Chapter 2…

Chapter 2

=Migration of the Rāthors into Rājputāna.=—In S. 1268 (A.D. 1212), eighteen years subsequent to the overthrow of Kanauj, Siahji and Setram, grandsons of its last monarch, abandoned the land of their birth, and with two hundred retainers, the wreck of their vassalage, journeyed westward to the desert, with the intent, according to some of the chronicles, of making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Dwarka;[5.2.1] but according to others, and with more probability, to carve their fortunes in fresh fields, unscathed by the luxuries in which they had been tried, and proud in their poverty and sole heritage, the glory of Kanauj [12].

=The Tribes of Rājputāna.=—Let us rapidly sketch the geography of the tribes over whom it was destined these emigrants of the Ganges should obtain the mastery, from the Jumna to the Indus, and the Gara River to the Aravalli hills. First, on the east, the Kachhwahas, under Malesi, whose father, Rao Pajun, was killed in the war of Kanauj. Ajmer, Sambhar, and the best lands of the Chauhans fell rapidly to the Islamite—though the strongholds of the Aravalli yet sheltered some, and Nadol continued for a century more to be governed by a descendant of Bisaldeo. Mansi, Rana of the Indha[5.2.2] tribe, a branch of the Parihars, still held Mandor, and the various Bhumias around paid him a feudal subjection as the first chief of the desert. Northward, about Nagor, lived the community of the Mohils (a name now extinct), whose chief place was Aurint, on which depended 1440 villages. The whole of the tracts now occupied by Bikaner to Bhatner were partitioned into petty republics of Getae or Jats, whose history will hereafter be related. Thence to the Gara River, the Johyas, Dahyas, Kathis, Langahas, and other tribes whose names are now obliterated, partly by the sword, partly by conversion to Islamism. The Bhattis had for centuries been established within the bounds they still inhabit, and little expected that this handful of Rathors was destined to contract them. The Sodha princes adjoined the Bhattis south, and the Jarejas occupied the valley of the Indus and Cutch. The Solankis intervened between them and the Pramaras of Abu and Chandravati, which completed the chain by junction with Nadol. Various chieftains of the more ancient races, leading a life of fearless independence, acknowledging an occasional submission to their more powerful neighbours, were scattered throughout this space; such as the Dabhis of Idar and Mewa; the Gohils of Kherdhar; the Deoras of Sanchor; and Sonigiras of Jalor; the Mohils of Aurint; the Sankhlas of Sandli, etc.; all of whom have either had their birthright seized by the Rathor, or the few who have survived and yet retain them are enrolled amongst their allodial vassals.

=The Exploits of Siāhji.=—The first exploit of Siahji was at Kulumad (twenty miles west of the city of Bikaner, not then in existence), the residence of a chieftain of the Solanki tribe. He received the royal emigrants with kindness, and the latter repaid it by the offer of their services to combat his enemy, the Jareja chieftain of Phulra, well known in all the annals of the period, from the Sutlej to the ocean, as Lakha Phulani, the most celebrated riever of Maru, whose castle of Phulra stood amidst the almost inaccessible [13] sandhills of the desert. By this timely succour the Solanki gained a victory over Lakha, but with the loss of Setram and several of his band. In gratitude for this service, the Solanki bestowed upon Siahji his sister in marriage, with an ample dower; and he continued his route by Anhilwara Patan, where he was hospitably entertained by its prince, to the shrine of Dwarka. It was the good fortune of Siahji again to encounter Lakha, whose wandering habits had brought him on a foray into the territory of Anhilwara. Besides the love of glory and the ambition of maintaining the reputation of his race, he had the stimulus of revenge, and that of a brother’s blood. He was successful, though he lost a nephew, slaying Lakha in single combat, which magnified his fame in all these regions, of which Phulani was the scourge.

Flushed with success, we hear nothing of the completion of Siahji’s pilgrimage; but obedient to the axiom of the Rajput, “get land,” we find him on the banks of the Luni, exterminating, at a feast, the Dabhis of Mewa,[5.2.3] and soon after the Gohils of Kherdhar,[5.2.4] whose chief, Maheshdas, fell by the sword of the grandson of Jaichand. Here, in the “land of Kher,” amidst the sandhills of the Luni (the salt-river of the desert), from which the Gohils were expelled, Siahji planted the standard of the Rathors.

At this period a community of Brahmans held the city and extensive lands about Pali, from which they were termed Paliwal;[5.2.5] and being greatly harassed by the incursions of the mountaineers, the Mers and Minas, they called in the aid of Siahji’s band, which readily undertook and executed the task of rescuing the Brahmans from their depredations. Aware that they would be renewed, they offered Siahji lands to settle amongst them, which were readily accepted; and here he had a son by the Solankani, to whom he gave the name of Asvatthama. With her, it is recorded, the suggestion originated to make himself lord of Pali; and it affords another example of the disregard of the early Rajputs for the sacred order, that on the Holi, or Saturnalia, he found an opportunity to “obtain land,” putting to death the heads of this community, and adding the district to his conquests [14]. Siahji outlived his treachery only twelve months, leaving his acquisitions as a nucleus for further additions to his children. He had three sons, Asvatthama, Soning, and Ajmall.

=Asvatthāma.=—One of the chronicles asserts that it was Asvatthama, the successor of Siahji, who conquered “the land of Kher” from the Gohils. By the same species of treachery by which his father attained Pali, he lent his aid to establish his brother Soning in Idar. This small principality, on the frontiers of Gujarat, then appertained, as did Mewa, to the Dabhi race; and it was during the matam, or period of mourning for one of its princes, that the young Rathor chose to obtain a new settlement. His descendants are distinguished as the Hathundia[5.2.6] Rathors. The third brother, Aja, carried his forays as far as the extremity of the Saurashtra peninsula, where he decapitated Bikamsi, the Chawara chieftain of Okhamandala,[5.2.7] and established himself. From this act his branch became known as the ‘Vadhel’;[5.2.8] and the Vadhels are still in considerable number in that furthest track of ancient Hinduism called the “World’s End.”

Asvatthama died, leaving eight sons, who became the heads of clans, namely, Duhar, Jopsi, Khampsao, Bhopsu, Dhandhal, Jethmall, Bandar, and Uhar; of which, four, Duhar, Dhandhal, Jethmall, and Uhar, are yet known.

=Duhar or Dhūhada.=—Duhar succeeded Asvatthama. He made an unsuccessful effort to recover Kanauj; and then attempted to wrest Mandor from the Parihars, but “watered their lands with his blood.” He left seven sons, namely, Raepal, Kiratpal, Behar, Pital, Jugel, Dalu, and Begar.

=Rāēpāl, Chhada, Thīda, Salkha, Biramdeo, Chonda.=—Raepal succeeded, and revenged the death of his father, slaying the Parihar of Mandor, of which he even obtained temporary possession. He had a progeny of thirteen sons, who rapidly spread their issue over these regions. He was succeeded by his son Kanhal [or Kānpāl], whose successor was his son Jalhan; he was succeeded by his son Chhada, whose successor was his son Thida. All these carried on a desperate warfare with, and made conquests from, their neighbours. Chhada and Thida are mentioned as very troublesome neighbours in the annals of the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, who were compelled to carry the war against them into the “land of Kher.” Rao Thida took the rich district of Bhinmal from the Sonigira, and made other additions to his territory from the Deoras and Balechas [15]. He was succeeded by Salakh or Salkha. His issue, the Salkhawats, now Bhumias, are yet numerous both in Mewa and Rardara. Salkha was succeeded by his son Biramdeo, who attacked the Johyas of the north, and fell in battle. His descendants, styled Biramot and Bijawat, from another son Bija, are numerous at Setru, Siwana, and Dechu. Biramdeo was succeeded by his son Chonda, an important name in the annals of the Rathors. Hitherto they had attracted notice by their valour and their raids, whenever there was a prospect of success; but they had so multiplied in eleven generations that they now essayed a higher flight. Collecting all the branches bearing the name of Rathor, Chonda assaulted Mandor, slew the Parihar prince, and planted the banners of Kanauj on the ancient capital of Maru.

So fluctuating are the fortunes of the daring Rajput, ever courting distinction and coveting bhum, ‘land,’ that but a short time before this success, Chonda had been expelled from all the lands acquired by his ancestors, and was indebted to the hospitality of a bard of the Charan tribe, at Kalu; and they yet circulate the kabit, or quatrain, made by him when, in the days of his greatness, he came and was refused admittance to “the lord of Mandor”; he took post under the balcony, and improvized a stanza, reminding him of the Charan of Kalu: “Chonda nahīn āwē chit, Khichar Kalu tanna? Bhup bhaya bhay-bhit, Mandawar ra mālya?” “Does not Chonda remember the porridge of Kalu, now that the lord of the land looks so terrific from his balcony of Mandawar?” Once established in Mandor, he ventured to assault the imperial garrison of Nagor. Here he was also successful. Thence he carried his arms south, and placed his garrison in Nadol, the capital of the province of Godwar. He married a daughter of the Parihar prince,[5.2.9] who had the satisfaction to see his grandson succeed to the throne of Mandor. Chonda was blessed with a progeny of fourteen sons, growing up to manhood around him. Their names were Ranmall,[5.2.10] Satta, Randhir, Aranyakanwal,[5.2.11] Punja, Bhim, Kana, Ajo, Ramdeo, Bija, Sahasmall, Bagh, Lumba, Seoraj.

Chonda had also one daughter named Hansa, married to Lakha Rana of Mewar [16], whose son was the celebrated Kumbha. It was this marriage which caused that interference in the affairs of Mewar, which had such fatal results to both States.[5.2.12]

The feud between his fourth son, Aranyakanwal, and the Bhatti prince of Pugal, being deemed singularly illustrative of the Rajput character, has been extracted from the annals of Jaisalmer, in another part of this work.[5.2.13] The Rathor chronicler does not enter into details, but merely states the result, as ultimately involving the death of Chonda—simply that “he was slain at Nagor with one thousand Rajputs”; and it is to the chronicles of Jaisalmer we are indebted for our knowledge of the manner. Chonda acceded in S. 1438 (A.D. 1382), and was slain in S. 1465 [A.D. 1408-9].

=Ranmall killed A.D. 1444.=—Ranmall succeeded. His mother was of the Gohil tribe. In stature he was almost gigantic, and was the most athletic of all the athletes of his nation. With the death of Chonda, Nagor was again lost to the Rathors. Rana Lakha presented Ranmall with the township of Darla and forty villages upon his sister’s marriage, when he almost resided at Chitor, and was considered by the Rana as the first of his chiefs. With the forces of Mewar added to his own, under pretence of conveying a daughter to the viceroy of Ajmer, he introduced his adherents into that renowned fortress, the ancient capital of the Chauhans, putting the garrison to the sword, and thus restored it to Mewar. Khemsi Pancholi, the adviser of this measure, was rewarded with a grant of the township of Kata, then lately captured from the Kaimkhanis.[5.2.14] Ranmall went on a pilgrimage to Gaya, and paid the tax exacted for all the pilgrims then assembled.

The bard seldom intrudes the relation of civil affairs into his page, and when he does, it is incidentally. It would be folly to suppose that the princes of Maru had no legislative recorders; but with these the poet had no bond of union. He, however, condescends to inform us of an important measure of Rao Ranmall, namely, that he equalized the weights and measures throughout his dominions, which he divided as at present. The last act of Ranmall, in treacherously attempting to usurp the throne of the infant Rana of Mewar, was deservedly punished, and he was slain by the faithful Chonda, as related in the annals of that State.[5.2.15] This feud originated the line of demarcation of the two States,[5.2.16] and which remained [17] unaltered until recent times, when Marwar at length touched the Aravalli. Rao Ranmall left twenty-four sons, whose issue, and that of his eldest son, Jodha, form the great vassalage of Marwar. For this reason, however barren is a mere catalogue of names, it is of the utmost value to those who desire to see the growth of the frèrage of such a community.[5.2.17]

Names. Clans. Chieftainships or Fiefs. 1. Jodha (succeeded) Jodha. 2. Kandal ┌ Kandalot, conquered ┐ └ lands in │ Bikaner. │ Awa, Kata, Palri, 3. Champa Champawat ├ Harsola, Rohat, │ Jawala, Satlana, ┘ Singari. ┐ ┌ Asop, Kantalia, 4. Akhairaj │ Kumpawat │ Chandawal, Siryari, had seven sons: ├ ┤ Kharla, Harsor, Balu, 1st Kumpa │ │ Bajoria, Surpura, ┘ └ Dewaria. 5. Mandla Mandlot Sarunda. 6. Patta Pattawat ┌ Kurnichari, Bara, and └ Desnokh.[5.2.18] 7. Lakha Lakhawat —— 8. Bala Balawat Dunara. 9. Jethmall Jethmallot Palasni. 10. Karna Karnot Lunawas. 11. Rupa Rupawat Chutila. 12. Nathu Nathawat Bikaner. 13. Dungra Dungrot ┐ 14. Sanda Sandawat │ 15. Manda Mandot │ 16. Biru Birot │ 17. Jagmall Jagmallot │ Estates not mentioned; 18. Hampa [18] Hampawat ├ their descendants have 19. Sakta Saktawat │ become dependent on the 20. Karimchand —-—- │ greater clanships. 21. Arival Arivalot │ 22. Ketsi Ketsiot │ 23. Satrasal Satrasalot │ 24. Tejmall Tejmallot ┘

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Footnote 5.2.1:

[The date of Siha or Siāhji, the traditional founder of the Mārwār dynasty, was until recently uncertain. An inscription on a memorial stone gives the date as Vikrama Sambat 1330, A.D. 1387, and for his grandson, Dhūhada V.S. 1336, A.D. 1393. He is called the eldest son of Asvatthāma mentioned in the text (IA, xi. 301). The tradition is vitiated by the fact that this was not the first appearance of Rāthors in Rājputāna. An inscription at Bījapur states that five of this clan ruled at Hathūndi (Hastikūndi) in the tenth century (Erskine iii. A. 54; IGI, vi. 247 f.).]

Footnote 5.2.2:

[The Indhas occupy the W. tract of Mārwār; will not eat the flesh of the boar; believe that no member of the clan can be struck by lightning, owing to the prediction of Khākhaji, one of their ancestors; no epidemic ever breaks out in their territory as it is under the protection of their goddess, Chāwanda Māta (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 31).]

Footnote 5.2.3:

The Dabhi was one of the thirty-six royal races; and this is almost the last mention of their holding independent possessions. See Vol. I. p. 138, and the map for the position of Mewa at the bend of the Luni. [Kher is now a ruined village near Jasol, about 60 miles S.W. of Jodhpur city, on the left bank of the Lūni.]

Footnote 5.2.4:

In my last journey through these regions, I visited the chief of the Gohils at Bhavnagar, in the Gulf of Cambay. I transcribed their defective annals, which trace their migration from ‘Kherdhar,’ but in absolute ignorance where it is! See Vol. I. p. 137.

Footnote 5.2.5:

[Pāli, 45 miles S.S.E. of Jodhpur city. The Pāliwāls have some remarkable customs; they do not observe the Rākhi festival because of a tradition that on the day the town was sacked by Shihābu-d-dīn, the sacred cords of the men slain and the bangles of those women who immolated themselves weighed respectively 9 and 84 maunds. Compare the story of Chitor (Vol. I. p. 383) (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 79).]

Footnote 5.2.6:

[Who take their name from their capital, Hathūndi, now ruined, near Bījapur in S.E. Mārwār.]

Footnote 5.2.7:

On the western coast of the Saurashtra peninsula. [The Okhamandal legend calls the Rāthor leaders Virāval and Bījal, who overcame the Chāwaras, and abandoning the name Rāthor, called themselves Vādhel, ‘slayers’ (BG, v. 590 f.).]

Footnote 5.2.8:

From badh, vadh, ‘to slay.’

Footnote 5.2.9:

He was of the Indha branch of the Parihars, and his daughter is called the Indhavatni.

Footnote 5.2.10:

The descendants of those numbering 1, 2, 4, 7 still exist.

Footnote 5.2.11:

This is the prince mentioned in the extraordinary feud related (p. 731) from the annals of Jaisalmer. Incidentally, we have frequent synchronisms in the annals of these States, which, however slight, are of high import.

Footnote 5.2.12:

See Vol. I. p. 323.

Footnote 5.2.13:

See p. 730.

Footnote 5.2.14:

[The Kāim or Qāimkhānis were originally Chauhāns, converted to Islām in the time of Fīroz Shāh. They are said to derive their name from the first famous convert. It is a rule with them not to use wooden planks in their doorways (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 37 f.; Rose, Glossary, iii. 257).]

Footnote 5.2.15:

See Vol. I. p. 327.

Footnote 5.2.16:

See Vol. I. p. 328.

Footnote 5.2.17:

It is only by the possession of such knowledge that we can exercise with justice our right of universal arbitration.

Footnote 5.2.18:

Brave soldiers, but, safe in the deep sands, they refuse to serve except on emergencies.

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Chapter 3

=Jodha, A.D. 1444-88. The Foundation of Jodhpur.=—Jodha was born at Danla, the appanage of his father in Mewar, in the month Baisakh, S. 1484. In 1511 he obtained Sojat, and in the month Jeth, 1515 (A.D. 1459) laid the foundation of Jodhpur, to which he transferred the seat of government from Mandor. With the superstitious Rajput, as with the ancient Roman [19], every event being decided by the omen or the augur, it would be contrary to rule if so important an occasion as the change of capital, and that of an infant State, were not marked by some propitious prestige, that would justify the abandonment of a city won by the sword, and which had been for ages the capital of Maru. The intervention, in this instance, was of a simple nature; neither the flight of birds, the lion’s lair, or celestial manifestation; but the ordinance of an anchorite, whose abode, apart from mankind, was a cleft of the mountains of Bakharchiriya. But the behests of such ascetics are secondary only to those of the divinity, whose organs they are deemed. Like the Druids of the Celts, the Vanaprastha Jogi,[5.3.1] from the glades of the forest (vana) or recess in the rocks (gupha), issue their oracles to those whom chance or design may conduct to their solitary dwellings. It is not surprising that the mandates of such beings prove compulsory on the superstitious Rajput: we do not mean those squalid ascetics, who wander about India, and are objects disgusting to the eye; but the genuine Jogi, he who, as the term imports, mortifies the flesh, till the wants of humanity are restricted merely to what suffices to unite matter with spirit; who has studied and comprehended the mystic works, and pored over the systems of philosophy, until the full influence of Maya (illusion) has perhaps unsettled his understanding; or whom the rules of his sect have condemned to penance and solitude; a penance so severe, that we remain astonished at the perversity of reason which can submit to it.[5.3.2] To these, the Druids of India, the prince and the chieftain would resort for instruction. They requested neither lands nor gold: to them “the boasted wealth of Bokhara” was as a particle of dust. Such was the ascetic who recommended Jodha to erect his castle on ‘the Hill of Strife’ (Jodhagir), hitherto known as Bakharchiriya, or ‘the bird’s nest,’ a projecting elevation of the same range on which Mandor was placed, and about four miles south of it. Doubtless its inaccessible position seconded the recommendation of the hermit, for its scarped summit renders it almost impregnable [20], while its superior elevation permits the sons of Jodha to command, from the windows of their palace, a range of vision almost comprehending the limits of their sway. In clear weather they can view the summits of their southern barrier, the gigantic Aravalli; but in every other direction it fades away in the boundless expanse of sandy plains. Neither the founder, nor his monitor, the ascetic, however, were engineers, and they laid the foundation of this stronghold without considering what an indispensable adjunct to successful defence was good water; but to prevent any slur on the memory of Jodha, they throw the blame of this defect on the hermit. Jodha’s engineer, in tracing the line of circumvallation, found it necessary to include the spot chosen as his hermitage, and his remonstrance for undisturbed possession was treated with neglect; whether by the prince as well as the chief architect, the legend says not. The incensed Jogi pronounced an imprecation, that the new castle should possess only brackish water, and all the efforts made by succeeding princes to obtain a better quality, by blasting the rock, have failed. The memory of the Jogi is sanctified, though his anger compelled them to construct an apparatus, whereby water for the supply of the garrison is elevated from a small lake at the foot of the rock, which, being entirely commanded from the walls, an assailant would find difficult to cut off. This was the third grand event in the fortunes of the Rathors, from the settlement of Siahji.[5.3.3]

Such was the abundant progeny of these princes, that the limits of their conquests soon became too contracted. The issue of the three last princes, namely, the fourteen sons of Chonda, the twenty-four of Ranmall, and fourteen of Jodha, had already apportioned amongst them the best lands of the country, and it became necessary to conquer “fresh fields in which to sow the Rathor seed.”

Jodha had fourteen sons, namely—

Names of Chiefs. Clans. Fiefs or Remarks.

Chieftainships. 1. Santal, or ┐ —— Satalmer ┌ Three coss from Satal ┘ └ Pokaran. 2. Suja (Suraj) —— —— Succeeded Jodha. 3. Gama [21] —— —— No issue. ┌ Duda took Sambhar │ from the │ Chauhans. He │ had one son, 4. Duda [Dhuhada] Mertia Merta ┤ Biram, whose │ two sons Jaimall │ and Jagmall │ founded the │ clans Jaimallot └ and Jagmallot. 5. Birsingh Birsinghgot Nolai In Malwa. 6. Bika Bikayat Bikaner Independent State. 7. Baharmall Baharmallot Bai Bhilara —— 8. Sheoraj Sheorajot Dunara On the Luni. 9. Karamsi Karamsot Khinwasar —— 10. Raemall Raemallot —— —— 11. Savantsi Savantsiot Dawara —— 12. Bida Bidawat Bidavati In Nagor district. 13. Banhar —— —— ┐ Clans and fiefs not 14. Nimba —— —— ┘ mentioned.

=Sāntal, Sātal, 1488-91.=—The eldest son, Santal, born of a female of Bundi, established himself in the north-west corner, on the lands of the Bhattis, and built a fort, which he called Satalmer, about five miles from Pokaran.[5.3.4] He was killed in action by a Khan of the Sahariyas (the Saracens of the Indian desert), whom he also slew. His ashes were burnt at Kasma, and an altar was raised over them, where seven of his wives became satis.

The fourth son, Duda [or Dhūhada], established himself on the plains of Merta, and his clan, the Mertia, is numerous, and has always sustained the reputation of being the “first swords” of Maru. His daughter was the celebrated Mira Bai, wife of Rana Kumbha,[5.3.5] and he was the grandsire of the heroic Jaimall, who defended Chitor against Akbar, and whose descendant, Jeth Singh of Badnor, is still one of the sixteen chief vassals of the Udaipur court.

