  castle  held  out  sufficiently  long  to  enable  him  to  strengthen 
and  provision  Kot,  which  he  determined  to  defend  to  the  last. 
Having  withstood  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  during  three  weeks, 
in  the  almost  ruined  castle,  he  salUed  out  sword  in  hand,  and 
gained  Kot,  where  he  assembled  all  those  yet  faithful  to  the 
family,  and  determined  to  stand  or  fall  with  the  last  stronghold 
of  Khandela.  The  other  chiefs  of  the  confederation  beheld  with 
indignation  this  unprovoked  and  avaricious  aggression  on  the 
minor  princes  of  lOiandela,  not  only  because  of  its  abstract 
injustice,  but  of  the  undue  aggrandizement  of  this  inferior  branch 
of  the  Raesalots,  and  the  means  employed,  namely,  the  common 
enemy  of  their  country.  Many  leagued  for  its  prevention,  but 
some  were  bribed  by  the  offer  of  a  part  of  the  domain,  and  those 
who  were  too  virtuous  to  be  corrupted,  found  their  intentions 
defeated  by  the  necessity  of  defending  their  own  homes  against 
the  detachments  of  Amir  Khan,  sent  by  desire  of  Sikar  to  neutralize 
their  efforts.  The  court  was  steeled  against  all  remonstrance, 
from  the  unhappy  rupture  at  Bhumgarh,  the  blockade  of  which, 
it  was  represented,  was  broken  by  the  conduct  of  the  followers  of 
Khandela. 

Death  of  Hanwant  Singh. — Hanwant  and  some  hundreds  of 
his  brave  clansmen  were  thus  left  to  their  own  resources.     During 


DEATH  OF  HANWANT  SINGH  1419 

three  months  they  defended  themselves  in  a  position  outside  the 
castle,  when  a  general  assault  was  made  on  his  intrenchments. 
He  was  advised  to  retreat  into  the  castle,  but  he  nobly  replied, 
"  Khandela  is  gone  for  ever,  if  we  are  reduced  to  shelter  ourselves 
behind  walls  "  ;  and  he  called  upon  his  brethren  to  repel  the 
attack  or  perish.  Hanwant  cheered  on  his  kinsmen,  who  charged 
the  battalions  sword  in  hand,  drove  them  from  their  guns,  and 
completely  cleared  the  intrenchments.  But  the  enemy  returned 
to  the  conflict,  which  lasted  from  morn  until  nightfall.  Another 
sortie  was  made  :  again  the  enemy  was  ignominiously  dislodged, 
but  the  gallant  Hanwant,  leading  his  men  to  the  very  muzzle  of 
the  guns,  received  a  shot  which  ended  his  career.  The  victory 
remained  with  the  besieged,  but  the  death  of  their  leader  [422] 
disconcerted  his  clansmen,  who  retired  within  the  fort.  Five 
hundred  of  the  mercenary  Pathans  and  men  of  Sikar  (a  number 
equal  to  the  whole  of  the  defenders)  accompanied  to  the  shades 
the  last  intrepid  Raesalot  of  Khandela. 

The  next  morning  an  armistice  for  the  removal  of  the  wounded 
and  obsequies  of  the  dead  was  agreed  to,  during  which  terms 
were  offered,  and  refused  by  the  garrison.  As  soon  as  the  death 
of  Hanwant  was  known,  the  Udaipur  chief,  who  from  the  first 
had  upheld  the  cause  of  justice,  sent  additional  aid  both  in  men 
and  supplies  ;  and  had  the  lOietri  chief  been  at  his  estates,  the 
cause  would  have  been  further  supported  ;  but  he  was  at  court, 
and  had  left  orders  with  his  son  to  act  according  to  the  advice  of 
the  chief  of  Baswa,  who  had  been  gained  over  to  the  interests  of 
Sikar  by  the  bribe  of  participation  in  the  conquered  lands.  Never- 
theless, the  garrison  held  out,  under  every  privation,  for  five 
weeks  longer,  their  only  sustenance  at  length  being  a  little  Indian 
corn  introduced  by  the  exertions  of  individual  Minas.  At  this 
extremity,  an  offer  being  made  of  ten  townships,  they  surrendered. 
Partap  Singh  took  his  share  of  this  remnant  of  his  patrimony,  but 
his  co-heir  Abhai  Singh  inherited  too  much  of  Raesal's  spirit  to 
degrade  himself  by  owing  aught  to  his  criminal  vassal  and  kins- 
man. It  would  have  been  well  for  Partap  had  he  shown  the  sam.e 
spirit ;  for  Lachhman  Singh,  now  lord  of  Kliandela,  felt  too 
acutely  the  injustice  of  his  success,  to  allow  the  rightful  heir  to 
remain  upon  his  patrimony  ;  and  he  only  allowed  sufficient  time 
to  elapse  for  the  consolidation  of  his  acquisition,  before  he  expelled 
the  young  prince.     Both  the  co-heirs,  Abhai  Singh  and  Partap, 


1  t20  ANNALS  OF  ARIBER  OR  JAIPUR 

now  reside  at  Jhunjhunii,  where  each  receives  five  rupees  a  clay, 
from  a  joint  purse  made  for  tliem  by  the  Sadhanis,  nor  at  present  * 
is  there  a  ray  of  hope  of  their  restoration  to  Khandela. 

In  1814,  when  Misr  Sheonarayan,  tlien  minister  of  Jaipur,  was 
involved  in  great  pecuniary  difficulties,  to  get  rid  of  the  im- 
portunities of  Amir  Klian,  lie  cast  his  eyes  towards  the  Sikar 
cliief,  who  liad  long  been  desirous  to  have  his  usurpation  sanctioned 
by  the  court  ;  and  it  was  stipulated  tliat  on  the  payment  of  nine 
lakhs  of  rupees  (namely,  five  from  himself,  witli  the  authority  and 
force  of  Jaipur  to  raise  the  rest  from  the  Sadhanis),  he  should 
receive  the  patta  of  investiture  of  Khandela.  Amir  Khan,  the 
mutual  agent  on  this  occasion,  was  then  at  Ranoli,  where  Lachh- 
man  Singh  met  him  and  paid  the  amount,  receiving  his  receipt, 
which  was  exchanged  for  tlie  grant  under  the  great  seal. 

Lachhman  Singh  gains  Influence  at  Jaipur. — Immediately 
after,  Lachhman  Singh  proceeded  to  court,  and  upon  the  further 
payment  [423]  of  one  year's  tribute  in  advance,  henceforth  fixed 
at  fiftj'^-seven  thousand  rupees,  he  received  from  the  hands  of  his 
liege  lord,  the  Raja  Jagat  Singh,  the  khilat  of  investiture.  Thus, 
by  the  ambition  of  Sikar,  the  cupidity  of  the  court,  and  the 
jealousies  and  avarice  of  tlie  Sadhanis,  the  birthright  of  the  lineal 
lieirs  of  Raesal  was  alienated. 

Lachhman  Singh,  by  his  talents  and  wealth,  soon  cstabhshed 
his  influence  at  the  court  of  his  sovereign  ;  but  the  jealousy  which 
this  excited  in  the  Purohit  minister  of  the  day  very  nearly  lost 
him  his  dearly  bought  acquisition.  It  will  be  recollected  that  a 
Brahman  obtained  the  lease  of  the  lands  of  Khandela,  and  that 
for  his  extortions  he  was  expelled  with  disgrace.  He  proceeded, 
however,  in  his  career  of  ambition  ;  subverted  tlie  influence  of 
his  patron  Sheonarayan  Misr,  forcing  him  to  commit  suicide, 
ruined  the  prospects  of  his  son,  and  by  successful  and  daring 
intrigue  established  himself  in  the  ministerial  chair  of  Amber. 
The  influence  of  Lachhman  Singh,  who  was  consulted  on  all 
occasions,  gave  him  umbrage,  and  he  determined  to  get  rid  of 
him.  To  drive  him  into  opposition  to  his  sovereign  was  his  aim, 
and  to  effect  this  there  was  no  better  method  than  to  sanction 
an  attack  upon  Khandela.  The  Sadhanis,  whose  avarice  and 
jealousies  made  them  overlook  their  true  interests,  readily  united 
to  the  troops  of  the  court,  and  Khandela  was  besieged.     Lachh- 

^  This  was  written  in  1813-14. 


LACHHMAN  SINGH  AT  JAIPUR  1421 

man  Singh,  on  this  occasion,  showed  he  was  no  common  character. 
He  tranquilly  abided  the  issue  at  Jaipur,  thus  neutralizing  the 
malignity  of  the  Purohit,  while,  to  ensure  the  safety  of  Khandela, 
a  timely  supply  of  money  to  the  partisan,  Jamshid  Khan,  brought 
his  battalions  to  threaten  the  Purohit  in  his  camp.  Completely 
foiled  by  the  superior  tact  of  Lachhman  Singh,  the  Brahman  was 
compelled  to  abandon  the  undertaking  and  to  return  to  the 
capital,  where  his  anger  made  him  throw  aside  the  mask,  and 
attempt  to  secure  the  person  of  his  enemy.  The  Sikar  chief  had 
a  narrow  escape  :  he  fled  with  fifty  horse,  hotly  pursued  by  his 
adversary,  while  his  effects,  and  those  of  his  partisans  (amongst 
whom  was  the  Samod  chief)  were  confiscated.  The  Sadhanis, 
led  by  the  chiefs  of  Khetri  and  Baswa,  even  after  the  Purohit 
had  left  them,  made  a  bold  attempt  to  capture  Ivhandela,  which 
was  defeated,  and  young  Abhai  Singh,  who  was  made  a  puppet 
on  the  occasion,  witnessed  the  last  defeat  of  his  hopes. 

If  necessity  or  expediency  could  palhate  or  justify  such 
nefarious  acts,  it  would  be  shown  in  the  good  consequences  that 
have  resulted  from  evil.  The  discord  and  bloodshed  produced 
by  the  partition  of  authority  between  the  sons  of  Bahadur  [424] 
Singh  are  now  at  an  end.  Lachliman  Singh  is  the  sole  tyrant  in 
Ivliandela,  and  so  long  as  the  system  which  he  has  established  is 
maintained,  he  may  laugh  at  the  efforts,  not  only  of  the  Sadhanis, 
but  of  the  court  itself,  to  supplant  him. 

Let  us,  in  a  few  words,  trace  the  family  of  Lachhman  Singh. 
It  will  be  recollected  that  Raesal,  the  first  Raja  amongst  the  sons 
of  Shaikhji,  had  seven  sons,  the  fourth  of  whom,  Tirmall  (who 
obtained  the  title  of  Rao),  held  Kasli  and  its  eighty-four  town- 
ships in  appanage.  His  son,  Hari  Singh,  wrested  the  district  of 
Bilara,  with  its  one  himdred  and  twenty-five  townships,  from  the 
Kaimkhanis  of  Fatehpur,  and  shortly  after,  twenty-five  more 
from  Rewasa.  Sheo  Singh,  the  son  of  Hari,  captured  Fatehpur 
itself,  the  chief  abode  of  the  Kaimkhanis,  where  he  established 
himself.  His  son,  Chand  Singh,  founded  Sikar,  whose  lineal 
descendant,  Devi  Singh,  adopted  Laclihman  Singh,  son  of  his 
near  kinsman,  the  Shahpura  Thakur.  The  estates  of  Sikar  were 
in  admirable  order  when  Laclihman  succeeded  to  his  uncle,  whose 
policy  was  of  the  exterminating  sort.  Lachhman  improved  upon 
it ;  and  long  before  he  acquired  Khandela,  had  demoUshed  all  the 
castles  of  his  inferior  feudatories,  not  even  sparing  that  of  Shah- 


1422  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

pura,  the  place  of  his  nativity,  as  well  as  Bilara,  Bathoti,  and 
Kasli ;  and  so  completely  did  he  allow  the  ties  of  adoption  to 
supersede  those  of  blood,  that  his  own  father  preferred  exile,  to 
hving  under  a  son  who,  covered  with  '  the  turban  of  Sikar,' 
forgot  the  author  of  his  life,  and  retired  to  Jodhpur. 

Lachliinan  Singh  has  now  a  compact  and  improving  country, 
containing  five  hundred  towns  and  villages,  yielding  a  revenue 
of  eight  laklis  of  rupees.  Desirous  of  transmittmg  liis  name 
to  posterity,  he  erected  the  castle  of  Lachhmangarh,^  and  has 
fortified  many  other  strongholds,  for  the  defence  of  wliich  he  has 
formed  a  little  army,  wliich,  in  these  regions,  merits  the  title  of 
regulars,  consisting  of  eight  battahons  of  Aligol,-  armed  with 
matcMocks,  with  a  brigade  of  guns  to  each  battahon.  lie  has 
besides  an  efficient  cavalry,  consisting  of  one  thousand  horse,  half 
of  which  are  Bargirs,*  or  stipendiary  ;  the  other  half  Jagirdars, 
having  lands  assigned  for  their  support.  With  such  means,  and 
with  his  ambition,  there  is  very  httle  doubt  that,  had  not  the 
aUiance  of  his  liege  lord  of  Amber  with  the  English  Government 
put  a  stop  to  the  predatory  system,  he  would,  by  means  of  the 
same  worthy  allies  by  whose  [425J  aid  he  obtained  Khandela,* 
before  this  time  have  made  himself  supreme  in  Shaikhavati. 

Having  thus  brought  to  a  conclusion  the  history  of  the  princes 
of  Ivhandela,  we  shall  give  a  brief  accomit  of  the  other  branches 
of  the  Shaikhawats,  especially  the  most  powerful,  the  Sadhani. 

Tlia  Sadhani  Shaikhawats. — The  Sadhanis  are  descended  from 
Bhojraj,  the  third  son  of  Kaesal,  and  in  the  division  of  liefs 

^  Lachhmangarh,  or  '  the  castlo  of  Lachhman,'  situated  upon  a  lofty 
mountain  [about  75  miles  N.W.  of  Jaipur  city],  was  erected  in  S.  1802,  or 
A.D.  1806,  though  probably  on  the  ruins  of  some  more  ancient  fortress,  ft 
commands  a  most  extensive  prospect,  and  is  quite  a  beacon  in  that  country, 
studded  with  hill-castles.  The  town  is  built  on  the  model  of  Jaipui-,  with 
regular  streets  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles,  in  which  there  are 
many  wealthy  merchants,  who  enjoy  perfect  security. 

^  [The  Aligol,  '  lofty,  exalted  troop,'  were  irregular  infantry  in  the 
Maratha  service.  Sometimes  they  were  identilied  with  the  fanatical 
GhazLs  of  the  Afghan  frontier  (Irvine,  Army  oj  the  Indian  Moghula,  164 ; 
Yule,  Hobson-J obson,  2nd  ed.  15). J 

"  [Cavalry  provided  with  horses  by  the  iState,  Vol.  If.  p.  819.] 

*  Khandela  is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  Khokhar  Kajputs  [?]. 
The  Khoiihar  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Bhatti  Annals,  whom  1  have  supposed 
to  bo  the  Ghakkar,  who  were  certainly  Indo-fcjcythic.  [The  Khokhars  and 
Ghakkars  or  Gakkhars  are  often  conlounded  (Kose,  Glossary,  ii.  540).] 
Khandela  has  four  thousand  houses,  and  eighty  villages  dependent  on  it. 


THE  SADHANI  SHAIKHAWATS  1423 

amongst  his  seven  sons,  obtained  Udaipur  and  its  dependencies. 
Bliojraj  had  a  numerous  issue,  styled  Bhojani,  who  arrogated 
their  full  share  of  importance  in  the  infancy  of  the  confederacy, 
and  in  process  of  time,  from  some  circumstance  not  related, 
perhaps  the  mere  advantage  of  locality,  their  chief  city  became 
the  rendezvous  for  the  great  council  of  the  federation,  which  is 
still  in  the  defile  of  Udaipur.'^ 

Several  generations  subsequent  to  Bhojraj,  Jagram  suc- 
ceeded to  the  lands  of  Udaipur.  He  had  six  sons,  the  eldest 
of  whom,  Sadhu,  quarrelled  with  his  father,  on  some  ceremonial 
connected  with  the  celebration  of  the  miUtary  festival,  the 
Dasahra,^  and  quitting  the  paternal  roof,  sought  his  fortunes 
abroad.  At  this  time,  almost  all  the  tract  now  inhabited  by  the 
Sadhanis  was  dependent  on  Fatehpur  (Jhunjhunu),  the  residence 
of  a  Nawab  of  the  Kaimkhani  tribe  of  Afghans,^  who  held  it  as 
a  fief  of  the  empire.  To  him  Sadhu  repaired,  and  was  received 
with  favour,  and  by  his  talents  and  courage  rose  in  consideration, 
until  he  was  eventually  intrusted  with  the  entire  management  of" 
affairs.  There  are  two  accounts  of  the  mode  of  his  ulterior 
advancement :  both  may  be  correct.  One  is,  that  the  Nawab; 
having  no  children,  adopted  yoxing  Sadhu,  and  assigned  to  him 
Jhunjhunu  and  its  eighty-four  dependencies,  wliich  he  retained 
on  the  Kaimkhani's  death.  The  other,  and  less  favourable  though 
equally  probable  account,   is  that,   feeling  his  influence  firmly 

estabUshed,  he  hinted  to  his  patron,  that  the  township  of 

was  prepared  for  his  future  residence,  where  he  should  enjoy  a 
sufficient  pension,  as  he  intended  to  retain  possession  of  his 
delegated  authority. .  So  completely  had  he  supplanted  the 
Kaimkhani,  that  he  found  himself  utterly  unable  to  make  a  party 
against  the  ungrateful  Shaikhawat.  He  therefore  fled  from 
Jhunjhunu  to  Fatehpur,  the  other  division  of  his  authority,  or 
at  [426]  least  one  of  his  own  kin,  who  espoused  his  cause,  and 
prepared  to  expel  the  traitor  from  Jhunjhunu.     Sadhu,  in  this 

^  The  ancient  name  of  Udaipur  is  said  to  be  Kais ;  it  contains  three 
thousand  houses,  and  has  forty-five  villages  attached  to  it,  divided  into 
four  portions. 

3  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  680.] 

3  [The  Kaimkhani  or  Qainikhani  are  a  sept  of  MusUm  Chauhan  Rajputs 
found  in  the  Jind  State  and  m  Jaipur  (Rose,  Glossary,  iii.  257).  In  the 
Rajputana  Census  Report  of  1911,  however,  they  are  classed  among 
"  MisceUaueous  "  Rajput  septs  (i.  286).] 


1424  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

emergency,  applied  to  his  father,  requesting  him  to  call  upon  his 
brethren,  as  it  was  a  common  cause.  The  old  cliief,  who,  in  his 
son's  success,  forgave  and  forgot  the  conduct  which  made  him 
leave  his  roof,  instantly  addressed  another  son,  then  serving  with 
his  liege  lord,  the  Mirza  Raja  Jai  Singh,  in  the  imperial  army,  to 
obtain  succour  for  him  ;  and  some  regular  troops  with  guns  were 
immediately  dispatched  to  reinforce  young  Sadhu  and  maintain 
his  usurpation,  which  was  accomplished,  and  moreover  Fatehpur 
was  added  to  Jliunjhunu.  Sadhu  bestowed  the  former  with  its 
dependencies,  equal  in  value  to  his  own  share,  on  his  brother,  for 
his  timely  aid,  and  both,  according  to  previous  stipulation,  agreed 
to  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  the  Raja  by  an  annual  tribute 
and  nazarana  on  aU  lapses,  as  lord-paramount.  Sadhu  soon 
after  wrested  Singhana,  containing  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
villages,  from  another  branch  of  the  Kaimkhanis  ;  Sultana,  with 
its  Chaurasi,  or  division  of  eighty-four  townships,  from  the  Gaur 
Rajputs  ;  and  I^etri  and  its  dependencies  from  the  Tuars,  the 
descendants  of  the  ancient  emperors  of  Delhi  :  so  that,  in  process 
of  time,  he  possessed  himself  of  a  territory  comprising  more  than 
one  thousand  towns  and  villages.  Shortly  before  his  death  he 
divided  the  conquered  lands  amongst  his  five  sons,  whose  descend- 
ants, adopting  his  name  as  the  patronymic,  are  called  Sadhani  ; 
namely,  Zorawar  Singh,  Kishan  Singh,  Nawal  Singh,  Kesari  Singh, 
and  Pahar  Singh. 

Zorawar  Singh,  besides  the  paternal  and  original  estates,  had, 
in  virtue  of  primogeniture,  the  town  of  Chokri  and  its  twelve 
subordinate  villages,  with  all  the  other  emblems  of  state,  as  the 
elephants,  palkis,  etc.  ;  and  although  the  cupidity  of  the  Khetri 
chief,  the  descendant  of  the  second  son,  Kishan,  has  wrested  the 
patrimony  from  the  elder  branch,  who  has  now  only  Chokri,  yet 
the  distinctions  of  birth  are  never  lost  in  those  of  fortune,  and  the 
petty  chief  of  Chokri,  with  its  twelve  small  townships,  is  looked 
upon  as  the  superior  of  Abhai  Singh,  tliough  the  lord  of  five 
hundred  villages. 

The  descendants  of  the  other  four  sons,  now  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  Sadhanis,  are,^ 

Abhai  Singh  of  Khetri  ; 
Shyara  Singh  of  Baswa  ; 

^  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was  written  in  1814. 


THE  SADHANI  SHAIKHAWATS  1426 

Gyan  Singh  of  Nawalgarli  ;  ^ 
Sher  Singh  of  Sultana  [427]. 

Besides  the  patrimonies  assigned  to  the  five  sons  of  Sadhu, 
he  left  the  districts  of  Singhana,  Jhunjhunu,  and  Surajgarh  (the 
ancient  Oricha),  to  be  held  in  joint  heirship  by  the  junior  members 
of  his  stock.  The  first,  with  its  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
villages,  has  been  usurped  by  Abhai  Singh  of  Khetri,  but  the  others 
still  continue  to  be  frittered  away  in  sub-infeudations  among  this 
numerous  and  ever-spreading  frerage. 

Abhai  Singh  has  assumed  the  same  importance  amongst  the 
Sadhanis  that  Lachhman  Singh  has  amongst  the  Raesalots,  and 
both  by  the  same  means,  crime  and  usurpation.  The  Sikar  chief 
has  despoiled  his  senior  branch  of  Khandela  ;  and  the  Khetri  chief 
has  not  only  despoiled  the  senior,  but  also  the  junior,  of  the  five 
branches  of  Sadhu.  The  transaction  which  produced  the  last 
result,  whereby  the  descendant  of  Sher  Singh  lost  Sultana,  is  so 
peculiarly  atrocious,  that  it  is  worth  relating,  as  a  proof  to  what 
lengths  the  Rajput  will  go  '  to  get  land.' 

Bagh  Singh  seizes  Sultana. — ^Pahar  Singh  had  an  only  son, 
named  Bhopal,  who  being  killed  in  an  attempt  on  Loharu,  he 
adopted  the  younger  son  of  his  nephew,  Bagh  Singh  of  Khetri. 
On  the  death  of  his  adopted  father,  the  Sultana  chief,  being  too 
young  to  undertake  the  management  of  his  fief  in  person,  re- 
mained under  the  paternal  roof.  It  would  appear  as  if  this  aliena- 
tion of  political  rights  could  also  alienate  affection  and  rupture 
all  the  ties  of  kindred,  for  this  unnatural  father  imbrued  his 
hands  in  the  blood  of  his  own  child,  and  annexed  Sultana  to 
KJietri.  But  the  monster  grievously  suffered  for  the  deed  ;  he 
became  the  scorn  of  his  kinsmen,  "  who  spit  at  him  and  threw 
dust  on  his  head,"  until  he  secluded  himself  from  the  gaze  of 
mankind.  The  wife  of  his  bosom  ever  after  refused  to  look  upon 
him  ;  she  managed  the  estates  for  her  surviving  son,  the  present 
Abhai  Singh.  During  twelve  years  that  Bagh  Singh  survived, 
he  never  quitted  his  apartment  in  the  castle  of  Khetri,  until 
carried  out  to  be  burned,  amidst  the  execrations  and  contempt  of 
his  kinsmen. 

^  Nawalgarh  contains  four  thousand  houses,  environed  by  a  shahrpanah 
or  rampart.  It  is  on  a  more  ancient  site  called  Rolani,  whose  old  castle  in 
ruins  is  to  the  south-east,  and  the  new  one  midway  between  it  and  the  town, 
built  by  Nawal  Singh  in  S.  1802,  or  a.d.  1746. 


1426  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

The  Larkhanis. — Having  made  the  reader  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  the  genealogy  of  the  Sadhanis,  as  well  as  of  the 
Raesalots,  we  shall  conclude  with  a  brief  notice  of  the  Larkhanis, 
which  term,  translated  '  the  beloved  lords,'  ill  accords  with 
their  occupation,  as  the  most  notorious  marauders  in  Rajputana. 
Larla  is  a  common  infantine  appellation,  meaning  '  beloved  '  ; 
but  whether  the  adjunct  of  Khan  to  this  son  of  Raesal,  as  well 
as  to  that  of  his  youngest,  Tajkhan  (the  crown  of  princes),  was 
out  of  compliment  to  some  other  Muslim  saint,  we  know  not. 
Larkhan  conquered  his  own  [428]  appanage,  Danta  Ramgarh,  on 
the  frontiers  of  Marwar,  then  a  dependency  of  Sambhar,  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  liis  father's  influence  at  court  secured  the 
possession  to  him.  Besides  this  district,  they  have  the  lappa  of 
Nosal,  and  altogether  about  eighty  townships,  including  some 
held  of  the  Rajas  of  Marwar,  and  Bikaner,  to  secure  their  ab- 
stinence from  plxinder  within  their  bounds.  The  Larkhanis  are 
a  community  of  robbers  ;  their  name,  like  Pindari  and  Kazzak, 
is  held  in  these  regions  to  be  synonymous  with  '  freebooter,'  and 
as  they  can  muster  five  hundred  horse,  their  raids  are  rather 
formidable.  Sometimes  their  nominal  liege  lord  calls  upon  them 
for  tribute,  but  being  in  a  difflculi  country,  and  Ramgarh  being 
a  place  of  strength,  they  pay  little  regard  to  the  call,  unless  backed 
by  some  of  the  mercenary  partisans,  such  as  Amir  Khan,  who 
contrived  to  get  payment  of  arrears  of  tribute  to  the  amount  of 
twenty  thousand  rupees. 

Revenues. — We  conclude  this  sketch  with  a  rough  statement 
of  the  revenues  of  Shaikhavati,  which  might  yield  in  peace  and 
prosperity,  now  for  the  first  time  beginning  to  beam  upon  them, 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  lakhs  of  rupees  ;  but  at  present  they 
fall  much  short  of  this  sum,  and  full  one-half  of  the  lands  of  the 
confederation  are  held  by  the  chiefs  of  Sikar  and  Ivhetri — 

llupees. 
Lachhman  Singh,  of  Sikar,  including  Khandela  .        800,000 

Abhai  Singh,  of  Khetri,  including  Kotputli,  given  by 

Lord  Lake 600,000 

Shyam  Singh,  of  Baswa,  including  his  brother  Ran  jit's 

share  of  40,000  (whom  he  killed)         .  .  .         190,000 

Gyan  Singh,  of  Nawalgarh,  including  Mandao,  each 

fifty  villages 70,000 

Carry  forward     .  .  .     1,660,000 


REVENUES 


1427 


Brought  forward     . 
Lachhman  Siiigh,  Mendsar,  the  chief  sub-infeudation 

of  Nawalgarh  ....... 

Tain  and  its  lands,  divided  amongst  the  twenty-seven 

great-grandsons  of  Zorawar  Singh,  eldest  son  of 

Sadhu     . 
Udaipurvati 
Manoharpur  ^ 
Larkhanis 
Harramjis 
Girdharpotas 
Smaller  estates 


Rupees. 
1,660,000 

30,000 


100,000 

100,000 
30,000 

100,000 
40,000 
40,000 

200,000 

2,300,000 
[429.] 


The  tribute  established  by  Jaipur  is  as  follows 


liupees. 

Sadhanis      .... 

.       200,000 

lOiandela     .          .          T         . 

60,000 

Fatehpur      .... 

64,000 

Udaipur  and  Babhai 

22,000 

Kash  ..... 

4,000 

350,000 

Thus,  supposing  the  revenues,  as  stated,  at  twenty-three  lakhs, 
to  be  near  the  truth,  and  the  tribute  at  three  and  a  half,  it  would 
be  an  assessment  of  one-seventh  of  the  whole,  which  is  a  fair 
proportion,  and  a  measure  of  justice  which  the  British  Govern- 
ment would  do  well  to  imitate. 

^  The  Manoharpur  chief  was  put  to  death  by  Raja  Jagat  Singh  {vide 
Madari  Lal'a  Jouraal  of  a.d.  1814),  and  his  lands  were  sequestrated  and 
partitioned  amongst  the  confederacy  :  the  cause,  his  inciting  the  Rahtis  or 
Ratis  (an  epithet  for  the  proselyte  Bhatti  plunderers  of  Bhattiana)  to  invade 
and  plunder  the  country. 


1428  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 


CHAPTER  8 

We  have  thus  developed  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Kachh- 
waha  tribe,  as  well  as  its  scions  of  Shaikhavati  and  Macheri.  To 
some,  at  least,  it  may  be  deemed  no  uninteresting  object  to  trace 
in  continuity  the  issue  of  a  fugitive  individual,  spreading,  in  the 
course  of  eight  hundred  years,  over  a  region  of  fifteen  thousand 
square  miles  ;  and  to  know  that  forty  thousand  of  his  flesh  and 
blood  have  been  marshalled  in  the  same  field,  defending,  sword 
in  hand,  their  country  and  their  prince.  The  name  of  '  country  ' 
carries  with  it  a  magical  power  in  the  mind  of  the  Rajput.  The 
name  of  his  wife  or  his  mistress  must  never  be  mentioned  at  all, 
nor  that  of  his  country  but  with  respect,  or  his  sword  is  instantly 
unsheathed  „  Of  these  facts,  numerous  instances  abound  in  these 
Annals  ;  yet  does  the  ignorant  Pardesi  (foreigner)  venture  to  say 
there  are  no  indigenous  terms  either  for  patriotism  or  gratitude 
in  this  country. 

Boundaries  and  Extent. — The  boundaries  of  Amber  and  its 
dependencies  are  best  seen  by  an  inspection  of  the  map.  Its 
greatest  breadth  lies  between  Sambhar,  touching  the  Marwar 
frontier  on  the  west,  and  the  town  of  Suraut,  on  the  Jat  frontier, 
east.  This  line  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  British  miles,  whilst 
its  greatest  breadth  from  north  to  south,  including  Shaikhavati, 
is  one  hundred  and  eighty.  Its  form  is  [430]  very  irregular.  We 
may,  however,  estimate  the  surface  of  the  parent  State,  Dhundhar 
or  Jaipur,  at  nine  thousand  five  hundred  square  miles,  and 
Shaikhavati  at  five  thousand  four  hundred  ;  in  all,  fourteen 
thousand  nine  hundred  square  miles.^ 

Population. — It  is  difficult  to  determine  with  exactitude  the 
amount  of  the  population  of  this  region  ;  but  from  the  best  in- 
formation, one  hundred  and  fifty  souls  to  the  square  mile  would 
not  be  too  great  a  proportion  in  Amber,  and  eighty  in  Shaikha- 
vati ;  giving  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  to  the 
united  area,  which  consequently  contains  185,670  ;  and  when 
we  consider  the  very  great  number  of  large  towns  in  this  region, 
it  may  not  be  above,  but  rather  below,  the  truth.  Dhundhar, 
the  parent  country,  is  calculated  to  contain  four  thousand  town- 

^  [The  area  of  the  Jaipur  State,  according  to  the  last  surveys,  is  15,579 
square  miles.] 


TRIBES  OF  JAIPUR  1429 

sliips,  exclusive  of  piirwas,  or  hamlets,  and  Shaikhavati  about 
half  that  number,  of  which  Lachhman  Singh  of  Sikar  and  Khan- 
dela,  and  Abhai  Singh  of  Khetri,  have  each  about  five  hundred, 
or  the  half  of  the  lands  of  the  federation.^ 

Classification  of  Inhabitants. — Of  this  population,  it  is  still 
more  difficult  to  classify  its  varied  parts,  although  it  may  be 
asserted  with  confidence  that  the  Rajputs  bear  but  a  small  ratio 
to  the  rest,^  whilst  they  may  equal  in  number  any  individual 
class,  except  the  aboriginal  Minas,  who,  strange  to  say,  are  still 
the  most  numerous.  The  following  are  the  principal  tribes,  and 
the  order  in  which  they  follow  may  be  considered  as  indicative 
of  their  relative  numbers.  1.  Minas  ;  2,  Rajputs  ;  3.  Brahmans  ; 
4.  Banias  ;  5.  Jats  ;  6.  Dhakar,  or  Kirar  (qu.  Kirata  ?) ;  7.  Gujars.^ 

The  Mina  Tribe. — The  Minas  are  subdivided  into  no  less  than 
thirty-two  distinct  clans  or  classes,  but  it  would  extend  too  much 
the  Annals  of  this  State  to  distinguish  them.  Moreover,  as  they 
belong  to  every  State  in  Rajwara,  we  shall  find  a  fitter  occasion 
to  give  a  general  account  of  them.  The  immunities  and  privileges 
preserved  to  the  Minas  best  attest  the  truth  of  the  original  induc- 
tion of  the  exiled  prince  of  Narwar  to  the  sovereignty  of  Amber  ; 
and  it  is  a  curious  fact,  showing  that  such  establislmient  must 
have  been  owing  to  adoption,  not  conquest,  that  this  event  was 
commemorated  on  every  installation  by  a  Mina  of  Kalikoh 
marking  with  his  blood  the  tika  of  sovereignty  on  the  forehead  of 
the  prince.  The  blood  was  obtained  by  incision  of  the  great  toe, 
and  though,  like  many  other  antiquated  usages,  this  has  fallen 
into  desuetude  here  (as  has  the  same  mode  of  inauguration  of  the 
Ranas  bj'^  the  Oghna  Bhils),  yet  both  in  the  one  case  and  in  the 
other,  there  cannot  be  more  convincing  evidence  that  these  now 
outcasts  were  originally  the  masters.     The  Minas  still  enjoy  the 

^  [According  to  the  census  of  1911,  the  population  of  Jaipur  State  was 
2,636,647,  169  per  square  mile.] 

^  [The  proportion  of  Rajputs  to  the  total  population  was,  in  1911,  45 
per  1000.] 

^  [The  present  order,  in  numbers,  of  the  castes  is — Brahmans,  Jats, 
Minas,  Charaars,  Banias  or  Mahajans,  Giijars,  Rajputs,  Malis.  Dhakar 
Rajputs  are  found  in  the  Central  Ganges-Jumna  Duab,  and  in  Rohilkhand 
(Elliot,  Supplementary  Glossary,  263).  There  are  now  89,000  Dhakara  in 
Rajputana.  Kirar  is  a  term  generally  applied  in  the  Panjab  to  traders  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  Banias  of  Hindustan,  and  the  name  has  no  con- 
nexion with  the  Kirata,  a  forest  tribe  of  E.  India  (Rose,  Glossary,  ii.  552 ; 
Russell,  Tribes  and  Castes  of  the  Central  Provinces,  iii.  485  ff.)-] 


1 130  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JATPITR 

most  confidential  posts  about  the  persons  of  the  princes  of  Amber, 
having  charge  of  the  archives  [431]  and  treasure  in  Jaigarh  ;  they 
guard  his  person  at  night,  and  have  that  most  dehcatc  of  all 
trusts,  the  charge  of  the  raivala,  or  seraglio.  In  the  earlier  stages 
of  Kachhwaha  power,  these  their  primitive  subjects  had  the  whole 
insignia  of  state,  as  well  as  the  person  of  the  prince,  committed 
to  their  trust  ;  but  presuming  upon  this  privilege  too  far,  when 
they  insisted  that,  in  leaving  their  bounds,  he  should  leave  these 
emblems,  the  nakkaras  and  standards,  with  them,  their  preten- 
sions were  cancelled  in  their  blood.  The  Minas,  Jats,  and  Kirars 
are  the  principal  cultivators,  many  of  them  holding  large  estates.^ 

Jats. — The  Jats  nearly  equal  the  Minas  in  numbers,  as  well  as 
in  extent  of  possessions,  and  are,  as  usual,  the  most  industrious 
of  all  husbandmen. 

Brahmans. — Of  Brahmans,  following  secular  as  well  as  sacred 
employments,  there  are  more  in  Amber  than  in  any  other  State 
in  Rajwara  ;  from  which  we  are  not  to  conclude  that  her  princes 
were  more  religious  than  their  neighbours,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
that  they  were  greater  sinners. 

Rajputs. — It  is  calculated  that,  even  now,  on  an  emergency,  if 
a  national  war  roused  the  patriotism  of  the  Kachhwaha  feudality, 
they  could  bring  into  the  field  thirty  thousand  of  their  Idn  and 
clan,  or,  to  repeat  their  own  emphatic  phrase,  "  the  sons  of  one 
father,"  which  includes  the  Narukas  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Shaikha- 
wat  federation.^  Although  the  Kachhwahas,  under  their  popular 
princes,  as  Pajun,  Raja  Man,  and  the  Mirza  Raja,  have  performed 
exploits  as  brilliant  as  any  other  tribes,  yet  they  do  not  now  enjoy 
the  same  reputation  for  courage  as  either  the  Rathors  or  Ilaras. 
This  may  be  in  part  accounted  for  by  the  demoralization  con- 
sequent upon  their  proximity  to  the  Mogul  court,  and  their 
participation  in  all  enervating  vices  ;  but  still  more  from  the 
deirradations  they  have  suffered  from  the  Mahrattas,  and  to 
which  their  western  brethren  have  been  less  exposed.  Every 
feeling,  patriotic  or  domestic,  became  corrupted  wherever  their 
pernicious  influence  prevailed. 

Soil,  Husbandry,  Products. — Dhundhar  contains  every  variety 

^  [The  Minas  are  a  notorious  criminal  tribe  (M.  Kennedy,  Notes  on  the 
Criminal  Tribes  in  the  Bombay  Presidency,  207  ff.  ;  C.  Hervey,  Some  Records 
of  Crime,  i.  328  ff.)-] 

*  [In  1911  there  were  96,242  Kachhwahas  in  Rajputana,  of  whom  about 
two-thirds  are  in  Jaipur.] 


FARMING  SYSTEM  1431 

of  soil,  and  the  kharif  and  rabi,  or  autumnal  and  spring  crops,  are 
of  nearly  equal  importance.  Of  the  former  bajra  predominates 
over  jiiar,  and  in  the  latter  barley  over  wheat.  The  other  grains, 
pulses,  and  vegetables,  reared  all  over  Hindustan,  are  here  pro- 
duced in  abundance,  and  require  not  to  be  specified  [432].  The 
sugar-cane  used  to  be  cultivated  to  a  very  great  extent,  but  partly 
from  extrinsic  causes,  and  still  more  from  its  holding  out  such  an 
allurement  to  the  renters,  the  husbandman  has  been  compelled  to 
curtail  this  lucrative  branch  of  agriculture  ;  for  although  land 
fit  for  ikh  (cane)  is  let  at  four  to  six  rupees  per  bigha,  sixty  have 
been  exacted  before  it  was  allowed  to  be  reaped.  Cotton  of 
excellent  quality  is  produced  in  considerable  quantities  in  various 
districts,  as  are  indigo  and  other  dyes  common  to  India.  Neither 
do  the  implements  of  husbandry  or  their  application  differ  from 
those  which  have  been  described  in  this  and  various  other  works 
sufficiently  well  known.^ 

Farming  System. — It  is  the  practice  in  this  State  to  farm  its 
lands  to  the  highest  bidder  ;  and  the  mode  of  farming  is  most 
pernicious  to  the  interests  of  the  State  and  the  cultivating  classes, 
both  of  whom  it  must  eventually  impoverish.  The  farmers- 
general  are  the  wealthy  bankers  and  merchants,  who  make  their 
offers  for  entire  districts  ;  these  they  underlet  in  tappas,  or  sub- 
divisions, the  holders  of  which  again  subdivide  them  into  single 
villages,  or  even  shares  of  a  village.  With  the  profits  of  all  these 
persons,  the  expenses  attending  collections,  quartering  of  barkari' 
dazes,  or  armed  police,  are  the  poor  Bhumias  and  Ryots  saddled. 
Could  they  only  know  the  point  where  exaction  must  stop,  they 
would  still  have  a  stimulus  to  activity  ;  but  when  the  crops  are 
nearly  got  in,  and  all  just  demands  satisfied,  they  suddenly  hear 
that  a  new  renter  has  been  installed  in  £he  district,  having  ousted 
the  holder  by  some  ten  or  twenty  thousand  rupees,  and  at  the 
precise  moment  when  the  last  toils  of  the  husbandman  were  near 
completion.  The  renter  has  no  remedy  ;  he  may  go  and  "  throw 
his  turban  at  the  door  of  the  palace,  and  exclaim  dohai,  Raja 
Sahib  !  "  till  he  is  weary,  or  marched 'off  to  the  Kotwal's  chabutra, 
and  perhaps  fined  for  making  a  disturbance.^     Knowing,  how- 

^  [Reference  may  be  made  to  the  artistic  industry  in  brass-work  (Hendley, 
Jaipur  Museum  Catalogue;  Journal  Indian  Art,  1886,  i.  No.  12,  1891,  i. 
No.  11).] 

^  [Chabutra,  the  platform  on  which  the  Kotwal  or  chief  police  officer  does 
business.     For  the  cry  dohdi  see  Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  321.] 


1432  ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 

ever,  that  there  is  little  benefit  to  be  derived  from  such  a  course, 
they  gener<ally  submit,  go  through  the  whole  accounts,  make  over 
the  amount  of  collections,  and  with  the  host  of  vultures  in  their 
train,  who,  never  unprepared  for  such  changes,  have  been  making 
the  most  of  their  ephemeral  power  by  battening  on  the  hard 
earnings  of  the  peasantry,  retire  for  this  fresh  band  of  harpies  to 
pursue  a  like  course.  Nay,  it  is  far  from  uncommon  for  three 
different  renters  to  come  upon  the  same  district  in  one  season, 
or  even  the  crop  of  one  season,  for  five  or  ten  thousand  rupees, 
annulling  the  existing  engagement,  no  matter  how  far  advanced. 
Such  was  the  condition  of  this  State  ;  and  when  to  these  e\'ils 
were  superadded  the  exactions  called  dand,  or  barar,  forced  con- 
tributions to  pay  those  armies  of  robbers  who  swept  the  lands, 
language  cannot  exaggerate  the  extent  of  misery.  The  love  of 
country  must  be  powerful  indeed  which  can  enchain  man'to  a 
land  so  misgoverned,  so  unprotected  [4.S3]. 

Revenues. — It  is  always  a  task  of  difficulty  to  obtain  any 
correct  account  of  the  revenues  of  these  States,  which  are  ever 
fluctuating.  We  have  now  before  us  several  schedules,  both  of 
past  and  present  reigns,  all  said  to  be  copied  from  the  archives, 
in  which  the  name  of  every  district,  together  with  its  rent,  town 
and  transit  duties,  and  other  sources  of  income,  are  stated  ;  but 
the  details  would  afford  little  satisfaction,  and  doubtless  the 
resident  authorities  have  access  to  the  foiuitain  -  head.  The 
revenues  of  Dhundhar,  of  every  description,  fiscal,  feudal,  and 
tributary,  or  impost,  are  stated,  in  round  numbers,  at  one  crore 
of  rupees,  or  about  a  million  of  pounds  sterling,  which,  estimating 
the  difference  of  the  price  of  labour,  may  be  deemed  equivalent 
to  four  times  that  sum  in  England.^  Since  this  estimate  was 
made,  there  have  been  great  alienations  of  territorj'',  and  no  less 
than  sixteen  rich  districts  have  been  wrested  from  Amber  by  the 
Mahrattas,  or  her  own  rebel  son,  the  Naruka  chief  of  Macheri. 


The  following  is  tlie  schedule  of  alienations  : — 

1    Kama  *  I 

.1  Taken  by  General  Perron,  for  his  master  Sindhia  ; 

■  „  ,      .  r     since  rented  to  the  Jats,  and  retained  by  them. 
3.  Pahari  j  ^ 

^  [The  normal  revenue  is  now  believed  to  bo  about  65  lakhs  of  rupees, 
roughly  speaking,  £433,000  {lOI,  xiii.  395).] 

*  [This  may  possibly  be  Kanxban  in  Bharatpur  State.] 


Seized  by  the  Macheri  Rao  [now  in  Alwar 
State] 


REVENUES  1438 

4.  Kanti  v 

5.  Ukrod 

6.  Pandapan 

7.  Ghazi-ka-thana 

8.  Rampara  (karda) 

9.  Ganwnri 

10.  Reni 

11.  Parbeni 

12.  Mozpur  Harsana 
,„    T^        ,        T^  J  ,  (Taken    by  De   Boigne   and    given    to 

13.  Kanod  or  Kanaund  H      ,,     .         t^,  ^       •  ,  ^ 

-  .    , ,         ,  \      Murtaza  Ivhan,  Baraich,  conftrmed 

14.  Narnol  •     *i         u     t     ^i  t    i 

(^     in  them  by  Lord  Lake. 

I  Taken  in  the  war  of  1803-4,  from  the  Mahrattas, 
and  given   by  Lord  Lake   to   Abhai   Singli   of 
Khetri. 
(Granted  to  Holkar  by  Raja  Madho  Singh  ;    con- 
'  „  -      firmed  in  sovereignty  to  Amir  Khan  by  Lord 

'■  \  Hastmgs. 
It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  almost  all  these 
alienated  districts  had  but  for  a  comparatively  short  period 
formed  an  integral  portion  of  Dhundhar  ;  and  that  the  major 
part  were  portions  of  the  imperial  domains,  held  in  jaeclad,  or 
'  assignment,'  by  the  princes  of  this  country,  in  their  capacity  of 
lieutenants  of  the  emperor.  In  Raja  Prithi  Singh's  reign,  about 
half  a  century  ago,  the  rent-roll  of  Amber  and  her  tributaries  was 
[434]  seventy-seven  lakhs  :  and  in  a  very  minute  schedule  formed 
in  S.  1858  (a.d.  1802),  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Raja  Partap 
Singh,  they  were  estimated  at  seventy-nine  lakhs  :  an  ample 
revenue,  if  well  administered,  for  every  object.  We  shall  present 
the  chief  items  which  form  the  budget  of  ways  and  means  of  Amber . 

Schedule  of  the  Revenues  of  Amber  for  S.  1858  (a.d.  1802-3), 

the  year  of  Raja  Jagat  Singh'' s  accession. 

Khalisa,  or  Fiscal  Land. 

Rupees. 
Managed  by  the  Raja,  or  rented        .         .     2,055,000 

Deori    taluka,    expenses    of    the    queen's 

household 500,000 


Carry  forward       .         .     2,555,000 

^  Kanod  was  the  fief  of  Amir  Singh,  Khangarot,  one  of  the  twelve  great 
lords  of  Amber. 

VOL     III  N 


1434 


ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 


Rupees. 
Brought  forward  .  .  2,555,000 
Shawirdpcsha,  servants  of  the  houseliold  .  :}00.000 
INIinisters,  and  civil  officers  .  .  .  •-.>()(), OOO 
Jagirs  for  the  Silahposh,  or  men-at-arms  .  150,000 
Jagirs  to  army,  namely,  ten  battalions  of 

infantry  with  cavalry  .         .         .        714,000 

Total  Fiscal  Land      .         .     

Feudal  lands  (of  Jaipur  Proper) 
Udak,^  or  charity  lands,  chiefly  to  Brahmans 
Dan  aiid  Mapa,  or  transit  and  impost  duties  of  the 
country  ...... 

Kachahri,   of  the  capital,   includes  town-duties 
fines,  contributions,  etc.,  etc. 

Mint 

Hundi-bara,    insurance,    and    dues    on    bills    of 
exchange        ...... 

Faujdari,  or  commandant  of  Amber  (annual  fine) 

Do.  do.  of  city  Jaipur 

Bid'at,  petty  fines  from  the  Kachahri,  or  hall  of 
justice  ...... 

Sabzimandi,  vegetable  market 


3,919,000 
1,700,000 
1 ,600,000 

190,000 

215,000 
60,000 

60,000 

12,000 

8,000 

16,000 
3,000 


Tribute 


Total  Lakhs      '  .         .         .         .     7,783,000 

rShaikhavati 350,000 

ijawat  and  other  feudatories  of 


(snaikJ 
Rajav 
Jail 


Jaipur  ^ 
vKothris  of  Haraoti^ 


Total  Tribute 

Add  Tribute 


30,000 
20,000 


400,000 


400,000 

Grand  Total  .         .      Rs.  8,183,000 

[435J. 

^  [UdaJca  means  the  rite  of  offering  water  to  deceased  relations  ;  hence, 
assignments  of  lands  to  Brahmans  at  such  rites  (H.  T.  Colebrooke,  Essays 
on  the  Rdiqion  and  Philosophy  of  the  Hindus,  cd.  1858,  p.  115;  Monier- 
Williams,  Brcihrnanistn  and  Hinduism,  4th  cd.  p.  304).] 

*  Barwara,  Khirni,  Sawar,  Tsarda,  etc.,  etc. 

'  Antardah,  Balwan,  and  Indargarh. 


REVENUES  :  FOREIGN  ARMY  1435 

If  this  statement  is  correct,  and  we  add  thereto  the  Shaikha- 
wat,  Rajawat,  and  Hara  tributes,  the  revenues  fiscal,  feudal, 
commercial,  and  tributary,  of  Amber,  when  Jagat  Singh  came  to 
the  throne,  would  exceed  eighty  lakhs  of  rupees,  half  of  which  is 
khalisa,  or  appertaining  to  the  Raja — nearly  tAvice  the  personal 
revenue  of  any  other  prince  in  Rajwara,  This  sum  (forty  lakhs) 
was  the  estimated  amount  liable  to  tribute  when  the  treaty  was 
formed  with  the  British  Government,  and  of  which  the  Raja  has 
to  pay  eight  lakhs  annually,  and  five-sixteenths  of  all  revenue 
surplus  to  this  amount.  The  observant  reader  will  not  fail  to  be 
struck  with  the  vast  inequality  between  the  estates  of  the  de- 
fenders of  the  country,  and  these  drones  the  Brahmans, — a  point 
on  which  we  have  elsewhere  treated  :  ^  nor  can  anything  more 
powerfully  mark  the  utter  prostration  of  intellect  of  the  Kachh- 
waha  princes,  than  their  thus  maintaining  an  indolent  and  baneful 
hierarchy,  to  fatten  on  the  revenues  which  would  support  four 
thousand  Kachhwaha  cavaliers.  With  a  proper  application  of 
her  revenues,  and  princes  like  Raja  Man  to  lead  a  brave  vassalage, 
they  would  have  foiled  all  the  efforts  of  the  Mahrattas  ;  but  their 
own  follies  and  vices  have  been  their  ruin. 

Foreign  Army. — At  the  period  (a.d.  1803)  this  schedule  was 
formed  of  the  revenues  of  Amber,  she  maintained  a  foreign  army 
of  thirteen  thousand  men,  consisting  of  ten  battalions  of  infantry 
with  guns,  a  legion  of  four  thousand  Nagas,  a  corps  of  Aligols  ^ 
for  police  duties,  and  one  of  cavalry,  seven  hundred  strong.  With 
these,  the  regular  contingent  of  feudal  levies,  amounting  to  about 
four  thousand  efficient  horse,  formed  a  force  adequate  to  repel 
any  insult  ;  but  when  the  kher,  or  levee  en  masse,  was  called  out, 
twenty  thousand  men,  horse  and  foot,  were  ready  to  back  the 
always  embodied  force  .^ 

A  detailed  schedule  of  the  feudal  levies  of  Amber  may  diversify 
the  dry  details  of  these  annals,  obviate  repetition,  and  present  a 
perfect  picture  of  a  society  of  clanships.  In  this  list  we  shall 
give  precedence  to  the  kothriband,  the  holders  of  the  twelve  great 
fiefs  (barah-kothri)  of  Amber — 

1  See  Dissertation  on  the  Religious  Establishments  of  Mewar,  Vol.  II. 
p.  590. 

2  [See  pp.  1416,  1422.] 

3  [At  present  the  military  forces  of  the  State  consist  of  about  5000 
infantry,  5000  Nasi:as,  700  cavalry,  S60  artillery-men,  and  100  mounted 
on  camels  {IGI,  xiii.  397).] 


1436 


ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 


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FEUDALITIES  OF  AMBER  1437 

It  will  be  remarked  that  the  estates  of  these,  the  chief  vassals 
of  Amber,  are,  with  the  exception  of  two,  far  inferior  in  value  to 
those  of  the  sixteen  great  chiefs  of  Mewar,  or  the  eight  of  Marwar  ; 
and  a  detailed  list  of  all  the  inferior  feudatories  of  each  Kothri, 
or  clan,  would  show  that  many  of  them  have  estates  greater  than 
those  of  their  leaders  :  for  instance,  Kishan  Singh  of  Chaumun 
has  upwards  of  a  lakh,  while  Beri  Sal  of  Samod,  the  head  of  the 
clan  (Nathawat),  has  only  forty  thousand  ;  again,  the  chief  of 
Balaheri  holds  an  estate  of  tliirty-five  thousand,  while  that  of 
the  head  of  his  clan  is  but  twenty-five  thousand.  The  repre- 
sentative of  the  Sheobaranpotas  has  an  estate  of  only  ten  thousand, 
while  the  junior  branch  of  Gura  has  thirty-six  thousand.  Again, 
the  chief  of  the  Khangarots  has  but  twenty-five  thousand,  while 
no  less  than  three  junior  branches  hold  lands  to  double  that 
amount ;  and  the  inferior  of  the  Balbhadarots  holds  upwards 
of  a  lakh,  while  the  superior  of  Achrol  has  not  a  third  of  this 
rental.  The  favour  of  the  prince,  the  turbulence  or  talents  of 
individuals,  have  caused  these  inequalities  ;  but,  however  dis- 
proportioned  the  gifts  of  fortime,  the  attribute  of  honour  always 
remains  with  the  lineal  descendant  and  representative  of  the 
original  fief. 

We  shall  further  illustrate  this  subject  of  t;j^e  feudalities  of 
Amber  by  inserting  a  general  list  of  all  the  clans,  with  the  number 
of  subdivisions,  the  resources  of  each,  and  the  quotas  they  ought 
to  furnish.  At  no  remote  period  this  was  held  to  be  correct,  and 
Avill  serve  to  give  a  good  idea  of  the  Kachhwaha  aristocracy.  It 
was  my  [437]  intention  to  have  given  a  detailed  accoxuit  of  the 
subdivisions  of  each  fief,  their  names,  and  those  of  their  holders, 
but  on  reflection,  though  they  cost  some  diligence  to  obtain,  they 
would  have  little  interest  for  the  general  reader. 


[Table 


1438 


ANNALS  OF  AMBER  OR  JAIPUR 


Schedule  of  the  Kachhwaha  clans  ;    the  number  of  fiefs  or  estates 
ill  each  ;  their  aggregate  value,  and  quotas  of  horse  for  each  estate.^ 


Number  of 

Names  of  Clans. 

Fiefs  in  each 
Clanship  or 

Aggregate 
Revenue. 

Aggregate 
Quotas. 

.  Clan. 

f  Chhattarbhujot 

6 

53,800 

92 

Kalyanot 

19 

245,196 

422 

Nathawat 

10 

220,800 

371 

Balbhadarot  . 

2 

130,850 

157 

Khangarot      .        . 

22 

402,806 

643 

12  S 

Sultanot 

— 

Pachaiiiot 

3 

24,700 

45 

Gugawat 

13 

167,900 

273 

Kumbhani  [or  Kumani] 

2 

23,787 

35 

Kuinbhawat  . 

6 

40,738 

68 

Sheobaranpota 

3 

49,500 

73 

^Banbirpota     . 

3 

26,575 

48 

'  Rajawat 

16 

198,137 

392 

4  =- 

Naruka ' . 

6 

91,069 

92 

Bankawat 

4 

34,600 

53 

-  Puranmallot  . 

1 

10,000 

19 

'Bhatti      .... 

4 

104,039 

205 

Chauhaii 

4 

30,500 

61 

Bargujar 

6 

32,000 

58 

Chandarawat 

1 

14,000 

21 

10  *- 

Sakarwar 

2 

4,500 

8 

Gujars     .... 

3 

15,300 

30 

Rangras  .... 

6 

291,105 

549 

Khatris    .... 

4 

120,000 

281 

Brahnians 

12 

312,000 

606 

^Musalinan 

9 

141,400 

274 

[438]. 

Ancient  Towns. — We  shall  conclude  the  annals  of  Amber  with 
the  names  of  a  lew  of  the  ancient  towns,  in  which  research  may 
recover  something  of  past  days. 

^  [A  fuller  and  more  correct  list  will  be  found  in  Edjputdna  Census  Report, 
1911,  i.  255.] 

^  The  first  twelve  are  the  Barah-kothris,  or  twelve  great  fiefs  of  Amber. 

^  The  next  four  are  of  the  Kachhwaha  stock,  but  not  reckoned  amongst 
the  Kothribands.  ^ 

*  The  last  ten  are  foreign  chieftains,  i>f  various  tril)es  and  classes. 

No  doubt  great  changes  have  taken  place  since  this  list  was  formed, 
especially  amongst  the  mercenary  Pattayats,  or  Jagii'dars.  The  quotas  are 
also  irregular,  though  the  qualification  of  a  cavalier  in  this  State  is  reckoned 
at  live  hundred  rupees  of  income. 


ANCIENT  TOWNS  1439 

Mora. — Nine  coss  east  of  Dausa  or  Daosa  ;  built  by  Mordhwaj. 
a  Chauhan  Raja. 

Abhaner. — Three  coss  east  of  Lalsont  ;  very  ancient  ;  capital 
of  a  Chauhan  sovereignty. 

Bangarh. — Five  coss  from  Tholai  ;  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
town  and  castle  in  the  hills,  built  by  the  old  princes  of  Dhundhar, 
prior  to  the  Kachhwahas. 

Amargarh. — Three  coss  from  Kushalgarh ;  built  by  the 
Nagvansa. 

Bairat/ — ^Three  coss  from  Basai  in  Macheri,  attributed  to  the 
Pandus, 

Patan  and  Ganipur. — Both  erected  by  the  ancient  Tuar  kings 
of  Delhi. 

Kharar,  or  Khandar. — Near  Ranthambhor. 

Utgir. — On  the  Chambal. 

Amber,  or  Ambikeswara,  a  title  of  Siva,  whose  symbol  is  in 
the  centre  of  a  kund  or  tank  in  the  middle  of  the  old  town.  The 
water  covers  half  the  lingam  ;  and  a  prophecy  prevails,  that 
when  it  is  entirely  submerged  the  State  of  Amber  will  perish  ! 
There  are  inscriptions  [439]. 

1  [Forty-two  miles  N.N.E.  of  Jaipur  city,  the  ancient  Vairata  {IGI,  vi. 
217  ;   ASB,  ii.  242  ff.).] 


KAi.lll   l;ll(   SIXOII,   MAIIARAO    KA.IA   OK   JitJNDI. 


To  face  jMije  1441. 


BOOK  X 

ANNALS   OF  HARAVATI 

BUNDI 

CHAPTER   1 

Haravati. — Haravati,  or  Haraoti,  '  the  country  of  the  Haras,' 
comprehends  two  principalities,  namely,  Kotah  and  Bundi. 
The  Chambal  intersects  the  territory  of  the  Hara  race,  and  now 
serves  as  their  boundary,  although  only  three  centuries  have 
elapsed  since  the  younger  branch  separated  from  and  became 
independent  of  Bundi, 

The  Hara  is  the  most  important  of  the  twenty-four  Chauhan 
sakha,  being  descended  from  Anuraj,  the  son  of  Manik  Rae,  king 
of  Ajmer,  who  in  S.  741  (a.d.  685)  sustained  the  first  shock  of  the 
Islamite  arms.^ 

The  Origin  of  the  Chauhans. — We  have  already  sketched  the 
pedigree  of  the  Chauhans,^  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
'  Thirty- six  Royal  Races  '  of  India. ^     We  must,  however,  in  this 

^  [The  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  that  of  the  Hara  Hunas  or  Huns 
(lA,  xi.  5)  or  from  Rao  Hado  or  Harraj.] 

2  See  Vol.  I.  p.  112. 

^  According  to  Herodotus,  the  Scythic  sakae  enumerated  eight  races  with 
the  epithet  of  royal,  and  Strabo  mentions  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  Thyssagetae 
as  boasting  the  title  of  Basilii.  [Herodotus  (iv.  22)  speaks  of  the  Thyssagetae, 
possibly  meanuig  '  lesser,'  Getae,  as  contrasted  with  the  Massagetae  or 
'  greater  '  Getae,  but  he  does  not  call  them  '  royal ' ;  and,  in  any  case,  they 
have  no  connexion  with  the  Rajputs  (see  Rawlinson,  Herodotus,  3rd  ed. 
iii.  209).]  The  Rajputs  assert  that  in  ancient  times  they  only  enumerated 
eight  royal  sakham  or  branches,  namely,  Surya,  Soma,  Haya  or  Aswa 

IMl 


1442  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

place,  enter  into  it  somewhat  more  fully  ;  and  in  doing  so,  we 
must  not  discard  even  the  fables  of  their  origin,  which  will  at 
least  demonstrate  that  the  human  understanding  has  been 
similarly  constructed  in  all  ages  and  countries,  before  the  thick 
veil  of  ignorance  and  superstition  was  withdrawn  from  it.  So 
scantj^  are  the  remote  records  of  the  Cliauhans,  that  it  would 
savour  of  affectation  to  attempt  a  division  of  the  periods  of  their 
history,  or  the  improbable,  the  probable,  and  the  certain.  Of 
the  first  two,  a  separation  woiUd  be  impracticable,  and  we  cannot 
trace  the  latter  beyond  the  seventh  century. 

"  When  the  impieties  of  the  kings  of  the  warrior  race  drew 
upon  them  the  vengeance  of  Parasurama,  who  twenty-one  times 
extirpated  that  race,  some,  in  order  to  save  their  lives,  called 
themselves  bards  ;  others  assmned  the  guise  of  women  ;  and  thus 
the  singh  (horn)  of  the  Rajputs  was  preserved,  when  dominion 
was  assigned  to  the  Brahmans.  The  impious  avarice  of  Sahasra 
Arjuna,  of  the  Haihaya  race,  king  of  Maheswar  ^  on  the  Nerbudda, 
provoked  the  last  war,  having  slain  the  father  of  Parasurama  [140]. 

"  But  as  the  chief  weapon  of  the  Brahman  is  liis  curse  or 
blessing,  great  disorders  soon  ensued  from  the  want  of  the  strong 
arm.  Ignorance  and  infidelity  spread  over  the  land  ;  the  sacred 
books  were  trampled  under  foot,  and  mankind  had  no  refuge  from 
the  monstrous  brood."  In  this  exigence,  Viswamitra,  the  in- 
structor in  arms  ^  of  Bhagwan,  revolved  witliin  his  own  mind, 
and  determined  upon,  the  re-creation  of  the  Chliattris.  He 
chose  for  this  rite  the  summit  of  Mount  Abu,*  where  dwell  the 
hermits  and  sages  (Munis  and  Risliis)  constantly  occupied  in  the 
duties  of  religion,  and  who  had  carried  their  complaints  even  to 
the  khir  samudra  (sea  of  curds),  where  they  saw  the  Father  of 

{qu.  Asi  ?)  Nima,  and  the  four  tribes  of  Agnivansa,  namely,  Pramara, 
Parihara,  Solauki,  and  Chauhan.  Abulghazi  states  that  the  Tatars  or 
Scythians  were  divided  into  six  grand  faniLlies.  The  Rajputs  have  main- 
tained these  ideas,  originally  brought  from  the  Oxus. 

^  [The  ancient  Mahishinati  {WI,  xvii.  8  ff.).  Sahasra  or  Sahasra  Vahu 
Ai'juna,  '  the  thousand-armed,'  of  the  Haihaya  tribe,  is  the  reputed  ancestor 
of  the  Kalachuris  of  Ciicdi  {BO,  i.  Part  ii.  293,  410  ;  Smith,  EHI,  394).] 

-  Or,  as  the  bard  says,  Daityas,  Asuras,  and  Danavas,  or  demons  and 
infidels,  as  tlicy  stylo  the  Indo-Scythic  tribes  from  the  north-west,  who  paid 
no  respect  to  the  Brahmans. 

^  Ayudh-guru.  [In  the  previous  version  (Vol.  I.  j).  113)  the  priest  is 
Vasishtha.] 

*  My  last  pilgrimage  was  to  Abu. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CHAUHANS  1443 

Creation  floating  upon  the  hydra  (emblem  of  eternity).  He 
desired  them  to  regenerate  the  warrior  race,  and  they  returned 
to  Mount  Abu  with  Indra,  Brahma,  Rudra,  Vishnu,  and  all  the 
inferior  divinities,  in  their  train.  The  fire-fountain  {analkund) 
was  lustrated  with  the  waters  of  the  Ganges  ;  expiatory  rites 
were  performed,  and,  after  a  protracted  debate,  it  was  resolved 
that  Indra  should  initiate  the  work  of  re-creation.  Having 
formed  an  image  (putli)  of  the  durva  grass,  he  sprinkled  it  with 
the  water  of  life,  and  threw  it  into  the  fire-fountain.  Thence,  on 
pronouncing  the  sanjivan  mantra  (incantation  to  give  life),  a 
figure  slowly  emerged  from  the  flame,  bearing  in  the  right  hand 
a  mace,  and  exclaiming,  ''Mar!  mar!''  (slay,  slay).  He  was 
called  Pramar  ;  and  Abu,  Dhar,  and  Ujjain  were  assigned  to  him 
as  a  territory. 

"  Brahma  was  then  entreated  to  frame  one  from  his  own 
essence  (ansa).  He  made  an  image,  threw  it  into  the  pit,  whence 
issued  a  figure  armed  with  a  sword  (khadga)  in  one  hand,  with  the 
Veda  in  the  other,  and  a  janeo  round  his  neck.  He  was  named 
Chalukya  or  Solanki,  and  Anhilpur  Patau  was  appropriated  to 
him. 

"  Rudra  formed  the  third.  The  image  was  sprinkled  with  the 
water  of  the  Ganges,  and  on  the  incantation  being  read,  a  black 
ill-favoured  figure  arose,  armed  with  the  dhanush  or  bow.  As 
his  foot  slipped  when  sent  against  the  demons,  he  was  called 
Parihar,  and  placed  as  the  pauliya,  or  guardian  of  the  gates.  He 
had  the  Naunangal  Marusthali,  or  '  nine  habitations  of  the  desert,' 
assigned  him 

"  The  fourth  was  formed  by  Vishnu  ;  when  an  image  like 
himself  four-armed,  each  having  a  separate  weapon,  issued  from 
the  flames,  and  was  thence  styled  Chaturbhuja  Chauhan,  or  the 
'  four-armed.'  The  gods  bestowed  their  blessing  upon  him,  and 
Mahishmati-nagari  as  a  territory.  Such  was  the  name  of  Garha- 
Mandla  in  the  Dwapur,  or  silver  age  [441].^ 

"  The  Daityas  were  watching  the  rites,  and  two  of  their  leaders 
were  close  to  the  flre-foimtain  ;  but  the  Avork  of  regeneration 
being  over,  the  new-born  warriors  were  sent  against  the  infidels, 
when  a  desperate  encounter  ensued.     But  as  fast  as  the  blood  of 

^  [There  is  no  local  tradition  corroborating  the  connexion  of  the  Chauhaiis 
with  Garha-Mandla,  and  it  is  merely  a  fiction  of  the  Chauhan  bards  (C. 
Grant,  Gazetteer  Central  Provinces,  Introd.  i.).]      « 


1444  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  BCNDI 

the  demons  was  shed,  young  demons  arose  ;  when  the  four 
tutehiry  divinities,  attendant  on  each  newly-created  race,  drank 
up  the  blood,  and  thus  stopped  the  multiplication  of  evil.  These 
were — 

Asapurna  of  the  Chauhan. 

Gajan  Mata  of  the  Parihar. 

Keonj  Mata  of  the  Solanki. 

Sancher  Mata  of  the  Pramara.^ 

"  When  the  Daityas  were  slain,  shouts  of  joy  rent  the  sky  ; 
ambrosial  showers  were  shed  from  heaven  ;  and  the  gods  drove 
their  cars  (vahan)  about  the  firmament,  exulting  at  the  victory 
thus  achieved. 

'•  Of  all  the  Thirty-six  Royal  Races  (says  Chand,  the  great  bard 
of  the  Chauhans),  the  Agnikula  is  the  greatest  :  the  rest  were 
born  of  woman  ;  these  were  created  by  the  Brahmans  !  ^ — 
Gotracharya  of  the  Chauhans,  Sama  Veda,  Somvansa,  Madhuvani 
sakha,  Vacha  gotra,  Panch  parwar  janeo,  Laktankari  nikas, 
Chandrabhaga  Nadi,  Brighu  nishan,  Ambika-Bhavani,  Balan 
Putra,  Kalbhairon,  Abu  Achaleswar  Mahadeo,  Chaturbhuja 
Chauhan." 

The  period  of  this  grand  convocation  of  the  gods  on  Mount 
Abu,  to  regenerate  the  warrior  race  of  Hind,  and  to  incite  them 
against  '  the  infidel  races  who  had  spread  over  the  land,'  is 
dated  so  far  back  as  the  opening  of  the  second  age  of  the  Hindus  : 
a  point  which  we  shall  not  dispute.  Neither  shall  we  throw  a 
doubt  upon  the  chronicles  which  claim  Prince  Salya,  one  of  the 
great  heroes  of  the  Mahabharata,  as  an  intermediate  link  between 
Anlial    Chauhan   and    Satpati,    who    founded    Mahishmati,    and 

^  [Another  title  of  the  Parihar  tribal  goddess  is  Chawanda  Mata,  whoso 
temple  is  in  the  Jodhpur  fort  (Census  Report,  Mdrwar,  1891,  ii.  31).  In 
Gujarat  the  Jadejas  worship  Asapurna  ;  the  Jhalas  Adya  ;  the  Gohils 
Khodiyar  Mata  ;  the  Jethvas  Vindhyavasini ;  the  Prainars  Mandavri ;  the 
Chavadas  and  Vaghelas  Chamunda  {BG,  ix.  Part  i.  136).] 

*  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  for  this  arrogant  priesthood  to  lay  claim 
to  powers  co-equal  with  those  of  the  Divinity,  nay,  often  superior  to  them. 
Witness  the  scene  in  the  Ramayana,  wliere  they  make  the  deity  a  mediator, 
to  entreat  the  Brahman  Vashishta  to  hearken  to  King  Vishwaniitra's  desire 
for  his  friendship.  Can  anything  exceed  this  ?  Parallel  it,  perhaps,  we 
may,  in  that  memorable  instance  of  Christian  idolatry,  where  the  Almighty 
is  called  on  to  intercede  with  St.  Januarius  to  perform  the  annual  mii'acle 
of  liquefying  the  congealed  blood. 


EARLY  LEGENDS  OF  THE  CHAUHAN  TRIBE    1445 

conquered  the  Konkan  ;  while  another  son,  called  Tantar  Pal, 
conquered  Asir  and  Gualkund  (Golkonda),  planted  his  garrisons 
in  every  region,  and  possessed  nine  hundred  elephants  to  carry 
pakhals,  or  water-skins  [442]. 

Let  us  here  pause  for  a  moment  before  we  proceed  with  the 
chronicle,  and  inquire  who  were  these  warriors,  thus  regenerated 
to  fight  the  battles  of  Brahmanism,  and  brought  within  the  pale 
of  their  faith.  They  must  have  been  either  the  aboriginal  de- 
based classes,  raised  to  moral  importance,  by  the  ministers  of 
the  pervading  religion,  or  foreign  races  who  had  obtained  a  foot- 
ing amongst  them.  The  contrasted  physical  appearance  of  the 
respective  races  will  decide  this  question.  The  aborigines  are 
dark,  diminutive,  and  ill-favoured  ;  the  Agnikulas  are  of  good 
stature,  and  fair,  with  prominent  features,  like  those  of  the 
Parthian  kings.  The  ideas  which  pervade  their  martial  poetry 
are  such  as  were  held  by  the  Scythian  in  distant  ages,  and  which 
even  Brahmanism  has  failed  to  eradicate  ;  while  the  tumuli, 
containing  ashes  and  arms,  discovered  throughout  India,  especi- 
ally in  the  south  about  Gualkund,  where  the  Chauhans  held 
sway,^  indicate  the  nomadic  warrior  of  the  north  as  the  proselyte 
of  Mount  Abu. 

Of  the  four  Agnikula  races,  the  Chauhans  were  the  first  who 
obtained  extensive  dominions.  The  almost  universal  power  of 
the  Pramaras  is  proverbial  ;  but  the  wide  sway  possessed  by  the 
Chauhans  can  only  be  discovered  with  difficulty.  Their  glory 
was  on  the  wane  when  that  of  the  Pramaras  was  in  the  zenith  ; 
and  if  we  may  credit  the  last  great  bard  of  the  Rajputs,  the 
Chauhans  held  in  caj^ite  of  the  Pramaras  of  Telingana,  in  the 
eighth  century  of  Vikrama,  though  the  name  of  Prithiraj  threw 
a  parting  ray  of  splendour  upon  the  whole  line  of  his  ancestry, 
even  to  the  fire-fountain  on  the  summit  of  classic  Abu. 

The  facts  to  be  gleaned  in  the  early  page  of  the  chronicle  are 

contained  in  a  few  stanzas,  which  proclaim  the  possession  of 

paramount  power,  though  probably  of  no  lengthened  duration. 

The    line  of    the  Nerbudda,   from  Mahishmati,  Maheswar,  was 

their  primitive  seat  of  sovereignty,  comprehending  all  the  tracts 

in  its  vicinity  both  north  and  south.     Thence,  as  they  multiplied, 

they  spread  over  the  peninsula,  possessing  Mandu,  Asir,  Golkonda, 

^  [This  is  a  fiction  of  the  bards,  and  the  S.  Indian  burial-mounds  have 
no  connexion  with  the  Chauhans  (see  IGI,  ii.  94).] 


1446  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BtTNDI 

and  the  Konkan  ;  ^  while  to  the  north,  [443]  they  stretched  even 
to  the  fountains  of  the  Ganges.  The  following  is  the  bard's 
picture  of  the  Chauhan  dominion  : — 

"  From  '  the  seat  of  government '  (rajasthan)  Mahishmati, 
the  oath  of  allegiance  (an)  resounded  in  fifty-two  castles.  The 
land  of  Tatta,  Lahore,  Multan,  Peshawar,^  the  Chauhan  in  his 
might  arose  and  conquered  even  to  the  hills  of  Badarinath. 
The  infidels  (Asuras)  fled,  and  allegiance  was  proclaimed  in  Delhi 
and  Kabul,  while  the  country  of  Nepal  he  bestowed  on  the 
Mallani.^  Crowned  with  the  blessing  of  the  gods,  he  returned  to 
Mahishmati." 

It  has  already  been  observed,  that  Mahishmati-Nagari  was 
the  ancient  name  of  Garha-Mandla,  whose  princes  for  ages  con- 
tinued the  surname  of  Pal,  indicative,  it  is  recorded  by  tradition, 
of  their  nomadic  occupation.  The  Ahirs,  who  occupied  all 
Central  India,  and  have  left  in  one  nook  (  Ahirwara)  a  memorial 
of  their  existence,  was  a  branch  of  the  same  race,  Ahir  being  a 
synonym  for  Pal.*  Bhilsa,  Bhojpur,  Dip,  Bhopal,  Eran,  Garaspur, 
are  a  few  of  the  ancient  towns  established  by  the  Pals  or  Palis  ; 
and  could  we  master  the  still  unknown  characters  appertaining 
to.  the  early  colonists  of  India,  more  light  would  be  thrown  on  the 
history  of  the  Chauhans.* 

A  scion  from  Mahishmati,  named  Ajaipal,  established  himself 

*  [This  S.  Indian  Chauhan  empire  is  a  fiction,  the  object  being  to  provide 
a  princely  genealogy  for  the  S.  Indian  royal  families  (see  BG,  ix.  Part  i.  484).] 

^  The  Muhammadan  writers  confirm  this  account,  for  in  their  earliest 
recorded  invasion,  in  a.h.  143,  the  princes  of  Lahore  and  Ajmer,  said  to  be 
of  the  same  family,  are  the  great  opponents  of  Islam,  and  combated  its 
advance  in  fields  west  of  the  Indus.  We  know  beyond  a  doubt  that  Ajmer 
was  then  the  chief  seat  of  Chauhan  power. 

^  The  Mallani  is  (or  rather  was)  one  of  the  Chauhan  Sakha  and  may  be 
the  Malloi  who  opposed  Alexander  at  the  confluent  arms  of  the  Indus.  The 
tribe  is  extinct,  and  was  so  little  known  even  five  centuries  ago,  that  a  prince 
of  Bundi,  of  the  Hara  tribe,  intermarried  with  a  Mallani,  the  book  of  genea- 
logical affinities  not  indicating  her  being  within  the  prohibited  canon.  A 
more  skilful  bard  pointed  out  the  incestuous  connexion,  when  divorce  and 
expiation  ensued.     Vide  p.  1266. 

■•  [When  Alau-d-din  stormed  Aslrgarh  in  a.d.  1295  it  was  a  Chauhan 
stronghold.  The  existence  of  this  Ahir  kingdom  rests  on  the  authority  of 
Ferishta  (iv.  287).  This  is  doubtful,  but  it  may  be  based  on  a  line  of  Ahir 
chieftains  in  the  Tapti  valley  (Russell,  Tribes  and  Castes,  Central  Provinces, 
ii.  20).] 

'  All  these  towns  contain  remains  of  antiquity,  especially  in  the  district 


MANIK  RAE  1447 

at  Ajmer,^  and  erected  its  castle  of  Taragarh.  The  name  of 
Ajaipal  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  that  tradition  has  preserved, 
and  is  always  followed  by  the  epithet  of  Chakravartin,  or  uni- 
versal potentate.  His  era  must  ever  remain  doubtful,  unless, 
as  already  observed,  we  should  master  the  characters  said  to 
belong  to  this  race,  and  which  are  still  extant,  both  on  stone  and 
on  copper.^  From  what  cause  is  not  stated  (most  probably  a 
failure  of  [444]  lineal  issue),  Prithi  Pahar  was  brought  from 
Mahishmati  to  Ajmer.  By  a  single  wife  (for  polygamy  was 
then  unknown  to  these  races)  he  had  twenty-four  sons,  whose 
progeny  peopled  these  regions,  one  of  whose  descendants, 
Manika  Rae,  was  lord  of.  Ajmer  and  Sambhar,  in  the  year 
S.  741,  or  A.D.  685. 

Manik  Rae. — With  the  name  of  Manika  Rae,  the  history  of 
the  Chaulian  emerges  from  obscurity,  if  not  fable  ;  and  although 
the  bard  does  not  subsequently  entertain  us  with  much  substantial 
information,  we  can  trace  his  subject,  and  see  his  heroes  fret 
their  hour  upon  the  uncertain  stage,  throughout  a  period  of  twelve 
hundred  years.  It  was  at  this  era  (a.d.  685)  that  Rajputana 
was  first  visited  by  the  arms  of  Islam,  being  the  sixty-third  year 
of  the  Hejira.  Manika  Rae,  then  prince  of  Ajmer,  was  slain  by 
the  Asuras,  and  his  only  child,  named  Lot,  then  an  infant  of 
seven  years  of  age,  was  killed  by  an  arrow  while  playing  on  the 
battlements  {kungxiras).  The  invasion  is  said  to  have  been  from 
Sind,  in  revenge  for  the  ill-treatment  of  an  Islamite  missionary 

of  Dip,  Bhojpur,  and  Bhilsa.  Twenty  years  ago,  in  one  of  my  journeys,  I 
passed  the  ruins  of  Eran,  where  a  superb  column  stands  at  the  junction  of 
its  two  streams.  It  is  about  tliirty  feet  in  height,  and  is  surmounted  by  a 
human  figure,  having  a  glory  round  his  head  ;  a  colossal  bull  is  at  the  base 
of  the  column.  I  sent  a  drawing  of  it  to  Mr.  Colebrooke  at  the  time,  but 
possess  no  copy.  [The  Eran  pillar  was  erected  a.d.  484-5,  as  the  flag- 
staff of  the  four-armed  Vishnu,  by  Budhagupta  (Smith,  HFA,  174,  with  an 
illustration  ;    lOI,  xii.  25).] 

^  It  is  indifferently  called  Ajaimer,  and  Ajaidurg,  the  invincible  hill 
{meru),  or  invincible  castle  (durg).  Tradition,  however,  says  that  the  name 
of  this  renowned  abode,  the  key  of  Rajputana,  is  derived  from  the  humble 
profession  of  the  young  Chauhan,  who  was  a  goatherd ;  Aja  meaning  '  a 
goat '  in  Sanskrit ;  still  referring  to  the  original  pastoral  occupation  of  the 
Palis.     [Ajmer  was  founded  by  Ajayadeva  about  a.d.  1100.] 

^  I  obtained  at  Ajmer  and  at  Pushkar  several  very  valuable  medals, 
Bactrian,  Indo-Scythic,  and  Hindu,  having  the  ancient  Pali  on  one  side,  and 
the  effigy  of  a  horse  on  the  other. 


1448  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  •  BONDI 

named  Roshan  Ali,  though  the  complexion  of  the  event  is  more 
hke  an  enterprise  prompted  by  religious  enthusiasm.  The 
missionary  being  condemned  to  lose  his  thumb  "  the  disjointed 
member  flew  to  Mecca,"  and  gave  evidence  against  the  Rajput 
idolater  ;  when  a  force  was  prepared,  disguised  as  a  caravan  of 
horse-merchants,  which  surprised  and  slew  Dhola  Rae  and  his 
son,  and  obtained  possession  of  Garhbitli,  the  citadel. 

Puerile  as  is  the  transaction,  its  truth  is  substantiated  by  the 
fact  that  the  Caliph  Omar  at  this  very  time  sent  an  army  to 
Sind,  whose  commander,  Abu-1-lais,  was  slain  in  an  attempt  on 
the  ancient  capital,  Alor.^  Still  nothing  but  the  enthusiasm  of 
religious  frenzy  could  have  induced  a  band  to  cross  the  desert 
in  order  to  punish  this  insult  to  the  new  faith. 

Whatever  were  the  means,  however,  by  which  Ajmer  was 
captured,  and  Dhola  Rae  slain,  the  importance  of  the  event  has 
been  deeply  imprinted  on  the  Chauhans  ;  who,  in  remembrance 
of  it,  deified  the  youthful  heir  of  Ajmer  :  "  Lot  putra  "  is  still 
the  most  conspicuous  of  the  Chauhan  penates.  The  day  on  which 
he  was  killed  is  sanctified,  and  his  effigy  then  receives  divine 
honours  from  all  who  have  the  name  of  Chauhan.  Even  the 
anklet  of  bells  which  he  wore  has  become  an  object  of  veneration, 
and  is  forbidden  to  be  used  by  the  children  of  this  race. 

"  Of  the  house  of  Dhola  Rae  of  Chauhan  race,  Lotdeo,  the 
heir-apparent  by  the  decree  of  Siva,  on  Monday  the  12th  of  the 
month  of  Jeth,  went  to  heaven." 

Manika  Rae,  the  uncle  of  the  youth  (putra)  (who  is  still  the 
object  of  general  homage,  especially  of  the  Chauhan  fair),  upon 
the  occupation  of  Ajmer,  retired  upon  [445]  Sambhar,  which 
event  another  couplet  fixes,  as  we  have  said,  in  S.  741.^     Here 

1  [Utnar-bin-Khaltab,  the  second  Khalifa  (a.d.  634-44).  The  "  Abnl 
Aas  "  of  the  original  text  possibly  represents  Abn-1-lais,  "  the  ancestor  of  the 
Laisi  Sayyids,  Abu-1-lais-i-Hindi,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  Chachndmah, 
who  came  into  Sind  with  the  Arabs,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  in  which 
Raja  Dahir  was  slain"  (C.  Raverty,  Notes  on  Afghanistan,' 1888,  p.  671, 
note).] 

^  "  Samvat  sat  sau  iktalia 

Mdlat  bdli  bes 

Sambhar  aya  tuti  sarase 

Manik  Rae,  Nares." 

[This  quotation  is  so  incorrect  that  neither  Dr.  Tcssitori  nor  Major 
Luard's  Pandit  is  able  to  restore  it.  The  latter  cannot  make  any  sense  of 
the  second  line.     The  date  is  impossible.] 


MANIKA  RAE  CHAUHAN  1449 

the  bard  has  recourse  to  celestial  interposition  in  order  to  support 
Manika  Rae  in  his  adversity.  The  goddess  Sakambhari  appears 
to  him,  while  seeking  shelter  from  the  pursuit  of  this  merciless 
foe,  and  bids  him  establish  himself  in  the  spot  where  she  mani- 
fested herself,  guaranteeing  to  him  the  possession  of  all  the  ground 
he  could  encompass  with  his  horse  on  that  day  ;  but  commanded 
him  not  to  look  back  until  he  had  returned  to  the  spot  where  he 
left  her.  He  commenced  the  circuit,  with  what  he  deemed  his 
steed  could  accomplish,  but  forgetting  the  injunction,  he  was 
surprised  to  see  the  whole  space  covered  as  with  a  sheet.  This 
was  the  desiccated  sar,  or  salt-lake,  which  he  named  after  his 
patroness  Sakambhari,  whose  statue  still  exists  on  a  small  island 
in  the  lake,  now  corrupted  to  Sambhar.^ 

However  jejune  these  legends  of  the  first  days  of  Chauhan 
power,  they  suffice  to  mark  with  exactness  their  locality  ;  and 
the  importance  attached  to  this  settlement  is  manifested  in  the 
title  of  '  Sambhari  Rao,'  maintained  by  Prithiraj,  the  descendant 
of  Manika  Rae,  even  when  emperor  of  all  Northern  India. 

Manika  Rae,  whom  we  may  consider  as  the  founder  of  the 
Chauhans  of  the  north,  recovered  Ajmer.  He  had  a  numerous 
progeny,  who  established  many  petty  dynasties  throughout 
Western  Rajwara,  giving  birth  to  various  tribes,  which  are  spread 
even  to  the  Indus.  The  Khichi,^  the  Hara,  the  Mohil,  Nirwana, 
Bhadauria,  Bhaurecha,  Dhanetia,  and  Baghrecha,  are  all  de- 
scended from  him.^  The  Khichis  were  established  in  the  remote 
Duab,  called  Sind-Sagar,  comprising  all  the  tract  between  the 
Behat  and  the  Sind,  a  space  of  sixty-eight  coss,  whose  capital 
was  Khichpur-Patan.  The  Haras  obtained  or  founded  Asi 
(Hansi)  in  Hariana  ;  while  another  tribe  held  Gualkund,  the 
celebrated  Golkonda,  now  Haidarabad,  and  when  thence  expelled, 
regained  Asir.     The  Mohils  had  the  tracts  round  Nagor.*     The 

^  An  inscription  on  the  pillar  at  Firoz  Shah's  palace  at  Delhi,  belonging 
to  this  family,  in  which  the  word  sakambhari  occurs,  gave  rise  to  many  in- 
genious conjectures  by  Sir  W.  Jones,  Mr.  Colebrooke,  and  Colonel  Wilford. 

2  Called  Khichkot  by  Babur. 

*  [The  Bhaurecha  and  Baghrecha  do  not  appear  in  modern  Ksts  of  the 
Chauhan  clans  {Census  Report  Rdjputana,  1911,  i.  255  f.).] 

*  In  the  Annals  of  Marwar  it  will  be  shown,  that  the  Rathors  conquered 
Nagor,  or  Naga-durg  (the  'serpent's  castle'),  from  the  Mohils,  who  held 
fourteen  himdred  and  forty  villages  so  late  as  the  fifteenth  century.  So 
many  of  the  colonies  of  Agnikulas  bestowed  the  name  of  serpent  on  their 

VOL.  Ill  O 


1450  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

Bhadaurias  had  an  appanage  on  the  Chanibal,  in  a  tract  which 
bears  tlieir  name,  and  [446]  is  still  subject  to  them.  The 
Dhanetias  settled  at  Shahabad,  which  by  a  singular  fatality  has 
at  length  come  into  the  possession  of  the  Haras  of  Kotali. 
Another  branch  fixed  at  Nadol,  but  never  changed  the  name  of 
Chauhan.^ 

Many  chieftainships  were  scattered  over  the  desert,  either 
trusting  to  their  lances  to  maintain  their  independence,  or  holding 
of  superiors  ;  but  a  notice  of  them,  however  interesting,  would 
here,  perhaps,  be  out  of  place.  Eleven  princes  are  enumerated 
in  the  Jaga's  catalogue,  from  IManika  Rae  to  Bisaldeo,^  a  name 
of  the  highest  celebrity  in  the  Rajput  annals,  and  a  landmark  to 
various  authorities,  who  otherwise  have  little  in  common  even 
in  their  genealogies,  which  I  pass  over  in  silence,  with  the  excep- 

settlements,  that  I  am  convinced  all  were  of  the  Tak,  Takshak,  or  Nagvanea 
race  from  Sakadwipa,  who,  six  centuries  anterior  to  Vikramaditya,  under 
their  leader  Seshnaga,  conquered  India,  and  whose  era  must  be  the  limit  of 
Agnikula  antiquity  [?]. 

^  The  importance  of  Nadol  was  considerable,  and  is  fully  attested  by 
existing  inscriptions  as  well  as  by  the  domestic  chronicle.  Midway  from 
the  founder,  in  the  eighth  century,  to  its  destruction  in  the  twelfth,  was 
Rao  Lakhan,  who  in  S.  1039  (a.d.  983)  successfully  coped  with  the  princes 
of  Nahrvala. 

"  Sammja  das  sai  unchdlis 

Bar  ikauta,  Patan  pela  paul 

Dan  Chauhdn  ugdvi 

Meivar  Dhanni  dand  bhari 

Tis  par  Rdo  Lakhan  tJiappi 

Jo  arambha,  so  kari.'" 

Literally  :  "  In  S.  1039,  at  the  farther  gate  of  tlie  city  of  Patan,  the 
Chauhan  collected  the  commercial  duties  (dan).  He  took  tribute  from  the 
lord  of  Mewar,  and  jjerformed  whatever  lie  had  a  mind  to."  [This  verse 
is  so  corrupt  that  Dr.  Tessitori  has  been  unable  to  correct  it.] 

Lakhan  drew  upon  him  the  arms  of  Sabuktigin,  and  his  son  Mahmud, 
when  Nadol  was  stripped  of  its  consequence  ;  its  temples  were  thrown 
down,  and  its  fortress  was  dilapidated.  But  it  had  recovered  much  of  its 
power,  and  even  sent  forth  several  branches,  who  all  fell  under  Alau-d-din 
in  the  thirteenth  century.  On  the  final  conquest  of  India  by  Shihabu-d-din, 
the  prince  of  Nadol  appears  to  have  effected  a  com])romise,  and  to  have 
become  a  vassal  of  the  emjiire.  This  conjecture  arises  from  the  singularity 
of  its  currency,  whieJi  retains  on  the  one  side  tlie  names  in  Sanskrit  of  its 
indigenous  princes,  and  on  the  other  that  of  tlio  conqueror. 

*  [Vighraharaja,  or  Visaladcva,  who  is  said,  with  doubtful  truth,  to  have 
wrested  Delhi  from  the  Tomaras  (Smitl),  EJII,  387).) 


THE  CHRONICLES  OF  AJMER  1451 

tion  of  the  intermediate  name  of  Harsraj,^  common  to  the  Hamir 
Raesa  as  well  as  the  Jaga's  list.  The  authority  of  Harsraj 
stretched  along  the  Aravalli  mountains  to  Abu,  and  east  of  the 
Chambal.  He  ruled  from  S.  812  to  827  (a.h.  138  to  153),  and  fell 
in  battle  against  the  Asuras,  having  attained  the  title  of  Ari- 
murdan.^  Ferishta  says,  that  "  in  a.h.  143,  the  Mushms  greatly 
increased,  when  issuing  from  their  hills  they  obtained  possession 
of  Karman,  Peshawar,  and  all  the  lands  adjacent  ;  and  that  the 
Raja  of  Lahore,  who  was  of  the  family  of  the  Raja  of  Ajmer, 
sent  his  brother '  against  these  Afghans,  who  were  reinforced  by 
the  tribes  of  Khilj,  of  Ghor  and  Kabul,  just  become  proselytes 
to  Islam "  ;  *  and  he  adds,  that  during  five  months,  seventy 
battles  were  fought  with  success  ;  or,  to  use  the  historian's  own 
words,  "  in  which  Sipahi  sarma  (General  Frost)  was  victorious 
over  the  infidel,  but  who  returned  when  the  cold  season  was 
passed  with  fresh  force.  The  armies  met  [447]  between  Karman 
and  Peshawar  ;  sometimes  the  infidel  (Rajput)  carried  the  war 
to  the  Kohistan,  '  mountainous  regions,'  and  drove  the  Musal- 
mans  before  him  ;  sometimes  the  Musalmans,  obtaining  reinforce- 
ments, drove  the  infidel  by  flights  of  arrows  to  their  own  borders, 
to  which  they  always  retired  when  the  torrents  swelled  the 
Nilab  (Indus)." 

Whether  the  Raja  of  Ajmer  personally  engaged  in  these 
distant  combats  the  chronicle  says  not.  According  to  the  Hamir 
Raesa,  Harsraj  was  succeeded  by  Dujgandeo,  whose  advanced 
post  was  Bhatner,  and  who  overcame  Nasiru-d-din,  from  whom 
he  captured  twelve  hundred  horse,  and  hence  bore  the  epithet  of 
Sultan  Graha,  or  '  King-seizer.'  Nasiru-d-din  was  the  title  of 
the  celebrated  Sabuktigin,  father  to  the  still  more  celebrated 
Mahmud.  Sabuktigin  repeatedly  invaded  India  during  the 
fifteen  years'  reign  of  his  predecessor  Alptigin. 

^  Harsraj  and  Bijai  Raj  were  sons  of  Ajaipal,  king  of  Ajmer,  according 
to  the  chronicle. 

2  ['  Destroyer  of  foes.'] 

'  This  is  a  very  important  admission  of  Ferishta,  concerning  the  proselyt- 
ism  of  all  these  tribes,  and  confirms  my  hypothesis,  that  the  Afghans  are 
converted  Jadons  or  Yadus,  not  Yahudis,  or  Jews.  [The  extract  in  the 
text  is  an  inaccurate  abstract  of  Ferishta's  statement  (i.  7  f.).  The  Gaur 
Rajputs  have  no  connexion  with  Ghor.]  The  Gaur  is  also  a  well-known 
Rajput  tribe,  and  they  had  only  to  convert  it  into  Ghor.  Vide  Annals  of 
the  Bhattis. 


1452  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BUNDT 

Bisaldeo. — Passing  over  the  intermediate  reigns,  each  of  which 
is  marked  by  some  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  details  of  battles 
with  the  Islamite,  we  arrive  at  Bisaldeo.  The  father  of  this  prince, 
according  to  the  Hara  genealogists,  was  Uharmagaj,  apparently  a 
title — '  in  faith  like  an  elephant ' — as  in  the  Jaga's  list  is  Bir 
Bilandeo,  confirmed  by  the  inscription  on  the  triumphal  column 
at  Delhi.  The  last  of  Mahmud's  invasions  occurred  during  the 
reign  of  Bilandeo,  who,  at  the  expense  of  his  life,  had  the  glory 
of  humbUng  the  mighty  conqueror,  and  forcing  liim  to  relinquish 
the  siege  of  Ajmer.^  Before  we  condense  the  scanty  records  of 
the  bards  concerning  Visaladeva,-  we  may  spare  a  few  words  to 
commemorate  a  Chauhan  who  consecrated  his  name,  and  that 
of  all  his  kin,  by  his  deeds  in  the  first  passage  of  Mahmud  into 
India. 

Guga,  Gugga  Chauhan. — Guga  Chauhan  was  the  son  of  Vacha 
Raja,  a  name  of  some  celebrity.  He  held  the  whole  of  Jangaldes, 
or  the  forest  lands  from  the  Sutlej  to  Hariana  ;  his  capital,  called 
Mahara,  or,  as  pronounced,  Guga  ka  Mahra,  was  on  the  Sutlej. 
In  defending  this  he  fell,  with  forty-five  sons  and  sixty  nephews  ; 
and  as  it  occurred  on  Sunday  (Robiwar),  the  ninth  (naumi)  of 
the  month,  that  day  is  held  sacred  to  the  manes  of  Guga  by  the 
'  Thirty-six  Classes '  *  throughout  Rajputana,  but  especially  in 
the  desert,  a  portion  of  which  is  yet  called  Gugadeo  ka  thai. 
Even  his  steed,  Javadia,*  has  been  immortaUzed  [448]  and  has 
become  a  favourite  name  for  a  war-horse  throughout  Rajputana, 

^  [The  account  of  Ferishta  (i.  69)  lacks  confirmation  :  see  Elliot-Dowson 
ii.  434  ff.] 

2  The  classical  mode  of  writing  the  name  of  Bisaldeo. 

3  Chaltispun. 

*  It  is  related  by  the  Rajput  romancers  that  Guga  had  no  children  ;  that 
lamenting  this  his  guardian  deity  gave  him  two  ha,Tley-covns  {Java  or  jau), 
one  of  which  he  gave  to  his  queen,  another  to  his  favourite  mare,  which  pro- 
duced the  steed  (Javadia)  wliich  became  as  famous  as  Guga  liimself.  The 
Ranaof  Udaipurgave  the  Author  a  blood-horse  at  Kathiawar,  whose  name 
was  Javadia.  Tliough  a  lamb  in  disposition,  when  mounted  he  was  a  piece 
of  fire,  and  admirably  broken  in  to  all  the  manege  exercise.  A  more  perfect 
animal  never  existed.  The  Autlior  brought  him,  with  another  (Mirgraj), 
from  Udaipur  to  the  ocean,  intending  to  bring  them  home ;  but  the  grey 
he  gave  to  a  friend,  and  fearful  of  the  voyage,  he  sent  Javadia  back  six 
hundred  miles  to  the  Rana,  requesting  "  he  might  bo  the  first  worsliipped 
on  the  annual  military  festival  "  :  a  request  which  h»  doubts  not  was 
complied  with. 


BISALDEO  1453 

whose  mighty  men  swear  '  by  the  sakha  of  Guga,'  for  maintain- 
ing the  Rajput  fame  when  Malimud  crossed  the  Sutlej. 

Tliis  was  probably  the  last  of  Mahmud's  invasions,  when  he 
marched  direct  from  Multan  through  the  desert.  He  attacked 
Ajmer,  which  was  abandoned,  and  the  country  aroimd  given  up  to 
devastation  and  plunder.  The  citadel,  Garhbith,  however,  held 
out,  and  Mahmud  was  foiled,  wounded,  and  obliged  to  retreat  by 
Nadol,^  another  Chauhan  possession,  which  he  sacked,  and  then 
proceeded  to  Nahrwala,  which  he  captured.  His  barbarities 
promoted  a  coaUtion,  which,  by  compeUing  him  to  march  through 
the  western  deserts  to  gain  the  valley  of  Sind,  had  nearly  proved 
fatal  to  his  army. 

The  exploits  of  Bisaldeo  form  one  of  the  books  of  Chand  the 
bard.  The  date  assigned  to  Bisaldeo  in  the  Raesa  (S.  921)  is 
interpolated — a  vice  not  micommon  with  the  Rajput  bard,  whose 
periods  acquire  verification  from  less  mutable  materials  than  those 
out  of  which  he  weaves  his  song.^ 

Chand  gives  an  animated  picture  of  the  levy  of  the  Rajput 
chivalry,  which  assembled  imder  Bisaldeo,  who,  as  the  champion 
of  the  Hindu  faith,  was  chosen  to  lead  its  warriors  against  the 
Islamite  invader.  The  Chalukya  king  of  Anliilwara  alone  refused 
to  join  the  confederation,  and  in  terms  which  drew'  upon  him  the 
vengeance  of  the  Chauhan.  A  literal  translation  of  the  passage 
may  be  interesting  : 

"  To  the  Goelwal  Jeth,  the  prince  entrusted  Ajmer,  saying, 
'  On  your  fealty  I  depend  '  ;  where  can  this  Chalukya  find  refuge  ? 
He  moved  from  the  city  (Ajmer)  and  encamped  on  the  lake 
Visala,^  and  summoned  his  tributaries  and  vassals  to  meet  him. 


^  See  note,  p.  1450,  for  remarks  on  Nadol,  whence  the  author  obtained 
much  valuable  matter,  consisting  of  coins,  inscriptions  on  stone  and  copper, 
and  MSS.,  when  on  a  visit  to  this  ancient  city  in  1821. 

^  We  have  abundant  checks,  which,  could  they  have  been  detailed  in 
the  earher  stage  of  inquiry  into  Hindu  hterature,  would  have  excited  more 
interest  for  the  hero  whose  column  at  Delhi  has  excited  the  inquiries  of 
Jones,  WUford,  and  Colebrooke. 

*  This  lake  still  bears  the  name  of  Bisal-ka-tal  notwithstanding  the 
changes  which  have  accrued  during  a  lapse  of  one  thousand  years,  since  he 
formed  it  by  damming  up  the  springs.  [About  a.d.  1150  (Watson  i.  A. 
50).]  It  is  one  of  the  reservoirs  of  the  Luni  river.  The  emperor  Jahangir 
erected  a  palace  on  the  bank  of  the  Bisla  Talao,  in  which  he  received  the 
ambassador  of  James  1."  of  England. 


1454  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BtJNDI 

Mansi  Parihar  with  the  array  of  Mandor,  touched  his  feet.^  Then 
came  the  Guhilot,  the  ornament  of  the  throng  ;  -  and  the  Pawasar 
[449j,  with  Tuar,*  and  Rama  the  Gam-;*  with  Mohes  the  lord  of 
Mewat.^  The  Mohil  of  Dunapur  with  tribute  sent  excuse."  With 
folded  hands  arrived  the  Baloch,"  but  the  lord  of  Bamani  aban- 
doned Sind.^  Then  came  the  Nazar  from  Bhatner,"  and  tlie 
Nalbandi  from  Tatta  ^^  and  Multan.^"  When  the  summons  reached 
the  Bhumia  Bhatti  of  Derawar/'^  all  obeyed  ;   as  did  the  Jadon  of 

^  This  shows  that  the  Parihars  were  subordinate  to  the  Chauhans  of 
Ajmer. 

"  The  respectful  mention  of  the  Guhilot  as  '  the  ornament  of  the  throng,' 
clearly  proves  that  the  Chitor  prince  came  as  an  ally.  How  rejoicing  to  an 
antiquary  to  find  this  confirmed  by  an  inscription  foimd  amidst  the  ruins 
of  a  city  of  Mewar,  which  aUudes  to  this  very  coahtion  !  The  inscription 
is  a  record  of  the  friendship  maintauaed  by  their  issue  in  the  twelfth  century 
— Samatsi  of  Chitor,  and  Prithiraj  the  last  Chauhan  king  of  India — on  their 
combining  to  chastise  the  khig  of  Patau  Anhilwara,  "  in  hke  manner  as 
did  Bisaldeo  and  Tejsi  of  old  unite  against  the  foe,  so,"  etc.  etc.  Now 
Tejsi  was  the  grandfather  of  Rawal  Samarsi,  who  was  killed  in  opposing 
the  final  Mushm  invasion,  on  the  Ghaggar,  after  one  of  the  longest  reigns 
in  their  annals  :  from  which  we  calculate  that  Tejsi  must  have  sat  on  the 
throne  about  the  year  S.  1120  (a.d.  10G4).  [Tej  Singh  is  mentioned  in 
inscriptions  of  a.d.  1260,  12(55,  1267  (Erskine  ii.  B.  10).]  His  youth  and 
inexperience  would  account  lor  his  acting  subordinately  to  the  Chauhan 
of  Ajmer.  The  name  of  Udayaditya  further  confirms  the  date,  as  will  be 
mentioned  in  the  text.  His  date  has  been  fully  settled  by  various  inscriii- 
Hons  found  by  the  author.  (See  Transactions  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol.  i. 
p.  223.) 

^  This  Tuar  must  have  been  one  of  the  DeUii  vassals,  whose  monarch 
was  of  this  race. 

*  The  Gaur  was  a  celebrated  tribe,  and  amongst  the  most  illustrious  of 
the  Chauhan  feudatories ;  a  branch  until  a  few  years  ago  held  fcsui-Supar 
and  about  nine  lakhs  of  territory.  I  have  no  doubt  the  Gaur  appanage 
was  west  of  the  Indus,  and  that  this  tribe  on  conversion  became  the 
Ghor  [VJ. 

^  The  Meo  race  of  Mewat  is  weU  known ;    all  are  Muhammadans  now. 

*  The  Mohils  have  been  sufficiently  discussed. 

'  The  Baloch  was  evidently  Hindu  at  this  time  ;  and  as  I  have  repeatedly 
said,  of  Jat  or  Geto  origin. 

*  '  The  lord  of  Bamani,'  in  other  places  called  Bamanwasa,  must  apply 
to  the  ancient  Bahmanabad,  or  Dewal,  on  whose  site  the  modern  Tatta  is 
built.     [See  Smith,  EHl,  103.] 

*  See  Annals  of  Jaisalmer. 

^^  All  this  evinces  supremacy  over  the  princes  of  tills  region  :  theSodha, 
the  Samma,  and  Sumra. 

n  Of  Derawar  we  have  spoken  in  the  text. 


BiSALDEO  1455 

Malanwas.^  The  Mori  ^  and  Bargujar  ^  also  joined  with  the 
Kachhvt^ahas  of  Antarved.-  The  subjugated  Meras  worshipped 
his  feet.^  Then  came  the  array  of  Takatpur,  headed  by  the 
Goelwal  Jeth.*  Mounted  in  haste  came  Udaya  Pramar,^  with 
the  Nirwan  «  and  the  Dor,'  the  Chandel,'  and  the  Dahima."  ^ 

In  this  short  passage,  a  text  is  afforded  for  a  dissertation  on 
the  whole  genealogical  history  of  Rajputana  at  that  period.  Such 
extracts  from  the  more  ancient  bards,  incorporated  in  the  works 
of  their  successors,  however  laconic,  afford  decisive  evidence  [450] 
that  their  poetic  chronicles  bore  always  the  same  character  ; 
for  this  passage  is  introduced  by  Chand  merely  as  a  preface  to 
the  history  of  his  own  prince,  Pritliiraj,  the  descendant  of 
Bisaldeo.  • 

A  similar  passage  was  given  from  the  ancient  chronicles  of 
Mewar,  recording  an  invasion  of  the  Muslims,  of  wliich  the 
histories  of  the  invaders  have  left  no  trace  (Vol.  I.  p.  287).  The 
evidence  of  both  is  incontestable  ;  every  name  affords  a  syn- 
chronism not  to  be  disputed  ;  and  though  the  isolated  passage 
would  afford  a  very  faint  ray  of  light  to  the  explorer  of  those  days 
of  darkness,  yet  when  the  same  industrious  research  has  pervaded 
the  annals  of  all  these  races,  a  flood  of  illumination  pours  upon  us, 
and  we  can  at  least  tell  who  the  races  were  who  held  sway  in  these 
regions  a  thousand  years  ago. 

Amidst  meagre,  jejune,  and  unsatisfactory  details,  the  annalist 
of  Rajputana  must  be  content  to  wade  on,  in  order  to  obtain  some 
solid  foundation  for  the  history  of  the  tribes  ;  but  such  facts  as 
these  stimulate  his  exertions  and  reward  his  toil  :   without  them, 

^  Malanwas  we  know  not. 

^  The  Moris,  the  Kachhwahas  and  Bargujars  require  no  further  notice. 
[Antarved,  the  Ganges-Jumna  Duab.] 

*  The  Meras  inhabited  the  Aravalli. 

*  Takatpur  is  the  modem  Toda,  near  Tonk,  where  there  are  fine  remains. 
^  Udayaditya,  now  a  landmark  in  Hindu  history. 

*  See  Annals  of  Shaikhavati  for  the  Nirwans,  who  held  Khandela  as  a 
fief  of  Ajmer. 

''  The  Dor  and  ChandeL  were  weU-known  tribes ;  the  latter  contended 
with  Prithiraj,  who  deprived  them  of  Mahoba  and  Kalanjar,  and  aU  modem 
Bundelkhand. 

*  The  renowijed  Dahima  was  lord  of  Bayana ;  also  called  Druinadhar. 
[The  ancient  name  was  Sripatha  {IGI,  vii.  137).  This  catalogue  of  the 
cliiefs  is  the  work  of  the  Chauhan  bard,  desirous  of  exalting  the  dignity  of 
his  tribe,  and  is  not  historical.] 


1456       ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

his  task  would  be  hopeless.  To  each  of  the  twenty  tribes  enumer- 
ated, formed  under  the  standard  of  the  Chauhan,  we  append  a 
separate  noti(!e,  for  tlie  satisfaction  of  the  few  who  can  appreciate 
their  importance,  while  some  general  remarks  may  suffice  as  a 
connexion  with  the  immediate  object  of.  research,  the  Haras, 
descended  from  Bisaldeo. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  of  no  small  moment  to  be  enabled  to 
adjust  the  date  of  Bisaldeo,  the  most  important  name  in  the  annals 
of  the  Chauhans  from  Manik  Rae  to  Prithiraj,  and  a  sUp  from  the 
genealogical  tree  will  elucidate  our  remarks  [451].^ 

The  Delhi  Pillar. — The  name  of  Bisaldeo  (Visaladeva)  heads 
the  inscription  on  the  celebrated  column  erected  in  the  centre  of 
Firoz  Shali's  palace  at  Delhi.  This  coliunn,  alluded  to  by  Chand, 
as  "  teUing  the  fame  of  the  Chohan,"  was  "  placed  at  Nigambhod," 
a  place  of  pilgrimage  on  the  Jumna,  a  few  miles  below  Dellii, 
whence  it  must  have  been  removed  to  its  present  singvdar  position.^ 

The  inscription  commences  and  ends  with  the  same  date, 
namely,  15th  of  the  month  Baisakh,  S.  1220.  If  correctly  copied, 
it  can  have  no  reference  to  Bisaldeo,  excepting  as  the  ancestor  of 
Prativa  Chahumana  tilaka  Sakambhari  bhupati  ;  or  '  Prithiraj  a 
Chaulian,  the  anointed  of  Sambhar,  Lord  of  the  earth,'  who  ruled 
at  Dellii  in  S.  1220,  and  was  slain  in  S.  1249,  retaining  the  ancient 
epithet  of  '  Lord  of  Sambhar,'  one  of  the  early  seats  of  their 
power.*     The  second  stanza,  however,  tells  us  we  must  distrust 

^  [These  statements  regarding  the  Chauhan  dynasty  are  inconsistent 
with  the  Bijolli  inscription,  and  Cunningham  {ASR,  i.  157)  finds  it  impos- 
sible to  make  any  satisfactory  arrangement,  either  of  the  names  of  the 
princes,  or  of  the  length  of  their  reigns.  The  facts,  as  far  as  they  can  be 
ascertained,  are  given  by  Smith  {EH I,  386  ff.)-  Cunningham  {op.  cit.  ii. 
256)  points  out  the  author  twice  ignores  the  date  of  a.d.  1163  of  Visaladeva 
on  the  Delhi  pillar,  to  make  him  an  opponent  of  Mahmud  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century.  "  In  one  place  he  gives  to  Hansraj,  whom  the 
Hara  bard  assigns  to  the  year  a.d.  770,  tlie  honour  of  conquering  Sabuktigin, 
which  in  another  place  he  gives  to  his  successor  Dujgandeo."  He  concludes 
that  the  chief  cause  of  error  is  the  identification  of  two  different  princes  of 
the  name  of  Visaladeva  as  one  i^erson.  For  his  discussion  see  ASR,  ii. 
256  f.] 

^  See  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  379,  vol.  vii.  p.  ISO,  and  vol.  ix.  p.  453. 
[Nigambhod  Ghat  is  immediately  outside  the  nortli  wall  of  Shahjahanabad, 
and  above,  not  below,  the  city  of  Dellii  {ASR,  i.  130,  KJI,  164).] 

*  I  brought  away  an  inscription  of  tliis,  the  last  Chauhan  emperor, 
from  the  ruins  of  his  palace  at  Hasi  or  Hansi,  dated  S.  1224.  See  comments 
thereon,  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  133. 


chauhAn  genealogy 


1457 


CM 

■3  c 


■So 


Anhal 


Savacha. 

I 
Malaii    . 

I 
Ganal  Sur. 


S.  202 


Ajaipala 


Chakravartin 


S.  827 


1065  to 
1130     . 


Manika  Rae 


Harsraj 


Bir  Bilandeo 


Bisaldeo 

I 
Sarangdeo 


Ana 


fOr  AgDipala,  'offspring  of  file,' the 
lirst  Chauhan  ;  probable  period  650 
before  Vikraina,  when  an  invasion 
-(  of  the  Turushkas  took  place  : 
I  established  Mahishniati  -  nagari 
I  (Garha-niandala) ;  conquered  the 
^    Konkan,  Asir,  Golkonda. 

/  In  all  probability  this  is  the  patriarch 
\     of  the  Mallani  tribe,  see  p.  1272. 


rOr  universal  potentate  ;  founder  of 

I  Ajmer.  Same  authorities  say,  in 
-f      202  of  the  Vikrama  ;  otliers  of  the 

I      Virat-iSamvat :    tlie  latter  is  the 

I.     most  probable. 

r Slain,  and  lost  Ajmer,  on  the  first 
-!      irruption  of  the  Muhamniadans,  S. 

*-     741,  A.D.  685. 

r  Founded  Sambhar:  hence  the  title 
\      of  Sambliari  -  Rao    borne    by   the 

I     Chauhan  princes,  his  issue. 

f  Defeated  Kasiru-d-din  {qu.  Sabuk- 
-!      tigin  ?),' thence    styled     '  Sultan - 

V.     graha.' 

i  Or  Dharmagaj  ;  .slain  defending 
t     Ajmer  against  Mahmud  of  Ghazni. 

("(Classically,  Visaladeva) ;  his  period, 
i      from  various  inscriptions,  S.  1066 
(     to  S.  1130. 
Died  in  nonage. 

f  Constructed  the  Ana  -  Sagar  at 
\     Ajmer  ;  still  bears  his  name. 


Jaipal. 


Harspal. 


Ajaideo, 

or 
Ananddeo. 


I 
Bijaideo. 


I 
Udaideo. 


I 

Someswar : 

married  Ruka  Bai, 

daughter  of  Anangpal 

Tuar  king  of  Delhi. 


Kan  Rae. 


Jeth,  Goelwal. 


turned  Muhammadan. 


I 

Prithiraj  ; 

obtained  Delhi ;  slain  by 

Shihabu-d-din,  S.  12-19, 

A.D.  1193. 


Chahirdeo. 


Vijaya  Raj. 


/  Adopted  successor  to  Prithiraj  ;  his 
\^     name  is  on  the  pillar  at  Delhi. 


Rainsi ; 
slain  in  the  sack 
of  Delhi. 


I  f  Had  twenty-one  sons  ;  seven  of  -nhom  were  legitimate, 

I  I      the  other.s  illegitimate,  and  founders  of  mixed  tribes. 

Lakhansi     -!      From  Lakhansi  there   are  twenty-six  generations  to 

I      Noniddh  Singh,  the  present  chieftain  of  Ninirana,  the 

V     nearest  lineal  descendant  of  Ajaipal  and  Prithiraj. 


[452] 


1458  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

the  first  of  the  two  dates,  and  read  1120  (instead  of  1220),  when 
Visaladeva  "  exterminated  the  barbarians "  from  Aryavarta. 
The  numerals  1  and  2  in  Sanskrit  are  easily  mistaken.  If,  how- 
ever, it  is  decidedly  1220,  then  the  whole  inscription  belongs  to 
Prativa  Chahmnana,  between  whom  and  Visala  no  less  than  six 
princes  intervene,^  and  the  opening  is  merely  to  introduce 
Prithiraja's  lineage,  in  which  the  sculptor  has  foisted  in  the  date. 

I  feel  inclined  to  assign  the  first  stanza  to  Visaladeva  (Bisaldeo), 
and  what  follows  to  his  descendant  Prithiraj,  who  by  a  conceit 
may  have  availed  himself  of  the  anniversary  of  the  victory  of  his 
ancestor,  to  record  his  own  exploits.  These  exploits  were  pre- 
cisely of  the  same  nature — successful  war  against  the  Islamite, 
in  which  each  drove  him  from  Aryavarta  ;  for  even  the  Muslim 
writers  acknowledge  that  Shihabu-d-din  was  often  ignominiously 
defeated  before  he  finally  succeeded  in  making  a  conquest  of 
northern  India  [453]. 

Date  o£  Visaladeva. — If,  as  I  surmise,  the  first  stanza  belongs 
to  Bisaldeo,  the  date  is  S.  1120,  or  a.d.  1064,  and  this  grand 

^  These  inscriptions,  while  they  have  given  rise  to  ingenious  interpreta- 
tions, demonstrate  the  Little  value  of  mere  translations,  even  when  made 
by  first-rate  scholars,  who  possess  no  historical  knowledge  of  the  tribes  to 
whom  they  refer.  This  inscription  was  first  translated  by  Sir  W.  Jones  in 
1784  (Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i  ).  A  fresh  version  (from  a  fresh  transcript 
I  beheve)  was  made  by  Mr.  Colebrooke  in  1800  (Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  vii.), 
but  rather  darkening  than  enhghtening  the  subject,  from  attending  to  his 
pandit's  emendation,  giving  to  the  prince's  name  and  tribe  a  metaphorical 
interpretation.  Nor  was  it  till  Wilford  had  published  his  hodge-podge 
Essay  on  Vikramaditya  and  Salivahana,  that  Mr.  Colebrooke  discovered 
his  error,  and  amended  it  in  a  note  to  that  volume  ;  but  even  then,  without 
rendering  the  inscription  useful  as  a  historical  document.  I  call  Wilford's 
essay  a  hodge-podge  advisedly.  It  is  a  paper  of  immense  research  ;  vast 
materials  are  brought  to  his  task,  but  he  had  an  hypotlicsis,  and  all  was 
confounded  to  suit  it.  Ciiauhans,  Solankis,  Guhilots,  all  are  amalgamated 
in  his  crucible.  It  was  from  the  Sai-angadhar  Padhati,  written  by  the  bard 
of  Hamira  Chaulian,  not  king  of  Mcwar  (as  Wilford  has  it),  but  of  Ran- 
thambhor,  lineally  descended  from  Visaladeva,  and  slain  by  Alau-d-din. 
Sarangadhar  was  also  author  of  the  Hamir  Racsa,  and  the  Hamir  Kavya, 
bearing  tliis  prince's  name,  tlic  essence  of  both  of  whicli  I  translated  with 
the  aid  of  my  Guru.  [For  these  works  see  Grierson,  Modern  Literature  of 
Ilivduslan,  6.]  I  was  long  bewildered  in  my  admiration  of  Wilford's 
researches ;  but  experience  inspired  distrust,  and  I  adopted  the  useful 
adage  in  all  these  matters,  'nil  admirari.^  [Cunningham,  while  admitting 
the  wild  spectilations  of  Wilford,  says  that  important  facts  and  classical 
references  arc  to  be  found  in  his  Essays  (ASR,  i.  Introd.  xviii.  note.] 


ViSALADEVA  1459 

confederation  described  by  the  Chaulian  bard  was  assembled 
under  his  banner,  preparatory  to  the  very  success,  to  com- 
memorate wliicli  the  inscription  was  recorded. 

In  the  passage  quoted  from  Chand,  recording  the  princes  who 
led  their  household  troops  under  Bisaldeo,  there  are  four  names 
which  establish  synchronisms  :  one  by  which  we  arrive  directly 
at  the  date,  and  three  indirectly.  The  first  is  Udayaditya  Pramar, 
king  of  Dhar  (son  of  Raja  Bhoj),  whose  period  I  established  from 
numerous  inscriptions,^  as  between  S.  1100  and  S.  1150  ;  so  that 
the  date  of  his  joining  the  expedition  would  be  about  the  middle 
of  his  reign.    The  indirect  but  equally  strong  testimony  consists  of. 

First,  The  mention  of  "  the  Bhumia  Bhatti  fromDerawar"  ;  * 
for  had  there  been  anything  apocryphal  in  Chand,  Jaisalmer,  the 
present  capital,  would  have  been  given  as  the  Bhatti  abode.* 

Second,  The  Kaclihwahas,  who  are  also  described  as  coming 
from  Antarved  (the  region  between  the  Jumna  and  Ganges)  ;  for 
the  infant  colony  transmitted  from  Narwar  to  Amber  was  yet 
undistinguished . 

The  tliird  proof  is  in  the  Mewar  inscription,  when  Tejsi,  the 
gi'andfather  of  Samarsi,  is  described  as  in  alUance  with  Bisaldeo. 
Bisaldeo  is  said  to  have  lived  sixty-four  years.  Supposing  this 
date,  S.  1120,  to  be  the  medium  point  of  his  existence,  this  would 
make  his  date  S.  1088  to  S.  1152,  or  a.d.  1032  to  a.d.  1096  ;  but 
as  his  father,  Dharmagaj,  '  the  elephant  in  faith,'  or  Bir  Bilandeo 
(called  Malandeo,  in  the  Hamir  Raesa),  was  killed  defending 
Ajmer  on  the  last  invasion  of  Mahmud,  we  must  necessarily  place 
Bisal's  birth  (supposing  him  an  infant  on  that  event),  ten  years 
earlier,  or  a.d.  1022  (S.  1078),  to  a.d.  1086  (S.  1142),  comprehending 
the  date  on  the  pillar  of  Delhi,  and  by  computation  all  the  periods 

^  See  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  ■vol.  i.  p.  13.3. 

^  See  Annals  of  Jaisalmer,  for  foundation  of  Derawar,  Vol.  II,  p.  1196. 

*  In  transcribing  the  Annals  of  the  Khichis,  an  important  branch  of  the 
Chauhans,  their  bards  have  preserved  this  passage  ;  but  ignorant  of  Dera- 
war and  Lodorva  (both  preserved  in  my  version  of  Chand),  they  have 
inserted  Jaisalmer.  By  such  anachronisms,  arising  from  the  emendations 
of  ignorant  bards,  their  poetic  chronicles  have  lost  half  their  value.  To  me 
the  comparison  of  such  passages,  preserved  in  Chand  from  the  older  bards, 
and  distorted  by  the  moderns,  was  a  subject  of  considerable  pleasure.  It 
reconciled  much  that  I  might  have  thrown  away,  teaching  me  the  difference 
between  absolute  invention,  and  ignorance  creating  errors  in  the  attempt 
to  correct  them.  The  Khichi  bard,  no  doubt,  thought  he  was  doing  right 
when  he  erased  Derawar  and  inscribed  Jaisalmer. 


1460  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

mentioned  in  the  catalogue.  We  may  therefore  safely  adopt  the 
date  of  the  Raesa,  namely  S.  1066  to  S.  1130. 

Bisaldeo  was.  therefore,  contemporary  with  Jaipal,  the  Tuar 
king  of  Delhi  ;  with  [454]  Durlabha  and  Bliima  of  Gujarat ;  with 
Bhoj  and  Udayaditya  of  Dhar  ;  with  Padamsi  and  Tejsi  of  Mewar '; 
and  the  confederacy  which  he  headed  must  have  been  that  against 
the  Islamite  king  Maudud,  the  fourth  from  Mahmud  of  Ghazni, 
whose  expulsion  from  the  northern  parts  of  Rajputana  (as  re- 
corded on  the  pillar  of  Delhi)  caused  Aryavarta  again  to  become 
'  the  land  of  virtue.'  Mahmud's  final  retreat  from  India  by  Sind, 
to  avoid  the  armies  collected  "  by  Bairamdeo  and  the  prince  of 
Ajmer  "  to  oppose  him,  was  in  a.h.  417,  a.d.  1026,  or  S.  1082, 
nearly  the  same  date  as  that  assigned  by  Chand,  S.  1086.^ 

We  could  dilate  on  the  war  which  Bisaldeo  waged  against  the 
prince  of  Gujarat,  liis  victory,  and  the  erection  of  Bisalnagar,- 
on  the  spot  where  victory  perched  up6n  his  lance  ;  but  this  we  re- 
serve for  the  introduction  of  the  history  of  the  illustrious  Prithiraj. 
There  is  nuich  fable  mixed  up  with  the  history  of  Bisaldeo, 
apparently  invented  to  hide  a  blot  in  the  annals,  warranting  the 
inference  that  he  became  a  convert,  in  all  likelihood  a  compulsory 
one,  to  the  doctrines  of  Islam.  There  is  also  the  appearance  of 
his  subsequent  expiation  of  tliis  crime  in  the  garb  of  a  penitent ; 
and  the  mound  (dhundh),  where  he  took  up  his  abode,  still  exists, 
and  is  called  after  him,  Bisal-ka-dhundh,  at  Kalakli  Jobner.* 

According  to  the  Book  of  Kings  of  Govind  Ram  (the  Hara 
bard),  the  Haras  were  descended  from  Anuraj,  son  of  Bisaldeo  ; 

^  [The  correct  dates  are  as  follows  :  Visaladeva,  middle  of  12th  century 
A.D.  (Smith,  EHI,  38G) ;  Jayapala  of  Delhi  succeeded  1005  {ASM,  i.  149)  ; 
Durlabha  Chaulukya  and  Bhima,  respectively  1010-22,  1022-64  {BG, 
i.  Part  i.  1626) ;  Tej  fSingh  or  Tejsi,  Rawal  of  Chitor  about  1260-67 
(Erskine  ii.  B.  10) ;    Bhoja  of  Malwa,  1018-60  (Smith,  EHI,  395).] 

^  This  town — another  proof  of  the  veracity  of  the  chronicle — yet  exists  in 
Northern  Gujarat.  [15  miles  N.  of  Baroda.  It  is  doubtful  if  it  takes  its 
name  from  Visaladeva  of  Delhi.  At  any  rate,  it  is  said  to  have  been  restored 
by  Visaladeva  Vaghela  (a.d.  1243-61)  {BG,  i.  Part  i.  203).] 

'■'  [See  p.  1328.]  The  pickaxe,  if  applied  to  this  mound  (which  gives 
its  name  to  Dhundhar),  miglit  possibly  show  it  to  bo  a  place  of  sepulture, 
and  that  the  Chauhans,  even  to  this  period,  may  have  entombed  at  least 
the  bones  of  their  dead.  The  numerous  tumuli  about  Haidarabad,  the 
ancient  Gualkuud,  one  of  the  royal  abodes  of  the  Chauhans,  may  be  sepul- 
tures of  this  race,  and  the  arms  and  vases  they  contain  all  strengthen  my 
hypothesis  of  their  Scythic  origin.     [See  p.  1445.] 


ISHTPAL  1461 

but  Mogji,  the  Khichi  bard,^  makes  Anuraj  progenitor  of  the 
Khichis,  and  son  of  Manika  Rae.     We  follow  the  Hara  bard. 

Anuraj  had  assigned  to  him  in  appanage  the  important 
frontier  fortress  of  Asi  {vulg.  Hansi).  His  son  Ishtpal,  together 
with  Aganraj,  son  of  Ajairao,  the  founder  of  Khichpur  Patau  in 
Sind-Sagar,  was  preparing  to  seek  his  fortunes  with  Randhir 
Chauhan,  prince  of  Gualkund  :  but  both  Asi  and  Golkonda  were 
almost  simultaneously  assailed  by  an  army  "  fi'om  the  wilds  of 
KujUban."  Randhir  performed  the  sakha  ;  and  only  a  single 
female,  his  daughter,  named  Surabhi,  survived,  and  she  fled  for 
protection  towards  Asi,  then  attacked  by  the  same  furious  invader. 
Anuraj  prepared  to  fly  ;  but  his  son,  Ishtpal,  determined  not  to 
wait  the  attack,  but  seek  the  foe.  A  battle  ensued,  when  the 
invader  was  slain,  and  Ishtpal,  grievously  wounded,  pursued  him 
till  he  fell,  near  the  spot  where  Surabhi  was  awaiting  death  under 
the  shade  of  a  pipal :  for  "  hopes  of  life  were  extinct,  and  fear  and 
hunger  had  [455]  reduced  her  to  a  skeleton,"  In  the  moment  of 
despair,  however,  the  asvattha  (pipal)  tree  under  which  she  took 
shelter  was  severed,  and  Asapurna,  the  guardian  goddess  of  her " 
race,  appeared  before  her.  To  her,  Surabhi  related  how  her  father 
and  twelve  brothers  had  fallen  in  defending  Golkonda  against 
'  the  demon  of  Kujliban.'  The  goddess  told  her  to  be  of  good 
cheer,  for  that  a  Chauhan  of  her  own  race  had  slain  him,  and  was 
then  at  hand  ;  and  led  her  to  where  Ishtpal  lay  senseless  from  his 
wounds.  By  her  aid  he  recovered, ^  and  possessed  himself  of  that 
ancient  heirloom  of  the  Chauhans,  the  famed  fortress  of  Asir. 

Ishtpal,  the  founder  of  the  Haras,  obtained  Asir  in  S.  1081  * 
(or  A.D.  1025)  ;  and  as  Mahmud's  last  destructive  visit  to  India, 
by  Multan  through  the  desert  to  Ajmer,  was  in  a.h.  714,  or  a.d. 

^  [Grierson,  Modern  Literature  of  Hindustan,  143,  164.] 
^  Or,  as  the  story  goes,  his  limbs,  which  lay  dissevered,  were  collected 
by  Surabhi,  and  the  goddess  sprinkhng  them  with  '  the  water  of  life,'  he 
arose  !  Hence  the  name  Hara,  which  his  descendants  bore,  from  har,  or 
'  bones,'  thus  collected  ;  but  more  likely  from  having  lost  (hara)  Asi.  [See 
p.  1441.] 

»  The  Hara  chronicle  says  S.  981,  but  by  some  strange,  yet  uniform 
error,  all  the  tribes  of  the  Chauhans  antedate  their  chronicles  by  a  hundred 
years.  Thus  Bisaldeo's  taking  possession  of  Anhilpar  Patan  is  "  nine 
hundred,  fifty,  thirty  and  six  "  (S.  986),  instead  of  S.  1086.  But  it  even 
pervades  Chand  the  poet  of  Prithiraj,  whose  birth  is  made  1115,  instead  of 
S.  1215  ;  and  here,  in  all  probability,  the  error  commenced,  by  the  ignorance 
(wilful  we  cannot  imagine)  of  some  rhymer. 


1462  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

1022,  wc  have  every  right  to  conclude  that  his  father  Anuraj 
lost  his  life  and  Asi  to  the  king  of  Ghazni  ;  at  the  same  time  that 
Ajmer  was  sacked,  and  the  country  laid  waste  by  this  conqueror, 
whom  the  Hindu  bard  might  well  style  "  the  demon  from  Kujli- 
ban."  '  The  Muhammadan  historians  give  us  no  hint  even  of 
any  portion  of  Mahmud's  army  penetrating  into  the  peninsula, 
though  that  grasping  ambition,  which  considered  the  shores  of 
Saurashtra  but  an  intermediate  step  from  Ghazni  to  the  conquest 
of  Ceylon  and  Pegu,  may  have  pushed  an  army  during  his  long 
halt  at  Anhilwara,  and  have  driven  Randhir  from  Golkonda.' 
But  it  is  idle  to  speculate  upon  such  slender  materials  ;  let  them 
suffice  to  illustrate  one  new  fact,  namely,  that  these  kingdoms 
of  the  south  as  well  as  the  north  were  held  by  Rajput  sovereigns, 
whose  offspring,  blending  with  the  original  population,  produced 
that  mixed  race  of  Mahrattas,  inheriting  with  the  names  the 
warlike  propensities  of  their  ancestors,  but  who  assume  the 
name  of  their  abodes  as  titles,  as  the  Nimbalkars,  the  Phalkias,  the 
Patankars,  instead  of  their  tribes  of  Jadon,  Tuar,  Puar,  etc.  etc. 

Ishtpal  had  a  son  called  Chandkaran  ;  his  son,  Lokpal,  had 
Hamir  and  Gambhir,  names  well  known  in  the  wars  of  Prithiraj. 
The  brothers  were  enrolled  amongst  his  [456]  one  hundred  and 
eight  great  vassals,  from  which  we  may  infer  that,  though  Asir 
was  not  considered  absohitely  as  a  fief,  its  chief  paid  homage  to 
Ajmer,  as  the  principal  seat  of  the  Chauhans. 

In  the  Kanauj  Samaya,  that  book  of  the  poems  of  Chand 
devoted  to  the  famous  war  in  which  the  Chauhan  prince  carries 
off  the  princess  of  Kanauj,  honourable  mention  is  made  of  the 
Hara  princes  in  the  third  day's  fight,  when  they  covered  the 
retreat  of  Prithiraj  : 

"  Then  did  the  Hara  Rao  Hamir,  with  his  brother  Gambhir, 
mounted  on  Lakhi  steeds,'  approach  their  lord,  as  thus  they 

^  '  The  elephant  wilda.'  [Skt.  kunjari,  '  a  female  elephant,'  vana, 
Hindi  ban,  '  forest.']  They  assert  that  Ghazni  is  pro])orly  Gajni,  founded 
by  the  Yadus  :  and  in  a  curious  specimen  of  Hindu  geography  (presented 
by  me  to  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society),  all  the  tract  about  the  glaciers  of  the 
Ganges  is  termed  Kujliban,  the  '  Elepliant  Forest.'  Tliorc  is  a  Gajangarh 
mentioned  by  Abul-i-fazl  in  the  region  of  Bajaur,  inliabitotl  by  the  Sultana, 
Jadon,  and  Yusufzai  tribes.  [This  place  does  not  ajapear  in  Jarrett'e 
translation  of  the  Am,  ii.  391  f.] 

^  See  Fcrishta  i.  75  f.     [Mahmud  never  reached  Golkonda.] 
'  [Horses  frmn  the  Lakhi  jungle;  see  Vol.  IT.  p.  1150.] 


RAO  CHAND  1463 

spoke  :  '  Think  of  thy  safety,  Jangales,^  while  we  make  offei-ings 
to  the  array  of  Jaichand.  Our  horses'  hoofs  shall  plough  the 
field  of  fight,  like  the  ship  of  the  ocean.'  " 

The  brothers  encountered  the  contingent  of  the  prince  of  Kasi 
(Benares),  one  of  the  great  feudatories  of  Kanauj.  As  they  joined, 
"  the  shout  raised  by  Hamir  reached  Durga  on  her  rock-bound 
throne."  Both  brothers  fell  in  these  wars,  though  one  of  the 
few  survivors  of  the  last  battle  fought  with  Shihabu-d-din  for 
Rajput  independence,  was  a  Hara — 

Hamir  had  Kalkaran,  who  had  Mahamagd  :  his  son  was  Rao 
Bacha  ;   his,  Rao  Chand. 

Rao  Chand. — Amongst  the  many  independent  princes  of  the 
Chauhan  race  to  whom  Alau-d-din  was  the  messenger  of  fate, 
was  Rao  Chand  of  A  sir.  Its  walls,  though  deemed  impregnable, 
were  not  proof  against  the  skill  and  valour  of  this  energetic 
warrior  ;  and  Chand  and  all  his  family,  with  the  exception  of  one 
son,  were  put  to  the  sword.  This  son  was  prince  Rainsi,  a  name 
fatal  to  Chauhan  heirs,  for  it  was  borne  by  the  son  of  Prithiraj 
who  fell  in  the  defence  of  Delhi  :  but  Rainsi  of  Asir  was  more 
fortunate.  He  was  but  an  infant  of  two  years  and  a  half  old, 
and  being  nephew  of  the  Rana  of  Chitor,  was  sent  to  him  for  pro- 
tection. When  he  attained  man's  estate,  he  made  a  successful 
attempt  upon  the  ruined  castle  of  Bhainsror,  from  which  he  drove 
Dunga,  a  Bhil  chief,  who,  with  a  band  of  his  mountain  brethren, 
had  made  it  his  retreat.  This  ancient  fief  of  Mewar  had  been 
dismantled  by  Alau-d-din  in  his  attack  on  Chitor,  from  which  the 
Ranas  had  not  yet  recovered  when  the  young  Chauhan  came 
amongst  them  for  protection. 

Rainsi  had  two  sons,  Kolan  and  Kankhal.  Kolan  being 
afflicted  with  an  incurable  disease,  commenced  a  pilgTimage  to 
the  sacred  Kedarnath,  one  of  the  towns  of  the  [457]  Ganges.  To 
obtain  the  full  benefit  of  this  meritorious  act,  he  determined  to 
measure  his  length  on  the  ground  the  whole  of  this  painful  journey. 
In  six  months  he  had  only  reached  the  Binda  Pass,  where,  having 
bathed  in  a  fountain  whence  flows  the  rivulet  Banganga,  he  fotmd 
his  health  greatly  restored.     Kedarnath  ^  was  pleased  to  manifest 

^  Jangales,  '  lord  of  the  forest  lands,'  another  of  Prithiraj's  titles. 

^  '  The  lord  of  Kedar,'  the  gigantic  pine  of  the  Himalaya,  a  title  of  Siva. 
[Kedarnath  in  Garhwal  District.  The  derivation  of  Kedar  is  unknown  : 
it  certainly  does  not  mean  '  pine  or  cedar.'] 


1464  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCTNDI 

liimself,  to  accept  his  devotions,  and  to  declare  him  '  King  of  the 
Patar,'  or  plateau  of  Central  India. ^  The  whole  of  this  tract 
was  under  the  princes  of  Chitor,  but  the  sack  of  this  famed  fortress 
by  Ala,  and  the  enormou^s  slaughter  of  the  Guhilots,  had  so 
weakened  their  authority,  that  the  aboriginal  IVIinas  had  once 
more  possessed  themselves  of  all  their  native  hills,  or  leagued 
with  the  subordinate  vassals  of  Chitor. 

Angatsi,  the  Hun. — In  ancient  times,  Raja  Hun,  said  to  be  of 
the  Pramara  race,  was  lord  of  the  Patar,  and  held  his  court  at 
Menal.  There  are  many  memorials  of  this  Hun  or  Hun  prince, 
and  even  so  far  back  as  the  first  assault  of  Chitor,  in  the  eighth 
century,  its  prince  was  aided  in  his  defence  by  '  Angatsi,  lord  of 
the  Hims,'  The  celebrated  temples  of  Barolli  are  attributed  to 
this  Hun  Raja,  who  appears  in  so  questionable  a  shape,  that  we 
can  scarcely  refuse  to  believe  that  a  branch  of  this  celebrated  race 
must  in  the  first  centuries  of  Vikrama  have  been  admitted,  as 
their  bards  say,  amongst  the  Thirty-six  Roj'^al  Races  of  the  Rajputs. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Rao  Banga,  the  grandson  of  Kolan,  took  pos- 
session of  the  ancient  Menal,  and  on  an  elevation  commanding 
the  western  face  of  the  Pathar  erected  the  fortress  of  Bumbaoda. 
With  Bhainsror  on  the  east,  and  Bumbaoda  and  Menal  on  the 
west,  the  Haras  now  occupied  the  whole  extent  of  the  Patar. 
Other  conquests  were  made,  and  Mandalgarh,  Bijolli,  Begun, 
Ratnagarh,  and  Churetagarh,  formed  an  extensive,  if  not  a  rich, 
chieftainship. 

Rao  Banga  had  twelve  sons,  who  dispersed  their  progeny  over 
the  Patar.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dewa,  who  had  three  sons^ 
namely,  Harraj,"  Hatiji,  and  Samarsi. 

Rao  Dewa. — The  Haras  had  now  obtained  such  power  as  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  emperor,  and  Rae  Dewa  was  sum- 
moned  to   attend  the   court  when   Sikandar  Lodi  ruled.'     He 

^  He  bestowed  in  appanage  on  his  brother  Kankhalji  a  tenth  of  the  lands 
in  his  possession.  From  Kankhal  are  descended  the  class  of  Bhats,  called 
Kroria  Bhat. 

*  Harraj  had  twelve  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  Alu,  who  succeeded 
to  Bumbaoda.  Alu  Hara's  name  wUl  never  die  as  long  as  one  of  his  race 
inhabits  the  Patar ;  and  there  are  many  Bhumias  descended  from  him 
still  holding  lands,  as  the  Kumbhawat  and  Bhojawat  Haras.  The  end  of 
Alu  Hara,  and  the  destruction  of  Bumbaoda  (which  the  author  has  visited), 
will  be  related  in  the  Personal  Narrative. 

'    [A.D.  1489-1517.] 


RAO  DEWA  1465 

[458]  therefore  installed  his  son  Harraj  in  Bumbaoda,  and  vnth 
his  youngest,  Samarsi,  repaired  to  Delhi.  Here  he  remained, 
till  the  emperor  coveting  a  horse  of  the  '  king  of  the  Patar,'  the 
latter  determined  to  regain  his  native  hills.  This  steed  is  famed 
both  in  the  annals  of  the  Haras  and  Khichis,  and,  like  that  of  the 
Mede,  had  no  small  share  in  the  futm-e  fortunes  of  his  master. 
Its  birth  is  thus  related.  The  king  had  a  horse  of  such  mettle, 
that  "  he  could  cross  a  stream  without  wetting  his  hoof."  Dewa 
bribed  the  royal  equerry,  and  from  a  mare  of  the  Patar  had  a 
colt,  to  obtain  which  the  king  broke  that  law  which  is  alike 
binding  on  the  MusUm  and  the  Christian.  Dewa  sent  off  his 
family  by  degrees,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  danger,  he 
saddled  his  charger,  and  lance  in  hand  appeared  under  the  balcony 
where  the  emperor  was  seated.  "  Farewell,  king,"  said  the 
Rangra  ;  "  there  are  three  things  your  majesty  must  never  ask 
of  a  Rajput  :  his  horse,  his  mistress,  and  his  sword."  He  gave 
his  steed  the  rein,  and  in  safety  regained  the  Patar,  Having 
resigned  Bumbaoda  to  Harraj,  he  came  to  Bandiuial,  the  spot 
where  his  ancestor  Kolan  was  cured  of  disease.  Here  the  Minas 
of  the  Usara  tribe  dwelt,  under  the  patriarchal  government  of 
Jetha,  their  chief.  There  was  then  no  regular  city  ;  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  valley  (thai  ^)  were  closed  with  barriers  of  masonry  and 
gates,  and  the  huts  of  the  Minas  were  scattered  wherever  their 
fancy  led  them  to  build.  At  this  time  the  community,  which 
had  professed  obedience  to  the  Rana  on  the  sack  of  Chitor,  was 
suffering  from  the  raids  of  Rao  Ganga,  the  Khichi,  who  from  his 
castle  of  Ramgarh  (Relawan)  imposed  '  barchhidohai '  -  on  all 
around.  To  save  themselves  from  Ganga,  who  used  "  to  drive 
his  lance  at  the  barrier  of  Bandu,"  the  Minas  entered  into  terms, 
agreeing,  on  the  full  moon  of  every  second  month,  to  suspend  the 
tribute  of  the  chauth  over  the  barrier.  At  the  appointed  time, 
the  Rao  came,  but  no  bag  of  treasure  appeared.  "Who  has 
been  before  me  ?  "  demanded  Ganga  ;  when  forth  issued  the 
'  lord  of  the  Patar,'  on  the  steed  coveted  by  the  Lodi  king. 
Ganga  of  Relawan  bestrode  a  charger  not  less  famed  than  his 
antagonist's,  "  which  owed  his  birth  to  the  river-horse  of  the 
Par,  and  a  mare  of  the  Khichi  chieftain's,  as  she  grazed  on  its 

1  Thai  and  Nal  are  both  terms  for  a  valley,  though  the  latter  is  oftener 
applied  to  a  defile. 

2  [The  '  appeal  to  the  spear.'] 

VOL.  Ill  P 


1466  ANNATES  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

margin.^  Mounted  on  this  steed,  no  obstacle  conld  stop  him, 
and  even  the  Chambal  was  no  impediment  to  his  seizing  the 
tribute  at  all  seasons  from  the  Minas  "  [459]. 

The  encounter  was  fierce,  but  the  Hara  was  victorious,  and 
Ganga  turned  his  back  on  the  lord  of  the  Patar,  who  tried  the 
mettle  of  this  son  of  the  Par,  pursuing  him  to  the  banks  of  the 
Chambal.  What  was  his  surprise,  when  Ganga  sprang  from  the 
cliff,  and  horse  and  rider  disappeared  in  the  flood,  but  soon  to 
reappear  on  the  opposite  bank  !  Dewa,  who  stood  amazed,  no 
sooner  beheld  the  Rao  emerge,  than  he  exclaimed,  "  Bravo, 
Rajput  !  Let  me  know  your  name."  "  Ganga  Khichi,"  was 
the  answer.  "  And  mine  is  Dewa  Hara  ;  we  are  brothers,  and 
must  no  longer  be  enemies.     Let  the  river  be  our  boundary." 

The  Foundation  of  Bundi.— It  was  in  S.  1398  (a.d.  1342)  ^  that 
Jetha  and  the  Usaras  acknowledged  Rae  Dewa  as  their  lord,  who 
erected  Bundi  in  the  centre  of  the  Bandu-ka-Nal,  which  hence- 
forth became  the  capital  of  the  Haras.  The  Chambal,  which,  for 
a  short  time  after  the  adventure  here  related,  continued  to  be 
the  barrier  to  the  eastward,  was  soon  overpassed,  and  the  bravery 
of  the  race  bringing  them  into  contact  with  the  emperor's  lieu- 
tenants, the  Haras  rose  to  favour  and  power,  extending  their 
acquisitions,  either  by  conquest  or  grant,  to  the  confines  of  Malwa. 
The  territory  thus  acquired  obtained  the  geographical  designation 
of  Haravati  or  Haraoti.^ 


CHAPTER  2 

Recapitulation  of  Hara  History. — Having  sketched  the  history 
of  this  race,  from  the  regeneration  of  Anhal,*  the  first  Chauhan 
(at  a  jieriod  which  it  is  impossible  to  fix),  to  the  establishment  of 
the  first  Hara  prince  in  Bundi,  we  shall  here  recapitulate  the  most 
conspicuous  princes,  with  [460]  their  dates,  as  established  by 
synchronical  events  in  the  annals  of  other  States,  or  by  inscrip- 
tions ;  and  then  proceed  with  the  Jiistory  of  the  Haras  as  members 
of  the  great  commonwealth  of  India. 

^  The  Par;  or  Parbati  River,  flows  near  Ramgarh  Relawan. — See  Map. 

*  [This  conflicts  with  the  statement  above  tliat  Rao  l^ewa  reigned  in 
the  time  of  Sikandar  Lodi.] 

*  In  Muhammadan  authors,  Hadaoti.     (Ain,  ii.  271.) 

*  Anhal  [anal]  and  Agni  have  the  same  signification,  namely,  'fire.' 


RAO  DEWA  :  HIS  ABDICATION  1467 

Anuraj,  obtained  Asi  or  Hansi. 

Ishtpal,  son  of  Anuraj  ;  he  was  expelled  from  Asi,  S.  1081 
(a.d.  1025),  and  obtained  Asir.  He  was  founder  of  the  Haras  ; 
the  chronicle  says  not  how  long  after  obtaining  Asi,  but  evidently 
very  soon. 

Hamir,  killed  in  the  battle  of  the  Ghaggar,  on  the  invasion  of 
Shihabu-d-din,  S.  1249,  or  a.d.  1193. 

Rao  Chand,  slain  in  Asir,  by  Alau-d-din,  in  S.  1351. 

Rainsi,  fled  from  Asir,  and  came  to  Mewar,  and  in  S.  1353 
obtained  Bhainsror. 

Rao  Banga,  obtained  Bumbaoda,  Menal,  etc. 

Rao  Dewa,  S.  1398  (a.d.  1342),  took  the  Bandu  valley  from 
the  Minas,  founded  the  city  of  Bundi,  and  styled  the  country 
Haravati. 

Rao  Dewa,  whose  Mina  subjects  far  outnumbered  his  Haras, 
iiad  recourse,  in  order  to  consolidate  his  authority,  to  one  of  those 
barbarous  acts  too  common  in  Rajput  conquests.  The  Rajput 
chronicler  so  far  palliates  the  deed,  that  he  assigns  a  reason  for 
it,  namely,  the  insolence  of  the  Mina  leader,  who  dared  to  ask  a 
daughter  of  the  '  lord  of  the  Patar.'  Be  this  as  it  may,  he 
called  in  the  aid  of  the  Haras  of  Bumbaoda  and  the  Solankis  of 
Toda,  and  almost  annihilated  the  Usaras. 

Abdication  of  Eao  Dewa. — How  long  it  was  after  this  act  of 
barbarity  that  Dewa  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son,  is  not  men- 
tioned, though  it  is  far  from  improbable  that  this  crime  influenced 
his  determination.  This  was  the  second  time  of  his  abdication 
of  power  :  first,  when  he  gave  Bumbaoda  to  Harraj,  and  went 
to  Sikandar  Lodi  ;  and  now  to  Samarsi,  the  branches  of  Bundi 
and  the  Patar  remaining  independent  of  each  other.  The  act 
of  abdication  confers  the  title  of  Jugraj  ;  ^  or  when  they  conjoin 
the  authority  of  the  son  with  the  father,  the  heir  is  styled  Jivaraj. 
Four  instances  of  this  are  on  record  in  the  annals  of  Bundi  ; 
namely,  by  Dewa,  by  Narayandas,  by  Raj  Chhattar  Sal,  and  by 
Sriji  Ummed  Singh.  It  is  a  rule  for  a  prince  never  to  enter  the 
capital  after  abandoning  the  government  ;  the  king  is  virtually 
defunct ;  he  cannot  be  a  subject,  and  he  is  no  longer  a  king.  To 
render  the  act  more  impressive,  they  make  an  effigy  of  the  abdi- 
cated king,  and  on  the  twelfth  day  following  the  act  (being  the 

^  Yuga-Raj,  '  sacrifice  of  the  government.'  [Possibly  confused  with 
Yuvaraja,  '  heir-apparent.'] 


1468  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

usual  period  of  [461]  mourning)  they  commit  it  to  the  flames.^ 
Tn  aecordaneo  with  this  custom,  Dewa  never  afterwards  entered 
the  walls  either  of  Bundi  or  Bumbaoda,-  but  resided  at  the  village 
of  Umarthuna,  five  coss  from  the  former,  till  his  death. 

Rao  Napuji. — Samarsi  had  three  sons  :  1.  Napuji,  who  suc- 
ceeded ;  2.  Ilarpal,  who  obtained  Jajawar,  and  left  numerous 
issue,  called  Harpalpotas  ;  and  3.  Jethsi,  who  had  the  honour  of 
first  extending  the  Hara  name  beyond  the  Chambal.  On  his 
return  from  a  visit  to  the  Tuar  cliief  of  Kaithan,  he  passed  the 
residence  of  a  community  of  Bhils,  in  an  extensive  ravine  near 
the  river.  Taking  them  by  surprise,  he  attacked  them,  and  they 
fell  \actims  to  the  fury  of  the  Haras.  At  the  entrance  of  this 
ravine,  which  was  defended  by  an  outwork,  Jethsi  slew  the  leader 
of  the  Bhils,  and  erected  there  a  hathi  (elephant)  to  the  god  of 
battle,  Bhairon.  He  stands  on  the  spot  called  Char-jhopra, 
near  the  chief  portal  of  the  castle  of  Kotali,  a,  name  derived 
from  a  community  of  Bhils  called  Kotia.^ 

1  [Durlabha  Chaulukya  of  Gujarat  went  on  a  pilgrimage  and  abdicated. 
"  Such  a  resignation  of  royal  state  seems  to  have  been  a  constant  practice 
in  ancient  times,  the  Rajput  princes  esteeming  a  death  in  the  holy  land  of 
Gaya  as  the  safe  passage  to  beatitude  "  (Forbes,  Rasmala,  54).  A  defeated 
king  was  required  to  resign  his  throne  (EIliot-Dowson  ii.  27).  See  Frazer, 
Golden  Bough,  3rd  ed.  Part  iii.  148  fi.] 

2  Harraj  (elder  son  of  Dewa),  lord  of  Bumbaoda,  had  twelve  sons ;  of 
whom  Alu  Hara,  the  eldest,  held  twenty-four  castles  upon  the  Patar. 
Witli  all  of  these  the  author  is  familiar,  having  trod  the  Patar  in  every 
direction  :   of  this,  anon. 

3  [This  is  a  folk  etymology,  the  real  name  of  the  Bhil  sept  being  Khota.] 
The  descendants  of  Jethsi  retained  the  castle  and  the  surrounding  country 
for  several  generations ;  when  Bhonangsi,  the  fifth  in  descent,  was 
dispossessed  of  them  by  Rao  SurajmaU  of  Bundi.  Jethsi  had  a  son,  Surjan, 
who  gave  the  name  of  Kotah  to  this  abode  of  the  Bhils,  round  which  he 
built  a  wall.  His  son  Dhirdeo  excavated  twelve  lakes,  and  dammed  up 
that  east  of  the  town,  still  known  by  his  name,  though  better  by  its  new 
appellation  of  Kishor  Sagar  His  son  was  Kandhal,  who  had  Bhonangsi, 
who  lost  and  regained  Kotah  in  the  following  manner.  Kotah  was  seized 
l)y  two  Pathans,  Dhakar  and  Kcsar  Khan.  Bhonang,  who  became  mad 
from  excessive  use  of  wine  and  opium,  was  banislied  to  Bundi,  and  his  wife, 
at  the  head  of  his  household  vassals,  retired  to  Kaithan,  around  which  the 
Haras  held  three  hundred  and  sixty  villages.  Bhonang,  in  exile,  repented 
of  his  excesses  ;  ho  announced  his  amendment  and  his  wish  to  return  to 
his  wife  and  kin  The  intrepid  Rajputni  rejoiced  at  his  restoration,  and 
laid  a  plan  for  the  recovery  of  Kotah,  in  wliich  she  destined  him  to  take 
part.     To  attempt  it  by  force  would  have  been  to  court  destruction,  and 


NAPUJI  1469 

Napuji. — Napuji,  a  name  of  no  small  note  in  the  chronicles  of 
Haravati,  succeeded  Samarsi.  Napuji  had  married  a  daughter 
of  the  Solanki,  chief  of  Toda/  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  ancient 
kings  of  Anhilwara.  While  on  a  visit  to  Toda,  a  slab  of  beautiful 
marble  attracted  the  regard  of  the  Hara  Rao,  who  desired  his 
bride  to  ask  it  of  her  father.  His  delicacy  was  offended,  and  he 
replied,  "  he  supposed  the  Hara  would  next  ask  him  for  his  wife  "  ; 
and  desired  liim  to  depart.  Napuji  was  incensed,  and  visited  his 
anger  upon  his  wife,  whom  he  treated  with  neglect  and  even 
banished  fi-om  his  bed.  She  complained  to  her  father.  On  the 
Kajri  Tij,  the  joyous  third  of  the  [462]  month  Sawan,  when  a 
Rajput  must  visit  his  wife,  the  vassals  of  Bundi  were  dismissed 
to  their  homes  to  keep  the  festival  sacred  to  '  the  mother  of 
births.'  The  Toda  Rao,  taking  advantage  of  the  unguarded 
state  of  Bundi,  obtained  admittance  by  stealth,  and  drove  his 
lance  through  the  head  of  the  Hara  Rao.  He  retired  without 
observation,  and  was  relating  to  his  attendants  the  success  of  his 
revenge,  when,  at  this  moment,  they  passed  one  of  the  Bundi 
vassals,  who,  seated  in  a  hollow  taking  his  amal-pani  (opium- 
water),  was  meditating  on  the  folly  of  going  home,  where  no 
endearing  caresses  awaited  him  from  his  wife,  who  was  deranged, 
and  had  determined  to  return  to  Bundi.  While  thus  absorbed  in 
gloomy  reflections,  the  trampUng  of  horses  met  his  ear,  and  soon 
was  heard  the  indecent  mirth  of  the  Toda  Rao's  party,  at  the 
Hara  Rao  dismissing  his  vassals  and  remaining  unattended.  The 
Chauhan  guessed  the  rest,  and  as  the  Toda  Rao  passed  close  to 

she  deterrained  to  combine  stratagem  and  courage.  When  the  jocund 
festival  of  spring  approached,  when  even  decorum  is  for  a  while  cast  aside 
in  the  Rajput  Saturnalia,  she  invited  herself,  with  all  the  youthful  damsels 
of  Kaithan,  to  play  the  Holi  with  the  Pathans  of  Kotah.  The  libertine 
Pathans  received  the  invitation  with  joy,  happy  to  find  the  queen  of  Kaithan 
evince  so  much  amity.  Collecting  three  hundred  of  the  finest  Hara  youths, 
she  disguised  them  in  female  apparel,  and  Bhonang,  attended  by  the  old 
nurse,  each  with  a  vessel  of  the  crimson  abir,  headed  the  band.  While 
the  youths  were  throwing  the  crimson  powder  amongst  the  Pathans,  the 
nurse  led  Bhonang  to  play  with  their  chief.  The  disguised  Hara  broke  his 
vessel  on  the  head  of  Kesar  Khan.  This  was  the  signal  for  action  :  the 
Rajputs  drew  their  swords  from  beneath  their  ghaghras  (petticoats),  and 
the  bodies  of  Kesar  and  his  gang  strewed  the  terrace.  The  masjid  of  Kesar 
Khan  still  exists  within  the  walls.  Bhonang  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Dungarsi,  whom  Rao  Sura j  mall  dispossessed  and  added  Kotah  to  Bundi. 
^  [About  60  miles  S.W.  of  Ajmer  city.] 


1470  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

him,  he  levelled  a  blow,  which  severed  his  right  arm  from  his  body 
and  brought  him  from  his  horse.  The  Solanki's  attendants  took 
to  flight,  and  the  Chauhan  put  the  severed  Umb,  on  which  was 
the  golden  bracelet,  in  his  scarf,  and  proceeded  back  to  Bundi. 
Here  all  was  confusion  and  sorrow.  The  Solanki  queen,  true  to 
her  faith,  determined  to  moimt  the  pyre  with  the  murdered  body 
of  her  lord  ;  yet  equally  true  to  the  line  whence  she  sprung,  was 
praising  the  vigour  of  her  brother's  arm,  "  which  had  made  so 
many  mouths,^  that  she  wanted  hands  to  present  a  pan  to  each." 
At  the  moment  she  was  apostrophizing  the  dead  body  of  her  lord, 
his  faithful  vassal  entered,  and  undoing  the  scarf  presented  to 
her  the  dissevered  arm,  saying,  "  Perhaps  this  may  aid  you." 
She  recognized  the  bracelet,  and  though,  as  a  Sati,  she  had  done 
with  this  world,  and  should  die  in  peace  with  all  mankind,  she 
could  not  forget,  even  at  that  dread  moment,  that  "  to  revenge  a 
feud  "  was  the  first  of  all  duties.  She  called  for  pen  and  ink,  and 
before  mounting  the  pyre  wrote  to  her  brother,  that  if  he  did  not 
wipe  off  that  disgrace,  his  seed  would  be  stigmatized  as  the  issue 
of  "  the  one-handed  Solanki."  When  he  perused  the  dying  words 
of  his  Sati  sister,  he  was  stung  to  the  soul,  and  being  incapable 
of  revenge,  immediately  dashed  out  his  brains  against  a  pillar 
of  the  hall. 

Hamuji.  Alu. — Napuji  had  four  sons,  Hamuji,  Naurang 
(whose  descendants  are  Naurangpotas),  Tharad  (whose  descend- 
ants are  Tharad  Haras),  and  Hamu,  who  succeeded  in  S.  1440. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  separation  of  the  branches,  when 
Harraj  retained  Bumbaoda,  at  the  period  when  his  father  estab- 
lished himself  at  Bundi.  Alu  Ilara  [463]  succeeded  ;  but  the 
lord  of  the  Patar  had  a  feud  with  the  Rana,  and  he  was  dis- 
possessed of  his  birthright.  Burnbaoda  was  levelled,  and  he 
left  no  heirs  to  his  revenge. 

Mewar  attempts  to  regain  Influence  in  Bundi. — The  princes  of 
Chitor,  who  had  recovered  from  the  shock  of  Ala's  invasion,  now 
re-exerted  their  strength,  the  first  act  of  which  was  the  reduction 
of  the  power  of  the  great  vassals,  who  had  taken  advantage  of 
their  distresses  to  render  themselves  independent  :  among  these 
they  included  the  Haras.  But  the  Haras  deny  their  vassalage, 
and  allege,  that  though  they  always  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  the  gaddi  of  Mewar,  they  were  indebted  to  their  swords,  not 
^  "  Poor  dumb  mouths." 


ATTEMPT  BY  IVIEWAR  TO  RECOVER  INFLUENCE  1471 

his  pattas,  for  the  lands  they  conquered  on  the  Alpine  Patar. 
Both  to  a  certain  degree  are  right.  There  is  no  room  to  doubt 
that  the  fugitive  Hara  from  Asir  owed  his  preservation,  as  well 
as  his  establishment,  to  the  Rana,  who  assuredly  possessed  the 
whole  of  the  Plateau  till  Ala's  inyasion.  But  then  the  Sesodia 
power  was  weakened  ;  the  Bhumias  and  aboriginal  tribes  re- 
covered their  old  retreats,  and  from  these  the  Haras  obtained 
them  by  conquest.  The  Rana,  however,  who  would  not  admit 
that  a  temporary  abeyance  of  his  power  sanctioned  any  encroach- 
ment upon  it,  called  upon  Hamu  "  to  do  service  for  Biuidi." 
The  Hara  conceded  personal  homage  in  the  grand  festivals  of  the 
Dasahra  and  Holi,  to  acknowledge  his  supremacy  and  receive 
the  tika  of  installation  ;  but  he  rejected  at  once  the  claim  of 
unlimited  attendance.  Nothing  less,  however,  would  satisfy 
the  king  of  Cliitor,  who  resolved  to  compel  submission,  or  drive 
the  stock  of  Dewa  from  the  Patar.  Hamu  defied,  and  deter- 
mined to  brave,  his  resentment.  The  Rana  of  Mewar  marched 
with  all  his  vassals  to  Bundi,  and  encamped  at  Nimera,  only  a 
few  miles  from  the  city.  Five  hundred  Haras,  '.the  sons  of  one 
father,'  put  on  the  saffron  robe,  and  ralhed  round  their  chief, 
determined  to  die  with  him.  Having  no  hope  but  from  an  effort 
of  despair,  they  marched  out  at  midnight,  and  fell  upon  the  Rana's 
camp,  which  was  completely  surprised  ;  and  each  Sesodia  sought 
safety  in  flight.  Hamu  made  his  way  direct  to  the  tent  of  Hindu- 
pati  ;  ^  but  the  sovereign  of  the  Sesodias  was  glad  to  avail  himself 
of  the  gloom  and  confusion  to  seek  shelter  in  Chitor,  while  his 
vassals  fell  under  the  swords  of  the  Haras. 

Humiliated,  disgraced,  and  enraged  at  being  thus  foiled  by  a 
handful  of  men,  the  Rana  re-formed  his  troops  under  the  walls  of 
Chitor,  and  swore  he  would  not  eat  until  he  was  master  of  Bundi. 
The  rash  vow  went  round  ;  but  Bundi  was  sixty  miles  distant, 
and  defended  by  brave  hearts.  His  chiefs  expostulated  with  the 
Rana  on  the  absolute  impossibility  of  redeeming  his  vow  ;  but 
the  words  of  kings  are  sacred  :  Biuidi  must  fall,  ere  the  king  of 
the  Guhilots  could  dine.  In  this  exigence,  a  childish  [464] 
expedient  was  proposed  to  release  him  from  himger  and  his  oath  ; 
"  to  erect  a  mock  Bundi  and  take  it  by  storm."  ^     Instantly  the 

1  ['  Lord  of  the  Hindu,'  a  title  assumed  by  the  Ranas  of  Mewar.] 
^  [This  was  probably,  as  in  the  cases  of  Dhar  and  Amber,  a  form  of 
sympathetic  magic  to  ensure  the  capture  of  Bundi.] 


1472  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

mimic  town  arose  under  the  walls  of  Chitor  ;  and,  that  the 
deception  might  be  complete,  the  local  nomenclature  was  attended 
to,  and  each  quarter  had  its  api^ropriate  appellation.  A  band  of 
Haras  of  the  Patar  were  in  the  service  of  Chitor,  whose  leader, 
Kumbha-Bersi,  was  returning  with  his  kin  from  hunting  the 
deer,  when  their  attention  was  attracted  by  this  strange  bustle. 
The  story  was  soon  told,  that  Bundi  must  fall  ere  the  Rana  could 
dine.  Kumbha  assembled  his  brethren  of  the  Patar,  declaring 
that  even  the  mock  Bundi  must  be  defended.  All  felt  the  in- 
dignity to  the  clan,  and  each  bosom  burning  with  indignation, 
they  prepared  to  protect  the  mud  walls  of  the  pseudo  Bundi  horn 
insult.  It  was  reported  to  the  Rana  that  Bmidi  was  finished. 
He  advanced  to  the  storm  :  but  what  was  his  surprise  when, 
instead  of  the  blank-cartridge,  he  heard  a  volley  of  balls  wliiz 
amongst  them  !  A  messenger  was  dispatched,  and  was  received 
by  Bersi  at  the  gate,  who  explained  the  cause  of  the  unexpected 
salutation,  desiring  him  to  tell  the  Rana  that  "  not  even  the 
mock  capital  of  a  Hara  should  be  dishonoured."  Spreading  a 
sheet  at  the  Uttle  gateway,  Bersi  and  the  Kumbhawats  in^dted 
the  assault,  and  at  the  threshold  of  "  Gar-ki-Bundi  "  (the  Bmidi 
of  clay)  they  gave  up  their  lives  for  the  honom-  of  the  race.^  The 
Rana  wisely  remained  satisfied  with  this  salvo  to  his  dignity,  nor 
sought  any  further  to  wipe  off  the  disgrace  incurred  at  the  real 
capital  of  the  Haras,  perceiving  the  impoUcy  of  driving  such  a 
daring  clan  to  desperation,  whose  services  he  could  command  on 
an  emergency. 

Rao  Bir  Singh. — Hamu,  who  ruled  sixteen  years,  left  two  sons  : 
1.  Birsuigh  ;  and  2.  Lala,  who  obtained  Khatkar,  and  had  two 
sons,  Nauvarma  and  Jetha,  each  of  whom  left  clans  called  after 
them  Nauvarma-pota  and  Jethawat.  Birsingh  ruled  fifteen 
years,  and  left  three  sons  :  Bu'u,  Jabdu,  who  founded  three  tribes,^ 

1  Somewhat  akin  to  this  incident  is  the  history  of  that  summer  abode 
of  kings  of  France  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  at  Paris,  caUod  "  Madrid." 
When  Francis  I.  was  allowed  to  return  to  his  capital,  he  pledged  his  parole 
that  he  would  return  to  Madrid,  J3ut  the  delights  of  hberty  and  Paris 
were  too  much  for  honour ;  and  while  lie  wavered,  a  hint  was  thrown  out 
similar  to  that  suggested  to  the  Rana  when  determined  to  capture  Bundi. 
A  mock  Madrid  arose  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  to  which  Francis  retired. 

^  Jabdu  had  three  sons :  each  founded  cJans.  The  eldest,  Bacha,  had 
two  sons,  .Sewaji  and  Seraiiji.  The  former  had  Mcoji,  the  latter  had 
fcjawant,  whose  descendants  are  styled  Meo  and  Sawant  Haras. 


RAO  BANDA  1473 

and  Nima,  descendants  Nimawats.  Biru,  who  died  S.  1526, 
ruled  fifty  years,  and  had  seven  sons  :  1.  Rao  Bandu  ;  2.  Sanda  ; 
3.  Aka  ;  4.  Uda  ;  5.  Chanda  ;  6.  Samarsingh  ;  7.  Amarsingh  ; 
— the  first  five  foiuided  clans  named  after  them  Akawat,  Udawat, 
Chondawat,  but  the  last  two  abandoned  their  faith  for  that  of 
Islam  [465]. 

Rao  Banda,  c.  a.d.  1485. — Banda  has  left  a  deathless  name  in 
Rajwara  for  his  boundless  charities,  more  especially  during  the 
famine  which  desolated  that  country  in  S.  1542  (a.d.  1486).^  He 
was  forewarned,  says  the  bard,  in  a  vision,  of  the  visitation.  Kal 
(Time  or  the  famine  personified)  appeared  riding  on  a  lean  black 
buffalo.  Grasping  liis  sword  and  shield,  the  intrepid  Hara 
assaulted  the  apparition.  "  Bravo,  Banda  Hara,"  it  exclaimed  ; 
"  I  am  Kal  (Time)  ;  on  me  your  sword  wiU  fall  in  vain.  Yet  you 
are  the  only  mortal  who  ever  dared  to  oppose  me.  Now  hsten  : 
I  am  Byahs  (forty-two)  ;  the  land  wiU  become  a  desert ;  fill  your 
gxanaries,  distribute  hberally,  they  will  never  empty."  Thus 
saying,  the  spectre  vanished.  Rao  Banda  obeyed  the  injunction  ; 
he  collected  grain  from  every  surrounding  State.  One  year 
passed  and  another  had  almost  followed,  when  the  periodical 
rains  ceased,  and  a  famine  ensued  which  ravaged  all  India. 
Princes  far  and  near  sent  for  aid  to  Bvmdi,  wliile  his  own  poor 
had  daily  portions  served  out  gratis  :  which  practice  is  still  kept 
up  in  memory  of  Rao  Banda,  by  the  name  of  Langar-ki-gagari, 
or  '  anchor  of  Banda.'  ^ 

But  the  piety  and  charity  of  Rao  Banda  could  not  shield  him 
from  adversity.  His  two  youngest  brothers,  urged  by  the 
temptation  of  power,  abandoned  their  faith,  and  with  the  aid  of 
the  royal  power  expelled  him  from  Bundi,  where,  under  their 
new  titles  of  Samarkandi  and  Amarkandi,  they  jointly  ruled 
eleven  years.  Banda  retired  to  Matimda,  in  the  hOls,  where  he 
died  after  a  reign  of  twenty-one  years,  and  where  his  cenotaph 
still  remains.  He  left  two  sons  :  1.  Narayandas  ;  and  2.  Nir- 
budh,  who  had  Matunda. 

1  [There  was  a  great  drought  in  Hindustan  about  a.d.  1491  (Balfour, 
Cyclopaedia  of  India,  i.  1072).] 

^  [Langar  means  '  an  anchor,'  then  '  a  distribution  of  food  to  the  poor.' 
The  most  famous  instance  is  that  at  Haidarabad  (Bilgrami-Willmott,  Sketch 
of  H.E.  The  Nizam's  Dominions,  ii.  875  ff.)-  The  googri  of  the  original 
text  is  possibly  gagari,  '  a  little  pot.'] 


1474  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

Rao  Narayandas. — Narayan  had  grown  up  to  manhood  in  this 
retreat  ;  but  no  sooner  was  he  at  hberty  to  act  for  himself,  than 
he  assembled  the  Haras  of  the  Pa  tar,  and  revealed  his  deter- 
mination to  obtain  Bxuidi,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  They  swore 
to  abide  his  fortunes.  After  the  days  of  matam  (mourning)  were 
over,  he  sent  to  his  Islamite  uncles  a  complimentary  message, 
intimating  his  wish  to  pay  his  respects  to  them  ;  and  not  suspect- 
ing danger  from  a  youth  brought  up  in  obscurity,  it  was  signified 
that  he  might  come. 

With  a  small  but  devoted  band,  he  reached  the  chauk  (square), 
where  he  left  his  adherents,  and  alone  repaired  to  the  palace. 
He  ascended  to  where  both  the  uncles  were  seated  almost  un- 
attended. They  hked  not  the  resolute  demeanour  of  the  yoixth, 
and  tried  to  gain  a  passage  which  led  to  a  subterranean  apartment  ; 
but  no  sooner  was  this  intention  perceived,  than  the  khanda,  or 
'  double-edged  sword,'  of  Banda's  son  cut  the  elder  to  the  ground, 
while  his  lance  reached  the  other  before  he  got  to  a  [466]  place 
of  secm"ity.  In  an  instant,  he  severed  both  their  heads,  with 
which  he  graced  the  shrine  of  Bhavani,  and  giving  a  shouf  to  his 
followers  in  the  chauk,  their  swords  were  soon  at  work  upon  the 
Muslims.  Every  true  Hara  supported  the  just  cause,  and  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  apostates  and  their  crew  were  hurled  with 
ignominy  over  the  walls.  To  commemorate  this  exploit  and  the 
recovery  of  Bundi  from  these  traitors,  the  pillar  on  which  the 
sword  of  the  young  Hara  descended,  when  he  struck  doAvn  Samar- 
kandi,  and  which  bears  testimony  to  the  vigour  of  his  arm,  is 
annually  worshipped  by  every  Hara  on  the  festival  of  the  Dasahra.^ 

Narayandas  became  celebrated  for  his  strength  and  prowess. 
He  was  one  of  those  undaunted  Rajputs  who  are  absolutely 
strangers  to  the  impression  of  fear,  and  it  might  be  said  of  danger 
and  himself,  "  that  they  were  brothers  whelped  the  same  day, 
and  he  the  elder."  Unfortunately,  these  qualities  were  rendered 
inert  from  the  enormous  quantity  of  opium  he  took,  which  would 
have  killed  most  men  ;  for  it  is  recorded  "  he-  could  at  one  time 
eat  the  weight  of  seven  pice."  "     The  consequence  of  this  vice, 

^  Though  called  a  pillar,  it  is  a  slab  in  the  staircase  of  the  old  palace, 
■which  I  have  seen. 

*  The  copper  coin  of  Bundi,  equal  to  a  halfpenny.  One  pice  weight  is 
a  common  dose  for  an  ordinary  Rajput,  but  would  send  the  uninitiated  to 
eternal  sleep.     [According  to  Cheevers  {Medical  Jurisprudence  in  India, 


THE  SIEGE  OF  CHITOR  1475 

as  might  be  expected,  was  a  constant  stupefaction,  of  which  many 
anecdotes  are  related.  Being  called  to  aid  the  Rana  Raemall, 
then  attacked  by  the  Pathans  of  Mandu,  he  set  out  at  the  head 
of  five  hundred  select  Haras.  On  the  first  day's  march  he  was 
taking  his  siesta,  after  his  usual  dose,  under  a  tree,  his  mouth 
wide  open,  into  wliich  the  flies  had  unmolested  ingress,  when  a 
young  Telin  ^  came  to  draw  water  at  the  well,  and  on  learning 
that  this  was  Bundi's  prince  on  his  way  to  aid  the  Rana  in  his 
distress,  she  observed,  "  If  he  gets  no  other  aid  than  his,  alas 
for  my  prince  !  "  "  The  amaldar  (opium-eater)  has  quick  ears, 
though  no  eyes,"  is  a  common  adage  in  Rajwara.  "  What  is  that 
you  say,  rand  (widow)  ?  "  roared  the  Rao,  advancing  to  her. 
Upon  her  endeavouring  to  excuse  herself,  he  observed,  "  Do  not 
fear,  but  repeat  it."  In  her  hand  she  had  an  iron  crowbar,  which 
the  Rao,  taking  it  from  her,  twisted  until  the  ends  met  round  her 
neck.  "  Wear  this  garland  for  me,"  said  he,  "  until  I  return 
from  aiding  the  Rana,  unless  in  the  interim  you  can  find  some  one 
strong  enough  to  unbind  it." 

The  Siege  of  Chitor. — Chitor  was  closely  invested  ;  the  Rao 
moved  by  the  intricacies  of  the  Patar,  took  the  royal  camp  by 
surprise,  and  made  direct  for  the  tent  of  the  generalissimo,  cutting 
down  all  in  his  way.  Confusion  and  panic  seized  the  Muslims, 
who  fled  in  [467]  all  directions.-  The  Bundi  nakkaras  (drums) 
struck  up  ;  and  as  the  morning  broke,  the  besieged  had  the 
satisfaction  to  behold  the  invaders  dispersed  and  their  auxiliaries 
at  hand.  Rana  Raemall  came  forth,  and  conducted  his  deliverer 
in  triumph  to  Chitor.  All  the  chiefs  assembled  to  do  honour  to 
13undi's  prince,  and  the  ladies  '  behind  the  curtain  '  felt  so  little 
alarm  at  their  opium-eating  knight,  that  the  Rana's  niece  deter- 
mined to  espouse  him,  and  next  day  communicated  her  intentions 
to  the  Rana.  '  The  slave  of  Narayan  '  was  too  courteous  a 
cavalier  to  let  any  fair  lady  die  for  his  love  ;   the  Rana  was  too 

227)  in  Bengal  some  wretches  eat  as  much  as  a  rupee  weight,  180  grains, 
of  pure  opium  daily.  If  his  pice  was  anything  like  the  weight  of  that  of  the 
East  India  Company  (100  grains),  the  dose  of  Narayandas  must  have  been 
enormous.] 

^  Wife  or  daughter  of  a  teli,  or  oilman. 

*  [Rana  Raemall's  opponent  is  said  to  have  been  Ghayasu-d-dln  of 
Malwa  (A.D.  1469-99) :  but  he  is  reported  to  have  been  a  debauchee  who 
never  left  his  palace  {BO,  i.  Part  i.  362  ff.).] 


1476  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

sensible  of  his  obligation  not  to  hail  with  joy  any  mode  of  testifying 
his  gratitude,  and  the  nuptials  of  the  Hara  and  Ketu  were  cele- 
brated with  pomp.  With  victory  and  his  bride,  he  returned  to 
the  Banda  valley  ;  where,  however,  '  the  flower  of  gloomy  Dis  ' 
soon  gained  the  ascendant  even  over  Kamdeo,^  and  his  doses 
augmented  to  such  a  degree,  that  "  he  scratched  his  lady  instead 
of  himself,  and  with  such  severity  that  he  marred  the  beauty  of 
the  Mewari."  In  the  morning,  perceiving  what  had  happened, 
yet  being  assailed  with  no  reproach,  he  gained  a  reluctant  victory 
over  himself,  and  "  consigned  the  opium-box  to  her  keeping." 
Narayandas  ruled  thirty-two  years,  and  left  his  country  in 
tranquillity,  and  much  extended,  to  his  only  son. 

Rao  Surajmall,  c.  a.d.  1533. — Surajmall  ascended  the  gaddi  in 
S.  1590  (a.d.  1534).  Like  his  father,  he  was  athletic  in  form  and 
dauntless  in  soul ;  and  it  is  said  possessed  in  an  eminent,  degree 
that  unerring  sign  of  a  hero,  long  arms,  his  (like  those  of  Rama 
and  Prithiraj)  "  reaching  far  below  his  knees." 

The  alliance  with  Chitor  was  again  cemented  by  intermarriage. 
Suja  Bai,  sister  to  Surajmall,  was  espoused  by  Rana  Ratna,  who 
bestowed  his  own  sister  on  the  Rao.  Rao  Suja,  like  his  father, 
was  too  partial  to  his  amal.  One  day,  at  Chitor,  he  had  fallen 
asleep  in  the  Presence,  when  a  Purbia  chief  felt  an  irresistible 
incUnation  to  disturb  him,  and  "  tickled  the  Hara's  ear  with  a 
straw."  He  might  as  well  have  jested  with  a  tiger  :  a  back  stroke 
with  his  khanda  stretched  the  insulter  on  the  carpet.  The  son 
of  the  Purbia  treasured  up  the  feud,  and  waited  for  revenge,  which 
he  effected  by  making  the  Rana  believe  the  Rao  had  other  objects 
in  \iew,  besides  visiting  his  sister  Suja  Bai,  at  the  Rawala.  The 
train  thus  laid,  the  slightest  incident  inflamed  it.  The  fair  Suja 
had  prepared  a  repast,  to  which  she  invited  both  her  brother  and 
her  husband  :  she  had  not  only  attended  the  culinary  process 
herself,  but  waited  on  these  objects  of  her  love  to  drive  the  flies 
from  the  food.  Though  the  wedded  fair  of  Rajputana  clings  to 
the  husband,  yet  she  is  ever  more  solicitous  for  [iG8|  the  honour 
of  the  house  from  wlience  she  sprung,  than  that  into  which  she 
has  been  admitted  ;  which  feeling  has  engendered  numerous 
(quarrels.  Unhappily,  Suja  remarked,  on  removing  the  dishes, 
that  "  her  brother  had  devoured  his  share  like  a  tiger,  while  her 
husband  had  played  with  his  like  a  child  (balalc)."  The  expression, 
^  [Ketu,  the  demon  who  causes  eclipses ;   Kamdeo,  god  of  love.] 


MURDER  OF  RAO  SDRAJIVIALL  1477 

added  to  other  insults  which  he  fancied  were  put  upon  him,  cost 
the  Rao  his  hfe,  and  sent  the  fair  Suja  an  untimely  victim  to 
Indraloka.^  The  dictates  of  hospitality  prevented  the  Rana  from 
noticing  the  remark  at  the  moment,  and  in  fact  it  was  more 
accordant  with  the  general  tenor  of  his  character  to  revenge  the 
affront  with  greater  security  than  even  the  isolated  situation  of 
the  brave  Hara  afforded  him.  On  the  latter  taking  leave,  the 
Rana  invited  himself  to  hunt  on  the  next  spring  festival  in  the 
rcimnas  or  preserves  of  Bundi.  The  merry  month  of  Phalgun 
arrived  ;  the  Rana  and  his  court  prepared  their  suits  of  amaua 
(green),  and  ascended  the  Patar  on  the  road  to  Bundi,  in  spite 
of  the  anathema  of  the  prophetic  Sati,  who,  as  she  ascended  the 
pyre  at  Bumbaoda,  pronounced  that  whenever  Rao  and  Rana 
met  to  hunt  together  at  tTie  Aheria,  such  meeting,  which  had 
blasted  all  her  hopes,  would  always  be  fatal.  But  centuries  had 
rolled  between  the  denunciation  of  the  daughter  of  Alu  Hara  and 
Suja  Bai  of  Bundi  ;  and  the  prophecy,  though  in  every  mouth, 
served  merely  to  amuse  the  leisure  hour  ;  the  moral  being  for- 
gotten it  was  only  looked  upon  as  '  a  tale  that  was  past.' 

