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Title: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 3 of 3 - or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Author: Tod, James
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.
The text is annotated with numerous footnotes, which were numbered
sequentially on each page. On occasion, a footnote itself is annotated
by a note. In the previous two volumes, these were referenced using
symbols (e.g. *, †), which have been converted to an alphabetic sequence
(e.g., A, B). In this volume, however, the ‘subnotes’ appear in one
instance as numerals. For the sake of consistency, the convention used
in the previous volumes has been adopted.
Since there are over 900 notes in this volume, they have been gathered
at each chapter’s end, and resequenced for each chapter, using a dot
notation for chapter and page (e.g. 10.4.2). Notes to the appendixes are
prefaced by 'a' (e.g. a.1.1 for the first note in Appendix I.)
The notes are a combination of those of the author, and of the editor of
this edition. The text of the latter are enclosed in square brackets.
The bold-faced phrases that begin each topic were also added by the
editor, and spelling of Hindi or Sanskrit words may vary between those
phrases and the author’s text.
The pagination of the original edition, published in the 1820's, is
preserved for ease of reference by including those page numbers in the
text, also enclosed in square brackets.
Crooke’s plan for the renovation of the Tod’s original text, including a
discussion of the transliteration of words other than English, is given
in detail in the Preface.
Several tables spanned multiple pages, with sums totaled before the page
break as “Carried forward”, and repeated on the following page. These
have been removed, given the nature of the current text.
Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Given
the history of the text, it was thought best to leave all orthography as
printed.
Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details
regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its
preparation.
A complex genealogical chart appears on p. 1457, inserted in
mid-paragraph spanning pp. 1456 and 1458. It has been moved to precede
that paragraph.
ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
OF RAJASTHAN
[Illustration:
COLONEL TOD AND HIS JAIN GURU.
(From a painting said to be the work of the Author’s native artist,
Ghāsi.)
_Frontispiece._
]
ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
OF
RAJASTHAN
RAJPUT STATES OF INDIA
BY
LIEUT.-COL. JAMES TOD
LATE POLITICAL AGENT TO THE WESTERN RAJPUT STATES
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY
WILLIAM CROOKE, C.I.E.
HON. D.SC. OXON., B.A., F.R.A.I.
LATE OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. III.
HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY
1920
CONTENTS
PAGE
BOOK VIII
SKETCH OF THE INDIAN DESERT
CHAPTER 1
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—Distinction of _thal_ and _rui_—_Thal_ of the
Luni—Jalor—Siwanchi—Machola and Morsin—Bhinmal and
Sanchor—Bhadrajun—Mewa—Balotra and
Tilwara—Indhavati—Gugadeo-ka-thal—Thal of Tararoi—Thal of
Khawar—Mallinath-ka-thal, or Barmer—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—Thals 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—Inferred 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
BOOK IX
ANNALS OF AMBER, OR DHUNDHAR
CHAPTER I
Designations given by Europeans to the principalities of
Rajputana—Dhundhar known by the name of its capitals,
Amber or Jaipur—The country of the Kachhwahas an aggregate
of conquests by the race so called—Etymology of
Dhundhar—Origin of the Kachhwahas—Raja Nal founds
Narwar—Dhola Rae expelled, and founds Dhundhar—Romantic
legend of Dhola Rae—His treachery to his benefactor, the
Mina lord of Khoganw—Marries a daughter of a Bargujar
chief, and becomes his heir—Augments his territories, and
transfers his government to Ramgarh—Marries a daughter of
the prince of Ajmer—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 Prithiraj
of Delhi—His military prowess—Is killed at the rape of the
princess of Kanauj—Malesi succeeds—His
successors—Prithiraj 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 Raja Jai Singh, brother of Raja
Man, succeeds—Repairs the disgraces of his two
predecessors, and renders immense services to the
empire—Is poisoned by his 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 virtues of
his character—Contemplates the rite of
Aswamedha—Dispersion of his valuable manuscripts—His
death—Some of his wives and concubines become Satis on his
pyre 1341
CHAPTER 3
The Rajput league—Aggrandizement of Amber—Isari Singh
succeeds—Intestine troubles produced by polygamy—Madho
Singh—The Jats—Their Rajas—Violation of the Amber
territory by the Jats—Battle—Rise of Macheri—Decline of
the Kachhwaha power after the death of Madho Singh—Prithi
Singh—Partap Singh—Intrigues at his court—The stratagems
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—Makes 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 interference in the intrigues
respecting the succession—Law of primogeniture—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 disputed by the legal heir-presumptive—Dilemma
of the Nazir and his faction—The threatened disorders
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 Shaikhavati 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
assassination—Dwarkadas—His extraordinary feat with a
lion—Falls by Khan Jahan Lodi—Birsinghdeo—His authority
usurped by his son—Bahadur Singh—Aurangzeb directs the
demolition of the temple of Khandela—Bahadur deserts his
capital—Shujawan Singh Raesalot flies to its defence—He is
slain, the temple razed, and the city
garrisoned—Kesari—Partition of the territory between
Kesari and Fateh 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 Singh of Amber—Khandela
becomes tributary to Amber 1378
CHAPTER 6
Bindrabandas adheres to Madho Singh in the 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
encroachments 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 1395
CHAPTER 7
Bagh Singh opposes the faithless court of Amber—He is joined
by the celebrated George Thomas—Desperate action—Bagh
Singh placed in the fortified palace at Khandela—His
garrison, with his brother, slain by Hanwant Singh, son of
Partap—Bagh regains the palace—The lands of Khandela
farmed by Amber to two Brahmans—They are expelled by the
feudatory Barwatias, who resist the court—They become a
banditti—Sangram Singh, cousin to Partap, their leader—He
avoids the treachery of the court—His death—The
confederacy unite in the league against Jodhpur—New treaty
with the Amber court—Liberation of Partap and
Narsingh—Grand union of the Shaikhawats—Abhai Singh
succeeds in Khandela—Treachery of the court—Hanwant
regains Govindgarh, 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 feudal system—Khandela
assailed by Lachhman Singh, chief of Sikar—Gallant defence
of Hanwant—His death—Surrender of Khandela to Lachhman
Singh—The co-heirs exiled—Power and influence of Lachhman
Singh—Foils the designs of the Purohit—Present attitude of
Lachhman Singh—Subordinate branches of the Shaikhawats—The
Sadhanis—Their territories wrested from the Kaimkhanis and
Rajputs—The Khetri branch of the family of Sadhu attains
superiority—Bagh Singh of Khetri murders his own son—The
Larkhanis—Revenues of Shaikhavati 1408
CHAPTER 8
Reflections—Statistics of
Amber—Boundaries—Extent—Population—Number of
townships—Classification of
inhabitants—Soil—Husbandry—Products—Revenues—Foreign
army—The feudal levies 1428
BOOK X
ANNALS OF HARAVATI
BUNDI
CHAPTER 1
Haravati defined—Fabulous origin of the Agnikula races—Mount
Abu—The Chauhans obtain Mahishmati, 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
Rajputana—Contests with the Muhammadans—Bilandeo of Ajmer;
Guga Chauhan of Mahra; both slain by Mahmud—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 Bhils—Origin of Kotah—Napuji succeeds—Feud with
the Solanki of Toda—Assassination of Napuji—Singular
Sati—Hamu succeeds—The Rana asserts his right over the
Patar—Hamu demurs, defies, and attacks
him—Anecdote—Birsingh—Biru—Rao Banda—Famine—Anecdote—Banda
expelled by his brothers; converts to
Muhammadanism—Narayandas puts 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 Surajmall—Marries
a princess of Chitor—Fatal result—Aheria or
Spring-hunt—Assassination of the Rao—His revenge—Two-fold
sati—Rao Surthan—His cruelty, deposal, and banishment—Rao
Arjun elected—Romantic death—Rao Surjan succeeds 1466
CHAPTER 3
Rao Surjan obtains Ranthambhor—Is besieged by Akbar—The
Bundi prince surrenders the 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—Disgrace of
Rao Bhoj—Cause of Akbar’s death—Rao Ratan—Rebellion
against the emperor Jahangir—The Hara prince defeats the
rebels—Partition of Haraoti—Madho Singh obtains Kotah—Rao
Ratan slain—His heir Gopinath killed—Partition of fiefs in
Haraoti—Rao Chhattarsal succeeds—Appointed 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—Imperialists defeated—Rao Bhao restored to
favour—Appointed to Aurangabad—Succeeded by Rao
Aniruddh—Appointed 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 Bundi
prince—Compelled to fly—Feud with the prince of Amber—Its
cause—Ambitious views of Amber—Its political
condition—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 troops of Amber—Conflict at
Dablana—Ummeda defeated and obliged to fly—Death of Hanja,
his steed—Takes refuge amidst the ravines of the
Chambal—Redeems his capital—Is again expelled from
it—Interview 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—Mahratta 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 interruption—Ajit assassinates the Rana 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, the
Rao Raja Ram Singh 1499
KOTAH
CHAPTER 5
Separation of Kotah from Bundi—The Kotah Bhils—Madho Singh,
first prince of Kotah—Its division into fiefs—The
Madhani—Raja Mukund—Instance of devotion—He is slain with
four brothers—Jagat Singh—Pem Singh—Is deposed—Kishor
Singh—Is slain at Arcot—Law of primogeniture set aside—Ram
Singh—Is slain at Jajau—Bhim Singh—Chakarsen, king of the
Bhils—His power is annihilated by Raja Bhim—Umat
tribe—Origin of the claims of Kotah thereon—Raja Bhim
attacks the Nizamu-l-mulk, 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 hunting
expeditions—His queens—Bravery of the Jhala chief—Order of
succession restored—Maharao Ajit—Rao Chhattarsal—Madho
Singh of Amber claims supremacy over the Hara princes, and
invades Haraoti—Battle of Bhatwara—Zalim 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
his family—His office and estate resumed by Guman Singh—He
abandons Kotah—Proceeds to Mewar—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
Bakhani—Its glorious defence—Sacrifice of a clan—Garrison
of Sohet destroyed—Zalim Singh employed—His successful
negotiation—Restoration to power—Rao Guman constitutes
Zalim guardian of his son Ummed 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—Curtailment 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—Maharao’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 precautions 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
discipline—Revises the revenue system of Haraoti—The Patel
system described—Council of four—Extent of
jurisdiction—The Bohras described—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 peasant of
Rajputana—Modes of realizing the land revenue
described—Advantages and disadvantages 1547
CHAPTER 8
Farming system of Zalim Singh—Extent to which it has been
carried—Its prosperity, fallacious and transitory—Details
of the system—Soil of Kotah—The Regent introduces foreign
ploughs—Area cultivated—Net
produce—Value—Grain-pits—Prices, in plenty and
famine—Zalim sells in one year grain to the amount 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—Gourd-tax—Broom-tax—The Regent
detested by the bards—Province of Kotah at this period,
and at assumption of the government, contrasted—Question
as to the moral result of his improvements 1559
CHAPTER 9
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
interview 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 Khan
Pathan—Circumvallation of Kotah—Foundation of the city
Jhalrapatan—Mihrab Khan, commander of the forces 1569
CHAPTER 10
The Rajput States invited to an alliance with the British
Government—Zalim Singh the first to accept it—Marquess of
Hastings sends an agent to his court—Confederation against
the Pindaris—The Regent’s conduct during the
war—Approbation 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
successor 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—Arguments in defence of the
supplemental articles—Recognition of all rulers _de facto_
the basis of our treaties—Kishor Singh refuses to
acknowledge the supplemental articles—Consequences—The
Regent blockades the Prince, and demands the surrender of
his son Gordhandas—The Maharao breaks through the
blockade—The British agent interposes—Surrender 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—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—Returns 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 Regent—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 proclaimed—The Hara chiefs
return to their families—The Maharao retires to the temple
of Krishna in Mewar—Negotiation 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 Udaipur—Lake of Kheroda—Ancient
temple of Mandeswar—Bhartewar—Its Jain
temples—Kheroda—Connected with the history of the feuds of
Mewar—Exploits of Sangram Singh—He obtains Kheroda—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
proportion 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
pillar—Exploit 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 separation of
Hinta from the fisc—Anomalous character of its present
chief, Man Singh Saktawat—His history—Lalji Rawat of
Nethara—Origin of the Dudia family—Adventure of Sangram
Singh, the Rana of Mewar—His son, Chandrabhan, and Rana
Raj—Extraordinary manner in which he acquired Lawa—Decline
of the family—Form of deed of conveyance of lands from the
lord paramount—Address of Man Singh—Atrocious murder of a
Rathor boy—Its singular sequel 1635
CHAPTER 3
Morwan—The solitude of this fine district—Caused by the
Mahrattas and their mercenaries—Impolicy of our conduct
towards the Mahrattas—Antiquities of Morwan—Tradition of
the foundation and destruction of the ancient
city—Inscriptions—Jain temple—Game—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—Marla—Inhabited by Charans—Reception of the
Author—Curious privilege of the Charanis—Its
origin—Traditional account of the settlement of this
colony in Mewar—Imprecation of Satis—The _tandas_, or
caravans—Their immunity from plunder and
extortion—Nimbahera—Ranikhera—Indignity committed by a
scavenger of Laisrawan—Sentence upon the culprit—Tablet to
a Silpi—Reception at Nimbahera 1646
CHAPTER 4
The Patar or Table-land of Central India—View from
thence—Project of a canal—Its advantages to Mewar—Utility
of further 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’—Proprietorship of the Patar—Its products—The
poppy—Pernicious effects of its increased
cultivation—Account of the introduction and mode of
culture of opium—Original spot of its cultivation—The
manufacture of opium kept pace with the depopulation of
Mewar—Process of cultivation, and of manufacture—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—Impolicy 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—Ummedpura 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
CHAPTER 6
Bhainsrorgarh—Cairn of a Rajput—Raghunath Singh of
Bhainsror—Castle of Bhainsror—Passage forced by the
Chambal through the Plateau—Origin and etymology of
Bhainsror—Charans, the carriers of Rajwara—The young chief
of Mewa becomes the champion of Mewar—Avenges the Rana’s
feud with Jaisalmer, and obtains Bhainsror—Tragical death
of his Thakurani, niece of the Rana—He is banished—The
Pramar chiefs of Bhainsror—Cause of their expulsion—Lal
Singh Chondawat obtains Bhainsror—Assassinates his friend
the Rana’s uncle—Man Singh, his son, succeeds—Is taken
prisoner—Singular escape—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
people 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
Unhealthiness of the season at Kotah—Eventful character of
the period of the Author’s residence there—The
cuckoo—Description of the encampment—Cenotaphs of the
Haras—Severe tax upon the curiosity of travellers in
Kotah—General insalubrity of Kotah—Wells
infected—Productive of fever—Taking leave of the Maharao
and Regent—The Regent’s sorrow—Cross the Chambal—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 _cortège_—Bundi—The castellated
palace, or Bundi ka mahall—Visit to the Raja—Illness of
our party—Quit Bundi—Cenotaphs in the village of Satur—The
tutelary deity, Asapurna—Temple of Bhavani—Banks of the
Mej—Thana—Inscriptions—Jahazpur—Respectable suite of the
Basai chief 1704
CHAPTER 8
Extraordinary attack of illness in the Author—Suspicion of
poison—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 policy with regard to the feudatories
in these parts—Damnia—Manpura—Signs of reviving
prosperity—Arrival at Mandalgarh—The Dasahra—Sickness of
the party left behind—Assembly of the Bhumias and
Patels—Description of Mandalgarh—Rebuilt by one of the
Takshak race—Legend of Mandalgarh—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—Birslabas—Akola—Desolation of the
country—Inscriptions—Hamirgarh—Siyana—Superb
landscape—Mirage—Testimony of gratitude from the elders of
Pur—Thriving state of Marauli—Rasmi—Antiquities—Curious
law—Jasma—Waste country—Inscriptions—Copper
mines—Sanwar—Tribeni, or point of junction of three
rivers—Temple of Parsvanath—Deserted state of the
country—Karera—Maoli—Barren country—Hunting seat of
Nahra-Magra—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 _mari_—Its
ravages—Curious expedient to exclude it from Kotah and
Bundi—Bad weather—Death of the Author’s
elephant—Pahona—Bhilwara—Gratifying reception of the
Author—State of the town contrasted with its former
condition—Projects for its further 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
Government—Ceremonies—Message 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
CHAPTER 12
The Chulis, 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 whirlpools—Visit to
Gangabheva—Its magnificent 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 vegetation—The gigantic
_amarvela_—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
Patal, 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 Monson’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 immunities of the
city—Judicious measures of the Regent in establishing this
mart—Public visit of the community of Patan—The ancient
city—Legends of its foundation—Profusion of ancient
ruins—Fine sculpture and architecture of the
temples—Inscriptions—Cross the natural boundary of Haraoti
and Malwa—The Chhaoni of the Kotah Regent—Chhaoni of the
Pindaris—Gagraun—Narayanpur—Mukunddarra
Pass—Inscriptions—Anecdotes of the 'Lords of the Pass'—The
Chaori of Bhim—Ruins—Ordinances of the Hara princes—Return
to Kotah—Field sports—Author attacked by a bear—Ruins of
Ekelgarh 1777
CHAPTER 14
Visit to Menal—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 temples—Inscriptions—Saiva
temples—Prodigious extent of ruins—The Bijolli chief—His
daughter a Sati—Menal, or Mahanal—Its picturesque
site—Records of Prithiraj, the
Chauhan—Inscriptions—Synchronism in an enigmatical
date—March to Begun—Bumbaoda, 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
CHAPTER 15
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—Chitor—‘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
Fakir—Return to Udaipur—Conclusion 1810
APPENDIX 1828
INDEX 1837
ILLUSTRATIONS
Colonel Tod and his Jain Guru _Frontispiece_
TO FACE PAGE
Raghubīr Singh, Māhārāo Rāja of Būndi 1441
City of Kotah from the East 1521
Country Seat of the Kotah Prince 1530
Palace and Fortress of Būndi 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 1756
Barolli
Ceiling of the Portico of Temple at Barolli 1758
Remains of an Ancient Temple at Barolli, near the 1760
Chambal
Temples of Ganga Bheva in the Forest of Pachail in 1766
Mewar
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 the Sanctuary of a Temple at Chandravati 1792
Ruins of Bhīm’s Chaori in the Mukunddara Pass 1794
Ancient Columns in the Mukunddara Pass 1796
Temples of Menāl in Mewār 1800
Second Group of Temples of Menāl in Mewār 1802
Jaistambha, Pillar of Victory 1820
Columns in the Fortress of Chitor 1822
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, Nahrwala, and Bhuj, to
the south, it may be necessary, before entering upon the details, to
deprecate the charge of presumption or incompetency, 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 _thal_ from
Bhatner to Umarkot, and from Abu to Aror.[8.1.1] I wish it, however, to
be clearly understood, that I look upon this as a mere outline, which,
by showing what 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 trust) 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 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 satisfactory 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 unavoidable 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 must 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 _thal_, the converse of the Greek _oasis_, denoting tracts
particularly sterile. Each _thal_ has its distinct denomination, as the
‘_thal_ of Kawa,’ the ‘_thal_ 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, reckoning 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 are 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 impediment 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
_thal_ 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 defined, and
will recall to the English traveller, who may be destined to journey up
the valley of Sind, 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 substitute ‘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 frequent 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 _thals_; 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,[8.1.2] within the British
frontier, he will see what Mr. Elphinstone considered as the
commencement of the desert, in his interesting expedition to
Kabul.[8.1.3] “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 which 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 Chum, when they
entered Bikaner. Of Shaikhavati, 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 twenty 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
_babool_, and _bair_ or jujube, which altogether give them an appearance
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.[8.1.4]
With these remarks, and bearing in mind what has already been said of
the physiography 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 Marusthali, a distinction 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 _thal_, 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,[8.1.5]
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 Sind, 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,’[8.1.6] across this sandy ocean to the blue waters (Nilab)[8.1.7]
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 hundred to two
hundred of diagonal breadth, are little hamlets, consisting of the
scattered huts of the shepherds of the desert, occupied in pasturing
their 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_),[8.1.8] 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_,[8.1.9] 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 exhausted, 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 the _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
Ammon), _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 dry weather, leave large stagnant masses,
always called _dah_. There are many of the streams of Rajputana, having
such pools, particularized as _hathi-dah_, or ‘elephant-pool,’ denoting
a sufficiency of water even to drown that animal. Now the word _dah_ or
_daha_, added to the generic term for water, _wah_, 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 وازي, and by the
addition of a point وازي, _wazi_, easily metamorphosed, for a euphonous
termination, into _oasis_.[8.1.10]
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 _thal_, 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 record of the Sodha
prince Hamir, in whose reign this phenomenon is said to have happened.
But the utility of these ancient traditional couplets, to which I have
frequently drawn the reader’s attention, has again been happily
illustrated, for the name of Hamir 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 Uchh, 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
authenticated, 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.[8.1.11]
=The Lūni 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 _thal_ 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.[8.1.12]
=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 commences with a
sacred character, having the temple of Narayan[8.1.13] 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’;[8.1.14] 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.[8.1.15] 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 overflowings 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 simple operations of
nature; I allude to the origin of Lake Moeris, a design too vast for
man.[8.1.16]
=Thal, Rūi.=—As the reader will often meet with the words _thal_ 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.
=Thal 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 _thal_, yet it is so intimately
connected with it, that we shall not forego the only opportunity we may
have of noticing it.
=Jālor.=—This tract is one of the most important divisions of Marwar. It
is separated from Siwanchi by the Sukri and Khari,[8.1.17] 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 paramount rule in Marusthali. When it was
wrested from them we have no clue to discover;[8.1.18] 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 this
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 west of the castle. Whether
Jalandharnath [297], the ‘divinity of Jalandhar,’ was imported from the
Ganges, or left as well as the god of the Malli by the _ci-devant_
Mallanis, is uncertain: but should this prove to be a remnant of the
foes of Alexander, driven by him from Multan,[8.1.19] its probability is
increased 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, like the Roman conquerors, have added these indigenous
divinities to their own pantheon. The descendants of the expatriated
Sonigiras now occupy the lands of Chitalwana, near the _furca_ 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 _thal_.
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 hundred 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, Parsvanath. 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 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:
Houses.
Malis, or gardeners 140
Telis, or oilmen, here called 100
_Ghanchi_
Kumhars, or potters 60
Thatheras, or braziers 30
Chhipis, or printers 20
Bankers, merchants, and shopkeepers 1156
Musalman families 936
Khatiks, or butchers 20
Nais, or barbers 16
Kalals, or spirit-distillers 20
Weavers 100
Silk weavers 15
Yatis (Jain priests) 2
Brahmans 100
Gujars 40
Rajputs 5
Bhojaks[8.1.20] 20
Minas 60
Bhils 15
Sweetmeat shops 8
Ironsmiths and carpenters (_Lohars_ 14
and _Sutars_)
Churiwalas, or bracelet-manufacturers 4
The general accuracy of this census was confirmed.
=Sīwāna.=—Siwanchi is the tract between the Luni 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 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.[8.1.21]
=Machola, Morsin.=—Machola 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] depredations of the Minas; the
latter, which has also a fort and town of five hundred houses, is on the
western extremity of Jalor.
=Bhīnmāl, Sānchor.=—Bhinmal and Sanchor are the two principal
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. Bhinmal is said to contain fifteen
hundred houses, and Sanchor about half the number.[8.1.22] 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, Mal (not Mahl, as in the map), from its wealth as a
mart.[8.1.23] There is a temple of Baraha (Varaha, the incarnation of
the hog), with a great sculptured 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.[8.1.24] The name of Sanchor is corrupted from
Satipura, Sati, or Suttee’s town, said to be very ancient.
=Bhadrājan.=—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, 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.
=Bālotra, Tīlwāra.=—Balotra, Tilwara, are two celebrated names in the
geography of this region, and have an annual fair, as renowned 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,[8.1.25] 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.
=Īndhāvati.=—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 _thal_ of Guga. The _thal_ of
Indhavati embraces a space of about thirty coss in circumference.
=Gūgadeo ka Thal.=—The _thal_ of Guga, a name celebrated in the heroic
history of the Chauhans, is immediately north of Indhavati, 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,[8.1.26] for with the return of day it passes off.
=Tararoi.=—The _thal_ of Tararoi intervenes between that of Gugadeo and
the present frontier of Jaisalmer, to which it formerly
belonged.[8.1.27] 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 this _thal_ 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, mounting several guns on 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 Salim. Three coss to the north of Pokaran is
the village of Ramdeora, 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.[8.1.28] 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 numbers, 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 _thal_, 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 _thal_.
=Mallināth, Bārmer.=—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.[8.1.29] 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 deal of flat
intermingled with low _tibas_ of sand, which in favourable seasons
produces enough food for consumption. Padam Singh, the Barmer 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 _dand_; 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’[8.1.30] 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
kafilas, 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,’ which 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
purpose 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 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.
=Jūna 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 _tij_, 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. Whether 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 _thal_, or rather _rui_, containing deep jungles of khair, or
kher, khejra, karil, khep, phog,[8.1.31] 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 completed by
the famine that raged generally throughout these regions in S. 1868
(A.D. 1812), and of which this[8.1.32] is the third year. The disorders
which we have depicted as prevailing at the seat of government for the
last thirty 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 astonishment 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.
-----
Footnote 8.1.1:
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.
Footnote 8.1.2:
[Kānod Mohindargarh in Patiāla State (_IGI_, xvii. 385).]
Footnote 8.1.3:
It left Delhi October 13, 1808.
Footnote 8.1.4:
“Our marches,” says Mr. Elphinstone, “were seldom very long. The
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.
Footnote 8.1.5:
[In Sind, on the N. shore of the Great Rann, about 10 miles from
Nagar-Pārkar.]
Footnote 8.1.6:
_Trikuta_, the epithet bestowed on the rock on which the castle of
Jaisalmer is erected.
Footnote 8.1.7:
A name often given by Ferishta to the Indus.
Footnote 8.1.8:
[As has been already stated, Sahariya has no connexion with Arabic
_Sahra_, ‘desert.’]
Footnote 8.1.9:
[Jhāl, of which there are two varieties, large and small, _Salvadora
persica_ and _S. oleoides_.]
Footnote 8.1.10:
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.
Langlés suggested the derivation of _oasis_ (variously written by the
Greeks αὔασις, ἴασις and υἅσις, ὄασις, [αὔασις is the only other
recognized form]) from the Arabic واح: and Dr. Wait, in a series of
interesting etymologies (see _Asiatic Journal_, May 1830), suggests
वसि, _vasi_ from वस, _vas_, ‘to inhabit.’ _Vasi_ and ὕασις quasi
_vasis_ are almost identical. My friend, Sir W. Ouseley, gave me
nearly the same signification of وادي, _Wadi_, as appears in Johnson’s
edition of Richardson, namely, a valley, a desert, a channel of a
river—a river; وادي, _wadi-al-kabir_, ‘the great river,’ corrupted
into Guadalquiver, 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 _waeter_, the Greek ὔδωρ, the
Islandic _udr_, the Slavonic _wod_ (whence _woder_ 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_) applied 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 _New
English Dict._ gives Lat. oasis, Greek ὄασις, apparently of Egyptian
origin; cf. Coptic _ouahe_ (whence Egyptian Arabic _wāh_),
‘dwelling-place, oasis,’ from _ouih_, ‘to dwell.’]
Footnote 8.1.11:
[See _IGI_, xii. 212 f.; E. H. Aitken, _Gazetteer of Sind_, 4;
_Calcutta Review_, 1874; _JRAS_, xxv. 49 ff.]
Footnote 8.1.12:
[The derivation of Pārkar is unknown; that suggested in the text is
impossible.]
Footnote 8.1.13:
[Nārāyansar, an important place of pilgrimage, with interesting
temples, is situated at the Kori entrance of the W. Rann (_BG_, v. 245
ff.).]
Footnote 8.1.14:
[Or _irina_, Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 774.]
Footnote 8.1.15:
[_Equus hemionus_ (Blanford, _Mammalia of India_, 470 f.; Job xxxix. 5
ff.).]
Footnote 8.1.16:
“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 maintain! 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 proprietors 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.
Footnote 8.1.17:
Another salt river.
Footnote 8.1.18:
[The Chauhān Rāo Kīrttipāl took it from the Pramāras towards the end
of the twelfth century, and Kānardeo Chauhān lost it to Alāu-d-dīn
(Erskine iii. A. 199 f.). In Briggs’ translation of Ferishta (i. 370)
the place is called Jalwar, and the King Nāhardeo.]
Footnote 8.1.19:
Multan and Juna (Chhotan, _qu._ Chauhan-tan?) have the same
signification, ‘the ancient abode,’ and both were occupied by the
tribe of Malli or Mallani, said to be of Chauhan race; and it is
curious to find at Jalor (classically Jalandhar) the same divinities
as in their haunts in the Panjab, namely, Mallinath, Jalandharnath,
and Balnath. Abu-l-Fazl says, “The cell of Balnath is in the middle of
Sindsagar”; and Babur (Elliot-Dowson ii. 450, iv. 240, 415, v. 114,
_Āīn_, 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.
Footnote 8.1.20:
[Bhojak, ‘a feeder,’ a term usually applied to those Brāhmans who are
fed after a death, in order to pass on the food to the spirit.]
Footnote 8.1.21:
[Ferishta (i. 369) calls the Rāja Sītaldeo; Amīr Khusru (Elliot-Dowson
iii. 78, 550, v. 166) Sutaldeo.]
Footnote 8.1.22:
[The population of these towns is now respectively 4545 and 2066.]
Footnote 8.1.23:
[The old name was Srīmāl or Bhillamāla, which Erskine (iii. A. 194)
identifies with Pi-lo-mo-lo of Hiuen Tsiang. But Beal (_Buddhist
Records of the Western World_, ii. 270) transliterates this name as
Bālmer or Bārmer.]
Footnote 8.1.24:
[For the Sāchora or Sānchora Brāhmans see _BG_, ix. Part i. 18;
Erskine iii. A. 84.]
Footnote 8.1.25:
[Tīlwāra is about 10 miles W. of Bālotra.]
Footnote 8.1.26:
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.
Footnote 8.1.27:
[The name Tararoi seems to have disappeared from the maps, the tract
being now known as Sānkra.]
Footnote 8.1.28:
[Rāmdeora is 12 miles N. of Pokaran. The saint is commonly called
Rāmdeoji or Rāmsāh Pīr.]
Footnote 8.1.29:
[Bārmer, the ancient name of which is said to be Bāhadamer, ‘hill fort
of Bāhada,’ is 130 miles W. of Jodhpur city; its present population is
6064. Mallināth was son of Rāo Salkha, eighth in descent from Siāhji,
founder of Mārwār State.]
Footnote 8.1.30:
Named in all probability, from the superabundant tree of the desert
termed _Khair_, and _dhar_, ‘land.’ It is also called Kheralu, but
more properly 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 Lūni River turns eastward. Kherālu has disappeared
from modern maps, if it be not a mistake for Kerādu, where there are
interesting temples (_ASR_, West Circle, March 31, 1907, pp. 40-43;
Erskine iii. A. 201).]
Footnote 8.1.31:
[Khair, _Acacia catechu_; Khejra, _Prosopis spicigera_; Karīl,
_Capparis aphylla_; Khep, _Crotolaria burhia_; Phog, _Calligonum
polygonoides_.]
Footnote 8.1.32:
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 superintendents 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
little-known regions in India. But with such men as I drilled to aid
in these discoveries, I found nothing insurmountable. [The famine of
1812-13 was the most calamitous of the earlier visitations (Erskine
iii. A. 125).]
-----
CHAPTER 2
=The Chauhān Rāj.=—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 environed, 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 Koliwara, 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;[8.2.1] which appellation, conjoined to Nagar, is also
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 intercourse with these regions by an
enterprising Englishman, named Whittington.[8.2.2]
=History of the Chauhāns.=—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 [305] 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 independent, it may be
assumed that some kind of obedience was paid to Ajmer. We possess
inscriptions which justify this assertion. 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”),[8.2.3] passed
and sacked Nadol (transliterated Buzule);[8.2.4] 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 on the rock was
destroyed. Whether this was after his visitation and destruction of
Nahrvala (Anhilwara Patan), or while on his journey, 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 conversion or destruction of the ‘infidels,’ in all
likelihood the expatriated princes of Nahrvala had sought refuge with
the Chauhans amidst the sandhills of Kherdhar, 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
unnecessary to particularize the extent in square miles of _thal_ 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 will 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,[8.2.5] Bakhasar, Tharad, Hotiganv, and Chitalwana. Rana
Narayan Rao resides alternately at Sui and Bah, both large towns
surrounded by an _abbatis_, 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 phenomenon
remarked in the bed of the Kunwari River (in the district of Gwalior),
where, after a perfectly dry space of several miles, we have observed in
the next portion of water a very perceptible current.[8.2.6]
=Nagar Pārkar.=—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 hundred feet high. 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 flourishing town; but now (1814) it
contains but three hundred and sixty inhabited 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.
=Tharād.=—Tharad is another subdivision of the Chauhans of the Luni
whose chief 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 Chauhān Rāj.=—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 detached masses. The tracts on both
banks of the Luni yield good crops of wheat and the richer grains, and
Virawah, though enclosing considerable _thal_, has a good portion of
flat, especially towards Radhanpur, seventeen coss from Sui. Beyond the
Luni, the _thal_ 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_,[8.2.7] 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
from 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,[8.2.8] 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, like most of these remote Rajput tribes,
dispense with the _zunnar_[8.2.9] or _janeo_, the distinctive thread of
a ‘twice-born tribe,’ and are altogether free from [308] the prejudices
of those whom association with Brahmans has bound down with chains of
iron. But to make amends for this laxity in ceremonials, there is a
material amendment in their moral character, in comparison with the
Chauhans of the _purab_ (east); for here the unnatural law of
infanticide is unknown, in spite of the examples of their neighbours,
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 human
species. Although they _puja_ all the symbols of Hindu worship, and
chiefly the terrific Mata, they scoff at all laws, human or divine, and
are little superior to the brutes of their own forests. To them every
thing 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., which 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.[8.2.10] 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,[8.2.11] 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 complete.
The Kolis and Bhils have no matrimonial intercourse, nor will they even
eat with each other—such is caste! The bow 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.
=Dhāt and Umrasūmra.=—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.[8.2.12] This space measures
about two hundred and twenty miles of longitude, and its greatest
breadth is eighty; it is one entire _thal_, 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 vegetation. 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 hundred
feet in depth. One at Jaisinghdesar, fifty _pursa_; Dhot-ki-basti,
sixty; Girab, sixty; Hamirdeora, seventy; Jinjiniali, seventy-five;
Chailak, seventy-five to eighty.
=The Horrors of Humāyūn’s March.=—In what vivid colours does the
historian Ferishta describe the miseries of the fugitive emperor,
Humayun, 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 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, several 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 nothing that
could alleviate his sufferings, or console him in his distress.”—Briggs’
_Ferishta_, vol. ii. p. 93.[8.2.13]
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 Humayun’s protector, and notwithstanding he is
now but nominal sovereign of Umarkot, and lord [310] of the village of
Chor,[8.2.14] give him “a local habitation and a name,” even in the days
of the Macedonian invader of India.
=Dhāt.=—Dhat,[8.2.15] 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;[8.2.16]
and the conjunction of the two last has given a distinctive appellation
to the more northern _thal_, still known as Umarsumra, though many
centuries have fled since they possessed any power.
=Aror, Umarsūmra.=—Aror, of which we have already narrated 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, which 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.[8.2.17] 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, Umarsumra, 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,’[8.2.18] I may here repeat, is hardly hyperbolical
when applied to the Rajput world.
=Aror.=—Aror, or Alor as written by Abu-l 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
Bakhar, or Mansura (so named by the lieutenant of the Khalif Al-Mansur),
a few miles west of Aror, is considered as the capital of the Sogdoi,
when Alexander sailed down the Indus,[8.2.19] 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.[8.2.20] The Sodha princes were the patriarchs of the desert when
the Bhattis immigrated 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 subdivisions of them.