The sixth son, Bika, followed the path already trod by his uncle Kandal, with whom he united, and conquered the tracts possessed by the six Jat communities. He erected a city, which he called after himself, Bikaner, or Bīkaner.

=Death of Rāo Jodha, A.D. 1488.=—Jodha outlived the foundation of his new capital thirty years, and beheld his [22] sons and grandsons rapidly peopling and subjugating the regions of Maru. In S. 1545, aged sixty-one, he departed this life, and his ashes were housed with those of his fathers, in the ancestral abode of Mandor. This prince, the second founder of his race in these regions, was mainly indebted to the adversities of early life for the prosperity his later years enjoyed; they led him to the discovery of worth in the more ancient, but neglected, allodial proprietors displaced by his ancestors, and driven into the least accessible regions of the desert. It was by their aid he was enabled to redeem Mandor, when expelled by the Guhilots, and he nobly preserved the remembrance thereof in the day of his prosperity. The warriors whose forms are sculptured from the living rock at Mandor owe the perpetuity of their fame to the gratitude of Jodha; through them he not only recovered, but enlarged his dominions.[5.3.6] In less than three centuries after their migration from Kanauj, the Rathors, the issue of Siahji, spread over a surface of four degrees of longitude and the same extent of latitude, or nearly 80,000 miles square, and they amount at this day, in spite of the havoc occasioned, by perpetual wars and famine, to 500,000 souls.[5.3.7] While we thus contemplate the renovation of the Rathor race, from a single scion of that magnificent tree, whose branches once overshadowed the plains of Ganga, let us withdraw from oblivion some of the many noble names they displaced, which now live only in the poet’s page. Well may the Rajput repeat the ever-recurring simile, “All is unstable; life is like the scintillation of the fire-fly; house and land will depart, but a good name will last for ever!” What a list of noble tribes could we enumerate now erased from independent existence by the successes of ‘the children of Siva’ (Siva-putra)![5.3.8] Pariharas, Indhas, Sankhlas, Chauhans, Gohils, Dabhis, Sandhals, Mohils, Sonigiras, Kathis, Jats, Huls, etc., and the few who still exist only as retainers of the Rathor.

=Sūja or Surajmall, A.D. 1491-1516.=—Suja[5.3.9] (Surajmall) succeeded, and occupied the gaddi of Jodha during twenty-seven years, and had at least the merit of adding to the stock of Siahji.

=The Rape of the Virgins.=—The contentions for empire, during the vacillating dynasty of the Lodi kings of Delhi, preserved the sterile lands of Maru from their cupidity; and a second dynasty, the Shershahi, intervened ere “the sons of Jodha” were summoned to measure swords with the Imperialists. But in S. 1572 (A.D. 1516), a desultory [23] band of Pathans made an incursion during the fair of the Tij,[5.3.10] held at the town of Pipar, and carried off one hundred and forty of the maidens of Maru. The tidings of the rape of the virgin Rajputnis were conveyed to Suja, who put himself at the head of such vassals as were in attendance, and pursued, overtook, and redeemed them, with the loss of his own life, but not without a full measure of vengeance against the “northern barbarian.” The subject is one chosen by the itinerant minstrel of Maru, who, at the fair of the Tij, still sings the rape of the one hundred and forty virgins of Pipar, and their rescue by their cavalier prince at the price of his own blood.

Suja had five sons, namely: 1. Bhaga, who died in non-age: his son Ganga succeeded to the throne. 2. Uda, who had eleven sons: they formed the clan Udawat, whose chief fiefs are Nimaj, Jaitaran, Gundoj, Baratia, Raepur, etc., besides places in Mewar. 3. Saga, from whom descended the clan Sagawat; located at Barwa. 4. Prayag, who originated the Prayaggot clan. 5. Biramdeo, whose son, Naru, receives divine honours as the Putra of Maru, and whose statue is worshipped at Sojat. His descendants are styled Narawat Jodha, of whom a branch is established at Pachpahar, in Haraoti.

=Rāo Ganga, A.D. 1516-32.=—Ganga, grandson of Suja, succeeded his grandfather in S. 1572 (A.D. 1516); but his uncle, Saga, determined to contest his right to the gaddi, invited the aid of Daulat Khan Lodi, who had recently expelled the Rathors from Nagor. With this auxiliary a civil strife commenced, and the sons of Jodha were marshalled against each other. Ganga, confiding in the rectitude of his cause, and reckoning upon the support of the best swords of Maru, spurned the offer of compromise made by the Pathan, of a partition of its lands between the claimants, and gave battle, in which his uncle Saga was slain, and his auxiliary, Daulat Khan, ignominiously defeated.

=Rāthors join Mewār against Bābur, A.D. 1527.=—Twelve years after the accession of Ganga, the sons of Jodha were called on to unite their forces to Mewar to oppose the invasion of the Moguls from Turkistan. Sanga Rana, who had resumed the station of his ancestors amongst the princes of Hind, led the war, and the king of Maru deemed it no degradation to acknowledge his supremacy, and send his quotas to fight under the standard of Mewar, whose chronicles do more justice to the Rathors than those of their own bards. This, which was the last confederation made by the Rajputs for national independence [24], was defeated, as already related, in the fatal field of Bayana, where, had treachery not aided the intrepid Babur, the Rathor sword would have had its full share in rescuing the nation from the Muhammadan yoke. It is sufficient to state that a Rathor was in the battle, to know that he would bear its brunt; and although we are ignorant of the actual position of the Rana, we may assume that their post was in the van. The young prince Raemall (grandson of Ganga), with the Mertia chieftains Kharto and Ratna, and many others of note, fell against the Chagatai on this eventful day.

Ganga died[5.3.11] four years after this event, and was succeeded by

=Rāo Māldeo, A.D. 1532-62, or 1568-69.=—Maldeo in S. 1588 (A.D. 1532),[5.3.12] a name as distinguished as any of the noble princes in the chronicles of Maru. The position of Marwar at this period was eminently excellent for the increase and consolidation of its resources. The emperor Babur found no temptation in her sterile lands to divert him from the rich plains of the Ganges, where he had abundant occupation; and the districts and strongholds on the emperor’s frontier of Maru, still held by the officers of the preceding dynasty, were rapidly acquired by Maldeo, who planted his garrisons in the very heart of Dhundhar. The death of Sanga Rana, and the misfortunes of the house of Mewar, cursed with a succession of minor princes, and at once beset by the Moguls from the north, and the kings of Gujarat, left Maldeo to the uncontrolled exercise of his power, which, like a true Rajput, he employed against friend and foe, and became beyond a doubt the first prince of Rajwara, or, in fact, as styled by the Muhammadan historian Ferishta, “the most potent prince in Hindustan.”[5.3.13]

The year of Maldeo’s installation he redeemed the two most important possessions of his house, Nagor and Ajmer. In S. 1596 he captured Jalor, Siwana, and Bhadrajan from the Sandhals; and two years later dispossessed the sons of Bika of supreme power in Bikaner. Mewa, and the tracts on the Luni, the earliest possessions of his house, which had thrown off all dependence, he once more subjugated, and compelled the ancient allodial tenantry to hold of him in chief, and serve with their quotas. He engaged in war with the Bhattis, and conquered Bikampur, where a branch of his family remained, and are now incorporated with the Jaisalmer State, and, under the name of Maldots,[5.3.14] have the credit of being the most daring robbers of the desert. He even established branches of [25] his family in Mewar and Dhundhar, took, and fortified Chatsu, not twenty miles south of the capital of the Kachhwahas. He captured and restored Sirohi from the Deoras, from which house was his mother. But Maldeo not only acquired, but determined to retain, his conquests, and erected numerous fortifications throughout the country. He enclosed the city of Jodhpur with a strong wall, besides erecting a palace, and adding other works to the fortress. The circumvallations of Merta and its fort, which he called Malkot, cost him £24,000. He dismantled Satalmer, and with the materials fortified Pokaran, which he took from the Bhattis, transplanting the entire population, which comprehended the richest merchants of Rajasthan. He erected forts at Bhadrajan, on the hill of Bhimlod, near Siwana, at Gundoj, at Rian, Pipar, and Dunara. He made the Kundalkot at Siwana, and greatly added to that of Phalodi, first made by Hamira Nirawat. He also erected that bastion in Garh Bitli (the citadel of Ajmer) called the Kotburj, and showed his skill in hydraulics by the construction of a wheel to bring water into the fort. The chronicler adds, that “by the wealth of Sambhar,” meaning the resources of this salt lake, he was enabled to accomplish these works, and furnishes a list of the possessions of Jodhpur at this period, which we cannot exclude: Sojat, Sambhar, Merta, Khata, Badnor, Ladnun, Raepur, Bhadrajan, Nagor, Siwana, Lohagarh, Jaikalgarh, Bikaner, Bhinmal, Pokaran, Barmer, Kasoli, Riwaso, Jajawar, Jalor, Baoli, Malar, Nadol, Phalodi, Sanchor, Didwana, Chatsu, Lawen, Malarna, Deora, Fatehpur, Amarsar, Khawar, Baniapur, Tonk, Toda, Ajmer, Jahazpur, and Pramar-ka-Udaipur (in Shaikhavati); in all thirty-eight districts, several of which, as Jalor, Ajmer, Tonk, Toda, and Badnor, comprehended each three hundred and sixty townships, and there were none which did not number eighty. But of those enumerated in Dhundhar, as Chatsu, Lawen, Tonk, Toda, and Jahazpur in Mewar, the possession was but transient; and although Badnor, and its three hundred and sixty townships, were peopled by Rathors, they were the descendants of the Mertias under Jaimall, who became one of the great vassals of Mewar, and would, in its defence, at all times draw their swords against the land which gave them birth.[5.3.15] This branch of the house of Jodha had for some time been too powerful [26] for subjects, and Merta was resumed. To this act Mewar was indebted for the services of this heroic chief. At the same time the growing power of others of the great vassalage of Marwar was checked by resumptions, when Jaitaran from the Udawats, and several other fiefs, were added to the fisc. The feudal allotments had never been regulated, but went on increasing with the energies of the State, and the progeny of its princes, each having on his birth an appanage assigned to him, until the whole land of Maru was split into innumerable portions. Maldeo saw the necessity for checking this subdivision, and he created a gradation of ranks, and established its perpetuity in certain branches of the sons of Ranmall and Jodha, which has never been altered.

=Inhospitable Conduct of Rāo Māldeo to Humāyūn, A.D. 1542.=—Ten years of undisturbed possession were granted Maldeo to perfect his designs, ere his cares were diverted from these to his own defence. Babur, the founder of the Mogul dynasty, was dead, and his son and successor had been driven from his newly conquered throne by his provincial lieutenant, Sher Shah: so rapidly do revolutions crowd upon each other where the sword is the universal arbitrator. We have elsewhere related that the fugitive monarch sought the protection of Maldeo, and we stigmatized his conduct as unnational; but we omitted to state that Maldeo, then heir-apparent, lost his eldest, perhaps then only son Raemall in the battle of Bayana, who led the aid of Marwar on that memorable day, and consequently the name of Chagatai, whether in fortune or in flight, had no great claims to his regard. But little did Maldeo dream how closely the fortunes of his house would be linked with those of the fugitive Humayun, and that the infant Akbar, born in this emergency, was destined to revenge this breach of hospitality. Still less could the proud Rathor, who traced his ancestry on the throne of Kanauj one thousand years before the birth of the “barbarian” of Ferghana, deem it within the range of probability, that he should receive honours at such hands, or that the first title of Raja, Rajeswar, or ‘raja, lord of rajas,’ would be conferred on his own son by this infant, then rearing amidst the sandhills at the extremity of his desert dominion! It is curious to indulge in the speculative inquiry, whether, when the great Akbar girded Udai Singh with the sword of honour, and marked his forehead with the unguent of Raja-shah, he brought to mind the conduct of Maldeo, which doomed his birth to take place in the dismal castle of Umarkot, instead of in the splendid halls of Delhi [27].

=Attack on Mārwār by Sher Shāh, A.D. 1544.=—Maldeo derived no advantage from his inhospitality; for whether the usurper deemed his exertions insufficient to secure the royal fugitive, or felt his own power insecure with so potent a neighbour, he led an army of eighty thousand men into Marwar. Maldeo allowed them to advance, and formed an army of fifty thousand Rajputs to oppose him. The judgment and caution he exercised were so great, that Sher Shah, well versed in the art of war, was obliged to fortify his camp at every step. Instead of an easy conquest, he soon repented of his rashness when the admirable dispositions of the Rajputs made him dread an action, and from a position whence he found it impossible to retreat. For a month the armies lay in sight of each other, every day the king’s situation becoming more critical, and from which he saw not the slightest chance of extrication. In this exigence he had recourse to one of those stratagems which have often operated successfully on the Rajput, by sowing distrust in his mind as to the fidelity of his vassals. He penned a letter, as if in correspondence with them, which he contrived to have dropped, as by accident, by a messenger sent to negotiate. Perhaps the severity of the resumptions of estates seconded this scheme of Sher Shah; for when the stipulated period for the attack had arrived, the raja countermanded it. The reasons for this conduct, when success was apparent, were soon propagated; when one or two of the great leaders, in order to demonstrate their groundlessness, gave an instance of that devotion with which the annals of these States abound. At the head of twelve thousand, they attacked and forced the imperial entrenched camp, carrying destruction even to the quarters of the emperor; but multitudes prevailed, and the patriotic clans were almost annihilated. Maldeo, when too late, saw through the stratagem which had made him doubt the loyalty of his vassals. Superstition and the reproaches of his chieftains for his unworthy suspicions, did the rest; and this first levée en masse of the descendants of Siahji, arrayed in defence of their national liberties, was defeated. With justice did the usurper pay homage to their gallantry, when he exclaimed, on his deliverance from this peril, “he had nearly lost the empire of Hindustan for a handful of barley.”[5.3.16]

=Attack by Akbar, A.D. 1558-62.=—Maldeo was destined to outlive the Shershahi dynasty, and to see the imperial crown of India once more encircle the brows of the fugitive Humayun.[5.3.17] It had [28] been well for the Rathors had his years been lengthened; for his mild disposition and natural indolence of character gave them some chance that these qualities would be their best advocate. But he did not long survive the restoration. Whether the mother of his successor, prince Akbar, not yet fifteen, stimulated by the recollection of her misfortunes, nursed his young animosity against Maldeo for the miseries of Umarkot, or, whether it was merely an act of cautionary policy to curb the Rajput power, which was inconsistent with his own, in S. 1617 (A.D. 1561) he invaded Marwar, and laid siege to Malakot or Merta, which he took after an obstinate and sanguinary defence, part of the garrison cutting their way through his host, and making good their retreat to their prince.[5.3.18] The important castle of Nagor was also captured; and both these strongholds and their lands were conferred by Akbar on the younger branch of the family, Rae Singh, prince of Bikaner, now established in independence of the parent State, Jodhpur.

In 1625 (A.D. 1569), Maldeo succumbed to necessity; and in conformity with the times, sent his second son, Chandarsen,[5.3.19] with gifts to Akbar, then at Ajmer, which had become an integral part of the monarchy; but Akbar was so dissatisfied with the disdainful bearing of the desert king, who refused personally to pay his court, that he not only guaranteed the free possession of Bikaner to Rae Singh, but presented him with the farman for Jodhpur itself, with supremacy over his race. Chandarsen appears to have possessed all the native pride of the Rathor, and to have been prepared to contest his country’s independence, in spite of Akbar and the claims of his elder brother, Udai Singh, who eventually was more supple in ingratiating himself into the monarch’s favour. At the close of life the old Rao had to stand a siege in his capital, and after a brave but fruitless resistance,[5.3.20] was obliged to yield homage, and pay it in the person of his son Udai Singh, who, attending with a contingent, was enrolled amongst the commanders of ‘one thousand’; and shortly after was invested with the title of Mota Raja, or ‘the fat Raja,’ by which epithet alone he is designated in the annals of that period.[5.3.21]

Chandarsen, with a considerable number of the brave vassals of Maru, determined to cling to independence and the rude fare of the desert, rather than servilely follow in the train of the despot. When driven from Jodhpur, they took post in Siwana, in the western extremity of the State, and there held out to the death. For seventeen years he maintained his title to the gaddi, and divided the allegiance of [29] the Rathors with his elder brother Udai Singh (though supported by the king), and stood the storm in which he nobly fell, leaving three sons, Ugarsen, Askaran, and Rao Singh, who fought a duel with Rao Surthan, of Sirohi, and was slain, with twenty-four of his chiefs,[5.3.22] near the town of Datani.

Maldeo, though he submitted to acknowledge the supremacy of the emperor, was at least spared the degradation of seeing a daughter of his blood bestowed upon the opponent of his faith; he died soon after the title was conferred on his son, which sealed the dependence of Maru. His latter days were a dismal contrast to those which witnessed his conquests in almost every part of Rajputana, but he departed from this world in time to preserve his own honour untarnished, with the character of the most valiant and energetic Rajput of his time. Could he have added to his years and maintained their ancient vigour, he might, by a junction with Partap of Mewar, who single-handed commenced his career just as Maldeo’s closed, have maintained Rajput independence against the rising power of the Moguls.[5.3.23]

Maldeo, who died S. 1625 (A.D. 1569), had twelve sons:

1. Ram Singh, who was banished, and found refuge with the Rana of Mewar; he had seven sons, the fifth of whom, Keshodas, fixed at Chuli Maheshwar. 2. Raemall, who was killed in the battle of Bayana. 3. Udai Singh, Raja of Marwar. 4. Chandarsen, by a wife of the Jhala tribe; had three sons, the eldest, Ugarsen, got Binai; he had three sons, Karan, Kanji, and Kahan. 5. Askaran; descendants at Junia. 6. Gopaldas; killed at Idar. 7. Prithiraj; descendants at Jalor. 8. Ratansi; descendants at Bhadrajun. 9. Bheraj; descendants at Ahari. 10. Bikramajit ┐ 11. Bhan ├ No notice of them [30]. 12. —— ┘

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Footnote 5.3.1:

[The Vanaprastha or anchorite stage (āsrama) of a Brāhman’s life (Manu, Laws, vi. 1 ff.).]

Footnote 5.3.2:

We have seen one of these objects, self-condemned never to lie down during forty years, and there remained but three to complete the term. He had travelled much, was intelligent and learned; but far from having contracted the moroseness of the recluse, there was a benignity of mien, and a suavity and simplicity of manner in him, quite enchanting. He talked of his penance with no vainglory, and of its approaching term without any sensation. The resting position of this Druid (vanaprastha) was by means of a rope suspended from the bough of a tree, in the manner of a swing, having a cross-bar, on which he reclined. The first years of this penance, he says, were dreadfully painful; swollen limbs affected him to that degree, that he expected death; but this impression had long since worn off. “Even in this, is there much vanity,” and it would be a nice point to determine whether the homage of man or the approbation of the Divinity most sustains the energies under such appalling discipline.

Footnote 5.3.3:

Pali did not remain to Siahji’s descendants, when they went westward and settled on the Luni: the Sesodias took it with other lands from the Parihar of Mandor. It was the feud already adverted to with Mewar which obtained for him the fertile districts of Pali and Sojat, by which his territories at length touched the Aravalli, and the fears of the assassin of Rana Kumbha made his parricidal son relinquish the provinces of Sambhar and Ajmer (see Vol. I. p. 339).

Footnote 5.3.4:

[Now in ruins, about 85 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city, containing a large Jain temple and monuments of the Chief’s family.]

Footnote 5.3.5:

See Vol. I. p. 337.

Footnote 5.3.6:

See p. 842.

Footnote 5.3.7:

[The present area of Mārwār is 34,963 square miles; population 2,057,776, of which Rājputs form 27·9 per cent.]

Footnote 5.3.8:

Siahji is the Bhakha for Siva;—the ji is merely an adjunct of respect.

Footnote 5.3.9:

One of the chronicles makes Satal occupy the gaddi after Jodha, during three years; but this appears a mistake—he was killed in defending Satalmer.

Footnote 5.3.10:

For a description of this festival see p. 675.

Footnote 5.3.11:

The Yati’s roll says Ganga was poisoned; but this is not confirmed by any other authority.

Footnote 5.3.12:

[The dates are doubtful. See the legend of the marriage of Rāo Māldeo to Uma, daughter of the Bhatti Chief of Jaisalmer (IA, iii. 96 ff.).]

Footnote 5.3.13:

[“The most powerful of the Hindu princes who still retained their independence,” trans. Briggs, ii. 121.]

Footnote 5.3.14:

Mr. Elphinstone apprehended an attack from the Maldots on his way to Kabul.

Footnote 5.3.15:

Such is the Rajput’s notion of swamidharma, or “fidelity to him whose salt they eat,” their immediate lord, even against their king.

Footnote 5.3.16:

In allusion to the poverty of the soil, as unfitted to produce richer grains [Ferishta ii. 123; see pp. 835, 931 above].

Footnote 5.3.17:

There is a biographical account of this monarch, during his exile in Persia, written by his Abdar, or ‘cup-bearer,’ in the library of Major W. Yule, of Edinburgh, and which, when translated, will complete the series of biography of the members of the house of Timur. [The Tazkirātu-l-wāki‘āt of Jauhar, extracts from which are translated in Elliot-Dowson v. 136 ff.]

Footnote 5.3.18:

[The capture of Merta in 1562 by Sharafu-dīn Husain Mirza is described in Akbarnāma, trans. H. Beveridge, ii. 247 f.; Smith, Akbar, 59.]

Footnote 5.3.19:

[The statement that Chandarsen was second son of Māldeo rests on the Author’s account, and is not mentioned in the Akbarnāma.]

Footnote 5.3.20:

[For the capture of Jodhpur, “the strongest fort in that country,” by Husain Kuli Khān see Akbarnāma, ii. 305.]

Footnote 5.3.21:

[See Āīn, i. 429 f. Erskine (iii. A. 587) suggests that Mota means ‘good, potent’.]

Footnote 5.3.22:

It was fought with a certain number on each side, Rathors against Deoras, a branch of the Chauhans, the two bravest of all the Rajput races. It reminds us of some of the duels related by Froissart.

Footnote 5.3.23:

See Vol. I. 385 ff.