Murder  of  Rao  Surajmall. — The  scene  chosen  for  the  sport  was 
on  the  heights  of  Nanta,  not  far  from  the  western  bank  of  the 
Chambal,  in  whose  glades  every  species  of  game,  from  the  lordly 
lion  to  the  timid  hare,  abounded.  The  troops  were  formed  into 
lines,  advancing  through  the  jimgles  with  the  customary  noise 
and  clamour,  and  driving  before  them  a  promiscuous  herd  of 
tenants  of  the  forest — lions,  tigers,  hyenas,  bears,  every  species  of 
deer,  from  the  enormous  barahsinghae  and  nilgae  ^  to  the  delicate 
antelope,  with  jackals,  foxes,  hares,  and  the  little  wild  dog.  In 
such  an  animated  scene  as  this,  the  Rajput  forgets  even  his  opium  ; 
he  requires  no  exhilaration  beyond  the  stimulus  before  him  ;  a 
species  of  petty  war,  not  altogether  free  from  danger. 

It  was  amidst  the  confusion  of  such  a  scene  that  the  dastard 
Rana  determined  to  gratify  his  malice.  The  princes  had  con- 
venient stations  assigned  them,  where  they  could  securely  assail 
the  game  as  it  passed,  each  having  but  one  or  two  confidential 
attendants.  With  the  Rana  was  the  lago  of  his  revenge,  the  son 
of  the  Purbia,  whom  the  Hara  prince  had  slain.     "  Now  is  the 

1  [Deathland,  the  realm  of  Indra.] 

2  [The  twelve-tilled  deer,  Gervus  duvanceli ;  Boselaphus  tragocamelus 
(Blanford,  Mammalia,  538,  517  ff.).] 


1478  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

moment,"  said  the  Rana  to  his  companion,  "  to  slay  the  boar," 
and  instantly  an  arrow  from  the  bow  of  the  Purbia  was  [469]  sped 
at  the  Rao.  "  With  an  eagle's  eye  he  saw  it  coming,  and  turned 
it  off  with  his  bow."  This  might  have  been  chance,  but  another 
from  the  foster-brother  of  the  Rana  convinced  him  there  was 
treachery.  Scarcely  had  he  warded  off  the  second,  when  the 
Rana  darted  at  him  on  horseback,  and  cut  him  down  with  his 
khanda.  The  Rao  fell,  but  recovering,  took  his  shawl  and  tightly 
bound  up  the  wound,  and  as  his  foe  was  luaking  off  he  called 
aloud,  "  Escape  you  may,  but  you  have  sunk  Mewar."  The 
Purbia,  who  followed  his  prince,  when  he  saw  the  Rao  bind  up 
his  wound,  said,  "  The  work  is  but  half  done  "  ;  and  like  a  coward, 
Ratna  once  more  charged  the  wounded  Rao.  As  his  arm  was 
raised  to  finish  the  deed  of  shame,  like  a  wounded  tiger  the  Hara 
made  a  dying  effort,  caught  the  assassin  by  the  robe,  and  dragged 
him  from  his  steed.  Together  they  came  to  the  ground,  the 
Rana  underneath.  The  Rao  knelt  upon  his  breast,  while,  with 
preternatural  strength,  with  one  hand  he  grasped  his  victim  by 
the  throat,  with  the  other  he  searched  for  his  dagger.  What  a 
moment  for  revenge  !  He  plunged  the  weapon  into  his  assassin's 
heart,  and  saw  him  expire  at  his  feet.  The  Rao  was  satisfied  ; 
there  was  no  more  life  left  him  than  sufliced  for  revenge,  and  he 
dropped  a  corpse  upon  the  dead  body  of  his  foeman. 

The  tidings  flew  to  Bundi,  to  the  mother  of  the  Rao,  that  her 
son  was  slain  in  the  Aheria.  "  Slain  !  "  exclaimed  this  noble 
dame,  "  but  did  he  fall  alone  ?  Never  could  a  son,  who  has 
•  drunk  at  this  breast,  depart  unaccompanied  "  ;  and  as  she  spoke, 
"  maternal  feeling  caused  the  milk  to  issue  from  the  foimt  with 
such  force,  that  it  rent  the  slab  on  which  it  fell." 

The  Satis. — The  dread  of  dishonour,  which  quenched  the 
common  sympathies  of  nature  for  tlie  death  of  her  son,  had 
scarcely  been  thus  expressed,  when  a  second  messenger  announced 
the  magnitude  of  his  revenge.  The  Rajput  dame  was  satisfied, 
though  fresh  horrors  were  about  to  follow.  The  wives  of  the 
murdered  princes  could  not  survive,  and  the  pyres  were  prepared 
on  the  fatal  field  of  sj^ort.  The  fair  Suja  expiated  her  jest,  which 
cost  her  a  husband  and  a  brother,  in  the  flames,  while  the  sister 
of  Rana  Ratna,  married  to  the  Rao,  in  accordance  with  custom 
or  affection,  burned  with  the  dead  body  of  her  lord.  The  ceno- 
taphs of  tlie  princes  were  reared  where  they  fell  ;    while  that  of 


RAOS  SURTHAN,  ARJUN  1479 

Suja  Bai  was  erected  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  Pass,  and  adds  to  the 
picturesque  beauty  of  this  romantic  valley,  which  possesses  a 
double  charm  for  the  traveller,  who  may  have  taste  to  admire 
the  scene,  and  patience  to  listen  to  the  story  [470].^ 

Rao  Surthan,  c.  a.d.  1534. — Surthan  succeeded  in  S.  1591 
(a.d.  1535),  and  married  the  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Sakta, 
founder  of  the  Saktawats  of  Mewar.  He  became  an  ardent 
votary  of  the  bloodstained  di\inity  of  war,  Kal-Bhairava,  and 
like  almost  all  those  ferocious  Rajputs  who  resign  themselves  to 
his  horrid  rites,  grew  cruel  and  at  length  deranged.  Human 
victims  are  the  chief  offerings  to  this  brutalized  personification  of 
war,  though  Surthan  was  satisfied  with  the  eyes  of  his  subjects, 
which  he  placed  upon  the  altar  of  '  the  mother  of  war.'  It  was 
then  time  to  question  the  divine  right  by  which  he  ruled.  The 
assembled  nobles  deposed  and  banished  him  from  Bundi,  assigning 
a  small  village  on  the  Chambal  for  his  residence,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  Surth'anpur,  wliich  survives  to  bear  testimony  to  one 
of  many  instances  of  the  deposition  of  their  princes  by  the  Rajputs, 
when  they  offend  custom  or  morality.  Having  no  offspring,  the 
nobles  elected  the  son  of  Nirbudh,  son  of  Rao  Banda,  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  his  patrimonial  village  of  Matunda. 

Rao  Arjun. — Rao  Arjun,  the  eldest  of  the  eight  sons  ^  of 
Nirbudli,  succeeded  his  banished  cousin.  Nothing  can  more 
effectually  e^^nce  the  total  extinction  of  animosity  between  these 
vaUant  races,  when  once  '  a  feud  is  balanced,'  than  the  fact  of 
Rao  Arjun,  soon  after  his  accession,  devoting  himself  and  his 
valiant  kinsmen  to  the  service  of  the  son  of  that  Rana  who  had 
slain  his  predecessor.  The  memorable  attack  upon  Chitor  by 
Bahadur  of  Gujarat  has  already  been  related,'  and  the  death  of 
the  Hara  prince  and  his  vassals  at  the  post  of  honour,  the  breach . 
Rao  Arjun  was  this  prince,  who  was  blown  up  at  the  Chitori  burj 
(bastion).  The  Bundi  bard  makes  a  striking  picture  of  this 
catastrophe,  in  which  the  indomitable  courage  of  their  prince  is 
finely  imagined.  The  fact  is  also  confirmed  by  the  annals  of 
Mewar : 

^  The  Author  has  seen  the  cenotaphs  of  the  princes  at  Nanta,  a  place 
which  still  affords  good  hunting. 

^  Four  of  these  had  appanages  and  founded  clans,  namely,  Bliim,  who 
had  Thakurda  ;  Pura,  who  had  Hardoi ;  Mapal  and  Pachain,  whose  abodes 
are  not  recorded.  '  See  Vol.  I.  p.  361. 


1480  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

"  Seated  on  a  frae^ment  of  the  rock,  disparted  by  the  explosion 
of  the  mine,  Arjun  drew  his  sword,  and  tlic  world  beheld  his 
departure  with  amazement."  ^ 

Siirjan,  the  eldest  of  the  four  sons  -  of  Arjun,  succeeded  in 
S.  1589  (a.d.  1533)  [471]. 


CHAPTER  3 

Rao  Surjan,  a.d.  1554. — With  Rao  Surjan  commenced  a  new 
era  for  Bundi.^  Hitherto  her  princes  had  enjoyed  independence, 
excepting  the  homage  and  occasional  service  on  emergencies 
which  are  maintained  as  much  from  kinship  as  vassalage.  But 
they  were  now  about  to  move  in  a  more  extended  orbit,  and  to 
occupy  a  conspicuous  page  in  the  future  history  of  the  empire  of 
India. 

Sawant  Singh,  a  junior  branch  of  Bundi,  upon  the  expulsion 
of  the  Shershahi  dynasty,  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
the  Afghan  governor  of  Ranthambhor,  which  terminated  in  the 
surrender  of  this  celebrated  fortress,  which  he  delivered  up  to 
his  superior,  the  Rao  Surjan.  For  this  important  service,  which 
obtained  a  castle  and  possession  far  superior  to  any  under  Bundi, 
lands  were  assigned  near  the  city  to  Sawantji,  whose  name 
became  renowned,  and  was  transmitted  as  the  head  of  the  clan, 
Sawant-Hara. 

The  Chauhan  cliief  of  Bedla,*  who  was  mainly  instrumental  to 
the  surrender  of  this  famed  fortress,  stipulated  that  it  should  be 
held  by  Rao  Surjan,  as  a  fief  of  Mewar.  Thus  Ranthambhor, 
which  for  ages  was  an  appanage  of  Ajmer,  and  continued  until  the 

^  Sor  ne  kiya  bahut  jor 
Dhar  parbat  ori  silla  ; 
Tain  kari  turwar 
Ad  patiya,  Hara  Uja-} 

^  Ram  Singh,  clan  Rama  Hara  ;  Akhairaj,  clan  Akhairajpota  ;  Kandhal, 
clan  Jasa  Hara. 

^  [The  dates  are  uncertain  :  that  in  the  marcjin  is  from  lOI,  ix.  80. 
Prinsep  {Useful  Tables,  105)  gives  1575.  Blochniann  {Ain,  i.  410)  says, 
"  he  had  been  dead  for  some  time  in  1001  Hijri/'  a.d.  1592.] 

*  [4  miles  N.  of  Udaipur  city.] 

^  Uja,  the  familiar  contraction  for  Arjuna. 


SIEGE  OF  RANTHAMBHOR  BY  AKBAR  1481 

fourteenth  century  in  a  branch  of  the  family  descended  from 
Bisaldeo,  when  it  was  [472]  captured  from  the  valiant  Hamir  ^ 
after  a  desperate  resistance,  once  more  reverted  to  the  Chauhan 
race. 

Siege  of  Ranthambhor  by  Akbar. — Ranthambhor  was  an  early 
object  of  Akbar' s  attention,  who  besieged  it  in  person.  He  had 
been  some  time  before  its  impregnable  walls  without  the  hope  of 
its  surrender,  when  Bhagwandas  of  Amber  and  his  son,  the  more 
celebrated  Raja  Man,  who  had  not  only  tendered  their  allegiance 
to  Akbar,  but  allied  themselves  to  liim  by  marriage,  determined 
to  use  their  influence  to  make  Surjan  Hara  faithless  to  his  pledge, 
"  to  hold  the  castle  as  a  fief  of  Chitor."  "^  That  courtesy,  which 
is  never  laid  aside  amongst  belligerent  Rajputs,  obtained  Raja 
Man  access  to  the  castle,  and  the  emperor  accompanied  him  in 
the  guise  of  a  mace-bearer.  While  conversing,  an  uncle  of  the 
Rao  recognized  the  emperor,  and  with  that  sudden  impulse  which 
arises  from  respect,  took  the  mace  from  his  hand  and  placed 
Akbar  on  the  '  cushion  '  of  the  governor  of  the  castle.  Akbar's 
presence  of  mind  did  not  forsake  him,  and  he  said,  "  Well,  Rao 
Surjan,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  "  which  was  replied  to  by  Raja  Man, 
"  Leave  the  Rana,  give  up  Ranthambhor,  and  become  the  servant 
of  the  king,  with  high  honours  and  office."  The  proffered  bribe 
was  indeed  magnificent  ;  the  government  of  fifty -two  districts, 
whose  revenues  were  to  be  appropriated  without  inquiry,  on 
furnishing  the  customary  contingent,  and  liberty  to  name  any 
other  terms,  which  should  be  solemnly  guaranteed  by  the  king.^ 

^  His  fame  is  immortalized  by  a  descendant  of  the  bard  Chand,  in  the 
works  akeady  mentioned,  as  bearing  his  name,  the  Hamir-raesa  and  Hamir- 
kavya. 

2  The  Raja  Man  of  Amber  is  styled,  in  the  poetic  chronicle  of  the  Haras, 
'  the  shade  of  the  Kali  Yuga  '  :  a  powerful  figure,  to  denote  that  his  baneful 
influence  and  example,  in  allying  himself  by  matrimonial  ties  with  the 
imperialists,  denationalized  the  Rajput  character.  In  refusing  to  follow 
this  example,  we  have  presented  a  picture  of  patriotism  in  the  Hie  of  Rana 
Partap  of  Mewar.  Rao  Surjan  avoided  by  convention  what  the  Chitor 
prince  did  by  arms. 

3  We  may  here  remark  that  the  succeeding  portion  of  the  annals  of 
Bundi  is  a  free  translation  of  an  historical  sketch  drawn  up  for  me  by  the 
Raja  of  Bundi  from  his  own  records,  occasionally  augmented  from  the 
bardic  chronicle.  [This  was  Akbar's  second  attack  on  Ranthambhor,  the 
first  (a.d.  1558-60)  having  been  unsuccessful.  It  was  taken  on  19th  March 
1569  (Akbarnama,  ii.  132  f.,  494).  Smith  (Akbar,  the  Great  Mogul,  98  ff.) 
quotes  the  narrative  in  the  text,  which  he  considers  trustworthy.] 

VOL.  Ill  Q 


1482  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

A  treaty  was  drawn  up  upon  the  spot,  and  mediated  by  the 
prince  of  Amber,  which  presents  a  good  picture  of  Hindu  feehng  : 

1.  That  the  chiefs  of  Bundi  should  be  exempted  from  that 
custom,  degrading  to  a  Rajput,  of  sending  a  dola  ^  to  the  royal 
harem. 

2.  Exemption  from  the  jizya,  or  poll-tax. 

3.  That  the  chiefs  of  Bundi  should  not  be  compelled  to  cross 
the  Attock. 

4.  That  the  vassals  of  Bundi  should  be  exempted  from  the 
obligation  of  sending  [473]  their  wives  or  female  relatives  '  to 
hold  a  stall  in  the  Mina  Bazar  '  at  the  palace,  on  the  festival  of 
Nauroza.^ 

5.  That  they  should  have  the  privilege  of  entering  the  Diwan- 
i-amm,  or  '  hall  of  audience,'  completely  armed. 

6.  That  their  sacred  edifices  should  be  respected. 

7.  That  they  should  never  be  placed  under  the  command  of  a 
Hindu  leader. 

8.  That  their  horses  should  not  be  branded  with  the  imperial 
dagh.' 

9.  That  they  should  be  allowed  to  beat  their  nakkaras,  or 
'  kettledrums,'  in  the  streets  of  the  capital  as  far  as  the  Lai 
Darwaza  or  '  red-gate  '  ;  and  that  they  should  not  be  commanded 
to  make  the  '  prostration  '  *  on  entering  the  Presence. 

10.  That  Bundi  should  be  to  the  Haras  what  Delhi  was  to  the 
king,  who  should  guarantee  them  from  any  change  of  capital. 

In  addition  to  these  articles,  which  the  king  swore  to  maintain, 
he  assigned  the  Rao  a  residence  at  the  sacred  city  of  Kasi,  pos- 
sessing that  privilege  so  dear  to  the  Rajput,  the  right  of  sanctuary, 

^  Dola  is  the  term  for  a  princess  affianced  to  the  king. 

2  An  ancient  institution  of  the  Timurian  kings,  derived  from  their  Tartar 
ancestry.  For  a  description  of  this  festival  see  Vol.  I.  p.  400,  and  Ain,  i. 
276  f.  [See  the  lively  account  of  these  fairs  by  Bomier  (p.  272  f.).  They 
were  held  in  the  Mina,  or  '  heavenly,'  bazar,  near  the  Mina  Masjid,  or 
mosque,  in  the  Agra  Fort  (Syad  Muhammad  Latif,  Agra,  75  f.).] 

^  This  brand  (dagh)  was  a  flower  on  the  forehead  [Vol.  II.  p.  972]. 

*  Sijdah,  similar  to  the  kotow  of  China.  Had  our  ambassador  possessed 
the  wit  of  Rao  Surthan  of  Sirohi,  who,  when  compelled  to  pay  homage  to 
the  king,  determined  at  whatever  hazard  not  to  submit  to  this  degradation, 
he  might  have  succeeded  in  his  mission  to  the  '  son  of  heaven.'  For  the 
relation  of  this  anecdote  see  Vol.  II.  p.  990.  [For  the  Mughal  forms  of 
salutation  see  Atn,  i.  158  f.] 


RAO  SURJAN  in  the  imperial  service      1483 

which  is  maintained  to  this  day.^  With  such  a  bribe,  and  the  full 
acceptance  of  his  terms,  we  cannot  wonder  that  Rao  Surjan  flung 
from  him  the  remnant  of  allegiance  he  owed  to  Mewar,  now 
humbled  by  the  loss  of  her  capital,  or  that  he  should  agree  to 
follow  the  victorious  car  of  the  Mogul.  But  this  dereliction  of 
duty  was  effaced  by  the  rigid  virtue  of  the  brave  Sawant  Hara, 
who,  as  already  stated,  had  conjointly  with  the  Kotharia  Chauhan  ^ 
obtained  Ranthambhor.  He  put  on  the  saffron  robes,  and  with 
his  small  but  virtuous  clan  determined,  in  spite  of  his  sovereign's 
example,  that  Akbar  should  onlj^  gain  possession  over  their 
lifeless  bodies. 

Previous  to  this  explosion  of  useless  fidelity,  he  set  up  a  pillar 
with  a  solemn  anathema  engraved  thereon,  on  "  whatever  Hara 
of  gentle  blood  should  ascend  the  castle  of  Ranthambhor,  or  who 
should  quit  it  alive."  Sawant  and  his  kin  made  the  sacrifice  to 
honour ;  "  they  gave  up  their  life's  blood  to  maintain  their 
fidelity  to  the  Rana,"  albeit  himself  without  a  capital  ;  and  from 
that  day,  no  Hara  ever  [474]  passes  Ranthambhor  without 
averting  his  head  from  an  object  which  caused  disgrace  to  the 
tribe.  With  this  transaction  all  intercourse  ceased  with  Mewar, 
and  from  this  period  the  Hara  bore  the  title  of  '  Rao  Raja  ' 
of  Bundi. 

Rao  Surjan  in  the  Imperial  Service. — ^Rao  Surjan  was  soon 
called  into  action,  and  sent  as  commander  to  reduce  Gondwana, 
so  named  from  being  the  '  region  of  the  Gonds.'  ^  He  took 
their  capital,  Bari,  by  assault,  and  to  commemorate  the  achieve- 
ment erected  the  gateway  still  called  the  Surjanpol.  The  Gond 
leaders  he  carried  captives  to  the  emperor,  and  generously  inter- 
ceded for  their  restoration  to  hberty,  and  to  a  portion  of  their 

^  [The  Maharao  Rao  of  Bundi  still  has  a  house,  somewhat  dilapidated, 
near  the  Raj  Mandir  and  Sitala  Ghat  at  Benares.  The  right  of  sanctuary 
has  ceased  (E.  Graves,  Kaski,  1909,  p.  55).] 

"  This  conjoint  act  of  obtaining  the  castle  of  Ranthambhor  is  confirmed 
in  the  annals  of  the  chieftains  of  Kotharia,  of  the  same  original  stock  as 
the  Haras  :  though  a  Purbia  Chauhan.  I  knew  him  very  well,  as  also  one 
of  the  same  stock,  of  Bedla,  another  of  the  sixteen  Pattayats  of  Mewar. 

^  [Gondwana  is  the  term  appUed  to  the  Satpura  plateau  in  the  Central 
Provinces  (IGI,  xii.  321  ff.).  The  campaign  was  begun  by  Asaf  Khan  in 
A.D.  1564.  The  Bari  in  the  text,  a  word  meaning  'dwelling,'  possibly 
refers  to  Chauragarh,  now  in  the  Narsinghpur  District  (Smith,  Akbar,  the 
Great  Mogul,  69  ff.).  Rao  Surjan  was  governor  of  Garha-Katanka  or 
Gondwana,  whence  he  was  transferred  to  Chunar  {Ain,  i.  409).] 


1484  ANNATES  OF  IIARAVATI  :  BUNDI 

possessions.  On  effecting  this  ser\ice,  the  king  added  seven 
districts  to  his  grant,  including  Benares  and  Chunar.  This  was 
in  S.  1632,  or  a.d.  1576,  the  year  in  which  Rana  Partap  of  Mewar 
fought  the  battle  of  Haldighat  against  Sultan  Salim.^ 

Rao  Surjan  resided  at  his  government  of  Benares,  and  by  his 
piety,  wisdom,  and  generosity,  benefited  the  empire  and  the 
Hindus  at  large,  whose  religion  through  him  was  respected. 
Owing  to  the  prudence  of  his  administration  and  the  vigilance  of 
his  police,  the  most  perfect  security  to  person  and  property  was 
established  throughout  the  province.  He  beautified  and  orna- 
mented the  city,  especially  that  quarter  where  he  resided,  and 
eighty-four  edifices,  for  various  public  purposes,  and  twenty 
baths,  were  constructed  under  his  auspices.  He  died  there,  and 
left  three  legitimate  sons  :  1,  Rao  Bhoj  ;  2.  Duda,  nicknamed 
by  Akbar,  Lak'ar  Khan  ;  3.  Raemall,  who  obtained  the  town  and 
dependencies  of  Puleta,  now  one  of  the  fiefs  of  Kotah  and  the 
residence  of  the  Raemallot  Haras. 

The  Campaign  in  Gujarat. — About  this  period,  Akbar  trans- 
ferred the  seat  of  government  from  Delhi  to  Agra,  which  he 
enlarged  and  called  Akbarabad.  Ha\ang  determined  on  the 
reduction  of  Gujarat,  he  dispatched  thither  an  immense  army, 
which  he  followed  with  a  select  force  mounted  on  camels.  Of 
these,  adopting  the  custom  of  the  desert  princes  of  India,  he  had 
formed  a  corps  of  five  hundred,  each  having  two  fighting  men  in 
a  pair  of  panniers.  To  this  select  force,  composed  chiefly  of 
Rajputs,  were  attached  Rao  Bhoj  and  Duda  his  brother.  Pro- 
ceeding with  the  utmost  celerity,  Akbar  joined  his  army  besieging 
Surat,  before  which  many  desperate  encounters  took  place.*  In 
the  final  assault  the  Hara  Rao  slew  the  leader  of  the  enemy  ;  on 
which  occasion  the  king  commanded  him  to  "  name  his  reward." 
The  Rao  limited  his  request  to  leave  to  visit  his  estates  annually 
during  the  periodical  rains,  which  was  granted. 

The  perpetual  wars  of  Akbar,  for  the  conquest  and  consolida- 
tion of  the  universal  [475]  empire  of  India,  gave  abundant  oppor- 
tunity to  the  Rajput  leaders  to  exert  their  valour  ;  and  the 
I  laras  were  ever  at  the  post  of  danger  and  of  honour.     The  siege 

1  See  Vol.  I.  p.  393. 

2  [Akbar  began  to  reside  at  Agra  in  a.d.  1558,  and  built  the  fort  in  1566-6. 
The  first  campaign  in  Gujarat  took  place  in  1572.  Surat  was  captured  in 
February  1573.] 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  GUJARAT  1485 

and  escalade  of  the  famed  castle  of  Ahmadnagar  afforded  the  best 
occasion  for  the  display  of  Hara  intrepidity  ;  again  it  shone 
forth,  and  again  claimed  distinction  and  reward.^  To  mark  his 
sense  of  the  merits  of  the  Bundi  leader,  the  king  commanded  that 
a  new  bastion  should  be  erected,  where  he  led  the  assault,  which 
he  named  the  Bhoj  burj  ;  and  further  presented  him  his  own 
favourite  elephant.  In  tliis  desperate  assault,  Chand  Begam, 
the  queen  of  Ahmadnagar,  and  an  armed  train  of  seven  hundred 
females,  were  slain,  gallantly  fighting  for  their  freedom. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  services,  Rao  Bhoj  fell  under  the 
emperor's  displeasure.  On  the  death  of  the  queen,  Jodha  Bai, 
Akbar  commanded  a  court-mourning  ;  and  that  all  might  testify 
a  participation  in  their  master's  affliction,  an  ordinance  issued 
that  all  the  Rajput  chiefs,  as  well  as  the  Muslim  leaders,  should 
shave  the  moustache  and  the  beard. ^  To  secure  compliance,  the 
royal  barbers  had  the  execution  of- the  mandate.  But  when  they 
came  to  the  quarters  of  the  Haras,  in  order  to  remove  these  tokens 
of  manhood,  they  were  repulsed  with  buffets  and  contumely.  The 
enemies  of  Rao  Bhoj  aggravated  the  crime  of  this  resistance,  and 
insinuated  to  the  royal  ear  that  the  outrage  upon  the  barbers 
was  accompanied  with  expressions  insulting  to  the  memory  of 
the  departed  princess,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  a  Rajputni 
of  Marwar.  Akbar,  forgetting  his  vassal's  gallant  services, 
commanded  that  Rao  Bhoj  should  be  pinioned  and  forcibly 
deprived  of  his  '  mouche.'  He  might  as  well  have  commanded 
the  operation  on  a  tiger.  The  Haras  flew  to  their  arms  ;  the 
camp  was  thrown  into  tumult,  and  would  soon  have  presented 
a  wide  scene  of  bloodshed,  had  not  the  emperor,  seasonably 
repenting  of  his  folly,  repaired  to  the  Bundi  quarters  in  person. 
He  expressed  his  admiration  (he  might  have  said  his  fear)  of  Hara 
valour,  aUghted  from  his  elephant  to  expostulate  with  the  Rao, 
who  with  considerable  tact  pleaded  his  father's  privileges,  and 
added  "  that  an  eater  of  pork  like  him  was  unworthy  the  distinc- 
tion of  putting  his  lip  into  mourning  for  the  queen."     Akbar, 

^  [Ahmadnagar  was  stormed  in  August  1600.  According  to  Ferishta 
(iii.  312)  Chand  Bibi  was  killed  by  her  Deccan  troops  because  she  was 
treating  for  surrender.  By  another  story,  she  was  poisoned  (Smith,  Akbar, 
the  Great  Mogul,  272).] 

2  [There  is  an  error  here.  Akbar  died  in  1605 ;  Jodh  Bai  died,  it  is 
said  by  poison,  in  1619  or  1622.] 


1486  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

happy  to  obtam  even  so  much  acknowledgment,  embraced  the 
Rao,  and  carried  him  with  him  to  his  own  quarters. 

Death  of  Akbar. — In  this  portion  of  tiie  Bundi  memoirs  is 
related  the  mode  of  Akbar's  death.^  He  had  designed  to  take 
off  the  great  Raja  Man  by  means  of  a  poisoned  confection  formed 
into  pills.  To  throw  the  Raja  off  his  guard,  he  had  prepared 
other  pills  which  were  [476]  innocuous  ;  but  in  his  agitation  he 
unwittingly  gave  these  to  the  Raja,  and  swallowed  those  wliich 
were  poisoned.  On  the  emperor's  death,  Rao  Bhoj  retired  to 
his  hereditary  dominions,  and  died  in  his  palace  of  Bundi,  leaving 
three  sons,  Kao  Ratan,  Harda  Narayan,-  and  Keshodas.' 

Rao  Batan. — Jahangir  was  now  sovereign  of  India.  He  had 
nominated  his  son  Parvez  to  the  government  of  the  Deccan,  and 
havmg  invested  him  in  the  city  of  Burhanpur,  returned  to  the 
north.  But  Prince  Khurram,  jealous  of  his  brother,  conspired 
against  and  slew  him.*  This  murder  was  followed  by  an  attempt 
to  dethrone  his  father  Jahangir,  and  as  he  was  popular  with  the 
Rajput  princes,  being  son  of  a  princess  of  Amber,  a  formidable 
rebeUion  was  raised  ;  or,  as  the  chronicle  says,  "  the  twenty-two 
Rajas  turned  against  the  king,  all  but  Rao  Ratan  "  : 

"  Sarwar  phuid,  jal  bahd  ; 
Ah  kya  karo  jatanna  ? 
Jala  ghar  Jahangir  kd, 
Rdkhd  Rao  Ratanna, 

"  The  lake  had  burst,  the  waters  were  rushing  out ;  where  now 
the  remedy  ?  The  house  of  Jahangir  was  departing  ;  it  was 
sustained  by  Rao  Ratan." 

Partition  of  Haraoti. — With  his  two  sons,  Madho  Singh  and 
Hari,  Ratan  repaired  to  Burhanpur,  where  he  gained  a  complete 

'  See  Vol.  I.  \).  408.  [The  tale  seems  almost  incredible,  but  Akbar  did 
remove  some  of  his  enemies  by  poison,  and  the  story  was  the  subject  of 
Court  gossip  (Manucci  i.  150).  Akbar  seems  to  have  died  from  cancer  of 
the  bowels  (EUiot-Dowson  v.  541,  vi.  115,  108  f.).  Smith  (Akbar,  the  Great 
Moyul,  325  f.)  disbehcves  the  story,  but  suspects  that  he  may  have  been 
poisoned  by  some  one.     See  Irvine's  note  on  Manucci  iv.  420.J 

-  He  held  Kotah  in  separate  grant  from  the  king  during  fifteen  years. 

^  Ho  obtained  the  town  of  Dipri  (on  the  Chambal),  with  twenty -seven 
villages,  in  appanage. 

*  [Parvcx  died  from  apoplexy  at  iiurhilnpur,  28th  October  1626  (Beale, 
Diet.  Oriental  Biography,  a.v.  Parwiz  Sultan ;    Dow  2ad  ed.  iii.  88).] 


PARTITION  OF  HARAOTI:  GOPINATH  1487 

victory  over  the  rebels.  In  this  engagement,  which  took  place 
on  Tuesday  the  full  moon  of  Kartika,  S.  1635  (a.d.  1579),  both 
his  sons  were  severely  wounded.  For  these  services  Rao  Ratan 
was  rewarded  with  the  government  of  Burhanpur  ;  and  Madho 
his  second  son  received  a  grant  of  the  city  of  Kotah  and  its 
dependencies,  which  he  and  his  heirs  were  to  hold  direct  of 
the  crown.  From  this  period,  therefore,  dates  the  partition  of 
Haraoti,  when  the  emperor,  in  his  desire  to  reward  Madho  Singh, 
overlooked  the  greater  services  of  his  father.  But  in  this  Jahangir 
did  not  act  without  design  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  dreaded  the  union 
of  so  much  power  in  the  hands  of  this  brave  race  as  pregnant 
with  danger,  and  well  knew  that  by  dividing  he  could  always  rule 
both,  the  one  through  the  other.  Shah  Jahan  confirmed  the  grant 
to  Madho  Singh,  whose  history  will  be  resumed  in  its  proper  place, 
the  Annals  of  Kotah. 

Rao  Ratan,  while  he  held  the  government  of  Burhanpur, 
foimded  a  township  which  still  bears  his  name,  Ratanpur.  He 
performed  another  important  service  [477],  which,  while  it 
gratified  the  emperor,  contributed  greatly  to  the  tranquilUty  of 
his  ancient  lord-paramount,  the  Rana  of  Mewar.  A  refractory 
noble  of  the  court,  Dariyau  Khan,  was  leading  a  hfe  of  riot  and 
rapine  in  that  country,  when  the  Hara  attacked,  defeated,  and 
carried  him  captive  to  the  king.  For  this  distinguished  exploit, 
the  king  gave  him  honorary  naubats,  or  kettledrums  ;  the  grand 
yellow  banner  to  be  borne  in  state  processions  before  his  own 
person,  and  a  red  flag  for  his  camp  ;  which  ensigns  are  still 
retained  by  his  successors.  Rao  Ratan  obtained  the  suffrages 
not  only  of  his  Rajput  brethren,  but  of  the  whole  Hindu  race, 
whose  religion  he  preserved  from  innovation.  The  Haras  exult- 
ingly  boast  that  no  Muslim  dared  pollute  the  quarters  where  they 
might  be  stationed  with  the  biood  of  the  sacred  kine.  After  all 
his  services,  Ratan  was  killed  in  an  action  near  Burhanpur,  leav- 
ing a  name  endeared  by  his  valour  and  his  virtues  to  the  whole 
Hara  race, 

Gopinath. — Rao  Ratan  left  four  sons,  Gopinath,  who  had 
Bundi  ;  Madho  Singh,  who  had  Kotah  ;  Hariji,  who  had  Gugor  ;  ^ 
Jagannath,  who  had  no  issue  ;  and  Gopinath,  the  heir  of  Bundi, 
who  died  before  his  father.     The  manner  of  his  death  affords 

^  There  are  about  fifty  families,  his  descendants,  forming  a  community 
round  Nimoda. 


1488  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

another  trait  of  Rajput  character,  and  merits  a  place  amongst 
those  anecdotes  which  form  the  romance  of  history.  Gopinath 
carried  on  a  secret  intrigue  with  the  wife  of  a  Brahman  of  the 
Baldia  class,  and  in  the  dead  of  night  used  to  escalade  the  house 
to  obtain  admittance.  At  length  the  Brahman  caught  him, 
bound  the  hands  and  feet  of  liis  treacherous  prince,  and  proceed- 
ing direct  to  the  palace,  told  the  Rao  he  had  caught  a  thief  in  the 
act  of  stealing  his  honour,  and  asked  what  punishment  was  due 
to  such  offence,  "  Death,"  was  the  reply.  He  waited  for  no 
other,  returned  home,  and  with  a  hammer  beat  out  the  victim's 
brains,  throwing  the  dead  body  into  the  public  highway.  The 
tidings  flew  to  Rao  Ratan,  that  the  heir  of  Bundi  had  been 
murdered,  and  his  corpse  ignominiously  exposed  ;  but  when  he 
learned  the  cause,  and  was  reminded  of  the  decree  he  had  unwit- 
tingly passed,  he  submitted  in  silence.^ 

The  Fiefs  of  Bundi. — Gopinath  left  twelve  sons,  to  whom  Rao 
Ratan  assigned  domains  still  forming  the  principal  kothris,  or 
fiefs,  of  Bundi  : 

1.  Rao  Chhattarsal,  who  succeeded  to  Bundi. 

2.  Indar  Singh,  who  founded  Indargarh  [478].^ 

3.  Berisal,  who  founded  Balwan  and  Phalodi,  and  had  Karwar 
and  Pipalda. 

^  This  trait  in  the  character  of  Rao  Ratan  forcibly  reminds  us  of  a  similar 
case  which  occurred  at  Ghazni,  and  is  related  by  Ferishta  [i.  86  f.]  in  com- 
memoration of  the  justice  of  Mahmud. 

^  These,  the  three  great  fiefs  of  Bundi, — Indargarh,  Balwan,  and 
Antardah, — are  now  all  alienated  from  Bundi  by  the  intrigues  of  Zaliui 
Singh  of  Kotah.  It  was  unfortunate  for  the  Bundi  Rao,  when  both  these 
States  were  admitted  to  an  alliance,  that  all  these  historical  points  were 
hid  in  darkness.  It  would  be  yet  abstract  and  absolute  justice  that  we 
should  negotiate  the  transfer  of  the  allegiance  of  these  chieftains  to  their 
proper  head  of  Bundi.  It  would  be  a  matter  of  little  difficulty,  and  tlie 
honour  would  be  immense  to  Bundi  and  no  hardship  to  Kotah,  but  a  slight 
sacrifice  of  a  power  of  protection  to  those  who  no  longer  require  it.  AU  of 
these  chiefs  were  the  founders  of  clans,  called  after  tliem,  Indarsalot,  Bcri- 
salot,  Mohkamsingliot ;  the  first  can  muster  fifteen  hundred  Haras  under 
arms.  Jaipur  having  imj)OHC(l  a  tril)ute  on  these  chieftains,  Zalim  Singh 
undertook,  in  the  days  of  predatory  warfare,  to  be  responsible  for  it ;  for 
which  he  received  that  homage  and  service  due  to  Bundi,  then  unable  to 
protect  them.  The  simplest  mode  of  doing  justice  would  be  to  make  those 
chiefs  redeem  their  freedom  from  tribute  to  Jaipur,  by  the  payment  of  so 
many  years'  purcluise,  which  would  relieve  them  altogether  from  Zalim 
Singh,  and  at  the  same  time  be  in  accordance  wifh  our  treaties,  which 
prohibit  such  tics  between  the  States. 


RAO  CHHATTARSAL  :  DEATH  OF  SHAH  JAHAN   1489 

4.  Mohkam  Singh,  who  had  Antardah. 

5.  Maha  Smgh,  who  had  Thana.^ 

It  is  useless  to  specify  the  names  of  the  remainder,  who  left 
no  issue. 

Rao  Chhattarsal,  a.d.  1652-58. — Chhattarsal,  who  succeeded 
his  grandfather,  Rao  Ratan,  was  not  only  installed  by  Shah  Jahan 
in  his  hereditary  dominions,  but  declared  governor  of  the  imperial 
capital,  a  post  which  he  held  nearly  throughout  this  reign.  When 
Shah  Jahan  partitioned  the  empire  into  four  vice -royalties,  under 
his  sons,  Dara,  Aurangzeb,  Shuja,  and  Murad,  Rao  Chhattarsal 
had  a  high  command  under  Aurangzeb,  in  the  Deccan.  The  Hara 
distinguished  himself  by  his  bravery  and  conduct  in  all  the  various 
sieges  and  actions,  especially  at  the  assaults  of  Daulatabad  and 
Bidar  ;  the  last  was  led  by  Chhattarsal  in  person,  who  carried 
the  place,  and  put  the  garrison  to  the  sword.  In  S.  1709  (a.d. 
1653),  Kulbarga  fell  after  an  obstinate  defence,  in  which  Chhattar- 
sal again  led  the  escalade.  The  last  resort  was  the  strong  fort 
of  Damauni,  which  terminated  all  resistance,  and  the  Deccan 
was  tranquillized. 2 

Death  of  Shah  Jahan.  War  of  Succession.— " -At  this  period 
of  the  transactions  in  the  south,  a  rumour  was  propagated  of  the 
emperor's  (Shah  Jahan)  death  ;  and  as  during  twenty  days  the 
prince  (Aurangzeb)  held  no  court,  and  did  not  even  give  private 
audience,  the  report  obtained  general  belief.*  Dara  Shikoh  was 
the  only  one  of  the  emperor's  sons  then  at  court,  and  the  absent 
brothers  determined  to  assert  their  several  pretensions  to  the 
throne.  WTiile  Shuja  marched  from  Bengal,  Aurangzeb  prepared 
to  quit  the  Deccan,  and  cajoled  Murad  to  join  him  with  all  his 

^  Thana  [about  20  miles  E.  of  Jhalawar],  formerly  called  Jajawar,  is  the 
only  fief  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Ratan  which  now  pays  obedience  to  its  proper 
head.  The  Maharaja  Bikramajit  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  Maha  Singh, 
and  if  ahve,  the  earth  bears  not  a  more  honourable,  brave,  or  simple-minded 
Rajput.  He  was  the  devoted  servant  of  his  young  prince,  and  my  very 
sincere  and  valued  friend  ;  but  we  shall  have  occasion  to  mention  the  '  Hon- 
killer  '  in  the  Personal  Narrative. 

2  [For  this  campaign  see  Jadunath  Sarkar,  History  of  Aurangzib,  i.  264  fE.; 
Grant  Duff  70.  Bidar  was  stormed  in  March  1657.  The  gallantry  of 
Chhattarsal  is  commended  by  Jadunath  Sarkar  i.  272,  ii.  6.] 

^  The  reader  will  observe,  as  to  the  phraseology  of  these  important 
occurrences,  that  the  language  is  that  of  the  original :  it  is,  in  fact,  almost 
a  verbatim  translation  from  the  memoirs  of  these  pi'inces  in  the  Bundi 
archives. 


1490  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

forces  ;  assuring  liim  that  he,  a  darvesh  from  principle,  had  no 
worldly  desires,  for  his  only  wish  was  to  dwell  in  retirement  [479], 
practising  the  austerities  of  a  rigid  follower  of  the  Prophet  ;  that 
Dara  was  an  inlldel,  Shuja  a  free-tliinker,  liimself  an  anchorite  ; 
and  that  he,  Murad,  alone  of  the  sons  of  Shah  Jahan,  was  worthy 
to  exercise  dominion,  to  aid  in  which  purpose  he  proffered  his  best 
energies.^ 

"  The  emperor,  learning  the  hostile  intentions  of  Aurangzeb, 
wrote  privately  to  the  Hara  prince  to  repair  to  the  Presence.  On 
receiving  the  mandate,  Cldiattarsal  revolved  its  import,  but  con- 
sidermg  "that,  as  a  servant  of  the  gaddi  (throne),  his  only  duty 
was  obedience,"  he  instantly  commenced  liis  preparations  to  quit 
the  Deccan.  This  reaching  the  ear  of  Aurangzeb,  he  inquired 
the  cause  of  his  hasty  departure,  observing,  that  in  a  very  short 
time  he  might  accompany  him  to  court.  The  Bundi  prince 
replied,  "  his  first  duty  was  to  the  reigning  sovereign,"  and  handed 
him  the  farman  or  summons  to  the  Presence.  Aurangzeb  com- 
manded that  he  should  not  be  permitted  to  depart,  and  directed 
his  encampment  to  be  surrounded.  But  Chhattarsal,  foreseeing 
this,  liad  already  sent  on  his  baggage,  and  forming  his  vassals 
and  those  of  other  Rajput  princes  attached  to  the  royal  cause  into 
one  compact  mass,  they  effected  their  retreat  to  the  Nerbudda 
in  the  face  of  their  pursuers,  without  their  daring  to  attack  them. 
By  the  aid  of  some  Solanki  chieftains  inliabiting  the  banks  of  this 
river,  the  Bundi  Rao  was  enabled  to  pass  tliis  dangerous  stream, 
then  swollen  by  the  periodical  rains.  Already  baffled  by  the  skill 
and  intrepidity  of  Chliattarsal,  Aurangzeb  was  compelled  to  give 
up  the  liursuit,  and  the  former  reached  Bundi  m  safety.  Having 
made  his  domestic  arrangements,  he  proceeded  forthwith  to  the 
ca])ital,  to  help  the  aged  emperor,  whose  power,  and  even  exist- 
ence, were  alike  threatened  by  the  ungrateful  pretensions  of  his 
sons  to  snatch  the  sceptre  from  the  hand  which  still  held  it." 

If  a  reflection  might  be  here  interposed  on  the  bloody  wars 
which  desolated  India  in  consequence  of  the  events  of  which  the 
foregoing  were  the  initial  scenes,  it  would  be  lo  expose  the  moral 
retribution  resulting  Ir-om  evil  example.  Were  we  to  take  but  a 
partial  view  of  the  picture,  we  should  depict  the  venerable  Shah 

'■  The  Kajpul  priuco,  who  drew  up  this  character,  seems  to  have  well 
studied  Aurangzeb,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  such  concurrence  with  every 
authority.     But  could  such  a  character  bo  eventually  mistaken  ? 


WAR  OF  SUCCESSION  :  DEATH  OF  CHHATTARSAL  1491 

Jaban,  arrived  at  the  verge  of  the  grave,  into  which  the  unnatural 
contest  of  his  sons  for  empire  wished  to  precipitate  him,  extending 
his  arms  for  succour  in  vain  to  the  nobles  of  his  own  faith  and  kin  ; 
while  the  Rajput,  faithful  to  his  principle,  '  allegiance  to  the 
throne,'  staked  both  hfe  and  land  to  help  him  in  his  need.  Such  a  ' 
picture  would  enlist  all  our  sympathies  on  the  side  of  the  helpless 
king.  But  Vv^hen  we  recall  the  past,  and  consider  that  [480]  Shah 
Jahan,  as  Prince  Ivhurram,  played  the  same  part  (settmg  aside 
the  mask  of  hypocrisy),  which  Aurangzeb  now  attempted  ;  that, 
to  forward  his  guilty  design,  he  murdered  his  brother  Parvez,^ 
who  stood  between  him  and  the  throne  of  his  parent,  against 
whom  he  levied  war,  our  sympatliies  are  checked,  and  we  conclude 
that  unlimited  monarchy  is  a  curse  to  itself  and  all  who  are 
subjected  to  it. 

The  battle  of  Fatehabad  followed  not  long  after  this  event,'' 
wliich,  gained  by  Aurangzeb,  left  the  road  to  the  throne  free  from 
obstruction.  We  are  not  informed  of  the  reason  why  the  prince 
of  Bundi  did  not  add  his  contingent  to  the  force  assembled  to 
oppose  Aurangzeb  under  Jaswant  Singh  of  Marwar,  unless  it  be 
found  in  that  article  of  the  treaty  of  Rao  Surjan,  prohibiting  his 
successors  from  serving  imder  a  leader  of  their  own  faith  and 
nation.  The  younger  branch  of  Kotah  appears,  on  its  separation 
from  Bundi,  to  have  felt  itself  exonerated  from  obedience  to  this 
decree  ;  for  four  royal  brothers  of  Kotah,  with  many  of  their 
clansmen,  were  stretched  on  this  field  in  the  cause  of  swamidharma 
and  Shah  Jahan.  Before,  however,  Aurangzeb  could  tear  the 
sceptre  from  the  enfeebled  hands  of  his  parent,  he  had  to  combat 
his  elder  brother  Dara,  who  drew  together  at  Dholpur  all  those 
who  yet  regarded  '  the  first  duty  of  a  Rajput.'  The  Bmidi 
prince,  with  his  Haras  clad  in  their  saffron  robes,  the  ensigns  of 
death  or  victory,  formed  the  vanguard  of  Dara  on  this  day,  the 
opening  scene  of  liis  sorrows,  which  closed  but  with  his  hfe  ; 
for  Dholpur  was  as  fatal  to  Dara  the  Mogul,  as  Arbela  was  to 
the  Persian  Darius.  Custom  rendered  it  indispensable  that  the 
princely  leaders  should  be  conspicuous  to  the  host,  and  in  con- 
formity thereto  Dara,  mounted  on  his  elephant,  was  in  the  btvmt 
of  the  battle,  in  the  heat  of  which,  when  valour  and  fideUty  might 
have  preserved  the  sceptre  of  Shah  Jahan,  Dara  suddenly  dis- 

1  [See  p.  I486.] 
-  [Or  Samugarh,  29th  May  1658.] 


1492  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  r  BDNDI 

appeared.  A  panic  ensued,  which  was  followed  by  confusion  and 
flight.  The  noble  Hara,  on  this  disastrous  event,  turned  to  his 
vassals,  and  exclaimed,  "  Accursed  be  he  who  flies  !  Here,  true 
to  my  salt,  my  feet  are  rooted  to  this  field,  nor  will  I  quit  it  alive, 
but  with  victory."  Cheering  on  his  men,  he  moimted  his  elephant, 
but  whilst  encouraging  them  by  his  voice  and  example,  a  cannon- 
shot  hitting  his  elephant,  the  animal  turned  and  fled.  Chhattarsal 
leaped  from  his  back  and  called  for  his  steed,  exclaiming,  "  My 
elephant  may  turn  his  back  on  the  enemy,  but  never  shall  liis 
master."  Mounting  his  horse,  and  forming  his  men  into  a  dense 
mass  igol),  he  led  them  to  the  charge  against  Prince  Murad,  whom 
he  singled  out,  and  had  his  lance  balanced  for  the  issue,  when  a 
ball  pierced  his  forehead.^  The  contest  was  nobly  maintained 
by  his  youngest  son,  Bharat  Singh,  who  accompanied  his  father 
in  death  [481],  and  with  him  the  choicest  of  his  clan.  Mohkam 
Singh,  brother  of  the  Rao,  with  two  of  his  sons,  and  Udai  Singh, 
another  nephew,  sealed  their  fidelity  with  their  lives.  Thus  in 
the  two  battles  of  Ujjain  and  Dholpur  no  less  than  twelve  princes 
of  the  blood,  together  with  the  heads  of  every  Hara  clan,  main- 
tained their  fealty  (swamidhanna)  even  to  death.  Where  are 
we  to  look  for  such  examples  ? 

"  Rao  Chhattarsal  had  been  personally  engaged  in  fifty-two 
combats,  and  left  a  name  renowned  for  courage  and  incorruptible 
lidehty."  He  enlarged  the  palace  of  Bundi  by  adding  that  portion 
which  bears  liis  name, — the  Chhattar  Mahall, — and  the  temple 
of  Keshorai,  at  Patan,  was  constructed  under  his  direction.^ 
It  was  in  S.  1715  he  was  killed  ;  he  left  four  sons,  Rao  Bhao  Singh, 
Bliim  Singh,  who  got  Gugorha,  Bhagwant  Singh,  who  obtained 
Mau,  and  Bharat  Singh,  who  was  killed  at  Dholpur. 

Rao  Bhao  Singh,  a.d.  1658-78.  Mughal  Attack  on  Bundi. — 
Aurangzcb,  on  the  attainment  of  sovereign  power,  transferred  all 
the  resentment  he  harboured  against  Chhattarsal  to  his  son  and 
successor,  Rao  Bhao.  He  gave  a  commission  to  Raja  Atmaram, 
Gaur,  the  prince  of  Sheopur,  to  reduce  "  that  turbulent  and  dis- 
affected race,  the  Hara,"  and  annex  Bundi  to  the  government  of 

^  [The  defeat  of  Dara  Shikoh  at  Dholpur  preceded  the  battle  of  Samugarh- 
Fatehabad  :  it  was  at  Samugarh  that  Chhattarsal  was  killed  (Jadunath 
Sarkar,  ii.  37  S.).] 

2  [The  temple  of  Keshorai,  or  Kesava  Krishna,  is  on  the  N.  bank  of  the 
Chambal,  12  miles  below  Kotah  {Rajputana  Gazetteer,  1879,  i.  238).] 


RAO  ANIRUDDH  SINGH  1493 

Ranthambhor,  declaring  that  he  should  visit  Bundi  shortly  in 
person,  on  his  way  to  the  Deccan,  and  hoped  to  congratulate  him 
on  his  succfess.  Raja  Atmaram,  with  an  army  of  twelve  thousand 
men,  entered  Haravati  and  ravaged  it  with  fire  and  sword.  Having 
laid  siege  to  Khatoli,  a  town  of  Indargarh,  the  chief  fief  of  Bundi, ^ 
the  clans  secretly  assembled,  engaged  Atmaram  at  Gotarda,  de- 
feated and  put  him  to  flight,  capturing  the  imperial  ensigns  and 
all  his  baggage.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  they  retaliated  by 
blockading  Sheopur,  when  the  discomfited  Raja  continued  his 
flight  to  court  to  relate  this  fresh  instance  of  Hara  audacity.  The 
poor  prince  of  the  Gaurs  was  received  with  gibes  and  jests,  and 
heartily  repented  of  his  inhuman  inroads  upon  his  neighbours  in 
the  day  of  their  disgrace.  The  tyrant,  affecting  to  be  pleased  with 
tliis  instance  of  Hara  courage,  sent  a  farman  to  Rao  Bhao  of  grace 
and  free  pardon,  and  commanding  his  presence  at  court.  At 
first  the  Rao  declined  ;  but  having  repeated  pledges  of  good 
intention,  he  complied  and  was  honoured  with  the  government 
of  Aurangabad  under  Prince  Muazzam.  Here  he  evinced  his 
independence  by  shielding  Raja  Karan  of  Bikaner  from  a  plot 
against  his  life.  He  performed  many  gallant  deeds  with  his 
Rajput  brethren  in  arms,  the  brave  Bundelas  of  Orchha  and 
Datia.  He  erected  many  public  edifices  at  Aurangabad,  where  he 
acquired  so  mvich  fame  by  his  valour,  his  charities,  and  the 
sanctity  ^  of  his  manners,  that  miraculous  cures  were  (said  to  be) 
effected  by  him.  He  [482]  died  at  Aurangabad  in  S.  1738  (a.d. 
1682),^  and,  being  without  issue,  was  succeeded  by  Aniruddh 
Singh,  the  grandson  of  his  brother  Bhim.* 

Rao  Aniruddh  Singh,  a.d.  1678. — Aniruddh's  accession  was 
confirmed  by  the  emperor,  who,  in  order  to  testify  the  esteem  in 
which  he  held  his  predecessor,  sent  his  own  elephant,  Gajgaur, 
with  the  khilat  of  investiture.  Aniruddh  accompanied  Aurangzeb 
in  his  wars  in  the  Deccan,  and  on  one  occasion  performed  the 

^  [Indargarh  about  30  miles  N.  of  Biindi  city  :  Khatoli  20  miles  E.  of 
Indargarh.] 

'^  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  most  intrepid  of  the  Rajput 
princely  cavaliers  are  of  a  very  devout  frame  of  mind. 

^  [Rao  Bhao  Singh  died  between  March  1677  and  February  1678 
(Manucei  ii.  402).] 

*  Bhim  Singh,  who  had  the  fief  of  Gugor  bestowed  on  him,  had  a  son, 
Kishan  Singh,  who  succeeded  him,  and  was  put  to  death  by  Aurangzeb. 
Aniruddh  was  the  son  of  Kishan. 


1494  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BtlNDI 

important  service  of  rescuing  the  ladies  of  the  harem  out  of  the 
enemy's  hands.  Tlie  emperor,  in  testimony  of  his  gallantry,  told 
him  to  name  his  reward  :  on  which  he  requested  he  might  be 
allowed  to  command  the  vanguard  instead  of  the  rearguard  of 
the  army.  Subsequently,  he  was  distinguished  in  the  siege  and 
storm  of  Bijapur. 

An  unfortunate  quarrel  with  Durjan  Singh,  the  chief  vassal  of 
Bundi,  involved  the  Rao  in  trouble.  Making  use  of  some  im- 
proper expression,  the  Rao  resentfully  replied,  "  I  know  what  to 
expect  from  you  "  ;  which  determined  Durjan  to  throw  his 
allegiance  to  the  dogs.  He  quitted  the  army,  and  arriving  at  his 
estates,  armed  his  kinsmen,  and,  by  a  coup  de  main,  possessed 
himself  of  Bundi.  On  learning  this,  the  emperor  detached 
Aniruddh  with  a  force  which  expelled  the  refractory  Durjan, 
whose  estates  were  sequestrated.  Previous  to  his  expulsion, 
Durjan  drew  the  Hka  of  succession  on  the  forehead  of  his  brother 
of  Balwan.  Having  settled  the  affairs  of  Bundi,  the  Rao  was 
employed,  in  conjunction  with  Raja  Bishan  Singh  of  Amber,  to 
settle  the  northern  coimtries  of  the  empire,  governed  by  Shah 
Alam,  as  lieutenant  of  the  king,  and  whose  headquarters  were  at 
Lahore,  in  the  execution  of  which  service  he  died. 

Rao  Eitdh  Singh.  The  Death  of  Aurangzeb. — Aniruddh  left 
two  sons,  Budh  Singh  and  Jodh  Singh.  Budh  Singh  succeeded 
to  the  honours  and  employments  of  his  father.  Soon  after, 
Aurangzeb,  who  had  fixed  his  residence  at  Aurangabad,  fell  ill, 
and  finding  his  end  approach,  the  nobles  and  ofllccrs  of  state,  in 
apprehension  of  the  event,  requested  him  to  name  a  successor. 
The  dying  emperor  replied,  that  the  succession  was  in  the  hands 
of  God,  with  whose  will  and  imder  whose  decree  he  was  desirous 
that  his  son  Bahadur  Shah  Alam  should  succeed  ;  but  that  he 
was  apprehensive  that  Prince  Azam  would  endeavour  by  force 
of  arms  to  seat  himself  on  the  throne.^  As  the  king  said,  so  it 
happened  ;  Azam  Shah,  being  supported  in  his  pretensions  by 
the  army  of  the  Deccan,  prepared  to  dispute  [483]  the  empire  Avith 
his  elder  brother,  to  whom  he  sent  a  formal  defiance  to  decide 
their  claims  to  empire  on  the  plains  of  Dholpur.  Bahadur  Shah 
convened  all  the  chieftains  who  favoured  his  cause,  and  explained 
his  position.     Amongst  them  was  Rao  Budh,  now  entering  on 

'  It  is  useless  to  repeat  that  this  is  a  literal  translation  from  the  records 
and  journals  of  tlio  TTara  princes,  who  served  the  emperors. 


BATTLE  OF  .TAJAU  1495 

manhood,  and  he  was  at  that  moment  in  deep  aiBiction  for  the 
untimely  l6ss  of  his  brother,  Jodh  Singh.^  When  the  king  desired 
him  to  repair  to  Bundi  to  perform  the  offices  of  mourning,  and 
console  his  relations  and  kindred,  Budh  Singh  replied,  "  It  is  not 
to  Bundi  my  duty  calls  me,  but  to  attend  my  sovereign  in  the 
field — to  that  of  Dholpur,  renowned  for  many  battles  and  conse- 
crated by  the  memory  of  the  heroes  who  have  fallen  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duty  "  :  adding  "  that  there  his  heroic  ancestor 
Chhattarsal  fell,  whose  fame  he  desired  to  emulate,  and  by  the 
blessing  of  heaven,  his  arms  should  be  crowned  with  victory  to 
the  empire." 

Battle  of  Jajau,  June  10,  1707. — Shah  Alam  advanced  from 
Lahore,  and  Azam,  with  his  son  Bedar  Bakht,  from  the  Deccan  ; 
and  both  armies  met  on  the  plains  of  Jajau,  near  Dholpur.  A 
more  desperate  conflict  was  never  recorded  in  the  many  bloody 
pages  of  the  history  of  India.  Had  it  been  a  common  contest 
for  supremacy,  to  be  decided  by  the  Muslim  supporters  of  the 
rivals,  it  would  have  ended  like  similar  ones, — a  furious  onset, 
terminated  by  a  treacherous  desertion.  But  here  were  assembled 
the  brave  bands  of  Rajputana,  house  opposed  to  house,  and  clan 
against  clan.  The  princes  of  Datia  and  Kotah,  who  had  long 
served  with  Prince  Azam,  and  were  attached  to  him  by  favours, 
forgot  the  injunctions  of  Aurangzeb,  and  supported  that  prince's 
pretensions  against  the  lawful  heir.  A  powerful  friendship  united 
the  chiefs  of  Bundi  and  Datia,  whose  lives  exhibited  one  scene 
of  glorious  triumph  in  all  the  wars  of  the  Deccan.  In  opposing 
the  cause  of  Shah  Alam,  Ram  Singh  of  Kotah  was  actuated  by 
his  ambition  to  become  the  head  of  the  Haras,  and  in  anticipation 
of  success  had  actually  been  invested  with  the  honours  of  Bundi. 
With  such  stimulants  on  each  side  did  the  rival  Haras  meet  face 
to  face  on  the  plains  of  Jajau,  to  decide  at  the  same  time  the  pre- 
tensions to  empire,  and  what  affected  them  more,  those  of  their 
respective  heads  to  superiority.  Previous  to  the  battle.  Ram 
Singh  sent  a  perfidious  message  to  Rao  Budh,  inviting  him  to 
desert  the  cause  he  espoused,  and  come  over  to  Azam  ;  to  which 
he  indignantly  repUed  :  "  That  the  field  which  his  ancestor  had 
illustrated  by  his  death,  was  not  that  whereon  he  would  disgrace 
his  memory  by  the  desertion  of  his  prince." 

Budh  Singh  was  assigned  a  distinguished  post,  and  by  his 
*  This  catastrophe  will  be  related  in  the  Personal  Nari-ative. 


1496  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

conduct  and  courage  [484]  mainly  contributed  to  the  victory 
which  placed  Bahadur  Shah  without  a  rival  on  the  throne.  The 
Rajputs  on  either  side  sustained  the  chief  shock  of  the  battle,  and 
the  Hara  prince  of  Kotah,  and  the  noble  Bundela,  Dalpat  of 
Datia,  were  both  killed  by  cannon-shot,  sacrificed  to  the  cause 
they  espoused  ;  while  the  pretensions  of  Azani  and  his  son  Bedar 
Bakht  were  extinguished  with  their  lives. 

For  the  signal  services  rendered  on  this  important  day,  Budh 
Singh  was  honoured  with  the  title  of  Rao  Raja,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  intimate  friendship  of  the  emperor,  which  he  continued  to 
en^oy  until  his  death,  when  fresh  contentions  arose,  in  which  the 
grandsons  of  Aurangzeb  all  perished.  Farrukhsiyar  succeeded 
to  the  empire,  under  whom  the  Sayj^ds  of  Bai'ha  held  supreme 
power,  and  ruined  the  empire  by  their  exactions  and  tyranny. 
When  they  determined  to  depose  the  king,  the  Hara  prince, 
faithful  to  his  pledge,  determined  to  release  him,  and  in  the 
attempt  a  bloody  conflict  ensued  in  the  (chank)  square,  in  which 
his  uncle  Jeth  Singh,  and  many  of  his  clansmen,  were  slain. 

Rivalry  between  Kotah  and  Biindi. — The  rivalry  which  com- 
menced between  the  houses  of  Kotah  and  Bundi,  on  the  plains 
of  Jajau,  in  which  Ram  Singh  was  slain,  was  maintained  by  his 
son  and  successor.  Raja  Bhim,  who  supported  the  party  of  the 
Sayj'ids.  In  the  prosecution  of  his  views  and  revenge.  Raja  Bhim 
so  far  lost  sight  of  the  national  character  of  the  Rajput,  as  to 
compass  his  end  by  treachery,  and  beset  his  foe  unawares  while 
exercising  his  horse  in  the  Maidan,  outside  the  walls  of  the  capital. 
His  few  retainers  formed  a  circle  round  their  chief,  and  gallantly 
defended  him,  though  with  great  loss,  until  they  reached  a  place 
of  safety.  Unable  to  aid  the  king,  and  beset  by  treachery,  Rao 
Budh  was  compelled  to  seek  his  own  safety  in  flight.^  Farrukhsiyar 
was  shortly  after  murdered,  and  the  empire  fell  into  complete 
disorder  ;  when  the  nobles  and  Rajas,  feeling  their  insecurity 
imder  the  bloody  and  rapacious  domination  of  the  Sayyids, 
repaired  to  their  several  possessions.* 

^  Vide  Vol.  I.  p.  473,  et  passim,  in  which  the  Bundi  Annals  are  corrobor- 
ated by  the  Annals  of  Mewar,  and  by  an  autograph  letter  of  Raja  Jai  Singh 
of  Amber,  dated  the  19th  Phalgun,  S.  1775  (a.d.  1719). 

*  These  subjects  beint;  already  discussed  in  Vol.  T.  would  have  had  no 
place  lierc,  were  it  not  necessary  to  show  how  accurately  the  Bundi  princes 
recorded  events,  and  to  rescue  them  from  the  charge  of  having  no  historical 
documents. 


QUARREL  BETWEEN  JAIPUR  AND  BONDI      1497 

Jai  Singh  of  Jaipur  attacks  Bundi. — At  this  period,  Raja  Jai 
Singli  of  xA.mber  thought  of  dispossessing  Budh  Singh  of  Bundi. 
Rao  Budh  Singli  was  at  this  time  his  guest,  having  accompanied 
him  from  court  to  Amber.  Tlie  cause  of  the  quarrel  is  thus 
related  :  The  Hara  prince  was  married  to  a  sister  of  Jai  Singh  ; 
she  had  been  betrothed  to  the  emperor  Bahadur  [485]  Shah,  who, 
as  one  of  the  marks  of  his  favour  for  the  victory  of  Dholpur, 
resigned  his  pretensions  to  the  fair  in  favour  of  Rao  Budh.  Un- 
fortunately, she  bore  him  no  issue,  and  viewed  with  jealousy  liis 
two  infant  sons  by  another  Rani,  the  daughter  of  Kalamegh  of 
Begun,  one  of  the  sixteen  chiefs  of  Mewar.  During  her  lord's 
absence,  she  feigned  pregnancy,  and  having  procured  an  infant, 
presented  it  as  his  lawful  cliild.  Rao  Budh  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  equivocal  conduct  of  his  queen,  to  the  danger  of  his 
proper  offspring,  and  took  an  opportunity  to  reveal  her  conduct 
to  her  brother.  The  lady,  who  was  present,  was  instantly  interro- 
gated by  her  brother ;  but,  exasperated  either  at  the  suspicion  of 
her  honour  or  the  discovery  of  her  fraud,  she  snatched  her  brother's 
dagger  from  his  girdle,  and  rating  him  as  "  the  son  of  a  tailor,"  ^ 
would  have  slain  him  on  the  sjjot,  had  he  not  fled  from  her  fiuy. 

To  revenge  the  insult  thus  put  upon  him,  the  Raja  of  Amber 
determined  to  expel  Rao  Budh  from  Bundi,  and  offered  the  gaddi 
to  the  chief  of  its  feudatories,  the  lord  of  Indargarh  ;  but  Deo 
Singh  had  the  virtue  to  refuse  the  offer.  He  then  had  recourse 
to  the  chieftain  of  Karwar,^  who  could  not  resist  the  temptation. 
This  chief,  Salim  Singh,  was  guilty  of  a  double  breach  of  trust ; 
for  he  held  the  confidential  office  of  governor  of  Taragarh,  the 
citadel  commanding  both  the  city  and  palace. 

The  family  dispute  was,  however,  merely  the  underplot  of  a 
deeply-cherished  political  scheme  of  the  prince  of  Amber,  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  supremacy  over  the  minor  Rajas,  to  which 
his  office  of  viceroy  of  Malwa,  Ajmer,  and  Agra  gave  full  scope, 
and  he  skilfully  availed  himself  of  the  results  of  the  civil  wars  of 

1  This  lady  was  sister  to  Chamanji,  elder  brother  to  Jai  Singh,  and  heir- 
apparent  to  the  gaddi  of  Amber,  who  was  put  to  death  by  Jai  Singh.  To  this 
murder  the  Rathor  bard  alludes  in  the  couplet  given  in  their  Annals,  see 
Vol.  II.  p.  1059.  '  Chamanji '  ['  flower-bed  ']  is  the  title  of  the  heirs- 
apparent  of  Amber.  I  know  not  whether  Chamanji,  which  is  merelj'  a  term 
of  endearment,  may  not  be  Bijai  Singh,  whose  captivity  we  have  related. 
See  p.  1349.  2  r^bout  35  miles  N.  of  Bundi  city.] 

VOL.  Ill  R 


1498  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

the  Moguls.  In  the  issue  of  Farrukhsiyar's  dethronement  he  saw 
the  fruition  of  his  schemes,  and  after  a  show  of  defending  him, 
retired  to  his  dominions  to  prosecute  his  ^aews. 

Amber  was  yet  circumscribed  in  territory,  and  the  consequence 
of  its  princes  arose  out  of  their  position  as  satraps  of  the  empire. 
He  therefore  determined  to  seize  upon  all  the  districts  on  his 
frontiers  within  his  grasp,  and  moreover  to  compel  the  services 
of  the  chieftains  who  served  under  his  banner  as  lieutenants  of 
the  king. 

At  this  period  there  were  many  allodial  chieftains  within  the 
bounds  of  Amber  ;  as  the  Pachwana  Chauhans  about  Lalsont, 
Gura,  Nimrana,  who  owed  neither  service  nor  tribute  to  Jaipur, 
but  led  their  quotas  as  distinct  dignitaries  of  the  empire  under  the 
flag  of  Amber.  Even  their  own  stock,  the  confederated  Shaikha- 
wats,  deemed  [486]  themselves  under  no  such  obUgation.  The 
Bargujars  of  Rajor,  the  Jadons  of  Bayana,  and  many  others,  the 
vassalage  of  older  days,  were  in  the  same  predicament.  These, 
being  in  the  decline  of  the  empire  unable  to  protect  themselves, 
the  more  readily  agreed  to  hold  their  ancient  allodial  estates  as 
fiefs  of  Amber,  and  to  serve  with  the  stipidated  quota.  But  when 
Jai  Singh's  views  led  him  to  hope  he  could  in  like  manner  bring 
the  Haras  to  acknowledge  his  supremacy,  he  evinced  both  ignor- 
ance and  presumption.  He  therefore  determined  to  dethrone 
Budh  Singh,  and  to  make  a  Raja  of  his  own  choice  hold  of  liim  in 
chief. 

The  Hara,  who  was  then  reposing  on  the  rites  of  hospitality 
and  family  ties  at  Amber,  gave  Jai  Singh  a  good  opportunity  to 
develop  his  views,  which  were  first  manifested  to  the  Bundi  prince 
by  an  obscure  offer  that  he  would  make  Amber  his  abode,  and 
accept  five  hundred  rupees  daily  for  his  train.  His  uncle,  the 
brother  of  Jeth,  who  devoted  himself  to  save  his  master  at  Agra, 
penetrated  the  infamous  intentions  of  Jai  Singh.  He  wrote  to 
Bundi,  and  conmianded  that  the  Begun  Rani  should  depart  with 
her  children  to  her  father's  ;  and  having  given  time  for  tliis, 
he  by  stealth  formed  his  clansmen  outside  the  walls  of  Amber, 
and  having  warned  his  prince  of  his  danger,  they  quitted  the 
treacherous  abode.  Raja  Budh,  at  the  head  of  three  hundred 
Haras,  feared  nothing.  He  made  direct  for  his  capital,  but  they 
were  overtaken  at  Paneholas,  on  the  mutual  frontier,  by  the  select 
army  under  the  five  principal  chieftains  of  Amber.     The  little 


MAHArAO  UMMED  SINGH  1499 

band  was  enclosed,  when  a  desperate  encounter  ensued,  Rajput 
to  Rajput.  Every  one  of  the  five  leaders  of  Amber  was  slain, 
with  a  multitude  of  their  vassals  ;  and  the  cenotaphs  of  the  lords 
of  Isarda,  Sarwar,  and  Bhawar  still  afford  evidence  of  Hara 
revenge.  The  uncle  of  Bundi  was  slain,  and  the  valiant  band  was 
so  thinned,  that  it  was  deemed  luiwise  to  go  to  Bundi,  and  by  the 
intricacies  of  the  Plateau  they  reached  Begun  in  safety.  This 
dear-bought  success  enabled  Jai  Singh  to  execute  his  plan,  and 
Dalil  Singh,  of  Karwar,  espoused  the  daughter  of  Amber,  and  was 
invested  with  the  title  of  Rao  Raja  of  Bundi. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  distress  of  the  elder  branch  of  his 
house,  Raja  Bhim  of  Kotah,  now  strictly  allied  with  Ajit  of  Marwar 
and  the  Say^ads,  prosecuted  the  old  feud  for  superiority,  making 
the  Chambal  the  boundary,  and  seizing  upon  all  the  fiscal  lands 
of  Bundi  east  of  this  stream  (excepting  the  Kothris),  which  he 
attached  to  Kotah. 

Death  of  Rao  Budh  Singh. — Thus  beset  by  enemies  on  all  sides, 
Budh  Singh,  after  many  fruitless  attempts  to  [487]  recover  his 
patrimony,  in  which  much  Hara  blood  was  uselessly  shed,  died 
in  exile  at  Begun,  leaving  two  sons,  Ummed  Singh  and  Dip  Singh. 

The  sons  of  Rao  Budh  were  soon  driven  even  from  the  shelter 
of  the  maternal  abode  ;  for,  at  the  instigation  of  their  enemy  of 
Amber,  the  Rana  sequestrated  Begun.  Pursued  by  this  unmanly 
vengeance,  the  brave  youths  collected  a  smaU  band,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  wilds  of  Pachel,  whence  they  addressed  Durjansal, 
who  had  succeeded  Raja  Bhim  at  Kotah.  This  prince  had  a 
heart  to  commiserate  their  misfortunes,  and  the  magnanimity  not 
only  to  relieve  them,  but  to  aid  them  in  the  recovery  of  their 
patrimony. 


CHAPTER  4 

Maharao  Ummed  Singh,  a.d.  1743-1804. — Ummeda  was  but 
thirteen  years  of  age  on  the  death  of  his  house's  foe,  the  Raja  of 
Amber,  in  S.  1800  (a.d.  1744).  As  soon  as  the  event  was  known 
to  him,  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  his  clansmen,  he  attacked 
and  carried  Patau  and  Gainoli.^     "  When  it  was  heard  that  the 

^  [Patan,  about  25  miles  E.  of  Bundi  city  :  '  Gainoli '  in  the  text  is 
probably  Gondoli,  about  10  miles  E.  of  Patan.] 


1500  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BUNDI 

son  of  Budh  Singh  was  awake,  the  ancient  Haras  flocked  to  his 
standard,"  and  Durjansal  of  Kotah,  rejoicing  to  sec  the  real  Hara 
blood  thus  displayed,  nobly  sent  his  aid. 

Jaipur  attacks  Kotah.  —  Isari  Singh,  who  was  now  lord  of 
Amber,  pursuing  his  father's  policy,  determined  that  Kotah  should 
bend  to  his  supremacy  as  well  as  the  elder  branch  of  Bundi.  The 
defiance  of  his  power  avowed  in  the  support  of  young  Ummeda 
brought  his  views  into  [488]  action,  and  Kotah  was  invested. 
But  the  result  does  not  belong  to  this  part  of  our  history.  On 
the  retreat  from  Kotah,  Isari  sent  a  body  of  Nanakpanthis  ^  to 
attack  Ummeda  in  his  retreat  at  Burh  (old)  Lohari,  amongst  the 
Minas,  the  aboriginal  lords  of  these  mountain-wilds,  who  had  often 
served  the  cause  of  the  Haras,  notwithstanding  they  had  deprived 
them  of  their  birthright.  The  youthful  valour  and  distress  of 
young  Ummeda  so  gained  their  hearts,  that  five  thousand  bowmen 
assembled  and  desired  to  be  led  against  his  enemies.  With  these 
auxiliaries,  he  anticipated  his  foes  at  Bichori,  and  while  the  nimble 
mountaineers  plundered  the  camp,  Ummeda  charged  the  Jaipur 
army  sword  in  hand,  and  slaughtered  them  without  mercy,  taking 
their  kettledrums  and  standards.  On  the  news  of  this  defeat, 
another  army  of  eighteen  thousand  men,  under  Narayandas 
Khatri,  was  sent  against  Ummeda.  But  the  affair  of  Bichori 
confirmed  the  dispositions  of  the  Haras  :  from  all  quarters  they 
flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  young  prince,  who  determined  to 
risk  everything  in  a  general  engagement.  The  foe  had  reached 
Dablana.-  On  the  eve  of  attack,  young  Ummeda  went  to  pro- 
pitiate '  the  lady  of  Situn,'  ^  the  tutelary  divinity  of  his  race  ; 
and  as  he  knelt  before  the  altar  of  Asapurna  (the  fulfiUer  of  hope), 
his  eyes  falling  upon  the  turrets  of  Bimdi,  then  held  by  a  traitor, 
he  swore  to  conquer  or  die. 

Battle  of  Dablana. — Inspired  with  like  sentiments,  his  brave 
clansmen  formed  around  the  orange  flag,  the  gift  of  Jahangir  to 
Rao  Ratan  ;  and  as  they  cleared  the  pass  leading  to  Dablana, 
the  foe  was  discovered  marshalled  to  receive  them.  In  one  of 
those  compact  masses,  termed  gol,  with  serried  lances  advanced, 

1  [A  Sikh  sect  founded  by  Nanak,  the  Sikh  Guru  (a.d.  14G9-1639) 
(Rose,  Olossary,  iii.  152  ff.).] 

2  [About  10  inik's  JSI.  of  Bundi  city. 

'  [Probably  Satur,  with  a  temple  of  Rakt  Dantiku  Oevi,  '  she  with  the 
blood-stauied  teeth'  {Rajpulana  Gazetteer,  1879,  i.  240).J 


BATTLE  OF  DABLANA  1501 

Ummeda  led  his  Haras  to  the  charge.  Its  physical  and  moral 
impression  was  irresistible  ;  and  a  vista  was  cut  tlirough  the 
dense  host  opposed  to  them.  Again  they  formed  ;  and  again,  in 
spite  of  the  showers  of  cannon-shot,  the  sword  renewed  its  blows  ; 
but  every  charge  was  fatal  to  the  bravest  of  Ummeda's  men.  In 
the  first  onset  fell  his  maternal  uncle,  Prithi  Singh,  Solanki,  with 
the  Maharaja  Marjad  Singh  of  Motra,  a  vahant  Hara,  who  fell  just 
as  he  launched  his  chakra  (discus)  at  the  head  of  the  KJiatri 
commander  of  Amber.  Prayag  Singh,  chief  of  Soran,  a  branch 
of  the  Thana  fief,  was  also  slain,  with  many  of  inferior  note.  The 
steed  of  Ummeda  was  struck  by  a  cannon-ball,  and  the  intestines 
protruded  from  the  wound.  The  intrepidity  of  the  youthful 
hero,  nobly  seconded  by  his  kin  and  clan,  was  unavailing  ;  and 
the  chieftains,  fearing  he  would  throw  away  a  life  the  preserva- 
tion of  which  they  all  desired,  entreated  he  would  abandon  the 
contest ;  observing,  "  that  if  he  survived,  Bundi  must  be  theirs  ; 
but  if  he  was  slain,  there  was  an  end  of  all  their  hopes  [489]." 

With  grief  he  submitted  ;  and  as  they  gained  the  Sawali  Pass, 
which  leads  to  Indargarh,  he  dismounted  to  breathe  liis  faithful 
steed  ;  and  as  he  loosened  the  girths,  it  expired.  Ummeda  sat 
down  and  wept.  Hanja  was  worthy  of  such  a  mark  of  his  esteem  : 
he  was  a  steed  of  Irak,  the  gift  of  the  king  to  his  father,  whom  he 
had  borne  in  many  an  encounter.  Nor  was  this  natural  ebullition 
of  the  young  Hara  a  transient  feeling  :  Hanja's  memory  was  held 
in  veneration,  and  the  first  act  of  Ummeda,  when  he  recovered  his 
throne,  was  to  erect  a  statue  to  the  steed  who  bore  him  so  nobly 
on  the  day  of  Dablana.  It  stands  in  the  square  (chauk)  of  the 
city,  and  receives  the  reverence  of  each  Hara,  who  links  his  history 
with  one  of  the  brightest  of  their  achievements,  though  obscured 
by  momentary  defeat.^ 

Ummeda  gained  Indargarh,  which  was  close  at  hand,  on  foot ; 
but  tliis  traitor  to  the  name  of  Hara,  who  had  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  Amber,  not  only  refused  liis  prince  a  horse  in  his 
adversity,  but  warned  him  off  the  domain,  asking  "if  he  meant 
to  be  the  ruin  of  Indargarh  as  well  as  Bundi  ?  "  Disdaining  to 
drink  water  within  its  bounds,  the  yoimg  prince,  stung  by  this 
perfidious  mark  of  inhospitahty,  took  the  direction  of  Karwain. 

^  I  have  made  my  salaam  to  the  representative  of  Hanja.  and  should 
have  graced  his  neck  with  a  chaplet  on  every  mihtary  festival,  had  I  dwelt 
amons:  the  Haras. 


1502  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

Its  cliief  made  amends  for  the  other's  churhslmess  :  he  advanced 
to  meet  him,  offered  such  aid  as  he  had  to  give,  and  presented 
him  with  a  horse.  Dismissing  his  faithful  kinsmen  to  their  homes, 
and  begging  their  swords  when  fortune  might  be  kinder,  he  re- 
gained his  old  retreat,  the  ruined  palace  of  Rampura,  amongst 
the  ravines  of  the  Chambal. 

Biindi  recovered  by  Ummed  Singh. — Durjansal  of  Kotah,  who 
had  so  bravely  defended  his  capital  against  the  pretensions  to 
supremacy  of  Isari  Singh  and  his  auxiliary,  Apa  Sindhia,  felt 
more  interest  than  ever  in  the  cause  of  Ummeda.  The  Kotah 
prince's  councils  were  governed  and  his  armies  led  by  a  Bhat  (bard), 
who,  it  may  be  inferred,  was  professionally  inspired  by  the  heroism 
of  the  young  Hara  to  lend  liis  sword  as  well  as  his  muse  towards 
reinstating  him  in  the  halls  of  liis  fathers.  Accordingly,  all  the 
strength  of  Kotah,  led  by  the  Bhat,  was  added  to  the  kinsmen  and 
friends  of  Ummeda  ;  and  an  attempt  on  Bundi  was  resolved. 
The  city,  whose  walls  were  in  a  state  of  dilapidation  from  this 
continual  warfare,  was  taken  without  difficulty  ;  and  the  assault 
of  the  citadel  of  Taragarh  had  commenced,  when  the  heroic  Bhat 
received  a  fatal  shot  from  a  treacherous  hand  in  his  own  party. 
His  death  was  concealed,  and  a  cloth  thrown  [490]  over  Ms  body. 
The  assailants  pressed  on  ;  the  usurper,  alarmed,  took  to  flight  ; 
the  '  lion's  hope  '  ^  was  fulfilled,  and  Ummeda  was  seated  on  the 
throne  of  his  fathers. 

Bundi  occupied  by  Jaipur. — Dalil  fled  to  his  suzeram  at  Amber, 
whose  disposable  forces,  under  the  famous  Khatri  Keshodas,  were 
immediately  put  in  motion  to  re-expel  the  Hara.  Bundi  was 
invested,  and  having  had  no  time  given  to  prepare  for  defence, 
Ummeda  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  walls  so  nobly  Mon,  and 
"  the  flag  of  Dhundhar  waved  over  the  kunguras  (battlements)  of 
Dewa-Banga."  And  let  the  redeeming  virtue  of  the  usurper  be 
recorded  ;  who,  when  his  suzerain  of  Amber  desired  to  reinstate 
him  on  the  gaddi,  refused  "  to  bring  a  second  time  the  stain  of 
treason  on  his  head,  I)y  which  he  had  been  disgraced  in  the  opinion 
i)[  mankind."' 

Ummed   Singh  in  Exile. — Ummeda,  once  more  a  wanderer, 

alternately  courting  the  aid  of  Mewar  and  Marwar,  never  sus- 

jjended  his  hostility  to  the  usurper  of  his  rights,  but  carried  his 

Jncuisions,  witiiout  intermission,  into  his  paternal  domains.     One 

^   Ummeda,  '  hope  ' ;    iSingh,  '  a  lion.' 


QUEEN  INVOKES  AID  FROM  THE  MARATHAS    1503 

of  these  led  him  to  the  village  of  Banodia  :  hither  the  Kachhwaha 
Rani,  the  widowed  queen  of  his  father,  and  the  cause  of  all  their 
miseries,  had  retired,  disgusted  with  herself  and  the  world,  and 
lamenting,  when  too  late,  the  ruin  she  had  brought  upon  her 
husband,  herself,  and  the  family  she  had  entered.  Ummeda  paid 
her  a  visit,  and  the  interview  added  fresh  pangs  to  her  self- 
reproach.  His  sufferings,  liis  heroism,  brightened  by  adversity, 
originating  with  her  nefarious  desire  to  stifle  his  claims  of  primo- 
geniture by  a  spiirious  adoption,  awakened  sentiments  of  remorse, 
of  sympathy,  and  sorrow.  Determined  to  make  some  amends, 
she  adopted  the  resolution  of  going  to  the  Deccan,  to  solicit  aid 
for  the  son  of  Budh  Singh.  When  she  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nerbudda  a  pillar  was  pointed  out  to  her  on  which  was  inscribed 
a  prohibition  to  any  of  her  race  to  cross  this  stream,  which  like 
the  Indus  was  also  styled  atak,  or  '  forbidden.'  ^  Like  a  true 
Rajputni,  she  broke  the  tablet  in  pieces,  and  threw  it  into  the 
stream,  observing  with  a  Jesuitical  casuistry,  that  there  was  no 
longer  any  impediment  when  no  ordinance  existed.  Having 
passed  the  Rubicon,  she  proceeded  forthwith  to  the  camp  of 
Malhar  Rao  Holkar.  The  sister  of  Jai  Singh,  the  most  potent 
Hindu  prince  of  India,  became  a  supphant  to  this  goatherd  leader  ^ 
of  a  horde  of  plimderers,  nay,  adopted  him  as  her  brother  to  effect 
the  redemption  of  Bundi  for  the  exiled  Ummeda. 

Malhar  Rao  Holkar  assists  Umined  Singh. — Malhar,  without 
the  accident  of  noble  birth,  possessed  the  sentiments  which  belong 
to  it,  and  he  promised  all  she  asked.  How  far  his  compliance 
might  be  promoted  by  [491]  another  call  for  his  lance  from  the 
Rana  of  Mewar,  in  virtue  of  the  marriage-settlement  which  pro- 
mised the  succession  of  Amber  to  a  princess  of  his  house,  the 
Bundi  records  do  not  tell  :  they  refer  only  to  the  prospects  of  its 
own  prince.  But  we  may,  without  any  reflection  on  the  gallantry 
of  Holkar,  express  a  doubt  how  far  he  wovdd  have  lent  the  aid 
of  his  horde  to  this  sole  object,  had  he  not  had  in  view  the  splendid 
bribe  of  sixty-four  lakhs  from  the  Rana,  to  be  paid  when  Isari 
Singh  should  be  removed,  for  his  nephew  Madho  Singh.^ 

^  [On  the  Nerbudda  as  a  barrier  see  Vol.  II.  p.  971.] 

^  [The  Holkar  family  belonged  to  the  Dhangar,  or  Maratha  shepherd 
caste,  taking  their  name  from  the  village  of  Hoi  on  the  Nira  River  in  Poena 
District  (Grant  Duff  212  ;   BG,  xviii.  Part  ii.  244).] 

3  See  Annals  of  Mewar,  Vol.  I.  p.  495. 


1504  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDI 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  Bundi  chronicle  states  that  the  lady, 
instead  of  the  temporary  expedient  of  delivering  Bundi,  con- 
ducted the  march  of  the  Mahrattas  direct  on  Jaipur.  Circum- 
stances favoured  her  designs.  The  character  of  Isari  Singh  had 
raised  up  enemies  about  his  person,  who  seized  the  occasion  to 
forward  at  once  the  -saews  of  Bundi  and  Mewar,  whose  princes 
had  secretly  gained  them  over  to  their  views. 

The  Amber  prince  no  sooner  heard  of  the  approach  of  the 
Mahrattas  to  his  capital  than  he  quitted  it  to  offer  them  battle. 
But  their  strength  had  been  misrepresented,  nor  was  it  till  he 
reached  the  castle  of  Bagi-u  ^  that  he  was  undeceived  and  sur- 
rounded. When  too  late,  he  saw  that  '  treason  had  done  its 
worst,'  and  that  the  confidence  he  had  placed  in  the  successor  of 
a  minister  whom  he  had  murdered,  met  its  natural  reward.  The 
bard  has  transmitted  in  a  sloka  the  cause  of  his  overthrow  : 

Jabhl  ciihodl  Isra 
liaj  karaii  kl  as, 
Mantrl  moto  indriyo 
Khatri  Kesodds, 

'  Isari  forfeited  all  hopes  of  regality,  when  he  slew  that  great 
minister  Keshodas.' 

Jaipur  forced  to  restore  Ummed  Singh. — The  sons  of  this 
minister,  named  Harsahai  and  Gursahai,  betrayed  their  prince 
to  the  '  Southron,'  by  a  false  return  of  their  nmubers,  and  led 
liim  to  the  attack  with  means  totally  inadequate.  Resistance 
to  a  vast  numerical  superiority  would  have  been  madness :  he 
retreated  to  the  castle  of  this  iief  of  Amber,  where,  after  a  siege 
of  ten  days,  he  was  forced  not  only  to  sign  a  deed  for  the  surrender 
of  Bundi,  and  the  renunciation  of  all  claims  to  it  for  himself  and 
his  descendants,  but  to  put,  in  full  acknowledgment  of  his  rights, 
the  tika  on  the  forehead  of  Ummeda.  With  tliis  deed,  and 
accompanied  by  the  contingent  of  Kotah,  they  proceeded  to 
Bundi  ;  the  traitor  was  expelled  ;  and  while  rejoicings  were 
making  to  celebrate  the  installation  of  Ummeda,  the  funereal 
pyre  was  lighted  at  Amber,  to  consmne  the  mortal  remains  of  his 
foe.  Raja  Isari  could  [492]  not  survive  his  disgrace,  and  ter- 
minated his  existence  and  hostility  by  poison,  thereby  facilitating 
the  designs  both  of  Bundi  and  Mewar. 

'    '  [iO  miles  S.  of  Jaipur  city.] 


JAIPUR  FORCED  TO  RESTORE  UMMED  SINGH     1505 

Thus  in  S.  1805  (a.d.  1749)  Ummeda  regained  his  patrimony, 
after  fourteen  years  of  exile,  during  which  a  traitor  had  pressed 
the  royal  '  cushion  '  of  Biindi.  But  this  contest  deprived  it  of 
many  of  its  ornaments,  and,  combined  with  other  causes,  at 
length  reduced  it  almost  to  its  intrinsic  worth,  '  a  heap  of  cotton.' 
Malhar  Rao,  the  founder  of  the  Holkar  State,  in  virtue  of  his 
adoption  as  the  brother  of  the  widow-queen  of  Budh  Singh,  had 
the  title  of  Mamu,  or  uncle,  to  young  Ummeda.  But  true  to  the 
maxims  of  his  race,  he  did  not  take  his  buckler  to  protect  the 
oppressed,  at  the  impulse  of  those  chivalrous  notions  so  familiar 
to  the  Rajput,  but  deemed  a  portion  of  the  Bundi  territory  a 
better  incentive,  and  a  more  unequivocal  proof  of  gratitude,  than 
the  titles  of  brother  and  uncle.  Accordingly,  he  demanded,  and 
obtained  by  regular  deed  of  surrender,  the  town  and  district  of 
Patan  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chambal.^ 

The  sole  equivalent  (if  such  it  could  be  termed)  for  these 
fourteen  years  of  usurpation,  were  the  fortifications  covering  the 
palace  and  town,  now  called  Taragarh  (the  '  Star-fort '),  built  by 
Dalil  Singh.  Madho  Singh,  who  succeeded  to  the  gaddi  of  Jaipur, 
followed  up  the  designs  commenced  by  Jai  Singh,  and  wliich  had 
cost  his  successor  his  life,  to  render  the  smaller  States  of  Central 
India  dependent  on  Amber.  For  this  Kotah  had  been  besieged, 
and  Ummeda  expelled,  and  as  such  policy  could  not  be  effected 
by  their  unassisted  means,  it  only  tended  to  the  benefit  of  the 
auxiliaries,  who  soon  became  principals,  to  the  prejudice  and 
detriment  of  all.  Madho  Singh,  having  obtained  the  castle  of 
Ranthambhor,  a  pretext  was  afforded  for  these  pretensions  to 
supremacy.  F^om  the  time  of  its  surrender  by  Rao  Surjan  to 
Akbar,  the  importance  of  this  castle  was  estabhshed  by  its 
becoming  the  first  Sarkar,  or  '  department,'  in  the  province  of 
Ajmer,  consisting  of  no   less  than  '  seventy-three   mahals,'  ^  or 

^  As  in  those  days  when  Mahratta  spoliation  commenced,  a  joint-stock 
purse  was  made  for  all  such  acquisitions,  so  Patan  was  divided  into  shares, 
of  which  the  Peshwa  had  one,  and  Sindhia  another  ;  but  the  Peshwa's  share 
remained  nominal,  and  the  revenue  was  carried  to  account  by  Holkar  for 
the  services  of  the  Poona  State.  In  the  general  pacification  of  a.d.  1817, 
this  long-lost  and  much -cherished  district  was  once  more  incorporated  with 
Bundi,  to  the  unspeakable  gratitude  and  joy  of  its  prince  and  people.  In 
effecting  this  for  the  grandson  of  Ummeda,  the  Author  secured  for  himself 
a  gratification  scarcely  less  than  bis. 

-  [^Aln,  ii.  102,  274  f.     Jarrctt  writes  Sui  Supar  or  Sui  Sopar.] 


1506  ANNALS  OF  liARAVATI  :   BDNDI 

extensive  fiefs,  in  which  were  comprehended  not  only  Bundi  and 
Kotah,  and  all  their  dependencies,  but  the  entire  State  of  Sheopur, 
and  all  the  petty  fiefs  south  of  the  Banganga,  the  aggregate  of 
which  now  constitutes  the  State  of  Amber.  In  fact,  with  the 
exception  of  Mahmudabad  in  Bengal,^  Ranthambhor  was  the 
most  extensive  Sarkar  of  the  empire.  In  the  decrepitude  of 
the  empire,  this  castle  was  maintained  by  a  veteran  commander 
[193]  as  long  as  funds  and  provisions  lasted  ;  but  these  failing, 
in  order  to  secure  it  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Mahrattas, 
and  thus  being  lost  for  ever  to  the  throne,  he  sought  out  a  Rajput 
prince,  to  whom  he  might  entrust  it.  He  applied  to  Bundi  ;  but 
the  Ilara,  dreading  to  compromise  his  fealty  if  unable  to  maintain 
it,  refused  the  boon  ;  and  having  no  alternative,  he  resigned  it 
to  the  prince  of  Amber  as  a  trust  which  he  could  no  longer  defend. 

Out  of  this  circumstance  alone  originated  the  claims  of  Jaipur 
to  tribute  from  the  Kothris,  or  fiefs  in  Haraoti ;  claims  without  a 
shadow  of  justice  ;  but  the  maintenance  of  wliich,  for  the  sake 
of  the  display  of  supremacy  and  paltry  annual  relief,  has  nourished 
half  a  century  of  irritation,  wliich  it  is  high  time  should  cease.^ 

Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah. — -It  was  the  assertion  of  this  supremacy 
over  Kotah  as  well  as  Bundi  which  first  brought  into  notice  the 
most  celebrated  Rajput  of  modern  times,  Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah. 
Rao  Durjansal,  who  then  ruled  that  State,  had  too  much  of  the 
Hara  blood  to  endure  such  pretensions  as  the  casual  possession  of 
Ranthambhor  conferred  upon  his  brother  prince  of  Amber,  who 

1  [Ain,  ii.  132  f.] 

-  Tlio  universal  arbitrator,  Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah,  having  undertaken 
to  satisfy  them,  and  save  them  from  the  annual  visitations  of  the  Jaipur 
troops,  withdrew  tlie  proper  allegiance  of  Indargarh,  Balwan,  and  Antardah 
to  himself.  The  British  government,  in  ignorance  of  these  historical  facts, 
and  not  desirous  to  disturb  the  existing  state  of  things,  were  averse  to  hear 
the  Bundi  claims  for  the  restoration  of  her  proper  authority  over  these  her 
chief  vassals.  With  all  his  gratitude  for  the  restoration  of  his  political 
existence,  the  brave  and  good  Bishan  Singh  could  not  suppress  a  sigh  wlxen 
the  author  said  that  Lord  Hastings  refused  to  go  into  the  question  of  the 
Kothris,  who  liad  thus  transferred  tlieir  allegiance  to  Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah. 
In  their  usual  metaphorical  style,  lie  said,  with  great  empliasis  and  sorrow, 
"  My  wings  remain  broken."  It  would  be  a  matter  of  no  difficulty  to 
negotiate  the  claims  of  Jaipur,  and  cause  the  regent  of  Kotah  to  forgo  liis 
interposition,  which  would  bo  attended  with  no  loss  of  any  kind  to  him, 
but  would  ailord  imspeakable  benefit  and  pride  to  Bundi,  which  has  well 
deserved  tlie  boon  at  our  hands. 


UMMED  SINGH'S  REVENGE  ON  INDARGARH     1507 

considered  that,  as  the  late  lieutenant  of  the  king,  he  had  a  right 
to  transfer  his  powers  to  himself.  I'he  battle  of  Bhatwara,  in 
S.  1817  (a.d.  1761),  for  ever  extinguished  these  pretensions,  on 
which  occasion  Zalim  Singh,  then  scarcely  of  age,  mainly  contri- 
buted to  secure  the  independence  of  the  State  he  was  ultimately 
destined  to  govern.  But  this  exploit  belongs  to  the  annals  of 
Kotah,  and  would  not  have  been  here  alluded  to,  except  to 
remark,  that  had  the  Bundi  army  joined  Kotah  in  this  common 
cause,  they  would  have  redeemed  its  fiefs  from  the  tribute  they 
are  still  compelled  to  pay  to  Jaipur. 

Ummeda's  active  mind  was  engrossed  with  the  restoration  of 
the  prosperity  which  the  imexampled  vicissitudes  of  the  last 
fifteen  years  had  undermined  ;  but  he  felt  his  spirit  cramped  and 
his  energies  contracted  by  the  dominant  influence  and  avarice 
of  the  insatiable  Mahrattas,  through  whose  means  he  recovered 
liis  capital ;  still  there  was  as  yet  no  fixed  principle  of  government 
recognized,  and  the  Rajputs,  who  [494]  witnessed  their  periodical 
visitations  like  flights  of  locusts  over  their  plains,  hoped  that 
this  scourge  would  be  equally  transitory.  Under  this  great  and 
pernicious  error,  all  the  Rajput  States  continued  to  mix  these 
interlopers  in  their  national  disputes,  which  none  had  more  cause 
to  repent  than  the  Haras  of  Bundi.  But  the  hold  which  the 
Mahrattas  retained  upon  the  lands  of  '  Dewa  Banga '  would 
never  have  acquired  such  tenacity,  had  the  bold  arm  and  sage 
mind  of  Ummeda  continued  to  guide  the  vessel  of  the  State 
throughout  the  lengthened  period  of  his  natural  existence  :  his 
premature  political  decease  adds  another  example  to  the  truth, 
that  patriarchal,  and  indeed  all  governments  are  imperfect  where 
the  laws  are  not  supreme. 

Ummed  Singh's  Revenge  on  Indargarh. — An  act  of  revenge 
stained  the  reputation  of  Ununeda,  naturally  virtuous,  and  but 
for  which  deed  we  should  have  to  paint  him  as  one  of  the  bravest, 
wisest,  and  most  faultless  characters  which  Rajput  history  has 
recorded.  Eight  years  had  elapsed  since  the  recovery  of  his 
dominions,  and  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  his  wrongs  and  their 
authors  had  been  forgotten,  or  rather  forgiven,  for  human  nature 
can  scarcely  forget  so  treacherous  an  act  as  that  of  his  vassal  of 
Indargarh,  on  the  defeat  of  Dablana.  As  so  long  a  time  had 
passed  since  the  restoration  without  the  penalty  of  liis  treason 
being  exacted,  it  might  have  been  concluded  that  the  natural 


1508  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

generosity  of  this  high-minded  prince  had  co-operated  with  a  wise 
policy,  in  passing  over  the  wrong  without  forgoing  his  right  to 
avenge  it.  The  degenerate  Rajput,  who  could  at  such  a  moment 
witness  the  necessities  of  his  prince  and  refuse  to  reUeve  them, 
could  never  reflect  on  that  hour  without  self-abhorrence  ;  but 
his  spirit  was  too  base  to  offer  reparation  by  a  future  life  of  duty  ; 
he  cursed  the  magnanimity  of  the  man  he  had  injured  ;  hated  him" 
for  his  very  forbearance,  and  aggravated  the  part  he  had  acted  by 
fresh  injuries,  and  on  a  point  too  delicate  to  admit  of  being 
overlooked.  Ummeda  had  '  sent  the  coco-nut,'  the  symbol  of 
matrimonial  alliance,  to  Madho  Singh,  in  the  name  of  his  sister. 
It  was  received  in  a  full  assembly  of  all  the  nobles  of  the  court, 
and  with  the  respect  due  to  one  of  the  most  illustrious  races  of 
Rajputana.  Deo  Singh  of  Indargarh  was  at  that  time  on  a  visit 
at  Jaipur,  and  the  compliment  was  paid  him  by  the  Raja  of 
asking  "  what  fame  said  of  the  daughter  of  Budh  Singh  ?  "  It 
is  not  impossible  that  he  might  have  sought  this  opportunity  of 
further  betraying  his  prince  ;  for  his  reply  was  an  insulting 
innuendo,  leading  to  doubts  as  to  the  purity  of  her  blood.  That 
it  was  grossly  false,  was  soon  proved  by  the  solicitation  of  her 
hand  by  Raja  Bijai  Singh  of  Marwar.  "  The  coco-nut  was 
returned  to  Bundi,"  —  an  insult  never  to  be  forgiven  by  a 
Rajput  [495]. 

In  S.  1813  (a.d.  1757),  Ummeda  went  to  pay  his  devotions  at 
the  shrine  of  Bijaiseni  Mata  ('  the  mother  of  victory  '),  near 
Karwar.^  Being  in  the  vicinity  of  Indargarh,  he  invited  its 
chief  to  join  the  assembled  vassals  with  their  families  ;  and  though 
dissuaded,  Deo  Singh  obeyed,  accompanied  by  his  son  and 
grandson.  All  were  cut  off  at  one  fell  swoop,  and  the  line  of  the 
traitor  was  extinct  :  as  if  the  air  of  heaven  should  not  be  con- 
taminated by  the  smoke  of  their  ashes,  Ummeda  commanded 
that  the  bodies  of  the  calumnious  traitor  and  his  issue  should  be 
thrown  into  the  lake.  His  fief  of  Indargarh  was  given  to  his 
brother,  between  whom  and  the  present  incumbent  four  genera- 
tions have  passed  away. 

Fifteen  years  elapsed,  during  which  the  continual  scenes  of 
disorder  around  him  furnished  ample  occupation  for  his  thoughts. 
Yet,  in  the  midst  of  all,  would  intrude  the  remembrance  of  this 

^  [About  30  miles  N.E.  of  Bundi  city :  for  Bijaiseni  Mata  see  Vol.  II. 
p.  1193.] 


ABDICATION  OF  MAHARAO  UMMED  SINGH     1509 

single  act,  in  which  he  had  usurped  the  powers  of  Him  to  whom 
alone  it  belongs  to  execute  vengeance.  Though  no  voice  was 
lifted  up  against  the  deed,  though  he  had  a  moral  conviction  that 
a  traitor's  death  was  the  due  of  Deo  Singh,  his  soul,  generous  as. 
it  was  brave,  revolted  at  the  crime,  however  sanctified  by  custom, 
which  confounds  the  innocent  with  the  guilty.  To  appease  his 
conscience,  he  determined  to  abdicate  the  throne,  and  pass  the 
rest  of  his  days  in  penitential  rites,  and  traversing,  in  the  pilgrim's 
garb,  the  vast  regions  of  India,  to  visit  the  sacred  shrines  of  his 
faith. 

Abdication  of  Maharao  Ummed  Singh.— In  S.  1827  (a.d.  1771), 
the  imposing  ceremony  of  '  Jugraj,'  which  terminated  the  political 
existence  of  Ummeda,  was  performed.  An  image  of  the  prince 
was  made,  and  a  pyre  was  erected,  on  which  it  was  consumed. 
The  hair  and  whiskers  of  Ajit,  his  successor,  were  taken  off,  and 
offered  to  the  Manes  ;  lamentation  and  wailing  were  heard  in  the 
ranwas,^  and  the  twelve  days  of  matam,  or  '  mourning,'  were 
passed  as  if  Ummeda  had  really  deceased  ; '  on  the  expiration  of 
which,  the  installation  of  his  successor  took  place,  when  Ajit 
Singh  was  proclaimed  prince  of  the  Haras  of  Bundi. 

The  abdicated  Ummeda,  with  the  title  of  Sriji  (by  which  alone 
he  was  henceforth  knov/n),  retired  to  that  holy  spot  in  the  valley 
sanctified  by  the  miraculous  cure  of  the  first  '  lord  of  the  Patar,'  * 
and  which  was  named  after  one  of  the  fountains  of  the  Ganges, 
Kedarnath.  To  this  spot,  hallowed  by  a  multitude  of  associations, 
the  warlike  pilgrim  brought 

The  friiit  and  flower  of  many  a  province, 

and  had  the  gratification  to  find  these  exotics,  whether  the  hardy 
offspring  of  the  [496]  snow-clad  Himalaya,  or  the  verge  of  ocean 
in  the  tropic,  fructify  and  flourish  amidst  the  rocks  of  his  native 
abode.     It  is  curious  even  to  him  who  is  ignorant  of  the  moral 

^  The  laws  of  revenge  are  dreadfully  absolute  :  had  the  sons  of  Deo 
Singh  survived,  the  feud  upon  their  liege  lord  would  have  been  entailed 
with  their  estate.  It  is  a  nice  point  for  a  subject  to  balance  between  fidelity 
to  his  prince,  and  a  father's  feud,  bap  ka  vair. 

2  The  queens'  apartments. 

^  [In  early  Hindu  times  a  similar  performance  of  mock  funereal  rites 
took  place  in  the  event  of  contumacious  disregard  of  the  rules  of  caste 
(Barnett,  Antiquities  of  India,  120).] 

*  See  p.  1463. 


1510  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

vicissitudes  which  produced  it,  to  see  the  pine  of  Tibet,  the  cane 
of  Malacca,  and  other  exotics,  planted  by  tlie  hand  of  the  princely 
ascetic,  flourishing  around  his  hermitage,  in  spite  of  the  intense 
Jicats  of  this  rock-bound  abode. 

^^^lcn  Ummeda  resigned  the  sceptre  of  the  Haras,  it  was  from 
the  con\action  that  a  life  of  meditation  ahjnc  could  yield  the 
consolation,  and  obtain  the  forgiveness  which  he  found  necessary 
to  his  repose.     But  in  assuming  the  pilgi'im's  staff,  he  did  not 
lay  aside  any  feeling  becoming  his  rank  or  his  birth.     There  was 
no  pusillanimous  prostration  of  intellect  ;    no  puling  weakness 
of  bigoted  sentiment,  but  the  same  lofty  mind  which  redeemed 
his  birthright,  accompanied  him  wherever  he  bent  his  steps  to 
seek  knowledge  in  the  society  of  devout  and  holy  men.     He  had 
read  in  the  annals  of  his  own  and  of  other  States,  that  "  the 
trappings  of  royalty  were  snares  to  perdition,  and  that  happy 
was  the  man  who  in  time  threw  them  aside  and  made  his  peace 
with  heaven."     But  in  obeying,  at  once,  the  dictates  of  conscience 
and  of  custom,  he  felt  his  mind  too  much  alive  to  the  wonders  of 
creation,  to  bury  himself  in  the  fane  of  Kanhaiya,  or  the  sacred 
baths  on  the  Ganges  ;    and  he  determined  to  see  all  those  holy 
places  commemorated  in  the  ancient  epics  of  his  nation,  and  the 
never-ending  theme  of  the  wandering  devotee.     In  this  deter- 
mination he  was,  perhaps,  somewhat  influenced  by  that  love  of 
adventure  in  which  he  had  been  nurtured,  and  it  was  a  balm  to 
liis  mind  when  he  found  that  arms  and  religion  were  not  only 
compatible,  but  that  his  pious  resolution  to  force  a  way  through 
the  difficulties  which  beset  the  pilgrim's  path,  enhanced  the  merit 
of  his  devotion.     Accordingly,  the  royal  ascetic  went  forth  on 
his  pilgrimage,  not  habited  in  the  hermit's  garb,  but  armed  at  all 
points.     Even  in  this  there  was  penance,  not  ostentation,  and  he 
carried  or  buckled  on  his  person  one  of  every  species  of  offensive 
or  defensive  weapon  then  in  use  :    a  load  which  would  oppress 
any  two  Rajputs  in  these  degenerate  times.     He  wore  a  quilted 
tunic,  which  would  resist  a  sabre-cut  ;    besides  a  matchlock,  a 
lance,   a  sword,   a  dagger,   and   their  appurtenances  of  knives, 
]>ouches,   and  priming-horn,   he  had  a  battle-axe,   a  javelin,   a 
tomahawk,  a  discus,  bow  and  quiver  of  arrows  ;  and  it  is  affirmed 
that  such  was  his  muscular  power,  even  when  threescore  and  ten 
years  had  blanched  his  beard  in  wandering  to  and  fro  thus  ac- 
coutred, that  he  could  place  the  whole  of  this  panoply  within  his 


THE  WANDERINGS  OF  UMMED  SINGH  1511 

shield,  and  with  one  arm  not  only  raise  it,  but  hold  it  for  some 
seconds  extended  [497]. 

The  Wanderings  of  Ummed  Singh. — With  a  small  escort  of  his 
gallant  clansmen,  during  a  long  series  of  years  he  traversed  every . 
region,  from  the  glacial  fountains  of  the  Ganges  to  the  southern 
promontory  of  Rameswaram  ;  ^  and  from  the  hot-wells  of  Sita 
in  Arakan,"  and  the  Moloch  of  Orissa,^  to  the  shrine  of  the  Hindu 
Apollo  at  '  the  world's  end.'  *  Within  these  limits  of  Hinduism, 
Ummeda  saw  every  place  of  holy  resort,  of  curiosity,  or  of  learning  ; 
and  whenever  he  revisited  his  paternal  domains,  his  return  was 
greeted  not  only  by  his  own  tribe,  but  by  every  prince  and  Rajput 
of  Rajwara,  who  deemed  his  abode  hallowed  if  the  princely 
pilgrim  halted  there  on  his  route.  He  was  regarded  as  an  oracle, 
while  the  treasures  of  knowledge  which  his  observation  had 
accumulated,  caused  his  conversation  to  be  courted  and  every 
word  to  be  recorded.  The  admiration  paid  to  him  while  Uving 
cannot  be  better  ascertained  than  by  the  reverence  manifested 
by  every  Hara  to  his  memory.  To  them  his  word  was  a  law, 
and  every  relic  of  him  continues  to  be  held  in  veneration.  Almost 
his  last  journey  was  to  the  extremity  of  his  nation,  the  temples 
at  the  Delta  of  the  Indus,  and  the  shrine  of  the  Hindu  Cybele, 
the  terrific  Agnidevi  of  Hinglaj,  on  the  shores  of  Makran,  even 
beyond  the  Rubicon  of  the  Hindus.^  As  he  returned  by  Dwarka 
he  was  beset  by  a  band  of  Kabas,®  a  plundering  race  infesting 
these  regions.  But  the  veteran,  uniting  the  arm  of  flesh  to  that 
of  faith,  valiantly  defended  himself,  and  gained  a  complete 
victory,  making  prisoner  their  leader,  who,  as  the  price  of  his 
ransom,  took  an  oath  never  again  to  molest  the  pilgrims  to 
Dwarka. 

The  warlike  pilgrimage  of  Ummeda  had  been  interrupted  by  a 
tragical  occurrence,  which  occasioned  the  death  of'  his  son,  and 
compelled  him  to  abide  for  a  time  at  the  seat  of  government 
to  superintend  the  education  of  his  grandchild.     This  eventful 

^  [In  the  island  of  Pamban,  Madura  District,  Madras  {IGI,  xxi.  173  ff.).] 

*  [Sitakund,  in  Chittagong  District,  Bengal  {ibid,  xxiii.  50).] 

*  [Jagannath,  not  "  a  Moloch  "  :  religious  suicides  under  his  car  are 
infrequent  (Hunter,  Orissa,  i.  133  f.).] 

*  [Krishna,  at  Dwarka.] 

*  [Kali,  Parvati,  Mata,  or  Nani,  not  Agnidevi,  is  worshipped  at  Hinglaj 
{IGI,  xiii.  142).] 

«  [See  Vol.  II.  p,  1170.] 


1512  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

catastroplie,  intei'woven  in  the  border  history  of  Mewar  and 
Haraoti,  is  well  worthy  of  narration,  as  illustrative  of  manners 
and  belief,  and  fulfilled  a  prophecy  pronounced  centuries  before 
by  the  djing  Sati  of  Bumbaoda,  that  "  the  Rao  and  the  Rana 
should  never  meet  at  the  Aheria  (or  spring  hunt)  without  death 
ensuing."  What  we  are  about  to  relate  was  the  fourth  repetition 
of  this  sport  with  the  like  fatal  result. 

The  hamlet  of  Bilaita,  which  produced  but  a  few  good  mangoes, 
and  for  its  population  a  few  Minas,  was  the  ostensible  cause  of 
dispute.  The  chief  of  Bundi,  either  deeming  it  within  his  territorj^ 
or  desiring  to  consider  it  so,  threw  up  a  fortification,  in  which  he 
placed  a  garrison  to  overawe  the  freebooters,  who  were  instigated 
by  the  discontented  chiefs  of  Mewar  to  represent  this  as  an 
infringement  of  tlieir  prince's  rights.  Accordingly,  the  Rana 
marched  with  all  his  chieftains,  and  a  mercenary  [498]  band  of 
Sindis,  to  the  disputed  point,  whence  he  invited  the  Bundi  prince, 
Ajit,  to  his  camp.  He  came,  and  the  Rana  was  so  pleased  with 
his  manners  and  conduct,  that  Bilaita  and  its  mango  grove  were 
totally  forgotten.  Spring  was  at  hand  ;  the  joyous  month  of 
Phalgun,  when  it  was  necessary  to  open  the  year  with  a  sacrifice 
of  the  boar  to  Gauri  (see  Vol.  II.  p.  660).  The  young  Hara,  in 
return  for  the  courtesies  of  the  Rana,  invited  him  to  open  the 
Aheria,  within  the  ramnas  or  preserves  of  Bundi.  The  invitation 
was  accepted  ;  the  prince  of  the  Sesodias,  according  to  usage, 
distributed  the  green  turbans  and  scarfs,  and  on  the  appointed 
day,  with  a  brilliant  cavalcade,  repaired  to  the  heights  of 
Nanta. 

Murder  of  Rana  Ari  Singh. — The  abdicated  Rao,  who  had 
lately  returned  from  Badarinath,  no  sooner  heard  of  the  projected 
limit,  than  he  dispatched  a  special  messenger  to  remind  his  soil 
of  the  anathema  of  the  Sati.  The  impetuous  Ajit  replied  that  it 
was  impossible  to  recall  his  invitation  on  such  pusillanimous 
grounds.  The  morning  came,  and  the  Rana,  filled  with  senti- 
ments of  friendship  for  the  young  Rao,  rode  with  him  to  the 
field.  But  the  preceding  evening,  the  minister  of  Mewar  had 
waited  on  the  Rao,  and  in  language  the  most  insulting  told  him 
to  surrender  Bilaita,  or  he  would  send  a  body  of  Sindis  to  place 
him  in  restraint,  and  he  was  vile  enough  to  insinuate  that  he  was 
merely  the  organ  of  his  prince's  commands.  This  rankled  in  the 
mind  of  the  Rao  throughout  the  day  ;    and  when  the  sport  was 


MURDER  OF  RANA  ARI  SINGH  1513 

over,  and  he  had  the  Rana's  leave  to  depart,  a  sudden  idea  passed 
across  his  mind  of  the  intended  degradation,  and  an  incipient 
resolution  to  anticipate  this  disgrace  induced  him  to  return.  The 
Rana,  unconscious  of  any  offence,  received  his  young  friend  with 
a  smile,  repeated  his  permission  to  retire,  and  observed  that 
they  should  soon  meet  again.  Irresolute,  and  overcome  by  this 
affable  behaviour,  his  half-formed  intent  was  abandoned,  and 
again  he  bowed  and  withdrew.  But  scarcely  had  he  gone  a  few 
paces  when,  as  if  ashamed  of  himself,  he  summoned  up  the 
powers  of  revenge,  and  rushed,  spear  in  hand,  upon  his  victim. 
With  such  unerring  force  did  he  ply  it,  that  the  head  of  the  lance, 
after  passing  through  the  Rana,  was  transfixed  in  the  neck  of  his 
steed.  The  wounded  prince  had  merely  time  to  exclaim,  as  he 
regarded  the  assassin  on  whom  he  had  lavished  his  friendship, 
"  Oh,  Hara  !  what  have  you  done  ?  "  when  the  Indargarh  chief 
finished  the  treachery  with  his  sword.  The  Hara  Rao,  as  if 
glorying  in  the  act,  carried  off  the  chhattar-changi,  '  the  golden 
sun  in  the  sable  disk,'  the  regal  insignia  of  Mewar,  which  he  lodged 
in  the  palace  of  Bundi.  The  abdicated  Ummeda,  whose  gratified 
revenge  had  led  to  a  life  of  repentance,  was  horror-struck  at  this 
fresh  atrocity  in  his  house  [499]  :  he  cried,  "  Shame  on  the 
deed  !  "  nor  would  he  henceforth  look  on  the  face  of  his  son. 

A  highly  dramatic  effect  is  thrown  around  the  last  worldly 
honours  paid  to  the  murdered  king  of  Mewar  ;  and  although  his 
fate  has  been  elsewhere  described,  it  may  be  proper  to  record  it 
from  the  chronicle  of  his  foeman. 

The  Obsequies  of  Rana  Ari  Singh. — The  Rana  and  the  Bundi 
prince  had  married  two  sisters,  daughters  of  the  prince  of  Kishan- 
garh,  so  that  there  were  ties  of  connexion  to  induce  the  Rana  to 
reject  all  suspicion  of  danger,  though  he  had  been  warned  by 
his  wife  to  beware  of  his  brother-in-law.  The  ancient  feud  had 
been  balanced  in  the  mutual  death  of  the  last  two  princes,  and 
no  motive  for  enmity  existed.  On  the  day  previous  to  this 
disastrous  event,  the  Mewar  minister  had  given  a  feast,  of  which 
the  princes  and  their  nobles  had  partaken,  when  all  was  harmony 
and  friendship  ;  but  the  sequel  to  the  deed  strongly  corroborates 
the  opinion  that  it  was  instigated  by  the  nobles  of  Mewar,  in 
hatred  of  their  tyrannical  prince  ;  and  other  hints  were  not 
wanting  in  addition  to  the  indignant  threats  of  the  minister  to 
kindle  the  feeling  of  revenge.     At  the  moment  the  blow  was 

VOL.  Ill  s 


1514  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BCNDT 

struck,  a  simple  mace-bearer  alone  had  the  fideUty  to  defend  his 
master  ;  not  a  chief  was  at  hand  either  to  intercept  the  stroke, 
or  pursue  the  assassin  ;  on  the  contrary,  no  sooner  was  the  deed 
consummated,  than  the  whole  chivalry  of  Mewar,  as  if  panic- 
struck  and  attacked  by  a  host,  took  to  flight,  abandoning  their 
camp  and  the  dead  body  of  their  master. 

A  single  concubine  remained  to  perform  the  last  rites  to  her 
lord.  She  commanded  a  costly  pyre  to  be  raised,  and  prepared 
to  become  his  companion  to  a  world  unknown.  With  the  mur- 
dered corpse  in  her  arms,  she  reared  her  form  from  the  pile,  and, 
as  the  torch  was  applied,  she  pronounced  a  curse  on  his  murderer, 
invoking  the  tree  under  whose  shade  it  was  raised  to  attest  the 
prophecy,  "  that,  if  a  selfish  treachery  alone  prompted  the  deed, 
within  two  months  the  assassin  might  be  an  example  to  mankind  : 
but  if  it  sprung  from  a  noble  revenge  of  any  ancient  feud,  she 
absolved  him  from  the  curse  :  a  branch  of  the  tree  fell  in  token 
of  assent,  and  the  ashes  of  the  Rana  and  the  Sati  whitened  the 
plain  of  Bilaita." 

Death  of  Maharao  Ajit  Singh. — Within  the  two  months,  the 
prophetic  anathema  was  fulfilled  ;  the  Rao  of  the  Haras  was  a 
corpse,  exhibiting  an  awful  example  of  divine  vengeance  :  "  the 
flesh  dropped  from  his  bones,  and  he  expired,  an  object  of  loathing 
and  of  misery."  Hitherto  these  feuds  had  been  balanced  by 
the  lex  talionis,  or  its  substitutes,  but  this  last  remains  unappeased, 
strengthening  the  belief  that  it  Avas  prompted  from  Mewar  [500]. 

Maharao  Bishan  Singh,  a.d.  1770-1821. — Bishan  Singh,  the 
sole  offspring  of  Ajit,  and  who  succeeded  to  the  gaddi,  was  then 
an  infant,  and  it  became  a  matter  of  necessity  that  Sriji  should 
watch  his  interests.  Ha\ing  arranged  the  affairs  of  the  infant 
Rao,  and  placed  an  intelligent  Dhabhai  (foster-brother)  at  the 
head  of  the  government,  he  recommenced  his  pereginnations, 
being  often  absent  four  years  at  a  time,  until  within  a  few  years 
of  his  death,  when  the  feebleness  of  age  confined  him  to  his 
hermitage  of  Kedarnath. 

It  affords  an  additional  instance  of  Rajput  instability  of 
character,  or  rather  of  the  imperfection  of  their  government,  that, 
in  his  old  age,  when  a  life  of  austerity  had  confirmed  a  renuncia- 
tion which  reflection  had  prompted,  the  venerable  warrior  became 
an  object  of  distrust  to  his  grandchild.  Miscreants,  who  dreaded 
to  see  wisdom  near  the  throne,  had  the  audacity  to  add  insult  to  a 


MAHARAO  BISHAN  SINGH  1515 

prohibition  of  Sriji's  return  to  Bundi,  commanding  him  "  to  eat 
sweetmeats  and  tell  his  beads  at  Benares."  The  messenger,  who 
found  him  advanced  as  far  as  Nayashahr,^  delivered  the  mandate, 
adding  that  his  ashes  should  not  mingle  with  his  fathers'.  But 
such  was  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  and  the  sanctity 
he  had  acquired  from  these  pilgrimages,  that  the  sentence  was 
no  sooner  known  than  the  neighbouring  princes  became  suitors 
for  his  society.  The  heroism  of  his  youth,  the  dignified  piety  of 
his  age,  inspired  the  kindred  mind  of  Partap  Singh  of  Amber  with 
very  different  feelings  from  those  of  his  own  tribe.  He  addressed 
Sriji  as  a  son  and  a  servant,  requesting  permission  to  '  darshankar  ' 
(worship  him),  and  convey  him  to  his  capital.  Such  was  the 
courtesy  of  the  flower  of  the  Kachhwahas  !  Sriji  declined  this 
mark  of  homage,  but  accepted  the  invitation.  He  was  received 
with  honour,  and  so  strongly  did  the  gallant  and  virtuous  Partap 
feel  the  indignity  put  upon  the  abdicated  prince,  that  he  told 
him,  if  "  any  remnant  of  worldly  association  yet  lurked  within 
him,"  he  would  in  person,  at  the  head  of  all  the  troops  of  Amber 
place  him  on  the  throne  both  of  Bundi  and  Kotah.  Sriji's  reply 
was  consistent  with  his  magnanimity  :  "  They  are  both  mine 
already — on  the  one  is  my  nephew,  on  the  other  my  grandchild." 
On  this  occasion,  Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah  appeared  on  the  scene 
as  mediator  ;  he  repaired  to  Bundi,  and  exposed  the  futility  of 
Bishan  Singh's  apprehensions  ;  and  armed  with  full  powers  of 
reconciliation,  sent  Lalaji  Pandit  to  escort  the  old  Rao  to  his 
capital.  The  meeting  was  such  as  might  have  been  expected, 
between  a  precipitate  youth  tutored  by  artful  knaves,  and  the 
venerable  chief  who  had  renounced  every  mundane  feeling  but 
affection  for  his  offspring.  It  drew  tears  from  all  eyes  :  "  My 
child,"  said  the  pilgrim-warrior,  presenting  his  sword,  "  take 
this  ;  apply  it  yourself  if  you  think  I  can  have  any  bad  intentions 
towards  you  ;  but  let  not  the  base  defame  me  "  [501].  The 
young  Rao  wept  aloud  as  he  entreated  forgiveness  ;  and  the 
Pandit  and  Zalim  Singh  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  inten- 
tions of  the  sycophants,  who  surrounded  the  minor  prince, 
defeated.  Sriji  refused,  however,  to  enter  the  halls  of  Bundi 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  which  ended  about  eight  years 
after  this  event,  when  his  grandchild  entreated  "  he  would  close 

1  [Perhaps  the  town  of  that  name  in  the  Saharanpur  District,  United 
Provinces.] 


1516  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BDNDI 

his  eyes  within  the  walls  of  his  -fathers."  A  remnant  of  that 
feeling  inseparable  from  humanity  made  the  dying  Ummeda 
offer  no  objection,  and  he  was  removed  in  a  sukhpal^  (litter)  to  the 
palace,  where  he  that  night  breathed  his  last.  Thus,  in  S.  1860 
(a.d.  1804),  Ummeda  Singh  closed  a  varied  and  chequered  life  ; 
the  sim  of  his  morning  rose  amidst  clouds  of  adversity,  soon  to 
burst  forth  in  a  radiant  prosperity  ;  but  scarcely  had  it  attained 
its  meridian  glory  ere  crime  dimmed  its  splendour  and  it  descended 
in  solitude  and  sorrow. 

Sixty  years  had  passed  over  his  head  since  Ummeda,  when 
only  thirteen  years  of  age,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  Haras, 
and  carried  Patan  and  Gandoli.  His  memory  is  venerated  in 
Haraoti,  and  but  for  the  stain  which  the  gratification  of  his 
revenge  has  left  upon  his  fame,  he  would  have  been  the  model  of 
a  Rajput  prince.  But  let  us  not  apply  the  European  standard  of 
abstract  virtue  to  these  princes,  who  have  so  few  checks  and  so 
many  incentives  to  crime,  and  whose  good  acts  deserve  the  more 
applause  from  an  appalling  honhar  (predestination)  counteracting 
moral  responsibility. 

Colonel  Monson's  Campaign. — The  period  of  Sriji's  death  was 
an  important  era  in  the  history  of  the  Haras.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  a  British  army,  under  the  unfortunate  Monson,  for  the  first 
time  appeared  in  these  regions,  avowedlj'^  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  Holkar,  the  great  foe  of  the  Rajputs,  but  especially  of 
Bundi.-  Whether  the  aged  chief  was  yet  alive  and  counselled 
this  policy,  which  has  since  been  gi-atefully  repaid  by  Britain, 
we  are  not  aware  ;  but  whatever  has  been  done  for  Bundi  has 
fallen  short  of  the  chivalrous  deserts  of  its  prince.  It  was  not 
on  the  advance  of  our  army,  when  its  ensigns  were  waving  in 

^  [^Sukhpal,  "  happiness-protecting,"  a  luxurious  litter,  like  tlie 
auhhdsan  or  mahadol  (p.  1349).] 

-  [For  a  full  account  of  the  disastrous  retreat  of  Hon.  Lieut. -Col.  William 
Monson  see  Mill,  Hist,  of  India,  vol.  iii.  (1817)  672  ff.  He  was  son  of  John, 
2nd  Baron  Monson  :  born  in  1760  :  went  to  India  with  the  52nd  Regiment 
in  1780.  He  shared  in  the  attack  on  Soringapatam  in  1792  :  in  the  Maratha 
war  of  1803  commanded  a  brigade  under  Lord  Lake  :  led  tlie  storming  party, 
and  was  seriously  wounded  at  the  capture  of  Aligarh,  4th  September  1803. 
After  his  famous  retreat  to  Agra  in  1804  ho  was  again  employed  under 
Lord  Lake  in  his  campaign  against  Holkar  :  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Dig, 
14th  November  1804, and  led  thclast  of  the  four  assaultson  Bharatpur  in  1805. 
He  returned  to  England  in  1806,  and  was  elected  member  for  Lincoln. 
He  died  in  December  1807.  (C.  E.  Buckland,  Diet.  Indian  Biography,  s.v.).] 


COMPENSATION  TO  BtlNDI  1517 

anticipation  of  success,  but  on  its  humiliating  flight,  that  a  safe 
passage  was  not  only  cheerfully  granted,  but  aided  to  the  utmost 
of  the  Raja's  means,  and  with  an  almost  culpable  disregard  of 
liis  own  welfare  and  interests.  It  was,  indeed,  visited  with 
retribution,  which  we  little  knew,  or,  in  the  pusillanimous  poUcy 
of  that  day,  little  heeded.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  in  1817,  when 
we  called  upon  the  Rajputs  to  arm  and  coalesce  with  us  in  the 
putting  down  of  rapine,  Bundi  was  one  of  the  foremost  to  join 
the  aUiance.  Well  she  might  be  ;  for  the  Mahratta  flag  waved 
in  unison  with  her  own  within  the  walls  of  the  capital,  while  the 
revenues  collected  scarcely  [502]  afforded  the  means  of  personal 
protection  to  its  prince.  Much  of  this  was  owing  to  our  abandon- 
ment of  the  Rao  in  1804. 

Compensation  to  BOndi  after  the  Pindari  War.— Throughout  the 
contest  of  1817,  Bundi  had  no  wUl  but  ours  ;  its  prince  and 
dependents  were  in  arms  ready  to  execute  our  behest  ;  and  when 
victory  crowned  our  efforts  in  every  quarter,  on  the  subsequent 
pacification,  the  Rao  Raja  Bishan  Singh  was  not  forgotten.  The 
districts  held  by  Holkar,  some  of  which  had  been  ahenated  for 
half  a  century,  and  which  had  become  ours  by  right  of  conquest, 
were  restored  to  Bundi  without  a  qualification  ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  we  negotiated  the  surrender  to  him  of  the  districts 
held  by  Smdliia,  on  his  paying,  through  us,  an  annual  sum  cal- 
culated on  the  average  of  the  last  ten  years'  depreciated  revenue. 
The  intense  gratitude  felt  by  the  Raja  was  expressed  in  a  few 
forcible  words  :  "I  am  not  a  man  of  protestation  ;  but  my  head 
is  yours  whenever  you  require  it."  This  was  not  an  vmmeaning 
phrase  of  compliment  ;  he  would  have  sacrificed  his  fife,  and  that 
of  every  Hara  who  "  ate  his  salt,"  had  we  made  experiment  of  his 
fideUty.  Still,  immense  as  were  the  benefits  showered  upon 
Bundi,  and  with  which  her  prince  was  deeply  penetrated,  there 
was  a  drawback.  The  old  MachiaveUi  of  Kotah  had  been  before 
him  in  signing  himself  ^  Jidzvi  Sarkar  Angrez'  (the  slave  of  the 
English  government),  and  had  contrived  to  get  Indargarh, 
Balwan,  Antardah,  and  Khatoh,  the  chief  feudatories  of  Bundi, 
under  his  protection. 

The  frank  and  brave  Rao  Raja  could  not  help  deeply  regretting 
an  arrangement,  which,  as  he  emphatically  said,  was  "  chpping 
liis  wings."  The  disposition  is  a  bad  one,  and  both  justice  and 
political  expediency  enjoin  a  revision  of  it,  and  the  bringing  about 


1518  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  IJONDI 

a  comproniise  which  Avould  restore  the  integrity  of  the  most 
interesting  and  deserving  Uttle  State  in  India.^  Well  has  it 
repaid  the  anxious  care  we  manifested  for  its  interests  ;  for  while 
every  other  principality  has,  by  some  means  or  other,  caused 
uneasiness  or  trouble  to  the  protecting  power,  Bundi  has  silently 
advanced  to  comparative  prosperity,  happy  in  her  independence, 
and  interfering  with  no  one.  The  Rao  Raja  survived  the  restora- 
tion of  his  independence  only  four  short  years,  when  he  was 
carried  off  by  that  scourge,  the  cholera  morbus.  In  his  extremity, 
writhing  imder  a  disease  which  unmans  the  strongest  frame  and 
mind,  he  was  cool  and  composed.  He  interdicted  his  wives 
from  following  him  to  the  pyre,  and  bequeathing  his  son  and 
successor  [503]  to  the  guardianship  of  the  representative  of  the 
British  government,  breathed  his  last  in  the  prime  of  life. 

Death  and  Character  of  Maharao  Bishan  Singh. — The  char- 
acter of  Bishan  Singh  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  He 
was  an  honest  man,  and  every  inch  a  Rajput.  Under  an  un- 
polished exterior,  he  concealed  an  excellent  heart  and  an  energetic 
soul  ;  he  was  by  no  means  deficient  in  understanding,  and  pos- 
sessed a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  own  interests.  When  the 
Mahrattas  gradually  curtailed  his  revenues,  and  circumscribed 
his  power  and  comforts,  he  seemed  to  delight  in  showing  how 
easily  he  could  dispense  with  unessential  enjoyments  ;  and  found 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  chase  the  only  stimulus  befitting  a  Rajput. 
He  would  bivouac  for  days  in  the  lion's  lair,  nor  quit  the  scene 
until  he   had  circumvented  the   forest  king,   the  only  prey  he 

^  The  Author  had  the  distinguished  happiness  of  conchiding  the  ti'caty 
with  Bundi  in  February  1818.  His  previous  knowledge  of  her  deserts  was 
not  disadvantageous  to  her  interests,  and  he  assumed  the  responsibility 
of  concluding  it  upon  the  general  principles  which  were  to  regulate  our  future 
pohcy  as  determined  in  the  commencement  of  the  war ;  and  setting  aside 
the  views  which  trcnclied  upon  these  in  our  subsequent  negotiations.  These 
general  prmciples  laid  it  down  as  a  sine  qua  non  that  tlie  Mahrattas  should 
not  have  a  foot  of  land  in  llajputana  west  of  the  Chambal ;  and  he  closed 
the  door  to  recantation  by  sealing  the  reunion  in  perpetuity  to  Bundi,  of 
Patan  and  all  land  so  situated.  [In  1847,  with  the  consent  of  Sindhia,  his 
share  of  the  Patan  district  was  made  over  in  perpetuity  to  Bundi  on  pay- 
ment of  a  further  sum  of  Rs.  80,000,  to  be  credited  to  Gwahor.  Under  the 
treaty  of  I8G0  with  Sindhia  the  sovereignty  of  this  tract  was  transferred 
to  tlie  British  Government,  from  whom  Bundi  now  liolds  it  as  a  perpetual 
fief,  subject  to  the  payment  of  Rs.  80,000  per  annum,  in  addition  to  the 
tribute  of  Rs.  40,000  payal>lc  under  the  treaty  of  1818  {IGI.  ix.  81  f.).] 


THE  MINISTERS  OF  bONDI  1519 

deemed  worthy  of  his  skill.  He  had  slain  upwards  of  one  hundred 
lions  with  his  own  hand,  besides  many  tigers,  and  boars  innumer- 
able had  been  victims  to  his  lance.  In  this  noble  pastime,  not 
exempt  from  danger,  and  pleasurable  in  proportion  to  the  toil, 
he  had  a  Umb  broken,  which  crippled  him  for  life,  and  shortened 
his  stature,  previously  below  the  common  standard.  But  when 
he  mounted  his  steed  and  waved  his  lance  over  his  head,  there 
was  a  masculine  vigour  and  dignity  which  at  once  evinced  that 
Bishan  Singh,  had  we  called  upon  him,  would  have  wielded  his 
weapon  as  worthily  in  our  cause  as  did  his  glorious  ancestors  for 
Jahangir  or  Shah  Alam.  He  was  somewhat  despotic  in  his  own 
little  empire,  knowing  that  fear  is  a  necessary  incentive  to  respect 
in  the  governed,  more  especially  amongst  the  civil  servants  of 
his  government  ;  and,  if  the  Court  Journal  of  Bundi  may  be 
credited,  his  audiences  with  his  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  who 
was  his  premier,  must  have  been  amusing  to  those  in  the  ante- 
chamber. The  Raja  had  a  reserved  fund,  to  which  the  minister 
was  required  to  add  a  hundred  rupees  daily  ;  and  whatever  plea 
he  might  advance  for  the  neglect  of  other  duties,  on  this  point 
none  would  be  listened  to,  or  the  appeal  to  Indrajit  was  threatened. 
"  The  conqueror  of  Indra  "  was  no  superior  divinity,  but  a  shoe 
of  superhuman  size  suspended  from  a  peg,  where  a  more  classic 
prince  would  have  exhibited  his  rod  of  empire.  But  he  reserved 
this  for  his  barons,  and  the  shoe,  thus  misnamed,  was  the  humili- 
ating corrective  for  an  offending  minister. 

The  Ministers  of  Biindi. — At  Bundi,  as  at  all  these  patriarchal 
principalities,  the  chief  agents  of  power  are  few.  They  are  four 
in  number,  namely  :  1.  The  Diwan,  or  Musahib  ;  2.  The  Faujdar, 
or  Kiladar  ;  3.  The  Bakhshi  ;  4,  The  Risala,  or  Comptroller  of 
Accomits  [504].^ 

This  little  State  became  so  connected  with  the  imperial  court, 
that,  like  Jaipur,  the  princes  adopted  several  of  its  customs. 
The  Pardhan,  or  premier,  was  entitled  Diwan  and  Musahib  ;  and 
he  had  the  entire  management  of  the  territory  and  finances. 
The  Faujdar  or  Kiladar  is  the  governor  of  the  castle,  the  Maire  de 
Palais,  who  at  Bundi  is  never  a  Rajput,  but  some  Dhabhai  or 
foster-brother,  identified  with  the  family,  who  hkewise  heads  the 

1  [Risala  properly  means  '  a  letter,  account.'  Risaladar  has,  in  the 
British  service,  the  special  sense  of  a  native  officer  commanding  a  troop  of 
cavalry  (Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2ad  ed.  761  f.).] 


1520  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  BONDI 

feudal  quotas  or  the  mercenaries,  and  has  lands  assigned  for  their 
support.  The  Bakhslii  controls  generally  all  accounts  ;  the 
Risala  those  of  the  household  expenditure.  The  late  prince's 
management  of  liis  revenue  was  extraordinary.  Instead  of  the 
surplus  being  lodged  in  the  treasury,  it  centred  in  a  mercantile 
concern  conducted  by  the  prime  minister,  in  the  profits  of  which 
the  Raja  shared.  But  while  he  exhibited  but  fifteen  per  cent 
gain  in  the  balance-sheet,  it  was  stated  at  thirty.  From  this 
profit  the  troops  and  dependents  of  the  court  were  paid,  chiefly 
in  goods  and  grain,  and  at  such  a  rate  as  he  chose  to  fix.^  Their 
necessities,  and  their  prince  being  joint  partner  in  the  firm,  made 
complaint  useless  ;  but  the  system  entailed  upon  the  premier 
universal  execration. 

Bishan  Singh  left  two  legitimate  sons  :  the  Rao  Raja  Ram 
Singh,  then  eleven  years  of  age,  who  was  installed  in  August  1821  ; 
and  the  Maharaja  Gopal  Singh,  a  few  months  younger.  Both 
were  most  promising  youths,  especially  the  Raja.  He  inlierited 
his  father's  passion  for  the  chase,  and  even  at  this  tender  age 
received  from  the  nobles  ^  their  nazars  and  congratulations  on 
the  first  wild  game  he  slew.  Hitherto  his  pigmy  sword  had  been 
proved  only  on  kids  or  lambs.  His  mother,  the  queen-regent,  is 
a  princess  of  Kishangarh,  amiable,  able,  and  devoted  to  her  son. 
It  is  ardently  hoped  that  this  most  interesting  State  and  family 
will  rise  to  their  ancient  prosperity,  under  the  generous  auspices 
of  the  government  which  rescued  it  from  ruin.  In  return,  we 
may  reckon  on  a  devotion  to  which  our  power  is  yet  a  stranger — 
strong  hands  and  grateful  hearts,  which  will  coiu't  death  in  our 
behalf  with  the  same  indomitable  spirit  that  has  been  exemplified 
in  days  gone  by.  Our  wishes  are  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Haras  ! 
[505]. 

^  Tho  truck  systoni,  called  parna,  is  well  known  in  Rajputana. 

2  And  from  the  Author  with  the  rest,  whose  nephew  he  was  by  courtesy 
and  adoption.  [Ram  Singh  succeeded  his  father  in  1821.  He  behaved  with 
apathy  and  lukewarnmess  in  tho  Mutiny  of  1857,  but  he  was  given  the  right 
of  adoption  in  1862,  and  died  in  1889.  He  was  "  the  most  conservative 
prince  in  conservative  Rajputana,  and  a  grand  specimen  of  a  true  Rajput 
gentleman."  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Maharao  Raja  Raghbir  Singh 
(767.  ix.  82).] 


KOTAH  1521 

KOT.A.H 
CHAPTER   5 

Formation  of  Kotah  State.— The  early  history  of  the  Haras  of 
Kotah  belongs  to  Bundi,  of  which  they  were  a  jtmior  branch.  The 
separation  took  place  when  Shah  Jahan  was  emperor  of  India, 
who  bestowed  Kotah  and  its  dependencies  on  Madho  Singh,  the 
second  son  of  Rao  Ratan,  for  his  distinguished  gallantry  in  the 
battle  of  Burhanpur.i 

Rao  Madho  Singh,  c.  a.d.  1625-30. — ^Madho  Singh  was  born 
in  S.  1621  (a.d.  1565).  At  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  he  displayed 
that  daring  intrepidity  which  gave  him  the  title  of  Raja,  and 
Kotah  with  its  three  hundred  and  sixty  townsliips  (then  the  chief 
fief  of  Bimdi,  and  yielding  two  lakhs  of  rent),  independent  of  his 
father. 

It  has  already  been  related,  that  the  conquest  of  this  tract  was 
made  from  the  Khota  Bhils  of  the  Ujla,  the  '  immixed,'  or 
aboriginal  race.  From  these  the  Rajput  will  eat,  and  all  classes 
wiU  '  drink  water '  at  their  hands. ^  Kotah  was  at  that  time  but  a 
series  of  hamlets,  the  abode  of  the  Bhil  chief,  styled  Raja,  being 
the  ancient  fortress  of  Ekelgarh,  five  coss  south  of  Kotah.  But 
when  Madho  Singh  was  enfeoffed  by  the  king,  Kotah  had  already 
attained  extensive  limits.  To  the  south  it  was  bounded  by 
Gagraun  and  Ghatoli,  then  held  by  the  Ivliicliis  ;  on  the  east,  by 
MangTol  and  [506]  Nahargarh,  the  first  belonging  to  the  Gaur,  the 
last  to  a  Rathor  Rajput,  who  had  apostatized  to  save  his  land 
and  was  now  a  Nawab  ;  to  the  north,  it  extended  as  far  as  Sultan- 
pur,  on  the  Chambal,  across  which  was  the  small  doiuain  of  Nanta. 
In  this  space  were  contained  three  hundred  and  sixty  townships, 
and  a  rich  soil  fertilized  by  numerous  large  streams. 

The  favour  and  power  Madho  Singh  enjoyed,  enabled  him 
to  increase  the  domain  he  held  direct  of  the  crown,  and  liis 
authority  at  Ids  death  extended  to  the  barrier  between  Malwa 
and  Haraoti.     Madho  Singh  died  in  S.  1687,  leaving  five  sons, 

1  [See  Elliot-Dowson  vi.  395,  418.] 

-  [Pvajputs  in  early  days  used  to  intermarry  and  eat  with  Bliils,  who 
were  regarded,  not  as  a  menial  tribe,  but  as  lords  of  the  soil  (Russell,  Tribes 
and  Castes  Central  Provinces,  ii.  281).] 


1522  ANNALS  OP  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

whose  appanages  became  the  chief  fiefs  of  Kotah.  To  the  holders 
and  their  descendants,  in  order  to  mark  the  separation  between 
them  and  the  elder  Haras  of  Bundi,  the  patronymic  of  the  founder 
was  apphed,  and  the  epithet  Madhani  is  sufliciently  distinctive 
whenever  two  Haras,  bearing  the  same  name,  appear  together. 
These  were — 

1.  Mukund  Singh,  who  had  Kotah. 

2.  Mohan  Singh,  wlio  had  Paleta. 

3.  Jujarh  Singh,  who  had  Kotra,  and  subsequently  Ramgarh, 
Rilawan. 

4.  Kaniram,  who  had  Koila.^ 

5.  Kishor  Singh  who  obtained  Sangod. 

Rao  Mukund  Singh,  a.d.  1630-57.— Raja  Mukund  Singh 
succeeded.  To  this  prince  the  chief  pass  in  the  barrier  dividing 
Malwa  from  Haraoti  owes  its  name  of  Mukunddarra  -  which  gained 
an  unfortunate  celebrity  on  the  defeat  and  flight  of  the  British 
troops  under  Brigadier  Monson,  a.d.  1804.  Mukund  erected 
many  places  of  strength  and  utility  ;  and  the  palace  and  petta ' 
of  Anta  are  both  attributable  to  him. 

Raja  Mukund  gave  one  of  those  brilliant  instances  of  Rajput 
devotion  to  the  principle  of  legitimate  rule,  so  many  of  which 
illustrate  his  national  history.  When  Aurangzeb  formed  his 
parricidal  design  to  dethrone  his  father  Shah  Jahan,  nearly  every 
Rajput  rallied  round  the  throne  of  the  aged  monarch  ;  and  the 
Rathors  and  the  Haras  were  most  conspicuous.  The  sons  of 
Madho  Singh,  besides  the  usual  ties  of  fidelity,  forgot  not  that 
to  Shah  Jahan  they  owed  their  independence,  and  they  deter- 
mined to  defend  him  to  the  death.  In  S.  1714,  in  the  field  near 
Ujjain,  afterwards  named  by  the  victor  Fatehabad,  the  five 
brothers  led  their  vassals,  clad  in  the  saffron-stained  garment, 
with  the  bridal  maur  (coronet)  on  their  head,  denoting  death  or 
victor3\'  The  imprudent  intrepidity  of  the  Rathor  connnander 
denied  them  the  latter,  but  a  [507]  glorious  death  no  power  could 
prevent,  and  all  the  five  brothers  fell  in  one  field.     The  youngest, 

^  Ho  held  also  the  districts  of  Dah  and  Gura  in  grant  direct  of  the  empire. 

^  ['  The  defile  of  Mukund,'  also  written  Mukunddwara,  '  door  or  gate 
of  Mukund,'  about  25  miles  S.  of  Kotah  city.] 

^  [The  extra-mural  suburb  of  a  fortress  (Yule,  Ilobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed. 
702).] 

*  [15th  April  1G58  (Jadunath  Sarkar,  Ilist.  of  Aurangzib,  ii.  1  ff.).] 


JAGAT  SINGH:  PEM  SINGH:  KISHOR  SINGH     1523 

Kishor  Singh,  was  afterwards  dragged  from  amidst  the  slain,  and, 
though  pierced  with  wounds,  recovered.  He  was  afterwards  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  intrepid  Rajputs  serving  in  the 
Deccan,  and  often  attracted  notice,  especially  in  the  capture  of 
Bijapur.  But  the  imperial  princes  knew  not  how  to  appreciate 
or  to  manage  such  men,  who,  when  united  vmder  one  who  could 
control  them,  were  irresistible. 

Rao  Jagat  Singh,  a.d.  1657-70.  —  Jagat  Singh,  tlie  son  of 
Mukund,  succeeded  to  the  family  estates,  and  to  the  mansab  or 
dignity  of  a  commander  of  two  thousand,  in  the  imperial  army. 
He  continued  serving  in  the  Deccan  until  his  death  in  S.  1726, 
leaving  no  issue. 

Rao  Pern  Singh,  a.d.  1670. — Pem  Singh,  son  of  Kaniram  of 
Koila,  succeeded  ;  but  was  so  invincibly  stupid  that  the  Panch 
(council  of  chiefs)  set  him  aside  after  six  months'  rule,  and  sent  him 
back  to  Koila,  which  is  still  held  by  his  descendants.^ 

Rao  Kishor  Singh  I.  a.d.  1670-86. — Kishor  Singh,  who  so 
miraculously  recovered  from  his  wounds,  was  placed  upon  the 
gaddi.  When  the  throne  was  at  length  obtained  by  Aurangzeb, 
Kishor  was  again  serving  in  the  south,  and  shedding  his  own 
blood,  with  that  of  his  kinsmen,  in  its  subjugation.  He  gi-eatly 
distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Bijapur,  and  was  finally  slain 
at  the  escalade  of  Arkatgarh  (Arcot),  in  S.  1742.  He  was  a  noble 
specimen  of  a  Hara  ;  and,  it  is  said,  counted  fifty  wounds  on  his 
person.  He  left  three  sons,  Bishan  Singh,  Ram  Singh,  and 
Harnath  Singh.  The  eldest,  Bishan  Singh,  was  deprived  of  his 
birthright  for  refusing  to  accompany  his  father  to  the  south  ;  but 
had  the  appanage  and  royal  palace  of  Anta  conferred  ujDon  him. 
His  issue  was  as  follows  :  Prithi  Singh,  chief  of  Anta,  whose  son, 
Ajit  Singh,  had  three  sons,  Chhattarsal,  Guman  Singh,  and  Raj 
Singh. 

Rao  Ram  Singh,  a.d.  1686-1707. — Ram  Singh,  who  was  with 
his  father  when  he  was  killed,  succeeded  to  all  his  dignities,  and 

^  A  descendant  of  his  covered  IVfonson's  retreat  even  before  this  general 
reached  the  Mukunddarra  Pass,  and  fell  defending  the  ford  of  the  Amjar, 
disdaining  to  retreat.  His  simple  cenotaph  marks  the  spot  where  in  the 
gallant  old  style  this  chief  "  spread  his  carpet "  to  meet  the  Deccani  host, 
while  a  British  commander,  at  the  head  of  a  force  capable  of  sweeping  one 
end  of  India  to  the  other,  fled  !  The  Author  will  say  more  of  this  in  his  Per- 
sonal Narrative,  having  visited  the  spot. 


1524  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

was  inferior  to  none  in  the  contests  which  fill  the  page  of  imperial 
history,  and  in  opposing  the  rise  of  the  Mahrattas.  In  the  war 
of  succession,  he  embraced  the  cause  of  Prince  Azam,  the  viceroy 
in  the  Deccan,  against  the  elder,  Muazzam,  and  was  slain  in  the 
battle  of  Jajau,  in  S.  1764.  In  tliis  memorable  conflict,  which 
decided  the  succession  to  the  throne,  the  Kotah  prince  espoused 
the  opposite  cause  to  [508]  the  head  of  his  house  of  Bundi,  and 
Hara  met  Hara  in  that  desperate  encounter,  when  a  cannon-shot 
terminated  the  life  of  Ram  Singh  in  the  very  zenith  of  his  career. 
Rao  Bhiin  Singh,  a.d.  1707-20. — Bhim  Singh  succeeded  ;  and 
with  him  Kotah  no  longer  remained  a  raj  of  the  third  order.  On 
the  death  of  Bahadur  Shah,  and  the  accession  of  Farrukhsiyar, 
Raja  Bhim  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Sayyids,  when  his  niansab 
was  increased  to  "five  thousand,"  a  rank  heretofore  confined  to 
princes  of  the  blood  and  rajas  of  the  first  class.  The  elder  branch 
of  the  Haras  maintained  its  fealty  to  the  throne  against  these 
usurping  mmisters,  and  thus  the  breach  made  at  the  battle  of 
Jajau  was  widened  by  their  taking  opposite  sides.  The  dis- 
graceful attempt  of  Raja  Bhim  on  the  life  of  Rao  Raja  Budh  of 
Bundi  has  already  been  recorded.  Having  completely  identified 
himself  with  the  designs  of  the  Sayyids  and  Jai  Singh  of  Amber, 
he  aided  all  the  schemes  of  the  latter  to  annihilate  Bundi,  an  object 
the  more  easy  of  accomphshment  since  the  umnerited  and  sudden 
misfortunes  of  Rao  Budh  had  deprived  him  of  liis  reason.  Raja 
Bhim  obtained  the  royal  sanad  or  grant  for  all  the  lands  on  the 
Patar,  frorii  Kotah  west,  to  the  descent  into  Aliirwara  east ; 
which  comprehended  much  land  of  the  Khichis  as  well  as  of  Bundi. 
He  thus  obtained  the  celebrated  castle  of  Gagraun,  now  the 
strongest  in  Haraoti,  and  rendered  memorable  by  its  defence 
against  Alau-d-din  ;  likewise  Mau  Maidana,  Shirgarh,  Bara, 
Mangrol,  and  Barod,  all  to  the  eastward  of  the  Chambal,  which 
was  formally  constituted  the  western  boundary  of  the  State.  The 
aboriginal  Bhils  of  Ujla,  or  '  pure  '  descent,  had  recovered  much 
of  their  ancient  inheritance  in  the  intricate  tracts  on  the  southern 
frontier  of  Haraoti.  Of  these,  Manohar  Thana,  now  the  most 
southern  garrison  of  Kotah,  became  their  ducf  place,  and  here 
dwelt  '  the  king  of  the  Bhils,'  Raja  Chakarscn,  whose  person  was 
attended  by  five  hmidred  horse  and  eight  hundred  bowmen,  and 
to  whom  all  the  various  tribes  of  Bhils,  from  Mewar  to  the 
extremity  of  the  plateau,  owed  obedience.     This  indigenous  race, 


RAO  BHIM  SINGH  1525 

whose  simple  life  secured  their  preservation  amidst  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  from  Raja  Bhoj  of  Dhar  to  Raja  Bhim  of  Kotah, 
were  dispossessed  and  hunted  down  without  mercy,  and  their 
possessions  added  to  Kotah.  On  the  occasion  of  the  subjugation 
of  Bhilwara,  the  latter  assigned  tracts  of  land  to  the  Umat  chiefs 
of  Narsingarh  and  Rajgarh  Patan,  with  townships  in  thali,  in 
Kotah  proper,  and  hence  arose  the  claim  of  Kotah  on  these 
independent  States  for  the  tribute  termed  tankhwah.'  At  the 
same  time  all  the  [509]  chieftains  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  Kotah,  under  articles  of  precisely  the  same  nature  as  those 
which  guaranteed  the  safety  and  independence  of  Rajwara  by 
Britain  ;  with  this  difference,  that  the  Umats  could  not  be  installed 
without  the  khilat  of  recognition  of  the  princes  of  Kotah.  Had 
Raja  Bhim  lived,  he  would  further  have  extended  the  borders  of 
Haraoti,  which  were  already  carried  beyond  the  mountains. 
Onarsi,  Dig,  Perawa,  and  the  lands  of  the  Chandarawats,  were 
brought  under  subjection,  but  were  lost  with  his  death,  which, 
like  that  of  his  predecessors,  was  an  untimely  sacrifice  to  duty 
towards  the  throne. 

When  the  celebrated  Kilich  IChan,"  afterwards  better  known 
to  history  as  Nizamu-1-mulk,  fled  from  the  court  to  maintain 
himself  by  force  of  arms  in  his  government  of  the  Deccan,  Raja 
Jai  Singh  of  Amber,  as  the  lieutenant  of  the  king,  commanded 
Bhim  Singh  of  Kotah  and  Gaj  Singh  of  Narwar  to  intercept  him 
in  his  passage.  The  Nizam  was  the  Pagri  badal  Bhai,  or  '  turban- 
exchanged  brother,'  of  the  Hara  prince,  and  he  sent  him  a  friendly 
epistle,  entreating  him  "  not  to  credit  the  reports  to  his  dis- 
advantage, telling  him  that  he  had  abstracted  no  treasures  of 
the  empire,  and  that  Jai  Singh  was  a  meddling  knave,  who  desired 

^  This  is  one  more  of  the  numerous  inexplicable  claims  which  the  British 
Government  has  had  to  decide  upon,  since  it  became  the  universal  arbitrator. 
Neither  party  understanding  their  origin,  the  difficulty  of  a  just  decision 
must  be  obvious.  This  sets  it  at  rest.  [Tankhwah,  '  wages,  an  assign- 
ment of  revenue.'  For  its  technical  sense  tankhwah  jdgir  see  Rogers- 
Beveridge,  Memoirs  of  Jahangir,  74.] 

2  [Kamaru-d-din,  Asaf  Jah,  son  of  Ghaziu-d-din  Khan  Jang,  born  1671, 
received  the  title  of  Chin  Qilich  Khan  in  1690-91  ;  governor  of  Moradabad 
and  Malwa  under  Farruklisiyar ;  gained  supreme  power  in  the  Deccan  in 
1720;  died  May  22,  1748,  the  present  Nizams  of  Haidarabad  being  his 
successors  (Manucci  iv.  140  ;  Grant  Duff,  History  of  the  Mahrattas,  190 ; 
Elliot-Dowson  vii.  passim).] 


1526  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

the  destruction  of  both  ;  and  urging  him  to  heed  him  not,  nor  offer 
any  molestation  to  his  passage  to  the  south."  The  brave  Hara 
rephed,  that  "  He  knew  the  line  between  friendship  and  duty  ; 
he  was  commanded  to  intercept  him,  and  had  advanced  for  that 
purpose  ;  it  was  the  king's  order  ;  fight  him  he  must,  and  next 
morning  would  attack  him."  The  courtesy  of  the  Rajput,  who 
mingled  no  resentment  with  his  hostihty,  but,  like  a  true  cavalier, 
gave  due  warning  of  his  intention,  was  not  thrown  away  upon  the 
wily  Muslim.  The  Nizam  took  post  amidst  the  broken  ground 
of  the  Sindh,  near  the  town  of  Kurwai  Borasa.^  There  was  but 
one  approach  to  his  position  without  a  circuitous  march,  which 
suited  not  the  impatient  Rajput  ;  and  there  his  antagonist  planted 
a  batterj^,  masked  by  some  brushwood.  At  the  pila  hadal  (morn- 
ing-dawn) Raja  Bhim,  having  taken  his  amal-pani,  or  opium- 
water,  mounted  his  elephant,  and  uniting  his  vassals  to  those  of 
the  Kachhwaha,  the  combined  clans  moved  on  to  the  attack,  in 
one  of  those  dense  masses,  with  couched  lances,  whose  shock -is 
irresistible.  They  were  within  musket-shot  of  the  Nizam  ;  had 
they  reached  him,  Haidarabad  would  never  have  arisen  on  the 
ruins  of  Gualkund,-  the  ancient  Hara  abode  ;  but  the  battery 
opened,  and  in  an  instant  the  elephants  with  their  riders.  Raja 
Bhim  and  Raja  Gaj,  were  destroyed.  Horse  and  foot  became 
commingled,  happy  to  emerge  from  the  toils  into  which  the  blind 
confidence  of  their  leaders  had  carried  them  ;  and  Kilich  Khan 
pursued  the  career  that  destiny  had  marked  out  for  liim  [510]. 

Loss  of  the  Hara  Tribal  God. — On  this  occasion  the  Haras 
sustained  a  double  loss  :  their  leader,  and  their  titular  divinity, 
Brajnath,  the  god  of  Braj.  This  palladium  of  the  Haras  is  a  small 
golden  image,  which  is  borne  on  the  saddle-bow  of  their  princely 
leader  in  every  conflict.  When  the  gol  is  formed  and  the  lances 
are  couched,  the  signal  of  onset  is  the  shout  of  '  Jai  Brajnathji  !  ' 
'  Victory  to  Brajnath  ! '  and  many  a  glorious  victory  and  many 
a  glorious  death  has  he  witnessed.  After  being  long  missing,  the 
representative  of  the  god  was  recovered  and  sent  to  Kotah,  to 
the  great  joy  of  every  Hara.  It  was  in  S.  1776  (a.d.  1720)  that 
Bhim  Singh  perished,  having  ruled  fifteen  years,  during  which 
short  period  he  established  the  affairs  of  his  little  dominion  on  a 
basis  which  has  never  been  shaken. 

^  [On  the  rivor  Betwa,  about  45  miles  S.S.W.  of  Lalitpur.] 
2  [See  p.  1449.] 


RAO  BHIM  SINGH  ATTACKS  BtJNDI  1527 

Rao  Bhim  Singh  attacks  Bundi. — The  rivalry  that  eommeneed 
between  the  houses,  when  Hara  encountered  Hara  on  the  plains 
of  Dholpur,  and  each  princely  leader  sealed  his  fidelity  to  the  cause 
he  espoused  with  his  blood,  was  brought  to  issue  by  Raja  Bhim, 
whose  attack  upon  Rao  Budh  of  Bundi,  while  defending  the 
forlorn  Farrukhsiyar,  has  already  been  related,  though  without 
its  consequences.  These  were  fatal  to  the  supremacy  of  the  elder 
branch  ;  for,  taking  advantage  of  his  position  and  the  expulsion 
of  Rao  Budh,  in  which  he  aided,  Raja  Bhim  made  an  attempt 
upon  Bxmdi,  and  despoiled  that  capital  of  all  the  insignia  of 
sovereign  rule,  its  nakkaras,  or  kettle-drums,  Avith  the  celebrated 
ran-sankh,  or  war-shell,  an  heirloom  descended  from  the  heroes 
of  antiquity.  Even  the  military  band,  whose  various  discordant 
instruments  are  still  in  use,  may  be  heard  in  pseudo  concert  from 
the  guardroom  over  the  chief  gate  of  the  citadel,  at  Kotah  ; 
while  the  "  orange  flag,"  the  gift  of  Jahangir  to  Rao  Ratan, 
around  which  many  a  brave  Hara  has  breathed  his  last,  is  now 
used  by  the  junior  house  in  all  processions  or  battles. 

To  recover  these  ensigns  of  fallen  dignity,  many  a  stratagem 
has  been  tried.  False  keys  of  the  city  gates  of  Kotah  and  its 
citadel  had  been  procured,  and  its  guards  won  over  by  bribery  to 
favour  admission  ;  but  an  unceasing  vigilance  defeated  the  plan 
when  on  the  brink  of  execution  :  since  which  the  gates  of  Kotah 
are  always  closed  at  sunset,  and  never  opened  even  to  the  prince. 
This  custom  has  been  attended  with  great  inconvenience  ;  of 
which  the  following  anecdote  affords  an  instance.  V^Tien  Raja 
Durjan  after  his  defeat  reached  Kotah  at  midnight,  with  a  few 
attendants,  he  called  aloud  to  the  sentinel  for  admittance  ;  but  the 
orders  of  the  latter  were  peremptory  and  allowed  of  no  discretion. 
The  soldier  desired  the  Raja  to  be  gone  ;  upon  which,  expostula- 
tion being  vain,  he  revealed  himself  as  the  prince.  At  this  the 
soldier  laughed  [511]  ;  but,  tired  of  importunity,  bade  his 
sovereign  "go  to  hell,"  levelled  his  match-lock,  and  refused  to 
call  the  officer  on  guard.  The  prince  retired,  and  passed  the  night 
in  a  temple  close  at  hand.  At  daybreak  the  gates  were  opened, 
and  the  soldiers  were  laughing  at  their  comrade's  story  of  the 
night,  when  the  Raja  appeared.  All  were  surprised,  but  most  of 
all  the  sentinel,  who,  taking  his  sword  and  shield,  placed  them 
at  his  sovereign's  feet,  and  in  a  manly  but  respectful  attitude 
awaited  his  decision.     The  prince  raised  him,  and  praising  his 


1528  ANNATES  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

fidelity,  bestowed  the  dress  he  then  wore  upon  him,  besides  a  gift 
of  money. 

The  Hara  chronicler  states,  that  Raja  Bhim's  person  was 
seamed  with  scars,  and  so  fastidious  was  he,  through  the  fear  of 
incurring  the  imputation  of  vanity,  that  he  never  undressed  in 
presence  of  his  attendants.  Nor  was  it  till  his  death-wound  at 
KurM^ai  that  this  singularity  was  explained,  on  one  of  his  con- 
fidential servants  expressing  his  surprise  at  the  numerous  scars  ; 
which  brought  this  characteristic  reply  :  "  He  who  is  born  to 
govern  Haras,  and  desires  to  preserve  his  land,  must  expect  to 
get  these  :  the  proper  post  for  a  Rajput  prince  is  ever  at  the  head 
of  his  vassals." 

Raja  Bhim  was  the  first  prince  of  Kotah  who  had  the  dignity 
of  Panj-hazari,  or  '  leader  of  five  thousand,'  conferred  upon  him. 
He  was  likewise  the  first  of  his  dynasty  who  bore  the  title  of 
Maharao,  or  'Great  Prince' ;  a  title  confirmed  though  not  conferred 
by  the  paramoxmt  sovereign,  but  by  the  head  of  their  own  princely 
tribes,  the  Rana  of  Mewar.  Previous  to  Gopinath  of  Bundi, 
whose  issue  are  the  great  feudal  chiefs  of  Haraoti,  their  titular 
appellation  was  Apji,  which  has  the  same  import  as  herself  (or 
rather  himself),  applied  to  highland  chiefs  of  Scotland  ;  but 
when  Indarsal  went  to  Udaipur,  he  procured  the  title  of  Maharaja 
for  himself  and  his  brothers  ;  since  which  Apji  has  been  applied 
to  the  holders  of  the  secondary  fiefs,  the  Madhani  of  Kotah.  Raja 
Bhim  left  three  sons,  Arjun  Singh,  Shyam  Singh,  and  Durjansal. 

Maharao  Arjun  Singh,  a.d.  1720-24.— Maharao  Arjun  married 
the  sister  of  Madho  Singh,  ancestor  of  Zalim  Singh  Jhala  ;  but 
died  without  issue,  after  four  years'  rule.  On  his  death,  there 
arose  a  civil  war  respecting  the  succession,  in  which  the  vassals 
were  divided.  Clan  encountered  clan  in  the  field  of  Udaipura, 
when  the  fate  of  Shyam  Singh  was  sealed  in  his  blood.  It  is  said, 
the  survivor  would  willingly  have  given  up  dominion  to  have 
restored  his  brother  to  life  ;  that  he  cursed  his  ambitious  rashness, 
and  wept  bitterly  over  the  dead  body.  By  these  contentions 
the  rich  districts  of  Rampura,  Bhanpura,  and  Kalapet,  which  [512] 
the  king  had  taken  from  the  ancient  family  and  bestowed  on  Raja 
Bhim,  were  lost  to  the  Haras,  and  regained  by  their  ancient 
possessors. 

Maharao  Durjansal,  a.d.  1724-56.  The  Maratha  Invasion. — 
Durjansal  assumed  '  the  rod  '  in  S.  1780  (a.d.  1724).     His  acces- 


JAIPUR  CLAIMS  TO  CONTROL  KOTAH  1529 

sion  was  acknowledged  by  Muhammad  Shah,  the  last  of  the 
Timurian  kings  who  deserved  the  appellation,  and  at  whose  court 
the  prince  of  Kotah  received  the  khilat  and  obtained  the  boon 
of  preventing  the  slaughter  of  kine  in  every  part  of  the  Jumna 
frequented  by  his  nation.  Durjansal  succeeded  on  the  eve  of  an 
eventful  period  in  the  annals  of  his  country.  It  was  in  his  reign 
that  the  Mahrattas  under  Bajirao  first  invaded  Hindustan.  On 
this  memorable  occasion,  they  passed  by  the  Taraj  Pass,  and 
skirting  Haraoti  on  its  eastern  frontier,  performed  a  service  to 
Durjansal,  by  attacking  and  presenting  to  him  the  castle  of 
Nahargarh,  then  held  by  a  Musalman  chief.  It  was  in  S.  1795  ^ 
(a.d.  1739)  that  the  first  connexion  between  the  Haras  and  the 
'  Southrons  '  took  place  ;  and  this  service  of  the  Peshwa  leader 
was  a  return  for  stores  and  ammunition  necessary  for  his  enter- 
prise. But  a  few  years  only  elapsed  before  this  friendly  act  and 
the  good  understanding  it  induced  were  forgotten. 

Jaipur  claims  to  control  Kotah. — We  have  recorded,  in  the 
Annals  of  Bundi,  the  attempts  of  the  princes  of  Amber,  who  were 
armed  with  the  power  of  the  monarchy,  to  reduce  the  chiefs  of 
Haraoti  to  the  condition  of  vassals.  This  policy,  originating 
with  Jai  Singh,  was  pursued  by  his  successor,  who  drove  the 
gallant  Budh  Singh  into  exile,  to  madness  and  death,  though 
the  means  by  which  he  effected  it  ultimately  recoiled  upon  him, 
to  his  humiliation  and  destruction.  Ha\'ing,  however,  driven 
Budh  Singh  from  Bundi,  and  imposed  the  condition  of  homage 
and  tribute  upon  the  creature  of  his  installation,  he  desired  to 
inflict  his  supremacy  on  Kotah.  In  this  cause,  in  S.  1800,  he 
invited  the  three  great  IMahratta  leaders,  with  the  Jats  under 
Svu'ajmall,  when,  after  a  severe  conflict  at  Kotri,  the  city  was 
invested.  During  three  months,  every  effort  was  made,  but  in 
vain  ;  and  after  cutting  down  the  trees  and  destroying  the  gardens 
in  the  environs,  they  were  compelled  to  decamp,  the  leader,  Jai 
Apa  Sindhia,^  leaving  one  of  his  hands,  which  was  carried  off  by 
a  cannon-shot. 

1  In  this  year,  when  Bajirao  invaded  Hindustan,  passing  through  Haraoti, 
Himmat  Singh  Jhala  was  Faujdar  of  Kotah.  In  that  year  Sheo  Singh,  and 
in  the  succeeding  the  celebrated  ZaUni  Singh,  was  born. 

^  [Jai  Apa  Sindhia  succeeded  his  father,  Ranoji  Sindhia.     His  dates  are 
uncertain,  but  he  was  probably  killed  at  Nagor  in  1759  (Beale,  Diet.  Oriental 
Biography,  s.v. ;   IGI,  xii.  421  ;   Grant  Duff,  Hist,  of  the  Mahrattas,  270).] 
VOL.  Ill  T 


1530  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

Birth  of  Zalim  Singh. — Durjansal  was  nobly  seconded  by  the 
courage  and  counsel  of  the  Faujdar,  or  '  commandant  of  the 
garrison,'  Himmat  Singh,  a  Rajput  of  the  Jhala  tribe.  It  was 
through  Himmat  Singh  that  the  negotiations  were  carried  on, 
which  added  Nahargarh  to  Kotah  ;  and  to  him  were  confided 
those  in  which  Kotah  was  compelled  to  follow  the  [513]  general 
denationalization,  and  become  subservient  to  the  Mahrattas, 
Between  these  two  events,  S.  1795  and  S.  1800,  Zalim  Singli  was 
born,  a  name  of  such  celebrity  that  his  biography  would  embrace 
all  that  remains  to  be  told  of  the  history  of  the  Haras. 

Wlien  Isari  Singh  was  foiled,  the  brave  Dm-jansal  lent  his 
assistance  to  replace  the  exiled  Ummeda  on  the  throne  which 
his  father  had  lost.  But  without  Holkar's  aid,  this  would  have 
been  vain  ;  and,  in  S.  1805  (a.d.  1749),  the  year  of  Ummeda's 
restoration,  Kotah  was  compelled  to  become  tributary  to  the 
Mahrattas. 

Death  and  Character  of  Durjansal. — Durjansal  added  several 
places  to  his  dominions.  He  took  Phul-Barod  from  the  Khichis, 
and  attempted  the  fortress  of  Gugor,  which  was  bravely  defended 
by  Balbhaddar  in  person,  who  created  a  league  against  the  Hara 
composed  of  the  chiefs  of  Rampura,  Sheojjur,  and  Bundi.  The 
standard  of  Kotah  was  preserved  from  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  Khichis  by  the  gallantry  of  Ummeda  Singh  of  Bimdi.  The 
battle  between  the  rival  clans,  both  of  Chauhan  blood,  was  in 
S.  1810  ;  and  in  three  years  more,  Durjansal  departed  this  life. 
He  was  a  valiant  prince,  and  possessed  all  the  qualities  of  M'hich 
the  Rajput  is  enamoured  ;  affability,  generosity,  and  bravery. 
He  was  de\oted  to  field-sports,  especially  the  royal  one  of  tiger- 
hunting  ;  and  had  ramnas  or  preserves  in  every  corner  of  his 
dominions  (some  of  immense  extent,  with  ditches  and  palisadoes, 
and  sometimes  circumvallations),  in  all  of  which  he  erected 
hunting-seats. 

In  these  expeditions,  which  resembled  preparations  for  war,  he 
invariably  carried  the  queens.  These  Amazonian  ladies  were 
taught  the  use  of  the  matchlock,  and  being  placed  upon  the 
terraced  roofs  of  the  hunting-seats,  sent  their  shots  at  the  forest- 
lord,  when  driven  jjast  tiieir  stand  by  the  hunters.  On  one  of 
these  occasions  the  Jhala  Faujdar  was  at  the  foot  of  the  scalTold- 
ing  ;  the  tiger,  infuriated  with  the  uproar,  approached  him  open- 
mouthed  ;    but  the  jirince  had  not  yet  given  the  word,  and  none 


MAHARAOS  AJiT  SINGH  :  CHHATTARSAL  1531 

dared  to  fire  without  his  signal.  The  animal  eyed  his  victim, 
and  was  on  the  point  of  springing,  when  the  Jhala  advanced  his 
shield,  sprung  upon  him,  and  with  one  blow  of  his  sword  laid  him 
dead  at  his  feet.  The  act  was  applauded  by  the  prince  and  his 
court,  and  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  character  he  had  already 
attained. 

Durjansal  left  no  issue.  He  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the 
Rana  of  Mewar.  Being  often  disappointed,  and  at  length  despair- 
ing of  an  heir,  about  three  years  before  his  death,  he  told  the 
Rani  it  was  time  to  think  of  adopting  an  heir  to  fill  the  gaddi, 
"  for  it  was  evident  that  the  Almighty  disapproved  of  the  usurpa- 
tion which  changed  the  order  of  succession."  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  Bishan  Singh,  son  of  Ram  SingJi  [514],  was  set 
aside  for  refusing,  in  compliance  with  maternal  fears,  to  accom- 
pany his  father  in  the  wars  of  the  Deccan.  When  dispossessed 
of  his  birthright,  he  was  established  in  the  fief  of  Antha  on  the 
Chambal.^  At  the  death  of  Durjansal,  Ajit  Singh,  grandson  of 
the  disinherited  prince,  was  lord  of  Antha,  but  he  was  in  extreme 
old  age.  He  had  three  sons,  and  the  eldest,  whose  name  of 
Chhattarsal  revived  ancient  associations,  was  formally  "  placed 
in  the  lap  of  the  Rani  Mewari  ;  the  asis  (blessing)  was  given  ;  he 
was  taught  the  names  of  his  ancestors  (being  no  longer  regarded 
as  the  son  of  Ajit  of  Antha),  Chhattar  Singh,  son  of  Durjansal, 
Bhimsinghgot,  Ram  Singh,  Kishor  Singh,  etc.,  etc.,"  and  so  on, 
to  the  fountain-head,  Dewa  Banga,  and  thence  to  Manikrae  of 
Ajmer.  Though  the  adoption  was  proclaimed,  and  all  looked 
to  Chhattarsal  as  the  future  lord  of  the  Haras  of  Kotah,  yet  on 
the  death  of  Durjan,  the  Jhala  Faujdar  took  upon  him  to  make 
an  alteration  in  this  important  act,  and  he  had  power  enough  to 
effect  it. 

Maharao  Ajit  Singh,  a.d.  1756-59.  Maharao  Chhattarsal, 
A.D.  1759-66. — The  old  chief  of  Antha  was  yet  alive,  and  the 
Faujdar  said,  "  It  was  contrary  to  nature  that  the  son  should 
rule  and  the  father  obey  "  ;  but  doubtless  other  motives  mingled 
with  his  piety,  in  which,  besides  self-interest,  may  have  been  a 
consciousness  of  the  dangers  inseparable  from  a  minorit5\  The 
only  difficulty  was  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  chief  himself, 
then  "  fourscore  years  and  upwards,"  to  abandon  his  peaceful 
castle  on  the  Kali  Sind  for  the  cares  of  government.     But  the 

1  [Antha  is  not  on  the  Chambal :  it  is  about  25  miles  E.  of  Kotah  city.] 


1532  ANNALS  OF  IlARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

Fanjdar  prevailed  ;  old  Ajit  was  crowned,  and  survived  his 
exaltation  two  j-ears  and  a  half.  Ajit  left  three  sons,  Chhattarsal, 
Gunian  Singh,  and  Raj  Singh.  Chhattarsal  was  proclaimed  the 
Maharao  of  the  Haras.  The  celebrated  Himmat  Singh  Jhala 
died  before  his  accession,  and  his  office  of  Faujdar  was  conferred 
upon  his  nephew,  Zalim  Singh. 

At  this  epoch,  Madho  Singh,  who  had  acceded  to  the  throne 
of  Amber  on  the  suicide  of  his  predecessor,  Isari,  instead  of  taking 
wai-ning  by  example,  prepared  to  put  forth  all  his  strength  for 
the  revival  of  those  tributary  claims  upon  the  Haras,  which  had 
cost  his  brother  his  life.  The  contest  was  between  Rajput  and 
Rajput  ;  the  question  at  issue  was  supremacy  on  the  one  hand, 
and  subserviency  on  the  other,  the  sole  plea  for  which  was  that 
the  Kotah  contingent  had  acted  under  the  princes  of  Amber, 
when  lieutenants  of  the  empire.  But  the  Haras  held  in  utter 
scorn  the  attempt  to  compel  this  service  in  their  individual 
capacity,  in  which  they  only  recognized  them  as  equals. 

Jaipur  attacks  Kotah. — It  was  in  S.  1817  (a.d.  1761)  that  the 
prince  of  Amber  assembled  all  his  clans  to  force  the  Haras  to 
acknowledge  themselves  tributaries.  The  invasion  of  the  Abdali  ^ 
[51 5J,  which  humbled  the  Mahrattas  and  put  a  stoj)  to  their 
pretensions  to  universal  sovereignty,  left  the  Rajputs  to  them- 
selves. Madho  Singh,  in  his  march  to  Haraoti,  assaulted  Uniara, 
and  added  it  to  his  territory.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Lakheri, 
which  he  took,  driving  out  the  crestfallen  Southrons.  Em- 
boldened by  this  success,  he  crossed  at  the  Pali  Ghat,  the  point 
of  confluence  of  the  Par  and  the  Chambal.  The  Hara  chieftain 
of  Sultanpur,  whose  duty  was  the  defence  of  the  ford,  was  taken 
by  surprise  ;  but,  like  a  true  Hara,  he  gathered  his  kinsmen 
outside  his  castle,  and  gave  battle  to  the  host.  He  made  amends 
for  his  supineness,  and  bartered  his  life  for  his  honour.  It  was 
remarked  by  the  invaders,  that,  as  he  fell,  his  clenched  hand 
grasped  the  earth,  which  afforded  merriment  to  some,  but  serious 
reflection  to  those  who  knew  the  tribe,  and  who  converted  it  into 
an  omen  "  that  even  in  death  the  Hara  would  cling  to  his  land." 
The  victors,  flushed  with  this  fresh  success,  proceeded  through 
the  heart  of  Kotah  until  they  reached  Bhatwara,^  where  they 

^  [Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  defeated  the  Marathas  at  Panipat,  7th  January 
1761.] 

*  [Near  Mangrol,  about  40  miles  N.E.  of  Kotah  city.] 


BATTLE  OF  BHATWARA  1533 

found  five  thousand  Haras,  ek  hap  ka  beta,  all  '  children  of  one 
father,'  drawn  up  to  oppose  them.  The  numerical  odds  were 
fearful  against  Kotah  ;  but  the  latter  were  defending  their  altars 
and  their  honour.  The  battle  commenced  with  a  desperate 
charge  of  the  whole  Kachhwaha  horse,  far  more  numerous  than 
the  brave  legion  of  Kotah  ;  but,  too  confident  of  success,  they 
had  tired  their  horses  ere  they  joined.  It  was  met  by  a  dense 
mass,  with  perfect  coolness,  and  the  Haras  remained  unbroken 
by  the  shock.  Fresh  numbers  came  up  ;  the  infantry  joined  the 
cavalry,  and  the  battle  became  desperate  and  bloody.  It  was 
at  this  moment  that  Zalim  Singh  made  his  debut.  He  was  then 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  had  already,  as  the  adopted  son  of 
Himmat  Singh,  "  tied  his  turban  on  his  head,"  and  succeeded  to 
his  post  of  Faujdar.  ^Vhile  the  battle  was  raging,  ZaUm  dis- 
mounted, and  at  the  head  of  his  quota,  fought  on  foot,  and  at 
the  most  critical  moment  obtained  the  merit  of  the  victory,  by 
the  first  display  of  that  sagacity  for  which  he  has  been  so  remark- 
able throughout  his  life  [516]. 

Malhar  Rao  Holkar  was  encamped  in  their  vicinity,  with  the 
remnant  of  his  horde,  but  so  crestfallen  since  the  fatal  day  of 
Panipat,^  that  he  feared  to  side  with  either.  At  this  moment 
young  Zalim,  mounting  his  steed,  galloped  to  the  Mahratta,  and 
implored  him,  if  he  would  not  fight,  to  move  round  and  plunder 
the  Jaipur  camp  :   a  hint  which  needed  no  repetition. 

The  little  impression  yet  made  on  the  Kotah  band  only  required 
the  report  that  "  the  camp  was  assaulted,"  to  convert  the  luke- 
warm courage  of  their  antagonists  into  panic  and  flight  :  "  the 
host  of  Jaipur  fled,  while  the  sword  of  the  Hara  performed  tirath 
(pilgTimage)  in  rivers  of  blood." 

The  chiefs  of  Macheri,  of  Isarda,  ^Vatka,  Barol,  Achrol,  with 
all  the  ots  and  awats  of  Amber,  turned  their  backs  on  five  thousand 
Haras  of  Kotah  ;  for  the  Bundi  troops,  though  assembled,  did 
not  join,  and  lost  the  golden  opportunity  to  free  its  Kothris,  or 
fiefs,  from  the  tribute.  Many  prisoners  were  taken,  and  the  five- 
coloured  banner  of  Amber  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Haras,  whose 
bard  was  not  slow  to  turn  the  incident  to  account  in  the  stanza, 
still  repeated  whenever  he  celebrates  the  victory  of  Bhatwara, 
and  in  which  the  star  (tara)  of  Zalim  prevailed  : 

^  It  is  singular  enough,  that  Zalim  Singh  was  born  in  the  year  of  Nadii- 
Shah's  invasion,  and  made  his  poUtical  entree  in  that  of  the  Abdali. 