We may follow Abu-l Fazl and Ferishta in their summaries of the history
of ancient Sind, and these races. The former says: “In former times,
there lived a Rāja named Siharas, whose capital was Alor. His sway
extended eastward, as far as Kashmīr and towards the sea to Mekrān,
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
Rāja lost his life. The invaders, contenting themselves with devastating
part of the territory, returned. Rāē Sahi,[8.2.21] the Rāja’s son,
succeeded his father, by whose enlightened wisdom and the aid of his
intelligent minister Rām, justice was universally administered and the
repose of the country secured.... In the caliphate of Walīd bin Abdu’l
Malik, when Hajjāj was governor of Irāk, he dispatched on his own
authority Muhammad Kāsim, his cousin and son-in-law, to Sind, who fought
Dāhir in several engagements.... After Muhammad Kāsim’s death, the
sovereignty of this country devolved on the descendants of the Banu
Tamīm Ansāri. They were succeeded by the Sūmrah race, who established
their rule, and were followed by the Sammas, who asserted their descent
from Jamshīd, and each of them assumed the name of Jām.”[8.2.22]
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 called Soomuna [the Samma of Abu-l Fazl], whose chief
assumed the title of Jam.”[8.2.23]
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 _Samma_ by Abu-l 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.[8.2.24] Thus the Sodhas appear to have ruled at Aror and
Bakhar, or Upper Sind, and the Sammas in the lower,[8.2.25] when
Alexander passed through this region. The Jarejas and Jams of Navanagar
in Saurashtra claim descent from the Sammas, hence called elsewhere by
Abu-l Fazl “the Sind-Samma dynasty”; but having been, from their
amalgamation with the ‘faithful,’ put out of the pale of Hinduism, they
desired to conceal their Samma-Yadu descent, which they abandoned for
Jamshid, and Samma was converted into Jam.[8.2.26]
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 army, styled Persian by Abu-l Fazl, which invaded
Aror, and slew Raja Siharas, was a Graeco-Bactrian army led by
Apollodotus, or Menander, who traversed this region, “ruled by
Sigertides” (_qu._ Raja Siharas?) even to “the country of the Σῶρα,” or
Saurashtra,[8.2.27] where, according to their historian, their medals
were existent when he wrote in the second century.[8.2.28] 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 Siharas; and the Bhatti annals prove to
demonstration, that at this, the very period of their settling 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 unto 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,[8.2.29]
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 Egypt, 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.[8.2.30] The old castle is to the north-west of the town. It is
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 Mīr 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, found 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[8.2.31] (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 east 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, 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.[8.2.32] 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 Kandahar. There the Shah put him at
the head of an army of twenty-five thousand men, with which he
reconquered Sind, and commenced 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 wandering 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].[8.2.33]
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
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.[8.2.34] The present Rana of the Sodhas has set the example, by
giving daughters to Mir Ghulam Ali and Mir Sohrab, and even to the Khosa
chief of Dadar; and in consequence, his brother princes of Jaisalmer,
Bah and Parkar, though they will 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 under the mantle of a new faith,
might little aid his researches 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 elsewhere; who, as well as
the Getae or Jats, and Huns, hold places amongst the “Thirty-six Royal
Races” of ancient India.[8.2.35] These, with the Barahas and the
Lohanas, tribes who swarmed a few centuries ago in the Panjab, will now
only be discerned in small numbers 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 a text for discussion on his habits [318] 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 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,[8.2.36] or proselytes chiefly from Rajput or other Hindu
tribes:
Zjat; Rajar; Umra; Sumra; 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 Nayyāds.=—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 fortunate 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 _kilbar_,
_randori_, and for the latter, _dagra_, or _dag_.[8.2.37] It will not
fail to strike those who have perused the heart-thrilling adventures of
Park, Denham, and Clapperton—names which will live for ever in the
annals of discovery—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 lā ilāha illa allāh!
[319] Ashhadu anna Muhammad rasūlu-llāh,” “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 drink from the same
vessel and smoke out of the same _hukka_ with a Musalman, laying aside
only the tube that touches the mouth. With his poverty, the Sodha has
lost his reputation for courage, retaining only the merit of being a
dexterous thief, and joining the hordes of Sahariyas and Khosas 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 peculiar to themselves, and by it a Sodha 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 _thal_ of Dhat, though in no great numbers.[8.2.38] They have no
fixed habitations, but move about with their flocks, and encamp wherever
they find a spring or pasture for their cattle; and there construct
temporary huts of the wide-spreading _pilu_,[8.2.39] by interlacing its
living branches, covering the top with leaves, and coating the inside
with clay: in so skilful 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 delightful _amal-pani_, the universal panacea for ills
both moral and physical.
=The Dhāti Tribe.=—Dhat, or Dhati, is another Rajput, inhabiting 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 _ghi_ 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 Lohāna Tribe.=—This tribe is numerous both in Dhat and Talpura:
formerly they were Rajputs, but betaking 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.”[8.2.40]
=The Arora Tribe.=—This class, like the former, apply themselves to
every pursuit, trade, and agriculture, and fill 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 appease hunger. Whether this class has
its name from being an inhabitant of Aror, we know not.[8.2.41]
=The Bhātia 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].[8.2.42]
=Brāhmans.=—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 superfluous _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.[8.2.43] 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
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 indiscriminately 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 _janeo_, 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 discriminate them from those who have to perform the most
servile duties.[8.2.44]
=The Rabāri 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.[8.2.45]
=Jat Tribes.=—Jakhar, Asaich, Punia are all denominations of the Jat
race, a few of whom preserve under these ancient subdivisions 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 industrious, and are found both in the desert and
valley. There are besides these a few scattered families of ancient
tribes [322], as the Sultana[8.2.46] and Khumra, of whose history we are
ignorant, Johyas, Sindhals, and others, whose origin has already been
noticed in the Annals of Marusthali.
We shall now leave this general account of the Hindu tribes, who
throughout Sind are subservient to the will of the Muhammadan, 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.[8.2.47]
=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 _thal_. 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.[8.2.48] 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 numerous both in the _thal_ 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 never shave or touch the hair of their
heads, and consequently look more like 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 Rājar 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 _thal_ between Jaisalmer and Upper Sind:
they are cultivators, shepherds, and thieves, and are esteemed amongst
the very worst of the converts to Muhammadanism.[8.2.49]
=The Umar Sūmra 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 _thal_ called after them; of whom we
have already said enough.[8.2.50]
=The Kalhora, Tālpuri 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 _thal_.
=Nūmri, Lūmri, or Lūka Tribe.=—This is also a grand subdivision of the
Baloch race, and is mentioned by Abu-l 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.[8.2.51] The Numris, or Lumris, also styled Luka,
a still more familiar term for fox,[8.2.52] are likewise affirmed to be
Jat in origin. What is the etymology of the generic term Baloch, which
they have assumed, or whether they took it from, or gave it to,
Baluchistan, some future inquirer into these subjects may
discover.[8.2.53]
=The Zott[8.2.54] or Jat Tribe.=—This very original race, far more
numerous than perhaps all the Rajput tribes put together, still retains
its ancient appellation throughout the whole of Sind, from the sea to
Daudputra, but there are few or none in the _thal_. 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 (_mera_) in the valley of Sind, but their Bhatti origin
sufficiently accounts for the term, as Jaisalmer is termed Mer.[8.2.55]
=The Mor, Mohor Tribe.=—Said to be also Bhatti in origin.[8.2.56]
=The Tāwari, Thori, or Tori Tribe.=—These engross the distinctive
epithet of _bhut_, 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 the turban
from it. They are found in the _thals_ of Daudputra, Bijnot, Nok,
Nawakot, and Udar. They are proprietors of camels, which 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.
=Dāūdputra, Bahāwalpur State.=—This petty State, though beyond the pale
of Hinduism, yet being but a recent formation out of the Bhatti State of
Jaisalmer, is strictly within the limits of Marusthali. 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, Bahawalpur, during the halt of the embassy to
Kabul.[8.2.57]
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
alternative 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 _thal_.
He was succeeded by Mubarik Khan; he, by his nephew Bahawal Khan, whose
son is Sadik Muhammad Khan, the present lord of Bahawalpur, or
Daudputra, a name applied both to the country and to its possessors,
“the children of David.”[8.2.58] 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 Bhatti city, whose name I could not learn. About
thirty years ago[8.2.59] 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
the capital; but Nasir Khan, son of Alam Khan, Gurgecha (Baloch), having
formerly injured him and dreading punishment, had him assassinated, 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 Daudputra. Garhi still belongs to Abdulla,
son of Haji Khan, but no territory is annexed to it. Sadik Muhammad has
not the reputation 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 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 _narua_ 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 of 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 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_-doctor 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 snaps 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
afflicted with the _narua_, than which none of the ills that flesh is
heir to can be more agonizing.[8.2.60]
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 under the influence of these fevers is very common, and its cure
is mostly the actual cautery.
=Famines.=—Famine is, however, the grand natural disease of these
regions, whose legendary stanzas teem with records of visitations of
Bhukhi Mata, the ‘famished mother,’ from the remotest times. That which
is best authenticated in the traditions of several of these States,
occurred in the eleventh century, and continued 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
desiccation 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.[8.2.61]
=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 the 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 this 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.[8.2.62] That of the
former State is two hundred strong, eighty of which belong to the
prince; the rest are the quotas of his chiefs; but how they are rated,
or in what ratio to the horsemen of the other principalities, I never
thought 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 matchlock 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,[8.2.63] is an
inhabitant of the desert, but most abounds in the southern part, about
Dhat, and the deep _rui_ which extends from Barmer to Bankasar 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.[8.2.64] 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 _thals_ of Daudputra and Bhattipo, they remove to
the flats of Sind in the commencement of the hot weather. The shepherds,
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 _khair_
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 Raisakh affords them fruit; the _pilu_, used as
food;[8.2.65] 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
_jawas_, 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 _thal_,
or desert, in which there are very considerable tracts of low, hard
flat, termed _chittram_,[8.2.66] formed by 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 filled with the plant,
which, when fired, exudes a liquid substance that falls to the bottom.
While burning, 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
pursue 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 considerable
article of commerce with Sind, and entire caravans of it are carried to
Bakhar, Tatta, and Cutch. The virtue of the soda is well understood 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 interest. There is
the gigantic _siwan_, or _siun_, classically known as the _kusa_, and
said to have originated the name of Kusa, the second son of Rama, and
his race the Kachhwaha. It is often eight feet in height; when young, 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 indispensable to their trade. There is likewise the _sarkanda_,
the _dhaman_, the _duba_, and various others; besides the _gokhru_, the
_papri_, and the _bharut_, which adhering to their garments, are the
torment of travellers.[8.2.67]
=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.[8.2.68] 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[8.2.69]
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 on one
Sum (5 do.).┘ spot, about a mile distant from each other, conjointly
called Sum, having a _burj_ or tower for defence, 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.
Mulana[8.2.70] (24 coss).—A hamlet of ten huts; chiefly Sindis; situated
amidst lofty sandhills. From Sum, the first half of the journey is
over alternate sandhills, rocky ridges (termed _magra_), 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 _thal_ (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 Phulani, in the twelfth century, which depopulated the
country, when the survivors of the _thal_ 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 _wah_, _bah_, _beria_, _rar_, _tar_, prefixed by the tribe of
those pasturing, whether Sodhas, Rajars, or Samaichas. The
inhabitants of one hamlet will go as far as ten miles to cultivate a
patch.
Bhor (2 do.). ┐ These are all hamlets of about ten huts, inhabited
Palri (3 do.). │ by Rajars, who cultivate patches of
Rajar-ki-basti │ land or pasture their flocks of buffaloes,
(2 do.). │ cows, camels, goats, amidst the _thal_; at
Hamlet of Rajars │ each of these hamlets there are plenty of
(2 do.). ┘ springs; at Rajar-ki-basti there is a pool
called Mahadeo-ka-dah. (See p. 1263 above.)
Deo Chandeswar Mahadeo (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 Dinbawa, or ‘waters 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 cultivate.
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.). ┐ Purwas⓵, or hamlets of shepherds,
Samaichas,
Samaicha-ki-do (2 do.). │ Rajars, and others, who
Rajar do. (1 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.). │
Do. do. (2 do.). ┘
Udhania (7 do.).—Twelve huts; no water between it and the last hamlet.
Nala (5 do.).—Descent from the _thal_ 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 sandhills.
Mir-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, garrisoned from Haidarabad.
Kamera-ka-Nala (6 do.).—This _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.
Makera (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 (1½ do.).—A town of twelve hundred houses on the right
bank, belonging to Haidarabad[8.2.71] [334].
Sehwan to Haidarabad
Jat-ki-basti (2 coss).—The word _jāt_ or _jat_ is here pronounced Zjat.
This hamlet ‘basti,’ is of thirty huts, half a mile from the Indus:
hills close to the village.
Samaicha-ki-basti (2½ coss).—Small village.
Lakhi (2½ 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.[8.2.72]
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 (4½ 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.
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 (1½ do.).—A hundred houses.
Nasarpur (1½ 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,[8.2.73] 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 _thal_ or sand-hills of the desert, here commencing. 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 _thal_, and _thal_ 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 _thal_ 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.
Dharnas (8 coss).—A hundred houses, chiefly Pokharna Brahmans and
Banias, who purchase up the _thal_ from the pastoral tribes, which
they export to Bhuj and the valley. It is also an entrepôt for
trade; caravans from the east exchange their goods for the _thal_,
here very cheap, from the vast flocks pastured in the Rui.
Kherlu-ka-Par (3 do.).—Numerous springs (_thal_) and hamlets scattered
throughout this tract.
Lanela (1½ 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, belonging to
Sawai Singh Sodha, with several _thal_ 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 _thal_, or collector of
the transit duties, resides here.
Harsani (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,[8.2.74] 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 considerable cultivation in the
little valleys formed by the _thal_, 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 _thal_ 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 _thal_ 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 26 coss,
Girab 7, Nilwa 12, Umarkot 25—in all 70 pakka coss, or about 150
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 44 short coss
from Haidarabad to Umarkot, making a total of 129½ coss. The most
direct road is estimated at 105 pakka coss, which, allowing for
sinuosities, is equal to about 195 English miles.
Total of this route, 85½ 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 _thal_.
┌ 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
└ or canals in the last five coss.
Total of this route, 103 coss.
Jaisalmer, by Shahgarh, to Khairpur 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.[8.2.75]).—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.
Baloch-ki-basti (5 do.). ┐ Hamlets of Baloch and Samaichas.
Samaicha-ki-basti (5 do.). ┘
Nala (2 do.).—The same stream which flows from Dara, and through the
ancient city of Alor; it marks the boundary of the desert.
Khairpur[8.2.76] (18 coss).—Mir Sohrab, governor of Upper Sind, and
brother of the prince of Haidarabad, resides here. He has erected a
stone fortress of twelve bastions, called Nawakot or New-castle. The
18 coss from the _thal_ to Khairpur is flat, and marks the breadth
of the valley here. The following towns are of consequence.
Khairpur to Larkhana.—Twenty coss west of the Indus, held by Karam Ali,
son of the prince 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[8.2.77] (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; _thal_ heavy.
Udat (32 do.).—Thirty huts of shepherds; a small mud fortress. Rui, a
deep and entire desert, throughout all this space; no water [338].
Sankram or Sangram (16 do.).—Half the distance sand-hills, the rest
numerous temporary hamlets constructed of the _thal_, or maize
stalks; several water-courses.
Nala-Sangra (½ 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 (½ do.).—A large town; Bankers and Banias, here termed Karar
and Samaichas.
Low ridge of hills, called Takar (4 do.).—This little chain of silicious
rocks runs north and south; Nawakot, the Newcastle 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. Crossed
Bakhar (½ do.). ├ over to Bakhar; breadth of the river near a mile.
Sakhar (½ do.). ┘ 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 very 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 (3½ do.).
Shikarpur (½ 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 _thal_, or mutual
boundary of Upper Sind and Jaisalmer, and there is a small _thal_ or
mud fort, jointly held by the respective troops; twenty huts and one
well.
Sutiala (20 do.).—Rui all the way. A _thal_ for the collection of
duties; six wells.
Khairpur (Dahir Ali) (20 do.).—Rui, and deep jungle of the evergreens
called _thal_ and _thal_, 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 watercourses [339].
Ahmadpur (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.).—Four 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 ┐ Six coss from the Indus.
(Sohrab-ka-) ┘ │
Gumat 8 │
Ranipur 2 │
(See route to │ The coss in this distance seems a medium
it from Garhar). │ between the pakka of two coss and the
Hingor 5 │ kachha of one and a half. The medium of
Bhiranapur 5 ├ one and three quarter miles to each coss,
Haliani 1 │ deducting a tenth for windings, appears,
Kanjara 3 │ after numerous comparisons, to be just.
Naushahra 8 │ This is alike applicable to all Upper Sind.
Mora 7 │
Shahpura 3 │
Daulatpur 3 ┘
Mirpur 3 ┌ On the Indus. Here Madari crossed to
└ Sehwan, and returned to Mirpur.
Kazi-ka-Got 9 ┐
Sakrand 11 │
Hala 7 ├ The coss about two miles each; which, deducting
Khardao 4 │ one in ten for windings of the road,
Matari 4 │ may be protracted.
Haidarabad 6 ┘
——
TOTAL 145 coss.
Jaisalmer to Ikhtyar Khan-ki-Garhi
┌ These villages are all inhabited by Paliwal
Brahmsar (4 coss) │ Brahmans, and are in the tract termed
Mordesar (3 do.) ┤ Kandal or Khadal, of which Katori, eight
Gugadeo (3 do.) │ coss north of Jaisalmer, is the chief town of
Kaimsar (5 do.) │ about forty villages.—_N.B._ All towns with
└ the affix of _thal_ have pools of water.
Nohar-ki-Garhi (25 do.).—_thal_ or desert throughout this space. The
castle of Nohar is of brick, and now belongs to Daudputra, who
captured it from the Bhattis of Jaisalmer. About 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).—_thal_ or desert. Rangarh is four coss east of
this.
Ikhtyar-ki-Garhi (15 do.).—_thal_ until the last four coss, or eight
miles. Thence the descent from the _thal_ or sand-hills to the
valley of the Indus.
Total of this route, 79 coss. Ikhtyar to Ahmadpur 18 coss
” Khanpur 5 ”
” Sultanpur 8 ”
Jaisalmer to Sheo-Kotra, Kheralu, Chhotan, Nagar-Parkar, Mitti, and
return to Jaisalmer.
Dabla (3 do.).—Thirty houses, Pokharna 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) (2½ 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 (4½ do.).—_thal_, 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 _thal_ of sand.
Kheralu (7 coss).—Capital of Kherdhar, one of the ancient divisions 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 houses.
Bhil-ki-basti (5 do.) ┐ Few huts in each.
Chauhan-ka-pura (6 do.) ┘
Nagar (3 do.).—A large town, capital of Parkar, containing one thousand
five hundred houses, of which one-half are inhabited.
Kaim Khan Sahariya-ki-basti (18 do.).—Thirty houses in the _thal_;
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 Sahariyas.
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. When the Shah of Kabul used to invade Sind, the
Haidarabad prince 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 importance to the
transit trade.
Samaicha-ki-basti (10 do.).—_thal_ from Chailasar.
Nur Ali, Pani-ka-Tar (9 do.).—Sixty houses of Charans, Sultana Rajputs
and Kauravas (qu. the ancient Kauravas?) water (_thal_) plenty in
the _thal_.
Rual (5 do.).—Twelve hamlets termed _thal_, scattered round a tract of
several coss, inhabited by different tribes, after whom they are
named, as Sodha, Sahariya, Kaurava, Brahman, 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 hundred houses; a _thal_, or collector of duties,
resides here.
Garara (10 do.).—Described in route from Umarkot to Jaisalmer.
Raedana (11 do.).—Forty houses; a lake formed by damming up the water.
_thal_, or salt-pans.
Kotra (9 do.).
Sheo (3 do.).—The whole space from Nagar to Sheo-Kotra is a continuous
mass of lofty sand-hills (_thal_), scattered with hamlets (_thal_),
in many parts affording abundant pasture for flocks of sheep, goats,
buffaloes, and camels; the _thal_ 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 flats 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
_thal_, 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 famine of 1813; Charans. Grand _thal_ commences.
Sangar-ka-talao (½ do.).—Water remains generally eight months in the
talao or pool, sometimes the whole year.
┌ Between is the _thal_ or boundary of Jaisalmer
Bhikarae (1½ do.) │ and Jodhpur. Bhikarae has one
Kharel (4 do.) │ hundred and twenty houses of Paliwals;
└ wells and pools at both places.
Rajarel (1 do.).—Seventy houses; most deserted since famine.
Gonga (4 do.).—Hamlet of twenty huts; _thal_, or small wells and pools;
to this the ridge and _thal_ 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
Luni 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 Rana, and of the Chauhan tribe.
Bata (3 do.).—West side of river.
Patarna (1 do.) ┐West side of river.
Gadla (1 do.) ┘
Ranas (3 do.).—East side of river.
Charani (2 do.).—Seventy houses; east side.
Chitalwana (2 do.).—Town of three hundred houses; east side of river;
belonging to a Chauhan chief, styled Rana. Sanchor seven coss to the
south.
Ratra (2 coss).—East side of river; deserted.
Hotiganw (2 do.).—South side of river; temple to Phulmukheswar Mahadeo.
Dhuta (2 do.) ┌ North side. On the west side the _thal_ is very
Tapi (2 do.) └ heavy; east side is plain; both sides well 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 hundred 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
_thal_ 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
Bungara (3 do.) │ sand-hills. This tract is called Thalecha,
Solankitala (4 do.) ┤ and the Rathors who inhabit it, Thalecha
Pongali (5 do.) │ Rathors. There are many of the Jat or
│ Jāt 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 _thal_ or hills.
Udhania (6 coss).—Fifty houses; a pool the south side.
Lahti (7 do.).—Three hundred houses; Paliwal Brahmans.
Sodhakur (2 do.) ┌ Sodhakur has thirty houses and Chandan fifty;
Channda (4 do.) ┤ Paliwals. Dry _thal_ at the latter; water
└ obtained by digging in its bed.
Bhojka (3 do.).—One coss to the left is the direct road to Basanki,
seven coss from Chandan.
Basanki-talao (5 do.).—One hundred houses; Paliwals.
Moklet (1½ 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 _thal_ 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 Khan-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.) │ _thal_, or sand-hills commence, and continue
Girajsar (8 do.) │ moderate to Bikampur.
Narai (4 do.) ┘
Bikampur (9 do.) ┌ Bikampur to Mohangarh, _thal_ or desert all
Mohangarh (16 do.) │ the way, having considerable sand-hills
└ and jungle.
Nachna (16 do.).—_thal_, or sand-hills throughout this space.
Narai (9 do.).—A Brahman village.
Nohar-ki-Garhi (24 do.).—Deep _thal_ or desert; the frontier garrison of
Sind; the garhi, or castle, held by Haji Khan.
Murid Kot (24 coss).—_thal_, 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 220½ miles, the coss being about a mile and
a half each; 200 English miles of horizontal distance to be
protracted [345].
-----
Footnote 8.2.1:
From _par_, ‘beyond,’ and _kar_ or _khar_, synonymous with _Luni_, the
‘salt-river.’ We have several Khari Nadis, or salt-rivulets, in
Rajputana, 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 Pārkar is impossible, and _Khārā_,
‘saline,’ has no connexion with _Kālā_, ‘black.’]
Footnote 8.2.2:
[An account of the travels of Withington or Whithington is given in
_Purchas 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.]
Footnote 8.2.3:
[Briggs’ trans. i. 69, but compare Elliot-Dowson iv. 180.]
Footnote 8.2.4:
[See Vol. II. p. 807.]
Footnote 8.2.5:
[Dharanīdhar, the Kūrma or tortoise, ‘supporter of the earth,’ the
second incarnation of Vishnu. At Dhema in Tharād a fair is held in
honour of Dharanīdharji (_BG_, v. 300, 342).]
Footnote 8.2.6:
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, I imagine. [Sūigām is on the E. shore of the Rann,
and the Lūni does not pass by it or by Virawāh.]
Footnote 8.2.7:
_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.’
Footnote 8.2.8:
[Pital is another name for the Kalbi farming caste, Kalbi being
apparently the local form of the name Kanbi or Kunbi (_Census Report,
Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 343). The caste does not appear in the 1911 Census
Report of Rājputāna.]
Footnote 8.2.9:
[Arabic _zunnār_, probably Greek ζωνάριον The Hindi _janeo_ is Skt.
_yajnopavīta_, the investiture of youths with the sacred thread, and
later the thread itself.]
Footnote 8.2.10:
[For a full account of the Kolis see _BG_, ix. Part i. 237 ff.]
Footnote 8.2.11:
[Iguanas (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 379 f.)]
Footnote 8.2.12:
[That is to say, from Bahāwalpur on the N. to Baliāri on the N. shore
of the Rann of Cutch, a distance, as the crow flies, of some 380
miles.]
Footnote 8.2.13:
[The original is condensed. “The lands of the Rāthor, 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 drawn, those who set the
animals to work beat a drum as a warning that the pot is at the mouth
of the well, and they are about to draw water” (Manucci ii. 432).]
Footnote 8.2.14:
[About 15 miles N. of Umarkot. See Elliot-Dowson i. 532.]
Footnote 8.2.15:
[The name Dhāt has disappeared from modern maps, and is not to be
found in the _IGI_.]
Footnote 8.2.16:
See table of tribes, and sketch of the Pramaras, Vol. I. pp. 98
and 107.
Footnote 8.2.17:
_Ferishta_ [iv. 411], Abu-l Fazl [_Āīn_, ii. 337, 340 ff.].
Footnote 8.2.18:
[A better version runs:
“_Pirthī barā Panwār, Pirthi Panwārān tāni;
Ek Ujjaini Dhār, dūjē Ābū baithno._”
“The Panwār the greatest on earth, and the world belongs to the
Panwārs. Their early seats were Ujjain, Dhār, and Mount Ābū” (_Census
Report, Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 29).]
Footnote 8.2.19:
[St. Martin fixes the capital of the Sogdoi at Alor or Aror, but
Cunningham would place it higher up stream, about midway between Alor
and Uchh, at the village of Sirwahi (McCrindle, _Alexander_, 354).]
Footnote 8.2.20:
To convince the reader I do not build upon nominal resemblance, when
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 Pramar, would afford a more ready solution.
[This is doubtful (Smith, _EHI_, 40 note).]
Footnote 8.2.21:
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 Rae-sa of Abulfazil, means ‘Prince Sa’ or ‘Prince of the
Sodas.’ Of the same family was Dahir, whose capital, in A.H. 99, was
(says Abu-l 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 probability Dahir held both. We have already
dilated, in the Annals of Mewar, on a foreign prince named “Dahir
Despati,” or the sovereign prince, Dahir, being amongst her defenders,
on the first Mooslem invasion, which we conjectured must have been
that of Mahomed Kasim, after he had subdued Sinde. Bappa, the lord of
Cheetore, was nephew of Raja Maun Mori, shewing a double motive in the
exiled son of Dahir to support Cheetore against his own enemy Kasim.
The Moris and Sodas were alike branches of the Pramar (see Vol. I. p.
111). It is also worth while to draw attention to the remark
elsewhere made (p. 286) on the stir made by Hejauje of Khorasan (who
sent Kasim to Sinde) amongst the Hindu princes of Zabulist’han:
dislocated facts, all demonstrating one of great importance, namely,
the wide dominion 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 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 Elliot-Dowson i. 120 ff.]
Footnote 8.2.22:
Of the latter stock he gives us a list of seventeen princes. Gladwin’s
translation of _Ayeen Akberi_, vol. ii. p. 122. [This has been
replaced by that of Jarrett, _Āīn_, ii. 343 ff.]
Footnote 8.2.23:
See Briggs’ _Ferishta_, vol. iv. pp. 411 and 422.
Footnote 8.2.24:
[For Minnagara see Vol. I. p. 255.]
Footnote 8.2.25:
The four races called Agnikula (of which the Pramar was the most
numerous), at every 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 Sumras, were
Pramars (vulg. _Puar_); while the Sammas were Yadus, for whose origin
see Annals of Jaisalmer, p. #1185# above.
Footnote 8.2.26:
[This is very doubtful. See Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 447.]
Footnote 8.2.27:
[Sora is supposed to represent the Chola Kingdom in S. India
(McCrindle, _Ptolemy_, 64 f.).]
Footnote 8.2.28:
Of these, the author was so fortunate as to obtain one of Menander and
three of Apollodotus, whose existence had heretofore been questioned:
the first of the latter from the wreck of Suryapura, the capital of
the Surasenakas 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 company
with a whole jar of Hindu-Scythic and Bactrian 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
_Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 313.
[Aggrames, King of the Gangaridae and Prasii, also known as Xandrames,
probably the Hindu Chandra, belonged to the Nanda dynasty (Smith,
_EHI_, 40; McCrindle, _Ancient India in Classical Literature_, 43).]
Footnote 8.2.29:
Captain, now Colonel, Pottinger, in his interesting work on Sind and
Baluchistan, in extracting from the Persian work Mu’jamu-l Waridat,
calls the ancient capital of Sind, Ulaor, and mentions the overthrow
of the dynasty of ‘Sahir’ (the Siharas of Abu-l Fazl), whose ancestors
had governed Sind for two thousand years.
Footnote 8.2.30:
[The present population is 4924.]
Footnote 8.2.31:
[In Shikārpur, Sind, near the frontier of Bahāwalpur.]
Footnote 8.2.32:
[By another story, Abdu-n-nabi Khān, brother of Ghulām Nabi Khān,
prince of Sind, assassinated his too successful general, Mīr Bijar, in
A.D. 1781 (_IGI_, xxii. 399).]
Footnote 8.2.33:
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 he 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 may 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 Bamanwasa. The rupture with Sind in 1820 gave me
great expectations of accomplishing 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, I have little doubt, would
have come over to our views.
Footnote 8.2.34:
[The chief connexion of the Sodhas with Cutch is through the marriage
of their daughters with leading Jāreja and Musalmān 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).]
Footnote 8.2.35:
See sketch of the tribes, Vol. I. p. 98.
Footnote 8.2.36:
_Nayyad_ is the noviciate, literally new (_naya_), or original
converts, I suppose. [In other parts of India they are known as
Naumuslim.]
Footnote 8.2.37:
_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. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, “Taboo and Perils of
the Soul,” 318 ff.]
Footnote 8.2.38:
[The name cannot be traced in recent Census Reports.]
Footnote 8.2.39:
[_Salvadora oleoides_ or _persica_ (Watt, _Econ. Dict._ vi. Part ii.
447 ff.).]
Footnote 8.2.40:
[In Cutch they claim to be Rāthors from Multān, and are said to have
been driven by the Muhammadans from the Panjāb into Cutch. In Gujarāt
they are Vaishnavas, and are particular about their food and drink,
but in Sind they are more lax (_BG_, v. 54 ff., ix. Part i. 122;
Burton, _Sindh_, 314).]
Footnote 8.2.41:
[They are numerous in S.W. Panjāb, where Rose (_Glossary_, ii. 16 ff.)
gives a full account of them.]
Footnote 8.2.42:
[On their connexion with the Bhatti Rājputs see Crooke, _Tribes and
Castes N.W.P. and Oudh_, ii. 37; Russell, _Tribes and Castes Central
Provinces_, i. 380; _BG_, v. 37 f.]
Footnote 8.2.43:
[About 45 miles S. of Umarkot.]
Footnote 8.2.44:
[These desert Brāhmans, whose laxity of custom is notorious, have no
connexion with other orthodox Brāhmans, and are probably priests or
medicine-men who now claim that rank.]
Footnote 8.2.45:
[_Census Report, Bombay_, 1911, i. 298.]
Footnote 8.2.46:
Abu-l Fazl, in describing the province of Bajaur, inhabited by the
Yusufzais, says: “The whole of the tract [Swāt] of hill and plain is
the domain of the Yūsufzai clan. In the time of Mīrza Ulugh Beg of
Kābul, they migrated from Kābul to this territory and wrested it from
the Sultāns who affected to be descendants of Alexander Bicornutus”
_(Āīn_, ii. 392 f.). Mr. Elphinstone inquired in vain for this
offspring of Alexander the Great.
Footnote 8.2.47:
[These derivations are impossible; the name is possibly connected with
that of the Savara tribe.]
Footnote 8.2.48:
[Nawakot and Mitti in the interior of Thar-Pārkar; Baliāri on the
shore of the Great Rann.]
Footnote 8.2.49:
[The Rājar are recorded as a section of the Saman, an aboriginal tribe
in Sind (_Census Report, Bombay_, 1911, i. 233).]
Footnote 8.2.50:
[See Elliot-Dowson i. 489.]
Footnote 8.2.51:
[The true reading is Nohmardi (_Āīn_, ii. 337).]
Footnote 8.2.52:
[Cf. Hindi _lokri_ or _lokhri_.]
Footnote 8.2.53:
[Max Müller derived Baloch from Skt. _mlechchha_, ‘a barbarian,’ but
this is doubtful.]
Footnote 8.2.54:
[Zott is the Arabic form of Jat or Jāt (Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_, ii.
79).]
Footnote 8.2.55:
[The ascription of Bhatti origin to the Mers is obviously intended to
correspond with the assertion that they are a branch of the Mīna or
Maina tribe (Elliot-Dowson i. 523 f.).]
Footnote 8.2.56:
[In the Panjāb Mor is the name of a Jāt 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
Sārangpur on the Kāli Sind River (_ASR_, ii. 228).]
Footnote 8.2.57:
[_Account of the Kingdom of Caubul_, 2nd ed. (1842) i. 22 ff. For a
full account of the Abbāsi Dāūdputras of Bahāwalpur see the _State
Gazetteer_ by Malik Muhammad Din (1908), i. 47 ff..]
Footnote 8.2.58:
[The succession runs: Bahāwal Khān II. (A.D. 1772-1809); Sādik
Muhammad Khān (1809-25); Muhammad Bahāwal Khān III. (1825-52); Sādik
Muhammad Khān II. (1853-58); Muhammad Bahāwal Khān IV. (1858-66);
Sādik Muhammad Khān III., a minor, installed in 1879.]
Footnote 8.2.59:
This memorandum was written, I think, in 1811 or 1812.
Footnote 8.2.60:
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-joint, and being broken
in the attempt to extricate it, was attended by all the evil results I
have described, ending in lameness, and generally impaired health,
which obliged him to visit the Cape for recovery, where I saw him on
my way home eighteen months after, but he had even then not altogether
recovered from the lameness. [Guinea-worm (Dracontiasis), a disease
due to the _Filaria medinensis_ or _Dracunculus_, known in Persia as
rīshtah, infests the Persian Gulf and many parts of India. See Curzon,
_Persia_, ii. 234; Fryer, _New Account of East India and Persia_, ed.
1912, i. 175; Sleeman, _Rambles_, 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).]
Footnote 8.2.61:
[Since this was written Rājputāna has suffered from terrible famines
in 1868-69, 1877-78, 1891-92, and 1899-1900, besides several seasons
of scarcity.]
Footnote 8.2.62:
[These camel corps have been placed at the service of the Indian
Government, and have done excellent service in several recent
campaigns.]
Footnote 8.2.63:
[The wild ass (_Equus hemionus_) seems to have almost entirely
disappeared in Jaisalmer. It is seldom seen in Mārwār, and no specimen
has appeared in Bīkaner 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.]
Footnote 8.2.64:
[Nīlgāē, _Boselaphus tragocamelus_, is not a deer, but belongs to the
order Bovidae (Blanford, 517 ff.).]
Footnote 8.2.65:
[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. Dict._ vi. Part ii. 449; Burnes, _Travels into Bokhara_, iii.
122).]
Footnote 8.2.66:
_Chittram_, the name applied to these flats of hard soil (which Mr.
Elphinstone 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 _chittram_. How far the soil, so deeply
impregnated with alkaline matter, may tend to heighten, if not to
cause this, we have elsewhere noted in a general account of this
optical phenomenon in various parts of northern India.
Footnote 8.2.67:
[Sarkanda, _Saccharum sara_ or _arundinaceum_; dhāman, _Pennisetum
cenchroides_; dūb, _Cynodon dactylon_; gokhru, _Tribulus
lancigenosus_; bharūt, _Cenchrus catharticus_.]
Footnote 8.2.68:
[The tomato, introduced in modern times into India, generally called
_wilāyati baingan_, ‘the foreign egg-plant.’]
Footnote 8.2.69:
[Many of the places named in this Itinerary are merely temporary
halting-places in the desert, which do not appear in modern maps.
Hence, in several cases, the transliteration is conjectural, and
depends on the method of the Author in the case of well-known
localities. 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.]
Footnote 8.2.70:
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 3 ┐ [8.2.70.A]
Padshah-ki-basti 6 Nala 0-½ │ This
Udani 5 Makrand 4 │ appears
Mitrao 10 Koka-ki-basti 6 │ very
Mir-ki-khoi 6 The Sind 10 │ circuitous.
Supari 5 Sehwan 0-½ ┘
Kambhar-ka-nala 9
Footnote 8.2.70.A:
Town high road from Upper to Lower Sind.
Footnote 8.2.71:
Sehwan is erected on an elevation within a few hundred yards of the
river, having many clumps 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 Vikramaditya.
Although centuries have flown since the Hindus had any power in these
regions, their traditions have remained. They relate that Vikrama, 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 presented to Bhartrihari 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 common prostitute, his
mistress; who expecting to be highly 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 wife, Rani Pingula, to whose charms he in like manner
became enslaved; but experience had taught him suspicion. Having one
day gone a-hunting, his huntsman shot a deer, whose doe coming to the
spot, for a short time 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 reeds, 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
with Pingulani on these extraordinary Satis, especially the Shikari’s,
which he called unparalleled. 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 dipped his clothes in the blood, and sent them by a
confidential messenger to report his death in combat with a tiger.
Pingulani heard the details; she wept not, neither did she speak, but
prostrating herself before the sun, ceased to exist. The pyre was
raised, and her remains 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 Ujjain to
Vikrama. The only word which he uttered, as he wandered to and fro,
was the name of his faithful Pingulani! “Hae Pingula! 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 admitted 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 remains of a saint named Lal Pir
Shahbaz, to whom they attribute their victorious possession of
Sind.[8.2.71.A] 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 devotions in 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 vermiculated 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 Lal 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 bell. They also brought me some charred wheat, from pits where
it had been burned. The grains were entire and reduced to a pure
carbon. Tradition is again at work, and asserts its having lain 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,[8.2.71.B] 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
inhabited by Hindus and Islamites in equal proportions: of the former,
the mercantile tribe of Mahesri from Jaisalmer, is the most numerous,
and have been fixed here for generations. There are also many Brahmans
of the Pokharna[8.2.71.C] caste, Sunars 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 vicinage 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 off to the north-west. All these
hills are inhabited as far as the shrine of Hinglaj Mata[8.2.71.D] 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.[8.2.71.E]
Footnote 8.2.71.A:
[The reference is to Lāl Shāhbāz, Qalandar, head of the Jalāli order,
who died at Sehwān, A.D. 1274. For a full account see R. F. Burton,
_Sindh_, 211 f.]