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Chapter 4

=Vassalage of Mārwār to the Mughals.=—The death of Maldeo formed an important epoch in the annals of the Rathors. Up to this period the will had waited upon the wish of the gallant descendants of Siva; but now the vassals of Maru acknowledged one mightier than they. The banner of the empire floated pre-eminent over the panchranga, the five-coloured flag, which had led the Rathors from victory to victory, and waved from the sandhills of Umarkot to the salt-lake of Sambhar; from the desert bordering the Gara to the peaks of the Aravalli. Henceforward, the Rathor princes had, by their actions or subservience, to ascend by degrees the steps to royal favour. They were required to maintain a contingent of their proud vassals, headed by the heir, to serve at the Mogul’s pleasure. Their deeds won them, not ignobly, the grace of the imperial court; but had slavish submission been the sole path to elevation, the Rathor princes would never have attained a grade beyond the first mansab,[5.4.1] conferred on Udai Singh. Yet though streams of wealth enriched the barren plains of Maru; although a portion of the spoils of Golkonda and Bijapur augmented its treasures, decorated its palaces, and embellished its edifices and mausoleums; although the desert kings took the ‘right hand’ of all the feudality of Hind, whether indigenous or foreign—a feudal assemblage of no less than seventy-six petty kingdoms—yet the Rathor felt the sense of his now degraded condition, and it often burst forth even in the presence of the suzerain.

=Rāo Udai Singh, A.D. 1581-95.=—Maldeo’s death occurred in S. 1625;[5.4.2] but the chronicles do not admit of Udai [31] Singh’s elevation until the death of his brother Chandarsen, from which period we may reckon that he was, though junior, the choice both of his father and the nobles, who did not approve of Udai Singh’s submission to Akbar. In fact, the Raja led the royal forces against the most powerful of his vassals, and resumed almost all the possessions of the Mertias, and weakened the others.

Before we proceed to trace the course pursued by Udai Singh, who was seated upon the cushion of Maldeo in S. 1640 (A.D. 1584), let us cast a short retrospect over the annals of Maru, since the migration of the grandson of the potentate of Kanauj, which, compared with the ample page of western history, present little more than a chronicle of hard names, though not destitute of facts interesting to political science.

=Retrospect of Mārwār History.=—In the table before the reader, aided by the explanations in the text, he will see the whole process of the conquest, peopling, and settlement of an extensive region, with its partition or allotments amongst an innumerable frèrage (bhayyad), whose children continue to hold them as vassals of their king and brother, the descendant of their mutual ancestor Siahji.

We may divide the annals of Marwar, from the migration of Siahji from Kanauj to the accession of Udai Singh, into three distinct epochs:

1. From the settlement of Siahji in the land of Kher, in A.D. 1212, to the conquest of Mandor by Chonda, in A.D. 1381.

2. From the conquest of Mandor to the founding of Jodhpur, in A.D. 1459; and

3. From the founding of Jodhpur to the accession of Udai Singh in A.D. 1584, when the Rathors acknowledged the supremacy of the empire.

The two first epochs were occupied in the subjugation of the western portion of the desert from the ancient allodiality; nor was it until Chonda conquered Mandor, on the decline of the Chauhans of the east, that the fertile lands on either side of the Luni were formed into fiefs for the children of Ranmall and Jodha. A change of capital with the Rajput is always productive of change in the internal organisation of the State; and not unfrequently the race changes its appellation with its capital. The foundation of Jodhpur was a new era, and henceforth the throne of Maru could only be occupied by the tribe of Jodha, and from branches not constituting the vassals of the crown, who were cut off from succession. This is a peculiar [32] feature in Rajput policy, and is common to the whole race, as will be hereafter more distinctly pointed out in the annals of Ajmer.

=Feudalism in Mārwār.=—Jodha, with all the ambition of the founder of a State, gave a new form to the feudal institutions of his country. Necessity, combined with pride, led him to promulgate a statute of limitation of the sub-infeudations of Maru. The immense progeny of his father Ranmall, twenty-four sons, and his own, of fourteen, almost all of whom had numerous issue, rendered it requisite to fix the number and extent of the fiefs; and amongst them, henceforward constituting permanently the frèrage of Maru, the lands were partitioned, Kandhal having emigrated and established his own numerous issue, the Kandhalots, in Bikaner. The two brothers next to Jodha, namely, Champa and Kumpa, with his two sons, Duda and Karamsi, and his grandson, Uda, were declared the heads of the feudal association under their names, the Champawats, Kumpawats, Mertias (sons of Duda), Karamsots, and Udawats, and continue to be “the pillars of Maru.” Eight great estates, called the ath thakurat, or ‘eight lordships’ of Marwar, each of the nominal annual value of fifty thousand rupees (£5000), were settled on these persons, and their immense influence has obtained many others for younger branches of their clans. The title of the first noble of Maru was given to Champa and his issue, who have often made its princes tremble on their thrones. Besides these, inferior appanages were settled on the junior branches, brothers, sons, and grandsons of Jodha, which were also deemed hereditary and irresumable; to use their own phrase, their bat,[5.4.3] or ‘allotment,’ to which they consider their title as sacred as that of their prince to his throne, of whom they say, “When our services are acceptable, then is he our lord; when not, we are again his brothers and kin, claimants, and laying claim to the land.”[5.4.4]

Rao Maldeo confirmed this division of Jodha, though he increased the secondary fiefs, and as the boundaries of Marwar were completed in his reign, it was essentially necessary to confirm the limitation. The feudal States of Marwar are, therefore, perpetuated in the offspring of the princes from Jodha to Maldeo, and a distinction exists between them and those subsequently conferred; the first, being [33] obtained by conquest, are deemed irrevocable, and must be perpetuated by adoption on the failure of lineal issue; whereas the other may, on lapses, be resumed and added to the fisc whence it emanated. The fiscal domain of the Rajput princes cannot, says their traditionary lore, be alienated for more than a life-interest; but this wise rule, though visible in anecdotes of past days, has been infringed with their general disorganization. These instances, it may be asserted, afford the distinctions of allodial and feudal lands. Of the numerous clans, the issue of Siahji to Jodha, which are spread over the northern and western parts of the State, some, partly from the difficulty of their position, partly from a feeling of respect to their remote ancestry, enjoy almost entire independence. Yet they recognize the prince of Maru as their liege lord when his crown is endangered, and render homage on his accession or any great family event. These clans hold without grant or fine, and may properly be called the allodial chieftains. Of this number we may enumerate the lordships of Barmer, Kotra, Sheo, Phulsund, etc. Others there are who, though less independent, may also be styled the allodiality of Marwar, who are to furnish their quotas when demanded, and perform personal homage on all great days of rejoicing; of these are Mewa, Sindari, etc. The ancient clans scattered over the land, or serving the more modern chieftains, are recognized by their patronymic distinctions, by those versed in the chronicles; though many hear the names of Duharka, Mangalia, Uhar, and Dhandal, without knowing them to be Rathor. The mystic page of the bard is always consulted previous to any marriage, in order to prevent a violation of the matrimonial canons of the Rajputs, which are stricter than the Mosaic, and this keeps up the knowledge of the various branches of their own and other races, which would otherwise perish.

Whatever term may be applied to these institutions of a martial race, and which for the sake of being more readily understood we have elsewhere called, and shall continue to designate, “feudal,” we have not a shadow of doubt that they were common to the Rajput races from the remotest ages, and that Siahji conveyed them from the seat of his ancestors, Kanauj. A finer picture does not exist of the splendour of a feudal array than the camp of its last monarch, Jaichand, in the contest with the Chauhan. The annals of each and every State bear evidence to a system strictly parallel to that of Europe; more especially Mewar, where, thirteen hundred years ago, we see the entire feudatories of the State throwing up their grants, giving their liege lord defiance, and threatening him with their [34] vengeance. Yet, having “eaten his salt,” they forbore to proceed to hostilities till a whole year had elapsed, at the expiration of which they deposed him.[5.4.5] Akbar, who was partial to Hindu institutions, borrowed much from them, in all that concerned his own regulations.

In contrasting these customs with analogous ones in the West, the reader should never lose sight of one point, which must influence the analogy, namely, the patriarchal form which characterizes the feudal system in all countries; and as, amongst the Rajputs, all their vassalage is of their own kin and blood (save a slight mixture of foreign nobles as a counterpoise), the paternity of the sovereign is no fiction, as in Europe; so that from the son of Champa, who takes the right hand of his prince, to the meanest vassal, who serves merely for his peti[5.4.6] (rations), all are linked by the tie of consanguinity, of which it is difficult to say whether it is most productive of evil or good, since it has afforded examples as brilliant and as dark as any in the history of mankind. The devotion which made twelve thousand, out of the fifty thousand, “sons of Jodha” prove their fidelity to Maldeo has often been emulated even to the present day.

The chronicles, as before stated, are at variance with regard to the accession of Udai Singh: some date it from the death of Maldeo, in S. 1625 (A.D. 1569); others from that of his elder brother Chandarsen, slain in the storm of Siwana. The name of Udai appears one of evil portent in the annals of Rajasthan.[5.4.7] While “Udai, the fat,” was inhaling the breeze of imperial power, which spread a haze of prosperity over Maru, Partap of Mewar, the idol of the Rajputs, was enduring every hardship in the attempt to work out his country’s independence, which had been sacrificed by his father, Udai Singh. In this he failed, but he left a name hallowed in the hearts of his countrymen, and immortalized in the imperishable verse of the bard.

On the union of the imperial house with that of Jodhpur, by the marriage of Jodh Bai to Akbar,[5.4.8] the emperor not only restored all the possessions he had wrested from Marwar, with the exception of Ajmer, but several rich districts in Malwa, whose revenues doubled the resources of his own fiscal domain. With the aid of his imperial brother-in-law, he greatly diminished the power of the feudal aristocracy [35], and clipped the wings of almost all the greater vassals, while he made numerous sequestrations of the lands of the ancient allodiality and lesser vassals; so that it is stated, that, either by new settlement or confiscation, he added fourteen hundred villages to the fisc. He resumed almost all the lands of the sons of Duda, who, from their abode, were termed Mertia; took Jaitaran from the Udawats, and other towns of less note from the sons of Champa and Kumpa.

Udai Singh was not ungrateful for the favours heaped upon him by the emperor, for whom his Rathors performed many signal services: for the raja was latterly too unwieldy for any steed to bear him to battle. The “king of the Desert” (the familiar epithet applied to him by Akbar) had a numerous progeny; no less than thirty-four legitimate sons and daughters, who added new clans and new estates to the feudal association of Maru: of these the most conspicuous are Govindgarh and Pisangan; while some obtained settlements beyond its limits which became independent and bear the name of the founders. Of these are Kishangarh and Ratlam in Malwa.

=Death of Rāo Udai Singh.=—Udai Singh died thirteen years after his inauguration on the cushion of Jodha, and thirty-three after the death of Maldeo. The manner of his death, as related in the biographical sketches termed Khyat, affords such a specimen of superstition and of Rajput manners that it would be improper to omit it. The narrative is preceded by some reflections on the moral education of the Rathor princes, and the wise restraints imposed upon them under the vigilant control of chiefs of approved worth and fidelity; so that, to use the words of the text, “they often passed their twentieth year, ignorant of woman.” If the “fat raja” had ever known this moral restraint, in his riper years he forgot it; for although he had no less than twenty-seven queens, he cast the eye of desire on the virgin-daughter of a subject, and that subject a Brahman.

=Brāhman sacrifices his Daughter.=—It was on the raja’s return from court to his native land that he beheld the damsel, and he determined, notwithstanding the sacred character of her father and his own obligations as the dispenser of law and justice, to enjoy the object of his admiration. The Brahman was an Ayapanthi,[5.4.9] or votary of Ayamata, whose shrine is at Bhavi-Bhilara. These sectarians of Maru, very different from the abstinent Brahmans of Bengal, eat flesh, drink wine, and share in all the common enjoyments of life with the martial spirits around them. Whether the scruples of the [36] daughter were likely to be easily overcome by her royal tempter, or whether the raja threatened force, the Khyat does not inform us; but as there was no other course by which the father could save her from pollution but by her death, he resolved to make it one of vengeance and horror. He dug a sacrificial pit, and having slain his daughter, cut her into fragments, and mingling therewith pieces of flesh from his own person, made the Homa, or burnt sacrifice to Ayamata, and as the smoke and flames ascended he pronounced an imprecation on the raja: “Let peace be a stranger to him! and in three pahars,[5.4.10] three days, and three years, let me have revenge!” Then exclaiming, “My future dwelling is the Dabhi Baori!” sprung into the flaming pit. The horrid tale was related to the raja, whose imagination was haunted by the shade of the Brahman; and he expired at the assigned period, a prey to unceasing remorse.

Superstition is sometimes made available for moral ends; and the shade of the Ayapanthi Brahman of Bhilara has been evoked, in subsequent ages, to restrain and lead unto virtue libidinous princes, when all other control has been unavailing. The celebrated Jaswant Singh, the great-grandson of Udai, had an amour with the daughter of one of his civil officers, and which he carried on at the Dabhi Baori.[5.4.11] But the avenging ghost of the Brahman interposed between him and his wishes. A dreadful struggle ensued, in which Jaswant lost his senses, and no effort could banish the impression from his mind. The ghost persecuted his fancy, and he was generally believed to be possessed with a wicked spirit, which, when exorcised, was made to say he would only depart on the self-sacrifice of a chief equal in dignity to Jaswant. Nahar Khan, “the tiger lord,” chief of the Kumpawat clan, who led the van in all his battles, immediately offered his head in expiation for his prince; and he had no sooner expressed this loyal determination, than the holy men who exorcised the spirit caused it to descend into a vessel of water, and having waved it thrice round his head, they presented it to Nahar Khan, who drank it off, and Jaswant’s senses were instantly restored. This miraculous transfer of the ghost is implicitly believed by every chief of Rajasthan, by whom Nahar was called “the faithful of the faithful.” Previous to dying, he called his son, and imposed on him and his descendants, by the solemnity of an oath, the abjuration of the office of Pardhan, or hereditary premier of Marwar, whose dignity involved such a sacrifice [37]; and from that day the Champawats of Awa succeeded the Kumpawats of Asop, who renounced the first seat on the right for that on the left of their princes.

We shall conclude the reign of Udai Singh with the register of his issue from “the Book of Kings.” It is by no means an unimportant document to such as are interested in these singular communities, and essentially useful to those who are called upon to interfere in their national concerns. Here we see the affinities of the branch (sakha) to the parent tree, which in one short century has shaded the whole land; and to which the independents of Kishangarh, Rupnagarh, and Ratlam, as well as the feudal chiefs of Govindgarh, Khairwa, and Pisangan, all issues from Udai Singh, look for protection.

Issue of Raja Udai Singh:—

1. Sur Singh, succeeded. 2. Akhairaj. 3. Bhagwandas; had issue Bala, Gopaldas, Govinddas, who founded Govindgarh. 4. Narardas ┐ 5. Sakat Singh ├ had no issue attaining eminence. 6. Bhopat ┘ 7. Dalpat had four sons: 1. Maheshdas, whose son, Ratna, founded Ratlam;[5.4.12] 2. Jaswant Singh; 3. Partap Singh; 4. Kaniram. 8. Jeth had four sons: 1. Har Singh; 2. Amra; 3. Kaniram; 4. Premraj, whose descendants held lands in the tract called Balati and Khairwa. 9. Kishan, in S. 1669 (A.D. 1613), founded Kishangarh; he had three sons, Sahasmall, Jagmall, Biharmall, who had Hari Singh, who had Rup Singh, who founded Rupnagarh. 10. Jaswant, his son Man founded Manpura, his issue called Manpura Jodha. 11. Kesho founded Pisangan. 12. Ramdas. ┐ 13. Puranmall. │ 14. Madhodas. ├ No mention of them. 15. Mohandas. │ 16. Kirat Singh. │ 17. —— ┘

And seventeen daughters not registered in the chronicle [38].

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Footnote 5.4.1:

[Rank, prescribing precedence and gradation of pay (Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 3 ff.).]

Footnote 5.4.2:

[The dates are uncertain; those in the margin follow Erskine (iii. B. 25).]

Footnote 5.4.3:

From batna, ‘to divide, to partition.’

Footnote 5.4.4:

See the remonstrance of the vassal descendants of these chiefs, expelled their patrimony by their prince, to the English enemy, Vol. I. p. 230.

Footnote 5.4.5:

See Vol. I. p. 266.

Footnote 5.4.6:

Literally, ‘a bellyful.’

Footnote 5.4.7:

Instead of being, as it imports, the ‘ascending,’ (Skt. udaya), it should for ever, in both the houses of Maru and Mewar, signify ‘setting’; the pusillanimity of the one sunk Mewar, that of the other Marwar.

Footnote 5.4.8:

[There has been some controversy about Jodh Bāī, but it is clear that she was wife of Jahāngīr, not of Akbar (Āīn, i. 619).]

Footnote 5.4.9:

[This is one of the Jogi orders (Rose, Glossary, ii. 9). The Author (Western India, 136) says that Ayāmāta is tutelary goddess of the Koli tribe. One branch of the Lohānas specially worship her (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 139).]

Footnote 5.4.10:

A pahar is a watch of the day, about three hours.

Footnote 5.4.11:

A reservoir excavated by one of the Dabhi tribe. [This is a mistake. The proper name is Tāpi Bāori or ‘pit of fire’ (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 65). For similar ghost stories see Crooke, Popular Religion and Folklore of N. India, i. 193 ff. The original name of Nāhar Khān, before his conversion to Islām, was Mukunddās.]

Footnote 5.4.12:

Ratlam, Kishangarh, and Rupnagarh are independent, and all under the separate protection of the British Government.

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Chapter 5

=Rāja Sūr Singh, A.D. 1595-1620=.—Sur Singh succeeded in S. 1651 (A.D. 1595). He was serving with the Imperial forces at Lahore, where he had commanded since S. 1648, when intelligence reached him of his father’s death. His exploits and services were of the most brilliant nature, and had obtained for him, even during his father’s life, the title of “Sawai Raja,”[5.5.1] and a high grade amongst the dignitaries of the empire. He was commanded by Akbar to reduce the arrogant prince of Sirohi, who, trusting to the natural strength of his mountainous country, still refused to acknowledge a liege lord. This service well accorded with his private views, for he had a feud (wair) with Rao Surthan, which, according to the chronicle, he completely revenged. “He avenged his feud with Surthan and plundered Sirohi. The Rao had not a pallet left to sleep upon, but was obliged to make a bed for his wives upon the earth.” This appears to have humbled the Deora, “who, in his pride, shot his arrows at the sun for daring to shine upon him.”

=Campaign in Gujarāt.=—Surthan accepted the imperial [39] farman in token of submission, and agreed to serve with a contingent of his hardy clansmen in the war then entrusted to Raja Sur against the king of Gujarat, whose success we shall relate in the simple language of the chronicle: “The Raja took the pan against the king Muzaffar, with the title of viceroy of Gujarat. The armies met at Dhandhuka,[5.5.2] where a terrible conflict ensued. The Rathors lost many valiant men, but the Shah was defeated, and lost all the insignia of his greatness. He sent the spoil of seventeen thousand towns to the king, but kept a crore of drabs[5.5.3] for himself, which he sent to Jodhpur, and therewith he enlarged the town and fort. For this service Akbar increased his mansab, and sent him a sword, with a khilat, and a grant of fresh lands.”

Raja Sur, it appears in the sequel, provided liberally for the bards; for no less than “six lords of verse,” whose names are given, had in gift £10,000 each of the spoils of Gujarat, as incentives to song.

On the conquest of Gujarat, Raja Sur was ordered to the Deccan. “He obeyed, and with thirteen thousand horse, ten large guns, and twenty elephants, he fought three grand battles. On the Rewa (Nerbudda) he attacked Amra Balecha,[5.5.4] who had five thousand horse, whom he slew, and reduced all his country. For this service the king sent him a naubat (kettle-drum), and conferred on him Dhar and its domain.”

On Akbar’s death and the accession of Jahangir, Sur Singh attended at court with his son and heir, Gaj Singh, whom the king with his own hands invested with the sword, for his bravery in the escalade of Jalor, which had been conquered by the monarch of Gujarat and added to his domain. The poet thus relates the event: “Gaj[5.5.5] was commanded against Bihari Pathan; his war-trump sounded; Arbuda [Abu] heard and trembled. What took Alau-d-din years, Gaj accomplished in three months; he escaladed Jalandhara[5.5.6] sword in hand; many a Rathor of fame was killed, but he put to the sword seven thousand Pathans, whose spoils were sent to the king.”

Raja Sur, it would appear, after the overthrow of the dynasty of Gujarat, remained at the capital, while his son and heir, Gaj Singh, attended the king’s [40] commands, and, soon after the taking of Jalor, was ordered with the Marwar contingent against Rana Amra of Mewar: it was at the very moment of its expiring liberties,[5.5.7] for the chronicle merely adds, “Karan agreed to serve the king, and Gaj Singh returned to Taragarh.[5.5.8] The king increased both his own mansab (dignity) and that of his father, Raja Sur.”

Thus the Rajput chronicler, solicitous only to record the fame of his own princes, does not deem it necessary to concern himself with the agents conjoined with them, so that a stranger to the events of the period would imagine, from the high relief given to their actions, that the Rathor princes commanded in all the great events described; for instance, that just mentioned, involving the submission of the Rana, when Raja Gaj was merely one of the great leaders who accompanied the Mogul heir-apparent, Prince Khurram, on this memorable occasion. In the Diary of Jahangir, the emperor, recording this event, does not even mention the Rathor prince, though he does those of Kotah and Datia, as the instruments by which Prince Khurram carried on the negotiation;[5.5.9] from which we conclude that Raja Gaj merely acted a military part in the grand army which then invaded Mewar.