1534  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

Jang  Bhalwdrd  jit 
Tdrd  Jdliin  Jhdld. 
Ring  ek  rang  chit, 
Chddyo  rang  pach-rang  ke.^ 

"  In  the  battle  of  Bhatwara,  the  star  of  Zalim  was  triumphant. 
In  that  field  of  strife  (ringa)  but  one  colour  (rang)  covered  that 
of  the  five-coloured  (panch-ranga)  banner  "  :  meaning  that  the 
Amber  standard  was  dyed  in  blood. 

The  battle  of  Bhatwara  decided  the  question  of  tribute,  nor 
has  the'Kachhwaha  since  this  day  dared  to  advance  the  question 
of  supremacy,  which,  as  lieutenant  of  the  empire,  he  desired  to 
transfer  to  himself.  In  derision  of  this  claim,  ever  since  the  day 
of  Bhatwara,  when  the  Haras  assemble  at  their  Champ  de  Mars 
to  celebrate  the  annual  military  festival,  they  make  a  mock 
castle  of  Amber,  which  is  demolished  amidst  shouts  of  applause.- 

Chhattarsal  sur\'ived  his  elevation  and  this  success  but  a  few 
years  ;  and  as  he  died  without  offspring,  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  [517]. 


CHAPTER   6 

Maharao  Guman  Singh,  a.d.  1766-71. — Guman  Singh,  in 
S.  1822  (a.d.  1766),  ascended  the  gaddi  of  his  ancestors.  He  was 
in  the  prime  of  manhood,  full  of  \igour  and  intellect,  and  well 
calculated  to  contend  ^vith  the  tempests  collecting  from  the 
south,  ready  to  pour  on  the  devoted  lands  of  Rajputana.  But 
one  short  lustrum  of  rule  was  all  that  fate  had  ordained  for  him, 
when  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  rod  of  power  into  the  hands 
of  an  infant.  But  ere  we  reach  this  period,  we  must  retrace  our 
steps,  and  introduce  more  prominently  the  individual  whose 
biography  is  the  future  history  of  this  State  ;  for  Zalim  Singh  is 
Kotah,  his  name  being  not  only  indissolubly  linked  with  hers 
in  every  page  of  her  existence,  but  incorporated  with  that  of 
every  State  of  Rajputana  for  more  than  half  a  century.  He  was 
the  primum  mobile  of  the  region  he  inliabited,  a  sphere  far  too 

^  [Dr.  Tessitori,  whose  version  has  been  foUowed,  writes  :  "  The  second 
line  is  quite  wrong,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  it  was  made  up  by  Col. 
Tod's  Pandit.     1  beUeve  there  was  some  other  word  in  place  of  tdrd.''] 

2  [See  Vols.  II.  p.  1199,  III.  p.  1471.] 


ZALIM  SINGH  JHALA  1535 

confined  for  his  genius,  which  required  a  ^\nder  field  for  its  display, 
and  might  have  controlled  the  destinies  of  nations. 

Zalim  Singh  Jhala. — Zalim  Singh  is  a  Rajput  of  the  Jhala 
tribe.  He  was  born  in  S.  1796  (a.d.  1740),  an  ever  memorable 
epoch  (as  already  observed)  in  the  history  of  India,  when  the 
victorious  Nadir  Shah  led  his  hordes  into  her  fertile  soil,  and  gave 
the  finisliing  blow  to  the  dynasty  of  Timur.  But  for  this  event, 
its  existence  might  have  been  protracted,  though  its  recovery  was 
hopeless :  the  principle  of  decay  had  been  generated  by  the 
policy  of  Aiu-angzeb.  Muhammad  Shah  was  at  this  time  emperor 
of  India, ^  and  the  vaUant  Durjansal  sat  on  the  throne  of  Kotah. 
From  this  period  (a.d.  1740)  five  princes  have  passed  away  and 
a  sixth  has  been  enthroned  ;  and,  albeit  one  of  these  reigns 
endured  for  half  a  century-,  Zalim  Singh  has  outlived  them  all,'^ 
and  though  blind,  his  [518]  moral  perceptions  are  as  acute  as  on 
the  day  of  Bhatwara.  ^Vliat  a  chain  of  events  does  not  this 
protracted  hfe  embrace  !  An  empire  then  dazzling  in  glory,  and 
now  mouldering  in  the  dust.  At  its  opening,  the  highest  noble 
of  Britain  would  have  stood  at  a  reverential  distance  from  the 
throne  of  Timur,  in  the  attitude  of  a  suppUant,  and  now — 

None  so  poor 

To  do  him  reverence. 

To  do  anj-thing  like  justice  to  the  biography  of  one  who  for 
so  long  a  period  was  a  prominent  actor  in  the  scene,  is  utterly 
impossible  ;  this  consideration,  however,  need  not  prevent  our 
attempting  a  sketch  of  this  consummate  politician,  who  can 
scarcely  find  a  parallel  in  the  varied  page  of  history. 

The  ancestors  of  ZaUm  Singh  were  petty  chieftains  of  Halwad,^ 
in  the  district  of  Jhalawar,  a  subdivision  of  the  Saurashtra 
peninsida.  Bhao  Singh  was  a  younger  son  of  this  family,  who, 
Avith  a  few  adherents,  left  the  paternal  roof  to  seek  fortune 
amongst  the  numerous  conflicting  armies  that  ranged  India 
during  the  contests  for  supremacy  amongst  the  sons  of  Aurangzeb. 
His  son,  Madho  Singh,  came  to  Kotah  when  Raja  Bhim  was  in  the 
zenith  of  his  power.     Although  he  had  only  twenty-five  horse 

^  [The  Empire  was  now  breaking  up,  and  his  dominions  were  gradually 
reduced  to  the  region  held  by  the  later  Tughlak  djTiasty.] 

-  This  was  written  in  a.d.  1821,  when  ilaharao  Kiahor  Singh  [died  1828] 
succeeded. 

3  [Formerly  capital  of  Dhrangadhra  State  in  Kathiawar  {IGI,  xiii.  13).] 


1536  ANNALS  OF  IIARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

in  liis  train,  it  is  a  i)roof  of  the  respectability  of  the  Jhahi,  that 

the  prince  disdained  not  his  alHanee,  and  even  married  his  son, 

Arjun,  to  the  young  adventurer's  sister.     Not  long  after,  the 

estate  of  Nanta  was  entailed  upon  him,  with  the  confidential 

post  of  Faujdar,  which  includes  not  only  the  command  of  the 

troops,  but  that  of  the  castle,  the  residence  of  the  sovereign. 

This  family  connexion  gave  an  interest  to  his  authority,  and 

procured  him  the  respectful  title  of  Mama,^  from  the  younger 

branches   of  the   prince's   family,   an   epithet  which   habit   has 

continued  to  his  successors,   who  are  always  addressed  Mama 

Sahib,  '  Sir,  Uncle  !  '     jNIadan  Singh  succeeded  his  father  in  the 

office  of  Faujdar.      He  had  two  sons,  Himmat  Singh  and  Prithi 

Singh. 

Bhao  Singh,  left  Halwad  with  twenty-five  horse. 

I 
Madho  Singh. 

I 
Madan  Singh. 

I 


Himmat  Singh.  Prithi  Singh. 


Sheo  Singh,  Zalim  Singh, 

born  in  S.  1795.  born  S.  1796. 

I 
Madho  Singh, 
present  regent. 


I 

Bapa  Lall, 

twenty-one  years  of  age  [51 9J. 


The  office  of  Faujdar,  which,  like  all  those  of  the  cast,  had 
become  hereditary,  was  advantageously  filled  by  Himmat  Singh, 
whose  bravery  and  skill  were  conspicuous  on  many  trying  emer- 
gencies. He  directed,  or  at  least  seconded,  the  defence  of  Kotah, 
when  first  assailed  by  the  combined  Mahratta  and  Jaipur  troops, 
and  conducted  the  treaty  which  made  her  tributary  to  the  former, 
till  at  length  so  identified  was  his  influence  with  that  of  the  Haras, 
that  with  their  concurrence  he  restored  the  ancient  line  of  succes- 
sion. Though  neither  the  prince,  Durjansal,  nor  his  Major 
Domo,  had  much  merit  in  this  act,  it  was  made  available  by 
Zalim  Singh  in  support  of  his  pretensions  to  power,  and  in  proof 

^  Mama  is  '  maternal  uncle  '  ;  Kaka,  '  paternal  uncle.' 


ZALIM  SINGH  RETIRES  TO  MEWAR  1537 

of  the  ingratitude  of  his  sovereign,  "  whose  ancestors  recovered 
their  rights  at  the  instigation  of  his  own."  But  ZaUm  Singh  had 
no  occasion  to  go  back  to  the  virtues  of  his  ancestors  for  an 
argument  on  which  to  base  his  own  claims  to  authority.  He 
could  point  to  the  field  of  Bhatwara,  where  his  bravery  and  skill 
mainly  aided  to  vanquish  the  enemies  of  Kotah,  and  to  crush  for 
ever  those  arrogant  pretensions  to  supremacy  which  the  Jaipur 
State  strained  every  nerve  to  establish. 

Zalim  Singh  retires  to  Mewar. — It  was  not  long  after  the 
accession  of  Guman  Singh  to  the  sceptre  of  the  Haras,  that  the 
brave  and  handsome  Major  Domo,  having  dared  to  cross  his 
master's  path  in  love,  lost  his  favour,  and  the  office  of  Faujdar, 
which  he  had  attained  in  his  twenty-first  year.  It  is  probable 
he  evinced  little  contrition  for  his  offence,  for  the  confiscation  of 
Nanta  soon  followed.  This  estate,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Chambal,  still  enjoyed  as  a  fief  in  perpetuity  by  the  Jhala  family, 
was  the  original  appanage  of  the  Kotah  State  when  a  younger 
branch  of  Bundi.  From  hence  may  be  inferred  the  consideration 
in  which  the  Jhala  ancestor  of  our  subject  was  held,  which  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  heirloom  of  the  house.  Both  the  office  and 
the  estate  thereto  attached,  thus  resumed,  were  bestowed  upon 
the  maternal  uncle  of  the  prince,  Bhopat  Singh,  of  the  Bhangrot 
tribe.  By  this  step,  the  door  of  reconciliation  being  closed 
against  the  young  Jhala,  he  determined  to  abandon  the  scene  of 
his  disgrace,  and  court  fortune  elsewhere.  He  was  not  long  in 
determining  the  path  he  should  pursue  :  Amber  was  shut  against 
him,  and  Marwar  held  out  no  field  for  his  ambition.  Mewar  was 
at  hand,  and  a  chief  of  his  own  tribe  and  nation  then  ruled  the 
councils  of  Rana  Arsi,  who  had  lately  succeeded  to  power,  but  a 
power  paralysed  by  faction  and  by  a  pretender  to  the  throne. 
The  Jhala  chieftain  of  Delwara,  one  of  the  sixteen  great  barons 
of  Mewar,  had  headed  the  party  which  placed  his  sovereign  on 
the  throne  ;  and  he  felt  no  desire  to  part  with  the  influence 
which  this  service  gave  him.  He  entertained  [520]  foreign 
guards  about  the  person  of  his  prince,  and  distributed  estates  at 
pleasure  among  those  who  supported  his  measures  ;  while  from 
the  crown  domain,  or  from  the  estates  of  those  who  were  hostile 
to  his  influence,  he  seized  upon  lands,  which  doubled  his  posses- , 
sions.  Such  was  the  court  of  Rana  Arsi,  when  the  ex-Major 
Domo  of  Kotah  came  to  seek  a  new  master.     His  reputation  at 


1538  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

once  secured  him  a  reception,  and  his  talents  for  finesse,  already 
developed,  made  the  Rana  confide  to  him  the  subjection  in  which 
he  was  held  by  his  own  vassal-subject.  It  was  then  that  Zalini, 
a  youth  and  a  stranger,  showed  that  rare  union  of  intrepidity 
and  caution  which  has  made  him  the  wonder  of  the  age.  By  a 
most  daring  plan,  which  cost  the  Delwara  chief  his  life,  in  open 
day  and  surrounded  by  attendants,  the  Rana  was  released  from 
this  odious  tutelage.  For  this  service,  the  title  of  Raj  Rana  ^  and 
the  estate  of  Chitarkhera  on  the  southern  frontier  were  conferred 
upon  Zalim,  who  was  now  a  noble  of  the  second  rank  in  Mewar. 
The  rebellion  still  continued,  however,  and  the  pretender  and 
his  faction  sought  the  aid  of  the  Mahrattas  ;  but  under  the 
vigorous  councils  of  Zalim,  seconded  by  the  spirit  of  the  Rana, 
an  army  was  collected  which  gave  battle  to  the  combined  rebels 
and  Mahrattas.  The  result  of  this  day  has  already  been  related. - 
The  Rana  was  discomfited  and  lost  the  flower  of  liis  nobles  when 
victory  was  almost  assured  to  them,  and  Zalim  was  left  wounded 
and  a  prisoner  in  the  field.  He  fell  into  the  hands  of  Trimbakrao, 
the  father  of  the  celebrated  Ambaji  Inglia,  and  the  friendship 
then  formed  materially  governed  the  future  actions  of  his  life. 

Zalim  Singh  returns  to  Kotah. — The  loss  of  this  battle  left 
the  Rana  and  Mewar  at  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror.  Udaipur 
was  invested,  and  capitulated,  after  a  noble  defence,  upon  terms 
which  perpetuated  her  thraldom.  Zalim,  too  wise  to  cling  to  the 
fortunes  of  a  falling  house,  instead  of  returning  to  Udaipur,  bent 
his  steps  to  Kotah,  in  company  with  the  Pandit,  Lalaji  Balal, 
the  faithfxil  partaker  of  his  future  fortunes.  Zalim  foresaw  the 
storm  about  to  spread  over  Rajwara,  and  deemed  himself  equal 
to  guide  and  avert  it  from  Kotah,  while  the  political  levity  of 
Mewar  gave  him  little  hopes  of  success  at  that  court. 

Raja  Guman,  however,  had  neither  forgotten  nor  forgiven 
his  competitor,  and  refused  to  receive  him  :  but  in  no  wise  daunted, 
he  trusted  to  his  address,  and  thrust  himself  unbidden  on  the 
prince.  The  moment  he  chose  proved  favourable  ;  and  he  was 
not  only  pardoned,  but  employed  [521]. 

Gallant  Death  of  Madho  Singh. — The  Mahrattas  had  now 
reached  the  southern  frontier,  and  invested  the  castle  of  Bakhani,' 

^   Not  Rana,  which  he  puts  upon  his  seal. 

2  See  Vol.  I.  p.  500. 

'  [About  00  miles  S.  of  Kotah  city.J 


ZALIM  SINGH  GUARDIAN  OF  THE  HEIR       1539 

which  was  defended  by  four  hundred  Haras  of  the  Sawant  clan/ 
under  its  chief,  Madho  Singh,  The  enemy  had  been  foiled  in 
repeated  attempts  to  escalade,  and  it  furnishes  a  good  idea  of  the 
inadequate  means  of  the  '  Southrons  '  for  the  operations  of  a  siege, 
when  their  besieging  apparatus  was  confined  to  an  elephant, 
whose  head  was  the  substitute  for  a  petard,  to  burst  open  the  gate. 
Repeated  instances,  however,  prove  that  this  noble  animal  is 
fully  equal  to  the  task,  and  would  have  succeeded  on  this  occasion, 
had  not  the  intrepidity  of  the  Hara  chieftain  prompted  one  of 
those  desperate  exploits  which  fill  the  pages  of  their  annals. 
Armed  with  his  dagger,  Madho  Singh  leaped  from  the  walls  upon 
the  back  of  the  elephant,  stabbed  the  rider,  and  with  repeated 
blows  felled  the  animal  to  the  ea'rth..  That  he  should  escape 
could  not  be  expected  ;  but  his  death  and  the  noble  deed  kindled 
such  enthusiasm,  that  his  clan  threw  \\ade  the  gate,  and  rushing 
sword  in  hand  amidst  the  multitude,  perished  to  a  man.  But 
they  died  not  unavenged  :  thirteen  hundred  of  the  bravest  of  the 
Mahrattas  accompanied  them  to  Suryaloka,  the  warrior's  heaven. 
The  invaders  continued  their  inroad,  and  invested  Sohet  :  but 
the  prince  sent  his  commands  to  the  garrison  to  preserve  their 
lives  for  Kotah,  and  not  again  sacrifice  them,  as  the  point  of 
honour  had  been  nobly  maintained.  Accordingly,  at  midnight, 
they  evacuated  the  place  ;  but  whether  from  accident  or  treachery, 
the  grass  jungle  which  covered  their  retreat  wa$  set  fire  to,  and 
cast  so  resplendent  a  light,  that  the  brave  garrison  had  to  fight 
their  way  against  desperate  odds,  and  many  were  slain.  Malharrao 
Holkar,  who  had  been  greatly  disheartened  at  the  loss  sustained 
at  Bakliani,  was  revived  at  this  success,  and  prepared  to  follow 
it  up.  Raja  Guman  deemed  it  advisable  to  try  negotiation,  and 
the  Bhangrot  Faujdar  was  sent  with  full  powers  to  treat  with 
the  Mahratta  commander  ;   but  he  failed  and  returned. 

Zalim  Singh  appointed  Guardian  of  the  Heir. — Such  was  the 
moment  chosen  by  young  Zalim  to  force  himself  into  the  presence 
of  his  offended  prince.  In  all  probability  he  mentioned  the  day 
at  Bhatwara,  where  by  his  courage,  and  still  more  by  his  tact,  he 
released  Kotah  from  the  degradation  of  being  subordinate  to 
Amber  ;  and  that  it  was  by  his  influence  with  the  same  Malharrao 
Holkar,  who  now  threatened  Kotah,  he  was  enabled  to  succeed. 

^  The  reader  is  requested  to  refer  to  p.  1483,  for  evidence  of  the  loyalty 
and  heroism  of  Sawant  Hara,  the  founder  of  this  clan. 


1540  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

He  was  invested  with  full  powers  ;  the  negotiation  was  renewed, 
and  terminated  successfully  :  for  the  sum  of  six  lakhs  of  rupees 
the  INIahratta  leader  withdrew  liis  horde  from  the  territory  of 
Kotah.  His  [522]  prince's  favour  was  regained,  his  estate  re- 
stored, and  the  unsuccessful  negotiator  lost  the  office  of  Faujdar, 
into  which  young  Zaiim  was  reinducted.  But  scarcely  had  he 
recovered  liis  rights,  before  Guman  Singh  was  taken  grievously 
ill,  and  all  hopes  of  his  life  were  relinquished.  To  whom  could 
the  dying  prince  look  at  such  a  moment,  as  guardian  of  his  infant 
son,  but  the  person  whose  skill  had  twice  saved  the  State  from 
peril  ?  He  accordingly  proclaimed  his  will  to  his  chiefs,  and 
Avith  all  due  solemnity  placed  Ummed  Singh,  then  ten  years  of 
age,  '  in  the  lap  '  of  Zalim  Singh. 

Maharao  Ummed  Singh,  a.d.  1771-1819. — Ummed  Singh  was 
proclaimed  in  S.  1827  (a.d.  1771).  On  the  day  of  inauguration, 
the  ancient  Rajput  custom  of  the  tika-daur  was  revived,  and  the 
conquest  of  Kelwara  ^  from  the  house  of  Narwar  marked  with 
eclat  the  accession  of  the  Maharao  of  the  Haras  of  Kotah,  and 
gave  early  indication  that  the  genius  of  the  regent  w^ould  not 
sleep  in  his  office  of  protector.  More  than  half  a  century  of  rule, 
amidst  the  most  appalling  vicissitudes,  has  amply  confirmed  the 
prognostication. 

.  The  retention  of  a  power  thus  acquired,  it  may  be  concluded, 
could  never  be*  effected  without  severity,  nor  the  vigorous 
authority,  wielded  throughout  a  period  beyond  the  ordinary 
limits  of  mortality,  be  sustained  without  something  more  potent 
than  persuasion.  Still,  when  we  consider  Zalim's  perilous  predica- 
ment, and  the  motives  to  perpetual  reaction,  his  acts  of  severity  are 
fewer  than  might  have  been  expected,  or  than  occur  in  the  course 
of  usurpation  under  similar  circumstances.  Mature  reflection 
initiated  all  his  measures,  and  the  sagacity  of  their  conception 
was  only  equalled  by  the  rapidity  of  their  execution.  Whether 
the  end  in  view  was  good  or  evil,  nothing  was  ever  half-done  ; 
no  spark  was  left  to  excite  future  conflagration.  J^^ven  this  excess 
of  severitj'  was  an  advantage  ;  it  restrained  the  rei)etition  of 
what,  whether  morally  right  or  wrong,  he  was  determined  not  to 
tolerate.  To  pass  a  correct  judgment  on  these  acts  is  most 
difficult.  What  in  one  case  was  a  measure  of  barbarous  severity, 
api)ears  in  another  to  have  been  one  indisi)onsable  to  the  welfare 
^  [About  70  miles  E.  of  Kotah  city.] 


ZALIM  SINGH  REGENT  OF  KOTAH  1541 

of  the  State.  But  this  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  character 
or  principles  of  the  regent  ;  let  us  endeavour  to  unfold  both  in 
the  exhibition  of  those  acts  which  have  carried  him  through  the 
most  tempestuous  sea  of  political  convulsion  in  the  whole  history 
of  India.  When  nought  but  revolution  and  rapine  stalked  through 
the  land,  when  State  after  State  was  crumbling  into  dust,  or  sinking 
into  the  abyss  of  ruin,  he  guided  the  vessel  entrusted  to  his  care 
safely  through  all  dangers,  adding  yearly  to  her  riches,  until  he 
placed  her  in  security  under  the  protection  of  Britain  [523]. 

Zalim  Singh  Regent  of  Kotah. — Scarcely  had  Zalim  assumed 
the  protectorate,  when  he  was  compelled  to  make  trial  of  those 
Machiavellian  powers  which  have  never  deserted  him,  in  order 
to  baffle  the  schemes  devised  to  oppose  him.  The  duties  of 
Faujdar,  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been  restricted,  were  entirely 
of  a  military  nature  ;  though,  as  it  involved  the  charge  of  the 
castle,  in  which  the  sovereign  resided,  it  brought  him  in  contact 
with  his  councils.  This,  however,  afforded  no  plea  for  inter- 
ference in  the  Diwani,  or  civil  duties  of  the  government,  in  which, 
ever  since  his  own  accession  to  power,  he  had  a  coadjutor  in  Rae 
Akhairam,  a  man  of  splendid  talents,  and  who  had  been  Diwan 
or  prime  minister  throughout  the  reign  of  Chhattarsal  and  the 
greater  part  of  that  of  his  successor.  To  his  counsel  is  mainly 
ascribed  the  advantages  gained  by  Kotah  throughout  these  reigns  ; 
yet  did  he  fall  a  sacrifice  to  jealousies  a  short  time  before  the  death 
of  his  prince,  Guman  Singh,  It  is  not  affirmed  that  they  were 
the  suggestions  of  young  Zalim  ;  but  Akhairam's  death  left  him 
fewer  competitors  to  dispute  the  jvmction  in  his  own  person  of 
the  civil  as  well  as  military  authority  of  the  State.  Still  he  had 
no  slight  opposition  to  overcome,  in  the  very  opening  of  his  career. 
The  party  which  opposed  the  pretensions  of  Zalim  Singh  to  act 
as  regent  of  the  State,  asserting  that  no  such  power  had  been 
bequeathed  by  the  dying  prince,  consisted  of  his  cousin,  the 
Maharaja  Sarup  Singh,  and  the  Bhangrot  chief,  whose  disgrace 
brought  Zalim  into  power.  There  was,  besides,  the  Dhabhai 
Jaskaran,  foster-brother  to  the  prince,  a  man  of  talent  and  credit, 
whose  post,  being  immediately  about  his  person,  afforded  oppor- 
tunities for  carrying  their  schemes  into  effect. 

Murder  of  Samp  Singh. — Such  was  the  powerful  opposition 
arrayed  against  the  protector  in  the  very  commencement  of  his 
career.     The  conspiracy  was  hardly  formed,  however,  before  it 


1542      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

was  extinguished  by  the  murder  of  the  Maharaja  by  the  hands  of 
the  Dhabhai,  the  banishment  of  the  assassin,  and  the  flight  of 
the  Bhangrot.  The  rapidity  with  which  this  drama  was  enacted 
struck  terror  into  all.  The  gaining  over  the  foster-brother,  the 
making  him  the  instrument  of  punishment,  and  banishing  him 
for  the  crime,  acted  like  a  spell,  and  appeared  such  a  masterpiece 
of  daring  and  subtilty  combined,  that  no  one  thought  himself 
secure.  There  had  been  no  cause  of  discontent  between  the 
Maharaja  and  the  Dhabhai,  to  prompt  revenge  ;  yet  did  the 
latter,  in  the  glare  of  open  day,  rush  upon  him  in  the  garden  of 
Brajvilas,^  and  witli  a  blow  of  his  scimitar  end  his  days.  The 
regent  was  the  loudest  in  execrating  the  author  of  the  crime,  whom 
he  instantly  seized  and  confined,  and  soon  after  expelled  from 
Haraoti.  But  however  well  acted,  this  dissimulation  passed  not 
with  the  world  ;  and,  whether  innocent  or  guilty,  they  lay  to 
Zalim's  charge  the  plot  for  the  murder  of  the  Maharaja.  The 
Dhabhai  died  in  exile  and  contempt  at  [524]  Jaipur  ;  and  in 
a!)andoning  him  to  his  fate  without  provision,  Zalim,  if  guilty  of 
the  deed,  showed  at  once  his  knowledge  and  contempt  of  mankind. 
Had  he  added  another  murder  to  the  first,  and  in  the  fury  of  an 
affected  indignation  become  the  sole  depository  of  his  secret,  he 
would  only  have  increased  the  suspicion  of  the  world  ;  but  in 
turning  the  culprit  loose  on  society  to  proclaim  his  participation 
in  the  crime,  he  neutralized  the  reproach  by  destroying  the 
credibility  of  one  who  was  a  self-convicted  assassin  when  he  had 
it  in  his  power  to  check  its  circulation.  In  order  to  unravel  this 
tortuous  policy,  it  is  necessary  to  state  that  the  Dhabhai  was 
seduced  from  the  league  by  the  persuasion  of  the  regent,  who 
insinuated  that  the  Maharaja  formed,  plans  inimical  to  the  safety 
of  the  young  prince,  and  that  his  own  elevation  was  the  true 
object  of  his  hostility  to  the  person  entrusted  with  the  charge  of 
the  minor  sovereign.  Whatever  truth  there  might  be  in  this, 
which  might  be  pleaded  in  justification  of  the  foul  crime,  it  was 
attended  with  the  consequences  he  expected.  Immediately  after, 
the  remaining  member  of  the  adverse  junta  withdrew,  and  at  the 
same  time  many  of  the  nobles  abandoned  their  estates  and  their 
country.  Zalim  evinced  his  contempt  of  their  means  of  resistance 
by  granting  them  free  egress  from  the  kingdom,  and  determined 

*  [RrajvilaR,   the  '  garden   of  enjoyment,'  like  that  in  which    Krishna 
sported  witli  tlie  (jlopis  in  the  land  of  Braj  or  Matliiira.] 


ZALIM  SINGH  ESTABLISHES  HIS  AUTHORITY     1543 

to  turn  their  retreat  to  account.  They  went  to  Jaipur  and  to 
Jodhpur  ;  but  troubles  prevailed  everywhere  ;  the  princes  could 
with  difficulty  keep  the  prowling  Mahratta  from  their  own  doors, 
and  possessed  neither  funds  nor  inclination  to  enter  into  foreign 
quarrels  for  objects  which  would  only  increase  their  already 
superabundant  difficulties.  The  event  turned  out  as  Zalim 
anticipated  ;  and  the  princes,  to  whom  the  refugees  were  suitors, 
had  a  legitimate  excuse  in  the  representations  of  the  regent,  who 
described  them  as  rebels  to  their  sovereign  and  parties  to  designs 
hostile  to  his  rule.  Some  died  abroad,  and  some,  sick  of  wander- 
ing in  a  foreign  land  dependent  on  its  bounty,  solicited  as  a  boon 
that  "  their  ashes  might  be  burned  with  their  fathers'."  In 
granting  this  request,  Zalim  evinced  that  reliance  on  himself, 
which  is  the  leading  feature  of  his  character.  He  permitted  their 
return,  but  received  them  as  traitors  who  had  abandoned  their 
prince  and  their  country,  and  it  was  announced  to  them,  as  an 
act  of  clemency,  that  they  were  permitted  to  live  upon  a  part 
of  their  estates  ;  which,  as  they  had  been  voluntarily  abandoned, 
were  sequestrated  and  belonged  to  the  crown. 

Zalim  Singh's  Triumph  over  his  Opponents. — Such  was  Zalim 
Singh's  triumph  over  the  first  faction  formed  against  his  assump- 
tion of  the  full  powers  of  regent  of  Kotah.  Not  only  did  the 
aristocracy  feel  liimiiliated,  but  were  subjugated  by  the  rod  of 
iron  held  over  them  ;  and  no  opportunity  [525]  was  ever  thrown 
away  of  crushing  this  formidable  body,  which  in  these  States  too 
often  exerts  its  pernicious  influence  to  the  ruin  of  society.  The 
thoughtlessness  of  character  so  peculiar  to  Rajputs,  furnished 
abundant  opportunities  for  the  march  of  an  exterminating  policy, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  afforded  reasons  which  justified  it. 

The  next  combination  was  more  formidable  ;  it  was  headed  by 
Deo  Singh  of  Aton,^  who  enjoyed  an  estate  of  sixty  thousand 
rupees  rent.  He  strongly  fortified  his  castle,  and  was  joined  by 
all  the  discontented  nobles,  determined  to  get  rid  of  the  authority 
which  crushed  them.  The  regent  well  knew  the  spirits  he  had 
to  cope  with,  and  that  the  power  of  the  State  was  insufficient. 
By  means  of  '  the  help  of  Moses  '  (such  is  the  interpretation  of 
Musa  Madad,  his  auxiliary  on  this  occasion),  this  struggle  against 
his  authority  also  only  served  to  confirm  it  ;  and  their  measures 
recoiled  on  the  heads  of  the  feudality.  The  condition  of  society 
1  [About  40  miles  S.E.  of  Kotah  city.] 


1544  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

since  the  dissolution  of  the  imperial  power  was  most  adverse  to 
the  institutions  of  Rajwara,  the  imsupported  valour  of  whose 
nobles  was  no  match  for  the  mercenary  force  which  their  rulers 
could  now  always  command  from  those  bands,  belonging  to  no 
government,  but  roaming  whither  they  listed  over  this  vast 
region,  in  search  of  pay  or  plunder.  The  '  help  of  Moses  '  was 
the  leader  of  one  of  these  associations — a  name  well  known  in 
the  history  of  that  agitated  period  ;  and  he  not  only  led  a  wcll- 
ajipointed  infantry  brigade,  but  had  an  elficient  park  attached 
to  it,  which  was  brought  to  play  against  Aton.  It  held  out  several 
months,  the  garrison  meanwhile  making  many  sallies,  which  it 
required  the  constant  vigilance  of  Moses  to  repress.  At  length, 
reduced  to  extremity,  they  demanded  and  obtained  an  honourable 
capitulation,  being  allowed  to  retire  unmolested  whither  they 
pleased.  Such  was  the  termination  of  this  ill-organized  insurrec- 
tion, which  involved  almost  all  the  feudal  chiefs  of  Kotah  in  exile 
and  ruin,  and  strengthened  the  regent,  or  as  he  would  say,  the 
state,  by  the  escheat  of  the  sequestrated  property.  Deo  Singh  of 
Aton,  the  head  of  this  league,  died  in  exile.  After  several  years 
of  lamentation  in  a  foreign  soil  for  the  janam  bhum,  the  '  land  of 
their  birth,'  the  son  pleaded  for  pardon,  though  his  heart  denied 
all  crime,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  his  recall,  and  the 
estate  of  Bamolia,  of  fifteen  thousand  rupees  rent.  The  inferior 
members  of  the  opposition  were  treated  with  the  same  con- 
temptuous clemency ;  they  were  admitted  into  Kotah,  but 
deprived  of  the  power  of  doing  mischief.  What  stronger  proof 
of  the  political  courage  of  the  regent  can  be  adduced,  than  his 
shutting  up  such  combustible  materials  within  the  social  edifice, 
and  even  living  amongst  and  with  them,  as  if  he  deserved  their 
friendship  rather  than  their  hatred  [526]. 

In  combating  such  associations,  and  thus  cementing  his  power, 
time  passed  away.  His  marriage  with  one  of  the  distant  branches 
of  the  royal  house  of  Mewar,  by  whom  he  had  his  son  and  successor 
Madho  Singh,  gave  Zalim  an  additional  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
that  disturbed  State,  of  which  he  never  lost  sight  amidst  the 
troubles  which  more  immediately  concerned  him.  The  motives 
which,  in  S.  1847  (a.d.  1791),  made  him  consider  for  a  time  the 
interests  of  Kotah  as  secondary  to  those  of  Mewar,  are  related 
at  length  in  the  annals  of  that  State  ;  ^  and  the  effect  of  this 
1  Vol.  I.  p.  516. 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ASSASSINATE  ZALIM  SINGH     1545 

policy  on  the  prosperity  of  Kotah,  drained  of  its  wealth  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  \iews,  will  appear  on  considering  the  details 
of  his  system.  Referring  the  reader,  therefore,  to  the  Annals  of 
Mewar,  we  shall  pass  from  S.  1847  to  S.  1856  (a.d.  1800),  when 
another  attempt  was  made  by  the  chieftains  to  throw  off  the  iron 
yoke  of  the  protector. 

Conspiracy  against  Zalim  Singh. — Many  attempts  at  assassina- 
tion had  been  tried,  but  his  vigilance  baffled  them  all  ;  though 
no  bold  enterprise  was  hazarded  since  the  failure  of  that  (in  S, 
1833)  which  ended  in  the  death  and  exile  of  its  contriver,  the 
chieftain  of  Aton,  until  the  conspiracy  of  Mohsen,  in  S.  1856,  just 
twenty  years  ago.^  Bahadur  Singh,  of  Mohsen,  a  chieftain  of 
ten  thousand  rupees'  annual  rent,  was  the  head  of  this  plot,  which 
included  every  chief  and  family  whose  fortunes  had  been  anni- 
hilated by  the  exterminating  policy  of  the  regent.  It  was  con- 
ducted with  admirable  secrecy  ;  if  known  at  all,  it  was  to  Zalim 
alone,  and  not  till  on  the  eve  of  accomplishment.  The  proscrip- 
tion-list was  long  ;  the  regent,  his  family,  his  friend  and  counsellor 
the  Pandit  Lalaji,  were  amongst  the  \'ictims  marked  for  sacrifice. 
The  moment  for  execution  was  that  of  his  proceeding  to  hold 
his  court,  in  open  day  ;  and  the  mode  was  by  a  coup  de  tnain 
whose  very  audacity  would  guarantee  success.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  actually  in  progress  to  darbar,  when  the  danger  was 
revealed.  The  paegah  or  '  select  troop  of  horse  '  belonging  to  his 
friend,  and  always  at  hand,  was  immediately  called  in  and  added 
to  the  guards  about  his  person  ;  thus  the  conspirators  were 
assailed  when  they  deemed  the  prey  rushing  into  the  snare  they 
had  laid.  The  sui'prise  was  complete  ;  many  were  slain  ;  some 
were  taken,  others  fled.  Amongst  the  latter  was  the  head  of  the 
conspiracy,  Bahadur  Singh,  who  gained  the  Chambal,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  temple  of  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  Haras  at  Patau. 
But  he  mistook  the  character  of  the  regent  when  he  supposed 
that  either  the  sanctuary  (sarana)  of  Keshorai,^  or  the  respect 
due  to  the  prince  in  whose  dominions  (Bundi)  it  lay,  could  shield 
him  from  his  fate.  'He  was  dragged  forth,  and  expiated  his  crime 
or  folly  with  his  life  [527]. 

According  to  the  apologists  of  the  regent,  this  act  was  one  of 
just  retribution,  since  it  was  less  to  defend  himself  and  his  im- 

1  This  was  written  at  Kotah,  in  S.  1876  (a.d.  1820). 

-  [Kesavarae,  Krishna.] 

VOL.  Ill  U 


1546  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

mediate  interests  than  those  of  the  prince  whose  power  and  exist- 
ence were  tlireatened  by  the  insurrection,  which  had  for  its  object 
his  deposal  and  the  elevation  of  one  of  his  brothers.  The  members 
of  the  Maharao's  family  at  this  period  were  his  uncle  Raj  SinjQfh, 
and  his  two  brothers,  Gordhan  and  Gopal  Singh.  Since  the 
rebellion  of  Aton,  these  princes  had  been  under  strict  surveillance  : 
but  after  this  instance  of  reaction,  in  which  their  names  were 
implicated  as  having  aspired  to  supplant  their  brother,  a  more 
rigorous  seclusion  was  adopted  ;  and  the  rest  of  their  days  was 
passed  in  solitary  confinement.  Gordhan,  the  elder,  died  about 
ten  years  after  his  incarceration  ;  the  younger,  Gopal,  lived  many 
years  longer  ;  but  neither  from  that  day  quitted  the  walls  of  their 
prison,  xmtil  death  released  them  from  this  dreadful  bondage. 
Kaka  Raj  Singh  lived  to  extreme  old  age  ;  but,  as  he  took  no 
part  in  these  turmoils,  he  remained  unmolested,  having  the  range 
of  the  temples  in  the  city,  beyond  which  limits  he  had  no  wish  to 
stray. 

We  may  in  this  place  introduce  a  slip  from  the  genealogical 
tree  of  the  forfeited  branch  of  Bishan  Singh,  but  which,  in  the 
person  of  his  grandson  Ajit,  regained  its  rights  and  the  gaddi. 
The  fate  of  this  family  will  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  policy 
pursued  by  the  regent  towards  the  feudal  interests  of  Kotah. 
It  is  appalling,  when  thus  marshalled,  to  view  the  sacrifices  which 
the  maintenance  of  power  will  demand  in  these  feudal  States, 
where  individual  will  is  law. 

The  plots  against  the  existence  and  authority  of  the  Protector 
were  of  every  description,  and  no  less  than  eighteen  are  enumer- 
ated, which  his  never- slumbering  vigilance  detected  and  baflled. 
The  means  were  force,  open  and  concealed,  poison,  the  dagger — 
until  at  length  he  became  sick  of  precaution.  "  I  could  not  always 
be  on  my  guard,"  he  would  say.  But  the  most  dangerous  of  all 
was  a  female  conspiracy,  got  up  in  the  palace,  and  which  discovers 
an  amusing  mixture  of  tragedy  and  farce,  although  his  habitual 
wariness  would  not  have  saved  him  from  being  its  victim,  had 
he  not  been  aided  by  the  boldness  of  a  female  champion,  from  a 
regard  for  the  personal  attractions  of  the  handsome  regent.  He 
was  suddenly  sent  for  by  the  queen-mother  of  one  of  the  young 
princes,  and  while  waiting  in  an  antechamber,  expecting  every 
instant  '  the  voice  behind  the  curtain,'  he  found  himself  en- 
circled by  a  band  of  Amazonian  Rajputnis,  armed  with  sword 


ZALTM  SINGH'S  ADMINISTRATION  1547 

and  dagger,  from  whom,  acquainted  as  he  was  with  the  nerve, 
physical  and  moral,  of  his  countrywomen,  he  saw  no  hope  of 
salvation  [528].  Fortunately,  they  were  determined  not  to  be 
satisfied  mereh'  with  his  death,  they  put  him  upon  his  trial  ;  and 
the  train  of  interrogation  into  all  the  acts  of  his  life  was  going  on, 
when  his  preserving  angel,  in  the  shape  of  the  chief  attendant  of 
the  dowager  queen,  a  woman  of  masculine  strength  and  courage, 
rushed  in,  and,  with  strong  dissembled  anger,  drove  him  forth 
amidst  a  torrent  of  abuse  for  presuming  to  be  foiuid  in  such  a  pre- 
dicament. 

While  bathing,  and  during  the  heat  of  the  chase,  his  favourite 
pursuit,  similar  attempts  have  been  made,  but  they  always 
recoiled  on  the  heads  of  his  enemies.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the 
multitude  of  these  plots,  which  would  have  unsettled  the  reason 
of  many,  he  never  allowed  a  blind  suspicion  to  add  to  the  victims 
of  his  policy ;  and  although,  for  his  personal  security,  he  was 
compelled  to  sleep  in  an  iron  cage,  he  never  harboured  unnecessary 
alarm,  that  parent  of  crime  and  blood  in  all  usurpations.  His 
lynx-like  eye  saw  at  once  who  was  hkely  to  invade  his  authority, 
and  these  knew  their  peril  from  the  vigilance  of  a  system  which 
never  relaxed.  Entire  self-reliance,  a  police  such  as  perhaps  no 
country  in  the  world  could  equal,  establishments  well  paid, 
services  liberally  rewarded,  character  and  talent  in  each  depart- 
ment of  the  State,  himself  keeping  a  strict  watch  over  all,  and 
trusting  implicitly  to  none,  with  a  daily  personal  supervision  of 
aU  this  complicated  state-machinery — such  was  the  system  which 
surmounted  every  peril,  and  not  only  maintained  but  increased 
the  power  and  political  reputation  of  Zalim  Singh,  amidst  the 
storms  of  war,  rapine,  treason,  and  political  convulsions  of  more 
than  half  a  century's  duration. 


CHAPTER  7 

Legislation  o£  Zalim  Singh. — ^We  are  now  to  examine  the 
Protector  in  another  point  of  view,  as  the  legislator  and  manager 
of  the  State  whose  concerns  he  was  thus  determined  to  rule. 
For  a  series  of  years  Kotah  was  but  the  wet-nurse  to  the  child 
of  his  ambition,  a  design  upon  Mewar  [529],  which  engulfed  as  in 
a  vortex  all  that  oppression  could  extort  from  the  industry  of  the 


1548  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTATI 

people  confided  to  his  charge.  From  this  first  acquaintance 
with  the  court  of  the  Rana,  in  S.  1827  to  the  yeai*  1856,  he  never 
rehnquished  the  hope  of  extending  the  same  measure  of  authority 
over  that  State  which  he  exerted  in  his  own.  To  the  prosecution 
of  this  pohcy  Haraoti  was  sacrificed,  and  the  cultivator  lowered 
to  the  condition  of  a  serf.  In  the  year  1840,  oppression  was  at 
its  height  ;  the  impoverished  ryot,  no  longer  able  to  pay  the 
extra  calls  upon  his  industry,  his  cattle  and  the  implements  of 
his  labour  distrained,  was  reduced  to  despair.  Many  died  from 
distress  ;  some  fled,  but  where  could  they  find  refuge  in  the 
chaos  aroimd  them  ?  The  greater  part  were  compelled  to  plough 
for  hire,  with  the  cattle  and  implements  once  their  own,  the  very 
fields,  their  freehold,  which  had  been  torn  from  them.  From  this 
system  of  universal  impoverishment,  displayed  at  length  in 
unthatched  villages  and  untilled  lands,  the  regent  was  compelled 
to  become  farmer-general  of  Kotah. 

Fortunately  for  his  subjects,  and  for  his  own  reputation,  his 
sense  of  gratitude  and  friendship  for  the  family  of  Inglia — whose 
head,  Bala  Rao,  was  then  a  prisoner  in  Mewar — involved  him,  in 
the  attempt  to  obtain  his  release,  in  personal  conflict  with  the 
Rana,  and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  for  ever  that  long- 
cherished  object  of  his  ambition.  It  was  then  he  perceived  he 
had  sacrificed  the  welfare  of  all  classes  to  a  phantom,  and  his 
vigorous  understanding  suggested  a  remedy,  which  was  instantly 
adopted. 

Superstition  o£  Zalim  Singh. — Until  the  conspiracy  of  Blohsen 
in  1856,  the  regent  had  resided  in  the  castle,  acting  the  part  of 
the  Maire  du  palais  of  the  old  French  monarchy  ;  but  on  his 
return  from  the  release  of  Bala  Rao,  in  S.  1860  (a.d.  1803-4), 
when  the  successes  of  the  British  arms  disturbed  the  combination 
of  the  Mahrattas,  and  obliged  them  to  send  forth  their  disunited 
bands  to  seek  by  rapine  what  they  had  lost  by  our  conquests, 
the  regent  perceived  the  impolicy  of  such  permanent  residence, 
and  determined  to  come  nearer  to  the  point  of  danger.  He  had 
a  double  motive,  each  of  itself  sufficiently  powerful  to  justify 
the  change  :  the  first  was  a  revision  of  the  revenue  system  ;  the 
other,  to  seek  a  more  central  position  for  a  disposable  camp, 
which  he  might  move  to  any  point  threatened  by  these  predatory 
bodies.  Though  these  were  doubtless  the  real  incentives  to  the 
project,  according  to  those  who  ought  to  have  known  the  secret 


ZALIM  SINGH'S  PERMANENT  CAMP  1549 

impulse  of  his  mind,  the  change  from  the  castle  on  the  Chambal 
to  the  tented  field  proceeded  from  no  more  potent  cause  than  an 
ominous  owl  [530],  telling  his  tale  to  the  moon  from  the  pinnacle 
of  his  mansion.  A  meeting  of  the  astrologers,  and  those  versed 
in  prodigies,  was  convened,  and  it  was  decided  that  it  would  be 
tempting  honhar  (fate)  to  abide  longer  in  that  dwelling.  If  this 
were  the  true  motive,  Zalim  Singh's  mind  only  shared  the  grovel- 
ling superstition  of  the  most  illustrious  and  most  courageous  of 
his  nation,  to  whom  there  was  no  presage  more  appalling  than  a 
ghugghu  on  the  house-top.  But,  in  all  likelihood,  this  Avas  a 
political  owl  conjured  up  for  the  occasion  ;  one  seen  only  in  the 
mind's  eye  of  the  regent,  and  serving  to  cloak  his  plans. 

His  Permanent  Camp. — The  soothsayers  having  in  due  form 
desecrated  the  dwelling  of  the  Protector,  he  commenced  a  per- 
ambulation and  survey  of  the  long-neglected  territory,  within 
which  he  determined  henceforth  to  limit  his  ambition.  He  then 
saw,  and  perhaps  felt  for,  the  miseries  his  mistaken  policy  had 
occasioned  ;  but  the  moral  evil  was  consummated  ;  he  had 
ruined  tlie  fortunes  of  one-third  of  the  agriculturists,  and  the 
rest  were  depressed  and  heart-broken.  The  deficiency  in  his 
revenues  spoke  a  truth  no  longer  to  be  misinterpreted  ;  for  his 
credit  was  so  low  in  the  mercantile  world  at  tliis  period,  that  his 
word  and  his  bond  were  in  equal  disesteem.  Hitherto  he  had 
shut  his  ears  against  complaint  ;  but  fimds  were  necessary  to 
forward  his  views,  and  all  pleas  of  inability  were  met  by  confisca- 
tion. It  was  evident  that  this  evU,  if  not  checked,  must  ulti- 
mately denude  the  State  of  the  means  of  defence,  and  the  fertility 
of  liis  genius  presented  various  modes  of  remedy.  lie  began  by 
fixing  upon  a  spot,  near  the  strong  fortress  of  Gagraun,  for  a 
permanent  camp,  where  he  continued  to  reside,  with  merely  a 
shed  over  his  tent  ;  and  although  the  officers  and  men  of  rank 
had  also  thrown  up  sheds,  he  would  admit  of  nothing  more.  All 
the  despatches  and  newspapers  were  dated  "  from  the  Chhaoni," 
or  camp. 

The  situation  selected  was  most  judicious,  being  nearly  equi- 
distant from  the  two  principal  entrances  to  Haraoti  from  the 
south,  and  touching  the  most  insubordinate  part  of  the  Bhil 
population  ;  while  he  was  close  to  the  strong  castles  of  Shirgarh 
and  Gagraun,  which  he  strengthened  with  the  utmost  care, 
making  the  latter  the  depot  of  his  treasures  and  his  arsenal. 


1550  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

He  formed  au  army  ;  adopted  the  European  arms  and  discipline  ; 
appointed  officers  with  the  title  of  captain  to  liis  battalions, 
wliich  had  a  regular  nomenclature,  and  liis  '  royals  '  ( Raj  Paltan) 
have  done  as  gallant  service  as  any  that  ever  bore  the  name. 
These  were  ready  at  a  moment's  warning  to  move  to  any  point, 
against  any  foe.  Moreover,  by  this  change,  he  was  extricated 
from  many  perplexities  and  delays  which  a  residence  in  a  capital 
necessarily  engenders  [531]. 

Land  Revenue  Collections. — Up  to  this  period  of  his  life,  having 
been  immersed  in  the  troubled  sea  of  political  intrigue,  the 
Protector  had  no  better  knowledge  of  the  systems  of  revenue 
and  landed  economy  than  other  Rangra  ^  cliieftains  ;  and  he 
followed  the  immemorial  usage  termed  lattha  and  batai,"  or  rent 
in  kind  by  weight  orrneasure,  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the 
soil  or  of  the  product.  The  regent  soon  found  the  disadvantages 
of  tliis  system,  which  afforded  opportunity  for  oppression  on  the 
part  of  the  collectors,  and  fraud  on  that  of  the  tenant,  both 
detrimental  to  the  govermiient,  and  serving  only  to  enrich  that 
vulture,  the  Patel.  When  this  rapacious  yet  indispensable 
medium  between  the  peasant  and  ruler  leagued  with  the  col- 
lectors— and  there  was  no  control  to  exaction  beyond  the  con- 
science of  this  constituted  attorney  of  each  townsliip,  either  for 
the  assessment  or  collection — and  when,  as  we  have  so  often 
stated,  the  regent  cared  not  for  the  means  so  that  the  supplies 
were  abundant,  nothing  but  ruin  could  ensue  to  the  ryot. 

Having  made  himself  master  of  the  complicated  details  of  the 
balai,  and  silted  every  act  of  chicanery  by  the  most  incjuisitorial 
process,  he  convoked  all  the  Patels  of  the  country,  and  took  their 
depositions  as  to  the  extent  of  each  pateli,  their  modes  of  collec- 
tion, their  credit,  character,  and  individual  means  ;  and  being 
thus  enabled  to  form  a  rough  computation  of  the  size  and  revenues 
of  each,  he  recommenced  his  tour,  made  a  chakbaiidi,  or  measiue- 
meut  of  the  lands  of  each  township,  and  classified  them,  according 
to  soil  and  fertility,  as  piwal,  or  irrigated  ;  gorma,  or  good  soil, 
but  dependent  on  the  heavens  ;  and  mormi,  including  pasturage 
and  mountain-tracts.  He  then,  having  formed  an  average  from 
the  accounts  of  many  years,  instituted  a  lixed  money-rent,  and 

1  [Soo  Vol.  I.  p.  535.] 

-  [Laltfui,  literally  a  '  measuring  polo  ' ;  Oatdi,  division  of  crop  between 
landlord  and  tenant,] 


LAND  POLICY  OF  ZALEM  SINGH  1551 

declared  that  the  batai  system,  or  that  of  payment  in  kind,  was 
at  an  end.  But  even  in  this  he  showed  severity  ;  for  he  reduced 
the  jarib,^  or  standard  measure,  by  a  third,  and  added  a  fourth 
to  his  averages.  Doubtless  he  argued  that  the  profit  which  the 
Patels  looked  forward  to  would  admit  of  this  increase,  and  deter- 
mined that  his  vigilance  should  be  more  than  a  match  for  their 
ingenuity.  ~« 

Having  thus  adjusted  the  rents  of  the  fisc,  the  dues  of  the 
Patel  were  fixed  at  one  and  a  half  annas  per  bigha,  on  all  the  lands 
constituting  a  pateli ;  and  as  his  personal  lands  were  on  a  favoured 
footing  and  paid  a  much  smaller  rate  than  the  ryot's,  he  was  led 
to  understand  that  any  exaction  beyond  what  was  authorized 
would  subject  him  to  confiscation.  Thus  the  dues  on  collection 
would  realize  to  the  Patel  from  five  to  fifteen  thousand  rupees 
annually.  The  anxiety  of  these  men  to  be  reinstated  in  their 
trusts  [532]  was  evinced  by  the  immense  offers  they  made,  of  ten, 
twenty,  and  even  fifty  thousand  rupees.  At  one  stroke  he  put 
ten  lakhs,  or  £100,000  sterling,  into  his  exhausted  treasury,  by 
the  amount  of  nazaranas,  or  fines  of  relief  on  their  reinduction 
into  office.  The  ryot  hoped  for  better  days  ;  for  notwithstanding 
the  assessment  was  heavy,  he  saw  the  limit  of  exaction,  and  that 
the  door  was  closed  to  all  subordinate  oppression.  Besides  the 
spur  of  hope,  he  had  that  of  fear,  to  quicken  his  exertions  ;  for 
with  the  promulgation  of  the  edict  substituting  money-rent  for 
batai,  the  ryot  was  given  to  understand  that  '  no  account  of  the 
seasons '  would  alter  or  lessen  the  established  dues  of  the  State, 
and  that  uncultivated  lands  would  be  made  over  by  the  Patel  to 
those  who  would  cultivate  them  ;  or  if  none  would  take  them, 
they  would  be  incorporated  with  the  khas  or  personal  farms  of 
the  regent.  In  all  cases  the  Patels  were  declared  responsible 
for  deficiencies  of  revenue. 

Hitherto  this  body  of  men  had  an  incentive,  if  not  a  licence, 
to  plunder,  being  subject  to  an  annual  or  triennial  tax  termed 
patel-barar.  This  was  annulled  ;  and  it  was  added,  that  if  they 
fulfilled  their  contract  with  the  State  without  oppressing  the 
subject,  they  should  be  protected  and  honoured.  Thus  these 
Patels,  the  elected  representatives  of  the  village  and  the  shields 

1  [In  the  United  Provinces  the  jarib  ia  55  yards,  and  one  square  jarib  = 
1  bigha.  The  standard  bigha  is  five-eighths  of  an  acre  (Wilson,  Glossary  of 
Indian  Terms,  s.v.).] 


1552  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAlt 

of  the  ryot,  became  the  direct  officers  of  the  crown.  It  was  the 
regent's  interest  to  conciHate  a  body  of  men  on  whose  exertions 
the  prosperity  of  the  State  mainly  depended  ;  and  they  gladly 
and  unanimously  entered  into  his  views.  Golden  bracelets  and 
turbans,  the  signs  of  inauguration,  were  given,  with  a  "  grant 
of  office,"  to  each  Patel,  and  they  departed  to  their  several 
trusts. 

Possibility  o£  Representative  Government. — A  few  reflections 
obtrude  themselves  on  the  contemplation  of  such  a  picture.  It 
will  hardly  fail  to  strike  the  reader,  how  perfect  are  the  elements 
for  the  formation  of  a  re]:)resentative  government  in  these  regions  ;  ^ 
for  every  State  of  Rajwara  is  similarly  constituted  ;  ex  uno  disce 
omnes.  The  Patels  would  only  require  to  be  joined  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  commercial  body,  and  these  are  already  formed, 
of  Rajput  blood,  deficient  neither  in  nerve  nor  political  sagacity, 
compared  with  any  class  on  earth  ;  often  composing  the  ministry, 
or  heading  the  armies  in  battle.  It  is  needless  to  push  the  parallel 
farther  ;  but  if  it  is  the  desire  of  Britain  to  promote  this  system 
in  the  east  to  enthrone  liberty  on  the  ruins  of  bondage,  and  call 
forth  the  energies  of  a  grand  national  Panchayat,  the  materials 
are  ample  without  the  risk  of  innovation  beyond  the  mere  extent 
of  members.  We  should  have  the  aristocratic  Thakurs  (the 
Rajput  barons),  the  men  of  wealth,  and  the  representatives  of 
agriculture,  to  [533]  settle  the  limits  and  maintain  the  principles 
of  their  ancient  patriarchal  system.  A  code  of  criminal  and  civil 
law,  perfectly  adequate,  could  be  compiled  from  their  sacred 
books,  their  records  on  stone,  or  traditional  customs,  and  sulficient 
might  be  deducted  from  the  revenues  of  the  State  to  maintain 
n)imicipal  forces,  which  could  unite  if  public  safety  were  en- 
dangered, while  the  equestrian  order  would  furnish  all  State 
parade,  and  act  as  a  movable  army. 

A  Revenue  Board. — But  to  return  to  our  subject.  Out  of  tliis 
numerous  body  of  Patels,  Zalim  selected  four  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  experienced,  of  whom  he  formed  a  council  attached  to 
the  Presence.  At  first  their  duties  were  confined  to  matters  of 
revenue  ;  soon  those  of  police  were  superadded,  and  at  length 
no  matter  of  internal  regulation  was  transacted  without  their 
advice.     In  all  cases  of  doubtful  decision  they  were  the  court  of 

^  [On  the  prospects  of  representative  government  in  Rajputana  see 
the  statement  of  the  Maharaja  of  BIkaner — I'he  Times,  10th  May  1917.] 


THE  PATEL  :  THE  BOHRA  1553 

appeal  from  provincial  panchayats,  and  even  from  those  of  the 
cities  and  the  capital  itself.  Thus  they  performed  the  threefold 
duties  of  a  board  of  revenue,  of  justice,  and  of  police,  and  perhaps 
throughout  the  world  there  never  was  a  police  like  that  of  Zalim 
Singh  :  there  was  not  one  Fouche,  but  four  ;  and  a  net  of  espion- 
age was  spread  over  the  country,  out  of  whose  meshes  nothing 
could  escape. 

Such  was  the  Patel  system  of  Kotah.  A  system  so  rigid  had 
its  alloy  of  evil ;  the  veil  of  secrecy,  so  essential  to  commercial 
pursuits,  was  rudely  drawn  aside  ;  every  transaction  was  exposed 
to  the  regent,  and  no  man  felt  safe  from  the  inquisitorial  visits  of 
the  spies  of  this  comicil.  A  lucky  speculation  was  immediately 
reported,  and  the  regent  hastened  to  share  in  the  success  of  the 
speculator.  Alarm  and  disgust  were  the  consequence  ;  the  spirit 
of  trade  was  damped  ;  none  were  assured  of  the  just  returns  of 
their  industry  ;  but  there  was  no  security  elsewhere,  and  at 
Kotah  only  the  Protector  dared  to  injure  them. 

The  council  of  Venice  was  not  more  arbitrary  than  the  Patel 
board  of  Kotah  ;  even  the  ministers  saw  the  sword  suspended 
over  their  heads,  while  they  were  hated  as  much  as  feared  by  all 
but  the  individual  who  recognized  their  utility. 

It  would  be  imagined  that  with  a  council  so  \igilant  the  regent 
would  feel  perfectly  secure.  Not  so  :  he  had  spies  over  them. 
In  short,  to  use  the  phrase  of  one  of  his  ministers — a  man  of  acute 
perception  and  powerful  understanding,  when  talking  of  the 
vigour  of  his  mental  vision — when  his  physical  organs  had  failed, 
I)am  jjina,  aur  mut  tolna,  M'hich  we  will  not  translate. 

The  Bohra. — The  Patel,  now  the  virtual  master  of  the  peasantry, 
was  aware  that  fine  and  confiscation  would  follow  the  discovery 
of  direct  oppression  of  the  ryots  ;  but  there  were  [534]  many 
indirect  modes  by  which  he  could  attain  his  object,  and  he  took 
the  most  secure,  the  medium  of  their  necessities.  Hitherto,  the 
impoverished  husbandman  had  Ms  wants  supplied  by  the  Bohra, 
the  sanctioned  usurer  of  each  village  ;  now,  the  pri\ileged  Patel 
usurped  his  functions,  and  bound  him  by  a  double  chain  to  his 
purposes.  But  we  must  explain  the  functions  of  the  Bohra,  in 
order  to  show  the  extent  of  subordination  in  which  the  ryot  was 
placed. 

The  Bohra  of  Rajputana  is  the  Metayer  of  the  ancient  system 
of  France.     He  furnishes  the  cultivator  with  whatever  he  requires 


1554  ANN.\LS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

lor  his  pursuits,  whether  cattle,  implements,  or  seed  ;  and  sup- 
ports him  and  his  family  throughout  the  season  until  the  crop  is 
ready  for  the  sickle,  when  a  settlement  of  accounts  takes  place. 
This  is  done  in  two  ways  :  either  by  a  cash  payment,  with  stipu- 
lated interest  according  to  the  risk  previously  agreed  upon  ;  or, 
more  commonly,  by  a  specified  share  of  the  crop,  in  which  the 
Bohra  takes  the  risk  of  bad  seasons  with  the  husbandman.  The 
utility  of  such  a  person  under  an  oppressive  government^  where 
the  ryot  can  store  up  nothing  for  the  future,  may  readily  be 
conceived ;  he  is,  in  fact,  indispensable.  Mutual  honesty  is 
required  ;  for  extortion  on  the  part  of  the  Bohra  would  lose  him 
his  clients,  and  dishonesty  on  that  of  the  peasant  would  deprive 
him  of  his  only  resource  against  the  sequestration  of  his  patrimony. 
Accordingly,  this  monied  middleman  enjoyed  great  consideration, 
being  regarded  as  the  patron  of  the  husbandman.  Every  peasant 
had  his  particular  Bohra,  and  not  unfrequently  from  the  adjacent 
village  in  preference  to  his  own. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  old  system  of  lattha 
hatai  was  commuted  for  bighoii,  a  specific  money-rent  apportioned 
to  the  area  of  the  land.  The  Patel,  now  tied  down  to  the  simple 
duties  of  collection,  could  touch  nothing  but  liis  dues,  unless  he 
leagued  with  or  overturned  the  Bohra  ;  and  in  either  case  there 
was  risk  from  the  lynx-eyed  scrutiny  of  the  regent.  They, 
accordingly,  adopted  the  middle  course  of  alarming  his  cupidity, 
which  the  following  expedient  effected.  When  the  crop  was 
ripe,  the  peasant  would  demand  permission  to  cut  it.  "  Pay 
your  rent  first,"  was  the  reply.  The  Bohra  was  applied  to  ;  but 
his  fears  had  been  awakened  by  a  caution  not  to  lend  money  to 
one  on  whom  the  government  had  claims.  There  was  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  mortgage  to  the  harpy  Patel  a  portion  of  the  produce 
of  his  fields.  Tliis  was  the  precise  point  at  which  he  aimed  ;  he 
took  the  crop  at  his  own  valuation,  and  gave  his  receipt  that  the 
dues  of  government  were  satisfied  ;  demanding  a  certificate  to 
the  eifect  "  that  having  no  funds  forthcoming  [535J  when  the  rent 
was  required,  and  being  unable  to  raise  it,  the  mortgager  volun- 
tarily assigned,  at  a  fair  valuation,  a  share  of  the  produce."  In 
this  manner  did  the  Patels  hoard  immense  quantities  of  grain, 
and  as  Kotah  became  the  granary  of  Rajputana,  they  accumulated 
great  wealth,  while  the  peasant,  never  able  to  reckon  on  the 
fruits  of  his  industry,   was   depressed  and  impoverished.     The 


THE  RYOT  AND  HIS  LAND-RENT  1555 

regent  could  not  long  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  these  extortions  ; 
but  the  treasury  overflowed,  and  he  did  not  sufficiently  heed  the 
miseries  occasioned  by  a  system  which  added  fresh  lands  by 
sequestration  to  the  home  farms,  now  the  object  of  his  especial 
solicitude. 

Suppression  o£  the  Patel  System. — Matters  proceeded  thus 
until  the  year  1867  (a.d.  1811),  when,  like  a  clap  of  thunder, 
mandates  of  arrest  were  issued,  and  every  Patel  in  Kotah  was 
placed  in  fetters,  and  his  property  under  the  seal  of  the  State  ;  the 
ill-gotten  wealth,  as  usual,  flowing  into  the  exchequer  of  the 
Protector.  Few  escaped  heavy  fines  ;  one  only  was  enabled 
altogether  to  evade  the  vigilance  of  the  police,  and  he  had  wisely 
remitted  his  wealth,  to  the  amount  of  seven  lakhs,  or  £70,000,  to 
a  foreign  country  ;  and  from  this  individual  case,  a  judgment 
may  be  formed  of  the  prey  these  cormorants  were  compelled  to 
disgorge. 

It  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  regent  must  have  well  weighed  the 
present  good  against  the  evil  he  incurred,  in  destroying  in  one 
moment  the  credit  and  efficacy  of  such  an  engine  of  power  as  the 
PateU  system  he  had  established.  The  Council  of  Four  main- 
tained their  post,  notwithstanding  the  humihated  condition  of 
their  compeers  ;  though  their  influence  could  not  faU  to  be 
weakened  by  the  discredit  attached  to  the  body.  The  system 
Zalim  had  so  artfully  introduced  being  thus  entirely  disorganized, 
he  was  induced  to  push  stUl  further  the  resources  of  his  energetic 
mind,  by  the  extension  of  Ms  personal  farms.  In  describing  the 
formation  and  management  of  these,  we  shall  better  portray  the 
character  of  the  regent  than  by  the  most  laboured  summary  ;  the 
acts  wiU  pauit  the  man. 

Before,  however,  we  enter  upon  this  singular  part  of  his 
history,  it  is  necessary  to  develop  the  ancient  agTicultural  system 
of  Haraoti,  to  v/hich  he  returned  when  the  patch  was  broken 
up.  In  the  execution  of  this  design,  we  must  speak  both 
of  the  soil  and  the  occupants,  whose  moral  estimation  in  the 
minds  of  their  rulers  nmst  materially  mfluence  their  legislative 
conduct. 

The  ryot  of  India,  like  the  progenitor  of  all  tiUers  of  the  earth, 
bears  the  brand  of  vengeance  on  his  forehead  ;  for  as  Cain  was 
cursed  by  the  Almighty,  so  were  the  cultivators  of  India  by 
Ramachandra,  as  a  class  whom  no  lenity  could  render  honest  or 


1556  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

[536J  contented.  ^Vhen  the  hero  of  Aj-odhya  left  his  kingdom 
for  Lanka,  he  enjoined  liis  minister  to  foster  the  ryots,  that  he 
might  hear  no  complaints  on  liis  return.  Aware  of  the  Iruitless- 
ness  of  the  attempt,  yet  determined  to  guard  against  all  just 
cause  of  complaint,  the  minister  reversed  the  mauna,  or  grain 
measure,  taking  the  share  of  the  crown  from  the  smaller  end, 
exactly  one-half  of  what  was  sanctioned  by  inmiemorial  usage. 
^Vhen  Rama  returned,  the  cultivators  assembled  in  bodies  at 
each  stage  of  liis  journey,  and  complained  of  the  innovations  of 
the  minister.  "  What  had  he  done  ?  "  "  Reversed  the  mauna.'''' 
The  monarch  dismissed  them  with  his  curse,  as  "  a  race  whom 
no  favour  could  concihate,  and  who  belonged  to  no  one  "  ;  a 
phrase  wliich  to  tliis  hour  is  proverbial,  '  ryot  kisi  ka  nahin  hai '  ; 
and  the  sentence  is  confirmed  by  the  historians  of  Alexander, 
who  tell  us  that  they  lived  unmolested  amidst  all  intestine  wars  ; 
that  "  they  only  till  the  ground  and  pay  tribute  to  the  king," 
enjoying  an  amnesty  from  danger  when  the  conunonwealth 
suffered,  which  must  tend  to  engender  a  love  of  soil  more  than 
patriotism.^  It  would  appear  as  if  the  regent  of  Kotah  had 
availed  himself  of  the  anathema  of  Rama  in  his  estimation  of  the 
moral  virtues  of  his  subjects,  who  were  Helots  in  condition  if 
not  in  name. 

Modes  of  realizing  Land-Rent. — We  proceed  to  the  modes  of 
realizing  the  dues  of  the  State,  in  which  the  character  and  con- 
dition of  the  peasant  will  be  further  developed.  There  are  four 
modes  of  levying  the  land-tax,  three  of  which  are  common  through- 
out Rajwara  ;  the  fourth  is  more  peculiar  to  Haraoti  and  Mewar. 
The  first  and  most  ancient  is  that  of  batai,  or  '  payment  in  kind,' 
practised  before  metallic  currency  was  invented.  The  system  of 
batai  extends,  however,  only  to  corn  ;  for  sugar-cane,  cotton, 
hemp,  poppy,  al,  kusumbha,^  ginger,  turmeric,  and  other  dyes  and 
drugs,  and  all  garden  stuffs,  pay  a  rent  in  money.  Tliis  rent  was 
arbitrary  and  variable,  according  to  the  necessities  or  justice  of 
the  ruler.  In  both  countries  five  to  ten  rupees  per  bigha  are 
demanded  for  sugar-cane  ;  three  to  five  for  cotton,  poppy,  hemp, 
and  oil-plant  ;  and  two  to  four  for  the  rest.  But  when  heaven 
was  bounteous,  avarice  and  oppression  rose  in  their  demands,  and 

^  [McCrindIc,  Mcgasthenes,  41.] 

^  [Al,  Morinda  cifrifolia,  from  which  a  dye  is  made  ;  kvsumbha,  safHower, 
Carthamua  linctorius,  also  a  dye  (Watt,  Kcon.  Prod.  783  f.,  270  tl.)-j 


THE  RYOT  AND  HIS  LAND-RENT  1557 

seventy  rupees  per  bigha  were  exacted  for  the  sugar-cane,  thus 
paralysing  the  industry  of  the  cultivator,  and  rendering  abortive 
the  beneficence  of  the  Almighty. 

Batai,  or  '  division  in  kind,'  varies  with  the  seasons  and  their 
products  : 

1st.  The  unalu,  or  '  summer  harvest,'  when  wheat,  barley,  and 
a  variety  of  pulses,  as  gram,  moth,  mung,  til,^  are  raised.  The 
share  of  the  State  in  these  varies  with  the  fertility  of  the  soil, 
from  one-fourth,  one-third,  and  two-fifths,  to  one-half — ^the 
extreme  fractions  being  the  maximum  and  minimum  ;  those  of 
one-third  and  two-fifths  [537]  are  the  most  universally  admitted 
as  the  share  of  the  crown.  But  besides  this,  there  are  dues  to 
the  artificers  and  mechanics,  whose  labour  to  the  village  is  com- 
pensated by  a  share  of  the  harvest  from  each  cultivator  ;  which 
allowances  reduce  the  portion  of  the  latter  to  one-half  of  the  gross 
produce  of  his  industry,  which  if  he  realize,  he  is  contented  and 
thrives. 

The  second  harvest  is  the  siyalu,  or  '  autumnal,'  and  consists 
of  makkai  or  bhutta  (Indian  corn),  of  juar,  bajra,  the  two  chief 
kinds  of  maize,"  and  til  or  sesamum,  with  other  small  seeds,  such 
as  kangni,^  with  many  of  the  pulses.  Of  all  these,  one-half  is 
exacted  by  the  State. 

Such  is  the  system  of  batai  ;  let  us  describe  that  of  kut.* 
Kut  *  is  the  conjectural  estimate  of  the  quantity  of  the  standing 
crop  on  a  measured  surface,  by  the  officers  of  the  government  in 
conjunction  with  the  proprietors,  when  the  share  of  the  State  is 
converted  into  cash  at  the  average  rate  of  the  day,  and  the 
peasant  is  debited  the  amount.  So  exactly  can  those  habitually 
exercised  in  this  method  estimate  the  quantity  of  grain  produced 
on  a  given  surface,  that  they  seldom  err  beyond  one-twentieth 

^  [3Ioth,  Phaseolus  aconitifolius ;  mung,  P.  mungo ;  til,  Sesamum  in- 
dicum.'\ 

-  [Juar  and  bajra  are  millets  ;  makkai  is  maize.] 

3  Panicum  Italicum  [Setaria  italica],  produced  abundantly  in  the  valley 
of  the  Rhine,  as  well  as  makkai,  there  called  Velsh  corn  ;  doubtless  the 
maizes  would  alike  grow  in  perfection.     [Watt,  Co>nm.  Prod.  988.] 

*  It  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  batai,  or  '  payment  in  kind,'  is 
divided  into  two  branches,  namely,  kut  and  lattha  ;  the  first  being  a  portion 
of  the  standing  crop  by  conjectural  estimate  ;  the  other  by  actual  measure, 
after  reaping  and  thrashing. 

6  [Kut  means  '  valuation,  appraisement.'] 


1558  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

part  of  the  crop.  Should,  however,  the  cultivator  deem  his 
crop  over-estimated,  he  has  the  power  to  cut  and  weigh  it  ;  and 
this  is  termed  lattha. 

,The  third  is  a  tax  in  money,  according  to  admeasurement  of 
the  field,  assessed  previously  to  cultivation. 

The  fourth  is  a  mixed  tax,  of  both  money  and  produce. 

None  of  these  modes  is  free  from  objection.  That  of  kut, 
or  conjectural  estimate  of  the  standing  crop,  is,  however,  liable 
to  much  greater  abuse  than  lattha,  or  measurement  of  the  grain. 
In  the  first  case,  it  is  well  known  that  by  a  bribe  to  the  officer, 
he  will  kut  a  field  at  ten  maunds,  which  may  realize  twice  the 
quantity  ;  for  the  chief  guarantees  to  honesty  are  fear  of  detection, 
and  instinctive  morality  ;  feeble  safeguards,  even  in  more  civilized 
States  than  Rajwara.  If  he  be  so  closely  watched  that  he  must 
make  a  fair  kut,  or  estimate,  he  will  still  find  means  to  extort 
money  from  the  ryot,  one  of  which  is,  by  procrastinating  the 
estimate  when  the  ear  is  ripe,  and  when  every  day's  delay  is  a 
certain  loss.  In  short,  a  celebrated  superintendent  of  a  district, 
of  great  credit  both  for  zeal  and  honesty  [538],  confessed,  "  We 
are  like  tailors  ;  we  can  cheat  you  to  your  face,  and  you  cannot 
perceive  it."  The  ryot  prefers  the  kut  ;  the  process  is  soon  over, 
and  he  has  done  with  the  government  ;  but  in  lattha,  the  means 
are  varied  to  perplex  and  cheat  it  ;  beginning  with  the  reaping, 
when,  with  a  liberal  hand,  they  leave  something  for  the  gleaner; 
then,  a  "  tithe  for  the  khurpi,  or  '  sickle  '  "  ;  then,  the  thrashing  ; 
and  though  they  muzzle  the  ox  who  treads  out  the  corn,  they  do 
not  their  own  mouths,  or  those  of  their  family.  Again,  if  not 
convertible  into  coin,  they  are  debited  and  allowed  to  store  it  up, 
and  "  the  rats  are  sure  to  get  into  the  pits."  In  both  cases  the 
shahnahs,  or  field-watchmen,  are  appointed  to  watch  the  crops, 
as  soon  as  the  ear  begins  to  fill  ;  yet  all  is  insufficient  to  check 
the  system  of  pillage  ;  for  the  ryot  and  his  family  begin  to  feed 
upon  the  heads  of  Indian  corn  and  millet  the  moment  they  afford 
the  least  notirishment.  The  shahnah,  receiving  his  emoluments 
from  the  husbandman  as  well  as  from  the  crown,  inclines  more  to 
his  fellow-citizen  ;  and  it  is  asserted  that  one-fourth  of  the  crop> 
and  even  a  third,  is  frequently  made  away  with  before  the  share 
of  the  government  can  be  fixed. 

Yet  the  system  of  lattha  was  pursued  by  the  regent  before  he 
commenced  that  of  pateli,  M'hich  has  no  slight  analogy  to  the 


THE  FARMING  SYSTEM  OF  ZALIM  SINGH       1559 

permanent  system  of  Bengal,^  and  was  attended  with  similar 
results, — distress,  confiscation,  and  sale,  to  the  utter  exclusion 
of  the  hereditary  principle,  the  very  corner-stone  of  Hindu 
society. 


CHAPTER   8 

The  Fanning  Monopoly. — Let  us  proceed  with  the  most 
prominent  feature  of  the  regent's  internal  administration — -his 
farming  monopoly — to  which  he  is  mainly  indebted  for  the  reputa- 
tion he  [539]  enjoys  throughout  Rajputana.  The  superficial 
observer,  who  can  with  difficulty  find  a  path  through  the  corn-fields 
which  cover  the  face  of  Haraoti,  will  dwell  with  rapture  upon  the 
effects  of  a  system  in  which  he  discovers  nothing  but  energy  and 
eiHciency :  he  cannot  trace  the  remote  causes  of  this  deceptive 
prosperity,  which  originated  in  moral  and  political  injustice.  It 
was  because  his  own  tyranny  had  produced  unploughed  fields  and 
deserted  villages,  starving  husbandmen  and  a  diminishing  popula- 
tion ;  it  was  with  the  distrained  implements  and  cattle  of  his 
subjects,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the  injurious  effects  of  so  much 
waste  land  upon  the  revenue,  that  Zalim  commenced  a  system 
which  has  made  him  farmer-general  of  Haraoti  ;  and  he  has 
carried  it  to  an  astonishing  extent.  There  is  not  a  nook  or  a 
patch  in  Haraoti  where  grain  can  be  produced  which  his  ploughs 
do  not  visit.  Forests  have  disappeared  ;  even  the  barren  rocks 
have  been  covered  with  exotic  soil,  and  the  mountain's  side, 
inaccessible  to  the  plough,  is  turned  up  with  a  spud,  and  compelled 
to  yield  a  crop. 

In  S.  1840  (a.d.  1784),  Zalim  possessed  only  two  or  three 
hundred  ploughs,  which  in  a  few  years  increased  to  eight  hundred. 
At  the  commencement  of  what  they  term  the  new  era  (naya 
samvat)  in  the  history  of  landed  property  of  Kotah,  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  pateli  system,  the  number  was  doubled  ;    and  at  the 

^  The  patel  of  Haraoti,  like  the  zemindar  of  Bengal,  was  answerable  for 
the  revenues ;  the  one,  however,  was  hereditary  only  during  pleasure  ;  the 
other  perpetually  so.     The  extent  of  their  authorities  was  equal. 


1  r,C,0  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAII 

present  time  ^  no  less  tlian  four  tliousand  ploughs,  of  double 
yoke,  employing  sixteen  thousand  oxen,  are  used  in  the  farming 
system  of  this  extraordinary  man  ;  to  which  may  be  added 
one  thousand  more  ploughs  and  four  thousand  oxen  employed 
on  the  estates  of  the  prince  and  the  different  members  of  his 
family. 

This  is  the  secret  of  the  Raj  Rana's  power  and  reputation  ;  and 
to  the  wealth  extracted  from  her  soil,  Kotah  owes  her  preserva- 
tion from  the  ruin  which  befell  the  States  around  her  during  the 
con\ailsions  of  the  last  half-century,  when  one  after  another  sank 
into  decay.  But  although  sagacity  marks  the  plan,  and  un- 
exampled energy  superintends  its  details,  we  must,  on  examining 
the  foundations  of  the  system  either  morally  or  politically,  pro- 
nounce its  effects  a  mere  paroxysm  of  prosperity,  arising  from 
stimulating  causes  which  present  no  guarantee  of  permanence. 
Despotism  has  wrought  this  magic  effect  :  there  is  not  one,  from 
the  noble  to  the  peasant,  who  has  not  felt,  and  who  does  not  still 
feel,  its  presence.  When  the  arm  of  the  octogenarian  Protector 
shall  be  withdrawn,  and  the  authority  transferred  to  his  son,  who 
possesses  none  of  the  father's  energies,  then  will  the  impolicy  of 
the  system  become  apparent.  It  [540]  was  from  the  sequestrated 
estates  of  the  valiant  Hara  chieftain,  and  that  grinding  oppression 
which  thinned  Haraoti  of  its  agricultural  population,  and  left 
the  lands  waste,  that  the  regent  found  scope  for  his  genius.  The 
fields,  which  had  descended  from  father  to  son  through  the  lapse 
of  ages,  the  unalienable  right  of  the  peasant,  were  seized,  in  spite 
of  law,  custom,  or  tradition,  on  everj^  defalcation  ;  and  it  is  even 
affirmed  that  he  sought  pretexts  to  obtain  such  lands  as  from 
their  contiguity  or  fertility  he  coveted,  and  that  hundreds  were 
thus  deprived  of  their  inheritance.  In  vain  we  look  for  the 
peaceful  hamlets  which  once  studded  Haraoti  :  we  discern  instead 
the  ori,  or  farmhouse  of  the  regent,  which  would  be  beautiful 
were  it  not  erected  on  the  property  of  the  subject  ;  but  when  we 
inquire  the  ratio  which  the  cultivators  bear  to  the  cultivation, 
and  the  means  of  enjoyment  this  artificial  system  has  left  them, 
and  find  that  the  once  independent  proprietor,  who  claimed  a 
sacred  right  of  inheritance,'*  now  ploughs  like  a  serf  the  fields 

^  This  was  drawn  up  in  1820-21. 

*  Throughout  the  Bundi  territory,  where  no  regent  has  innovated  on 
the  established  laws  of  inheritance,  by  far  tlio  t^rcatcr  part  of  the  land  is 


AGRICULTURE  IN  KOTAH  1561 

formerly  his  own,  all  our  perceptions  of  moral  justice  are 
shocked. 

The  love  of  country  and  the  passion  for  possessing  land  are 
strong  throughout  Rajputana  :  while  there  is  a  hope  of  existence 
the  cultivator  clings  to  the  bapota,  and  in  Haraoti  this  amor  patriae 
is  so  invincible,  that,  to  use  their  homely  phrase,  "  he  would 
rather  fill  his  pet  in  slavery  there,  than  live  in  luxury  abroad." 
But  where  could  they  fly  to  escape  oppression  ?  All  around  was 
desolation  ;  armies  perambulated  the  country,  with  rapid  strides, 
in  each  other's  train,  "  one  to  another  still  succeeding."  To  this 
evil  Kotah  was  comparatively  a  stranger  ;  the  Protector  was  the 
only  plunderer  within  his  domains.  Indeed,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  surrounding  States,  from  the  year  1865,  when  rapine  was 
at  its  height,  flocked  into  Kotah,  and  filled  up  the  chasm  which 
oppression  had  produced  in  the  population.  But  with  the 
banishment  of  predatory  war,  and  the  return  of  industry  to  its 
own  field  of  exertion,  this  panacea  for  the  wounds  which  the  ruler 
has  inflicted  will  disappear  ;  and  although  the  vast  resources  of 
the  regent's  inind  may  check  the  appearance  of  decay,  while  his 
faculties  survive  to  superintend  this  vast  and  complicated  system, 
it  must  ultimately,  from  the  want  of  a  principle  of  permanence, 
fall  into  rapid  disorganization.  We  proceed  to  the  details  [541] 
of  the  system,  which  will  afford  fresh  proofs  of  the  talent,  industry, 
and  vigilance  of  this  singular  character. 

Agriculture  in  Kotah. — The  soil  of  Kotah  is  a  rich  tenacious 
mould,  resembling  the  best  parts  of  lower  Malwa.  The  single 
plough  is  unequal  to  breaking  it  up,  and  the  regent  has  intro- 
duced the  plough  of  double  yoke  from  the  Konkan.  His  cattle 
are  of  the  first  quality,  and  equally  fit  for  the  park  or  the  plough. 

the  absolute  property  of  the  cultivating  ryot,  who  can  seU  or  mortgage  it. 
There  is  a  curious  tradition  that  this  right  was  obtained  by  one  of  the 
ancient  princes  making  a  general  sale  of  the  crown  land,  reserving  only  the 
tax.  In  Bundi,  if  a  ryot  becomes  unable,  from  pecuniary  wants  or  other- 
wise, to  cultivate  his  lands,  he  lets  them  ;  and  custom  has  estabhshed  four 
annas  per  bigha  of  irrigated  land,  and  two  annas  for  gorma,  that  dependent 
on  the  heavens,  or  a  share  of  the  produce  in  a  similar  proportion,  as  his 
right.  If  in  exile,  from  whatever  cause,  he  can  assign  this  share  to  trustees  ; 
and,  the  more  strongly  to  mark  his  inalienable  right  in  such  a  case,  the 
trustees  reserve  on  his  account  two  sers  on  every  maund  of  produce, 
which  is  emphatically  termed  '  hakk  bapota  ka  bhum,''  the  '  dues  of  the 
patrimonial  s«il.' 

VOL.  Ill  X 


1562       ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

He  purchases  at  all  the  adjacent  fairs,  chiefly  in  his  own  dominions, 
and  at  the  annual  mela  (fair)  of  his  favourite  city  Jhalrapatan.' 
He  has  tried  those  of  Marwar  and  of  the  desert,  famed  for  a 
superior  race  of  cattle  ;  but  he  found  that  the  transition  from 
their  sandy  re^ons  to  the  deep  loam  of  Haraoti  soon  disabled 
them. 

Each  plough  or  team  is  equal  to  the  culture  of  one  hundred 
bighas  ;  consequently  4000  ploughs  will  cultivate  400,000  during 
each  harvest,  and  for  both  800,000,  nearly  300,000  English  acres. 
The  soil  is  deemed  poor  which  does  not  yield  seven  to  ten  maunds  - 
of  wheat  per  bigha,  and  five  to  seven  of  millet  and  Indian  corn. 
But  to  take  a  very  low  estimate,  and  allowing  for  bad  seasons,  we 
may  assiune  four  maunds  per  bigha  as  the  average  produce 
(though  double  would  not  be  deemed  an  exaggerated  average)  : 
this  will  give  3,200,000  maunds  of  both  products,  wheat  and 
millet,  and  the  proportion  of  the  former  to  the  latter  is  as  three 
to  two.  Let  us  estimate  the  value  of  this.  In  seasons  of  abund- 
ance, twelve  rupees  per  mauni,^  in  equal  quantities  of  both  grains, 
is  the  average  ;  at  this  time  (July  1820),  notwithstanding  the 
preceding  season  has  been  a  failure  throughout  Rajwara  (though 
there  was  a  prospect  of  an  excellent  one),  and  gi-ain  a  dead  weight, 
eighteen  rupees  per  mauni  is  the  current  price,  and  may  be  quoted 
as  the  average  standard  of  Haraoti  :  above  is  approximating  to 
dearness,  and  below  to  the  reverse.  But  if  we  take  the  average 
of  the  year  of  actual  plenty,  or  twelve  rupees  *  per  mauni  of  equal 
quantities  of  wheat  and  juar,  or  one  rupee  per  maund,  the  result 
is  thirty-two  lakhs  of  rupees  annual  income. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  calculate  how  much  of  this  becomes 
net  produce  towards  the  expenses  of  the  government,  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  charges  are  about  one-third  gross 
amount  [542]. 

^  [Now  the  commercial  capital  of  Jhalawar  State,  on  the  Kotah  border.] 
2  A  maund  is  seventy-five  pounds. 

'  Grain  Measure  of  Rajputana. — 75  pounds  =  1  ser       [?  1*7  lbs.      The 

standard  ser  is  a  little  over  2  lbs.] 
43  sers        ==  1  maund. 
12  maunds=l  mauni. 
100  maunis  =  1  manasa. 
■*  It  does  descend  as  low  as  eight  rupees  per  mauni  for  wheat  and  barley, 
and  four  for  the  millets,  in  seasons  of  excessive  abundance. 


RESULTS  OF  FARMING  MONOPOLY  1563 

Expenses. 
Establishments — namely,  feeding  cattle  and  ser- 
vants, tear  and  wear  of  gear,  and  clearing  the 
fields — one-eighth  of  the  gross  amount,^  or       .         400,000 

Seed 600,000 

Replacing  4000  oxen  annually,  at  20s. ^        .          .  80,000 

Extras 20,000 


1,100,000 


We  do  not  presume  to  give  this,  or  even  the  gross  amount,  as 
more  than  an  approximation  to  the  truth  ;  but  the  regent  himself 
has  mentioned  that  in  one  year  the  casualties  in  oxen  amounted 
to  five  thousand  !  We  have  allowed  one-fourth,  for  an  ox  will 
work  weU  seven  years,  if  taken  care  of.  Thus,  on  the  lowest  scale, 
supposing  the  necessities  of  the  government  required  the  grain  to 
be  sold  in  the  year  it  was  raised,  twenty  lakhs  will  be  the  net  profit 
of  the  regent's  farms.  But  he  has  abundant  resources  without 
being  forced  into  the  market  before  the  favourable  moment  ; 
until  when,  the  produce  is  hoarded  up  in  subterranean  granaries. 
Everything  in  these  regions  is  simple,  yet  efficient  :  we  will 
describe  the  grain-pits. 

Storage  oJ  Grain. — These  pits  or  trenches  are  fixed  on  elevated 
dry  spots  ;  their  size  being  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil. 
All  the  preparation  they  undergo  is  the  incineration  of  certain 
vegetable  substances,  and  fining  the  sides  and  bottom  with  wheat 
or  barley  stubble.  The  grain  is  then  deposited  in  the  pit,  covered 
over  with  straw,  and  a  terrace  of  earth,  about  eighteen  inches  in 
height,  and  projecting  in  front  beyond  the  orifice  of  the  pit,  is 
raised  over  it.  This  is  secured  with  a  coating  of  clay  and  cow- 
dung,  which  resists  even  the  monsoon,  and  is  renewed  as  the 
torrents  injure  it.  Thus  the  grain  may  remain  for  years  without 
injury,  while  the  heat  wliich  is  extricated  checks  germination, 
and  deters  rats  and  white  ants.     Thus  the  regent  has  seldom  less 

^  It  is  not  uncommon  in  Rajwara,  when  the  means  of  individuals  prevent 
them  from  cultivating  their  own  lands,  to  hire  out  the  whole  with  men  and 
implements  ;  for  the  use  of  which  one-eighth  of  the  produce  is  the  estabhshed 
consideration.  We  have  appUed  this  in  the  rough  estimate  of  the  expenses 
of  the  regent's  farming  system. 

*  [To  illustrate  the  rise  in  prices,  the  average  value  of  a  plough  bullock 
is  now  RSi  4(T,  or  about  £2  :  I3s.] 


1564      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

than  fifty  lakhs  of  niaunds  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  it 
is  on  emergencies,  or  in  bad  seasons,  that  these  stores  see  the  light  ; 
when,  instead  of  twelve  rupees,  the  mauni  runs  as  high  as  forty, 
or  the  famine  price  of  sixty.  Then  these  pits  are  mines  of  gold  ; 
the  regent  ha\'ing  frequently  sold  in  one  year  sixty  lakhs  of 
maimds.  In  S.  1860  (or  a.d.  1804),  during  the  Mahratta  war, 
when  Holkar  was  in  the  Bharatpur  State,  and  predatory  armies 
were  moving  in  every  direction,  and  when  famine  and  war  [543] 
conjoined  to  desolate  the  country,  Kotah  fed  the  whole  population 
of  Rajwara,  and  supplied  all  these  roving  hordes.  In  that  season, 
grain  being  fifty-five  rupees  per  mauni,  he  sold  to  the  enormous 
amount  of  one  crore  of  rupees,  or  a  million  sterling  ! 

Reputable  merchants  of  the  Mahajan  tribe  refrain  from  speculat- 
hig  in  grain,  from  the  most  liberal  feelings,  esteeming  it  dharm 
nnhin  hai,  '  a  want  of  charity.'  The  humane  Jain  merchant  says, 
"  to  hoard  up  grain,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  advantage  of  human 
misery,  may  bring  riches,  but  never  profit." 

According  to  the  only  accessible  documents,  the  whole  crown- 
revenue  of  Kotah  from  the  tax  in  kind,  amounted,  under  bad 
management,  to  twenty-five  lakhs  of  rupees.  Tliis  is  all  the 
regent  admits  he  collects  from  (to  use  his  own  jihrase)  his  handful 
{pachhvara)  of  soil  :  of  course  he  does  not  include  his  own  farming 
system,  but  only  the  amount  raised  from  the  cultivator.  He 
confesses  that  two-thirds  of  the  superficial  area  of  Kotah  were 
waste  ;  but  that  this  is  now  reversed,  there  being  two-tlurds 
cultivated,  and  only  one-third  waste,  and  this  comprises  mountain, 
forest,  common,  etc. 

Extortionate  Taxes. — In  S.  1865  (a.d.  1809),  as  if  industry  were 
not  already  sufficiently  shackled,  the  regent  established  a  new 
tax  on  all  corn  exported  from  his  dominions.  It  was  termed 
lattlia,  and  amounted  to  a  rupee  and  a  half  per  mauni.  This  tax  , 
— not  less  unjust  in  origin  than  vexatious  in  operation — worse 
than  even  the  infamous  gabclle,  or  the  droit  d'auhaine  of  France — 
was  another  fruit  of  monopoly.  It  was  at  first  confined  to  the 
grower,  though  of  course  it  fell  indirectly  on  the  consumer  ;  but 
the  Jagatya,'  or  chief  collector  of  the  customs,  a  man  after  the 
regent's  own  heart,  was  so  pleased  with  its  efficiency  on  the  very 
first  trial,  that  he  advised  his  master  to  push  it  farther,  and  it 

^  [Jagatya,  a  Marathi  word  derived  from  jaM<,  Arabic  zakat,  the  religious 
alms  which  a  Musalmiin  is  bound  to  pay.] 


RESULTS  OF  FARMING  MONOPOLY  1565 

was  accordingly  levied  as  Avell  on  the  farmer  as  the  purchaser. 
An  item  of  ten  lakhs  was  at  once  added  to  the  budget  ;  and  as 
if  this  were  insufficient  to  stop  all  competition  between  the 
regent-farmer-general  and  his  subjects,  three,  four,  nay  even  five 
latthas,  have  been  levied  from  the  same  grain  before  it  was  retailed 
for  consumption.  Kotah  exhibited  the  picture  of  a  people,  if 
not  absolutely  starving,  yet  living  in  penury  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 
Neither  the  lands  of  his  chiefs  nor  those  of  his  ministers  were 
exempt  from  the  operation  of  this  tax,  and  all  were  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Jagatya,  from  whose  arbitrary  will  there  was  no  appeal. 
It  had  reached  the  very  height  of  oppression  about  the  period  of 
the  aUiance  with  the  British  Government.  This  collector  had 
become  a  part  of  his  system  ;  and  if  the  regent  required  a  few 
lakhs  of  ready  money,  Jo  hukm,  '  your  commands,'  was  the 
reply.  A  list  was  made  out  of  '  arrears  of  lattha,^  and  friend  and 
foe,  minister,  banker,  trader,  and  farmer,  had  a  circular.  Remon- 
strance was  not  only  vain  but  [544]  dangerous  :  even  his  ancient 
friend,  the  Pandit  Balal,  had  twenty-five  thousand  rupees  to 
pay  in  one  of  these  schedules  ;  the  homme  d'affaires  of  one  of  his 
confidential  chiefs,  five  thousand  ;  his  own  foreign  minister  a 
share,  and  many  bankers  of  the  town,  four  thousand,  five  thousand, 
and  ten  thousand  each.  The  term  lattha  was  an  abuse  of  language 
for  a  forced  contribution  ;  in  fact  the  obnoxious  and  well-known 
dand  of  Rajwara.  It  alienated  the  minds  of  all  men,  and 
nearly  occasioned  the  regent's  ruin ;  for  scarcely  Avas  their 
individual  sympathy  expressed,  when  the  Hara  princes  conspired 
to  emancipate  themselves  from  his  interminable  and  galling 
protection. 

"WTien  the  Enghsh  Government  came  in  contact  with  Rajwara, 
it  was  a  primary  principle  of  the  universal  protective  aUiance  to 
proclaim  that  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed  as  well  as  the 
governors,  since  it  availed  little  to  destroy  the  wolves  without 
if  they  were  consigned  to  the  lion  witliin.  But  there  are  and 
must  be  absurd  inconsistencies,  even  in  the  policy  of  western 
legislators,  where  one  set  of  principles  is  apphed  to  all.  Zalim 
soon  discovered  that  the  fashion  of  the  day  was  to  parwarish, 
'  foster  the  ryot.'  The  odious  character  of  the  tax  was  diminished, 
and  an  edict  limited  its  operation  to  the  farmer,  the  seller,  and 
the  purchaser  ;  and  so  anxious  Mas  he  to  conceal  this  weapon  of 
oppression,   that   the   very  name   of  lattha  was   abolished,   and 


1566  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

saivai  hasil,  or  '  extraordinaries,'  substituted.  This  item  is  said 
still  to  amount  to  five  lakhs  of  rupees. 

Thus  did  the  skill  and  rigid  system  of  the  regent  exact  from 
his  pachiwara  of  soil,  full  fifty  lakhs  of  rupees.  We  must  also 
recollect  that  nearly  five  more  are  to  be  added  on  account  of  the 
household  lands  of  the  members  of  his  own  and  the  prince's 
family,  which  is  almost  sufficient  to  cover  their  expenses. 

What  will  the  European  practical  farmer,  of  enlarged  means 
and  experience,  think  of  the  man  who  arranged  this  complicated 
system,  and  who,  during  forty  years,  has  superintended  its 
details  ?  What  opinion  will  he  form  of  his  vigour  of  mind,  who, 
at  the  age  of  fourscore  years,  although  blind  and  palsied,  still 
superintends  and  maintains  this  system  ?  What  will  he  think 
of  the  tenacity  of  memory,  which  bears  graven  thereon,  as  on  a 
tablet,  an  account  of  all  these  vast  depositories  of  grain,  with 
their  varied  contents,  many  of  them  the  store  of  years  past ; 
and  the  power  to  check  the  sUghtest  errors  of  the  intendant  of 
this  vast  accumulation  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  regulates 
the  succession  of  crops  throughout  tliis  extensive  range  ?  Such 
is  the  minute  topographical  knowledge  wliich  the  regent  possesses 
of  his  country,  that  every  field  in  every  farm  is  familiar  [545]  to 
him  ;  and  woe  to  the  superintendent  Havaldar  Mf  he  discovers 
a  fallow  nook  that  oiight  to  bear  a  crop. 

Yet  vast  as  this  system  is,  overwhelming  as  it  would  seem  to 
most  minds,  it  formed  but  a  part  of  the  political  engine  conducted 
and  kept  in  action  by  his  single  powers.  The  details  of  his 
administration,  internal  as  well  as  external,  demanded  unremitted 
vigilance.  The  formation,  the  maintenance,  and  discipline  of  an 
army  of  twenty  thousand  men,  his  fortresses,  arsenals,  and  their 
complicated  minutiae,  were  amply  suHicient  for  one  nund.  The 
daily  account  from  his  police,  consisting  of  several  hundred 
emissaries,  besides  the  equally  numerous  reports  from  the  head  of 
each  district,  would  have  cUstracted  an  ordinary  head,  "  for  the 
winds  could  not  enter  and  leave  Ilaraoti  without  being  reported." 
But  when,  in  addition  to  all  this,  it  is  known  that  the  regent 
was  a  practical  merchant,  a  speculator  in  exchanges,  that  he 
encouraged  the  mechanical  arts,  fostered  foreign  industry,  pursued 
even  horticulture,  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  considered  no 
trouble  thrown  away  which  made  the  rupee  return  sixteen  and 

^  [Havaldar,  havaladdr,  the  officer  in  charge  ol  the  collection  of  grain. J 


CHARACTER  OF  ZALIM  SINGH  1567 

a  half  annas,  with  whom  can  he  be  compared  ?  "  ^  Literature, 
philosophy,  and  excerptae  from  the  grand  historical  epics,  were  the 
amusements  of  his  hours  of  relaxation  ;  but  here  we  anticipate, 
for  we  have  not  yet  finished  the  review  of  his  economical  char- 
acter. His  monopoUes,  especially  that  of  grain,  not  only  in- 
fluenced his  o^vn  market,  but  affected  all  the  adjacent  countries  ; 
and  when  speculation  in  opium  ran  to  such  a  demoraUzing  excess 
in  consequence  of  the  British  Government  monopolizing  the 
entire  produce  of  the  poppy  cultivated  throughout  Malwa,  he 
took  advantage  of  the  mania,  and  by  his  sales  or  purchases  raised 
or  depressed  the  market  at  pleasure.  His  gardens,  scattered 
throughout  the  country,  still  supply  the  markets  of  the  towns 
and  capital  with  vegetables,  and  his  forests  furnish  them  with  fuel. 

So  rigid  was  liis  system  of  taxation  that  nothing  escaped  it. 
There  was  a  heavy  tax  on  widows  who  remarried.  Even  the 
gourd  of  the  mendicant  paid  a  tithe,  and  the  ascetic  in  his  cell 
had  a  domicihary  visit  to  ascertain  the  gains  of  mendicity,  in 
order  that  a  portion  should  go  to  the  exigencies  of  the  State. 
The  tumba  barar,  or  '  gourd-tax,'  was  abolished  after  forming  for 
a  twelvemonth  part  of  the  fiscal  code  of  Haraoti,  and  then  not 
through  any  scruples  of  the  regent,  but  to  satisfy  his  friends. 
Akin  to  this,  and  even  of  a  lower  grade,  was  the  jharu  barar,  or 
'  broom-tax,'  which  continued  for  ten  years  ;  but  the  many 
lampoons  it  provoked  from  the  satirical  Bhat  operated  on  the 
more  sensitive  feelings  of  his  son,  Madho  Singh,  who  obtained 
its  repeal  [546]. 

Zalim  Singh  and  the  Bards. — Zalim  was  no  favourite  with  the 
bards  ;  and  that  he  had  httle  claim  to  their  consideration  may 
be  inferred  from  the  following  anecdote.  A  celebrated  rhymer 
was  reciting  some  laudatory  stanzas,  wliich  the  regent  received 
rather  coldly,  observing  with  a  sneer  that  "  they  told  nothing 
but  hes,  though  he  should  be  happy  to  listen  to  their  effusions 
when  truth  was  the  foundation."  The  poet  replied  that  "  he 
found  truth  a  most  mimarketable  commodity  ;  nevertheless,  he 
had  some  of  that  at  his  service  "  ;  and  stipulating  for  forgiveness 
if  they  offended,  he  gave  the  protector  liis  picture  in  a  string  of 
improvised  stanzas,  so  fuU  of  vish  (poison),  that  the  lands  of  the 
whole  fraternity  were  resumed,  and  none  of  the  order  have  ever 
since  been  admitted  to  his  presence. 

^  There  are  sixteen  annas  to  a  rupee. 


1568  ANNALS  OF  HAEAVATI  :  KOTAH 

Though  rigid  in  his  observance  of  the  ceremonies  of  religion, 
and  sharing  in  the  prevaihng  superstitions  of  his  country,  he 
never  allows  the  accidental  circumstance  of  birth  or  caste 
to  affect  his  policy.  Offences  against  the  State  admit  of  no 
indemnity,  be  the  offender  a  Brahman  or  a  bard  ;  and  if  these 
classes  engage  in  trade,  they  experience  no  exemption  from 
imposts. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  territorial  arrangements  of  the  regent 
Zalim  Singh.  When  power  was  assigned  to  him,  he  found  the 
State  limited  to  Kelwara  on  the  east  ;  he  has  extended  it  to  the 
verge  of  the  Plateau,  and  the  fortress  which  guards  its  ascent,  at 
first  rented  from  the  Mahrattas,  is  now  by  treaty  his  own.  He 
took  possession  of  the  reins  of  power  with  an  empty  treasury  and 
thirty-two  lakhs  of  accumulating  debt.  He  found  the  means  of 
defence  a  few  dilapidated  fortresses,  and  a  brave  but  unmanage- 
able feudal  army.  He  has,  at  an  immense  cost,  put  the  fortresses 
into  the  most  complete  state  of  defence,  and  covered  their 
ramparts  with  many  hundred  pieces  of  cannon  ;  and  he  has 
raised  and  maintains,  in  lieu  of  about  four  thousand  Hara  cava- 
liers, an  army — regular  we  may  term  it — of  twenty  thousand 
men,  distributed  into  battalions,  a  park  of  one  hundred  pieces 
of  cannon,  with  about  one  thousand  good  horse,  besides  the 
feudal  contingents. 

But  is  this  prosperity  ?  Is  this  the  greatness  which  the  Raja 
Guman  intended  should  be  entailed  upon  his  successors,  his 
chiefs,  and  his  subjects  ?  Was  it  to  entertain  twenty  thousand 
mercenary  soldiers  from  the  sequestrated  fields  of  the  illustrious 
Hara,  the  indigenous  proprietor  ?  Is  this  government,  is  it 
good  government  according  to  the  ideas  of  more  civilized  nations, 
to  extend  taxation  to  its  limit,  in  order  to  maintain  this  cumbrous 
machinery.  We  may  admit  that,  for  a  time,  such  a  system  may 
have  been  requisite,  not  only  for  the  maintenance  of  his  delegated 
f.547]  power,  but  to  preserve  the  State  from  predatory  spoliation  ; 
and  now,  could  we  see  the  noble  restored  to  his  forfeited  estates, 
and  the  ryot  to  his  hereditary  rood  of  land,  we  should  say  that 
Zalim  Singh  had  been  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  Providence 
for  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  the  Haras.  But,  as  it  is, 
whilst  the  corn  which  waves  upon  the  fertile  surface  of  Kotah 
presents  not  tlie  symbol  of  prosperity,  neither  is  his  well-paid 
and  well-disciplined  army  a  sure  means  of  defence  ;   moral  jjro- 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  ZALIM  SINGH  1569 

priety  has  been  violated  ;  rights  are  in  abeyance,  and  until  they 
be  restored,  even  the  apparent  consistency  of  the  social  fabric 
is  obtained  by  means  wlaich  endanger  its  security. 


CHAPTER   9 

Foreign  Policy  of  Zalim  Singh. — The  foregoing  reflections 
bring  us  back  to  political  considerations,  and  these  we  must 
separate  into  two  branches,  the  foreign  and  domestic.  We 
purposely  invert  the  discussion  of  these  topics  for  the  sake  of 
convenience. 

Zalim's  policy  was  to  create,  as  regarded  himself,  a  kind  of 
balance  of  power  ;  to  overawe  one  leader  by  his  influence  with 
another,  yet,  by  the  maintenance  of  a  good  understanding  with 
all,  to  prevent  individual  umbrage,  while  his  own  strength  was 
at  all  times  sufficient  to  make  the  scale  preponderate  in  his 
favour. 

Placed  in  the  very  heart  of  India,  Kotah  was  for  years  the 
centre  arovmd  which  revolved  the  desultorj'^  armies,  or  ambulant 
governments,  ever  strangers  to  repose  ;  and  though  its  wealth 
could  not  fail  to  attract  the  cupidity  of  these  vagabond  powers, 
yet,  by  the  imposing  attitude  which  he  assumed,  Zalim  Singh 
maintained,  during  more  than  half  a  century,  the  respect,  the 
fear,  and  even  the  esteem  of  all ;  and  Kotah  alone,  throughout 
this  lengthened  period,  so  full  of  catastrophes,  never  saw  an 
enemy  [548]  at  her  gates.  Although  an  epoch  of  perpetual 
change  and  political  convulsion — armies  destroyed.  States 
overturned,  famine  and  pestilence  often  aiding  moral  causes  in 
desolating  the  land — yet  did  the  regent,  from  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  to  eighty-two,^  by  his  sagacity,  his  energy,  his  moderation, 
his  prudence,  conduct  the  bark  intrusted  to  his  care  through 
all  the  shoals  and  dangers  which  beset  her  course.  It  may  not 
excite  surprise  that  he  was  unwilling  to  rehnquish  the  helm  when 
the  vessel  was  moored  in  calm  waters  ;  or,  when  the  unskilful 
owner,  forgetting  these  tempests,  and  deeming  his  own  science 

^  I  may  once  more  repeat,  this  was  written  in  a.d.  1820-21,  when  Zalim 
Singh  had  reached  the  age  of  fourscore  and  two.     [He  died,  aged  84,  in  1824.] 


1570  ANNALS  OF  IlARAVATI :  KOTAH 

C(iual  to  the  task,  demanded  the  surrender,  that  he  should  hoist 
the  liag  of  dehance. 

There  was  not  a  court  in  Rajwara,  not  even  the  predatory 
governments,  which  was  not  in  some  way  influenced  by  his 
opinions,  and  often  guided  by  his  councils.  At  each  he  had 
envoys,  and  when  there  was  a  point  to  gain,  there  were  irresistible 
arguments  in  reserve  to  secure  it.  The  necessities,  the  vanities, 
and  weaknesses  of  man  he  could  enlist  on  liis  side,  and  he  was 
alternately,  by  adoption,  the  father,  uncle,  or  brother  of  every 
person  in  power  during  this  eventful  period,  from  the  prince  upon 
the  throne  to  the  brat  of  a  Pindari.  He  frequently  observed 
that  "  none  knew  the  shifts  he  had  been  put  to  "  ;  and  when 
entreated  not  to  use  expressions  of  humiUty,  which  were  aUke 
unsuited  to  his  age  and  station,  and  the  reverence  he  compelled, 
he  would  reply,  "  God  grant  you  long  life,  but  it  is  become  a 
habit."  For  the  last  ten  years  he  not  only  made  his  connexion 
with  Amir  Khan  subservient  to  avoiding  a  colUsion  with  Holkar, 
but  converted  the  Khan  into  the  make-weight  of  his  balance  of 
power  ;  "he  thanked  God  the  time  was  past  when  he  had  to 
congratulate  even  the  slave  of  a  Turk  on  a  safe  accouchement,  and 
to  pay  for  this  happiness." 

Though  by  nature  irascible,  impetuous,  and  proud,  he  could 
bend  to  the  extreme  of  submission.  But  while  he  would,  by 
letter  or  conversation,  say  to  a  marauding  Pindari  or  Pathan, 
"  let  me  petition  to  your  notice,"  or  "  if  my  clodpole  understanding 
{bhumia  buddh)  is  worth  consulting  "  ;  or  reply  to  a  demand 
for  a  contribution,  coupled  with  a  threat  of  inroad,  "  that  the 
friendly  epistle  had  been  received  ;  that  he  lamented  the  writer's 
distresses,  etc.  etc,"  with  a  few  thousand  more  than  was  de- 
manded, and  a  present  to  the  messenger,  he  would  excite  a  feeling 
wliich  at  least  obtained  a  respite  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  was 
always  prepared  to  repel  aggression,  and  if  a  single  action 
would  have  decided  his  quarrel,  he  would  not  have  hesitated  to 
engage  any  power  in  the  circle.  IJut  he  knew  even  success,  in 
such  a  case,  to  be  ruin,  and  the  general  [.'j^DJ  feature  of  liis  external 
poHcy  was  accordingly  of  a  temporizing  and  very  mixed  nature. 
Situated  as  he  was,  amidst  conflicting  elements,  he  had  frequently 
a  double  game  to  play.  Thus,  in  the  coalition  of  1806-7,  against 
Jodhpur,  he  had  three  parties  to  please,  each  requesting  his  aid, 
which  made  neutrahty  almost  impossible.     He  sent  envoys  to 


MONSON'S  CAMPAIGN  1571 

all  ;  and  while  appearing  as  the  universal  mediator,  he  gave 
assistance  to  none. 

It  would  be  vain  as  well  as  useless  to  attempt  the  details  of 
liis  foreign  policy  ;  we  shall  merely  allude  to  the  circmnstances 
which  first  brought  him  in  contact  with  the  British  Government, 
in  A.D.  1803-4,  and  then  proceed  to  his  domestic  administration. 

Monson's  Campaign.  Gallantry  of  the  Koila  Chief. — When  the 
iU-fated  expedition  under  Monson  traversed  Central  India  to  the 
attack  of  Holkar,  the  regent  of  Kotah,  trusting  to  the  in^^nci- 
bihty  of  the  British  arms,  did  not  hesitate,  upon  their  appearance 
within  his  territory,  to  co-operate  both  with  supplies  and  men. 
But  when  the  British  army  retreated,  and  its  conunander  de- 
manded admission  within  the  walls  of  Kotah,  he  met  a  decided 
and  very  proper  refusal.  "  You  shall  not  bring  anarchy  and  a 
disorganized  army  to  mix  with  my  peaceable  citizens  ;  but  draw 
up  your  battahons  under  my  walls  ;  I  will  furnish  provisions,  and 
I  will  march  the  whole  of  my  force  between  you  and  the  enemy, 
and  bear  the  brvmt  of  his  attack."  Such  were  ZaUm's  own 
expressions  ;  whether  it  would  have  been  wise  to  accede  to  his 
proposal  is  not  the  point  of  discussion.  Monson  continued  his 
disastrous  flight  through  the  Bundi  and  Jaipm*  dominions,  and 
carried  almost  alone  the  news  of  his  disgrace  to  the  illustrious 
Lake.  It  was  natural  he  should  seek  to  paUiate  his  eiTor  by  an 
attempt  to  involve  others  ;  and  amongst  those  thus  calumniated, 
first  and  foremost  was  the  regent  of  Kotah,  "  the  head  and  front 
of  whose  offending " — non-admission  to  a  panic-struck,  beef- 
eating  army  Avitliin  his  walls — was  translated  into  treachery, 
and  a  connivance  with  the  enemy  ;  a  calumny  which  long  sub- 
sisted to  the  prejudice  of  the  veteran  politician.  But  never  was 
there  a  greater  wrong  inflicted,  or  a  more  unjust  return  for  services 
and  sacrifices,  both  in  men  and  money,  in  a  cause  which  little 
concerned  him  ;  and  it  nearly  operated  hurtfuUy,  at  a  period 
(1817)  when  the  British  Government  could  not  have  dispensed 
with  his  aid.  It  was  never  told,  it  is  hardly  yet  known  at  this 
distant  period,  what  devotion  he  evinced  in  that  memorable 
retreat,  as  it  is  misnamed,  when  the  troops  of  Kotah  and  the  corps 
of  the  devoted  Lucan  Avere  sacrificed  to  ensure  the  safety  of  the 
army  until  it  left  the  Mukunddarra  Pass  in  its  rear.  If  there  be 
any  incredulous  supporter  of  the  commander  in  that  era  of  our 
shame,  let  him  repair  to  the  altar  of  the  Koila  cliief,  who,  like  a 


1572  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAll 

true  Hara,  '  spread  his  carpet '  at  the  ford  of  the  Amjar,  and 
there  aAvaited  the  myrmidons  [550]  of  the  Mahrattas,  and  fell 
protecting  the  flight  of  an  army  wliich  might  have  passed  from 
one  end  of  India  to  the  other.  Well  might  the  veteran  allude  to 
our  ingratitude  in  1804,  when  in  a.d.  1817  he  was  called  upon  to 
co-operate  in  the  destruction  of  that  predatory  system,  in  with- 
standing which  he  had  passed  a  life  of  feverish  anxiety.  If  there 
was  a  doubt  of  the  part  he  acted,  if  the  monuments  of  the  slain 
^vill  not  be  admitted  as  evidence,  let  us  appeal  to  the  opinion  of 
the  enemy,  whose  testimony  adds  another  feature  to  the  portrait 
of  this  extraordinary  man. 

Besides  the  Koila  chief,  and  many  brave  Haras,  slain  on  the 
retreat  of  Monson,  the  Bakhshi,  or  commander  of  the  force,  was 
made  prisoner.  As  the  price  of  his  liberation,  and  as  a  punish- 
ment for  the  aid  thus  given  to  the  British,  the  Mahratta  leader 
exacted  a  bond  of  ten  lakhs  of  rupees  from  the  Bakhshi,  threaten- 
ing on  refusal  to  lay  waste  with  fire  and  sword  the  whole  line  of 
pursuit.  But  when  the  discomfited  Bakhshi  appeared  before 
the  regent,  he  spurned  liim  from  his  presence,  disavowed  his  act, 
and  sent  him  back  to  Holkar  to  pay  the  forfeiture  as  he  might. ^ 
Holkar  satisfied  himself  then  with  threatening  vengeance,  and 
when  opportimity  permitted,  he  marched  into  Haraoti  and 
encamped  near  the  capital.  The  walls  were  manned  to  receive 
him  ;  the  signal  had  been  prepared  wliich  would  not  have  left 
a  single  house  inhabited  in  the  plains,  while  the  Bhils  would 
simultaneously  pour  down  from  the  hills  on  Holkar's  supplies  or 
followers.  The  bond  was  again  presented,  and  without  hesitation 
disavowed  ;  hostilities  appeared  inevitable,  when  the  friends  of 
both  parties  concerted  an  interview.  But  Zalim,  aware  of  the 
perfidy  of  his  foe,  declined  this,  except  on  liis  own  conditions. 
These  were  singular,  and  will  recall  to  mind  another  and  yet  more 
celebrated  meeting.  He  demanded  that  they  should  discuss 
the  terms  of  peace  or  war  upon  the  Chambal,  to  which  Holkar 
acceded.  For  this  purpose  Zalim  prepared  two  boats,  each 
capable  of  containing  about  twenty  armed  men.  Having  moored 
his  own  little  bark  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  under  the  cannon 
of  the  city,  Holkar,  accompanied  by  his  cavalcade,  embarked  in 
his  boat  and  rowed  to  meet  him.     Carpets  were  sj^read,  and  there 

*  If  my  memory  betrays  me  not,  this  unfortunate  commander,  unable 
to  bear  his  shame,  took  poison. 


ZALIM  SINGH  AND  MARATHAS  AND  PINDARIS     1573 

these  extraordinary  men,  with  only  one  eye  ^  between  them, 
settled  the  conditions  of  peace,  and  the  endearing  epithets  of 
'  uncle  '  and  '  nephew  '  were  bandied,  with  abundant  mirth  on 
the  peculiarity  of  their  situation  ;  while — for  the  fact  is  beyond 
a  doubt — each  boat  was  plugged,  and  men  were  at  hand  on  the 
first  appearance  of  treachery  to  have  sent  them  all  to  the  bottom 
of  the  river. ^  But  Holkar's  [551]  necessities  were  urgent,  and  a 
gift  of  three  lakhs  of  rupees  averted  such  a  catastrophe,  though 
he  never  relinquished  the  threat  of  exacting  the  ten  lakhs  ;  and 
when  at  length  madness  overtook  him,  "  the  bond  of  Kaka 
Zahm  Singh  "  was  one  of  the  most  frequently  repeated  ravings 
of  this  soldier  of  fortune,  whose  whole  life  was  one  scene  of 
insanity. 

Relations  with  Marathas  and  Pindaris. — It  mil  readily  be  con- 
ceived that  the  labours  of  his  administratioa  were  quite  sufficient 
to  occupy  his  attention  without  intermeddling  with  his  neighbours  ; 
yet,  in  order  to  give  a  direct  interest  in  the  welfare  of  Kotah,  he 
became  a  competitor  for  the  farming  of  the  extensive  districts 
which  joined  his  southern  frontier,  belonging  to  Sindhia  and 
Holkar.  From  the  former  he  rented  the  Panj-mahals,  and  from 
the  latter  the  four  important  districts  of  Dig,  Pirawa,  etc.,'  which, 
when  by  right  of  conquest  they  became  British,  were  given  in 
sovereignty  to  the  regent.  Not  satisfied  with  this  hold  of  self- 
interest  on  the  two  great  predatory  powers,  he  had  emissaries 
in  the  persons  of  their  confidential  ministers,  who  reported  every 
movement  ;  and  to  '  make  assurance  doubly  sure,'  he  had 
Mahratta  pandits  of  the  first  talent  in  his  own  administration, 
through  whose  connexions  no  political  measure  of  their  nation 
escaped  his  knowledge.  As  for  Amir  Khan,  he  and  the  regent 
were  essential  to  each  other.  From  Kotah  the  Khan  was  pro- 
vided with  military  stores  and  supplies  of  every  kind  ;  and  when 
his  legions  mutinied  (a  matter  of  daily  occurrence)  and  threatened 
him  with  the  bastinado,  or  fastening  to  a  piece  of  ordnance  under 
a  scorching  sun,  Kotah  afforded  a  place  of  refuge  during  a  tem- 

1  It  should  be  remembered  that  Zalim  was  quite  blind,  and  that  Holkar 
had  lost  the  use  of  one  eye.     [See  Vol.  II.  p.  1234.] 

2  [Compare  the  meeting  of  Alexander  I.  of  Russia  and  Napoleon  at 
Tilsit  on  June  25,  1807.] 

3  [Dig,  in  Bharatpur  State  ;  Pirawa,  one  of  the  Central  India  districts 
included  in  Tonk  State  [IGI,  xx.  151).] 


1574  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATT  :  KOTAH 

porary  retreat,  or  ways  and  means  to  allay  the  tiimnlt  by  paying 
the  arrears.  Zalim  allotted  the  castle  of  Shirgarh  for  the  Khan's 
family,  so  that  this  leader  had  no  anxiety  on  their  account  while 
he  was  pursuing  his  career  of  rapine  in  more  distant  scenes. 

Even  the  Pindaris  were  conciliated  with  all  the  respect  and 
courtesy  paid  to  better  men.  Many  of  their  leaders  held  grants 
of  land  in  Kotah  :  so  essential,  indeed,  was  a  good  understanding 
with  this  body,  that  when  Sindhia,  in  a.d.  1807,  entrapped  and 
imprisoned  in  the  dungeons  of  Gwalior  the  celebrated  Karim,^ 
Zalim  not  only  advanced  the  large  sum  required  for  his  ransom, 
but  had  the  temerity  to  pledge  himself  for  his  future  good  conduct  : 
an  act  which  somewhat  tarnished  his  reputation  for  sagacity, 
but  eventually  operated  as  a  just  punishment  on  Sindhia  for  his 
avarice. 

The  scale  of  munificence  on  which  the  regent  exercised  the 
rites  of  sanctuary  (saran)  towards  the  chiefs  of  other  countries 
claiming  his  protection,  was  disproportioned  to  the  means  of  the 
State.  The  exiled  nobles  of  Marwar  and  Mewar  [552]  have  held 
estates  in  Kotah  greater  than  their  sequestrated  patrimonies. 
These  dazzling  acts  of  beneficence  were  not  lost  on  a  community 
amongst  whom  hospitality  ranks  at  the  head  of  the  virtues.  In 
these  regions,  where  the  strangest  anomalies  and  the  most  striking 
contradictions  present  themselves  in  polities,  such  conduct  begets 
no  astonishment,  and  rarely  provokes  a  remonstrance  from  the 
State  whence  the  suppliant  fled.  The  regent  not  only  received 
the  refugees,  but  often  reconciled  them  to  their  sovereigns.  He 
gloried  in  the  title  of  '  peace-maker,'  and  whether  his  conduct 
proceeded  from  motives  of  benevolence  or  policy,  he  was  rewarded 
with  the  epithet,  sufficiently  exalted  in  itself.  "  They  all  come 
to  old  Zalim  with  their  troubles,"  he  remarked,  "  as  if  he  could 
find  food  for  them  all  from  '  his  handful  of  soil.'  " 

To  conclude  :  his  defensive  was,  in  its  results,  the  reverse  of 
his  offensive  policy.  Invariable  and  brilliant  success  accompanied 
the  one  ;  defeat,  disappointment,  and  great  pecuniary  sacrifices 
were  the  constant  fruits  of  the  other.  Mewar  ehided  all  his  arts, 
and  involved  Kotah  in  embarrassments  from  which  she  will  never 
recover,  while  his  attempt  to  take  Sheopur,  the  capital  of  the 
Gaurs,  by  a  coup  de  main,  was  signally  defeated.     Had  he  suc- 

^  [Karim  Khan  surrendered  to  the  British  in  1818,  and  was  given  an 
estate  in  Gorakhpur  District.] 


DOMESTIC  POLICY  OF  ZlLIM  SINGH  1575 

ceeded  in  either  attempt,  and  added  the  resources  of  these  acquisi- 
tions to  Kotah,  doubtless  his  views  would  have  been  still  more 
enlarged.  At  an  early  period  of  his  career,  an  offer  was  made  to 
him,  by  the  celebrated  Partap  Singh  of  Jaipur,  to  imdertake  the 
duties  of  chief  minister  of  that  State  :  it  is  vain  to  speculate  on 
what  might  have  been  the  result  to  the  State  or  himself,  had  he 
been  able  to  wield  her  resources,  at  that  time  so  little  impaired. 

Zalim  Singh's  Domestic  Policy.  Character  of  Maharao  Ummed 
Singh. — Let  us  now  view  the  domestic  policy  of  the  regent ;  for 
which  purpose  we  must  again  bring  forward  the  pageant  prince  of 
Kotah,  the  Raja  Ummed  Singh,  who  was  destined  never  to  be 
extricated  fi'om  the  trammels  of  a  guardianship  which,  like  most 
offices  in  the  East,  was  designed  to  be  hereditary  ;  and  at  the  age 
of  threescore  and  ten,  Ummed  Singh  found  himself  as  much  a 
minor  as  when  his  dying  father  '  placed  hkn  in  the  lap  '  of  the 
Protector  Zalim  Singh.  The  line  of  conduct  he  pursued  towards 
his  sovereign,  through  half  a  century's  duration,  was  singularly 
consistent.  The  age,  the  character,  the  very  title  of  Nana,  or 
'  grandsire,'  added  weight  to  liis  authority,  and  the  disposition  of 
the  prince  seemed  little  inclined  to  throw  it  off.  In  short,  his 
temperament  appeared  exactly  suited  to  the  views  of  the  regent, 
who,  while  he  consulted  his  wishes  in  every  step,  acted  entirely  from 
himself.  The  Maharao  was  a  prince  of  excellent  understanding, 
and  possessed  many  of  those  qualities  inlierent  in  a  Rajput. 
He  was  fond  of  the  chase,  and  was  the  best  horseman  and  marks- 
man in  the  country  ;  and  the  [553]  regent  gained  such  entire 
ascendancy  over  him,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  was  solicitous 
of  change.  Besides,  there  was  no  appearance  of  constraint  ; 
and  his  religious  occupations,  which  increased  with  his  age,  went 
far  to  wean  him  from  a  wish  to  take  a  more  active  share  in  the 
duties  of  government.  His  penetration,  in  fact,  discovered  the 
inutility  of  such  a  desire,  and  he  soon  ceased  to  entertain  it ; 
while  in  proportion  as  he  yielded,  the  attentions  of  the  minister 
increased.  If  an  envoy  came  from  a  foreign  State,  he  was  intro- 
duced to  the  prince,  delivered  his  credentials  to  him  ;  and  from 
him  received  a  reply,  but  that  reply  was  his  minister's.  If  a 
foreign  noble  claimed  protection,  he  received  it  from  the  prince  ; 
he  was  the  dispenser  of  the  favours,  though  he  could  neither 
change  their  nature  or  amount.  Nay,  if  the  regent's  own  sons 
required  an  addition  to  their  estates,  it  could  only  be  at  the  express 


1576  ANNALS  OF  IlARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

desire  of  the  Maharao  ;  and  to  such  a  length  did  the  minister  carry 
this  deference,  that  an  increase  to  his  personal  income  required 
being  pressed  upon  him  by  the  prince.  If  horses  arrived  from 
foreign  coimtries  for  sale,  the  best  were  set  aside  for  the  Maharao 
and  his  sons.  The  archives,  the  seal,  and  all  the  emblems  of 
sovereignty  remained  as  in  times  past  in  the  custody  of  the 
pei'sonal  servants  of  the  prince,  at  the  castle,  though  none  durst 
use  them  without  consent  of  the  regent.  He  banished  his  only 
son,  Madho  Singh,  during  three  years,  to  the  family  estate  at 
Nanta,  for  disrespect  to  the  heir-apparent,  Kishor  Singh,  when 
training  their  horses  together  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
even  the  entreaty  of  the  Maharao  could  procure  his  recall.  There 
are  many  anecdotes  related  to  evince  that  habitual  deference  to 
everjrthing  attached  to  his  sovereign,  which,  originating  in  good 
feeling,  greatly  aided'  his  policy.  The  regent  was  one  day  at 
prayer,  in  the  family  temple  in  the  castle,  when  the  younger  sons 
of  the  Maharao,  not  knowing  he  was  there,  entered  to  perform 
their  devotions.  It  was  the  cold  season,  and  the  pavement  was 
damp  ;  he  took  the  quilt  which  he  wore  from  his  shoulders,  and 
spread  it  for  them  to  stand  upon.  On  their  retiring,  a  servant, 
deeming  the  quilt  no  longer  fit  to  be  applied  to  the  regent's 
person,  was  putting  it  aside  ;  but,  guessing  his  intention,  Zalim 
eagerly  snatched  it  from  him,  and  re-covering  himself,  observed 
it  was  now  of  some  value,  since  it  was  marked  with  the  dust  of 
the  feet  of  his  sovereign's  children.  These  are  cxirious  anomalies 
in  the  mind  of  a  man  who  had  determined  on  unlimited  authority. 
No  usurpation  was  ever  more  meek,  or  yet  more  absolute  ;  and 
it  might  be  affirmed  that  the  prince  and  the  regent  were  made  for 
each  other  and  the  times  in  which  they  lived. 

Zalim  Singh  and  his  Servants. — It  was  to  be  expected  tliat  a 
man  whose  name  was  long  synonymous  with  wisdom  [554]  should 
show  discernment  in  the  choice  of  his  servants.  He  had  the  art 
of  attaching  them  to  his  interests,  of  uniting  their  regard  with 
a  submissive  respect,  and  no  kindness,  no  familiarity,  ever  made 
them  forget  the  bounds  prescribed.  But  while  he  generously 
provided  for  all  their  wants,  and  granted  them  every  indulgence, 
he  knew  too  well  the  caprice  of  human  nature  to  make  them 
independent  of  himself.  He  would  pro\dde  for  them,  for  their 
relations  and  their  dependents  ;  his  hand  was  ever  bestowing 
gratuities  on  festivals,  births,  marriages,  or  deaths  ;   but  he  never 


ALLIANCE  WITH  THE  BRITISH  1577 

allowed  them  to  accumulate  wealth.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that 
his  most  confidential  servants  were  either  Pathans  or  Mahratta 
pandits  :  the  first  he  employed  in  military  posts,  the  other  in 
the  more  complicated  machinery  of  poUtics.  He  rarely  employed 
his  own  countrymen  ;  and  the  post  of  Faujdar,  now  held  by 
Bishan  Singh,  a  Rajput  of  the  Saktawat  clan,  is  the  exception 
to  the  rule.  Dahl  Khan  and  Mihrab  KZhan  were  his  most  faithful 
and  devoted  servants  and  friends.  The  stupendous  fortifications 
of  the  capital,  with  which  there  is  nothing  in  India  to  compete, 
save  the  walls  of  Agra,  were  all  executed  by  the  former.  By  him 
also  was  raised  that  pride  of  the  regent,  the  city  called  after  him, 
•Thalrapatan  ;  ^  while  all  the  other  forts  were  put  into  a  state 
which  makes  Kotah  the  most  defensible  territory  in  India.  Such 
was  the  affectionate  esteem  in  which  Dalil  was  held  by  the  regent, 
that  he  used  often  to  say,  "  he  hoped  he  should  not  outlive  Dalil 
Khan."  Mihrab  Klian  was  the  commander  of  the  infantry, 
which  he  maintained  in  a  state  of  admirable  discipline  and 
efficiency  ;  ^  they  received  their  bis  roza,  or  twenty  days'  pay,  each 
month,  with  their  arrears  at  the  end  of  every  second  year  [555], 


CHAPTER  10 

Alliance  with  the  British. — We  now  enter  upon  that  period  of 
the  regent's  history,  when  the  march  of  events  linked  him  with 
the  policy  of  Britain,  When  in  a.d.  1817,  the  Marquess  of  Hast- 
ings proclaimed  war  against  the  Pindaris,  who  were  the  very  lees 
of  the  predatory  hordes,  which  the  discomfiture  of  the  greater 
powers  had  thrown  off,  neutrality  was  not  to  be  endured  ;  and 
it  was  announced  that  all  those  who  were  not  for  us  in  this  grand 
enterprise,  which  involved  the  welfare  of  all,  would  be  considered 

^  Jhalarapatan,  '  the  city  of  the  Jhala,'  the  regent's  tribe.  [Others 
explain  the  name  to  mean  city  {patan)  of  springs  (jhdlra)  :  or  city  of  belle, 
because  it  contained  108  temples  (IGI,  xiv.  123).] 

^  Mihrab  KJia,n  was  the  commandant  of  one  division  of  Zalim's  con- 
tingent, placed  at  my  disposal,  which  in  eight  days  took  possession  of  every 
district  of  Holkar's  adjacent  to  Haraoti,  and  which  afterwards  gained  so 
much  credit  by  the  brilliant  escalade  of  the  Saudi  fortress,  when  co-operating 
with  General  Sir  John  Malcolm.  The  Royals  (Raj-Paltan)  were  led  by 
Saif  Ali,  a  gallant  soldier,  but  who  could  not  resist  joining  the  cause  of  the 
Maharao  and  legitimacy  in  the  civil  war  of  1821. 

VOL.  TTI  Y 


1578  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

against  us.  The  Rajput  States,  alike  interested  ^vith  ourselves 
in  the  establishment  of  settled  government,  were  invited  to  an 
alliance  offensive  and  defensive  with  us,  which  was  to  free  them 
for  ever  from  the  thraldom  of  the  predatory  armies  ;  in  return  for 
which,  we  demanded  homage  to  our  power,  and  a  portion  of  their 
revenues  as  the  price  of  protection.  The  eagle-eye  of  Zalim  saw 
at  once  the  virtue  of  compliance,  and  the  grace  attendant  on  its 
being  quickly  yielded.  Accordingly,  his  envoy  was  the  first  to 
connect  Kotah  in  the  bonds  of  alliance,  which  soon  vmited  all 
Rajwara  to  Britain.  Meanwhile,  all  India  was  in  arms  ;  two 
hundred  thousand  men  were  embodied,  and  moving  on  various 
points  to  destroy  the  germ  of  rapine  for  ever.  As  the  first  scene 
of  action  was  expected  to  be  in  the  countries  bordering  upon 
Haraoti,  the  presence  of  an  agent  with  Zalim  Singh  appeared 
indispensable.  His  instructions  were  to  make  available  the  re- 
sources of  Kotah  to  the  armies  moving  round  him,  and  to  lessen 
the  field  [556]  of  the  enemy's  mancEuvres,  by  shutting  him  out  of 
that  country.  So  efhcient  were  these  resources,  that  in  five  days 
after  the  agent  reached  the  regent's  camp,^  every  pass  was  a  post ; 
and  a  corps  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  infantry  and  cavalry,  with 
four  guns,  was  marched  to  co-operate  with  General  Sir  John 
Malcolm,  who  had  just  crossed  the  Nerbudda  with  a  weak  division 
of  the  army  of  the  Deccan,  and  was  marching  northward,  sur- 
rounded by  numerous  foes  and  doubtful  friends.  Throughout 
that  brilliant  and  eventful  period  in  the  history  of  British  India, 
when  every  province  from  the  Ganges  to  the  ocean  was  agitated 
by  warlike  demonstrations,  the  camp  of  the  regent  was  the  pivot 
of  operations  and  the  focus  of  intelligence.  The  part  he  acted 
was  decided,  manly,  and  consistent ;  and  if  there  were  moments 
of  vacillation,  it  was  inspired  by  our  own  conduct,  which  created 
doubts  in  his  mind  as  to  the  wisdom  of  his  course.  He  had  seen 
and  felt  that  the  grand  principle  of  politics,  cxijediency,  guided  all 
courts  and  councils,  whether  Mogul,  Mahratta,  or  British  :  the 
disavowal  of  the  alliances  formed  by  Lord  Lake,  under  JNIarquess 
Wellesley's  administration,  proved  this  to  demonstration,  and  he 
was  too  familiar  with  the  history  of  our  power  to  give  more  credit 

^  The  Author  of  those  annals,  then  Assistant  Resident  at  Sindhia's  court, 
was  deputed  by  Lord  Hastings  to  the  Raj  Rana  Zalim  Smgh.  He  left  the 
residency  at  Gwalior  ou  the  12th  November  1817,  and  reached  the  regent's 
camp  at  Rauta,  about  twenty-five  miles  S.S.E.  of  Kotali,  on  the  23rd. 


BRITISH  ALLIANCE  :   THE  PINDARI  WAR      1579 

than  mere  politeness  required  to  our  boasted  renunciation  of  the 
rights  of  anticipated  conquest.  A  smile  would  play  over  the 
features  of  the  orbless  politician  when  the  envoy  disclaimed  all 
idea  of  its  being  a  war  of  aggrandisement.  To  all  such  protesta- 
tions he  would  say,  "  Maharaja,  I  cannot  doubt  you  believe  what 
you  say  ;  but  remember  what  old  Zalim  tells  you  ;  the  day  is  not 
distant  when  only  one  emblem  of  power  {ekhi  sikka)  will  be 
recognized  throughout  India."  This  was  in  a.d.  1817-18  ;  and 
the  ten  years  of  life  since  granted  to  him  must  have  well  illustrated 
the  truth  of  this  remark  ;  for  although  no  absolute  conquest  or 
incorporation  of  Rajput  territory  has  taken  place,  our  system 
of  control,  and  the  establishment  of  our  monopoly  within  these 
limits  (not  then  dreamed  of  by  ourselves),  has  already  verified  in 
part  his  prediction.  It  were  indeed  idle  to  suppose  that  any 
protestations  could  have  vanquished  the  arguments  present  to 
a  mind  which  had  pondered  on  every  page  of  the  history  of  our 
power  ;  which  had  witnessed  its  development  from  the  battle  of 
Plassey  under  Clive  to  Lake's  exploits  at  the  altars  of  Alexander. 
He  had  seen  throughout,  that  the  fimdamental  rule  which  guides 
the  Rajput  prince,  '  obtain  land,'  was  one  both  practically  and 
theoretically  imderstood  by  viceroys  from  [557]  the  west,  who 
appeared  to  act  upon  the  four  grand  political  principles  of  the 
Rajput,  sham,  dan,  bed,  dand  ;  or,  persuasion,  gifts,  stratagem, 
force  ;  by  Avhich,  according  to  their  great  lawgiver,  kingdoms  are 
obtained  and  maintained,  and  all  mundane  affairs  conducted. 
When,  therefore,  in  order  to  attain  our  ends,  we  expatiated  upon 
the  disinterestedness  of  our  views,  his  co-operation  was  granted 
less  from  a  belief  in  our  professions,  than  upon  a  dispassionate 
consideration  of  the  benefits  which  such  alliance  would  confer 
upon  Kotah,  and  of  its  utility  in  maintaining  his  family  in  the 
position  it  had  so  long  held  in  that  State.  He  must  have  balanced 
the  difficulties  he  had  mastered  to  maintain  that  power,  against 
the  enemies,  internal  and  external,  which  had  threatened  it, 
and  he  justly  feared  both  would  speedily  be  sacrificed  to  the 
incapacity  of  his  successors.  To  provide  a  stay  to  their  feebleness 
was  the  motive  which  induced  him  to  throw  himself  heart  and 
hand  into  the  alliance  we  sought ;  and  of  signal  benefit  did  he 
prove  to  the  cause  he  espoused.  But  if  we  read  aright  the  work- 
ings of  a  mind,  which  never  betrayed  its  purpose  either  to  friend 
or  foe,  we  should  find  that  there  was  a  moment  wherein,  though 


1580      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  KOTAH 

he  did  not  swerve  from  the  path  he  had  chalked  out,  or  show  any 
equivocation  in  respect  to  the  pledge  he  had  given,  the  same  spirit 
which  had  guided  him  to  the  eminence  he  had  acquired,  suggested 
what  he  might  have  done  at  a  conjuncture  when  all  India,  save 
Rajputana,  was  in  arms  to  overthrow  the  legions  of  Britain.  All 
had  reason  to  dread  her  colossal  power,  and  hatred  and  revenge 
actuated  our  numerous  allies  to  emancipate  themselves  from  a 
yoke  which,  whether  they  were  bound  by  friendship  or  by  fear, 
was  alike  galling.  If  there  was  one  master-mind  that  could  have 
combined  and  wielded  their  resources  for  our  overthrow,  it  was 
that  of  Zalim  Singh  alone.  Whether  the  aspirations  of  his  ambi- 
tion, far  too  vast  for  its  little  field  of  action,  soared  to  this  height, 
or  were  checked  by  the  trammels  of  nearly  eighty  winters,  we  can 
only  conjecture.  Once,  and  once  only,  the  dubious  oracle  came 
forth.  It  was  in  the  very  crisis  of  operations,  when  three  English 
divisions  were  gradually  closing  upon  the  grand  Pindari  horde, 
under  Karim  Khan,  in  the  very  heart  of  his  dominions,  and  his 
troops,  his  stores,  were  all  placed  at  our  disposal,  he  heard  that 
one  of  these  divisions  had  insulted  his  town  of  Bara  ;  then,  the 
ideas  which  appeared  to  occupy  him  burst  forth  in  the  ejaculation, 
"  that  if  twenty  years  could  be  taken  from  his  life,  Delhi  and 
Deccan  should  be  one  "  ;  and  appeared  to  point  to  the  hidden 
thoughts  of  a  man  whose  tongue  never  spoke  but  in  parables. 

There  is  also  no  doubt  that  his  most  confidential  friends  and 
ministers,  who  were  [558]  Mahrattas,  were  adverse  to  his  leaguing 
with  the  English,  and  for  a  moment  he  felt  a  repugnance  to  break- 
ing the  bond  which  had  so  long  united  him  with  their  policy.  He 
could  not  but  enumerate  amongst  the  arguments  for  its  main- 
tenance, his  ability  to  preserve  that  independence  which  fifty 
years  had  strengthened,  and  he  saw  that,  with  the  power  to  which 
he  was  about  to  be  allied,  he  had  no  course  but  imlimited  obedience  ; 
in  short,  that  his  part  must  now  be  subordinate.  He  preferred 
it,  however,  for  the  security  it  afforded  ;  and  as  in  the  course  of 
nature  he  must  soon  resign  his  trust,  there  was  more  hope  of  his 
power  descending  to  his  posterity  than  if  left  to  discord  and 
faction.  But  when  hostilities  advanced  against  the  freebooters, 
and  the  more  settled  governments  of  the  Peshwa,  Bhonsla,  llolkar, 
and  Sindhia,  determined  to  shake  off  our  yoke,  we  could  urge  to 
him  irresistible  argtunents  for  a  perfect  identity  of  interests.  The 
envoy  had  only  to  liint  that  the  right  of  conquest  would  leave  the 


DEATH  OF  MAHARAO  UMMED  SINGH  1681 

districts  he  rented  from  Holkar  at  our  disposal ;  and  that  as  we 
wanted  no  territory  in  Central  India  for  ourselves,  we  should  not 
forget  our  friends  at  the  conclusion  of  hostilities.  If  ever  there 
were  doubts,  they  were  dissipated  by  this  suggestion  ;  and  on  the 
grand  horde  being  broken  up,  it  was  discovered  that  the  families 
of  its  leaders  were  concealed  in  his  territory.  Through  his  indirect 
aid  we  were  enabled  to  secure  them,  and  at  once  annihilated  the 
strength  of  the  marauders.  For  all  these  important  services,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  four  districts  he  rented  from  Holkar  was 
guaranteed  to  the  regent.  The  circumstances  attending  the 
conveyance  of  this  gift  afforded  an  estimate  of  Zalim's  determina- 
tion never  to  rehnquish  his  authority  ;  for,  when  the  sanad  was 
tendered  in  his  own  name,  he  declined  it,  desiring  the  insertion  of 
that  of  "  his  master,  the  Maharao."  At  the  time,  it  appeared  an 
act  of  disinterested  magnanimity,  but  subsequent  acts  allowed 
us  to  form  a  more  correct  appreciation  of  his  motives.  The 
campaign  concluded,  and  the  noble  commander  and  his  en- 
lightened coadjutor  ^  left  the  seat  of  war  impressed  with  the 
conviction  of  the  great  services,  and  the  highest  respect  for  the 
talents,  of  the  veteran  politician,  while  the  envoy,  who  had  acted 
with  him  during  the  campaign,  was  declared  the  medimn  of  his 
future  political  relations. 

In  March  a.d.  1818,  profound  repose  reigned  from  the  Sutlej 
to  the  ocean,  of  which  Rajput  history  presented  no  example.  The 
magic  Runes,  by  which  the  north-man  could  "  hush  the  stormy 
wave,"'  could  not  be  more  efiicacious  than  the  rod  of  our  power  in 
tranquillizing  this  wide  space,  which  for  ages  had  been  the  seat 
of  conflict.  The  satya  [559]  yuga,  the  golden  age  of  the  Hindu, 
alone  afforded  a  parallel  to  the  calm  which  had  succeeded  the  eras 
of  tumultuous  effervescence. 

Death  o£  Maharao  Ummed  Singh.  Disputed  Succession. — Thus 
matters  proceeded  till  November  1819,  when  the  death  of  the 
Maharao  Ummed  Singh  engendered  new  feehngs  in  the  claimants 
to  the  succession,  and  placed  the  regent  in  a  position  from  which 
not  even  his  genius  might  have  extricated  him,  unaided  by  the 
power  whose  alhance  he  had  so  timely  obtained.     And  here  it 

^  I  allude  to  Mr.  Adam,  who  divided  with  the  noble  Marquess  the  entire 
merits  of  that  ever  memorable  period.  [John  Adam,  political  secretary  to 
the  Marquess  of  Hastings  (1779-1825)  (C.  E.  Buckland,  Diet.  Indian  Bio- 
graphy s.v.).] 


1582  ANNALS  OF  ILlRAVATI :  KOTAH 

becomes  requisite  to  advert  to  the  terms  of  this  alliance.  The 
treaty  ^  was  concluded  at  Delhi,  on  the  26th  of  December  1817, 
by  the  envoys  of  the  regent,  in  the  name  of  his  lawful  sovereign, 
the  Maharao  Ummed  Singh,  ratified  by  the  contracting  parties, 
and  the  deeds  were  interchanged  at  the  regent's  court  early  in 
January.  To  this  treaty  his  sovereign's  seal  and  his  own  were 
appended  ;  but  no  guarantee  of  the  regent's  power  was  demanded 
pending  the  negotiation,  nor  is  he  mentioned  except  in  the  pre- 
amble, and  then  only  as  the  ministerial  agent  of  the  Maharao 
Unuued  Singh,  in  whose  behalf  alone  the  treaty  was  virtually 
executed.  This  excited  the  surprise  of  the  British  representative," 
who,  in  Ills  official  dispatch  detailmg  the  progress  and  conclusion 
of  the  negotiations,  intimated  that  he  not  only  expected  such 
stipulation,  but  was  prepared  for  admitting  it.  There  was  no 
inadvertence  in  this  omission  ;  the  regent  saw  no  occasion  for 
any  guarantee,  for  the  plenary  exercise  of  the  powers  of  sovereign 
during  more  than  half  a  century  had  constituted  him,  de  facto, 
prince  of  Kotah.  Moreover,  we  may  suppose  had  he  felt  a  desire 
for  such  stipulation,  that  a  feeling  of  pride  might  have  stifled  its 
expression,  which  by  making  the  choice  of  ministers  dependent 
on  a  foreign  power  would  have  virtually  annulled  the  independent 
sovereignty  of  Kotah.  Whatever  was  the  reason  of  the  omission, 
at  a  season  when  his  recognition  might  have  had  the  same  formal 
sanction  of  all  the  parties  as  the  other  articles  of  the  treaty,  it 
furnished  the  future  opponents  of  the  regent's  power  with  a 
strong  argument  against  its  maintenance  in  j^erpetuity  on  the 
death  of  the  Maharao  Ummed  Singh. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  the  treaty  was  concluded  at 
Delhi  in  December  1817,  and  interchanged  in  January  1818.  In 
March  of  the  same  year,  two  supplemental  articles  were  agreed  to 
at  Delhi,  and  transmitted  direct  to  the  regent,  guaranteeing  the 
administration  of  affairs  to  his  sons  and  successors  for  ever. 

Having  premised  so  much,  let  us  give  a  brief  notice  of  the 
parties,  whose  future  fate  was  involved  in  this  policy  [560J. 

^  Copy  of  this  is  inserted  in  Appendix,  No.  VI.,  p.  1833. 

*  C.  T.  Metcalfe,  Esq.,  then  resident  at  Delhi,  now  Sir  C.  T.  Metcalfe, 
Bart.,  member  of  council  in  Bengal.  [Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  (ITSo-lSifi) 
Residentat  Dellii;  Lieutenant-GovernorNoith-western  Provinces  (1836-38) 
Governor  of  Jamaica  (1839-42);  Covernor-General  of  Canada  (1843-45) 
raised  to  the  peerage  1845 ;  died  5th  September  1846  (Buckland,  op.  ci 
e.v. ;   Life  and  (Jorrtspondence  by  Sir  J.  W.  Kayc,  1854).] 


DISPUTED  SUCCESSION  1583 

The  Maharao  Unimed  Singh  had  three  sons,  Kishor  Singh, 
Bishan  Singh,  and  Prithi  Singh.  The  heir-apparent,  who  bore 
a  name  dear  to  the  recollection  of  the  Haras,  was  then  forty 
years  of  age.  He  was  niild  in  his  temper  and  demeanour  ;  but 
being  brought  up  in  habits  of  seclusion,  he  was  more  conversant 
with  the  formulas  of  his  religion,  and  the  sacred  epics,  than  with 
the  affairs  of  mankind.  He  was  no  stranger  to  the  amials  of  his 
family,  and  had  sufficient  pride  and  feeling  to  kindle  at  the 
recollection  of  their  glory  ;  but  the  natural  bent  of  his  mind, 
reinforced  by  education,  had  well  fitted  him  to  follow  the  path 
of  his  father,  and  to  leave  himself  and  his  country  to  be  governed 
as  best  pleased  the  Nana  Sahib, ^  the  regent. 

Bishan  Singh  was  about  three  years  younger  ;  equally  placid 
in  disposition,  sensible  and  sedate,  and  much  attached  to  the 
regent. 

Prithi  Singh  was  under  thirty  ;  a  noble  specimen  of  a  Hara, 
eager  for  action  in  the  only  career  of  a  Rajput — arms.  To  him 
the  existing  state  of  things  was  one  of  opprobrium  and  dishonour, 
and  his  mind  was  made  up  to  enfrancliize  himself  and  family 
from  the  thraidoni  in  wliich  his  father  had  left  them,  or  perish 
in  the  attempt.  The  brothers  were  attached  to  each  other,  and 
lived  in  perfect  harmony,  though  suspicions  did  exist  that  Bishan 
Singh's  gTeater  docility  and  forbearance  towards  the  regent's 
son  and  successor,  arose  from  interested,  perhaps  traitorous, 
views.  Each  of  them  had  estates  of  twenty-five  thousand  rupees' 
amiual  rent,  which  they  managed  through  their  agents. 

The  regent  had  two  sons,  the  elder,  Madho  Singh,  legitimate  ; 
the  younger,  Gordhandas,  illegitimate  ;  but  he  was  regarded 
with  more  affection,  and  endowed  with  almost  equal  authority 
with  the  declared  successor  to  the  regency.  Madlio  Singh  was 
about  forty-six  at  the  period  we  speak  of.  A  physiognomist 
would  discover  in  liis  aspect  no  feature  indicative  of  genius, 
though  he  might  detect  amidst  traits  which  denoted  indolence, 
a  supercilious  tone  of  character,  the  effect  of  indulgence.  This 
was  fostered  in  a  great  degree  by  the  late  Maharao,  who  supported 
the  regent's  son  against  his  own  in  all  their  dissensions,  even 
from  their  infancy,  which  had  increased  the  natural  arrogance 

1  This  was  the  parental  epithet  always  applied  to  the  regent  by  Ummed 
Skigh  and  his  sons,  who  it  will  be  remembered  mingled  some  of  the  Jhala 
blood  m  their  veins.     Nana-sahib,  '  sir  grandsire.' 


1584      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  KOTAH 

developed  by  power  being  too  early  entrusted  to  him  :  lor  when 
the  regent,  as  before  related,  quitted  the  capital  lor  the  camp, 
Madho  Singh  was  nominated  to  the  office  of  Faujdar,  the  heredi- 
tary post  of  his  father,  and  left  as  his  locum  tenens  at  Kotah. 
This  office,  wliich  included  the  command  and  pay  of  all  the 
[561]  troops,  left  unUmited  funds  at  his  disposal ;  and  as  the 
checks  which  restrained  every  other  officer  in  the  State  were 
inoperative  upon  his  sons,  who  dared  to  inform  against  the 
future  regent  ?  Accordingly,  he  indulged  his  taste  in  a  manner 
which  engendered  dishke  to  liim  :  his  gardens,  his  horses,  his 
boats,  were  in  a  style  of  extravagance  calculated  to  provoke  the 
envy  of  the  sons  of  his  sovereign  ;  while  his  suite  ecUpsed  that 
of  the  prince  himself.  In  short,  he  little  regarded  the  prudent 
counsel  of  his  father,  who,  in  their  metaphorical  language,  used  to 
express  his  fears  "  that  when  he  was  a  hundred  years  old  "  (i.e. 
dead),  the  fabric  which  cost  a  life  in  rearing  would  fall  to  pieces. 
Gordhandas,^  the  natural  son  of  the  regent,  was  then  about 
twenty-seven,^  quick,  lively,  intelligent,  and  daring.  His  conduct 
to  his  sovereign's  family  has  been  precisely  the  reverse  of  his 
brother's,  and  in  consequence  he  lived  on  terms  of  confidential 
friendship  with  them,  especially  with  the  heir-apparent  and 
prince,  Prithi  Singh,  whose  disposition  corresponded  with  his 
own.  His  father,  who  viewed  this  child  of  his  old  age  with 
perhaps  more  affection  than  his  elder  brother,  bestowed  upon 
him  the  important  office  of  Pardhan,  which  comprehends  the 
grain-department  of  the  State.  It  gave  him  the  command  of 
funds,  the  amount  of  which  endangered  the  declared  succession. 
The  brothers  cordially  detested  each  other,  and  many  indignities 
were  cast  upon  Gordhandas  by  Madho  Singh,  such  as  putting 
him  in  the  guard,  which  kindled  an  irreconcilable  rancour  between 
them.  Almost  the  only  frailty  in  the  character  of  the  regent 
was  the  defective  education  of  his  sons  :  both  were  left  to  the 
indulgence  of  arrogant  pretensions,  which  ill  accorded  with  the 
tenor  of  his  own  behaviour  through  Ufe,  or  the  conduct  that  was 
demanded  of  them.      Dearly,  bitterly  has  the  regent  repented 

^  Anglice,  '  the  slave  of  GordJian,'  one  of  the  names  of  Krishna,  the 
tutelary  divinity  of  the  regent. 

2  Let  me  again  remind  the  reaiSer  that  this  was  written  in  1820-21  ; 
for  many  reasons,  the  phraseology  and  chronology  of  the  original  MS.  are 
retained. 


DISPUTED  SUCCESSION:   PARTIES  AT  KOTAH  1585 

this  error,  which  in  its  consequence  has  thrown  the  merits  of  an 
active  and  difficult  career  into  the  shade,  and  made  him  regret 
that  his  power  was  not  to  die  with  hin. 

Such  was  the  state  of  parties  and  politics  at  Kotah  in  November 
1819,  when  the  death  of  the  Maharao  developed  views  that  had 
long  been  concealed,  and  that  produced  the  most  deplorable 
results.  The  regent  was  at  the  Chhaoni,  his  standing  camp  at 
Gagraun,  when  this  event  occurred,  and  he  immediately  repaired 
to  the  capital,  to  see  that  the  last  offices  were  properly  performed, 
and  to  proclaim  the  an,  or  oath  of  allegiance,  and  the  accession 
of  the  Maharao  Ivishor  Singh  [562]. 

The  Political  Agent  received  the  intelligence^  on  his  march 
from  INIarwar  to  Mewar,  and  immediately  addressed  his  govern- 
ment on  the  subject,  requesting  instructions.  Meanwhile,  after 
a  few  days'  halt  at  Udaipur,  he  repaired  to  Kotah  to  observe  the 
state  of  parties,  whose  animosities  and  expectations  were  fore- 
bodings of  a  change  which  menaced  the  guaranteed  order  of 
things.  On  his  arrival,  he  found  the  aged  regent,  still  a  stranger 
to  the  luxury  of  a  house,  encamped  a  mile  beyond  the  city,  with 
his  devoted  bands  around  him  ;  while  his  son,  the  heir  to  his 
power,  continued  in  his  palace  in  the  town.  The  prince  and 
brothers,  as  heretofore,  resided  at  the  palace  in  the  castle,  where 
they  held  their  coteries,  of  which  Gordhandas  and  Prithi  Singh 
were  the  principals,  moulding  the  new  Maharao  to  their  will, 
and  from  which  the  second  brother,  Bishan  Singh,  was  excluded. 
Although  the  late  prince  had  hardly  ceased  to  breathe,  before  the 
animosities  so  long  existing  between  the  sons  of  the  regent  burst 

^  The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  letter  written  by  the  regent, 
announcing  the  decease  of  his  master,  dated  1st  Safar,  a.h.  1235,  or  November 
21,1819:— 

"  Until  Sunday,  the  eve  of  the  1st  Safar,  the  health  of  the  Maharao 
Ummed  Singh  was  perfectly  good.  About  an  hour  after  sunset,  he  went 
to  worship  Sri  Brajnathji  [Lord  of  Braj  or  Mathura].  Having  made  six 
prostrations,  and  while  performing  the  seventh,  he  fainted  and  remained 
totally  insensible.  In  this  state  he  was  removed  to  his  bed-chamber,  when 
every  medical  aid  was  given,  but  unavailingly ;  at  two  in  the  morning  he 
departed  for  heaven. 

"  Such  affliction  is  not  reserved  even  for  a  foe  ;  but  what  refuge  is  there 
against  the  decree  ?  You  are  our  friend,  and  the  honour  and  welfare  of 
those  whom  the  Maharao  has  left  behind  are  now  in  your  hands.  The 
Maharao  Kishor  Singh,  eldest  son  of  the  Maharao  deceased,  has  been  placed 
upon  the  throne.     This  is  written  for  the  information  of  friendship." 


1586  ANNALS  OF  HAKAVATI  :  KOTAU 

forth,  and  threatened  '  war  within  the  gates  *  ;  and  although 
nothing  short  of  the  recovery  of  rights  so  long  in  abeyance  was 
determined  upon  by  the  prince  ;  yet — and  it  will  hardly  be 
believed — these  schemes  escaped  the  vigilance  of  the  regent. 

The  death  of  his  friend  and  sovereign,  added  to  care  and 
inlirmity,  brought  on  a  fit  of  illness,  the  result  of  which  was 
expected  to  crown  the  hopes  of  the  parties  who  were  interested 
in  the  event  ;  and  when,  to  their  surprise  and  regret,  he  recovered, 
the  plans  of  his  prince  and  natural  son  were  matured,  and  as 
notorious  as  the  sun  at  noon  to  every  person  of  note  but  the 
regent  liimself.  He  was  not,  indeed,  the  first  aged  ruler,  however 
renowned  for  wisdom,  who  had  been  kept  in  ignorance  of  the 
cabals  of  his  family.  It  required  a  proi^het  to  announce  to 
David  the  usurpation  of  Adonijah  ;  ^  and  the  same  cause,  which 
kept  David  ignorant  that  his  son  had  supplanted  him,  concealed 
from  the  penetrating  eye  of  Zalim  Singh  the  plot  which  had  for 
its  object  that  his  power  should  perish  with  him,  and  that  his  son 
Gordhan  should  supersede  [563]  the  heir  to  liis  hereditary  staff 
of  office.  Strange  as  it  must  appear,  the  British  Agent  acted  the 
part  of  Nathan  on  this  occasion,  and  had  to  break  the  intelligence 
to  the  man  who  had  swayed  for  sixty  years,  with  despotic 
authority,  the  destinies  of  Kotah,  that  his  sons  were  arming 
against  each  other,  and  that  his  prince  was  determined  that  his 
wand  (chhari)  of  jjower  should  (to  speak  in  their  metaphorical 
style)  be  consumed  in  the  same  pyre  with  himself  whenever  the 
'  decree  of  Bhagwan  '  went  forth. 

It  was  then  that  the  supplemental  articles,  guaranteeing 
Madho  Singh  in  the  succession  to  the  regency,  proved  a  stumbling- 
block  in  the  path  of  our  mediation  between  parties,  the  one  called 
on  to  renounce  that  dear-bought  power,  the  other  determined  to 
regain  what  time  and  accident  had  wrested  from  him.  Had  the 
emergency  occurred  while  the  predatory  system  was  predominant, 
not  a  whisper  would  have  been  raised  ;  the  point  in  all  probability 
would  never  have  been  mooted  :  it  would  have  been  considered 
as  a  matter  of  course,  where 

Amurath  to  Amuruth  succeeds, 

^  "  Nathan  spake  unto  Bathsheba,  '  hast  tliou  not  hoard  that  Adonijah, 
the  son  of  Haggith,  doth  rcigHj  and  David  our  Lord  knowoth  it  not  V  '  " 
[1  Kinga  i.  11.] 


DISPUTED  SUCCESSION  1587 

that  the  Maharao  Kishor  should  continue  the  same  puppet  in  the 
hands  of  Madho  Singh  that  his  father  had  been  in  Zahm's.  This 
would  have  excited  no  surprise,  nor  would  such  a  proceeding  have 
afforded  speculation  for  one  hour.  Nay,  the  usurper  might  have 
advanced  to  the  ulterior  step  ;  and,  like  the  Frank  Maire  du 
Palais,  have  demanded  of  tl.ie  pontiff  of  Nathdwara,  as  did  Pepin 
of  Pope  Zacharias,  "  whether  he  who  had  the  power,  should  not 
also  have  the  title,  of  king  "  ;  ^  and  the  same  plenary  indulgence 
would  have  awaited  the  first  Jhala  Raja  of  Kotah  as  was  gianted 
to  the  first  of  the  Cariovingian  kings  !  It,  therefore,  became  a 
matter  of  astonishment,  especially  to  the  unreflecting,  whence 
arose  the  general  sympathy,  amounting  to  enthusiasm,  towards 
this  hitherto  disregarded  family,  not  only  from  chief  and  peasant, 
^vithin  the  bomids  of  Haraoti,  and  the  foreign  mercenary  army 
raised  and  maintained  by  the  regent,  but  from  the  neighbouring 
jjrinces  and  nobles,  who  had  hitherto  looked  upon  the  usurpation 
in  silence. 

A  short  explanation  will  solve  what  was  then  enigmatical,  even 
to  those  most  interested  in  forming  a  just  opinion.  The  practice 
of  the  moral  virtues  amongst  any  portion  of  civihzed  society  may 
be  uncertain,  but  there  is  one  invariable  estimate  or  standard  of 
them  in  theory.  The  policy  of  1817  changed  the  moral  with  the 
political  [564]  aspect  of  Rajasthan.  If,  previous  thereto,  no 
^'oice  was  raised  against  usurpation  and  crime,  it  was  because 
all  hope  that  their  condition  could  be  amehorated  was  extinct. 
But  tills  was  to  them  a  naya  sanivat,  a  '  new  era,'  a  day  of  universal 
regeneration.  Was  the  sovereign  not  to  look  for  the  restoration 
of  that  power  which  had  been  guaranteed  by  treaty — nor  the 
chiefs  to  claim  the  restitution  of  their  estates — nor  the  peasant 
to  hope  for  the  lands  now  added  to  the  crown  domain  ; — and  were 
not  all  foreign  potentates  interested  in  calling  for  an  example 
of  retributive  justice  for  ministerial  usurpation,  however  mildly 
exercised  towards  the  prince  ?  With  more  rational  than  political 
argument,  they  appealed  to  our  high  notions  of  public  justice  to 
accomplish  these  objects.  Unhappy  position,  in  which  circum- 
stances— nay,  paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  pohtical  gratitude 

^  Such  was  the  question  propounded,  and  answered  as  Pepin  expected, 
regarding  the  deposal  of  Childeiic  III.,  the  last  of  the  Merovingian  race. 
[Pope  Zacharias  (a.d.  741-52),  by  whose  sanction  Boniface  crowned  Pippin 
King  of  the  Franks  at  Soissons.] 


1588       ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  KOTAH 

and  justice — dictated  a  contrary  course,  and  marshalled  British 
battalions  in  line  with  the  retainers  of  usurpation  to  combat  the 
lawful  sovereign  of  the  country  !  The  case  was  one  of  the  most 
difficult  that  ever  beset  our  policy  in  the  East,  which  nmst  always 
to  a  certain  extent  be  adapted  to  the  condition  of  those  with 
whom  we  come  in  contact ;  and  perhaps,  on  this  occasion, 
no  caution  or  foresight  could  have  averted  the  effects  of  this 
alliance. 

Effects  of  the  British  Treaty. — There  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
that  the  supplemental  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Kotah,  which 
pledged  our  faith  to  two  parties  in  a  manner  which  rendered  its 
maintenance  towards  both  an  impossibiUty,  produced  conse- 
quences that  shook  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  Rajwara  in 
our  pohtical  rectitude.  They  established  two  pageants  instead 
of  one,  whose  co-existence  would  have  been  miraculous  ;  still, 
as  a  measure  ought  not  to  be  judged  entirely  by  its  results, 
we  shall  endeavour  to  assign  the  true  motive  and  character  of 
the  act. 

If  these  articles  were  not  dictated  by  good  policy  ;  if  they 
.  cannot  be  defended  on  the  plea  of  expediency  ;  if  the  omission 
in  the  original  treaty  of  December  could  not  be  supplied  in  March, 
without  questioning  the  want  of  foresight  of  the  framer  ;  he 
might  justify  them  on  the  ground  that  they  were  a  concession  to 
feelings  of  gratitude  for  important  services,  rendered  at  a  moment 
when  the  fate  of  our  power  in  India  was  involved  to  an  extent 
miprecedented  since  its  origin.  To  effect  a  treaty  with  the 
Nestor  of  Rajwara,  was  to  ensure  alliances  with  the  rest  of  the 
States,  which  object  was  the  very  essence  of  Lord  Hastings'' 
j)olicy.  Thus,  on  general  views,  as  well  as  for  particular  reasons 
(for  the  resources  of  Kotah  were  absolutely  indispensable),  the 
co-operation  of  the  regent  was  a  measure  vitally  important. 
Still  it  may  be  urged  that  as  the  regent  liimself,  from  whatever 
motive,  had  allowed  [5G5J  the  time  to  go  by  when  necessity 
might  have  compelled  us  to  incorporate  such  an  article  in  the 
original  treaty,  was  there  no  other  mode  of  reimbursing  these 
services  besides  a  guarantee  which  was  an  apple  of  discord  ? 
The  war  was  at  an  end  ;  and  we  might  with  justice  have  urged 
that  '  the  State  of  Kotah,'  with  which  we  had  treated,  had,  in 
tlie  destruction  of  all  the  powers  of  anarchy  and  sharing  in  its 
spoils,  fully  reaped  the  reward  of  her  services.     Such  an  argument 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  BRITISH  TREATY  1589 

would  doubtless  have  been  diplomatically  just  ;  but  we  were 
still  revelling  in  the  excitement  of  unparalleled  success,  to  which 
Zalim  had  been  no  mean  contributor,  and  the  future  evil  was 
overlooked  in  the  fevei-ish  joy  of  the  hour.  But  if  cold  expediency 
may  not  deem  this  a  sufficient  justification,  we  may  find  other 
reasons.  Wlien  the  author  of  the  policy  of  1817  had  maturely 
adjusted  his  plans  for  the  union  of  all  the  settled  governments 
in  a  league  against  the  predatory  system,  it  became  necessary 
to  adopt  a  broad  principle  with  respect  to  those  with  whom  we 
had  to  treat.  At  such  a  moment  he  could  not  institute  a  patient 
investigation  into  the  moral  discipline  of  each  State,  or  demand 
of  those  who  wielded  the  power  by  what  tenure  they  held  their 
authority.  It  became,  therefore,  a  matter  of  necessity  to  recog- 
nize those  who  were  the  rulers  de  facto,  a  principle  which  was 
publicly  promulgated  and  universally  acted  upon.  Whether  we 
should  have  been  justified  in  March,  when  all  our  wishes  had  been 
consummated,  in  declining  a  proposal  which  we  would  most 
gladly  have  submitted  to  in  December,  is  a  question  which  we 
shall  leave  diplomatists  to  settle,^  and  proceed  to  relate  the 
result  of  the  measure. 

The  counsellors  of  the  new  Maharao  soon  expounded  to  him 
the  terms  of  the  treaty,  and  urged  him  to  demand  its  fulfilment 
according  to  its  literal  interpretation.  The  politic  deference, 
which  the  regent  had  invariably  shown  to  the  late  prince,  was 
turned  skilfully  into  an  offensive  weapon  against  him.  They 
triumphantly  appealed  to  the  tenth  article  of  the  treaty,  "  the 
Maharao,  his  heirs  and  successors,  shall  remain  absolute  rulers 
of  their  country  "  ;  and  demanded  how  we  could  reconcile  our 
subsequent  determination  to  guarantee  Madho  Singh  and  his 
heirs  in  the  enjoyment  of  power,  which  made  him  de  facto  the 
prince,  and  "  reduced  the  gaddi  of  Kotah  to  a  simple  heap  of 
cotton  ?  " — with  the  fact  before  our  eyes,  that  the  seals  of  all 

^  The  overture  for  these  supplementary  articles,  in  all  probability, 
originated  not  with  the  regent,  but  with  the  son.  Had  the  Author  (who 
was  then  the  medium  of  the  poUtical  relations  with  Kotah)  been  consulted 
regarding  their  tendency,  he  was  as  well  aware  then  as  now,  what  he  ought 
to  have  advised.  Whether  his  feehngs,  alike  excited  by  the  grand  work 
in  which  he  bore  no  mean  part,  would  have  also  clouded  his  judgment, 
it  were  useless  to  discuss.  It  is  sufficient,  in  all  the  spirit  of  candour,  to 
suggest  such  reasons  as  may  have  led  to  a  measure,  the  consequences  of 
which  have  been  so  deeply  lamented. 


1590  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

the  contracting  parties  were  to  the  original  treaty,  but  that  of  the 
supplemental  articles  the  late  Maharao  died  in  absolute  ignor- 
ance [566]. 

All  friendly  intercourse  between  the  prince  and  the  regent, 
and  consequently  with  Madho  Singh,  was  soon  at  an  end,  and 
every  effort  was  used  whereby  the  political  enfranchisement  of 
the  former  could  be  accomplished.  The  eloquence  of  angels 
must  have  failed  to  check  such  hopes,  still  more  to  give  a  contrary 
interpretation  to  the  simple  language  of  the  treaty,  to  which, 
with  a  judicious  pertinacity,  they  confined  themselves.  It  would 
be  useless  to  detail  the  various  occurrences  pending  the  reference 
to  our  Government.  The  prince  would  not  credit,  or  affected 
not  to  credit,  its  determination,  and  founded  abundant  and  not 
easily-refutable  arguments  upon  its  honour  and  justice.  When 
told  that  its  instructions  were,  "  that  no  pretensions  of  the 
titular  Raja  can  be  entertained  by  us  in  opposition  to  our  positive 
engagement  with  the  regent  ;  that  he  alone  was  considered  as 
the  head  of  the  Kotah  State,  and  the  titular  Raja  no  more  deemed 
tlie  ruler  of  Kotah,  than  the  Raja  of  Satara  the  leader  of  the 
IMahrattas,  or  the  Great  Mogul  the  emperor  of  Hindustan,"  the 
Maharao  shut  his  ears  against  the  representation  of  the  Agent, 
and  professed  to  regard  the  person  who  could  compare  his  case 
to  others  so  little  parallel  to  it,  as  his  enemy.  While  his  brother. 
Prithi  Singh,  and  Gordhandas  formed  part  of  the  council  of 
Kishor  Singh,  it  was  impossible  to  expect  that  he  would  be 
brought  to  resign  himself  to  his  destiny  ;  and  he  was  speedily 
given  to  understand  that  the  removal  of  both  from  his  councils 
was  indispensable. 

Outbreak  at  Kotah. — But  as  it  was  impossible  to  effect  this 
without  escalading  the  castle,  in  which  operation  the  prince,  in 
all  human  probability,  might  have  perished,  it  was  deemed  advis- 
able to  blockade  it  and  starve  them  into  surrender.  When 
reduced  to  extremity,  the  Maharao  took  the  determination  of 
trusting  his  cause  to  the  country,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  band  of  five  hundred  horse,  chiefly  Haras,  with  the  tutelary 
deity  at  his  saddle-bow,  with  drums  beating  and  colours  flying, 
he  broke  through  the  blockade.  Fortunately,  no  instructions  had 
been  given  for  resistance,  and  his  cavalcade  passed  on  to  the 
southward  unmolested.  As  soon  as  the  movement  was  reported, 
the   Agent  hastened  to  the  regent's  camp,  which   he  found  in 


OUTBREAK  AT  KOTAH  1591 

confusion  ;  and  demanded  of  the  veteran  what  steps  he  had  taken, 
or  meant  to  take,  to  prevent  the  infection  spreading.  His  conduct, 
at  such  a  crisis,  was  most  embarrassing.  Beset  by  scruples,  real 
or  affected,  the  Agent  could  only  obtain  ill-timed  if  not  spurious 
declarations  of  loyalty  ;  "  that  he  would  cling  to  his  sovereign's 
skirts,  and  chakari  kar  (serve  him)  ;  that  he  would  rather  retire 
to  Nathdwara,  than  blacken  his  face  by  any  treason  towards  his 
master."  Rejoiced  at  the  mere  hint  of  a  sentiment  which  afforded 
the  least  presage  of  the  only  [567]  mode  of  cutting  the  Gordian 
knot  of  our  policy,  the  Agent  eagerly  replied,  "  there  Avas  no 
earthly  bar  to  his  determination,  which  he  had  only  to  signify  "  ; 
but  abhorring  duplicity  and  cant  at  such  a  moment,  when  action 
of  the  most  decisive  kind  was  required,  and  apprehensive  of  the 
consequences  of  five  hundred  unquiet  spirits  being  thrown  loose 
on  a  society  so  lately  disorganized,  he  hastily  bid  the  veteran 
adieu,  and  galloped  to  overtake  the  prince's  cavalcade.  He  found 
it  bivouacked  at  the  Rangbari,^  a  country-seat  six  miles  south 
of  the  capital.  His  followers  and  their  horses,  intermingled,  were 
scattered  in  groups  outside  the  garden-wall  ;  and  the  prince,  his 
chiefs,  and  advisers,  were  in  the  palace,  deliberating  on  their 
future  operations.  There  was  no  time  for  ceremony  ;  and  he 
reached  the  assembly  before  he  could  be  annoimced.  The  rules 
of  etiquette  and  courtesy  were  not  lost  even  amidst  impending 
strife  ;  though  the  greeting  was  short,  a  warm  expostulation  with 
the  prince  and  the  chiefs  was  delivered  with  rapidity  ;  and  the 
latter  were  warned  that  their  position  placed  them  in  direct 
enmity  to  the  British  Government,  and  that,  without  being 
enabled  to  benefit  their  sovereign,  they  involved  themselves  in 
destruction.  The  courtesy  which  these  brave  men  had  a  right 
to  was  changed  into  bitter  reproof,  as  the  Agent  turned  to  Gord- 
handas,  whom  he  styled  a  traitor  to  his  father,  and  from  v/hom 
his  prince  could  expect  no  good,  guided  as  he  was  solely  by 
interested  motives,  and  warned  him  that  punishment  of  no 
common  kind  awaited  him.  His  hand  was  on  his  sword  in  an 
instant  ;  but  the  action  being  met  by  a  smile  of  contempt,  and 
his  insolent  rephes  passing  unheeded,  the  Agent,  turning  to  the 
prince,  implored  him  to  reflect  before  the  door  would  be  closed 
to  accommodation  ;  pledging  himself,  at  the  same  time,  to  every- 
thing that  reason  and  his  position  could  demand,  except  the 
1  ['  The  Garden  of  Enjoyment.'] 


1592  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

surrender  of  the  power  of  the  regent,  which  our  pubHc  faith 
compelled  us  to  maintain  ;  and  that  the  prince's  dignity,  comforts, 
and  happiness,  should  be  sedulously  consulted.  \V^liile  he  was 
wavering,  the  Agent  called  aloud,  "  The  prince's  horse  !  ''  and 
taking  his  arm,  Kishor  Singh  suffered  himself  to  be  led  to  it, 
observing  as  he  mounted,  "  I  rely  implicitly  on  your  friendship." 
His  brother,  Prithi  Singh,  spoke  ;  the  chiefs  maintained  silence  ; 
and  the  impetuosity  of  Gordhan  and  one  or  two  of  the  coterie  was 
unheeded.  The  Agent  rode  side  by  side  with  the  prince,  sur- 
rounded by  his  bands,  in  perfect  silence,  and  in  this  way  they  re- 
entered the  castle,  nor  did  the  Agent  quit  him  till  he  replaced 
him  on  his  gaddi,  when  he  reiterated  his  expressions  of  desire  for 
his  welfare,  but  urged  the  necessity  of  his  adapting  his  conduct 
to  the  imperious  circumstances  of  his  position  ;  and  intimated 
that  both  his  brother  and  Gordhandas  must  be  removed  from 
his  person,  the  latter  altogether  from  [568]  Haraoti.  This  was 
in  the  middle  of  Ma}^  ;  and  in  June,  after  the  public  deporta- 
tion of  Gordhandas  as  a  state-criminal  to  Delhi,  and  ample 
provision  being  made  for  the  prince  and  every  member  of  his 
family,  a  public  reconciliation  took  place  between  him  and  the 
regent. 

Reconciliation  of  Maharao  Kishor  Singh  with  Zalim  Singh. — 
The  meeting  partook  of  the  nature  of  a  festival,  and  produced  a 
spontaneous  rejoicing,  the  populace,  with  the  loudest  acclama- 
tions, crowding  every  avenue  to  the  palace  by  which  the  regent 
and  his  son  were  to  pass.  The  venerable  Zalim  appeared  like 
their  patriarch  ;  the  princes  as  disobedient  children  suing  for 
forgiveness.  '  They  advanced  bending  to  embrace  his  knees,  whilst 
he,  vainly  attempting  to  restrain  this  reverential  salutation  to 
his  age  and  to  habit,  endeavoured  by  the  same  lowly  action  to 
show  his  respect  to  his  sovereign.  Expressions,  in  keeping  with 
such  forms  of  affection  and  respect,  from  the  Maharao,  of  honour 
and  fidelity  from  the  '  guardian  of  his  father '  and  himself,  were 
exchanged  with  all  the  fervour  of  apparent  sincerity.  Anomalous 
condition  of  human  affairs  !  strange  perversity,  which  prevented 
this  momentary  illusion  from  becoming  a  permanent  reality  ! 

Re-installation  of  Kishor  Singh. — This  much-desired  reconcilia- 
tion was  followed  on  tlie  8th  of  Sawan,  or  17th  August  a.d.  1820,  by 
the  solemnities  of  a  public  installation  of  the  Maharao  on  the  gaddi 
of  his  ancestors  :    a  pageantry  which  smoothed  all  asperities  for 


RE-INSTALMENT  OF  MAHARAO  KISHOR  SINGH    1593 

the  time,  and,  in  giving  scope  to  the  munificence  of  the  regent, 
afforded  to  the  mass,  who  judge  only  by  the  surface  of  things, 
a  theme  for  approbation.  We  leave  for  another  place  ^  the  details 
of  this  spectacle  ;  merely  observing  that  the  representative  of  the 
British  Government  was  the  first  (following  the  priest)  to  make 
the  tika,  or  imction  of  sovereignty  ^  on  the  forehead  of  the  prince  ; 
and  having  tied  on  the  jewels,  consisting  of  aigrette,  necklace,  and 
bracelets,  he  girded  on,  amidst  salutes  of  ordnance,  the  sword  of 
investiture.  The  Maharao,  with  an  appropriate  speech,  presented 
one  hundred  and  one  gold  mohurs,  as  the  nazar  or  fine  of  relief, 
professing  his  homage  to  the  British  Government.  At  the  same 
time,  a  khilat,  or  dress  of  honour,  was  presented,  in  the  name  of 
the  Governor-General  of  India,  to  the  regent,  for  which  he  made 
a  suitable  acknowledgment,  and  a  nazar  of  twenty-five  gold 
mohurs. 

Madho  Singh  then  fulfilled  the  functions  of  hereditary  Faujdar, 
making  the  tika,  girding  on  the  sword,  and  presenting  the  gift  of 
accession,  which  was  returned  by  [569]  the  Maharao  presenting 
to  Madho  Singh  the  khilat  of  ultimate  succession  to  the  regency  : 
the  grand  difficultj''  to  overcome,  and  which  originated  all  these 
differences.  The  Agent  remained  an  entire  month  after  the 
ceremony,  to  strengthen  the  good  feeling  thus  begun  ;  to  adapt 
the  Maharao's  mind  to  the  position  in  which  an  imperious  destiny 
had  placed  him  ;  and  also  to  impress  on  the  successor  to  the 
regency  the  dangerous  responsibility  of  the  trust  which  a  solemn 
treaty  had  guaranteed,  if  by  his  supineness,  want  of  feeling,  or 
misconduct,  it  were  violated.  On  the  4th  of  September,  previous 
to  leaving  Kotah,  the  Agent  was  present  at  another  meeting  of  all 
the  parties,  when  there  was  as  much  appearance  of  cordiality 
manifested  as  could  be  expected  in  so  difficult  a  predicament. 
The  old  regent,  the  Maharao,  and  Madho  Singh,  joined  hands  in 
reciprocal  forgiveness  of  the  past,  each  uttering  a  solemn  assevera- 
tion that  he  would  cultivate  harmony  for  the  future. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  regent  performed  two 
deliberate  acts,  which  appear  suitable  accompaniments  to  the 

^  The  details  of  this  ceremony  will  be  given  in  the  Personal  Narrative. 

2  *  Anointing  '  appears  to  have  been,  in  all  ages,  the  mode  of  installa- 
tion. The  unguent  on  this  occasion  is  of  sandalwood  and  itr  of  roses  made 
into  a  paste,  or  very  thick  ointment,  of  which  a  Uttle  is  placed  upon  the 
forehead  with  the  middle  finger  of  the  right  hand. 

VOL.  Ill  Z 


1594  ANNAT-S  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

close  of  his  political  life,  both  as  respects  his  prince  and  his  sub- 
jects. He  had  prepared  a  covenant  of  surety  for  his  old  and 
faithful  servants  after  his  death,  demanding  the  Maharao's,  his 
son  Madho  Singh's,  and  the  Agent's  signatures  thereto,  stipulating 
that  "  if  his  successor  did  not  choose  to  employ  their  services, 
they  should  be  free  agents,  be  called  to  no  account  for  the  past, 
but  be  permitted  to  reside  wherever  they  pleased."  The  Maharao 
and  Madho  Singh  having  signed  the  deed,  the  British  Agent,  at 
the  desire  of  the  regent,  placed  his  signature  as  a  guarantee  for 
its  execution.  In  tliis  act,  we  not  only  have  proof  that  to  the 
last  the  regent  maintained  the  supremacy  of  his  master,  but 
evidence  of  the  fears  he  entertained  respecting  the  conduct  of 
his  successor. 