Footnote 8.2.71.B:
[Mousikanos was the stiff-necked king of Alor or Aror who opposed
Alexander, was captured and executed (Smith, _EHI_, 100 f.; McCrindle,
_Alexander_, 395).]
Footnote 8.2.71.C:
See Annals of Jaisalmer, Vol. II. p. 1256.
Footnote 8.2.71.D:
This famous shrine of the Hindu Cybele, yet frequented by numerous
votaries, is nine days’ journey from Tatta by Karachi Bandar, and
about nine miles from the seashore.
Footnote 8.2.71.E:
These are the Nomurdies of Rennel. [See p. 1299 above.]
Footnote 8.2.72:
These springs are frequented, despite the difficulties and dangers of
the route from the savage Numri, by numerous Hindu 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 be 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.
Footnote 8.2.73:
This is the Sankra 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.
Footnote 8.2.74:
See Annals of Jaisalmer for an account of the murder of this
chieftain, Vol. II. p. 1233.
Footnote 8.2.75:
Shaikh Abu-l-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 _thal_, to which the shepherds drive
their flocks.
Footnote 8.2.76:
[_IGI_, xv. 215 f.]
Footnote 8.2.77:
Considerable town on the high road from Upper to Lower Sind. See
subsequent route.
-----
BOOK IX
ANNALS OF AMBER,[9.1.1] OR DHŪNDHĀR
CHAPTER 1
By some conventional process, Europeans in India have adopted the habit
of designating the principalities 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
Haravati, 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 Dhūndhār.=—Like all the other Rajput States, the country
of the Kachhwahas is an assemblage of communities, 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 earliest acquisitions, had scarcely a title to
impose its name upon the aggregate. The etymology of Dhundhar is from a
once celebrated sacrificial mount (_thal_) on the western frontier, near
Kalakh Jobner.[9.1.2]
=The Kachhwāha Tribe.=—The Kachhwaha or Kachhwa race claims descent from
Kusa, the second son of Rama, King of Kosala, whose capital was Ayodhya,
the modern Oudh. Kusa, or some of his immediate offspring, is said to
have migrated from the parental abode, and erected the celebrated castle
of Rohtas, or Rohitas,[9.1.3] on the Son, whence, in the lapse of
several generations, 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.[9.1.4] Some of the traditional
chronicles record intermediate places of domicile prior to the erection
of this famed city: first, the town of Lahar, in the heart of a tract
yet named Kachhwahagar, or region (_thal_) of the Kachhwahas;[9.1.5] 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 distinguishing
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 this descent, the Kachhwahas of India
celebrate with great solemnity ‘the annual feast of the sun,’ on which
occasion a stately car, called the chariot of the sun (_thal_), drawn by
eight horses, is brought from the temple, and the descendant of Rama,
ascending therein, perambulates his capital.
=Origin of Jaipur State. Dhola Rāē.=—A case of simple usurpation
originated the Kachhwaha 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 inheritance. 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 Khoganw
(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.[9.1.6] 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 direction 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.[9.1.7] 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,[9.1.8] with the tribute of Khoganw, to attend instead 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,[9.1.9] or bard, as to the 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
accomplished 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 with his own hands, observing, “He who had
proved unfaithful to one master could not be trusted by another.” He
then took possession of Khoganw. Soon after he repaired to
Dausa,[9.1.10] 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?”[9.1.11] But being
convinced 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[9.1.12] 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.[9.1.13] Returning on one occasion with her from
visiting the shrine of Jamwahi Mata,[9.1.14] 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 posthumous child, who was
named Kankhal, and who conquered the country of Dhundhar. His son,
Maidal Rao, made a conquest of Amber from the Susawat Minas, the
residence of their chief, named Bhato, who had the title of Rao, and was
head of the Mina confederation. He also subdued the Nandla Minas, and
added the district of Gatur-Ghati to his territory.
=Hūndeo, Kuntal.=—Hundeo succeeded, and, like his predecessors,
continued the warfare against the Minas. He was succeeded by Kuntal,
whose sway extended over all the hill-tribes round 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.
=Pajūn.=—Kuntal was succeeded by Pajun, a name well known to the
chivalrous Rajput, and immortalized by Chand, in the poetic history
(_Raesa_) of the emperor Prithiraj. Before, however, we proceed further,
it may be convenient to give a sketch of the power and numbers of the
indigenous tribes at this period.
=The Mīna Tribe.=—We have already had frequent occasion to observe 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, pure, unmixed
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,[9.1.15] or, as the Minas style her, Ghata Rani, ‘Queen of the
pass.’ In this range were Khoganw, Machh, and many other large towns,
the chief cities of communities. But even so late as Raja Baharmall
Kachhwaha, the contemporary of Babur and Humayun, the Minas had retained
or regained great power, to the mortification of their Rajput superiors.
One of these independent communities 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:
_Bāwan kot, chhappan darvāja,
Mīna mard, Nāin kā rājā,
Vado rāj Nāin ko bhago,
Jab bhus-hī men vāmto māgo._
That is, 'There were fifty-two strongholds,[9.1.15] and fifty-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 Pajun, the vassal chieftain of
Prithiraj [350], to Baharmall, the contemporary 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 ‘unmixed
class,’ of which there is now but one, the _Usara_; while _Mina_ is that
applied to the mixed, of which they reckon _barah pal_,[9.1.16] or
twelve communities, descended from Rajput blood, as Chauhan, Tuar,
Jadon, Parihar, Kachhwaha, 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 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 hereafter, in a
separate chapter devoted to the Mina tribes, their religion, manners,
and customs.
=Death of Pajūn.=—Let us return to Pajun, the sixth in descent from the
exile of Narwar, who was deemed of sufficient consequence to obtain in
marriage the sister 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 conspicuous 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.[9.1.17] 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
his 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, Kehari, Pipa,
and Boho, with Narsingh and Kachra, supported him. Spears and daggers
are plied—heads roll on the plain—blood flows in streams. Pajun assailed
Itimad; but as his head rolled at his feet, he received the Khan’s lance
in his breast; the Kurma[9.1.18] 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.[9.1.19] When Pajun 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 Karna:[9.1.20] 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[9.1.21]
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
Sheshnag,[9.1.22] 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 childhood; 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.”
=Mālasi.=—This Malasi, in whose praise the bard of Prithiraj 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 of his sword. One of these mentions
his having gained a victory at Rutrahi over the prince of Mandu.[9.1.23]
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.
=Prithirāj.=—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 hereditary aristocracy now hold estates equal
in magnitude to the principality itself at that period. Previous,
however, to this perpetual settlement of Kachhwaha fiefs, and indeed
intermediately 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 grandson Shaikhji, and became the nucleus of an
extensive and singular confederation, known by the name of the founder,
Shaikhavati, 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 meritorious
pilgrimage to Dewal,[9.1.24] 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 pilgrimage.”[9.1.25] 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.
=Bahār or Bihāri 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.[9.1.26]
=Bhagwāndās, 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 Bhagwandas is execrated as the first who sullied Rajput purity
by matrimonial alliance with the Islamite.[9.1.27] His daughter espoused
Prince Salim, afterwards Jahangir, and the fruit of the marriage was the
unfortunate Khusru.[9.1.28]
=Mān Singh, c. A.D. 1592-1614.=—Man Singh, nephew[9.1.29] and successor
of Bhagwandas, was the most brilliant character of Akbar’s court. As the
emperor’s lieutenant, he was entrusted with the most arduous duties, and
added conquests to the empire from Khotan to the ocean. Orissa was
subjugated by him,[9.1.30] Assam humbled and made tributary, and Kabul
maintained in her allegiance. He held in succession the governments of
Bengal and Behar,[9.1.31] the [354] Deccan and Kabul. 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.[9.1.32]
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,[9.1.33] 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 was amerced by Jahangir in the
incredible sum of ten crores, or millions sterling. According to the
Muhammadan historian, Raja Man died in Bengal,[9.1.34] 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.[9.1.35]
=Bhāo 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.
=Mahā 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 succession was settled by the emperor and the
Rajputni in a conference at the balcony of the seraglio, where the
emperor saluted 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-naturedly laughed, and called out, “It matters not; I give you the
raj of Amber.”
=Jai Singh, Mīrza Rājā, 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 bestowed 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 unconquerable
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 Delhi 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 making 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.[9.1.36] 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.
=Rām Singh, Bishan Singh.=—Ram Singh, who succeeded, had the mansab of
four thousand conferred upon him, and was sent against the
Assamese.[9.1.37] Upon his death, Bishan Singh, whose mansab was further
reduced to the grade of three thousand, succeeded; but he enjoyed the
dignity only a short period [356].
-----
Footnote 9.1.1:
This account of the Amber or Jaipur State is nearly what I
communicated 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, which are more abundant than those
of any other court of India, I think it right not to suppress this
sketch, however imperfect.
Footnote 9.1.2:
The traditional history of the Chauhans asserts, that this mount was
the place of penance (_thal_) of their famed king Bisaldeo of Ajmer,
who, for his oppression of his subjects, was transformed into a
Rakshasa, or Demon, in which condition he continued the evil work of
his former existence, “devouring his subjects” (as literally
expressed), until a grandchild offered himself as a victim to appease
his insatiable appetite. The language of innocent affection made its
way to the heart of the Rakshasa, who recognized his offspring, and
winged 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 prove to be his sepulchre. [According to Cunningham (_ASR_, ii.
251) there is no mound of this kind at Jobner. He derives the name of
the territory from the river Dhūndhu—Dhūndhwār, or Dhūndhār, meaning
the land by the river Dhūndhu—the river having obtained its name from
the demon-king Dhūndhu (see _IGI_, xiii. 385).]
Footnote 9.1.3:
Were this celebrated abode searched for inscriptions, they might throw
light on the history of the descendants of Rama. [For Rohtāsgarh in
Shāhābād District, Bengal, see _IGI_, xxi. 322 f.]
Footnote 9.1.4:
Prefixed to a descriptive sketch of the city of Narwar (which I may
append), the year S. 351 is given for its foundation by Raja Nal, but
whether obtained from an inscription or historical legend, I know not.
It, however, corroborates in a remarkable manner the number of
descents from Nal to Dhola Rae, namely, thirty-three, which,
calculated according to the best data (see Vol. I. p. 64), at
twenty-two years to a reign, will make 726 years, which subtracted
from 1023, the era of Dhola Rae’s migration, leaves 297, a difference
of only fifty-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 trifling. [The story is legendary. The eighth in
descent from Vajradāman, the first historical chief of Gwalior, who
captured that fortress from Vijayapāla of Kanauj (_c._ A.D. 955-90)
was Tej Karan, otherwise known as Dulha Rāē, the Dhola Rāē of the
text, who left Gwalior about A.D. 1128 (Smith, _EHI_, 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 Rajputana. 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-l Fazl, and
has since been made known to the admirers of Sanskrit literature by
Professor Bopp of Berlin [_Āīn_, i. 106; Macdonell, _Hist. Sanskrit
Literature_, 296 ff.].
Footnote 9.1.5:
[Kachhwāhagār or Kachhwāhagarh, the former meaning the ‘water-soaked
land,’ the latter the ‘fort,’ of the Kachhwāhas, is a tract between
the Sind and Pahuj Rivers, ceded to the British by the Gwalior State
in payment of a British contingent (Elliot, _Supplementary Glossary_,
237, 283, note).]
Footnote 9.1.6:
[For the tale of a serpent identifying the heir see Vol. I. p.
342.]
Footnote 9.1.7:
[The hero in folk-tales often wins recognition by his skill in the
kitchen, as in the story of Shams-al-Dīn in the _Arabian Nights_; see
Tawney, _Kathāsarit-sāgara_, i. 567.]
Footnote 9.1.8:
The Tuar tribe were then supreme lords of India.
Footnote 9.1.9:
Dhārhi, Dholi, Dom, Jāga are all terms for the bards or minstrels of
the Mina tribes.
Footnote 9.1.10:
See Map for Dausa (written Daunsa), on the Banganga River, about
thirty miles east of Jaipur.
Footnote 9.1.11:
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 ascertain
whether Dhola’s genealogist went on good grounds. It was in S. 351
that Raja Nal erected Narwar, 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.]
Footnote 9.1.12:
[See Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 103.]
Footnote 9.1.13:
[The tale of the love of Dulha or Dhola Rāē for Mārwan, the Maroni of
the text, daughter of Rāja Pingal of Pingalgarh in Sinhaladwīpa, or
Ceylon, as sung by the Panjab bards, is told in Temple, _Legends of
the Panjāb_, ii. 276 ff., iii. 97.]
Footnote 9.1.14:
[The family deity of the Kachhwāha tribe, whose shrine is in the gorge
of the river Bānganga, in Jaipur State (_Census Report, Mārwār_, 1891,
ii. 28; _Rajputana Gazetteer_, 1880, iii. 212).]
Footnote 9.1.15:
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, built 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_, _dūbo_, ‘annihilated’; in the
fourth for _vāmto_, he gives _muttha_, ‘a handful.’]
Footnote 9.1.16:
Pal is the term for a community of any of the aboriginal mountain
races; its import is a ‘defile,’ or ‘valley,’ fitted for cultivation
and defence. It is probable that Poligar may be a corruption of
Paligar, or the region (_gar_) of these _Pals_. Palita, Bhilita,
Philita 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 Phyllītai or ‘leaf-clad’ applied to some aboriginal tribes by
Ptolemy (vii. 1. 66) (McCrindle, _Ptolemy_, 159 f.).]
Footnote 9.1.17:
[This is probably a fiction of the bards, based on the defeat of
Shihābu-d-dīn by Bhīmdeo of Nahrwāla in A.D. 1178 (Elliot-Dowson ii.
294; Ferishta i. 170).]
Footnote 9.1.18:
_Kurma_, or _Kachhua_, are synonymous terms, and indiscriminately
applied to the Rajputs of Ajmer; meaning ‘tortoise.’
Footnote 9.1.19:
The chaplet of the god of war is of skulls; his drinking-cup a
semi-cranium.
Footnote 9.1.20:
[The hero of the Mahābhārata.]
Footnote 9.1.21:
[Ganga, the Ganges; Dikpāls, regents of the four quarters of the
heavens.]
Footnote 9.1.22:
[The serpent which supports the world.]
Footnote 9.1.23:
I give this chiefly for the concluding couplet, to see how the Rajputs
applied the word _Khotan_ to the lands beyond Kabul, where the great
Raja Man commanded as Akbar’s lieutenant:
“_Pālan, Pajūn jītē,
Mahoba, Kanauj larē,
Māndu Mālasi jītē,
Rār Rutrāhi kā;
Rāj Bhagwāndās jītē,
Mavāsī lar.
Rājā Mān Singh jītē,_
KHOTAN _phauj dabāī_.”
“Palan and Pajun were victorious;
Fought at Mahoba and Kanauj;
Malasi conquered Mandu;
In the battle of Rutrahi,
Raja Bhagwandas vanquished.
In the Mawasi (fastnesses, probably, of Mewat),
Raja Man Singh was victorious;
Subjugating the army of KHOTAN.”
Footnote 9.1.24:
‘_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.]
Footnote 9.1.25:
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 dying without issue, an intrigue was set on foot, and a son of the
ex-prince of Narwar was placed on the _gaddi_ of Amber.
Footnote 9.1.26:
[This is the first mention of the grading of Mansabdārs (Smith,
_Akbar, the Great Moghul_, 362). For Rāja Bihārimall and his son
Bhagwāndās, see _Āīn_, i. 328, 333; _Akbarnāma_, trans. Beveridge ii.
244.]
Footnote 9.1.27:
[Akbar had married the daughter of Bahārmall.]
Footnote 9.1.28:
It is pleasing to find almost all these outlines of Rajput history
confirmed by Muhammadan writers. It was in A.H. 993 (A.D. 1586) that
this marriage took place. Three generations of Kachhwahas, namely,
Bhagwandas, his adopted son Raja Man, and 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 commanded under a prince of the blood against Kashmir, Man
Singh overcame an insurrection of the Afghans at Khaibar; and his son
was made viceroy of Kabul.—See Briggs’ _Ferishta_, vol. ii. p. 258 _et
seq._
Footnote 9.1.29:
Bhagwandas had three brothers, Surat Singh, Madho Singh, and Jagat
Singh; Man Singh was son of the last.
Footnote 9.1.30:
Ferishta confirms this, saying he sent one hundred and twenty
elephants to the king on this occasion.—Briggs’ _Ferishta_, vol. ii.
p. 268.
Footnote 9.1.31:
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. See Briggs’
_Ferishta_, vol. ii. p. 261. Col. Briggs has allowed the similarity of
the names _Khusru_ and _Khurram_ 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 Shah
Jahan.
Footnote 9.1.32:
_Annals of Rajasthan_, Vol. I. p. 408.
Footnote 9.1.33:
He was afterwards assassinated by order of Shah Jahan [“under the
walls of Azere” (Asīrgarh)]. See Dow’s _Ferishta_, ed. 1812, vol. iii.
p. 56. [Elphinstone (p. 563) calls his death suspicious, but refuses
to believe that Shāh Jahān procured his death. He died from colic in
the Deccan on January 16, 1622.]
Footnote 9.1.34:
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 pyre (_Āīn_, i. 341; _Memoirs of Jahāngīr_,
trans. Rogers-Beveridge 266).]
Footnote 9.1.35:
An account of the life of Raja Man would fill a volume; there are
ample materials at Jaipur.
Footnote 9.1.36:
[Jai Singh died, aged about sixty, at Burhānpur, July 12, 1667
(Manucci ii. 152).]
Footnote 9.1.37:
[According to Manucci (ii. 153), Rām Singh, as a piece of revenge for
the flight of Sivaji, was sent to Assam in the hope that, like Mīr
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 Rām Singh 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 ff.).]
-----
CHAPTER 2
=Sawāi 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 ‘Mirza Raja,’ succeeded in S. 1755 (A.D.
1699),[9.2.1] 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 crumbling
into dust, his reputation as a soldier would never have handed down his
name 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 Machiavelli
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,[9.2.2] 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.[9.2.3] 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 theory,
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 invention 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.[9.2.4] He had previously used such
instruments as those of Ulugh Beg (the royal astronomer of Samarkand),
which failed to answer his expectations.[9.2.5] From the observations of
seven years at the various observatories, he constructed 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 skilful persons along with him”[9.2.6] 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.[9.2.7]
“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_[9.2.8] 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.D. 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 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:[9.2.9]
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 beneficence of his
power, Hipparchus is an ignorant clown, who wrings 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 Singh, from the
first dawning of reason in his mind, and during its progress towards
maturity, was entirely devoted to the study [359] of mathematical
science, and the bent of his mind was constantly directed to the
solution of its most difficult problems; by the aid of the Supreme
Artificer, he obtained a thorough knowledge of its principles and
rules,” etc.[9.2.10]
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 consider 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 Mahrattas, 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
downfall 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 fidelity,
and would have stood by him to the last, if he had possessed a particle
of the valour which belonged to the descendants of Timur.[9.2.11]
Enough has been said of his public life, in that portion of the Annals
of Mewar 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 monuments which
irradiate this dark epoch of the history of India.[9.2.12] Nor was he
blind to the interests of his nation or the honour of Amber, and his
important office was made subservient to obtaining 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 Mahratta 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, who by his influence was appointed Subahdar of
Malwa; 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 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, wisely 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 deeds 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.[9.2.13] When [361] he
had attained man’s estate, he was sent to court, and by bribes, chiefly
of jewels presented by his mother, he obtained the patronage of
Kamaru-d-din Khan, the wazir.[9.2.14] At first his ambition was limited
to the demand of Baswa,[9.2.15] 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 badal
bhai_, Khandauran Khan,[9.2.16] informed Kirparam, the Jaipur envoy at
court, of what was going on. The intelligence produced 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 was useless, and which must be decided by
stratagem[9.2.17] alone; and that the conspiracy could be defeated only
through the conspirator.” At the Nazir’s recommendation he convened his
principal chiefs, Mohan Singh, chief of the Nathawats;[9.2.18] 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. He 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 (council) 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 sitaram,[9.2.19] 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; nevertheless 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
pitched his tents. As Jai Singh was quitting the darbar to give his
brother the meeting, the Nazir entered with a message from the
queen-mother, to know “why her eyes should not be blessed with
witnessing the meeting and reconciliation of the two Laljis.”[9.2.20]
The Raja referred the request to the chiefs, who said there could be no
objection.
The Nazir prepared the _mahadol_,[9.2.21] 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, rejoicing 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 the conclave of his chiefs; who
on seeing him enter alone, attended by some of the ‘men at arms,’ stared
at each other, and asked “What had become of Bijai Singh?”—“_Hamare pet
men_,” 'in my belly'! 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.” Hearing 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.[9.2.22]
Whatever opinion the moralist may attach to this specimen of 'the
hundred and nine _gun_' of the royal astronomer of Amber, which might
rather be styled _guna_[9.2.23] (vice) than _gun_ (virtue), no one will
deny that it was done in a most masterly manner, and where _chal_ 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 not 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 Pajun, the
contemporary of the last Rajput emperor of Delhi. Nor was it till [364]
the troubles which ensued on the demise of Aurangzeb, when the empire
was eventually partitioned, that Amber was entitled to the name of a
_raj_. During 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,[9.2.24] 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 Shaikhavati confederation was superior
to, and independent of, the parent State, whose boundaries were as
follows. The royal thana (garrison) of Chatsu,[9.2.25] 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 Kachhwahas.
=Rajor.=—Rajor was a city of great antiquity, the capital of a petty
State called Deoti,[9.2.26] 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 repugnance to matrimonial alliance
with the Muhammadans; and while the Kachhwahas 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
_sakha_ in defence of his honour. While, therefore, Sawai Jai Singh
ruled as a viceroy over kingdoms, the Bargujar was serving with his
contingent with the Baisi,[9.2.27] and at the period in question, in
Anupshahr, on the Ganges. When absent on duty, the safety of Rajor
depended on his younger brother. One day, while preparing for the chase
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 recollected 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 gradually 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_;[9.2.28] 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;[9.2.29] 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,[9.2.30] and the castles of
Deoti and Rajor were prepared for the storm.
On the third day after the occurrence, Jai Singh, in a full meeting of
his chiefs, related the circumstance, and held out the _bira_[9.2.31]
against Deoti; but Mohan Singh of Chaumun[9.2.32] warned his prince of
the risk of such an attempt, as the Bargujar chief 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 Rajor to celebrate the festival of
Ganggor,[9.2.33] he moved towards him, sending on some messengers with
“the compliments of Fateh Singh Banbirpota, and that he was at hand.”
The young Bargujar who, little expecting [366] any hostile visitation,
was indulging during this festive season, put the heralds to death, and
with his companions, completely taken by surprise, was in turn cut to
pieces by the Jaipur troops. The Rani of Rajor was the sister of the
Kachhwaha chief of Chaumun: she was about giving 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, exclaiming, “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 suspending them from their saddle-horses, the victors
returned to their prince, who sent for that of his intended assassin,
the young 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), did Jai Singh dispossess the Bargujar of Deoti and Rajor,
which were added to his dominions: they embraced all the tract now
called Macheri.”[9.2.34]
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.[9.2.35]
In spite of his many defects, Jai Singh’s name is destined to descend to
posterity as one of the most remarkable men of his age and nation.
=Erection of 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[9.2.36] 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.D. 1728) that he laid the foundation of Jaipur. Raja Mall
was the Musahib,[9.2.37] Kirparam the stationary wakil at Delhi, and
Budh Singh Khumbani, 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 endeavoured to
establish throughout Rajputana for the regulation 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.[9.2.38] Like all
Hindus, he was tolerant; and a Brahman, a Muhammadan, or a Jain, were
alike certain of patronage. The Jains enjoyed his peculiar estimation,
from the superiority 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.[9.2.39]
=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 research 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
unmolested 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_ (life and throne), the
Hara [368] would have seized him, had he fancied the pastures of the
Chambal.[9.2.40] He erected a sacrificial hall of much beauty and
splendour, whose columns and ceilings 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, however, 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 research and that of his
predecessors, 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
pyre, on which science expired with him.
-----
Footnote 9.2.1:
[The dates of the Rājas of Jaipur are uncertain. Those in the margin
are given on the authority of Beale, _Oriental Biographical Dict._
193.]
Footnote 9.2.2:
For such a sketch, the materials of the Amber court are 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. His 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.
Footnote 9.2.3:
[For a graphic account of Jaipur city see Rudyard Kipling, _From Sea
to Sea_, chap. ii.]
Footnote 9.2.4:
[For these observatories see A. ff. Garrett and Pandit Chandradha
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; _IGI_, xviii. 73, xxiv. 113).]
Footnote 9.2.5:
[Ulugh Beg, son of Shāh Rukh and grandson of Amīr Timūr, succeeded his
father A.D. 1447, and was put to death by his son, Mīrza Abdul Latīf,
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.).]
Footnote 9.2.6:
It would be worth ascertaining whether the archives of Lisbon refer to
this circumstance.
Footnote 9.2.7:
Second edition, published in A.D. 1702. Jai Singh finished his in A.D.
1728.
Footnote 9.2.8:
Jai Singh always speaks of himself in the third person.
Footnote 9.2.9:
[Young, _Night Thoughts_, ix. 771.]
Footnote 9.2.10:
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
equinoctial dial constructed on the terrace of the palace of Udaipur,
and various instruments at Kotah and Bundi, especially an armillary
sphere, at the former, of about five feet diameter, all 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 office 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 astronomical 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.
Footnote 9.2.11:
J. Scott, in his excellent history of the successors of Aurangzeb [ed.
1794, ii. 156 ff.], gives a full account of this tragical event, on
which I have already touched in Vol. I. p. 474 of this work;
where I have given a literal translation of the autograph letter of
Raja Jai Singh on the occasion.
Footnote 9.2.12:
The Raja says he finished his tables in A.D. 1728, and that he had
occupied 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.
Footnote 9.2.13:
[In Mālwa (_IGI_, xxi. 34).]
Footnote 9.2.14:
[Kamaru-d-dīn, Mīr Muhammad Fāzil, son of Itmādu-d-daula, Muhammad
Amīn Khān Wazīr, was appointed to that office A.D. 1724: killed at
Sarhind, March 11, 1728.]
Footnote 9.2.15:
[Forty-five miles N.N.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.2.16:
[‘Brother by exchange of turbans.’ Khāndaurān Khān, Abdu-l-Samad Khān,
governor of Lahore and Multān, died A.D. 1739.]
Footnote 9.2.17:
The Nazir is here harping on three of the four predicaments which
(borrowed originally from Manu [_Laws_, viii. 159, 165, 168], and
repeated by the great Rajput oracle, the bard Chand) govern all human
events, _sham_, _dan_, _bhed_, _dand_, ‘arguments, gifts, stratagem,
force.’
Footnote 9.2.18:
He is the hereditary premier noble of this house (as is Salumbar of
Mewar, and the Awa chief of Marwar), and is familiarly called the
‘Patel of Amber.’ His residence is Chaumun, which is the place of
rendezvous of the feudality of Amber, whenever they league against the
sovereign.
Footnote 9.2.19:
[An appeal to the deities Rāma and his wife Sīta.]
Footnote 9.2.20:
_Lalji_ is an epithet of endearment used by all classes of Hindus
towards their children, from the Sanskrit _lal_, _lad_, ‘to sport.’
Footnote 9.2.21:
[A state litter, generally used by ladies of the Court.]
Footnote 9.2.22:
I have made a _verbatim_ translation of this _gun_.
Footnote 9.2.23:
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 (Monier-Williams, _Sanskrit
Dict._ s.v.; _Brāhmanism and Hinduism_, 4th ed. 30).]
Footnote 9.2.24:
[Both now in Mācheri of the Alwar State.]
Footnote 9.2.25:
[Thirty miles E. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.2.26:
[Now in Mācheri, Alwar State.]
Footnote 9.2.27:
[‘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.]
Footnote 9.2.28:
A litter, literally 'seat (_asan_) of ease (_sukh_).'
Footnote 9.2.29:
[_Bhābhi_, ‘sister-in-law.’]
Footnote 9.2.30:
The descendants of this chieftain still occupy lands at Anupshahr.
Footnote 9.2.31:
[The betel leaf eaten before battle.]
Footnote 9.2.32:
[About 20 miles N. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.2.33:
[See Vol. II. p. 665.]
Footnote 9.2.34:
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.
Footnote 9.2.35:
Annals of Mārwār, Vol. II. p. 1048.
Footnote 9.2.36:
The manuscript says, “On the spot where the first Jai Singh erected
the three mahalls, and excavated the tank called the Talkatora, he
erected other edifices.” As Hindu princes never throw down the works
of their predecessors, this means that he added greatly to the old
palace.
Footnote 9.2.37:
[Aide-de-camp.]
Footnote 9.2.38:
By such researches we should in all probability recover those sketches
of ancient history of the various dynasties 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 astronomical works, either original or
translations, such as were collected by Jai Singh, would be a real
gift to science.
Footnote 9.2.39:
He ruled from S. 1150 to S. 1201, A.D. 1094-1143. [Hemāchārya, or
Hemachandra, was a famous scholar who flourished in the reigns of
Siddharāja Jayasingha and Kumārapāla. He is said to have been
converted to Islām (_BG_, i. Part i. 180 f., 182 f., ix. Part ii. 26,
note.)]
Footnote 9.2.40:
See Vol. I. p. 91, for a description of the rite of _Asvamedha_.
-----
CHAPTER 3
=The Rājput 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
neighbourhood 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].
=Īsari Singh, A.D. 1743-60.=—Isari Singh succeeded to a well-defined
territory, 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 unfortunate
Isari Singh, who was not calculated for the times, being totally
deficient in that nervous energy of character, without which a Rajput
prince can enforce no respect. His conduct on the Abdali invasion
admitted the construction of cowardice, though 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 princess, 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 Malpura.[9.3.1] The Rana also, who supported his nephew’s
claims, assigned to him the rich fief of Rampura Bhanpura in
Mewar,[9.3.2] which as well as Tonk Rampura, constituting a petty
sovereignty, were, with eighty-four lakhs (£840,000 sterling),
eventually made over to Holkar for supporting 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 thraldom still more degrading, from
which a chance of redemption is now offered to them.
=Mādho Singh, A.D. 1760-78.=—Madho Singh, on his accession, displayed
great vigour of mind, and though faithful to his engagements, he soon
showed the Mahrattas he would admit of no protracted interference in his
affairs; and had not the rising power of the Jats distracted his
attention and divided his resources, he would, had his life 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 commemorate the rise of a power, which, from a rustic condition, in
little 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 Jāts of Bharatpur.=—The Jats[9.3.3] are a branch of the great 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,[9.3.4] 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 Farrukhsiyar. The
Sayyids, then in power, commanded Jai Singh of Amber to attack them in
their strongholds, and Thun and Sansani were simultaneously invested.
But the Jats, even in the very infancy of their power, evinced the same
obstinate skill in defending mud walls, which 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 the
intercession of Jai Singh and the guarantee of the other Bhumia Jats, he
was liberated. His first act was to fly to Amber, and to bring its
prince, at the head of an army, to invest Thun, which, after a gallant
defence of six months, surrendered and was razed to the ground. Churaman
and his son, Mohkam Singh, effected their escape, and Badan Singh was
proclaimed chief 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, Partap Singh, and Birnarayan.
Badan Singh subjected several of the royal 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,[9.3.5] on which he had
constructed a fort, to his son Partap.
Surajmall inherited 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 Bharatpur, afterwards the
celebrated capital of the Jats.[9.3.6] 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 Bakhsh, picked up while hunting. Of
these five sons, the first two were by a wife of the Kurmi[9.3.7] tribe;
the third was by a wife of the Malin, or horticultural class; while 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.H. 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
friendship 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 commanded to address him a letter
warning him not to return through the territories of Amber, and the
chiefs were desired to assemble 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. This was a justifiable ground of quarrel, and the united
Kothribands 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[9.3.8] [372].
=Separation of Mācheri or Alwar State, A.D. 1771-76.=—This battle was
the indirect cause of the formation of Macheri 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, and 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[9.3.9] 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 traverse their country. Whether
the chief saw in this juncture an opening for reconciliation with his
liege lord, or that a pure spirit 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
Ranthambhor, the most secure of the commercial cities of Rajwara, is the
most remarkable. 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,
under the guardianship of the mother of his younger 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
collection of the revenue. Arath Ram was at [373] this period the Diwan,
or prime minister, and Khushhaliram Bohra, a name afterwards 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 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.[9.3.10]
=Partāp Singh, A.D. 1778-1803.=—Partap Singh[9.3.11] 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; but these minor stratagems would have been unavailing,
had he not associated in his schemes the last remnants of power about
the Mogul throne. Najaf Khan[9.3.12] was at this time the imperial
commander, who, aided by the Mahrattas, proceeded to expel the [374]
Jats from the city of Agra. He then attacked 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. Khushhaliram, 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 volunteered 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 himself. 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 him, 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 imperialists 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 expulsion 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 prudence could successfully apply the
resources of his 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 [375] to the Mahrattas
took away eighty lakhs of rupees (£800,000); yet such was the mass of
treasure, notwithstanding the enormous sums lavished by Madho Singh for
the support of his claims, besides those of the regency, that Partap
expended in charity alone, on the victory of Tonga, A.D. 1789, the sum
of twenty-four lakhs, or a quarter of a million sterling.
In A.D. 1791, after the subsequent defeats at Patan, and the disruption
of the alliance with the Rathors, Tukaji Holkar invaded Jaipur, and
extorted an annual tribute, which was afterwards transferred to Amir
Khan, and continues a permanent incumbrance on the resources of Jaipur.
From this period to A.D. 1803, the year of Partap’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.[9.3.13]
=Jagat Singh, A.D. 1803-18.=—Jagat Singh succeeded in A.D. 1803, and
ruled for seventeen [fifteen] years, with the disgraceful distinction of
being the most dissolute prince of his race or of his age. The events
with which his reign is crowded would fill volumes were they worthy of
being recorded. Foreign invasions, cities besieged, capitulations and
war-contributions, occasional acts of heroism, when the invader forgot
the point of honour, court intrigues, diversified, not unfrequently, by
an appeal to the sword or dagger, even in the precincts of the court.
Sometimes the daily journals (_akhbars_) disseminated the scandal of the
Rawala (female apartments), the follies of the libertine prince with his
concubine Raskafur, 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 redeeming
virtue amidst a cluster of effeminate vices, including the rankest, in
the opinion of a Rajput—cowardice. The black transaction respecting the
princess of 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[9.3.14] 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_),[9.3.15] 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 invaluable 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[9.3.16] indignantly refused to take part in any ceremony
at which she was present. This contumacy was punished by a mulet of
£20,000, nearly four years’ revenue of the fief of Duni!
=Death of Jagat Singh.=—Manu allows that sovereigns may be
deposed,[9.3.17] and the aristocracy of Amber had ample justification
for such an act. But unfortunately the design became known, and some
judicious friend, as a salvo for the Raja’s dignity, propagated 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 _gaddi_ 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 us were at that
time entrusted, might have had the most injurious 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.
-----
Footnote 9.3.1:
[Tonk now in the State of that name; Rāmpura 65 miles E., Phaggi 32
miles E., Mālpura about 50 miles S.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.3.2:
[Now lost to Mewār, being included in Indore State.]
Footnote 9.3.3:
It has been seen how the Yadu-Bhatti princes, when they fell from
their rank of Rajputs, assumed that of Jats, or Jāts, who are
assuredly a mixture 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 Jāts is not
supported by evidence (Herodotus i. 204 ff.).]
Footnote 9.3.4:
[Sansani about 10 miles N.W. of Bharatpur city: Thūn 12 miles W. of
Sansani. For the sieges of Thūn by Jai Singh in 1716 and 1722, see
Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 285 ff.; for Sansani, Manucci
ii. 320 f. iv. 242.]
Footnote 9.3.5:
[About 28 miles S.W. of Bharatpur city.]
Footnote 9.3.6:
[In 1761 he captured Agra, which the Jāts held till they were ousted
by the Marāthas in 1770 (_IGI_, v. 83).]
Footnote 9.3.7:
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 million Jāts and 3¾ million Kurmis in India.]
Footnote 9.3.8:
Having given a slight sketch of the origin of the Jats, I may here
conclude it. Ratan Singh, the brother of Jawahir, succeeded him. He
was assassinated by a Gosain Brahman from Bindraban, who had
undertaken to teach the Jat prince the transmutation of metals, and
had obtained considerable sums on pretence of preparing the process.
Finding the day arrive on which he was to commence operations, and
which would reveal his imposture, he had no way of escape but by
applying the knife to his dupe. Kesari Singh, an infant, succeeded,
under the guardianship of his uncle, Newal Singh. Ranjit Singh
succeeded him, a name renowned for the defence of Bharatpur against
Lord Lake. He died A.D. 1805, and was succeeded by the eldest of four
sons, namely, Randhir Singh, Baldeo Singh, Hardeo Singh, and Lachhman
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
Randhīr Singh was Balwant Singh, who was cast into prison by his
cousin, Dūrjansāl. He was captured by Lord Combermere when he stormed
Bharatpur in 1826. Balwant Singh was restored, and dying in 1853, was
succeeded by Jaswant Singh, who died in 1893, and was succeeded by his
son Rām Singh, deposed for misconduct in 1900, and succeeded by his
son Kishan Singh, born in 1899 (_IGI_, viii. 74 ff).]