=Death of Rāja Sūr Singh, A.D. 1620: his Character.=—Raja Sur died in the Deccan, in S. 1676 (A.D. 1620). He added greatly to the lustre of the Rathor name, was esteemed by the emperor, and, as the bard expresses it, “His spear was frightful to the Southron.” Whether Raja Sur disapproved of the exterminating warfare carried on in these regions, or was exasperated at the unlimited service he was doomed to, which detained him from his native land, he, in his last moments, commanded a pillar to be erected with a curse engraven thereon, imprecated upon any of his race who should once cross the Nerbudda. From his boyhood he had been almost an alien to his native land: he had accompanied his father wherever he led the aid of Maru, was serving at Lahore at the period of his accession, and died far from the monuments of his fathers, in the heart of the peninsula. Although the emperor was not ungrateful in his estimate of these services,—for Raja Sur held by patent no less than “sixteen [41] grand fiefs”[5.5.10] of the empire, and with the title of Sawai raised above all the princes, his associates at court,—it was deemed no compensation for perpetual absence from the hereditary domain, thus abandoned to the management of servants. The great vassals, his clansmen, participated in this dissatisfaction, separated from their wives, families, and estates; for to them the pomp of imperial greatness, or the sunshine of court-favour, was as nothing when weighed against the exercise of their influence within their own cherished patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to the Rathor than all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turned from with disgust to the recollection of “the green pulse of Mandawar,” or his favourite rabri, or ‘maize porridge,’ the prime dish with the Rathor. These minor associations conjoined with greater evils to increase the mal de pays, of whose influence no human being is more susceptible than the brave Rajput.

Raja Sur greatly added to the beauty of his capital, and left several works which bear his name; amongst them, not the least useful in that arid region, is the lake called the Sur Sagar, or ‘Warrior’s Sea,’ which irrigates the gardens on its margin. He left six sons and seven daughters, of whose issue we have no account, namely, Gaj Singh, his successor; Sabal Singh, Biramdeo, Bijai Singh, Partap Singh, and Jaswant Singh.

=Rāja Gaj Singh, A.D. 1620-38.=—Raja Gaj, who succeeded his father in A.D. 1620, was born at Lahore, and the tika of investiture found him in the royal camp at Burhanpur. The bearer of it was Darab Khan, the son of the Khankhanan,[5.5.11] or premier noble of the emperor’s court, who, as the imperial proxy, girt Raja Gaj with the sword. Besides the “nine castles” (Naukoti Marwar), his patrimony, his patent contained a grant of “seven divisions” of Gujarat, of the district of Jhalai in Dhundhar; and what was of more consequence to him, though of less intrinsic value, that of Masuda in Ajmer, the heirloom of his house. Besides these marks of distinction, he received the highest proof of confidence in the elevated post of viceroy of the Deccan; and, as a special testimony of imperial favour, the Rathor cavaliers composing his contingent were exempted from the dagh,[5.5.12] that is, having their steeds branded with the imperial signet. His elder son, Amra Singh, served with [42] his father in all his various battles, to the success of which his conspicuous gallantry on every occasion contributed. In the sieges and battles of Kirkigarh, Golkonda, Khelna, Parnala, Gajangarh, Asir and Satara, the Rathors had their full share of glory, which obtained for their leader the title of Dalthaman, or ‘barrier of the host.’ We have already[5.5.13] remarked the direct influence which the Rajput princes had in the succession to the imperial dignity, consequent upon the inter-marriage of their daughters with the crown, and the various interests arising therefrom. Sultan Parvez, the elder son and heir of Jahangir, was the issue of a princess of Marwar,[5.5.14] while the second son, Khurram, as his name imports, was the son of a Kachhwaha[5.5.15] princess of Amber. Being the offspring of polygamy and variously educated, these princes were little disposed to consider consanguinity as a bond of natural union; and their respective mothers, with all the ambition of their race, thought of nothing but obtaining the diadem for the head of their children. With either of these rival queens, the royal children who were not her own had no affinity with her or hers, and these feelings were imparted from the birth to their issue, and thus it too often happened that the heir of the throne was looked upon with an envious eye, as a bar to be removed at all hazards. This evil almost neutralized the great advantages derived from intermarriage with the indigenous races of India; but it was one which would have ceased with polygamy.

=Death of Parvez, A.D. 1626.=—Khurram felt his superiority over his elder brother, Parvez, in all but the accidental circumstance of birth. He was in every respect a better man, and a braver and more successful soldier; and, having his ambition thus early nurtured by the stimulants administered by Bhim of Mewar, and the intrepid Mahabat,[5.5.16] he determined to remove this barrier between him and the crown. His views were first developed whilst leading the armies in the Deccan, and he communicated them to Raja Gaj of Marwar, who held the post of honour next the prince, and solicited his aid to place him on the throne. Gratitude for the favours heaped upon him by the king, as well as the natural bias to Parvez, made the Raja turn a deaf ear to his application. The prince tried to gain his point through Govinddas, a Rajput of the Bhatti tribe, one of the foreign nobles of Maru, and confidential adviser of his prince; but, as the annals say, “Govinddas reckoned no one but his master and the [43] king.” Frustrated in this, Khurram saw no hopes of success but by disgusting the Rathors, and he caused the faithful Govinddas to be assassinated by Kishan Singh;[5.5.17] on which Raja Gaj, in disgust, threw up his post, and marched to his native land. From the assassination of Parvez, which soon followed,[5.5.18] the deposal of his father appeared but a step; and Khurram had collected means, which he deemed adequate to the design, when Jahangir appealed to the fidelity of the Rajputs, to support him against filial ingratitude and domestic treason; and, in their general obedience to the call, they afforded a distinguished proof of the operation of the first principle, Gaddi-ka-an, allegiance to the throne, often obeyed without reference to the worth of its occupant. The princes of Marwar, Amber, Kotah, and Bundi put themselves at the head of their household retainers on this occasion, which furnishes a confirmation of a remark already made, that the respective annals of the States of Rajasthan so rarely embrace the contemporaneous events of the rest, as to lead to the conclusion that by the single force of each State this rebellion was put down. This remark will be further exemplified from the annals of Bundi.

=Offence given to the Rāthors.=—Jahangir was so pleased with the zeal of the Rathor prince—alarmed as he was at the advance of the rebels—that he not only took him by the hand, but what is most unusual, kissed it. When the assembled princes came in sight of the rebels, near Benares, the emperor gave the harawal, or vanguard, to the Kachhwaha prince, the Mirza raja of Amber. Whether this was a point of policy, to secure his acting against prince Khurram, who was born of this race, or merely, as the Marwar annals state, because he brought the greater number into the field, is immaterial; but it was very nearly fatal in its consequences: for the proud Rathor, indignant at the insult offered to him in thus bestowing the post of honour, which was his right, upon the rival race of Amber, furled his banners, separated from the royal army, and determined to be a quiet spectator of the result. But for the impetuous Bhim of Mewar, the adviser of Khurram, he might that day have been emperor of India. He sent a taunting message to Raja Gaj, either to join their cause or “draw their swords.” The Rathors overlooked the neglect of the king in the sarcasm of one of their own tribe; and Bhim was slain, Govinddas avenged, the rebellion quelled, and Khurram put to flight, chiefly by the Rathors and Haras [44].

=Death of Rāja Gaj Singh, A.D. 1638.=—In S. 1694 (A.D. 1638), Raja Gaj was slain in an expedition into Gujarat;[5.5.19] but whether in the fulfilment of the king’s commands, or in the chastisement of freebooters on his own southern frontier, the chronicles do not inform us. He left a distinguished name in the annals of his country, and two valiant sons, Amra and Jaswant, to maintain it: another son, Achal, died in infancy.

=Rāja Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1638-78.=—The second son, Jaswant, succeeded, and furnishes another of many instances in the annals of Rajputana, of the rights of primogeniture being set aside. This proceeded from a variety of motives, sometimes merely paternal affection, sometimes incapacity in the child “to head fifty thousand Rathors,” and sometimes, as in the present instance, a dangerous turbulence and ever-boiling impetuosity in the individual, which despised all restraints. While there was an enemy against whom to exert it, Amra was conspicuous for his gallantry, and in all his father’s wars in the south was ever foremost in the battle. His daring spirit collected around him those of his own race, alike in mind, as connected by blood, whose actions, in periods of peace, were the subjects of eternal complaint to his father, who was ultimately compelled to exclude Amra from his inheritance.

=Amra, Amar Singh excluded from the Succession.=—In the month of Baisakh, S. 1690 (A.D. 1634), five years before the death of Raja Gaj, in a convocation of all the feudality of Maru, sentence of exclusion from the succession was pronounced upon Amra, accompanied by the solemn and seldom practised rite of Desvata or exile. This ceremony, which is marked as a day of mourning in the calendar, was attended with all the circumstances of funereal pomp. As soon as the sentence was pronounced, that his birthright was forfeited and assigned to his junior brother, and that he ceased to be a subject of Maru, the khilat of banishment was brought forth, consisting of sable vestments, in which he was clad; a sable shield was hung upon his back, and a sword of the same hue girded round him; a black horse was then led out, being mounted on which, he was commanded, though not in anger, to depart whither he listed beyond the limits of Maru.

Amra went not alone; numbers of each clan, who had always regarded him as their future lord, voluntarily partook of his exile. He repaired to the imperial court; and although the emperor approved and sanctioned his banishment, he employed him. His gallantry soon won him the title of Rao and the mansab of a leader of three thousand, with the grant of Nagor as an independent domain, to be held directly from the crown. But the same arrogant and uncontrollable spirit [45] which lost him his birthright, brought his days to a tragical conclusion. He absented himself for a fortnight from court, hunting the boar or the tiger, his only recreation. The emperor (Shah Jahan) reprimanded him for neglecting his duties, and threatened him with a fine. Amra proudly replied that he had only gone to hunt, and as for a fine, he observed, putting his hand upon his sword, that was his sole wealth.

=Amra, Amar assassinates Salābat Khān.=—The little contrition which this reply evinced determined the king to enforce the fine, and the paymaster-general, Salabat Khan,[5.5.20] was sent to Amra’s quarters to demand its payment. It was refused, and the observations made by the Sayyid not suiting the temper of Amra, he unceremoniously desired him to depart. The emperor, thus insulted in the person of his officer, issued a mandate for Amra’s instant appearance. He obeyed, and having reached the Amm-khass, or grand divan, beheld the king, “whose eyes were red with anger,” with Salabat in the act of addressing him. Inflamed with passion at the recollection of the injurious language he had just received, perhaps at the king’s confirmation of his exclusion from Marwar, he unceremoniously passed the Omrahs of five and seven thousand, as if to address the king; when, with a dagger concealed in his sleeve, he stabbed Salabat to the heart. Drawing his sword, he made a blow at the king, which descending on the pillar, shivered the weapon in pieces. The king abandoned his throne and fled to the interior apartments. All was uproar and confusion. Amra continued the work of death, indifferent upon whom his blows fell, and five Mogul chiefs of eminence had fallen, when his brother-in-law, Arjun Gaur, under pretence of cajoling him, inflicted a mortal wound, though he continued to ply his dagger until he expired. To avenge his death, his retainers, headed by Balu Champawat and Bhao Kumpawat, put on their saffron garments, and a fresh carnage ensued within the Lal kila.[5.5.21] To use the words of their native bard, “The pillars of Agra bear testimony to their deeds, nor shall they ever be obliterated from the record of time: they made their obeisance to Amra in the mansions of the sun.” The faithful band was cut to pieces; and his wife, the princess of Bundi, came in person and [46] carried away the dead body of Amra, with which she committed herself to the flames. The Bokhara gate by which they gained admission was built up, and henceforward known only as “Amra Singh’s gate”; and in proof of the strong impression made by this event,[5.5.22] it remained closed through centuries, until opened in 1809 by Capt. Geo. Steell, of the Bengal engineers.[5.5.23]

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Footnote 5.5.1:

[Sawāi means ‘a quarter better than any one else.’]

Footnote 5.5.2:

[Dhandhuka about 40 miles W. of Cambay; the account in the text is possibly a confused reference to the insurrection of Muzaffar Husain Mīrza, which began in 1577 and ended in the suicide of the rebel in 1591-92 (BG, i. Part i. 268 ff.).]

Footnote 5.5.3:

[Coins, perhaps gold mohurs (Skt. dravya, ‘wealth’)].

Footnote 5.5.4:

Balecha is one of the Chauhan tribes. [It does not appear in recent lists.]

Footnote 5.5.5:

Gaj, ‘the elephant.’

Footnote 5.5.6:

Classical appellation of Jalor.

Footnote 5.5.7:

The chronicle says, “In S. 1669 (A.D. 1613), the king formed an army against the Rana”; which accords exactly with the date in the emperor’s own memoirs.

Footnote 5.5.8:

Ajmer, of which the citadel is styled Taragarh.

Footnote 5.5.9:

See Annals of Mewār, Vol. I. p. 418.

Footnote 5.5.10:

Of these, nine were the subdivisions of his native dominions, styled “The Nine Castles of Maru”; for on becoming one of the great feudatories of the empire, he made a formal surrender of these, receiving them again by grant, renewed on every lapse, with all the ceremonies of investiture and relief. Five were in Gujarat, one in Malwa, and one in the Deccan. We see that thirteen thousand horse was the contingent of Marwar for the lands thus held.

Footnote 5.5.11:

[Mirza Abdu-r-rahīm, son of Bairām Khān (Āīn, i. 334 ff.).]

Footnote 5.5.12:

[For this branding system see Āīn, i. 139 f.; Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 45 ff.]

Footnote 5.5.13:

See Vol. I. p. 435.

Footnote 5.5.14:

[Parvez or Parvīz was son of Sāhib Jamāl, daughter of Khwāja Hasan, uncle of Zain Khān Koka; but this is not quite certain (Āīn, i. 310; Tuzuk-i-Jahāngīri, trans. Rogers-Beveridge, 19; Beale, Oriental Biographical Dict. s.v.).]

Footnote 5.5.15:

Kachhua and Khurram are synonymous terms for the race which rules Amber—the Tortoises of Rajasthan. [This is an extraordinary misapprehension. Khurram is a Persian word, meaning ‘pleased, glad’; the Author confuses it with Skt. Kūrma, ‘a tortoise.’ The mother of Khurram, Balmati or Jagat Gosāīn, was daughter of Udai Singh of Mārwār; see Tuzuk, 19; Beale, s.v. Shāh Jahān.]

Footnote 5.5.16:

A Rajput of the Rana’s house, converted to the faith. [Mahābat Khān, Khānkhānān, Sipāhsālār Zamāna Beg, was not a Rājput, but son of Ghiyās Beg, Kābuli (Manucci i. 167; Elliot-Dowson vi. 288).

Footnote 5.5.17:

This was the founder of Kishangarh; for this iniquitous service he was made an independent Raja in the town which he erected. His descendant is now an ally by treaty with the British Government. [Kishan Singh, born A.D. 1575, founded Kishangarh, a State in the centre of Rājputāna, in 1611, died 1615 (IGI, xv. 311).]

Footnote 5.5.18:

[Parvez died at Burhānpur in 1626. “He was first attacked with colic, then he became insensible, and after medical treatment fell into a heavy sleep.... His illness was attributed to excessive drinking” (Elliot-Dowson vi. 429).]

Footnote 5.5.19:

[By another account he died at Agra (Erskine iii. A, 59).]

Footnote 5.5.20:

Salabat Khan Bakhshi, he is called. The office of Bakhshi is not only one of paymaster (as it implies), but of inspection and audit. We can readily imagine, with such levies as he had to muster and pay, his post was more honourable than secure, especially with such a band as was headed by Amra, ready to take offence if the wind but displaced their moustache. The annals declare that Amra had a feud (vair) with Salabat; doubtless for no better reason than that he fulfilled the trust reposed in him by the emperor. [The title Khān implies that Salābat Khān was a Pathān, not a Sayyid, whose title would be Mīr.]

Footnote 5.5.21:

The palace within the citadel (kila), built of red (lal) freestone. [This tragedy occurred on August 5, 1644 (Beale, Oriental Biographical Dict. s.v. “Salābat Khān,” gives July 25, 1644). European writers of the period give varying accounts of what seems to have been the same event. Tavernier (ed. Ball, ii. 219) says that the victim was “the Grand Master of the King’s house,” and that it occurred in 1642. Manucci states that the officer who was assassinated was the Wazīr, Wazīr Khān (i. 207 f.). It forms the subject of a popular song, still sung by the bards (Temple, Legends of the Panjāb, ii. 242 ff.). Though the assassination occurred at Agra, a mark is still shown on a pillar in the Dīwān-i-‘Āmm at Delhi, possibly marking the same occurrence, where a prince of Chitor is said to have stabbed one of the ministers (Sleeman, Rambles, 515). The tomb of Bakhshi Salābat Khān stands between Agra and Sikandra (Syad Muhammad Latif, Agra, 77, 195).]

Footnote 5.5.22:

It may be useful to record such facts, by the way of contrast with the state policy of the west, and for the sake of observing that which would actuate the present paramount power of India should any of its tributary princes defy them as Amra did that of the universal potentate of that country. Even these despots borrowed a lesson of mercy from the Rajput system, which does not deem treason hereditary, nor attaints a whole line for the fault of one unworthy link. Shah Jahan, instead of visiting the sins of the father on the son, installed him in his fief of Nagor. This son was Rae Singh; and it devolved to his children and grandchildren,[5.5.22.A] until Indar Singh the fourth in descent, was expelled by the head of the Rathors, who, in the weakness of the empire, reannexed Nagor to Jodhpur. But perhaps we have not hitherto dared to imitate the examples set us by the Mogul and even by the Mahratta; not having sufficient hold of the affections of the subjected to venture to be merciful; and thence our vengeance, like the bolt of heaven, sears the very heart of our enemies. Witness the many chieftains ejected from their possessions; from the unhallowed league against the Rohillas, to that last act of destruction at Bharatpur, where, as arbitrators, we acted the part of the lion in the fable. Our present attitude, however, is so commanding, that we can afford to display the attribute of mercy; and should, unfortunately, its action be required in Rajputana, let it be ample, for there its grateful influence is understood, and it will return, like the dews of heaven, upon ourselves. But if we are only to regulate our political actions by the apprehension of danger, it must one day recoil upon us in awful retribution. Our system is filled with evil to the governed, where a fit of bile in ephemeral political agents, may engender a quarrel leading to the overthrow of a dominion of ages.

Footnote 5.5.22.A:

Namely, Hathi Singh, his son Anup Singh, his son Indar Singh, his son Mokham Singh. This lineal descendant of Raja Gaj, and the rightful heir to the “cushion of Jodha,” has dwindled into one of the petty Thakurs, or lords of Marwar. The system is one of eternal vicissitudes, amidst which the germ of reproduction [47] never perishes.

Footnote 5.5.23:

Since these remarks were written, Captain Steell related to the author a singular anecdote connected with the above circumstance. While the work of demolition was proceeding, Captain Steell was urgently warned by the natives of the danger he incurred in the operation, from a denunciation on the closing of the gate, that it should thenceforward be guarded by a huge serpent—when suddenly, the destruction of the gate being nearly completed, a large cobra-de-capello rushed between his legs, as if in fulfilment of the anathema. Captain Steell fortunately escaped without injury. [The south gate of the Agra Fort is known as that of Amar Singh.]

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Chapter 6

=Rāja Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1638-78.=—Raja Jaswant, who obtained, by the banishment of Amra, the “cushion” of Marwar, was born of a princess of Mewar; and although this circumstance is not reported to have influenced the change of succession, it will be borne in mind that, throughout Rajputana, its princes regarded a connexion with the Rana’s family as a primary honour.

“Jaswant (says the Bardai) was unequalled amongst the princes of his time. Stupidity and ignorance were banished; and science flourished where he ruled: many were the books composed under his auspices.”[5.6.1]

The south continued to be the arena in which the martial Rajput sought renown, and the emperor had only rightly to understand his character to turn the national emulation to account. Shah Jahan, in the language of the chronicler, “became a slave to the seraglio,” and sent his sons, as viceroys, to govern the grand divisions of the empire. The first service of Jaswant was in the war of Gondwana, when he led a body composed of “twenty-two different contingents” in the army under Aurangzeb.[5.6.2] In this and various other services (to enumerate which would be to go [48] over the ground already passed),[5.6.3] the Rathors were conspicuous. Jaswant played a comparatively subordinate part, until the illness of the emperor, in A.D. 1658, when his elder son Dara was invested with the powers of regent.[5.6.4] Prince Dara increased the mansab of Jaswant to a leader of “five thousand,” and nominated him his viceroy in Malwa.

=The War of Succession.=—In the struggle for empire amongst the sons of Shah Jahan, consequent upon this illness, the importance of the Rajput princes and the fidelity we have often had occasion to depict, were exhibited in the strongest light. While Raja Jai Singh was commanded to oppose prince Shuja, who advanced from his viceroyalty of Bengal, Jaswant was entrusted with means to quash the designs of Aurangzeb, then commanding in the south, who had long cloaked, under the garb of hypocrisy and religion, views upon the empire.

=Campaign against Aurangzeb, A.D. 1657-58—The Battle of Dharmātpur.=—The Rathor prince was declared generalissimo of the army destined to oppose Aurangzeb, and he marched from Agra at the head of the united contingents of Rajputana, besides the imperial guards, a force which, to use the hyperbole of the bard, “made Shesnag[5.6.5] writhe in agony.” Jaswant marched towards the Nerbudda, and had encamped his army in a position fifteen miles south of Ujjain, when tidings reached him of his opponent’s approach. In that field on which the emperor erected a town subsequently designated Fatehabad, or ‘abode of victory,’ Jaswant awaited his foes.[5.6.6] The battle which ensued, witnessed and so circumstantially related by Bernier, as has been already noticed in this work,[5.6.7] was lost by the temerity of the Rathor commander-in-chief, who might have crushed the rebellious hopes of Aurangzeb, to whom he purposely gave time to effect a junction with his brother Murad, from the vainglorious desire “to conquer two princes at once.” Dearly did he pay for his presumption; for he had given time to the wily prince to sow intrigues in his camp, which were disclosed as soon as the battle joined, when the Mogul horse deserted and left him at the head of his thirty thousand Rajputs, deemed, however, by their leader and themselves, sufficient against any odds. “Jaswant, spear in hand, mounted his steed Mahbub, and charged the imperial brothers; ten thousand Muslims fell in the onset, which cost seventeen hundred Rathors [49], besides Guhilots, Haras, Gaurs, and some of every clan of Rajwara. Aurang and Murad only escaped because their days were not yet numbered. Mahbub and his rider were covered with blood; Jasa looked like a famished lion, and like one he relinquished his prey.” The bard is fully confirmed in his relation of the day, both by the Mogul historian and by Bernier, who says, that notwithstanding the immense superiority of the imperial princes, aided by a numerous artillery served by Frenchmen, night alone put a stop to the contest of science, numbers, and artillery, against Rajput courage. Both armies remained on the field of battle, and though we have no notice of the anecdote related by the first translator of Ferishta, who makes Jaswant “in bravado drive his car round the field,”[5.6.8] it is certain that Aurangzeb was too politic to renew the combat, or molest the retreat which took place next day towards his native dominions. Although, for the sake of alliteration, the bard especially singles out the Guhilots and Gaurs, the tribes of Mewar and Sheopur, all and every tribe was engaged; and if the Rajput ever dared to mourn the fall of kindred in battle, this day should have covered every house with the emblems of grief; for it is stated by the Mogul historian that fifteen thousand fell, chiefly Rajputs. This was one of the events glorious to the Rajput, showing his devotion to whom fidelity (swamidharma) had been pledged—the aged and enfeebled emperor Shah Jahan, whose “salt they ate”—against all the temptations offered by youthful ambition. It is forcibly contrasted with the conduct of the immediate household troops of the emperor, who, even in the moment of battle, worshipped the rising sun, whilst the Rajput sealed his faith in his blood; and none more liberally than the brave Haras of Kotah and Bundi. The annals of no nation on earth can furnish such an example, as an entire family, six royal brothers, stretched on the field, and all but one in death.[5.6.9]

Of all the deeds of heroism performed on this day, those of Ratna of Ratlam, by universal consent, are pre-eminent, and “are wreathed into immortal rhyme by the bard” in the Raesa Rao Ratna.[5.6.10] He also was a Rathor, the great-grandson of Udai Singh, the first raja of Maru; and nobly did he show that the Rathor blood had not degenerated on the fertile plains of Malwa. If aught were wanting to complete the fame of this memorable day, which gave empire to the scourge of Rajputana [50], it is found in the conduct of Jaswant’s queen, who, as elsewhere related,[5.6.11] shut the gates of his capital on her fugitive lord, though he “brought back his shield” and his honour.