Reforms  in  Taxation. — The  other  act  was  a  brilliant  victory 
over  the  most  inveterate  habits  of  his  age  and  country, — the 
revocation  of  dand,  or  forced  contributions,  throughout  the 
dominion  of  Kotah.  This  spontaneous  abolition  of  a  practice  so 
deeply  rooted  in  Rajasthan,  is  another  proof  of  the  keen  penetra- 
tion of  the  regent,  and  of  his  desire  to  conciliate  the  opinions  of 
the  protecting  power,  as  to  the  duties  of  princes  towards  their 
subjects ;  duties  regarding  which,  as  he  said,  "  theoretically  we 
are  not  ignorant "  ;  and  on  which  he  has  often  forcibly  descanted 
before  his  son,  whilst  laying  down  rules  of  conduct  when  he  should 
be  no  more.  At  such  moments,  he  entered  fully  and  with  energy 
into  his  own  conduct  ;  condemning  it  ;  pointing  out  its  inevitable 
results,  and  the  benefits  he  had  observed  to  attend  an  opposite 
course  of  action.  "  My  word,  son,  was  not  worth  a  copper,"  he 
would  say  ;  "  but  now  nobody  would  refuse  anything  to'  old 
Zalim."  It  f.570]  was,  therefore,  as  much  from  a  conviction  of 
the  benefit  to  himself  and  the  State  which  would  attend  the 
renunciation  of  this  tax,  as  with  a  view  of  courting  golden  opinion, 
t  hat  he  commanded  a  stone  to  be  raised  in  the  chief  town  of  every 
district  of  his  country,  on  which  was  inscribed  the  edict  of  per- 
petual abolition  of  dand,  with  the  denunciation  of  eternal  venge- 
ance on  whoever  should  revoke  it.  The  effigies  of  the  sun,  the 
moon,  the  cow  and  the  hog,  animals  reverenced  or  execrated  by 
all  classes,  were  carved  in  relief,  to  attest  the  imprecation. 

Such  was  the  pacific  termination  of  a  contest  for  authority, 
whicli  threatened  to  deluge  Kotah  with  blood.  Whether  we  had 
a  right  to  hope  that  such  high  and  natural  pretensions  could  rest 


BANISHMENT  OF  GORDHANDAS  1595 

satisfied  with  the  measures  of  conciliation  and  concession  that 
were  pursued,  the  sequel  will  disclose  to  those  who  judge  only  by 
results. 


CHAPTER   11 

Banishment  of  Gordhandas. — The  sole  measure  of  severity 
which  arose  out  of  these  commotions  was  exercised  on  the  natural 
son  of  the  regent,  who  was  banished  in  the  face  of  open  day  from 
the  scene  of  his  turbulent  intrigue.  Gordhandas,  or,  as  his  father 
styled  him,  '  Gordhanji,'  was  the  '  child  of  love  '  and  of  his  old 
age,  and  to  his  mother  the  regent,  it  is  said,  felt  the  most  ardent 
attachment.  The  perpetual  banishment  of  this  firebrand  was 
essential  to  tranquillity  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  his  misdeeds, 
political  and  filial,  it  was  feared  that  the  sentiments  of  the  Jewish 
monarch,  rather  than  the  sternness  of  the  Roman  father,  would 
have  influenced  the  Rajput  regent,  whose  bearing,  when  [571] 
the  sentence  of  condemnation  was  enforced,  was  to  be  regarded  as 
the  test  of  a  suspicion  that  the  INIaharao  had  been  goaded  to  his 
course  through  t]^s  channel  by  ulterior  views  which  he  dared  not 
openly  promulgate.  But  Zalim's  fiat  was  worthy  of  a  Roman, 
and  sufficed  to  annihilate  suspicion — "  Let  the  air  of  Haraoti 
never  more  be  tainted  by  his  presence."  Delhi  and  Allahabad 
were  the  cities  fixed  upon,  from  which  he  was  to  select  his  future 
residence,  and  unfortunately  the  first  was  chosen.  Here  he 
resided  with  his  family  upon  a  pension  sufficiently  liberal,  and  had 
a  range  abundantly  excursive  for  exercise,  attended  by  some 
horsemen  furnished  by  the  British  local  authority. 

About  the  close  of  1821,  permission  was  imprudently  granted 
to  the  exile  to  visit  Malwa,  to  fulfil  a  marriage-contract  with  an 
illegitimate  daughter  of  the  chieftain  of  Jhabua.^  Scarcely  had 
he  set  his  foot  in  that  town,  when  symptoms  of  impatience,  in 
lieu  of  perfect  tranquillity,  began  to  be  visible  at  Kotah,  and  a 
correspondence  both  there  and  at  Bundi  was  hardly  detected, 
before  a  spirit  of  revolt  was  reported  to  have  infected  the  tried 
veterans  of  the  regent.  Saif  Ali,  the  commander  of  the  '  Royals  ' 
{Raj  Paltan),  an  officer  of  thirty  years'  standing,  distinguished 

1  [Jhabua,  in  Bhopawar  Agency,  Central  India  (/(?/,  xiv.  104  ff.).] 


1596       ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  KOTAH 

for  his  zeal,  fidelity,  and  gallantry,  was  named  as  having  been 
gained  over  to  the  cause  of  his  nominal  sovereign.  This  was 
looked  upon  as  a  slander  ;  but  too  wise  entirely  to  disregard  it, 
the  regent  interposed  a  force  between  the  disaffected  battalion 
and  the  castle,  which  brought  the  matter  to  issue.  The  Maharao 
immediately  proceeded  by  water,  and  conveyed  Saif  Ali  and  a 
part  of  his  battalion  to  the  palace  ;  which  was  no  sooner  reported, 
than  the  blind  regent  put  himself  into  his  litter,  and  headed  a 
force  with  which  he  attacked  the  remainder,  while  two  twenty, 
four  pounders,  mounted  on  a  cavalier,  which  commanded  not  only 
every  portion  of  the  city,  but  the  country  on  both  sides  the 
Chambal,  played  upon  the  castle.  In  the  midst  of  this  firing 
(probably  unexpected),  the  Maharao,  his  brother  Prithi  Singh, 
and  their  adherents,  took  to  boat,  crossed  the  river,  and  retired  to 
Bundi,  while  the  remainder  of  the  mutinous  '  Royals  '  laid  down 
their  arms.  By  this  energetic  conduct,  the  new  attempt  upon  his 
power  was  dissolved  as  soon  as  formed,  and  the  gaddi  of  the  Haras 
was  abandoned.  Bishan  Singh  escaped  from  his  brothers  in 
the  midst  of  the  fray,  and  joined  the  regent,  whose  views  regard- 
ing him,  in  this  crisis,  however  indirectly  manifested,  could  not 
be  mistaken  ;  but  our  system  of  making  and  unmaking  kings  in 
these  distant  regions,  though  it  may  have  enlarged  our  power, 
liad  not  added  to  our  reputation  ;  and  the  Agent  had  the  most 
rooted  repugnance  to  sanction  the  systein  in  the  new  range  of  our 
alliances,  however  it  might  have  tended  to  allay  the  discord  [572] 
which  prevailed,  or  to  free  the  paramount  power  from  the  em- 
barrassment in  which  its  diplomatic  relations  had  placed  it,  and 
from  whence  there  was  no  escape  without  incurring  the  too  just 
reproach  of  violating  the  conditions  we  had  imposed.  Common 
decency  forbade  our  urging  the  only  plea  we  could  in  forming  the 
treaty,  namely,  our  considering  the  prince  as  a  mere  phantom  ; 
and  if  we  had  been  bold  enough  to  do  so,  the  reply  would  have 
been  the  same  :  "  Why  did  you  treat  with  a  phantom  ?  "  while 
he  would  have  persisted  in  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
bond. 

British  Intervention. — There  was  but  one  way  to  deal  with  the 
perplexity — to  fulfil  the  spirit  of  the  treaty,  by  which  public 
peace  would  be  ensured.  Instructions  were  sent  to  the  prince 
of  Bundi,  that  there  was  no  restraint  upon  his  performing  the  rites 
of  hospitality  and  kindred  to  the  fugitive  princes,  but  that  he 


BRITISH  INTERVENTION  - 1597 

would  be  personally  responsible  if  he  permitted  them  to  congregate 
troops  for  the  purpose  of  hostiUty  against  the  regent :  while,  at 
the  same  time,  the  commander  of  the  British  troops  at  Nimach  ^ 
was  desired  to  interpose  a  light  corps  on  the  line  of  Jhabua  and 
Bimdi,  and  to  capture  Gordhandas,  dead  or  alive,  if  he  attempted 
to  join  the  Maharao.  He,  however,  contrived,  through  the  in- 
tricacies of  the  plateau,  to  elude  the  well-arranged  plan  ;  but 
finding  that  the  prince  of  Bundi  had  the  same  determination,  he 
made  direct  for  Marwar,  where  being  also  denied  an  asylum,  he 
had  no  alternative  but  to  return  to  Delhi,  and  to  a  more  strict 
surveillance.  This,  however,  may  have  been  concerted  ;  for  soon 
after,  the  Maharao  broke  ground  from  Bimdi,  giving  out  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Brindaban  ;  ^  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  tranquillity  and 
repose  he  would  find  amidst  the  fanes  of  his  tutelary  deity, 
Brajnathji,  might  tempt  a  mind  prone  to  rehgious  seclusion,  to 
pass  his  days  there.  While  he  remained  at  Bundi,  public  opinion 
was  not  at  all  manifested  ;  the  distance  was  trifling  to  Kotah, 
and  being  with  the  head  of  his  race,  the  act  was  deemed  only  one 
of  those  hasty  ebuUitions  so  conunon  in  those  countries,  and  which 
would  be  followed  by  reconciliation.  But  as  soon  as  the  prince 
moved  northward,  expectation  being  excited  that  his  cause  would 
meet  attention  elsewhere,  he  had  letters  of  sympathy  and  con- 
dolence from  every  chief  of  the  country,  and  the  customary 
attentions  to  sovereignty  were  paid  by  those  through  whose 
States  he  passed,  with  the  sole  exception  of  that  most  contiguous 
to  our  provinces,  Bharatpur.  The  prince  of  this  celebrated  place 
sent  a  deputation  to  the  frontier,  excusing  liimself  on  account  of 
his  age  and  bUndness  ;  but  the  Hara  prince,  knowing  what  was 
due  from  a  Jat  zemindar,  however  favoured  by  the  accessions 
of  fortune,  repelled  with  disdain  both  his  gifts  and  his  mis- 
sion. For  this  haughty,  though  not  unbecoming  maintenance 
of  precedent,  the  [573]  Maharao  was  warned  off  the  bounds  of 
Bharatpur.  Having  remained  some  time  among  the  '  groves  of 
Vraja,'  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  the  canticles  of  Jayadeva 
had  rendered  an  earthly  crown  a  mere  bauble  in  the  eyes  of  the 
abdicated  Hara,  and  that  the  mystical  effusions  of  Kanhaiya  and 
Uadha  had  eradicated  all  remembrance  of  the  rhapsodies  of  Chand, 
and  the  glories  of  the  Chauhan  :    he  was  accordingly  left  at  dis- 

^  [A  British  cantonment  in  Gwalior  State  {IGI,  xix.  105  f.).] 
2  [In  the  Mathura  District,  United  Provinces  of  Agra  and  Oudh.] 


1598*     ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

cretion  to  wander  where  he  Hsted.  As  it  was  predicted,  he  soon 
felt  the  difference  between  his  past  and  present  mode  of  life, 
surrounded  by  a  needy  crew  in  a  strange  land  ;  and  towards  the 
middle  of  April  he  had  reached  Muttra,  on  his  return  from  Brinda- 
ban  to  Kotah.  But  his  evil  genius,  in  the  shape  of  Gordhandas, 
had  destined  this  should  not  be  ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
rigorous  surveillance,  or,  in  fact,  imprisonment,  which  had  been 
enjoined,  this  person  found  an  opportunity  to  carry  on  cabals 
with  natives  of  high  rank  and  office. 

The  Maharao  marches  on  Kotah. — Intrigues  multiplied,  and 
false  hopes  were  inspired  through  these  impure  channels,  which 
were  converted  by  his  corrupt  emissaries  into  fountain-heads  of 
political  control,  superseding  the  only  authorized  medium  of 
communication  between  the  misguided  prince  and  the  paramount 
power.  Accordingly,  having  collected  additional  troops  about 
him,  he  commenced  his  march  to  Haraoti,  giving  out  to  the  chiefs 
through  whose  dominions  he  passed,  that  he  was  returning  by 
the  consent  of  the  paramount  power  for  the  resumption  of  all  his 
sovereign  rights,  so  long  in  abeyance.  Men  with  badges  in  his 
train,  belonging  to  the  persons  alluded  to,  and  an  agent  from  the 
native  treasurer  of  Delhi,  who  supplied  the  prince  with  funds,  gave 
a  colour  of  truth  which  deceived  the  country,  and  produced  ardent 
expressions  of  desire  for  his  success.  As  he  proceeded,  this  force 
increased,  and  he  reached  the  Chambal,  towards  the  close  of  the 
monsoon  1821,  with  about  three  thousand  men.  Having  crossed 
the  river,  he  issued  his  summons  in  a  language  neither  to  be  mis- 
understood nor  disobeyed  by  a  Rajput ;  he  conjured  them  by  their 
allegiance  to  join  his  cause,  "  that  of  seeking  justice  according  to 
the  treaty  "  :  and  the  call  was  obeyed  by  every  Hara  of  the 
country.  His  conduct  afforded  the  most  powerful  illustration  of 
the  Rajput's  theory  of  fidelity,  for  even  those  closely  connected 
by  ties  of  blood  and  by  every  species  of  benefit,  withdrew  from 
the  regent,  to  whom  they  owed  everything,  in  order  to  join  their 
hereditary  and  lawful  prince,  whom  some  had  never  seen,  and  of 
whom  they  knew  nothing.  Negotiation,  and  expostulation  the 
most  solemn  and  earnest  on  the  personal  dangers  he  was  incurring, 
were  carried  on,  and  even  public  tranquillity  was  hazarded,  rather 
than  have  recourse  to  the  last  argument,  which  was  the  less 
necessary,  as  universal  peace  [574J  reigned  around  us,  and  the 
means  of  quelling  revolt  were  at  hand.     An  entire  month  was 


THE  MAHArAO  marches  ON  KOTAH  1599 

thus  consumed  :  but  the  ultimatum  ^  left  no  means  of  putting 
a  stop  to  increasing  disorders  but  that  appeal  which  from  various 
considerations  had  been  so  long  delayed. 

The  tried  troops  of  the  regent  could  not  be  depended  on  ;   he 

1  Letter  of  Maharao  Kishor  Singh,  accompanying  counter-articles, 
presented  to  Capt.  Tod,  dated  Asoj  badi  Panchami,  or  16th  September, 
'  Camp  IVIiyana.' 

(After  compliments.) 

Chand  ELhan  has  often  expressed  a  desire  to  know  what  were  my  expecta- 
tions. These  had  been  already  sent  to  you  by  my  wakHs,  Mirza  Muhammad 
Ali  Beg,  and  Lala  SaUk  R.am.  I  again  send  you  the  Schedule  of  Articles. 
According  to  their  purport  you  will  act.  Do  me  justice  as  the  representative 
of  the  British  Government,  and  let  the  master  be  as  master,  and  the  servant 
as  servant ;  this  is  the  case  everywhere  else,  and  is  not  hidden  from  you. 

Articles,  the  fulfilment  of  which  was  demanded  by  Maharao  Kishor 
Singh,  and  accompanying  his  letter  of  16th  September. 

1.  According  to  the  treaty  executed  at  Delhi,  in  the  time  of  Maharao 

Ummed  Singh,  I  will  abide. 

2.  I  have  every  confidence  in  Nanaji  Zahm  Singh  ;   in  like  manner  as 

he  served  Maharao  Ummed  Singh,  so  he  will  serve  me.  I  agree 
to  his  administration  of  affairs ;  but  between  Madho  Singh  and 
myself  suspicions  and  doubts  exist ;  we  can  never  agree  ;  there- 
fore, I  wiU  give  him  a  jagir ;  there  let  him  remain.  His  son, 
Bapa  Lai,  shall  remain  with  me,  and  in  the  same  way  as  other 
ministers  conduct  State  business  before  their  princes,  so  shall  he 
before  me.  I,  the  master,  he,  the  servant ;  and  if  as  the  servant 
he  acts,  it  wiQ  abide  from  generation  to  generation. 

3.  To   the   English   Government,   and  other  principalities,   whatever 

letters  are  addressed  shall  be  with  my  concurrence  and  advice. 
i.  Surety  for  his  life,  and  also  for  mine,  must  be  guaranteed  by  the 
EngUsh  Government. 

5.  I  shall  allot  a  jagir  for  Prithi  Singh  (the  Maharao's  brother),  at 

which  he  wUl  reside.  The  establishments  to  reside  with  him  and 
my  brother  Bishan  Singh  shall  be  of  my  nomination.  Besides, 
to  my  kinsmen  and  clansmen,  according  to  their  rank,  I  shall 
give  jagii's,  and  they  shall,  according  to  ancient  usage,  be  in 
attendance  upon  me. 

6.  My  personal  or  khas  guards,  to  the  amount  of  three  thousand,  with 

Bapa  Lai  (the  regent's  grandson)  shall  remain  in  attendance. 

7.  The  amount  of  the  collections  of  the  country  shall  all  be  deposited 

in  the  Kishan  Bhandar  (general  treasury),  and  thence  expenditure 
^  made. 

8.  The  Kiladars  (commandants)  of  all  the  forts  shall  be  appointed  by 

me,  and  the  army  shall  be  under  my  orders.     He   (the  regent) 
may  desire  the  officers  of  Government  to  execute  his  commands, 
but  it  shall  be  with  my  advice  and  sanction. 
These  are  the  Articles  I  desire  ;    they  are  according  to  the  rules  for 
government  {rajrit) — Mitti  Asoj  Panchami,  S.  1878  (1822). 


1600       ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

confessed  it  ;  and  in  this  confession,  what  an  evidence  is  afl'oi-ded 
of  the  nature  of  his  rule,  and  of  the  homage  to  immutable  justice 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  !  Every  corps,  foreign  or  indigenous, 
was  ready  to  range  on  the  side  of  legitimate  authority  against  the 
hand  which  had  fed  and  cherished  them.  So  completely  did  this 
feeling  pervade  every  part  of  the  political  fabric,  that  the  regent 
himself  said,  in  his  forcible  manner,  on  his  escape  from  the  danger, 
''  even  the  clothes  on  his  back  smelt  of  treason  to  liim."  It  was 
hoped  that  "  the  wisdom  which  called  aloud  (even)  in  the  streets  " 
woiild  not  be  disregarded  by  the  veteran  ;  that  disgust  at  such 
marks  of  perfidy  would  make  him  spurn  from  him  the  odium  of 
usurpation,  and  thus  free  the  paramount  power  from  a  situation 
the  most  painful  and  embarrassing.  Abundant  opportunities 
were  afforded,  and  hints  were  given  that  he  alone  could  cut  the 
knot,  which  otherwise  must  be  severed  [575]  by  the  sword.  But 
all  was  fruitless  :  "  he  stood  upon  his  bond,"  and  the  execution 
of  the  treaty.  The  Maharao,  Ms  nominal  sovereign,  took  the 
same  ground,  and  even  sent  a  copy  of  the  treaty  to  the  Agent, 
tauntingly  asking  whether  it  was  to  be  recognized  or  not.  All 
tliis  embarrassment  would  have  been  avoided,  had  the  supple- 
mental articles  been  embodied  in  the  original  treaty  ;  then  the 
literal  interpretation  and  its  spirit  would  not  have  been  at  variance, 
nor  have  afforded  a  pretext  to  reproach  the  paramount  power 
with  a  breach  of  faith  and  justice  :  charges  which  cannot  in  fact 
be  supported,  inasmuch  as  the  same  contracting  parties,  who 
executed  the  original  document,  amended  it  by  this  supplemental 
deed.  The  dispute  then  resolves  itself  into  a  question  of  ex- 
pediency, already  touched  on,  namely,  whether  we  might  not 
have  provided  better  for  the  future,  and  sought  out  other  modes 
of  reward  for  services  we  had  acknowledged,  than  the  maintenance 
of  two  pageants  of  sovereignty,  both  acknowledged,  the  one  de 
facto,  the  other  de  jure.  It  was  fortimate,  however,  that  the 
magnitude  of  the  titular  prince's  pretensions  placed  him  com- 
pletely in  opposition  to  the  other  contracting  parties,  inasnuich 
as  he  would  not  abide  by  either  the  spirit  or  the  letter  of  the 
treaty  or  its  supplement,  in  the  most  modified  sense.  His  demand 
for  "  a  personal  guard  of  three  thousand  of  his  kinsmen,  that  he 
might  allot  estates  at  pleasure  to  his  chiefs,  appoint  the  governors 
of  fortresses,  and  be  head  of  the  army,"  was  a  virtual  repudiation 
of  every  principle  of  the  alliance  ;    while  the  succession  to  the 


THE  MAHARAO  marches  ON  KOTAH  1601 

administrative  powers  of  the  State,  secured  to  the  issue  of  the 
regent,  was  made  to  depend  on  his  pleasure  :  rather  a  frail 
tenure  whether  in  Europe  or  Rajputana. 

Everjiihing  that  could  be  done  to  withdraw  the  infatuated 
prince  from  the  knot  of  evil  advisers  and  fiery  spirits  who  daily 
flocked  to  his  standard,  carrying  with  them  their  own  and  their 
ancestors'  wrongs,  being  ineffectual  and  hopeless,  the  troops  which 
had  been  called  upon  to  maintain  the  treaty  moved  forward  in 
combination  with  the  army  of  the  regent.  As  the  force  reached 
the  Kali  Sind,  which  alone  divided  the  rivals  for  power,  torrents 
of  rain,  which  during  several  days  swelled  it  to  an  impassable 
flood,  afforded  more  time  to  try  all  that  friendship  or  prudence 
could  urge  to  save  the  Maharao  from  the  impending  ruin.  But 
all  was  vain  ;  he  saw  the  storm,  and  invited  its  approach  with 
mingled  resolution  and  despair,  proclaiming  the  most  submissive 
obedience  to  the  paramount  power,  and  avowing  a  conviction  of 
the  good  intentions  and  friendship  of  its  representative  ;  but  to 
every  remonstrance  he  replied,  "  what  was  life  without  honour  ; 
what  was  a  sovereign  without  authority  ?  Death,  or  the  full 
sovereignty  of  his  ancestors  !  "  [576]. 

The  conduct  of  the  regent  was  not  less  perplexing  than  that 
of  the  prince  ;  for  while  he  affected  still  to  talk  of  fealty,  "  to 
preserve  his  white  beard  from  stain,"  he  placed  before  him  the 
ample  shield  of  the  treaty,  although  he  expected  that  his  power 
should  be  maintained  without  any  active  measures  on  his  own 
part  for  its  defence  :  a  degree  of  irresponsibiMty  not  for  a  moment 
to  be  tolerated.  It  was  in  vain  he  liinted  at  the  spirit,  more  than 
doubtful,  of  his  army  ;  that  in  the  moment  of  conflict  they  might 
turn  their  guns  against  us  ;  even  this  he  was  told  we  would 
hazard  :  and,  it  was  added,  if  he  desired,  at  whatever  cost,  to 
preserve  the  power  guaranteed  to  his  family,  he  must  act  offen- 
sively as  well  as  defensively  ;  for  it  would  shortly  be  too  late  to 
talk  of  reconciling  fealty  with  the  preservation  of  his  power.  The 
wily  regent  desired  to  have  his  work  done  for  him  ;  to  have  all 
the  benefit  which  the  alliance  compelled  us  to  afford,  with  none 
of  the  obloquy  it  entailed.  The  Agent  had  some  hope,  even  at 
the  twelfth  hour,  that  rather  than  incur  the  opprobrium  of  the 
world,  and  the  penalty  denounced  against  the  violation  of  swami- 
dharma,  in  committing  to  the  chance  of  battle  the  lives  of  all  those 
to  whom  he  was  protector,  he  would  draw  back  and  compromise 


1602  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

his  power  ;  but  the  betrayal  of  his  half  -  formed  designs  in 
hypocritical  cant  adapted  only  for  the  multitude,  soon  dispelled 
the  illusion  ;  and  though  there  was  a  strong  internal  struggle,  the 
love  of  dominion  overcame  every  scruple. 

The  combination  of  the  troops  was  discussed  in  his  presence 
and  that  of  his  officers  ;  and  in  order  that  unity  of  action  might  be 
ensured,  a  British  officer  was  at  his  request  attached  to  his  force. ^ 

Battle  of  Mangrol. — At  daybreak  on  the  1st  of  October,  the 
troops  moved  down  to  the  attack.^  The  regent's  army  consisted  of 
eight  battalions  of  infantry,  with  thirty-two  pieces  of  cannon  and 
fourteen  strong  paegahs,  or  squadrons  of  horse.  Of  these,  five 
battalions,  with  fourteen  pieces  and  ten  squadrons,  composed  the 
advance  ;  while  the  rest  formed  a  reserve  with  the  regent  in 
person,  five  hundred  yards  in  the  rear.  The  British  troops,  con- 
sisting of  two  weak  battalions  and  six  squadrons  of  cavalry,  with 
a  light  battery  of  horse-artillery,  formed  on  the  right  of  the 
regent's  force  as  it  approximated  to  the  Maharao's  position.  The 
ground  over  which  the  troops  moved  was  an  extensive  plain, 
gradually  shelving  to  a  small  shallow  stream,  whence  it  again  rose 
rather  abruptly.  The  Maharao's  camp  was  placed  upon  a  rising 
ground,  a  short  distance  [577]  beyond  the  stream  :  he  left  his 
tents  standing,  and  had  disposed  Ins  force  on  the  margin  of  the 
rivulet.  The  '  Royals,'  who  had  deserted  their  old  master,  with 
their  leader,  Saif  Ali,  were  posted  on  the  left  ;  the  Maharao  with 
the  elite,  a  band  of  full  five  hundred  Hara  cavaliers,  upon  the 
right,  and  the  interval  was  filled  by  a  tumultuous  rabble.  The 
combined  force  was  permitted  to  choose  its  position,  within  two 
hundred  yards  of  the  foe,  without  the  slightest  demonstration  of 
resistance  or  retreat.  The  Agent  took  advantage  of  the  pause 
to  request  the  British  commander  to  halt  the  whole  line,  in  order 
that  he  might  make  a  last  attempt  to  withdraw  the  infatuated 
prince  and  his  devoted  followers  from  the  perils  that  confronted 
them.  He  advanced  midway  between  the  Unes,  and  offered  the 
same  conditions  and  an  amnesty  to  all  ;  to  conduct  and  replace 
the  prince  on  the  gaddi  of  his  ancestors  with  honour.     Yet,  not- 

^  Lieutenant  M'jVIillan,  of  the  5th  Regt.  Native  Infantry,  volunteered  for 
this  duty,  and  performed  it  as  might  have  been  expected  from  an  ofificer 
of  his  gallantry  and  conduct. 

'^  [The  battle  was  fought  at  Mangrol,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Parbati 
River,  about  40  miles  N.N.E.  from  Kotah  city,  on  October  1,  1821.] 


THE  BATTLE  OF  MANGROL  1603 

withstanding  ruin  stared  him  in  the  face,  he  receded  from  none 
of  his  demands  ;  he  insisted  on  the  sine  qua  non,  and  would  only 
re-enter  Kotah  surrounded  by  three  thousand  of  his  Hara  kins- 
men. During  the  quarter  of  an  hour  allowed  him  to  deliberate 
ere  the  sword  should  be  drawn,  movements  in  position  on  both 
sides  took  place  ;  the  Maharao's  chosen  band,  condensing  all 
their  force  on  the  right,  opposed  the  regent's  advance,  while  the 
British  troops  formed  so  in  echelon  as  to  enfilade  their  dense 
masses. 

The  time  having  expired,  and  not  an  iota  of  the  pretensions 
being  abated,  the  signal,  as  agreed  upon,  was  given,  and  the  action 
commenced  by  a  discharge  of  cannon  and  firearms  from  the 
regent's  whole  line,  immediately  followed  by  the  horse-artillery 
on  the  right.  With  all  the  gallantry  that  has  ever  distinguished 
the  Haras,  they  acted  as  at  Fatehabad  and  Dholpur,  and  charged 
the  regent's  line,  when  several  were  killed  at  the  very  muzzle  of 
the  guns,  and  but  for  the  advance  of  three  squadrons  of  British 
cavalry,  would  have  turned  his  left  flank,  and  probably  penetrated 
to  the  reserve,  where  the  regent  was  in  person.^  Defeated  in  this 
design,  .they  had  no  resource  but  a  precipitate  retreat  from  the 
unequal  conflict,  and  the  Maharao,  surrounded  by  a  gol  of  about 
four  hundred  horse,  all  Haras,  his  kinsmen,  retired  across  the 
stream,  and  halted  on  the  rising  gromid  about  half  a  mile  distant, 
while  his  auxiliary  foot  broke  and  dispersed  in  all  directions.  The 
British  troops  rapidly  crossed  the  stream,  and  while  the  infantry 
made  a  movement  to  cut  off  [578]  retreat  from  the  south,  two 
squadrons  were  commanded  to  charge  the  Maharao.  Determined 
not  to  act  offensively,  even  in  this  emergency  he  adhered  to  his 
resolution,  and  his  band  awaited  in  a  dense  mass  and  immovable 
attitude  the  troops  advancing  with  rapidity  against  them,  dis- 
daining to  fly  and  yet  too  proud  to  yield.  A  British  officer  headed 
each  troop  ;  they  and  those  they  led  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
the  foe  fly  from  the  shock  ;  but  they  were  Pindaris,  not  Rajputs. 
The  band  stood  like  a  wall  of  adamant  ;  our  squadrons  rebounded 
from  the  shock,  leaving  two  brave  youths  -  dead  on  the  spot,  and 

^  The  Author,  who  placed  himseK  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  regent's 
line,  to  be  a  check  upon  the  dubious  conduct  of  his  troops,  particularly 
noted  this  intended  movement,  which  was  frustrated  only  by  Major 
Kennedy's  advance. 

-  Lieutenants  Clarke  and  Read,  of  the  4th  Regt.  Light  Cavalry. 


1604      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI:  KOTAH 

their  gallant  commander  ^  was  saved  by  a  miracle,  being  stunned 
by  a  blow  which  drove  in  his  casque,  his  reins  cut,  and  the  arm 
raised  to  give  the  coup  dc  grdcc,  when  a  pistol-shot  from  his 
orderly  levelled  his  assailant.  The  whole  was  the  work  of  an 
instant.  True  to  the  determination  he  expressed,  the  Maharao, 
satisfied  with  repelling  the  charge,  slowly  moved  off  ;  nor  was  it 
till  the  horse-artillery  again  closed,  and  poured  round  and  grape 
into  the  dense  body,  that  they  quickened  their  retreat ;  wliile, 
as  three  fresh  squadrons  had  formed  for  the  charge,  they  reached 
the  makkai  fields,  amongst  the  dense  crops  of  which  they  were  lost. 

Death  of  Prithi  Singh. — Prithi  Singh,  younger  brother  of  the 
prince,  impelled  by  that  heroic  spirit  which  is  the  birthright  of  a 
Hara,  and  aware  that  Haraoti  could  no  longer  be  a  home  for  him 
while  hving,  determined  at  least  to  find  a  grave  in  her  soil.  He 
returned,  with  about  five-and-twenty  followers,  to  certain  destruc- 
tion, and  was  found  in  a  field  of  Indian  corn  as  the  line  advanced, 
alive,  but  grievously  wounded.  He  was  placed  in  a  litter,  and, 
escorted  by  some  of  Skinner's  horse,  was  conveyed  to  tlie  camp. 
Here  he  was  sedulously  attended  ;  but  medical  skill  was  of  no 
avail,  and  he  died  the  next  day.  His  demeanour  was  dignified 
and  manly  ;  he  laid  the  blame  upon  destiny,  expressed  no  wish 
for  life,  and  said,  looking  to  the  tree  near  the  tent,  that  "  his 
ghost  would  be  satisfied  in  contemplating  therefrom  the  fields  of 
his  forefathers."  His  sword  and  ring  had  been  taken  from  him 
by  a  trooper,  but  his  dagger,  pearl  necklace,  and  other  valuables, 
he  gave  in  charge  to  the  Agent,  to  whom  he  bequeathed  the  care 
of  his  son,  the  sole  heir  to  the  empty  honours  of  the  sovereignty 
of  Kotah. 

It  was  not  from  any  auxihary  soldier  that  the  prince  received 
his  death-wound  ;  it  was  inflicted  by  a  lance,  propelled  with 
unerring  force  from  bcliind,  penetrating  the  lungs,  the  point 
appearing  through  the  chest.  He  said  it  was  a  revengeful  blow 
from  some  determined  hand,  as  he  felt  the  steeled  point  twisted 
in  the  wound  to  ensure  its  [579]  being  mortal.  Althougli  the 
squadrons  of  the  regent  joined  in  the  pursuit,  yet  not  a  man  of 
them  dared  to  come  to  close  quarters  with  their  enemy  ;  it  was 
therefore  supposed  that  some  treacherous  arm  had  mingled  with 
his  men,  and  inflicted  the  blow  which  relieved  the  regent  from 
the  chief  enemy  to  his  son  and  successor. 

^  Major  (uow  Lt.-Col.)  J.  Ridge,  C.B. 


DEVOTION  OF  TWO  HARAS  1605 

The  IMaharao  and  his  band  were  indebted  for  safety  to  the 
forest  of  corn,  so  thick,  lofty,  and  luxuriant,  that  even  his  elephant 
was  lost  sight  of.  This  shelter  extended  to  the  rivulet,  only  five 
miles  in  advance,  which  forms  the  boundary  of  Haraoti  ;  but  it 
was  deemed  sufficient  to  drive  him  out  of  the  Kotah  territory, 
where  alone  his  presence  could  be  dangerous.  The  infantry  and 
foreign  levies,  who  had  no  moral  courage  to  sustain  them,  fled 
for  their  lives,  and  many  were  cut  to  pieces  by  detached  troops  of 
our  cavalry. 

The  calm,  imdaimted  valour  of  the  Maharao  and  his  kin  could 
not  fail  to  extort  applause  from  those  gallant  minds  which  can 
admire  the  bravery  of  a  foe,  though  few  of  those  who  had  that  day 
to  confront  them  were  aware  of  the  moral  courage  which  sustained 
their  opponents,  and  which  converted  their  vis  inertiae  into  an 
almost  impassable  barrier. 

Devotion  of  Two  Haras. — But  although  the  gallant  conduct  of 
the  prince  and  his  kin  was  in  keeping  with  the  valour  so  often 
recorded  in  these  annals,  and  now,  alas  !  almost  the  sole  in- 
heritance of  the  Haras,  there  was  one  specimen  of  devotion  which 
we  dare  not  pass  over,  comparable  with  whatever  is  recorded  of 
the  fabled  traits  of  heroism  of  Greece  or  Rome.  The  physiography 
of  the  country  has  been  already  described  ;  the  plains,  along  which 
the  combined  force  advanced,  gradually  shelved  to  the  brink  of  a 
rivulet  whose  opposite  bank  rose  perpendicularly,  forming  as  it 
were  the  buttress  to  a  tableland  of  gentle  acclivity.  The  regent's 
battalions  were  advancing  in  columns  along  this  precipitous  bank, 
when  their  attention  was  arrested  by  several  shots  fired  from  an 
isolated  hillock  rising  out  of  the  plain  across  the  stream.  Without 
any  order,  but  as  by  a  simultaneous  impulse,  the  whole  line  halted, 
to  gaze  at  two  audacious  individuals,  who  appeared  determined  to 
make  their  mound  a  fortress.  A  minute  or  two  passed  in  mute 
surprise,  when  the  word  was  given  to  move  on  ;  but  scarcely  was 
it  uttered,  ere  several  wounded  from  the  head  of  the  column  were 
passing  to  the  rear,  and  shots  began  to  be  exchanged  very  briskly, 
at  least  twenty  in  return  for  one.  But  the  long  matchlocks  of  the 
two  heroes  told  every  time  in  our  lengthened  line,  while  they 
seemed  to  have  '  a  charmed  life,'  and  the  shot  fell  hke  hail  around 
them  innocuous,  one  continuing  to  load  behind  the  mound,  while 
the  [580]  other  fired  with  deadly  aim.  At  length,  two  twelve- 
povmders  were  unlimbered  ;   and  as  the  shot  whistled  round  their 


1606  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

ears,  botli  rose  on  the  very  pinnacle  of  the  mound,  and  made  a 
]irofound  salaam  for  this  comphment  to  their  valour  ;  which  done, 
they  continued  to  load  and  fire,  whilst  entire  platoons  blazed  upon 
them.  Although  more  men  had  suffered,  an  irresistible  impulse 
was  felt  to  save  these  gallant  men  ;  orders  were  given  to  cease 
firing,  and  the  force  was  directed  to  move  on,  unless  any  two 
individuals  chose  to  attack  them  manfully  hand  to  hand.  The 
words  were  scarcely  uttered  when  two  young  Rohillas  drew  their 
swords,  sprung  down  the  bank,  and  soon  cleared  the  space  between 
them  and  the  foemen.  All  was  deep  anxiety  as  they  mounted 
to  the  assault  ;  but  whether  their  physical  frame  was  less  vigorous, 
or  their  energies  were  exhausted  by  wounds  or  by  their  peculiar 
situation,  these  brave  defenders  fell  on  the  mount,  whence  they 
disputed  the  march  of  ten  battalions  of  infantry  and  twenty 
pieces  of  cannon.^  They  were  Haras  !  But  Zalim  was  the  cloud 
which  interposed  between  them  and  their  fortunes  ;  and  to  remove 
it,  they  courted  the  destruction  which  at  length  overtook  them. 

The  entire  devotion  which  the  vassalage  of  Haraoti  manifested 
for  the  cause  of  the  Maharao,  exemplified,  as  before  observed,  the 
nature  and  extent  of  swamidharma  or  fealty,  which  has  been 
described  as  the  essential  quality  of  the  Rajput  character  ;  while, 
at  the  same  time,  it  illustrates  the  severity  of  the  regent's  yoke. 
Even  the  chief  who  negotiated  the  treaty  could  not  resist  the 
defection  (one  of  his  sons  was  badly  wounded),  although  he 
enjoyed  estates  under  the  regent  which  his  hereditary  rank  did 
not  sanction,  besides  being  connected  with  him  by  marriage. 

The  Maharao  gained  the  Parbati,  which,  it  is  said,  he  swam 
over.  He  had  scarcely  reached  the  shore  when  his  horse  dropped 
dead  from  a  grape-shot  wound.  With  about  three  hundred  horse 
he  retired  upon  Baroda.  We  had  no  vengeance  to  execute  ;  we 
could  not,  therefore,  consider  the  brave  men,  who  abandoned  their 
homes  and  their  families  from  a  principle  of  honour,  in  the  light 
of  the  old  enemies  of  our  power,  to  be  pursued  and  exterminated. 
They  had,  it  is  true,  confronted  us  in  the  field  ;  yet  only  defen- 
sively, in  a  cause  at  least  morally  just  and  seemingly  sanctioned 
by  authorities  which  they  could  not  distrust. 

Reflections  on  the  Outbreak. — The  pretensions  so  long  opposed 
to  the  treaty  were  thus  signally  and  efficiently  subdued.     The 

^  Lieut,  (now  Captain)  M'Millan  and  the  Author  were  tlie  onlj'  officers, 
I  believe,  who  witnessed  this  singular  scene. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  OUTBREAK  160T 

chief  instigators  of  the  revolt  were  for  ever  removed,  one  by  death, 
the  other  by  exile  ;  and  the  punishment  which  overtook  the 
deserters  from  the  regular  [581]  forces  of  the  regent  would  check 
its  repetition.  Little  prepared  for  the  reverse  of  that  day,  the 
chiefs  had  made  no  provision  against  it,  and  at  our  word  every 
door  in  Rajwara  would  have  been  closed  against  them.  But  it 
was  not  deemed  a  case  for  confiscation,  or  one  which  should 
involve  in  proscription  a  whole  community,  impelled  to  the  com- 
mission of  crime  by  a  variety  of  circumstances  which  they  could 
neither  resist  nor  control,  and  to  which  the  most  crafty  views  had 
contributed.^  The  Maharao's  camp  being  left  standing,  all  his 
correspondence  and  records  fell  into  our  hands,  and  developed 
such  complicated  intrigues,  such  consiunmate  knavery,  that  he, 
and  the  brave  men  who  suffered  from  espousing  his  pretensions, 
were  regarded  as  entitled  to  every  commiseration.^  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  the  futility  of  their  pretensions  was  disclosed,  by  the  veil 
•  being  thus  rudely  torn  from  their  eyes,  they  manifested  a  deter- 
mination to  submit.  The  regent  was  instructed  to  grant  a 
complete  amnesty,  and  to  announce  to  the  chiefs  that  they  might 
repair  to  their  homes  without  a  question  being  put  to  them.  In 
a  few  weeks,  all  was  tranquillity  and  peace  ;  the  chiefs  and  vassals 
returned  to  their  families,  who  blessed  the  power  which  tempered 
punishment  with  clemency.^ 

'^  In  a  letter,  addressed  by  some  of  the  principal  chiefs  to  the  regent, 
through  the  Agent,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  say  they  had  been  guided  in 
the  course  they  adopted  of  obeying  the  summons  of  the  Maharao,  hy  instruc- 
tions of  his  confidential  minister. 

^  The  native  treasurer  at  Dellii,  who  conducted  these  intrigues,  after 
a  strict  investigation  was  dismissed  from  his  office  ;  and  the  same  fate  was 
awarded  to  the  chief  Munshi  of  the  Persian  secretary's  office  at  the  seat  of 
government.  E.egular  treaties  and  bonds  were  found  in  the  camp  of  the 
•Maharao,  which  afforded  abundant  condemnatory  evidence  against  these 
coniidential  officers,  who  mainly  produced  the  catastrophe  we  have  to  record, 
and  rendered  nugatory  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  save  the  misguided 
prince  and  his  brave  brethren. 

*  The  Author,  who  had  to  perform  the  painful  duty  related  in  this  detailed 
transaction,  was  alternately  aided  and  embarrassed  by  his  knowledge  of 
the  past  liistory  of  the  Haras,  and  the  mutual  relations  of  all  its  discord- 
ant elements.  Perhaps,  entire  ignorance  would  have  been  better- — a  bare 
knowledge  of  the  treaty,  and  the  expediency  of  a  rigid  adherence  thereto, 
unbiassed  by  sympathy,  or  notions  of  abstract  justice,  which  has  too  little 
in  common  with  diplomacy.  But  without  overlooking  the  colder  dictates 
of  duty,  he  determined  that  the  aegis  of  Britain  should  not  be  a  shield  of 


1608  ANNAI.S  OF  HARAVATI:   KOTAH 

The  Maharao  continued  his  course  to  Nathdwara  in  Mewar, 
proving  that  the  sentiment  of  rehgious  abstraction  alone  can 

oppression,  and  that  the  remains  of  Hara  independence,  which  either  policy 
or  fear  had  compelled  the  regent  to  respect,  should  not  thereby  be  destroyed  ; 
and  he  assumed  the  responsibility,  a  few  days  after  the  action,  of  proclaim- 
ing a  general  amnesty  to  the  chiefs,  and  an  invitation  to  each  to  return  to 
his  dwelling.  He  told  the  regent  that  any  proceeding  which  might  render 
this  clemency  nugatory,  would  not  fail  to  dissatisfy  the  Government.  All 
instantly  availed  themselves  of  the  permission  ;  and  in  every  point  of  view, 
morally  and  physically,  the  result  was  most  satisfactory,  and  it  acted  as 
a  panacea  for  the  wounds  our  pubUc  faith  compelled  us  to  inflict.  Even 
in  the  midst  of  their  compulsory  infliction,  he  had  many  sources  of  gratula- 
tiou  :  and  of  these  he  will  give  an  anecdote  illustrative  of  Rajput  character. 
In  1807,  when  the  Author,  then  commencing  his  career,  was  wandering 
alone  through  their  country,  surveying  their  geography,  and  collecting 
scraps  of  their  statistics,  he  left  Sindhia  battering  Rahatgarh  [in  Sagar 
District,  Central  Provinces]  and  with  a  slender  guard  proceeded  through 
the  wilds  of  Chanderi,  and  thence  direct  westwards  to  trace  the  course  of 
all  the  rivers  lying  between  the  Betwa  and  the  Chambal.  In  passing^ 
through  Haravati,  leaving  hia  tent  standing  at  Bara,  he  had  advanced  with 
the  perambulator  as  far  as  the  Kali-Sind,  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles ; 
and,  leaving  his  people  to  follow  at  leisure,  was  returning  home  unattended 
at  a  brisk  canter,  when,  as  he  passed  through  the  town  of  Bamolia,  a  party 
rushed  out  and  made  him  captive,  saying  that  he  must  visit  the  chief 
[582].  Although  much  fatigued,  it  would  have  been  folly  to  refuse.  He 
obeyed,  and  was  conveyed  to  a  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  an  elevated 
chab'Utra  or  platform,  shaded  by  the  sacred  tree.  Here,  sitting, on  carpets, 
was  the  chief  with  his  little  court.  The  Author  was  received  most  courte- 
ously. The  first  act  was  to  disembarrass  him  of  his  boots  ;  but  this,  heated 
as  he  was,  they  could  not  effect :  refreshments  were  then  put  before  him, 
and  a  Brahman  brought  water,  with  a  ewer  and  basin,  for  his  ablutions. 
Although  he  was  then  but  an  indifferent  linguist,  and  their  patois  scarcely 
intelligible  to  him,  he  passed  a  very  happy  hour,  in  which  conversation 
never  flagged.  The  square  was  soon  filled,  and  many  a  pair  of  fine  black 
eyes  smiled  courteously  upon  the  stranger — for  the  females,  to  his  surprise, 
looked  abroad  without  any  fear  of  censure  ;  though  he  was  ignorant  of 
their  sphere  in  Ufe.  The  Author's  horse  was  lame,  which  the  chief  had 
noticed  ;  and  on  rising  to  go,  he  found  one  ready  caparisoned  for  him, 
which,  however,  he  would  not  accei^t.  On  reaching  his  tent  the  Author 
sent  several  little  articles  as  tokens  of  regard.  Fourteen  years  after  this, 
the  day  following  the  action  at  Mangrol,  he  received  a  letter  by  a  messenger 
from  the  mother  of  the  chief  of  Bamolia,  who  sent  her  blessing,  and  invoked 
him,  by  past  friendship  and  recollections,  to  protect  her  son,  whose  honour 
had  made  him  join  the  standard  of  his  sovereign.  The  Author  had  the 
satisfaction  of  replying  that  her  son  would  be  with  her  nearly  as  soon  as 
the  bearer  of  the  letter.  The  Bamolia  chief,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  the 
descendant  of  the  chief  of  Aton,  one  of  the  great  oiiponents  of  the  regent 
at  the  opening  of  his  career. 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  MAHARAO  1609 

take  the  place  of  ambition.  The  indi\iduals  who,  for  their  own 
base  purposes,  had  by  misrepresentation  and  guile  guided  him 
to  ruin,  now  deserted  him  ;  the  film  fell  from  his  eyes,  and  he 
saw,  though  too  late,  the  only  position  in  which  he  could  exist. 
In  a  very  short  time  every  pretension  iniftiical  to  the  spirit  and 
letter  of  the  treaty,  original  and  supplemental,  was  relinquished  ; 
when,  with  the  regent's  concurrence,  a  note  was  transmitted 
to  him,  containing  the  basis  on  which  his  return  to  Kotah  was 
practicable.  A  transcript  with  his  acceptance  being  received,  a 
formal  deed  was  drawn  up,  executed  by  the  Agent  and  attested 
by  the  regent,  not  only  defining  the  precise  position  of  both 
parties,  but  establishing  a  barrier  between  the  titular  and  execu- 
tive authorities,  which  must  for  ever  prevent  all  collision  of 
interests  ;  nothing  was  left  to  chance  or  cavil.  The  grand  object 
was  to  provide  for  the  safety,  comfort,  and  dignity  of  the  prince, 
and  this  was  done  on  a  scale  of  profuse  liberality  ;  far  beyond 
what  his  father,  or  indeed  any  prince  of  Kotah  had  enjoyed,  and 
incommensurate  with  the  revenue  of  the  State,  of  which  it  is 
about  the  twentieth  portion.  The  amount  equals  the  household 
expenditure  of  the  Rana  of  Udaipur,  the  avowed  head  of  the 
whole  Rajput  race,  but  which  can  be  better  afforded  from  the 
flourishing  revenues  of  Kotah  than  the  slowly  improving  finances 
of  Me  war. 

Restoration  oJ  the  Maharao. — These  preliminaries  being  satis- 
factorily adjusted,  it  became  important  to  inspire  this  misguided 
prince  with  a  confidence  that  his  welfare  would  be  as  anxiously 
watched  as  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  whose  infringement 
had  cost  him  so  much  misery.  He  had  too  much  reason  to 
plead  personal  alarm  as  one  of  the  causes  of  his  past  conduct, 
and  which  tended  greatly  to  neutralize  all  the  endeavours  to 
serve  him.  Even  on  the  very  day  that  he  was  to  leave  Nath- 
dwara,  on  his  return,  when  after  great  efforts  his  mind  had  been 
emancipated  from  distrust,  a  final  and  diabolical  attempt  was 
made  to  thwart  the  measures  for  his  restoration.  A  mutilated 
wretch  was  made  to  personate  his  brother  Bishan  Singh,  and  to 
give  out  that  he  had  been  maimed  by  command  [583]  of  the 
regent's  son,  and  the  impostor  had  the  audacity  to  come  within 
a  couple  of  miles  of  the  Maharao  ;  a  slight  resemblance  to  Bishan 
Singh  aided  the  deceit,  wliich,  though  promptly  exposed,  had 
made  the  impression  for  which  it  was  contrived,  and  it  required 

VOL.  Ill  2  A 


1610  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAII 

some  skill  to  remove  it.  The  Rana  of  Udaipiir  no  sooner  heard 
of  tills  last  effort  to  defeat  all  the  good  intentions  in  which  he 
co-operated  towards  the  Maharao,  to  whose  sister  he  was  married, 
than  he  had  the  impostor  seized  and  brought  to  the  city,  where 
his  story  had  caused  a  powerful  sensation.  His  indiscreet  indigna- 
tion for  ever  destroyed  the  clue  by  which  the  plot  might  have 
been  unravelled  ;  for  he  was  led  immediately  to  execution,  and 
all  that  transpired  was,  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  Jaipur  State, 
and  had  been  mutilated  for  some  crime.  Could  the  question 
have  been  solved,  it  might  have  afforded  the  means  of  a  different 
termination  of  those  unhappy  quarrels,  to  which  they  formed  a 
characteristic  sequel  :  intrigue  and  mistrust  combined  to  inveigle 
Kishor  Singh  into  attempts  which  placed  him  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  reason,  and  the  most  zealous  exertions  to  extricate  him. 
This  last  scene  being  over,  the  Maharao  left  liis  retreat  at  the 
fane  of  Kanhaiya,  and  marched  across  the  plateau  to  his  paternal 
domains.  On  the  last  day  of  the  year  the  regent,  accompanied 
by  the  Agent,  advanced  to  reconduct  the  prince  to  the  capital. 
The  universal  demonstration  of  satisfaction  at  his  return  was  the 
most  convincing  testimony  that  any  other  course  would  have 
been  erroneous.  On  that  day  he  once  more  took  possession  of 
the  gaddi  which  he  had  twice  abandoned,  with  a  resignation  free 
froin  all  asperity,  or  even  embarrassment.  Feelings  arising  out 
of  a  mind  accustomed  to  religious  meditation,  aided  while  they 
softened  the  bitter  monitor,  adversity,  and  together  they  afforded 
the  best  security  that  any  deviation  from  the  new  order  of  things 
would  never  proceed  from  him. 

Arrangements  with  the  Maharao. — Besides  the  schedule  of  the 
personal  expenditure,  over  which  he  was  supreme,  mucli  of  the 
State  expense  was  to  be  managed  under  the  eye  of  the  sovereign  ; 
such  as  the  charities,  and  gifts  on  festivals  and  military  cere- 
monies. The  royal  insignia  used  on  all  great  occasions  were  to 
remain  as  heretofore  at  his  residence  in  the  castle,  as  was  the 
band  at  the  old  guardroom  over  the  chief  portal  of  entrance.  He 
was  to  preside  at  all  the  military  or  other  annual  festivals,  attended 
by  the  whole  retinue  of  the  State  ;  and  the  gifts  on  such  occasions 
were  to  be  distributed  in  his  name.  All  the  palaces,  in  and  about 
the  city,  were  at  his  sole  disposal,  and  funds  were  set  apart  for 
their  repairs  ;  the  gardens,  ramnas,  or  game-preserves,  and  his 
personal  guards,  were  also  to  be  entertained  and  paid  by  himself. 


ARRANGEMENTS  WITH  THE  MAHARAO         1611 

To  maintain  this  arrangement  inviolate,  an  [584]  officer  of  the 
paramount  power  was  henceforth  to  reside  at  Kotah.  A  hand- 
some stipend  was  settled  on  the  minor  son  of  the  deceased  Prithi 
Singh  ;  while,  in  order  to  prevent  any  umbrage  to  the  Maharao, 
his  brother  Bishan  Singh,  whose  trjmming  policy  had  been 
offensive  to  the  Maharao,  was  removed  to  the  family  estate  at 
Antha,  twenty  miles  east  of  the  capital,  on  which  occasion  an 
increase  was  spontaneously  made  to  his  jagir. 

The  Agent  remained  an  entire  month  after  this,  to  strengthen 
the  good  understanding  now  introduced.  He  even  effected  a 
reconciliation  between  the  prince  and  Madho  Singh,  when  the 
former,  with  great  tact  and  candour,  took  upon  himself  the  blame 
of  all  these  disturbances  ;  each  gave  his  hand  in  token  of  future 
amity,  and  the  prince  spontaneously  embraced  the  man  (the 
regent's  son)  to  whom  he  attributed  all  his  misery.  But  the 
Maharao's  comforts  and  dignity  are  now  independent  of  control, 
and  watched  over  by  a  guardian  who  will  demand  a  rigid  exaction 
of  every  stipulation  in  his  favour.  The  patriarchal  Zalim  was, 
or  affected  to  be,  overjoyed  at  this  result,  which  had  threatened 
to  involve  them  all  in  the  abyss  of  misery.  Bitter  was  his  self- 
condemnation  at  the  moral  blindness  of  his  conduct,  which  had 
not  foreseen  and  guarded  against  the  storm  ;  and  severe,  as  well 
as  merited,  was  the  castigation  he  inflicted  on  his  successor. 
"  It  is  for  your  sins,  son,  that  I  am  punished,"  was  the  conclusion 
of  every  such  exliortation. 

It  will  be  deemed  a  singular  fatality,  that  this  last  conspicuous 
act  in  the  political  life  of  the  regent  should  have  been  on  the 
spot  which  exactly  sixty  years  before  witnessed  the  opening 
scene  of  his  career  ;  for  the  field  of  Bhatwara  ^  adjoined  that  of 
Mangrol.  What  visions  must  have  chased  each  other  on  this 
last  memorable  day,  when  he  recalled  the  remembrance  of  the 
former  !  when  the  same  sword,  which  redeemed  the  independence 
of  Kotah  from  tributary  degradation  to  Amber,  was  now  drawn 
against  the  grandson  of  that  sovereign  who  rewarded  his  services 
with  the  first  office  of  the  State  !  Had  some  prophetic  Bardai 
\vithdrawn  the  mantle  of  Bhavani,  and  disclosed  through  the 
vista  of  threescore  years  the  regent  in  the  foreground,  in  all 
the   panoply   of  ingenuous   youth    "spreading   his   carpet"    at 

1  The  battle  of  Bhatwara  was  fought  in  S.  1817,  or  a.d.  1761  ;  the  action 
at  Mangrol,  Oct,  1,  a.  d.  1821. 


1612  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI :    KOTAH 

Bhatwara,  to  review  the  charge  of  the  Kaehhwalia  chivalry,  and 
in  the  distant  perspective  that  same  being  palsied,  blind,  and 
decrepit,  leading  a  mingled  host,  in  character  and  costume 
altogether  strange,  against  the  grandchildren  of  his  prince,  and 
the  [585]  descendants  of  those  Haras  who  nobly  seconded  him  to 
gain  this  reputation,  what  effect  would  such  a  prospect  have 
produced  on  one  whom  the  mere  hooting  of  an  oavI  on  the  house- 
top had  "  scared  from  his  propriety  "  ? 

Soon  after  the  satisfactory  conclusion  of  these  painful  scenes, 
the  regent  returned  to  the  Chhaoni,  his  fixed  camp,  and  projected 
a  tour  of  the  State,  to  allay  the  disorders  which  had  crept  in,  and 
to  regulate  afresh  the  action  of  the  State-machine,  the  construction 
of  which  had  occupied  a  long  life,  but  which  could  not  fail  to  be 
deranged  by  the  complicated  views  which  had  arisen  amongst 
those  whose  business  was  to  work  it.  Often,  amidst  these  con- 
flicts, did  he  exclaim,  with  his  great  prototype  both  in  prosperity 
and  sorrow,  "  Mj'^  kinsfolk  have  failed,  and  my  familiar  friends 
have  forgotten  me."  But  Zalim  had  not  the  same  resources  in 
his  griefs  that  Job  had  ;  nor  could  he  with  him  exclaim,  "  If  my 
land  cry  against  me,  if  I  have  eaten  the  fruits  thereof  without 
money,  or  caused  the  owners  thereof  to  lose  their  lives,  let  thistles 
grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  instead  of  barley."  ^  His  yet 
Aagorous  mind,  however,  soon  restored  everything  to  its  Avonted 
prosperity ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  not  a  trace  was  left  of  the  com- 
motions which  for  a  while  had  totally  unhinged  society,  and 
threatened  to  deluge  the  land  with  proscription  and  blood.  The 
l)rince  Avas  reseated  on  the  throne  with  far  greater  comforts  about 
him  and  more  certainty  of  stability  than  previous  to  the  treaty  ; 
the  nobles  took  possession  of  their  estates  with  not  a  blade  of 
grass  removed,  and  the  ghar-kheti,  the  home-farms  of  the  Regent, 
lost  none  of  their  ])roductiveness  ;  commerce  was  unscathed,  and 
public  opinion,  which  had  dared  loudly  to  question  the  moral 
justice  of  these  proceedings,  was  conciHated  by  their  conclusion. 
The  regent  survived  these  events  five  years  ;  his  attenuated 
frame  was  worn  out  by  a  spirit,  vigorous  to  the  last  pulsation 
of  life,  and  too  strong  for  the  feeble  cage  which  imprisoned  it.^ 

1  Job,  chap.  xxxi.  38-40. 

2  [Zalim  Singh  died  in  1824,  and  was  succeeded  as  rcp;ent  by  his  son, 
Madho  Singh,  who  was  notoriously  unfit  for  office,  and  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Madan  Singh.     Maharao  Kishor  Singh  II.  died  in  1828,  and 


CHARACTER  OF  ZALIM  SINGH  1613 

Character  of  Zalim  Singh. — If  history  attempt  to  sum  up,  or 
institute  a  scrutiny  into,  the  character  of  this  extraordinary  man, 
by  what  standard  must  we  judge  him  ?  The  actions  of  his  hfe, 
which  have  furnished  matter  for  tlie  sketch  we  have  attempted, 
may  satisfy  curiosity  ;  but  the  materials  for  a  finished  portrait 
he  never  supphed  :  the  latent  springs  of  those  actions  remained 
invisible  save  to  the  eye  of  Omniscience.  No  human  being  ever 
shared  the  confidence  of  the  Machiavelh  of  Rajasthan,  who,  from 
the  first  dawn  of  his  political  existence  to  its  close,  when  "  four- 
score years  and  upwards,"  could  always  say,  "  My  secret  is  my 
own."  This  single  trait,  throughout  a  troubled  career  of  more 
[586]  than  ordinary  length,  would  alone  stamp  his  character  with 
originality.  No  effervescence  of  felicity,  of  success,  of  sympathy, 
which  occasionally  bursts  from  the  most  rugged  nature,  no 
sudden  transition  of  passion — ^joy,  grief,  hope,  even  revenge — 
could  tempt  him  to  betray  his  purpose.  That  it  was  often 
fathomed,  that  his  "  vaulting  ambition  has  o'erleapt  itself,"  and 
made  him  lose  his  object,  is  no  more  than  may  be  said  of  all  who 
have  indulged  in  "  that  sin  by  which  angels  fell  "  ;  yet  he  never 
failed  through  a  bUnd  confidence  in  the  instrvmients  of  his  designs. 
Though  originally  sanguine  in  expectation  and  fiery  in  tempera- 
ment, he  subdued  these  natural  defects,  and  could  await  with 
composure  the  due  ripening  of  his  plans  ;  even  in  the  hey-day 
of  youth  he  had  attained  this  mastery  over  himself.  To  this 
early  discipline  of  his  mind  he  owed  the  many  escapes  from  plots 
against  his  hfe,  and  the  difficulties  which  were  perpetually 
besetting  it  increased  his  natural  resources.  There  was  no 
artifice,  not  absolutely  degrading,  which  he  would  not  condescend 
to  employ  :  his  natural  simpUcity  made  humihty,  when  necessary, 
a  plausible  disguise  ;  while  his  scrupulous  attention  to  all  religious 
observances  caused  his  mere  affirmation  to  be  respected.  The 
sobriety  of  his  demeanour  gave  weight  to  his  opinions  and  in- 
fluenced the  judgment ;  while  his  invariable  urbanity  gained 
the  goodwill  of  his  inferiors,  and  his  superiors  were  won  by  the 

was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Ram  Singh  II.  (1828-66).  Six  years  after 
his  accession  disputes  again  arose  between  him  and  his  minister,  Madan 
Singh,  and  it  was  resolved  to  dismember  the  State  of  Kotah,  and  to  create 
the  new  principality  of  Jhalawar  as  a  separate  provision  for  the  descendants 
of  Zalim  Singh  {IGI,  xv.  414 ;  H.  H.  Wilson,  continuation  of  Mill,  Hist,  of 
British  India,  1846,  vol.  ii.  p.  424).] 


1614  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

delicacy  of  his  flattery,  in  the  apphcation  of  wliich  he  was  an 
adept.  To  crown  the  whole,  there  was  a  mysterious  brevity,  an 
oracular  sententiousness,  in  his  conversation,  which  always  left 
something  to  the  imagination  of  his  auditor,  who  gave  him  credit 
for  what  he  did  not,  as  well  as  what  he  did  utter.  None  could 
better  appreciate,  or  studied  more  to  obtain,  the  meed  of  good 
opinion  ;  and  throughout  Ms  lengthened  life,  iintil  the  occurrences 
just  described,  he  threw  over  his  acts  of  despotism  and  vengeance 
a  veil  of  such  consummate  art,  as  to  make  them  lose  more  than 
half  their  deformity.  ^Vith  him  it  must  have  been  an  axiom, 
that  mankind  judge  superficially  ;  and  in  accordance  therewith, 
his  first  study  was  to  preserve  appearances,  and  never  to  offend 
prejudice  if  avoidable.  When  he  sequestrated  the  States  of  the 
Hara  feudality,  he  covered  the  fields,  by  them  neglected,  with 
crops  of  corn,  and  thereby  drew  a  contrast  favourable  to  himself 
between  the  effects  of  sloth  and  activity.  When  he  usurped  the 
functions  of  royalty,  he  threw  a  bright  halo  around  the  orb  of  its 
glory,  overloading  the  gaddi  with  the  trappings  of  grandeur, 
aware  that —  ' 

tlic  world  is  e"er  deceived  by  oinainent  ; 

nor  did  the  princes  of  Kotah  ever  appear  with  such  magnificence 
as  when  he  possessed  all  the  attributes  of  royalty  but  the  name. 
Every  act  evinced  Ids  deep  skiU  in  the  [587]  knowledge  of  the 
human  mind  and  of  the  elements  by  wliich  he  was  surrounded  ; 
he  could  circumvent  the  crafty  Mahratta,  calm  or  quell  the 
arrogant  Rajput,  and  extort  the  applause  even  of  the  Briton,  who 
is  little  prone  to  allow  merit  in  an  Asiatic.  He  was  a  depository 
of  the  prejudices  and  the  pride  of  his  coimtrymen,  both  in  religious 
and  social  life  ;  yet,  enigmatical  as  it  must  appear,  he  frequently 
violated  them,  though  the  infraction  was  so  gradual  as  to  be 
impercej)tible  except  to  the  few  who  watched  the  slow  progi'css 
of  his  plans.  To  such  he  appeared  a  compound  of  the  most 
contradictory  elements  :  lavish  and  parsimonious,  oppressing 
and  protecting  ;  with  one  hand  bestowing  diamond  aigrettes, 
with  the  other  taking  the  tithe  of  the  anchorite's  wallet  ;  one 
day  sequestrating  estates  and  driving  into  exile  the  ancient  cliiefs 
of  the  land  ;  the  next  receiving  with  open  arms  some  expatriated 
noble,  and  supporting  him  in  dignity  and  allluence,  till  the 
receding  tide  of  human  affairs  rendered  such  support  no  longer 
requisite. 


ZALIM  SINGH  AND  WITCHES  1615 

Zalim  Singh  and  Witches. — We  have  already  mentioned  liis 

antipathy  to  the  professors  of  "  the  tuneful  art  "  ;  and  he  was  as 
inveterate  as  Diocletian  to  the  alchemist,  regarding  the  trade  of 
both  as  alike  useless  to  society  :  neither  were,  therefore,  tolerated 
in  Kotah.  But  the  enemies  of  the  regent  assert  that  it  was  from 
no  dislike  of  their  merit,  but  from  liis  having  been  the  dupe  of  the 
one,  and  the  object  of  the  other's  satire  (vish).  His  persecution  of 
witches  (dakini)  was  in  strict  conformity  with  the  injimction  in 
the  Pentateuch  :  "  Thou  shall  not  suffer  a  witch  to  hve  "  (Exod. 
chap.  xxii.  ver.  18).  But  his  ordeal  was  worse  than  even  death 
itself  :  handling  balls  of  hot  iron  was  deemed  too  sUght  for  such 
sinners  ;  for  it  was  well  known  they  had  substances  wliich  enabled 
them  to  do  tliis  with  impunity.  Tlu-owing  them  into  a  pond  of 
water  was  another  trial ;  if  they  sunk,  they  were  innocent,  if 
they  unhappily  rose  to  the  surface,  the  league  with  the  powers  of 
darkness  was  apparent.  A  gram-bag  of  cayenne  pepper  tied 
over  the  head,  if  it  failed  to  suffocate,  afforded  another  proof  of 
guilt  ;  though  the  most  humane  method,  of  rubbing  the  eyes 
with  a  well-dried  capsicum,  was  perhaps  the  most  common,  and 
certainly  if  they  could  furnish  this  demonstration  of  their  irnio- 
cence,  by  withholding  tears,  they  might  justly  be  deemed  witches  . 
These  Dakinis,  like  the  vampires  of  the  German  Bardais,  are 
supposed  to  operate  upon  the  viscera  of  their  victims,  which 
they  destroy  by  slow  degrees  with  charms  and  incantations,  and 
hence  they  are  called  in  Bind  (where,  as  Abu-1  Fazl  says,  they 
aboimd)  Jigarkhor,  or  '  liver-devourers.'  ^  One  look  of  a  Dakini 
suffices  to  destroy  ;  but  there  are  few  who  [588]  court  the  title, 
at  least  in  Kotah,  though  old  age  and  eccentricity  are  sufficient, 
in  conjunction  with  superstition  or  bad  luck,  to  fix  the  stigma 
upon  individuals. 

Amusements  of  Zalim  Singh. — Aware  of  the  danger  of  relaxing, 
"  to  have  done,"  even  when  eighty-five  winters  had  passed  over 
his  head,  was  never  in  his  thoughts.  He  knew  that  a  Rajput's 
throne  should  be  the  back  of  liis  steed  ;  and  when  bhndness 
overtook  him,  and  he  could  no  longer  lead  the  chase  on  horseback, 
he  was  carried  in  Iiis  litter  to  his  grand  hunts,  which  consisted 
sometimes  of  several  thousand  armed  men.  Besides  dissipating 
the  ennui  of  his  vassals,  he  obtained  many  other  objects  by  an 
amusement  so  analogous  to  their  character  ;  in  the  unmasked 
1  [Am,  ii.  338  f.] 


1616  ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :   KOTAH 

joyoasness  of  the  sport,  he  lieard  the  unreserved  opinions  of  his 
companions,  and  gained  their  affection  by  thus  administering  to 
the  favourite  pastime  of  the  Rajput,  whose  Hfe  is  otherwise 
monotonous.  When  in  the  forest,  he  would  sit  down,  surrounded 
by  thousands,  to  regale  on  the  game  of  the  day.  Camels  followed 
his  train,  laden  with  flour,  sugar,  spices,  and  huge  cauldrons  for 
the  use  of  his  sylvan  cuisine  ;  and  amidst  the  hilarity  of  the 
moment,  he  would  go  through  the  varied  routine  of  government, 
attend  to  foreign  and  commercial  policy,  the  details  of  his  farms 
or  his  army,  the  reports  of  his  police  ;  nay,  in  the  very  heat  of 
the  operations,  shot  flying  in  all  directions,  the  ancient  regent 
might  be  discovered,  like  our  immortal  Alfred  or  St.  Louis  of  the 
Franks,  administering  justice  under  the  shade  of  some  spreading 
pipal  tree  ;  while  the  day  so  passed  would  be  closed  with  religious 
rites,  and  the  recital  of  a  mythological  epic  ;  he  found  time  for 
all,  never  appeared  hurried,  nor  could  he  be  taken  by  surprise. 
When  he  could  no  longer  see  to  sign  his  own  name,  he  had  an 
autograph  facsimile  engraved,  which  was  placed  in  the  special 
care  of  a  confidential  officer,  to  apply  when  commanded.  Even 
this  loss  of  one  sense  was  with  him  compensated  by  another,  for 
long  after  he  was  stone-blind,  it  would  have  been  vain  to  attempt 
to  impose  upon  him  in  the  choice  of  shawls  or  clothes  of  any  kind, 
whose  fabrics  and  prices  he  could  determine  by  the  touch  ;  and 
it  is  even  asserted  that  he  could  in  like  manner  distinguish 
colours. 

His  Gardens. — If,  as  has  been  truly  remarked,  "  that  man 
deserves  well  of  his  country  who  makes  a  blade  of  grass  grow 
where  none  grew  before,"  ^  what  merit  is  due  to  him  who  made 
the  choicest  of  nature's  products  flourish  where  grass  could  not 
grow  ;  who  covered  the  bare  rock  around  his  capital  with  soil, 
and  cultivated  the  exotics  of  Arabia,  Ceylon,  and  the  western 
Archipelago  ;  who  translated  from  the  Indian  Apennines  (the 
mountains  of  Malabar)  the  coco-nut  and  j^almyra  ;  and  thus 
refuted  the  assertion  that  [589]  these  trees  could  not  flourish 
remote  from  the  influence  of  a  marine  atmosphere  ?  In  his 
gardens  were  to  be  found  the  apples  and  quinces  of  Kabul,  pome- 
granates from  the  famed  stock  of  Kagla  ka  bagh  -  in  the  desert, 
oranges  of  every  kind,  scions  of  Agra  and  Sylhet,  the  ajnba  of 

^  [Swift,  Gulliver's  Travels  :   Voyage  io  lirobdingnag.] 
"  [Kagla  ka  bagh,  '  The  Crow's  Garden.'] 


HIS  GARDENS:  WRESTLING  1617 

Mazagon,  and  the  chanqm-kela,^  or  golden  plantain,  of  the  Deccan, 
besides  the  indigenous  productions  of  Rajputana.  Some  of  the 
wells  for  irrigating  these  gardens  cost  in  blasting  the  rock  thirty 
thousand  rupees  each  ;  he  hinted  to  his  friends  that  they  could 
not  do  better  than  follow  his  example,  and  a  hint  always  sufficed. 
He  would  have  obtained  a  prize  from  any  horticultural  society 
for  liis  improvement  of  the  wild  ber  (jujube),  which  by  grafting  he 
increased  to  the  size  of  a  small  apple.  In  chemical  science  he 
had  gained  notoriety  ;  his  itrs,  or  essential  oils  of  roses,  jessamine, 
ketaki,  and  keura,^  were  far  superior  to  any  that  could  be  pui"- 
chased.  There  was  no  occasion  to  repair  to  the  valley  of  Kashmir 
to  witness  the  fabrication  of  its  shawls  ;  for  the  looms  and  the 
wool  of  that  fairy  region  were  transferred  to  Kotah,  and  the 
Kashmirian  weaver  plied  the  shuttle  under  Zalim's  own  eye. 
But,  as  in  the  case  of  his  lead-mines,  he  fomid  that  this  branch 
of  industry  did  not  return  even  sixteen  annas  and  a  half  for  the 
rupee,^  the  minimum  profit  at  which  he  fixed  his  remuneration  ; 
so  that  after  satisfying  his  curiosity,  he  abandoned  the  manu- 
facture. His  forges  for  swords  and  firearms  had  a  high  reputation, 
and  his  matchlocks  rival  those  of  Bundi,  both  in  excellence  and 
elaborate  workmanship. 

Wrestling. — His  corps  of  gladiators,  if  we  may  thus  designate 
the  Jethis,  obtained  for  him  equal  credit  and  disgrace.  The 
funds  set  apart  for  this  recreation  amounted  at  one  time  to  fifty 
thousand  rupees  per  annimi  ;  but  his  ^vrestlers  surpassed  in 
skill  and  strength  those  of  every  other  court  in  Rajwara,  and  the 
most  renowned  champions  of  other  States  were  made  "  to  view 
the  heavens,"  *  if  they  came  to  Kotah.  But  in  his  younger  days 
Zahm  was  not  satisfied  with  the  use  of  mere  natural  weapons,  for 
occasionally  he  made  his  Jethis  fight  with  the  baghnakh,*  or 

^  [j}/w5ff  chatnpa,  or  C'hini  champa,  the  finest  of  all  plantains  (Watt, 
Econ.  Prod.  787).] 

2  [Pinus  odoralissimus,  the  screw-pine,  used  for  its  fibre,  and  "for, 
perhaps,  the  most  characteristic  and  most  widely  used  perfume  of  India  " 
\ihid.  188,  727).] 

*  There  are  sixteen  annas  to  the  rupee  or  haK- crown. 

*  " Asmdn  dikhldnd"  is  the  phrase  of  the  'Fancy'  m  these  regions  for 
victory ;  when  the  vanquished  is  thrown  upon  his  back  and  kept  in  that 
attitude.  [For  an  account  of  the  Jetti  wrestlers  of  the  Telugu  country  see 
Thurston,  Castes  and  Tribes  of  Southern  India,  ii.  456  &.] 

*  See  an  account  of  this  instrument  by  Colonel  Briggs,  Transactions  of 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol.  ii.     [See  Vol.  II.  p,  721.] 


1618      ANNALS  OF  HARAVATI  :  KOTAH 

tiger-claw,  when  they  tore  off  the  flesh  from  each  other  [590].  The 
chivalrous  Ummed  Singh  of  Bimdi  put  a  stop  to  this  barbarit5^ 
Returning  from  one  of  his  pilgrimages  from  Dwarka,  he  passed 
through  Kotah  while  Zalim  and  his  court  were  assembled  in  the 
akhara  (arena)  where  two  of  these  stall-fed  prize-fighters  were 
about  to  contend.  The  presence  of  this  brave  Hara  checked  the 
bloody  exliibition,  and  he  boldly  censured  the  Regent  for  squander- 
ing on  such  a  worthless  crew  resources  which  ought  to  cherish 
liis  Rajputs.  This  might  have  been  lost  upon  the  P*rotector, 
had  not  the  royal  pilgrim,  in  the  fervour  of  his  indignation, 
thrown  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  entire  assembly  of  Jethis. 
Putting  his  sliield  on  the  ground,  he  placed  therein,  one  by  one, 
the  entire  panoply  of  armour  which  he  habitually  wore  in  his 
peregrinations,  namely,  his  matchlock  and  its  ponderous  accom- 
paniments, sword,  daggers,  staff,  and  battleaxe,  and  challenged 
any  individual  to  raise  it  from  the  ground  with  a  single  arm. 
All  tried  and  failed  ;  when  Sriji,  though  full  sixty  years  of  age, 
held  it  out  at  arm's  length  during  several  seconds.  The  Haras 
were  delighted  at  the  feat  of  their  patriarchal  chief  ;  wliile  the 
crest-fallen  Jethis  hung  their  heads,  and  from  that  day  lost 
ground  in  the  favour  of  the  regent.  But  these  were  the  foUies 
of  his  earlier  days,  not  of  the  later  period  of  his  life  :  he  was 
then  like  an  aged  oak,  which,  though  shattered  and  decayed, 
had  survived  the  tempest  and  the  desolation  wliich  had  raged 
around  it. 

The  Last  Years  of  Zalim  Singh. — To  conclude  :  had  he  imitated 
Diocletian,  and  surrendered  the  purple,  he  Avould  have  afforded 
another  instance  of  the  anomalies  of  the  human  understanding  ; 
that  he  did  not  do  so,  for  the  sake  of  his  own  fame  and  that  of 
the  controlling  power,  as  well  as  for  the  welfare  of  his  prince, 
must  be  deeply  lamented  ;  the  more  especially  as  his  chhari  (rod) 
has  descended  to  feeble  hands.  He  had  enjoyed  the  essentials  of 
sovereignty  during  threescore  years,  a  period  equal  in  duration 
to  that  of  Darius  the  Mede  ;  and  had  overcome  dilliculties  which 
would  have  appalled  no  ordinary  minds.  He  had  vanquished  all 
his  enemies,  external  and  internal,  and  all  his  views  as  regarded 
Ilaraoti  were  accomplished. 

Amongst  the  motives  which  might  have  urged  the  surrender 
of  his  power,  stronger  perhaps  than  his  desire  of  reparation  with 
heaven  and  his  prince,  was  the  fear  of  his  successor's  inefTiciency  ; 


THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  ZALIM  SINGH  1619 

but  this  consideration  unhappily  was  counterbalanced  by  the 
precocious  talents  of  his  grandson,  whom  he  affectionately  loved, 
and  in  whom  he  thought  he  saw  himself  renewed.  Pride  also, 
that  chief  ingredient  in  his  character,  checked  such  surrender  ; 
he  feared  the  world  would  suppose  he  had  relinquished  what  he 
could  no  longer  retain  ;  and  ruin  would  have  been  preferred  to 
the  idea  that  he  had  been  "  driven  from  his  stool."  Able  and 
artful  minister^  flattered  the  feeling  so  deeply  rooted,  and  to 
crown  the  whole,  he  was  supported  by  obligations  of  public  faith 
contracted  by  a  power  without  a  rival.  Still,  old  age,  declining 
health,  the  desire  of  repose  and  of  religious  retirement,  prompted 
wishes  which  often  escaped  his  hps  [591]  ;  but  counteracting 
feelings  intruded,  and  the  struggle  between  the  good  and  evil 
principle  lasted  until  the  moment  had  passed  when  abdication 
would  have  been  honourable.  Had  he,  however,  obeyed  the 
impulse,  his  retreat  would  have  more  resembled  that  of  the  fifth 
Charles  than  of  the  Roman  King.  In  the  shades  of  Nathdwara 
he  would  have  enjoyed  that  repose,  which  Diocletian  could  not 
find  at  Salona  ;  and  embued  with  a  better  philosophy  and  more 
knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  he  would  have  practised  what 
was  taught,  that  "  there  ought  to  be  no  intermediate  change 
between  the  command  of  men  and  the  service  of  God  "  [592]. 


BOOK  XI 
PERSONAL  NARRATIVE  :  UDAIPUR  TO  KHERODA 

CHAPTER   1 

Udaipur,  January  29,  1820. — The  Personal  Narrative  attached 
to  the  second  vohime  of  this  work  terminated  with  the  Author's 
return  to  Udaipur,  after  a  complete  circuit  of  Marwar  and  Ajmer. 
He  remained  at  his  headquarters  at  Udaipur  until  the  29th 
January  1820,  when  circumstances  rendering  it  expedient  that  he 
should  visit  the  principalities  of  Bundi  and  Kotah  (which  were 
placed  under  his  political  superintendence),  he  determined  not  to 
neglect  the  opportunity  it  afforded  of  adding  to  his  portfolio 
remarks  on  men  and  manners,  in  a  country  hitherto  untrodden 
by  Europeans. 

Although  we  had  not  been  a  month  in  the  valley  of  Udaipur, 
we  were  all  desirous  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  lovely  weather  which 
the  cold  season  of  India  invariably  brings,  and  which  exhilarates 
the  European  who  has  languished  through  the  hot  winds,  and  the 
still  more  oppressive  monsoon.  The  thermometer  at  this  time, 
within  the  valley,  was  at  the  freezing  point  at  break  of  day, 
ranging  afterwards  as  high  as  90°,  whilst  the  sky  was  without  a 
cloud,  and  its  splendour  at  night  was  dazzling. 

Kheroda. — On  the  29th  we  broke  ground  from  the  heights  of 
Tus,  marched  fifteen  English  miles  (though  estimated  at  only  six 
and  a  half  coss),  and  encamped  under  the  embankment  of  the 
spacious  lake  of  Kheroda.^  Our  route  was  over  a  rich  and  well- 
watered  plain,  but  which  had  long  been  a  stranger  to  the  plough. 
Three  miles  fi'om  Dabokh  we  crossed  our  own  stream,  the  Berach, 
1  [Twenty-four  miles  E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 
1621 


1622  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

and  at  the  village  of  [593]  Darauli  is  a  small  outlet  from  this  river, 
which  runs  into  a  hollow  and  forms  a  jhil,  or  lake.  There  is  a 
higlily  interesting  temple,  dedicated  to  Mandeswar  (Siva),  on  the 
banks  of  this  stream,  the  architecture  of  which  attests  its  anti- 
quity. It  is  the  counterpart  in  miniature  of  a  celebrated  temple, 
at  Chandravati,  near  Abu,  and  verifies  the  traditional  axiom,  that 
the  architectural  rules  of  past  ages  Avere  fixed  on  imnuital)le 
principles. 

We  passed  the  sarai  of  Surajpura,  a  mile  to  the  right,  and  got 
entangled  in  the  swampy  ground  of  Bhartewar.  This  town,  which 
belongs  to  the  chief  of  Kanor,  one  of  the  sixteen  great  barons  of 
Mewar,  boasts  a  high  antiquity,  and  Bhartrihari,  the  elder  brother 
of  Vikrama,  is  its  reputed  founder.  If  we  place  any  faith  in  local 
tradition,  the  bells  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  temples,  chiefly  of 
the  Jain  faith,  once  somided  within  its  walls,  wliich  were  six  miles 
in  length  ;  but  few  vestiges  of  them  now  remain,  although  there 
are  ruins  of  some  of  these  shrines  which  show  they  were  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Kheroda  we 
passed  through  KJiairsana,  a  large  charity- village  belonging  to  the 
Brahmans. 

Ivheroda  is  a  respectable  place,  having  a  fortress  with  double 
ditches,  which  can  be  filled  at  pleasure  from  the  river.  Being 
situated  on  the  highroad  between  the  ancient  and  modern  capitals, 
it  was  always  a  bone  of  contention  in  the  civil  wars.  It  was  in 
the  hands  of  Rawat  Jai  Singh  of  Lawa,  the  adopted  heir  of 
Sangram  Saktawat,  one  of  the  great  leaders  in  the  struggles  of 
the  year  1748  [a.d.  1691],  an  epoch  as  well  known  in  Mewar  as  the 
1745  of  Scotland.  Being  originally  a  fiscal  possession,  and  froni 
its  position  not  to  be  trusted  to  the  hands  of  any  of  the  feudal 
chiefs,  it  was  restored  to  the  sovereign  ;  though  it  was  not  without 
difficulty  that  the  riever  of  Lawa  agreed  to  sign  the  constitution 
of  the  4th  of  May,'  and  relinquish  to  his  sovereign  a  stronghold 
which  had  been  purchased  with  the  blood  of  his  kindred. 

Tribal  Feuds. — The  history  of  KJieroda  would  afford  an  ex- 
cellent illustration  of  the  feuds  of  Mewar.  In  that  between 
Sangram  Singh  the  Saktawat,  and  Bhairon  Singh  Chondawat, 
both  of  these  chief  clans  of  Mewar  lost  the  best  of  their  defenders. 
In  1733  Sangram,  then  but  a  youth  (his  father,  Lalji,  Rawat  of 

*  See  treaty  between  the  Runa  and  liis  chiefs,  Vol.  I.  p.  243.     [Signed 

A.D.   1818.] 


TRIBAL  FEUDS  AT  KHERODA  1623 

Sheogarh,  being  yet  alive),  took  Kheroda  from  his  sovereign,  and 
retained  it  six  years.  In  1740  the  rival  clans  of  Deogarh,  Amet, 
Kurabar,  etc.,  under  their  common  head,  the  chief  of  Salumbar, 
and  having  their  acts  legalized  by  the  presence  of  the  Dahipra 
minister,  vmited  to  expel  the  Saktawat.  Sangram  held  out  four 
months  ;  when  he  hoisted  a  flag  of  truce  and  agreed  to  capitulate, 
on  [594]  condition  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  retreat  un- 
molested, with  all  his  followers  and  effects,  to  Bhindar,  the  capital 
of  the  Saktawats.  This  condition  was  granted,  and  the  heir  of 
Slieogarh  was  received  into  Bhindar.  Here  he  commenced  his 
depredations,  the  adventures  attending  which  are  still  the  topics 
of  numerous  tales.  In  one  of  his  expeditions  to  the  estate  of 
Kurabar  he  carried  off  both  the  cattle  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Gurli.  Zalim  Singh,  the  heir  of  Kurabar,  came  to  the  rescue,  but 
was  laid  low  by  the  lance  of  Sangram.  To  revenge  his  death, 
every  Chondawat  of  the  country  assembled  round  the  banner  of 
Salumbar  ;  the  sovereign  himself  espoused  their  cause,  and  with 
his  mercenary  bands  of  Sindis  succeeded  in  investing  Bhindar. 
During  the  siege  Arjun  of  Kurabar,  bent  on  revenge  for  the  loss 
of  his  heir,  determined  to  surprise  Sheogarh,  Which  he  effected, 
and  spared  neither  age  nor  sex.^  Kheroda  remained  attached  to 
the  fisc  during  several  years,  when  the  Rana,  with  a  thoughtless- 
ness which  has  nourished  these  feuds,  granted  it  to  Sardar  Singh, 
the  Chondawat  chief  of  Badesar.  In  S.  1746  the  Chondawats  were 
in  rebellion  and  disgrace,  and  their  rivals,  under  the  cliief  of 
Bhindar,  assembled  their  kindred  to  drive  out  the  Sindi  garrison, 
who  held  Kheroda  for  their  foe.  Arjun  of  Kurabar,  with  the 
Sindi  Koli,  came  to  aid  the  garrison,  and  an  action  ensued  under 
the  walls,  in  which  Sangram  slew  with  his  own  hand  two  of  the 
principal  subordinates  of  Kurabar,  namely,  Guman  the  Sakarwal, 
and  Bhimji  Ranawat.  Nevertheless,  the  Chondawats  gained  the 
day,  and  the  Saktawats  again  retired  on  Bhindar.  There  they 
received  a  reinforcement  sent  by  Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah  (who 
fostered  all  these  disputes,  trusting  that  eventually  he  should  be 
able  to  snatch  the  bone  of  contention  from  both),  and  a  band  of 
Arabs,  and  with  this  aid  they  returned  to  the  attack.  The 
Chondawats,  who,  with  the  auxiUaries  of  Sind,  were  encamped  in 
the  plains  of  Akola,  willingly  accepted  the  challenge,  but  were 
defeated  ;  Sindi  Koli,  leader  of  the  auxiliaries,  was  slain,  and  the 
1  The  sequel  of  this  feud  has  been  related,  Vol.  I.  p.  511. 


1624  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

force  was  entirely  dispersed.  Sangram,  who  headed  this  and 
every  assault  against  the  rival  elan,  was  wounded  in  three  places  ; 
but  this  he  accounted  nothing,  having  thereby  obtained  the 
regard  of  his  sovereign,  and  the  expulsion  of  his  rival  from 
Kheroda,  which  remained  attached  to  the  fise  until  the  year  1758, 
when,  on  the  payment  of  a  fine  of  ten  thousand  rupees,  the  estate 
was  assigned  to  him  under  tlic  royal  signature.  This  was  in  the 
year  a.d.  1802,  from  which  period  until  1818,  when  we  had  to 
mediate  between  the  Rana  and  his  chiefs,  Kheroda  remained  a 
trophy  of  the  superior  courage  and  tact  of  the  Saktawats.  No 
wonder  that  the  Rawat  Jai  Singh  of  Lawa,  the  adopted  heir  of 
Sangram,  was  averse  to  renounce  Kheroda.  He  went  so  far  as 
[595]  to  man  its  walls,  and  forbid  any  communication  with  the 
servants  of  his  sovereign  :  the  slightest  provocation  would  have 
compelled  a  siege  and  assault,  in  which  all  the  Chondawats  of  the 
country  would  gladly  have  joined,  and  the  old  feuds  might  have 
been  revived  on  the  very  dawn  of  disfranchisement  from  the 
yoke  of  the  Mahrattas.  But  what  will  be  thought  of  this  trans- 
action when  it  is  stated  that  the  lord  of  Kheroda  was  at  this  time 
at  court  the  daily  companion  of  his  sovereign  !  Although  the 
dependants  of  Jai  Singh  would  have  fired  on  any  one  of  lus  master's 
servants  who  ventured  to  its  walls,  and,  according  to  our  notions, 
he  was  that  moment  a  rebel  both  to  his  prince  and  the  paramount 
protector,  not  an  uncourtly  phrase  was  ever  heard,  nor  could  it 
be  discovered  that  the  Rana  and  the  Rawat  stood  in  any  other 
relation  than  as  the  gracious  sovereign  and  the  loyal  subject. 
These  matters  are  conveniently  managed  :  all  the  odium  of  dis- 
cussion is  left  to  the  Kamdars,  or  delegates  of  the  prince  and  the 
chief,  between  whom  not  the  least  diminution  of  courteous 
etitpiette  would  be  observable,  whilst  there  remained  a  hope  of 
adjustment.  Asiatics  do  not  count  the  moments  which  intervene 
between  the  conception  and  consummation  of  an  undertaking  as 
do  those  of  colder  climes.  In  all  their  transactions  they  preserve 
more  composure,  which,  whatever  be  its  cause,  lends  an  air  of 
dignity  to  their  proceedings.  I  have  risen  from  discussion  with 
the  respective  ministers  of  tlie  sovereign  and  chieftains  regarding 
acts  involving  treason,  in  order  to  join  the  principals  in  an  excur- 
sion on  the  lake,  or  in  the  tilt-yard  at  the  palace,  where  they 
would  be  passing  their  opinions  on  the  points  of  a  horse,  with 
n)ulii;il   courtesy  and   alfability.     This  is  no  unamiable  feature 


AGRICULTURE  AT  KHERODA  1626 

in  the  manners  of  the  East,  and  tends  to  strengthen  the  tie  of 
fraternity  which  binds  together  the  fabric  of  Rajput  poh'cy. 

Agriculture  at  Kheroda. — The  agricultviral  economy  of  I^eroda, 
which  discovers  distinct  traces  of  the  patriarchal  system,  is  not 
without  interest.  Kheroda  is  a  lappa,  or  subdivision  of  one  of 
the  greater  khalisa  or  fiscal  districts  of  Mewar,  and  consists  of 
fourteen  toAvnships,  besides  their  hamlets.  It  is  rated  at  14,500 
rupees  of  yearly  rent,  of  which  itself  furnishes  3500.  The  land, 
though  generally  of  a  good  quality,  is  of  three  classes,  namely, 
piwal,  or  watered  from  wells  ;  gonna,  also  irrigated  land,  extend- 
ing three  or  four  khets,  or  fields,  around  the  village  ;  and  mar  or 
mal,  depending  on  the  heavens  alone  for  moisture.  As  has  been 
already  stated,  there  are  two  harvests,  namely,  the  unalu  (from 
ushna,  '  heat '),  or  summer-harvest ;  and  the  siyalu  (from  sita, 
'  cold '),  the  winter  or  autumnal  [596].  The  share  of  the  crown,  as 
in  all  the  ancient  Hindu  governments,  is  taken  in  kind,  and  divided 
as  follows  : — Of  the  first,  or  unalu  crop,  consisting  of  wheat,  barley, 
and  gram,  the  produce  is  formed  into  khallas  (piles  or  heaps)  of 
one  hundred  maunds  each  ;  these  are  subdivided  into  four  parts, 
of  twenty-five  maunds  each.  The  first  operation  is  to  provide 
from  one  of  these  the  serana,  or  one  ser  on  each  maund,  to  each 
individual  of  the  village-establishment  :  namely,  the  Patel,  or 
head-man  ;  the  Patwari,  register  or  accountant  ;  the  Shahnah, 
or  watchman  ;  the  Balahi,  or  messenger  and  also  general  herds- 
man ;  ^  the  Kathi  (alias  Sutar)  or  carpenter  ;  the  Lobar,  or  black- 
smith ;  the  Kumhar,  or  potter  ;  the  Dhobi,  or  washerman  ;  the 
Chamar,  who  is  shoemaker,  carrier,  and  scavenger  ;  the  Nai,  or 
barber-surgeon.  These  ten  seranas,  or  one  ser  on  each  khaUa, 
or  two  maunds  and  a  half  to  each  individual,  swallow  up  one  of 
the  subdivisions.  Of  the  three  remaining  parts,  one  share,  or 
twenty-five  maimds,  goes  to  the  Raj,  or  sovereign,  and  two  to 
the  ryot,  or  cultivator,  after  deducting  a  serana  of  two  maunds 
for  the  heir-apparent,  wliich  is  termed  Kunwar-matka,  or  '  pot 
for  the  prince.'  An  innovation  of  late  years  has  been  practised 
on  the  portion  belonging  to  the  village,  from  which  no  less  than 

^  The  balahi  or  balaiti  is  the  shepherd  of  the  community,  who  drives 
the  villafre  flock  to  the  common  pasturage ;  and,  besides  his  serana,  has 
some  trifling  reward  from  every  individual.  It  is  his  especial  duty  to  prevent 
cattle-trespasses.  [For  a  good  account  of  allowances  to  village  servants  and 
menials  see  B.  H.  Baden-Powell,  The  Indian  Village  Community,  16  fi.] 
VOL.  Ill  2  B 


1626  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

three  seranas  of  one  niaiind  eacli  are  decluotefl,  previous  to  snb- 
(li\ision  amongst  the  ten  village  offiecrs  ;  namely,  one  '  pot  for 
the  prince,'  another  for  the  Kana's  chief  groom,  and  a  third  for  his 
Modi,  or  steward  of  the  grain  department.  These  all  go  to  the 
government,  which  thus  reaUzes  thirty  maimds  out  of  each 
hundred,  or  three-tenths,  instead  of  one-fourth,  according  to 
ancient  usage.  But  the  village-establishment  has  an  additional 
advantage  before  the  grain  is  thrashed  out  ;  this  is  the  kirpa 
or  sheaf  from  every  bigha  (a  third  of  an  acre)  of  land  cultivated 
to  each  individual  ;  and  each  sheaf  is  reckoned  to  yield  from  five 
to  seven  sers  of  grain.  The  reapers  are  also  allowed  small  kirpas 
or  sheaves,  yielding  two  or  three  sers  each  ;  and  there  were  various 
little  larcenies  permitted,  under  the  terms  of  dantani  and  chabani, 
indicating  they  were  allowed  the  use  of  their  teeth  (dant)  while 
reaping  :  so  that  in  fact  they  fed  (chabna,  '  to  bite  or  masticate ') 
upon  roasted  heads  of  Indian  corn  and  maize.  . 

Of  the  siyalu  crop,  which  consists  of  makkai,  or  Indian  corn, 
vinAjiiar  and  bojra,  or  millet,  with  the  different  pulses,  the  process 
of  distribution  is  as  follows.  From  everj'  khalla,  or  heap  of  one 
hundred  maunds,  forty  are  set  apart  for  the  Raj  or  government, 
and  the  rest,  after  deducting  the  scranas  of  the  village-establish- 
ment, goes  to  the  cultivator. 

On  the  culture  of  sugar-cane,  cotton,  indigo,  opium,  tobacco, 
til  or  sesamum,  and  [597]  the  various  dyes,  there  has  always  been 
a  fixed  inoney-rent,  varying  from  two  to  ten  rupees  per  bigha. 

Sugar-Cane  Cultivation. — There  is  nothing  so  uncertain  in  its 
results  as  the  cultivation  of  sugar-cane,  which  holds  out  a  powerful 
lure  for  dishonesty  to  the  collector  for  the  crown,  But  it  is 
asserted  here  that  the  ryot  had  no  option,  being  compelled  to 
cultivate,  in  due  proportion,  cane,  opium,  and  grain,  from  the 
same  charsa^  or  well.  A  rough  estimate  of  the  expense  attending 
the  culture  of  a  charsa,  or  what  may  be  irrigated  by  one  well,  may 
not  be  uninteresting.  Let  us  take,  first,  one  bigha  of  cane,  and 
no  more  can  be  watered  with  one  pair  of  oxen,  premising  that 
the  cane  is  planted  in  the  month  of  Aghan,  and  reaped  in  the 
same  month  next  year  ;  that  is,  after  a  whole  twelvemonth  of 
labour : 


^  [Properly  the  leather  bag  by  means  of  which  water  la  raised  for  irriga- 
tion.] 


SUGAR-CANE  CULTIVATION  1627 

Rupees. 
Hasil,  or  rent    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .10 

Seed  of  one  bigha       .......        20 

Gor,  or  stirring  up  the  earth  with  spuds,  eight  times 
before  reaping,  sixteen  men  each  time,  at  two  annas 
to  each  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .10 

Two  men  at  the  well,  at  four  rupees  each  per  month,  for 

twelve  months        .  .  .  .  .  .  .        96  ^ 

Tn'o  oxen,  feeding,  etc.       ......        18 

Paring  and  cutting  forty  thousand  canes,  at  four  annas 
per  thousand  .  .  .  .  .  .  .10 

Placing  canes  in  the  mill,  clothes  to  the  men,  besides  one 
ser  of  sugar  out  of  every  maund      ....       20 

Shares  of  all  the  village  establishment ;  say,  if  the  bigha 
yields  fifty  maund'!,  of  which  thev  are  entitled  to  one- 
fifth       "     .  .  .  .40 

Wood 2 

Hire  of  boiler    ........         0 

238 
A  bigha  will  yield  as  much  as  eighty  maunds  of  sugar,^ 
though  fifty  is  esteemed  a  good  crop  ;  it  sells  at  about 
four  rupees  per  maund,  or       ....  .     200 

Leaving  the  cultivator  minus  ...       38 

It  win  be  observed  that  the  grower's  whole  expenses  are 
charged  ;  besides,  to  make  up,  we  must  calculate  from  the 
labour  of  the  same  two  men  and  cattle,  the  produce  profit  of  one 
bigha  of  opium  and  four  bighas  of  wheat  and  barley,  as  follows  : 

Rupees. 

Surplus  profit  on  the  opium,  seven  sers  of  opium,  at  four 
rupees  per  ser         .......        28 

One  hundred  and  fifty  maunds  of  grain,  of  both  harvests, 
of  which  one-third  to  the  Raj,  leaves  one  hundred 
maunds,  at  one  rupee  each  maund  ....      100 

128 
Deduct  deficiency  on  cane         ....       38 

Profit  left,  after  feeding,  men  and  cattle,  etc.,  etc.       90 

[598] 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  the  cane  is  sold  standing,  at  four 
to  five  rupees  the  thousand  ;  but,  occasionally,  the  whole  crop  is 
lost,  if  the  cane  should  unfortunately  flower,  when  it  is  rooted  up 
and  burnt,  or  given  to  the  cattle,  being  luifit  for  the  use  of  man. 

^  This  goes  to  feed  the  cultivator,  if  he  works  himself. 

^  [The  yield  of  coarse  sugar  {gur)  is  now  estimated  at  .30  or  40  maunds 
(28^  cwt.)  per  acre  ;  but  as  much  as  50  maunds  (36  cwt.)  has  been  recorded 
(Watt,  Econ.  Prod.  947).] 


1 628  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

This  may  be  superstition  ;  thougli  the  cultivators  of  the  cane  in  the 
West  Indies  may  perhaps  say  that  the  deterioration  of  the  plant 
would  render  it  not  worth  the  trouble  of'extractino-  the  juice.^ 
I  shall  here  conclude  this  rough  sketch  of  the  agricultural  economy 
of  Kheroda,  which  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  old 
system  throughout  Mewar,  with  remarking  that,  notwithstanding 
the  laws  of  Manu,-  inscriptions  on  stone,  and  tradition,  which 
constitute  in  fact  the  customary  law  of  Rajputana,  make  the  rent 
in  kind  far  lighter  than  what  we  have  just  recorded,  yet  the 
cultivator  could  not  fail  to  thrive  if  even  this  system  were  main- 
tained. But  constant  warfare,  the  necessities  of  the  prince,  with 
the  cupidity  and  poverty  of  the  revenue  officers,  have  superadded 
vexatious  petty  demands,  as  khar-lakar  (wood  and  forage),  and 
ghar-ginti  (house-tax)  ;  the  first  of  which  was  a  tax  of  one  rupee 
annually  on  every  bigha  of  land  in  cultivation,  and  the  other  the 
same  on  each  house  or  hut  inhabited.  Even  the  kaid  salt,  or 
triennial  fine  on  the  headman  and  the  register,  was  levied  by  these 
again  on  the  cultivators.  But  besides  these  regular  taxes,  there 
was  no  end  to  irregular  exactions  of  harar  and  dand,  or  forced 
contributions,  until,  at  length,  the  coimtry  became  the  scene  of 
desolation  from  which  it  is  only  now  emerging. 

Hinta,  January  30. — This  was  a  short  march  of  three  and  a 
half  coss,  or  nine  miles,  over  the  same  extensive  plain  of  rich  black 
loam,  or  mal,  whence  the  province  of  Malwa  has  its  name.'  We 
were  on  horseback  long  before  sunrise  ;  the  air  Avas  pure  and 
invigorating  ;  the  peasantry  were  smiling  at  the  sight  of  the 
luxuriant  young  crops  of  wheat,  barley,  and  gram,  aware  that  no 
rutliless  hand  could  now  step  between  them  and  the  bounties  of 
Heaven.  Fresh  thatch,  or  rising  walls,  gave  signs  of  the  exiles' 
return,  who  greeted  us,  at  each  step  of  our  journey,  Avith  blessings 
and  looks  of  joy  mingled  with  sadness.     Passed  the  hamlet,  or 

^  [The  flowering  of  the  cane  is  rct^aided  us  an  evil  omen.  In  India  the 
cane  rarely  seeds  ;  in  fact,  it  is  rarely  allowed  to  flower  (Watt,  Econ.  Diet, 
vi.  Part  ii.  83).] 

2  [The  king  may  take  an  eiglith,  sixtli,  or  twelfth  part  of  the  crop  (Manu, 
Laws,  vii.  130).] 

'  [Malwa  or  Malava  is  derived  from  the  tribe  of  that  name,  but  the  name 
Malava-dcsa,  '  land  of  the  Malavas,'  is  not  mentioned  in  Sanskrit  literature 
before  the  second  century  B.C.  ;  and  the  tract  now  known  as  Malwa  was 
not  called  by  that  name  till  the  tenth  century  A.D.,  or  even  later  (IGI, 
xvii.  100  f.  ;    BG,  i.  Part  i.  28,  Part  ii.  ."{l  I ).  1 


HlNTA  1629 

purwa,  of  Amarpura,  attached  to  Klieroda,  and  to  our  left  the 
townsliip  of  Mainar,  held  in  sasan  ^  (religious  grant)  by  a  coni- 
niunity  of  Brahmans.*  This  place  affords  a  fine  specimen  of  "  the 
wisdom  of  ancestors  "  in  Mewar,  where  fifty  thousand  bighas,  or 
about  sixteen  thousand  acres  of  the  richest  crown  land,  have  been 
given  in  perpetuity  to  these  drones  of  society  ;  and  although 
there  are  only  twenty  families  left  of  this  holy  colony,  said  to  have 
been  planted  by  Raja  Mandhata  in  the  Treta-yug,  or  silver  age 
of  India,  yet  superstition  and  indolence  conspire  to  prevent  the 
resiunption  even  of  those  portions  which  have  none  to  cultivate 
them.  A  "  sixty  thousand  [599]  years'  residence'  in  hell  "  is 
undoubtedly  no  comfortable  prospect,  and  to  those  who  subscribe 
to  the  doctrine  of  transmigration,  it  must  be  rather  mortifying  to 
pass  from  the  purple  of  royalty  into  "  a  worm  in  ordure,"  one  of 
the  dehcate  purgatories  which  the  Rajput  soul  has  to  imdergo, 
before  it  can  expiate  the  offence  of  resuming  the  lands  of  the 
church !  I  was  rejoiced,  however,  to  find  that  some  of  "  the  sons 
of  Sakta,"  as  they  increased  in  numbers,  in  the  inverse  ratio  of 
their  possessions,  deemed  it  better  to  incur  all  risks  than  emigrate 
to  foreign  lands  in  search  of  bhum  ;  and  both  Hinta  and  Dundia 
have  been  established  on  the  lands  of  the  church.  Desirous  of 
preserving  everj'  right  of  every  class,  I  imprecated  on  my  head  all 
the  anathemas  of  the  order,  if  the  Rana  should  resume  all  beyond 
what  the  renmant  of  this  family  could  require.  I  proposed  that 
a  thousand  bighas  of  the  best  land  should  be  retained  by  them  ; 
that  they  should  not  only  be  furnished  with  cattle,  seed,  and 
implements  of  agriculture,  but  that  there  should  be  wells  cleared 
out,  or  fresh  ones  dug  for  them.  At  this  time,  however,  the 
astrologer  was  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  and  being  also  physician 
in  ordinary,  he,  as  one  of  the  order,  protected  lois  brethren  of 
Menar,  who,  as  may  be  supposed,  were  in  vain  called  upon  to 
produce  the  tamra-pattra,  or  copper-plate  warrant,  for  these  lands. 
Mandhata  Raja. — Mandhata  Raja,-  a  name  immortahzed  in  the 

^  [Sasan,  land  granted  to  Brahmans,  Ascetics,  Charans,  and  Bhats,  by 
royal  decree  and  rent-free.  It  pays  nothing  but  some  miscellaneous  taxes, 
is  inalienable,  but  it  can  be  mortgaged.] 

-  [Mandhatri,  son  of  Yuvanaswa  of  the  race  of  Ikshwaku,  a  legendary 
monarch,  is  said  to  have  "  reduced  the  seven  continental  zones  under  his 
dominion"  (Vishnu  Purdna,  363;  Dowson,  Classical  Diet,  .s.i'.).  The 
holy  place  Mandhata  in  the  Nimar  District,  Central  Provinces,  is  said  to 
take  its  name  from  him  (Gazetteer  Central  Provinces,  1870,  p.  258),] 


1630  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

topography  of  these  regions,  was  of  the  Prainar  tribe,  and 
sovereign  of  Central  India,  whose  capitals  were  Dhar  and  Ujjain  ; 
and  although  his  period  is  uncertain,  tradition  uniformly  assigns 
him  priority  to  Vikramaditya,  whose  era  (fifty-six  years  anterior 
to  the  Christian)  prevails  throughout  India.  There  are  various 
spots  on  the  Nerbudda  which  perpetuate  his  name,  especially 
where  that  grand  stream  forms  one  of  its  most  considerable 
rapids.  Chitor,  with  all  its  dependencies,  was  but  an  appanage 
of  the  sovereignty  of  Dhar  in  these  early  times,  nor  can  we  move 
a  step  without  discovering  traces  of  their  paramount  sway  in  all 
these  regions  :  and  in  the  spot  over  which  I  am  now  moving,  the 
antiquary  might  without  any  difficulty  fill  liis  portfolio.  Both 
Hinta  and  Dundia,  the  dependencies  of  Mainar,  are  brought  in 
connexion  with  the  name  of  Mandhata,  who  performed  the  grand 
rite  of  Aswamedha,  or  sacrifice  of  the  horse,  at  Dundia,  where 
they  still  point  out  the  kund,  or  '  pit  of  sacrifice.'  Two  Rishis,  or 
'  holy  men,'  of  Hinta  attended  Mandhata,  who,  on  the  conclusion 
of  the  ceremony,  presented  them  the  customary  pan,  or  '  offering,' 
which  they  rejected  ;  but  on  taking  leave,  the  Raja  delicately 
contrived  to  introduce  into  the  bira  of  pan,  a  grant  for  the  lands 
of  JNIainar.  The  gift,  though  unsolicited,  was  fatal  to  their 
sanctity,  and  the  miracles  which  they  had  hitherto  [600]  been 
permitted  to  form,  ceased  with  the  possession  of  Mammon. 
VV'ould  the  reader  wish  to  have  an  instance  of  these  miracles  ? 
After  their  usual  manifold  ablutions,  and  wringing  the  moisture 
of  their  dhoti,  or  garment,  they  would  fling  it  into  the  air,  where  it 
remained  suspended  over  their  head,  as  a  protection  against  the 
sun's  rays.  On  the  loss  of  their  power,  these  saints  became  tillers 
of  the  ground.  Their  descendants  hold  the  lands  of  Mainar,  and 
are  spread  over  this  tract,  named  Bara  Chaubisa,  '  the  great 
twenty-four  !  ' 

VVc  also  passed  in  this  morning's  inarch  the  village  of  Bahmania, 
having  a  noble  piece  of  water  maintained  by  a  strong  embank- 
ment of  masonry.  No  less  than  four  thousand  bighas  are  attached. 
It  was  fiscal  land,  but  had  been  usurped  during  the  troubles,  and 
being  nearly  depopulated,  had  escaped  observation.  At  this 
moment  it  is  in  the  hands  of  Moti  Pasban,*  the  favourite  hand- 


1  [Pas ban  meana    '  a  watcher.'     Dr.  Tossitori  writes  that    the  proper 
form  of  the  word  is  Pasvan  or  Pasvani,  a  term  applied  to  the  confidential 


A  MARATHA  raid  in  MEWAR  1631 

maid  of  "  the  Sun  of  the  Hindus."  This  '  Pearl '  (moti)  pretends 
to  have  obtained  it  as  a  mortgage,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to 
show  a  lawful  mortgager.  Near  the  village  of  Bansera,  on  the 
estate  of  Fateh  Singh,  brother  of  Bhindar,  we  passed  a  seura  or 
sula,  a  pillar  or  land-mark,  having  a  grant  of  land  inscribed 
thereon  with  the  usual  denunciations,  attested  by  an  image  of  the 
sacred  cow,  engi-aved  in  slight  relief,  as  witness  to  the  intention 
of  the  donor. 

Hinta  was  a  place  of  some  consequence  in  the  civil  wars,  and 
in  S.  1808  (a.d.  1752)  formed  the  appanage  of  one  of  the  Babas, 
or  infants  of  the  court,  of  the  Maharaja  Sawant  Singh.  It  now 
belongs  to  a  subordinate  Saktawat,  and  was  the  subject  of  con- 
siderable discussion  in  the  treaty  of  resumption  of  the  4th  of  May 
1818,  between  the  Rana  and  his  chiefs. 

It  was  the  scene  of  a  gallant  exploit  in  S.  1812,  when  ten 
thousand  Mahrattas,  led  by  Satwa,  invaded  Mewar.  Raj  Singh, 
of  the  Jhala  tribe,  the  chief  of  Sadri,^  and  descendant  of  the  hero 
who  rescued  that  first  of  Rajput  princes,  Rana  Partap,  had  reached 
the  town  of  Hinta  in  his  passage  from  coiui;  to  Sadri,  when  he 
received  intelligence  that  the  enemy  was  at  Salera,  only  three 
miles  distant.  He  was  recommended  to  make  a  slight  detour 
and  go  by  Bhindar  ;  but  having  no  reason  for  apprehension,  he 
rejected  the  advice,  and  proceeded  on  his  way.  He  had  not 
travelled  half-a-mile,  when  they  fell  in  with  the  marauders,  who 
looked  upon  liis  small  but  well-mounted  band  as  legitimate  prey. 
But,  in  spite  of  the  odds,  they  j^referred  death  to  the  surrender 
of  their  equipments,  and  an  action  ensued,  in  which  the  Raj,  after 
performing  miracles  of  valour,  regained  the  fort,  with  eight  only 
of  his  three  hundred  and  fifty  retainers.  The  news  reaching 
Kushal  Singh,  the  chief  of  Bhindar,  who,  besides  the  [601]  sufficient 
motive  of  Rajputi,  or  '  chivalry,'  was  impelled  by  friendship  and 
matrimonial  connexion,  he  assembled  a  trusty  band,  and  marched 
to  rescue  liis  friend  from  captivity  and  his  estate  from  mortgage 
for  his  ransom.  This  little  phalanx  amounted  only  to  five  hundred 
men,  all  Saktawats,  and  of  whom  three-fourths  were  on  foot. 


domestics  of  a  chief,  aud  it  is  often,  as  in  this  case,  synonymous  with 
'  favourite.'  It  denotes  no  particular  caste,  but  is  commonly  apphed  to 
a  slave  favourite  or  concubine.] 

^  [iiari  Sadri,  about  40  miles  S.S.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


1632  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

They  advanced  in  a  compact  mass,  with  lighted  matches,  the 
cavahers  on  either  flank,  with  Kushal  at  their  head,  denomicing 
death  to  the  man  who  quitted  liis  ranks,  or  fired  a  shot  without 
orders.  Tliey  were  soon  surrounded  by  the  cloud  of  Mahratta 
horse  ;  but  resolve  was  too  manifest  in  the  intrepid  band  even 
for  numbers  to  provoke  the  strife.  They  thus  passed  over  the 
immense  plain  between  Bhindar  and  Hinta,  the  gates  of  which 
they  had  almost  reached,  when,  as  if  ashamed  at  seeing  their 
prey  thus  snatched  from  their  grasp,  the  word  was  given,"  Barchhi 
de  !  "  and  a  forest  of  Mahratta  lances,  each  twelve  feet  long, 
bristled  against  the  Saktawats.  Kushal  called  a  halt,  wheeled  his 
cavaliers  to  the  rear,  and  allowed  the  foe  to  come  within  pistol- 
shot,  when  a  well-directed  volley  checked  their  impetuosity,  and 
threw  them  into  disorder.  The  little  band  of  cavalry  seized  the 
luoment  and  charged  in  their  turn,  gave  time  to  load  again,  and 
returned  to  their  post  to  allow  a  second  volley.  The  gate  was 
gained,  and  the  Sadri  chief  received  into  the  ranks  of  deliverers. 
Elated  with  success,  the  Maharaja  promptly  determined  rather 
to  fight  his  way  back  than  coop  himself  up  in  Hinta,  and  be 
starved  into  surrender  ;  all  seconded  the  resolution  of  their  chief, 
and  with  little  comparative  loss  they  regained  Bhindar.  This 
exploit  is  universally  known,  and  related  with  exultation,  as  one 
of  the  many  brilliant  deeds  of  "  the  sons  of  Sakta,"  of  whom  the 
Maharaja  Kushal  Singh  was  conspicuous  for  worth,  as  well  as 
gallantry. 

Morwan,^  January  31. — The  last  day  of  January  (with  the 
thermometer  50°  at  daybreak)  brought  us  to  the  limits  of  Mewar. 
I  could  not  look  on  its  rich  alienated  lands  without  the  deepest 
regret,  or  see  the  birthright  of  its  chieftains  devolve  on  the  mean 
Mahratta  or  ruthless  Pathan,  without  a  kindling  of  the  spirit 
towards  the  heroes  of  past  days,  in  spite  of  the  vexations  their 
less  worthy  descendants  occasion  me  ;  less  worthy,  yet  not  worth- 
less, for  having  left  my  cai-es  behind  me  with  the  court,  where  the 
stubbornness  of  some,  the  voices  and  intrigues  of  others,  and  the 
apathy  of  all,  have  deeply  injured  my  health.  There  is  some- 
thing magical  in  absence  ;  it  throws  a  deceitful  medium  between 
us  and  the  objects  we  have  quitted,  which  exaggerates  their 
amiable  qualities,  and  curtails  the  proportions  of  their  vices.     I 

^  [Not  found  in  Major  Erskine's  or  other  official  maps  :  in  the  Author's 
map  "  Mhorun."] 


MORWAN  1633 

look  upon  Mewar  as  the  land  of  my  adoption,  and,  linked  with  all 
the  associations  of  my  early  hopes  and  [602]  their  actual  realiza- 
tion, I  feel  inclined  to  exclaim  with  reference  to  her  and  her 
unmanageable  children, 

Mewar,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still. 

The  virtues  owe  an  immense  debt  to  the  present  feudal  nobility, 
not  only  of  Mewar  but  of  Rajputana,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  rising  generation  will  pay  to  it  what  has  been  withheld  by  the 
past ;  that  energy  and  temperance  will  supersede  opium  and  the 
juice  of  the  mahua,^  and  riding  in  the  ring,  replace  the  siesta,  and 
the  tabor  {tabla)  and  lute.  I  endeavoured  to  banish  some  of  these 
incentives  to  degeneracy  ;  nor  is  there  a  young  chieftain,  from 
the  heir-apparent  to  the  throne  to  the  aspirant  to  a  skin  of  land 
(when  opportunity  was  granted),  from  whom  I  have  not  exacted  a 
promise,  never  to  touch  that  debasing  drug,  opium.  Some  may 
break  this  pledge,  but  many  will  keep  it  ;  especially  those  whose 
minority  I  protected  against  court-faction  and  avarice  :  such  a 
one  as  Arjun  Singh,  the  young  chief  of  Basai,  of  the  Sangawat 
branch  of  the  Chondawat  clan.  His  grandfather  (for  his  father 
was  dead)  had  maintained  the  old  castle  and  estate,  placed  on 
the  elevated  Uparmal,  against  all  attempts  of  the  Mahrattas,  but 
had  incurred  the  hatred  of  Bhim  Singh  of  Salumbar,  the  head  of 
his  clan,  who  in  S.  1846  dispossessed  him,  and  installed  a  junior 
branch  in  the  barony  of  Basai.  But  the  energetic  Takht  Singh 
regained  his  lost  rights,  and  maintained  them,  until  civil  broils 
and  foreign  foes  alike  disappeared,  on  their  connexion  with  the 
British  in  1818.  Then  the  veteran  chief,  with  his  grandson, 
repaired  to  court,  to  unite  in  the  general  homage  to  their  prince 
with  the  assembled  chiefs  of  Mewar.  But  poverty  and  the 
remembrance  of  old  feuds  combined  to  dispossess  the  youth,  and 
the  amount  of  fine  (ten  thousand  rupees)  had  actually  been  fixed 
for  the  installation  of  the  interloper,  who  was  supported  by  all  the 
influence  of  the  chief  of  Salumbar.  This  first  noble  of  Mewar  tried 
to  avail  himself  of  my  friendship  to  uphold  the  cause  of  his 
protege,  Barad  Singh,  whom  he  often  brought  me  to  visit,  as  did 
old  Takhta  liis  grandson.  Both  were  of  the  same  age,  thirteen  ; 
the  aspirant  to  Basai,  fair  and  stout,  but  heavy  in  his   looks  ; 

^  [Bassia  latifolia,  from  the  petals  of  which  a  coarse  kind  of  spirits  is 
made  (Watt,  Comm.  Prod.  116  ff. ;   Yule,  Hobson-Jobson,  2nd  ed.  574  f.).] 


1634  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

while  the  possessor,  Arjun,  was  spare,  dark,  and  beaming  with 
intelligence.  Merit  and  justice  on  one  side  ;  stupidity  and  power 
on  the  other.  But  there  were  duties  to  be  performed  ;  and  the  old 
Thakur's  appeal  was  not  heard  in  vain.  "  Swamidharma  and 
this  "  (putting  his  hand  to  his  sword),  said  the  aged  chief,  "  have 
hitherto  preserved  our  rights  ;  now,  the  cause  of  [603]  the  child 
is  in  liis  sovereign's  hands  and  yours  ;  but  here  money  buys 
justice,  and  right  yields  to  favour."  The  Rana,  though  he  had 
assented  to  the  views  of  Salumbar,  left  the  case  to  my  adjudica- 
tion. I  called  both  parties  before  me,  and  in  their  presence, 
from  their  respective  statements,  sketched  the  genealogical  tree, 
exhibiting  in  the  remote  branches  the  stripling's  competitors, 
which  I  showed  to  the  Rana.  Ever  prone  to  do  right  when  not 
swayed  by  faction,  he  confirmed  Arjun's  patent,  which  he  had 
given  him  three  years  previously,  and  girt  him  with  the  sword 
of  investiture.  This  contest  for  liis  birthright  was  of  great 
advantage  to  the  youth  ;  for  his  grandfather  was  selected  to 
command  the  quotas  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier  fortress  of 
Jahazpur,  a  duty  which  he  well  performed  ;  and  his  grandson 
accompanied  him  and  was  often  left  in  command  while  he  looked 
after  the  estate.  Both  came  to  visit  me  at  Chitor.  Arjun  was 
greatly  improved  during  his  two  years'  absence  from  the  paternal 
abode,  and  promises  to  do  honour  to  the  clan  he  belongs  to. 
Amongst  many  questions,  I  asked  "  If  he  had  yet  taken  to  his 
amal  ?  "  to  which  he  energetically  replied,  "  My  fortunes  will  be 
cracked  indeed,  if  ever  I  forget  any  injunction  of  yours." 

But  a  truce  to  digression  :  the  whole  village  Panchayat  has 
been  waiting  this  half  hour  under  the  spreading  bar  ^  tree,  to 
tell  me,  in  the  language  of  homely  truth,  khush  hain  Conipani 
sahib  ke  parlap  sc,  that  "  by  the  auspices  of  Sir  Company  they  arc 
happy  ;  and  that  they  hope  I  may  live  a  thousand  years." 

I  must,  therefore,  suspend  my  narrative,  wliilst  I  patiently 
listen  till  midnight  to  dismal  tales  of  sterile  fields,  exhausted 
funds,  exiles  unreturned,  and  the  depredations  of  the  wild  moun- 
tain Bhil  [604 J. 

1  [Tlie  banyan,  Jiciis  indica.] 


THE  CHIEF  OF  HiNTA  1635 


CHAPTER  2 

The  Chief  of  Hinta. — I  was  not  deceived  ;  it  is  now  midnight, 
but,  late  as  it  is,  I  will  introduce  to  the  readers  a  few  of  my 
visitors.  The  chief  of  Hinta,  who  was  absent  at  his  patrimonial 
estate  of  Kun,  on  the  hills  of  Chappan,i  gent  his  brother  and  his 
honime  d'affaires  to  make  his  compliments  to  me,  and  express  his 
regret  that  he  could  not  offer  them  personally  at  Hinta,  which  he 
said  was  "  my  own  township."  This  was  not  mere  customary 
civility.  Hinta  had  been  taken  by  the  Saktawats  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  the  civil  wars  of  S.  1824,  which  was  within 
the  period  (a.d.  1766)  fixed  by  the  general  arrangements  of  the 
4th  of  May  1818,  for  restitution  ;  and  it  was  impossible,  without 
departing  from  the  principle  on  which  they  were  based,  that  the 
chief  should  retain  it,  though  he  could  plead  the  prescriptive  right 
of  half-a-century. 

The  discussions  regarding  Hinta  were  consequently  very  warm  : 
the  renunciation  of  ten  valuable  townships  by  the  Maharaja 
Zorawar  Singh  of  Bhindar,  the  head  of  the  Saktawat  clans,  did 
not  annoy  the  Bhindar  chief  so  much  as  his  failure  to  retain 
Hinta  as  one  of  his  minor  feuds  :  nay,  the  surrender  of  Arja,  the 
price  of  blood,  a  far  more  important  castle  and  domain,  by  his 
own  brother  Fateh  Singh  (the  original  acquisition  of  which  sealed 
the  conclusion  of  a  long-standing  feud),  excited  less  irritation  than 
the  demand  that  Hinta  should  revert  to  the  flsc.  "  It  is  the  key 
of  Bhindar,"  said  the  head  of  the  clan.  "  It  was  a  Saktawat 
allotment  from  the  first,"  exclaimed  his  brother.  "  The  Ranawat 
was  an  interloper,"  cried  another.  "  It  is  my  bapoia,  the  abode 
of  my  fathers,"  was  the  more  feeling  expression  of  the  occupant. 
It  was  no  light  task  to  deal  with  such  argmnents  ;  especially  when 
an  appeal  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  justice  was  thwarted  by 
the  stronger  impulse  of  self-interest.  But  in  a  matter  involving 
so  important  a  stipulation  of  the  treaty,  which  required  "  that 
all  fiscal  possessions  which,  since  S.  1822  (a.d.  1766),  the  com- 
mencement of  the  civil  wars,  had,  by  whatever  means,  passed 
from  the  Rana  to  the  chieftains,  should  be  reclaimed,"  firmness 
was  essential  to  the  success  of  a  measure  on  which  [605]  depended 

^  [Part  of  the  water-shed  of  Central  India,  dividing  the  draiiiage  into 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  from  that  of  the  ijuli  of  Cam  bay.] 


1636  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

the  restoration  of  order.  The  Saktawats  behaved  nobly,  and 
with  a  purely  patriotic  spirit  throughout  the  scene,  when  almost 
all  had  to  relinquish  important  possessions.  The  issue  was,  that 
Hinta,  with  its  domain,  after  remaining  twelve  months  incor- 
porated with  the  fisc,  was  restored  to  Zorawar,  but  curtailed  of 
Dundia  and  its  twelve  hundred  acres,  which,  though  united  to 
Hinta,  was  a  distinct  township  in  the  old  records.  Having  paid 
ten  thousand  rupees  as  the  fine  of  relief,  the  chief  was  girt  with  the 
sword,  and  re-established  in  his  bapota,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
whole  clan. 

Hinta  is  burdened  with  the  service  of  fourteen  horse  and 
fourteen  foot ;  its  rekh,  or  nominal  value,  in  the  patta-bahi,  or 
'  record  of  fiefs,'  being  seven  thousand  rupees  ;  but,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  impoverished  condition  of  his  estate,  the  chief  was 
only  called  on  to  furnish  five  horse  and  eight  foot.  The  present 
possessor  of  Hinta  is  an  adoption  from  the  chieftainship  of  Kun  ; 
but,  contrary  to  established  usage,  he  holds  both  Hinta  and  Kun, 
his  parent  fief,  whereby  he  has  a  complex  character,  and  conflict- 
ing duties  to  fulfil.  As  chief  of  Kun,  he  belongs  to  the  third  class 
of  nobles,  styled  gol,  and  is  subject  to  constant  personal  attend- 
ance on  the  Rana  ;  as  lord  of  Hinta,  too,  he  has  to  furnish  a  quota 
to  serve  "  at  home  or  abroad  !  "  Being  compelled  to  appear  at 
court  in  person,  his  quota  for  Hinta  was  placed  under  the  charge 
of  Man  Singh  (another  of  the  Saktawat  sub-vassalage),  and  was 
sent  to  the  thana  of  little  Sadri,  on  the  Malwa  frontier,  to  guard 
it  from  the  depredations  of  the  forester  Bhil.  But  I  was  com- 
missioned by  the  Rana  to  reprimand  the  representative  of  Hinta, 
and  to  threaten  liim  with  the  re-sequestration  of  the  estate,  if 
he  did  not  better  perform  the  service  for  which  he  held  it.  In 
consequence  of  this  remonstrance,  I  became  acquainted  with  a 
long  tale  of  woe  ;  and  Man  Singh's  vindication  from  a  failure  of 
duty  will  introduce  a  topic  Avorthy  of  notice  connected  with  the 
feudal  system  of  Mewar,  namely,  the  subdivision  of  licfs. 

Man  Singh  Saktawat  is  a  younger  branch  of  the  Lawa  family, 
and  one  of  the  infants  who  escaped  the  massacre  of  Sheogarh,  when 
Lalji  Rawat  and  two  generations  were  cut  off  to  avenge  the  feud 
with  Kurabar.  In  order,  however,  to  understand  the  claims  of  Man 
Singh,  we  must  go  back  to  the  })criod  when  Lalji  Rawat  was  lord 
of  Nethara,  which,  for  some  offence,  or  through  some  court- 
intrigue,  was  resumed,  and  bestowed  on  one  of  the  rival  clan  of 


THE  CHIEF  OF  HiNTA  1637 

Chondawat.  Being  a  younger  branch  of  the  Bansi  familj^  (one 
of  the  senior  subdivisions  of  Bhindar),  Lalji  was  but  slenderly- 
provided  for  in  the  family  allotment  (bat).  On  losing  Nethara, 
he  repaired  to  Dungarpur,  whose  Rawal  gave  him  a  grant  of 
Sheogarh,  an  almost  inaccessible  fort  on  the  [606]  borders  of  the 
two  countries.  Thus  compelled,  through  faction,  to  seek  sub- 
sistence out  of  his  native  soil,  Lalji  renounced  his  loyalty,  and 
with  his  sons,  now  Barwatias  or  '  outlaws,'  resolved  to  prey  upon 
Mewar.  They  now  looked  to  Bhindar,  the  head  of  their  clan,  as 
their  lord,  and  joined  him  in  opposing  their  late  sovereign  in  the 
field,  levying  blackmail  from  the  estates  of  their  rivals  ;  or,  when 
the  influence  of  the  latter  sunk  at  court,  and  was  supplanted  by 
the  clan  of  Saktawat,  Lalji  poised  his  lance  in  the  train  of  his 
chief  in  defence  of  the  throne.  Thus  passed  his  life,  a  chequered 
course  of  alternate  loyalty  and  treason,  until  its  tragical  close  at 
Sheogarh. 1 

Sangram  Singh,  the  eldest  son  of  Lalji, ^  with  his  infant  nephews, 
Jai  Singh  and  Nahar  (who  was  absent),  escaped  the  avenger's 
sword,  under  which  perished  his  father,  mother,  both  brothers, 
and  all  his  own  children,  at  one  fell  swoop  !  Sangram  succeeded 
to  the  possession  of  Sheogarh,  and  to  the  feuds  of  his  family.  His 
nephew,  young  Nahar,  joined  in  all  his  enterprises,  from  the 
defence  of  Kheroda  to  the  escalade  and  capture  of  the  castle  of 
Lawa,  in  which  he  maintained  himself  until  the  Rana  not  only 
pardoned  him,  but  gave  him  precedence  above  his  enemies  in  his 
own  councils. 

Lawa  was  wrested  by  Sangram  Singh  Saktawat  from  Sangrani 
Singh  the  Dudia,  an  ancient  tribe,  but  like  many  others  little 
kno^vn,  until  the  incident  we  are  about  to  relate  gave  it  a 
momentary  gleam  of  splendour,  and  afforded  the  bard  an  oppor- 
tunity to  emblazon  its  fame  upon  his  page.  Even  in  these  regions, 
so  full  of  strange  vicissitudes,  the  sudden  rise  of  the  Dudia  is  a 
favourite  topic  of  the  traditional  muse  of  Mewar. 

1  See  Vol.  I.  p.  512. 

^  Lalji's  issue  : 

Sangram. ^Sheo  Singh. Surthan  Singh. 

I  I  I 

His  children  massacred  Jai  Singh.  Nahar  Singh. 

at  Sheogarh.  | 

Man  Singh. 


1638  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

The  Dudia  Clan. — Chandrabhan  was  the  father  of  this  meteor 
of  the  day  ;  his  sole  wealth  consisted  of  a  team  of  oxen,  with 
which  he  tilled  a  few  bighas  of  land  at  the  base  of  NnharamapiTa, 
the  '  tiger  mount,'  where  the  Rana  had  a  ramnn  or  preserve,  for 
the  royal  sport  of  tiger-hunting.  It  was  dm-ing  the  autunnial 
harvest,  when  the  Dudia  had  finished  his  day's  work,  having 
put  up  the  last  rick  of  makkai  (Indian  corn),  as  he  was  driving 
home  the  companions  of  his  toil,  a  voice  hailed  him  from  the 
wood.  He  answered,  and  advanced  to  the  spot  whence  it  issued, 
where  he  found  a  stranger,  evidently  of  rank,  with  his  horse  pant- 
ing for  breath.  After  inquiring  his  tribe,  and  [607]  being  told 
"  Rajput,"  the  stranger  begged  a  little  water,  which  was  supplied, 
along  with  two  coarse  cakes  of  makkai,  and  a  little  chana-ka-dal , 
pulse  cooked  with  ghi,  or  clarified  butter,  which  the  honest 
Dudia  took  out  of  a  cloth  not  over  clean.  Ha\ang  performed  all 
the  other  duties  which  hospitality  requires,  the  Dudia  made  his 
salaam,  and  was  about  to  depart,  when  a  train  of  horsemen  coming 
in  sight,  he  paused  to  look  at  them.  All  went  up  to  the  stranger  ; 
and,  from  the  profound  respect  paid  to  him,  he  found  that  he  had 
entertained  no  common  guest. 

It  was  in  fact  his  sovereign,  the  Rana  Jagat  Singh,  who 
delighted  in  the  chase,  and  having  that  day  been  bewildered  in 
the  intricacies  of  Naharamagra,  had  stimibled  on  the  Dudia  carle. 
The  latter  expressed  neither  surprise  nor  delight  when  introduced 
to  the  Rana,  and  replied  to  all  his  questions  with  the  frankness 
that  grows  out  of  the  sentiment  of  honest  pride  and  independence, 
wliich  never  abandons  a  Rajput,  whatever  be  his  condition. ^ 
The  Rana  was  so  much  pleased  with  his  rustic  host,  that  he  com- 
manded a  led  horse  to  be  brought  forth,  and  desired  the  Dudia 
would  accompany  him  to  Udaipur,  only  ten  miles  distant.  '  The 
rocket  of  the  moon '  -  (Chandrabhan),  in  his  peasant's  garb, 
bestrode  the  noble  charger  with  as  much  ease  as  if  it  were  habitual 
to  him.  The  next  day  the  Dudia  was  conducted  to  the 
Presence,  and  invested  with  a  dress  which  had  been  worn  by  his 

^  In  my  days  of  inexperience,  when  travelling  tlirougli  eountries  un- 
known, and  desirous  to  take  the  first  peasant  I  found  as  a  guide,  I  have  been 
amused  by  his  announcing  to  me,  before  a  question  was  put,  "I  am  a  Rajput," 
as  if  in  anticipation  of  the  deniand  and  a  passport  to  respect ;  literally, 
"  I  am  of  royal  descent "  :  a  reflection  which  lends  an  air  of  dignity  to  ail 
his  actions,  and  distinguishes  him  from  every  other  class. 

-  [■  liight  of  the  Moon  '  :   a  rocket  is  bdn.\ 


THE  DUDIA  CLAN  1639 

sovereign  (a  distinguished  mark  of  royal  favour),  accompanied 
with  the  more  sohd  reward  of  the  grant  of  Kuwaria  and  its  lands 
in  perpetuity. 

Chandrabhan  and  his  benefactor  died  about  the  same  time. 
Rana  Raj  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Mewar,  and  Sardar 
Singh,  son  of  Chandrabhan,  did  personal  service  for  the  lands  of 
Kuwaria.  It  was  a  source  of  daily  amusement  for  the  prince 
and  his  youthful  associates  to  plunge  into  the  fountain  at  the 
Saheli-ki-bari,^  a  villa  about  two  miles  from  the  capital,  on  which 
occasions  reserve  was  banished,  and  they  gave  themselves  up 
to  unrestrained  mirth.  The  young  Dudia  had  some  peculiarities, 
which  made  him  a  butt  for  their  wit.  The  following  incident 
will  show  the  character  of  these  princely  pastimes.  It  was  one 
day  remarked,  that  when  refreshing  in  the  kund,  or  reservoir, 
Sardar  Singh  did  not  lay  aside  his  turban,  which  provoked  a 
suspicion  that  he  had  no  hair.  The  Rana,  impatient  to  get  a 
peep  at  the  bare  head  of  [608]  the  son  of  Chandrabhan,  proposed 
that  they  should  push  each  other  into  the  water.  The  sport 
began,  and  the  Dudia's  turban  falling  off,  disclosed  the  sad  truth. 
The  jest,  however,  was  not  relished  by  Sardar  ;  and  he  tartly 
replied,  in  answer  to  his  sovereign's  question,  "  what  had  become 
of  his  hair  ?  "  that  "  he  had  lost  it  in  his  service,  in  a  former 
birth,  as  Chela,  ^  by  carrying  wood  upon  his  head  to  feed  the 
flame,  when  his  sovereign,  as  a  jogi,  or  ascetic,  performed  penance 
(tapasya)  in  the  hills  of  Badarinath."  The  prince  felt  that  he  had 
violated  decorum  ;  but  the  reply  was  pregnant  with  sarcasm, 
and  his  dignity  must  be  maintained.  "  Sardar  must  bring  proof 
of  his  assertion,  or  pimishment  awaits  him,"  was  the  rejoinder. 
The  young  chief,  in  the  same  lofty  tone,  offered  the  evidence  of 
the  Deota  (divinity)  of  the  temple  of  Kuwaria.  This  was  a 
witness  whose  testimony  could  not  be  impugned,  and  he  had 
leave  to  bring  it  forward. 

At  the  village  of  Gopalpur,  attached  to  his  estate  of  Kuwaria, 
was  a  temple  of  the  Bagrawats,  a  tribe  little  known,  having 
a  shrine  of   their  divinity,  who  was   personified    by  an  image 

1  '  The  nymphs'  parterre  '  ;  for  the  bari  is  more  a  flower-garden  than 
one  of  indiscriminate  culture. 

2  Chela  is  a  phrase  which  includes  servitude  or  domestic  slavery  :  but 
implies,  at  the  same  time,  treatment  as  a  child  of  the  family.  Here  it 
denotes  that  of  a  servant  or  disciple. 


IGIO  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

with  a  tiger's  (bagh)  head.^  "  He  invoked  his  support  on  this 
occasion,  when  the  Deota  threw  him  the  flower  ^  in  his  hand, 
and  desired  him  to  carry  it  to  his  sovereign."  lie  did  so,  and 
the  Rana's  faith  was  too  great  to  dispute  the  miracle.  What 
honours  could  suffice  for  the  man  who  had  performed  the  most 
meritorious  service  to  his  prince  in  former  transmigrations  ! 
Mang, '  ask,'  was  the  sign  of  grace  and  favour.  Sangram's  request 
was  governed  by  moderation  ;  it  was  for  Lawa  and  its  lands, 
which  adjoined  his  estate  at  Kuwai-ia. 

The  Rana  being  yet  a  minor,  and  the  queen-mother  at  the 
head  of  affairs,  he  hastened  to  her  to  be  released  from  the  debt 
of  gi-atitude.  But  Lawa,  unluckily,  was  held  by  herself  ;  and 
although  she  was  not  heretic  enough  to  doubt  the  miraculous 
tale,  she  thought  the  Dudia  might  have  selected  any  other  land 
but  hers,  and  testily  rejDlied  to  her  son's  request,  that  "  he  might 
give  him  Mewar  if  he  chose."  Displeased  at  this  unaccommodat- 
ing tone,  the  prince  quickly  rejoined,  "  Mewar  shall  be  his,  then." 
The  word  of  a  prince  is  sacred  ;  he  sent  for  Sangram,  and  thus 
addressed  him  :  ''I  give  you  Mewar  for  the  space  of  three  days  ; 
make  the  best  use  of  your  time  ;  my  arsenals,  my  armouries,  my 
treasury,  my  stables,  my  throne  and  its  ministers,  are  at  your 
command."  *  The  temporary  Rana  availed  himself  of  tliis  large 
[609]  power,  and  conveyed  to  his  estate  whatever  he  had  a  mind 
to.  During  the  abdication  Sardar  held  his  court,  though  he 
had  too  much  tact  actually  to  press  the  cushion  of  his  master  ; 
but  seated  himself  on  one  side  of  the  vacant  throne,  attended  by 
all  tlie  nobles,  fully  impressed  with  the  sanctity  of  the  individual 
who  had  attained  such  distinction.  On  the  third  day  the  queen- 
mother  sent  her  son  the  patent  for  Lawa  ;  and  on  the  fourth  the 
Dudia  surrendered  the  sceptre. 

With  the  wealth  thus  acquired,  he  erected  a  castle  in  his 
domain  of  Lawa,  on  which  he  expended  nine  lakhs  of  rupees, 
about  £100,000.  He  formed  a  lake  ;  and  a  single  baori  or  reservoir, 
in  the  fort,  cost  another  lakh.     He  built  a  splendid  palace,  whose 

^  [The  true  form  of  the  clan  name  is  Bagrawat  {Census  Report,  Rajputana, 
1911,  i.  256)  which  can  have  no  connexion  with  bagh,  'a  tiger.'  It  is 
probably  derived  from  the  Bagar  waste  in  Hissar  District.] 

-  That  sculptured  from  the  stone  is  meant. 

^  [For  temporary  kings  see  Frazer,  Golden  Bough,  3rd  ed.  Part  ix.  151, 
403  f.l 


LAWA  1641 

china  and  mirror-halls  are  still  the  theme  of  encomium.  These 
were  greatly  defaced  by  an  explosion  of  a  powder-magazine, 
which  threw  down  half  the  fortress  that  had  taken  twenty  years 
to  complete  ;  and  though  it  underwent  considerable  repairs,  it 
lost  much  of  its  splendour,  which  the  guns  of  Holkar  aided  to 
diminish  :  but  the  castle  of  Lawa  is  still  one  of  the  finest  in 
Mewar.  Sardar  Singh  had  also  a  grant  of  one  of  the  royal  mahalls 
or  palaces  of  Udaipur,  erected  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  after 
the  model  of  the  Jagmandir.^  Although  it  now  belongs  to  the 
chief  of  Amet,  it  is  only  recognized  as  the  Dudia-ka-mahall  ;  but 
its  Iialls  are  the  dwelling  of  the  bat  and  the  owl ;  the  bar  ^  has 
taken  root  in  its  light,  airy  porticoes,  and  its  walls  have  every 
direction  but  the  perpendicular.  Sardar  lived  twenty  years 
after  the  erection  of  Lawa  ;  he  died  in  S.  1838  (a.d.  1782),  leaving 
one  son,  the  heir  of  his  honours  and  estates.  Throughout  his 
long  life  he  lost  no  portion  of  the  respect  paid  to  his  early  years  ; 
but  with  him  the  name  of  Dudia  again  sunk  into  obscurity,  or 
lived  but  as  a  memento  of  the  instability  of  fortune.  It  was 
this  son  who,  when  driven  from  Lawa  by  Sangram  Singh  Saktawat, 
had  no  place  of  shelter,  and  died  in  indigence  and  obscurity.  His 
son  (grandson-  of  Sardar,  and  great-grandson  of  the  '  rocket  of  the 
moon ')  is  now  patronized  by  the  heir-apparent.  Prince  Jawan 
Singh,  and  receives  a  daily  allowance,  but  has  not  a  foot  of  land. 
Sangram,  the  Saktawat,  had  a  regular  sanad  for  the  fief  of 
Lawa,  which  was  rated  at  twenty-three  thousand  rupees  of 
annual  rent,  while  Kuwaria  has  reverted  to  the  fisc.  The  lake  of 
Lawa,  which  irrigates  some  thousand  acres  of  rice-land,  alone 
renders  it  one  of  the  most  desirable  of  the  secondary  estates  of 
Mewar,  Sangram's  children  being  all  murdered  in  the  feud  of 
Sheogarh,  he  was  succeeded  by  Jai  Singh  (son  [610]  of  Sheo  Singh, 
his  second  brother),  who  was  received  as  kaula,  or  son  of  adoption, 
by  all  the  retainers  of  Lawa.  While  Sangram  Singh  lived,  no 
subdivision  of  allotments  took  place  ;  all,  to  use  the  words  of 
Man  Singh,  "  ate  out  of  one  dish  "  ;  and  his  own  father  Nahar, 
who  had  aided  in  the  enterprise,  having  by  a  similar  coup  de  main 
secured  the  estate  of  Banwal  for  himself,  no  necessity  for  such 
partition  existed.  But  Banwal  belonging  to  the  fisc,  to  which  it 
reverted  on  the  restoration  of  order  in  a.d.  1818,  young  Man 

1  [One  of  the  island  palaces,  built  by  Rana  Jagat  Singh  (a.d.  1628-52).] 

*  [The  banyan,  ficus  iridica.] 
VOL.  Ill  2  C 


1642  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

had  no  alternative  but  to  turn  round  on  Jai  Singh,  the  adopted 
heir  of  Sangram,  and  demand  his  bat,  or  share  of  the  lands  of 
Lawa,  in  virtue  of  the  right  of  joint  acquisition,  and  as  a  younger 
brother.  Jai  Singh  refused  ;  but  custom  prevailed,  and  the 
village  of  Jethpura,  of  fifteen  hundred  rupees'  annual  revenue, 
was  bestowed  upon  the  son  of  Nahar  Singh.  So  long  as  Man 
Singh  performed  his  duties  to  his  chief,  his  share  of  Lawa  was 
irresumable  and  inalienable  :  hence  the  stubborn  tenacity  of  the 
chiefs  of  their  share  in  the  patrimonial  acres,  even  when  holding 
largely,  but  separately,  of  the  crown,  since  of  the  latter,  caprice 
or  intrigue  may  deprive  them  ;  but  their  own  misconduct  alone 
can  forfeit  their  hapota.  The  simple  deed  of  conveyance  will 
better  establish  this  point  ! 

"  Maharao  Sri  Jai  Singh,  plighting  liis  faith  (bachanaita). 

"  At  this  time.  Brother  Man  Singh,  I  bestow  upon  thee,  of  my 
own  free  will,  the  village  and  lands  of  Jethpura.  This  donative 
shall  not  look  to  ranrkas  :  supiit,  hiiput  :  ^  your  issue  shall  enjoy 
them.  Of  this  intention  I  call  the  four-armed  divinity  (Chatur- 
bhuj)  2  as  witness.  You  are  my  own  child  (chhora)  :  wherever 
and  whenever  I  order,  you  will  do  my  service  :  if  you  fail,  the 
fault  be  on  your  own  head." 

Case  of  Man  Singh. — Whether  Man  Singh  failed  in  his  duty  to 
his  superior,  or  otherwise,  Jethpura  was  resumed  ;  and  having 
in  vain  endeavoured  to  obtain  justice  through  the  ministers,  he 
came  to  me  to  solicit  attention  to  his  case.  With  the  resumption 
of  Kheroda,  his  brother,  the  chief  of  Lawa,  lost  half  his  nominal 
income  ;  and  it  may  therefore  be  conjectured  he  would  not  be 
slow  to  listen  to  any  charge  against  Man,  by  which  he  might 
get  back  his  allotment.  On  my  departure  for  Marwar,  in  August 
1820,  he  had  written  to  mc  to  say  that  Jai  Singh  had  simnnoned 
him  to  evacuate  Jethpura.  In  my  reply,  I  said  it  was  a  matter 
for  the  Rana  alone  to  decide.  He  accordingly  went  to  court,  and 
failing  there,  followed  me  ;  but,  as  at  my  desire  he  had  been 
appointed  to  head  the  quotas  on  the  Sadri  frontier,  and  had 
performed  this  duty  very  negligently,  I  [611]  received  him  coolly  ; 

1  JRanrka  is  a  phrase  embracing  mental  or  physical  infirmity  [meaning 
'  a  blockhead,'  '  a  ninny,'  from  rand,  rdnr,  '  a  widow,'  a  term  of  con- 
tempt] ;  here  strengthened  by  tlie  words  wliicli  follow.  iSupui  means 
'  worthy,'  or  '  good  issue  '  (putra),  as  Icuput,  the  reverse,  '  bad  or  incom- 
petent issue.' 

2  [Vishnu.] 


CASE  OF  MAN  SINGH  1643 

this,  however,  only  gave  additional  eagerness  to  his  defence,  as 
he  assigned  strong  personal  reasons  for  the  neglect.  But  the 
son  of  '  the  tiger  '  (Nahar  Singh)  shall  speak  for  himself.  Let 
the  reader  imagine  a  young  man  of  twenty-five,  above  six  feet 
high,  of  an  athletic  figure  and  chivalrous  demeanour,  his  expression 
at  once  modest  and  independent,  with  those  indispensable  append- 
ages to  a  Rajput  warrior's  visage,  well-trimmed  favoris  and 
moustache,  and  armed  at  all  points  :  such  was  the  lord-marcher 
(Simiswar),  Man  Singh.  Having  presented  his  patent  for  my 
perusal,  he  continued  :  "  Had  I  failed  in  my  obligations  to  my 
brother,  he  would  have  been  justified  in  this  step  ;  but  since  you 
took  Banwal  from  me,  my  retainers,  at  his  beck,  equalled  his  own 
in  numbers  ;  what  right  therefore  had  he  to  resume  Jethpura  ? 
When  Sangram  Singh  died,  Lawa  was  in  my  hands  :  who  could 
have  prevented  my  keeping  it,  had  it  been  my  pleasure  ?  The  son  of 
Nahar  Singh  would  have  been  preferred  by  the  vassals  of  Sangram 
to  one  they  had  never  even  seen  ;  but  I  respected  his  rights, 
though  even  now  he  could  not  forcibly  dispossess  me.  When 
the  Thakur  of  Amet,  on  his  way  to  court,  beat  his  drums  on  the 
bounds  of  Lawa,  did  I  not  assemble  my  retainers  and  avenge  the 
insult  to  my  chief  ?  My  head  was  Jai  Singh's — that  is,  Avith  the 
kunguras  (battlements)  of  Lawa  ;  but  he  never  could  have  dared 
to  take  Jethpura,  had  not  respect  for  the  chief  of  I^awa,  respect 
for  the  Rana,  and  for  you,  made  me  passive.  Only  bid  me  retake 
it,  and  I  am  not  the  son  of  Nahar  Singh  if  he  keeps  it  a  day.  Its 
little  castle,  erected  by  these  hands,  sheltered  my  wife  and  children, 
who,  now  expelled  from  my  patrimony,  are  compelled  to  seek 
i-efuge  elsewhere.  The  lands  assigned  me  in  lieu  of  Banwal  are 
waste.  For  every  rupee  I  can  hope  to  derive  from  them,  I  must 
expend  one  ;  and  on  Jethpura  alone  could  I  raise  any  funds. 
Reckoning  on  this,  I  paid  my  fine  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
rupees  for  my  paifa  (grant),  and  from  its  produce  I  looked  to 
maintain  my  family  and  followers  until  the  first  should  be  made 
productive.  When  I  lost  this  support,  my  creditors  assailed 
me  :  to  satisfy  them,  I  sold  all  I  had  of  value,  even  to  my  wife's 
jewels,  and  the  horse  you  saw  me  ride  when  I  came  to  meet  you 
at  Gangapur.  I  laid  my  case  before  Prithinath,^  and  here  is  his 
reply,  deciding  in  my  favour.  I  represented  it  through  Jawandas 
(a  natural  brother  of  the  Rana),  and  five  hundred  rupees  were 
^  ['  Lord  of  the  World,'  a  title  of  the  Rana  of  Mewar.] 


1644  PERSON  AT.  NARRATIVE 

demanded  and  agreed  to  by  me,  provided  bachan  (security)  was 
given  me  of  success.  The  Bikaneriji's  ^  was  given  ;  but  the 
purse  of  the  Thakur  of  Jethpura  is  not  so  long  as  the  chieftain  of 
Lawa's,  and  one  thousand  rupees,  offered  by  him,  made  his  thfe 
juster  cause  !  It  is  [612]  this  that  makes  me  neghgent  of  my 
duty  ;  this  which  incited  the  Pathans  to  carry  off  my  httle  harvest 
from  Salera  ;  and  Bhairawi  -  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  foresters. 
Here  is  my  case  :  if  I  demand  aught  that  is  not  just^  or  that  is 
contrary  to  usage,  deal  with  me  as  you  please.  There  is  Fateh 
Singh,  who  holds  in  separate  grant  from  the  Rana  an  estate  of 
thirty  thousand  rupees  ;  but  as  a  yoimger  brother  of  Bhindar,  he 
enjoys  five  thousand  from  his  brother  :  and  Ajit  Singh  of  Asind,=* 
though  richer  than  his  immediate  head  of  Kurabar,  yet,  as  the 
son  of  Arjun  Singh,  holds  his  allotment  (bat)  from  him  :  but  you 
know  all  this,  why  should  I  repeat  it  ?  "  Here  the  Thakur  con- 
cluded, without  any  interruption  being  given  to  his  animated 
harangue,  the  interest  of  which  was  enhanced  by  his  natural 
eloquence,  and  his  manly  but  modest  deportment.  He  is  a  noble 
specimen,  not  of  his  tribe  alone,  but  of  the  human  character.  His 
appeal  was  irresistible  ;  and  would  almost  have  carried  conviction 
of  its  justice,  even  to  those  who  could  not  have  understood  his 
tongue.  Still  it  was  requisite  to  steel  myself  against  impulses  ; 
and  I  recommended,  as  the  best  mode  of  enabling  me  to  advocate 
his  cause,  that  he  should  repair  to  his  post,  and  establish  fresh 
claims  to  his  sovereign's  regard,  by  punishing  an  atrocious  act 
which  in  all  probability  his  absence  had  occasioned.  With  the 
gift  of  a  brace  of  pistols,  and  the  usual  leave-taking  hint  of  itr-pan, 
Man  Singh  quitted  my  tent. 

A  Foray  of  the  Bhils. — And  now  for  the  melancholy  occurrence 
which  jireceded  that  of  the  young  Saktawat.  On  the  borders  of 
Little  Sadri,  where  the  quotas  are  posted,  is  a  mountainous  tract 
covered  with  deep  forest,  the  abode  of  the  half-savage  Minas  and 
Bhils.  Mixed  with  them  are  the  estates  of  some  vassal  chiefs, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  repress  their  excesses  ;  but,  in  such  times 
as  we  have  described,  they  more  frequently  instigated  them  to 
plunder,  receiving  a  share  of  the  spoils.  Amongst  the  foremost 
in  this  association  was  the  steward  of  Kalakot.     At  the   foot 

^  One  of  the  queens,  a  princess  of  Bikaner. 

2  The  two  villages  he  obtained  in  lieu  of  Banwal. 

^  fx\bout  90  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


A  FORAY  OF  THE  BHiLS  1645 

of  a  pass  leading  into  the  wilds  of  Chappan  was  the  hamlet  of 
Biha,  occupied  by  a  Rathor  Rajput,  who  had  snatched  from 
the  mountain-side  a  few  bighas  of  land,  and  dug  some  wells  to 
irrigate  the  arable  patches  about  his  cot.  With  severe  toil  he 
raised  a  subsistence  for  himself,  his  wife,  and  an  only  son,  who 
was  to  inherit  liis  patrimony.  Returning  homewards  one  day, 
after  liis  usual  labour,  he  was  met  by  his  wailing  helpmate  ;  she 
said  the  savage  Bhil  had  rifled  his  cot,  and  with  the  cattle  carried 
off  their  prop,  their  only  child,  and  at  the  same  time  a  young 
Jogi,  liis  playmate.  The  afflicted  father  spake  not  a  word,  but 
loading  his  matchlock,  took  the  road  to  Kalakot.  What  was  his 
horror  when  [613],  at  the  entrance  of  the  village,  he  stumbled 
over  the  headless  bodies  of  his  boy  and  his  young  companion  ! 
He  learned  that  the  savages  belonged  to  the  lordsliip  of  Kalakot  ; 
that  having  conveyed  the  children  from  their  home  upon  the 
cattle  they  had  stolen,  they  were  entering  the  place,  when  the 
young  Rathor,  recognizing  the  steward,  called  out,  "  Save  me, 
uncle,  and  my  father  will  ransom  me  at  your  own  price  !  "  This 
was  the  object  for  which  he  had  been  abducted  ;  but  these  words 
proved  that  the  steward  was  known  to  be  the  author  of  the 
outrage,  and  they  were  the  last  the  child  spoke.  With  this 
intelligence,  the  wretched  father  entered  the  '  black-castle  ' 
(Kalakot),  in  quest  of  the  steward.  He  denied  aU  participation 
in  the  abduction  or  the  murder  ;  and  commiserating  the  Rathor's 
misfortune,  offered  him  four  times  the  nmnber  of  cattle  he  had 
lost,  twice  the  amount  of  all  his  other  losses,  and  to  pay  double 
the  sum  of  margia,  or  money  expended  in  the  search.  ''  Can 
you  give  me  back  my  son  ?  "  was  the  only  reply  ;  "  I  want  justice 
and  vengeance,  not  money.  I  could  have  taken  it  in  part," 
continued  he  ;   "  for  what  is  hfe  now  ?   but  let  it  fall  on  all." 

An  Ordeal  by  Oath. — No  attempt  at  consolation  could  diminish 
the  father's  grief  ;  but  in  promising  him  my  aid  to  reahze  his 
vengeance,  I  gave  him  hope  to  chng  to  ;  and  on  handing  liim 
over  to  Man  Singh,  saying  his  own  suit  would  be  best  promoted 
by  tiie  imprisonment  of  all  concerned  in  this  outrage,  he  quitted 
me  with  some  mitigation  of  his  grief.  But  before  he  left  my 
camp,  tidings  arrived  that  the  chief  culprit  was  beyond  the  reach 
of  man  ;  that  the  Great  Avenger  had  suromoned  to  his  own 
tribunal  the  iniquitous  steward  of  Kalakot !  Even  in  these 
regions  of  rapine,  where  the  blood  of  man  and  of  goats  is  held 


1646  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

in  almost  equal  estimation,  there  was  something  in  the  wild 
grief  of  the  Rathor  that  sunk  into  the  hearts  of  the  vassals  of 
Kalakot :  they  upbraided  the  steward,  and  urged  liim  to  confess 
the  share  he  had  in  the  deed.  But  he  swore  "  by  his  God  "  he 
had  none,  and  offered  to  ratify  the  oath  of  purgation  in  his  temple. 
Notliing  less  would  satisfy  them,  and  they  proceeded  to  the 
ordeal.  The  temple  was  but  a  few  hundred  yards  distant.  The 
steward  mounted  his  horse,  and  had  just  reached  the  slirine,  when 
he  dropped  dead  at  the  threshold  !  It  caused  a  deep  sensation  ; 
and  to  the  vengeance  of  an  offended  divinity  was  ascribed  this 
signal  expiation  of  the  triple  crime  of  theft,  murder,  and  sacrilege. 
There  now  only  remain  the  base  accomplices  of  the  wretch  who 
thus  trafficked  with  the  liberty  of  his  fellow-men  ;  and  I  should 
rejoice  to  see  them  suspended  on  the  summit  of  the  Bilia  pass, 
as  a  satisfaction  to  the  now  childless  Rathor,  and  a  warning  to 
others  who  yet  follow  such  a  course  [614], 


CHAPTER  3 

Morwan,  February  1  .—Yesterday,  Man  Singh  took  uj)  the 
whole  of  my  time  with  the  feuds  of  Lawa  and  their  consequences. 
It  obliged  me  to  halt,  in  order  to  make  in(juiries  into  the  alienated 
lands  in  its  vicinity.  Morwan  is,  or  rather  was,  a  township  of 
some  consequence,  and  head  of  a  lappa  or  subdivision  of  a  district. 
It  is  rated,  with  its  contiguous  hamlets,  at  seven  thousand  rupees 
annual  rent.  The  situation  is  beautiful,  upon  heights  pleasingly 
diversified,  with  a  fine  lake  to  the  westward,  Avhose  margin  is 
studded  with  majestic  tamarind  trees.  The  soil  is  rich,  and 
there  is  water  in  great  abundance  within  twenty-five  feet  of  the 
surface  ;  but  man  is  wanting  !  The  desolation  of  solitude  reigns 
throughout,  for  (as  Rousseau  observes)  there  is  none  to  whom 
one  can  turn  and  say,  que  la  solitude  est  belle  ! 

I  experienced  another  pang  at  seeing  this  fertile  district  revert 
to  the  destroyer,  the  savage  Pathan,  who  had  caused  the  desola- 
tion, and  in  the  brief  but  expressive  words  of  a  Roman  author, 
solitudinem  facit,  pacem  appellat.^  Morwan  is  included  in  the 
lands  mortgaged  for  a  war-contribution,  but  which  with  others 

*  [Tacitus,  Agricola,  xxx.J 


ANTIQUITIES  AT  MORWAN  1647 

has  remained  in  the  liands  of  the  Mahratta  mortgagees  or  tlieir 
mercenary  subordinates.  But  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect  that, 
but  for  a  false  magnanimity  towards  oiu:  insidious,  natural 
enemies,  the  Mahrattas,  all  these  lands  would  have  reverted  to 
their  legitimate  masters,  who  are  equally  interested  with  ourselves 
in  putting  down  predatory  warfare.  Justice,  good  policy,  and 
hmiianity  would  have  been  better  consulted  had  the  Mahrattas 
been  wholly  banished  from  Central  India.  When  I  contrasted 
this  scene  with  the  traces  of  incipient  prosperity  I  had  left  behind 
me,  I  felt  a  satisfaction  that  the  alienated  acres  produced  nothing 
to  the  possessor,  save  luxuriant  grass,  and  the  leafless  kesula  or 
palas  [615]  .1 

Antiquities  at  Morwan. — ^Morwan  has  some  claims  to  antiquity  ; 
it  derives  its  appellation  from  the  Mori  tribe,  who  ruled  here 
before  they  obtained  Chitor.  The  ruins  of  a  fort,  still  known 
by  the  name  of  Chitrang  Mori's  castle,  are  pointed  out  as  his 
residence  ere  he  founded  Chitor,  or  more  properly  Chitror.^  The 
tradition  riuis  thus  :  Chitrang,  a  subordinate  of  the  imperial 
house  of  Dhar,  held  Morwan  and  the  adjacent  tract,  in  appanage. 
One  of  his  subjects,  while  ploughing,  struck  the  share  against 
some  hard  substance,  and  on  examination  found  it  was  transmuted 
to  gold.  This  was  the  paras-patthar,^  or  '  philosopher's  stone,' 
and  he  carried  it  forthwith  to  his  lord,  with  whose  aid  he  erected 
the  castle,  and  enlarged  the  town  of  Morwan,  and  ultimately 
founded  Chitor.  The  Dhulkot,  or  site  of  Mori-ka-patan,  is  yet 
pointed  out,  to  the  westward  of  the  present  Morwan.  It  was 
miraculously  destroyed  through  the  impieties  of  its  inhabitants 
by  fire,  which  fate  recalls  a  more  celebrated  catastrophe  ;  but 
the  act  of  impiety  in  the  present  case  was  merely  seizing  a  Rishi, 
or  '  hermit,'  while  performing  penance  in  the  forest,  and  com- 
pelling him  to  carrj'  radishes  to  market !  The  tradition,  however, 
is  of  some  value  :  it  proves,  first,  that  there  were  radishes  in 
those  days  ;  and  secondly,  that  volcanic  eruptions  occurred  in 
this  region.  Ujjain-Ahar,  in  the  valley  of  Udaipur,  and  the 
lake  of  which  is  said  in  some  places  to  be  atak,  '  deeper  than 

^  [Butea  frotidosa.] 

•  [Chitor  was  called  Chitrakot  after  Chitrang  Mori  or  Maurya,  whose 
tomb  and  ruined  palace  are  shown  on  the  southern  part  of  the  hill  (Erskine 
ii.  A.  102).] 

^  In  the  Hindi  patthar,  Sanskrit  prastara,  '  stone,  rook,'  we  have  nearly 
the  TTCTpos  of  the  Greeks. 


1648  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

plummet  sounded,'  is  another  proof  of  some  grand  commotion 
of  nature.  Morwan  boasts  of  three  mandirs,  or  temples,  one  of 
which  is  dedicated  to  Seshnag,  the  thousand-headed  hydra  whicli 
supports  the  globe.  Formerly,  saffron  was  the  meet  offering  to 
this  king  of  reptiles  ;  but  he  is  now  obliged  to  be  content  with 
ointment  of  sandal,  produced  from  the  evergreen,  which  is 
indigenous  to  Me  war. 

Having  heard  of  an  inscription  at  the  township  of  i\ner,  five 
miles  distant,  to  the  south-west,  I  requested  my  old  Guru  to  take 
a  ride  and  copy  it.  It  was  of  modern  date,  merely  confirming 
the  lands  of  Aner  to  the  Brahmans.  The  tablet  is  in  the  temple 
of  Chaturbhuja  (the  four-armed  divinity),  built  and  endowed  by 
Rana  Sangram  Singh  in  S.  1570  (a.d.  1514)  ;  to  whose  pious 
testament  a  codicil  is  added  by  Rana  Jagat  Singh,  S.  1791, 
imprecating  an  anathema  on  the  violator  of  it.  There  was  also 
engraved  upon  one  of  the  columns  a  voluntary  gift,  from  the 
village-council  of  Aner  to  the  di\'inity,  of  the  first-fruits  of  each 
harvest  ;  namely,  two  and  a  half  sers  from  each  khalla,  or  heap, 
of  the  spring-crops,  and  the  same  of  the  autumnal.  The  date, 
S.  1845  (a.d.  1789),  shows  that  it  was  intended  to  propitiate  the 
deity  during  the  wars  of  Mewar  [GIG]. 

Directly  opposite,  and  very  near  the  shrine  of  the  "  four-armed,"' 
is  a  small  Jain  temple,  erected,  in  S.  1774,  to  cover  an  image  of 
the  great  pontiff,  Parsvanath,  found  in  digging  near  this  spot. 
Here  at  every  step  are  relics  of  past  ages. 

February  2.  —  An  accident  has  compelled  another  halt  at 
Morwan.  The  morning  was  clear  and  frosty,  not  a  cloud  in  the 
sky,  and  we  rose  with  the  sun  ;  my  kinsman,  Captain  Waugh, 
to  try  his  Arab  at  a  nilgae,  and  myself  to  bag  a  few  of  the  large 
rock-pigeons  which  are  numerous  about  Morwan.  My  friend, 
after  a  hard  run,  had  drawn  blood  from  the  elk,  and  was  on  the 
l)oint  of  spearing  liim  effectually  just  as  he  attained  a  thick  part 
of  the  jungle,  which  not  heeding,  horse  and  rider  came  in  contact 
with  a  tree,  and  were  dashed  with  \iolence  to  the  ground.  There 
he  lay  insensible,  and  was  brought  home  upon  a  charpai,  or  cot, 
by  the  villagers,  much  bruised,  but  fortunately  with  no  broken 
bones.  A  leech  was  not  to  be  had  in  any  of  the  adjacent  villages  ; 
and  the  patient  complaining  cJ)iefly  of  the  liip-bone,  we  could 
only  apply  emollients  and  recommend  repose.  I  returned  with  no 
game  except  one  or  two  black-partridges  and  batten-quail.     The 


TALE  OF  A  TIGER  1649 

rock-pigeon,  or  harr-titar,  though  unaccustomed  to  the  fowler, 
were  too  wild  for  me  to  get  a  shot  at  them.  The  bird  bears  no 
analogy  to  the  pigeon,  but  has  all  the  rich  game  plumage  of  the 
titar,  or  partridge,  in  which  name  the  ornithologist  of  the  west 
will  see  the  origin  of  tetrao.  There  are  two  species  of  this  bird  in 
India,  one  much  smaller  than  the  common  partridge  ;  that  of 
which  I  speak  is  much  larger,  and  with  the  peculiarity  of  being 
feathered  to  the  toe.  I  have  since  discovered  it  to  be  the  counter- 
part of  a  bird  in  the  museum  at  Chambery,  called  '  harteveldt  des 
Alpes  '  ;  the  ptarmigan  of  the  highlands  of  Scotland.  The  male 
has  exactly  these  redundant  white  feathers  ;  while  that  I  saw  in 
Savoy  was  a  richly  plumaged  female  barr-titar. 

Tale  of  a  Tiger. — Our  annual  supply  of  good  things  having 
reached  us  this  morning,  we  were  enjoying  a  bottle  of  some 
delicious  Burgundy  and  "La  Rose"  after  dinner,  when  we  were 
roused  by  violent  screams  in  the  direction  of  the  village.  We 
were  all  up  in  an  instant,  and  several  men  directed  to  the  spot. 
Our  speculations  on  the  cause  were  soon  set  at  rest  by  the  appear- 
ance of  two  harkaras  (messengers),  and  a  lad  with  a  vessel  of 
milk  on  his  head.  For  this  daily  supply  they  had  gone  several 
miles,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  camp,  when  having  outwalked 
the  boy,  they  were  alarmed  by  his  vociferations,  '"  Oh,  uncle,  let 
go — ^let  go — I  am  your  child,  uncle,  let  me  go  !  '"  They  thought 
the  boy  mad,  and  it  being  very  dark,  cursed  his  uncle,  and  desired 
him  to  make  haste  ;  but  the  same  wild  exclamations  continuing, 
they  ran  back,  and  found  a  huge  [617]  tiger  hanging  to  his  tattered 
cold-weather  doublet.  The  harkaras  attacked  the  beast  most 
manfully  with  their  javelin  -  headed  sticks,  and  adding  their 
screams  to  his,  soon  brought  the  whole  village,  men,  women,  and 
children,  armed  with  all  sorts  of  missiles,  to  the  rescue  ;  and  it 
was  their  discordant  yells  that  made  us  exchange  our  good  fare 
for  the  jungles  of  Morwan. 

The  '  lord  of  the  black  rock,'  for  such  is  the  designation  of  the 
tiger,  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  bourgeois  of  Morwan  ;  his 
freehold  is  Kala-pahar,  between  this  and  Magarwar,  and  his 
reign  for  a  long  series  of  years  has  been  unmolested,  notwith- 
standing his  numerous  acts  of  aggression  on  his  bovine  subjects  ; 
indeed,  onlj^  two  nights  before,  he  was  disturbed  gorging  on  a 
buffalo  belonging  to  a  poor  oilman  of  I\Iorwan.  Whether  this 
tiger  was  an  incarnation  of  one  of  the  Mori  lords  of  Morwan, 


1650  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

tradition  does  not  say  ;  but  neither  gun,  bow,  nor  spear  had  ever 
been  raised  against  him.  In  return  for  this  forbearance,  it  is 
said  he  never  preyed  upon  man,  or  if  he  seized  one,  would,  upon 
being  entreated  with  the  endearing  epithet  of  manm  or  uncle,  let 
go  his  hold  ;  and  this  accounted  for  the  little  ragged  urchin  using 
a  phrase  which  almost  prevented  the  luirkaras  returning  to  his 
rescue. 

Disastrous  Effects  of  Frost,  February  3. — Another  halt  for  our 
patient,  who  is  doing  well,  and  greatly  relieved  by  the  application 
of  leeches  obtained  from  Nimbahera.^  What  a  night  !  the  clouds 
which  had  been  alternately  collecting  and  dispersing  ever  since 
we  left  Marwar,  in  December  last,  but  had  almost  disappeared, 
as  we  commenced  our  present  march,  again  suddenly  gathered. 
The  thermometer,  which  had  averaged  41°  at  daybreak  throughout 
the  last  month,  this  morning  rose  to  60°.  On  the  1st  the  wind 
changed  to  the  south,  with  sliowers,  where  it  continued  throughout 
yesterday  ;  but  during  the  night  it  suddenly  veered  to  the  north, 
and  the  thermometer  at  daybreak  was  28°,  or  four  degrees  below 
the  freezing  point.  Reader,  do  you  envy  me  my  bon  vin  de 
Bourgogne  et  murailles  de  colon,  with  not  even  a  wood  fire,  labour- 
ing under  a  severe  pulmonary  affection,  with  work  enough  for 
five  men  ?  Only  three  days  ago  the  thermometer  was  86°  at 
noon,  and  to-day  it  is  less  at  noon  than  yesterday  at  daybreak  : 
even  old  England,  with  all  her  vicissitudes  of  weather,  can 
scarcely  show  so  rapid  a  change  as  this. 

Ill-fated  Mewar  !  all  our  hopes  are  blasted  ;  this  second 
visitation  has  frustrated  all  our  labours.  The  frost  of  December, 
which  sunk  the  mercury  to  27°  as  we  passed  over  the  plains  of 
Marwar,  was  felt  throughout  Rajwara,  and  blighted  every  pod 
of  cotton.  All  was  "  burnt  up  "  ;  but  our  poor  exiles  comforted 
[618]  themselves,  amidst  the  general  sorrow,  with  the  recollection 
that  the  young  gram  was  safe.  But  even  this  last  hope  has  now 
vanished  :  all  is  nipjicd  in  the  bud.  Had  it  occurred  a  month 
ago,  the  young  plant  would  have  been  headed  down  with  the 
sickle,  and  additional  blossoms  would  have  appeared.  I  was  too 
unwell  to  ride  out  and  see  the  ravages  caused  by  this  frost. 

February  4. — Our  patient  is  doing  so  well,  that  we  look  to 
moving  to-morrow.  ThermoTueter  28°  at  daybreak,  and  31°  at 
sunrise,  with  a  keen  cutting  wind  from  the  north.  Ice  closed 
'  [In  Tonk  State,  about  60  miles  E.  of  Udnipur  city.] 


TEMPLE  OF  MAMA  DEVI  1651 

the  orifice  of  the  mashak,  or  leathern  water-bag.  Even  the 
shallow  stream  near  the  tents  had  a  pellicle  of  ice  on  its  surface  : 
our  people  huddling  and  shivering  rovmd  their  fires  of  bajra  sticks, 
and  the  cattle  of  all  classes  looking  \ery  melancholy. 

Temple  of  Mama  Devi. — ^My  Yati  friend  returned  from  Palod, 
where  I  had  sent  him  to  copy  an  inscription  in  a  temple  dedicated 
to  Mama-devi,  the  mother  of  the  gods  ;  but  he  was  disappointed, 
and  brought  back  only  the  following  traditional  legend.  The 
shrine,  erected  by  a  wealthy  Jain  disciple,  was  destined  to  receive 
the  image  of  one  of  their  pontiffs  ;  but  on  its  completion,  Mama- 
devi  appeared  in  propria  persona  to  the'  founder,  and  expressed 
so  strongly  her  desire  to  inhabit  it,  that,  heretic  as  he  was,  he 
could  not  deny  the  goddess'  suit.  He  stoutly  refused,  however, 
to  violate  the  rules  of  his  order  :  "  By  my  hands  the  blood  neither 
of  goats  or  buffaloes  can  be  shed,'"  said  the  Jain.  But,  gxateful 
for  the  permission  that  a  niche  should  be  set  apart  for  her  saruj) 
(form),  she  told  him  to  go  to  the  Sonigira  chief  of  Chitor,  who 
would  attend  to  the  rites  of  sacrifice.  The  good  Jain,  with  easy 
faith,  did  as  he  was  commanded,  and  erecting  another  temple, 
succeeded  at  length  in  enshrining  Parsvanath.  My  old  friend, 
however,  discovered  in  a  temple  to  Mataji, '  the  universal  mother,'  ^ 
an  inscription  of  great  importance,  as  it  fixes  the  period  of  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  kings  of  the  Solanki  dynasty  of  Nahrvala, 
or  correctly,  Anhilwara  Patau  ;  and,  in  conjunction  with  another 
of  the  same  prince  (which  I  afterwards  discovered  in  Chitor),  also 
bearing  the  very  same  date,i  demonstrates  that  the  Solanki  had 
actually  made  a  conquest  of  the  capital  of  the  Guliilots.  The 
purport  is  simply  that  "  Kumarpal  Solanki  and  his  son  Sohanpal, 
in  the  month  of  Pus  (the  precise  day  illegible),  S.  1207  (winter  of 
A.D.  1151),  came  to  worship  the  Universal  ^Mother  in  her  shrine 
at  Palod."  2  The  Sesodias  try  to  get  rid  of  this  difficulty  by 
saying,  that  during  the  banishment  [619]  of  Kumarpal  by  Siddha- 
raja,  he  not  only  enjoyed  saran  (refuge)  at  Chitor,''  but  held  the 

^  See  inscription,  Vol.  II.  p.  925. 

*  The  style  of  this  inscription  is  perfectly  in  unison  with  the  inscriptions 
on  the  temples  and  statues  of  Egypt. 

^  [Kumarapala,  when  exiled,  went  to  Kalambapattana,  probably  Kolam 
or  Quilon  in  Travancore,  and  thence  to  Chitrakuta  or  Chitor  {BG,  i.  Part 
i.  183).  From  thence  he  went  to  Ujjain,  and  it  is  impossible  that  he  could 
have  served  Rawal  Samar  Singh,  who  reigned  about  a.d.  1274-85,  while 
the  date  of  Kumarapala"s  reign  is  a.d.  1143-74.] 


1652  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

post  of  prime  minister  to  Rawal  Samarsi,  the  friend  and  brother- 
in-law  of  the  Chauhan  emperor  of  Delhi  ;  but  the  inscription 
(given  in  the  first  volume),  which  I  found  in  the  temple  built  by 
Laklia  Rana,  is  written  in  the  style  of  a  conqueror,  "  who  planted 
his  standard  even  in  Salpur,"  the  city  of  the  Getae  in  the  Panjab. 
At  all  events,  it  is  one  more  datum  in  the  history  of  Rajputana. 

February  5,  thermometer  30°. — Mounted  Bajraj,  '  the  royal 
steed,'  and  took  a  ride  over  the  heights  of  Morwan,  a  wild  yet 
fairy  scene,  with  the  Patar  or  table-land  bounding  the  perspective 
to  the  east.  The  downs  are  covered  with  the  most  luxuriant 
grasses,  and  the  dhak  or  palas  dried  by  the  wintry  blast,  as  if 
scorched  by  the  lightning,  faintly  brought  to  mind  the  poet's 
simile,  applied  to  this  tree,  even  in  the  midst  of  spring  :  "  The 
black  leafless  kesula."  We  entered  a  village  in  ruins,  whose 
nim  trees  bid  defiance  to  winter  ;  the  '  thorny  babul '  (mimosa 
Arabica)  gTows  luxuriantly  out  of  the  inner  sides  of  the  walls, 
and  no  hand  invades  the  airy  nest  of  the  imitative  papiha,  fan- 
tastically pendent  from  the  slenderest  branches.^  No  trace  of  the 
presence  of  man  ;  but  evidence  that  he  has  been  here.  The 
ground  was  covered  with  hoar-frost,  and  the  little  stream  coated 
with  ice.  Many  a  heavy  heart  has  it  caused,  and  plunged  joyous 
industry  into  utter  despondence.  Take  one  example  :  yonder 
Jat,  sitting  by  the  side  of  his  field,  wliich  he  eyes  in  despair  ; 
three  months  since,  he  returned,  after  many  years  of  exile,  to 
the  bapota,  the  land  of  his  sires,  without  funds,  without  food,  or 
even  the  implements 'for  obtaining  it.  lie  had  been  labouring 
as  a  serf  in  other  lands,  but  he  heard  of  peace  in  his  own,  and 
came  back  to  the  paternal  acres,  which  had  been  a  stranger  to 
the  ploughshare  since  he  was  driven  from  his  cot  in  S.  1844, 
immediately  following  the  battle  of  Harkiaklial,  when  the 
"  Southron  "  completed  the  bondage  of  JNIewar.  What  could  he 
do  ?  his  well  was  dried  up,  and  if  not,  he  had  no  cattle  to  irrigate 
a  field  of  wheat  or  barley.  But  Mewar  is  a  kind  mother,  and  she 
yields  her  chana  crop  without  water.  To  the  Bohra  (the  metayer) 
he  promised  one-fifth  of  the  produce  for  the  necessary  seed  and 
the  use  of  a  pair  of  oxen  and  a  plough  ;  one-fifth  more  was  the 
share  of  the  state  from  land  so  long  sterile  ;  there  were  three-fifths 

^  [Possibly  the  "  papya  "  of  the  original  text  lejjrescnts  papiha,  a  variety 
of  cuckoo,  cuculus  melanolencos.  The  baya  or  weaver- bird  is  apparently 
meant.J 


MORWAN  1653 

left  for  himself  of  his  lonjj-neglected  but  at  once  luxuriant  fields. 
He  watched  the  crop  with  paternal  solicitude,  from  the  first 
appearance  of  verdure  to  the  approach  of  Basant,  the  joyous 
spring.  Each  night,  as  he  returned  to  his  yet  roofless  abode,  he 
related  the  wonders  of  his  field  and  its  rapid  vegetation  ;  and  as 
he  calculated  the  produce,  he  anticipated  its  application  ;  "  so 
much  shall  go  [620]  for  a  plough,  so  much  for  the  Bohra,  so  much 
in  part  payment  of  a  pair  of  bullocks,  and  the  rest  will  keep  me 
in  bread  till  the  makkai  crop  is  ready."  Thus  the  days  passed, 
until  this  killing  frost  nipped  his  hopes  in  the  bud,  and  now  see 
him  wringing  his  hands  in  the  bitterest  anguish  !  This  is  no 
ideal  picture  :  it  is  one  to  be  found  in  every  village  of  Mewar. 
In  this  favoured  soil  there  is  as  much  of  chana  in  the  rabi  harvest 
as  of  wheat  and  barley  conjoined,  and  in  the  first  crop  sown  in 
banjar,  or  soil  long  sterile,  wheat  and  chana  are  sown  together. 
It  is  a  sad  blow  to  the  exiles  ;  though  happily  in  the  crown-lands 
their  distress  will  be  mitigated,  as  these  are  rented  on  leases  of 
five  years,  and  the  renters  for  their  own  sakes  must  be  lenient, 
and  moreover  they  are  well  watched. 