Footnote 9.3.9:
Father of two men scarcely less celebrated than himself, Chhatarbhuj
and Daula Ram.
Footnote 9.3.10:
Two or three times he had a chance of being placed on the _gaddi_
(_vide_ letter of Resident with Sindhia to Government, March 27,
1812), which assuredly ought to be his: once, 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
Government were then the arbitrators, and I doubt much if his claims
were disclosed to it, or understood by those who had the decision of
the question, which nearly terminated in a civil war.
Footnote 9.3.11:
[The Author’s dates do not agree with those of Prinsep (_Useful
Tables_, ed. 1834, p. 112) which are given in the margin.]
Footnote 9.3.12:
[Najaf Khān, Amīru-l-Umara, Zulfikāru-d-daula, died A.D. 1782.]
Footnote 9.3.13:
[For these campaigns see Compton, _European Military Adventurers_, 145
ff., 237 ff.]
Footnote 9.3.14:
Rorji Khawass was a tailor by birth, and, I believe, had in early life
exercised the trade. He was, however, amongst the Musahibs, or privy
councillors of Jagat Singh, and (I think) one of the ambassadors sent
to treat with Lord Lake.
Footnote 9.3.15:
_Ras-Karpūr_ or _Kapūr_, I am aware, means ‘corrosive sublimate,’ but
it may also be interpreted ‘essence of camphor’ [Kāfūr].
Footnote 9.3.16:
[About 75 miles S. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.3.17:
[The reference is possibly to the text: “That king who through folly
rashly oppresses the kingdom will, with his relations, ere long be
deprived of his life and of his kingdom” (_Laws_, vii. 111).]
-----
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 rejected, until the predatory
powers of India had been, one after another, laid prostrate at our feet.
The Pindaris were annihilated; 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.[9.4.1]
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 combined 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 dissolution of
the alliance: “The justice of these grounds was warmly disputed by the
court, which, under a lively sense of that imminent danger to which it
had become exposed from this measure, almost forgot for a moment the
temper and respect which it owed to the English nation.” But the native
envoy from Jaipur, attending the camp of the gallant Lake, took a still
higher tone, and with a manly indignation observed, that “this was the
first time, since the English government was established in India, that
it had been known to make its faith subservient to its convenience”: a
reproach the more bitter and unpalatable from its truth.[9.4.2]
The enlarged and prophetic views of Marquess Wellesley, which suggested
the policy of uniting all these regular governments in a league against
the predatory powers, were counteracted by the timid, temporizing policy
of Lord Cornwallis, who could discover nothing but weakness in this
extension of our influence.[9.4.3] 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 intervened
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.[9.4.4] We have elsewhere[9.4.5] 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 Jaipur 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.[9.4.6]
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[9.4.7] 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 surveillance 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-lands, which fraud, favour, or
force had obtained for them. Such were the principal causes which
impeded 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 21st 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 dependants,” guaranteed to
them by the treaty.[9.4.8] Our office 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
we intermeddled with the intrigues respecting the succession, our
ignorance of established 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 of Succession in Rājputāna.=—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 primogeniture 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.[9.4.9] Custom and precedent fix the right of succession,
whether to the _gaddi_ of the State, or to a fief, in the eldest son,
who is styled 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 minorities, she is
the guardian, by custom as well as nature, of her child; and in Mewar
(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.’[9.4.10] In the duties of guardian,
she is assisted by the chiefs of certain families, who with certain
officers 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 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 principality. Thus, in Mewar,
the elder of the Ranawat clans, styled Babas, or ‘the infants,’
possesses the latent right of heir-presumptive. In Marwar, the
independent house of Idar, of the family of Jodha; in Bundi, the house
of Dagari,[9.4.11] in Kotah, the Apjis of Pulaitha[9.4.12]; in Bikaner,
the family of [381] Mahajan[9.4.13]; and in Jaipur, the branch Rajawat
(according to seniority) of the stock of Raja Man. Even in this stock
there is a distinction 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 premier pas qui coute_”; and this first step, being
a 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 disunion,
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 in excess (besides the stipulated
tributary fifth), our share was to be three-sixteenths.[9.4.14]
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 party views and
intrigues of a court, stigmatised even by the rest of Rajwara with the
epithet of _jhutha 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 of 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, the ex-Raja of Narwar,
who was chased from 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-presumptive, on failure of lineal 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,[9.4.15] and supposing his incompetency, Kama, and a dozen other
houses of the ‘infantas’ of Jaipur.
The causes of departure from the recognized rule, in this 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 eunuch of the _rawala_
(seraglio), whose name was Mohan Nazir,[9.4.16] a man of considerable
vigour of understanding, and not without the reputation of good
intention in his administration of affairs, although the system of
chicanery and force,[9.4.17] 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,[9.4.18]
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
supported the views of the Nazir with all the influence of his clan (the
Khangarot), the most powerful of the twelve great families of
Amber.[9.4.19] The personal servants of the crown, such as the Purohits,
Dhabhais (domestic chaplains and foster-brothers), and all the
subordinate officers of the household, considered 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
purifications 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 _dénouement_, 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 writer to nothing, and gained him
time for the formation of a deliberate opinion: 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. He was the bearer of instructions, “requiring a full account of
the reasons for placing 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 11th of January this requisition was reiterated;
and it was further asked, whether the measure had the assent of the
queens and chiefs, and a declaration to this effect, under their
signatures, was required to be forwarded. Nothing could be more
explicit, or more judicious, than the tenor of these instructions [384].
The replies of the Nazir and confidential Munshi 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, was
formally announced, which letters being read in full court, “the naubat
(kettledrum) again sounded, 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 chieftains at their
sovereign’s court, in 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 junta. Early in March, public
discontent became more manifest: and the Rajawat chief of Jhalai
determined to appeal to arms in support of his rights as
heir-presumptive, and was soon joined by the chiefs of Sarwar and
Isarda,[9.4.20] 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 acquiescence 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, which 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 circumstances, he
attempted to get up a marriage between the puppet he had enthroned and
the granddaughter of the Rana of 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 prevented 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 completely 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.[9.4.21]
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.[9.4.22] 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 communicants
without, the conflicting interests, the diversified objects of
contention of these little worlds, render it utterly impossible 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 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 his 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. When it announced that
the Bhattiani queen was pregnant beyond a doubt, they consulted until
seven, when they sent in a written declaration, avowing 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.[9.4.23]
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 otherwise, another queen was
pronounced to be in the same joyful condition.[9.4.24] 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 Autocrat of the Kachhwahas; while the infant
interloper was removed from the _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 manner 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].
-----
Footnote 9.4.1:
[Mahīdpur, in the Indore State, 24 miles N. of Ujjain, when Sir John
Malcolm defeated the Marāthas on December 21, 1817.]
Footnote 9.4.2:
_Vide_ Malcolm’s _Political History of India_, p. 434.
Footnote 9.4.3:
[The Author, an enthusiastic political officer, ignores the
considerations based on the state of the finances of India and the
danger of the political situation in Europe which suggested a cautious
policy in India. See J. Mill, _Hist. of British India_, ed. 1817, iii.
702; Seton-Karr, _The Marquess Cornwallis_, 178 ff.; J. W. Kaye, _Life
of Lord Metcalfe_, i. 326 ff. On the negotiations with Jaipur see
Kaye, _op. cit._ i. 348 ff.]
Footnote 9.4.4:
[Wazīr Ali, the deposed Nawāb of Oudh, murdered Mr. Cherry, the
British Resident at Benares, on January 14, 1799. He took refuge in
Jaipur, and the Rāja, having made terms with the British,
“treacherously delivered him up.” He was confined in Fort William,
Calcutta, where he died in 1817 (J. Mill, _op. cit._ iii. 469 ff).]
Footnote 9.4.5:
Vol. II. p. 613.
Footnote 9.4.6:
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 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 Alli (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 of India_, p. 432.
Footnote 9.4.7:
See Article 6 of the Treaty, Appendix, No. IV.
Footnote 9.4.8:
See Article 8 of the Treaty.
Footnote 9.4.9:
[_Laws_, ix. 105 ff. On the general question see Baden-Powell, _The
Indian Village Community_, 305 f.]
Footnote 9.4.10:
In Mewar, simply Maji; at Jaipur, where they have long used the
language and manners of Delhi, they affix the Persian word Sahibah, or
‘lady mother.’
Footnote 9.4.11:
[Dagāri or Dugāri, about 20 miles N. of Būndi city, with a picturesque
palace (_Rājputāna Gazetteer_, 1879, i. 216.)]
Footnote 9.4.12:
[A short distance S. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 9.4.13:
[Mahājan, about 50 miles N.N.W. of Bikaner city.]
Footnote 9.4.14:
Mewar was subjected to the same premium on her reviving prosperity.
The Author unsuccessfully endeavoured to have a limit fixed to the
demand; but he has heard with joy that some important modifications
have since been made in these tributary engagements both with Mewar
and Amber: they cannot be made too light. Discontent in Rajputana will
not be 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 happiness and independence of those who have sought our
protection. He will prove the greatest enemy to his country, who, in
ignorance of the true position of the Rajputs, may aim at further
trenching upon their independence. 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 Aravalli in front; no enemies
to harass or disturb them! How different would a Rajput foe prove from
a contemptible Mahratta, or the mercenary array of traitorous Nawabs,
whom we have always found easy conquests! Cherish the native army:
conciliate the Rajputs; then, laugh at foes!
Footnote 9.4.15:
[Jhalai, about 42 miles S.S.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.4.16:
_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 principalities who, adopting the Muslim custom, have
contaminated the palaces of their queens with the presence of these
creatures.
Footnote 9.4.17:
See “Summary of Transactions,” Appendix, No. V. [The Author omitted to
print this paper owing to its length.]
Footnote 9.4.18:
[Forty miles S.S.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.4.19:
The Khangarot clan enumerates twenty-two fiefs, whose united
rent-rolls amount to 402,806 rupees annually, and their united quotas
for the service of the State, six hundred and forty-three horse. Megh
Singh, by his turbulence and intelligence, though only the sixth or
seventh in the scale of rank of this body, had taken the lead, and
become the organ of his clan at court.
Footnote 9.4.20:
[Sarwar, 45 miles S. of Ajmer; Isarda, 60 miles S.S.W. of Jaipur
city.]
Footnote 9.4.21:
The publicity, on this occasion, is precisely of the same character as
marked the accouchement of the Duchess de Berri, who, it is said, not
only had the usual witnesses to silence the voice of doubt, but
absolutely insisted on the Maréchaux as well as the Maréchales of
France being in the room at the moment of parturition.
Footnote 9.4.22:
Raja Jagat Singh died December 21, 1818, and the announcement of the
Bhattiani being in “the eighth month of her pregnancy,” was on March
24, 1819.
Footnote 9.4.23:
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 composing a Rajput State in
cases of succession, I have inserted it in the Appendix. [As before
stated, the Author omitted this paper.]
Footnote 9.4.24:
No notice, that I am aware of, was ever taken of this second
annunciation. [The posthumous son of Jagat Singh, Jai Singh III., who
succeeded, lived till 1835, during which period the State was a scene
of misgovernment and corruption. He was succeeded by Mahārāja Rām
Singh (A.D. 1835-80). His adopted son, Kāim Singh, succeeded under the
title of Sawāi Mādho Singh II., and has administered the State with
conspicuous ability.]
-----
SHAIKHĀWAT FEDERATION
CHAPTER 5
We proceed to sketch the history of the Shaikhawat confederation, 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 supposed,
however, that no system of policy 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 Shaikhavati assembles at Udaipur[9.5.1] to decide the course
of action to be pursued.
=The Origin of the Shaikhāwats.=—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 Shaikhavati federation, were parcelled out
amongst numerous chieftains of the Chauhan or Tuar tribes,[9.5.2] the
descendants of the ancient Hindu emperors of Delhi, who evinced no more
submission than the sword and 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,[9.5.3] 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 numerous issue styled Balapota, one of whom
was adopted into the twelve chambers (_barahkothri_) 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 compliment to a
miracle-working Islamite saint, to whose prayers the childless chief was
indebted for a son destined to be the patriarch of a numerous race,
occupying, under the term Shaikhawat, an important [389] 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 invasion, it is not unlikely he was a pious missionary, who
remained behind for the conversion of the warlike but tolerant Rajput,
with whom, even if he should fail in his purpose, he was certain of
protection and hospitality. The Shaikh in one of his peregrinations 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 injunctions of Burhan, was styled, after
his own tribe, Shaikh. He directed that he should wear the
baddhiya,[9.5.4] 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 miles. 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] immutability of the
Rajput character, in the fact, that, although Amritsar,[9.5.5] and the
lands around the dargah, are annexed to the fisc of Amber, yet the
shrine of Shaikh Burhan continues a _saran_ (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 neighbours, 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[9.5.6] 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.[9.5.7] A dispute on this point was the ostensible cause
(though subordinate to their rapid prosperity), which occasioned a total
separation of the Shaikhawat colonies from the parent State, until the
reign of Sawai Jai Singh who, with his means as lieutenant of the
empire, compelled homage, submission, and pecuniary 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 Lambi and Jharli[9.5.8] were respectively
assigned. With the second brother, Raesal, the fortunes of the
Shaikhawats made a rapid stride, from an occurrence in which the Rajput
appears in the position we desire to see him occupy.
Nunkaran, the chief of the Shaikhawats, had a minister named Devidas, of
the Bania or mercantile caste, and, like thousands of that caste,
energetic, shrewd, and intelligent. 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 Lambi
[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 twenty 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 was serving with his quota, was called, whose
anger was peremptorily 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,[9.5.9] 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
Udaipur, then belonging to the Nirwan Rajputs, who disdained to pay
allegiance to the empire, and gave themselves up to unlicensed rapine.
=Khandela, the Shaikhawat Capital.=—Raesal, finding it would be a work
of difficulty 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 espoused 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 Saguni (augur), immediately turning to Raesal, said, in an
undertone, “Tie a knot on the skirt of your garment in remembrance of
this.” An expression like this from a prophetic tongue gave birth to the
wish to be lord of Khandela; while his services to the king, and the
imbecility 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 without defence, and the
inhabitants tendered their submission to him. Henceforth, Khandela was
esteemed the principal city of the Shaikhawat confederation; and the
descendants of Raesal, using 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.[9.5.10]
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. Regarding his death, there is no
record;[9.5.11] but his history is another illustration of the Rajput
character, whilst it confirms the position of the 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 patronymics,
Bhojansi Sadhanis, Larkhanis, Tajkhanis, Parasurampotas, Harrampotas,
are recognized throughout Rajwara by the generic name of Shaikhawat
[393].
1. Girdhar Had Khandela and Rewasa.
2. Larkhan ” Kachriawas.
3. Bhojraj ” Udaipur.
4. Tirmall Rao ” Kasli and eighty-four villages.
5. Parasuram ” Bai.
6. Harramji ” Mundari.
7. Tajkhan ” 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 eclipsed, both in population and
property, the senior descendants of Raesal.
=Girdharji Shaikhāwat.=—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 with 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 assassination, 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 chief’s men was
waiting, in a blacksmith’s shop, while his sword was 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 unintelligible 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 immediately 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].
=Dwārkadās.=—Dwarkadas, his eldest son, succeeded, and soon after his
accession nearly fell a victim to the jealousy of the Manoharpur 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 Manoharpur chief observed that his
relative, the Raesalot, who was a votary of Naharsingh,[9.5.12] 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 himself 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,[9.5.13] 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. Khan 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,[9.5.14] involved that of the Shaikhawat chief.
=Bīrsinghdeo.=—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 in reducing.[9.5.15] The
Khandela annalist is desirous to make it appear that his service 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 Deccan, 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 Deccan, where he died.
=Bahādur 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.[9.5.16]
=Gallantry of Shujāwan Singh.=—To the personal enemy of the Shaikhawat
was intrusted the twofold duty of exacting tribute, and the demolition
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 chieftain of Chapauli, 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 his mother,
and bade both a solemn [396] farewell. In vain his kindred, collecting
round him, dissuaded him from his 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? Would this be acting the part of a Rajput?”
As their entreaties were vain, they, to the number of sixty, resolved to
accompany him, and share his fate. They were joined by a party of
Bahadur’s adherents, and succeeded in entering Khandela. The imperial
commander, to whom this unlooked-for opposition 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 command 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 pinnacle. They endeavoured to dissuade him;
offered money to the utmost possible amount of their 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 fortifications;
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 was stationed in the gateway, while
Shujawan reserved for himself the defence of the temple, in which he
took post with his kinsmen. When the mercenaries of the tyrant advanced,
the defenders of the gateway, alter 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 tale
of desperate valour in the defence of their household gods against the
iniquitous and impolitic Aurangzeb. Khandela received a royal garrison;
but the old officers, both territorial and financial, were retained by
the conqueror [397].
Bahadur Singh continued to reside in an adjacent township, and through
his Diwan 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, Kesari Singh, Fateh 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 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
himself 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 Gaur Rajputni, he advocated the partition. 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 brothers held no intercourse with each other,
and Kesari preferred Khatu[9.5.17] 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 Shaikhawat federation,
by destroying his brother. The Diwan arranged a friendly meeting at
Khatu for the avowed purpose of reconciliation, when Fateh Singh fell a
victim to assassination; but the instigator to the crime met his proper
reward, for a splinter 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 paid to the Ajmer treasury, while that of Khandela went to
Narnol.[9.5.18] Sayyid Abdulla,[9.5.19] 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.[9.5.20] While victory manifested a wish to side
with the confederated Shaikhawats, the old jealousies of Manoharpur
revived, and he withdrew his quota from the field, at the same moment
that the Kasli chief, on whom much depended, was slain. To crown these
misfortunes, the Larkhani chief of Danta, basely deeming this an
opportunity to consult his own interest, abandoned the field, to take
possession of Rewasa. The ‘lion’ of Khandela (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 himself; 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,
“I have no desire for life; two black deeds press upon me; the murder of
my brother, and the curse of the Charans of Bikaner, whom I neglected at
the distribution of the nuptial gifts. I will not add a third 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 flesh, blood, and earth are the ingredients. He cut
pieces from his own body, but as scarcely any blood flowed, his own
uncle, Mohkam Singh of Aloda, parted with some of his, for so grand an
obligation as the retention of Khandela. Mixing his own flesh, 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 sacrifice
accepted, and that seven generations of his line should rule in
Khandela.[9.5.21] 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 Khandela; but apprehensive of the danger it might
occasion to their chief, they sent a special messenger to Ajmer, to
acquaint the viceroy of their scheme, previous to its execution, to
prevent his being implicated. 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 willingly became the
pledge for her son. He fulfilled his agreement, and the viceroy was so
pleased with his 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 his brethren, in
order to punish Manoharpur, whose treachery had caused them so much
misery. The foster-brother, who commanded on that occasion, was again
entrusted with the command; 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 Khajroli, who had long been at
variance with Dip Singh of Kasli, the principal adviser of the young
Raja of Khandela. They were gained over to the purpose of the Manoharpur
chief, who sent them with a private message to Dip Singh, that no sooner
should Manoharpur fall than he would be deprived of Kasli. 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 suppliant 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 recommenced the supremacy of
Amber over the confederated Shaikhawats, which had been thrown off ever
since the dispute regarding the colts 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 fulfil 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, laughing, “What is your desire,
Thakur?” To which Dip Singh replied, that through his intercession the
son of Fateh Singh might obtain his father’s share of Khandela; which
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 contingents 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
reprimanded 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
indignantly withdrew from the siege. Churaman the Jat, having contrived
to make his peace with the Sayyid 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-cherished 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 fled to Naru[9.5.22] 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 subsequently made, and in time being reduced twenty
thousand more, sixty-five thousand continued to be the tribute of
Khandela, until the decay of both the parent State and its scion, when
the weakness of the former, and the merciless outrages of the predatory
powers, Pathan and Mahratta, rendered its amount uncertain and difficult
to realize. Moreover, recalling 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
cousin 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, until his death. He, however, outlived Sawai
Singh, who left three sons: Bindraban, who succeeded to Khandela;
Shambhu, who had the appanage of Ranauli; and Kusal, having that of
Piprauli.
-----
Footnote 9.5.1:
[This Udaipur must not be confounded with the capital of Mewār: it is
about 60 miles N. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.5.2:
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 modern
inhabitants. Of the ancient Rajor I have already spoken, and I now
draw the attention of my countrymen 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:
_Rājā Chand-kā Ābhāner
Bīahah Sanjog, āyo Girnār.
Dekh Bharat līyo bulāi.
Kiyo bidit, man bikasāi.
Byāo Sanjog, Parmalā barī.
Kos sāth-so man chit dharī;
“Tū betī Kaikum kī,
Nām Parmalā[9.4.2.A] ho.
Lekhā huā Kartār ko.
Yā jāna sabb ko”_[9.4.2.A] [388]
[For the above version of the corrupt 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 Ābhāner of Rāja Chand. He came to Girnār. When Bharat saw him
he summoned him. He [Sanjog] made known [his object], and his
[Bharat’s] heart expanded. Sanjog married, he chose Parmalā 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
Parmalā [_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 Girner, 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, Justin,
etc.), but whether Kaikum, the father of Parmala, is the Kaiomurs of
Firdausi, we shall not stop to inquire. The connexion between this
peninsula and Persia was intimate in later times, 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 to some one imbued with similar taste to visit, and merely add,
he will find there an inscription in a kund or fountain dedicated to
the Sun. The distance, however, seven hundred coss (_kos sath so_),
whether from Indrapuri or Abhaner, to Girnar, even admitting them to
be _gao coss_, would be too much. I believe this would make it eight
hundred miles, and certainly, as the crow flies, it is not seven
hundred. Interwoven with the story there is much about Raja Chambha,
prince of Jajnagar, a city of great antiquity in Orissa, and
containing some of the finest specimens of sculpture I ever saw. There
is also mention of a Raja Saer (_qu._ Sahir or Siharas of Aror) of
Parman. In 1804, 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, employed his pencil for several
days with the sculptured 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 Nepal
war. The ruins of Abhaner are on the Banganga, three coss east of
Lalsont. [The speculations in this note are of no value. For the town
of Jājpur in Cuttack, see a full account by Sir W. Hunter, _Orissa_,
i. 265 f.; _IGI_, xiv. 10 f.]
Footnote 9.4.2.A:
_Parī-mālā_ means ‘fairy garland.’
Footnote 9.5.3:
[About 15 miles N.E. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.5.4:
Strings, or threads, worn crossways by Muhammadan children. [See
Herklots, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 156, 158.]
Footnote 9.5.5:
The town of Amritsar and forty-five villages are still left to the
Manoharpur branch.
Footnote 9.5.6:
The Pannis are a tribe of Duranis, regarding whom Mr. Elphinstone’s
account of Kabul may be consulted. In after times, there was a
chieftain of this tribe so celebrated for his generosity and
hospitality, that his name has become proverbial:
_Banē, to banē
Nahīn, Dāūd Khān 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 _History of the Dekhan_. [Ed. 1794, ii.
140 ff. The Panni are a sept of the Kākar or Ghurghusthi Pathāns; see
Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 198, 223.]
Footnote 9.5.7:
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.]
Footnote 9.5.8:
[Jhārli is about 40 miles N. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.5.9:
It is always agreeable to find the truth of these simple annals
corroborated in the historical remains of the conquerors of the
Rajputs. The name of Raesal Darbari will be found, in the
Ain-i-Akbari, amongst the mansabdars of twelve hundred and fifty
horse; a rank of high importance, being equivalent to that conferred
on the sons of potent Rajas. [In _Āīn_ (i. 419) he is called Rāē Sāl
Darbāri, son of Rāēmall, Shaikhāwat. The Author represents him to be
son of Sūja, and apparently grandson of Rāēmall. He is mentioned in
the _Akbarnāma_ (trans. H. Beveridge ii. 390).]
Footnote 9.5.10:
The Nirwan 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
confederation always meets on great occasions. This may throw light on
the Kausambi mentioned on the triumphal pillar at Delhi; the Nirwan
capital is more likely to be the town alluded to than Kausāmbi on the
Ganges. [The inscription refers to the city in the United Provinces,
of which the site is uncertain (V. A. Smith, _JRAS_, 1898, p. 503).]
Footnote 9.5.11:
[He died, at an advanced age, in the Deccan (_Āīn_, i. 419).]
Footnote 9.5.12:
[Narasinha, the man-lion incarnation of Vishnu.]
Footnote 9.5.13:
[Khān Jahān Lodi, an Afghān, commanded in the Deccan under Prince
Parvez. In 1628, suspected of disloyalty, he took refuge in Bāglān,
the headmen of which place refused to surrender him. But he was
obliged to fly and, with his son, was killed by the royal troops on
January 28, 1631 (Beale, _Dict. Oriental Biography_, s.v.; _BG_, i.
Part ii. 624 f.; Elliot-Dowson vii. 20 ff.).]
Footnote 9.5.14:
[Not in Ferishta, but in Dow’s continuation (ed. 1812, iii. 112 ff.).]
Footnote 9.5.15:
[Parnāla or Panhāla in the Kolhapur District, taken in 1701 (Manucci
iii. 257; _BG_, xxiv. 314.)]
Footnote 9.5.16:
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 repetition of the injury!
This sensibility, though without the power of avenging himself, made
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 of Aurangzib_, iii. 319 ff.).
The Omkār temple at Māndhāta in the Nimār District, Central Provinces,
is served by a priest of the Bhīlāla caste, half Bhīl, half Rājput,
illustrating the mode by which aboriginal deities have been imported
into Hinduism (_IGI_, xvii. 152; Russell, _Tribes and Castes Central
Provinces_, ii. 294).]
Footnote 9.5.17:
[This is probably the “Kaotah” of the text.]
Footnote 9.5.18:
[Now in the Patiāla State, Panjāb.]
Footnote 9.5.19:
[Sayyid Abdulla of Bārha became wazīr of Farrukhsīyar in A.D. 1713,
and died in prison in 1723.]
Footnote 9.5.20:
[About 70 miles S.W. of Ajmer.]
Footnote 9.5.21:
The fifth, as will be seen hereafter, has been expelled, 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.
Footnote 9.5.22:
[About 25 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city.]
-----
CHAPTER 6
=Bindrabandās.=—Bindrabandas steadfastly adhered to Madho 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 Khandela. 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 little 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 him from exile,
but restored him to his rights.
=Brāhmans commit Suicide.=—The mercenaries were supported at the sole
charge of Bindraban, and as his ancestors left no treasury, he was
compelled to resort to the contribution called _dand_ from his subjects,
not even exempting the hierarchy. Piqued at this unusual demand, some of
the wealthiest Brahmans expostulated with the Raja on this indignity to
the order. But their appeals were disregarded by their chief, whose
existence depended on supplies. 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 in 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 excommunication, and his liege lord,
Madho Singh of Amber, in order to expiate his indirect share in the
guilt, recalled his 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 fifty thousand rupees,
he recovered his lost share of Khandela, by a regular _patta_, or grant,
of the Raja.
=Tribal Feuds.=—Perpetual feuds, however, raged between these two kings
of Khandela, each of whom had his castle, or fortified palace. Each day
“there was war even in the gates” of Khandela, and at the hazard of
prolixity we shall state how it was conducted, challenging the records
of any civil war to produce an instance in which all the ties of blood
and kindred were more disregarded than in this _bellum plusquam 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
his foeman. This youth, who had the township of Kuchor in appanage,
helped himself to three more, to retain which he sided with his father’s
foe. Bindraban, in order to create a diversion, sallied out to attack
Kuchor; to oppose which, his son, together with his nephew, Prithi Singh
of Ranoli and his retainers, withdrew from the batteries to defend it.
But the attack on Kuchor had already failed, and Bindraban was on his
retreat to regain Khandela when he was intercepted. The battle took
place outside 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 Khān.=—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,[9.6.1] 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 townships and the impost duties of Khandela for his
support, left the cares of government to his son.[9.6.2]
=Abdication of Bindraban: Govind Singh succeeds.=—Govind 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 predictions of the astrologer, who told him,
“to beware the ides (_amavas_) of Pus,“[9.6.3] 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
protestations of innocence were unavailing, and considering himself
dishonoured by the imputation, which might possibly be followed by some
disgraceful punishment, he determined to anticipate his chief, and
murdered him that night. Govind left five sons, Narsingh, Surajmall (who
had Dodia), Bagh Singh, Jawan Singh, and Ranjit, all of whom had
families.
=Murder of Govind Singh: Narsinghdās 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 destructive 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 Boigne 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
principal 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.
=Marātha Inroads.=—Let us follow the path of the barbarians, and trace
only one day’s acts of outrage. When the Mahrattas entered the lands of
the federation, soon after the battle of Merta, they first attacked
Bai.[9.6.4] 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[9.6.5] was sent to Rao Indar Singh to settle the
contribution, which was fixed at twenty thousand rupees, besides three
thousand in _ghus_[9.6.6] (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 attendant, 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 advised to regain Khandela: “No,”
replied the intrepid Raesalot; “better that I should fall before the
gates of Khandela than enter them after such disgrace, without avenging
my kinsmen.” Dismounting 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 survivor: though
covered with wounds, 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 confederacy 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.
=Partāp Singh.=—Partap Singh, who succeeded his brave father in his
share of the patrimony, was at this crisis with his mother at Sikrai, 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,
Jhunjhunu, 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] descendant of Rao
Tirmall of Kasli, had added to his patrimony by the usurpation of no
less than twenty-five large townships, as Lohagarha, 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 views 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[9.6.7] gathered round the standard
of the collector, to aid in the redemption 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
appeared to oppose him. Having made a show of investing Sikar, and
expended a good deal of ammunition, he addressed his court, 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 submission. Without waiting a reply, he took two lakhs 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
disgrace, to settle the feud of their fathers, and unite both shares in
his own person; and stipulated in return 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,[9.6.8] chief of the Nathawat
clan, interceded for Narsingh, and inviting him 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 departure; adding that as he came
under his 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 Nawalgarh, 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 displeasure, for permitting Narsingh’s
departure; but he nobly 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 the base passions of kindred, under a
system of feudal government, we shall trespass on the reader’s patience
by recording the result.
=Quarrel between Samod and Chaumūn.=—Samod and Chaumun are the chief
houses of the Nathawat clan; the elder branch enjoying 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 magnanimous, 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 swamidharma, 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.
=Partāp 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 unintentional 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 demolition was completed, and
the long obnoxious gateway levelled with the earth. Partap, having
adjusted affairs in the capital, proceeded against Rewasa, which he
reduced, and then laid siege to Govindgarh,[9.6.9] aided by a detachment
of the Haldia. 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
highly 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;[9.6.10] 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-paramount, 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 lapses, which 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,
appertaining to Nawalgarh, had already been seized, and Ranoli was
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_,[9.6.11]
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, excepting the joint
chieftains of Khandela, too deeply 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 Shaikhāwats and Jaipur.=—The new commander, who was
a tailor by caste, was ordered to follow the Haldia to the last
extremity; for, in these regions, displaced ministers and rebels are
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 him, plundered his subjects, and carried
conflagration in his towns, excite more than transient emotion. The new
commander was eager to obtain the services of the assembled Shaikhawats
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 consequence, 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 pretensions to exact
tribute beyond what they had voluntarily 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 would 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 difference 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 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 Narsinghdas, 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 Khandela 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 environed 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 _bachan_, or ‘pledge of safety,’ of the
Manoharpur chief. Narsingh did not 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 negotiation 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 they were at dinner, a party planted in ambuscade
rushed out, and before they could seize their arms, made captive both
the chiefs. They were pinioned like felons, put into a covered carriage,
despatched under the guard of five hundred men to the capital, and found
apartments ready for them in the state-prison 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.
-----
Footnote 9.6.1:
[Nawalgarh, about 30 miles N.W. of Khandela; Khetri, about the same
distance N.E.; Baswa, about 85 miles N.N.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.6.2:
His second son, Raghunath, had Kuchor in appanage.
Footnote 9.6.3:
[The Amāvas, or last day of the month, is unlucky for all
undertakings, and is 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 Brāhmans
(_BG_, ix. Part i. 397). Pūs falls in January and February.]
Footnote 9.6.4:
[Close to the Jodhpur frontier, about 40 miles N.W. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.6.5:
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 Machiavelli himself.
Footnote 9.6.6:
_Ghus_ is literally ‘a bribe’; and no treaty or transaction was ever
carried on without this stipulation. So sacred was the _ghus_ 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!
Footnote 9.6.7:
Barwatia is ‘one expatriated,’ from '_bar_' [_bāhir_] ‘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. II. p. 797.]
Footnote 9.6.8:
[About 20 miles N. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.6.9:
[About 30 miles N. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.6.10:
[See Vol. II. p. 665, for an account of this festival.]
Footnote 9.6.11:
_Nūn_ or _lūn_, ‘salt,’ and _dābnā_, ‘to dip, bespatter, or sprinkle.’
[Salt, apparently from its power of checking decay, is used in magical
rites, and is believed to be efficacious for scaring evil spirits.]
-----
CHAPTER 7
=Dīnarām Bohra organizes an Attack on the Sadhānis.=—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 him 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_[9.7.1] 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
Jhunjhunu, 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 so long as the tribute was paid. He was
joined by five hundred men of Khetri, with which having levied
contributions at Singhana and Fatehpur 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 Jaipur 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 chief (Ranjit Singh) was desperately wounded, and
Bahadur Singh, Pahar Singh, chiefs of the Khangarot 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.[9.7.2]
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 found 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 permitted Bagh Singh to
remain in the fortified palace of Khandela, with a small party of his
brethren; but on being selected to lead the quotas of his countrymen
with the court commander, he left his younger brother, Lachhman Singh,
as his deputy.
=Hanwant Singh captures Khandela.=—No sooner did it reach the ears of
Hanwant Singh of Saledi, son of the captive Partap, that Bagh 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 accomplishment, 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 which even the townspeople entered heartily,
inspired 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 Khandela 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 profitable, they now agreed to take on lease
the sequestrated lands of Khandela. 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 Silahposhians[9.7.3] 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
no hope of their liberty, they 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 Khandela,
and in spite of the resistance of seven thousand Dadupanthis,[9.7.4]
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 confederacy was broken up. The Ranoli 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 tranquillity 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_;[9.7.5] and wherever they succeeded in surprising
a thana (garrison) of their liege lord, they cut it up without mercy.
They sacked the town of Koh, within a few miles 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 liege
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 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, intelligence reached
the court that Sangram was in Tuarvati,[9.7.6] 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 him in the
head. His body was carried to Ranoli and burnt, and he had his cenotaph
amongst the Jujhars[9.7.7] (those slain in battle) of his fathers. The
son of Sangram succeeded to the command 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
effused upon their afflictions, but made them prominent to their own
benefit in the transaction.
=The War on account of Krishna Kunwāri.=—That grand international 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 recollected, 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, Racchand 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, Kirparam, to
obtain the aid of the Shaikhawats, who appointed Kishan Singh as
interpreter of their wishes, while the Kher[9.7.8] 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 conditions 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, Shyam 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 Khandela, 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 Shaikhji’: Raesalots,
Sadhanis, Bhojanis, Larkhanis, and even the Barwatias, flocked around
the ‘yellow banner of Raesal.’ The accounts of the expedition are
elsewhere narrated,[9.7.9] 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.
=Abhai Singh.=—Abhai Singh, 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 Mahratta leader,
Bapu Sindhia, at Dausa,[9.7.10] while Hanwant, in the ancient spirit of
his race, determined 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 surrendered, 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 Larkhanis hung behind, would have totally routed
them. Hanwant was compelled 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 _tankhas_ (reservoirs), he was on the point of surrendering
at discretion, when an offer of five townships being made, he accepted
the towns.
Another change took place in the ministry of Amber at this period; and
Khushhaliram, at the age of fourscore and four years, was liberated from
the state-prison of Amber, and once more entrusted with the
administration of the government. This hoary-headed politician, 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.”[9.7.11]
When this veteran politician, whose biography would fill a
volume,[9.7.12] 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
expedition, when ten thousand of the children of Shaikhji were embodied
in his cause, and what was a better argument, he observed, the Mahrattas
had only been able to prevail since their dissensions amongst
themselves. The Bohra was commanded to follow his own goodwill and
pleasure; 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,[9.7.13] 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 _patta_ 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 Shaikhāwats attack Amīr Khān.=—Shortly after this restoration, the
Shāikhawat 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 An
incident occurred, while the siege was approaching a successful
conclusion, which [420] well exemplifies the incorrigible imperfections
of the feudal system, either for offensive or defensive operations. 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 disorderly 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 besieging
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[9.7.14]
(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-concealed desire to be lord of
Khandela. The siege of Bhumgarh being broken up, in consequence of these
dissensions and the defection of the confederated Shaikhawats, the Sikar
chief no 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 infamous 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 sallied 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 Khandela, 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 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 Khetri 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.
Nevertheless, 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 kinsman. It would have been well for Partap
had he shown the same spirit; for Lachhman Singh, now lord of Khandela,
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, now reside
at Jhunjhunu, where each receives five rupees a day, from a joint purse
made for them by the Sadhanis, nor at present[9.7.15] is there a ray of
hope of their restoration to Khandela.