=Battle of Jājau.=—Aurangzeb, on Jaswant’s retreat, entered the capital of Malwa in triumph, whence, with all the celerity requisite to success, he pursued his march on the capital. At the village of Jajau, thirty miles south of Agra, the fidelity of the Rajputs again formed a barrier between the aged king and the treason of his son; but it served no other purpose than to illustrate this fidelity. The Rajputs were overpowered, Dara was driven from the regency, and the aged emperor deposed.[5.6.12]

=Battle of Khajwa.=—Aurangzeb, soon after usurping the throne, sent, through the prince of Amber, his assurances of pardon to Jaswant, and a summons to the presence, preparatory to joining the army forming against his brother Shuja, advancing to vindicate his claims to empire. The Rathor, deeming it a glorious occasion for revenge, obeyed, and communicated to Shuja his intentions. The hostile armies met at Khajwa, thirty miles north of Allahabad.[5.6.13] On the first onset, Jaswant, wheeling about with his Rathor cavaliers, attacked the rearward of the army under prince Muhammad, which he cut to pieces, and plundering the imperial camp (left unprotected), he deliberately loaded his camels with the most valuable effects, which he despatched under part of the force, and leaving the brothers to a contest, which he heartily wished might involve the destruction of both, he followed the cortège to Agra. Such was the panic on his appearance at that capital, joined to the rumours of Aurangzeb’s defeat, which had nearly happened, that the wavering garrison required only a summons to have surrendered, when he might have released Shah Jahan from confinement, and with this “tower of strength” have rallied an opposition fatal to the prince.

=Policy of Jaswant Singh.=—That this plan suggested itself to Jaswant’s sagacity we cannot doubt; but besides the manifest danger of locking up his army within the precincts of a capital, if victory was given to Aurangzeb, he had other reasons for not halting at Agra. All his designs were in concert with prince Dara, the rightful heir to the throne, whom he had instructed to hasten to the scene of action; but while Jaswant remained hovering in the rear of Aurangzeb, momentarily expecting the junction of the prince, the latter loitered on the southern frontier of Marwar, and thus lost, for [51] ever, the crown within his grasp. Jaswant continued his route to his native dominions, and had at least the gratification of housing the spoils, even to the regal tents, in the castle of Jodha. Dara tardily formed a junction at Merta; but the critical moment was lost, and Aurangzeb, who had crushed Shuja’s force, rapidly advanced, now joined by many of the Rajput princes, to overwhelm this last remnant of opposition. The crafty Aurangzeb, however, who always preferred stratagem to the precarious issue of arms, addressed a letter to Jaswant, not only assuring him of his entire forgiveness, but offering the vice-royalty of Gujarat, if he would withdraw his support from Dara, and remain neuter in the contest. Jaswant accepted the conditions, and agreed to lead the Rajput contingents, under prince Muazzam, in the war against Sivaji, bent on reviving the independence of Maharashtra. From the conduct again pursued by the Rathor, we have a right to infer that he only abandoned Dara because, though possessed of many qualities which endeared him to the Rajput, besides his title to the throne, he wanted those virtues necessary to ensure success against his energetic brother. Scarcely had Jaswant reached the Deccan when he opened a communication with Sivaji, planned the death of the king’s lieutenant, Shaista Khan, on which he hoped to have the guidance of the army, and the young viceroy. Aurangzeb received authentic intelligence of this plot, and the share Jaswant had in it; but he temporized, and even sent letters of congratulation on his succeeding to the command in chief. But he soon superseded him by Raja Jai Singh of Amber, who brought the war to a conclusion by the capture of Sivaji.[5.6.14] The honour attending this exploit was, however, soon exchanged for disgrace; for when the Amber prince found that the tyrant had designs upon the life of his prisoner, for whose safety he had pledged himself, he connived at his escape.[5.6.15] Upon this, Jaswant was once more declared the emperor’s lieutenant, and soon inspired prince Muazzam with designs, which again compelled the king to supersede him, and Diler Khan was declared general-in-chief. He reached Aurangabad, and the night of his arrival would have been his last, but he received intimation and rapidly retreated, pursued by the prince and Jaswant to the Nerbudda. The emperor saw the necessity of removing Jaswant from this dangerous post, and he sent him the farman as viceroy of Gujarat, to which he commanded him to repair without delay. He obeyed, reached Ahmadabad, and found the king had outwitted him and his [52] successor in command; he therefore continued his course to his native dominions, where he arrived in S. 1726 (A.D. 1670).

The wily tyrant had, in all these changes, used every endeavour to circumvent Jaswant, and, if the annals are correct, was little scrupulous as to the means. But the Raja was protected by the fidelity of his kindred vassalage. In the words of the bardic chronicler, “The Aswapati,[5.6.16] Aurang, finding treachery in vain, put the collar of simulated friendship round his neck, and sent him beyond the Attock to die.”

The emperor saw that the only chance of counteracting Jaswant’s inveterate hostility was to employ him where he would be least dangerous. He gladly availed himself of a rebellion amongst the Afghans of Kabul; and with many promises of favour to himself and his family, appointed him to the chief command,[5.6.17] to lead his turbulent Rajputs against the equally turbulent and almost savage Afghans. Leaving his elder son, Prithi Singh, in charge of his ancestral domains, with his wives, family, and the chosen bands of Maru, Jaswant departed for the land of the “barbarian,” from which he was destined never to return.

=Treatment of Prithi Singh by Aurangzeb.=—It is related, in the chronicles of Maru, that Aurangzeb having commanded the attendance at court of Jaswant’s heir, he obeyed, and was received not only with the distinctions which were his due, but with the most specious courtesy; that one day, with unusual familiarity, the king desired him to advance, and grasping firmly his folded hands (the usual attitude of deference) in one of his own, said, “Well, Rathor, it is told me you possess as nervous an arm as your father; what can you do now?” “God preserve your majesty!” replied the Rajput prince, “when the sovereign of mankind lays the hand of protection on the meanest of his subjects, all his hopes are realized; but when he condescends to take both of mine, I feel as if I could conquer the world.” His vehement and animated gesture gave full force to his words, and Aurangzeb quickly exclaimed, “Ah! here is another Khatan”[5.6.18] (the term he always applied to Jaswant); yet, affecting to be pleased with the frank boldness of his speech, he ordered him a splendid dress, which, as customary, he put on, and, having made his obeisance, left the presence in the certain assurance of exaltation.

That day was his last!—he was taken ill soon after reaching his quarters, and [53] expired in great torture, and to this hour his death is attributed to the poisoned robe of honour presented by the king.[5.6.19]

Prithi Singh was the staff of his father’s age, and endowed with all the qualities required to lead the swords of Maru. His death, thus reported, cast a blight on the remaining days of Jaswant, who, in this cruel stroke, saw that his mortal foe had gone beyond him in revenge. The sacrifice of Prithi Singh was followed by the death of his only remaining sons, Jagat Singh and Dalthamman, from the ungenial climate of Kabul, and grief soon closed the existence of the veteran Rathor. He expired amidst the mountains of the north, without an heir to his revenge, in S. 1737 (A.D. 1681), having ruled the tribes of Maru for two-and-forty years. In this year, death released Aurangzeb from the greatest terrors of his life; for the illustrious Sivaji and Jaswant paid the debt to nature within a few months of each other.[5.6.20] Of the Rathor, we may use the words of the biographer of his contemporary, Rana Raj Singh of Mewar: “Sighs never ceased flowing from Aurang’s heart while Jaswant lived.”

=Character of Jaswant Singh.=—The life of Jaswant Singh is one of the most extraordinary in the annals of Rajputana, and a full narrative of it would afford a perfect and deeply interesting picture of the history and manners of the period. Had his abilities, which were far above mediocrity, been commensurate with his power, credit, and courage, he might, with the concurrent aid of the many powerful enemies of Aurangzeb, have overturned the Mogul throne. Throughout the long period of two-and-forty years, events of magnitude crowded upon each other, from the period of his first contest with Aurangzeb, in the battle of the Nerbudda, to his conflicts with the Afghans amidst the snows of Caucasus. Although the Rathor had a preference amongst the sons of Shah Jahan, esteeming the frank Dara above the crafty Aurangzeb, yet he detested the whole race as inimical to the religion and the independence of his own; and he only fed the hopes of any of the brothers, in their struggles for empire, expecting that they would end in the ruin of all. His blind [54] arrogance lost him the battle of the Nerbudda, and the supineness of Dara prevented his reaping the fruit of his treachery at Khajwa. The former event, as it reduced the means and lessened the fame of Jaswant, redoubled his hatred to the conqueror. Jaswant neglected no opportunity which gave a chance of revenge. Impelled by this motive, more than by ambition, he never declined situations of trust, and in each he disclosed the ruling passion of his mind. His overture to Sivaji (like himself the implacable foe of the Mogul), against whom he was sent to act; his daring attempt to remove the imperial lieutenants, one by assassination, the other by open force; his inciting Muazzam, whose inexperience he was sent to guide, to revolt against his father, are some among the many signal instances of Jaswant’s thirst for vengeance. The emperor, fully aware of this hatred, yet compelled from the force of circumstances to dissemble, was always on the watch to counteract it, and the artifices this mighty king had recourse to in order to conciliate Jaswant, perhaps to throw him off his guard, best attest the dread in which he held him. Alternately he held the vice-royalty of Gujarat, of the Deccan, of Malwa, Ajmer, and Kabul (where he died), either directly of the king, or as the king’s lieutenant, and second in command under one of the princes. But he used all these favours merely as stepping-stones to the sole object of his life. Accordingly, if Jaswant’s character had been drawn by a biographer of the court, viewed merely in the light of a great vassal of the empire, it would have reached us marked with the stigma of treachery in every trust reposed in him; but, on the other hand, when we reflect on the character of the king, the avowed enemy of the Hindu faith, we only see in Jaswant a prince putting all to hazard in its support. He had to deal with one who placed him in these offices, not from personal regard, but because he deemed a hollow submission better than avowed hostility, and the raja, therefore, only opposed fraud to hypocrisy, and treachery to superior strength. Doubtless the Rathor was sometimes dazzled by the baits which the politic king administered to his vanity; and when all his brother princes eagerly contended for royal favour, it was something to be singled out as the first amongst his peers in Rajputana. By such conflicting impulses were both parties actuated in their mutual conduct throughout a period in duration nearly equal to the life of man; and it is no slight testimony to Aurangzeb’s skill in managing such a subject, that he was able to neutralize the hatred and the power of Jaswant throughout this lengthened [55] period. But it was this vanity, and the immense power wielded by the kings who could reward service by the addition of a vice-royalty to their hereditary domains, that made the Rajput princes slaves; for, had all the princely contemporaries of Jaswant—Jai Singh of Amber, the Rana Raj of Mewar, and Sivaji—coalesced against their national foe, the Mogul power must have been extinct. Could Jaswant, however, have been satisfied with the mental wounds he inflicted upon the tyrant, he would have had ample revenge; for the image of the Rathor crossed all his visions of aggrandizement. The cruel sacrifice of his heir, and the still more barbarous and unrelenting ferocity with which he pursued Jaswant’s innocent family, are the surest proofs of the dread which the Rathor prince inspired while alive.

=The Tale of Nāhar Khān.=—Previous, however, to entering on this and the eventful period which followed Jaswant’s death, we may record a few anecdotes illustrative of the character and manners of the vassal chieftains, by whose aid he was thus enabled to brave Aurangzeb. Nor can we do better than allow Nahar Khan, chief of the Kumpawats and premier noble, to be the representative portrait of the clans of Maru. It was by the vigilance of this chief, and his daring intrepidity, that the many plots laid for Jaswant’s life were defeated; and in the anecdote already given, when in order to restore his prince from a fit of mental delusion,[5.6.21] he braved the superstitions of his race, his devotion was put to a severer test than any which could result from personal peril. The anecdote connected with his nom de guerre of Nahar (tiger) Khan, exemplifies his personal, as the other does his mental, intrepidity. The real name of this individual, the head of the Kumpawat clan, was Mukunddas. He had personally incurred the displeasure of the emperor, by a reply which was deemed disrespectful to a message sent by the royal Ahadi,[5.6.22] for which the tyrant condemned him to enter a tiger’s den, and contend for his life unarmed. Without a sign of fear he entered the arena, where the savage beast was pacing, and thus contemptuously accosted him: “Oh, tiger of the Miyan,[5.6.23] face the tiger of Jaswant”; exhibiting to the king of the forest a pair of eyes, which anger and opium had rendered little less inflamed than his own. The animal, startled by so unaccustomed a salutation, for a moment looked at his visitor, put down his head, turned round and [56] stalked from him. “You see,” exclaimed the Rathor, “that he dare not face me, and it is contrary to the creed of a true Rajput to attack an enemy who dares not confront him.” Even the tyrant, who beheld the scene, was surprised into admiration, presented him with gifts, and asked if he had any children to inherit his prowess. His reply, “How can we get children, when you keep us from our wives beyond the Attock?” fully shows that the Rathor and fear were strangers to each other. From this singular encounter he bore the name of Nahar Khan, ‘the tiger lord.’

On another occasion, from the same freedom of speech, he incurred the displeasure of the Shahzada, or prince-royal, who, with youthful levity, commanded the ‘tiger lord’ to attempt a feat which he deemed inconsistent with his dignity, namely, gallop at speed under a horizontal branch of a tree and cling to it while the steed passed on. This feat, requiring both agility and strength, appears to have been a common amusement, and it is related in the Annals of Mewar that the chief of Banera broke his spine in the attempt; and there were few who did not come off with bruises and falls, in which consisted the sport. When Nahar heard the command, he indignantly replied, he “was not a monkey”; that “if the prince wished to see his feats, it must be where his sword had play”; on which he was ordered against Surthan, the Deora prince of Sirohi, for which service he had the whole Rathor contingent at his disposal. The Deora prince, who could not attempt to cope against it in the field, took to his native hills; but while he deemed himself secure, Mukund, with a chosen band, in the dead of night, entered the glen where the Sirohi prince reposed, stabbed the solitary sentinel, bound the prince with his own turban to his pallet, while, environing him with his clansmen, he gave the alarm. The Deoras starting from their rocky beds, collected round their prince, and were preparing for the rescue, when Nahar called aloud, “You see his life is in my hands; be assured it is safe if you are wise; but he dies on the least opposition to my determination to convey him to my prince. My sole object in giving the alarm was that you might behold me carry off my prize.” He conveyed Surthan to Jaswant, who said he must introduce him to the king. The Deora prince was carried to court, and being led between the proper officers to the palace, he was instructed to perform that profound obeisance, from which none were exempted. But the haughty Deora replied, “His life was in the king’s hands, his [57] honour in his own; he had never bowed the head to mortal man, and never would.” As Jaswant had pledged himself for his honourable treatment, the officers of the ceremonies endeavoured by stratagem to obtain a constrained obeisance, and instead of introducing him as usual, they showed him a wicket, knee high, and very low overhead, by which to enter, but putting his feet foremost, his head was the last part to appear.[5.6.24] This stubborn ingenuity, his noble bearing, and his long-protracted resistance, added to Jaswant’s pledge, won the king’s favour; and he not only proffered him pardon, but whatever lands he might desire. Though the king did not name the return, Surthan was well aware of the terms, but he boldly and quickly replied, “What can your majesty bestow equal to Achalgarh? let me return to it is all I ask.” The king had the magnanimity to comply with his request; Surthan was allowed to retire to the castle of Abu,[5.6.25] nor did he or any of the Deoras ever rank themselves amongst the vassals of the empire; but they have continued to the present hour a life of almost savage independence.

From such anecdotes we learn the character of the tiger lord of Asop; and his brother Rathors of Marwar; men reckless of life when put in competition with distinction and fidelity to their prince, as will be abundantly illustrated in the reign we are about to describe.

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Footnote 5.6.1:

[See Grierson, Vernacular Literature of Hindustān, Index sv. “Jaswant Singh.”]

Footnote 5.6.2:

[The Bundela Campaign of 1635 against Jujhār Singh (Jadunāth Sarkar, Life of Aurangzib, i. 14 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.3:

The new translation of Ferishta’s History, by Lieut.-Col. Briggs, a work much wanted, may be referred to by those who wish to see the opinion of the Muhammadan princes of their Rajput vassalage.

Footnote 5.6.4:

[It is a mistake to call him Dāra, his name being Dāra Shukoh, ‘majesty like that of Darius.’ He was appointed regent in 1657, when Shāh Jahān fell ill (ibid. i. 304 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.5:

[The serpent which upholds the world.]

Footnote 5.6.6:

[The battle fought at Dharmātpur, 14 miles S.W. of Ujjain, April 15 or 25, 1658. See a full account by Jadunāth Sarkar, ii. 3 ff., who remarks that the description in Bernier (p. 36 ff.) is untrustworthy, while Tod “merely records the wild fictions of the Rajput bards” (ii. 13 note). Fatehābād was the name given to Samūgarh, fought June 8, following.]

Footnote 5.6.7:

p. 724.

Footnote 5.6.8:

[Dow, 2nd ed. iii. 206.]

Footnote 5.6.9:

See Kotah annals, which state that that prince and five brothers all fell in this field of carnage.

Footnote 5.6.10:

Amongst the MSS. presented by the author to the Royal Asiatic Society, is this work, the Raesa Rao Ratna. [“To Ratan Singh of Ratlam a noble monument was raised by his descendants on the spot where his corpse was burnt. Time overwhelmed it, but in 1909 its place was taken by a lofty structure of white marble, decorated with relief-work of a bold but conventional type, and surmounted with a stone horse” (Jadunāth Sarkar ii. 27).]

Footnote 5.6.11:

See p. 724.

Footnote 5.6.12:

[The battle of Samūgarh, nine miles E. of Agra, fought June 8, 1658, or, according to Jadunāth Sarkar (ii. 32) on May 29, 1658.]

Footnote 5.6.13:

[The battle of Khajwa or Khajuha, in the Fatehpur District, nearly 100 miles N.W. of Allāhābād, on January 14, 1659, or, according to Jadunāth Sarkar, on January 4-5, 1659. The dates fixed by Irvine (IA, xl. 69 ff.) are probably correct, and have been followed in the notes.]

Footnote 5.6.14:

[June 23, 1665.]

Footnote 5.6.15:

[Jai Singh seems to have had no direct part in the escape of Sivaji from Delhi, August 29, 1666 (Grant Duff, Hist. Mahrattas, 96).]

Footnote 5.6.16:

The common epithet of the Islamite emperors, in the dialect of the bard, is Aspat, classically Aswapati, ‘lord of horses.’

Footnote 5.6.17:

[He was appointed Faujdār of Jamrūd at the mouth of the Khaibar Pass.]

Footnote 5.6.18:

[A near relation by marriage.]

Footnote 5.6.19:

This mode of being rid of enemies is firmly believed by the Rajputs, and several other instances of it are recorded in this work. Of course, it must be by porous absorption; and in a hot climate, where only a thin tunic is worn next the skin, much mischief might be done, though it is difficult to understand how death could be accomplished. [See p. 728. ] That the belief is of ancient date we have only to recall the story of Hercules put into doggerel by Pope:

——“He, whom Dejanire Wrapp’d in th’ envenom’d shirt, and set on fire.”

[“The Wife of Bath,” 380-1. The tragical death of Prithi Singh is still the subject for songs of the bards (Temple, Legends of the Panjāb, iii. 252 ff.).]

Footnote 5.6.20:

[This is an error. Jaswant Singh died December 18, 1678 (Irvine’s note on Manucci ii. 233, IA, xl. 77). Sivaji died probably on April 17, 1680 (Fryer, New Account of East India and Persia, ed. Hakluyt Society, iii. 167).]

Footnote 5.6.21:

See p. 967.

Footnote 5.6.22:

[See p. 784.]

Footnote 5.6.23:

Miyān is a term used by the Hindu to a Muslim, who himself generally applies it to a pedagogue: the village schoolmaster has always the honourable epithet of Miyān-ji!

Footnote 5.6.24:

[This is a common legend, told of the Nikumbh Rājputs of the United Provinces (Crooke, Tribes and Castes, iv. 87); by Bernier of Shāh Jahān and the Persian ambassador (p. 151 f.); of the Hatkars of the Deccan (BG, xvi. 56 note; Russell, Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces, i. 37 f.).]

Footnote 5.6.25:

Achalgarh, or ‘the immovable castle,’ is the name of the fortress of the Deora princes of Abu and Sirohi, of which wonderful spot I purpose in another work to give a detailed account [58].