February  6. — Still  halting  ;  our  patient  very  well,  though  he 
feels  his  bruises  ;  but  we  shall  put  him  on  an  elephant  to-morrow. 
The  jealousy  of  the  Mahratta  had  hitherto  prevented  the  in- 
habitants fi'om  fulfilling  their  desire  to  come  and  visit  me  ;  but 
to-day,  the  elders  forming  the  Panchayat,  heading  the  procession, 
they  came  en  masse.  The  authorities  need  not  have  feared 
exposing  the  nakedness  of  the  land,  which  is  too  visible  ;  but 
they  apprehended  the  contrast  of  their  condition  \vith  our  poor 
subjects,  who  were  at  least  unmolested  in  their  poverty.  It  was 
a  happiness  to  learn  that  this  contrast  was  felt,  and  as  the  Patel 
presented  to  me  an  engaging  little  child,  his  daughter,  he  said, 
"  Let  not  our  misfortunes  be  our  faults  ;  we  all  belong  to  Mewar, 
though  we  are  not  so  happy  as  to  enjoy  your  protection  and  care." 
I  assured  him,  that  although  under  the  Turk,  I  should  look  upon 
them  as  my  children,  and  the  subjects  of  the  Rana  ;  and  I  have 
had  it  in  my  power  to  redeem  this  pledge — for,  strange  to  say, 
even  Amir  Khan,  seeing  that  the  prosperity  of  the  subject  is  that 
of  the  prince,  has  commanded  his  governor  of  Nimbahera  to 
consult  me  in  everything,  and  has  even  gone  so  far  as  to  beg  I 
would  consider  the  place  as  under  my  authority.  Already,  follow- 
ing our  example,  he  has  reduced  the  transit  duties  nearly  one-half, 


1654  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

and  begins  to  think  the  Farangi  notions  of  economy  better  than 
his  own,  his  loss  having  proved  a  gain. 

Nikmnbh,  February  7  :  eleven  miles. — Midway,  passed  through 
Chakurla,  a  village  belonging  to  Amir  Khan.  Nikumbh  is  a  taluk 
of  Jawad,  which  with  Mandipia  was  held  by  the  Pindari  fi*ecbooter, 
Fazil,  while  Jaswant  Rao  Bhao  held  them  in  jaedad.  They  are 
now  leased  to  a  Pandit  by  the  Hakim  of  Jawad,  which  latter  is 
assigned  by  Sindhia  to  his  father-in-law,  the  Senapati.  Nikumbh 
is  a  good  \illage,  but  more  than  two-thirds  depopulated,  and  the 
renter  is  prevented  from  being  lenient,  as  he  experiences  [621] 
no  mercy  himself.  Notwithstanding  they  have  all  been  suffering 
as  we  have  from  this  frost,  an  assessment  is  now  levying.  One 
poor  fellow  said  to  me,  "  I  returned  only  three  months  ago  from 
exile,  and  I  had  raised  the  mud-walls  of  my  hut  two  feet,  when 
my  wife  died,  leaving  me  to  take  care  of  a  boy  eight  years  of  age, 
and  to  get  bread  for  both.  If  the  walls  were  two  feet  higher  I 
would  cover  it  in  ;  but  though  I  have  not  a  foot  of  land,  my 
roofless  half-finished  cot  is  assessed  a  rupee  and  a  half  "  :  a  gift 
of  two  I'upee's  made  him  happier  than  his  Hakim  ! 

The  country  is  beautiful,  the  soil  rich,  and  water,  as  already 
mentioned,  about  twenty-five  feet  from  the  surface.  We  are 
now  in  the  region  of  the  flower  sacred  to  "  gloomy  Dis,"  the 
accursed  poppy.  The  crop  looks  miserable  from  the  frost,  but 
those  patches  within  the  influence  of  the  wells  are  partly  saved 
by  the  fields  being  inundated,  which  expedient  is  always  successful 
upon  such  \asitations,  if  applied  with  judgment.  The  mountains 
touching  great  Sadri  lay  twelve  miles  south  coming  from  Partab- 
garh,  and  ranging  to  Salumbar  and  Udaipur,  where  they  com- 
mingle with  the  giant  Aravalli. 

The  Charan  Tribe.  Maria,  February  8  :  seven  miles. — Crossed 
two  ridges  running  northward  to  Badesar.  The  intervening 
valleys,  as  usual,  fertile,  with  numerous  villages,  but  alienated  to 
the  southern  Goths  or  the  partisan  Pathan.  Passed  many  large 
townships,  formerly  in  the  fisc  of  Mewar,  as  Bari,  Banota,  Bambori, 
etc.  In  the  distance,  saw  "  the  umbrella  of  the  earth,"  the  far- 
famed  Chitor.  Maria  is  an  excellent  township,  inhabited  by  a 
community  of  Charans,  of  the  tribe  Kachhcla,  who  are  Banjaras 
(carriers)  by  profession,  though  poets  by  birth.  The  alliance  is  a 
curious  one,  and  would  appear  incongruous,  were  not  gain  the 
object  generally  in  both  cases.     It  was  the  sanctity  of  their  office 


THE  CHARAN  tribe  1655 

which  converted  our  Bardais  into  Banjaras,  for  their  persons 
being  sacred,  the  immunity  extended  HkeAvise  to  their  goods, 
and  saved  them  from  all  imposts  ;  so  that  in  process  of  time  they 
became  the  fi-ee-traders  of  Rajputana.  I  was  highly  gratified 
with  the  reception  I  received  from  the  community,  which  collect- 
ively advanced  to  me  at  some  distance  fi-om  the  town.  The 
procession  was  headed  by  the  xillage-band,  and  all  the  fair 
Charanis,  who,  as  they  approached,  gracefully  waved  their  scarfs 
over  me,  until  I  was  fairly  made  captive  by  the  muses  of  Maria  ! 
It  was  a  novel  and  interesting  scene  :  the  manly  persons  of  the 
Charans,  clad  in  the  flowing  white  robe,  with  the  high  loose 
folded  turban  inclined  on  one  side,  from  which  the  mala,  or 
chaplet,  was  gracefully  suspended  ;  the  Naiks,  or  leaders,  with 
their  massive  necklaces  of  gold,  with  the  image  of  the  pitrideva 
(manes)  depending  therefrom,  gave  the  whole  an  air  of  opulence 
and  dignity.  The  females  were  uniformly  [622]  attired  in  a  skirt 
of  dark  brown  camlet,  ha\ang  a  bodice  of  light-coloured  stuff, 
with  gold  ornaments  worked  into  their  fine  black  hair  ;  and  all 
had  the  favourite  churis,  or  rings  of  hathi-dant  (elephant's  tooth), 
covering  the  arm,  from  the  wrist  to  the  elbow,  and  even  above  it. 
Never  was  there  a  nobler  subject  for  the  painter  in  any  age  or 
country  ;  it  was  one  which  Salvator  Rosa  wovild  have  seized, 
fuU  of  picturesque  contrasts  :  the  rich  dark  tints  of  the  female 
attire  harmonizing  with  the  white  garments  of  their  husbands  ; 
but  it  was  the  mien,  the  expression,  the  gestures,  denoting'  that 
though  they  paid  homage  they  expected  a  full  measure  in  return. 
And  they  had  it  ;  for  if  ever  there  was  a  group  which  bespoke 
respect  for  the  natural  dignity  of  man  and  his  consort,  it  was  the 
Charan  community  of  Maria. 

It  was  not  until  the  afternoon,  when  the  Naiks  again  came  to 
see  me  at  my  camp,  that  I  learned  the  full  value  of  my  escape 
from  the  silken  bonds  of  the  fair  Charanis.  This  community  had 
enjoyed  for  five  himdred  years  the  privilege  of  making  prisoner 
any  Rana  of  Mewar  who  may  pass  through  Maria,  and  keeping 
him  in  bondage  until  he  gives  them  a  got,  or  entertainment  ;  and 
their  chains  are  neither  galling,  nor  the  period  of  captivity,  being 
thus  in  the  hands  of  the  captivated,  very  long.  The  patriarch 
told  me  that  I  was  in  jeopardy,  as  the  Rana's  representative  ; 
but  not  knowing  how  I  might  have  relished  the  joke,  had  it  been 
carried  to  its  conclusion,  they  let  me  escape,  though  they  lost  a 


1G5G  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

feast  by  it.  But  I  told  them  I  was  too  much  delighted  with  old 
customs  not  to  keep  up  this  ;  and  immediately  sent  money  to 
the  ladies  with  my  respects,  and  a  request  that  they  would  hold 
their  got  (feast).  The  patriarch  and  his  subordinate  Naiks  and 
their  sons  remained  with  me  to  discourse  on  the  olden  time. 

The  founders  of  this  little  colony  accompanied  Rana  Haniir 
from  Gujarat  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  and  although  five 
centuries  have  elapsed,  they  have  not  parted  with  one  iota  of 
their  nationality  or  their  privileges  since  that  period  :  neither  in 
person,  manners,  or  dress,  have  thej'^  anything  analogous  to 
those  amidst  whom  they  dwell.  Indeed,  their  air  is  altogether 
foreign  to  India,  and  although  they  have  attained  a  place,  and 
that  a  high  one,  amongst  the  tribes  of  Hind,  their  affinity  to  the 
ancient  Persian  is  striking  ;  the  loose  robe,  high  turban,  and 
flowing  beard  being  more  akin  to  the  figures  on  the  temples  of 
the  Guebres  than  to  anything  appertaining  to  the  Charbaran,  or 
four  classes  of  the  Hindus.  But  I  must  give  the  tale  accounting 
for  their  settlement  in  Mewar.  Rana  Hamir,  so  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  Mewar,  had  a  leprous  spot  on  his  hand,  to  remove 
which  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  Hinglaj,  upon  the 
[623]  coast  of  Mekran,  the  division  Oreitai  of  Arrian's  geography.^ 
He  had  reached  the  frontiers  of  Cutch  Bhuj,  when  alighting  near 
a  tanda,  or  encampment  of  Charans,  a  young  damsel  abandoned 
the  meal  she  was  preparing,  and  stepped  forward  to  hold  the 
stranger's  steed.  Thanking  her  for  her  courtesy,  he  jocosely 
observed  that  he  wished  his  people  had  as  good  a  breakfast  as 
she  was  preparing,  when  she  immediately  made  an  offering  of 
the  contents  of  the  vessel  ;  on  which  Hamir  observed,  it  would 
go  but  a  short  way  to  satisfy  so  many  hungry  mouths.  "  Not 
if  it  pleased  Ilinglajji,"  she  promptly  replied  ;  and  placing  the 
food  before  the  Rana  and  his  train,  it  sufficed  for  all  their  wants. 
A  little  well,  wliich  she  excavated  in  the  sand,  was  soon  filled 
with  a  copious  supply  of  water,  which  served  to  quench  tlieir 
thirst.  It  was  an  evident  interposition  of  the  goddess  of  Hinglaj 
in  favour  of  this  her  royal  votary.  He  returned  from  her  shrine 
cured,  and  the  young  Charani's  family  were  induced  to  accompany 
him  to  Mewar,  where  he  bestowed  upon  them  the  lands  of  Maria, 

^  [The  name  of  the  Oreitai  is  supposed  to  be  represented  in  that  of  the 
Aghor  River:  they  are  the  Neoritai  of  Diodonis  (McCrindle,  Alexander, 
168,  note  1  ;   Smith,  EHI,  106  f.).] 


THE  CHARAN  tribe  1657 

with  especial  immunities  in  their  mercantile  capacity  :  and  as  a 
perpetual  remembrance  of  the  miraculous  feast,  permission  was 
granted  to  the  Charani  damsels  to  make  captive  of  their  sovereign 
as  related  above. 

The  colony,  which  now  consists  of  some  thousands  of  both 
sexes,  presented  an  enigma  to  our  young  Englishmen,  who  think 
"  all  black  fellows  alike,"  and  equally  beneath  notice  :  it  was 
remarked  how  comfortable  they  looked  in  house  and  person,  though 
there  was  not  a  vestige  of  cultivation  around  their  habitations. 
The  military  policy  of  the  troubled  period  accounts  for  the  first  ; 
and  a  visit  to  the  altars  of  Maria  will  furnish  the  cause  of  the 
neglect  of  the  agrarian  laws  of  Me  war.  As  the  community 
increased  in  numbers,  the  subdivision  of  the  lands  continued, 
according  to  the  customs  of  Cutch,  until  a  dispute  regarding  limits 
produced  a  civil  war.  A  ferocious  combat  ensued,  when  the  wives 
of  the  combatants  who  were  slain  ascended  the  funeral  pile  ;  and 
to  prevent  a  similar  catastrophe,  imprecated  a  curse  on  whomever 
from  that  day  should  cultivate  a  field  in  Maria  ;  since  which  the 
land  has  lain  in  absolute  sterility  !  Such  is  the  imphcit  reverence 
for  the  injunction  of  a  Sati,  at  this  moment  of  awful  inspiration, 
when  about  to  take  leave  of  the  world.  In  Mewar,  the  most 
solemn  of  all  oaths  is  that  of  the  Sati.  Maha  sati  an-ki-an,  '  by 
the  great  Satis,'  is  an  adjiu-ation  frequently  used  in  the  royal 
patents. 

The  tanda  or  caravan,  consisting  of  four  thousand  bullocks,  has 
been  kept  up  amidst  all  the  evils  wliich  have  beset  this  land, 
through  Mogul  and  Mahratta  tyranny.  The  utihty  of  these 
caravans,  as  general  carriers  to  conflicting  armies,  and  as  regular 
tax-paying  subjects,  has  proved  their  safeguard,  and  they  were 
too  strong  [624]  to  be  piUaged  by  any  petty  marauder,  as  any  one 
who  has  seen  a  Banjara  encampment  wiU  be  convinced.  They 
encamp  m  a  square  ;  their  grain-bags  piled  over  each  other  breast- 
high,  with  interstices  left  for  their  matchlocks,  make  no  con- 
temptible fortification.  Even  the  ruthless  Turk,  Jamshid  Khan, 
set  up  a  protecting  tablet  in  favour  of  the  Charans  of  Maria, 
recording  their  exemption  from  dand  contributions,  and  that  there 
should  be  no  increase  in  duties,  with  threats  to  all  who  should 
injure  the  community.  As  usual,  the  sun  and  moon  are  appealed 
to  as  witnesses  of  good  faith,  and  sculptured  on  the  stone.  Even 
the  forester  Bhil  and  mountain  Mer  have  set  up  their  signs  of 

VOL.  Ill  2  D 


1658  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

immunity  and  protection  to  the  chosen  of  Hinglaj  ;  and  the 
figures  of  a  cow  and  its  kheri  (calf),  carved  in  rude  relief,  speak 
the  agreement  that  they  should  not  be  slain  or  stolen  within 
the  limits  of  Maria. 

Nimbahera  :  seven  miles. — The  soil,  as  usual,  excellent ;  but 
from  Ranikhera  to  Nimbahera  the  blue  schist  at  intervals  pene- 
trates the  surface,  and  there  is  but  little  superincumbent  soil  even 
to  the  bed  of  the  stream,  which  makes  an  entire  disclosure  of  the 
rock,  over  which  flows  a  clear  rivulet  abounding  wth  small  fish, 
amongst  which  the  speckled  trout  were  visible.  Ranikhera, 
through  which  we  passed,  is  the  largest  township  of  this  district, 
and  was  built  bj^  the  Rani  of  Arsi  Rana,  mother  of  the  present 
ruler  of  Mewar,  at  whose  expense  the  temple,  the  baori  or  '  reser- 
voir,' and  the  paved  street,  were  constructed.  Although  in  the 
alienated  territory,  I  had  a  visit  from  its  elders  to  complain  of 
an  indignity  to  the  community  by  the  Bhangi,  or  scavenger,  of 
Lesrawan,  who  had  killed  a  hog  and  thrown  it  into  the  reservoir, 
whose  polluted  waters  being  thus  rendered  imfit  for  use,  the 
inhabitants  were  compelled  to  get  a  purer  element  from  the 
adjacent  villages.  This  baori  is  about  half-a-mile  from  the  town, 
and  being  upon  the  highway,  the  coimcil  and  train  veiy  wisely 
stopped  at  the  spot  where  the  aggression  had  happened  :  and 
although  the  cavalcade  of  the  Hakim  of  Nimbahera  was  in  sight, 
advancing  to  welcome  me,  it  was  impossible  to  proceed  until  I 
heard  the  whole  grievance,  when  adjured  by  "  subjects  of  Mewar, 
and  children  of  the  Rana,  though  unhappily  under  the  Turk," 
to  see  their  -wTongs  redressed.  I  might  not  have  recorded  tliis 
incident,  but  for  its  consequence  ;  as  the  hog  thrown  into  the 
reservoir  of  Baijiraj,  '  the  royal  mother,'  of  Mewar,  affords  an 
instance  of  the  extent  to  which  mortgage  is  carried. 

The  Bhangis,  or  scavengers,  of  Ranikhera,  the  very  refuse  of 
mankind,  had  mortgaged  their  rights  in  the  dead  carcases  of  their 
town  to  a  professional  brother  of  Lesrawan  ;  but,  on  the  return 
of  these  halcyon  days,  they  swerved  from  their  bond  [625].  The 
chieftain  of  Lesrawan  espoused  his  vassal's  cause,  and  probably 
pointed  out  the  mode  of  revenge.  One  morning,  therefore,  not 
having  the  fear  of  Jamshid  of  Nimbahera  before  his  eyes,  the  said 
mortgagee  slew  his  pig  ;  and,  albeit  but  the  wreck  of  a  human 
being,  contrived  to  cast  his  victim  into  the  pure  fountain  of 
'  Queenstown,'  and  immediatelv  fled  for  saran  to  Bliindar.     But 


NiMBAHERA  1659 

what  could  be  done  to  a  wretch,  who  for  former  misdeeds  had 
already  suffered  the  dismemberment  of  an  arm,  a  leg,  and  his 
nose  ?  Here  is  the  sentence  !  "  To  be  paraded,  mounted  on  an 
ass,  his  face  blackened,  with  a  chaplet  of  shoes  round  his  neck, 
and  drummed  out  of  the  limits  of  Ranikhera  !  "  The  fountain  is 
now  imdergoing  purification  ;  and  when  the  polluted  waters  are 
baled  out,  it  is  to  be  lustrated  with  the  holy  stream  of  the  Ganges, 
and  the  ceremony  will  conclude  with  a  got,  or  feast,  to  one  himdred 
Brahmans.  Previous  to  this,  I  took  a  peep  at  the  humble  altars 
of  Ranikhera.  All  is  modern  ;  but  there  is  one  tablet  which 
pleasingly  demonstrates  that  both  public  feeling  and  public 
gratitude  exist  in  these  regions.  This  tablet,  set  up  by  the  council 
of  the  town,  recorded  that  Kistna,  the  Silpi  or  stone-cutter,  did 
at  his  own  expense  and  labour  repair  all  the  altars  then  going 
to  decay  ;  for  which  pious  act  they  guaranteed  to  him  and  his 
successors  for  ever  six  thalis  or  platters  of  various  viands,  saffron, 
oil,  butter,  and  several  pieces  of  money,  at  every  village  fete. 
Doubtless  such  traits  are  not  confined  to  Ranikhera.  I  accepted 
with  kindness  the  offerings  of  the  elders  and  assembled  groups — 
a  pot  of  curds  and  sundry  blessings — and  continued  my  journey 
to  meet  the  impatient  cavaliers  of  Nimbahera,  who,  to  fill  up  the 
interlude,  were  karozvling,^  with  matchlock  and  spear,  their  well- 
caparisoned  chargers.  The  Khan  was  in  the  centre  of  the  group, 
and  we  had  a  friendly,  unceremonious  dasiabazi,  or  shaking  of 
hands,  without  dismounting.  He  is  a  gentlemanly  Pathan,  of 
middle  age,  courteous  and  affable,  and  a  very  different  personage 
from  the  two-handed  Jamshid  his  predecessor,  who  lately  died  from 
a  cancer  in  his  back  :  a  judgment,  if  we  are  to  credit  our  Mewar 
friends,  for  his  horrible  cruelties  and  oppressions  over  all  these 
regions,  as  lieutenant  of  Amir  Khan  during  many  years.  The 
Khan  welcomed  me  to  Nimbahera  with  true  Oriental  politesse, 
saving,  "  that  the  place  was  mine  "  ;  and  that  he  had  received 
the  "  positive  instructions  of  the  Nawab  Sahib  (Amir  lOian,  whose 
son-in-law  he  is)  to  look  upon  me  as  himself."  I  replied,  that, 
in  accepting  such  a  trust,  I  could  not  say  more  than  that  I  would, 
whenever  occasion  presented  itself,  act  for  him  as  if  Nimbahera 
were  really  my  own.  The "  Khan  had  reason  to  find  that  his 
confidence  was  not  misplaced  ;  and  while  enabled  to  benefit  him, 
I  had  also  the  opportunity  of  protecting  the  interests  [626]  of  the 
^  [Qardvali,  '  skirmishing,  a  running  fight.'] 


1660  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

feudatories,  who  by  this  alienation  (as  is  fully  related  in  the 
Annals  of  Mewar)  were  placed  beyond  the  pale  of  the  Rana's 
power.  The  Khan,  after  accompanying  nie  to  my  tents,  took 
leave  ;  but  paid  me  a  long  visit  in  the  evening,  when  we  discussed 
all  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  his  charge  and  the  peace  of  the 
borders.  As  matters  stand,  it  is  a  duty  to  conciliate  and  to 
promote  prosperity  ;  but  it  is  melancholy  to  see  this  fertile 
appanage  of  Mewar  in  the  hand  of  so  consummate  a  villain  as 
Amir  Khan  ;  a  traitor  to  his  master  Holkar,  for  which  he  obtained 
the  "  sovereignty  in  perpetuity  "  of  many  rich  tracts  both  in  Mewar 
and  Amber,  without  rendering  the  smallest  service  in  return. 
liCt  this  be  borne  in  mind  when  another  day  of  reckoning  comes. 
Nimbahera  is  a  considerable  town,  with  an  excellent  stone  circum- 
vallation  ;  and,  being  on  the  high  road  between  Malwa  and 
Hindustan,  it  enjoys  a  good  share  of  traffic.  Upwards  of  one 
hundred  villages  are  attached  to  it,  and  it  was  estimated  at  three 
lakhs  of  rupees,  of  annual  rent. 


CHAPTER   4 

The  Patar  Plateau.  Kanera,  February  13  :  nine  miles. — A  new 
feature  in  the  face  of  Mewar  was  this  day  disclosed  to  us.  At  the 
termination  of  our  short  march,  we  ascended  the  Patar,  or  plateau 
of  Central  India,  the  grand  natural  rampart  defending  Mewar 
on  the  east.  As  we  approached  it,  the  level  line  of  its  crest,  so 
distinct  from  the  pinnacled  Aravalli,  at  once  proclaimed  it  to 
be  a  tableland,  or  rock  of  the  secondary  formation.  Although 
its  elevation  is  not  above  four  hundred  feet  from  its  western  base, 
the  transition  is  remarkable,  and  it  presents  from  the  summit  one 
of  the  most  diversified  scenes,  whether  in  a  moral,  political,  or 
picturesque  point  of  view,  that  I  [627]  ever  beheld.  From  this 
spot  the  mind's  eye  embraces  at  once  all  the  grand  theatres  of  the 
history  of  Mewar.  Upon  our  riglit  lies  Chitor,  the  palladium  of 
Hinduism  ;  on  the  west,  the  gigantic  Aravalli,  enclosing  the  new 
capital,  and  the  shelter  of  her  heroes  ;  here,  at  our  feet,  or  within 
view,  all  the  alienated  lands  now  under  the  '  barbarian  Turk  '  or 
Mahratta,  as  Jawad,  Jiran,  Nimach,  Nimbahera,  Kheri,  Ratan- 
garh.  \Vhat  associations,  what  aspirations,  does  this  scene  con- 
jure up  to  one  who  feels  as  a  Rajput  for  this  fair  land  !     The  rich 


IRRIGATION  IN  ME  WAR  :  THE  PATAR  PLATEAU     1661 

flat  we  have  passed  over — a  space  of  nearly  seventy  English  miles 
from  one  table-range  to  the  other — appears  as  a  deep  basin, 
fertilized  by  nmnerous  streams,  fed  by  huge  reservoirs  in  the 
moimtains,  and  studded  with  towns,  which  once  were  populous, 
but  are  for  the  most  part  now  in  ruins,  though  the  germ  of  in- 
cipient prosperity  is  just  appearing.  From  this  height  I  condensed 
all  my  speculative  ideas  on  a  very  favourite  subject — ^the  forma- 
tion of  a  canal  to  unite  the  ancient  and  modern  capitals  of  Mewar, 
by  which  her  soil  might  be  made  to  return  a  tenfold  harvest,  and 
famine  be  shut  out  for  ever  from  her  gates.  My  eye  embraced 
the  whole  line  of  the  Berach,  from  its  outlet  at  the  Udaisagar, 
to  its  passage  within  a  mile  of  Chitor,  and  the  benefit  likely  to 
accrue  from  such  a  work  appeared  incalculable.^  What  new 
ideas  would  be  opened  to  the  Rajput,  on  seeing  the  trains  of  oxen, 
which  now  creep  slowly  along  with  merchandise  for  the  capital, 
exchanged  for  boats  gliding  along  the  canal ;  and  his  fields,  for 
many  miles  on  each  side,  irrigated  by  lateral  cuts,  instead  of  the 
cranking  Egyptian  wheel,  as  it  is  called,  but  which  is  indigenous 
to  India  !  ^  If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  map,  he  will  perceive 
the  great  facilities  for  such  an  undertaking.  He  will  there  see  two 
grand  reservoirs  within  six  miles  of  each  other,  the  Pichola,  or 
internal  lake,  having  an  elevation  of  eighty  feet  above  the  external 
one,  the  Udaisagar,  whose  outlet  forms  the  Berach  River  ;  but 
for  which  the  valley  of  the  capital  would  be  one  wide  lake  and 
which,  for  want  of  proper  regulation,  once  actually  submerged  a 
third  of  it.  The  Pichola  may  be  called  the  parent  of  the  other, 
althougli  it  is  partly  fed  by  the  minor  lake  at  the  villa  of  Suheli- 
ki-bari.  Both  are  from  twelve  to  fourteen  miles  in  circum- 
ference, in  some  places  thirty-five  feet  deep,  and  being  fed  by  the 
perennial  streams  from  the  Aravalli,  they  contain  a  constant 
supply  of  water.  From  the  external  lake  to  Chitor,  the  fall  is  so 
slight  that  few  locks  would  be  required  ;  and  the  soil  being  a 
yielding  one  throughout,  the  expense  of  the  undertaking  would  be 
moderate.     There  is  plenty  of  material  in  the  neighboming  hills 

^  [Irrigation  projects  in  Mewar  have  recently  been  studied  by  Sir  Swinton 
Jacob  and  Mr.  Manners  Smith.  "  Among  the  most  promising  projects  are 
a  canal  from  Naogaon  on  the  Banas,  two  reservoirs  on  the  Kothari,  and  a 
reservoir  on  the  Banas  at  Amarpura  which,  if  carried  out,  will  be  one  of 
the  grandest  works  of  the  kind  in  India  "  (Erskine  ii.  A.  47).] 

2  [Usually  known  in  India  as  the  Persian  wheel,  represented  in  Egypt 
by  the  Sakieh  (Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  5th  ed.  ii.  26).] 


1662  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

and  forests,  and  by  furnishing  occupation  for  the  wild  population, 
the  work  would  tend  not  a  little  to  reclaim  them.  But  [628] 
where  are  the  means  ?  With  this  difhcultj^  and  the  severe  blow 
to  our  incipient  prosperity  in  this  untimely  frost,  our  schemes 
dissipate  like  the  mist  of  the  morning.  But  I  cannot  relinquish 
the  conviction  that  the  undertaking,  if  executed,  would  not  only 
enable  the  Rana  to  pay  his  tribute,  but  to  be  more  merciful  to  his 
subjects,  for  whose  welfare  it  is  our  chief  duty  to  labour.^ 

The  summit  of  the  Patar  has  a  fertile  soil,  well-watered  and 
well-wooded,  and  producing  the  mango,  mahua,  and  nim  ;  and 
were  the  appearance  of  the  crops  a  criterion,  we  should  say  it  was 
equal  in  fertility  to  the  best  part  of  Mewar.  In  ancient  inscrip- 
tions, the  term  Uparmal  is  applied,  as  well  as  Patar,  to  this 
marked  feature  in  the  geological  structure  of  Central  India  :  the 
first  being  rendered  exactly  by  the  German  oberland ;  the  other 
signifying  '  flat,'  or  table-land. 

In  the  indented  recesses  of  this  elevated  land,  which  covers 
an  immense  portion  of  Central  India,  there  are  numerous  spots  of 
romantic  beauty,  which  enthusiasm  has  not  failed  to  identify 
with  rehgious  associations.  Wherever  there  is  a  deep  glen,  a 
natural  fountain,  or  a  cascade,  the  traveller  will  infallibly  discover 
some  traces  of  the  '  Great  God  '  (Mahadeva)  of  the  Hindus,  the 
creator  and  destroyer  of  life. 

Shrine  of  Sukhdeo.  Human  Scapegoats. — By  the  stupidity 
of  my  guide,  and  the  absence  of  the  indefatigable  Balgovind,  my 
Brahman  antiquarian  pioneer,  I  lost  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  shrine  of  Sukhdeo,  situated  in  a  dark  cleft  of  the  rock,  not  two 
miles  from  the  pass  where  I  ascended.  In  excuse,  he  said  he 
thought,  as  my  camp  was  near,  that  it  would  be  easy  to  descend 
to  the  shrine  of  the  "  ease-giving  "  god,  Sukhdeo  (from  siikh, 
'  ease  ') ;  -  but  revocare  gradum  was  an  evil  which,  added  to  the 
necessity  of  extracting  all  the  information  I  could  from  some  of 
the  opium-growers  in  attendance,  deterred  me.  The  abode  of 
Sukhdeo  is  in  a  deep  recess,  well-wooded,  with  a  cascade  bursting 
from  the  rock  near  its  summit,  under  a  ledge  of  wliich  the  symbolic 

^  Even  now,  as  I  transcribe  this  from  my  journal,  I  would  almost  (when 
"  The  Annals  "  are  finished)  risk  a  couple  of  years'  residence  in  "  the  happy 
valley,"  where  I  scarcely  ever  enjoyed  one  day  of  health,  to  execute  this 
and  another  favourite  project — the  reopening  of  the  tin-mines  of  Jawara. 

*  [Sukhada,  '  giving  pleasure,'  an  ejuthet  of  Vishnu.] 


SHRINE  OF  SUKHDEO  :  HUMAN  SCAPEGOATS      1663 

representative  is  enshrined.  Around  it  are  several  guphas  or 
caves  of  the  anchorite  devotees  ;  but  the  most  conspicuous  object 
is  a  projecting  ledge,  named  Daitya-ka-har,  or  '  Giant's-bone,'  on 
which  those  who  are  in  search  of  "  ease  "  jump  from  above.  This 
is  called  the  Vira-jhamp,  or  '  warrior's-leap,'  and  is  made  in 
fulfilment  of  vows  either  for  temporal  or  future  good.^  Although 
most  of  the  leapers  perish,  some  instances  of  escape  are  recorded. 
The  love  of  offspring  is  said  to  be  the  principal  motive  to  this 
pious  act  of  [629]  saltation  ;  and  I  was  very  gravely  told  of  one 
poor  woman,  whose  philoprogenitive  bump  was  so  great,  that  she 
vowed  to  take  the  leap  herself  with  her  issue  ;  and  such,  says  the 
legend,  was  her  faith,  that  both  escaped.  A  Teh,  or  oilinan,  was 
the  last  jumper  of  Sukhdeo,  and  he  was  no  less  fortunate  ;  to  him 
the  '  giant's-bone  '  was  a  bed  of  roses.  So  much  for  the  faith  of 
the  oilman  of  Jawad  !  There  are  many  such  Leucotheas  in  this 
region  of  romance  :  ^  that  at  Omkar,  on  the  Nerbudda,  and  the 
sacred  mount  Girnar,  are  the  most  celebrated. 

Until  the  last  sixty  years,  the  whole  of  the  plateau,  as  far  as  the 
Chambal,  belonged  to  Mewar  ;  but  all,  with  the  exception  of 
Kanera,  are  now  in  the  hands  of  Sindhia.  Kanera  is  the  chief 
township  of  a  small  district  of  twenty-two  villages,  which,  by  the 
change  of  events,  has  fortunately  reverted  to  the  Rana,  although 
it  was  not  extricated  from  the  grasp  of  the  Mahrattas  without 
some  difficulty  ;  it  was  taken  first,  and  the  right  of  repossession 
argued  afterwards.  Would  we  had  tried  the  same  process  with  all 
the  rest  of  the  plateau  ;  but  unhappily  they  were  rented  to  old 
Lalaji  Balal,  a  lover  of  order,  and  an  ally  of  old  ZaUm  Singh  ! 
But  let  me  repeat,  for  the  tenth  time,  that  aU  these  lands  are 
only  held  by  Sindhia  on  mortgage  for  war-contributions,  paid 
over  and  over  again  ;  and  when  an  opportunity  occurs,  let  this 

^  [Vira,  'a  hero';  Skt.  jhanipa,  Hindi,  jhapat,  'a  spring,  leap,' 
In  Rajasthani,  as  Sir  G.  Grierson  writes,  the  m  may  easily  have  been  pre- 
served, or  more  probably  the  a  would  be  long,  and  the  m  converted  into  a 
pure  nasal,  Jhap  being  written  Jhanip.  Another  common  form  is  Bhairava 
Jhamp,  '  the  leap  in  honour  of  Bhairava,'  a  form  of  Siva.  For  human 
"  scape -goats  "  of  this  kind  see  Crooke,  Popular  Religion  and  Folklore, 
2nd  ed.  i.  256  ;   Frazer,  The  Golden  Bough,  3rd  ed..  The  Scapegoat,  196  ff.).] 

-  [Ino  Leucothea,  when  Athamas,  in  a  fit  of  madness,  killed  Learchus, 
their  son,  fled  with  her  other  son,  MeUcertes,  across  the  plain  of  Megaris 
and  threw  herself  with  the  boy  (or,  according  to  Euripides  {Medea,  1289) 
with  her  two  sons)  into  the  sea.     A.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  674.] 


1664  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

be  a  record,  and  the  Patar  west  of  the  Chambal  be  restored  to 
Mewar. 

I  was  deHghted  to  see  that  the  crops  of  Kanera  had  only 
partially  suffered  from  the  ravages  of  the  frost  of  the  3rd,  4th,  to 
25th,  which  extended  over  Malwa,  and  that  although  the  gram 
was  destroyed,  the  wheat,  barley,  sugar-cane,  and  poppy,  were 
abimdant  and  little  injured  ;  though  we  could  have  wished  that 
the  last-named  pernicious  plant,  which  is  annually  increasing  all 
over  these  regions,  had  been  sacrificed  in  lieu  of  the  noble  crops 
of  vetches  (gram). 

That  the  culture  of  the  poppy,  to  the  detriment  of  more  useful 
husbandry,  is  increasing  to  an  extent  which  demands  the  strong 
hand  of  legislative  restraint,  must  strike  the  most  superficial 
observer  in  these  regions.  When  the  sumptuary  laws  of  tliis 
patriarchal  government  were  in  force,  a  restraint  was  at  the  same 
time  imposed  on  an  improvident  system  of  farming  which,  of 
course,  affected  the  prince,  whose  chief  revenues  were  derived 
from  the  soil ;  and  one  of  the  agrarian  laws  of  Mewar  was,  that 
there  should  be  to  each  charas,  or  skin  of  land,  only  one  bigha  of 
opium,  and  the  same  quantity  of  cane,  with  the  usual  comple- 
ment of  corn.  But  the  feverish  excitement  produced  by  our 
monopoly  of  the  drug  has  extended  its  culture  in  everj'^  direction, 
and  even  in  tracts  where  hitherto  it  has  never  entered  into  their 
agricultural  economy.  Whatever  [630],  therefore,  be  the  wisdom 
or  policy  of  our  interference  in  this  matter,  of  the  result  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  namely,  that  it  converted  the  agricultural  roidinUres 
into  speculators  and  gamblers. 

The  History  of  Opium. — A  sUght  sketch  of  the  introduction  and 
mode  of  culture  of  this  drug,  which  has  tended  more  to  the  physical 
and  moral  degradation  of  the  inhabitants  than  the  combined 
influence  of  pestilence  and  war,  may  not  be  without  interest.^ 

We  are  indebted  to  the  commentaries  of  the  imperial  auto- 
biographers,  Babur,  Akbar,  and  Jahangir,  for  the  most  valuable 
information  on  the  introduction  of  exotics  into  the  horticultural 
economy  of  India  ;  and  we  are  proud  to  pay  our  tribute  of  ap- 
plause to  the  illustrious  house  of  Timur,  whose  princes,  though 
despots  by  birth  and  education,  and  albeit  the  bane  of  Rajputana, 
we  must  allow,  present  a  more  remarkable  succession  of  great 

^  [For  a  good  summary  of  tho  history  of  opium  cultivation  see  Watt, 
Comin.  Prod.  845  S.] 


HISTORY  OF  OPIUM  CULTIVATION  1665 

characters,  historians,  statesmen,  and  warriors,  than  any  contem- 
poraneous dynasty,  in  any  region  of  the  world  .^ 

Akbar  followed  up  the  plans  of  Babur,  and  introduced  the 
gardeners  of  Persia  and  Tartary,  who  succeeded  with  many  of 
their  fruits,  as  peaches,  almonds  (both  indigenous  to  Rajputana), 
pistachios,  etc.  To  Jahangir's  Commentaries  we  owe  the  know- 
ledge that  tobacco  was  introduced  into  India  in  his  reign  ;    but 

^  In  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  which  have  reference  to  the  comforts, 
the  elegancies,  and  the  luxuries  of  life,  they  necessarily  bore  away  the  palm 
from  the  Rajput,  who  was  cooped  up  within  the  barriers  of  superstition. 
The  court  of  Samarkand,  with  which  the  kings  of  Farghana  were  aUied, 
must  have  been  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  world,  for  talents  as  well 
as  splendour ;  and  to  all  the  hereditary  instruction  there  imbibed,  Babur, 
the  conqueror  of  India,  added  that  more  useful  and  varied  knowledge  only 
to  be  acquired  by  travel,  and  constant  intercourse  with  the  world.  When, 
therefore,  his  genius  led  him  from  '  the  frosty  Caucasus  '  into  the  plains  of 
Hindustan,  the  habit  of  observation  and  noting  in  a  book,  as  set  before 
him  by  Hazrat  Timur,  all  that  appeared  novel,  never  escaped  him  ;  and  in 
so  marked  a  transition  from  the  highlands  of  Central  India  to  the  region 
of  the  sun,  his  pen  had  abundant  occupation.  No  production,  whether  in 
the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom,  which  appeared  different  from  his  own, 
escaped  notice  in  his  book,  which  must  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  contributions  to  literature  ever  made  by  royalty ;  for  in  no  age 
or  country  wiU  a  work  be  found  at  once  so  comprehensive  and  so  simple 
as  the  Commentaries  of  Babur ;  and  this  in  a  region  where  everything  is 
exaggerated.  Whether  he  depicts  a  personal  encounter  on  which  his 
life  and  prospects  hinged,  or  a  battle  which  gave  him  the  empire  of  India, 
all  is  in  keeping  ;  and  when  he  relates  the  rewards  he  bestowed  on  IVIir 
Muhammad  Jaliban,  his  architect,  for  successfully  executing  his  noble 
design  of  throwing  a  bridge  over  the  Ganges,  "  before  he  had  been  three 
j'ears  sovereign  of  Hindustan,"  and  with  the  same  simplicity  records  his 
own  "introduction  of  melons  and  grapes  into  India,"  we  are  tempted  to 
humiliating  reflections  on  the  magniloquence  with  which  we  paint  our  own 
few  works  of  public  good,  and  contrast  them  unfavourably  with  those  of 
the  Transoxianic  monarch,  not  then  twenty-five  years  of  age  !  Nor  let 
the  reader  who  may  be  induced  to  take  up  the  volume  fail  to  give  homage 
to  the  translator,^  whose  own  simple,  yet  varied  and  vigorous  mind  has 
transferred  the  very  soul  of  Babur  into  his  translation. 

^  WUliam  Erskine,  Esq.,  of  Blackbume,  who  honours  me  with  his  friend- 
ship, and  has  stimulated  my  exertions  to  the  task  in  which  I  am  engaged, 
and  another  in  which  I  trust  to  be  engaged,  some  of  the  Books  of  the  Poet 
Chand,  so  often  alluded  to  in  this  work.  [The  Memoirs  of  Babur  or  Babar, 
translated  by  J.  Leyden  and  W.  Erskine,  were  pubhshed  in  1826,  and 
a  reprint,  edited  by  Sir  Lucas  King,  is  about  to  be  issued  by  the  Oxford 
University  Press.  An  abridged  version  by  Lieut. -Col.  F.  G.  Talbot  appeared 
in  1909.  A  new  translation  from  an  improved  text,  by  Mrs.  H.  Beveridge, 
is  now  in  course  of  publication.] 


1666  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

of  the  period  when  the  poppy  became  an  object  of  culture,  for  the 
manufacture  of  opium,  we  have  not  the  least  information.  What- 
ever may  be  the  antiquity  of  this  drug,  for  medicinal  uses,  it  may 
be  asserted  that  its  abuse  is  comparatively  recent,  or  not  more  than 
three  [631]  centuries  back.^  In  none  of  the  ancient  heroic  poems 
of  Hindustan  is  it  ever  alluded  to.  The  guest  is  often  mentioned 
in  them  as  welcomed  by  the  munawwar  piyala,  or  '  cup  of  greet- 
ing,' 2  but  nowhere  by  the  amal-pani,  or  '  infused  opiate,'  which 
has  usurped  the  place  of  the  phul-ra-arak,  or  '  essence  of  flowers.' 
Before,  however,  the  art  of  extracting  the  properties  of  the  poppy, 
as  at  present,  was  practised,  they  used  the  opiate  in  its  crudest 
form,  by  simply  bruising  the  capsules,  which  they  steeped  a 
certain  time  in  water,  afterwards  drinking  the  infusion,  to  which 
they  give  the  name  of  tijara,  and  not  unfrequently  post,  '  the 
poppy.'  This  practice  still  prevails  in  the  remote  parts  of 
Rajputana,  where  either  ignorance  of  the  more  refined  process, 
prejudice,  or  indolence,  operates  to  maintain  old  habits. 

The  culture  of  opium  was  at  first  confined  to  the  duab,  or  tract 
between  the  Chambal  and  Sipra,  from  their  sources  to  their 
junction  ;  but  although  tradition  has  preserved  the  fact  of  this 
being  the  original  poppy-nursery  of  Central  India,  it  has  long 
ceased  to  be  the  only  place  of  the  poppy's  growth,  it  having 
spread  not  only  throughout  MalTva,  but  into  various  parts  of 
Rajputana,  especially  Mewar  and  Haraoti.*  But  though  all 
classes,  Kunbis  and  Jats,  Banias  and  Brahnians,  try  the  culture, 
all  yield  the  palm  of  superior  skill  to  the  Kunbi,  the  original 
cultivator,  who  will  extract  one-fifth  more  from  the  plant  than 
any  of  his  competitors. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  the  cultivation  of  opium  increased 
in  the  inverse  ratio  of  general  prosperity  ;  and  that  as  war, 
pestilence,  and  famine,  augmented  their  virulence,  and  de- 
populated Rajputana,  so  did  the  culture  of  this  baneful  weed 
appear  to  thrive.     The  predatory  system,  which  succeeded  Mogul 

1  [For  a  statement  ofthe  evidence  see  Watt,  op.  cit.  845  fl.] 
^  [Munatmvar  mesins  'illuminated,  bright,  sjjlendid.'] 
3  [In  S.E.  Mewar,  near  Malwa,  opium  used  to  bo  almost  as  common  as 
wheat  and  barley,  but  the  area  has  greatly  decreased  smce  1899,  with  the 
fall  in  the  price  of  the  drug  (Erskine  ii.  A.  44).  Sir  G.  Watt,  writing  in 
1908,  says  it  was  then  restricted  to  Malwa,  Bihar,  and  the  United  Provinces 
(Comm.  Prod.  851  ff.).  Since  then,  under  arrangements  with  the  Cliinese, 
the  cultivation  has  been  still  further  restricted.] 


OPIUM  CULTIVATION  1667 

despotism,  soon  devastated  this  fair  region,  and  gradually  re- 
stricted agricultural  pursuits  to  the  richer  harvests  of  barley, 
wheat,  and  gram  ;  till  at  length  even  these  were  confined  to  a 
bare  sustenance  for  the  families  of  the  cultivator,  who  then  found 
a  substitute  in  the  poppy.  From  the  small  extent  of  its  culture, 
he  was  able  to  watch  it,  or  to  pay  for  its  protection  from  pillage  ; 
this  he  could  not  do  for  his  corn,  which  a  troop  of  horse  might 
save  him  the  trouble  of  cutting.  A  kind  of  moral  barometer  might, 
indeed,  be  constructed,  to  show  that  the  maximum  of  oppression 
in  Mewar  was  the  maximum  of  the  culture  of  the  poppy  in  Malwa. 
Emigration  commenced  in  S.  1840  (a.d.  1784)  ;  it  was  at  its 
height  in  S.  1856  (a.d.  1800),  and  went  on  gradually  depopulating 
that  country  vmtil  S.  1874  (a.d.  1818).  Its  consumption,  of 
course,  kept  pace  with  its  production,  it  having  found  a  vent  in 
foreign  markets. 

The  districts  to  which  the  emigrants  fled  were  those  of  Manda- 
sor,  Klhachrod,  Unel  [632],  and  others,  situated  on  the  feeders  of 
the  Chambal,  in  its  course  through  Lower  Malwa.^  There  they 
enjoyed  comparative  protection  and  kind  treatment,  under 
Apa  Saliib  and  his  father,  who  were  long  the  farmers-general  of 
these  fertile  lands.  It  could  not  be  expected,  however,  that  the 
new  settlers  should  be  allowed  to  participate  in  the  lands  irrigated 
by  wells  already  excavated  ;  but  Apa  advanced  funds,  and 
appointed  them  lands,  all  fertile  though  neglected,  in  which  they 
excavated  wells  for  themselves.  They  abandoned  altogether 
wheat  and  barley,  growing  only  makkai  or  '  Indian  corn,'  for 
food,  which  requires  no  irrigation,  and  to  which  the  poppy 
succeeds  in  rotation  ;  to  these,  and  the  sugar-cane,  all  their 
industry  was  directed. 

But  to  proceed  with  the  process  of  cultivation.  When  the 
crops  of  Indian  corn  {makkai)  or  of  hemp  {san)  are  gathered  in, 
the  stalks  are  rooted  up  and  burned  ;  the  field  is  then  flooded, 
and,  when  sufficiently  saturated,  ploughed  up.  It  is  then  copi- 
ously manured  with  cow-dung,  which  is  deemed  the  best  for  the 
purpose  ;  but  even  this  has  undergone  a  preparatory  operation, 
or  chemical  decomposition,  being  kept  in  a  hollow  ground  during 
the  rainy  season,  and  often  agitated  with  long  poles,  to  allow 

1  [Mandasor  in  Gwalior  State,  about  95  miles  S.E.  of  Udaipur  city  {IGI, 
xvii.  150) ;  Unel,  20  miles  N=  of  Ujjain  ;  Khachrod,  45  miles  S.S.E.  of 
Mandasor.] 


1668  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

the  heat  to  evaporate.  In  this  state  it  is  spread  over  the  fields 
and  ploughed  in.  Those  who  do  not  keep  kine,  and  cannot 
afford  to  purchase  manure,  procure  flocks  of  goats  and  sheep, 
and  pay  so  much  a  night  for  having  them  penned  in  the  fields. 
The  land  being  ploughed  and  harrowed  at  least  six  or  seven 
times,  until  the  soil  is  almost  pulverized,  it  is  divided  into  beds, 
and  shght  embankments  are  formed  to  facilitate  irrigation.  The 
seed  is  then  thrown  in,  the  fields  are  again  inimdated  ;  and  the 
seventh  day  following  this  is  repeated  to  saturation.  On  the 
seventh  or  ninth,  but  occasionally  not  mitil  the  eleventh  day,  the 
plant  springs  up  ;  and  on  the  twenty-fifth,  when  it  has  put  forth 
a  few  leaves,  and  begins  to  look  withered,  they  water  it  once 
more.  As  soon  as  this  moisture  dries,  women  and  children  are 
turned  into  the  fields  to  thin  the  plants,  leaving  them  about 
eight  inches  asunder,  and  loosening  the  earth  around  them  with 
iron  spuds.  The  plant  is  at  tliis  stage  about  three  inches  high. 
A  month  later  it  is  watered  moderately,  and  when  dry,  the  earth 
is  again  turned  up  and  loosened.  The  fifth  water  is  given  in 
about  ten  days  more  ;  two  days  after  which  a  flower  appears 
here  and  there.  This  is  the  signal  for  another  watering,  called 
'  the  flower-watering  '  ;  after  which,  in  twenty-four  or  thirty-six 
hours,  all  the  flowers  burst  their  cells.  When  about  half  the 
petals  have  fallen,  they  irrigate  the  plants  suflicicntly  to  moisten 
the  earth,  and  soon  the  rest  of  the  flowers  drop  off,  leaving  the 
bare  capsule,  which  rapidly  increases  in  bulk.  In  a  short  period, 
when  scarcely  a  flower  remains,  a  whitish  [633]  powder  collects 
outside  the  capsule,  which  is  the  signal  for  immediate  application 
of  the  lancet. 

The  field  is  now  divided  into  three  parts,  in  one  of  which 
operations  commence.  The  cutting-instrument  consists  of  three 
prongs,  with  delicate  points,  around  which  cotton  thread  is  bound 
to  prevent  its  making  too  deep  an  incision,  and  thus  causing  the 
liquid  to  flow  into  the  interior  of  the  capsule.  The  wound  is 
made  from  the  base  upwards,  and  the  milky  juice  which  exudes 
coagulates  outside.  Each  plant  is  thrice  pierced,  on  three 
successive  days,  the  operation  commencing  as  soon  as  the  sun 
begins  to  warm.  In  cold  mornings,  when  it  congeals  rapidly, 
the  coagulation  is  taken  off  with  a  scraper.  The  fourth  morning 
each  plant  is  once  more  pierced,  to  ascertain  that  no  juice  remains. 
On  each  morning  this  extract  is  iinniersed  in  a  vessel  of  linseed 


OPIUM  CULTIVATION  1669 

oil,  to  prevent  it  from  drying  up.  The  juice  being  all  collected, 
there  remains  only  the  seed.  The  capsules  are  therefore  broken 
off  and  carried  to  the  barn,  where  they  are  spread  out  upon  the 
ground  ;  a  little  water  is  sprinkled  over  them,  and  being  covered 
with  a  cloth,  they  remain  till  the  morning,  when  the  cattle  tread 
out  the  seed,  which  is  sent  to  the  oilmen,  and  the  refuse  is  burnt, 
lest  the  cattle  should  eat  them,  as  even  in  this  stage  they  are 
poisonous.  Poppy  oil  is  more  used  for  the  chiragh  (lamp)  than 
any  other  in  Mewar.  They  calculate  a  maund  (of  forty  sers, 
or  about  seventy-five  pounds  weight)  of  seed  for  every  two  sers 
of  milk.  The  price  of  seed  is  now  twenty  rupees  per  mauni  of 
one  hundred  and  twelve  (kachha)  maunds. 

One  bigha  of  Malwa  land,  of  the  measure  Shahjahani  (when 
the  jarib,  or  rod,  is  one  hundred  cubits  long),  will  yield  from  five 
to  fifteen  sers  of  opium-juice,  each  ser  being  forty-five  Salim- 
shahi  ^  rupees  in  weight  :  the  medium  is  reckoned  a  good  produce. 
The  cultivator  or  farmer  sells  it,  in  the  state  described,  to  the 
speculator,  at  the  price  current  of  the  day.  The  purchaser  puts 
it  into  cotton  bags  of  three  folds,  and  carries  it  home.  Having 
obtained  the  leaves  of  the  poppy,  he  spreads  them  in  a  heap  of 
two  or  three  inches  in  depth,  and  thereon  deposits  the  opium,  in 
balls  of  fifteen  rupees'  weight  each,  which  are  allowed  to  remain 
five  months  for  the  purpose  of  evaporation.  If  the  milk  has  been 
thin,  or  treated  with  oil,  seven  parts  in  ten  will  remain  ;  but  if 
good  and  pure,  eight.  The  beoparis  (speculators)  then  sell  it, 
either  for  home-consiunption  in  Rajputana,  or  for  exportation. 

From  the  year  S.  1840  (a.d.  1784)  to  S.  1857  (a.d.  1801),  the 
market-jDrice  of  the  crude  opium  from  the  cultivator  ran  from 
sixteen  to  twenty-one  SaUmshahi  rupees  per  dari,  a  measure  of 
five  pakka  sers,  each  ser  being  the  weight  of  ninety  Salimshahi 
[634]  rupees.  I  give  the  price  of  the  drug  by  the  grower  in  the 
first  stage  as  a  better  criterion  than  that  of  the  manufacturer  in 
its  prepared  state.  In  the  year  S.  1857  it  rose  to  twenty-five 
rupees  ;  in  S.  1860  to  twenty-seven,  gradually  increasing  till  S. 
1865  (a.d.  1809),  when  it  attained  its  maximum  of  forty-two,  or 
an  advance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  per  cent  above  the  price 

^  [The  Salimshahi  rupee  takes  its  name  from  the  Partabgarh  chief, 
Salim  Singh,  who  issued  them  for  the  first  time,  a.d.  1784  (W.  W.  Webb, 
Currencies  of  the  Hindu  States  of  Rajputana,  23  f. ;  Malcolm,  Memoir  of 
Central  India,  2nd  ed.  ii.  86).] 


1670  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

of  the  year  a.d.  1784.  But  some  natural  causes  are  assigned  for 
this  extraordinary  advance  ;  after  which  it  gradually  fell,  imtil 
S.  1870  (a.d.  1814),  when  it  was  so  low  as  twenty-nine.  In 
S.  1873  it  had  again  risen  to  thirty-three,  and  in  S.  1874-75,  when 
its  transit  to  the  ports  of  Sind  and  Gujarat  was  unmolested 
(whence  it  was  exported  to  China  and  the  Archipelago),  it  had 
reached  thirty-eight  and  thirty-nine,  where  it  now  (S.  1876,  or 
A.D.  1820)  stands. 

In  Kanthal  ^  (which  includes  Partabgarh  Deola),  or  the  tracts 
upon  the  Mahi  River,  opium  is  cultivated  to  a  great  extent,  and 
adulterated  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  This  being  sold  in 
China  as  Malwa  opium,  has  greatly  lessened  the  value  of  the 
drug  in  that  market.  The  adulteration  is  managed  as  follows  : 
a  preparation  of  refined  giir  (molasses)  and  gum,  in  equal  propor- 
tion, is  added  to  half  its  quantity  of  opiate  coagulum  ;  the  mass 
is  then  put  into  cauldrons,  and  after  being  well  amalgamated  by 
boiling,  it  is  taken  out,  and  when  sufficiently  dry  is  well  beaten, 
and  put  into  cotton  bags,  which  are  sewn  up  in  green  hides,  and 
exported  to  Maskat-Mandavi.  Tlie  Gosains  of  these  parts  are 
the  chief  contractors  for  this  impure  opium,  which  is  reckoned 
peculiarly  unwholesome,  and  is  never  consumed  in  Rajputana. 
Rumour  says  that  it  is  transported  to  the  Spice  Islands,  where 
it  is  used  as  a  manure  in  the  cultivation  of  the  nutmeg.  The 
transit-duties  on  opium,  in  the  Native  States,  are  levied  on  each 
bullock-load,  so  that  the  adulterated  pays  as  much  as  the  pure. 
The  Gosains  smuggle  great  quantities. 

Such  is  the  history,  and  I  believe  a  pretty  correct  one,  of  the 
growth  and  extension  of  this  execrable  and  demoralizing  plant, 
for  the  last  forty  years.  If  the  now  paramount  power,  instead 
of  making  a  monopoly  of  it,  and  consequently  extending  its 
cultivation,  would  endeavour  to  restrict  it  by  judicious  legislative 
enactments,  or  at  least  reduce  its  culture  to  what  it  was  forty 
years  ago,  generations  yet  unborn  would  have  just  reason  to 
praise  us  for  this  work  of  mercy.  It  is  no  less  our  interest  than 
our  duty  to  do  so,  and  to  call  fortli  genuine  industry,  for  the 
improvement  of  cotton,  indigo,  sugar-cane,  and  other  products, 
which  would  enrich  instead  of  demoralizing,  and  therefore  im- 

^  [The  Kanthal  tract,  now  in  Partabgarh  State,  was  so  called  because 
it  formed  the  border  or  boundary  (kanlha)  between  Mewar  on  N.,  Bagar 
on  W.,  and  Malwa  PI  and  S.  (Erskine  ii.  A.  197).] 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  CROPS  1671 

poverishing,  the  country.  We  have  saved  Rajputana  from 
poh'tical  riiin  ;  but  the  boon  of  mere  existence  will  be  valueless  if 
we  fail  to  restore  the  [635]  moral  energies  of  her  population  ;  for 
of  this  fine  region  and  noble  race  we  might  say,  as  Byron  does 
of  Greece — 

'Tis  Greece — but  living  Greece  no  more ! 

or  the  mind  is  decayed,  and  the  body  often  palsied  and  worn  out, 
in  the  very  meridian  of  life.  As  far  as  my  personal  influence 
went,  I  practised  what  I  preach  ;  and,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
exacted  a  promise,  fi-om  the  Rana  on  the  throne  to  the  lowest 
Thakur,  that  they  would  never  initiate  their  cliildren  in  this 
debasing  practice.  But  as  mere  declamation  can  do  very  little 
good,  I  will  here  insert  a  portion  of  the  AgTarian  customary  code 
of  Mewar  and  Malwa,  which  may  be  brought  into  operation 
directly  or  indirectly.  The  distribution  of  crops  was  as  follows. 
Distribution  of  Crops. — To  each  charas,  charsa,  or  skin  of  land, 
there  is  attached  twenty-five  bighas  of  irrigated  land  for  wheat 
and  barley,  with  from  thirty  to  fifty  bighas  more,  called  mar,  or 
mal,  dependent  on  the  heavens  for  water,  and  generally  sown 
with  gram.  Of  the  twenty-five  bighas  of  land  irrigated  from  the 
well,  the  legislature  sanctioned  one  bigha  of  opium,  and  ten  to 
fifteen  biswas  (twenty  bis  was  are  a  bigha)  of  sugar-cane.  But  in 
these  days  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  when  every  one  follows  his 
own  view  of  things,  they  cultivate  two  of  opium  and  three  of 
cane,  and  perhaps  two  of  barley,  instead  of  twenty-five,  to  feed 
the  family  !  Wliat  an  unnatural  state  of  agricultural  economy  is 
tliis,  when  the  cultivator  sometimes  actually  purchases  food  for 
his  family,  in  order  that  he  may  bestow  his  time  and  labour  on 
this  enervating  exotic !  But  should  the  foreign  markets  be 
closed,  and  famine,  as  is  not  unusual,  ensue,  what  must  be  the 
consequence,  where  the  finest  corn-country  in  India  is  converted 
to  a  poppy-garden  !  In  Haraoti  they  manage  these  things 
better  ;  and  although  its  old  politic  ruler  makes  use  of  the  districts 
in  Malwa,  which  he  rents  from  the  Mahrattas,  for  the  culture  of 
opium,  being  liimself  a  trader  in  it,  yet  I  do  not  believe  he  permits 
its  demoralizing  influence  to  enter  within  his  proper  domain. 
It  is  pleasing  to  see  some  traces  of  the  legislative  wisdom  of  past 
days,  and  old  Zalim  knows  that  it  is  by  the  more  generous  produc- 
tions of  the  plough  that  his  coimtry  must  prosper.     But  our 


1672  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

monopoly  acted  as  an  encouragement  of  this  vice  ;  for  no  sooner 
was  it  promulgated  that  the  Compani  Sahib  was  contractor- 
general  for  opium,  than  prince  and  peasant,  nay,  the  very 
scavengers,  dabbled  in  the  speculation.  All  Malwa  was  thrown 
into  a  ferment  ;  like  the  Dutch  tulip-bubble,  the  most  fraudulent 
purchases  and  transfers  were  effected  by  men  who  had  not  a  ser 
of  opium  in  their  possession.  The  extent  to  which  this  must 
have  gone  may  be  imagined  when  [636],  according  to  the  return, 
the  sales,  in  the  first  year  of  our  monopoly,  exceeded  one  million 
sterling,  in  which  I  rather  think  we  gained  a  loss  of  some  £40,000  ! 
It  is  to  be  hoped  the  subject  is  now  better  understood,  and  that 
the  legislature  at  home  will  perceive  that  -a  perseverance  in  this 
pernicious  traffic  is  consistent  neither  with  our  honour,  our 
interest,  nor  with  humanity. 

If  the  facts  I  have  collected  are  confirmed  on  inquiry,  the  late 
measures  of  Government,^  in  whatever  motives  originating,  will 
only  augment  the  mischief.  Even  admitting  their  expediency 
in  protecting  our  Patna  monopoly,  and  their  justice  as  affecting 
the  native  governments  (the  contractors  and  cultivators  of  the 
drug),  still  other  measures  might  have  been  devised,  equally 
efficacious  in  themselves,  and  less  pregnant  with  evil  consequences. 


CHAPTER  5 

Dhareswar,  February  14 :  six  miles  ;  therm.  46°  at  5  a.m. — 
From  Kanera  to  Dhareswar  there  is  a  gradual  descent,  perhaps 
equal  to  one-third  of  the  angle  of  ascent  of  the  table-land.  For 
half  the  distance  the  surface  is  a  fine  rich  soil,  but  the  last  half 
is  strewed  with  fragments  of  the  rock.  Dhareswar  is  beautifully 
situated  at  the  lowest  point  of  descent,  with  a  clear  stream, 
planted  with  fine  timber  to  the  south.  The  Bhumia  rights  are 
enjoyed  by  some  Kachhwaha  Rajputs,  who  pay  a  share  of  the 
crops  to  Kanera.  Passed  a  few  small  hamlets  in  the  grey  of  the 
morning,  and  several  herd  of  elk-deer,  who  walked  away  from 
us  with  great  deliberation  ;  but  the  surface  was  too  stony  to 
try  our  horses'  mettle. 

\5th,  Ratangarh  Kheri,  distance  nine  miles. — The  road  over 

^  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was  written  on  the  spot,  in  January, 
A.D.  1820. 


RATANGARH  KHERI  1673 

a  bare  rock,  skirting  a  stream  flowing  on  its  surface.  Two  miles 
from  Dhareswar  is  the  boundary  of  Kanera,  and  the  Chaurasi 
(eighty-four  townships)  of  Kheri  ;  the  descent  still  graduating  to 
Kheri,  which  is  probably  not  above  one  hundred  feet  higher  than 
the  external  plains  [637]  of  Mewar.  The  road  was  over  loose 
stones  with  much  jungle,  but  here  and  there  some  fine  patches 
of  rich  black  soil.  We  kept  company  with  the  Dhareswar  nala 
all  the  way,  which  is  well  wooded  in  its  course,  and  presented  a 
pretty  fall  at  one  point  of  our  journey.  Passed  several  hamlets, 
and  a  colony  of  Charans,  whom  I  found  to  be  some  of  my  friends 
of  Maria.  They  had  not  forgotten  their  privilege  ;  but  as  the 
ladies  were  only  the  matrons  of  the  colony,  there  would  have 
been  no  amusement  in  capti\dty  ;  so  I  dropped  five  rupees  into 
the  brazen  kalas,  and  passed  on.  The  cavalcade  of  the  Kama- 
visdar  of  Kheri  was  also  at  hand,  consisting  of  about  two  hundred 
horse  and  foot,  having  left  his  castle  on  the  peak  to  greet  and 
conduct  me  to  my  tents.  He  is  a  relation  of  old  Lalaji  Balal, 
and  intelligent  and  polite.  Our  tents  were  pitched  near  the 
town,  to  which  the  Pandit  conducted  us  ;  after  which  act 
of  civility,  in  the  character  of  the  locum  tenens  of  my  friend 
Lalaji,  and  his  sovereign  Sindhia  (in  whose  camp  I  sojourned 
twelve  long  years),  he  took  his  leave,  inviting  me  to  the  castle  ; 
but  as  it  contained  nothing  antique,  I  would  not  give  cause  for 
jealousy  to  his  prince  by  accepting  his  in\itation,  and  ci^^lly 
declined. 

The  Chaurasi,  or  eighty-four  [townships]  of  Ratangarh  Kheri, 
was  in  S.  1828  (a.d.  1772)  assigned  to  Mahadaji  Sindhia,  to  pay 
off  a  war-contribution  ;  and  until  S.  1832,  its  revenues  were 
regularly  accoimted  for.  It  was  then  made  over  to  Berji  Tap, 
the  son-in-law  of  Sindhia,  and  has  ever  since  remained  alienated 
from  Mewar.  The  treason  of  the  chief  of  Begun,  one  of  the 
sixteen  nobles  of  the  Rana,  lost  this  jewel  in  his  crown,  for  he 
seized  upon  the  Chaurasi,  which  adjoined  his  own  estate,  situated 
on  the  skirt  of  this  alpine  region.  To  expel  him  the  Rana  called 
on  Sindhia,  who  not  only  took  the  Chaurasi,  but  Begun  itself, 
which  was  hea\aly  fined,  and  forty  of  its  best  villages,  or  half  his 
fief,  were  mortgaged  to  pay  the  mulct.  The  landscape  from  these 
heights  is  very  fine  ;  the  Pandit,  from  his  aerial  abode,  can  look 
down  on  Kheri,  and  exclaim  with  Selkirk — 

I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey, 

VOL.  Ill  2  E 


1674  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

but  I  would  dispute  liis  right  with  all  my  heart,  if  I  could  do  so 
with  success. 

Little  Atoa.^ — Distance  eight  miles,  thermometer  at  daybreak 
40°,  with  a  cutting  wind,  straight  from  the  north,  which  we 
keenly  felt  as  our  party  ascended  the  heights  of  Ratangarh. 
The  altitude  of  this  second  steppe  in  the  plateau  is  under  four 
hundred  feet,  although  the  winding  ascent  made  it  by  the  per- 
ambulator five  furlongs.  The  fort  is  erected  on  a  projection  of 
the  mountain,  and  the  works  are  in  pretty  good  order.  They 
had  been  adding  fresh  ones  on  the  accessible  side,  which  the 
general  state  of  [638]  security  has  put  a  stop  to.  In  fact,  it  could 
not  hold  out  twenty-four  hours  against  a  couple  of  mortars,  the 
whole  interior  being  commanded  from  a  height  within  easy 
range.  I  asked  my  old  guide  if  the  castle  had  ever  stood  a 
storm  :  his  reply  was  in  the  negative  :  "  She  is  still  a  kumari 
(a  virgin),  and  all  forts  are  termed  kumaris,  until  they  stand  an 
assault."  -  We  had  a  superb  view  from  the  summit,  which  is 
greatly  above  the  level  of  Kanera,  whose  boundary  line  was 
distinct.  The  stream  from  Dhareswar  was  traced  gliding  through 
its  embankments  of  black  rock,  covered  with  luxuriant  young 
crops,  and  studded  with  mango  and  mahua  trees.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  that  the  higher  we  ascended,  the  less  mischief  had  been 
inflicted  on  the  crops,  although  the  sugar-cane  looked  prematurely 
ripe.  The  wheat  fields  were  luxuriant,  but  the  barley  showed  in 
their  grizzly  beards  here  and  there  an  evidence  of  having  suffered. 
I  also  noted  that  invariably  all  the  low  branches  of  the  mahua 
trees  were  injured,  the  leaves  shrivelled  and  dried  up,  while  the 
superior  ones  were  not  affected.  The  field-peas  (batloi)  ^  sown 
with  the  barley  were  more  or  less  injured,  but  not  nearly  so  much 
as  at  Kanera. 

The  road  was  execrable,  if  road  it  could  be  termed,  which  for 

1  [About  100  miles  N.N  E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 

*  [In  Europe,  at  times,  Metz,  Toumay,  Magdeburg,  Londonderry,  and 
others  bore  this  title.  "  Several  ancient  earthworks  in  England  were  called 
Maiden  Castle ;  the  sense  may  possibly  be  a  fortress  capable  of  being 
defended  by  maidens ;  there  may  have  been  an  allusion  to  some  forgotten 
legend  "  (Neiv  English  Diet.,  s.v.).  In  India  Hansi  was  known  as  Kumari, 
used  in  the  sense  of  '  unviolated.'] 

^  [This  name  is  not  found  in  dictionaries  or  gazetteers.  The  field  pea, 
Pisum  arvenae,  is  usually  called  rnatar  (Watt,  Comm.  Prod.  902).  Baluri, 
of  which  this  may  be  a  corruption,  is  the  chick  pea  or  gram.] 


LITTLE  ATOA  1675 

many  miles  was  formed  for  me  by  the  kindness  of  the  Pandit, 
who  cut  a  path  through  the  otherwise  impenetrable  jungle,  the 
abode  of  elks  and  tigers,  sufficient  to  pass  my  baggage.  This 
route  is  never  passed  by  troops  ;  but  I  had  curiosity  to  indulge, 
not  comfort.  About  four  miles  from  the  castle,  we  ascended 
another  moderate  elevation  to  the  village  of  Umar,  whence  we 
saw  Paragarh  on  the  left,  and  learning  that  it  contained  an 
inscription,  I  dispatched  one  of  my  pandits  to  copy  it.  A  mile 
farther  brought  us  to  the  extremity'  of  the  ridge  serving  as  a 
landmark  to  the  Ciiaurasi  of  Klieri.  From  it  v/e  viewed  another 
steppe,  that  we  shall  ascend  the  day  after  to-morrow,  from  which 
I  am  told  the  Patar  gradually  shelves  to  the  banks  of  the  Chambal, 
the  termination  of  our  journey.  As  we  passed  the  village  of 
Ummedpura  (HopetowTi),  a  sub-infeudation  of  Begun,  held  by 
the  uncle  of  its  chief,  we  were  greeted  by  the  Thakur,  accompanied 
by  two  of  his  kinsmen.  They  were  all  well  mounted,  lance  in 
hand,  and  attired  in  their  quilted  tunics  and  deer-skin  doublet, 
of  itself  no  contemptible  armour.  They  conveyed  their  chief's 
compliments,  and  ha^^ng  accompanied  me  to  my  tents,  took 
leave. 

Chhota,  or  little  Atoa,  is  also  held  by  a  sub-vassal  of  the  same 
clan,  the  Meghawats  of  Begim  ;  his  name  Dungar  Singh,  '  the 
moimtain  lion,'  novt^  with  me,  and  who  long  enjoyed  the  pre- 
eminent distinction  of  being  chief  reiver  of  the  Patar  [639].  With 
oiu"  party  he  has  the  familiar  appellation  of  Roderic  Dhu,  and 
without  boasting  of  his  past  exploits,  he  never  dreams  of  their 
being  coupled  with  dishonour.  Although  he  scoured  the  countrj^ 
far  and  near  to  bring  blackmail  to  his  moimtain-retreat,  it  was 
from  the  Mahrattas  chiefly  that  his  wants  were  supplied  ;  and 
he  required  but  the  power,  to  have  attained  the  same  measure 
of  celebrity  as  his  ancestor  the  'Blackcloud'  (Kala-megh)  of 
Begun.  Still,  his  name  was  long  the  bugbear  of  this  region,  and 
the  words  Dungar  Singh  aya  !  '  the  mountain  lion  is  at  hand  !  ' 
were  sufficient  to  scare  the  peaceful  occupants  of  the  surrounding 
country  from  their  property,  or  to  arm  them  for  its  defence. 
With  the  '  Southron  '  he  had  just  cause  of  quarrel,  since,  but  for 
him,  he  would  have  been  lord  of  Nadwai  and  its  twenty-four 
villages,  of  which  his  grandfather  was  despoUed  at  the  same  time 
that  this  alpine  region  was  wrested  by  Sindhia  from  his  sovereign. 
This  lappa,  however,  fell  to  Holkar  ;    but  the  father  of  Dungar, 


1676  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

lance  in  hand,  gave  the  conqueror  no  rest,  until  he  granted  him  a 
lease  in  perpetuity  of  four  of  the  villages  of  his  patrimony,  two 
of  which  were  under  Holkar's  own  seal,  and  two  under  that  of  the 
renter.  About  twenty  years  ago,  the  latter  having  been  resumed, 
Sheo  Singh  took  up  his  lance  again,  and  initiated  the  mountain- 
lion,  his  son,  in  the  lex  talionis.  He  flung  away  the  scabbard, 
sent  his  family  for  security  to  the  Raja  of  Shahpura,  and  gave  his 
mind  up  to  vengeance.  The  father  and  son,  and  many  other  brave 
spirits  with  the  same  cause  of  revenge,  carried  their  incursions 
into  the  very  heart  of  Malwa,  bringing  back  the  spoils  to  his  den 
at  little  Atoa.  But  though  his  hand  was  now  raised  against  every 
man,  he  forgot  not  his  peculiar  feud  (wair),  and  his  patrimony  of 
Nadwai  yielded  little  to  the  Mahratta.  But  Sheo  Singh  was 
surrounded  by  foes,  who  leagued  to  circumvent  him,  and  one  day, 
while  driving  many  a  goodly  buffalo  to  his  shelter,  he  was  suddenly 
beset  by  a  body  of  horse  placed  in  ambush  by  the  Bhao.  But 
both  were  superbly  mounted,  and  they  led  them  a  chase  through 
Mandalgarh,  and  were  within  the  very  verge  of  security,  when, 
as  Sheo  Singh  put  his  mare  to  the  nala,  she  played  him  false  and 
fell,  and  ere  she  recovered  herself  the  long  lance  of  INIahratta  was 
through  the  rider.  Young  Dungar  was  more  fortunate,  and  defy- 
ing his  pursuers  to  clear  the  rivulet,  bound  up  the  body  of  his 
father  in  his  scarf,  ascended  the  familiar  path,  and  burnt  it  at 
midnight,  amongst  the  family  altars  of  Nadwai.  But  far  from 
destroying,  this  only  increased  the  appetite  for  vengeance,  which 
has  lasted  till  these  days  of  peace  ;  and,  had  every  chieftain  of 
Mewar  acted  like  Dungar,  the  Mahratta  would  have  had  fewer  of 
their  fields  to  batten  on  to-day.  His  frank,  but  energetic  answer, 
when  the  envoy  mentioned  the  deep  complaints  urged  [640]  against 
him  by  the  present  manager  of  Nadwai,  was  "  I  must  have  bread  !  " 
and  this  they  had  snatched  from  him.  But  Holkar's  government, 
which  looks  not  to  the  misery  inflicted,  carries  loud  complaints  to 
the  resident  authorities,  who  can  only  decide  on  the  principle  of 
possession,  and  the  abstract  view  of  Dungar's  course  of  life.  For 
myself,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  avow,  that  my  regard  for  the  chiefs  of 
Mewar  is  in  the  ratio  of  their  retaliation  on  their  '  Southron  ' 
foe  ;  and  entering  deeply  into  all  their  great  and  powerful  grounds 
for  resentment,  I  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  '  mountain- 
lion  '  ;  and  as  the  case  (through  Mr.  Gerald  Wellesley)  was  left 
by  Holkar's  government  to  my  arbitration,  I  secured  to  the  chief 


DtJNGAR  SINGH  :  SINGOLI  1677 

a  part  of  his  patrimony  under  their  joint  seal,  and  left  him  to  turn 
his  lance  into  a  plough-share,  until  fresh  causes  for  just  aggression 
may  arise.  This  settlement  gave  me  another  proof  of  the  in- 
aUenable  right  in  land  granted  by  the  ryot  cultivator,  and  its 
superiority  over  that  granted  by  the  sovereign.  There  were 
certaia  rights  in  the  soil  (bhuni)  which  Dungar's  ancestors  had 
thus  obtained,  in  the  townsliip  of  Nadwai,  to  wliich  he  attached 
a  higher  value  than  to  the  place  itself.  Dungar's  story  affords  a 
curious  instance  of  the  laws  of  adoption  superseding,  if  not  the 
rank,  the  fortune  resulting  from  birthright.  Sheo  Singh  and 
Daulat  Singh,  both  sub-vassals  of  Begim,  were  brothers  ;  the 
former  had  Nadwai,  the  latter  Rawarda.  But  Daulat  Singh, 
having  no  issue,  adopted  Salim  Singh,  the  younger  brother  of 
Dungar,  who  has  thus  become  lord  of  Rawarda,  of  nearly  four 
thousand  rupees  annual  rent,  while  Dungar's  chief  place  is  httle 
Atoa,  and  the  hhum  of  Nadwai.  Salim  Singh  is  now  in  high 
favour  with  his  cliief  of  Begun,  to  whom  he  is  Faujdar,  or  leader 
of  the  vassals.  In  personal  aj^pearance  he  has  greatly  the  ad- 
vantage of  Dungar  ;  Sahm  is  tall  and  very  handsome,  bold  in 
speech  and  of  gentlemanly  deportment  ;  Dungar  is  compact  in 
form,  of  dark  complexion,  rugged  in  feature,  and  bluntness  itself 
111  phrase,  but  perfectly  good-humoured,  frank,  and  unreserved  ; 
and  as  he  rode  by  my  side,  he  amused  me  with  many  anecdotes 
connected  with  the  scenery  around. 

Singoli,^  February  17,  eight  and  a  half  miles,  thermometer 
40°. — This  town  is^cliief  of  a  lappa  or  subdivision,  containing 
fifty-two  villages,  of  the  district  of  Antri,  a  term  applied  to  a 
defile,  or  tract  surrounded  by  mountains.  The  Antri  of  Mewar  is 
fertihzed  by  the  Bamani,  which  finds  its  way  through  a  singular 
diversity  of  comitry,  after  two  considerable  faUs,  to  the  Chambal, 
and  is  about  thirty  miles  in  length,  reckoning  from  Bichor  to  the 
summit  of  the  steppe  of  the  plateau,  by  about  ten  mUes  in  breadth, 
producing  the  most  luxuriant  crops  of  wheat,  barley,  gram,  sugar- 
cane, and  poppy  ;  and  [641]  having,  spread  over  its  surface,  one 
hundred  viUages  and  hamlets,  but  a  section  of  the  country  will 
make  it  better  understood. 

From  Bichor,  the  pass  opening  from  the  plains  of  Mewar,  to  the 
highest  peak  of  this  alpine  Patar,  the  Kala  Megh,  or  '  black  cloud,' 

^  [About  105  miles  N.E.E.  of  Udaipur  city.  The  Bamani  joins  the 
Chambal  at  Bhaiusrorgarh,  about  120  miles  E.N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


SINGOLI:    CHIEF   OF   UMMEDPURA  1679 

of  Begun,  bore  sway.  From  liim  sprung  another  of  the  numerous 
clans  of  Me  war,  who  assumed  the  patronymic  Meghawat.  These 
clans  and  tribes  multiply,  for  Kala  Megh  and  his  ancestors  were 
recognized  as  a  branch  of  the  Sangawat,  one  of  the  early  sub- 
divisions of  the  Chondawat,  the  chief  clan  of  Mewar.  The 
descendant  of  the  '  black  cloud,'  whose  castle  of  Begun  is  near  the 
entrance  to  Antri,  could  not  now  muster  above  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men  at  arms  throughout  the  Patar  ;  to  which  he  might  add 
as  many  more  of  foreign  Rajputs,  as  the  Hara  and  Gaur,  holding 
lands  for  service.  The  head  of  the  Meghawats  has  not  above 
twenty  villages  in  his  fief  of  Begun,  though  these  might  yield 
twenty-five  thousand  rupees  annually,  if  cultivated  ;  the  rest  is 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  Mahrattas,  as  a  mortgage  contracted 
nearly  forty  years  ago,  and  which  has  been  Uquidated  ten  times 
over  :  they  include,  in  this,  even  a  third  of  the  produce  of  liis  own 
place  of  residence,  and  the  town  itself  is  never  free  from  these 
intruders,  who  are  continually  causing  disturbances.  Unhappily 
for  Mewar,  the  grand  principle  of  the  campaign  and  its  political 
results,  "  that  of  excluding  the  Mahrattas  from  the  west  bank  of 
the  Chambal,"  was  forgotten  in  our  successes,  or  all  the  alienated 
lands  of  Mewar  as  far  as  the  Malwa  frontier  would  have  reverted 
to  the  Rana. 

The  Chief  of  Ummedpura.- — The  hamlets  on  the  Patar  consist 
of  huts  with  low  mud  walls,  and  tiled  roofs ;  even  Ummedpura, 
though  inhabited  by  the  vmcle  of  the  chief,  is  no  better  than  the 
rest,  and  liis  house  is  one  which  the  poorest  peasant  in  England 
would  not  occupy.  Yet  steeped  in  poverty,  its  chieftain,  accom- 
panied by  his  son,  nephew,  and  fifteen  more  of  his  kin  and  clan, 
came  "  for  the  purpose  of  doing  himself,  his  lord  paramount  of 
Begun,  and  the  British  Agent,  honour."  The  moimtain-chief  of 
Ummedpura  affords  a  fine  example  [642],  that  noble  bearing  may 
be  independent  of  the  trappings  of  rank  ;  high  descent  and  proper 
self-respect  appeared  in  every  feature  and  action.  Dressed  in  a 
homely  suit  of  aniaua,  or  russet  green,  with  a  turban  of  the  same 
(the  favourite  hunting  costume  of  the  Rajput)  ;  over  all  the 
corselet  of  the  skin  of  the  elk,  slain  by  himself  ;  with  his  bright 
lance  in  hand,  and  mounted  on  a  good  strong  horse,  whose  ac- 
coutrements like  his  master's  were  plain  but  neat,  behold  the 
vassal  of  Ummedpura  equipped  for  the  chase  or  foray.  The  rest 
of  his  party  followed  him  on  foot,  gay  and  unconcerned  as  the 


1680  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

wild-deer  of  the  Patar  ;  ignorant  of  luxury,  except  a  little  amal- 
pani  when  they  go  to  Begun  ;  and  whose  entire  wants,  including 
food,  raiment,  gunpowder,  and  tobacco,  can  be  amply  suppUed 
by  about  £8  a  year  each!  The  party  accompanied  me  to  my 
tents,  and  having  presented  brilliant  scarlet  turbans  and  scarfs, 
with  some  English  gunpowder,  to  the  chief,  his  son,  and  nephew, 
we  parted  mutually  pleased  at  the  rencontre. 

The  descent  to  Singoli  is  very  gentle,  nor  are  we  above  eighty 
feet  below  the  level  of  Umar,  the  highest  point  of  the  Patar,  which 
I  rejoice  to  have  visited,  but  lament  the  want  of  my  barometers. 
Singoli,  in  such  a  tract  as  this,  may  be  entitled  a  town,  having 
fifteen  hundred  inhabited  dwellings  encompassed  by  a  strong  wall. 
The  Pandit  is  indebted  to  liis  own  good  management,  and  the 
insecurity  around  him,  for  this  numerous  population.  In  the 
centre  of  the  town,  the  dingy  walls  of  a  castle  built  by  Alu  Hara 
strike  the  eye,  from  the  contrast  with  the  new  works  added  by 
the  Pandit ;  it  has  a  deep  ditch,  with  a  fausse-braye,  and  parapet. 
The  circumvallation  measures  a  mile  and  three-quarters.  About 
a  mile  to  the  north-west  are  the  remains  of  a  temple  to  Vijayaseni 
Bhavani,  the  Pallas  of  the  Rajputs.  I  found  a  tablet  recording 
the  piety  of  the  lord  paramount  of  the  Patar,  in  a  perpetual  gift 
of  lights  for  the  altar.  It  runs  thus  :  "  Samvat  1477  (a.d.  1421), 
the  2d  of  Asoj,  being  Friday  {Bhriguwar  ^),  Maharaja  Sri  Mokal-ji, 

^  A  name  of  Sukracharya,  the  Regent  of  the  planet  Venus.  The  '  star 
of  eve  '  is  always  called  Sukra,  but  presents  a  most  unpoetic  idea  to  the 
mind,  when  we  learn  that  this  star,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  heavenly 
host,  is  named  after  an  immoral  one-eyed  male  divinitj^  who  lost  his  other 
orb  in  an  undignified  personal  collision,  from  an  assault  upon  Tara  {the  star), 
the  wife  of  a  brother-god.  Sukracharya,  notwithstanding,  holds  the  office 
of  Guru,  or  spiritual  adviser,  to  the  whole  celestial  bodj' — we  may  add  ex 
uno  disce  ornnes  :  and  assuredly  the  Hindu  who  takes  the  mythological 
biography  of  his  gods  au  pied  de  la  letlre,  cannot  much  strengthen  his  morality 
thereby.  The  classical  Hindu  of  tlicse  days  values  it  as  he  ought,  lookiiig 
upon  it  as  a  pretty  astronomical  fable,  akin  to  the  voyage  of  the  Argonauts  ; 
but  the  bulk  enter  the  temple  of  the  "  thirty-three  millions  of  gods  "  with 
the  same  firmness  of  behef  as  did  the  old  Roman  his  Pantheon.  The  ilrst 
step,  and  a  grand  one,  has  been  made  to  destroy  this  fabric  of  Polytheism, 
and  to  turn  the  mind  of  the  Hindu  to  the  perception  of  his  own  purer  creed, 
adoration  of  "  the  one^  omniscient,  omnipotent,  and  eternal  God."  Ram- 
mohun  Roy  has  made  this  step,  who  "  has  become  a  law  unto  himself," 
and  a  precursor,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  of  benefit  to  his  race.  In  the  practical 
effects  of  Christianity,  ho  is  a  Christian,  though  still  a  devout  Brahman, 
adoring  the  Creator  alone,  and  exercising  an  extended  charity,  with  a 


LEGENDS  OF  THE  HARAS  1681 

in  order  to  furnish  lights  (jyotis  waste)  for  Vijayaseni  Bhavaniji 
[643],  has  granted  one  bigha  and  a  half  of  land.  Whosoever  shall 
set  aside  this  offering,  the  goddess  will  overtake  him."  This  is  a 
memorial  of  the  celebrated  Rana  Mokal  of  Mewar,  whose  tragical 
death  by  assassination  has  been  recorded  in  the  annals  of  that 
State. ^  Mokal  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  this  race  ;  and 
he  defeated,  in  a  pitched  battle  at  Raepur,  a  grandson  of  the 
emperor  of  Delhi.  He  was  the  father  of  Lalbai,  called  '  the  Ruby 
of  Mewar,'  regarding  whom  we  have  related  a  little  scandal  from 
-the  chronicle  of  the  Bhattis  (see  p.  1218)  ;  but  the  bard  of  the 
Khichis,  who  says  that  prince  Dhiraj  espoused  her  in  spite  of  the 
ifisult  of  the  desert  chief,  had  no  cause  to  doubt  the  lustre  of  this 
gem. 

Legends  of  the  Haras. — The  Patar  resounds  with  the  tradi- 
tionary tales  of  the  Haras,  who,  at  a  very  early  period,  estabhshed 
themselves  in  tliis  alpine  region,  on  which  they  erected  twelve 
castles  for  its  protection,  all  of  them  still  to  be  traced  existing  or 
in  ruins  ;  and  although  they  assumed  the  title  of  '  lords  of  the 
Patar,'  they  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  Ranas  of  Mewar, 
whom  they  obeyed  as  liege  lords  at  this  very  time.  Of  these 
twelve  castles,  Ratangarh  is  the  only  one  not  entirely  dismantled  ; 
though  even  the  ruins  of  another,  Dilwargarh,  had  been  the  cause 
of  a  bloody  feud  between  the  Meghawat  of  Begun  and  the  Sakta- 
wat  of  Gwalior,  also  in  the  Patar.  That  of  Paranagar,  or  Parol  i, 
lies  a  short  distance  from  thence,  but  the  most  famous  of  all  is 
Bumbaoda,  placed  upon  the  western  crest  of  the  plateau,  and 

spirit  of  meekness,  toleration,  and  benevolence,  added  to  manly  resistance 
of  all  that  savours  of  oppression,  which  stamps  him  as  a  man  chosen  for 
great  purposes.  To  these  moral,  he  adds  mental  qualifications  of  the  highest 
order :  clear  and  rapid  perception,  vigorous  comprehension,  immense 
industry  of  research,  and  perfect  seK-possession ;  having,  moreover,  a 
classical  knoAvledge,  not  of  our  language  only,  but  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
Persian,  Arabic,  and  the  '  mother-tongue,'  or  langue-mere  of  ail,  the  Sanskrit. 
[Philologists  now  regard  Sanskrit  as  later  than  Greek  or  Latin.] 

^  By  means  of  this  simple  tablet,  we  detect  an  anachronism  in  the 
chronicle.  It  is  stated  in  p.  332  of  the  first  volume,  that  Kumbha  succeeded 
his  father  Rana  Mokal  in  S.  1475,  or  two  years  anterior  to  the  date  of  the 
grant  of  lights  for  the  goddess.  Such  checks  upon  Rajput  chronology  are 
always  falling  in  the  way  of  those  who  will  read  as  they  run.  [Rana  Mokal 
(A.D.- 1397-1433)  was  assassinated  by  Ghacha  and  Mera,  the  illegitimate 
sons  of  his  grandfather,  Khet  Singh.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rana  Kumbha 
his  son,  then  a  minor.] 


1682  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 


overlooking  the  whole  plain  of  Mewar.  Although  some  centuries 
have  elapsed  since  the  Haras  were  expelled  from  this  table-land, 
the  name  of  Alu  of  Bumbaoda  still  lives,  and  is  familiar  even  to 
the  savage  Bhil,  who,  like  the  beasts,  subsists  upon  the  wild  fruits 
of  the  jungles.  It  is  my  intention  to  return  by  another  route 
across  the  Patar,  and  to  visit  the  site  of  Alu's  dwelling  ;  mean- 
while I  will  give  one  of  the  many  tales  related  of  him  by  my  guide, 
as  I  traversed  the  scenes  of  his  glory. 

Alu  Hara. — Alu  Hara,  one  day,  returning  homeward  from  the 
chase,  was  accosted  by  a  Charan,  who,  having  bestowed  his  bless- 
ing upon  him,  would  accept  of  nothing  in  exchange  but  [644]  the 
turban  from  his  head.  Strange  as  was  the  desire,  he  preferred 
compliance  to  incurring  the  visarwa,^  or  '  vituperation  of  the 
bard  '  ;  who,  placing  Alu's  turban  on  his  own  head,  bade  him 
'  live  a  thousand  years,'  and  departed.  The  Charan  immediately 
bent  his  steps  to  Mandor,  the  capital  of  Maru  ;  and  as  he  was 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  its  prince  and  pronounced  the  birad 
of  the  Rathors,  he  took  off  liis  turban  with  the  left  hand,  and  per- 
formed his  salutation  with  the  right.  The  unusual  act  made  the 
prince  demand  the  cause,  when  in  reply  he  was  told  "that  the 
turban  of  Alu  Hara  should  bend  to  none  on  earth."  Such  rever- 
ence to  an  obscure  chief  of  the  mountains  of  Mewar  enraged  the 
King  of  the  Desert,  who  unceremoniously  kicked  the  turban  out 
of  doors.  Alu,  who  had  forgotten  the  strange  request,  was 
tranquilly  occupied  in  his  pastime,  when  his  quondam  friend  again 
accosted  him,  his  head  bare,  the  insulted  turban  under  his  arm, 
and  loudly  demanding  vengeance  on  the  Rathor,  whose  conduct 
he  related.  Alu  was  vexed,  and  upbraided  the  Charan  for  having 
wantonly  provoked  this  indignity  towards  him.  "  Did  I  not  tell 
you  to  ask  land,  or  cattle,  or  money,  yet  nothing  would  please 
you  but  this  rag  ;  and  my  liead  must  answer  for  the  insult  to  a 
vile  piece  of  cloth  ;  for  nothing  appertaining  to  Alu  Hara  shall  be 
insulted  with  impunity  even  by  the  Thakur  of  Marwar."  Alu 
forthwith  convened  his  clan,  and  soon  five  hundred  "  sons  of  one 
father  "  were  assembled  within  the  walls  of  Bumbaoda,  ready  to 
follow  wheresoever  he  led.  He  explained  to  them  the  desperate 
nature  of  the  enterprise  from  which  none  could  expect  to  return  ; 
and  he  prepared  the  fatal  Johar  for  all  those  who  determined  to 

^  [Dr.  Tossitori  writes  :    "  The  term  is  visar,  '  satire.'     I  do  not  think 
that  it  has  anything  to  do  with  vis,  '  poison.'  "] 


1 


THE  TALE  OF  ALU  HARA  1683 

die  with  him.  This  first  step  to  vengeance  being  over,  the  day  of 
departure  was  fixed  ;  but  previous  to  tliis  he  was  anxious  to 
ensure  the  safety  of  his  nephew,  who,  on  failure  of  direct  issue, 
was  the  adopted  heir  of  Bumbaoda,  He  accordingly  locked  him 
up  in  tiie  inner  keep  of  the  castle,  within  seven  gates,  each 
of  which  had  a  lock,  and  furnishing  him  with  provisions, 
departed. 

The  prince  of  Mandor  was  aware  he  had  entailed  a  feud  ;  but 
so  Httie  did  he  regard  what  this  mountain-chief  might  do,  that  he 
proclaimed  "  all  the  lands  over  which  the  Hara  should  march  to 
be  in  dan  (gift)  to  the  Bralimans."  But  Alu,  who  despised  not 
the  aid  of  stratagem,  disguised  his  Mttle  troop  as  horse-merchants, 
and  placing  their  arms  and  caparisons  in  covered  carriages,  and 
their  steeds  in  long  strings,  the  hostile  caravan  reached  the  capital 
unsuspected.  The  party  took  rest  for  the  night  ;  but  with  the 
dawn  they  saddled,  and  the  nakkaras  of  the  Hara  awoke  the 
Rathor  prince  from  liis  slumber  ;  starting  up,  he  demanded  who 
was  the  audacious  [645]  mortal  that  dared  to  strike  his  drvun 
at  the  gates  of  Mandor?  The  answer  was,  —  "Alu  Hara  of 
Bumbaoda ! " 

The  mother  (probably  a  Chauhani)  of  the  King  of  INIaru  now 
asked  her  son  "  how  he  meant  to  fulfil  his  vaunt  of  giving  to  the 
Brahmans  all  the  lands  that  the  Hara  passed  over  ?  "  but  he  had 
the  resolution  to  abide  by  liis  pledge,  and  the  magnanimity  not 
to  take  advantage  of  his  antagonist's  position  ;  and  to  his  formal 
challenge,  conveyed  by  beat  of  nakkara,  he  proposed  that  single 
combats  should  take  place,  man  for  man.  Alu  accepted  it, 
and  thanked  him  for  his  courtesy,  remarking  to  his  kinsmen, 
"  At  least  we  shall  have  five  hundred  lives  to  appease  our 
revenge !  " 

The  lists  were  prepared  ;  five  hundred  of  the  "  chosen  sons  of 
Siahji  "  were  marshalled  before  their  prince  to  try  the  manhood 
of  the  Haras  ;  and  now,  on  either  side,  a  champion  had  stepped 
forth  to  commence  this  mortal  strife,  when  a  striphng  rushed  in, 
ills  horse  panting  for  breath,  and  demanded  to  engage  a  gigantic 
Rathor.  The  champions  depressed  their  lances,  and  the  pause 
of  astonishment  was  first  broken  by  the  exclamation  of  the  Hara 
chieftain,  as  he  thus  addressed  the  youth  :  "  Oh  !  headstrong  and 
disobedient,  art  thou  come  liither  to  extinguish  the  race  of  Alu 
Hara  ?  " — "  Let  it  perish,  uncle  {kaka),  if,  when  you  are  in  peril, 


1684  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

I  am  not  with  you  !  "  replied  the  adopted  heir  of  Bumbaoda. 
The  veteran  Rathor  smiled  at  the  impetuous  valour  of  the  youthful 
Hara,  who  advanced  with  his  sword  ready  for  the  encounter. 
His  example  was  followed  by  his  gallant  antagonist,  and  courtesy 
was  exhausted  on  either  side  to  yield  the  first  blow  ;  till,  at  length, 
Alu's  nephew  accepted  it  ;  and  it  required  no  second,  for  he  clove 
the  Rathor  in  twain.  Another  took  his  place — he  shared  the 
same  fate  ;  a  third,  a  fourth,  and  in  like  manner  twenty-five,  fell 
under  the  young  hero's  sword.  But  he  bore  '  a  charmed  life  '  ; 
the  queen  of  armies  (  Vijayaseni),  whose  statue  guards  the  entrance 
of  Bumbaoda,  had  herself  enfranchized  the  youth  from  the  seven- 
fold gates,  in  which  his  micle  had  incarcerated  him,  and  having 
made  him  invxilnerable  except  in  one  spot  (the  neck),^  sent  him 
forth  to  aid  his  uncle,  and  gain  fresh  glory  for  the  race  of  which 
she  was  the  guardian.  But  the  vulnerable  point  was  at  length 
touched,  and  Alu  saw  the  child  of  his  love  and  his  adoption 
stretched  upon  the  earth.  The  queen-mother  of  the  Rathors,  who 
witnessed  the  conflict,  dreaded  a  repetition  of  such  valour,  from 
men  in  whom  desire  of  life  was  extinct ;  and  she  commanded  that 
the  contest  should  cease,  and  reparation  be  made  to  the  lord  of 
the  Patar,  by  giving  him  in  marriage  a  daughter  of  Mandor. 
Alu's  honour  was  redeemed  ;  he  accepted  the  offer,  and  with  his 
bride  repaired  to  the  desolate  Bumbaoda.  The  [046]  fruit  of  this 
marriage  was  a  daughter  ;  but  destiny  had  decreed  that  the  race 
of  Alu  Hara  should  perish.  When  she  had  attained  the  age  of 
marriage,  she  was  betrothed.  Bumbaoda  was  once  more  the 
scene  of  joy,  and  Alu  went  to  the  temple  and  invited  the  goddess 
to  the  wedding.  All  was  merriment ;  and  amongst  the  crowd 
of  mendicants  who  besieged  the  door  of  hospitality  was  a  decrepit 
old  woman,  who  came  to  the  threshold  of  the  palace,  and  desired 
the  guard  to  "  tell  Alu  Hara  she  had  come  to  the  feast,  and  de- 
manded to  see  him  "  ;  but  the  guard,  mocking  her,  desired  her 
to  be  gone,  and  "  not  to  stand  between  the  wind  and  him  "  :  she 
repeated  her  request,  saying  that  "  she  had  come  by  special  invita- 
tion." But  all  was  in  vain  ;  she  was  driven  forth  with  scorn. 
Uttering  a  deep  curse,  she  departed,  and  the  race  of  Alu  Hara 
was  extinct.  It  was  Vijayaseni  herself,  who  was  thus  repulsed 
from  the  house  of  which  she  was  protectress  ! 

^  [Compare  the  story  of  Achilles,  vuhierable  only  in  his  heel  or  ankles, 
which  his  mother,  Thetis,  failed  to  plunge  into  the  waters  of  Styx.] 


DANGARMAU  1685 

A  good  moral  is  here  inculcated  upon  the  Rajput,  who,  in  the 
fatal  example  of  Alu  Hara,  sees  the  danger  of  violating  the  laws 
of  wide-extended  hospitality  :  besides,  there  was  no  hour  too 
sacred,  no  person  too  mean,  for  such  claims  upon  the  ruler.  For 
the  present,  we  shall  take  leave  of  Alu  Hara,  and  the  '  Mother 
of  Victory '  of  the  Patar,  whose  shrine  I  hope  to  Aisit  on  my  return 
from  Haravati  ;  when  we  shall  learn  what  part  of  her  panoply 
she  parted  with  to  protect  the  gallant  heir  of  Bumbaoda. 

Dangarmau,^  February  18,  eight  miles  ;  thermometer  48°. — 
A  choice  of  three  routes  presented  itself  to  us  this  morning.  To 
the  left  lay  the  celebrated  Menal,  once  the  capital  of  Uparmal  ; 
on  the  right,  but  out  of  the  direct  line,  was  the  castle  of  Bhainsror, 
scarcely  less  celebrated  ;  and  straight  before  us  the  pole-star  and 
Kotah,  the  point  to  which  I  was  journeying.  I  cut  the  knot  of 
perplexity  by  de-vdating  from  the  direct  line,  to  descend  the  table- 
land to  Bhainsror,  and  without  crossing  the  Chambal,  nearly 
retraced  my  steps,  along  the  left  bank,  to  Kotah,  leaving  Menal 
for  my  return  to  Udaipur.  Our  route  lay  through  the  Antri,  or 
valley,  whose  northern  boundary  we  had  reached,  and  between 
it  and  the  Bamani.  The  tract  was  barren  but  covered  with 
jungle,  with  a  few  patches  of  soil  lodged  amidst  the  hollows  or 
otherwise  bare  rock,  over  whose  black  surface  several  rills  had 
cut  a  low  bed,  all  falling  into  the  Bamani.  One  of  these  had  a 
name  which  we  need  not  translate.  Rani  bur-ka-khal,  and  which 
serves  as  a  boundary  between  the  lands  of  the  Meghawats  of 
Antri  and  the  Saktawats  of  Bhainsror. 

Dangarmau-Barao  is  a  small  patta  of  twelve  villages,  yielding 
fifteen  thousand  [647]  rupees  of  annual  rent  ;  but  it  is  now  parti- 
tioned,— six  villages  to  each  of  the  towns  above  mentioned.  They 
are  Saktawat  allotments,  and  the  elder,  Sakat  Singh,  has  just 
returned  from  court,  where  he  had  been  to  have  the  sword  of 
investiture  {talwar  handhai)  girt  on  him  as  the  lord  of  Barao. 
Bishan  Singh  of  Dangarmau  is  at  Kotah,  where  he  enjoys  the 
confidence  of  Zaiim  Singh  and  is  commandant  of  cavalry.  He  has 
erected  a  castle  on  the  very  summit  of  the  third  steppe  of  the 
Patar,  whose  dazzling  white  walls  contrast  powerfully  with  the 
black  and  bleak  rock  on  which  it  stands,  and  render  it  a  con- 
spicuous object.     The  Saktawats  of  the  Patar  are  of  the  Bansi 

^  [About  110  miles  N.W.W.  of  Udaipur  city.  In  tlie  Author's  map  the 
name  is  written  Dungarmau,  which  is  possibly  right.] 


1686  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

family,^  itself  of  the  second  grade  of  nobles  of  Mewar  ;  and  the 
rank  of  both  the  chiefs  of  Danjiarmaii  and  Barao  was  the  third, 
or  that  termed  gol ;  but  now,  having  each  a  patta  (at  least  nomin- 
ally) of  above  five  thousand  rupees  yearly  rent,  they  are  lifted 
into  the  Battisa,  or  amongst  the  '  thirty-two  '  of  the  second  class. 
The  Bamani,  whose  course  will  carry  us  to  its  close  at  Bhainsror, 
flows  under  the  walls  of  both  Dangarmau  and  Barao,  and  is  the 
cause  not  only  of  great  fertility  but  of  diversity,  in  this  singular 
alpine  region.  The  weather  has  again  undergone  a  very  sensible 
change,  and  is  extremely  trying  to  those,  who,  like  myself,  are 
affected  by  a  pulmonary  complaint,  and  who  are  obliged  to  brave 
the  mists  of  the  mountain-top  long  before  the  sun  is  risen.  On  the 
second,  at  daybreak,  the  thermometer  stood  at  60°,  and  onlj'^  three 
days  after,  at  27°  ;  again  it  rose  to  40°  and  for  several  days  stood 
at  this  point,  and  75°  at  midday.  The  day  before  we  ascended 
the  Patar  it  rose  to  54°,  and  94°  at  noon  ;  and  on  reaching  the 
summit,  60°  and  90°  ;  again  it  falls  to  40°,  and  we  now  shiver  vvath 
cold.  The  density  of  the  atmosphere  has  been  particularly  annoy- 
ing both  yesterday  and  to-day.  Clouds  of  mist  rolled  along  the 
surface  of  the  mountain,  which,  when  the  sun  cleared  the  horizon, 
and  shot  about  '  spear-high  '  in  the  heavens,  produced  the  most 
fantastic  effects.  The  orb  was  clear  and  the  sky  brilliant  ;  but 
the  masses  of  mist,  though  merely  a  thin  vapour  and  close  to  the 
spectator,  exhibited  singular  and  almost  kaleidoscopic  changes. 
There  was  scarcely  a  figure  that  the  sun  did  not  assume  ;  the 
upper  half  appearing  orbicular,  the  lower  elliptical  :  in  a  second, 
this  was  reversed.  Sometimes  it  was  wholh^  elliptical,  with  a 
perfect  change  of  the  axis,  the  transverse  and  conjugate  changing 
places — a  loaf,  a  bowl,  and  at  one  instant  a  scollop-shell,  then 
'  round  as  my  shield,'  and  again  a  segment  of  a  circle,  and  thus 
alternating  until  its  ascension  dissipated  the  medium  of  this 
beautiful  illusion,  the  more  perfect  from  the  sky  being  cloudless. 
The  mists  disappeared  from  the  mountain  long  before  this 
phantasmagoria  finished  [648]. 

■*  [Bansi,  47  iniles  S.E.  of  Udaipur  city,  held  by  a  Saktawat  Rawat 
(Erskine  ii.  A.  92).] 


BHAINSRORGARH  1G87 

CHAPTER  6 

Bhainsrorgarh,  February  19. — Bhainsrorgarh/  ten  miles,  four 
furlongs  ;  thermometer  51°  ;  atmosphere  dense  and  oppressive, 
and  roads  execrable,  through  a  deep  forest  ;  but  for  the  hatchets 
of  my  friends,  my  baggage  never  could  have  been  got  on.  We 
passed  several  hamlets,  consisting  of  a  dozen  or  more  huts,  the 
first  of  which  I  find  belongs  to  my  young  friend  Morji  of  Gura, 
himself  a  vassal  of  the  Pramar  of  BijoU  (one  of  the  sixteen  Omras 
of  Mewar),  and  holding  a  few  bighas  of  bhum,  as  his  bat  or  share 
of  the  bapota  (patrimony)  of  Barao.  We  have  elsewhere  given  a 
copy  of  the  tenure  on  which  Morji  holds  a  village  in  the  fief  of 
Bijoli.^  At  seven  miles  from  Dangarmau,  we  came  to  a  small 
shrine  of  an  Islamite  saint,  who  buried  himself  alive.  It  is  an 
elevated  point,  from  whence  is  a  wild  but  lovely  prospect.  There 
is  a  kund,  or  '  fountain,'  planted  with  trees,  close  to  the  shrine, 
which  attracts  a  weekly  mela  or  '  fair,'  attended  by  all  classes, 
who  cannot  help  attributing  some  virtue  to  a  spot  where  a  saint, 
though  a  Muslim,  thus  expiated  his  sins.  In  descending,  we  heard 
the  roaring  of  mighty  waters,  and  soon  came  upon  the  Bamani, 
forming  a  fine  cascade  of  about  fifty  feet  in  height ;  its  furious 
course  during  the  monsoon  is  apparent  from  the  weeds  it  has  left 
on  the  trees,  at  least  twenty  feet  above  its  present  level.  The 
fall  of  the  country  is  rapid,  even  from  this  lower  spot,  to  the  bed 
of  the  Chambal.  Uparmal  must  have  a  considerable  elevation 
above  the  table-land  of  Janapao,  where  the  Chambal  and  other 
streams  have  their  fountains  ;  but  of  all  this  we  shall  by  and  by 
form,  a  more  correct  opinion.  We  passed  the  cairn  of  a  Rajput 
who  feU  defending  his  post  against  the  Minas  of  the  Kairar,  a 
tract  on  the  banks  of  the  Banas,  filled  with  this  banditti,  in  one 
of  their  last  irruptions  which  disturbed  the  peace  of  this  region. 
Each  traveller  adds  a  stone,  and  I  gave  my  mite  to  swell  the 
heap  [649]. 

The  patta  of  Bhainsror  is  held  by  Raghunath  Singh,  one  of 
the  sixteen  great  lords  of  Mewar,  having  the  very  ancient  title 
of  Rawat,  peculiar  to  Rajputana,  and  the  diminutive  of  Rao.^ 
Bhainsror  is  one  of  the  best  fiefs  of  Mewar,  and  the  lands  attached 

^  [About  120  miles  E.N.E.  from  Udaipur  city.] 

2  See  Vol.  I.  p.  241. 

^  [Rawat,  Rajaputra,  '  King's  son.'] 


1688  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

to  it  are  said  to  be  capable  of  yielding  one  lakh  of  annual  revenue, 
equal  to  £50,000  in  the  dearest  countries  of  Europe  ;  and  when  I 
add  that  a  cavalier  can  support  himself,  his  steed,  etc.,  on  £50, 
its  relative  value  will  at  once  be  understood.  He  has  also  a  toll 
upon  the  ferries  of  the  Chambal,  though  not  content  therewith, 
he  levied  until  lately  a  percentage  on  all  merchandise,  besides 
impositions  on  travellers  of  whatever  description,  under  the  name 
of  kot  ki  marummat,  or  '  repairs  of  the  castle ' :  were  we,  however, 
to  judge  by  its  dilapidated  condition,  we  should  say  his  exactions 
were  very  light,  or  the  funds  were  misapplied.  This  is  the  sole 
passage  of  the  Chambal  for  a  great  extent,  and  all  the  commerce 
of  higher  Malwa,  Haraoti,  and  Mewar  passes  through  this  domain. 
The  class  of  Banjaras  (traders)  termed  Vaishnava,  long  estab- 
lished at  the  city  of  Pur  in  Mewar,  frequent  no  other  route  in  their 
journey  from  the  salt-lakes  of  the  desert  to  Malwa  or  Bundelkhand. 
Their  tanda  or  caravan  consists  of  six  thousand  bullocks,  and  they 
never  make  less  than  two,  and  often  three,  trips  in  the  year.  The 
duty  of  the  Raj  is  five  rupees  for  each  hundred  head  thus  laden  ; 
but  the  feudatory,  not  content  with  his  imposition  of  '  castle 
repairs '  and  '  bhum  '  as  lord  of  the  manor,  has  added  a  hundred 
and  fifty  per  cent  to  the  regular  transit  duty  of  the  State,  which  is 
divided  into  two  items  ;  namely,  three  rupees  and  a  half  for  the 
ferry,  and  as  much  for  bolai,  or  safe  escort  through  his  territory. 
But  as  Haraoti  always  afforded  protection  (which  could  be  said 
of  no  other  region  of  independent  India),  the  ghat  of  the 
Chambal  was  much  frequented,  in  spite  of  these  heavy  draw- 
backs to  industry.  My  friend  the  Rawat  has,  however,  found 
it  expedient  to  remove  all  these  war-taxes,  retaining  only  that 
portion  which  has  been  attached  to  the  frontier  post,  for 
protection ;  and  a  portion  of  the  ferry-rate  granted  to  this 
fief  nearly  two  centuries  ago.  Instead  of  about  fifteen  per 
cent,  as  heretofore  levied,  including  that  of  the  crown,  it 
amounts  to  less  than  one-half,  and  the  revenue  has  been 
quadrupled  ! 

Bhainsrorgarh  Fort. — The  castle  of  Bhainsror  is  most  romantic- 
ally situated  upon  the  extreme  point  of  a  ridge,  on  an  almost 
isolated  rib  of  the  Patar,  from  which  we  have  descended.  To  the 
east,  its  abrupt  cliff  overhangs  the  placid  expanse  of  the  Chambal, 
its  height  above  which  is  about  two  hundred  feet  :  the  level  of  the 
river  in  the  monsoon  is  marked  at  full  thirty  feet  above  its  present 


BHAINSRORGARH 


1689 


elevation.  The  Bamani  bounds  Bhainsror  on  the  west,  and  by 
the  rapidity  of  its  fall  has  completely  scarped  the  rock,  even  to 
[650]  the  angle  of  confluence  within  which  is  placed  the  castle, 
to  whose  security  a  smaller  intermediate  stream  not  a  little 
contributes.  As  by  mistake  it  is  placed  in  the  map  on  the  wrong 
side  of  the  Bamani,  we  shall  correct  this  error  by  giving  a  slight 
plan  of  the  ground. 

On  the  north  alone  is  it  accessible,  and  there  the  hill  is  scarped  ; 
but  this  scarp,  which  is  about  three  hundred  yards  distant,  forms 
a  good  cover,  and  a  few  shells  thence  played  upon  the  castle  would 
soon  compel  it  to  surrender.  The  rock  is  a  soft,  loose,  blue 
schistose  slate,  which  Avould  not  retard  the  miner.     The  approach 


Rapids. 


on  a  I  nsrorgrar/iy 


Chulis,  or  whirlpools. 


The  Rapids  of  the  Chambal. 


from  the  river,  here  about  five  hundred  yards  wide,  would  be 
destruction.  It  is  never  fordable,  and  its  translucent  sea-green 
waters  are  now  full  forty  feet  in  depth.  \Vhen  in  the  periodical 
rains  it  accumulates  at  its  source,  and  is  fed  during  its  passage 
by  many  minor  streanis  from  the  Vindhya  and  this  oberland,  its 
velocity  is  overwhelming  ;  it  rises  above  the  opposing  bank,  and 
laying  the  whole  tract  to  the  base  of  the  tableland  of  Haraot* 
under  water,  sweeps  away  in  its  irresistible  course  even  the  rocks. 
Speculation  might  here  be  exhausted  in  vain  attempts  to  explain 
how  nature  could  overcome  this  formidable  obstacle  to  her 
operations,  and  how  the  stream  could  effect  its  passage  through 
this  adamantine  barrier.  The  channel  cut  in  the  rock  is  as  clean 
as  if  performed  by  the  chisel,  and  standing  on  the  svunmit  of  the 
cliff,  which  is  from  three  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  in  height, 

VOL.  Ill  2  F 


1690  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

one  discerns  in  imagination  the  marks  of  union  :  to  use  the  words 
of  otir  last  great  bard,  on  the  Rhone, 

Heights  which  appear  as  lovers  who  have  parted 

In  hate,  whose  mining  depths  so  intervene. 

That  they  can  meet  no  more,  though  broken-hearted. 

The  Rapids  of  the  Chambal. — I  shall  by  and  by,  I  trust,  obtain 
a  more  correct  knowledge  of  the  comparative  elevation  of  this 
plateau,  and  the  crest  of  the  Vindhya  whence  issues  the  Chambal ; 
but  although  this  stream  is,  of  course,  much  below  the  level  of  its 
source,  yet  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  summit  of  this  chasm 
(uparmal)  is,  as  its  nam.e  indicates,  the  '  highest  land  '  of  Malwa. 
I  say  this  after  making  myself  acquainted  with  the  general  depres- 
sion of  [651]  Malwa  to  this  point,  in  which  we  are  aided  by  the 
course  of  the  stream.  Under  Bhainsror,  the  current  is  never  very 
gentle  ;  but  both  above  and  below  there  are  rapids,  if  not  falls, 
of  thirty  to  fifty  feet  in  descent.  That  above  the  stream  is  termed 
the  Chuli,  because  fvill  of  whirlpools  and  eddies,  which  have  given 
a  sacred  character  to  it,  like  the  Nerbudda,  at  '  the  whirlpools  of 
the  great  god,'  Chuli  Maheswar.  A  multitude  of  the  round  stones 
taken  out  of  these  vortices,  when  they  have  been  rounded  by 
attrition  into  a  perfectly  orbicular  form,  only  require  consecration 
and  a  little  red  paint  to  be  converted  into  the  representatives  of 
Bhairon,  the  god  of  war,  very  properly  styled  the  elder  born  of 
Siva,  the  destroyer.  This  is  about  two  miles  up  the  stream  ;  there 
is  another  at  Kotra,  about  three  miles  down,  with  several  successive 
rapids.  There  is  a  fall  in  the  vicinity  of  Rampura,  and  another 
about  five  coss  north  of  it,  at  Churetagarh,  where  the  river  first 
penetrates  the  plateau.  There,  I  understand,  it  is  not  above 
seventy  yards  in  breadth,  confined  between  cliffs  perfectly 
perpendicular.  There  is  also  said  to  be  another  fall  or  rapid 
intermediate  between  Rampura  and  its  source  in  the  peak  of 
Janapao,^  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Un.  If  these  are  all  the  falls, 
though  only  amounting  to  rapids,  we  may  form  a  tolerable  idea 
of  the  difference  of  level  between  the  base  of  the  Uparmal  and  the 
highland  of  the  Vindhya,  whence  the  Chambal  issues  ;  and  still 
we  shall  see  that  there  are  points  where  the  perpendicular  cliffs 
must  be  some  hundred  feet  above  the  peak  of  Janapao  ;  if  so,  this 
chasm  was  never  formed  by  water. 

»  [In  the  Indore  State,  9  miles  S.W.  of  Mhow  cantonment  (lOI,  x.  134).] 


THE  RAProS  OF  THE  CHAMBAL  1691 

Mewar  still  extends  east  of  the  river,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
estate  of  Bhainsror  is  on  the  opposite  side.  A  small  stream,  called 
the  Karab-ka-khal,  di\'ides  the  lands  of  the  Haras  from  those  of 
the  Sesodias,  and  there  is  a  bijnk-marga,  or  landmark  inscription, 
at  the  Shesa  talao,  put  up  centuries  ago.  To  this  line,  and  between 
it  and  the  Chambal,  is  the  palfa  of  Kundal  ;  and  farther  south, 
towards  Rampura,  is  that  of  Pachail,  both  containing  twenty-four 
villages  attached  to  Bhainsror.  AU  that  tract  farther  inland  in 
Upper  Malwa,  termed  Malkides,  in  which  are  the  towns  of  Chaichat 
and  Saket,  was  in  old  times  included  geographically  in  Mewar  : 
it  is  yet  possessed  by  the  Saktawats,  though  subject  to  Kotah. 

Tradition  has  preserved  the  etymology  of  Bhainsror,  and  dates 
its  erection  from  the  second  centurj'-  of  the  era  of  Vikrama,  though 
others  make  it  antecedent  even  to  him.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it 
adds  a  fact  of  some  importance,  namely,  that  the  Charans,  or 
bards,  were  then,  as  now,  the  privileged  carriers  of  Rajwara, 
and  that  this  was  one  of  their  great  lines  of  communication. 
Bhainsror,  therefore,  instead  of  being  the  work  [652]  of  some 
mighty  conqueror,  owes  its  existence  to  the  joint  efforts  of  Bhainsa 
Sah,  the  merchant,  and  Rora,  a  Charan  and  Banjara,  to  protect 
their  tandas  (caravans)  from  the  lawless  mountaineers,  when 
compelled  to  make  a  long  halt  during  the  periodical  rains  .'^  How 
many  lines  of  heroes  possessed  it  before  the  Haras  established 
themselves  among  its  ruins  is  unknown,  though  the  "  tmiversal 
Pramar  "  is  mentioned.  Its  subsequent  change  of  masters,  and 
their  names  and  history,  are  matters  of  less  doubt  ;  since  the 
altars  of  the  Dudia,  the  Pramar,  the  Rathor,  the  Saktawat,  the 
Chondawat, 

— Avho  sought  and  found,  by  dangerous  roads, 

A  path  to  perpetuity  of  fame, 

are  still  visible.  Of  the  Dudia  name  we  have  already  preser^'ed 
one  wreck,  though  the  "  rocket  of  the  moon,"  was  of  the  family 
who  dwelt  upon  the  whirlpools  of  the  Chambal,  we  must  leave  to 
conjecture.  Not  so  of  his  successor,  the  Rathor,  who  was  a  scion 
of  the  house  of  Mewa,^  on  the  Salt  River  of  the  desert,  from  which, 
though  he  was  but  a  vassal  of  Mandor,  the  Rana  scorned  not  to 
take  a  wife  boasting  the  pure  blood  of  the  kings  of  Kanauj.     A 

1  [By  another  tradition,  Bbainsa  Sah  was  a  merchant,  servant  of  the 
Chauhan  kings  of  Sambhar  and  Ajmer  (Erskine  ii.  A.  96).l 
-  [The  "  cradle  of  the  Rathors,"  now  in  Mallani.l 


1692  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

younger  brother  accompanied  her  to  the  court  of  Chitor.  Soon 
after,  the  Rawal  of  Jaisalmer  dared  to  put  an  affront  upon  the 
Rana,  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Rajput  race  !  The  chivalry 
of  Mewar  was  assembled,  and  the  bira  of  vengeance  held  up, 
which  the  stripling  heir  of  Mewa,  darting  forward,  obtained. 
Although  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  entreaties  were  lost  upon  him 
to  induce  him  to  renounce  the  enterprise,  which  in  all  probability 
some  border-feud  of  his  paternal  house  and  the  Bhattis,  as  well 
as  szvaniidharma,  or  fealty,  to  his  sovereign  and  kinsman,  may 
have  prompted.  His  only  request  was  that  he  might  be  aided 
by  two  of  his  intimate  friends,  and  five  hundred  horse  of  his  own 
selection.  How  he  passed  the  desert,  or  how  he  gained  admittance 
to  the  chief  of  the  Bhatti  tribe,  is  not  stated  ;  suffice  it  to  say, 
that  he  brought  the  Rawal's  head  and  placed  it  at  the  feet  of  the 
sovereign  of  Chitor,  for  which  service  he  had  a  grant  of  Salumbar  ; 
and  subsequently  (fiefs  in  those  days  not  being  amovable)  he  was 
removed  to  Bhainsror.  The  young  Rathor  continued  to  rise  in 
favour  ;  he  was  already  by  courtesy  and  marriage  tlie  bhanej, 
or  nephew,  of  his  sovereign,  who  for  this  action  bestowed  upon  him 
a  young  princess  of  his  own  blood  ;  an  honour  which  in  the  end 
proved  fatal.  One  day,  the  Thakur  (chief)  was  enjoying  himself 
in  his  baronial  hall  of  Bhainsror,  in  the  midst  of  his  little  court, 
with  a  nautch,  when  a  fatal  curiosity,  perhaps  instigated  by 
jealousy,  induced  his  Rani  to  peep  out  from  the  lattice  above. 
Offended  at  this  violation  of  decorum,  he  said  aloud  to  an 
attendant,  "  Tell  the  Thakurani,  if  she  is  [653]  eager  to  come 
abroad,  she  may  do  so,  and  I  will  retire."  The  lady  disputed 
the  justice  of  the  reprimand,  asserting  that  her  lord  had  been 
mistaken,  and  tried  to  shift  the  reproach  to  one  of  her  damsels  ; 
but  failing  to  convince  him,  she  precipitated  herself  from  the 
battlements  into  the  whirlpools  beneath  :  the  spot  where  she  fell 
into  the  Cliambal  still  retains  the  name  of  Ranighatta.^  When  it 
was  reported  to  the  Rana  that  a  false  accusation  had  caused  the 
suicide  of  his  niece,  the  sentence  of  banishment  from  Mewar  was 
pronounced  against  the  Rathor,  which  was  afterwards  commuted, 
out  of  a  regard  for  his  former  service,  to  the  sequestration  of 
Bhainsror  ;  and  he  had  the  small  fief  of  Nimri  and  its  twenty 
dependent  hamlets,  situated  upon  the  Patar,  and  not  far  from 
Bhainsror,  bestowed  upon  him. 

^  [The  '  cleft  or  fissure  of  the  Kani.'| 


ANNALS  OF  BHAINSRORGARH  1603 

Bijai  Singh,  the  descendant  of  the  hero  of  this  tale,  has  just 
been  to  see  me  ;  a  shrewd  and  stalwart  knight,  not  a  whit  de- 
generated by  being  transplanted  from  the  Luni  to  the  Chambal  ; 
for,  though  surrounded  by  Mahratta  depredators,  by  means  of 
the  fastnesses  in  which  he  dwells,  and  with  the  aid  of  his  good 
lance,  with  which  he  repays  them  in  kind,  he  has  preserved  his 
little  estate  in  times  so  fatal  to  independence.  Had  I  not  entered 
deeply  into  the  history  of  the  past,  I  might  have  been  led  away 
by  the  disadvantageous  reports  given  of  these  brave  men,  who 
were  classed  with  the  common  freebooters  of  the  hills,  and  pointed 
out  as  meriting  similar  chastisement ;  since  these  associations, 
both  for  their  own  security  and  retaliation  on  the  vagabond 
Mahrattas,  who  usurped  or  destroyed  their  birthright,  gave  a 
colour  to  the  complaints  against  them. 

The  Pramar  (vulg.  Puar)  succeeded  the  Rathor  in  the  fief  of 
Bhainsror.  How  long  the  former  held  it  is  uncertain  ;  but  the 
mode  in  which  the  last  vassal  chieftain  lost  it  and  his  life  together, 
affords  another  trait  of  national  manners.  Here  again  the  fair, 
whose  influence  over  the  lords  of  Rajputana  we  have  elsewhere 
mentioned,  was  the  cause  of  the  catastrophe.  The  Pramar  had 
espoused  the  daughter  of  his  neighbour  chieftain  of  Begun,  and 
they  Uved  happily  until  a  game  at  pachisi,  somewhat  resembUng 
chess,  caused  a  dispute,  in  which  he  spoke  sUghtingly  of  her  family, 
an  affront  never  to  be  pardoned  by  a  Rajputni  ;  and  the  next 
day  she  wrote  to  her  father.  The  messenger  had  not  left  his 
presence  with  the  reply,  before  the  nakkara  beat  the  assembly 
for  the  kher.^  The  descendants  of  the  '  black  cloud  '  ( Kalamegh) 
obeyed  the  summons,  and  the  hamlets  on  the  Bamani,  or  the 
Patar,  poured  forth  their  warriors  at  the  sound  of  the  tocsin  of 
Begvm.  When  the  cause  of  quarrel  was  explained,  it  came  home 
to  every  bosom,  and  they  forthwith  marched  to  avenge  it.  Their 
road  lay  [654]  through  the  forest  of  Antri  ;  but  when  arrived 
within  a  few  coss  of  Bhainsror,  they  divided  their  band,  and  while 
the  chief  took  the  more  circuitous  route  of  the  pass,  the  heir  of 
Begun  followed  the  course  of  the  Bamani,  took  the  Pramar  by 
surprise,  and  had  slain  him  in  single  combat  ere  his  father  joined 
him.  The  insult  to  the  Meghawats  being  avenged,  the  Pramars 
were  about  to  retahate  ;  but  seeing  the  honour  of  her  house  thus 
dearly  maintained,  affection  succeeded  to  resentment,  and  the 
1  [The  feudal  levy.] 


1694  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Rajputni  determined  to  expiate  her  folly  with  her  life.  The 
funeral  pile  was  erected  close  to  the  j  miction  of  the  Baniani  and 
Chambal,  and  she  ascended  with  the  body  of  her  lord,  her  own 
father  setting  fire  to  it.  I  encamped  close  to  the  altars  recording 
the  event. 

Tliis  feud  changed  the  law  of  succession  in  the  Begun  estate. 
The  gallantry  of  the  young  Meghawat  consoled  the  old  chief  for  the 
tragical  event  which  lost  liim  a  daughter  ;  and  in  a  full  council 
of  "the  sons  of  Kalamegh,"  the  rights  of  primogeniture  were 
set  aside  in  favour  of  the  valorous  youth,  and  the  lord  paramount 
(the  Rana)  confirmed  the  decision.  The  subordinate  lief  of  Jathana, 
which  formerly  comprehended  the  present  district  of  Jawad,  was 
settled  on  the  elder  son,  whose  descendant,  Tej  Singh,  still  holds 
a  share  of  it,  besides  the  title  of  Rawat.  Both  estates  have  alike 
suffered  from  the  Mahrattas,  equally  with  others  in  Mewar. 

The  successor  of  the  Pramar  was  a  Chondawat,  of  the  branch 
Ivishanawat,  and  a  younger  son  of  Salumbar  ;  and  it  would  be 
well  for  Lai  Singh  had  he  sought  no  liigher  distinction  than  that 
to  which  liis  birtii  entitled  him.  But  Lalji  Rawat  was  a  beacon 
in  the  annals  of  crime,  and  is  still  held  out  as  an  example  to  those 
who  would  barter  a  good  name  here,  and  the  hope  of  the  life  to 
come,  for  the  evanescent  gifts  of  fortune.  He  piurchased  the 
honours  of  Bhainsror  by  shedding  the  blood  of  his  bosom-friend, 
the  micle  of  his  sovereign. 

Nathji  Maharaja. — Maharaja  Nathji  was  one  of  the  sons  of 
Rana  Sangram  Singh,  and  brother  to  the  reigning  prince  Jagat 
Singh,  on  whose  death,  doubts  of  the  legitimacy  of  his  successor 
Raj  Smgh  being  raised,  Nathji  aspired  to  the  dignity  ;  but  liis 
projects  failed  by  the  death  of  Raj  Smgh.  He  left  a  posthumous 
child,  whose  history,  and  the  civil  wars  engendered  by  liis  miclc 
jfVrsi,  who  took  possession  of  the  gaddi,  have  been  fully  detailed. 
Arsi,  who  was  assuredly  a  usurper,  if  the  pretender  was  a  lawful 
son  of  Rana  Raj,  had  suspicions  regarding  liis  own  micle  Nathji, 
who  had  once  shown  a  predilection  for  the  supreme  power  ;  but 
the  moment  he  heard  that  his  nephew  fancied  he  was  plotting 
agauist  liim,  he  renomiced  ambition,  and  sought  to  make  his 
peace  with  [G55]  heaven  ;  amusuig  lumself  with  poetry,  in  which 
he  had  some  skill,  and  by  cultivating  his  melons  in  the  bed  of 
the  Bauas,  which  ran  under  the  wails  of  iiis  castle,  Bagor.^  The 
*  [About  70  miles  N.E.  ol  Udaipur  city.J 


MURDER  OF  NATHJI  MAHARAJA  1695 

fervour  of  his  devotions,  and  the  love  and  respect  which  his 
quaUfications  as  a  man  and  a  Rajput  obtained  him,  now  caused 
liis  ruin.  In  the  coldest  nights,  accompanied  by  a  single  attendant, 
he  was  accustomed  to  repair  to  the  lake,  and  thence  convey  water 
to  sprinkle  the  statue  of  his  tutelary  divinity,  '  the  god  of  all 
manlcind  '  (Jagannath).  It  was  reported  to  the  Rana  that,  by 
means  of  these  ascetic  devotions,  he  was  endeavouring  to  enlist 
the  gods  in  his  traitorous  designs,  and,  determined  to  ascertain 
the  truth,  Arsi,  with  a  confidential  friend,  disguised  himself,  and 
repaired  to  the  steps  of  the  temple.  Nathji  soon  appeared  with 
his  brazen  vessel  of  water,  and  as  he  passed,  the  prince,  reveahng 
himself,  thus  addressed  him  :  "  Why  all  this  devotion,  tliis 
excess  of  sanctity  ?  if  it  be  the  throne  you  covet,  imcle,  it  is 
yoiu-s  "  ;  to  which  Nathji,  in  no  wise  thrown  off  his  guard,  rephed 
with  much  urbanity,  "  You  are  my  sovereign,  my  child,  and  I 
consider  my  devotions  as  acceptable  to  the  deity,  from  their 
giving  me  such  a  chief,  for  my  prayers  are  for  your  prosperity." 
This  imaffected  sincerity  reassured  the  Rana  ;  but  the  chiefs  of 
Deogarh,  Bhindar,  and  other  clans,  being  dissatisfied  vnth  the 
harsh  and  uncompromising  temper  of  their  sovereign,  endeavoured 
to  check  his  ebuUitions  by  pointing  to  the  Maharaja  as  a  refuge 
against  his  tyranny.     . 

To  be  released  from  such  a  restraint,  Arsi  at  last  resolved  on 
assassinating  liis  uncle  ;  but  his  valour  and  giant  strength  made 
the  attempt  a  service  of  danger,  and  he  therefore  employed  one 
who,  under  the  cloak  of  friendship,  could  use  the  poniard  without 
risk.  Lai  Singh  was  the  man,  the  bosom  friend  of  the  Maharaja, 
who,  besides  exchanging  turbans  with  him,  had  pledged  his 
friendship  at  the  altar  ;  a  man  who  knew  every  secret  of  his 
heart,  and  that  there  was  no  treason  in  it.  It  was  midnight, 
when  a  voice  broke  in  upon  liis  devotions,  caUing  on  him  from 
the  portico  by  name.  No  other  could  have  taken  tliis  Uberty, 
and  the  reply,  "  Come  in,  brother  Lalji  ;  what  brings  you  here 
at  such  an  hour  ?  "  had  scarcely  passed  the  lips  of  Nathji,  when, 
as  he  made  the  last  prostration  to  the  image,  he  received  the 
dagger  of  his  friend  in  his  neck,  and  the  emblem  of  Siva  was 
covered  with  his  blood !  For  this  service,  the  assassin  was 
rewarded  with  the  fief  of  Bhainsror,  and  a  seat  amongst  the 
sixteen  barons  of  Mewar  ;  but  as  the  number  cannot  be  increased, 
the  rights  of  the  Saktawat  cliief  of  Bansi  were  cancelled  ;    thus 


1696  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

adding  one  crime  to  another,  which  however  worked  out  its 
own  reward,  and  at  once  avenged  the  murder  of  Nathji,  and  laid 
Mewar  in  ruins,  causing  [656]  fresh  streams  of  the  blood  which 
had  already  so  copiouslj^  flowed  from  the  civil  wars  arising  out 
of  the  hostility  of  these  rival  clans,  the  Saktawats  and  Chondawats. 

Lalji  did  not  long  enjoy  his  honours  ;  his  crime  of  ''  triple 
dye  "  was  ever  present  to  his  mind,  and  generated  a  loathsome, 
incurable  disease  ;  for  even  in  these  lands,  where  such  occurrences 
are  too  frequent,  "  the  still  small  voice  "  is  heard  :  worms  consumed 
the  traitor  while  living,  and  liis  memory  is  blasted  now  that  he 
is  dead  ;  wliile  that  of  Nathji  is  sanctified,  as  a  spirit  gentle, 
valorous,  and  devout. 

Man  Singh,  the  son  of  this  man  of  blood,  succeeded  to  the 
honours  of  Bhainsror,  and  was  a  soldier  of  no  common  stamp. 
At  the  battle  of  Ujjain,  where  the  Rana  of  Mewar  made  the  last 
grand  stand**for  independence,  Man  was  badly  wounded,  made 
captive,  and  brought  in  the  train  of  the  conquering  Mahratta, 
when  he  laid  siege  to  Udaipur.  As  he  was  recovering  froni  his 
wounds,  his  friends  attempted  to  effect  his  liberation  through 
that  notorious  class  called  the  Baoris,'^  and  contrived  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  plot.  The  wounded  chief  was  consoling  himself 
for  his  captivity  by  that  great  panacea  for  ennui,  a  nautch,  and 
applauding  the  fine  voice  of  a  songstress  of  Ujjain  as  she  warbled 
a  lappa  of  the  Panjab,  when  a  significant  sign  was  made  by  a 
stranger.  He  instantly  exclaimed  that  his  wounds  had  broken 
out  afi-esh,  staggered  towards  his  pallet,  and  tlu:owing  down  the 
light,  left  all  in  confusion  and  darkness,  which  favoured  the 
Baori's  design  ;  who,  while  one  of  his  friends  took  possession  of 
the  pallet,  wrapped  the  sick  cliief  in  a  chadar  (sheet),  threw  him 
on  his  back,  and  carried  him  through  the  camp  of  the  besiegers 
to  the  city.  The  Rana,  rejoiced  at  his  liberation,  commanded  a 
salute  to  be  fired,  and  the  first  intelligence  the  Mahratta  leader 
had  of  his  prisoner's  escape  was  in  answer  to  the  question  as  to 
the  cause  of  such  rejoicing  ;  they  then  found  one  of  the  vassal 
substitutes  of  Man  still  occupying  the  bed,  but  the  sequel  does 
not  mention  how  such  fidelity  was  repaid.  The  cenotaph  (chhatri) 
of  this  brave  son  of  an  unworthy  sire  is  at  the  Tribeni,  or  point  of 
confluence  of  the  three  streams,  the  Chambal,  the  Bamani,  and 

^  [A  criminal  tribe,  known  in  the  Panjab  as  Bawaria,  and  as  Moghias  in 
Marwar  {Census  Beport,  Mdrwar,  1891,  ii.  190  f.).] 


NATHJI  MAHARAJA  169T 

the  Khal ;  and  from  its  light  and  elegant  construction,  adds 
greatly  to  the  picturesque  effect  of  the  scenery.  The  present 
chief,  Raghunath  Singh,  who  succeeded  Man,  has  well  maintained 
his  independence  throughout  these  perilous  times.  Bapu  Sindhia, 
whose  name  will  long  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  scourges  of 
these  realms,  tried  his  skill  upon  Bhainsror,  where  the  remains  of 
his  trenches,  to  the  north-west  of  the  town,  are  still  conspicuous  ; 
but  he  was  met  with  sortie  after  sortie,  while  the  hill-tribes  were 
nightly  let  loose  upon  him,  unto  he  was  forced  to  make  a  pre- 
cipitate retreat  [657]. 

I  cannot  conclude  the  annals  of  this  family  without  a  passing 
remark  on  the  great  moral  change  effected  since  the  power  of 
Britain  has  penetrated  into  these  singular  abodes.  It  was  my 
habit  to  attend  on  any  of  the  chieftains  who  honoured  me  by  an 
in\atation  to  their  fannly  fetes,  such  as  their  saigirahs,  or  '  birth- 
days '  ;  ^  and  on  these  occasions  I  merged  the  Agent  of  the 
British  Government  entirely  in  the  friend,  and  went  ^vithout 
ceremony  or  parade.  Amongst  my  numerous  pagri  badal  bhai, 
or  '  adopted  brothers  '  (as  well  as  sisters),  was  the  Maharaja 
Sheodan  Singh,  the  grandson  and  possessor  of  the  honours  and 
estates  of  Nathji,  who  stni  enjoys  the  domain  of  Bagor,  and 
fi'om  whom  I  used  to  receive  a  share  of  its  melons,  which  he 
cultivates  with  the  same  ardour  as  his  grandsire.  The  '  aiuiual 
knot '  (salgirah)  of  my  friend  was  celebrated  on  the  terraced 
roof  of  his  palace,  overhanging  the  lake  of  Udaipur,  and  I  was 
by  his  side  hstening,  in  the  intervals  of  the  song,  to  some  of  his 
extemporaneous  poetical  effusions  (on  which  my  friend  placed 
rather  too  high  a  value),  when  amongst  the  congratulatorj^  names 
called  aloud  by  the  herald,  I  was  surprised  to  hear,  "  Maharaja 
Salamat,  Ravoat  Raghunath  Singhji-ka  mujra  lijo  !  "  or,  "  Health 
to  the  Maharaja,  and  let  him  receive  the  compliments  of  Rawat 
Raghunath  Singh  "  :  the  grandson  of  the  murderer  come  to  pay 
his  respects  to  the  grandson  of  the  murdered,  and  to  press  with 
his  knee  the  gaddi  on  which  he  sat  !     With  justice  may  we  repeat 

1  [The  '  annual  knot.'  The  custom  still  prevails  among  Indian  Muham- 
madans,  and  the  mother  of  the  Mughal  Emperor  used  to  keep  a  string  in 
the  harem,  and  added  a  knot,  probably  as  a  magical  protective,  for  every 
year  of  her  son's  life.  The  custom  of  using  in  this  way  a  thread  of  red  or 
yellow  silk  was  adopted  by  the  Rajputs  [Ain,  i.  267  ;  Jaffur  Shurreef, 
Qanoon-e-Islam,  26  ;    Manucci  ii.  346).] 


1698  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

their  powerful  metaphor,  on  such  anomaUcs  in  the  annals  of  their 
feuds — bher  aur  bakri  ekhi  thali  se  pile  hain, '  the  wolf  and  the  goat 
drink  from  the  same  platter.'  ^  We  might  thus,  by  a  little  atten- 
tion to  the  past  history  and  habits  of  these  singularly  interesting 
races,  confer  signal  moral  benefits  upon  them  ;  for  it  must  be 
evident  that  the  germs  of  many  excellent  qualities  require  only 
the  sunshine  of  kindness  to  ripen  into  goodly  fruit  ;  and  for  the 
sake  of  our  own  welfare,  as  well  as  that  of  humanity,  let  not  the 
protecting  power,  in  the  exercise  of  patronage,  send  amongst 
them  men  who  are  not  imbued  with  feelings  which  will  lead  them 
to  understand,  to  appreciate,  and  to  administer  fitting  counsel, 
or  correction  where  necessary.  The  remembrance  of  these  in- 
juries is  still  fresh,  and  it  requires  but  the  return  of  anarchy 
again  to  unsheath  the  poniard  and  drug  the  cup  ;  but  if  we 
consult  their  real  good,  the  recollection  will  gradually  grow 
fainter. 

Bhainsror  attacked  by  Alau-d-din. — Before,  however,  we 
altogether  quit  the  wilds  of  the  Chambal,  we  must  record  that 
Bhainsror  had  been  vasited  by  another  man  of  blood,  the  renowned 
Alau-d-din,  in  whose  epithets  of  Khuni,  or  '  the  sanguinary,' 
and  Sikandaru-s-sani,  or  '  the  second  Alexander,'  by  which 
history  has  given  him  perpetuity  of  infamj'^,  we  recognize  the 
devastating  [658]  and  ferocious  I^ilji  king,  who  assailed  every 
Hindu  prince  in  India.  Obedient  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  he 
had  determined  to  leave  not  one  stone  upon  another  of  the 
temples  or  palaces  of  Bhainsror.  Everywhere  we  searched  for 
memorials  of  the  Hvm,  whose  name  is  also  connected  with  the 
foundation  of  Bhainsror  ;  of  the  Pramar,  or  the  Dudia  ;  but  in 
vain.  The  vestiges  of  these  ages  had  disappeared,  or  been  built 
up  in  the  more  modern  fortifications.  Two  such  inscriptions  we 
indeed  discovered,  reversed  and  applied  as  common  building 
materials  in  the  walls  around  the  town  ;  one  was  dated  S.  1179 
(a.d.  1123),  but  being  in  the  old  ornamented  Jain  character, 
would  have  required  time  and  labour  to  decipher.  The  other  is 
also  anterior  to  Ala,  and  the  ornaments  in  this  are  decidedly 
Jain  ;  its  purport  is  as  follows  :  ''  On  the  parab  (full  moon)  of 
Sheoratri  (the  birthday  of  Siva),  Maharae  Dariyai  Rae  Singh 
Deo  bestowed,  in  the  name  of  Rameswar,  the  village  of  Tatagarh 

*■  [The  usual  form  is  :    Bhtr  bakri  ek  ghal  pile,  hain,  '  The  wolf  and  the 
goat  drink  at  the  same  river  steps.'] 


DABHI  1699 

in  pun  (religious  gift).  Those  who  maintain  the  grant  will  enjoy 
the  fruits  resulting  therefrom  "  ;  or,  in  the  words  of  the  original : 

Yasya  yasya  jdda  bhuviis, 
Tasya  tasya  tadd  phalam.^ 

"  Sam  vat  1302  (a.d.  1246).'"  This  form  of  sasan,  or  religious 
charity,  is  peculiar,  and  styled  sasan  Udayaditya,  which  proves 
that  the  Pramar,  of  whom  this  is  a  memorial,  was  a  feudatory 
of  the  prince  of  Dhar,  whose  era  has  been  fixed.  These  discoveries 
stimulated  our  research,  and  my  revered  friend  and  Guru,  who 
is  now  deeply  embued  with  antiquarian  enthusiasm,  vainly 
offered  a  large  reward  for  permission  to  dig  for  the  image  of 
Parsvanath,  his  great  pontiff,  of  whose  shrine  he  has  no  doubt 
the  first  inscription  is  a  memorial.  When  about  to  leave  this 
place  (indeed  our  baggage  had  gone  on),  we  were  informed  of 
some  celebrated  temples  across  the  river  at  a  place  called  Baroli, 
anciently  Dholpm:.  The  shrine  is  dedicated  to  Ghateswara 
Mahadeva,  with  a  hngam  revolving  in  the  yoni,  the  wonder  of 
those  who  venture  amongst  its  almost  impervious  and  unfre- 
quented woods  to  worship.  As  I  could  not  go  myself,  I  dispatched 
the  Guru  to  hunt  for  inscriptions  and  bring  me  an  account  of  it. 

Dabhi,  February  20,  eleven  mUes  ;  thermometer  48°. — ^Re- 
ascended  the  third  steppe  of  our  miniature  Alp,  at  the  Nasera 
pass  {ghat),  the  foot  of  which  was  exactly  five  miles  from  Bhainsror, 
and  three  and  a  half  furlongs  more  carried  us  to  its  smmnit, 
which  is  of  easy  ascent,  though  the  pathway  was  rugged,  lying 
between  high  peaks  on  either  side.  This  alone  wiU  give  a  tolerable 
idea  of  the  height  of  the  Patar  above  the  level  of  the  river.  Majestic 
trees  cover  the  hill  from  the  base  to  its  summit,  through  [659] 
which  we  couid  never  have  found  a  passage  for  the  baggage 
without  the  axe.  Besides  some  noble  tamarind  (imli)  trees, 
there  was  the  lofty  semal,  or  cotton-tree  ;  the  gnarled  sakhu, 
which  looks  like  a  leper  amongst  its  healthy  bretliren  ;  the 
tendu,  or  ebony-tree,  now  in  full  fruit,  and  the  useful  dhao,  besides 
many  others  of  less  magnitude.-  The  landscape  from  the  sununit 
was  grand  :   we  looked  down  upon  the  Charmanvati  {vulg.  Cham- 

^  [This  is  the  reading  by  Dr.  Tessitoii,  who  remarks  :  "  The  above,  of 
course,  is  Sanskrit."] 

2  [Imli,  Tamarindus  indica ;  semal,  Bombax  hepfaphyllum  ;  sakhu  or 
sagwan,  the  teak,  Tectona  grandis;  tendu,  Diospyrus  embryopteris;  dhao, 
Anogeissus  latijolia.] 


1700  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

bal)  and  the  castle  of  Raghunath  ;  while  the  eye  commanded  a 
long  sweep  of  the  black  Bamani  gliding  through  the  vale  of  Antri 
to  its  termination  at  the  tombs  of  the  Saktawats.  The  road  to 
Dabhi  was  very  fair  for  such  a  tract,  and  when  within  four  miles 
of  our  tents,  we  crossed  a  stream  said  to  have  its  fountain  at 
Menal,  which  must  consequently  be  one  of  the  highest  points  of 
Uparmal.  This  rill  afforded  another  means  of  estimating  the 
height  of  our  position,  for  besides  the  general  fall  to  the  brink 
of  the  chasm,  it  precipitates  itself  in  a  fine  cascade  of  three 
hundred  feet.  Neither  time  nor  place  admitted  of  our  following 
this  rill  to  its  termination,  about  six  miles  distant,  through  a 
rugged  wood}'-  tract.  From  the  summit  of  the  pass  of  Nasera, 
we  had  a  peep  at  the  tomb  of  a  Muslim  saint,  whence  the  ground 
gradually  shelved  to  the  end  of  our  journey  at  Kotah. 

Monuments  to  Warriors. — Dabhi  is  the  line  of  demarcation 
between  Mewar  and  Bundi,  being  itself  in  the  latter  State,  in  the 
district  of  Loecha, — dreary  enough  !  It  produces,  however,  rice 
and  makkai,  or  Indian  corn,  and  some  good  patches  of  wheat. 
We  passed  the  cairns,  composed  of  loose  stones,  of  several  Rajputs 
slain  in  defending  their  cattle  against  the  Minas  of  the  Kairar. 
I  was  particularly  struck  with  that  of  a  Charan  bard,  to  whose 
memory  they  have  set  up  a  paliya,  or  tombstone,^  on  which  is 
his  effigy,  his  lance  at  rest,  and  shield  extended,  who  most  likely 
fell  defending  his  tanda.  This  tract  was  grievously  oppressed 
by  the  banditti  who  dwell  amidst  the  ravines  of  the  Banas,  on 
the  western  declivity  of  the  plateau.  "  \Vlio  durst,"  said  my 
guide,  as  we  stopped  at  these  tumuli,  "  have  passed  the  Patar 
eighteen  months  ago  ?  they  (the  Minas)  would  have  killed  you 
for  the  cakes  you  had  about  you  ;  now  you  may  carry  gold. 
These  green  fields  would  have  been  shared,  perhaps  reaped 
altogether,  by  them  ;  but  now,  though  there  is  no  superfluity, 
there  is  '  play  for  the  teeth,'  and  we  can  put  our  turban  imder 
our  heads  at  night  without  the  fear  of  missing  it  in  the  morning. 
Atal  Raj  !  may  your  sovereignty  last  for  ever  !  "  This  is  the 
universal  language  of  men  who  have  never  known  peaceful  days, 

^  [Paliya,  '  a  protective,  guardian,'  or  '  home  of  the  guardian  spirit '  ; 
often  erected  to  Rajputs  or  others  dying  on  the  field  of  battle.  At  the  Kali 
Chaudaa  festival,  14th  dark  half  of  Aslio,  these  stones  are  daubed  with  red 
lead,  and  coco-nuts  are  offered  (Enthovcn,  Folklore  Notes,  Qujarat,  90;  EG, 
ix.  Part  I.  218,  363  f.  ;   Forbes,  Basmala,  691).] 


MONU^IENTS  TO  WARRIORS  :    KARIPUR       1701 

who  have  been  nurtured  amidst  the  elements  of  discord  and 
rapine,  and  who,  consequently,  can  appreciate  the  change,  albeit 
they  were  not  mere  spectators.  "  We  must  retahate,"  said  a 
sturdy  [660]  Chauhan,  one  of  Morji's  vassals,  who,  with  five 
besides  himself,  insisted  on  conducting  me  to  Bhainsror,  and 
would  only  leave  me  when  I  would  not  let  them  go  beyond  the 
frontier.  I  was  much  amused  with  the  reply  of  one  of  them 
whom  I  stopped  with  the  argumentum  ad  verecundiam,  as  he 
began  a  long  harangue  about  five  buffaloes  carried  off  by  the 
Thakur  of  Nimri,  and  begged  my  aid  for  their  recovery.  I  said 
it  was  too  far  back  ;  and  added,  laughing,  "  Come,  Thakur, 
confess  ;  did  you  never  balance  the  accoxuit  elsewhere  ?  " — 
"  Oh,  Maharaja,  I  have  lost  many,  and  taken  many,  but  Ram- 
dohai !  if  I  have  touched  a  blade  of  grass  since  your  raj,  I  am  no 
Rajput."  I  found  he  was  a  Hara,  and  complimented  him  on  his 
affinity  with  Alu,  the  lord  of  Bumbaoda,  which  tickled  his  vanity 
not  a  little.  In  vain  I  begged  them  to  return,  after  escorting 
me  so  many  miles.  To  all  my  solicitations  the  Chauhan  replied, 
"  You  have  brought  us  comfort,  and  this  is  man  ki  chakari, 
'  service  of  the  heart.'  "  I  accepted  it  as  such,  and  we  "  whiled 
the  gait  "  with  sketches  of  the  times  gone  by.  Each  foot  of  the 
country  was  familiar  to  them.  At  one  of  the  cairns,  in  the 
midst  of  the  wood,  they  all  paused  for  a  second  ;  it  was  raised 
over  the  brother  of  the  Bhatti  Thakur,  and  each,  as  he  passed, 
added  a  stone  to  this  monumental  heap.  I  watched,  to  discern 
whether  the  same  feeling  was  produced  in  them  which  the  act 
created  in  me  ;  but  if  it  existed,  it  was  not  betrayed.  They  were 
too  familiar  with  the  reality  to  feel  the  romance  of  the  scene  ; 
yet  it  was  one  altogether  not  ill-suited  to  the  painter. 

Karipur,  February  21,  9 J  miles. — Encamped  in  the  glen  of 
Karipura,  confined  and  wild.  Thermometer  51°,  but  a  fine, 
clear,  bracing  atmosphere.  Our  route  lay  through  a  tremendous 
jungle.  Half-way,  crossed  the  ridge,  the  altitude  of  which  made 
up  for  the  descent  to  Dabhi,  but  from  whence  we  again  descended 
to  Karipura.  There  were  many  hamlets  in  this  almost  impervious 
forest  ;  but  all  were  desolate,  and  the  only  trace  of  population 
was  in  the  altars  of  those  who  had  defended  to  the  death  their 
dreary  abodes  against  the  ruthless  Mina  of  the  Kairar,  wliich  we 
shall  visit  on  our  return. 

Sontra. — About  a  mile  after  we  had  commenced  our  march 


1702  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

this  morning,  we  observed  the  township  of'Sontra  on  our  right, 
which  is  always  conjoined  to  Dabhi,  to  designate  the  lappa  of 
Dabhi-Sontra,  a  subdivision  of  I.oecha.  Being  informed  by  a 
scout  that  it  contained  inscriptions,  I  requested  my  Gjiru  and  one 
of  my  Brahmans  to  go  there.  The  search  afforded  a  new  proof 
of  the  universality  of  the  Pramar  sway,  and  of  the  conquests  of 
another  "  Lord  of  the  world  and  the  faith,"  Alau-d-din,  the 
second  [661]  Alexander.  The  Yati  found  several  altars  ha^^ng 
inscriptions,  and  many  paliyas,  froin  three  of  which,  placed  in 
juxtaposition,  he  copied  the  following  inscriptions  : 

"  Samvat  1422  (a.d.  1366).  Pardi,  Teja,  and  his  son,  Deola 
Pardi,  from  the  fear  of  shame,  for  the  gods,  Brahmans.  their 
cattle,  and  their  wives,  sold  their  lives." 

"  S.  1446  (a.d.  1390).  In  the  month  of  Asarh  {hadi  yakam)  : 
Monday,  in  the  castle  of  Sontra  (Sutrawan  durg),  the  Pramar 
Uda,  Kala,  Bhuna,  for  their  kine,  wives,  Brahmans,  along  with 
the  putra  Chonda,  sold  their  existence." 

"  S.  1466  (a.d.  1410),  the  1st  Asarh,  and  Monday,  at  Sontra- 
gram,  Rugha,  the  Chaora,  in  defence  of  the  gods,  his  wife,  and 
the  Brahmans,  sold  his  life." 

The  following  was  copied  from  a  kund,  or  fountain,  excavated 
in  the  rock  : 

"  S.  1370  (a.d.  1314),  the  16th  of  Asarh  [sudi  yakam),  he,  whose 
renown  is  unequalled,  the  king,  the  lord  of  men,  Maharaja  Adiraj, 
Sri  Alau-d-din,  with  his  army  of  three  thousand  elephants,  ten 
lakhs  of  horse,  war-chariots  and  foot  without  number,  conquering 
from  Sambhar  in  the  north,  Malwa,  Karnat,  Kanor,  Jalor, 
Jaisalmer,  Deogir,  Tailang,  even  to  the  shores  of  the  ocean,  and 
Chandrapuri  in  the  east  ;  victorious  over  all  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  by  whom  Sutrawan  Durg,  with  its  twelve  townships,  have 
been  wrested  from  the  Pramar  Mansi  ;  by  whose  son,  Bilaji, 
whose  birthplace  {ntpaiii)  is  Sri  Dhar,  this  fountain  was  exca- 
vated. Written  and  also  engraved  by  Sahideva  the  stone-cutter 
{sritradhar) .'''' 

Beneath  the  surface  of  the  fountain  was  another  inscription, 
but  there  was  no  time  to  bale  out  the  water,  which  some  future 
traveller  over  the  Patar  may  accomplish.  Sontra,  or  as  classically 
written,  Satrudurg,  '  the  inaccessible  to  the  foe,'  was  one  of 
the  castles  of  the  Pramar,  no  doubt  dependent  on  Chitor  when 
luider  the  Mori   dynasty  ;    and  this  was  only  one  of  the  sub- 


KOTAH:  MAYPOLES  1703 

divisions  of  Central  India,  which  was  all  under  Pramar  dominion, 
from  the  Nerbudda  to  the  Jumna — an  assertion  proved  by  inscrip- 
tions and  traditions.  We  shall  hear  more  of  this  at  Menal  and 
Bijoli  on  our  return  over  Uparmal,  which  I  resolve  to  be  thoroughly 
acquainted  with. 

Kotah,  February  22,  eleven  miles  to  the  banks  of  the  Chambal. 
— ^Although  not  a  cloud  was  to  be  seen,  the  sun  was  invisible  till 
more  than  spear-high,  owing  to  a  thick  vapoury  mist,  accom- 
panied by  a  cold  piercing  wind  from  the  north-west.  The  descent 
was  gradual  aU  the  way  to  the  river,  but  the  angle  may  be  esti- 
nmted  fiom  the  fact  that  the  pinnacle  (kalas)  of  the  palace, 
though  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Chambal,  was  not  visible  until  within  five  miles  of  the  bank. 
The  barren  [662]  tract  we  passed  over  is  aU  in  Bundi,  until  we 
approach  Kotah,  where  the  lands  of  Nanta  intervene,  the  personal 
domain  of  the  regent  Zahm  Singh,  and  the  only  territory  belonging 
to  Kotah  west  of  the  Chambal.  Karipura,  as  well  as  aU  this 
region,  is  inhabited  by  Bhils,  of  which  race  a  very  intelligent 
individual  acted  this  morning  as  our  guide.  He  says  it  is  called 
by  them  Baba  ka  nund,  and  that  they  were  the  sovereigns  of  it 
until  dispossessed  by  the  Rajputs.  We  may  credit  them,  for 
it  is  only  fit  for  Bhils  or  their  brethren  of  the  forest,  the  wild- 
beasts.  But  I  rejoiced  at  having  seen  it,  though  I  have  no  wish 
to  retrace  my  steps  over  this  part  of  my  journey.  Half-way,  we 
passed  a  roofless  shed  of  loose  stones,  containing  the  divinity  of 
the  Bhils  ;  it  is  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  thorny  tangled  brush- 
wood, whose  boughs  v/ere  here  and  there  decorated  with  shreds 
of  various  coloured  cloth,  offerings  of  the  traveller  to  the  forest 
divinity  for  protection  against  evil  spirits,  by  which  I  suppose 
the  BhUs  themselves  are  meant. ^ 

Maypoles. — We  must  not  omit  (though  we  have  quitted  the 
Patar)  to  notice  the  '  Maypoles  '  erected  at  the  entrance  of  every 
village  in  the  happy  basant  or  spring,  whose  concluding  festival, 
the  Holi  or  Saturnaha,  is  just  over.  This  year  the  season  has 
been  most  ungenial,  and  has  produced  sorrow  rather  than  glad- 
ness.    Every  pole  has  a  bundle  of  hay  or  straw  tied  at  the  top, 

1  The  same  practice  is  described  by  Park  as  existing  in  Africa.  [Such 
trees  are  known  in  Gujarat  as  '  Rag  Uncle '  (Forbes,  Rasmala,  452).  On 
rag-trees  see  E.  S.  Hartland,  Legend  of  Perseus,  ii.  175  ff . ;  W.  Crooke,  Popular 
Religion  and  Folklore  of  N.  India,  2nd  ed.  i.  161  ff.] 


1704  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

and  some  have  a  cross  stick  like  arms  and  a  flag  flying  ;  but 
in  many  parts  of  the  Patar,  the  more  symbolic  plough  was 
substituted,  dedicated  to  the  goddess  of  fruition,  and  served  the 
double  purpose  of  a  Spring-pole,  and  frightening  the  deer  from 
nibbling  the  young  corn. 

Kotah  City. — The  appearance  of  Kotah  is  very  imposing,  and 
impresses  the  mind  with  a  more  lively  notion  of  wealth  and 
activity  than  most  cities  in  India.  A  strong  wall  with  bastions 
runs  parallel  to,  and  at  no  great  distance  from,  the  river,  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  which  is  the  palace  (placed  within  a  castle 
separated  from  the  town),  whose  cupolas  and  slender  minarets 
give  to  it  an  air  of  light  elegance.  The  scene  is  crowded  with 
objects  animate  and  inanimate.  Between  the  river  and  the  city 
are  masses  of  people  plying  various  trades  ;  but  the  eye  dwells 
upon  the  terminating  bastion  to  the  north,  which  is  a  little  fort 
of  itself,  and  commands  the  country  on  both  banks.  But  we 
shall  have  more  to  say  regarding  this  during  our  halt,  which  is 
likely  to  be  of  some  continuance  [663]. 


CHAPTER  7 

Unhealthiness  of  Kotah.  Nanta,  September  10,  1820. — A  day 
of  deliverance,  which  had  been  looked  forward  to  by  all  of  us  as 
a  new  era  in  our  existence.  The  last  four  months  of  our  residence 
at  Kotah  was  a  continued  struggle  against  cholera  and  deadly 
fever  :  never  in  the  memory  of  man  was  such  a  season  known. 
This  is  not  a  state  of  mind  or  body  fit  for  recording  passing  events  ; 
and  although  the  period  of  the  last  six  months — from  my  arrival 
at  Kotah  in  February  last,  to  my  leaving  it  this  morning — has 
been  one  of  the  most  eventful  of  my  life,  it  has  left  fewer  traces 
of  these  events  upon  my  mind  for  notice  in  my  journal  than  if  I 
had  been  less  occupied.  The  reader  may  be  referred,  for  an 
abstract  of  these  occurrences,  to  Chapter  6,  which  will  make 
him  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  people  amongst  whom  we 
have  been  living.  To  try  back  for  the  less  important  events 
which  furnish  the  thread  of  the  Personal  Narrative,  would  be 
vain,  suffering,  whilst  this  journal  is  written,  under  fever  and 
ague,  and  all  my  friends  and  servants  in  a  similar  plight.  Though 
we  more  than  once  changed  our  ground  of  encampment,  sickness 


UNHEALTHINESS  OF  KOTAH  1705 

still  followed  us.  We  got  through  the  hot  winds  tolerably  until 
the  dog-days  of  June  ;  but,  although  I  had  experienced  every 
vicissitude  of  temperature  in  every  part  of  India,  I  never  felt 
anything  to  be  compared  with  the  few  days  of  June  at  Kotah. 

It  was  shortly  after  we  had  shifted  the  camp  from  the  low 
paddy-fields  to  the  embankment  of  the  Kishor  sagar,  or  '  lake,' 
immediately  east  of  the  city,  the  sky  became  of  that  transparent 
blue  which  dazzles  the  eye  to  look  at.  Throughout  the  day  and 
night,  there  was  not  a  zephyr  even  to  stir  a  leaf,  but  the  repose 
and  stillness  of  death.  The  thermometer  was  104°  in  the  tent, 
and  the  agitation  of  the  punkah  produced  [664]  only  a  more 
suffocating  air,  from  which  I  have  fled,  with  a  sensation  bordering 
on  madness,  to  the  gardens  at  the  base  of  the  embankment  of 
the  lake.  But  the  shade  even  of  the  tamarind  or  cool  plantain 
was  still  less  supportable.  The  feathered  tribe,  with  their  beaks 
opened,  their  wings  flapping  or  hanging  listlessly  down,  and 
panting  for  breath,  like  ourselves,  sought  in  vain  a  cool  retreat. 
The  horses  stood  with  heads  drooping  before  their  untasted 
provender.  Amidst  this  universal  stagnation  of  life,  the  only 
sound  which  broke  upon  the  horrid  stillness,  was  the  note  of  the 
cuckoo  ;  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  heard  it  in  India,  and 
its  cheerful  sound,  together  with  the  associations  it  awakened, 
produced  a  delightful  relief  from  torments  which  could  not  long 
be  endured.  We  invariably  remarked  that  the  bird  opened  his 
note  at  the  period  of  greatest  heat,  about  two  o'clock  in  the  day, 
and  continued  during  intervals  for  about  an  hour,  when  he 
changed  his  quarters  and  quitted  us.  I  afterwards  became  more 
familiar  with  this  bird,  and  every  day  in  the  hot  weather  at 
Udaipur,  when  I  resided  in  one  of  the  ^^llas  in  the  valley,  I  not 
only  heard  but  frequently  saw  it.^ 

The  reader  can  easily  conceive  the  scene  of  our  encampment  ; 
it  was  at  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  lake,  having  in  front  that 
little  fairy  islet  with  its  light  "Saracenic  summer  abode  (p.  1521). 
Gardens  fringed  the  base  of  the  embankment,  which  was  bordered 
with  lofty  trees  ;  the  extended  and  gigantic  circumvallation,  over 

^  In  almost  every  respect  like  a  sparrow-hawk ;  perhaps  a  little  more 
elongated  and  elegant  in  form  ;  and  the  beak,  I  think,  was  straight.  [Mr. 
C.  Chubb  of  the  Natural  History  Museum,  South  Kensington,  has  kindly 
examined  a  specimen  of  Eudynamis  honor ata  or  E.  orientalis,  the  "  Brain 
Fever  "  bird,  and  he  confirms  the  Editor's  recollection  that  the  bill  of  the 
■^bird  is  rounded,  and  somewhat  hooked  at  the  tip.] 

VOL.  Ill  2  G 


1706  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

the  parapets  of  which  peeped  the  spires  and  domes  of  temples  or 
mosques,  breaking  the  uniformity,  and  occasionally  even  showing 
the  distant  and  elevated  land  beyond  the  Chambal.  We  had  also 
close  to  us  a  spot  sacred  to  the  manes  of  the  many  heroes  of  this 
noble  family.  I  frcfjuented  the  cenotaphs  of  the  Haras,  which, 
if  less  magnificent  than  those  of  Marwar  or  Mewar,  or  even  of  the 
head  of  their  line  of  Bundi,  may  vie  with  them  all  in  the  recollec- 
tions they  conjure  up  of  patriotism  and  fealty,  and  of  the  deadly 
rancour  attendant  on  civil  strife.  This  cluster  of  monuments 
approaches  near  to  the  city  wall,  but  is  immediately  under  the 
dam  of  the  lake,  and  being  enveloped  in  foliage,  almost  escapes 
observation.  I  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  good  order  in  which  they 
were  maintained,  which  was  another  of  the  anomalies  in  the 
regent's  character  :  for  what  can  so  much  keep  alive  the  proud 
spirit  of  the  Haras  as  these  trophies  of  their  sires  ?  But  whatever 
the  motive  of  the  act,  it  is  a  tribute  to  virtue  ;  nor  could  I  resist 
an  exclamation  of  respect  to  the  veteran  regent,  who  is  raising 
a  monument  to  the  last  prince,  which,  if  it  survive  to  distant 
times,  will  afford  room  to  some  future  [665]  traveller  to  say,  that, 
with  Maharao  Ummed  Singh,  Kotah  ajipears  to  have  attained 
the  summit  of  its  power.  Nor  should  I  deny  myself  the  praise 
of  having  something  to  do  with  this  harmless  piece  of  vanity  ; 
for  I  procured  for  the  regent  free  permission  from  the  Rana  of 
Mewar  to  take  from  the  marble  quarry  at  Kankroli  ^  whatever 
suited  his  purpose,  without  price  or  duty  :  a  request  he  was  too 
proud  to  make  himself  since  their  ancient  quarrel.  We  had  also 
the  range  of  Madho  Singh's  magnificdnt  gardens,  of  many  acres 
in  extent,  abounding  in  exotic  flowers  and  fruits,  with  parterres 
of  rose-trees,  each  of  many  roods  of  land.  But  what  were  all 
these  luxuries  conjoined  with  cholera  morbus,  and  tap  tijari, 
'  tertian  fever,'  and  every  other  fever,  around  us  ?  But  even 
these  physical  ills  were  nothing  compared  to  the  moral  evils 
which  it  was  my  duty  to  find  remedies  for  or  to  mitigate  ;  and 
they  were  never  adverted  to  in  the  manj'  despatches  addressed, 
during  our  residence  in  this  petit  enfer,  to  supreme  authority. 

The  enthusiast  may  imagine  how  delightful  travelling  must  be 

amongst  such  interesting  races  ;    to  visit  the  ruins  of  ancient 

greatness,   and  to  read  their  history  in  their  monuments  ;    to 

march  along  the  margin  of  such  streams  as  the  Chambal  or  the 

1  [Tliirty-«ix  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


UNHEALTHINESS  OF  KOTAH  1707 

Bamani  ;  to  be  escorted  by  these  gallant  men,  to  be  the  object 
of  their  courtesy  and  friendship,  and  to  benefit  the  condition  of 
the  dependant  class  ;  but  the  price  of  this  enjoyment  was  so 
high  that  few  would  voluntarily  pay  it,  namely,  a  perpetuity  of 
ill-health.  Fortunately,  however,  for  ourselves  and  our  country, 
if  these  offices  are  neither  sinecures  nor  beds  of  roses,  we  do  not 
make  them  beds  of  thorns  ;  there  is  a  heart-stirring  excitation 
amidst  such  scenes,  which  keeps  the  powers  of  mind  and  body 
alert  :  a  feeling  which  is  fortunately  more  contagious  than 
cholera,  and  communicable  to  all  around.  How  admirably  was 
this  feeling  exemplified  this  morning  !  Could  my  reader  but 
have  beheld  the  soldiers  of  my  escort  and  other  establishments, 
as  they  were  ferried  over  the  Chambal,  he  would  have  taken 
them  for  ghosts  making  the  trajet  of  the  Styx  ;  there  was  not 
one  of  them  who  had  not  been  in  the  gripe  of  pestilential  fever  or 
ague.  Some  of  them  had  had  cholera,  and  half  of  them  had 
enlarged  spleens.  Yet,  although  their  muskets  were  too  heavy 
for  them,  there  were  neither  splenetic  looks  nor  peevish  exj^res- 
sions.  It  was  as  delightful  as  it  was  wonderful  to  see  the  alacrity, 
even  of  the  bedridden,  to  leave  their  ills  behind  them  east  of  the 
Chambal. 

Scarcely  any  place  can  be  more  unhealthy  than  Kotah  during 
the  monsoon.  With  the  rise  of  the  Chambal,  whose  waters 
filtrate  through  the  fissures  of  the  rock,  the  [666]  wells  are  filled 
with  mineral  poison  and  the  essence  of  decomposed  vegetation.^ 
All  those  in  the  low  ground  at  our  first  encampment  were  over- 
flowed from  this  cause  ;  and  the  surface  of  each  was  covered 
with  an  oily  pellicle  of  metalhc  lustre,  whose  colours  were  pris- 
matic, varjang,  with  position  or  reflection,  from  shades  of  a 
pigeon's  breast  (which  it  most  resembled),  to  every  tint  of  blue 
blending  with  gold.  It  is  the  same  at  Udaipur  during  the  periodi- 
cal rains,  and  with  similar  results,  intermittent  and  tertian  fevers, 
from  which,  as  I  said,  not  a  man,  European  or  native,  escaped. 
They  are  very  obstinate,  and  though  not  often  fatal,  are  difficult 
to  extirpate,  yielding  only  to  calomel,  wliich  perhaps  generates 
a  train  of  ills. 

Meeting  with  Zaiim  Singh. — The  last  few  days  of  our  stay 

1  [The  unhealtbiness  of  Kotah  is  clue  to  the  water  of  the  Kishor  Sagar 
lake  on  the  east  percolating  through  the  soil  to  the  river  on  the  west  {IGI, 
XV.  425).] 


1708  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

were  passed  in  the  eeremonials  of  leavc-takinw.  On  the  5th,  in 
eompany  "vvith  the  recent,  I  paid  my  last  \nsit  to  the  Maharao, 
who  with  his  brothers  returned  my  farewell  \nsit  the  day  followinj;  ; 
and  on  the  8th  and  9th  the  same  formalities  were  observed  with 
the  reorent.  The  man  who  had  passed  through  such  scenes  as 
the  reader  has  perused,  now  at  the  very  verge  of  existence,  could 
not  repress  his  sorrow.  His  orbless  eyes  were  filled  with  tears, 
and  as  I  pressed  his  palsied  hands  which  were  extended  over  me, 
the  power  of  utterance  entirely  deserted  him.  I  would  expunge 
this,  if  I  did  not  know  that  vanity  has  no  share  in  relating  what 
I  consider  to  be  a  virtue  in  the  regent.  I  have  endeavoured 
to  paint  his  character,  and  could  not  omit  this  trait.  I  felt  he 
had  a  regard  for  me,  from  a  multitude  of  kind  expressions,  but 
of  their  full  value  was  always  doubtftil  till  this  day. 

A  Restive  Elephant. — I  did  not  get  down  to  the  point  of 
embarkation  for  some  hours  after  my  suite,  ha\nng  been  detained 
by  the  irresistible  hold  of  ague  and  fever,  though  I  started  before 
the  hot-fit  had  left  me.  The  regent  had  prepared  the  grand 
barge,  which  soon  landed  me  on  the  opposite  bank  ;  but  Fateh 
Bahadur,  my  elephant,  seemed  to  prefer  his  present  quarters  to 
Udaipur ;  after  his  howdah,  pad,  and  other  gear  had  been  taken 
off  and  put  into  the  boat,  he  plunged  into  the  Chambal  with 
deliffht,  diving  in  the  deepest  water,  and  making  a  water-spout 
of  his  proboscis.  He  had  got  a  third  of  the  way  across,  when 
a  new  female  elephant,  less  accustomed  to  these  crossings,  turned 
back,  and  Fateh  Bahadur,  regardless  of  his  master,  was  so  gallant 
as  to  go  after  her.  In  vain  the  mahout  (driver)  used  his  phnrsi^ 
digging  it  into  his  head  behind  the  ear  ;  this  only  exasperated 
the  animal,  and  he  made  one  or  two  desperate  efforts  to  shake 
off  his  pigmy  driver.  Fortunately  (being  too  weak  to  mount 
a  horse),  I  found  a  baggage-elephant  just  beginning  to  be  loaded  : 
I  put  my  howdah  upon  her,  and  the  "  victorious  warrior  "  suffered 
the  indignity  of  carrying  a  load. 

We  passed  the  town  of  Kanari,  belonging  to  Raj  Gulab  Singh, 
Jhala,  a  relation  of  [667]  the  regent,  and  one  of  the  Omras  of 
Kotah.  It  is  a  thriving  comfortable  place,  and  the  pinnacled 
mahall  of  the  Raj  gave  to  it  an  air  of  dignity  as  well  as  of  the 
picturesque.     Our  route  to  Nanta  -  was  over  a  rich  and  highly 

^  [Skt.  parusa,  an  axc-shapod  £;oad  :   also  known  as  anhis.] 
«  [About  10  miles  W.  of  Kotah  city.] 


NANTA:  UAJPUT  MUSIC  1709 

cultivated  plain,  studded  with  mango-groves ;  which  do  not 
surprise  us,  since  we  know  it  is  the  family  estate  of  the  regent. 
The  patrimonial  abode  is,  therefore,  much  cherished,  and  is  the 
frequent  residence  of  his  son  Madho  Singh,  by  whom  I  was  met 
half-way  between  Kanari,  and  conducted  to  the  family  dwelhng. 

Nanta.  Rajput  Music. — Nanta  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  Rajput 
baronial  residence.  We  entered  through  a  gateway,  at  the  top 
of  wliich  was  the  Naubat-kliana,  or  saloon  for  the  band,  into  an 
extensive  court  having  colonnaded  piazzas  aU  round,  in  which 
the  vassals  were  ranged.  In  the  centre  of  this  area  was  a  pavihon, 
apart  from  the  palace,  smromided  by  orangeries  and  odoriferous 
flowers,  with  a  jet-Weau  in  the  middle,  whence  httle  canals  con- 
ducted the  water  and  kept  up  a  perpetual  verdm^e.  Under  the 
arcade  of  this  pavihon,  amidst  a  thousand  welcomes,  thimdering 
of  cannon,  trumpets,  and  aU  sorts  of  sounds,  we  took  our  seats  ; 
and  scarcely  had  congxatulations  passed  and  the  area  was  cleared 
of  our  escorts,  when,  to  the  sound  of  the  tabor  and  sarangi,  the 
sweet  notes  of  a  Panjabi  lappa  saluted  oiu"  ears.  There  is  a 
plamtive  simphcity  in  this  music,  which  denotes  originahty,  and 
even  without  a  knowledge  of  the  language,  conveys  a  sentiment 
to  the  most  fastidious,  when  warbled  in  the  impassioned  maimer 
which  some  of  these  syrens  possess.  While  the  Maluratta  dehghts 
in  the  dissonant  dhurpad,^  which  requires  a  rapidity  of  utterance 
quite  sinprising,  the  Kajput  reposes  in  his  lappa,  wliich,  conjoined 
with  his  opium,  creates  a  paradise.  Here  we  sat,  anoidst  the 
orange-groves  of  Nanta,  the  jet-d'eau  throwing  a  mist  between 
us  and  the  group,  whose  dark  tresses,  antelope-eyes,  and  syren- 
notes,  were  aU  thrown  away  upon  the  Frank,  for  my  teeth  were 
beating  time  from  the  ague-fit. 

It  was  in  this  very  area,  now  filled  with  the  youth  and  beauty 
of  Kotah,  that  the  regent  exhibited  his  wrestlers  ;  and  it  was 
from  the  very  seat  I  occupied,  that  Sriji  of  Bundi  challenged  these 
ruffians  to  the  encounter  related  in  the  annals.-  Having  sat  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  etiquette,  and  in 

^  ['■  The  iatroductory  stanza  of  a  poem  or  song,  wliich  is  repeated  as  a 
kind  of  burden  or  chorus  "  (Platts,  Urdu  Diet.  s.v.  dhur) :  "  petit  poenie 
ordinairement  compose  de  cinq  hemistiches  sur  une  meme  rime  "  (Gar9in 
de  Tassy,  Hist.  Litt.  Hindmiie,  i.  22).  It  is  said  to  have  been  invented  by 
Raja  Man  of  Gwaiior  (Me»Mirs  oj  JahiXngir,  trans.  Rogers-Beveridge,  271).] 

2  [P.  1618.] 


1710  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

courtesy  to  the  son  of  the  Regent,  who  had  come  thus  far  to  escort 
me,  we  took  leave  and  hastened  to  get  a  cup  of  tea, 

Talera,^  September  11. — Two  miles  north-west  of  Nanta  we 
passed  the  boimdary  of  the  regent's  estate  and  the  Bundi  territory. 
The  roads  were  good,  over  a  well-cultivated  and  well-wooded 
plain,  the  cotton  particularly  thriving.  Talera  is  a  large  [668] 
village  on  the  margin  of  a  fine  clear  stream,  its  banks  delightfully 
wooded,  abounding  in  fish,  which  even  tempted  my  invalid 
friends  to  try  their  luck.  Talera  is  in  the  jagir  of  the  wakil 
who  attends  me  on  the  part  of  the  Bundi  Raja,  but  is  still  a 
heap  of  ruins,  and  being  on  the  high  road,  is  open  to  parties  of 
troops. 

Nawagaon,  September  12. — The  road  very  fair,  though  a  little 
winding,  to  avoid  some  deep  ravines.  The  land  rich,  well- 
watered,  and  too  much  wooded  ;  but  man  is  wanting  to  cultivate 
the  fertile  waste.  The  encamping  ground  afforded  not  a  single 
tree  to  screen  us  from  a  scorching  sun.  We  passed  two  cenotaphs, 
where  Rajputs  had  fallen  ;  but  there  was  no  inscription,  and  no 
one  could  reveal  their  history. 

Bundi,  September  13. — The  country  and  roads,  as  usual,  flat, 
with  an  apparent  descent  from  Talera  to  the  base  of  the  Bundi 
range,  whose  craggy  and  unequal  summits  showed  it  could  be  no 
buttress  to  the  tableland  with  which  it  unites.  The  general 
direction  of  the  range  is  east-north-east,  though  there  are  diverging 
ridges,  the  course  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  delineate. 

As  we  neared  the  capital  of  the  Haras,  clouds  of  dust,  gradually 
obscuring  the  atmosphere,  were  the  first  signal  of  the  Raja's 
approach  :  soon  the  sound  of  drums,  the  clangour  of  trumpets, 
and  tramping  of  steeds,  became  audible,  and  at  length  the  Sandni- 
sawars,  or  camel-messengers,  announced  the  Raja's  presence. 
He  was  ian  horseback.  Instantly  I  dismounted  from  my  elephant,- 
and  although  too  weak  to  contend  with  the  lire  of  my  steed 
Javadia,  it  would  have  been  an  unpardonable  sin  against  etiquette 
to  have  remained  elevated  above  tlie  prince.  All  Javadia's  ^ 
warlike  propensities  were  awakened  at  the  stir  of  this  splendid 
retinue,  from  which  ever  and  anon  some  dashing  young  Hara 
issued,  "  witching  the  world  with  noble  horsemanship  "  ;  and  as, 
in  all  the  various  evolutions  of  the  manage,  there  was  not  a  steed 

^  ["  Tonera  "  in  the  Author's  map.] 
^  [The  name  of  the  steed  of  the  hero  Gugga.J 


;>ii^^.-«a  '<K': 


<*;! 


RECEPTION  AT  BCNDI  1711 

in  Rajwara  could  surpass  mine,  to  my  vast  inconvenience  and  no 
small  danger,  he  determined  on  this  occasion  to  show  them  off. 
In  one  of  his  furious  bounds,  he  had  his  fore-feet  on  the  broken 
parapet  of  a  reservoir,  and  as  I  turned  him  short,  he  threw  up  his 
head,  which  came  in  contact  with  mine,  and  made  my  Chabuk- 
sawar^  exclaim,  "  ^Zi  madad!'''  "The  help  of  Ali ! "  and  a  few 
more  bounds  brought  me  in  contact  with  my  friend,  the  Rao 
Raja,  when  we  dismounted  and  embraced.  After  going  through 
the  same  ceremony  with  the  principal  chiefs,  he  again  gave  me 
three  fraternal  hugs  to  prove  the  strength  of  his  friendship,  as 
he  said,  with  blunt  sincerity,  "  This  is  your  home,  which  you 
have  come  to  at  last."  With  other  affectionate  welcomes,  he 
took  leave  and  preceded  me.  His  retinue  was  striking,  but  not 
so  much  from  tinsel  [669]  ornament,  as  from  the  joyous  feeling 
which  pervaded  every  part  of  it.  As  my  friend  twirled  his  lance 
in  the  midst  of  about  eight  hundred  cavaliers  and  fifteen  hundred 
foot,  I  thought  of  the  deeds  his  ancestors  had  performed,  when 
leading  such  a  gol,  to  maintain  their  reputation  for  fealty.  It 
recalled  his  words  on  the  formation  of  the  treaty,  when  the 
generosity  of  Britain  again  restored  his  country  to  independence. 
"  What  can  I  say,  in  return  for  the  restoration  of  my  home  ? 
My  ancestors  were  renowTied  in  the  time  of  the  kings,  in  whose 
service  many  lost  their  lives  ;  and  the  time  may  come  when  / 
may  e^dnce  what  I  feel,  if  my  services  should  be  required  :  for 
myself,  my  chiefs,  are  all  yours  !  "  I  would  pledge  my  existence 
that  performance  would  not  have  lagged  behind  his  promise. 
We  allowed  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  elapse,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
clouds  of  dust  which  a  Rajput  alone  can  breathe  without  incon- 
venience ;  and  accompanied  hy  my  worthy  and  dignified  old 
friend,  the  Maharaja  Bikramajit,  Ave  proceeded  to  our  tents, 
placed  upon  the  bank  of  a  tank  beyond  the  town. 