In 1814, when Misr Sheonarayan, then minister of Jaipur, was involved in
great pecuniary difficulties, to get rid of the importunities of Amir
Khan, he cast his eyes towards the Sikar chief, who had long been
desirous to have his usurpation sanctioned by the court; and it was
stipulated that on the payment of nine lakhs of rupees (namely, five
from himself, with 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 Lachhman Singh met him and paid the amount, receiving his
receipt, which was exchanged for the 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 fifty-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 the Sadhanis,
the birthright of the lineal heirs of Raesal was alienated.
Lachhman Singh, by his talents and wealth, soon established 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 the 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. Lachhman 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 Khandela, 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 palliate 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. Lachhman
Singh is the sole tyrant in Khandela, 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 townships in appanage. His son,
Hari Singh, wrested the district of Bilara, with its one hundred 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 Lachhman Singh, son of his near kinsman,
the Shahpura Thakur. The estates of Sikar were in admirable order when
Lachhman succeeded to his uncle, whose policy was of the exterminating
sort. Lachhman improved upon it; and long before he acquired Khandela,
had demolished all the castles of his inferior feudatories, not even
sparing that of Shahpura, 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
living under a son who, covered with ‘the turban of Sikar,’ forgot the
author of his life, and retired to Jodhpur.
Lachhman Singh has now a compact and improving country, containing five
hundred towns and villages, yielding a revenue of eight lakhs of rupees.
Desirous of transmitting his name to posterity, he erected the castle of
Lachhmangarh,[9.7.16] and has fortified many other strongholds, for the
defence of which he has formed a little army, which, in these regions,
merits the title of regulars, consisting of eight battalions of
Aligol,[9.7.17] armed with matchlocks, with a brigade of guns to each
battalion. He has besides an efficient cavalry, consisting of one
thousand horse, half of which are Bargirs,[9.7.18] or stipendiary; the
other half Jagirdars, having lands assigned for their support. With such
means, and with his ambition, there is very little doubt that, had not
the alliance 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 [425] aid he obtained Khandela,[9.7.19] before this time
have made himself supreme in Shaikhavati.
Having thus brought to a conclusion the history of the princes of
Khandela, we shall give a brief account of the other branches of the
Shaikhawats, especially the most powerful, the Sadhani.
=The Sādhāni Shaikhāwats.=—The Sadhanis are descended from Bhojraj, the
third son of Raesal, and in the division of fiefs amongst his seven
sons, obtained Udaipur and its dependencies. Bhojraj 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.[9.7.20]
Several generations subsequent to Bhojraj, Jagram succeeded 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
military festival, the Dasahra,[9.7.21] 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,[9.7.22] 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 young
Sadhu, and assigned to him Jhunjhunu and its eighty-four dependencies,
which he retained on the Kaimkhani’s death. The other, and less
favourable though equally probable account, is that, feeling his
influence firmly established, 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 emergency, applied to his father, requesting him to call
upon his brethren, as it was a common cause. The old chief, 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 Jhunjhunu. 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 all 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 Khetri 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 descendants, 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, though the
lord of five hundred villages.
The descendants of the other four sons, now the most distinguished of
the Sadhanis, are,[9.7.23]
Abhai Singh of Khetri;
Shyam Singh of Baswa;
Gyan Singh of Nawalgarh;[9.7.24]
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.’
=Bāgh Singh seizes Sultāna.=—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, remained under the paternal roof. It would appear as if
this alienation 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 Khetri. 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.
=The Lārkhānis.=—Having made the reader sufficiently acquainted 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 his father’s influence at court secured the possession to him.
Besides this district, they have the _tappa_ of Nosal, and altogether
about eighty townships, including some held of the Rajas of Marwar, and
Bikaner, to secure their abstinence from plunder 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 difficult 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 Khetri—
Rupees.
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 Ranjit’s
share of 40,000 (whom he killed) 190,000
Gyan Singh, of Nawalgarh, including Mandao, each fifty
villages 70,000
Lachhman Singh, Mendsar, the chief sub-infeudation of
Nawalgarh 30,000
Tain and its lands, divided amongst the twenty-seven
great-grandsons of Zorawar Singh, eldest son of Sadhu 100,000
Udaipurvati 100,000
Manoharpur[9.7.25] 30,000
Larkhanis 100,000
Harramjis 40,000
Girdharpotas 40,000
Smaller estates 200,000
————-
2,300,000
—————
[429.]
The tribute established by Jaipur is as follows:—
Rupees.
Sadhanis 200,000
Fatehpur 64,000
Udaipur and Babhai 22,000
Kasli 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 Government would do well to
imitate.
-----
Footnote 9.7.1:
_Dhūs_ is an expedient to hasten the compliance of a demand from a
dependent. A party of horse proceeds to the township, and are
commanded to receive so much per day till the exaction is complied
with. If the _dhūs_ is refused, it is considered tantamount to an
appeal to arms. [_Dhūsnā_ means ‘to butt like an ox,’ hence ‘to
coerce.’]
Footnote 9.7.2:
Franklin, in his Life of George Thomas, describes this battle
circumstantially; 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 miles N.W. of Jaipur city
(Compton, _European Military Adventurers_, 146 ff.).]
Footnote 9.7.3:
[Men clad in armour (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 164).]
Footnote 9.7.4:
[See Vol. II. p. 863.]
Footnote 9.7.5:
The _salvamenta_, or blackmail of our own feudal system. See Vol. I.
p. 203.
Footnote 9.7.6:
[See Vol. II. p. 876.]
Footnote 9.7.7:
[Such cenotaphs, known as _pāliya_, are common in Gujarāt (Forbes,
_Rās Māla_, 691; Tod, _Western India_, 301).]
Footnote 9.7.8:
[Tribal levy.]
Footnote 9.7.9:
[Vol. II. p. 1095.]
Footnote 9.7.10:
[Twenty-five miles E. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 9.7.11:
The second injunction was to keep the office 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.
Footnote 9.7.12:
His first act, after his emancipation from the dungeons of Amber, was
the delicate negotiation at Dhani, the castle of Chand Singh, 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 in Macheri had been mainly achieved by the Bohra, who
was originally the homme d’affaires of the traitorous Naruka.
Footnote 9.7.13:
[These corps of militant devotees were commonly employed in Indian
Native armies in the eighteenth century (Irvine, _Army of the Indian
Moghuls_, 163; Broughton, _Letters from a Mahratta Camp_, 96, 106,
123; Russell, _Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces_, iii.
157).]
Footnote 9.7.14:
[A corruption of Hindi _chhakra_ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 407
f.).]
Footnote 9.7.15:
This was written in 1813-14.
Footnote 9.7.16:
Lachhmangarh, or ‘the castle of Lachhman,’ situated upon a lofty
mountain [about 75 miles N.W. of Jaipur city], was erected in S. 1862,
or A.D. 1806, though probably on the ruins of some more ancient
fortress. It 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 Jaipur, with regular streets intersecting each other at right
angles, in which there are many wealthy merchants, who enjoy perfect
security.
Footnote 9.7.17:
[The Ālīgol, ‘lofty, exalted troop,’ were irregular infantry in the
Marātha service. Sometimes they were identified with the fanatical
Ghāzis of the Afghān frontier (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_,
164; Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 15).]
Footnote 9.7.18:
[Cavalry provided with horses by the State, Vol. II. p. 819.]
Footnote 9.7.19:
Khandela is said to have derived its name from the Khokhar Rajputs
[?]. The Khokhar is often mentioned in the Bhatti Annals, whom I have
supposed to be the Ghakkar, who were certainly Indo-Scythic. [The
Khokhars and Ghakkars or Gakkhars are often confounded (Rose,
_Glossary_, ii. 540).] Khandela has four thousand houses, and eighty
villages dependent on it.
Footnote 9.7.20:
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.
Footnote 9.7.21:
[See Vol. II. p. 680.]
Footnote 9.7.22:
[The Kāimkhāni or Qāimkhāni are a sept of Muslim Chauhān Rājputs found
in the Jīnd State and in Jaipur (Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 257). In the
_Rājputāna Census Report_ of 1911, however, they are classed among
“Miscellaneous” Rājput septs (i. 286).]
Footnote 9.7.23:
It must be borne in mind that this was written in 1814.
Footnote 9.7.24:
Nawalgarh contains four thousand houses, environed by a shahrpanāh 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.
Footnote 9.7.25:
The Manoharpur chief was put to death by Raja Jagat Singh (_vide_
Madari Lal’s Journal 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.
-----
CHAPTER 8
We have thus developed the origin and progress of the Kachhwaha 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.[9.8.1]
=Population.=—It is difficult to determine with exactitude the amount of
the population of this region; but from the best information, one
hundred and fifty souls to the square mile would not be too great a
proportion in Amber, and eighty in Shaikhavati; 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 townships,
exclusive of _purwas_, or hamlets, and Shaikhavati about half that
number, of which Lachhman Singh of Sikar and Khandela, and Abhai Singh
of Khetri, have each about five hundred, or the half of the lands of the
federation.[9.8.2]
=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,[9.8.3]
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.[9.8.4]
=The Mīna 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 induction of the exiled prince of Narwar to
the sovereignty of Amber; and it is a curious fact, showing that such
establishment 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 by 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 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 delicate
of all trusts, the charge of the _rawala_, 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 pretensions were cancelled
in their blood. The Minas, Jats, and Kirars are the principal
cultivators, many of them holding large estates.[9.8.5]
=Jāts.=—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.
=Brāhmans.=—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.
=Rājputs.=—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 kin and clan, or, to
repeat their own emphatic phrase, “the sons of one father,” which
includes the Narukas and the chiefs of the Shaikhawat federation.[9.8.6]
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 Haras. This may be in part accounted for by the
demoralization consequent upon their proximity to the Mogul court, and
their participation in all enervating vices; but still more from the
degradations 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 of soil,
and the _kharif_ and _rabi_, or autumnal and spring crops, are of nearly
equal importance. Of the former _bajra_ predominates over _juar_, and in
the latter barley over wheat. The other grains, pulses, and vegetables,
reared all over Hindustan, are here produced 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.[9.8.7]
=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 subdivisions, 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 _barkandazes_, 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 the 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.[9.8.8]
Knowing, however, that there is little benefit to be derived from such a
course, they generally 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 evils were superadded the exactions called _dand_, or _barar_,
forced contributions 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 [433].
=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
fountain-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.[9.8.9] Since this estimate
was made, there have been great alienations of territory, 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 the schedule of alienations:—
1. Kama[9.8.10] ┐ Taken by General Perron, for his master Sindhia;
2. Khori │ since rented to the Jats, and retained by them.
3. Pahari ┘
4. Kanti ┐
5. Ukrod │
6. Pandapan │
7. Ghazi-ka-thana │ Seized by the Macheri Rao
8. Rampara (karda) ├ [now in Alwar State]
9. Ganwnri │
10. Reni │
11. Parbeni │
12. Mozpur Harsana ┘
13. Kanod or Kanaund[9.8.11] ┌ Taken by De Boigne and given to
14. Narnol │ Murtaza Khan, Baraich, confirmed
└ in them by Lord Lake.
┌ Taken in the war of 1803-4, from the Mahrattas,
15. Kotputli │ and given by Lord Lake to Abhai Singh of
└ Khetri.
16. Tonk ┌ Granted to Holkar by Raja Madho Singh; confirmed
17. Rampura │ in sovereignty to Amir Khan by Lord
└ Hastings.
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 _jaedad_, 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
Shagirdpesha, servants of the household 300,000
Ministers, and civil officers 200,000
Jagirs for the Silahposh, or men-at-arms 150,000
Jagirs to army, namely, ten battalions of infantry 714,000
with cavalry
Total Fiscal Land ———————— 3,919,000
Feudal lands (of Jaipur Proper) 1,700,000
Udak,[9.8.12] or charity lands, chiefly to 1,600,000
Brahmans
Dan and Mapa, or transit and impost duties of the 190,000
country
Kachahri, of the capital, includes town-duties, 215,000
fines, contributions, etc., etc.
Mint 60,000
Hundi-bara, insurance, and dues on bills of 60,000
exchange
Faujdari, or commandant of Amber (annual fine) 12,000
Do. do. of city Jaipur 8,000
Bid’at, petty fines from the Kachahri, or hall of 16,000
justice
Sabzimandi, vegetable market 3,000
————————
Total Lakhs 7,783,000
┌ Shaikhavati 350,000
Tribute ┤ Rajawat and other feudatories of
│ Jaipur[9.8.13] 30,000
└ Kothris of Haraoti[9.8.14] 20,000
———————
Total Tribute 400,000
———————
Add Tribute 400,000
————————
Grand Total Rs. 8,183,000
[435].
If this statement is correct, and we add thereto the Shaikhawat,
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 twice 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 defenders of the
country, and these drones the Brahmans,—a point on which we have
elsewhere treated:[9.8.15] nor can anything more powerfully mark the
utter prostration of intellect of the Kachhwaha 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[9.8.16] 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 _levée en masse_, was called out, twenty thousand men,
horse and foot, were ready to back the always embodied force.[9.8.17]
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—
_Schedule of the names and appanages of the twelve sons of Raja
Prithiraj, whose descendants form the_ Barah-kothri, _or twelve great
fiefs of Amber_[9.8.18] [436].
──────────────────┬──────────────┬──────────┬─────────────────┬─────────┬───────
Sons of │Names of │Names of │Present Chiefs. │Revenues.│Personal
Prithiraj. │Families. │Fiefs. │ │ │ Quotas.
──────────────────┼──────────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┼────────┼────────
1. Chhattarbhuj │Chhattarbhujot│Pinar and │ │ │
│ │Bhagru │Bagh Singh │ 18,000│ 28
2. Kalyan │Kalyanot │Lotwara │Ganga Singh │ 25,000│ 47
3. Nathu │Nathawat │Chaumun │Kishan Singh │ 115,000│ 205
4. Balbhadar │Balbhadarot │Achrol │Kaim Singh │ 28,850│ 57
5. Jagmall his ┐│ │ │ │ │
son Khangar ┘│Khangarot │Thodri │Prithi Singh │ 25,000│ 40
6. Sultan │Sultanot │Chandsar │ — │ —│ —
7. Pachain │Pachainot │Sambra │Sali Singh │ 17,700│ 32
8. — │Gugawat │Dhuni │Rao Chand Singh │ 70,000│ 88
9. Kaim │Kumbhani │Banskoh │Padam Singh │ 21,535│ 31
10. Kumbha │Kumbhawat │Mahar │Rawat Sarup Singh│ 27,538│ 45
11. Surat │Sheobaranpota │Nindar │Rawat Hari Singh │ 10,000│ 19
12. Banbir │Banbirpota │Balkoh │Sarup Singh │ 19,000│ 35
──────────────────┴──────────────┴──────────┴─────────────────┴────────┴────────
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 thirty-five
thousand, while that of the head of his clan is but twenty-five
thousand. The representative 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 disproportioned the gifts of fortune, the
attribute of honour always remains with the lineal descendant and
representative of the original fief.
We shall further illustrate this subject of the 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 will serve
to give a good idea of the Kachhwaha aristocracy. It was my [437]
intention to have given a detailed account 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.
_Schedule of the Kachhwaha clans; the number of fiefs or estates in
each; their aggregate value, and quotas of horse for each
estate._[9.8.19]
─────────────┬──────────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────┬──────────
│ Names of Clans. │Number of Fiefs │ Aggregate │Aggregate
│ │in each Clanship│ Revenue. │ Quotas.
│ │ or Clan. │ │
─────────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────┼──────────
┌│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[9.8.20] ┤│Sultanot │ — │ —│ —
││Pachainot │ 3 │ 24,700│ 45
││Gugawat │ 13 │ 167,900│ 273
││Kumbhani [or Kumani] │ 2 │ 23,787│ 35
││Kumbhawat │ 6 │ 40,738│ 68
││Sheobaranpota │ 3 │ 49,500│ 73
└│Banbirpota │ 3 │ 26,575│ 48
┌│Rajawat │ 16 │ 198,137│ 392
4[9.8.21] ┤│Naruka[9.8.21] │ 6 │ 91,069│ 92
││Bankawat │ 4 │ 34,600│ 53
└│Puranmallot │ 1 │ 10,000│ 19
┌│Bhatti │ 4 │ 104,039│ 205
││Chauhan │ 4 │ 30,500│ 61
││Bargujar │ 6 │ 32,000│ 58
││Chandarawat │ 1 │ 14,000│ 21
10[9.8.22] ┤│Sakarwar │ 2 │ 4,500│ 8
││Gujars │ 3 │ 15,300│ 30
││Rangras │ 6 │ 291,105│ 549
││Khatris │ 4 │ 120,000│ 281
││Brahmans │ 12 │ 312,000│ 606
└│Musalman │ 9 │ 141,400│ 274
│ │ │ │ [438].
─────────────┴──────────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────┴──────────
=Ancient Towns.=—We shall conclude the annals of Amber with the names of
a few of the ancient towns, in which research may recover something of
past days.
=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.=[9.8.23]—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].
-----
Footnote 9.8.1:
[The area of the Jaipur State, according to the last surveys, is
15,579 square miles.]
Footnote 9.8.2:
[According to the census of 1911, the population of Jaipur State was
2,636,647, 169 per square mile.]
Footnote 9.8.3:
[The proportion of Rājputs to the total population was, in 1911, 45
per 1000.]
Footnote 9.8.4:
[The present order, in numbers, of the castes is—Brāhmans, Jāts,
Mīnas, Chamārs, Banias or Mahājans, Gūjars, Rājputs, Mālis. Dhākar
Rājputs are found in the Central Ganges-Jumna Duāb, and in Rohilkhand
(Elliot, _Supplementary Glossary_, 263). There are now 89,000 Dhākars
in Rājputāna. Kirār is a term generally applied in the Panjāb to
traders to distinguish them from the Banias of Hindustān, and the name
has no connexion with the Kirāta, a forest tribe of E. India (Rose,
_Glossary_, ii. 552; Russell, _Tribes and Castes of the Central
Provinces_, iii. 485 ff.).]
Footnote 9.8.5:
[The Mīnas 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.).]
Footnote 9.8.6:
[In 1911 there were 96,242 Kachhwāhas in Rājputāna, of whom about
two-thirds are in Jaipur.]
Footnote 9.8.7:
[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).]
Footnote 9.8.8:
[_Chabūtra_, the platform on which the Kotwāl or chief police officer
does business. For the cry _dohāi_ see Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed.
321.]
Footnote 9.8.9:
[The normal revenue is now believed to be about 65 lakhs of rupees,
roughly speaking, £433,000 (_IGI_, xiii. 395).]
Footnote 9.8.10:
[This may possibly be Kamban in Bharatpur State.]
Footnote 9.8.11:
Kanod was the fief of Amir Singh, Khangarot, one of the twelve great
lords of Amber.
Footnote 9.8.12:
[_Udaka_ means the rite of offering water to deceased relations;
hence, assignments of lands to Brāhmans at such rites (H. T.
Colebrooke, _Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus_, ed.
1858, p. 115; Monier-Williams, _Brāhmanism and Hinduism_, 4th ed. p.
304).]
Footnote 9.8.13:
Barwara, Khirni, Sawar, Isarda, etc., etc.
Footnote 9.8.14:
Antardah, Balwan, and Indargarh.
Footnote 9.8.15:
See Dissertation on the Religious Establishments of Mewār, Vol. II. p.
590.
Footnote 9.8.16:
[See pp. 1416, 1422.]
Footnote 9.8.17:
[At present the military forces of the State consist of about 5000
infantry, 5000 Nāgas, 700 cavalry, 860 artillery-men, and 100 mounted
on camels (_IGI_, xiii. 397).]
Footnote 9.8.18:
[There have been several changes in this list of fiefs since the
Author’s time. A later, but apparently inaccurate, list is given in
_Rājputāna Gazetteer_, 1879, ii. 139. An earlier list, made in 1790 by
W. Hunter, appears in “A Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Oujein,”
_Asiatic Researches_, vi. 69.]
Footnote 9.8.19:
[A fuller and more correct list will be found in _Rājputāna Census
Report_, 1911, i. 255.]
Footnote 9.8.20:
The first twelve are the Barah-kothris, or twelve great fiefs of
Amber.
Footnote 9.8.21:
The next four are of the Kachhwaha stock, but not reckoned amongst the
Kothribands.
Footnote 9.8.22:
The last ten are foreign chieftains, of various tribes and classes.
No doubt great changes have taken place since this list was formed,
especially amongst the mercenary Pattayats, or Jagirdars. The quotas
are also irregular, though the qualification of a cavalier in this
State is reckoned at five hundred rupees of income.
Footnote 9.8.23:
[Forty-two miles N.N.E. of Jaipur city, the ancient Vairāta (_IGI_,
vi. 217; _ASR_, ii. 242 ff.).]
-----
[Illustration:
RAGHUBĪR SINGH, MĀHĀRAO RĀJA OF BŪNDI.
_To face page 1441._
]
BOOK X
ANNALS OF HĀRAVATI
BUNDI
CHAPTER 1
=Hāravati.=—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.[10.1.1]
=The Origin of the Chauhāns.=—We have already sketched the pedigree of
the Chauhans,[10.1.2] one of the most illustrious of the ‘Thirty-six
Royal Races’ of India.[10.1.3] We must, however, in this 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 scanty are the remote records of the Chauhans,
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 would 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
assumed 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[10.1.4]
on the Nerbudda, provoked the last war, having slain the father of
Parasurama [440].
“But as the chief weapon of the Brahman is his 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.[10.1.5] In
this exigence, Viswamitra, the instructor in arms[10.1.6] of Bhagwan,
revolved within his own mind, and determined upon, the re-creation of
the Chhattris. He chose for this rite the summit of Mount Abu,[10.1.7]
where dwell the hermits and sages (Munis and Rishis) 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 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
Patan 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].[10.1.8]
“The Daityas were watching the rites, and two of their leaders were
close to the fire-fountain; but the work 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 the demons was shed, young
demons arose; when the four tutelary 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.[10.1.9]
“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![10.1.10]—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 Anhal Chauhan and Satpati, who founded
Mahishmati, and 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 debased classes, raised to moral
importance, by the ministers of the pervading religion, or foreign races
who had obtained a footing 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, especially in the south about Gualkund,
where the Chauhans held sway,[10.1.11] 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 capite_ 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, and the Konkan;[10.1.12] 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,[10.1.13] 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.[10.1.14] 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 continued 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.[10.1.15] 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.[10.1.16]
A scion from Mahishmati, named Ajaipal, established himself at
Ajmer,[10.1.17] 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 universal 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.[10.1.18] 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.
=Mānika Rāē.=—With the name of Manika Rae, the history of the Chauhan
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 (_kunguras_). The invasion is said to have been from Sind,
in revenge for the ill-treatment of an Islamite missionary named Roshan
Ali, though the complexion of the event is more like 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-l-lais, was slain in an attempt on the ancient capital,
Alor.[10.1.19] 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.[10.1.20] Here 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 manifested 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.[10.1.21]
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,[10.1.22] the
Hara, the Mohil, Nirwana, Bhadauria, Bhaurecha, Dhanetia, and Baghrecha,
are all descended from him.[10.1.23] 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.[10.1.24] The Bhadaurias had an appanage on the
Chambal, in a tract which bears their 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 Kotah. Another
branch fixed at Nadol, but never changed the name of Chauhan.[10.1.25]
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
Manika Rae to Bisaldeo,[10.1.26] 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 exception of the intermediate name of
Harsraj,[10.1.27] 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
Arimurdan.[10.1.28] Ferishta says, that “in A.H. 143, the Muslims
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[10.1.29] against these Afghans, who were reinforced by the
tribes of Khilj, of Ghor and Kabul, just become proselytes to
Islam”;[10.1.29] 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 Musalmans before him; sometimes the Musalmans, obtaining
reinforcements, 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.
=Bīsaldeo.=—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 Dharmagaj, 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 humbling the mighty conqueror, and forcing
him to relinquish the siege of Ajmer.[10.1.30] Before we condense the
scanty records of the bards concerning Visaladeva,[10.1.31] 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.
=Gūga, Gugga Chauhān.=—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
(_Rabiwar_), the ninth (_naumi_) of the month, that day is held sacred
to the manes of Guga by the ‘Thirty-six Classes’[10.1.32] throughout
Rajputana, but especially in the desert, a portion of which is yet
called Gugadeo ka thal. Even his steed, Javadia,[10.1.33] has been
immortalized [448] and has become a favourite name for a war-horse
throughout Rajputana, whose mighty men swear 'by the _sakha_ of Guga,'
for maintaining the Rajput fame when Mahmud crossed the Sutlej.
This 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 around given up to devastation and plunder. The citadel,
Garhbitli, however, held out, and Mahmud was foiled, wounded, and
obliged to retreat by Nadol,[10.1.34] another Chauhan possession, which
he sacked, and then proceeded to Nahrwala, which he captured. His
barbarities promoted a coalition, which, by compelling 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 uncommon with the Rajput bard, whose periods acquire verification
from less mutable materials than those out of which he weaves his
song.[10.1.35]
Chand gives an animated picture of the levy of the Rajput chivalry,
which assembled under Bisaldeo, who, as the champion of the Hindu faith,
was chosen to lead its warriors against the Islamite invader. The
Chalukya king of Anhilwara 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,[10.1.36] and summoned his
tributaries and vassals to meet him. Mansi Parihar with the array of
Mandor, touched his feet.[10.1.37] Then came the Guhilot, the ornament
of the throng;[10.1.38] and the Pawasar [449], with Tuar,[10.1.39] and
Rama the Gaur;[10.1.40] with Mohes the lord of Mewat.[10.1.41] The Mohil
of Dunapur with tribute sent excuse.[10.1.42] With folded hands arrived
the Baloch,[10.1.43] but the lord of Bamani abandoned Sind.[10.1.44]
Then came the Nazar from Bhatner,[10.1.45] and the Nalbandi from
Tatta[10.1.46] and Multan.[10.1.46] When the summons reached the Bhumia
Bhatti of Derawar,[10.1.47] all obeyed; as did the Jadon of
Malanwas.[10.1.48] The Mori[10.1.49] and Bargujar[10.1.49] also joined
with the Kachhwahas of Antarved.[10.1.49] The subjugated Meras
worshipped his feet.[10.1.50] Then came the array of Takatpur, headed by
the Goelwal Jeth.[10.1.51] Mounted in haste came Udaya Pramar,[10.1.52]
with the Nirwan[10.1.53] and the Dor,[10.1.54] the Chandel,[10.1.54] and
the Dahima.”[10.1.55]
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, Prithiraj, the descendant of Bisaldeo.
A similar passage was given from the ancient chronicles of Mewar,
recording an invasion of the Muslims, of which the histories of the
invaders have left no trace (Vol. I. p. 287). The evidence of both
is incontestable; every name affords a synchronism 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, his task
would be hopeless. To each of the twenty tribes enumerated, formed under
the standard of the Chauhan, we append a separate notice, for the
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 slip from the genealogical tree will
elucidate our remarks [451].[10.1.56]
=The Delhi Pillar.=—The name of Bisaldeo (Visaladeva) heads the
inscription on the celebrated column erected in the centre of Firoz
Shah’s palace at Delhi. This column, alluded to by Chand, as “telling
the fame of the Chohan,” was “placed at Nigambhod,” a place of
pilgrimage on the Jumna, a few miles below Delhi, whence it must have
been removed to its present singular position.[10.1.57]
CHAUHĀN GENEALOGY
[From Anhal to Bilandeo, these are but a few of the leading names. From
Bilandeo the chain is continuous to the last Chauhan king, Prithiraj.]
┌ Or Agnipala, ‘offspring of fire,’
│ the first Chauhan; probable period
│ 650 before Vikrama, when an
Anhal ┤ invasion of the Turushkas took
│ │ place;established Mahishmati-nagari
│ │ (Garha-mandala); conquered the
│ └ Konkan, Asir, Golkonda.
Savacha
│ ┌ In all probability this is the
Malan ┤ patriarch of the Mallani tribe,
│ └ see p. 1272.
Ganal Sur
│ ┌ Or universal potentate; founder of
│ │ Ajmer. Same authorities say, in
S. 202 Ajaipala Chakravartin ┤ 202 of the Vikrama; others of the
│ │ Virat-Samvat: the latter is the
│ └ most probable.
│ ┌ Slain, and lost Ajmer, on the first
Dhola Rae ┤ irruption of the Muhammadans, S.
│ └ 741, A.D. 685.
│ ┌ Founded Sambhar: hence the title
S. 741 Manika Rae ┤ of Sambhari-Rao borne by the
│ └ Chauhan princes, his issue.
│ ┌ Defeated Nasiru-d-din (_qu._
S. 827 Harsraj ┤ Sabuktigin?),
│ └ thence styled 'Sultan-graha.
Bir Bilandeo ┌ Or Dharmagaj; slain defending
│ └ Ajmer against Mahmud of Ghazni.
S. 1065 to │ ┌ (Classically, Visaladeva); his
1130 Bisaldeo ┤ period, from various inscriptions,
│ └ S. 1066 to S. 1130.
Sarangdeo Died in nonage.
│
Ana ┌ Constructed the Ana-Sagar at
│ └ Ajmer; still bears his name.
┌────────────────────┐
Jaipal. Harspal.
│
├──────────────┬───────────┐
Ajaideo, Bijaideo. Udaideo.
or
Ananddeo.
├───────────────┬─────────────┐
│ │ │
Someswar: Kan Rae. Jeth, Goelwal.
married Ruka Bai, │
daughter of Anangpal │
Tuar king of Delhi. │
│ Isardas;
│ turned Muhammadan.
│
├────────────────────┐
│ │
Prithiraj; Chahirdeo.
obtained Delhi; slain by │
Shihabu-d-din, S. 1249, │
A.D. 1193. │
│ Vijaya Raj. ┌ Adopted successor to Prithiraj;
│ │ └ his name is on the pillar at Delhi.
│ ┌─────┘
│ │
│ │ ┌ Had twenty-one sons; seven of whom were
│ │ │ legitimate, the others illegitimate, and
Rainsi; │ │ and founders of mixed tribes. From
slain in the sack Lakhansi┤ Lakhansi there are twenty-six generations
of Delhi. │ to Noniddh Singh, the present chieftain
│ of Nimrana, the nearest lineal descendant
└ of Ajaipal and Prithiraj.
[452]
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 ‘Prithiraja Chauhan, the anointed of
Sambhar, Lord of the earth,’ who ruled at Delhi 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.[10.1.58] The second stanza,
however, tells us we must distrust 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, however, it is decidedly 1220, then the whole inscription belongs to
Prativa Chahumana, between whom and Visala no less than six princes
intervene,[10.1.59] 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 precisely 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 of Visaladeva.=—If, as I surmise, the first stanza belongs to
Bisaldeo, the date is S. 1120, or A.D. 1064, and this grand
confederation described by the Chauhan bard was assembled under his
banner, preparatory to the very success, to commemorate which 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,[10.1.60]
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 from Derawar”;[10.1.61] for had
there been anything apocryphal in Chand, Jaisalmer, the present capital,
would have been given as the Bhatti abode.[10.1.62]
Second, The Kachhwahas, 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 third proof is in the Mewar inscription, when Tejsi, the grandfather
of Samarsi, is described as in alliance 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 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 Bhima 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 recorded 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.[10.1.63]
We could dilate on the war which Bisaldeo waged against the prince of
Gujarat, his victory, and the erection of Bisalnagar,[10.1.64] on the
spot where victory perched upon his lance; but this we reserve for the
introduction of the history of the illustrious Prithiraj. There is much
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 this 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 Kalakh
Jobner.[10.1.65]
According to the Book of Kings of Govind Ram (the Hara bard), the Haras
were descended from Anuraj, son of Bisaldeo; but Mogji, the Khichi
bard,[10.1.66] 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 Patan 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 “from the
wilds of Kujliban.” 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,[10.1.67] 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[10.1.68] (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. 1022, we 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 Kujliban.”[10.1.69] 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.[10.1.70] 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 absolutely 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,[10.1.71] approach their lord, as thus they spoke: ‘Think of thy
safety, Jangales,[10.1.72] while we make offerings 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.
=Rāo Chand.=—Amongst the many independent princes of the Chauhan race to
whom Alau-d-din was the messenger of fate, was Rao Chand of Asir. 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 protection. 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 pilgrimage 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 found his health greatly restored. Kedarnath[10.1.73] was
pleased to manifest himself, to accept his devotions, and to declare him
‘King of the Patar,’ or plateau of Central India.[10.1.74] The whole of
this tract was under the princes of Chitor, but the sack of this famed
fortress by Ala, and the enormous slaughter of the Guhilots, had so
weakened their authority, that the aboriginal Minas 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 Hūn 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 Huns.' 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 Royal Races of the
Rajputs. Be this as it may, Rao Banga, the grandson of Kolan, took
possession 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,[10.1.75]
Hatiji, and Samarsi.
=Rāo Dewa.=—The Haras had now obtained such power as to attract the
attention of the emperor, and Rae Dewa was summoned to attend the court
when Sikandar Lodi ruled.[10.1.76] He [458] therefore installed his son
Harraj in Bumbaoda, and with 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 future 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 Muslim 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
Bandunal, 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 extremities of
the valley (_thal_[10.1.77]) 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_'[10.1.78] 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
margin.[10.1.79] Mounted on this steed, no obstacle could 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 Būndi.=—It was in S. 1398 (A.D. 1342)[10.1.80] that
Jetha and the Usaras acknowledged Rae Dewa as their lord, who erected
Bundi in the centre of the Bandu-ka-Nal, which henceforth 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 lieutenants, 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.[10.1.81]
-----
Footnote 10.1.1:
[The name is said to be derived from that of the Hāra Hūnas or Huns
(_IA_, xi. 5) or from Rāo Hado or Harrāj.]
Footnote 10.1.2:
See Vol. I. p. 112.
Footnote 10.1.3:
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 meaning ‘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
Rājputs (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 (_qu._ Asi?) Nima, and
the four tribes of Agnivansa, namely, Pramara, Parihara, Solanki, and
Chauhan. Abulghazi states that the Tatars or Scythians were divided
into six grand families. The Rajputs have maintained these ideas,
originally brought from the Oxus.
Footnote 10.1.4:
[The ancient Māhishmati (_IGI_, xvii. 8 ff.). Sahasra or Sahasra Vāhu
Arjuna, ‘the thousand-armed,’ of the Haihaya tribe, is the reputed
ancestor of the Kalachuris of Chedi (_BG_, i. Part ii. 293, 410;
Smith, _EHI_, 394).]
Footnote 10.1.5:
Or, as the bard says, Daityas, Asuras, and Danavas, or demons and
infidels, as they style the Indo-Scythic tribes from the north-west,
who paid no respect to the Brahmans.
Footnote 10.1.6:
Āyudh-guru. [In the previous version (Vol. I. p. 113) the priest
is Vasishtha.]
Footnote 10.1.7:
My last pilgrimage was to Abu.
Footnote 10.1.8:
[There is no local tradition corroborating the connexion of the
Chauhāns with Garha-Mandla, and it is merely a fiction of the Chauhān
bards (C. Grant, _Gazetteer Central Provinces_, Introd. i.).]
Footnote 10.1.9:
[Another title of the Parihār tribal goddess is Chāwanda Māta, whose
temple is in the Jodhpur fort (_Census Report, Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 31).
In Gujarāt the Jādejas worship Āsāpūrna; the Jhālas Ādya; the Gohils
Khodiyār Māta; the Jethvas Vindhyavāsini; the Pramārs Mandavri; the
Chāvadas and Vāghelas Chāmunda (_BG_, ix. Part i. 136).]
Footnote 10.1.10:
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, where they make the deity a
mediator, to entreat the Brahman Vashishta to hearken to King
Vishwamitra’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 miracle of liquefying the congealed
blood.
Footnote 10.1.11:
[This is a fiction of the bards, and the S. Indian burial-mounds have
no connexion with the Chauhāns (see _IGI_, ii. 94).]
Footnote 10.1.12:
[This S. Indian Chauhān empire is a fiction, the object being to
provide a princely genealogy for the S. Indian royal families (see
_BG_, ix. Part i. 484).]
Footnote 10.1.13:
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.
Footnote 10.1.14:
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 genealogical 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.
Footnote 10.1.15:
[When Alāu-d-dīn stormed Asīrgarh in A.D. 1295 it was a Chauhān
stronghold. The existence of this Ahīr kingdom rests on the authority
of Ferishta (iv. 287). This is doubtful, but it may be based on a line
of Ahīr chieftains in the Tapti valley (Russell, _Tribes and Castes,
Central Provinces_, ii. 20).]
Footnote 10.1.16:
All these towns contain remains of antiquity, especially in the
district 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 thirty 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; _IGI_, xii. 25).]
Footnote 10.1.17:
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.]
Footnote 10.1.18:
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.
Footnote 10.1.19:
[Umar-bin-Khaltāb, the second Khalīfa (A.D. 634-44). The “Abul Aas” of
the original text possibly represents Abu-l-lais, “the ancestor of the
Laisi Sayyids, Abu-l-lais-i-Hindi, who is mentioned in the
_Chachnāmah_, who came into Sind with the Arabs, and was present at
the battle in which Rāja Dāhir was slain” (C. Raverty, _Notes on
Afghanistan_, 1888, p. 671, note).]
Footnote 10.1.20:
“_Samvat sāt sau iktālīs
Mālat bāli bes
Sāmbhar āya tūti sarasē
Mānik Rāē, Narēs._”
[This quotation is so incorrect that neither Dr. Tessitori nor Major
Luard’s Pandit is able to restore it. The latter cannot make any sense
of the second line. The date is impossible.]