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Chapter 7

=Fate of the Family of Jaswant Singh.=—“When Jaswant died beyond the Attock, his wife, the (future) mother of Ajit, determined to burn with her lord, but being in the seventh month of her pregnancy, she was forcibly prevented by Uda Kumpawat. His other queen and seven Patras (concubines) mounted the pyre; and as soon as the tidings reached Jodhpur, the Chandravati queen, taking a turban of her late lord, ascended the pile at Mandor. The Hindu race was in despair at the loss of the support of their faith. The bells of the temple were mute; the sacred shell no longer sounded at sunrise; the Brahmans vitiated their doctrines and learned the Muslim creed.”[5.7.1]

=Birth of Ajīt Singh.=—The queen was delivered of a boy, who received the name of Ajit. As soon as she was able to travel, the Rathor contingent, with their infant prince, his mother, the daughters, and establishment of their late sovereign, prepared to return to their native land. But the unrelenting tyrant, carrying his vengeance towards Jaswant even beyond the grave, as soon they reached Delhi, commanded that the infant should be surrendered to his custody. “Aurang offered to divide Maru amongst [59] them if they would surrender their prince; but they replied, ‘Our country is with our sinews, and these can defend both it and our Lord.’ With eyes red with rage, they left the Amm-khass. Their abode was surrounded by the host of the Shah. In a basket of sweetmeats they sent away the young prince, and prepared to defend their honour; they made oblations to the gods, took a double portion of opium, and mounted their steeds. Then spoke Ranchhor, and Govind the son of Jodha, and Chandarbhan the Darawat, and the son of Raghu, on whose shoulders the sword had been married at Ujjain, with the fearless Baharmall the Udawat, and the Sujawat, Raghunath. ‘Let us swim,’ they exclaimed, ‘in the ocean of fight. Let us root up these Asuras, and be carried by the Apsaras to the mansions of the sun.’ As thus each spoke, Suja the bard took the word: ‘For a day like this,’ said he, ‘you enjoy your fiefs (pattas), to give in your lord’s cause your bodies to the sword, and in one mass to gain swarga (heaven). As for me, who enjoyed his friendship and his gifts, this day will I make his salt resplendent. My father’s fame will I uphold, and lead the death in this day’s fight, that future bards may hymn my praise.’ Then spake Durga, son of Asa: ‘The teeth of the Yavans are whetted, but by the lightning emitted from our swords, Delhi shall witness our deeds; and the flame of our anger shall consume the troops of the Shah.’ As thus the chiefs communed, and the troops of the king approached, the Rajloka[5.7.2] of their late lord was sent to inhabit Swarga. Lance in hand, with faces resembling Yama,[5.7.3] the Rathors rushed upon the foe. Then the music of swords and shields commenced. Wave followed wave in the field of blood. Sankara[5.7.4] completed his chaplet in the battle fought by the children of Duhar in the streets of Delhi. Ratna contended with nine thousand of the foe; but his sword failed, and as he fell, Rambha[5.7.5] carried him away. Dila the Darawat made a gift of his life;[5.7.6] the salt of his lord he mixed with the water of the field.[5.7.7] Chandarbhan was conveyed by the [60] Apsaras to Chandrapur.[5.7.8] The Bhatti was cut piecemeal and lay on the field beside the son of Surthan. The faithful Udawat appeared like the crimson lotus; he journeyed to Swarga to visit Jaswant. Sanda the bard, with a sword in either hand, was in the front of the battle, and gained the mansion of the moon.[5.7.9] Every tribe and every clan performed its duty in this day’s pilgrimage to the stream of the sword, in which Durgadas ground the foe and saved his honour.”[5.7.10]

=The Johar.=—When these brave men saw that nothing short of the surrender of all that was dear to a Rajput was intended by the fiend-like spirit of the king, their first thought was the preservation of their prince; the next to secure their own honour and that of their late master. The means by which they accomplished this were terrific. The females of the deceased, together with their own wives and daughters, were placed in an apartment filled with gunpowder, and the torch applied—all was soon over. This sacrifice accomplished, their sole thought was to secure a niche in that immortal temple, which the Rajput bard, as well as the great minstrel of the west, peoples with “youths who died, to be by poets sung.” For this, the Rajput’s anxiety has in all ages been so great, as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge, his object being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assured that his name would never perish, but, preserved in “immortal rhyme” by the bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds. Accordingly, “the battle fought by the sons of Duharia[5.7.11] in the streets of Delhi” is one of the many themes of everlasting eulogy to the Rathors; and the seventh of Sravan, S. 1736 (the second month of the Monsoon of A.D. 1680), is a sacred day in the calendar of Maru.

In the midst of this furious contest, the infant prince was saved. To avoid suspicion the heir of Maru, concealed in a basket of sweetmeats, was entrusted to a Muslim, who religiously executed his trust and conveyed him to the appointed spot, where he was joined by the gallant Durgadas with the survivors who had cut their way through all opposition, and who were doomed often to bleed for the prince thus miraculously preserved. It is pleasing to find that if to “the leader [61] of the faithful,” the bigoted Aurangzeb, they owed so much misery, to one (and he of humble life), of the same faith, they owed the preservation of their line. The preserver of Ajit lived to witness his manhood and the redemption of his birthright, and to find that princes are not always ungrateful; for he was distinguished at court, was never addressed but as Kaka, or uncle, by the prince; and to the honour of his successors be it told, the lands then settled upon him are still enjoyed by his descendants.

=The Youth of Ajīt Singh. Campaign of Aurangzeb in Mārwār.=—With the sole surviving scion of Jaswant, the faithful Durga and a few chosen friends repaired to the isolated rock of Abu, and placed him in a monastery of recluses. There the heir of Maru was reared in entire ignorance of his birth. Still rumours prevailed, that a son of Jaswant lived; that Durga and a few associates were his guardians; and this was enough for the loyal Rajput, who, confiding in the chieftain of Dunara, allowed the mere name of Dhani (lord) to be his rallying-word in the defence of his rights. These were soon threatened by a host of enemies, amongst whom were the Indhas, the ancient sovereigns of Maru, who saw an opening for the redemption of their birthright, and for a short time displayed the flag of the Parihars on the walls of Mandor. While the Indhas were rejoicing at the recovery of their ancient capital, endeared to them by tradition, an attempt was made by Ratna,[5.7.12] the son of Amra Singh (whose tragical death has been related), to obtain the seat of power, Jodhpur. This attempt, instigated by the king, proved futile; and the clans, faithful to the memory of Jaswant and the name of Ajit, soon expelled the Indhas from Mandor, and drove the son of Amra to his castle of Nagor. It was then that Aurangzeb, in person, led his army into Maru; the capital was invested; it fell and was pillaged, and all the great towns in the plains, as Merta, Didwana, and Rohat, shared a similar fate. The emblems of religion were trampled under foot, the temples thrown down, mosques were erected on their site, and nothing short of the compulsory conversion to the tenets of Islam of every Rajput in Marwar would satisfy his revenge.[5.7.13] The consequences of this fanatical and impolitic conduct recoiled not only upon the emperor but his whole race, for it roused an opposition to this iron yoke, which ultimately broke it in pieces. The emperor promulgated that famous edict, the Jizya, against the whole Hindu race, which cemented into one compact union all who cherished either patriotism or religion. It was at this period of time, when the Rathors and Sesodias united [62] against the tyrant, that Rana

Raj Singh indited that celebrated epistle, which is given in a preceding part of this work.[5.7.14]

“Seventy thousand men,” says the bard,[5.7.15] “under Tahawwur Khan, were commanded to destroy the Rajputs, and Aurang followed in person to Ajmer. The Mertia clan assembled, and advanced to Pushkar to oppose him. The battle was in front of the temple of Varaha, where the swords of the Mertias, always first in the fight, played the game of destruction on the heads of the Asuras. Here the Mertias were all slain on the 11th Bhadon, S. 1736.

“Tahawwur continued to advance. The inhabitants of Murdhar fled to the mountains. At Gura the brothers Rupa and Kumbha took post with their clan to oppose him; but they fell with twenty-five of their brethren. As the cloud pours water upon the earth, so did Aurang pour his barbarians over the land. He remained but five days at Ajaidurg (Ajmer), and marched against Chitor. It fell: it appeared as if the heavens had fallen. Ajit was protected by the Rana, and the Rathors led the van in the host of the Sesodias. Seeing the strength of the Yavans, they shut up the young prince, like a flame confined in a vessel. Delhipat (the king of Delhi) came to Debari,[5.7.16] at whose pass he was opposed by Kumbha, Ugarsen, and Uda, all Rathors. While Aurangzeb attacked Udaipur, Azam was left at Chitor. Then the king learned that Durgadas had invaded Jalor; he abandoned his conquest, and returned to Ajmer, sending Mukarrab Khan to aid Bihari at Jalor; but Durga had raised contributions [63] (dand), and passed to Jodhpur, alike forced to contribute; for the son of Indar Singh, on the part of the king, now commanded in Trikuta (triple-peaked mount). Aurang Shah measured the heavens; he determined to have but one faith in the land. Prince Akbar was sent to join Tahawwur Khan. Rapine and conflagration spread over the land. The country became a waste; fear stalked triumphant. Providence had willed this affliction. The Indhas were put in possession of Jodhpur; but were encountered at Ketapur and put to the sword by the Champawats. Once more they lost the title of Raos of Murdardes, and thus the king’s intentions of bestowing sovereignty on the Parihars were frustrated on the 13th day of Jeth, S. 1736.

=Retreat of the Rathors.=—“The Aravalli gave shelter to the Rathors. From its fastnesses they issued, and mowed down entire harvests of the Muslim, piling them in khallas.[5.7.17] Aurang had no repose. Jalor was invaded by one body, Siwana by another of the faithful chiefs of Ajit, whose an[5.7.18] daily increased, while Aurang’s was seldom invoked. The king gave up the war against the Rana to send all his troops into Maru; but the Rana, who provoked the rage of Aurang from granting refuge to Ajit, sent his troops under his own son, Bhim, who joined the Rathors, led by Indarbhan and Durgadas in Godwar. Prince Akbar and Tahawwur Khan advanced upon them, and a battle took place at Nadol. The Sesodias had the right. The combat was long and bloody. Prince Bhim fell at the head of the Mewaris: he was a noble bulwark to the Rathors.[5.7.19] Indarbhan was slain, with Jeth the Udawat, performing noble deeds; and Soning Durga did wonders on that day, the 14th Asoj, S. 1737” (the winter of A.D. 1681).

=The Rebellion of Prince Akbar, A.D. 1681.=—The gallant bearing of the Rajputs in this unequal combat, their desperate devotion to their country and prince, touched the soul of Prince Akbar, who had the magnanimity to commiserate the sufferings he was compelled to inflict, and to question the policy of his father towards these gallant vassals. Ambition came to the aid of compassion for the sufferings of the Rathors, and the persecution of the minor son of Jaswant. He opened his mind to Tahawwur Khan, and exposed the [64] disgrace of bearing arms in so unholy a warfare, and in severing from the crown such devoted and brave vassals as the Rathors. Tahawwur was gained over, and an embassy sent to Durgadas offering peace, and expressing a wish for a conference. Durga convened the chiefs, and disclosed the overture; but some suspected treachery in the prince, others selfish views on the part of Durga. To prevent the injurious operation of such suspicions, Durga observed, that if assent were not given to the meeting, it would be attributed to the base motive of fear. “Let us proceed in a body,” said he, “to this conference; who ever heard of a cloud being caught?” They met; mutual views were developed; a treaty was concluded, and the meeting ended by Akbar waving the umbrella of regality over his head.[5.7.20] He coined in his own name; he established his own weights and measures. The poisoned intelligence was poured into Aurang’s ear at Ajmer; his soul was troubled; he had no rest; he plucked his beard in grief when he heard that Durga and Akbar had united. Every Rathor in the land flocked to Akbar’s standard. The house of Delhi was divided, and Govind[5.7.21] again supported the Hindu faith.

The dethronement of the tyrant appeared inevitable. The scourge of the Rajputs was in their power, for he was almost alone and without the hope of succour. But his energies never forsook him; he knew the character of his foes, and that on an emergency his grand auxiliary, stratagem, was equal to an army. As there is some variation both in the Mogul historian’s account of this momentous transaction and in the annals of Mewar and Marwar,[5.7.22] we present the latter verbatim from the chronicle.

“Akbar, with multitudes of Rajputs, advanced upon Ajmer. But while Aurang prepared for the storm, the prince gave himself up to women and the song, placing everything in the hands of Tahawwur Khan. We are the slaves of fate; puppets that dance as it pulls the strings. Tahawwur allowed himself to dream of treason; it was whispered in his ear that if he could deliver Akbar to his father, high rewards would follow. At night he went privily to Aurangzeb, and thence wrote to the Rathors: ‘I was the bond of union betwixt you and Akbar, but the dam which separated the waters has broken down. Father and son again are one. Consider the pledges, given and received, as restored, and depart for your own lands.’ Having sealed this with his signet, and dispatched a messenger to the Rathors, he appeared before Aurangzeb to receive the fruit of his service. But his treason met its [65] reward, and before he could say, the imperial orders were obeyed, a blow of the mace from the hand of the monarch sent his soul to hell. At midnight the Dervesh messenger reached the Rathor camp; he put the letter into their hand, which stated father and son were united; and added from himself that Tahawwur Khan was slain. All was confusion; the Rathors saddled and mounted, and moved a coss from Akbar’s camp. The panic spread to his troops, who fled like the dried leaves of the sugar-cane when carried up in a whirlwind, while the prince was attending to the song and the wiles of the wanton.”

=The Rāthors abandon Akbar.=—This narrative exemplifies most strongly the hasty unreflecting character of the Rajput, who always acts from the impulse of the moment. They did not even send to Akbar’s camp, although close to their own, to inquire the truth or falsehood of the report, but saddled and did not halt until they were twenty miles asunder. It is true, that in these times of peril they did not know in whom to confide; and being headed by one of their own body, they could not tell how far he might be implicated in the treachery.

The next day they were undeceived by the junction of the prince, who, when made acquainted with the departure of his allies, and the treason and death of Tahawwur Khan, could scarcely collect a thousand men to abide by his fortunes. With these he followed his panic-struck allies, and threw himself and his family upon their hospitality and protection—an appeal never made in vain to the Rajput. The poetic account, by the bard Karnidhan, of the reception of the prince by the chivalry of Maru, is remarkably minute and spirited:—the warriors and senators enter into a solemn debate as to the conduct to be pursued to the prince now claiming saran (sanctuary), when the bard takes occasion to relate the pedigree and renown of the chiefs of every clan. Each chief delivers his sentiments in a speech full of information respecting their national customs and manners. It also displays a good picture of “the power of the swans, and the necessity of feeding them with pearls,” to enable them to sing with advantage. The council breaks up with the declaration of its determination to protect Akbar at all hazards, and Jetha, the brother of the head of the Champawats, is nominated to the charge of protector of Akbar’s family. The gallant Durga, the Ulysses of the Rathors, is the manager of this dramatic convention, the details of which are wound up with an eulogy in true oriental hyperbole, in the Doric accents of Maru: [66]—

_Māi chā pūt jin, Jehā Durgādās, Band Murdhara rakhiyo Vin thāmbhā ākās._[5.7.23]

“O mother! produce such sons as Durgadas, who first supported the dam of Murdhara, and then propped the heavens.”

=Character of Durgadās.=—This model of a Rajput, as wise as he was brave, was the saviour of his country. To his suggestion it owed the preservation of its prince, and to a series of heroic deeds, his subsequent and more difficult salvation. Many anecdotes are extant recording the dread Aurangzeb had of this leader of the Rathors, one of which is amusing. The tyrant had commanded pictures to be drawn of two of the most mortal foes to his repose, Sivaji and Durga: “Siva was drawn seated on a couch; Durga in his ordinary position, on horseback, toasting bātis or barley-cakes, with the point of his lance, on a fire of maize-stalks. Aurangzeb, at the first glance, exclaimed, ‘I may entrap that fellow (meaning Sivaji), but this dog is born to be my bane.s’”

Durga at the head of his bands, together with young Akbar, moved towards the western extremity of the State, in hopes that they might lead the emperor in pursuit amongst the sandhills of the Luni; but the wily monarch tried other arts, and first attempted to corrupt Durga. He sent him eight thousand gold mohurs,[5.7.24] which the Rajput instantly applied to the necessities of Akbar, who was deeply affected at this proof of devotion, and distributed a portion of it amongst Durga’s retainers. Aurangzeb, seeing the futility of this plan, sent a force in pursuit of his son, who, knowing he had no hope of mercy if he fell into his father’s hands, was anxious to place distance between them. Durga pledged himself for his safety, and relinquished all to ensure it. Making over the guardianship of young Ajit to his elder brother, Soning, and placing himself at the head of one thousand chosen men, he turned towards the south. The bard enumerates the names and families of all the chieftains of note who formed the bodyguard of prince Akbar in this desperate undertaking. The Champawats were the most numerous, but he specifies several of the home clans, as the Jodha and Mertia, and amongst the foreign Rajputs, the Jadon, Chauhan, Bhatti, Deora, Sonigira, and Mangalia [67].

=Escape of Prince Akbar.=—“The king followed their retreat: his troops surrounded the Rathors; but Durga with one thousand chosen men left the north on their backs, and with the speed of the winged quitted the camp. Aurang continued the pursuit to Jalor, when he found he had been led on a wrong scent, and that Durga, with the prince, keeping Gujarat on his right, and Chappan[5.7.25] on his left, had made good his retreat to the Nerbudda. Rage so far got the better of his religion, that he threw the Koran at the head of the Almighty. In wrath, he commanded Azam to exterminate the Rathors, but to leave Udaipur on one side,[5.7.26] and every other design, and first secure his brother. The deeds of Kamunda[5.7.27] removed the troubles of Mewar, as the wind disperses the clouds which shade the brightness of the moon. In ten days after Azam marched, the emperor himself moved, leaving his garrisons in Jodhpur and Ajmer. Durga’s name was the charm which made the hosts of locusts quit their ground.[5.7.28] Durga was the sea-serpent; Akbar the mountain with which they churned the ocean Aurang, and made him yield the fourteen gems, one of which our religion regained, which is Lakshmi, and our faith, which is Dhanwantari[5.7.29] the sage.

“In fidelity who excelled the Khichis Sheo Singh and Mukund, who never left the person of Ajit, when his infancy was concealed in the mountains of Arbud? to them alone, and the faithful Sonigira, did Durga confide the secret of his retreat. The vassals of the Nine Castles of Maru knew that he was concealed; but where or in whose custody all were ignorant. Some thought he was at Jaisalmer; others at Bikampur; others at Sirohi. The eight divisions nobly supported the days of their exile; their sinews sustained the land of Murdhar. Raos, Rajas, and Ranas applauded their deeds, for all were alike enveloped in the net of destruction. In all the nine thousand [towns] of Murdhar, and the ten thousand of Mewar,[5.7.30] inhabitants there were none. Inayat Khan was left with ten thousand men to preserve Jodhpur; but the Champawat is the Sumer[5.7.31] of Maru, and without fear was Durga’s brother, Soning. With Khemkaran the Karanot, and Sabhal the Jodha, Bijmall the Mahecha, Jethmall Sujot, Kesari Karanot, and the Jodha brethren Sheodan and Bhim, and many more collected their clans and kin, and as soon as they heard that the king was within four coss of Ajmer they blockaded the Khan [68] in the city of Jodha; but twenty thousand Moguls came to the rescue. Another dreadful conflict ensued at the gates of Jodhpur, in which the Jadon Kishor, who led the battle, and many other chiefs were slain, yet not without many hundreds of the foe; the 9th Asarh, S. 1737.

“Soning carried the sword and the flame into every quarter. Aurang could neither advance nor retreat. He was like the serpent seizing the musk-rat, which, if liberated, caused blindness; but if swallowed, was like poison. Harnath and Kana Singh took the road to Sojat. They surrounded and drove away the cattle, which brought the Asurs to the rescue. A dreadful strife ensued; the chief of the Asurs was slain, but the brothers and all their kin bedewed the land with their blood. This, the sakha of Sojat, was when 1737 ended and 1738 commenced, when the sword and the pestilence (mari[5.7.32]) united to clear the land.

“Soning was the Rudra of the field; Agra and Delhi trembled at his deeds; he looked on Aurang as the waning moon. The king sent an embassy to Soning; it was peace he desired. He offered the mansab of Sat Hazari for Ajit,[5.7.33] and what dignities he might demand for his brethren—the restoration of Ajmer, and to make Soning its governor. To the engagement was added, ‘the panja is affixed in ratification of this treaty, witnessed by God Almighty.’[5.7.34] The Diwan, Asad Khan, was the negotiator, and the Aremdi,[5.7.35] who was with him, solemnly swore to its maintenance. The treaty concluded, the king, whose thoughts could not be diverted from Akbar, departed for the Deccan. Asad Khan was left at Ajmer, and Soning at Merta [69]. But Soning was a thorn in the side of Aurangzeb; he bribed the Brahmans, who threw pepper into the Homa (burnt sacrifice) and secured for Soning a place in Suraj Mandala (the mansion of the sun). The day following the treaty, by the incantations of Auranga, Soning was no more.[5.7.36] Asoj the 6th, S. 1738.

“Asad sent the news to the king. This terror being removed, the king withdrew his panja from his treaty, and in joy departed for the Deccan. The death of Soning shed gloom and grief over the land. Then Mukund Singh Mertia, son of Kalyan, abandoned his mansab and joined his country’s cause. A desperate encounter soon followed with the troops of Asad Khan near Merta, in which Ajit, the son of Bitaldas, who led the fight, was slain, with many of each clan, which gave joy to the Asurs, but grief to the faithful Rajput; on the second day of the bright half of the moon of Kartik, S. 1738.

“Prince Azam was left with Asad Khan; Inayat at Jodhpur; and their garrisons were scattered over the land, as their tombs (gor) everywhere attest. The lord of Chandawal, Shambhu Kumpawat, now led the Rathors with Udang Singh Bakhshi, and Tejsi, the young son of Durga, the bracelet on the arm of Mahadeva, with Fateh Singh and Ram Singh, just returned from placing Akbar safely in the Deccan, and many other valiant Rathors.[5.7.37] They spread over the country even to Mewar, sacked Pur-Mandal, and slew the governor Kasim Khan.”