The  Biindi  Palace. — The  coup  d^ceil  of  the  castellated  palace 
of  Bimdi,  from  whichever  side  you  approach  it,  is  perhaps  the 
most  striking  in  India  ;  -  but  it  would  require  a  dramng  on  a 
inuch  larger  scale  to  comprehend  either  its  picturesque  beauties 
or  its  grandeur.     Throughout  Rajwara,  which  boasts  many  fine 

1  [A  rough-rider.] 

2  [Fergiisson  {Hist.  Indian  Architecture,  ed.  1910,  ii.  175)  says  that, 
though  smaller,  the  palace  almost  equals  that  of  Udaipur  in  architectural 
effect,  while  its  position  is  in  some  respects  even  more  imposing.] 


1712  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

palaces,  the  Bundi-ka-mahaU  is  allowed  to  possess  the  first  rank  ; 
for  which  it  is  indebted  to  situation,  not  less  than  to  the  splendid 
additions  which  it  has  continually  received  :  for  it  is  an  aggregate 
of  palaces,  each  having  the  name  of  its  founder  ;  and  yet  the  whole 
so  well  harmonizes,  and  the  character  of  the  architecture  is  so 
imiform,  that  its  breaks  or  fantasies  appear  only  to  rise  from  the 
peculiarity  of  the  position,  and  serve  to  diversify  its  beauties. 
The  Cliliattar-mahaU,  or  that  built  by  Raja  Cliliattarsal,  is  the 
most  extensive  and  most  modern  addition.  It  has  two  noble 
halls,  supported  by  double  ranges  of  columns  of  serpentine  from 
his  own  native  quarries,  in  which  the  vassals  are  ranged,  and 
through  whose  ranks  you  must  pass  before  you  reach  the  state 
apartments  ;  the  view  from  which  is  grand.  Gardens  are  inter- 
mingled with  palaces  raised  on  gigantic  terraces.  In  one  of  these 
I  was  received  by  the  Raja,  on  my  visit  the  next  day.  Whoever 
has  seen  the  palace  of  Bundi,  can  easily  picture  to  himself  the 
hanging-gardens  of  Semiramis.  After  winding  up  the  zig-zag 
road,  I  passed  by  these  halls,  through  a  vista  of  the  vassals  whose 
contented  manly  looks  dehghted  me,  to  the  inner  palace  ;  when, 
having  conversed  on  the  affairs  of  his  country  for  some  time,  the 
Raja  led  the  way  to  one  of  the  terraces,  where  I  was  surprised  to 
find  a  grand  court  assembled,  under  the  [670j  shade  of  inunense 
trees,  trellised  vines,  and  a  fine  marble  reservoir  of  water.  The 
chiefs  and  retainers,  to  the  number  of  at  least  a  hundred,  were 
drawn  up  in  fines,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  throne.  The 
prospect  was  fine,  both  for  near  and  distant  views,  as  it  includes 
the  lakes  called  the  Jeth-Sagar  and  Prem-Sagar,  with  the  gardens 
on  their  margins,  and  in  the  distance  the  city  of  Kotah,  and  both 
banks  of  the  Chambal  ;  and  beyond  these  successive  terraces  and 
mahalls,  to  the  summit  of  the  hill,  is  seen  the  cupola  of  tlie 
Dhabhai's  tomb,  through  the  deep  foliage,  rising  above  the 
battlements  of  Taragarh.  This  terrace  is  on  a  grand  bastion, 
which  commands  the  south-east  gorge  of  the  valley  leading  to  the 
city  ;  and  yet,  such  is  the  immense  mass  of  building,  that  from 
the  town  one  has  no  idea  of  its  size. 

It  were  vain  to  attempt  a  description  of  Bundi,  even  were  I 
inclined.  It  was  the  traitor  of  Karwar  who  raised  the  walls  of 
Taragarh,  and  it  was  Raja  Budh  Singh  who  surrounded  the  city 
with  walls,  of  which  Ummed  Singh  used  to  say  "  they  were  not 
required  against  an  equal  foe,  and  no  defence  against  a  superior — 


LLLNESS^OF^DR.  DUNCAN:  MEJ  RIVER         1713 

and  only  retarded  reconquest  if  driven  out  of  Bundi,  whose  best 
defence  was  its  hills." 

u,-  Illness   o£  Dr.   Duncan,   September  21. — Partly   by   business, 
partly  by  sickness,  we  were  compelled  to  halt  here  a  week.     Our 
friend  the  doctor,  who  had  been  aihng  for  some  time,  grew  gradu- 
ally worse,  and  at  length  gave  himself  up.     Carey  found  him 
destroymg  his  papers  and  making  his  will,  and  came  over  deeply 
affected.     I  left  my  bed  to  reason  with  my  friend,  who  refused 
aU  nourishment,  and  was  sinking  fast ;  but  as  much  from  depres- 
sion of  spirits  as  disease.     In  vain  I  used  the  common  arguments 
to  rouse  liim  from  his  lethargy  ;   I  then  tried,  as  the  last  resort, 
to  excite  liis  anger,  and  reviled  him  for  giving  way,  telling  him  to 
teach  by  example  as  well  as  precept.     By  this  course,  I  raised 
a  tinge  of  blood  in  my  poor  friend's  cheek,  and  what  was  better, 
got  a  tumbler  of  warm  jelly  down  his  throat ;    and  appointing 
the  butler,  Kah  Ivhan,  who  was  a  favourite  and  had  great  influence, 
to  keep  rousmg  and  feeding  hun,  I  left  him.    No  sooner  was  he 
a  little  mended,  than  Carey  took  to  his  bed,  and  nothing  could 
rouse  him.     But,  as  time  jDassed,  it  was  necessary  to  get  on  ;  and 
with  htters  furnished  by  tlie  Raja  we  recommenced  our  journey. 
Banks  of  the  Mej  River,^  September  26,  distance  ten  miles. — I 
tliis  day  quitted  my  hospitable  friend,  the  Rao  Raja.     As  I  left 
my  tent,  I  found  the  Maharaja  of  Thana,  with  the  Dablana  ^ 
contmgent  {zabita),  amomiting  to  a  hundred  horse,  appointed  to 
escort  me  to  the  frontier.     Our  route  lay  through  the  Banda- 
ka-nal,  '  the  vaUey  of  Eanda,'  whose  gorge  near  the  capital  is  not 
above  four  hundred  yards  in  breadth,  but  [671]  gradually  expands 
untU  we  reach  Satur,  about  two  miles  distant.     On  both  sides  of 
this  defile  are  numerous  gardens,  and  the  small  temples  and 
cenotaphs  which  crown  the  heights,  in  many  places  well  wooded, 
produce   a   most   picturesque   effect.     All   these   cenotaphs   are 
perfectly  classical  in  form,  being  simple  domes  supported  by  slender 
columns  ;  that  of  Suja  Bai  is  peculiarly  graceful.     As  we  reached 
Satur,  the  valley  closed  our  last  view  of  the  fairy  palace  of  the 
Haras,  rearing  its  domes  and  gilded  spires  half-way  up  the  moun- 
tain, the  kunguras  of  Taragarh  encircling  it  as  a  diadem,  whilst  the 

^  [The  Mej  Nadi,  the  principal,  almost  the  only,  drainage  channel  of  the 
Bundi  State,  falls  into  the  Chambal.] 

2  [Dablana  about  10  miles  N.  of  Bundi  city :  Thana  in  the  Kherwara 
District  of  S.  Mewar.] 


1714        -  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

isolated  hill  of  Miraji,  at  the  foot  of  which  was  the  old  city, 
terminates  the  prospect,  and  makes  Bimdi  appear  as  if  entirely 
shut  in  by  rocks,  Satur  is  a  sacred  spot  in  the  history  of  the 
Haras,  and  here  is  enshrined  their  tutelary  divinity,  fair  Hope 
(Asapurna),  who  has  never  entirely  deserted  them,  from  the 
sakha  of  Asi,  Gualkund,  and  Asir,  to  the  present  hour  ;  and  though 
the  enchantress  has  often  exchanged  her  attributes  for  those  of 
Kalima,^  the  faith  of  her  votaries  has  survived  every  meta- 
morphosis. A  high  antiquity  is  ascribed  to  Satur,  which  they 
assert  is  mentioned  in  the  sacred  books  ;  if  so,  it  is  not  in  con- 
nexion with  the  Haras.  The  chief  temple  is  dedicated  to  Bhavani,- 
of  whom  Asapurna  is  an  emanation.  There  is  nothing  striking 
in  the  structure,  but  it  is  hallowed  by  the  multitude  of  sacrificial 
altars  to  the  manes  of  the  Haras  who  h§ve  "  fallen  in  the  faith  of 
the  Chhatri."  There  were  no  inscriptions,  but  abundance  of  lazy 
drones  of  Brahmans  enjoying  their  ease  under  the  wide-spreading 
bar  and  pipal  trees,  ready,  when  well  paid,  to  prepare  their 
incantations  to  Bhavani,  either  for  good  or  for  evil :  it  is  chiefly 
for  the  latter  purpose  that  Satur-ki-Bhavani  is  celebrated.  We 
continued  our  journey  to  Nawagaon,  a  tolerable  village,  but  there 
being  no  good  encamping  ground,  our  tents  were  pitched  a  mile 
farther  on,  upon  the  bank  of  the  Mej,  whose  turbid  waters  were 
flowing  with  great  velocity  from  the  accumulated  mountain-rills 
which  fall  into  it  during  the  equinoctial  rains. 

Thana,  September  27. — This  is  the  seat  of  Maharaja  Sawant 
Singh,  the  eldest  son  of  my  friend  Maharaja  Bikramajit  of  Khini. 
He  affords  another  instance  in  which  the  laws  of  adoption  have 
given  the  son  precedence  of  the  father,  who,  while  he  receives 
homage  in  one  capacity,  must  pay  it  in  another  ;  for  young 
Sawant  was  raised  from  the  junior  to  the  elder  branch  of  Thana. 
The  castle  of  Sawant  Singh,  which  guards  the  western  frontier,  is 
small,  but  of  solid  masonry,  erected  on  the  crest  of  a  low  hill. 
There  are  only  six  villages  besides  Thana  forming  his  fief,  which  is 
burdened  with  the  service  of  twenty-fi\  e  horse.  In  Bundi,  '  a 
knight's  fee,'  or  what  should  equip  one  cavalier,  is  two  hundred 
and  fifty  rupees  of  rent.  In  the  afternoon  the  Maharaja  brought 
[G72]  his  son  and  heir  to  visit  me,  a  fine  little  fellow  six  years  of 

^  [Tho  creed  of  Islam.] 

*  [Her  local  title  is  Rakt  Dantika  Devi,  '  Devi  with  the  bioo(] -stained 
tocth  '  (Rdjputana  Gazetteer,  1879,  i.  240).J 


JAHAZPUR  1715 

age,  who  with  his  sword  buckled  by  his  side  and  miniature  shield 
on  his  back,  galloped  his  Uttle  steed  over  hill  and  dale,  hke  a  true 
Rajput.  I  procured  several  inscriptions,  but  none  above  three 
hundred  years  old. 

Jahazpur,^  September  28. — At  daybreak  I  again  found  the 
Maharaja  at  the  head  of  his  troop,  ready  to  escort  me  to  the 
frontier.  In  vain  I  urged  that  he  had  superabundantly  performed 
all  the  duties  of  hospitality ;  "  Such  were  his  orders,  and  he  must 
obey  them."  I  well  know  the  laws  of  the  Medes  were  not  more 
peremptory  than  those  of  Bishan  Singh  ;  so  we  jogged  on,  beguil- 
ing the  time  in  conversation  regarding  the  semi- barbarous  race 
of  the  tract  I  was  about  to  enter,  the  Minas  of  Jahazpur  and  the 
Karar  or  fastnesses  of  the  Banas,  for  ages  the  terror  of  the  country, 
and  who  had  studded  the  plains  with  cenotaphs  of  the  Haras, 
fallen  in  defending  their  goods  and  chattels  against  their  inroads. 
The  fortress  of  Jahazpur  was  not  visible  until  we  entered  the  pass, 
and  indeed  had  nearly  cleared  it,  for  it  is  erected  on  a  hill  detached 
from  the  range  but  on  its  eastern  face,  and  completely  guards  this 
important  point  of  ingress  to  Me  war.  This  district  is  termed 
Chaurasi,  or  consisting  of  eighty-four  townships,  a  favourite 
territorial  subdivision  :  nor  is  there  any  number  intermediate 
between  this  and  three  hundred  and  sixty.  Jahazpiu",  however, 
actually  contains  above  a  hundred  townships,  besides  numerous 
purwas,  or  '  hamlets.'  The  population  consists  entirely  of  the 
indigenous  INIinas,  who  could  turn  out  four  thousand  kamthas, 
or  '  bowmen,'  whose  aid  or  enmity  were  not  to  be  despised,  as 
has  been  well  demonstrated  to  Zalim  Singh,  who  held  the  district 
during  fifteen  years.  Throughout  the  whole  of  this  extensive 
territory,  which  consists  as  much  of  land  on  the  plains  as  in  the 
hills,  the  Mina  is  the  sole  proprietor,  nor  has  the  Rana  any 
property  but  the  two  tanks  of  Budh  Lohari,  and  these  were 
wrested  from  the  Minas  by  Zalim  Singh  during  his  tenure.^ 

1  [Ten  miles  S.  of  Deoli  cantonment.] 

*  The  indigenous  Mina  affords  here  an  excellent  practical  illustration 
of  Manu's  axiom,  that  "  the  right  in  the  soil  belongs  to  him  who  first  cleared 
and  tilled  the  land"  [Laws,  ix.  44].  The  Rajput  conqueror  claims  and 
receives  the  tribute  of  the  soil,  but  were  he  to  attempt  to  enforce  more,  he 
would  soon  be  brought  to  his  senses  by  one  of  their  various  modes  of  self- 
defence — incendiarism,  self-immolation,  or  abandonment  of  the  lands  in  a 
body.  We  have  mystified  a  very  simple  subject  by  basing  our  arguments 
on  the  arrangements  of  the  Muhammadan  conqueror.     If  we  mean  to  follow 


17 IG  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

1  was  met  at  the  frontier  by  the  iaiyunnaii  ^  ol"  Jahazpur, 
headed  by  the  old  chief  of  Basai  and  his  grandson  Arjun,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken  in  the  journey  to  Kotah.  It  was  a  very  respect- 
able troop  of  cavalry,  and  though  their  appointments  were  not 
LG73J  equal  to  my  Hara  escort,  it  was  satisfactory  to  see  assembled, 
merely  at  one  post,  a  body  which  the  Rana  two  years  ago  could 
not  have  collected  round  his  own  person,  either  for  parade  or 
defence  :  as  a  beginning,  therefore,  it  is  good.  Received  also 
the  civil  manager,  fcJobharam,  the  nephew  of  the  minister,  a  very 
good  man,  but  without  the  skill  to  manage  such  a  tract.  He  was 
accompanied  by  several  of  the  iVIina  Naiks,  or  chiefs.  There  is 
much  that  is  interesting  here,  both  as  matter  of  duty  and  of 
history  ;  we  shall  therefore  halt  for  a  few  days,  and  rest  our 
wearied  invahds. 


CHAPTER  8 

Attempted  Poisoning  of  the  Author.  Jahazpur,  October  l. — 
My  journalizing  had  nearly  terminated  yesterday.  Dmican  and 
Carey  being  still  confined  to  their  beds,  my  relative.  Captain  Waugh, 
sat  down  with  me  to  dinner  j  but  fever  and  ague  having  destroyed 
all  appetite  on  my  part,  I  was  a  mere  spectator.  I  had,  however, 
fancied  a  cake  of  makkai  hour,  but  had  not  eaten  two  mouthfuls 
before  I  experienced  extraordinary  sensations  ;  my  head  seemed 
expanding  to  an  enormous  size,  as  if  it  alone  would  have  lUled 
the  tent ;  my  tongue  and  hps  felt  tight  and  swollen,  and  though 
1  underwent  no  alarm,  nor  sufiered  the  shghtest  loss  of  sense,  I 
deemed  it  the  prelude  to  one  of  those  violent  attacks,  wliich  have 
assailed  me  for  several  years  past,  and  brought  me  to  the  verge 
of  death.  1  begged  Captain  Waugh  to  leave  me  ;  but  he  had 
scarcely  gone  before  a  constriction  of  the  tlu-oat  came  on,  and  1 
thought  all  was  over.     1  rose  up,  however,  and  grasped  [G74J  the 

liis  example,  whoso  doctrine  was  the  law  of  the  sword,  let  us  do  it,  but  we 
must  not  coutound  might  with  right :  consult  custom  and  tradition  through- 
out India,  where  traces  of  originality  yet  cxiat,  and  it  wiU  invariably  appear 
that  the  right  in  the  soil  ia  in  the  cultivator,  who  maintains  even  in  exile  the 
hMick  Oapota-ka-bhum,  in  as  decided  a  manner  as  any  freeholder  in  England. 
But  Colonel  Briggs  has  settled  tins  point,  to  those  who  are  not  blinded  by 
prejudice. 

*  [A  deputation  of  welcome.] 


KHAJtTRI  1717 

tent-pole,  when  my  relative  re-entered  with  the  siircreon.  I 
beckoned  them  not  to  disturb  my  thoughts,  instead  of  which 
they  thrusf  some  ether  and  compoimds  down  my  throat,  which 
operated  with  magical  celerity.  I  vomited  violently ;  the 
constriction  ceased  ;  I  sunk  on  my  pallet,  and  about  two  in  the 
morning  I  awoke,  bathed  in  perspiration,  and  without  a  remnant 
of  disease.  It  was  difficult  to  account  for  this  result :  the  medical 
oracle  fancied  I  had  been  poisoned,  but  I  was  loth  to  admit  it. 
If  the  fact  were  so,  the  poison  must  have  been  contained  in  the 
cake,  and  as  it  would  have  been  too  great  a  risk  to  retain  the 
person  who  prepared  it,  the  baker  was  discharged.  It  was 
fortunate  that  the  symptoms  were  such  as  to  induce  Captain 
Waugh  to  describe  them  so  fully,  and  it  was  still  more  fortunate 
for  me  that  the  doctor  was  not  able  to  go  out  with  his  flshing-rod, 
for  the  whole  transaction  did  not  last  five  minutes.  This  is  about 
the  fourth  time  I  have  been  '  upon  the  brink  '  (kinari  pahuncha) 
since  I  entered  Mewar.^ 

Khajuri,  October  2. — Left  my  sick  friends  this  morning  to  nurse 
each  other,  and  having  an  important  duty  to  perform  at  Mandal- 
garh,  which  is  out  of  the  direct  route,  appointed  a  rendezvous 
where  I  shall  meet  them  when  this  work  is  over.  I  was  for  the 
first  time  compelled  to  shut  myself  up  in  my  palki  ;  incessant 
fever  and  ague  for  the  last  two  months  have  disorganized  a  frame 
which  has  had  to  struggle  with  many  of  these  attacks.  We  are 
now  in  what  is  termed  the  Karar,  for  so  the  tract  is  named  on 
both  banks  of  the  Banas  to  the  verge  of  the  plateau  ;  and  my 
journey  was  through  a  little  nation  of  robbers  by  birth  and 
profession  ;  but  their  kamthas  (bows)  were  unstrung,  and  their 
arrows  rusting  in  the  quiver.  Well  may  our  empire  in  the  east 
be  called  one  of  opinion,  when  a  solitary  individual  of  Britain, 
escorted  by  a  few  of  Skinner's  Horse,  may  journey  through  the 
valley  of  Khajuri,  where,  three  short  years  ago,  every  crag  would 
have  concealed  an  ambush  prepared  to  plunder  him  !  At  present, 
I  could  by  signal  have  collected  four  thousand  bowmen  around  me, 

*  [Lieut. -Col.  T.  H.  Sweeny,  who  has  much  experience  in  such  cases,  is 
satisfied,  from  the  symptoms,  that  the  attack  was  not  due  to  darnel,  the 
seeds  of  which,  when  mixed  with  cereals,  and  when  they  have  been  attacked 
by'mildew  or  funei,  are  deleterious.  The  attack  was  certainly  due  to  the 
administration  of  dntura  fnstuosa,  used  by  road  poisoners,  and  his  recovery 
was  due  to  tne  immediate  production  of  vomitins^.] 


1718  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

to  protect  or  to  plunder  ;  though  the  Minas,  finding  that  their 
rights  are  respected,  are  subsiding  into  regular  tax-paying  subjects, 
and  call  out  with  their  betters  "  Atal  Raj  !  "  ("  May  your  sway 
be  everlasting  !  ")  We  had  a  grand  convocation  of  the  Mina 
Naiks,  and,  in  the  Rana's  name,  I  distributed  crimson  turbans 
and  scarfs  ;  for  as  through  our  mediation  the  Rana  had  just 
recovered  the  district  of  Jahazpur,  he  charged  me  with  its 
settlement.  I  found  these  Minas  true  children  of  nature,  who 
for  the  first  time  seemed  to  feel  they  were  received  within  the 
pale  of  society,  instead  of  being  considered  as  outcasts.  "  The 
heart  must  leap  kindly  back  to  kindness,"  is  a  sentiment  as  power- 
fully [675]  felt  by  the  semi-barbarians  of  the  Karar  as  by  the  more 
civilized  habitants  of  other  climes. 

Our  route  was  through  a  very  narrow  valley,  little  susceptible 
of  cultivation,  though  a  few  patches  were  visible  near  the  hamlets, 
scattered  here  and  there.  The  scene  was  wild,  and  the  cool 
morning  air  imparted  vigour  to  my  exhausted  frame.  The  slopes 
of  the  valley  in  many  places  are  covered  with  trees  to  the  very 
summit  of  the  mountains,  on  which  the  kukra  or  wild  cock  was 
crowing  his  matins,  and  we  were  in  momentary  expectation  of 
seeing  some  bears,  fit  associates  of  the  Minas,  in  their  early 
promenades.  As  we  approached  Khajuri,  the  valley  widened, 
so  as  to  admit  of  its  being  termed  a  township  of  fifty-two  thousand 
bighas,  which  afforded  another  proof  of  ancestral  wisdom,  for  it 
was  in  sasan,  or  grant  to  the  Brahmans  :  but  the  outlaws  of  the 
Karar,  though  they  sacrifice  a  tithe  of  their  plunder  to  '  our  Lady 
of  the  Pass  '  (Ghata  Rani),  have  little  consideration  for  the  idlers 
of  the  plains.  This  feeling  is  not  confined  to  the  Minas  ;  for  the 
Bhumia  Rajputs,  despising  all  the  anathemas  of  the  church,  have 
seized  on  the  best  lands  of  Khajuri.  But  only  a  small  portion 
of  the  Bawana  (fifty-two  thousand),  about  seventeen  thousand 
English  acres,  is  arable. 

Kachola  or  Kachaura,  October  3. — Execrable  roads  !  Our 
route  continued  through  the  same  valley,  occasionally  expanding 
to  the  westward.  Half-way,  we  passed  the  baronial  castle  of 
Amargarh,  whose  chief,  Rawat  Dalil  Singli,  is  now  on  duty  with 
his  quota  at  Jahazpur,  but  his  imcle  Pahar  Singh,  who  is  a  great 
favourite  with  our  party  (by  whom  he  is  known  as  '  the  mountain- 
lion  '),  came  to  meet  and  conduct  me  to  the  castle.  But  I  was 
too  unwell,  or  should  on  many  accounts  have  desired  to  visit  this 


KACHAURA  :  DAMNIA  :  MANPURA  1719 

somewhat  celebrated  abode  of  one  of  the  Babas  (infants)  of  Mewar, 
whose  feud  I  maintained  for  him  against  his  potent  neighbour 
of  Shahpura,  which  has  elsewhere  been  related.^  It  is  quite 
unassailable,  being  built  on  an  isolated  rock,  and,  except  by  a 
circuitous  path  on  one  side,  there  is  no  passage  through  the  dense 
jungle  that  surrounds  it  :  a  mode  of  fortifying  recommended  by 
Manu,^  but  which,  if  universally  followed  in  this  land  so  studded 
with  fortresses,  would  waste  no  small  portion  of  the  sovereignty. 
I  was  quite  satisfied  with  this  view  of  the  castle  of  Dalil,  and 
enjoyed  from  the  point  of  descent  a  noble  prospect.  In  the  fore- 
ground is  the  cenotaph  of  Rana  Arsi,  in  the  centre  of  the  valley, 
which  extended  and  gradually  opened  towards  Mandalgarh,  whose 
blue  ridge  was  distinctly  visible  in  the  distance.  The  hills  to  the 
right  were  broken  abruptly  iuto  masses,  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
stretch  [676]  on  every  side,  were  disordered  heaps  of  gigantic 
rocks.  To  reclaim  this  district,  the  largest  in  Mewar,  I  am  now 
intent,  having  convoked  all  the  Bhumias  and  Patels  of  its  three 
hundred  and  sixty  townships  at  the  chief  city,  Mandalgarh.  My 
friend,  Pahar  Singh,  as  locum  tenens  of  his  uncle,  expended 
powder  on  the  occasion  ;  and  must  have  charged  his  patereroes  * 
to  the  muzzle.  Paharji  joined  me  on  his  Panchkalyan  (so  they 
term  a  horse  with  foiu:  white  legs  and  a  white  nose),  and  deter- 
mined to  escort  me  to  Mandalgarh  ;  a  service,  as  he  said,  not  only 
due  from  his  family,  but  in  accordance  with  the  commands  of  his 
sovereign  the  Rana,  of  whom  Pahar  was  a  faithful,  zealous,  and 
valiant  supporter  during  his  adversity.  The  Bhumias  of  Mandal- 
garh, in  fact,  generally  deserve  the  praise  of  having  maintained 
tills  stronghold  without  either  command  or  assistance  throughout 
the  whole  period  of  his  misfortunes. 

Kachaura  is  a  township  rated  at  six  thousand  rupees  of  annual 
revenue  in  the  rent-roll  of  Mewar,  but  is  now  an  inconsiderable 
village.  In  former  times,  it  must  have  been  a  place  of  importance, 
for  all  around,  to  a  considerable  distance,  the  ground  is  strewed 
with  fragments  of  sculpture  of  a  superior  character,  and  one  spot 
is  evidently  the  site  of  the  cenotaphs  of  the  family.     The  town 

1  See  Vol.  I.  p.  212.  ^  [Laivs,  vii.  70]. 

^  [Spanish  pedrero,  originally  an  engine  used  for  flinging  stones  :  then, 
a  piece  of  ordnance  for  discharging  fragments  of  broken  iron  and  the  like, 
and  for  firing  salutes  (see  J.*Fiyer,  A  New  Account  of  East  India  and  Persia, 
ed.  1909,  i.  271  f.)-] 


1720  PERSONAT.  NARRATIVE 

had  stood  on  the  western  bank  of  an  immense  lake,  which  through 
neglect  is  now  a  swamp  ;  and,  half-way  up  the  hill,  are  disclosed, 
amidst  the  brushwood  of  the  dhn}  the  ruins  of  a  temple  :  but 
tradition  has  perished  ^vith  the  population,  who  were  subjected 
at  once  to  the  curse  of  constant  forcisrn  invasion  and  the  inroads 
of  the  Minas  of  the  Karar,  Thus  a  soil,  Avhose  richness  is  apparent 
from  the  luxuriance  of  its  meadows,  is  in  a  state  of  entire  desola- 
tion. Kachaura  forms  the  patta  of  Shahpura  in  this  district, 
whose  chief  has  to  serve  two  masters,  for  he  is  a  tributary  of  Ajmer 
for  Shahpura,  itself  a  fief  of  Mowar,  and  holds  an  estate  of  about 
forty  thousand  rupees  of  annual  rent  in  Mandalgarh,  which  has 
been  two  years  under  sequestration  for  his  refusal  to  attend  the 
summons  to  Udaipur,  and  for  his  barbarous  murder  of  the  chief  of 
Amargarh.2  This  is  a  state  of  things  which  ought  not  to  exist. 
When  we  freed  these  countries  from  the  Mahrattas,  we  should 
have  renounced  the  petty  tributes  imposed  upon  the  surrounding 
chiefs  not  within  the  limits  of  the  district  of  Ajmer,  and  the 
retention  of  which  is  the  source  of  irritating  discussions  with  these 
princes  through  the  feudatories.  Presuming  on  this  external 
influence,  the  Shahpura  Raja  set  his  sovereign's  warrant  at  defiance, 
and  styled  himself  a  subject  of  Ajmer  ;  nor  was  it  imtil  he  found 
he  was  bound  by  a  double  tie  of  duty,  that  he  deigned  to  appear 
at  the  capital.  The  resumption  of  the  estate  in  Mandalgarh  alone 
overcame  the  inertness  of  the  chief  of  Shahpura  ;  he  has  already 
too  much  in  the  Cliaurasi,  or  eighty-four  [677]  townships  of 
Shahpura,  for  such  a  subject  as  he  is,  who  prefers  a  foreign  master 
to  his  legitimate  lord.  I  would  recommend  that  the  Rathor  chiefs 
of  Marwar,  beyond  the  Aravalli  hills,  now  tributary  to  Ajmer,  and 
who  consequently  only  look  to  that  State,  should  be  replaced  under 
their  proper  head  :  the  sacrifice  is  of  no  moment  to  us,  and  to  them 
it  will  be  a  boon. 

Damnia,  October  9. — T  was  detained  at  Kachaura  by  a  violent 
accession  of  fever  and  ague,  as  well  as  spleen,  increased  no  doubt 
by  the  unhealthiness  of  the  position  amidst  swamps  and  jungle. 
This  is  a  fine  healthy  spot,  where  I  should  like  to  convene  the 
Bhumias  and  ryots,  to  endeavour  to  remove  the  reproach  of  so 
beautiful  a  land  remaining  waste.  Damnia,  which  is  in  the 
sequestrated  "paila  of  Shahpura,  is  a  town  of  two  thousand  houses  ; 
a  universal  ruin  ! 

^  [A  ravine,  deep  pool.]  *  See  Vol  T.  p.  213. 


MANPURA:  MANDALGARH         1721 

Manpura,  15. — After  a  week's  halt,  reached  this  spot,  about  a 
mile  south-west  of  the  town,  and  on  the  bank  of  the  Banas.^ 
The  entire  population  of  Manpura  turned  out  to  receive  me  ;  the 
damsels  with  their  brazen  vessels  of  water  on  their  heads  ;  but 
the  song  of  the  Suhaila  had  ceased  to  charm,  and  my  ague  made 
me  too  ill  even  to  return  their  kindness.  To-day  it  has  abated, 
and  to-morrow,  with  another  respite,  I  will  try  to  get  through  the 
work  which  brought  me  here.  Mandalgarh  is  three  coss  from 
hence.  I  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  signs  of  reviving  prosperity  about 
Manpura  ;  some  fine  patches  of  sugar-cane  were  refreshing  sights. 

Mandalirarh,^  16  and  17. — Proceeded  up  the  valley  and  en- 
camped within  half  a  mile  of  the  city,  from  which  the  governor 
and  his  cortege  came  to  meet  and  welcome  me  ;  but  I  was  too 
enfeebled  to  ascend  the  fort,  which  was  a  subject  of  regret.  It 
is  by  no  means  formidable,  and  may  be  about  four  furlongs  in 
length,  with  a  low  rampart  wall,  and  bastions  encircling  the  crest 
of  the  hill.  The  governor's  residence  appears  on  the  west  side, 
at  which  spot  the  regent  of  Kotah  was  compelled  to  abandon 
his  ladders,  which  they  retain  as  a  trophy.  This  is  the  festival  of 
the  Dasahra,  the  day  sacred  to  Rama ;  but  feasting  is  lost  upon 
me,  for  this  is  the  ninth  day  of  abstinence  from  dinner.  Captain 
Waugh  rejoined  me  yesterday,  looking  very  ill,  and  giving  a  poor 
account  of  my  friends,  especially  Carey,  who  is  sinking  rapidly. 
He  left  them  encamped-  at  Baghit,  the  point  of  rendezvous  in  the 
Banas  where  I  shall  join  them  to-morrow.  He  found  me  on  my 
charpai  (pallet),  with  some  threescore  leeches  (which  I  had  got 
from  Mandalgarh)  on  my  left  side,^  while  I  was  attending  [678]  to 
and  noting  down  the  oral  reports  of  the  Bhumias  and  Patels  of 
the  district,  who  filled  my  tent,  many  remaining  in  groups  outside. 

1  By  mistake,  Manpura  is  not  rightly  placed  in  the  map.  [It  is  situated 
about  half-waj''  between  Damnia  and  Mandalgarh.] 

2  [About  100  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city  (Erskine  ii.  A.  118  f.,  quoting, 
for  its  archaeology,  H.  Cousens,  Progress  Report  AS  W.  India,  for  year 
ending  June  30,  1905).] 

3  Enlargement  of  the  spleen  appears  an  invariable  accompaniment  of 
protracted  fever  and  ague,  arising  from  such  causes  as  afflicted  us.  I  could 
feel  the  spleen  at  the  verj'  pit  of  the  stomach,  as  hard  as  a  stone.  The 
bleeding  reduced  it,  as  it  did  generally  in  my  case ;  for  the  leeches  were 
enormous,  and  must  have  each  drained  half  an  ounce  of  blood ;  but  I  had 
only  the  choice  of  them  or  the  actual  cautery,  which  was  strongly  recom- 
mended by  my  native  friends  :  of  two  evils  I  chose  what  appeared  to  me  the 
least. 

VOL.  Ill  2  H 


1722  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

I  notwithstanding  got  through  the  work  to  my  satisfaction,  and 
have  obtained  a  thorough  insight  into  the  agricultural  details  of 
this  fine  tract,  which  I  may  touch  upon,  if  I  am  able,  the  first 
halt. 

Annals  of  Mandalgarh. — ^Mandalgarh  was  rebuilt  by  a  chief 
of  the  Balnot  ^  tribe,  one  of  the  ramifications  of  the  Solanki  or 
Chaulukya  race,  which  furnished  a  splendid  dynasty  of  kings  to 
Anhilwara  (Nahrwala)  Patan,  who  ruled  over  the  western  maritime 
provinces  of  India  from  the  tenth  to  the  fourteenth  century. 
They  were  of  the  great  Takshak  or  Ophite  race,  which,  with  three 
other  tribes,  became  converts  to  Brahmanism.^  The  Balnot  of 
Mandalgarh  was  a  branch  of  the  family  which  occupied  Tonk- 
Toda  on  the  Banas,  recognized  in  their  traditional  poems  as 
Takshak,  or,  in  the  dialect,  Takatpura,  '  city  of  the  Takshak,  or 
snake.'  ^  Although  tradition  asserts  that  the  Solanki  of  Toda 
migrated  from  Patan  during  the  religious  wars  in  the  twelfth 
century,  it  is  more  probable  that  the  branch  fixed  itself  here 
during  their  progress  from  the  north  in  search  of  settlements  ;  for 
their  genealogical  creed  assigns  Lohkot,  in  the  Panjab,  as  the 
cradle  of  their  power.*  It  is  indeed  a  curious  fact,  amounting  to 
demonstration  of  the  Indo-Scythic  origin  of  the  Agnikula  races, 
that  they  all  lay  claim  to  this  northern  origin,  in  spite  of  their 
entrance  into  the  world  through  the  medium  of  fire  {agni)  :  in 
fact,  the  glorious  egotism  of  the  Brahman  is  never  more  con- 
spicuous than  when  he  asserts  the  superiority  of  the  Chauhans 
over  the  more  ancient  races  of  Surya  and  Soma  ;  that  "  these 
were  born  of  woman,  but  they  were  made  by  the  Brahmans  "  : 
a  proof  of  conversion  which  requires  no  comment.  In  spite  of 
this  fabled  birth  at  the  fountain-head,  the  Analkund  of  Abu, 
tradition  negatives  the  assumed  pedigree  of  the  Brahmans,  and 
brings  them  all  from  the  north.     Be  this  as  it  may,  the  branch. 

^  [The  origin  of  the  Bahiot  tribe  is  doubtful  [Census  Report  Rajpuidna, 
1911,  i.  25G).] 

*  [The  Chaulukya  or  Solanki  tribe  is  of  Gurjara  origin,  which  is  implied  in 
the  Takshak  theory  of  the  Author.  There  is  no  reason  for  connecting  them 
with  a  race  of  serpent-worshippers.] 

'  Tonk-Toda  is  well  worth  visiting.  The  artist  might  fill  a  poi-tfolio  with 
architectural  and  picturesque  sketches.  Moreover,  topazes  of  a  good  quality 
are  found  in  its  hills.  The  sacred  cave  of  Gokaran,  celebrated  in  the  history 
of  the  great  Chauhan  king,  Bisaldeo  of  Ajincr,  is  also  worth  notice. 

*  I  For  Lohkot  sec  VoK  I.  p.  llC] 


ANNALS  OF  MANDAI-GARH  1723 

which  fixed  itself  at  Mandalgarh  gave  its  name  to  the  tract,  which 
is  still  recognized  by  some  as  Balnot. 

The  Philosopher's  Stone. — The  first  possession  the  founder  had 
was  Larpura,  a  town  of  great  antiquity.  He  had  in  his  service  a 
Bhil,  named  Mandu,  who,  while  guarding  the  sugar-cane  from 
the  wild  hog,  came  upon  one  sound  asleep.  To  ensure  his  arrow 
piercing  the  animal,  he  began  to  sharpen  it  upon  a  stone  ;  and, 
to  his  astonishment,  found  it  transmuted  to  [679]  gold.  He 
repaired  to  his  master,  who  returned  with  Mandu,  and  found  the 
stone,  with  the  hog  still  asleep  beside  it  ;  but  no  sooner  had  he 
seized  upon  his  prize,  than  Baraha  disappeared.'^  With  the 
possession  of  the  paras-patthar,  the  '  philosopher's  stone,'  he 
raised  the  walls  of  Mandalgarh,  which  was  so  named  after  the 
fortunate  Bhil.  By  an  act  of  injustice  to  one  of  his  subjects,  he 
forfeited  Mandalgarh  to  a  descendant.  This  subject  was  a  Jogi, 
who  had  a  mare  of  such  extraordinary  speed  as  to  be  able  to  rim 
down  an  antelope.  Whether  the  Balnot  prince  thought  the  sport 
unsuitable  to  an  ascetic  we  are  not  told  ;  but  he  forcibly  took 
away  the  mare.  The  Jogi  complained  to  the  king,  who  sent  a 
force  and  expeUed  the  Balnot  from  Mandalgarh,  and  his 
descendants  are  petty  Bhumias  at  Jawal  and  Kachrod,  retaining, 
though  mere  peasants,  the  distinctive  title  of  Rao.  The  numerous 
stories  of  this  kind,  common  throughout  Rajwara,  accounting 
for  the  foundation  of  many  ancient  places,  may  merely  record,  in 
this  manner,  the  discovery  of  mineral  wealth  ;  from  the  acquisition 
and  the  loss  of  which  the  legendary  moralist  has  constructed  his 
tale. 

I  discovered  in  the  remains  of  a  marble  hawari,  or  reservoir, 
at  Kachaura,  two  large  tablets,  containing  the  pedigree  of  the 
Solanki  family,  which  will  require  time  to  decipher.  Tradition, 
however,  is  busy  with  the  name  of  Raja  Bhim,  and  his  son  Baran 
of  Anhilwara,  from  whom  many  tribes  branched  off  ;  and  although, 
from  the  first,  only  royal  houses  were  founded,  the  other  claims  a 
greater  celebrity  from  originating  a  heterogeneous  breed,  which 
descended  into  the  third  and  fourth  great  classes,  the  Vaisya  and 
Sudra.  From  him  the  Bagherwal  Mahajans,^  who  became  converts 
to  the  Jain  faith,  claim*  descent,  as  well  as  the  Gujars  of  Sont- 
Katoria  ;   the  Sunars,  or  goldsmiths,  of  Bonkan  ;   the  Bhil  com- 

^  [Baraha,  Varaha,  the  boar  incarnation  of  Vishnu.] 
2  [They  are  said  to  take  their  name  from  Baghera  in  Ajmer.] 


1724  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

munities  of  O^hna-Panarwa  (or  Mewar)  ;  and  likewise  those  of 
I\Iau-Maidana,  in  Kotah.  Wliether  from  Baran  and  his  deg^enerate 
offspring  originated  the  name  of  haran-shankar,  applied  to  the 
mixed  classes,  I  am  not  informed.^  The  Bagherwal  is  one  of  the 
"  twelve  and  a  half  (sarha  harah  niyat)  castes  of  IMahajans,"  or 
mercantile  tribes,  subdi\'ided  into  innumerable  families,  the 
greater  portion  of  whom  profess  the  Jain  creed,  and  nearly  all  are 
of  Rajput  ancestry  :  an  important  fact  in  the  pedigree  of  this 
considerable  part  of  the  population.  The  lineal  descendant  of 
the  Toda  Rao  resides  at  Basai  in  a  small  ^^llage  ;  and  two  other 
branches,  who  held  large  possessions  at  Todri  and  Jahazpur, 
retain  the  villages  of  Mirchiakhera  and  Bhatwara,  both  in 
Chitor  ;  they  have  preserved  the  title  of  Rao  amidst  all  the 
revolutions  that  have  deprived  them  of  their  estates  ;  nor  would 
any  prince  of  Rajwara  deem  himself  degraded  by  their  alliance 
[680].  Such  is  the  virtue  of  pedigree  in  these  regions.  I  should 
imagine  that  the  Balnots  held  of  the  Ranas  of  Mewar,  as  Mandal- 
garh  has  been  an  integral  portion  of  that  State  during  the  most 
flourishing  period  of  the  Anhilwara  dynasty,  although  the  inscrip- 
tion of  Chitor  savours  of  conquest  ;  in  which  case  we  have  at  once 
a  solution  of  the  question,  and  proof  that  the  Balnot  was  inducted 
into  Mandalgarh  by  his  superior,  Kumarpal.- 

In  S.  1755  (a.d.  1699)  the  tyrant  Aurangzeb  granted  Mandal- 
garh to  the  Rathor  chief  of  Pisangan,  named  Dudaji,  who  sub- 
divided it  into  allotments  for  his  brethren,  leaving  no  revenue  for 
the  duties  of  the  civil  administration  and  repairs  of  the  castle.  To 
remedy  this,  he  imposed  a  tax,  called  daotra  or  dasotra,  or  '  tenth  ' 
of  the  net  value  of  each  harvest,  upon  his  Bhumia  brethren. 
When  the  Rana  succeeded  in  expelling  the  royal  garrison,  he 
found  it  a  work  of  some  difficulty  to  get  rid  of  the  Rathor  feu- 
datories ;  and  he  gave  them  regular  paitas  for  their  estates,  subject 
to  the  payment  of  dasotra  ;  but  as  he  found  it  led  to  interference, 
in  the  inspection  of  crops,  and  to  fluctuation  and  appeals  in  bad 
seasons,  he  commuted  the  tax  for  service  of  one  horseman  and 
one  foot-soldier  for  each  five  hundred  rupees  of  rent,  and  a  certain 
small  sum  annually  to  mark  their  tributary  condition. 

^  [The  Baranshankar,  or  mixed  tribes,  have  no  connexion  with  a  mythical 
Raja  Baran.  The  distinction  of  colours  (varna)  goes  back  to  the  early 
Hindi]  period  (A.  A.  Macdonell,  Hist.  Sanskrit  Literature,  86).] 

*  See  Inscription,  Vol.  II.  p.  925. 


^  ANNALS  OF  MANDALGARH  1725 

In  these  times  of  turbulence,  other  impositions  were  laid  on 
the  Bhumias  of  liis  own  kindred,  the  Ranawats,  Kanawats,  and 
Saktawats,  who  estabUshed  their  rights  with  their  swords  when 
the  district  was  subjected  to  the  emperor.  In  the  same  manner 
as  with  the  Rathors,  the  Rana  confu:med  their  acquisitions,  on 
the  payment  of  certain  fines  called  bhumbarar,  wliich  were  either 
baraskar  and  trisala,  or  '  annual  '  and  '  triennial '  ;  the  first  being 
levied  from  the  holders  of  single  viUages,  the  latter  from  those 
who  had  more  than  one.  Thus,  Amargarh  was  fixed  at  two 
thousand  five  himdred  rupees ;  Amaldah,  fifteen  hundred ; 
Tintora,  thirteen  himdred  ;  Jhunjrala,  foiu'teen  hundred,  etc., 
triennially,  having  obtained  their  lands  by  main  force.  They  also, 
when  Mandalgarh  was  threatened,  would  repair  with  their  vassals 
and  defend  it  during  ten  days  at  their  own  expense,  after  wiiich 
they  received  rations  from  the  State.  There  were  various  other 
tines  collected  from  the  Bhumia  vassalage,  such  as  lauasma,  or 
for  the  support  of  the  Nakkarchis  (kettle-drimimers),  the  mace, 
standard,  and  even  the  torch-bearers  attached  to  each  gaiTison. 
There  was  also  khar-lakar,  for  wood  and  forage,  which  has  been 
elsewhere  explained ;  hal-barar,  or  '  plough-tax,'  and  ghasmali,  or 
'  pasturage,'  the  rates  of  which  are  graduated,  and  vary  [681]  in 
amount  with  the  power  of  enforcing  their  collections.  But  owing 
to  these  circmnstances,  the  best  land  in  Mandalgarh  belongs  to 
the  Bhumia  chieftains. 

It  was  about  this  time,  in  the  reign  of  Jagat  Singh  II.,  that 
Ummeda  Singh  of  Shahpura  had  the  grant  of  seventy-three 
villages  in  Mandalgarh,  one-fifth  of  the  whole  district,  subject 
only  to  the  fine  of  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  rupees 
annually  for  ghasmali,  with  five  himdi-ed  more  to  the  deputy 
governor,  and  two  hundred  to  the  Chaudhari,  or  territorial  head 
of  the  district.  In  this  lavish  manner  were  estates  disposed  of. 
This  family  continued  to  hold  it  until  S.  1843,  when  the  minister 
Somji,  in  order  to  obtain  his  support  during  the  Chondawat 
rebelhon,  gave  hun  a  formal  acquittance  for  this  service,  and  in 
addition  to  these  lands,  the  two  subordinate  fiefs  of  Dangarmau 
and  Borwa  on  the  Plateau,  and  the  rich  estate  of  Agoncha  on  the 
IQiari ;  in  retmn  tor  which,  he  exacted  a  stipulation  to  serve 
with  four  himdred  horse  :  a  contract  fulfilled  only  by  one  chief 
of  the  family,  who  fell  leading  his  contingent  at  the  battle  of 
Ujjain.     Ilis  descendants  seem  to  have  claimed  immunity  on  the 


1726  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE      ^ 

score  of  his  service  ;  and  the  present  incumbent  is  a  madman. 
Great  changes,  however,  have  recently  been  made  in  the  condition 
of  the  Bhumias,  and  these  desultory  fines  have  all  merged  into  a 
duty  more  accordant  with  the  character  of  the  Rajput ;  service 
in  the  garrisons  of  Mandalgarh  and  Jaliazpur,  and  a  fixed  annual 
sum  from  those  who  are  too  poor  to  command  even  a  single 
horse. 

Baghit,^  ISth ;  eight  miles. — A  large  village  on  the  west  of  our 
own  stream,  the  Berach,  coming  from  the  Udaisagar.  Our  road 
lay  over  a  rich  soil,  as  usual  overgrown  with  grass.  Here  I 
rejoined  my  sick  friends,  all  very  ill  ;  the  doctor  better,  but  Carey 
in  a  very  precarious  condition. 

Birslabas,  19th. — The  route  over  the  most  fertile  plains  of 
Mev/ar  ;  but  one  continuous  mass  of  jungle  and  rank  grass.  The 
Maharaja  came  out  to  meet  me,  a  courteous,  polished  Rajput. 
He  is  of  the  Ranawat  clan,  descended  from  Rana  Amra  Singh,  and 
the  elder  branch  of  the  Shahpura  family.  Both  his  father  and 
grandfather  fell  defending  the  cause  of  Shah  Jahan  against  the 
usurper  Aiurangzeb,  which  lost  him  his  buthright  ;  but  he  has 
five  villages  left  attached  to  Birslabas.  Encamped  near  the 
altars  of  his  heroic  ancestors. 

Amba,  21st ;  six  and  a  half  miles. — The  route  over  a  scene  of 
desolation  ;  fine  fields,  fruitful  of  grass  and  ruins.  Sent  one  of  my 
Brahmans  to  the  town  of  Akola,  two  coss  distant,  and  had 
several  inscriptions  copied  ;  they  were  all  immunities  or  grants 
of  privileges  to  the  printers  of  that  town,  thence  called  Chhipi-ka- 
Akola,  to  distinguish  [682]  it  from  another  of  the  same  name.  I 
halted  at  Birslabas,  received  several  visits,  and  held  interesting- 
conversations  with  the  Maharaja  ;  but  fever  and  ague  leave  the 
mind  in  a  sorry  state.  I  can  pay  no  attention  to  barometer  or 
perambulator  ;  of  the  latter  Babu  Mahesh  keeps  a  diary,  and  on 
his  intelligence  I  can  depend. 

Hamirgarh,^  22nd. — This  toMn  belongs  to  Biramdeo,  Ranawat, 
the  son  of  Dhiraj  Singh,  who  was  the  chief  adviser  of  the  Salumbar 
princes  in  the  rebellion  of  S.  184.3,  during  which  he  obtained  it. 
The  present  chief  is  an  oaf,  always  intoxicated  ;  and  as  he  did 
not  discharge  the  Baoris,  or  professional  thieves  in  liis  service,  on 
the  return  of  these  days  of  peace,  he  was  deprived  of  two  towns 

1  [Nearly  10  miles  S.W.  of  Mandalgarh.] 
^  [Seventy-two  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


SlYANA  mt 

amounting  to  seven  thousand  rupees  annual  rent.  He  ought, 
indeed,  by  the  treaty  of  a.d.  1818,  to  have  lost  Hamirgarh,  but 
he  contrived  by  various  indirect  means  to  elude  it,  and  to  retain 
this,  one  of  the  most  thriving  places  in  Mewar.  It  contains  about 
eight  hundred  inhabited  houses,  tenanted  chiefly  by  manufacturers 
of  cliintz  and  dopattas,  or  '  scarfs^'  such  as  are  worn  by  all  the 
Rajputnis.  It  has  a  fine  lake,  filled  with  a  variety  of  wild  duck, 
which  live  unmolested  amidst  the  singhara  ^  and  lotus.  The  more 
ancient  name  of  this  place  is  Bakrol,  as  I  found  by  two  inscriptions, 
which  again  furnish  specimens  of  svunptuary  legislation. 

Siyana,^  23rd;  eight  miles  and  three  furlongs. — We  are  now  in 
the  very  heart  of  jMewar,  plains  extending  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  Traces  of  incipient  prosperity  are  visible,  but  it  will 
require  years  to  repair  the  mischief  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  centvu*y. 
Passed  through  Ujhana,  Amli,  Neuria — all  surrendered  in  conse- 
quence of  the  treaty  of  1818  :  the  last-mentioned,  together  with 
Siyana,  from  the  '  Red  Riever,'  as  we  have  nicknamed  the 
chieftain  of  Badesar.  The  prospect  from  this  ground  is  superb  : 
the  Udaipur  liills  in  the  distance  ;  those  of  Pur  and  Gurla,*  with 
their  cupolas,  on  our  right ;  the  fantastic  peak  of  Barak  rising 
insulated  from  the  plain.  We  are  now  approaching  a  place  of 
rest,  which  we  all  much  require  ;  though  I  fear  Carey's  will  be  one 
of  perpetuity.  Saw  a  beautiful  mirage  {si-kot)  this  morning,  the 
certain  harbinger  of  the  cold  season.  The  ridge  of  Pur  underwent 
a  thousand  transformations,  and  the  pinnacle  of  Barak  was 
crowned  with  a  multitude  of  spires.  There  is  not  a  more  delightful 
relaxation  than  to  watch  the  changes  of  these  evanescent  objects, 
emblems  of  our  own  ephemeral  condition.  This  was  the  first 
really  cold  morning.  The  Panchayat,  or  elders  of  Pur,  with 
several  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants  to  the  number  of  fifty, 
came  all  this  way  to  see  me,  and  testify  theu"  happiness  and 
gratitude  !  Is  there  another  nook  in  the  earth  where  such  a 
principle  is  professed,  much  [683]  less  acted  on  ?  Hear  their 
spokesman's  reply  to  my  question,  "  AVhy  did  they  take  the 
trouble  to  come  so  far  from  home  ?  "  I  give  it  verbatim  :  "  Our 
toAvn  had  not  two  hvmdred  inhabited  dwellings  when  you  came 

1  [The  edible  nut,  Trapa  bispinosn  (Watt,  Econ.  Prod.  1080).] 
-  [About  60  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 

'  [Pur,  72  miles  N.E.  of  Udaijjur  city  :  Guria  on  the  S.W.  point  of 
the  same  hill-range.] 


1728  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

amongst  us  :  now  there  are  twelve  hundred  :  the  Rana  is  our 
sovereign,  but  you  are  to  us  next  to  Parameswar  (the  Almighty)  ; 
our  fields  are  thriving,  trade  is  reviving,  and  we  have  not  been 
molested  even  for  the  wedding-portion.^  We  are  happy,  and  we 
have  come  to  tell  you  so  ;  and  what  is  five  coss,  or  five  hundred,  to 
what  you  have  done  for  us  ?  ",  All  very  true,  my  friends,  if  you 
think  so.  After  a  little  wholesome  advice  to  keep  party  feuds 
from  the  good  town  of  Pur,  they  took  leave,  to  return  their  ten 
miles  on  foot. 

Since  the  town  council  left  me,  I  have  been  kept  until  half-past 
seven  by  the  Baba  of  Mangrop,  and  the  Thakur  of  Rawarda, 
whose  son  I  redeemed  from  captivity  in  the  fortress  of  Ajmer. 
Worn  out ;  but  what  is  to  be  done  ?  It  is  impossible  to  deny 
one's  self  to  chiefs  who  have  also  come  miles  from  the  best  motives. 
Now  for  coffee  and  the  charpai. 

Rasmi,^  October  23. — The  direct  or  usual  route  is  thirteen  and 
a  half  miles,  but  as  I  made  a  circuit  by  Marauli,  it  was  fifteen.  Had 
I  taken  the  common  route,  I  should  have  followed  the  Banas  the 
whole  way  ;  as  it  was,  for  the  last  half  I  skirted  its  low  banks,  its 
limpid  stream  flowing  gently  to  the  north-east.  Found  the  culti- 
vation considerably  increased  compared  with  last  year  ;  but  it  is 
still  a  desert,  overgrown  with  grass  and  brushwood,  in  which  these 
little  cultivated  oases  are  "  few  and  far  between."  Marauli  was 
thriving  in  the  midst  of  ruin,  with  fifty-seven  ploughs  at  work  ; 
there  were  but  twelve  when  I  entered  IMewar.  Rasmi  has  also 
seventy  families  instead  of  the  twenty  I  found  ;  and  in  a  few 
years  I  hope  to  see  them  greatly  increased.  We  had  some 
delicious  trout  from  the  Banas,  some  of  them  equal  to  what  we 
caught  last  year  at  Pahona,  the  largest  of  which  weighed  seventy- 
three  rupees,  or  about  two  pounds,  and  near  seventeen  inches  long 
by  nine  in  girth.  My  friend  Tom  David  Steuart  was  more 
successful  than  we  were  in  getting  them  to  rise  at  the  fly  ;  in 
revenge  we  took  them,  unsportsmanlike,  in  a  net.  This  appears 
to  be  the  season  for  eating  them. 

_Rasmi  is  a  place  of  considerable  interest,  and  tradition  is  at 
work  to  estabUsh  its  antiquity,  connecting  it  with  the  name  of 

^  When  the  Rana  was  about  celebrating  siiuultaueously  the  marriage  of 
two  (laughters  and  a  granddaughter  of  the  princes  of  Jaisalmer,  Bikanor,  and 
Kishangarh,  his  subjects  were  called  on  for  the  '  tenth.' 

*  [About  46  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


JASMA:  SANWAR  1729 

Raja  Chand  ;  but  whether  the  Pramar  of  [684]  Chandravati,  or 
the  Chauhan  of  Abhaner,  I  cannot  learn.  There  were  vestiges 
of  past  days  ;  but  even  in  these  regions,  where  to  a  certain  extent 
they  respect  antiquity,  I  find  the  ruined  temples  are  despoiled, 
and  appropriated  to  modern  fabrics.  Amongst  the  groves  of 
Rasmi  I  found  some  fragments  of  patriarchal  legislation,  prohibit- 
ing "  the  ladies  from  carrying  away" under  their  ghaghra  (petticoats) 
any  portion  of  the  sadh,  or  village-feast !  "  I  also  discovered  a 
tablet  raised  by  the  collective  inhabitants  of  Rasmi,  wiiich  well 
illustrates  the  truth,  that  they  had  always  some  resort  against 
oppression.  It  runs  as  follows  :  "  Written  by  the  merchants, 
bankers,  printers,  and  assembled  panchayat  of  Rasmi :  \Miereas 
the  collector  of  to^vn-duties  oppressed  the  merchant  by  name 
Pakar,  and  exacted  exorbitant  duties  on  grain  and  reza  (un- 
bleached cloth),  for  wiiich  he  abandoned  the  place  ;  but  the 
government-officer  having  forsworn  all  such  conduct  for  the 
future,  and  prevailed  on  him  to  return,  and  having  taken  the  god 
to  witness — we,  the  assembled  panch,  have  set  up  this  stone  to 
record  it.     Asarh  the  3rd,  S.  1819." 

Fourteen  years  have  elapsed  since  I  first  put  my  foot  in  Mewar, 
as  a  subaltern  of  the  Resident's  ^  escort,  when  it  passed  through 
Rasmi.  Smce  that  period,  my  whole  thoughts  have  been  occupied 
with  her  history  and  that  of  her  neighbours. 

Jasma,^  24</i ;  distance  fourteen  miles,  but  not  above  twelve 
direct. — This  in  past  times  was  a  township  of  celebrity,  and  in  the 
heart  of  the  finest  soil  in  India,  with  water  at  hand  ;  but  it  had 
not  a  single  habitation  when  we  entered  the  country  ;  now,  it  has 
eighty  families.  Our  way  for  fourteen  miles  was  through  one 
wide  waste  of  untrodden  plain  ;  the  Banas  continued  our  com- 
panion half-way,  when  she  departed  for  Galund  to  our  right. 
Saw  many  inscriptions,  of  which  we  shaU  give  an  account  here- 
after. Passed  the  copiDcr-mines  of  Dariba  ;  ^  but  they  are  filled 
v/ith  water,  and  the  miners  are  all  dead. 

Sanwar,*  25th ;  distance  twelve  and  a  half  miles  by  the  direct 

^  My  esteemed  frieud,  Mr.  Graeme  Mercer,  of  Maevisbank. 
-  [Now  headquarters  of  a  Talisil  in  Kapasan  district :    about  42  miles 
N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 

*  [These  lead  mines,  once  yielding  a  high  revenue,  have  long  been  closed 
(Erskine  ii.  A.  53).] 

*  [A  trading  town,  about  30  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur  city.] 


1730  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

route  tlirough  Lonera  ;  but  I  made  a  circuit  to  visit  the  celebrated 
field  of  battle  between  Rawal  Samarsi,  of  Chitor,  and  Bholu 
Bhim,  of  Anhilwara  Patan,  recorded  by  the  bard  Chand  in  his 
Raesa.  Tlxis  magnificent  plain,  like  all  the  rest  of  this  once 
garden  of  Mewar,  is  overgrown  with  the  kesula  or  palas,  and 
lofty  rank  grass  ;  and  the  sole  circumstance  by  which  it  is  known 
is  the  site.  The  bard  describes  the  battle  as  having  occurred 
in  Khet-Karera,  or  field  of  Karera,  and  that  the  Solanki,  on  his 
defeat,  retreated  across  the  river,  meaning  the  Berach,  wliich  is 
a  few  miles  to  the  south.  A  little  way  [685]  from  hence  is  the 
Sangam,  or  point  of  junction  of  the  Berach  and  Banas,  which, 
with  a  tliird  small  stream,  forms  a  triveni  ;  at  their  point  of 
confluence  there  is  an  altar  to  Mahadeo. 

Karera. — At  Karera  there  is  a  temple  of  some  celebrity, 
dedicated  to  the  twenty-third  of  the  Jain  apostles,  Parsvanath. 
I  found  several  inscriptions  recording  its  foundation  in  S.  11  .  ., 
and  several  from  1300  to  1350.  We  must  supply  the  figures 
wanting  in  the  first.  The  priests  are  poor  and  ignorant  ;  but 
they  are  transcribing  its  history,  and  such  as  it  is  it  shall  be 
given.  The  temple  is  imposmg,  and  though  evidently  erected 
in  the  decline  of  the  arts,  maj'-  be  considered  a  good  specimen  for 
the  twelfth  century.  It  consists  of  two  domes,  supported  by 
numerous  massive  columns  of  a  species  of  porphyry,  of  close 
texture,  excessively  hard,  and  taking  a  fine  polish.  The  capitals 
of  the  columns  are  filled  with  Jain  figures  of  their  pontiffs.  The 
domes  are  of  nearly  equal  diameters,  about  thirty  feet  each, 
and  about  forty  in  height  ;  under  the  further  one  is  the  sanctum 
of  Parsva,  and  the  other  within  the  votaries.  There  is  a  splendid 
colonnaded  vestibule  at  the  entrance,  ricldy  sculptured,  wliich 
gives  a  very  grand  appearance  to  the  whole  edifice  ;  but  it  stands 
in  the  midst  of  desolation.  Even  thirty  years  ago,  these  plains 
were  covered  with  crops  of  juar,  in  which  an  elephant  would  have 
been  lost  ;  now  there  is  scarcely  the  trace  of  a  footpath,  and 
with  some  difficulty  did  I  make  way  in  my  palki  (for  I  am  unable 
to  mount  my  horse)  through  the  high  grass  which  completely 
overtopped  it,  and  the  babul  trees,  the  thorns  of  wliich  annoyed 
us.  Karera,  which  formerly  contained  six  hundred  houses,  has 
now  only  sixty  ;  and  more  than  half  of  these  have  been  built 
since  we  came  amongst  them.  The  damsels  of  Karera  came  out 
to  welcome  me  with  the  '  song  of  joy,'  and  bringing  water.     The 


MAULI :    HEIGHTS  OF  TUS  AND  MERTA         1731 

distance  is  seven  miles  from  Rasmi  to  Karera,  and  nine  thence 
to  Sanwar.  The  latter  belongs  to  one  of  the  infants  (Babas)  of 
Mewar,  the  Maharaja  Daulat  Singh,  now  kilahdar  or  commandant 
of  Kimibhalmer.  This  chief  town  of  the  estate  of  my  friend  the 
Maharaja  is  but  small,  and  in  no  flourishing  condition.  There  is 
a  small  fort,  in  which  he  contrived  to  maintain  himself  against 
the  savage  bands  who  long  prowled  over  the  country.  Tran- 
scribed an  inscription,  and  found  it  to  be  the  abolition  of  a 
monopoly  of  tobacco,  dated  S.  1826. 

Mauli,  26th  ;  seven  and  a  half  miles. — As  usual,  all  was  barren 
between  Sanwar  and  Mauli  ;  though  at  each  are  the  traces  of 
reviving  industry.  This  was  formerly  a  considerable  town,  and 
rated  in  the  books  at  seven  thousand  rupees  annual  rent  ;  but 
now  it  yields  not  seven  hundred.  Its  population  consists  of 
about  eighty  famiUes  of  all  classes  [686],  half  of  which  have  been 
recalled  from  their  long  exile  in  Malwa  and  Khandesh,  and  have 
already  given  a  new  aspect  to  IVIauli  in  its  sugar-canes.  Her 
highness's  steward,  however,  is  not  one  of  the  faithful.  There  is  a 
very  fine  bawari,  or  reservoir,  of  coarse  marble,  constructed  by 
Baiji  Raj,  '  the  royal  mother,'  of  the  present  Rana  and  his  sister, 
in  whose  appanage  it  is.  An  inscription,  dated  S.  1737,  recorded 
an  ordinance  in  favour  of  the  Jains,  that  "  the  oil-mill  of  Mauli 
should  not  work  on  the  four  rainy  months  "  ;  in  order  to  lessen 
the  destruction  of  animal  life.^ 

Heights  of  Tus  and  Merta,  27th  ;  fourteen  miles  and  a  half. — 
At  length  there  is  an  end  to  our  disastrous  journey  ;  and  from 
this  ground  I  stir  not  again,  till  I  start  for  Samudra  (the  sea),  to 
embark  for  the  land  of  my  sires.  Our  route,  as  usual,  over 
desolate  fields,  doubly  striking  as  we  passed  the  hunting-seats 
of  Nahramagra,  or  '  tiger  mount.'  Bajraj,  the  royal  steed,  who 
seemed  instinctively  to  know  he  was  at  the  end  of  his  journey, 
was  miwilling  to  quit  the  path  and  his  companions,  when  I  urged 
him  to  pick  his  way  amidst  the  ruined  palace  of  the  Ranas,  where, 
without  metaphor,  "  the  owl  stands  sentinel  "  ;    and  which  was 

^  [Among  Jains  at  the  present  day  the  period  of  retreat,  known  as 
Pachasan  or  Paryusan,  extends  among  the  Swetambara  section  from  12th 
dark  half  of  Sawan  (July-August)  to  5th  bright  half  of  Bhadrapada  (August- 
September)  :  among  the  Digambara  section  from  5th  bright  half  to  6th 
dark  half  of  Bhadrapada  {BG,  ix.  Part  i,  113  f.).  It  corresponds  to  the 
Buddhist  Vassavasa  or  Vassa  (Skt.  varsliika,  '  belonging  to  the  rainy 
season  ')  (Kern,  Manual  of  Indian  Buddhism,  80  f.).] 


1732  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

crumbling  into  and  choking  up  the  Bamani,  whose  monotonous 
murmur  over  these  impediments  increased  tlie  melancholy  sensa- 
tions wiiich  arose  on  beholding  such  a  scene.  Every  year  is 
aiding  its  rapid  decay,  and  vegetation,  fixing  itself  everywhere, 
rends  its  walls  asunder.  The  range  of  stabling  for  thirty  horses, 
all  of  stone,  even  to  the  mangers,  is  one  extensive  ruin.  It  was 
on  tills  spot,  according  to  the  clironicles,  that  the  sage  Harit 
bestowed  the  enchanted  blade  upon  the  great  sire  of  the  Sesodias, 
eleven  centuries  ago  ;  but  they  have  run  their  career,  and  the 
problem  remains  to  be  solved,  whether  they  have  to  commence 
a  new  coiu-se,  or  proceed  in  the  same  ratio  of  decay  as  the  palace 
of  the  tiger-mount.  The  waUs  around  this  royal  preserve  no 
longer  serve  to  keep  the  game  from  prowling  where  they  please. 
A  noble  boar  crossed  our  path,  but  had  no  pursuers  ;  "  our  blood 
was  cold  "  ;  we  wanted  rest.  As  we  approached  our  old  groimd, 
my  neighbours  of  Merta  and  villages  adjacent  poured  out  to 
welcome  our  return,  preceded  by  the  Dholi  of  Tus  and  his  huge 
kettle-drum,  and  the  fair,  bearing  their  lotas,  or  brazen  vessels 
with  water,  chanted  the  usual  strain  of  welcome.  I  dropped  a 
piece  of  silver  into  each  as  I  passed,  and  hastened  to  rest  my 
wearied  limbs. 

Poor  Carey  will  never  march  again  !     Life  is  almost  extinct,  and 
aU  of  us  arc  but  the  ghosts  of  what  we  were  [687]. 


CHAPTER  9 

Udaipur,  July  1821. — When  1  concluded  the  narrative  of  my 
journey  in  October  last  year,  I  had  no  expectation  that  I  should 
ever  put  my  foot  in  the  stirrup  again,  except  en  route  to  Bombay, 
in  order  to  embark  for  Old  England ;  but  "  honhar  !  "  ^  as  my 
Rajput  friends  exclaim,  with  a  sigh,  when  an  mvincible  destiny 
opposes  their  intentions.  I  had  only  awaited  the  termination  of 
the  monsoon  to  remove  the  wreck  of  a  once  robust  frame  to  a 
more  genial  chme  ;  and  now,  it  will  remain  to  be  proved  whether 
my  worthy  friend  Duncan's  prophecy — "  You  must  die,  if  you 
stay  here  six  months  more  " — will  be  fulfilled.  Poor  Carey  lies 
entombed  on  the  heights  of  Merta  ;  the  doctor  liimself  is  just 
^  [Kiamet,  fate.] 


JOURNEY  OF  THE  AUTHOR  TO  BCTNDI         1733 

going  off  to  the  Cape,  half-dead  from  the  Kotah  fever  ;  and,  as 
if  that  were  not  enough,  the  naharua,  or  guinea- worm,  has  blanched 
his  cheek  and  made  him  a  cripple.  My  cousin.  Captain  Waugh, 
is  at  Kotah,  depressed  by  a  continuance  of  the  same  malaria,  and 
in  a  few  days  I  again  start  solus,  in  the  midst  of  the  monsoon,  for 
Haraoti. 

Death  of  the  Rao  Raja  of  Biindi. — A  few  days  ago  I  received 
an  express  from  Bundi,  announcing  the  sudden  death  of  my 
estimable  friend,  the  Rao  Raja,  who  in  his  last  moments  nominated 
me  guardian  of  his  infant  son,  and  charged  me  to  watch  over  his 
welfare  and  that  of  Bundi.  The  more  formal  letter  of  the  minister 
was  accompanied  by  one  from  the  Rani,  mother  of  the  young 
prince,  from  whom  also,  or  in  his  name,  I  had  a  few  lines,  both 
seconding  the  bequest  of  the  dying  prince,  and  reminding  me  of 
the  dangers  of  a  minority,  and  the  elements  by  which  they  were 
surroimded.  The  appeal  was  irresistible,  and  the  equipage  was 
ordered  out  for  immediate  departure  to  Merta,  and  thence  to 
Mauli,  twenty-five  miles  distant,  where  I  should  join  them. 

Cholera. — The  Raja  fell  a  victim  to  Mari,  the  emphatic  appella- 
tion of  cholera,  which  has  now  been  -wasting  these  regions  since 
1817.  They  might  well  say  that,  if  at  this  important  [688] 
period  in  their  history  we  destroyed  the  demon  of  rapine  which 
had  so  long  preyed  upon  their  repose,  we  had  in  Ueu  of  it  intro- 
duced death  amongst  them,  for  such  is  the  interpretation  of  Mari.^ 
It  was  in  our  armies  that  this  disease  first  appeared  in  northern 
India  ;  and  although  for  some  time  we  flattered  ourselves  that 
it  was  only  the  intemperate,  the  ill-fed,  or  iU-clothed,  that  fell 
victims  to  it,  we  soon  discovered  that  Mari  was  no  respecter  of 
persons,  and  that  the  prince  and  the  peasant,  the  European  and 
the  native,  the  robust  and  the  weak,  the  well-fed  and  the  abstinent, 
were  alike  subject  to  her  influence.  I  can  niunber  four  intimate 
friends,  my  brother  officers,  who  were  snatched  away  in  the  very 
prime  of  life  by  this  disease  ;  and  in  the  States  under  my  political 
control,  it  assailed  in  two  instances,  the  palace  :  the  Udaipur 
prince  recovered,  but  the  Bundi  Rao's  time  was  come.  He 
conducted  himself  most  heroically,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
dreadful  torture  with  which  the  human  frame  can  be  afflicted, 
he  never  lost  his  self-possession,  but  in  every  interval  of  suffering, 
conversed  upon  the  affairs  of  his  little  dominion,  giving  the  fullest 
^  From  the  Sanskrit  mri,  '  to  die.' 


1734  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

instructions  for  the  future  with  composure.  He  particularly 
desired  that  none  of  his  wives  should  mount  the  pj^re  with  his 
corpse  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  he  ceased  to  breathe,  I  should  be 
invited  to  Bundi  ;  for  that  "  he  left  Lalji  (an  endearing  epithet 
to  children)  in  my  lap."  It  was  only  during  our  last  journey 
through  Bundi  that  I  was  amused  with  my  friend's  expedient 
to  keep  "  death  "  out  of  his  capital,  and  which  I  omitted  to 
mention,  as  likewise  the  old  regent's  mode  of  getting  rid  of  this 
unwelcome  visitor  in  Kotah  ;  nor  should  they  be  separated. 
Having  assembled  the  Brahmans,  astrologers,  and  those  versed 
in  incantations,  a  grand  rite  was  got  up,  sacrifice  made,  and  a 
solemn  decree  of  desvata,  or  banishment,  was  pronounced  against 
Marl.  Accordingly  an  equipage  was  prepared  for  her,  decorated 
with  funeral  emblems,  painted  black  and  drawn  by  a  double 
team  of  black  oxen  ;  bags  of  grain,  also  black,  were  put  into  the 
vehicle,  that  the  lady  might  not  go  forth  without  food,  and 
driven  by  a  man  in  sable  vestments,  followed  by  the  yells  of  the 
populace.  Mari  was  deported  across  the  Chambal,  with  the 
commands  of  the  priests  that  she  should  never  set  foot  again  in 
Kotah.^  No  sooner  did  my  deceased  friend  hear  of  her  expulsion 
from  that  capital,  and  being  placed  en  chemin  for  Bundi,  than 
the  wise  men  of  this  city  were  called  on  to  provide  means  to  keep 
her  from  entering  therein.  Accordingly,  all  the  water  of  the 
Ganges  at  hand  was  in  requisition,  an  earthen  vessel  was  placed 
over  the  southern  portal,  from  which  the  sacred  water  was 
continually  dripping,  and  [689]  against  which  no  evil  could 
prevail.  Whether  my  friend's  supply  of  the  holy  water  failed, 
or  Mari  disregarded  such  opposition,  she  reached  his  palace.'' 

^  [Examples  of  this  magical  expulsion  of  disease  are  common.  At  the 
Bhadrakali  temple  at  Nasik  a  Mang  woman,  supposed  to  be  possessed  by  the 
cholera  goddess,  when  the  epidemic  prevails,  is  solemnly  placed  in  a  cart, 
and  driven  out  of  the  citj'  {BG,  xvi.  520  f.).  The  Bhils  practise  a  similar 
rite,  and  Slcoman  records  the  custom  at  Silgar  (C.  E.  Luard,  Ethnographic 
Survey  Central  India,  49,  62  ;  Sleeman,  Rambles,  102),  also  see  Crooke, 
Popular  Religion  and  Folklore  of  Northern  India,  2nd  ed.  i.  141  f.  ;  Frazer, 
The  Golden  Bough,  3rd  ed.,  The  Scapegoat,  109  ff.] 

*  I  have  in  other  parts  of  my  work  touclicd  >ipon  this  terrific  scourge,  from 
which  it  will  be  seen  tliat  it  is  well  known  throughout  India  under  the  same 
appellation  ;  and  it  is  not  one  of  the  least  curious  results  of  my  endeavour 
to  prove  that  the  Hindus  had  hiatorical  documents,  that  by  their  means 
I  am  enabled  to  trace  this  disease  ravaging  India  nearly  two  centuries  ago. 
At  Vol.  TI.  p.  1022  it  is  thus  described  in  the  Annals  of  Marwar  :    "  This,  the 


PAUNA  1735 

Fauna,  or  Pahona,  July  25. — Yesterday  was  a  day  of  disaster  : 
I  left  the  capital  amidst  torrents  of  rain,  and  between  Merta  and 
Maiili  found  my  best  elephant  Ijang  dead  ;  the  long  and  sudden 
march,  and  too  heavy  a  load,  had  destroyed  the  fine  animal.  It 
was  rather  ominous  to  lose  the  emblem  of  wisdom  in  the  outset 
of  this  journey.  We  passed  a  most  luicomfortable  day,  and  still 
more  uncomfortable  night,  for  a  strong  gale  forced  up  the  tent- 
pins  from  the  clay  soil,  and  brought  down  the  tent  over  my  ears. 
I  had  an  escape  from  the  pole,  part  of  which  I  propped  under  the 
fly  to  keep  me  from  suffocation.  Aroiuid  me  were  nothing  but 
yells  of  distress,  half  laughable,  half  serious  ;  horses  loose,  and 
camels  roaring  in  discordant  gutturals.  We  were  glad  long 
before  dawn  to  pack  up  our  chattels,  thoroughly  soaked,  and 
consequently  double  weight,  and  begin  moving  for  Pahona, 
where  we  are  promised  a  little  repose.  I  have  taken  this  route 
as  it  is  the  last  occasion  I  shall  have  to  visit  the  work  of  my  own 
hands,  the  mart  of  Bhilwara.  Pahona  is  or  was  a  place  of  some 
value  ;  but  the  Brahmans,  through  the  influence  of  the  Rana's 
sister,  had  got  it  by  means  of  a  forged  grant,  and  abided  by  the 

sakha  (putting  a  garrison  to  the  sword)  of  Sojat,  was  when  S.  1737  ended, 
and  S.  1738,  or  a.d.  1681-2,  commenced,  when  the  sword  and  Mari  (pesti- 
lence) united  to  clear  ths  land."  Orme,  in  his  Fragments  [ed.  1782,  p.  200], 
mentions  a  similar  disease  in  a.d.  1684,  raging  in  the  peninsula  of  India,  and 
sweeping  off  five  hundred  daily  in  the  imperial  camp  at  Goa  ;  and  again,  in 
the  Annals  of  Mewar,  Vol.  I.  p.  454,  it  is  described  in  the  most  frightful  colours, 
as  ravaging  that  country  twenty  years  before,  or  in  S.  1717  (a.d.  1661); 
so  that  in  the  space  of  twenty  years,  we  have  it  described  in  the  peninsula, 
in  the  desert  of  India,  and  in  the  plains  of  Central  India  ;  and  what  will 
appear  not  the  least  singular  part  of  the  history  of  this  distemper,  so  analo- 
gous to  the  present  date,  about  the  mtermediate  time  of  these  extreme 
periods,  that  is  about  a.d.  1669,  a  similar  disease  was  raging  in  England.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  other  traces  of  the  disorder  may  appear  in  the  chronicles 
of  their  bards,  or  in  Muhammadan  writers,  judging  from  these  incidental 
notices,  which  might  never  have  attracted  attention  had  not  Mari  come  to 
our  own  doors.  I  have  had  many  patients  dying  about  me,  but  no  man 
ever  dreamed  of  contagion  ;  to  propagate  which  opinion,  and  scare  us  from 
all  the  sympathies  of  Ufe,  without  proof  absolutely  demonstrative,  is,  to  say 
the  least,  highly  censurable.  There  is  enough  of  self  in  this  land  of  ultra 
civilisation,  without  drawing  a  cordon  sanitaire  round  every  individual. 
The  Udaipur  prince  was  the  first  person  seized  with  the  disease  in  that  capital : 
a  proof  to  me,  against  all  the  faculty,  that  to  other  causes  than  personal 
communication  its  influence  must  be  ascribed.  I  will  not  repeat  the  treat- 
ment in  this  case  (see  p.  1002),  which  may  deserve  notice,  though  prescribed 
bv  the  uninitiated. 


1736  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

privileges  of  their  order.  But  fortunately  they  abused  the  right 
of  sanctuary,  in  giving  protection  to  a  thief  and  assassin  from 
interested  motives  ;  consequently,  the  penalty  of  resumption 
was  incurred,  and  we  hope  to  suffer  no  other  ill-effects  than  Chand 
Bai's  displeasure. 

Bhflwara,  July  26. — Varuna,  the  Jupiter  pUudaUs  of  the 
Hindu,  has  been  most  complaisant,  and  for  two  days  has  stopped 
up  all  the  "  bottles  of  heaven,"  and  I  [690]  made  my  triumphal 
entry  into  our  good  town  of  Bhilwara,  on  one  of  those  days  which 
are  peculiarly  splendid  in  the  monsoon,  when  the  sun  deigns  to 
emerge  from  behind  the  clouds. 

My  reception  was  quite  Asiatic ;  the  entire  population, 
headed  by  the  chief  merchants,  and  preceded  by  the  damsels 
with  the  kolas,  advanced  full  a  mile  to  meet  and  conduct  me  to  a 
town  which,  a  few  years  ago,  had  not  one  inhabited  dwelling. 
I  passed  through  the  main  street,  surrounded  by  its  wealthy 
occupants,  who  had  suspended  over  the  projecting  awnings  the 
most  costly  silks,  brocades,  and  other  finery,  to  do  honour  to  one 
whom  they  esteemed  their  benefactor,  and  having  conducted 
me  to  my  tent,  left  me  to  breakfast,  and  returned  in  the  afternoon. 
As  the  tent  would  not  contain  a  tenth  of  the  Nasitors,  I  had  its 
walls  removed,  and  all  were  welcome  to  enter  who  could.  Every 
moment  I  expected  to  see  it  fall  upon  us,  as  there  were  hundreds 
of  hands  at  each  rope,  swaying  it  in  every  direction,  in  their 
eagerness  to  see  what  was  going  on  within  between  the  Sahib  and 
the  Panchayat  of  both  sects,  Oswal  and  Mahesri,  or  Jain  and 
Vaishnava.  We  talked  over  many  plans  for  the  future  benefit  of 
the  town  ;  "of  further  reducing  the  duties,  and  giving  additional 
freedom  to  the  transit-trade.  I  offered,  in  the  Rana's  name,  to 
expend  the  next  two  years'  income  on  a  circumvallation  for  the 
protection  of  the  town  ;  which,  for  many  good  reasons,  they 
refused  ;  and  principally,  that  it  would  be  a  check  on  that  very 
freedom  it  was  my  desire  they  should  enjoy,  as  it  would  prevent 
uninterrupted  ingress  and  egress.  I,  however,  sent  for  the  chiefs, 
to  whom,  with  their  quotas,  was  confided  the  duty  of  guarding 
this  town,  and  before  the  assembled  groups  explained  the  necessity 
of  preventing  any  complaints  from  want  of  due  vigilance,  and 
told  them  they  were  to  be  in  lieu  of  walls  to  Bhilwara.  My  good 
friends  having  no  inclination  to  retire,  I  sent  for  the  presents  I 
intended    for   the   heads   of  the   sectarian   mercliants,    with   the 


BHiLWARA  1737 

itr-pan  (that  most  convenient  mode  of  hinting  to  a  friend  that 
you  are  tired  of  him),  and  they  departed  with  a  thousand  blessings, 
and  prayers  for  the  perpetuity  of  our  raj. 

Bhilwara  is  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  instance  in  all  India 
of  the  change  which  our  predominant  influence  has  effected  in 
four  short  years  ;  and  to  many  it  must  appear  almost  miraculous 
that,  within  that  period,  a  great  commercial  mart  should  be 
established,  and  three  thousand  houses,  twelve  hundred  of  which 
are  those  of  merchants  or  artisans,  be  made  habitable,  the  prin- 
cipal street  being  entirely  rebuilt  ;  that  goods  of  all  countries 
should  be  found  there  ;  bills  of  exchange  to  any  amount,  and  on 
any  city  in  India,  obtained,  and  that  all  should  be  systematically 
organized,  as  if  it  had  been  [691]  the  silent  groAvth  of  ages.  To 
me  it  afforded  another  convincing  proof,  in  addition  to  the  many 
I  have  had,  of  the  tenacitj'^  and  indestructibility  of  the  institutions 
in  these  regions,  and  that  very  little  skill  is  requisite  to  evoke 
order  and  prosperity  out  of  confusion  and  distress.  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that,  were  it  not  now  time  to  withdraw  from 
interference  in  the  internal  concerns  of  Mewar,  the  machine  of 
government  having  been  once  more  put  into  action,  with  proper 
management  this  place  might  become  the  chief  mart  of  Rajputana, 
and  ten  thousand  houses  would  soon  find  inhabitants  :  such  are 
its  local  capabiUties  as  an  entrepot.  But  while  I  indulge  this 
belief,  I  should  at  the  same  time  fear  that  the  rigid  impartiality, 
which  has  prevented  the  quarrels  of  the  sectarian  traders  from 
affecting  the  general  weal,  would  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  apathy 
and  intrigue  which  are  by  no  means  banished  from  the  councils 
of  the  capital.^ 

I  bade  a  last  farewell  to  Bhilwara  and  its  inliabitants,  with 
prayers  for  the  welfare  of  both. 

Bhflwara,  28. — Though  pressed  for  time,  and  the  weather  had 
again  become  bad,  I  could  not  resist  the  kind  entreaties  of  the 
people  of  Bhilwara  that  I  would  halt  one  more  day  amongst  them  ; 
and  albeit  neither  my  health  nor  occupations  admitted  of  my 
being  the  lion  to  the  good  traders  of  the  city  without  inconvenience, 
the  slight  personal  sacrifice  was  amply  repaid  by  the  more  intimate 

^  [The  progress  of  Bhilwara  has  hardly  realized  the  Author's  predictions  : 
but  it  is  now  an  important  trading  centre.  Bishop  Heber,  who  visited  the 
town  in  1825,  speaks  highly  of  Tod's  efforts  to  improve  it  (Erskine  ii.  A. 
97  f.).] 

VOL.  Ill  2  I 


1738  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

acqxiaintanee  T  ijainefl  with  men  belonj^ing  to  every  region  of 
Rajwara. 

Jahazpur,  29. — This  was  a  long  march  in  a  torrent  of  rain,  the 
country  flooded,  and  roads  cut  up  ;  and  although  I  have  not 
incommoded  myself  with  much  baggage,  the  little  I  have  is  in  a 
wretched  plight.  The  crockery-bearer  fell  with  his  load,  and 
smashed  the  contents.  Passed  over  the  encamping  ground  of 
last  year,  and  bestowed  a  transient  thought  upon  the  scene 
enacted  there.  I  was  equally  near  '  the  brink  '  this  spring.  The 
Rana  had  stopped  the  nakkara,  and  many  a  rupee's-worth  of 
kesar  (saffron)  was  promised  to  the  divinities  both  of  the  Jains 
and  Vaishnavas  for  my  recovery.  My  kinsman.  Captain  Waugh, 
was  admitted,  after  many  days'  exclusion,  to  take  a  last  adieu  ; 
but  I  told  the  doctor  I  was  sure  he  was  wrong  ;  and  here  I  am, 
bomid  for  the  same  scenes  of  misery  from  which  I  so  lately  escaped, 
and  under  which  several  of  my  establishment,  besides  poor  Carey, 
have  succumbed. 

Bundi,  30. — Another  fatiguing  march  brought  us  to  the  con- 
clusion of  our  journey  ;  and  notwithstanding  a  deluge  of  rain, 
we  were  met  three  miles  from  the  city  by  the  minister  and  the 
principal  chiefs,  with  whom  an  interchange  of  baghal-giri  [692] 
(embracing)  took  place  in  spite  of  the  raging  elements.  All 
preceded  to  announce  our  approach,  but  my  faithful  old  friend, 
the  Maharaja  Bikramajit,  whose  plain  and  downright  honesty 
in  all  that  appertains  to  his  master's  house  has  won  my  warmest 
regard.  He  rode  by  my  side,  and  told  me  of  the  changes  that 
had  taken  place,  of  the  dangers  of  the  young  Ram  Singh  from 
the  interes'ted  views  of  those  who  affected  the  semblance  of 
devotion  ;  "  but,"  observed  the  veteran,  "  you  know  us  all, 
and  will  trust  no  individual  with  too  much  authority."  He 
could  speak  thus  without  fear  of  being  misunderstood,  for  no 
persuasion  would  have  induced  him  to  enter  into  their  cabals, 
or  compromise  his  trust  of  watching  over  the  personal  safety  of 
his  infant  ])rince  ;  though  without  any  ostensible  post  or  char- 
acter save  that  proud  title^ — which  was  ascribed  to  him  by  all 
parties — '  the  loyal  Bikramajit.' 

The  beauties  of  the  scenery  passed  imheeded,  and  have  already 
been  sufficiently  described,  though  there  is  novelty  in  every  point 
of  view  from  which  tlie  fairy  palace  is  seen  ;  and  as  it  burst  xipon 
us  this  morning,   a  momentary  gleam,   passing  over  its  gilded 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE  AUTHOR  AT  BtlNDI  1739 

pinnacles,  displayed  its  varied  outline,  which  as  rapidly  immerged 
into  the  gloom  that  hung  over  it,  according  well  with  the  character 
of  its  inmates.  As  it  was  my  policy  to  demonstrate,  by  the 
rapidity  of  my  movements  (which  had  brought  me  in  six  days 
at  such  a  season  from  Udaipur  to  Bundi),  how  much  the  British 
Government  had  at  heart  the  welfare  of  its  young  prince,  I 
hastened  to  the  palace  in  my  travelling  costume  to  pay  my 
respects,  wishing  to  get  over  the  formal  visit  of  condolence  on 
the  loss  the  prince  had  sustained. 

I  found  the  young  chief  and  his  brother,  Gopal  Singh,  sur- 
rounded by  a  most  respectable  court,  though,  as  I  passed  along 
the  line  of  retainers  occupying  each  side  of  the  long  colonnaded 
Barah-dari,^  I  could  perceive  looks  of  deep  anxiety  and  expecta- 
tion blended  with  those  of  welcome.  Notwithstanding  the  forms 
of  mourning  must  destroy  much  of  the  sympathy  with  grief, 
there  is  something  in  the  settled  composure  of  feature  of  an 
assembly  like  this,  convened  to  receive  the  condolence  of  a 
stranger  who  felt  for  the  loss  in  which  he  was  called  to  sympathize, 
that  fixes  the  mind.  Although  I  was  familiar  with  the  rite  of 
mcitam,  which,  since  the  days  of  "  David,  who  sent  to  comfort 
Hanun,  son  of  the  king  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  when  his 
father  died,",  is  generally  one  of  'the  mockeries  of  woe,'  its 
ordinary  character  was  changed  on  this  occasion,  when  we  met 
to  deplore  the  loss  of  the  chief  of  all  the  Haras. 

I  expressed  the  feelings  which  the  late  event  had  excited  in  me, 
in  which,  I  observed,  the  most  noble  the  governor- General  would 
participate  ;  adding  that  it  was  a  consolation  [693]  to  find  so 
much  promise  in  his  successor,  during  whose  minority' his  lordship 
would  be  in  the  place  of  a  father  to  him  in  all  that  concerned  his 
welfare  ;  and  that  in  thus  speedily  fulfilling  the  obligations  of 
public  duty  and  friendship  to  the  will  of  his  deceased  parent,  I 
but  evinced  the  deep  interest  my  government  had  in  the  rising 
prosperity  of  Bimdi  ;  that,  thank  God,  the  time  was  past  when  a 
minority  could  endanger  his  welfare,  as  it  would  only  redouble 
the  anxiety  and  vigilance  of  my  government  ;  with  much  more 
to  the  same  purport,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat.  The 
young  prince  replied  with  great  propriety  of  manner  and  speech, 
concluding  thus  :  "  My  father  left  me  in  your  lap  ;  he  confided 
my  well-being  to  your  hands."  After  a  few  remarks  to  the  chiefs, 
1  [Barabdari,  '  a  room  with  twelve  doors  '  ;   '  a  pavilion.'] 


1740  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

I  repaired  to  the  residence  prepared  for  me  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  palace.  Here  I  found  all  my  wants  supplied  and  my 
comforts  most  carefully  studied  ;  and  scarcely  had  I  changed 
my  garments,  when  a  sumptuous  dinner  was  announced,  sent  by 
the  queen-mother,  who  in  order  to  do  more  honour  had  ordered 
a  Brahman  to  precede  it,  sprinkling  the  road  with  holy-water  to 
prevent  the  approach  of  evil  ! 


CHAPTER  10 

Inauguration  o!  the  Rao  Raja,  August  the  5th. — The  ceremony 
of  Rajtilak,  or  inauguration  of  the  young  Rao  Raja,  had  been 
postponed  as  soon  as  the  Rani-mother  heard  of  my  intention  to 
come  to  Bundi,  and  as  the  joyous  '  third  of  Sawan,'  Sawan-ki- 
tij,  was  at  hand,  it  was  fixed  for  the  day  following  that  festival. 
As  the  interval  between  the  display  of  grief  and  the  expression  of 
joy  is  short  in  these  States,  it  would  have  been  inauspicious  to 
mingle  aught  of  gloom  with  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  festivals 
of  the  Haras,  in  which  the  whole  city  partakes.  The  queen- 
mother  sent  a  message  to  request  that  I  would  accompany  her 
son  in  the  procession  of  the  Tij,  with  which  invitation  I  most 
[694]  willingly  complied  ;  and  she  also  informed  me  that  it  was 
the  custom  of  Rajwara,  for  the  nearest  of  kin,  or  some  neighbour- 
ing prince,  on  such  occasions,  to  entreat  the  mourner,  at  the 
termination  of  the  twelve  days  of  matam,  to  dispense  with  its 
emblems.  Accordingly,  I  prepared  a  coloured  dress,  with  a 
turban  and  a  jewelled  sarpesh,^  which  I  sent,  with  a  request  that 
the  prince  would  "  put  aside  the  white  turban."  In  compliance 
with  this,  he  appeared  in  these  vestments  in  public,  and  I  accom- 
panied him  to  the  ancient  palace  in  old  Bundi,  where  all  public 
festivities  are  still  held. 

The  young  prince  of  the  Haras  is  named  Ram  Singh,  after  one 
of  the  invinciblcs  of  this  race,  who  sealed  his  loyalty  with  his  life 
on  the  field  of  Dholjjur.  He  is  now  in  his  eleventh  year,  fair, 
and  with  a  lively,  intelligent  cast  of  face,  and  a  sedateness  of 
demeanour  which,  at  his  age,  is  only  to  be  seen  in  the  East. 
C<)i)!il  Singh,  his  brother,  by  a  different  mother,  is  a  few  months 
^  |()r  sarperh,  an  ornament  worn  on  the  front  of  the  turban.] 


INAUGURATION  OF  THE  RAO  RAJA  OF  BtJNDI    1741 

younger,  very  intelligent,  and  in  person  slight,  fair,  and  somewhat 
marked  with  the  smallpox.  There  is  a  third  boy,  about  four, 
who,  although  illegitimate,  was  brought  up  with  equal  regard, 
but  now  he  will  have  no  consideration. 

The  cavalcade  was  numerous  and  imposing  ;  the  chiefs  and 
their  retainers  well  mounted,  their  equipments  all  new  for  the 
occasion,  and  the  inhabitants  in  their  best  apparel,  created  a 
spectacle  which  was  quite  exhilarating,  and  which  Bundi  had  not 
witnessed  for  a  century  :  indeed,  I  should  hardly  have  supposed 
it  possible  that  four  years  could  have  produced  such  a  change 
in  the  general  appearance  or  numbers  of  the  population.  After 
remaining  a  few  minutes,  I  took  leave,  that  I  might  impose  no 
restraint  on  the  mirth  which  the  day  produces. ^ 

The  next  day  was  appointed  for  the  installation.  Captain 
Waugh,  who  had  been  sent  from  Udaipur  to  Kotah  in  December 
last,  wlien  the  troubles  of  that  State  broke  out  afresh,  joined  me 
this  day  in  order  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony,  though  he  was  in 
wretched  health  from  the  peculiar  insalubrity  of  Kotah  at  this 
time  of  the  year.  We  proceeded  to  the  Rajmahall,  where  all 
the  sons  of  Dewa-Banga  ^  have  been  anointed.  Every  avenue 
through  which  we  passed  was  crowded  with  weU-dressed  people, 
who  gave  us  hearty  cheers  of  congratulation  as  we  went  along, 
and  seemed  to  participate  in  the  feeling  evinced  towards  their 
young  prince  by  the  representative  of  the  protecting  power.  The 
courts  below  and  around  the  palace  were  in  like  manner  filled 
with  the  Hara  retainers,  who  rent  the  air  with  Jai  !  Jai  !  as  we 
dismounted.  There  was  a  very  full  assemblage  "wdthin,  where 
the  young  Raja  was  imdergoing  purification  [695]  by  the  priests  ; 
but  we  found  his  brother  the  Maharaja  Gopal  Singh,  Balwant 
Singh  of  Gotra,  the  first  noble  of  Bundi,  the  cliiefs  of  Kapraun 
and  Thana,  old  Bikramajit,  and  likewise  the  venerable  chief  of 
Dugari  (son  of  Sriji),  grand-uncle  of  the  young  prince,  who  had 
witnessed  all  the  revolutions  which  the  country  had  undergone, 
and  could  appreciate  the  existing  repose.  It  was  gratifying  to 
hear  this  ancient,  wlio  could  remember  both  periods  of  prosperity, 
thank  Parameswar  that  he  had  Uved  to  see  the  restoration  of 
his    country's    independence.     In    this    manner    we    had    some 

1  See  the  description  of  the  Tij,  Vol.  II.  p.  675. 

*  [Rao  Dewa  or  Deoraj,  who  captured  Bundi  from  the  Minas  about 
A.D.  1342.     See  p.  1464.] 


1742  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

interesting  conversation,  wliile  sacrifice  and  purification  were 
going  on  in  the  adjoining  apartment.  Wlien  this  was  over,  I 
was  instructed  to  bring  tiie. young  Raja  forth  and  lead  liim  to  a 
temporary  '  cushion  of  state,'  when  a  new  round  of  religious 
ceremonies  took  place,  terminating  with  his  re-election  of  the 
family  Purohit  and  Byas,^  by  marking  their  foreheads  with  the 
tilak  :  which  ordination  entitled  them  to  put  the  unction  upon 
the  prince's,  denoting  the  '  divine  right '  by  which  he  was  in 
future  to  rule  the  Haras.  The  young  prince  went  through  a 
multitude  of  propitiatory  rites  with  singular  accuracy  and  self- 
possession  ;  and  when  they  were  over,  the  assembly  rose.  I  was 
then  requested  to  conduct  him  to  the  gaddi,  placed  in  an  elevated 
balcony  overlooking  the  external  court  and  a  great  part  of  the 
town  ;  and  it  being  too  high  for  the  young  prince  to  reach,  I 
raised  him  to  it.  The  officiating  priest  now'  brought  the  vessel 
containing  the  luiction,  composed  of  sandalwood  powder  and 
aromatic  oils,  into  wliich  I  dipped  the  middle  finger  of  my  right 
hand,  and  made  the  tilak  on  his  forehead.  I  then  girt  him  with 
the  sword,  and  congratulated  him  in  the  name  of  my  Government, 
declaring  aloud,  that  all  might  hear,  that  the  British  Government 
would  never  cease  to  feel  a  deep  interest  iu  all  that  concerned  the 
welfare  of  Bundi  and  the  young  prince's  family.  Shouts  of 
approbation  burst  from  the  immense  crowds  who  thronged  the 
palace,  all  in  their  gayest  attire,  while  every  valley  re-echoed  the 
sound  of  the  cannon  from  the  citadel  of  Taragarh.  I  then  put 
on  the  jewels,  consistuig  of  sarpesh,  or  aigrette,  wliich  I  bound 
round  his  turban,  a  necklace  of  pearls,  and  bracelets,  with  twenty- 
one  shields  (the  tray  of  a  Rajput)  of  shawls,  brocades,  and  fine 
clothes.  An  elephant  and  two  handsome  horses,  richly  capari- 
soned, the  one  having  silver,  the  other  silver-gilt  ornaments, 
with  embroidered  velvet  saddle-cloths,  were  then  led  into  the 
centre  of  the  court  under  the  balcony,  a  khilat  befitting  the 
dignity  both  of  the  giver  and  the  receiver,  llavfng  gone  through 
this  form,  in  which  I  was  prompted  by  my  old  friend  the  Maharaja 
Bikramajit,  and  paid  my  individual  congratulations  as  the  friend 
of  his  father  and  his  personal  guardian,  I  withdrew  to  make  room 
for  the  [696J  chiefs,  heads  of  clans,  to  perform  the  like  round  of 

'  [111  xMaiwar  the  term  iiyiis,  from  Vyasa,  '  the  arranger '  of  the  Vedaa, 
E[)ics,  and  Puranas,  is  applied  to  elderly  members  of  the  Daima  group  of 
Brahmaus  {Cenaua  Report,  1891,  ii.  58  f.).] 


INAUGURATION  OF  THE  RAO  RAJA  OF  BUNDI     1743 

ceremonies  :  for  in  making  the  tilak,  they  at  the  same  time 
acknowledge  his  accession  and  their  own  homage  and  fealty.  I 
was  joined  by  Gopal  Singh,  the  prince's  brother,  who  artlessly 
told  me  that  he  had  no  protector  but  myself ;  and  the  chiefs,  as 
they  retiu-ned  from  the  ceremony,  came  and  congratulated  me  on 
the  part  I  had  taken  in  a  rite  which  so  nearly  touched  them  all ; 
individually  presenting  their  nazars  to  me  as  the  representative 
of  the  paramount  power.  I  then  made  my  salutation  to  the 
prince  and  the  assembly  of  the  Haras,  and  returned.  The  Rao 
Raja  afterwards  proceeded  with  his  cavalcade  to  all  the  shrines 
in  this  city,  and  Satur,  to  make  his  offerings. 

The  next  day  I  received  a  message  from  the  queen-mother 
with  her  blessing  (asis),  intimating  her  surprise  that  I  had  yet 
sent  no  special  deputation  to  her,  to  comfort  her  under  her 
affliction,  and  to  give  a  pledge  for  her  own  and  her  child's  protec- 
tion ;  and  that  although  on  this  point  she  could  feel  no  distrust, 
a  direct  commimication  would  be  satisfactory.  In  reply,  I  urged 
that  it  was  from  delicacy  alone  I  had  erred,  and  that  I  only 
awaited  the  intimation  that  it  would  be  agreeable,  though  she 
would  see  the  embarrassment  attending  such  a  step,  more  especi- 
ally as  I  never  employed  my  own  servants  when  I  could  command 
the  services  of  the  ministers  ;  and  that  as  I  feared  to  give  umbrage 
by  selecting  any  one  of  them,  if  she  would  receive  the  four,  I 
would  send  with  them  a  confidential  servant,  the  Akhbarnavis  or 
news  writer,  as  the  bearer  of  my  message.  Her  anxiety  was  not 
without  good  grounds  :  the  elements  of  disorder,  though  subdued, 
were  not  crushed,  and  she  dreaded  the  ambition  and  turbulence 
of  the  senior  noble,  Balwant  Rao  of  Gotra,  who  had  proved  a 
thorn  in  the  side  of  the  late  Raja  throughout  Ms  life.  This 
audacious  but  gallant  Rajput,  about  twelve  years  before,  had 
stormed  and  taken  Nainwa,  one  of  the  cliief  castles  of  Bundi,  in 
the  face  of  day,  and  defeated  with  great  slaughter  many  attempts 
to  retake  it,  still  holding  it  in  spite  of  his  prince,  and  trusting  to 
his  own  party  and  the  Mahrattas  for  support.  In  fact,  but  for 
the  change  in  liis  relations,  he  neither  would  have  obeyed  a  siun- 
mons  to  the  Presence,  nor  dared  to  appear  uninvited  ;  and  even 
now  liis  appearance  excited  no  less  alarm  than  surprise.  "  Bal- 
want Singh  at  Bundi  !  "  was  repeated  by  many  of  the  surromiding 
chief s,^  as  one  of  the  anomalous  signs  of  the  times  ;  for  to  have 
heard  that  a  lion  from  their  jungles  had  gone  to  congratulate  the 


1744  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Raja,  would  have  caused  less  wonder  and  infinitely  less  apprehen- 
sion. The  Rani  was  not  satisfied,  nor  had  her  late  lord  been, 
with  the  chief  minister,  the  Bohra,  Shambhu  Ram,  who  only  a 
few  days  before  the  [697]  Raja's  death  had  expressed  great 
unwillingness,  when  called  on,  to  produce  his  account  of  the 
finances.  It  was  chieliy  with  a  view  to  guard  against  these 
individuals,  that  the  deceased  Rao  Raja  had  nominated  the 
British  Agent  as  the  guardian  of  his  son  and  the  State  during  his 
minority,  and  the  queen-mother  besought  me  to  see  his  wishes 
faithfully  executed.  Fortunately,  there  were  some  men  who 
could  be  depended  on,  especially  Govind  Ram,  who  had  attended 
the  Agent  as  wakil :  a  simple-minded  man,  full  of  integrity  and 
good  intentions,  though  no  match  for  the  Bohra  in  ability  or 
intrigue.  There  was  also  the  Dhabhai,  or  foster-brother  of  the 
late  prince,  who  held  the  important  office  of  kilahdar  of  Taragarh, 
and  who,  like  all  his  class,  is  devotion  personified.  There  was 
likewise  Chandarbhan  Naik,  who,  from  a  low  condition,  had 
risen  to  favour  and  power,  and  being  quick,  obedient,  and  faithful, 
was  always  held  as  a  check  over  the  Bohra.  There  were  also 
two  eunuchs  of  the  palace,  servants  entirely  confidential,  and 
with  a  very  good  notion  of  the  general  affairs  of  the  State. 

Settlement  of  the  Administration. — Such  were  the  materials  at 
my  disposal,  and  they  were  ample  for  all  the  concerns  of  this 
little  State.  Conformably  to  the  will  of  the  late  prince,  and  the 
injunctions  of  the  queen-mother,  the  Agent  entirely  reformed 
the  functions  of  these  officers,  prohibited  the  revenues  of  the 
State  from  being  confounded  with  the  mercantile  concerns  of  the 
minister,  requiring  them  henceforth  to  be  deposited  at  the  Kishan- 
bliandar,  or  treasury  in  the  palace,  providing  a  s\,stem  of  cliecks, 
as  well  on  the  receipts  as  tlie  expenditure,  and  making  all  the 
four  jointly  and  severally  answerable  ;  yet  he  made  no  material 
innovations,  and  displaced  or  displeased  no  one  ;  though  in 
raising  tliose  who  were  noted  througliout  the  country  for  their 
integrity,  he  confirmed  their  good  intentions  and  afforded  them 
scope,  while  his  measures  were  viewed  with  general  satisfaction. 
After  these  arrangements,  the  greatest  anxiety  of  the  queen  was 
for  the  absence  of  Balwant  Rao  ;  and,  as  it  was  in  vain  to  argue 
against  her  fears,  she  requested  that,  when  the  ceremonies  of 
installation  were  over,  the  chiefs  miglit  be  dismissed  iff  their 
estates,   and  that   I   would   take  the  opportunity,   at   the  next 


INTERVIEW  OF  THE  AUTHOR  WITH  THE  RANI    1745 

darbar,  to  point  out  to  them  the  exact  hne  of  their  duties,  and 
the  necessity  of  observance  of  the  customs  of  past  days  :  all  of 
which  was  courteously  done. 

Interview  of  the  Author  with  the  Rani. — Although  the  festival 
of  the  Rakhi  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  month,  the  mother  of 
the  young  prince  sent  me  by  the  hands  of  the  Bhatt,  or  family 
priest,  the  bracelet  of  adoption  as  her  brother,  which  made  my 
young  ward  henceforth  my  bhanja,  or  nephew.  With  this  mark 
of  regard,  she  also  expressed,  through  the  ministers,  a  wish  that 
I  would  pay  her  a  visit  at  the  palace,  as  she  had  many  points 
to  discuss  regarding  [698]  Lalji's  welfare,  which  could  only 
be  satisfactorily  argued  viva  voce.  Of  course  I  assented  ;  and, 
accompanied  by  the  Bohra  and  the  confidential  eunuchs  of  the 
Rawala,  I  had  a  conversation  of  about  three  hours  with  my 
adopted  sister  ;  a  curtain  being  between  us.  Her  language  was 
sensible  and  forcible,  and  she  evinced  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
all  the  routine  of  government  and  the  views  of  parties,  which 
she  described  with  great  clearness  and  precision.  She  especially 
approved  of  the  distribution  of  duties,  and  said,  with  these  checks, 
and  the  deep  interest  I  felt  for  all  that  concerned  the  honour  of 
Bundi,  her  mind  was  quite  at  ease  ;  nor  had  she  anything  left 
to  desire.  She  added  that  she  rehed  implicitly  on  my  friendship 
for  the  deceased,  whose  regard  for  me  was  great.  I  took  the 
liberty  of  adverting  to  many  topics  for  her  own  guidance  ;  counsel- 
ling her  to  shun  the  error  of  communicating  with  or  receiving 
reports  from  interested  or  ignorant  advisers  ;  and  above  all,  to 
shun  forming  parties,  and  ruling,  according  to  their  usual  policy, 
by  divisions  :  I  suggested  that  the  object  would  be  best  attained 
by  never  intimating  her  wishes  but  when  the  four  ministers  were 
together  ;  and  urged  her  to  exercise  her  own  sound  judgment, 
and  banish  all  anxiety  for  her  son's  welfare,  by  always  recalling 
to  mind  what  my  government  had  done  for  the  interests  of 
Bmidi.  During  a  great  part  of  this  conversation,  the  Bohra  had 
retired,  so  that  her  tongue  was  unrestrained.  With  itr-pan  and 
her  blessing  (asis)  sent  by  one  of  her  damsels,  she  dismissed  me 
with  the  oft-repeated  remark,  "  Forget  not  that  Lalji  is  now  in 
your  lap." 

I  retired  with  my  conductors,  liighly  gratified  with  this  interest- 
ing conversation,  and  impressed  with  respect  for  her  capacity 
and  views.     Tliis  Rani,  as  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned,  is  of  the 


1746  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Rathor  tribe,  and  of  the  house  of  Kishangarh  in  Marwar  ;  she 
is  the  youngest  of  the  late  Rao  Raja's  four  widowed  queens,  but 
takes  tlie  chief  rank,  as  mother  and  guardian  of  the  minor  prince. 

I  remained  at  Bundi  till  the  middle  of  August  ;  when,  having 
given  a  right  tone  and  direction  to  its  government,  I  left  it  with 
the  admonition  that  I  should  consider  myself  authorized,  not  as 
the  Agent  of  government  so  much  as  the  executor  of  their  late 
lord's  wishes,  and  with  the  concurrent  assent  of  the  regent-queen, 
to  watch  over  the  prince's  welfare  until  the  age  of  sixteen,  when 
Rajput  minority  ceases  ;  and  advertised  them,  that  they  must 
not  be  surprised  if  I  called  upon  them  every  year  to  inform  me 
of  the  annual  surplus  revenue  they  had  set  aside  for  accumulation 
until  his  majority.  I  reminded  the  Bohra,  in  the  words  of  his 
own  beautiful  metaphor,  when,  at  the  period  of  the  treaty,  my 
government  restored  its  long-alienated  lands  [699],  "  again  will 
our  lakes  overflow  ;  once  more  will  the  lotus  show  its  face  on 
the  waters."  Nor  had  he  forgotten  this  emblematic  phraseology, 
and  with  liis  coadjutors  promised  his  most  strenuous  efforts. 
During  the  few  remaining  days  of  my  stay,  I  had  continual 
messages  from  the  j'oung  prince,  by  the  '  Gold  stick,'  or  Dhabhai, 
which  were  invariably  addressed  to  me  as  '  the  Mamu  Sahib,'  or 
uncle.  He  sent  me  specimens  of  his  handwriting,  both  in  Dcvana- 
gari  and  Persian,  in  which  last,  however,  he  had  not  got  farther 
than  the  alphabet ;  and  he  used  to  ride  and  karauli  ^  his  horse 
within  sight  of  my  tents,  and  always  expressed  anxiety  to  know 
what  the  '  Mamu  '  thought  of  his  horsemanship.  I  was  soon 
after  called  upon  by  the  queen-mother  for  my  congratulations  on 
Lalji  having  slain  his  first  boar,  an  event  that  had  summoned 
all  the  Haras  to  make  their  offerings  ;  a  ceremony  which  will 
recall  a  distinction  received  by  the  Macedonian  youths,  on  a 
similar  occasion,  who  were  not  admitted  to  public  discussions 
until  they  had  slain  a  wild  boar.'- 

Whilst  partaking  in  these  national  amusements,  and  affording 
all  the  political  aid  I  could,  my  leisure  time  was  employed  in 
extracting  from  old  clu:onicles  or  living  records  what  might  serve 
to  develop  the  past  history  of  the  family  ;    in  frequent  visits  to 

1  IQardival,  '  the  manege.'] 

-  [At  a  very  early  date  in  Macedonia  no  Macedonian  was  permitted  to 
lie  do^vn  at  table  wlio  had  not  slain  a  wild  boar  without  the  nets  (W.  Smith, 
Did.  Geography,  ii.  234).J 


REVENUES  OF  BUNDI  1747 

the  cenotaphs  of  the  family,  or  other  remarkable  spots,  and  in 
dispersing  my  emissaries  for  inscriptions  in  every  direction.  This 
was  the  most  singular  part  of  my  conduct  to  the  Bundi  court  ; 
they  could  not  conceive  why  I  should  take  an  interest  in  such  a 
pursuit. 

Revenues  of  Bundi. — The  fiscal  revenues  of  Bundi  do  not  yet 
exceed  three  lakhs  of  rupees  ;  and  it  will  be  some  time  before 
the  entire  revenues,  both  fiscal  and  feudal,  will  produce  more 
than  five  ;  ^  and  out  of  the  crown  domain,  eighty  thousand 
rupees  annually  are  paid  to  the  British  Government,  on  account 
of  the  lands  Sindhia  held  in  that  State,  and  wliich  he  relinquished 
by  the  treaty  of  a.d.  1818.  Notwithstanding  his  circumscribed 
means,  the  late  Rao  Raja  put  every  branch  of  his  government  on 
a  most  respectable  footing.  He  could  muster  seven  hundred 
household  and  Pattayat  horse  ;  and,  including  his  garrisons,  his 
corps  of  Golandaz,  and  little  park  (jinsi)  ^  of  twelve  guns,  about 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  paid  infantry  ;  in  aU  between  three 
and  four  thousand  men.  For  the  queens,  the  officers  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  pay  of  the  garrisons,  estates  were  assigned,  which 
yielded  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  A  continuation  of  tranquiUity 
is  all  that  is  required,  and  Bundi  wiU  again  take  its  proper  station 
in  Rajwara. 

Camp,  Rauta,  November  19. — On  the  14th  of  August,  I  de- 
parted for  Kotah,  and  found  the  jxuiior  branches  of  the  Haras 
far  fiom  enjoying  the  repose  of  Bundi.  But  on  these  subjects 
we  will  not  touch  here,  fm-ther  than  to  remark,  that  the  last 
three  [700]  months  have  been  the  most  harassing  of  my  existence  :  ^ 
civil  war,  deaths  of  friends  and  relatives,  cholera  raging,  and  all 
of  us  worn  out  with  perpetual  attacks  of  fever,  ague,  anxiety, 
and  fatigue. 

Rauta,  the  spot  on  which  I  encamped,  is  hallowed  by  recollec- 
tions the  most  inspiriting.  It  was  on  tliis  very  ground  I  took 
up  my  position  throughout  the  campaign  of  1817-18,  in  the  very 
centre  of  movements  of  all  the  armies,  friendly  and  hostile.* 

^  [The  normal  revenue  is  now  nearly  six  lakhs  {IGI,  ix.  85).] 

2  [Golandaz,  '  an  artillery  man.'  Jinsi  is  a  Maratha  term ;  probably 
Jinsi  topkhcina,  or  '  artillery,'  Jins  meaning  '  commodities,  supplies  ' ;  Jinsi 
iopkhana,  '  light  artillery '  (Irvine,  Army  oj  the  Indian  Moghuls,  133).] 

8  For  an  account  of  these  transactions,  vide  Chapter  XI.,  Annals  of 
Kotah. 

*  It  was  from  this  ground  I  detached  thirty-two  tirelocks  of  my  guard, 


1748  PERSONAl.  NARRATIVE 

A  Hunt  in  the  Preserves. — As  we  were  now  in  tiie  vicinity  of 
the  chief  Ramna  in  Haraoti,  the  Raj  Rana  proposed  to  exhibit 
the  mode  in  whicli  they  carry  on  their  grand  hunts.  The  site 
chosen  was  a  large  range  running  into  and  parallel  to  the  chain 
wliich  separates  Haraoti  from  Malwa.  At  noon,  the  hour  ap- 
pointed,  accompanied  by  several  oHicers  of  the  Nimach  force 

supported  by  two  hundred  of  the  regent's  men,  with  two  camel  swivels,  to 
beat  up  a  portion  of  the  main  Pindari  horde,  when  broken  by  our  armies'. 
But  my  little  band  outmai-ched  the  auxiliaries,  and  when  they  came  upon 
the  foe,  they  found  a  camp  of  1500  instead  of  500  men  ;  but  nothing  daunted, 
and  the  surprise  being  complete,  they  poured  in  sixty  rounds  before  the  day 
broke,  and  cleared  their  camp.  Then,  each  mountmg  a  marauder's  horse 
and  drivmg  a  laden  camel  before  him,  they  returned  within  the  twenty- 
four  hours,  having  marched  sixty  miles,  and  slam  more  than  four  times 
their  numbers.  Nothing  so  clearly  illustrated  the  destitution  of  all  moral 
courage  in  the  freebooters,  as  their  conduct  on  this  occasion  ;  for  at  dawn  of 
day,  when  the  smoke  cleared  away,  and  they  saw  the  handful  of  meu  who 
had  driven  them  into  the  Kali  yind,  a  body  of  about  four  hundred  returned 
to  the  attack  ;  but  my  Sipahis,  dismountmg,  allowed  the  boldest  to  approach 
within  pistol-shot  before  they  gave  their  tire,  which  sufficed  to  make  the 
lancers  wheel  off.  The  situation  recalled  the  din  which  announced  their 
return  :  upon  which  occasion,  going  out  to  welcome  them,  1  saw  the  regent's 
camp  turn  out,  and  the  trees  were  crowded  with  spectators,  to  enjoy  the 
triumphal  entry  of  the  gallant  little  band  with  the  spoils  of  the  spoiler.  The 
prize  was  sold  and  divided  on  the  drum-head,  and  yielded  six  or  eight 
months'  pay  to  each  ;  but  it  did  not  rest  here,  for  Lord  Hastings  promoted 
the  non-commissioned  officers  and  several  of  the  men,  givmg  to  all  additional 
pay  for  life. 

The  effect  of  this  exploit  was  surprising ;  the  country  people,  who 
hitherto  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  plundermg  his  Satanic  majesty  as  a 
Pindari,  amassed  all  the  spoils  abandoned  on  their  flight,  and  brought  them 
to  the  camp  of  the  regent ;  who,  as  ho  never  admitted  the  spoils  of  an  enemy 
into  his  treasury,  sent  it  all  to  our  tents  to  be  at  my  disposal.  But,  as  1  • 
could  see  no  right  that  we  had  to  it,  I  proposed  that  the  action  should  be 
commemorated  by  the  erection  of  a  bridge,  bearing  Lord  Hastings'  name. 
There  were  the  spoils  of  every  region ;  many  trays  of  gold  necklaces,  some 
of  which  were  strings  of  Venetian  sequuis ;  corns  of  all  ages  (from  which  1 
completed  a  series  of  the  Mogul  kings),  and  five  or  six  thousand  head  of 
cattle  of  every  description.  The  regent  adopted  my  suggestion  :  a  bridge 
of  fifteen  arches  was  constructed,  extending  over  the  river  at  the  breadth 
of  a  thousand  feet,  eastward  of  Kotah ;  and  though  more  solid  and  useful 
than  remarkable  for  beauty,  will  serve  to  perpetuate,  as  Hastm-pul,  the 
name  of  a  gallant  soldier  and  onhghtened  statesman,  who  emancipated 
India  from  the  scourge  of  the  Pmdaris.  He  is  now  beyond  the  reach  of 
human  praise,  and  the  author  may  confess  that  he  is  proud  of  having 
suggested,  planned,  and  watched  to  its  completion,  this  trophy  to  his  fame. 
[The  MarL[ues8  of  Hasthigs  died  on  November  28,  1826.] 


A  HUNT  TN  THE  PRESERVES  1749 

(amongst  whom  was  my  old  friend  Major  Price),  we  proceeded  to 
the  Shikargahs,  a  hunting  seat,  erected  half-way  up  the  gentle 
ascent,  having  terraced  roofs  and  parapets,  on  which  the  sports- 
man lays  his  gun  to  massacre  the  game  ;  and  here  we  waited 
some  time  in  anxious  expectation,  occasionally  some  deer  scudding 
by.  Gradually  the  din  of  the  hunters  reached  us,  increasing  into 
tumultuous  shouts,  with  the  beating  of  drums,  and  all  the  varieties 
of  discord.  Soon  various  kind  of  deer  galloped  wildly  past, 
succeeded  by  Nilgaes,  Barahsinghas,  red  and  spotted.  Some 
wild-hogs  went  off  snorting  and  trotting,  and  at  length,  as  the 
hunters  approached,  a  bevy  of  animals  [701],  amongst  which 
some  black-snouted  hyaenas  were  seen,  who  made  a  dead  halt 
when  they  saw  themselves  between  two  fires.  There  was  no 
tiger,  however,  in  the  assemblage,  which  rather  disappointed 
us,  but  the  still  more  curious  wild-dog  was  seen  by  some.  A 
slaughter  commenced,  the  effects  of  which  I  judged  less  at  the 
time,  but  soon  after  I  got  to  my  tents  I  found  six  camel-loads  of 
deer,  of  various  kinds,  deposited.  My  friend,  Major  Price,  did 
not  much  admire  this  imsportsmanlike  mode  of  dealing  with  the 
lords  of  the  forest,  and  although  very  well,  once  in  one's  life, 
most  would  think  a  boar  hunt,  spear  in  hand,  preferable.  Still 
it  was  an  exhilarating  scene  ;  the  confusion  of  the  animals,  their 
wild  dismay  at  this  compulsory  association  ;  the  yells,  shouts, 
and  din  from  four  battalions  of  regulars,  who,  in  addition  to  the 
ordinary  band  of  huntsmen,  formed  a  chain  from  the  summit  of 
the  mountain,  across  the  valley  to  the  opposite  heights  ;  and, 
last  not  least,  the  placid  regent  himself  listening  to  the  tumult 
he  could  no  longer  witness,  produced  an  effect  not  easily  forgotten. 
This  sport  is  a  species  of  petty  war,  not  altogether  free  from 
danger,  especially  to  the  rangers  ;  but  I  heard  of  no  accidents. 
We  had  a  round  of  a  nilgae,  and  also  tried  some  steaks,  which 
ate  very  like  coarse  beef. 

It  is  asserted  that,  in  one  shape  or  another,  these  hunting 
excursions  cost  the- State  two  lakhs,  or  £20,000  annually.  The 
regent's  regular  hunting-establishment  consisted  of  twenty-five 
carpenters,  two  hundred  Aherias,  or  huntsmen,  and  five  hundred 
occasional  rangers.  But  the  gots,  or  '  feasts,'  at  the  conclusion 
of  these  sports,  occasioned  the  chief  expense,  when  some  thousands 
were  fed,  and  rewards  and  gratuities  were  bestowed  upon  those 
whom  the  regent  happened  to  be  pleased  with.     This  was  one 


1750  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

of  the  methods  he  pursued  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  Haras, 
and  he  was  eminently  successful  ;  the  only  wonder  is,  that  so 
good  an  opportunity  should  have  been  neglected  of  getting  rid 
of  one  who  had  so  long  tyrannized  over  them. 

We  here  took  a  temporary  leave  of  the  regent  ;  and  we  intend 
to  fill  up  the  interval  till  the  return  of  the  Maharao  from  Mewar, 
by  making  a  tour  through  ujjper  Malwa,  in  which  we  shall  visit 
the  falls  of  the  Chambal  amidst  the  dense  woods  of  Pachel  [702]. 


CHAPTER   11 

The  Mukunddarra  Pass. — ^'e  marched  before  daybreak  through 
the  famed  pass  of  Mukunddarra,^  and  caught  a  glimpse  at  the 
outlet  of  the  fine  plains  of  Malwa.  We  then  turned  abruptly  to 
the  right,  and  skirted  the  range  which  di\ides  Ilaravati  from 
Malwa,  over  a  rich  champaign  tract,  in  a  re-entering  angle  of  the 
range,  which  gradually  contracted  to  the  point  of  exit,  up  the 
mountains  of  Pachel. 

The  sun  rose  just  as  we  cleared  the  summit  of  the  pass,  and  we 
halted  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  tower  that  guards  the  ascent,  to 
look  upon  the  valley  behind  :  the  landscape  was  bounded  on 
either  side  by  the  ramparts  of  nature,  enclosing  numerous  villages, 
until  the  eye  was  stopped  by  the  eastern  horizon.  We  proceeded 
on  the  terrace  of  this  table-land,  of  gradxial  ascent,  through  a 
thick  forest,  when,  as  we  reached  the  point  of  descent,  the  sun 
cleared  the  barrier  which  we  had  just  left,  and  darting  his  beams 
through  the  foliage,  illuminated  the  castle  of  Bhainsror,  while 
the  new  fort  of  Dangarmau  appeared  as  a  white  speck  in  the 
gloom  that  still  enveloped  the  Patar. 

An  Atit  Monastery. — We  descended  along  a  natural  causeway, 
the  rock  being  perfectly  bare,  without  a  particle  of  mould  or 
vegetation.  Small  pillars,  or  uninscribed  tablets,  placed  erect 
in  the  centre  of  little  heaps  of  stone,  seemed  to  indicate  the  scene 

^  Darra,  a  corruption  of  Dwar,  '  a  bairior,  pass,  outlet,  or  portal '  ;  and 
Mukund,  one  of  the  epithets  of  Krishna.  Mukunddarra  and  Dwarkanalh  are 
synonymous — '  the  pass  and  portal  of  the  Deity.'  [Z)ara  or  darra  is  a 
Persian  wordjmeaning  '  pass  '  ;  akin  to  Skt.  dara,  '  cleaving,  rending,'  not 
with  dvara,  '  a  door.'  The  pass  is  situated  about  140  miles  E.  of  Udaipur 
city.     Mukund  is  supposed  to  mean  '  pivor  of  lilxMation.'     ^ee  p.  1622.] 


AN  ATlT  MONASTERY  1751 

of  murders,  when  the  Bhil  lord  of  the  pass  exacted  his  toll  from 
all  who  traversed  his  dominion.  They  proved,  however,  to  be 
marks  placed  by  the  Banjaras  to  guide  their  tandas,  or  caravans, 
through  the  devious  tracks  of  the  forest.  As  we  continued  to 
descend,  enveloped  on  all  sides  by  woods  and  rocks,  we  lost  sight 
of  the  towers  of  Bhainsror,  and  on  reaching  the  foot  of  the  Pass, 
the  first  object  we  saw  was  a  little  monastery  of  Atits,^  founded  by 
the  chiefs  of  Bhainsror  :  it  is  called  Jhalaka.  We  passed  close 
to  their  isolated  dwelling,  on  the  terraced  roof  of  which  a  party 
of  the  fraternity  were  squatted  round  a  fire,  enjoying  the  warmth 
of  the  morning  sun.  Their  wild  [703]  appearance  corresponded 
with  the  scene  around  ;  their  matted  hair  and  beard  had  never 
known  a  comb  ;  their  bodies  were  smeared  with  ashes  {hhahut),  and 
a  shred  of  cloth  round  the  loins  seemed  the  sole  indication  that 
they  belonged  to  a  class  possessing  human  feelings.  Their  lives 
are  passed  in  a  perpetual  routine  of  adoration  of  Chaturbhuja, 
the  '  four-armed  '  divinity,  and  they  subsist  on  the  produce  of  a 
few  patches  of  land,  with  which  the  chiefs  of  Bhainsror  have 
endowed  this  abode  of  wild  ascetics,  or  with  what  their  patrons 
or  the  townspeople  and  passengers  make  up  to  them.  The  head 
of  the  establishment,  a  little,  vivacious  but  wild-looking  being, 
about  sixty  years  of  age,  came  forth  to  bestow  his  blessing,  and  to 
beg  something  for  his  order.  He,  however,  in  the  first  place, 
elected  me  one  of  his  chelas,  or  disciples,  by  marking  my  forehead 
with  a  tika  of  hhahut,  which  he  took  from  a  platter  made  of  dhak- 
leaves  ;  ^  to  which  rite  of  inauguration  I  submitted  with  due 
gravity.  The  old  man  proved  to  be  a  walking  volume  of  legendary 
lore  ;  but  his  conversation  became  insufferably  tedious.  Inter- 
ruption was  in  vain  ;  he  could  tell  his  story  only  in  his  own  way, 
and  in  order  to  get  at  a  point  of  local  history  connected  with  the 
sway  of  the  Ranas,  I  was  obliged  to  begin  from  the  creation  of  the 
world,  and  go  through  all  the  theogonies,  the  combats  of  the 
Surs  and  Asurs,  the  gods  and  Titans  of  Indian  mythology  ;  to 
bewail  with  Sita  the  loss  of  her  child,  her  rape  by  Rawan,  and  the 
whole  of  the  wars  of  Rama  waged  for  her  recovery  ;  when,  at 
length,  the  genealogy  of  the  family  commenced,  which  this  strange 

^  [Atit,  meaning  '  free,  destitute,'  usually  applied  to  ascetics  like  the 
Sannyasi,  followers  of  Siva  (Crooke,  Tribes  and  Castes  N.W.  Provinces,^!, 
86f.j.l 

2  [Butea  frondosa.'] 


1752  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

being  traced  through  all  their  varying  patronymics  of  Daityas, 
Riks,  Guhilot,  Aharya,  Sesodia  ;  at  which  last  he  again  diverged, 
and  gave  me  an  episode  to  explain  the  etymology  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing epithet.  I  subjoin  it,  as  a  specimen  of  the  anchorite's 
historical  lore  : 

Origin  of  the  Name  Sesodia. — In  these  wilds,  an  ancient  Rana 
of  Chitor  had  sat  down  to  a  got  (feast)  consisting  of  the  game  slain 
in  the  chase  ;  and  being  very  hungry,  he  hastily  swallowed  a 
piece  of  meat  to  which  a  gad-fly  adhered.  The  fly  grievously 
tormented  the  Rana's  stomach,  and  he  sent  for  a  physician.  The 
Wiseman  (bedi)  secretly  ordered  an  attendant  to  cut  off  the  tip 
of  a  cow's  ear,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the  monarch's  life. 
On  obtaining  this  forbidden  morsel,  the  Bedi  folded  it  in  a  piece 
of  thin  cloth,  and  attaching  a  string  to  it,  made  the  royal  patient 
swallow  it.  The  gad-fly  fastened  on  the  bait,  and  was  dragged 
to  light.  The  physician  was  rewarded  ;  but  the  curious  Rana 
insisted  on  knowing  by  what  means  the  cure  was  effected,  and 
when  he  heard  that  a  piece  of  sacred  kine  had  passed  his  lips,  he 
determined  to  expiate  the  enormity  in  a  manner  which  its  heinous- 
ness  required,  and  to  swallow  boiling  lead  (sisa)  !  A  vessel  was 
put  [704]  on  the  fire,  and  half  a  ser  soon  melted,  when,  praying 
that  his  involuntary  offence  might  be  forgiven,  he  boldly  drank  it 
off  ;  but  lo  !  it  passed  through  him  like  water.  From  that  day, 
the  name  of  the  tribe  was  changed  from  Aharya  to  Sesodia.^ 
The  old  Jogi  as  firmly  believed  the  truth  of  this  absurd  tale  as 
he  did  his  own  existence,  and  I  allowed  him  to  run  on  till  the  temple 
of  Barolli  suddenly  burst  upon  my  view  from  amidst  the  foliage 
that  shrouded  it.  The  transition  was  grand  ;  we  had  for  some 
time  been  picking  our  way  along  the  margin  of  a  small  stream 
that  had  worked  itself  a  bed  in  the  rock  over  which  lay  our  path, 
and  whose  course  had  been  our  guide  to  this  object  of  our  pilgrim- 
age. As  we  neared  the  sacred  fane,  still  following  the  stream, 
we  reached  a  level  spot  overshadowed  by  the  majestic  kur  and 
amba,2  which  had  never  known  the  axe.  We  instantly  dis- 
mounted, and  by  a  flight  of  steps  attained  the  court  of  the  temple. 

The  Barolli  Temples. — To  describe  its  stupendous  and  diversified 

^  [A  folk-etymology,  Sesodia  being  derived  from  the  village  Sesoda  in 
W.  Mewar  hill  tract.] 

*  [Barolli  lies  3  miles  N.E.  of  Bhainsrorgarh.  The  Kur  tree  is  Sterculia 
urena  (Watt,  Comm,  Prod.  1051)  :   amba,  the  mango  tree.] 


■*.;; 


f  Kjr:''56''''^H> 


11 


|:f||^\\l;?M# 


FRAGMENT   FROM    THE   RUIX8   OF   BAROLLI. 

To  face  page  1752. 


THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1753 

architecture  is  impossible  ;  it  is  the  office  of  the  pencil  alone,  but 
the  labour  would  be  almost  endless.  Art  seems  here  to  have 
exhausted  itself,  and  we  were,  perhaps  now  for  the  first  time, 
fully  impressed  with  the  beauty  of  Hindu  sculpture.  The 
columns,  the  ceilings,  the  external  roofing,  where  each  stone 
presents  a  miniature  temple,  one  rising  over  another,  until 
cro^\Tied  by  the  urnhke  kalas,  distracted  our  attention.  The 
carving  on  the  capital  of  each  column  would  require  pages  of 
explanation,  and  the  whole,  in  spite  of  its  high  antiquity,  is  in 
wonderful  preservation.  This  is  attributable  mainly  to  two 
causes  :  every  stone  is  chiselled  out  of  the  close-grained  quartz 
rock,  perhaps  the  most  durable  (as  it  is  the  most  difficult  to  work) 
of  any  ;  and  in  order  that  the  Islamite  should  have  some  excuse 
for  evading  their  iconoclastic  law,  they  covered  the  entire  temple 
with  the  finest  marble  cement,  so  adhesive,  that  it  is  only  where 
the  prevalent  winds  have  beaten  upon  it  that  it  is  altogether  worn 
off,  leaving  the  sculptured  edges  of  the  stone  as  smooth  and  sharp 
as  if  carved  only  yesterday. 

The  grand  temple  of  BaroUi  is  dedicated  to  Siva,  whose  emblems 
are  everywhere  visible.^  It  stands  in  an  area  of  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  square,  enclosed  by  a  wall  built  of  xuishaped  stones 
without  cement.  Beyond  this  wall  are  groves  of  majestic  trees, 
with  many  smaller  shrines  and  sacred  fountains.  The  first  object 
that  struck  my  notice,  just  before  entering  the  area,  was  a  pillar, 
erect  in  the  earth,  with  a  hooded-snake  sculptured  around  it. 
The  doorway,  which  is  destroyed,  must  have  been  very  curious, 
and  the  remains  that  choke  up  the  interior  are  highly  interesting. 
One  of  these  specimens  was  entire,  and  unrivalled  in  taste  and 
beauty.  The  principal  figures  are  of  Siva  and  his  consort,  Parbati, 
with  their  attendants.  He  stands  [705]  upon  the  lotus,  having 
the  serpent  twined  as  a  garland.  In  his  right  hand  he  holds  the 
damru,  or  little  drum,  with  which,  as  the  god  of  war,  he  inspires 
the  warrior  ;  in  his  left  is  the  khopra,  formed  of  a  human  skull, 
out  of  which  he  drinks  the  blood  of  the  slain.  The  other  two 
arms  have  been  broken  off  :    a  circumstance  which  proves  that 

1  [For  a  drawing  and  account  of  this  temple  see  Fergusson,  Hist.  Ind. 
Arch.,  ed.  1910,  ii.  134.  He  ascribes  it  to  the  9th  or  10th  century,  and 
regards  this  group  of  temples  as  the  most  perfect  of  their  age  he  had  met  with 
in  this  region,  and,  in  their  own  peculiar  style,  perhaps  as  beautiful  as  any- 
thing in  India.] 

VOL.  Ill  2  K 


1754  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

even  the  Islamite,  to  whom  the  act  may  be  ascribed,  respected 
tliis  work  of  art.  The  '  mountain-born  '  is  on  the  left  of  her 
spouse,  standing  on  the  kurma,  or  tortoise,  with  braided  locks, 
and  ear-rings  made  of  the  conch-shell.  Every  limb  is  in  that  easy 
flowing  style  peculiar  to  ancient  Hindu  art,  and  wanting  in  modern 
specimens.  Both  are  covered  with  beaded  ornaments,  and  have 
no  drapery.  The  firm,  masculine  attitude  of  '  Baba  Adam,'  as  I 
have  heard  a  Rajput  call  Mahadeo,  contrasts  well  with  the  delicate 
feminine  outline  of  his  consort.  The  serpent  and  lotus  intertwine 
gracefully  over  their  heads.  Above,  there  is  a  series  of  compart- 
ments fiUed  with  various  figures,  the  most  conspicuous  of  which 
is  the  chimerical  animal  called  the  Grasda,  a  kind  of  horned  lion  ; 
each  compartment  being  separated  by  a  wreath  of  flowers,  taste- 
fully arranged  and  distributed.  The  animal  is  delineated  with 
an  ease  not  unworthy  the  art  in  Europe.  Of  the  various  other 
figures  many  are  mutilated  ;  one  is  a  hermit  playing  on  a  guitar, 
and  above  him  are  a  couple  of  deer  in  a  listening  posture.  Captain 
Waugh  is  engaged  on  one  of  the  figures,  which  he  agrees  with  me 
in  pronouncing  unrivalled  as  a  specimen  of  art.  There  are  parts 
of  them,  especially  the  heads,  which  would  not  disgrace  Canova. 
They  are  in  liigh  relief,  being  almost  detached  from  the  slab.  In 
this  fragment  (about  eight  feet  by  three)  the  chief  figures  are  about 
three  feet. 

The  centre  piece,  forming  a  kind  of  frieze,  is  nearly  entire,  and 
about  twelve  feet  by  three  ;  it  is  covered  with  sculpture  of  the 
same  character,  mostly  the  celestial  choristers,  with  various 
instruments,  celebrating  the  praises  of  Siva  and  Parbati.  Immedi- 
ately within  the  doorway  is  a  small  shrine  to  the  '  four-armed '  ; 
but  the  Islamite  having  likewise  deprived  him  of  the  super- 
numerary pair,  the  Bhil  takes  him  for  Devi,  of  whom  they  are 
desperately  afraid,  and  in  consequence  the  forehead  of  the  statue 
is  liberally  smeared  with  vermilion. 

On  the  left,  in  advance  of  the  main  temple,  is  one  about  thirty 
feet  high,  containing  an  image  of  Ashtabhuji  Mata,  or  the  '  eight- 
armed  mother  '  ;  but  here  the  pious  Muslim  has  robbed  the  goddess 
of  all  her  arms,  save  that  with  which  she  grasps  her  shield,  and 
has  also  removed  her  head.  She  treads  firmly  on  the  centaur, 
Maheswar,^  whose  dissevered  head  lies  at  some  distance  in  the 
area,  while  the  lion  of  the  Hindu  Cybele  [700]  still  retains  his  grasp 
^  [Maliishasura,  the  buffalo  demon.] 


W' 


'i/I  i:  /r, 


^R- 


IJ 


i^;^JHJ=.:Jj 


OUTLINE   OF  A   TEMPLE   TO   MAHADEVA   AT   B.\ROLLI. 

To  face  page  17oi. 


THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1755 

of  his  quarters.     The  Joginis  and  Apsarases,  or  '  maids  of  war  ' 
of  Rajput  martial  poetry,  have  been  spared. 

On  the  right  is  the  shrine  of  Trimurti,  the  triune  divinity. 
Brahma's  face,  in  the  centre,  has  been  totally  obhterated,  as  has 
that  of  VishniT,  the  Preserver  ;  but  the  Destroyer  is  uninjured. 
The  tiara,  which  covers  the  head  ^  of  this  triple  di\nnity,  is  also 
entire,  and  of  perfect  workmanship.  The  skill  of  the  sculptor 
"  can  no  further  go."  Groups  of  snakes  adorn  the  clustering 
locks  on  the  ample  forehead  of  Siva,  which  are  confined  by  a 
bandeau,  in  the  centre  of  which  there  is  a  death's  head  ornament, 
hideously  exact.  Various  and  singularly  elegant  devices  are 
wrought  in  the  tiara  :  in  one,  two  horses  couped  from  the  shoulder, 
passing  from  a  rich  centring  and  surmounted  by  a  death's  head  ; 
a  dissevered  arm  points  to  a  vulture  advancing  to  seize  it,  while 
serpents  are  wreathed  round  the  neck  and  hands  of  the  Destroyer, 
whose  half-opened  mouth  discloses  a  solitary  tooth,  and  the  tongue 
curled  up  with  a  demoniacal  expression.  The  whole  is  colossal, 
the  figures  being  six  feet  and  a  half  high.  The  relief  is  very 
bold,  and  altogether  the  group  is  worthy  of  having  casts  made 
from  it. 

We  now  come  to  the  grand  temple  itself,  which  is  fifty-eight 
feet  in  height,  and  in  the  ancient  form  peculiar  to  the  temples  of 
Siva.  The  body  of  the  edifice,  in  which  is  the  sanctum  of  the 
god,  and  over  which  rises  its  pyramidal  sikhara,  is  a  square  of 
only  twenty-one  feet  ;  but  the  addition  of  the  domed  vestibule 
(mandap)  and  portico  makes  it  forty-four  by  twenty-one.  An 
outline  of  this  by  Ghasi,  a  native  artist  (who  labours  at  Udaipur 
for  the  same  daily  pay  as  a  tailor,  carpenter,  or  other  artisan), 
gives  a  tolerably  good  notion  of  its  appearance,  though  none  of 
its  beauty.  The  whole  is  covered  with  mythological  sculpture, 
without  as  well  as  within,  emblematic  of  the  '  great  god ' 
(Mahadeo),  who  is  the  giver,  as  well  as  the  destroyer,  of  life.  In 
a  niche  outside,  to  the  south,  he  is  armed  against  the  Daityas 
(Titans),  the  munda-mala,  or  skull-ehaplet,  reaching  to  his  knees, 
and  in  seven  of  his  arms  are  offensive  weapons.  His  cap  is  the 
frustrum  of  a  cone,  composed  of  snakes  interlaced,  with  a  fillet  of 
skulls  :  the  khopra  is  in  his  hand,  and  the  victims  are  scattered 
around.  On  his  right  is  one  of  the  maids  of  slaughter  (Jogini) 
drunk  with  blood,  the  cup  still  at  her  lip,  and  her  countenance 
1  The  trimurti  is  represented  with  three  faces  {murti)  though  but  one  head. 


1756  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

expressive  of  vacuity ;  while  below,  on  the  left,  is  a  female  personifi- 
cation of  Death,  mere  skin  and  bone  :  a  sickle  (khurpi)  in  her 
right  hand,^  its  knob  a  death's  head,  completes  this  group  of  the 
attributes  of  destruction  [707]. 

To  the  west  is  Mahadeo  under  another  form,  a  beautiful  and 
animated  statue,  the  expression  mild,  as  when  he  went  forth  to 
entice  the  mountain-nymph,  Mena,  to  his  embrace.  His  tiara  is 
a  blaze  of  finely-executed  ornaments,  and  his  snake-wreath, 
which  hangs  round  him  as  a  garland,  has  a  clasp  of  two  heads  of 
Seshnag  (the  serpent-king),  while  Nandi  below  is  listening  with 
placidity  to  the  sound  of  the  damru.  His  khopra,  and  kharg,  or 
skull-cap,  and  sword,  which  he  is  in  the  attitude  of  using,  are  the 
only  accompaniments  denoting  the  god  of  blood. 

The  northern  compartment  is  a  picture,  disgustingly  faithful, 
of  death  and  its  attributes,  vulgarly  known  as  Bhukhi  Mata,  or 
the  personification  of  famine,  lank  and  bare  ;  her  necldace,  like 
her  lord's,  of  skulls.  Close  by  are  two  mortals  in  the  last  stage 
of  existence,  so  correctly  represented  as  to  excite  an  unpleasant 
surprise.  The  outline,  I  may  say,  is  anatomically  correct.  The 
mouth  is  half  open  and  distorted,  and  although  the  eye  is  closed 
in  death,  an  expression  of  mental  anguish  seems  still  to  linger 
upon  the  features.  A  beast  of  prey  is  approaching  the  dead 
body  ;  while,  by  way  of  contrast,  a  male  figure,  in  all  the  vigour 
of  youth  and  health,  lies  prostrate  at  her  feet. 

Such  is  a  faint  description  of  the  sculptured  niches  on  each 
of  the  external  faces  of  the  mandir,  whence  the  spire  rises,  simple 
and  solid.  In  order,  however,  to  be  distinctly  understood,  I  shall 
give  some  slight  ichnographic  details.  First,  is  the  mandir  or 
cella,  in  which  is  the  statue  of  the  god  ;  then  the  mandap,  or,  in 
architectural  nomenclature,  the  pronaos  ;  and  third,  the  portico, 
with  which  we  shall  begin,  though  it  transcends  all  description. 

Like  all  temples  dedicated  to  Bal-Siva,^  the  vivifier,  or  '  sun- 
god,'  it  faces  the  east.  The  portico  projects  several  feet  beyond 
the  mandap,  and  has  four  superb  columns  in  front,  of  which  the 
outline  by  Ghasi  conveys  but  a  very  imperfect  idea.  Flat  fluted 
pilasters  are  placed  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  of  the  mandap, 
serving  as  a  support  to  the  internal  toran,  or  triumphal  arch,  and  a 

^  Nowhere  else  did  I  ever  see  this  emblem  of  Time,  the  counterpart  of 
the  scythe  with  which  we  furnish  him,  which  is  unknown  to  India. 
«  [See  Vol.  I.  p.  94.] 


SCULPTURED  NICHE  OX  THE  EXTERIOR  OF  TPIE  TEMPLE  AT  BAROLLI. 

TofcKe  page  1756. 


THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1767 

single  column  intervenes  on  each  side  between  the  pilasters  and 
the  columns  in  front.  The  columns  are  about  eighteen  feet  in 
height.  The  proportions  are  perfect  ;  and  though  the  difference 
of  diameter  between  the  superior  and  inferior  portions  of  the  shaft 
is  less  than  the  Grecian  standard,  there  is  no  want  of  elegance  of 
effect,  whilst  it  gives  an  idea  of  more  grandeur.  The  frieze  is  one 
mass  of  sculptured  figures,  generally  of  human  beings,  male  and 
female,  in  pairs  ;  the  horned  monster  termed  Grasda  separating 
the  different  pairs.  The  internal  tor  an  or  triumphal  arch,  which 
is  invariably  attached  to  all  ancient  temples  of  the  sun-god,  is 
[708]  of  that  pecuhar  curvature  formed  by  the  junction  of  two 
arcs  of  a  circle  from  different  centres,  a  form  of  arch  well  known 
in  Gotliic  and  Saracenic  architecture,  but  which  is  an  essential 
characteristic  of  the  more  ancient  Hindu  temples.  The  head  of  a 
Grasda  crowns  its  apex,  and  on  the  outline  is  a  concatenation  of 
figures  armed  with  daggers,  apparently  ascending  the  arch  to 
strike  the* monster.  The  roof  of  the  Mandap  (pronaos)  cannot  be 
described  :  its  various  parts  must  be  examined  with  microscopic 
nicety  in  order  to  enter  into  detail.  In  the  whole  of  the  ornaments 
there  is  an  exact  harmony  which  I  have  seen  nowhere  else  ;  even 
the  miniature  elephants  are  in  the  finest  proportions,  and  ex- 
quisitely carved. 

The  ceihngs  both  of  the  portico  and  Mandap  are  elaborately 
beautiful  :  that  of  the  portico,  of  one  single  block,  could  hardly 
be  surpassed.  {Vide  Plate.)  Of  the  exterior  I  shall  not  attempt 
further  description  :  it  is  a  grand,  a  wonderful  effort  of  the  Silpi 
(architect),  one  series  rising  above  and  surpassing  the  other,  from 
the  base  to  the  urn  which  surmounts  the  pinnacle. 

The  sanctum  contains  the  symbol  of  the  god,  whose  local 
appellation  is  Rori  Barolli,  a  corruption  of  Bal-rori,  from  the 
circumstance  of  Balnath,  the  sun-god,  being  here  typified  by  an 
orbicular  stone  termed  rori,  formed  by  attrition  in  the  Chulis 
or  whirlpools  of  the  Chambal,  near  which  the  temple  stands,  and 
to  which  phenomena  it  probably  owed  its  foundation.  This 
symboUc  rori  is  not  fixed,  but  lies  in  a  groove  in  the  internal  ring 
of  the  Yoni  ;  and  so  nicely  is  it  poised,  that  with  a  very  moderate 
impulse  it  will  continue  revolving  while  the  votary  recites  a 
tolerably  long  hymn  to  the  object  of  his  adoration.  The  old 
ascetic,  who  had  long  been  one  of  the  zealots  of  Barolli,  amongst 
his  other  wonders  gravely  told  me,  that  with  the  momentum  given 


1758  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

by  his  little  linger,  in  former  days,  he  could  make  it  keep  on  its 
course  much  longer  than  now  with  the  application  of  all  his 
strength. 

Some  honest  son  of  commerce  thought  it  but  right  that  the 
mandira  (cella)  of  Bal-rori  should  be  graced  by  a  Parbati,  and  he 
had  one  made  and  placed  there.  But  it  appeared  to  have 
offended  the  god,  and  matters  soon  after  went  wrong  with  the 
Banya  :  first  liis  wife  died,  then  his  son,  and  at  length  he  became 
divcala,  or  '  bankrupt.'  In  truth  he  deserved  punisliment  for  liis 
caricature  of  the  '  moimtain-born  '  Mena,  who  more  resembles  a 
Dutch  burgomestre  than  the  fair  daughter  of  Sailapati.^ 

Fronting  the  temple  of  Bal-rori,  and  apart  from  it  about  twenty 
yards,  is  another  [709]  superb  edifice,  called  the  Singar-chaori, 
or  nuptial  hall.^  It  is  a  square  (chaori)  of  forty  feet,  supported 
by  a  double  range  of  columns  on  each  face,  the  intercolumniations 
being  quite  open  ;  and  although  these  colimins  want  the  elegant 
proportions  of  the  larger  temple,  they  are  covered  with  exquisite 
sculpture,  as  well  as  the  ceilings.  In  the  centre  of  the  hall  is  an 
open  space  about  twelve  feet  square  ;  and  here,  according  to 
tradition,  the  nuptials  of  Raja  Hun  with  the  fair  daughter  of  a 
Rajput  prince,  of  whom  he  had  long  been  enamoured,  were 
celebrated  ;  *  to  commemorate  which  event,  these  magnificent 
structures  were  raised  :  but  more  of  tliis  Hun  anon.  The  external 
roof  (or  sikhara,  as  the  Hindu  SUpi  terms  the  various  roofs  wliicii 
cover  their  temples)  is  the  frustiun  of  a  pyramid,  and  a  singular 
specimen  of  arcliitectural  skill,  each  stone  being  a  miniature 
temple,  elegantly  carved,  gradually  decreasing  in  size  to  the 
kalas  or  ball,  and  so  admirably  fitted  to  each  other,  that  there  has 
been  no  room  for  vegetation  to  insinuate  itself,  and  consequently 
they  have  sustained  no  injury  from  time. 

Midway  between  the  nuptial  hall  and  the  main  temple  there 
is  a  low  altar,  on  wliich  the  bull,  Nandiswar,  still  kneels  before 

^  [fciailapati,  '  the  mountain  lord,'  the  Himalaya.] 

2  Tiiis  is  not  the  literal  interpretation,  but  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
appUed.  Chaori  is  the  term  always  appropriated  to  the  place  of  nuptials  : 
aingdr  means  'ornament.' 

'*  [There  is  a  tradition  that  a  Huna  Raja  was  present  at  the  Swayamvara, 
or  choosing  of  the  bridegroom  by  the  bride,  Durlabha  Devi,  sister  of  the  Raja 
of  Is^adol  in  Marwar,  early  in  the  eleventh  century  a.u.  But  the  rank  of  the 
family  docs  not  warrant  the  belief  that  he  and  other  distant  Rajas  wero 
present  (UU,  i.  i'art  i.  102  f.).J 


CEILING   OF   THE   PORTICO   OF  TEMPLE   AT    BAKOLLI. 

To  face  page  1758. 


THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1759 

the  symbolic  representation  of  its  sovereign  lord,  Iswar.  But 
sadly  dishonoured  is  this  courser  of  the  sun-god,  whose  flowing 
tail  is  broken,  and  of  whose  head  but  a  fragment  remains,  though 
his  necklace  of  alternate  skulls  and  bells  proclaims  him  the 
charger  of  Siva. 

Around  the  temple  of  the  '  great  god  '  (Mahadeva)  are  the 
shrines  of  the  dii  minores,  of  whom  Ganesa,  the  god  of  wisdom, 
takes  precedence.  The  shrine  of  this  janitor  of  Siva  is  properly 
placed  to  the  north,  equidistant  from  the  nuptial  hall  and  the 
chief  temple.  But  the  form  of  wisdom  was  not  spared  by  the 
Tatar  iconoclast.  His  single  tooth,  on  which  the  poet  Chand  is 
so  lavish  of  encomium,  is  broken  off  ;  his  limbs  are  dissevered, 
and  he  lies  prostrate  on  his  back  at  the  base  of  his  pedestal, 
grasping,  even  in  death,  with  his  right  hand  the  laddus,  or  sweet- 
meat-balls, he  received  at  the  nuptial  feast. 

Near  the  dishonoured  fragments  of  Ganesa,  and  on  the  point 
of  losing  his  equilibrium,  is  the  divine  Narada,^  the  preceptor 
of  Parbati,  and  the  Orpheus  of  Hindu  mythology.  In  his  hands 
he  yet  holds  the  lyre  (vina),  with  whose  heavenly  sounds  he  has 
been  charming  the  son  of  his  patroness  ;  but  more  than  one  string 
of  the  instrument  is  wanting,  and  one  of  the  gourds  which, 
miited  by  a  sounding  board,  form  the  vina,  is  broken  off  [710]. 

To  the  south  are  two  columns,  one  erect  and  the  other  prostrate, 
which  appear  to  have  been  either  the  commencement  of  another 
temple,  or,  what  is  more  probable  from  their  excelling  everything 
yet  described,  intended  to  form  a  toran,  having  a  simple  architrave 
laid  across  them,  which  served  as  a  swing  for  the  recreation  of 
the  god.  (Vide  Plate.)  Their  surface,  tliough  they  have  been 
exposed  for  at  least  one  thousand  years  to  the  atmosphere,  is 
smooth  and  little  injured  :  such  is  the  durability  of  this  stone, 
though  it  is  astonishing  how  it  was  worked,  or  how  they  got 
instruments  to  shape  it.  There  is  a  bawari,  or  reservoir  of  water, 
for  the  use  either  of  gods  or  mortals,  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
quadrangle,  which  is  strewed  with  sculptured  fragments. 

We  quit  the  enclosure  of  Raja  Hun  to  visit  the  fountain  (kund) 
of  Mahadeo,  and  the  various  other  curious  objects.  Having 
passed  through  the  ruined  gate  by  wliich  we  entered,  we  crossed 
the  black  stream,  and  passing  over  a  fine  turf  plot,  reached  the 

^  [Narada,  one  of  the  Prajapati  and  seven  great  Rishis,  who  invented 
the  vina  or  lute,  and  paid  a  visit  to  Patala,  the  lower  regions.] 


1760  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

kunil,  which  is  a  square  of  sixty  feet,  the  water  (leading  to  which 
are  steps)  being  full  to  the  brim,  and  the  surface  covered  with  the 
golden  and  silver  lotus.  In  the  centre  of  the  fountain  is  a  minia- 
ture temple  to  the  god  who  delights  in  waters  ;  and  the  dam  by 
which  it  was  once  approached  being  broken,  it  is  now  completely 
isolated.  The  entrance  to  the  east  has  two  slender  and  well- 
proportioned  columns,  and  the  whole  is  conspicuous  for  simplicity 
and  taste. 

Smaller  shrines  surround  the  kund,  into  one  of  which  I  entered, 
little  expecting  in  a  comparatively  humble  edifice  the  surprise 
which  awaited  me.  The  temple  was  a  simple,  unadorned  hall, 
containing  a  detached  piece  of  sculpture,  representing  Narayan 
floating  on  the  chaotic  waters.  The  god  is  reclining  in  a  fit  of 
abstraction  upon  his  shesh-seja,  a  couch  formed  of  the  hydra, 
or  sea-snake,  whose  many  heads  expanded  form  a  canopy  over 
that  of  the  sleeping  divinity,^  at  whose  feet  is  the  benignant 
Lakshmi,  the  Hindu  Ceres,  awaiting  the  expiration  of  his  periodi- 
cal repose.  A  group  of  marine  monsters,  half  man,  half  fish, 
support  the  couch  in  their  arms,  their  scaly  extremities  gracefully 
wreathed,  and  in  the  centre  of  them  is  a  horse,  rather  too  terres- 
trial to  be  classical,  with  a  conch-shell  and  other  marine  emblems 
near  him.  The  background  to  this  couch  rises  about  two  feet 
above  the  reclining  figure,  and  is  divided  horizontally  into  two 
compartments,  the  lower  containing  a  group  of  six  chimerical 
monsters,  each  nearly  a  foot  in  height,  in  mutual  combat,  and  in 
perfect  relief.  Above  is  a  smaller  series,  depicting  the  Avatars, 
or  incarnations  of  the  divinity.  On  the  left,  Kurma,  the  tortoise, 
having  quitted  his  shell,  of  which  he  makes  [711]  a  pedestal, 
denotes  the  termination  of  the  catastrophe.  Another  marine 
monster,  half  boar  (Varaha),  half  fish,  appears  recovering  the 
Yoni,  the  symbol  of  production,  from  the  alluvion,  by  his  tusk. 
Next  to  him  is  Narasinha,  tearing  in  pieces  a  tyrannical  king, 
with  other  allegorical  mysteries  having  no  relation  to  the  ten 
incarnations,  but  being  a  mythology  quite  distinct,  and  which 
none  of  the  well-informed  men  around  me  could  interpret :  a  cer- 
tain proof  of  its  antiquity. 

1  [See  a  photograph  of  a  fine  panel  from  a  temple  at  Deogarh,  in  the 
Lalitpur  subdivision  of  the  Jhansi  District,  United  Provinces,  representing 
Vishnu  reclining  on  the  serpent  Ananta,  the  symbol  of  eternity,  with  the 
other  gods  watching  from  above  (Smith,  HFA,  163).] 


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THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1761 

The  position  of  Narayan  was  that  of  repose,  one  hand  support- 
ing his  head,  under  which  lay  the  gada,  or  mace,  while  in  another 
he  held  the  conch-shell,  which,  when  the  god  assumed  the  terres- 
trial form  and  led  the  Yadu  hosts  to  battle,  was  celebrated  as 
Dakshinavarta,  from  having  its  spiral  involutions  reversed,  or  to 
the  right  (dakshin).  The  fourth  arm  was  broken  off,  as  were  his 
nether  limbs  to  near  the  knee.  From  the  nabh  or  naf  (navel) 
the  imibilical  cord  ascended,  terminating  in  a  lotus,  whose  ex- 
panded flower  served  as  a  seat  for  Brahma,  the  personification  of 
the  mind  or  spirit  "  moving  on  the  waters  "  (Narayana)  of  chaos. 
The  beneficent  and  beautiful  Lakshmi,  whom  all  adore,  whether 
as  Annapurna  (the  giver  of  food),  or  in  her  less  amiable  character 
as  the  consort  of  the  Hindu  Plutus,  seems  to  have  excited  a 
double  portion  of  the  zealots'  ire,  who  have  not  only  \isited  her 
face  too  roughly,  but  entirely  destroyed  the  emblems  of  nourish- 
ment for  her  universal  progeny.  It  would  be  impossible  to  dwell 
upon  the  minuter  ornaments,  which,  both  for  design  and  execution, 
may  be  pronounced  unrivalled  in  India.  The  highly  imaginative 
mind  of  the  artist  is  apparent  throughout  ;  he  has  given  a  repose 
to  the  sleeping  deity,  which  contrasts  admirably  with  the  writhing 
of  the  serpent  upon  which  he  lies,  whose  folds,  more  especially 
under  the  neck,  appear  almost  real  ;  a  deception  aided  by  the 
porphyritic  tints  of  the  stone.  From  the  accompaniments  of 
mermaids,  conch-shells,  sea-horses,  etc.,  we  may  conclude  that 
a  more  elegant  mythology  than  that  now  subsisting  has  been  lost 
with  the  art  of  sculpture.  The  whole  is  carved  out  of  a  single 
block  of  the  quartz  rock,  which  has  a  lustre  and  polish  equal  to 
marble,  and  is  of  far  greater  durability. 

The  length  of  this  marine  couch  (seja)  is  nearly  eight  feet,  its 
breadth  two,  and  its  height  somewhat  more  than  three  ;  the 
figure,  from  the  top  of  his  richly  wrought  tiara,  being  four  feet. 
I  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  disturb  the  slumbers  of  Narayana, 
and  transport  him  to  another  clime  :  in  this  there  would  be  no 
sacrilege,  for  in  his  present  mutilated  state  he  is  looked  upon 
(except  as  a  specimen  of  art)  as  no  better  than  a  stone. 

All  round  the  kund  the  groimd  is  covered  with  fragments  of 
shrines  erected  to  [712]  the  inferior  divinities.  On  one  piece, 
which  must  have  belonged  to  a  roof,  were  sculptured  two  busts 
of  a  male  and  a  female,  unexceptionably  beautiful.  The  head- 
dress of  the  male  was  a  helmet,  quite  Grecian  in  design,  bound 


1762  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

with  a  simple  and  elegant  fillet  :  in  short,  it  would  require  the 
labour  of  several  artists  for  six  months  to  do  anything  like  justice 
to  the  wonders  of  Barolli. 

There  is  no  chronicle  to  tell  us  for  whom  or  by  whom  this 
temple  was  constructed.  The  legends  are  unintelligible  ;  for 
although  Raja  Hun  is  the  hero  of  this  region,  it  is  no  easy  task  to 
account  for  his  connexion  with  the  mj^thology.  If  we,  however, 
connect  this  apparently  wild  tradition  with  what  is  already  said 
regarding  his  ruling  at  Bhainsror,  and  moreover  with  what  has 
been  recorded  in  the  first  part  of  this  work,  when  '  Angatsi,  lord 
of  the  Huns,'  was  enrolled  amongst  the  eighty-four  subordinate 
princes  who  defended  Chitor  against  the  first  attempt  of  the 
Islamite,  in  the  eighth  century,  the  mystery  ceases.  The  name 
of  Hun  is  one  of  frequent  occurrence  in  ancient  traditions,  and 
the  early  inscription  at  Monghyr  has  already  been  mentioned, 
as  likewise  the  still  more  important  admission  of  this  being  one 
of  the  Thirty-six  Royal  tribes  of  Rajputs  ;  and  as,  in  the  Chitor 
chronicle,  they  have  actually  assigned  as  the  proper  name  of  the 
Hun  prince  that  (Angatsi)  which  designates,  according  to  their 
historian  Deguignes,  the  grand  horde,  we  can  scarcely  refuse  our 
belief  that  "  there  were  Huns  "  in  India  in  those  days.  But 
although  Raja  Hun  may  have  patronized  the  arts,  we  can  hardly 
imagine  he  could  have  furnished  any  ideas  to  the  artists,  who 
at  all  events  have  not  produced  a  single  Tatar  feature  to  attest 
their  rule  in  this  region.  It  is  far  more  probable,  if  ever  Grecian 
artists  visited  these  regions,  that  they  worked  upon  Indian 
designs — an  hypothesis  which  may  be  still  further  supported. 
History  informs  us  of  the  Grecian  auxiliaries  sent  by  Selcucus  to 
the  (Puar)  monarch  of  Ujjain  (Ozene),^  whose  descendants 
corresponded  with  Augustus  ;  and  I  have  before  suggested  the 
possibility  of  the  temple  of  Kumbhalmer,  which  is  altogether 

1  [An  account  of  the  Indian  embassy  to  Augustus  is  given  by  Strabo 
(xv.  73,  with  the  notes  of  M'Crindle,  Ancient  India  in  Classical  Literature, 
77  fE.  ;•  0.  de  Beauvoir  Priaulx,  Indian  Travels  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana  (1873), 
65  li.).  It  was  suggested  by  d'Anville  that  the  Idng  named  Porus  who  sent 
the  embassy  was  a  liana  of  Ujjain  who  claimed  descent  from  the  Porus  who 
was  defeated  by  Alexander  the  Great.  But  the  only  foundation  for  this 
guess  is  tliat  the  embassy  included  a  man  fiom  Barygaza,  the  modern 
Broach,  who  committed  suicide  by  means  of  lire.  There  is  no  truth  in  the 
story  that  Seleucus  sent  Greek  auxiliaries  to  the  Pawar  monarch  of  Ujjain, 
and  the  statements  in  the  text  lack  authority.] 


THE  BAROLLI  TEMPLES  1763 

dissimilar  to  any  remains  of  Hindu  art,  being  attributable  to  the 
same  people. 

We  discovered  two  inscriptions,  as  well  as  the  names  of  many 
visitors,  inscribed  on  the  pavement  and  walls  of  the  portico, 
bearing  date  seven  and  eight  hvmdred  years  ago  ;  one  was  "  the 
son  of  Jalansi,  from  Dhawalnagari  "  ;  another,  which  is  in  the 
ornamental  Nagari  of  the  Jains,  is  dated  the  13th  of  Kartik  (the 
month  sacred  to  Mars),  S.  981,  or  a,d.  925.  Unfortunately  it  is 
but  a  fragment,  containing  five  slokas  in  praise  of  Siddheswar,  or 
Mahadeo,  as  the  patron  of  the  ascetic  Jogis.  Part  of  a  name 
remains  ;  and  although  my  old  Guru  will  not  venture  to  give  a 
translation  without  [713]  his  sibylline  volume,  the  Vyakarana, 
which  was  left  at  Udaipur,  there  is  yet  sufficient  to  prove  it  to 
be  merely  the  rhapsody  of  a  Pandit,  visiting  Rori  BaroUi,  in 
praise  of  the  '  great  god  '  and  of  the  site.^  More  time  and  investi- 
gation than  I  could  afford,  might  make  further  discoveries  ;  and 
it  would  be  labour  well  rewarded  if  we  covild  obtain  a  date  for 
this  Augustan  age  of  India.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  evident  that 
the  whole  was  not  accompUshed  within  one  man's  existence,  nor 
could  the  cost  be  defrayed  by  one  year's  revenue  of  all  Rajputana. 

We  may  add,  before  we  quit  this  spot,  that  there  are  two  piles 
of  stones,  in  the  quadrangle  of  the  main  temple,  raised  over  the 
defunct  priests  of  Mahadeo,  who,  whether  Gosains,  Sannyasis,  or 
Dadupantis,  always  bury  their  dead. 

Barolli  is  in  the  tract  named  Pachel,  or  the  flat  between  the 
river  Chambai  and  the  pass,  containing  twenty-four  villages  in 
the  lordship  of  Bhainsror,  lying  about  three  miles  west,  and 
highly  improviag  the  scene,  which  would  otherwise  be  one  of 
perfect  soUtude.  According  to  the  local  tradition  of  some  of  the 
wild  tribes,  its  more  ancient  name  was  Bhadravati,  the  seat  of 
the  Huns  ;  and  the  traces  of  the  old  city  in  extensive  mounds 
and  ruins  are  still  beheld  around  the  more  modern  Bhainsror. 
Tradition  adds  that  the  Charmanvati  (the  classic  name  of  the 
Chambalj  had  not  then  ploughed  itself  a  channel  in  this  adaman- 
tine bed  ;  but  nine  centuries  could  not  have  effected  tlais  opera- 
tion, although  it  is  not  far  from  the  period  when  Angatsi,  the 
Hun,  served  the  Rana  of  Chitor  [714]. 

^  This  is  deposited  iu  the  museum  of  the  Hoyal  Asiatic  Society. 


1764  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 


CHAPTER    12 

The  Whirlpools  of  the  Chambal,  December  3. — Having  halted 
several  days  at  Barolli  to  admire  the  works  of  man,  we  marched 
to  contemplate  the  still  more  stupendous  operations  of  nature — 
the  Chulis,  or  '  whirlpools,'  of  the  Chambal.  For  three  miles 
we  had  to  hew  a  path  through  the  forest  for  our  camels  and 
horses  ;  at  the  end  of  which,  the  sound  of  many  waters  gradually 
increased,  until  we  stood  on  the  bleak  edge  of  the  river's  rocky 
bed.  Our.  little  camp  was  pitched  upon  an  elevated  spot,  com- 
manding a  view  over  one  of  the  most  striking  objects  of  nature — 
a  scene  bold  beyond  the  power  of  description.  Behind  us  was 
a  deep  wood  ;  in  front,  the  abrupt  precipices  of  the  Patar  ;  to 
the  left,  the  river  expanded  into  a  lake  of  ample  dimensions, 
fringed  with  trees,  and  a  little  onward  to  the  right,  the  majestic 
and  mighty  Charmanvati,  one  of  the  sixteen  sacred  rivers  of 
India,  shrunk  into  such  a  narrow  compass  that  even  man  might 
bestride  it.  From  the  tent,  nothing  seemed  to  disturb  the 
unruffled  surface  of  the  lake,  until  we  approached  the  point  of 
outlet,  and  beheld  the  deep  bed  the  river  has  excavated  in  the 
rock.  This  is  the  commencement  of  the  falls.  Proceeding  along 
the  margin,  one  rapid  succeeds  another,  the  gulf  increasing  in 
width,  and  the  noise  becoming  more  terrific,  until  you  arrive  at 
a  spot  where  the  stream  is  split  into  four  distinct  channels  ;  and 
a  little  farther,  an  isolated  rock  appears,  high  over  which  the 
whitened  spray  ascends,  the  sunbeams  playing  on  it.  Here  the 
separated  channels,  each  terminating  in  a  cascade,  fall  into  an 
ample  basin,  and  again  unite  their  waters,  boiling  around  the 
masses  of  black  rock,  which  ever  and  anon  peeps  out  and  contrasts 
with  the  foaming  surge  rising  from  the  whirlpools  {chulis)  beneath. 
From  this  huge  cauldron  the  waters  again  divide  into  two  branches, 
encircling  and  isolating  the  rock,  on  whose  northern  face  they 
reunite,  and  form  another  fine  fall  [715]. 

A  tree  is  laid  across  the  chasm,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  adven- 
turous may  attain  the  summit  of  the  rock,  which  is  quite  flat, 
and  is  called  '  the  table  of  the  Thakur  of  Bhainsror,'  who  often, 
in  the  summer,  holds  his  got  or  feast  there,  and  a  fitter  spot  for 


THE  WHIRLPOOLS  OF  THE  CHAMBAL  1765 

such  an  entertainment  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  Here,  soothed 
by  the  murmur  of  foaming  waters,  the  eye  dwelling  on  a  variety 
of  picturesque  objects,  seen  through  the  prismatic  hues  of  the 
spray-clouds,  the  baron  of  Bhainsror  and  his  httle  court  may 
sip  their  amrit,  fancjdng  it,  all  the  while,  taken  from  the  churning 
of  the  little  ocean  beneath  them. 

On  issuing  from  the  Chulis,  the  river  continues  its  course 
through  its  rocky  bed,  which  gradually  diminishes  to  about 
fifteen  feet,  and  with  greatly  increased  velocity,  until,  meeting 
a  softer  soil,  under  Bhainsror,  it  would  float  a  man-of-war.     The 


Bridge. 


Rapid.       (Iilll\ 
Whirpools  of  the  Chambal. 

distance  from  the  lake  first  described  to  this  rock  is  about  a  mile, 
and  the  difference  of  elevation,  under  two  hundred  feet  ;  the 
main  cascade  being  about  sixty  feet  fall.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that, 
after  a  course  of  three  hundred  miles,  the  bed  of  a  mighty  river 
like  this  should  be  no  more  than  about  three  yards  broad.  The 
whirlpools  are  huge  perpendicular  caverns,  thirty  and  forty  feet 
in  depth,  between  some  of  which  there  is  a  communication  under- 
ground ;  the  orbicular  stones,  termed  roris,  are  often  forced  up 
in  the  agitation  of  these  natural  cauldrons  ;  one  of  them  repre- 
sents the  object  of  worship  at  Bal-rori.  For  many  miles  down 
the  stream,  towards  Kotah,  the  rock  is  everywhere  pierced  by 
incipient  Chulis,  or  whirlpools,  which,  according  to  their  size  and 
force,  are  always  filled  with  these  rounded  stones. 

From   hence  the   Chambal   pursues   its   course   through   the 


1766  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

plateau  (sometimes  six  hundred  feet  high)  to  Kotah.  Here 
nature  is  in  lier  grandest  attire.  The  scene,  though  wild  and 
rugged,  is  sublime  ;  and  were  I  offered  an  estate  in  Mewar,  I 
would  choose  Bhainsror,  and  should  be  delighted  to  hold  my 
got  enveloped  in  the  mists  which  rise  from  the  whirlpools  of  the 
Chambal  [716]. 

Gangabheva,  December  4. — The  carpenters  have  been  at  work 
for  some  days  hewing  a  road  for  us  to  pass  to  Gangabheva, 
another  famed  retreat  in  this  wild  and  now  utterly  deserted 
abode.  We  commenced  our  march  through  a  forest,  the  dog-star 
nearly  south  ;  the  river  dimly  seen  on  our  right.  On  our  left 
were  the  remains  of  a  ruined  circumvallation,  which  is  termed 
Rana-Kot  ;  probably  a  ramna,  or  preserve.  At  daybreak  we 
arrived  at  the  hamlet  of  Kherli  ;  and  here,  our  course  changing 
abruptly  to  the  south-east,  we  left  the  river,  and  continued  our 
journey  through  rocks  and  thickets,  until  a  deep  grove  of  lofty 
trees,  enclosed  by  a  dilapidated  wall,  showed  that  we  had  reached 
the  object  of  our  search,  Gangabheva. 

What  a  scene  burst  upon  us,  as  we  cleared  the  ruined  wall  and 
forced  our  way  over  the  mouldering  fragments  of  ancient 
grandeur  !  Gangabheva,  or  '  the  circle  of  Ganga,'  ^  appears  to 
have  been  selected  as  a  retreat  for  the  votaries  of  Mahadeva, 
from  its  being  a  little  oasis  in  this  rock-bound  valley  ;  for  its 
site  was  a  fine  turf,  kept  in  perpetual  verdure  by  springs. 

The  Saiva  Temple. — The  chief  object  is  the  temple,  dedicated 
to  the  creative  power  ;  it  stands  in  the  centre  of  a  quadrangle 
of  smaller  shrines,  which  have  more  the  appearance  of  being  the 
cenotaphs  of  some  ancient  dynasty  than  domiciles  for  the  inferior 
divinities.  The  contrast  between  the  architecture  of  the  principal 
temple,  and  that  of  the  shrines  which  surroimd  it,  is  remarkable. 
The  body  of  the  chief  temple  has  been  destroyed,  and  with  its 
wrecks  a  simple,  inelegant  mandir  has  been  raised  ;  nor  is  there 
aught  of  the  primitive  structure,  except  the  portico,  remaining. 
Its  columns  are  fluted,  and  the  entablature  (part  of  which  lies 
prostrate  and  reversed)  ^  exhibits  a  profusion  of  rich  sculpture. 
In  front  of  the  temple  is  a  circular  basin,  always  overflowing,  and 

1  [The  name  may  mean  '  Gauges  fissure.'  The  place  is  not  mentioned  by 
Erskine.] 

^  It  will  be  requisite  to  view  this  fragment  in  a  reversed  position  to  see  the 
intended  effort  of  the  artist. 


GANGABHEVA  1767 

whence  the  term  hheoo  or  hheo,  '  a  circle,'  added  to  the  name  of 
the  spring,  which  is  feigned  to  be  an  emanation  of  Ganga.  The 
surface  of  its  waters  is  covered  with  the  flower  sacred  to  the 
goddess,  that  particular  lotus  termed  kamadhan,  which  may  be 
rendered  '  the  riches  of  love.' 

The  chief  temple  evinces  the  same  skill  and  taste  as  the  struc- 
tures of  Barolli,  and  the  embellishments  are  similar.  We  here 
recognize  the  groups  of  Mahadeva  and  Parbati,  with  the  griffins 
(grasda),  the  Naginis,  half  serpent,  half  female,  etc.,  though  not 
in  so  finished  a  style  as  at  Barolli.  Whatever  be  the  age  of  this 
temple  (and  we  found  on  the  pavement  the  name  of  a  votary  with 
the  date  S.  1011,  or  a.d.  955),  it  is  many  centuries  more  recent 
than  those  which  surround  it,  in  whose  massive  simplicity  we 
[717]  have  a  fine  specimen  of  the  primitive  architecture  of  the 
Hindus.  Even  of  these,  we  can  trace  varieties.  That  of  which 
we  present  a  drawing  (vide  Plate)  shows,  in  its  fluted  columns, 
a  more  ambitious,  though  not  a  better  taste,  than  the  plainer 
supporters  of  the  pyramidal  roofs,  wliich  cover  all  the  ancient 
temples  of  Bal-Siva.  Five  of  these  small  shrines  filled  up  each 
face  of  the  quadrangle,  but  with  the  exception  of  those  on  the 
east  side,  aU  are  in  ruins.  The  doors  of  those  which  possess  an 
enclosed  sanctum  face  inwards  towards  the  larger  shrine  :  and 
each  has  a  simple  low  altar,  on  which  are  ranged  the  attendant 
divinities  of  Mahadeva.  The  sculpture  of  all  these  is  of  a  much 
later  date  than  the  specimens  at  Barolli,  and  of  inferior  execu- 
tion, though  far  superior  to  anything  that  the  Hindu  sculptor 
of  modern  days  can  fabricate.  They  may  possibly  be  of  the 
date  found  inscribed  (the  tenth  century),  posterior  to  which 
no  good  Hindu  sculptiure  is  to  be  found.  As  this  spot  is  now 
utterly  deserted,  and  the  tiger  and  wild  boar  are  the  only  in- 
habitants that  visit  the  groves  of  Gangabheva,  I  shall  be  guilty 
of  no  sacrilege  in  removing  a  few  of  these  specimens  of  early 
art.i 

Nature  has  co-operated  with  the  rutliless  Turk  in  destroying 
the  oldest  specimens  of  the  art.  Wherever  there  is  a  chink  or 
crevice,  vegetation  fixes  itself.     Of  this  we  had  a  fine  specimen 

^  Of  the  style  of  these  specimens  the  curious  are  enabled  to  judge,  as 
several  are  deposited  in  the  museum  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.  These 
mark  the  decline  of  the  arts  ;  as  do  those  of  Barolli  its  perhaps  highest  point 
of  excellence. 


1768  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

in  a  gigantic  but  now  mouldering  kur,  which  had  implanted 
itself  in  the  mandap  of  the  principal  temple,  and  rent  it  to  its 
foundation.  On  examining  its  immense  roots,  large  slabs  were 
actually  encased  with  the  wood,  the  bark  of  which  nearly  covers 
a  whole  regiment  of  petty  gods.  This  fact  alone  attests  the 
longevity  of  this  species  of  tree,  which  is  said  to  live  a  thousand 
years.  The  fountain  temple  has,  in  a  similar  way,  been  levelled 
by  another  of  these  kur-trees,  the  branches  of  which  had  gradually 
pressed  in  and  overwhelmed  it.  The  Singar-ehaori,  or  nuptial 
hall,  is  also  nearly  unroofed  ;  and  although  the  portico  may  yet 
survive  for  ages,  time  is  rapidly  consuming  the  rest. 

I  should  have  said  that  there  are  two  distinct  enclosures,  an 
interior  and  exterior,  and  it  is  the  first  which  is  crowded  with  the 
noblest  trees,  everywhere  clustered  by  the  Amarvela,  '  the  garland 
of  eternity,'  sacred  to  Mahadeva,  which  shades  the  shrine,  over- 
hanging it  in  festoons.  This  is  the  giant  of  the  parasitic  tribe,  its 
main  stem  being  as  thick  near  the  root  as  my  body.  I  eoimted 
sixty  joints,  each  apparently  denoting  a  year's  growth,  yet  not 
half-way  up  the  tree  on  which  it  climbed.  That  [718]  highlj'- 
scented  shrub,  the  ketaki,^  grew  in  great  profusion  near  the  kund, 
and  a  bevy  of  monkeys  were  gambolling  about  them,  the  sole 
inhabitants  of  the  grove.  The  more  remote  enclosure  contained 
many  altars,  sacred  to  the  manes  of  the  faithful  wives  who  became 
Satis  for  the  salvation  of  their  lords.  On  some  of  these  altars 
were  three  and  four  putlis,  or  images,  denoting  the  number  of 
devotees.  It  would  require  a  month's  halt  and  a  company  of 
pioneers  to  turn  over  these  ruins,  and  then  we  might  not  be 
rewarded  for  our  pains.  We  have  therefore  set  to  work  to  clear  a 
path,  that  we  may  emerge  from  these  wilds. 

Nauli,  December  5  ;  twelve  miles. — The  road  runs  through  one 
continued  forest,  which  would  have  been  utterly  impassable  but 
for  the  hatchet.  Half-way  is  the  boundary  between  Bhainsror 
and  Bhanpura,  also  an  ancient  appanage  of  Mewar,  but  now 
belonging  to  Holkar.  Nauli  is  a  comfortable  village,  ha\dng  the 
remains  of  a  fort  to  the  westward. 

In  the  evening  I  went  to  visit  Takaji-ka-kund,  or  'fountain 

of  the  snake-king.'     It  is  about  two  miles  east  of  Nauli  ;  the  road, 

through  a  jungle,  over  the  flat  higliland  or  Patar,  presents  no 

indication  of  the  object  of  research,  until  you  suddenly  find  your- 

^  [Pandanus  odoratissimus.] 