Footnote 10.1.21:
An inscription on the pillar at Firoz Shāh’s palace at Delhi,
belonging to this family, in which the word _sākambhari_ occurs, gave
rise to many ingenious conjectures by Sir W. Jones, Mr. Colebrooke,
and Colonel Wilford.
Footnote 10.1.22:
Called Khichkot by Babur.
Footnote 10.1.23:
[The Bhaurecha and Bāghrecha do not appear in modern lists of the
Chauhān clans (_Census Report Rājputāna_, 1911, _i._ 255 f.).]
Footnote 10.1.24:
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 hundred and forty villages so late as the fifteenth
century. So many of the colonies of Agnikulas bestowed the name of
serpent on their settlements, that I am convinced all were of the Tak,
Takshak, or Nagvansa 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 [?].
Footnote 10.1.25:
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.
“_Samaya das sai unchālīs
Bār ikauta, Pātan pela paul
Dān Chauhān ugāvi
Mēwār Dhanni dand bhari
Tis par Rāo Lākhan thappi
Jo arambha, so kari._”
Literally: “In S. 1039, at the farther gate of the city of Pātan, the
Chauhān collected the commercial duties (_dān_). He took tribute from
the lord of Mēwār, and performed whatever he 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
compromise, and to have become a vassal of the empire. This conjecture
arises from the singularity of its currency, which retains on the one
side the names in Sanskrit of its indigenous princes, and on the other
that of the conqueror.
Footnote 10.1.26:
[Vighraharāja, or Vīsaladeva, who is said, with doubtful truth, to
have wrested Delhi from the Tomaras (Smith, _EHI_, 387).]
Footnote 10.1.27:
Harsraj and Bijai Raj were sons of Ajaipal, king of Ajmer, according
to the chronicle.
Footnote 10.1.28:
['Destroyer of foes.']
Footnote 10.1.29:
This is a very important admission of Ferishta, concerning the
proselytism 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 Rājputs 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.
Footnote 10.1.30:
[The account of Ferishta (i. 69) lacks confirmation: see Elliot-Dowson
ii. 434 ff.]
Footnote 10.1.31:
The classical mode of writing the name of Bisaldeo.
Footnote 10.1.32:
_Chattispun._
Footnote 10.1.33:
It is related by the Rajput romancers that Guga had no children; that
lamenting this his guardian deity gave him two barley-corns (_java_ or
_jau_), one of which he gave to his queen, another to his favourite
mare, which produced the steed (Javadia) which became as famous as
Guga himself. The Rana of Udaipur gave the Author a blood-horse at
Kathiawar, whose name was Javadia. Though a lamb in disposition, when
mounted he was a piece of fire, and admirably broken in to all the
manège exercise. A more perfect animal never existed. The Author
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 be the first worshipped on the annual
military festival”: a request which he doubts not was complied with.
Footnote 10.1.34:
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.
Footnote 10.1.35:
We have abundant checks, which, could they have been detailed in the
earlier stage of inquiry into Hindu literature, would have excited
more interest for the hero whose column at Delhi has excited the
inquiries of Jones, Wilford, and Colebrooke.
Footnote 10.1.36:
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 I. of England.
Footnote 10.1.37:
This shows that the Parihars were subordinate to the Chauhans of
Ajmer.
Footnote 10.1.38:
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 found amidst
the ruins of a city of Mewar, which alludes to this very coalition!
The inscription is a record of the friendship maintained by their
issue in the twelfth century—Samarsi of Chitor, and Prithiraj the last
Chauhan king of India—on their combining to chastise the king of Patan
Anhilwara, “in like 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 Muslim 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. 1064). [Tej Singh is mentioned in inscriptions of A.D.
1260, 1265, 1267 (Erskine ii. B. 10).] His youth and inexperience
would account for 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 inscriptions
found by the author. (See _Transactions Royal Asiatic Society_, vol.
i. p. 223.)
Footnote 10.1.39:
This Tuar must have been one of the Delhi vassals, whose monarch was
of this race.
Footnote 10.1.40:
The Gaur was a celebrated tribe, and amongst the most illustrious of
the Chauhan feudatories; a branch until a few years ago held Sui-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 [?].
Footnote 10.1.41:
The Meo race of Mewat is well known; all are Muhammadans now.
Footnote 10.1.42:
The Mohils have been sufficiently discussed.
Footnote 10.1.43:
The Baloch was evidently Hindu at this time; and as I have repeatedly
said, of Jat or Gete origin.
Footnote 10.1.44:
‘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, _EHI_, 103.]
Footnote 10.1.45:
See Annals of Jaisalmer.
Footnote 10.1.46:
All this evinces supremacy over the princes of this region: the Sodha,
the Samma, and Sumra.
Footnote 10.1.47:
Of Derawar we have spoken in the text.
Footnote 10.1.48:
Malanwas we know not.
Footnote 10.1.49:
The Moris, the Kachhwahas and Bargujars require no further notice.
[Antarved, the Ganges-Jumna Duāb.]
Footnote 10.1.50:
The Meras inhabited the Aravalli.
Footnote 10.1.51:
Takatpur is the modern Toda, near Tonk, where there are fine remains.
Footnote 10.1.52:
Udayaditya, now a landmark in Hindu history.
Footnote 10.1.53:
See Annals of Shaikhavati for the Nirwans, who held Khandela as a fief
of Ajmer.
Footnote 10.1.54:
The Dor and Chandel were well-known tribes; the latter contended with
Prithiraj, who deprived them of Mahoba and Kalanjar, and all modern
Bundelkhand.
Footnote 10.1.55:
The renowned Dahima was lord of Bayana; also called Druinadhar. [The
ancient name was Srīpathā (_IGI_, vii. 137). This catalogue of the
chiefs is the work of the Chauhān bard, desirous of exalting the
dignity of his tribe, and is not historical.]
Footnote 10.1.56:
[These statements regarding the Chauhān dynasty are inconsistent with
the Bijolli inscription, and Cunningham (_ASR_, i. 157) finds it
impossible 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 (_EHI_, 386 ff.).
Cunningham (_op. cit._ ii. 256) points out the author twice ignores
the date of A.D. 1163 of Vīsaladeva on the Delhi pillar, to make him
an opponent of Mahmūd in the beginning of the eleventh century. “In
one place he gives to Hansrāj, whom the Hāra bard assigns to the year
A.D. 770, the honour of conquering Sabuktigīn, 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 Vīsaladeva as one person. For his discussion see _ASR_, ii.
256 f.]
Footnote 10.1.57:
See _Asiatic Researches_, vol. i. p. 379, vol. vii. p. 180, and vol.
ix. p. 453. [Nigambhod Ghāt is immediately outside the north wall of
Shāhjahānābād, and above, not below, the city of Delhi (_ASR_, i. 136,
161, 164).]
Footnote 10.1.58:
I brought away an inscription of this, 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.
Footnote 10.1.59:
These inscriptions, while they have given rise to ingenious
interpretations, 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 believe) was made by Mr.
Colebrooke in 1800 (_Asiatic Researches_, vol. vii.), but rather
darkening than enlightening 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 hypothesis, and all was confounded to suit it. Chauhans,
Solankis, Guhilots, all are amalgamated in his crucible. It was from
the Sarangadhar Padhati, written by the bard of Hamira Chauhan, not
king of Mewar (as Wilford has it), but of Ranthambhor, lineally
descended from Visaladeva, and slain by Alau-d-din. Sarangadhar was
also author of the Hamir Raesa, and the Hamir Kavya, bearing this
prince’s name, the essence of both of which I translated with the aid
of my Guru. [For these works see Grierson, _Modern Literature of
Hindustan_, 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 speculations of Wilford, says that important facts
and classical references are to be found in his Essays (_ASR_, i.
Introd. xviii. note).]
Footnote 10.1.60:
See _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 133.
Footnote 10.1.61:
See Annals of Jaisalmer, for foundation of Derawar, Vol. II. p.
1196.
Footnote 10.1.62:
In transcribing the Annals of the Khichis, an important branch of the
Chauhans, their bards have preserved this passage; but ignorant of
Derawar 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.
Footnote 10.1.63:
[The correct dates are as follows: Vīsaladeva, middle of 12th century
A.D. (Smith, _EHI_, 386); Jayapāla of Delhi succeeded 1005 (_ASR_, i.
149); Durlabha Chaulukya and Bhīma, respectively 1010-22, 1022-64
(_BG_, i. Part i. 1626); Tej Singh or Tejsi, Rāwal of Chitor about
1260-67 (Erskine ii. B. 10); Bhoja of Mālwa, 1018-60 (Smith, _EHI_,
395).]
Footnote 10.1.64:
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 Vīsaladeva of Delhi. At any rate, it is said to have
been restored by Vīsaladeva Vāghela (A.D. 1243-61) (_BG_, i. Part i.
203).]
Footnote 10.1.65:
[See p. 1328.] The pickaxe, if applied to this mound (which gives its
name to Dhundhar), might possibly show it to be 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 Gualkund, one of the royal abodes of the Chauhans, may be
sepultures of this race, and the arms and vases they contain all
strengthen my hypothesis of their Scythic origin. [See p. 1445.]
Footnote 10.1.66:
[Grierson, _Modern Literature of Hindustan_, 143, 164.]
Footnote 10.1.67:
Or, as the story goes, his limbs, which lay dissevered, were collected
by Surabhi, and the goddess sprinkling 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.]
Footnote 10.1.68:
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.
Footnote 10.1.69:
‘The elephant wilds.’ [Skt. _kunjari_, ‘a female elephant,’ _vana_,
Hindi _ban_, ‘forest.’] They assert that Ghazni is properly 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 ‘Elephant Forest.’
There is a Gajangarh mentioned by Abul-i-fazl in the region of Bajaur,
inhabited by the Sultana, Jadon, and Yusufzai tribes. [This place does
not appear in Jarrett’s translation of the _Āīn_, ii. 391 f.]
Footnote 10.1.70:
See Ferishta i. 75 f. [Mahmūd never reached Golkonda.]
Footnote 10.1.71:
[Horses from the Lākhi jungle; see Vol. II. p. 1156.]
Footnote 10.1.72:
Jangales, ‘lord of the forest lands,’ another of Prithiraj’s titles.
Footnote 10.1.73:
‘The lord of Kedar,’ the gigantic _pine_ of the Himalaya, a title of
Siva. [Kedārnāth in Garhwāl District. The derivation of Kedār is
unknown: it certainly does not mean ‘pine or cedar.’]
Footnote 10.1.74:
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.
Footnote 10.1.75:
Harraj had twelve sons, the eldest of whom was Alu, who succeeded to
Bumbaoda. Alu Hara’s name will 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.
Footnote 10.1.76:
[A.D. 1489-1517.]
Footnote 10.1.77:
Thal and Nal are both terms for a valley, though the latter is oftener
applied to a defile.
Footnote 10.1.78:
[The ‘appeal to the spear.’]
Footnote 10.1.79:
The Par, or Parbati River, flows near Ramgarh Relawan.—See Map.
Footnote 10.1.80:
[This conflicts with the statement above that Rāo Dewa reigned in the
time of Sikandar Lodi.]
Footnote 10.1.81:
In Muhammadan authors, Hādāoti. (_Āīn_, ii. 271.)
-----
CHAPTER 2
=Recapitulation of Hāra History.=—Having sketched the history of this
race, from the regeneration of Anhal,[10.2.1] the first Chauhan (at a
period 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 inscriptions; and then proceed with
the history of the Haras as members of the great commonwealth of India.
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, had 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 Rāo Dewa.=—How long it was after this act of barbarity
that Dewa abdicated in favour of his son, is not mentioned, 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;[10.2.2] 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 abdicated king, and on the twelfth day
following the act (being the usual period of [461] mourning) they commit
it to the flames.[10.2.3] In accordance with this custom, Dewa never
afterwards entered the walls either of Bundi or Bumbaoda,[10.2.4] but
resided at the village of Umarthuna, five coss from the former, till his
death.
=Rāo Napuji.=—Samarsi had three sons: 1. Napuji, who succeeded; 2.
Harpal, 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
chief 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 victims 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 Kotah, a name derived from a community of Bhils called
Kotia.[10.2.5]
=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,[10.2.6] 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 him to depart. Napuji
was incensed, and visited his anger upon his wife, whom he treated with
neglect and even banished from 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 trampling 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 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 limb, 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 mount 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,[10.2.7] 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 descendants 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 established himself at Bundi. Alu Hara [463] succeeded; but the
lord of the Patar had a feud with the Rana, and he was dispossessed of
his birthright. Bumbaoda was levelled, and he left no heirs to his
revenge.
=Mewār attempts to regain Influence in Būndi.=—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 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 invasion. But then the Sesodia power was weakened;
the Bhumias and aboriginal tribes recovered 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
encroachment upon it, called upon Hamu “to do service for Bundi.” 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 Chitor, who resolved to
compel submission, or drive the stock of Dewa from the Patar. Hamu
defied, and determined 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 rallied 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 Hindupati;[10.2.8] 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: Bundi must fall,
ere the king of the Guhilots could dine. In this exigence, a childish
[464] expedient was proposed to release him from hunger and his oath;
“to erect a mock Bundi and take it by storm.”[10.2.9] Instantly the
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 appropriate 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
indignity to the clan, and each bosom burning with indignation, they
prepared to protect the mud walls of the pseudo Bundi from insult. It
was reported to the Rana that Bundi was finished. He advanced to the
storm: but what was his surprise when, instead of the blank-cartridge,
he heard a volley of balls whiz 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 little gateway, Bersi and the Kumbhawats invited the
assault, and at the threshold of “Gar-ki-Bundi” (the Bundi of clay) they
gave up their lives for the honour of the race.[10.2.10] 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 impolicy of driving such a daring clan to
desperation, whose services he could command on an emergency.
=Rāo Bīr Singh.=—Hamu, who ruled sixteen years, left two sons: 1.
Birsingh; 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: Biru,
Jabdu, who founded three tribes,[10.2.11] 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 founded clans named after them Akawat, Udawat,
Chondawat, but the last two abandoned their faith for that of Islam
[465].
=Rāo 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).[10.2.12] 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 his sword and shield, the intrepid Hara assaulted the
apparition. “Bravo, Banda Hara,” it exclaimed; “I am Kal (Time); on me
your sword will fall in vain. Yet you are the only mortal who ever dared
to oppose me. Now listen: I am Byalis (forty-two); the land will become
a desert; fill your granaries, distribute liberally, 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 Bundi, while 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.’[10.2.13]
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 Matunda, in the hills,
where he died after a reign of twenty-one years, and where his cenotaph
still remains. He left two sons: 1. Narayandas; and 2. Nirbudh, who had
Matunda.
=Rāo Nārāyandās.=—Narayan had grown up to manhood in this retreat; but
no sooner was he at liberty to act for himself, than he assembled the
Haras of the Patar, and revealed his determination to obtain Bundi, 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 suspecting 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 unattended. They liked not the
resolute demeanour of the youth, 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 security. In an instant, he severed both their heads,
with which he graced the shrine of Bhavani, and giving a shout 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 down Samarkandi, and which bears testimony to the vigour
of his arm, is annually worshipped by every Hara on the festival of the
Dasahra.[10.2.14]
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.”[10.2.15] The consequence of this
vice, 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 which the flies
had unmolested ingress, when a young Telin[10.2.16] 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.[10.2.17] 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 Bundi’s prince, and the ladies ‘behind the curtain’ felt
so little alarm at their opium-eating knight, that the Rana’s niece
determined 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 sensible of his
obligation not to hail with joy any mode of testifying his gratitude,
and the nuptials of the Hara and Ketu were celebrated 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,[10.2.18] 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.
=Rāo Sūrajmall, _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 inclination 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 view, 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 [468] the
honour of the house from whence 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 (_balak_).” The expression, added to other insults
which he fancied were put upon him, cost the Rao his life, and sent
the fair Suja an untimely victim to Indraloka.[10.2.19] 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 _ramnas_ 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 the 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 forgotten it was only looked upon as ‘a
tale that was past.’
=Murder of Rāo Sūrajmall.=—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
jungles 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[10.2.20] 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 convenient 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 Iago of his revenge, the son of the Purbia, whom the Hara prince had
slain. “Now is the 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 making 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 sufficed 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 fount 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 the 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 sport. 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 cenotaphs of
the princes were reared where they fell; while that of 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].[10.2.21]
=Rāo Surthān, _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
divinity 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 Surthanpur, which 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.
=Rāo Arjun.=—Rao Arjun, the eldest of the eight sons[10.2.22] of
Nirbudh, succeeded his banished cousin. Nothing can more effectually
evince the total extinction of animosity between these valiant 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,[10.2.23] 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:
“Seated on a fragment of the rock, disparted by the explosion of the
mine, Arjun drew his sword, and the world beheld his departure with
amazement.”[10.2.24]
Surjan, the eldest of the four sons[10.2.25] of Arjun, succeeded in S.
1589 (A.D. 1533) [471].
-----
Footnote 10.2.1:
_Anhal_ [_anal_] and _Agni_ have the same signification, namely,
‘fire.’
Footnote 10.2.2:
Yuga-Raj, ‘sacrifice of the government.’ [Possibly confused with
Yuvarāja, ‘heir-apparent.’]
Footnote 10.2.3:
[Durlabha Chaulukya of Gujarāt went on a pilgrimage and abdicated.
“Such a resignation of royal state seems to have been a constant
practice in ancient times, the Rājput princes esteeming a death in the
holy land of Gaya as the safe passage to beatitude” (Forbes,
_Rāsmāla_, 54). A defeated king was required to resign his throne
(Elliot-Dowson ii. 27). See Frazer, _Golden Bough_, 3rd ed. Part iii.
148 ff.]
Footnote 10.2.4:
Harraj (elder son of Dewa), lord of Bumbaoda, had twelve sons; of whom
Alu Hara, the eldest, held twenty-four castles upon the Patar. With
all of these the author is familiar, having trod the Patar in every
direction: of this, anon.
Footnote 10.2.5:
[This is a folk etymology, the real name of the Bhīl 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 Surajmall 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 by two Pathans, Dhakar and Kesar
Khan. Bhonang, who became mad from excessive use of wine and opium,
was banished 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; he
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 which she destined him to take part. To
attempt it by force would have been to court destruction, and she
determined 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
Surajmall dispossessed and added Kotah to Bundi.
Footnote 10.2.6:
[About 60 miles S.W. of Ajmer city.]
Footnote 10.2.7:
“Poor dumb mouths.”
Footnote 10.2.8:
[‘Lord of the Hindu,’ a title assumed by the Rānas of Mewār.]
Footnote 10.2.9:
[This was probably, as in the cases of Dhār and Amber, a form of
sympathetic magic to ensure the capture of Būndi.]
Footnote 10.2.10:
Somewhat akin to this incident is the history of that summer abode of
kings of France in the Bois de Boulogne at Paris, called “Madrid.”
When Francis I. was allowed to return to his capital, he pledged his
parole that he would return to Madrid. But the delights of liberty and
Paris were too much for honour; and while he 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.
Footnote 10.2.11:
Jabdu had three sons: each founded clans. The eldest, Bacha, had two
sons, Sewaji and Seranji. The former had Meoji, the latter had Sawant,
whose descendants are styled Meo and Sawant Haras.
Footnote 10.2.12:
[There was a great drought in Hindustān about A.D. 1491 (Balfour,
_Cyclopaedia of India_, i. 1072).]
Footnote 10.2.13:
[_Langar_ means ‘an anchor,’ then ‘a distribution of food to the
poor.’ The most famous instance is that at Haidarābād
(Bilgrami-Willmott, _Sketch of H.H. The Nizam’s Dominions_, ii. 875
ff.). The _googri_ of the original text is possibly _gagari_, ‘a
little pot.’]
Footnote 10.2.14:
Though called a pillar, it is a slab in the staircase of the old
palace, which I have seen.
Footnote 10.2.15:
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_, 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
Nārāyandās must have been enormous.]
Footnote 10.2.16:
Wife or daughter of a _teli_, or oilman.
Footnote 10.2.17:
[Rāna Rāēmall’s opponent is said to have been Ghayāsu-d-dīn of Mālwa
(A.D. 1469-99): but he is reported to have been a debauchee who never
left his palace (_BG_, i. Part i. 362 ff.).]
Footnote 10.2.18:
[Ketu, the demon who causes eclipses; Kāmdeo, god of love.]
Footnote 10.2.19:
[Deathland, the realm of Indra.]
Footnote 10.2.20:
[The twelve-tined deer, _Cervus duvanceli_; _Boselaphus tragocamelus_
(Blanford, _Mammalia_, 538, 517 ff.).]
Footnote 10.2.21:
The Author has seen the cenotaphs of the princes at Nanta, a place
which still affords good hunting.
Footnote 10.2.22:
Four of these had appanages and founded clans, namely, Bhim, who had
Thakurda; Pura, who had Hardoi; Mapal and Pachain, whose abodes are
not recorded.
Footnote 10.2.23:
See Vol. I. p. 361.
Footnote 10.2.24:
_Sor ne kiya bahut jor
Dhar parbat ori silla;
Tain kari tarwār
Ad pātiya, Hāra Uja._[10.2.24.A]
Footnote 10.2.24.A:
Uja, the familiar contraction for Arjuna.
Footnote 10.2.25:
Ram Singh, clan Rama Hara; Akhairaj, clan Akhairajpota; Kandhal, clan
Jasa Hara.
-----
CHAPTER 3
=Rāo Surjan, A.D. 1554.=—With Rao Surjan commenced a new era for
Bundi.[10.3.1] 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 chief of Bedla,[10.3.2] 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 fourteenth century in a
branch of the family descended from Bisaldeo, when it was [472] captured
from the valiant Hamir[10.3.3] 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
him by marriage, determined to use their influence to make Surjan Hara
faithless to his pledge, “to hold the castle as a fief of
Chitor.”[10.3.4] 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.[10.3.5]
A treaty was drawn up upon the spot, and mediated by the prince of
Amber, which presents a good picture of Hindu feeling:
1. That the chiefs of Bundi should be exempted from that custom,
degrading to a Rajput, of sending a _dola_[10.3.6] 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.[10.3.7]
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.[10.3.8]
9. That they should be allowed to beat their nakkaras, or ‘kettledrums,’
in the streets of the capital as far as the Lal Darwaza or ‘red-gate’;
and that they should not be commanded to make the ‘prostration’[10.3.9]
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, possessing that
privilege so dear to the Rajput, the right of sanctuary, which is
maintained to this day.[10.3.10] 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[10.3.11] 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 only 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.
=Rāo 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.’[10.3.12] He took their capital, Bari, by
assault, and to commemorate the achievement erected the gateway still
called the Surjanpol. The Gond leaders he carried captives to the
emperor, and generously interceded for their restoration to liberty, and
to a portion of their possessions. On effecting this service, 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.[10.3.13]
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 ornamented 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,
Lakar 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 Gujarāt.=—About this period, Akbar transferred the seat
of government from Delhi to Agra, which he enlarged and called
Akbarabad. Having 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. Proceeding with the utmost
celerity, Akbar joined his army besieging Surat, before which many
desperate encounters took place.[10.3.14] 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 consolidation of the
universal [475] empire of India, gave abundant opportunity to the Rajput
leaders to exert their valour; and the Haras were ever at the post of
danger and of honour. The siege 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.[10.3.15] 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 this 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.[10.3.16] 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, alighted 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 distinction of putting his
lip into mourning for the queen.” Akbar, happy to obtain even so much
acknowledgment, embraced the Rao, and carried him with him to his own
quarters.
=Death of Akbar.=—In this portion of the Bundi memoirs is related the
mode of Akbar’s death.[10.3.17] 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 which were poisoned. On the emperor’s death, Rao
Bhoj retired to his hereditary dominions, and died in his palace of
Bundi, leaving three sons, Rao Ratan, Harda Narayan,[10.3.18] and
Keshodas.[10.3.19]
=Rāo Ratan.=—Jahangir was now sovereign of India. He had nominated his
son Parvez to the government of the Deccan, and having invested him in
the city of Burhanpur, returned to the north. But Prince Khurram,
jealous of his brother, conspired against and slew him.[10.3.20] 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 rebellion was raised; or, as the chronicle says,
“the twenty-two Rajas turned against the king, all but Rao Ratan”:
“_Sarwar phūtā, jal bahā;
Ab kya karo jatanna?
Jātā ghar Jahāngīr kā,
Rākhā Rāo 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 Hāraoti.=—With his two sons, Madho Singh and Hari, Ratan
repaired to Burhanpur, where he gained a complete 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, founded a township
which still bears his name, Ratanpur. He performed another important
service [477], which, while it gratified the emperor, contributed
greatly to the tranquillity of his ancient lord-paramount, the Rana of
Mewar. A refractory noble of the court, Dariyau Khan, was leading a life
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
exultingly boast that no Muslim dared pollute the quarters where they
might be stationed with the blood of the sacred kine. After all his
services, Ratan was killed in an action near Burhanpur, leaving a name
endeared by his valour and his virtues to the whole Hara race.
=Gopināth.=—Rao Ratan left four sons, Gopinath, who had Bundi; Madho
Singh, who had Kotah; Hariji, who had Gugor;[10.3.21] Jagannath, who had
no issue; and Gopinath, the heir of Bundi, who died before his father.
The manner of his death affords 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 his treacherous prince, and proceeding 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 unwittingly passed, he
submitted in silence.[10.3.22]
=The Fiefs of Būndi.=—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].[10.3.23]
3. Berisal, who founded Balwan and Phalodi, and had Karwar and Pipalda.
4. Mohkam Singh, who had Antardah.
5. Maha Singh, who had Thana.[10.3.24]
It is useless to specify the names of the remainder, who left no issue.
=Rāo Chhattarsāl, 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
Chhattarsal again led the escalade. The last resort was the strong fort
of Damauni, which terminated all resistance, and the Deccan was
tranquillized.[10.3.25]
=Death of Shāh Jahān. 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.[10.3.26] 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. While Shuja marched from
Bengal, Aurangzeb prepared to quit the Deccan, and cajoled Murad to join
him with all his forces; assuring him 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 infidel, Shuja a free-thinker, himself 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.[10.3.27]
“The emperor, learning the hostile intentions of Aurangzeb, wrote
privately to the Hara prince to repair to the Presence. On receiving the
mandate, Chhattarsal revolved its import, but considering “that, as a
servant of the _gaddi_ (throne), his only duty was obedience,” he
instantly commenced his 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 commanded that he should not be permitted to depart, and
directed his encampment to be surrounded. But Chhattarsal, foreseeing
this, had 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 inhabiting the banks of this river, the Bundi Rao was
enabled to pass this dangerous stream, then swollen by the periodical
rains. Already baffled by the skill and intrepidity of Chhattarsal,
Aurangzeb was compelled to give up the pursuit, and the former reached
Bundi in safety. Having made his domestic arrangements, he proceeded
forthwith to the capital, to help the aged emperor, whose power, and
even existence, 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 to expose the moral retribution
resulting from evil example. Were we to take but a partial view of the
picture, we should depict the venerable Shah Jahan, 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 life and land to help
him in his need. Such a picture would enlist all our sympathies on the
side of the helpless king. But when we recall the past, and consider
that [480] Shah Jahan, as Prince Khurram, played the same part (setting
aside the mask of hypocrisy), which Aurangzeb now attempted; that, to
forward his guilty design, he murdered his brother Parvez,[10.3.28] who
stood between him and the throne of his parent, against whom he levied
war, our sympathies 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,[10.3.29]
which, 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 under 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 Bundi 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 his sorrows, which
closed but with his life; 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
conformity thereto Dara, mounted on his elephant, was in the brunt of
the battle, in the heat of which, when valour and fidelity might have
preserved the sceptre of Shah Jahan, Dara suddenly disappeared. 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 mounted 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 his
master.” Mounting his horse, and forming his men into a dense mass
(_gol_), 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.[10.3.30] 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,
maintained their fealty (_swamidharma_) 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 fidelity.” He
enlarged the palace of Bundi by adding that portion which bears his
name,—the Chhattar Mahall,—and the temple of Keshorai, at Patan, was
constructed under his direction.[10.3.31] It was in S. 1715 he was
killed; he left four sons, Rao Bhao Singh, Bhim Singh, who got Gugorha,
Bhagwant Singh, who obtained Mau, and Bharat Singh, who was killed at
Dholpur.
=Rāo Bhāo Singh, A.D. 1658-78. Mughal Attack on Būndi.=—Aurangzeb, 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 disaffected race, the Hara,” and annex Bundi
to the government of Ranthambhor, declaring that he should visit Bundi
shortly in person, on his way to the Deccan, and hoped to congratulate
him on his success. 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,[10.3.32] the
clans secretly assembled, engaged Atmaram at Gotarda, defeated 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 this 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 much fame by his valour, his charities, and the sanctity[10.3.33] of
his manners, that miraculous cures were (said to be) effected by him. He
[482] died at Aurangabad in S. 1738 (A.D. 1682),[10.3.34] and, being
without issue, was succeeded by Aniruddh Singh, the grandson of his
brother Bhim.[10.3.35]
=Rāo 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 important service of rescuing the
ladies of the harem out of the enemy’s hands. The 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 improper 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 _tika_ 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
countries 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.
=Rāo Budh 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 officers 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 under 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.[10.3.36] 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 with 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 manhood, and he was at that moment in deep affliction for
the untimely loss of his brother, Jodh Singh.[10.3.37] 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 consecrated by the memory of
the heroes who have fallen in the performance 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 Jājau, 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 pretensions 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 replied: “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 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 Azam 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 enjoy until his death,
when fresh contentions arose, in which the grandsons of Aurangzeb all
perished. Farrukhsiyar succeeded to the empire, under whom the Sayyids
of Barha 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 (_chauk_) square, in which his uncle Jeth
Singh, and many of his clansmen, were slain.
=Rivalry between Kotah and Būndi.=—The rivalry which commenced 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 Sayyids. 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.[10.3.38]
Farrukhsiyar was shortly after murdered, and the empire fell into
complete disorder; when the nobles and Rajas, feeling their insecurity
under the bloody and rapacious domination of the Sayyids, repaired to
their several possessions.[10.3.39]
=Jai Singh of Jaipur attacks Būndi.=—At this period, Raja Jai Singh of
Amber thought of dispossessing Budh Singh of Bundi. Rao Budh Singh was
at this time his guest, having accompanied him from court to Amber. The
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.
Unfortunately, she bore him no issue, and viewed with jealousy his 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
child. 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 interrogated 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,”[10.3.40] would have slain him on the spot, had he not fled from
her fury.
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,[10.3.41] 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 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 views.
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 Shaikhawats, deemed [486] themselves under no such
obligation. 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 stipulated 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 ignorance and presumption. He
therefore determined to dethrone Budh Singh, and to make a Raja of his
own choice hold of him 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 commanded that the Begun Rani should depart with her
children to her father’s; and having given time for this, 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 Pancholas, on the mutual frontier,
by the select army under the five principal chieftains of Amber. The
little 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
unwise 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 Sayyids,
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 Rāo Būdh 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 small 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.
-----
Footnote 10.3.1:
[The dates are uncertain: that in the margin is from _IGI_, ix. 80.
Prinsep (_Useful Tables_, 105) gives 1575. Blochmann (_Āīn_, i. 410)
says, “he had been dead for some time in 1001 Hijri,” A.D. 1592.]
Footnote 10.3.2:
[4 miles N. of Udaipur city.]
Footnote 10.3.3:
His fame is immortalized by a descendant of the bard Chand, in the
works already mentioned, as bearing his name, the Hamir-raesa and
Hamir-kavya.
Footnote 10.3.4:
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 life of Rana Partap of Mewar. Rao Surjan avoided by
convention what the Chitor prince did by arms.
Footnote 10.3.5:
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 (_Akbarnāma_, ii. 132 f., 494). Smith (_Akbar, the Great
Mogul_, 98 ff.) quotes the narrative in the text, which he considers
trustworthy.]
Footnote 10.3.6:
_Dola_ is the term for a princess affianced to the king.
Footnote 10.3.7:
An ancient institution of the Timurian kings, derived from their
Tartar ancestry. For a description of this festival see Vol. I. p.
400, and _Āīn_, i. 276 f. [See the lively account of these fairs
by Bernier (p. 272 f.). They were held in the Mīna, or ‘heavenly,’
bāzār, near the Mīna Masjid, or mosque, in the Agra Fort (Syad
Muhammad Latif, _Agra_, 75 f.).]
Footnote 10.3.8:
This brand (_dagh_) was a flower on the forehead [Vol. II. p.
972].
Footnote 10.3.9:
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 _Āīn_, i. 158 f.]
Footnote 10.3.10:
[The Mahārāo Rāo of Būndi still has a house, somewhat dilapidated,
near the Rāj Mandir and Sītala Ghāt at Benares. The right of sanctuary
has ceased (E. Graves, _Kashi_, 1909, p. 55).]
Footnote 10.3.11:
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.
Footnote 10.3.12:
[Gondwāna is the term applied to the Sātpura plateau in the Central
Provinces (_IGI_, xii. 321 ff.). The campaign was begun by Āsaf Khan
in A.D. 1564. The Bāri in the text, a word meaning ‘dwelling,’
possibly refers to Chauragarh, now in the Narsinghpur District (Smith,
_Akbar, the Great Mogul_, 69 ff.). Rāo Surjan was governor of
Garha-Katanka or Gondwāna, whence he was transferred to Chunār (_Āīn_,
i. 409).]
Footnote 10.3.13:
See Vol. I. p. 393.
Footnote 10.3.14:
[Akbar began to reside at Agra in A.D. 1558, and built the fort in
1565-6. The first campaign in Gujarāt took place in 1572. Surat was
captured in February 1573.]
Footnote 10.3.15:
[Ahmadnagar was stormed in August 1600. According to Ferishta (iii.
312) Chānd Bībi was killed by her Deccan troops because she was
treating for surrender. By another story, she was poisoned (Smith,
_Akbar, the Great Mogul_, 272).]
Footnote 10.3.16:
[There is an error here. Akbar died in 1605; Jodh Bāi died, it is said
by poison, in 1619 or 1622.]
Footnote 10.3.17:
See Vol. I. p. 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 (Elliot-Dowson v. 541, vi. 115, 168 f.).
Smith (_Akbar, the Great Mogul_, 325 f.) disbelieves the story, but
suspects that he may have been poisoned by some one. See Irvine’s note
on Manucci iv. 420.]
Footnote 10.3.18:
He held Kotah in separate grant from the king during fifteen years.
Footnote 10.3.19:
He obtained the town of Dipri (on the Chambal), with twenty-seven
villages, in appanage.
Footnote 10.3.20:
[Parvez died from apoplexy at Burhānpur, 28th October 1626 (Beale,
_Dict. Oriental Biography_, _s.v._ Parwīz Sultān; Dow 2nd ed. iii.
88).]
Footnote 10.3.21:
There are about fifty families, his descendants, forming a community
round Nimoda.
Footnote 10.3.22:
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 commemoration of the justice of Mahmud.
Footnote 10.3.23:
These, the three great fiefs of Bundi,—Indargarh, Balwan, and
Antardah,—are now all alienated from Bundi by the intrigues of Zalim
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 the 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. All of these chiefs were the founders
of clans, called after them, Indarsalot, Berisalot, Mohkamsinghot; the
first can muster fifteen hundred Haras under arms. Jaipur having
imposed a tribute 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 these chiefs
redeem their freedom from tribute to Jaipur, by the payment of so many
years’ purchase, which would relieve them altogether from Zalim Singh,
and at the same time be in accordance with our treaties, which
prohibit such ties between the States.
Footnote 10.3.24:
Thana [about 20 miles E. of Jhalāwar], 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 alive, 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 ‘lion-killer’ in the Personal Narrative.
Footnote 10.3.25:
[For this campaign see Jadunath Sarkar, _History of Aurangzib_, i. 264
ff.; Grant Duff 70. Bidar was stormed in March 1657. The gallantry of
Chhattarsāl is commended by Jadunath Sarkar i. 272, ii. 6.]
Footnote 10.3.26:
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 princes
in the Bundi archives.
Footnote 10.3.27:
The Rajput prince, 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 be eventually mistaken?
Footnote 10.3.28:
[See p. 1486.]
Footnote 10.3.29:
[Or Samūgarh, 29th May 1658.]
Footnote 10.3.30:
[The defeat of Dāra Shikoh at Dholpur preceded the battle of
Samūgarh-Fatehābād: it was at Samūgarh that Chhattarsāl was killed
(Jadunath Sarkar, ii. 37 ff.).]
Footnote 10.3.31:
[The temple of Keshorāi, or Kesava Krishna, is on the N. bank of the
Chambal, 12 miles below Kotah (_Rājputāna Gazetteer_, 1879, i. 238).]
Footnote 10.3.32:
[Indargarh about 30 miles N. of Būndi city: Khatoli 20 miles E. of
Indargarh.]
Footnote 10.3.33:
It is a fact worthy of notice, that the most intrepid of the Rajput
princely cavaliers are of a very devout frame of mind.
Footnote 10.3.34:
[Rāo Bhāo Singh died between March 1677 and February 1678 (Manucci ii.
402).]
Footnote 10.3.35:
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.
Footnote 10.3.36:
It is useless to repeat that this is a literal translation from the
records and journals of the Hara princes, who served the emperors.
Footnote 10.3.37:
This catastrophe will be related in the Personal Narrative.
Footnote 10.3.38:
_Vide_ Vol. I. p. 473, _et passim_, in which the Bundi Annals are
corroborated 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).
Footnote 10.3.39:
These subjects being already discussed in Vol. I. would have had no
place here, 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.