These desultory and bloody affrays, though they kept the king’s troops in perpetual alarm and lost them myriads of men, thinned the ranks of the defenders of Maru, who again took refuge in the Aravalli. From thence, watching every opportunity, they darted on their prey. On one occasion they fell upon the garrison of Jaitaran, which they routed and expelled, or as the chronicle quaintly says, “with the year 1739 they also fled.” At the same time, the post of Sojat was carried by Bija Champawat, while the Jodhawats, under Ram Singh, kept their foes in play to the northward, and led by Udaibhan attacked the Mirza Nur Ali at Charai: “the contest lasted for three hours; the dead bodies of the Yavans lay in heaps in the Akhara; who even abandoned their Nakkaras.”[5.7.38]

“After the affair of Jaitaran, when Udai Singh Champawat and Mohkam Singh Mertia were the leaders, they made a push for Gujarat, and had penetrated to [70] Kheralu,[5.7.39] when they were attacked, pursued, and surrounded in the hills at Renpur, by Sayyid Muhammad, the Hakim of Gujarat. All night they stood to their arms. In the morning the sword rained and filled the cars of the Apsaras. Karan and Kesari were slain, with Gokuldas Bhatti, with all their civil officers, and Ram Singh himself renounced life on this day.[5.7.40] But the Asurs pulled up the reins, having lost many men. Pali was also attacked in the month of Bhadon this year 1739; then the game of destruction was played with Nur Ali, three hundred Rathors against five hundred of the king’s troops, which were routed, losing their leader, Afzal Khan, after a desperate struggle.

“Bala was the hero who drove the Yavan from this post. Udaya attacked the Sidi at Sojat. Jaitaran was again reinforced. In Baisakh, Mohkam Singh Mertia attacked the royal post at Merta, slew Sayyid Ali, and drove out the king’s troops.”

=Assistance given by the Bhattis.=—The year 1739 was one of perpetual conflict, of captures and recaptures, in which many parties of twenty and thirty on each side fell. They afford numerous examples of heroic patriotism, in which Rathor blood was lavishly shed; but while to them each warrior was a loss not to be replaced, the despot continued to feed the war with fresh troops. The Bhattis of Jaisalmer came forward this year, and nobly shed their blood in seconding the efforts of the Rathors in this patriotic warfare.

“In S. 1740, Azam and Asad Khan joined the emperor in the Deccan, and Inayat Khan was left in command at Ajmer—being enjoined not to relax the war in Marwar, even with the setting in of the rains. Merwara afforded a place of rendezvous for the Rathors, and security for their families. Here eleven thousand of the best troops of Inayat invaded the hills to attack the united Jodhas and Champawats, who retaliated on Pali, Sojat, and Godwar. The ancient Mandor, which was occupied by a garrison under Khwaja Salah, was attacked by the Mandecha Bhatti and driven out. At Bagri, a desperate encounter took place in the month of Baisakh, when Ram Singh and Samant Singh, both Bhatti chiefs, fell, with two hundred of their vassals, slaying one thousand of the Moguls. The Karamsots and Kumpawats, under Anup Singh, scoured the banks of the Luni, and put to the sword the garrisons of Ustara and Gangani. Mohkam, with his Mertias, made a descent on his patrimonial lands, and drew upon him the whole force of its [71] governor, Muhammad Ali. The Mertias met him on their own native plains. The Yavan proposed a truce, and at the interview assassinated the head of the Mertias, tidings of whose death rejoiced the Shah in the Deccan.

“At the beginning of 1741, neither strife nor fear had abated. Sujan Singh led the Rathors in the south, while Lakha Champawat and Kesar Kumpawat, aided by the Bhattis and Chauhans, kept the garrison of Jodhpur in alarm. When Sujan was slain, the bard was sent to Sangram, who held a mansab and lands from the king; he was implored to join his brethren; he obeyed, and all collected around Sangram.[5.7.41] Siwancha[5.7.42] was attacked, and with Bhalotra and Panchbhadra were plundered; while the blockaded garrisons were unable to aid. An hour before sunset every gate of Maru was shut. The Asurs had the strongholds in their power; but the plains resounded with the An[5.7.43] of Ajit. Udaibhan, with his Jodhawats, appeared before Bhadrajun; he assaulted the foe and captured his guns and treasure. An attempt from Jodhpur made to recapture the trophies, added to the triumph of the Jodha.

=Abduction of the Asāni Girls.=—“Purdil Khan[5.7.44] held Siwana; and Nahar Khan Mewati, Kunari. To attack them, the Champawats convened at Mokalsar. Their thirst for vengeance redoubled at the tidings that Nur Ali had abducted two young women of the tribe of Asani. Ratna led the Rathors; they reached Kunari and engaged Purdil Khan, who was put to the sword with six hundred of his men. The Rathors left one hundred in the field that day, the ninth of Chait. The Mirza[5.7.45] no sooner heard of this defeat than he fled towards Toda, with the Asani damsels, gazing on the mangoes as they ripened, and having reached Kuchal, he encamped. Subhal Singh, the son of Askaran, heard it; he took his opium, and though the Mirza was surrounded by pillars, the dagger of Askaran’s son reached his heart; but the Bhatti[5.7.46] was cut in pieces. The roads were now impassable; the Thanas[5.7.47] of the Yavans were reduced to great straits [72].

“The year 1742 commenced with the slaughter of the king’s garrison at Sambhar by the Lakhawats and Asawats;[5.7.48] while from Godwar the chiefs made incursions to the gates of Ajmer. A battle took place at Merta, where the Rathors were defeated and dispersed; but in revenge Sangram burned the suburbs of Jodhpur, and then came to Dunara, where once more the clans assembled. They marched, invested Jalor, when Bihari, left without succour, was compelled to capitulate, and the gate of honour (dharmadwara) was left open to him. And thus ended 1742.”

-----

Footnote 5.7.1:

[Erskine (iii. A, 62) gives the story from local sources; also see Elliot-Dowson vii. 297 f.]

Footnote 5.7.2:

A delicate mode of naming the female part of Jaswant’s family; the ‘royal abode’ included his young daughters, sent to inhabit heaven (swarga).

Footnote 5.7.3:

Pluto.

Footnote 5.7.4:

‘The lord of the shell,’ an epithet of Siva, as the god of war; his war-trump being a shell (sankh); his chaplet (mala), which the Rathor bard says was incomplete until this fight, being of human skulls. [Sankara, a title of Siva, means ‘causing happiness,’ and has no connexion with sankh, ‘a shell.’]

Footnote 5.7.5:

Queen of the Apsaras, or celestial nymphs.

Footnote 5.7.6:

Pope makes Sarpedon say:

“The life that others pay, let us bestow, And give to fame what we to nature owe.”

Footnote 5.7.7:

I.e. blood.

Footnote 5.7.8:

“The city of the moon.”

Footnote 5.7.9:

The lunar abode seems that allotted for all bards, who never mention Bhanloka, or the ‘mansion of the sun,’ as a place of reward for them. Doubtless they could assign a reason for such a distinction.

Footnote 5.7.10:

This is but a short transcript of the poetic account of this battle, in which the deeds, name, and tribe of every warrior who fell are related. The heroes of Thermopylae had not a more brilliant theme for the bard. [Compare the more matter-of-fact accounts of Khāfi Khān, Elliot-Dowson (vii. 296 f.), and of Manucci (ii. 233 f.).]

Footnote 5.7.11:

Here is another instance of the ancient patronymic being brought in by the bards, and it is thus they preserve the names and deeds of the worthies of past days. Rao Duhar was one of the earliest Rathor kings of Marwar.

Footnote 5.7.12:

[According to Musalmān authorities, the name of the son of Amar Singh was Indar Singh, not Ratan Singh (Jadunath Sarkar, Life of Aurangzib, iii. 369).]

Footnote 5.7.13:

[In 1679 Khān Jahān arrived from Jodhpur, bringing several cartloads of idols pillaged from Hindu temples. It was ordered that some should be cast away into the out-offices, and the remainder to be placed beneath the steps of the Great Mosque, there to be trampled under foot (Elliot-Dowson vii. 187; Jadunath Sarkar iii. 323).]

Footnote 5.7.14:

Vol. I. p. 442.

Footnote 5.7.15:

It may be well to exhibit the manner in which the poetic annalist of Rajputana narrates such events, and to give them in his own language rather than in an epitome, by which not only the pith of the original would be lost, but the events themselves deprived of half their interest. The character of historic fidelity will thus be preserved from suspicion, which could scarcely be withheld if the narrative were exhibited in any but its native garb. This will also serve to sustain the Annals of Marwar, formed from a combination of such materials, and dispose the reader to acknowledge the impossibility of reducing such animated chronicles to the severe style of history. But more than all, it is with the design to prove what, in the preface of this work, the reader was compelled to take on credit; that the Rajput kingdoms were in no ages without such chronicles: and if we may not compare them with Froissart, or with Monstrelet, they may be allowed to compete with the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and they certainly surpass those of Ulster. But we have stronger motives than even legitimate curiosity, in allowing the bard to tell his own tale of the thirty years’ war of Rajputana; the desire which has animated this task from its commencement, to give a correct idea of the importance of these events, and to hold them up as a beacon to the present governors of these brave men. How well that elegant historian, Orme, appreciates their importance, as bearing on our own conduct in power, the reader will perceive by reference to his Fragments [ed. 1782, note i.], where he says, “There are no states or powers on the continent of India, with whom our nation has either connexion or concern, which do not owe the origin of their present condition to the reign of Aurangzebe, or to its influence on the reigns of his successors.” It behoves us, therefore, to make ourselves acquainted with the causes as well as the characters of those who occasioned the downfall of our predecessors in the sovereignty of India. With this object in view, the bard shall tell his own tale from the birth of Ajit, in S. 1737, to 1767, when he had vanquished all opposition to Aurangzeb, and regained the throne of Maru.

Footnote 5.7.16:

The cenotaph of these warriors still marks the spot where they fell, on the right on entering the portals.

Footnote 5.7.17:

The heaps of grain thrashed in the open field, preparatory to being divided and housed, are termed khallas.

Footnote 5.7.18:

Oath of allegiance.

Footnote 5.7.19:

The Mewar chronicle claims a victory for the combined Rajput army, and relates a singular stratagem by which they gained it; but either I have overlooked it, or the Raj Vilas does not specify that Prince Bhim, son of the heroic Rana Raj, fell on this day, so glorious in the annals of both States. See Vol. I. p. 448. [According to Manucci (ii. 234) the Rāja “was obliged to cede to Aurangzeb a province and the town of Mairtha.” According to another story, Aurangzeb offered the succession to Ajīt Singh on condition that he was converted to Islām. The Emperor kept a counterfeit Ajīt Singh in ward, and brought him up as a Musalmān, called him Muhammadi Rāj, and on his death he was buried as a Musalmān (Jadunath Sarkar iii. 374).]

Footnote 5.7.20:

On Akbar’s rebellion see Jadunath Sarkar iii. 402 ff.]

Footnote 5.7.21:

Krishna.

Footnote 5.7.22:

[Orme, Fragments, ed. 1782, 142 ff.; Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson vii. 298 ff.]

Footnote 5.7.23:

[The reading in the text is that of Dr. Tessitori. Major Luard’s Pandit, questioning the Author’s translation, says that the words Band Murdharā ra rakhyo mean ‘governed Mārwār well,’ and that bin thāmbh ākās, ‘the heavens without a prop,’ refers to the ruler who was a minor.]

Footnote 5.7.24:

The Mewar chronicle says forty thousand.

Footnote 5.7.25:

[The hill tract about Siwāna, in S. Mewār.]

Footnote 5.7.26:

That is, dropped all schemes against it at that moment.

Footnote 5.7.27:

The Kamdhuj; epithet of the Rathors.

Footnote 5.7.28:

Charms and incantations, with music, are had recourse to, in order to cause the flight of these destructive insects from the fields they light on.

Footnote 5.7.29:

[The physician of the gods, born at the churning of the ocean.]

Footnote 5.7.30:

The number of towns and villages formerly constituting the arrondissement of each State.

Footnote 5.7.31:

[Meru, the sacred mountain.]

Footnote 5.7.32:

Mari, or ‘death’ personified, is the name for that fearful scourge the spasmodic cholera morbus, which has caused the loss of so many lives for the last thirteen years throughout India. It appears to have visited India often, of which we have given a frightful record in the Annals of Mewar in the reign of Rana Raj Singh (see Vol. I. p. 454), in S. 1717 or A.D. 1661 (twenty years prior to the period we treat of); and Orme [Fragments, ed. 1782, p. 200] describes it as raging in the Deccan in A.D. 1684. They had likewise a visitation of it within the memory of many individuals now living.

Regarding the nature of this disease, whether endemic, epidemic, or contagious, and its cure, we are as ignorant now as the first day of our experience. There have been hundreds of conflicting opinions and hypotheses, but none satisfactory. In India, nine medical men out of ten, as well as those not professional, deny its being contagious. At Udaipur, the Rana’s only son, hermetically sealed in the palace against contact, was the first seized with the disorder; a pretty strong proof that it was from atmospheric communication. He was also the last man in his father’s dominions likely, from predisposition, to be attacked, being one of the most athletic and prudent of his subjects. I saw him through the disorder. We were afraid to administer remedies to the last heir of Bappa Rawal, but I hinted to Amarji, who was both bard and doctor, that strong doses of musk (12 grs. each) might be beneficial. These he had, and I prevented his having cold water to drink, and also checking the insensible perspiration by throwing off the bedclothes. Nothing but his robust frame and youth made him resist this tremendous assailant.

Footnote 5.7.33:

[A command of 7000 troops.]

Footnote 5.7.34:

See Vol. I. p. 419, for an explanation of the panja—and the treaty which preceded this, made by Rana Raj Singh, the fourth article of which stipulates for terms to the minor son of Jaswant.

Footnote 5.7.35:

I know not what officer is meant by the Aremdi, sent to swear to the good faith of the king.

Footnote 5.7.36:

His death was said to be effected by incantations, most probably poison.]

Footnote 5.7.37:

Many were enumerated by the bardic chronicler, who would deem it sacrilege to omit a single name in the page of fame.

Footnote 5.7.38:

[Akhāra, ‘a place of wrestling,’ rhyming with nakkāra, ‘a kettle-drum.’]

Footnote 5.7.39:

[In Baroda State, about 63 miles N. of Ahmadābād.]

Footnote 5.7.40:

He was one of the gallant chiefs who, with Durga, conveyed prince Akbar to the sanctuary with the Mahrattas.

Footnote 5.7.41:

We are not informed of what clan he was, or his rank, which must have been high.

Footnote 5.7.42:

The tract so called, of which Siwana is the capital [in S. Mewār].

Footnote 5.7.43:

Oath of allegiance.

Footnote 5.7.44:

It is almost superfluous to remark, even to the mere English reader, that whenever he meets the title Khan, it indicates a Muhammadan [and a Pathān]; and that of Singh (lion) a Rajput.

Footnote 5.7.45:

Nur Ali. Mirza is a title only applied to a Mogul.

Footnote 5.7.46:

As a Bhatti revenged this disgrace, it is probable the Asani damsels, thus abducted by the Mirza, were of his own race.

Footnote 5.7.47:

Garrisons and military posts.

Footnote 5.7.48:

These are of the most ancient vassalage of Maru.

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Chapter 8

=Ajīt Singh produced to the Rāthors, A.D. 1686.=—“In the year 1743, the Champawats, Kumpawats, Udawats, Mertias, Jodhas, Karamsots, and all the assembled clans of Maru, became impatient to see their sovereign. They sent for the Khichi Mukund, and prayed that they might but [73] behold him; but the faithful to his trust replied: ‘He,[5.8.1] who confided him to me, is yet in the Deccan.’—‘Without the sight of our Lord, bread and water have no flavour.’ Mukund could not withstand their suit. The Hara prince Durjan Sal, having come to their aid with one thousand horse from Kotah,[5.8.2] they repaired to the hill of Abu, when on the last day of Chait 1743 they saw their prince. As the lotus expands at the sunbeam, so did the heart of each Rathor at the sight of their infant sovereign; they drank his looks, even as the papiha in the month Asoj sips drops of amrita (ambrosia) from the Champa.[5.8.3] There were present, Udai Singh, Sangram Singh, Bijaipal, Tej Singh, Mukund Singh, and Nahar son of Hari, all Champawats; Raj Singh, Jagat Singh, Jeth Singh, Samant Singh, of the Udawats; Ram Singh, Fateh Singh, and Kesari, Kumpawats. There was also the Uhar chief of pure descent,[5.8.4] besides the Khichi Mukund, the Purohit, the Parihar, and the Jain priest, Yati Gyan, Bijai. In a fortunate hour, Ajit became known to the world. The Hara Rao first made his salutation; he was followed by all Marwar with offerings of gold, pearls, and horses.

“Inayat conveyed the tidings to Aurang Shah; the Asur chief said to the king, ‘If without a head so long they had combated him, what could now be expected?’ He demanded reinforcements.

=Ajīt Singh installed.=—“In triumph they conveyed the young Raja to Awa, whose chief made the badhava[5.8.5] with pearls, and presented him with horses; here he was entertained, and here they prepared the tika daur.[5.8.6] Thence, taking Raepur, Bilara, and Barunda in his way, and receiving the homage and nazars of their chiefs, he repaired to Asop, where he was entertained by the head of the Kumpawats. From Asop he went to the Bhatti fief of Lawera; thence to Rian, the chief abode of the Mertias; thence to Khinwasar, of the Karamsots. Each chief entertained their young lord, around whom all the clans gathered. Then he repaired to Kalu, the abode of Pabhu Rao Dhandal,[5.8.7] who came forth with all his bands; and at length [74] he reached Pokaran, where he was joined by Durgadas from the Deccan, the 10th of Bhadon 1744.

“Inayat Khan was alarmed. He assembled a numerous array to quell this fresh tumult, but death pounced upon him. The king was afflicted thereat. He tried another stratagem, and set up a pretended son of Jaswant, styled Muhammad Shah, and offered Ajit the mansab of five thousand to submit to his authority.[5.8.8] The pretender also died as he set out for Jodhpur, and Shujaat Khan[5.8.9] was made the governor of Marwar in place of Inayat. Now the Rathors and Haras united, having cleared Maru of their foes, attacked them in a foreign land. The garrisons of Malpura and Pur Mandal were put to the sword, and here the Hara prince was killed by a cannon shot in leading the storm. Here they levied eight thousand mohurs in contribution and returned to Marwar, while the civil officers and Purohits made collections in his country; and thus passed 1744.

“The year 1745 commenced with proposals from Shujaat Khan to hold Marwar in farm; he promised one-fourth of all transit duties if the Rathors would respect foreign commerce: to this they agreed. The son of Inayat left Jodhpur for Delhi; he had reached Renwal, but was overtaken by the Jodha Harnath, who released him both of wives and wealth. The Khan fled to the Kachhwahas for shelter. Suja Beg, who left Ajmer to release him, fared no better: he was attacked, defeated, and plundered by Mukunddas Champawat.

=War with the Mughals.=—“In 1747, Safi Khan was Hakim of Ajmer: Durga determined to attack him. The Hakim took post in the pass which defends the road; there Durga assailed him, and made him fly to Ajmer. The tidings reached the king; he wrote to the Khan, if he discomfited Durgadas, he would raise him over all the Khans of the empire; if he failed, he should send him bracelets,[5.8.10] and order Shujaat from Jodhpur to supersede him. Safi, before abandoning his trust, tried to retain his honours by the circumvention of Ajit. He addressed a letter to him, saying he held the imperial sanad for the restoration of his paternal domains, but that, as the king’s representative, he must come and receive it. Ajit marched at the head of twenty thousand Rathors, sending in advance Mukund Champawat to observe whether any treachery was contemplated. The snare was discovered and reported to Ajit, as he arrived at the foot of the pass beyond the mountains. ‘Let us, however, have [75] a sight of Ajaidurg as we are so near,’ said the young prince, ‘and receive the compliments of the Khan.’ They moved on towards the city, and Safi Khan had no alternative but to pay his obeisance to Ajit. To enjoy his distress, one said, ‘Let us fire the city.’ The Hakim sat trembling for its safety and his own; he brought forth jewels and horses which he presented to Ajit.

“In 1748, the troubles recommenced in Mewar. Prince Amra rebelled against his father, Rana Jai Singh, and was joined by all his chiefs. The Rana fled to Godwar, and at Ghanerao collected a force, which Amra prepared to attack. The Rana demanded succour of the Rathors, and all the Mertias hastened to relieve him; and soon after Ajit sent Durgadas and Bhagwan, with Ranmall Jodha, and ‘the eight ranks of Rathors,’ to espouse the father’s cause. But the Chondawats and Saktawats, the Jhalas and Chauhans, rather than admit foreign interference in their quarrel, thought it better to effect a reconciliation between father and son; and thus the Rana was indebted to Marwar for the support of his throne.

=Aurangzeb negotiates about Akbar’s Daughter.=—“The year 1749 passed in negotiation to obtain the daughter of prince Akbar, left in charge of Durgadas, for whose honour Aurangzeb was alarmed, as Ajit was reaching manhood; Narayandas Kulumbi was the medium of negotiation, and Safi Khan caused all hostilities to cease while it lasted.

“In 1750, the Muslim governors of Jodhpur, Jalor, and Siwana combined their forces against Ajit, who was again compelled to retreat to the mountains. Akha, the Bala, received their attack, but was defeated in the month of Magh. Another combat was hastened by the wanton slaughter of a sand,[5.8.11] when the Hakim of Chank, with all his train, were made prisoners at Mokalsar by the Champawat Mukanddas.

“To such straits were the Muslims put in 1751, that many districts paid chauth, others tribute, and many, tired of this incessant warfare, and unable to conquer their bread, took service with the Rathors. This year, Kasim Khan and Lashkar Khan marched against Ajit, who took post at Bijaipur. Durga’s son led the onset, and the Khan was defeated. With each year of Ajit grew the hopes of the Rathors; while Aurangzeb was afflicted at each month’s growth of his granddaughter. He wrote to Shujaat, the Hakim of Jodhpur, to secure his honour at whatever cost; his applications for Akbar’s daughter were unwearied [76].

=Ajīt Singh marries a Princess of Mewar.=—“This year the coco-nut studded with gems,[5.8.12] two elephants and ten steeds, all richly caparisoned, were sent by the Rana to affiance the daughter of his younger brother, Gaj Singh, to Ajit. The present was accepted, and in the month of Jeth, the prince of the Rathors repaired to Udaipur, where the nuptials were solemnized. In Asarh he again married at Deolia.[5.8.13]

“In 1753, negotiations were renewed through Durgadas, and the protracted restoration of the Sultani obtained the seat of his ancestors for the Jodhani. Durga was offered for himself the mansab of five thousand, which he refused; he preferred that Jalor, Siwanchi, Sanchor, and Tharad[5.8.14] should revert to his country. Even Aurang admired the honourable and distinguished treatment of his granddaughter.