NAULI  :  BHANPURA  1769 

self  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice  nearly  two  hundred  feet  in  depth, 
crowded  with  noble  trees,  on  which  the  knotted  kur  was  again 
conspicuous.  The  descent  to  this  glen  was  over  masses  of  rock  ; 
and  about  half-way  down,  on  a  small  platform,  are  two  shrines  ; 
one  containing  the  statue  of  Takshak,  the  snake-king  ;  the  other 
of  Dhanvantari,  the  physician,  who  was  produced  at  the  "  churn- 
ing of  the  ocean . ' '  The  kund,  or  fountain,  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  abyss,  is  about  two  hundred  yards  in  circumference,  and 
tervaQ A  aihah,  or  '  unfathomable,'  according  to  my  guide,  and  if  we 
may  judge  from  its  dark  sea-green  lustre,  it  must  be  of  considerable 
depth.  It  is  filled  by  a  cascade  of  full  one  hundred  feet  per- 
pendicular height,  under  which  is  a  stone  seat,  sacred  to  the  genius 
of  the  spot.  At  the  west  side  issues  a  rivulet,  caUed  the  Takhaili, 
or  serpentine,  which,  after  pursuing  a  winding  course  for  many 
miles,  some  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  Patar,  washes 
the  eastern  face  of  Hinglajgarh,  and  ultimately  joins  the  Amjar. 
Ghasi,  my  native  artist,  is  busy  with  the  effigy  of  the  snake-king, 
and  Dhanvantari,  the  Vaidya.  From  the  summit  of  the  plateau 
we  had  a  view  of  the  castle  of  Hinglaj,  celebrated  in  Lord  Lake's 
war  with  the  Mahrattas,  and  which  was  taken  by  Captain  Hutchin- 
son with  a  few  men  of  the  Bengal  artUlery.^ 

Bhanpura,  December  6,  eight  miles. — This  was  a  delightful 
march,  presenting  [719]  pictures  at  every  step.  Two  miles, 
through  jungle,  brought  us  to  the  abrupt  crest  of  the  Patar.  For 
some  distance  the  route  was  over  a  neck  or  chine,  with  deep 
perpendicular  dells  on  each  side,  which,  at  its  extremity,  the  point 
of  descent,  termed  the  ghat  or  pass,  became  a  vaUey,  gradually 
expanding  until  we  reached  Bhanpura.  At  the  ghat  are  the 
remains  of  a  very  ancient  fortress,  named  Indorgarh,  which  must 
have  been  one  of  the  strongholds  of  this  region  long  anterior  to  the 
Chandrawat  feudatories  of  Mewar.  Some  fragments  of  sculpture 
indicate  the  presence  of  the  artist  of  Barolli  ;  but  aU  search  for 
inscriptions  was  fruitless.  From  hence  we  saw  the  well-defined 
skirts  of  the  plateau  stretching  westward  by  Rampura  to  the 
Lasaughat,  Tarapur,  and  Jawad,  the  point  of  our  ascent  last 
year.    - 

It  was  pleasing,  after  a  week's  incarceration  amidst  these  ruins 
and  scenes  of  natural  grandeur,  where  European  foot  had  never 

^  [The  fort  was  captured  in  July  1804  (Mill,  Hist.  British  India,  ed. 
1817,  iii.  674).] 

VOT..  Ill  2  L 


1770  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

trod,  to  see  verdant  fields  and  inhabitants  of  the  plains  ;  such 
alternations  make  each  delightful  in  its  turn.  We  had  been 
satiated  with  the  interminable  flats  and  unvarying  cornfields  of 
Haraoti,  and  it  was  a  relief  to  quit  that  tame  tranquillity  for  the 
whirlpools  of  the  Chambal,  the  kunds  of  Ganga,  and  the  snake- 
king  in  the  regions  of  the  inaccessible  Durga. 

Mausoleum  o£  Jaswant  Rao  Holkar. — As  we  approached 
Bhanpura,  we  crossed  a  small  rivulet,  called  the  Rewa,  coming  from 
the  glen  of  the  pass  ;  near  which  is  the  mausoleum  of  Jaswant  Rao 
Holkar,  adjoining  the  scene  of  his  greatest  glory,  when  he  drove  an 
English  army  from  his  territory .^  The  architecture  is  worthy  of 
the  barbarian  Mahratta  ;  it  is  a  vaulted  building,  erected  upon  a 
terrace,  all  of  hewn  stone  ;  its  only  merit  is  its  solidity.  There 
is  a  statue  of  this  intrepid  chieftain,  of  the  natural  size,  in  the 
usual  ungraceful  sitting  posture,  with  his  little  turban  ;  but  it 
gives  but  a  mean  idea  of  the  man  who  made  terms  with  Lake 
at  the  altars  of  Alexander,  It  is  enclosed  by  a  miniature  and 
regularly  built  fortress,  with  bastions,  the  interior  of  which  are 
hollow  and  colonnaded,  serving  as  a  Dharmsala,  or  place  of  halt 
for  pilgrims  or  travellers  ;  and  on  the  terrace  are  a  few  rahaklas, 
or  swivels.  On  the  right  of  the  temple  destined  to  receive  the 
effigy  of  Jaswant,  is  a  smaller  cenotaph  to  the  memory  of  his  sister, 
who  died  shortly  after  him.  The  gateway  leading  into  this 
castellated  tomb  has  apartments  at  the  top,  and  at  the  entrance 
is  a  handsome  piece  of  brass  ordnance,  called  Kali,  or  '  death.' 
There  is  a  temporary  building  on  the  right  of  the  gateway,  where 
prayers  are  recited  all  day  long  for  the  soul  of  Jaswant,  before  an 
altar  on  which  were  placed  twenty-four  dewas,  or  lamps,  always 
burning.  A  figure  dressed  in  white  was  on  the  altar  ;  immediately 
behind  which,  painted  on  the  wall,  was  Jaswant  himself,  and  as  in 
the  days  [720]  of  his  glory,  mounted  on  his  favourite  war-horse, 
Mahua.  The  chamar  was  waving  over  his  head,  and  silver-mace 
bearers  were  attending,  while  the  officiating  priests,  seated  on 
carpets,  pronounced  their  incantations. 

I  left  the  master  to  visit  Mahua,  whose  stall  is  close  to  the 
mausoleum  of  Holkar,  whom  he  bore  in  many  a  desperate  strife. 
The  noble  animal  seemed  to  possess  all  his  master's  aversion  to  a 
Farangi,   and   when,  having  requested   his   body-clothes  to   be 

^  [He  became  Chief  of  Indor  about  1802 ;  was  defeated  by  Lord  Lake ; 
becaino  insane  in  1806,  and  died  October  20,  1811.] 


IMAGE   OF  THE   SNAKE   KING   AT  THE    FOUNTAIN   OF  THE   AMJAR. 

To  face  page  1770 


GAROT  1771 

removed,  I  went  up  to  examine  him,  he  at  first  backed  his  ears 
and  showed  fight  ;  but  at  last  permitted  me  to  rub  his  fine  fore- 
head. Mahua  is  a  chestnut  of  the  famed  Bhimthadi  ^  breed  ; 
like  his  master,  a  genuine  native  of  Maharashtra,  he  exhibits  the 
framework  of  a  perfect  horse,  though  under  14-3  ;  his  forelegs 
show  what  he  has  gone  through.  His  head  is  a  model,  exhibiting 
the  highest  quality  of  blood  ;  ears  small  and  pointed,  eye  full  and 
protruding,  and  a  mouth  that  could  drink  out  of  a  tea-cup.  He 
is  in  very  good  condition  ;  but  I  put  in  my  arzi  that  they  would 
provide  more  ample  and  sweeter  bedding,  which  was  readily 
promised.  The  favourite  elephant  is  a  pensioner  as  well  as 
Mahua.  Even  in  these  simple  incidents  we  see  that  the  mind  is 
influenced  by  similar  associations  all  over  the  world. 

Bhanpura  is  a  town  of  five  thousand  houses,  surrounded  by  a 
wall  in  good  order  ;  the  inhabitants  apparently  well  contented 
with  the  mild  administration  of  Tantia  Jog,-  the  present  Diwan 
of  Holkar's  court  ;  but  they  are  all  alive  to  the  conviction  that 
this  tranquillity  is  due  to  the  supervising  power  alone.  I  was 
greatly  gratified  by  a  visit  from  the  respectable  community  of 
Bhanpura,  merchants,  bankers,  and  artisans,  headed  by  the 
Hakim  in  person,  nor  could  the  inhabitants  of  my  own  country, 
Mewar,  evince  more  kind  and  courteous  feeling.  In  fact,  they 
have  not  forgotten  the  old  tie  ;  that  the  Rao  of  Bhanpura,  though 
now  holding  but  a  small  portion  of  his  inheritance,  was  one  of  the 
chief  nobles  of  Mewar,  and  even  still  receives  the  tilak  of  accession 
for  Amad  from  the  hands  of  his  ancient  lord,  though  nearly  a 
century  has  elapsed  since  Holkar  became  his  sovereign  de  facto  : 
but  associations  here  are  all-powerful. 

Garot,  December  7  ;  distance,  thirteen  miles  ;  direction,  S.S.E. 
— It  was  delightful  to  range  over  the  expansive  plains  of  Malwa, 
and  not  to  be  reminded  at  every  step  by  the  exclamation  "  thokar  !  " 
of  the  attendant,  that  there  was  some  stony  impediment  ready  to 
trip  one  up,  the  moment  one's  vision  was  raised  above  the  earth. 
A  singular  contrast  was  presented  between  the  moral  aspect  of 

1  [See  Vol.  II.  p.  1045.] 

^  [Tantia  Jog  was  a  Karhada  Brahman  from  Khandesh,  who  attached 
himself  to  one  of  Holkar's  European  officers,  and  by  managing  the  districts 
assigned  for  the  support  of  the  troops,  provided  funds  for  their  pay.  He  was 
with  Holkar  till  the  murder  of  the  European  officers,  before  Jaswant  Rao  in- 
vaded Hindustan.  He  then  returned  to  Ujjain,  and  carried  on  the  business  of 
a  Sahukar  or  banker.      See  Malcolm,  Memoir  of  Central  India,  2nd  ed.  i.  286.] 


1772  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

these  pin  ins  and  of  Haraoti.  Here,  thoiisfh  the  seat  of  perpetual 
Avar,  still  visible  in  sterile  fields,  we  [721]  observe  comfort  displayed 
in  the  huts  and  in  the  persons  of  the  peasantry  ;  there,  amidst 
all  the  jjifts  of  Annapurna,  the  miserable  condition  of  the  ryot 
provokes  one  to  ask,  "  Whence  this  difference  ?  "  The  reason  is 
elsewhere  explained. 

Garot  is  a  thriving  town  of  twelve  hundred  houses,  the  chief  of 
a  lappa  or  subdi\nsion  of  Rampura,  whence  a  deputy  Hakim  is 
sent  as  resident  manasrer.  It  is  walled  in  :  btit  the  inhabitants 
seemed  to  feel  they  had  now  a  better  security  than  walls.  Here 
there  is  nothing  antique  ;  but  Moli,  with  its  old  castle,  about  mid- 
way in  this  morning's  journey,  might  furnish  something  for  the 
porte-femlle,  especially  a  fine  sculptured  toran  yet  standing,  and 
fragments  strewed  in  every  direction.  Tradition  is  almost  mute, 
and  all  I  could  learn  was,  that  it  was  the  abode  of  a  king,  called 
Satal-Patal,  whom  they  carried  back  to  the  era  of  the  Pandus. 

I  was  much  surprised  to  find  the  plain  strewed  with  agates  and 
cornelians,  of  every  variety  of  tint  and  shape,  both  veined  and 
plain,  semi-transparent  and  opaque,  many  stalactitic,  in  various 
degrees  of  hardness,  still  containing  the  fibre  of  grass  or  root^ 
serving  as  a  nucleus  for  the  concretion.  There  are  no  hills  to 
account  for  these  products  in  the  black  loam  of  the  plains,  unless 
the  Chambal  should  have  burst  his  bed  and  immdated  them. 
Nor  are  there  any  nalas  which  could  have  carried  them  down, 
or  any  appearance  of  calcareous  deposit  in  the  soil,  which  when 
penetrated  to  any  depth,  was  found  to  rest  upon  blue  slate. 

Caves  of  Dhamnar,^  December  8  ;  direction,  south  10°  west ; 
distance,  twelve  miles. — The  coxmtry  reminded  us  of  Mewar, 
having  the  same  agreeable  undulations  of  surface  and  a  rich  soil, 
which  was  strewed  throughotit,  as  yesterday,  with  agates.  As  we 
approached  the  object  of  our  search,  the  caves  of  Dhamnar,  we 
crossed  a  rocky  ridge  covered  with  the  dhak  jungle,  through  which 
we  travelled  until  we  arrived  at  the  moimt.  We  found  our  camp 
pitched  at  the  northern  base,  near  a  fine  tank  of  water  ;  but  our 
curiosity  was  too  great  to  think  of  breakfast  until  the  mental 
appetite  was  satiated. 

The  hill  is  between  two  and  three  miles  in  circumference  ;   to 

^  [In  Indor  State,  Central  India.  For  accounts  of  them  see  Ferfirnsson- 
Burgess,  Care  Temples  of  India,  392  ff. ;  Cunningham,  ASR.  ii.  270  ff. ; 
lOI,  xi.  2R3.-1 


THE  DHAMNAR  caves  1773 

the  north  it  is  bluff,  of  gradual  ascent,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet  in  height,  the  sununit  presenting  a  bold  per- 
pendicular scarp,  about  thirty  feet  high.  The  top  is  fiat,  and 
covered  with  bar  trees.  On  the  south  side  it  has  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe,  or  irregular  crescent,  the  horns  of  which  are  turned 
to  the  south,  having  the  same  bold  natural  rampart  running 
round  its  crest,  pierced  thi'oughout  with  caves,  of  which  I  counted 
one  hundred  and  seventy  ;  ^  I  should  rather  say  that  these  were 
merely  the  entrances  to  the  [722j  temples  and  extensive  habita- 
tions of  these  ancient  Troglodytes.  The  rocic  is  a  cellular  iron- 
clay,  so  indurated  and  compact  as  to  take  a  pohsh.  There  are 
traces  of  a  city,  external  as  well  as  internal,  but  whether  they  were 
cotemporaneous  we  cannot  conjectm"e.  If  we  judge  from  the 
remains  of  a  wall  about  nine  feet  thicic,  of  Cyclopean  formation, 
being  composed  of  large  oblong  masses  without  cement,  we  might 
incline  to  that  opinion,  and  suppose  that  the  caves  were  for  the 
monastic  inliabitants,  did  they  not  afford  proof  to  the  contrary 
in  their  extent  and  appropriation. 

On  reacliing  the  scarp,  we  womid  round  its  base  until  we 
arrived  at  an  opening  cut  through  it  from  top  to  bottom,  wliich 
proved  to  be  the  entrance  to  a  gallery  of  about  one  hundred  yards 
in  length  and  nearly  four  in  breadth,  terminating  in  a  quadrangular 
court,  measuring  about  one  hundred  feet  by  seventy,  and  about 
thirty-five  feet  in  height ;  in  short,  an  immense  square  cavity, 
hollowed  out  of  the  rock,  in  the  centre  of  which,  cut  in  like  manner 
out  of  one  single  mass  of  stone,  is  the  temple  of  the  foiu--armed 
divinity,  Chaturbhuja.  Exclusive  of  this  gallery,  there  is  a 
staircase  cut  in  the  north-west  angle  of  the  excavation,  by  which 
there  is  an  ascent  to  the  summit  of  the  rock,  on  a  level  with  which 
is  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple.  Apparently  without  any  soil,  some 
of  the  finest  trees  I  ever  saw,  chiefly  the  sacred  pipal,  bar,  and 
tamarind,  are  to  be  found  here. 

The  groimd-plan  of  the  temple  is  of  the  usual  form,  having  a 
mandir,  mandap,  and  portico,  to  which  the  well-known  term 
pagoda  is  given,  and  there  is  simphcity  as  weU  as  sohdity  both 
in  the  design  and  execution.  The  coluixuis,  entablatures,  with 
a  good  show  of  ornament,  are  distinct  in  their  details  ;  and  there 
are  many  statues,  besides  flowers,  not  in  bad  taste,  especially  the 

^  [Tliere  are  not  more  than  seventy  actual  caves  {ASE,  ii.  275; 
Fergusson-Burgess,  op.  cit.  ',i22).] 


1774  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

carved  ceilings.  It  would  be  regarded  as  a  curiosity  if  found 
on  a  plain,  and  put  together  in  the  ordinary  manner  ;  but  when 
it  is  considered  that  all  is  from  one  block,  and  that  the  material 
is  so  little  calculated  to  display  the  artist's  skill,  the  work  is 
stupendous. 

Vishnu,  who  is  here  adored  as  the  '  four-armed,'  was  placed 
upon  an  altar,  clad  in  robes  of  his  favourite  colour  (pandu,  or 
yellow  ochre),  whence  one  of  his  titles,  Pandurang.  The  principal 
shrine  is  surrounded  by  the  inferior  divinities  in  the  following 
order :  First,  on  entering  are  the  Poliyas  or  '  Porters  '  ;  Ganesa 
is  upon  the  right,  close  to  whom  is  Sarasvati,  "  whose  throne  is 
on  the  tongue  "  ;  and  on  the  left  are  the  twin  sons  of  Kali,  the 
Bhairavas,  distinguished  as  Kala  (black),  and  Gora  (fair)  ;  a 
little  in  advance  of  these  is  a  shrine  containing  five  of  the  ten 
Mahavidyas,^  or  ministering  agents  of  Kali,  each  known  by  her 
symbol,  or  vahan,  as  the  bull,  man,  elephant  [723],  buffalo,  and 
peacock.  The  Mahavidyas  are  all  evil  genii,  invoked  in  jap,  or 
incantations  against  an  enemy,  and  phylacteries,  containing 
formulas  addressed  to  them,  are  bound  round  the  arms  of  warriors 
in  battle. - 

At  the  back  of  the  chief  temple  are  three  shrines  ;  the  central 
one  contains  a  statue  of  Narayana,  upon  his  hydra-couch,  with 
Lakshmi  at  his  feet.  Two  Daityas,  or  evil  spirits,  appear  in 
conflict  close  to  her  ;  and  a  second  figure  represents  her  in  a 
running  posture,  looking  back,  in  great  alarm,  at  the  combatants. 
Smaller  figures  about  Narayana  represent  the  heavenly  choristers 
administering  to  his  repose,  playing  on  various  instruments, 
the  murali,  or  flute,  the  vina,  or  lyre,  the  inayura,  or  tabor,  and 
the  mridang  and  thai,  or  cymbals,  at  the  sound  of  which  a  serpent 
appears,  rearing  his  crest  with  delight.  The  minor  temples,  like 
the  larger  one,  are  also  hewn  out  of  the  rock  ;  but  the  statues  they 
contain  are  from  the  quartz  rock  of  the  Patar  and  they,  therefore, 
appear  incongruous  with  the  other  parts.  In  fact,  from  an 
emblem  of  Mahadeva,  which  rises  out  of  the  threshold,  and  upon 
which  the  '  four-armed  '  Vishnu  looks  down,  I  infer  that  these 
temples  were  originally  dedicated  to  the  creative  power. 

1  [According  to  the  Tantras,  there  are  ton  Mahavidyas,  or  female  incarna- 
tions of  Sakti,  the  principle  of  productiveness.] 

*  [For  a  plan  of  this  temple  see  Fergusson,  Hist.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910, 
ii.  129.] 


THE  DHAMNAr  caves  1775 

We  proceeded  by  the  stejjs,  cut  laterally  in  the  rock,  to  the 
south  side,  where  we  enjoyed,  through  the  opening,  an  luilimited 
range  of  vision  over  the  plains  beyond  the  Chambal,  even  to 
Mandasor  and  Sondwara.  Descending  some  rude  steps,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  left,  we  entered  a  cavern,  the  roof  of  which  was  supported 
by  one  of  those  singularly  shaped  columns,  named  after  the  sacred 
mounts  of  the  Jains  ;  and  here  it  is  necessary  to  mention  a  curious 
fact,  that  while  everything  on  one  side  is  Buddhist  or  Jain,  on  the 
other  all  is  Saiva  or  Vaishnava.  At  the  entrance  to  the  cave 
adjoining  this  are  various  colossal  figures,  standing  or  sitting,  too 
characteristic  of  the  Buddhists  or  Jains  to  be  mistaken  ;  but  on 
this,  the  south  side,  everytliing  is  ascribed  to  the  Pandus,  and  a 
recumbent  figure,  ten  feet  in  length,  with  his  hand  under  his 
head,  as  if  asleep,  is  termed  "  the  son  of  Bhim,"  and- as  the  local 
tradition  goes,  "  only  one  hour  old  "  :  a  circmnstance  which  called 
forth  my  conductor,  who  gravely  swallowed  the  tale,  the  exclama- 
tion— "  WTiat  would  he  have  been  if  nau  mahine  ka  halak,  '  a 
nine  months'  child  '  !  "  ^  The  chief  group  is  called  the  Five 
Pandus,  who,  according  to  tradition,  took  up  their  abode  here 
during  their  exile  from  the  Jumna  ;  and  the  other  figures  are 
performing  menial  offices  to  the  heroes.^ 

Fortunately,  I  had  my  Jain  Guru  with  me,  who  gave  me  more 
correct  notions  of  these  groups  than  the  local  cicerone.  All  these 
figures  are  representations  of  the  [724]  deified  pontiffs  of  the  Jains,^ 
and  the  group  of  five  are  the  most  celebrated  of  the  twenty-four, 
and  distinctively  called  the  Panch-Tirathi,  namely,  Rishabhadeva, 
the  first ;  Santinath,  the  sixteenth  ;  Neminath,  the  twenty- 
second  ;  Parsvanath,  the  twenty -third ;  and  Mahavira,  the 
twenty-fourth.  Each  has  his  sacred  mount,  or  place  of  pilgrimage 
(tirath),  and  each  is  recognized  by  his  symbol,  namely,  the  bull, 
black  antelope,  conch-shell,  hooded  serpent,  and  tiger  ;  and  it  is 
quite  sufficient  to  find  one  of  these  symbols  upon  the  plinth  to 
ascertain  the  particular  pontiff  to  which  it  belongs.  There  was 
also,  in  a  sitting  posture,  Chandraprabha,  knowTi  by  his  sign,  the 
crescent.*    All  the  figiires  are  from  ten  to  eleven  feet  high.     That 

^  [The  figure  is  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and  represents  Buddha  entering 

Nirvana  (Fergusson-Burgess,  395).] 

2  [The  figures  are  Buddha  and  Dwarpalas  or  door-keepers  {ibid.  394  f.).] 

'  [The  Guru  was  mistaken  in  supposing  these  figures  to  be  Jain.] 

*  [The  Author  was   misled   by  his  Guru.     The   figures   are  Buddhist 

(Fergusson-Burgess,  op.  cit,  392,  note  2).] 


1776  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

ill  a  recumbent  position,  my  friend  said  was  one  of  the  pontiffs, 
about  to  "  shuffle  off  tliis  mortal  coil,"  preparatory  to  apotheosis. 
"  When  such  an  event  took  place,  the  throne  of  Indra  shook,  and 
he  sent  a  deputation  to  convey  the  deceased  through  the  Kshira 
Samudra  (sea  of  curds),  to  the  great  temple  of  deification,  whither 
the  whole  heavenly  host  advanced  to  conduct  liim." 

Next  to,  and  communicating  by  a  passage  with,  this  hall  of 
the  Jain  pontiffs,  is  the  most  extensive  excavation  of  Dhamnar, 
locally  designated  as  "  Bhim's  Bazar."  ^  The  extreme  length  of 
this  excavation  is  about  a  hundred  feet,  and  the  breadth  eighty. 
Although  the  name  of  this  leader  of  the  Pandus  designates  every 
subdivision  of  this  cave,  yet  everything  is  Buddhist.  The  main 
apartment  is  that  called  Bhim's  armoury  or  treasury,  the  entrance 
to  which  is  tlirough  a  vestibule,  about  twenty  feet  square,  sup- 
ported by  two  columns,  and  having  four  lateral  semicircular 
niches,  now  empty,  but  probably  intended  for  statues  :  tliis  opens 
to  the  armoury,  which  is  a  vaulted  apartment,  about  thirty  feet 
by  fifteen,  having  at  the  further  end  a  dagoba,  supporting  the 
roof.  These  singularly  formed  columns,  if  we  may  so  term  them, 
are  named  after  their  sacred  mounts  ;  and  this  is  called  Sumeru, 
which  being  sacred  to  Adinath,  the  first  pontiff,  we  may  conclude 
he  was  here  adored.  An  extensive  piazza,  full  twenty  feet  wide, 
evidently  a  Dharamsala  for  the  pilgrims,  runs  round  this  apart- 
ment, supported  by  rows  of  massive  square  columns,  all  cut  out 
of  the  rock  ;  and  again,  on  the  exterior,  are  numerous  square 
cells,  called  the  apartments  of  the  Srawaks,  or  Jain  laity  ;  in 
one  of  which  there  is  a  supporting  dagoba,  and  in  another  two 
statues  of  the  twenty-third  pontiff,  Parsva.  A  part  of  the 
vaulted  roof  of  Bhim's  treasury,  as  it  is  called,  has  fallen  in  so 
that  the  vault  of  heaven  is  seen  through  the  aperture  of  the  moun- 
tain. This  is  also  attributed  to  Kaurava  Chor  (thief),  whose 
statue  appears  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  of  Barolli,  indicating 
the  old  enemy  of  [725J  the  Pandus,  who  robbed  them  of  their 
kingdom.  Close  to  the  armoury  is  an  apartment  called  the 
Rajloka,  or  for  the  ladies  ;  but  here  tradition  is  at  fault,  since 
with  the  exception  of  Kunti,  the  mother,  Draupadi  alone  shared 
the  exile  of  the  Pandavas. 

^  [This  is  a  Buddhist  Chaitya  cave  surrounded  by  a  Vihara.  These 
caves  are  probably  the  last  constructed  Buddhist  caves  in  India,  and  can 
hardly  be  dated  before  the  eighth  century  a.d.  {ibid.  393  ;  ASR,  ii.  272  f.).] 


THE  DHAMNAR  caves  1777 

Still  further  to  the  right,  or  south-west,  is  another  vaulted  and 
roof-ribbed  apartment,  tliirty  feet  by  fourteen,  and  about  sixteen 
in  central  height,  supported  by  another  image  of  Sumeru.  The 
sacred  bar,  or  fig-tree  {Ficus  religiosa),  had  taken  root  in  the  very 
heart  of  this  cavern,  and  having  expanded  imtil  checked  by  the 
roof,  it  found  the  hne  of  least  resistance  to  be  the  cave's  mouth, 
whence  it  issued  horizontally,  and  is  now  a  goodly  tree  over- 
shadowing the  cave  (pide  Plate).  Around  this  there  are  many 
Pausiddhsalas,  or  halls  for  the  Yatis,  or  initiated  disciples,  who 
stand  in  the  same  upright  meditative  posture  as  the  pontiffs. 

But  it  is  impossible,  and  the  attempt  would  be  tedious,  to  give, 
by  any  wiitten  description,  an  adequate  idea  of  the  subterranean 
town  of  Dhamnar.  It  is  an  object,  however,  which  wiU  assist  in 
illustratiug  the  subject  of  cave-worship  in  India  ;  and  though  in 
grandeur  these  caves  cannot  compare  with  those  of  Ellora,  Karli, 
or  Salsette,  yet  in  point  of  antiquity  they  evidently  surpass  them. 
The  temple  dedicated  to  the  Tirthakaras,  or  deified  Jineswars 
(lords  of  the  Jains),  is  a  rude  specimen  of  a  rude  age,  when  the 
art  of  sculpture  was  in  its  very  infancy  ;  yet  is  there  a  boldness 
of  delineation,  as  well  as  great  originahty  of  design,  wliich  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  everything  else  in  India.  In  vain  we  hunted 
for  inscriptions  ;  but  a  few  isolated  letters  of  that  ancient  and 
yet  undeciphered  kind,  which  occurs  on  every  monimaent  attri- 
buted to  the  Pandavas,  were  here  and  there  observed.  There 
were  fragments  of  sculpture  about  the  base  of  the  liill,  differing 
both  in  design  and  material  from  those  of  the  mountain.  Alto- 
gether, Dhamnar  is  highly  worthy  of  a  visit,  being  one  of  the  most 
curious  spots  in  this  part,  which  abovmds  with  curiosities  [726]. 


CHAPTER   13 

Pachpahar.  Monson's  Retreat.  Fate  o£  Lieutenant  Lucan. 
December  10. — We  retm'ned  to  Garot  yesterday,  whence  we 
marched  ten  miles  north-north-east  this  morning  over  memorable 
ground.  It  was  from  Garot  that  the  retreat  of  Monson  com- 
menced, an  event  as  remarkable  in  the  history  of  British  India 
as  the  retreat  of  Xenophon  in  that  of  Greece.  The  former  has 
not  been  commemorated  by  the  coirunander,  though  even  the 


1^78  l^ERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

pen  of  Xenophou  himself  could  not  have  mitigated  the  reproach 
which  that  disastrous  event  has  left  upon  our  military  reputation. 
Holkar  was  at  Partabgarh,^  when,  hearing  of  the  advance  of  the 
English  army,  he  made  direct  on  Mandasor,^  where  he  halted 
merely  to  refresh  his  horses,  and  crossing  the  Chambal  at  the 
Aunra  ford,  he  pushed  direct  on  Garot,  a  distance  of  nearly  fifty 
miles.  Local  report  states  that  Monson,  in  utter  ignorance  of 
the  rapid  advance  of  Holkar,  had  that  morning  recommenced 
his  march  for  Chandwasa,  with  what  object  is  unknown  ;  but 
as  soon  as  he  learned  the  vicinity  of  the  foe,  without  awaiting 
liim,  he  ordered  a  retrograde  movement  to  gain  the  Mukunddarra 
pass,  leaving  Lucan  with  the  irregular  horse  and  the  Kotah 
auxiliaries,  chiefly  Hara  Rajputs,  to  secure  his  retreat.  Holkar's 
army  amounted  to  ten  thousand  horse,  in  four  gols,  or  masses, 

each  acting  separately.     That  under  Khan  Bangash  ^  came 

on  Lucan  from  the  south,  while  that  under  Harnath  Dada,  from 
the  direction  of  Bhanpur,  attacked  the  Kotah  contingent.  Lucan 
defended  himself  like  a  hero,  and  having  repelled  all  their  charges, 
had  become  the  assailant,  when  he  received  his  death-blow  from 
a  hand  in  his  own  Paegah.*  My  informant,  who  was  that  day 
opposed  to  this  gallant  soldier,  described  the  scene,  pointing  out 
the  mahua  tree  close  to  which  he  fell. 

Heroism  of  Amar  Singh  Hara. — The  auxiliary  band  of  Kotah 
was  led  by  the  Hara  chief  of  Kolai,  his  name  Amar  Singh.  On 
receiving  the  orders  of  the  English  commander,  he  prepared,  in 
the  old  Hara  style,  to  obey  them.  The  position  he  selected  was 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  Lucan,  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Amjar,  his  left  protected  by  the  village  of  [727]  Pipli,  which 
stands  on  a  gentle  eminence  gradually  shelving  to  the  stream, 
the  low  abrupt  bank  of  which  would  secure  him  from  any  charge 
in  front.  Here,  dismounting  from  his  horse,  Amar  Singh,  sur- 
rounded by  one  thousand  men,  "  spread  his  carpet,"  resolved  to 
defend  the  passage  of  the  Amjar.  His  force  was  chiefly  infantry, 
who  met  the  enemy  with  volleys  of  matchlocks,  and  filled  the 
stream  with  their  bodies  ;  but  just  as  he  was  about  to  close  with 

^  [Capital  of  the  State  of  that  name  (lOI,  xx.  14).] 

2  [Twenty  miles  N.E.  of  Partabgarh.] 

^  [Probably  Muhammad  Khan  (Grant  Duff,  Hist,  of  the  Mahrattas, 
589).] 

*  [Lucan's  fate  was  never  ascertained ;  by  one  account  he  was  poisoned , 
and  by  another  that  he  died  of  a  bowel  complaint  (ibid.  589,  note).] 


HEROISM  OF  AMAR  SINGH  HARA  1779 

them,  a  ball  hit  him  in  the  forehead  and  another  m  the  right 
breast.  He  fell,  but  immediately  rose  again,  and  reclining 
against  a  sugar  mill-stone,  encouraged  his  men  to  the  charge. 
The  calmness  of  his  manner  indicated  no  danger,  but  it  was  the 
dying  effort  of  a  Hara  :  pointing  with  his  sword  to  the  foe,  he 
fell  back  and  expired.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  men  were 
either  killed  or  wounded  around  their  chief,  and  among  the 
latter,  the  Palaitha  ^  chief,  the  next  in  rank  to  Koila,  and  the 
Bakhshi,  or  paymaster-general  of  Kotah,  was  made  prisoner,  and 
forced  to  sign  a  bond  for  ten  lakhs  of  rupees  as  a  ransom,  a  penalty 
for  siding  with  the  English. 

A  humble  altar  of  clay  marks  the  spot  where  the  brave  Hara 
fell,  having  a  tablet,  or  Jujhar,  representing  as  usual  a  cavalier 
and  his  steed,  armed  at  ail  points.  I  felt  indignation  at  the 
indifference  of  the  regent  who  had  not  marked  the  spot  with  a 
more  durable  monument,  but  he  is  no  Hara  ;  though  could  he 
entomb  the  whole  tribe,  he  would  erect  a  structure  rivalling  even 
that  of  Mausolus.  But  this  receives  a  homage  which  might 
be  denied  to  a  more  splendid  one  ;  for  the  villagers  of  Piph  fail 
not  in  their  duty  to  the  manes  of  Amar  Singh,  whose  lowly  altar 
is  maintained  in  repair.  The  devoted  Lucan  has  not  even  so 
frail  a  monument  as  this  ;  nor  could  I  learn  if  the  case  which 
enclosed  his  gallant  spirit  had  any  rites  of  sepulture.  But  his 
memory  will  be  cherished  by  the  inhabitants  of  Pipli,  who  will 
point  to  the  mahua  tree  as  that  of  "  Lucan  Sahib  ka  Jujhar.'''' 

By  the  sacrifice  of  these  brave  men,  the  British  commander 
gained  the  Mukunddarra  pass,  without  seeing  even  an  enemy  ; 
had  he  there  left  only  five  companies,  with  sufficient  supplies  and 
ammunition,  under  such  men  as  Sinclair  or  Nichol,  Mukunddarra 
might  have  rivalled  Thermopylae  in  renown  ;  for  such  is  the 
peculiarity  of  the  position,  that  it  would  have  taken  a  week  to 
turn  it,  and  that  could  be  done  by  infantry  alone.  But  the 
commander  "  had  no  confidence  in  his  men  "  :  why  then  did  he 
accept  the  conunand  ?  Throughout  the  retreat  the  sipaliis  were 
eager  for  the  fight,  and  expressed  their  opinion  openly  of  their 
leader  ;  and  when  this  '  doubting  '  commander  left  five  companies 
to  defend  the  passage  of  the  Banas,  how  did  they  perform  it  ?  by 
repeUing  every  assault,  while  a  particle  of  ammunition  lasted. 
I  have  often  passed  this  [728]  ford,  once  with  Sindlii^'s  army,  and 
^  [On  the  north,  close  to  Kotaii  city.] 


1780  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

only  tliree  years  after  the  retreat.  The  gallant  stand  was  admir- 
ably described  to  me  by  Zaman  ivhan  Koliilla,  a  brave  soldier 
and  no  boaster  (and  that  day  among  our  foes),  who  coolly  pointed 
to  the  precise  spot  where  he  shot  one  of  our  olhcers,  in  the  last 
charge,  with  his  pistol.  He  said  that  the-  Mahratta  infantry 
would  no  longer  return  to  the  charge,  and  that  Jaswant  Rao  was 
like  a  madman,  threw  liis  turban  on  the  ground  and  called  for 
volunteers  amongst  the  cavahy,  by  whom  at  length  Sinclair  and 
his  men  were  cut  off.  It  is  a  lesson  by  wliich  we  ought  to  profit, 
never  to  place  in  couunand  of  sipahis  those  who  do  not  understand, 
confide  in,  and  respect  them. 

Pachpahar. — Pachpahar  is  a  thriving  town,  the  head  of  one 
of  the  four  districts  of  which,  by  the  right  of  war,  we  became 
possessed,  and  have  transferred  from  Holkar  to  the  regent ;  so 
far  we  have  discharged  the  debt  of  gratitude.  Eighty  villages 
are  attached  to  Pachpahar,  wliich,  though  never  yielding  less 
than  half  a  lakli  of  rupees,  is  capable  of  raisuig  more  than  twice 
that  smn.  There  are  two  thousand  houses  hi  the  town,  which 
has  an  extensive  bazar  filled  with  rich  traders  and  bankers,  all 
of  whom  came  to  visit  me.  The  cornelian  continues  to  strew  the 
ground  even  to  tliis  place. 

Kanwara,  December  11  ;  thirteen  miles  ;  direction,  N.E.  by  E, 
— Passed  over  a  fine  rich  soil,  with  promising  young  crops  of 
wheat  and  gram,  and  plenty  of  the  last  crop  (juar)  in  stacks  ;  a 
sight  not  often  seen  in  these  war-trodden  plains,  and  wliich  makes 
the  name,  Kanwara,  or  '  the  land  of  corn,'  very  appropriate. 
At  the  village  of  Aonla,  four  miles  south,  we  crossed  the  liigli 
road  leading  from  Ujjain  through  the  darra  to  Hindustan,  the 
large  town  of  Sonei  lying  three  miles  to  our  right. 

Jhairapatau,^  December  12  ;  ten  miles  ;  direction,  N.N.E. — 
The  road  over  the  same  fertile  soU.  Passed  the  Chandarbhaga 
rivulet,  the  source  of  which  is  only  two  coss  distant,  and  was 
shown,  within  range,  the  isolated  liill  of  Raleta,  formerly  the 
retreat  of  a  Bliil  commmuty,  wliich  sent  forth  four  thousand 
bowmen  to  ravage  the  plains  of  Malwa  :  these  were  extirpated 
by  Zalim  Singh. 

^  L'i'he  commoi;ciul  capital  of  tbe  State  of  Jhalawar,  tlio  ofiicial  capital 
Ijciug  JIialiapataQ  Ghhaoiu,  or  cautonmoiit.  Tho  original  name  was  I'alau  ; 
it  was  renamed  after  tho  lirst  regent,  a  Jhala  Rajput  {IGI,  xiv.  122  li.  ; 
Rajputdim  GazeiUer,  1879,  ii.  207  ;   Ai:>Jti,  xxiii.  (1887)  126  li.).] 


JHALRAPATAN  1781 

Jhalrapatan  is  the  creation  of  the  regent  ;  and,  as  we  ap- 
proached it,  his  kindness  procured  me  the  distinction  of  being 
met,  a  full  mile  beyond  the  town,  by  the  chief  magistrate,  the 
council,  and  the  most  wealthy  inhabitants  :  an  honour  duly 
appreciated,  this  being  the  only  town  in  India  possessing  the 
germs  of  civil  liberty,  in  the  power  of  framing  their  own  municipal 
regulations.  This  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  the  immunities  of 
their  commercial  charter  were  granted  by  the  most  despotic 
ruler  of  India  ;  though  the  boon  was  not  a  concession  to  liberty, 
but  an  act  of  policy  ;  it  was  [729]  given  for  value  received,  or 
at  least  expected,  and  which  has  been  amply  realized.  Ha\'ing 
exchanged  salutations,  and  promised  a  more  extended  courtesy 
at  my  tents  in  the  evening,  we  took  advantage  of  the  town  being 
thinned,  and  passed  in  under  a  general  discharge  of  ordnance  from 
the  ramparts.  The  city  is  nearly  a  square,  surrounded  by  a 
substantial  wall  and  bastions,  well  furnished  with  cannon.  The 
ground  plan  is  simple,  being  that  of  the  Indian  Chaupan  or  cross, 
with  two  main  streets  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles, 
and  many  smaller  ones  running  parallel  to  them.  The  main  street 
is  from  south  to  north.  We  proceeded  through  this  Bara  Bazar 
until  we  reached  the  point  of  intersection,  where,  upon  a  broad 
terrace,  stands  a  temple  to  Chaturbhuja,  the  '  four-armed  '  god, 
at  least  ninety  feet  in  height.  The  marble  dome  and  colonnaded 
mandap,  and  the  general  proportions  of  the  structure,  attracted 
my  attention  ;  but  having  been  recently  repaired  and  coated 
with  white.  I  passed  it  by,  conceiving  it  to  be  modern,  and  not 
likely  to  furnish  historical  data.  From  thence  to  the  northern 
gate  is  a  range,  on  either  side,  of  houses  of  a  uniform  structure, 
having  a  great  appearance  of  comfort ;  and  the  street,  which  is 
nearly  a  mile  long,  terminates  with  a  temple  erected  by  the 
regent  to  his  favourite  divinity,  Dwarkanath.  The  image  here 
enshrined  was  ploughed  up  from  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city, 
and  carried  to  the  regent  at  Kotah.  who,  leaving  to  the  choice 
of  the  god  the  title  under  which,  and  the  site  where,  he  would  be 
worshipped,  his  various  names  were  inscribed  and  placed  under 
the  pedestal  ;  the  priest  drew  forth  that  of  Gopalji,  and  a  magni- 
ficent shrine  was  erected  to  him  upon  the  bank  of  one  of  the 
finest  lakes  in  India,  the  waters  of  which,  raised  by  an  artificial 
dam,  could  be  made  to  environ  it  at  pleasure. 

In  a  street  to  the  north,  and  parallel  to  the  first,  but  as  yet 


1782  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

incomplete,  is  a  handsome  temple,  dedicated  to  the  sixteenth 
Jain  prophet.  This  also,  I  afterwards  discovered,  was  an  antique 
structure,  recently  repaired,  and  one  of  the  himdred  and  eight 
temples,  the  bells  of  which  sounded  in  the  ancient  city  ;  whence 
its  name  Jhalrapatan,  or  '  the  city  of  bells,'  and  not,  as  errone- 
ously stated  hitherto,  from  the  tribe  of  the  regent,  Jhalara-patan, 
or  '  city  of  the  Jliala  '  ;  ^  ignorance  of  which  fact  made  me  pass 
over  the  temples,  under  the  supposition  that  they  were  coeval 
with  its  modern  foundation.  I  stopped  for  a  few  moments  at 
the  mansion  of  the  chief  magistrate,  Sah  Maniram,  and  having 
expressed  my  admiration  of  all  I  had  seen,  and"  my  hope  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  city  would  redouble  under  his  paternal  care 
in  these  days  of  peace,  I  made  my  salaam  and  took  leave.  Oppo- 
site his  house,  engraved  on  a  [730]  pillar  of  stone,  is  the  charter 
of  rights  of  the  city.^  Its  simplicity  will  excite  a  smile  ;  but  the 
philosopher  may  trace  in  it  the  first  rudiments  of  that  commercial 
greatness,  which  made  the  free  cities  of  Europe  the  instruments 
of  general  liberty.  Few  of  these  had  their  privileges  so  thoroughly 
defined,  or  so  scrupulously  observed  ;  and  the  motive  which 
brought  the  community  together  was  the  surest  guarantee  against 
their  infringement.  A  state  of  general  war  made  them  congregate, 
and  was  the  origin  of  these  immunities,  which  the  existing  peace 
and  tranquillity  will  perpetuate.  Any  want  of  good  faith  would 
be  the  destruction  of  Patau. 

When  the  regent  took  advantage  of  the  times  to  in\ite  the 
wealthy  of  all  the  surrounding  regions  to  become  settlers  in  this 
new  mart,  he  wisely  appealed  to  the  evidence  of  their  senses  as 
the  best  pledge  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  Simultane- 
ously with  the  charter,  the  fortifications  were  commenced,  and 
an  adequate  garrison  was  placed  here  under  a  commandant  well 
known  and  respected.  He  excavated  wells,  repaired  the  dam  of 
the  old  lake,  and  either  built  anew  or  repaired  the  religious 
edifices  of  all  sects  at  the  expense  of  the  State  ;  and,  to  secure 
uniformity  and  solidity  in  the  new  habitations,  he  advanced  to 
every  man  who  required  it  half  the  money  necessary  for  their 

^  [The  latter  derivation  is  correct.] 

*  See  Vol.  I.  p.  239.  [The  fact,  here  stated,  that  the  town  was  placed 
under  municipal  goveminont  at  its  foundation  in  1796,  is  not  mentioned 
in  Zalim  Singh's  stone  tablet.  These  privileges  were  annulled  in  1850,  when 
the  Kamdar  or  minister  of  Rana  Prithi  Singh  had  this  tablet  removed  and 
thrown  into  a  tank,  whence  it  was  recovered  about  1870  {IGI,  xiv.  124).] 


JHAT>RAPATAN  1783 

construction.  But  the  gi-eatest  boon  of  all  was  his  leaving  the 
administration  of  justice,  as  well  as  of  internal  police,  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  municipal  authorities,  who,  to  their  credit, 
resolved  that  the  fines  and  forfeitures  arising  therefrom,  instead 
of  becoming  a  bait  for  avarice  and  vexatious  interference,  should 
be  offerings  to  the  shrine  of  Dwarkanath. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  the  chief  magistrate,  Sah  Maniram, 
who  is  of  the  Vaishnava  sect,  has  a  coadjutor  in  Gumaniram,  of 
the  Oswal  tribe  and  Jain  faith,  and  each  has  his  separate  tribunal 
for  the  classes  he  represents,  while  the  whole  form  a  joint  council 
for  the  general  weal.  They  pull  well  together,  and  each  has 
founded  a  pura,  or  suburb,  named  after  their  children.  The 
Chauthias,  or  members  of  this  council,  are  selected  according 
to  the  general  sense  entertained  of  their  fitness ;  and  were  the 
chief  magistrates  also  the  free  choice  of  the  inhabitants  at  large, 
'  the  city  of  bells  '  would  require  no  addition  to  her  freedom. 
Thus,  in  the  short  space  of  twenty  years,  has  been  raised  a  city 
of  six  thousand  comfortable  dwellings,  with  a  population  of  at 
least  twenty-five  thousand  souls.  But  the  hereditary  principle, 
so  powerful  throughout  these  countries,  and  which,  though  it 
perpetuates  many  evils,  has  likewise  been  productive  of  much 
good,  and  has  preserved  these  States  from  annihilation,  will 
inevitably  [731]  make  the  '  turban  '  of  magistracy  descend  from 
the  head  of  Maniram  or  Gumani  to  their  children,  under  whom, 
if  they  be  not  imbued  with  the  same  discretion  as  their  parents, 
the  stone  tablet,  as  well  as  the  subsequent  privileges  of  Jhalra- 
patan,  may  become  a  dead  letter.  The  only  officers  of  govern- 
ment residing  in  the  town  are  the  commandant  and  the  collector 
of  the  imposts  ;  and  so  jealous  are  they  of  the  least  interference 
on  his  part,  that  a  fine  would  be  inflicted  on  any  individual  who, 
by  delaying  the  payment  of  the  authorized  duties,  furnished  an 
excuse  for  his  interference. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  an  internal  administration,  on  which  I 
have  just  had  a  commentary  of  the  most  agreeable  description  : 
a  public  \dsit  from  all  the  wealth  and  worth  of  Patau.  First 
came  the  merchants,  the  brokers,  the  insurers  of  the  Vaishnava 
persuasion,  each  being  introduced  with  the  name  of  the  firm  ; 
then  followed  the  Oswal  merchants,  in  similar  form,  and  both 
of  them  I  seated  in  the  order  of  their  introduction  and  respect- 
ability.    After  them  followed  the  trades,  the  Chauthia  or  deacons, 


1784  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

each  making  his  nazar  in  the  name  of  the  whole  body.  Then 
came  the  artisans,  goldsmiths,  braziers,  dyers,  confectioners, 
down  to  the  barbers,  and  town-crier.  The  agricultural  interest 
was  evidently  at  a  discount  in  Patan,  and  subordinate  to  the 
commercial  ;  the  old  Mandloi  Patels  were,  "  though  last,  not 
least  "  in  this  interesting  assemblage.  Even  the  frail  sisterhood 
paid  their  devoirs,  and,  in  their  modesty  of  demeanour,  recalled 
the  passage  of  Burke  applied  in  contrast  to  a  neighbouring  State, 
"  vice  lost  half  its  deformity,  by  losing  all  its  grossness."  ^  Sah 
Maniram  himself  preserved  order  outside,  while  to  his  colleague 
he  left  the  formalities  of  introduction.  The  goldsmiths'  company 
presented,  as  their  nazar,  a  small  silver  powder-flask,  shaped  as 
an  alligator,  and  covered  with  delicate  chain-work,  which  I  shall 
retain  not  only  as  a  specimen  of  the  craft,  but  in  remembrance  of 
a  day  full  of  unusual  interest.  They  retired  in  the  same  order  as 
they  came,  preceded  by  the  town  band,  flags,  trumpets,  and  drums. 

Such  is  Jlialrapatan.  May  the  demon  of  anarchy  keep  from 
its  walls,  and  the  orthodox  and  heterodox  Duumvirs  live  in  amity 
for  the  sake  of  the  general  good,  nor  by  their  animosities  increase 
the  resemblance  which  this  mart  bears  to  the  free  cities  of  Europe  ! 

PYom  all  I  could  learn,  justice  is  distributed  with  as  even  a 
hand  as  in  most  societies,  but  wherever  existed  the  community 
that  submitted  to  restraint,  or  did  not  murmur  at  the  fiat  of  the 
law  ?  Jlialrapatan  is  now  the  grand  commercial  mart  of  Upper 
Malwa,  and  has  swallowed  up  all  the  commerce  of  the  central 
towns  between  [732]  its  own  latitude  and  Indore.  Though  not 
even  on  the  high  road,  when  established,  this  difficulty  was 
overcome  by  the  road  coming  to  it.  The  transit-duties  on  salt 
alone  must  be  considerable,  as  that  of  the  lakes  of  western  Rajwara 
passes  through  it  in  its  way  to  the  south-east.  It  is  not  famed, 
however,  for  any  staple  article  of  trade,  but  merely  as  an  entrepot. 

Ruins  of  Chandravati. — We  have  said  enough  of  the  modern 
city,  and  must  now  revert  to  the  ancient,  which,  besides  its 
metaphorical  appellation  of  '  the  city  of  bells,'  liad  the  name  of 
Chandravati,  and  the  rivulet  which  flowed  through  it,  the  Chan- 
drabhaga.-     There  is  an  abundance  of  legends,  to  which  we  may 

^  ["  Vice  itself  lost  half  its  evil  by  losing  all  its  grossness,"  Burke,  Reflec- 
tions on  the  Revolution  in  France,  iii.  332.] 

*  [On  the  ruins  of  Chandravati  see  Fergusson,  Hist.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910, 
ii.  43  f.  :   A8R,  ii.  263  ff.] 


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ENTRANCE   TO  THE   SANCTUARY   OF  A  TEMPLE   AT   CHAXDRAVATT. 

To  f(we  page  1784. 


THE  RUINS  OF  CHANDRA VATI  1785 

be  enabled  to  apply  the  test  of  inscriptions.  In  some,  Raja 
Hun  is  again  brought  forward  as  the  founder  of  the  city  ;  though 
others,  with  more  probabiHty,  assign  its  foundation  to  the 
daughter  of  Chandrasen,  the  Pramar  king  of  Malwa,  who  was 
delivered  of  a  son  on  this  spot  while  on  a  pilgrimage.^  Another 
ascribes  it  to  a  more  humble  origin  than  either,  i.e.  to  Jasu,  a 
poor  woodcutter  of  the  ancient  tribe  of  Or,^  who,  returning 
homewards  from  his  daily  occupation,  dropped  his  axe  upon  the 
paras-patthar,  with  the  aid  of  which  he  transmuted  iron  to  gold, 
and  raised  '  the  city  of  the  moon  '  (Chandravati)  ;  and  the  lake 
is  still  called  after  him  Jasu  Or  ka  talab.  The  Pandu  Bhim 
likewise  comes  in  for  his  share  of  the  founder's  fame  ;  who,  with 
his  brethren  during  their  covenant  with  the  Kauravas,  fovmd 
concealment  in  the  forest  ;  but  his  foe,  fearing  the  effect  of  his 
devotions,  sent  his  familiar  to  disturb  them.  The  spirit  took  the 
form  of  a  boar,  but  as  he  sped  past  him  through  the  thicket, 
Bhim  discharged  an  arrow,  and  on  the  spot  where  this  fell,  the 
Chandrabhaga  sprung  up.  Whoever  was  the  founder,  I  have 
little  doubt  that  tradition  has  converted  Yasodharman,^  the 
grandson  of  Udayaditya,  the  monarch  of  all  Malwa,  into  the 
woodcutter  ;  for  not  only  does  this  prince's  name  occur  in  one 
of  the  inscriptions  found  here,  but  I  have  discovered  it  in  almost 
every  ancient  city  of  Central  India,  over  which  his  ancestors  had 
held  supreme  power  from  the  first  to  the  thirteenth  century  of 
Vikrama.* 

The  sites  of  temples  mark  the  course  of  the  stream  for  a  con- 

1  [Abu-1  Fazl  {Ain,  ii.  211)  represents  Chandrasen  as  successor  of  Vikra- 
maditya.  None  of  the  existing  versions  of  the  legend  appear  to  be  older 
than  the  sixth  or  seventh  centuries  a.d.,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  city  waa 
refounded  by  Chandrasen,  and  named  after  himself  Chandravati  {ASR,  ii. 
264).] 

*  [The  Or  or  Orh  are  a  tribe  of  wandering  navvies.] 

'  [Yasodharman  was  a  Raja  of  Central  India,  who  joined  in  the  con- 
federacy against  the  White  Hun,  Mihiragula,  in  which  the  latter  was  defeated 
about  A.D.  528  (Smith,  EHI,  318,  320;  JRASy  N.S.  v.  280;  Forbes, 
RdsmaXa,  87).] 

*  On  a  stone  tablet,  which  I  discovered  at  Bundi,  of  the  Takshak  race,  are 
the  names  both  of  Chandrasen  and  Yasodharman,  and  though  no  date  is 
visible,  yet  that  of  the  latter  is  fixed  by  another  set  of  inscriptions,  inserted 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  at  S.  1191 
or  A.D.  1135:  the  period  when  the  old  Hindu  monarchies  were  breaking  up, 
and  consequently  the  arts  beginning  to  decay.     [See  note  3.] 

VOL.  Ill  2  M 


1786  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

siderable  distance,  the  banks  being  strewed  with  ruins.  Fhghts 
of  steps,  forming  ghats,  reach  to  the  water's  edge,  where  multi- 
tudes of  gods,  goddesses,  and  demons,  are  piled,  and  some  [733] 
of  the  more  perfect  placed  upon  altars  of  clay,  around  which  some 
lazy,  well-fed  Gosains  loiter,  basking  in  the  sun.  Understanding 
that  no  umbrage  could  be  taken  if  I  exported  some  of*  them  to 
Udaipur,  I  carried  off  Narayan  on  his  hydra-couch,  a  Parbati,  a 
Trimurti,  and  a  cartload  of  the  dii  minores,  which  I  found  huddled 
together  under  a  bar-tree.  There  was  a  fine  statue  of  Ganesa, 
but  our  efforts  to  move  Wisdom  were  ineffectual,  and  occasioned 
not  a  few  jokes  among  my  Brahmans  ;  nor  must  I  pass  over  a 
colossal  Baraha  (boar),  of  which  no  artist  in  Europe  need  be 
ashamed. 

The  powers  of  Destruction  and  Reproduction  were  those 
propitiated  among  the  one  hundred  and  eight  shrines  of  Chandra- 
vati  ;  of  which  only  two  or  three  imperfect  specimens  remain  to 
attest  the  grandeur  of  past  days.  Everywhere,  the  symbolic 
lingam  was  scattered  about,  and  the  mandap  of  one  of  those  still 
standing  I  found  filled  with  representations  of  the  Hindu  Hecate 
and  a  host  of  lesser  infernals,  the  sculpture  of  which,  though  far 
inferior  to  that  at  Barolli,  is  of  a  high  order  compared  with  aught 
of  modern  times.  The  attitudes  are  especially  well  managed, 
though  there  is  a  want  of  just  proportion.  Even  the  anatomical 
display  of  the  muscles  is  attended  to  ;  but  the  dust,  oil,  and 
sendur  (vermilion)  of  twelve  centuries  were  upon  them,  and  the 
place  was  dark  and  damp,  which  deterred  us  from  disturbing 
them. 

Ghasi  is  now  at  work  upon  the  outline  of  two  of  the  remaining 
shrines,  and  has  promised  to  give  up  ten  days  to  the  details  of 
the  ceilings,  the  columns,  and  the  rich  varied  ornaments,  which 
the  pencil  alone  can  represent.  One  of  these  shrines,  having  a 
part  of  the  Singar  Chaori  still  standing,  is  amongst  the  finest  things 
in  Asia,  not  for  magnitude,  being  to  all  appearance  merely 
receptacles  for  the  inferior  divinities  surrounding  some  grand 
temple,  but  for  the  sculptured  ornaments,  which  no  artist  in 
Europe  could  surpass  (vide  Plate).  Each  consists  of  a  simple 
mandir,  or  cella,  about  twenty  feet  square,  having  a  portico  and  a 
long  open  colonnaded  vestibule  in  front  for  the  priests  and  votaries. 
Every  one  of  these  numerous  columns  differs  in  its  details  from 


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ii:iv 


SCULPTURED   FOLIAGE    IX   CHAXDRAVATI   TEMPLE. 

To  face  'page  1786. 


THE  RUINS  OF  CHANBRAVATI  1787 

the  others.  But  the  entrance  chiefly  excites  admiration,  being  a 
mass  of  elaborate  workmanship  of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  the  foliage 
and  flowers  may  be  considered  perfect.  It  is  deeply  to  be  lamented 
that  no  artists  from  [734]  Europe  have  made  casts  from  these 
masterpieces  of  sculpture  and  architecture,  which  would  furnish 
many  new  ideas,  and  rescue  the  land  sacred  to  Bhavani  (Minerva) 
from  the  charge  of  having  taught  nothing  but  deformity  :  a 
charge  from  which  it  is  my  pride  to  have  %dndicated  her. 

WTiile  I  remained  with  Ghasi,  amidst  the  ruins,  I  dispatched 
my  Guru  and  Brahmans  to  take  diligent  search  for  inscriptions  ; 
but  many  of  these,  as  well  as  thousands  of  divinities,  the  wrecks 
of  ancient  Patan,  have  been  built  up  in  the  new  town  or  its 
immense  circumvallation  ;  but  our  efforts  were  not  altogether 
unrewarded. 

The  oldest  inscription,  dated  S.  748  (a.d.  692),  bore  the  name 
of  Raja  Durgangal,  or  '  the  bar  of  the  castle.'  ^  It  is  very  long, 
and  in  that  ornamented  character  peculiar  to  the  Buddhists  and 
Jains  throughout  these  regions.  It  contains  allusions  to  the  local 
traditions  of  the  Pandu  Arjun,  and  his  encounter  with  the  demon 
Virodhi  ^  under  the  form  of  Baraha,  or  the  boar  ;  and  states  that 
from  the  spot  where  the  Varaha  was  wounded,  and  on  which  his 
blood  fell,  a  figure  sprung,  originating  from  the  wound  (khat), 
whose  offspring  in  consequence  was  called  Khatri  :  "of  his  line 
was  Krishna  Bhat  Khatri,  whose  son  was  Takshak.  I'NTiat  did 
he  resemble,  who  obtained  the  fruits  of  the  whole  earth,  conquer- 
ing numerous  foes  ?  He  had  a  son  named  Kaiyak,  who  was  equal 
to  the  divinity  which  supports  the  globe  :  in  wisdom  he  was 
renowned  as  Mahadeo  :  his  name  sent  to  sleep  the  children  of  his 
foe  :  he  appeared  as  an  avatar  of  Buddha,  and  like  the  ocean,  which 
expands  when  the  rays  of  the  full  moon  fall  upon  it,  even  so  does 
the  sea  of  our  knowledge  increase  when  he  looks  upon  it  :  and  his 
verses  are  filled  with  ambrosia  (amrita).     From  Chait  to  Chait, 

1  [Cunningham  {ASM,  ii.  266)  suspects  that  this  inscription,  dated 
A.D.  691,  came  from  the  beautiful  pillared  shrine  described  by  him  and  by 
Fergusson.  It  cannot  now  be  foimd,  "  and,  unfortunately,  Tod's  account 
of  it,  which  mLxes  up  Mabadeva  with  an  Avatar  of  Buddha,  does  not  appear 
to  be  entitled  to  much  confidence."] 

2  [Perhaps  Viradha,  who  seized  Sita,  and  was  buried  alive  by  Rama  and 
Lakshmana  (Dowson,  Class.  Diet.  358  f.).] 


1788  PERSONAI.  NARRATIVE 

sacrifice  never  ceased  burning  :  Indra  went  without  offspring.^ 
The  contributions  from  the  land  were  raised  with  justice,  whilst 
his  virtues  overshadowed  the  three  worlds.  The  light  which 
shines  from  the  tusks  of  his  foe's  elephant  had  departed  ;  and  the 
hand  which  struck  him  on  the  head,  to  urge  him  on,  emitted  no 
sound.  Where  was  the  land  that  felt  not  his  influence  ?  Such 
was  Sri  Kaiyak  !  when  he  visited  foreign  lands,  joy  departed 
from  the  wives  of  his  foe  :  may  all  his  resolves  be  accomplished  ! 

"  S.  748  (a.d.  692),  on  the  full  moon  of  Jeth,  this  inscription 
was  placed  in  the  mandir,  by  Gupta,  the  grandson  of  Bhat 
Ganeswar,  lord  of  the  lords  of  verse  of  Mundal,  and  son  of  Har- 
gupta  :  this  writing  was  composed,  in  the  presence  of  Sri  [735] 
Durgangal  Raja,  to  whom,  salutation  !  that  forehead  alone  is  fair 
which  bows  to  the  gods,  to  a  tutor,  and  to  woman  !  Engraved  by 
Ulak  the  stonecutter."  ^ 

On  this  curious  inscription  we  may  bestow  a  few  remarks.  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  wild  legion  of  the  creation  of  this  lOiatri, 
from  the  blood  of  Baraha,  represented  as  a  Danava,  or  demon  in 
disguise,  is  another  fiction  to  veil  the  admission  of  some  northern 
race  into  the  great  Hindu  family.  The  name  of  Baraha,  as  an 
ancient  Indo-Scythic  tribe,  is  fortunately  abundantly  preserved 
in  the  annals  of  Jaisalmer,  which  State,  at  the  early  periods  of  the 
Yadu-Bhatti  history,  opposed  their  entrance  into  India  ;  while 
both  Takshak  (or  Tak)  and  Kaiyak  are  names  of  Tatar  origin,  the 
former  signifying  '  the  snake,'  the  latter  '  the  heavens.'  The  whole 
of  this  region  bears  evidence  of  a  race  whose  reUgion  was  ophite, 
who  bore  the  epithet  of  Takshak  as  the  name  of  the  tribe,  and 
whose  inscriptions  in  this  same  nail-headed  character  are  found 
all  over  Central  and  Western  India.  If  we  combine  this  with 
all  that  we  have  already  said  regarding  Raja  Hun  of  Bhadravati, 
and  Angatsi  the  Hun,  who  served  the  Rana  of  Chit.or  at  this 
precise  period,'  when  an  irruption  is  recorded  from  Central  Asia, 
we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion,  that  this  inscription  (besides 
many  others)  is  a  memorial  of  a  Scythic  or  Tatar  prince,  who,  as 

^  The  allusion  to  this  affords  another  instance  of  the  presumption  of  the 
priests,  who  compelled  the  gods  to  attend  the  saciificial  rites,  and  hence 
Indra  could  not  visit  his  consort  Indrani. 

^  [The  translation  in  the  text  is  untrustworthy,  and  the  date  is  probably 
A.D.  824  {I A,  V.  180  f. ;   Forgusson,  Hist.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910,  ii.  132  f.).] 

•'•  .Sec  Vol.  I.  p.  290.     [These  speculations  are  now  obsolete.] 


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SCULPTURED   CEILINGS   OF   TEMPLE    AT  CHANDRAVATL 

To  face  page  1788. 


NARAYANPUR  1789 

well  as  the  Gete  prince  of  Salpura,^  was  grafted  upon  Hindu 
stock. 

The  inscription  next  in  point  of  antiquity  was  from  the  Jain 
temple  in  the  modern  town.  It  was  dated  the  3rd  of  Jeth,  S. 
1103  (a.d.  1047),  but  recorded  only  the  name  of  a  visitor  to  the 
shrine. 

Near  the  dam  of  the  Or-sagar,  there  was  a  vast  number  of 
funeral  memorials,  termed  Nisia,^  of  the  Jain  priesthood.  One 
is  dated  "  the  3rd  of  Magh,  S.  1066  (a.d.  1010),  on  which  day 
Srimant  Deo,  Chela,  or  disciple,  of  Acharya  Srimana  Dewa,  left 
this  world."  The  bust  of  the  Acharya,  or  doctor,  is  in  a  studious 
posture,  the  book  lying  open  upon  the  Thuni  or  cross,  which 
forms  a  reading-desk,  often  the  only  sign  of  the  nisia  to  mark  a 
Jain  place  of  sepulture. 

The  adjoining  one  contained  the  name  of  Devindra  Acharya  ; 
the  date  S.  1180. 

Another  was  of  "  Kumar-deo,  the  Panda  or  priest  of  the  race 
of  Kumad  Chandra  Acharya,  who  finished  his  career  on  Thursday 
(guruwar)  the  Mul  nakshatra  ^  of  S.  1289." 

There  are  many  others,  but  as,  like  these,  they  contained  no 
historical  data,  they  were  not  transcribed  [736]. 

Narayanpur,  December  13,  eleven  miles. — Marched  at  day- 
break, and  about  a  coss  north  of  the  city  ascended  the  natural 
boundary  of  Haraoti  and  Malwa  ;  at  the  point  of  ascent  was 
Gundor,  formerly  in  the  appanage  of  the  Ghatirao  ('  lord  of  the 
pass  '),  one  of  the  legendary  heroes  of  past  days  ;  and  half  a  coss 
further  was  the  point  of  descent  into  the  Antri,  or  '  valley,' 
through  which  our  course  lay  due  north.  In  front,  to  the  north- 
west, Gagraun,  on  the  opposite  range,  was  just  visible  through 
the  gloom  ;  wliile  the  yet  more  ancient  Mhau,*  the  first  capital 
of  the  Khichis,  was  pointed  out  five  coss  to  the  eastward.      I  felt 

^  See  lascription,  Vol.  II.  p.  915. 

-  [Dr.  F.  W.  Thomas  has  kindly  traced  this  word.  It  is  the  old  nisldhya 
(nislhiya),  in  its  modem  form  nisldhi  or  nisidhi,  an  ornamental  Jain  tomb. 
See  Epigraphia  Indica,  ii.  274,  with  Biihler's  note  ;  Rice,  Inscriptions  at 
Sravana  Belgola,  Archaeological  Survey  of  Mysore,  1889,  35,  40.] 

2  [A  lunar  asterism.] 

*  [About  8  miles  S.E.  of  Gagraun,  and  10  miles  N.E.  of  Jhalrapatau. 
Cunningham  (ASR,  ii.  293  f.)  thinks  that  this  place  may  have  immediately 
succeeded  Chandravati  as  capital  of  all  the  country  on  the  lower  course  of 
the  KaU  Sind,  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.] 


1790  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

most  anxious  to  visit  this  city,  celebrated  in  the  traditions  of 
Central  India,  and  containing  in  itself  and  all  around  much  that 
was  worthy  of  notice.  But  time  pressed  ;  so  we  continued  our 
route  over  the  path  trodden  by  the  army  of  Alau-d-din  when  he 
besieged  Achaldas  in  Gagravui.^  The  valley  was  full  three  miles 
wide,  the  soil  fertile,  and  the  scenery  highly  picturesque.  The 
forest  on  each  side  echoed  with  the  screams  of  the  peacock,  the 
calls  of  the  partridge,  and  the  note  of  the  jungle-cock,  who  was 
crowing  his  matins  as  the  sun  gladdened  his  retreat.  It  was  this 
Antri,  or  valley,  that  the  regent  selected  for  his  Chhaoni,  or 
'  fixed  camp,'  where  he  has  resided  for  the  last  thirty  years.  It 
had  at  length  attained  the  importance  of  a  town,  having  spacious 
streets  and  well-built  houses,  and  the  materials  for  a  circum- 
vallation  were  rapidly  accumulating  :  but  there  is  little  chance 
of  his  living  to  see  it  finished.  The  site  is  admirably  chosen,  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Am  jar,  and  midway  between  the  castle  of  Ga- 
graun  and  Jhalrapatan.  A  short  distance  to  the  west  of  the 
regent's  camp  is  the  Pindari-ki-chhaoni,  where  the  sons  of  Karim 
Khan,  the  chief  leader  of  those  hordes,  resided  ;  for  in  these  days 
of  strife  the  old  regent  would  have  allied  himself  with  Satan,  if  he 
had  led  a  horde  of  plunderers.  I  was  greatly  amused  to  see  in  this 
camp,  also  assuming  a  permanent  shape,  the  commencement  of  an 
Idgah,  or  '  place  of  prayer  '  ;  for  the  ^^[Ilains,  while  they  robbed 
and  murdered  even  defenceless  women,  prayed  five  times  a  day ! 

We  crossed  the  confluent  streams  of  the  Au  and  Amjar,  which, 
flowing  through  the  plains  of  Malwa,  have  forced  their  way 
through  the  exterior  chain  into  the  Antri  of  Gagraun,  pass  under 
its  western  face,  dividing  it  from  the  town,  and  then  join  the 
Kali  Sind  [737]. 

Gagraun. — Until  you  approach  close  to  Gagraun,  its  town  and 
castle  appear  united,  and  present  a  bold  and  striking  object  ; 
and  it  is  only  on  mounting  the  ridge  that  one  perceives  the  strength 
of  this  position,  the  rock  being  scarped  by  the  action  of  the  waters 
to  an  immense  height.  The  ascent  to  the  summit  of  the  ridge 
was  so  gradual  that  our  surprise  was  complete,  when,  casting 
our  eye  north,  we  saw  the  Kali  Sind  sweeping  along  the  northern 

^  [The  Khichis,  under  Raja  Jeth  Singh,  successfully  defended  Gagraun 
against  Alau-d-din  in  a.d.  1301.  But  in  the  time  of  Raja  Achaldas,  about 
1428,  the  place  was  either  taken  by,  or  surrendered  to,  Hoshang  Shah  of 
Malwa  (/G7,  xii.  122).] 


^$my 


■J>  >;  -_;  : 


iHt... 


-t^^i2^_ 


'^-0':?2;><J' 


"•0'.-;i 


gAgraun 


1791 


face  of  both  fort  and  town,  whence  it  turns  due  north,  ploughing 
its  serpentine  passage,  at  a  depth  of  full  two  hundred  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  valley,  through  three  distinct  ranges,  each  chasm 
or  opening  appearing  in  this  bold  perspective  like  a  huge  portal, 
whence  the  river  gains  the  yielding  plains  of  Haraoti.  As  we 
passed  under  the  town,  we  were  saluted  by  a  discharge  from  all 
the  ordnance  on  its  ramparts,  and  the  governor,  who  had  advanced 
to  meet  us  at  the  express  desire  of  his  master,  invited  us  in  ;  but 
though  strongly  pressed,  and  equally  desirous  to  see  a  place  of 


^VT'  ii  Jhalrn-Palnn 

'1   Ruins  of  ChaudrabftttgiL 


Gagraun,  Chhaoni. 


such  celebrity,  I  would  not  make  myself  acquainted  with  the 
secrets  of  this  chief  stronghold  of  the  regent.  On  whichever 
side  an  enemy  might  approach  it,  he  would  have  to  take  the  bull 
by  the  horns.  It  was  only  by  polluting  the  waters  with  the 
blood  of  the  sacred  kine,  that  Ala,  '  the  sanguinary '  (Khimi), 
took  it  about  five  centuries  ago  from  the  valiant  Khichi,  Achaldas, 
an  account  of  whose  family  would  be  here  out  of  place.  Inde- 
pendent of  ancient  associations,  there  is  a  wild  grandeur  about 
Gagraun,  which  makes  it  well  worthy  of  a  visit,  and  the  views 
from  the  north  must  be  still  finer  than  from  the  pomt  whence  we 
beheld  it. 

We  passed  over  the  ridge  at  the  extremity  of  the  town,  and 


1792  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

descended  into  another  Antri,  up  which  we  journeyed  nearly  due 
west  until  we  reached  our  camp  at  Narayanpur.  The  valley  was 
from  four  to  six  hundred  yards  in  breadth,  and  in  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation  ;  to  preserve  which,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
secure  the  game,  the  regent,  at  an  immense  expense,  has  cut  deep 
trenches  at  the  skirt  of  the  hills  on  each  [738]  side,  over  which 
neither  deer  nor  hog  can  pass,  wliile  the  forests  that  crown  the 
hills  to  their  summit  are  almost  impervious  even  to  wild  beasts. 
We  passed  various  smaU  cantonments,  where  the  regent  could 
collect  the  best  part  of  his  army,  some  even  on  the  summit  of  the 
ridge.     At  all  of  these  are  wells,  and  reservoirs  termed  po. 

Mukunddarra  Pass,  December  14,  ten  miles. — At  daybreak,  com- 
menced our  march  up  the  valley,  and  midway  between  Narayanpur 
and  the  Darra,  reached  the  ruined  castle  of  Ghati,  so  called  from 
its  being  erected  on  the  summit  of  the  ridge  commanding  an 
outlet  of  the  valley.  Partly  from  the  gradual  ascent  of  the  valley, 
and  from  the  depression  of  the  ridge,  we  formed  rather  a  mean 
opinion  of  the  pass  {ghati)  ;  but  this  feeling  was  soon  lost  when  we 
attained  the  crest,  and  found  ourselves  on  a  scarped  rock  of  some 
hundred  feet  in  elevation,  commanding  a  view  over  all  the  plains 
of  Malwa,  wliile  at  our  feet  was  a  continuation  of  the  Antri  of  the 
Amjar,  which  we  observed  gliding  through  the  deep  woods  the 
regent  has  allowed  to  remain  at  the  entrances  of  these  valleys. 

Tradition  is  eloquent  on  the  deeds  of  the  '  Lords  of  the  Pass,' 
both  of  the  lOiichi  and  Hara,  and  they  point  out  the  impression 
of  ]Meln:aj  Khichi's  charger,  as  he  sprang  upon  the  Islamite 
invaders.  There  are  many  cenotaphs  to  the  memory  of  the  slain, 
and  several  small  shrines  to  Siva  and  his  consort,  in  one  of  which 
I  found  an  inscription  not  only  recording  the  name  of  Mehraj, 
but  the  curious  fact  that  four  generations  were  present  at  the 
consecration  of  one  to  Siva.  It  ran  thus  :  "  In  S.  1657  and  Saka 
1522,  in  that  particular  year  called  Somya,  the  sun  in  the  south, 
the  season  of  cold,  in  the  happy  month  Asoj,  the  dark  half  thereof, 
on  Sunday,  and  the  thirty-sixth  ghari ;  in  such  a  happy  moment, 
the  Ivhichi  of  Chauhan  race,  Maharaj  Sri  Rawat  Narsinghdeo, 
and  his  son  Sri  Rawat  Mehraj,  and  his  son  Sri  Chandarsen,  and 
his  son  Kalyandas,  erected  this  sivala  (house  of  Siva)  ;  may  they 
be  fortunate  I  Written  by  Jaya  Sarman,  and  engxaved  by 
Kanmia,  in  the  presence  of  the  priest  Kistna,  the  son  of  Mahesh." 
Heroism  of  Guman  Hara. — We  shall  pass  over  the  endless  tales 


■■>} 


ENTRANCE   TO   THE   SANCTUARY   OF  A   TEMPLE    AT   CHANDRAVATI. 

To  face  page  1792. 


THE  HEROISM  OF  GUMAN  HARA  1793 

of  the  many  heroes  who  fell  in  its  defence,  to  the  last  of  any  note — 
Guman  Singh,  a  descendant  of  Sawant  Hara.  The  anecdote  I 
am  about  to  insert  relates  to  the  time  when  Rao  Durjansal  was 
prince  of  Kotah,  and  the  post  of  Faujdar  was  held  by  a  Rathor 
Rajput,  Jai  Singh  of  Gagorni.  Through  the  influence  of  this 
faujdar,  Guman  was  deprived  of  the  honour  of  defending  the  pass, 
and  his  es'tate  sequestrated.  He  was  proceeding  homeward  with 
a  heavy  heart  from  the  presence  of  his  sovereign,  when  he  met  the 
faujdar  with  his  train  [739].  It  was  dark,  and  a  torch-bearer 
preceded  him,  whom  Guman  dashed  to  the  earth,  and  with  his 
iron  lance  transfixed  the  Rathor  to  his  palki.  Making  for  the  gate, 
he  said  it  was  the  Rao's  order  that  none  should  pass  until  his 
return.  As  soon  as  he  gained  his  estate,  he  proceeded  with  his 
family  and  effects  to  Udaipur,  and  found  sarna  with  the  Rana, 
who  gave  iiim  an  estate  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his  followers. 
There  he  remained  until  Kotah  was  besieged  by  Raja  Isari  Singh 
of  Jaipur,  when  he  obtained  the  Rana's  leave  to  fly  to  its  defence. 
Passing  over  the  Patar,  he  made  for  Kotah,  but  it  was  invested 
on  every  side.  Determined  to  reach  it  or  perish,  he  ordered  his 
nakkara  to  beat,  and  advanced  through  the  heart  of  the  enemy's 
camp.  The  Jaipur  prince  asked  who  had  the  audacity  to  beat 
close  to  his  quarters,  and  being  told  "  The  Rawat  of  the  Pass, 
from  Udaipur,"  he  expressed  a  wish  to  see  the  man,  of  whom  he 
had  heard  his  father  say  he  had,  unarmed,  slain  a  tiger.  The 
Hara  obeyed  the  summons,  but  would  only  enter  the  Presence 
in  the  midst  of  his  band.  He  was  courteously  received  and  offered 
large  estates  in  Jaipur  ;  the  Raja  remarking  that  Guman  Singh 
was  only  going  to  his  doom,  since  "  in  the  space  of  eating  a  pan 
he  (Isari  Singh)  would  be  master  of  Kotah."  Losing  all  patience, 
Gmnan  said,  "  Take  my  salaam  and  my  defiance,  Maharaj  ;  the 
heads  of  twenty  thousand  Haras  are  with  Kotah."  He  was 
permitted  to  pass  the  batteries  unmolested,  and  on  reacliing  the 
river,  he  called  aloud,  "  The  Ghata  Rawat  wants  a  boat,"  to 
conduct  him  to  his  sovereign,  whom  he  found  seated  behind  the 
walls  encouraging  the  defence.  At  that  very  moment  a  report 
was  brought  that  a  breach  was  nearly  effected  at  a  particular 
point  ;  and  scarcely  had  the  prince  applauded  his  swamidharma, 
than,  making  his  bow,  Guman  marched  his  followers  to  the 
breach,  and  "  there  planted  his  lance."  Such  were  the  Haras  of 
past  days  ;   but  the  descendants  of  the  '  Rawat  of  the  Pass  '  are 


1794  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

now  in  penury,  deprived  of  their  lands,  and  hard  pressed  to  find 
a  livelihood. 

We  continued  our  march  from  this  Pass,  often  moistened  with 
Rajput  blood,  and  reached  the  Darra,  outside  of  which  we  found 
the  old  regent  encamped,  and  whence  we  issued  on  our  tour  just 
three  weeks  ago.  It  was  by  mere  accident  that,  some  distance 
up  the  valley  (a  continuation  of  that  we  had  just  quitted),  we 
heard  of  some  ruins,  termed  the  Chaori  of  Bhim,  one  of  the  most 
striking  remains  of  art  I  had  yet  met  with.  It  is  the  fragment  only 
of  a  quadrangular  pile,  of  which  little  now  remains,  the  materials 
having  been  used  by  one  of  the  Kotah  princes,  in  erecting  a  small 
palace  to  a  Bhilni  concubine.  The  columns  possess  great  origin- 
ality, and  appear  to  [740]  be  the  connecting  link  of  Hindu  and 
Egyptian  architecture.  Not  far  from  the  Chaori,  where,  accord- 
ing to  local  traditions,  the  Pandu  Bhim  celebrated  his  nuptials,  are 
two  columns,  standing  without  relation  to  any  other  edifice  ; 
but  in  the  lapse  of  ages  the  fragments  appertaining  to  them  have 
been  covered  with  earth  or  jungle.  At  every  step  we  found 
Jujhars,  or  funeral  stones  ;  and  as  this  '  Pass  of  Mukund  '  must, 
as  the  chief  outlet  between  the  Deccan  and  northern  India,  have 
been  a  celebrated  spot,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  in  remote  ages  some 
citj'^  was  built  within  its  natural  ramparts.  Throughout  this 
town,  we  foimd  many  traces  of  the  beneficent  but  simple  legisla- 
tion of  the  Hara  princes  ;  and  when  the  regent  set  up  his  pillar, 
prohibiting  chiefly  his  own  violence,  he  had  abundant  formulas 
to  appeal  to.  We  have  already  alluded  to  this  circumstance  in 
the  sketch  of  his  biography,  and  we  may  here  insert  a  free  trans- 
lation of  the  ordinance  we  found  engraved  in  the  Pass,  and  which 
is  recorded  throughout  Haraoti. 

"  Maharaj  Maharaoji  ffishor  Singh,  ordaining  !  To  all  the 
merchants  (Mahajans),  traders,  cultivators,  and  every  tribe 
inhabiting  Mukunddarra.  At  this  time,  be  full  of  confidence  ; 
trade,  trafllc,  exchange,  borrow,  lend,  cultivate,  and  be  prosperous ; 
for  all  dand  (contribution)  is  abolished  by  the  Darbar.  Crimes 
will  be  punished  according  to  their  magnitude.  All  oHiccrs  of 
trust,  Patels,  Patwaris,  Sasaris  (night-guards),  and  Mutasaddis 
(scribes),  will  be  rewarded  for  good  services,  and  for  evil.  None 
of  them  shall  be  guilty  of  exactions  from  merchants  or  others  : 
this  is  a  law  sworn  to  by  all  that  is  sacred  to  Hindu  or  INIuslim. 
Ordained   from   the   royal  mouth,  and   by  conmiand  of  Nana 


iS^vS^TTfj; 


::    ^ 


RETURN  TO  KOTAH  1795 

(grandsire)  Zalim  Singh,  and  uncle  Madho  Singh.     Asoj  the  10th, 
Monday  S.  1877  (a.d.  1821)." 

Return  to  Kotah. — Having  halted  a  few  days,  we  returned  to 
Kotah  by  the  towns  of  Pachpahar  and  Anandpur  ;  both  large  and 
thri\'ing,  situated  upon  the  banks  of  fine  pieces  of  water.  Madho 
Singh,  at  the  head  of  a  splendid  cavalcade,  with  six  field-pieces, 
advanced  a  couple  of  miles  to  conduct  me  to  my  old  residence,  the 
garden-house,  east  of  the  town.  During  the  six  weeks  that  we 
remained  here  to  watch  the  result  of  the  measures  elsewhere 
described,  we  endeavovued  to  find  amusement  in  various  ways, 
to  divert  us  from  brooding  upon  the  cholera  which  was  raging 
around  us.  This  season  attracts  flocks  of  wild  geese  to  prey  upon 
the  young  corn,  and  we  had  the  double  pleasure  of  shooting  and 
eating  them.  Occasionally,  we  had  a  shot  at  a  deer,  or  hvmted 
them  down  with  the  regent's  chiias  (hunting-leopards)  ;  or  with 
the  dogs  ran  down  jackals  [741],  foxes,  or  hares.  There  was  a 
ramna  for  wild-hogs  about  five  miles  from  our  abode,  and  a 
delightful  summer  retreat  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  sheet  of  water. 
Tiie  animals  were  so  tame,  from  the  custom  of  feeding  them,  that 
it  was  almost  unsportsmanhke  to  shoot  at  them.  On  one  occasion, 
the  Maharao  prepared  an  excursion  upon  the  water,  in  which  I 
was  not  well  enough  to  join.  Numerous  Shikaris,  or  '  hunters,' 
proceeded  up  either  bank  to  rouse  the  bears  or  tigers  that  find 
cover  there,  when  the  party  from  the  boats  shot  at  them  as  they 
passed.  Partly  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  this  sport,  and  partly 
to  see  the  fortress  of  Ekelgarh,  six  miles  south  of  the  city,  we 
afterwards  made  another  excursion,  which,  though  not  unattended 
by  danger,  afforded  a  good  deal  of  merriment.  The  river  here 
is  confined  by  perpendicular  rocks,  full  three  hundred  feet  in 
height ;  and  amidst  the  debris,  these  wild  animals  find  shelter. 
As  the  side  on  which  we  were  did  not  promise  much  sport,  we 
determined  to  cross  the  stream,  and  finding  a  quantity  of  timber 
suited  to  the  purpose,  we  set  to  work  to  construct  a  raft ;  but  had 
only  pushed  a  few  paces  from  the  shore  when  we  began  to  sink, 
and  were  compelled  to  make  a  Jonas  of  the  doctor,  though  we 
afterwards  sent  the  vessel  back  for  him,  and  in  due  time  landed 
all  our  party  and  appendages.  Being  furnished  with  huntsmen 
by  the  regent,  who  knew  the  lairs  of  the  animals,  we  dispatched 
them  up  the  stream,  taking  post  ourselves  behind  some  masses 
of  rock  in  the  only  path  by  which  they  could  advance.     We  had 


1796  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

been  seated  about  half  an  hour,  when  the  shouts  of  the  hunters 
were  heard,  and  soon  a  huge  bear,  his  muzzle  grey  from  age,  came 
slowly  trotting  up  the  pathway.  Being  unable  to  repress  the 
mirth  of  Captain  Waugh  and  the  doctor,  who  were  conning  over 
the  events  of  the  morning,  just  before  he  came  in  sight,  I  had 
quitted  them,  and  was  trying  to  gain  a  point  of  security  a  little 
remote  from  them  ;  but  before  I  could  attain  it,  they  had  botlx 
fired  and  missed,  and  Bruin  came  at  a  full  gallop  towards  me. 
When  within  ten  paces,  I  fired  and  hit  him  in  the  flank  ;  he  fell, 
but  almost  instantly  recovered,  and  charged  me  open-mouthed, 
when  one  of  my  domestics  boldly  attacked  him  with  a  hog-spear 
and  saved  me  from  a  hug.  Between  the  spear  and  the  shot,  he 
went  floundering  off,  and  was  lost  in  the  crevices  of  the  rock.  On 
our  return,  we  passed  the  day  amidst  the  ruins  of  Ekelgarh,  an 
enormous  pile  of  stones  without  cement ;  in  all  probability,  a 
fortress  of  some  of  the  aboriginal  Bhils.  Both  crests  of  the 
mountain  are  covered  with  jungle,  affording  abundant  sport  to 
the  princes  of  Kotah.  There  is  a  spot  of  some  celebrity  a  few 
coss  to  the  south  of  this,  caUed  Gayapur-Mahadeo,  where  there  is  a 
cascade  from  a  stream  that  falls  into  the  Chambal,  whose  banks  are 
said  to  be  here  upwards  of  six  [742]  hundred  feet  in  height.  There 
are  few  more  remarkable  spots  in  India  than  the  course  of  the  * 
river  from  Kotah  to  Bhainsror,  where  both  the  naturalist  and  the 
painter  might  find  ample  employment. 

I  sent  scouts  in  all  directions  to  seek  for  inscriptions  ;  some  of 
which  are  in  an  unknown  character.  One  of  the  most  interesting, 
brought  from  Kanswa,  of  a  Jat  prince,  has  been  given  in  the  first 
volmne  of  this  work.^ 


CHAPTER  14 

Menal. — In  February,  I  recommenced  my  march  for  Udaipur, 
and  having  halted  a  few  days  at  Bundi,  and  found  all  there  as 
my  heart  could  wish,  I  resumed  the  march  across  the  Patar, 
determined  to  put  into,  execution  my  wish  of  visiting  Menal. 
About  ten  miles  north,  on  this  side  of  it,  I  halted  at  Bijolia,  one 

*  [Vol.  II.  p.  1)17.  The  name  of  the  place  is  properly  Kanaswa  (I A,  six- 
55).] 


A^X'1ENT  COLUMNS   IN   THE    MUKUNDDARA   PASS. 

To  face  page  1796. 


MENAL:    BIJOLIA  1797 

of  the  principal  fiefs  of  Mewar,  held  by  a  chief  of  the  Pramar 
tribe,  with  the  title  of  Rao.^  This  family,  originally  Raos  of 
Jagner,  near  Bayana,  came  into  Mewar  in  the  time  of  the  great 
Amar  Singh,  with  all  his  basai,  upwards  of  two  centuries  ago  ; 
the  Rana  having  married  the  daughter  of  Rao  Asoka,  to  whom 
he  assigned  an  estate  worth  five  lakhs  annually.  I  have  elsewhere 
(Vol.  I.  p.  206)  explained  the  meaning  of  a  term  which  embraces 
bondage  amongst  its  synonyms,  though  it  is  the  hghtest  species 
of  slavery.  Basai,  or  properly  vast,  means  a  '  settler,'  an  '  in- 
habitant,' from  vas,  '  a  habitation,'  and  vasna,  '  to  inhabit,'  but 
it  does  not  distinguish  between  free  settlers  and  compulsory 
labourers  ;  but  wheresoever  the  phrase  is  used  in  Rajwara,  it 
may  be  assurned  to  imply  the  latter.  Still,  strange  to  say,  the 
condition  includes  none  of  the  accessories  of  slavery  :  there  is  no 
task-duty  of  any  kind,  nor  is  the  individual  accountable  for  his 
labour  to  any  one  :  he  pays  the  usual  taxes,  and  the  only  tie 
upon  him  appears  to  be  that  of  a  [743]  compulsory  residence  in 
his  vas,  and  the  epithet,  which  is  in  itself  a  fetter  upon  the  mind 
of  the  vast  of  Bijolia. 

Bijolia. — BijoUa  (Vindhyavalli)  stands  amidst  the  ruins  with 
which  this  iiparmal,  or  highland,  is  crowded.  From  the  numerous 
inscriptions  we  here  found,  we  have  to  choose,  for  its  'ancient 
name,  between  Ahichpur  and  Morakara  ;  the  latter  is  still  applied, 
though  the  former  appears  only  on  the  recording  stone.  This 
western  frontier  teems  with  traditions  of  the  Chauhans,  and  seems 
to  have  been  a  dependency  of  Ajmer,  as  these  inscriptions  contain 
many  celebrated  names  of  that  dynasty,  as  Bisaldeo,  Someswar, 
Prithiraj  ;  and  chiefly  record  the  martial  virtues  and  piety  of 
Irnaraj  of  Morakara,  and  his  offspring,  Bahirraj  and  Kuntpal, 
who  appear  contemporary  with  their  paramount  prince  and 
relative,  Pritliiraj,  king  of  Delhi  and  Ajmer. 

One  inscription  records  the  actions  of  the  dynastj^  of  Chitor, 
and  they  are  so  intermingled  as  to  render  it  almost  impossible  to 
separate  the  Guliilots  from  the  Chauhans.  It  begins  with  an 
invocation  to  "  Sakambhari  Janami  Mata,  the  mother  of  births, 
guardian  of  the  races  (sakham),^  and  of  mighty  castles  (diirga), 

^  [Bijolia,  close  to  the  Bundi  border,  about  112  miles  N.E.  of  Udaipur 
city  (Erskine  ii.  A.  99  f.).] 

2  [Sakambhari  has  no  connexion  with  sdkha  :  the  name  means  '  herb- 
nourishins;.'] 


1798  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

hills,  and  ruins,  the  Protectress."  Having  mentioned  the  names 
of  nine  Chauhans  (of  Vats-gotra),  it  flies  off  to  Srimad  Bapparaj, 
Vindhya  Nirpati,  or, '  Bappa,  sovereign  of  the  Vindhya  Hills,'  the 
founder  of  the  Ranas  of  Mewar  ;  but  the  names  that  follow  do 
not  belong  to  his  dynasty,  which  leads  me  to  imagine  that  the 
Chauhans  of  Uparmal  were  vassals  of  Chitor  at  that  early  period. 
Since  antiquarian  disquisitions,  however,  would  be  out  of  place 
here,  we  shall  only  give  the  concluding  portion.  It  is  of  Kuntpal, 
the  grandson  of  Irnaraj,  "  who  destroyed  Jawalapur,  and  the 
fame  of  whose  exploit  at  the  capture  of  Delhi  is  engraved  on  the 
gate  of  Valabhi.  His  elder  brother's  son  was  Prithiraj,  who 
amassed  a  parb  of  gold,  which  he  gave  in  charity,  and  built  in 
Morakara  a  temple  to  Parsvanath.  Having  obtained  the  regal 
dignity,  through  Someswar,  he  was  thence  called  Someswar,  for 
the  sake  of  whose  soul  this  mandir  was  erected,  and  the  village 
of  Rewana  on  the  Rewa,  bestowed  for  its  support. — S.  1226 
(a.d.  1170)."  This  appears  completely  to  set  at  rest  the  question 
whether  the  Chauhans  wrested  by  force  the  throne  of  Delhi  from 
the  Tuars  ;  ^  and  it  is  singular,  that  from  the  most  remote  part 
of  the  dominions  of  this  illustrious  line,  we  should  have  a  con- 
firmation of  the  fact  asserted  by  their  great  bard  Chand.  The 
inscriptions  at  Asi  (Hansi),  and  on  the  column  of  Delhi,  were  all 
written  about  the  same  period  as  this  (see  p.  1456).  But  the 
appeal  made  to  "  the  gate  of  Valabhi,"  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Guhilots  in  Saurashtra,  is  the  most  singular  part  of  it,  and  will 
only  admit  of  one  construction  [744],  namely,  that  when  Prithiraj 
revenged  the  death  of  his  father,  Someswar,  who  was  slain  in 
battle  by  the  prince  of  Saurashtra  and  Gujarat,  Kuntpal  must 
have  availed  himself  of  that  opportunity  to  appropriate  the  share 
he  had  in  the  capture  of  Delhi.  Chand  informs  us  he  made  a 
conquest  of  the  whole  of  Gujarat  from  Bhola  Bhim.^ 

We  have  also  two  other  not  imimportant  pieces  of  information  : 
first  that  Morakara  was  an  ancient  name  of  Bijolia  ;  and  next, 
that  the  Chauhan  prince  was  a  disciple  of  the  Jains,  which, 
according  to  Chand,  was  not  uncommon,  as  he  tells  us  that  he 

^  [The  story  that  Vigraharaja  or  Visaladeva,  Chauhan,  wrested  Delhi 
from  the  Tomaras  depends  on  doubtful  authority  (Smith,  EHI,  387).] 

^  [Bhima  II.  Chaulukya  of  Gujarat,  known  as  Bhola,  '  the  simpleton  ' 
(A.D.  11 79-1 242).  The  statements  in  the  text  lack  authority  {BG,  i.  Part  i. 
195  ff.).] 


BIJOLIA  1799 

banished  his  son  Sarangdeo  from  Ajmer,  for  attaching  himself  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Buddhists. 

Morakara,  about  half  a  mile  east  of  Bijolia,  is  now  in  ruins  ; 
but  there  are  remains  of  a  Kot,  or  castle,  a  palace  called  the 
Nauchauki,  and  no  less  than  five  temples  to  Parsvanath,  the 
twenty-third  of  the  Jain  pontiffs,  all  of  considerable  magnitude 
and  elaborate  architectural  details,  though  not  to  be  compared 
with  Baroha.  Indeed,  it  is  everywhere  apparent  that  there  is 
nothing  classical  in  design  or  execution  in  the  architecture  of 
India  posterior  to  the  eleventh  century.  One  of  my  scribes,  who 
has  a  talent  for  design,  is  dehneating  with  his  reed  (kalam)  these 
stupendous  piles,  while  my  old  Jain  Guru  is  hard  at  work  copying 
what  is  not  the  least  curious  part  of  the  antiquities  of  Bijolia, 
two  inscriptions  cut  in  the  rock  ;  one  of  the  Chauhan  race,  the 
other  of  the  Sankhya  Purana,  appertaining  to  his  own  creed,  the 
.Jain.  It  is  fifteen  feet  long  by  five  in  breadth,  and  has  fifty-two 
lines.^  The  other  is  eleven  feet  six  inches  by  three  feet  six,  and 
contains  thirty-one  lines  ;  so  that  the  old  gentleman  has  ample 
occupation.  A  stream  runs  amidst  the  ruins,  called  the  Mundagni 
(fire-extinguishing) ;  and  there  is  a  kund,  or  fountain,  close  to  the 
temples  of  Parsva,  with  the  remains  of  two  noble  reservoirs.  All 
these  relics  indicate  that  the  Jains  were  of  the  Digambara  sect.^ 
The  genealogy  is  within  the  Kot,  or  precincts  of  the  old  castle. 

There  are  likewise  three  temples  dedicated  to  Siva,  of  still 
greater  magnitude,  nearer  to  the  town,  but  without  inscriptions  ; 
though  one  in  an  adjoining  kund,  called  the  Rewati,  records  the 
piety  of  the  Gohil  chief  Rahal,  who  had  bestowed  "  a  patch  of 
land  in  the  Antri,"  defining  minutely  its  limits,  and  inviting 
others  (not  ineffectually,  as  is  proved  by  other  bequests),  in  the 
preamble  to  his  gift,  to  follow  his  example  by  the  declaration 
that  "  whoever  bathes  in  the  Rewati  fountain  will  be  beloved  by 
her  lord,  and  have  a  numerous  progeny  "  [745]. 

^  I  have  never  had  time  to  learn  the  purport  of  this  inscription,  but  hold 
it,  together  with  a  host  of  others,  at  the  service  of  those  who  desire  to  ex- 
pound them.  For  myseK,  without  my  old  Guru,  I  am  like  a  ship  without 
helm  or  compass  (as  Chand  would  say)  "  in  ploughing  the  ocean  of  (Sanskrit) 
rhyme."  [Both  these  inscriptions  are  dated  a.d.  1170.  That  recording  the 
Chauhan  genealogy  is  printed  (p.  1456).  The  other  is  a  Jain  poem  called 
Unndthshikar  Purdn,  still  unpublished  (Erskine  ii.  A.  100).] 

*  ['Those  whose  robe  is  the  atmosphere,'  the  'naked'  section  of  the 
Jains  (Biihler-Burgess,  The  Indian  Sect  of  the  Jainas,  2).] 


1800  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

The  modern  castle  of  Bijolia  is  constructed  entirely  ont  of  the 
ruins  of  the  old  shrines  of  Morakara,  and  gods  and  demons  are 
huddled  promiscuously  together.  This  is  very  common,  as  wo 
have  repeatedly  noticed  ;  nor  can  anything  better  evince  that 
the  Hindu  attaches  no  abstract  virtue  to  the  material  object  or 
idol,  but  regards  it  merely  as  a  type  of  some  power  or  quality 
which  he  wishes  to  propitiate.  On  the  desecration  of  the  recep- 
tacle, the  idol  becomes  again,  in  his  estimation,  a  mere  stone, 
and  is  used  as  such  without  scruple.  All  around,  for  several 
miles,  are  seen  the  wrecks  of  past  days.  At  Darauli,  about  four 
miles  south,  is  an  inscription  dated  S.  900  (a.d.  844),  but  it  is 
unimportant ;  and  again,  at  Telsua,  two  miles  farther  south,  are 
four  mandirs,  a  kund,  and  a  toran,  or  triumphal  arch,  but  no 
inscription.  At  Jaraula,  about  six  miles  distant,  there  are  no 
less  than  seven  mandirs  and  a  kund — a  mere  heap  of  ruins.  At 
Ambaghati,  one  of  the  passes  of  descent  from  the  table-land 
into  the  plain,  there  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  castle  and  a 
shrine,  and  I  have  the  names  of  four  or  five  other  places,  all 
within  five  miles  of  Bijolia,  each  having  two  and  three  temples 
in  ruins.  Tradition  does  not  name  the  destroyer,  but  as  it 
evidently  was  not  Time,  wc  may,  without  hesitation,  divide  the 
opprobrium  between  those  great  iconoclasts,  the  Ghori  king  Ala 
and  the  Mogul  Aurangzeb,  the  first  of  whom  is  never  named 
without  the  addition  of  Khuni,  '  the  sanguinary,'  whilst  the  other 
is  known  as  Kalayavana,  the  demon-foe  of  Krishna. 

The  Bijolia  chief  is  greatly  reduced,  though  his  estates,  if 
cultivated,  would  yield  fifty  thousand  rupees  annually  ;  but  he 
cannot  create  more  vasi,  unless  he  could  animate  the  prostrate 
forms  which  lie  scattered  around  him.  It  was  his  daughter  who 
was  married  to  prince  Amra,  and  who,  though  only  seventeen, 
withstood  all  solicitation  to  save  her  from  the  pyre  on  his  demise.^ 
I  made  use  of  the  strongest  arguments,  through  her  imcle,  then 
at  Udaipur,  promising  to  use  my  influence  to  increase  his  estate, 
and  doubtless  his  poverty  reinforced  his  inclination  ;  but  all 
was  in  vain — she  determined  "  to  expiate  the  sins  of  her  lord." 
Having  remained  two  or  three  days,  we  continued  our  journey 
in  quest  of  the  antique  and  the  picturesque,  and  found  both  at 
Menal. 

Menal  or  Mahanal,  February  21. — It  is  fortunate  that  the 
^  Sco  Transactions  Royal  Asialic  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  152. 


o    ^ 


MENAL  or  MAHANAL  1801 

pencil  can  here  portray  what  transcends  the  power  of  the  pen  ; 
to  it  we  shall,  therefore,  leave  the  architectural  wonders  of  Maha- 
nal,  and  succinctly  describe  the  site.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive 
what  [746]  could  have  induced  the  princely  races  of  Chitor  or 
Ajmer  to  select  such  a  spot  as  an  appanage  for  the  cadets  of  their 
families,  which  in  summer  must  be  a  furnace,  owing  to  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  sun's  rays  from  the  rock  :  tradition,  indeed,  asserts 
that  it  is  to  the  love  of  the  sublime  alone  we  are  indebted  for  these 
singular  structures.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  position 
Mahanal,  '  the  great  chasm,'  or  cleft  in  the  western  face  of  the 
Patar,  presenting  an  abyss  of  about  four  hundred  feet  in  depth, 
over  which,  at  a  sharp  re-entering  angle,  falls  a  cascade,  and 
though  now  but  a  rill,  it  must  be  a  magnificent  object  in  the 
rainy  season.  Within  this  dell  it  would  be  death  to  enter  : 
gloomy  as  Erebus,  crowded  with  majestic  foliage  entangled  by 
the  twisted  boughs  of  the  Amarvela,  and  affording  cover  to  all 
description  of  the  inhabitants,  quadruped  and  feathered,  of  the 
forest.  On  the  very  brink  of  the  precipice,  overhanging  the 
abyss,  is  the  group  of  mixed  temples  and  dwelhngs,  which  bear 
the  name  of  Prithiraj  (vide  Plate)  ;  while  those  on  the  opposite 
side  are  distinguished  by  that  of  Samarsi  of  Chitor,  the  brother-in- 
law  of  the  Chavihan  emperor  of  Delhi  and  Ajmer,  whose  wife, 
Pirthabai,  has  been  immortalized  by  Chand,  with  her  husband 
and  brother.^  Here,  the  grand  cleft  between  them,  these  two  last 
bulwarks  of  the  Rajput  races  were  accustomed  to  meet  with 
their  families,  and  pass  days  of  affectionate  intercourse,  in  which 
no  doubt  the  political  condition  of  India  was  a  prominent  topic 
of  discussion.  If  we  may  believe,  and  we  have  no  reason  to 
distrust,  the  testimony  of  Chand,  had  Prithiraj  listened  to  the 
counsel  of  the  Ulysses  of  the  Hindus  (in  which  light  Samarsi  was 
regarded  by  friend  and  foe),  the  Islamite  never  would  have  been 
lord  of  Hindustan.  But  the  indomitable  courage  and  enthusiastic 
enterprise  of  Prithiraj  sunk  them  all  ;  and  when  neither  wisdom 
nor  valour  could  save  him  from  destruction,  the  heroic  prince  of 
Chitor  was  foremost  to  court  it.     Both  fell  on  the  banks  of  the 

^  [Menal  possesses  a  monastery  and  Saiva  temple  constructed,  according 
to  the  Inscriptions  which  they  bear,  in  a.d.  1169  by  Bhav  Brahm,  Sadhu  ; 
also  a  palace  and  temple  built  a  year  earlier  by  the  wife  of  the  famous 
Prithiraj,  Chauhan,  whose  name  was  Suhav  Devi,  known  as  Ruthi  Rani, 
'  the  testy  queen  '  (Erskine  ii.  A.  95,  quoting  H.  Cousens,  Progress  Report 
Archaeological  Survey  W.  India,  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1905.] 
VOL.  Ill  2  N 


1802  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Ghaggar,  amidst  heroes  of  every  tribe  in  Rajputana.  It  was 
indeed  to  them,  as  the  bard  justly  terms  it,  pralaya,  the  day  of 
universal  doom  ;  and  the  last  field  maintained  for  their  national 
dependence.  To  me,  who  have  pored  over  their  poetic  legends, 
and  imbibed  all  those  sympathies  which  none  can  avoid  who 
study  the  Rajput  character,  there  was  a  melancholy  charm  in  the 
solemn  ruins  of  Menal.  It  was  a  season,  too,  when  everjrthing  con- 
spired to  nourish  this  feeling  ;  the  very  trees  which  were  crowded 
about  these  relics  of  departed  glory,  appearing  by  their  leafless 
boughs  and  lugubrious  aspect  to  join  in  the  universal  mourning. 

Inscriptions  from  Menal. — We  found  many  inscriptions  at 
Mahanal,  and  of  one  I  shall  here  insert  a  free  [747]  translation, 
as  it  may  be  applied  hereafter  to  the  correction  of  the  chronology 
of  the  Haras,  of  which  race  it  contains  a  memorial. 

"  By  Asapurna  ^  [the  fulfiller  of  our  desires]  the  kula-devi  * 
[tutelary  goddess]  of  the  race,  by  whose  favour  hidden  treasures 
are  revealed,  and  through  whose  power  many  Chauhan  kings 
have  ruled  the  earth,  of  which  race  was  Bhanwardhan,^  who  in 
the  field  of  strife  attained  the  desires  of  victory.  Of  his  race  was 
the  tribe  of  Hara,  of  which  was  Kulan,*  of  illustrious  and  pure 
descent  in  both  races  ;  whose  fame  was  fair  as  the  rays  of  the 
moon.  From  him  was  Jaipal,^  who  obtained  the  fi-uits  of  the 
good  works  of  his  former  existence  in  the  present  garb  of  roj'^alty  ; 
and  whose  subjects  prayed  they  might  never  know  another 
sovereign.  From  him  was  Devaraj,*  the  lord  of  the  land,  who 
gave  whatever  was  desired,  and  whose  wish  was  to  render  mankind 
happy.  He  delighted  in  the  dance  and  the  song.  His  son  was 
Harraj,^  whose  frame  was  a  piece  of  fire  ;    who,  in  the  field  of 

^  Asa  is  literally,  '  Hope.'  *  Goddess  of  the  race. 

'^  '  The  wealth  of  the  bee  ' ;  such  are  tlie  metaphorical  appellations 
amongst  the  Rajputs. 

*  This  is  the  prince  who  crawled  to  Kedamath  (see  p.  14(53),  and  son  of 
Rainsi,  the  emigrant  prince  from  Aair,  who  is  perhaps  here  designated  as 
'  the  wealth  of  the  bee.'     This  was  in  S.  1353,  or  a.d.  1297. 

*  Jaipal  ('fosterer  of  victory')  must  bo  the  jirince  familiarly  called 
Bango  in  the  Annals  (p.  1464),  and  not  the  grandson  but  the  son  of  Kulan — 
there  said  to  have  taken  Menal  or  Mahanal. 

*  Dewa  is  the  son  of  Banga  (p.  1464),  and  founder  of  Bundi,  in  S.  1398, 
or  A.D.  1342. 

^  Harraj,  elder  son  of  Dewa,  became  lord  of  Bumbaoda  by  the  abdica- 
tion of  his  father,  who  tlienceforth  resided  at  his  conquest  at  Bundi.  (See 
p.  1467.) 


'M- 


3  5 


INSCRIPTIONS  FROM  MENAL  1803 

battle,  conquered  renown  from  the  princes  of  the  land  [Bhum- 
eswar],  and  dragged  the  spoils  of  victory  from  their  pinnacled 
abodes. 

"  From  him  were  the  lords  of  Bumbaoda,^  whose  land  yielded 
to  them  its  fruits.  From  Devaraj  was  Ritpal,-  who  made  the 
rebellious  bow  the  head,  or  trod  them  under  foot,  as  did  Kapila 
the  sons  of  Sagara.  From  him  was  Kelhan,  the  chief  of  his  tribe, 
whose  son  Kuntal  resembled  Dharmaraj  ;  he  had  a  younger 
brother,  called  Deda,  Of  his  wife,  Rajaldevi,  a  son  was  born 
to  Kuntal,  fair  as  the  offspring  of  the  ocean  .^  He  was  named 
Mahadeva.  He  was  [in  wisdom]  fathomless  as  the  sea,  and  in 
battle  immovable  as  Sumeru  ;  in  gifts  he  was  the  Kalpa-vriksha  * 
of  Indra.  He  laid  the  dust  raised  by  the  hoofs  of  hostile  steeds, 
by  the  blood  of  his  foes.  The  sword  [748]  grasped  in  his  extended 
arm  dazzled  the  eye  of  his  enemy,  as  when  uplifted  o'er  the  head 
of  Ami  Shah  he  rescued  the  Lord  of  Medpat,  and  dragged  Kaita 
from  his  grasp,  as  is  Chandra  from  Rahu.^  He  trod  the  Sultan's 
army  under  foot,  as  does  the  ox  the  corn  ;  even  as  did  the  Danavas 
(demons)  churn  the  ocean,  so  did  Mahadeva  the  field  of  strife, 
seizing  the  gem  (ratna)  of  victory  from  the  son  of  the  King,  and 
bestowing  it  on  Kaita,  the  lord  of  men.     From  the  centre  even 

^  Harraj  had  twelve  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom,  the  celebi'ated  Alu  Hara, 
succeeded  to  Bumbaoda.     (See  p.  1470.) 

^  Here  we  quit  the  direct  line  of  descent,  going  back  to  Dewa.  Ritpal, 
in  all  probability,  was  the  offspring  of  one  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Harraj, 
having  Menal  as  a  fief  of  Bumbaoda. 

^  In  the  original,  "  fair  as  Chandrama  (the  moon),  the  offspring  of 
Samudra  (the  ocean)."  In  Hindu  mythology,  the  moon  is  a  male  divinity, 
and  son  of  the  ocean,  which  supplies  a  favourite  metaphor  to  the  Bardai, — 
the  sea  expanding  with  delight  at  the  sight  of  his  child,  denoting  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  waters. 

*  [The  Kalpatara,  Kalpalata,  or  Kalpavriksha  is  one  of  the  fabulous 
trees  in  Swarga,  the  paradise  of  Indra,  which  grants  all  desires.] 

*  This  Ami  Shah  can  only  be  the  Pathan  [Mughal]  emperor  Humayun, 
who  enjoyed  a  short  and  infamous  celebrity  ;  and  Mahadeo,  the  Hara  prince 
of  Mahanal,  who  takes  the  credit  of  rescuing  piince  Kaitsi,  must  have  been 
one  of  the  great  feudatories,  perhaps  generalissimo  of  the  armies  of  Mewar 
(Medpat).  It  will  be  pleasing  to  the  lovers  of  legendary  lore  to  learn,  from 
a  singular  tale,  which  we  shall  relate  when  we  get  to  Bumbaoda,  that  if  on 
one  occasion  he  owed  his  rescue  to  the  Hara,  the  last  on  another  took  the 
life  he  gave  ;  and  as  it  is  said  he  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son  Durjan,  whom 
he  constituted  Jivaraj,  or  king  (raj),  while  he  was  yet  in  life  (jiva),  it  is  not 
unlikely  that,  in  order  to  atone  for  the  crime  of  treason  to  his  sovereign  lord, 
he  abandoned  the  gaddi  of  Menal. 


1804  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

to  the  skirts  of  space,  did  the  fame  of  his  actions  extend,  pure  as 
curdled  niilk.  He  had  a  son,  Durjan,  on  whom  he  bestowed  the 
title  of  Jivaraj  ^  (Jeojraj),  who  had  two  brothers,  Subutsal  and 
Kiimbhakarna .  '^ 

"  Here,  at  Mahanal,  the  lord  of  the  land,  Mahadeva,  made  a 
mandir,  in  whose  variously-sculptured  wall  this  treasure  [the 
inscribed  tablet]  is  concealed.  This  (the  temple)  is  an  epitome 
of  the  universe,  whose  pinnacle  (sikhara)  sparkles  like  a  gem. 
The  mind  of  Mahadeva  is  bent  on  devotion  in  Mahanal,  the 
emblem  of  Kailas,  where  the  Brahmans  perform  varied  rites. 
While  the  science  of  arms  endures,  may  the  renown  of  Mahadeva 
never  perish  ; '  and  until  Ganges  ceases  to  flow,  and  Sumeru  to 
be  immovable,  may  this  memorial  of  Mahadeva  abide  fixed  at 
Mahanal.  This  invocation  to  Mahadeva  was  made  by  Mahadeva, 
and  by  the  Brahman  Dhaneswar,  the  dweller  in  Chitrakot 
(Chitor),  was  this  prashishta  composed  : 

Arka,  Gun,  Chandra,  Indu. 

"  The  month  of  Baisakh  (sudi),  the  seventh.  By  Viradhawal, 
the  architect  (silpi),  learned  in  the  works  of  architecture  {silpa- 
sastra)  was  this  temple  erected." 

The  cryptographic  date,  contained  in  the  above  four  words, 
is  not  the  least  curious  part  of  this  inscription,  to  which  I  did  not 
even  look  when  composing  the  Bundi  annals,  and  wliich  is  another 
of  the  many  powerful  proofs  of  the  general  fidelity  of  their  poetic 
chronicles  [749]. 

Arka  is  the  sun,  and  denotes  the  number  12  ;  Gun  is  the  tlu-ee 
principal  passions  of  the  mind  ;  and  Chandra  and  Indu  each 
stand  for  one  :  thus, 

Arka,  Gun,  Chandra,  Indu. 
12.        3.  1.  1. 

and  this  "  concealed  (gupta)  treasure,"  alluded  to  in  the  inscription, 
must  be   read   backwards.     But   either  my  expounder,   or  the 

^  Hero  it  is  distinctly  avowed  that  Mahadeva,  having  constituted  his  son 
Jivaraj,  passed  his  days  in  devotion  in  the  toiiiplo  he  had  founded. 

*  Pronounced  Kumbhkaran,  'a  ray  of  the  Kumbha,'  the  vessel  emblem- 
atic of  Ceres,  and  elsewhere  described.  [Kumbhakarna  means  '  having 
ears  like  waterpots,'  the  name  of  a  demon,  brother  of  Havana,  killed  by 
llama,  according  to  the  story  in  the  Ramayana  epic] 

3  It  appears  he  did  not  forget  he  had  been  a  warrior. 


MENAL:  BEGDN 


1805 


Silpi,  was  out,  and  had  I  not  found  S.  1446  in  a  corner,  we  should 
never  have  known  the  value  of  this  treasure.  Many  inscriptions 
are  useless  from  their  dates  being  thus  enigmatically  expressed  ; 
and  I  subjoin,  in  a  note,  a  few  of  the  magic  runes,  which  may  aid 
others  to  decipher  them.^ 

I  was  more  successful  in  another  inscription  of  Irna  or  Arnadeva 
(fam.  Arandeo),  who  appears  to  have  held  the  entire  Uparmal  as 
a  fief  of  Ajmer,  and  who  is  conspicuous  in  the  Bijoha  inscription. 
Of  this,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  it  records  his  having  "  made  the 
gateway  to  Menal,  otherwise  termed  the  city  of  Someswar  "  ;  and 

the  date  is 

Anal,  Nand,  Ind,  Ind. 
3.  9.         1.      1. 

Anal  (fire)  stands  for  three,  denoting  the  third  eye  of  Mahadeva, 
which  is  eventually  to  cause  pralaya,  or  '  destruction.'  Nand 
stands  for  nine,  or  the  Nau-nand  of  their  ancient  histories.  Indu, 
the  moon  (twice  repeated),  is  one,  and  the  whole,  read  backwards, 
is  S.  1193,  or  a.d.  1137. 

In  the  mandir  of  Samarsi,  we  found  the  fragment  of  another 
inscription,  dated  S.  12-2,  and  containing  the  eulogy  of  Samarsi 
and  Arnaraj,  lord  of  the  region  ;  also  the  name  of  "  Prithiraj, 
who  destroyed  the  barbarians  "  ;  and  concluding  with  Sawant 
Singh. 

Begiin,^  February. — We  conunenced  our  march  at  break  of  day, 
along  the  very  crest  [750]  of  the  Patar ;  but  the  thick  woods 
through  which  lay  our  path  did  not  allow  us  a  peep  at  the  plains 
of  Medpat  until  we  reached  the  peak,  where  once  stood  the  castle 
of  Alu  Hara.  But  silent  were  the  walls  of  Bumbaoda  ;  desolation 
was  in  the  courts  of  Alu  Hara.     We  could  trace,  however,  the 


Indu  (the  moon)        .  ,  .  . 

Paksheo  (the  two  fortnights) 

Netra  (the  three  eyes  of  Siva)     . 

Veda  (the  four  holy  books)  .         . 

Sar  (the  five  arrows  of  Kamdeo,  or  Cupid) 

Shashth  (the  six  seasons,  of  two  months  each) 

Jaladhi  (the  seven  seas,  or  Samudras) 

Sidah        ..... 

Nidh  (the  nine  planets) 

Dik  (the  ten  comers  of  the  globe) 

Budra  (a  name  of  Siva) 

Arka  (the  sun) 

[Begun  about  20  miles  E.N.E,  of  Udaipur  city.] 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

^  9 

10 

11 

12 


1806  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

plan  of  this  famed  residence  of  a  hero,  which  consisted  of  an 
exterior  and  an  interior  castle,  the  latter  being  a  hundred  and 
seventy  cubits  by  a  hundred  and  twelve.  There  are  the  ruins  of 
three  Jain  temples,  to  Siva,  Hanuman,  and  Dharmaraja,  the  Hindu 
Minos  ;  also  three  tanks,  one  of  which  was  in  excellent  preserva- 
tion. There  are  likewise  the  remains  of  one  hall,  called  the 
Andhyari  Kothri,  or  '  dark  chamber,'  perhaps  that  in  which  Alu 
(according  to  tradition)  locked  up  his  nephew,  when  he  carried 
his  feud  into  the  desert.  The  site  commands  an  extensive  view 
of  the  plains  of  Mewar,  and  of  the  Arneo-ghati  (pass),  down  the 
side  of  the  mountain,  to  the  valley  of  Begun.  Beneath,  on  a 
ledge  of  rock,  guarding  the  ascent,  was  the  gigantic  statue  of 
Jogini  Mata,  placed  on  the  very  verge  of  the  precipice,  and  over- 
looking one  of  the  noblest  prospects  in  nature.  The  hill  here 
forms  a  re-entering  angle  of  considerable  depth,  the  sides  scarped, 
lofty,  and  wooded  to  the  base  ;  all  the  plain  below  is  covered  with 
lofty  trees,  over  whose  tops  the  parasitic  Amarvela  forms  an 
umbrageous  canopy,  extending  from  rock  to  rock,  and  if  its  super- 
fluous supports  were  removed,  it  would  form  a  sylvan  hall,  where 
twenty  thousand  men  might  assemble. 

Over  this  magnificent  scenery  '  our  Queen  of  the  Pass  '  looks 
grimly  down  ;  but  now  there  is  neither  foe  to  oppose,  nor  scion 
of  Bumbaoda  to  guard.  I  could  not  learn  exactly  who  had 
levelled  the  castle  of  Alu  Hara,  although  it  would  appear  to  have 
been  the  act  of  the  lord  paramount  of  Chitor,  on  whose  land  it  is 
situated  ;  it  is  now  within  the  fief  of  Begun.  ^Ve  have  already 
given  one  legend  of  Alu  ;  another  from  the  spot  may  not  be 
unacceptable. 

Tale  of  a  Bard. — In  one  of  the  twenty-four  castles  dependent 
on  Bumbaoda,  resided  Lalaji,  a  kinsman  of  Alu.  He  had  one 
daughter,  in  whose  name  he  sent  the  coco-nut  to  Ms  liege  lord, 
the  liana  of  Chitor  ;  but  the  honour  was  declined.  The  family 
priest  was  returning  across  the  antri,  when  he  encountered  the 
heir  of  Chitor  returning  from  the  chase,  who,  on  learning  the  cause 
of  the  holy  man's  grief,  determined  to  remove  it  by  taking  the 
nuptial  symbol  himself.  He  dismissed  the  priest,  telling  him  he 
should  soon  appear  to  claim  his  bride.  Accordingly,  with  an 
escort  befitting  the  heir  of  Chitor,  and  accompanied  by  a  bard 
then  on  a  visit  to  the  liana,  he  set  out  for  Bumbaoda.  Bhimsen 
Bardai  was  a  native  of  Benares,  and  happened  to  pass  through 


THE  TALE  OF  A  BARD  1807 

Mewar  on  his  way  [751]  to  Cutch-Bhuj,  at  the  very  period  when 
all  '  the  sons  of  rhyme  '  were  under  sentence  of  exile  from  Mewar  : 
a  fate  which  we  frequently  find  attending  the  fraternity  in  this 
country.  The  cause  of  this  expatriation  was  as  follows  ;  an 
image  of  the  deity  had  been  discovered  in  clearing  out  the  waters 
of  the  lake,  of  a  form  so  exquisitely  beautiful  as  to  enchant  every 
eye.  But  the  position  of  the  arms  was  singular  ;  one  pointed 
upwards,  another  downwards,  a  third  horizontally  towards  the 
observer.  The  handwriting  on  the  wall  could  not  have  more 
appalled  the  despot  of  Babylon  than  this  putli  of  Chaturbhuja, 
or  '  image  of  the  four-armed  god.'  The  prophetic  seers  were 
convened  from  all  parts  ;  but  neither  the  Bhats  nor  the  Charans, 
nor  even  the  cunning  Brahman,  could  interpret  the  prodigy  ; 
until,  at  length,  the  bard  of  the  Jarejas  arrived  and  expounded 
the  riddle.  He  showed  that  the  finger  pointing  upwards  imported 
that  there  was  one  Indra,  lord  of  heaven  ;  and  that  downwards 
was  directed  to  the  sovereign  of  Fatal  (hell) ;  whilst  that  which 
pointed  to  the  Rana  indicated  that  he  was  lord  of  the  central 
region  (Medpat) ;  ^  which  being  geographically  correct,  his  interpre- 
tation was  approved,  and  met  with  such  reward,  that  he  became 
the  pat-bardai,  or  chief  bard  to  Hamir,  who,  at  his  intercession, 
recalled  his  banished  brethren,  exacting  in  return  for  such  favours 
that  '  he  would  extend  the  palm  to  no  mortal  but  himself.' 
This  was  the  bard  who  accompanied  the  heir  of  Chitor  to  espouse 
the  daughter  of  Bumbaoda.  The  castle  of  the  Hara  was  thronged  ; 
the  sound  of  mirth  and  revelry  rang  through  the  castle-halls,  and 
the  bards,  who  from  all  parts  assembled  to  sing  the  glories  of  the 
Haras,  were  loaded  with  gifts.  Bhimsen  could  not  withstand  the 
offering  made  by  the  lord  of  the  Patar,  a  horse  riclily  caparisoned, 
splendid  clothes,  and  a  huge  bag  of  money  :  as  the  bard  of  the 
Haras  (who  told  me  the  tale)  remarked,  "  although  he  had  more 
than  enough,  who  can  forget  habit  ?  We  are  beggars  (Mangtas) 
as  well  as  poets  by  profession."  So,  after  many  excuses,  he  allowed 
the  gift  to  be  left  ;  but  his  soul  detested  the  sin  of  his  eye,  and 
resolving  to  expiate  the  crime,  he  buried  his  dagger  in  his  heart. 
Cries  rent  the  air  ;  "  the  sacred  bard  of  Chitor  is  slain  !  "  met  the 
ear  of  its  prince  at  the  very  moment  of  hatheli  (junction  of  hands). 
He  dropped  the  hand  of  his  bride,  and  demanded  vengeance.  It 
was  now  the  Hara's  turn  to  be  offended  ;  to  break  off  the  nuptials 
1  [Medpat  means  '  land  of  the  Med  tribe.'] 


1808  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

at  such  a  moment  was  redoubling  the  insult  already  offered  by 
his  father,  and  a  course  which  not  even  the  bard's  death  could 
justify.  The  heir  of  Chitor  was  conducted  forthwith  outside 
Bumbaoda  ;  but  he  soon  returned  with  the  troops  of  Chitor,  and 
hostilities  commenced  where  festivity  so  lately  reigned.  Phalgun 
approached,  and  the  spring-hunt  of  the  Alieria  could  not  be 
deferred,  though  foes  were  [752]  around.  Lalaji,  father  of  the 
bride,  went  with  a  chosen  band  to  slay  a  boar  to  Gauri,  in  the 
plains  of  Tukarai  ;  but  Kaitsi  heard  of  it,  and  attacked  them. 
Alike  prepared  for  the  fight  or  the  feast,  the  Hara  accepted  the 
unequal  combat  ;  and  the  father  and  lover  of  the  bride  rushed 
on  each  other,  spear  in  hand,  and  fell  by  mutual  woimds. 

The  pyres  were  prepared  within  the  walls  of  Bumbaoda, 
whither  the  vassals  bore  the  bodies  of  their  lords  ;  on  one  was 
placed  the  prince  of  Chitor,  on  the  other  the  Hara  kinsman  ; 
and  while  the  virgin  bride  ascended  with  the  dead  body  of  the 
prince,  her  mother  was  consumed  on  that  where  her  father  lay.  It 
was  on  this  event  that  the  imprecation  was  pronounced  that 
"  Rana  and  Rao  should  never  meet  at  the  spring-hunt  (Alieria) 
but  death  should  ensue."  We  have  recorded,  in  the  annals  of 
the  Haras,  two  subsequent  occasions  ;  and  to  complete  their 
quatrain,  they  have  made  the  defeat  of  Rana  Mokal  (called 
Kumbha  in  the  Annals,  see  page  1471)  fill  up  the  gap.     Thus  : 

Ildtnu  Mokal  muriyo, 
Ldlc  Kheta  jdn, 
Suje  Ratan  samghariyo 
Ajmal  Arasi  ran. 

In  repeating  these  stanzas,  the  descendant  of  Alu  Hara  may 
lind  some  consolation  for  the  mental  sufferings  he  endures  when 
lie  casts  a  glance  upon  the  ruins  of  Bumbaoda  and  its  twenty-four 
subordinate  castles,  not  one  of  which  now  contains  a  Hara  : 

And  there  they  stand,  as  stands  a  lofty  mind, 
Worn,  but  unstooping  to  the  baser  crowd  ; 
All  tenantless,  save  to  the  crannying  wind, 
Or  holding  dark  communion  with  the  cloud.^ 

That  these  ruins  make  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  Hara,  I  can 
prove  by  letters  I  received  in  October  last  year,  when,  in  obedi- 

^  [Byron,  Childe  Harold,  ii.  47.] 


THE  TALE  OF  A  BARD  1809 

ence  to  a  mandate  of  the  '  Queen  of  the  Pass,'  a  band  collected 
at  her  slirine  to  obey  her  behest,  tvhatever  that  might  be. 

Extract  from  Akhbar  (newspaper),  dated  Bundi,  October  18, 1820. 

"  Warrants  were  sent  to  all  the  chiefs  for  their  attendance  at  the 
capital  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  Dasahra.  The  whole  of 
the  chiefs  and  landholders  came,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Thakm-s  of  Bar,  who  returned  the  following  reply  : — '  We  have 
received  a  communication  (paigham)  from  Sri  Bhavani  of  Bum- 
baoda,  who  conunands  us  no  longer  to  put  the  plough  in  the  soil, 
but  to  sell  our  horses  and  our  cattle  [753],  and  with  the  amount 
to  purchase  sixty-four  ^  buffaloes  and  thirty-two  goats,  for  a 
general  sacrifice  to  Mataji,  by  obeying  which  we  shall  repossess 
Bumbaoda.'  Accordingly,  no  sooner  was  this  known,  than 
several  others  joined  them,  both  from  Bundi  and  Kotah.  The 
Thakur  of  Bar  had  prepared  dinner  near  the  statue  of  Mata  for 
two  hundred,  instead  of  wliich  five  hundred  assembled  ;  yet  not 
only  were  they  all  abundantly  satisfied,  but  some  food  remained, 
which  convinced  the  people  there  that  the  story  (the  communica- 
tion) was  true." 

This  was  from  Bundi  ;  but  the  following  was  from  my  old, 
steady,  and  faithful  Bralunan,  Balgovind,  who  was  actually  on 
the  spot,  dated  "  Menal,  1st  Kartik  : — A  few  days  ago,  there  was 
a  grand  sacrifice  to  Jogini  Mata,  when  thirty-one  buffaloes  and 
fifty-three  goats  were  slain.  Upon  two  bakras  (he-goats),  three 
Haras  tried  their  swords  in  vain  ;  they  could  not  touch  a  single 
hair,  at  which  all  were  much  surprised.  These  goats  were  after- 
wards turned  loose  to  feed  where  they  pleased,  and  were  called 
amar  (immortal)." 

Not  a  comment  was  made  upon  this,  either  by  the  sensible 
Balgovind  or  the  Yati  Gyanji,  who  was  with  him.  There  was, 
therefore,  no  time  to  be  lost  in  preventing  an  explosion  from  five 
himdred  brave  Haras,  deeming  themselves  convened  at  the  express 
command  of  Bhavani,  to  whom  the  sacrifice  proved  thus  accept- 
able ;  and  I  sent  to  the  Raja  to  break  up  the  party,  which  was 
effected.  It,  however,  shows  what  an  easy  matter  it  is  to  work 
upon  the  crediUity  tlirough  the  feehngs  of  these  brave  men. 

^  A  number  sacred  (according  to  Chand)  to  this  goddess,  who  is  chief  of 
the  sixty-four  Joginis. 


1810  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

I  left  the  spot,  hallowed  by  many  feelings  towards  the  silent 
walls  of  Bumbaoda.  We  wound  our  way  down  the  rocky  steep, 
giving  a  look  to  the  '  mother  of  the  maids  of  slaughter '  as  we 
passed,  and  after  a  short  passage  across  the  entrance  of  the  vallej% 
encamped  in  a  fine  grove  of  trees  close  to  the  town  of  Begun. 
The  Rawat,  descendant  of  '  the  black  cloud,'  came  out  to  meet 
me  ;  but  he  is  yet  a  stranger  to  the  happiness  that  awaits  him — 
the  restoration  of  more  than  half  of  his  estate,  which  has  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  Mahratta  Sindhia  since  a. d.  1791  [754]. 


CHAPTER  15 

Begun,  February  26. — The  chances  were  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  to  one  that  I  ever  touched  a  pen  again.  Two  days 
ago  I  started,  with  all  the  '  pomp  and  circumstance  '  befitting 
the  occasion,  to  restore  to  the  chief  the  land  of  his  sires,  of  which 
force  and  fraud  had  conspired  to  deprive  them  during  more  than 
thirty  years.  The  purport  of  my  visit  being  made  known,  the 
'  sons  of  Kalamegh  '  assembled  from  all  quarters  ;  but  honhar 
has  again  interfered.  The  old  castle  of  Begun  has  a  remarkably 
wide  moat,  across  which  there  is  a  wooden  bridge  conununicating 
with  the  town.  The  avant-courtiers  of  my  cavalcade,  with  an 
elephant  bearing  the  union,  having  crossed  and  passed  under  the 
arched  gateway,  I  followed,  contrary  to  the  Mahaut's  advice, 
who  said  there  certainly  would  not  be  space  to  admit  the  elephant 
and  liowda.  But  I  heedlessly  told  him  to  drive  on,  and  if  he 
could  not  pass  through,  to  dismount.  The  hollow  sound  of  the 
bridge,  and  the  deep  moat  on  either  side,  alarmed  the  animal, 
and  she  darted  forward  with  the  celerity  occasioned  by  fear,  in 
spite  of  any  effort  to  stop  her.  As  I  approached  the  gateway,  I 
measured  it  with  my  eye,  and  expecting  inevitable  and  instantane- 
ous destruction,  I  planted  my  feet  firmly  against  the  howda,  and 
my  forearms  against  the  archway,  and,  by  an  almost  preternatural 
effort  of  strength,  burst  out  the  back  of  the  howda ;  the  elephant 
pursued  her  flight  inside,  and  I  dropped  senseless  on  the  bridge 
below.^     The   affectionate   sympathies   and   attention   of  those 

^  [Sir  Henry  Durand,  then  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Pan  jab,  met  his 
deatli  by  a  similar  accident  at  Tank  in  the  Dera  Ismail  Khan  District,  on 
January  1,  1871.] 


SERIOUS  ACCIDENT  TO  THE  AUTHOR  1811 

around  revived  me,  though  they  almost  extinguished  the  latent 
spark  of  hfe  in  raising  me  into  my  palki,  and  carrying  me  to  my 
tent.     I,  however,  soon  recovered  my  senses,  though  sadly  bruised  ; 
but  the  escape  was,  in  a  twofold  degree,  miraculous  ;    for,  in 
avoiding  decollation,  had  I  fallen  half  an  inch  more  to  the  side, 
I  should  have  been  caught  on  the  projecting  spikes  of  the  gateway. 
My  tent  was  soon  filled  by  the  Rawatji  and  his  brethren,  who 
deplored  the  accident,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  get  them 
to  leave  the  side  of  my  pallet  ;    but  what  was  my  astonishment 
when,  two  days  after,  going  to  fulfil  my  nnssion,  I  saw  the  noble 
[755]  gateway,  the  work  of  Kalamegh,  reduced  to  a  heap  of  ruins, 
through  wiiich  I  was  conducted  to  the  palace  on  an  ample  terrace, 
in  front  of  which  I  found  the  little  court  of  Begvm  !     The  Rawat 
advanced  and  presented  me  the  keys,  which  having  returned  in  his 
sovereign's  name,  I  deplored  his  rash  destruction  of  the  gateway, 
blamuig  honhar  and  my  own   want  of   budh  (wisdom)  for  the 
accident.     But  it  was  in  vaia  ;   he  declared  he  never  could  have 
looked  upon  it  with  complacency,  since  it  had  nearly  deprived 
of  hfe  one  who  had  given  life  to  them.     The  restored  estates  had 
been  mortgaged  to  old  Sindhia  for  the  payment  of  a  war-exaction, 
and  the  Rawat  held  regularly-executed  deeds,  empowering  lum 
to  recover  them  when  the  contribution  should   be  fiquidated. 
When  the  '  reign  of  justice  '  commenced  in  these  regions,  he  pro- 
duced his  bond  ;    he  showed  that  the  exactions  had  been  paid 
twice  over,  and  demanded,  tluough  the  intervention  of  the  British 
agent,  that  Siadhia  should  be  brought  to  a  settlement.     The 
rephes  and  rejoinders  were  endless  ;   and  at  length  the  Rawatji, 
wearied  out,  one  morning  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands  ; 
assaulted,  carried,  and,  with  the  loss  of  some  fives,  drove  out  the 
Mahrattas,  who  had  built  a  casteUated  residence  even  imder  his 
eye.     It  was  necessary  for  form-sake  to  pimish  this  act,  which 
we  would  not  prevent ;    and  accordingly  Begun  was  put  under 
sequestration,  and  the  Rana's  flag  was  planted  upon  its  waUs. 
The  chief  submitted  to  aU  with  a  good  grace,  and  with  a  cause  so 
just  I  made  an  exceUent  case  against  Sindhia'  who  talked  of 
papers   which  he   never  produced.     AUowing,   therefore,   some 
months  more  to  elapse,  we  executed  the  bond,  and  restored 
Begim  to  its  rightful  owner.^     I  was  the  more  rejoiced  at  effecting 

1  [Begun  was,  by  the  Author's  intervention,  restored  to  the  Rawat, 
Maha  Singh  II.,  in  1822.     A  couple  of  years  later,  Maha  Singh  gave  up  the 


1812  PERSONAL  NAllRATIVE 

this,  as  the  Rawat  had  set  the  example  of  signing  the  deed  of 
renunciation  of  May  1818,  which  was  the  commencement  of  the 
prosperity  of  Mewar. 

Basi,  February  27. — Compelled  to  travel  in  my  palki,  full  of 
aches  and  ails.  I  think  this  will  complete  the  disorganization 
of  my  frame  ;  but  I  must  reserve  the  little  strength  I  have  for 
Chitor,  and,  coute  que  coute,  climb  up  and  take  a  farewell  look. 

Chitor/ — My  heart  beat  high  as  I  approached  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  Sesodias,  teeming  with  reminiscences  of  glory, 
wliich  every  stone  in  her  ^ant-like  ktmguras  (battlements) 
attested.  It  was  from  this  side  that  the  imperial  hosts  vmder  Ala 
and  Akbar  advanced  to  force  the  descendant  of  Rama  to  do  homage 
to  their  power.  How  the  summons  was  answered,  the  deeds  of 
Ranas  Arsi  and  Partap  have  already  told.  But  there  was  one 
relic  of  "  the  last  day  "  of  Chitor,  wliich  I  visited  in  this  morning's 
march,  that  will  immortalize  the  field  where  the  greatest  monarch 
that  India  (perhaps  Asia)  ever  had,  erected  the  green  banner  of 
the  faith,  and  pitched  his  [756]  tent,  around  which  his  legions 
were  marshalled  for  the  reduction  of  the  city.  This  still  perfect 
monument  is  a  fine  pyramidal  colunui,  called  by  some  the 
Chiraghdan,  and  by  others  Akbar-ka-dewa,  both  having  the  same 
meaning,  '  Akbar's  lamp.'  ^  It  is  formed  of  large  blocks  of  com- 
pact lime-stone,  admirably  put  together,  about  thirty-five  feet 
high,  each  face  being  twelve  feet  at  the  base,  and  gradually  taper- 
ing to  the  sununit,  where  it  is  between  three  and  four,  and  on 
which  was  placed  a  huge  lamp  (chiragh),  that  served  as  a  beacon 
to  the  foragers,  or  denoted  the  imperial  headquarters.  An 
interior  staircase  leads  to  the  top  ;  but  although  I  had  the 
strongest  desire  to  chmb  the  steps,  trodden  no  doubt  by  Akbar's 
feet,  the  power  was  not  obedient  to  the  will,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
continue  my  journey,  passing  through  the  Talaiti,  as  they  term 
the  lower  town  of  Chitor.  Here  I  got  out  of  my  palki,  and  ven- 
tured the  ascent,  not  through  one,  but  live  gates,  upon  the  same 

estate  to  his  son,  Kishor  Singh,  and  became  a  religious  mendicant  at  the 
shrines  of  Nathdwara  and  Kankroli.  But  when  Kishor  Singh  was,  for  some 
unknown  reason,  murdered  in  cold  blood  by  a  Brahman  in  1839,  he  resumed 
the  management,  and  lived  till  1866  (Erskine  ii.  A.  95).] 

^  [For  a  curious  sketch  of  Chitor  by  a  gunner  in  Aurangzeb's  service,  see 
J.  Fryer,  New  Account  of  India  and  Persia,  vol.  iii.  ed.  1916,  p.  170.] 

a  [See  Vol.  I.  p.  379.] 


CHITOR  1813 

faithless  elephant ;  but  with  this  difference,  that  I  had  no  howda 
to  encase  me  and  prevent  my  sliding  off,  if  I  found  any  impedi- 
ment ;  nevertheless,  in  passing  under  each  successive  portal,  I 
felt  an  involuntary  tendency  to  stoop,  though  there  was  a  super- 
fluity of  room  over  head.  I  hastened  to  my  bechoba,^  pitched  upon 
the  margin  of  the  Surya-kund,  or  '  fountain  of  the  sun,'  and  with 
the  wrecks  of  ages  around  me  I  abandoned  mj'^self  to  contempla- 
tion. I  gazed  until  the  sun's  last  beam  fell  upon  '  the  ringlet 
of  Chitor,'  illuminating  its  grey  and  grief -worn  aspect,  like  a 
lambent  gleam  lighting  up  the  face  of  sorrow.  Who  could  look 
on  this  lonely,  this  majestic  column,  which  tells,  in  language  more 
easy  of  interpretation  than  the  tablets  within,  of 

deeds  which  should  not  pass  away. 
And  names  that  must  not  wither, 

and  withhold  a  sigh  for  its  departed  glories  ?  But  in  vain  I 
dipped  my  pen  to  embody  my  thoughts  in  language  ;  for,  wherever 
the  eye  fell,  it  filled  the  mind  with  images  of  the  past,  and  ideas 
rushed  too  tumultuously  to  be  recorded.  In  this  mood  I  con- 
tinued for  some  time,  gazing  listlessly,  until  the  shades  of  evening 
gradually  enshrouded  the  temples,  columns,  and  palaces  ;  and 
as  I  folded  up  my  paper  till  the  morrow,  the  words  of  the  prophetic 
bard  of  Israel  came  forcibly  to  my  recollection  :  "  How  doth  the 
city  sit  solitary  that  was  full  of  people  !  how  is  she  become  as  a 
widow !  she,  that  was  great  among  nations,  and  princess  among 
provinces,  how  is  she  become  tributary  !  " 

But  not  to  fatigue  the  reader  with  reflections,  I  will  endeavour 
to  give  him  some  [757]  idea  of  these  ruins. ^  I  begin  with  the 
description  of  Chitor  from  the  Khuman  Raesa,  now  beside  me  : 
"  Chitrakot  is  the  chief  amongst  eight y-fotir  castles,  renowned 
for  strength  ;  the  hill  on  which  it  stands,  rising  out  of  the  level 
plain  beneath,  the  tilak  on  the  forehead  of  Avani  (the  earth).  It 
is  within  the  grasp  of  no  foe,  nor  can  the  vassals  of  its  chief  know 
the  sentiment  of  fear.  Ganga  flows  from  its  summit  ;  and  so 
intricate  are  its  paths  of  ascent,  that  though  -you  might  find 
entrance,  there  would  be  no  hope  of  return.  Its  towers  of  defence 
are  planted  on  the  rock,  nor  can  their  inmates  even  in  sleep  know 
alarm.  Its  Kothars  (granaries)  are  well  filled,  and  its  reservoirs, 
fountains,   and   weUs   are   overflowing.      Ramachandra   himself 

1  A  small  tent  without  (be)  a  pole  (choba). 
*  [See  the  account  in  ASR,  xxiii.  (1887)  p.  101  ff.  ;   Erskine  ii.  A.  101  ff.] 


1814  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

here  dwelt  twelve  years.  There  are  eightj'^-four  bazars,  many 
schools  for  children,  and  colleges  for  every  kind  of  learning  ; 
many  scribes  (kayasth)  of  the  Bidar^  tribe,  and  the  eighteen  varieties 
of  artisans.  (Here  follows  an  enumeration  of  all  the  trees, 
shrubs,  and  flowers  within  and  surrounding  the  fortress.)  Of 
all,  the  Guhilot  is  sovereign  (dhani),  served  by  numerous  troops, 
both  horse  and  foot,  and  by  all  the  '  thirty-six  tribes  of  Rajputs,' 
of  which  he  is  the  ornament  (chhattis  kula  singar).^^ 

The  Khuman  Raesa,  or  story  of  Rawat  Khuman,  was  com- 
posed in  the  ninth  century  ;  ^  and  the  poet  has  not  exaggerated  : 
for  of  all  the  royal  abodes  of  India,  none  could  compete  with 
Chitor  before  she  became  a  "  widow."  But  we  must  abandon 
the  Raesa  for  a  simple  prose  description.  Chitor  is  situated  on 
an  isolated  rock  of  the  same  formation  as  the  Patar,  whence  it 
is  distant  about  three  miles,  leaving  a  fertile  valley  between,  in 
which  are  the  estates  of  Bijaipur,  Gwalior,  and  part  of  Begun, 
studded  with  groves,  but  all  waste  through  long-continued 
oppression.  The  general  direction  of  the  rock  is  from  S.S.W.  to 
N.N.E.  ;  the  internal  length  on  the  summit  being  three  miles 
and  two  furlongs,  and  the  greatest  central  breadth  twelve  hundred 
yards.  The  circumference  of  the  hill  at  its  base,  which  is  fringed 
with  deep  woods,  extending  to  the  siunmit,  and  in  which  lurk 
tigers,  deer,  hogs,  and  even  lions,  is  somewhere  above  eight  miles, 
and  the  angle  of  ascent  to  its  scarped  summit  about  45°.  The 
Talaiti,  or  lower  town,  is  on  the  west  side,  which  in  some  places 
presents  a  double  scarp,  and  this  side  is  crowded  with  splendid 
objects  ;  the  triumphal  column,  the  palaces  of  Chitrang  Mori, 
of  Rana  Raemall,  the  huge  temple  of  Rana  Mokal,  the  hundred 
pinnacles  of  the  acropolis  of  the  Guhilots,  and  last,  not  least,  the 
mansions  of  Jaimall  and  Patta,  built  on  a  projecting  point,  are 
amongst  the  most  remarkable  monuments  overlooking  the  plain. 

^  [The  Bldar  subdivision  of  tlio  Kayasth,  or  writer  caste,  does  not  appear 
in  recent  lists,  and  this  is  the  only  reference  to  Kayasths  in  the  "  Annals," 
their  place  being  usually  taken  by  the  Pancholi.  A  man  of  the  writer 
caste,  Sripati,  is  mentioned  on  the  Siwalik  pillar  at  Delhi  {lA,  xix.  219). 
The  place  of  Kayasths  in  Rajputana  has  generally  been  taken  by  Banias.] 

*  [This,  the  most  ancient  chronicle  of  Mewar,  was  written  in  the  ninth 
century,  and  was  recast  in  the  reign  of  Partap  Singh  I.  (a.d.  1572-97),  and 
carries  the  narrative  down  to  the  wars  of  that  prince  with  Akbar,  devoting 
much  space  to  the  siege  of  Chitor  by  Alau-d-din  Khilji  (Grierson,  Modern 
Lilernry  Hist,  of  Uinduiftan,  1  f.).] 


CHITOR  1815 

The  great  length  of  Chitor,  and  the  uniformity  of  the  level  crest, 
detract  from  its  height,  which  in  no  part  exceeds  [758]  four 
hundred  feet,  and  that  only  towards  the  north.  In  the  centre 
of  the  eastern  face,  at  '  the  gate  of  the  sun  '  (Surajpol),  it  is  less 
than  three  hundred,  and  at  the  southern  extremity,  the  rock  is 
so  narrow  as  to  be  embraced  by  an  immense  demi-lune  command- 
ing the  hill  called  Chitori,  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant  ;  it  is  connected  with  Chitor,  but  lower,  and  judici- 
ously left  out  of  its  circumvallation.  Still  it  is  a  weak  point,  of 
which  the  invader  has  availed  himself.  On  this,  Mahadaji 
Sindhia  raised  his  batteries  when  called  on  by  the  Rana  to  expel 
his  rebellious  vassal  of  Salumbar  (Vol.  I.  p.  517).  The  Mahratta's 
batteries,  as  well  as  the  zigzag  lines  of  his  ascent,  indicate  that, 
even  in  S.  1848  (a.d.  1792),  he  had  the  aid  of  no  unskilful  engineer. 
From  this  point  the  Tatar  Ala  stormed  ;  and  to  him  they  attribute 
Chitor  altogether,  alleging  that  he  raised  it  by  artificial  means, 
"  commencing  with  a  copper  for  every  basket  of  earth,  and  at 
length  ending  with  a  piece  of  gold."  It  would,  indeed,  have 
taken  the  twelve  years,  assigned  by  tradition  to  Ala's  siege,  to 
have  effected  this,  though  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  he  greatly 
augmented  it,  and  planted  there  his  Manjanikas,^  or  balistas,  in 
the  same  manner  as  he  did  to  reduce  the  fortress  of  Rain,  near 
Ranthambhor. 

Having  wandered  for  two  or  three  days  amongst  the  ruins, 
I  commenced  a  regular  plan  of  the  whole,  going  to  work  trigono- 
metrically,  and  laying  down  every  temple  or  object  that  still 
retained  a  name  or  had  any  tradition  attached  to  it.  I  then 
descended  with  the  perambulator  and  made  the  circuit. 

The  first  lateral  cut  of  ascent  is  in  a  line  due  north,  and  before 
another  angle  you  pass  through  three  separate  gates  ;  between 
the  last  of  wliich,  distinctively  called  the  Phuta  Dwara,  or  '  broken 
door,'  and  the  fourth,  the  Hanuman  pol  (porte),  is  a  spot  for  ever 
sacred  in  the  history  of  Chitor,  where  its  immortal  defenders, 
JaimaU  and  Patta,  met  their  death.  There  is  a  small  cenotaph 
to  the  memorj'  of  the  former,  while  a  sacrificial  Jujhar,  on  which 
is  sculptured  the  effigy  of  a  warrior  on  horseback,  lance  in  hand, 
reminds  the  Sesodia  where  fell  the  stripling  chief  of  Amet.  Near 
these  is  another  cenotaph,  a  simple  dome  supported  by  light 
elegant  columns,  and  covering  an  altar  to  the  manes  of  the 
1  [See  Vol.  I.  p.  362.] 


1816  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

martyr  Raghudeva,  the  deified  putra  of  Mewar  (see  Vol.  I.  p.  325). 
After  passing  three  more  barriers,  we  reach  the  Rampol,  which 
crowns  the  whole,  and  leads  into  a  noble  Dari-khana,  or  '  hall  of 
assembly,'  where  the  princes  of  Chitor  met  on  grand  occasions  ; 
and  it  was  in  this  hall  that  the  genius  of  Chitor  is  said  to  have 
revealed  to  Rana  Arsi  that  his  glory  was  departing.  On  a  com- 
partment of  the  Rampol  we  found  an  interdict  inscribed  by  the 
rebel  Bhim  of  [759]  Salumbar,  who  appears  to  have  been  deter- 
mined to  place  upon  his  OAvn  head  the  mor  ^  of  Chitor,  so  nobly 
renounced  by  his  ancestor  Chonda  many  centuries  before.  This 
was,  however,  set  up  when  he  was  yet  loyal,  and  in  his  sovereign's 
name  as  well  as  his  own,  "  abolishing  forced  labour  from  the 
townspeople,  and  likewise  dand,  or  contribution  "  ;  concluding 
with  a  grant  of  land  to  a  patriotic  carpenter  of  Gosunda,  who  had, 
at  his  own  expense,  furnished  the  Rampol  with  a  new  gate  ;  the 
cow  and  hog  are  attesting  witnesses  to  the  deed.  The  next 
building  I  came  to,  as  I  skirted  the  western  face  in  a  southerly 
direction,  was  a  small  antique  temple  to  Tulja  Bhavani,^  the 
divinity  of  the  scribes,  adjoining  the  Top-khana  Chaori,  a  square 
for  the  park,  where  a  few  old  cannon,  the  relics  of  the  plunder  of 
Chitor,  still  remain.  The  habitation  of  the  Purohits,  or  chief 
priests  of  the  Ranas,  a  plain,  commodious,  and  substantial 
edifice,  was  the  next ;  and  close  by  was  that  of  the  Masani,'  or 
master  of  the  horse,  with  several  others  of  the  chief  household 
officers.  But  the  first  imposing  edifice  is  that  termed  Naulakha 
Bhandar.  This  is  a  small  citadel  in  itself,  with  massive,  lofty 
walls,  and  towers  built  entirely  of  ancient  ruins.  Its  name 
would  import  that  it  was  a  receptacle  (bhandar)  for  treasure, 
though  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  residence  of  the  usurper  Banbir. 
At  the  north-eastern  corner,  it  has  a  little  temple,  richly  sculptured, 
called  the  Singar  Chaori.*     From  this  we  pass  on  to  the  palace 

^  [Mor,  maur,  '  a  crown,'  such  as  that  worn  hy  the  bridegroom  to  avert 
the  Evil  Eye.] 

^  [Tulja  (not  Tulsi,  as  in  the  orisjinal  text)  Bhavani,  a  form  of  the  Mata 
or  mother  goddess,  has  her  best-known  shrine  at  Tuljapur  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Nlziim  of  Haidarabad  (lOI,  xxiv.  52).] 

'  [This  title  is  not  traceable  in  the  dictionaries.  The  more  usual  designa- 
tion is  Mir-i-dkhwar  or  dkhor.'] 

*  [An  inscription  on  this  building  shows  that  it  was  erected  in  a.d.  1448 
by  Bhandiiri  Bela,  son  of  tho  treasurer  of  Rana  Kumbha,  and  dedicated  to 
Santinath,  the  16th  Jain  Tlrthakara  (Erskino  ii.  A.  102  f.).] 


CHITOR  1817 

of  the  Ranas,  which,  though  attributed  to  Rana  Raemall,  is  of 
the  same  character  as  those  of  a  much  higher  antiquity.  It  is 
plain,  capacious,  and  in  excellent  taste,  the  only  ornament  being 
its  crenated  battlements,  and  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  Rajputs,  long  anterior  to  the  intrusion  of 
the  Islamite  amongst  them.  The  vaulted  chamber,  the  pro- 
jecting gaukh  or  balcony,  and  the  gentle  exterior  slope  or  talua 
of  the  walls,  lend  a  character  of  originality  to  all  the  ancient 
structures  of  Chitor.  The  industrious  Ghasi  made  sketches  for 
me  of  all  their  domestic  dwellings,  from  the  ancient  abode  of 
Chitrang  Mori,  down  to  the  mahalls  of  .Jaimall  and  Patta.  A 
courtyard  surrounds  the  palace,  in  which  there  is  a  small  temple 
to  Deoji,  through  whose  interposition  Rana  Sanga  effected  all  his 
conquests.  This  unknown  divinity  I  find  is  styled  one  of  the 
eleven  kolas,  or  Mahavidyas,  incarnate  in  the  person  of  a  cele- 
brated warrior,  named  Bhoj,  whose  father  was  a  Chauhan,  and 
his  mother  of  the  Gujar  tribe,  which  originated  a  new  class,  called 
the  Bagrawat.^  The  story  of  this  Deo  will  add  another  to  the 
many  tales  of  superstition  which  are  listened  to  with  reverence, 
and  I  imagine  generally  with  belief.  The  incarnate  Bagrawat, 
while  on  his  way  to  revenge  an  ancient  feud  with  the  Parihars 
of  Ranbinai  [760],  approached  Chitor,  and  Rana  Sanga,  aware  of 
his  sanctity,  paid  him  all  the  dues  of  hospitality  ;  in  return  for 
this,  the  Deoji  bestowed  a  charm  upon  Sanga,  by  means  of  which, 
so  long  as  he  followed  the  prescribed  injunctions,  victory  was 
always  to  attend  his  steps.  It  was  placed  in  a  small  bag,  and  to 
be  worn  round  the  neck  ;  but  he  was  warned  against  allowing 
it  to  turn  towards  the  back.  The  Deo  had  the  power  of  raising 
the  dead,  and  in  order  to  show  the  Rana  the  value  of  the  gift,  he 
put  into  his  hand  a  peacock's  feather,  with  which  having  touched 
all  who  were  then  lying  dead  in  Chitor,  they  were  restored  to 
life  !  With  this  new  proof  of  Deoji's  power,  Rana  Sanga  went 
forth  to  pursue  his  conquests,  which  had  extended  to  the  fortress 
of  Bayana,  when  one  day,  while  bathing  in  the  Pila  Khal,^  the 
charm  slipped  round,  and  straight  a  voice  was  heard,  saying,  his 
"  mortal  foe  was  at  hand  !  "  So  impressed  are  the  Sesodias  with 
the  truth  of  this  tale,  that  Deoji  has  obtained  a  distinguished 
niche  in  their  Pantheon  ;  nor  in  all  their  poverty  has  oil  been 
wanting  for  the  lamp  which  is  constantly  burning  before  the 

1  [See  p.  1640.1  «  ['  The  yellow  rivulet.'] 

VOL.  Ill  2  o 


1818  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Bagrawat  chieftain,  whose  effigy,  on  a  horse  painted  blue  and 
lance  in  hand,  still  attracts  their  homage.  To  buy  golden  opinions, 
I  placed  three  pieces  of  silver  on  the  altar  of  the  saint,  in  the 
name  of  the  brave  Sanga,  the  worthy  antagonist  of  Babur,  the 
"  immortal  foe,"  who  at  the  Pila  Khal  at  Bayana  destroyed  the 
charm  of  the  Deoji. 

Krishna  Temples. — On  leaving  the  court  of  Rana  Raemall,  we 
reach  two  immense  temples  dedicated  to  the  black  god  of  Vraj  ; 
one  being  erected  bj'^  Rana  Kumbha,  the  other  by  his  celebrated 
wife,  the  chief  poetess  of  that  age,  Mira  Bai,  to  the  god  of  her 
idolatry,  Shamnath.^  We  have  elsewhere  mentioned  the  ecstasies 
of  this  fair  votarj^  of  the  Apollo  of  the  Yamuna,  who  even  danced 
before  his  shrine,  in  which  her  last  moments  were  passed  ;  and, 
to  complete  the  picture,  so  entirely  were  the  effusions  both  of  her 
heart  and  pen  approved,  that  "  the  god  descended  from  his 
pedestal  and  gave  her  an  embrace,  which  extricated  the  spark 
of  life.  '  Welcome,  Mira,'  said  the  lover  of  Radha  ;  and  her  soul 
was  absorbed  into  his  !  "  This  rhapsody  is  worthy  of  the  fair 
authoress  of  the  Tika,  or  sequel  to  the  Gita  Govinda,*  which  is 
said  not  to  be  unworthy  even  of  Jayadeva. 

Both  these  temples  are  entirely  constructed  from  the  wrecks 
of  more  ancient  shrines,  said  to  have  been  brought  from  the 
ruins  of  a  city  of  remote  antiquity,  called  Nagari,  three  coss 
northward  of  Chitor.'  Near  these  temples  of  Kumbh-Sj'^am  are 
two  reservoirs,  built  of  large  blocks,  each  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  long  by  fifty  [761]  wide,  and  fifty  deep,  said  to 
have  been  excavated  on  the  marriage  of  the  '  Ruby  of  Mewar ' 

^  [This  temple,  dedicated  to  Krishna,  is  known  as  Kumbh  Syam,  Syam 
being  '  the  black '  Krishna.  It  was  built  about  a.d.  1450  (Erskine  u.  A. 
103).     Also  see  Fergusson,  Hisl.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910,  ii.  150.] 

2  [The  chief  work  of  Mira  Bai  is  the  Rag  Gobind,  and  a  much-admired 
commentary  on  the  Gita  Govinda  of  Jayadeva  (Grierson,  Modern  Literary 
Hist,  of  Hindustan,  12).] 

^  I  trust  this  may  be  put  to  the  proof ;  for  I  think  it  will  prove  to  be 
Takshaknagara,  of  which  I  liavo  long  been  in  search,  and  which  gave  rise 
to  the  suggestion  of  Herbert  that  Chitor  was  Taxila  of  Poms  (the  Puar  ?). 
[The  Author's  suggestion  is  incorrect.  Nagari  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
places  in  Rajputana,  and  its  original  name  is  said  to  be  Madhyamika.  A 
fragmentary  inscription  earlier  than  the  Christian  era  has  been  found  heie. 
There  are  two  Buddhist  stiipas  and  llic  ruins  of  a  Buddhist  building,  said  to 
have  been  used  by  Akbar  to  house  his  elephants,  and  hence  called  Hathi  ka 
Bara,  '  the  elephant  enclosure  '  (Erskine  ii.  A.  94).] 


CHITOR  1819 

to  Achal  Khichi  of  Gagratm,  and  filled  with  oil  and  ghi,  which 
were  served  out  to  the  numerous  attendants  on  that  occasion. 

The  Pillar  of  Victory,  or  Kirtti-Khambh. — We  are  now  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Kirtti-Khambh,  the  pillar  erected  by  Rana  Kumbha 
on  his  defeat  of  the  combined  armies  of  Malwa  and  Gujarat.^  The 
only  thing  in  India  to  compare  with  this  is  the  Kutb  Minar  at 
Delhi  ;  but,  though  much  higher,  it  is  of  a  very  inferior  character. 
This  column  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet  in  height,  the 
breadth  of  each  face  at  the  base  is  thirty-five  feet,  and  at  the 
simimit,  immediately  under  the  cupola,  seventeen  feet  and  a 
half.  It  stands  on  an  ample  terrace,  •forty-two  feet  square.  It 
has  nine  distinct  stories,  with  openings  at  every  face  of  each 
story,  and  all  these  doors  have  colonnaded  porticos  ;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  describe  it,  and  therefore  a  rough  outline,  which 
will  show  Ghasi's  notions  of  perspective,  must  suffice.  It  is 
built  chiefly  of  compact  limestone  and  the  quartz  rock  on  which 
it  stands,  which  takes  the  highest  polish  ;  indeed  there  are 
portions  possessing  the  hardness  and  exhibiting  the  fracture  of 
jasper.  It  is  one  mass  of  sculpture  ;  of  which  a  better  idea 
cannot  be  conveyed  than  in  the  remark  of  those  who  dwell  about 
it.  that  it  contains  every  object  known  to  their  mythology.  The 
ninth  khand,  or  '  story,'  which,  as  I  have  stated,  is  seventeen 
feet  and  a  half  square,  has  numerous  columns  supporting  a  vault, 
in  which  is  sculptured  Kanhaiya  in  the  Rasmandala  (celestial 
sphere),  surrounded  by  the  Gopis  or  muses,  each  holding  a 
musical  instrument,  and  in  a  dancing  attitude.^  Beneath  this 
is  a  richly  carved  scroll  fringed  with  the  saras,  the  phenicopteros  ^ 
of  ornithology.  Around  this  chamber  had  been  arranged,  on 
black  marble  tablets,  the  whole  genealogy  of  the  Ranas  of  Chitor  ; 
but  the  Goths  have  broken  or  defaced  all,  save  one  slab,  containing 
the  two  following  slokas. 

1  [For  tills  pillar,  known  as  Klitti  or  Jai  Stambha,  see  Fergusson,  Hist. 
Ind.  Arch,  ed,  1910,  ii.  59  f. ;  Smith,  Hist.  Fine  Art,  202  f.,  who  calls  it 
"  an  illustrated  dictionary  of  Hindu  mythology."  Garrett  found  Arabic 
inscriptions  on  the  third  and  eighth  stories  (ASR,  xxiii.  (1887),  116  f.).  For 
the  pillar  which  the  opponent  of  Rana  Kiimbha  erected  to  commemorate 
his  victory,  see  BO,  1.  Part  i.  361  ;  for  similar  piUars  erected  at  Mandasor  by 
Yasodharman  in  the  sixth  century  a.d.,  see  I  A,  xv.  253  ff.,  and  compare 
xvi.  18.] 

*  [For  the  Rasmandala,  or  circular  dance  of  Krishna  with  the  Gopis  or 
shepherd  girls,  see  Growse,  Mathura,  3rd  ed.,  61.] 

3  [Ardea  antigone,  the  noble  crane  of  N.  India.] 


«« 


1S20  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

Sloka  172  :  "  Shaking  the  earth,  the  lords  of  Gujarkhand  and 
Malwa,  both  the  sultans,  with  armies  overwhelming  as  the  ocean, 
invaded  Medpat.  Kumbhakaran  reflected  lustre  on  the  land  ;  to 
what  point  can  we  exalt  his  renown  ?  In  the  midst  of  the  armies 
of  his  foe,  Kumbha  was  as  a  tiger,  or  as  a  flame  in  a  dry  forest." 

Sloka  183  :  "  While  the  sun  continues  to  warm  the  earth,  so 
long  may  the  fame  of  Kvunbha  Rana  endure.  While  the  icy 
moimtains  (Himagiri)  of  the  north  rest  upon  their  base,  or  so 
long  as  Himachal  is  stationary,  while  ocean  continues  to  form  a 
garland  round  the  neck  of  Avani  (the  earth),  so  long  may  Kumbha's 
glory  be  perpetuated  !  May  the  varied  history  of  his  sway  and 
the  splendour  of  his  dominion  last  [762]  for  ever  !  Seven  years 
had  elapsed  beyond  fifteen  hundred  when  Rana  Kumbha  placed 
this  ringlet  on  the  forehead  of  Chitor.  Sparkling  like  the  rays  of 
the  rising  sun,  is  the  foran,  rising  like  the  bridegroom  of  the  land. 

"In  S.  1515,  the  temple  of  Brahma  was  founded,  and  this 
year,  Vrihaspatiwar  (Thursday),  the  10th  tithi  and  Pushya 
Nakshatra,  in  the  month  of  Magh,  on  the  immovable  Chitrakot, 
this  Kirtti  stambha  was  finished.  Wliat  does  it  resemble,  which 
makes  Chitor  look  down  on  Meru  with  derision  ?  Again,  what 
does  Chitrakot  resemble,  from  whose  summit  the  fountains  are 
ever  flowing,  the  circular  diadem  on  whose  crest  is  beauteous  to 
the  eye  ;  abounding  in  temples  to  the  Almighty,  planted  %vith 
odoriferous  trees,  to  which  myriads  of  bees  resort,  and  where 
soft  zephyrs  love  to  play  ?  This  immovable  fortress  (Achal-durga) 
was  formed  by  Maha-Indra's  own  hands." 

How  many  more  Slokas  there  may  have  been,  of  which  this 
is  the  183rd,  we  can  only  conjecture  ;  though  this  would  seem  to 
be  the  winding-up. 

The  view  from  this  elevated  spot  was  superb,  extending  far 
into  the  plains  of  Malwa.  The  lightning  struck  and  injured  the 
dome  some  years  ago,  but  generally  there  is  no  semblance  of 
decay,  though  some  shoots  of  the  pipal  have  rooted  themselves 
where  the  bolt  of  Indra  fell.  It  is  said  to  have  cost  ninety  lakhs 
of  rupees,  or  near  a  million  sterling  ;  and  this  is  only  one  of  the 
many  magnificent  works  of  Rana  Kumbha  within  Chitor  ;  the 
temples  to  Krishna,  the  lake  called  Kurma  Sagar,  the  temple  and 
fountain  to  Kukkureswar  Mahadeo,  having  been  erected  by  him. 
He  also  raised  the  stupendous  fortifications  of  Kumbhalmer,  to 
which   place   the   seat   of  government   was   transferred.     It   is 


_r 


JAISTAJIBHA,  PILLAli   OF  VICTORY,  AT  CHITOR. 

Tofiicepage  1820. 


CHITOR  1821 

asserted  that  the  immense  wealth  in  jewels  appertaining  to  the 
princes  of  Gujarat,  was  captured  by  Mahmud  Begada,  when  he 
took  Kumbhalmer,  whence  he  carried  forty  thousand  captives.^ 

Near  this  is  the  grand  temple  of  Brahma,  erected  also  by 
Kumbha,  in  honour  of  his  father  Mokal,  whose  name  it  bears, 
and  whose  bust  is  the  only  object  of  veneration  within.-  It 
would  seem  as  if  Kumbha  had  been  a  deist,  worshipping  the 
Creator  alone  ;  though  his  inspired  wife,  INIira  Bai,  seems  to  have 
drawn  a  portion  of  his  regard  to  MuraUdhar,  '  he  who  holds  the 
flute.'  Adjoining  the  shrine  of  the  great  spuit,  is  the  Charbagh, 
where  the  ashes  of  the  heroes,  from  Bappa  down  to  the  founder  of 
Udaipur,  are  entombed.  Many  possessed  great  external  interest ; 
but  I  was  forced  to  be  content  with  what  I  saw,  for  the  chronicler 
is  dead. 

Scene  of  the  Johar. — Through  these  abodes  of  silence,  a  rugged 
path  leads  to  a  sequestered  spot  in  a  deep  cleft  of  the  rock,  where 
there  is  a  Mving  fomitain,  called  the  Gao-mukh,  or  '  cow's  [763] 
mouth,'  under  the  shade  of  an  umbrageous  bar  tree.  On  one  side 
of  the  dell  is  the  subterranean  channel  called  Rani-bhandar, 
which,  it  is  said,  leads  to  suites  of  chambers  in  the  rock.  This 
was  the  scene  of  the  awful  Johar,  on  the  occasion  of  Ala  sacldng 
Chitor,  when  the  queens  perished  in  the  flames  ;  on  which  the 
cavern's  mouth  was  closed. 

StiU  ascending,  I  visited  the  edifices  named  after  JaimaU  and 
Patta,  and  the  shrine  of  KaUka  Devi,  esteemed  one  of  the  most 
ancient  of  Chitor,  existing  since  the  time  of  the  Mori,  the  dynasty 
prior  to  the  Gutulot.^  But  the  only  inscription  I  discovered 
was  the  following  : — 

"  S.  1574  M^gh  {sudi)  5th,  and  Revati  Nakshatra,  the  stone- 

^  [Mahmud  Begada,  King  of  Ahmadabad  (a.d.  1459-1513).  There  does 
not  seem  to  be  any  corroboration  of  his  capture  of  Kumbhalmer  (Ferishta 
iv.  26  &.).  His  predecessor,  Kutbu-d-din,  is  said  to  have  levied  a  ransom 
from  the  Rana  after  an  unsuccessful  attack  by  the  latter  {ibid.  iv.  41).  For 
the  attack  on  the  fort,  about  a.d.  1458,  by  Mahmud  Khilji  of  Malwa,  see 
ibid.  iv.  208  f.] 

*  [This  temple,  originally  erected  in  the  eleventh  century,  was  recon- 
structed in  the  reign  of  Mokal  (a.d.  1428-38),  and  is  dedicated  to  Mahadeo 
Samiddheswar.  It  contains  a  series  of  relief  sculptures,  the  interpretation 
of  which  is  still  uncertain  (Erskine  ii.  A.  103  ;  Smith,  Hist.  Fine  Art,  203  f., 
with  references  to  authorities.)] 

^  [It  was  originally  a  sun-temple  (Erskine  ii.  A.  103).] 


1822  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

cutters  Kalu,  Kaimer,  and  thirty-six  others  (whose  names  are 
added),  enlarged  the  fountain  of  tlie  sun  (Suryakunda),  adjacent 
to  the  temple  of  Kalika  Devi."  Thence  I  passed  to  the  vaulted 
cenotaph  of  Chonda,  the  founder  of  the  Chondawats,  who  sur- 
rendered his  birthright  to  please  his  aged  sire.  A  little  further, 
are  the  mahalls  of  Rana  Bhim  and  Padmini.  Beyond  this, 
within  a  stone  enclosure,  is  the  place  where  the  victorious  Kumbha 
confined  the  king  of  Malwa  ;  and  toucliing  it  is  the  mahall  of  the 
Raos  of  Rampura. 

Fvurther  south  is  a  spot  of  deep  interest :  the  tank  and  palace 
of  Chitrang  Mori,^  the  ancient  Puar  lord  of  Chitor,  whose  inscrip- 
tion I  have  already  given.  The  interior  sides  of  the  tank  are 
divided  into  sculptured  compartments,  in  very  good  taste,  but 
not  to  be  compared  with  the  works  at  BaroUi,  though  doubtless 
executed  imder  the  same  family.  Being  now  witMn  two  hmidred 
yards  of  the  southern  bastion,  I  returned  by  the  mahaUs  of  the 
once  vassals  of  Chitor,  namely,  Sirolii,  Bundi,  Sunth,''  Lunawada, 
to  the  Chaugan,  or  '  field  of  Mars,'  where  the  military  festival 
of  the  Dasahra  is  yet  held  by  the  slender  garrison  of  Chitor.  Close 
to  it  is  a  noble  reservoir  of  a  hundred  and  tliirty  feet  in  length, 
sixty-five  in  width,  and  forty-seven  in  depth.  It  is  lined  with 
immense  sculptured  masses  of  masonry,  and  filled  with  water. 

The  Jain  Pillar. — Higher  up,  and  nearly  about  the  centre,  is  a 
remarkable  square  pillar,  called  the  Ivliawasan-sthamba  (column).' 
It  is  seventy-five  feet  and  a  half  m  height,  thirty  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  base,  and  fifteen  at  the  top,  and  covered  with  Jain  figures. 
It  is  very  ancient,  and  I  found  a  fragment  of  an  inscription  at  its 
base,  which  shows  that  it  was  dedicated  to  Adinath,  the  first  of 
the  twenty-four  Jain  pontifis  :  "  By  Sri  Adinath,  and  the  twenty- 

^  [This  has  been  so  altered,  remodelled,  and  ruined  that  its  original  form 
is  unrecognizable  (Fergusaon,  Hist.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910,  ii.  170).] 

^  [Sunth  and  Lunavada  in  Kewa  Kantha,  Bombay  {IGI,  xvi.  209  ff.).] 
3  [The  Jain  pillar,  known  as  Khawasan  Stambha,  said  to  mean  '  Gran- 
dee's pillar,'  or  Kiitti  JStambha,  '  pillar  of  victory,'  was  built  by  a  Bagherwal 
Mahajan,  or  merchant,  named  Jija  in  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century  a.d., 
and  has  recently  been  repaired  by  tlie  Government  of  India.  Fergusaon 
{Hist.  Ind.  Arch.  ed.  1910,  ii.  5'J)  remarks  that  the  date  assigned  on  the  slab 
mentioned  in  the  text,  which  is  now  lost,  is  much  too  early.  It  has  been 
ascribed  to  Kumarapala  of  Gujarat  (a.d.  1143-74).  It  probably  belongs  to 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  nude  figures  show  that  it  was  a  Digambara 
monument,  whereas  Kumarapala  was  a  kSvetambara.  The  tradition  assign- 
ing it  to  Jija  Mahajan  may  be  correct  (Erskino  ii.  A.  104).] 


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COLUJrXS   IX  THE    FORTRESS  OF  CHITOR. 


To  face  page  1822.. 


CHITOR  1828 

four  Jineswara,  Pundarikaksha,  Ganesa,  Surya,  and  the  nine 
planets,  may  you  be  preserved  !  S.  952  (a,d.  896)  Baisakh  (sudi) 
the  30th,  Guruvar  (Thursday)  "  [764]. 

I  found  also  another  old  mscription  near  the  very  antique 
temple  of  Kukkureswar  Mahadeo ;  "  S.  811,  Mah  sudi  5th, 
Vrihaspativar  (Thursday),  a.d.  755,  Raja  Kukkureswar  erected 
this  temple  and  excavated  the  fountain." 

There  are  many  Jain  inscriptions,  but  amidst  the  heaps  of 
ruins  I  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  make  any  important  discovery. 
One  in  the  temple  of  Santnath  was  as  follows  ;  "  S.  1505  (a.d. 
1449),  Sri  Maharana  Mokal,  whose  son  Kurabhakaran's  treasurer, 
by  name  Sab  Kola,  his  son  Bhandari  Ratna,  and  wife  Bilandevi, 
erected  this  shrine  to  Santnath.  The  chief  of  the  Kiiadatara 
Gachchha,  Janraj  Sur  and  apparent  successor,  Sri  Jan  Chandra 
Surji,  made  this  writing." 

Close  to  the  Suraj-pol,  or  gate  in  the  centre  of  the  eastern  face, 
is  an  altar  sacred  to  the  manes  of  Sahidas,  the  chief  of  the  Chonda- 
wats,  who  fell  at  his  post,  the  gate  of  the  sun,  when  the  city  was 
sacked  by  Bahadur  Shah. 

At  the  north-western  face  is  a  castle  complete  within  itself,  the 
walls  and  towers  of  which  are  of  a  peculiar  form,  and  denote  a 
high  antiquity.  This  is  said  to  be  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Moris 
and  the  first  Ranas  of  Chitor.  But  it  is  time  to  close  this  descrip- 
tion, which  I  do  by  observing,  that  one  cannot  move  a  step  without 
treading  on  some  fragment  of  the  olden  times  : 

Colmnns  strewn,  and  statues  fallen  and  cleft, 
Heaped  like  a  host,  in  battle  overthrown. 

An  Old  Fakir. — Before,  however,  I  quit  this  spot,  hallowed  by 
these  remains,  I  may  mention  having  seen  a  being  who,  if  there 
is  any  truth  in  Chitrakot,  must  be  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  old. 
This  wonder  is  a  Fakir,  who  has  constantly  inhabited  the  temples, 
within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  ;  and  there  is  one 
carpenter,  now  upwards  of  ninety,  who  recollects  "  Babaji  as  an 
old  man  and  the  terror  of  the  children."  To  me  he  did  not  appear 
above  seventy.  I  found  him  deeply  engaged  at  Pachisi  with  one 
of  the  townsfolk.  When  I  was  introduced  to  this  extraordinary 
personage,  he  looked  up  at  me  for  an  instant,  and  exclaiming, 
"  What  does  he  want  here  ?  "  quietly  resumed  his  game.  When 
it  was  finished,  I  presented  my  nazar  to  the  inspired  (for  madness 


1824  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

and  inspiration  are  here  synonymous),  which  he  threw  amongst 
the  bystanders,  and  bolted  over  the  ruins,  dragging  through  the 
brambles  a  fine  shawl  some  one  had  presented  to  him,  and  which, 
becoming  an  impediment,  he  left  there.  In  these  moods  none 
durst  molest  him,  and  when  inclined  for  food  or  pastime  his 
wants  were  quickly  supplied.  For  one  moment  I  got  liim  to 
cast  his  mental  eye  back  [765J  upon  the  past,  and  he  mentioned 
something  of  Adina  Beg  and  the  Panjab  (of  which  they  say  he 
was  an  inliabitant)  ;   but  the  oracle  deigned  no  tiling  further. 

Udaipur,  March  8,  1822. — Here  I  am  once  more  in  the  capital 
of  Hindupati  (chief  of  the  Hindu  race),  from  wliich  no  occurrence 
shall  move  me  until  I  go  to  "  eat  the  air  "  of  my  native  land.  I 
require  repose,  for  the  last  fifteen  years  of  my  hfe  have  been  one 
continuous  tissue  of  toil  and  accident,  such  as  are  narrated  in 
these  records  of  a  few  of  my  many  wanderings.  The  bow  must 
be  unbent,  or  it  will  snap,  and  the  time  for  journalizing  must  cease 
with  everything  else  under  the  sun.  I  halted  a  lew  days  at 
JNIerta,  and  fovmd  my  house  nearly  finished,  the  garden  looking 
beautiful,  the  aru  or  peach-tree,  the  seo  or  apple,  the  santara,^ 
narangi,  and  nimbu,  or  various  orange  and  lime-trees,  all  in  full 
blossom,  and  showing  the  potent  iniluence  of  Surya,  in  these 
regions  ;  the  sharifa  or  sitaphal  (fruit  of  Sita),  or  custard-apple, 
the  anar,  the  kela,  pomegranate,  plantain,  and  various  indigenous 
fruits,  were  all  equally  forward.  These  plants  are  mostly  from 
Agra,  Lucknow,  or  Cawnpore  ;  but  some  of  the  finest  peaches 
are  the  produce  of  those  I  planted  at  Gwahor, — I  ma,y  say  their 
grandchildren.  When  I  left  Gwahor  in  1817,  I  brought  with  me 
the  stones  of  several  peach-trees,  and  planted  them  in  the  garden 
of  Rang-piyari,  my  residence  at  Udaipur  ;  and  more  dehcious  or 
more  abundant  fruit  I  never  saw.  The  stones  of  these  I  again 
put  in  the  new  garden  at  Merta,  and  these  again  exhibit  fruit, 
but  it  will  require  another  year  to  prove  whether  they  maintain 
the  character  they  held  in  the  plains  of  Raru,  or  in  tliis  city.  The 
vegetables  were  equally  thriving  :  I  never  saw  finer  crops  of 
Prussian-blues,^  of  kobis,  phul-kobis,  or  cabbages  and  caulillowers, 
celery,  and  aU  that  belongs  to  the  kitchen-garden,  and  which  my 
Rajput  friends  declare  far  superior  to  tlieir  indigenous  race  of 
sag,  or  greens  ;    the  Diwanji  (Rana)  has  monopolized  the  celery, 

^  [The  Cintiu  orange,  Ain,  ii.  124. J 
*  [A  kind  of  puaa.J 


UDAIPUR:  BAJRAJ,  THE  HORSE  1825 

which  he  pronounces  the  prince  of  vegetables.  I  had  also  got  my 
cutter  for  the  Udaisagar,  and  we  promised  ourselves  many  delight- 
ful days,  saihng  amidst  its  islets  and  fishing  in  its  stream.  "  But 
in  all  this  was  there  vanity  "  :  poor  Carey  hes  under  the  sod  ; 
Duncan  has  been  struggling  on,  and  is  just  about  to  depart  for 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  Patrick,  who  was  left  at  Kotah,  writes 
me  dismal  accounts  of  his  health  and  his  sohtude,  and  I  am  left 
almost  alone,  the  ghost  of  what  I  was.  "  I  looked  on  all  the  works 
that  my  hands  had  wrought,  and  on  the  labour  I  had  laboured  to 
do  ;  and  behold  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit !  "  And 
such  I  fear  will  it  prove  with  more  important  works  than  these 
amusements  of  the  hour  ;  but  it  were  certain  death  to  stay,  and 
the  doctor  insists  on  my  sending  in  '  a  sick  certificate,'  and 
puttmg  my  house  in  order  for  [766]  departure.  The  month  of 
May  is  fixed,  a  resolution  which  has  filled  the  Rana  with  gxief ; 
but  he  "  gives  me  leave  only  for  three  years,  and  his  sister,  Chandji 
Bai,  desires  me  to  bring  back  a  wife  that  she  may  love." 