Footnote 10.3.40:
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 merely a term of endearment, may not be Bijai Singh, whose
captivity we have related. See p. 1349.
Footnote 10.3.41:
[About 35 miles N. of Būndi city.]
-----
CHAPTER 4
=Mahārāo 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 Patan and Gainoli.[10.4.1]
“When it was heard that the son of Budh Singh was awake, the ancient
Haras flocked to his standard,” and Durjansal of Kotah, rejoicing to see
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[10.4.2] 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.[10.4.3] On the eve
of attack, young Ummeda went to propitiate ‘the lady of Situn,’[10.4.4]
the tutelary divinity of his race; and as he knelt before the altar of
Asapurna (the fulfiller of hope), his eyes falling upon the turrets of
Bundi, then held by a traitor, he swore to conquer or die.
=Battle of Dablāna.=—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, Ummeda led his Haras to the charge.
Its physical and moral impression was irresistible; and a vista was cut
through 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 valiant Hara, who fell just as he launched his
_chakra_ (discus) at the head of the Khatri 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 preservation 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 his 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.[10.4.5]
Ummeda gained Indargarh, which was close at hand, on foot; but this
traitor to the name of Hara, who had acknowledged the supremacy of
Amber, not only refused his 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 young
prince, stung by this perfidious mark of inhospitality, took the
direction of Karwain. Its chief made amends for the other’s
churlishness: 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
regained his old retreat, the ruined palace of Rampura, amongst the
ravines of the Chambal.
=Būndi 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 his sword as well as
his muse towards reinstating him in the halls of his 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 his body. The assailants pressed on; the
usurper, alarmed, took to flight; the ‘lion’s hope’[10.4.6] was
fulfilled, and Ummeda was seated on the throne of his fathers.
=Būndi occupied by Jaipur.=—Dalil fled to his suzerain 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 won, 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, by which he had been disgraced in the opinion of
mankind.”
=Ummed Singh in Exile.=—Ummeda, once more a wanderer, alternately
courting the aid of Mewar and Marwar, never suspended his hostility to
the usurper of his rights, but carried his incursions, without
intermission, into his paternal domains. One 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, his heroism, brightened by adversity,
originating with her nefarious desire to stifle his claims of
primogeniture by a spurious 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.’[10.4.7] 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 suppliant to this goatherd leader[10.4.8] of a
horde of plunderers, nay, adopted him as her brother to effect the
redemption of Bundi for the exiled Ummeda.
=Malhār Rāo Holkar assists Ummed 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 promised 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 would 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.[10.4.9]
Be this as it may, the Bundi chronicle states that the lady, instead of
the temporary expedient of delivering Bundi, conducted the march of the
Mahrattas direct on Jaipur. Circumstances favoured her designs. The
character of Isari Singh had raised up enemies about his person, who
seized the occasion to forward at once the views 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
Bagru[10.4.10] that he was undeceived and surrounded. 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:
_Jabhī chhodī Īsra
Rāj karan kī ās,
Mantrī moto māriyo
Khatri Kesodās,_
‘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 numbers, and led him to the attack with means
totally inadequate. Resistance to a vast numerical superiority would
have been madness: he retreated to the castle of this fief 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 this 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
consume the mortal remains of his foe. Raja Isari could [492] not
survive his disgrace, and terminated his existence and hostility by
poison, thereby facilitating the designs both of Bundi and Mewar.
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 Bundi. 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.[10.4.11]
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 which 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.
From the time of its surrender by Rao Surjan to Akbar, the importance of
this castle was established by its becoming the first Sarkar, or
‘department,’ in the province of Ajmer, consisting of no less than
‘seventy-three mahals,’[10.4.12] or 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,[10.4.13] Ranthambhor
was the most extensive Sarkar of the empire. In the decrepitude of the
empire, this castle was maintained by a veteran commander [493] 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 Hara, 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 which, for the sake of the display of
supremacy and paltry annual relief, has nourished half a century of
irritation, which it is high time should cease.[10.4.14]
=Zālim 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 considered that, as the late lieutenant of
the king, he had a right to transfer his powers to himself. The battle
of Bhatwara, in S. 1817 (A.D. 1761), for ever extinguished these
pretensions, on which occasion Zalim Singh, then scarcely of age, mainly
contributed 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 unexampled 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 his 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 Ummeda, 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 his treason
being exacted, it might have been concluded that the natural 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 relieve 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.[10.4.15] 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 contaminated 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 generations 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 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,[10.4.16] 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 Mahārāo 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_,[10.4.17] and the twelve days of
_matam_, or ‘mourning,’ were passed as if Ummeda had really
deceased;[10.4.18] 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 known), retired to that holy spot in the valley sanctified by
the miraculous cure of the first ‘lord of the Patar,’[10.4.19] 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 fruit 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 vicissitudes which
produced it, to see the pine of Tibet, the cane of Malacca, and other
exotics, planted by the hand of the princely ascetic, flourishing around
his hermitage, in spite of the intense heats of this rock-bound abode.
When Ummeda resigned the sceptre of the Haras, it was from the
conviction that a life of meditation alone could yield the consolation,
and obtain the forgiveness which he found necessary to his repose. But
in assuming the pilgrim’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
determination he was, perhaps, somewhat influenced by that love of
adventure in which he had been nurtured, and it was a balm to his 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, pouches, 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 accoutred, that he could place the whole of
this panoply within his 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;[10.4.20] and from the hot-wells of Sita in Arakan,[10.4.21]
and the Moloch of Orissa,[10.4.22] to the shrine of the Hindu Apollo at
‘the world’s end.’[10.4.23] 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 living
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.[10.4.24] As he
returned by Dwarka he was beset by a band of Kabas,[10.4.25] 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 catastrophe, interwoven 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 dying 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 territory, 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 their 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 Rāna Ari Singh.=—The abdicated Rao, who had lately returned
from Badarinath, no sooner heard of the projected hunt, than he
dispatched a special messenger to remind his son 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 sentiments 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 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 Rāna Ari Singh.=—The Rana and the Bundi prince had
married two sisters, daughters of the prince of Kishangarh, 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 struck, a simple mace-bearer alone had the
fidelity 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 murdered 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 Mahārāo Ajīt 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 was
prompted from Mewar [500].
=Mahārāo 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.
Having arranged the affairs of the infant Rao, and placed an intelligent
Dhabhai (foster-brother) at the head of the government, he recommenced
his peregrinations, 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 renunciation 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 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,[10.4.27]
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 intentions 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 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_[10.4.28] (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 sun 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, avowedly for the purpose of putting down Holkar, the
great foe of the Rajputs, but especially of Bundi.[10.4.29] Whether the
aged chief was yet alive and counselled this policy, which has since
been gratefully 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 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 his own
welfare and interests. It was, indeed, visited with retribution, which
we little knew, or, in the pusillanimous policy 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 alliance. 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
abandonment of the Rao in 1804.
=Compensation to Būndi after the Pindāri War.=—Throughout the contest of
1817, Bundi had no will 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
alienated 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
Sindhia, on his paying, through us, an annual sum calculated 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 unmeaning phrase of compliment; he would have
sacrificed his life, and that of every Hara who “ate his salt,” had we
made experiment of his fidelity. Still, immense as were the benefits
showered upon Bundi, and with which her prince was deeply penetrated,
there was a drawback. The old Machiavelli of Kotah had been before him
in signing himself ‘_fidwi Sarkar Angrez_’ (the slave of the English
government), and had contrived to get Indargarh, Balwan, Antardah, and
Khatoli, 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 “clipping his wings.”
The disposition is a bad one, and both justice and political expediency
enjoin a revision of it, and the bringing about a compromise which would
restore the integrity of the most interesting and deserving little State
in India.[10.4.30] 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 restoration of
his independence only four short years, when he was carried off by that
scourge, the cholera morbus. In his extremity, writhing under 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 Mahārāo Bishan Singh.=—The character of Bishan
Singh may be summed up in a few words. He was an honest man, and every
inch a Rajput. Under an unpolished exterior, he concealed an excellent
heart and an energetic soul; he was by no means deficient in
understanding, and possessed 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 deemed worthy of his skill. He had
slain upwards of one hundred lions with his own hand, besides many
tigers, and boars innumerable had been victims to his lance. In this
noble pastime, not exempt from danger, and pleasurable in proportion to
the toil, he had a limb 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 antechamber. 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
humiliating corrective for an offending minister.
=The Ministers of Būndi.=—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 Accounts [504].[10.4.31]
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 likewise heads the feudal quotas or the mercenaries, and has lands
assigned for their support. The Bakhshi controls generally all accounts;
the Risala those of the household expenditure. The late prince’s
management of his 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.[10.4.32] 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 inherited his father’s passion for the chase,
and even at this tender age received from the nobles[10.4.33] 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 court 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].
[Illustration:
CITY OF KOTAH FROM THE EAST.
_To face page 1521._
]
KOTAH
CHAPTER 5
=Formation of Kotah State.=—The early history of the Haras of Kotah
belongs to Bundi, of which they were a junior 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.[10.5.1]
=Rāo Mādho 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 townships (then the chief fief of Bundi, 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 ‘unmixed,’ or aboriginal race.
From these the Rajput will eat, and all classes will ‘drink water’ at
their hands.[10.5.2] 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 Khichis; on the
east, by Mangrol 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 Sultanpur, on the
Chambal, across which was the small domain 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 his authority at his death
extended to the barrier between Malwa and Haraoti. Madho Singh died in
S. 1687, leaving five sons, 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 applied, and the epithet Madhani is sufficiently
distinctive whenever two Haras, bearing the same name, appear together.
These were—
1. Mukund Singh, who had Kotah.
2. Mohan Singh, who had Paleta.
3. Jujarh Singh, who had Kotra, and subsequently Ramgarh, Rilawan.
4. Kaniram, who had Koila.[10.5.3]
5. Kishor Singh who obtained Sangod.
=Rāo 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[10.5.4] 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[10.5.5] 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 determined 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 victory.[10.5.6] The
imprudent intrepidity of the Rathor commander denied them the latter,
but a [507] glorious death no power could prevent, and all the five
brothers fell in one field. The youngest, 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 under one who could
control them, were irresistible.
=Rāo Jagat Singh, A.D. 1657-70.=—Jagat Singh, the 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.
=Rāo Pem 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.[10.5.7]
=Rāo 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 greatly 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 upon him. His issue was as follows:
Prithi Singh, chief of Anta, whose son, Ajit Singh, had three sons,
Chhattarsal, Guman Singh, and Raj Singh.
=Rāo Rām Singh, A.D. 1686-1707.=—Ram Singh, who was with his father when
he was killed, succeeded to all his dignities, and 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 this
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.
=Rāo Bhīm 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 mansab 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 ministers, and thus the breach made at the battle
of Jajau was widened by their taking opposite sides. The disgraceful
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 accomplishment
since the unmerited and sudden misfortunes of Rao Budh had deprived him
of his reason. Raja Bhim obtained the royal sanad or grant for all the
lands on the Patar, from Kotah west, to the descent into Ahirwara 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 chief place, and here dwelt
‘the king of the Bhils,’ Raja Chakarsen, whose person was attended by
five hundred 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, whose simple life secured their
preservation amidst all the vicissitudes 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.[10.5.8] 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 Khan,[10.5.9] afterwards better known to
history as Nizamu-l-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 disadvantage, telling him that he had abstracted no treasures of
the empire, and that Jai Singh was a meddling knave, who desired the
destruction of both; and urging him to heed him not, nor offer any
molestation to his passage to the south.” The brave Hara replied, 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 hostility,
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.[10.5.10] There was
but one approach to his position without a circuitous march, which
suited not the impatient Rajput; and there his antagonist planted a
battery, masked by some brushwood. At the _pila badal_ (morning-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,[10.5.11] 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 him [510].
=Loss of the Hāra 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.
=Rāo Bhīm Singh attacks Būndi.=—The rivalry that commenced 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 Bundi, and despoiled that capital of all the insignia of sovereign
rule, its nakkaras, or kettle-drums, with 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. When
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, expostulation 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 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 Kurwai that this
singularity was explained, on one of his confidential 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 paramount
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.
=Mahārāo 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.
=Mahārāo Durjansāl, A.D. 1724-56. The Marātha Invasion.=—Durjansal
assumed ‘the rod’ in S. 1780 (A.D. 1724). His accession 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[10.5.12] (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 enterprise. 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. Having, 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 Mahratta
leaders, with the Jats under Surajmall, 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,[10.5.13] leaving one of his hands, which was carried off by
a cannon-shot.
=Birth of Zālim 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 Singh was born, a
name of such celebrity that his biography would embrace all that remains
to be told of the history of the Haras.
When Isari Singh was foiled, the brave Durjansal 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 Durjansāl.=—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,
Sheopur, and Bundi. The standard of Kotah was preserved from falling
into the hands of the Khichis by the gallantry of Ummeda Singh of Bundi.
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 which the Rajput is
enamoured; affability, generosity, and bravery. He was devoted 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.
[Illustration:
COUNTRY SEAT OF THE KOTAH PRINCE.
_To face page 1530._
]
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 past
their stand by the hunters. On one of these occasions the Jhala Faujdar
was at the foot of the scaffolding; the tiger, infuriated with the
uproar, approached him open-mouthed; but the prince had not yet given
the word, and none 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 despairing 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 usurpation which changed the order of
succession.” It will be remembered that Bishan Singh, son of Ram Singh
[514], was set aside for refusing, in compliance with maternal fears, to
accompany his father in the wars of the Deccan. When dispossessed of his
birthright, he was established in the fief of Antha on the
Chambal.[10.5.14] 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.
=Mahārāo Ajīt Singh, A.D. 1756-59. Mahārāo Chhattarsāl, 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 minority. 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 Faujdar prevailed; old Ajit was crowned, and
survived his exaltation two years and a half. Ajit left three sons,
Chhattarsal, Guman 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 warning 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[10.5.15] [515], which
humbled the Mahrattas and put a stop to their pretensions to universal
sovereignty, left the Rajputs to themselves. 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. Emboldened 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,[10.5.16] where they found five thousand Haras, _ek bap 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. While the battle was raging, Zalim
dismounted, 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 remarkable 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,[10.5.17]
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 lukewarm courage of
their antagonists into panic and flight: “the host of Jaipur fled, while
the sword of the Hara performed _tirath_ (pilgrimage) in rivers of
blood.xxxx
The chiefs of Macheri, of Isarda, Watka, 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:
_Jang Bhatwārā jīt
Tārā Jālim Jhālā.
Ring ek rang chīt,
Chādyo rang pach-rang kē._[10.5.18]
“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.[10.5.19]
Chhattarsal survived his elevation and this success but a few years; and
as he died without offspring, he was succeeded by his brother [517].
-----
Footnote 10.4.1:
[Pātan, about 25 miles E. of Būndi city: ‘Gainoli’ in the text is
probably Gondoli, about 10 miles E. of Pātan.]
Footnote 10.4.2:
[A Sikh sect founded by Nānak, the Sikh Guru (A.D. 1469-1539) (Rose,
_Glossary_, iii. 152 ff.).]
Footnote 10.4.3:
[About 10 miles N. of Būndi city.]
Footnote 10.4.4:
[Probably Sātur, with a temple of Rakt Dantika Devi, ‘she with the
blood-stained teeth’ (_Rājputāna Gazetteer_, 1879, i. 240).]
Footnote 10.4.5:
I have made my salaam to the representative of Hanja, and should have
graced his neck with a chaplet on every military festival, had I dwelt
among the Haras.
Footnote 10.4.6:
_Ummeda_, ‘hope’; _Singh_, ‘a lion.’
Footnote 10.4.7:
[On the Nerbudda as a barrier see Vol. II. p. 971.]
Footnote 10.4.8:
[The Holkar family belonged to the Dhangar, or Marātha shepherd caste,
taking their name from the village of Hol on the Nīra River in Poona
District (Grant Duff 212; _BG_, xviii. Part ii. 244).]
Footnote 10.4.9:
See Annals of Mewar, Vol. I. p. 495.
Footnote 10.4.10:
[10 miles S. of Jaipur city.]
Footnote 10.4.11:
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 his.
Footnote 10.4.12:
[_Āīn_, ii. 102, 274 f. Jarrett writes Sūi Sūpar or Sūi Sopar.]
Footnote 10.4.13:
[_Āīn_, ii. 132 f.]
Footnote 10.4.14:
The universal arbitrator, Zalim Singh of Kotah, having undertaken to
satisfy them, and save them from the annual visitations of the Jaipur
troops, withdrew the 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 when the author said
that Lord Hastings refused to go into the question of the Kothris, who
had thus transferred their allegiance to Zalim Singh of Kotah. In
their usual metaphorical style, he said, with great emphasis 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 his interposition, which would be attended with no loss
of any kind to him, but would afford unspeakable benefit and pride to
Bundi, which has well deserved the boon at our hands.
Footnote 10.4.15:
[About 30 miles N.E. of Būndi city: for Bijaiseni Māta see Vol. II. p.
1193.]
Footnote 10.4.16:
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_.
Footnote 10.4.17:
The queens’ apartments.
Footnote 10.4.18:
[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).]
Footnote 10.4.19:
See p. 1463.
Footnote 10.4.20:
[In the island of Pāmban, Madura District, Madras (_IGI_, xxi. 173
ff.).]
Footnote 10.4.21:
[Sītakund, in Chittagong District, Bengal (_ibid._ xxiii. 50).]
Footnote 10.4.22:
[Jagannāth, not “a Moloch”: religious suicides under his car are
infrequent (Hunter, _Orissa_, i. 133 f.).]
Footnote 10.4.23:
[Krishna, at Dwārka.]
Footnote 10.4.24:
[Kāli, Pārvati, Māta, or Nāni, not Agnidevi, is worshipped at Hinglāj
(_IGI_, xiii. 142).]
Footnote 10.4.25:
[See Vol. II. p. 1170.]
Footnote 10.4.27:
[Perhaps the town of that name in the Sahāranpur District, United
Provinces.]
Footnote 10.4.28:
[_Sukhpāl_, “happiness-protecting,” a luxurious litter, like the
_sukhāsan_ or _mahādol_ (p. 1349).]
Footnote 10.4.29:
[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 Seringapatam in
1792: in the Marātha war of 1803 commanded a brigade under Lord Lake:
led the storming party, and was seriously wounded at the capture of
Aligarh, 4th September 1803. After his famous retreat to Agra in 1804
he was again employed under Lord Lake in his campaign against Holkar:
was present at the battle of Dīg, 14th November 1804,and led the last
of the four assaults on Bharatpur in 1805. He returned to England in
1806, and was elected member for Lincoln. He died in December 1807.
(C. E. Buckland, _Dict. Indian Biography_, _s.v._).]
Footnote 10.4.30:
The Author had the distinguished happiness of concluding the treaty
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 policy as determined in the commencement of the
war; and setting aside the views which trenched upon these in our
subsequent negotiations. These general principles laid it down as a
_sine qua non_ that the Mahrattas should not have a foot of land in
Rajputana 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
Pātan district was made over in perpetuity to Būndi on payment of a
further sum of Rs. 80,000, to be credited to Gwalior. Under the treaty
of 1860 with Sindhia the sovereignty of this tract was transferred to
the British Government, from whom Būndi now holds it as a perpetual
fief, subject to the payment of Rs. 80,000 per annum, in addition to
the tribute of Rs. 40,000 payable under the treaty of 1818 (_IGI._ ix.
81 f.).]
Footnote 10.4.31:
[Risāla properly means ‘a letter, account.’ Risāladār has, in the
British service, the special sense of a native officer commanding a
troop of cavalry (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 761 f.).]
Footnote 10.4.32:
The truck system, called _parna_, is well known in Rajputana.
Footnote 10.4.33:
And from the Author with the rest, whose nephew he was by courtesy and
adoption. [Rām Singh succeeded his father in 1821. He behaved with
apathy and lukewarmness in the 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 Rājputāna, and a grand specimen of
a true Rājput gentleman.” He was succeeded by his son Mahārāo Rāja
Raghbīr Singh (_IGI._ ix. 82).]
Footnote 10.5.1:
[See Elliot-Dowson vi. 395, 418.]
Footnote 10.5.2:
[Rājputs in early days used to intermarry and eat with Bhīls, who were
regarded, not as a menial tribe, but as lords of the soil (Russell,
_Tribes and Castes Central Provinces_, ii. 281).]
Footnote 10.5.3:
He held also the districts of Dah and Gura in grant direct of the
empire.
Footnote 10.5.4:
[‘The defile of Mukund,’ also written Mukunddwāra, ‘door or gate of
Mukund,’ about 25 miles S. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.5.5:
[The extra-mural suburb of a fortress (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed.
702).]
Footnote 10.5.6:
[15th April 1658 (Jadunath Sarkar, _Hist. of Aurangzib_, ii. 1 ff.).]
Footnote 10.5.7:
A descendant of his covered Monson’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 Personal Narrative, having visited the
spot.
Footnote 10.5.8:
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. [Tankhwāh,
‘wages, an assignment of revenue.’ For its technical sense _tankhwāh
jāgīr_ see Rogers-Beveridge, _Memoirs of Jahāngīr_, 74.]
Footnote 10.5.9:
[Kamaru-d-dīn, Āsaf Jāh, son of Ghāziu-d-dīn Khān Jang, born 1671,
received the title of Chīn Qilīch Khān in 1690-91; governor of
Morādābād and Mālwa under Farrukhsīyar; gained supreme power in the
Deccan in 1720; died May 22, 1748, the present Nizāms of Haidarābād
being his successors (Manucci iv. 140; Grant Duff, _History of the
Mahrattas_, 190; Elliot-Dowson vii. _passim_).]
Footnote 10.5.10:
[On the river Betwa, about 45 miles S.S.W. of Lalitpur.]
Footnote 10.5.11:
[See p. 1449.]
Footnote 10.5.12:
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 Zalim Singh, was born.
Footnote 10.5.13:
[Jai Āpa Sindhia succeeded his father, Rānoji Sindhia. His dates are
uncertain, but he was probably killed at Nāgor in 1759 (Beale, _Dict.
Oriental Biography_, _s.v._; _IGI_, xii. 421; Grant Duff, _Hist. of
the Mahrattas_, 270).]
Footnote 10.5.14:
[Antha is not on the Chambal: it is about 25 miles E. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.5.15:
[Ahmad Shāh Durrāni defeated the Marāthas at Pānipat, 7th January
1761.]
Footnote 10.5.16:
[Near Māngrol, about 40 miles N.E. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.5.17:
It is singular enough, that Zalim Singh was born in the year of Nadir
Shah’s invasion, and made his political _entrée_ in that of the
Abdali.
Footnote 10.5.18:
[Dr. Tessitori, whose version has been followed, writes: “The second
line is quite wrong, and I should not be surprised if it was made up
by Col. Tod’s Pandit. I believe there was some other word in place of
_tārā_.”]
Footnote 10.5.19:
[See Vols. II. p. 1199, III. p. 1471.]
-----
CHAPTER 6
=Mahārāo Gumān 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 vigour and intellect, and well calculated to contend
with 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 inhabited, a sphere far too confined for his genius, which required a
wider field for its display, and might have controlled the destinies of
nations.
=Zālim Singh Jhāla.=—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 finishing 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 Aurangzeb. Muhammad Shah was at this
time emperor of India,[10.6.1] and the valiant 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,[10.6.2]
and though blind, his [518] moral perceptions are as acute as on the day
of Bhatwara. What a chain of events does not this protracted life
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
suppliant, and now—
None so poor
To do him reverence.
To do anything 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 Zalim Singh were petty chieftains of Halwad,[10.6.3] in
the district of Jhalawar, a subdivision of the Saurashtra peninsula.
Bhao Singh was a younger son of this family, who, with 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
in his train, it is a proof of the respectability of the Jhala, that the
prince disdained not his alliance, 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,[10.6.4]
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!’ Madan 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.
│
Madho Singh.
│
Madan Singh.
│
┌─────────────┴──────────┐
│ │
Himmat Singh. Prithi Singh.
│
┌───────────┴──────────┐
│ │
Sheo Singh, Zalim Singh,
born in S. 1795. born S. 1796.
│
Madho Singh,
present regent.
│
Bapa Lall,
twenty-one years of age [519].
The office of Faujdar, which, like all those of the east, had become
hereditary, was advantageously filled by Himmat Singh, whose bravery and
skill were conspicuous on many trying emergencies. 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 succession. 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 of the ingratitude of his sovereign, “whose ancestors recovered
their rights at the instigation of his own.” But Zalim 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.
=Zālim Singh retires to Mewār.=—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 conferred 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 possessions. Such was the court
of Rana Arsi, when the ex-Major Domo of Kotah came to seek a new master.
His reputation at 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 Zalim,
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[10.6.5] 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.[10.6.6] The
Rana was discomfited and lost the flower of his 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.
=Zālim 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 faithful 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 Mādho Singh.=—The Mahrattas had now reached the
southern frontier, and invested the castle of Bakhani,[10.6.7] which was
defended by four hundred Haras of the Sawant clan,[10.6.8] 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 earth. That he should escape
could not be expected; but his death and the noble deed kindled such
enthusiasm, that his clan threw wide 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 was 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 Bakhani, 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.
=Zālim 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. He was invested with full powers; the
negotiation was renewed, and terminated successfully: for the sum of six
lakhs of rupees the Mahratta leader withdrew his horde from the
territory of Kotah. His [522] prince’s favour was regained, his estate
restored, and the unsuccessful negotiator lost the office of Faujdar,
into which young Zalim was reinducted. But scarcely had he recovered his
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 with all due solemnity placed Ummed Singh, then ten
years of age, ‘in the lap’ of Zalim Singh.
=Mahārāo 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[10.6.9] from
the house of Narwar marked with éclat the accession of the Maharao of
the Haras of Kotah, and gave early indication that the genius of the
regent would 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 predicament, 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. Even this excess of severity
was an advantage; it restrained the repetition 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, appears in another to have been one indispensable
to the welfare 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].
=Zālim 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 interference 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 junction 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 opportunities for carrying their schemes into
effect.
=Murder of Sarūp 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 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,[10.6.10] and with 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 abandoning 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 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 wandering 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.
=Zālim Singh’s Triumph over his Opponents.=—Such was Zalim Singh’s
triumph over the first faction formed against his assumption of the full
powers of regent of Kotah. Not only did the aristocracy feel humiliated,
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,[10.6.11] 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 since the dissolution of the imperial power was most adverse to
the institutions of Rajwara, the unsupported 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
well-appointed infantry brigade, but had an efficient 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 insurrection, 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 contemptuous 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;[10.6.12] and
the effect of this policy on the prosperity of Kotah, drained of its
wealth in the prosecution of his views, 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 Zālim Singh.=—Many attempts at assassination 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.[10.6.13] 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 annihilated by the
exterminating policy of the regent. It was conducted with admirable
secrecy; if known at all, it was to Zalim alone, and not till on the eve
of accomplishment. The proscription-list was long; the regent, his
family, his friend and counsellor the Pandit Lalaji, were amongst the
victims 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 main_ 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 surprise 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 Patan. But he
mistook the character of the regent when he supposed that either the
sanctuary (_sarana_) of Keshorai,[10.6.14] 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 immediate
interests than those of the prince whose power and existence were
threatened 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 Singh, 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,
until 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 enumerated, which his
never-slumbering vigilance detected and baffled. 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 encircled by a band of Amazonian Rajputnis,
armed with sword 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
merely 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 found in such a predicament.
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 likely 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 department of the
State, himself keeping a strict watch over all, and trusting implicitly
to none, with a daily personal supervision of all 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.
-----
Footnote 10.6.1:
[The Empire was now breaking up, and his dominions were gradually
reduced to the region held by the later Tughlak dynasty.]
Footnote 10.6.2:
This was written in A.D. 1821, when Maharao Kishor Singh [died 1828]
succeeded.
Footnote 10.6.3:
[Formerly capital of Dhrāngadhra State in Kāthiāwār (_IGI_, xiii.
13).]
Footnote 10.6.4:
Māmā is ‘maternal uncle’; Kākā, ‘paternal uncle.’
Footnote 10.6.5:
Not Rāna, which he puts upon his seal.
Footnote 10.6.6:
See Vol. I. p. 500.
Footnote 10.6.7:
[About 60 miles S. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.6.8:
The reader is requested to refer to p. 1483, for evidence of the
loyalty and heroism of Sawant Hara, the founder of this clan.
Footnote 10.6.9:
[About 70 miles E. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.6.10:
[Brajvilās, the ‘garden of enjoyment,’ like that in which Krishna
sported with the Gopis in the land of Braj or Mathura.]
Footnote 10.6.11:
[About 40 miles S.E. of Kotah city.]
Footnote 10.6.12:
Vol. I. p. 516.
Footnote 10.6.13:
This was written at Kotah, in S. 1876 (A.D. 1820).
Footnote 10.6.14:
[Kesavarāē, Krishna.]
-----
CHAPTER 7
=Legislation of Zālim 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 people confided to his charge. From this first
acquaintance with the court of the Rana, in S. 1827 to the year 1856, he
never relinquished the hope of extending the same measure of authority
over that State which he exerted in his own. To the prosecution of this
policy 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 around 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 of Zālim Singh.=—Until the conspiracy of Mohsen 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 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 grovelling 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 was 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 perambulation 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 the 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 this period, that his word and his bond were in
equal disesteem. Hitherto he had shut his ears against complaint; but
funds were necessary to forward his views, and all pleas of inability
were met by confiscation. It was evident that this evil, if not checked,
must ultimately denude the State of the means of defence, and the
fertility of his genius presented various modes of remedy. He 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 equidistant 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. He formed an army; adopted the European arms and discipline;
appointed officers with the title of captain to his battalions, which
had a regular nomenclature, and his ‘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[10.7.1] chieftains; and he followed the immemorial usage termed
_lattha_ and _batai_,[10.7.2] or rent in kind by weight or measure, in
proportion to the value of the soil or of the product. The regent soon
found the disadvantages of this system, which afforded opportunity for
oppression on the part of the collectors, and fraud on that of the
tenant, both detrimental to the government, and serving only to enrich
that vulture, the Patel. When this rapacious yet indispensable medium
between the peasant and ruler leagued with the collectors—and there was
no control to exaction beyond the conscience of this constituted
attorney of each township, 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 _batai_,
and sifted every act of chicanery by the most inquisitorial process, he
convoked all the Patels of the country, and took their depositions as to
the extent of each pateli, their modes of collection, 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 _chakbandi_, or measurement 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 fixed
money-rent, and 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_,[10.7.3] 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 determined 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 of the ryot, became the
direct officers of the crown. It was the regent’s interest to conciliate
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 of 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 representative government in these regions;[10.7.4] for every State of
Rajwara is similarly constituted; _ex uno disce omnes_. The Patels would
only require to be joined by the representatives 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 sufficient might be deducted from the
revenues of the State to maintain municipal forces, which could unite if
public safety were endangered, 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 this numerous
body of Patels, Zalim selected four of the most intelligent 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 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 Fouché, but four; and a net of espionage 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
council. 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 vigilant 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, _pani pina, aur mut tolna_,
which 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
his wants supplied by the Bohra, the sanctioned usurer of each village;
now, the privileged 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 Métayer of the ancient system of France.
He furnishes the cultivator with whatever he requires for his pursuits,
whether cattle, implements, or seed; and supports 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 stipulated 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 batai_ was
commuted for _bighoti_, 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 his 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 alternative but to mortgage to the harpy Patel
a portion of the produce of his fields. This 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 effect “that having no funds forthcoming [535] when
the rent was required, and being unable to raise it, the mortgager
voluntarily 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 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 of 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 Pateli system he
had established. The Council of Four maintained their post,
notwithstanding the humiliated condition of their compeers; though their
influence could not fail 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 still further the resources of his
energetic mind, by the extension of his 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 will
paint the man.
Before, however, we enter upon this singular part of his history, it is
necessary to develop the ancient agricultural system of Haraoti, to
which he returned when the pateli 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 must materially influence
their legislative conduct.
The ryot of India, like the progenitor of all tillers 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 [536] contented. When the
hero of Ayodhya left his kingdom for Lanka, he enjoined his minister to
foster the ryots, that he might hear no complaints on his return. Aware
of the fruitlessness 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 immemorial usage. When Rama returned,
the cultivators assembled in bodies at each stage of his 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 conciliate, and who belonged to no one”; a
phrase which to this 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 commonwealth suffered, which must tend to engender a
love of soil more than patriotism.[10.7.5] 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 condition of the peasant
will be further developed. There are four modes of levying the land-tax,
three of which are common throughout 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,[10.7.6] ginger, turmeric,
and other dyes and drugs, and all garden stuffs, pay a rent in money.
This 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 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,[10.7.7] 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 compensated 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,[10.7.8] and _til_ or sesamum, with other small seeds, such as
_kangni_,[10.7.9] 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_.[10.7.10]
_Kut_[10.7.11] 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 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 nourishment. 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, which has no slight analogy to the permanent system of
Bengal,[10.7.12] 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.
-----
Footnote 10.7.1:
[See Vol. I. p. 535.]
Footnote 10.7.2:
[_Lattha_, literally a ‘measuring pole’; _batāi_, division of crop
between landlord and tenant.]
Footnote 10.7.3:
[In the United Provinces the _jarīb_ is 55 yards, and one square
_jarīb_ = 1 _bīgha_. The standard _bīgha_ is five-eighths of an acre
(Wilson, _Glossary of Indian Terms_, _s.v._).]
Footnote 10.7.4:
[On the prospects of representative government, in Rājputāna see the
statement of the Mahārāja of Bīkaner—_The Times_, 10th May 1917.]
Footnote 10.7.5:
[McCrindle, _Megasthenes_, 41.]
Footnote 10.7.6:
[_Āl_, _Morinda citrifolia_, from which a dye is made; _kusumbha_,
safflower, _Carthamus tinctorius_, also a dye (Watt, _Econ. Prod._ 783
f., 276 ff.).]
Footnote 10.7.7:
[_Moth_, _Phaseolus aconitifolius_; _mūng_, _P. mungo_; _til_,
_Sesamum indicum_.]
Footnote 10.7.8:
[Juār and bājra are millets; makkai is maize.]
Footnote 10.7.9:
_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, _Comm.
Prod._ 988.]
Footnote 10.7.10:
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.
Footnote 10.7.11:
[_Kūt_ means ‘valuation, appraisement.’]
Footnote 10.7.12:
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.
-----
CHAPTER 8
=The Farming 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 reputation 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 efficiency: 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 population; 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 introduction of the pateli
system, the number was doubled; and at the present time[10.8.1] no less
than four thousand 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 preservation from the
ruin which befell the States around her during the convulsions of the
last half-century, when one after another sank into decay. But although
sagacity marks the plan, and unexampled energy superintends its details,
we must, on examining the foundations of the system either morally or
politically, pronounce 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 every 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,[10.8.2] now
ploughs like a serf the fields 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 mind 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 introduced the plough of double
yoke from the Konkan. His cattle are of the first quality, and equally
fit for the park or the plough. He purchases at all the adjacent fairs,
chiefly in his own dominions, and at the annual _mela_ (fair) of his
favourite city Jhalrapatan.[10.8.3] 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 regions 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[10.8.4] 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 assume 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
abundance, twelve rupees per _mauni_,[10.8.5] 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 grain 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[10.8.6] 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].
_Expenses._
Establishments—namely, feeding cattle 400,000
and servants, tear and wear of gear,
and clearing the fields—one-eighth
of the gross amount,[10.8.7] or
Seed 600,000
Replacing 4000 oxen annually, at 80,000
20s.[10.8.8]
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 well 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 of 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 lining 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 which is extricated
checks germination, and deters rats and white ants. Thus the regent has
seldom less than fifty lakhs of maunds 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 having frequently sold in one year sixty lakhs of maunds. 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 speculating in
grain, from the most liberal feelings, esteeming it _dharm nahin 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. This is all the regent admits he collects
from (to use his own phrase) his handful (_pachiwara_) 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-thirds 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 _lattha_, 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 _gabelle_, or
the _droit d’aubaine_ 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,[10.8.9] 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 was accordingly levied as well 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 alliance 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. Remonstrance 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 was their individual sympathy
expressed, when the Hara princes conspired to emancipate themselves from
his interminable and galling protection.
When the English Government came in contact with Rajwara, it was a
primary principle of the universal protective alliance 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 within. But there are and must be absurd inconsistencies,
even in the policy of western legislators, where one set of principles
is applied 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 was he to conceal this weapon
of oppression, that the very name of _lattha_ was abolished, and _sawai
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 slightest errors of the intendant of this
vast accumulation; while, at the same time, he regulates the succession
of crops throughout this extensive range? Such is the minute
topographical knowledge which the regent possesses of his country, that
every field in every farm is familiar [545] to him; and woe to the
superintendent Havaldar[10.8.10] if he discovers a fallow nook that
ought 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
sufficient for one mind. The daily account from his police, consisting
of several hundred emissaries, besides the equally numerous reports from
the head of each district, would have distracted an ordinary head, “for
the winds could not enter and leave Haraoti 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 a half annas, with whom can he be
compared?”[10.8.11] 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 character. His monopolies, especially that of grain, not only
influenced his own market, but affected all the adjacent countries; and
when speculation in opium ran to such a demoralizing 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 his 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 domiciliary 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].