“In Pus 1757,[5.8.15] Ajit regained possession of his ancestral abode: on his reaching Jodhpur he slew a buffalo at each of its five gates.[5.8.16] The Shahzada Sultan led the way, Shujaat being dead.[5.8.17]

“In 1759, Azam Shah again seized on Jodhpur, and Ajit made Jalor his abode. Some of his chiefs now served the foe, some the Rana whose hopes were on Eklinga alone; while the lord of Amber served the king in the Deccan. The enormities of the Asurs had reached their height; the sacred kine were sacrificed even at Mathura, Prayag, and Okhamandal; the Jogis and Bairagis invoked heaven for protection, but iniquity prevailed as the Hindu strength decayed. Prayers were everywhere offered up to heaven to cleanse the land from the iniquities of the barbarians.[5.8.18] In this year, the month of Magh 1759, the Mithun Lagan (the ‘sun in Gemini’), a son was born of the Chauhani, who was called Abhai Singh. (See end of this chapter, p. 1019, for the Horoscope of Abhai Singh.)

“In 1761, Yusuf was superseded by Murshid Kuli as Hakim of Jodhpur. On his arrival he presented the royal sanad for the restoration of Merta to Ajit. Kusal Singh, the Mertia Sarmor, with the Dhandhal Govinddas, were ordered to [77] take the charge, which incensed the son of Indar (Mohkam Singh), who deemed his faithful service during his minority overlooked by this preference. He wrote to the king to nominate him to the command of Marwar, and that he would fulfil his charge to the satisfaction both of Hindu and Muslim.

“In 1761 the star of the foe began to decline. Murshid Kuli, the Mogul, was relieved by Jaafar Khan. Mohkam’s letter was intercepted. He had turned traitor to his prince, and joined the king’s troops. Ajit marched against them; he fought them at Dunara; the king’s troops were defeated, and the rebel Indhawat was slain. This was in 1762.

=Death of Aurangzeb, March 3, 1707.=—“In 1763, Ibrahim Khan, the king’s lieutenant[5.8.19] at Lahore, passed through Marwar to relieve Azam in the vice-royalty of Gujarat. On the second day of Chait, the obscure half of the moon, the joyful tidings arrived of the death of the king.[5.8.20] On the fifth, Ajit took to horse; he reached the town of Jodha, and sacrificed to the gates, but the Asurs feared to face him. Some hid their faces in fear, while others fled. The Mirza came down, and Ajit ascended to the halls of his ancestors. The wretched Yavans, now abandoned to the infuriated Rajputs smarting under twenty-six years of misery, found no mercy. In hopeless despair they fled, and the wealth which they had amassed by extortion and oppression returned to enrich the proprietor. The barbarians, in turn, were made captive; they fought, were slaughtered and dispersed. Some sought saran (sanctuary), and found it; even the barbarian leader himself threw fear to the winds in the unconcealed sanctuary of the Kumpawat. But the triumph of the Hindu was complete, when, to escape from perdition, their flying foes invoked Sitaram and Hargovind, begging their bread in the day, and taking to their heels at night. The chaplet of the Mulla served to count the name of Rama, and a handful of gold was given to have their beards removed.[5.8.21] Nothing but the despair and flight of the Mlechchha was heard throughout Murdhar. Merta was evacuated, and the wounded Mohkam fled to Nagor. Sojat and Pali were regained, and the land returned to the Jodhani. Jodhgarh was purified from the contaminations of the barbarian with the water of the Ganges and the sacred Tulasi, and Ajit received the tilak of sovereignty.

“Then Azam marched from the south and Muazzam from the north. At Agra a [78] mighty battle for empire took place between the two Asurs, but Alam[5.8.22] prevailed and got the throne. The tidings soon reached the king, that Ajit had plundered his armies in Maru and taken possession of the ‘cushion’ of his fathers.

=Campaign of Bahādur Shāh.=—“The rainy season of 1764 had vanished, the king had no repose; he formed an army and came to Ajmer. Then Haridas, the son of Bhagwan, with the Uhar and Mangalia chiefs,[5.8.23] and Ratna the leader of the Udawats, with eight hundred of their clan, entered the castle and swore to Ajit, that whatever might be his intentions, they were resolved to maintain the castle to the death. The royal army encamped at Bhavi Bilara, and Ajit prepared for the storm; but the king was advised to try peaceful arts, and an overture was made, and the messenger was sent back to the king accompanied by Nahar Khan. The embassy returned bearing the royal farman to Ajit; but before he would accept it, he said he would view the royal army, and on the first day of Phalgun he left the hill of Jodha and reached Bisalpur. Here he was received by a deputation from the king, headed by Shujaat Khan, son of the Khankhanan accompanied by the Raja of the Bhadaurias and Rao Budh Singh of Bundi—the place of meeting was Pipar. That night passed in adjusting the terms of the treaty.[5.8.24] The ensuing morn he marched forward at the head of all the men of Maru; and at Anandpur the eyes of the king of the barbarians (Mlechchha) fell on those of the lord of the earth. He gave him the title of Tegh Bahadur.[5.8.25] But fate decreed that the city of Jodha was coveted by the king; by stealth he sent Mahrab Khan to take possession, accompanied by the traitor Mohkam. Ajit burned with rage when he heard of this treachery, but he was compelled to dissimulate and accompany Alam to the Deccan, and to serve under Kambakhsh. Jai Singh of Amber[5.8.26] was also with the king, and had a like cause for discontent, a royal garrison being placed in Amber, and the gaddi of the Raja bestowed on his younger brother, Bijai Singh. Now the army rolled on like a sea overflowing its bounds. As soon as the king crossed the Nerbudda,[5.8.27] the Rajas executed their designs, and, without saying a word, at the head of their vassals retrograded to Rajwara. They repaired to Udaipur, and were received by Rana Amra with rejoicing and distinction [79], who advanced to conduct them to his capital. Seated together, the chaunri waving over their heads, they appeared like the Trianga,[5.8.28] Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesa. From this hour the fortunes of the Asurs sunk, and virtue again began to show herself.[5.8.29] From Udaipur the two Rajas passed to Marwar. They reached Awa, and here the Champawat Sangram, son of Udaibhan, spread the foot-carpet (pagmanda) for his lord.

“The month of Sawan 1765 set in, and the hopes of the Asur expired. Mahrab was in consternation when he heard that Ajit had returned to his native land. On the 7th the hall of Jodha was surrounded by thirty thousand Rathors. On the 12th the gate of honour was thrown open to Mahrab; he had to thank the son of Askaran[5.8.30] for his life. He was allowed an honourable retreat, and Ajit once more entered the capital of Maru.

“Jai Singh encamped upon the banks of the Sur Sagar; but a prince without a country, he was unhappy. But as soon as the rains were passed, Ajmall, the sanctuary of the Kachhwaha, proposed to reinstate him in Amber. When conjoined they had reached Merta, Agra and Delhi trembled. When they arrived at Ajmer its governor sought saran with the saint,[5.8.31] and paid the contributions demanded. Then, like the falcon, Ajit darted upon Sambhar; and here the vassals of Amber repaired from all quarters to the standard of their lord. With twelve thousand men, the Sayyid advanced along the edge of the salt lake, to encounter Ajmall. The Kumpawat led the charge; a desperate battle ensued; Husain, with six thousand men, lay on the field, while the rest took to flight and sought refuge in the castle.[5.8.32] His lieutenant, the Parihar, chief Pandu,[5.8.33] here fell into the hands of Ajit; he then felt he had recovered Mandor. On intelligence of this history, the Asurs abandoned Amber, and having placed a garrison in Sambhar, in the month of Margsir, Ajit restored Jai Singh to Amber, and prepared to attack Bikaner. Ajit committed the administration of all civil affairs to the faithful Raghunath Bhandari, with the [80] title of Diwan. He was well qualified, both from his experience in civil affairs and from his valour as a soldier.

=Death of Prince Kāmbakhsh.=—“In Bhadon of the year 1766, Aurangzeb put to death Kambakhsh,[5.8.34] and Jai Singh entered into negotiations with the king. Ajit now went against Nagor; but Indar Singh being without resource, came forth and embraced Ajit’s feet, who bestowed Ladnun upon him as a heritage. But this satisfied not him who had been the lord of Nagor, and Indar carried his complaints to Delhi.[5.8.35] The king was enraged—his threats reached the Rajas, who deemed it safe again to reunite. They met at Kolia near Didwana, and the king soon after reached Ajmer. Thence he sent his firmans and the panja as terms of friendship to the Rajas: Nahar Khan, Chela of the king, was the bearer. They were accepted, and on the 1st Asarh both the Rajas repaired to Ajmer. Here the king received them graciously, in the face of the world; to Ajit he presented the sanad of the Nine Castles of Maru, and to Jai Singh that of Amber. Having taken leave of the king, the two Rajas went on the parab[5.8.36] to the sacred lake of Pushkar. Here they separated for their respective domains, and Ajit reached Jodhpur in Sawan 1767. In this year he married a Gaur Rani, and thus quenched the feud caused by Arjun, who slew Amra Singh in the Ammkhass.[5.8.37] Then he went on a pilgrimage to Kurukshetra, the field of battle of the Mahabharata, and made his ablutions in the fountain of Bhishma.[5.8.38] Thus 1767 passed away” [81].

=Eulogy of Durgadās.=—Here let us, for a while, suspend the narrative of the chronicler, and take a retrospective glance at the transactions of the Rathors, from the year 1737 [A.D. 1680], the period of Raja Jaswant’s death at Kabul, to the restoration of Ajit, presenting a continuous conflict of thirty years’ duration. In vain might we search the annals of any other nation for such inflexible devotion as marked the Rathor character through this period of strife, during which, to use their own phrase, “hardly a chieftain died on his pallet.” Let those who deem the Hindu warrior void of patriotism read the rude chronicle of this thirty years’ war; let them compare it with that of any other country, and do justice to the magnanimous Rajput. This narrative, the simplicity of which is the best voucher for its authenticity, presents an uninterrupted record of patriotism and disinterested loyalty. It was a period when the sacrifice of these principles was rewarded by the tyrant king with the highest honours of the state; nor are we without instances of the temptation being too strong to be withstood; but they are rare, and serve only to exhibit, in more pleasing colours, the virtues of the tribe which spurned the attempts at seduction. What a splendid example is the heroic Durgadas of all that constitutes the glory of the Rajput! Valour, loyalty, integrity, combined with prudence in all the difficulties which surrounded him, are qualities which entitle him to the admiration which his memory continues to enjoy. The temptations held out to him were almost irresistible: not merely the gold, which he and thousands of his brethren would alike have spurned, but the splendid offer of power in the proffered mansab of five thousand, which would at once have lifted him from his vassal condition to an equality with the [82] princes and chief nobles of the land. Durga had, indeed, but to name his reward; but, as the bard justly says, he was amol, beyond all price, anokha, unique. Not even revenge, so dear to the Rajput, turned him aside from the dictates of true honour. The foul assassination of his brother, the brave Soning, effected through his enemies, made no alteration in his humanity whenever the chance of war placed his foe in his power; and in this, his policy seconded his virtue. His chivalrous conduct, in the extrication of prince Akbar from inevitable destruction had he fallen into his father’s hands, was only surpassed by his generous and delicate behaviour towards the prince’s family, which was left in his care, forming a marked contrast to that of the enemies of his faith on similar occasions. The virtue of the granddaughter of Aurangzeb, in the sanctuary (saran) of Dunara,[5.8.39] was in far better keeping than in the trebly-walled harem of Agra. Of his energetic mind, and the control he exerted over those of his confiding brethren, what a proof is given, in his preserving the secret of the abode of his prince throughout the six first years of his infancy! But, to conclude our eulogy in the words of their bard: he has reaped the immortality destined for good deeds; his memory is cherished, his actions are the theme of constant praise, and his picture on his white horse, old, yet in vigour, is familiar amongst the collections of portraits of Rajputana.[5.8.40]

But there was not a clan, or family, that did not produce men of worth in this protracted warfare, which incited constant emulation; and the bards of each had abundant materials to emblazon the pages of their chronicles. To the recollection of these, their expatriated descendants allude in the memorial[5.8.41] of their hardships from the cruel policy of the reigning chief, the last lineal descendant of the prince, whose history has just been narrated. We now resume the narrative in the language of the chronicle [83].

HOROSCOPE OF RAJA ABHAI SINGH

In the Janampatri, or horoscope of Abhai Singh (referred to in p. 1011), the 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th houses denote the destinies of the heir of Ajit. In the 4th we have the monster Rahu, the author of eclipses. Of the 7th, or house of heirs, the Moon and Venus have taken possession; of the 8th, or house of strife, the Sun and Mercury. In the 10th is Ketu, brother of Rahu, both signs of evil portent. Mars rides in the house of fate, while Saturn and Jupiter are together in the abode of sovereignty. Like that of every man living, the horoscope of the heir of Maru is filled with good and evil: could the Jotishi or astrological seer have put the parricidal sign in the house of destiny, he might have claimed some merit for superior intelligence. Those who have ever consulted any works on this foolish pursuit will observe that the diagrams of the European astrologers are exact copies of the Hindu, in proof of which I have inserted this; to trace darkness as well as light from the East!

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │╲ ╱╲ ╱│ │ ╲ 4 ╱ ╲ 2 ╱ │ │ ╲ RĀHU. ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ (ascending node) ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ 5 ╳ 3 ╳ 1 │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ 12 ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ RĀJ-BHAWAN ╲ │ │╱ ╲╱ Abode of Sovereignty. ╲│ │╲ 6 ╱╲ ╱│ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♃ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♄ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ │ │ 7 ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ 11 │ │ House of ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ House of │ │ Heirs ╳ ╳ Destiny │ │ ╱ ╲ 9 ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ☿ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ♂ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ │ │☽ ╱ 8 ╲ ╱ 10 ╲ │ │ ╱ House of Enmity. ╲ ╱ KETU. ╲ │ │ ╱ ╲ ╱ (descending node) ╲ │ │╱ ☉ ȣ ╲╱ \│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

[84].

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Footnote 5.8.1:

Meaning Durgadas.

Footnote 5.8.2:

His principal object was to marry the daughter of Shujāwan Singh Champawat, the sister of the brave Mukund Singh, often mentioned in the chronicle. The Kotah prince dared not, according to every Rajput maxim of gallantry, refuse his aid on such occasion; but the natural bravery and high mind of Durjan Sal required no stimulus.

Footnote 5.8.3:

The Hindu poet says the Papiha bird [the cuckoo] becomes intoxicated with the flowers [of the Champa (Michelia champaka)].

Footnote 5.8.4:

A name now lost.

Footnote 5.8.5:

Waving a brass vessel, filled with pearls, round his head.

Footnote 5.8.6:

[The inauguration foray. See Vol. I. p. 315.]

Footnote 5.8.7:

Pabhu Rao Rathor is immortalized by the aid of his lance on this occasion; he was of the ancient chivalry of Maru, and still held his allodial domain.

Footnote 5.8.8:

[See p. 997 above.]

Footnote 5.8.9:

[His original name was Kārtalab Khān, and he served as viceroy of Surat and Gujarāt (Manucci ii. 259, iv. 247).]

Footnote 5.8.10:

A mark of contempt.

Footnote 5.8.11:

One of those pampered bulls, allowed to wander at liberty and fed by every one.

Footnote 5.8.12:

The coco, the symbol of a marriage offer.

Footnote 5.8.13:

Partabgarh Deolia, a small principality grown out of Mewar [IGI, xx. 14].

Footnote 5.8.14:

[In the Pālanpur Agency, Bombay Presidency (IGI, xix. 346).]

Footnote 5.8.15:

I cannot now call to mind whether this break of four years in the chronicle of the bard Karnidhan occurs in the original, or that in translating I left the hiatus from there being nothing interesting therein. The tyrant was now fully occupied in the Deccan wars, and the Rajputs had time to breathe.

Footnote 5.8.16:

[To propitiate the gate spirit.]

Footnote 5.8.17:

This Shahzada must have been prince Azam, who was nominated viceroy of Gujarat and Marwar.

Footnote 5.8.18:

This record of the manifold injuries, civil and religious, under which the Hindu nation groaned is quite akin to the sentiments of the letter of remonstrance addressed by Rana Raj Singh to Aurangzeb. See Vol. I. p. 442.

Footnote 5.8.19:

He is called the samdhi, or ‘son-in-law of the king.’ [There is no record of his marriage to a daughter of Aurangzeb (IA, xl. 83). It is the fathers of a bride and bridegroom who stand in the relation of samdhi to each other.]

Footnote 5.8.20:

5th Chait S. 1763. The 28th Zu-lqa’ada [March 3, 1707].

Footnote 5.8.21:

The Rajputs gave up beards the better to distinguish them from the Muslims.

Footnote 5.8.22:

Shah Alam, who assumed the title of Bahadur Shah on mounting the throne. [The battle in which Azam was defeated was fought on June 7, 1707.]

Footnote 5.8.23:

The Mangalia is a branch of the Guhilots, severed from the original stem in the reign of Bappa Rawal eleven centuries ago.

Footnote 5.8.24:

[According to Khāfi Khān, the submission of Ajīt Singh was complete; he even asked that the mosque at Jodhpur should be rebuilt, temples destroyed, and the law about the summons to prayer and the killing of cows enforced—concessions he would not have been likely to make unless he was reduced to extremities (Elliot-Dowson vii. 405).]

Footnote 5.8.25:

‘The warrior’s sword.’

Footnote 5.8.26:

This is the Mirza Raja, Jai Singh—the posterior Jai Singh had the epithet Sawai [see Vol. II. p. 969].

Footnote 5.8.27:

The Muslim historian mentions in Vol. I. p. 464, that Bahadur was then en route to Lahore.

Footnote 5.8.28:

Trianga, the triple-bodied, or trimurti.

Footnote 5.8.29:

The bard of Maru passes over the important fact of the intermarriage which took place on this occasion of the Rajput triple alliance. See Vol. I. p. 465.

Footnote 5.8.30:

Durgadas, who recommended the acceptance of the proffered capitulation.

Footnote 5.8.31:

The shrine of Khwaja Kutb.

Footnote 5.8.32:

Although the Marwar chronicler takes all the credit of this action, it was fought by the combined Rajputs of the alliance. Vol. I. p. 466.

Footnote 5.8.33:

Pandu is the squire, the shield-bearer, of the Rajputs.

Footnote 5.8.34:

Kambakhsh was the child of the old age of the tyrant Aurangzeb, by a Rajput princess. He appears to have held him in more affection than any of his other sons, as his letter on his death-bed to him testifies. See Vol. I. p. 439. [Kāmbakhsh was son of Bāi Udaipuri, who was probably a dancing girl, but one account states that she was a Georgian Christian, formerly in Dāra Shukoh’s harem; she died in June 1707. Kāmbakhsh, born March 6, 1667, died from wounds received in battle with his brother Muazzam, fought near Haidarābād, Deccan, January 13, 1709.]

Footnote 5.8.35:

Indar Singh was the son of Amra, the eldest brother of Jaswant, and the father of Mohkam, who, being disappointed of the government of Merta, deserted to the king.

Footnote 5.8.36:

[The day on which the sun enters a new sign of the zodiac.]

Footnote 5.8.37:

This is another of the numerous instances of contradictory feelings in the Rajput character. Amra, elder brother of Jaswant, was banished Marwar, lost his birthright, and was afterwards slain at court, as already related. His son, Indar Singh and grandson Mohkam, from Nagor, which they held in separate grants from the king, never forgot their title as elder branch of the family, and eternally contested their claim against Ajit. Still, as a Rathor, he was bound to avenge the injuries of a Rathor, even though his personal foe.—Singular inconsistency!

Footnote 5.8.38:

There is an anecdote regarding the fountain of this classic field of strife, the Troad of Rajasthan, which well exemplifies the superstitious belief of the warlike Rajput. The emperor Bahadur Shah was desirous to visit this scene of the exploits of the heroes of antiquity, stimulated, no doubt, by his Rajputni queen, or his mother, also of this race. He was seated under a tree which shaded the sacred fount, named after the great leader of the Kauravas, his queen by his side, surrounded by kanats to hide them from profane eyes, when a vulture perched upon the tree with a bone in its beak, which falling in the fountain, the bird set up a scream of laughter. The king looked up in astonishment, which was greatly increased when the vulture addressed him in human accents, saying “that in a former birth she was a Jogini, and was in the field of slaughter of the Great War, whence she flew away with the dissevered arm of one of its mighty warriors, with which she alighted on that very tree, that the arm was encumbered with a ponderous golden bracelet, in which, as an amulet, were set thirteen brilliant symbols of Siva, and that after devouring the flesh, she dropped the bracelet, which fell into the fountain, and it was this awakened coincidence which had caused the scream of laughter.” We must suppose that this, the palada of the field of slaughter, spoke Sanskrit or its dialect, interpreted by his Rajput queen. Instantly the pioneers were commanded to clear the fountain, and behold the relic of the Mahabharata, with the symbolic emblems of the god all-perfect! and so large were they, that the emperor remarked they would answer excellently well for “slaves of the carpet.”[5.8.38.A] The Hindu princes then present, among whom were the Rajas Ajit and Jai Singh, were shocked at this levity, and each entreated of the king one of the phallic symbols. The Mirza Raja obtained two, and both are yet at Jaipur, one in the Temple of Silah Devi,[5.8.38.B] the other in that of Govinda. Ajit had one, still preserved and worshipped at the shrine of Girdhari at Jodhpur. My old tutor and friend, the Yati Gyanchandra, who told the story while he read the chronicles as I translated them, has often seen and made homage to all the three relics. There is one, he believed, at Bundi or Kotah, and the Rana by some means obtained another. They are of pure rock crystal, and as each weighs some pounds, there must have been giants in the days of the Bharat, to have supported thirteen in one armlet. Homer’s heroes were pigmies to the Kauravas, whose bracelet we may doubt if Ajax could have lifted. My venerable tutor, though liberal in his opinions, did not choose to dissent from the general belief, for man, he said, had beyond a doubt greatly degenerated since the heroic ages, and was rapidly approximating to the period, the immediate forerunner of a universal renovation, when only dwarfs would creep over the land.

Footnote 5.8.38.A:

[The weights which keep it down.]

Footnote 5.8.38.B:

The goddess of arms, their Pallas.

Footnote 5.8.39:

Durga’s fief on the Luni.

Footnote 5.8.40:

See Vol. I. p. 451.

Footnote 5.8.41:

See Vol. I. p. 228.

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