I  would  willingly  have  dispensed  with  the  honours  of  a  pubhc 
entree  ;  but  here,  even  health  must  bend  to  forms  and  the  laws 
of  the  Rajputs  ;  and  the  Rana,  Prince  Jawan  Singh,  and  all  the 
Sesodia  chivalry,  advanced  to  welcome  our  return.  "Ap  ghat 
aye  !  You  have  come  home  !  "  was  the  simple  and  heartfelt 
expression  of  the  Rana,  as  he  received  my  reverential  salaam  ; 
but  he  kindly  looked  round,  and  missed  my  companions,  for 
VVaugh  Sahib  and  Doctor  Sahib  were  both  great  favourites  ;  and, 
last  but  not  least,  when  he  saw  me  bestride  Javadia,  he  asked, 
"  where  was  Bajraj  ?  "  but  the  '  royal-steed  '  (his  gift)  was  no 
more,  and  hes  entombed  at  Kotah.  "  Hoe  I  ha&  I  alas  !  alas  ! 
(exclaimed  Prithinath)  ;  hara  sochpan  balamanukh  cha,  great 
grief,  for  he  was  a  good  man."  ^  The  virtues  of  Bajraj  were  the 
subject  of  conversation  until  we  reached  the  '  gate  of  the  sun  ' 
(Surajpol)  ;  when  the  Rana  "  gave  me  leave  to  go  home,"  and 
he  continued  his  promenade. 

Bajraj,  the  Horse. — Bajraj  was  worthy  of  such  notice  and  of 
liis  name  ;  he  was  perfection,  and  so  general  a  favourite  that  his 
death  was  deemed  a  public  misfortune,  for  he  was  as  weU  known 
tliroughout  all  these  regions  as  his  master.  The  general  yell  of 
sorrow  that  burst  from  all  my  sepoys  and  estabhslunent  on  that 

1  Manukh  or  mdnushya  is  the  diminutive  of  man.  [Prithinatii,  '  lord 
of  the  earth,'  a  title  of  the  Rana.] 


1826  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

event,  was  astounding,  and  the  whole  camp  attended  his  obsequies; 
many  were  weeping,  and  when  they  began  to  throw  the  earth 
upon  the  fine  beast,  wrapped  up  in  his  body-clothes,  liis  sais 
(gx'oom)  threw  himself  into  his  grave,  and  was  quite  frantic  with 
grief.  I  cut  some  locks  off  his  mane  in  remembrance  of  the  noblest 
beast  I  ever  crossed,  and  in  a  few  days  I  observed  many  huge 
stones  near  the  spot,  which  before  I  left  Kotah  grew  into  a  noble 
chabutra,  or  '  altar  '  of  hewn  stone  about  twenty  feet  square  and 
four  feet  high,  on  which  was  placed  the  effigy  of  Bajraj  large  as 
life,  sculptured  out  of  one  block  of  freestone.  I  was  gxateful  for 
the  attention,  but  the  old  regent  had  caught  the  infection,  and 
evinced  his  sense  of  the  worth  of  Bajraj  by  a  tomb  such  as  liis 
master  cannot  expect  ;  but  in  this  case  perhaps  I  divided  the 
interest,  though  there  was  no  prince  of  Rajwara  more  proud  of  his 
stud  than  the  bhnd  chief  of  Kotah.  From  the  days  of  the  Pandus 
to  Dewa-Banga  of  Bimdi,  many  a  war  has  been  waged  for  a  horse  ; 
nor  can  we  better  declare  the  relative  estimation  of  the  noble 
animal  than  in  the  words  of  that  stalwart  Hara  to  the  Lodi  king  : 
"  There  are  three  things  you  must  not  ask  of  a  Rajput,  his  horse, 
his  mistress,  or  his  sword"  [767]. 

In  a  few  days  I  shall  leave  the  capital  for  the  villa  of  the  Hara 
Rani,  sister  of  the  Kotah  prince,  and  whose  bracelet  also  I  have 
had,  the  symbol  of  adoption  as  her  brother.  To  all  their  customs, 
to  all  their  sympathies,  and  numerous  acts  of  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness, which  have  made  this  not  a  strange  land  to  me,  I  am  about 
to  bid  farewell ;  whether  a  final  one,  is  written  in  that  book  which 
for  wise  purposes  is  sealed  to  mortal  vision  ;  but  wherever  I  go, 
whatever  days  I  may  number,  nor  place  nor  time  can  ever 
weaken,  far  less  obUterate,  the  remembrance  of  the  valley  of 
Udaipur.^ 

^  By  a  singular  coincidence,  the  day  on  which  I  closed  these  wanderings 
is  the  same  on  which  I  have  put  the  last  stroke  to  a  work  that  has  afforded 
me  some  pleasure  and  much  pain.  It  was  on  March  8,  1822,  I  ended  my 
journey  and  entered  Udaipur  :  on  March  8,  1832,  I  am  transcribing  this  last 
page  of  my  journal :  in  March  my  book  appears  before  the  public  :  I  was 
bom  in  March ;  embarked  for  India  in  March  ;  and  had  the  last  glimpse 
of  its  land,  the  coast  of  Ceylon,  in  March.  But  what  changes  has  not  the 
ever-revolving  wheel  produced  since  that  time  !  Captain  Waugh  returned 
to  England  about  six  months  after  me  ;  his  health  much  shattered.  We 
met,  and  lived  together,  in  London,  in  Belgium,  and  in  France  ;  but  amidst 
all  the  beauties  of  novelty,  Kajputana  was  the  theme  to  which  we  constantly 
reverted.     He  returned  to  India,  had  just  obtained  his  majority,  and  was 


CLOSE  OF  THE  AUTHOR'S  TRAVELS  1827 

marching  in  command  of  his  regiment,  the  10th  Light  Cavalry,  from  Muttra 
to  Mhow,  when,  in  passing  through  the  land  where  we  had  seen  many  happy 
days  together,  he  was  invited  by  the  chief  of  Duni  to  renew  old  recollections 
by  a  visit.  Though  in  the  highest  spirits,  my  poor  cousin  went  with  a 
presentiment  of  evil.  He  was  accompanied  by  some  of  his  officers.  In 
ascending  the  hill  he  fell,  and  sustained  an  injury  which  rendered  an  opera- 
tion necessary.  This  succeeded  so  well,  that  in  two  days  he  proceeded  in  a 
litter ;  when,  on  arriving  at  the  ground,  his  friends  drew  the  curtain  of  his 
duli,  and  found  him  dead  !  Hi  a  ashes  repose  in  Mewar,  under  a  monument 
raised  by  his  brother  officers.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  completion  of  these 
labours,  which  none  but  he  could  fully  appreciate.  No  man  was  ever  more 
beloved  in  private  life ;  and  the  eulogium  passed  upon  him,  but  two  days 
ago,  by  his  old  friend  and  commander,  the  gallant  General  Sir  Thomas 
Brown — "  He  was  one  of  the  best  cavalry  officers  who  ever  served  under 
me," — is  an  honourable  testimony  to  his  public  career.  No  apology  is 
required  for  this  record  of  the  talent  and  worth  of  one  who,  in  addition  to 
the  ties  of  kindred,  was  linked  to  me  by  the  bonds  of  friendship  during 
twenty  years.— March  8,  1832  [768-769]. 


s|  APPENDIX 

1°-  No.  I. 

I  3  f  Letter  from  Raja  Jai  Singh  of  Amber  to  Rana  Sangram 

-I  g  "ph  Singh  of  Mewar,  regarding  Idar. 

g  0)  c 

<c  ^  £  Sri  Ramji/ 

g  g  ^  Sri  SiTAitAMJi, 

|:tij^  When  I  was  iu  the  presence  at  Udaipur,  you  commanded  -  that 
S«i  Mewar  was  my  home,  and  that  Idar  was  the  portico  of  Mewar, 
^'Z I  and  to  watch  the  occasion  for  obtaining  it.  From  that  time  I  have 
=  g  £  been  on  the  look-out.  Your  agent,  Mayaram,  has  again  written 
■t  C:t  regarding  it,  and  Dilpat  Ras  read  tlie  letter  to  me  verbatim,  on 
c  i  g  which  I  talked  over  the  matter  with  Maharaja  Abhai  Singh,  who, 
£  S  .^  acquiescing  in  all  your  views,  has  made  a  nazar  of  the  pargana  to 
--2?  you,  and  his  writing  to  this  effect  accompanies  tliis  letter. 
£|m  The  Maharaja  Abhai  Singh  petitions  tliat  you  will  so  manage 
"S^l  that  the  occupant  Anand  Singh  does  not  escape  alive  ;  as,  without 
■p  I  >.  his  death,  your  possession  xvill  be  unstable  ;  ^  this  is  in  your  hands. 
%o%  It  is  my  wish,  also,  that  you  would  go  in  person,  or  if  you  deem 
5^  i  this  inexpedient,  command  the  Dhabhai  Naga,  placing  a  respect- 
4  a-f  able  force  under  his  orders,  and  having  blocked  up  all  the  passes, 
3~  f  s  you  may  then  slay  lum.  Above  all  things,  let  him  not  escape — 
SOS  let  this  be  guarded  against. 


Asarh  badi  7th  (22nd  of  the  first  month  of  the  monsoon), 
S.  1784  (A.D.  1728). 


«*  O  o 


Envelope. 
8  2^        The  Pargana  of  Idar  is  in  Maharaja  Abhai  Singh's  jagir,  who 

►-^  «  .  ^  Ram  and  Sita,  whom  the  prince  invokes,  are  the  great  parents  of  the 
_J]!_J  Kachhwaha  race,  of  which  Kaja  Jai  Singh  is  the  head.  I  have  omitted 
•S§      the  usual  string  of  introductory  compliments. 

fe  *  .  *  These  terms  completely  illustrate  the  superior  character  in  which  the 
■Iss  Ranas  of  Mewar  were  held  by  the  two  princes  next  in  dignity  to  him  in 
I  £-«:  Rajputana  a  century  ago. 

c  ^  g  '  This  deep  anxiety  is  abimdantly  explained  by  looking  at  the  genea- 
ss  ~.^  logical  sUp  of  the  Rathors,  at  p.  1087,  where  it  wiU  be  seen  that  Anand  Singh, 
5  s&  whom  the  parricidal  Abhai  Singh  is  so  anxious  to  be  rid  of,ia  his  own  brother, 
>  Sft;  innocent  of  any  participation  in  that  crime,  and  wliose  issue,  although  adopted 
g^  into  Idar,  were  heirs-presumptive  to  Marwarl 

1828 


APPENDIX  1829 

makes  a  nazar  of  it  to  the  Huzur  ;   should  it  be  granted  to  any 
other,  take  care  the  Mansabdar  never  gains  possession. 
8th  S.,  17841  [770]. 


No.  II. 

TREATY  between  the  Honourable  Enghsh  East-India  Company 
and  Maharaja  Maun  Sing  Buhadoor,  Raja  of  Joudpoor, 
represented  by  the  Koowur  Regent  Joograj  Maharaj  Koowur 
Chutter  Sing  Buhadoor,  concluded  by  Mr.  Charles  Theophilus 
Metcalfe  on  the  part  of  the  Honourable  Company,  in  virtue 
of  powers  granted  by  his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the 
Marquess  of  Hastings,  K.G.,  Governor- General,  and  by 
Byas  Bishen  Ram  and  Byas  Ubhee  Ram  on  the  part  of 
Maharaja  Maun  Sing  Buhadoor,  in  virtue  of  fuU  powers 
granted  by  the  Maharaja  and  Joograj  Maharaj  Koowur 
aforesaid. 

First  Article. — There  shall  be  perpetual  friendship,  alliance, 
and  unity  of  interest  between  the  Honourable  English  East-India 
Company  and  Maharaja  Maun  Sing  and  his  heirs  and  successors  ; 
and  the  friends  and  enemies  of  one  party  shall  be  friends  and 
enemies  of  both. 

Second  Article. — The  British  Government  engages  to  protect 
the  principality  and  territory  of  Joudpoor. 

Third  Article. — ^Maharaja  Maun  Sing  and  his  heirs  and  suc- 
cessors will  act  in  subordinate  co-operation  with  the  British 
Government,  and  acknowledge  its  supremacy  ;  and  will  not  have 
any  connexion  with  other  chiefs  and  states. 

Fourth  Article. — The  Maharaja  and  his  heirs  and  successors 
will  not  enter  into  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  Maharaja  and  his  heirs  and  successors  will 
not  commit  aggressions  on  any  one.  If  by  accident  disputes 
arise  with  any  one,  they  shall  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  and 
award  of  the  British' Government. 

Sixth  Article. — ^The' tribute  heretofore  paid  to  Sindia  by  the 
state  of  Joudpoor,  of  which  a  separate  schedule  is  affixed,  shaU  be 
paid  in  perpetuity  to  the"^British  Government  ;^and  the  engage- 
ment of  the  state  of  Joudpoor  with  Sindia  respecting  tribute  shall 
cease. 
Z'Seventh  Article. — As  the  Maharaja  declares  that  besides  the 
tribute  paid  to  Sindia  by'the  state  of  Joudpoor,  tribute  has  not 
been  paid  to  any  other  state,  and  engages  to  pay  the  aforesaid 

1  [Forbes  {Rasmala,  451),  who'gives  the  facts  from  local  sources,  remarks  : 
"  We  do  not  know  how  this  statement  is  to  be  reconciled  with  the  following 
letter,  quoted  by  Colonel  Tod."] 


1880  APPENDIX 

tribute  to  the  British  Government ;  if  either  Sindia  or  any  one 
else  lay  claim  to  tribute,  the  British  Government  engages  to  reply 
to  such  claim. 

Eighth  Article. — The  state  of  Joudpoor  shall  furnish  fifteen 
hundred  horse  for  the  service  of  the  British  Government  whenever 
required  ;  and  when  necessary,  the  whole  of  the  Joudpoor  forces 
shall  join  the  British  army,  excepting  such  a  portion  as  may  be 
requisite  for  the  internal  administration  of  the  country. 

Ninth  Article. — The  Maharaja  and  his  heirs  and  successors 
shall  remain  absolute  rulers  of  their  coimtry,  and  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  British  Government  shall  not  be  introduced  into  that 
principality. 

Tenth  Article. — This  treaty  of  ten  articles  having  been  con- 
cluded at  Dihlee,  and  signed  and  sealed  by  Mr.  Charles  Theophilus 
Metcalfe  and  Byas  Bishen  Ram  and  Byas  Ubhee  Ram  ;  the 
ratifications  of  the  same  by  his  Excellency  the  Governor-General, 
and  by  Raj  Rajeesur  Maharaja  Maun  Sing  Buhadoor  and  Jugraj 
Maharaj  Koowur  Chutter  Sing  Buhadoor,  shall  be  exchanged 
within  six  weeks  from  this  date. 

Done  at  Dihlee  this  sixth  day  of  January,  a.d.  1815. 

(Signed)         (L.S.)         C.  T.  Metcalfe,  Resident. 
Byas  Bishen  Ram. 
(L.S.)        Byas  Ubhee  Ram  [771]. 


No.  III. 
Treaty  roith  the  Raja  of  Jcssulnier. 

TREATY  between  the  Honourable  English  East-India  Company 
and  Maha  Rawul  Moolraj  Buhadoor,  Raja  of  Jessulmer,  con- 
cluded on  the  part  of  the  Honourable  Company  by  Mr. 
Charles  Theophilus  Metcalfe,  in  virtue  of  full  powers  granted 
by  his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Marquess  of  Hastings, 
K.G.,  Governor-General,  etc.,  and  on  the  part  of  the  Maha 
Raja  Dehraj  Maha  Rawul  Moolraj  Buhadoor  by  Misr  Motee 
Ram  and  Thakoor  Dowlet  Sing,  according  to  full  powers 
conferred  by^Maha  Rawul. 

First  Article. — There  shall  be  perpetual  friendship,  alliance, 
and  unity  of  interests  between  the  Honourable  English  Company 
and  Maha  Rawul  Moolraj  Buhadoor,  the  Raja  of  Jessulmer,  and 
his  heirs  and  successors. 

Second  Article. — The  posterity  of  Maha  Rawul  Moolraj  shall 
succeed  to  the  principality  of  .Jessulmer. 

Third  Article. — 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 


APPENDIX  1881 

British  (Government  will  exert  its  power  for  the  protection  of  the 
principality,  provided  that  the  cause  of  the  quarrel  be  not  ascrib- 
able  to  the  Raja  of  Jessulmer. 

Fourth  Article. — The  Maha  Rawul  and  his  heirs  and  successors 
will  always  act  in  subordinate  co-operation  with  the  British 
Government,  and  with  submission  to  its  supremacy. 

Fifth  Article. — This  treaty  of  five  articles  having  been  settled, 
signed,  and  sealed  by  Mr.  Charles  Theophilus  Metcalfe  and  Misr 
M^tee  Ram  and  Thakoor  Dowlet  Sing,  the  ratifications  of  the 
same  by  his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Governor- General  and 
Maha  Raja  Dehraj  Maha  Rawul,  ]\Ioolraj  Buhadoor,  shall  be 
exchanged  in  six  weeks  from  the  present  date. 

Done  at  Dihlee  this  twelfth  day  of  December,  a.d.  1818. 

(L.S.)     C.  T.  Metcaxfe.       {Signed)     Misr  Motee  Ram. 

(L.S.)     Thakoor  Dowlet  Sing. 
(Signed)  C.  T.  M. 


No.  IV. 

TREATY  between  the  Honourable  English  East-India  Company 
and  Maharaja  Siwaee  Juggut  Singh  Buhadoor,  Raja  of  Jypoor, 
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  Marquess  of  Hastings, 
K.G.,  Governor- General,  etc.,  and  by  Thakoor  Rawul  Byree 
Saul  Nattawut,  on  the  part  of  Raj  Rajindur  Sree  Maharaj 
Dhiraj  Siwaee  Juggut  Singh  Buhadoor,  according  to  fuU 
powers  given  by  the  Raja. 

First  Article. — There  shall  be  perpetual  friendship,  aUiance, 
and  unity  of  interests  between  the  Honourable  Company  and 
Maharaja  Juggut  Singh,  and  his  heirs  and  successors,  and  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  one  party  shall  be  the  friends  and  enemies 
of  both  parties. 

Second  Article. — The  British  Government  engages  to  protect 
the  territory  of  Jypoor,  and  to  expel  the  enemies  of  that  princi- 
pality. 

Third  Article. — Maharaja  Siwaee  Juggut  Singh,  and  his  heirs 
and  successors,  wiU  act  in  subordinate  co-operation  with  the 
British  Government,  and  acknowledge  its  supremacy  ;  and  will 
not  have  any  connexion  with  other  chiefs  and  states  [772]. 

Fourth  Article. — The  Maharaja,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
will  not  enter  into  negotiation  with  any  chief  or  state  without  the 
knowledge  and  sanction  of  the  British  Government  ;  but  the 
usual  amicable  correspondence  with  friends  and  relations  shall 
continue. 


1832  APPENDIX 

Fifth  Article. — The  Maharaja  and  his  heirs  and  snecessors 
will  not  commit  aggressions  on  any  one.  If  it  happen  that  any 
dispute  arise  with  any  one,  it  shall  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration 
and  award  of  the  British  Government. 

Sixth  Article. — Tribute  shall  be  paid  in  perpetuity  by  the 
principality  of  Jypoor  to  the  British  Government,  through  the 
treasury  oif  Dihlee,  according  to  the  following  detail  : — 

First  year,  from  the  date  of  this  treaty,  in  consideration  of  the 
devastation  which  has  prevailed  for  years  in  the  J\'poor  country, 
tribute  excused. 

Second  year  ,  ,  ,  Four  lakhs  of  Dihlee  rupees. 

Third  year  .  .  .  Five  lakhs. 

Fourth  year  .  .  .  Six  lakhs. 

Fifth  year  .  .  .  Seven  lakhs. 

Sixth  year  .  Eight  lakhs. 

Afterwards  eight  lakhs  of  Dihlee  rupees  annually,  until  the 
revenues  of  the  principality  exceed  forty  lakhs. 

And  when  the  Raja's  revenue  exceeds  forty  lakhs,  five-sixteenths 
of  the  excess  shall  be  paid  in  addition  to  the  eight  lakhs  above 
mentioned. 

Seventh  Article. — ^The  principality  of  Jypoor  shall  furnish 
troops  according  to  its  means,  at  the  requisition  of  the  British 
Government. 

Eighth  Article. — The  Maharaja  and  his  heirs  and  successors 
shall  remain  absolute  rulers  of  their  country,  and  their  dependants, 
according  to  long-established  usage ;  and  the  British  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction  shall  not  be  introduced  into  that  princi- 
pality. 

Ninth  Article. — Provided  that  the  INIaharaja  evince  a  faithful 
attachment  to  the  British  Government,  his  prosperity  and  ad- 
vantage shall  be  favourably  considered  and  attended  to. 

Tenth  Article. — This  treaty  of  ten  articles  having  been  con- 
cluded, and  signed  and  sealed  by  Mr.  Charles  Theophilus  Metcalfe 
and  Thakoor  Rawul  Byree  Saul  Nattawxit.  the  ratifications  of 
the  same,  by  his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Governor- General, 
and  Raj  Rajindur  Sree  Maharaj  Dhiraj  Siwaee  Juggut  Singh 
Buhadoor.  shall  be  mutually  exchanged  within  one  month  from 
the  present  date. 

Done  at  Dihlee  this  second  day  of  April,  a.d.  1818. 

(Signed)         (L.S.)         C.  T.  Metcalfk, 

Resident. 

(L.S.)         Taukoor  Rawul  Byree  Saul  Nattawut. 


No.  V. 
No.  V.  being  a  large  paper  is  omitted  [773]. 


APPENDIX  1833 


No.  VI. 

TREATY  between  the  Honourable  the  Enghsh  East-India 
Company  on  the  one  part,  and  Maha  Rao  Omed  Sing 
Buhadoor,  the  Raja  of  Kota,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
through  Raj  Rana  Zahm  Sing  Buhadoor,  the  administrator 
of  the  affairs  of  that  principahty,  on  the  other  ;  concluded  on 
the  part  of  the  Honourable  English  East-India  Company 
by  Mr.  Charles  Theophilus  Metcalfe,  in  virtue  of  full  powers 
granted  to  him  by  his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Mar- 
quess of  Hastings,  K.G.,  Governor- General,  and  on  the  part 
of  Maha  Rao  Omed  Sing  Buhadoor,  by  Maha  Raja  Sheodan 
Sing,  Sail  Jeewun  Ram,  and  Lala  Hoolchund,  in  virtue  of  full 
powers  granted  by  the  Maha  Rao  aforesaid,  and  his  adminis- 
trator, the  above-mentioned  Raj  Rana, 

First  Article. — There  shall  be  perpetual  friendship,  alliance, 
and  unity  of  interests  between  the  British  Government  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Maha  Rao  Omed  Sing  Buhadoor,  and  his  heirs  and 
successors,  on  the  other. 

Second  Article. — The  friends  and  enemies  of  either  of  the 
contracting  parties  shall  be  the  same  to  both. 

Third  Article. — The  British  Government  engages  to  take  under 
its  protection  the  principality  and  territory  of  Kota. 

Fourth  Article. — The  Maha  Rao,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
will  always  act  in  subordinate  co-operation  with  the  British 
Government,  and  acknowledge  its  supremacy,  and  will  not  hence- 
forth have  any  connexion  with  the  chiefs  and  States  with  which 
the  State  of  Kota  has  been  heretofore  connected. 

Fifth  Article. — The  Maha  Rao,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
will  not  enter  into  any  negotiations  with  any  chief  or  State  without 
the  sanction  of  the  British  Government.  But  his  customary 
amicable  correspondence  with  friends  and  relations  shall  continue. 

Sixth  Article. — The  Maha  Rao,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
will  not  commit  aggressions  on  any  one  ;  and  if  any  dispute 
accidentally  arise  with  any  one,  proceeding  either  from  acts  of  the 
Maha  Rao,  or  acts  of  the  other  party,  the  adjustment  of  such 
disputes  shall  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  the  British 
Government. 

Seventh  Article. — The  tribute  heretofore  paid  by  the  princi- 
pality of  Kota  to  the  Mahratta  chiefs,  for  instance,  the  Peshwa, 
Sindia,  Holkar,  and  Powar,  shall  be  paid  at  Dihlee  to  the  British 
Government  for  ever,  according  to  the  separate  schedule  annexed. 

Eighth  Article. — No  other  power  shall  have  any  claim  to 
tribute  from  the  principality  of  Kota  ;  and  if  any  one  advance 
such  a  claim,  the  British  Government  engages  to  reply  to  it. 

Ninth  Article. — The  troops  of  the  principality  of  Kota,  accord- 
ing to  its  means,  shall  be  furnished  at  the  requisition  of  the 
British  Government. 

VOL.  Ill  2  p 


1834  APPENDIX 

Tenth  Article. — The  Maha  Rao,  and  liis  heirs  and  successors, 
shall  remain  absolute  rulers  of  their  country,  and  the  civil  and 
criniinal  jurisdiction  of  the  British  Government  shall  not  be 
introduced  into  that  principality. 

Eleventh  Article. — This  treaty  of  eleven  articles  having  been 
concluded  at  Dihlee,  and  signed  and  sealed  by  Mr.  Charles 
Theophilus  Metcalfe  on  the  one  part,  and  Maha  Raja  Sheodan 
Sing,  Sah  Jeewun  Ram,  and  Lala  Hoolchund  on  the  other,  the 
ratifications  of  the  same  by  .his  Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the 
Governor-General,  and  Maha  Rao  Omed  Sing,  and  his  adminis- 
trator Raj  Zalim  Sing,  shall  be  exchanged  within  a  month  from 
this  date. 

Done  at  Dililee  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  December,  a.d.  1817. 

{Signed)         C.  T.  Metcaxfe, 

Resident.      [774] 


No.  VII. 

TREATIES  between  the  Honourable  English  East-India  Com- 
pany and  the  JMaha  Row  Raja  Bishen  Sing  Buhadoor,  Raja 
of  Boondee,  concluded  by  Captain  James  Tod  on  the  part 
of  the  Honourable  Company,  in  virtue  of  full  powers  from  his 
Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Marquess  of  Hastings,  K.G., 
Governor-General,  etc.,  etc.,  and  by  Bohora  Tolaram  on  the 
part  of  the  Raja,  in  virtue  of  full  powers  from  the  said  Raja. 

First  Article. — There  shall  be  perpetual  friendship,  alliance, 
and  unity  of  interests  between  the  British  Government  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  Raja  of  Boondee  and  his  heirs  and  successors  on  the 
other. 

Second  Article.  —  The  British  Government  takes  under  its 
protection  the  dominions  of  the  Raja  of  Boondee. 

Third  Article.  —  The  Raja  of  Boondee  acknowledges  the 
supremacy  of,  and  will  co-operate  with,  the  British  Government 
for  ever.  He  will  not  commit  aggressions  on  any  one.  He  will 
not  enter  into  negotiations  with  any  one  without  the  consent  of  the 
British  Government.  If  by  chance  any  dis|)ute  arise  with  any  one, 
it  shall  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  and  award  of  the  British 
Government.  The  Raja  is  absohite  ruler  of  his  dominions,  and 
the  British  jurisdiction  shall  not  be  introduced  therein. 

Fourth  Article. — The  British  Government  sjiontaneously  re- 
mits to  the  Raja  and  his  descendants  the  tribute  which  the  Raja 
used  to  pay  to  Maharaja  Ilolkar,  and  which  has  been  ceded  by  the 
Maharaja  Ilolkar  to  the  British  Government  ;  the  British  Govern- 
ment also  relinquishes  in  favour  of  the  State  of  Boondee  the  lands 


APPENDIX  1835 

heretofore  held  by  Maharaja  Holkar  within  the  hmits  of  that  State, 
according  to  the  annexed  schedule  (No.  1). 

Fifth  Article. — The  Raja  of  Boondee  hereby  engages  to  pay 
to  the  British  Government  the  tribute  and  revenue  heretofore 
paid  to  Maharaja  Sindia,  according  to  the  schedule  (No.  2). 

Sixth  Article. — The  Raja  of  Boondee  shall  furnish  troops  at 
the  requisition  of  the  British  Government  according  to  his  means. 

Seventh  Article. — The  present  treaty  of  seven  articles  having 
been  settled  at  Boondee,  and  signed  and  sealed  by  Captain  James 
Tod  and  Bohora  Tolaram,  the  ratifications  of  the  same  by  his 
Excellency  the  Most  Noble  the  Governor-General  and  the  Maha 
Row  Raja,  of  Boondee,  shall  be  exchanged  within  one  month  from 
the  present  date. 

Done  at  Boondee,  this  tenth  day  of  February,  a.d.  1818  ; 
corresponding  to  the  fourth  of  Rubbee-ool-Sanee  1233,  and 
fifth  day  of  Maug  Soodee  of  the  Sumbut,  or  Aera  of 
Bikramajeet,  1874  [775]. 


INDEX 


Abbreviations. — ci.,  city  ;  km.,  kingdom  ;  m.,  mountain ;  r.,  river  ;  t.,  town. 


Abdication  rite  of  a  Raja,  i.  426,  iii.  1467, 

1509 
Abhai  Singh,  Raja  of  Marwar,  il.  1035  ; 

his  horoscope,  1019 
Abhaner,  t.,  iii.  1379,  1439 
Abhlra  tribe,  i.  144,  273,  ii.  651 
Ablr,  abira,  coloured  powder  flung  about 

at  the  Holi  festival,  ii.  662,  663 
Abisares,  Abhisara,  km.,  i.  49 
Aboharia  Bhatti  clan,  ii.  734 
Aboriginal  tribes,  i.  144,  ii.  650 
Abu,  Mount,  view  from  its  summit,  i.  9  ; 

buildings     erected     by     Kumbha     of 

Mewar,  i.  336  ;    a  PramSra  fortress,  i. 

336  ;   assemblage  at,  to  regenerate  the 

Agnikulas,  i.  108,  iii.  1442 
Achalesvara,  local  deity  of  Abu,  i.  108 
Achalgarh,  fort,  ii.  990 
Adalaj,  battle  at,  ii.  1046 
Adam,  Mr.  John,  iii.  1581 
Adinath,  the  first  Jain  Tlrthankara^  i.  25, 

58,  108 
Adonis,  gardens  of,  ii.  666 
Adoption,  right  of,  i.  220  ;    effect  of,  ii. 

860  ;     binding    on   of   a   turban   as   a 

symbol,  i.  38,  221  ;    taking  in  the  lap 

as  a  symbol,  ii.  1083 
Afghans,  alleged  Hebrew  descent,  ii.  902 
Agar,  a  salt  lake,  ii.  813 
Agastya,  festival  of,  ii.  670 
Aggrames,  km.,  ii.  886 
Aghori  ascetics,  ii.  671 
Aghuz  Khan,  ancestor  of  Mongols,  i.  69 
Agnikotra,  the  sacrificial  fire,  i.  32 
Agnikula,  the  fire-born  tribes,  i.  99,  107, 

iii.  1442 
Agnikunda,  the  fire-pit,  i.  108,  112 
Agra,  seat  of  government  transferred  to, 

iii.  1484 ;  fort  gate  haunted  by  a 
serpent,  ii.  978 ;  occupied  by  Jats,  iii. 
1359 


Agriculture,  in  Jaipur,  iii.  1430 ;  in 
Jaisalmer,  ii.  1247  ;  in  Kotah,  iii.  1561 ; 
implements  in  Bikaner,  ii.  1152 

Agroha  fort,  ii   886 

Ahadi,  a  gentleman  trooper,  warrant" 
officer,  ii.  784 

Ahalya.  i.  32  :   Bai,  ii.  891 

Ahar,  Ahar,  Ar,  Ara,  Aitpur,  t.,  i.  100^ 
252,  270,  ii.  663,  678,  912  ;  inscription 
from,  ii.  924  ■ 

Aharya,  title  of  Guhilots,  i.  100,  ii.  912 

Aheria,  a  hunter,  i.  326  ;  the  hunting 
festival,  i.  343,  385,  506,  ii.  660,  iii. 
1477,  1749,  1808 

Ahir  caste,  i.  144,  iii.  1446,  see  AbhIka  ; 
Ahlrwara,  their  country,  iii.  1446 

Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  invades  India,  iii. 
1532 

Ahmadabad,  ci.,  founded,  i.  126  ;  siege 
of,  ii.  1135 

Ahmadnagar,  ci.,  siege  of,  iii.  1485 

Aids,  feudal,  i.  187 

Aitpur.     See  AHAR 

Aja,  Ajaipal,  Ajaya,  (1)  reputed  founder 
of  Ajmer,  i.  114,  ii.  893  ;  (2)  ofKanauj, 
ii.  930;  (3)  of  Chitor,  i.  311 ;  Ajaidurg, 
Ajmer,  ii.  996,  1009 

Ajit  Singh  (] )  of  Marwar,  ii.  991  ;  marries 
a  Mewar  princess,  ii.  1010  ;  marries 
daughters  to  Farrukhslyar  and  Jai 
Singh,  ii.  1021,  1025  ;  his  assassination, 
the  ruin  of  Marwar,  ii.  825,  857,  1028, 
1034  ;  (2)  of  Bundi,  iii.  1509  ;  (3)  of 
Kotah,  iii.  1531 

Ajmer,  ci.,  origin  of  name,  i.  12,  iii.  1447  ; 
legend  of  its  foundation,  ii.  893  ;  its 
strategical  importance,  1041  ;  the 
Dargah,  895  ;  Arhai  din  ka  jhonpra 
mosque,  897  ;  described  by  the  Author, 
896  ;  the  fort,  900  ;  headquarters  of 
Akbar,  i.  389  ;  lost  to  Marwar,  ii.  1063. 


1837 


1838 


INDEX 


1074  ;  Biirrendered  to  the  British,  874  ; 
its  deified  hero,  i.  288,  ii.  900,  iii.  1447 

Ak,  the  tree,  Calotropis  gigantea,  ii.  803, 
811,  1151 

Akhar,  (1)  Emperor,  his  birth,  i.  372,  iii. 
1282 ;  succeeds  Humayun,  i.  375 ; 
campaign  against  Maldeo,  ii.  957  ; 
attacks  Chitor,  i.  378,  381  ;  erects 
monument  to  Jaimall  and  Patta,  382  ; 
Akbar  ka  dewa,  i.  379,  iii.  1812 ; 
attacks  Partap  Singh,  i.  389  ;  stories 
of  Rajput  ladies,  401  ;  conciliation  of 
Kajputs,  178  :  his  title  Jagad  Guru, 
377  ;  said  to  have  married  a  Jaisalmer 
princess,  ii.  1133 ;  favours  Krishna 
worship,  608  ;  campaigns  in  Gujarat 
and  Gondwana,  Iii.  14S3,  1484  ■  story 
of  his  death,  i.  408,  iii.  1338,  1486; 
revived  as  an  ascetic,  ii.  60S  ;  (2)  son  of 
Aurangzeb,  his  Rajput  descent,  i.  179  ; 
conspires  against  his  father,  ii.  997  ; 
capture  of  his  daughter,  1009 ;  de- 
serted by  the  Rajputs,  i.  451,  ii.  998  ; 
escapes  to  Persia,  i.  451,  ii.  1000 ; 
(3)  Akbar  Shah  II.  of  Delhi,  i.  485 

Akhai  Chand,  (l)Marwar  minister,  ii.  831, 
848,  1097  ;  (2)  Singh  of  Jaisalmer,  ii, 
1228 

Akola,  t.,  i.  240,  615 

Akshai,  akshay  dtib,  the  sacred  grass,  i. 
573 

5l,  the  dye  plant,  Morinda  ciirifoHa,  iii. 
1556 

Alam  Shah,  Bahadur  Shah,  ii.  1013, 1020 

Alau-d-din  Khilji,  attacks  Anliilwara,  i. 
118  ;  attacks  Chitor,  i.  307  ;  attacks 
Jaisalmer,  ii.  1211 ;  attacks  Bhaiiisror- 
garh,  iii.  1698  ;  attacks  Gagraun,  i. 
312  ;  his  titles,  i.  312,  ii.  809 

Alexander  the  Great,  traditions  among 
Johyas,  ii.  1134  ;  said  to  have  reached 
Dandosar,  1167 

Alha  and  Udal,  tale  of,  ii.  716 

Alienation  of  estates,  i.  186 

■Allghol,  irregular  infantry,  ii.  819,  iii.  1422 

Aliptigln,  i.  294 

AUahwirdi  Klian,  i.  484,  ii.  1023,  1027 

Alliances,  British,  1.  146 

Al-Mansur,  Caliph,  i.  286 

Alor.     See  Arok 

Altamgha,  a  seal,  tax,  i.  469 

Alu  Hara,  ill.  1470,  1682 

Alwar  State,  i.  141,  iii.  1360 

'Amal,  amal,  opium  mixed  with  water, 
Ii.  731,  749,  1071  ;  'amaldar,  an 
opium-eater,  iii.  1475 


Amara  duba,  sacred  grass,  used  as  an 

amulet,  i.  574  ;    Amarapura,  Heaven, 

ii.  1032,  1045  ;   Araar  balaona,  a  horse 

furnished    by    the     prince,    i.     233 ; 

Amarbel,  a  creeper,  iii.  1768 
Amarchand,  minister  of  Mewar,  i.  500 
Amargarh,  flef,  i.  212  ;   ancient  town,  Iii. 

1439 
Amar  Singh,  (1)  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1226  ; 

(2)    of    Milrwar,    assassinates    Salabat 

Khan,  ii.  976  ;    his  gate  in  Agra  Fort, 

ii.  978  ;    (3)  Hara,  iii.  1778  ;    (4)  I.  of 

Mewar,  i.  407  ;  (5)  II.  of  Mewar,  i.  460, 

ii.  012 
Amavas,  the  sacred  new  moon  night,  i. 

159,  240,  ii.  656,  695 
Araba  Bhavani,  worship  of,  i.  258,  264, 

ii.  681 
Ambaji  Inglia,  i.  517,  545 
Ambarlsha  of  Ayodhya,  i.  44 
Amber,  Jaipur  State,  annals,  iii.  1327  ; 

derivation  of  name,  1439 
Amet,  t.,  i.  564,  567,  iii.  1815 
Amtr    Khan,    Pindari,    i.    538,    ii.    1080, 

1089,  1090,  iii.  1416,  1573 
Amjar,  r.,  iii.  1572 
AmU  flef,  case  of,  i.  571 
Amm  o  Khasa,  a  hall  of  audience,  ii.  991, 

1136 
Amusements,  ii.  750 
An,  the  oath  of  allegiance,  i.  200,  245, 

575,  ii.  996, 1006,  1039  ;  An-dan-khan, 

sovereign  rights,  i.  14,  200 
Anangpal  Tuar,  i.  62,  104,  292,  299 
Anasagar  lake,  ii.  902,  1215 
Ancestor  worship,  i.  89,  325,  ii.  678,  842 
Anga,  the  poll-tax,  ii.  1116,  1157 
Angadesa,  km.,  i.  44,  53 
Angatsi,  the  Hun,  i.  290,  iii.  1464,  1762 
Anhilwara  Patan,  ci.,  i.  116,  118,  122,  293 
Aniruddh  Singh  of  Bundi,  iii.  1493 
Anjan,  collyrium,  ii.  721 
Annadata,  Annadeva,  god  of  food,  i.  392  ; 

Annakfita,  festival  of  prosperity,  ii.  638, 

697  ;    Annaptirna,  the  food  goddess,  i. 

289,  ii.  695 
Anni,  a  grain  tax,  i.  239 
Antari,  antri,  a  valley,  iii.  1677 
Antarved,  Antarbedi,  the  Ganges-Jumna 

Duab,  i.  164,  ii.  717,  iii.  1459 
Anup  Singh  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1136,  1227 
AnQpshahr,  t.,  i.  56,  141,  iii.  1352 
Anuraj  Hara,  iii.  1460 
Aniishirwan.     See  NaushIrwAn 
Anwal,  finwla,  aonla,  the  erablic  myro- 

balan,  ii.  803,  805 


INDEX 


1839 


Aornos,  hiU,  i.  296 

Aparajit  of  Chitor,  i.  283 

Appaji,  Apaji,  Maratha  leader,  i.  495 

Apsaras,  the  nymphs,  ii    675,  696,  864, 

9S1 
Ar,  Ara,  t.     See  Ah.ui 
'Araba,  a  gun-carriage,  arquebuss,  i.  318 
Aranyakanwal  of  Mandor,  ii.   731,  945  ; 

Aranyashashti  festival,  ii.  675 
Arhai  din  ka  Jhonpra.  mosque,  ii.  897 
Ari  Singh  (I)  I.,  Arsi  of  Chitor,  i.  312  ; 

(2)  II.  of  Mewar,  i.  496,  506,  ii.  1139, 

iii.  1512 
Arishtanemi,     Neminatha,     22nd     Jain 

Tirthankara,  ii.  624,  627 
Arja,  t.,  i.  214,  567 
Arjun,   (1)   of   BUndi,   iii.    1479  ;   (2)   of 

Kotah,  iii.  1528 
Armorial  bearings,  i.  162 
Armouries,  ii.  752 
Arms,  worship    of,  i.  90,    see   Sword  ; 

initiation  to,  i.  90,  264,  ii.  691 
Army,  of  BIkaner,  ii.  1160  ;  of  Marwar, 

ii.  1119  ;   01  Jaipur,  iii.  1435 
Aror,  Alor,  t.,  i.  5,  51,  iii.  1282,  1283 
Artillery,   early  use  of,  i.   362  ;    bound 

with   chains,   i.    353 ;    sprinkled   with 

goats'  blood  before  battle,  ii.  1042 
Aru,  alu  badam,  the  peach  tree,  Prunus 

pernica,  ii.  774 
Aryana,  waste  land,  i.  236 
Aryavarta,  i.  28 

Asaf  Jah,  Nizamu-1-mulk,  i.  473 
Asapurna,  the  goddess,  i.  76,  113,  ii.  682, 

iii.  1444,  1461 
Ashtabhuji,  Ashtabhuja  Mata,  the  eight- 
armed  goddess,  iii.  1754 
Ashtami    festival,    ii.    649.     See   Jana" 

MASHTAMI 

Asi,  Hansi,  t.,  iii.  1461 

Asini,  Asvinikot,  t.,  i.  295,  ii.  1220 

Asioi  tribe,  ii.  1125 

Aslr,  Asirgarh,  fort,  i.  77,  126,  292,  475, 

iii.  1446,  1461 
Asokashtami  festival,  ii.  673 
Aspati,  asvapati,  term  applied  to  Mughal 

Emperors,  ii.  1026 
Ass,    the    wild,    i.    20,    iii.    1306.     See 

GORKHAR 

Assakenoi  tribe,  i.  295,  ii.  933 
Asthan.     See  Asvatthama 
Astronomy,  ii.  757 
Asura,  a  demon,  i.  113,  ii.  653,  iii.  1442  ; 

a  Hindu  name  for  Musalmans,  i.  288, 

290,  ii.  934,  995,  1032 
Asva,  Aswa,  tribe,  1.  71,  76,  ii.  930,  933 


Asvamedha,  ceremony,  i.  29,  60,  77,  93, 
iii.  1355 

Asvatthama  of  Marwar,  ii.  943 

Atak.     See  Attock 

Atit,  an  order  of  ascetics,  ii.  845,  iii.  1750 

Attock,  Atak,  t.,  r.,  i.  391,  ii.  652 

Augury.     See  Omens 

Aurangzeb,  the  Emperor  'Alamglr,  con- 
temporary princes,  i.  435  ;  rebuk'?  to 
his  tutor,  i.  436  ;  intent  on  converting 
Hindus,  i.  438  ;  his  Kajput  wife,  i. 
179  ;  letters,  i.  439  ;  letter  on  the 
Jizya,  i.  442 ;  prepares  to  conquer 
Mewar,  444  ;  defeated,  448  ;  attacks 
Marwar,  ii.  993  ;  attempt  to  depose 
him,  i.  450 ;  his  Rajput  officers,  i. 
226  ;  destruction  of  Hindu  temples, 
ii.  994,  iii.  1388  ;  bis  death,  ii.  1012  ; 
his  character,  i.  436 

Aurint,  t.,  ii.  730,  941 

Avani,  Avanimata,  his  earth  goddess, 
iii.  1392,  1813 

Avanti,  Ujjain,  i.  312 

Awa,  t..  i.  218,  ii.  860,  879,  1044,  1096 

Ayamata,  worship  of,  ii.  966  ;  Ayapanthi, 
the  ascetic  order,  ii.  966 

Ayodhya-ci,  i.  45 

■Azam  Shah,  i.  439,  444,  449,  457,  464 

'Azimu-sh-shan,  Emperor,  ii.  1020 

Baba,  a  younger  member  of  Mewar  house, 

i.  167,  384,  498,  iii.  1371 
Babiil,    bawal,    the    acacia    tree,    acacia 

Arabica,  i.  549,  ii.  774  et  passim 
Babur,  his  descent  and  early  history,  i. 

351  ;    invades  India,  i.   352  ;    attacks 

Rana     Sanga,     i.     353 ;      introduces 

melons    and    grapes,     ii.     748 ;      his 

Memoirs,  iii.  1665 
Bachera,  Wachaji  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1201 
Badarinath,  t.,  ii.  1207,  iii.  1639 
Baddhi,  a  string  amulet,  iii.  1381 
Badhel  tribe.     See  Vadhel 
Badnor,  t.,  i.  344,  567 
Baenmata,  worship  of,  i.  326 
Baghel  tribe,  i.  118,  ii.  717, 1039  ;  Baghel- 

khand,  ii.  717 
Baghes,  the  tiger  god,  i.  25 
Baghji   of   Deola,   i,   363  ;    Bagh   Singh 

Shaikhavat,  iii.  1425 
Bagfanakh,  the  tiger-claw  weapon,  ii.  721 
Bagpipes,  ii.  755 
Bagrawat  sept,  iii.  1640,  1817 
Bahadur,  (1)   King   of   Gujarat,   attacks 

Mewar,  i.   361  ;    (2)   Shah,  Emperor  ; 

see  'Alam  Bahadur    Shah  ;     (3)    of 


1840 


INDEX 


Kishangarh,  ii.  878 ;    Shaikhavat,  iii, 
1388 
Baiiar,  Bihaximall  of  Amber,  i.  376,  iii. 

1337 
Baliawal  Khan,  iii.  1301 
Baliawalpur  State,  ii.  1137,  1141,  iii.  1300 
Balira,  Belira,  t.,  ii.  935 
Baliram  Gor,  of  Persia,  i.  273 
Baliuman  Darazdasiit,  i.  57 
Bairam  Klian,  Muglial  general,  i.  375 
Bairat.     See  Vairat 
Bais  tribe,  i.  141 
Balsa,    Baisi,    tlie    twenty-two    Mugha^ 

districts,  ii.  1027,  1037 
Baisalch  montli,  festivals,  ii.  674 
Baiza  Bai,  i.  533 
Bajirao,  Pesliwa,  I.  485,  491 
Bajra,  millet,  ii.  597  et  passim 
Bajrang,  monkey-god,  i.  163 
Bakhar,  Bhakkar,  Bukkur,  t.,  i.  5,  22, 

109,  iii.  1283,  1319.     See  ROHRI 
Bakhasar,  t.,  iii.  1277,  1278 
Bakhshi,  commander  of  the  forces,  i.  556, 

ii.  976,  iii.  1519 
Bal,  the  sun-god.     See  Balnath,  Balriva 
Bala,  Vala,  tribe,  i.  131,  134,  254 
Balaband,  a  turban  fillet,  i.  429,  ii.  685, 

759,  765 
Balabhi.     See  Vaiabhi 
Balakaputra,  Balakarae,  i.  51,  105,  134, 

250 
Baland  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1181 
Baldan,  balidan,  an  offering  to  the  gods, 

i.  91,  258,  ii.  599 
Baleokouros,  i.  250 
Balhara,  derivation  of  name,  i.  122 
Balmukand,  Krishna,  ii.  640 
Balnath,  Balsiva,  i.  Introd.  xl,  94,  253, 

ii.  705,  923,  iii.  1756  ;   Jogi,  iii.  1267 
Baloch  tribe,  iii.  1454 
Balotra,  t.,  ii.  1111,  iii.  1270 
Bamani,  r.,  iii.  1686 
Bamania,  a  section  of  Bhats,  ii.  814 
Bamian,  Buddhist  figures  at,  i.  26,  ii.  1189 
Banas,  r.,  i.  10,  13,  579,  ii.  772 
Banblr  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  317,  367 
Banda  of  Bundi,  iii.  1473 
Banera,  t.,  i.  168,  108,  493,  ii.  904,  906 
Bania,  the  merchant  caste,  i.  144,  ii.  765 
Banishment,  ceremony  of,  ii.  976 
Bannaphar  tribe,  ii.  715 
Banners,  i.  163,  ii.  684,  767,  708,  834 
Baori,  baoli,  bawari,  a  step-well,  reservoir, 

ii.  967 
Baori,  Bawaria,  a  criminal  tribe,  i.  244, 
iii.  1696 


Bapa,  Bappa  of  Chitor,  i.  Introd.  xxxvi, 

259 
Bapota,  an  ancestral  holding,  i.   201  et 

passim 
Baptiste,  Col.  J.  F.,  i.  535,  ii.  1088 
Bapu  Sindhia,  i.  546 
Baraha  tribe,  ii.  1187,  1191 
Barah  Kothri,  twelve  flefs  of  Jaipur,  iii. 
1436  ;   Masha,  a  plant  fiowering  all  the 
year    round,    ii.    845 ;      Singha,    the 
twelve-tined  deer,  iii.  1477 
Baranshankar,  the  mixed  castes,  iii.  1724 
Barar,  a  tax,  i.  169  et  passim 
Barchhi  dohai,  an  appeal  to  the  lance,  i. 

212,  iii.  1465 
Bardai  sena,  bard  of  the  host,  a  Kanauj 

title,  ii.  939 
Bards,  i.  82  ;  opposed  to  Zalim  Singh, 
iii.  1567  ;  when  they  die,  they  go  to  the 
moon,  ii.  992  ;  exiled  from  Mewar,  iii. 
1807  ;  lands  granted  to,  ii.  589  ; 
extortion  by  threats,  ii.  814  ;  their 
satire,  ii.  742 ;  demands  increase  of 
marriage  expenses,  ii.  742  ;  as  carriers, 
ii.  813 
Bargir,  cavalry  provided  with  horses  by 

the  State,  iii.  1422 
Bargujar  tribe,  i.  56,  107,  140,  iii.  1455 
Barha,  Sayyids  of,  i.  467,  476 
Bari,  a  caste  of  servants,  i.  367 
Barilla,  manufacture  of,  ii.  1118,  iii.  1307 
Barolli,  temples  at,  i.  17,  iii.  1752 
Barr-tltar,  the  rock-pigeon,  iii.  1649 
Barugaza,  Broach,  i.  48,  256 
Barwatia,  an  outlaw,  e.xile,  ii.   797,  iii. 

1401,  1637 
Basai,  a  form  of  slavery,  i.  206,  ii.  1219, 

iii.  1797 
Basant.,  the  spring  festival,  ii.  657,  753, 
1025  ;    Basanti,  the  goddess  of  spring, 
ii.  657.     See  Vasant 
Bastard  castes,  i.  208 
Bat,    a   share,    i.    202,   ii.    962 ;     Batai, 
division  of  crops  between  landlord  and 
tenant,  i.  583,  ii.  1115,  iii.  1550 
Bathing  of  the  goddess,  ii.  666 
Bati,  vati,  a  cake  of  millet  flour,  ii.  1000, 

1150 
Bawana,  a  tract  of  flfty-two  villages,  i. 

457 
Bayana,  t.,  i.  103,  144,  349,  353,  ii.  953, 

956 
Baz  Bahadur,  BayazTd  of  Malwa,  i.  376 

378 
Bedla,  t.,  i.  195,  380,  ii.  663,  iii.  1480 
Begun,  t.,  1.  509,  504,  iii.  1677,  1805,  1810 


INDEX 


1841 


Behra,  t.     See  Bahra 
Benares,  Bundi  house,  iii.  1483  ;  observa- 
tory, ii.  757.     See  Kasi 
Benevolences,  levied  at  marriage,  i.  187 
Berach,  r.,  i.  13,  368,  388,  584,  ii.  596, 

762,  910 
Bernier,  F.,  i.  438,  ii.  725 
Bersi,   Ber   Singh  (1)   Bhatti,   ii.    1165  ; 

(2)  of  Jaisalmer,  1224 
Bet  island,  ii.  703 
Betwa,  r.,  i.  9 

Bhadon  month,  festivals  in,  ii.  678 
Bhadrajan,  Bhadrajun,  t.,  ii.   820,   862, 

954,  iii.  1269 
Bhagwandas  of  Jaipur,  i.  178,  389,  391, 

iii.  1337 
Bhainsror,  Bhainsrorgarh,  t.,  i.  234,  319, 

395,  414,  415,  416,  iii.  1686,  1691 
Bhairava,  Bhairon,  god  of  war,  i.   412, 

ii.  843,  iii.  1774  ;   Jhamp,  iii.  1663 
Bhama  Sah,  minister  of  Mewar,  i.  403 
Bhan  Saptami,  festival,  ii.  657  ;    Bhanu- 
loka,  land  of  the  dead,  ii.  658,  992,  1044 
Bhao  Singh,  (1)  of  Jaipur,  iii.  1339  ;  (2)  of 

Bundi,  1492 
Bharatpur,  ci.,  i.  127,  iii.  1357 
Bharmall  of  Cutch,  ii.  1238 
Bhartribhat  of  Mewar,  i.  296 
Bhartiihari,  i.  5,  ii.  735,  894 
Bhat  caste.     See  Bards 
Bhatia  caste,  iii.  1296 
Bhatner,  t.,  i.  142,  ii.  1163 
Bhatridvitya,  the  brothers'  festival,  ii.  696 
Bhatti  (1)  tribe,  i.  55,  102,  294,  298  ;    ii. 
941,  1169,  1252  ;   support  the  Rathors, 
1005 ;     emigrate    to    Bikaner,    1165  ; 
sections,  1242  ;    (2)  of  Jaisalmer,  1183 
Bhatwara,  battle  at,  iii.  1532,  1611 
Bhaunagar,  Bhavnagar  State,  i.  137 
Bhavani,  the  goddess,  ii.  1125,  iii.  1714, 

1809 
Bliayyad,  the  brotherhood,  i.   154,  202, 

ii.  961 
Bhet-begar,  forced  labour,  i.  239 
Bhil  tribe,  ii.   651,  iii.   1280  ;    eat  with 
Rajputs,    1521  ;     foray   by,   1644  ;     in 
Kotah,    1703  ;     stone    worship,    1703  ; 
of  Idar,  inaugurate  Ranas  of  Mewar, 
i.   262,   ii.   1129  ;    measures  for  their 
improvement,  i.  586 
Bhilala  tribe,  iii.  1389 
Bhilwara,  t.,  i.  561,  iii.  1736 
Bhim  Bazar,  iii.  1776 
Bhim  Singh,  (1)  Bhimsi  of  Mewar,  i.  307  ; 
(2)  II.  of  Mewar,  511 ;   (3)  of  Marwar, 
ii.  825,  1077  ;   (4)  of  Kotah,  iii.  1524 


Bhima  II.,  Bholo,  Chaulukj'a,  i.  117,  298 
Bhimthadi    breed  of  horses,  ii.  1045,  iii. 

1771 
Bhinai,  t.,  ii.  904 

Bhindar,  t.,  i.  416,  511,  531,  566,  567 
Bhinmal,  t.,  ii.  944,  1109,  iii.  1269 
Bhoj  Pramara  of  Malwa,  i.  109 
Bhojak  caste,  iii.  1268 
Bhojpur  lake,  i.  458 
Bholanath,  Siva,  ii.  602,  892 
Bhonsi,  Bhawan  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  306 
Blionsla  Marathas,  i.  371 
Bhopal  State,  i.  533 
Bhukhi  Mata,  the  famine  mother  goddess, 

i.  309,  iii.  1305,  1756 
BhQm,  land,  i.  195  ;  affection  for,  i.  236  ; 
Bhumia,  the  holder  of  a  freehold,  i.  190, 
577  et  passim 
Bias,  r.,  ii.  1226 
BIdar,  t.,  siege  of,  iii.  1489 
Bidesar,  t.,  ii.  1144 

Bigha,  a  measure  of  area,  i.  233  et  passim 
Bihar,  Bahar,  Biharimall  of  Jaipur,  i.  376, 

iii.  1337 
Bijaiseni  Mata,  worship  of,  ii.  1193,  iii. 

1508 
Bijarae,    Bijairae,    (1)    of   Jaisalmer,    ii. 

1193  ;   (2)  Singh  of  Jaipur,  iii.  1347 
Bijar  Mir,  assassination  of,  iii.  1288 
Bijolli,  temples  at,  i.  209,  370,  iii.  1797 
Bika  of  Bikaner,  ii.  951,  1123 
Bikaner,  annals  of,  ii.  1123 
Bikramajit,  of  Mewar,  i.  360 
Bindraban,  t.,  ii.  607  ;  -das  of  Jaipur,  iii. 

1395 
Bu-a,  (1)  a  packet  of  betel,  i.  381,  481,  ii. 
1040  ;   (2)  meadow-land,  i.  238,  ii.  648 
Birad,  the  eulogy  of  a  bard,  i.  134,  416, 

iii.  1682 
Birsinghdeo,   (1)   Shaiklmvat,   iii.   1387  ; 

(2)  of  Bflndi,  iii.  1472 
Birthdays,  knots  tied  to  mark,  iii.  1697 
Bisaldeo,  see  Visaladeva  ;  lake,  ii.  901, 

iii.  1453 
Bishan  Singh,   (1)  of   Bundi,   iii.    1514; 

(2)  of  .Jaipur,  iii.  1341 
Blackmail,  protection,  i.  203.     See  Rakh- 

WALI 

Blindness  of  one  eye  unlucky,  ii.  1234 

Blood  price.     See  Mundkati 

Boar,  slaying  the,  i.  385,  ii.  660,  iii.  1746; 

annual     hunt,     i.     80 ;      sacramental 

eating  of,  ii.  661,  iii.  1381 
Bohra,  the  village  money-lender,  iii.  1553' 

1652 
Bonfires  at  the  Holi  festival,  ii.  663 


1842 


INDEX 


Boukephala,  t.,  ii.  1190 
Bows  and  arrows,  ii.  751,  791 
Brahma,  temples  of,  i.  322,  ii.  892,  925 
Brahmans,  i.  31  ;  laxity  of  practice  in  the 
desert,  iii.  1296  ;   privileges  of,  ii.  595  ; 
committing  suicide  to  enforce  demands, 
1.  236,  ii.  593,  966,  iii.  1395  ;    political 
influence  of,    ii.   589,   594  ;    Eulin,  ii. 
595  ;    Marfitha,  i.   524  ;    influence    on 
marriage    expenses,    ii.    742 ;     treated 
with  little  respect,  i.  34  ;    penalty  for 
killing,  ii.  595 

Brahraapuri,  inscriptions,  ii.  596 

Brajnath,  Krishna,  iii.  1526 

Brass  work,  iii.  1431 

Brindaban.     See  Bindrahan 

Broach,  ci.,  i.  48,  256 

Brotherhood,  i.  202 

Buddha,  Buddhism,  i.  70,  78  ;  con- 
founded with  Jainism,  ii.  603,  604, 
626  ;   annual  retreat,  606 

Budh  Singh  of  Bundi,  ii.  837,  iii.  1494 

Budha,  Mercury,  i.  39,  ii.  621  ;  Trivi- 
krama,  i.  90,  ii.  621 

Buffalo,  sacrificed  at  town  gates,  ii.  1011, 
1012  ;   feat  of  slaying,  1053 

Bukkur.     See  Bakhar 

Bull,  sacrifice  of,  ii.  599  ;  and  horseman 
coins,  ii.  809,  902 

Bumbaoda,  t.,  i.  321,  iii.  1468 

Bundela  tribe,  Bundelkhand,  i.  10,  139, 
ii.  979 

BCindi,  State,  annals,  iii.  1441 

Burlian  Shaikh,  the  saint,  iii.  1380 

Burhanpur,  ci.,  i.  475,  ii.  974 

Busa  tribe,  i.  144,  293 

Buta  tribe,  ii.  1185 ;  Biitaban,  1185, 
1192 

Butterfield,  Captain,  i.  526 

Buzule,  t.,  i.  292,  ii.  807,  iii.  1276 

Byas  Brahmans,  iii.  1742 

Byzantium,  t.,  i.  100,  279 

Cairn  burial,  i.  87,  89,  90 

Calcutta,  ii.  1105 

Camels,  iii.  1275,  1279,  1207,  1305  ;  cara- 
vans, ii.  1109;  corps,  1161,  iii.  1305; 
sacrifice,  i.  94 

Caniatchi  tenure,  i.  576 

Cannibalism,  i.  455,  ii.  671,  692 

Carey,  Lieutenant,  ii.  761,  787,  iii.  1732 

Caste,  influence  of,  i.  165 

Cattle  of  the  desert,  iii.  1305,  1306  ;  of 
Nathdwara,  ii.  770  :   of  Gujarat,  i.  422 

Caves  occupied  by  ascetics,  shrines,  ii. 
635,  845 


Cenotaphs  of  Haras,  iii.  1706  ;   at  Satur, 
iii.  1714  ;  at  Ahar,  ii.  912.     Se^  Maha- 

SATI,  NiSIA 

Chachak,    Chachikdeo    of   Jaisalmer,    ii. 

1208,  1220 
Chagatai,  a  Mughal  title,  ii.  956,  1165 
Chait  month,  festivals  in,  ii.  663 
Chalukya,  Chaulukya  tribe,  i.  113,  116 
Chamar,  Chanvar,  Chauri,  the   yak-tail 

fly-flapper,  i.  234,  ii.  667,  906,  1035 
Chambal,  r.,  i.  18,  iii.  1690,  1764 
Chambela,  r.,  i.  18 
Chamunda    of    Anhilwara,    i.    67 ;     the 

goddess,  ii.  842 
Chand,  Chand,  (1)  the  poet,  i.  297  ;  (2)  of 
Bundi,  iii.   1463  ;   (3)  Bibi  of  Ahmad- 
nagar,  iii.  1485 
Chandel  tribe,  i.  Introd.  xxxv,  139,  296, 

iii.  1455 
Chanderi  State,  i.  16,  47,  163,  180 
Chandni,  suicide  for  revenge,  ii.  815, 1110, 

1255 
Chandrabhaga,  ci.,  i.  109 
Chandragupta  Maurya,  i.  37,  65,  110,  111, 

289 
Chandra vansa,  the  Lunar  line  of  Rajputs, 

i.  57 
Chandravati,  ci.,  i.  109,  258,  iii.  1784 
Changi,  Cliatrchangi,  the   Sun  standard, 

ii.  659,  684 
Chappan,  the  hill-tract  between  Mewar 

and  Gujarat,  i.  191  et  passim 
Charan  tribe,  ii.  813,  1148,  iii.  1654  ; 
banished  from  Mewar,  i.  339  ;  founded 
Bhaiusror,  iii.  1691  ;  prediction  by  a 
Charani,  i.  347  ;  claim  to  entertain- 
ment, iii.  1655  ;  respected,  ii.  1110 
Char.as,  a  measure  of  area,  i.  156,  165, 

201,  iii.  1671 
Chariots,  use  of,  in  war,  i.  83 
Charmanvati,  the  Chambal,  r.,  iii.  1763 
Chaturbhuja,  the  four-armed  Vishnu,  i. 

331,  ii.  645 
Chauhc  Brahmans,  ii.  634,  755 
Ciiaugan,  an  exercise  ground,  i.   530  et 

passim 
Chauhan  tribe,  i.  112,  iii.  1441  ;  sections, 
i.   115;    valour,  ii.  806;    kingdom  in 
South  India,  iii.  1445  :    Raj,  iii.  1275  ; 
dynasty  at  Delhi,  iii.  1456 
Chaul,  Chaval,  t.,  i.  53 
Chaumun,  t.,  iii.  1353,  1402 
Chaupar,  a  game,  ii.  754 
Chaura,  Chavara,  tribe,  i.  121,  266,  326 
Chaurasi,  a  tract  of  eighty-four  villages, 
i,  166,  iii.  1673 


INDEX 


1843 


Chawand,  (1)  of  Anhilwara,  i.  67,  293  ; 
(2)  the  Dahima,  i.  143  ;  (3)  chiefship 
in  Mewar,  i.  396  ;  Chawanda  Mata,  the 
goddess,  iii.  1444 

Chess,  i.  176,  ii.  754 

Chhada  of  Marwar,  ii.  944 

Chhaoni,  a  cantonment,  Iii.  1549,  1790 

Chhatr,  chhatra,  a  ceremonial  umbrella,  i. 
310  ;    clihatri,  a  cenotaph,  ii.  888,  1034 

Chhatr  Singh,  (1)  of  Marwar,  ii.  829,  1091  ; 
(2)  Chhatrsal  of  Btindi,  iii.  1489  ;  (3) 
of  Kotah,  1532 

Chhotan,  t.,  i.  21,  293 

Chiefs  of  Mewar,  i.  167,  588  ;  duties  of, 
i.  182,  183  ;  measures  of  reform,  559  ; 
of  Marwar,  ii.  946 

Chin  Qillch  Khan,  i.  473,  iii.  1525 

Chitor,  a  Pramara  capital,  i.  109,  289  ; 
occupied  by  Moris,  265  ;  origin  of 
name,  iii.  1647,  1822  ;  attacked  by 
Alau-d-dln,  i.  308 ;  retaken,  316 ; 
Rathors  expelled,  326 ;  saclied  by 
Bahadur,  363  ;  taken  by  Akbar,  378  ; 
described  by  Terry,  411  ;  by  the 
Author,  iii.  1812 ;  inscription  from, 
ii.  925 

Cliitori  hill,  i.  326,  iii.  1815 

Chitrang  Mori,  palace,  iii.  1822 

Cholera,  i.  454,  ii.  1002,  iii.  1518,  1733  ; 
magical  expulsion  of,  1734 

Chonda,  (1)  of  Mewar,  i.  323  ;  (2)  of 
Marwar,  ii.  944 

Cliondawat,  section  of  Sesodias,  i.  175, 
188.  192,  193  ;  feud  with  Saktawats, 
i.  175,  413,  511,  u.  766,  iii.  1622 

Chor,  t.,  iii.  1282,  1291 

Chudasima,  Chaurasima,  i.  122 

Chilli,  a  whirlpool,  iii.  1690 

Churaman  Jat,  ii.  1027,  iii.  1358 

Cimbri,  i.  81 

Cities,  ancient,  ii.  1167,  1189,  iii.  1438 

Coconut  sent  as  a  marriage  proposal,  i. 
317,  323,  ii.  730,  790,  1010,  1043 

Coinage  in  Mewar,  i.  169 

Commensality  with  a  Eaja,  mark  of 
dignity,  i.  213,  370,  ii.  1185 

Cookery,  ii.  759 

Copper  mines,  i.  14,  169 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  i.  Introd.  xxvii,  533 

Cosmas  Indikopleustes,  i.  132,  256 

Cotton,  ii.  1150 

Cow-killing,  i.  460,  467,  ii.  1010  ;  cere- 
monial tending  of,  697 

Cyropolis,  i.  54.  351 

Dabhi  tribe,  i.  122,  138,  ii.  941.  942,  967 


Dabla,  t.,  i.  198,  567,  ii.  904,  iii.  1500,  1713 

Dabshallm,  i.  122,  283 

Dadupanthi  sect,  ii.  863 

Daeja,  a  dowTy,  i.  202,  ii.  742,  1221 

Dagh,  branding  of  horses,  ii.  972 

Dahae  tribe,  i.  71,  142 

Daharia  tribe,  i.  142 

Dahi,  r.,  i.  13 

Daliima  tribe,  i.  143,  iii.  1455 

Dahir,  of  Siud,  i.  143,  284,  290 

Daitya,  a  demon,  i.  105,  112,  iii.  1442  ; 

Ka  har,  iii.  1663 
Dakini,  a  witch,  vampire,  1.  88,  ii.  1051, 

1113,  iii.  1615 
Dan,  import  duties,  i.  14,  200,  iii.  1434 
Danava,  a  demon,  i.  289,  iii.  1442 
Dand,  a  tax,  i.  240,  ii.  996,  1159,  1250, 

iii.  1594 
Dara  Shukoh,  Shikoh,  i.  434,  435,  ii.  979 
Darlba,  mines,  i.  585,  iii.  1729 
Daru-1-khair,  shrine  at  Ajmer,  ii.  895 
Datia  State,  i.  140,  180,  436,  463,  522 
Daiid  Khan,  of  Bahawalpur,  iii.   1301  ; 

Daudputra,  ii.  1137,  iii.  1300 
Daulat  Khan,  Lodi,  ii.  953,  1021 
Daulatrao  Sindhia,  i.  524,  528  ;    Singh, 

Maharaja,  i.  540,  ii.  778 
Dauna,  daua,  a  dish  sent  by  a  prince  to 

a  subject,  i.  370,  397 
Daurayat,  a  runner,  brigand,  i.  237,  242, 

569 
Debal,  Diul  Sind,  t.,  i.  143,  255,  270 
Debari  pass,  i.  404,  446,  456,  ii.  996 
De  Boigne,  Count  Benoit,  i.  516,  ii.  876, 

878,  879 
Delhi,  iron  piUar,  i.  38  ;    foundation  of, 

i.  38,  292  ;   rebuilt,  104  ;    massacre  by 

Nadir  Shah,  486  ;   observatory,  ii.  757 
Deluge,  legend  of,  i.  24 
Delwara,  t.,  i.  267,  387,  ii.  647,  iii.  1537 
Deobandar,  Div,  Diu  island,  i.  121 
Deogarh,  t.,  i.  221,  230,  498,  532,  566 
Deoji,  a  deified  hero,  iii.  1817 
Deolia,  t.,  i.  363,  368,  378,  ii.  1010 
Deonath,  chief  priest,  ii.  825 
Deora  Chauhans,  i.  115,  ii.  941,  959,  969, 

1043,  1187 
Deoraj  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1194 
Depra  tribe,  i.  368,  459,  499 
Derawal,  Derawar,  t.,  i.   102,  129,  298, 

ii.  1030,  1195 
Desert,  the,  i.  19,  iii.  1257 
Desmukhi  tax,  i.  471 
Desvata,  rite  of  exile,  ii.  976,  iii.  1734 
Dewaldai,  tale  of,  ii,  715 
Dhabhai,  a  foster-brother,  i.  266  et  passim 


1844 


INDEX 


Dhakar  caste,  iii.  1429 

Dhamnar.     See  DnujiNlR 

Dhanduka,  battle  at,  ii.  969 

Dhanteras  festival,  ii.  695 

Dhanvantari,  ii.  1001,  iii.  1769 

Dhar,  ci.,  i.  109,  ii.  1199 

Dharmatpur,  battle  at,  ii.  980 

Dharna,  a  mode  of  coercion,  i.  568 

Dhat,  district,  i.  6,  19,  55,  iii.  1281,  1282, 
1295 

Dhatiira,  the  poison,  datura  fastuosa,  iii. 
1716 

Dhebar  lake,  i.  458 

Dhola  and  Maroni,  iii.  1329,  1448 

Dholpur,  battle  at,  iii.  1492 

Dhondal  tribe,  ii.  1027 

Dhonkal  Singh,  ii.  818,  828,  1082 

Dhuan,  hearth  tax,  ii.  1128,  1157,  1250 

Dhuhada,  Duhar  of  Marwar,  ii.  943 

Dhulkot,  t.,  ii.  912,  iii.  1352 

Dhumnar,  Dhamnar,  caves,  iii.  1772 

Dhiindhar,  Jaipur,  iii.  1327 

Dhundi  sept,  ii.  1220 

Dhurpad,  a  musical  measure,  iii.  1709 

Diamond  dust,  poisoning  by,  ii.  1074 

Didwana,  t.,  ii.  813,  994,  1107 

Dillr,  Diler,  Khan,  i.  448,  457,  ii.  984 

Dinaram  Bohra,  iii.  1408 

Diseases  in  the  desert,  iii.  1303 

Divorce  among  Mers,  ii.  796 

Dlwali  festival,  i.  326,  ii.  695 

Diwan,  a  prime  minister,  i.  216,  469,  iii. 
1519  ;  dl\van-i-amm,  public  hall  of 
audience,  ii.  1046,  iii.  1482 ;  khass, 
private  council  chamber,  i.  229  ;  of 
Eklinga,  title  of  Kanas  of  Mewar,  i. 
264,  480,  ii.  662 

Doda,  Dor  tribe,  i.  139,  iii.  1455 

Dola,  an  affianced,  secondary   wife,   iii. 

1482 
Donkin,  General  Sir  R.,  i.  548,  ii.  778 
Draupadi,  i.  59,  208,  ii.  735 
Dress,  ii.  758,  1253 
Drinking,  i.  85 

Dub,  a  sacred  grass,  i.  456,  599 
Duda,  Dhuliada  of  Marwar,  ii.  943,  950  ; 

of  .laisaimer,  1215 
Dujgundeo  of  Bundi,  iii.  1451 
Dunara,  t.,  i.  451,  ii.  955,  994,  1006 
Duncan,  Dr.  J.,  i.  550,  ii.  761,  iii.  1713 
Dungarpur,  t.,  i.  11,  304,  357 
Durga,  the  goddess,  ii.   672  ;    Durgadas 
Ilathor,  i.  451,  ii.  993,  999,  1000,  1017, 
1033 
Durgiivati  Kfini,  ii.  747 
Durjansal  of  Kotaii,  ii.  1007,  iii.  1528 


Dusaj  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1202 

Dwarka,  Dwaraka,  ci.,  i.  47,  ii.  607,  iii. 

1511  ;     Das,    Shaikhavat,    iii.     1386  ; 

Nath,  Krishna,  ii.  640,  iii.  1781 

Eklinga,  a  form  of  Siva,  i.  Introd.  xxxvi, 
ii.  598  ;  invocation  to,  i.  233,  235,  323  ; 
Kanas,  his  prime  ministers,  see 
DfwAN ;  Eklinggarh,  fortress,  i.  501 

Elphinstone,  M.,  i.  9,  ii.  954,  1237 

Ephthalites,  White  Huns,  i.  256 

Equinoxes,  festivals  at,  ii.  656 

Escheats  and  forfeitures,  i.  187 

Escuage,  scutage,  i.  173 

Exile,  ritual  at,  ii.  797,  1229 

Exogamy,  i.  190,  193 

Fairs,  i.  400,  ii.  1111,  1155 

Fairy  gifts,  legend,  ii.  772 

Falcons,  i.  422 

Famines,  i.  454,  497,  iii.  1304,  1473  ;    a 

cause  of  slavery,  i.  207  ;    the  famine 

goddess,  iii.  1305 
Farld,  the  saint,  ii.  1125,  1128 
Farming  monopoly  in  Kotah,  iii.  1559 
Farrukhsiyar,  Emperor,  i.  179,  467,  468, 

474,  iii.  1345 
Fatehabad,  battle  at,  i.  434,  iii.  1491, 1522 
Fatehpur,  battle  at,  iii.    1409;    Sikri,   i. 

141,  349 
Faujdar,  an  official,  i.  167,  5.57,  iii.  1519 
Feudalism,  1.  Introd.  xxxviii,  153,  ii.  962 
Fiscal  lands,  i.  168 
Fish,  symbol,  ii.  1023  ;   sacred,  618 
Flowers,  festival  of,  ii.  665,  699 
Foray,  inaugural.     See  TiKA  daur 
Franks  in  Indian  armies,  i.  362,  448,  ii. 

1045 
Fruits   and   vegetables   at   Udaipur,   iii. 

1824  ;   introduced  by  the  Mughals,  ii. 

748 
Funeral  rites,  of  llajputs,  i.  87,  ii.  1031  ; 

of  Saiva  ascetics,  601 

Gaddi,  the  royal  cushion,  tlu'one,  i.  551 
et  passim  ;    gaddl  ki  an,  oath  by  the 
throne,  406,  456 
Gadhipura,  Kanauj,  i.  34,  42,  50,  105 
Oadhiya  paisa,  a  copper  coin,  ii.  913 
Gagraun,  t.,  i.  15,  257,  331,  iii.  1549,  1790 
Gaharwar  tribe,  i.  139,  ii.  930 
(Jahlot.     See  GUHII.OT 
Gaini,  Gajni,  t.,  i.  100,  254,  266,  290 
Gajan  Mata,  worship  of,  iii.  1444 
Gajni,  t.     See  GAINI 


INDEX 


1845 


Gaj  Singh,  (1)  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1176,  1236  ; 
(2)  of  Blkaner,  1137  ;    (3)  of  Mar  war, 
835,  972 
Gakkhar  tribe,  i.  294,  iii.  1422  ;   infanti- 
cide, ii.   740  ;    support  Sultan  Razla, 
1164 
Galena  mines,  i.  17 
Gambhlr,  r.,  i.  18.  345 
Gambling,  i.  60,  85  ;   a  cause  of  slavery, 

208 
Gandharvasen,  ii.  851,  913 
Ganesa,  Ganesha,  worship  of,  i.  551,  560, 
ii.  686,  842,  iii.  1774  ;    Deori,  liall,  ii. 
663  ;    Dwara,  Pol,  688 
Ganga,  (1)  the  r.  Ganges,  ii.  670,  693  ; 

(2)  of  Marwar,  953 
Gangabheva,  ii.  663,  iii.  1766 
Gangani,  t.,  ii.  1034 
Ganggor,  Ganggaur  festival,  ii.  665,  674, 

iii.  1353 
Gangwana,  battle  at,  ii.  1049 
Ganipur,  t.,  iii.  1439 
Ganor,  queen  of,  ii.  727 
Gara,  r.,  ii.  1226,  1234.     See  Ghara 
Garddhabin  tribe,  i.  273 
Gardens,  at  Kotah,  iii.   1616,   1706  ;    at 
Mandor,  ii.  844  ;   at  Udaipur,  iii.  1824 
Garh  Bltli,  citadel  of   Ajmer,  i.  288,  ii. 

784,  900,  955 
Garha  Mandala,  ci.,  ii.  747,  iii.  1443 
Garnets,  ii.  910 

Gaudhuli,  evening,  i.  263,  ii.  697  j 

Gaur  tribe,  i.  138,  iii.  1454 
Gauri,  the  goddess,  i.  80,  ii.  665,   672  ; 
festivals,  i.  521,  ii.  665  ;    bathing  of,  j 
666 ;    slaying  a  boar  in  her  honour,  i.  [ 
385,  ii.  660,  iii.  1512 
Gaya,  expedition  against,  i.  305,  322,  323  ;  j 
pilgrimage,  i.   498,   ii.   946  ;     Gayapur 
Mahadeo,  iii.  1796 
Geology  of  Aravalli  range,  i.  14, 17 
Getae  tribe,  i.  74  ;   identified  with  Goths, 
ii.  651  ;    with  Jats,  i.  74,  128  ;    with 
Jut,  i.  76 
Ghanerao,   t.,  i.    450,  459,   ii.    788,    798, 
1009,    1079,    1096 ;    honours    paid    to 
chief,  799 
Ghara,  Gharah,  r.,  i.  102, 142,  ii.  941,  960, 

1226,  1234.     See  Gara 
Gharsi  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1216  ;    Gharsisar 

lake,  1217 
Ghasi,  the  Author's  artist,  iii.  1755,  1786, 

1819 
Ghayasu-d-din  (Ghiyasu-d-din)  of  Malwa, 

i.  344,  ii.  785,  iii.  1475 
Ghumli,  fort,  i.  136 


Giras,  gras,  a  handful,  i.  190  ;    Girasia, 
grasia,  a  holder  of  land  by  grant  from 
the  prince,  i.  190 
Girdharji  Shaikhawat,  iii.  1386 
Girnar,  sacred  hill,  ii.  603,  792  ;    suicide 

at,  iii.  1663 

Girwa,  the  valley  of  Udaipur,  ii.  644,  760 

OHa  Oovinda,  poem,  i.  338.   See  Jayadeva 

Gods,  tutelary  of  tribes,  i.  326,  iii.  1444  ; 

god    of    Marwar    married    to   Amber 

goddess,     ii.     1052  ;      of    the     Haras, 

captured,  iii.  1526 

Godwar  tract,  i.   328,  344,  489,  ii.  802, 

996,  1073 
Gogha,  t.,  i.  137 

Gogiinda,  t.,  i.  388,  393,  446,  498,  ii.  801 
Goha,  Goliaditya  of  Mewar,  i.  259 
Gohil,  Gohel,  Gohilwar  tribe,  i.  137,  ii. 

941,  943,  1039 
Gokul,  t.,  ii.  621,  641,  Nath,  Krishna,  621, 

641  ;  Das,  i.  221 
Gol,  inferior  vassals,  i.  167,  554,  568,  iii. 
1636  ;   a  serried  mass  of  warriors,  1603 
Gola,  the  slave  class,  i.  207,  ii.  1076 
Golkonda,  ci.,  i.  289,  453,  iii.  1445,  1449, 

1526 
Gollas,  i.  256 

Gomati,  r.,  i.  454,  ii.  1032 
Gond  tribe,  ii.  651  ;    Gondwana,  979,  iii. 

1483 
Gopinath,   Krishna,   ii.   635 ;    of  Bundi, 

iii.  1487 
Gorakhnath,  the  saint,  i.  265 
Gordhandas,    iii.    1584  :    Singh,    Khichi, 

ii.  1069  ;    Nath,  Krishna,  ii.  635 
Gorind  tribe,  i.  272 
Gorkha,  Gurkha  tribe,  i.  301,  314 
Gorkhar,  the  wild  ass,  i.   20,   iii.   1306. 

See  Kharqadha 
Gorma,   land   near  the   village   site,   iii. 

1550,  1625 
Gosain,  Goswami,  ascetics,  ii.   601,  642, 

1081,  iii.  1670,  1763 
Gosunda,  t.,  i.  326,  526 
Goswami.    See  Gosain 
Got,    gotra,    a    cowpen,    an    exogamous 
section  of  a  caste,   ii.   741  ;    a  tribal 
feast,  i.   326,  iii.   1655 ;    gotracharya, 
a  pedigree,  i.  98,  ii.  930 
Govardhan,  t.,  ii.  602,  635 ;  Nath,  Krishna, 

635 
Government,    inefficiency    of,    i.     174  ; 

representative,  iii.  1552 
Govinda,  Krishna,  ii.  998  ;    Govindgarh, 
t.,  ii.  807,  862,  889  ;    Singh,  Raesalot, 
iii.  1397 


1846 


INDEX 


Graliilot  tribe,  i.  99.     See  Guhilot 
Grain,  measurement  of,  iii.  1562  ;  storage, 

1563 
Grants,  books  of,  i.  160,  205  ;    to  Brali- 

mans,    ii.    644 ;      resuniable,    i.     191  ; 

secular,  duration  of,  i.  190  ;   form  ami 

substance  of,  i.  199 
Grapes,  introduction  of,  ii.  749 
Gras,  grasda,  a  griflin-like  figure,  ii.  903 
Grasses,  ii.  1151,  iii.  1308 
Greek,    auxiliaries,    ii.    780 ;     artists,    ii. 

780,  iii.   1762  ;   traces  of,  in  Bikaner, 

ii.  1134 
Grishma,  the  summer  season,  ii.  656 
Groves,   proliibition   against   cutting,   ii. 

600 
Gual  Khand,  Golkonda,  iii.  1445,  1449 
Gtiga,  Gugga,  the  hero,  ii.  807,  843,  1027, 

iii.  1452 
Guhilot  tribe,  i.  Introd.  xxxiii,  99,  252  ; 

origin  of  name,  i.  259  ;  descent  of,  i.  258, 

266,  ii.  1202  ;   sections,  i.  101 
Guinea-worm,  iii.  1303 
Gujar  tribe,  i.  121,  ii.  651 
Guman  Singh,  (1)  of  Kotah,  iii.  1534;  (2) 

Hara,  1792 
Gurjara  tribe,  i.  Introd.  xxxi,  121 
Gyanchandra,  the  Author's  Guru,  i.  23, 

ii.  764,  1017,  1077 

Haihaya  tribe,  i.  43,  47,  109,  iii.  1442 
Hair  cutting,  ii.  1080,  1219 
Hakra,  r.,  ii.  1134,  1166.     See  Ghar.\ 
Halbarar,  a  plough  tax,  i.  169,  iii.  1725 
Haldighat,  battle  at,  i.  393,  iii.  1484 
Halwad,  t.,  i.  136,  ii.  1022,  iii.  1535 
Hamilton,  W.,  surgeon,  i.  179,  468 
Hamir  (1)  KaGsa,  chronicle,  iii.  1451  ;   (2) 

I.  of  Mewar,  i.  312,  315  ;  II.  of  Mewar, 

507 
Hamuji  of  Biindi,  iii.  1470 
Handmaids  sent  with  brides,  ii.  730 
Handmarks,    signatures,    i.     419,     452  ; 

made  by  Satis,  i.  Introd.  xxxviii 
Hans!,  t.,  iii.  1461 
Hanuman,  the  monkey  God,  i.  163,  336  ; 

gates,    i.    336,    ii.    779;     ancestor    of 

Jaithwa  tribe,  i.  137  ;    his  phylactery, 

ii.  723.     See  B.\JRANG 
HA  pa  Baj,  iii.  1260 
Hara  sept,  i.  115,  iii.  1441 ;    derivation  of 

name,  iii.  1441 ;    cenotaphs,  iii.  1706, 

1714  ;  legends  of,  iii.  1681;    gallantry, 

lit.  1605;   tutelary  goddess,  i.  163 
Harawal,  the  vanguard,  i.    175,   356,  ii. 

976 


Harawati,  Haraoti,  i.  115,  iii.  1441 

Harbong  ka  raj,  i.  361 

Harbuji  Sanklila,  i.  295,  327,  328,  ii.  733, 

804,  843 
Harchand,  (1)  Harischandra,  i.  42,  ii.  886  ; 

(2)  of  Kanauj,  i.  286 
Hardwar,  t.,  i.  49,  ii.  1082 
Hare,  not  eaten,  i.  91 
Harikula,  i.  37 
Haripur,  Heaven,  ii.  636 
Harsiddh  Mata,  worship  of,  ii.  681 
Harunu-l-raslild,  the  Caliph,  i.  286 
Hasan  Khiin,   Mewati,  i.   357  ;    Lodi,   i. 

357 
Hasil,  revenue,  ii.  647,  1118,  iii.  1566 
Hastinapur,  i.  49 
Hastings,  Marquess  of,  i.  3  ;    his  Pindari 

campaign,    i.    Introd.  xxvi,   iii.  1577  ; 

his  Rajput  policy,  i.  150 
Hatheli,  Hathleva,  rite  of  joining  hands  in 

marriage,  i.  331,  578,  ii.  795,  iii.  1807 
Hatyara,  murderer,  title  of  Uda  Singh,  i. 

339 
Head,  refusal  to  bow,  ii.  990  ;  shaving  of, 

ii.   745 
Hearsey,  Gen.  H.  Y.,  i.  531 
Hearth  tax,  ii.  1128,  1157,  1250 
Heber,  Bishop  R.,  1.  Introd.  xxvii,  563, 

ii.  907,  iii.  1737 
Hemacliandra,  Hemacharya,  iii.  1355 
Hide,  of  land,  i.  156,  201 
Hindua   pati,  Sviraj,  titles  of   Ranas  of 

Mewar,  i.  247,  266,  279,  280,  iii.  1471 
Hindu  Kush,  m.,  i.  28 
Hinglaj  Chandel,  temple,  ii.  934,  iii.  1511, 

1656  ;    Hinglajgarh,  fort,  iii.  1769 
Hippokoura,  t.,  i.  250 
Iliranyakasipu,  i.  105 
History,  neglect  of,  by  Hindus,  i.  30 
Holi,  festival,  i.  492,  ii.  661,  812,  905,  942, 

iii.  1469 
Holkar,  family,  iii.  1503  ;   Jaswant  Rao, 

iii.  1516,1770;  MalharRao,  i.  497,  529, 

iii.  1503,  1533 
Horn,   homa,   the    fire   sacrifice,    ii.    673 

et  passim  ;     Hota,   hotri,   a  sacrificial 

priest,  599 
Horses,  branding  of,  ii.   972,  iii.   1482  ; 

.sacrificed   to  the   Sun,   ii.  659 ;    lucky 

marks,  iii.  1719  ;  bridle  worshijjped,  ii. 

1255  ;   naming  of,  685  ;  bathing  of,  682  ; 

of  Partab  Singh,  i.  394;  of  Ummeda,  Iii. 

1501  ;  of  Dewa,  1465  ;  of  Jarwant  Rao 

Holkar,  1770;  memorials  of,  i.  395,  iii. 

1501,  1826;   bred  in  Marvvar,  ii.   1105; 

in  the  Lakhi  Jangal,  1105,  1156 


INDEX 


1847 


Hosliang  Shah  of  JIalwa,  i.  331 

Human  sacrifice,  ii.  599,  814,  966,  iii. 
1392. 

Humayun,  Emperor,  said  to  have 
married  a  Eajput  princess,  i.  178 ; 
defeated  by  Khet  Singh,  321 ;  causes 
Sultan  Bahadur  to  retire,  366  ;  de- 
feated by  Sher  Shah,  373  ;  retreats 
into  Kajputana,  373 ;  reception  by 
Maldeo,  373 ;  retreat  through  the 
desert,  373,  iii.  1281  ;  defeats 
Sikandar  Shah,  i.  375  ;   death,  375 

Hun,  Hiin  tribe,  i.  131 ;  Raja's  nuptial 
haU,  132 ;  Angatsi,  King,  131,  290  ; 
White,  i.  256 

Hundeo  of  Jaipur,  iii.  1332 

Hunting,  ii.  750 

Ibrahim  Khan,  viceroy,  ii.  1012;  Lodi, 

of  Delhi,  i.  352 
Idar  State,  i.   100,   187,  414,  449,  512  ; 

provides  successors  to  Me  war,  ii.  860, 

iu.  1828 
'Idgah,  place  where  rites  of  'Id  festival  are 

performed,  ii.  896 
Ikshwaku,  i.  39 

Inayatu-lla  Khan,  minister,  i.  469 
Inch,  a  handful   of  corn   or  vegetables 

levied,  i.  238,  ii.  650 
Indargarh,  t.,  case  of  its  chief,  ill.  1501, 

1507 
Indha,  section  of  Parihars^  i.  121,  ii.  940 

944,  994,  1085  ;   Indhavati,  iii.  1270 
Indore,  battle  at,  i.  529 
Indraloka,  death-land,  iii.  1477  ;    Indra- 

prastha,  i.  51 
Infanticide,  causes  of,  i.  202,  203,  540  ; 

among  Gakkhars,  ii.  740 ;  among  Raj- 

kumars,  743  ;  measures  to  prevent,  741 
Inscriptions,   evidence   of  feudalism,    i. 

158  ;    text  of,  ii.  914 
Installation  of  Raja,  i.  263,  384 
Intolerance,  absent  in  Mewar,  ii.  604 
Iradat  Khan,  Memoirs  of,  i.  465 
Iron    mines,    i.    17 ;      manufacture,     ii. 

1155  ;   changed  into  gold,  iii.  1647 
Irrigation  projects  in  Mewar,  iii.  1661 
Isani,  the  goddess,  i.  371,  ii.  598,  656 
Isari  Singh,  of  Jaipur,  ii.   866,  871,  iii. 

1356 
Itineraries  in  the  desert,  iii.  1309 
'Itr-pan,  perfume  and  betel  given  to  close 

an  interview,  ii.  769,  848 

Jadeja,  JSreja  tribe,  i.  102,  103,  154,  202, 
290,  ii.  607,  iii.  1286 


Jadon  tribe,  i.   103,   110,   293,  ii.   1174, 
1207  ;   Jadonwati,  their  territory,  i.  15 
Jadu  ka  dang,  i.  75,  ii.  617 
Jagad,  Jagat  Guru,  a  title  of  Akbar,  i. 

377 
Jagannath,  Vishnu,  worship  of,  ii.  675, 
iii.  1511,  1695 ;  temple,  i.  410,  550,  ii. 
645 
Jagat  Khunt,  Dwarka,    i.    338,   ii.    943, 
1169;   Singh  (1)  I.  of  Mewar,  i.  432; 
(2)  II.  of  Mewar,  482  ;  (3)  of  Jaipur, 
ii.  1083,  iii.  1364 
Jagatya,  a  tax-collector,  iii.  1564 
Jagir,  an  assignment  of  land  in  lieu  of 
military  service,  i.   426  ;    Jaglrdar,  a 
holder  of  such  grant,  a  title  of  Mewar 
princes,  422,  426 
JagmaU  of  Mewar,  1.  384 
Jagmandir,    palace,    i.    406,    427,    433, 

iii.  1641 
Jagnivas,  palace,  i.  406 
Jagrani,  the  small-pox  goddess,  ii.  1038 
Jahandar  Shah,  Emperor,  ii.  1020 
Jahanglr,      Emperor,     attacks     Partab 
Singh,    i.     392,    409  ;      attacks    Amar 
Singh,  417  ;  remarks  on  Sesodias,  161  ; 
captures   Chitor,    175 ;     marries   Jodh 
Bai,  179  :   favours  Krishna  worship,  ii. 
608  ;    Memoirs  of,  i.  418,  549  ;  intro- 
duces tobacco,  ii.  749 
Jahazgarh,  Jahazpur,  t.,  i.  8,   167,  321, 

520,  528  ;    ii.  955,  iii.  1715,  1738 
Jai  Apa,  ii.  866,  873,  891,  1063 
Jai  Chand  of  Kanauj,  ii.  718,  930,  935 
Jaimall,  Patta,  i.  380,  567,  569,  ii.  856 
Jainism,  Jains,  ii.  602  ;    image  worship, 
624  ;     laymen,    i.    369 ;     hbraries,    i. 
Introd.  Ivi,  ii.  605  ;    piUar  at  Chitor, 
ii.   605  ;  respect  for  animal  life,  606  ; 
sacred    places,     603  ;      protected    by 
Mewar,   602,  646  ;    "  retreat  "  in  the 
rainy  season,  606,  iii.  1731 
Jaipal,  Raja  of  Panjab,  i.  294 
Jaipur  State,  annals,  iii.  1327  ;    building 

of  the  city,  1342.     See  AMBER 
Jaisal  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1203 
Jaisalmer  State,  annals,  ii.  1169 
Jaisamund,  lake,  i.  458 
Jai  Singh,  (1)  Mlrza  Raja,  of  Jaipur,  ii. 
728,    iii.    1340;    (2)  Sawai  of  Jaipur, 
1341,  1497 ;  (3)  of  Mewar,  i.  456 
Jaithwa,  Jethwa  tribe,  i.  136 
Jajau,  battle,  i.  464,  ii.  982,  iii.  1495 
Jajnagar,  Jajpur,  t.,  i.  290 
Jalandhara,    Jalandarnath,    Krishna,    ii. 
635,  iii.  1266 


1848 


INDEX 


Jalhan  of  Marwar,  ii.  943 

Jaljatra  festival,  ii.  649,  697 

Jaljhulni  festival,  i.  261 

Jalor,  t.,  i.  384,  ii.  797,  941,  954,  970,  996, 
1010,  1079,  1109,  iii.  1266 

Jam,  a  title,  i.  103,  ii.  1219,  iii.  1286 

Jambunada,  native  gold,  i.  94,  ii.  694 

James  I.  of  England,  letter  of,  i.  423 

Jamwai,  Jamwahi  Mata,  worship  of,  iii. 
1331 

Janamashtami  festival,  ii.  630,  649,  678 

Janapao  hill,  i.  18,  iii.  1687 

Janavi,  Janami  Mata,  worship  of,  i.  414, 
ii.  672,  iii.  1376 

Janeo,  the  Brahmanical  cord,  i.  264 

Janjuha,  Janjua  tribe,  ii.  1175 

Jaswant  (1)  Rao  Bhau,  i.  528;  (2)  Rao 
Holkar,  see  Holkar  ;  (3)  Singh  of 
Marwar,  ii.  975 ;  commands  against 
Aiirangzeb,  980  ;  conduct  at  battle 
of  Dharmat,  724 ;  at  Khajua,  982 ; 
repudiated  by  his  wife,  724  ;  service 
in  Kabul,  984 ;  death,  985 ;  char- 
acter, 986  ;  cenotaph,  835  ;  treatment 
of  his  family,  990  ;  (4)  of  Jaisalmer, 
1227 

Jat,  Jat,  tribe,  i.  127,  ii.  1124,  1148, 
1256  ;  connected  with  Getae,  i.  74, 128, 
ii.  1124  ;  with  Rajputs,  i.  127  ;  in 
Blkaner,  ii.  1126  ;  attacked  by  Mah- 
mCid,  i.  129  ;  sections  of,  iii.  1297  ;  in 
Bharatpur,  1357;  at  Agra,  1359;  right 
of  inaugurating  Maharaja  of  Bikaner, 
ii.  1129;  Kathida.  i.  128,  ii.  917 

Java,  ii.  703 

Javadia,  horse  of  Gugga,  ii.  1027,  iii. 
1452,  1710 

Jawad,  t.,  i.  15,  251,  504,  510 

Jawahir  Singh  of  Bharatpur,  iii.  1359 

Jawalamukhi  temple,  ii.  1037 

Jawan  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  123,  543,  iii. 
1825 

Jawar,  Jawara,  mines,  i.  169,  321,  397, 
585 

Jayadeva,  songs  of,  i.  337,  ii.  629,  630, 
755,  764 

Jeth  Singh,  (1)  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1132;  (2) 
of  Jaisalmer,  1211 

Jetlii,  a  wrestler,  ii.  751,  iii.  1617 

Jhala  Makwana  tribe,  i.  135,  ii.  1039 

Jhalaka  monastery,  iii.  1751 

Jhalawar  State,  i.  338,  iii.  1780 

Jhalrapatan,  t.,  iii.  1780,  1782 

Jliarol,  t.,  i.  259,  336 

Jharu-barar,  a  broom  tax,  iii.  1567 

Jhunjhunu,  Fatehpur,  t.,  i.  336,  iii.  1423 


Jigarkhor,   a  witch,  vampire,  i.  88,  iii. 

1615 
Jinjiniali,  t.,  ii.  1229,  iii.  1316 
Jinsi,  artillery,  iii.  1747 
Jiran,  t.,  i.  319,  445,  504 
Jizya,  the  poll-tax,  i.  441,  469,  ii.  622, 

994,  1021,  1037  ;    abolished,  i.  471,  iii. 

1482 ;  letter  of  remonstrance  against,  i. 

442 
Jobner,  t.,  iii.  1328,  1460 
Jodh  Bai,  i.  389,  ii.  965,  iii.  1339 
Jodha  of  Jodhpur,  i.  325,  339,  ii.  947,  950 
Jodhpur,  ci.,  position,  ii.  820;  founded, 

i.  339,  ii.  947  ;    captured  by  Mughals, 

958 ;      occupied     by     British,     833 ; 

besieged  by  Jagat  Singh,  1085 
Jogi,  ascetics,  ii.  948,  949.      See  Kan- 

PHATA 

Jogini,  Yogini  (1)  spirits  who  feed  on  the 

slain,    ii.     1016,    1179,    iii.    1755;    (2) 

Mata,  image  of,  1806  ;   (3)  r.,  ii.  850 
Jograj  of  Mewar,  ii.  593 
Johar,  Jauhar,  general  suicide  of  women, 

i.  84,  310,  363,  381,  ii.  744,  992,  1213, 

iii.  1821 
Johya,  Joiya,  tribe,  i.  102,  129,  142,  290, 

ii.  941,  944,  1130,  1133,  iii.  1300 
Jones,  Sur  W.,  i.  40,  41,  42,  107,  ii.  630, 

652,  700 
Juar,  Jawar,  millet,  i.  237  et  passim 
Jud,  mountains,  i.  75,  129,  ii.  617 
Jujhar,  a  memorial  stone,  i.  90,  iii.  1412, 

1815.     See  Paliya 
Julaha,  a  weaver,  iii.  1280 
Juna  Chhotan,  t.,  iii.  1274 
Junagarh  hill,  i.  54,  291,  293 
Justice,  administration  of,  ii.  1112 

Kaba  tribe,  i.  Ill,  ii.  1170,  iii.  1511 
Kachahri,  a  court  of  justice,  town  duties, 

iii.  1434 
Kachhwaha   tribe,   i.    56,    106,    161,    iii. 

1328;  sections  of,  iii.  1438;   Kachhwa- 

hagar,  Kachhwahagarh,  iii.  1329 
Kahror,  t.,  ii.  1223 
Kalian,  of  Jai.salmer,  ii.  1208 
Kaimkliani,     Qaimkliani     Chauhans,    ii. 

945,  iii.  1423 
Kalachuri  dynasty,  i.  48 
Kalanjar  fort,  i.  52,  139,  376 
Kalbhoj  of  Chitor,  i.  283 
Kalhora  tribe,  ii.  854,  iii.  1299 
Kali,  worship  of,  i.  347,  ii.  665 
Kali  Sind,  r.,  i.  4,  18 
Kalika  Devi,  worship  of,  i.  113 ;   temple 

at  Chitor,  iii.  1821 


INDEX 


1849 


Kalinadi,  Kalindri,  r.,  ii.  938 

Kaliyanag,  the  dragon,  ii.  636 

Kalpi,  t.,  i.  335 

Kalyan  Singh  of  Blkaner,  ii.  1132 

Kamadeva,  Kamdeo,  god  of  love,  ii.  673, 

ui.    1476 ;     Kamadliwaja,    Kamdhuj, 

Kamunda,   title   of  Rathors,   ii.    930, 

1001 ;   Kamakumbha,  vessel  of  desire, 

ii.  669,  898. 
Kamaru-d-dln    Khan,    wazir,    iii.    1347, 

1357 
Kambakhsh,  prince,  his  mother,  ii.  1015  ; 

letter  from  Aurangzeb,  i.  439  ;  marries 

a  Rajputni,  i.  179  ;   death,  ii.  1015 
Kampilanagara,  t.,  i.  50,  59,  295 
Kanaksen  of  Mewar,  i.  251 
Kanaswa,   Kanswa,  inscription,  ii.   917, 

iii.  1796 
Kanauj,  founded,  i.  50  ;  early  history,  ii. 

933  ;    extent,  i.  50,  ii.  936  ;    attacked 

by     Shihabu-d-din,    939 ;     defeat    of 

Humayiin,   i.   373  ;    mythical  Rathor 

dynasty,  ii.  824 
Kandhal  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1131 
Kanhaiya,  Krishna,  ii.  602,  608 
Kanhal,  KSnpal  of  Marvrar,  ii.  943 
Kankut,  valuation  of  standing  crops,  i. 

583 
Kanod  Mohindargarh,  t.,  iii.  1259 
Kanphata,  Kanphara  Jogis,  i.  87,  ii.  601, 

682 
Kanthal  district,  i.  347,  iii.  1670 
Kanva  dynastj',  i.  65 
Karan  Singh,  (1)  of  Bikaner,  u.  1135  ;  (2) 

of  Jaisalmer,  1210 ;   (3)  I.  of  Mewar,  i. 

303  ;  (4)  II.  of  Mewar,  427 
Karauli  State,  i.  103,  180,  ii.  1049 
Karttika,  Karttikeya,  war  god,  ii.  687  ; 

Karttik,  month,  festivals  in,  695 
Kasi,  Benares,  i.  93,  139 
Katehr,  Rohilkhand,  i.  66,  110,  ii.  717 
Kathi  tribe,  i.  83,  133,  ii.  941 ;    Kathia- 

war,  i.  133 
Kaurava  tribe,  iii.  1292,  1294 
Kausambi,  ci.,  i.  51,  56,  iii.  1385 
Kayasth  caste,  iii.  1814 
Kedar,  Kedarnath,  iii.  1463 
Kehar  of  Jaisalmer,  iii.  1186 
Kelwa,  t.,  i.  333,  380,  442 
Kelwara,  t.,  i.  312,  316,  ii.  776,  iii.  1568 
Keonj  Mata,  worship  of,  i.  116,  iii.  1444 
Kerala,  km.,  i.  52 
Keshorae,  temple  of,  iii.  1545 
Kettledrums,    privilege    of    beating,    i. 

215,  233.    See  Nakkara 
Khadatara,  section  of  Jains,  ii.  603,  1108 
VOL.  Ill 


Khadga,  a  sword,  Sthapana,  worship  of, 

ii.  679 
Khairalu,  Kheralu,  t.,  i.  Ill,  ii.  1004,  iii. 

1273,  1322 
Khajua,  Khajwa,  Khajuha,  battle,  ii.  982 
Khalisa,  crown  or  fiscal  estate,  i.  166 
Khamnor,  Khamnaur,  battle,  i.  394,  417, 

ii.  640 
Khandela,  t.,  iii.  1384,  1390,  1418,  1422 
Khan  Jahan  Lodi,  in.  1387 
Khargadha,  the  wild  ass,  iii.  1306.     See 

GORKHAR 

Kharg  bandhai,  binding  on  the  sword  as 

an  initiation  to  arms,  i.  185,  223 
Khari,  r.,  i.  13,  489,  579 
Kharlakar,  a  tax  on  forage  and  wood,  i. 

170,  577,  ii.  644,  iu.  1725 
Khawar,  oasis,  iii.  1272 
Khejra  tree,  ii.  683,  1151 
Khengar  tribe,  i.  293 
Kher,    Khergarh,    see   Kherdhar  ;    the 

tribal  le\T,  i.  197,  ii.  1041 
Kheralu.     See  Khairalit 
Kherdhar,   t.,   i.    137,   267,   ii.    941,   iii. 

1273 
Kheroda,  t.,  i.  515,  iii.  1621 
Khet  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  318,  321 
Khetrpal,  worship  of,  i.  318,  326,  ii.  793 
Khichi  Chauhans,  i.  115,  163,  iii.  1790 ; 

Khichiwara,  iii.  1347 
Khilji  dynasty,  i.  334 
KWnwasar,  t.,  ii.  862,  1008 
Khizr  Khan,  Sultan,  ii.  734,  1197 
Khodiyar  Mata,  worship  of,  iii,  1444 
Khokhar  tribe,  ii.  740,  1191,  1222 
Khosa  tribe,  ii.  814,  1073,  iii.  1298 
Khota  Bhils,  iii.  1468,  1521 
Khuman  I.   of  Mewar,   i.   283 ;    Raesa, 

chronicle,  i.  250,  284,  309,  iii.  1813 
Khurram,  prince,  i.  418,  428,  431,  432, 

ii.  973 
Khushhaii,    a     benevolence,    il.    1159 ; 

Ram,  Bohra,  iii.  1361 
Khusliroz  festival,  i.  400 
Khusru,  prince,  1.  178 
Kika  Rana,  Partab  Singh  of  Mewar,  1. 

385 
Kiladar,     qil'adar,     governor     of    fort, 

premier,  i.  216,  ii.  832,  iii.  1519 
Kirani    Mata,    worship    of,    ii.     1128 ; 

Kirania,  a  ceremonial  umbrella,  i.  234, 

310,  ii.  660 
Kirar  caste,  iii.  1429 
Kirtti  Stambha,  pillar  of  victory,  i.  320, 

ii.  605,  iii.  1819 
Kishangarh  State,  i.  370,  ii.  965,  974 

2q 


1850 


INDEX 


Kishor  Singh  of  Kotah,  iii.  1523,  1592 
Kitar,  qitar,  a  string  of  camels,  ii.  1109 
Knots,  marking  birtlulays,  iii.  1697 
Knox,  Brigadier- General  A.,  i.  544 
Koila,  fief,  iii.  1571 
Koli  tribe,  iii.  1279,  1280 
Koregaon,  battle,  i.  97 
Kotah  State,  annals,  iii.  1521  ;    origin  of 
name,   1468  :    separated  from  Bundi, 
1486  ;    unhealthiness,  1704,  1707 
Kothari,  r.,  i.  13 
Kotharia,  t.,  i.  195,  369,  380,  478,  529, 

555,  563,  ii.  664,  685 
Kothri,  a  chamber,  tribal  groups  in 
Jaipur  and  Btindi,  i.  107,  iii.  1436, 
1488 
Krishna,  in  the  Mahabharata,  i.  44  ; 
Dwarka,  his  capital,  i.  47 ;  the  '  Hindu 
Apollo,'  i.  222,  529  ;  cult  at  Nath- 
dwara,  i.  529,  ii.  607;  the  'dark  one,' 
623  ;  history  of,  621  ;  festivals,  638  ; 
forms  of,  628,  630 ;  patron  deity  of 
Haras,  618  ;  in  Russia,  615  ;  death,  i. 
61  ;  image  removed  to  Mewar,  ii.  609  ; 
effect  of  his  cult  on  Rajputs,  619  ; 
worshipped  in  caves,  635  ;  favoured  by 
Mughal  Emperors,  608 
Krishna  Kunwari,  tragical  fate  of,  i.  535, 

ii.  1082,  iii.  1412 
Kuchaman,  t.,  ii.  820,  853,  1084 
Kuhari,  r.,  i.  120 
Kujliban,  1.  289,  iii.  1462 
Kukkureswar,  Siva,  iii.  1823 
Kuladevi,  a  tribal  goddess,  i.  106,  ii.  1179 
Kulin  Brahmans,  ii.  595 
Kumara,  god  of  war,  i.  81,  ii.  658,  694 
Kumarapala  Chaulukya,  i.  117,  128,  ii. 

916,  iii.  1651 
Kumbh  Sham  temples,  i.  336,  iii.  1818 
Kfimbha  liana  of  Mewar.  i.  332,  ii.  945 
Kumbhalmer  fort,  i.   12,   167,   169,   196, 
316,  369,  371,  388,  ii.   777  ;   founded, 
i.   336 ;    besieged  by   Shahbaz   Khan, 
i.    396 ;    recovered,    403 ;   restored  by 
Marathas,  546 ;  taken  by  British,  i.  549, 
ii.  778;    gates,   779;    temples,  ii.  779; 
inscription,  i.  251,  ii.  781 
Kunt,  Kilt,  estimate  of  standing  crops, 

i.  583 
Kuntal  of  Amber,  iii.  1332 
Kuriltai,  the  Mongol  council,  i.  165 
Kurwai  Borasa,  battle,  iii.  1526 
Kusumbha,  a  draught  of  opium,  i.  341,  541 
Kutbu-d-din,      Qutbu-d-din,     saint      of 
Ajmer,  ii.  1014  ;  Tbak,  i.  208,  ii.  1164  ; 
-1-mulk,  i,  467 


Kuwari,  r.,  i.  19,  106 

Lilbri  Khan  Farangi,  i.  362 

Lachhinan  Singh,  (1)  of  Chitor,  i.  307;  (2) 

Shaildiavat,  iii.  1420;  (3)  of  Jaisalmer, 

ii.  1218 
Ladnun,  t.,  ii.  862 
Lakha,  (1)  Laksh  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  321  ; 

(2)  Phulani,  ii.  853,  941,  iii.  1305,  1310 
Lalvliamsi,  Lakshman  Singh  of  Chitor,  i. 

307 
Lakhan,  (1)  Sen  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1210  ; 

(2)  a  deified  hero,  719 
Laklii  Jangal,  ii.  1156.    See  Horses 
Lakhnauti,  ci.,  i.  138 
Lakullsa,  Siva,  i.  Introd.  xxxvi 
Lakwa  Dada,  i.  524,  525,  528,  530,  ii.  878 
Lai  Bai,  i.  331,  iii.  1681 
Lai  Kila,  Qila',  fort  of  Agra,  ii.  977 
Lai  Shahbaz,  saint,  iii.  1313 
Lalsont,  Lalsot,  battle,  i.  513,  ii.  875 
Land   system    in    Kotah,    iii.    1559 ;     in 

Mewar,  i.   108,  573  ;    in  Jaisalmer,  ii. 

1249  ;  landholders,  i.  190,  578 
Langaha  tribe,  ii.  941,  1191 
Lanka,  ii.  683,  701 
Lar  tribe,  i.  138 
Larkhani  tribe,  iii.  1426 
Lawa,  t.,  i.  511,  567,  iii.  1640 
Lead  mines,  i.  169 
Leaping  from  precipices,  suicide  by,  iii. 

1663 
Legitimacy,    confirmed    by    Rana.     See 

COMMENSALITY 

Letters,  treacherous,  i.  450,  ii.  957 
Levies,  feudal.     See  Kher 
Libraries,  i.  Introd.  Ivi,  ii.  605 
Lingam  and  Yoni  symbols,  1.  264,  ii.  598, 

1016.     See  Phallic  Worship 
Literature,  ii.  756 
Litters,  warriors  concealed  in,  i.  308,  ii. 

734 
Locusts,  ii.  775 
Lodorwa,  t.,i.  102,  109,  296,  298,  ii.  1185, 

1198,  1205 
Lohaua  tribe,  iii.  1295 
Lohkot,  i.  116,  252,  254 
Lot,    deified   hero,    1.   288,    ii.    900,    iii. 

1447 
Lucan,  Lieut.,  iii.  1778 
Luka  tribe,  iii.  1299 
Lumri  tribe,  i.  75,  iii.  1299.     See  NuMRl 
Lunar  Rajputs.     See  Chvndravansa 
Lunavada,  LQnawara,  t.,  i.  11,  119,  iii. 

1822 
Lunavas,  battle,  ii.  1056 


INDEX 


1851 


Ltlni,  r.,   i.  8,    13,  19,  ii.  889,  901,  iii. 

1264 
Lunkaran  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1132 

Ma'ajun,  an  electuary  of  hemp  or  opium, 

i.  408,  ii.  674 
Macheri,  t.,  and  State,  i.  141,  iii.   1354, 

1360 
Madar,  (1)  saint,  i.  431 ;  (2)  tree,  ii.  1152 
Madari,  Madri,  t.,  i.  222,  318,  380 
Maggots  in  antelopes,  ii.  834 
Magic,  sympathetica!,  ii.  1113,  1199  ;  ex- 
pulsion of  cholera,  iii.  1734  ;  practised 

by  Jains,  ii.  813 
Mahabat  Khan,  i.  386,  393,  397,  412,  418, 

430,  ii.  973 
Maliabharata  war,  date,  i.  68  ;   relics  of, 

ii.  1016 
Mahadaji  Sindliia,  ii.  875  ;    defeated  at 

Sipra,  i.  500  ;   interferes  in  Mewar,  ii. 

1057  ;   death,  i.  524 
Mahadeva  Siva,  cult  in  Mewar,  ii.  598. 

See  Siva 
•  Mahasati,  a  cremation  ground,  i.  88,  ii. 

663 
Maha  Singh  of  Amber,  iii.  1339 
Mahavidyas,  iii.  1774,  1817 
Mahavlra,  i.  32,  78 
Mahesri  caste,  ii.  1250 
Maheswar,  t.,  i.  33,  47,  109,  ii.  638,  iii. 

1445 
Mahi,  r.,  i.  133 

Mahi  Muratib,  the  fish  symbol,  ii.  1023 
Mahishmati,  t.,  i.  33,  47,  iii.  1445 
Mahmud,  (1)  Begada  of  Ahmadabad,  iii. 

1821  ;    (2)  of  Ghazni,  i.  116,  122,  129, 

287  ;   (3)  of  Malwa,  i.  335 
Mahoba,  t.,  i.  139,  ii.  716 
Maina  tribe.     See  MIna 
Man-,  Mer,  tribe,  i.  12,  ii.  651,  787,  888, 

iii.  1300,  1455  ;    marriage  customs,  ii. 

795  ;  met  by  Author,  787  ;   character, 

793 
Majam  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1186 
Makara  Sanlcranti,  festival,  il.  697 
Makrana,  marble  Ciuarries,  ii.  1107 
Malasi  of  Amber,  iii.  1335 
Malava  tribe,  i.  142 
Malays,  ii.  1171 

Malba,  rubbish,  a  land  tax,  ii.  1158 
Malcolm,    Sir    J.,    measures    to    reform 

forest   tribes,    i.    587 ;     Campaign    in 

Central  India,  iii.  1578 
Maldeo  of  Marwar,  i.   389,  ii.  953  ;    his 

treatment  of  Humayun,  i.  373,  ii.  956  ; 

hia  sons,  959  ;   his  cenotaph,  835 


Malharrao.    See  HoLKAR 

Malik  Bayazld,  Baz  Bahadur,  i.  378 

Malkliani  tribe,  i.  116 

MaUinath,  hero,  ii.  843,  iii.  1272  ;    Thai, 

iii.  1272 
Malloi  tribe,  i.  142 
Malpura,  t.,  forays  against,  i.  315,  403, 

440,  ii.  1108 
Malwa,  derivation  of  name,  iii.  1628 
Mandala    tribe,    i.    445,    514,    ii.    1039  ; 

Mandalgarh,  t.,  i.  15,  142,  196,  197,  212, 

403,  ii.  919,  iii.  1721 
Mandallka,  governor  of  a  district,  i.  259, 

ii.  936 
Mandasor,  t.,  i.  445,  480,  514 
Mandavri,  worship  of,  iii.  1444 
Mandhata,  t.,  in.  1389  ;   king,  1629 
Mandor,  ci.,  ii.  834,  941,  951,  994  ;    seat 

of  government  transferred  from,  947  ; 

walls,  839  ;   captured  by  Rathors,  956 
Mandu,    ci.,    piUar    of    victory,   i.    335 ; 

captured  by  Humajiln,  i.  365 
Mangalia  tribe,  i.  21,  iii.  1300 
Mangrol,  battle,  iii.  1602 
Manikiala,  Stflpa,  ii.  1189 
Manikrae,  Chauhan,  i.  114,  ii.  893,  900, 

iii.  1447,  1449 
Manjanik,  manjanlq,  a  kind  of  catapult, 

i.  362 
Manohardas  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1225 
Mansab,    office,    prerogative,    i.    177    el 

passim ;  Mansabdar,  a  title  of  office,  422 
Mansarovar  lake,  i.  379,  ii.  891,  1031 
Man    Singh,   (1)    of    Jaipur,    iii.    1338 ; 

reported    attempt    at    poisoning    by 

Akbar,  i.  408,  iii.  1338,  1486  ;    (2)  of 

Marwar,  ii.   1080  ;    meeting  with  the 

Author,  822 
Manstira,  t.,  i.  286,  ii.  1187.  1234 ;    iii. 

1283 
Mapa,  dues  on  measuring  grain,  ii.  597 
Marathas,   Malirattas,   claim   to   Rajput 

descent,    i.    104,    314 ;     rise    of,    472  ; 

tyranny  of,  473,  510  ;    cross  the  Ner- 

budda,   463  ;    in  Malwa  and  Gujarat, 

485  ;  cross   the    Chambal,  485  ;    enter 

Rajputana,  489  ;    false  British  policy, 

505 
Marble  quarries,  ii.  1107 
Mari,  the  cholera  goddess,  ii.   1002,  iii. 

1733,  1734 
Maroni,  Marwan,  tale  of,  iii.  1331 
Marriage,  of  children,  round  tree,  i.  261  ; 

of  Mughals  with  Rajputnis,  178  ;    age 

of,   i.    Introd.    xxxviii  ;    reduction    of 

expenses,  ii.  741  ;   benevolences  levied 


1852 


INDEX 


at,  187  ;    exogamy,  190  ;    customs  of 

Mairs,  ii.  795 
Marwan.     See  Maroni 
Marwar,  annals  of, ii.  929 ;  geography,  1104 
Massagetae,  i.  71 
Masud  of  Gliazni,  ii.  1202 
Mata,  the  Motlier  goddess,  i.  98,  402,  ii. 

684,    891,    iii.    1280,    1809  ;     Janami, 

Janavi,  i.   414,  ii.   672 ;    Than,  863 ; 

Matachal    mount,    683.     See    Sakam- 

BHAKI 

Mathura,  i.  48,  ii.  623,  1173 

Maudud  of  Ghazni,  i.  115 

Mauna  tribe,  i.  272 

Maiirya  dynasty,  1.  65,  265.     See  Mori 

Mawaru-n-nahr,  i.  127,  ii.  1124 

Maypoles  at  Holi  festival,  iii.  1703 

Medicine,  ii.  759 

Medpat,  i.  9,  ii.  938 

Mej,  r.,  iii.  1713 

Melons,  ii.  748,  1150 

Menal,  ii.  591,  iii.  1796,  1800,  1802 

Meo  tribe.     See  MfNA 

Mer  tribe.     See  Mair 

Mercantile  tribes,  i.  144 

Mercenaries,  employment,  i.  181,  ii.  1067  ; 

revolt,  i.  507 
Mercer,  Mr.  Graeme,  i.  4,  533,  iii.  1729 
Merta,  i.  337,  ii.  882,  910,  950  ;    battle, 

1061  ;    Mertia  sept  of  Rathors,  i.  567, 

ii.  872,  950,  1005 
Meru,  m.,  i.  24 
Merwara,    ii.    789,    1005 ;     subdued    by 

Mewar,  i.   584 ;    by  British,  ii.   793  ; 

Battalion,  794 
Metcalf,  Lord,  ii.  927 
Meteoric  lires,  i.  89 
Mewar,  annals,  i.  247 
Mewasa  district,  ii.  1022,  1043 
Mewat,  ii.  717 

Mhau  Maidana,  t.,  i.  109,  iii.  1789 
Mihiragula,  i.  256 
Mihran,  the  Indus,  r.,  ii.  1208 
Militia,  feudal,  i.  197 
Mlna  tribe,  i.  343,  ii.  651,  812,  Hi.  1332, 

1429,     1715 ;      conquered     by     Abhai 

Singh,  ii.  1042  ;  aborigines  of  Jaipur,  i. 

107  ;    attacked  by  Hundeo,  iii.   1332  ; 

right  of  inaugurating  Kajas  of  .laijiur, 

ii.  1129  ;  the  criminal  branch,  iii.  1430 
Mines  and  minerals,  i.  17,  168,  321,  585, 

ii.  1154 
Ministers,    i.    214,    479,    556,   iii.    1519  ; 

drawn  from  merchant  class,  i.  368,  403, 

449,  474,  500,  ii.  1088 
Minnagara,  t.,  i.  103,  265,  256,  iii.  1285 


Minors,  guardianship,  i.  188 

MIra  Bai,  1.  337,  ii.  951,  iii.  1818 

Mirage,  i.  20,  ii.  883 

Miras,    hereditary   estates,   i.    196,    575, 

580 
Mitliila,  km.,  i.  46 
Mitliri,  chief  of,  ii.  864 
Mogliia  tribe,  i.  244 
Mohil,  clan,  i.  102,  142,  ii.  941,  1127,  iii. 

1454 
Mokal  of  Mewar,  i.  323,  331 
Mongol,  meaning  of  name,  i.  123,  ii.  693  ; 

origin,  i.  68 
Monogamy,  ii.  711 
Monson,   Col.    Hon.   W.,   retreat  of,   iii. 

1516,  1571,  1777 
Moon  worship,  ii.  623 
Mora,  t.,  in.  1439 
Morals,  ii.  708,  1059,  1075 
Mori,  Maurya  tribe,  i.  65,  110^  126,  265, 

n.  919 
Morwan,  t.,  i.  504,  iii.  1632,  1646,  1647 
Mota  Raja,  Udai  Singh,  ii.  959 
Moti  Pasban,  iii.  1630 
Mu'azzam  Bahadur  Shah,  Sliah  'Alam,  i. 

444,  464,  ii.  983,  984 
Muhammad,    (1)    the    Propliet,    i.    265 ; 

(2)   Husain  Mlrza,   ii.   1135  ;    (3)  bin 

Kasim,    i.    114,    143,    270,    284,    286; 

(4)    Shah,    Lodi,    i.    322 ;     (5)    Shah, 

Emperor,  ii.  1025 
Mulnu-d-dln  Chishti,  saint,  i.  418,  ii.  841 
Mujd,  the  tree,  i.  329 
Mukunddarra  pass,  i.  15,  iii.  1522,  1571, 

1779 
Mukunddas,   (1)   Nahar   Khan,   ii.   988 ; 

(2)  Singh  of  Kotah,  iii.  1522 
Midaraja,  Mulraj,  (1)  Chaulukya,  i.  118  ; 

(2)  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1213,  1228 
MuUa  Sallh,  tutor,  i.  436 
Multan,  ci.,  i.  83,  142  ;   earth,  ii.  1154 
Munawwar  piyala,  a  draught  of  opium, 

i.  86,  ii.  661,  iii.  1666 
Munda  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1200 
Mundkati,  blood  price,  i.  211,  330,  ii.  805, 

874 
Murad,  prince,  i.  435 
Muralidhar,  Krishna,  iii.  1821 
Music,  ii.  7.52,  iii.  1709 
Muslvat  Mandavi,  ii.  812,  iii.  1670 
Muzalfar,  (1)  of  Ahmadabad,  i.  361,  ii. 

785  ;   (2)  Husain  Mlrza,  ii.  969 
Mythology,  ii.  650,  705 

Nadir   Shah,   invades   India,   i.   486,   Ii. 
1063 


INDEX 


1853 


Nadol.  t.,  i.  292,  343,  ii.  800,  806,  808, 

940,  944,  997,  iii.  1450 
Naga    race,    i.    124,    ii.    676 ;     fighting 

ascetics,  iii.  1435 
Nagarchal  town,  i.  321 ;  Gurlia,  iii.  1274  ; 

Parkar,  1275,  1278 
Nagari  t.,  i.  379,  iii.  1818 
Nagarsetli,  a  city  magistrate,  i.  171,  231, 

ii.  682 
Nagnaicha,  Nagnaichian,  worship  of,  i. 

106,  326 
Nagor,  t.,  i.  142,  389,  ii.  734,  873,  954, 

976,  994,  1037,  iii.  1449 
Nagpahar,  liUI,  ii.  893 
Nagpancliami  festival,  ii.  676 
Nahan  State,  ii.  1020 
Nahar  Khan,  (1)  Kumpawat,  ii.  967,  988  ; 

(2)  of  Mandor,  i.  298,  ii.  841 
Naharnaldi,  tiger-claw  weapon,  ii.   721. 

See  Baghnakh 
Nahlwara,  Anhilwara,  i.  193 
Najaf  'Ali  Khan,  Quli  Khan,  iii.  1362 
Nalikara,  naqqara,  a  kettledrum,  i.  215, 

iii.   1482  et  passim  ;    aswari,  ii.   674  ; 

naqqSra  darwaza,  gate  where  soimded, 

1070 
Nala  and  Damayanti,  tale  of,  ii.  735, 1139 
Names,  taboo  of,  iii.  1293 
Nanak,  the  Sikh  Gura,  i.  465  ;    panthi 

sect,  iii.  1500 
Nandi,  the  bull  of  Siva,  ii.  598,  600 
Nanta,  t.,  iii.  1703,  1709 
Napuji,  of  BQndi,  iii.  1468 
Narayan,    Vishnu,    iii.     1760;    -das    of 

Biindi,  iii.  1474 
Narlai,  t.,  i.  291,  343,  u.  806,  809,  929 
Narsinggarh,  t.,  ii.  765,  767 
Narua,  the  guinea-worm,  iii.  1303 
Naruka   Kachliwahas,   i.    107,   ii.    1027, 

1252 
Narwar,  t.,  i.  106,  376,  iii.  1373 
Nasiru-d-din  Sabuktigin,  i.  295 
Nathdwara,  temple,  i.  340,  ii.  607,  769  ; 

endowments,     614 :     image     of    god 

removed,  i.  529,  ii.  609  ;    pillaged  by 

Marathas,  i.  529  ;   pontiff,  ii.  642 
Nathji  Maharaja,  iii.  1694 
Nathuram,     figure     paraded     at     Holi 

festival,  ii.  704 
Naukot,  Naunangal,  nine  forts  of  Marwar, 

i.  109,  ii.  971 
Nauratri  festival,  ii.  673,  679 
Nauroz,  Nauroza,  festival,  i.  94,  177,  400, 

ii.  1021 
Nawal,    Newal,    Jat   of   Bharatpur,    iii. 

1360 


Nawalgarh  fort.,  iii.  1397,  1425 
Nawanagar,  t.,  ii.  1022 
Nayyad,  new  converts  to  Islam,  iii.  1293 
Nazar,    a    gift    from    an    inferior    to    a 

superior,    i.    582,   u.    684    et  -passim ; 

nazarana,  a  fine  of  reUef,  i.  177,  ii.  794 
Nazir,'a  eimuch,  guardian  of  harem,  ii. 

1030 
Nekosiyar,   grandson   of  Aurangzeb,   ii. 

1024 
Nemi,  Neminatha.     See  Arishtanemi 
Nepal,  refuge  of  Rajputs,  i.  301 
Nerbudda,  r.,  proliibition  against  crossing, 

ii.  971,  iii.  1503 
Nigambhod  Ghat,  iii.  1456 
Nikumbha  tribe,  i.  142 
Nilab,  r.,  Indus,  i.  248,  ii.  698,  936 
NIma  Sindhia,  i.  463 
Nimach,  t.,  i.  319,  504,  ii.  784 
Nimaj,  t.,  ii.  817,  819,  1100 
Nisia,  a  Jain  memorial,  iii.  1789 
Nizamu-1-mulk,  Asaf  Jah,  i.  473,  484 
Nobility,  foreign  stocks,  i.  193 
Nonanda,  Nonlta,  Krishna,  ii.  628,  640 
Nose-jewel,  respect  paid  to,  i.  502 
Numri  tribe,  i.  75,  ii.  855,  iii.  1292,  1299 
Niindab,  a  pledge  by  salt,  iii.  1405 
Niinkaran,  (1)  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1132  ;    (2) 

of  Jaisalmer,  1224  ;    Shaikliawat,  1383 
Niirabad,  t..  Oilman's  Bridge,  ii.  913 
Niirjahan,  ciueen,  i.  422 
Nusliirwan  of  Persia,  i.  248,  253,  267,  275, 

276,  277 
Nushizad  of  Persia,  i.  278 
Nysa,  Nyssa,  ci.,  i.  26 

Oasis,  iii.  1263 

Oaths,  by  throne,  ii.  689 ;  among  Mairs, 

796  ;   by  a  pit  and  pebble,  i.  261 ;   by 

throwing  off  turban,  i.  512  ;   by  arms, 

ii.  689 
Observatories  erected  by  Jai  Singh,  ii. 

757 
Oghna-Panarwa,  district,  i.  262,  316,  397 
Okliamandal  State,  ii.  943,  1022 
Omens,   i.   85,   341,  ii.   719,  804,   1023  ; 

by  augury,  i.  85,  342,  ii.  767,  796,  862, 

1217,  iii.  1549  ;   from  a  snake,  i.  342 
Omkarji  temple,  hi.  1388,  1663 
Omophagia,  eating  human  flesh,  ii.  672 
Ompliis,  King,  i.  125,  u.  626,  1185 
One-eyed  person,  unlucky,  ii.  1234,  iii. 

1573 
Opium-eating,  i.  82,  86,  213,  ii.  661,  749, 

880,  1149,  1254  ;   trade,  1110  ;   pledge 

by  eating,  ii.  750 


1854 


INDEX 


Or,  Orh,  tribe,  iii.  1785 

Oracles  given  by  Jogis,  ii.  948,  949 

Orcliha,  t.,  i.  140,  436 

Ordeal,  of  confession,  iii.  1314  ;  trial„by, 

ii.  1113  ;   by  oath,  iii.  1645 
Oreitai  tribe,  iii.  1656 
Osi,  Osian,  t.,  ii.  603,  765,  1108 
Oswal  Blahajans,  ii.  603,  765,  851,  1108, 

1193 
Ottorokorrhai  tribe,  i.  52       • 
Oxen  of  Gujarat,  i.  422 
Ozene,  Ujjain,  i.  249 

Pabuji,  hero,  i.  329,  ii.  843 
Pachbhadra,  Panclibhadra,  salt  lake,  ii. 

813,  1005,  1107 
Pachisi  game,  ii.  754,  iii.  1823 
Pachpahar  hill,  ii.  729 
Padma,  worship  of,  ii.  673,  696 
Padmini  of  Chitor,  i.  307 
Pagri,    a    turban ;     pagri    badal    bhai, 

brother  by  exchange  of  turbans,   iii. 

1347 
Pajun  of  Jaipur,  iii.  1332 
Pal,  Raja  of  Delhi,  i.  63 
Palanpur,  Palargarh,  t.,  i.  451 
Pali,    t.,    ii.   778,    811,    942,    949,    1073, 

1109 
Palibothra,  ci.,  i.  36,  51 
Palitana,  t.,  ii.  603,  838 
Paliwal  Brahmans,  ii.  812,  942,  1255 
Paiiya,     a    memorial    stone,    iii.    1700. 

See  JUJUAR 
Palod,  t.,  i.  414,  ii.  597,  645 
Pamir  mountains,  i.  164 
Pan,  betel,   see  'Itr-pan  ;    given  before 

battle,  i.   346,^  381,  481,  552,  570  ;    as 

an  offer  of  service,  ii.  969,  1040 
Panchala,  Panchalaka,    kingdom,    i.    32, 

50 
Panchayat,  a  village  or  caste  council,  i. 

171,  215,  575,  ii.  1109,  1114 
Panchranga,    the    flag    of    Marwar    and 

Jaipur,  i.  163,  ii.  834,  960,  1051 
Pandaia,  i.  37 

Pandhari,  pandhri,  tax,  i.  520,  530 
Pa.ndya,  km.,  i.  53 
Panipat,  battle,  i.  486 
Panjnad,    the    Upper  Indus,  r.,  i.  22,    ii. 

1187,  1211 
Panwar  tribe.     See  I'kamara 
Papa  P.ai,  i.  301 
Par,  r.     See  I'aruati 
Paraitakai  tribe,  i.  125,  ii.  626 
Paras  patthar,   the   philosopher's  stone, 

iii.  1647 


Parasurama  destroys  the  Kshatriyas,  i. 

43,  iii.  1442 
Parbati,  Par,  r.,  i.  18,  iii.  1465 
Parbatsar,  t.,  ii.  851,  1084,  1085  ;   battle, 

i.  537 
Pardhan,  a  leader,  prime  minister,  i.  214, 

216,  479,  556,  ii.  967 
Parihar  tribe,  i.  107,  113,  119,  ii.  839,  904, 

iii.  1444 
Parkar,  t.     See  Nagar  Parkar 
Parmal,  Paramardi,  Chandel,  ii.  716,  718, 

719 
Parmavati,  ci.,  i.  109 
Parnala.     See  Panhala 
Paropanisos  range,  i.  28 
Parsvanath,  twenty-third  Jain  Tlrthan- 

kara,  i.  108,  125 
Partab  Singh,  (1)  of  Jaipur,  ii.  875,  iii. 

1362,1575;  (2)  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1138;  (3) 

I.  of  Mewar,  i.  385 ;  (4)  II.  of  Me  war, 

496  ;  (5)  Shaikhavat,  iii.  1400 
Partabgarh  State,  i.  347 
Parvati,  worship  of,  ii.  671,  687 
Parvez,   Parviz,   prince,   i.   417,   430,   ii. 

973,  iii.  1486 
Pasbani  caste,  iii.  1630 
Paseti,  a  plough  tax,  ii.  1158 
Pataliputra,  ci.,  i.  37,  ii.  1173 
Patau,  battle,  ii.  876,  1074  ;    in  Jaipur, 

iii.  1439.     See  Anhilwara  Patan 
Patar,  the   Central   Indian  tableland,  i. 

10,  15,  in.  1471,  1680 
Patel,  a  village  headman,  i.  171,  581,  ii. 

1115,   iii.    1550  ;    a  title   of  Mahadaji 

Sindhia,   ii.    lor>8  ;    barar,   a   tax,   iii. 

1551 
Paterero,  a  kind  of  ordnance,  iii.  1719 
Patta,  a  patent,  grant,  i.  191,  557  ;   Bahi, 

book  of  grants,   205,  578  ;    pattawat, 

pattayat,  holder  of  a  grant,  182,  231, 

245,  ii.  1116 
Patta,  the  hero,  i.  380.     See  Jaimall 
Pauliya,  Poliya,  image  at  entrance  of  a 

temple,  iii.  1774 
Pawagarh,  t.,  i.  115 
Pom  Singh,  of  Kotah,  iii.  1523 
Periplus  of   the    Erythraean    Sea,  i.  48, 

249 
Persian  descent  c)f  Mewar  family,  i.  271  ; 

wheel,  iii.  1661 
Petiiapur,  Pitapur,  t.,  i.  119 
Pcti,  a  ration,  i.  100,  ii.  904,  iii.  1413 
Phag,  the  Holi  festival,  ii.  661 
Phagesia  festival,  ii.  700,  703 
Phaggi,  t.,  ii.  1087 
Plialgun,  month,  festivals,  ii.  060 


INDEX 


1855 


Phallic  worship,  i.  264,  ii.  698,  TO-i 
Phalodi,  t.,  ii.  813,  955,  1065,  1225 
Philosopiier's    stone.     See    Paras    PaT- 

THAR 

PhiUaclolrt,  flower  festival,  ii.  699 

Phfilra,  t.,  ii.  941,  1141 

Pichola  lake,  i.  405,  434,  446 

PUa  Khal  at  Bayana,  i.  349,  356,  iii.  1817 

Pillars,    memorial,    i.    90.     See   Jujhar, 

Paliya,  Seora 
Pindaris,  raids  by,  i.  8  ;    treatment  in 
Kotah,  iii.   1573  ;    campaign   of    Mar- 
quess of  Hastings,  1577 
Pipal,  the  sacred  flg-tree,  i.  95,  ii.  610, 

674,  803  ;    Prachi,  i.  96 
Pipar,  t.,  ii.  851,  952 
Piram,  Piramgarh,  island,  i.  137,  291 
Pirthiraj.     See  Prithiviraja 
Pisangan,  t.,  ii.  901,  965 
Pitri,   pitrideva,   the   sainted   ancestors, 

i.  33,  89,  325,  ii.  678,  837,  1041 
Pokaran  fief,  i.  218,  ii.  818,  822,  831,  955, 

1066,  iii.  1271 
Pokharna,   Pushkarna   Brahmans,  i.   32, 

ii.  1255 
Polygamy,  i.  357,  358,  ii.  711 
Poppy  cultivation,  iii.  1667 
Porus,  i.  47,  249,  ii.  782 
Posthumous  births,  causes  of  discord,  ii. 

1081,  iii.  1376 
Pramara  tribe,  i.   107,   111,  ii.   941,  iii. 

1444,  1693 
Prasioi  tribe,  i.  37,  ii.  1173 
Pratihara  tribe.     See  Parih.Ira 
Prayag,  Prag,  Allahabad,  i.  46,  ii.  1173 
Prayer-call,  prohibited,  ii.  1058 
Precipice,  suicide  by  jumping  from,  iii. 

1663 
Premiers,  i.  214 

Priesthood,   influence,   ii.    589  ;    priestly 
functions  of  Ranas,  i.  32,  247,  260,  ii. 
602,  659 
Primogeniture,  i.  494,  ii.  1071,  iii.  1370  ; 

set  aside,  i.  465,  ii.  975 
Prisoners,  treatment  of,  ii.  1112 
Prithivi,   Prithiviraja,    (1)    Chauhan,    i. 
38,  104,  113,  133,  136,  140,  299,  ii.  715, 
937  ;    (2)  I.  of  Jaipur,  iii..l336  ;  (3)  II. 
of  Jaipur,  1361 ;  (4)  of  Bikaner,  i.  398  ; 
(5)  of  Marwar,  ii.  985  ;    (6)  of  Kotah, 
iii.  1604 
Pugal  flef,  ii.  730,  945,  1124,  1185 
Punpal  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1210 
Pur,  t.,  ii.  909  ;    Purmandal,  t.,  i.  449, 

466,  ii.  1004,  1008 
Puranas,  i.  Introd.  xl,  23 


Pushkar  lake,  ii.  590,  891 ;    Brahmans, 

see  Pokharna 
Putra,  a  deified  youth,  i.  288,  326,  ii.  952 

Qaimldiani.     See  Kaimkhani 
Qaraval,  a  running  fight,  iii.  1659 
Qitar.     See  Kitak 
Qutbu-1-mulk.     See  Kutbu-l-mulk 

Rabari  tribe,  ii.  1193,  iii.  1297 
Habri,  maize  pottage,  ii.  846,  972 
Kaemall  of  Cliitor,  i.  340,  iii.  1475 

Raepal  of  Marwar,  ii.  943 

Raesal  Darbari,  iii.  1384 

Raesen,  t.,  i.  349,  358 

Rag  Singh  of  Bikaner,  i.  399,  ii.  958,  1132 

Raethana,  Rajputana,  i.  1 

Rafiu-d-darajat,  Emperor,  i.  475,  ii. 
1024 ;  Raflu-d-daula,  Emperor,  ii. 
1024 

Raghudeva,  hero,  i.  325  ;  Raghugarh,  t.,  i. 
5, 15  ;  Raghuvansi,  title  of  Ranas,  i.  247 

Rabat,  Bhattis,  ii.  1157;  Rahatgarh,  t., 
i.  4 

Rahkala,  a  swivel  gun,  ii.  821 

Rahmi,  km.,  i.  249 

Rahup  of  Chitor,  i.  305 

Rainsi,  Chauhan,  iii.  1463 

Rajagriha,  Rajgir,  t.,  i.  51,  64 

Rajar  tribe,  i.  21,  iii.  1299,  1310 

Rajeswari,  worship  of,  i.  106 

Raj  Jogi,  chief  warrior  ascetic,  ii.  681 

Rajkumar  tribe,  infanticide,  ii.  743 

Rajloka,  ladies'  apartments,  ii.  992 

Rajputs,  origin  of,  i.  Introd.  xxxi,  160, 
248  ;  alienated  from  Mughals,  i.  461  ; 
of  Jaipur,  iii.  1430  ;  amusements,  ii. 
750  ;  pride  in  ancestry,  i.  162  ;  apos- 
tates, 463  ;  love  of  arms,  ii.  752  ;  of 
Bikaner,  ii.  1149 ;  refusing  to  bow 
before  royalty,  ii.  990  ;  relations  with 
Brahmans,  i.  34 ;  alliances  with 
British,  i.  146,  ii.  882  ;  character,  ii. 
707,  747  ;  regard  for  dignity,  i.  428,  ii. 
990  ;  dress,  ii.  758  ;  love  of  drinking,  i. 
82,  85  ;  furniture,  ii.  757  ;  gambling, 
i.  85,  208  ;  genealogies,  29  ;  loyalty, 
see  SWAJIIDHARIIA ;  manners  and 
morals,  ii.  708,  1059  ;  alliances  with 
Mughals,  i.  178,  193,  435  ;  generals 
in  Mughal  service,  i.  179,  226  ;  league 
against  Mughals,  i.  465  ;  love  of  music, 
ii.  752  ;  patriotism,  i.  224  ;  religion,  i. 
80,  81 ;  Thirty-six  Royal  Tribes,  i.  97  ; 
States,  how  distinguished,  ii.  801  ; 
superstitions,   ii.   759 ;    tribal   system. 


1856 


INDEX 


i.  151,  ii.  801  ;   virtues,  11.  747  ;    devo- 
tion of  women,  ii.  713  ;    influence  of 

women,  ii.  735 ;  respect  for  women,  ii. 

709,  735,  746 
Rajsiimund  lake,  i.  263,  454 
Kaj  Singli,  (1)  of  Bllcaner,  ii.  1138  ;   (2) 

I.  of  Mewar,  i.  434,  ii.   606;    (3)  II. 

of  Mewar,  i.  442,  496,  ii.  995,  1011 
Rakliabhdev,   Ralvhablmatli,    temple,    i. 

393 
Ralihi,  a  \vrist  amulet,  i.  364,  ii.  677,  942 
Eakliwali,  protection,  blackmail,  i.  203, 

231,  554,  578,  ii.  794,  iii.  1411 
Raksliasa,  a  demon,  marriage  by  capture, 

ii.  745 
Rama,  a  deified  hero,  1.  55,  252 ;   his 

birth  festival,  ii.  673 
Eamayana  epic,  ii.  693 
Ramdeoji,  hero,  ii.  843,  iii.  1272 
Rameswar,  i.  18  ;    Ramesvaram,  i.  388, 

iii.  1511 
Ram   Singh,   (1)   of  Mar  war,    ii.    1054 ; 

(2)  of  Biindi,  iii.   1520,  1740;    (3)  of 

Jaipur,  1341 
Ran,  Rann  of  Cutch,  i.  19,  iii.  1264 
Rana,  title  of  princes  of  Mewar,  i.  305 
Ranchhor,  Krislma,  ii.  609,  619 
Rangar,  Rangra  caste,  i.  535,  iii.  1550 
Rani,  t.,  ii.  812,  1146 
Ranjit  Singh,  Sikh,  i.  131 
Ranmall  of  Marwar,  i.  323,  325,  327,  ii. 

945,  946 
Ranthambhor  fort,  i.  5,  15,  16,  319,  359, 

365,  iii.  1481 
Rao,  Maharao,  a  title,  iii.  1528 
Rasala,  Risala,  Rasaladar,  Risaladar,  a 

civil  and  military  title,  iii.  1519 
Rasmandal  dance,  ii.  629,  634,  iii.  1819 
Rasora,  a  refectory,  i.  215,  370 
Ratan  Singh,  (1)  of  Mewar,  i.  359  ;    (2) 

pretender  at  Mewar,  i.  497,  505 
Rathor,   Rathaur  tribe,  i.   105,  ii.   029, 

1105,  1149  ;    derivation  of  name    930, 

933  ;    sections,  i.  106  ;    origin  of,  101, 

ii.    823 ;     arrival    in    Marwar,    940  ; 

goddess    of,    i.    100,    326 ;     mythical 

dynasty  of  Kanauj,  i.  161,  ii.  824 
Ratlam,  t.,  1.  416,  529,  ii.  965 
Rawal,  Rawat,  titles,  i.  249,  479,  481,  ii. 

1196 
Razlyah,  Sultan,  ii.  1164 
Rent,  collection  of,  i.  582,  ii.  1115 
Revenues  and  rights  of  Crown,  in  Jlewar, 

i.  168,  585  ;  Marwar,  ii.  1114  ;  Bikauer, 

1156 ;    Jaisalmer,    1249 ;    Jaipur,   iii. 

1432 ;   Kotah,  1550 


Rhamnae  tribe,  i.  249 
Rian,  t.,  ii,  875,  888,  955,  1065 
Risala,  Risaladar.     See  RasAia 
Rishabhadeva,  first  Jain  Tu-thankara,  i. 

58,  337 
Robes,  poisoned,  ii.  728,  867,  985 
Roe,  Sir  T.,  i.  161,  248,  407,  424 
Rohilla  tribe,  ii.  782 
Rohri  Bakhar,  ii.  1134 
Rohtasgarh  fort,  i.  106 
Rori,  pebbles  found  in  the  Chambal  r., 

iii.  1757 
Roshan-aklitar,   Emperor,   i.    475 ;    Ro- 

shanu-d-daula  mosque,  i.  487 
Riii,  jungle  in  the  desert,  ii.  1246,  iii. 

1265 
Riiiui  Khan,  i.  362 
Rupnagar,  t.,  i.  119,  440,  n.  799 

Sa'adat  Khan,  i.  487 
Sabal  Singh  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1225 
Sabuktigln.    See  Nasiru-d-dIn 
Sadabrat,  SadavTat,  free  distribution  of 

food,  i.  328,  ii.  597 
Sadani  tribe,  i.  380 
Sadhani  Shaikhawats,  iii.  1422 
Sadhu,  marriage  of,  ii.  730 
Sadik,     Sadiq     Muliammad     Klian     of 

Bahawalpur,  iii.  1301 
Sadri,  fief,  i.  233,  345,  380,  394,  ii.  712, 

iii.  1631 
Safdar  Jang,  i.  484 
Saffron  robes,  worn  on  going  into  battle, 

i.  226,  334,  u.  703,  1044,  iii.  1471,  1483, 

1491,    1522 ;     at   marriage,    ii.    1025  ; 

men  sworn  to  die  marked  with  saffron 

water,  ii.  1050 
Saharan,  Tak,  i.  118,  126 
Sahariya  tribe,  i.  21,  ii.  651,  813,  814,  950, 

1073,  iii.  1262,  1298 
Sahu,  '  honest,'  a  title  of  Sivaji,  i.  471 ; 

Sahukar,  a  banker,  ii.  1185 
Saila,  Sailadisa,  a  title  of  Bappa,  i.  261 
Sair,    miscellaneous    revenue,    il.    1116, 

1157 
Saisunaga  dynasty,  i.  64 
Saiva  sect,  privileges  of,  ii.  598 
Sajji,  barilla,  ii.  813,  885,  1118 
Sakadwipa,  i.  88,  123,  351,  ii.  1172 
Sakai  tribe,  i.  88,  ii.  705  et  passim 
sakambhari  Devi,  worsliip  of,  i.  70,  98, 

in.  1449 
Sakarwal,  Sakarwar,  tribe,  i.  141 
Saklia,  shakha,  a  branch,  race,  section  of 

a  tribe,  i.   98,   101,   106,   111,   115  et 

passim 


INDEX 


1857 


Sakha,  a  general  massacre,  i.  85,  309,  ii. 

1180,  1215,  1216 
Sakta  of  Mewar,  i.  174,  413  ;    Saktawat 

clan,  feud  \rith   Chondawats,  i.   175, 

412,  511,  ii.  766,  909,  iii.  1622 
Sakti  Devi,  goddess,  i.  113  ;  Sakti  Kumar 

of  Mewar,  i.  270,  271,  281,  u.  808 
Sakuntala,  i.  52 

Salabat  Khan,  assassination  of,  ii.  976 
Salakli,  Salkha  of  Marwar,  ii.  944 
Salar,  Silar  tribe,  i.  138 
Salbahan.     See  Salivahana 
Salgirah,  the  birthday  knot,  iii.  1697 
Salim,    (1)   prince,    see   JahanqIr  ;     (2) 

Singh,  prime  minister  of  Jaisahuer,  ii. 

1230  ;   SallmshaM  rupees,  iii.  1669 
Salivahan,   SalivShana,  (1)  the  hero,   i. 

110  ;  (2)  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1180,  1207 
Salkha.    See  Salakh 
Salono  festival,  ii.  677 
Salt,  as  a  pledge  of  good  faith,  ui.  1405 ; 

eating  of,  a  pledge  of  loyalty,  ii.  981  ; 

production  and  trade,   ii.   813,    1107, 

1117,  1118 
Salumbar  fief,  i.  380,  409  ;    privileges  of 

the  cliief,  i.  185,  216,  217,  429,  481,  518, 

557  ;  his  crest,  235,  324 
Samarsi,  Samar  Singh  of  Mewar,  i.  281, 

297,  ii.  937 
Sambhaji,  i.  451 
Sambhar,  ci.  and  lake,  i.  114,  331,  ii.  955, 

1015,  1033,  1107 
Sambos,  i.  103,  255,  ii.  1189,  1219 
Samma  tribe,  ii.  1189,  1219 
Samprati,  grandson  of  Asoka,  i.  336,  ii. 

779,  809,  899 
Sampu  lake,  legend,  ii.  852 
Samugarh,  battle,  i.  434,  iii.  1491 
Sanad,  a  royal  grant,  i.  177,  ii.  825 
Sandier  Mata,  worsliip  of,  iii.  1444 
Sanchor,  t.,  i.  115,  ii.  859,  941, 1010,  1105, 

iii.  1269  ;  Brahmans  of,  iii.  1272 
Sanctuary,  riglits  of,  i.  230,  ii.  610,  613, 

614,  648,  see  Saean  ;   violation  of,  613 
Sandhills,  ii.  1149 

Sandracottus,  Chandragupta,  i.  37,  49 
Sang,  a  lance,  ii.  793,  1058 
Sanga  of  Mewar,  see  Sangram  Singh  ; 

Sangawat  Sesodias,  i.   176,   188,   222, 

380,  ii.  908.    See  Chondawat 
Sangala,  ci.,  i.  128 
Sangam,  a  sacred  river  jimction,  i.  18, 

ii.  704 
Sangram  Singli,  Sanga,  (1)  of  Mewar,  i. 

341,  348  ;   (2)  II.  of  Mewar,  i.  472 
Sanichar,  Saturday,  imlucky,  ii.  722 


Sanjogta,  tale  of,  ii.  725 

Sankh,  ransankh,  the  conch,  war  shell, 

ii.  720,  iU.  1527 
Sankhla  Pramars,  i.  Ill,  295  ;    ii.  731, 

941,  1123 
Sankra,  r.,  iii.  1315 
Sankrant,  Sankranti,  the  solstices,  i.  94, 

ii.  655,  837 
Sannyasi  ascetics,  i.  581,  ii.  590,  773 
Sansani,  t.,  iii.  1358 
Santal  of  Marwar,  ii.  950 
Sar,  a  lake,  usually  salt,  ii.  857,  1153 
Sarad,  the  autumn  season,  ii.  656,  694 
Saran,  sarana,  sanctuary,  i.  230,  451,  ii. 

767,  831,  999,  1012  et  passim 
Saras,  the  great  crane,  Qrus  antigone,  ii. 

719 
Sarasvati,  r.,  ii.  890,  1043  ;    Brahmans, 

ii.  1127, 1148,  see  Sarsut  ;  the  goddess, 

iii.  1774 
Sarbuland  Khan,  i.  484,  ii.  867,  932,  1039, 

1040 
Sardesmukh,  a  Maratha  official,  i.  471 
Sardiila,  a  griffln-like  figure.     See  GraS 
Sariaspa  tribe,  i.  137,  ii.  916 
Sarsut  Brahmans.     See  Sarasvati 
Sarup  Singli,  (1)  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1137  ;  (2) 

of  Kotah,  iii.  1541 
Sarwaiya  tribe,  i.  137,  ii.  917 
Sarwariya  tribe,  i.  119 
Sasan,  land  grants  to  Brahmans,  ii.  590 
Sasavindu  tribe,  i.  47 
Satal  of  Marwar,  ii.  950  ;    Satalmer,  t., 

ii.  950,  955,  1221 
Satara,  royal  family,  i.  314 
Sati,    suttee,    immolation    of   wife    with 

husband,  origm,  i.  88,  ii.  737  ;    cases 

of,  ii.  837,  1030,  1213,  iu.  1478,  1514  ; 

siuines,  ii.  740,  777  ;  dread  of  curses  by, 

ii.  867,  1060,  iii.  1477,  1657  ;   oath  by, 

iii.  1657 
Satphera,  seven  revolutions  of  bride  and 

bridegroom  round  sacred  fire,  ii.  795 
Satrimjaya,  ci.,  i.  415,  ii.  603,  838 
Satur,  t.,  iii.  1713,  1714 
Saura  sect.  Sun  worshippers,  i.  254 
Saurashtra.     See  Sueashtra 
Sauromatae,  tribe,  ii.  651 
Sauvira,  i.  93 

Sawai,  a  honorific  title,  ii.  969,  1014 
Sawan,  the  month,  festivals  in,  ii.  675  ; 

Tij,  ii.  675,  iii.  1274 
Sayyid  Abdulla,  wazir,  iii.  1391 ;  Sayyida 

of  Barha,  i.  467.  473,  ii.  857,  1026 
Scapegoat,  human,  iii.  1663 
Scutage,  i.  173 


1858 


INDEX 


Scythians,   traditions   of,   i.    70 ;    incor- 
porated witli  Hindus,  ii.  653  ;   descent 

of  Krtjputs  from,   i.   29,   73,   ii.   653  ; 

dress,  theogony,  i.  79  ;    religion,  war, 

i.  80  ;    polyandry  derived  from,   401  ; 

use  of  handmarks,  419  ;  sword  worship, 

ii.  680 
Seals,  devices  on,  i.  482 
Seasons,  Hindu  classification  of,  ii.  656 
Sehat  tribe,  i.  295 
Sehwan,  Sihwan,  ci.,  i.  5,  255,  ii.  894,  iii. 

1312 
Sengar  tribe,  i.  141 
Sengar,  Singar,  Chaori,  temples,  i.   132, 

iii.  1758,  1816 
Seora,  an  inscribed  pillar,  i.  158 
Ser,  a  weight,    about    2    lbs.,    ii.    597  ; 

serana,  grain  allowances  to  officials,  i. 

236,  581,  ii.  597,  iii.  1625 
Serpent,  worship  among  Scythians,  i.  43, 

ii.     677  ;     among    Hindus,    ii.     676  ; 

identifying  an  heir,  i.  342,  ii.  1217,  iii. 

1330  ;   fount  of  king,  iii.  1768  ;   saffron 

offered  to,  iii.  1648  ;    haunting  a  gate 

in    Agra    fort,  ii.    978 ;    Sampu  lake, 

legend,  852.     See  Takshak 
Sesoda,  village,  i.   101,  252,  ii.   773,  iii. 

1752  ;    Sesodia  clan,  i.  101,  162,  305  ; 

origin  of  name,  i.   47,  252,  iii.   1752  ; 

in  Imperial  service,  i.  429 
Seta  tribe,  ii.  1221 
Setram  of  Kanauj,  ii.  940 
Setubandha  bridge,  i.  292 
Seventy-four    and    a    half,    an    unlucky 

number,  i.  383 
Shab-i-barat,  a  Musalman  festival,  ii.  696 
Sliah  'Alara  Bahadur,  Emperor,  i.  460, 

464,  466 
Shahbaz    Khan,    General,    i.    396,    403 ; 

Lai,  saint,  iii.  1313 
Sliah  Jahan,  Emperor,  favours  Saivism, 

ii.  608.     See  KnuRRAM 
Sliahna,    Shahnah,    a    watcher    of    cut 

crops,  i.  583 
Shahpura,  t.,   i.   38  ;    flef,   i.    168,   198  ; 

feud  with  Amargarh,  i.  212,  iii.  1719 
Shaikliavati      federation,       iii.       1378; 

Shaikliji,  a  saint,  iii.  1380 
Shaista  Khan,  ii.  983,  1020 
Shamnath,  Syamnatli,  Krishna,  iii.  1818 
Shaving  in  mourning,  i.  402,  ii.  745.    See 

Hair 
Shenvi  Brahmans,  i.  524 
Sheo,  Sheo-Kotra,  t.,  iii.  1272,  1321 
Sheodan  Singh  of  Mewar,  ii.  752 
Sheogarh  lief,  i.  214,  512 


Sheopur,  State,  i.  138,  ii.  619,  iii.  1674 
Sheoratri  festival,  i.  94,  95,  ii.  655 
Sher,  Shir,  Khiin,  Emperor,  i.  39  ;  defeats 

Humayun,  i.  373 ;  attack  on  Marwar,  ii. 

956  ;   sarcasm  on  Marwar,  ii.  835,  931, 

957 
Shernala  valley,  ii.  774,  795 
Sheshniig,  the  serpent  which  supports  tlie 

world,  ii.    980,  iii.   1648 ;    a    Takshak 

leader,  i.  37,  64,  125 
Shields,  gifts  presented  in,  i.  552,  ii.  689  ; 

oath  by,  689  ;   of  rhinoceros  hide,  752 
Shihaba,  meteoric  fires,  i.  89 
Shihabu-d-din,    Muhammad     Ghori,    in- 
vades India,  i.   50,   117,   300,  302,  u. 

718,  937,  939 ;  murder  of,  i.  225 
Shikarpur,  t.,  ii.  1249 
Slilshmahall,     a    hall     decorated     with 

mirrors,  i.  199 
Shoemaker's  knife  worshipped,  ii.  625 
Shoshpari,  a  mace,  i.  424 
Shrubs  and  trees  in  the  desert,  iii.  1307 
Shuja  prince,  i.  435 
Shiija'at  Khan,  ii.  1008 
Shujawan  Singh,  Shaikhavat,  iii.  1389 
Shukri,  a  complementary  levy,  i.  236 
Siahji  of  Marwar,  i.  105,  ii.  812,  930,  940, 

941 
Siarh,  Nathdwara,  i.  340,  ii.  609,  647 
Sibi  tribe,  ii.  634 
Siddharaja  Jayasingha  of  AiMiilwara,  i. 

117,  138,  300,  ii.  800,  936,  1160,  1203 
Siddhpur,  t.,  i.  449,  ii.  1043 
Sieges,  mock,  of  Amber,  iii.  1534  ;  Dhfir, 

ii.  1199  ;    Biindi,  iii.  1471 
Siharas,  Raja,  ii.  1186,  iii.  1284 
Silibandi,  mercenary  troops,  ii.  1251 
Sikandar,  (1)  Rnnii,  Alexander  the  Great, 

n.   1134  ;    (2)  Shah,  of   Delhi,  i.  375  ; 

(3)  HS-Sani,  Alau-d-dln,  i.  312 
Sikhar,  sikhara,  tlie  pinnacle  of  a  Hindu 

temple,  ii.  600 
Sikhs,  the,  i.  464 
Sikka,  a  seal,  coinage,  ii.  883 
Sikot,  Slyakot,  tlie  mirage,  i.  20,  ii.  884, 

887 
SIkri,  Fatchpur,  i.  141,  349 
Silali,    armour,     Silahdevi,    goddess    of 

arms,  ii.l017  ;  Silah-klifina,  an  armoury, 

752 ;     Silahposli,  a    man    in    armour, 

1062 
Silar  tribe,  i.  138 
Silver  mines,  I.  14 
Sind,  r.,  i.   18,  ii.    1243;    derivation    of 

name,  i.  248,  ii.   1243  ;    Sindsagar,  I. 

130  ;   Sindi  mercenaries,  i.  181,  607 


INDEX 


1859 


Sindhia  family,  i.  227 

Singar.     See  Sengar 

Singhi  Brahmans,  ii.  1075 

Sipra,  r.,  i.  18,  500,  li.  1034 

Sirohi,  t.,    ii.    969,'   1042 ;     sword,    752, 

1058 
Sisira,  the  cold  season,  ii.  656 
SIstan,  ii.  1188 
SIta,  consort  of  Rama,  her  hot  well,  iii. 

1511 ;   the  cold  season,  ii.  656 
SItala  Mata,  the  small-pox  goddess,  ii. 

664,  1038 
Siva,   the   god,   ii.    598  ;    worshipped  at 

river  junctions,  i.  18,  ii.  704  ;  his  symbol, 

598 ;      Ranas      his      vicegerents,      ii. 

602,    662  ;     his    worsliip,    598,    601  ; 

his    priests,    601  ;     three-eyed,    601  ; 

cult    approved    by    Shahjahan,    608 ; 

connected    with    the    Sun,    699.     See 

ISVARA,  LiNGAM,  MAHADEVA,  EKLINGJI 

Sivaji,    descent    of,    i.    314 ;     letter    to 

Aurangzeb,  442  ;  kills  Afzu-1  Khan,  ii. 

721 ;   capture  and  escape,  984  ;   death, 

986 
Sivaratri  festival.     See  Sheoratri 
Siwana,  Slwanchi,  t.,  district,  ii.  955,  959, 

996,  1005,  1006,  1010,  1020,  iii.  1268 
Sixteen  chiefs  of  Mewar,  i.  428,  588 
Skinner,  Col.  J.,  ii.  662  ;   Horse,  761 
SkuUs  used  as  drinking  -  vessels,  i.   82 ; 

tower  of,  i.  357 
Slaves,  slavery,  i.  206 
Small-pox.    See  SItala  Mata 
Snake.    See  Serpent 
Soap-nuts,  ii.  761 
Socotra,  Sokotra,  island,  ii.  703 
Soda,  Sodha,  tribe,  i.  21,  111,  372,  ii.  941, 

iii.  1283,  1291,  1294 
Sogdoi  tribe,  i.  5,  111,  372,  iii.  1283 
Soils,  in  Marwar,  ii.  1106  ;   in  Mewar,  iii. 

1625  ;   in  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1247 
Solanki,  Solankhi  tribe,  i.  107,  116,  119, 

ii.  941,  iii.  1444 
Solar  and  Lunar  Rajputs,  i.  31,  32,  40,  99 
Solstices,  festivals  at,  i.  94,  ii.  655 
Somji,  murder  of,  i.  514 
Somnath,  t.,  i.  287 
Sonigir,  Sonagir,  Jalor  ;  Chaulians,  i.  112, 

115,  291,  293,  304,  369,    380,    384,   ii. 

797,  941,  944,  iu.  1266 
Soning,  Durga,  hero,  ii.  997,  1003 
Sophagasenas  of  Eabul,  ii.  1176,  1188 
Sora,  Sorai,  tribe,  i.  254 
Sovereign,  his  position  in  Mewar,  i.  174 
Spitting,  conveying  spiritual  power,  i.  265 
Sport,  ii.  750 


Srawak,  the  Jain  laity,  i.  369 

Sri  Mathura,  t.,  i.  5,  103 

Srinagar,  t.,  i.  342 

Sringi  Rislii,  ii.  1148 

States,  distinctions  of,  i.  145 

Steell,  Capt.,  adventure  with  a  snake,  ii. 

978 
Stones,  precious,  i.  15  ;  representing  dead 
warriors,     iii.     1700.       See     Jujhar, 
Paliya 
Subhkaran  Singh,  Bundela,  i.  140 
Sub-infeudation,  i.  199 
Succession,  law  of,  iii.  1370.    See  Primo- 
geniture 
Sudasheo  Bhao,  Maratha,  11.  878 
Suevi,  1.  80,  ii.  669 
Sugar  cane,  cultivation  of,  iii.  1626 
Sui  Bah,  Gam,  VOiar,  t.,  ii.  1109,  iii.  1277 
Suicide  by  jumping  over  cliffs,  iii.  1663 
Stija,    Stirajmall    of    Marwar,    ii.    952 ; 

Stija  Chauhan  and  the  tiger,  i.  333 
Sujan  Singh  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1047,  1137 
Sukhdeo,  cave  worship  of,  iii.  1663 
Sukri,  r.,  i.  13 

Sulaiman  Koh,  mountains,  ii.  782 
Sultangraha,    Dujgandeo    of   Btindi,    iii. 

1451 
Sumeru,  mount,  i.  24,  ii.  1001 
Sumptuary  edicts,  1.  240 
Sumra  tribe.     See  Umar-Sumra 
Sun   and   moon   worship,   ii.    623,   657  ; 
descent  from  the  Sun,  i.   247  ;    Sun, 
Heaven  of  the  dead,  see  Stoyaloka  ; 
pregnancy   caused  by  the   sun,   274 ; 
Sun  and   Siva  worship,   ii.    699.     See 
Saura 
Sunga  dynasty,  i.  65 
Sunth,  t.,  iii.  1822 

Siirajmall,  (1)  of   Bharatpur,   ill.    1359  ; 
(2)    of   Btindi,    i.    359,    iii.    1476 ;     of 
Marwar,  ii.  952  ;   (3)  of  Mewar,  i.  342 
Siirajpol,  the  gate  of  the  Sun,  i.  217,  ii. 

659 
Surasenoi  tribe,  i.  48 
Surashtra,  i.  254  ;  pillars  dedicated  to  the 
dead,  90  ;  invaded  by  barbarians,  256, 
269 
Stiiat  Singh  of  Bikaner,  ii.  1139 
Surjan  Singh  of  Bundi,  iii.  1480,  1483 
Surpur,  Silryapur,  t.,  i.  48,  ii.  607,  622 
Sursagar  lake,  ii.  972,  1014,  1025 
Stir  Singh  of  JIarwar,  ii.  835,  969 
Siirthan,  (1)  of  Toda,  i.  344 ;  (2)  of  Nimaj, 
li.  818,  1098,  1099  ;    (3)  of  Bundi,  iii. 
1479  ;   (4)  of  Sirohi,  ii.  969,  989 
Surveys  of  Rajputana,  1.  2 


1860 


INDEX 


Surya,  the  Sun  god,  ii.  651 ;  gokhra, 
balcony,  ii.  C59  ;  kunda,  fountain,  i. 
257  ;  loka,  Paradise,  ii.  843,  1045  ; 
mahall,  hall,  659  ;  mandala.  Paradise, 
1003 ;  Prakas,  chronicle,  931,  1026, 
1046  ;  -vansa^  sun-born  race,  i.  55j  247 

Sutherland,  Col.  R.,  i.  526 

Suttee.     See  Sati 

Swamidharma,  loyalty,  i.  200,  224,  ii. 
967 

Swat,  district,  i.  295  ;  Swati  tribe,  ii. 
1221 

Swayamvara,  selection  of  husband  by  a 
maiden,  ii.  735,  936 

Sword,  varieties  of,  ii.  752 ;  made  by 
Visvakarma,  i.  264  ;  made  at  Bikaner 
and  Sirohi,  ii.  752,  1058,  1155  ;  be- 
stowed on  chiefs,  ii.  663  ;  investiture 
with,  i.  90,  185,  223  ;  representing  an 
absent  bridegroom,  359  ;  waved  during 
an  incantation,  339  ;  oath  by,  ii.  689  ; 
worship,  i.  90,  ii.  653,  679 

Ta'aziya,  cenotaphs  carried  at  Muharram 
festival,  ii.  783 

Tahawwiu:  Khan,  i.  445,  451,  ii.  995.  996, 
998 

Tahera,  t.    See  Bahea 

Tajik  tribe,  i.  75,  124 

Tak,  Takshak,  the  snake  race,  i.  Introd. 
xxxii,  43,  123,  ii.  626,  677,  839,  1184, 
iii.  1769  ;  Kund,  iii.  1768 

Takshasilanagari,  ci.,  1.  110,  ii.  782 

Talawari,  Tarain,  battle,  i.  302 

Talpuri  tribe,  ii.  854,  iii.  1299 

Talwar,  tarwar,  a  sword  :  bandliai,  in- 
vestiture witli,  iii.  1685.     See  Kharg- 

BANDHAI 

Tarabavatinagari,  ci.,  ii.  912 

Tamgha.    See  Altamgua 

Tana,  Tanuja  Mata,  shrine  of,  ii.  1187  ; 

Tano,  Tanuji,  of  Jaisalmer,  1191 
Tanda,  a  Banjara  caravan,  i.  205,  ii.  814, 

815,  1117 
Tank,  sacred,  rite  of  cleansing,  ii.  1228 
Tanka,  tanklia,  a  reservoir,  ii.  1153 
Tanot,  t.,  i.  293,  298,  ii.  1187 
Tantia  Jog,  Maratha,  iii.  1771 
Tapi  Baori,  ii.  967 
Tappa,  a  fiscal  area,  i.  584  ;  a  measure  in 

music,  550 
Taprobane,  Ceylon,  ii.  842 
Tara  Bai,  i.  :J44,  ii.  7.S:i 
Taragarh,  fort  at  Ajnier,  ii.  901,  970  ;   iit 

Bundi,  iii.  1505 
Tarain.    See  TalAwaui 


Tararoi  district,  iii.  1271 
Tarkin  PIr,  a  saint,  ii.  1089 
Tashkend,  Tashkent,  i.  75,  124 
Tatarlya  dirham,  a  coin,  ii.  913 
Tatta,  Tatha,  t.,  ii.  1204  ;    and  Multan, 

lords  of,  i.  134 
Tawarj  tribe.     See  Thori 
Taxila,  ci.,  ii.  626,  782  ;  Chitor,  i.  110 
Tejsi,  Tej  Singh  of  CMtor,  i.  297,  ii.  894 
Teli,  an  oilman,  bridge  of,  ii.  913  ;  Telini, 

plant  used  as  a  blister,  ii.  728 
Temples,  Hindu,  destroyed  by  Aurang- 

zeb,  iii.  1388 
Thai,  sand  ridges,  iii.  1265 
Tharad  State,  1.  119,  ii.  1010,  iii.  1277 

1278 
Thida  of  Marwar,  ii.  944 
Thirty-six  Royal  Races,  1.  97 
Thomas,  George,  i.  526,  ii.  1166,  iii.  1409 
Thori,  Tori,  Tawari  tribe,  1.  244,  ii.  1148, 

iii.  1300 
Thread,     Brahmanical.         See     JANEO, 

ZUNNAR 

Throne,  oath  by,  i.  406,  456 

Thugs,    prohibition   against   Iiarbouring, 

i.  244 
Thun,  t.,  sieges  of,  iii.  1358 
Thyssagetae,  ii.  680 
TIba,  tibba,  a  sandhill,  i.  22 
Tiger  of  Morwan,  iii.  1649 
Tij  festival,  ii.  675,  iii.  1274 
Tika,    mark   on   forehead   impressed   at 

inauguration,    i.    262    et    passim,    see 

TiLAK  ;    tikadaur,  ceremonial  foray  of 

a  new  Raja,  i.  315,  439,  ii.  1008,  1183, 

iii.  1540 
Tilak,  mark  of  inauguration,  i.  276,  ii. 

1030.     See  TIKA 
TImur,  Taimur,  inva.sion  of  India,  i.  131, 

ii.  1105 
Tin  mines,  i.  14,  169,  321,  397,  585 
Tirbeni.     See  Triveni 
Tithes,  ii.  594,  597 
Tobacco,  introduced  in  reign  of  Jahangtr, 

ii.  749  ;   abolition  of  monopoly,  i.  159, 

239 
Tod,  J.,  his  life  and  works,  i.  Introd.  xxv; 

his  survey,  2 ;  agent  of  Mewar,  Marwar, 

Jaisalmer,   and   other   States,   i.   549, 

ii.  1094,  1243 ;    attempt  to  poison,  ill. 

1716;    accident  at  Begun,   1810;    at 

l)attle  of  Mangrol,  1602 
Tod,  John,  death  of,  ii.  790 
Toda,    t.,    ii.    782,    783,    iii.   1455.     See 

ToMC  Toda 
Togra  tribe,  i.  110 


INDEX 


1861 


Tomara.    See  Tuar 

Tomato  plant,  iii.  1309 

Tonga,  battle,  ii.  875,  1073 

Tonk  State,  i.  544  ;    Tonk  Toda,  i.  110, 

ii.  783,  iii.  1455 
Tonwar.     See  Tuar 
Toran,  a  marriage  or  ceremonial  arch, 

i.  317,  ii.  681,  685,.  808,  840 
Tori  tribe.     See  ThoRI 
Totemism,  i.  43,  ii.  1191 
Treaties,  with  L'daipur,  ii.  927  ;  Marwar, 

iii.   1829 ;    with  Jaisalmer,  iii.   1830  ; 

with  Jaipm-,  iii.  1831 
Trees  in  Bikaner  and  Mewar,  iii.  1307,  ii. 

1151 ;  sacred,  i.  95 
Trimurti,  the  Hindu  triad,  ii.  704 
Tripolia,  the  triple  portal,  i.  550 
Triveni,  Tirbeni,  a  triple  river  junction, 

i.  18.     See  Sangam 
Troy,  Horse  of,  tale,  i.  308 
Tuar,  Tomara,  Tonwar  sept,  i.  38,  104  ; 

Tuargarh,  Tuarvati,  ii.  876,  1027 
Tulapurushadana,    weighing   of   a   Kaja 

against  gold  and  valuables,  ii.  590 
Tulasi,  the  sacred  basil,  ii.  644 
Tulja  Bhavani,  worship  of,  iii.  1816 
Turbans,  change  of,  to  mark  brotherhood, 

1.  432,  ii.  1089,  iii.  1347, 1695  ;  fashions 

of,   i.    327,    409 ;    throwing   down   in 

submission,  ii.  1231  ;  bound  on  heir,  i. 

221,  582 
Turk,   Turushka   tribe,   i.    272,   351,   ii. 

1181 

Uch,  Uchh,  ci.,  ii.  1134,  1166 

Uda  of  Mewar,  i.  338 

Udaipur,  ci.,  (1)  the  capital  of  Mewar, 

i.  384,  40  5 ;  captured  by  Mahabat  Khan, 

i.    397 ;     erection   of   buildings,    433 ; 

palace,  550  ;  described  by  the  Author, 

549  ;  (2)  t.,  in  Shaikhavati,  iii.  1378 
Udaipuri,  ^vife  of  Aurangzeb,  i.  440,  447 
Udaisagar  lake,  i.  384,  391,  ii.  762 
Udai  Singh,  (1)  of  Mewar,  i.  367,  371  ; 

(2)  Mota  Raja  of  Marwar,  i.   179,  ii. 

890,  959,  961  ;    with  Akbar,  i.  389  ; 

his  cenotaph,  ii.  835  ;   (3)  Shaikhavat, 

iii.  1393 
Udayaditya  of  Malwa,  ii.  1203 
Ujjain,  Avanti,  Pramar  capital,  i.  109  ; 

meridian  fixed  at,  i.  62,  109  ;    Ozene 

of  the  Periplus,  249  ;    observatory,  ii. 

757  ;  battle,  i.  518,  iii.  1522 
Ujla,  a  section  of  BhUs,  i.  262 
Ulugh  Beg,  astronomer,  ii.  757,  iii.  1343 
Umara,  Omra,  nobles,  iii.  1708 


Umarkot,  t.,  i.  109,  111,  ii.  1073,  1209, 

iii.  1282,  1287  ;  buthplace  of  Akbar,  i. 

372,  ii.  956 
Umar-Sumra  tribe,  i.  5,  6,  20,  iii.  1281, 

1282,  1299 
Umat,  Pramars,  ii.  767 
Ummed  Singh,  (1)  of  Bundi,  iii.  1499  ; 

(2)  of  Kotah,  iii.  1540,  1575,  1581  ;  (3) 

of  Shahpura,  i.  212 
Undes,  i.  44 

Undri,  chiefship  of  Bhils,  i.  262 
Untala,  t.,  i.  175,  412,  415 
tjparmal,  tableland,  iii.  1662 
Utgir,  t.,  i.  16,  iii.  1439 
Uttarakiuru    tribe,    i.    52,    75 ;     Uttara 

Rama  Charitra,  drama,  ii.  715 


Vadhel,  Badhel  tribe,  i.  476,  ii.  943 

Vaghela,  Baghela  dynasty,  i.  119 

Vair,  wair,  a  blood  feud,  i.  97,  211,  ii. 

734,  969,  iii.  1676 
Vatrat,  Bairat,  t.,  i.  100,  iii.  1439 
Vaivasvata  Manu,  i.  24 
Vala  tribe,  i.  134 
Valablii,  ci.,  i.  253  ;    Sun  fountain,  257  ; 

era,    100,    269 ;     sack   of,    253,    269 ; 

VaUabMrae,  i.  122,  250 
Vallabhacharya  sect,  i.  Introd.  xxxvii 
Vanaraja  of  Anhilwara,  i.  122,  283 
Vilnkaner,  Bankaner,  t.,  i.  136 
Vasant    Panchami.     See    Basant    Pan- 

CHAJvn 
Vasishtha,  the  sage,  i.  113 
Vassal  chiefs,  duties  of,  i.  182 
Vati.    See  Bati 
Vayan  Mata,  worsliip  of,  i.  283 
Vidhyadhar,  architect,  ii.  1048 
Vijayapura,     t.,     i.     253 ;      Vijaiyaseni 

Bhavani,  worship  of,  iii.  1684 
Vikrama    era,    i.    104 ;     Vikrama    and 

Urvasi,    drama,    ii.    715 ;     Vikrama- 

ditya,  i.  29,  63,  64,  104 
Village  servants  and  officials,  i.  581 
Vindhya    mountains,    i.    17 ;     Vindhya- 

vasin  Devi,  worship  of,  iii.  1444 
VIrawah,  t.,  iii.  1261 
Virgin  forts,  iii.  1674 ;    rape  of  virgins, 

ii.  952 
Visaladeva,  Bisaldeo  of  Ajmer,  i.  104, 164, 

297,   299,   ii.   791,   889,   893,   909,   iii. 

1450,  1458 
Visar,  visarva,  a  bard's  satire,  ii.   742, 

1059,  iii.  1567,  1682 
Vislmu,  sleep  of,  ii.  655,  675,  697,  700  ; 

festivals,  699.    See  Chaturbhtjja 


1862 


INDEX 


Visvakarraa,   architect  of  the   Gods,   ii. 

691 
Visvaniitra,  the  llishi,  i.  34,  iii.  1442 
Vitthalnath,  Krishna,  ii.  641 
Vraj,  the  holy  land  round  Mathura,  i.  479, 

u.  602,  007 
Vyasa,  i.  30,  35 

Wachuji  of  Jaisalmer,  ii.  1201 
Wajihu-1-mulk,  Saharan  Tak,  i.  126 
Walld,  the  Calipli,  i.  270,  284 
Wardship,  i.  188 
Warriors,   dead,  go  to  Heaven   witliout 

funeral  rites,  ii.  991 
Water  in  the  desert,  ii.  1152  ;  waterfalls, 

iii.  1687,  1796 
Waugh,  Captain  P.  T.,  i.  8,  550.  ii.  761, 

iii.  1826 
Week,  days  of,  ii.  694 
Weighing  a  Uaja  against  gold,  etc.,  ii. 

590 
Wells  in  the  desert,  iii.  1282  ;   hot,  1511 
Wheat,  varieties  of,  ii.  1106 
Widow,  marriage,  ii.  795 
Wilder,   Mr.,   Superintendent  of  Ajraer, 

ii.  817,  895,  1093 
Wilford,  Captain,  i.  40,  275,  in.  1458 
Witches  persecuted  by   Zalim   Singh,  ii. 

1113,    in.    1615,     see     JlQAR    Khor  ; 

madness  due  to  witchcraft,  ii.  1065 
Wives  discarding  their  cowardly  husbands, 

ii.  724,  982 


Wolves,  ii.  771 

Women,  position  of,  in  North  Europe,  i. 
84  ;  in  Rajputana,  i.  84,  ii.  709,  735, 
746  ;  seclusion  of,  710  ;  devotion  of, 
713  ;    coijrage  of,  727 

Woollen  manufactures,  ii.  1155 


Yadu,  Yadava  tribe,  i.  101.     See  JiDON 
Yama,  god  of  death,  ii.  690,  697 
Yasodharman,  ii.  644,  iii.  1785 
Yavana  tribe,  i.   272,  ii.  053,   933,   936, 

1170  ;    a  name  applied  to  Musalmans, 

ii.  1005,  1006 
Yezdigird  of  Persia,  i.  271 
Yoginis,  ii.  720.    See  JOGINI 
Youths,  deified.     See  Putra 
Yueh-clii  tribe,  i.  78,  128,  131,  256 
Yusufzai    tribe,  ii.    1207 ;     Yusufgol,  i. 

282 


Zabita  Khan,  Bhatti,  ii.  1106 
Zabulistan,  i.  102,  127,  286,  294 
Zafar  Khan,  Tak,  i.  118,  126 
Zalim  Singh  of  Kotah,  i.  499,  iii.  1506, 

1530,  1613 
Zamiudar,  a  landholder,  a  title  applied 

by  Mughals  to  Rajput  princes,  i.  421, 

444 
Zunnar,  the    Brahmanical    cord,  i.  264. 

See  Janeo 


THE   END 


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