=Zālim Singh and the Bards.=—Zalim was no favourite with the bards; and
that he had little claim to their consideration may be inferred from the
following anecdote. A celebrated rhymer was reciting some laudatory
stanzas, which the regent received rather coldly, observing with a sneer
that “they told nothing but lies, though he should be happy to listen to
their effusions when truth was the foundation.” The poet replied that
“he found truth a most unmarketable commodity; nevertheless, he had some
of that at his service”; and stipulating for forgiveness if they
offended, he gave the protector his picture in a string of improvised
stanzas, so full 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.
Though rigid in his observance of the ceremonies of religion, and
sharing in the prevailing 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 unmanageable 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 cavaliers, 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 [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 the symbol of prosperity, neither is his well-paid and
well-disciplined army a sure means of defence; moral propriety has been
violated; rights are in abeyance, and until they be restored, even the
apparent consistency of the social fabric is obtained by means which
endanger its security.
-----
Footnote 10.8.1:
This was drawn up in 1820-21.
Footnote 10.8.2:
Throughout the Bundi territory, where no regent has innovated on the
established laws of inheritance, by far the greater part of the land
is the absolute property of the cultivating ryot, who can sell 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 otherwise, to cultivate his lands, he lets them;
and custom has established four annas per bīgha 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 soil.’
Footnote 10.8.3:
[Now the commercial capital of Jhālawār State, on the Kotah border.]
Footnote 10.8.4:
A maund is seventy-five pounds.
Footnote 10.8.5:
_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 = 1 mauni.
100 maunis = 1 manasa.
Footnote 10.8.6:
It does descend as low as eight rupees per mauni for wheat and barley,
and four for the millets, in seasons of excessive abundance.
Footnote 10.8.7:
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
established consideration. We have applied this in the rough estimate
of the expenses of the regent’s farming system.
Footnote 10.8.8:
[To illustrate the rise in prices, the average value of a plough
bullock is now Rs. 40, or about £2:13s.]
Footnote 10.8.9:
[Jagātya, a Marāthi word derived from _jakāt_, Arabic _zakāt_, the
religious alms which a Musalmān is bound to pay.]
Footnote 10.8.10:
[_Havāldār_, _havāladār_, the officer in charge of the collection of
grain.]
Footnote 10.8.11:
There are sixteen annas to a rupee.
-----
CHAPTER 9
=Foreign Policy of Zālim 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 around
which revolved the desultory 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,[10.9.1] 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 relinquish
the helm when the vessel was moored in calm waters; or, when the
unskilful owner, forgetting these tempests, and deeming his own science
equal to the task, demanded the surrender, that he should hoist the flag
of defiance.
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 his
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 humility, which were alike 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 collision
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
demanded, and a present to the messenger, he would excite a feeling
which 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. But he knew even success, in such a case, to be ruin, and the
general [549] feature of his external policy 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 neutrality almost
impossible. He sent envoys to 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 his
foreign policy; we shall merely allude to the circumstances 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 ill-fated
expedition under Monson traversed Central India to the attack of Holkar,
the regent of Kotah, trusting to the invincibility 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 commander demanded 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 battalions under my walls; I will furnish provisions, and I
will march the whole of my force between you and the enemy, and bear the
brunt of his attack.” Such were Zalim’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
Jaipur dominions, and carried almost alone the news of his disgrace to
the illustrious Lake. It was natural he should seek to palliate his
error 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 within his walls—was translated into treachery, and a connivance
with the enemy; a calumny which long subsisted 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 hurtfully,
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
were 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 chief, who, like a true Hara, ‘spread his carpet’ at the ford
of the Amjar, and there awaited the myrmidons [550] of the Mahrattas,
and fell protecting the flight of an army which 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 withstanding 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 will 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 punishment for the aid thus given
to the British, the Mahratta leader exacted a bond of ten lakhs of
rupees from the Bakhshi, threatening 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 him from his presence, disavowed
his act, and sent him back to Holkar to pay the forfeiture as he
might.[10.9.2] Holkar satisfied himself then with threatening vengeance,
and when opportunity permitted, he marched into Haraoti and encamped
near the capital. The walls were manned to receive him; the signal had
been prepared which 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 his 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 spread, and there these
extraordinary men, with only one eye[10.9.3] 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.[10.9.4] 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 Zalim Singh” was
one of the most frequently repeated ravings of this soldier of fortune,
whose whole life was one scene of insanity.
=Relations with Marāthas and Pindāris.=—It will readily be conceived
that the labours of his administration 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.,[10.9.5] 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 provided 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 temporary retreat, or ways and means to allay the tumult
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,[10.9.6] 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 politics, 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 eluded 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 succeeded in either attempt, and added the
resources of these acquisitions 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 undertake 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.
=Zālim Singh’s Domestic Policy. Character of Mahārāo 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 from 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 him 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 his 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 inherent
in a Rajput. He was fond of the chase, and was the best horseman and
marksman 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 introduced 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 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 countries 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 personal 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 everything 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
curious 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.
=Zālim Singh and his Servants.=—It was to be expected that 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 provide for them, for their
relations and their dependents; his hand was ever bestowing gratuities
on festivals, births, marriages, or deaths; but he never 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
politics. 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. Dalil Khan and Mihrab Khan 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, Jhalrapatan;[10.9.7]
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 Khan was the commander of the
infantry, which he maintained in a state of admirable discipline and
efficiency;[10.9.8] they received their _bis roza_, or twenty days’ pay,
each month, with their arrears at the end of every second year [555].
-----
Footnote 10.9.1:
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.]
Footnote 10.9.2:
If my memory betrays me not, this unfortunate commander, unable to
bear his shame, took poison.
Footnote 10.9.3:
It should be remembered that Zalim was quite blind, and that Holkar
had lost the use of one eye. [See Vol. II. p. 1234.]
Footnote 10.9.4:
[Compare the meeting of Alexander I. of Russia and Napoleon at Tilsit
on June 25, 1807.]
Footnote 10.9.5:
[Dīg, in Bharatpur State; Pirāwa, one of the Central India districts
included in Tonk State (_IGI_, xx. 151).]
Footnote 10.9.6:
[Karīm Khān surrendered to the British in 1818, and was given an
estate in Gorakhpur District.]
Footnote 10.9.7:
Jhālarapātan, ‘the city of the Jhāla,’ the regent’s tribe. [Others
explain the name to mean city (_pātan_) of springs (_jhālra_): or city
of bells, because it contained 108 temples (_IGI_, xiv. 123).]
Footnote 10.9.8:
Mihrab Khan was the commandant of one division of Zalim’s contingent,
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.
-----
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 Hastings 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 against us. The Rajput States, alike interested with
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 united 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 resources of
Kotah to the armies moving round him, and to lessen the field [556] of
the enemy’s manœuvres, by shutting him out of that country. So
efficient were these resources, that in five days after the agent
reached the regent’s camp,[10.10.1] 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, surrounded 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, expediency, guided all courts and councils,
whether Mogul, Mahratta, or British: the disavowal of the alliances
formed by Lord Lake, under Marquess Wellesley’s administration, proved
this to demonstration, and he was too familiar with the history of our
power to give more credit 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 protestations
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 fundamental rule which guides the Rajput prince, ‘obtain land,’ was
one both practically and theoretically understood 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 which, 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 workings of a mind,
which never betrayed its purpose either to friend or foe, we should find
that there was a moment wherein, though 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 ambition, 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 breaking the bond which had so
long united him with their policy. He could not but enumerate amongst
the arguments for its maintenance, 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
unlimited 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, Holkar, and Sindhia,
determined to shake off our yoke, we could urge to him irresistible
arguments for a perfect identity of interests. The envoy had only to
hint that the right of conquest would leave the 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 determination never to
relinquish 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
enlightened coadjutor[10.10.2] 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 medium 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
efficacious 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 of Mahārāo Ummed Singh. Disputed Succession.=—Thus matters
proceeded till November 1819, when the death of the Maharao Ummed Singh
engendered new feelings 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 alliance he had so timely
obtained. And here it becomes requisite to advert to the terms of this
alliance. The treaty[10.10.3] 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 preamble, and then only as the
ministerial agent of the Maharao Ummed Singh, in whose behalf alone the
treaty was virtually executed. This excited the surprise of the British
representative,[10.10.4] who, in his official dispatch detailing 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
perpetuity 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 [560].
The Maharao Ummed 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 mild 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
annals 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,[10.10.5] 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
enfranchize himself and family from the thraldom in which 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 greater 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’ annual 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. Madho Singh was about forty-six at the period
we speak of. A physiognomist would discover in his 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 developed by
power being too early entrusted to him: for when the regent, as before
related, quitted the capital for the camp, Madho Singh was nominated to
the office of Faujdar, the hereditary post of his father, and left as
his locum tenens at Kotah. This office, which included the command and
pay of all the [561] troops, left unlimited 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
dislike to him: 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 eclipsed 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,[10.10.6] the natural son of the regent, was then about
twenty-seven,[10.10.7] 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 life, or the conduct that was demanded of them. Dearly, bitterly
has the regent repented 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 him.
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 Kishor Singh [562].
The Political Agent received the intelligence[10.10.8] on his march from
Marwar to Mewar, and immediately addressed his government 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 forebodings 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 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 infirmity,
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 himself. 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 prophet to announce to David
the usurpation of Adonijah;[10.10.9] 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 his 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 power 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 Amurath succeeds,
that the Maharao Kishor should continue the same puppet in the hands of
Madho Singh that his father had been in Zalim’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 the pontiff of
Nathdwara, as did Pepin of Pope Zacharias, “whether he who had the
power, should not also have the title, of king”;[10.10.10] and the same
plenary indulgence would have awaited the first Jhala Raja of Kotah as
was granted to the first of the Carlovingian 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, within the
bounds of Haraoti, and the foreign mercenary army raised and maintained
by the regent, but from the neighbouring princes 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 civilized 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 voice was raised against usurpation
and crime, it was because all hope that their condition could be
ameliorated was extinct. But this was to them a _naya samvat_, 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 circumstances—nay, paradoxical as it may appear,
political gratitude 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 must 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 affiance.
=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
impossibility, produced consequences that shook the confidence of the
people of Rajwara in our political 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 unprecedented 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’ policy.
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 himself, from whatever motive, had allowed [565] 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 the destruction of all the
powers of anarchy and sharing in its spoils, fully reaped the reward of
her services. Such an argument 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 feverish joy of the hour. But if cold
expediency may not deem this a sufficient justification, we may find
other reasons. When 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 recognize 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,[10.10.11] 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 contracting parties were
to the original treaty, but that of the supplemental articles the late
Maharao died in absolute ignorance [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 the ruler of Kotah,
than the Raja of Satara the leader of the Mahrattas, 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 advisable 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 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 was 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,[10.10.12] 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 announced. 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
Gordhandas, whom he styled a traitor to his father, and from whom 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 replies 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
everything that reason and his position could demand, except the
surrender of the power of the regent, which our public faith compelled
us to maintain; and that the prince’s dignity, comforts, and happiness,
should be sedulously consulted. While 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,
surrounded 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 May; and in
June, after the public deportation 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 Mahārāo Kishor Singh with Zālim Singh.=—The meeting
partook of the nature of a festival, and produced a spontaneous
rejoicing, the populace, with the loudest acclamations, 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 reconciliation was
followed on the 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 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[10.10.13] 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 unction of
sovereignty[10.10.14] 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 difficulty 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 asseveration 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 close of his political life,
both as respects his prince and his subjects. 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
this 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 penetration 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 [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, that he commanded a stone to be raised in the chief town
of every district of his country, on which was inscribed the edict of
perpetual abolition of _dand_, with the denunciation of eternal
vengeance 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, which
threatened to deluge Kotah with blood. Whether we had a right to hope
that such high and natural pretensions could rest satisfied with the
measures of conciliation and concession that were pursued, the sequel
will disclose to those who judge only by results.
-----
Footnote 10.10.1:
The Author of those annals, then Assistant Resident at Sindhia’s
court, was deputed by Lord Hastings to the Raj Rana Zalim Singh. He
left the residency at Gwalior on the 12th November 1817, and reached
the regent’s camp at Rauta, about twenty-five miles S.S.E. of Kotah,
on the 23rd.
Footnote 10.10.2:
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, _Dict. Indian
Biography_ _s.v._).]
Footnote 10.10.3:
Copy of this is inserted in Appendix, No. VI., p. 1833.
Footnote 10.10.4:
C. T. Metcalfe, Esq., then resident at Delhi, now Sir C. T. Metcalfe,
Bart., member of council in Bengal. [Sir Charles Metcalfe (1785-1846):
Resident at Delhi; Lieutenant-Governor North-western Provinces
(1836-38); Governor of Jamaica (1839-42); Governor-General of Canada
(1843-45); raised to the peerage 1845; died 5th September 1846
(Buckland, _op. cit._ _s.v._; _Life and Correspondence_ by Sir J. W.
Kaye, 1854).]
Footnote 10.10.5:
This was the parental epithet always applied to the regent by Ummed
Singh and his sons, who it will be remembered mingled some of the
Jhala blood in their veins. Nāna-sāhib, ‘sir grandsire.’
Footnote 10.10.6:
_Anglicé_, ‘the slave of Gordhan,’ one of the names of Krishna, the
tutelary divinity of the regent.
Footnote 10.10.7:
Let me again remind the reader that this was written in 1820-21; for
many reasons, the phraseology and chronology of the original MS. are
retained.
Footnote 10.10.8:
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.”
Footnote 10.10.9:
“Nathan spake unto Bathsheba, 'hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the
son of Haggith, doth reign, and David our Lord knoweth it not?'” [1
Kings i. 11.]
Footnote 10.10.10:
Such was the question propounded, and answered as Pepin expected,
regarding the deposal of Childeric 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.]
Footnote 10.10.11:
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 political relations with Kotah) been
consulted regarding their tendency, he was as well aware then as now,
what he ought to have advised. Whether his feelings, 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.
Footnote 10.10.12:
['The Garden of Enjoyment.']
Footnote 10.10.13:
The details of this ceremony will be given in the Personal Narrative.
Footnote 10.10.14:
‘Anointing’ appears to have been, in all ages, the mode of
installation. The unguent on this occasion is of sandalwood and _itr_
of roses made into a paste, or very thick ointment, of which a little
is placed upon the forehead with the middle finger of the right hand.
-----
CHAPTER 11
=Banishment of Gordhandās.=—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 Maharao had been goaded to his course through this
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.[10.11.1] 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 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 regarding 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, had not added to our reputation; and the Agent had the most
rooted repugnance to sanction the system 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 embarrassment 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 would be personally
responsible if he permitted them to congregate troops for the purpose of
hostility against the regent: while, at the same time, the commander of
the British troops at Nimach[10.11.2] was desired to interpose a light
corps on the line of Jhabua and Bundi, and to capture Gordhandas, dead
or alive, if he attempted to join the Maharao. He, however, contrived,
through the intricacies 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 Bundi, giving out a pilgrimage to Brindaban;[10.11.3]
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
religious 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 ebullitions so common 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 condolence 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 himself on
account of his age and blindness; 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 mission. 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 Radha
had eradicated all remembrance of the rhapsodies of Chand, and the
glories of the Chauhan: he was accordingly left at discretion to wander
where he listed. 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 Brindaban 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 Mahārāo 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 misunderstood 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 [574] reigned around us, and the means of
quelling revolt were at hand. An entire month was thus consumed: but the
ultimatum[10.11.4] 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 confessed
it; and in this confession, what an evidence is afforded 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 him.” It was hoped that “the wisdom which called aloud (even)
in the streets” would 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, his 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
this embarrassment would have been avoided, had the supplemental
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 expediency, 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 fortunate, however, that the magnitude of
the titular prince’s pretensions placed him completely in opposition to
the other contracting parties, inasmuch 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 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.
Everything 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
irresponsibility not for a moment to be tolerated. It was in vain he
hinted 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
offensively 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 _swamidharma_, in committing to the chance of
battle the lives of all those to whom he was protector, he would draw
back and compromise 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.[10.11.5]
=Battle of Māngrol.=—At daybreak on the 1st of October, the troops moved
down to the attack.[10.11.6] 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, consisting 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 his 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 élite, 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 lines, 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, notwithstanding 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
kinsmen. 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.[10.11.7] 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 ground
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, disdaining 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[10.11.8] dead on the spot, and their gallant commander[10.11.9]
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 de grâce_,
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; while, 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 living,
determined at least to find a grave in her soil. He returned, with about
five-and-twenty followers, to certain destruction, 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 the 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 auxiliary soldier that the prince received his
death-wound; it was inflicted by a lance, propelled with unerring force
from behind, 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. Although 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.
The Maharao 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, undaunted 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 Hāras.=—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 inheritance 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 like hail
around them innocuous, one continuing to load behind the mound, while
the [580] other fired with deadly aim. At length, two twelve-pounders
were unlimbered; and as the shot whistled round their ears, both rose on
the very pinnacle of the mound, and made a profound salaam for this
compliment 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.[10.11.10] 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
defensively, 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 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 commission of crime
by a variety of circumstances which they could neither resist nor
control, and to which the most crafty views had contributed.[10.11.11]
The Maharao’s camp being left standing, all his correspondence and
records fell into our hands, and developed such complicated intrigues,
such consummate knavery, that he, and the brave men who suffered from
espousing his pretensions, were regarded as entitled to every
commiseration.[10.11.12] As soon, therefore, as the futility of their
pretensions was disclosed, by the veil being thus rudely torn from their
eyes, they manifested a determination 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.[10.11.13]
The Maharao continued his course to Nathdwara in Mewar, proving that the
sentiment of religious abstraction alone can take the place of ambition.
The individuals 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 inimical
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 executive 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 Mewar.
=Restoration of the Mahārāo.=—These preliminaries being satisfactorily
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
Nathdwara, 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, which, though promptly
exposed, had made the impression for which it was contrived, and it
required some skill to remove it. The Rana of Udaipur no sooner heard of
this 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 indignation 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 his 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 from 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 Mahārāo.=—Besides the schedule of the personal
expenditure, over which he was supreme, much of the State expense was to
be managed under the eye of the sovereign; such as the charities, and
gifts on festivals and military ceremonies. 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. To
maintain this arrangement inviolate, an [584] officer of the paramount
power was henceforth to reside at Kotah. A handsome 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
trimming 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 exhortation.
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[10.11.14] 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
withdrawn 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 Bhatwara, to review the charge
of the Kachhwaha 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 owl 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 conflicts, did he exclaim, with his great
prototype both in prosperity and sorrow, “My 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.”[10.11.15] His yet
vigorous mind, however, soon restored everything to its wonted
prosperity; and in a few weeks not a trace was left of the commotions
which for a while had totally unhinged society, and threatened to deluge
the land with proscription and blood. The prince was 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 productiveness;
commerce was unscathed, and public opinion, which had dared loudly to
question the moral justice of these proceedings, was conciliated 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.[10.11.16]
=Character of Zālim 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 life, which have furnished matter
for the sketch we have attempted, may satisfy curiosity; but the
materials for a finished portrait he never supplied: the latent springs
of those actions remained invisible save to the eye of Omniscience. No
human being ever shared the confidence of the Machiavelli of Rajasthan,
who, from the first dawn of his political existence to its close, when
“fourscore 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 blind confidence in the instruments of his designs. Though
originally sanguine in expectation and fiery in temperament, 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 life, 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 simplicity made humility, 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 influenced the judgment;
while his invariable urbanity gained the goodwill of his inferiors, and
his superiors were won by the delicacy of his flattery, in the
application of which 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 his lengthened life, until 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. With 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—
the world is e’er deceived by ornament;
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 his deep skill in the [587] knowledge of the human mind and of
the elements by which 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 countrymen, 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
imperceptible except to the few who watched the slow progress 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 chiefs of the land; the next receiving with open arms some
expatriated noble, and supporting him in dignity and affluence, till the
receding tide of human affairs rendered such support no longer
requisite.
=Zālim Singh and Witches.=—We have already mentioned his 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 his 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 injunction in the Pentateuch: “Thou shall not
suffer a witch to live” (Exod. chap. xxii. ver. 18). But his ordeal was
worse than even death itself: handling balls of hot iron was deemed too
slight for such sinners; for it was well known they had substances which
enabled them to do this with impunity. Throwing 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 innocence, 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 Sind (where, as Abu-l Fazl says, they abound)
Jigarkhor, or ‘liver-devourers.’[10.11.17] 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 Zālim 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
his steed; and when blindness overtook him, and he could no longer lead
the chase on horseback, he was carried in his 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 joyousness
of the sport, he heard the unreserved opinions of his companions, and
gained their affection by thus administering to the favourite pastime of
the Rajput, whose life 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,”[10.11.18] 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 palmyra;
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, pomegranates from the famed
stock of Kagla ka bagh[10.11.19] in the desert, oranges of every kind,
scions of Agra and Sylhet, the _amba_ of Mazagon, and the
_champa-kela_,[10.11.20] 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 his 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_,[10.11.21] were far
superior to any that could be purchased. 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 found that this branch of industry
did not return even sixteen annas and a half for the rupee,[10.11.22]
the minimum profit at which he fixed his remuneration; so that after
satisfying his curiosity, he abandoned the manufacture. 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
annum; but his wrestlers 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,”[10.11.23] if they came to Kotah. But in
his younger days Zalim was not satisfied with the use of mere natural
weapons, for occasionally he made his Jethis fight with the
baghnakh,[10.11.24] or tiger-claw, when they tore off the flesh from
each other [590]. The chivalrous Ummed Singh of Bundi put a stop to this
barbarity. 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 exhibition,
and he boldly censured the Regent for squandering on such a worthless
crew resources which ought to cherish his Rajputs. This might have been
lost upon the Protector, had not the royal pilgrim, in the fervour of
his indignation, thrown down the gauntlet to the entire assembly of
Jethis. Putting his shield 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 accompaniments,
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; while the crest-fallen Jethis hung their heads, and
from that day lost ground in the favour of the regent. But these were
the follies 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 which had raged around it.
=The Last Years of Zālim Singh.=—To conclude: had he imitated
Diocletian, and surrendered the purple, he would 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
difficulties which would have appalled no ordinary minds. He had
vanquished all his enemies, external and internal, and all his views as
regarded Haraoti 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 inefficiency; 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 ministers 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 lips [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].
-----
Footnote 10.11.1:
[Jhābua, in Bhopāwar Agency, Central India (_IGI_, xiv. 104 ff.).]
Footnote 10.11.2:
[A British cantonment in Gwalior State (_IGI_, xix. 105 f.).]
Footnote 10.11.3:
[In the Mathura District, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.]
Footnote 10.11.4:
Letter of Maharao Kishor Singh, accompanying counter-articles,
presented to Capt. Tod, dated Asoj badi Panchami, or 16th September,
‘Camp Miyana.’
(After compliments.)
Chand Khan has often expressed a desire to know what were my
expectations. These had been already sent to you by my wakils, Mirza
Muhammad Ali Beg, and Lala Salik Ram. 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 Zalim 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; therefore, I will
give him a jagir; there let him remain. His son, Bapa Lal, 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 will
abide from generation to generation.
3. To the English Government, and other principalities, whatever
letters are addressed shall be with my concurrence and advice.
4. Surety for his life, and also for mine, must be guaranteed by the
English Government.
5. I shall allot a jagir for Prithi Singh (the Maharao’s brother), at
which he will 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
jagirs, 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 Lal (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).
Footnote 10.11.5:
Lieutenant M‘Millan, of the 5th Regt. Native Infantry, volunteered for
this duty, and performed it as might have been expected from an
officer of his gallantry and conduct.
Footnote 10.11.6:
[The battle was fought at Māngrol, on the left bank of the Pārbati
River, about 40 miles N.N.E. from Kotah city, on October 1, 1821.]
Footnote 10.11.7:
The Author, who placed himself 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.
Footnote 10.11.8:
Lieutenants Clarke and Read, of the 4th Regt. Light Cavalry.
Footnote 10.11.9:
Major (now Lt.-Col.) J. Ridge, C.B.
Footnote 10.11.10:
Lieut. (now Captain) M‘Millan and the Author were the only officers, I
believe, who witnessed this singular scene.
Footnote 10.11.11:
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, _by
instructions of his confidential minister_.
Footnote 10.11.12:
The native treasurer at Delhi, 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. Regular treaties and bonds were found in the
camp of the Maharao, which afforded abundant condemnatory evidence
against these confidential 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.
Footnote 10.11.13:
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 history of the Haras, and the mutual relations
of all its discordant 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 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 proclaiming 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 public faith compelled us to
inflict. Even in the midst of their compulsory infliction, he had many
sources of gratulation: 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 Sāgar 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 his 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 _chabutra_ or platform, shaded by the
sacred tree. Here, sitting on carpets, was the chief with his little
court. The Author was received most courteously. 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 life. 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 accept. 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
opponents of the regent at the opening of his career.
Footnote 10.11.14:
The battle of Bhatwara was fought in S. 1817, or A.D. 1761; the action
at Mangrol, Oct. 1, A.D. 1821.
Footnote 10.11.15:
Job, chap. xxxi. 38-40.
Footnote 10.11.16:
[Zālim Singh died in 1824, and was succeeded as regent by his son,
Mādho Singh, who was notoriously unfit for office, and he was
succeeded by his son, Madan Singh. Maharāo Kishor Singh II. died in
1828, and was succeeded by his nephew, Rām 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 Jhālawār as a separate
provision for the descendants of Zālim Singh (_IGI_, xv. 414; H. H.
Wilson, continuation of Mill, _Hist. of British India_, 1846, vol. ii.
p. 424).]
Footnote 10.11.17:
[_Āīn_, ii. 338 f.]
Footnote 10.11.18:
[Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels: Voyage to Brobdingnag_.]
Footnote 10.11.19:
[_Kāgla kā bāgh_, ‘The Crow’s Garden.’]
Footnote 10.11.20:
[_Musa champa_, or _Chīni champa_, the finest of all plantains (Watt,
_Econ. Prod._ 787).]
Footnote 10.11.21:
[_Pinus odoratissimus_, the screw-pine, used for its fibre, and “for,
perhaps, the most characteristic and most widely used perfume of
India” (_ibid._ 188, 727).]
Footnote 10.11.22:
There are sixteen annas to the rupee or half-crown.
Footnote 10.11.23:
“_Āsmān dikhlānā_” is the phrase of the ‘_Fancy_’ in these regions for
victory; when the vanquished is thrown upon his back and kept in that
attitude. [For an account of the Jethi wrestlers of the Telugu country
see Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, ii. 456 ff.]
Footnote 10.11.24:
See an account of this instrument by Colonel Briggs, _Transactions of
Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. ii. [See Vol. II. p. 721.]
-----
BOOK XI
PERSONAL NARRATIVE: UDAIPUR TO KHERODA
CHAPTER 1
=Udaipur=, _January 29, 1820_.—The Personal Narrative attached to the
second volume 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.[11.1.1] Our route was over a rich and well-watered plain, but
which had long been a stranger to the plough. Three miles from Dabokh we
crossed our own stream, the Berach, 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 highly interesting temple, dedicated to
Mandeswar (Siva), on the banks of this stream, the architecture of which
attests its antiquity. 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 were fixed
on immutable 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 sounded
within its walls, which 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 considerable importance. Within a mile and a half of
Kheroda we passed through Khairsana, a large charity-village belonging
to the Brahmans.
Kheroda 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
from 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,[11.1.2] and relinquish to his sovereign a stronghold
which had been purchased with the blood of his kindred.
=Tribal Feuds.=—The history of Kheroda would afford an excellent
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 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, united 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 unmolested,
with all his followers and effects, to Bhindar, the capital of the
Saktawats. This condition was granted, and the heir of Sheogarh 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.[11.1.3] Kheroda remained attached to the fisc during
several years, when the Rana, with a thoughtlessness 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 chief 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 auxiliaries 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
force was entirely dispersed. Sangram, who headed this and every assault
against the rival clan, 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 fisc until the year 1758, when, on the payment of a fine of ten
thousand rupees, the estate was assigned to him under the 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 transaction
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 his 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 discussion is
left to the Kamdars, or delegates of the prince and the chief, between
whom not the least diminution of courteous etiquette 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 the sovereign and chieftains
regarding acts involving treason, in order to join the principals in an
excursion 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 mutual
courtesy and affability. This is no unamiable feature in the manners of
the East, and tends to strengthen the tie of fraternity which binds
together the fabric of Rajput policy.
=Agriculture at Kheroda.=—The agricultural economy of Kheroda, which
discovers distinct traces of the patriarchal system, is not without
interest. Kheroda is a _tappa_, or subdivision of one of the greater
_khalisa_ or fiscal districts of Mewar, and consists of fourteen
townships, 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; _gorma_, also irrigated land, extending 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 herdsman;[11.1.4] the Kathi (alias Sutar) or
carpenter; the Lohar, or blacksmith; 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 khalla,
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
maunds, goes to the Raj, or sovereign, and two to the ryot, or
cultivator, after deducting a _serana_ of two maunds for the
heir-apparent, which 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 three _seranas_ of one maund each
are deducted, previous to subdivision amongst the ten village officers;
namely, one ‘pot for the prince,’ another for the Rana’s chief groom,
and a third for his Modi, or steward of the grain department. These all
go to the government, which thus realizes thirty maunds 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, and
_juar_ and _bajra_, or millet, with the different pulses, the process of
distribution is as follows. From every _khalla_, or heap of one hundred
maunds, forty are set apart for the Raj or government, and the rest,
after deducting the _seranas_ of the village-establishment, 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
money-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_[11.1.5] 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:
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 16
Two men at the well, at four rupees each per month, for
twelve months 96[11.1.6]
Two 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 maunds, of which they are entitled to
one-fifth 40
Wood 2
Hire of boiler 6
——
A bigha will yield as much as eighty maunds of
sugar,[11.1.7] though fifty is esteemed a good crop; it
sells at about four rupees per maund, or 200
——
Leaving the cultivator minus 38
It will 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 unfit for the use of man. This may be
superstition; though 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 extracting the juice.[11.1.8] 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,[11.1.9] 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 maintained. 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 sali_, 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 _barar_ and _dand_, or forced contributions,
until, at length, the country became the scene of desolation from which
it is only now emerging.
=Hīnta=, _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.[11.1.10] We were on
horseback long before sunrise; the air was pure and invigorating; the
peasantry were smiling at the sight of the luxuriant young crops of
wheat, barley, and gram, aware that no ruthless 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, with blessings and looks of joy mingled with sadness. Passed
the hamlet, or _purwa_, of Amarpura, attached to Kheroda, and to our
left the township of Mainar, held in _sasan_[11.1.11] (religious grant)
by a community 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 resumption 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 delicate purgatories which the Rajput soul has to undergo,
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 every right of every class, I
imprecated on my head all the anathemas of the order, if the Rana should
resume all beyond what the remnant 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 his 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.
=Māndhāta Rāja.=—Mandhata Raja,[11.1.12] a name immortalized in the
topography of these regions, was of the Pramar 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 his 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 _pān_,
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 Mainar. 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. Would 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!’
We also passed in this morning’s march the village of Bahmania, having a
noble piece of water maintained by a strong embankment 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,[11.1.13] the favourite handmaid 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, engraved 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 considerable 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,[11.1.14] and descendant of the hero who rescued that
first of Rajput princes, Rana Partap, had reached the town of Hinta in
his passage from court 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 his small but well-mounted band as legitimate prey. But, in
spite of the odds, they preferred 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 his 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. They advanced in a compact mass, with
lighted matches, the cavaliers on either flank, with Kushal at their
head, denouncing death to the man who quitted his ranks, or fired a shot
without orders. They 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 moment 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=,[11.1.15] _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 worthless, for having left my cares
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 something 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
look upon Mewar as the land of my adoption, and, linked with all the
associations of my early hopes and [602] their actual realization, 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,[11.1.16] 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 protégé,
Barad Singh, whom he often brought me to visit, as did old Takhta his
grandson. Both were of the same age, thirteen; the aspirant to Basai,
fair and stout, but heavy in his looks; 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 his 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 adjudication. 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 his 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[11.1.17] tree, to tell me, in the
language of homely truth, _khush hain Compani sahib ke partap se_, that
“by the auspices of Sir Company they are happy; and that they hope I may
live a thousand years.”
I must, therefore, suspend my narrative, whilst I patiently listen till
midnight to dismal tales of sterile fields, exhausted funds, exiles
unreturned, and the depredations of the wild mountain Bhil [604].
-----
Footnote 11.1.1:
[Twenty-four miles E. of Udaipur city.]
Footnote 11.1.2:
See treaty between the Rana and his chiefs, Vol. I. p. 243.
[Signed A.D. 1818.]
Footnote 11.1.3:
The sequel of this feud has been related, Vol. I. p. 511.
Footnote 11.1.4:
The _balahi_ or _balaiti_ is the shepherd of the community, who drives
the village 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 ff.]
Footnote 11.1.5:
[Properly the leather bag by means of which water is raised for
irrigation.]
Footnote 11.1.6:
This goes to feed the cultivator, if he works himself.
Footnote 11.1.7:
[The yield of coarse sugar (_gur_) is now estimated at 30 or 40 maunds
(28½ cwt.) per acre; but as much as 50 maunds (36 cwt.) has been
recorded (Watt, _Econ. Prod._ 947).]
Footnote 11.1.8:
[The flowering of the cane is regarded as an evil omen. In India the
cane rarely seeds; in fact, it is rarely allowed to flower (Watt,
_Econ. Dict._ vi. Part ii. 83).]
Footnote 11.1.9:
[The king may take an eighth, sixth, or twelfth part of the crop
(Manu, _Laws_, vii. 130).]
Footnote 11.1.10:
[Mālwa or Mālava is derived from the tribe of that name, but the name
Mālava-desa, ‘land of the Mālavas,’ is not mentioned in Sanskrit
literature before the second century B.C.; and the tract now known as
Mālwa 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. 311).]
Footnote 11.1.11:
[Sāsan, land granted to Brāhmans, Ascetics, Chārans, and Bhāts, by
royal decree and rent-free. It pays nothing but some miscellaneous
taxes, is inalienable, but it can be mortgaged.]
Footnote 11.1.12:
[Māndhātri, son of Yuvanāswa of the race of Ikshwāku, a legendary
monarch, is said to have “reduced the seven continental zones under
his dominion” (_Vishnu Purāna_, 363; Dowson, _Classical Dict._,
_s.v._). The holy place Māndhāta in the Nimār District, Central
Provinces, is said to take its name from him (_Gazetteer Central
Provinces_, 1870, p. 258).]
Footnote 11.1.13:
[Pāsbān means ‘a watcher.’ Dr. Tessitori writes that the proper form
of the word is Pāsvān or Pāsvāni, a term applied to the confidential
domestics of a chief, and it is often, as in this case, synonymous
with ‘favourite.’ It denotes no particular caste, but is commonly
applied to a slave favourite or concubine.]
Footnote 11.1.14:
[Bari Sādri, about 40 miles S.S.E. of Udaipur city.]
Footnote 11.1.15:
[Not found in Major Erskine’s or other official maps: in the Author’s
map “Mhorun.”]
Footnote 11.1.16:
[_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.).]
Footnote 11.1.17:
[The banyan, _ficus indica_.]
-----
CHAPTER 2
=The Chief of Hīnta.=—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,[11.2.1] sent his brother and his _homme 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 fisc. “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 _bapota_, the abode of my
fathers,” was the more feeling expression of the occupant. It was no
light task to deal with such arguments; 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 commencement 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 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 incorporated 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 consideration 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 conflicting duties to fulfil. As chief of Kun, he belongs to the
third class of nobles, styled _gol_, and is subject to constant personal
attendance 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 commissioned by the Rana to reprimand
the representative of Hinta, and to threaten him 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 worthy of notice connected with
the feudal system of Mewar, namely, the subdivision of fiefs.
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
period 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 Chondawat. Being a younger branch of the Bansi family (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 subsistence 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.[11.2.2]
Sangram Singh, the eldest son of Lalji,[11.2.3] 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 Sangram Singh the Dudia,
an ancient tribe, but like many others little known, until the incident
we are about to relate gave it a momentary gleam of splendour, and
afforded the bard an opportunity 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.
=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 Naharamagra, the ‘tiger mount,’ where the
Rana had a _ramna_ or preserve, for the royal sport of tiger-hunting. It
was during the autumnal 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 panting 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. Having 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 stumbled 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, which never abandons a Rajput, whatever
be his condition.[11.2.4] The Rana was so much pleased with his rustic
host, that he commanded 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’[11.2.5] (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 sovereign (a distinguished mark
of royal favour), accompanied with the more solid 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,[11.2.6] 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,[11.2.7] 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 punishment 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 with a tiger’s (_bagh_)
head.[11.2.8] “He invoked his support on this occasion, when the Deota
threw him the flower[11.2.9] in his hand, and desired him to carry it to
his sovereign.” He 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 Kuwaria.
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 gratitude. 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 replied to her son’s request, that
“he might give him Mewar if he chose.” Displeased at this
unaccommodating 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.”[11.2.10] The
temporary Rana availed himself of this 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 the 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 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.[11.2.11] Although it now belongs to the chief of Amet, it is
only recognized as the Dudia-ka-mahall; but its halls are the dwelling
of the bat and the owl; the _bar_[11.2.12] 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 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 _bapota_. The simple deed
of conveyance will better establish this point!
“Maharao Sri Jai Singh, plighting his 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_: _suput_, _kuput_:[11.2.13] your issue shall enjoy them. Of
this intention I call the four-armed divinity (Chaturbhuj)[11.2.14] 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 Mān 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 me to say that Jai Singh
had summoned 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; 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
appendages 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, with the _kunguras_ (battlements) of
Lawa; but he never could have dared to take Jethpura, had not respect
for the chief of Lawa, 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